Chapter Summaries

John persuaded Isabella that her request to borrow the Psionic Meditation Method was reasonable and revealed how she could eventually subdue Apophis. He granted the Griffin Squad passage to the Morno Continent, offered future intelligence and assistance, and warned them that the Ehtan Faith was not what it seemed; the squad left debating what to do about the faith.

• Isabella accepted John's request to copy the Psionic Meditation Method, and John explained that she could subdue Apophis by entering its inner world and defeating the Shadows of Apophis after becoming strong enough.
• John advised Isabella to wait until after she had fought the Flesh Lord and her spell formula had changed before attempting to master Apophis.
• John approved the squad's passage to the Morno Continent, offered support from Faoken's military base, and offered the other members intelligence in exchange for a price they could not yet afford.
• John warned the squad that the Ehtan Faith was not as clean as it appeared and dismissed them from the meeting.
• Claudia stopped Amuro from demanding intelligence from John, arguing that the squad could not afford it and should grow stronger first.
• Isabella urged the squad to follow John's arrangements, while Amuro asked whether they should sever ties with the Ehtan Faith or destroy its temple and flee to Faoken.

Isabella concluded that the Ehtan Faith was likely connected to an Evil God and planned to trade any godhead the Heroes obtained to Sir John. After the Hero Squad left to investigate the Morno Continent, John suspected Robson was hiding there and asked Sellviya to secretly monitor the team and investigate him.

• Isabella rejected cutting ties with the Ehtan Faith, reasoning that it might be connected to an Evil God and citing the holy ribbon's reaction at Asad Grand Cathedral as evidence.
• Isabella proposed that the Heroes keep using the Ehtan Faith's intelligence but trade any recovered Evil God godhead to Sir John instead of handing it over to the Church.
• John watched Isabella and the others leave, then connected the timing of Elena's visit to the Kascga ancestral grounds with the magic-power fluctuations on the Morno Continent and suspected Robson was hiding there.
• John summoned Sellviya and asked her to secretly monitor the Hero Squad and investigate Robson's whereabouts.
• Sellviya urged John to request help from the Holy Radiance Sect, but he rejected that option because it could let Famiu establish a presence in Faoken.

John confronted Miliel about the Phantom Eagle Clan’s defeat and losses, then offered to discuss a future for the clan if she showed sincerity. Meanwhile, Dunar delivered the royal family’s explanation and limited compensation offer to Niccolo, who accepted without protest and promised the Spirit Rhino Clan would not repeat its mistake.

• John learned that Miliel had come alone to negotiate and ordered Wendy to have Lunebo prepare an auxiliary detachment under the Reconnaissance Unit.
• Miliel greeted John respectfully and proposed friendship between Faoken and the Phantom Eagle Clan.
• John outlined the clan’s losses, its role in the attack on the Bull Clan, and the harm done to Faoken’s plans, then challenged Miliel to say what her clan could offer.
• John said Faoken might give the Phantom Eagle Clan a new future if it showed enough sincerity, leaving the decision to Miliel.
• Dunar arrived in Spirit Rhino territory with a small party and relayed the king’s condolences, then announced that compensation would be delivered in installments over two years.
• Niccolo accepted the royal message and compensation plan, told Dunar the Spirit Rhino Clan would handle recovering its dead, and promised the clan would not make the same mistake again.

Niccolo rejected calls for revenge and ordered the Spirit Rhino Clan to feign preparations for war while secretly seeking an alliance with the Bull Clan. Meanwhile, John secured a resource-sharing deal with Miliel for Faoken and was interrupted by news that the Imperial Research Institute wanted to contact him.

• Morgann and other Spirit Rhino Clan leaders argued over whether to attack the Bull Clan or endure the royal court's pressure.
• Niccolo explained that Hakado intended to use the Spirit Rhino Clan against the Bull Clan and announced plans to stage war preparations while secretly pursuing an alliance.
• Niccolo threatened anyone who used the clan's name to wage a private war, and the elders accepted his decision.
• John and Miliel finalized an agreement for Phantom Eagle Clan resources and scouts, including training in Faoken.
• John celebrated the favorable mineral and resource deal until a communications officer announced a call from the Imperial Research Institute.

Manny Copperfield and his team discovered the entrance to the Floating City Ruins deep beneath the Kogas Rift and began exploring the ancient fortress. They reached a vast underground dome marked with an unfamiliar star chart, where Jonathan found an ancient tablet that might explain it.

• Manny ordered the survey team to drill farther into the Kogas Rift despite Jonathan's doubts, and an underground rumble revealed an ancient presence.
• Manny and Jonathan descended to a man-made blue-gray passage covered in Ancient Runes, confirming that John Maslow had correctly identified the Floating City Ruins.
• Jonathan's team found that their magical scans could reach only the ruins' Outer District, and Manny concluded that the city's power and systems might still be active.
• Manny warned the team about the Floating City's defenses and possible monsters, then led more than thirty people into the passage under his Crown Tier Domain.
• Manny's team emerged into a vast underground dome paved with a star-chart pattern, and Jonathan found an ancient tablet related to it.

Manny discovered an ancient inscription in the Floating City ruins and met a Lich guarding the city and its star map. After their spells clashed and badly wounded Manny, the Lich acknowledged Manny’s victory.

• Manny identified the inscription as Aksel Phoenix’s words and recognized it as proof that the expedition had found the Floating City.
• A gray-robed Lich appeared, revealed that he had been ordered to guard the city’s legacy, and demanded that Manny’s group leave.
• Manny refused to abandon the Floating City’s legacy, and the Lich challenged him to prove he deserved to inherit it.
• Manny blocked the Lich’s Star Spell and sent Jonathan and the other expedition members toward the passage while they recorded the battle.
• The Lich and Manny unleashed Nebula Shatter and False Forbidden Spell: Earthfall, and the resulting explosion devastated the battlefield and wounded Manny severely.
• The Lich remained unharmed but grew dimmer, then told the bloodied Manny that he had won.

After defeating the Floating City’s Lich guardian, Manny learned about the New Mage Era and was allowed to enter the Core District alone for thirty minutes. He retrieved Archmage Axe’s inheritance crystal, which revealed itself as the Star Heart and warned him to escape before danger awakened.

• Manny explained modern Spell Rings and the changes in magic since the Age of the Gods to the Lich.
• The Lich recognized Manny as a successor, granted him access to Hub City, and warned that he had only thirty minutes and must go alone.
• Manny left Jonathan and the others in the Outer District and followed the Lich through the Core District toward the central tower.
• The Lich warned Manny that the living aura was awakening dangerous beings and promised to conceal him for no more than half an hour.
• Manny entered the main tower and activated the inheritance crystal, which shared Archmage Axe’s imprint and information about the Floating City’s designs.
• The crystal identified itself as the Star Heart, offered gossip about the Archmages, and urged Manny to take it away before he was killed.

Manny and the guardian fled the awakening Liches after Manny took the Star Heart, while the Floating City’s ancient magic arrays activated around them. At the passage to the Outer District, the guardian sealed Manny off and chose to face the Liches alone, revealing his name and asking Manny to recover his ashes in three years.

• Manny cut off the Star Heart’s magic supply, then emerged from the main tower as the Mage Towers lit up and the guardian warned that the Liches were awakening.
• The guardian carried Manny toward the Outer District as horrifying Liches gathered in the plaza and surged after them, threatening to corrupt anyone who looked, listened, or thought about them.
• Manny reached his expedition team, including Jonathan, at the passage and discovered that the guardian could not cross its light because the Floating City’s final sealing spell had activated.
• The guardian strengthened the barrier between the Central District and the passage, rejecting Manny’s offer to preserve him because he refused to survive as a parasite or betray his oath.
• The guardian identified himself as Charles Copperfield, Storm Weaver and the Floating City’s last guardian, then walked toward the Black Tide and asked Manny to bring his ashes to the Copperfield Family in three years.

John learned that Manny had recovered the Floating City's complete blueprints and a Star Mage legacy, and considered how the discovery could strengthen the Empire and benefit him. After Wendy told him Gabri had awakened and requested a meeting, John hurried to the Medical Department, where Gabri's injuries worsened when he learned Golden Horn had not directly discussed the Bull Clan's vassalage with John.

• Manny told John that the Institute had found a surviving Lich, a Star Mage legacy, and the Floating City's core blueprints, leaving John worried about what Manny might build.
• John weighed the Empire's prospects with the blueprints and considered charging Manny consulting fees for future Astral Energy Airship designs.
• Wendy reported that Gabri had awakened and wanted to see John, so John grabbed her and rushed to the Medical Department.
• Gabri asked Golden Horn whether he had told John about making the Bull Clan a vassal of Faoken, and Golden Horn said he had only informed Hawk.
• Gabri became agitated, began coughing blood, and had his wounds treated by the Medical Department staff, who warned Golden Horn to keep him calm.

Gabri explained to Golden Horn that the Bull Clan’s survival depended on John Maslow and that Golden Horn had erred by bargaining instead of offering allegiance. After John visited Gabri and revealed that a royal envoy would soon arrive, Gabri assured him that the envoy would never mistake Meyer for the Sage’s successor.

• Gabri told Golden Horn that the Morning Star Clan and Black Marsh Clan had effectively become Faoken’s vassals, and warned that Hakado might use the Warriors’ Hunting Season to destroy the Bull Clan.
• Golden Horn admitted his mistake, and Gabri urged him to consider the clan’s future more carefully.
• John visited Gabri in the Medical Pod, accepted the Bull Clan’s offer of service, and explained that his sixteen-year-old student Leo had devised the battle plan that defeated the enemy army.
• John told Gabri that a royal envoy would arrive within fifteen days to appease the Bull Clan, raising concerns that the envoy might discover Meyer was the Sage’s successor.
• Gabri assured John that the envoy would see Meyer as an impostor rather than connect her to the Sage.

John discussed the Bull Clan’s future and considered using the Saga Kingdom’s upcoming warrior hunt to promote Faoken’s trade and sell outdated weapons. He then met Marshal Cain, who asked what he thought of the Beastfolk, leaving John to answer.

• John agreed with Gabri that Beastfolk might find Meyer more believable as the Beastfolk king’s illegitimate daughter than as a sage, and resolved to have her trained after the envoy business was finished.
• John learned that the Saga Kingdom’s warrior hunt would take place in three months and considered entering Faoken’s Beastfolk and selling obsolete weapons through the competition.
• Fritz told John that Marshal Cain’s health had improved and that Cain had been waiting to speak with him.
• John entered Cain’s ward, where Cain sent Fritz and Wendy out so they could speak alone.
• Cain asked John whether Gabri had awakened, then asked what he thought of the Bull Clan and the Beastfolk as a whole.

John argued that Beastfolk could become loyal members of the Empire through fair treatment and opportunity, and Cain recognized him as a potential force for transforming it. Cain agreed to consider the Hohenheim Family’s involvement, while Fritz voiced his trust in John and offered to help persuade the family.

• John told Cain that Faoken’s Beastfolk could coexist with humans and earn genuine loyalty through rights, opportunity, and fair treatment rather than violence.
• Cain weighed John’s ambitious plans against the danger of opposing the Empire’s Old Guard nobles, then agreed that the Hohenheim Family would consider joining him.
• John presented Cain with detailed positions and promotion plans for members of the Hohenheim Family before leaving the hospital room.
• Fritz returned to find Cain distracted, and Cain asked what he thought of John.
• Fritz said John was worthy of the family’s trust, and Cain asked him to help bring the family around once he made his decision.

John secured William’s support for Faoken’s planned weapons sales, then met Bishop Braid Gould after the bishop arrived at the port. John suspected Braid had a hidden purpose and warned Wendy not to attack him, but Wendy secretly began plotting another way to undermine him.

• John presented William with his weapons-dumping plan, and William approved it while promising permits, supplies, and faster military promotions for Faoken.
• John updated Annora about Leo and Faoken’s trading plans, then continued inspecting the territory’s departments as fifteen days passed.
• Wendy told John that Bishop Braid Gould had arrived and been escorted to the church in the port district, so John went to meet him.
• John found Braid unusually quiet and humble, suspected he was concealing his motives, and left the church with Wendy and the Magic Guard Corps.
• Wendy considered using force against Braid, but John warned her that the Church could send the Order of the Knights of Retribution and forbade her from acting rashly.
• Wendy agreed outwardly but secretly planned to enlist Lunebo, Hawk, Mia, and Leo to devise a scheme against Braid.

Meyer complained to John about Gray Hoof’s spellwork training, but John revealed that he had arranged for Samantha to take over supervision and lead two months of live combat exercises in Morningstar City. The chapter ended with Meyer and Gray Hoof stunned by the prospect of Samantha’s harsher training.

• Meyer refused to continue spellwork practice, while Gray Hoof struggled to coax her into training without upsetting the sage.
• Tie Feng told Gray Hoof that the Governor’s Office had summoned him, and Meyer insisted on going along.
• Meyer seized the Communication Device and complained to John that the Morning Star Clan was mistreating her.
• John challenged Meyer’s claims by bringing up her night-market snacking and weight gain, and Meyer tried to justify it as experiencing the people’s lives.
• John announced that Samantha and the Bay Defense Force would arrive for two months of live combat exercises, with Samantha taking over Meyer’s training supervision.

John sent Samantha to Morning Star City to oversee combat exercises and Meyer's spell training, but Meyer dreaded the strict instructor and tried to avoid her. After discovering Meyer's hoarded snacks and learning she had been slacking off, Samantha ordered her taken to the training grounds for special training at triple intensity.

• Meyer learned Samantha was coming to supervise her training and repeatedly called John to protest, but he stopped answering.
• Samantha arrived, rejected Gray Hoof's offer of a banquet, and ordered him to assemble the Nova Cavalry Regiment for combat exercises.
• Samantha shook Meyer until her hidden snacks and toys spilled out, then ordered the clutter thrown away.
• Samantha asked Gray Hoof about Meyer's progress, and he reported that she had skipped assignments and trained for no more than five hours a day.
• Samantha ordered Meyer taken to the training grounds for special training at triple intensity, and Meyer cried out in protest.