Chapter Summaries

Kane and Punk defeated Bagta, Sosend’s stitched monster, after Kane crippled its arm and Punk blasted its core. Punk took the monster’s Abyssal Energy-sealing core and headed toward the lake, where they would face Sosend next.

• Bagta attacked Kane with its tentacle hair, but Kane dodged the barrage with Flash Step.
• Bagta began transforming its right arm with Abyssal Energy, but Kane used Charge to shatter its left arm before the mutation finished.
• Punk struck Bagta’s core with Kinetic Blast, destroying the monster and tearing a hole through its chest.
• Punk retrieved the metal core from Bagta’s remains and placed it in his storage ring.
• Punk ignored Kane’s angry glare and walked toward the lake to confront Sosend.

Punk and Kane clashed over the stitched monster’s core, then resumed their uneasy cooperation as they entered the lake. Beneath it, Sosend and Magic Crow Vector prepared to delay the two intruders while a black dragon approached.

• Kane attacked Punk with the Master Level Combat Technique Thorn of Brilliant Light, but Punk deflected it with a shield spell.
• Kane accused Punk of taking all the benefits, and Punk refused to hand over the stitched monster’s core.
• Kane destroyed a thorny plant mass with his lance, then eased the confrontation by joking and following Punk toward the lake.
• As Punk entered the water, Kane warned him not to compete for his target, but Punk gave no reply.
• In the cavern beneath the lake, Sosend injected himself with medicine and watched the entrance while Magic Crow Vector worried about delaying the intruders before the black dragon arrived.

Punk and Kane confronted Sosend in his cavern before Ovakain arrived, so all three chose to delay the fight. Kane began questioning Sosend as the old mage’s mood grew more violent.

• Punk blasted open the lakebed and entered Sosend’s cavern with Kane, where Sosend had been waiting.
• Punk, Kane, and Sosend all held back from fighting because Ovakain had not yet arrived.
• Sosend offered Punk and Kane butterbeer, but Punk knocked the cups away and questioned him about his earlier guests.
• Sosend bragged that the six guests had become his victims, including a stitched creature made from King Tandak and his grandson.
• As Sosend’s aura and anger intensified, Kane broke his silence and began asking him questions.

Kane asked Sosend why he had created the Nightmare Cult, expecting an answer tied to his mission, but Sosend’s evasive reply revealed no such purpose. Kane realized his information had been wrong and, furious that his original target was gone, prepared to vent his anger on Sosend.

• Kane seriously asked Sosend why he had developed the Nightmare Cult among the Ram-headed people.
• Sosend internally recognized the cult as a way to find Abyssal Energy talents and lure adventurers, then gave Kane a vague answer about the Abyss’s power.
• Kane reacted with deep disappointment and suspected that whoever had given him the information had misled him.
• Kane admitted that his original target was gone and declared that he would turn Sosend into minced meat instead.
• Kane’s battle aura erupted into a fierce gale as he dropped his cheerful mask and faced Sosend with a savage grin.

After Sosend revealed that he had no connection to Kane’s goal, Kane attacked in fury while Punk prepared a spell. Sosend countered with a powerful psychic spell, and Kane charged straight toward him, certain that Punk would intervene.

• Punk concluded that Kane had targeted the wrong enemy and prepared for the fight.
• Kane unleashed the Master Level Battle Technique Charge, zigzagging toward Sosend to close the distance.
• Sosend cast Mossa’s Heart of Terror using Spell channeling to stop Kane.
• Kane abandoned his zigzagging path and charged directly into the psychic attack, trusting Punk to act.

Punk helped Kane launch a surprise attack on Sosend, but Sosend used a Legendary Magic to redirect Kane’s devastating strike. The battle continued as Sosend remained unharmed and prepared another spell.

• Kane charged Sosend, forcing Punk to join the fight and cast Mind Barrier against Sosend’s Mossa’s Heart of Terror.
• Punk’s spell shattered after blocking Sosend’s attack, but it protected Kane long enough for him to reach Sosend.
• Kane used the Master-level Combat Skill Flash Needle to strike at Sosend.
• Sosend commanded Vector the crow to activate a rainbow-colored halo, and both disappeared amid the impact and the collapsing cavern.
• Kane’s attack missed as Sosend’s magic redirected its force, revealing Sosend’s ability to alter physical laws with Legendary Magic.

Sosend used Vector’s Legendary spell to make Kane’s attack miss, then struck Kane with Dream Traveler while Punk prepared a counterattack. Punk exploited his knowledge of Sosend’s defenses with Dual Casting and Order Encirclement, leaving Sosend’s confidence in his interception spell about to be tested.

• Vector cast the Legendary spell Directional Interference, causing Kane’s lance to miss Sosend and plunge into the earth.
• Sosend attacked the vulnerable Kane with the Master-level mind spell Dream Traveler.
• Punk let Kane serve as bait and prepared Kinetic Cone and Order Encirclement using Mana Compression and Dual Casting.
• Sosend relied on Touch of Chaos to intercept Punk’s attack, unaware that Punk’s Order Encirclement specifically countered it.

Kane escaped Sosend’s attack by revealing his knight secret technique, Limit Charge, while Punk’s counterspell exposed that he had anticipated Sosend’s defenses. Sosend realized Punk had deliberately countered his magic as the Kinetic Cone closed in on him.

• Sosend continued casting Dream Traveler at Kane, while Punk prepared a Kinetic Cone enhanced with Order Surround to catch Sosend during his spellcasting.
• Kane released Limit Charge, shattering the earth restraining his lance and accelerating away at eighty times the speed of sound.
• The Magic Crow Vector’s Directional Interference forced Kane to veer away from Sosend, preventing him from counterattacking with his lance.
• Punk’s Mana Compression-enhanced Kinetic Cone flew through the dust toward Sosend as Kane escaped.
• Sosend recognized Order Surround around Punk’s spell and realized Punk had deliberately countered his magic, leaving him in immediate danger.

Punk overwhelmed Sosend, whose defenses and control were failing as Abyssal Energy drove him into a berserk state. Just as Punk prepared a decisive attack, Ovakain arrived and forced him to redirect it.

• Punk countered Sosend’s spells and shattered three of his five protective layers, keeping him on the defensive.
• Punk noticed Sosend’s unstable magic and suspected that Abyssal Energy was contaminating him.
• Sosend admitted he had been affected by Abyssal Energy, claimed he had found a solution, and attacked Punk with Griffin’s Eye.
• Punk blocked Griffin’s Eye with Resist Acid and prepared a Mana-Compressed Kinetic Blast to finish Sosend.
• Ovakain suddenly lunged at Punk, who hurled his Kinetic Blast toward the dragon instead of Sosend.

Ovakain suddenly attacked Punk, interrupting Punk’s attempt to kill Sosend and turning the cavern into a chaotic three-way confrontation. As Ovakain and Punk fought, Sosend prepared to activate a buried Abyssal Altar trap to kill all three opponents.

• Ovakain used Flash and Corrosive Dragon Breath to ambush Punk, who abandoned his attack on Sosend and countered with Kinetic Blast.
• Ovakain charged Punk with Myriad Claws, forcing Punk to evade and fight through Ovakain’s layered defenses.
• Punk and Ovakain exchanged attacks, while Kane stayed behind his Battle Qi Shield and watched.
• Vector injected Sosend with an Alchemy Potion, and Sosend recognized that Abyssal Energy had contaminated his soul and forced him to rely on medicine.
• Sosend raced to the rubble covering the Abyssal Altar and ordered Vector to activate the trap, insisting that all three enemies had to die.

Punk fought Ovakain while Sosend uncovered the altar and completed his summoning. As a Legendary being’s aura seeped through, Punk, Kane, and Ovakain realized that Asathketch’s projection was about to descend.

• Ovakain attacked Punk recklessly, and Punk defended himself against the dragon’s corrosive breath.
• Punk ordered Kane to hold Ovakain back while he went after Sosend, and Kane agreed to engage the dragon.
• Ovakain’s tail blade tore Punk’s hood, revealing his Half-elf features and surprising Kane.
• Sosend cleared the rubble from the altar and poured his mana and life force into its sacrificial array.
• A terrifying Abyssal aura emerged from the altar, confirming that Sosend had succeeded in summoning Asathketch’s projection.

Abyssal Minor Lord’s projection forced a colossal claw through the altar’s rift and devastated the oasis with a single strike. Punk escaped the direct blow, but he and the other fighters were buried beneath the transformed battlefield as the projection struggled to widen the passage.

• Blood-red chains bound Zuola to the altar, and the Abyssal Minor Lord’s giant hand began emerging through the rift as Sosend vanished.
• Punk recognized the danger of the Legendary-tier projection, layered seven defensive spells on himself, and used three Any Doors to escape the claw’s strike.
• The claw struck the oasis, creating a vast sand tsunami and shattering the surrounding space.
• The projection tried to tear the passage wide enough for its true body, but the laws of the Faerun plane prevented it from opening a larger exit.
• The impact transformed the oasis into a basin and drove Punk, Kane, Ovakain, and Sosend beneath the crystallized ground.

Kane, Punk, and Ovakain survived the Abyssal Minor Lord’s projected attack, and Kane healed his severe injuries with a rare potion. Punk then proposed resuming their fight against Sosend and Ovakain while the projection remained nearby.

• Kane emerged from the shattered ground badly injured and accused Punk of hiding Sosend’s plan to summon the projection.
• Punk and Ovakain had escaped the shockwave with little or no injury, while Kane swallowed a Natural Vitality Extract and rapidly healed.
• Punk recognized Kane’s potion and declined to attack him, despite having considered a surprise strike.
• Punk told Kane to hold back Ovakain while he attacked Sosend, and Kane protested that Punk’s plan had already brought a Minor Lord’s projection onto the battlefield.
• Punk insisted that Sosend had summoned the projection and challenged Kane to propose a better way to stop Sosend and close the Abyssal passage.

Kane held off Ovakain so Punk could focus on Sosend, whom he intended to flush from his concealed position near the Abyssal Altar. As the Abyssal Minor Lord projection prepared another strike, Punk began casting a spell using two pale-green diamonds.

• Kane agreed to distract Ovakain, and Punk flew into the sky as the black dragon burst from the ground.
• Kane struck Ovakain in the face, drawing the dragon’s attention away from Punk and forcing him to fight the knight.
• Punk reasoned that Sosend remained hidden in a rune-covered array near the Abyssal Altar and planned to make him emerge while weakened.
• Punk ignored the projection’s approaching claw and began casting Overflowing Gentle Touch and Tadis's Miraculous Manifestation Spell with metamagic techniques.

Sosend and Vector struggled to keep their hidden array concealed as the Abyssal Minor Lord's projected claw descended. Vector deflected the claw in time, but Punk's spell spread across the battlefield and exposed the array's location.

• Vector complained that maintaining Directional Interference had exhausted him, while Sosend urged him to keep shielding them from the projected claw.
• Sosend lost his temper and grabbed Vector, but Vector noticed pale cyan dust falling and stabbed a potion into Sosend's wrist to bring him back to his senses.
• Sosend gouged out his own eye to regain his focus, then warned Vector to redirect Directional Interference toward the incoming claw.
• Vector shifted the spell just in time, and the projected claw's impact unleashed a shockwave across the Raging Waves Desert.
• Punk's spell spread across the battlefield during the impact, revealing the location of Sosend's hidden array.

Punk countered Sosend’s escape attempt by destroying the Blood Golem protecting him. Sosend was left badly injured and crawling away, with his fate seemingly sealed.

• Punk used Dual Casting to attack Sosend, forcing him to leave his magic array and summon a Blood Golem for protection.
• Vector’s Directional Interference diverted one Kinetic Cone, while the Blood Golem blocked the other.
• Sosend fled on the Blood Golem after throwing Mossa's Heart of Terror at Punk and exhausting his mana.
• Punk destroyed the Blood Golem with Rapid Decomposition Ray, causing Sosend to crash into the glassy ground.
• Sosend crawled away in desperation, leaving his staff and Vector behind.

Punk killed Sosend and took his magical items, but Kane and Ovakain turned against him as The Abyssal Minor Lord's Projected Giant Claw prepared to strike again. The chapter left Punk facing all three threats at once.

• Punk destroyed Sosend's Blood Golem with Rapid Decomposition Ray and killed Sosend with a blast of magical energy.
• Punk confirmed Sosend's death and realized that The Abyssal Minor Lord's Projected Giant Claw remained active.
• Punk took Sosend's magical items and grabbed the unconscious Magic Crow Vector while dodging Kane's Aurora Pierce.
• Kane charged Punk over the spoils as Ovakain flew in to attack, leaving Punk targeted by both of them and The Abyssal Minor Lord's Projected Giant Claw.

Punk used Ovakain’s guilt and sense of duty to make him confront the danger the Abyssal Minor Lord’s Projected Giant Claw posed to the Kingdom of Waibien. The chapter left Ovakain hesitating between pursuing revenge and protecting the kingdom’s people.

• Punk called out to Ovakain and reminded him that his earlier hatred had helped destroy the Dragon Roar Kingdom.
• Punk argued that Ovakain’s revenge could leave the people of Waibien exposed to the Giant Claw’s destructive strike.
• Ovakain hesitated as he calculated that the claw’s Abyssal Energy would devastate the kingdom and kill its people.
• Ovakain recognized that he had agreed to protect Waibien and could not remain indifferent to the coming disaster.

Ovakain sacrificed himself to stop The Abyssal Minor Lord's Projected Giant Claw and save the Kingdom of Waibien, detonating the power unleashed by his failed advancement to Legendary. His multicolored energy filled the space before the scene abruptly shattered.

• Ovakain flew toward The Abyssal Minor Lord's Projected Giant Claw, determined to save the Raging Waves Desert's inhabitants.
• Ovakain shed his body and let the Abyssal Energy carry his soul into the Minor Lord's projected claw.
• Ovakain triggered a doomed advancement to Legendary, releasing law energy to destroy the projection and the altar connected to the abyss.
• Punk watched from a safe distance as multicolored ribbons spread from the claw and filled the surrounding space.
• The multicolored world suddenly shattered like a dreamlike bubble.

Ovakain sacrificed himself to destroy the Abyss-connected altar and stop Sosend’s disaster, but his Legendary Necklace survived. Punk and Kane raced to claim it, and Punk’s attack forced Kane to dodge as Punk reached for the necklace with Mage Hand.

• Ovakain’s failed Legendary advancement unleashed a catastrophe that annihilated him, the altar, and the Abyssal Minor Lord’s projected hand.
• Punk spotted Ovakain’s surviving Legendary Necklace in the crater, and Kane returned to race him for it.
• Punk and Kane accelerated toward the necklace while Kane accused Punk of greed.
• Kane lunged for the necklace, but Punk fired two Kinetic Blasts that forced him to evade.
• Punk sent Mage Hand toward the necklace as Kane lost his chance to seize it.