Recaps

Edgar, Anles, Lina, and Philip were trapped in the shipyard by Ballista Rock, a red-haired woman, a shadow attacker, and a horde of cultists who could revive. As the Investigation Bureau squad struggled against the overwhelming assault, Edgar ordered Philip to act.

• Edgar led Anles, Lina, and Philip into the shipyard, where the iron doors slammed shut and more than a hundred cultists surrounded them.
• Ballista Rock and a red-haired woman appeared, declaring that their cult leader had foreseen the squad’s arrival and that they would be sacrifices to The Blessed One.
• The cultists attacked and repeatedly revived after being cut down, so Edgar ordered the squad to disable their limbs while Lina shielded them and Philip prepared a spell.
• Ballista Rock charged Anles, the red-haired woman attacked Edgar and rapidly healed from a gunshot, and a shadow assailant wounded Philip before Lina pushed him aside.
• With the squad badly pressured by the attackers, Edgar shouted for Philip to do it.

Li Wen used the chaos caused by an explosion at Port Belen’s shipyards to investigate the Eternal Life Blessing Cult’s church. Underground, she found a Two-tailed Mermaid statue containing a malicious remnant tied to the Soul Lord, and heard someone approaching.

• An explosion erupted near Port Belen’s shipyards, and Li Wen decided to use the resulting disorder to search the church.
• Li Wen entered the apparently unguarded church and found a secret passage behind the cross.
• Li Wen descended into a cavern and discovered a Two-tailed Mermaid statue resembling the one she had seen aboard the Adventurer.
• Li Wen touched the statue and heard a voice in her mind demand to be released, then protected herself with Witch State.
• Li Wen realized the statue contained a remnant connected to the Soul Lord, and heard hurried footsteps approaching from the church above.

Li Wen hid in the cavern and confronted a cloaked player who had sold information to the Eternal Life Blessing Cult and planned to free the Soul Lord sealed in the Two-tailed Mermaid statue. The statue came to life, killed the player, and vanished, leaving Li Wen without answers.

• Li Wen hid above the Two-tailed Mermaid statue as a cloaked visitor tested the cavern for magical traces.
• The cloaked player told the statue he had sold information on a forum and demanded that it fulfill its promise.
• Li Wen ambushed the player, then tried to question him about the statue and the Eternal Life Blessing Cult.
• The player accused expert players of monopolizing resources and dismissed the consequences of freeing the Soul Lord as mere game events.
• The Two-tailed Mermaid statue came to life, tore the cloaked player apart, and vanished as foul-smelling black seawater.

Moria visited Madam Sivell to learn why the Cult of Eternal Life sought Sunken Horn and Black Reef Bay. He learned that a sealed monster lay beneath those waters and set out to stop the cult's midnight voyage, while Sivell warned that Port Belen would face doom if it awakened.

• Moria left the Sycamore Inn and went to Fog Bell Alley after hearing sailors whisper about a shipyard explosion.
• Madam Sivell greeted Moria, clutching the holy emblem he had delivered, and explained that her visions came from the tides.
• Sivell showed Moria a Sea Chart marking Black Reef Bay and said the sunken Loren Ting City concealed something more terrifying than death.
• Moria told Sivell that the Cult of Eternal Life planned to sail at midnight, and she revealed that her teacher had helped seal the thing beneath the sea.
• Sivell warned that the monster's awakening could overturn the kingdom, and Moria vowed to stop the cult or its leader.

Helena’s surveillance of Victoria ended when Victoria confronted her and proposed a private talk. At the shipyard, Edgar held off the Cult of Eternal Life while Anles, Lina, and Philip escaped toward the dock.

• Helena watched Victoria at the Sycamore Inn until Victoria vanished from view and appeared beside her.
• Victoria stopped Helena from attacking and suggested they talk alone, while Helena’s Communication Crystal fell silent.
• Philip’s powerful spell destroyed much of the shipyard and injured Anles as the Investigation Squad fought the cultists.
• Edgar killed the red-haired player and Ballista Rock, whose immortality blessing failed to save him.
• Edgar sent Anles, Lina, and Philip to the dock, then pursued them after cutting down the remaining believers.

Spade K’s rise from an ordinary player to the leader of the Eternal Life Blessing Cult led him to seek real power after discovering a mysterious Two-tailed Mermaid statue. As the Investigation Bureau attacked his stronghold, he prepared to escape by sea and pursue the secret beneath the ocean.

• Spade K used his resurrection ability to build a following and founded the Eternal Life Blessing Cult in Port Belen.
• After discovering the Two-tailed Mermaid statue, Spade K became obsessed with gaining power beyond wealth and influence.
• A follower told Spade K that the Investigation Bureau had breached the outer perimeter and that Ballista Rock and Heart A were dead.
• Spade K ordered the follower to notify Joker and gather the cultists willing to escape through the western sea entrance at midnight.
• Spade K revealed that the ship at the docks was a decoy and planned to unveil the secret beneath the sea when the tide reached its highest point.

After the dockyard battle, Edgar realized the Cult of Eternal Life had used the ship as a decoy and discovered he could no longer contact Helena. At the Sycamore Inn, Li Wen told Moria that the cult possessed a statue containing a fragment of the Soul Lord’s Remnant Soul, but she chose not to stop the cult from sailing.

• Edgar found that the cult’s ship and followers had been bait, while its Cult Leader and real target were missing.
• Edgar failed to contact Helena and sent Anles, Lina, and Philip to search the dockyard while he headed to the Sycamore Inn.
• Li Wen met Moria at the inn and learned that Lady Sivell had warned him a cursed diviner could not leave her house without alerting the cult.
• Li Wen showed Moria a Two-tailed Mermaid statue matching the one Joseph had sought and a sample containing the Soul Lord’s Remnant Soul.
• Moria warned that the cult planned to sail from the western sea entrance, but Li Wen decided to let them go and see how they planned to release the Soul Lord.

Fu Qingyan and her team struggled to find a captain willing to sail to Black Reef Bay until Captain Remington agreed to take them there aboard the Adventurer. As the group prepared to leave at dawn, they realized Yang Yi was missing and learned he had skipped the Knowledge Path advancement ritual.

• Fu Qingyan's team was rejected by six boatmen when they asked for passage to Black Reef Bay, and they noticed Yang Yi was missing.
• Captain Remington returned to Port Belen aboard the repaired Adventurer, and Fu Qingyan asked him about Black Reef Bay.
• Remington described the disastrous expedition to Sunken Horn and warned the team about the dangers there.
• Remington agreed to take Fu Qingyan's team to Black Reef Bay at dawn, provided they obeyed his commands and paid the sailing fee.
• Zhao Ming suspected Remington had another motive, while Fu Qingyan urged the group to contact Yang Yi before leaving.
• Wang Shuo said Yang Yi had skipped the advancement ritual because he considered the Path useless.

Li Wen persuaded Moria to let the Eternal Life Blessing Cult lead them toward the Soul Lord’s seal, then follow once the cult had faced the dangers ahead. She planned to enlist Captain Remington and his ship, the Adventurer, to guide them across the dangerous waters.

• Li Wen told Moria that the Soul Lord’s seal was already weakening and that stopping the cult would only delay another attempt to free him.
• Li Wen proposed letting the Eternal Life Blessing Cult sail ahead and face the dangers around Black Reef Bay and Sunken Horn before they intervened.
• Moria accepted Li Wen’s plan and asked how they would track the cult without a ship or a guide.
• Li Wen said they would ask Captain Remington to take them aboard the Adventurer and guide them through the dangerous waters.
• Li Wen and Moria left to find Captain Remington before the cult set sail.

Li Wen and Moria joined Captain Remington aboard the Adventurer to pursue the Cult of Eternal Life toward Black Reef Bay and Sunken Horn. Fu Qingyan and her companions agreed to go with them, and the ship set sail with Yang Yi arriving late and acting strangely.

• Li Wen and Moria defeated a group of Eternal Life cultists who ambushed them near the harbor.
• Li Wen asked Captain Remington to take the Adventurer to Black Reef Bay, explaining that the cult had sailed ahead toward Sunken Horn.
• Remington warned Fu Qingyan and her companions about the danger, and they chose to join Li Wen and Moria.
• Yang Yi arrived late, avoided the others' eyes, and climbed aboard after Fu Qingyan waved him over.
• Remington ordered the crew to raise anchor, and the Adventurer sailed toward Black Reef Bay in pursuit of the cult.

The Investigation Squad returned from an unsuccessful search, with the Cult of Eternal Life, the Canary, and Helena all believed missing. Helena then arrived with Princess Victoria, who asked to assist the Bureau and ensure certain matters stayed under control.

• Anles and Lina reported that the shipyard search had found no useful clues and that the Cult's members had likely escaped by sea.
• Edgar revealed that Helena and the Canary had both disappeared, leaving the Investigation Squad's mission in disarray.
• Helena returned to the safehouse and brought Princess Victoria with her.
• Edgar recognized Victoria and formally greeted her, prompting Anles, Lina, and Philip to bow.
• Victoria said she had come to help with the situation around Port Belen and ensure certain matters remained under control.

Li Wen and the crew of the Adventurer followed an Eternal Life Blessing Cult ship toward Black Reef Bay, where dangerous waters and an abrupt storm disrupted their pursuit. The chapter ended with something beneath the sea striking and pulling at the ship.

• Captain Remington used the waves to stealthily follow the cult ship while keeping the Adventurer five nautical miles away.
• Li Wen sensed the cult ship changing course northeast toward Black Reef Bay.
• Remington guided the Adventurer through Black Reef Bay's hidden reefs and dangerous currents as the crew endured the ominous waters.
• A sudden storm battered the Adventurer and threw it off course.
• The Adventurer struck a huge object beneath the sea, and Remington warned that it was pulling at the ship.

Li Wen identified the sea monster attacking the Adventurer as a creation of the Decay Lineage, and Remington fought it beneath the ship. After a fierce underwater battle, Remington destroyed the monster and returned safely to the deck.

• Li Wen recognized the monster’s deathly aura and identified it as a creation of the Decay Lineage.
• Remington handed the helm to a sailor and plunged into the water to confront the monster.
• Remington used powerful currents to wound the monster and evade its tentacles and toxic mist.
• The sailors fought the monster’s remaining tentacles on deck while Li Wen watched the battle below.
• Remington killed the monster, then climbed back onto the Adventurer with only minor scratches and corrosion.

After the Eternal Life Blessing Cult’s ship rammed the Adventurer in the fog, Captain Remington and the crew fought off the boarding believers. Fu Qingyan and Sugar joined the battle, while Li Wen and Moria moved to confront a conspicuous figure on the enemy ship.

• The Adventurer entered unnatural fog, where a ship of the Eternal Life Blessing Cult suddenly rammed it.
• Captain Remington ordered the crew to defend the port side as cultists boarded and the two crews clashed.
• Fu Qingyan steadied Sugar, who shot a gray-robed believer through the throat with her shortbow.
• Fu Qingyan used knowledge from Basic Close-Quarters Combat Analysis to defeat several attacking believers.
• Li Wen and Moria spotted a figure carrying a glowing Red Cross Ring and leaped onto the enemy ship to attack him.

Spade K led the Eternal Life Blessing Cult's ship through dangerous fog until it collided with the Adventurer, where his followers were defeated and he surrendered. The captives were bound as Remington organized repairs to the damaged ship.

• Spade K ordered the cult ship into the fog, claiming their God had shown him the way through the reefs.
• The cult ship collided with the Adventurer, and Spade K ordered his followers to board and attack.
• Heart A charged into battle but was killed with one blow by a burly man.
• Li Wen landed on the cult ship and kicked Spade K down, prompting him to surrender.
• The cult followers laid down their weapons, and Remington's sailors bound the captives and began emergency repairs.

Li Wen questioned Spade K about the Eternal Life Blessing Cult’s purpose, but before she could learn more, a vast vortex swallowed both ships. She awoke in the legendary underwater ruins of Sunken Horn, apparently the Soul Lord’s sealing ground.

• Li Wen interrogated Spade K, who claimed he had come seeking treasure and seemed not to know who the Soul Lord was.
• A powerful disturbance formed a vast vortex around the Adventurer and the Cult of Eternal Life's ship, dragging both vessels into a dark abyss.
• Li Wen was engulfed by freezing seawater and lost consciousness as the ships were swallowed.
• Li Wen awoke in a strange underwater city filled with ancient marble ruins and lingering magic.
• Li Wen wondered whether she had reached Sunken Horn, the legendary sealing ground of the Soul Lord.

Li Wen and Moria reunited in the sunken ruins and identified the waterless zone as the lingering work of Forbidden Magic, likely tied to the sealing of the Soul Lord. While searching for the scattered survivors, they found signs that Eternal Life Blessing Cult members had been attacked and followed the trail toward a narrow alley.

• Li Wen checked her injuries and searched outward from where she had awakened, finding Moria alive beside a collapsed fountain.
• Moria recognized the immense magic sustaining the waterless zone as Forbidden Magic and discussed the ruin’s connection to the Soul Lord sealed at Sunken Horn.
• Li Wen and Moria agreed to explore the ruins and search for survivors, while remaining wary of the Eternal Life Blessing Cult and the Soul Lord.
• In a plaza, Li Wen found a torn robe bearing the cult’s red cross, claw marks, and chaotic footprints leading into a narrow alley.

Li Wen and Moria followed the trail of murdered cultists through the ruins and were attacked by Sunken Ghouls. They defeated the ghouls, but a scream from deeper inside the ruins left them facing a new threat.

• Moria and Li Wen found several Eternal Life Blessing Cult members torn apart and determined that something had been hunting them.
• Li Wen discovered military crossbow bolts near one corpse, while Moria sensed the Decay Lineage’s deathly force in the ruins.
• Sunken Ghouls dropped from the ruins and surrounded Moria and Li Wen.
• Moria used fire and brute force to restrain the ghouls as Li Wen struck their weak points and extinguished their Soulfire.
• After the pair defeated the ghouls, a scream of fear and despair came from deeper within the ruins.

Li Wen and Moria found Eternal Life Blessing Cult followers surrounded by Sunken Ghouls and a Ghoul Commander. Moria wiped out the ghouls with his Undead Butcher techniques, and he and Li Wen killed the commander.

• Li Wen and Moria hurried toward a scream and found three surviving cult followers under attack by Sunken Ghouls.
• Moria rushed in to save a player follower after the ghouls shattered his magical shield.
• The Ghoul Commander coordinated the ghouls’ attack, but Moria used Flame Enchantment and activated Templar Knight’s Trial—Undead Butcher.
• Moria’s sword strike extinguished the Soulfire of more than a dozen Sunken Ghouls, causing their bodies to collapse into dust.
• The Ghoul Commander tried to flee, but Li Wen blocked its escape and Moria beheaded it.

After defeating the ghouls, Li Wen and Moria learned that Spade K had taken a strange compass toward the city’s tallest building to steal the divine artifact sealing the Soul Lord. The Sunken City then began to awaken, and its gargoyle guards descended on everyone in the plaza.

• Moria defeated the ghouls and questioned the three surviving Cult of Eternal Life believers with Li Wen.
• A player believer revealed that Spade K had taken a compass-like object stolen from a fortune teller and headed for the city center.
• The player explained that Spade K wanted to steal the divine artifact sealing a powerful existence, not release the Soul Lord.
• The ruins trembled as a deep rumble came from the central spire.
• Gargoyles across the city awakened and converged on Li Wen, Moria, and the surviving believers.

Li Wen and Moria fought a growing swarm of magically protected gargoyles in the plaza and found a way to weaken them. They used the Candle of Darkness to disrupt the guards and began leading three survivors toward a narrow street.

• Moria shielded Li Wen and three survivors as the gargoyles attacked, while Li Wen's dagger and curses failed to penetrate their defenses.
• Li Wen cast Poem of Paradise, stripping a gargoyle of its magical protection so Moria could sever its arm.
• Li Wen identified a narrow street as their best escape route and ordered everyone to fall back there.
• Li Wen threw the Candle of Darkness into the gargoyle swarm, plunging part of the plaza into darkness and throwing the guards into disarray.
• Li Wen led the escape, with Moria dragging the three survivors behind her.

Spade K and his companions reached the tower at the center of Sunken City, where Fu Qingyan and her classmates arrived and became targets of his order to kill. Just as the confrontation was about to turn violent, a young priest and a cloaked figure appeared above them.

• Spade K used Ms. Sivell’s Star Compass to guide Joker and Heart A through the ruins toward the central spire.
• The group reached a cracked circular plaza and found the intact tower protected by a glowing magical barrier.
• Fu Qingyan and her classmates emerged from the ruins, and both groups recognized each other as players.
• Spade K ordered Joker and Heart A to kill Fu Qingyan and her classmates, while Fu Qingyan prepared to fight.
• A young man in priestly robes and a silent cloaked figure appeared on the ruins above the plaza.

Edgar, Anles, and Princess Victoria traveled by magical speedboat toward Sunken Horn, where Victoria’s map led them into the mist surrounding the ruins of Loren Ting City. A ghost ship blocked their way, and its former captain, Joseph Willbrard, recognized Victoria and confronted her.

• Princess Victoria joined Edgar’s operation and directed Anles to adjust the speedboat’s course using her ancient Sea Chart.
• Victoria identified the misty waters ahead as the site of Loren Ting City’s fall and the entrance to Sunken Horn.
• A ghost ship called the Mist Devourer formed from the mist and blocked the speedboat’s route.
• Edgar recognized the ship as Roberts’s former flagship, and Victoria explained that Roberts’s dead crew still remained aboard.
• Joseph Willbrard appeared on the ghost ship, recognized Princess Victoria, and addressed her with hostility.

Li Wen and Moria arrived in the ruined city and fought Spade K's hired enforcers, while Spade K tried to reach the Mage Tower. Yang Yi secretly activated the tower with blood and an incantation, unleashing a blast that hurled everyone away and awakened its power.

• Li Wen and Moria confronted Spade K, who ordered Joker and Heart A to attack while he planned to seize the artifact.
• Moria fought Heart A and Li Wen intercepted Joker, with both newcomers initially overwhelming their opponents.
• Spade K used his ruby cross ring to empower Heart A and Joker, turning both fights into deadlocks as Fu Qingyan blocked his route to the tower.
• Yang Yi slipped away from the group, stabbed his palm, and smeared his blood across the Mage Tower while chanting an incantation supplied by the voice in his head.
• The Mage Tower activated, sending a pillar of magical power skyward and blasting everyone in the square away.

Edgar and the others faced Joseph and the Ghost Ship above Sunken City when a pillar of magic split the sea and revealed the seabed ruins. The Mist Devourer descended toward the ancient spire, whose doors opened and released an overwhelming aura.

• Edgar chose to fight Joseph rather than use Victoria as bait, and Anles and Helena decided to stay with him.
• A vast pillar of deep blue magic erupted from the seabed, and Joseph cried out that his master was about to awaken.
• The whirlpool reversed, parting the sea and exposing the ruins and ancient spire to the people above and below.
• The Mist Devourer descended through the newly opened passage toward the seabed ruins as Li Wen and Edgar watched.
• The ancient spire's sealed doors opened, releasing a vast, oppressive aura.