Chapter Summaries

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.

The spire collapsed, revealing a withered mage instead of the Soul Lord, and the voice guiding Yang Yi fell silent. The mage revealed that he himself had served as the seal and prison for a century, then accused the group of trusting Sivell’s lie.

• Li Wen backed away from the spire as its runes vanished, its barrier shattered, and the tower crumbled into dust.
• Joseph saw the withered white-robed mage and demanded to know where his great master was.
• Yang Yi called for the voice that had promised him power and a quest reward, but it did not answer.
• Spade K demanded that the old mage hand over the divine artifact used for the seal.
• The mage awakened, dismissed the supposed divine artifact, and explained that he had been the seal and the place had been the prison for a century.
• The mage accused the group of reaching the prison by trusting Sivell, whom he called a liar.

Poe D'Lien recounted a hidden version of the campaign against Soul Lord Kourt, claiming Aiswell and Serun had betrayed him over the secret of the Undying Flower and that Sivell had arranged his final destruction. Li Wen suspected Poe was lying, and the chapter left his true motives unresolved.

• Princess Victoria arrived with Edgar, Anles, Lina, Philip, and the others, then identified Poe D'Lien as a mage recorded as dead a century earlier.
• Poe D'Lien claimed Kourt had come to Lorenteen seeking the secret of the Undying Flower, which Poe, Aiswell, and Serun also wanted.
• Poe D'Lien said Aiswell and Serun had used Skyfall against him, while Kourt died facing the falling sky.
• Joseph rejected Poe D'Lien's account and insisted that his master was immortal, while Spade K questioned his own failed search for a divine artifact.
• Poe D'Lien said he had survived as a soul within the Mage Tower and accused Sivell of luring the others into destroying his refuge.
• Li Wen privately doubted Poe D'Lien's story because she believed Kourt's will and power had endured, but she stayed silent and wondered what Poe was plotting.

Joseph transformed into a flesh giant and attacked Poe D'Lien, who petrified the undead pirates and defeated Joseph with spears of light. As the seawater barrier began to collapse, Poe D'Lien revealed that an ancient Teleportation Array could save them, but it required a spellcaster with sufficient potential to act as its key.

• Joseph's faith collapsed, and he transformed into a giant of flesh and bone before ordering the Mist Devourer to kill Poe D'Lien.
• The undead pirates charged Poe D'Lien, who petrified them all with a gesture.
• Poe D'Lien summoned spears of light that destroyed Joseph's giant form and left him near death.
• The seawater barrier cracked and began to collapse after the Mage Tower's support failed.
• Poe D'Lien told the group that an ancient Teleportation Array could help them escape and asked for a gifted spellcaster to serve as its key.

Victoria exposed that Kourt had survived by turning Loren Ting City into his domain, making him impossible to kill through ordinary means. Poe D'Lien confirmed the city had been sunk beneath the sea to erode Kourt's soul, but revealed that Aiswell had also plotted against him.

• Poe D'Lien explained that Philip would die as the key needed to activate the Teleportation Array, prompting Edgar and Moria to refuse to sacrifice him.
• Spade K urged Poe D'Lien to take Philip anyway, but Victoria interrupted and demanded that Kourt be killed before they discussed escaping.
• Victoria deduced that Kourt's Soul Lord domain could have been created by scattering soil from his homeland, allowing him to survive even Skyfall.
• Poe D'Lien confirmed that Kourt had made Loren Ting City his domain and resurrected by sacrificing its residents whenever his body and soul were destroyed.
• Poe D'Lien explained that Aiswell had used Skyfall to sink the city and seal Kourt beneath the sea, then revealed that Aiswell had also plotted against him.

Poe D'Lien explained that Kourt was bound to the Sunken City, while Yang Yi confessed that Kourt had used him to lure people to the ruins. Kourt then appeared to have taken over Joseph Willbrard and announced his return.

• Poe D'Lien said Kourt's weakened Remnant Soul could not leave the Sunken City and had used objects and people to attract outsiders.
• Spade K accused Yang Yi of bringing down the Mage Tower and claimed he was possessed by Kourt.
• Yang Yi confessed that Kourt had called himself an ancient god and persuaded him to spread information about Black Reef Bay on game forums.
• Spade K attacked Yang Yi, but Joker stopped him before the fight escalated.
• Li Wen asked whether Kourt was still inside Yang Yi, and Yang Yi said the voice had vanished when the tower collapsed.
• Joseph Willbrard rose, healed from his wounds, and told Li Wen, "I have returned."

Kourt accused Poe D'Lien of betraying him a century earlier and offered the others a way out if they helped kill the weakened Archmage. As players began siding with Kourt, Poe revealed that destroying his Mage Tower had freed him to wield his power over the entire city.

• Kourt, inhabiting Joseph's body, accused Poe D'Lien of betraying him during their search for the Undying Flower a hundred years earlier.
• Kourt claimed Poe's soul was weakened and offered to guide the group to an escape Teleportation Array if they helped kill him.
• Spade K and several other players sided with Kourt, while Edgar remained wary, Fu Qingyan looked to Li Wen, and Victoria withheld her decision.
• Poe D'Lien laughed at Kourt's proposal and declared that the Mage Tower's destruction had removed his final restraint.
• Poe announced that the undersea city was his creation and that he was its god, awakening the ruins around them.

Poe D'Lien and Kourt fought across the collapsing Sunken City, each commanding the city’s magic and undead. As the battle left Kourt suppressed and other players trapped, Li Wen questioned why both enemies had tried to make them choose sides.

• Poe D'Lien reshaped the square and attacked Kourt, who escaped as black mist and awakened the undead buried throughout Sunken City.
• Poe D'Lien animated the ruins to fight Kourt’s growing army of skeletons, and the battle damaged the Sky Dome until seawater poured in.
• Kourt urged the onlookers to join the fight, and Spade K charged with Joker and Heart A, but Poe D'Lien trapped Joker in stone and swallowed Heart A in quicksand.
• Li Wen told Moria that Kourt was acting through a remnant corpse and could not match Poe D'Lien, then wondered why both had been trying to make them choose sides.

Li Wen realized that Kourt and Poe D'Lien had been protecting the people around them to force them to witness their conflict as part of a ritual. After the battle stopped, a vast Ritual Array appeared beneath the plaza and trapped the gathered groups at separate nodes, while Li Wen remained unbound in the air.

• Li Wen told Moria that Kourt and Poe D'Lien needed the spectators alive to witness their struggle and take a stance.
• As the plaza collapsed, Spade K, Edgar, Fu Qingyan, and others failed to escape and were driven toward its center.
• Kourt and Poe D'Lien abruptly stopped fighting, and a vast Ritual Array emerged across the plaza.
• Victoria and Edgar's Investigation Squad, Moria, and the players were trapped at different nodes of the array.
• Li Wen floated alone above the array, unbound by any node.

Li Wen recognized the Ritual of the Scales of Life and Death as Poe D'Lien and Kourt explained how they had built it from the Sunken City's dead and the souls gathered at its nodes. The ritual was ready to begin, with Poe seeking transformation into a Magical Lifeform and Kourt aiming to become a Death Monarch.

• Li Wen identified the enormous array as the Ritual of the Scales of Life and Death, and Kourt left Joseph's body to confront her as a phantom of deathly energy.
• Poe D'Lien described the ritual as his attempt to bring the abstract Undying Flower into the material world, while Kourt revealed that the drowned residents of the Sunken City supplied its power of death.
• Poe D'Lien and Kourt explained that they had balanced magic and deathly energy for a century to prepare the ritual's opposing scales.
• Kourt identified Moriah Enoch, Victoria Hefati and the Investigation Bureau, the outsiders, and the ordinary survivors as soul nourishment representing life, order, disorder, and humanity.
• Poe D'Lien declared that he would use the flower to become a Magical Lifeform, while Kourt planned to devour it and become a Death Monarch; the ritual was ready to begin.

Li Wen watched the Ritual of the Scales of Life and Death begin, suspecting that the players’ unusual souls and Poe D'Lien and Kourt’s mutual distrust had doomed it to fail. The ritual drained the players’ experience and trapped everyone in place as their souls and opposing energies converged into a changing flower at the plaza’s center.

• Li Wen recalled that Poe D'Lien had vanished from history and Kourt had later become a Saint, concluding that the ritual had both succeeded and failed.
• The Ritual Array activated and drew life force from the people at its nodes, while Edgar and his team struggled unsuccessfully to escape.
• Joker and the other players discovered that their experience was falling and their system menus could not log them out.
• Kourt accused Poe D'Lien of tampering with the ritual, but Poe denied it and said it could no longer be stopped.
• Order Magic Power, Decaying Death Qi, and the extracted souls converged at the plaza’s center, where a shifting translucent flower began to bloom.