Recaps

Hao Ren and Veronica discovered that thousands of Corrupted Monsters had gathered around an extinguished Hearth Device in the ruins, an abnormal sight in the depths of Chaos. Veronica asked Hao Ren to help investigate by drawing the monsters away while she relit the hearth, and he agreed.

• Veronica explained that Corrupted Monsters were rare in the Chaos hinterland, making the enormous gathering around them highly unusual.
• Hao Ren and Veronica saw the monsters silently surrounding a strange, extinguished Hearth Device and wondered why they remained after its fire had gone out.
• Veronica asked Hao Ren to investigate the abnormal gathering and the hearth, and he agreed despite the danger.
• Veronica proposed that Hao Ren lure the monsters away while she relit the hearth, then agreed to bring her knights to help.

Veronica and her knights launched a desperate assault on the Tower of Hearthfire while Hao Ren drew most of the Corrupted Monsters away. Veronica reached the tower and began the ritual to ignite it as a huge explosion lit the town behind her.

• Hao Ren attacked the monsters near the square’s opening, enraging them and drawing more than ninety percent away from the Hearthfire.
• Veronica led the knights over the wall and charged toward the tower, fighting through the Corrupted Monsters that remained.
• Morian ordered the knights to form a defensive formation and protect Veronica as they pushed through the monster horde.
• A vast sphere of light rose beyond the town and shattered into a mushroom cloud, followed by a deafening explosion.
• Veronica cut her hand, cast her blood onto the Tower of Hearthfire, and recited the ancient oath to ignite it.

Hao Ren tested his power against a horde of Corrupted Monsters, then joined Veronica and her knights as the Tower of Hearthfire drew the creatures into its Light of Order. The tower briefly restored the ruins to a safe land of Order, but Veronica warned that its bloodline-fueled fire would last only two hours.

• Hao Ren survived a massive explosion, examined the fading remains of Corrupted Monsters, and prepared to face the surviving horde as it surrounded him.
• The Tower of Hearthfire activated, casting a barrier of Order over the ruins and attracting the Corrupted Monsters, which charged toward its light.
• Hao Ren chased the monsters back to the town, where he and Veronica’s knights destroyed the few that survived the burning approach.
• Veronica explained that the monsters’ lingering yearning for Order drew them into the Hearthfire’s light, though they were beyond saving.
• Veronica told Hao Ren that the Hearthfire had exhausted its reserves and could burn for at most two hours without a source of Order.

Veronica learned that the Tower of Hearthfire's runes showed chaos and order merging, and set out to report the discovery. Meanwhile, an alpha wolf forced the demi-humans of a floating island to build hot-air balloons for a journey to the human continent.

• Morris found that chaotic magic and order had left traces on the Tower of Hearthfire's rune slabs with an unusually narrow boundary between them.
• Veronica decided to report the discovery to her Father King and the Royal Scholars, while Morian urged that the Order State be notified too.
• Hao Ren tried to contact the Data Terminal and Giant Turtle Rock Platform as Veronica and the knights departed through the Chaos Mist.
• Glu Glu and the other demi-humans built hot-air balloons after the alpha wolf killed a Blue Demon Whale and ordered them to travel to the human continent.

Hao Ren and Veronica traveled through the Chaos-tainted wilderness toward the Shadow Jungle, discussing ancient myths before reaching the Hill of Nameless Warriors. Veronica explained that the statue there was believed to be the Elf King of Suohoma, who died defending his capital, while Hao Ren questioned why the hill was named for nameless warriors.

• Hao Ren traveled with Veronica and the knights under the protection of the holy relic, while learning about Kolo's history and legends.
• Veronica told Hao Ren the myth that Lockmadon shattered the ancient continent and described the Sky Rivers scattered through the Void.
• Hao Ren spotted the Hill of Nameless Warriors, and the group approached its hilltop statue.
• Veronica recounted how the Elf Empire of Suohoma fell to a devastating Chaos Tide six thousand years earlier.
• Veronica said the statue was believed to be the Elf King, who vowed to stand watching his kingdom until it rose again.
• Hao Ren suggested the place should be called Hill of the Nameless King, but Veronica explained it was named for the king dying as a warrior.

Hao Ren and Veronica’s group crossed the Shadow Jungle toward a Hearthfire Outpost, while Morian questioned why the Order State had withdrawn from the war. The outpost’s light suggested order still held there, but Hao Ren smelled blood as they approached.

• Hao Ren reflected on Kolo’s endless wars and resolved to uncover what was wrong with the world.
• Morian asked Hao Ren why the Order State had withdrawn from the Shadow Jungle, and Veronica pressed him for an explanation.
• Hao Ren speculated that something beyond the forces of chaos might have gone wrong inside the Order State, leaving the group silent.
• Veronica led the group into the corrupted Shadow Jungle, where they made their way through its shifting plants and unstable ground.
• The group approached a Hearthfire Outpost, where Veronica felt reassured by its light, but Hao Ren detected a faint smell of blood.

Hao Ren and Veronica reached a Tarus Hearth Device outpost and discovered that its soldiers had died in a mysterious mass suicide. The commander’s final message revealed that something had entered their dreams and emerged from their hearts.

• Hao Ren detected a faint smell of blood coming from the outpost, so Veronica ordered the group to approach cautiously.
• Veronica and Hao Ren found the outpost dark and its Hearth Device dim, with the gate barred from inside.
• Hao Ren tore down the gate and found the outpost soldiers dead, many having apparently torn open their own chests.
• Veronica and Morian examined the bodies and concluded that the soldiers had died in terror, while the commander had apparently fought an unseen enemy before killing himself.
• Veronica found the commander’s blood-written final words: “There's something in the dream. It came out of our hearts...”

Hao Ren, Veronica, and Morian found successive watchposts in the Shadow Jungle wiped out by an unseen force that had driven their defenders mad. They reached the edge of the forest and saw that the Western Fortress still stood beneath a powerful pillar of Light of Order.

• Hao Ren asked whether Chaos monsters could attack minds, and Veronica and Morian suspected a new kind of Chaos creature had emerged.
• Veronica led the group along Thorn Road, where they found the second watchpost filled with corpses whose deaths resembled those at the first.
• Morian discovered a wizard at the third watchpost who had used defensive runes and sacrificed his Grimoire before dying by his own magic.
• Veronica lost her temper and struck an ancient tree, which briefly awakened and attacked her before she forced it back to sleep.
• The group found the fourth watchpost lifeless and concluded that the kingdom's western jungle watchposts had likely all been destroyed.
• Hao Ren and the others emerged from the Shadow Jungle and saw the Western Fortress still shining beneath the Light of Order.

Hao Ren rested with Veronica's knights near the Western Fortress while trying to reconnect with the outside world. He briefly contacted the Data Terminal, learned that Lily was safe, and lost the unstable connection before he could finish speaking.

• Veronica ordered the knights to camp outside the Shadow Jungle and recover before approaching the Western Fortress.
• Hao Ren adjusted the mental communication signal while resting, and Lavinia approached him to ask about his origins and plans.
• Hao Ren told Lavinia that he was searching for a friend who had been separated from his team.
• The Data Terminal reestablished contact and told Hao Ren that the team was safe and that Lily's life signs were normal.
• The connection faltered, and Vivian urged Hao Ren to take care of himself before the communication was severed.

Hao Ren and Veronica’s knights reached the Western Fortress and found it under a massive assault by Chaos monsters. Veronica prepared to lead a flank attack to help the defenders, and Hao Ren agreed to support her with his explosive magic.

• Lavinia offered to ask her brother’s network to help Hao Ren find his old friend, and then she was called away.
• Veronica led Hao Ren and the knights toward the Western Fortress after they recovered their strength.
• Near the fortress, Hao Ren and Veronica sensed Chaos and saw thousands of monsters attacking its walls and protective barrier.
• Veronica ordered the knights to prepare for battle and proposed striking the monsters’ flank while Hao Ren disrupted the Chaos aura.
• Hao Ren agreed to the plan, and Veronica and the knights declared that the barriers would not fall that day.

Rudolf III discussed the Kingdom’s failing western defense and political threats with General Groen and Grand Duke Rune, while Princess Anya reported strange changes beyond the Chaos Boundary. The chapter ended as Anya began revealing reports of new energy flows, organized magical beasts, and a rumored “pack leader.”

• General Groen angrily condemned the nobles for profiting from White City’s sacred-white laws.
• Rudolf III explained that rival nations were preparing to intervene if the Kingdom collapsed after its western defeat.
• Groen blamed Grand Duke Rune for Veronica’s deployment, and Rudolf III rebuked them for arguing about his daughter’s death.
• Princess Anya told Rudolf III that scholars and border reports described unusual changes within the Chaos and along the Kingdom’s southern border.

Princess Anya briefed Rudolf III on ominous changes linked to the Chaos Tide, including a shadow vortex, new attacks in the Shadow Jungle, and demi-races uniting under a leader called Head Wolf. Rudolf ordered General Groen to strengthen the southern border defenses, then wondered what was happening to the world as he looked toward the darkened horizon.

• Anya reported that astrologers had observed a vast shadow vortex forming along the Dark Boundary, despite expectations that the Chaos Tide would soon weaken.
• Anya explained that the Shadow Jungle’s sentry posts had gone silent and new monsters were attacking the Western Fortress, while she defended the Western General Magus from blame.
• Anya said that demi-race tribes on the southern floating islands had united, were building a large device, and might be connected to the disappearance of a Blue Demon Whale.
• Anya revealed that a soul seized by the witches had shown fear and reverence for a leader titled Head Wolf, prompting Grand Duke Rune to urge precautions.
• Rudolf ordered Groen to increase defenses in cities along the southern border without diverting too many troops from the western war.
• After Rune and Groen left, Rudolf asked Anya to open the window and wondered what was happening to the world as he saw the dark ring at the horizon.

High-ranking cleric Kalasios traveled aboard the Sacred Hammer to the Ansu Continent as the world’s Chaos spread, and reflected on the decline of civilization. He discovered that magical beasts had built flying vessels and ordered his crew not to attack them.

• Kalasios sailed toward the Ansu Continent aboard the Sacred Hammer, which activated the Light of Order against the region’s rampant Chaos.
• Kalasios told a servant that Kolo’s greatest weapons had not advanced in centuries, while past civilizations had built far more powerful aerial fortresses.
• Kalasios spotted a logging camp and crude structures on a floating island, along with blue, bound spheres arranged beside the camp.
• The blue spheres expanded and rose into the air as flying balloons, with magical beasts moving around them.
• A soldier asked Kalasios whether the Sacred Hammer should attack the balloons, and Kalasios ordered the crew to go around them instead.

Lily led the forest monsters aboard six newly built airships toward the Ansu Continent, confident she could find the Landlord there. After spotting a magic-powered warship, she saw the Chaos Tide erupt across the sky and engulf the floating island in flames.

• Grugrugu flew with young demon apes and imps aboard Lily’s airship, trying to reassure them as it climbed into the sky.
• Lily ordered the Jackalmen to have the Fire Foxes steady the heat while the bear monsters powered the airship’s propellers.
• Lily reflected that the forest races had helped her build six airships quickly and planned to search the human kingdoms for the Landlord.
• Lily spotted a sophisticated magic-powered warship emerging from the clouds and heading toward Lunir.
• The airship shook as darkness and mist surged over the edge of Ansu Continent, and Lily watched the Chaos Tide ignite the floating island and its volcano.

As the Chaos Tide devastated the skies, Kalasios struggled to keep the Holy Light Hammer alive while Lily led the hot-air balloons toward the continent. Lily unexpectedly began radiating the Light of Order, stabilizing the airships and driving back the chaos.

• The Chaos Tide tore apart floating islands and attacked the Holy Light Hammer, forcing Kalasios to order the crew to discard equipment and defend the ship.
• Kalasios searched the storm for Lily's balloons but assumed they had been destroyed.
• Lily saw her island collapsing and ordered Grugru and the other balloon crews to accelerate toward the continent.
• Grugru pointed out that Lily was glowing, and her expanding light calmed the storm and stabilized the nearby airships.
• Lily realized she was shining and muttered, "I'm really bright."

Lily used her uncontrolled Light of Order to shield the airships and offered the badly damaged Holy Light Hammer a ride, while Hao Ren and Veronica entered the Western Fortress after humanity defeated the Chaos monsters. The story left the Holy Light Hammer’s crew facing Lily’s offer and the fortress’s Tower of Kindling revealed to Hao Ren.

• Lily ordered the reachable airships to gather under her light and head toward the distant continent.
• Chaos monsters breached the Holy Light Hammer’s defenses and overwhelmed its lower decks, while Kalasios struggled to protect the ship.
• Lily’s hot-air balloons rose beside the Holy Light Hammer, and her Light of Order dispelled the Chaos surrounding it.
• Lily offered Kalasios and the battered crew seats on her balloons in exchange for cheap tickets.
• After the day-and-night battle ended in humanity’s victory, Veronica led the exhausted knights into the Western Fortress with Hao Ren following.
• Hao Ren saw the fortress’s enormous Tower of Kindling, whose magical runes and pillars of light rose above its stone structures.

Hao Ren and Veronica reached Western Fortress, where General Magus welcomed the surviving princess and questioned the source of their intelligence. Veronica learned that the fortress had endured seven sudden monster attacks in just over twenty days, and Magus proposed discussing the crisis over a meal.

• Veronica and her surviving knights entered Western Fortress, and news of her survival spread through the defenders.
• General Magus invited Veronica, Hao Ren, and Sir Morian to a private room while the other knights attended a feast.
• Veronica explained that her force had crossed the Shadow Jungle and Barren Wilderness before reaching Kasuan Sacred Mountain, where Hao Ren had saved them.
• Hao Ren identified himself as the Ancient Guardian of Kasuan Sacred Mountain, and Magus silently doubted his account.
• Veronica reported changes deep within Chaos and possible alterations to the Hearth Devices, then asked about the unusually frequent monster attacks.
• Magus revealed that the fortress had faced seven waves of Chaos monsters in just over twenty days and invited them to eat while they talked.

At the Western Fortress, Veronica and Magus discussed the worsening Chaos attacks, the catastrophe in the Shadow Jungle, and the loss of teleportation, while Veronica decided to return to the royal capital. Later, Magus and Morian questioned her belief that Hao Ren was an Ancient Guardian, but she affirmed that she trusted him and believed he stood on their side.

• Hao Ren joined the welcoming banquet, where Magus explained that unexplained attacks had begun after the Shadow Jungle defense line collapsed and were growing more dangerous.
• Veronica told Magus what she and her companions had found at the Hearth outposts, where the soldiers had died despite the buildings and armories remaining intact.
• Magus revealed that teleportation had stopped ten days earlier because a shadow vortex was destabilizing space, and Veronica decided to travel to the royal capital by messenger.
• After the banquet, Veronica, Morian, and Magus surveyed the darkened western frontier from the fortress spire.
• Magus and Morian questioned Hao Ren's origins, and Veronica said she trusted him because he had saved them and believed he was the sacred land's guardian.

Hao Ren traveled with Veronica from the Western Fortress toward Tarus’s royal capital aboard a fleet of airships. As they crossed the Order Barrier, the darkness gave way to daylight, and Hao Ren saw Kolo’s sun.

• Veronica invited Hao Ren to accompany her to White City and meet her father, the king of Tarus.
• General Magus arranged three airships and an escort of Wind Knights to take Veronica and Hao Ren to the royal capital.
• Veronica became airsick during the flight and went to rest in her room.
• Sir Morian told Hao Ren that Magus was descended from the Winter Giants and had guarded the Western Fortress for 127 years.
• The airships crossed the Order Barrier, and Hao Ren saw Kolo’s sun.

Hao Ren crossed the boundary between chaos and Kolo’s peaceful lands, learning how the people understood the origin of the Chaos Tide. As the airship neared a strange landscape, he sensed the Creation Goddess’s divine power among its towering black pillars.

• Hao Ren realized that Kolo’s sun was a genuine, unaffected star, while the Chaos War appeared confined to the world’s surface.
• Sir Morian explained that generations of people had defended the barrier so their descendants could live safely in the fertile lands beyond it.
• Hao Ren asked where chaos came from, and Morian recounted the story of Lockmadon, whose shattered body and dreaming mind supposedly created chaos and the recurring Chaos Tide.
• Hao Ren considered whether Lockmadon’s legend could be connected to the Firstborn, but noted that key details did not match what he knew.
• Hao Ren spotted countless black pillars ahead and recognized the divine power of the Creation Goddess emanating from them.

Hao Ren and his companions approached the Pillars of Imprisonment, where Morian explained their legendary connection to the Creation Goddess and the imprisonment of Lockmadon. Meanwhile, Lily’s beast horde camped in the southern jungle with the battered Holy Light Hammer investigation team, who had survived a disastrous airship landing.

• Hao Ren asked Morian about the immense black pillars, and Morian identified them as the Pillars of Imprisonment, said to have been driven into the earth by the Creation Goddess to bind Lockmadon.
• Morian recounted how the pillars had endured the Chaos Tide and how King of Fire had gained insight atop one in the western desert.
• Hao Ren examined the active runes and divine power as the airships passed beneath the pillars, and Morian assured him the area below them was safe.
• Lily ordered her wolves, Jackalmen, and other magical beasts to prepare a jungle camp after a giant monitor lizard fell from the sky and died.
• Kalasios and the Holy Light Hammer investigation team regrouped after their emergency landing, exhausted and battered but grateful to have survived the storm with Lily’s help.

Lily led the expedition and a united horde of magical beasts through the Chaos-corrupted jungle toward the Kingdom of Taros, while Kalasios wondered about the source of her powerful Light of Order. The camp was interrupted when two bloodied lesser demons came screaming back from the forest.

• Lily's magical beasts worked together in camp under her rule, while Kalasios watched her command them and speak several languages fluently.
• Kalasios reflected on Lily's Light of Order and wondered whether she was favored by the gods as the group neared Taros's orderly frontier.
• Lily joined Kalasios by the bonfire, and he explained that the expedition members feared her infamous magical-beast subordinates despite being grateful for her help.
• Lily mourned her crashed airship and the Blue Demon Whale rib meat lost in the storm, while Kalasios grieved the Sanctuary's crashed flagship.
• Lily complained that the Light of Order kept her awake, but two blood-covered lesser demons suddenly ran screaming into camp from the forest.

Lily’s scouts returned from the forest with a report of Chaos Minions, and Kalasios warned that a new Chaos storm was approaching. The group camped for the night, where Lily noticed the two surviving scouts standing up near the lesser imps.

• Two lesser imp scouts returned covered in blood and told Lily that their companions had been killed by a black creature from the woods.
• Kalasios identified the attack as the work of Chaos Minions and warned that a new Chaos storm would reach southern Ansu in about three days.
• Lily questioned Kalasios about the danger and learned that the group needed to avoid concentrated Chaos while traveling toward the nearest bastion of Order.
• Lily ordered everyone to camp and rest, arguing that the exhausted group would be more vulnerable if they pressed on.
• Unable to sleep beneath her own bright glow, Lily heard a strange sound in the camp and saw the two surviving scouts rise near the lesser imps.

Lily was caught in an illusion by a tentacled shadow that tried to tempt her with riches, power, and immortality. She ignored every offer to demand her missing ribs, then broke free by striking the nightmare monster with a concrete brick.

• Two lesser imps left the campsite and headed toward the humans' tents, but Lily stopped them and a shadow creature sprang from one imp's shadow to attack her.
• Lily woke in an illusion of her home, where she searched the empty house and tried to sneak off with leftover ribs from the refrigerator.
• A mysterious voice offered Lily treasure, authority, power, and other rewards, but she kept demanding to know where her ribs were.
• The voice became enraged and sent a tentacled monster at Lily, who grabbed a concrete brick and hurled it at the creature.
• The brick sent the monster flying, and the surrounding illusion vanished.

Lily recovered her memories after escaping the monster’s illusion and helped capture the creature that had emerged from the Lesser Imps’ shadows. She left it in Kalasios’s care for study, hoping the Landlord could identify it when they found him.

• Lily regained her memories, spotted the dust monster, and subdued it with her summoned claw blades.
• Kalasios, the Templar Knights, Grugru, the dire wolves, and the Lesser Imp leader gathered as Lily explained how the monster had attacked her through an illusion.
• Lily pointed out the monster’s wounds and argued that it had fallen from the mental world into reality, while Kalasios recognized its unusual resistance to the Light of Order.
• Lily gave Kalasios permission to study the creature and asked him not to kill it until they could find the Landlord.
• Kalasios ordered the Templar Knights to restrain the monster with an Imprisonment Stone and rune chains, and Lily silenced its threats by asking it to conjure her missing bowl of ribs.