One of fantasy’s most legendary franchises is waking up again. Kadokawa’s Sneaker Bunko imprint announced on Friday that Ryo Mizuno’s novel series Record of Lodoss War: The Crown of the Covenant is finally resuming.
Record of Lodoss War: The Crown of the Covenant (Credits: Ryo Mizuno, Hidari, Kadokawa)
While volume 2 will still take more time to publish, fans won’t have to wait long for a taste: Sneaker Bunko will release part of the manuscript on the Kakuyomu website on October 22 at 5:00 p.m. JST.
A Franchise Reborn
Kadokawa published the first novel volume in Japan in September 2019 with illustrations by Hidari — the first new Record of Lodoss War novel in 12 years. The story is set 100 years after the events that brought peace to the accursed isle of Lodoss, thanks to the Crown of the Covenant.
That peace is now under threat. The ambitious ruler of the kingdom of Flaim wants to plunge Lodoss back into war, and the young prince Lyle of Marmo seeks the help of the legendary high elf Deedlit to stop him. Will a new Knight of Lodoss arise to save the kingdoms?
Manga, Webtoon, and Anime Legacy
Atsushi Suzumi launched a manga adaptation of the new novel in October 2019, and Udon Entertainment has released the three-volume manga in English. The franchise is also expanding into webtoons: Record of Lodoss War: Queen of Death, the first webtoon from Studio White, launched globally in August 2025 — an official spin-off set before the original story, following the fall of the Kingdom of Kastuul.
Record of Lodoss War began as magazine articles recounting the tabletop RPG sessions of players who called themselves Group SNE, before evolving into Mizuno’s novels. Those stories inspired the iconic 1990 video anime series and the 1998 Chronicles of the Heroic Knight TV sequel.
The Kakuyomu preview drops October 22 — a small step toward the long-awaited volume 2.
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Source: Anime News Network — read the full story there.