Chapter Summaries

Liens used the finished elixir to unleash Marmiadoysse at full strength, forcing Sovell to reveal the sword’s backlash and nearly killing him. As Artoria and Gawain held back Liens’s final attack, Sovell released three seals of the Holy Spear and fired Rhongomyniad.

• The elixir empowered Liens, who overwhelmed Sovell with Marmiadoysse and struck him with Star-Slaying-Blazing Inferno.
• Sovell survived by using Thousand Winds to divert the attack, but lost his dragon traits and discovered that Marmiadoysse’s immense power caused backlash.
• Artoria and Gawain shielded Sovell while Liens unleashed another Star-Slaying Blazing Inferno against their Holy Swords.
• Sovell released the first and second seals of the Holy Spear, then fired Rhongomyniad with its third seal released.

After Arthur’s victory, Sovell slipped out of his room intending to act against Guinevere, but memories of his fourteen years of friendship with Lia and the consequences of betraying her shattered his resolve. He fell from the sky and laughed beneath the full moon as Arthur and Merlin watched from Guinevere’s room.

• Arthur’s victory reached Kerimud, while exhausted Gawain and Sovell were carried back to the city by Artoria and Bedivere.
• A veiled silver-haired woman watched Artoria clutch Caliburn and recalled her prophecy about the Red Dragon’s throne and the child of the Red Dragon and Fairy.
• Sovell woke after releasing the Holy Spear’s seals, then slipped out through a window after telling his attendant he needed to rest.
• The maid reported to Arthur that Sovell had taken the bait, and Arthur told Merlin she would handle Sovell while putting on an act with Guinevere.
• Outside Guinevere’s room, Sovell remembered his bond with Lia and berated himself for considering betraying her, then lost control of his wind magecraft and fell.
• Sovell laughed beneath the moon, startling the palace as Guinevere looked out the window and Merlin watched beside her.

Artoria learned that Britain’s midsummer harvest had failed so badly that famine threatened the kingdom, and she struggled with how to respond as king. After Sovell suggested consulting Merlin, Artoria made Sovell take the reports and help shoulder the burden.

• Rodgrens announced Artoria and Guinevere’s engagement at a banquet, and they danced the first dance at the ball afterward.
• Two months later, reports showed that grain yields in the regions Artoria’s Court controlled averaged only forty pounds per mu, pointing to famine across Britain.
• Artoria lamented the poor harvest and served herself plain food to set an example for her subjects.
• Sovell advised Artoria to consult Merlin about the crisis, then shared a meal with her.
• Artoria ordered Sovell to take the reports and review them, making him help with the kingdom’s burden.

Sovell and Artoria learned that Merlin had brought them a high-yielding crop called a potato, which Artoria presented to the people as a divine gift. Merlin privately revealed that potatoes could grow in Britain only while the Age of Gods endured, making their eventual failure a sign that Britain had fallen.

• Sovell arrived at the hall and found Merlin showing Artoria an unfamiliar, dirt-covered object.
• Artoria conjured a sword and threatened Merlin, while Merlin praised Sovell for creating an imitation of Invisible Air to stabilize Lia's broken sword.
• Merlin explained that the object, which he called a papa, yielded nine thousand pounds per acre and could grow in cold regions, but became inedible once its sprouts grew too long.
• Merlin said he had obtained the crop from a neighboring continent, and Artoria and Sovell welcomed its promise of food for the people and military.
• Artoria announced the crop as a divine gift and named it potato, while Merlin privately regretted lying about its prospects and feared its eventual failure would mark Britain's fall.

Artoria’s court struggled under a growing pile of government work after Kay left, while Agravain proved exceptionally capable and took on the burden alongside Sovell. Just as Kay returned and the two officials hoped for relief, a powerful monster’s cry filled the hall, leaving its identity unknown.

• After Kay left Caerleon to join a monster-subjugation army, Artoria and Sovell inherited the court’s growing workload.
• Agravain impressed Sovell by clearing years of military and administrative matters, then served as Artoria’s aide and joined the Round Table.
• During morning court, Agravain decided to recommend summoning Kay back, but a herald announced that Kay had already returned.
• Before Artoria could summon Kay, a strange cry frightened everyone in the hall except Artoria and Sovell.
• Sovell gripped Rhongomyniad and tried to identify the unseen creature, whose cry sounded like “Fou~ Fou~.”

Merlin brought the juvenile Beast Cath Palug to court after it had destroyed Kay’s armor during a campaign against demon beasts. He explained that Cath Palug was a calamity beast known as Primate Murder, and the chapter left its potential danger hanging over the humans around it.

• Cath Palug’s cries disrupted court until Merlin arrived and asked Artoria to let Kay rest.
• Artoria and Sovell visited Kay, who was unharmed but had lost his mithril armor to Cath Palug.
• Merlin identified Cath Palug as a juvenile Beast and revealed that it had torn Kay’s armor apart.
• Kay recounted how he fought Cath Palug on Angelsey Island, using flowing water to keep it at bay until Merlin arrived.
• Merlin explained that Cath Palug was Primate Murder, a beast with absolute power against primates, though its youth and unstable power had allowed Kay to survive.

Merlin led Artoria and Sovell to the Lady of the Lake, where Artoria received Excalibur and its scabbard in exchange for a future promise. As they returned to Caerleon, Artoria chose the sword over the scabbard because she wanted to use it to protect Britain and build a better future for its people.

• Merlin told Sovell and Artoria that he had found a new sword for Artoria and took them toward Cornwall.
• At a lake near Bodmin, Merlin identified the floating sword as Excalibur, and the Lady of the Lake introduced herself as Vivian.
• Vivian offered Artoria Excalibur and its scabbard if she fulfilled the inscription on the blade when the time came, then warned that the wielder would bear a curse of eternal life.
• Artoria accepted Excalibur and its scabbard, received the Lady of the Lake's protection, and read the blade's conflicting inscriptions: “Possess me” and “Abandon me.”
• After Artoria and Sovell left, Morgan revealed her face and prayed that Artoria would protect Britain and eventually kill her other self.
• Merlin explained that Excalibur's scabbard prevented injury, but Artoria said the sword mattered more because she could use it to safeguard the future of millions.

Sovell returned to Caerleon and faced reports of a worsening illness that he believed was the world purging humans still living in the Age of Gods. Tristan came back from Ireland troubled by his uncle Mark’s plan to marry Princess Isolde, and Kay urged him to stop sacrificing his love for her out of obligation to Mark.

• Sovell reviewed reports documenting widespread physical and mental debilitation across Britain and feared the world was rejecting its people.
• Tristan returned to Caerleon, and Sovell welcomed him with cider before asking what had left him distressed.
• Tristan described a man choosing a bride because two swallows had brought him her golden hair, and Sovell called the decision reckless and absurd.
• Sovell recognized that Tristan was in love with Princess Isolde and that Mark intended to marry her after receiving a lock of her hair.
• Kay joined them, confirmed that Tristan and Isolde loved each other, and challenged Tristan to consider how his silence would hurt them both.

Tristan asked King Mark to revoke his decree so he could marry Princess Isolde, and King Mark agreed. Sovell then challenged Cornwall on behalf of Caerleon, and Tristan won the archery event as the tournament began.

• Tristan knelt before King Mark and declared his love for Princess Isolde, asking him to rescind his decree.
• King Mark agreed to Tristan's request, then Sovell revealed that he had come to discuss official business and called Mark a usurper.
• Rumors spread in a Cornwall tavern that Caerleon had challenged Cornwall to a tournament, with Cornwall's defeat requiring submission.
• At the Training Ground, Sovell and Tristan faced off in archery while Kay watched from the stands.
• Tristan hit the bull's-eye with all five of his arrows, and the herald declared him the winner of the first event.

The jousting match between Sir Sovell and Sir Tristan began, with both riders aiming to settle the contest in one round. Sovell unhorsed Tristan, leaving Tristan on the ground as Sovell rode over to help him up.

• The herald explained the jousting rules and called the contestants into the arena.
• Sir Sovell and Sir Tristan entered on their horses and joked about finishing the match in one round.
• Sovell and Tristan considered how to win outright, each recognizing that unhorsing the other would secure victory.
• The knights charged and their lances shattered against their armor.
• Tristan found himself on the ground, and Sovell dismounted and offered him a hand while teasing him about his loss.

Sovell and Tristan faced off in the tournament’s final swordsmanship bout, where Sovell’s greater strength and stamina overcame Tristan’s skill. Sovell won the third bout and secured the tournament victory for Caerleon.

• Sovell healed Tristan’s hip after defeating him in the joust, and the two prepared for the final round.
• The herald announced the swordsmanship bout and its rules before Sovell and Tristan entered the fenced arena in tournament armor.
• Sovell pressured Tristan with powerful strikes, while Tristan parried and countered with precise sword techniques.
• After hundreds of exchanges, Tristan’s strength gave out and he fell, unable to hold his sword.
• The herald announced that Sovell of Caerleon had won the third bout.

After Cornwall returned to Arthur’s rule, Palamedes arrived in Caerleon after helping Percival slay Avanc and pledged to serve Artoria. Sovell accepted his oath, and Palamedes became the ninth Knight of the Round Table.

• Mark lost his royal title, and Tristan inherited the reduced earldom of Cornwall and received the eighth seat at the Round Table.
• Artoria sent Percival, Gawain, and Gaheris to deal with rampaging monsters while the other knights remained occupied with their duties.
• Palamedes introduced himself to Sovell as Pellinore’s student and explained that he had come to Britain to become a knight and hunt Avanc.
• Palamedes told Sovell that he had joined Artoria’s service in earnest and staked his honor and his father Esclabor’s on his loyalty.
• Sovell and Percival welcomed Palamedes into their ranks, and Palamedes became the ninth seat of the Round Table.

Sovell heard Caerleon’s people speculate about his place in the Round Table before buying desserts for Artoria. He left the palace with permission to take charge of the two Magecraft Dolls guarding her Bedchamber.

• Caerleon’s marketgoers discussed Palamedes joining the Round Table and guessed why Sovell held the fourteenth seat, until city guards dispersed them.
• Sovell bought most of a dessert shop’s stock and gave the shopkeeper a gold coin as a gift.
• Sovell greeted the palace sentries and went to Artoria’s Bedchamber before morning court.
• Sovell teased Artoria about changing the guarding dolls’ faces and uniforms, then offered to adjust them himself.
• Artoria allowed Sovell to take charge of the two dolls in exchange for the desserts.

After Excalibur’s Mystery helped restore Britain’s lands, Artoria rejected Liens’s demand for submission and a war began between his kingdom and the Pendragon Royal Court. Artoria led a prepared army to the front, where Palamedes was ordered to begin an arrow barrage.

• Excalibur’s Mystery spread from Caerleon, restoring Mystery in South Wales and Cornwall, while Tristan married Isolde.
• Liens’s envoy claimed his king had conquered the Eleven Kings and demanded that Artoria become his vassal and offer a beard—or her cowlick—as tribute.
• Artoria mocked Liens’s demand, challenged him to come take the tribute himself, and had the envoy removed from court.
• Artoria ordered the army’s deployment and instructed Palamedes to fire a Five-Round Arrow Volley at the enemy infantry.
• Artoria took Percival, Bedivere, Agravain, Palamedes, and Sovell to the front, while the other knights handled logistics and guarded the rear; Sovell’s alchemical equipment helped prepare the soldiers for battle.

Artoria’s forces used Sovell’s magic-breaking arrows to disrupt Liens’s army, while Percival and Agravain maneuvered against its disciplined infantry. When longbow fire finally opened a gap in the enemy formation, Percival unleashed Longinus and shattered the defensive circle, then spotted a white-clad figure on a distant rise.

• Artoria’s five volleys of Sovell’s magic-breaking arrows inflicted heavy losses and confusion on Liens’s infantry.
• Percival led his heavy cavalry around the infantry while Liens’s forces formed a disciplined defensive circle and Llywelyn moved to encircle the knights.
• Agravain ordered light cavalry harassment, longbow fire, and heavy crossbow support as his troops advanced.
• Percival waited for an opening, but Liens’s infantry held formation until longbow arrows struck soldiers exposed beneath gaps in their overhead shields.
• Percival threw Longinus at a wounded soldier, and its released power tore a breach in the infantry circle.
• Percival retrieved Longinus and saw a white-clad figure standing on a distant rise.

Sovell reported the battlefield situation to Artoria, who sent Palamedes and Sovell to support Percival as he fought Liens's forces. Percival and Llywelyn faced off with their sacred weapons, and the chapter left them poised to resume their duel after Longinus repaired itself.

• Sovell told Artoria that Percival had broken the enemy infantry formation and that Llywelyn was leading the cavalry, so Artoria ordered Palamedes and Sovell to support Percival.
• Llywelyn challenged Percival on the battlefield, and their first clash knocked Llywelyn from his horse while Longinus cut through his armor.
• Percival and Llywelyn dismounted and traded powerful spear and halberd strikes, with Llywelyn nearly crushing Percival during a heavy downward blow.
• Percival noticed that Llywelyn's strike had damaged Longinus's shaft, while Llywelyn considered using the Secret Potion despite its painful backlash.
• Longinus finished repairing its shaft as both fighters paused to recover.

Llywelyn abandoned his duel with Percival when Sovell and Kelpie arrived, then retreated with his surviving soldiers. Sovell secured the battlefield for Artoria before leaving, while Kelpie questioned his plans to make her feed.

• Barghest attacked the enemy troops as Kelpie’s Double Wave forced Llywelyn to evade and dispel the water.
• Sovell arrived to support Percival, and Llywelyn recognized him as the warrior who had defeated him and helped defeat his elder brother.
• Llywelyn retreated after deciding the odds were too dangerous, and Sovell did not pursue because Artoria had ordered him only to secure victory.
• Sovell whistled to stop Barghest’s attack, and she returned to her hound form and ran toward him.
• Sovell left the battlefield on Kelpie to attend a meeting and offered her alchemical feed, while Kelpie suggested she could eat the fallen soldiers instead.

After two years of war, Artoria challenged Liens to a decisive battle in Lothian as her allies’ territories came under attack and the Age of Gods began to recede. Liens accepted, knowing retreat beyond Antony’s Wall would leave him facing a wilderness and certain death.

• Liens’s disciplined, well-equipped army made Artoria’s advance difficult, while Sovell’s elite allies gave them an edge in battle.
• Sovell had captured Liens’s brother Llywelyn at Connova, and Liens later traded a set of advanced armor to secure Llywelyn’s release; Sovell failed to reproduce the armor’s material.
• Artoria stopped Sovell from muttering about his alchemy research, and the Round Table knights and his Kelpie showed their agreement with her.
• Artoria learned from Gawain and Tristan that Vile King’s rebels and Saxon armies were raiding the borders, while Corinion and Venta had lost territory and the Age of Gods was weakening.
• Artoria challenged Liens to a decisive battle in Lothian, where both leaders and their generals would fight for the crown.
• Liens accepted the challenge because retreat beyond Antony’s Wall would leave him trapped in the northern wilderness.

Liens recalled how Sovell had used a vast magecraft field to destroy the natural defenses protecting his army. As Artoria arrived with the Knights of the Round Table and tens of thousands of soldiers, Liens greeted her, and she confirmed she had come as promised.

• Liens remembered that Scotland's rugged terrain had once protected his army north of Hadrian's Wall.
• Three months earlier, Sovell built a vast magecraft field and used Expulsion Magecraft to drive most living creatures from the region.
• After waiting until the fifth day, Sovell unleashed a storm that stripped away hills, filled marshes, and erased Liens's army's natural defenses.
• Liens regretted that he had not studied the magecraft manual entrusted to him more thoroughly.
• Artoria arrived on her golden steed with five Knights of the Round Table and tens of thousands of soldiers ready for battle.
• Liens greeted the King of Knights, and Artoria replied that she had come as promised.

More than a year after Artoria unified northern Britain, she secured Liens and Llywelyn’s surrender and placed strict safeguards on Excalibur after its destructive power devastated the battlefield. The Pendragon Royal Court controlled most of Britain, but the White Dragon remained a formidable obstacle to complete victory.

• Artoria used Liens’s taunt about her hair as a pretext to declare her ahoge untouchable, while Sovell turned the defeated men’s blood into a hair-growth tonic.
• Sovell disarmed Liens and Llywelyn and confined them in a manor protected by fifty layers of barriers; Artoria claimed Marmiadoysse as spoils and judged it inferior to Excalibur in handling and release speed.
• After Excalibur’s blast destroyed part of Liens’s army and opened a huge gap in Antony’s Wall, Artoria and Merlin placed thirteen restraints on the sword, with ten already inscribed.
• Liens told Sovell that his teacher, the master swordsman Joras, had died a year earlier after old age, wounds, and a harsh winter.
• The Pendragon Royal Court ruled nearly all of Britain, but the White Dragon, a powerful Divine Beast-class Phantasmal Species, still stood in the way of victory.