Chapter Summaries

Minette discovered that the Goddess of Dawn Church had tortured and experimented on captured Dark Elves, including her former junior, and rescued the survivors. After they begged her to flee, Minette drew on Caroso’s power, broke through the ruins, and faced the church’s followers with a bleeding Bone Blade.

• Minette found a cultivation chamber filled with elves and Dark Elves, recognized her former junior among them, and read records detailing the Death Knight experiments.
• When a paladin and knight’s squad caught up with her, Minette killed them in a swift attack and continued reading the research journal.
• Minette shattered the cultivation tanks, freed the surviving Dark Elves, and told them she had come to save them.
• The Dark Elves pleaded with Minette to escape and protect their people, but she refused to leave them unavenged.
• Power from Caroso’s divine mark gathered around Minette, and she blasted through two layers of Seastone before confronting the Goddess of Dawn Church’s followers.

Minette emerged as a ninth-rank Dark Elf and confronted the churches over their persecution of her kin and the Goddess of Dawn Church’s creation of Death Knights. She declared her intent to kill Riccardo and avenge the Dark Elves, then faced a barrage of powerful cards and divine attacks.

• Minette appeared in the sky as a ninth-rank Dark Elf, determined to protect her people after learning how badly they had been persecuted.
• Riccardo urged the professionals to capture or kill Minette, but she swiftly cut down half of them without using a card.
• Minette accused the Goddess of Dawn Church of turning her kin into Death Knights and threatened to stand against anyone who opposed her.
• The other church leaders demanded that Riccardo explain the Death Knights, but he ordered them to focus on the danger Minette posed.
• Riccardo used a divine disc as Minette challenged him, and Primont stood guard beside him.
• The churches launched powerful spells and blessings at Minette, including Thunderstorm, Flame Burst, Nature's Wrath, and Knight's Temple Hammer.

Minette fought through the gathered church forces and killed Riccardo despite Primont’s protection and the Shield and Blade of Dawn. Wounded by Primont’s attack, she escaped a hundred meters away and challenged anyone to approach the Dark Elf king.

• The church forces’ attacks failed to stop Minette, who swiftly closed in on Riccardo and Primont.
• Primont used the Shield of Dawn and Blade of Dawn to defend Riccardo and attack Minette, but she stunned Primont with Sap and slipped past him.
• Minette completed her understanding of the assassin’s path and cut Riccardo’s throat with her Bone Blade.
• Minette appeared a hundred meters away with a wound from the Blade of Dawn, while Riccardo lay dead.
• Minette licked the blood from her Bone Blade and dared the church forces to approach the wounded King of Dark Elves.

Minette broke through to the ninth rank and killed Archbishop Riccardo, while Messiah and the Goddess of Dawn discussed the church’s corruption and the looming danger. As Celica prepared to confront the traitors, the suspended island began falling from the sky.

• Minette appeared as a Dark Elf after reaching the ninth rank, and Messiah spoke with the Goddess of Dawn about the church and the plan unfolding above.
• Messiah assured the Goddess of Dawn that her contingency had prevented the Lich King's follower from reaching the fight.
• Caroso, Celica, and the others watched Minette kill Riccardo and worried about the church’s failures and Celica’s lack of powerful equipment.
• Celica decided to go above and expose those involved in the Death Knight plot, despite the danger from Minette.
• The island suspended in the air began to fall.

The fallen island exposed an altar whose deathly energy transformed the Church’s Paladins into Death Knights, while Krumen raised the Goblin Ruins and revealed a matching altar beneath it. Celica accused Riccardo and Primont of concealing the Death Knight experiments, and the chapter ended as cracks appeared on the statue at the distant altar.

• The island crashed to the ground, and deathly energy transformed the spared Paladins into Death Knights and Riccardo into a lich before Primont and the others destroyed them.
• The crash exposed a buried altar with a knight statue at its center, while Ailin, Caroso, and Krumen activated the Goblin Ruins and raised its mobile war-chariot form.
• The raised Goblin Ruins revealed a second altar matching the first, prompting the onlookers to suspect the Lich King was connected to the Death Knight experiments.
• Celica used the chariot’s microphone to accuse Riccardo of running the experiments and confronted Primont, who denied knowing about them.
• Celica, Shirley, and Peter left the chariot, and Minette warned the others not to threaten her people before cracks appeared on the statue at the distant altar.

The knight statue unleashed overwhelming deathly aura, and the churches’ powerful relics failed to suppress it. As the Goblin War Chariot approached the ruin, Ailin recognized the statue as the Rebel, Mordred Icht.

• Deathly aura surged from the altar toward the knight statue, and Minette warned everyone to stop it.
• The Flame Pope and the cardinal of the Church of the Lionheart used their relics to suppress the statue, but it shattered their phantoms and damaged their treasures.
• Celica cleaned Riccardo’s contamination from the Heart of Dawn and demanded Primont’s Knight’s Sword, while Primont suspected Duke Benson had been extracting the altar’s faith.
• Caroso ordered everyone to fight, Master Bai went out to help, and Alita stayed to care for the others.
• Master Bai handed out light- and lightning-element cards as the Goblin War Chariot drove toward the second ruin.
• Ailin recognized the knight statue as the Rebel, Mordred Icht.

Caroso revealed that the statue contained Mordred, the King of Knights’ traitorous son, and the Flame Pope concluded that the Scourge of the Undead had used his corpse and the Lich King’s altar in an attempt to create a god. The church leaders decided to seek reinforcements and contain the spreading death energy as the god began to awaken.

• Ailin identified the statue as Mordred, whose history the Pander Empire had suppressed, and Caroso spread the information to those outside.
• The Flame Pope explained that the Scourge of the Undead had likely taken Mordred’s corpse and could have turned him into a Death Knight using the death power from the Lich King’s altar.
• The Flame Pope warned Celica and the church leaders that the scheme aimed to create a god and that the spreading death energy could no longer be contained by their current forces.
• The Flame Pope urged the churches to stop suppressing the awakening figure and instead cut off the incoming death energy while seeking reinforcements.
• Primont agreed to request help from the Goddess of Dawn Church, while the Flame Pope said Master Norma and a Dark Elf could restrain the awakening god long enough for aid to arrive.

Caroso and his companions were trapped inside the death aura surrounding Laria as the sealed Mordred awakened. The church leaders began fighting to contain him, but Mordred overwhelmed a ninth-rank attack and started breaking the magic array.

• Celica sent Caroso, Saya, Ailin, Krumen, and Bai away from the altar as Mordred’s armor began breaking free of the statue.
• Black mist encircled Laria and trapped Caroso’s group, while the Dark Elves escaped through it because they could withstand the aura.
• Caroso stayed behind with Ailin and Krumen, while Bai and Alita took Saya through a temporary opening in the mist.
• Mordred awakened in ice-blue armor, and Norma’s Tree of Life froze as it failed to restrain him.
• Minette refused to attack until the Goddess of Dawn Church’s leaders arrived, but she struck at Mordred after he began breaking the Divine Artifact array.

Minette and the others struggled to contain Mordred as Duke Benson activated a magic array across Laria to feed the Death Knights’ power to him. Merlin realized the city was being sealed and its residents were being driven toward the black aura, while the church’s leaders were still absent.

• Minette used her experience fighting gods to slow the flow of Mordred’s divine power, while Norma and Celica aided her with the Tree of Life and the Divine Radiance of Dawn.
• Mordred retaliated with deathly energy, damaging Celica’s Divine Artifact and cracking the array of Divine Artifacts, but Minette urged the group to hold out for reinforcements.
• Duke Benson reflected on how the churches and other powerful figures had uncovered the altar, then activated a magic array beneath his mansion that enveloped Laria.
• Saya, Bai, and Alita reached the Goddess of Dawn Church branch, but Bai discovered that Laria’s residents were being compelled toward the black aura and the city’s anti-magic array was obstructing her magic.
• Knights sealed the docks and attacked confused outsiders as the mastermind stopped hiding and began supplying Mordred with power.
• Merlin saw the anti-magic array and citywide mobilization, then stopped outside Sophia and Nimel’s rooms, deciding that they needed a god to fight a god.

The Goddess of Dawn Church debated how to respond to the awakening god, ultimately sending Homero with Light Force while preparing the Divine Punishment Array. Merlin freed Nimel and Sophia from confinement, but as she led them toward Caroso, both children began floating as deathly energy poured into them.

• The Pope argued that the Church needed to prepare the Divine Punishment Array and send Homero with Light Force to delay the god.
• Primont reported that Duke Benson’s troops were forcing civilians into the black mist and that Laria’s anti-magic array had been activated, prompting the elders to blame the Pander Empire.
• The Pope ordered Homero to go with sufficient authority and directed the Church to prepare the Divine Punishment Array; he also approved the Church of the God of Wisdom’s application to become Orthodox.
• Merlin opened the confinement room and found Nimel, Sophia, and their attendant playing cards, then took the two children with her after claiming Riccardo had approved their release.
• As Merlin led Nimel and Sophia toward Caroso, Nimel’s eyes and hair turned blue and Sophia’s eyes turned gray, and both began floating as deathly energy transformed into divine power and poured into them.

As Mordred grew stronger by consuming black aura and civilians, Ailin discovered that Pander Empire knights were feeding people to him. The Sword in the Stone flew from the King of Knights’ statue and chose Ailin as she confronted the black mist.

• Merlin stopped Caroso from rushing to Nimel and promised to stabilize her mind while Nimel and Sophia distracted the God of Wisdom.
• Mordred’s armor strengthened as the black mist healed him, and civilians who entered it became dried corpses that attacked the living.
• Ailin discovered Pander Empire soldiers were launching civilians and outsiders into the mist to feed Mordred, and she angrily charged toward the knights.
• In Lion City, the Sword in the Stone emerged from the King of Knights’ statue and flew away as Emmanuelle watched.
• A sword cleaved through the black mist, and Ailin caught the Sword in the Stone.

Ailin used the King of Knights' deck and the Sword in the Stone to break through the enemy forces and confront Benson, while Merlin prepared to unleash her combined powers. Messiah explained the strength and limits of the fighters gathering for the battle, which she said might go down in history.

• Ailin destroyed the catapults and the knights using civilians as ammunition with the King of Knights' Wrath, then charged toward the Duke's Mansion to find Benson.
• Ailin summoned and enlarged seven mermen to stop the civilians from being sent to their deaths, then forced her way into Laria despite its anti-magic formation.
• Merlin told Caroso that the Sword in the Stone had raised Ailin to the peak of the eighth tier and could permanently empower her if she earned its recognition.
• Merlin rose above the black mist and summoned holy and lightning magic, while Caroso learned from Messiah that Merlin's two souls could combine their powers to approach early ninth-tier strength.
• Messiah warned that Merlin still could not match Minette's innate power and said the battle might go down in history as the King of Knights' spirit, the Witch of the End, and the King of Dark Elves converged.

Mordred overwhelmed the churches’ forces as Nimel and Sophia absorbed his power, while Minette bargained with Homero for the Dark Elves’ freedom and joined the fight. Celica discovered that the black fog’s magic array was driving civilians to their deaths, and a mysterious voice reminded her that her strength was her own.

• Mordred used the God Card Boundary Sever to shatter the churches’ sealing array and destroy several ninth-tier items, then cleaved Norma’s Tree of Life and attacked Nimel and Sophia.
• Homero trapped Mordred briefly and negotiated with Minette, promising the Dark Elves land, national recognition, and Orthodox Church status in exchange for her help.
• Minette attacked Mordred to restrain him while Homero prepared the Goddess of Dawn Church’s Divine Punishment Array using Light Force.
• Messiah and the Goddess of Dawn discussed whether Mordred and his sister could withstand divine power after he used the card.
• Celica found Caroso and Krumen struggling to stop civilians controlled by the magic array from rushing toward their deaths, then resolved that Mordred had to be killed.
• A phantom appeared behind Celica and told her that her strength had not been bestowed by anyone.

Celica and Minette broke through to the ninth tier while fighting Mordred, and the Goddess of Dawn’s guidance awakened Celica’s sword power. As they struggled to hold Mordred back, Merlin summoned a simulated Holy Lance and prepared to unleash it.

• The Goddess of Dawn urged Celica to follow her own path and trust the power of her sword before her phantom faded.
• Celica broke through to the ninth tier and charged Mordred with the Sword of Dawn, while Minette also revealed that she had advanced to the ninth tier.
• Celica and Minette fought Mordred, but his strength damaged Celica’s ninth-tier Blade of Dawn and left them struggling to hold him back.
• Merlin transformed her Projection card into a simulated Rongomyniad, the lance the King of Knights had used to kill Mordred.
• Merlin chanted the lance’s invocation and declared, “Holy Lance, unanchor!”

Merlin, Celica, and Minette failed to stop Mordred while the Goddess of Dawn Church delayed its Divine Punishment Array. With Nimel threatened and the defenders close to defeat, Caroso summoned his future self through a God Card, whose power stunned everyone as the chapter ended.

• Merlin pierced Mordred with the spear, but he broke free and resumed attacking while Celica and Minette defended her.
• Homero admitted the Divine Punishment Array had not arrived, and Minette urged Caroso to retreat as Nimel heard the God of Wisdom urging her to surrender control of her body.
• Caroso confronted Merlin over bringing Nimel and Sophia into danger, but Krumen gave him a God Card that could summon his future self.
• Caroso activated the card, and a black ray from the bullet comment window joined its power as his future self emerged and absorbed deathly energy.
• Mordred paused before Caroso's blood-soaked future self, whose pressure frightened civilians, cardinals, and even Norma; Messiah and the Goddess of Dawn were surprised by his power.

Caroso’s shadow lent him the God Card Laevateinn (Shadow), transforming him into the Corrupted Card and allowing him to overpower Mordred. After Caroso killed a fleeing ninth-rank Death Knight, Minette explained that Caroso was wielding divine power, though the reason behind his sudden strength remained unclear.

• Caroso’s shadow gave him Laevateinn (Shadow) and guided him into battle, where he began suppressing Mordred.
• Caroso deployed the Field Magic Card Warrior’s Battlefield and continued fighting Mordred as a sword phantom killed the fleeing ninth-rank Death Knight.
• Celica and Minette noticed that Caroso’s power was unusual, while Norma used her natural power to heal Celica and Minette’s deathly-energy corruption.
• Minette explained that Caroso’s God Card let him borrow divine power, which was stronger than the mana used by other ninth-rank fighters.

Corrupted Card took control of Caroso and fought Mordred, restoring the god to full strength so Caroso could learn through a battle on the brink of death. The churches hailed the Blazing God of War’s descent as Caroso and Mordred resumed their fight.

• Corrupted Card severed Mordred’s left arm, then restored Mordred with faith so he could face him at full strength.
• Corrupted Card saw Caroso’s sealed memories and used Caroso’s body to teach him how to fight and understand laws.
• Celica and the Flame Pope concluded that a god was fighting through Caroso and led the crowd in welcoming the descent of the Blazing God of War.
• Mordred recovered and struck Caroso with Lion’s Grasp, freezing his wound and filling his body with deathly energy.
• Caroso recovered from Mordred’s attacks as Corrupted Card used his body to cycle through levels of magic power and send Mordred flying again.

Caroso drew on Nimel and Sophia’s power to defeat Mordred with Twilight of the Gods (Imitation). After smiling at Nimel, the Corrupted Caroso faded away, leaving the others behind.

• The Corrupted Card used his combat experience to guide Caroso as they fought Mordred and taught him a final skill.
• Nimel released her shackles and shared her divine power with Caroso, then drew on Sophia’s power as well.
• Caroso and Mordred exchanged attacks, and Mordred unleashed Rebellion Against My Beautiful Father while Caroso countered with Twilight of the Gods (Imitation).
• Caroso drained the borrowed power and burned Mordred to ash, severing the red lines across his body.
• The Corrupted Caroso smiled at Nimel before his shadow slowly faded and vanished.

After Caroso defeated Mordred with the Blazing God of War’s power and Celica broke through to the ninth tier, the Goddess of Dawn Church reconsidered its plans. The Pope canceled the order to use Light Force and prepared for the possibility that the gods were returning.

• Messiah recuperated at the Goddess of Dawn’s church after losing divine power while using her Great Prophecy on Caroso.
• Primont reported that Celica had broken through to the ninth tier alongside Minette and Merlin’s efforts to stop Mordred.
• Primont revealed that Caroso had summoned Laevateinn, defeated Mordred in a duel, and blasted him into scraps with a Spell Card.
• The Pope and the Senate discussed whether Celica’s breakthrough and Caroso’s divine possession signaled the gods’ return.
• The Pope canceled the use of Light Force and ordered investigations into Celica’s breakthrough, Caroso’s possession, and Nimel.

Caroso killed Mordred with the Corrupted Card and collapsed, while the others recovered and debated what had happened. The churches identified the event as divine descent and argued over who would take Lion’s Grasp and Mordred’s ashes.

• Caroso fainted after Mordred was reduced to ash, and Bai caught him as Nimel and Sophia collapsed from having their magic drained.
• Alita caught Nimel and Sophia while Merlin explained that Caroso had restored Mordred before killing him with overwhelming power.
• Bai, Celica, and the Flame Pope suspected that the Blazing God of War had descended upon Caroso, and the Flame Pope offered to make him a Holy Son.
• Celica picked up Lion’s Grasp, which shone brightly in her hands, and Homero insisted that the sword and Mordred’s ashes be taken to headquarters.
• The Flame Pope challenged the Goddess of Dawn Church over its limited role and demanded to know why it should control the sword and the god’s remains.