Chapter Summaries

Xia Nan and Hain attacked the Shahua Mermen during their ritual, and Xia Nan killed the Murloc Priest with a dive from the sky. After Hain restrained the Priest’s elite Guards, Xia Nan killed them too, leaving the beach strewn with bodies.

• The Murloc Priest sent its minions to surround the lone red-haired adventurer while keeping two elite Guards nearby.
• Hain carried Xia Nan over the beach, and Xia Nan dove from the sky, using [Night Mother's Gaze] and [Gravity Control] to catch the Priest off guard and interrupt its spell.
• Xia Nan struck the Murloc Priest with [Tooth Hunt] and [Gravity Etching], splitting it in two with the [Emberfall] Straight Sword.
• The two elite Guards attacked Xia Nan as he recovered from his fall, but the [Dead Line] ring’s Deflection Force Field bought him time to evade their harpoons.
• Hain swept past the Guards and trapped them with aquatic plants, allowing Xia Nan to regain his footing.
• Xia Nan used [Gravity Etching], [Heavy Tide], and [Whirlwind Slash] to kill both Guards with three consecutive strikes.

Xia Nan and the Oath of Vengeance Blades defeated the Shahua Mermen, and Xia Nan advanced [Heavy Tide] to Level 2 while gaining three points of proficiency in [Gravity Control]. After examining the aftermath, Hain and Lorraine suspected the mermen had come from the Twin Ocean and had encountered the same frenzied fish as the group, prompting Lorraine to urge them to hurry.

• Xia Nan advanced [Heavy Tide] to Level 2 and gained three proficiency points in [Gravity Control] after using gravity in several ways during the battle.
• Xia Nan killed the Murloc Priest and two Elite Guards with an aerial assault, while Lorraine and Hain helped defeat the remaining Shahua Mermen.
• Lorraine recognized Xia Nan's combat strength and watched Hain return from her Short-tailed Albatross form after the battle.
• Xia Nan and Hain reviewed the risks of their airborne assault tactic, and the group entrusted the Murloc Priest's conch shells to Lorraine.
• Hain found Sawtooth Shark wounds on several merman corpses and said the Shahua Mermen likely came from the Twin Ocean.
• Lorraine recalled the Sacrifice Ritual and urged the group to pick up the pace.

After the Shahua Mermen's human-sacrifice ritual raised suspicions of a larger threat, Lorraine hurried the Oath of Vengeance Blades toward Twin Ocean. A strangely two-colored Ribbonfish caught by Alton confirmed that they had reached their destination.

• Xia Nan and Hain examined the Shahua Mermen's altar and recognized it as a modified Sacrifice Ritual, while Lorraine said human offerings were not a known Shahua Merman custom.
• The group buried the villagers' bodies and returned to the fleet, where Lorraine ordered the ship repairs accelerated because of the mermen's ritual and the frenzied Sawtooth Shark schools.
• The Oath of Vengeance Blades finished repairs ahead of schedule and sailed from Rabbit Island toward Twin Ocean.
• During the voyage, the crew prepared for their arrival while Xia Nan watched Alton fish and maintained his armor.
• Alton caught a Ribbonfish with silver-white scales on one side and reddish-brown scales on the other, and Xia Nan recognized it as a sign that they had reached Twin Ocean.

Xia Nan and the crew of the Oath of Vengeance Blades reached Twin Canyon after sailing through the strange, divided waters of Twin Ocean. As they entered the canyon, they found an eerily silent settlement and signs that something violent had happened there.

• Xia Nan learned about Twin Ocean’s divided waters, unusual wildlife, and natural phenomena as the Oath of Vengeance Blades approached Twin Canyon.
• Hain explained the Water Ladder phenomenon, and Alton spotted a rare rainbow spanning the boundary between the two seas.
• Lorraine steered the ship into the turbulent currents leading to Twin Canyon while Raine ordered the sails lowered.
• The crew saw inhabited caves and bridges along the cliffs, but the settlement was silent and the air smelled faintly of blood.
• Lorraine warned everyone to stay alert after spotting a broken wooden bridge hanging from the cliffs.

The Oath of Vengeance Blades investigated the mysteriously silent Twin Canyon and found strange structures that Xia Nan recognized as signs of a Secret Realm descending. The group continued cautiously into the settlement, where Alton spotted something ahead.

• Lorraine led Xia Nan and the other Professionals ashore to investigate the empty pier, leaving the Common Crew Members and the Twin Brothers aboard the ship.
• The group climbed toward the cliffside settlement and found an enormous stained-glass window fused into a bare stone wall.
• Xia Nan tore away the window's frame and discovered wood embedded in the Sea Rock, while Hain noted that its patterns were foreign to the Southern Islands.
• The group found more inexplicable structures, including a half-embedded stone tower, and Xia Nan suspected that a Secret Realm had descended into the village.
• Alton called the others over after noticing something up ahead.

Xia Nan and the Oath of Vengeance Blades discovered an operating table from another world and found evidence that Twin Canyon’s villagers had fought among themselves before the Sahua Mermen attacked. As the group suspected an outside force had driven the villagers mad, a growl sounded from the corridor ahead.

• Lorraine and the others mistook the Blood Vein Rock Comprehensive Surgical Bed for a torture device, while Xia Nan’s Attribute Panel identified it as a valuable operating table from the Physician Association.
• Hain detected an unusual force around the table, and Lorraine decided the group would retrieve it after investigating the canyon.
• The group found no survivors in the residential area, only signs that the villagers’ bodies had been dragged away and piled elsewhere.
• Xia Nan noticed that bloodied harpoons and sickles, along with signs of human struggle, suggested the villagers had fought one another before the mermen attacked.
• Lorraine suspected the strange buildings had affected the villagers’ sanity, and a hoarse growl came from the corridor ahead.

Oath of Vengeance Blades discovered signs that a strange force might be driving Islanders and Shahua Mermen to attack one another, then heard fighting break out below the canyon. At the dock, Raine and Gordon fought off a Shahua Merman assault as the attackers damaged their ship, until a spell covered its hull in vines and a black figure plunged from the sky.

• Xia Nan and Oath of Vengeance Blades found a badly wounded Shahua Merman that attacked them, and Aken killed it.
• Hain and Xia Nan suspected something in the Ancient Ruins was affecting the minds of Islanders and mermen, but Lorraine had not yet decided what to do when fighting sounded from below.
• At the dock, Raine and Gordon's warning system alerted the crew to a Shahua Merman attack, and the brothers fought the mermen boarding their ship.
• The Shahua Mermen attacked the ship's hull from underwater, so Raine began ordering the crew to retreat to the pier.
• Emerald motes covered the ship in vines as a Short-tailed Albatross circled overhead and a pitch-black figure plunged toward the deck.

Xia Nan plunged into the sea to help the Oath of Vengeance Blades fend off a Shahua Merman attack and discovered that underwater movement suited his combat style better than he had expected. After slaughtering the mermen around the ship, he returned to the deck and asked whether anyone had been injured.

• Xia Nan jumped from Hain’s grasp and accelerated his fall into the sea, where his impact killed a nearby Merman.
• Xia Nan used his Perception to track the surrounding Shahua Mermen and realized that the water’s added vertical movement helped his [Tooth Hunt] combat style.
• Xia Nan launched from the seabed and tore through the mermen with repeated attacks, spreading their blood through the water.
• The mermen’s assault on the Oath of Vengeance Blades subsided as Xia Nan killed those threatening the ship, while the crew watched from the deck.
• Hain returned to human form, and Xia Nan burst from the water, landed on the deck, and asked whether anyone had suffered casualties.

After the Sahua Mermen attack, Xia Nan assessed the limits of his underwater fighting while Lorraine’s crew investigated why the attackers had no leader. The group followed signs of mermen killing one another deeper into the canyon, where the ruins suddenly gave way to a vast clearing.

• Xia Nan reviewed his underwater battle, noting his strengths, his need for air, and the risk of stamina loss during prolonged combat.
• Lorraine and the others returned to the Oath of Vengeance Blades, and Raine reported that the attacking Sahua Mermen had included no leader or elite fighters.
• Lorraine ordered Raine and Hain to guard the ship while she led the others farther into the canyon to investigate the ruins.
• Lorraine, Xia Nan, Aken, Sasha, and the others followed corpse-dragging marks past increasingly frequent ruins artifacts.
• The group found Sahua Mermen corpses with harpoons piercing one another and glowing blue blood on the ground.
• The ruins abruptly ended at a vast clearing, and Xia Nan warned the group to stay alert.

Xia Nan and the Oath of Vengeance Squad found a clearing filled with Shahua Merman corpses and discovered an altar fused with half an operating room. As they identified a Physician Association briefcase as the Secret Realm’s core, a gigantic Shark Beast with a human body fused into it emerged from a pool.

• Xia Nan and the others entered the clearing and found Shahua Merman corpses covering the ground.
• Lorraine, Hain, and Xia Nan examined the wounds and concluded that a powerful Monster had killed most of the mermen, while some had fought each other.
• The squad found nearly thirty dead Four-Armed Elite Shahua Mermen, including two Murloc Priests, and Xia Nan warned them to avoid a still pool.
• They found the Islanders’ corpses in a pit and discovered an altar fused with half an operating room, where Xia Nan recognized a Physician Association briefcase as the Secret Realm’s core.
• The pool began to bubble, and a huge Shark Beast emerged with a pale human body fused into its side.

Xia Nan resisted the Shark Beast’s mind-control shriek and fought to keep it occupied while his companions struggled to recover. Hain broke free and supported him with Entangle, but the Shark Beast shattered the vines and overwhelmed Xia Nan’s defensive force field as another attack flared across the battlefield.

• The Shark Beast’s human mouth unleashed a mind-control shriek, but Xia Nan resisted while Lorraine, Aken, and Sasha remained affected.
• Xia Nan charged the Shark Beast, dodged its rush, and wounded its shoulder with his arm shield’s force-field energy.
• Hain recovered and cast Entangle, briefly restraining the Shark Beast as Xia Nan moved to attack again.
• The Shark Beast broke free, detected Xia Nan, and swung a powerful punch that burst the force field from the [Dead Line] ring; Xia Nan narrowly retreated.
• The Shark Beast lunged after Xia Nan, buying his companions more time, as a blazing flare erupted elsewhere on the battlefield.

Lorraine and the Oath of Vengeance Squad fought the Shark Beast after breaking free of its Mind Control, with Alton’s lute helping the remaining party members regain their senses. Their coordinated attacks were repelled by a shockwave from the human body fused to the Monster, leaving Lorraine, Sasha, and Aken thrown aside as Xia Nan focused his killing intent on it.

• Lorraine attacked the Shark Beast with her flaming saber and used Flame Breath Reverse Tide to evade its punch, but the human remains fused to it screamed and disrupted the battle.
• Alton played his lute, soothing the fighters and helping Aken and Sasha break free of Mind Control.
• Aken charged the Shark Beast in a Berserk State while Sasha and Lorraine attacked in coordination, and Xia Nan waited for an opening.
• The human body fused to the Shark Beast unleashed a shockwave that knocked Lorraine, Sasha, and Aken away, and Xia Nan turned his killing intent toward it.

Xia Nan and the Oath of Vengeance Squad battled a powerful Shark Beast whose fused human body gave it dangerous battlefield-control abilities. The team coordinated their attacks to expose that weak point, and Xia Nan struck it with [Tooth Hunt], leaving the Shark Beast wounded and enraged.

• Xia Nan identified the fused human body as the Shark Beast's weak point and rushed to support Aken after a sonic shockwave knocked him down.
• Hain cast [Entangling Thorns] to slow the Shark Beast while Xia Nan harassed it and warned the squad to target the human body.
• Lorraine distracted the Shark Beast with [Whirling Blade Dance], and Sasha used [Blazing Slash] to draw the human body's attention.
• Aken charged with his Anchor Great Axe, but the Shark Beast blasted itself backward with water and evaded his attack.
• Hain's [Hold Person] froze the fused human body, giving Xia Nan an opening to pierce its neck with [Tooth Hunt].

Xia Nan joined the Oath of Vengeance Squad’s fight against the Deformed Shark Beast at a decisive moment, destroying the human head that enabled its control abilities. As the squad overwhelmed the wounded Monster, it unleashed a powerful eruption of seawater and struck Aken in the chest, leaving the battle’s outcome uncertain.

• Xia Nan watched the Oath of Vengeance Squad’s tactics and held back until the Deformed Shark Beast evaded Aken’s attack and put the Barbarian in danger.
• Hain cast [Hold Person] on the human head growing from the Shark Beast, and Xia Nan used [Tooth Hunt] and a powerful sword strike to crush it before pulling Aken away.
• The enraged Shark Beast charged Hain, who transformed into a Short-tailed Albatross and escaped into the sky, then targeted Alton, who dodged with help from his speed and daggers.
• Xia Nan, Lorraine, Sasha, Aken, Alton, Hain, and the Winter Wolf surrounded the injured Shark Beast and attacked it from every side.
• The Shark Beast unleashed a sudden earthquake-like eruption of seawater; Xia Nan warned the others and pulled Alton clear, but the blast launched Aken into the air, where the Monster struck his chest with its Shark Iron Fist.

The Shark Beast entered a stronger berserk phase and incapacitated Aken, forcing the Oath of Vengeance Squad to abandon its careful encirclement. Xia Nan’s intervention prevented Sasha from being crushed outright, but the Shark Beast hurled him into a rock wall, leaving only four adventurers able to fight and two charges of Gravity Etching remaining.

• The Shark Beast shattered Aken’s defenses with a punch, but Aken’s Indomitable Soul Path kept him alive before he passed out.
• Xia Nan landed with Alton as the enlarged Shark Beast resumed attacking, and the remaining adventurers continued fighting while the albatross dropped a healing potion for Aken.
• With the squad’s encirclement weakened, Lorraine charged the Shark Beast to draw its attention while Sasha circled toward its blind spot.
• The Shark Beast anticipated Sasha’s attack, caught his tail, and prepared to slam him into the ground.
• Xia Nan used Gravity Etching to launch Aken’s dropped axe, forcing the Shark Beast to dodge and hurl Sasha into a rock wall instead.
• Sasha passed out with severe injuries, leaving four fighters and only two Gravity Etching charges against the Shark Beast.

The Oath of Vengeance Squad faced near defeat after the Shark Beast disabled Aken and Sasha, forcing Xia Nan and Lorraine to fight while he weighed whether to use his final trump card. Raine, Alton, and Hain created an opening that let Lorraine sever the Shark Beast’s arm, but its counterattack sent Xia Nan and Lorraine flying and left the battle unresolved.

• Xia Nan decided he could not abandon his injured comrades and considered whether [Ember Echo] could defeat the Shark Beast within its sixty-second duration.
• Lorraine activated [Scorching Temperature Domain] and used [Flame Body] to boost herself before charging alongside Xia Nan in his Black Wolf Phantom form.
• Raine arrived from the canyon entrance and fired three Crossbow Bolts as Alton and Hain coordinated their attacks to freeze the Shark Beast briefly.
• Xia Nan struck the Shark Beast’s neck while Lorraine severed its right arm with [Scale Fire Saber].
• The Shark Beast broke free of Hain’s [Charm Animal] spell, erupted water beneath Xia Nan and Lorraine, and struck them both through the air.

Lorraine lay near death as the Shark Beast closed in, believing Oath of Vengeance Squad had lost its last chance. Xia Nan awakened in Ember State, rushed into battle, and beheaded the wounded Shark Beast, leaving the squad’s fate unresolved.

• Lorraine struggled to rise as the Shark Beast approached, while Hain, Alton, and Raine were the only squad members still able to fight.
• Lorraine heard Raine cry out and saw the Short-tailed Albatross fall, then gathered enough strength to stand and face the Shark Beast.
• Xia Nan emerged behind Lorraine wreathed in fire, and his first strike pierced the Shark Beast’s arm as it tried to block.
• Xia Nan feinted at the Shark Beast’s fist, used [Gravity Etching] and [Whirlwind Slash] to reach its wounded neck, and tore its head free.

Xia Nan killed the Mutated Shark Beast and used healing magic and potions to stabilize the badly injured Oath of Vengeance Squad. As Alton went to fetch help, Hain accepted Xia Nan as a trusted teammate, while Xia Nan focused on the suspected Secret Realm Core atop the altar.

• Xia Nan killed the Mutated Shark Beast, gained combat skill proficiency, and raised [Ember Echo] to lv2.
• Xia Nan found that the entire squad had survived, though Raine, Aken, Sasha, Lorraine, and Hain had suffered serious injuries.
• Xia Nan used Lesser Healing and a Healing Potion to stabilize Raine, then helped the others take potions and gathered them for care.
• Alton left for the docks to find help while Xia Nan stayed behind to guard the wounded from Murlocs.
• Hain reflected on Xia Nan saving the squad and came to regard him as a dependable teammate.
• Xia Nan turned his attention to the briefcase atop the altar, which he suspected was the Secret Realm Core.

Xia Nan touched the Secret Realm Core and entered a vision of Fishhook Town, where he followed the life of Dr. Mand, a dissatisfied young doctor whose mentor’s letter deepened his doubts about his future. The vision ended as Mand began examining Mark, a pale harbor worker whose name he vaguely recognized.

• Lorraine told Xia Nan to claim the altar’s spoils, and he approached the suitcase after confirming the area was safe.
• Xia Nan touched the Secret Realm Core, and Twin Canyon transformed into a restored seaside town as his consciousness entered a vision.
• Mand treated a farm woman, left his clinic, and returned home to find a letter from his mentor criticizing his research and telling him Karin had become engaged.
• Mand arrived late at the clinic the next day and mechanically treated several patients while dwelling on the letter.
• An orderly brought Mark from the harbor docks into Mand’s consultation room, and Mand asked him what was wrong.

Mand investigated Old Mark’s voices, shadowy apparitions, and disturbed sleep, becoming convinced the case might be a previously unknown mental illness that could advance his career. As Old Mark’s experiences grew more frequent, he told Mand that a shadow was standing behind him.

• Old Mark told Mand he heard people talking about him, saw shadows at the edges of his vision, and woke at night afraid of something beside his bed.
• Mand prescribed mild potions and scheduled a follow-up, then studied psychiatric books to identify Old Mark’s condition.
• Mand briefly heard a faint sound and saw a black shadow, but dismissed it as exhaustion or a stray cat.
• Over the following weeks, Mand recorded Old Mark’s symptoms and consulted his books late into the night, hoping the case would earn him recognition.
• Old Mark explained that the shadows disliked light and appeared more often when he was tired, then told Mand that one was standing behind him.