Chapter Summaries

Red showed Ang and his team around Indy Mountain Pass, explaining its defenses and the threats lurking beyond its stone gate. After the team fought off magical beasts, Red made them the pass’s eleventh team, leaving them to consider how to earn Merit Points.

• Red led Ang and the others through the pass, explaining that its northern fortresses had fallen and that a massive stone gate served as the main checkpoint.
• Atop the gate, Ang used his telescope to spot magical beasts, and he gave it to Red as a meeting gift.
• Several Chaos Demon Spiders and Black Mantises approached the gate, and Ang, Dana, and Gweny killed them while Quintina and the others provided magical support.
• Red asked whether Ang’s group would join an existing team, and Ang chose to form their own team.
• Red named them the eleventh team of Indy Mountain Pass and explained how patrols, magic-array maintenance, and hunting could earn Merit Points.

Ang’s group exchanged Magic Crystals for Merit Points, received patrol assignments, and inspected Indy Mountain Pass’s magic arrays. After finding serious damage at the southern strongholds, Ang reported the problems and collected repair materials, while learning that Merit Points could also buy special Magic Arrows.

• Ang exchanged ten Level 4 Magic Crystals for ten Merit Points and distributed one point to each of his companions.
• Red assigned Ang’s team patrol duties and responsibility for maintaining the magic arrays at Indy Mountain Pass.
• Ang organized the group into patrol shifts, then divided them into teams to inspect the fortress arrays, southern strongholds, and giant gate.
• The teams found worn fortress arrays, badly damaged foundations at the southern strongholds, and depleted Magic Crystals at the giant gate.
• Ang reported the inspection results to Red, who ordered him to repair the southern defensive arrays within a week.
• Ang collected the required repair supplies from Hansen, who explained that special Magic Arrows could also be bought with Merit Points.

Ang led his team on their first patrol while Isi and Dana repaired the damaged Defense Magic Arrays at two outposts and inside the fortress. Ang discovered that a nearby cliff disrupted magic and was too dangerous to explore without special equipment, and both groups completed their duties and returned by evening.

• Ang gave Isi and the others materials and instructed them to repair the two southern outposts’ Defense Magic Arrays, then shared a modest celebration with the team.
• Ang led Gweny and the patrol squad to a deep cliff, descended more than a hundred meters, and found that chaotic magic made his Magic Broom uncontrollable before he climbed back up and warned everyone against exploring without proper equipment.
• Isi and Dana shut down and repaired the first outpost’s Defense Magic Array, where Isi met Oss and examined the damaged rune on his Enchanted Armament.
• Isi’s team repaired the second outpost’s array and the fortress’s auxiliary arrays, while Ang’s team completed six patrol rounds without encountering enemies.
• Ang praised Isi for his work when the patrol team returned to the fortress by evening.

Ang’s team prepared to hunt magical beasts and Ang repaired Oss’s Enchanted Armament, drawing the attention of other soldiers who wanted their gear fixed. At the logistics office, Ang learned about exchange prices, material costs, and the other peoples and empires involved in the God-Demon Battlefield, then received four books of public chronicles from Hansen.

• Ang agreed with Dana that the team should hunt magical beasts and told them to prepare ten Magic Arrows for their trip to the giant gate.
• Oss asked Ang to inspect his Enchanted Armament, and Ang repaired its damaged runes and improved its energy flow.
• Oss paid Ang one Merit Point for the repair, and Ang told the other soldiers he would inspect their equipment when he had time.
• Ang visited Hansen with White Apricot Fruit Wine and asked about logistics exchanges, learning the prices of equipment and magic-metal materials.
• Hansen told Ang that four human empires and several other races were involved in the God-Demon Battlefield, then gave him four books of public chronicles.

Ang led the group in repairing the giant gate’s magic array before drawing nearby magical beasts into battle. Their Elemental Spirits adapted to the battlefield and strengthened their magic, and the chapter ended with Gweny and Dana leading the next wave of fighting under Ang’s support.

• Ang returned to Quintina at night, and the two fell asleep together as he read the Chronicles of the God-Demon Battlefield.
• The group repaired the giant gate’s magic array, then spotted a larger gathering of magical beasts nearby.
• Ang lured Chaos Demon Spiders toward the group, and the mages fought them while their Elemental Spirits enhanced their spells and helped them adapt to the battlefield’s magic.
• Quintina raised an enormous Ice Wall, allowing Ang to collect materials from the spider corpses before she collapsed from exhaustion.
• After the group recovered, Ang assigned Gweny to lead the next fight and sent Dana into battle, where they attacked the approaching magical beasts.

Ang and his companions fought off a massive horde of magical beasts at the giant gate, using a powerful light arrow to devastate the dark creatures. After collecting their spoils, they exchanged them for fifty-three Merit Points and bought more Magic Arrows.

• Reid and Eagle Eye Honi watched Ang's group battle, while a short-stubbled warrior stayed behind, his envy giving way to ambition.
• When a huge horde of Chaos Demon Spiders and Black Mantises surged through the canyon, Ang sent Dana and Gweny back to the giant gate and slowed the horde with hurricanes.
• Ang and the others attacked from the gate, then Ang fired a light arrow that devastated the dark-type beasts and left them afraid to approach.
• Ang collected magic crystals from the light-struck area while Dana and Gweny gathered the remaining spoils; the group counted forty-one Level 4 Magical Beasts killed.
• Ang exchanged the group's loot with quartermaster Hansen for fifty-three Merit Points and bought all thirty-two remaining Magic Arrows.

After his squad’s successful hunt, Ang killed a Four-armed Foul Spirit scouting the fortress and impressed Red’s defenders with his magic-arrow skill. Quintina demonstrated her growing ability to summon an ice elemental through Nephres, and Ang ended the day by taking Dana outside to practice a safer landing technique.

• Ang distributed the squad’s Merit Points and returned the points borrowed from Isi and the others before everyone rested.
• Ang saw Four-armed Foul Spirits scouting the canyon and learned from a nearby warrior that they had occupied two northern fortresses.
• Red asked Ang to attack the distant Foul Spirits, and Ang killed one with Light Bullet rune Magic Arrows while driving the others away.
• Ang recovered and processed the Foul Spirit’s corpse, then exchanged its Black Magic Crystal with Hansen for 1 Merit Point and learned that supplies would not arrive for eight days.
• Quintina used Nephres to form an ice elemental for less than a minute, then shared her progress with the squad at dinner.
• Ang took restless Dana outside and taught him to use earth element power to absorb the impact of a jump.

Ang took Dana into the wilderness to suppress the Nightmare King’s growing urge to betray him, then healed and tested the beast. As they explored the northern mountain pass, they encountered Chaos Demon Spiders and were ambushed near two fortresses, leaving Ang and Dana fleeing into the night sky.

• Ang summoned the enlarged Nightmare King and beat it with holy light after sensing its desire to devour him, then fed it a Four-armed Foul Spirit corpse and healed its injuries with Dark Descent.
• Ang let Dana ride the now-submissive Nightmare King, and a patrol later found traces of holy light and dark energy at the site and reported an abyssal beast sighting.
• Ang and Dana crossed the ridge, where the Nightmare King killed and devoured three Chaos Demon Spiders, including their magic crystals.
• Ang and Dana flew north toward two fortresses near the Indy Mountain Pass, which Ang suspected housed demons connected to the Four-armed Foul Spirit.
• Black spears suddenly flew at Ang and Dana; the Nightmare King dodged several more as Ang steered the Magic Broom upward and spotted tall black figures emerging from the fortresses.

Ang killed four demons that had ambushed him and Dana, then joined his team in fortress duty and scouting the ravine. He discovered that demons were driving the ravine’s magical beasts north and asked Reed what they were preparing for.

• Ang returned to the ambush site, killed four demons with steel spears and Holy Light, and escaped as their reinforcements arrived.
• Ang exchanged the demons’ Black Magic Crystals for 4 Merit Points, then led his team through a quiet night of garrison duty.
• Ang scouted the ravine, planted refined steel arrows in the cliffs as footholds, and unknowingly attracted the attention of a Four-armed Foul Spirit.
• Ang found the ravine nearly empty of magical beasts and saw demons driving them north, so he asked Reed whether this had happened before.
• Reed learned that the beasts had been driven from the entire ravine, and Ang asked what the demons were preparing for.

Ang and Red led a force to retake the two northern fortresses, defeating the Demons and restoring the fortresses' defenses. As magical beasts and Demons gathered north of the canyon, Ang prepared for another attack.

• Red mobilized nearly a hundred warriors, and Ang, Pri, and the others joined the expedition to the northern fortresses.
• Ang and Honi supported the human line as the warriors fought off and killed nearly a hundred Demons.
• Red led the force through the fortresses, where they killed more Demons and found the protective magic arrays destroyed.
• Ang and Isi sealed the canyon exit with a fortified earthen wall, while Pri brought Hansen and materials to repair the fortresses' magic arrays.
• Ang and Gesang reattached a warrior's severed arm, and Ang watched the approaching magical beast horde as the defenses were readied.

Ang and the defenders repelled a Demon-led Beast Tide and reclaimed Fortresses Three and Four. After the battle, Hansen raised the possibility of Ang joining the Church of the God of Light, while the team counted their kills, reviewed tactics, and began preparing the fortress defenses.

• Ang and the others fought off the Beast Tide, and Ang destroyed the Four-armed Foul Spirit controlling it, allowing the magical beasts to flee.
• Hansen and the defenders replaced the fortress's magic crystals, restored the Magic Shield, and celebrated retaking Fortresses Three and Four.
• While Ang treated the wounded, Hansen told him he could obtain a Holy Light Cleric inheritance by joining the Church of the God of Light, and Ang said he would think about it.
• Hansen tallied the battle's kills, reporting that Ang had slain thirteen magical beasts and four Demons and Dana had killed thirteen Demons.
• Ang advised Gweny to coordinate with Dana and gave the mages guidance on their magic and Quintina's Elemental Giant.
• Ang agreed to repair the warriors' damaged Enchanted Armaments after the fortress defense system was stabilized and the giant gate arrived.

Ang helped strengthen Indy Mountain Pass’s northern defenses by constructing and activating a giant gate, then developed new repelling arrows and crossbows for the defenders. The chapter ended with the forces preparing for another patrol, with Dana and Gweny assigned to lead the team.

• Hansen delivered giant gate components, Earth Element fusion agent, and elite reinforcements from Fokas Fortress, and Ang assembled the gate at Fortresses Three and Four.
• Honi traded twenty-five Repelling Arrows and Merit Points to Ang for Rune Arrows, prompting Ang to study how the arrows worked.
• Ang engraved a rune formation on the transformed giant gate and activated it with a magic crystal, making the northern fortresses Indy Mountain Pass’s defensive focus.
• Ang created improved Repelling Arrows and Two-handed Crossbows for the mages, along with One-handed Crossbows for Dana and Gweny.
• Ang assigned Dana and Gweny to lead the next day’s patrol as the defenders prepared their equipment.

Ang surveyed the Demon-held wilderness and First Defense Line, discovering a dense enemy deployment that made retaking the fortifications seem difficult. Back at Indy Mountain Pass, he met Priest Kerr, who offered him Holy Light inheritance only if he joined the Church or paid thirty thousand Merit Points.

• Ang flew north from Fortress No. 3, used the Nightmare King and Dark Armament to avoid detection, and observed nearly a hundred Demon patrols and corrupted Magical Beasts.
• Ang surveyed the First Defense Line and estimated that at least ten Demon garrisons held more than five thousand troops across a front less than a hundred kilometers long.
• After Ang returned, Red warned him not to report his reconnaissance findings, so Ang kept the information to himself.
• Priest Kerr examined Ang's Holy Light Technique and offered him Church membership and formal appointment as a Holy Light Cleric in exchange for joining.
• Ang refused to become a servant of the God of Light and learned that he would need thirty thousand Merit Points to obtain the inheritance without joining the Church.

Ang’s team hunted efficiently from Northern Fortress, while a requested temporary transfer to Byron Fortress raised his suspicions about the Church of Light. Over nearly a month at Indy Mountain Pass, the team and its allies grew stronger, and Dana and Gweny began mastering new Combat Techniques.

• Quintina warned Ang to avoid drawing attention in the God-Demon Battlefield, and Ang said he would rely on their own people.
• Ang led his team in a day of hunts, then rejected a temporary assignment request from Byron Fortress, suspecting the Church of Light wanted to influence him.
• Over the following week, Ang’s team hunted more than a hundred magical beasts and killed two Demons, easing pressure around Northern Fortress.
• As reinforcements arrived at Indy Mountain Pass, Reed privately warned the team leaders about a possible threat in the Northern Wilderness, and they limited their hunts to the outer regions.
• After nearly a month, Ang’s mages had mastered the Elemental Giant spell, while Dana and Gweny trained with Combat Techniques suited to them.

Ang discovered a Demon-led assault on Indy Mountain Pass and helped its warriors survive a brutal day-and-night battle until reinforcements arrived. The Demons later abandoned direct attacks but continued harassing the pass by sending small squads to drive magical beasts toward it.

• Ang spotted more than five hundred Demons herding magical beasts toward Indy Mountain Pass and warned Red, who mobilized the defenders and requested support from Fokas Fortress.
• Ang, Red, Quintina, Gesang, Ellis, Aisha, and the other warriors repelled repeated waves of beasts with magic, healing, and arrows while awaiting reinforcements.
• Fokas Fortress sent nearly a hundred warriors and supplies, and the defenders fought off a nighttime Demon ambush before the beasts dispersed at dawn.
• The defenders killed more than six hundred magical beasts and over forty Demons, with Ang and Hansen recognizing that attacks along the Second Defense Line suggested a wider offensive.
• Over the following week, the warriors repelled three more assaults, forcing the Demons to stop direct attacks and leave two seven-man squads to harass the pass with driven beasts.

After Indy Mountain Pass was secured, Ang received orders to report to Fokas Fortress for a secret mission. He learned Holy Light spells during a seven-day preparation period and met four unfamiliar people who would join the mission, whose purpose remained undisclosed.

• Ang received a transfer order requiring him to report to Fokas Fortress and reassured Quintina before leaving his team in her care.
• At Fokas Fortress, Alvis told Ang he had been requisitioned because he knew Holy Light Magic and gave him seven days to learn several spells.
• Ang practiced Holy Light Illumination and Holy Light Spear, but rejected Holy Light Prayer because it required surrendering his will to a being in the Divine Realm.
• Ang returned to the meeting room and found three men and a woman waiting there; he suspected the mission would not rely on established team coordination.

Ang joined Alvis’s squad for a top-secret mission near the Demon-occupied First Defense Line and traveled under concealment through a seemingly deserted wilderness. After reaching a black mountain range, the squad followed Alvis through a confusing maze of trails to a hidden cave, where he announced they had arrived.

• Alvis introduced the twelve squad members and ordered them to follow his commands on a secret mission at the First Defense Line.
• Ang privately asked Samantha about her mission experience, and she warned him not to pry into the operation.
• Alvis gave everyone Cloaks of Concealment and used a teleportation array to transport the squad to a wilderness, where they traveled for three days without encountering Demons.
• The squad reached a black mountain range, and Samantha used Dark Magic to create concealed underground chambers for their camp.
• Alvis led the squad through winding trails in the mountains and revealed a hidden cave behind a dark stone door.

Ang learned that the mission was to help assassinate an injured Tier 3 Foul Spirit with demon blood by attacking its guardian beasts. In the cavern beneath the mountain, he discovered that his Spear of Light could pierce the Foul Spirit’s Law of Deceleration almost unaffected, leaving the others surprised by his power.

• Ang demanded an explanation, and Alvis revealed the target and the group's role in distracting its guardians for the main assault force.
• After an unknown person ambushed Ang in the dark, the group signed a Magic Contract forbidding them from revealing what they saw in the cave.
• Alvis led the group into a cavern where the Foul Spirit's Law of Deceleration slowed movement, sound, and attacks.
• Samantha, Alvis, Huake, and Maddy attacked the dark-red guardian beasts, while Maddy used enchanted arrows to kill several.
• Ang fired a Spear of Light that killed a guardian beast almost unaffected by the slowing law, astonishing Samantha and the others.

Ang helped clear the magic beasts around Magma Lake while the group waited for a chance to kill the Tier 3 Foul Spirit. After discovering that Smo had ambushed him, Ang attacked him, leaving the group divided over the accusation.

• Ang killed most of the magic beasts in the Slowing Domain, and Maddy risked entering it to collect their magic crystals.
• Alvis and the others killed the remaining beasts near Magma Lake, but they refused Ang's offers of holy light healing.
• Alvis explained that a commander had tracked the Tier 3 Foul Spirit using a Law Imprint, but legendary powerhouses could not act freely because the Abyssal Prison watched them.
• Ang drew a faint residual aura into his palm and identified Smo as the person who had ambushed him.
• Ang beat Smo and accused him of attacking him in the cave, while Smo denied it and Alvis and the others watched uncertainly.

Ang’s team reached the Magma Lake, where Captain Heidni used a magic scroll to collapse the Slowing Domain and began the hunt for the Tier 3 Foul Spirit. After Ang resisted Heidni’s Stone Drum and ignored his summons, Heidni sent two warriors to seize him, and Ang warned them not to touch him.

• Alvis stopped Ang and Smo’s confrontation, and the team agreed to postpone their dispute until an Archmage practicing Just Law could reveal the truth.
• Alvis sealed himself inside a stone chamber for three days, then emerged with Heidni and two others, and Heidni took command of the mission.
• Heidni entered the Slowing Domain, then sent Alvis to activate a magic scroll that made the domain collapse.
• The team approached the Magma Lake and found the Tier 3 Foul Spirit sleeping on a Stone Throne.
• Heidni’s Stone Drum failed to control Ang, so Heidni summoned him and ordered two warriors to bring him over.
• Ang dodged a warrior’s attempt to grab him and warned the pair not to touch him.