Chapter Summaries

John exposed how Milany and the Schwarz Family had persecuted Roland, then showed him the declaration expelling him from the family. Roland pledged himself to John and Faoken, and John prepared to discuss beginning the Twelve Guardians project.

• John confronted Roland about Milany's persecution and explained why she would not make him an Old Guard Party spy.
• John argued that Milany wanted Roland cut off from the Schwarz Family and presented a declaration bearing the family head's emblem that expelled him.
• Roland realized John was offering him a place in Faoken and a chance to oppose the Schwarz Family.
• Roland swore allegiance to John and vowed to serve him and avenge himself on the Schwarz Family.
• John accepted Roland's pledge and considered telling Roland and Siegfried about preparations to establish the Twelve Guardians.

John revealed that Siegfried’s Wild Hunt Power could potentially be replicated through a carefully controlled modification experiment, offering Roland a chance at extraordinary strength. Roland struggled to decide whether to trust John and accept the dangerous opportunity.

• John gave Siegfried and Roland a report showing Siegfried was unlikely to lose control of his magic power and that the Wild Hunt spell structure might be replicated.
• John explained that Siegfried’s Magic Factor could be extracted and transplanted to create a unit with altered Unique Formulas, though the results could vary.
• Roland warned that human modification experiments were forbidden, and John revealed he had survived such experiments as a child before distinguishing his safety-focused plan from the Empire’s brutal past methods.
• John described how researchers would use extensive simulations and volunteer data, beginning the procedure only when its projected success rate reached one hundred percent.
• Roland weighed his fear that the experiment was a trap against the possibility that it could give him the power to avenge the injustices he had suffered.

Roland struggled to decide whether to join John’s dangerous Wild Hunt experiment until Siegfried explained why his loyalty made him willing to risk his life. Meanwhile, the Beastfolk army’s internal tensions erupted into a deadly confrontation between the Spirit Rhino and Phantom Eagle Clans.

• Roland declined to volunteer immediately, and Siegfried told him he trusted John enough to accept the experiment despite its dangers.
• Siegfried recounted how injustice, hardship, and John’s defense of commoners had shaped his loyalty, then urged Roland to find his own reasons to keep fighting.
• Victor Black Panther surveyed the quarrelsome camp of forty-five thousand Beastfolk soldiers and learned that General Turk had killed a Phantom Eagle scout.
• Turk and Gana faced off over the dead scout as Turk threatened the Phantom Eagle Clan and declared that even Gana would die if she flew over the Spirit Rhino camp.

Victor stopped a deadly confrontation between Turk and Gana, keeping the allied clans from turning on each other before their campaign against the Bull Clan. After the Spirit Rhino Clan agreed to cooperate, the army broke camp and marched toward the Froststar Mountains, while Victor worried their enemies might already know of their approach.

• Gana challenged Turk after he insulted the Phantom Eagle Clan and mistreated one of her clansmen, and their Crown Tier Domains clashed.
• Victor intervened, condemned the infighting, and persuaded Turk and Gana to stand down.
• Gana warned Turk not to mistake allied scouts for enemies, and Turk ordered the dead clansman returned to the Phantom Eagle Clan.
• Turk asked about the strange steel army, and Victor told him it had twelve hundred powerful Constructs and a weapon that had killed more than a thousand Black Panther Clan warriors.
• Turk pledged the Spirit Rhino Clan's cooperation, and Victor oversaw the army's preparations before leading the force toward the Froststar Mountains.
• Victor noticed the rear of the marching army was disorganized and feared the Bull Clan might have learned of the campaign.

John and Hawk devised a plan to save the Bull Clan from the Black Panther Coalition by rallying the Morning Star and Black Marsh Clans, drawing the enemy toward an ambush at Blood Oath Rock, and seeking to disrupt the coalition from within. As John struggled to choose a deputy commander, Leo volunteered for the campaign and pledged his life if he failed.

• John reviewed intelligence that the Black Panther Coalition, backed by the Saga Kingdom's seventh prince, was advancing against the Bull Clan and asked Hawk for a plan.
• Hawk outlined three strategies and recommended rallying the Morning Star and Black Marsh Clans, undermining the enemy's political support, feigning retreat, and encircling the coalition at Blood Oath Rock.
• John and Hawk independently chose Blood Oath Rock, then John ordered preparations and sent messages asking both clans to mobilize troops.
• The Morning Star and Black Marsh Clans agreed to send elite warriors and cooperate under Faoken's command.
• John struggled to choose a deputy commander because Hawk, Samantha, Sellviya, and Lunebo each had limitations for the role.
• Leo volunteered to serve as deputy commander and swore that John could have him beheaded if he failed to secure a decisive victory and destroy the enemy.

John sent Hawk and the Steel Bone Corps to the front with Mia as deputy commander and planned to use agents and Mage Soldiers to turn public opinion against the Seventh Prince. Gabri accepted Faoken’s conditions and secretly resolved to sacrifice himself to help John annihilate the eastern expeditionary army, leaving the Bull Clan’s future to Golden Horn.

• John sent Hawk, Mia, and the Steel Bone Corps toward the front with five Medium Annihilation Crystal Cannons, then ordered Lunebo and the others to spread news of the Seventh Prince’s campaign against the Bull Clan.
• Golden Horn learned that Faoken had secured reinforcements from the Morning Star Clan and Black Marsh Clan, along with a Crown Tier powerhouse and an Ancient Construct.
• Gabri accepted Faoken’s demands that the Bull Clan surrender battlefield command, fight first, and retreat toward Blood Oath Rock, then explained to Golden Horn how the plan would lure Victor into an ambush.
• Gabri privately decided to die fighting an enemy Crown Tier powerhouse so the Bull Clan’s losses would convince Victor to pursue them into John’s trap.
• Gabri rallied the Bull Clan army, and its warriors roared that they would fight to the death against their enemies.

The Bull Clan’s Gabri confronted the Eastern Expeditionary Army and condemned its leaders for turning against the Beastfolk Sages, then charged into battle against Gana and Turk. Victor observed that Gabri fought with reckless fury and realized the Bull Clan chieftain seemed to have a death wish.

• Victor halted the Eastern Expeditionary Army outside the Bull Clan’s fortress and sent the Phantom Eagle Clan to search for ambushes.
• Turk offered Gabri surrender, but Gabri denounced the four attacking clans for betraying the Sages and challenged them to fight.
• Victor rejected Gabri’s appeal and demanded that the Bull Clan surrender or die; Gabri refused and charged the three leaders.
• Gana attacked Gabri with wind blades, but he shattered them and pressed her with a hammer until she called for Turk’s help.
• Turk joined the fight, and Victor watched Gabri’s increasingly reckless attacks and worsening wounds, concluding that Gabri wanted to die.

Gabri used Law Dissolution to try to take Gana and Turk down with him, but Victor rescued them before the blast and Gabri was left severely wounded as the Bull Clan retreated. After Leo learned that Hawk had sent the Steel Bone Corps to help the Bull Clan, he argued that they should instead use the routed clan as bait and strike the pursuing enemy from a new position.

• Gabri exposed Victor's plans to Gana and Turk, then activated Law Dissolution and charged at Gana in an attempt to destroy them with him.
• Victor pulled Gana and Turk into his Black Crown Tier Domain and escaped moments before Gabri's self-destruction sent him crashing into a city wall.
• Golden Horn ordered the Bull Clan to retreat with the unconscious Gabri, while Victor, Gana, and Turk recovered before pursuing the Bull Clan army.
• The Faoken Allied Army received news of Gabri's defeat the following morning, and Mia brought Leo to Hawk's command tent for a meeting.
• Leo learned that Hawk had sent the Steel Bone Corps to support the Bull Clan and proposed using the clan as bait while the army repositioned to ambush and annihilate the enemy.

Hawk taught Leo that victory did not justify treating allies as disposable pawns, and Leo recognized the importance of keeping a human bottom line. At the war council, Leo accurately deduced the enemy’s movements and retreat route, prompting Hawk to redeploy the heavy artillery according to his plan.

• Hawk explained that betraying the Bull Clan would destroy Faoken’s credibility and violate Governor John’s principles, and Leo realized he needed to find a better way than sacrificing allies.
• Gray Hoof and Zalga joined Hawk’s council with reinforcements from the Morning Star Clan and Black Marsh Clan, and the commanders debated whether to change their ambush plan.
• Leo argued that the army should remain at Blood Oath Rock and predicted the enemy would camp in the northwestern hills before retreating along the old road by the Froststar Mountains.
• Gray Hoof and Zalga checked their intelligence and confirmed Leo had independently calculated that the enemy was marching thirty percent slower and had camped exactly three times.
• Leo told Hawk that the Source River constrained the enemy’s route and that any disruption would shift the predicted retreat by no more than five kilometers.
• Hawk ordered Mia to redeploy the heavy artillery to the southwestern hills and set its bombardment point at the enemy’s predicted retreat route.

Victor suspected that the Bull Clan and the Steel Bone Corps had lured the Eastern Expeditionary Army toward an ambush, but Turk dismissed his fears. When Victor halted the army outside Blood Oath Rock, Turk charged into the forest with the Spirit Rhino Clan troops.

• Turk argued that Gabri’s self-destruction and the Steel Bone Corps’ attacks were meant to buy the Bull Clan time, not lure the army into a trap.
• Victor remained uneasy, ordered Gana and the Harpy scouts to search ahead, and spent the night watching the hills near Blood Oath Rock.
• The Eastern Expeditionary Army reached the forest of peaks without encountering enemies, while Victor judged its narrow, wooded paths ideal for an ambush.
• Victor ordered the army to halt and forbade anyone from entering the forest without permission.
• Turk mocked Victor’s warning and led the Spirit Rhino Clan troops into the forest, while Victor called him an idiot.

Turk’s Spirit Rhinoceros Legion was trapped in a forest ambush by silver Constructs, while Victor refused to send immediate reinforcements and ordered Phantom Eagle scouts to assess the enemy. The chapter ended as fifteen incoming points of light appeared over Victor’s army, revealing an artillery barrage.

• Turk led the Spirit Rhinoceros Legion into the forest, dismissed Victor’s warning, and walked into an encirclement by silver Constructs.
• Turk ordered a retreat but encountered a colossal silver Construct that began its destruction protocol.
• Victor established the army’s eighth camp in nearby hills and learned from Gana that Turk was under attack.
• Victor refused to send reinforcements and ordered Gana to dispatch elite Phantom Eagle scouts to determine the enemy’s strength.
• Victor and Gana spotted fifteen points of light falling from the sky and recognized an artillery barrage.

Victor and Gana failed to stop six Annihilation Crystal Cannon shells from destroying the Eastern Expeditionary Army’s main force, then tried to retreat through terrain that led them into another trap. Balga Istania confronted them with the Black Marsh Clan army and trapped them in his domain, declaring that he had no reason to honor the peace treaty with the soon-to-die.

• Victor and Gana destroyed nine incoming shells, but six struck the ground and crystallized an area eighteen kilometers wide, killing more than twenty thousand soldiers.
• Victor learned that fewer than two hundred Black Panther Clan warriors had survived and ordered the remaining army to retreat in scattered groups; Gana left to check on the Phantom Eagle Clan.
• A scout spotted Morning Star Clan cavalry charging toward the retreating army, and Victor led his troops into a thicket to escape them.
• Victor’s troops emerged into low ground blocked by the waiting Black Marsh Clan army, and Victor recognized the larger ambush as John Maslow’s plan.
• Balga Istania appeared, dragged Victor and Gana into his domain, and said he would not honor the peace treaty with people about to die.

After Faoken's victory, Golden Horn pledged the Bull Clan to Faoken if it saved his father, Gabri. In Ashkal, Hakado learned that the Eastern Expeditionary Army had been annihilated and suspected the Empire might be involved.

• Leo told Mia he had considered victory certain, and she angrily confronted him after he advised her to improve her abilities.
• Hawk offered to treat Gabri, and Gray Hoof vouched for Faoken's medical care.
• Golden Horn swore that the Bull Clan would follow Faoken if it kept Gabri alive, and Hawk accepted the pledge.
• Hakado received confirmation that the Eastern Expeditionary Army and its three Crown Tier commanders had been destroyed.
• Hakado told his heirs that the allied forces included Centaurs, Lizardfolk, Constructs, and a mysterious human Crown Tier fighter, who might have come from the Empire.

Hakado stripped Razia of his princely status and expelled him from the clan after the failed eastern campaign, while the royal heirs debated how to handle the Bull Clan. Robrek’s proposal to compensate the Bull Clan won approval, and Hakado assigned Dunar to console the Spirit Rhino Clan over Turk’s death.

• Skaya, Wosh, and Zerika joined forces to condemn Razia for launching the eastern campaign without approval, while Robrek asked whether someone else had been involved.
• Razia claimed he had acted alone, and Hakado abolished his status as seventh prince, expelled him from the clan, and ordered him detained pending trial.
• As guards seized him, Razia accused Hakado of having sent him to test the Bull Clan and then cast him aside as a scapegoat; Hakado denied ordering an attack.
• Grozniya proposed incorporating the Bull Clan, but Zerika, Skaya, Wosh, and Dunar opposed using force, and Robrek proposed compensating the Bull Clan instead.
• Hakado approved Robrek’s appeasement plan and tasked him with working out the compensation, while Robrek privately decided to draw Grozniya into the succession struggle to divert attention.
• Hakado assigned Dunar to visit the Spirit Rhino Clan and offer consolation for Turk’s death, then ended the royal meeting.

After Faoken destroyed the Saga Kingdom’s eastern expedition, John reviewed the battle losses and the kingdom’s response, then planned for Gabri’s serious injuries and assigned Roland to examine Steel Bone Armor data. Roland discovered the armor let a Low Mage wield High Mage-level arts for hours without supplying additional magic, leaving him stunned by what it might do for him.

• John learned that the Morning Star Clan and Black Marsh Clan wanted to become Faoken’s vassals, but he postponed his decision.
• Lunebo reported that Hakado had stripped Razia of his title, while the Saga Kingdom offered the Bull Clan compensation and the General Staff urged surveillance of the Spirit Rhino, Phantom Hawk, and Black Panther Clans.
• Hawk reported that the Steel Bone Corps had a 4.1% battle loss rate, all fifteen Annihilation Crystal Cannons had detonated, and the Rusted One remained functional.
• John learned that Gabri’s Crown Tier-level injuries could not be fully healed with Faoken’s current medical capabilities, and he considered seeking an allied healer or training Meyer to advance.
• John assigned Roland to archive Steel Bone Armor combat data, and Roland found that its wearer had used High Mage-level arts for eight hours despite having only Low Mage-level magic and supplying none of his own.

Roland joined the Twelve Guardians Augmentation Project to gain strength and reclaim control over his future, while the Phantom Eagle Clan confronted its ruin after the Eastern Expeditionary Army was destroyed. Miliel proposed seeking help from Faoken as the clan weighed its next move.

• Roland resolved to pursue the augmentation project, and John approved his application and instructed him to report to Dr. Caroline the next morning.
• John told Roland he would become a captain after the initial experiment and join the Steel Bone Armor Tactical Development Group in a noncombat role.
• The Phantom Eagle Clan learned that Chief Gana and every clan member who fought at the Battle of Blood Oath Rock had died.
• Miliel convened a council with the remaining elders, who warned that the weakened clan could not defeat the Bull Clan and might need to move.
• Miliel proposed visiting Faoken's governor on behalf of the Phantom Eagle Clan.

Miliel persuaded the Phantom Eagle Clan’s elders to pursue cooperation with Faoken rather than surrender to the Saga Kingdom’s powerful clans. After setting a five-day deadline and a contingency plan, she flew through the storm toward Faoken to negotiate.

• Miliel argued that the Saga Kingdom threatened the Phantom Eagle Clan regardless of its loyalty and warned that surrendering to larger clans would lead to the clan’s dissolution and exploitation.
• Miliel proposed offering Faoken scouting services, access to rare mineral veins, and territory for a future imperial advance in exchange for cooperation.
• Ilsha and Flying Claw accepted Miliel’s plan and recognized her authority as clan leader.
• Miliel instructed Ilsha to take command and carry out the relocation plan if she did not return within five days, and warned the elders against challenging her decisions if she came back with good news.
• Miliel left the clan’s mountain and flew into the night toward Faoken.

John learned that the Light of Griffin, a group he expected to appear two years later, had arrived in Faoken and ordered an immediate investigation into its members. After investigating the harbor, Isabella’s team decided to present their credentials directly to Governor John.

• John refused Wendy’s suggestion to kill Bishop Brett Gould and ordered her and Laiya not to interfere with the bishop’s warship when it arrived in fifteen days.
• John recognized four newcomers from the Loran Kingdom as the Light of Griffin and asked Wendy to have Lunebo investigate their backgrounds immediately.
• Isabella, Amuro, Claudia, and Aphsia disembarked from the White Deer and searched Faoken Port for traces of Evil God activity.
• Claudia reported that the harbor was safe and that Lucius Colt had been dismissed, leaving Faoken without ordained religious personnel; Aphsia and Amuro reported no unusual findings.
• Isabella directed Amuro to take out their documents and led the team toward the Governor’s Office to meet John.

Isabella’s team met Governor John in Revival City to seek support for their investigation on the Morno Continent, but he exposed their true strength and revealed that he knew their world and Griffin Academy. The chapter left Isabella and her companions stunned when John claimed he had explored with Principal Saiyang more than two hundred years earlier.

• Isabella presented John with the Loran Kingdom’s investigation permit and asked for supplies and travel authorization for the Morno Continent.
• John challenged the team’s cover story, identified their magical strength and equipment, and demanded that they stop pretending to be an ordinary scientific expedition.
• Isabella admitted that the team belonged to the Ehtan Faith and was investigating cultists and Evil Gods, while insisting they had no intention of spying on Faoken.
• John asked to read the Psionic Meditation Method from Griffin Academy, shocking Isabella with his knowledge of their origins.
• Aphsia sensed that John was human and uncorrupted by an Evil God, but his immense, strange magic frightened her.
• John said he had been an old friend of Principal Saiyang and asked about Saiyang’s condition after his failed attempt to reach the Sovereign Realm, leaving Isabella’s team horrified.

John Maslow convinced Isabella that he was an ancient friend of President Saiyang and claimed the Psionic Meditation Method had been developed at his request to extend mages’ lifespans. Isabella recognized that his story matched her teacher’s account of the method’s origins, while John privately celebrated that she had fallen for his deception.

• Isabella tested John by claiming Saiyang had recovered, but John correctly described the lasting injuries from Saiyang’s failed breakthrough.
• John presented himself as an old friend of Saiyang who had wandered the River of Time and asked to borrow the Psionic Meditation Method.
• Isabella asked why John wanted the method, and he claimed it could help mages overcome their short lifespan limit.
• John falsely said Saiyang had created the method at his request and that Isabella’s arrival had fulfilled a delivery delayed for more than two hundred years.
• Isabella recalled that Saiyang had credited an old friend with inspiring the method and concluded that John’s story matched her teacher’s account.