Chapter Summaries

Charles killed the Splitfang Tribe's chieftain and launched an attack on the tribe's walls, where his summoned creatures and Thornstorm devastated the orc forces. The battle continued as his army advanced on the walls.

• Charles summoned an Astral Spirit Guard and killed the orc chieftain with Autumn Leaf Blade.
• Charles sent the Astral Spirit Guard toward the walls and summoned a Treant among the orcs.
• The Treant and Astral Spirit Guard engaged the orc chiefs as Charles's army prepared to attack and its archers began firing.
• Charles sent the Blood Ring Knights toward the walls and cast Thornstorm, which tore through the orcs despite the shamans' attempts to dispel it.

Charles conquered the Splitfang Tribe’s stronghold and its outposts, freeing human slaves and enslaving the Orcs. When the tribe’s envoy returned, Charles learned that the Orc Empire had no troops available to help.

• Charles’s Thornstorm and summoned forces devastated the Orc defenders, while his fireballs blasted open the city gate and his army captured the stronghold.
• Charles’s Blood Ring Knights led forces to seize the Splitfang Tribe’s outlying settlements, freeing human slaves and making the Orcs slaves.
• Charles’s forces captured the returning Orc envoy, who saw the corpses and bloodstains and realized the tribe had been conquered.
• Charles ordered the envoy beheaded, then stopped the execution when the envoy offered to talk.
• The envoy told Charles that the Orc Empire had no troops available to reinforce the Splitfang Tribe, and Charles said the information was nothing he did not already know.

Charles learned that the Orc Empire was too divided to support the Splitfang Tribe, while Graksh gathered orc forces at Bloodfang Fortress to fight the Giants. After reading Elendil’s hopes for the Avenor Elven Court’s succession, Charles warned him that conflict between pure-blooded elves and half-elves could become a war and urged him to seek safety in the Eternal Forest.

• Charles learned that the Orc Empire was consumed by internal power struggles and could not send support to the Splitfang Tribe.
• Graksh gathered orcs at Bloodfang Fortress and argued that the elves would not counterattack because they were preoccupied with the Moonshadow Queen’s death and succession.
• Charles read Elendil’s letter proposing Imril or an ancient tree lord as the next ruler of the Avenor Elven Court.
• Charles wrote to Elendil, warning that pure-blooded elves and half-elves might go to war and advising him to move his family to the Lotheran Royal Court.
• Charles offered to manage Elendil’s territory if Elendil returned to the Eternal Forest.

Elendil acted on Charles's warning that war between elves and half-elves was likely, and sent elven families from Verdant Crystal Domain toward the Eternal Forest. Meanwhile, Charles consolidated his control over the Splitfang Tribe and received Tyler and Zorge after the gnoll leader agreed to surrender.

• Elendil read Charles's letter, which reported his victories and warned that conflict between elves and half-elves could erupt.
• Elendil and the elven nobles agreed to send their families to the Eternal Forest, and he ordered an Azure Court lord to escort them.
• Selena pleaded to stay, but Elendil refused and the elven families departed for the Lotheran Royal Court.
• Charles freed former slaves, dealt with resisting orcs, and began recruiting captives into the Orc Blood-Pact Warband or selling those who refused.
• Tyler persuaded Zorge to surrender after the gnoll leader learned that Charles had defeated the Splitfang Tribe, and Zorge came to meet Charles with Tyler and his guards.

Charles received Zorge’s oath of loyalty and assessed the gnoll tribe’s poor, nomadic territory and its resources. He concluded that subduing the gnolls could still benefit him by supplying infantry and valuable earth elemental materials.

• Tyler introduced Zorge to Charles, and Zorge swore fealty on behalf of his entire gnoll tribe with a ritual of blood.
• Charles promised Zorge that all subjects in his territory would receive equal status, freedom, respect, and protection in return for taxes and soldiers.
• Zorge handed Charles a scroll detailing his tribe’s barren territory, where many gnolls survived by nomadic herding.
• Charles worried that taking in the impoverished gnolls might cost him money, then found that their territory produced earth elemental materials worth more in Isata.
• Charles decided that the gnolls would still be useful as infantry and that their materials made the submission worthwhile.

Charles secured Zorge’s pledge by promising aid and demanded three thousand gnoll warriors for his command. After consolidating his newly seized territories, he withdrew to Greenshade City to strengthen his rule and prepare for future opportunities.

• Charles promised Zorge farming instructors, food, tools, and slaves, and Zorge pledged loyalty and agreed to send three thousand elite gnolls.
• Charles told Tyler that he cared more about Zorge meeting his demands than about his sincerity, and explained that Tyler’s questionable loyalty kept him from important positions.
• Charles’s forces had taken five of the region’s six major powers, but his new territories remained unstable.
• Charles left Yvenjieling, troops, cavalry, and Blood Ring Knights to guard the Splitfang Tribe before returning to Greenshade City.
• Charles paused his expansion to rebuild and consolidate his rule, let tensions among the Giants, orcs, elves, and half-elves develop, and return to Isata to cultivate his talent.

Charles returned to Isata with Erika to recruit apprentices and wizards, hoping to build his own force and reduce his reliance on outside help. After selling materials and setting Erika to organize a training class, he visited Anderson’s tower and learned that Anderson was away running a kingdom.

• Charles left Osela and returned to Isata with Erika to begin recruiting students.
• Charles sold accumulated materials for roughly three million Magic Stones and asked Erika to recruit promising apprentices for a wizard trial training class.
• Charles explained that even newly trained wizards could help with rune refinement and equipment crafting.
• Charles visited Anderson’s tower to seek advice on training apprentices and learned Anderson was absent.
• A second-circle wizard told Charles that Anderson had allowed him to enter the plane to find him, since Anderson was now running a kingdom.

Charles returned to the ocean plane and learned that Anderson had conquered Klenze Island and established his rule there. As Charles traveled to meet his teacher, he discovered Anderson was still paying off the debt he had taken on to build the interplanar gate.

• Charles agreed to return to the ocean plane and noticed that Anderson's upgrades had reduced the teleportation cost to about eight thousand Magic Stones per person.
• Charles arrived at the relocated gate, met his former teacher Loran, and asked where Anderson was.
• Loran explained that Anderson's forces had conquered Klenze Island and destroyed the Klenze Kingdom.
• Charles learned that Anderson's conquest had earned him a great deal, but he still had not repaid the debt for buying the plane coordinates and building the gate.
• When Loran asked whether Charles had borrowed money too, Charles admitted that he had borrowed a huge sum.

Charles reunited with Anderson, who praised his rise to three-ring Grand Wizard and asked about how he obtained his otherworldly plane. Anderson then explained that advancing to four-ring Wizard Sage required academy and Wizard Throne approval, which depended on presenting a fourth-tier creature’s core.

• Loran brought Charles to Anderson, who praised Charles for becoming a three-ring Grand Wizard so quickly.
• Charles told Anderson how he had obtained his otherworldly plane, and Loran admitted she had been trying and failing to receive a summon from another plane.
• After sending Loran away, Anderson asked Charles for help and explained that three-ring Grand Wizards needed permission from the academy and Wizard Throne to advance.
• Anderson told Charles that an advancement application required a fourth-tier creature’s core, which the Wizard Plane consumed as certification and power.
• Charles learned that he would need to hunt a fourth-tier creature himself, since powerful Sages were unlikely to give away their valuable cores.

Anderson explained the political costs and service requirements for becoming a fourth-ring Sage, then asked Charles to help hunt a fourth-tier being in the minor plane. Charles agreed to join the hunt, leaving Anderson more confident about securing the core he needed.

• Anderson told Charles that advancing to fourth-ring Sage required a fourth-tier core and approval from more than half of Isata’s Wizard Sages, which meant paying substantial benefits.
• Anderson estimated that Webster’s faction’s influence could keep his costs to a little over twenty million Magic Stones, which he planned to save over time.
• Anderson explained that a new Sage also had to serve Isata for five hundred years, choosing between guarding its borders, fighting in its major-plane wars, or teaching its wizards.
• Anderson asked Charles to help hunt a fourth-tier being he had already targeted, saying the minor plane’s fourth-tier beings were weaker and he had prepared extensively.
• Charles agreed to help Anderson, who said hiring other Great Wizards could risk exposing the plane’s coordinates.

Anderson gave Charles three Abyssal Third-Ring spell scrolls to prepare for a planned hunt for a fourth-order creature, which could begin within two years. Charles also asked for help recruiting students to develop the Osela plane, and Anderson arranged for Loran and his other students to assist him.

• Anderson offered Charles a share of the fourth-order creatures he had identified and said he could help hunt one after advancing to the Fourth Ring.
• Charles worried that his combat strength was inadequate, so Anderson gave him scrolls for Abyssal Fire Scorch, Phase Claw, and False Gift to master before the hunt.
• Anderson said the hunt would not begin for up to two years, giving Charles time to prepare.
• Charles asked Anderson for help recruiting students for future plane-conquest operations.
• Anderson agreed to send Loran to Isata and have his other students recommend promising wizard apprentices to Charles.

Charles settled into a new tower in Isata, began recruiting wizard apprentices, and continued traveling between Isata and the Osela Plane to manage his responsibilities. As tensions rose between orcs and Giants and between elves and half-elves, Elendil recognized that he might need Charles’s protection.

• Charles visited Madam Boxi, confirmed that he had seen Anderson, and asked her to arrange help recruiting wizard apprentices.
• Charles bought a tower in the upper-middle levels of Isata, moved his cross-plane portal there, and strengthened the tower’s defenses.
• Loran and the other wizards searched for promising apprentices, while Charles prepared basic resources and equipment for candidates entering the Trial Plane.
• Charles traveled between Isata and the Osela Plane to study, manage his army and territory, and make partial interest payments to the Crimson Caravan Alliance.
• The war between the orcs and Giants intensified, while conflict between elves and half-elves spread beyond Elegy City.
• Elendil worried about the rising tensions and envied Charles’s expanding territory, realizing that he might need Charles’s help to stay safe.

Charles recruited students after the Trial Plane, attracting more than sixty apprentices by offering free demon bloodline fusion and related knowledge. He began preparing to fulfill his promises by summoning and sacrificing creatures to power a rune array.

• A third-circle grand wizard and several others, including Charles, addressed the apprentices to recruit students.
• Charles transformed into a Balor, briefly demonstrated his flames, and offered students free demon bloodline fusion and instruction.
• More than sixty apprentices applied to become Charles's students, and recruitment ended.
• Charles left Sage Webster and prepared to provide the promised bloodline fusions.
• Charles transformed into a Balor and began sacrificing Goblins to fill a summoning rune array while Flame Demons watched from nearby cages.

Charles summoned Flame Demons from the Bottomless Abyss and trapped them so he could extract their bloodline essence to make potions for his sixty-three rank-one wizard students. He planned to use the students as a fighting force in a coming battle on the Osela plane.

• Charles used Goblin blood, bodies, and souls as bait while summoning Flame Demons from the Bottomless Abyss.
• Charles deceived a Flame Demon into answering his summons, but it tried to flee after seeing the caged demons.
• Charles seized the fleeing Flame Demon and locked it in a spherical cage, then began summoning more demons.
• Charles planned to extract the Flame Demons' bloodline essence to help his sixty-three rank-one wizard students fuse with Flame Demon bloodlines.
• Charles intended for the students to follow him into battle on the Osela plane after their training.

Charles taught his first-circle wizard students to control their Flame Demon bloodlines while managing his growing territory and trade on the Osela Plane. After gathering enough resources from taxes, trade, and Abyssal demons, he began upgrading his interplanar portal.

• Charles trained his students in Abyssal Grimoire Studies, bloodline fusion, Blood Ring Knight modification, rune enchantments, and first-circle elven spells.
• Charles's territory on the Osela Plane stabilized, expanded its military workshops, and earned rising income by selling equipment to the orcs amid growing battles with the Giants.
• Charles continued borrowing despite his debts and decided to upgrade his interplanar portal to reduce the cost of transporting his students.
• Charles had Charlotte sell high and buy low through the Crimson Caravan Alliance, accumulating resources from Osela trade and Abyssal demons.
• Charles began upgrading the interplanar portal, using the knowledge he had learned from Webster.

Two years after upgrading his cross-plane portal, Charles received Anderson’s summons and joined him in the Ocean Plane. Anderson revealed that they were preparing to hunt a weakened fourth-tier Magic Beast, once the guardian of the Klenze Kingdom.

• A crow messenger told Charles that Anderson wanted him to enter the plane as soon as possible.
• Charles gathered his equipment and traveled to the Ocean Plane with Lady Boxi.
• Charles arrived at Anderson’s palace, where he reunited with Anderson and Aiden and saw several third-tier Blood Ring Knights and Aiden’s soul companion.
• Anderson explained that he had chosen a weakened fourth-tier Magic Beast as their target and prepared a hunting ground with a rune array to prevent its escape.

Anderson explained his plan to hunt a fourth-tier giant crab in the Ocean Plane, hoping to lure it onto land with a ritual and a promise of offerings. Charles and the others reviewed their forces and combat methods as preparations for the hunt began.

• Anderson told Charles about the Klenze Kingdom’s fourth-tier giant crab and how it had agreed to attend a ritual after Tidal Priests conveyed Anderson’s offer of worship and offerings.
• Charles questioned whether the intelligent Magic Beast would detect a trap, and Anderson explained that the crab’s greed made the plan likely to succeed.
• Anderson showed Charles more than thirty third-tier Blood Ring Knights who had also trained as Tide Warriors so they could fight effectively underwater.
• Anderson, Aiden, and Charles described their combat skills and wizardry to coordinate their preparations for the hunt.

Charles, Anderson, and Aiden prepared to hunt a fourth-tier giant crab by practicing their coordination and laying a trap with enchanted offerings. The crab finally came ashore, and Anderson revealed it was nearing its molting period, leaving it unusually vulnerable as it approached their bait.

• Charles explained that he had learned many third-ring spells from Sage Webster, his teacher, and his own study, surprising Aiden and Anderson.
• Anderson, Aiden, and Charles spent nearly a month practicing their battle coordination, and Anderson gave Charles scrolls and talismans for protection.
• Anderson’s group hid near a concealed rune array while a Tidal Priest used valuable offerings to lure the giant crab from the sea.
• When the crab hesitated to come ashore, Anderson threatened to cut off its future offerings and seek another guardian beast.
• The giant crab finally emerged from the sea and released its fourth-tier pressure, which Charles found intimidating but manageable.
• Anderson explained that the crab was nearing its molting period and was therefore weakened, while Charles observed it drawing closer to the offerings.

Anderson’s group lured the Titan Armored Crab into a trap and poisoned it by disguising resources as sacrifices. The crab realized it had been deceived, killed the Tidal Priest, and tried to escape back to the sea as the hidden attackers prepared to strike.

• The Titan Armored Crab emerged from the sea and approached the ritual site while Charles and the others watched from concealment.
• The Tidal Priest welcomed the crab and presented the resources prepared as sacrifices, while Anderson waited for it to enter the trap.
• The Titan Armored Crab ate the resources, but became suspicious when it could find no more sacrifices.
• The poison began to take effect, and the enraged crab accused the Tidal Priest of betrayal and smashed him to death.
• The Titan Armored Crab unleashed violent winds and dark clouds, then accelerated toward the sea, but it was too late to escape.

Anderson, Charles, Aiden, Lady Boxi, and Aiden's soul companion activated a buried sorcery array to restrain the Titan Armored Crab and began their assault. Charles summoned an Astral Spirit Guard and six treants, while Anderson and Aiden called forth demons, and the battle against the fourth-tier beast grew fierce.

• Anderson, Charles, Aiden, Lady Boxi, and Aiden's soul companion activated the buried sorcery array, wrapping the Titan Armored Crab in chains that limited its movement.
• Anderson ordered the attack as the Blood Ring Knights used potions and scrolls to boost their strength, while the wizards and soul companions supported them.
• Charles summoned an Astral Spirit Guard and awakened three ancient trees into treants, then summoned three more treants in a second round.
• Anderson and Aiden each summoned three Greater Demons to charge the chained Titan Armored Crab.
• The demons and treants attacked the crab with fire and powerful blows as it countered with ice spikes.