From award-winning Korean author Sung-il Kim & translated by the world-renowned Anton Hur comes the sequel to Blood of the Old Kings, an epic fantasy adventure where the corpses of sorcerers power an empire and ordinary people rise up to tear it down. Last seen under Loran’s command, Emere is now a member of the Commons Council. While giving a speech in the Capital, he survives an assassination attempt―and now must team up with the Ministry of Intelligence to discover who is behind it. Arienne is on a mission to find out what really happened to Mersia. The land―destroyed a hundred years ago by a mysterious weapon known only as the Star of Mersia―is devoid of life, populated only by ghosts. But when she arrives at the ruined city of Danras, Arienne finds more than she expects. One hundred and seventy years ago, Yuma is the Chief Herder of Danras, looking after the city’s aurochs every summer. After being punished for disobeying the Demon King, she meets Lysandros, who is on a mission to establish diplomatic relations between the Empire and the states of Mersia. But is there a cost of doing business with the Empire?