Chapter Summaries

Demps killed the Ancestral Body’s outer shell, but Ramsden M. Waziki transformed into a powerful true form at the edge of madness and emerged to face Han Dong’s team. The chapter ended as Han Dong realized the Ancestral Body was not merely a mental threat but appeared ready for direct combat.

• Demps returned to the team after killing the Ancestral Body’s outer body with a single attack, and Sister Wino adapted to Han Dong’s contamination.
• Han Dong explained that Ramsden’s true body had abandoned its flesh and was hidden deep within the Brain Rat mass, while Demps’s demon man cultivation had made him exceptionally powerful.
• Sister Wino unleashed her Holy Flame Domain, and the Earl agreed to fight alongside Han Dong and Demps.
• The Brain Rats devoured Ramsden’s remains and fused into a brain-matter door that opened at the edge of madness.
• Ramsden stepped through the door with sun and moon shields formed from its material, and Han Dong realized the Ancestral Body was prepared for close combat.

Lord Ramsden failed to see through Han Dong and Demps, became excited, and attacked the group. After Vino was injured in a failed shield clash, Han Dong and Demps took the fight to Ramsden in their strongest close-combat forms.

• Lord Ramsden used his Eye of Truth on Han Dong and Demps but could not discern their true natures, which convinced him that killing them could earn the King's recognition and reveal his Mythic Path.
• Ramsden charged the group, and Vino rushed to intercept him with a blessing prayer and a shield charge.
• Ramsden shattered Vino's shield and sent her flying, but a Deep Sea Familiar caught her and cleared the rat contamination from her body.
• Vino blessed her companions from the rear as Han Dong noticed that Ramsden's apparent physical strength seemed subjective rather than objectively real.
• Han Dong summoned Earl and transformed into the Red Mad Dog while Demps maintained his demonized form, and the two attacked Ramsden in close combat.

Han Dong and Demps exploited the brief opening created by a Void Transfer to strike Lord Ramsden’s two bodies. Demps pierced the rat incarnation, and Han Dong and the Scarlet Count prepared a holy sword strike as the chapter ended.

• Lord Ramsden grew a rat incarnation from his back and armed it with the Moon Shield while keeping the Sun Shield on his main body.
• Han Dong and Demps struggled against the shields’ damage reflection and corruption, then agreed to switch opponents during a brief opening.
• Han Dong struck Ramsden’s main body and used Void Transfer to swap places with Demps, briefly startling the lord.
• Demps pierced the rat incarnation through the heart with his Chaos Spear, while Han Dong summoned the Scarlet Count to help wield a holy sword.
• Han Dong and the Scarlet Count drew the holy sword and brought it down toward Lord Ramsden.

The chapter reveals how Ramsden, a rat blessed by an Ancient One, became a servant of madness before surrendering himself to the Mad Abyss. After Han Dong’s sword destroyed the city’s lord, Ramsden began forming into a new creature of madness, and armored troops arrived as Han Dong prepared to end the fight.

• Two hundred years earlier, Ramsden earned an Ancient One’s blessing by devouring every rat in Perugia City and vowed to offer it the madness of Italy.
• Demps fled Han Dong’s sword strike, which destroyed the lord’s body and severed its reconstruction.
• Ramsden stepped into the Mad Abyss, giving up his consciousness as he reverted to an alley rat and was consumed by madness.
• A gray sphere appeared above the garbage dump, and its resonance forced Han Dong to his knees as he sensed a creature of madness forming inside.
• The sphere absorbed the garbage dump and formed a massive arm from rats, gray matter, and debris, while the surrounding pollution intensified.
• Siege knights in Power Armor entered the area, and Han Dong told Demps it was time to wrap things up.

The Siege Troops cleansed their ranks and entered Perugia City’s corrupted inner city, where Knight Charlie joined them after defeating the demons sent to kill him. As Arthur and the troops advanced toward the lord, Charlie pulled Han Dong and Demps from the battle and revealed that an Old King had created disguised copies of the commanders before the war.

• The Siege Troops used blood replacement therapy and holy light to remove most of the parasitic contamination from their knights, then cleared the captured district.
• A gray storm revealed Perugia City’s corrupted inner city, and the Siege Troops rushed toward the deepest level of the abyss.
• Knight Charlie emerged from a sealed spatial layer after killing the demons and constructs sent by the lord, then proved his identity to Arthur with the demons’ heads.
• Charlie told Arthur that Han Dong, Demps, and Veno were fighting the city’s lord, and the Siege Troops advanced toward the Garbage Pillar.
• Charlie pulled Han Dong, Demps, and Veno to safety, told Han Dong that an Old King had made perfect disguised copies of the commanders, and joined Arthur’s battle.
• Han Dong wondered why the Old King had interfered as the gray matter sphere continued absorbing the Garbage Pillars.

The Siege Troops defeated Ramsden and destroyed Perugia City’s deed, but the Gray Old King appeared and revealed that he had arranged events so Han Dong could reach Ramsden and perform for him. Afterward, Han Dong returned to the Expeditionary Force, left questioning the Old King’s motives and the nature of Kings.

• Commander Arthur, Knight Charlie, and the Siege Troops attacked the mad Ramsden, exposing his Gray Matter Core as his giant body collapsed.
• Charlie’s puppet swallowed the core, then released a smaller sphere that Arthur shattered, erasing Ramsden and winning the Siege Battle.
• As Perugia City’s deed dissipated, a gray domain stopped time around the city, and the Gray Old King descended and addressed Han Dong.
• The Old King praised Han Dong’s performance, asked about his disguised head, and said he looked forward to watching him in London City.
• The grayness vanished, returning Han Dong and the Siege Troops to the Expeditionary Force, where Commander Arthur reported the disguise incident.
• Han Dong realized the Old King had deliberately enabled his encounter with Ramsden and laughed at how little he understood about Kings.

After the victory at Perugia City, Demps claimed the Sun-Moon Ashstones from the Chaos shields to use as materials for a magical implement. Han Dong and Demps returned to the Fourth Legion, where Demps hinted that the secret in Han Dong’s head was connected to the powerful being behind Perugia City, and Han Dong insisted Demps would face the mystery with him.

• The Expeditionary Force celebrated its successful siege, verified the World Rules, and awarded War Ribbons to the troops and special-operation team.
• Han Dong recommended that Demps receive Lord Ramsden’s Sun-Moon Twin Shields, and Demps accepted them before extracting the Sun-Moon Ashstones from their cores.
• Charlie and Vino parted ways with Han Dong and Demps after acknowledging their contributions to the victory.
• Han Dong scolded Demps for making risky decisions during the infiltration operation, while Demps pointed out that they had both gained from it.
• Demps told Han Dong that the being behind Perugia City exceeded the Great Expedition’s expected limits and that Han Dong’s secret was connected to it.
• Han Dong told Demps he would bring him along to pursue the answer, and Mia noticed their close banter while waiting for Han Dong.

Mr. Black and White presented an astrological paper warning that a dangerous upheaval could strike the Holy City in about eight months, despite Stephen McNovsky’s defeat. After the council agreed to review the threat, Mr. Newton offered to use the Mechanical God Cult’s Differential Machine to refine the paper’s predictions.

• The council approved continuing the Great Expedition after reviewing the results of the Perugia Siege Battle.
• Mr. Black and White presented a Stellar Energy Spectrum Chart showing that the Holy City’s potential influence factor had risen sharply since the Great Betrayer Incident.
• Mr. Newton confirmed that the paper predicted a catastrophic upheaval in roughly eight months and pointed out that Commander Hugo and the five departed commanders had not been fully accounted for.
• The council president promised to review the paper and consider one-on-one investigations of the Holy City’s powerholders through Power Interruption.
• Mr. Newton invited Mr. Black and White to use the Mechanical God Cult’s Differential Machine to refine the calculations, suggesting that Commander Hugo and the stone slab in the Secret Hall also be included.

Han Dong returned to Perugia City with Dr. Swollen to collect brains for research and search for remains of Ramsden Lord. Dr. Swollen sensed a hidden entrance beneath the garbage dump, where they found a stone door marked with a brain and the sun and moon.

• Han Dong received permission to search Perugia City alone and brought Dr. Swollen and the nurse assistant to a hidden building.
• Dr. Swollen said the city’s brains could provide material for experiments, so Han Dong released a hundred ghouls to gather brain tissue.
• The ghouls collected the brains in two hours, and Han Dong took Dr. Swollen toward the garbage dump to look for Ramsden Lord’s remains.
• Dr. Swollen sensed a direction linked to his Old King Gear and led Han Dong through the refuse to a stone door marked with a brain and the sun and moon.

Han Dong discovered a hidden sacrificial chamber beneath the garbage dump and found Abyssal Demon Technology there. Although the Scarlet Count insisted Han Dong could not use it, Han Dong activated an apparatus that began nurturing a terrifying existence.

• Han Dong opened the hidden stone door beneath the garbage dump and concealed it from the other knights with his crows.
• Han Dong and the Scarlet Count descended the Skull Staircase and found a sacrificial chamber instead of a treasure vault or archive.
• The Scarlet Count explained that the chamber used Abyssal Demon Technology to create demons for the High-ranking Old King, and claimed only beings capable of understanding its knowledge could use it.
• Han Dong touched a Living Fetus Sphere and sent source tentacles into it, activating the experimental apparatus.
• A terrifying existence began to form inside an oval metal chamber, and the Scarlet Count fell silent.

Han Dong discovered that his unusual head let him operate the rare Abyssal Demon Technology in Lord Ramsden’s Sacrificial Chamber, and he arranged to bring a complete set of equipment to Scarlet Manor. After learning that similar Mobile Deeds could be devoured to expand his domain, he revised his plans for the Great Expedition and ordered Togu to destroy the chamber to conceal the theft.

• Han Dong activated the cultivation equipment, and Dr. Swollen killed the ratman demon it produced before the group decided to take a complete set of equipment and its energy source.
• Han Dong connected his brain to Scarlet Manor, cleared space there, and asked the Earl whether larger Mobile Deeds existed.
• The Earl explained that Han Dong could expand his Deed by conquering a Mythical Body or devouring a Deed with similar parameters, such as Stuart Manor.
• Dr. Swollen moved a complete set of equipment into the manor’s Underground Laboratory, and Han Dong and the doctor determined that the chamber had produced ratman demons for an Old King through a central teleportation device.
• Han Dong ordered Togu to destroy the Sacrificial Chamber so the theft of Abyssal Demon Technology would remain secret.

After Ramsden’s death, the swamp lord arranged for the nearby Ancestral Bodies to cooperate against the human legion, believing the humans could become valuable fungal stock. Han Dong returned from the material search and was summoned to the Red Cross mobile hospital under the pretext of a blood-plague examination.

• Anudar reported to the swamp lord that humans had killed Ramsden in a rule-compliant Siege Battle with almost no casualties, and warned that their advance might cross the swamp.
• The swamp lord sent Anudar to propose that the four nearby Ancestral Bodies join forces to ambush the human legion and claim its knights as fungal culture beds.
• Anudar ate the lord’s mushroom, produced two clones, and sent them to the other three territories as the lords began negotiating a temporary alliance.
• Han Dong returned to the Fourth Legion after the material search and withheld what he had discovered about the Sacrificial Chamber and Abyssal Demon Technology.
• A Scarlet Knight told Han Dong he might have contracted a blood plague and escorted him to the Red Cross mobile hospital, where Commander Shaya was waiting.

Han Dong discussed the Perugia victory and the possibility of a coordinated Abyssal Demon attack with Commander Shaya, offering his theory about how the demons might ambush the Expeditionary Force. Shaya ordered him to stay at her mobile hospital and rest, but Han Dong asked to join the fighting if an attack came.

• Commander Shaya asked Han Dong whether he or Knight Charlie had driven the Ancestral Body mad, and Han Dong recounted what happened.
• Han Dong warned that Perugia's defeat could unite nearby Abyssal Demon lords and reasoned that they would exploit their knowledge of the World Rules to plan an ambush.
• Han Dong described a possible ambush to Shaya, who said the Whisper Troops had already supplied related intelligence and that his details could improve the response plan.
• Shaya reprimanded Han Dong for making dangerous decisions without reporting to her and told him to remain at her hospital during the slow march through the Eternal Night Zone.
• Han Dong agreed to stay with Shaya but asked to fight if the Abyssal Demons attacked, and a whip crack startled a doctor into severing a patient's blood vessel.

Han Dong persuaded Commander Shaya to let him join the coming battle by promising to be at her call, and she agreed to examine his Holy Sword Bloodline. At Lake Trasimeno, a giant toad swallowed an envoy and summoned another lord to Toad City to discuss a plan against the humans.

• Han Dong offered to be at Commander Shaya’s call in exchange for permission to join the battle, and she agreed after asking why he wanted to participate.
• Commander Shaya sent Han Dong to bathe before giving his body a thorough examination of the Hall Family’s Holy Sword Bloodline.
• At Lake Trasimeno, a giant toad swallowed the deer-antlered envoy who had come to deliver a message.
• The toad told the envoy to summon its mushroom lord to Toad City, saying the lords of Shadow Manor and the Green Wilds had already accepted its invitation and that it had a plan for the humans.

Commander Shaya discovered that the Expeditionary Force had entered an enormous, unnaturally quiet wetland where knights were becoming afflicted by a strange moisture effect. Han Dong investigated the affected blood and brought a sample to Count Wright, who identified the tadpoles as possible Toad Ancestor's Larva.

• Commander Shaya tested Han Dong's blood and discovered that the Hall Family's supposed curse came from a mythic legacy bloodline.
• Commander Shaya learned that the terrain had changed and that the Expeditionary Force was crossing a vast wetland where some knights had developed excessive moisture symptoms.
• Han Dong examined the knights' replaced blood, found rapidly multiplying tadpole-like lifeforms that eventually produced a toad, and collected a sample.
• Han Dong told Commander Shaya he would volunteer for a chance to fight the Abyssal Demons, then returned to his squad and asked Demps to investigate the sample with him.
• Han Dong showed the sample to Count Wright, who suggested the creatures were Toad Ancestor's Larva.

Han Dong and Demps learned that the vast wetland was connected to the Toad Ancestor, a mysterious Old King, and the Expeditionary Force recruited scouts to investigate its origins and dangers. Han Dong’s team was approved for the mission, but he sent Wenli to the support troops after realizing the tadpole fluid could be especially dangerous for her.

• Demps examined a tadpole and confirmed it had the Toad Ancestor’s traits, while Count Wright explained that Toad Idols could turn territory into wetlands.
• Han Dong and Demps returned to camp, where the Expeditionary Force issued a reconnaissance order to investigate the wetland and its hidden dangers.
• Han Dong, Demps, Abel, Mia, and Wenli went to sign up, and Scarlet Doctors tested whether applicants could resist the tadpole infection.
• The doctors approved Valen Nicholas, Demps, Mia, and Abel, but their needles could not pierce Wenli’s skin.
• Han Dong concluded Wenli’s muscles were protecting her from the tadpole fluid and sent her to support the troops, then said the rest of the team would search for Toad Idols and might start a war.

Han Dong brought Earl Denox Wright along to investigate the wetlands, where the fishman discovered a dangerous fungus and warned that the Toad Idol might not be the only cause of the spreading marsh. Han Dong’s group was surrounded by plant aberrations, and Earl Wright revealed his strength by swallowing one of them.

• Thirty-seven wetland search teams and the Eternal Night Wolves began a coordinated search, and Han Dong’s group set out in the Crow Carriage with Abel and Mia.
• Han Dong introduced Earl Denox Wright, who noticed that the wetlands differed from the territory he had visited more than a hundred years earlier.
• Earl Wright found that fish died in nearby puddles and identified a fungus in the water, warning that something more dangerous might be hidden in the wetland.
• Han Dong sensed plants moving toward the group, but the wetland’s moisture suppressed their perception and left them surrounded by plant aberrations.
• Earl Wright let thorny vines pierce him, then dragged an attacking aberration close and swallowed it whole.

Earl Wright used the Perfect Conch to regain his youthful merman form and fought the aberrations attacking the group. As the Ancestral Body’s ambushes failed across the wetlands, the lord beneath Lake Trasimeno ordered a surprise attack.

• Earl Wright transformed into his youthful merman form with the Conch Respirator and swallowed an attacking shrub aberration.
• Sixth Finger gave Earl Wright a weapon of the Deep Sea Royal Family, and Wright charged into battle against the aberrations.
• Abel and Mia joined Han Dong in fighting the shrub creatures alongside Earl Wright.
• The Ancestral Body discovered that the aberrations at one ambush site had been killed and found no clues about who had attacked them.
• Beast Knights rushed across the wetlands to rescue isolated scouting teams and ruin the Ancestral Body’s ambushes.
• The lord beneath Lake Trasimeno crushed his Toad Eye and ordered his forces to draw out the bait and prepare a surprise attack.

Han Dong and Demps investigated the Toad Idol and were caught in a Spatial Trap, but Han Dong escaped with Demps using Void Transfer. They realized a powerful lord had laid the trap and decided that starting a Deed War early might be advantageous.

• Count Wright told Han Dong that multiple aberrant factions were concealed throughout the wetlands, and Han Dong planned to return to the base before confronting them.
• Han Dong recalled Count Wright into his deed and felt resistance from another nearby deed as the group passed the Toad Idol.
• Han Dong and Demps examined the idol while Abel and Mia waited in the carriage, and Demps warned Han Dong not to touch the toad.
• The stream transformed into a giant toad mouth that trapped Han Dong and Demps, but Han Dong used Void Transfer to escape with him to a crow on the shore.
• The giant toad pursued them, but Han Dong returned with Demps to the Crow Carriage and fled its hunting range.
• Demps concluded that a wetlands lord with a chaos artifact had set the Spatial Trap, and Han Dong said that starting the war early could be beneficial.

After the scouting teams reported on the wetlands and the missing knights, the Great Demon Commander led a targeted search with the other commanders. They found Alaki, envoy of Toad City, who offered to return the captured knights in exchange for the humans signing a War Contract with terms favoring the Other-Demons.

• Han Dong and Abel returned safely, while nine scouting squads remained missing after being swallowed by toads.
• The scouting teams shared reports of a fourth shadow Other-Demon, a suspected nest area, and the wetlands' layered sensory suppression.
• The Great Demon Commander ordered a battle and led Jeros and the Grim Reaper on a targeted search of suspicious locations.
• The commanders found Lake Trasimeno, where Alaki, envoy of Toad City, appeared atop a gigantic toad and proposed a War Contract.
• Alaki offered to return the forty-three captured knights if the humans accepted a battle zone chosen by the Other-Demons and counted the captives in their Troop Index.