Chapter Summaries

Zhao Si and Leyndell’s defenders let the Black Knife Assassins believe they had killed Godwyn while Miquella’s forces withdrew according to plan. Radagon emerged and ordered Leyndell sealed against every Demigod, as Malenia helped the others escape and Zhao Si rode back to recover destined death.

• Zhao Si used Alecto as a shield against her destined death, killing her daughter before retreating with the knights.
• Morgott kept the defenders following Miquella’s plan, and Alecto’s Black Knife Assassins entered Godwyn’s room and stabbed a motionless figure they believed was him.
• Marika reclaimed grace, and Radagon emerged in armor and ordered his army to seal Leyndell and fight every Demigod.
• Malenia secured the escape route and joined the departing group, where she found Zhao Si, Helena, and the unharmed Godwyn.
• Malenia ordered that Godwyn’s death be announced, while Zhao Si rode Flying Rabbit back into Leyndell to recover destined death.

Zhao Si tested Hewg’s heavy Eight-and-a-Half-Foot Serpent Spear, then used it to kill Alecto and claim her Black Knife. He returned to Roundtable Hold, found it devastated and Alberich dead, and left the Cipher Pata behind as he ended his connection with the Two Fingers.

• Hewg completed Zhao Si’s Serpent Spear, and Zhao Si pierced eight of ten reinforced breastplates with it.
• Zhao Si encountered Alecto in Leyndell, deflected her Destined Death attacks with [Thops's Force Field], and killed her with the spear.
• Zhao Si took Alecto’s Black Knife and rode to Roundtable Hold, where he burned through Alberich’s blood-red thorns to enter.
• Zhao Si found the Roundtable Hold deserted and discovered that the wounded Alberich had died after losing her tongue and eyes.
• Zhao Si found the Two Fingers’ room empty, returned the Cipher Pata, and declared that his connection with the Two Fingers had ended.

Godrick, Miquella, Malenia, and Zhao Si escaped Leyndell’s pursuers and began a strategic retreat toward the Mountaintops of the Giants. Mohg sensed Miquella’s blood and planned to escape the sewers, while Godrick was ordered to return to Stormveil Castle and delay Radahn’s army.

• Godrick met the troops at the retreat point, took the Bolt of Gransax and Golden Knife, and helped kill the Redmane soldiers pursuing him.
• Miquella joined Godrick, and they watched Marika reclaim Grace as the Demigods’ pupils revealed the nature of their powers.
• Mohg remembered how the Formless Mother had recruited him and become fixated on Miquella’s blood, then decided to leave a duplicate guarding the Three Fingers and escape the sewers.
• Godrick and Miquella repelled two more waves of pursuers before Malenia’s party and Zhao Si caught up with them, and the group headed for the Mountaintops of the Giants.
• Miquella ordered Godrick to return to Stormveil Castle and hold off the Redmane Army; reassured by the Banished Knight’s confidence in their defenses, Godrick headed south.

Godrick returned to Stormveil Castle and rallied Limgrave against Radahn, Rykard, and Ranni by invoking Godwyn’s death and claiming a righteous cause. As the Banished Knights planned to draw the Redmane Army deep into Limgrave while denying it supplies, Godrick left military decisions to the professionals.

• Miquella’s plan to replace the Fire Monks continued as Volcano Manor, Caria, the Redmanes, Stormveil, and the Haligtree sent people to their fortress.
• Godrick returned to Stormveil Castle, took up the command banner, and called for vengeance against the siblings accused of killing Godwyn.
• The Banished Knight told Godrick that Stormveil could hold off the Redmane Army unless Radahn personally led the assault.
• The Banished Knights planned to evacuate nearby settlements, gather supplies and fighters at Stormveil, and let the Redmane Army advance into Limgrave.
• The Banished Knights prepared to defend Stormgate and reinforce Stormveil’s rear while Godrick watched their military council and left them to plan.

Fia began a deathbed ritual beside Godwyn, but his unusual condition prevented her from completing the work alone. With Trina’s help, Zhao Si entered Fia’s dream to find Godwyn’s true self and carry out the plan to break through the Spirit World.

• Miquella summoned Fia to lie beside Godwyn and grasp his thread of death, while Haligtree knights lent her strength.
• Miquella placed Malenia in command of the Haligtree forces and allowed her to deploy the Cleanrot Knights if needed.
• Fia fell into a deep dream beside Godwyn, but his abnormal state kept her from completing the ordinary process of rebirth.
• Zhao Si and Miquella set up Helphen’s Steeple as a beacon, and Trina used her power to send Zhao Si into Fia’s dream.
• Guided by Fia, Zhao Si passed through Dreams' Edge to meet Godwyn and pursue the plan to punch through the Spirit World.

Fia followed Godwyn’s Death Thread and helped Zhao Si find Godwyn’s real body in the World of the Dead. Godwyn joined Zhao Si and Fia to attack Helphen’s Black Steeple, but an undead army ambushed them as they drove toward it.

• Fia followed Godwyn’s Death Thread to a beach, where she and Zhao Si found Godwyn enjoying himself in a dreamlike place.
• Fia tried to take Godwyn out by pulling his golden thread, but he explained that a force tied to the red sky was keeping him there.
• Godwyn armed himself with Golden Lightning and Zhao Si’s Black Knife, then proposed fighting their way to Helphen’s Black Steeple.
• Zhao Si drove a jeep toward the Black Steeple with Fia in the passenger seat and Godwyn in the back.
• An enemy force rained arrows on the jeep, and Godwyn spotted a sizable army of undead ahead.

Zhao Si drove through a storm of arrows while Godwyn leapt into the undead army and devastated it with lightning. Godwyn stood ready to face more undead as Zhao Si and Fia watched in awe.

• Zhao Si drove the Jeep uphill under volleys of arrows, shielding himself and Fia with Iron Greatshields while Godwyn urged him closer to the enemy.
• Godwyn jumped from the Jeep and unleashed [Lightning Spears] and [Lansseax's Glaive], tearing through the undead ranks and archers with golden lightning.
• The undead sent cavalry and infantry to surround Godwyn, but he scattered them with pillars of lightning and threw a charging cavalryman into a bolt that blasted him to ash.
• Godwyn challenged the remaining undead to attack him again as Zhao Si and Fia arrived and watched his display.

Zhao Si and Godwyn battled an endless undead army and followed the ringing of a bell to find its source. After Godwyn destroyed a giant formed from the undead, a mocking voice addressed him, and Godwyn recognized the speaker.

• Godwyn suspected the undead were old enemies he had killed, then charged into their ranks while Zhao Si guarded Fia and the vehicle.
• Zhao Si held off the undead with his spear, blade, and Giant's Flame, while Godwyn noticed their numbers were not decreasing.
• Zhao Si heard a bell, drove toward it in the jeep, and Godwyn cleared the way with lightning.
• They found four Tibia Mariners, and Godwyn struck them down with Lightning Strike.
• The remaining undead merged into a giant, which Godwyn shattered with a lightning-charged attack.
• A mocking voice called Godwyn the son of Godfrey, and Godwyn's pupils contracted as he looked toward it.

Godwyn and Zhao Si fought the undead Crucible King, a former rival of Godfrey who had once ruled beneath the Dragonlord. After the Crucible King revealed that a new king wanted Godwyn, the two worked together to defeat him, leaving that threat unresolved.

• Godwyn recognized the Crucible King and recalled how he had fought Godfrey over control of the Crucible of Life.
• The Crucible King formed an undead horse and charged Godwyn, saying their new king wanted him.
• Godwyn met the Crucible King's attack while Zhao Si struck at his waist with the Serpent Spear, but Ancient Dragon Dragonbolt blocked the blow.
• Godwyn blasted the undead horse with Dragonbolt and used Godfrey's King's Axe to knock the Crucible King from its back.
• Zhao Si redirected the Crucible King's blades into each other and struck his shoulder, letting Godwyn bury his axe in the Crucible King's body.

The Crucible King revealed that a ruler in Helphen's Black Steeple wanted Godwyn, so Zhao Si and Godwyn set out for the tower. Back in the Lands Between, Helena sought help for Maliketh, while Godrick prepared Stormveil's defenses against Radahn's advancing army and feared the confrontation to come.

• Godwyn defeated the Crucible King, who revealed that the ruler in the tower had awakened them to keep Godfrey's son there before crumbling away.
• Zhao Si decided they needed to reach Helphen's Black Steeple quickly, and Fia tried to sense the fastest route as they drove off in the Jeep.
• Helena remembered that Sellen and Thops might identify the poison afflicting Maliketh, and Malenia prepared to bring Sellen to the Haligtree.
• Malenia deployed Haligtree forces to defend towns and establish supply lines in Zamor territory ahead of the coming conflict.
• Godrick learned that the Redmane Army was advancing in separate groups and that his forces planned to defend Stormgate while Ogre ambushed enemies at Summonwater Village.
• Godrick said he would stop Radahn if he appeared, despite the Banished Knights urging him to stay safe.

As the Redmane Army advanced on Stormveil Castle, Godrick learned that it outnumbered his forces two to one. Ingweir prepared the defenses and ordered scouts to identify the enemy commanders and contact Aureg.

• Helena rode toward the Astrologer's Ruins to ask Sellen about Maliketh's poisoning while Godrick's Banished Knights organized Limgrave's defenses.
• Kenneth Haight sent disguised soldiers to watch the border and used Storm Eagles to relay reports on the Redmane Army.
• Godrick learned that approximately four hundred thousand Redmane soldiers were approaching Stormveil Castle, while his own force numbered two hundred thousand.
• A Banished Knight reassured Godrick that defenders had advantages in a siege, though their plans depended on Radahn staying out of the battle.
• Ingweir saw the Redmane Army near Stormveil Castle and ordered scouts to identify its commanders and messengers to contact Aureg.

Ingweir and Aureg led Godrick's forces as the Redmane Army approached Stormgate and prepared to attack. Aureg brought down Barrett's battle standard to break enemy morale, while Ingweir encouraged his own troops and watched the Redmanes for their next move.

• A Redmane Knight demanded that the defenders surrender, but a Godrick Knight refused and shot an arrow at him.
• The Redmane Army sounded its horns and raised Owen's banner at Stormgate, while Barrett's soldiers rallied around his standard against Aureg's forces.
• Aureg used a Storm Arrow to topple Barrett's battle standard, causing the Redmane soldiers' morale to falter and Godrick's forces to cheer.
• Aureg ordered his troops to kill the attackers as Redmane infantry advanced through the narrow passage and came under a barrage of arrows.
• Ingweir reassured his troops that they had fought the first lord and urged them not to fear the Redmanes, then wondered what their motionless army was planning.

Ingweir and Aureg defended Stormgate and the mountain road against Radahn’s Redmane Army, exploiting its lack of supplies and the difficult terrain. Aureg’s forces repelled an attack with shielded knights and water-soaked walls, but he knew the trick would not work indefinitely.

• Ingweir learned that the Redmane Army’s supplies were still far behind in Caelid and realized Radahn had expected to capture Stormveil Castle quickly.
• The Redmane Army reached the mountain road after finding Limgrave’s villages emptied and wells filled with earth, then suffered losses against Aureg’s defenses.
• Aureg’s Banished Knights used halberds and Storm Wall to strike the Redmane infantry and turn their Redmane Fire back against them.
• Hobbs ordered a second infantry formation to throw Redmane Fire Pots at the wooden fortifications, but the soaked walls resisted the flames.
• Aureg celebrated the successful defense but recognized that fetching enough water to repeat the tactic would take time and effort.

After the first day of fighting, Aureg recognized that the Redmane Army was weakened by the loss of grace and considered attacking its camp at night. In the enemy command tent, Barrett and Hobbs weighed their options as they faced a six-day wait for supplies and a three-day deadline to capture Stormveil Castle.

• Both armies withdrew for the night, and Aureg let most of his troops rest while Godrick's soldiers ate and celebrated their survival.
• Aureg reasoned that the Redmanes were tiring and growing hungrier without grace, then considered sneaking into their camp to set a fire with Fire Pots.
• The Redmane infantry returned to camp exhausted and found their issued bread and dried meat insufficient to satisfy their hunger.
• Barrett and Hobbs discussed their stalled plan to take Stormveil Castle within three days, and Hobbs identified Aureg as a former Storm King's Wing.
• Barrett considered leading an assault or launching a night battle, while Hobbs warned that the troops were unaccustomed to fighting without grace and that supplies would take six days to arrive.
• After eating and drinking, Aureg looked into the darkness and felt like getting some exercise.

After Godrick’s forces survived the Redmane Army’s first assault, both commanders prepared for the next stage of the battle. Aureg rode out with ten Banished Knights to disrupt the enemy camp and destroy its supplies, leaving their fate uncertain as they followed the wind south along the river.

• A messenger told Godrick that his forces had held off the Redmane Army’s first-day assault, and a Banished Knight reminded him that the war was far from over.
• Barrett refused Hobbs’s suggestion to report the defeat to Radahn and instead ordered siege engines built to attack Aureg’s Mountain Stronghold.
• Aureg selected ten Banished Knights and ordered them to unsettle the Redmane troops and destroy their supplies if possible, prioritizing their return alive.
• Aureg led the knights across Saintsbridge and turned south along the river toward the Redmane camp, following the wind.

Aureg led a night raid on the Redmane camp, luring Barrett and his cavalry into a chaotic pursuit before breaking through the camp’s defenders. Barrett returned to find the five Banished Knights attacking his exposed rear.

• Aureg approached the Redmane camp with ten Banished Knights, then changed course as the alarm sounded and scouts followed them.
• Barrett ordered a hundred cavalrymen to pursue Aureg and personally led the force out of camp.
• Aureg sent five Banished Knights to draw Barrett’s cavalry away, then circled back and cut through the middle of its column.
• Aureg and five Banished Knights charged into the Redmane camp, set fires, and tore through the soldiers’ defenses with powerful storms.
• Barrett turned back toward the camp, and the five Banished Knights attacked his cavalry from behind.

Aureg and the Banished Knights set the Redmane camp ablaze, broke through its defenses, and escaped while the Redmanes struggled to respond. From a hillside, Aureg spotted troops approaching from Stormgate and realized Owen and Barrett were exchanging soldiers at night, so he sent word to Ingweir to plan a countermeasure.

• Aureg led five Banished Knights through the Redmane defenses while five others attacked Barrett’s cavalry from behind and escaped in another direction.
• The Redmanes scrambled to fight the fires and regroup without their commander, while Aureg mocked their formation by comparing it to the Crucible Knights.
• Aureg watched the exhausted Redmane camp from a hillside and sensed another force approaching from Stormgate.
• Aureg recognized that Owen and Barrett planned to rotate fresh soldiers into Barrett’s force at night.
• Aureg returned to camp, gathered the Banished Knights, and sent a messenger to Ingweir to report the Redmane tactic.

Ingweir reported the Redmane Army’s rotating forces to Godrick, whose commanders debated how to counter them while the exhausted armies endured a tense night. Owen reminded Barrett of their past fight against the Meteorite Monsters and suggested using an unconventional attack against Aureg Mountain Stronghold.

• Ingweir warned Godrick that the Redmane Army could keep sending fresh troops and that Stormgate could not risk a sortie.
• Godrick panicked over the prospect of the war dragging on until reinforcements arrived, and the Banished Knight began discussing possible responses with the commanders.
• Owen’s Army helped Barrett’s Army rebuild camp, then the two forces switched places so Barrett’s soldiers could rest while Owen’s troops took their turn on the front line.
• Barrett vented his frustration over the first day’s losses, and Owen urged him to learn from their battles against the Meteorite Monsters.
• Owen recalled that the Meteorite Monsters had relied on gravity sorcery and meteorites from behind their defenses, and Barrett understood that Owen was proposing an attack from above.

After hearing that Godwyn had died, Marika raged inside Radagon and demanded to see him, while Radagon feared what she might do if she took control. He calmed her by questioning Miquella’s report and promised to investigate Godwyn’s fate.

• Marika learned of Godwyn’s reported death and battered against Radagon’s control, demanding to see her son.
• Radagon feared Marika might try to resurrect Godwyn and, if that failed, lash out at the Golden Order or the Elden Ring.
• Radagon considered how Destined Death and the Erdtree’s Grace might affect Godwyn’s death and the possibility of resurrection.
• Radagon told Marika that Miquella might be lying and that Godwyn could still be alive, then promised to handle the investigation.
• Marika fell silent, and Radagon reflected on his lost life with Rennala and the prospect of fighting his children.

Aureg faced the Redmane Army’s new gravity-meteorite assault at Stormgate and worked out that the projectiles carried knights into Godrick’s defenses for a special operation. He ordered his troops to survive the impacts, kill the Redmane Knights, and collect their armor, while an unusual wind stirred.

• At sunrise, Aureg and the Redmane Army resumed fighting at Stormgate, with Godrick’s Army defending its wooden fortifications against the Redmanes’ fire tactics.
• The Redmane Army launched purple gravity meteorites at the Mountain Stronghold, and they burst apart to release Redmane Knights among Godrick’s soldiers.
• Aureg reasoned that the Redmanes were using a magical item to deliver knights inside the defenses because they had too few gravity sorcerers to bombard the battlefield continuously.
• Aureg shot a Redmane Knight through a gap in his helmet and noticed that the knight’s armor remained sturdy.
• Aureg ordered his infantry and knights to avoid the meteorite fragments, surround and eliminate the Redmane Knights, and gather their armor as the wind grew unusual.