Chapter Summaries

Caroso embedded the stone in his abdomen and gained power that let him fight Black Long Coat on equal terms. Black Long Coat vanished into the dungeon fog and attacked the group, leaving Caroso scrambling to protect the survivors.

• Caroso drove the stone into his abdomen, endured the voices in his mind, and gained a surge of power.
• Caroso fought Black Long Coat with the King Slayer Blade, but Black Long Coat changed tactics and disappeared into the fog.
• Black Long Coat attacked from the shadows, killing several people as Caroso ordered the others to gather together.
• Caroso used a card to protect Krumen, then cut off Black Long Coat's left arm with the King Slayer Blade.
• Black Long Coat attacked the blue-haired girl, shattered her ice armor, and wounded her, prompting Caroso to call her Tristan.

Caroso used Joe’s memories and fury to defeat Black Long Coat, then spoke with the voice inside a headless statue about saving Nimel from the God of Wisdom’s possession. The voice offered him power capable of killing a god in exchange for the magic-storing stone he carried.

• Black Long Coat stabbed Tristan, and Joe’s memories revealed how deeply she mattered to him.
• Caroso’s magic surged, letting him fight faster and wound Black Long Coat; Tristan grabbed the enemy’s ankle and gave Caroso an opening.
• Caroso drove Black Long Coat through a wall and killed him beside a headless black statue.
• A voice from the statue said the God of Wisdom was only a conscious incarnation and that god-killing power could sever its connection to Nimel.
• The voice offered Caroso that power if he sacrificed his stone, and a red-glowing card appeared before him.

Caroso traded away the dungeon’s stone for the single-use Godslayer card, then used it to destroy the God of Wisdom’s statue and free Nimel, who received a mysterious crystal and power. The survivors escaped the dungeon, and Nimel later woke at home to discover she had become the youngest fourth-tier mage in history.

• Caroso returned the stone to the statue in exchange for the Godslayer card and found Nimel trapped by the God of Wisdom’s magic.
• Caroso used Godslayer to shatter the statue, after which blue liquid and a crystal entered Nimel and she gained a lake-blue crystal in place of her divine mark.
• Caroso rescued Nimel and reunited with Tristan, Krumen, and Karei as the group gathered the fallen challengers and escaped the dungeon.
• Tristan heard Joe’s voice and died beside his body, while the remaining souls departed and the dungeon recorded Caroso as its S++ conqueror.
• Caroso returned to his family’s dungeon with Nimel, and a mage recognized the power within her as his lord’s.
• Nimel woke at home, found the crystal inside herself, and realized she had reached the fourth tier.

Nimel and Caroso recounted their experiences in the dungeon to Grand Duke Osiris and the Mage, revealing that Caroso’s memories of divine encounters had vanished. The Mage discovered that Nimel had acquired traces of divine characteristics and possibly a godhead, but could not say whether she had become a god.

• Caroso told Osiris and the Mage how he and Krumen entered the dungeon, and Nimel explained that she had followed Karei before being drawn inside.
• As Caroso recounted the dungeon, he realized he could not remember speaking with gods, and suspected that people who entered the dungeon forgot their voices.
• Nimel described confronting the statue of the God of Wisdom and said that after Caroso shattered it, blue liquid and a crystal entered her body.
• The Mage examined Nimel’s crystalline blood and concluded that she possessed traces of divine characteristics and might have acquired a godhead.
• Osiris asked whether Nimel had become a god, but the Mage admitted that he did not know.

Caroso, Nimel, and Grand Duke Osiris concealed Nimel’s strange transformation and investigated the full dungeon beneath the manor. The dungeon’s ruins matched Nimel’s memories, leaving Caroso wondering whether they had returned to the past.

• The mage and Grand Duke Osiris agreed to keep Nimel’s condition secret, and the mage warned that the Church of the God of Wisdom might endanger her.
• Caroso told Osiris that a prophet had directed him to the dungeon and asked whether it had existed before the manor was built.
• Caroso drew the complete dungeon map, and the mage sealed Caroso and Nimel so they could not reveal Nimel’s condition before reaching the seventh tier.
• Osiris strengthened the manor’s security, gave Nimel a treasure to conceal her abnormal blood, and secretly excavated the dungeon with Caroso and Nimel.
• Caroso and Osiris discovered the dungeon’s ruined remains, and Nimel recognized the shattered statue of the God of Wisdom from her earlier experience.

Caroso returned from the dungeon, studied and trained diligently for several months, and learned how his future self had followed a different, bloody path. He arrived in Free City with Nimel and Krumen, where Teresa greeted him eagerly and challenged him to fight.

• Caroso ordered the newly discovered skeletons buried together as Joe and Tristan, then examined the dungeon’s strange eyeball reward.
• Caroso returned to Cantwell, studied card making and warrior training, and invested much of his earnings in his pharmaceutical factory.
• The Netizens revealed that Caroso’s future self had killed Tristan, pursued the Lord of Eternal Life’s path, and helped Nimel undergo a flawed ascension ritual.
• Caroso concluded that his present path differed from his future self’s because he had encountered God Cards, and he thanked the Netizens for their support.
• Caroso, Nimel, and Krumen arrived in Free City, where Teresa welcomed Caroso with a hug and proposed that they fight.

Caroso traveled through the Free City with Teresa, Nimel, and Krumen, where he threatened a wealthy man who harassed the women. The group continued on after the man fled, while Teresa teased Caroso about the possible diplomatic consequences.

• Teresa greeted Krumen and Nimel, and Will expressed surprise that Nimel had reached the fourth tier.
• Teresa, Caroso, Nimel, and Krumen rode through the Free City in Teresa’s vehicle, with Will driving.
• A bald man offered Caroso Magic Crystal Coins to send Krumen and Nimel with him.
• Caroso fired at the bald man’s car and warned him that he had harassed a princess and a grand duke’s daughter.
• The bald man identified Teresa’s vehicle as one reserved for the Presia Empire’s Royal Family and fled.
• Teresa asked whether Caroso would really have shot the man, and Caroso said he was unconcerned because he was riding in her car.

Caroso and Teresa met at Teresa’s villa to spar, showing off powerful weapon sets they had acquired or developed. The chapter left them ready to fight as Krumen questioned the cost of Caroso’s experimental equipment.

• Caroso, Teresa, Krumen, and Nimel arrived at Teresa’s villa, where Caroso and Teresa decided to spar before eating.
• Teresa revealed a weapon set that combined three mechanical longswords and explained that she hoped to develop a five-sword version.
• Caroso summoned a golden Legendary longsword, shield, and Twilight Chrome, which together formed a new equipment set.
• Teresa questioned Caroso’s changed fighting style, and Caroso said he was experimenting with techniques he had learned from studying thieves.
• Krumen complained that Caroso was using three Legendary Cards just to experiment.

Teresa fought Caroso and helped him assess his shield-mounted pistol and evolving combat style. After ten matches, Caroso led seven to three, but Teresa won the final three before inviting him to explore Free City during their vacation.

• Teresa attacked Caroso, who used his shield and agility to avoid her powerful greatsword strikes.
• Caroso fired a hidden pistol mounted beneath his shield, distracting Teresa long enough to win their duel.
• Teresa examined Caroso’s weapon and advised that his mixed fighting style could serve as a transition, though he would likely return to being a warrior.
• Teresa pointed out that Caroso’s shield transitions were sluggish and that his pistol was not discreet, then agreed to fight him again.
• Caroso won seven of their ten matches, but Teresa took the last three in a row.
• Teresa invited Caroso to explore Free City with her during their ten-day vacation.

Caroso attended Elizabeth Hackmedia’s performance at the Mora Dance Hall, where a heckler was beaten by Hausman Buano. After Caroso went backstage to comfort Elizabeth, the heckler returned with a regiment of troops and surrounded the dance hall.

• Teresa introduced Caroso and Nimel to Eugene Buano, who took them to the Mora Dance Hall to hear Elizabeth sing.
• Caroso spotted Kong and Bai at the dance hall before Elizabeth performed as a supporting singer and received little applause.
• A young man demanded to see Sophia and mocked Elizabeth, so Hausman Buano smashed bottles over his head and drove him out.
• Caroso found Elizabeth backstage in tears, comforted her, and asked about the mysterious singer Sophia.
• The young man returned in military uniform with armored vehicles, light tanks, and soldiers surrounding the dance hall.

White Ansell used his family’s army to seize Hausman and demanded that Elizabeth be taken to him. Caroso intervened to protect Elizabeth, and White challenged whether Caroso’s status could stop him from taking her.

• White Ansell revealed himself as Marquis Frank Ansell’s son and threatened to destroy Hausman’s dance hall with his family’s military forces.
• Hausman agreed to go with White, but White ordered his soldiers to find the singer Elizabeth and take her away.
• Caroso escaped through a window with Elizabeth and confronted White, declaring that White would not take her.
• Teresa refused to intervene for Elizabeth but ordered Will to rescue Caroso if he was in danger, while Nimel joined Caroso’s side.
• White dismissed Caroso’s claim to protection through his ties to Azure Wolf Province and insisted he would take Elizabeth anyway.

Caroso confronted White to protect Elizabeth, while White revealed he also wanted Sophia. When White ordered his soldiers to fire, Caroso charged into their gunfire and faced imminent danger.

• Bai and Kong agreed they would not interfere unless White tried to kill or abduct Caroso.
• Caroso refused White’s offer to trade singers and demanded that White leave Elizabeth alone.
• White offered Caroso Sophia as well, alarming Sophia, who found the exits guarded and began looking for another way out.
• Elizabeth realized White might be targeting her father, Russell, and clung to Caroso for protection.
• After White declared he would take Elizabeth, Caroso equipped himself with cards and charged at him as the soldiers opened fire.

Caroso used rogue cards to escape with Elizabeth after White’s troops threatened the dance hall. White sealed off the area and began searching for them, while Teresa protected Nimel.

• Kong used Guardian Angel to block the gunfire, and Caroso and Elizabeth disappeared in the resulting light and mist.
• White ordered his troops and aircraft to seal off the area and find Caroso and Elizabeth alive.
• Teresa pulled Nimel behind her and challenged White, who threatened to fight anyone who tried to leave.
• Caroso explained that he had used Shadow Clone, Phantom Step, and Smoke Bomb to escape with Elizabeth.
• White kicked Hausman and declared that he was dead.

Caroso and Elizabeth encountered a large troop deployment outside the district, and Elizabeth left alone after refusing to tell him what the soldiers wanted. White learned from his father that capturing Elizabeth was part of a larger plan, then confronted Caroso, who challenged him to act.

• Caroso hid with Elizabeth from the troops and questioned why an entire division had been deployed.
• Elizabeth thanked Caroso and left alone, saying the matter involved him and could cause a diplomatic crisis.
• White confronted the captured Hausman, then received orders from his father to bring back Sophia and keep Caroso and Teresa under control.
• Caroso walked alone into a ring of White's troops, and White demanded to know where Elizabeth was.
• Caroso said Elizabeth had left and asked White what he could do about it.

Caroso returned safely with Bai, while Teresa and the others suspected White had blockaded the Free City to seize Elizabeth and a shipment of weapons. Caroso revealed that the crisis showed the same signs as the disaster that had struck Azure Wolf Province, leaving the group alarmed.

• Bai protected Caroso from White’s soldiers and brought him back to the noble suite, where Teresa and the others had been discussing the blockade.
• Teresa and Eugene reasoned that White had captured Elizabeth to take a shipment of weapons from Russell Heckmedia’s ship, while Caroso had been taken as a distraction.
• Caroso returned and learned about their theory, but questioned whether a weapon shipment justified the army deployment and the communications blockade.
• Caroso told everyone that he had seen signs identical to those that preceded Azure Wolf Province’s disaster, and the group reacted with alarm.

White searched for Elizabeth and Sophia, while Sophia hid with her bodyguard Jenny and voiced her dream of an equal society. White then pressured Scarface to use the Buano Family’s network to find both women, intending to send Sophia to Caroso and force Elizabeth to apologize.

• White discovered Sophia had escaped and threatened Hausman into helping him search for Elizabeth and Sophia.
• Sophia and Jenny hid at a rundown inn, where Sophia worried about Caroso and discussed her wish for a world without class divisions.
• Jenny warned Sophia that her egalitarian ideas were dangerous, while the two considered whether they could escape the army’s blockade.
• White arrived at Scarface’s villa, where armed men aimed their weapons at him.
• White offered to spare Scarface’s older brother if the Buano Family found Elizabeth and Sophia, then ordered them sent to his troops.

Caroso and the others suspected that Marquis Ansell’s actions might be connected to a mass-casualty disaster, and they decided to investigate the other districts. Teresa and Caroso prepared to confront the threat with their forces, while Caroso revealed that he had brought his elite Guard Battalion.

• Caroso explained that Azure Wolf Province had suffered a similar catastrophe in the past and warned that the current crisis might become both a disaster and an opportunity.
• Teresa, Bai, Eugene, and Kong considered whether Marquis Ansell and his allies were responsible and agreed they needed to investigate the other districts.
• Teresa announced that she could mobilize a regiment from the Presia Empire’s temporary garrison and ordered the group to restore communications.
• Eugene warned Teresa not to force her way through because the enemy might overwhelm them with soldiers.
• Caroso revealed that he had brought his elite Guard Battalion, and Teresa and Caroso agreed to prepare for a confrontation.

Marquis Frank Ansell declared war on the Presia Empire and other powers while preparing a ritual to bring his Lord’s followers into the world. Caroso assembled his elite Guard Battalion to respond, but the dungeon’s mist appeared an hour earlier than expected, leaving the group facing an early crisis.

• Frank refused Grand Duke Morgan’s demand to lift the Free City lockdown and, after the ritual advanced, demanded weapons from Grand Duke Osiris in exchange for Caroso’s life.
• Frank threatened Emperor Orsay with Teresa’s life and told Grand Duke Morgan that he had defected and would kill the royal hostages if troops intervened.
• Caroso brought Nimel and Krumen to an underground warehouse, where Luca assembled the 467-member Guard Battalion and reported its available weapons.
• Caroso assigned Krumen to the Mechanized Armor Company and Nimel to the Machine Gun Company, then led the soldiers to join Teresa and Will.
• As mist carrying the dungeon’s distinctive smell appeared early, Caroso ordered the Guard Battalion to maintain marching formation and prepare to fight.

Grand Duke Osiris ordered Red to send troops to rescue Caroso from the Free City, then negotiated with Emperor Orsay over their debts and the rescue of Teresa. Osiris agreed to commit two divisions after Orsay promised two hundred million Bronze Coins, while Orsay insisted that his daughter be brought home.

• Osiris ordered Red to lead two navy divisions to the Free City and bring Caroso back, threatening to raze the city if Caroso died.
• Emperor Orsay confronted Osiris about the Empire's unpaid loans, and Osiris blamed officials while reaffirming his loyalty.
• Orsay told Osiris that Teresa had gone to the Free City with Caroso and that unrest had broken out there.
• Osiris pretended that Caroso was unimportant and said he could not afford to send troops, prompting Orsay to insist on rescuing Teresa.
• Osiris offered two divisions to help, and Orsay agreed to transfer two hundred million Bronze Coins for the deployment.

Elizabeth disguised herself as a thief and entered an underground casino to investigate a route into District Nine, but the owner recognized her as a target and arranged an ambush. Trapped in a double-layered cage and struck by tranquilizer darts, Elizabeth claimed she was no ordinary sixth-tier thief.

• Elizabeth questioned the casino owner about the army lockdown and learned that Mora Dance Hall had been shut down while police searched for a singer.
• Elizabeth asked for a way into District Nine and agreed to pay ten Magic Crystal Coins.
• The owner secretly triggered a trap and sealed the casino entrance before ordering his men to capture Elizabeth alive.
• Elizabeth used Skyfall of Blades, Smoke Bomb, and Phantom Step against the attackers, but a cage caught her and tranquilizer darts struck her.
• The owner approached Elizabeth's double-layered cage, and she insisted that he had not caught an ordinary sixth-tier thief.