Chapter Summaries

The black dragon wounded Gareth and sent a Blood Spirit Rhino into his stomach, allowing Flame Evil God Anululu to overwhelm his soul. As the evil god’s incarnation fled and Charlotte pursued it with the Saint Ranks, Charlotte ordered them to drive it into the Black Phoenix’s territory.

• The black dragon pierced Gareth with Charlotte’s Magic Rapier and forced him to swallow the Blood Spirit Rhino.
• The Blood Spirit Rhino drained Gareth’s battle aura, and Anululu seized the opening to erode his soul.
• The black dragon escaped the evil god’s incarnation and told Antonio and Kratos that Gareth was finished.
• Anululu’s incarnation broke away from the Holy Light Divine Kingdom and fled, while Charlotte mounted Herolf and led the Saint Ranks in pursuit.
• After the incarnation ran hundreds of kilometers and left a trail of fire, Charlotte ordered the pursuers to force it into the Black Phoenix’s territory.

Lady Black Moon appeared before Charlotte and the others, then empowered Antonio to fight Flame Evil God Anululu. Charlotte gained spirituality and advanced to Seventeenth Order, but the strain of focusing on the goddess left him collapsing with a greatly strengthened Agility Technique.

• Anululu stopped at the Black Phoenix Dynasty's border, and Lady Black Moon emerged from the darkness as Charlotte and the others knelt before her.
• Lady Black Moon commanded Antonio to kill Anululu, and his Dragon-Beating Staff transformed into a Black Knight's Lance that let him battle the Evil God evenly.
• Charlotte watched Lady Black Moon and gained enough spirituality to advance from Sixteenth Order to Seventeenth Order.
• Charlotte struggled to keep his thoughts reverent and avoid offending Lady Black Moon, then collapsed as his Bloody Vortex gained three Agility Technique runes.
• Charlotte realized that his Agility Technique, combined with the red and blue Rattlesnakes, could exceed ×12.

Antonio reached the Twenty-Fourth Order with Lady Black Moon’s blessing and dealt the decisive blow against Flame Evil God Anululu’s incarnation. After Lady Black Moon returned to her divine kingdom, the old Lizardman returned the Blood Spirit Rhino to Charlotte, who noticed it held two cores.

• Antonio broke through to the Twenty-Fourth Order as Lady Black Moon cut off Anululu’s power from the New Continent.
• Antonio pierced Anululu’s incarnation with Lady Black Moon’s aid, causing its giant body to collapse into a ball of fire.
• Lady Black Moon shrank Anululu’s remaining flames to a point and returned to her divine kingdom along a path of light.
• The old Lizardman brought the unconscious Gareth back and returned the Blood Spirit Rhino to Charlotte.
• Charlotte noticed that the Blood Spirit Rhino had two cores in its slots, including Dolian’s Saint Rank Blood Core and a dark-red, smoky core.

Charlotte returned to Rahma after the battle against the Flame Evil God's incarnation, then discovered that the two Miss Axels had disappeared while sheltering in Sunnysands. He learned that an adventuring party had fought their guards and left with extra captives, and set off in pursuit with the Black Dragon and Vigo.

• The Black Dragon explained that his scheme had made the Blood Spirit Rhino treasure Charlotte's by using it as the remains’ foundation.
• Charlotte and Antonio returned to the battlefield, rested their exhausted forces in Rahma, and Charlotte went to collect Anne and the two Miss Axels.
• Charlotte learned from Anne that the Miss Axels had left for better lodging in Sunnysands and never returned.
• Charlotte seized control of Sunnysands and organized its residents to search for the missing women.
• Residents reported that an adventuring party had fought the Over-the-Back Red Bear Warriors and left with extra people in its convoy, so Charlotte pursued them with the Black Dragon and Vigo.

Charlotte caught up with the adventuring party that had taken Sarah Axel and Renee Axel, refused to hear their explanations, and killed Malin and the rest of the party. He ordered the two sisters taken back, insisting that Malin had caused him trouble and could not be compared to him.

• Charlotte followed the trail with Vigo and another Saint Rank, then caught the adventuring party after a day and a half.
• Renee and Sarah tried to explain that they had left willingly, but Charlotte dismissed them and Malin challenged him to a duel.
• Charlotte overwhelmed Malin with his speed and killed him with a single strike from Mountain Breaker.
• Charlotte killed the rest of the adventuring party and ordered Vigo to take Sarah and Renee back.
• Renee accused Charlotte of stopping her sister and Malin from being together, and Charlotte defended his own relationship with Anne.

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.