Chapter Summaries

Zhang Bo tried to use fires in Dhirim to distract Shen Mu and weaken the Castle Area’s defenses, but the residents quickly extinguished them and Shen Mu remained confident in their loyalty. Zhang Bo then offered to divine the source of danger while secretly preparing for the Green Leaf Group’s attack, leaving the spire under guard.

• Zhang Bo saw the fires started by Green Leaf Group informants and pretended to warn Shen Mu that Diesel Company Remnants were causing unrest.
• Shen Mu refused to divert troops, explaining that Dhirim’s residents would protect their peaceful home.
• Blue Star Humans and Senior Managers organized to extinguish the fires, strengthening Shen Mu’s confidence in their faith and unity.
• Zhang Bo worried that the Castle Area remained heavily defended and that the Wood Elf surprise attack could fail.
• Zhang Bo offered to perform a divination, descended into the spire, and held back his irritation when Sacred Tree guards warned him not to obstruct Shen Mu’s escape route.

Zhang Bo used a staged divination to convince the Sacred Tree Knights that Dhirim faced an urgent threat at the East City Wall, hoping to manipulate the defenders and advance his Grand Plan. The warning proved true when a second Bone Slope appeared and more Bone Skeletons attacked the wall.

• Zhang Bo kept Shen Mu waiting in the Castle Area while calculating how to draw human troops away from the walls and towers.
• Zhang Bo pretended to divine the future, acting horrified to attract the Sacred Tree Knights' attention.
• The Sacred Tree Knights questioned Zhang Bo about the danger he had supposedly discovered and urged him to explain it to Shen Mu.
• Zhang Bo warned that stronger enemies could emerge at the East City Wall's Bone Slope and that the wall would soon fall without reinforcements.
• A Swadian Footman reported to Shen Mu that a second Bone Slope had appeared outside the East City Wall and more Bone Skeletons were attacking.

Shen Mu reinforced the East City Wall after Zhang Bo warned that undead threats were escalating, then sent Sacred Tree Knights to the front and ordered troops to guard the West City Wall as well. Zhang Bo secretly planned to aid Green Leaf Group’s assault, while Shen Mu’s remaining guard warned that the Castle Area was now dangerously under-defended.

• Zhang Bo warned Shen Mu that a second bone slope had appeared and that an even greater danger threatened Dhirim.
• Shen Mu sent five hundred Swadian troops to reinforce the East City Wall, where they joined the Lake Rats Destroyers and pushed back the Bone Skeletons.
• Zhang Bo claimed a powerful being and a large undead force were approaching, and Shen Mu sent fifty Sacred Tree Knights to the front lines.
• Zhang Bo urged Shen Mu to reinforce the West City Wall, so Shen Mu ordered troops there under Lezalit’s command.
• Zhang Bo privately planned to help Green Leaf Group’s surprise assault and replace his Followers with Human Mages at the Tower of Light Torch.
• A Sacred Tree Knight warned Shen Mu that the Castle Area and Castle Main Building had too few troops protecting them.

Zhang Bo tried to weaken Dhirim’s defenses while waiting for Green Leaf Group’s Wood Elf raiding force to attack, but Shen Mu’s strange remarks suggested he might know about the scheme. The battle at the eastern wall continued without a breakthrough as Zhang Bo waited for the planned assault.

• Shen Mu led Zhang Bo and the others to a balcony overlooking Dhirim’s defenses and asked whether they would survive the night.
• Zhang Bo praised Dhirim’s soldiers while inwardly anticipating Green Leaf Group’s attack and his plan to gain favor with the Edengard Mages.
• Shen Mu questioned Zhang Bo about his interest in the Human Mages and said Jeremus and the others thought highly of him, making Zhang Bo increasingly uneasy.
• Fatis and Dhirim’s troops held the eastern wall against the Bone Skeletons as arrows and armored soldiers kept them from reaching the barricades.
• Zhang Bo urged Shen Mu to send more troops to reinforce the eastern wall, but the Sacred Tree Knights objected to further reducing Shen Mu’s protection.
• Shen Mu said nothing as Zhang Bo backed down, then watched him with a mocking smile while the attack had yet to begin.

Shen Mu let Zhang Bo’s conspiracy proceed, planning to use the battle to train his soldiers and expand his control over Balihe Street. As Green Leaf Group’s attack neared, Zhang Bo remained confident that his forces would seize Dhirim and its special Magic Plant.

• Shen Mu learned through the Mount & Blade System that Zhang Bo was a Green Leaf Group spy who had arranged the coming attack, but he let the plan continue so his soldiers could gain Combat Experience.
• Shen Mu watched Fatis’s forces hold the Bone Skeletons at the eastern defenses and considered using victory to destroy Green Leaf Group’s Wood Elf Village and expand across Balihe Street.
• Shen Mu asked Zhang Bo about the western defenses, then ordered troops transferred there, leaving the Castle Area severely undermanned.
• Zhang Bo believed the Teleportation Gates would soon bring more than two thousand Green Leaf Group troops into the Castle Area for a surprise attack.
• Zhang Bo fixated on the glowing oak tree and anticipated rewards from the Wood Elf Plane, convinced that he deserved to rise to the top.

Shen Mu waited for the Green Leaf Group’s Wood Elf decapitation force while pretending to follow Zhang Bo’s arrangements. As the attack began, Shen Mu activated a previous reward, revealing power that terrified Zhang Bo, and the Wood Elves stormed the Castle Main Building.

• Shen Mu watched the system’s countdown to the Green Leaf Group’s attack while the Sacred Tree Knights guarded him from Zhang Bo.
• Zhang Bo anxiously waited for the Wood Elves to emerge from the White Council’s Tower of Light Torch and seize the city’s buildings and Human Mages.
• When the countdown reached zero, Shen Mu opened a previous reward, sending white Data Stream toward the western city gate and through the Castle Main Building.
• Zhang Bo sensed time, space, and Rule Level power in the white light and realized he had underestimated Shen Mu.
• The Wood Elves surged out of the library, attacked the city’s defenses, and smashed through the gates of the Castle Main Building.

Zhou Wu'an led Green Leaf Group forces in an assault on Dhirim’s Castle Main Building, while its defenders held the doors and warned Shen Mu. Shen Mu revealed that reinforcements had appeared inside the building, turning the attackers’ push into an ambush.

• Zhou Wu'an directed Wood Elf soldiers to batter down the Castle Main Building’s doors while pursuing sole credit for capturing Dhirim.
• The Swadian Footman captain braced the doors with firewood and sent one of his men upstairs to warn Shen Mu to retreat.
• Shen Mu calmly told the messenger that the defenders could rest, while Zhang Bo hid his excitement at the attack.
• Shen Mu summoned Swadian, Rhodok, and Vaegir troops into the Castle Main Building.
• The newly arrived archers and crossbowmen took positions and fired on the Wood Elf forces below, springing Shen Mu’s ambush.

Shen Mu’s forces ambushed the Wood Elf assault on Dhirim with volleys from the Castle Main Building and its surrounding walls. The Wood Elves broke through the entrance but were caught in a second ambush inside, and Zhou Wu'an ended the chapter facing a fortified Rhodok pike formation on the stairs.

• Vaegir archers and Rhodok crossbowmen opened fire from the Castle Main Building, devastating the Wood Elf soldiers trapped in the courtyards.
• Zhang Song recognized Zhang Bo on the balcony as General Manager Yang saw hundreds more human shooters taking positions on the surrounding walls.
• The Wood Elves and Security Department members smashed through the Castle Main Building doors, and Zhou Wu'an led Sword Dancers into the dark Castle Hall.
• Human ranged troops appeared along the hall’s upper walls and shot down the surprised Wood Elf Sword Dancers and Security Department members.
• A Wood Elf soldier found stairs behind the lord’s throne, and Zhou Wu'an led the survivors up them.
• Zhou Wu'an and the Wood Elf Sword Dancers reached a platform where heavily armored Rhodok infantry waited in a shield wall and Pike Square.

Shen Mu watched as his forces slaughtered the Wood Elf assault teams, while Zhang Bo realized the attack had become a disaster. At the Castle Main Building’s Second Floor, Zhou Wu'an led Green Leaf Group’s fighters in a desperate charge against the Rhodok Sergeants’ Pike Square.

• Zhang Song and Yang Di watched Wood Elf Sword Dancers fall beneath the archers’ and crossbowmen’s volleys as they tried to enter the Castle Main Building.
• Shen Mu mocked Zhang Bo’s terror and let him remain nearby to watch the battle, while the Sacred Tree Knights and Swadian Sergeants kept him under suspicion.
• Manid directed the ranged troops’ fire and formed a Pike Square from one hundred Rhodok Sergeants to block the route to the Second Floor.
• Manid’s Rhodok Sergeants roared their challenge at the Wood Elves who reached the platform.
• Zhou Wu'an rallied Green Leaf Group’s Security Department members and their Wood Elf Sword Dancer Followers, then charged first at the Pike Square to try to clear a path.

Manid directed the defense of the Lord's Hall as Zhou Wu'an and the Wood Elves charged the Rhodok Sergeants' Pike Square. Zhou Wu'an died, and the attackers kept pressing forward, but the Rhodok Sergeants held the platform and slaughtered them.

• Zhou Wu'an leaped into the Rhodok Sergeants' Pike Square, was pierced by halberds, and was killed by Manid's crossbow bolt.
• Manid taunted the invaders and directed crossbowmen and archers firing from the private boxes around the Lord's Hall.
• The Wood Elves charged again to avenge Zhou Wu'an, while the Security Department members and Wood Elf Followers swallowed crystal fragments to increase their strength.
• The attackers hurled longswords at the Rhodok tower shields, but the weapons failed to break through, and the Sergeants repeatedly stabbed down those who charged.
• Manid watched the Rhodok Sergeants hold their formation as the platform filled with corpses, convinced that the attackers could not break through.

Yang Di and Zhang Song worried that Zhou Wu'an had failed to capture Dhirim’s Castle Main Building, while Yang Di prepared for the possibility of calling Wood Elf forces through the Teleportation Gates. Outside the city, Ludwig endured the holy light’s damage, then decided to unleash a more violent attack on Dhirim’s defenders.

• Yang Di and Zhang Song wondered why Zhou Wu'an had not taken the Castle Main Building, and Zhang Song reassured Yang Di about the Security Department’s strength.
• Yang Di watched Wood Elf soldiers stream through the Teleportation Gates and considered summoning the Wood Elf Plane’s forces if Ludwig intervened.
• Ludwig recognized the Teleportation Gates as his brother’s safeguard and suspected the Wood Elves were preparing against him.
• Ludwig stepped into the holy light, which burned his false body, but he accepted the damage and reflected on his sacrifice for the Wood Elves.
• Ludwig grew angry at the Skeleton Legion’s failure to break through the East City Wall and gathered power for a more violent attack.

Fatis coordinated the defense of Dhirim’s East City Wall as the Bone Skeletons combined their ramps and launched a heavier assault. The defenders rotated and recovered their strength, while reinforcements from the Sacred Tree Knight Order arrived through the West City Gate.

• Ludwig fused the three bone ramps into a single massive slope, allowing more Bone Skeletons to surge toward Dhirim’s East City Wall.
• Fatis kept the Mount & Blade soldiers fighting and ordered reserve Swadian Footmen, Swadian Militia, and Swadian Recruits onto the wall to help them rotate and rest.
• Swadian Recruits served Honey Water, porridge, and bread to the exhausted higher-tier soldiers as they recovered beside the wall.
• Fatis spotted the West City Gate opening and heard a cavalry formation approaching.
• Fatis and the Sacred Tree Knights recognized the incoming force as a combat detachment from the Sacred Tree Knight Order.

Shen Mu’s reinforcements arrived as Wood Elves exploited the defenders’ dwindling arrows to rush the Castle Main Building, where Rhodok Sergeants slaughtered them in a Pike Square. Zhang Bo realized the Green Leaf Group’s defeat was inevitable and stood on the third-floor balcony in despair.

• Shen Mu saw the Sacred Tree Knight Order’s 1,010-strong detachment arrive and reinforce Dhirim’s defenses.
• The Wood Elves noticed the archers were running low on arrows and charged toward the Castle Main Building.
• The Rhodok Sergeants held their Pike Square, killing hundreds of Wood Elves without losing a soldier.
• Zhang Bo saw Dhirim’s growing forces and understood that the Wood Elves had been ambushed inside the Castle Main Building.
• Zhang Bo became overwhelmed by despair and considered jumping from the third-floor balcony.

Shen Mu’s ambush devastated Green Leaf Group’s invading Wood Elves, leaving Zhang Bo to abandon the failed plan and pin his hopes on the Wood Elf Plane. As Stage 7 neared completion, Shen Mu examined its rewards and prepared for the harder fight against the Undead Legion.

• Zhang Bo hid his fear and praised Shen Mu’s ambush, while Shen Mu explained how he had concealed reserve troops in the castle and towers.
• Zhang Bo concluded that Green Leaf Group’s plan had failed, resolved to remain undercover, and hoped the Wood Elf Plane would save the group from Dhirim.
• Shen Mu watched the enemy death count rise toward Stage 7’s goal of 2,000 kills and reviewed the seven rewards, including a Holy Light Enchantment and 1,000 high-tier reinforcements.
• Shen Mu suspected the rewards foreshadowed a battle with the powerful Undead Spellcaster and considered whether the Necromantic Rules could replace the Undead Legion if he destroyed it.

Ludwig sensed that Dhirim had received reinforcements and prepared to lead a fresh Skeleton Legion in a final assault, while Fatis rotated rested troops onto the strained East City Wall. Shen Mu completed Stage 7 and discovered that Stage 8 required defeating the Vanguard Commander-in-Chief of the Black Arrow Tower Seventh Dynasty.

• Ludwig noticed Dhirim's growing life force and realized that reinforcements had arrived as his Skeleton Legions suffered heavy losses.
• Ludwig reflected on his resentment toward his brother and his ambition to reclaim his Wood Elf body and rise to power.
• Ludwig summoned another Skeleton Legion and armed himself to lead a final assault on the human defenders.
• Fatis accepted the Sacred Tree Knights' warning and replaced exhausted low-tier troops with rested high-ranking soldiers and Lake Rats Destroyers.
• Shen Mu received the Stage 7 reward after the two-thousandth Bone Skeleton died and saw that Stage 8 required defeating the Vanguard Commander-in-Chief of the Black Arrow Tower Seventh Dynasty.

Shen Mu claimed the seventh-stage rewards and received an elite Khergit force as reinforcements for Dhirim. The Khergit Horse Archers entered the city and were sent to reinforce the East City Wall as the Blue Star Humans realized Dhirim was under a fierce undead assault.

• Shen Mu upgraded his skills, blessed his generals, and accepted a thousand Khergit reinforcements: 700 Tier 4 Khergit Horse Archers and 300 Khergit Veteran Horse Archers.
• Lezalit ordered the West City Gate opened, and the Khergit Horse Archers rode into Dhirim.
• A messenger relayed Shen Mu's orders for the Khergits to dismount, form combat squads, and head to the East City Wall and towers.
• The High-Level Managers watched the reinforcements and the fighting, realizing that undead monsters were attacking Dhirim in overwhelming numbers.
• Blue Star Humans with Swadian templates were prevented from joining the battle and were told to return to their homes and await news.

Khergit reinforcements stabilized Dhirim’s East City Wall, but a new Black Tide heralded Stage 8 and its hidden Undead Spellcaster. Shen Mu prepared to use the Holy Light Enchantment Scroll against the commander while the Wood Elves remained trapped in the White Council’s tower and fighting continued in the Castle Hall.

• Khergit Horse Archers and Veteran Horse Archers showered the Bone Skeletons with arrows, giving Fatis time to reorganize the wall’s defenders and send up reserves.
• Fatis and Shen Mu spotted a vast Black Tide approaching from beyond the East City Wall, and Shen Mu recognized the start of Stage 8 and the arrival of the Black Arrow Tower Seventh Dynasty’s vanguard commander.
• Shen Mu inspected the Holy Light Enchantment Scroll, which could grant troops fire damage and powerful holy light damage against dark creatures for thirty minutes.
• Shen Mu resolved to use the scroll with Dhirim’s ballistas, trebuchets, and troops to defeat the Undead Spellcaster.
• Shen Mu saw that hundreds of Wood Elves still held the White Council’s Tower of Light Torch, while the battle in the Castle Hall continued despite his Rhodok Sergeants and ranged troops.

Shen Mu ordered Manid and the Rhodok Sergeants to end the battle, and the Sergeants changed from their pike formation to a brutal close-quarters assault. The Wood Elves’ attack collapsed into a panicked rout, leaving hundreds trapped and cut down at the Castle Hall entrance.

• Shen Mu ordered a Sacred Tree Knight to tell Manid to finish off the enemy quickly and clear the battlefield.
• Manid led the Rhodok Sergeants as they dropped their halberds and shields, drew their Straight Blade War Knives, and advanced through the Wood Elves.
• The Rhodok Sergeants’ armor withstood the Wood Elves’ attacks while their heavy blades killed those who tried to fight back.
• The Wood Elves lost morale and fled, crowding into a jam at the narrow entrance to the Castle Hall.
• The Rhodok Sergeants cut down the Wood Elves trapped at the entrance, while a few escaped by climbing over the gates.

Shen Mu’s Rhodok Sergeants routed the Wood Elf Sword Dancers, while Zhang Bo realized his plan had doomed Green Leaf Group and broke down in regret. Shen Mu ordered the Sergeants to assault the remaining Wood Elves in the White Council’s Tower of Light Torch.

• The Rhodok Sergeants defeated the Wood Elf Sword Dancers in the Castle Hall, forcing them to flee toward the library.
• Shen Mu praised his soldiers’ strength, and Zhang Bo admitted they had exceeded his expectations as he saw the Wood Elves’ defeat.
• Zhang Bo concluded that his Grand Plan had doomed Green Leaf Group and wept over the battle’s consequences.
• Shen Mu reflected that he had concealed Zhang Bo’s spying to increase the Mount & Blade System’s mission rewards.
• Shen Mu ordered the Rhodok Sergeants to attack the remaining Wood Elves in the library, and they advanced toward the Tower of Light Torch.

After their decapitation force was routed, Yang Di and Zhang Song abandoned the library and withdrew through the Teleportation Gates as Human heavy infantry advanced. Zhang Song spared the captive Human Mages, and the gates vanished after the retreat, leaving Dhirim’s soldiers to find the Edengard Pious Ones bound inside.

• Yang Di and Zhang Song watched the defeated Wood Elves flee into the library, while Yang Di berated them and the others tried to calm them.
• Zhang Song urged Yang Di to retreat, and Yang Di led the survivors through the Teleportation Gates as the Human soldiers approached.
• When Blue Star Humans proposed killing the captive Human Mages, Zhang Song stopped them and ordered them to withdraw instead.
• Zhang Song and the remaining guards left through the gates, which then vanished as the three holy artifacts crumbled into dust.
• A Rhodok Sergeant entered the empty library, found the bound Edengard Pious Ones, and cut them free.