Recaps

After learning that the Holy See Allied Forces might be searching for his missing daughter Elizabeth, Izax decided to return to the Demon Realm. Hao Ren and his friends agreed to accompany him, and Hao Ren prepared to report the situation to Raven 12345.

• Lanina told Izax that the Holy See Allied Forces might be searching the Obsidian Plain for Elizabeth, who could have survived the spatial rift.
• Izax became convinced Elizabeth was alive and tried to rush back to his world, but Hao Ren stopped him and warned him not to act recklessly.
• Hao Ren urged Izax to consider how he would find and rescue Elizabeth, and Izax admitted he did not know what awaited him at home.
• Hao Ren, Lily, Vivian, and Nangong May agreed to travel with Izax, while Lanina thanked them for helping her boss.
• Hao Ren asked the Data Terminal to report the situation to Raven 12345 and began preparing for the dangerous trip.

Hao Ren arranged for Lanina to recover her injured leg and learned that her succubus charm had been affecting him unconsciously. As Lanina recovered, Vivian discovered that Lanina disliked men, leaving her distressed about having to share a room with her.

• Hao Ren and Izax brought Lanina to a hibernation pod so it could repair her badly injured leg.
• Hao Ren described his difficulty resisting Lanina’s charm, and Izax explained that succubi possessed an instinctive bewitching talent.
• Izax told Hao Ren that Lanina had been raised as his daughter, liked women, and had abandoned bewitchment in favor of physical training.
• Vivian objected to the plan for Lanina to share her room and asked Lanina directly about her preferences.
• Lanina said she did not like men, and Vivian’s expression turned green again.

Hao Ren prepared to take Izax and Lanina to meet Raven 12345, while Lanina adjusted to life with his household. Before they left, Vivian gave Hao Ren a New Year’s scarf made partly from Lily’s fur.

• Hao Ren woke to find Izax urging him to go report to the Goddess and insisted they eat breakfast first.
• Hao Ren’s household shared breakfast, and Lanina questioned whether Hao Ren really worked for the Goddess.
• Hao Ren had the Data Terminal open a portal to Heaven after breakfast.
• Vivian gave Hao Ren a scarf for New Year’s and explained that Lily had contributed the fur.
• Hao Ren said goodbye to the household and entered the teleportation light curtain with Izax and Lanina.

Hao Ren visited Raven 12345 and learned that her fight with Heildra over a borrowed blade had left her mansion in ruins. Raven approved Hao Ren’s private trip with Izax and Lanina to find Izax’s daughter, warning him not to start a war and offering no funding; the group left to assemble their companions.

• Hao Ren, Izax, and Lanina arrived at Raven 12345’s badly damaged mansion and followed Big Blue to her office.
• Raven 12345 explained that Heildra, also known as Scorpion and numbered ZK12580, had cut her down over a blade she had borrowed.
• Raven 12345 told Lanina that she had rescued her from drifting through space and sent her to Earth.
• Hao Ren confirmed that he planned to travel with Izax to find Izax’s daughter, and Raven 12345 gave her approval with limits on force and no financial support.
• Hao Ren, Izax, and Lanina left to gather their companions and begin the trip.

Hao Ren prepared a trip to Izax’s remote demon-world hometown and took the group aboard the Giant Turtle Rock Platform. As the ship headed toward the World Gate, they learned they would travel directly to the demon world and discussed how to disguise themselves.

• Hao Ren explained that Raven 12345 had given him coordinates near the place where Izax was taken away, and he organized the group for the journey, leaving Becky and the Four Great Vajras behind.
• Hao Ren and the others traveled to Kuiper Station, where Lanina was astonished to discover that the Giant Turtle Rock Platform was Hao Ren’s spaceship.
• The Giant Turtle Rock Platform departed the Solar System and activated its Warp Jump Engine while Hao Ren told the group about the route and Izax’s isolated hometown.
• Hao Ren explained that Izax’s hometown had no World Gate, so the ship would travel directly to coordinates near the Seradon Demon-Forging Mine.
• Lanina proposed disguising the group as demon worshippers, with herself as a succubus and Izax appearing as a human transformed by demon worship.

Hao Ren and his companions used a World Gate to reach Izax's remote home universe, arriving inside the Helm Smoke Column. They emerged over a hellish, lava-streaked landscape, where Izax recognized his homeland and Hao Ren realized they had entered demon territory.

• Hao Ren took the Giant Turtle Rock Platform through the World Gate's one-way launch, and the rough transit left the passengers shaken.
• The ship arrived in a dark-red cloud, where Izax identified their location as the Helm Smoke Column and directed Hao Ren toward its edge.
• Hao Ren piloted the ship out of the cloud and saw a barren red landscape with lava waterfalls and a turbulent sky.
• Izax recognized the land as his homeland and nostalgically remarked that it was warmer than Mars.
• Hao Ren examined the Helm Smoke Column and discovered that it rose from an enormous crater, then resolved to be cautious in demon territory.

Hao Ren and his companions landed in the demon plane and learned about its hostile terrain and the dangers surrounding the Helm Smoke Column. Lanina led them toward the Demon-Forging Mine, aiming to reach a teleportation gate on the way to the Obsidian Plain, where the princess had disappeared.

• The group endured the demon plane's harsh air, with Lily choking on the sulfur and Nangong May struggling with the dryness.
• Izax explained the Helm Smoke Column and warned that its heat and poisonous gases made it dangerous to approach.
• Lanina said they needed to reach the Obsidian Plain and advised against using Spatial Teleportation because demons could detect it.
• Lanina identified the nearby pit as the Demon-Forging Mine and described how Seradon had used it to imprison demons and create hellfire demons.
• Hao Ren and his companions set off for the Demon-Forging Mine, keeping watch for wandering demons.

Hao Ren and his companions crossed the abandoned Demonforge Mine, where Taviel had apparently erased its facilities and inhabitants. They reached a heavily guarded demon portal and had to figure out how to get past the guards.

• Lanina explained that Taviel had made the Demonforge Mine’s demons and buildings vanish when she took the King away.
• Hao Ren and the others searched the deserted mine and wondered why Seradon had not sent anyone to investigate or rebuild it.
• Lanina described Seradon as the second-strongest Demon Monarch, and Izax explained how the ten Demon Realms were ranked.
• The group crossed the mine without meeting any demons and reached the portal to another Demon Realm.
• Hao Ren saw a large legion guarding the portal and wondered how they could get past it.

Hao Ren and the others needed to pass through a heavily guarded natural gate to reach the Seventh Plane, so they disguised Lily as a mutant hellhound and hid themselves with her. Lily successfully carried them through the gate, leaving the guards unaware of their infiltration.

• Izax and Lanina explained that the Demon Gate was a natural passage to the Seventh Plane and that its guards required legion insignia to let travelers through.
• The group saw a wild hellhound pass through the gate without being stopped, and Vivian came up with a plan to disguise Lily as one.
• Lanina captured a hellhound, and Vivian used Blood Magic to help disguise Lily with its hide while the others hid beneath it.
• Lily carried Hao Ren and Izax in her mouth and charged through the Demon Gate as the guards mistook them for a mutant hellhound and its prey.

Hao Ren and the others crossed into Izax’s demon realm disguised as a hellhound and escaped the gate guards. Izax explained how the realm’s teleportation gates had kept its inhabitants from exploring the universe beyond the spatial foam region.

• Lily carried Hao Ren and the others through the demon teleportation gate in disguise, then dropped them on a hillside far from the entrance.
• Vivian and the others removed Lily’s disguise and changed back, while Lily complained about the plan.
• Lanina recognized the gate’s guards as Seradon’s demons and lamented that they had taken over Izax’s former posts.
• Izax explained that his realm was a fragment of a shattered planet beneath a second planet, and described its unusual landscape.
• Izax told Hao Ren that easy access to habitable planes had discouraged spaceflight, leaving the boundless universe beyond the spatial foam region unexplored.

Izax explained how the world’s reliance on Space Gates had kept its races from questioning the limits of their spatial bubbles, while he had recognized the danger and hoped others would eventually follow. As the group traveled toward the Obsidian Plain, Lily stirred the lava with her claws, and something beneath the river began to move.

• Izax told Hao Ren that he had been the first to fear the world’s dependence on Space Gates, but believed curiosity would eventually lead others to understand the greater universe.
• Lanina pointed toward the route to the Obsidian Plain, but Izax led the group in the opposite direction and told her to call him Old King.
• The group crossed a volcanic wilderness, and Vivian cooled the air around them as they passed a lava river.
• Lily tried to enhance her flaming claws by stirring them in the lava, then said she had poked something.
• The lava river began to churn.

Hao Ren's group learned from a Molten Demon that Seradon controlled the region and was locked in a standoff with the Holy See Allied Forces near the Obsidian Plain. They headed there and infiltrated a demon squad by posing as prisoners and servants.

• Lanina spoke with the Molten Demon Bolu, who told her that Seradon's forces were concentrated around the Obsidian Plain and that most demons who had stayed behind had betrayed Izax.
• Izax and the others decided to continue toward the Obsidian Plain, where Seradon's army was facing the Holy See Allied Forces.
• As they approached the plain, Hao Ren's group encountered patrols and chose to make contact with low-level demons to learn more about the situation.
• Lanina convinced two demon guards that she was a succubus officer and that Hao Ren's group were her servants, then joined their squad as it traveled to the front.

Hao Ren’s group approached the Obsidian Plain disguised as demon captives and learned that the Holy See Allied Forces were searching for the Mad Demon King’s supposed treasure. When human soldiers ambushed the demons, Lanina killed the two demon escorts and Hao Ren urged everyone to fight.

• Hao Ren questioned a captured vanguard soldier and secretly proved to him that Lanina had not enchanted their group.
• The soldier revealed that the Holy See Allied Forces were searching the Obsidian Plain for a treasure said to hold the secrets of the Mad Demon King’s power.
• Izax was angered to learn that the allied forces had spent months searching for treasure instead of looking for his daughter, but Hao Ren calmed him.
• Hao Ren’s group neared the Obsidian Plain and passed other demons by claiming Lanina had enchanted the human prisoners.
• Human soldiers ambushed the group, and Lanina killed the two demon escorts before Hao Ren called everyone to arms.

Hao Ren and his companions rescued a group of human soldiers and gained passage to the Holy See Allied Forces’ base by posing as a sorcerer and his companions. Along the way, they learned that the Allied Forces were falling apart, while Izax showed no concern about entering the territory of his former enemies.

• Hao Ren, Lily, and Izax killed the Chaos Demons attacking the human soldiers, and Lanina joined Hao Ren as his supposedly summoned succubus.
• The bearded man vouched for Hao Ren, and Vivian claimed that their group were wandering mercenaries who had become separated from the Allied Forces.
• The young officer agreed to take Hao Ren and his companions to the base, warning Hao Ren to keep Lanina under control.
• The bearded man said the Mad Demon King had been missing for over half a year and that the Allied Forces were likely about to split apart.
• When Vivian and Nangong May asked about entering the territory of his former enemies, Izax replied that the whole world was against him anyway.

Hao Ren and his companions infiltrated the Holy See Allied Forces’ camp on the Obsidian Plain while seeking Izax’s daughter. After learning how the Ten Year War had ended and why the Allied Forces remained in the demon world, Hao Ren planned to investigate what they were searching for.

• Hao Ren’s group entered the Holy See Allied Forces’ territory while avoiding Seradon’s sentries.
• Hao Ren recalled that the Ten Year War had lasted ten years and ended when the Allied Forces sent the Demon King’s City and the Obsidian Throne into a spatial storm.
• Hao Ren noted that the Allied Forces now controlled most of the Obsidian Plain while Seradon’s forces remained locked in a stalemate with them.
• A bearded man vouched for Hao Ren’s group, allowing them to enter the camp as outside mercenaries with little inspection.
• Hao Ren told Vivian to send out bats and gather information about what the Allied Forces were searching for, while Nangong May complained of exhaustion.

Hao Ren and his companions learned that the Holy See Allied Forces were searching the Obsidian Plain for an artifact supposedly tied to Izax’s power, based on a mysterious crystal recording. After locating the crystal’s current keeper and mapping the command center, Izax proposed creating a distraction so they could investigate it.

• Hao Ren and his companions explored the sprawling Allied Forces camps and found their security lax and full of loopholes.
• Vivian reported that the Allied Forces and Seradon’s army were searching for an Ancient Divine Artifact believed to have given Izax his strength and wisdom.
• Izax said he had come mainly to learn what happened after his death, while Hao Ren questioned where the artifact rumor had originated.
• Vivian revealed that the Allied Forces possessed a crystal called the Mad Demon King’s last testament, which recorded the scene before Izax disappeared.
• Vivian mapped the supreme command center and explained that General Gregory currently kept the crystal before it rotated to an elven general next month.
• Izax studied the command center’s location near the former Demon King’s City and suggested creating a distraction after observing the guards for several days.

Hao Ren and Lanina prepared to strike the Holy See Allied Forces’ headquarters while Izax raised Molten Demons from the magma rivers beneath Scarred Canyon. The attack began, and Gregory ordered reinforcements while remaining at his command post with a crystal bearing the Demon Lord’s aura.

• Hao Ren and Lanina waited near the allied forces’ command center for Izax to begin his attack.
• Izax called on the magma rivers beneath Scarred Canyon, and they surged in response.
• The magma formed more than a thousand Molten Demons, prompting an elven sentry to sound the alarm.
• A guard told Gregory that the Molten Demons resembled the army once commanded by the Mad Demon King.
• Gregory ordered Master Rufan summoned and General Cassattina notified, then stayed in his room beside the dark red crystal.

Gregory and Rufan discussed the dark red crystal and the Mad Demon King's hidden secret before Seradon's legion launched a surprise attack on the allied camp. As Gregory rushed to defend the Platinum Obelisk, Hao Ren and Lanina broke into his room to steal the crystal, but found it sealed inside a magically locked chest.

• Gregory asked Master Rufan to suppress the poisonous vapor from the Molten Demons beneath Scarred Canyon, and they discussed the crystal's message and the Mad Demon King's possible conspiracy.
• A fiery gate opened east of the camp, and Seradon's elite demons emerged and began attacking the allied forces.
• Gregory recognized that the attack might be aimed at the Platinum Obelisk, locked the crystal inside a chest fused to the room, and hurried to the front line.
• Hao Ren and Lanina slipped into Gregory's room, confirmed that the crystal had once been part of Izax's demonic sword, and found the chest protected by a secret lock.
• Hao Ren drew his silver-alloy spear and proposed moving the chest instead of opening its lock.

Hao Ren stole Gregory's entire watchtower to bypass the alarms protecting the red crystal, then had an Autonomous Mechanical Unit open the box inside his portable space. After regrouping with his companions, he activated the crystal and saw a phantom of Izax appear.

• Lanina warned Hao Ren that the crystal's box was connected to an alarm system and could not be moved or forced open.
• Hao Ren collected the entire watchtower into his portable space and fled with Lanina while the camp was distracted.
• Gregory realized the demon army was made of illusions and returned to find his watchtower missing.
• Hao Ren and his companions regrouped near the Obsidian Plain, where he revealed that an Autonomous Mechanical Unit had opened the box inside his portable space.
• Hao Ren gave the red crystal to Lanina, who infused it with magic and summoned a phantom of Izax.

Hao Ren and his companions suspected that a crystal recording of Izax’s supposed final words had been staged by someone impersonating the Demon Monarch. They decided to investigate in Cadheus, the Human World’s central hub, and planned to build a portal from Obsidian to get there.

• A crystal showed a demon resembling Izax declaring that his power and divine artifacts awaited a new Demon Monarch in the Obsidian Plain.
• Izax denied making the speech or leaving divine artifacts, while Lanina noticed that the figure’s movements and bearing differed from his.
• Lily pointed out that someone had held the crystal while recording and concluded that the scene had been staged with an actor resembling Izax.
• Izax considered former Flame Demon lords who might have survived the war and decided to investigate who had used his supposed funeral arrangements.
• Lanina explained that Cadheus offered access to human institutions and intelligence about the demonic planes, so the group chose to go there.
• Izax pointed to the scattered Obsidian and proposed digging it up to build a portal to Cadheus.

Hao Ren and his companions escaped the Demon Realm through a one-use portal Izax built from obsidian, arriving in a lush mountain region of the Human World. They headed toward a distant city, where they could teleport freely as long as they stayed outside it.

• Izax explained that he had left secret paths to the Human World and described how heroes eventually defeated his forces.
• Lily gathered obsidian, and Izax tempered it in lava and forged it into a portal altar.
• Hao Ren sent the Data Terminal through the portal to check that the destination was safe, then led the others through.
• Hao Ren, Vivian, Lily, Nangong May, and Izax emerged in a cave near Cadheus and enjoyed the fresh air and green scenery.
• Izax urged the group to reach the distant city, explaining that they could use spatial teleportation freely outside it.

Hao Ren and his companions arrived in Cadessa City, the neutral hub where Izax had suffered his first defeat. They passed the paladins’ inspection and entered the city, while Izax reflected on his failed siege and walked forward without seeking revenge.

• Hao Ren and his companions reached Cadessa City, and Izax explained they had chosen it because it was nearby.
• Izax revealed he had buried savings near the city during an earlier visit, giving the group money for their stay.
• At the gate, a paladin tested Lanina by having the handsome Jason look into her eyes, then let the group pass after deciding she was fully controlled.
• Izax explained why a succubus’s reaction to men made the test reliable and called Lanina an unprecedented exception.
• Inside the city, Izax recalled failing to breach its walls with a hundred thousand troops, then strode ahead as Lanina said he would seek an honorable duel rather than revenge.

Hao Ren and his group learned how Private Kevin Hodel’s courage at the start of the Ten Year War had helped turn the human defense line against Izax’s army. After meeting Kevin’s daughter Vanessa, who was about to travel to the demon plane, Izax gave her an amulet and left the statue in silence.

• Hao Ren and his group stopped at a statue of Private Kevin Hodel in Cadessa City’s outer square.
• Lanina explained that Kevin had charged from the trenches when the allied soldiers were too afraid to fight, inspiring the counterattack before he died minutes later.
• Vanessa Hodel visited her father’s statue and said she would travel to the demon plane as a clerk with the next rotating contingent.
• Izax gave Vanessa an amulet to help her adapt to the demon plane and told her that her father had been a fine soldier.
• Izax left the statue, and Hao Ren led the group after him as the Data Terminal remarked on the life of an inspector.

Hao Ren and Izax discussed the conflict between Izax’s ambitions and the people who fought to protect their ordinary lives, as Am rose over Cadheus. Izax reaffirmed that he would become the Demon King again, while Hao Ren ended the night sharing the strange world’s wonders with Doudou.

• Hao Ren found Izax on the inn terrace, where they reflected on the invasion of Cadessa City and the opposing aims of Izax and its people.
• Vivian explained that most people cared about the peace and daily lives within their own lifetimes, not Izax’s distant future.
• Izax showed Hao Ren the celestial sunrise of Am and explained how Cadheus’s shattered continent orbited the gas giant.
• Izax said he would raise an army again to pursue the world’s hidden truths, while its people would still fight to defend their homes.
• Hao Ren returned to his room and brought Doudou to the window, where she pointed at Am and asked to visit it.

Hao Ren and his companions explored Cadessa City to learn how the Human World had changed since the Ten Year War. They discovered that reconstruction and political shifts were underway, and Izax concluded that the world continued turning without them.

• Doudou woke before Hao Ren, sang by the window, and chewed its wooden lattice while he pretended to sleep.
• Hao Ren joined his companions for a walk through the city, where Lily struggled with the short night and Vivian teased her.
• The group toured the outer district, gathering rumors from merchants while Vivian bought protective amulets from an elf.
• They learned that the coalition army remained in the demon plane, most of the Seven Heroes had not returned home, and several races faced political changes and reconstruction.
• Izax remarked that the world kept turning just fine without anyone.