Recaps

Charlotte brought the two Miss Axels to Rahma, learned more about the crisis on the New Continent, and rested with Antonio before planning another attack on Duke Mosreid. The chapter ended with the awakened Gareth looking around with a childlike gaze as Charlotte tested whether he had lost his memory.

• Renee told Charlotte how Malin had fled the New Continent and begun a relationship with Prince Avery, and Charlotte felt no regret about killing him.
• Charlotte brought the two Miss Axels to Rahma, where Antonio arranged for Agulus and Vigo to escort them back to Strasbourg.
• Antonio told Charlotte that his strength had stabilized at the Twenty-Fourth Order and that Dark Moon might let him defeat even the strongest figures in Fars.
• Charlotte and Antonio rested in Rahma for half a month while the Saint Ranks recovered and their Knight Orders regained strength.
• A messenger reported that Gareth, Mosreid's younger brother, had awakened after being captured by the black dragon.
• Charlotte and Antonio visited Gareth, and Charlotte called him son when Gareth looked at them with childlike curiosity.

Charlotte convinced the amnesiac Gareth that he was Charlotte Mecklen’s son, then joined Antonio in conquering the Kingdom of Oslo after Mosreid fled. They divided the conquered territory and hurried back to Strasbourg for Brittany’s coronation.

• Charlotte told Gareth that he was his beloved son, Gareth Mecklen, and Gareth accepted the story after recalling a silver snake tail.
• Charlotte dismissed Antonio’s concerns about Gareth recovering his memories and planned to make a popular novel establish Gareth’s invented identity.
• After resting for two days, Antonio and Charlotte marched into Mosreid’s territory and found that Mosreid had fled, leaving the allied army’s camp in ruins.
• Antonio captured cities while Charlotte accepted surrenders and seized rebellious nobles’ wealth, and they conquered the Kingdom of Oslo after more than a month.
• Charlotte sent the soldiers he had recruited to South Seraph and gave Antonio authority over Mosreid’s territory before they returned toward Strasbourg for Brittany’s coronation.
• Messengers met them on the road and urged them to hurry back for the ceremony.

Charlotte and Anne prepared for the coronation of Fars’s new emperor while Antonio trained for his duties as the new Count Brittany. At a final family dinner before his coronation, Old Count Brittany gave Anne Nanny Karen to accompany her and asked Charlotte why he had changed after meeting Anne, leaving Charlotte and Anne holding hands.

• Charlotte moved into the imperial palace, arranged elaborate formal clothes, and received a new Mecklen Family crest combining a Golden Pheasant Tail Flower with a Little Silver Serpent.
• Charlotte and Anne attended a final ordinary family dinner with Antonio and Old Count Brittany before the coronation.
• Old Count Brittany praised Antonio’s rise to the Twenty-Fourth Order and gave Anne Nanny Karen to accompany her.
• Old Count Brittany asked Charlotte why he had changed after meeting Anne, and Charlotte told him she had become the third light in his world.
• Anne took Charlotte’s hand and silently thanked Aunt Sophie for bringing them together.

Charlotte stabilized his spirituality by condensing an eighth Hand of Blazing Flame, then attended McLean Brittany’s coronation as Emperor of Fars. The ceremony ended with Charlotte receiving the title of Count and having South Seraph renamed Mecklen County.

• Charlotte practiced the Hand of Blazing Flame and effortlessly condensed an eighth hand.
• Charlotte prepared for the coronation and joined the procession with the other Brittany family knights.
• Nine Archpriests invoked the power of the righteous gods as McLean Brittany placed the crown on his head, founding the Brittany Dynasty.
• McLean Brittany took the emperor’s throne and received congratulatory envoys from foreign nations, including hostile Byron.
• McLean Brittany granted Charlotte the title of Count and renamed the Free Territory of South Seraph Mecklen County.

At the coronation, Antonio and the Twelve Knights received titles, while Anne was granted the lands of Duke Mosreid and his rebellious allies. After the banquet, Charlotte reflected on the war and asked Herolf to investigate a Saint Rank arriving near Strasbourg.

• Prince Avery named the Fountain of Lions as a royal symbol and announced that a palace would be built there for the royal family and the Twelve Knights’ descendants.
• The emperor invested Antonio as Count Brittany and granted Anne a vast fief that bordered Charlotte’s territory.
• At the banquet, Prince Avery thanked Charlotte for helping his daughters and declared that they would be steadfast allies.
• Charlotte slipped out of the banquet, reflected on fate and the war, and hoped the conflict would end soon.
• Charlotte spotted a Saint Rank approaching Strasbourg and ordered Herolf to identify the visitor without fighting unless necessary.
• Herolf left the palace and worried that Charlotte’s Saint Rank subordinates made breaking their contract too dangerous.

At the coronation banquet, Princess May Guillaume confronted Charlotte about neglecting his writing and vowed to reclaim the Queen Bee after the war. Charlotte danced with Anne, then left the palace with her to celebrate privately at Baker Street 221B.

• Princess May Guillaume told Charlotte that writing fewer than ten thousand words a day was a crime and threatened to reclaim the Queen Bee after the war.
• Anne approached Charlotte, joked that she was hunting him as a fugitive, and invited him to dance.
• Charlotte and Anne danced outside the banquet hall as nobles gathered to watch, while Antonio reflected on Anne's happiness with Charlotte.
• After the dance, Charlotte told Antonio he was escorting Anne to rest, then took her out of the palace to Baker Street 221B.
• Anne arranged for food and drinks so she and Charlotte could celebrate alone.

After Anne’s dazzling appearance at the imperial ball, Emperor McLean mourned his wife and resolved to protect their children. Charlotte returned to his old home, welcomed Agon into his service, and was summoned to the palace.

• McLean visited his wife’s grave, reflected on Anne and Charlotte, and vowed to protect their two children.
• Charlotte sent Anne back to the imperial palace and returned to Champs-Élysées Avenue Number 58.
• Agon arrived with Herolf and pledged lifelong service to Charlotte after observing his actions and speaking with the Black Dragon.
• Herolf reminded Charlotte that Gareth was already among his Saint Ranks, making Agon the eighth.
• A eunuch arrived to summon Charlotte to the palace on the Emperor’s orders.

Charlotte and his subordinates paid respects to the newly enthroned Emperor Brittany, received rewards and government appointments, then returned to Falcon Street Number One for a celebratory banquet. The chapter ended with Hermontha telling Charlotte that she had advanced to Transcendence and was engaged to Dobbin.

• Charlotte realized he had forgotten to count Vigo among his nine Saint Rank subordinates.
• Charlotte and the West Wind Knight Regiment’s core members paid respects to Emperor Brittany, who appointed Charlotte Director of the Central Government Office and Anne head of the Military Law Enforcement Department.
• Charlotte appointed Belisa Chief Inspector of the Lucavaro District City Patrol, Anastasia Lucavaro District Political Affairs Bureau Director, and Dorothy administrative officer of Machu Picchu.
• Charlotte returned to Falcon Street Number One and hosted a banquet for his subordinates.
• Hermontha told Charlotte that she had advanced to Transcendence and accepted Dobbin’s marriage proposal, and Charlotte congratulated them and promised to attend their wedding.

Charlotte prepared a wedding gift for Hermontha and Dobbin, then left with Anne for her new ducal residence. Antonio arrived and told Charlotte that he would soon command an independent force into Black Phoenix while Antonio attacked from the front.

• Charlotte chose the Anti-Space Long-Range Rifle and two boxes of Demon-Breaking Armor-Piercing Bullets as a wedding gift for Hermontha and Dobbin.
• Anne arrived at the City Patrol office, and Charlotte left with her for her ducal residence on Second Avenue.
• Anne showed Charlotte the residence and said she would ask her father to connect it to the neighboring house.
• Antonio visited Anne and Charlotte, promised to send her belongings, and said they would depart within three days.
• Antonio told Charlotte to lead troops from Mecklen County into Black Phoenix while he attacked on the frontal battlefield.

Charlotte attended Dobbin and Hermontha’s grand wedding, returned to his newly named Mecklen County, and launched a rapid campaign into the Black Phoenix Dynasty. He captured Chloe and twenty-eight cities, leaving the allied armies of the Four Great Empires still on their way to the front.

• Dobbin and Hermontha married in a lavish ceremony attended by Charlotte, Anne, Crown Prince Antonio, and many other nobles.
• Charlotte reorganized the West Wind Knight Regiment, returned to his territory, and established it as Mecklen County.
• Emperor Brittany announced an alliance of Fars, Inglima, Byron, and the Lionheart Dynasty against the Black Phoenix Dynasty.
• Charlotte ambushed and captured Chloe, persuaded most of his troops to surrender, and sent the holdouts to Cappadocia City.
• Charlotte led the West Wind Knight Regiment into Black Phoenix territory and captured twenty-eight cities and four Saint Ranks in just over a month.
• Black Phoenix’s royal family and nobles argued bitterly over whether to keep fighting or seek peace.

Charlotte weighed whether to pause his invasion of the Black Phoenix Dynasty, but Gareth proposed seizing Thessaly to control the route to the Northern Frontier. The plan left Charlotte eager to convene another council, while Gareth began cultivating the Blood Butcher and Channing Falcon powers under his father’s guidance.

• Black Dragon urged Charlotte to stop advancing and hold the occupied lands, but Charlotte insisted on taking more of the Black Phoenix Dynasty’s fertile territory.
• Charlotte asked whether the four captured Black Phoenix Saint Ranks would surrender, and Gareth said they still refused; Charlotte rejected Gareth’s suggestion to kill one of them.
• After the council dispersed, Gareth proposed capturing Thessaly, an autonomous territory guarding the Black Dragon Strait and the route to the Northern Frontier.
• Charlotte was persuaded by Gareth’s plan and decided to call another military council the next day to discuss capturing Thessaly.
• Gareth described his dangerous difficulty controlling his Saint Rank power, and Charlotte encouraged him to cultivate the Blood Butcher and Beast God Transformation techniques.
• Gareth reported awakening Blood Butcher Battle Qi and transforming into a Channing Falcon Person, while Charlotte privately hoped the Blood Butcher would make him a powerful guard.

Charlotte tested his Channing Falcon Person transformation and chose Thessaly as his next target, then received Andreus, who had come from Black Phoenix. Andreus revealed his distress over his father and Count Brittany as he prepared to fight alongside Charlotte.

• Charlotte transformed into a Channing Falcon Person, awakened Eagle Eye, and then returned to human form.
• Charlotte decided to take Thessaly and considered how to split the coalition army of four noble domains between his territory and the target.
• Charlotte reflected on his cautious approach to war and his preference for protecting his soldiers, even at the cost of missing opportunities.
• Charlotte learned that a visitor from Black Phoenix was an old acquaintance and discovered that the visitor was Andreus.
• Andreus ate noodles with Charlotte and said he had never expected to fight alongside him, then wept over his father and Count Brittany.

Charlotte recruited Andreus into his cause without making him change his surname, then assigned him to persuade captured Black Phoenix nobles to surrender. As Charlotte prepared to take Thessaly, a four-nation alliance invaded Black Phoenix, and three nobles grew terrified after he threatened them with war.

• Andreus told Charlotte he did not want to become a vampire or join him, but Charlotte welcomed him and promised he could keep his surname.
• Andreus agreed not to fight against Black Phoenix and accepted Charlotte's assignment to persuade captured Saint Ranks to surrender and care for the prisoners.
• Charlotte's military meeting approved sending surrender letters to four Black Phoenix nobles, but news arrived that armies from four nations had already invaded Black Phoenix along more than twenty routes.
• Three nobles offered to surrender with conditions, while a baron killed Charlotte's messenger and vowed to fight; Charlotte demanded unconditional surrender and threatened to destroy the three nobles' clans.
• The three nobles were frightened by Charlotte's threat, influenced by rumors that his opponents disappeared or were eaten by his orc army.

Charlotte bluffed the four nobles blocking his advance into surrendering, then took control of their territories and Knight Orders. With only Thessaly left before him, he offered Baron Merimée Mesu a chance to surrender, but she refused.

• Baron Exon insisted that Charlotte’s military record was fabricated, until documents revealed Viscount Constantine’s treason and exposed the nobles’ willingness to surrender.
• Baron Exon swore loyalty to Count Mecklen, and Count Nottingham, Count Barnett, and Viscount Angelo agreed to welcome Charlotte’s forces.
• Charlotte accepted the four nobles’ surrender, promised to protect their titles, wealth, and lands, and took control of their Knight Orders.
• The nobles saw Andreus and nine Saint Rank experts, including Kratos, and realized Viscount Constantine and his son had joined Charlotte.
• Charlotte advanced toward Thessaly and sent Baron Merimée Mesu an offer to surrender, but she rejected it.

Charlotte’s army captured Thessaly after he rejected Grand Duchess Mesu’s demand to withdraw and ordered an attack. With the city secured, Andreus reported that Mesu’s Northern Fleet was approaching, and Charlotte told him to keep the news quiet.

• Baron Merimée Mesu told Charlotte’s army that Thessaly had returned to Grand Duchess Mesu’s command and demanded that it withdraw.
• Charlotte killed the messenger with a thrown lance and ordered his army to attack Thessaly.
• Andreus killed Baron Merimée after the baron pleaded for his life, and Thessaly’s defenders surrendered to Charlotte’s forces.
• Charlotte’s men executed a captured officer who refused to surrender, then Charlotte prepared to take possession of Thessaly’s fleet.
• Andreus reported that Mesu’s Northern Fleet was sailing toward Thessaly, and Charlotte asked him not to mention it to anyone.

Duchess Mesu sailed on Thessaly with the Northern Fleet, intending to reclaim the north, but found Charlotte Mecklenburg already holding the city. Charlotte revealed his Saint Rank forces and used the Golden Ring to summon the Holy Light Divine Kingdom, setting up a confrontation between legendary warships.

• Duchess Mesu planned to seize Thessaly and restore her family's power in the north with the Northern Fleet.
• A subordinate told Duchess Mesu that Thessaly flew Charlotte Mecklenburg's flag, so she sent her daughter Adora to order Charlotte to withdraw.
• Adora met Charlotte at Thessaly's walls, and they recognized each other as Sheffield University graduates before discussing the Mesu Family's claim to the territory.
• Charlotte summoned his Saint Ranks and showed Adora that his force outnumbered the Mesu Family's thirteen Saint Ranks by one.
• Charlotte threw the Golden Ring into the sea, unleashing colossal waves that pushed the Northern Fleet back before the Holy Light Divine Kingdom emerged unharmed.

Charlotte faced Grand Duchess Mesu, who demanded Thessaly in exchange for helping him attack Black Phoenix City. After weighing the opportunity, he proposed that they join forces to capture the capital and protect their territories together, leaving Mesu to consider his offer.

• Charlotte showed Adora the summoned Holy Light Divine Kingdom, and she was impressed by him.
• Grand Duchess Mesu arrived and recalled that she had investigated Charlotte, while he learned that Emperor Brittany had also looked into his past.
• Mesu demanded Thessaly and offered ten Saint Ranks to help Charlotte attack Black Phoenix City.
• Charlotte examined the map and recognized that the Black Phoenix forces had left the capital's defenses exposed.
• Charlotte proposed an alliance with Mesu to seize the greatest spoils of war and defend their territories together, and Mesu fell silent to consider it.

Charlotte secured Duchess Mesu’s alliance and advanced on Black Phoenix City, using a deceptive plan to smuggle his forces inside. He entered the city with his Saint Ranks and considered how to carry out the Serpent of Destiny’s task there.

• Charlotte and Duchess Mesu signed an alliance pact, and she lent him ten Saint Ranks led by her daughter Adora Mesu.
• Charlotte took Thessaly’s fleet and Knight Order, split the West Wind Knight Regiment, and continued toward Black Phoenix City.
• Charlotte recruited six captured Saint Ranks to warn their friends and relatives about a false attack plan, which prompted Black Phoenix’s defenders to prepare an ambush elsewhere.
• Charlotte disguised his troops as Black Phoenix residents and smuggled more than ten thousand soldiers into the city without detection.
• Charlotte entered Black Phoenix City with his Saint Ranks and remembered his task to leave the Serpent of Destiny’s mark in the city’s righteous god buildings.

Charlotte and the West Wind Knight Regiment captured Black Phoenix City and began consolidating their control, but a battle report revealed that Georgiadi Hadrian had routed the Four-Nation Alliance Army at the front. The chapter left Charlotte shaken by Georgiadi’s sudden rise as a renowned general.

• Charlotte sent dozens of Saint Ranks and infiltrated West Wind Knight Regiment troops to seize the Black Phoenix Palace, where they captured Emperor Yannis Hadrian and the imperial family.
• Charlotte ordered the imperial family sent to Strasbourg, assigned Kratos to guard the palace, and sent Black Dragon to open the city gates for his army.
• Charlotte ordered Senior Adora to demand the city’s nobles submit, then occupied Black Phoenix City and sent resisting nobles and their families to Machu Picchu and Strasbourg.
• Charlotte waited for the Black Phoenix army dispatched to ambush him, but received a report that Georgiadi Hadrian had led raids that killed eleven Saint Ranks and forced the Four-Nation Alliance Army to retreat.

Count Georgiadi Hadrian routed the Four-Nation Alliance Army and rushed back to defend Black Phoenix City, where Charlotte used Emperor Yannis Hadrian as a hostage to demand his surrender. Georgiadi appeared to yield, but Yannis then ordered his rescuers to protect him while he escaped, and Georgiadi reluctantly agreed.

• Count Georgiadi Hadrian defeated the Inglima, Fars, and Byron armies in succession, forcing Baldwin Asa to withdraw.
• Charlotte learned Georgiadi might return to Black Phoenix City and ordered the old Lizardman to bring Yannis Hadrian back from Machu Picchu.
• Georgiadi abandoned the front and hurried back to reinforce Black Phoenix City, prompting Charlotte to activate its defensive barrier.
• Charlotte displayed Yannis Hadrian and demanded that Georgiadi surrender, and Yannis shouted for him to surrender to Count Mecklen.
• Georgiadi agreed to surrender and asked Charlotte to lower the barrier so he could approach Yannis.
• After the barrier descended, Yannis ordered the Saint Ranks to protect him while he escaped, and Georgiadi reluctantly agreed.

Georgiadi Hadrian killed Emperor Yannis Hadrian and launched an assault on Black Phoenix City, beginning a brutal battle between the two sides’ Saint Ranks. As Saint Ranks fell in large numbers, Charlotte’s grief and fury drove him from the seventeenth rank to the eighteenth.

• Charlotte warned Georgiadi Hadrian to keep away from Emperor Yannis Hadrian, but Georgiadi retreated and then hurled a Knight’s Lance through the Emperor and Black Phoenix City’s defensive barrier, killing Yannis.
• Georgiadi ordered his forces to attack the city, and Charlotte sent Kratos to fight with the Holy Light Divine Kingdom’s support as both sides’ Saint Ranks clashed.
• Baron Exon became the first Saint Rank to die, then Black Dragon used Blood Spirit Rhino to kill a Saint Rank from Georgiadi’s side.
• More Saint Ranks fell on both sides as Charlotte and the West Wind Knight Regiment fired into the battle, and the conflict became known as the Blood Rain War.
• As Charlotte watched his subordinates die, his twelfth Bloody Vortex opened and he broke through from the seventeenth rank to the eighteenth.

Charlotte’s forces and Georgiadi Hadrian’s army fought a brutal battle that lasted into the night, while Omibella recovered her memories and sent Amon to help his father. Charlotte used one of his remaining ancient paintings to summon the Labyrinth of Agmiras, unaware that the Voyage Log had promised, “Father, I can help you.”

• Kratos clashed with Georgiadi Hadrian as Black Dragon fought several Saint Ranks and the battle continued until nightfall.
• Georgiadi Hadrian vowed to kill Charlotte for destroying Black Phoenix City and killing his emperor, while Charlotte promised to make him regret killing his men.
• Vigo fell from the sky gravely wounded, and Charlotte arranged for medical officers to carry him away.
• Omibella remembered that Pendragon was her father, Charlot Mecklenburg was her husband, and Amon was her son, then lent Amon her strength and told him to help his father.
• Charlotte recalled his unused Labyrinth of Agmiras paintings and tore one apart, releasing labyrinth corridors and the aura of an evil god.
• A line on the final page of the Holy Kingdom of Light Voyage Log read, “Father, I can help you,” but Charlotte did not notice it.

Charlotte used the Labyrinth of Agmiras to strengthen the Infinite Mirror World, then watched Antonio's arrival turn the battle against Georgiadi Hadrian. After Black Phoenix City was secured, Charlotte prepared to defend it even from his allies.

• Charlotte repeatedly summoned Agmiras's labyrinths and had Georgiadi Hadrian shatter them, gaining the Mirror Shadow and Mirror Demon abilities as the Infinite Mirror World reached ×6.
• Charlotte failed to break through to Saint Rank, but Antonio arrived and joined Kratos to drive Georgiadi Hadrian from the battle.
• Georgiadi Hadrian withdrew toward the sea with Black Phoenix City's remaining elite after the Saint Rank fighters on both sides disengaged.
• Charlotte counted his losses and told Antonio that his growing force of Saint Rank experts reflected their just cause.
• Antonio warned Charlotte that their allies might contest their claim to Black Phoenix City, and Charlotte ordered his fighters to kill any Byronians, Ingrima People, or Lionheart Dynasty people who tried to enter.

Charlotte secured the loyalty of Black Phoenix’s remaining Saint Rank warriors and consolidated his position in Black Phoenix City. After Georgiadi Hadrian fled overseas and Black Phoenix’s nobles followed, Charlotte seized most of the dynasty’s core counties, prompting the Four-Nation Alliance to arrange a conference to divide the territory.

• Charlotte offered compensation for Xunsa’s death and promised protection for the families of the fallen, declaring several dead warriors’ families retainers of the Mecklen Family.
• The four remaining Black Phoenix Saint Rank warriors swore loyalty to Charlotte, while Antonio’s support reassured the nobles.
• Georgiadi Hadrian seized Black Phoenix’s last naval force, left the Old Continent, and announced that he would establish a new nation.
• Black Phoenix nobles fled with their wealth to join Hadrian, and Charlotte’s West Wind Knight Regiment occupied eleven of the dynasty’s twelve core counties.
• The Four-Nation Alliance’s armies encountered Charlotte’s forces in Nordak County, and Emperor Brittany joined with his future son-in-law.
• Lamorak called for a four-nation conference to divide Black Phoenix, and Emperor Brittany agreed to hold it in Black Phoenix City while the armies remained in place.

Adora bid farewell to Charlotte after joining Byron, and Charlotte was appointed chief coordinator for the Four-Nation Alliance conference on dividing Black Phoenix. While preparing for the negotiations, he inspected the captured Legendary Warship Dolmabahçe and decided to let the injured Vigo recover aboard it.

• Adora gave Charlotte an evil god statue, and Charlotte sent her off with a Magic Alchemical Warship, ten other warships, and Black Phoenix naval personnel who refused to surrender to Fars.
• Charlotte was appointed Chief Coordinator of the Four-Nation Alliance Conference on Dividing Black Phoenix and arranged accommodations for the delegates with help from Antonio.
• Delegations led by Count D'Artagnan and Count Galanod for Fars, Count Lamorak for Inglima, Juno Arthur and Count Constantine for Byron, and Brunhild Asa and Conroe for Lionheart arrived in Black Phoenix City.
• Before the conference began, Charlotte inspected Dolmabahçe, Black Phoenix's captured Legendary Warship, known as the Shame of the Legendary Warships for its poor combat record.
• Charlotte decided to place Dolmabahçe under Vigo's command so the injured Flame Holy Knight could recover in comfort.