Chapter Summaries

The Demon Army launched coordinated assaults across the Boya Sea Region, and Roland monitored the battles from Tide Listening Island. Whale Sand Island’s defenders repelled the first Bull Demon attack at heavy cost to the invaders, while Roland grew concerned about the fighting at Kada Island.

• On June 10, Vasily, Herman, and Zacharia launched separate attacks on islands across the Boya Sea Region.
• Roland learned that his territory was stable and that Commander Dylan had entered secluded cultivation to reach Legendary within a month.
• Vasily’s Bull Demons stormed Whale Sand Island’s castle, where Chopper deployed Earth Giants and Bastion Warriors to meet them.
• Felicia led Saint Domain experts in a surprise attack, and the Sea Tide Mage Regiment bombarded the Bull Demons as a Saint Domain battle erupted overhead.
• After losing more than fifteen hundred warriors, Vasily ordered the Bull Demons to withdraw from the walls.
• Roland watched the crystal mirrors and turned his grave attention to the main battle at Kada Island, where Herman’s Undead Legion was attacking.

At Kada Island, Herman’s undead army used artillery and Undead Revival against Ronald’s defenders, but Yulia’s priests destroyed the revived corpses with holy light. Watching from Tide Listening Island, Roland decided to expand priest training under Yulia’s control and left Leslie to plan the effort with Olivia.

• Herman sent Low-tier Demons to assault Kada Island’s forts, then bombarded them with Dark Fire Magic Crystal Cannons and Hell Catapults, causing heavy human casualties alongside demon losses.
• Several hundred undead mages used Undead Revival to restore more than ten thousand demon corpses to the battlefield.
• Ronald deployed Yulia and hundreds of priests, whose holy light destroyed the revived corpses and angered Herman.
• Roland recognized how effective priests were against undead and told Leslie to work with Olivia to add Light Element training to the Mage Academy.
• Leslie said she would keep Cecilia’s priests separate and have Roland’s own recruits teach them, while Roland suggested speeding up their progress with potions.

The Hell Knights devastated Sea Dragon Island’s outer defenses until Ella and the Ice Winter Mage Regiment halted their advance, forcing Zacharia to withdraw and send more than a million demons instead. With Sea Dragon Island left vulnerable, Roland considered Leslie’s suggestion to negotiate and proposed talking with the demons.

• Zacharia led two thousand Hell Knights in a charge that destroyed fortresses and killed more than six thousand human soldiers without suffering casualties.
• Roland told Leslie that the Ice Winter Mage Regiment had arrived on Sea Dragon Island, where Ella and three thousand Ice Elf priests could oppose the Hell Knights.
• Ella froze the land around the last city and used ice magic to inflict casualties, so Zacharia withdrew his Hell Knights and sent more than a million Low-tier Demons to attack in waves.
• Roland ordered Reff to monitor Sea Dragon Island and worried that the remaining city might not withstand the demon army’s siege.
• Leslie suggested opening a gap in the defenses to ease pressure, but Roland instead proposed sitting down to talk with the demons.

Roland proposed secretly cooperating with the Three Great Demon Legions by feeding them merchant fleets from the Three Great Kingdoms, hoping to draw those kingdoms’ royal fleets into the Boya Sea Region and reduce pressure on his territory. After more than twenty days of brutal fighting, both sides had suffered heavy casualties, and the demon commanders were considering retreat.

• Roland suggested offering the demons military victories by exposing merchant fleets from the Three Great Kingdoms, and Leslie weighed the risks and potential gains.
• Roland explained that controlled losses among the merchant fleets could bring the kingdoms’ national fleets into the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands; Leslie began refining the plan, and Roland said they would force cooperation if needed.
• Vasily, Herman, and the third Saint Domain demon split their forces, sending Vasily’s minotaur legion around Whale Sand Six Islands to attack Roland’s trade route with the Dwarf Kingdom.
• The demons pushed into Roland’s defensive lines, inflicting heavy losses on his ordinary legions, while undead mages and Hell Knights devastated defenders around the core islands.
• Roland’s forces killed nearly one million demons, including many elite troops, and Vasily, Herman, and Zacharia began considering retreat.

Roland met with the three great demons to propose cooperation, offering Military Merit and trade in exchange for reducing the war’s intensity. The demons were interested, and Herman asked how Roland planned to provide the Military Merit.

• Zacharia, Herman, and Vasily discussed their losses and Arturo’s order to defeat Roland within ten days.
• Vasily proposed a joint assault on Whale Sand Island, but Zacharia warned Roland’s fleets would attack them from behind.
• Dylan Fikernando arrived as a Legendary Dark Angel with Roland, and the three great demons chose not to attack them.
• Roland said he had come to negotiate cooperation rather than threaten the demons with Dylan’s new Legendary power.
• Roland offered Military Merit and trade to lessen casualties, and Herman asked what merit he intended to provide.

Roland negotiated a truce and trade arrangement with Herman, Vasily, and Zacharia, offering them merchant ships from the Three Great Kingdoms and access to valuable goods in exchange for easing attacks on his trade route. After securing the deal, he left with Dylan Fikernando, who warned him to prepare for demonic betrayal.

• Roland told Herman, Vasily, and Zacharia that reinforcements from his territory and the Hidden Valley Clan would arrive if they continued fighting.
• Roland proposed that the demons target merchant fleets from the Three Great Kingdoms while leaving his own fleets alone, and he negotiated a limit of four thousand ships per month.
• Roland offered to exaggerate battlefield losses and sell scarce Saint Nor Continent goods to help the demons answer to their superiors.
• Herman, Vasily, and Zacharia accepted the cooperation and gave Roland a list of desired goods, including powerful corpses, equipment, rare materials, and food.
• Roland left with Dylan Fikernando, celebrated the agreement, and thanked his father-in-law for helping secure it.
• Dylan Fikernando warned Roland that demons were untrustworthy, and Roland promised to stay prepared.

Chopper received Reff’s order to abandon Whale Sand Island as Roland withdrew forces from the secondary defensive line, opening a route for the demons toward the Dwarf Kingdom. Meanwhile, the Hernand Family overloaded its merchant fleet with grain and sent guards below to row, unaware that Hell Demon Ships had appeared behind them.

• Chopper refused Bardel’s request for reinforcements and ordered the Loyal Lion Legion to hold Whale Sand Island until headquarters sent new recruits.
• A messenger delivered Reff’s authenticated order for Chopper to withdraw, and Chopper led his forces northwest under the Dark Angel Brigade’s cover.
• Roland later abandoned the garrison on Locke Island and more than twenty other islands, leaving a breach through which demon warships advanced toward the Dwarf Kingdom.
• Thierry ordered two thousand Hernand Family guards to row after Ryan explained that the overloaded ships and weakened sailors could not move faster.
• Dozens of Hell Demon Ships appeared behind the Hernand Family’s fleet.

After demon attacks devastated merchant fleets and destroyed vital grain shipments, the Human Alliance demanded that the Three Great Kingdoms send naval forces to help. In Terra Kingdom, Phillips ordered an expedition against the demons and Roland, while Cameron warned that provoking Roland could threaten the kingdom’s food trade.

• Thierry’s overloaded merchant fleet was caught by demon warships, and the demons slaughtered its sailors and soldiers, including Thierry.
• Using Roland’s intelligence, the demons destroyed thousands of ships and caused more than a hundred noble families to lose supplies, including 2.5 million tons of grain.
• The Human Alliance sent envoys to Terra Kingdom, Autran, and Storm Kingdom, demanding that they escort shipments and help resist the demons.
• Phillips questioned whether Roland was truly weakened, then considered joining the other kingdoms to eliminate him.
• Phillips ordered Frederic to lead a hundred-thousand-man force with Terra Kingdom’s First Legion and North Sea Fleet into the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands, while Cameron was sent to secure support from Autran and Storm Kingdom.
• Cameron warned that Roland could cut off Terra Kingdom’s trade with the Elf Empire, but Phillips dismissed the risk and insisted that the Three Great Kingdoms mattered more.

Roland met with his closest advisers to review the territory’s gains from trading during the Demon Disaster, including a large influx of skilled mages and advanced knowledge. Although the nations refused to trade their Perfect cultivation methods, Roland left the meeting determined to strengthen the territory and ordered Leslie to focus on reaching Saint Domain.

• Roland ordered the First through Twelfth Legions to rotate back to Double Gate Island and the Thirteenth through Twenty-Fifth Legions to replace them, while Reff assured him their battles with the demons appeared genuine.
• Leslie reported that the territory had gained more than a million slaves, over a hundred Saint Domain-level magic materials, and more than three hundred support mages through trade and recruitment.
• Leslie explained that many support mages had sought refuge from the Demon Disaster, while the continent’s food shortages had led kingdoms to tolerate their departure; the Cardina Kingdom had nevertheless blocked two Extraordinary Potion apothecaries from leaving.
• Leslie listed the territory’s new Saint Domain spells, combat techniques, meditation methods, and breathing techniques, but said no nation would trade its Perfect Meditation Method or Perfect Breathing Technique.
• Roland told Leslie to pursue other ways to obtain the Perfect methods, then reproached him for failing to reach Saint Domain and assigned Reff and O'Neal to help with administrative work so Leslie could cultivate.
• Reff and O'Neal hurriedly left the tent to avoid taking on administrative duties.

Roland learned that the Three Great Kingdoms had sent powerful armies to the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands, likely intending to break his coastal blockade and seize islands. Ulysses proposed two possible responses, but the chapter ended just after he suggested abandoning most coastal strongholds and concentrating defenses on two key areas.

• Alredo reported that Terra, Autran, and the Storm Kingdom had dispatched large legions, mages, Saint Domain experts, and flying knights to the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands.
• Roland and the Legion Commanders suspected the kingdoms were targeting his holdings rather than merely escorting merchant convoys.
• Ulysses argued that the three kingdoms' defensive legions and preparations to move slaves and construction materials indicated an attempt to break the coastal blockade and establish a foothold.
• Roland rejected the commanders' calls for an immediate attack and asked Ulysses for possible responses.
• Ulysses proposed meeting the kingdoms head-on if they struck first, then suggested abandoning most coastal strongholds and concentrating defenses on two key island regions.
• The commanders reacted angrily to Ulysses's second proposal.

Roland adopted Ulysses's plan to abandon most coastal strongholds while retaining islands on vital trade routes, then promoted Ulysses to Deputy Director of the Military Affairs Department. As the Three Great Kingdoms advanced into the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands, Roland avoided war under Human Alliance pressure; the chapter ended with him agreeing to meet Joshua Cavendi.

• Roland secured Leslie's and Reff's support for Ulysses's plan to retreat from most coastal strongholds and hold key trade-route islands.
• Roland promoted Reff to Director, O'Neal to Deputy Director, and Ulysses to Deputy Director in charge of Strategic Command and Logistics, then ordered the territory to follow Ulysses's plan.
• On August 5, the Three Great Kingdoms' fleets entered the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands, and Roland yielded most coastal strongholds while concentrating his elite forces.
• Human Alliance envoys warned the Three Great Kingdoms against civil war during the Demon Disaster, and they abandoned their planned assault while continuing to expand into Roland's territory.
• Ulysses told Roland that Joshua Cavendi had arrived seeking an audience, and Roland agreed to meet him after hearing that the Cavendi Family might offer useful intelligence about Autran's forces.

Roland met the diminished Joshua, who sought to bring the Cavendish Family back to the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands in exchange for intelligence and loyalty. When Roland refused to restore the family’s former territory, Joshua revealed that they possessed a passage into the forbidden Sea of Hope, leaving Roland shocked.

• Roland met Joshua and reflected on how the Cavendish Family had been devastated after submitting to the Autran Kingdom.
• Joshua offered Autran military intelligence in hopes of reclaiming the Cavendish Family’s former territory and swearing loyalty to Roland.
• Roland rejected Joshua’s demand and offered the family two large islands and the title of hereditary viscount instead.
• As Roland prepared to leave, Joshua revealed that the Cavendish Family possessed a passage into the Sea of Hope.
• Roland halted and demanded confirmation as Joshua explained that the passage was real.

Roland learned that the Cavendish Family’s knowledge of a passage into the Sea of Hope came from the dying explorer Kurt Ortiz, who left them a map. The map pointed to Thunder Island, which Felicia said was too dangerous to enter, leaving the passage’s credibility in doubt.

• Roland summoned Felicia and Ella and asked Joshua to explain the Cavendish Family’s passage into the Sea of Hope.
• Felicia doubted the passage could exist, but Roland promised to protect the Cavendish Family and restore its former territory if it helped him find the Golden Continent.
• Joshua revealed that Kurt Ortiz, a Legendary explorer who died two hundred years earlier, had told the family what he learned in the Sea of Hope.
• Joshua gave Roland Kurt’s ancient map, which marked a route through Thunder Island to a giant island farther inside the Sea of Hope.
• Felicia explained that Thunder Island’s law-infused lightning could overwhelm even Legendary experts and said the map was probably fake.

Roland heard Joshua's account of a hidden route through Thunder Island and accepted the Cavendish Family's offer of service while reserving judgment on the map. After discussing the Sea of Hope's riches and the family's future, Roland agreed with Ulysses to hand Joshua's documents to the demons.

• Joshua explained that a map could guide travelers through a safe route across Thunder Island, and Roland agreed to examine it before honoring his promise to the Cavendish Family.
• Joshua pledged the Cavendish Family's service to Roland and asked for a giant island as a reward if they proved their worth after the Demon Disaster.
• Felicia described the Sea of Hope's abundant high-grade materials and warned that even its outer regions were dangerous, so Roland postponed exploring it until after the Demon Disaster.
• After Joshua left, Ulysses said the Cavendish Family's pledge appeared sincere and agreed to set aside his resentment toward them for Roland's sake.
• Roland told Ulysses that the Cavendish Family mattered less to him than Ulysses did, then agreed to give Joshua's documents to the demons.

Roland’s territory rapidly strengthened through demon trade, population growth, new personnel, and a massive military expansion plan while the Demon Disaster devastated the continent. By April of Year 58, humanity and the other races had suffered catastrophic losses, while Roland’s preparations positioned his territory to grow into a million-strong professional army.

• Caius’s fleet suffered a devastating demon attack after the Cavendish Family betrayed Autran, and Caius joined the Terra and Storm Kingdoms in strengthening their escorts rather than risk a wider conflict.
• Roland’s territory gained hundreds of mage Support Profession practitioners and more than a million slaves, while new experts, soldiers, and equipment accelerated its growth.
• The demons transferred thirty legions to the Eastern Continent, destroyed the Erwin Duchy, and seized more than half the territories of the Ribela and Cardina Kingdoms.
• Leslie used food shortages to recruit slaves and skilled workers, while Roland approved a military expansion plan that would eventually create a million-strong professional army.
• By April of Year 58, the Demon Disaster had devastated the Beastkin, Elf, Dwarf, and other kingdoms, while humanity had lost at least thirty percent of its strength and the Holy Light Empire had fallen.

Roland’s territory expanded rapidly during the Demon Disaster, growing its population, military, infrastructure, and Saint Domain forces while helping preserve trade through the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands. As the demons withdrew and the war subsided, trade profits fell, but Roland’s territory had become powerful enough to meet the requirements for a kingdom, and he awaited an opportunity to found one.

• The demon leadership sent three legions into the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands, prompting Roland and the Three Great Kingdoms to ally against them while Roland’s territory continued to grow.
• Roland’s administration expanded settlement, education, shipbuilding, weapons production, and magical-beast breeding as the territory’s population surpassed twenty-three million.
• Tack, Reese, Bor, Doris, Neptune, and six humans who became Dark Angels joined the territory’s growing ranks of Saint Domain experts, while Felicia reached Half-step Legendary.
• The dragons and western kingdoms reinforced the continental war, and the Beastkin Empire reclaimed its homeland, forcing the exhausted demons to withdraw as the conflict eased.
• Roland’s territory surpassed twenty-eight million people and nearly one million soldiers, amassed over fifty Saint Domain experts and thousands of mage support professionals, and met the requirements to found a kingdom.

In Year 59, Caesar and Ares trained on Tide Listening Island, where Ares’s strength had far surpassed his older brother’s. Roland praised Ares and offered to keep him on the island for training, but Elizabeth and Yulia argued over their sons’ upbringing, and Roland fled to avoid Elizabeth’s anger.

• Caesar sparred with Ares and was badly beaten before Dylan Fikernando stopped the fight.
• Caesar accused Ares of receiving a special potion, but Roland explained they had received the same treatment and scolded Caesar for neglecting his studies to inspect the Glazed Sea Region.
• Dylan Fikernando took Caesar away, while Roland recognized that Dylan intended Caesar to inherit the territory.
• Roland praised Ares and offered to arrange lessons with Uncle O'Neal, but Elizabeth objected that Ares needed to return to his lessons.
• Yulia challenged Elizabeth and took Ares away, while Roland hurried off and left Elizabeth furious.

As Saint Nor Continent’s spatial strength began to recover, Roland welcomed the end of the Demon Disaster and considered the territory’s growing internal problems. The demons’ continued fortification of three war zones offered Roland an opening against the Human Alliance, and he ordered his forces to drive the Three Great Kingdoms from the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands.

• Roland announced that spatial strength would return to its former level within one to two months and declared the Demon Disaster over.
• Reff reported that the demons were withdrawing from five war zones but fortifying the Brightwind Plains, Elf Empire, and Sea of Demons, and he revealed plans to negotiate continued cooperation with the great demons.
• Reff explained that the demon forces would occupy the Holy Alliance, Arcane Empire, and Elf Empire, reducing their ability to constrain Roland.
• Roland ordered the Military Affairs Department to prepare a post-disaster deployment plan and clear the Three Great Kingdoms’ warships from the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands once space recovered.

Phillips and Cameron discovered that Roland’s potion-refinement success rate could explain his rapidly growing power and suspected he possessed a divine artifact. At Phillips’s order, the Terra Kingdom spread the rumor, drawing forces from across the continent toward the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands.

• Phillips reviewed intelligence showing Roland’s population, army, and number of powerful experts had surpassed the Terra Kingdom’s.
• Cameron estimated Roland’s success rate was close to one hundred percent for Extraordinary Potions and above ninety percent for Saint Domain Potions.
• Phillips and Cameron suspected Roland had found a potion-making divine artifact in the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands.
• Phillips ordered Cameron to spread the news about the supposed artifact, deciding the Terra Kingdom could not confront Roland directly.
• Within half a month, human nations and other races sent spies and experts toward the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands to investigate Roland.

After the Terra Kingdom exposed Roland’s extraordinary potion-refining success rate, powerful factions began moving toward the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands. Roland prepared to deter them by blaming the territory’s strength on dragon support, then ordered his forces to drive the Three Great Kingdoms out of the region.

• Leslie told Roland that the Terra Kingdom had publicized his near-perfect potion-refining success rate, drawing attention from nations and factions across the continent.
• Roland dismissed the claim that he possessed a divine artifact and assessed the movements of the Three Great Kingdoms and other powers toward the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands.
• Roland ordered Leslie to spread the story that the territory’s strength came from the dragon race’s assistance and to have Zarick tacitly support it.
• Reff reported that the main legions and Mage Regiments were ready or nearing readiness for battle.
• Roland ordered every legion and Mage Regiment except the Black Knight Legion to mobilize and expel the Three Great Kingdoms’ forces and merchants from the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands.