Chapter Summaries

Han Dong disguised himself as a drunken local to investigate the bar’s second floor, where he discovered Lord Suram using a Conch Chair to enter a dream and torment fishfolk. Suram’s tentacle pulled Han Dong into the dream banquet.

• Han Dong drank the Priest's Charm Blue and used his disguise to speak with the bartender in the local language.
• The bartender told Han Dong that Lord Suram had reserved the second-floor rooms but that he could go upstairs if he was careful.
• Captain Deeds approved Han Dong’s investigation, and Vino told Deeds about Han Dong’s role in the Fallen Baker Incident.
• Han Dong found humanoid deep-sea creatures on the second floor, and Nicole sensed royal blood in a passing tentacle.
• Han Dong entered Lord Suram’s room and saw the Conch Chair supplying purified Seawater for dream entry while Suram’s tentacles connected to hanging fishfolk.
• Lord Suram’s tentacle lashed toward Han Dong and pulled him into the dream.

Han Dong and Nicole trapped Lord Suram in a dreamlike battlefield, where the Blood Hound tore away most of the lord’s body. Nicole then seized the helpless Suram, and Han Dong left his fate to her.

• Han Dong tore off one of Lord Suram’s tentacles, then used Void Descent to transform the bar into an unfamiliar cratered world.
• Lord Suram transformed into a Sea Crab Type and attacked Han Dong and Nicole with a fishing net.
• Nicole trapped Lord Suram in a Sea Prison, but he began destroying it with his tentacles.
• Han Dong summoned the Blood Hound from the damaged Netherblood Skull, and it bit through the net and tore off Suram’s limbs.
• Nicole wrapped her giant pink tentacle around the weakened Suram as Han Dong entrusted the rest to her.

Han Dong defeated Lord Suram and learned how to enter the dream again, while Earl Denox Wright launched a search for his son’s killer. Han Dong returned to the dream’s second layer, where he found the island submerged beneath the sea.

• Nicole devoured Lord Suram, gaining strength and some of his Deep Sea Secret Art magic.
• Earl Denox Wright sensed Suram’s death and ordered the town searched for the murderer, tracing him to Captain Parson’s Boots.
• Captain Deeds told Han Dong that the Other-Demons were searching for Suram and prepared the group to flee.
• Han Dong convinced Deeds to give him time to re-enter the dream and find a way back to Gayn Forest.
• Han Dong used Suram’s conch chair to enter the dream’s second layer and discovered that the island lay underwater.

Han Dong used the Scarlet Count’s deep-sea connections to reach the outskirts of the ocean’s depths and meet the Great Existence bound by the Count’s contract. The Count transferred Scarlet Manor and his agreement to Han Dong, who became the new party to the deep-sea trade as his team fought aberrant demons above.

• Han Dong showed the fishman the contract and asked to be taken to the lord, so the fishman carried him into town.
• A conch woman guided Han Dong down the Abyss Entrance in a Conch Elevator to the extreme depths of the sea.
• Han Dong stood on the Great Existence’s enormous eye and heard it recognize his contract, the Yellow Sign, the Prisoner’s Skull, and his killing of the Young Scarlet Count.
• The Scarlet Count emerged from Han Dong’s arm and transferred Scarlet Manor and his agreement with the deep sea to Han Dong.
• Han Dong became the Great Existence’s new trading partner as his team clashed with aberrant demons in the town above.

Han Dong demonstrated an experimental resurrection potion to the deep-sea entity and negotiated for messenger status and research access in Port Ostia. The entity accepted his first request and arranged regular potion deliveries, leaving Han Dong with a new role ahead of the Great Expedition.

• Han Dong summoned Nicole and presented the deep-sea entity with an experimental potion, requesting two similar Deep-Ones for a demonstration.
• Han Dong injected the potion into a dead lamprey-type Deep-One and used Death Spore to animate and control it.
• The resurrected Deep-One defeated and consumed its living opponent, then began swelling until Han Dong stopped it with his mummified arm.
• Han Dong offered to supply potions for fifteen corpses each month in exchange for low-ranking messenger status and purebred Deep-One embryos.
• The deep-sea entity granted Han Dong messenger status and permission to research fish-men in Port Ostia, but refused to provide embryos.

Han Dong made a deal with the Deep Sea Old King, becoming a messenger and linking himself to Port Ostia. He woke from the dream, led his companions out of the port’s dream prison, and the group began their return to Gayn Forest.

• Han Dong received a simplified conch mark and became a low-ranking messenger of the deep sea, while learning that Port Ostia had formed a connection with him.
• Captain Deeds, Lucius, Vino, and Earl Denox Wright continued fighting the Abyssal Demons until Han Dong woke in the Conch Chair and ordered everyone to keep their attacks secret.
• Han Dong told his companions to remove their conch respirators, and the four woke aboard the steamship after the dream’s hold over the port had been lifted.
• Vino cleared the deep-sea pollution from herself and Captain Deeds, while Han Dong explained that the sea region was reconnected to the continent.
• Demps and Sura Ice Spindle laid an ice track, and Wenli pushed the steamship across the sea toward the port at high speed.

After completing the harbor investigation, Han Dong and the other knights returned to the Holy City, where Headquarters confirmed the mission was complete and promoted Crow's Whisper to Silver rank. As the squads prepared to take another mission, a puppet delivered an urgent summons for Han Dong from Commander Hugo.

• Han Dong secretly connected Port Town's Conch Dream Array to the road back to Gayn Forest and told Captain Deeds a fabricated account of the deep dreamscape.
• Knight Headquarters ordered the teams back to the city and decided not to purge Port Town or investigate it further.
• Mission examiners confirmed the investigation was complete, awarded everyone 20 Eve of Expedition points, and promoted Han Dong's Crow's Whisper squad from Iron to Silver rank.
• Mia suggested that the three squads take another mission, and the others agreed to consider it.
• A stitched puppet appeared behind Han Dong and, identifying its controller as Puppet Master Charlie, told him that Commander Hugo wanted to see him about an important matter.

Han Dong was summoned to the Secret Hall to help decipher dangerous subordinate tablets tied to an Old King, where he reunited with Mr. Black and White. He also agreed to handle Knight Charlie’s paperwork before entering the Black-Zone with Commander Hugo and the other Whispering Knights.

• Knight Charlie explained that the main Abyssal Demon Tablet had been deciphered and that Han Dong’s abilities were needed to help with the damaged subordinate tablets.
• Charlie warned Han Dong that the tablets pointed to an Old King and that even the smallest one could corrupt an Ordinary Knight.
• Charlie asked Han Dong to handle a stack of work documents while he left the Secret Hall, and Han Dong agreed.
• Han Dong entered the Black-Zone, where Commander Hugo, Mr. Black and White, and senior Whispering Knights were gathered around the tablets.
• Mr. Black and White examined Han Dong’s hand, noticed he had recently been to the port, and led him onward.

The chapter explained the origins and dangers of Abyssal Demon Tablets and how the Whisper Knight Order was established to study them. Commander Hugo brought Han Dong to inspect a mutated Subordinate Stone Tablet, where Han Dong saw a humanoid lifeform suspended among strange stone pillars.

• The chapter described the three goals of Holy City expeditions: gathering intelligence, securing resources, and finding Abyssal Demon Tablets.
• A tablet recovered during an early expedition corrupted an entire church in three days and caused the Dabraduo Blasphemy Incident.
• In Eternal Night Era 161, Hugo Harrison founded the Whisper Knight Order and took responsibility for deciphering the stored tablets.
• Commander Hugo explained that a semi-living Subordinate Stone Tablet was difficult to decipher and asked Han Dong to try.
• Commander Hugo led Han Dong into the Black-Zone, where Han Dong saw a humanoid creature linked to thin stone pillars as corrosive black liquid dripped from it.

Han Dong entered a dream connected to the Subordinate Stone Tablet and retrieved its missing node patterns and correctly ordered text. He returned to the Secret Hall with the deciphering material just as Mr. Black and White cleared a burst of dark seawater from the corridor.

• Han Dong identified that the Subordinate Stone Tablet’s text had been scrambled across its pillars and that essential node patterns were hidden in its nervous system.
• Han Dong proposed entering the tablet’s dream to obtain the missing patterns, and Commander Hugo agreed to let him try.
• Han Dong mimicked the tablet’s aura, used Perfect Conches to enter a shared dream, and paddled toward a dangerous Black Woman on a raft.
• Charlie protected Mr. Black and White when dark seawater burst from a sealed chamber, and Mr. Black and White cleared it with a strand of starlight.
• Han Dong and Commander Hugo emerged covered in black slime, and Han Dong showed the parchment bearing the node patterns and correctly arranged text.

Han Dong deciphered an Old King Stone Tablet, earned maximum Eve of Expedition points, and wondered why the tablet’s Black Woman had shared its secrets with him. A month later, a fleeing knight squad reached the woods near Stuart Manor while pursued by the seemingly unkillable Corpse Hider.

• Han Dong finished deciphering the tablet, received credit and time off from Commander Hugo, and chose to remain in the Secret Hall to study and work with the female mummy.
• Han Dong recalled surviving on an island with the Black Woman in the tablet’s dream and questioned why she had revealed the secret script, which might relate to his head.
• Han Dong received a letter awarding him 50 Eve of Expedition points, bringing his total to the maximum of 100, and planned to attend to his own affairs.
• A month later, the Blue Illusion squad fled the Corpse Hider after discovering a dangerous conspiracy in an unnamed mountain village, but found their mechanical horses buried and could not contact the Holy City.
• The injured Ivy and her squad reached a clearing near Stuart Manor, where a flock of crowmen appeared as the Corpse Hider continued pursuing them.

The Blue Illusion squad fled the Corpse Hider into Stuart Manor, where they found an unexpectedly rebuilt estate occupied by modified crowfolk. Han Dong watched the squad approach his castle as the Corpse Hider pursued them, and prepared to face the intruder.

• Eugene led the exhausted Blue Illusion squad toward Stuart Manor, where Ulysses noticed that the crowfolk had been mechanically modified.
• The crowfolk let the squad pass through the rebuilt manor, then vanished as one directed Eugene to lead the Corpse Hider toward the castle.
• A miniature Buried Alive Tombstone struck Ulysses, corrupting his arm, and the squad continued toward the castle with a crow monitoring the pursuit.
• Han Dong discussed the Corpse Hider with the Earl and learned that the demon was stronger than the Earl had been in a one-on-one fight.
• Han Dong decided to confront the Corpse Hider after recognizing that its tombstones could deeply corrupt the knights.

Captain Eugene and the knights reached Han Dong’s castle while fleeing the Corpse Hider, and Han Dong arranged for Ivey to receive an experimental anti-stress drug. The Corpse Hider entered the Main Hall and pursued his target, where Han Dong confronted him.

• Captain Eugene told the group he would create a sealed illusionary space to hold off the pursuer while they helped Ivey and sought aid.
• Han Dong directed the group to a quiet room so Ivey could undergo stress control, intending to test his anti-stress drug on him.
• Han Dong told the Crow Person Elders that Dr. Swollen had become the manor’s first Mature Abyssal Demon and urged them to seek their own opportunities to advance.
• The Corpse Hider arrived at the castle, and Han Dong recognized him as an Abyssal Demon transformed from a human cultist.
• Han Dong sent a blood hound to attack the Corpse Hider, but the wooden spikes on the demon’s body rotated and stopped its bite with an invisible barrier.

Han Dong stopped the Corpse Hider from pursuing the knights and offered to erase their memories in exchange for the possibility of recruiting him to the estate. The Corpse Hider agreed to watch the brainwashing, then sensed that Han Dong carried the scent of his former master: black.

• Han Dong recalled his blood hound after its attack failed to break the Corpse Hider’s barrier and hurt his tentacles.
• The Corpse Hider explained that he had to kill the knights because they had discovered his village’s secret, and Han Dong showed him the Holy City’s investigation letter.
• Han Dong offered to brainwash the knights so they would forget their encounter, and the Corpse Hider agreed to watch the process through a crow’s eyes.
• Han Dong invited the Corpse Hider to join his estate after he finished his private matter, and the Corpse Hider said he needed to ask a woman’s opinion after reviving her.
• The Corpse Hider detected the scent of his former master on Han Dong and identified it as the scent of black.

Han Dong negotiated with Corpse Hider while Dr. Swollen treated and brainwashed the Blue Illusion squad. Corpse Hider later signed a five-year contract to manage the graveyard, and the first stage of Eve of Expedition ended as qualified knights advanced to the Will and Courage test.

• Han Dong explained that his exposure to Dark Matter had given him the black scent and said he would negotiate a contract with Corpse Hider.
• Dr. Swollen reported that his serotonin treatment had stabilized Evie Goldenleaf, whose mental state had recovered to about eighty percent.
• Han Dong reassured Dr. Swollen that Corpse Hider would not threaten his laboratory, then presented himself to the Blue Illusion squad as a Crow People elder allied with Mr. Black and White.
• Dr. Swollen used his brain domain to brainwash the squad, erasing their memories of Corpse Hider and Stuart Manor and compelling them to return to the city.
• Corpse Hider completed his long-running plan, returned to Stuart Manor, and signed a five-year Graveyard Administrator Contract with Han Dong.
• The first stage of Eve of Expedition ended, and knights who met the point requirement advanced to the Will and Courage selection stage.

Han Dong and his squad gathered for the Second Stage of the Great Expedition assessment, which would test their will and courage inside Tar Prison. Commander Malone warned that the trial could permanently imprison those who fell, and Han Dong reassured Wen Li and Mia as the five-minute countdown began.

• Han Dong, Abel, Wen Li, Mia, and their squad gathered with thousands of Ordinary Knights at Narcissus Square for the assessment.
• A demon's head rose from the plaza to reveal the entrance to Tar Prison as the Demon Creation Group assembled around the knights.
• Commander Malone arrived, and his presence forced Hell Knight Order members, including Wen Li, to kneel.
• Malone warned that the assessment would simulate the pressure of an Old King's territory and could leave fallen knights imprisoned in Tar Prison, then gave everyone five minutes to withdraw.
• Han Dong noticed Wen Li and Mia's fear and reassured them that he would look after them if anything happened.

Commander Malone began the second assessment by sending the knights into Tar Prison, where they would face fear and contamination in separate cells. Han Dong was singled out for special training by former Terminus Knight Order commander Starwen Mistermanto and taken to the prison’s lowest level, the Chaos Zone.

• Malone branded the knights with prison codes and sent them into Tar Prison for an assessment with no set duration or rules.
• Han Dong secretly gave Wen Li and Mia tentacle-made crows to help absorb contamination if necessary.
• Dead spirits led Abel, Wen Li, Demps, Mia, and the other knights to different prison areas, but no one summoned Han Dong at first.
• Starwen Mistermanto appeared and told Han Dong that Commander Alex had arranged special training for him in the Chaos Zone.
• Han Dong descended with Starwen to Tar Prison’s lowest level and entered Crow Person Form as the death aura intensified.

Two days earlier, Commander Alex arranged for Nicholas to enter the Chaos Zone beneath Tar Prison as a chance to study death and possibly join the Chaos Primordials. Nicholas survived the lake’s true-death corrosion and sank to the bottom with his Mummy Arm and head intact.

• At the expedition conference, Han Dong was excluded from the Will and Courage assessment as a Council Candidate with Corruption Immunity.
• Commander Alex gave Hugo a sealed letter and secured permission for Nicholas to enter the Chaos Zone as special training.
• Vice Commander Starwen explained that the Chaos Zone was a Death Space linked to true death and used by the Terminus Knight Order to train the Chaos Primordials.
• Nicholas entered the Black Lotus Lake, where Chaos rapidly destroyed his body despite his death crow-man form and G-Virus arm.
• The Mummy Arm resisted the lake by releasing yellow sand, while Nicholas’s head remained intact, and both sank to the bottom.
• Starwen reported that Nicholas had successfully entered the Chaos Zone.

Han Dong learned how the Black Lotus created Tar Prison’s Chaos Zone and encountered a Fallen Knight after arriving there. The knight attacked him, leaving him to face a powerful threat in the prison’s depths.

• The Black Lotus was revealed to have created the Chaos Zone and transformed dead Fallen Knights into undead guards who served Commander Alex.
• A group of prisoners noticed an outsider had arrived and sent Lisa to welcome him.
• Han Dong awoke in the Chaos Zone, assessed the dangers of death there, and began exploring its spatially distorted passages.
• Han Dong deciphered the patterns on the stone pillars and released crows to scout, but Lisa approached through shifting directions.
• Han Dong escaped Lisa’s greatsword strike with Void Transfer and recognized her as a Fallen Knight.

Han Dong defeated Lisa, the Blasphemer, in the Chaos Zone and learned that the area strengthened death-related abilities. Commander Alex approved Han Dong’s assessment, returned the New Mummy to him, and assigned Lisa to guide him through the Chaos Fallen Area.

• Han Dong raised a Sand Wall against Lisa’s greatsword, then used a tentacle and Void Transfer to attack her from behind.
• Lisa countered Han Dong’s sneak attack with Blasphemous Scripture, but his Brain Defense Line resisted its mental assault.
• Han Dong struck Lisa with his virus-enhanced, abyssally transformed arm, knocking off her helmet and winning the fight as her greatsword hovered above him.
• Commander Alex appeared, confirmed Han Dong had passed the assessment, and explained that death-related abilities were more effective in the Chaos Zone.
• Alex returned Han Dong’s New Mummy and ordered Lisa to guide him through the Chaos Fallen Area.
• Lisa carried Han Dong deeper into the area atop her greatsword.