Chapter Summaries

John met with Colonels Kambert Stanwo and Roderick Dalton, the powerful commanders Bob sent to support his campaign, and sought their commitment to his command. He proposed Chokehold Peak as the first battlefield and revealed a plan to use nearby terrain and an underground river to encircle the enemy, leaving both colonels astonished.

• John was stunned to discover that Bob had sent Kambert Stanwo and Roderick Dalton, two of the Third Navy’s strongest commanders, to assist him.
• John told Kambert and Roderick that he intended to command the operation, and they agreed to follow his orders unless unforeseen circumstances arose.
• John selected Chokehold Peak for the first engagement, explaining that its fog, narrow paths, and surrounding terrain could hinder the enemy and support their withdrawal.
• John described how his forces could use the Gloom Corridor’s caves and tunnels as a hidden base and ambush site for later battles.
• John revealed that an underground river could carry an elite force to Blue Lake City, where they could seize the town and coordinate with the Third Navy to encircle the enemy.
• Kambert and Roderick were left astonished as John asked whether they were ready to help him deliver a massacre to the Allied Forces.

John learned that Laiya had gone to assassinate Doran without his orders and rushed to stop her, while Doran’s inherited spell helped him survive her attack and flee. Siegfried arrived in time to shield Doran from Laiya, leaving the two sides facing off as more troops approached.

• Wendy told John that Laiya had left to carry out a secret mission, and John realized she might be targeting Doran and ordered Wendy to find her.
• Doran planned to flee Fang City for Silverstone Mine after John’s troops departed, but an assassin broke into his estate and attacked him.
• Laiya’s strike failed when Doran used Wisdom’s Hand to create a magical hand, and Doran escaped on an enchanted hunting hound.
• Laiya pursued Doran and threw a saber at him, but Arias Beyat’s protective spell stopped it and knocked Doran off his hound.
• Siegfried arrived to protect Doran and confronted Laiya, declaring that he would stop the Allied Forces assassin on John’s orders.

Laiya and Siegfried staged a spectacular battle to make Doran believe Siegfried had saved him, prompting Doran to try to recruit Siegfried. John refused to transfer him, but Doran then offered John a share of a valuable mineral vein in Golden Lion Territory, leaving John stunned.

• Laiya continued her feigned attack while Siegfried played along, and their staged fight convinced Doran that Siegfried had defeated the assassin.
• Doran praised Siegfried and tried to recruit him as commander of a new Guard Regiment, but John refused to transfer him from the 1st Magic Battalion.
• Doran claimed he had helped defeat the assassin, and John answered with feigned admiration while Doran credited Siegfried to protect his recruitment chances.
• Doran invited John to discuss a business deal, and John stayed behind with Wendy while Lunebo guarded the area.
• Doran revealed that a mineral vein in Golden Lion Territory was worth about ten million D and offered John twenty percent in exchange for a force to protect him.

John and Lieutenant General Doran negotiated a deal over mineral veins while each secretly planned to deceive the other. They agreed to cooperate, with Doran expecting John to help him profit, while John intended to use Doran’s men to mine the resources before taking them for himself.

• Doran offered John a share of mineral veins in exchange for help surviving the coming campaign and securing military authority.
• John reflected on his missing memories and resolved to investigate the orphanage in Ereno after the Fauken Front campaign.
• John bargained with Doran over the minerals, raising his demand before settling on a fifty-fifty split.
• John secretly planned to let Doran’s men mine the veins and then seize the resources, suspecting they were worth far more than Doran claimed.
• John and Doran exchanged insincere smiles and shook hands, each believing the other had accepted his scheme.

John sent Laiya, Hawk, and Mia to monitor Doran, believing Hawk would keep the mission on track, while Hawk imagined the assignment was part of an elaborate plan. At the pier, John warned Marshal Bob that at least 241 Allied warships were heading toward Fauken Bay, leaving the Third Navy’s planned sortie in doubt.

• John assigned Laiya to surveil Doran and added Hawk and Mia to the mission, instructing Laiya to consult Hawk if anything unexpected happened.
• Hawk misread the surveillance assignment as a complex infiltration and ambush plan, then vowed to carry out John’s supposed strategy.
• John took Wendy to meet the Third Navy and planned to warn Bob that the fleet needed to preserve its strength against the enemy’s ships.
• Marshal Bob told John to hold off the Fifth Legion for fifteen days while the Third Navy defeated the Crescent Fleet and landed east of the Cocobia Rainforest.
• John refused Bob’s support plan and revealed that Allied Forces had sent at least 241 warships toward Fauken Bay.

John advised Marshal Bob on using the Bomia Archipelago to draw in and ambush the vastly larger Allied Forces fleet, and proposed that Ian summon a Kraken as a risky naval weapon. As the Third Navy departed, John accepted the immense stakes of his own campaign and prepared to begin his war.

• Bob learned that 241 Allied Forces warships were arriving and asked John what to do next.
• John recommended that the Third Navy preserve its strength and use the Bomia Archipelago’s reefs, whirlpools, and islands to evade and attack the enemy fleet.
• John explained that Ian could summon an adult Kraken with a Magic Amplifier, but warned that Ian would lose control after about an hour and the creature could become hostile.
• John reflected on the lives at stake and resolved to keep pursuing victory despite the danger and pressure.
• John watched the Third Navy sail from the docks, adjusted his military cap, and walked into the darkness to begin his own war.

The 1st Battalion surveyed Chokehold Peak as John Maslow prepared the terrain for a battle against the Allied Forces. Roxy Sankaster deduced his trap and deliberately redirected her army to Chokehold Peak, determined to fight him directly.

• Barnabos and the 1st Battalion surveyed Chokehold Peak and gathered detailed intelligence for John Maslow’s plans.
• Barnabos saw the battalion’s discipline and unity as its soldiers diligently carried out their assignments.
• Roxy Sankaster analyzed John Maslow’s tactics and concluded that Chokehold Peak was the site of his intended ambush.
• Roxy chose to accept the challenge and ordered Major Dillion to redirect the Allied Forces toward Chokehold Peak.

John anticipated Roxy’s forces might use Orian Frost’s teleportation to disrupt the battle, then realized lightning could interfere with spatial magic. He ordered lightning rods installed at Chokehold Peak, and the chapter ended as his vanguard engaged the enemy.

• John assessed the threat posed by Roxy’s three powerful Mages, especially Orian Frost and his Phase Channel teleportation formula.
• John realized lightning could disrupt mana and spatial coordinates, preventing Orian from teleporting reliably.
• John ordered Wendy to have the Engineering Company forge at least forty metal cylinders to serve as lightning rods.
• Wendy led the transport and installation of the lightning rods at Chokehold Peak.
• At 1 a.m., Marda reported that John’s vanguard had officially engaged the enemy.

At Chokehold Peak, Gary Fang pursued an Imperial bait force after an ambush was disrupted, unaware that John’s plan was leading the 112th Division into a trap. The chapter ended as hidden Imperial heavy artillery opened fire on Gary’s surrounded troops.

• Gary Fang learned that an enemy force was approaching his sector and hid the 112th Division to ambush it.
• An unfamiliar Lionfolk voice alerted the Imperial troops, and they retreated as Gary ordered his division to pursue them.
• Miles Carrot revealed that he had used John’s plan to provoke Gary and draw the 112th Division toward a prepared ambush.
• John ordered the bait force to destroy its vehicles at a pass, and Gary led his troops deeper into the area while completing an encirclement.
• Gary sensed danger and spotted iron pillars on nearby peaks, then lightning illuminated concealed Imperial artillery positions.
• The hidden heavy guns opened fire on the 112th Division.

Gary led the 112th Division into John’s artillery ambush, then ordered a retreat while John pursued him and monitored the other fronts. John discovered that Roxy had used the division as bait to teleport an elite force toward his artillery, but he sent Roderick’s force to intercept them.

• John’s artillery ambush devastated the 112th Division, and the surviving bait force suppressed its attempted counterattack.
• Gary chose to survive, ordered the 112th Division to withdraw, and escaped with his guards.
• John ordered Miles and the Sniper Company to pursue Gary, then observed the Independent 3rd Division’s lines retreating against the Fifth Legion and the 113th Division.
• Lunebo reported that an elite force of three thousand Mages, including a Transcendent Tier expert, was approaching the Lightning Ambush Zone.
• John deduced that Roxy Sankaster had used the 112th Division as bait and sent Colonel Roderick’s Assault Amphibious Force to support the artillery.

Colonel Gal Loken led the City-Burner Corps toward the enemy rear, but Roderick Dalton ambushed them with a devastating lava attack. Gal and Roderick activated their powers and charged into a direct battle.

• Gal led the 2,500-member City-Burner Corps through the rain to destroy the enemy’s rear supply units.
• Roderick Dalton launched a powerful lava breath, and Gal raised a Bastion Genesis wall that blocked the attack.
• Gal recognized Roderick, believed the Empire had anticipated Lieutenant General Roxy’s plan, and prepared to fight him.
• Gal activated his Magitech Armor as Roderick transformed into a towering lava monster.
• Gal and Roderick charged at each other and raised their fists and claws to begin their duel.

Roxy realized John Maslow was using a raid on her communications hub to seize control of the battle, and she ordered the Silent Thorn to intercept the attackers while preparing to lead a flanking assault herself. When the attack at D33 confirmed her deduction, Orian agreed to accompany her into battle.

• Roxy inferred that the City-Burner Corps had been held up by the Third Navy's Assault Amphibious Force and that her plan to destroy the Heavy Artillery Regiment had failed.
• Roxy deduced that John Maslow intended to raid the communications unit at D33 and use the disruption to command his forces through a special formula.
• Roxy ordered Colonel Lyria Colwyn to lead the Silent Thorn to D33 and told Orian to prepare a Phase Teleportation Spell for her and the Guard Regiment.
• Roxy explained that she would use the communications raid as an opportunity to activate the Soulheart Art and attack the enemy from behind.
• The communications unit reported that a thousand enemy troops had attacked D33 and that Lyria was exchanging fire with them.
• Orian withdrew his objections and agreed to accompany Roxy as she led the troops into the enemy formation.

Lyria Colwyn ambushed an Imperial raid on the Allied Forces' communications base, only to face Kambert and his plague-wielding Special Medical Operations Unit. As Roxy prepared to turn the battle with a rear assault, John revealed a trap meant to force her troops into a tide of magical beasts.

• Lyria Colwyn and the Silent Thorn ambushed and killed three hundred cloaked soldiers approaching the communications base, but their corpses burst into corrosive purple plague that devastated the jungle and killed nearby troops.
• Kambert revealed that he had used the dead soldiers as plague-spreading puppets, then faced the charging Lyria with his Special Medical Operations Unit as its members injected themselves with medicine and prepared to fight.
• John concluded that Roxy would likely lead the Guard Regiment through his lines to attack from the rear, potentially turning the battle in the Allied Forces' favor.
• John revealed that he had secretly positioned soldiers near magical-beast habitats and ordered them to drive the beasts toward Roxy's planned route, then declared that his trap would end her undefeated reputation.

Roxy’s ambush behind the Imperial lines turned into a desperate trap as John Maslow drove magical beast hordes toward her force and disrupted Phase Teleportation. Orian sacrificed his magic circuits to evacuate the troops, while John prepared to hold the front for ten days before turning Chokehold Peak into the key to defeating Roxy.

• Roxy noticed that no Empire soldiers were nearby, but dismissed the possibility that John had anticipated her arrival and ordered her troops to advance.
• John’s Mage Soldiers lured two magical beast hordes toward Roxy’s force, forcing her to retreat as lightning rods disrupted Orian’s Phase Teleportation.
• Roxy acknowledged her defeat and ordered a withdrawal, but Orian could not locate their main camp’s spatial coordinates.
• Orian cut his wrist and sacrificed his internal magic circuits to stabilize space and reopen the Phase Teleportation Spell.
• Orian teleported Roxy and the three thousand soldiers to safety just before five Transcendent Tier magical beasts attacked, while John learned the ambush had failed and planned to hold the front for ten days.

After ten days of attrition at Chokehold Peak, John ordered the Imperial Army to withdraw into the Gloom Corridor, where he planned to trap Roxy’s Fifth Legion and secretly seize the Cocobia Rainforest. Roxy recognized his open scheme and planned to contain him while secretly seeking support from the 109th Division, setting up a decoy to mislead a suspected spy; both commanders ended the chapter certain they would win.

• John’s forces and Roxy’s Allied Forces suffered heavy casualties over ten days of fighting, while supply raids and desertions further weakened the Imperial Army.
• John ordered an orderly withdrawal into the Gloom Corridor and concealed his plan for Samuel to lead troops downriver and strike the Darkmoon Clan’s city in the Cocobia Rainforest.
• Roxy learned that John had withdrawn, assessed the damage to her forces, and concluded that she had to enter the Gloom Corridor to prevent the Empire from taking the rainforest.
• Roxy decided to contain John’s army and seek help from the Third Orc Legion’s 109th Division, which was suited to cave warfare and was fighting the Empire’s 2nd Division.
• Suspecting a spy in the Fifth Legion, Roxy devised a half-true decoy plan that named Fang City as the apparent target and selected five units for scrutiny.
• John and Roxy raised their command batons and each declared that they had understood the other’s intentions and would be the final victor.

Tracy Plonte posed as a benevolent village doctor while secretly continuing his murderous experiments, but Sellviya confronted him at the ruined church after recognizing him as Mephisto Dragon. When she prepared to kill him, Mephisto claimed that Test Subject No. 1875 was still alive.

• Tracy treated Wilson’s daughter Alice and warned that her illness might return, then returned to studying medicine while maintaining his kind doctor’s disguise.
• After nightfall, Tracy entered the ruined Golden Church, opened a hidden underground passage, and killed or butchered a captive as part of his experiments.
• When someone knocked, Tracy concealed the blood and prepared to kill the visitor, believing Wilson had come to the church.
• Sellviya appeared at the door and struck Tracy hard enough to cave in his chest, then identified him as Mephisto Dragon.
• Mephisto recognized Sellviya as Test Subject No. 1158 and claimed that Test Subject No. 1875 was not dead.

Sellviya confronted Mephisto about Celestine, and he claimed Celestine had survived and been hidden in a hibernation facility. Distrusting his claim that he knew where Celestine was, Sellviya killed him, leaving her still without her friend’s whereabouts.

• Sellviya wounded Mephisto after he called Celestine an experiment subject and insisted on using her name.
• Mephisto claimed Celestine had survived the shooting, endured further experiments, and been placed in a hibernation facility before he fled the Empire.
• Sellviya judged that Celestine might still be alive but believed Mephisto had fabricated his knowledge of her location to save himself.
• Sellviya attacked Mephisto with her dragon claw and crushed his heart, killing him.

After killing Mephisto, Selvia encountered Anna Splinter, a silver-haired military academy student who had come to Gooseberry Village. Selvia easily defeated Anna's attacks, but Anna gathered her full strength and prepared to continue fighting.

• Selvia burned Mephisto's corpse to ashes and left the ruined church, where she encountered Anna Splinter.
• Anna questioned Selvia about killing the priest, while Selvia mocked her and compared her to a woman she called Laiya.
• Selvia charged Anna and stopped her sword with one dragon claw, then kicked her across the church.
• Anna attacked again with Calton Standard Swordsmanship, but Selvia shattered her sword and lectured her about fighting.
• Anna used a hidden throwing knife, which Selvia deflected, then summoned a larger column of Severance Force around her broken sword and vowed to defeat or kill Selvia.

Sellviya fought Anna at the Golden Church, defeated her, and revealed a hidden underground laboratory that might explain why she had killed Tracy Plonte. As powerful newcomers approached, Sellviya left Anna with a shocking claim about her true identity: she belonged to the Binote Family, not the Splinter Family.

• Sellviya transformed into her Half-Dragon form and clashed with Anna, whose Severance Force and sudden recovery pushed the battle to a stalemate.
• At Gooseberry Village, Royce Hansen sensed a powerful Unique Formula user near the church and warned Elvin Jones that Anna might be fighting her.
• Sellviya overpowered Anna and held her by the throat, but released her before Anna could detonate her Unique Formula.
• Anna regained her strength, demanded a fight to the death, and Sellviya instead exposed a hidden passage beneath the shattered statue and told her to inspect the laboratory.
• Anna agreed to verify Sellviya's account of Tracy Plonte's crimes and identified herself as Anna Splinter, prompting Sellviya to laugh.
• As powerful figures approached, Sellviya told Anna that she was actually Anna Binote, heir to the Binote Family of Empire's Spear.

Sellviya told Anna that she was really Anna Binote of the Empire’s Binote Family, then escaped and left Anna questioning her identity. After Anna’s implanted Formula triggered a severe mental attack and was consumed by her Severance Force, she concealed what happened from Elwin; the squad then discovered a horrific underground laboratory and identified its test subject as Celestine Novak.

• Sellviya claimed Anna was Anna Binote, escaped amid a cloud of wind blades, and urged her to seek the truth in the Empire or on the battlefield.
• Anna doubted Sellviya’s claim, suffered an escalating headache and hallucinations, and involuntarily used the Equality of All Things Spell on herself, destroying the Formula binding her spirit.
• Elwin and the others arrived, praised Anna for surviving a High Mage, and heard her lie that she had not clearly seen the enemy.
• Elwin led the squad into an underground laboratory, where they found living human test subjects mutilated and suspended from iron hooks.
• Elwin compared a photograph in the experiment logs with the mission target and recognized both as Celestine Novak, the Spectral Spirit Painter.