Recaps

Charlotte gave Menilman a Magic Alchemical Warship, while Golden Goat Herolf’s power collapsed and his followers fled Saint Michael’s Island. With the pirates surrendering to Menilman’s fleet, Charlotte was asked to take charge of them.

• Charlotte gave Menilman a Magic Alchemical Warship, and she teased him for considering the name Imperial Rose instead of Queen Anne.
• Golden Goat Herolf watched Menilman take his last Magic Alchemical Warship and vowed revenge against her and Charlotte.
• After drinking for several days, Golden Goat Herolf discovered that all his subordinates had fled Saint Michael’s Island.
• Menilman hesitated over whether to accept the surrendering pirates, and Sabastine suggested that Charlotte manage them.
• Charlotte was called away from his cultivation and study of the Labyrinth of Agmiras to handle the pirates.

Charlotte converted most of the captured pirates into Labyrinth Guardians, expanded his Mirror World across several ships and Saint Michael’s Island, and heard Golden Goat Herolf’s proposal to help him reach God Rank. Herolf offered the island and his hidden treasures in exchange for Charlotte’s help, but Charlotte suspected a scheme and considered how to gain more from him.

• Charlotte brought the surrendered pirates to Cappadocia City, completed two Labyrinthizations, and turned all but several dozen reputable pirates into Labyrinth Guardians.
• Charlotte awakened several mirror abilities, linked Cappadocia’s Mirror World with the Queen Bee, Saint Michael’s Island, and the Imperial Rose, and saw Herolf performing a ritual.
• Herolf offered Charlotte Saint Michael’s Island and his hidden treasures if he helped Herolf reach incomplete God Rank.
• Herolf explained that he planned to borrow the Emerald Book from the Serpent of Destiny and use it to replace a Divine Creature’s soul with his own.
• Charlotte received Herolf’s Magic Contract, suspected the pirate had a larger scheme, and weighed how to extract more from him.

Charlotte sought expert opinions on Golden Goat Herolf’s Magic Contract and learned about its flaws and the dangers of its promised path to godhood. After turning the contract into a tool for a more ambitious plan, he returned to Herolf and claimed he had lost it.

• Charlotte consulted Sabastine, who warned that the ritual could create only an incomplete god and identified eight traps in the unsigned contract.
• Charlotte proposed contracting directly with Saint Michael, but Sabastine explained that the island’s Golden Ring made that plan unworkable.
• Charlotte asked Menilman, Domitian, and Archpriest Augsladin to inspect the contract without mentioning godhood; Menilman found the same eight flaws, Domitian found two, and Augsladin found additional problems.
• Archpriest Augsladin taught Charlotte how to lock the contract and alter it into a Quasi Master-Servant Contract, prompting Charlotte to consider using it against a bigger target.
• Charlotte visited Golden Goat Herolf and said he had accidentally lost the contract, asking Herolf for another copy.

Charlotte tricked Golden Goat Herolf into signing a Magic Contract Document by demanding Whale Slayer as a writing fee, while secretly changing the contract. Herolf then revealed a clause requiring them to be beneath the same sky, pulled Charlotte out of the Mirror World, and prepared to exploit another loophole.

• Charlotte claimed he had lost the first Magic Contract Document, prompting Golden Goat Herolf to retrieve another hide scroll.
• Charlotte secretly altered the scroll into a Quasi Master-Servant Contract and demanded Whale Slayer as a writing fee.
• Charlotte made Herolf sign the document before signing it himself, and the completed contract flew away as a mysterious voice said it would remember Charlotte.
• Herolf revealed that the contract required both parties to be beneath the same sky, then smashed through the building and pulled Charlotte out of the Mirror World.
• Herolf seized Charlotte and announced that the contract did not prevent them from killing each other, boasting that greed had caused Charlotte to miss the loopholes.

Charlotte tricked Golden Goat Herolf with an altered Magic Contract, leaving Herolf unable to harm him and making Charlotte the master of Saint Michael's Island. The island began transforming into a labyrinth, and the other Saint Ranks arrived to find Herolf pretending to be unconscious.

• Golden Goat Herolf demanded that Charlotte hand over the Queen Bee, but Charlotte refused and taunted him.
• Herolf tried to hurt Charlotte, but the altered Magic Contract prevented him from acting against Charlotte and compelled him to give up his three Golden Rings.
• Charlotte landed on Saint Michael's Island, revealed that he had altered the contract, and learned that the island was about to undergo Labyrinthization.
• Charlotte fired seven shots to summon help, and Sabastine arrived to find Herolf lying on the ground.
• Domitian, Menilman, and Archpriest Augsladin arrived, and Charlotte explained how he had tricked Herolf with the contract.

After Menilman captured Saint Michael's Island, Strasbourg recognized her as commander and private owner of the Imperial Rose Fleet, while Charlotte received a consular post that let him approve the fleet's access to his cities. Back in Sedona, Charlotte learned from Chloe that danger was imminent, and her sudden charge toward the city left him bracing for what came next.

• Archpriest Augsladin announced that Saint Michael's Island had fallen, and Charlotte handed Menilman its Golden Ring, which she refused while accepting the island as a naval base.
• Strasbourg promoted Menilman to Senior Commander of the Imperial Rose Fleet and recognized the fleet as her private property; Domitian, Sabastine, and Charlotte also received official identities.
• Charlotte celebrated with Menilman, then returned to Sedona, where he and Chloe continued their sham war and exchanged pirate heads to support their battle reports.
• Strasbourg received news that Menilman had defeated a Byron fleet and captured two Magic Alchemical Warships, prompting Charlotte to send her congratulations.
• Chloe secretly warned Charlotte to retreat from Sedona, so he asked Menilman for help; less than two hours later, Chloe charged out of her camp as Charlotte watched from the city wall.

Charlotte faced a Saint Rank from the Black Phoenix Dynasty, but Golden Goat Herolf protected him and revealed his own formidable strength. Herolf charged Andreus, who evaded a direct clash by taking the fight into the sky.

• Chloe introduced Major Andreus as the Black Phoenix Dynasty’s youngest Saint Rank, and Andreus hurled a Knight’s Lance at Charlotte.
• Golden Goat Herolf shattered Andreus’s lance with Whale Slayer, lifting the West Wind Knight Regiment’s spirits.
• Andreus asked Herolf to identify himself, but Herolf stayed silent as Charlotte ordered him to attack.
• Herolf charged Andreus with powerful Ocean Battle Qi, and Andreus shot upward to avoid fighting him head-on.

Charlotte fought his old rival Chloe while Golden Goat Herolf battled Andreus overhead, and the two exchanged news about the First Masters of the Five Great Empires. Charlotte learned that Count Brittany was Fars’s First Master, while Viscount Constantine held that title for the Black Phoenix Dynasty; Herolf kept Andreus on the defensive as both battles continued.

• Golden Goat Herolf attacked Andreus with his spear, and Charlotte admired how well the old Saint Rank fighter held his own.
• Charlotte challenged Chloe, who revealed that he had advanced to Sixteenth Order Knight while Charlotte had become an Eleventh Order Transcendent.
• Charlotte told Chloe that Menilman had captured Saint Michael’s Island, then invented a story about how she had done it rather than reveal the truth.
• Chloe explained that each empire had a First Master after Zimmerman’s death, naming Count Brittany for Fars, Count Lancelot for Inglima, and Viscount Constantine for the Black Phoenix Dynasty.
• Charlotte and Chloe resumed their serious duel, while Andreus used his speed to evade Herolf’s attacks and struggled to avoid being killed.

Charlotte summoned and tamed a Demonic Flame Horse while fighting Chloe, and learned that Golden Goat Herolf had defeated Andreus, who escaped. More than ten days later, Andreus urged Chloe to attack Sedona City, but Chloe refused, so Andreus decided to charge in alone as Domitian arrived to meet Charlotte.

• Charlotte advanced to the Twelfth Order, summoned a Demonic Flame Horse, and eventually subdued it by tempering it with Blood Flame Qi and feeding it his blood energy.
• Chloe fled the battle after seeing Andreus retreat, and Charlotte took Golden Goat Herolf back to Sedona City without knowing who had won.
• Charlotte learned from exchanged intelligence that Herolf had defeated Andreus, who escaped despite being wounded.
• More than ten days later, Andreus returned to Chloe's camp and ordered him to attack Sedona City, but Chloe refused.
• Andreus decided to charge into Sedona City alone, unaware that Domitian had arrived from Saint Michael's Island and was attending Charlotte's banquet.

Charlotte hosted Domitian in Sedona when Andreus arrived to assassinate him, only to be badly wounded and driven away by the old leopardman. Andreus and Monson mistook the Orc Assassin Alliance’s presence for evidence of a large Farsian buildup and left to warn Constantine, while Domitian returned without killing Andreus.

• Charlotte welcomed Domitian’s proposal to entrust him with orcs who followed the doctrine of not eating people and explained that their future depended on building their own civilization through education.
• Andreus infiltrated Charlotte’s residence and attacked, but Domitian transformed into a leopardman and struck him down in their first exchange.
• Domitian pursued Andreus beyond Sedona and wounded him repeatedly, but Monson intervened and forced Domitian to withdraw.
• Monson identified Domitian as the Leopard God and told Andreus that the orc army’s defeat could have driven the Orc Assassin Alliance to Fars.
• Andreus and Monson concluded that Fars was gathering Saint Rank powerhouses near Sedona and left to urge Constantine to bring the main army.
• Domitian returned without killing Andreus, and Charlotte suggested that he and Old Goat work together next time.

Charlotte withdrew the West Wind Knight Regiment from Sedona and evacuated its residents and supplies as the Black Phoenix Dynasty advanced through South Seraph. When the Dynasty’s five Saint Ranks cornered his forces near the Behemoth border, Kreil Brittany and Abner Soumei arrived, both newly advanced to Saint Rank, and Kreil immediately fought Andreus.

• After Monson and Baron Dakis arrived in Sedona, Charlotte decided the Black Phoenix Dynasty might be preparing a major war and ordered the West Wind Knight Regiment to withdraw rather than risk a battle in the city.
• Charlotte persuaded Sedona’s residents to leave with his troops, buying their belongings and arranging their evacuation as Monson and Dakis occupied the nearly deserted city.
• Andreus interpreted the evacuation as evidence that Fars was preparing a prolonged campaign, and the Black Phoenix Dynasty sent more troops into South Seraph as Charlotte retreated from city to city with residents and supplies.
• As the Dynasty’s army pursued Charlotte toward the Behemoth border, its five Saint Ranks caught up with him, forcing the West Wind Knight Regiment to form a defensive position.
• Kreil Brittany and Abner Soumei arrived with two Knight Orders and revealed that they had both advanced to Saint Rank.
• Kreil rose into the sky and began fighting Andreus.

Charlotte watched Kreil Brittany and Andreus fight before nine Saint Ranks clashed in the sky. Golden Goat Herolf and the other Saint Ranks held off the Black Phoenix Dynasty, leaving Charlotte convinced that only Saint Ranks could oppose Saint Ranks.

• Charlotte asked Golden Goat Herolf to cover Kreil Brittany and told him and Domitian to help fight any Black Phoenix Dynasty Saint Ranks who arrived.
• Domitian explained that openly fighting for Fars would be improper for a beastman, so Charlotte adjusted his plans.
• Monson and Nikolao took to the air to support Andreus, while Abner joined Kreil Brittany in the fight.
• Four more Saint Ranks entered the battle, and the nine combatants fought in a vast aerial melee.
• Golden Goat Herolf blocked most of the Black Phoenix Dynasty's attacks, while Domitian transformed into a human and displayed Saint Rank swordsmanship.
• Charlotte watched the battle and concluded that only Saint Ranks could stand against Saint Ranks.

Kreil and Abner returned as Saint Ranks, with Kreil becoming a Knight King and Abner becoming a Commander of Ten Thousand Knights. After a new Fars commander insulted Charlotte and blocked his allies’ retreat, Charlotte repositioned his forces, leading the Black Phoenix Dynasty to choose the isolated Bohr Knight Order as its first target.

• Kreil and Abner told Charlotte how they had survived a battle at Ferlanden and each advanced after killing a Byron vampire Saint Rank.
• Charlotte explained how he had helped Menilman and tricked Golden Goat Herolf into signing a Quasi Master-Servant Contract.
• Kreil and Abner joined Charlotte’s forces, and the Fars troops fought several battles against the Black Phoenix Dynasty over the next half month.
• Kromlov Bohr summoned the commanders, excluded Charlotte from the meeting, and angered Kreil and Abner, who left with him.
• Charlotte moved the West Wind Knight Regiment forward, leaving the Bohr Knight Order isolated near the Black Phoenix Dynasty’s army.
• Andreus urged a night attack, and the Black Phoenix Dynasty’s Saint Ranks agreed to strike the Bohr Knight Order first.

Charlotte and the allied commanders faced a surprise assault by all five Black Phoenix Dynasty Saint Ranks, who killed Kromlov Bohr while the armies clashed elsewhere. Charlotte then seized the leaderless Bohr Knight Order and its supplies, and the chapter ended with the battle’s consequences drawing the attention of Strasbourg’s great nobles and Emperor Julius Axel.

• Kromlov Bohr raged over Charlotte’s defiance and dictated a document filled with false accusations against him before the Black Phoenix Dynasty attacked.
• Andreus intercepted Kromlov Bohr as he fled, and Andreus, Monson, Baron Dakis, Nikolao, and another Saint Rank killed him and took his sword.
• Kreil and Abner captured the Black Phoenix Army’s stronghold, while Charlotte reached the Bohr camp and learned that the enemy’s Saint Ranks had gone after Kromlov Bohr.
• Charlotte found Kromlov Bohr’s unfinished accusations, forced the Bohr Knight Order to submit, took its supplies, and returned to his camp with the reorganized force.
• Chloe delivered Kromlov Bohr’s lower body and explained that Andreus had taken the upper half and his sword; Kreil and Abner accepted that Fars had lost a Saint Rank despite capturing the enemy camp.
• Kreil learned that Charlotte had taken over the Bohr Knight Order, while documents from the battle reached Strasbourg and alarmed the great nobles and Julius Axel.

Charlotte and his allies reclaimed cities in South Seraph, where the Black Phoenix Army’s occupation had left civilians starving and dead, then faced a stalemate at Sedona. The arrival of Viscount Constantine’s overwhelming battle aura left Charlotte fearing that his forces could not defeat him.

• Charlotte, Kreil, and Abner recaptured several South Seraph cities with little fighting, but found the people facing famine and brutal repression.
• Charlotte promised food, lodging, land, and homes to South Seraph residents who evacuated with him, and arranged for many to relocate to Cappadocia.
• The armies met outside Sedona, where Kreil repeatedly dueled Andreus while Charlotte secretly replaced ordinary soldiers with Labyrinth Guardians and sent Dobbin, Anastasia, and others back to Behemoth.
• After more than ten days of stalemate, Charlotte saw a vast mass of birds in the sky and learned from Old Goat that they were a manifestation of someone’s battle aura.
• Domitian identified Viscount Constantine as the only person in the Black Phoenix Dynasty capable of producing such a display, and Charlotte feared that his forces could not oppose him.

Charlotte and his companions faced Viscount Constantine until Count Brittany arrived and forced the rival Saint Rank to withdraw without fighting. Count Brittany then confronted Charlotte about his connection to Anne, Meni, and Princess Mei, leaving Charlotte sweating after a bold attempt to flatter him.

• Kreil and Abner urged Charlotte to escape and carry messages to their families, but Count Brittany's voice announced his arrival.
• Count Brittany and Viscount Constantine exchanged taunts across the distance, then both held back from fighting and Viscount Constantine's birds dispersed.
• Count Brittany descended into the camp and approached Charlotte while Kreil and Abner stepped aside and Golden Goat Herolf hid behind Charlotte.
• Count Brittany asked Charlotte about Anne, then questioned him about Meni and Princess Mei and the ships he had given them.
• Charlotte claimed the ships were unworthy of Anne, and Count Brittany remarked on his audacity as Kreil and Abner quietly prayed for him.

Charlotte defended his proposal to Count Brittany by claiming Anne’s novels would give her a lasting place in history, then carried Brittany’s message to Viscount Constantine in Sedona City. Constantine summoned Charlotte to speak with him, leaving Charlotte unable to refuse another dangerous meeting.

• Charlotte argued that Anne’s novels would outlast material treasures and preserve her name in history longer than Count Brittany’s.
• Count Brittany praised Charlotte’s boldness, admitted he had wanted to kill him 168 times, and told him to inform Viscount Constantine that he would not act unless Constantine did.
• Charlotte delivered Brittany’s message at Sedona City, where Chloe told him Constantine wanted to see him.
• Viscount Constantine called Charlotte into the city to ask him something, and Chloe implied that Charlotte could not refuse.

Charlotte met Conroe, an envoy of the Lionheart Dynasty, who conveyed Baldwin Asa’s greetings and handed him official appointments for Charlotte and Anne. After Charlotte reported the meeting to Count Brittany, the Count warned him not to repeat what had happened in Seagull City.

• Viscount Constantine introduced Charlotte to Conroe, who said Baldwin Asa had read Charlotte’s biography of Emperor Charles and requested that Black Phoenix spare Charlotte and Anne in the war.
• Conroe gave Charlotte documents restoring his Lionheart citizenship and appointing him a first-class Councillor, Records Commissioner of Lionheart Palace, and Literary Advisor of Cold Spring Palace.
• Charlotte discovered the second document was for Anne, then returned to the military camp and recounted his meeting to Count Brittany.
• Count Brittany read Charlotte’s appointment and said Anne had secured a decent job before graduating, then warned Charlotte not to repeat what had happened in Seagull City.

Charlotte received Count Brittany’s warning about where he and Anne might settle, then focused on evacuating civilians as the war in South Seraph intensified. The chapter left the front locked in a brutal stalemate while Menilman remained unable to persuade three imprisoned Saint Ranks to serve her.

• Count Brittany treasured the Lionheart King’s document securing Anne’s future and asked Charlotte where he planned to settle.
• Count Brittany suggested Charlotte and Anne might settle outside Fars, leaving Charlotte worried that Fars or the Brittany Family faced danger.
• As reinforcements arrived for both sides, the armies fought across South Seraph and devastated several cities.
• Forbidden by Count Brittany from joining the fighting, Charlotte evacuated displaced people and sent them to the rear, where Menilman needed residents for her territories.
• Menilman failed to convince the three imprisoned Saint Ranks to serve her and regretted that Charlotte was too busy at the front to help.

Charlotte Mecklen’s West Wind Knight Regiment operated as a field hospital, treating wounded soldiers from every side of the South Seraph war. After Charlotte rescued wounded Black Phoenix soldiers, a Fars Knight Order accused him of harboring the enemy and surrounded his camp, where he ordered his Labyrinth Guardians to attack.

• Charlotte expanded the West Wind Knight Regiment’s medical camps across South Seraph, treating wounded soldiers and earning praise from Fars, Inglima, and Black Phoenix.
• Charlotte welcomed wounded Firefly Knights into a camp and learned that Black Phoenix soldiers had been left behind at a forest battlefield.
• Charlotte buried the dead, recorded where their bodies lay, and brought the wounded Black Phoenix soldiers back to camp; Andrecia watched and decided to spare him for now.
• Charlotte organized treatment for both groups of wounded through the night, then faced a Fars Knight Order that accused him of harboring Black Phoenix soldiers.
• After the Fars officer refused to identify his department, Charlotte ordered his Labyrinth Guardians to charge.

Charlotte Mecklen captured Yannick Aure and discovered that Duchess Mesu had sent the Military Enforcement Department after him because of a dispute involving her fleet. He realized the fleet’s growing political rivalry with Menilman lay behind the investigation.

• Charlotte’s forces attacked the Military Enforcement Department’s Knight Order, killing many of its members and capturing Yannick Aure.
• Charlotte threatened Yannick’s family, and Yannick revealed that Duchess Mesu had ordered him to investigate Charlotte.
• Yannick said Ellens Cook had targeted Charlotte because he had won Sophia Garland’s heart, but Charlotte rejected this as the real reason.
• Yannick revealed that the investigation was connected to the fleet, and Charlotte recalled Duchess Mesu’s control of the Northern Fleet and its struggle to regain strength.
• Charlotte understood that Menilman’s three Magic Alchemical Warships had disrupted Duchess Mesu’s plans and made Menilman a rising naval power.

Charlotte faced Duchess Mesu’s attempt to target him and decided not to rely on Count Brittany for protection. After capturing the Military Enforcement Department Knight Order, he secretly turned its members into Labyrinth Guardians and arranged for the unit’s disappearance to be credited to the Wormwood Knight Regiment.

• Charlotte considered how Duchess Mesu’s hostility toward Senior Menilman had made him a target and concluded that Count Brittany would not risk his family for him.
• Yannick Aure admitted that he could forge evidence to help Charlotte, but Charlotte refused and revealed his high-ranking posts in Inglima.
• Charlotte took the captured Military Enforcement Department Knight Order to Machu Picchu and transformed its members into Labyrinth Guardians.
• Charlotte arranged for the Black Phoenix Army captives to report that the Fars Knight Order had been wiped out, and the Wormwood Knight Regiment received a commendation for the supposed victory.
• Charlotte asked Count Brittany about the planned investigation, and the Count said the Military Enforcement Department should enforce the law impartially.
• Charlotte sent the wounded Black Phoenix Army soldiers to Machu Picchu to await the Military Enforcement Department Knight Order’s next investigation.

Charlotte faced a tax investigation and a confrontation with Ellens Cook, but Count Brittany quietly secured his promotion instead of the expected punishment. As the war stalled, Fars prepared a naval offensive, and Count Brittany told Charlotte that he and Constantine would leave the South Seraph front under a new commander.

• Ellens Cook investigated Charlotte's failure to collect taxes and accused him of being absent from South Seraph, while Charlotte defended himself with war losses and legal arguments.
• Count Brittany proposed a three-thousand-Écu fine, but Ellens Cook announced Grand Duchess Mesu's harsher demotion and tax repayment orders, prompting Charlotte and Ellens Cook to duel before Count Brittany stopped them.
• After half a month without punishment, Charlotte received an official promotion to twenty-fourth-rank, first-level Councillor and learned that Fars and Inglima were preparing the Goddess of Victory Offensive against Byron at sea.
• Worried about Senior Menilman but unable to leave the brutal South Seraph front, Charlotte heard Count Brittany explain that the land war had reached a stalemate and that he and Constantine would depart, leaving a new commander in charge.

Charlotte was appointed commander of the South Seraph War Zone after the Empire withdrew its forces, then returned to Strasbourg while the Central Government Office delayed investigating him. As shortages spread through the city, Sophia Garland came to visit him.

• Count Brittany appointed Charlotte Mecklenburg commander of the South Seraph War Zone, and Charlotte accepted after learning the region would be downgraded to a war zone.
• Count Brittany, Viscount Constantine, the Saint Ranks, and the Knight Orders withdrew, leaving the West Wind Knight Regiment and Chloe's Knight Order facing each other in South Seraph.
• Charlotte was summoned to Strasbourg for a fourth investigation, while Dorothy Soumei temporarily took command of the West Wind Knight Regiment.
• The Central Government Office told Charlotte that his investigative team had not yet been formed, and he spent his free time with Anne as shortages and food-rationing rumors spread through Strasbourg.
• Charlotte relied on his stored supplies and merchant connections to avoid shortages, and Sophia Garland visited him on his fifth day back in Strasbourg.

Sophia Garland visited Charlotte, returned the Whale Butcher, and invited him to a ball, which he declined. After Sophia left, Anne visited Charlotte, took the Whale Butcher and Whale Slayer to her home, and discussed her delayed government assignment with him.

• Sophia Garland thanked Charlotte for saving her and returned the Whale Butcher, then invited him to lunch and a ball.
• Charlotte refused Sophia’s ball invitation, and she promised to invite him to a smaller gathering instead.
• After Sophia left, Anne visited Charlotte and asked him to bring the Whale Butcher to Baker Street 221B as a decoration.
• Charlotte brought both the Whale Butcher and Whale Slayer to Anne’s home and reassured her about her delayed post-graduation assignment.
• At Anne’s home, Charlotte noticed her new belongings, including an elaborate set of pure silver tableware.