Chapter Summaries

Major General Tony Laila’s 1st Division retreated under relentless pursuit, its forces crippled by Orc Shadow Forces and Centaur attacks. Just as Tony prepared for a desperate last stand, Major John Maslow announced that reinforcements had struck the enemy from behind and called the division to counterattack.

• Tony’s retreating 1st Division struggled to escape the Centaur Legion as Orc Shadow Forces ambushed its route and the remaining troops fell further behind.
• Tony tried to contact Lieutenant General Doran’s Independent 3rd Division for help, but an Orc assassin infiltrated his truck and destroyed the radio before Tony killed him with a magical blast.
• Damon Morning Star and a thousand Centaur cavalry blocked the 1st Division’s escape route, and Tony prepared to order his troops into a desperate battle.
• Magic Cannon shells suddenly bombarded the Centaur Legion, leaving Tony stunned by the unexpected attack.
• Major John Maslow announced that he had brought the 3rd Infantry Regiment and 3rd Magitech Artillery Regiment behind the enemy and ordered the 1st Division to prepare for a counterattack.

The 1st Battalion prepared to assault the Centaur Legion after a surprise Magic Cannon bombardment devastated its ranks. As John committed his troops to annihilating the enemy, he accepted the burden of becoming a butcher and declared that victory was already in his hands.

• Miles, Marda, and Lunebo watched the Centaur Legion reel under the bombardment while Barnabos relayed John’s plan for the assault.
• Igodala lost control of his body to Igonila, whose bloodlust made Miles and Marda pull away from him.
• Lunebo finished mapping the targets, and Marda sent every Mage Soldier their demolition assignments through Telepathy.
• Barnabos announced that the bombardment would end in one minute and ordered the troops to prepare to move out.
• John reflected on the destruction he had caused and resolved to keep fighting for his vision of peace.
• John ordered all troops to move out and annihilate the enemy.

After the Imperial Army’s ambush and Explosive Magic devastated the Beastfolk main force, Damon was forced to order a retreat. He asked Galil to identify the Imperial commander responsible so he could avenge his brother, while Galil independently resolved to eliminate the commander.

• Damon saw that the bombardment and Explosive Magic had killed or wounded more than half of his legion as the Imperial Army’s 1st Division counterattacked.
• Galil urged Damon to retreat and blamed his mistakes and arrogance for the defeat, reminding him that the Void Spell had saved the Star-Chasing Cavalry Brigade.
• Damon ordered Jacob to tell the Star-Chasing Cavalry Brigade to withdraw, then collapsed after coughing up blood.
• Damon asked Galil to uncover the identities of the Imperial humans who killed his brother and sabotaged the war, offering him the Morning Star Clan’s friendship in return.
• Galil agreed and resolved to kill the Mage Corps commander, while Damon vowed revenge on Tony and led the First Morning Star Cavalry Brigade in a breakout.

After the Imperial Army destroyed the Saga Kingdom’s 101st Division at Iron Horse Mountain, John suspected that allies had been ordered to undermine him and considered taking control of the situation himself. In Morningstar City, Leon learned of the defeat and began investigating the Imperial Mage Corps, seeing them as a chance to advance his own ambitions.

• Tony thanked John for saving the 1st Division and proposed that they regroup in Horseshoe City, while concealing that his family had ordered him to kill John.
• John suspected Tony and other officers might be plotting against him, decided he needed to seize power, and called a meeting with the 1st Battalion.
• A Centaur messenger reported that Kenny had been killed, Horseshoe City had fallen, and the Saga Kingdom’s 101st Division had been wiped out except for Damon’s Star-Chasing Cavalry Brigade.
• Adam sent Enzo to investigate the defeat and identify the Imperial Mage Corps behind it.
• Leon left Morningstar City and resolved to learn more about the Imperial force, which he hoped to use as a stepping stone toward defeating Roxy and becoming supreme commander.

Wendy Brown confronted soldiers looting a Centaur shop and threatened them with her Magic Rifle, prompting Major General Tony Lyra to demand an explanation from John. John defended Wendy by challenging the army’s looting practices, then offered to remove her from her Guard Unit captain post as punishment.

• Wendy Brown saw 1st Division soldiers tying up a Centaur shopkeeper and looting his store, so she ordered them to stop.
• When the soldiers’ captain resisted, Wendy knocked him down and threatened the troops with her Magic Rifle until they returned the stolen goods and left.
• Major General Tony Lyra confronted John about Wendy’s actions and argued that she should be severely punished.
• John questioned whether looting civilians counted as postwar cleanup and claimed Wendy’s overloaded rifle could not fire, framing the incident as harmless roughhousing.
• John acknowledged Wendy had violated discipline and proposed removing her as captain of the Guard Unit, asking Tony whether that punishment would satisfy him.

John placated Major General Tony by punishing the officer responsible for attacking Tony’s soldiers, while Tony accepted the gesture and revealed his imperialist views. John left the meeting resolved to proceed with his plan against Tony and called the 1st Battalion together for a combat meeting.

• Tony was surprised when John admitted fault and removed the offending captain from his post.
• Tony urged John to treat the Beastfolk as enemies and accepted his promise to control the 1st Battalion’s Mage Soldiers.
• John left the City Lord’s Manor and watched officers and soldiers loot shops and beat Centaur civilians without intervening.
• John arrived at the 1st Battalion’s camp, reassured Wendy, and called a combat meeting with Siegfried, Laiya, and the others.

Wendy, Laiya, and Siegfried captured Major General Tony in a nighttime raid and returned to camp. Meanwhile, John Maslow gathered the five regiment commanders for a midnight meeting and warned them to stay alert when answering his questions.

• Wendy and Laiya attacked Tony in his bedroom, and Siegfried's magical arrows pinned him to the wall before Wendy sedated him.
• Wendy bound Tony and stuffed him into a sack, then reassured Laiya after criticizing her risky strike.
• Wendy questioned Laiya about the five company commanders, but Laiya said she knew nothing about them.
• Samuel entered a meeting room and found the other four regiment commanders already gathered there.
• John Maslow descended with Barnabos and the five company commanders, then invited the regiment commanders to tea before the meeting.

John seized control of the meeting, using Igonila to violently incapacitate Colonel Max and frighten the other commanders into submission. He revealed that the Allied Forces' Seventh Legion was approaching and called on the commanders to state whether they supported reorganizing the 1st Division to fight it.

• Max Laila cursed John for taking Major General Tony's place, and John signaled Igonila to beat Max unconscious against the conference table.
• John claimed Max had suffered an accidental fall and announced that the 1st Regiment's command would remain vacant while Major General Tony received treatment from Wendy.
• Samuel drank his tea and sat down in support of John, and the other three commanders followed.
• John told the commanders that the Allied Forces' Seventh Legion had joined the Morning Star Clan's remnants and would reach Horseshoe City within seven days.
• John said Tony had chosen to retreat, then announced his plan to reorganize the 1st Division and asked the commanders whether they supported fighting the Seventh Legion.

John defended his decision to confront the Allied Forces’ Seventh Legion and outlined a plan to exploit its commander Leon Li’s assassination tactics and separation from the main force. He promised to take responsibility for defeat and share any victory with the officers, then called for a vote on his plan.

• Eli Mositon cautiously asked John how he planned to face the Seventh Legion’s superior numbers.
• John identified Leon Li’s Independent 4th Division as the enemy vanguard and explained that spies, prepared traps, and Leon’s separation from his reinforcements gave the Imperial Army three advantages.
• John argued that Imperial morale was a fourth advantage and said the officers would share the glory of victory.
• John pledged to bear responsibility alone if the attack failed and asked the officers to vote on his plan.

Samuel and the other colonels backed John's plan to seize command and fight the coming battle, and John appointed Samuel temporary commander of the 1st Division. After John left to choose a temporary commander for the 1st Regiment, Barnabos explained why the colonels were unlikely to betray the plan, while Miles reluctantly followed the others.

• Samuel objected to John taking sole responsibility, and the other three colonels echoed his support and pledged loyalty to John.
• John praised the colonels, discussed battle deployments with them, and recommended Samuel as temporary commander of the 1st Division.
• John left for the 1st Battalion camp to have Siegfried help select a temporary commander for the 1st Regiment.
• Miles worried that the officers would be treated as accomplices, but Barnabos explained that the colonels had practical reasons to stick with John's plan.
• Lunebo mocked Miles, while Marda and Igonila praised John as they carried the unconscious Colonel Max away in a sack.
• Miles abandoned his plan to cut ties and hurried after the others, fearing they would isolate him.

John stabilized the 1st Division, prepared camouflaged bunkers to ambush the 4th Independent Division, and set a plan to draw out Leon Li’s assassins. Five days later, an enemy spy transmitted bait intelligence before Laiya Binote killed him, and John confirmed the trap was underway.

• John appointed a non-Laila lieutenant colonel temporary commander of the 1st Regiment, promoted Maslow Quotations, and distributed confiscated wealth to the soldiers.
• John arranged defenses around Horseshoe City and sent Marda’s Engineering Company to camouflage fifteen bunkers along the border route.
• John praised Marda’s camouflage work, then returned to camp to prepare his trap for Leon Li’s forces.
• Five days later, a Shadow Forces spy in Horseshoe City sent intelligence through a Secret Message Worm.
• Laiya Binote killed the spy, then confirmed to Major John that the enemy had received the bait intelligence.

Leon learned that John Maslow had taken command of the Empire’s 1st Division and appeared to be looting Horseshoe City, so he encouraged Galil to attempt an assassination. Leon actually planned to exploit the resulting disruption to kill the division’s five regiment commanders and seize the city, while Galil led his forces toward a trap.

• Galil reported that John Maslow had plundered property and allowed soldiers to loot civilians in Horseshoe City.
• Leon proposed using the Shadow Orc Forces’ remaining funds as bait to draw John Maslow into an assassination attempt, then attacking the city with Damon’s troops.
• Galil accepted the mission and asked for the right to deal with John Maslow; Leon approved his request.
• After Galil left, Leon concluded that Maslow’s greedy behavior was a deliberate disguise and anticipated that he would trap the infiltrating Shadow Orc Forces.
• Leon revealed that his real target was the 1st Division’s five regiment commanders, whose deaths would weaken Maslow’s control and leave Horseshoe City open to attack.

John prepared to trap enemy agents in Horseshoe City while the 4th Independent Division’s movements raised doubts about his larger ambush. As Miles took on the role of bait, Galil sent the Orc Shadow Forces to attack, leaving the assassination attempt about to begin.

• John ordered Lunebo to arrest suspicious Centaurs, sent Barnabos and Igodala’s companies to the warehouses, and summoned Miles for a secret assignment.
• John considered whether Leon had detected his ambush after learning that the 4th Independent Division had not reached the planned bunker zone.
• John assigned Miles to impersonate him at the warehouses and draw the Blackfeather Assassination Unit’s fire, crushing Miles’s hopes of proving himself brave.
• Galil watched Imperial soldiers kill his Shadow Orc spies and carry away the seized property, then declared that his revenge was near.
• Galil commanded 320 Orc Shadow Forces elites to activate their spell formations, turn invisible, and move toward their target.

Galil waited with the Shadow Forces to ambush John Maslow, while Miles disguised himself as John to draw the assassins out. As Miles reached for the gold, a blade suddenly flew toward him.

• Galil hid the Shadow Forces around the warehouse courtyard and waited for John Maslow to arrive.
• Galil recognized Miles, disguised as John Maslow, but restrained his killing intent to avoid alerting the soldiers.
• Miles endured painful tree-resin contact lenses and approached the warehouse as the disguised Battalion Commander.
• Barnabos signaled Miles that the enemy was in position, and Miles refrained from scolding him.
• Miles pretended to be thrilled by the gold and bent to take some from a crate as a flash of cold steel rushed toward him.

The Empire forces ambushed the Shadow Orc assassins, but their leader Galil survived and pressed his attack on Miles. Just as Galil was about to kill Miles, Igonila intervened, and the two warriors began a fierce duel.

• Companies One and Two coordinated gunfire that killed most of the Shadow Orc assassins, while Galil deflected the bullets aimed at him.
• Miles used his Magic Eye to dodge a stray bullet and fired at Galil, but Galil cut through the shots with his Silver Moon scimitars.
• Galil transformed through his spells and charged Miles, determined to reclaim the Darkthorn Clan's glory.
• Igonila intercepted Galil's strike and took Miles's place, then clashed with Galil in the courtyard.

Leon Li waited outside Horseshoe City, confident his plan would remove the Star of Dawn, while Damon Morning Star demanded an immediate assault. Their dispute was interrupted by the appearance of three Imperial Air Force figures, whose central musician shocked Leon.

• Leon Li reflected that Colonel Galil had likely been defeated or captured and believed the sacrifice would help him overcome the Star of Dawn and claim the throne.
• Damon Morning Star confronted Leon Li over delaying the advance and insisted the Starchaser Cavalry Regiment should attack Horseshoe City.
• Damon declared he would lead the Starchaser Cavalry Regiment into the city alone if Leon continued waiting.
• A faint string melody drew Leon and Damon’s attention to three figures near the forest, less than eight hundred meters from the army.
• Lightning revealed the figures as two women and a man in Imperial Air Force uniforms, and Leon recoiled in shock at the man playing a morin khuur.

John used a risky Empty Fort Strategy by playing the erhu before Leon’s army, hoping to lure the 4th Independent Division into his prepared ambush. Leon chose to wait, then interpreted the music as a threat against the Morning Star Clan, while Damon struggled to contain his fear of John’s Mage Soldier.

• Wendy asked whether they should attack, and John told her to wait while he played the erhu piece Racing Horses for Leon.
• John watched Leon’s uncertainty and kept his escape plan ready in case the enemy fired on them.
• Leon decided to remain still until John finished playing and admired the tune’s galloping rhythm.
• Damon tried to charge John to avenge Kenny, but Leon warned him that he could share Kenny’s fate.
• Leon told Damon that John’s music carried killing intent toward the Morning Star Clan.

John Maslow and Leon interpreted John’s music as a declaration of confidence before their forces’ impending clash in Horseshoe City. As John waited for the assassination plan to unfold, Siegfried took position for the ambush, driven by his resolve to help overthrow the nobles.

• Leon took John’s music as a taunt and concluded that John trusted his subordinates to defeat the Blackfeather assassins.
• John worried that his stray notes might arouse Leon’s suspicions, then reasoned that his disguised troops had made the assassination plan highly likely to succeed.
• John calculated that after the assassins failed, he could order Samuel’s group to attack the Independent 4th Division and draw it into the final ambush.
• Siegfried reflected on his decision to act as an assassin for the cause of ending noble oppression and declared himself in position at Ambush Point No. 4.

Enzo Kleina led the Black Feather Special Forces into a building in Horseshoe City to assassinate five enemy regiment commanders, but the Black Eagle Special Forces silently eliminated his men. Enzo realized the Empire’s assassins were under John Maslow’s command and was killed by a green arrow as he tried to escape.

• Enzo Kleina felt uneasy about how smoothly his unit reached the building but ordered the mission to proceed after confirming the targets were inside.
• Enzo and his hundred Black Feather Special Forces members used the Ghost Feather Spell Formation to infiltrate the building and locate the five regiment commanders.
• Enzo noticed his deputy and then his other subordinates disappearing without a sound, while the five targets vanished from his spell formation’s senses.
• Enzo concluded that the Black Eagle Special Forces were responsible and tried to flee to warn Major General Leon that they served under John Maslow.
• A green-glowing arrow pierced Enzo’s heart as he rushed out of the room.

Leon Li’s retreat from Horseshoe City was repeatedly shaped by John Maslow’s apparent traps, and a minefield ambush badly damaged Leon’s forces. The chapter ended with Leon finding the same death warning on a signpost along his new route north.

• A telegram informed Leon Li that the Blackfeather Forces had been wiped out by the Empire’s Black Eagle Special Forces, and Leon reconsidered attacking John Maslow.
• Moonlight revealed shapes in the Blueflower Vine Woods that Leon mistook for a huge hidden army, so he ordered the Independent 4th Division to retreat northwest.
• Leon found a sign warning that he would die there, dismissed it as a provocation, and continued the retreat.
• Mines and a concealed Imperial unit ambushed Leon’s troops, killing or wounding more than half of the 1st Brigade before the attackers escaped.
• Leon changed the retreat direction to north, but after a kilometer he found another signpost bearing the same warning.