Recaps

The Black Bear Tribe learned that the Seventh Tumen was returning, while Grand Elder Lancaster warned that the war would worsen the tribe’s shortages. At the Dragonbone Mountains, Victor reorganized the depleted Third Supplementary Army and left it more unified as it prepared to march west.

• Jared told Grand Elder Lancaster that the Seventh Tumen had set out from Dragon Spine Pass and would arrive in ten days to encircle the enemy.
• Lancaster explained that the Black Bear Tribe would lose its chance to plunder and could not rely on capturing supplies or livestock from the enemy.
• Victor reorganized the Third Supplementary Army, increasing the cavalry battalion, forming a special operations battalion, and redistributing archers among the infantry.
• Victor resolved disputes over personnel transfers, leaving the army more flexible and breaking up its hometown cliques.
• Preston reported that enemy traces had been spotted eighty li away.

Victor prepared the Third Supplementary Army to face a Tuwu force that could grow to twenty or thirty thousand with tribal support. Meanwhile, Jeremiah secured the tribes’ cooperation for the Seventh Tumen and asked what they had learned about the enemy.

• Preston estimated that the enemy had about ten thousand troops, with nearby tribes able to raise the total to twenty or thirty thousand or more.
• Victor ordered the battalion commanders to meet and discuss how to defeat the approaching force.
• Jeremiah received representatives from the Black Bear, Black Wolf, White Fox, and other tribes to negotiate their cooperation.
• Jeremiah promised the tribes compensation, protection for their pastures after heavy losses, and seventy percent of spoils other than armor.
• The tribal representatives agreed to follow Jeremiah’s orders, and he asked what information they had gathered about the enemy.

Commander Jeremiah questioned the tribes’ unreliable reports that the Holy Glory Empire’s Third Army was hiding in the Dragonbone Mountains. He suspected the elite force had a special mission there, but the tribal leaders admitted they knew little about the mountains’ history or interior.

• Lancaster and the tribal representatives reported that they suspected an enemy force of more than ten thousand was the Holy Glory Empire’s Third Army, though their scouts had gathered little reliable information.
• Jeremiah approved of the tribes’ caution, noting the empire’s main armies were formidable, but Knightley questioned why the enemy had not helped defend Dragon Spine Pass.
• Lancaster suggested the enemy might have had poor communications, but Knightley rejected that explanation because elite forces could carry messages.
• Jeremiah concluded the enemy must have a mission more important than defending Dragon Spine Pass and grew concerned about what it might be doing in the Dragonbone Mountains.
• Knightley speculated that the enemy might be pursuing something dangerous in the mountains, while Tristan and Lancaster said their tribes knew little about the region and had never ventured far inside.

Victor rejected Maddox’s proposal to raid the Tuwu People’s tribes and ordered the Third Supplementary Army to keep advancing cautiously as enemy reinforcements gathered. Howard then suggested using a canyon full of wolf packs to hinder the enemy, leaving Victor with a possible way to exploit the terrain.

• Victor finished his morning training and judged that his battle qi and strength were nearing the standard of a fifth-tier knight.
• Maddox urged Victor to send the cavalry battalion on a raid, but Victor refused because the inexperienced unit risked being trapped by enemy reinforcements.
• Felix warned that the Tuwu People’s forces had doubled and might grow to thirty or fifty thousand, while Victor urged the officers to stay calm and wait for the enemy to make a mistake.
• Howard revealed that he had found a hidden canyon fifty li away containing wolf packs led by wolf kings that were at least third-tier magical beasts.

Victor planned to scout Wolf Pack Canyon as a potential campsite that could lure the Tuwu army into a trap, while the Northern Expedition Corps’ commanders reported to Marshal Sebastian. The chapter ended with Sebastian demanding intelligence about the enemy rather than excuses for the empire’s defeats.

• Victor asked Howard about Wolf Pack Canyon and decided to inspect its terrain himself.
• Victor explained that the canyon’s water, open space, and surrounding woods could make it an ideal campsite for the Tuwu army and a basis for a larger trap.
• Jasper warned that letting the enemy discover the canyon could put the Third Supplementary Army under heavy pressure, but Victor said they would scout it before deciding what to do.
• Duke Sebastian questioned the returning commanders of the Northern Expedition Corps about what they had seen at the front.
• Duke Alvin blamed the Northern Frontier Corps’ defeat on his command but cited corruption and equipment failures for the fall of Dragon Spine Pass.
• Marshal Sebastian cut Duke Alvin off and demanded information about the enemy instead of explanations for the defeats.

Duke Alvin secured a post overseeing logistics for the Northern Expedition Corps, while Victor led his soldiers into a fight with a wolf pack after spotting its mixed-blood wolf king. The chapter ended with Victor facing the wolf king as the battle raged around them.

• Lieutenant General Griffin blamed the Tuwu People's alliance with necromancers and an abyssal god for Dragon Spine Pass's fall, while Duke Alvin warned of corruption in the empire.
• Sebastian appointed Duke Alvin chief of military affairs for the Northern Expedition Corps, and Alvin accepted the role overseeing logistics.
• Victor surveyed a fertile valley and recognized the approaching pack's leader as a mixed-blood Moon-Howling Heavenly Wolf.
• Howard urged Victor to retreat, but Victor charged the wolf king and ordered Howard to keep the pack occupied.
• Victor's soldiers fought the wolves as Victor exchanged attacks with the wolf king, which spat a burst of flame at him.

Victor defeated and subdued the Wolf King, then used the mysterious crystal’s white mist to heal and begin evolving him. After inspecting the canyon, Victor explained how its water and terrain made it a strong defensive position but its lack of forage could strain the Tuwu People’s supplies.

• Victor knocked out the Wolf King, used his Command skill to make him obey, and ordered him to reunite his pack and stop attacking people without permission.
• Victor told Howard that the Wolf King was unlikely to turn on him soon, but warned the others not to imitate his approach.
• Victor infused the Wolf King with white mist from the mysterious crystal, healing his wounds and prompting signs of evolution; the Wolf King then sought more mist from Victor.
• Victor inspected the canyon and concluded that its terrain and water made it easy to defend but that an enemy army with livestock would struggle to find enough fodder.
• Victor explained to Felix that the Tuwu People’s weak logistics and need to forage could create an opportunity if they camped in the canyon.

As tribal feuds disrupted the Seventh Tumen, Jeremiah and Knightley sought a way to prevent the disputes from undermining the army before it reached the front. The Black Wolf Tribe offered a water-rich valley near the Dragonbone Mountains in exchange for compensation, and Jeremiah promised them major merit if their claims were true.

• Jeremiah and Knightley struggled to contain frequent fights between the tribes, which had left more than a hundred wounded and five dead.
• Knightley suggested moving the camps farther apart, and Jeremiah ordered each tribe to move so there would be three li between them.
• Knightley argued that reaching the front and giving the tribes a common enemy would reduce their internal conflicts.
• Jeremiah explained that the army lacked water near the Dragonbone Mountains and that dividing its forces would be risky because the tribes could not reliably cooperate.
• Knightley reported that the Black Wolf Tribe had found a large valley with a deep pool but demanded compensation for its use.
• Jeremiah told Knightley to promise the Black Wolf Tribe major merit if the valley was truly as they described.

The Tuwu leaders debated whether to continue south or retreat with their immense haul as the enemy Northern Expedition Corps approached. Chancellor Oliver warned that they would have to defeat the enemy to transport the loot, while Victor prepared the Third Supplementary Army to harass the Tuwu forces in a valley.

• Silas scolded the Tuwu leaders for advancing slowly as they plundered Dragon Spine Province, and Baldwin argued that their spoils were already enough to enrich the khanate.
• Bennett urged the Tuwu forces to keep marching south, but Baldwin argued that they had already gained Dragon Spine Pass and enough supplies to return home.
• Silas asked Chancellor Oliver for his judgment, and Oliver said the Tuwu army had to defeat the approaching enemy before it could carry its loot north.
• Victor checked that Jasper had gathered the hay and grease for the Third Supplementary Army's plan.
• Victor ordered his units to wait until the Tuwu force entered the valley, then launch brief attacks on separated soldiers and livestock to disrupt the enemy commander.

Tumen commander Jeremiah and his officers argued over losses from the Third Army’s hit-and-run attacks and discussed the dangers of guarding their camp in the canyon. Outside the canyon, Victor led a thousand-wolf pack against the Tuwu outposts, and Jeremiah ordered his troops to destroy the wolves.

• Jeremiah rebuked the tribal commanders for their losses, while Sanders defended the White Fox Tribe and blamed the enemy’s tactics.
• Knightley urged the commanders to focus on preparing for the coming battles, and Tristan warned that wolves might attack their foragers and livestock.
• Jeremiah dismissed the wolf threat and focused on finding the Third Army’s location in the Dragonbone Mountains.
• Victor rode the wolf king and directed the pack to clear the Tuwu outposts as an army drove cattle with grease-soaked grass tied to their tails toward the canyon.
• A night officer reported that a thousand wolves had appeared, and Jeremiah angrily questioned why the wolf king had gone unnoticed.
• Jeremiah ordered the thousand-man commander on duty to attack and wipe out the wolves.

Marshal Sebastian and Duke Alvin learned that an unknown force was raiding the Tuwu People under the Third Army's banner, but they could not identify or command it. Meanwhile, Victor launched a night attack on the Tuwu camp with wolf packs and prepared to drive a herd of cattle into it with fire.

• Marshal Sebastian questioned Duke Alvin about the supposed Third Army raids, and Alvin denied sending troops behind enemy lines.
• Marshal Sebastian concluded the unknown force could not safely be contacted or directed, so he let it continue acting independently.
• Victor ordered Big Black's wolf packs to attack the Tuwu camp outside Heavenly Wolf Canyon.
• The wolves initially threw the night watch into confusion, but Tuwu reinforcements formed ranks and killed dozens of wolves with arrows.
• Jasper reported that the cattle were near the valley entrance, and Victor ordered the fires lit.

The Tuwu army suffered a devastating attack when fire oxen stampeded through its camp, spreading flames and scattering its troops and animals. At dawn, Jeremiah and Knightley debated whether to withdraw, but chose to stay and seek a victory despite their severe losses and dwindling supplies.

• The fire oxen charged into the Tuwu troops, killing the commander and scattering the soldiers as fires spread through the camp.
• Jeremiah ordered Knightley to guard the cave entrance, but fire and stampeding livestock overwhelmed the army's formations.
• Maddox asked Victor to block the canyon exit, but Victor let the fleeing Tuwu soldiers escape, reasoning that their losses and supply shortages would weaken them and disrupt the grasslands.
• At dawn, Knightley reported that casualties exceeded thirty percent, most supplies had burned, and the army had lost much of its livestock.
• Jeremiah considered withdrawing, but Knightley warned that retreat could invite an enemy attack and leave them answerable to the khanate.
• Jeremiah agreed that the army would remain and try to find and destroy the enemy's main force within a few days.

The Tuwu army’s search for missing livestock was slowed by traps while tribal infighting worsened under Ten-Thousand-Man Commander Jeremiah’s command. Three days after the flaming bulls destroyed the camp, the Third Supplementary Army had reached the canyon entrance, where Felix proposed finding another way to break the stalemate.

• Tuwu soldiers searching the woods triggered traps, and their officer Armstrong considered withdrawing rather than risking an ambush.
• Ten-Thousand-Man Commander Jeremiah scolded the tribal chiefs after a dispute over a sheep left seven dead and eighteen injured, then threatened to execute everyone involved in future camp fights.
• Tristan accused the Black Bear Tribe of starting the fight, while Lancaster denied responsibility and blamed the Black Wolf Tribe.
• The tribal chiefs obeyed Jeremiah outwardly, but their tribes increasingly defied orders in secret.
• Three days after the flaming bulls burned the camp, the Third Supplementary Army moved its command camp to the grasslands outside the canyon.
• Felix told his commander the Tuwu forces would not leave the canyon and proposed searching the area for another route.

Victor blocked the grassland coalition inside Heavenly Wolf Canyon and prepared to drive its soldiers through the mountains, while the coalition was struck by a fast-spreading plague. With its supplies nearly gone and water contaminated, the coalition faced the choice of breaking out and abandoning its sick and wounded.

• Victor changed his plan after the fire ox attack, blocking the canyon entrance and intending to drive the coalition into the mountains, where wolves and dangerous terrain could wear it down.
• Howard warned Victor that the coalition might escape through the mountains, and Victor said he wanted them to flee and planned to guide them toward magical beast territories.
• By the evening of the second day after the attack, many coalition soldiers had fallen ill, forcing Commander Jeremiah to cancel his planned counterattack.
• Alistair told Jeremiah that the soldiers likely had a plague, possibly caused by bodies left in the valley pool or by enemy contamination of the water.
• Alistair explained that divine arts could treat only some soldiers and that wounded men who caught the plague were almost certain to die.
• With the plague spreading, provisions nearly gone, and the water contaminated, Knightley urged Jeremiah to order a breakout, which would mean abandoning the sick and wounded.

Tumen commander Jeremiah assessed the allied tribes’ plague-depleted forces and weighed how to escape the enemy Third Army. He ordered a mountain-route search and a ban on drinking from the pool, but the fate of the sick and wounded remained unresolved.

• Lancaster, Sanders, and Tristan reported that their tribes had only about 1,500, 1,200, and 1,600 men fit to fight, respectively.
• Jeremiah calculated that only a little over 15,000 of his nominal 23,000 troops could fight, including just over 6,000 Seventh Tumen soldiers, while the coalition’s morale was shattered.
• Jeremiah forbade the army from drawing water from the pool and ordered scouts to search the mountain paths for an escape route.
• Sanders asked what would happen to the sick and wounded, whom the army could not safely take along or abandon.
• Jeremiah demanded a solution, but Sanders admitted the problem needed more careful consideration.

Victor learned that a plague had spread through the Tuwu People trapped in Heavenly Wolf Canyon and ordered another flaming-cattle attack with Big Black’s wolves ready to strike. As the enemy’s commanders recognized their water supply was contaminated and their camp was weakening, Jeremiah ordered a retreat and planned to leave the sick behind to infect Victor’s army.

• Howard reported that more than a thousand enemy soldiers had fallen ill, and Victor confirmed the plague through prisoners and signs in the canyon.
• Victor ordered his troops to avoid close contact with the enemy, sent flaming cattle toward the canyon, and directed Big Black’s hidden allies to attack when the enemy panicked.
• Knightley urged Jeremiah to leave immediately after scouts disappeared and guards reported foul-smelling stream water.
• Jeremiah agreed to withdraw at noon and ordered the sick and wounded left behind to deceive the enemy for a day before surrendering.
• Jeremiah hoped the enemy would contract the plague by accepting the sick soldiers’ surrender or killing them.

Victor ordered the Third Supplementary Army to leave the Tuwu wounded and sick in the valley and withdraw west, while cattle and wolves slaughtered those trapped there. The allied army escaped into the mountains, where Jeremiah vowed to seek recognition for the dead and the leaders blamed Victor for the massacre.

• The cattle filled the Tuwu soldiers’ pits, and Victor concluded that the enemy’s main force had fled and abandoned its wounded and sick.
• Howard offered to pursue the retreating enemy, but Victor ordered his men out of the woods and commanded the army to relocate west.
• The maddened herd and wolves killed most of the Tuwu left in the valley, while Third Supplementary Army soldiers shot those who tried to surrender at the exit.
• Jeremiah and the allied army’s main force camped on a distant mountaintop, and Jeremiah promised to request recognition for the dead from the khan.
• Sanders and the other allied leaders cursed Victor and blamed him for the slaughter.

Victor reflected on strength and the contradictions surrounding divine arts, then ordered precautions after his army found thousands of dead Tuwu troops. He instructed Clyde to make the victory report and military merits appear credible, leaving the army to prepare for further battles.

• Victor sensed that his battle-qi had advanced him to the ranks of fifth-level knights and considered whether divine arts might be accessible beyond priests.
• Jasper reported that the enemy troops in the valley had been almost entirely wiped out, and Victor ordered soldiers exposed to them to disinfect themselves and boil their clothes.
• Clyde asked how to write the battle report, and Victor ordered him to report a bloody victory over thirty thousand Tuwu troops and allocate twenty thousand enemy heads among the soldiers.
• Victor told Clyde to adjust the figures across battles so the merit distribution would look credible and advised him to draft a proposal for the coming campaigns.
• Victor explained that the empire reviewed military merits through checks and arena matches, while generals earned credit based on their troops' kills and losses.

After the Third Supplementary Army withdrew from Heavenly Wolf Canyon, the Tuwu tribes searched for the missing coalition army and found a canyon full of rotting corpses. Victor continued west with his army, letting fleeing tribes escape rather than wasting time pursuing them.

• Dominic told Elder Strauss that the Third Supplementary Army had left the area, and Strauss ordered scouts to investigate Heavenly Wolf Canyon for the coalition army.
• Scouts from nearby tribes entered the canyon, found corpses and maggots, and fled; the discovery strengthened the Tuwu People’s belief that the Third Army was a devil army.
• Victor rode the wolf king around the Third Supplementary Army’s camp, unaware that his demon king reputation was spreading across the grasslands.
• Maddox reported that the Rattlesnake Tribe had migrated eighty li away and could be caught within two days, but Victor rebuked him and said to let them flee.

After emerging from the mountains with fewer than three thousand survivors, Jeremiah’s defeated army reached the plague-stricken White Fox Tribe. The commanders blamed the losses on an enemy curse, turning their defeat into a tale of resistance as they prepared to warn the royal court.

• The Tuwu tribes cleared the corpses from Heavenly Wolf Canyon, spreading the plague that their people mistook for a devil’s curse.
• Jeremiah led fewer than three thousand survivors out of the mountains after disease, misdirection, and magical beasts devastated the allied army.
• Jeremiah’s troops reached the White Fox Tribe, where Dominic told Sanders that a contagious illness had killed many tribespeople, including the old priest.
• Jeremiah declared that the enemy had cursed the allied army, and the commanders agreed to present their defeat as resistance against the curse.

Great Khan Silas debated how to respond to Jeremiah’s defeat by a spreading curse while the khanate’s front stalled and opposition to the war grew. Meanwhile, Victor’s army reached the Andorra Peninsula, and Victor decided they would cross it if no ship could take them home.

• Silas cursed Jeremiah for losing thirty thousand troops, while Oliver urged him to send help against the curse before judging Jeremiah’s responsibility.
• Bennett speculated that the Dragonbone Mountains might conceal a secret connected to the curse, and Xavier warned that even skilled priests might not be able to lift it or save those already afflicted.
• After more than three months of marching west, Victor’s army neared the Andorra Peninsula, and Brendan reported that the Tuwu tribes had fled the area.
• Victor explained that transporting the army and its spoils by sea was impractical and that returning in separate groups would weaken their claim to rewards.
• Victor told Brendan they would cross the Andorra Peninsula if they could not find a ship.

Victor decided that the Third Supplementary Army would recruit Tuwu men to serve as a cannon-fodder force before crossing the Andorra Peninsula. Meanwhile, the Northern Expedition Army learned of a curse blamed for more than two hundred thousand deaths and was ordered to investigate, though Duke Alvin doubted it was real.

• Jasper warned Victor that the Andorra Peninsula had resisted earlier imperial and Golden Horde campaigns, but Victor said his army only needed to pass through without attacking strongholds.
• Clyde proposed assembling a cannon-fodder force from the Tuwu People, while Jasper warned that conscripts might resist orders or turn against the army.
• Victor ordered the army to offer payment for Tuwu recruits, use force against tribes that refused, and gather intelligence before choosing a location for the operation.
• Marshal Sebastian told the Northern Expedition Army that the Golden Horde Khanate had suffered a curse attack with more than two hundred thousand deaths and that the emperor wanted them to identify the responsible unit and learn how it worked.
• General Aston criticized the intelligence department for delaying the report, while Duke Alvin argued that the deaths might have come from disease or a defeated Tuwu force inventing a curse story.

Otis struggled to respond to the Great Demon King’s draft demand, which called for one able-bodied man in three from the Blood Fang Tribal Clan. Victor offered to reduce the quota and accept slaves as recruits, while planning to use the tribe’s cooperation to set an example for others.

• Walsh told Otis that the Great Demon King had arrived to demand recruits from the Blood Fang Tribal Clan.
• Brayden warned Otis against resisting the Devil Legion and reminded him of its fearsome reputation.
• Otis decided to send an envoy with thirty cattle and two hundred sheep to negotiate, while avoiding being the first tribe to openly submit.
• Preston informed Victor that the Blood Fang Tribal Clan’s envoy had arrived with the livestock.
• Victor told his officers to reduce the tribe’s quota by a hundred and accept strong slaves if they delivered the recruits within three days.

Stuart weighed the Thunder Tribe’s options after the Devil Legion began conscripting tribesmen in the Dusk Reef Grassland, and decided to avoid a direct fight by steering the legion toward the ogres. Meanwhile, Victor rallied the Tuwu soldiers against their tribal leaders, leaving the watching representatives convinced he was a devil.

• Eric told Stuart that the Devil Legion was forcibly conscripting men in the Dusk Reef Grassland and that local tribes might ask the Thunder Tribe for help.
• Stuart rejected Eric’s suggestion to pursue the royal court’s bounty, warning that fighting the Devil Legion could cost the Thunder Tribe tens of thousands of soldiers and invite royal suspicion.
• Stuart told Montgomery that the Thunder Tribe would claim it was devising a plan to lure the Devil Legion into a battle with the ogres on the Andorra Peninsula.
• Victor gave a speech to the Tuwu soldiers, framing their war against the ogres as a cause for the human race and accusing their leaders of colluding with the enemy.
• The Tuwu soldiers shouted for the tribal leaders to be killed, and the observing representatives concluded that Victor was a devil who had bewitched them.

Elias and the Azure Wave Tribe were ambushed by Tuwu forces after neighboring tribes secretly sided with the Devil Legion, and the tribe was defeated. Victor absorbed the prisoners and distributed the spoils as he prepared his growing army for an inevitable battle over passage through the Andorra Peninsula.

• Elias warned the Azure Wave Tribe after hearing a large cavalry force approach, and the tribe assembled its fighters.
• Tuwu cavalry attacked from the front and rear, forcing the Azure Wave Tribe to surrender.
• Archer demanded to know why his tribe had been attacked, and a young general falsely accused it of colluding with ogres before Tuwu soldiers killed Archer.
• Victor ordered the prisoners reorganized into his battalions, divided the captured supplies, and gave the captured people to tribes supporting him.
• Victor considered the strength needed to force passage through the Andorra Peninsula and anticipated that the ogre leaders would resist.