Chapter Summaries

Frank Ribery and the soldiers of Twin Flag City fought desperately against the Ajax army, but Ribery was defeated by its commander and faced execution. A powerful arrow saved him and struck the Ajax ranks, and the Ajax commander searched for the unseen archer.

• Frank Ribery urged his officers to fight for the empire, and Ivan sacrificed himself to disable the City-Breaking Dragon Bird.
• Ivan and more than ten officers died fighting as Zenit’s soldiers defended Twin Flag City.
• Frank Ribery challenged the Ajax commander, cut through his experts, and was stopped by the commander’s two fingers before being defeated.
• The Ajax commander ordered Ribery’s execution, but Ribery refused to surrender and tried to take his own life with his sword.
• A white-fletched arrow killed the Ajax guard and blasted through the soldiers, prompting the Ajax commander to search a sand dune for the archer.

Zenit reinforcements arrived at Twin Flag City under the command of a formidable archer riding a giant black beast. He killed two Ajax generals and drove the Zenit cavalry into the enemy rear, leaving the Ajax camp in chaos.

• A Zenit cavalry force emerged behind the hill, and Frank Ribery recognized the empire’s banner and welcomed the reinforcements.
• The Zenit archer led the charge as General Zake and several thousand Earth Tiger riders rode out to meet them.
• The archer killed Zake with a single arrow, and the Zenit cavalry crushed Zake’s riders in their first charge.
• General Nadoke advanced after the Ajax commander sent him to kill the archer, but the archer split him in two with a pair of axes.
• The Zenit cavalry charged into the Ajax rear and threw the army into chaos.

The Wolf Fang Legion’s six thousand cavalrymen broke through the Ajax army and entered Twin Flag City, while the Ajax commander kept Frank Ribery as a captive. The lone Zenit archer then charged into the Ajax vanguard to rescue Ribery, leaving the battle in progress.

• The Ajax commander ordered his army to suspend the siege and let the Wolf Fang Legion’s vanguard reach Twin Flag City.
• The cavalrymen charged through the Ajax encampment, killed more than a thousand soldiers, and entered the city.
• The Ajax commander threatened to use Ribery as bait, but the lone archer rode toward the Ajax army to save him.
• The archer destroyed the Ajax tower shields and charged through their vanguard, shrugging off a volley of armor-piercing arrows.

The Zenit beast rider broke through the Ajax army’s defenses despite their earth magic and spear formation, but the Ajax commander wounded him with a flame arrow. As Ajax soldiers rushed to finish him off, the rider unleashed his power and began slaughtering them.

• The Ajax commander ordered army mages to cast Wrath of the Earth Goddess, but the beast rider’s enormous black mount leapt through the hazards and escaped the spell.
• The commander sent Ajax spearmen against the rider, who blasted a path through their formation with glass-colored punches.
• The Ajax commander drew an unusual longbow and shot a flame Dou Qi arrow through the rider’s left shoulder.
• Ajax soldiers and officers charged the wounded rider, while Ribery feared that his capture had brought the Zenit expert into danger.
• The rider laughed at the Ajax soldiers’ tactics and erupted with an aura that made nearby enemies explode; he then punched apart the charging Star Class officers.

A young Zenit giant beast rider defeated Ajax commander Fairenton with one punch, healed Ribery, and escaped through the enemy army with him. Fairenton was left furious and humiliated as he realized an unknown Zenit warrior had destroyed his chance to win glory for Ajax.

• The Zenit rider charged up the hill and challenged the Ajax prince, who launched a powerful punch at him.
• The rider met Fairenton’s punch with one of his own, sending the Ajax commander flying while remaining nearly unharmed.
• The rider reached Ribery, healed his injuries, and asked whether he could still fight; Ribery declared that he could.
• The rider took Fairenton’s white-winged eagle longbow and carried Ribery back to his black beast, while the Ajax soldiers let them pass.
• Fairenton roared after the departing Zenit rider and reflected on how his defeat had ruined his chance to capture Twin Flag City and earn imperial glory.

Sun Fei revealed himself to Prince Fairenton as Alexander, King of Chambord City, after overpowering him, then found the city gates closed to his returning cavalry. He forced the gates open despite a city lord’s envoy, leaving the envoy ordering guards to kill a soldier who had obeyed Sun Fei.

• Sun Fei told the Ajax commander that he was Alexander, a second-rank hereditary noble and the king of Chambord City, then rode toward Twin Flag City.
• Prince Fairenton recognized Alexander from a military report and ordered his guards to bring the routed soldiers he had refused to hear.
• Sun Fei discovered that the city gates were closed and learned that an envoy claiming to represent City Lord Soroyev had refused entry to the six thousand cavalrymen.
• Sun Fei reassured Shevchenko, then warned the men on the wall to open the gates within three breaths.
• Sun Fei used Leap to reach the wall and ordered the battered defenders to open the gates; a soldier obeyed, and the envoy ordered guards to kill him.

Sun Fei killed the city lord’s envoy and repaired Twin Flag City’s magical barrier while the Wolf Fang Legion’s reinforcements entered the city. He learned that City Lord Soroyev’s cowardice had isolated Twin Flag City and led to the slaughter of thousands of civilians.

• Sun Fei slapped two guards to death when they tried to attack the soldiers, then killed the city lord’s envoy as the man protested the gates opening.
• The city gates opened, and more than six thousand Wolf Fang Legion cavalrymen entered Twin Flag City before the gates closed behind them.
• Sun Fei repaired Earth's Protection with twenty intermediate magic stones and instructed Petr Čech to seek reimbursement from military headquarters.
• Sun Fei and Čech learned from a garrison officer that Soroyev and other nobles had withdrawn their private troops during the Ajax assault.
• The officer explained that Soroyev held wartime command as Twin Flag City’s highest-ranking noble and had shut the gates, leaving more than two thousand Zenit civilians outside to be killed by Ajax forces.

Sun Fei learned more about Twin Flag City’s factions and won the loyalty of its garrison while discussing the city’s leadership with Emile Heskey. He ordered supplies sent to the garrison and turned his attention to the secretive city lord’s manor.

• Sun Fei and Emile Heskey condemned Soroyev’s leadership, and Heskey praised Sun Fei without realizing he was speaking to the King of Chambord.
• Sun Fei promised Heskey he would advance within a day, then left him at the camp entrance to meet the Wolf Fang Legion’s officers.
• Shevchenko reported that the garrison would obey Sun Fei’s orders after learning his identity and seeing his actions on the battlefield.
• Sun Fei praised Frank Ribery’s courage and ordered half the vanguard’s supplies given to the garrison to prepare for another Ajax attack.
• Shevchenko told Sun Fei that Soroyev’s manor had been locked down for days, and Sun Fei considered confronting the city lord and his nobles.

Sun Fei ordered Twin Flag City’s nobles to supply troops and its commoners to prepare for defense, while explaining that he intended to hold off Ajax without provoking a full-scale assault. As arrogant noble envoys arrived at the camp demanding to see the commander, Sun Fei went to confront them.

• Sun Fei ordered the nobles to provide five hundred private soldiers each and called for able-bodied commoners to receive military training, warning that refusal meant death.
• Sun Fei reassured Shevchenko that his shoulder wound had healed, then tested the magical bow he had taken from the battlefield.
• Sun Fei explained that he had spared the Ajax prince to avoid provoking an overwhelming attack and to keep Ajax’s army pinned in the desert.
• Sun Fei reflected on whether his growing strategic insight came from the [Learning] skill or his experiences in Azeroth and Diablo.
• Young nobles claiming to act on City Lord Soroyev’s orders insulted the camp guards and demanded to see the legion commander, so Sun Fei went to meet them.

Sun Fei executed nobles who caused a disturbance in the barracks, then rushed to defend Twin Flag City as the Ajax army launched an attack. The chapter leaves him facing the enemy’s siege weapons at the west gate, with a general asking whether to activate the city’s protective magic barrier.

• Sun Fei ordered the soldiers to kill the nobles and their guards, sparing one man to return to the city.
• An alarm sounded, and Sun Fei sent commanders and troops to reinforce the east gate while he led the Saints to the west gate.
• Sun Fei ordered the city lord’s residence and noble families to bring their private soldiers to the walls or face execution with their families.
• Sun Fei reached the west gate and saw that the Ajax army had grown to seventy or eighty thousand soldiers and was preparing its siege weapons.
• Fairenton signaled his troops to attack, and the Ajax soldiers moved twenty boulder throwers into position.
• Fernando Gago asked Sun Fei whether they should activate the Earth's Protection magic barrier.

Sun Fei defended Twin Flag City from Ajax’s siege by using his archery to destroy the stones fired at the walls and then target the siege weapons themselves. His actions lifted the garrison’s morale and forced Prince Fairenton to adjust his attack, while the Ajax army continued its assault.

• Sun Fei declined to activate Earth's Protection and reassured Gago that he would handle the Ajax boulder launchers.
• As the boulders flew toward Twin Flag City, Sun Fei fired ten arrows that shattered them over the Ajax infantry, killing more than five hundred soldiers.
• Prince Fairenton ordered the infantry to spread out, moved the boulder launchers three hundred meters back, and prepared the army’s mages and assault battalions.
• Sun Fei fired at the distant launchers and struck a load-bearing joint, collapsing one and prompting the garrison to cheer his name.

Sun Fei summoned fifteen Barbarian warriors to repel the Ajax assault on Twin Flag City. Prince Fairenton recognized them as a threat and ordered the Heaven Slaughter Battalion to kill them.

• Sun Fei destroyed six of the Ajax army’s boulder launchers with his arrows, then the Ajax forces began a scattered assault along Twin Flag City’s walls.
• Sun Fei switched to Barbarian Mode and summoned fifteen Barbarian warriors, who bowed to him and leaped down from the wall.
• The Barbarian warriors used their skills to frighten the Ajax soldiers and destroy more than forty siege ladders while cutting through the attackers.
• Prince Fairenton learned that the warriors were retainers of King of Chambord Alexander and ordered Clark to send the Heaven Slaughter Battalion to kill them within ten minutes.

Sun Fei defended Twin Flag City while considering how to use his summoned Barbarian warriors more effectively. As the Ajax army retreated, Soroyev planned to obey Sun Fei for now and then staged injuries to make himself look like a battle casualty.

• Sun Fei shot Ajax experts from the city walls, killing Clara and forcing members of the Heaven Slaughter Battalion to retreat.
• Sun Fei decided not to resummon the fifteen fallen Barbarian warriors and considered how to direct them more effectively with his thoughts.
• On the northern wall, Soroyev and the nobles feared Sun Fei’s authority and debated how to respond to his orders.
• Soroyev told the nobles to obey Sun Fei while waiting for an opportunity, and dismissed the refusal of several nobles to bring their troops.
• After the Ajax army retreated, Soroyev cut an Ajax corpse and had his guards add marks and blood to his armor before cutting himself to fake battle wounds.

Soroyev punished garrison soldiers who protested the desecration of a fallen comrade, but Drogba and Pierce arrived with a summons from King Alexander of Chambord. They ordered Soroyev to report to the tower above the west gate and account for the battle.

• Nobles and their guards claimed credit for the dead, and a young garrison soldier tried to stop a guard from beheading his brother’s body.
• Soroyev punished the guard for desecrating the corpse, then ordered three soldiers who had protested to lose a hand and a foot each.
• Soroyev had a guard cut off one soldier’s hand and ordered the punishment to continue when he saw hatred in the soldier’s eyes.
• Drogba and Pierce emerged from the crowd and mocked Soroyev’s appearance.
• Drogba and Pierce announced that King Alexander of Chambord had summoned Soroyev to the tower above the west gate to account for the battle.

Drogba exposed Soroyev's guards for falsely accusing three garrison soldiers and rallied the troops to defend their comrades. Soroyev interrupted the young soldier's account as the soldiers' anger grew.

• Soroyev ordered the three soldiers locked up and claimed they had incited the garrison to rebel.
• Drogba pretended to accept the guards' explanation, then slapped and kicked the captain after recognizing his lies.
• Drogba defended the wounded young soldier and asked the garrison whether he had urged them to flee; the soldiers shouted that he had not.
• Drogba asked the young soldier to explain what had happened, and the soldier began recounting the events to the assembled troops.
• Soroyev shouted for the young soldier to stop as the soldiers' anger intensified.

Drogba and Pierce subdued Soroyev’s guards and brought the city lord and nobles to meet Sun Fei. As Sun Fei assessed the heavy losses at Twin Flag City and prepared its defenses, Soroyev’s remaining resolve vanished when he finally faced him.

• Drogba defended his authority to seek justice for the soldiers, and Pierce knocked out the city lord’s guards when they tried to arrest them.
• Drogba arranged treatment and a reward for the wounded soldier, then Pierce invited the young warrior to report the incident to Sun Fei.
• Drogba and Pierce escorted Soroyev and more than ten nobles to the western gate tower.
• Sun Fei heard that Twin Flag City and the Wolf Fang Legion had suffered heavy casualties and ordered the Saint squad to patrol while the garrison rested.
• Soroyev and the nobles met Sun Fei beneath the western gate tower, and Soroyev abandoned his thoughts of resisting him.

Sun Fei confronted Twin Flag City’s corrupt nobles and restored the soldiers’ strength and morale as Ajax’s army threatened the city. He promised justice for the defenders and ordered action against the nobles who had refused to fight.

• Sun Fei questioned Soroyev and learned that seven noble families had ignored his order to help defend Twin Flag City.
• Sun Fei sent the Heng and Ha Generals and the Wind and Fire Dual Supreme Staff to bring the seven families’ leaders to him, with orders to kill them if they resisted.
• Sun Fei healed Glen’s wounds with Paladin Holy Power and used his aura to relieve the nearby warriors’ fatigue and injuries.
• After hearing Glen recount what happened on the northern wall, Sun Fei promised his older brother an honorable burial and vowed to protect the defenders’ credit and reward everyone who contributed to the battle.
• Sun Fei called Čech over and asked for his assistance.

Sun Fei issued wartime rewards and threatened death for anyone who tampered with the military merit register, then condemned Twin Flag City’s nobles for their failures during the invasion. He executed Miller for refusing conscription and had Shevchenko read out the Miller Family’s many crimes, leaving the remaining nobles terrified.

• Sun Fei ordered Čech to publicize rewards for soldiers and made clear that he would personally approve the military merit register.
• Sun Fei killed the guard who had stolen credit for Glen’s fallen brother and warned that anyone who desecrated a city defender’s remains would meet the same fate.
• Sun Fei accused City Lord Soroyev and the other nobles of abandoning the city and imperial subjects, and they pleaded for mercy as he considered their fate.
• Drogba brought seven bound nobles from the city’s leading families to Sun Fei, and Sun Fei ordered the execution of Miller for refusing conscription and defying military orders.
• Shevchenko read a list of the Miller Family’s crimes, including murder, robbery, and trafficking, while the other nobles realized Sun Fei had uncovered extensive evidence in less than a day.

Sun Fei executed the patriarchs of seven noble families for defying military orders and warned the remaining nobles that their crimes would be punished. He spared those who had fought at the wall, offering them a chance to atone through battlefield service, but said they would still face punishment.

• Shevchenko read the Miller Family's crimes, and Sun Fei sentenced its patriarch to death while ordering the family's property confiscated and its members punished under imperial law.
• Sun Fei ordered the patriarchs of the Adam, Simak, Roto, Kote, Dinas, and Les Families executed after Shevchenko read their charges.
• Sun Fei had the seven patriarchs' heads placed in iron cages on the wall as a warning and ordered their estates confiscated for military supplies.
• Sun Fei ordered the soldiers' merits and the names of the fallen recorded, then had the seven bodies returned to their families.
• Sun Fei told Soroyev and the other nobles that battle merit could spare them the death penalty, but warned that punishment would still follow.

Sun Fei consolidated control of Twin Flag City's defenses, united its garrison with the Wolf Fang Legion, and worried over how to bring the main force through the Ajax encirclement. After remembering the brocade boxes from Eldest Princess Tanasha and Paris, he noticed a wisp of green smoke racing from the city toward the Ajax camp.

• Sun Fei ordered City Lord Soroyev imprisoned and fined, fined the other nobles, and assigned them to defend the west gate with their guard warriors.
• The city's noble estates were confiscated for military use, and the Twin Flag City garrison increasingly trusted and cooperated with the Wolf Fang Legion.
• Sun Fei held a military meeting, appointed Frank Ribery, Shevchenko, and Čech as the city's three leaders beneath him, and tasked Ribery with recruiting a reserve force.
• Sun Fei considered the danger of bringing the Wolf Fang Legion's main force through the Ajax encirclement and recalled the brocade boxes given to him by Eldest Princess Tanasha and Paris.
• A wisp of green smoke shot from Twin Flag City's walls toward the Ajax army camp.