Chapter Summaries

Tig sent Caroso away after Caroso had gained a deeper understanding of death and absorption. They parted with Tig urging Caroso to keep the blade safe and wishing him a son.

• Caroso stared at Tig and questioned him about saying there had been no chance.
• Caroso realized he no longer needed the ring after gaining a deeper understanding of death and absorption.
• Tig told Caroso to leave before the Nether Sea's aura tainted him too much to return.
• Tig urged Caroso to keep the blade safe and wished him a big, healthy son next year.
• Caroso began to speak about how long it might be before they met again.

Kong faced an international tribunal for using ninth-rank power without reporting his status, and the Card Maker Association secured his release from the warring nations by asserting its neutrality. The chapter ended with Isli realizing that Bai was missing and wondering where she and Caroso had gone.

• A priest accused Kong of breaking the rules for ninth-ranks, and Kong claimed he had gotten lost after his breakthrough while diplomats argued over his punishment.
• The Pander Empire diplomat sentenced Kong to one year in prison, but Presia and Perus objected, and the representatives agreed that the Card Maker Association would handle his case.
• Morgan declared that the association would discipline Kong and keep him from serving any nation in the war, while Celica intimidated an opposing diplomat.
• Kong asked a follower of the Church of the God of Wisdom whether its divine lord had awakened, and the follower said no.
• The Pope accepted the Card Maker Association’s offer to stay out of the war, and Isli felt relieved that Kong had left Presia.
• Peter reminded Isli that Bai was another ninth-rank card maker, prompting Isli to wonder where Bai and the missing Caroso had gone.

Aiman Peterson sent Pander troops to attack Caroso’s isolated forces while Caroso and Teresa were away, and Isis Pre’s defenses began to collapse under the assault. Caroso returned at the last moment, revealed his ninth-rank power, and declared that he would end the law preventing ninth-ranks from intervening in ordinary wars.

• Erich Lewin urged Aiman Peterson to exploit Caroso and Teresa’s absence, and Aiman secured permission to deploy Pander’s troops.
• Quinn Sigmund led eighty thousand Pander soldiers against Caroso’s forces, routed the allied irregular troops, and broke the fortress’s magic array.
• Quinn and a Nature Mage attacked Isis Pre with eighth-rank spells, trapping him and Tyborus as the fortress fell under a magical storm.
• Caroso emerged from a spatial rift carrying Teresa, killed the storm with one slash, and severed the airships’ rigging.
• Caroso shattered the remaining defensive arrays and told Quinn that he would end the law forbidding ninth-ranks from fighting in ordinary wars.

Caroso returned to the battlefield and led Bai and his forces in a crushing victory over the enemy army, breaking through its formation and capturing its commanders. The battle ended with Caroso occupying the Laria Defense Line fortress, while the open participation of two ninth-rank experts shocked the world.

• Caroso freed Bai, ordered a counterattack, and rallied his personal army and Teresa's troops against the enemy.
• Caroso blocked the artillery barrage and attacked Quinn, disrupting the enemy's rear formation with a single blow.
• Caroso and Bai summoned Obelisk the Giant God Soldier and Osiris's Sky Dragon, whose attacks helped break the eighty-thousand-strong army.
• Caroso defeated Quinn without killing him, while the Nature Mage fled and Isis Pre joined the attack aboard Tyborus.
• Caroso's forces advanced from the fortress, routed the enemy, and captured Quinn, Aiman, and Erich while seizing the Laria Defense Line fortress.
• News that Bai and Caroso, both ninth-rank experts, had openly fought in the battle spread shock throughout the world.

Caroso reunited with Teresa and the others at Laria Fortress after the battle, while keeping quiet about his encounter with Emperor Orsay. He revealed that he and Bai had married in the Nether Sea, leaving Teresa and Elizabeth stunned and Elizabeth insisting the marriage did not count unless their families knew.

• Teresa hugged Caroso at the harbor and rejoiced that he was safe, while Caroso kept his encounter with Emperor Orsay to himself.
• Elizabeth and Teresa were shocked to learn Caroso had reached ninth-tier, and the Nether Sea equipment on Caroso flew over and equipped Elizabeth instead.
• Bai joined Caroso and told Elizabeth the equipment had been wedding gifts, revealing that she and Caroso had married in the Nether Sea.
• Caroso explained how Bai had stood by him through danger and declared that she was the wife he would spend his life with.
• Elizabeth accused Caroso of repaying a debt and demanded to know whether Bai's brother and Caroso's father knew about the marriage, insisting it did not count.

Boss Caro sent Elizabeth away after openly declaring his commitment to Bai, then gathered his allies to plan their revolt against the Pander Empire. He proposed using his Tier 9 strength to deter powerful nations and bar Tier 6 and above from the fighting, leaving the plan uncertain as Teresa warned of the risks.

• Boss Caro publicly affirmed that he would treat Bai well, and Elizabeth fled aboard the Black Pearl.
• Boss Caro, Teresa, Bai, and Reyleyev met in a fortress to discuss the coming battles and the likelihood that Tier 9 fighters would join them.
• Boss Caro said he would enter the war and force other Tier 9 powerhouses into the conflict to pressure them into keeping high-tier fighters out of the fighting.
• Teresa objected that Light Force and the major powers could kill Boss Caro or overwhelm their forces, but he said he had a way to counter Light Force and could retaliate against their enemies.
• Teresa questioned how long Boss Caro's deterrence would last, while he focused on buying time for Nimel and helping ordinary people gain the power to use the God Slaying Array.

Caroso warned Teresa that revolutionaries could not use royal privilege to punish people outside the law, then urged her to mobilize students and workers for the coming war. He laid out plans to join Ailin and attack the Pander Empire, promising to protect Teresa on the higher battlefield for as long as he lived.

• Teresa recounted her journey at home, including killing two tax collectors, and Caroso challenged her for acting as judge and executioner.
• Caroso argued that Teresa had to respect the law and work to reform it rather than punish people herself; Teresa accepted his point.
• Caroso told Teresa that their next strategy was to rendezvous with Ailin and take down the Pander Empire, relying on her in conventional warfare.
• Caroso urged them to use students to spread their message, mobilize workers in Presia, and rally plantation farmers in Perus.
• Teresa wondered why Caroso sounded as though he were arranging his posthumous matters, and he promised to protect her on the higher battlefield until the end of his life.

Grand Duke Osiris learned that Caroso had reached the ninth tier and was defying the Pander Empire, then decided to distance the Kolia family from the Azure Wolf Province while secretly preparing to support him. He made a deal with Minette to aid Caroso if he had a chance to win, offering ninth-tier cards and agreeing that his life would belong to her.

• Saya warned Grand Duke Osiris that Caroso's actions could bring the Azure Wolf Province ruin, while Osiris considered whether Caroso intended to overthrow the nobility.
• Grand Duke Osiris announced that Caroso was expelled from the Kolia family, that he was stepping down as grand duke in favor of Kazan, and that Saya would defect to the Presia Empire with two divisions.
• Saya realized that Osiris was separating himself, his sons, and the Azure Wolf Province so Caroso could act freely while the province continued its plans against Perus.
• Grand Duke Osiris met Minette in a forest and asked her to help Caroso if he had a chance to win.
• Minette demanded that Osiris's life belong to her in exchange for her help, and he accepted.

The United Nations agreed to send seven Tier 9 fighters to kill Caroso after he shattered the Laria Defense Line, while sparing his family and the Azure Wolf Province from punishment. At Deep Sea Industry, Russell comforted a heartbroken Elizabeth by suggesting Caroso had rejected her to keep her out of danger, and she took it as proof that he still loved her.

• Isli proposed obliterating Caroso, and representatives from the Pander, Nordo, and Yellman Empires each pledged a Tier 9 fighter.
• Donald Trump proposed adding fighters from the Goddess of Dawn Church and the Hunter Association, bringing the planned force against Caroso to seven.
• Isli, Emmanuelle Yixite, and Paul Hans agreed that the Azure Wolf Province should not be punished for Caroso’s actions.
• Elizabeth cried and beat Russell’s knees after learning Caroso had married.
• Russell suggested that Caroso had not acknowledged Elizabeth because he did not want to drag her into the danger of the coming battle, and Elizabeth rejoiced that he still loved her.

Elizabeth decided to pursue Caroso despite his relationship with Bai, while Ailin seized the distraction caused by Caroso’s actions to launch an offensive against the Pander Empire. Ailin’s assembled army prepared to march and put down the rebellion.

• Russell tried to stop Elizabeth from going to Caroso, but she blocked his sword and declared that she would win Caroso for herself.
• Elizabeth left for the Black Pearl, convinced that Caroso cared for her and that his relationship with Bai was not love.
• Ailin and Merlin discussed Caroso’s breakthrough and the international crisis, which had diverted attention from Ailin’s forces.
• Ailin decided to use Caroso’s momentum to attack, arguing that defeating the rebellion mattered more than adhering to knightly conventions.
• Merlin and Sophia agreed to support Ailin, who ordered her forty thousand soldiers to assemble and march within an hour.

Ailin’s forces attacked Seven Forks Fortress while Gaden chose to fortify its defenses rather than risk a sortie. Meanwhile, Caroso and Bai confronted seven Tier 9 opponents who demanded his surrender, and Bai chose to fight at his side.

• Ailin advanced on Seven Forks Fortress, where Gaden refused to send his troops out and ordered the offensive magic crystals used to strengthen the defensive array.
• Ailin summoned and enhanced Falcon Knights, while Merlin and Sophia empowered Mountain Giants to batter the fortress’s protective barrier.
• Caroso faced seven Tier 9 powerhouses in the Laria waters, who demanded he surrender for breaking the ancient agreement.
• Caroso refused to submit and called for a new rule forbidding high-tier professionals from fighting in wars.
• Bai rejected the opponents’ offer to separate her from Caroso and drew a card to fight beside him.
• Joseph suspected Caroso had used mental control magic on Bai and ordered the others to attack and rescue her.

Caroso’s single slash shattered Stan’s shield and left Stan badly injured and nearly kneeling. Stan looked up at Caroso as if he were a towering mountain, then noticed Baudis and Xulos.

• Caroso split Stan’s shield with a single slash.
• Stan spat blood and struggled to keep from dropping to one knee.
• Stan looked up at Caroso and perceived him as a towering mountain.
• Stan turned his attention to Baudis and Xulos.

Caroso appeared outside the spatial trap and arcane seal, leaving Joseph baffled by his escape. Hunter attacked with a surge of arrows, but the chapter ended before the outcome was shown.

• Caroso appeared outside the spatial trap and arcane seal using an unfamiliar law.
• Joseph questioned how Caroso had escaped without being detected.
• Hunter channeled his magic and sent arrows surging toward Caroso.

Caroso brought Bai to Kong’s residence at the Card Maker Association headquarters, bypassing its defensive magic array. The chapter ended as Caroso searched for Kong.

• Caroso located Kong’s home at the Card Maker Association headquarters.
• Caroso judged that the defensive magic array could not stop him, despite being able to block ordinary ninth-rankers and the Pope.
• Caroso took Bai to the second-floor balcony of Kong’s home.
• Caroso tried to sense Kong.

Caroso’s slash broke through Knight’s phantom city wall and forced four ninth-rankers back. Baudis saw Caroso as a threat who had to be eliminated.

• Caroso cut Knight’s phantom city wall in two with one slash.
• Baudis raised the Shield of Dawn as the four ninth-rankers tried to withstand Caroso’s attack.
• The two blessed knights at the front retreated ten meters before steadying themselves.
• Caroso’s slash cracked the ninth-rank Shield of Dawn.
• Baudis concluded that Caroso, despite being under twenty, might surpass the Pope and had to be eliminated.

Caroso explained to Kong and Bai that he wanted to prevent anyone above the seventh rank from fighting, redirecting their power toward work that improved ordinary people's lives. After cutting ties with Azure Wolf Province and the Revolutionary Army, he declared that he would face the world's powerful people alone to pursue that goal.

• Joseph ordered his group to retreat after Caroso killed one of them, and Caroso returned through the city's magic array to Kong and Bai.
• Kong warned Bai that Caroso had killed a ninth-ranker and would provoke the major churches and the United Nations, while Bai defended Caroso's actions.
• Caroso told Kong he wanted to ban anyone above the seventh rank from acting, so they could contribute to research, industry, medicine, and other civilian needs instead of war.
• Caroso condemned the exploitation of commoners and the waste of high-rankers' abilities, arguing that the world's powerful people were harming ordinary lives by preparing endlessly for war.
• Caroso said Azure Wolf Province and the Revolutionary Army had cut ties with him, and that he would challenge the world's powerful people alone.

Caroso left with Bai after Kong accepted their relationship, promising to return and marry her once he had settled everything. At the United Nations emergency meeting, the churches and nations debated how to stop Caroso and assembled a strike team, while the Yellman Empire’s leader hoped the coming battle would weaken his rivals.

• Caroso told Kong he could not withstand the Goddess of Dawn’s Light Force but believed he could avoid it, and promised to return for Bai after settling everything.
• Bai insisted on going with Caroso, and Kong accepted their departure while promising to support Bai and insisting he attend their wedding.
• At the United Nations emergency meeting, the Pope confirmed that Caroso’s power rivaled the strongest figures in the world, while Krosh condemned Caroso and offered a replica of the Sword of Flames.
• Jesta said the Church of the God of Wisdom would provide a Staff of Wisdom, and the Pope proposed that he, Hercules, Ivan, Dief, and Baudis lead the operation against Caroso, with Stan Ishit and Baudis guarding Dief.
• The Nordo Empire counted Dief’s participation as its contribution, the Pope excused the Yellman Empire from taking action, and Paul secretly hoped the other powers would be crippled by the battle.

Caroso met Adolf Vienna in Yellman and arranged a weapons-for-resources deal, while refusing deeper cooperation until he had dealt with his immediate enemies. In Azure Wolf Province, Kazan struggled with looming invasions and a collapsing military budget, then walked among the people and heard news of Caroso’s victory.

• Adolf Vienna recognized Caroso’s Sparrow surname and discussed their differing political goals over wine.
• Caroso proposed exchanging Azure Wolf Province’s minerals for Adolf’s mass-produced tanks and other weapons, and Adolf accepted the deal.
• Adolf rejected copying Caroso’s crude tank designs for his own forces, insisting on precise equipment and uniforms to attract recruits.
• Kazan worried that threats from Presia and the Perus Kingdom, along with heavy military costs and declining trade, could ruin Azure Wolf Province.
• Kazan and Red walked through the streets, where a newsboy announced that Caroso had defeated seven opponents in Alchemy City and killed a ninth-tier professional.

Kazan weighed the danger of war while listening to a young adventurer discuss the world’s political turmoil in a tavern. Caroso returned unexpectedly and offered to explain why the Perus Kingdom was vulnerable, leaving Kazan alarmed by the risk his arrival posed to Azure Wolf Province.

• Kazan admitted he wanted to protect Azure Wolf Province’s people and doubted he could lead the province into a war, while Red contrasted his cautious approach with Caroso’s willingness to strike first.
• Kazan shared a table with a young adventurer and his girlfriend, then asked the adventurer what he thought about the possibility of war.
• The adventurer criticized Presia, the Pander Empire, and Yellman as he discussed the international situation with Kazan.
• Caroso arrived with a female companion, bought the table drinks, and offered to share his views on the Perus Kingdom.
• The adventurer declared that Azure Wolf Province could swallow the Perus Kingdom whole, while Kazan recognized Caroso and worried that his presence could bring a ninth-rank pursuer to the province.

Red and Kazan were surprised by Caroso's sudden arrival, but Kazan quickly calmed down, trusting that Caroso had good reason to appear. The chapter ended as Kazan prepared to hear what Caroso had to say.

• Red realized Caroso had arrived without being noticed and felt surprised, then comforted by Third Young Master's growth.
• Kazan calmed himself and believed Caroso would not harm him.
• Kazan concluded that Caroso must have arrived with confidence and a reason, and wanted to hear what he would say.