Chapter Summaries

Charles and his allies fought the Titan Armored Crab as it tore through their summons, and Charles transformed into a Balor to attack it with Abyssal fire and Blasphemous Words. He wounded the crab’s eye with Phase Claw, then summoned four more Treants to keep pressing the attack.

• The Titan Armored Crab broke free of its chains and destroyed a Treant while its ice attacks battered Charles’s summons.
• Anderson and Aiden cast spells at the crab as Charles transformed into a Balor and struck its underbelly with Abyssal fire.
• Charles evaded the crab’s barrage of ice spikes and cast Blasphemous Words to weaken its body and soul.
• Charles hit the crab’s eye with Phase Claw, forcing it to unleash a costly burst of power.
• Charles summoned four more Treants as shields, driving the wounded Titan Armored Crab into another roar.

Anderson, Charles, and their allies wore down the Titan Armored Crab with poison, witchcraft, treants, demons, and the Blood Ring Knights. Charles’s summoned Balor projection triggered its Body-Burning Explosion beneath the Crab, completing the final step of his plan.

• Anderson bombarded the Titan Armored Crab with witchcraft while poison and the binding chains weakened it.
• The Titan Armored Crab broke chains, crushed demons, and cut down nearby ancient trees as it tried to escape.
• The Blood Ring Knights charged the Crab and delayed it, though several were killed by its attacks.
• Charles brought more treants into battle as Anderson’s poison and Charles’s Blasphemous Words steadily corroded the Crab’s body and soul.
• Charles summoned a Greater Balor projection, which burrowed beneath the Crab and was killed after drawing its attention.
• The Balor’s projection unleashed its Body-Burning Explosion beneath the Titan Armored Crab.

Charles and Anderson helped kill the Titan Armored Crab, and Anderson collected its soul, core, and bodily essence for his planned advancement to the fourth circle. Anderson said his advancement still required the approval of wizard sages and the Wizard Throne, while Charles doubted he could rely on Anderson to provide him with a fourth-rank core later.

• The superior Balor's Body-Burning Explosion shattered the Titan Armored Crab's abdomen and broke its elemental defense, allowing the wizards to kill it with further spells.
• Anderson collected the Titan Armored Crab's soul and core, then spent several days refining its corpse into essence for his advancement.
• Charles learned that Anderson needed the approval of more wizard sages before applying to the Wizard Throne, a process that would take at least a year.
• The group returned to the capital after thirteen Blood Ring Knights died in the battle, and Anderson said he would conquer the plane after becoming a fourth-circle wizard.
• Charles questioned whether Anderson would honor his promise to save other fourth-rank beings for him and considered seeking a core in the Osela plane, where powerful rulers and gods made the task dangerous.

After confirming the Ocean Plane was safe, Charles returned to Isata and continued training his students while the Osela Plane descended into civil war. As armies gathered against Elendil’s territory and Charles’s lands, he summoned his students and announced that they would enter Osela and begin a campaign of conquest.

• Charles left the Ocean Plane with Anderson after securing a fourth-rank core and the right to certification, then returned to Isata to train students and manage his territory.
• Charles hired second-ring wizards to teach ordinary lessons so he could focus on training his students for war.
• The Avenor Elven Court fractured as pure-blooded elves and half-elves fought, and half-elven armies gathered to attack Elendil’s Verdant Crystal Domain before turning toward Charles’s territory.
• A messenger returned to Greenshade City and reported the gathering armies to Charles, who welcomed the coming war and summoned his students.
• Charles told more than sixty students to prepare for battle and join him in a journey of plane conquest.

Charles returned to Osela, left Scorchflame in charge of the tower’s defenses, and brought more than sixty First-Ring Wizard students into his domain. As his leaders briefed him on rising regional conflicts, Charles considered whether to aid Elendil and reviewed the troops available to him.

• Charles returned Scorchflame to Isata, tasked him with guarding the tower, and promised to care for his children in Osela and find soul partners for them.
• Charles and his students arrived in Osela, where he welcomed them and assigned them to study the plane and choose work in war or production.
• Erika arranged lodging for the students while Charles met with his domain’s core members and heard that conflicts were spreading across the region.
• Tyler reported that Elendil’s Verdant Crystal Domain faced an attack and had requested aid, and Charles studied the report before deciding whether to intervene.
• Yvenjieling reported that Charles’s forces included six thousand elite cavalry and sixteen thousand infantry, with additional militia guarding settlements.

Charles decided to send troops to support Elendil’s Verdant Crystal Domain against a half-elf rebellion, seeing its survival as vital to his own position and future expansion. He ordered his forces and supplies mobilized, then discussed the enemy’s likely magical strength with Molly.

• Charles assessed the forces threatening Elendil’s Verdant Crystal Domain and concluded that Elendil could hold out as a defender.
• Charles realized that two other counties could block his route to Elendil and that Elendil’s defeat might leave him isolated among the half-elves.
• Charles declared that the rebels must be punished and ordered Yvenjieling to assemble troops while Tyler and Charlotte prepared supplies.
• Charles told Molly that he needed more territory to support his expanded strength and that more than sixty of his wizard students could join the war.
• Molly warned Charles that the half-elves also had wizards, and Charles explained why he believed their spellcasters posed limited danger and his students were unlikely to be exposed as outsiders.

Charles inspected his growing Armored Knight force and Scorchflame’s snake eggs, selecting those suited to become wizards’ soul companions while planning to raise the others as a combat force. He then began assembling his armies and preparing his commanders and wizard students for the coming conquest.

• Charles inspected his Armored Knights and found that nearly all of the first transformed group had advanced to the second tier.
• Charles checked Scorchflame’s pregnant female snakes and examined dozens of preserved eggs in a guarded warehouse.
• Charles selected about one-third of the eggs as potential soul companions and planned for students to hatch and raise the rest as battle pets.
• Charles ordered his armies to gather in Greenshade City and met with his commanders and wizard students to prepare them for the coming war.

Charles sent a large army from Greenshade City toward the half-elf territories, while half-elf nobles assembled their forces and chose Gacher to command them. Gacher prepared to confront Imril, confident that his half-elf cavalry would defeat Charles's human riders.

• Charles deployed six thousand cavalry and ten thousand infantry, leaving only a small force to defend Greenshade City.
• Half-elf nobles from five counties gathered their troops after learning of Charles's campaign.
• The nobles from two counties agreed on a unified command and selected the third-circle wizard Gacher as commander, with the other county governor as his deputy.
• Gacher appointed senior commanders and received a report that the army had roughly six thousand five hundred elite half-elf soldiers and thirteen thousand recruited infantry.
• Gacher and the nobles boasted that their cavalry would rout Imril's human riders and capture him.

Charles led six thousand cavalry on a rapid raid through half-elf settlements, then rested near Gacher’s army. Gacher learned the cavalry had separated from the infantry and ordered his forces to march overnight and attack.

• Charles ordered his cavalry to race ahead while Bruce led the infantry at a normal pace.
• Charles’s cavalry passed through settlements without attacking residents, alarming the half-elves who saw them.
• Charles captured a settlement and ordered his cavalry to rest there before the battle.
• A half-elf informant told Gacher that Charles’s cavalry was less than a day’s journey away and had come without the infantry.
• Gacher and the half-elf nobles took Charles’s advance as an insult, assembled their troops, and marched toward his camp overnight.

Charles's cavalry assembled at dawn to face Gacher's half-elf army, while both commanders prepared their troops for battle. Charles led his formation forward and declared that his era had arrived as the armies began to advance.

• Charles's cavalry completed its preparations outside the settlement, armoring their horses and sharpening their weapons.
• Gacher scouted the open plain, found no ambush, and rallied his half-elf warriors with a speech condemning Charles.
• Gacher ordered his army to advance slowly, intending to restrict the cavalry's room to maneuver.
• Charles reviewed his six thousand troops, including elite cavalry, Armored Knights, and his student mage corps.
• Charles drew the enchanted sword Elendil had given him and urged his cavalry to stay close as he promised to lead them to victory.

Charles led a magically enhanced cavalry charge into Gacher’s half-elf army, whose archers failed to stop the riders. Charles broke through the infantry shield formation with Thornstorm and killed Gacher with Autumn Leaf Blade.

• Charles cast enhancement spells and led more than six thousand cavalrymen in a charge against Gacher’s central formation.
• Gacher ordered his half-elf swordsmen and cavalry to fire on Charles’s advancing riders, but their arrows failed to hit anyone.
• Charles cast Thornstorm, tearing apart the half-elf infantry shield formation.
• Charles used Blazing Sun Focus and Moonfire Scorch against Gacher, then killed him with Autumn Leaf Blade.

Charles's knights smashed through the half-elven lines after his spells had ravaged their frontline, then turned to pursue the fleeing half-elven cavalry. Charles's forces celebrated the breakthrough as he sent them across the plain to hunt down their enemies.

• Charles killed half-elven wizards with spells as his Armored Knights charged toward the weakened frontline.
• The Blood Ring Knight led the knights in breaking through the infantry formations and trampling or impaling the half-elves who tried to stop them.
• The knights pierced the half-elven formation, killing a third-rank noble and leaving the surviving soldiers in shock.
• Half-elven nobles ordered their cavalry to flee and shoot at the pursuing knights.
• Charles divided his knights into groups and sent them to chase down the half-elven cavalry.

Charles's cavalry crushed the half-elf forces of two counties, captured hundreds of half-elf soldiers, and accepted the surrender of most of their human infantry. He ordered Elias to recruit auxiliaries and sent a sorcerous messenger to speed up his advancing infantry so he could secure the counties while continuing his campaign to rescue Elendil.

• Charles's cavalry broke through the half-elf center with a charge and routed their army as displaced residents watched.
• The human infantry, abandoned by their commander, sat out much of the battle, while the half-elf soldiers were cut down or captured.
• By evening, most of the human infantry surrendered, and several hundred half-elves were tied up as prisoners.
• Charles ordered Elias to select captured infantrymen as auxiliaries and assign them to guard the prisoners.
• Charles sent a sorcerous messenger to order his distant infantry to march faster and secure the two counties.

Charles captured a half-elven force and used its human infantry prisoners to advance into the two counties, seizing a settlement and planning to take key cities. His victory report reached Elendil, who welcomed the news as a major boost while facing attacks elsewhere.

• Charles ordered Yvenjieling to offer the human infantry prisoners a choice between joining his army and returning home.
• Charles assigned Tyler to guard several hundred half-elven prisoners with three hundred cavalrymen and additional infantry.
• Charles led the surrendered infantry back toward their homeland, and his army took the first settlement by surprise under the original half-elven banners.
• Charles planned a route through the two counties' important cities and sent cavalry to stop people from fleeing with resources.
• Charles sent Elendil a report of his victory, and Elendil praised Imril for delivering a welcome surprise.

Elendil shared news of Charles’s victory, restoring morale in Verdant Crystal Domain, while the half-elf commanders assessed their defeat and chose to keep attacking Elendil. They planned to seize Verdant Crystal Domain before Imril could finish reorganizing his forces.

• Elendil announced Charles’s victory to his nobles and ordered them to spread the news, which calmed Verdant Crystal City.
• The half-elf commanders received reports of Gacher’s defeat and concluded that Imril’s cavalry had overwhelmed the army.
• The commander ordered his troops to prepare greatshields, long spears, and cheval de frise to counter cavalry.
• After considering whether to attack Imril or Elendil, the commander chose to keep targeting Elendil, believing the half-elves would unite against Imril afterward.
• The commander ordered preparations for a stronger, faster assault on Verdant Crystal Domain before Imril finished reorganizing.

After Bruce arrived with reinforcements, Charles ordered his forces to seize the settlements in two counties and gather their wealth, craftsmen, and potential wizards. He decided to ride immediately against the rebels attacking Elendil, and departed with his cavalry after five days of rest.

• Bruce and Tyler received Charles's orders to drill captured infantry, seize settlements, screen recruits, and send craftsmen and wizard candidates to Greenshade City.
• Charles studied the map and decided Elendil must survive, so he would preserve Elendil's territory and attack the enemy rear with cavalry.
• Charles ordered the cavalry to rest and recruited skilled riders from the two wealthy counties, whose noble estates and resources he confiscated.
• Charles realized that taking the rebels' wealth would erase much of his debt to half-elf creditors, and hoped to claim the rest of the province as well.
• On the fifth day after ordering the cavalry to rest, Charles set out with them.

Charles led a 14,000-strong force through the wilderness toward the Verdant Crystal Domain, concealing its movements to avoid enemy informants. Meanwhile, Elendil’s besieged defenders suffered heavy losses in a failed nighttime raid.

• Charles assembled 8,500 cavalry, 700 Armored Knights, and 5,000 mounted infantry, leaving Bruce with 13,000 troops to secure the conquered territory.
• Charles departed at night and sealed the allied camp, using transferred infantry as a disguise while his army crossed the wilderness toward the Verdant Crystal Domain.
• Charles’s wizards created wells and repelled poisonous insects as the force marched through the wilderness, while Charles killed potential civilian witnesses.
• Three-county half-elf forces besieged Verdant Crystal City, and Elendil refused an officer’s request to burn their siege equipment again.
• Elendil eventually sent 300 warriors on a nighttime raid, but the enemy ambushed them and only a few dozen returned.

The attacking half-elves besieged the Verdant Crystal Domain for three days while their commander worried about the disappearance of Imril and his cavalry. Elendil’s defenders suffered grievous losses, and as another assault approached, he wondered how much longer they could hold out.

• The attacking half-elf commander continued the assault after learning that Imril and his cavalry had vanished, fearing they might attack from another direction.
• The siege raged for three days as both sides used arrows, siege equipment, and magic, and the defenders repeatedly drove the attackers off the walls.
• Elendil inspected the bloodied ramparts and encouraged the wounded soldiers, telling them victory was near.
• An Exploding Acorn struck nearby, killing the soldier who had just spoken with Elendil, and Elendil continued his inspection despite his grief.
• Elendil saw the enemy preparing another attack as a half-elf soldier sounded the horn.

Charles led his cavalry to Verdant Crystal City as the exhausted defenders faced a final assault by the half-elf allied army. His arrival forced the attackers to abandon the walls, and Elendil recognized Imril’s cavalry advancing toward the battle.

• Charles rested his exhausted army near Verdant Crystal City, then gave the soldiers wine and meat before their march resumed at dawn.
• Charles had his soldiers drink a potion mixture prepared by Molly and several wizards, then led the cavalry openly toward the city.
• Elendil fought through three days of assaults as the half-elf commander ordered his troops to capture Verdant Crystal City within two days.
• Charles’s cavalry arrived behind the half-elf army, and the commander sounded the horns and sent troops to intercept them.
• The half-elf attackers abandoned the walls in panic as Charles’s cavalry formed up and began its charge.
• Elendil saw the advancing cavalry and realized that Imril and his cavalry had arrived.

Charles’s cavalry struck the half-elf allied army from behind while Verdant Crystal City attacked from the front, crushing the defenders and turning the battle into a rout. The chapter ended with Charles’s long march and ambush succeeding as the three-county allied army was nearly wiped out.

• The half-elf commander hurriedly formed a rear defense, but Charles’s cavalry broke through its ranks under the protection of his mages’ counterspells.
• Charles fought and killed the third-circle half-elf mage with an Autumn Leaf Blade, ending the army’s organized resistance.
• Charles’s cavalry overwhelmed the half-elf cavalry and scattered the remaining forces as their morale collapsed.
• Elendil led an attack from Verdant Crystal City, striking at the retreating half-elves and helping pin them between the city and Charles’s troops.
• The half-elf commander watched his reserves collapse and the allied army disintegrate, while some nobles fled, others surrendered, and many continued to resist.