Chapter Summaries

Rayne discovered the Shadow Mask’s powerful enchantments after defeating a Dragon Worship Cult priest’s projection, then learned that Deep Harbor City was a center of the cult’s activity. He left for the auction planning to sell the mask, while the priest’s true location remained unknown.

• Rayne examined the Shadow Mask and learned that its five enchantments included the powerful Shadow Avatar ability.
• Compass explained that he had helped the group recover from the Grease Spell, and Rayne revealed that the Shadowmancer they had fought was only a projection.
• The Masked Lord arrived, identified the mask as a relic of the Dragon Worship Cult, and Rayne recognized him as Baron Dicken Sells, a Level 14 Dragon Vein Sorcerer.
• Rayne used the Mobile Library to learn that the Dragon Worship Cult served evil dragons and operated in Deep Harbor City, possibly from a headquarters in Skull Harbor.
• Compass described why Deep Harbor City’s residents feared the Masked Lords, and Rayne urged him not to fear them if he had done nothing shameful.
• Rayne decided to sell the Shadow Mask for the funds it could bring, then continued toward the auction with Compass and the others.

Rayne attended Skull Harbor’s black-market trade fair to seek Superb Elements for his teacher, but the available ones did not help. He offered a young Green Dragon’s Dragon Soul and an Epic Tier Dragon Priest’s Shadow Mask for trade, prompting the City Lord to arrive in person.

• Rayne entered the trade fair with Compass and Swift, wearing a Mithril Mask and leaving Sikarius and the guards behind.
• Compass bid successfully on two items while Rayne watched the auction, but the two Legendary Magic Souls offered contained Physique Elements he could not use for his teacher.
• During the guests’ trading period, Rayne offered a young Green Dragon’s Dragon Soul for an unrestricted exchange and set a minimum price of three hundred thousand Gold Shields for the Dragon Priest’s Shadow Mask.
• The attendant hurried to report Rayne’s offers, and the City Lord appeared through a Portal, shocking Compass and Swift.

Rayne negotiated with Hestaff Orosan, lord of Deep Harbor City, trading the Shadow Mask and Green Dragon Soul for money, Heavy Silver Ore, an Abyss coordinate, and ownership of a coal mine. After appointing Swift to manage the mine, Rayne returned to Demon Capital with a Black Staff Token.

• Hestaff Orosan entered the auction room and confirmed that he wanted Rayne's Shadow Mask and Green Dragon Soul.
• Rayne sold Hestaff the Shadow Mask for four hundred thousand Gold Shields and negotiated additional payment for the Green Dragon Soul, including Heavy Silver Ore, an Abyss Layer 404 coordinate, and the Mount Liz Grey Coal Mine.
• Hestaff completed the transaction with one hundred thousand Gold Shields and gave Rayne a Black Staff Token before leaving.
• Rayne left the auction early, returned to the surface, and finalized the transfer of the Mount Liz Grey Coal Mine in Deep Harbor City.
• Rayne put Swift in charge of the mine and returned to Demon Capital with the Black Staff Token.

Deson recalled how the Vina people destroyed his hometown and enslaved him before he was transported to the Aurelian Empire. He arrived with other slaves at Demon Capital and was housed in a large farm dormitory, where he fell asleep without a nightmare.

• Deson remembered the Vina people killing his parents, capturing him and his sister, and transporting them as slaves to Deep Harbor City.
• After a month in a slave market, Deson and the other clansmen were shipped away and spent four days at sea without knowing their destination.
• The slave ship reached a vast harbor, where Deson saw Public Buses and learned that the city was Demon Capital.
• Mercenaries and Centaurs escorted the buses to a large farm, where the slaves were divided among five warehouse dormitories.
• The mercenaries removed the slaves’ chains and gave them beds, quilts, and clothes, and Deson abandoned his plan to escape and fell asleep.

Deson and the other Kermel slaves were brought before Count of Glamorgan Rayne Augustus, who declared them free and offered them work and the chance to train as Transcendents if they stayed in his territory. Deson volunteered, and Rayne began selecting the first three hundred trainees for a half-month assessment.

• The slaves ate breakfast, then Deson saw a Floating City as the clansmen gathered outside.
• Rayne Augustus arrived through a Portal with twelve Tall Warriors and introduced himself as the lord who had bought them all.
• Rayne declared the Kermel slaves free, explaining they could register as residents of his territory and become Empire citizens after three years.
• Rayne warned that returning to Kermel would be difficult and offered the slaves farm work, food, lodging, and a monthly salary of eight hundred Copper Yuan.
• Rayne offered some workers the chance to train as Transcendents, and Deson was the first to volunteer to stay.
• After Rayne's shout froze the crowd and the slaves re-formed their ranks, he announced that the first three hundred trainees would be assessed after half a month.

Rayne tested more than three hundred Kermel people with half a month of grueling training to strengthen their souls and identify candidates for the Soul Transformation Ritual. He selected the ten whose souls and wills improved most, brought them to Glamorgan Castle, and began preparing them for the next stage.

• Rayne visited the training field and learned from Sikarius that the Kermel people's physical progress seemed slight despite the costly training and daily Lesser Troll Potions.
• Rayne explained that the running was designed to test and strengthen their will, and that he used Soul Eye records to eliminate those who showed no improvement.
• Rayne ended the training and selected Fadar, Robbie, Elvira, Deson, Dilana, Gwenyth, and four others as the first group to accompany him.
• Rayne took the ten selected Kermel people through a Portal to Glamorgan Castle and ordered Fabian to arrange rooms and help them wash up.
• After several hours, Rayne summoned the refreshed group and noted that Deson had the greatest potential, then told them to come with him.

Rayne used Bronze Galloping Horses to help ten Kermel people gain Bronze Body, then guided all ten through successful Soul Transformation. He gave them Night Owl Soul Stones and revealed that he planned to create a unique House Augustus profession called Gunwing Knight.

• Rayne introduced the ten Kermel people to the Bronze Galloping Horses and explained that tamers could gain their Bronze Body element.
• Rayne used taming scrolls and the Taming Master interface to make all ten Kermel people tamers and grant them Bronze Body.
• Rayne trained the new tamers to adapt to their strength and care for their horses, then oversaw their Soul Transformation rituals, which all ten survived.
• Rayne gave each newly advanced Transcendent a Night Owl Soul Stone and explained that they would follow a unique advanced Gunner profession.
• Rayne named the House Augustus profession Gunwing Knight.

Rayne completed a one-handed Assault Rifle using caseless ammunition, then inspected King Kong Fortress after the Dwarves finished building it. With the fortress ready and more than three hundred Bronze Galloping Horses gathered, he prepared to move in his supplies and begin training the Gunwing Knights.

• Rayne tested his new Assault Rifle, confirmed that its runes and caseless ammunition greatly reduced Soul Power consumption, and decided to keep the design secret for now.
• Rayne mass-produced fifty Assault Rifles after naming the weapon.
• Bulestan announced that King Kong Fortress was complete, and Rayne inspected its halls, shooting range, parade ground, stables, and other facilities.
• Rayne praised the Dwarves' work and paid the remaining wages before Bulestan and the craftsmen returned to Molten Keep.
• Rayne severed the fortress's connection to the Dwarves' Teleportation Array and watched more than three hundred Bronze Galloping Horses arrive at the parade ground.
• Rayne ordered his men to move supplies into the fortress and assemble the Gunwing Knights for training.

Rayne visited King Kong Fortress, assessed the Gunwing Knights’ progress, and saw Deson defeat an Extreme Warrior in a swordsmanship contest. Marius summoned him to Astartes after a hunting party was massacred, revealing that the Dorak people and Blood Spear Tribe were preparing to attack.

• Rayne observed the Gunwing Knights training and noted that many were close to their first Soul Ascension.
• Deson held his own against a much stronger Extreme Warrior and won their swordsmanship contest after his longsword broke.
• Rayne repaired Deson’s sword and received Marius’s message that Astartes was under serious threat.
• Rayne flew to Astartes with Extreme Warriors on Fire Dragons and met Marius.
• Marius showed Rayne the bodies of a Makragge hunting party and identified the Gray Lizard Cavalry of the Dorak people and Troll Shamans of the Blood Spear Tribe as the attackers.

Rayne learned that the Dorak people had conquered the Kagba Tribe and threatened Astartes, so he helped Marius prepare for the coming battle. After scouting and capturing a troll shaman for interrogation, Rayne ordered Tyrien and the Third Squad to remain in Astartes while he returned to King Kong Fortress to gather reinforcements.

• Marius told Rayne that he had refused the Kagba Tribe's request for help three months earlier, and the Dorak people had since conquered them.
• Rayne reaffirmed his alliance with Marius and sent Fire Dragons and Extreme Warriors to scout the enemy's numbers and location.
• Rayne found thirty Gray Lizard Cavalry riders accompanied by troll Shaman Priests, lured their Wyvern into an attack, and killed the group after a Dragon Roar incapacitated most of them.
• Rayne caught the fleeing troll shaman with an Any Door, incapacitated him, and brought him back to Astartes City for interrogation.
• The returning scouts reported two more Gray Lizard Cavalry units outside Astartes, and Marius later emerged from the cell after interrogating the captured shaman.
• Rayne ordered Tyrien and the Third Squad to assist Marius in Astartes while he returned to King Kong Fortress to gather reinforcements.

Rayne and Marius watched a massive alliance of Barbarians, Ogres, Trolls, and Gray Lizard Cavalry gather to besiege Astartes City under the command of the Legendary Tyrant Caligula. As Ogre Mages prepared to attack, Rayne opened a Portal and left, confident that Caligula would not survive the day.

• Rayne saw more than two thousand enemies assemble outside Astartes City, including Kagba archers, Dorak Berserkers, Ogres, Trolls, and Gray Lizard Cavalry.
• Marius recognized the allied tribes and their forces, including seven Ogre Mages and Troll Shaman Priests.
• Rayne and Marius identified Caligula, a Beginner Tier Legendary Tyrant and the Black Emperor's Chosen One, as the enemy commander.
• Ogre Mages stepped forward to prepare a fire attack on the city gates as the other forces readied for battle.
• Rayne told Marius that Caligula would not return alive, then opened a Portal and stepped through it.

Marius rallied Astartes as Ogre Mages battered its gate, while the Makragge People struggled to stop them from a distance. Rayne arrived with a knight order riding Bronze Wild Horses, routed the Gray Lizard Cavalry with an aerial charge, and opened fire as the chapter ended.

• Marius rallied the Makragge People, and they threw javelins at the Ogre Mages as Fireballs began cracking Astartes's gate.
• The Ogre Mages continued bombarding the gate until Rayne's knight order appeared on Bronze Wild Horses, interrupting the siege.
• The enemy commander sent Akdon and more than six hundred Gray Lizard Cavalry to attack the roughly three hundred human knights.
• Rayne's knights rose into the air and used Gale Impact to smash through the Gray Lizard Cavalry's formation.
• The knights opened fire with their Soul Guns, killing Akdon as he rose from the ground.

Rayne led the Gunwing Knights in a devastating aerial assault that wiped out the Gray Lizard Cavalry and routed the Kagba Archers and Bloodspear Hunters. As Caligula ordered the Dolak army to retreat, Fire Dragons carrying Extreme Warriors arrived and began bombing the fleeing forces.

• Rayne split the Gunwing Knights into companies and ordered them to gun down the Gray Lizard Cavalry, killing nearly the entire force.
• Rayne absorbed the fallen enemies' souls until his energy reached full capacity and entered the Soul Ascension state.
• Rayne charged the Kagba Archers and Bloodspear Hunters with the Gunwing Knights, and their gunfire scattered and slaughtered them.
• Caligula ordered the Dolak army to retreat as the Berserkers, Ogres, and Ogre Mages lost their will to fight.
• More than twenty Fire Dragons arrived carrying Extreme Warriors, who began bombarding the Dolak army alongside them.

Rayne’s forces slaughtered Caligula’s army while Caligula sheltered behind a Seventh Circle barrier, and Rayne absorbed souls until he reached Level 9 Wizard. After preparing for the fight, Rayne walked toward the barrier to kill the Black Emperor’s Chosen One.

• Rambo’s Guns and the Fire Dragons’ fireballs devastated the Dolak army and killed the Ogres, while the Makragge watched in shock.
• Caligula protected himself and his remaining slaves with a Seventh Circle Repulsion Field as Rayne analyzed the Tyrant’s powers and divine allegiance.
• Rayne absorbed battlefield souls, raised Kronuan and Gron toward the Legendary Realm, and completed his advancement to Level 9 Wizard.
• Rayne ordered twelve Extreme Warriors to aim at the barrier, strengthened himself with a potion and spells, and approached Caligula with his Thunderbolt Hammer.

Rayne attacked Caligula’s forces, broke their protective shield, and killed most of his slaves with lightning and gunfire. Caligula invoked the Black Emperor’s Imperial Armament and charged Rayne, leaving their fight poised to begin in earnest.

• Caligula prepared his slaves for battle while Rayne attacked the protective shield with Thunder Cloud Technique and the Extreme Warriors fired their guns.
• Rayne destroyed the shield with a Lightning Burst Orb, killing more than half of Caligula’s slaves before Caligula ordered the firing to stop and charged him.
• Rayne knocked Caligula from the air and fought off his slaves as the Extreme Warriors resumed firing, wiping out the remaining forces and weakening Caligula.
• Caligula prayed to the Black Emperor and activated Imperial Armament, gaining powerful armor and enhanced abilities.
• Rayne dismissed Caligula’s offer to spare him, and Caligula charged at him with the power of Imperial Armament.

Rayne defeated and killed Caligula, shattering the Imperial Armament and ending the Dolak Barbarian attack on Astartes City. As he approached the Iron Crown, time stopped and a mysterious man appeared, calling Rayne the King Slayer and asking whether he followed Vejestri.

• Caligula charged Rayne with the Imperial Armament, but Rayne stood his ground and overpowered him in a direct clash.
• Rayne used Battle Music, lightning-fast attacks, Blink, and Stasis Field to break through Caligula's defenses and knock him unconscious.
• Rayne repeatedly struck Caligula's head until the Imperial Armament shattered, then killed him and absorbed his soul.
• The Extreme Warriors and Gunwing Knights killed the last Dolak Barbarian, leaving none of the invading army alive.
• As Rayne approached the Iron Crown, the world fell silent and a mysterious man emerged from the Void, picked up the crown, and asked if Rayne was a believer of Vejestri.

Rayne faced the Black Emperor’s divine avatar after the God investigated the disappearance of thousands of believers’ souls. The avatar offered Rayne the chance to become his Chosen One, then vanished after empowering the Iron Crown, leaving Rayne with a dangerous choice.

• The Black Emperor appeared on the battlefield, and Rayne realized the figure was the God’s avatar.
• The Black Emperor questioned Rayne about the Abyss after discovering that his slain believers’ souls had vanished, while Rayne denied having any connection to it.
• The Black Emperor examined Rayne’s past, noted his ambition, and invited him to serve instead of Vejestri.
• When Rayne did not accept, the Black Emperor empowered the Iron Crown and declared that wearing it and speaking his true name would make Rayne his Chosen One.
• The avatar disappeared, time resumed for everyone else, and Rayne saw that the Iron Crown had become a Legendary Tier item.

Rayne claimed the Black Emperor’s Iron Crown but refused to wear it, recognizing that it could make him a pawn against the Empire and the Goddess of Magic. After reaching Level 9 and discovering his charge was stuck at 99%, he fused with a Demon Soul and concluded that he had reached Level 9 Peak, leaving Legendary advancement as his next challenge.

• Rayne picked up the Iron Crown and stored it in his dimensional space ring rather than wearing the Black Emperor’s tempting Legendary item.
• Rayne found his charge stuck at 99% after absorbing souls from the battle, and recognized the halt as a bottleneck before Legendary advancement.
• Rayne returned to Astartes with the assembled Gunwing Knights and Extreme Warriors, where Marius and the city welcomed them with a celebration.
• Rayne fused with the Halberd Great Horned Beetle’s Demon Soul and gained Critical Annihilation, though his charge remained at 99%.
• Rayne examined his powerful World Tree and declared that he had reached Level 9 Peak, with advancing to Legendary as his next goal.

Rayne planned to reach the Legendary Realm by advancing Critical Annihilation, then returned to Demon Capital with the Gunwing Knights to begin guarding Glamorgan Territory. Emilith worried that Rayne’s new knight order meant he would end his mercenary group’s employment.

• Rayne reviewed the two paths to the Legendary Realm and chose to prepare a Legendary Magic Soul while training Critical Annihilation toward advancement.
• Rayne practiced Critical Annihilation through the night, shattering an iron ingot with a light punch.
• Rayne stayed in Astartes for several days, where his Extreme Warriors killed Dorak scouts and the Kagba Tribe reclaimed its territory from the weakened Dorak Tribe.
• Rayne refused Marius’s request for Rambo’s Guns but hinted that Makragge warriors could use the new Soul Guns by becoming his symbiotes.
• Rayne returned to Canyon Base with his forces and sent First Company of the Gunwing Knights through the Portal to Demon Capital to guard the castle and patrol Glamorgan Territory.
• Emilith saw the Gunwing Knights arrive and asked Rayne whether he planned to end his cooperation with her mercenary group.

Rayne arranged for the Dragonstone Mercenary Group to leave as his Gunwing Knights took over, then learned from Emilith that a vast Heavy Silver Ore and Mithril mine in her homeland could be his if he helped her reclaim it. The chapter ended with Rayne weighing Emilith’s offer to intervene in Kongator.

• Rayne told Emilith that the Dragonstone Mercenary Group’s contract would end in ten days as the Gunwing Knights learned their duties.
• Rayne visited Osiria in the Floating City but left without disturbing her because she was meditating and nearing a breakthrough.
• Emilith visited Rayne at night and admitted she had opened the box Swift left, recognizing its contents as Heavy Silver Ore.
• Emilith told Rayne that Kongator had a mine producing Heavy Silver Ore and Mithril, and offered him the entire mine if he helped her take it back.