Chapter Summaries

Garos fought his mother, Iron Dragon Laetitia, and defeated her despite her combat experience and powerful defenses. Laetitia accepted his victory and told him she was proud of him, bringing the estranged pair closer.

• Laetitia ordered her dependents to retreat and challenged Garos to show how much he had improved.
• Laetitia and Garos exchanged rapid claw strikes, and Laetitia used Tactical Insight to analyze his movements.
• Garos powered up with Golden Lightning, broke through Laetitia’s defenses, and wounded her with a storm of blade-like wing attacks.
• Laetitia launched an Arcane Burst at Garos’s chest while he struck her, but he endured the blast and she was left badly injured.
• Laetitia conceded defeat, praised Garos, and he credited his strength to the bloodline he inherited from her.

Garos reunited with Laetitia and agreed to ally with her against Gorsas, his dangerous biological father. Elsewhere in the Ser Wilderness, a hidden Lich watched Creekwood Territory and prepared to harvest its souls to regain the Legendary Realm.

• Laetitia asked Garos about his growth and learned that he had formed the Ignas Dragonflight with Samantha and Gordon.
• Garos proposed an alliance with Laetitia amid the Lothern Federation’s civil war, and she warned him that Gorsas was her greatest threat and Garos’s biological father.
• Garos revealed that he had already deduced his blood relationship to Gorsas and agreed to join Laetitia in confronting him despite the danger.
• Garos and Laetitia discussed sharing resources and intelligence, and considered preparing an ambush if Gorsas returned to her territory.
• A hidden Lich watched Creekwood Territory through a crystal ball and planned to devour its souls to regain the Legendary Realm.

Phillips, the Lich and former Necromancer of the Butler Kingdom, planned to use Creekwood Territory as the first target in his revenge against the Lothern bloodline. He awakened the vast Undead Legion he had secretly assembled and prepared it to invade the territory and help him regain Legendary Realm power.

• Phillips vowed to avenge the destruction of the Butler Kingdom and blamed Ron Lothern, the Lothern Saint-King, for killing him and ending his kingdom.
• Phillips recalled how he survived Ron's fatal strike by using a Phylactery, then spent centuries hiding as his Lich body gradually eroded his human soul.
• Phillips identified Creekwood Territory, where the Molten Iron Tribe lived, as a vulnerable source of souls and decided to begin his campaign there.
• Phillips summoned the dead in his hidden lair, revealing the enormous Undead Legion he had gathered over centuries.
• Phillips vowed to humiliate Ron and began preparing the awakened undead for an assault on Creekwood Territory.

Garos and Laetitia discussed their alliance and the risks posed by the Dominic Dragonflight sheltering four of its former dragons under Garos’s protection. Garos returned to Creekwood Territory in the form of a giant black cat, where Xia’er Hines greeted him and prepared to report on the domain.

• Garos explained that the Ignas Dragonflight took in young dragons in exchange for their service, including four Young Adult Dragons who had left the Dominic Family.
• Laetitia offered to stand by Garos if the Dominic Dragonflight became hostile, while Garos said he would wait for its response before choosing war or peace.
• Garos and Laetitia finalized the broad terms of their alliance and their preliminary plan for dealing with the Red Dragon Gorsas.
• Garos flew back to Creekwood Territory, used a Shapeshifting Spell to appear as a giant black cat, and drove a mottled cat from the rooftop where he settled.
• Xia’er Hines appeared beside Garos and revealed a Life Level of 19; he declined Garos’s joking offer to challenge him and was asked to report on Creekwood Territory.

Xia'er reported Creekwood Territory’s growing stability and the dangerous incidents he had resolved, then asked Garos to approve a trade for Dragon Blood so he and Beverly might have a child. He warned Garos about a possibly Legendary missionary named Alya, and the chapter ended when a sentry reported a huge undead force approaching Creekwood Territory.

• Xia'er described the territory’s stability and recounted how he had defeated an evil fiend, killed a mutated Earth Troll, and resolved several other growing threats.
• Garos praised Xia'er’s service and asked what reward he wanted, and Xia'er requested permission to trade for Dragon Blood to help him and Beverly have a child.
• Garos approved Xia'er’s plan to offer gold, gems, or equivalent payment for Dragon Blood from the other dragons.
• Xia'er reported that the mysterious missionary Alya had preached in Creekwood Territory, evaded his attempts to assess or follow her, and might be a Legendary powerhouse.
• Garos ordered Xia'er not to pursue Alya unless she returned or new information emerged, and warned him to report any developments.
• A sentry captain contacted Xia'er through a Communication Stone and reported that a massive force of undead, including at least three kinds of high-level undead, was heading toward Creekwood Territory.

Garos learned that a disciplined Undead Legion was approaching Creekwood Territory and chose to confront it himself while Xia'er searched for its hidden commander. Garos descended over the Third Watchpost, lifting the guards’ spirits as the undead neared.

• Scouts sent a projection of the massive undead army to Garos and Xia'er, who concluded that a powerful commander was directing its attack.
• Garos warned that fighting the undead without reinforcements could let them grow stronger by turning the dead into new undead, then ordered Xia'er to locate their commander.
• Garos transformed from a black cat into a dragon and flew toward the Undead Legion, while Xia'er vanished to carry out his search.
• At the Third Watchpost, the Werewolf captain ordered the guards to hold position despite the approaching undead tide.
• Garos burst through the clouds above the watchpost, and the guards recognized the Lord of Crimson Wings and regained their courage.

Phillips led his Undead Legion against Garos, the Red Iron Dragon, hoping to kill him and claim his body and soul. Garos broke through the undead’s defenses and unleashed Flame Thunder, obliterating the legion’s left wing.

• Phillips sensed the Third Watchpost ahead and planned to turn Creekwood Territory into an Undead Kingdom, but Garos crashed into the vanguard and scattered the undead.
• Phillips ordered Death Knights, Bone Behemoths, and Wailing Banshees to attack Garos, but their lances, claws, and soul-wails could not overcome his defenses.
• Phillips coordinated the legion to trap Garos beneath bone walls and rotting bodies, while Negative Energy slowed and clouded him.
• Garos burst from the undead mass with Battleworn Marks revealed beneath his broken scales, then used his Exhilarated State to breathe Flame Thunder.
• Garos swept the Flame Thunder across the battlefield, melting Bone Behemoths and bone-shield formations and erasing the entire left wing of Phillips's Undead Legion.

Garos fought Phillips, a fallen Legendary Lich, after Phillips sacrificed his Undead Legion to create a Corpse Giant and wield Absolute Defense. Garos broke through the defense with Red Lotus Form, shattered Phillips's weakened Legendary Realm, and seized him alive.

• Phillips ordered the Undead Legion to retreat, but Xia'er exposed his disguise and forced him to reveal that he had once reached the Legendary Realm.
• Phillips offered to spare Garos's territory in exchange for its living creatures, but Garos rejected the proposal and charged him.
• Phillips sacrificed the remaining undead and battlefield remains to summon a Corpse Giant, then used Absolute Defense and debilitating spells against Garos.
• Garos activated Red Lotus Form and battered the Corpse Giant until its defense cracked, then shattered Phillips's Legendary Realm with a powerful punch.
• Garos tore Phillips from the Corpse Giant and mocked his claim that a fully restored Legendary Realm would have been unbeatable.

Garos defeated Phillips and questioned the trapped Lich about his fear of death and lack of a Phylactery. Phillips offered to serve Garos while secretly planning to deceive him, feed on the deaths around him, and eventually turn him into an Undead puppet.

• Garos taunted Phillips after defeating him, and Phillips admitted defeat and asked to make peace in exchange for his life.
• Garos questioned why Phillips feared permanent death, and Phillips claimed he had never made a Phylactery before becoming a Lich.
• Phillips explained that the Lothern Saint-King had nearly destroyed him, forcing him to become an Undead, and that he had stayed hidden until the Federation fell into civil war.
• Garos asked what Phillips would offer for his life, and Phillips promised loyalty, a Soul Contract, and the use of his knowledge and necromancy.
• Phillips secretly planned to deceive Garos, grow stronger by feeding on souls from the dragon's battles, and eventually make Garos his Undead puppet.

Garos refused Phillips the Lich’s offer of loyalty and crushed his body, but secretly arranged for Xia'er to watch the battlefield. Seven days later, Phillips revived through a feigned-death spell, while Garos recognized that his plan had succeeded and flew off considering whether the Lich’s Phylactery could aid the Dragonforged Transformation Ritual.

• Garos rejected Phillips the Lich’s offer and crushed him into ash despite Xia'er's warning that Liches could return from the dead.
• Garos left the battlefield, and Xia'er followed as Dragonkin retainers cleared the pit and burned the Undead remains.
• Seven days later, Phillips reassembled himself using a feigned-death spell that let him survive without a Phylactery.
• Phillips vowed revenge on Garos and the Lothern Saint-King, then concealed himself and staggered toward his hidden cave.
• Garos revealed that he had secretly ordered Xia'er to watch the ruins, recognized that Phillips had returned, and considered whether the Lich’s Phylactery could be useful for the Dragonforged Transformation Ritual.

Phillips escaped Garos and returned to his hidden lair, but Xia'er stole his phylactery and Garos caught and killed him again. Phillips’s final soul curse struck Garos, who welcomed it as a chance to strengthen his curse resistance and kept the phylactery for study.

• Phillips reached his hidden lair and moved to recover using his phylactery.
• Xia'er emerged from hiding, stole the phylactery, and fled as Phillips sent his undead after him.
• Garos descended on the wilderness, crushed Phillips, and destroyed the pursuing undead.
• Garos broke open the phylactery and found Phillips’s remaining consciousness inside.
• Phillips shattered his Soul Pearl to curse Garos, but Garos treated the curse as a chance to improve his resistances.

Garos left the Lich’s cavern intact, planning to use it as a research site and give its remaining undead to Seraphina. Days later, the Molten Iron Tribe’s main legion arrived outside Creekwood, where Xia’er welcomed its young dragons and arranged to obtain Kaxier’s Red Dragon Blood; he learned Seraphina had gone to see Garos.

• Garos decided to preserve the Lich’s cavern for experiments and leave its undead in Seraphina’s care before flying back toward Creekwood.
• Xia’er reflected on his goal of reaching the Legendary Realm and headed for Creekwood Territory.
• The Molten Iron Tribe’s main Thrall Legion arrived outside Creekwood, impressing residents with its vast ranks and circling dragons.
• Xia’er greeted Ludwig, Heriam, and Kaxier, then offered Kaxier gems in exchange for Red Dragon Blood.
• Kaxier accepted Xia’er’s offer, while Ludwig said Seraphina had left the group to see Garos.

Garos endured Red Lotus Form to temper himself and sensed that his next Adaptive Evolution might strengthen his dragon blood. After assigning Seraphina to manage an Undead Lair and discussing Dragonforged Transformation research, he ordered her and Ludwig to ensure old Nick survived the first ritual.

• Garos trained in Red Lotus Form, whose extreme heat and Bloodburst damaged his body while encouraging the evolution of his dragon blood.
• Garos returned to Conifer Valley, where Slimes cleaned his injured scales and some absorbed dragon blood, gaining faint traits of dragonkind.
• Garos ordered Seraphina to subdue the uncontrolled undead in the Lich's cavern and take charge of transforming the Undead Lair.
• Seraphina reported that the Dragon Scale Transformation Ritual could extend an ordinary human's lifespan by about twenty years, with its success rate potentially improving in the Undead Cavern.
• Seraphina asked to work with Ludwig on the Undead Lair, and Garos approved the plan.
• Garos told Seraphina and Ludwig to do everything they could to ensure old Nick survived the first Dragonforged Transformation.

Garos learned that Sorog's attempt to contact Gorsas had encountered the dangerous Frenzied Flame, then set aside the prospect of changing his absent father. The Ignas Family gathered through the Blood Kin Network, where Laetitia reunited with her transformed son Gordon and the siblings debated who would win in a fight.

• Sorog told Garos that a fierce, chaotic flame had burned away his attempt to establish a Blood Kin Link with Gorsas.
• Garos recalled Laetitia's account of how a vanished meteor's Frenzied Flame had driven Gorsas into madness, and decided that trying to change him was too costly and unlikely.
• Garos asked Sorog to open the Blood Kin Network so the family could discuss Laetitia formally joining them.
• Laetitia met Sorog, Samantha, and Gordon in the network and was astonished by Gordon's immense, muscle-and-fat-covered form and Life Level 16 strength.
• Samantha mocked Gordon and threatened to fight him, while Laetitia judged Samantha more likely to win and Sorog quietly backed Gordon.

Garos and his blood kin agreed to treat their mad father, Gorsas, as an enemy and devised a trap to kill him. They also began preparations to expand the Molten Iron Tribe, choosing Quenching Heights as their first target.

• Garos warned his siblings that their powerful, Frenzied Flame-maddened father, Gorsas, lived in the Ser Wilderness and that an encounter was inevitable.
• Samantha, Sorog, and Gordon agreed that Gorsas was too dangerous to approach as an ally and should be eliminated.
• Sorog proposed luring Gorsas with a rumor about a strange Frenzied Flame near Laetitia's territory, then trapping him with the Gladiatorial Array Disk while the dragons attacked together.
• Garos and his blood kin agreed to prepare the ambush, while Laetitia warned that Gorsas might still escape if the fight turned against him.
• Garos and Sorog chose Quenching Heights as the Molten Iron Tribe's first target for expansion, and Garos ordered Sorog to prepare the legion for an assault.

Garos rested in Conifer Valley while preparing to reclaim Quenching Heights and hunt down his father, Gorsas. After Alberto agreed to join the hunt, the Molten Iron Tribe mobilized and marched toward Quenching Heights.

• Garos rested and recalled his resolve to return with a stronger Molten Iron Tribe and reclaim the Earth Vein Symbiosis Pool and Quenching Heights.
• Alberto brought Garos a chest of rough gemstones as debt payment, and Garos declined his offer to weaken the curse afflicting him.
• Alberto explained that he had earned wealth by blessing human settlements and fighting evil creatures.
• Garos revealed that Gorsas was his biological father, and Alberto hastily reassured him that he would not judge him by his bloodline.
• Garos invited Alberto to help hunt Gorsas, and Alberto eagerly agreed to join the hunt.
• Five days later, the Molten Iron Tribe's armies set out for Quenching Heights under Iron Dragon Sorog's command.

Garos led the Molten Iron Tribe’s Thrall Legion and four dragons toward Quenching Heights, while Crystal Princess Elina secretly supported the assault by using a Magic Satellite to cut off the fortress’s communications. Hamilton raised the highest alert and discovered the approaching army, but he could not contact the outside world as the attack closed in.

• Garos prepared to lead the Molten Iron Tribe’s first major show of strength against Quenching Heights, with Sorog, Samantha, Heriam, and Kaxier joining the assault.
• Sorog told Garos that the legion would reach its attack position in a few days and that Elina had promised additional support.
• Hamilton raised a Level One combat alert after outer watchposts stopped reporting and he concluded that an organized enemy was approaching.
• Hamilton refused to send troops out to rescue the watchposts, which fell one by one as the legion neared the fortress.
• Using Extrasensory Insight, Hamilton saw the vast Thrall Legion and several dragons, then tried to request reinforcements but found every communication device blocked.
• Elina watched Quenching Heights through an Astrolabe as a Lothern Magic Satellite blocked communications between the fortress and the outside world.

The Molten Iron Tribe attacked Quenching Heights with a vast army and five dragons, overwhelming the city's defenses. General Iron Wall Hamilton died fighting the Red-Iron Dragon, and the battle ended with the defenders defeated, fleeing, or surrendering.

• Hamilton ordered the defenders to man the walls and fire the Magic Crystal Cannons, but Kalu and the Molten Iron Legion continued their advance.
• Samantha, Sorog, Heriam, and Kaxier attacked the walls while the Red-Iron Dragon shattered the main defensive shield and crashed into the stronghold.
• The dragons breached Quenching Heights' walls, allowing the Molten Iron Legion to pour into the city and slaughter the defenders.
• Hamilton charged the Red-Iron Dragon twice, but the dragon fatally struck him down during his second attack.
• The Red-Iron Dragon cleared the dust from the ruined battlefield, and the remaining defenders broke, fled, or surrendered as the Battle of Quenching Heights ended.

Garos celebrated the Molten Iron Tribe’s decisive victory at Quenching Heights and considered how to expand across the northwestern Ser Wilderness. He identified the other rising Map Kings as future rivals and recognized that the wilderness’s conflicts would determine who became a Regional King.

• The Molten Iron Tribe defeated the defenders of Quenching Heights, and Garos and Sorog inspected the greatly expanded Earth Vein Symbiosis Pool.
• Garos addressed his cheering subjects, declaring that the tribe would conquer the Ser Wilderness, while Samantha, Heriam, and Kaxier departed and Sorog organized the captured stronghold.
• Garos returned to Conifer Valley, completed his training, and considered the Molten Iron Tribe’s plans to seize the northwestern wilderness while watching for powerful rivals.
• Garos reviewed intelligence identifying the Deer King, Four-Headed Serpent King, Hundred-Eyed King, Lion King, and Molten Iron King as the Northwest Five Kings.
• Garos reflected that rival Map Kings would clash until Regional Kings emerged, and noted that Gorsas was nearing that status in the central wilderness as the Mad King.

Garos chose the Lion King of Echo Rift as his first target for subjugation, but the lion pride attacked Molten Iron Tribe outposts before he could launch his campaign. As the tribe's forces mobilized, Garos flew toward the border to face the Map King whose forces had struck first.

• Garos decided to recover before leading the dragonflight and an elite Thrall Legion to attack the Lion King's territory and attempt to subdue the pride.
• Seraphina and Ludwig cleared the Undead Lair, and Seraphina used the Phylactery and a ritual array to raise the undead under her spiritual control.
• Seraphina ordered the undead to renovate the lair into a site for the Dragonforged Transformation Ritual.
• The Lion King's beasts attacked several Molten Iron Tribe border outposts, killing sentries and destroying the defenses before reinforcements arrived.
• The Molten Iron Tribe gathered its elite legions, and Garos flew toward the attacked border after learning of the invasion.