Chapter Summaries

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.

Hao Ren and his companions visited Cadessa City's Exchange Hall to search for information about Izax's last words and learn how the Human World monitored the demon planes. They found no news about the last words, but a fresh report revealed a phantom resembling the Demon King's City and suspected remnants of the Demon Lord's Army in the Second Demon Plane.

• Hao Ren asked Izax and Lanina how the Demon Lord's Army had gained its strength, and they explained that its knowledge of spatial-pocket calculations had outpaced the Human World.
• Lanina introduced the Exchange Hall as a major hub for information and commissions, and Izax warned her to hide her identity inside.
• Lily dragged Hao Ren to the Exchange Hall's information wall, where they read reports about recent events across the demon planes.
• Izax inferred that Seradon was preparing to take the Second Plane, while Vivian noted that the Holy See Allied Forces had suppressed information about Izax's last words.
• An allied-forces soldier posted a church-sealed report describing a Demon King's City-like phantom above the Shattered Plains and suspected remnants of the Demon Lord's Army.

Hao Ren and his companions learned that the Demon King's City might have survived in a spatial rift and that remnants of the Demon Lord's Army had appeared on the Second Plane. Izax resolved to investigate, and the group planned to infiltrate the Holy See Allied Forces to reach the Shattered Plains.

• A notice confirmed that remnants of the Demon Lord's Army, possibly survivors of the First Legion, had been sighted on the Second Plane, while Banuklak and Seradon mobilized forces.
• Mercenaries flooded the posting hall with notices offering information and recruiting investigators, leaving Hao Ren trapped in the crowd until Izax carried him out.
• Hao Ren and the others discovered that Lily had fallen asleep under a flowerpot and woke her up, while she immediately complained that it was mealtime.
• Izax said he wanted to investigate whether the Demon King's City and its inhabitants had survived the spatial rift, and Hao Ren agreed to go with him.
• Hao Ren proposed joining the Holy See Allied Forces to reach the Second Plane, and Vivian and Lanina offered to arrange disguises and fake identities.
• Nangong May told Hao Ren to pose as a warlock as part of Lanina's disguise, and he reluctantly accepted the plan.

Hao Ren and his companions traveled with a mercenary force through Mendukain to the Second Plane, where they arrived at a Holy See Allied Forces base. Their arrival was immediately followed by news of a battle between allied troops and demons from Banuklak in the Shattered Plains.

• Hao Ren and his companions joined mercenaries traveling from Cadheus through Mendukain to reach the Second Plane.
• Izax explained that he had taken Mendukain's orcs away centuries earlier and described the strange continent and its endless sandstorm.
• The group reached the ruins of an abandoned orc city, where allied soldiers activated a portal to the demonic plane.
• Hao Ren and his companions crossed the portal and arrived at the largest human base in the Second Plane.
• Hao Ren heard that Holy See Allied Forces troops had clashed with demons from Banuklak in the Shattered Plains.

Hao Ren and his companions joined allied forces heading to the Shattered Plains, where they fought demon stragglers and captured two guards. The prisoners revealed that the Mad Demon King was alive and had appeared there.

• Hao Ren and his companions rode with mercenaries and knights toward the Shattered Plains after reports of fighting.
• Lanina identified wounded demon skirmishers as likely stragglers and urged the group to capture one alive.
• Hao Ren caught a demon's greatsword with his face, then cut off its arm with his Plasma Saber, while Lily tore off its other arm.
• Hao Ren, Izax, and Lanina defeated and captured two demon guards, and Lanina questioned them.
• The demons revealed that the Black Dwarf had killed many people at the Shattered Plains and that the Mad Demon King was still alive.

Hao Ren and his companions investigated the battlefield in the Shattered Plains and found evidence that Izax’s former First Legion had returned under the command of someone who looked like him. The chapter ended as Obsidian Golems, Black Dwarves, demons, and a colossal city emerged from behind a rocky ridge.

• Hao Ren learned that a figure resembling Izax had appeared in the Shattered Plains with Obsidian Golems and Black Dwarves, and Izax killed the two demon guards who reported it.
• Izax explained that Banuklak and Seradon had betrayed him, while Hao Ren wondered who had resurrected another version of him.
• Hao Ren and the ragtag army reached the Shattered Plains and found a battlefield littered with dead Allied Forces soldiers and demons.
• Lanina and Izax identified wounds and fragments that showed the Demon Lord’s Army’s First Legion had attacked both sides, causing them to flee in terror.
• Knights fled from a rocky ridge as Obsidian Golems, Black Dwarves, and demons charged, and a colossal city rose behind them.

The Demon King's City emerged from the spatial storm, and Hao Ren and his companions fought the demon army while trying to protect the allied soldiers and capture a commander. Hao Ren knocked the demon commander down with his terminal, leaving the battlefield's confusion unresolved.

• The Demon King's City rose into the sky, and the Obsidian Golems and Black Dwarves attacked the allied soldiers as Izax appeared on the city's walls.
• Hao Ren and Izax urged the allied forces to retreat while Lily and Vivian disrupted the demon army's advance.
• A junior officer led soldiers back to help, but Vivian knocked him unconscious so Hao Ren could send them away.
• Hao Ren rode Lily through the golem and demon defenses as Vivian shielded them from the Black Dwarves' rocket-assisted arrows.
• Hao Ren struck the demon commander in the forehead with his terminal and knocked him down.

Hao Ren and his companions captured a demon commander and learned that Demon King's City and its Mad Demon King had survived in an alternate dimension. Lanina revealed herself as the Great Sage and persuaded the commander to take them into the city, where she planned to investigate the king’s identity.

• Lily sneezed Hao Ren into a demon commander, then pinned him down while Hao Ren and Vivian restrained his forces.
• Hao Ren questioned the commander about the Mad Demon King, who said their king had been alive from the beginning and was safe in Demon King's City.
• Lanina revealed herself as the Great Sage, surprising the demons and Black Dwarves.
• Lanina told the commander that Hao Ren and the others were her allies, and he agreed to take them into the city.
• The commander said the king had been studying the power reactor and had rarely appeared, prompting Lanina to ask him to open the teleportation gate.

Hao Ren and his companions entered the Demon King's City and met the apparent Mad Demon King, who looked exactly like Izax. The impostor spoke warmly with Lanina and sent the group away to rest, leaving Izax to continue observing from the sidelines.

• Lanina had the demons activate a teleportation gate inside an obsidian golem, and Hao Ren's group traveled to the airborne Demon King's City.
• A demon commander led them through the city, where he called Lily, Hao Ren, and Vivian a “dog-man-woman team,” confusing and offending them.
• Hao Ren and Izax argued over the mundane warning sign on the throne hall door while the demon commander waited.
• Hao Ren's group entered the throne hall and saw that the Mad Demon King looked just like Izax.
• Lanina greeted the apparent Izax and explained her return, after which he told her and the others to rest before a later banquet and conversation.

Hao Ren’s group secretly monitored the motionless impostor on Izax’s throne and discovered that the apparent Demon King was a mechanical puppet. A little demon princess emerged from its chest, revealing that she had built it to impersonate her father, while Izax recognized her as Elizabeth.

• Hao Ren left the Data Terminal in the throne hall to spy on the impostor while the group settled into a human-style guest room.
• The Data Terminal reported that the impostor had sat completely motionless and had not even blinked for over ten minutes.
• Gadamor entered the throne hall with a plate of food and checked that the doors were locked.
• The impostor’s chest opened, and a little demon girl climbed out and ate the food Gadamor brought her.
• The girl told Gadamor that Dad Number Three was difficult to control and asked when Dad Number Four’s mental connector would be ready.
• Izax recognized the girl as Elizabeth and reacted in shock.

Hao Ren and his companions reunited Izax with his daughter, Elizabeth, in the Demon King's throne hall. After the reunion, Gadamor explained that the royal city had survived a spatial storm and uncovered a hidden plane that might be the true Throat of the World.

• Izax rushed to the throne hall after learning that Elizabeth was inside the fake Mad Demon King, and his disguised appearance prevented her from recognizing him.
• Izax revealed his true form and aura, and Elizabeth recognized him, ran to him, and climbed onto his arm with her axes.
• Izax introduced Hao Ren and the others as his friends, then asked Gadamor how the royal city had survived and come to its current location.
• Gadamor said the spatial storm had opened a passage to a hidden plane filled with ruins, strange creatures, and spatial nodes that might be the Ghost Space and the true Throat of the World.

Izax reunited with Elizabeth and learned how she had kept the city calm by using a puppet made to look like him. He recounted how he met Elizabeth’s human mother, then ended the gathering by calling for a celebratory banquet.

• Izax asked Gadamor about the spatial bubble zone, then embraced the news that Elizabeth was alive.
• Elizabeth proudly showed Izax the puppet she and Uncle Hammer had built to impersonate him.
• Izax explained that Elizabeth’s mother was human, surprising Hao Ren and the others.
• Izax recounted how he joined the Saintess of the Sword’s party in disguise, traveled with her, and eventually revealed himself to her.
• Izax said Elizabeth’s mother had died peacefully of old age after living with him for three hundred years.
• Izax told Gadamor to hold a large banquet to celebrate Elizabeth’s return.

Elizabeth had kept the Demon King's City stable in a strange space by having a giant robot impersonate Izax, while she led the city and prepared its forces. At a welcoming feast, Izax returned in person and revealed that Hao Ren had helped him come back from another world.

• Elizabeth and Gadamor explained how she had used Dad Unit X to impersonate Izax and preserve morale after the Demon King's City was swallowed by a spatial storm.
• Hao Ren and his companions arrived at a grand feast celebrating the Great Sage's return and saw the city's people of different races gathered together.
• Izax revealed his human form and aura, stunning the banquet guests and shocking the few who knew the Demon King had been replaced by a fake.
• Izax reunited with his chief engineer Sentis Hot Hammer and his four generals, confirming that he was genuine.
• Izax told his subordinates that he had been recuperating in another world and credited Hao Ren with helping him return.

At a feast in the Demon King's City, Elizabeth explained how she had mapped exits from the mysterious space, while Izax learned more about her plans. When Gadamor asked whether Izax would lead a counterattack against the Human World, Izax refused and declared that his mission in this world was over.

• Izax told Gadamor to keep his return secret and asked Elizabeth whether she had created the crystal that the Allied Forces obtained.
• Elizabeth explained that she had used the crystal to divert attention while testing Space Gates, and identified three relatively stable exits from the mysterious space.
• Hao Ren introduced Dumdum to Izax and the other Elizabeth, and the two Elizabeths greeted each other.
• Gadamor asked Izax whether he would lead a counterattack against the Human World, and Izax answered that he would not.
• Izax said he would find a new place for his followers to settle, but that his ties to this world were over because he had achieved his goal of traveling to the stars.

Hao Ren and Izax toured Demon King's City and discussed relocating its people, while Izax accepted that some demons would leave rather than give up their hopes of war. Elizabeth then showed them the city's power district and its enormous magic-energy furnace, leaving Hao Ren astonished by how unlike everyone else Izax was.

• Izax asked Hao Ren whether Demon King's City could be moved, and Hao Ren said he would apply for a temporary World Gate and arrange for the residents.
• Izax said Ramondino and other war-minded demons would likely leave, and he told Elizabeth not to stop them.
• Elizabeth told Izax that she had found an energy source in the alternate dimension and installed it in the city's power furnace.
• Elizabeth led Hao Ren and the others through the city's deep power district, where they saw its elaborate mixture of magic, technology, and machinery.
• Elizabeth showed the group the royal city's magic-energy furnace, and Hao Ren remarked on how different Izax was from everyone else.

Hao Ren and Izax discovered that the spare energy core powering Demon King's City was a long-dead specimen of the same species as the Firstborn. Before they could investigate the core installed in the power furnace, armies from Seradon, Banuklak, and the Holy See Allied Forces appeared outside the city.

• Hao Ren, Izax, and their companions inspected the power chamber, where Elizabeth explained that the energy cores had been collected from an alternate dimension.
• Izax asked a Spirit race technician to show them the spare core, and Hao Ren recognized its strange aura when they found a huge red sphere in a secure warehouse.
• Hao Ren used the Data Terminal to scan the sphere, which revealed tissue-like structures and dark-red liquid inside.
• The Data Terminal identified the sphere as the same species as the Firstborn, and Vivian determined that it had been dead for a very long time.
• Izax asked Elizabeth to take them to the alternate dimension where the core had been found, but a Spirit race technician arrived to report that Seradon, Banuklak, and the Holy See Allied Forces were approaching.