Chapter Summaries

Garos reflected on his growth and training while keeping watch on events in the Lothern Kingdom through Gordon. Gordon reported that Lothern's old king was gravely ill and bedridden, leaving Garos with major news beyond the duchies' war.

• Garos concluded that his steady training and access to resources, rather than his Adaptive Evolution talent alone, had driven his progress and Battleworn Marks.
• Gordon trained at Sparkfire Monastery and watched Aster, Seros, and Aisha advance onto the Monk Pathway.
• Garos contacted Gordon through their blood bond and learned that the Haltai Duchy and the Aber Duchy had declared war.
• Gordon told Garos that Lothern's old king was gravely ill and bedridden.

Garos learned that the King of Lothern was dying and suspected the king’s illness was connected to the sudden war declarations by Aber Duchy and Haltai Duchy. He urged Gordon to maintain his harmless persona at court and wait for the right moment.

• Gordon told Garos that the King of Lothern was gravely ill and that the court was tense with succession fears.
• Gordon explained that the king’s Soul Origin had been exhausted and that a Legendary Realm treasure was barely keeping him alive.
• Garos connected the king’s condition, confirmed seven days earlier, with Aber Duchy and Haltai Duchy declaring war around the same time.
• Gordon said the king’s condition was known only to the Royal Court’s innermost circle and that Elina had privately told him.
• Garos suspected a hidden spy had linked the king’s illness to the duchies’ war declarations and told Gordon to keep his disguise and avoid acting rashly.

Garos told Gordon to cautiously alert Crystal Princess Elina that the Ignas Dragonflight was preparing to enter the Ser Wilderness and sought to build a relationship that could provide resources. The chapter left Gordon eager to play his part while the Molten Iron Tribe prepared to establish a foothold before the regional war escalated.

• Garos questioned whether Elina’s affection could withstand royal pressure to marry, and Gordon said she had refused suitors to devote herself to magic and Lothern.
• Gordon explained that Elina had received the favor of Mystra Sanctuary and was committed to magic and her kingdom.
• Garos ordered Gordon to hint to Elina that the Ignas Dragonflight’s powerful brothers had completed their plans and would soon move into the Ser Wilderness.
• Garos aimed to secure Elina as a source of magic crystals and possibly Black Oil Crystals for the tribe’s expansion.
• Gordon eagerly imagined his brothers claiming territory and looked forward to his own role in their undertaking.

Garos and the Ignas Dragonflight considered Crystal Princess Elina a promising partner, and she formally proposed a strategic partnership with them through Gordon. As the dragonflight prepared to advance into the Ser Wilderness, Garos delayed giving Elina an answer while the others discussed the benefits and risks of cooperation.

• Garos warned Gordon to handle information carefully and continued assessing Elina’s character and intentions.
• Gordon showed Elina reports about the Death Omen’s attacks, convinced her that the dragon was his blood kin, and heard her propose a long-term partnership between the Lothern Royal Court and the Ignas Dragonflight.
• The Ignas Dragonflight finalized plans for the Molten Iron Tribe to advance into the Ser Wilderness via Scale-Earth Rift Road, while Samantha objected to cooperating with humans until Garos cited the gems and rare resources Elina could provide.
• Gordon reported that Elina strongly wanted cooperation and asked whether to answer her, but Garos told him to make her wait.
• Samantha threatened Gordon not to let his infatuation with Elina undermine negotiations, and Gordon insisted that his interest was driven by gems and wealth.

Tressie crushed Seraphina and Ludwig in training while Garos discussed returning to the Ser Wilderness and a possible alliance with Elina. Alberto arrived agitated and challenged Garos, who demanded to know what stake he was offering.

• Tressie defeated Seraphina and Ludwig, then struck Seraphina and pursued her for more one-on-one training.
• Seraphina warned Tressie that Heriam and Kaxier would make the young dragons stronger when they awoke from Dragon Sleep.
• Deborah asked Garos why he planned to return to the Ser Wilderness, and Garos explained his talks with Elina and his interest in the resources and politics of the duchy wars.
• Garos described how the Lothern Federation’s rival factions were using subordinate duchies to fight by proxy while the leading kingdoms stayed out of the conflict.
• Alberto arrived at Dragon Valley looking exhausted and irritable and challenged Garos, who asked what he would wager.

Alberto challenged Garos to prove he had surpassed the Red Iron Dragon after five years of punishing training under an oath to avoid all leisure until he won. Garos accepted, and the two dragons flew into the sky to begin their fight as the others watched, with Tressie, Ludwig, and Seraphina expecting Alberto to lose.

• Alberto returned the original thirty percent of his debt with interest, and Garos said the repayment could not count as stakes in their challenge.
• Alberto revealed that his five-year oath had forced him to train without proper rest, and he decided he could finally defeat Garos.
• Garos accepted Alberto's challenge and flew into the sky, prompting Alberto to summon his crown and Holy Oath War Halberd and pursue him.
• Deborah watched from the Burning Steel Fortress while Tressie, Seraphina, and Ludwig observed from the training grounds.
• Tressie, Ludwig, and Seraphina expected Garos to crush Alberto before the fight began.

Alberto fought Garos in a fierce aerial battle, but Garos overwhelmed him with relentless attacks and a devastating Destruction Dragon Breath. Alberto was left unconscious in a crater, smiling with relief as Garos wondered at his reaction.

• Garos and Alberto fought head-on, and Garos's chained attacks shattered Alberto's armor and badly wounded him.
• Alberto kept fighting despite his injuries, while his counterattacks cracked Garos's scales and Garos's Cold Explosive Scales began to break away.
• Alberto used Turn the Tide and Desperate Counterattack to unleash Holy Flame Breath at Garos.
• Garos answered with Destruction Dragon Breath, overwhelmed Alberto's attack, and blasted him into a crater.
• Garos apologized for hitting too hard, but Alberto smiled, fainted, and began snoring, leaving Garos bewildered.

Garos suspected Alberto had been crippled by an excessively harsh oath, then trained and considered his coming adolescent Dragon Sleep. He decided to prepare a foothold in the Ser Wilderness before sleeping, while Sorog organized the Molten Iron Tribe for an expedition.

• Garos and Deborah tested the unresponsive Alberto and concluded that an unusual oath had likely left him in his strange state.
• Garos trained his heart in the superheavy training ground, believing it might evolve during his next adolescent Dragon Sleep.
• Garos judged that he would enter Dragon Sleep within two years and planned to establish outposts along the edge of the Ser Wilderness beforehand.
• Sorog and the Adolescent Dragons assembled warriors, supplies, and equipment as the Molten Iron Tribe prepared to march into the Ser Wilderness.

Garos held formal talks with Crystal Princess Elina about a partnership between the Ignas Dragonflight and Elina personally. He accepted her offer of Black Oil Crystals as proof of sincerity, and the dragonflight agreed to begin cooperation against the Aber Duchy's outposts.

• Sorog informed Garos that Gordon had relayed Elina's third request to speak with the Ignas Dragonflight.
• Garos asked whether Elina represented the Lothern Royal Court or only herself, and Elina honestly said she spoke as a princess acting on her own.
• Elina offered treasure in exchange for the dragonflight attacking outposts belonging to the Aber Duchy and other future enemies of the Lothern Kingdom.
• Garos agreed to target the duchy's outposts at his discretion but refused to attack stronger kingdoms for now.
• Garos demanded high-purity Black Oil Crystal as proof of Elina's sincerity, and Elina offered ten grade-one units and one grade-two unit instead.
• Garos accepted the crystals and announced that the Ignas Dragonflight would stage a fiery display in the Ser Wilderness as its first gift to its new ally.

After waking from a month-long sleep following his defeat by Garos, Alberto discovered Vera had covered him in doodles and resumed training under his oath. Garos showed him a more effective hypergravity regimen, and Alberto began to admire the Red Iron Dragon's relentless discipline.

• Alberto woke from his defeat-induced sleep, sneezed out the Itchy Flowers Vera had planted in his nose, and found colorful doodles covering his body.
• Vera admitted to the prank, and Alberto abandoned his plan to frighten her when his oath compelled him to train instead.
• Alberto considered challenging Garos again to earn another long rest, though he worried about the cost of those challenges.
• Garos arrived, criticized Alberto's wing exercises, and led him to a steel training ground equipped with a Hypergravity Field.
• Garos demonstrated demanding exercises under increased gravity, and Alberto began imitating him while recognizing the decades of discipline behind his strength.
• Alberto trained until he collapsed, then watched Garos continue through the night and felt admiration for his ally.

Garos learned that Alberto had sworn to surpass him and was punishing himself with relentless training until he did. Garos chose not to explain the oath’s loopholes, while Alberto pinned his hopes on reaching the Young Adult Stage first; the chapter ended with Alberto warning Garos to be careful as he planned to establish a foothold in the wilderness.

• Garos urged Alberto to rest, prompting Alberto to reveal that he had sworn an oath with severe consequences for breaking it.
• Alberto explained that he had vowed to surpass Garos through an indisputable, honorable victory and would become a white dragon in his next life if he broke the oath.
• Garos recognized several possible loopholes in Alberto’s restrictions but decided not to enlighten him.
• Alberto collapsed from exhaustion and said he expected his Young Adult Stage slumber to give him a chance to defeat Garos.
• Garos dismissed Alberto’s hopes and decided to let him continue training, partly because a stronger Alberto could be useful in the wilderness.
• Alberto asked about Garos’s preparations for war, and Garos said he planned to establish a foothold along the wilderness’s edge; Alberto warned him to be careful.

Garos learned that the Ser Wilderness was growing more dangerous, including because his adult father Gorsas had returned, while the Dominic Family threatened dragons sheltered by the Ignas Dragonflight. After receiving Princess Elina’s Black Oil Crystals, Garos ordered the Ignas Dragonflight to march into the Wilderness and reclaim its lost territory.

• Alberto warned Garos that powerful dragons, Giants, and other creatures were emerging in the Ser Wilderness, including the adult red dragon Gorsas and the expanding Dominic Family.
• Garos learned that Gorsas was his biological father, a violent Level 19 Evil Dragon, and resolved to avoid him or kill him if they became enemies.
• Alberto explained that his information came from an extensive network and recalled attending the Royal Noble Academy in the Rybos Kingdom.
• A month later, Garos inspected Black Oil Crystals secretly delivered by Princess Elina and decided to save them for his next evolution.
• Garos ordered Sorog and Samantha to lead the Ignas Dragonflight into the Ser Wilderness and attack Scale-Earth Rift Road.

Old merchant Matthew recounted how the Molten Iron Tribe had once made the Scale-Earth Rift Road prosperous before fleeing after killing the Ironthorn Viscount’s heir. The tribe returned by attacking Creekwood Town, and Ludwig the Green Dragon declared the town under its control.

• Matthew told his apprentice how monster clans had traded with caravans and protected the Scale-Earth Rift Road until the Ironthorn Viscount tried to tax them.
• Matthew explained that three Adolescent Dragons killed the Viscount’s heir, then the Federation garrison purged the region after the Viscount and his Dragon-Hunting Order disappeared.
• Matthew said the Albert Family had reclaimed the route seven years earlier and restored its tolls and taxes.
• At Creekwood Town’s checkpoint, the bald captain demanded a thirty percent transit tax, then tried to extort more from Matthew’s caravan.
• A Green Dragon attacked the checkpoint with poisonous rain and vines as an Ogre warrior and other monsters overwhelmed the soldiers and garrison defenses.
• Ludwig the Green Dragon announced that the Molten Iron Tribe had taken control of Creekwood Town, and Matthew pulled his apprentice down to surrender.

Garos returned to Conifer Valley, learned that the Albert Family had taken control of the Scale-Earth Rift Road, and decided to preserve Creekwood Town while preparing a strike against the Aber Duchy. Garos and his dragon companions attacked the Saltpeter Mine Outpost, and he left it engulfed in a vast chain of explosions.

• Garos revisited Conifer Valley, where the old rock slab beneath him shattered under his grown body.
• Sorog briefed Garos on the upheavals along the Scale-Earth Rift Road, and Garos ordered Creekwood Town kept under martial law.
• Garos and Sorog decided to make a show of the Molten Iron Tribe's return by attacking the Saltpeter Mine Outpost.
• Garos confronted Heaven's Wrath in the sky, dismantled the war behemoth, and survived its explosion.
• Garos, the Iron Dragon, and the Red Dragon overwhelmed the outpost's defenses before Garos unleashed Destruction Dragon Breath on the mine.
• The saltpeter mine exploded in a chain reaction, raising a vast pillar of fire through the rain.

Princess Elina watched the Astrolabe replay the Red Iron Dragon’s destruction of an Aber Duchy stronghold and saltpeter mine, then thanked Gordon for arranging the gift and promised the Ignas Dragonflight a return gift. She left Gordon with a new incentive to lose weight in exchange for Lothern Gold Coins.

• Elina used the Royal Court Astrolabe to view the Red Iron Dragon attacking the Aber Duchy stronghold and destroying its saltpeter mine.
• Elina admired the destruction and recognized it as the Ignas Dragonflight fulfilling its promise to her.
• Elina told Gordon to relay her thanks and promised the Ignas Dragonflight a return gift, saying she had handled any trouble with Federation troops.
• Gordon asked for his share as an indispensable link in the Dragonflight’s dealings, but Elina considered cutting his food budget.
• Elina offered Gordon one thousand Lothern Gold Coins for every hundred pounds he lost, and Gordon eagerly accepted, aiming to earn twenty thousand coins.

Count Mills Albert sought help after monsters believed to serve the dragons that killed his brother occupied the Scale-Earth Rift Road. Unable to secure Federation troops, he asked the Flower Knight Xiaer Hines to intervene, and Xiaer promised to restore the Albert Family’s dignity.

• Count Mills learned that monsters had seized the Scale-Earth Rift Road and suspected they were tied to the dragons that had killed Horato Albert.
• Count Mills tried to enlist the Federation garrison, but his military contacts said the Ser Wilderness was too unstable and stretched thin for them to help.
• Count Mills decided to send the Albert Family’s private army into the wilderness and contacted Xiaer Hines for additional support.
• Count Mills recounted his family’s grievances and pleaded with Xiaer to help the Albert Family.
• Xiaer, grateful for Mills’s years of support and eager to fight evil dragons, promised to resolve the matter and restore the family’s dignity.

Creekwood Town prospered under the Molten Iron Tribe’s strict rule, and Flower Knight Xiaer Hines arrived expecting to find a town oppressed by monsters. After deciding to investigate before acting on Count Mills’s commission, Xiaer learned that an Albert Family army was approaching, while Garos prepared to meet it and suspected a hidden attack.

• Over a month, Creekwood Town expanded and grew safer under the Molten Iron Tribe; Green Dragon Ludwig lifted the lockdown, and most residents chose to stay.
• Flower Knight Xiaer Hines arrived in Creekwood Town, was startled by its prosperity, and fled after a Snake Woman guard mistook his flirtation for a mating offer.
• Xiaer questioned adventurers about the town and the feud between the Molten Iron Tribe and the Albert Family, then decided to observe the monsters before acting on Count Mills’s commission.
• Sorog the Iron Dragon warned Garos that an Albert Family army was approaching the Scale-Earth Rift Road, and Garos ordered the troops to intercept it beyond the tribe’s territory.
• Garos suspected the visible army might conceal a more dangerous attack, then flew into the night to prepare for the coming conflict.

Rod Albert led the Albert Family’s elite army toward the Molten Iron Tribe, where a surprise attack and artillery exchange revealed that the monsters had powerful alchemical weapons and Steel Golems. He ordered his troops into a countercharge, and the two armies collided in battle.

• Rod halted his army near a hill and ordered Sienna to prepare the Alchemical Heavy Cannons in case the Molten Iron Tribe had laid an ambush.
• Sorog, Samantha, and Tressie flew overhead and unleashed Dragon Might as the Molten Iron Tribe’s forces charged down the hill.
• Sanchez cast Anti-Dragon Aura to steady the human soldiers, and both armies opened fire with alchemical artillery.
• Rod’s forces discovered the Molten Iron Tribe also had heavy cannons and Steel Golems, then Rod ordered his soldiers to advance.
• The Albert Family’s Alchemy Golems and warriors charged into the monster army, and the two forces clashed.

The Albert Family’s army fought a brutal battle against the monster forces, while Sienna, Sanchez, and Rod used alchemy, magic, and runes to counter the Monster Lords. The three Evil Dragons neutralized Sanchez’s airspace barrier and continued attacking from above as the battle raged on.

• The Albert Family’s heavily armored infantry held back the monster tide while Rod called down lightning and cut through wounded monster leaders.
• The Ferocious White Tiger, Ice Deer Lord, and Giant Snake Lord tore into the human lines, but Sienna’s firearms and Sanchez’s protective spells weakened their attacks.
• White Dragon Tressie and Red Dragon Samantha devastated the human soldiers with their Dragon Breath, while Iron Dragon Sorog disrupted Sienna and destroyed an Alchemy Golem.
• Sanchez cast Airspace Lockdown, but the three Evil Dragons used prepared alchemical items to resist the spell and keep flying.
• Rod dodged a Centaur warrior’s lance and killed him with a rune greatsword as other monster leaders continued attacking.

Rune Knight Rod fought three class-bearing dragons, but their coordinated attacks left him close to defeat as the Molten Iron Tribe overwhelmed the Albert Family’s private army. Garos watched from the sidelines until Flower Knight Xiaer Hines appeared and asked to talk.

• White Dragon Tressie began a dive at Rod, then abruptly retreated when his runes transformed him into a giant wreathed in fire.
• Iron Dragon Sorog, Red Dragon Samantha, and Tressie attacked Rod together, and he survived their first assault by shifting between elemental runes.
• The three dragons continued their coordinated assault, injuring Rod and leaving him struggling to defend himself.
• Garos observed that the Molten Iron Tribe was winning and chose not to intervene, while remaining alert for an enemy trump card.
• Xiaer Hines revealed himself to Garos and asked to talk on behalf of the Albert Family.