Chapter Summaries

Earl Cruz beat Etke in public for losing a Gladiator match and wasting his time on games, but Prince Chaos intervened and offered Etke a place in the Iron Forger. The chapter ended with Chaos awarding Etke a medal for his performance on the Holy Spirit Battlefield and asking whether he would accept it.

• Earl Cruz ordered his knights to force Etke to kneel in the Magic Web Hall and demanded that he admit what he had done wrong.
• Etke refused to apologize, so Earl Cruz struck him repeatedly with a steel scabbard while condemning his loss in the Gladiator match.
• Etke explained that he was proud to have found something he could do better than his brother, even if it was playing Holy Spirit.
• Prince Chaos stopped Earl Cruz from striking Etke again and said he had come to recruit a knight for the Iron Forger.
• Prince Chaos named Etke as his choice, presented him with a medal of honor for his Holy Spirit Battlefield performance, and asked if he would accept it.

Chaos gave Etke an Iron Forger medal engraved with his Holy Spirit name, “Sword of Ossenburg,” and explained that Empress Yekana had recruited him for the Holy Spirit Tournament. Earl Cruz agreed to follow the Empress’s orders and planned to travel to Nolan to see the battlefield that had captivated his son.

• Chaos presented Etke with an Iron Forger medal bearing the name “Sword of Ossenburg,” and Etke tried to stand before collapsing unconscious.
• Earl Cruz asked why Empress Yekana had chosen Etke, and Chaos explained that Etke was one of the finest summoners in Holy Spirit.
• The Magic Web Hall’s visitors erupted over the tournament’s rewards and their ladder scores, prompting Chaos to show Earl Cruz the tournament information.
• Chaos told Earl Cruz that Steel Country needed to win the tournament against Frost Country and obtain the World Tree crystal.
• Earl Cruz agreed to obey Empress Yekana and said he would go to Nolan to learn about the Holy Spirit battlefield.

Joshua celebrated the surging success of Warcraft and the Holy Spirit tournament, then met the Yellow Robe, who complained that the tournament’s prize had distracted his students from class. Joshua agreed that games could have drawbacks, while the Yellow Robe began planning restrictions on Weave access and Joshua asked to use his academy as a tournament venue.

• Joshua joked with Ciri about lacking the money for the Holy Spirit Tournament’s 300,000-gold-coin prize, then told her Warcraft sales were rising rapidly.
• Joshua invited Ciri to celebrate the game’s success, and she ran off to bathe after covering herself in oil paint.
• The Yellow Robe confronted Joshua, saying that students across Nolan had skipped classes after hearing about the tournament prize.
• Joshua apologized and said the Holy Spirit craze would fade as students realized studying alchemy was a more practical way to earn money.
• The Yellow Robe asked Joshua to help block his apprentices’ access to the Weave at certain times, and Joshua asked to use the academy as a tournament venue.

Helan and Sansa traveled to Kelo Hill Academy for an academic exchange while following the Holy Spirit Open Tournament. They discovered that the academy’s barrier blocked the Magic Web, and White asked them to help him get permission to split away from the group.

• Helan and Sansa discussed Sansa’s Holy Spirit ranking and her plan to use the tournament prize money to buy I Nuo.
• Sansa began watching the tournament livestream as their Magic Mechanical Vehicle arrived at Kelo Hill Academy.
• Sansa and Helan lost their Magic Web connections after entering the academy.
• White explained that the Yellow Robe had established a barrier preventing Magic Web access and said one place in the academy remained unaffected.
• White asked Helan and Sansa to seek permission from their instructor to split up and explore.

Helan and Sansa discovered that Kroshiel apprentices had secretly gathered beneath the Yellow Robe High Tower to access the Magic Web and play Holy Spirit. As the Kelo Hill Team fought in the tournament, the Yellow Robe caught them in the act.

• White led Helan and Sansa through a hidden garden to the Yellow Robe High Tower, where a fourth-year apprentice said Kroshiel had lost access to the Magic Web thirteen days earlier.
• The apprentice explained that the tower's vicinity was the only place where the apprentices could connect, and she invited Sansa to join their effort to overthrow the restriction.
• Helan messaged Joshua and learned that he had asked the World Tree to stop covering Kelo Hill Academy with the Magic Web during daytime study hours.
• Helan watched five Kroshiel apprentices, including White, set up beneath the wall to play Holy Spirit, while Sansa followed the tournament broadcast and became absorbed in their match.
• The Kelo Hill Team entered a tense team fight against the White Flower Fish Team, and Helan noticed the Yellow Robe glaring down at them from the tower.

Helan and Sansa visited Kelo Hill Academy, where Yellow Robe tried to stop five apprentices from playing in the Holy Spirit Open Tournament. After he sent them away, Helan warned Brela that pursuing the championship would take time away from her inscription studies, but Brela remained determined to continue.

• Yellow Robe reprimanded five Kelo Hill Academy apprentices for playing in the tournament instead of attending their classes.
• Helan identified herself to Yellow Robe and distracted him while the apprentices continued their match.
• Yellow Robe threatened to summon the apprentices' parents and ordered everyone, including Helan and Sansa, out of the garden.
• Helan told the apprentices that their ladder rankings meant they would need extensive practice to challenge the top players, and she asked Brela about her plans to become an inscriptionist.
• Brela explained that her commoner parents worked at Kriya Way Station and that she needed money, but she refused to give up the tournament.

Joshua tried to find craftsmen willing to build a Ferris Wheel and Roller Coaster for his planned amusement park in the Forgotten Land, while Madam Ma Linna agreed to inquire among the Steel Country’s craftsmen. With the Holy Spirit Semi-finals approaching, Joshua also arranged to help Foya leave her room and participate in the event.

• Joshua showed Madam Ma Linna blueprints for a Ferris Wheel and Roller Coaster, but Nolan’s craftsmen considered his plans unreasonable and refused the work.
• Joshua insisted that he wanted to build the amusement park despite its cost, and Madam Ma Linna offered to ask about craftsmen in the Steel Country.
• Joshua invited Ciri to the White Thorn Flower Theater for the Semi-finals, and she replied that she would go.
• Joshua asked Foya whether she was ready for the competition, but she answered no and stopped replying.
• Joshua learned from Thousand Faces that Foya’s tower was a giant magical puppet and asked her to calm Foya, promising that she could cover the match.

Earl Cruz discovered that his second son, Vol, also played Holy Spirit and planned to confront a rival in Nolan, while Clairely endured grueling training for the tournament. After the Blood Clan was ordered to travel to Nolan, Clairely sought permission to prepare for her chance to kill Foya.

• Earl Cruz learned that Vol played Holy Spirit and warned him not to go too far while pursuing a rival in Nolan.
• Vol said he resented that Etke had earned Iron Forger's medal through Holy Spirit.
• After more than twenty days of training, Clairely and the other Blood Clan members were told they would travel to Nolan the next day.
• Clairely asked the Grand Duke of Blood for time to return to her residence and pack.
• Clairely planned to contact Gaineko Bishop before trying to get close to Foya in the human world.

Joshua and Ciri visited the White Thorn Flower Theater, where Joshua dealt with confusion over Holy Spirit Tournament tickets and met Herolia in disguise. Herolia revealed a clue about the formless and the invasion of the Demon Realm before leaving for the tournament.

• Joshua and White Thorn Flower Jazz discussed the high price and scarcity of movie discs, while Joshua noticed theatergoers mistaking Holy Spirit Tournament tickets for movie tickets.
• Ciri criticized the cost of attending the tournament in person, then became flustered when Messiah arrived with Herolia, disguised as the player Tuan.
• Herolia confronted Joshua after learning he had become a host of the Aserkelo World Tree and helped the High Elves, then asked him to ally the Demon Realm with Holy Church Country.
• Joshua proposed that Herolia announce an alliance with the Demon Realm, but she rejected the idea as likely to provoke rebellion and explained that she was competing to gain Faith Power.
• Herolia privately told Joshua that stronger formless beings required vast numbers of tangible spirits as vessels and questioned whether Holy Church Country and Frost Country had attacked the Demon Realm only out of hatred for demons.
• Herolia left with Messiah to prepare for the Holy Spirit Tournament Preliminary Competition, hoping to reach the top four.

Joshua showed Empress Yekana the arena for the upcoming Holy Spirit Open Tournament, but she doubted a game could match the excitement of gladiator combat. He revealed that the tournament venue had another surprise as the arena transformed before her eyes.

• Joshua met Empress Yekana outside the White Thorn Flower Theater, where she criticized the shabby previous Holy Spirit Tournament and demanded a better battlefield for the Steel Country's knights.
• Joshua invited Empress Yekana to see the new tournament venue, and he, Ciri, and the Empress traveled through crowded Nolan streets to Melrose Advanced Magic Academy.
• Joshua showed Empress Yekana the academy's Magic Arena and explained that its owner could give Nolan's audience an unforgettable opening ceremony.
• Empress Yekana inspected the arena and realized that the Holy Spirit competition would still be a game played with mice, leaving her unimpressed despite the preparations.
• A falling leaf passed through Empress Yekana's hand, and she watched the dusty arena transform through an illusion.

Joshua showed Empress Yekana the Holy Spirit Battlefield illusion created by the Purple-robed One, and Yekana invited the sage to return to the Steel Country. Two days later, Yekana led the Steel Country’s team to Melrose Academy for the tournament, where Earl Cruz grew anxious as Joshua prepared to reveal the Iron Forgers’ first opponents.

• Empress Yekana admired the Holy Spirit Battlefield illusion and asked its creator to join the Steel Country, but the Purple-robed One declined because of their apprentices.
• Yekana left after studying Ciri, while Joshua asked the Purple-robed One to oversee the match two days later.
• Earl Cruz accompanied Yekana’s horseback procession to Melrose Academy and saw his son Etke riding with the Iron Forgers.
• Vol complained that Etke did not deserve his medal, but Earl Cruz warned him not to underestimate their opponent, the Silver Frost Fox.
• Earl Cruz sensed powerful presences in the arena and heard Joshua tell Yekana that her match was first, then waited tensely to learn whom the Iron Forgers would face.

Joshua revealed that Empress Yekana’s first opponent would be the Kroshiel Team, a group of young Spellcaster apprentices led by Brela, and Yekana dismissed them as a humiliation. The Dark Elf reported that Brela had run away from home to compete, then flew off after Joshua mentioned a Tribunal of Judgment spy among the Demon Realm teams.

• Joshua told Empress Yekana that the tournament draw placed the Kroshiel Team as her first opponent, rather than Silver Frost Fox.
• Earl Cruz worried that Etke and the other Iron Forgers would have to face Yellow Robe, but Joshua introduced them to Kroshiel’s young Spellcaster apprentices instead.
• Brela introduced herself and offered Empress Yekana a ceremonial handshake, but Yekana called the matchup a humiliation and led her team away.
• The Dark Elf told Joshua that Brela attended Kelo Hill Academy and had run away from home to compete.
• Joshua mentioned that one Demon Realm team had a Tribunal of Judgment spy, and the Dark Elf flew off before he could explain further.

Earl Cruz watched the Nolan Open Tournament at Melrose Magic Arena as Joshua introduced the teams and the Bronze Dragon served as commentator. The match began with the Holy Spirit battlefield materializing in the arena, leaving the spectators cheering at the appearance of its heroes.

• Earl Cruz observed the arena’s ruined field and the confused young spectators before the Bronze Dragon appeared on the walls to welcome the audience.
• Joshua explained that he had recruited the Bronze Dragon, a devoted Holy Spirit player and linguist, to commentate on the tournament.
• The Bronze Dragon introduced the Kroshiel Team from Keloheer Advanced Magic Academy and the Iron Forger from Steel Country, then taunted both sides with his remarks.
• Earl Cruz grew angry at the Bronze Dragon’s comments about the Iron Forger facing children, while Joshua anticipated that the Earl would confront the commentator afterward.
• The teams entered the Hall of Silence, and purple runes formed a Holy Spirit battlefield as all twenty-five heroes appeared before the amazed spectators.

Brela’s team entered the Holy Spirit Tournament, but White panicked at the thought of facing Empress Yekana and tried to flee. When Brela chose White’s favorite hero, the Trembler, Loras Hughes, his confidence returned, and Brela reminded him that his teammates stood with him.

• Brela led the Kroshiel Team into the Hall of Silence and tried to prepare them for the tournament, while White begged to surrender because he feared Empress Yekana.
• White ran from the Hall of Silence just as the tournament began, and he and Brela found themselves at the Holy Spirit Legion’s spawning altar.
• Brela banned Craftsman Master Bazuli and selected White’s favorite hero, the Trembler, Loras Hughes.
• Loras Hughes appeared before Brela and White, and White reached for him before realizing he was only an illusion.
• Brela pulled White to his feet and told him that his comrades included the rest of the team.

Earl Cruz watched the Holy Spirit Open Tournament as legendary heroes appeared and the spectators debated the teams’ strategies. The first match began with Iron Forger’s Heavenly Gifted Daughter facing Kroshiel Team’s Deep Sea Banshee in the middle lane.

• Kroshiel Team picked Shudderer, Deep Sea Banshee, and Elf Vanguard, whose arrival thrilled the spectators.
• Earl Cruz silenced spectators discussing Elf Vanguard’s appearance, while Joshua asked where he could find their art books and Ciri offered to draw one for him.
• Iron Forger picked Swordbreaker Gemail, prompting Holy Spirit Players to debate the teams’ strategies and likely roles.
• Earl Cruz recognized that the spectators understood the battlefield because they had once played as warriors, but he stayed quiet because he did not know the game.
• Bronze Dragon announced that the match had begun, with Heavenly Gifted Daughter taking the middle lane against Deep Sea Banshee.

Brela’s Kroshiel team lost its match against Iron Forger, leaving her convinced that they needed to take the tournament seriously. Empress Yekana then offered to recruit the young players as her knights, but Brela declined.

• Iron Forger overwhelmed Kroshiel in the third round, and Broken Sword used a Resurrection Scroll to help destroy their core crystal.
• Brela led her defeated teammates back to the lounge, where she told them they should study and accept Yellow Robe’s punishment.
• Empress Yekana entered the lounge and told the five young warriors they should not kneel before their enemy.
• Empress Yekana praised Brela’s command of Holy Spirits and offered to make the apprentices her knights.
• Brela thanked Empress Yekana for the offer but declined the commission.

After the first Holy Spirit Preliminary Competition, Joshua spoke with Brela and the Kroshiel Team at Empress Yekana’s banquet, then helped Yekana explain why Steel Country’s Iron Forgers were competing. The banquet ended with the young Iron Forgers celebrated as representatives of their country, while Brela and her teammates weighed Yekana’s offer.

• Joshua and Ciri approached Brela and the Kroshiel Team, and Brela explained that her parents had accepted Yekana’s offer to recruit her as an Iron Forger.
• Joshua told Brela that professional Holy Spirit players faced uncertain prospects, while an elderly noble listened to their conversation.
• Empress Yekana presented five young Iron Forgers to the banquet guests and declared that they represented Steel Country in the competition.
• Joshua asked why Steel Country’s honor was at stake, and Yekana revealed that Frost Country’s Silver Frost Fox Family had entered its own team.
• Joshua told Earl Cruz that players worldwide were cheering for Iron Forger, then watched Brela and her teammates discuss whether to accept Yekana’s offer.

Joshua played Go with Empress Yekana, who deduced that he was a visitor from another world and praised the miracles he had brought to the Steel Country. Joshua refused her request to write stories, then proposed cooperation between the Demon Realm and the Steel Country against a common enemy.

• Joshua and Empress Yekana played Go while she questioned his unusual bearing and hinted that he seemed indifferent to the world.
• Empress Yekana declared Joshua's stones defeated and asked if he was a visitor from another world; Joshua neither confirmed nor denied her guess.
• Empress Yekana praised Joshua's creations and said she wished he were from the Steel Country so he could write stories she liked.
• Joshua refused Empress Yekana's request and ended the game, then offered cooperation on a project involving the Steel Country's Magic Mechanical Devices.
• Joshua warned Empress Yekana that they shared a common enemy lurking in the world's dark corners.

Clairely and Monet returned to Nolan’s surface and set out to meet Gaineko Bishop’s believers so they could help eliminate Foya. Their mission was interrupted by Nolan’s unfamiliar nightlife, and Clairely was left confronting the question of whether they could ever truly go home.

• Clairely marveled at Nolan’s bright nightscape before heading to the meeting place arranged with Gaineko Bishop.
• Monet distracted the Chaos Demon by watching an Avatar trailer, but Clairely took control and continued toward the gathered believers.
• A Dark Elf followed the Chaos Demon and aimed a poisoned arrow at him, then lowered her bow when he stopped at the Black Pigeon Newsstand.
• Clairely recognized the song “Lose Yourself” playing at the newsstand, and the orc owner gave her a Record Stone titled “Rebirth.”
• Clairely told Monet that they could go home after completing the mission, but Monet wondered where they could return while trapped in the Chaos Demon’s body.

Joshua learned that three Heretic Inquisitors had met a spy targeting Princess Foya, then planned to use the Purple-robed One’s reflection illusion to help Foya gain fame and Faith Power. He asked Ciri whether illusion magic could become reality and whether magic could create life, leaving her startled by the question.

• The Dark Elf told Joshua that three Heretic Inquisitors had met with a spy whose target was Princess Foya, and said she would struggle not to kill him if he approached the princess.
• Joshua explained that he planned to use the Purple-robed One’s reflection illusion to give Foya a concrete image and gather Faith Power, and the Dark Elf agreed to watch the Tribunal of Judgment.
• Joshua visited Ciri after her Holy Spirit match and asked her to examine the Reflection Illusion magic array’s blueprint.
• Ciri explained how magic power and Runes could manifest something nonexistent, and Joshua asked whether magic could create a life that did not exist.