Chapter Summaries

Leon approached Morgan for their likely final meeting, but his anger over her betrayal gave way to anxious uncertainty. The chapter ended with Leon trying to steady himself before facing his wife.

• Leon realized that Morgan was the only one left as the matter neared resolution.
• Leon remembered how furious he had been when he learned of Morgan's betrayal.
• Leon grew increasingly hesitant as he approached Morgan.
• Leon took a deep breath and tried to suppress his turmoil.

Leon, the Machine God, Merlin, and the others entered the cavern and found Morgan and the king facing each other with weapons in hand. Artoria caught sight of her elder sister and felt a tightness in her chest.

• Leon charged into the underground cavern first.
• The Machine God, Merlin, and the others followed Leon inside.
• They saw the king holding the Holy Sword and Morgan gripping a staff like a spear-halberd, facing each other without murderous tension.
• Artoria saw her elder sister and pressed a hand to her chest as her breathing caught.

Leon surveyed the devastation left by the Holy Spear as Morgan approached him. Merlin, Scathach, and Artoria remained beneath the Machine God's wreckage, subjected to an unknown fate.

• Leon saw Morgan slowly approaching across the damaged ground.
• Leon looked back at the vast field of holes and craters made by the Holy Spear.
• Leon saw the Machine God's wreckage standing over the largest crater, with Merlin, Scathach, and Artoria beneath it.

A violent earthquake shook Leon's royal city, but the sturdy buildings remained standing and casualties were almost nonexistent. Agravain grabbed a pillar as the palace seemed to sink, and he began to recognize the tremor.

• The ground shook violently as tremors rose from underground into the royal city.
• The palace and houses swayed, but Leon's solidly built marble structures did not collapse.
• The earthquake caused almost no casualties.
• Agravain felt the ground drop and grabbed a stone pillar as the palace appeared to descend.

Leon confronted the Machine God after Fairy Village had been wiped out, but the Machine God remained indifferent. The chapter ended with Leon sitting on a boulder, holding the sheathed Holy Sword.

• The Machine God reported that Fairy Village had been completely wiped out.
• The Machine God detected no life signs or magical activity from Phantasmal Species in the Fairy Domain and concluded that no living creatures remained beneath Britain.
• The Machine God asked Leon if he had vented his emotions.
• Leon sat on a boulder and held the sheathed Holy Sword as he sensed the Machine God's indifference.

The Machine God struggled to understand Leon’s goal of exploring the truth of the world and its connection to sending humanity into space. It trusted that his vision would not harm humanity, noting that neither Counter Force had intervened.

• The Machine God repeated Leon’s words about exploring the truth of the world.
• The Machine God’s thought circuits failed to grasp what the goal had to do with sending humanity into space.
• The Machine God concluded that Leon’s future would not harm humanity because neither Counter Force had intervened.
• The Machine God reflected that the Counter Force of primates acted to eliminate threats to humanity.

Leon returned from speaking with the Machine God to find Artoria mourning Morgan’s death. Artoria suspended Morgan’s body with her staff and greeted Leon, who had to face the loss of his wife.

• Leon returned to the surface after receiving an answer from the Machine God.
• Artoria held Morgan’s cold hand and said her final goodbye.
• Artoria used her wooden staff to suspend Morgan’s body in midair.
• Artoria wiped her tears and greeted Leon as he returned.

Morgan was buried according to Britain's old customs, and Leon struggled to face Mordred's grief. He left his daughter with Artoria, hoping her aunt could comfort her.

• Morgan's body was sent into the lake so the Lady of the Lake could carry her to Avalon.
• Mordred cried and questioned Leon on the way back to the city.
• Leon could not answer Mordred or bear to look at her face, which resembled Morgan's.
• Leon hurriedly left Mordred in Artoria's care, hoping her aunt would soothe her.

Leon ordered Luther and Joe to gather their armies at the royal capital as turmoil spread across the country. The chapter ends by describing how people compared their lives under the Lion King with the hardship and conflict of earlier years.

• Leon ordered Luther and Joe to lead their armies to the royal capital.
• Luther and Joe hurried back with their troops, leaving only enough soldiers in each fortress city to maintain public order.
• People across the country recognized the sudden turmoil and recalled that the Lion King's rule had let them live modestly and save some money.
• The account contrasted their recent stability with earlier years of division and recurring wars among Britain's nations.

The mages on the continent inferred that the Lion King had won her battle against the Great God's avatar. As Leon prepared to cross the sea, they feared the Lion King would destroy the world of magecraft.

• Leon mobilized troops in Britain and prepared to cross the sea.
• The mages could not see the battle between the Great God's avatar and the Lion King, so they judged its outcome from the surrounding environment.
• When the battlefield fell silent, the mages sent people to investigate the result.

Jupiter, Luther, and Agravain completed Britain's pre-war preparations under Jupiter's tireless direction. Britain's preparations were put back in order within two or three days despite the interruption caused by Morgan's rebellion.

• Jupiter, Luther, and Agravain quickly completed Britain's pre-war preparations.
• Jupiter handled government documents and directed preparations while resting less than an hour a day.
• Jupiter restored the preparations Leon had largely completed after Morgan's rebellion briefly disrupted them.

Neltharion returned to Britain with the warships, and Leon prepared the camp as a bridgehead and logistical station for the advance onto the continent. Jupiter arrived to oversee supplies and met Leon, who asked whether the situation back home had stabilized.

• Neltharion returned to Britain with the warships.
• Leon ordered the camp organized as a bridgehead for the continental advance.
• Laborers, auxiliary troops, grain, and other supplies were shipped from Britain to the camp.
• Jupiter arrived to manage logistics, and Leon asked him whether the situation back home had stabilized.

After Leon killed Lucius and accepted the Roman soldiers’ surrender, the soldiers waited for his orders before returning to Rome. Rome’s rebuilt army included many conquered peoples and non-humans, while tensions among them grew.

• The Roman officers and soldiers cleaned up the battlefield while waiting for Leon to return with orders.
• When they could wait no longer, the soldiers returned to Rome led by a Gaul.
• Lucius had rebuilt Rome’s army with Romans, conquered peoples, and non-humans.
• Conflicts and tensions among the army’s different races continued to build.

Leon used Merlin’s Clairvoyance to learn that the Roman prisoners had returned to Rome and pieced together the movements behind their escape. He recognized that Clovis had taken advantage of the situation, though the chapter ended before Leon explained what Clovis had suppressed.

• Merlin used Clairvoyance to discover that the Roman prisoners had returned to Rome.
• Leon listened to Merlin’s explanation and worked out the prisoners’ movements and the temporary leader’s purpose.
• Leon recalled Clovis’s earlier surrender after Lucius was defeated and judged him to be clever.

Clovis sensed a vast cavalry force approaching and watched an endless iron-clad army advance toward him. The chapter ended as the army drew near.

• Clovis felt the ground tremble and saw roadside stones bounce as horses galloped.
• Clovis recognized the vibrations as a huge cavalry force and said they had arrived.
• Clovis watched a silver-white line grow into an endless advancing army.
• Clovis faced the warhorses, clashing armor, gleaming blades, and surging killing intent.

An assassin leapt onto Leon’s carriage and aimed a cursed dagger at him. Clovis failed to intercept the attacker, leaving Leon facing the blade.

• A man on the ground shouted at Leon and sprang toward the carriage with a dagger coated in dark green slime.
• Clovis stepped forward to block the attacker.
• The assassin sped past Clovis and landed on the chariot, aiming his dagger at Leon.

Leon sat in the Roman Senate as nobles from across Europa bowed before him and called on him to accept the title of Augustus. The assembly filled the hall and spilled out onto the steps.

• Leon sat on the stone seat at the center of the Roman Senate.
• Nobles from Rome, the continent’s tribes, and Britain gathered before Leon and bowed in submission.
• The gathered nobles called on Leon to accept the supreme title of Augustus.
• The crowd filled the Senate hall and spilled out onto the steps, craning to see Leon.

Leon rewarded the commanders and soldiers, then declared his eldest daughter Mordred the heir to the newly risen empire and granted her the name Caesar. Morgan had only just committed rebellion as Mordred’s succession was announced.

• Leon rewarded the lesser commanders beneath the major warlords, and the soldiers cheered his name.
• Leon declared his eldest daughter Mordred the heir before the soldiers and nobles.
• Leon granted Mordred the name Caesar.
• Morgan had only just committed rebellion.

Merlin realized that Leon and Jupiter were discussing the fate of the magi in Rome, which depended on negotiations with the Old Man of Jewels. Jupiter began to respond when Merlin asked what Leon intended to do.

• Merlin noticed that Leon and Jupiter seemed to be hiding something from him.
• Merlin recalled that Leon still had to decide what to do about the magi in Rome.
• Leon confirmed that their fate depended on negotiations with the Old Man of Jewels.
• Jupiter began asking Leon what he intended to do.

Over a thousand humans were shackled in Rome's palace square on a cold night, where they resented the Lion King for humiliating them. The chapter leaves them bound and shivering.

• Rome's palace was lit by candles throughout the night.
• Over a thousand men and women were chained in the palace square.
• The prisoners shivered in the cool wind, wearing only tattered cloth.
• The prisoners resented the Lion King and lamented that their magic had been sealed.