Chapter Summaries

Hao Ren and his companions waited at Kuiper Station for specialized equipment that would let them enter the Dream Plane, while keeping watch over Doudou after her strange new abilities appeared. After the equipment arrived, they prepared to bring a large group into the other world, where Becky and the others finally returned to Beinz Blood Lake.

• Hao Ren spent the days at Kuiper Station watching Doudou, who showed no further teleportation problems after her earlier accident.
• A cargo ship escorted by the Fialli Consortium delivered ten Dream Plane conversion cubes to Kuiper Station, and Hao Ren accepted the shipment.
• Hao Ren gathered his companions, the four ascetic monks, and the little green people to prepare for their first large-scale trip into the Dream Plane.
• Hao Ren began explaining how to use the hibernation pods, while Lily rushed excitedly toward a cube and Vivian urged him to hurry.
• Becky and the others materialized beside Beinz Blood Lake and lamented that they could now return home only by dreaming.

Hao Ren returned to the Dream Plane with the group and prepared to retrieve the stranded spaceship from the blood lake. As the operation began, Big Beard and the other ascetics revealed that they believed the outsiders might hold the key to opening the Divine Cave.

• Hao Ren confirmed the group had returned safely to the Dream Plane, then released Kabala and the other little green people, who excitedly planted flags along the shore until Lily herded them back.
• Big Beard admitted that the ascetics had only half-believed Hao Ren and asked him to return the Holy Church Orb and the Origin Holy Artifact; Hao Ren agreed to hand over the copied artifact later.
• Hao Ren arranged for the little green people and Nangong May to retrieve their spaceship from the blood lake while avoiding damage to the holy site, and Big Beard warned them not to alarm the guards.
• Vivian agreed that the ascetics seemed unusually easygoing, so Hao Ren told the Data Terminal to monitor the lake and cut off the Dream Plane connection if anything went wrong.
• After Hao Ren's group entered the lake, a young priest questioned whether they should be allowed into the Holy Lake, and Big Beard said the Goddess had accepted their power and they might possess the key to the Divine Cave.

Hao Ren and his companions excavated the alien spaceship from the Blood Lake and used beacons to transfer it to Kuiper Station. After the ship vanished, the lake water rushed into the hollow and a strange, bell-like sound echoed through the water and nearby forest.

• Hao Ren, Nangong May, Dou Dou, and the others found the sunken ship with Kabala’s workers at the center of the Blood Lake.
• The Campbell engineers excavated the spaceship while Nangong May calmed the disturbed lake currents.
• Lily detected a strange smell in the water, but Nangong May sensed no harmful substances.
• The workers attached transfer beacons to the hull, and Hao Ren told Kabala they would be received at Kuiper Station.
• The ship and the little green people vanished from the lake, leaving a hollow that filled with water and produced a strange sound heard by Big Beard and the others on shore.

After sending the Campbell people’s spaceship away, Hao Ren and his companions returned to the lakeside outpost, where they found it wrecked and apparently deserted. Big Beard feared that heretics had attacked the holy ground, while Hao Ren suspected the Stone Giants had advanced toward the lake.

• The group reached shore after the spaceship’s departure, and Hao Ren told the ascetic monks that the Campbell people had left and the disturbance had caused no serious problems.
• Vivian asked the four ascetics to vouch for the group and testify about the Holy Church Orb, and Big Beard agreed to honor their promise.
• Becky celebrated the prospect of a reward and knighthood, while Nangong May reminded her that she could only stay in this world for fifteen days at a time.
• Izax noticed the lakeside outpost was dark and damaged, and Lily detected a faint smell of blood from several days earlier.
• Big Beard and the others ran into the camp, where they found collapsed walls and buildings as if a giant had trampled them.
• Hao Ren wondered whether the Stone Giants had breached Leighton Town’s defenses, while Big Beard asked if heretics had attacked the holy ground.

Hao Ren and his companions searched a destroyed outpost near Leighton Town and discovered a magically formed tunnel beneath it. They emerged under the stars, only to hear heavy footsteps approaching from the Twisted Woods.

• Becky told Big Beard about the Stone Giant and the chaos caused by the missing Holy Church Orb, while Hao Ren questioned whether the Orb had revived the monsters.
• Hao Ren decided to search the ruined outpost, and Lily noticed that the bloodied camp had no bodies before digging into a hidden tunnel.
• Lily fell through the tunnel entrance, and the group followed her into a smooth passage that Big Beard identified as magically carved.
• Hao Ren led the group down the tunnel toward a breeze, but they found no clues and crawled back to the surface through rubble.
• Heavy footsteps sounded from the Twisted Woods after Lily wished for monsters, and Vivian blamed her for jinxing them.

Hao Ren and the others fought off a horde of Stone Giants surrounding them near the Blood Lake. Hao Ren discovered he could defeat them by trapping them in his portable space until they lost their vitality, but as the group prepared to head for Leighton Town, human voices came from the woods.

• Stone Giants poured out of the Twisted Woods, and Hao Ren’s group fought them while the four ascetics learned to keep them airborne with gravity magic and attacks.
• Vivian spotted more than a hundred Stone Giants approaching, and Hao Ren realized the group could not destroy them quickly enough by fighting normally.
• Hao Ren stored Stone Giants in his portable space until they died, then dumped out heaps of black rocks after defeating more than a hundred of them.
• Lily collected some of the black stones, and the group prepared to cross the Twisted Woods for Leighton Town.
• Human voices sounded from the nearby woods before the group could set off.

Hao Ren and his companions met Church and Kingdom knights at the Sacred Lake after defeating a Stone Giant force. The knights revealed that Stone Giants had invaded the region, and Big Beard urgently asked whether the Sacred Lake had been harmed.

• Church and Kingdom knights surrounded Hao Ren's group at the lakeshore while searching for monsters they had been pursuing.
• Big Beard identified himself and the other three as Church ascetics, and the knight captain recognized them as the Holy Church Orb's four masters.
• Becky announced that Hao Ren's mercenary group had found the orb and brought back the four masters, while Big Beard credited Hao Ren with defeating the Stone Giants.
• The knight captain summoned reinforcements to escort the orb back to town and explained that Stone Giants had surged out of the Dragon Ridge Mountains and attacked the region's defenses.
• The knight captain said Leighton Town had been recaptured under Marshal Ofra, and Big Beard asked whether the monsters had damaged the Sacred Lake.

Hao Ren and his companions left the Sacred Lake with a force of Church and Kingdom Knights and returned the Orb to Leighton Town. They found the town badly damaged by the Stone Giants, and the Knight Captain announced the Orb’s return to the waiting soldiers.

• The Knight Captain told Big Beard that the Stone Giants had gathered around the Sacred Lake without attacking it, though Diocesan Chief Geldon had ordered the Knights to clear them out.
• Hao Ren and his companions agreed to withdraw to Leighton Town and rode through the Twisted Woods under Knight escort, while Becky excitedly imagined the rewards awaiting her.
• Hao Ren learned that the Church Knights were responsible for the area inside the Leighton defensive line, while Marshal Ofra’s Kingdom forces guarded the outer front.
• The group reached Leighton Town at dawn and saw shattered defenses, collapsed houses, and other signs of the Stone Giants’ attack.
• The Knight Captain explained that hundreds or thousands of Stone Giants had charged through the town before Marshal Ofra’s reinforcements and Diocesan Chief Geldon’s forces stopped them.
• When an officer asked what had happened, the Knight Captain ordered him to notify Diocesan Chief Geldon that the Holy Church Orb had returned.

Hao Ren and the four ascetics returned the Holy Church Orb to Leighton Town, where its arrival lifted the spirits of residents still recovering from the Stone Giants’ attack. At the church, Big Beard gave Geldon their agreed-upon account of their disappearance, and Geldon turned to hear Hao Ren’s story.

• A knight announced that the Holy Church Orb had returned, and Leighton Town rang its bells and gathered to welcome the group.
• The group rode through streets still damaged by the Stone Giants, then met Diocesan Chief Geldon outside the intact church.
• Big Beard and Geldon greeted each other, and Geldon thanked Hao Ren and his companions for recovering the orb and rescuing the ascetics.
• Inside the church, Big Beard told Geldon that an ancient alternate dimension had trapped the ascetics until Hao Ren’s group freed them.
• Geldon recognized the mercenary group’s unusual name, All the Good Names Are Taken by Dogs, and praised its leader before asking Hao Ren to tell his story.

Hao Ren’s group returned the Holy Church Orb and learned that a living mountain road was bringing monsters through the Dragon Ridge Mountains. Marshal Ofra proposed moving the orb to the capital and having the Kingdom Knights help clear the Sacred Lake, then privately met with Geldon to discuss the proposals.

• Geldon questioned Hao Ren’s group about rescuing the ascetics and heard their account of the monsters’ attacks and the mountain’s transformation.
• Geldon explained that a new, miasma-filled mountain road had crossed the defensive line and was bringing monsters toward the Sacred Lake.
• Marshal Ofra arrived, recognized Hao Ren’s group, and praised them for returning the orb.
• Big Beard said the orb’s usual storage place was unsafe, and Ofra proposed escorting it to the capital with elite forces from both orders.
• Ofra offered the Kingdom Knights’ help clearing the area around the Sacred Lake, and Geldon asked the guests to wait while he spoke privately with her.

Hao Ren and his companions settled into their lodgings while discussing the Stone Giants and the escalating crisis in Horleta. In a meeting with Ofra, Geldon revealed that a heretical sect might be connected to the disappearance of recent corpses and the Stone Giants, and asked Ofra to report the threat to the Pope and the King.

• Becky worried that her reward might be delayed, then explained that Horleta had sent more troops to Beinz Diocese but had no solution to the Stone Giants.
• Lily asked about the Royal Family’s response to the Stone Giants, and Becky said the stalemate would continue until their origins were understood.
• Geldon told Big Beard, Ofra, and the other ascetics that recent corpses had been disappearing west of the Dragon Ridge Mountains, including bodies from cemeteries.
• Ofra and Geldon discussed whether a heretical sect or necromancer was responsible, while Big Beard described a blood-smelling tunnel beneath the watchtower.
• Geldon agreed to investigate the watchtower and asked Ofra to travel to the capital to report the wider threat to the Pope and the King.

Hao Ren studied records about the Dragon Ridge Mountains and learned of growing friction between the Kingdom Army and Church Army over their assignments. Marshal Ofra arrived and told the mercenary group to prepare to travel to the capital for their investiture and rewards.

• Hao Ren read books about the Dragon Ridge Mountains and Beinz, finding legends about the mountains, the Blood Lake, and the ancient Magic Emperor.
• Lily told Hao Ren that the Kingdom Army resented being kept away from the fighting near the Blood Lake, and that Marshal Ofra had failed to persuade Geldon to send troops there.
• A servant announced that Marshal Ofra had come to see the mercenary group’s leaders.
• Ofra told Hao Ren and his companions to prepare the next day to accompany her to the capital for their investiture and rewards.

Hao Ren turned down the chance to leave for the capital immediately and planned a night investigation of the Dragon Ridge Mountains, while Marshal Ofra and Elson discussed the mercenaries’ suspicious origins. The group split up to examine the Stone Giants, the Blood Lake, and a strange skybridge.

• Hao Ren told Ofra he wanted to stay and fight, but she said they could apply to remain after collecting their rewards in the capital.
• After Ofra left, Becky worried Hao Ren had nearly cost them their rewards, and Hao Ren explained that investigating the region mattered more to him.
• Ofra told Elson that the four masters were genuine and that the orb had likely been returned, while Elson reported that the mercenaries had appeared without any traceable past.
• Ofra said the mercenaries seemed to have no malicious intentions or interest in rewards, but she still considered their unknown origins troubling.
• Hao Ren gathered the group outside Leighton Town and assigned Vivian and Lily to investigate the Blood Lake, Izax and Becky to observe the Stone Giants, and himself and Nangong May to inspect the southern skybridge.

Hao Ren and Nangong May investigated the deformed Dragon Ridge Mountains and discovered how the Sky Road gave Stone Giants a route over the Church Knights' defenses. They climbed toward it to investigate the source of the strange formation and test how it reacted to intruders.

• Vivian carried Lily across the Church Knights' defenses, then tossed her into the woods as part of their usual routine.
• Hao Ren and Nangong May teleported south of Leighton Town and saw the enormous stone Sky Road stretching from the mountains into the Twisted Woods.
• The Data Terminal scanned the area and reported that the Sky Road was ordinary stone, while the phenomenon's source lay inside the mountain.
• Nangong May transformed into her snake form and led Hao Ren up the mountain, where they found broad slopes seemingly designed to let Stone Giants reach the Sky Road.
• Nangong May dispersed the dangerous miasma with water vapor, and Hao Ren asked the Data Terminal to catch him if the Sky Road threw him off.

Hao Ren tested the Dragon Ridge Mountains’ shifting Sky Road, which did not react to him, then investigated a distant crash and found Kingdom Knights soldiers killed by a Stone Giant. After leaving their bodies protected, he and Nangong May headed toward an energy point near the main peak, but Nangong May suddenly sensed something was wrong.

• Hao Ren stepped onto the Sky Road to test its reported collapses, but it remained still beneath him.
• Hao Ren and Nangong May heard a crash in the mountains and hurried toward it.
• Hao Ren and Nangong May found several Kingdom Knights soldiers recently killed by a Stone Giant.
• Nangong May placed a barrier around the bodies, and she and Hao Ren continued toward the active energy point near the main peak.
• Nangong May’s expression changed, and she told Hao Ren to go back because something was happening.

After the soldiers’ corpses vanished into the ground, Nangong May traced the strange underground movement of their moisture and led Hao Ren deeper into the Dragon Ridge Mountains. They reached a hidden valley, while Vivian and Lily entered the outpost tunnel from the opposite direction.

• Nangong May and Hao Ren returned to the clearing and saw the rocky ground swallow the soldiers’ corpses.
• The ground attacked Hao Ren and Nangong May with stone spikes, but Hao Ren blocked them before the corpses disappeared completely.
• Hao Ren sent an Autonomous Mechanical Unit to drill beneath the clearing, but it found only ordinary stones and gravel.
• Nangong May sensed moisture moving rapidly underground and followed it with Hao Ren into the remote mountains.
• Nangong May sensed the moisture gathering and changing near a hidden valley, while Vivian and Lily entered the tunnel beneath the lakeside outpost.

Vivian and Lily explored a deep tunnel beneath the lakeside outpost and discovered it was being pursued by a huge tentacle-like creature. They escaped through Lily’s Vertical Shaft, bursting into the outpost ruins with the creature behind them.

• Vivian and Lily walked deeper into the tunnel, where they found soft, fibrous black flakes on the walls and heard a scraping noise ahead.
• Vivian sent a bat to scout and saw a massive tentacle charging through the tunnel, so she grabbed Lily and ordered her to run.
• Vivian and Lily fled as the tentacle smashed through the tunnel behind them.
• Vivian unleashed a Lightning Shock to slow the creature, then urged Lily to keep running.
• Vivian and Lily reached the Vertical Shaft and burst out into the ruined outpost beneath the night sky.

Vivian and Lily escaped a pursuing underground tentacle and suspected it was a root of the Twisted Woods that had begun moving toward the surface. Elsewhere, Hao Ren and Nangong May entered a hidden cave and found signs that someone was inside.

• Vivian and Lily watched the tentacle retract, then examined a piece of its black, plantlike hide that Vivian had taken as a sample.
• Vivian guessed the tentacle belonged to the Twisted Woods and warned that its roots might recently have reached the shallow layers underground.
• A Church Knight sentry unit found Lily's Vertical Shaft, and its captain ordered Jefferson and Homan to descend with him.
• Hao Ren and Nangong May discovered a concealed cave, sensed danger inside, and followed its artificially excavated passage.
• Hao Ren and Nangong May saw a torch ahead, confirming that someone was in the cave.

Hao Ren and Nangong May discovered a cult performing an evil blood ritual with the remains of missing soldiers and preparing to sacrifice a child. Hao Ren burst into the chamber and attacked the masked leader, leaving the cultists exposed to his intervention.

• Hao Ren and Nangong May followed the blood signal through the cave and found a secret chamber where cultists worshipped a masked leader.
• The masked leader preached that the cult would reclaim divine power and ordered the believers to cut themselves as an offering.
• The cultists' blood flowed into the altar, and its red mist healed their wounds as the leader declared the Goddess had rewarded them.
• Two believers brought out a sleeping child, and the masked leader placed the child on the altar as a sacrifice.
• Hao Ren blasted open the iron door, struck the masked leader with a self-navigating brick, and advanced on the cultists.

Hao Ren fought the heretics performing a ritual in the stone chamber while Nangong May rescued the child from the altar. After most of the cultists fell, their leader invoked the Goddess, and a terrifying force emerged from the altar.

• Hao Ren charged into the ritual chamber and fought the weapon-wielding cultists, whose bodies healed rapidly through black-and-red energy.
• The cult leader activated his staff, causing the altar and its pool of blood to resonate as mist gathered around the child.
• Nangong May rushed in, rescued the child, and sheltered it while the cultists returned to attacking Hao Ren.
• Hao Ren discovered that the cultists’ regeneration had limits and defeated many of them, while the Data Terminal tried to capture one alive.
• The cult leader raised his staff and called on the Goddess, unleashing a terrifying pressure from the direction of the altar.