Chapter Summaries

The Slane Theocracy learned that Renner had left for the Council State as an envoy, alarming the Cardinals as they feared the Kingdom might join forces with their enemy. In the Great Forest of Evasha, Imina encountered the Flower-Crowned Monarch Butterfly, one of the Fifteen Lords of the Great Sea of Trees.

• The Cardinals discussed their plans to attack the Forest Elves and relied on Zesshi Zetsumei’s strength after the Evil Tree incident.
• Maximilian reported that Barbro had been attacked and severely wounded, while Renner had departed for the Council State with Lainas and Gazef as escorts.
• The Cardinals concluded that Renner’s mission could bring the Kingdom and the Council State together, and Dominic demanded that they resolve the Elf Country problem quickly.
• Imina explored the Great Forest of Evasha, noticed strange flowers and poisonous pollen, and followed the flower sea to a giant butterfly.
• Imina identified the creature before her as the Flower-Crowned Monarch Butterfly, one of the Fifteen Lords of the Great Sea of Trees.

Imina fought the Flower-Crowned Monarch Butterfly with her Magic Gun and bow, but its scale powder and Wing Wind left her struggling to breathe. Gacien Ho saved her with a pain-inducing pill, and after she crippled the butterfly with another shot, he pleaded with her not to kill it; Imina then questioned him and said she hated Alchemists.

• Imina wounded the Flower-Crowned Monarch Butterfly with her Magic Gun, and it retaliated by scattering hypnotic scale powder and trapping her in a suffocating wind.
• Gacien Ho emerged from the bushes and threw Imina a black pill that drove away the scale powder’s hypnotic effects through intense pain.
• Imina used the Magic Gun’s scan to target the butterfly’s wing and shot it down, then fired at its crown-like head when the first headshot failed to kill it.
• Gacien Ho shouted for Imina to spare the butterfly, explaining that it was one of the Fifteen Lords of the Great Sea of Trees and usually did not attack outsiders.
• Imina asked Gacien Ho why he was there, and he said he had come to collect the butterfly’s scale powder as material for weapons and alchemy.
• Imina reacted to Gacien Ho’s explanation by saying she hated Alchemists.

Imina confronted the wounded Flower-Crowned Monarch Butterfly while Gacien Ho tried to stop her, then learned about his hatred of the Elf King. Meanwhile, the Slane Theocracy’s invasion stalled near Elf King City, and Marshal Valerian decided to deploy the Permanent Angels.

• Imina carried Gacien Ho to the Flower-Crowned Monarch Butterfly and prepared to shoot it, but Gacien Ho stepped between them and said it had surrendered.
• Gacien Ho told Imina he was an Elf King's offspring and wanted revenge on the Elf King, who had taken his mother away; Imina paused but did not understand his assumptions about her.
• The Slane Theocracy advanced into the Great Forest of Evasha, destroying Elf villages, before Forest Elf counterattacks halted its forces less than a hundred kilometers from Elf King City.
• Marshal Gael reviewed the Theocracy's heavy losses and told his staff to wait, since the decisive battle depended on drawing out the Elf King.
• Marshal Valerian, unable to break through the Elf defenses without risking greater losses, ordered his staff to notify the Four Elements.

The Theocracy’s army was halted by a lone elf girl until a Highest-Tier Angel attacked her, drawing Imina into the battle. As the Angel prepared a deadly Holy Smite against Imina’s group, Tang Zheng sensed someone’s arrival, and an unknown voice intervened with Shining Burst.

• Marshal Valerian ordered the Theocracy’s forces to abandon their offense and regroup, exposing soldiers to the elf girl’s arrows.
• A Principality appeared and struck at the elf girl, but Imina emerged from invisibility, caught her, and used a potion to heal her injuries.
• The Principality pursued Imina and the Flower-Crowned Monarch Butterfly; Imina deflected its attacks with her Magic Gun before using invisibility to flee with the elf girl.
• Vice-Captain Schoen detected Imina’s group and alerted the Principality, which stopped their escape with Holy Ban and charged a Holy Smite.
• Tang Zheng sensed that someone had arrived, while Zesshi Zetsumei rejected his suggestion to use the same method used against the Silver Armor.
• An unknown speaker used Shining Burst to collide with and extinguish the Principality’s Holy Smite.

The Elf King appeared on the battlefield with Behemot, who destroyed the Principality and slaughtered the Theocracy’s forces. After capturing Imina and taking her Magic Gun, the Elf King began to suspect she came from a third party, while Zesshi Zetsumei confronted Behemot.

• The Elf King arrived and sent Behemot to attack the Theocracy’s troops and the Principality.
• Behemot destroyed the Principality with one punch and killed Vice Captain Schoen when he tried to hold it back.
• The Elf King captured Imina, took her Magic Gun, and questioned her about where it came from.
• Imina resisted revealing anything, and the Elf King concluded that she might belong to a third party beyond the Theocracy and Elf Kingdom.
• As Behemot slaughtered the fleeing soldiers, Zesshi Zetsumei blocked its fist and prepared to strike back.

Tang Zheng trapped the Elf King’s teleportation and sent Cerberus to rescue Imina and the Elf girl while Zesshi Zetsumei fought the Root Earth Elemental. The Elf King appeared beside his summon, and Zesshi charged him as Tang Zheng watched from concealment.

• Zesshi Zetsumei took a heavy punch from Behemot the Earth Spirit, then used Greater Evasion to dodge its attacks while Tang Zheng cast Dimensional Lock over the jungle.
• Tang Zheng identified the summon as a level 87 Root Earth Elemental, considered the Earth Elementalist class and its possible elemental counterparts, and noted that his overall level had reached 80.
• Tang Zheng summoned Cerberus, which tracked down the Elf King, who escaped its attack with Elemental Transfer and left Imina and the Elf girl behind.
• Cerberus carried Imina and the Elf girl back through the jungle as Behemot stopped attacking Zesshi and the Elf King appeared beside it.
• Zesshi recognized the Elf King and rushed him, dodging Behemot’s fists and circling around the elemental while Tang Zheng observed that the Elf King’s teleportation seemed to be a class skill.

Zesshi Zetsumei battled the Elf King while Tang Zheng watched, and the Elf King realized she was his daughter before demanding she join his plans. Zesshi rejected him and summoned Elder Liches to attack, leaving the fight poised to escalate.

• Zesshi Zetsumei evaded the Elf King's attacks while the Root Earth Elemental Behemot tried to crush her, and Tang Zheng assessed their abilities from a distance.
• The Elf King recognized Zesshi Zetsumei's Elf blood and concluded she was his daughter, then insulted her as a mongrel and boasted about fathering more powerful descendants.
• Zesshi Zetsumei laughed at the Elf King's claims and made clear she intended to kill him; Cerberus arrived with Imina and the Elf girl, but Zesshi told it not to interfere.
• The Elf King offered to spare Zesshi if she surrendered and helped him conquer the world by breeding with women who carried the Six Great Gods' Bloodline.
• Zesshi Zetsumei summoned four Elder Liches with the Cross-Spear War Scythe, and they launched Fireballs at the Elf King from every direction.

Zesshi Zetsumei attacked the Elf King with the Cross-Spear War Scythe, but he countered with Ninth Tier Magic: Tempest and sent her flying. She overcame the storm with her Paladin Armor and struck him in the chest, while he cast Eighth-Tier Magic: Aspect of Elemental.

• The Elf King blocked the Elder Liches’ Fireballs with the Earth Elemental Behemot while tracking Zesshi Zetsumei.
• Zesshi Zetsumei used Death Mask and Evil Eye to inflict Fear, then swung at the Elf King’s neck, but he unleashed Ninth Tier Magic: Tempest and blasted her away.
• The Elf King used Tremor Sense to search through the storm and realized Zesshi Zetsumei was flying above him.
• Zesshi Zetsumei activated Unyielding Oath to resist Tempest, then charged the Elf King with a series of Martial Arts.
• The Elf King ordered Behemot to strike, but Zesshi Zetsumei evaded it and slashed his chest as he cast Eighth-Tier Magic: Aspect of Elemental.
• The Elf King screamed as the attack sent him flying.

Zesshi Zetsumei fought the Elf King and his Root Earth Elemental while Tang Zheng considered a new trump card combination. She used her innate talent to destroy the elemental and began brutally beating the Elf King.

• The Elf King survived Zesshi Zetsumei’s opening strike with Aspect of Elemental, then hid inside Behemot’s palm while the Root Earth Elemental fought her.
• Tang Zheng learned Tempest, Aspect of Elemental, and Tremor Sense, then considered combining Elemental Form, Katan, and Soul River: Backflow as a possible tactic.
• Zesshi Zetsumei realized she could not defeat Behemot with ordinary attacks and conserved her strength while waiting for the summon to disappear.
• When Behemot remained summoned beyond its expected duration, Zesshi Zetsumei activated her innate talent, The goal of all life is death, and turned the elemental into debris.
• Zesshi Zetsumei knocked the injured Elf King down and repeatedly struck his head as he screamed and begged her to stop.

Zesshi Zetsumei killed the Elf King, but he resurrected and fled before Tang Zheng captured him. Tang Zheng told Zesshi that she had also defeated the Elf King and planned to use him rather than let him join the Crown.

• Zesshi Zetsumei beat the Elf King nearly unconscious, explained that she was using him as a substitute for her dead mother, and stabbed his heart to kill him.
• The Elf King resurrected with Seventh-Tier Magic: Shining Burst, blasted Zesshi away, and fled into the forest.
• Tang Zheng intercepted the fleeing Elf King, defeated him, and carried his unconscious body back to Zesshi.
• Tang Zheng criticized Zesshi’s battle tactics and advised her to preserve enough stamina to retreat when she was at a disadvantage.
• Tang Zheng told Zesshi that she had also defeated the Elf King and that he would use him rather than allow him to join the Crown.

Tang Zheng arranged for Imina to become the Elf Kingdom’s new ruler while the Slane Theocracy believed the Elf King had escaped, then reviewed his spoils and prepared to reclaim the World Item [Downfall of Castle and Country]. He left the Elf King unconscious and had Nfirea put on the item, beginning the process of retrieving it.

• Tang Zheng introduced Zesshi Zetsumei to Imina and explained that the Elf King must be reported as having escaped so the Elf Kingdom would not be fully annexed or its Forest Elves massacred.
• Tang Zheng chose Imina as the Elf Kingdom’s new ruler, and Zesshi Zetsumei declined the role; the Elf girl who had fought the Theocracy’s forces then knelt and kowtowed before Tang Zheng.
• Zesshi Zetsumei returned to the Theocracy’s headquarters claiming to have pursued the escaped Elf King, while Tang Zheng infiltrated Elf King City and took the treasury’s contents.
• The Theocracy captured Elf King City after renewed resistance, while Imina led elite Forest Elves in an escape; the Elf King remained missing to the Theocracy.
• Tang Zheng reviewed the Elf Kingdom’s seized resources and the Deer Antler Crown, then noted that his resurrection spell Mercy of Shorea Robusta had a four-hour cooldown shared with other Resurrection Magic.
• Tang Zheng used Charm Species: All on Nfirea, had him put on [Downfall of Castle and Country], and brought out the unconscious Elf King.

Tang Zheng tested [Downfall of Castle and Country] on Nfirea and learned that Nfirea’s Innate Talent bypassed an item’s activation requirements. After questioning the Elf King about the Eight Greed Kings, Tang Zheng sent him to Sky Castle Eryuentiu to gather information about the mysterious guild.

• Tang Zheng had Nfirea use [Downfall of Castle and Country] on the Elf King and discovered that Nfirea’s Innate Talent removed the item’s activation costs and requirements.
• Tang Zheng dispelled the charm on Nfirea, sent him away with herbs to research, and healed the Elf King before ordering him to record what he knew about the Elf Kingdom.
• The Elf King gave Tang Zheng fragmented information about his father and the Eight Greed Kings, leading Tang Zheng to identify several likely racial identities among the Players.
• Tang Zheng considered possible explanations for the Eight Greed Kings’ deaths and concluded that neither internal conflict nor an outside conquest fully explained the evidence about Sky Castle Eryuentiu.
• Tang Zheng ordered the Elf King to travel to Sky Castle Eryuentiu, seek support as an Eight Greed Kings descendant, and secretly gather information about the guild.

Princess Renner waited in the Council State while the Platinum Dragon Lord considered the Slane Theocracy’s victory over the Elf Kingdom and the possible capture of the Elf King. The chapter ended at the oasis of Eryuentiu, where worshippers prayed for a connection to the Apu Address and a way home.

• Princess Renner reassured Gazef, Lainas, and Climb at the Guest House and learned from Lainas that the Platinum Dragon Lord stood above the Council State’s five permanent councillors.
• Foxman La Ees Juegen reported that the Slane Theocracy had defeated the Elf Kingdom with Angel-type magical creatures, though the Elf King had reportedly escaped.
• The Platinum Dragon Lord connected the Theocracy’s attack to his lost Platinum Armor and ordered the Blue Sky Dragon Lord to contact the Kingdom’s delegation.
• The Platinum Dragon Lord reasoned that the Elf King might have been captured and that the Slane Theocracy could control both him and the vanished Evil Tree, so he sought more intelligence about the Theocracy.
• At Eryuentiu in the Dolor Desert, worshippers prayed beneath a miraculous waterfall and asked to connect to the Apu Address and find the way home.

Aila Yueyue watched a mysterious Bafolk Guardian stir the tavern with music before he vanished to investigate a powerful approaching presence. The Elf King reached the Oasis, where he identified himself as the son of a God King and annihilated the Demi-Human scouts blocking his way.

• Aila Yueyue prayed to the God-Kings, went to a tavern, and noticed an unfamiliar mixed-blood Bafolk among its patrons.
• The Bafolk played waist drums and hummed an ancient song, drawing the tavern into dancing and prayers to the God-Kings.
• A Message warned the Bafolk that an unknown individual of Lv. 70–75 was approaching the Oasis, and he disappeared to investigate.
• The Elf King used his Magic Staff to summon fruit, then continued toward the Oasis until Demi-Humans riding Desert Scorpions ordered him to halt.
• The Elf King called himself the son of a God King and killed the Demi-Human regiment with Seventh-Tier Magic: Shining Burst.

The Elf King entered the Dolor Desert, killed a group of locals, and was confronted by Gros Horned Rage, a servant of God King Satyr. After Gros defeated and captured him, he restrained and mutilated him before sending him to Eryuentiu for detention while Sky City continued investigating his arrival.

• The Elf King killed a group of people in the desert and worried that Sky City's Guardians had noticed his arrival.
• Gros Horned Rage introduced himself as a servant of God King Satyr and attacked the Elf King for desecrating the sacred ground.
• The Elf King summoned Behemot and cast Tempest, but Gros survived their assault and captured him unconscious.
• Gros fastened the Sakura Rope of Enslavement onto the Elf King and tore out his tongue to restrict his spellcasting.
• A Frostborn Banshee took the Elf King to the central island of the Lake of Life in Eryuentiu while the Guardians continued monitoring the area.

Gros Horned Rage returned to Sky City, convinced that the God-Kings would come back and that the city needed worthy successors. In November, Tang Zheng hosted a bonfire feast in the Abelion Hills, where Enri brought him hot water as the first snow began to fall.

• Gros Horned Rage reflected on the God-Kings’ return, then disappeared to return to Sky City and investigate matters there.
• Tang Zheng, having reached level 80 and with his other plans in others’ hands, hosted a bonfire feast for the Abelion Hills’ core members.
• Gondo, Dark Dwarf Shi, and Grey Dwarf Duan argued over Rune Technology and magic-item forging while drinking together.
• Enri asked Rainbow Scales Rokesh to use Water Creation to fill her jug so she could make Tang Zheng clean, sweet water.
• Nfirea enjoyed the feast and told his grandmother that he was beginning to like the Abelion Hills and thanked Tang Zheng for introducing him to new herbs.
• Enri brought Tang Zheng boiled water by the frozen lake, where the first snow began to fall and Tang Zheng called it a good omen for the harvest.

Tang Zheng received intelligence from the Elf King and warned Imina to avoid contact with others, while a strange creature began gathering information on the Slane Theocracy. In Sky City, Imlaris received a report from Hanzo as the investigation into the Elf King's offspring continued.

• Tang Zheng learned that Gelos Hornfury had survived the Root Earth Elemental's attack unharmed and reasoned that the powerful figure might be level one hundred.
• Tang Zheng contacted Imina and told her to keep her subordinates in charge, avoid meeting anyone, and watch over Laisi because an enemy might be monitoring them.
• Blueberry Egnia found Plum frozen dead in the snow and realized that the Plum he had seen that morning could not have been the real one.
• A strange Heteromorphic Species reported that it had finished gathering intelligence on the Elves and ordered a Ninja to capture a human soldier alive for its next mission in the Slane Theocracy.
• Imlaris received a scroll from Hanzo and left him to monitor the Starlight Observation Tower.

Butler Imlaris reported intelligence about the Elf King and learned that the Forest Elf wanted help against her daughter, whose identity was tied to the Slane Theocracy. Meanwhile, Tang Zheng and Imina investigated the murdered Dark Elf Plum’s body, suspecting the impersonator had left it as bait, and began a closer examination.

• Imlaris delivered a report on the Elf King to Gelos Hornfury, who confirmed that the intelligence matched his own assessment.
• Imlaris told Gelos that the Forest Elf sought their strength against her daughter, who was connected to the Slane Theocracy.
• Imina infiltrated the Dark Elf village and summoned Tang Zheng to inspect Plum’s body.
• Tang Zheng concluded that Plum was likely killed with magic and that the impersonator had probably left after gathering intelligence.
• Tang Zheng warned that Plum’s corpse might have been deliberately discovered, so Imina began examining it more thoroughly.

Tang Zheng and Imina examined a Dark Elf corpse and deduced that Sky City had left evidence to test whether the Elf war was genuine. Tang Zheng concluded that the enemy was still in the area and was heading toward the Slane Theocracy, while Princess Renner’s delegation rested near the Council State border.

• Imina found a concealed wound inside the Dark Elf’s navel, and Tang Zheng inferred that someone had removed organs after her death to conceal evidence of resurrection.
• Tang Zheng explained that the enemy had anticipated Resurrection Magic and likely wanted to confirm whether the conflict between the Great Sea of Trees Elves and the Slane Theocracy was real.
• Tang Zheng concluded that the enemy had not left and was heading for the Slane Theocracy, then resolved to find them before they escaped with information.
• Tang Zheng considered whether the enemy might be a Doppelgänger or another creature capable of imitation, then vanished among the Elf trees.
• Princess Renner and her Kingdom delegation finished their visit to the Council State and rested in a city near its border.

Princess Renner returned from the Council State with detailed intelligence that helped Tang Zheng narrow the Platinum Dragon Lord’s possible whereabouts to three locations. Tang Zheng then discussed an unresolved infiltration threat with Zesshi Zetsumei and turned to her training.

• Princess Renner met with Blue Roses and Red Drop, who had been commissioned by the princes to protect her on her return journey.
• Evileye questioned whether the Council State was a trustworthy ally, and Renner’s delegation later returned safely to the Royal Capital despite repeated assassination attempts.
• Tang Zheng studied Renner’s detailed map of the Council State and found three possible places where the Platinum Dragon Lord might be hiding.
• Zesshi Zetsumei reported that the army’s inspections had found nothing unusual, so Tang Zheng suspected the imitator had infiltrated the Slane Theocracy by another route.
• Tang Zheng asked Zesshi Zetsumei about the class he had told her to train, and she eagerly asked when they would begin.