Recaps

John learned that Ian had survived the strain of summoning thirty-two Deep-Sea Demon Whales and planned to recruit him after he recovered. Once Ian woke, John prepared to meet him aboard the Horst, where Ian arrived guarded and wary.

• Bob told John that Ian was in a coma from mana depletion but had no other symptoms, and John decided to wait for him to wake before trying to win him over.
• John discussed the battle plan with Bob, learned how many Third Navy amphibious troops could assist, and left for Starry Coast after Wendy reported her team had returned safely.
• Ian woke in a medical pod aboard the Horst, received treatment from Colonel Kambert, and learned that John was waiting to speak with him.
• Wendy reported that Frank's body had been found, and John ordered Colonel Samuel to have it frozen and stored for later use.
• John prepared tea and pastries for Ian, then greeted him as he entered the dining hall with a Guarded status showing above him.

John confronted Ian about his work for the Old Guard Party and used the Grant Family’s vulnerability to stop him from resisting. He offered Ian a chance to make amends, then explained how he had uncovered Ian’s Formula and ended by condemning his choice of allegiance.

• Ian recalled how he had used the Merfolk’s Song Formula to leak the Third Navy’s route and planned to flee with Lieutenant General Doran once the mission failed.
• As Ian considered taking John hostage, John asked about Ian’s mother and warned that the Grant Family could be ruined, demonstrating his precise control of magic power.
• Ian recognized John’s threat and sat down, but John interrupted his plea for mercy and proposed that Ian could be forgiven if he made amends.
• John explained that he had learned about the Grant Family’s Formula and Ian’s father, Lord Cain, through secret intelligence and his research into Xianqin history.
• John revealed that soldiers were watching Ian, then said Ian had chosen the wrong path despite his talent and ability to restore his family and pursue revenge through military service.

John revealed that Councilor Mister had orchestrated Lord Cain’s murder to obtain the Grant Family’s Merfolk Tears, turning Ian’s revenge against the Old Guard Party. After Ian vowed to pursue justice despite the consequences, John offered him a chance to lead the Navy division of a new imperial intelligence agency.

• John told Ian that Eric had acted as a smokescreen for Mister, who arranged Lord Cain’s assassination to acquire the Merfolk Tears and hid them for twelve years.
• Ian realized the Old Guard Party had deceived him and that Mister was the true target of his revenge, and his grief produced a blood-red Merfolk Tear.
• Ian asked John to help him achieve revenge, but John asked what Ian could offer in return.
• Ian accepted that he had no leverage, thanked John for revealing the truth, and vowed to face military punishment and pursue revenge even if it cost his life.
• John said Ian’s resolve had moved him and offered to speak to Marshal Bob on Ian’s behalf.
• John invited Ian to become director of the Navy division in the proposed Imperial Military Intelligence Section Five.

John Maslow invited Ian Grant to lead the naval intelligence department of the newly approved Imperial Military Intelligence Section Five, and Ian accepted after weighing the risks of opposing the Old Guard Party. John promised that the Black Eagle Unit would protect the agency and threatened severe punishment for nobles who obstructed the Empire, leaving Ian welcomed as John's ally.

• Ian realized that accepting John's offer would make him a target for the Old Guard Party and its powerful noble families.
• Ian concluded that he could not safely deceive John or return to his former allegiance, so he pledged his loyalty to him.
• John guaranteed Ian protection from political assassins through the Black Eagle Unit and condemned obstructive nobles as vermin destined to hang from streetlamps.
• John welcomed Ian into Imperial Military Intelligence Section Five and shook his hand as an ally.

Bob ordered Roderick to stop the purge of the Grant Family and prepared Kambert to join John’s campaign for Faoken’s land territory. Unaware of the reinforcements being arranged, John attended his troops’ victory banquet, where a drunken mishap gave way to renewed celebration.

• Bob ordered Roderick to deliver Ian Grant’s file to John and halt the Grant Family purge, then asked Kambert to return to the battlefield.
• Kambert swore to help Roderick support John and destroy the forces opposing the Empire’s advance in Faoken.
• John left Ian with the Third Navy and gave him the Maslow Quotations before heading to the victory banquet.
• Drunken Igodala accidentally vomited on Marda, who chased him through the dining hall while the officers laughed.
• Lunebo noticed Laiya’s strength and considered the potential of Siegfried and Barnabos among John’s troops.
• John arrived to find the banquet silent, joked that his officers had no beer for him, and joined them as the revelry resumed.

After witnessing the mass casualties from the Iron Horse Mountain Campaign, John hardened his resolve to pursue victory and unknowingly awakened a mysterious power. Laiya mistook his distress for trouble with Doran Beate, while an urgent telegram revealed that the Allied Forces had routed the 4th Army Division and taken the outskirts of the Cocobia Rainforest.

• John left the victory banquet, saw the vast pile of burned corpses, and resolved to end the war through victory despite its cost.
• An unseen force awakened inside John, driving the moonlight away from his body as invisible chains broke.
• Laiya found John and noticed his presence had briefly vanished from her perception, then sensed a troubling heaviness behind his smile.
• Laiya wrongly concluded that Doran Beate was causing John's distress and decided to kill him and frame the Allied Forces.
• Wendy reported that the Allied Forces had routed the 4th Army Division on the Cocobia Front and captured the outskirts of the Cocobia Rainforest.

After taking the Cocobia Rainforest, Roxy learned that John Maslow had destroyed the Seventh Legion and prepared to confront him. She suppressed a dispute with her allied commanders and ordered the army to march on Fang City, instructing her forces to kill every Imperial soldier they encountered.

• Major Dillion reported that the Fifth Legion had broken the enemy line and occupied the Cocobia Rainforest, and Roxy ordered Colonel Will to intercept the retreating enemy with Independent 1st Battalion and the 113th Division.
• Roxy considered reports of the Seventh Legion’s destruction and John Maslow’s role, then resolved to advance north and challenge him.
• Roxy confronted Major General Gary Fang over the 112th Division’s disobedience, but Gary defended his subordinates and refused to accept blame.
• Roxy threatened to remove the 112th Division from the campaign, and her officers surrounded Gary with killing intent until Dimis Darkmoon persuaded him to apologize.
• Roxy accepted Gary’s apology with a warning, then ordered the allied forces to take Fang City and leave no Imperial soldiers alive.

After learning that Roxy Sankaster’s forces were advancing on Fang City and John Maslow was on his way, Lieutenant General Doran weighed how to avoid defeat, blame, and losing control of the Silverstone Mine. He decided to fake an illness and hand command to John, hoping the enemy forces would destroy each other while he stayed clear of the fighting.

• Lieutenant General Doran learned that the Allied Forces had wiped out the 4th Division and were marching north toward Fang City under Roxy Sankaster.
• Colonel Toby reported that John Maslow had arrived near Fang City with the remaining forces of the 1st Division and proposed drugging him at a welcoming banquet.
• Doran rejected Toby’s plan, reasoning that John’s reported victory over the Seventh Legion was probably real and that Marshal Bob could not have been fooled.
• Doran decided he could benefit whether John defeated Roxy or lost, while keeping himself away from the battle and preserving the chance to leave the military.
• Doran ordered Toby to find three thick quilts and announced that he would fake an illness, appointing John to take command of the army.

John arrived in Fang City and found that Doran Beate was pretending to be too ill to command, while secretly maneuvering to transfer authority without taking responsibility for the coming battle. John accepted Doran’s appointment as temporary commander of the Second Legion, taking command as he planned to have Laiya investigate Doran’s hidden scheme.

• John learned from Colonel Toby that Doran intended to give up command because of a supposed illness, and suspected Doran was concealing an ulterior motive.
• John feigned concern and insisted on seeing Doran, but Doran was carried into the council hall on a bed covered in feces and convincingly acted out his illness.
• John proposed that Colonel Samuel take command instead, but Doran rejected the suggestion and formally appointed John temporary commander of the Second Legion.
• John accepted the appointment, and Colonel Toby handed him the black cane representing command of the Independent 3rd Division.
• John raised the cane and activated its magical core, completing the transfer of command while privately planning to have Laiya investigate Doran.

After taking command of the Independent 3rd Division, John learned that Roxy Sankaster and the Fifth Legion had joined the enemy, turning his expected campaign into a battle against overwhelming odds. He assessed Roxy’s abilities and devised ways to counter her, then vowed to defeat her.

• John reorganized the Independent 3rd Division and gathered a force of about twenty thousand soldiers for the campaign.
• Wendy reported that an Allied Forces legion of at least fifty thousand soldiers, led by Roxy Sankaster, had joined the two Saga Kingdom divisions.
• John concealed his alarm, rallied the Independent 3rd Division’s officers, and began reconsidering his battle plan.
• John assessed Roxy’s Soulheart spell formation and identified its capabilities and current limitations.
• John planned to counter Roxy using Marda, Lunebo, the naval infantry, intelligence from Will, and traps against the Saga Kingdom’s Beastfolk troops.
• John declared that he would crush Roxy’s confidence and defeat her in the coming battle.

John met with Colonels Kambert Stanwo and Roderick Dalton, the powerful commanders Bob sent to support his campaign, and sought their commitment to his command. He proposed Chokehold Peak as the first battlefield and revealed a plan to use nearby terrain and an underground river to encircle the enemy, leaving both colonels astonished.

• John was stunned to discover that Bob had sent Kambert Stanwo and Roderick Dalton, two of the Third Navy’s strongest commanders, to assist him.
• John told Kambert and Roderick that he intended to command the operation, and they agreed to follow his orders unless unforeseen circumstances arose.
• John selected Chokehold Peak for the first engagement, explaining that its fog, narrow paths, and surrounding terrain could hinder the enemy and support their withdrawal.
• John described how his forces could use the Gloom Corridor’s caves and tunnels as a hidden base and ambush site for later battles.
• John revealed that an underground river could carry an elite force to Blue Lake City, where they could seize the town and coordinate with the Third Navy to encircle the enemy.
• Kambert and Roderick were left astonished as John asked whether they were ready to help him deliver a massacre to the Allied Forces.

John learned that Laiya had gone to assassinate Doran without his orders and rushed to stop her, while Doran’s inherited spell helped him survive her attack and flee. Siegfried arrived in time to shield Doran from Laiya, leaving the two sides facing off as more troops approached.

• Wendy told John that Laiya had left to carry out a secret mission, and John realized she might be targeting Doran and ordered Wendy to find her.
• Doran planned to flee Fang City for Silverstone Mine after John’s troops departed, but an assassin broke into his estate and attacked him.
• Laiya’s strike failed when Doran used Wisdom’s Hand to create a magical hand, and Doran escaped on an enchanted hunting hound.
• Laiya pursued Doran and threw a saber at him, but Arias Beyat’s protective spell stopped it and knocked Doran off his hound.
• Siegfried arrived to protect Doran and confronted Laiya, declaring that he would stop the Allied Forces assassin on John’s orders.

Laiya and Siegfried staged a spectacular battle to make Doran believe Siegfried had saved him, prompting Doran to try to recruit Siegfried. John refused to transfer him, but Doran then offered John a share of a valuable mineral vein in Golden Lion Territory, leaving John stunned.

• Laiya continued her feigned attack while Siegfried played along, and their staged fight convinced Doran that Siegfried had defeated the assassin.
• Doran praised Siegfried and tried to recruit him as commander of a new Guard Regiment, but John refused to transfer him from the 1st Magic Battalion.
• Doran claimed he had helped defeat the assassin, and John answered with feigned admiration while Doran credited Siegfried to protect his recruitment chances.
• Doran invited John to discuss a business deal, and John stayed behind with Wendy while Lunebo guarded the area.
• Doran revealed that a mineral vein in Golden Lion Territory was worth about ten million D and offered John twenty percent in exchange for a force to protect him.

John and Lieutenant General Doran negotiated a deal over mineral veins while each secretly planned to deceive the other. They agreed to cooperate, with Doran expecting John to help him profit, while John intended to use Doran’s men to mine the resources before taking them for himself.

• Doran offered John a share of mineral veins in exchange for help surviving the coming campaign and securing military authority.
• John reflected on his missing memories and resolved to investigate the orphanage in Ereno after the Fauken Front campaign.
• John bargained with Doran over the minerals, raising his demand before settling on a fifty-fifty split.
• John secretly planned to let Doran’s men mine the veins and then seize the resources, suspecting they were worth far more than Doran claimed.
• John and Doran exchanged insincere smiles and shook hands, each believing the other had accepted his scheme.

John sent Laiya, Hawk, and Mia to monitor Doran, believing Hawk would keep the mission on track, while Hawk imagined the assignment was part of an elaborate plan. At the pier, John warned Marshal Bob that at least 241 Allied warships were heading toward Fauken Bay, leaving the Third Navy’s planned sortie in doubt.

• John assigned Laiya to surveil Doran and added Hawk and Mia to the mission, instructing Laiya to consult Hawk if anything unexpected happened.
• Hawk misread the surveillance assignment as a complex infiltration and ambush plan, then vowed to carry out John’s supposed strategy.
• John took Wendy to meet the Third Navy and planned to warn Bob that the fleet needed to preserve its strength against the enemy’s ships.
• Marshal Bob told John to hold off the Fifth Legion for fifteen days while the Third Navy defeated the Crescent Fleet and landed east of the Cocobia Rainforest.
• John refused Bob’s support plan and revealed that Allied Forces had sent at least 241 warships toward Fauken Bay.

John advised Marshal Bob on using the Bomia Archipelago to draw in and ambush the vastly larger Allied Forces fleet, and proposed that Ian summon a Kraken as a risky naval weapon. As the Third Navy departed, John accepted the immense stakes of his own campaign and prepared to begin his war.

• Bob learned that 241 Allied Forces warships were arriving and asked John what to do next.
• John recommended that the Third Navy preserve its strength and use the Bomia Archipelago’s reefs, whirlpools, and islands to evade and attack the enemy fleet.
• John explained that Ian could summon an adult Kraken with a Magic Amplifier, but warned that Ian would lose control after about an hour and the creature could become hostile.
• John reflected on the lives at stake and resolved to keep pursuing victory despite the danger and pressure.
• John watched the Third Navy sail from the docks, adjusted his military cap, and walked into the darkness to begin his own war.

The 1st Battalion surveyed Chokehold Peak as John Maslow prepared the terrain for a battle against the Allied Forces. Roxy Sankaster deduced his trap and deliberately redirected her army to Chokehold Peak, determined to fight him directly.

• Barnabos and the 1st Battalion surveyed Chokehold Peak and gathered detailed intelligence for John Maslow’s plans.
• Barnabos saw the battalion’s discipline and unity as its soldiers diligently carried out their assignments.
• Roxy Sankaster analyzed John Maslow’s tactics and concluded that Chokehold Peak was the site of his intended ambush.
• Roxy chose to accept the challenge and ordered Major Dillion to redirect the Allied Forces toward Chokehold Peak.

John anticipated Roxy’s forces might use Orian Frost’s teleportation to disrupt the battle, then realized lightning could interfere with spatial magic. He ordered lightning rods installed at Chokehold Peak, and the chapter ended as his vanguard engaged the enemy.

• John assessed the threat posed by Roxy’s three powerful Mages, especially Orian Frost and his Phase Channel teleportation formula.
• John realized lightning could disrupt mana and spatial coordinates, preventing Orian from teleporting reliably.
• John ordered Wendy to have the Engineering Company forge at least forty metal cylinders to serve as lightning rods.
• Wendy led the transport and installation of the lightning rods at Chokehold Peak.
• At 1 a.m., Marda reported that John’s vanguard had officially engaged the enemy.

At Chokehold Peak, Gary Fang pursued an Imperial bait force after an ambush was disrupted, unaware that John’s plan was leading the 112th Division into a trap. The chapter ended as hidden Imperial heavy artillery opened fire on Gary’s surrounded troops.

• Gary Fang learned that an enemy force was approaching his sector and hid the 112th Division to ambush it.
• An unfamiliar Lionfolk voice alerted the Imperial troops, and they retreated as Gary ordered his division to pursue them.
• Miles Carrot revealed that he had used John’s plan to provoke Gary and draw the 112th Division toward a prepared ambush.
• John ordered the bait force to destroy its vehicles at a pass, and Gary led his troops deeper into the area while completing an encirclement.
• Gary sensed danger and spotted iron pillars on nearby peaks, then lightning illuminated concealed Imperial artillery positions.
• The hidden heavy guns opened fire on the 112th Division.

Gary led the 112th Division into John’s artillery ambush, then ordered a retreat while John pursued him and monitored the other fronts. John discovered that Roxy had used the division as bait to teleport an elite force toward his artillery, but he sent Roderick’s force to intercept them.

• John’s artillery ambush devastated the 112th Division, and the surviving bait force suppressed its attempted counterattack.
• Gary chose to survive, ordered the 112th Division to withdraw, and escaped with his guards.
• John ordered Miles and the Sniper Company to pursue Gary, then observed the Independent 3rd Division’s lines retreating against the Fifth Legion and the 113th Division.
• Lunebo reported that an elite force of three thousand Mages, including a Transcendent Tier expert, was approaching the Lightning Ambush Zone.
• John deduced that Roxy Sankaster had used the 112th Division as bait and sent Colonel Roderick’s Assault Amphibious Force to support the artillery.

Colonel Gal Loken led the City-Burner Corps toward the enemy rear, but Roderick Dalton ambushed them with a devastating lava attack. Gal and Roderick activated their powers and charged into a direct battle.

• Gal led the 2,500-member City-Burner Corps through the rain to destroy the enemy’s rear supply units.
• Roderick Dalton launched a powerful lava breath, and Gal raised a Bastion Genesis wall that blocked the attack.
• Gal recognized Roderick, believed the Empire had anticipated Lieutenant General Roxy’s plan, and prepared to fight him.
• Gal activated his Magitech Armor as Roderick transformed into a towering lava monster.
• Gal and Roderick charged at each other and raised their fists and claws to begin their duel.

Roxy realized John Maslow was using a raid on her communications hub to seize control of the battle, and she ordered the Silent Thorn to intercept the attackers while preparing to lead a flanking assault herself. When the attack at D33 confirmed her deduction, Orian agreed to accompany her into battle.

• Roxy inferred that the City-Burner Corps had been held up by the Third Navy's Assault Amphibious Force and that her plan to destroy the Heavy Artillery Regiment had failed.
• Roxy deduced that John Maslow intended to raid the communications unit at D33 and use the disruption to command his forces through a special formula.
• Roxy ordered Colonel Lyria Colwyn to lead the Silent Thorn to D33 and told Orian to prepare a Phase Teleportation Spell for her and the Guard Regiment.
• Roxy explained that she would use the communications raid as an opportunity to activate the Soulheart Art and attack the enemy from behind.
• The communications unit reported that a thousand enemy troops had attacked D33 and that Lyria was exchanging fire with them.
• Orian withdrew his objections and agreed to accompany Roxy as she led the troops into the enemy formation.

Lyria Colwyn ambushed an Imperial raid on the Allied Forces' communications base, only to face Kambert and his plague-wielding Special Medical Operations Unit. As Roxy prepared to turn the battle with a rear assault, John revealed a trap meant to force her troops into a tide of magical beasts.

• Lyria Colwyn and the Silent Thorn ambushed and killed three hundred cloaked soldiers approaching the communications base, but their corpses burst into corrosive purple plague that devastated the jungle and killed nearby troops.
• Kambert revealed that he had used the dead soldiers as plague-spreading puppets, then faced the charging Lyria with his Special Medical Operations Unit as its members injected themselves with medicine and prepared to fight.
• John concluded that Roxy would likely lead the Guard Regiment through his lines to attack from the rear, potentially turning the battle in the Allied Forces' favor.
• John revealed that he had secretly positioned soldiers near magical-beast habitats and ordered them to drive the beasts toward Roxy's planned route, then declared that his trap would end her undefeated reputation.

Roxy’s ambush behind the Imperial lines turned into a desperate trap as John Maslow drove magical beast hordes toward her force and disrupted Phase Teleportation. Orian sacrificed his magic circuits to evacuate the troops, while John prepared to hold the front for ten days before turning Chokehold Peak into the key to defeating Roxy.

• Roxy noticed that no Empire soldiers were nearby, but dismissed the possibility that John had anticipated her arrival and ordered her troops to advance.
• John’s Mage Soldiers lured two magical beast hordes toward Roxy’s force, forcing her to retreat as lightning rods disrupted Orian’s Phase Teleportation.
• Roxy acknowledged her defeat and ordered a withdrawal, but Orian could not locate their main camp’s spatial coordinates.
• Orian cut his wrist and sacrificed his internal magic circuits to stabilize space and reopen the Phase Teleportation Spell.
• Orian teleported Roxy and the three thousand soldiers to safety just before five Transcendent Tier magical beasts attacked, while John learned the ambush had failed and planned to hold the front for ten days.

After ten days of attrition at Chokehold Peak, John ordered the Imperial Army to withdraw into the Gloom Corridor, where he planned to trap Roxy’s Fifth Legion and secretly seize the Cocobia Rainforest. Roxy recognized his open scheme and planned to contain him while secretly seeking support from the 109th Division, setting up a decoy to mislead a suspected spy; both commanders ended the chapter certain they would win.

• John’s forces and Roxy’s Allied Forces suffered heavy casualties over ten days of fighting, while supply raids and desertions further weakened the Imperial Army.
• John ordered an orderly withdrawal into the Gloom Corridor and concealed his plan for Samuel to lead troops downriver and strike the Darkmoon Clan’s city in the Cocobia Rainforest.
• Roxy learned that John had withdrawn, assessed the damage to her forces, and concluded that she had to enter the Gloom Corridor to prevent the Empire from taking the rainforest.
• Roxy decided to contain John’s army and seek help from the Third Orc Legion’s 109th Division, which was suited to cave warfare and was fighting the Empire’s 2nd Division.
• Suspecting a spy in the Fifth Legion, Roxy devised a half-true decoy plan that named Fang City as the apparent target and selected five units for scrutiny.
• John and Roxy raised their command batons and each declared that they had understood the other’s intentions and would be the final victor.