Chapter Summaries

Tarnished held a simple engagement ceremony with Irina and Nepheli, then returned to Stormveil’s work of recruiting laborers, managing production, and building diplomatic ties. Bernahl left despite the people’s affection, and Tarnished ended the chapter astonished by Volcano Manor’s enormous advance payment.

• Tarnished exchanged rings with Irina and Nepheli at the Third Church of Marika and agreed to postpone the wedding and children while they focused on work.
• Kenneth Haight began a publicity campaign, Edgar recruited Second-Generation Albinaurics, and messengers Laurendi and Rodini carried Stormveil’s diplomatic requests to Liurnia and Caelid.
• Tarnished found D improving conditions for Those Who Live in Death at Summonwater Village, and D explained his plan to lure them in before killing any who broke the rules.
• Bernahl departed after the people of Stormveil thanked him, and he refused Istvan’s suggestion that he return to the castle.
• Rogier revealed that Volcano Manor had sent Henricus with an advance payment of 233,104 runes, and Tarnished fell from his chair in shock.

Tarnished and Kenneth Haight turned Tanith’s love of art into a million-rune purchase from Volcano Manor, then decided to spend most of the windfall strengthening Tarnished. The chapter ended as Melina absorbed the Hero’s Runes and prepared to raise him to level eighty.

• Tarnished sent Tanith Godfrey’s portrait as a gift, and Henricus returned to Stormveil to buy more art on her behalf.
• Tarnished and Kenneth Haight offered a free artwork for orders over 300,000 runes and a secret bonus for orders reaching one million; Tanith placed the million-rune order.
• Henricus left with three paintings and a bowl, while Tarnished secretly gave him Golden Sunflower tea to encourage him to praise Stormveil to Tanith.
• Stormveil’s leaders rejected Tarnished’s plan to expand production because the realm lacked workers and agreed to spend one million runes strengthening him and 230,000 on public welfare.
• Melina absorbed the Hero’s Runes and told Tarnished that one million runes would raise him forty-nine levels to level eighty; Tarnished accepted.

Tarnished used the million runes earned through the people's labor to gain forty-nine levels, then celebrated with Limgrave's people at a banquet in Gatefront. As the gathering showed former enemies sharing food and rebuilding trust, Tarnished invited Melina to experience it with him, then left to enlist Nepheli and Irina in a scheme.

• Tarnished distributed forty-nine attribute points among vigor, endurance, mind, strength, dexterity, and arcane, strengthening himself for future shields and weapons.
• Tarnished announced that the people's million runes had given him more power than Godrick's Center of the Elden Ring and called for a celebration.
• At Gatefront's banquet, humans, Demi-Humans, Albinaurics, and former outcasts shared food and stories, while Tarnished toasted a better tomorrow with Hans.
• Roderika and Fia teased each other about Roderika becoming Tarnished's third wife, while Fia left for the ghostly celebration in Summonwater Village with D.
• Kenneth Haight delivered a drunken speech about peace before Edgar caught him as he fell from the wall.
• Tarnished learned Melina could not see beyond his body, invited her to the banquet, and she thanked him before returning to him; he then pulled Nepheli and Irina aside to ask for their help.

Tarnished fled to Roundtable Hold after a night with Nepheli and Irina left him exhausted, where he recruited Corhyn for Stormveil and reclaimed Godrick’s Great Rune from Gideon Ofnir. Gideon offered his intelligence network to secure Tarnished’s cooperation, leaving their negotiations unresolved.

• Tarnished drank with his companions, then Nepheli and Irina visited him separately during the night, leaving him exhausted by morning.
• Tarnished escaped to Roundtable Hold and witnessed Lennia quit as Diallos’s attendant after arguing with him.
• Tarnished introduced himself to Corhyn and invited the cleric to teach incantations at Stormveil, promising religious freedom.
• Tarnished confronted Gideon Ofnir, demanded that he withdraw his spy from Stormveil, and refused to cooperate with him.
• Gideon returned Godrick’s Great Rune to Tarnished, but Tarnished rejected the idea that its return obligated him to cooperate.
• Gideon offered his intelligence network in exchange for Tarnished’s cooperation.

The Tarnished rejected Gideon Ofnir’s offer, gathered supplies and tried to recruit Hewg before returning to Stormveil. There, Rogier revealed that Fia had been attacked, and her account identified the assailant as a Black Knife Assassin.

• Gideon Ofnir warned the Tarnished that the Academy planned to retaliate over Stormveil’s recruitment of Albinaurics, but the Tarnished refused to trust or work with him.
• The Tarnished retrieved the Great Epee, spent 20,000 runes on twenty-five Finger Sacred Seals, and named the conjoined merchant sisters Maple and Bell.
• The Tarnished asked Hewg to work in Stormveil, but Hewg refused because he had vowed to forge a weapon capable of slaying a god.
• Back in Stormveil, the Tarnished learned that Fia had been injured by an attacker in the catacombs and went with Rogier to see her.
• Fia explained that D had pushed her out of the way of a sudden attack, and the Tarnished recognized the invisible assailant as a Black Knife Assassin.

Tarnished and his companions went to the catacombs to capture a Black Knife Assassin, whom Rogier wanted to question and Fia and Tarnished hoped to recruit. After Tarnished defeated her in heavy armor, he dragged her away and declared the direct recruitment successful.

• Rogier explained the Black Knife Assassins’ connection to Godwyn’s death, and Fia suggested recruiting the assassin while D objected before conceding the possibility.
• Tarnished decided to arrest the assassin first and recruit her afterward, then led D, Fia, and Rogier into the catacombs.
• The Black Knife Assassin attacked Fia from concealment, but Tarnished blocked the strike with the Manor Towershield.
• The assassin’s rapid attacks failed to penetrate Tarnished’s Godrick Knight armor, and he knocked her unconscious with a steel-gauntleted punch.
• Tarnished dragged the unconscious assassin from the rubble and announced that boss direct recruitment had concluded successfully.

Tarnished and Melina encountered the injured Black Knife Assassin Vila, who agreed to cooperate temporarily after Tarnished offered to help her find other Black Knife Assassins. Vila remained determined to verify Alecto’s location, while Tarnished prepared to show her a map to another assassin’s hiding place.

• Vila awoke in Stormveil and attacked Tarnished, but Melina blocked her blade and recognized her.
• Tarnished offered Vila food as an apology, and Vila ate an enormous meal before refusing to join Stormveil outright.
• Vila agreed to live in Stormveil after Tarnished promised her daily meat, then introduced herself as NO.6 of the Black Knife Assassins.
• Vila offered to serve Tarnished if he revealed Alecto’s location, and Tarnished told her Alecto was imprisoned in the Forlorn Hound Evergaol on the Moonlight Altar.
• Tarnished proposed helping Vila find another Black Knife Assassin in the Death-Touched Catacombs while they postponed the journey to Alecto.
• Tarnished called for Irina and Fia, explaining that Fia had the map and Irina could treat Vila’s injuries.

Vila joined Stormveil while waiting for help reaching another Black Knife Assassin, and the Academy’s demands pushed Tarnished to consider the threat it posed. Sellen explained that the Academy was protected by a powerful barrier and recounted how even Ranni had attacked it, leaving the history of Rennala and Radagon unfinished.

• Vila gave Tarnished a map to her surviving sister’s hiding place, and Rogier located it in an abandoned catacomb on Liurnia’s eastern shore.
• Vila admitted that she and the other assassins had killed Godwyn under orders, but a prohibition had erased her memories of who gave them.
• Vila settled in Stormveil as a maid, where Tarnished and the others discovered her exceptional cooking skills.
• Rodini reported that the Academy demanded supplies to compensate for the Albinaurics Stormveil had recruited, while Sellen described the sorcerers as hostile and overbearing.
• Edgar, Nepheli, and Sellen warned that Stormveil could not defeat the Academy’s defenses, and Sellen revealed that Ranni had once attacked it before beginning the story of Rennala and Radagon.

Tarnished learned how Rennala had been imprisoned and how the Carian family’s conflict with the Academy had reached a stalemate, then established diplomatic relations with the Academy through a deeply discounted trade deal. In a Liurnian catacomb, he and Vila found the Black Knife Assassin Maren, whose confrontation with Vila and Melina ended with her unconscious and destined to become Stormveil’s newest maid.

• Sellen explained that the Academy’s Sorcerer’s Tower made it difficult to attack, while Kenneth and Tarnished discussed using trade to build relations with it.
• Rodini revealed that the Academy offered to buy Stormveil’s goods for one-tenth of market price, and Tarnished accepted the deal despite D’s protests.
• Tarnished’s team searched a Liurnian catacomb and found Maren in a hidden chamber, where she attacked him with a blade wave bearing Destined Death.
• Vila blocked Maren’s first attack, and Melina joined the fight after Maren’s second blade wave struck Tarnished’s shield and wounded him.
• Melina and Vila defeated Maren, and Vila knocked her unconscious with a bench after Maren refused to leave the catacomb.
• Tarnished agreed to let Maren become another maid at Stormveil.

Maren recounted how Rogesi saved her, taught her about death, and sacrificed himself to let her escape, while small acts of kindness from Stormveil’s children began to soften her isolation. Meanwhile, Tarnished used trade and bridge repairs to prepare a route toward Raya Lucaria, and Tanith sent Patches to test him by exploiting the Academy’s arrogance.

• Maren remembered fleeing to Liurnia, where Rogesi protected her from Raya Lucaria sorcerers and sheltered her in his cottage.
• Rogesi explained his study of death and lost souls, and Maren gradually grew close to him as the Academy’s pursuit threatened their peace.
• When sorcerers raided the cottage, Rogesi sent Maren to the catacombs and sacrificed himself to help her escape.
• Back at Stormveil, Maren told Vila her story, and the children’s kindness left a small opening in her guarded heart.
• Tarnished arranged cheap trade with Raya Lucaria while clearing bandits and repairing a bridge to create a strategic route toward the Academy.
• Tanith dismissed warnings about Tarnished’s growing influence and ordered Patches to exploit the Academy’s arrogance and test Tarnished’s resolve.

The Raya Lucaria Academy conspectuses agreed to send enchanted iron balls into Stormveil’s Albinauric settlement as a limited warning, despite their arguments over how to respond to Sellen’s power. In Limgrave, Maren spotted the Academy’s attack as an iron ball appeared in the sky and began rolling toward a distant slope.

• The Caria chief told the Academy’s conspectus leaders that Sellen had used Founding Rain of Stars to destroy Stormveil’s defenses, prompting them to fear her power.
• After arguing over how to respond, the conspectuses agreed to stage a limited attack on Stormveil’s Albinauric settlement with enchanted iron balls.
• The Twinsage chief accepted responsibility for deploying the iron balls and learned that Gideon Ofnir had provided the report about Sellen.
• The Academy’s chiefs debated names for the iron ball, including “Judgment’s Fall” and “Law of the End.”
• In Limgrave, Maren played with children before sensing a powerful sorcerer’s presence and spotting an iron ball fall from a magic circle and roll across a distant slope.

Twinsage sorcerers sent a massive magical iron ball rolling toward Stormveil, threatening the commoners' district. Tarnished stopped it at the cost of catastrophic injuries, and Melina confirmed that everyone was safe before he fell silent.

• The iron ball rolled toward Stormveil, and Thops recognized the weapon and tried to evacuate the district's residents.
• Thops and Maren helped children escape, but carriages were scarce and Albinaurics were forced off them; Tarnished ordered their evacuation and called for more carriages.
• Sellen and Thops calculated that the iron ball would strike in thirty-one seconds, so Tarnished took a series of magical enhancements and charged toward it with Melina.
• Tarnished braced himself against the iron ball and slowed it from 212 meters per second to a complete stop, suffering devastating injuries as he pushed.
• Melina told Tarnished that everyone was safe, and he fell silent.

The Tarnished organized Stormveil’s recovery after stopping the iron ball and explained why official citizens received priority over Albinaurics. Vila and Rodini captured the Primeval Sorcerer, and the Tarnished ordered his glintstone mask removed.

• The Tarnished reviewed the damage and injuries, assigned Rogier to prepare evacuation plans, and arranged relief gifts for those affected.
• Maren challenged the Tarnished over Stormveil’s unequal treatment of Albinaurics, but Vila reminded her that the officials had stood with them against the iron ball.
• Irina healed Maren’s injuries, and Maren began to understand why Stormveil’s people followed the Tarnished.
• Vila pursued the Primeval Sorcerer while Rodini blocked his escape and knocked him unconscious with the Tail of the Aspects of the Crucible.
• The Tarnished ordered the guards to rip off the captured Primeval Sorcerer’s glintstone mask.

After the Academy seized 128 Stormveil workers and forced the Tarnished to release the Primeval Sorcerer, Stormveil planned a counterattack and a covert rescue. The Tarnished arranged an infiltration through a secret passage and sought Gideon Ofnir’s help locating the hostages, then proposed slaying a dragon to draw the Academy’s attention.

• Sellen condemned the Academy’s factions for using knowledge to preserve their power, and the Tarnished declared that Stormveil would strike back and rescue its captured workers.
• The Tarnished explained how the Primeval Sorcerer’s disgrace could intensify the Academy’s factional conflicts, creating an opening for Vila and Maren to infiltrate and free the hostages.
• Thops revealed a rumored secret passage beneath the Academy, and the Tarnished identified its entrance near a cliff west of the Academy.
• The Tarnished assigned Vila and Maren to infiltrate the passage, with D and Those Who Live in Death securing their retreat route.
• The Tarnished sent Rogier to ask Gideon Ofnir for the hostages’ location in exchange for cooperation, despite Nepheli’s warning that Gideon would exploit them.
• The Tarnished proposed slaying a dragon to draw the Academy’s attention while the rescue team prepared to enter.

Tarnished accepted Alpas's Haligtree Secret Medallion and promised citizenship to the Albinaurics, declaring he would confront Miquella and kill him if necessary. As Stormveil's army marched toward the Academy, Tarnished went to the Lakeside Crystal Cave to recruit Latenna.

• Rodini rode to Redmane Castle to recall Laurendi, while Alpas offered Tarnished one half of the Haligtree Secret Medallion and explained the Albinaurics' enchantment by Miquella.
• Residents who had endangered Albinaurics apologized, and Tarnished comforted them by saying they were not to blame for failing to meet his standards.
• Tarnished accepted Alpas's medallion and promised that Latenna and all the Albinaurics could become Stormveil citizens, vowing to kill Miquella if he refused to lift the enchantment.
• Edgar led Stormveil's assembled army north into Liurnia, with Nepheli commanding the vanguard and the other forces assigned to support and protect the march.
• Tarnished traveled to the Lakeside Crystal Cave to recruit Latenna, an Albinauric marksman hiding inside.

Tarnished recruited Latenna from the Lakeside Crystal Cave and learned that Raya Lucaria had betrayed and abused the Albinaurics. At Gate Town Bridge, Latenna joined Stormveil’s army as a commander of its ranged troops, and Tarnished began the operation to liberate Liurnia.

• A nomadic merchant guided Tarnished to the Lakeside Crystal Cave, where Demi-Humans helped him find a passage and gave him a Spear Talisman.
• Tarnished killed a Bloodhound Knight that had attacked the Demi-Humans and took its Blue Amber Medallion.
• Tarnished found Latenna beside her dead wolf Lobo, recruited her to fight Raya Lucaria, and promised to take her to the Haligtree Roots.
• Latenna explained that the Academy had used Albinaurics as test subjects and betrayed them, giving Tarnished another reason to destroy it.
• Tarnished brought Latenna to Gate Town Bridge, where Edgar offered her command of Stormveil’s ranged troops; she accepted and prepared to prove her skill.
• Tarnished ordered the operation to begin and called for Liurnia’s liberation.

Tarnished led an elite force toward the Academy and rescued Lennia from Volcano Manor Recusants in Main Gate Town. Patches arrived with 213 fighters, and Tarnished accepted Volcano Manor’s offer to attack the Academy’s northern gate while remaining wary of its motives.

• Edgar briefed Tarnished on the rescue plan, and Tarnished split Stormveil’s forces to pursue the Academy Glintstone Key and protect Vila’s operation.
• Tarnished and Edgar reached Main Gate Town, where Tarnished killed one Recusant and defeated another after finding Lennia defending Albinaurics.
• Patches arrived with 213 Recusants and claimed Lady Tanith had sent them to support Stormveil, so Tarnished assigned them the Academy’s northern gate.
• Lennia offered to warn Gideon Ofnir about Patches, but Tarnished trusted Gideon to handle him and welcomed Lennia into the attack.
• Tarnished told Lennia that the Academy Glintstone Key was guarded by a dragon.

Tarnished defeated Glintstone Dragon Smarag, captured him, and began Stormveil’s war against the Academy while Sellen set out to seek Caria’s support. At the Academy, a power struggle over its leadership erupted, and the Caria Prime used an Erdtree Emblem to thwart the Olivinus Prime’s coup.

• Tarnished wounded Smarag, then used Hookshots to try to capture him; after Smarag escaped, Agheel intercepted and defeated him, and Tarnished ordered Smarag taken to Stormveil under Sellen’s seal.
• Sellen flew toward Caria Manor to persuade Moon Princess Ranni to join the war, while Tarnished returned to Gate Town Bridge and ordered the attack to begin.
• Stormveil’s soldiers and civilians mobilized for war as Patches and the Recusants waited at the Academy’s North Gate for the Black Knife Assassins and their chance to act.
• The Olivinus Prime accused Caria of causing the crisis and tried to seize control of the Academy, gaining the Primeval Sorcerer’s support and pressuring the Raya Lucaria Prime to cast the deciding vote.
• The Caria Prime revealed an Erdtree Emblem and said he had contacted Leyndell, stopping the leadership vote and declaring Caria would retain authority over the Academy.

The Caria Conspectus seized control of the Academy as its allies betrayed and killed the head of the Olivinus Conspectus, but Stormveil’s forces pressed their assault despite the magical defenses. With Latenna suppressing the sorcerers and Nepheli leading a cavalry charge through the marionette soldiers, Tarnished’s army advanced toward the Academy’s gate, determined to make the Academy fall.

• The head of the Twinsage Conspectus killed the head of the Olivinus Conspectus and pledged loyalty to the Caria Conspectus, which planned to use imprisoned workers to delay Stormveil.
• The heads of the Lazuli and Caria Conspectuses learned that the workers had been rescued, then discovered Stormveil had opened the Academy’s barrier with a Glintstone Key.
• The head of the Caria Conspectus ordered the Academy’s defenses mobilized and arranged to blame the Olivinus Conspectus leader’s murder on Stormveil, while the head of the Lazuli Conspectus hid her body.
• Edgar directed Stormveil’s columns through the Academy’s magical bombardment as soldiers, Trolls, medics, and artillery crews supported their advance.
• Latenna shot sorcerers from the magical towers, preventing them from attacking Stormveil’s troops.
• Nepheli led the cavalry through the marionette soldiers as Tarnished ordered the army forward and declared that Stormveil would shatter the myth that the Academy could never fall.

Tarnished led Stormveil’s army through the Academy’s defenses and advanced toward the Grand Library while the Caria Prime tried to flee. The Caria Prime was killed by a commoner sorcerer, and Tarnished was confronted by Moongrum at the library entrance.

• Nipendeth brought two Redmane catapults, which shattered the Academy’s gate and let Stormveil’s forces press into the grounds.
• Tarnished, Nepheli, Edgar, Rodini, and Laurendi advanced through the Academy, while the Trolls formed a bridge after the sorcerers destroyed the lift.
• Tarnished left Rodini and Laurendi to fight the Red Wolf of Radagon and continued toward the Grand Library.
• A commoner sorcerer stabbed the fleeing Caria Prime after the prime refused to take him along, and the Caria Prime died alone.
• Tarnished reached the Grand Library, where Moongrum, the Caria Knight, blocked his way.