Chapter Summaries

John Maslow’s fire-belt trap forced Roxy to choose between waiting and risking a breakthrough, so she rallied the Allied Forces with promises of rewards and led them toward the flames. Just as Lyria and Orian opened a passage through the fire, an unseen barrage struck the advancing troops, leaving the outcome unresolved.

• John watched his Ant-Acid Mines and prepared wind formulas turn the enemy’s advancing fire attack into a contracting ring of flames.
• Roxy deduced that John expected her to force a way through the fire and resolved to follow his apparent plan until she could counter his true killing move.
• Roxy ordered the Allied Forces to break through the fire belt and promised a noble title for killing John or any request for capturing him alive.
• Lyria deployed her Slowing Domain while Orian used Upper Tier water magic to extinguish the flames and open a gap.
• As Roxy prepared to pull the troops through, black objects fell from the sky and exploded around the Allied Forces.

Roxy Sankaster led her blinded troops through John Maslow’s traps while John prepared a magic-ban zone and a tsunami to kill them. As John grew uneasy about Wendy’s effect on his plans, he ordered her to withdraw through the underground passage.

• Roxy Sankaster recovered from the flash-grenade trap, recognized how it worked, and used the Soulheart Art to guide her troops out of the fire.
• Roxy anticipated John Maslow’s next traps, evaded the poisoned spikes, and secretly instructed Orian as they advanced toward John’s position.
• John ordered Battle Line Three to ignite its Magic Rifles when Roxy arrived, then authorized Charlie Mambo and Bababela to detonate the ultimate shells off Fauken Bay.
• John revealed that Orian’s large-scale magic would create a magic-ban zone by disrupting the Azure Origin Ancient Trees’ balance of magic power and Anti-Magic Factor, leaving Roxy’s troops unable to escape the coming tsunami.
• Worried that Wendy would ruin his plan, John ordered her to withdraw through the underground passage, and Wendy reacted with confusion.

John ordered Wendy to evacuate and carry out a search-and-destroy mission after the tsunami, while Roxy led the Allied Forces into his final trap. Roxy’s forces were caught in an Anti-Magic Field, but she activated a backup plan to detonate the Anti-Magic Devices and disperse it, leaving the outcome of the battle uncertain.

• John told Wendy to fly above the battlefield until the tsunami passed, then search for survivors without taking unnecessary risks.
• Roxy anticipated that John had prepared a lethal trap and led the Allied Forces toward his position, confident she had prepared for spatial interference and magic suppression.
• Sixteen Hellfire pillars erupted around Roxy’s troops and joined into a wall of flames, prompting her to order Orian to extinguish them with Transcendent Tier water magic.
• As the flames and water produced thick mist, a special factor suppressed magic across the battlefield, disrupting Roxy’s Psycho-Energy Threads and Unique Formula.
• Roxy ordered the perimeter garrison to detonate the Anti-Magic Devices, expecting their released magic power and winds to disperse the Anti-Magic Field and let Orian attack John.

John Maslow refused Roxy Sankaster’s offer to join the Allied Forces, insisting that responsibility and his honor as an Imperial soldier left him unable to defect. After Orian struck his hiding place with Winter’s Fang, John prepared to escape, but an ice sword emerged from a spell formation and attacked his heart.

• Roxy used explosions from the Anti-Magic Devices to disperse John’s Anti-Magic Field, and John realized his plan had been countered.
• Roxy located John in the ancient tree, stalled for time while Orian recovered, and offered him a chance to surrender and join the Allied Forces.
• John rejected Roxy’s offer and declared his loyalty to the Empire and his identity as an Imperial soldier.
• Orian launched Winter’s Fang, freezing and collapsing the giant tree; John survived but was injured and exhausted.
• John realized Orian had stored magical power in his grimoire, making his recovery faster than John had expected, and tried to flee through the underground passage.
• An ice sword shot from a spatial spell formation in the ice crystals and stabbed toward John’s heart.

John Maslow survived Orian Frost’s Frostbound Sword, but a rising tsunami and the destruction of the main force left Roxy’s army facing defeat. John was swept into the sea with a frozen, pierced arm and dwindling air, and the chapter ended with him struggling to reach the surface.

• A hidden power inside John Maslow deflected Orian Frost’s Frostbound Sword just enough for John to escape wounded through the underground passage.
• Orian saw a colossal tsunami approaching and returned to warn Roxy that it could engulf the entire Azure Origin Ancient Grove.
• A massive swamp explosion created a towering mushroom cloud, and Roxy realized her main force had likely been annihilated and that she had lost to John for the third time.
• Roxy laughed as she accepted defeat, while Orian resolved to kill John and keep Roxy from becoming his.
• Ten minutes later, John was swept into the sea, where his frozen left arm and dwindling oxygen made him fear he would drown before reaching the surface.

As John drowned in the deep sea, she relived John Maslow’s tragic childhood and began awakening a power tied to her bloodline before a mysterious rescuer saved her. On the northern front, An Speyer felt an inexplicable panic, unaware that John had nearly died.

• John exhausted her remaining magic while trying to reach the surface, then sank as she began to suffocate.
• As John neared death, she experienced John Maslow’s memories firsthand and felt the child’s hatred awaken a power within her.
• An orca’s current interrupted John’s transformation, and her blood drew a swarm of deep-sea predators toward her.
• A short-haired figure killed the attacking magical beasts, gave John breath through a kiss, and carried her toward the surface as she fell asleep.
• On the northern front, An Speyer told Avril she felt she had lost something important, then dismissed the feeling and hurried toward the military strategy meeting.
• Avril teased An about introducing her younger brother, and An silenced her with a menacing threat.

An and Avril discussed An’s long-awaited return to her family and Elena’s offer to make An her retainer. An decided she would consider the offer only after reuniting with her family, and Avril volunteered to accompany her home.

• An warned Avril not to joke about her little brother or pursue him, and Avril insisted she had no interest in him.
• Avril reflected on An’s nineteen years away from home and worried that the reunion might disappoint her, so she considered having her family prepare An’s adoptive parents.
• Avril urged An to consider Elena’s offer of a retainer position and the Kamluofei surname as a way to protect her family.
• An said she would decide after returning home, explaining that reunion with her parents and little brother was all she could focus on after nineteen years apart.
• Avril offered to travel with An and use her noble status to support her family, and An thanked her, confident her family would welcome Avril.

John woke in Stargazing City after surviving his near-drowning, but his confusion over his new strength and magic was interrupted by Hawk reporting the Allied Forces’ defeat and welcoming him back. The Cocobia Rainforest campaign ended in a great victory, while enemy commander Roxy Sankaster had escaped by ship.

• John woke after two days unconscious and found Wendy asleep with her head on his arm; their argument ended when he toppled onto her and Miles walked in on them.
• Miles fled the room, then tried to share what he had seen with Marda and the others, but John kicked the door open and sent him flying.
• John noticed spell circuits on his leg and a vast body of magical knowledge in his mind, and wondered whether his system had finally come online.
• Hawk reported that the Allied Forces’ United Legion had been annihilated and that Roxy Sankaster had left Faoken’s northern port aboard a Morning Star Clan merchant ship.
• Hawk declared the Cocobia Rainforest campaign a great victory and welcomed Commander John Maslow back on behalf of the assembled officers and soldiers.

John rejected his officers’ attempts to give him sole credit for the victory and ordered them to submit honest reports. As the meeting ended, he learned that the Empire was sending seventy thousand reinforcements to Faoken, due to arrive in Fang City within two days.

• Hawk reported that John’s forces had suffered only 821 losses and praised John’s command, prompting the officers to heap further credit on him.
• John denounced the officers’ false reports, burned them, and ordered everyone to rewrite them with accurate accounts of who had earned the merit.
• John and the officers discussed security, supplies, the wounded, and the recovery and cremation of soldiers’ bodies for identification and future pensions.
• Mia informed John that the Empire had dispatched 60,000 ground troops and 10,000 Mage Soldiers as reinforcements, with orders for his forces to prepare to meet them in Fang City.

John questioned why the Empire had sent an elite relief force to Faoken, suspecting the Old Guard Party had another objective. Mia revealed that its mission code pointed to a Sacred Revenge Edict, likely requested by Arias after he mistakenly believed Doran had died.

• John reviewed the Rhine Military District's First Ground Army Group's formidable history and wondered why the Old Guard Party had sent it and the First Air Force Army Group to Faoken.
• John asked Mia whether she knew the reason behind the War Affairs Department's support mission, then doubted she could offer useful intelligence.
• Mia explained that the mission code was N001, which identified it as a Sacred Revenge Edict under the Thirteen Round Table Oath.
• Mia reasoned that Arias had likely requested the edict from Emperor William because he mistakenly thought Doran had died after losing contact with him at sea.
• John froze in disbelief at Mia's explanation.

John praised Mia for her work and concluded that the approaching Imperial reinforcements could not take command before his victory at Fauken Bay. That confidence collapsed when Wendy reported that the Beastfolk had sent the Bloodhowl Legion and its Crown Tier marshal, Grommas Shattered Fang Bloodwolf, into the Cocobia Rainforest to destroy the Imperial forces.

• John praised Mia, who vowed to study Wendy's Maslow Quotations and serve as a better Maslowist warrior.
• John reasoned that Wolf's plan to seize command and steal credit would fail because the Fifth Legion had been defeated and the First Ground Army Group could not take command without Duke Mosesiris's approval.
• Wendy told John that Galil had reported the Bloodhowl Legion was advancing into the Cocobia Rainforest under Crown Tier powerhouse Grommas Shattered Fang Bloodwolf.
• Grommas discussed his rise to the Crown Tier with Noah, a Shadow Orc, and revealed his desire to kill John and draw the Ravaging Marquis into battle.
• Grommas ordered the Bloodhowl Legion to advance toward Stargazing City and attack the Imperial forces.

John planned to counter Gromas and the Bloodhowl Legion by secretly carving a 572-kilometer artificial waterway through the Cocobia Rainforest, allowing the Third Navy to attack the enemy with its dreadnoughts. He ordered the work begun before the enemy arrived, believing secrecy and the time gained would let him hold out for reinforcements and kill Gromas.

• John ordered Galil to find the exact locations of the Bloodhowl Legion's and Bloodwolf Tribe's anti-magic facilities within eight hours.
• John assessed Gromas's strength and the danger of facing the Bloodhowl Legion in a direct ground battle.
• John measured a 572-kilometer route from Crescent Strait across the map and had Wendy check the 1st Battalion's remaining High-Energy Magic Stones.
• Wendy reported that the battalion had 1,851.5 stones, enough for the planned operations.
• John ordered Barnabos's Demolition Company to blast a waterway at least 572 kilometers long and five kilometers wide, while Marda's Engineering Company and Edgar's 2nd Division concealed the explosions and cleared the surrounding forest.
• John planned to flood the waterway so the Third Navy's dreadnoughts could bombard the Bloodhowl Legion and Gromas, while the resulting delay bought time for reinforcements to arrive.

Reginald recognized John’s artificial waterway at Crescent Strait and redirected the Blazing Sun Fleet toward Silverscale Port, while warning Gromas away from the Cocobia Rainforest. Gromas halted the Bloodhowl Legion’s advance despite Motas’s challenge, and Darkthorn Clan leaders noticed the division within the legion as it marched south.

• Reginald suspected John had prepared a trap and ordered the Bloodhowl Legion to rendezvous with his fleet at Silverscale Port before attacking Crescent Strait.
• Reginald realized an artificial waterway was accelerating his warship, then ordered the Third Fleet south while the First and Second Fleets continued toward the Aiken Sea.
• Gromas believed Reginald’s warning and ordered the Bloodhowl Legion to halt and change course instead of entering the Cocobia Rainforest.
• Motas and his faction challenged Gromas’s authority and urged the legion to advance, but Gromas rebuked Motas for risking the lives of the tribe’s soldiers.
• Gromas led the Bloodhowl Legion south while Darkthorn Clan leaders watched the dispute and considered exploiting the legion’s internal divisions.

John learned that 158 Allied warships were approaching Crescent Strait from two directions, with the Crown Tier commander Reginald Solaris among them, and devised a waterway-based surprise attack for Bob’s Third Navy. The chapter ended with Bob accepting the mission while John stayed behind to face the remaining enemy fleet, the Bloodhowl Legion, and the other Crown Tier threats.

• John heard from Bob that two enemy fleets totaling 158 ships were advancing toward Crescent Strait and that Reginald Solaris could neutralize the Horst Battleship’s Omega-Class Magic Cannon.
• John asked Bob how confidently the Third Navy could destroy the northern fleet if he created an opening for a rear assault.
• John revealed that Mage Soldiers had built a 572-kilometer Artificial Waterway and ordered them to expand it into a route through Fauken Bay for all thirty-two Third Navy warships.
• John planned for Bob to attack the northern fleet with support from fifty Beam Mage Cannon Vehicles, then draw the southern fleet into the eastern island chain while a decoy concealed the navy’s movements.
• John told Bob he would handle the remaining eighty-three warships, the possible arrival of the Crimson Sun Crown, and the Bloodhowl Legion, despite privately doubting his ability to do so.
• Bob recognized John’s desperate position but accepted the assignment in the name of the Empire.

John struggled to find a way to stop both the Bloodhowl Legion and the Hellfire Suicide Doll Legion, but new intelligence revealed that his spies were already infiltrating the enemy transports. Elated by the opportunity, he celebrated with Wendy, who mistook his excitement for madness and tried to revive him with a kiss.

• John concluded that he needed to destroy the Hellfire Suicide Dolls before they landed, but feared he could not spare the Black Eagle Special Forces from their mission against the Anti-Magic Devices.
• Wendy reported that the Bloodhowl Legion had changed course toward Silverscale Port and that the spy division was boarding enemy transport ships alongside its soldiers.
• John realized the infiltrating spies were assassination specialists with concealment abilities comparable to the Black Eagle Special Forces, and laughed that victory was now within reach.
• John lifted Wendy and praised her as his goddess of luck, while Wendy believed his laughter meant he had broken under the strain of battle.
• Wendy recalled the legend of her ancestor Wendia Elaine and decided to perform the Kiss of the Covenant to restore John, but discovered that he had already sealed her lips.

John planned three troopless decoy fronts to delay Reginald’s fleet while his forces struck the Bloodwolf Tribe’s core city and awaited reinforcements. He intended to use an Image Fern as his final bait and left convinced the plan would succeed.

• John stopped Wendy from getting close, then punished her with copying the Maslow Quotations ten times before returning to his strategy.
• After learning the Bloodhowl Legion was sailing to join Reginald, John redirected his plans toward crippling enemy ground forces and capturing the Bloodwolf Tribe’s core city.
• John planned to make Blackstone Beach appear lightly defended, then trap landing troops in quicksand and bombard them from the hills.
• John planned to use wrecked vehicles and false banners at the Mangrove Forest to provoke enemy bombardment, while his troops withdrew toward Stargazing City and planted Mage Arcane Mines along a reconnaissance route.
• John planned to use an Image Fern as his final decoy at Sea-Gate Cliff, hoping the three fronts would delay Reginald long enough for reinforcements to arrive.

Jamanla and the Shadow Orcs destroyed the Hellfire Suicide Doll Legion weapons aboard twenty transport ships, though the sabotage cost 120 soldiers. Reginald ordered his fleet onward toward Blackstone Beach, while John judged that many enemy suicide weapons remained and flew to the rear defensive line to prepare for the landing battle.

• Jamanla sacrificed himself by unleashing his demon blood to melt through an armory door, and two of his companions destroyed the weapons inside as the rest of the squad fought the defenses.
• Shadow Orc teams carried out simultaneous attacks on all twenty transport ships, destroying their armories and sinking the ships.
• Reginald learned of the coordinated sabotage, suspected a traitor had revealed the weapons' location, and ordered the fleet to continue toward Blackstone Beach while destroyers collected the Bloodhowl Legion.
• John received Galil's report that the mission had succeeded at the cost of 120 Ironblood Tier soldiers and inferred that the enemy still had at least a thousand suicide weapons.
• John chose not to send Galil another assassination order and flew with Wendy and the Guard Unit toward the rear defensive line.

Lieutenant General Bilson’s Fleet One was ambushed and destroyed after John Maslow’s forces used Explosive Magic to turn the Crescent Peninsula into an island. Marshal Reginald pursued the retreating enemy and chose to bombard Blackstone Beach, unaware of what awaited his fleet there.

• Bilson ordered Fleet One to bombard Crescent Strait, but the enemy coastal guns and fleet did not respond.
• An enemy fleet appeared behind Fleet One and destroyed it with a Gamma-Class Magic Cannon strike.
• Reginald realized John Maslow had used Explosive Magic to create an Artificial Waterway and had far more military resources than intelligence had suggested.
• Reginald ordered Fleet Two to pursue the withdrawing enemy and sent Fleet Three’s destroyers toward Bone Forest Swamp while the battleships headed for Blackstone Beach.
• Reginald activated the Blazing Sun Domain and ordered the fleet to bombard Blackstone Beach.

John Maslow’s forces were pushed toward collapse as Reginald’s fleet captured Blackstone Beach, leaving them short on ammunition and facing the approaching Bloodhowl Legion. Rather than retreat north to escape, John ordered his troops to regroup and march straight toward the enemy for a decisive battle.

• Reginald ordered a massive naval bombardment of Blackstone Beach, then landed troops who breached John’s traps and defenses.
• John directed his forces through twenty-five hours of withdrawals and fierce fighting as the Blazing Sun Fleet advanced toward the Mangrove Front.
• Wendy reported that John’s forces were nearly out of ammunition, medical units were overwhelmed, and the enemy fleet had entered the artificial river.
• Wendy relayed Galil’s delayed intelligence that the Bloodhowl Legion would reach the Mangrove combat zone in five hours and surround John’s forces.
• John rejected retreat and ordered the main force to abandon its defensive lines, regroup, and march north to fight the Bloodhowl Legion.

John Maslow tried to find a way to defeat Gromas's advancing Bloodhowl Legion before the Allied Forces trapped his army, while Wendy prayed and invoked the Golden Law to bless him with luck. Her prayer coincided with a miraculous new shoot growing at the roots of the Golden Tree in the Brown Kingdom.

• John ordered his 11,000 remaining troops to use guerrilla tactics against the Bloodhowl Legion, hoping to draw its forces into ambushes.
• Gromas kept his legion in a tight formation, sent the Darkthorn Regiment to scout and probe, and refused to pursue the small Imperial units.
• John realized Gromas had thwarted his plan to divide the enemy and strained his mind with the Analysis Spell Formation as he searched for another way to survive.
• Wendy watched John suffer, prayed for his safety, and invoked the Golden Law to grant him the blessing of luck.
• A jade-green shoot appeared among the rotting roots of the Golden Tree in the Brown Kingdom, with faint golden light shining from its leaves.