Chapter Summaries

The Expeditionary Force selected knights for an experimental siege of Perugia City, a mentally contaminated city believed to be connected to a High-ranking Old King. As the force approached, a rat-associated aberration emissary arrived to negotiate with the Great Demon Commander.

• The Great Demon Commander learned that reconnaissance of Perugia City had caused five perception officers to fall into Deep Corruption and that the city might contain Overlapping Spaces.
• More than seven hundred knights volunteered, and the Great Demon Commander used a thought storm to select those with sufficient mental defenses; Han Dong pretended to be affected.
• The Great Demon Commander appointed Arthur the Demonizer to lead the siege and explained that following the World Rules would prevent the connected Old King from intervening personally.
• The Expeditionary Force reached the fog-shrouded mountain city, and the Great Demon Commander allowed a mental-type aberration emissary to enter the Demon King's Castle.
• A gray-robed emissary surrounded by rats appeared in the Main Hall.

Abyssal Demon emissary Dulumen Zoro offered the Expeditionary Force a chance to attend Perugia City’s Art Festival in exchange for an extra ordinary rule in the Siege Battle Manuscript. The Great Demon Commander planned to refuse, but Demps argued they should accept because Han Dong could resist the mental erosion.

• Dulumen Zoro arrived at Perugia City and invited the Great Demon Commander to send artists to the city’s Art Festival before the siege.
• Zoro promised the Human Faction an additional ordinary rule and safe passage for participants, while the Earl warned Han Dong that the festival could cause madness.
• Han Dong expressed interest in the proposal, though he said he would rather lie low during the siege.
• After Zoro departed, the Great Demon Commander suspected the invitation was a trap and ordered preparations for a direct siege.
• Demps urged the Great Demon Commander to accept the invitation, saying Han Dong could withstand the mental erosion.

Demps proposed that Han Dong infiltrate Perugia City, and the Great Demon Commander tested Han Dong’s resistance to a mind storm before approving the mission. The four-person team set off to investigate the city and its lord, while Han Dong remained confused about why Demps had chosen him.

• Demps asked the Great Demon Commander to test Han Dong with an Ancestral Body-level mind storm, and Han Dong dispersed it with his Corruption Immunity and Mad Laughter.
• The Great Demon Commander approved an infiltration operation called Artistic Exchange and requested an Elite Knight and a Holy Knight to join Han Dong and Demps.
• Charlie Leblanc Belmantsev volunteered to lead the operation, and Vino Sylest joined as a Battle Nun who could provide purification and combat support.
• The Great Demon Commander ordered Han Dong, Demps, Charlie, and Vino to travel to Perugia City and gather intelligence in exchange for the Silver Ribbon.
• Vino pinched Han Dong’s cheek as the team left, and Han Dong punched Demps’s arm and asked why he had involved him.
• Demps claimed he had done it for Han Dong and asked whether Han Dong had felt any reaction when approaching Perugia City, but Han Dong said he had noticed nothing.

Han Dong and his three companions infiltrated Perugia City to attend its Art Festival, where he hoped to investigate the secrets connected to his head while keeping the squad safe. After making masks at the city's entrance, they began climbing the mountain to adjust to the demons' way of life before meeting their lord.

• Demps told Han Dong that the Old King associated with Perugia City might be connected to his head and urged him to investigate during the Great Expedition.
• Han Dong's four-person squad rode ahead of the Expeditionary Force, and Knight Charlie put Han Dong in charge of the infiltration.
• Han Dong asked Vino Sylest to pose as his wife so he could conceal her holy aura and protect her from the city's mental erosion, and she agreed.
• The squad met Durumen Zoro at Perugia City's entrance and made masks for the Art Festival.
• Durumen Zoro led Han Dong, Demps, Charlie, and Vino up the mountain, warning them to adapt to the city's customs and avoid showing discomfort before its lord.

Han Dong and his companions entered Perugia City, where the Medium Deed cut them off from the Outside World and confined them within the Painter’s domain. As they climbed toward the Art Festival, they saw the city’s aberrant residents and their increasingly powerful artworks, then heard a somber melody from above.

• Han Dong, Demps, Vino, and Knight Charlie entered Perugia City, and the Earl explained that its Medium Deed imposed spatial dominion.
• Emissary Zoro led the group through the lower city and described its residents as materials for those above.
• Han Dong and the others climbed through districts where aberrations created artworks that distorted minds.
• Paintings projected twisted creatures into Han Dong’s mind, but his blood hound devoured them as nourishment for the Talent Tree.
• As the group neared the central street hosting the Art Festival, a low, somber melody drifted down from above.

Han Dong and his companions entered Perugia City’s elite art district, where Emissary Zoro explained the city’s hierarchy and the Lord’s artistic recruitment. After Han Dong helped Vino withstand the area’s mental pressure, Zoro escorted them directly to the Umbria Art Museum for a banquet attended by the Lord.

• Han Dong learned from Earl that the city had once appeared as a twisted, depraved place, possibly because of Mind Invasion or the Lord’s influence.
• The group reached Vanucci Street, where the headless guard Guda inspected their masks and let them pass.
• Emissary Zoro explained that only accomplished artists could enter the central street, visit the Lord’s palace, and seek a place in the art museum.
• Vino’s mental defenses came under pressure, so Han Dong pulled her close and used his laughter to relieve her distress.
• Zoro said the Lord had praised their mask designs and took them to the Umbria Art Museum banquet, warning them not to show discomfort before the Lord.

Han Dong and his companions entered the Lord's palace in Perugia, where the palace's art and aura tested their defenses against mental corruption. They survived the first assault, drawing the attention of a monstrous presence within the palace.

• Han Dong warned Vino to keep her head down and avoid looking at the palace's art or its lord, while noting that Knight Charlie could contend with the lord.
• The group entered the palace after the iron gates opened, and Han Dong dispelled the vision of a huge tide of rats.
• A messenger showed them the palace's surrealist painting, Perceive Truth, and assigned Han Dong and Vino one room and Demps and Charlie another.
• After inspecting their rooms, the group suffered a mental attack as rats emerged from the painting and tried to gnaw at their minds.
• Han Dong's blood hounds devoured the rats, Demps crushed one that appeared in his mouth, and Charlie sacrificed a puppet to absorb the corruption; Vino remained unharmed after avoiding the painting.
• A hidden monstrous presence watched them withstand the attack and smiled beneath its robe.

Han Dong and his companions attended the Perugia Lord’s banquet to investigate the city’s hidden secrets and the purpose of the Art Festival. When the Lord appeared, Han Dong glimpsed his true form and suffered severe damage to his Lesser Demon Eye, but Demps relieved his discomfort.

• The four discussed the Art Festival conspiracy and agreed to uncover as many of the city’s secrets as possible during their three days there.
• Han Dong’s group attended the banquet, where Vino wore a specially modified mask that blocked her vision and protected her from visual contamination.
• The Perugia Lord arrived in a colorful sacred robe, displaying four arms, four legs, and a caged sparrow suspended between his horns.
• Han Dong secretly used his Lesser Demon Eye to peer beneath the Lord’s robe and saw a horrifying vision that injured his eye.
• Demps used Tuina and Massage to ease Han Dong’s discomfort and warned him about daring to look upon an Ancestral Body’s true form.

Han Dong and the other honored guests attended a banquet hosted by the lord, where Han Dong ate the strange food while concealing his disgust and watched the lord erase a guest who broke etiquette. After the guests were sent away to rest, the lord’s painters revealed they could not depict Han Dong’s head, prompting the lord to order him specially observed.

• The lord welcomed the honored guests and served Perugia-style sashimi, while Han Dong secretly watched how the others ate.
• Han Dong used Vino’s mask and void transmission to eat the dishes himself, sensing unseen watchers as he finished two main courses.
• A Nascent Body aberration lifted its mask and ate crudely, so the lord marked it with an ink-colored cross and erased its body and tableware.
• The lord ended the banquet, told the guests to rest, and arranged for them to visit Art Gallery in batches the next day.
• Painters outside the banquet hall reported that they could not paint Han Dong’s head, and the lord ordered them to keep him under special observation.

Han Dong and his team discussed the lord’s apparent powers and the possibility that the banquet guest was only a control body, then prepared to spend the night safely in the palace. The chapter ended with Han Dong asking Vino to bathe with him so they could stay together and avoid being targeted separately.

• Han Dong, Charlie, Demps, and Vino discussed the lord’s Rule Erasure and considered whether the erased diner had been transferred to another layer of the city.
• Han Dong explained that he suspected the lord at the banquet was a control body rather than the true body, because he detected no individual consciousness within it.
• Han Dong told the team to rest and avoid acting alone before following the lord to the Art Gallery the next day.
• Han Dong inspected his bedroom and reassured Vino that her Holy Flame could help the team escape if the lord turned against them.
• The Scarlet Count appeared and warned Han Dong against challenging the lord, but Han Dong insisted he would not start a war unless necessary.
• Han Dong invited Vino to bathe with him so they could stay together in the dangerous palace, leaving her startled.

Han Dong and Vino tried to stay together in their luxurious palace room, but Vino began hearing rats despite avoiding the palace’s Art Pieces and banquet food. Han Dong discovered that Mind Invasion had infected nerve points throughout her body and began cleansing them.

• Han Dong invited Vino to bathe with him so they could remain together, and she watched him wash before taking her turn.
• Vino purified the bathwater and began bathing while Han Dong used the Conical Goggles and spread his perception around the room.
• Vino heard rats, and Han Dong realized she was suffering from Mind Invasion despite the holy protection in her brain.
• Han Dong examined Vino and found tiny sources of contamination at nerve joints throughout her body.
• Han Dong told Vino he needed to cleanse her entire body, and she agreed.

Han Dong and Vino discovered that Mental Invasion spread Rat Eggs through the body, then connected their minds to confront the invasion in a shared dream. They fought off the rats in Perugia City while Demps and Charlie faced a similar attack, with Charlie swiftly destroying the dream’s enemies.

• Han Dong and Vino told Demps and Charlie that Mental Invasion planted Rat Eggs at neural nodes throughout the body, and Demps said he and Charlie were already clearing them from each other.
• Han Dong and Vino slept together and used Tentacle Access to connect their minds, entering a shared dream of Perugia City.
• Crazed rats and fire-resistant ratmen attacked the dreamers, but Togu Gonzalez, Nicole, the Earl, Vino, and Han Dong drove back the swarm.
• Demps encountered a rat tide in his dream while Charlie controlled more than a hundred puppets and quickly slaughtered the rats.
• Charlie’s rampage in the dream caused the sleeping Lord of Perugia City to feel a faint stabbing pain.

Han Dong and his companions followed Perugia City's lord into the Art Gallery while the Expeditionary Force prepared an experimental siege to test the World Rules. In the Demon King Hall, Shaya claimed Han Dong could contend with an Ancestral Body, and the commanders decided to wait for the team’s report.

• After breakfast, Han Dong and Vino received the lord’s invitation and rejoined Demps and Commander Charlie at the banquet hall.
• The lord led the four into the Art Gallery, and Han Dong warned Vino not to look at the artworks.
• At the foot of Perugia City, the Expeditionary Force built a temporary camp and prepared an experimental siege to test how outside forces and the World Rules would respond.
• Marlon urged the generals to launch the war early because contact with Han Dong’s group had been cut off, but Alex and the Great Demon Commander argued that they should wait.
• Shaya criticized Marlon and said Han Dong could contend with an Ancestral Body, predicting that the experimental siege might exceed expectations.

Han Dong led his team through the gray membrane into the Art Gallery, while Lord Ramsden prepared to deceive the Expeditionary Force with replicas. The Mad God descended, perfected the replicas, and created a disguised Han Dong, leaving Ramsden to carry out its plan.

• Han Dong entered the Art Gallery with his teammates despite suspecting that the gray membrane would make it difficult to leave.
• Lord Ramsden ordered Durumen Zoro to send replicas of Vino, Demps, and Charlie to the Expeditionary Force and conceal Han Dong’s absence.
• The Mad God appeared through a spiraling abyss, forcing Ramsden, Zoro, and the replicas to kneel.
• The Mad God sent human-faced tentacles into the three replicas to perfect their disguises.
• The Mad God created a perfect human disguise resembling Han Dong and told Ramsden to make the war more interesting.

Han Dong explained how the World Rules restricted interference in wars and required the Expeditionary Force to match Perugia City's defensive strength. He led his group through the Art Gallery passage toward the Inner City, using his Mad Laughter to destroy its living artworks.

• Han Dong reviewed the World Rules, which restricted powerful beings from intervening in lower-level conflicts and governed the terms of war.
• The Expeditionary Force prepared to sign a Siege Contract with Perugia City's Abyssal Demon Lord, with its forces limited by the city's Defense Index.
• Han Dong recognized the Art Gallery as a passage to Perugia City's Inner City and thanked Charlie for agreeing to help dismantle the city's foundations.
• Han Dong unleashed his Mad Laughter in the Twisted Corridor, overwhelming the Art Gallery's Profane Sounds and corrupting its artworks into lifeless liquid.
• Han Dong pointed toward the end of the passage and led his group onward.

Han Dong and his companions passed through the Art Gallery’s gate into Perugia City’s true inner layer, Mad Rat City, and discovered the depraved reality concealed beneath its civilized facade. As pig-masked chefs attacked, Vino Sylest revealed her royal-exclusive Nun Battle Armor and led the group into battle.

• Han Dong and his companions entered the inner city and learned that Perugia’s lord had disguised Mad Rat City as an ancient human town to lure psychic demons and devour them.
• The group saw the true banquet hall, where captured demons were prepared as food, and Han Dong sensed an approaching threat.
• Han Dong, Demps, Knight Charlie, and Vino Sylest equipped their armor as the pig-masked chefs arrived to capture them alive.
• Vino revealed her royal-exclusive Nun Battle Armor and blessed the group with King's Blessing.
• Vino charged the chefs, crushed a Pig-head Butcher against the wall, and destroyed it with holy flames using Judgment.

Knight Veno, Han Dong, Demps, and Knight Charlie discovered that Perugia’s streets concealed a vast abyss where the city’s rat-linked lord preyed on artists’ minds. The group descended into the Rat Den to confront the Ancestral Body before the Siege Troops arrived.

• Veno burned through the White Pig Butchers and forced a path out of the palace, but Han Dong pulled her back when they found the streets had become an enormous abyss.
• Han Dong explained that Perugia’s lord used rats and mental invasion to consume artists’ brains and strengthen itself, then led the group toward the Rat Den.
• Charlie agreed to help maintain the group’s balance and warned Han Dong about facing an Ancestral Body, while Han Dong said he had three escape routes and Demps to rely on.
• As the group descended, Han Dong sensed a resonance in his head while the Old King marks weakened; Demps touched his back to reduce the resonance.
• Demps revealed that he had anticipated the connection and believed killing the Ancestral Body before the Siege Troops arrived could help Han Dong, and the group reached the ruined Rat Den at the abyss’s depths.

The Expeditionary Force began its siege of Perugia City and advanced rapidly through the Mid-level Zone, while the Abyssal lord prepared to infect the attackers with the Rat Plague. In the Rat Den, the lord gave Flute Emissary Zoro control of the area and ordered him to delay Charlie while it targeted the other three humans.

• The counterfeit returned to the Expeditionary Force with reconnaissance information, and the Great Demon Commander signed the Siege Contract to begin the campaign.
• Arthur led the Siege Troops into Perugia City, where they defeated the Butterfly-Rat Artist, though eleven knights suffered mental problems and were sent for purification.
• The Siege Troops pressed toward the mountaintop as Abyssal Demons continued offering their artworks, whose rat-filled images and whispers could pose a danger over time.
• Flute Emissary Durumen Zoro told the lord that the humans were advancing faster than expected, but the lord said the Rat Plague and artworks would slow and infect them near Main Street.
• The lord ordered Zoro to hold back Charlie while it devoured the other three humans, then granted Zoro control of the Rat Den, greatly increasing his power.

Han Dong led Vino and Demps through the Rat Den toward the lord’s territory while they avoided its swarming eggs and rats. After the lord used a deed to separate Charlie and draw him into the Rat Brain House, Han Dong decided the three of them would attack the isolated lord.

• Vino used her Holy Flame Domain to destroy approaching rats before they could self-destruct, while Han Dong’s laughter shielded the group from contamination caused by rat cries.
• The group reached a fork marked Rat Brain House and Source of Madness, and Han Dong sensed that a deed was about to trigger a spatial transfer.
• Han Dong let Charlie be teleported into the Rat Brain House without warning the others, and the building sank underground.
• Vino asked whether they should find Charlie, but Han Dong explained that the lord had gathered its forces to target him and had left itself vulnerable.
• Han Dong told Vino and Demps that they would go after the Ancestral Body lord without Charlie.

Han Dong and his companions entered the garbage dump and lured the Mad Rat, Lord Ramsden Merlin Wattschi, into focusing on Han Dong. Demps Martin then struck Ramsden’s core, leaving the Lord collapsed as the Brain Rats began devouring his remains.

• Han Dong and Vino pretended to panic after losing Knight Charlie and cautiously advanced into the garbage dump.
• The group reached the Rat Den Center, where Ramsden emerged from the Fallen Brain and attacked them with Mad Rat Feast.
• Han Dong absorbed the mental attack aimed at his companions and fell to his knees, making Ramsden believe he had been overcome.
• Demps used Demonization to attack Ramsden while Han Dong revealed that he had been feigning his defeat.
• Demps shattered Ramsden’s core with a lethal thrust, and the Brain Rats began gnawing at the fallen Lord’s remains.