Chapter Summaries

Ailin told Vesemir how he had killed a member of the Wild Hunt during the destruction of Ban Ard, prompting Vesemir to scold him for risking his life. As they discussed Eredin Breacc Glas’s cryptic threat, High Priest Ianna arrived at the cabin.

• Ailin agreed to rest and avoid potions after the apprentice priestess insisted he recover, then she left to deliver food.
• Vesemir sent the young witchers outside to train and asked Ailin what had happened during his trip to Ban Ard.
• Ailin revealed that he had killed a member of the Wild Hunt and recounted how the city burned, he encountered the Wild Hunt, and Parnovius’s actions reduced the pursuing Ban Ard Sorcerers from twelve to two.
• Vesemir warned Ailin not to risk his life again and reminded him how deeply his death would affect the school and those close to him.
• Ailin told Vesemir that Eredin Breacc Glas had promised the Red Riders would return after their souls had reincarnated twice, and Vesemir pondered what it meant.
• High Priest Ianna entered the cabin and asked why Ailin and Vesemir looked troubled.

Ianna interpreted “two soul rebirths” as either two years or May 5 next year, and Ailin revealed that the Wild Hunt might launch a full-scale attack on the Northern Continent. Left alone to recover, Ailin absorbed the Guiding Stone of Ad Gaes's Gate and discovered that it reduced the requirements for guiding coordinates.

• Ianna explained the elven calendar and said “two soul rebirths” could mean either two years or 186 days, ending on May 5 next year.
• Ailin told Ianna and Nannick that the Wild Hunt might attack the Northern Continent again and described Ban Ard burning after Eredin Breacc Glas's forces struck.
• Nannick urged Ianna to warn Mason and the Northern Continent's rulers, but Ianna rebuked her for acting rashly and risking Ailin's secrecy.
• Ianna and Nannick left Ailin to rest, while he worried over the uncertain timing of the Wild Hunt's return.
• Ailin absorbed the Guiding Stone of Ad Gaes's Gate, and the Witcher's Handbook reported that guiding coordinate requirements had been reduced.

Ailin recovered from his wounds while studying new spells and magical knowledge, as he and the others worried over the lack of news following the Wild Hunt’s attack on Ban Ard. The chapter ended with a messenger announcing that the Old Duke had arrived with news that Henn Gedimidis had died.

• Ailin discovered that the Guiding Stone had halved the requirements for his Hunting Quests and calculated how many Experience Orbs he could earn from nearby monsters.
• Lyra kept Ailin confined to the temple for his full seven-day recovery, while he studied Sorcerer's Memories and unlocked Telepathy, Summon Staff, and Magic Flash.
• Ianna and Nannick discussed the silence from Temeria after Ban Ard was attacked, and Ianna reasoned that Henn Gedimidis may have been the only Sorcerer powerful enough to drive off the Wild Hunt.
• A messenger announced that the Old Duke had arrived at the temple with news that Henn Gedimidis had died.

Ailin and Ianna learned that Ban Ard had been destroyed by the Wild Hunt and that Henn Gedimidis might have been killed or taken hostage by Senne’s Radical Faction. Ailin suspected Henn would not survive Senne’s protection and considered what Ban Ard’s loss would mean in the war against the Wild Hunt.

• The Old Duke told Ailin, Ianna, and Nannick that the Wild Hunt had destroyed Ban Ard and killed nearly twenty thousand people.
• The Old Duke explained that Senne had asked the Temple of Melitele to return Ban Ard’s refugees, send healers, and mediate peace between Kedwen and Ard; Ianna refused to commit the temple’s help.
• The Old Duke reported that Senne’s Radical Faction had sealed off Henn Gedimidis’s retreat, after which the headmaster’s office vanished and nearly twenty core Radical Sorcerers disappeared.
• The Old Duke said rival Sorcerers suspected Senne had attacked Henn to seize power, though the claims might have been factional rumors.
• Ailin recognized that some missing Sorcerers had died in front of him and suspected Senne would kill Henn, then wondered whether he should act to protect Ban Ard’s position against the Wild Hunt.

Ailin argued that the Northern Continent should make mediation conditional on proving whether Henn Gedimidis was alive, rather than accepting Senne’s assurances and strengthening Ban Ard prematurely. The Old Duke promised to pass Ailin’s proposal to King Gedymar, and Ailin learned that Vesemir and the others were in Moin Village, where trouble had arisen.

• The Old Duke told Ianna that Gedymar and Vizima’s nobles supported mediation after Senne threatened to relocate Ban Ard Academy, and Ianna said the Temple of Melitele also leaned toward mediation because of the Wild Hunt.
• Ianna asked Ailin for his opinion, and he questioned whether Senne’s weakened academy could protect the Northern Continent even if the war ended.
• Ailin urged the Old Duke to delay mediation until Ban Ard proved whether Henn Gedimidis was alive, arguing that the powerful Sorcerer was worth risking a confrontation to save.
• The Old Duke agreed to relay Ailin’s proposal to King Gedymar, while Ianna joined Ailin in backing the gamble.
• Before leaving, the Old Duke told Ailin that Vesemir and the others were at Moin Village and that Arthur and Sala had gone there because Vesemir had encountered trouble.

Ailin explained why he had gambled on Henn Gedimidis being alive and secured Ianna’s support for Duke Mason’s effort to make the sorcerers surrender him. He then rode to Moin Village to meet Vesemir and investigate the necrophage problem, where the unusually strict security and complete lack of signs of violence left him suspicious.

• Ailin told Ianna that Henn Gedimidis was likely still alive and that his survival could help the Northern Continent resist the Wild Hunt, and Ianna promised the temple would support Duke Mason’s effort to obtain him.
• Ailin left for Moin Village before dawn, worried that Vesemir and the other witchers might leave to hunt monsters before he arrived.
• At the village gate, Ailin met Sala, who confirmed that Vesemir was in the village and welcomed him inside.
• Sala said the necrophage situation was complicated and left its explanation to Vesemir, then invited Ailin to join the villagers for breakfast.
• Ailin noticed the village had tight security but no visible corpses, bloodstains, or traces of blood, and wondered what made the situation so unusual.

Ailin visited Moin Village and learned that three Necrophage Monster's Nests in the Mahakam Mountains were cooperating instead of fighting each other. The nests were feeding on thousands of bodies from old and recent graves, leaving Ailin and the others facing a potential catastrophe worse than the May Festival wraith tide.

• Sala told Ailin that his Necrophage Oil had kept the Monster Hunter Army from losing anyone for over a month and thanked him on the army's behalf.
• Ailin arrived at the cottage and found Vesemir and Arthur arguing over three Monster's Nests hidden in the mountains east of Moin Village.
• Vesemir explained that the nests protected one another and worked together, contrary to their usual behavior.
• Sala and Arthur said the Ghouls had dug up recent village graves and old graves near Moin Village, including burial grounds for victims of Falga's Rebellion and the Black Death.
• Arthur estimated that five or six thousand bodies had been buried around Vizima and nearby settlements, and Ailin feared the nests could unleash a disaster worse than the May Festival wraith tide.

Ailin joined Vesemir, Arthur, and the other witchers to inspect two Monster's Nests in the Mahakam Mountains, hoping to find a way to locate the hidden 'earl.' The nests were producing more ghoulish creatures by the day, and Ailin ended the chapter preparing to search for their leader.

• Ailin learned that two Monster's Nests were protected by a hidden 'earl,' and that their coordinated attacks made finding the leader essential.
• Vesemir argued that sending the Guard Knights into the mountains would waste lives, while Arthur warned that Arland could not afford to wait as the threat grew.
• Ailin offered to look for a way to find the 'earl,' and Arthur agreed to give him one day.
• Vesemir led Ailin, Arthur, and the witchers to inspect the two nests, where they saw hundreds of Ghouls, Rotfiends, and Giant Ghouls.
• Ailin observed that both nests were producing more creatures and asked Vesemir to show him the second nest; after seeing ghouls covering the mountains, he said he would try to find the 'earl.'

Ailin used Primal Tongue to locate the Monster's Nests and discovered that seven had formed in the Mahakam Mountains, far more than Arthur and Vesemir expected. The group found a viscount-level Nest and began investigating how the Nests had appeared so quickly, while Ailin suspected a connection to the Conjunction of the Spheres outside Arland.

• Ailin meditated and asked Mother Nature to reveal the Monster's Nest, then led Arthur, Vesemir, and the young witchers toward the Count.
• Ailin told Arthur that seven Monster's Nests existed: four barons, two viscounts, and one count.
• Ailin showed the group a viscount-level Nest surrounded by corpse-eaters, convincing Arthur that sending soldiers into the mountains would have led to a massacre.
• Vesemir questioned Arthur about unusual events, and Arthur recalled that Derek had hunted in the mountains less than three months earlier without finding any Nests.
• Vesemir asked whether a Conjunction of the Spheres had occurred nearby, and Ailin remembered the event outside Arland during the May Festival.

Ailin and Vesemir concluded that the seven monster nests might be serving an evil god and sent Arthur back to warn the authorities. They tracked the monster nests to a vast slaughterhouse of flesh and found a crimson-eyed presence inside an elven ruin, which opened its eyes and locked gazes with Ailin.

• Ailin connected the monster nests’ strange behavior and their location near an ancient tower to the swamp hag and the evil god that had cursed him.
• Ailin and Vesemir told Arthur of the danger and sent him back with Ernie and the other young witchers to alert Sala, the old duke, and Mother Ianna.
• After Arthur’s group left, Ailin revealed that he had summoned Good Girl, and he and Vesemir headed toward the nearby monster nests.
• The witchers found a valley carpeted with flesh where ghastly creatures transported human, beast, and monster corpses toward a ruined tower.
• Ailin recognized the tower as an elven ruin, then saw its crimson eyelids open and dragon-like pupils fix on him.

Ailin recognized the Count as the Evil God that had cursed him, and he and Vesemir fled to a clearing to hold off the pursuing monsters while waiting for Good Girl. After they slaughtered wave after wave of ghouls, a Spiked Fiend charged at them, forcing Vesemir to shout for Ailin to run.

• Ailin realized the Count was a living ritual connected to the Evil God that had cursed him, so he and Vesemir fled as the Monster's Nests stirred and the monsters pursued them.
• Ailin and Vesemir prepared to fight in a clearing near a cliff while they waited for Good Girl to arrive.
• The witchers killed a Giant Ghoul, Rotfiends, and Ghouls, then used North Wind bombs to freeze and shatter more than twenty enemies and kill two Giant Ghouls.
• Five more Giant Ghouls and a large horde emerged, followed by a Spiked Fiend that charged through the forest, prompting Vesemir to tell Ailin to run.

Ailin and Vesemir fought through a horde of corpse-eating monsters, and Ailin hurled a giant Spiked Fiend off a cliff before escaping with Vesemir on Good Girl, the Greater Griffin. They survived the battle and collected rewards, but Vesemir questioned whether they should leave the gloomy clouds and the Evil God's forces behind.

• Ailin and Vesemir faced a massive Spiked Fiend, and Ailin used Alde and the exploding Rotfiends to knock it off the cliff.
• The Witchers fought off Ghouls and Giant Ghouls until Ailin sensed Good Girl approaching and led Vesemir over the cliff.
• Good Girl caught them in the air and carried them away, while her arrival sent more corpse-eating monsters tumbling into the abyss.
• Ailin received loot and hunting quests, then checked that his Ghoul, Rotfiend, and Giant Ghoul quests were nearly complete.
• Vesemir recovered from the fall, adjusted the Dwarven Bomb on his back, and asked Ailin whether they were really leaving.

Ailin and Vesemir escaped the Evil God's silent gaze and learned that the necrophage ritual was nearly complete and could summon an Evil God within a day. Ianna mobilized Arland, the Temple of Melitele, and Aretuza, but left the witchers without orders until Ailin asked what they could do.

• Ailin and Vesemir circled away from the valley after the necrophages watched them without moving, and Vesemir explained that Evil Gods corrupted followers and created monsters.
• Ailin drew the valley's ritual for Ianna, who identified it as a nearly completed divine descent ritual capable of summoning an Evil God.
• Ianna revealed that the Evil God could descend within a day and told Mason to mobilize soldiers to contain the necrophages.
• Agatha agreed to contact Lady Tissaia and took Mason through a portal, while Ianna assigned tasks to the temple priests.
• Ailin, Vesemir, and the seven young witchers realized they had been overlooked, and Ailin asked Ianna what they could do.

Ianna forbade Ailin and the other witchers from joining the campaign against the Evil God, and Ailin realized she believed the monster would revive regardless. Determined to defend Arland, he and Vesemir sought protective amulets from Lyra, but Nannick interrupted them.

• Ianna explained that the Novigrad Alliance required sorcerers, nobles, priests, and Druids to fight an Evil God, but argued that nine uncoordinated witchers would hinder the army and should instead brew Necrophage Oil.
• Ianna described the plan to advance through the Monster's Nests and warned that the summoned monster could resist magic and recover by devouring necrophages.
• Ailin concluded that Ianna had sent the witchers away because she expected the Evil God to revive, then told Vesemir he would not abandon Arland.
• Vesemir agreed to stay with Ailin, and the two set out to ask Lyra for amulets that could resist the Great Old One's Curse.
• Ailin found Lyra bringing crucibles and ingredients to the witchers, but Nannick called out to her before she could explain whether she could provide an amulet.

Lyra gave Ailin and Vesemir four long-blessed amulets for their planned assault on the Evil God’s ritual in the southern foothills of Mahakam. As Aretuza’s sorceresses and other allies arrived to organize the operation, Ailin went to the statue chamber and began a concealment ritual, hoping to seek the Goddess’s guidance.

• Lyra gave Ailin and Vesemir four amulets blessed by veteran priests and urged Ailin to return safely.
• Ailin told Vesemir they would wait for Ianna’s forces to draw away most of the necrophages before attacking the ritual.
• Tissaia de Vries arrived with the sorceresses of Aretuza, and her mental probing briefly clashed with Ailin’s defenses.
• Ianna welcomed Tissaia and her delegation, while Agatha, the Old Duke, and Arthur arrived separately to join the planning meeting.
• Ailin went to the statue chamber and began drawing Meritellie’s Concealment Ritual.

As the Temple of Melitele, Aretuza, and Arland argued over command of the force assembled against the Evil God, Ailin summoned Meritellie through her Concealment Ritual. Meritellie could not confront the Evil God herself, but she spent her limited Divine Power to strengthen Ianna’s warriors, then warned Ailin that the world had little time left.

• Tissaia de Vries demanded that Aretuza command the temple priests and Arland’s soldiers, while Ianna and the Old Duke reluctantly prepared to accept.
• Ianna’s attempt to settle the command dispute was interrupted when the Wolf Emblem on Vesemir’s chest buzzed and Tissaia sensed a disturbance.
• Ailin performed Meritellie’s Concealment Ritual in the icon chamber, and the goddess appeared before him as a maiden.
• Meritellie said she could not drive away the Evil God because her power was occupied resisting the White Frost, but she could grant Ianna’s warriors holy shields and holy strength.
• Ailin chose those protections over a Blessing of the Harvest, and Meritellie used her limited Divine Power to send a pillar of golden light skyward.
• Before disappearing, Meritellie called Ailin the Child of Miracle and warned him that the world did not have much time left.

Goddess Meritellie descended during the meeting to grant Ianna power to oppose the Evil God and bless four amulets held by Vesemir. With command authority settled under Ianna, the group planned the campaign, then turned to Vesemir to ask what he and Ailin intended to do.

• The priests and Sorceresses praised Meritellie, who descended upon her statue, rejuvenated Ianna, and gave her a Divine Art to restrain the Evil God.
• Four sacred amulets appeared above Vesemir’s palm, while Helia reported a miracle at the statue chamber where Ailin was.
• Ianna swore a severe oath before Meritellie, and Tissaia relinquished Aretuza Academy’s command authority to the temple, with the Old Duke pledging Arland’s obedience as well.
• The meeting produced a rough campaign plan, while Vesemir worried that the goddess’s blessing had exposed the amulets’ purpose and that Lyra was resentful.
• Tissaia asked about the witchers’ role, and Ianna said the seven young witchers would make Sword Oil before asking Vesemir what plan he and Ailin had.

Ailin opened the Aen Elle chests under the blessing of harvest and triggered a vision of the Wild Hunt fleeing the White Frost through a spiral. The vision ended with Ailin exposed to the White Frost, his body breaking apart as he lost consciousness.

• Ailin suspected the goddess’s kiss had granted a limited blessing of harvest and opened eighteen Aen Elle’s Chests, receiving nine gold, two purple, three blue, and four white rewards.
• Ailin fused seven gold chests after the Witcher’s Handbook offered the option, and a deep crimson light pulled him into a vision.
• Ailin rode with Avallac and the Wild Hunt through darkness as their riders repeatedly sacrificed themselves to the White Frost while carrying saddlebags onward.
• Ailin realized he was among the Wild Hunt riders and watched himself turn back toward the White Frost after passing the remaining saddlebags to three survivors.
• Ailin’s skeletal horse carried him beyond Avallac’s barrier, where he saw a spiral lined with windows and a distant window blink before the White Frost shattered his body and knocked him unconscious.

Ailin woke after witnessing a vision of the White Frost and examined the rewards from the Aen Elle’s Chests, including powerful Wild Hunt armor and a route to Tir ná Lia. As Ianna, Vesemir, and a Sorceress approached the statue chamber, Ailin concealed himself so he could avoid questions and secretly join the coming battle.

• Ailin woke in the statue chamber, wondered whether the White Frost had knocked him unconscious, and found a string of alarming system warnings.
• Ailin opened the Aen Elle’s Chest rewards and discovered the Conqueror’s Armor of the Wild Hunt, whose set effects allowed travel through the Spiral and escape to Tir ná Lia.
• Ailin examined the Unicorn Horn, Wild Hunt Standard Fireball, Parnovius’s Scepter, and Sera’s Rose Pendant, then opened the remaining monster and Sorcerer chests.
• Ailin gained Hangman’s Venom and Honeycomb Bomb recipes, along with experience orbs and other materials.
• As Ianna, Vesemir, and a Sorceress neared the statue chamber, Ailin erased ritual traces, turned invisible with Night, and hid behind Meritellie’s statue.

Ailin revealed that he had received a ritual from Meritellie that let him contact the goddess, while Ianna disclosed her divine blessing and agreed to help prepare for the Evil God’s expulsion. As Ianna publicly announced Ailin’s divine favor, Tissaia described the spreading dangers and began to share a message from Senne.

• Ianna entered the icon chamber, exposed Ailin’s hiding place, and revealed that she had been transformed into a young woman by the goddess’s Divine Art.
• Ailin told Ianna that Meritellie had given him a ritual for contacting her, and explained that the goddess could not personally drive out the Evil God.
• Ianna agreed to cooperate with Ailin’s plans, including changes involving the temple, army, and Aretuza, while keeping his true role in the operation from Mason and Tissaia.
• Ianna publicly told the gathered priests, apprentices, Sorceresses, and Old Duke that Ailin had prayed to Meritellie and received an answer, boosting his standing among them.
• Tissaia told Ailin that the Conjunction’s monsters and the Wild Hunt had made the world increasingly dangerous, then said Senne had sent her a message and began to explain it.