Recaps

John prepared for the upcoming commercial talks and urged Gabri to absorb the Venomfang Clan quickly, then received an unexpected visit from Filiche, who revealed himself and questioned John about his intelligence. John deflected the inquiry by invoking the Demon King, but Filiche disclosed that Wolf had investigated the facility where John and Ailafia were developing the Astral Orbital Barrier Device.

• John told Gabri about the Windless Wasteland negotiations and urged him to absorb the Venomfang Clan within a month, offering Bull Clan arms and supplies from Faoken.
• John teased Wendy about her rounder face, and she denied gaining weight before storming out.
• Akweiler entered John's office with Balga, dropped his disguise, and introduced himself as Filiche Kuiliyar, a Demon King's Army general staff member and head of the Eye of Truth Intelligence Department.
• Filiche asked John which Eye of Truth Corps unit had supplied his intelligence, and John said the Demon King could explain how he had obtained it.
• Filiche revealed that Wolf had recently sent people to investigate the facility where John and Ailafia were developing the Astral Orbital Barrier Device.

John received a top-grade Holographic Compass from Filiche, gaining access to the Eye of Truth Corps’ intelligence, and was warned that Ailafia was more formidable than she seemed. Seven days later, he and his negotiation team waited for the Saka Royal House’s delegation to arrive for talks.

• Filiche told John that Wolf had investigated the Astral Orbital Barrier Device, urged him to resume research, and gave him the task of finding its anchor point.
• Filiche gave John a Holographic Compass and granted him access to the Eye of Truth Corps’ intelligence and operations.
• Before leaving Faoken with Balga, Filiche warned John to investigate Ailafia and keep his guard up around her.
• John planned to study Ailafia’s intelligence and prepare to use Robrek’s rivalries to disrupt the Saga Kingdom’s royal family during the coming negotiations.
• Seven days later, John waited at a camp on the Windless Wasteland with Lunebo and his negotiation team as the Saka Royal House’s delegation arrived.

John Maslow negotiated with the Saga Kingdom over Star-patterned Stone mining rights, but talks stalled over his plan to build security outposts. He recognized the delegation’s lawyer as Robrek Black Abyss, who requested a private meeting with him after negotiations adjourned.

• John recognized that the delegation’s lawyer, Rob Stone, was likely Robrek Black Abyss and ordered Lunebo not to harm him.
• Gray presented Faoken’s survey and proposed a seventy-thirty division of profits, with Faoken receiving the larger share.
• Rob challenged John’s plan for five security outposts, arguing that they were military garrisons on Saga Kingdom land.
• John and Rob exchanged suspicions while the negotiations stalled, and Gerhart eventually called for an adjournment.
• Lunebo again suggested killing Rob, but John refused and said the lawyer had far greater standing than Lunebo realized.
• Gray reported that Rob wanted a private meeting with John, who agreed to receive His Highness.

John revealed that he knew Rob Stone was Robrek Black Abyss, third prince of the Saga Kingdom, and proposed a strategic partnership. He offered Robrek intelligence on his royal rivals in exchange for permission to establish outposts in the Windless Wasteland for seven years.

• Robrek rejected John's outpost proposal and accused him of seeking control of the strategic pass through the Windless Wasteland.
• John identified Rob Stone as Robrek Black Abyss, and Robrek dropped his disguise and acknowledged John's insight.
• John explained that he wanted a partnership with a member of the Saka Royal House and described his need for a defensive line after an assassination attempt.
• John argued that the outpost agreement would expire within seven years, when his tenure as governor would end.
• John offered Robrek intelligence on the first prince's military supporters, the second princess's financial network, and the sixth princess's civilian forces in exchange for the outpost agreement.

John and Robrek agreed to a seven-year arrangement granting Faoken three outposts in the Windless Wasteland, while each secretly planned to outmaneuver the other. As John explained Faoken’s larger strategy, he received word that the Ancient Construct Rusted One had gone berserk during Fanny’s awakening test.

• Robrek accepted John’s terms in exchange for Faoken’s unconditional support once, and John revealed that a groom in Robrek’s camp was an informant for Grozniya Black Abyss.
• Gerhart and Lawyer Rob negotiated the final agreement: Faoken could establish three trading posts, each with up to thirty soldiers, and receive seventy percent of the Star-patterned Stone for seven years.
• John told Lunebo that Robrek would never get the chance to turn against Faoken because a transformation led by the sages and Beast God believers would overcome the Black Abyss Clan.
• Lunebo informed John that the Ancient Construct Rusted One had gone berserk and destroyed the testing laboratory.
• At the testing base, Fanny used the Soul Imprint Technique to raise Rusted One’s core activation to eighty-one percent, but Caroline detected a dangerous energy spike and warned Fanny to flee.

The Rusted One awakened and went on a destructive rampage after Fanny’s attempt to connect with it, threatening to destroy the testing ground when its core overloaded. Fanny revealed that she could repair its system and set out to reconnect with it, leaving Marda stunned by Fanny’s newly revealed power and their familiar bond.

• The Rusted One’s chaotic mana trapped Fanny, but she severed her connection before it could take control, and the Construct awakened with a directive to attack all living beings.
• The Rusted One smashed through the underground laboratory and emerged at the testing ground, where it began destroying buildings, weapons, and equipment.
• Caroline warned Marda that the Rusted One’s core would self-destruct within an hour, while Fanny explained that she could alter its circuits and delete its destructive directive.
• Fanny rejected Marda’s plan to destroy the Construct and walked toward it, declaring that she would reconnect with it and make it stop within five minutes.
• Marda tried to stop Fanny but discovered that Fanny’s mana had reached transcendent tier and included a powerful second stream; Fanny then released Marda and called the Rusted One her familiar.

Fanny abandoned her failed attempt to restrain the Rusted One and gambled on rewriting its core while Samantha held it off. She reached the core and began forcing her Soul Imprint Technique into its circuits, but the outcome remained uncertain as the strain made her bleed.

• Fanny proposed that Marda fly her onto the Rusted One during a gap in its attacks, and Samantha agreed to keep the Construct occupied.
• Samantha engaged the Rusted One while Marda carried Fanny into the air, despite Marda's protests.
• The Rusted One transformed into a cannon and exchanged powerful attacks with Samantha, giving Fanny and Marda a chance to dive toward it.
• Fanny landed on the Rusted One's head, exposed its foundational array, and began using the Soul Imprint Technique to rewrite its core circuits.
• As blood streamed from her face, Fanny mentally commanded the Rusted One to stop in the name of Vitas Westron.

John reprimanded Fanny for risking her life to stop the Rusted One, but she insisted she would make the same choice because she had caused its rampage. After confirming the Construct was stable and learning that Fanny could build controllable Sentinels within six months, John began considering a plan for her mechanical army.

• John confronted Fanny about endangering herself and the Weapons Testing Base, docked one year of her wages, and told her to value her safety.
• Fanny accepted the punishment but said she would make the same choice again because stopping the Rusted One had been her responsibility.
• Fanny told John that the Rusted One was stable, had become her follower, and could match a Pseudo-Crown Tier fighter.
• Fanny explained that exact copies would go berserk, but she could redesign the Sentinel model and build a controllable mechanical army in about six months.
• John recalled Fanny's extraordinary capacity for mass production and asked whether she would be interested in his plan.

Over three months, Faoken strengthened its ties with nearby clans while political conflicts escalated in the Saga Kingdom and the Empire. John prepared to welcome his advisers back to Faoken after their six months at the academy.

• Fanny moved her confidential laboratory to a heavily guarded remote site, while Faoken’s officials and residents stayed busy with their work.
• The Bull Clan conquered the Venomfang Clan and sold its old, weak, sick, and disabled survivors to John; after Faoken’s Functional Group sealed the Geothermal Rift, Gabri rewarded them and gave John a powerful relic horn.
• Meyer’s Sage project gained tacit acceptance from three clans, and Ace and Dimis made peace as Faoken’s construction and political administration continued.
• Using John’s intelligence, Robrek framed the eldest prince for rebellion and sabotaged the second princess’s trading company, while the Beastfolk king investigated the supposed Sages.
• The Empire’s factional struggle intensified, and Dormammu escaped a massacre accusation after his accuser recanted.
• John told Wendy to prepare to leave and pick up his advisers, who were returning to Faoken after six months of study.

On the voyage back to Faoken, Sellviya learned why Hawk believed John had brought Roland Schwarz along: Roland’s abuse by the Schwarz Family may make him a valuable recruit against the Old Guard Party. Hawk concluded that John intended to turn Roland into an insider who could help bring the party down.

• Sellviya reflected on her academy results and Leo’s extraordinary strategic talent while aboard the Icebreaker.
• Hawk asked Sellviya what she thought of Roland Schwarz, and she dismissed him as a pawn John would discard.
• Hawk explained that Roland’s stepfamily had killed his mother, stolen credit for his achievements, and blocked his career, leaving him with ample reason to hate the Schwarz Family and the Old Guard Party.
• Hawk argued that Krauser’s recommendation made Roland appear to be an Old Guard Party pawn, giving John a chance to recruit him without raising suspicion.
• Hawk declared that John planned to help Roland take revenge and make him the next Marquis Schwarz, turning him into a powerful ally inside the Old Guard Party.

After returning to Faoken, Hawk and the other officers were astonished by the port’s rapid growth, while Roland Schwarz reconsidered his decision to come. John welcomed the returning officers and planned to recruit Roland as the Seventh Guardian, but an urgent report about unusual activity at the front interrupted him.

• Hawk and the returning officers arrived at Faoken and marveled at how much its port had expanded in six months.
• Roland Schwarz saw Faoken’s prosperity and began to believe Krauser’s claims that the territory offered him a chance to advance.
• John welcomed the returning officers and recognized the improvements in Hawk, Mia, Sellviya, Siegfried, Galil, and the others.
• John welcomed Hartmut, who had come under the alias Leo after earning a perfect examination score, and resolved to guide his education.
• John recognized Roland as the future Thunder-Drinking Blood Fiend and Seventh Guardian, and planned to recruit him and rebuild the Twelve Guardians through Faoken’s research team.
• John noticed that the Black Panther Clan might soon act against the Bull Clan, then received Lunebo’s report of unusual activity at the front.

Victor prepared the Black Panther Clan to attack the weakened Bull Clan, aiming to expand his power and support the seventh prince’s bid for the throne. After receiving secret weapons from the prince, he ordered his warriors to march and kill every Bull Clan member.

• Victor explained how John Maslow’s victory had disrupted his plans to conquer the eastern clans and how he later decided to strike the Bull Clan before it recovered.
• A secret envoy delivered the seventh prince’s token and a shipment of cannons, magical devices, grenades, and healing potions, along with the prince’s promise to keep rivals occupied.
• Victor rejected his deputy’s proposal to kill the Rabbitfolk envoy, recalling how he had seized leadership by killing his half-brother and defeating his father, then imprisoned his father’s Rabbitfolk family.
• Victor warned that the seventh prince must know when to stop testing him, and his deputy understood that Victor would replace the prince if necessary.
• Victor ordered the armed Black Panther Clan to march against the Bull Clan and leave no survivors.

John ordered the Steel Bone Independent Battalion to reinforce the Bull Clan against the Black Panther Coalition, hoping to cripple the enemy and expand the Bull Clan’s territory. As John dismissed the Phantom Eagle Clan as an unlikely concern, Gana wrestled with her tribe’s breeding-season plans until her daughter arrived with a possible solution.

• John learned that the Black Panther Coalition was marching from the Froststar Mountains toward the Bull Clan and ordered Lunebo to send 1,200 Steel Bone Soldiers, led by Samantha and Speyer, as mercenaries with three Annihilation Crystal Cannons.
• John judged that the reinforcements could badly damage the Black Panther Clan but probably could not destroy Victor’s army, and he hoped the Bull Clan would annex the Froststar Tribe afterward.
• John worried that the Phantom Eagle Tribe might threaten the Bull Clan during breeding season, then reassured himself that the harpies would not interfere.
• Gana considered hunting grounds and the potential of human breeding partners but remembered that a powerful human had injured her when she approached Faoken.
• Gana’s daughter arrived at the cave and excitedly said she had found a way to help the tribe through the breeding season.

Famu persuaded Gana to approve a secret raid on the Bull Clan’s northwestern pasture, disguised to implicate the Froststar and Black Panther Clans. Gana assigned Engqi to command the hunt, while Famu and Featherwing planned how to get around Engqi’s authority before setting out that night.

• Gana weighed whether Famu should inherit the Phantom Eagle Tribe, then heard her propose raiding the Bull Clan’s northwestern pasture and framing rival clans.
• Gana approved the hunt but ordered Engqi to command it and warned Famu not to act against Engqi’s orders.
• Famu left Gana and told Featherwing about the restriction, and Featherwing advised her to challenge Engqi over who would receive credit for the plan.
• Famu promised Featherwing a reward and ordered her to gather the hunters and summon Engqi for a departure before eight that night.

Gabri rejected Steel Horn’s plan to defend the Bull Clan’s walls and ordered his warriors to meet the Black Panther and Froststar forces head-on. As the enemy halted near the pasture, Victor spotted signs that the Bull Clan’s scouts had found them and sensed danger.

• Gabri learned that at least thirty thousand Black Panther and Froststar troops were approaching the Bull Clan’s northwestern pasture, while his own force numbered twenty-one thousand.
• Steel Horn urged Gabri to hold the outer walls and wait for Faoken’s reinforcements, but the other leaders condemned his plan and Gabri insisted that the Bull Clan had to prove its strength in battle.
• Gabri ordered Golden Horn to lead the left vanguard against the Froststar remnants, Silver Horn to attack the enemy’s magic corps, and the rest of the army to charge with him.
• Victor halted the enemy’s advance after noticing how quiet the area was and finding tracks he believed belonged to Bull Clan scouts.
• Silverback offered to lead the Froststar Clan ahead, but Victor sensed danger and shouted for everyone to get on guard.

Victor’s Black Panther Coalition and Gabri’s Bull Clan army clashed, while Famu’s Harpies arrived and decided to attack the Bull Clan from behind. Famu rejected Engqi’s warning and led the Harpies into battle.

• Victor’s stone-speared ambush killed nearly a thousand coalition soldiers before the Bull Clan army charged into them.
• Victor and Gabri fought inside their Crown Tier Domains, and Victor considered retreating as Gabri began healing his wounds.
• Gabri rejected Victor’s offer to withdraw and attacked him again, demanding an arm and half the coalition as compensation.
• Featherwing urged Famu to keep the Harpies out of the battle, but Famu saw a chance to cripple the Bull Clan and claim its territory.
• Engqi warned Famu that joining the battle would be suicide, but Famu dismissed her and led the Harpies toward the Bull Clan’s rear.

The Bull Clan, Black Panther Clan, and Phantom Eagle Clan clashed as each leader tried to exploit the others, until an unknown steel army appeared on the battlefield. Famu ordered a retreat but was confronted by a transcendent metal giant.

• Silver Horn abandoned his attack on the Black Panther troops and led the Bull Clan forces back toward their rear after learning the Phantom Eagle Clan had attacked.
• Victor denied allying with the harpies, then urged Gana to join him against Gabri and promised to share the Bull Clan's territory.
• Gabri faked a desperate stand, then escaped toward his army, while Victor ordered his troops to resist the Bull Clan's retreat without fully committing.
• Famu learned Gabri was approaching and prepared to retreat, but a massive army of steel monsters charged onto the battlefield.
• Famu shouted for a retreat, but a transcendent metal giant appeared before her and swung its greatsword at her head.

Samantha’s Steel Bone Legion and Annihilation Crystal Cannon routed the Black Panther Coalition and saved the Bull Clan. Afterward, Gabri agreed to conceal Faoken’s involvement and began considering whether the Bull Clan should become Faoken’s vassal.

• Engqi fled with the Phantom Eagle Clan’s survivors after Samantha’s Steel Bone Armor killed Famu and nearly struck her down.
• Samantha led the Steel Bone Armed Forces in a charge against the Black Panther Coalition, while Victor realized the twelve hundred steel warriors possessed High Mage-level power.
• Victor prepared to capture Samantha, but an Annihilation Crystal Cannon shell struck the coalition’s rear ranks and turned soldiers and the battlefield within a kilometer into purple crystal.
• Victor ordered a retreat, and Gabri pursued the fleeing coalition toward the Froststar Mountains before halting to avoid a possible ambush.
• Samantha told Gabri the Steel Legion came from Faoken and asked him to keep its weapons and involvement secret; Gabri agreed and said the Bull Clan should discuss becoming Faoken’s vassal.

After Famu died in battle, Miliel persuaded Gana to ally temporarily with Seventh Prince Razia against the Bull Clan, and Gana appointed Miliel as the Phantom Eagle Clan’s young chief. Gana remained suspicious that the Steel Bone Legion came from the Allied Forces’ Magitech Armor technology rather than from another royal heir.

• Engqi returned to Gana’s cave and reported that Famu had died in battle.
• Miliel argued that the Phantom Eagle Clan should exploit the Bull Clan’s weakness and the Seventh Prince’s desperation by joining his campaign against them without pledging permanent allegiance.
• Miliel identified the Steel Legion as likely Construct warriors and suspected the Black Abyss Clan possessed the technology behind them.
• Gana ordered Miliel to lead negotiations with the Black Panther Clan and temporarily demoted Engqi, assigning her as Miliel’s personal guard.
• After Miliel and Engqi left, Gana studied the Steel Bone Legion’s intelligence and suspected its armor was Allied Forces technology.

Razia and Robrek reacted to the Black Panther Coalition’s defeat, while Samantha revealed she had also attacked the Phantom Eagle Clan’s forces. The chapter left John facing the prospect of retaliation and worrying that Faoken’s peace would not last.

• Razia learned that the Black Panther Coalition had lost and considered joining the Silver Rhino Clan and Bloodhowl remnants for another attack on the Bull Clan.
• Robrek warned his agent to alert Faoken about Razia’s likely next move and plotted to use the conflict to weaken his brothers in the succession struggle.
• John questioned Samantha about the Steel Bone Corps killing more than a thousand Harpies, including a possible member of the Phantom Eagle Clan’s ruling line.
• Samantha said the Harpies had attacked the Bull Clan and declared that Faoken would defeat them and make them its vassals if they retaliated.
• John accepted that the attack had already happened and worried about the Phantom Eagle Clan’s response and Faoken’s future peace.

Edmund Kromber vanished with evidence that could devastate the Old Guard Party, prompting Wolf and William to race to find him. After a staged magical clue sparked a deadly clash between their forces, Edmund appeared under supernatural control, delivered his master's warning, and killed himself before Tolovsky took his corpse, leaving both factions facing a mysterious new threat.

• Kevin Perus's armaments report unsettled the Old Guard Party, while rumors spread that the Neutral Faction might side with the Reformists.
• Edmund Kromber disappeared along with copied records of the Old Guard Party's illegal dealings, and Wolf ordered the Children of Ash Guard to find him.
• William sent the Inspection Forces to search for Edmund, and both factions' forces converged on a false magical trail at the old docks, where they fought and suffered casualties.
• The Children of Ash Guard and the Inspection Forces received identical messages directing them to Edmund at an abandoned church, where they found him holding a pistol to his temple.
• A force controlling Edmund warned both factions that its master had taken the items and told them to continue their performance, then made Edmund shoot himself.
• Tolovsky arrived, took Edmund's corpse, and told the two groups to send William and Wolf to the Stargazing Spire if they wanted it.

After Edmund’s death, Wolf and William both suspected Mosesiris of orchestrating the incident and decided to let tensions between the Old Guard Party and Reformist Faction escalate to expose the mastermind. Ailafia learned of Edmund’s death at a tea party, then received a report that her people had cleared the scene and secured the intelligence.

• Wolf reviewed the reports about Edmund’s death and concluded that Mosesiris Perus was the likeliest mastermind.
• William and Bob examined Edmund’s autopsy report, identified Mosesiris as the suspected culprit, and decided to intensify the parties’ conflict rather than restrain it.
• William instructed Bob to tell the Reformist Faction to continue clashing with the Old Guard Party without revealing their plan.
• At Countess Yanes’s tea party, Jennifer told the young noblewomen that Edmund had been deliberately silenced, while Ailafia listened quietly.
• After leaving the estate, Ailafia stopped her car on a secluded road and heard from a maid that the evidence at the scene had been cleared and the intelligence secured.

Ailafia met Abigail near the church where Edmund died and confirmed that the coordinates she needed were among Edmund’s collected intelligence. After planting a cycle error point and revealing she had reached the Fourth Medium, Ailafia declared she would risk her life to gain power and glimpse the final truth.

• Ailafia ordered her agents to rest, told them to abandon their bases after Gruber attracted the Inspection Forces’ attention, and learned Alitt had returned to Duke Mosesiris’s side.
• Ailafia met Abigail near the abandoned church and confirmed that Edmund’s list contained the coordinates of John’s exile.
• Abigail warned that activating the Astral Orbital Field could cause a disaster, but Ailafia revealed her Fourth Medium Aura and said she would handle the risks herself.
• Ailafia planted a cycle error point at the church and ordered Gray to alter nearby watchers’ memories.
• Ailafia told Abigail she was willing to risk her life to surpass John, Father, and Grandfather and glimpse the final truth.

Roland began his new post as captain of Third Company in Faoken and tried to learn how its forces operated. While escaping his overly inquisitive Beastfolk colleagues, he met Major Siegfried Fafner and discovered the newly promoted officer had been a combatant before Governor John promoted him three ranks.

• Roland reviewed the paperwork and reference materials Captain Bababo Yi had left for him, then finished his work quickly.
• Roland found his Beastfolk colleagues’ intense friendliness uncomfortable and escaped outside the city wall for a cigarette.
• Major Siegfried Fafner approached Roland, introduced himself as the Naval Training Force’s deputy instructor, and explained that he helped Division Commander Samantha with administration.
• Roland sensed Siegfried’s powerful magic and noticed the calluses on his hands as they shook hands.
• Siegfried told Roland that he had been a combatant and had risen from second lieutenant to major after Governor John promoted him three ranks.
• Roland questioned Siegfried’s rapid promotion and asked him to describe his combat experience.

Roland settled into his new role in Faoken, then was summoned with Siegfried to meet Governor John. John asked why Roland had left the Imperial Ground Army and ended the conversation by condemning his answer as cowardly.

• Siegfried told Roland about his many battles in the Fauken Campaign and showed him around the training unit's camp.
• Roland began building connections in Faoken and learned that the training unit mainly trained soldiers and defended the territory.
• Two days later, Roland and Siegfried received a formal summons to the Governor's Office.
• Roland praised Faoken's fair order and thriving people when John asked what he thought of the territory.
• Roland explained that he had retired after someone blocked his chances of promotion, and John called his response a cowardly display.