Chapter Summaries

Caroso welcomed Bai and Krumen to Pander and asked Bai to help him obtain the Proof of Eternal Life for a powerful card. He then revealed that the four of them would go behind enemy lines to rescue Pander’s people.

• Teresa said the supplies from allied nobles only needed to cover basic food needs, while Caroso accepted their limited support.
• Bai and Krumen arrived by ship, and Caroso greeted them after they had stayed behind during his dangerous journey to Pander.
• Kong discovered that Alita had been impersonating Bai while processing materials and angrily called for Bai.
• Caroso told Bai he had reached eighth rank at seventeen and explained that he had delayed advancing to strengthen his foundation.
• Caroso asked Bai to join him in obtaining the Proof of Eternal Life, and she agreed without asking for details.
• Caroso told Bai, Teresa, and Krumen that they would travel behind enemy lines to rescue Pander’s people.

Emmanuelle learned that Teresa had joined Caroso and sought help as Pander faced another looming crisis. At the Church of the God of Wisdom, Nimel agreed to travel to Pander after recognizing Caroso’s signal about a dungeon in Changhe City.

• Emmanuelle contacted Emperor Orsay, who denied that Presia had joined the conflict and said Teresa had acted on her own.
• Emmanuelle considered how Presia’s involvement could draw Iberia and Yellman into the war, then sought help from the Church.
• Nimel translated ancient texts and reflected on her responsibilities as the Church’s god and her recent advancement to the eighth tier.
• Pope Jesta Hines told Nimel that an eighth-tier dungeon had appeared in Pander and asked her to oversee it.
• Nimel found Caroso’s signal in recent newspapers and agreed to go to Changhe City, while Jesta planned for Jaina to enter the dungeon in her place.

Norman led a team of church and association experts into the unknown Eighth-tier dungeon in Changhe City, and Nimel followed after them. Meanwhile, Caroso, Teresa, and Bai entered through a hidden forest entrance, leaving the cardinal locked outside after eleven people entered the dungeon.

• Norman introduced Anduin, Varian, Uther, Vareesa, Malfurion, and himself as the Pander Empire's dungeon raid team, then led them into the Teleport array.
• Nimel and Jaina arrived in Changhe City, and Jaina entered the dungeon after telling Nimel that the cardinal would arrive shortly.
• Nimel dashed into the dungeon before the cardinal could stop her, despite the soldiers expecting her to stay outside.
• Caroso revealed that the Lord's voice had guided him to a hidden entrance in the forest, and he, Teresa, and Bai entered the dungeon together.
• The cardinal tried to follow but found the portal blocked, realizing that eleven people had entered even though the dungeon allowed at most ten because Nimel had not been counted as a person.

Caroso entered the eighth-tier Dawn City dungeon as a favored member of the Church of the Lord of Eternal Life, whose mission was to occupy Barrington and eliminate the Goddess of Night Church’s leaders. Zoltan confirmed that Caroso alone possessed the advanced law of seeing death, and Caroso realized its potential might let him rival or surpass the Lord of Eternal Life.

• Caroso surveyed the graveyard where he appeared and found that his power remained intact.
• Caroso learned that the dungeon recreated a period of history in which several churches besieged Barrington.
• Zoltan told Caroso that he carried the Lord of Eternal Life’s power and was the only person granted the law of seeing death.
• Caroso used a blade of grass to destroy a tombstone after spotting its death line.
• Caroso considered that his law might have no limit and could eventually let him stand equal to or surpass the Lord of Eternal Life.

Caroso toured the Church of the Lord of Eternal Life’s stronghold with Zoltan and learned about its powerful undead forces. Zoltan sent him to infiltrate Barrington for defensive intelligence, and Caroso agreed in exchange for the Proof of Eternal Life.

• Zoltan showed Caroso the graveyards, vampire palace, mausoleums, Desolate Hall, and Dragon Tomb that made up the Church’s stronghold.
• Caroso asked about undead troops’ potential, and Zoltan explained that some could evolve into powerful heroes.
• Zoltan ordered Caroso to infiltrate Barrington and gather intelligence on its defenses.
• Caroso agreed to the mission after demanding the Proof of Eternal Life as his reward.
• Zoltan told Caroso to return alive, or to float back so he could be made into a powerful undead.

Nimel awakened in the Temple of Wisdom as the mages’ revered god and learned about their forces and the regional conflict. Meanwhile, the defenders of Barrington faced tensions among their allies as they considered the strength of the enemies threatening the city.

• Nimel woke on a throne in the Temple of Wisdom, where Naxxis and the mages worshipped her as the God of Wisdom.
• Nimel ordered Naxxis to gather intelligence, then reviewed the mages’ troops, town information, and strategic map with Jaina.
• Nimel told Jaina that an inner voice and her instincts had led her into the dungeon, and she chose to wait rather than act first.
• Vareesa and Malfurion joined the Forest of Elves Church as a Hunter hero and a druid hero.
• Gabri confronted Varian over his allegiance to the Blazing God of War, while Norman tried to mediate and Uther pointed out that Barrington’s enemies had three Ninth-tier lords.

Gabri assigned Anduin to recruit priests and vet heroes while keeping military command for himself. In Barrington, Bai and Teresa learned about local recruitment and troop types from a young man at a tavern.

• Gabri claimed Anduin belonged to the Goddess of Night Church, assigned him to recruit and train priests, and told him to vet any heroes they recruited.
• The others accepted their separate assignments while resenting Gabri’s better treatment of Anduin.
• Bai and Teresa discussed finding out which faction Caroso had joined and reasoned that the province’s armies would eventually fight one another.
• A young man approached Bai and Teresa at a Barrington tavern, offered to buy their drinks, and asked if they were looking for work.
• Teresa asked about local jobs, and the young man listed recruitment fees and explained that griffins and other creatures could serve as troop types.

Bai and Teresa met Tom, who challenged them to a card game, and Bai defeated him with an aggressive deck. Tom paid off his wager by explaining that the gods had trapped those who comprehended laws in an arena where heroes were made to slaughter one another.

• Teresa asked Tom why he had approached them, and he challenged her to a bet for her sword in exchange for information.
• Tom showed Bai and Teresa his invented card game, and Bai recognized its resemblance to games from a later era.
• Bai beat Tom using a fast-attacking Warlock deck, drawing a crowd of tavern patrons who had lost to him before.
• After Teresa cleared the crowd, Tom explained that those who comprehended laws could become heroes and had been restricted by the gods.
• Tom said the gods had created the arena as a game of slaughtering heroes, trapping law-comprehenders who entered it.

Bai defeated Tom twice in a card game, winning valuable rewards despite Tom’s frustration. Outside the city, Caroso revealed himself to Teresa and warned her that the man playing cards with Teacher Bai was a god.

• Teresa suggested that the strongest people who fought their way out of the dungeon might have the best chance of becoming gods, and asked Tom about the factions.
• Tom copied Bai’s aggressive play style with a Hunter deck and suppressed her, but Bai used Holy Wrath to draw Tiger God and defeat him.
• Bai beat Tom again with another Holy Wrath draw, this time revealing Mountain Giant, and accepted his offer to play another round for a valuable necklace.
• Caroso, disguised as Kong, led Teresa outside the city and told her that Tom was a god.

Caroso suspected that Bai’s card-playing companion Tom was a god, while the Night Squad and Anduin’s group made plans for the dungeon. Outside, Nimel’s disappearance alarmed the churches, and Krumen arrived in Changhe City to sell a solar-powered fan.

• Caroso told Teresa that Tom’s casual use of the Tiger God card and the tavern’s acceptance of his card game suggested he might be a god.
• Bai beat Tom at cards, and Caroso recruited him to join their party after Tom ran out of things to wager.
• Anduin assigned Uther to recruit troops, Varian to contact Malfurion and Vareesa, and Norman to provoke the elves while he sought heroes and intelligence.
• A cardinal confronted Pande’s governor over Nimel entering the dungeon, warning that her death would bring the churches against Pande.
• Krumen arrived in Changhe City and sold a merchant a solar-powered fan for two thousand Bronze Coins.

Krumen sold mechanical goods in Pande while Caroso, Bai, and Teresa left Barrington with Tom and discussed the dungeon’s faction rules. Caroso warned that joining a nonhuman faction would make them factionless and cause mission failure, leaving the group to seek out allies and decide where to go next.

• Krumen sold a mechanical fan for two thousand Bronze Coins and continued peddling goods with apprentices trained by Caroso.
• Bai won against Tom in a card game, took his belongings, and brought him along with Caroso and Teresa as they left Barrington.
• Anduin began recruiting heroes in Barrington, and he missed Caroso’s group as they departed.
• Caroso told Bai and Teresa that dungeon participants had been assigned to factions based on their abilities and warned them not to join the Church of the Lord of Eternal Life or the Forest of Elves.
• Caroso explained that betraying the Human Race would leave them unable to join another faction and could cause the dungeon to erase them for failing the mission.
• Tom pointed out that Barrington was the only nearby human city and asked what the group planned to do next.

Caroso explained the churches’ stalemate and decided to gather neutral troops from the underground, despite the danger. The group reached the Forest of Elves Church at night, where the trees awakened and attacked them.

• Caroso and Tom explained that the churches were unlikely to form an alliance, while Caroso noted the factions would remain locked in a stalemate without intervention.
• Caroso questioned Tom about neutral troops, and Tom revealed that the largest group was underground among demons and undead.
• Bai used Tom’s gambling debt to convince him to accompany the group toward the underground troops.
• Caroso, Bai, Teresa, and Tom infiltrated the forest behind the Forest of Elves Church after nightfall.
• The trees awakened as Treants, and Tom urged the group to flee while distant arrows signaled that enemies had spotted them.
• Norman called for a knightly contest as the Treants tore themselves free of the ground.

Norman fled the Forest of Elves after its archers wounded him, while Vareesa and Anwen mistook his assault for a possible trap. Caroso’s group encountered a mysterious druid named Messiah, whom the comments recognized from their campaign.

• Norman used cards to boost his speed and equipment, then fled the Forest of Elves under a magically empowered rain of arrows.
• Vareesa struck Norman with a tracking arrow, shattering much of his armor, while Anwen stopped Vareesa from pursuing him.
• Varian raised a wall of flame behind Norman to help him escape, and Anwen sensed more intruders nearby.
• Teresa realized the elves had found her group, and Caroso saw a white-haired druid sitting atop a Treant.
• The comments identified the druid as Messiah and connected her to the mysterious figure outside the dungeon.

Caroso and his allies fought Messiah and the savage Treants, using powerful cards and buffs to break through toward the entrance to hell. Messiah pursued them with spiritual magic, and the chapter ended with Caroso summoning a taunting demon to face her.

• Messiah attacked Caroso and his allies with powerful natural magic, but Caroso's Chestnut Ball card canceled her spell.
• Caroso used Group Haste while Tom tested a card and discovered that its magic was bound to Caroso's soul.
• Teresa drew her six-sword set and cut through the Treants' attacks as Bai cast Stamina Aura.
• Caroso ordered the group to rush toward the entrance to hell while the enemies were distracted by Norman.
• Messiah pursued them with dream-based spiritual magic, so Caroso summoned the Young Void Lord, which raised its middle finger at her.

Caroso and his companions escaped Messiah by entering a fire portal, while Varian and Norman planned to contact the Forest of Elves Church through the Thieves Guild. The group arrived in Hell, where undead gathered around them and Messiah followed through the portal.

• Messiah's mental magic drove off Caroso's group, and she destroyed the Young Void Lord and its three Void Walkers before chasing them.
• Caroso used a modified Fireball to open a teleport portal, and he and his companions escaped through it with Messiah following.
• Norman and Varian discussed how to establish contact with the Forest of Elves Church, and Varian proposed finding the Thieves Guild.
• Caroso's group arrived in Hell, where skeletons and zombies rose around them, and Tom explained that they could be subdued by fighting them.
• Messiah appeared through the portal and taunted Caroso's group for having nowhere left to run.

Caroso and Bai used an unconventional mix of cards and undead tactics to fight Messiah in the underground world. Caroso disrupted her magic, and Messiah found Bai waiting behind her with Sap.

• Caroso and Bai summoned taunting zombies, then used Concealment to hide their auras among the undead.
• Messiah realized the zombies had masked the living group and fought off the undead army with a storm and Flying Leaf Quick Blade.
• Caroso donned Tattered Undead Armor, charged through the undead, and used Ancient Relic Revolver to disrupt Messiah’s mana and collapse her storm.
• Messiah tried to retreat to the surface, but turned and found Bai behind her holding a club and preparing to use Sap.

Caroso and Bai captured Messiah with an Elf Cage and fled the underground undead army, while Anwen arrived too late to find her. Messiah watched from outside the dungeon as the Goddess of Dawn questioned her about the war and the forces inside.

• Bai stunned Messiah from behind, and Caroso trapped her in an Elf Cage that prevented her from casting magic.
• Caroso, Bai, and Teresa escaped when the undead swarmed them, leaving the army behind.
• Anwen arrived with Vareesa and Malfurion, killed the attacking undead, and sent Malfurion to search for Messiah while secretly having a trusted Hunter follow him.
• Messiah watched the dungeon from a tree and told the Goddess of Dawn that she could not use her true body's power to observe inside.
• The Goddess of Dawn wondered whether other future gods had been present in the war, then disappeared after calling Messiah useless.

Caroso and his companions rested underground while Tom questioned the strange, self-restoring cards and their unconventional powers. They planned to capture an army by defeating its leader, while Teresa considered interrogating Messiah, who bluntly described the horrors she expected from her captors.

• Caroso led the group through the underground area for about twenty minutes without encountering enemies or traps, and Tom asked whether he had been there before.
• As midnight passed, the group’s cards recovered, and Tom questioned how they fought with different classes and powers without suffering mana backlash.
• Caroso said they would rest briefly before acquiring an army, and Tom explained that defeating the leader of a wild army could make it theirs.
• Teresa suggested interrogating Messiah for information about the three factions they needed to destroy.
• Messiah insisted she would not talk and calmly described the sexual violence she expected, leaving the group dumbfounded.

Caroso interrogated Messiah by revealing classified information and then brought her to a graveyard to identify its monster commander. After Caroso and Teresa attacked the wrong zombies, Tom pointed out the likely leaders, but only after Bai asked him.

• Messiah made provocative remarks during questioning, prompting Teresa and Caroso to stop her and Caroso to interrogate her alone.
• Caroso recited secret information about the elves’ forces and defenses, frightening Messiah, who offered to trade her dream magic for an explanation of how he knew it.
• Caroso, Teresa, and the others watched a graveyard’s monsters, but Caroso and Teresa disagreed about which zombie was in charge.
• Caroso killed one zombie and used Voice of the Dead to question another, learning that the zombie had been fanning its husband.
• Caroso and Teresa attacked monsters while trying to spare the future troops, but they still failed to identify the commander.
• Tom pointed out the likely zombie and skeleton leaders after Bai asked him why he had not spoken sooner.

With Tom's guidance, Caroso and Teresa subdued several undead leaders before Malfurion ambushed them to free Messiah. Bai struggled against Malfurion's spells, but Caroso cut through the vines, leaving Malfurion startled by the difference in the twins' combat ability.

• Tom explained how he identified undead leaders, and Caroso and Teresa subdued two more undead units.
• Malfurion spotted Caroso, Teresa, and Bai with the imprisoned Messiah and decided to attack while concealing his identity.
• Malfurion used Vine Whip to seize Messiah's cage, and Caroso told Teresa to finish off the undead leader while he went to help.
• Bai summoned Giselle's Chainsaw and tried to cut through the vines, but Malfurion's Earth Elemental knocked her down.
• Caroso cut through the vines with Guanshi Zhengzong, and Malfurion wondered how the twins' combat abilities could differ so greatly.