Chapter Summaries

The Oathkeeper Blackwood party entered Rotten Root Swamp and was ambushed by a powerful Monster after Margaret and Shajin sensed something lurking nearby. Elsewhere, Xia Nan practiced [Ember Echo] and enjoyed tea at his campsite.

• Margaret led the struggling Oathkeeper Blackwood party through Rotten Root Swamp, where Joshua’s exhaustion slowed their progress.
• Shajin teased Joshua about needing help, while Solding considered carrying him across the mire.
• Margaret and Shajin sensed something moving beneath the swamp and shifted the party into a defensive formation.
• A huge chitin-covered Monster burst from the mire and attacked the party.
• Xia Nan practiced [Ember Echo] but remained unable to cross the final barrier to mastering it.
• Xia Nan brewed tea at his campsite and sipped it beside the campfire.

Margaret and the Oathkeeper Blackwood squad fought an Armor-Clad Monster in Thin Mist Forest, but it escaped into the mud after Margaret wounded it. Deep underground, Saloyan and Abi searched for a route through the Underdark when something stirred in a mud pit behind them.

• The Armor-Clad Monster ambushed the squad, and Margaret identified it as a dangerous Challenge Rating 4 foe.
• Solding drew the Monster’s attention and was hammered into the mire, while Shajin and Joshua wounded it with a dagger strike and Magic Missiles.
• Margaret used [Energy Charge Slash] to sever part of the Monster’s tail and a rear pincer-leg, but her attack failed to break through its armor.
• Margaret prepared to keep fighting rather than abandon her trapped teammates, but the wounded Monster fled into a nearby mud pit.
• The squad waited for danger to pass, then heard Solding call for help from the mire and began to relax.
• Deep underground, Abi nearly tripped over a fragment of carapace as he and Saloyan turned back, and a mud pit behind them gurgled with an insect-like hiss.

Abi struggled with the loss of the power Saloyan had wielded through his body, while Saloyan guided him away from the defeated Armor-Clad Monster. Meanwhile, Margaret's party found signs that a devil projection had entered a passage beneath the Petrification Lizard's lair and decided to investigate deeper.

• After Saloyan's borrowed power faded, Abi yearned to gain that strength himself but stopped short of crossing his final boundary.
• Saloyan reflected that Abi's taste of power would draw him toward Hell, then told him to turn back and seek another route to the Goblin Nest.
• Margaret's party recovered from its fight with the Armor-Clad Monster and confirmed that the mission cave had once belonged to the Petrification Lizard.
• Shajin detected lingering negative energy in a deeper passage and judged that it likely came from a Hell Devil's projection several days earlier.
• Margaret weighed the danger against the mission and ordered the party to continue deeper into the passage.

Xia Nan reached a goblin nest in Thin Mist Forest and discovered a large community gathered inside. He ambushed its Hobgoblin leader and elite guards, then unleashed fear among the remaining Goblins as they either charged or fled.

• Xia Nan arrived at the conspicuous cave and entered after checking for ambushes and measuring the passage.
• Xia Nan silently disarmed traps and killed the goblin guards while making his way through the nest’s tunnels.
• Xia Nan found sixty-two Goblins gathered around a bonfire, led by an armored Hobgoblin and several elite guards.
• Xia Nan used [Tooth Hunt] to rush the Hobgoblin and kill it and its elite guards in a single attack.
• [Night Mother's Gaze] frightened forty-five Goblins while seventeen charged Xia Nan, who prepared to continue fighting.

Xia Nan searched the Goblin Nest after wiping out its occupants and found evidence that the [Gravity Core] from his advancement may have come from there. A badly wounded Armor-Clad Monster then emerged from a cave, and Xia Nan tested its strength with an attack from Black Wolf.

• Xia Nan collected coins and stones from the Hobgoblin's stash, then searched the Goblin Nest for further spoils.
• Xia Nan found a square patch of ground surrounded by enlarged goblin bones arranged in concentric circles, leading him to suspect the [Gravity Core] had once been there.
• A wounded Armor-Clad Monster burst through a cave entrance, and Xia Nan prepared to fight or retreat depending on its strength.
• Black Wolf struck the Armor-Clad Monster's exposed wound and dodged its counterattack, giving Xia Nan a clear sense of its combat ability.

Xia Nan defeated the heavily wounded Armor-Clad Monster by exploiting its injuries and combining [Whirlwind Slash] with [Gravity Etching]. As he considered which parts of the corpse to take, someone called out from a shadowed tunnel.

• Xia Nan assessed the Armor-Clad Monster's injuries and decided to kill it for valuable biological materials.
• Xia Nan dodged the monster's pincer strike, leapt onto its back, and stabbed its exposed wound with his longsword.
• Xia Nan combined [Whirlwind Slash] and [Gravity Etching] to carve through the monster's chest and shoulder, then beheaded it with another strike.
• Xia Nan waited until the corpse stopped moving before inspecting it and considering which parts to carry back.
• Xia Nan heard someone in a shadowed tunnel call out, identifying himself as Mr. Xia Nan's acquaintance and asking him not to attack.

Abi reached the Goblin Nest with Saloyan’s guidance and encountered Xia Nan, who had just killed an Armor-Clad Monster. Xia Nan suspected Abi was hiding something and planned to leave, but approaching footsteps interrupted them.

• Saloyan guided Abi through the Underdark toward the Goblin Nest, intending to use the young Adventurer when an opportunity arose.
• Abi saw Xia Nan kill the wounded Armor-Clad Monster with a single sword strike and recognized him.
• Saloyan suspected Xia Nan had come to thwart his plans, but Xia Nan sensed their presence and Abi stepped out of hiding.
• Xia Nan questioned Abi, who claimed he had become lost in a tunnel after searching for Goblin loot; Xia Nan noticed signs that his story was incomplete.
• Xia Nan said he would harvest materials and leave in twenty minutes, but urgent footsteps sounded from the caves before he could begin.

Oathkeeper Blackwood confronted Xia Nan and Abi in the Petrification Lizard lair, suspecting Abi was possessed by a Devil. Xia Nan agreed to leave rather than fight, but Abi suddenly began self-detonating, turning the standoff into a battle.

• Oathkeeper Blackwood found the slain Goblins and Armor-Clad Monster and Shajin detected the Devil's aura on Abi.
• Margaret ordered the team to prepare for battle, while Xia Nan readied himself to attack their backline.
• Solding recognized Xia Nan as the adventurer who had sold him a Flail, and Margaret realized Xia Nan and Abi were not allies.
• Margaret warned Xia Nan to leave and told him the team suspected Abi had been possessed by a Devil.
• Xia Nan questioned Abi, but Abi stared blankly and murmured to an unseen presence as Shajin repeatedly urged Xia Nan to go.
• Xia Nan signaled that he would leave, but Abi's body began surging with energy and flames as he triggered Self-Detonation.

Saloyan manipulated Abi into accepting a devil’s contract, then used fear and a Stinking Cloud to hinder the adventurers trying to stop them. The chapter ended with the cloud spreading toward Xia Nan, Margaret, and the frightened members of Blackwood Squad.

• Saloyan decided to eliminate the adventurers and used Abi as a channel to draw power from his main body in Purgatory.
• Saloyan exploited Abi’s regrets and resentment until Abi declared that he accepted the offer of power.
• Saloyan summoned a contract-bound victim and began the contract ritual, but Margaret charged forward to stop him.
• Saloyan’s Fear spell frightened three members of Blackwood Squad, while Xia Nan and Saloyan resisted its effects.
• Saloyan cast Stinking Cloud, sending the corrosive cloud toward Xia Nan, Margaret, and the frightened adventurers.

Saloyan used an enhanced Stinking Cloud to attack Xia Nan and Blackwood Squad while Abi continued the contract ritual. Xia Nan rushed to interrupt the ritual, but Saloyan’s Lightning Bolt struck him and threw him to the ground, leaving the ritual’s outcome unresolved.

• Saloyan split his corrosive Stinking Cloud between Xia Nan and Blackwood Squad after his Fear spell failed to affect everyone.
• Xia Nan deflected most of the cloud with Gravity Control and blocked the remaining acid mist with his Snake Scale Arm Shield.
• Margaret fought the cloud with her Longsword while Solding and Shajin overcame their fear and moved to protect their teammates.
• Solding rushed to Joshua with a Healing Potion, and Shajin went to support Margaret as Xia Nan decided to stop Abi’s contract ritual.
• Xia Nan charged toward the Magic Circle with Tooth Hunt and Whirlwind Slash ready, but Saloyan hit him with Lightning Bolt and sent him crashing down.

Saloyan used Abi to prepare a Hell Contract while Blackwood Squad and Xia Nan fought to stop him. Xia Nan survived Saloyan’s lightning and recovered with a healing artifact, but Saloyan slowed the attackers just long enough for Abi to sign the Contract.

• Margaret decided Blackwood Squad could not retreat and sent Shajin to check on the badly wounded Xia Nan before leading the others toward Saloyan.
• Saloyan coaxed the bewitched Abi into the Magic Circle and directed him to press his bloodied thumb onto the Contract.
• Xia Nan dodged the direct hit from Saloyan’s Lightning Bolt but suffered severe burns and used Spring Vein Purge to heal himself.
• Shajin reached Xia Nan with a Healing Potion, and Xia Nan charged toward Abi as Margaret and Solding attacked Saloyan.
• Saloyan shattered the mirror shard carrying his projection to cast Slow, delaying the attackers while Abi pressed his thumb onto the Contract.

Abi completed his contract with the Hell Baron Saloyan, who possessed his body and summoned devils into the cavern. Saloyan killed Shajin and Joshua, while Xia Nan and the remaining Blackwood Squad members faced the attackers.

• Saloyan transformed Abi after the contract was signed, and his growing power drove Xia Nan back.
• Shajin struck at Saloyan from the shadows, but Saloyan seized him and killed him with fel energy.
• Saloyan used Shajin's corpse to summon four Imps, two thorn demons, and a Barbazu from Purgatory.
• The summoned devils attacked Xia Nan and the remaining Blackwood Squad members, leaving Margaret and Solding to fight the Imps and thorn demons.
• An Imp pierced Mage Joshua through the chest with a steel fork, killing him.

Xia Nan fought the Barbazu while devils attacked the Blackwood Squad and Saloyan controlled Abi’s body. He killed the Barbazu but was stabbed through the chest from behind and lost consciousness.

• Abi signed the Contract, allowing the Infernal Devil controlling him to open a Gate of Purgatory and summon devils into the Material Plane.
• The summoned devils attacked Solding, Margaret, and Joshua while Xia Nan faced the Barbazu.
• Xia Nan used his sword, [Gravity Control], and [Tooth Hunt] to fight the Barbazu and blast a hole through its chest.
• Saloyan fired Purgatory flames at Xia Nan, and the dying Barbazu stabbed him through the chest from behind.
• Xia Nan dropped his sword, collapsed to the ground, and lost consciousness.

Saloyan overwhelmed Margaret and Solding after the Devils killed their teammates, leaving the Oathkeeper Blackwood squad on the brink of annihilation. Just as Margaret closed her eyes to await death, four Devils were decapitated by an unseen attacker.

• Saloyan judged Xia Nan to be the greatest threat and used Purgatory flames to help defeat him, while his own summoned body began to break down.
• Solding fought two Thorn Demons as Margaret struggled against four Imps, and both adventurers were wounded while their companions Shajin and Joshua lay dead.
• Margaret used [Circular Spin] to escape the Imps and charge [Energy Charge Slash], but Saloyan interrupted her with [Lightning Pull] and dragged her into their attack.
• The Imps stabbed Margaret, and a Thorn Demon pierced Solding with its Bone Spur, leaving the Oathkeeper Blackwood squad defeated.
• As Margaret gave up and closed her eyes, an unseen attacker killed four Devils, and an Ember drifted down before her.

As Xia Nan lay dying from his chest wound, he finally understood the key to Ember Echo and entered a vision of a ruined palace. There, Knight gave him a handful of sparks that awakened the skill, leaving Xia Nan’s consciousness to fade again.

• Xia Nan felt his life slipping away and regretted that Barn would not receive the Remaining Payment for reforging his Longsword.
• As death approached, Xia Nan realized Ember Echo’s final step came when life’s flames had burned down to their last echo.
• Xia Nan opened his eyes in a ruined palace beneath a dim yellow sun and found Knight seated on a broken throne.
• Knight told Xia Nan the world’s flames had gone out, then gave him sparks and urged him to burn for existence itself.
• The sparks merged into Xia Nan, his consciousness faded, and Ember Echo reached Lv. 1.

Xia Nan activated [Ember Echo] after reaching the brink of death, entering the powerful Afterglow state and turning the battle against Saloyan. He resisted the devil’s spells and beheaded him, leaving the Goblin Nest battle decided.

• The thorn demons sensed danger and fled as an unnatural heat and a heartbeat stirred around Xia Nan’s body.
• Xia Nan rose from the dead and activated [Ember Echo], surrounding himself and his Winter Wolf with crimson fire and ash.
• Xia Nan’s Winter Wolf killed the four Imps while Xia Nan charged Saloyan.
• Xia Nan resisted Saloyan’s control spells, deflected [Ray of Frost], and endured six [Scorching Ray]s to reach him.
• Xia Nan combined [Tooth Hunt], [Whirlwind Slash], and [Gravity Etching] to strike Saloyan’s head from his body.

After Xia Nan defeated Saloyan in the Material Plane, the devil recovered in Dis and tried to understand Xia Nan’s sudden transformation. Back in the Goblin Nest, Xia Nan celebrated the victory by roasting a monster’s pincer while his two wounded companions watched.

• Saloyan awoke in his basement in Dis, weakened by the destruction of his consciousness projection and shaken by Xia Nan’s unexpected power.
• Saloyan recalled Xia Nan resisting his spells, surviving his attacks, and killing him, and suspected a powerful being was connected to the young Adventurer.
• Saloyan blamed Dalot for withholding important intelligence and ordered him brought in, threatening to send him to the Blood War.
• Xia Nan prepared a Scorching Red Crab Claw over the campfire in the Goblin Nest after the battle, where the corpses of the devils lay nearby.
• Xia Nan enjoyed the roasted crabmeat and offered some to his two wounded companions, who watched him with strange looks.

After Xia Nan defeated the Devils that had nearly wiped out Blackwood Squad, he and the survivors Margaret and Solding rested by a campfire and agreed on how to divide the rewards. Xia Nan considered the costs and spoils of the battle and discovered that [Ember Echo] had gained proficiency, while wondering how he could train it more effectively.

• Margaret and Solding recovered by the campfire with Xia Nan after he saved them from the Devils, and Margaret offered him part of Blackwood Squad’s quest reward.
• Xia Nan accepted Margaret’s offer and planned to use the survivors’ help to carry the Devils’ and goblins’ spoils back to River Valley Town.
• Xia Nan counted the damage to his armor and longsword and weighed his quest reward, Margaret’s promised payment, and the value of the recovered goods.
• Xia Nan checked his Attribute Panel and found that [Ember Echo] had risen from 1/100 to 5/100 after the battle.
• Xia Nan considered whether practicing with the Flame Crystal could increase [Ember Echo] proficiency and decided to revise his training schedule.

Xia Nan returned to River Valley Town with Margaret and Solding, settled the mission rewards and signed a contract granting him seventy percent of Blackwood Squad’s earnings. With his finances recovering, he headed to sell monster materials and check whether Rock Hammer Blacksmith had finished reforging his Beheading Longsword.

• Xia Nan trained [Ember Echo] on the journey back while managing his fatigue and staying alert for danger.
• Margaret and Solding helped Xia Nan carry spoils and handle camp duties as the group traveled safely back to River Valley Town.
• Xia Nan told Molly at the Adventurers Association to exchange his mission reward entirely into Gold Coins.
• Margaret signed an Association-supervised contract giving Xia Nan seventy percent of Blackwood Squad’s reward, which she estimated at 500 to 600 Gold Coins.
• Xia Nan calculated that his combined earnings could reach about 700 Gold Coins, then set out to sell materials and visit Rock Hammer Blacksmith about his Beheading Longsword.

Xia Nan sold the Goblin Nest loot, then brought materials from Thorn Demons and an Armor-Clad Monster to Edwina’s herbal shop. Edwina valued the Feather Gill at several times the price of everything he had brought, and Xia Nan realized he had destroyed it during the fight.

• Xia Nan sold his Goblin Nest crystals and trinkets to Kukunur for 36 gold, 5 silver, and 7 copper.
• Xia Nan considered how to develop his Combat Skills and profession while walking to the Green Grass Crucible.
• Edwina finished brewing a new Mint Potion and offered Xia Nan a few bottles at cost when it went on sale.
• Edwina offered Xia Nan 60 gold for the Thorn Demon bone spurs and hearts, then inspected the Armor-Clad Monster materials.
• Edwina asked why Xia Nan had not brought back the valuable Feather Gill, explaining that it was worth about three times the price of all the materials he had brought.
• Xia Nan realized the Armor-Clad Monster’s Feather Gill had been destroyed by his [Gravity Etching] during the battle.