Chapter Summaries

Elizabeth escaped the underground casino but was tracked down by White’s soldiers and captured as he prepared to take her out of District Seven. Caroso emerged from the fog and destroyed the helicopters guarding White’s forces, interrupting the abduction.

• Elizabeth cut her way out of the underground casino, cured the anesthetic with a Universal Antidote, and fled across the rooftops.
• White captured Sophia and Jenny, killed a soldier who had handled Sophia, and ordered Sophia sent to his father.
• Scarface threatened to mobilize the underground forces unless White surrendered his brother, so White agreed to the exchange and demanded Elizabeth’s real location.
• White’s forces found Elizabeth in an alley, surrounded her with soldiers and helicopters, and captured her.
• White struck Elizabeth with his rifle and prepared to take her out of District Seven, but Caroso appeared and brought down the helicopters with machine-gun fire.

Caroso rescued Elizabeth from White’s forces and used an explosive card-drawing strategy to cripple and kill the seventh-rank rogue Terry. He left the street victorious, though the battle caused civilian casualties and White’s fate remained unresolved.

• Caroso revealed himself and ordered his machine-gun company to attack White’s exposed troops, forcing White, Elizabeth, and Terry to flee into an alley.
• Terry knocked Elizabeth unconscious, then used fog and stealth to disappear with White while Will confronted him.
• Caroso summoned Fair Mermen and used copying and card-drawing spells to empty Terry’s reserve deck, disrupting his magic and leaving him vulnerable.
• Will attacked Terry as Caroso continued summoning mermen, preventing Terry from escaping and weakening him further.
• Will killed Terry with a sword strike, while Caroso’s soldiers secured the street.

Caroso’s new card-based combat method let him defeat a seventh-rank commander, and he explained its mental-shock effect to Teresa and the others. After the Guard Battalion confirmed its full strength, Caroso ordered a withdrawal toward the next battlefield to pursue Elizabeth and the enemy command headquarters.

• With Will leading the attack, Caroso defeated the seventh-rank commander, alarming Will and the others with the power of his deck.
• Caroso explained that Alita had developed his card method, which could cause mental death below the seventh rank and endanger even stronger opponents if enough cards burst.
• Teresa questioned Caroso about his relationship with Elizabeth, and he said rescuing her would let them borrow weapons from Russell.
• Caroso revealed that he had marked Elizabeth and intended to use her and White to locate the enemy headquarters, arguing that war required accepting risks.
• Luca reported that all 467 expected Guard Battalion personnel were present, and Caroso ordered the unit to withdraw as armed helicopters approached.

Portals opened across the city, unleashing monsters as Kong and Bai confronted an eighth-tier figure while Caroso’s forces tried to rescue civilians and push toward the source. The attack proved worse than expected, with poison men joining the assault and Caroso’s team facing mounting losses.

• Kong and Bai debated whether to fight the monsters or search for their source, then spotted an eighth-tier figure emerging from a portal by the sea and went to meet him.
• A ghoul attacked a family, but a soldier from Caroso’s Reconnaissance Company killed it with a grenade and urged the survivors to seal their doors and windows.
• Caroso, Teresa, Will, Nimel, and the soldiers advanced through the city, fighting monsters while trying to rescue civilians and protect their forces.
• Will handled the fifth- and sixth-tier monsters, while Nimel froze enemies for the soldiers, but Will grew exhausted and the Reconnaissance Company suffered casualties.
• Teresa and Caroso realized the monsters were more numerous than expected, including poison men, and warned that the battle could become a long war.

Osiris freed Minette and asked her to rescue his son, while Caroso and Teresa fought through District Seven’s ghoul outbreak and organized new civilian strongholds. White reunited with Elizabeth and Sophia, but their group came under machine-gun fire as the chapter ended.

• Osiris revealed that Minette led the hidden Dark Elves and persuaded her to help rescue or avenge his son in exchange for her freedom.
• Caroso and Teresa rescued civilians near the Buano Villa and helped defeat the ghouls attacking them.
• Teresa ordered Scarface to open a stronghold to civilians, and Eugene negotiated shelter, protection, and a sale of ammunition materials.
• Caroso left biscuits with a little girl beside her dead mother before he and Teresa moved on to another battlefield.
• White joined Elizabeth and Sophia with a Black Robe Priest, who declared that the Free City’s people would become offerings to the Lord.
• A heavy machine gun opened fire on White’s group, and its attackers ordered their troops to target Sophia.

Sophia was forced into the center of a battle as Caroso’s group attacked the priest and his monsters to rescue Elizabeth. Caroso withdrew with Elizabeth toward Presia’s garrison, while Sophia remained with the enemy, whose efforts to protect her suggested she was crucial to their plans.

• Caroso ordered his forces to fire on Sophia, but the Black Robe Priest made the soldiers protect her and turned fleeing troops into skeletons.
• White’s soldiers suffered heavy losses as ghouls shielded the enemy gunner, and Will seized Elizabeth and defended himself from the Black Robe Priest’s attack.
• Teresa urged Caroso to help Will, but Caroso ordered cannons fired toward Sophia, forcing the priest to block the shells and summon more monsters.
• Will escaped with the unconscious Elizabeth, and Caroso ordered his group to withdraw rather than risk being surrounded while trying to take Sophia.
• Caroso took Elizabeth from Will and said he would lead the group to Presia’s garrison with equipment for an entire division.

After waking in a ruined room, Elizabeth learned that monsters had taken over the Free City and joined Caroso and Teresa as they planned a route to Presia's garrison. Meanwhile, Frank discovered that soldiers were defecting as Morgan's army and ships advanced.

• Elizabeth woke in the group's hideout and found Caroso, Teresa, Nimel, Krumen, and Will debating how to reach Presia's garrison.
• Nimel explained the monster occupation to Elizabeth, who learned that Blank was still fighting an eighth-rank enemy.
• Caroso overruled Teresa and chose to cross the bridge, then asked Elizabeth to help obtain weapons and ammunition from her father's ships.
• Frank learned that soldiers from three divisions had defected and was told that Grand Duke Morgan's army and ships were approaching.

Frank’s forces held Sophia and Jenny while preparing to capture Caroso and Teresa, and the Black Robe Priest promised White an army of undead. Caroso and Teresa fought toward their rendezvous, with Caroso suspecting the monsters were gathering around Sophia because she had a special trait.

• Frank ordered Sophia and Jenny taken to a guarded room, then rebuked White for failing to capture Elizabeth and sending Terry alone to attack Caroso and Teresa.
• The Black Robe Priest promised White ghouls, skeletons, and warlocks to help him capture Caroso and Teresa alive.
• Sophia worried that she and Jenny had become involved with monsters, while Jenny suspected the dungeon riot had been deliberately caused by a ritual.
• Caroso and Teresa fought through the monsters toward Teresa’s army as artillery blasted ghouls.
• Caroso guessed that the monsters were gathering around Sophia and that their efforts to reach her had drawn troops away from his path.

Caroso and Teresa reached the Presia Empire’s settlement, where Teresa pushed to send troops to help civilians and recover weapons. Caroso reflected on the Guard Battalion’s losses and reaffirmed his resolve to strengthen Azure Wolf Province.

• Caroso and his group broke through the monsters’ blockade and reached the Presia settlement, where Teresa was welcomed by an embassy official.
• Teresa rejected the official’s advice to remain safely inside and argued that they should help civilians trapped in the Free City.
• The official reported that interregional communications were still down, while Caroso ordered Luca to count the Guard Battalion’s survivors.
• Luca reported that 324 of the battalion’s expected 467 soldiers remained, and Caroso accepted their deaths while insisting that Azure Wolf Province had to grow stronger.
• Teresa persuaded the official to let her take two battalions to retrieve weapons, offering to make it appear that he had sent them to search for her.

Caroso and Teresa fought their way through a huge ghoul horde toward the harbor, where Caroso sought help from Russell Heckmedia. The chapter left Caroso threatening to kill Elizabeth unless Russell sent reinforcements to rescue Teresa.

• Teresa and Caroso led their upgraded forces toward the harbor and fought through ghouls with guns, magic, and swords.
• Teresa and Caroso became overwhelmed by the enemy, so Caroso used Smoke Screen and his enchanted dagger to clear a path forward.
• Caroso and Elizabeth reached the docks, where soldiers let them inside after Caroso identified himself and invoked his family’s authority.
• Caroso learned where Russell's ship was and ran there with Elizabeth.
• Caroso told Russell that Teresa was fighting outside the walls, then held Elizabeth at knifepoint and demanded immediate reinforcements.

Caroso used Elizabeth as leverage to force Russell to respond, and Russell sent armed helicopters to help Teresa’s forces fight the ghouls. The reinforcements healed the soldiers and began burning the monsters as Teresa’s exhausted group struggled to hold its ground.

• Caroso revealed his identity and Teresa’s situation to Russell, threatening him with Elizabeth’s safety if he refused to cooperate.
• Russell ordered four armed helicopters to attack the ghouls without harming Caroso or Elizabeth, then confronted Caroso aboard the Heimeidiya.
• Caroso and Russell traded threats while Elizabeth defended Caroso and explained that he had saved her.
• Teresa refused Will’s demand to withdraw, asking him to wait one more minute while her troops faced mounting losses.
• Four armed helicopters arrived and fired on the ghouls as blue cards restored the soldiers’ wounds and magic and golden light burned the monsters.

Russell's mercenaries helped Teresa and Caroso secure the battlefield, and the group regrouped aboard Russell's casino ship. Caroso explained his real reason for bringing his Guard Battalion to the Free City, while Elizabeth confronted Russell and Caroso revealed that he had risked his life to save her because she was Russell's daughter and Russell could help him.

• Russell's mercenaries stabilized the battlefield, cleared a path for Teresa and her companions, and Teresa reunited with the wounded Caroso.
• Russell welcomed Teresa and Caroso aboard his casino ship, where the group rested and Russell asked Caroso about his motives.
• Caroso admitted that he had chiefly brought his Guard Battalion to the Free City to get Teresa's help equipping it, while attending Elizabeth's concert had been incidental.
• Elizabeth argued with Russell over his absence during her childhood and with Caroso over his role in saving her and the restrictions of her rogue profession.
• Teresa explained how Nimel learned Elizabeth's true identity, and Caroso said he had risked his life to save Elizabeth because she was Russell's daughter and Russell could help him.

Russell agreed to supply Caroso with weapons in exchange for Elizabeth’s safe return, then secretly ordered a bounty on White Ansell. As Caroso and Teresa fought through the Free City, Caroso prepared to investigate the people guarding Sophia and a little priest, hoping to rescue them.

• Russell gave Caroso the weapons requested for the Presia garrison and Buano's Villa, then ordered his mercenaries to kill White Ansell for hurting Elizabeth.
• Elizabeth overheard Russell’s order as Caroso and Teresa departed heavily armed.
• Caroso and Teresa’s forces battled their way through the Free City, where rebel soldiers and church members joined the fighting.
• Caroso led Teresa’s troops to watch the police station and investigate why its defenders were protecting Sophia and a little priest.
• Two little heads appeared at a police station window, and Caroso recognized the moment he had been waiting for.

Cardinal Celica Urien arrived in Free City and fought the ghoul-controlling mayor as a heavily armed battle priest. Meanwhile, Caroso used an Underworld Flower to lure away the poison humans, but it consumed them, grew stronger, and broke free of his control.

• Jenny and Sophia saw holy light spread across the sky as an airplane approached the ghoul-infested city.
• Celica jumped from the airplane, confronted the transformed mayor, and attacked him with her sword and holy magic.
• Caroso and Teresa watched Celica fight, and Caroso proposed using his Underworld Flower to draw the poison humans away.
• Caroso summoned the Underworld Flower, and its pollen drew the poison humans toward it as he and Teresa led their troops away.
• The Underworld Flower consumed the poison humans, grew stronger, and severed its connection to Caroso, leaving him to warn Teresa that he had created a new threat.

The Holy Temple Knights and Teresa’s forces entered the battle as Sophia and Jenny escaped the government hall, while Frank struggled to secure reinforcements for the cult’s ritual. Red’s warships arrived and bombarded the monsters, leaving Kong and Blank to confirm whether Caroso and Teresa were alive.

• The Holy Temple Knights chose to aid the archbishop rather than confront the Underworld Flower, while Teresa ordered her people to use guerrilla attacks and move toward city hall.
• Jenny broke through the bathroom wall with Sophia and carried her outside as the cultists realized their defenses were collapsing.
• Frank learned that his reinforcements were being held back, while Bai sent a young knight and mercenaries to rescue Sophia.
• Red’s warships arrived and shelled the shore, destroying many ghouls, poisonmen, and skeletons.
• Red ordered Kong and Blank to evacuate civilians and asked whether Caroso and Teresa were safe.

As the Free City’s defenses buckled under attacks from monsters and invading fleets, Frank struggled to control the crisis and recover the escaped Sophia. He empowered White with the Lord’s power and sent him to capture Sophia, Caroso, and Teresa as another eighth-rank powerhouse was promised.

• Red and an eighth-rank warrior helped Kong and Bai bind and wound the burly monster, then flew off to find Caroso and Teresa.
• Frank learned that enemy warships had attacked the harbor and ordered the defenders to hold out for a day.
• A clerk told Frank that Sophia and the little priest had escaped, and Frank ordered them pursued.
• Frank berated White and ordered him to capture Caroso, Teresa, and Sophia with the commander’s help.
• A Gray Robe Priest told Frank an Underworld Flower could produce an enhanced eighth-rank ally in eight hours and warned him to recover Sophia.
• Frank decided White was unreliable, drove a gray stone into his heart, and told him the Lord’s power would help him complete the mission.

After escaping through a teleportation array, Sophia and Jenny landed among Frank's rebel army and helped defend it from monsters. As field magic opened cracks beneath the soldiers, a white-haired thief appeared and asked whether anyone had seen Caroso.

• Caroso and Teresa recognized that ninth-tier field magic was spreading through Free City and strengthening its monsters.
• Jenny used Holy Light Shield to protect herself and Sophia when they teleported into a rebel army's battle against ghouls and skeletons.
• Jenny told the officer that she and Sophia were priests and joined the defensive line, using Holy Light Lasso to destroy attacking ghouls.
• The ground split open and swallowed several soldiers, prompting them to aim their guns at Sophia and Jenny.
• A white-haired woman appeared above the building, said she was a passing thief, and asked whether anyone had seen Caroso.

Minette questioned Sophia and Jenny about Caroso, then left them to join a human camp where they helped civilians survive. Jenny faced accusations of favoring professionals after refusing to restore an elderly man's severed arm, and the chapter ended with her explaining that she prioritized immediate combat strength.

• Minette grabbed Sophia and demanded information about Caroso, then killed a group of ghouls with a Blade Rain card.
• Jenny told Minette that Caroso had rescued Elizabeth after fighting White, and Minette left after questioning the two women further.
• A sixth-rank Nature Mage invited Sophia and Jenny to join the camp, and the group later heard artillery fire near Free City and considered moving to join the human army.
• Locke approached Sophia and tried to lure her away, but a soldier threatened to throw him to the ghouls when he disturbed her medical work.
• Jenny and Sophia treated injured civilians, and Jenny refused an old man’s request to reattach his severed arm because she was reserving that ability for combat personnel.

Jenny and the soldiers tried to maintain order in the garrison, but White’s forces attacked with artillery and ghouls. Jenny fought to save Sophia and the civilians, and Will arrived to protect her as Caroso appeared beside Sophia.

• Jenny refused to exempt the old noble from wartime rules, and soldiers forced him to comply.
• Sophia slapped a boy who had stolen a little girl’s candy, then the officer warned the garrison that its ammunition was running low.
• White’s forces attacked the district with artillery and ghouls, and White ordered his troops to kill everyone except Sophia.
• Jenny shattered White’s barrier, grabbed Sophia, and led her out while soldiers she had treated fought to protect them.
• Jenny threw Sophia clear of an incoming net and rescued the little girl from a ghoul, but White’s forces targeted her.
• Will shielded Jenny from gunfire and destroyed two helicopters with his shield, while Caroso arrived beside Sophia.

Caroso rescued Jenny and joined Teresa’s forces against White and the gray-robed mage, whose magic raised ghouls across Free City. Russell arrived with reinforcements and revealed his swordsmanship as the battle turned toward White, whom the gray-robed man ordered his forces to protect because he was the Divine Child.

• Will brought Jenny back to Caroso, and Jenny thanked her rescuers while Sophia watched.
• Caroso ordered his forces to fire on White, but the gray-robed mage raised ghouls and covered the area with a barrier.
• Teresa’s troops attacked the ghouls, and Caroso said reinforcements were coming while the gray-robed mage fought their formidable opponent.
• Russell arrived with a force of Class Holders, used an eight-star sword spell to cut down armed helicopters, and confronted the gray-robed mage.
• Russell charged toward White with his bladed cane, and the gray-robed man ordered everyone to reinforce White, calling him the Divine Child.