Chapter Summaries

Joshua introduced a new MOBA game based on the world’s legendary figures and gathered his guests to test it. As they chose heroes, the characters stirred memories and tensions, and Messiah was left with only a demon hero after her teammates selected the others.

• Joshua created a MOBA map and five heroes inspired by Earth games and the history of his world, then set up a testing session in the Falosi reception room.
• Galolie and the other guests logged in, and Bone Duke objected to being teamed with people from the Holy Church Country before Herolia tried to smooth things over.
• Frey and Tylinn recognized the elven prophet Harbinger Camusikna, while Shael identified the Frost Country warrior Trembler, Lola Xiu Si · Kaer Xi Luofu, and chose him.
• Galolie recognized Saintess Shu Luoni Ka · Dark, prompting Bone Duke to select the hero despite her displeasure.
• Herolia recognized Bishop Kexili and called his portrayal unlike the tragic figure in the scriptures; Messiah then found that the other heroes were taken and chose a horned demon.

Messiah reluctantly played a team battle game as the demon Samatar Anoroth and discovered the thrill of defeating an enemy. After claiming First Blood, she tried to convince herself not to choose the demon again.

• Messiah found she could not exit the character selection screen and was forced to play as Samatar Anoroth.
• Joshua explained the team game's rules, and the players sent their heroes to different lanes.
• Messiah's demon fought the enemy Elf Vanguard while Herolia healed him with holy light.
• Messiah used Samatar Anoroth's skills alongside Herolia's magic to kill the Elf Vanguard and claim First Blood.
• Messiah felt exhilarated by the fight but resolved not to choose the demon again.

Joshua and Shael played a match against Ciri and the others, and Ciri’s ambush killed both of their heroes. Meanwhile, Prince Chaos searched for Joshua at the Falosi Exhibition Hall after turning down Qier’s invitation to play Hearthstone.

• Joshua explained the item shop to the players as Shael pushed the enemy bottom lane back toward its tower.
• An enemy Trembler ambushed Joshua and Shael, and its ultimate stunned them while the enemy team killed Joshua’s Elf Vanguard and Shael’s hero.
• Ciri smiled at Joshua after scoring a double kill, prompting him to take the match seriously.
• Prince Chaos reached the Falosi Exhibition Hall after asking around the Crystal Palace for Joshua.
• Qier invited Prince Chaos to play Hearthstone, but Chaos refused and hurried toward the reception room where Joshua was said to be.

Prince Chaos arrived to negotiate with Joshua but discovered that the apparent battle in the reception room was a Magic Web game. He waited while Joshua and the others continued playing, leaving their conversation for later.

• Prince Chaos heard battle cries behind the reception room door and prepared to confront what he assumed were Holy Church Country attackers.
• Joshua opened the door unharmed, recognized Prince Chaos, and invited him inside while leaving his attendant outside.
• Prince Chaos entered and saw Galolie, Tylinn, Herolia, Messiah, and others playing a game on the Magic Web, mistaking their calls for battlefield commands.
• Joshua's team lost after the enemy heroes revived and defeated them, and he remarked that the hero balance needed work.
• Joshua agreed to another round, and Prince Chaos chose to wait before discussing his business with him.

Joshua continued the Movie Club's Holy Spirit gathering while negotiating with Prince Chaos about bringing the Magic Web to Steel Country. Meanwhile, Mrs. Si and Cecily arrived at the Falosi Exhibition Hall to find Galolie gaming with Ciri inside the reception room.

• Joshua won a twenty-minute match against Bone Duke, but she insisted on playing another round while Shael, Messiah, Herolia, and the others agreed to stay.
• Joshua began another Holy Spirit match and used the character-selection period to discuss introducing the Magic Web to Steel Country with Prince Chaos.
• Mrs. Si told Cecily how Joshua had impressed her and helped Galolie make her mark as an actress.
• Mrs. Si and Cecily reached the reception room, where Galolie's excited shouts about killing opponents in the game came through the door.
• Mrs. Si knocked on the reception-room door after hearing Galolie and Ciri gaming inside.

Joshua’s gathering with foreign leaders ended with more countries considering diplomatic ties with the Demon Realm, while warnings about the Hall of Inquisition’s threat remained. On the drive home, Cecily questioned Joshua about Ciri and revealed she intended to become a ruler of the Demon Realm, setting up a struggle for succession.

• Mrs. Si entered the reception room and found Galolie, Joshua, Shael, Herolia, and others playing a Magic Web game instead of holding a council meeting.
• Joshua’s team won the game, and Shael left after saying she would deal with Frost Country’s traitors and looked forward to Roman Holiday.
• Herolia told Joshua that the Hall of Inquisition had left the Holy City but its threat remained, then departed with Messiah.
• Joshua drove Cecily toward the Demon Realm and discussed possible diplomatic relations with Steel Country and Coastal Country.
• Cecily asked who Joshua liked, and he admitted that he was close to marrying Ciri, the Purple-robed One’s apprentice.
• Cecily said she planned to become one of the Demon Realm’s rulers, and Joshua resolved to support her in the coming succession struggle.

Agatha left the Demonic Realm Border Fortress for a two-month trip home while Nogs reminded her that she was under a deadly spying Rune. In Nolan, Joshua proposed marriage to Ciri, who agreed to wait until after the Sage Trial, then asked about the upcoming release of Holy Spirit.

• Agatha checked her supplies, accepted a Sin Flame Source Crystal Stone from General Worth, and left the fortress with a Backpack full of provisions.
• Agatha gave Nogs, General Worth, and the other generals handmade flower gifts before setting out across the plains.
• Ciri told Joshua that the Purple-robed One had recognized the illusion concealing the undead grand duke and had asked him how to prolong her life.
• Joshua told Ciri he intended to marry her, and Ciri agreed to the plan after the Sage Trial in forty days.
• Ciri asked when Holy Spirit would enter open beta, and Joshua said its first version with fifteen heroes would likely arrive within half a month.

Prince Chaos discovered that Holy Spirit was available as a game mode alongside Warcraft and bought the deluxe edition, though he fell asleep waiting for the download. After Qier woke him, Chaos found Warcraft ready to play and chose to try Holy Spirit.

• Prince Chaos checked the Spellcaster Forum and confirmed that Holy Spirit, the game he had seen at the Crystal Palace, was available for a limited-time test.
• Prince Chaos bought the deluxe edition and installed Magic Stone, then started downloading Warcraft, which was expected to take five hours.
• Prince Chaos repeatedly checked the download before falling asleep at his desk.
• Qier woke Prince Chaos and told him Warcraft was playable and featured moving Old Fording characters.
• Prince Chaos opened Warcraft, found the Holy Spirit mode, put his books away, and took a Source Crystal Stone mouse from Qier to play a match.

Joshua gathered nobles from several nations at the Hearthstone Tavern to compete for a World Tree Crystal rather than sell it. He announced that the winner of a contest would receive the crystal for free, but had not yet explained the competition.

• Tylinn brought Joshua a new World Tree Crystal and collected the final pages of "A Study in Scarlet."
• Joshua reviewed nobles' requests to buy World Tree Leaves and decided to use interest in the crystal to establish a new system based on honor.
• Madam Ma Linna warned Joshua that nobles had crowded into the Hearthstone Tavern to discuss business with him.
• General Fred and a representative of the Frost Country's Lolaft Merchant Guild argued over Joshua's crystal as representatives from other nations made offers.
• Joshua displayed the World Tree Crystal and announced that he would give it to the winner of a contest.

Joshua proposed a five-versus-five Holy Spirit game competition between national teams, and the nobles began accepting the challenge. The contest was set for seven days later at the Hearthstone tavern, with Steel Country and Frost Country both agreeing to compete.

• General Fred laughed at Joshua's proposal and asked what kind of match he meant.
• Joshua explained that the match would be a five-versus-five duel in Holy Spirit, not a real-world fight.
• General Fred recognized Artisan Master Bazuli in the hero designs and objected, but then accepted Joshua's explanation that Bazuli's inventions had served on the battlefield.
• Joshua set the team rules and scheduled the competition for seven days later at the Hearthstone tavern.
• A leading Frost Country noble declared that the Karlsilov Family would represent Frost Country, and General Fred said he would represent Steel Country.

Prince Chaos returned to the Steel Country Embassy after losing a Holy Spirit match and admitted to General Fred that he had been playing the game. Instead of reprimanding him, General Fred bought Warcraft and asked Chaos to teach him how to play, leaving them waiting for the download.

• Prince Chaos and Qier lost to Foya's team in Holy Spirit, and two of their teammates quit before their base was destroyed.
• Prince Chaos realized he had spent three hours gaming and returned to the Steel Country Embassy.
• General Fred asked whether Chaos was confident about the Sage Trial, and Chaos admitted he was unsure he could defeat Yellow Robe's chief disciple.
• General Fred asked Chaos about Holy Spirit, and Chaos confessed he had tried the game.
• General Fred bought the deluxe edition of Warcraft and began downloading it with Chaos's help.

General Fred learned Holy Spirit while preparing to represent the Steel Country in Joshua Anoroth’s competition, and Prince Chaos told him about the formidable player Foya. Fred decided to hire her, seeing the game as a new battlefield, while Joshua opened feedback sections for Warcraft and Holy Spirit and began planning their voice acting.

• Prince Chaos taught General Fred to play Holy Spirit, where Fred first commanded Artisan Master Bazuli and then struggled with the Great Xia Sword Saint against enemy players.
• After losing repeatedly, General Fred learned from his defeats and eventually led the Sword Saint to kill an opponent before the match ended.
• General Fred told Prince Chaos that the Steel Country would enter Joshua Anoroth’s competition, and he planned to recruit embassy guards for the team without distracting Chaos from the Sage Trial.
• Prince Chaos described Foya’s skill and influence in Holy Spirit, prompting General Fred to ask him to find her and offer her a paid commission.
• General Fred called Holy Spirit a new battlefield and said he did not want to be outmatched by the Frost Country on it.
• Joshua opened Warcraft and Holy Spirit sections on the Spellcaster Forum, answered player feedback, and began listing voice types for the heroes before receiving a text message from his younger sister.

Joshua learned that the Deep Sea Banshee’s Deep Dive skill had a bug and discussed Foya’s possible participation in a Holy Spirit tournament. Ciri passed the Purple-robed One’s test and arrived at the Sage’s Tower for the Sage Trial, where she spotted Joshua speaking with someone.

• Foya told Joshua that the Deep Sea Banshee drowned in the ground after using Deep Dive, and Joshua promised to fix the bug.
• Foya showed Joshua a recruitment message from Prince Chaos, who wanted her to compete in an offline Holy Spirit tournament in Nolan.
• Foya said she wanted to compete but could not leave the tower, so Joshua said he would discuss it with their father.
• Ciri completed a seventy-two-rune spell that transformed the Purple-robed One’s Mage Tower into a Hearthstone tavern, and he declared that she had passed his test.
• Ciri and the Purple-robed One went to the Sage’s Tower for the Sage Trial, where Ciri found Joshua among the assembled Spellcasters.

Joshua watched the Sage Trial and asked Prince Chaos not to hurt Purple-robed One’s apprentice. Prince Chaos was pulled into a dispute between Mage Tower apprentices over an insulting post about Master Bazuli, and the chapter left him confronting the post’s author, Sophina Kalhilov.

• Joshua told Prince Chaos he was only attending the Sage Trial as a spectator, then asked him not to hurt Purple-robed One’s apprentice.
• Ciri appeared beside Joshua, and Prince Chaos left to look for his mother.
• Qier told Prince Chaos that Mlake had accepted a duel against Thunder Mage Tower apprentices in Holy Spirit and begged him to join their matches.
• Qier claimed Sophina Kalhilov had insulted Master Bazuli, and Prince Chaos found her post on the Spellcaster Forum under the name Thunder Crystal.
• Prince Chaos told Qier to let go and silently read the post.

Prince Chaos skipped his Sage Trial preparations to lead a Magic Network game, winning with the Blazing Flame apprentices before his mother caught him. His mother confronted Sophina Kalhilov at the Sage's Tower, and the Yellow Robe ordered her to leave before the trial.

• Prince Chaos commanded the Blazing Flame apprentices in a Holy Spirit match and led them to an overwhelming victory.
• Prince Chaos prepared to leave the library, but a crowd of Spellcasters gathered around him to ask about his Artisan Master.
• Prince Chaos's mother arrived at the library, and Sophina Kalhilov attacked him with a magical strike and challenged him.
• Chaos's mother, Yekana, threatened Sophina with a torrent of magic, but the Yellow Robe intervened and ordered Yekana to leave the Sage's Tower.
• Yekana told Prince Chaos she did not want him to lose to Sophina, and Prince Chaos agreed.

Ciri was disqualified from the Sage Trial after defeating her opponent with her staff, while Sophina won the final duel against Prince Chaos. Empress Yekana confronted Chaos about his repeated losses, then learned General Fred had gone to the Hearthstone tavern to enter a competition.

• Ciri knocked out a Scorching Flame spellcaster with her staff and was disqualified for fouling.
• Joshua and Ciri watched Prince Chaos fight Sophina, whose victory made her the top young spellcaster in Nolan.
• Empress Yekana told Prince Chaos that his defeats had damaged his standing and said she would question General Fred about his conduct.
• Empress Yekana and Prince Chaos arrived at the Steel Country Embassy and learned General Fred had left for the Hearthstone tavern to enter a competition.
• Prince Chaos said he knew what competition General Fred had entered.

Empress Yekana learned about the Hearthstone competition and Prince Chaos’s defeat, while General Fred secured Chaos a reserve spot. Joshua helped the Dark Elf prepare to launch a newspaper, whose first headline exposed Chaos’s losses to Sophina just as Yekana was taking him to the competition.

• Empress Yekana questioned General Fred about the competition, learned that Frost Country’s Karlsilov Family would participate, and considered finding Prince Chaos a new mentor.
• General Fred defended Chaos’s recent discipline and gave him a reserve spot in the competition after Chaos said he wanted a chance to defeat the Karlsilov Family.
• At the Black Pigeon News Agency, the Dark Elf dismissed five managers and asked Joshua to fund printing workshops and help launch a newspaper.
• Joshua agreed to fund the workshops, outlined a newspaper layout, and heard the Dark Elf promise the first issue would appear the next day.
• Empress Yekana and Prince Chaos encountered a newspaper seller whose headline announced Chaos’s three crushing defeats against Sophina, and Yekana read the paper in the Magic Mechanical Vehicle.

Empress Yekana arrived at the Hearthstone tavern for the competition and was appalled by its shabby venue and seemingly weak challengers. She asked to buy Joshua Anoroth’s World Tree crystal, but Luntan Karlsilov reminded her that the competition rules were set, and Joshua intervened as tensions rose between the delegations.

• Empress Yekana entered the Hearthstone tavern with General Fred and met Joshua Anoroth, who led them to the competition area.
• Joshua showed Empress Yekana the dusty wooden table and scattered chairs that served as the venue and spectator area.
• Empress Yekana confirmed that the World Tree crystal was the prize and asked where the other challengers were.
• Empress Yekana mocked the contestants from other countries and offered to purchase the crystal directly from Joshua.
• Luntan Karlsilov rejected Empress Yekana’s proposal and taunted her about Prince Chaos’s defeat, prompting the delegations’ attendants to reach for their weapons.
• Joshua stepped between the groups and urged them to settle their grudges in the competition.

Qier reluctantly entered the first official Holy Spirit tournament after learning that Empress Yekana was watching and that the match carried political stakes. Joshua and Yekana found the early elimination matches dull, and Joshua arranged for a reporter to come while the tournament continued.

• Qier learned that General Fred had hired him to compete in Holy Spirit, then hesitated when he discovered Empress Yekana would attend and contestants could die if they lost.
• Qier regained his confidence and headed to the competition area, believing he had a chance to win at Holy Spirit.
• The world's first official Holy Spirit tournament began, but Yekana could barely see the game and found the contestants' matches boring.
• Joshua explained to Yekana that the tournament was an experiment and that many players were inexperienced or had poor attitudes.
• Joshua estimated the elimination tournament would last another hour and sent a Text Message to the Dark Elf to call a reporter.

Joshua’s Holy Spirit competition reached its grand final between Steel Country and Frost Country, drawing Empress Yekana’s attention when she learned the contestants commanded legendary heroes in battle. Prince Chaos questioned General Fred’s lineup, leaving Yekana’s confidence in Steel Country’s victory unsettled.

• The disguised Dark Elf told Joshua she had been waiting at the tavern and criticized the competition’s venue and dull matches.
• Joshua announced that Steel Country and Frost Country had advanced to a first-to-three grand final, then seated the teams before a quiet crowd.
• Empress Yekana asked Joshua what the competition involved, and he showed her the teams’ heroic spirits preparing for battle on a wall display.
• Yekana recognized several legendary figures and believed General Fred’s Steel Country lineup, led by Enkels, would easily defeat Frost Country.
• Prince Chaos warned Yekana that newcomers could not control Enkels and that Fred’s lineup had a problem, but he struggled to explain how he knew.