Chapter Summaries

Ask received updates that railgun development remained limited by its weight and energy demands, while research into creating Code and deciphering Geass ruins had stalled. He then contacted Cecile, confirmed her cover was intact and that her information had enabled a seventh-generation transformable Knightmare, and planned to use its arrival to spur Earl Lloyd to develop the Lancelot.

• General Bartley told Ask that railguns were still too heavy and energy-intensive to mount effectively on Knightmares, and Ask ordered him to prioritize a mountable version even if it could fire only once.
• Bartley reported that researchers had made no progress creating Code from Geass or deciphering the Geass ruins, and Ask told him to keep experimenting while prioritizing the Energy Wing and railgun projects.
• Ask called Cecile on a secure phone and learned that her cover remained intact and that the information she sent had helped develop a seventh-generation transformable model.
• Ask told Cecile to avoid contacting him until eighth-generation development began unless something unusual happened, then praised her work.
• Monica recognized that Ask intended the new mech to surprise Earl Lloyd and provoke him into accelerating development of the Knightmare Lancelot.

Ask learned that Euphemia and Milly had been taken hostage by the Island Nation Liberation Front at the Conference Center Hotel, and he assessed the attackers’ defenses and possible motives. He ordered Cornelia to ready Earl Lloyd’s Knightmare while quietly hoping the crisis would draw Lelouch into action.

• Jeremiah told Ask that Euphemia had been kidnapped by the Island Nation Liberation Front at the Conference Center Hotel near Lake Kawaguchi.
• Jeremiah reported that Milly was among the hostages, and Ask decided he would protect her even at Euphemia’s expense.
• Ask learned that the enemy had cut off every approach except the Main Bridge and Underground Passage, where an Electromagnetic Shrapnel Cannon had destroyed the Knightmares sent in.
• Ask considered whether Lelouch might intervene and decided the hostage crisis could be an opportunity for him to make an early move.
• Ask ordered Jeremiah to tell Cornelia to ready Earl Lloyd’s toy and await his orders.

Cornelia struggled to decide how to rescue the hostages at Lake Kawaguchi while Euphemia remained trapped inside. Ask instructed her to hold position until Zero arrived, and he prepared a risky way to contact C.C.

• The Island Nation Liberation Front threatened to kill a hostage every thirty minutes until Britannia negotiated, but Cornelia rejected negotiations and a premature assault.
• Gilford received Leila’s message that Ask wanted the Special Dispatch unit ready to breach the building once Zero arrived.
• Cornelia realized Zero’s arrival could distract the terrorists while the unit rescued the hostages through an underground passage, and agreed to trust Ask’s plan.
• Leila warned Ask that his plan might fail if Lelouch did not discover Euphemia was inside the conference center.
• Ask told Leila to use an anti-tracing device to contact C.C, accepting that the call might leave clues as long as it could not be traced back to them.

Ask reassured Monica and Leila that his contact with Lelouch would not draw suspicion, then called C.C. He tested her loyalty and promised to make up for upsetting her, leaving C.C. to ask what important matter prompted the call.

• Monica worried that Emperor Charles might suspect Ask after he contacted Lelouch, but Ask explained his public mission made him an unlikely target.
• Ask called Lelouch's residence, and C.C. answered the phone.
• Ask teased C.C. with intimate memories and tested whether she still trusted him.
• C.C. recognized Ask's test, confronted him, and demanded compensation for his lack of trust.
• Ask promised to make it up to C.C., who asked what he had called about.

Ask called C.C to discuss Lelouch and admitted that he feared the emperor’s plan had progressed further than he could discover. With Euphemia taken hostage and Lelouch already in the Island Nation, Ask saw an opportunity to accelerate Lelouch’s organization and asked C.C to do two things.

• Ask told C.C that he would discard Lelouch and Nunnally if necessary, though he would rather fulfill his duty as their older brother.
• C.C urged Ask to stop hiding behind a mask, and Ask teased her about being envious of Leila and Monica.
• Ask revealed that the emperor had entered EU territory, and C.C recognized that he feared the emperor’s plan was already far advanced.
• Ask said he could not obtain crucial intelligence on the emperor and wanted Lelouch to move faster.
• Ask and C.C discussed Euphemia’s hostage-taking as an opportunity for Lelouch’s organization, and Ask asked C.C to do two things.

Ask arranged for C.C to gather information on Lelouch’s followers and help Lelouch contact the Kyoto Six Houses. After learning that Tosai Munakata had offered the Six Houses’ secrets in exchange for a Britannian title, Ask planned to turn their resources into support for Lelouch.

• Ask asked C.C to collect the appearances and home addresses of the people around Lelouch so he could plant a spy among them.
• Sphink Grimm delivered documents to Leila, who passed them to Ask; they contained detailed information about the Kyoto Six Houses.
• Ask learned that Tosai Munakata had betrayed the Six Houses in hopes of receiving a Britannian noble title and noted that Leila had approached them using Princess Cornelia’s name.
• Ask told C.C to have Lelouch make contact with the Six Houses, whose resources could provide technical and financial support.
• C.C agreed to guide Lelouch toward cooperation and asked Ask to grant her a favor next time.

Lelouch used the hostage crisis to introduce the Black Knights as protectors of the weak, then rescued Euphemia and chose not to kill her. He suspected Ask’s presence and hidden plans would complicate his efforts to build the organization in the Island Nation.

• Lelouch planned to use the hostage rescue to recruit support for the Black Knights by targeting the powerful rather than ordinary Britannians.
• Cornelia allowed Lelouch’s forces through Britannia’s defensive lines, and the Black Knights entered the hotel, killed the Island Nation Liberation Front members, and rescued the hostages.
• Lelouch aimed his gun at Euphemia but spared her, saying her death would make Ask act, and ordered his subordinates to return her safely to the civilians.
• Euphemia asked whether Lelouch meant Ask, while Lelouch concealed his reaction to Ask’s name and reflected on his anger and complicated feelings toward him.
• Lelouch considered how Clovis’s death and Suzaku Kururugi’s abduction were meant to distract Ask, and wondered why Ask had not yet intervened.

Lelouch launched the Black Knights in a dramatic debut that drew recruits and Britannia’s attention while keeping Ask from intervening directly. C.C urged him to contact the Kyoto Six Houses soon, but Lelouch was left asking why.

• Lelouch and Kallen left the hotel as a white mech emerged from the water, and the building collapsed after they departed.
• Lelouch aired a recording of the Black Knights’ debut, which spread their name across the Island Nation and brought many recruits.
• Lelouch returned home exhausted, and C.C warned that Cornelia could destroy the Black Knights if they attracted too much attention.
• Lelouch explained that his forces were too weak for a direct fight and planned to stay hidden while countering Britannia’s moves.
• C.C urged Lelouch to contact the Kyoto Six Houses sooner, then suggested it was a good time to expand his forces because Ask’s faction faced internal disagreements and reduced command authority for Jeremiah.

Lelouch weighed C.C's advice and decided to delay contacting the Kyoto Six Houses until the Black Knights had stabilized. He then chose the Narita Mountains as the setting for a risky plan to defeat Britannia's forces and capture Cornelia, hoping the victory would make the Black Knights trust him unconditionally.

• Lelouch considered seeking financial, technological, and personnel support from the Kyoto Six Houses but decided the Black Knights needed time to stabilize first.
• C.C warned Lelouch that Cornelia would intensify her efforts to destroy the Black Knights and then returned to her room.
• Lelouch identified the Black Knights' lack of discipline and trust in his leadership as obstacles to using his command abilities effectively.
• Lelouch marked the Narita Mountains on a map as the site for a desperate battle against Britannia's army and a plan to capture Cornelia.
• Lelouch decided to risk the operation, believing it could make Zero a savior to the people and accelerate the Black Knights' growth.

Ask reviewed intelligence on Kallen Stadtfeld and ordered the Black Knights’ trust to be undermined through her biological mother, who used Refrain. Lelouch prepared to make Zero indispensable by targeting Cornelia’s army at the Narita Mountains, while avoiding killing her and provoking his older brother.

• Leila gave Ask detailed records about Kallen, her family, and House Stadtfeld, much of it gathered through Jeremiah’s informants.
• Ask learned that Kallen’s biological mother had repeatedly bought Refrain and ordered that she be used to plant a land mine before the Black Knights built a system of trust.
• Lelouch secretly directed squads P1 through P6 to approach point D1 and prepare to regroup at D2 if anything went wrong.
• Lelouch planned to defeat or capture Cornelia during her campaign against the Island Nation Resistance Front in the Narita Mountains, making Zero indispensable to the Black Knights.
• Lelouch resolved not to kill Cornelia or hold her for long, lest his older brother intervene.

Kallen found a note linking her birth mother to a shop in the Tokyo Settlement and went there to bring her home. The shop owner led her into an office, where Kallen recognized a Knight of the Round and realized she had walked into a trap.

• Kallen returned to the Stadtfeld mansion and found her birth mother missing, while her stepmother claimed she had gone to slack off.
• Kallen found a shop address in the Tokyo Settlement and a syringe of Refrain in her birth mother's room.
• Kallen changed into black clothes and traveled to the Tokyo Settlement to retrieve her mother.
• The shop owner recognized Kallen, gave her a box containing a syringe, and led her into an office.
• Kallen saw a man sitting with a woman in a Knight of the Round's uniform and realized the meeting was a trap.

Ask Vi Britannia revealed why Kallen’s mother relied on Refrain and offered Kallen a chance to protect her family and restore autonomy and the Island Nation’s name. The chapter ended with Ask demanding that Kallen become his dog in exchange.

• Ask introduced himself to Kallen as Ask Vi Britannia and showed her mother under the influence of Refrain.
• Ask explained that Kallen’s mother had stayed with House Stadtfeld for Kallen and used Refrain to relive their past together.
• Ask threatened to expose Kallen’s resistance activities and offered to protect her identities, her family, and her friends.
• Ask promised to negotiate an end to the war and restore autonomy and the Island Nation’s name by making it a special administrative zone.
• Kallen asked what Ask wanted in return, and he demanded that she become his dog.

Kallen returned to Stadtfeld Manor after agreeing to become Ask’s informant within the Black Knights in exchange for his promises, including a special administrative zone and help for her mother. As Kallen lay awake suspecting that Zero served an imperial faction opposed to Ask, Ask relaxed at home and teased Milly about a student who liked her.

• Kallen agreed to become Ask’s dog after he patiently answered her questions and convinced her that his promises were achievable, though she resolved to tell Zero if Ask betrayed her.
• On the way home and later in bed, Kallen worried about hiding her new role from the Black Knights and planned to use Ask’s anti-surveillance phone only in private.
• Kallen connected Ask’s knowledge of Zero with Jeremiah’s release of the group during Suzaku Kururugi’s rescue and Prince Clovis’s assassination, and suspected Zero was a pawn in imperial factional struggles.
• Ask asked Milly about a student who had feelings for her, and she admitted it while fearing Ask might use the student for his amusement.
• Ask mocked Milly’s obedient behavior, then sent her to her room after she scorched the sausage she was cooking.

Ask urged Cornelia to reinstate Jeremiah as a commander for the Narita Mountains operation, arguing that Zero posed a serious threat and that Cornelia needed a backup commander. Cornelia agreed to consider Jeremiah and asked Ask to persuade Euphemia to choose a knight.

• Ask approached Cornelia in the council hall and asked whether she planned to lead the attack on the Narita Mountains resistance herself.
• Ask argued that Zero could have been behind Jeremiah’s inexplicable failure and might be preparing a trap for Cornelia.
• Cornelia accepted Ask’s case that Jeremiah was the best choice to serve as an additional commander during the operation.
• Cornelia asked Ask to persuade Euphemia to choose one of the knights she had selected to protect her in Area 11.
• Ask agreed to speak with Euphemia but doubted she would listen to him.

Ask instructed Kallen to follow Zero’s orders at the Narita Mountains but stall Cornelia and let her escape if they met. After learning Lelouch planned to use the operation to gain the Kyoto Six Houses’ support, Ask concluded Cornelia’s defeat was essential and prepared to intervene.

• Kallen told Ask that Zero had set out for the Narita Mountains to meet with the Island Nation Resistance Front, and Ask suspected he planned to attack Britannia.
• Ask told Kallen to follow Zero’s orders, stall Cornelia if they met, and help her escape rather than let her die or be captured.
• C.C. informed Ask that Lelouch planned to contact the Kyoto Six Houses after the operation to seek their financial and technical support for the Black Knights.
• Ask warned C.C. not to discuss the Kyoto Six Houses again and told her to wait for him at Lelouch’s house.
• Ask decided Cornelia needed to be defeated so Lelouch could strengthen his position in negotiations with the Kyoto Six Houses.

Lelouch prepared the Black Knights’ traps in the Narita Mountains as Cornelia’s army closed in and Katase planned his escape. When the Black Knights panicked at being surrounded, Zero risked his life to demand their trust and promised to defeat Britannia.

• Lelouch used his Geass to seize a mountain lookout post, then led the Black Knights in laying traps while keeping C.C. away to avoid Ask discovering her.
• Cornelia’s forces cut off communications and surrounded the Island Nation Liberation Front, leaving Major General Katase waiting anxiously for Tohdoh and the Four Holy Swords.
• After learning that Zero had arrived, Katase decided to use him as bait and fled toward a freighter carrying sakuradite.
• Gilford warned Cornelia that Zero might have laid traps for her, but she advanced and entrusted command to him if trouble arose.
• The Black Knights learned they were surrounded by Cornelia’s army, and Shinichiro Tamaki accused Zero of leading them to their deaths before Kallen intervened.
• Zero pointed his pistol at his own head and challenged the Black Knights to kill him if they did not trust him, then promised to crush Britannia if they did.

Zero used Kallen and the Guren’s radiant wave to trigger a landslide that broke Britannia’s encirclement, then led the Black Knights toward Cornelia. Ask rejected Lloyd’s offer to deploy the Lancelot as Monica pursued in her upgraded machine.

• Ohgi reassured the resistance fighters that he trusted Zero, and Zero ordered them to follow their original plan.
• Kallen used the Guren’s radiant wave to trigger a landslide that crushed Britannian Knightmares and opened a gap in the encirclement.
• Zero ordered the Black Knights to advance toward the third rally point and capture Cornelia, while Kallen led the way.
• Ask assessed the tactical situation as Cornelia moved toward the summit with a small guard, despite staff officers advising her to withdraw.
• Lloyd offered Euphemia’s command the Lancelot’s help, but Ask refused and said Monica had already deployed in her upgraded machine.

Cornelia pursued Zero into a Black Knights ambush and was captured, but Monica arrived in a powerful Knightmare and disabled Kallen’s Guren Type-2. Lelouch ordered the Black Knights to retreat as their plan to capture Cornelia collapsed.

• Cornelia continued pursuing Zero without orders and entered a trap that cut off her communications and separated her from her guards.
• Kallen and another Black Knights pilot immobilized Cornelia’s Knightmare, and Zero confronted her and declared her captured.
• A yellow-and-white Knightmare piloted by Monica burst through the mountainside and damaged Kallen’s Guren Type-2.
• Lelouch recognized Monica’s intervention and ordered Kallen to retreat.

Monica reported the Narita Mountains battle to Ask, who learned that Britannia was blaming Zero for civilian deaths while concealing its own defeat. Ask arranged compensation for the victims and secretly planned a meeting with Empress Kaguya, leaving Sphynx to prepare the girl for negotiations.

• Monica protected Cornelia as Zero and Kallen escaped, then destroyed the communications-jamming device and restored contact.
• Ask heard Monica's report that Britannia blamed Zero for civilian deaths caused by the landslide and announced plans to compensate the victims.
• Ask told Leila to arrange his personal donation to the victims' families and secretly set up a meeting with Empress Kaguya.
• Ask ordered Sphynx to give Kaguya gentle training before the meeting.
• Ask watched Staff Officer Jaqorim announce Cornelia's upcoming press conference and remarked on how busy his sister was.

After the Black Knights’ victory at Narita, Lelouch planned to use the Kyoto Six Houses’ resources to strengthen his organization while preparing for Ask’s possible intervention. C.C. refused to impersonate him, so Lelouch decided to seek Kallen’s help before returning to Ashford Academy.

• The Black Knights gained recruits and a chance to negotiate with the Kyoto Six Houses after their victory at Narita.
• Lelouch watched Cornelia’s press conference and concluded that Ask was unlikely to intervene while the Sakuradite mines remained undisturbed.
• Lelouch planned to use the Kyoto Six Houses both to develop the Black Knights and as a potential sacrifice to counter Ask.
• Lelouch asked C.C. to impersonate him during the negotiations, but she refused and advised him to rely more on people he trusted.
• Lelouch considered the Black Knights’ members and decided Kallen was the only one besides C.C. who could help with his plan.