Chapter Summaries

The Imperial legislature voted on the Special Act on Restricting the Military Expansion of Autonomous Regions, and the Old Guard Party initially held a commanding lead. With the Demon King's Army and Duke Mosesiris's Western Frontier faction voting against the bill, the Reformist Faction achieved a last-second reversal and defeated it.

• Wolf opened the vote, and the bill quickly gained 403 votes in favor against 187 opposed while the Neutral Faction abstained.
• The Demon King's Army's thirty-six legislators broke tradition and voted against the bill, raising the opposing count to 223.
• Neutral Faction legislators began voting against the bill, bringing the opposing total to 291 before their votes stalled.
• Alders Gray requested and received a five-minute extension for the Western Frontier faction to vote.
• After consulting Duke Mosesiris, Alders voted against the bill, and the faction's remaining 137 legislators followed.
• The opposing votes rose to 428, surpassing the 403 votes in favor and defeating the proposal.

The Restriction Bill failed after Duke Mosesiris changed his vote, giving the Reformist Faction a surprise victory over the Old Guard Party. Marshal Donner’s letter from Cain revealed the coercion behind his role, while Donner wondered whether the vote’s unusual unity had been arranged by the new governor or William.

• Wolf announced the final tally, and Gerald celebrated the Reformist Faction’s victory by inviting the legislators to a banquet.
• Michel led the furious Old Guard Party legislators out of the Upper House Hall, while Fritz realized his father’s letter had helped sway the vote.
• Michel threatened Donner by referring to his son’s wedding and the dangers of the Western Frontier, but Donner warned that he could support the Reformist Faction.
• Donner read Cain’s letter, which revealed that Cain had used both a debt of gratitude and threats to force him to help Hohenheim.
• Donner reflected on the unusual votes against the bill and wondered whether the new governor or William had coordinated them.

After the Restriction Bill targeting Faoken failed, Wolf investigated the surprising votes against it and realized William had outmaneuvered him through Moses's faction. William considered the Demon King's Army's unexplained vote and vowed to break free of Wolf's restraints, while Wolf prepared to keep fighting through new legislation.

• Wolf ordered Alexei to investigate the Demon King's Army's activities after its legislators broke their usual voting pattern.
• Wolf recalled Ailafia's visit to the Imperial Astronomical Observatory Ruins and sent Empress Diana a private family letter meant to prompt her to investigate the magitech facility.
• Wolf concluded that William had persuaded Moses's faction to vote against the Restriction Bill and resolved to challenge him with other proposals.
• William reviewed intelligence on the Demon King's Army's unexpected votes and suspected John Maslow might have influenced them.
• William revealed that he had persuaded Moses to support the Reformist Faction by threatening to accept Wolf's restraints and offering the Western Frontier three years of tax exemption.
• William declared that an emperor must break every shackle to restore the Empire, while Wolf smiled and prepared to continue his political struggle.

John learned that the Restriction Bill had been rejected and continued overseeing Faoken’s development, while his fabricated lead about the Thousand Blades Formula set Elena on a path toward the Kascga Family’s forbidden territory. After Wendy reported that the Gambling God Challenge was ready, John confidently declared that he would win.

• Fritz told John that the Restriction Bill had been voted down after the Demon King’s Army legislators and Western Frontier legislators opposed it, so John kept to his original plan for Faoken.
• John reviewed Faoken’s progress, including expanding mining and employment, and ordered Samantha to punish Beastfolk who stirred up hostility against the Morning Star Clan; her soldiers’ severe beating silenced the troublemakers but earned her the nickname Ironblood Demon Lord.
• John sent Elena a falsified account claiming that the key to the Thousand Blades Formula was beneath the Kascga Family’s castle, expecting her to attack the site and expose its connection to the Dark Star Lord research.
• Wendy barged into John’s office and reported that Bababo Yi had completed preparations for the Gambling God Challenge, with more entrants than expected and a venue that might be too small.
• Wendy offered to rig the competition or arrange a special qualifying spot for John, but he refused and proclaimed himself the inevitable winner.

John entered Faoken's Gambling God Challenge preliminaries, confident that his exceptional hand would let him crush his opponents. He raised the multiplier against a sleepy old man, who matched his triple super multiplier and left the match poised to begin.

• The Faoken Gambling God Challenge began in Revival City's central square, drawing more than three thousand contestants to compete in Bully Battle.
• John insisted on entering the preliminaries despite Marda's concern about his notorious bad luck, and she registered him.
• Wendy arranged stands and magical projections for the tournament, while Dr. Caroline monitored the arena for magical cheating.
• John drew seat three at table four and assumed his opponents, a merchant and a sleepy old man, would be easy to beat.
• John received four aces, four fours, and a long straight, while the old man claimed the bully role and John passed.
• John raised the multiplier to triple super, but the old man immediately matched his raise.

John lost the first round of the Faoken Gambling God tournament to Akweiler Torry, a retired underground gambling champion, despite believing his hand guaranteed victory. Laiya later told John that Wendy had advanced by instantly defeating two opponents, including Francia Kingdom’s God of Gambling, and rejecting his request to become her apprentice.

• John confidently played his powerful hand, but Akweiler Torry used a seventeen-card combination to defeat him in the preliminary round.
• John refused to accuse Akweiler of cheating, and the old man advanced while John left the competition in frustration.
• Laiya reported that Akweiler was a sixty-seven-year-old retired card player who entered the tournament because he was bored.
• John learned that Wendy had advanced after playing a fourteen-card straight flush and two bombs, leaving both opponents unable to play.
• Laiya told John that Francia Kingdom’s God of Gambling, Pierre Casson, begged Wendy to teach him, but Wendy rejected him.

John learned how the Governor’s Office members fared in the card tournament while Filiche Bevin met Balga in Revival City and reported that his investigation into the mysterious spatial mage had stalled. Filiche revealed that he had come to Faoken to assess John, who had claimed authority over the Eye of Truth Corps.

• John heard that Wendy, Marda, Lunebo, Miles, and Igodala qualified, while Laiya was eliminated, Caroline was escorted out, and Balga withdrew.
• John saw the tournament praised as fair, and its advertisements and lucky-bag raffle brought the Governor’s Office extra income.
• Balga confronted Filiche Bevin, who had disguised himself as an old man, and Filiche revealed his true appearance.
• Filiche told Balga that his investigation had found no match for the mysterious spatial mage who acted in the Imperial Capital.
• Filiche explained that he had come to Faoken to investigate John’s claim that he commanded the Eye of Truth Corps and to judge his abilities.

The tournament narrowed to four semifinalists, and Wendy advanced through the top-twenty round with seemingly impossible wins that convinced Filiche she was a skilled gambler. As the semifinals began, John expected Akweiler to win, while Marda argued that Wendy’s extraordinary luck would carry her to victory.

• John changed the tournament to Triumph, and the competition eliminated all but two hundred contestants before the ranking rounds narrowed the field to four.
• Akweiler, Wendy, Igonila, and Zhizhi reached the semifinals, with Zhizhi using a cautious strategy taught by Ace.
• Wendy won all four hands in her top-twenty match despite poor odds, leading Filiche to believe she was an unbeatable expert.
• Filiche planned to use his Crown Tier power to cheat in the final and defeat Wendy while keeping his identity as Akweiler concealed.
• The next morning, Marda told John that her review of Wendy’s matches suggested the Goddess of Luck favored her, but John dismissed the idea and predicted Wendy would lose.

Akweiler defeated Zhizhi, and Wendy narrowly beat Igonila in two abrupt semifinal matches, bringing Akweiler and Wendy to the final. Akweiler mistook Wendy’s genuine panic for masterful deception and prepared to face her using only his gambling skills.

• Akweiler beat Zhizhi after both went all in with three of a kind, and Zhizhi left the arena dejected.
• Igonila and Wendy both went all in without looking at their cards, and Wendy won with 2, 3, 6 against Igonila’s 2, 3, 5.
• John moved the final forward, and Wendy and Akweiler agreed to draw their own cards.
• Wendy tried to unsettle Akweiler with an intimidating act, but Akweiler inspected the cards and displayed his expert handling skills.
• Wendy realized Akweiler was a genuine gambling expert and worried that her limited skills would not be enough.
• Akweiler interpreted Wendy’s anxiety as deliberate acting and resolved to compete against her through technique rather than Crown Tier power.

Wendy’s reckless all-in bluff made Akweiler fold a straight flush, but he soon saw through her pretense and took control of the final. The chapter ended with Akweiler going all in with four Tens and challenging Wendy to fold.

• Akweiler dealt the first round and secretly switched cards, giving himself a straight flush while leaving Wendy with a weak hand.
• Wendy went all in immediately, and Akweiler folded, convinced she had secretly improved her cards.
• Wendy revealed a pair of Aces and mocked Akweiler, who showed his straight flush and realized she was a card-playing rookie.
• John hoped Akweiler would defeat Wendy, while Akweiler angrily handed her the deck and watched her clumsy shuffle.
• Akweiler went all in in the next round and revealed four Tens, asking Wendy whether she would fold voluntarily.

Wendy faced Akweiler in the third round of the gambling match, while he mistook her lack of skill for a clever act and secretly prepared to cheat. A string of inexplicable coincidences handed Wendy his winning cards, and Akweiler conceded that she had won.

• Wendy folded with a king-high hand, and Akweiler concluded she was pretending to be an amateur to lure him into underestimating her.
• Akweiler vowed to use everything he had in the third round, while Wendy angrily imagined having Bababo Yi and the others track him down so she could beat him up after the match.
• Akweiler dazzled the crowd with his shuffling as John considered finding him a job at a magic-engineering factory and Wendy resigned herself to losing.
• Akweiler secretly tried to swap cards using Crown Tier power, but his magic faltered and a strange breeze sent his intended winning cards to Wendy.
• Wendy pushed all her chips forward and went all in, while Akweiler found no sign of interference and concluded that a series of coincidences had cost him the hand.
• Akweiler stood and conceded the match to Wendy, calling her victory a miracle.

Wendy unexpectedly won the Faoken Gambling God Challenge after Akweiler forfeited, while John’s attempts to recruit the runner-up failed. Sixteen days later, imperial envoy Kevin Perus arrived in Faoken and immediately demanded to inspect all its military assets, leaving John facing a hostile visit.

• Akweiler forfeited the final, and the revealed cards showed Wendy had three aces against his six-high hand, making her the challenge champion.
• Wendy left the venue in a hurry, and Bababo Yi announced her victory; John later awarded her a 100,000 check and a gold-plated trophy.
• John tried to recruit Akweiler to teach sleight of hand to reserve agents, but Akweiler shut himself away and refused visitors.
• Sixteen days later, Kevin Perus arrived at Faoken Port with twelve knights and sixty-four attendants, and John welcomed him in his lieutenant general uniform.
• Kevin mocked John’s youth, then ordered him to lead the way so he could inspect all of Faoken’s military assets.

Kevin inspected Faoken’s partially built Steel Bone Armor production line and threatened to report its procedural violations, while John calmly countered his accusations. John then arranged a deferential banquet as part of a plan to manipulate Kevin, who grew wary after reviewing John’s record and recognizing his political ruthlessness.

• Kevin questioned John about the unapproved Steel Bone Armor assembly line, and John cited Faoken’s emergency autonomy regulations to defend its construction.
• Kevin decided to report Faoken’s failure to follow Imperial military equipment procedures, but John accepted his decision without being provoked.
• Kevin left the factory, and John told Wendy and Lunebo to proceed with their plan to frame the envoy and make him indebted to Faoken.
• Kevin rested at his quarters and made a concealed long-distance call, while John suspected he was seeking advice from his duchy’s intelligence department or allies.
• John held a banquet, seated Kevin in the place of honor, and served Western Frontier dishes, leading the delegation to mistake his courtesy for weakness.
• Kevin reviewed John’s record and policies, concluded that he was a ruthless and capable political operator, and began to understand why William had appointed him envoy.

Kevin left John Maslow’s reception expecting a hidden attempt to persuade him, while John ordered a framing plot to begin at the weapons testing ground. On the way there, Kevin’s convoy came under attack, and he began to suspect the assassins might not be John’s men as a blade closed in on his neck.

• Kevin dismissed John’s reception and ordered a visit to Faoken’s weapons testing ground the next day.
• After Kevin left, John told Lunebo to advance the framing plan and said a later move would be key to turning the envoy.
• Bababo Yi guided Kevin’s party toward the testing ground, while Kevin considered Faoken’s weapons and whether John had secretly built warships.
• Gunmen and black-cloaked attackers ambushed the convoy, and Kevin ordered his guards to capture them alive.
• Kevin’s twelve High Mages struggled against attackers of comparable strength, leading him to wonder whether someone else had arranged the assassination.
• A hidden assailant’s blade flashed toward Kevin’s neck.

Samantha staged an attack with Faoken's forces and saved Kevin, leaving behind a cuff that led him to believe his elder brother Yuniski had ordered the assassination. Kevin then offered John a deal concerning Faoken's military inspection.

• Samantha blocked an assassin's strike against Kevin, while Noa and the other staged attackers escaped after firing a signal pistol and smoke bomb.
• Kevin recognized an embroidered cuff Samantha recovered and suspected it could identify the people behind the attack, but Samantha refused to let him inspect it.
• Kevin struck and berated his adjutant for insulting Samantha, then apologized to her while withholding his suspicion.
• John arrived, apologized to Kevin, and persuaded Samantha to hand over the cuff.
• Kevin recognized the cuff as the mark of his elder brother's assassination unit and concluded that Yuniski had ordered the attack.
• Kevin offered John a deal that could affect whether Faoken passed its military inspection.

John and Kevin negotiated over Kevin’s safety and Faoken’s military inspection, while Kevin revealed why he hated Yuniski. The chapter ended with John offering a new guard unit equipped with Steel Bone Armor powerful enough to challenge a transcendent Mage.

• Kevin told John that Yuniski had arranged an assassination attempt on him when he was eighteen, leaving an arrow wound that damaged his magic circuits and halted his growth.
• Kevin urged John to ally with him, arguing that Yuniski’s attack showed Faoken was also in danger, and offered to conceal Faoken’s excess armaments in his report in exchange for protection.
• John refused to assign Samantha as Kevin’s guard because her background as a Loran Kingdom defector made her presence risky.
• John offered fifty soldiers from Major Laiya’s Rapid Action Force as Kevin’s guards, and Kevin objected that they could not withstand the attackers’ strength.
• John claimed Steel Bone Armor could let the soldiers fight High Mages and potentially stand against a transcendent Mage, leaving Kevin astonished.

Kevin tested the Steel Bone Armor and became determined to obtain it, but John used Samantha’s threat and claimed the armor belonged to Emperor William’s plan to pressure him. John offered Kevin secret support and thousands of suits of armor in exchange for joining the Reformist Faction, leaving Kevin tempted by the deal.

• Kevin tested the Steel Bone Armor and praised its strength, speed, and improved spellcasting.
• Kevin demanded the armor’s manufacturing technology, but Samantha threatened him with her greatsword when he lost his temper.
• John said he could allocate armor for Kevin’s private forces and claimed the technology was part of Emperor William’s plan.
• Kevin realized John could not let him leave with the secret and refused John’s demand that he join the Reformist Faction, fearing his father would kill him.
• John reminded Kevin that his brother Yuniski had tried to assassinate him and offered secret support, an elite assassination unit, and three thousand suits of armor if he changed sides.

Kevin accepted John's alliance and concealed Faoken's true armaments in his inspection report, while rejecting Richard's suspicion that John had arranged the assassination. John explained to Wendy that Kevin's ambition would make him a temporary ally and, ultimately, a restless pawn as Faoken prepared for its next step.

• Kevin completed his inspection of Faoken's armaments and filed a false assessment describing them as outdated and damaged.
• Richard told Kevin he suspected John Maslow had arranged the assassination, but Kevin rebuked him and ordered him to receive twenty lashes.
• Kevin considered the suspicious details of the assassination but committed himself to the alliance, hoping to obtain Steel Bone Armor and eventually gain power.
• Wendy asked John whether Kevin might turn against them, and John explained that Kevin's interests and ambitions would keep him allied for now.
• John predicted that Kevin would eventually try to betray them after rising to power, but that his plan would fail and leave him a restless pawn.
• John issued Wendy a decree, then went to the balcony and decided it was time to take his next step.

Kha'Zix devised a plan to escape the Venomfang Clan's danger by exploiting the rumor that the Morning Star Clan had found a Sage Successor. He sent an aide to visit the clan and expose the supposed fake, unaware that Meyer was already working on the In the Name of the Sage Project.

• Kha'Zix learned that the Froststar Clan had ended its alliance with the Venomfang Clan and allied with the Bull Clan, leaving his weakened clan threatened by both.
• A Venomfang aide told Kha'Zix that an informant had spotted someone who might be the Sage Successor in the Morning Star Clan.
• Kha'Zix decided to convince the Bull Clan that the Morning Star Clan's Sage Successor was a fake, hoping to turn the Bull Clan against Faoken and make peace with the Venomfang Clan.
• Kha'Zix instructed his aide to visit the Morning Star Clan under the pretext of paying respects to the Sage Successor, then investigate who had spread the claim.
• Kha'Zix told his aide that if the Sage Successor proved real, he would pledge the Venomfang Clan's allegiance, but he insisted that outcome was impossible.
• Meyer finished testing Elder Gray Hoof's recovery, reported the In the Name of the Sage Project's progress to John, and sneezed.

John learned that Fauken had completed its first Horst-Class Battleship and rushed to inspect it. In Ereno, Famiu told Wolf that the Flesh Lord’s cultists had infiltrated thirteen Imperial territories and asked him to help the Church revive the Demon Purge Decree.

• Meyer reported her progress to John, who was pleased that she had explored twenty ruins and helped advance the Sage Plan.
• Wendy told John that Liana’s craftsmen had finished Fauken’s first Horst-Class Battleship, and he hurried to the shipyard to see it.
• Wolf studied intelligence about an abandoned mage facility connected to the Demon King and found the lack of answers troubling.
• Famiu met with Wolf and reported that Bloodrealm Corruptors had infiltrated thirteen Imperial territories.
• Famiu said the Church planned to reinstate the Demon Purge Decree and asked Wolf to lend it his aid.