Recaps

Shien confronted the captive Evil Goddess Pandemonium, who refused to reveal what she knew about the New Primal Demon and taunted her captors. He proposed erasing her memories and making her live an ordinary mortal life, and her smile froze at the threat.

• Pandemonium woke in a divine hall, severely wounded and chained before Shien, Lidas, and Anima.
• Anima asked Pandemonium to answer their questions, but Pandemonium refused to cooperate and mocked the goddesses.
• Pandemonium told Shien she had joined the New Primal Demon because she thought it would make her happy, and said she would rather endure any punishment than help them.
• Shien recognized that pain and torture would only entertain Pandemonium, while Lidas and Anima grew disgusted and frustrated by her taunts.
• Shien offered to erase Pandemonium's memories and make her live happily as an ordinary mortal, causing her smile to freeze.

Shien forced Pandemonium to agree to reveal what she knew by threatening to erase her memories and give her an ordinary, happy life. She told him that the New Primal Demon had no headquarters and that its members acted independently under Danas's instructions, leaving Danas's location unknown.

• Shien threatened to erase Pandemonium's memories and arrange a peaceful life for her, and she agreed to answer his questions.
• Lidas asked Pandemonium where the New Primal Demon's headquarters was, and Pandemonium said the organization had none.
• Pandemonium explained that the New Primal Demon's members had no contact with one another and received instructions from Danas through communication magic or Magic Items.
• Pandemonium said Danas assigned members to roles and concealed their tracks while allowing them to act freely.
• Pandemonium admitted she did not know Danas's location, and Shien, Lidas, and Anima realized the situation was troubling.

Shien, Lidas, and Anima learned from Pandemonium that Danas had no headquarters and was difficult to locate, while his forces were collecting ancient books and objects during the war. Suspecting that Danas was gathering conditions to revive the Demon Lord, Shien resolved to keep Lasha close as the story left him returning to House Poztut.

• Lidas, Anima, and Shien concluded that defeating Danas was the only way to dismantle the New Primal Demons, but they had no way to find him.
• Pandemonium explained that Danas's communication Magic Items self-destructed and that her attempt to take Lilith and Lasha had been her own idea.
• Shien questioned Pandemonium about Danas's instructions, and she said he had ordered her and other New Primal Demons to gather books, records, and ancient objects.
• Shien suspected that Danas was collecting what he needed to revive the Demon Lord and decided to keep Lasha by his side.
• Lidas and Anima took Pandemonium away after questioning her, and Shien returned to House Poztut.

After the attack on House Poztut, Shien and Vivian reflected on how their companions had come to regard the residence as home, and Vivian promised to protect it and the Royal Capital. She then revealed that she had once been Goddess Vivian, a higher God who governed protection, reborn through a human woman to return quickly to the war a thousand years ago.

• House Poztut's servants and Knights began clearing the ruins while Lasha organized the repairs.
• Vivian told Shien that she and the others had originally stayed with him to support the Hero, but had grown to consider House Poztut their home.
• Vivian promised Shien that she would help protect the Royal Capital and their home during the war.
• Shien asked Vivian why people called her the Guardian God of the Kingdom, and she explained how a Goddess could be reborn through a human woman.
• Vivian revealed that she had once been Goddess Vivian, a higher God who governed protection.

Vivian revealed that she had once been a goddess who sacrificed her divine body to fight in the final battle, then stayed in the Kingdom for a thousand years as its Guardian God. She told Shien she would join the expedition to subdue the Dwarves with Tier, while Yulin, Merika, and Lumya would remain behind, and left after teasing him about taking Lumya in.

• Vivian told Shien how she had transferred her True Seal into a human vessel, fought beside Hero Mitra, and helped bring about the peace that followed the defeat of the Demon King.
• Vivian explained that she had spent a thousand years protecting the Kingdom, dying of old age and being resurrected through her True Seal many times.
• Vivian said Lidas and Anima had asked her to join the operation to subdue the Dwarves, and that Tier would accompany her while Yulin, Merika, and Lumya stayed behind.
• Vivian told Shien that Ryley and a member of House Elbain would also join the expedition, and Shien planned to talk to Tier about not challenging Aridia.
• Vivian teased Shien about taking Lumya in, then left him to consider it.

After House Poztut was repaired and everyone returned from their missions, the household discussed the evil god’s intrusion and whether to keep guards at home. With Yulin and Merika free from patrol duty and Tier agreeing to join Vivian’s mission to the Dwarves, Shien resolved to spend the night easing Tier’s violent urges.

• Roxie brought Court Mages to repair House Poztut, then left after reassuring herself that Shien and the household were safe.
• Tier, Merika, Yulin, and Lumya returned, and everyone learned about the evil god’s visit during dinner.
• Yulin and Tier proposed guarding House Poztut, but Vivian argued against keeping powerful people home; Merika noted that the nearby Demonoid Larvae had mostly been eliminated.
• Vivian invited Tier to accompany her to the Dwarves, and Tier agreed, saying she would kill Dwarves instead of alchemic demons.
• Worried by Tier’s appetite for violence, Shien decided to spend the night dispelling her viciousness.

Shien soaked in the bath with Tier, Yulin, and Merika, then told them he planned to visit Elven Village to speak with Sophie, Nadula, and the Goddess of Justice. Merika agreed to go with him, and Yulin decided to join despite worrying about leaving House Poztut unguarded.

• Tier brought Yulin and Merika into the bath, where they were startled and embarrassed to find Shien already there.
• Yulin accused Tier of luring them in, but Tier calmly said she had brought them because they wanted to ask Shien about his plans.
• Shien announced that he planned to visit Elven Village and asked whether Yulin and Merika wanted to come.
• Merika worried that Sophie and Nadula would not want her there, but Shien promised to explain and persuaded her to join him.
• Yulin agreed to accompany Shien, then worried about who would guard House Poztut.

Shien arranged for his group to leave the royal capital for the Elven Village while Vivian and Tier headed to reclaim the Dwarves. After reassuring Roxie and warning Tier to avoid a confrontation with Aridia, Shien's group departed quietly.

• Shien decided Lumya could remain at House Poztut under Roxie's watch while he took Yulin, Merika, Lasha, and Lilith to the Elven Village; Yulin agreed to go.
• Shien told Tier not to fight Aridia during the Dwarf mission, and Tier promised to wait for another time to settle their differences.
• Shien asked Tier to tell Harvis and Capeline to stay alive and avoid reckless actions, then Tier kissed him in the bath; Yulin fled, and Shien pulled Merika back.
• The next day, Shien told Roxie he was taking Merika and the others to the Elven Village, and Roxie warned him not to reveal their movements to the enemy.
• Shien's group left the royal capital without anyone noticing.

Shien and his companions discovered undead and Magic Life forces gathering in Taiger Forest to attack the Elven Village. As they flew toward a disturbance, Carol’s group was pursued by the forces, and Geno fled with a bundle entrusted to them by Queen and Goddess Nadula.

• Shien, Lasha, Merika, Lilith, and Yulin spotted an undead army and a Magic Life legion moving through Taiger Forest.
• Shien realized the forces were likely preparing to attack the Elven Village, and Lilith pointed out activity nearby.
• Carol led a group of Elves fleeing through the forest while Geno carried a bundle.
• Carol and the other Elves fought off the pursuing undead with magic as the Magic Life ordered them to seize the bundle.
• Carol ordered Geno to take the bundle back to the Elven Village, and Geno finally fled alone.

Geno was badly wounded after Carol’s Meteor Barrage scattered her and the enemy recovered the bundle. Merika arrived in time to kill the pursuing Magic Life form, and Shien began healing Geno with Celestial Breathe.

• Carol unleashed Meteor Barrage to protect Geno, then lost control of the spell and engulfed the battlefield in flames.
• The hot winds blasted Geno away from the bundle, which a black-robed Magic Life form recovered before attacking her.
• As the Magic Life form prepared to kill Geno, Merika arrived and used nature magic to crush it beneath the trees.
• Merika reached the dying Geno and called to Shien for help as he descended on a giant black dragon.
• Shien cast Celestial Breathe, and starlight shone over Geno.

Shien and his companions recovered Geno, discovered that the bundle she had protected was connected to the Demon King, and rushed to rescue Carol and the other Elf magicians from a spreading forest fire. Shien extinguished the flames and began healing the survivors, while Carol remained gravely injured.

• Merika healed Geno, who begged her to help Carol and the others, and Shien's group discovered a strange bundle that made Demon Roar Chain react.
• Lasha suggested the bundle might be connected to the Demon King, but Shien chose to save Carol and the others first and entrusted it to Lasha.
• Yulin flew with the group into the burning forest, where Shien and Merika sensed survivors beneath the flames.
• Shien jumped into the inferno and used Enchantment: Disperse to extinguish it, revealing Carol and the other injured Elf magicians.
• Geno reunited with the gravely wounded Carol, and Shien cast Celestial Breathe to heal the survivors.

Shien rescued Carol and the Elven girls, healing their injuries after the enemies retreated. The group reached a secluded lake to wash, where the Elven girls discussed their feelings about Shien while he stood guard outside.

• Shien used Celestial Breathe to heal Carol and the Elven girls, who woke up as Lasha reported that the enemies had retreated.
• Carol reunited with her companions, and Merika and Geno realized the fire had burned away the girls’ clothes; the embarrassed Elven girls screamed at Shien for seeing them naked.
• Carol and the Elven girls washed at a secluded lake and discussed how Shien’s status made them feel less resistant to him, until Carol told them to stop.
• Shien stood guard outside the lake and suspected the Elven girls were talking about him, while Yulin warned him not to peek.

Carol revealed that she and Geno had entered ancient ruins beneath Taiger Forest on Queen Sophie and Goddess Nadula’s orders to retrieve Stone Tablets sought by the New Primal Demon. She confirmed that the bundle Lasha carried held the tablets, believed to be ancient books from a forgotten age.

• After waiting for hours while the Elf girls washed and dressed in clothes woven from leaves and branches, Shien asked Carol why Magic Life had pursued her.
• Carol decided Shien could be trusted and explained that she had brought the bundle from ancient ruins deep beneath Taiger Forest.
• Geno explained that the ruins predated the forest and that Nadula had once been driven out by a force that restrained the God Race, then concealed the site.
• Carol said Nadula and the Elven queens had sealed the ruins after finding signs of past habitation and powerful Stone Tablets.
• After learning that the New Primal Demon was collecting ancient books and objects, Nadula and Sophie sent Carol and Geno with Elf Division elites to retrieve the tablets.
• Carol confirmed that the bundle Lasha held contained the Stone Tablets, the ancient books from a forgotten age.

Shien and Lasha recovered ancient Stone Tablets sought by the New Primal Demon, but agreed to examine them only after returning to the Elven Village. Meanwhile, Sophie and Nadula waited anxiously for Carol’s group as the village continued rebuilding after the attack.

• Shien learned that Carol and Geno could not safely read the Stone Tablets, while Lasha asked to examine them and Shien agreed they would wait until Nadula and Artemis were present.
• The elf girls urged the group to return to the Elven Village, and Shien suggested taking a recording of them in their revealing outfits, provoking their angry refusal.
• Shien’s group headed back toward the Elven Village, which was still being rebuilt after the New Primal Demon’s assault and the battle involving Nadula, Artemis, and Lidas.
• Sophie told Nadula she feared Carol and the other elves were in danger retrieving the Stone Tablets, and Nadula explained why the mission had been entrusted to them.

Sophie and Nadula waited anxiously for Carol and the others while discussing Artemis’s lingering death energy, Nadula’s sealed authority, and Sophie’s curse. Just as they hoped Shien would soon come to help, a dragon approached the Elven Village from the distant sky.

• Sophie worried that Carol and the others had not returned, while Nadula suggested they might be searching for a way past the watchers.
• Nadula explained that her authority remained partly sealed and Artemis was still weakened by transformed death energy that ordinary purification could not remove.
• Nadula said only the Mother Goddess or the Hero’s Holy Sword could cleanse Artemis, and that Shien might also remove the curse inside Sophie.
• Nadula revealed that Shien was expected to visit the Elven Village after the royal capital stabilized, but Sophie fell silent at the prospect of asking him for help.
• Sophie and Nadula noticed a dark shadow approaching from the sky as a Dragon’s Roar drew near.

Shien arrived at the Elven Village on a black dragon, where the Magic Life forms attacked before recognizing him. He erased their spells and unleashed Celestial Magic that devastated the land around the village, then entered through the opened barrier and greeted Nadula and the others.

• Sophie and Nadula recognized the approaching black dragon and expected the long-awaited Hero to be with it.
• The Magic Life forms around the Elven Village bombarded the dragon, but Shien used Enchantment: Disperse to erase their spells.
• Shien cast Auroras Meteoric, destroying the surrounding forest and scattering the Magic Life forms while the Elven Village’s barrier shielded the settlement from the blasts.
• Artemis mistook the destruction for an enemy attack, but Nadula told her that Shien had arrived and the others recognized his Celestial Magic.
• Sophie opened the barrier, and the black dragon carried Shien and his companions to the Queen’s Palace, where Shien remarked that his entrance had been excessive.

Shien and the returning Elf Division reunited with Sophie and Nadula in Elven Village, where Merika was welcomed back despite having disobeyed orders. Artemis confronted Lilith, her opposite-born sister, but agreed to withhold judgment for now as long as Lilith did not harm the world; Shien made clear he would protect her.

• Carol and the Elf Division reported their return to Sophie and Nadula, who thanked them for surviving the dangerous mission rather than blaming them.
• Shien explained why Merika had returned, and Nadula apologized to her before Sophie asked her to remain safely in Elven Village.
• Artemis approached Lilith and recounted how Lilith’s first rampage had devastated the world, admitting she had once vowed to destroy her.
• Lilith and Artemis briefly released their opposing auras, but Nadula intervened and both goddesses withdrew them.
• Artemis temporarily suspended her vow to kill Lilith, warning that she would destroy her if Lilith harmed the living again.
• Shien told Artemis that he had shown restraint despite her threat against someone he cared about, and Artemis reacted with a complicated expression.

Shien clashed with Artemis after she declared that she wanted to kill Lilith, leaving their first meeting tense. Nadula then gathered the Stone Tablets and led Shien, Lilith, Sophie, Yulin, and Lasha into the Queen's Palace to examine them, with Artemis summoned to keep watch.

• Artemis left after Shien defended Lilith, and Nadula and Sophie explained that Artemis's inborn sense of justice drove her harsh actions.
• Shien insisted that he would retaliate if Artemis tried to harm Lilith, while Nadula reflected that this Hero differed greatly from those of the past.
• Sophie received the Stone Tablets from Lasha, and Nadula decided they should be opened inside rather than in the village.
• Carol, Geno, Merika, and the other Elven girls departed, while Yulin and Shien chose to inspect the tablets; Shien ensured Lasha could join them.
• Nadula limited the viewers to herself, Shien, Sophie, Lilith, Yulin, and Lasha, summoned Artemis to keep watch, and led them into the Queen's Palace.

Shien opened the bundle of Stone Tablets in the Queen's Palace and discovered that he could read their writing, which came from his previous world. As he began reading the records aloud, Lasha also saw the words and felt powerful emotions stirring within her.

• Sophie formed a platform from vines, and Shien unwrapped the bundle of Stone Tablets while Nadula, Artemis, Lilith, Sophie, Yulin, and Lasha watched.
• Sophie and Yulin lost focus while staring at the Stone Tablets, and Shien blocked their view to bring them back to their senses.
• Nadula and Artemis could not see any writing on the tablets, but Shien recognized the characters as writing from his previous world.
• Shien noticed that Lasha could see the writing too, while intense happiness, loneliness, and sorrow stirred within her.
• At the group's request, Shien arranged the readable tablets and began reading their contents aloud.

Shien and the others read the Demon King’s Stone Tablet records and discovered a lonely girl who had been driven to despair by separation from her visitor. Shien challenged them to reconsider whether the Demon King was truly evil, leaving everyone silent and shaken.

• The tablets recorded how the Demon King cherished visits from a girl, but the girl’s Goddess forbade her from coming after detecting the Demon King’s power.
• As the girl’s visits became scarce, the Demon King sank into loneliness, considered taking her away, and finally gave up on living.
• Shien finished reading the records aloud, and Nadula, Artemis, Sophie, Yulin, and the others struggled to believe they had been written by the Demon King.
• Nadula said the power on the tablets and in the ruin pointed to the Demon King as their author.
• Shien questioned why everyone assumed the Demon King had to be terrifying and evil, and Artemis asked what she would be if she was not evil.

Artemis recalled defying the Three Great Goddesses to confront the Demon King after countless Heroes died, believing she could end the suffering herself. She met the Demon King, recognized her as an overwhelming natural predator, and fled after being dismissed; the chapter left Artemis explaining why she had never learned what the Demon King truly was.

• Shien asked Artemis about her past challenge to the Demon King, prompting her to remember her devotion to justice and order.
• Artemis recalled how the Three Great Goddesses urged her to rely on Heroes, while each generation of Heroes fell without defeating the Demon King.
• After growing unable to endure the suffering that followed each Hero's death, Artemis disobeyed the Three Great Goddesses and fought her way to the Demon King's castle.
• Artemis met the Demon King and realized she was facing a natural predator she could never defeat.
• The Demon King lamented that Artemis was not a Hero and ordered her to leave, and Artemis fled in panic.

Artemis recalled her humiliating encounter with the Demon King and revealed that the Demon King had seemed exhausted and unusually fixated on the Hero. Though the others dismissed the past and turned their attention to Danas, Shien recognized that the Demon King's lingering influence remained a present threat and resolved to seek the power to face it.

• Artemis remembered fleeing the Demon King's castle and explained that she had survived only because the Demon King lost interest in her.
• Artemis said the Demon King had seemed tired, mistaken her for the Hero, and expected something from him.
• Yulin wondered whether the Demon King had a hidden reason for starting the war, but Artemis insisted her crimes against the world remained undeniable.
• Nadula urged everyone to stop discussing the dead Demon King and focus on Danas, the newly born Primal Demon.
• Shien realized Danas was seeking to revive the Demon King and that her power still influenced events, so he hoped to gain the strength to face what was coming.

Shien became determined to investigate the Demon King's past and left to visit the ruins where the Stone Tablets had been found. After accidentally seeing Sophie undressed, he learned their location and was about to set out when Lasha asked to go with him.

• Nadula collected the Demon King's Stone Tablets and entrusted them to Sophie, warning that their contents should not be revealed.
• Sophie arranged rooms for Shien and his companions in the Queen's Palace while the Elven Village was rebuilt.
• Shien relaxed in the surviving hot spring, then decided he needed to visit the ruins where the Stone Tablets had been found.
• Shien teleported into Sophie's room without knocking and found her naked; Sophie pointed out the ruins' location.
• Shien prepared to go to the ruins, but Lasha appeared and asked to accompany him.

Shien and Lasha followed the Demon Roar Chain to a hidden underground ruin in Taiger Forest. Lasha entered first, claiming by intuition that no danger awaited inside, and Shien followed her into the ruins.

• Shien and Lasha searched Taiger Forest for the ruins but could not find them from the air.
• Lasha suggested releasing the Demon Roar Chain, and Shien let it lead them toward a source of power like that of the Stone Tablets.
• The Demon Roar Chain smashed through a boulder and Nadula's barrier, revealing an underground passage.
• Shien found the entrance and decided to discard the unruly chain once he achieved transcendence.
• Lasha entered the ruins first, saying she felt there would be no danger, and Shien followed her inside.

Shien and Lasha uncovered a hidden message in the former Demon Lord’s residence by channeling the Demon Lord’s mana through the stone bed. The message began with a startling introduction from someone named Nien, who claimed to be a Hero.

• Shien and Lasha explored the former Demon Lord’s plain underground residence and found no treasures beyond the missing Stone Tablets.
• Lasha sensed something hidden in the stone bed and suggested that the Demon Lord’s mana could reveal it.
• Shien’s Demon Lord’s jewel released mana that flowed into the stone bed and caused hidden writing to appear.
• Shien and Lasha recognized that the rough handwriting did not belong to the Demon Lord.
• Shien read the opening line, “My name is Nien. I seem to be a Hero,” and stared in astonishment.