Chapter Summaries

Roderick’s squad set out for Rust City to lead a Regional Campaign as Ladder Seekers from across North America joined them. Near the campaign’s 1,000-person goal, a jealous group ambushed the squad, intending to seize the opportunity by killing them.

• Roderick’s squad accepted its role as the campaign’s banner and headed for Rust City.
• Scott rallied more than thirty Ladder Seekers in Red Leaf Town to join the campaign.
• Seekers across North America answered Roderick’s call, and the gathering count climbed to 987.
• Falcon spotted an ambush ahead, and Roderick ordered his squad to prepare for battle.
• A green-eyed warrior and his companions confronted Roderick’s squad and declared they would kill them to take the god’s favor.

Roderick and his team fought seven players corrupted by the Jealousy Plague until Scott arrived with reinforcements and helped defeat them. Their gathering surpassed the War Ladder's goal, upgrading the Seekers in the Rust City region to Prospective Believers and granting them new abilities.

• Roderick's team was outmatched by seven Envy-corrupted players, and the attackers threatened to kill Andre.
• Roderick drew on the War Ladder emblem's power and helped Kevin strike the axe warrior with a Fireball.
• Scott and more than ten players arrived, rescued Andre, and helped Roderick's team kill all seven attackers.
• The attackers' bodies dissolved into green smoke, and Kevin concluded that killing fully corrupted players purified them.
• Scott introduced himself to Roderick and welcomed the chance to join forces.
• The system announced that 1,032 Ladder Seekers had gathered in the Rust City region and upgraded them to Prospective Believers with new passive skills.

After the War Ladder granted the gathered players powerful bonuses, Roderick learned that Phase Two required them to purify three signal towers feeding the Sin Aggregate. He summoned the Prospective Believers to the Broken Bridge, where a wounded scout warned them that the northern tower was guarded by an army of at least two thousand monsters.

• The War Ladder gave Roderick and the others the Sin Nemesis and War Inspiration passive skills, increasing their damage against Sin Creatures and all Attributes.
• Scott pledged his group to Roderick, who urged everyone to prepare for the campaign’s next phase.
• Roderick and the others discovered that Phase Two required them to purify the Wailing, Grieving, and Hatred Signal Towers to cut off the Sin Aggregate’s energy.
• Roderick called all Prospective Believers to gather at the Broken Bridge, and more than eight hundred players assembled within half an hour.
• A badly wounded scout arrived and warned Roderick that an army of at least two thousand Jealousy Plague monsters guarded the Wailing Signal Tower.

Roderick rallied more than eight hundred Prospective Believers to face two thousand monsters at the Wailing Signal Tower, and their resolve earned them the War Ladder’s Holy Armament blessing. The newly empowered group marched toward the tower to begin the trial.

• After a scout reported that two thousand monsters occupied the northern tower, the players panicked, but Scott and Roderick urged them to stand firm.
• Roderick declared that the group would fight in the War Ladder’s name, and Andre, Falcon, the original thirteen, Scott, and the other players knelt in a pledge of loyalty.
• The War Ladder answered their unified resolve with a dark-gold light that transformed every Prospective Believer’s equipment into Holy Armament.
• The players discovered that Holy Armament increased their weapons’ attack power and armor’s defense by 50% for two hours, restoring their confidence.
• Roderick ordered the group to march on the Wailing Signal Tower.

More than eight hundred players used the War Ladder’s blessings to overwhelm and purify a horde of over two thousand monsters. After the easy victory, Roderick led them toward the Wailing Signal Tower, whose horrifying form and psychic wails came into view.

• Roderick rallied the players, and more than eight hundred charged the approaching Corrupted monsters under Holy Armament.
• A Berserker split a Corrupted Stalker with one blow, revealing the players’ enhanced strength and earning War Ladder Points.
• The players slaughtered the monsters with ease, while Roderick and Scott fought along the flank.
• Scott told Roderick that the power was terrifying, and Roderick said the War Ladder had granted it before directing everyone to gather their spoils and advance.
• The players saw the Wailing Signal Tower, a spine-like structure covered in cables and flesh-like material, and heard its despairing wails in their minds.

Roderick’s team advanced to the Wailing Signal Tower, fighting off the flying Sin Creatures it spawned and attacking its nearly indestructible base. The tower pulled itself free of the earth and stood up as a Level 100 Epic-grade Sin Lord, leaving the players facing a colossal enemy.

• The players endured the Wailing Signal Tower’s mental debuff as Roderick led more than eight hundred of them toward it.
• The tower burst open tumors and released smoke monsters, which Scott and the other ranged fighters quickly killed for War Ladder Points.
• Roderick ordered the players to attack the tower, but their weapons only left shallow marks and Kevin prepared a combined spell.
• The tower’s cables glowed as it tore its roots from the ground, revealing enormous legs made of metal, cables, and flesh.
• The Wailing Signal Tower stood up, activated as a Level 100 Epic-grade Sin Lord, and left Roderick sweating as he faced it.

Roderick and the remaining players were overwhelmed by the Wailing Signal Tower, an LV100 Epic Lord, until they knelt and prayed to the War Ladder for Divine Punishment. Holy Spirit Leon answered their prayers and swung a colossal blade of light at the tower.

• The Wailing Signal Tower crushed more than thirty Shield Warriors with one stomp and slaughtered the fleeing players with its cables.
• Roderick stayed behind as the battle collapsed, then planted his shield and prayed to the War Ladder for help.
• Andre, Scott, Kevin, Falcon, and other surviving players joined Roderick in prayer as a cable descended toward him.
• The cable and the Wailing Signal Tower froze when Holy Spirit Leon appeared in a pillar of light.
• Leon formed a sword of light and swung a ten-thousand-meter blade toward the Wailing Signal Tower.

Holy Spirit Leon destroyed the Wailing Signal Tower with one sword strike, and the surviving Prospective Believers received a permanent attribute boost and a collective skill to summon him. Roderick told Kevin to post the recorded miracle on the North American War Zone forum to spread the War Ladder’s influence.

• Holy Spirit Leon’s platinum sword light disintegrated the Wailing Signal Tower, then Leon vanished into the rift.
• Andre, Scott, Roderick, and the other survivors reacted with awe to the Epic Lord’s defeat.
• System alerts awarded participating Prospective Believers +100 to all attributes and the collective skill Holy Spirit Descends.
• Scott and the survivors celebrated their new ability to summon a Holy Spirit by praying together.
• Roderick asked Kevin to post the recording, and Kevin published a video of the miracle on the North American War Zone forum.

Kevin’s video of Roderick’s group summoning Holy Spirit Leon to destroy the LV100 Epic-grade lord stunned the North American War Zone. After Roderick refused to attack another tower because their strongest abilities were limited, thousands of players arrived, eager to join the War Ladder.

• Kevin published a video showing Holy Spirit Leon descend in response to Roderick’s prayer and kill the Epic-grade lord with one sword strike.
• Players across the North American War Zone reacted with amazement and began heading to Rust City, hoping to summon the Holy Spirit themselves.
• Scott urged Roderick to attack another signal tower, but Roderick refused, noting that [Holy Spirit Descends] had a seven-day cooldown and [Holy Armament] had only forty minutes remaining.
• Roderick spotted a crowd of several thousand approaching and ordered his group to stay vigilant in case they were hostile.
• A warrior from the crowd called out to Roderick, saying they had seen the video and wanted to join the War Ladder.

Thousands of players gathered around Roderick, hoping to join the War Ladder after seeing its power. Roderick made them prove their sincerity by praying, and while many became Seekers, Blood Wolf’s Black failed and accused Roderick of deception.

• Thousands of players surrounded Roderick’s group, and Roderick warned them that the War Ladder answered resolve rather than need or enthusiasm.
• Players shared stories of betrayal and suffering before Roderick told them to kneel and make honest pleas to the god.
• The War Ladder granted Seeker Mode to the scrawny rogue and many other players who prayed sincerely.
• Black and the Blood Wolf elites received no status, so Black accused Roderick of staging a trick and threatened to destroy the place.

Roderick’s Seekers killed Black and the Blood Wolf Guild after the War Ladder branded them false believers. With two Sin Signal Towers still standing, Roderick urged the shaken force to keep fighting, arguing that their faith and resolve—not a skill cooldown—had brought them victory.

• The War Ladder rejected Black and his followers, then gave Seekers a quest to purge the 42 false believers.
• Scott shot a Blood Wolf Guild thief, and thousands of Seekers charged and killed the guild members, including Black.
• Roderick declared that the Wailing Signal Tower had been purified and called for the two remaining Sin Signal Towers to be cleansed.
• Kevin and Scott warned that Holy Armament was about to expire and Holy Spirit Descends was on cooldown, so attacking the remaining towers would be too dangerous.
• Roderick told the fearful Seekers that their resolve and faith had earned the War Ladder’s answer and urged them to trust that their god would answer again.

Roderick rallied the players to attack the Grieving Signal Tower before Holy Armament expired. The blessing ended just as the tower awakened, leaving thousands of ordinary players facing its violent eruption.

• Roderick challenged the new Seekers to fight, and Macron led thousands of players in answering his call.
• Scott joined the charge while Kevin warned that attacking without the blessing was dangerous.
• Roderick led the disorganized force toward the Grieving Signal Tower, where Andre used Holy Light to shield players from its wails.
• The players cleared the Mutated Monsters surrounding the tower as Holy Armament's countdown dwindled to its final seconds.
• Holy Armament ended, and the Grieving Signal Tower cracked, shook, and unleashed black mist and a deafening wail.

The Grieving Signal Tower unleashed a devastating sonic attack that overwhelmed the players and drained their mana, leaving the army on the brink of destruction. As the survivors turned against Roderick, he knelt and called on the will of the War Ladder, and Macron joined him in prayer.

• The tower's Grief Howl incapacitated players, drained mana, and shattered the army's defensive line.
• Kevin blamed Roderick for leading them into danger, while players panicked and fled.
• Scott tried to hold the formation, but the sonic waves weakened him and the other players.
• Roderick knelt before his shield and urged the War Ladder to answer its believers despite the seven-day cooldown.
• Macron regained his resolve, ran back to Roderick, and knelt beside him.

As Roderick’s followers gather to pray, their faith transforms him into a Walking Holy Spirit with new divine powers. Roderick’s Holy Domain neutralizes the Grieving Signal Tower’s attacks, and he summons a colossal sword to strike it.

• Scott abandons his weapon and kneels behind Roderick to pray, prompting Roderick’s followers and then Kevin to join them.
• The prayers stop the Grieving Signal Tower’s wail, and sacred white-gold light erupts from Roderick as he rises into the sky.
• A world announcement declares Roderick a Walking Holy Spirit and grants him Faith Judgment and the Holy Domain aura.
• Roderick’s Holy Domain cleanses the kneeling players’ afflictions and restores their health and mana while protecting him from the tower’s sound waves.
• Roderick uses Faith Judgment to summon a gigantic white-gold sword that plunges toward the Grieving Signal Tower.

Roderick led the players to destroy the Grieving Signal Tower, then used the Holy Domain to turn hundreds of believers into an overwhelming force against the Hatred Demons. With the demons defeated, the Hatred Signal Tower began to rise.

• Roderick purified the Grieving Signal Tower, earning the players a massive experience reward and several level-ups for the strongest believers.
• Roderick’s divine skills went on cooldown, and he rallied the players to attack the final tower.
• Roderick led the Holy Light Legion toward the Hatred Signal Tower, while Kevin warned them about the Hatred Demons’ damage-link ability.
• Scott killed a Hatred Demon with a Holy Fire arrow, and the buffed players wiped out the thousands of demons in under five minutes.
• Roderick warned that the Hatred Signal Tower was about to move, and its runes lit up as it rose to its feet.

The Hatred Signal Tower unleashed a curse that drove the players to attack one another, but Roderick’s Holy Domain Aura purified it. Scott wounded the tower with a Holy Fire Arrow, and the players charged into battle as the tower fought back with giant shadow claws.

• The Hatred Signal Tower opened a crimson eye and used its curse to turn the players against their allies.
• Roderick’s Holy Domain Aura purified the curse and stopped the players from attacking one another.
• Scott resisted the tower’s stronger attack and struck its eye with a Holy Fire Arrow, wounding it.
• The tower formed giant shadow claws and attacked the players, who charged it under Roderick’s protection.
• The players fought back with holy-enhanced spells and weapons while the Holy Domain Aura restored their health and mana.

Roderick led the players to destroy the Hatred Signal Tower, stopping its self-destructive attack and purifying it with a Golden Sun. The phase ended, and the players received war supplies that upgraded their equipment to Epic-grade.

• Kevin warned that the Hatred Signal Tower was charging a self-destructive attack, and Roderick told the group to hold their ground.
• Roderick ordered Scott and Kevin to lead the players in attacking the tower while he faced its final strike alone.
• The players unleashed their attacks on the tower as it fired a blood-red beam at Roderick.
• Roderick used the Holy Domain Aura to form a Golden Sun that erased the beam and crumbled the Hatred Signal Tower into black dust.
• The campaign phase was completed, and participants received war supply crates and War Ladder Points.
• Scott opened his crate and received an Epic-grade longbow, while other players discovered Epic-grade equipment in theirs.

After Roderick’s faithful followers received Epic-grade equipment, Night Cherry Tangle descended over Rust City and recognized Roderick’s achievement. He summoned the War Ladder and explained how it would rank the city’s believers and determine their power, authority, and resources.

• Roderick found that his Divinity skills were on cooldown, but took his successful miracle as proof that faith could create divine power.
• Scott urged Roderick to lead the newly equipped group against the remaining mobs, while Roderick observed that the city’s skies had begun to clear after the signal towers were purified.
• A divine presence forced the players, including Roderick, to kneel as Night Cherry Tangle emerged from a rift above Rust City.
• Night Cherry Tangle praised Roderick and reduced the cooldowns on Faith Judgment and Holy Domain to seven days.
• Night Cherry Tangle summoned the War Ladder and announced that believers’ actions would earn Ladder Points, which determined their rank, strength, authority, and resources.

Night Cherry Tangle named Roderick the guardian of Rust City and tasked the players with building a Faith Lighthouse, while warning them about the Shadow of Jealousy. Roderick spent his War Ladder Points on a Sin Detector blueprint, located a site where Sin Karma had accumulated, and led the players toward it.

• Night Cherry Tangle explained that the Sin Origin Furnace could turn Sin Karma-tainted spoils into War Insignias, then named Roderick a Walking Holy Spirit and guardian of Rust City.
• Night Cherry Tangle assigned the players the regional quest to build a Faith Lighthouse, requiring large amounts of materials and 100,000 War Ladder Total Points.
• Night Cherry Tangle warned that the Shadow of Jealousy posed a greater threat than the players imagined, then vanished.
• Roderick spent his 10,000 War Ladder Points on the Sin Detector blueprint despite Scott and Kevin objecting.
• Roderick activated the Sin Detector and found a red-marked site of accumulated Sin Karma in an abandoned factory district.
• Roderick told the players to follow him and headed toward the marked location.

Roderick led the party to an abandoned factory, where they discovered Sinful Slags that dropped Pure Energy Cores. After the group swiftly cleared the factory, they left with 27 cores and a huge haul of materials.

• Roderick led the party to the abandoned factory district, where Scott spotted a level 78 Sinful Slag.
• Scott and the party attacked, and their Epic Equipment let them defeat the Elite Lord in under thirty seconds without casualties.
• The Sinful Slag dropped a Pure Energy Core, and Kevin realized Roderick had used the detector blueprint to locate core-bearing monsters.
• Roderick told the party that more monsters were inside the factory, prompting everyone to charge in without hesitation.
• The party cleared the factory of three more Sinful Slags and many Lava Worms, collecting 27 Pure Energy Cores and a mountain of materials.