Chapter Summaries

At Lady Nanny Brittany Axel’s funeral, Charlotte wished for Anne’s lasting safety and happiness, unknowingly making a wish whose significance would emerge twelve years later. Outside Strasbourg, Sophia Garland and Menilman arrived too late to affect the succession and withdrew, while Menilman envied Anne’s place beside Charlotte.

• Charlotte attended Lady Nanny Brittany Axel’s funeral with Anne and wished for Anne to live safely and free from misfortune, taking on a debt of thirty-two portions of Joy of Destiny.
• After the funeral, McLean stayed behind with his wife, while Charlotte brought the grieving Anne back to Baker Street 221B and held her as she slept.
• Sophia Garland learned she had reached Strasbourg after the fighting ended and that her father had supported McLean Brittany as the next ruler.
• Sophia ordered her forces to retreat to the sea, and Menilman decided her forces should return as well because they had arrived too late.
• As Menilman left Strasbourg, she thought of Charlotte and wished she could trade places with Anne.

Charlotte reorganized his forces and took control of Imperial records, where he discovered that Captain Huntington had disappeared during a riot in Kilmainham Prison’s hidden Demiplane. The chapter left Charlotte worried about what had happened to Zimmerman Axel Robin, whose true identity only he and Menilman might know.

• Charlotte arranged the transfer of the eleven Red Dragon Sea cities to Antonio’s people, relocated their residents, and prepared for his planned expedition to challenge Agmilas.
• Charlotte expanded and reorganized the West Wind Knight Regiment, deployed elite forces to Sedona City, and planned to capture Chloe alive if possible.
• Charlotte found documents showing the Imperial Rose Fleet and East Wind Fleet had sworn allegiance, then drafted rewards for Menilman and Sophia Garland.
• Charlotte searched top-secret Imperial records and discovered that more than a dozen prisoners, including Captain Huntington, had gone missing after a riot in Kilmainham Prison’s Demiplane.
• Charlotte realized Captain Huntington was Zimmerman Axel Robin and wondered whether his disappearance was connected to the Demiplane’s secrets.

Charlotte followed Whispers of Destiny’s instruction to burn a secret document about Zimmerman, then made plans to tell Antonio. He promoted Dobbin and rewarded his old adventuring companions, discussed marriage with Anne, and sensed someone following him as he drove away.

• Charlotte burned the top-secret document after the Golden Serpent Ring directed him to destroy it, and decided to tell Antonio about Zimmerman’s escape.
• Charlotte drafted documents promoting Dobbin to Lucavaro District City Patrol Commander and advancing his original adventuring companions by three ranks each.
• Charlotte met Anne at Baker Street 221B, and they agreed to marry one month after His Majesty’s ascension.
• Anne told Charlotte that her father had given her Prince Redmir’s residence and suggested they move there after their marriage.
• Charlotte escorted Anne to 58 Sixth Avenue, then sensed someone following him as he drove away in Dark Luxury.

Charlotte captured Mortensen Tim, an Evil God Candidate who had followed him, and learned that candidates of all Thirty-Six Great Evil Gods could enter the Evil God Arena. Mortensen revealed that souls could strengthen evil god power and taught Charlotte the Evil Eye spell, which resembled the Beast God Transformation Technique and Cat's Mask.

• Charlotte ordered Old Goat to capture Mortensen Tim after spotting him following the carriage.
• Mortensen confessed that he was a candidate of Flame Evil God Anululu and had followed Charlotte hoping to seize his evil god power.
• Charlotte learned that candidates of all Thirty-Six Great Evil Gods could enter the Evil God Arena, making it more dangerous than he had thought.
• Mortensen claimed souls fueled evil gods and said killing people could increase evil god power, though he could not bring himself to kill.
• Mortensen recited the Evil Eye spell, and Charlotte noticed that it could strip souls and memories and had similarities to the Beast God Transformation Technique and Cat's Mask.

Charlotte spared Mortensen Tim and recruited him into the West Wind Knight Regiment, then reconsidered how to strengthen himself and returned to Saint Michael's Island. There, the Holy Light Divine Kingdom offered to recognize him as its master if he gathered four rare ingredients.

• Charlotte explained the risks of Evil Eye and decided not to devour souls for power.
• Charlotte ordered Mortensen Tim to join the West Wind Knight Regiment or die, and Mortensen Tim agreed.
• Mortensen Tim received a City Patrol uniform, a weapon, and official identity papers, then learned Charlotte was Count Charlot Mecklenburg, the new emperor's son-in-law.
• Charlotte resolved to improve the Infinite Mirror World before pursuing further strength and traveled through it to Saint Michael's Island.
• Charlotte visited the sixth level of the underground labyrinth, where the Holy Light Divine Kingdom demanded Sugi's fangs, the King of Whales' tears, branches of the Ancient Modoro Tree, and peak Saint Rank blood in exchange for acknowledging him as its master.

Charlotte explored the Holy Light Divine Kingdom, learned that its shipboard intelligence was named Amon and claimed Omibella as its mother, and discovered a sea chart showing where to find three items the warship needed. He fled when the Divine Creature beneath the ship awakened and the vessel began repairing itself.

• Charlotte found that six of the Holy Light Divine Kingdom’s demands had been fulfilled and identified four remaining requests, including blood from a peak Saint Rank and three rare items.
• Charlotte entered the captain’s cabin, where the voyage log demanded a goat, then Joy of Destiny, and finally five hundred Evil Spirit crew members.
• The voyage log identified itself as Amon and said Omibella was its mother, though she refused to admit it.
• Amon revealed that the captain’s sea chart marked locations for Great Sea Serpent Mother Sugi’s venomous fang, the King of Whales’ tear, and a branch of the Ancient Modoro Tree.
• Charlotte memorized the coordinates, fled into a Magic Mirror as the Divine Creature beneath the ship awakened, and saw the Holy Light Divine Kingdom repair itself.

Charlotte returned home and fell asleep, where he met Juno Arthur, Byron’s strongest Blood Kindred, who offered to train him in the House of Arthur Secret Method. Juno explained that he had helped Charlotte before and accepted his Bloody Glory cultivation because the Blood Kindred faced a severe population decline.

• Charlotte returned to Champs-Élysées Avenue Number 58, played with his three Clever Cats, and fell asleep on the sofa.
• Charlotte dreamed of meeting the mysterious voice that had once helped him understand the Blood Kindred True Word Technique.
• Juno Arthur revealed himself as Byron’s strongest Blood Kindred and asked why Charlotte had not seriously studied the House of Arthur Secret Method.
• Juno said he had helped Charlotte before and explained that he had known him for some time through his old friendship with Count Brittany and Constantine.
• Juno revealed that Constantine had joined the plan to carve up the Black Phoenix Dynasty and would become Byron’s Count Constantine.
• Juno offered to train Charlotte and explained that the Blood Kindred accepted his Bloody Glory cultivation because their dwindling population threatened their survival.

Juno Arthur taught Charlotte the Blood Bat Technique, then began instructing him in House of Arthur’s Blood Explosion Technique. Charlotte learned how the technique could turn enemies’ life force into Vampiric Bullets, and the chapter left him continuing his training.

• Juno Arthur explained that Charlotte could still have children because he had not condensed a Blood Core, then taught him the Blood Bat Technique.
• Charlotte recorded the Blood Bat Technique in the Blood Kindred True Word Technique and went to the Central Government Office, where he slept after a draining night of study.
• Anne learned that Juno Arthur was the strongest vampire and took the exhausted Charlotte home to rest.
• Juno Arthur taught Charlotte the Blood Explosion Technique in the grassland dream, demonstrating how it manipulated an enemy’s blood.
• Juno Arthur showed Charlotte how to turn enemies’ life force into Vampiric Bullets, and Charlotte spent the night training.

Charlotte trained in House of Arthur’s Gun-Fu under Juno Arthur, who exposed the weaknesses in Charlotte’s combat skills through repeated gunfights. Antonio then told Charlotte that Zimmerman was still alive and revealed that five members of the royal family had helped him fight Zimmerman, leaving the story with the surviving conspirators in danger.

• Charlotte spent several days training in the Blood Explosion Technique and House of Arthur Gun-Fu under Juno Arthur.
• Juno began actual-combat training and repeatedly shot Charlotte by exploiting gaps in his defenses and anticipating his moves.
• Charlotte woke with severe pain in his knees and realized that using the Agility Technique left them vulnerable to gunfire.
• Antonio visited Charlotte with Anne and said that Zimmerman was still alive and might seek revenge on the six people who had fought him.
• Antonio revealed that Wood Brandon had been involved and that the other five people who besieged Zimmerman, besides Antonio, were members of the royal family.

Charlotte learned more about Zimmerman’s disappearance and received a gift from Juno Arthur: his blood, which could transform someone into a vampire of the House of Arthur. Charlotte used the blood on Omibella, restoring the Holy Light Divine Kingdom and binding it to his Golden Ring before leaving Saint Michael’s Island.

• Antonio recounted how Wood Brandon and five royal Saint Rank experts had failed to defeat Zimmerman, and Anne suggested investigating whether anyone had recently left Kilmainham Prison.
• Antonio hurried off to check prison records, while Charlotte escorted Anne home and encountered Juno, who gave him a box containing his blood.
• Charlotte used Whispers of Destiny to guide his decision to take Juno Arthur’s blood to the Holy Light Divine Kingdom on Saint Michael’s Island.
• Charlotte poured the blood over Omibella, who absorbed it and transformed the Holy Light Divine Kingdom into a streak of light that entered Charlotte’s Golden Ring.
• Charlotte put on the ring that controlled the Holy Light Divine Kingdom and left the sixth-level labyrinth and Saint Michael’s Island.

Juno ended Charlotte’s practical shooting training and taught him how to create Blood Butchers and establish the Primal Blood Boundary before leaving for Byron. After Charlotte reunited with Anne, they spotted a prince’s convoy bearing the Golden Pheasant Tail Flower crest.

• Juno told Charlotte that his practical shooting training was over and began teaching him to create Blood Butchers, whose greatest use was setting up the Primal Blood Boundary.
• Charlotte realized that gathering Blood Butchers’ power might let him use the Blood Spirit Rhino longer and help him fight a low-level Saint Rank.
• Juno revealed that he had to return to Byron because the alliance had formed and a problem needed his attention, then finished teaching Charlotte foundational House of Arthur spells and invited him to visit.
• Charlotte left Juno’s Dreamscape and joked with Anne about skipping work before they went out to eat together.
• Charlotte and Anne saw an imposing convoy marked with the Golden Pheasant Tail Flower crest pass their restaurant window and realized it belonged to a prince.

Charlotte and Anne followed Prince Avery’s convoy to the imperial palace, where Avery revealed that Midafis had driven him from his territory and asked Count Brittany for help. After Count Brittany promised to support him, Avery surprised Charlotte by offering to adopt him as his son and give him the Axel name, leaving Charlotte unsure how to respond.

• Charlotte and Anne followed Prince Avery’s convoy to the imperial palace, where Antonio came out to receive him.
• Antonio brought the badly injured Avery to Old Count Brittany, who gave him a healing potion.
• Avery explained that Midafis had wounded him in a duel and forced him to flee his territory with his family.
• Old Count Brittany promised to help Avery reclaim his lost lands, and Avery welcomed his support.
• Avery asked whether Charlotte would take the Axel name and become his adopted son, leaving Charlotte uncertain how to answer.

Old Count Brittany ordered Antonio and Charlotte to campaign against Duke Mosreid, setting the stage for an alliance to divide Black Phoenix. Anne joined the expedition, and the group departed with a large force after she arranged for Miss Pumpkin, her unicorn deer carriage beast, to accompany them.

• Old Count Brittany overruled Prince Avery's attempt to involve Charlotte in the succession and ordered Antonio and Charlotte to bring back Mosreid's head.
• Prince Avery offered his two youngest daughters as guides, hoping one would marry Antonio, and Old Count Brittany ordered the expedition to set out that day.
• Anne asked to accompany Charlotte, and he agreed to bring enough guards and troops to protect her.
• Antonio selected twenty Knights while Charlotte summoned additional Saint Ranks and a West Wind Knight Regiment.
• Prince Avery's daughters joined the group, and Anne had her unicorn deer, Miss Pumpkin, brought to the expedition.
• Antonio and Charlotte joined their forces, and the contingent left Strasbourg as an army of several thousand warriors.

Charlotte led a powerful force toward Prince Avery’s invaded territory, sending Antonio ahead with four Saint Ranks while keeping Anne protected. At camp, Sarah and Renee envied Anne for having an aunt whose interference had brought her together with Charlotte.

• Charlotte marched with seven Saint Ranks and the West Wind Knight Regiment, while Sarah and Renee struggled to keep up on horseback.
• Charlotte sent Antonio ahead with Qiudro, Vigo, Aspros, and Regulus, and Anne arranged a military carriage for Sarah and Renee.
• Charlotte and Anne ate grilled meat and flatbread with the two Axel sisters at the evening camp.
• After Charlotte left the tent, Sarah told Anne that noble girls envied her, and Anne credited her aunt for causing her misunderstanding with Mr. Mecklen.
• Renee said she wanted an aunt like Anne’s, and Sarah agreed that every noble girl wanted one.

Charlotte left the camp to deliver five hundred Evil Spirit crew members to Amon, then returned and advanced his Bloody Glory cultivation. He tested the Blood Butcher Seed on Sea Serpent King, though the former pirate’s transformation showed little immediate change.

• Anne chatted with Sarah and Renee, who both recognized that they had little chance of winning Charlotte’s attention.
• Charlotte ran more than ten kilometers, summoned the Holy Light Divine Kingdom, and watched five hundred orc Labyrinth Guardians board the Legendary Warship for Amon.
• The voyage log praised Charlotte for keeping his word, while Omibella murmured his name before he forcibly stored away the warship.
• Charlotte returned to camp and condensed his eleventh Bloody Vortex, advancing from the Fifteenth Order to the Sixteenth Order.
• Charlotte gathered his Bloody Glories to form the Blood Butcher Seed and implanted it in Sea Serpent King, but the former pirate’s transformation was not yet obvious.

Charlotte’s army reached the Kingdom of Oslo and joined Antonio in a massive assault on Duke Mosred’s allied forces. Mosred resisted, and the battle continued as Cresto prepared to join Antonio against him.

• Charlotte abandoned his plan to quickly turn Labyrinth Guardians into Blood Servants and led his troops onward the next morning.
• Charlotte learned that Mosred had forced neighboring nobles to join the Kingdom of Oslo and gathered their Knight Orders into an allied army.
• Antonio admitted he had been unable to break through Mosred’s defenses, and Charlotte backed his plan to attack with their eight Saint Ranks.
• Antonio led the army’s assault, prompting Mosred and the other nobles to rally their Knight Orders and meet the charge.
• Antonio and Mosred clashed, and Mosred rejected Antonio’s offer to surrender because the rebels who killed the Emperor would not be spared.
• Cresto drew his sword and prepared to join Antonio in the fight against Mosred.

Kratos and Antonio confronted the incarnation of Flame Evil God Anululu after Gareth summoned it to aid Mosreid. As the other Saint Ranks withdrew, Mosreid led the Kingdom of Oslo’s Knight Order in a full-scale charge.

• Kratos prepared to unleash Sigh of the Radiant God, but Gareth transformed into smoke and summoned an Evil God, forcing Kratos to hold back his ultimate move.
• Charlotte recognized the smoke’s aura as belonging to Anululu and ordered the Labyrinth Guardians to evacuate Anne and the two Axel ladies while he stayed behind.
• Anululu appeared as a colossal flame giant, and Antonio attacked it with his Dragon-Beating Staff while Kratos struck it with a Great Radiant Cross Slash.
• Kratos recalled his slash and combined it with a second strike, while Antonio used his magic and battle aura to keep fighting Anululu.
• Mosreid drove the Kingdom of Oslo’s Knight Order into a full-scale charge as the war intensified.

Charlotte brought the Holy Light Divine Kingdom onto the battlefield to save the Brittany Family's Knight Order and the West Wind Knight Regiment from Mosred's charge, awakening Omibella beneath the ship. As Mosred and Gareth turned their attacks toward the warship, Charlotte swore to destroy the Mosred Family, while Antonio and Kratos tried to stop the Flame Evil God's incarnation.

• Charlotte rushed between the Knight Orders, summoned the Holy Light Divine Kingdom, and ordered the Brittany Family's Knights and the West Wind Knight Regiment aboard.
• Omibella opened her eyes beneath the ship, and Mosred's Knights who approached its radiance were turned into bloody mist.
• Mosred struck the Holy Light Divine Kingdom but failed to break its barrier, while Charlotte warned everyone aboard to avoid the bow's Magic Array and cabins.
• Charlotte saw his soldiers suffering heavy losses and swore before the Nine Righteous Gods to erase the Mosred Family and abandon the Mecklen name if he failed.
• Mosred ordered Gareth to attack the warship, and the Flame Evil God's incarnation pressed a palm toward it as Antonio and Kratos fought to stop him.

Charlotte’s forces took shelter aboard the Holy Light Divine Kingdom as the battle raged between Omibella and Anululu, while Amon released blood bats to devour the dead. Mosred recognized Omibella as Pandragon’s daughter and realized House Mosred had provoked a dangerous enemy.

• Omibella attacked Anululu with a torrent of golden runes, and their clash devastated Mosred’s Knight Order.
• Mosred withdrew his surviving knights while Charlotte brought the remaining Brittany and West Wind forces aboard the Holy Light Divine Kingdom, followed by Vigo.
• Amon asked Charlotte for permission to devour the battle’s dead, and Charlotte agreed.
• Blood bats emerged from the ship, fed on fallen soldiers, and poisoned dozens of Mosred’s retreating knights.
• Mosred identified Omibella as the daughter of Pandragon, the Blood Progenitor of House of Arthur, and feared the consequences of challenging Charlotte.

Charlotte discovered that the Holy Light Divine Kingdom was turning his Labyrinth Guardians into Blood Servants and began planting Blood Butcher Seeds in its Evil Spirit crew. Meanwhile, the black dragon used the Blood Spirit Rhino to locate Gareth inside Anululu and charged into the Flame Evil God’s body to attack him.

• Charlotte examined the returning Labyrinth Guardians and found that the Holy Light Divine Kingdom was transforming them into Blood Servants.
• Charlotte planted Blood Butcher Seeds in several Evil Spirit crewmen and planned to test them on all five hundred.
• The five Saint Ranks from the Kingdom of Oslo withdrew rather than fight beside an Evil God, while Antonio and Kratos continued weakening Anululu.
• The black dragon borrowed Charlotte’s Blood Spirit Rhino and used it to pierce Anululu until it struck something solid.
• The black dragon called for Antonio and Kratos to open a path, then charged into Anululu and found Gareth with his eyes closed.