Arslan is fourteen and nothing like his father, King Andragoras, when he rides out from Ecbatana to his first battle and watches the army of Pars come apart around him. The road back opens with Daryun beside him, the royal capital lost and a crown he has not yet done anything to earn. Chisato Nakamura's adaptation covers the opening part of Yoshiki Tanaka's novel sequence, carrying Arslan from that rout into the campaign to take his country back.