Chapter Summaries

Rayne merged with the Phase Mayfly Demon Soul, gaining the Legendary Element Phase Walker despite losing several other Elements. The fusion brought him to Level 19 Wizard and Legendary Peak, leaving him one suitable Saint Tier Demon Soul away from attempting to become a Soul Saint Wizard.

• Rayne and Viola examined the Phase Mayfly Demon Soul and considered using its Phase Coordinates to improve the Floating City's travel between planes.
• Rayne decided to merge with the Demon Soul, and Viola guarded him with her angels and battle-ready form.
• Rayne drove the Phase Mayfly up his World Tree and forced the fusion through after repeated failures and the loss of six Elements.
• Rayne retained Phase Walker and gained a clear sense of nearby planes and their positions.
• Rayne filled his fourth energy ring, reached Level 19 Wizard and Legendary Peak, and recognized that he needed a suitable Saint Tier Demon Soul to advance further.

Rayne prepared to sell the Floating City, hoping to trade it for an Iola's Core and other valuable items. The auction began at Glamorgan Castle with ten genuine bidders present, including several powerful Saint Soul Wizards.

• Rayne revealed that his fusion had raised him to Level 19, while Viola offered to watch for news of suitable Saint Tier Demon Souls.
• Rayne and Viola spent three days together in their demiplane before returning to Glamorgan Castle ahead of the auction.
• Fabian gave Rayne the guest list and confirmed that the bidders had submitted sixty million Gold Shields in deposits.
• Rayne stored the deposits and considered using the auction to obtain Duke Silverstar's Iola's Core in exchange for the Floating City.
• The guests gathered at Glamorgan Castle, where Rayne opened the auction in front of the bidders and his companions.

Rayne held the first round of sealed bidding for New Homeland Floating City after allowing bidders to inspect its control room but refusing to show them the rest of the city. He chose Margarita’s offer as the round’s winner, surprising the other bidders and leaving the auction poised for its next round.

• Rayne set a minimum bid of sixty million Gold Shields, clashed with Duke Silverstar over the city’s condition, and agreed to let Tim Kainan and Kongjielade inspect its control room.
• Tim Kainan and Kongjielade confirmed that Iola’s Core and the control-room Rune Array worked normally, while Rayne refused the bidders’ request to inspect the rest of the Floating City.
• Rayne distributed memory crystals for the first round, and Akalande offered seventy million Gold Shields and requested a private conversation.
• Countess Kailin, Margarita, Dean Sabra, Saintess Rosita, Lord and Lady Hestaff City, Storm Queen, Tim Kainan, Kongjielade, and Duke Silverstar submitted competing offers with money, property, alliances, or other benefits.
• Rayne announced that Margarita had won the first round with her offer of fifty million Gold Shields, one hundred female sorcerers’ lifelong service, and political support, astonishing the bidders and Margarita herself.

Rayne weighed bids for the Floating City as Margarita and several other bidders tried to win his favor. Akalande won the second round with an empty memory crystal, leaving the others alarmed by the Mechanics Guild’s apparent financial power.

• Margarita thanked Rayne for favoring her bid, and the Storm Queen accused her of offering herself for the Floating City before Rayne stopped their quarrel.
• Akalande told Rayne that the Mechanics Guild did not intend to buy the Floating City and had sent him to attend and help raise the price.
• Countess Kailin asked Rayne to accept the five families’ bid and offered additional territory, while Rosita withdrew the Church of the Earth Mother from the auction.
• The Storm Queen offered Rayne fifty million Gold Shields and herself, then raised her offer to eighty million, but Rayne refused.
• Rayne began the second bidding round, and Akalande submitted an empty memory crystal that Rayne declared the winning bid.

Rayne continued negotiating with bidders for the New Homeland Floating City while refusing requests for exclusive information and resisting attempts to sway him. Although the Lord and Lady of Hestaff City offered one hundred million Gold Shields, Rayne awarded the city to Duke Silverstar, whose bid included Glamorgan’s independence and a promise to deliver an Ancient Dragon Demon.

• Rayne refused the Aurelian Times and Modu Daily representatives’ requests for exclusive information and interviews.
• Dean Margarita tried to win Rayne over with seduction and promises of warlock support, but he rejected her offer.
• Duke Silverstar offered Iola’s Core, money, Glamorgan’s independence, the Crimson Seal Ring, materials, and a promise to deliver an Ancient Dragon Demon within three years.
• The bidders submitted their final offers, and the Lord and Lady of Hestaff City bid one hundred million Gold Shields while Duke Silverstar’s bid was worth roughly ninety million.
• Rayne declared that the Floating City belonged to Duke Silverstar.

Duke Silverstar won the auction for New Homeland Floating City, then confronted Rayne after realizing he had engineered the bidding to secure her Iola's Core. She kept the purchase and left to gather payment, while Rayne considered the future influence of the defeated bidders.

• Duke Silverstar won the auction, and Hestav revealed that he and Laila had bid one hundred million gold shields.
• Duke Silverstar realized Rayne had steered the auction toward her because he wanted her Iola's Core, and she erupted in anger.
• Rayne subdued Duke Silverstar with his Antimagic Field and warned that he would sell the Floating City to Hestav if she withdrew her bid.
• Duke Silverstar refused to surrender the Floating City and said she would return in three days with the gold shields and materials.
• Hestav and Laila departed, and Rayne reflected on their wealth, strength, and likely future rise before his students and Borchi gathered around him.

Rayne and Duke Silverstar completed the preparations to exchange Iola's Cores as part of the sale of the Floating City, while Duke Silverstar also severed Glamorgan's vassal ties and gave Rayne her Crimson Seal Ring. Just as Rayne began binding himself to her Core, a hazy black shadow appeared before him.

• Duke Silverstar arrived at the Floating City with Storm Queen, Ichina, and Kuilu, bringing Iola's Core and ten million Gold Shields for the transaction.
• Rayne inspected Duke Silverstar's Core and agreed to her plan to undo their soul bindings and exchange the Cores directly, despite warning that removing and reinstalling them would be safer.
• Rayne's Heavenly Soldiers confirmed the payment, and Duke Silverstar gave Rayne the declaration making Glamorgan independent and the Crimson Seal Ring.
• Duke Silverstar reaffirmed her promises to support Rayne five times in the High Council and provide an Ancient Dragon Demon Soul within three years.
• Rayne and Duke Silverstar simultaneously undid their bindings in the Floating City's control room and used Blink to switch places beside the ownerless Cores.
• As Rayne reached to bind himself to Duke Silverstar's Core, a hazy black shadow suddenly appeared before him.

Rayne and the four sisters fought a King of Shadows who had infiltrated New Homeland Floating City, then discovered his mission was to destroy Iola's Core rather than steal it. Rayne killed him outside the Floating City and survived the three Ninth Circle spells triggered by his death, but the attack nearly caused a catastrophe.

• The King of Shadows and his Shadow Clones attacked Rayne and the four sisters in the control room, where Rayne sealed off planar travel and the group defeated the clones.
• Ichina fought the apparent King of Shadows while Rayne realized he was a Trickster's Spirit Clone and jumped in front of the sisters' spells to protect him.
• An electric claw dragged the King of Shadows out of the Floating City, where Rayne and Ichina fought him as Kuilu prepared a spell.
• Rayne transformed into a Titan Giant, stopped the King of Shadows from escaping with Dragon's Roar, and killed him with a Soul Rend.
• The King of Shadows's death triggered Unbinding Spell, Great Disintegration, and Annihilation Orb, but Rayne and Ichina were outside the blast.
• Rayne explained that the attack had been bait in a Fishing Enforcement scheme and that the enemy had planned to destroy Iola's Core; he then led the group back to the Floating City.

Rayne and the four sisters survived King of Shadows’s attack, and Rayne helped Duke Silverstar claim New Homeland Floating City. As Duke Silverstar discovered the city was packed with undead corpses, Rayne’s disguised Heavenly Soldiers headed toward Urg City to stir up trouble for Duke Redstone.

• Rayne told Duke Silverstar and Storm Queen that King of Shadows was dead, and he explained the enemy’s Soul Trigger Spell.
• Duke Silverstar and the other sisters blamed Shadow Blade for the attack and discussed retaliating, while Rayne suspected Duke Redstone had planned it.
• Rayne sent disguised Heavenly Soldiers toward Urg City to cause trouble and told Duke Silverstar he would consider joining her retaliation after she made a detailed plan.
• Ansiwodoss arrived, and Rayne and Duke Silverstar completed their transaction by transferring ownership of Iola’s Core.
• Duke Silverstar mastered the Floating City and thanked Rayne, then found its lower levels piled with undead corpses and shouted that she hated him.

Calody, Harmon, and Filaia arrived in Gotham City and toured its vast, modern streets and districts while learning about the city’s defenses and rules. After Calody booked a lavish hotel suite and hinted at his noble background, a beautiful woman and four Saint Gun Knights arrived to summon him to the Highland Fortress.

• Calody woke aboard the steamship and joined Harmon and Filaia on deck as it approached Shield Island.
• The travelers saw the enormous Dark Sky Curtain Array over the bay and learned that Speaker Rayne had built it around Truth Island, where a Magic Temple was under construction.
• The steamship docked at Red Hook Dock, and the three visitors explored Gotham City’s clean streets, traffic system, skyscrapers, and Electric Light Cannon defenses.
• Calody, Harmon, and Filaia toured the Trade District by taxi, heard the driver describe Gotham’s strict enforcement, and checked into an expensive hotel suite in the Inner District.
• Harmon and Filaia questioned Calody about his background, and Calody admitted he was probably an Imperial noble before a woman arrived with four Saint Gun Knights to summon him to the Highland Fortress.

Harmon and Filaia accompanied Calody to Gotham City, where they met Speaker Rayne and learned that Calody was his younger brother. Calody revealed that he had run away from home and told Rayne he wanted to join the Saint Gun Knights.

• Franciska introduced herself as Rayne's chief maid and escorted Calody and the Harmon siblings from the hotel to the fortress.
• Harmon and Filaia met Rayne Augustus in his study, while Calody stayed behind to speak with his brother.
• Rayne recalled that Calody had fled home after arguing with their father, who wanted him to remain in Longshande and inherit the family business.
• Calody told Rayne that he wanted to join the Saint Gun Knights.

Calody asked Rayne to let him join the Saint Gun Knights, and Rayne agreed on the condition that he serve as an ordinary member without special treatment. After Calody settled into Gotham City, Rayne returned to his work and summoned Franciska to discuss the upcoming ceremony on Truth Island.

• Calody told Rayne that he wanted to join the Saint Gun Knights, and Rayne weighed his mediocre talent against his determination to prove himself.
• Rayne warned Calody that the knights faced deadly battles and required grueling training, then agreed to let him join as an ordinary recruit who could not reveal their relationship.
• Rayne watched Calody demonstrate his marksmanship and found that his quick reactions and accuracy would help him serve in the knights.
• Rayne told Calody he would inform their father and arrange his entry into the knights, then invited him to bring his friends to Truth Island's opening ceremony.
• Franciska told Rayne that she had prepared Calody's suite, then returned with City Hall reports as Rayne began reviewing them and asked her to wait so they could discuss the ceremony.

Rayne finalized the preparations for Gotham’s opening ceremony, then spent the day with Livlin and Kuilu before returning to the Obsidian Tower to work on a powerful new mechanical colossus. He named the nearly completed creation the Sky-Piercing Colossus.

• Franciska briefed Rayne on the opening ceremony arrangements, including the uncertain attendance of Archon Gneus, and Rayne told her to wait three days for an answer.
• Rayne teased and kissed Franciska before sending her away, then teleported to Livlin’s residence and became intimate with her.
• Kuilu arrived and joined Rayne and Livlin, and the three spent the afternoon together.
• Rayne returned to the Highland Fortress, where Franciska noticed the lingering scent on him, then left for the Obsidian Tower during the night.
• Rayne joined the Lightning-Forged Colossi in completing ten powerful mechanical warriors and named them Sky-Piercing Colossi.

Rayne completed and tested the first Sky-Piercing Colossus, then returned to King Kong Fortress to begin testing his finished Power Armor on Sikarius. The armor components assembled around Sikarius, leaving the Extreme Warriors astonished.

• Rayne finished the first Sky-Piercing Colossus and tested its speed, lightning attacks, and defenses.
• Rayne calculated that each colossus cost two million Gold Shields and decided not to build more for now.
• Rayne had the Rayne's Heavenly Soldiers test the remaining colossi while he returned to King Kong Fortress.
• Rayne summoned Sikarius and four Extreme Warriors to test the Power Armor.
• Sikarius stood on the platform, and mechanical arms began assembling armor components onto his body.

Rayne equipped Sikarius with a powerful suit of Power Armor and explained its control system through a Mind Link. Sikarius tested its enhanced strength, speed, flight, and weapons, ending the chapter convinced he was invincible.

• Mechanical arms fitted Sikarius with layered armor, a backpack, and a helmet, transforming him into a towering armored warrior.
• The Titan Engine activated, and Sikarius established a Mind Link with the Power Armor’s control system, which displayed his status, surroundings, allies, and threats.
• Rayne opened a Portal to a plateau so Sikarius could test the Power Armor outside the Mechanical Alchemy Room.
• Sikarius sprinted across the plateau, took flight using the backpack’s thrust and armor vents, and broke the sound barrier with Lightning Flash before the control system slowed him down.
• Sikarius landed unharmed, drew an Explosive Bullet Gun and an electrified greatsword, and shouted that he was invincible beneath the heavens.

Rayne tested the new Power Armor by sparring with Sikarius, whose armor let him withstand devastating attacks and fight back despite Rayne's superior strength. The Extreme Warriors learned that the armor was powerful but costly and difficult to produce, with materials for only sixty suits available and thirty completed.

• Rayne struck Sikarius with his warhammer to test the Power Armor, and the armor absorbed the blow without structural damage while consuming about five percent of its energy.
• Rayne and Sikarius sparred, testing the Thunder Roar Explosive Bullet Gun, Electric Light Greatsword, and the armor's defenses as Sikarius repeatedly survived Rayne's attacks.
• Rayne ended the fight, and Sikarius praised the Power Armor while the four watching Extreme Warriors grew eager to wear one.
• Sikarius urged Rayne to equip all three hundred Extreme Warriors, but Rayne explained that each suit cost 150,000 Gold Shields and that available materials could produce only sixty suits, half of which were complete.

Rayne introduced Power Armor to the Extreme Legion, giving the first thirty sets to First Company and warning the warriors not to mistake enhanced equipment for invincibility. The armored warriors rallied around Rayne and shouted “March for Augustus,” while he planned to expand production despite shortages of money, materials, manpower, and Source Crystal.

• Rayne assigned the first thirty Power Armor sets to First Company, warned Sikarius about their limits, and ordered the company to learn how to operate and repair the armor themselves.
• Rayne demonstrated Power Armor to the assembled Extreme Warriors and held a lottery to decide which First Company members would receive the available suits.
• Rayne told the warriors that equipping the whole legion could take up to ten years, citing production constraints and limited Source Crystal supplies.
• Twenty-nine Extreme Warriors donned Power Armor, and their display left the rest of the legion awestruck.
• The Extreme Warriors gathered around Rayne, knelt, and repeatedly shouted “March for Augustus.”

Rayne unveiled the completed structure on Truth Island during a ceremony attended by Gotham residents and the Empire’s most powerful figures. The Shadow Curtain vanished to reveal a colossal statue of the Goddess of Magic.

• Rayne sent the Extreme Warriors to train in their Power Armor and returned to assembling more suits.
• Hundreds of thousands gathered in Gotham City to witness the opening ceremony on Truth Island.
• Rayne arrived with Ansiwodoss and other prominent guests, including Soul Saint Wizards, imperial officials, and church representatives.
• Rayne told the crowd that their guess of a temple was only partly correct, then led them in a prayer to the Goddess of Magic.
• The Shadow Curtain disappeared, revealing a magnificent statue of the Goddess of Magic on Truth Island.

Rayne unveiled a colossal temple and statue of the Goddess of Magic on Truth Island, then used the ceremony to rally Gotham City behind reclaiming the New Continent. He lit the statue’s torch with Iola's Core, revealing that it powered Vejestri's Magic Torchlight, while the guests wondered why he had sacrificed the Core’s potential as a Floating City.

• Rayne activated the Rune Arrays and formed a Crystal Bridge across Shield Island Bay so the guests could reach Truth Island.
• Rayne addressed hundreds of thousands of people, celebrated Gotham City’s growth, and urged them to reclaim the New Continent with the Elves and Dwarves.
• Rayne led the crowd in praying to the Goddess of Magic and activated the statue’s Rune Array as their faith gathered.
• The statue’s torch ignited, sending magical radiance across the region and calming the wounded and those suffering from the Soulblood Curse.
• Great Sage Kongjielade identified the light as Vejestri's Magic Torchlight, and Duke Silverstar and other guests realized Rayne had used Iola's Core to power it.

Rayne used Vejestri's Magic Torchlight to expose and contain evil-god cultists across Gotham City, then unleashed prepared defenses against the powerful enemies it gathered. The Soul Saint Lich Pramon survived the Electric Light Cannons but was trapped by eight Colossi and slain.

• Oruoin warned Rayne against becoming too close to the gods, and Rayne said he was building a safe environment for Gotham City.
• Vejestri's Magic Torchlight exposed and burned evil-god cultists across the city and sealed spatial travel within its range.
• The spell teleported more than thirty powerful cultists and undead, including Pramon, into the firing zone of four Electric Light Cannons.
• The Electric Light Cannons annihilated the gathered enemies, but Pramon survived and tried to flee.
• Eight Colossi surrounded Pramon, resisted his Abyssal Hell and Ice Spells, and forced him into a fatal teleport beneath a descending greatsword.