Chapter Summaries

Angel escaped the collapsed tunnel through a breach into a hall beneath the Void Giant Tower, where he found signs of a recent fight and a possible route upstairs. As he approached the exit, a terrifying presence pinned him down, leaving him bleeding and unable to move freely.

• Angel noticed faint light shining through a crack, broke through the wall, and entered a vast hall.
• Angel used Eye of True Sight to determine that a powerful creature had smashed into the wall within the past hour, and suspected Iyadase had fought the unknown intruder.
• Angel found a destroyed doorway with stairs beyond it and decided to use them to leave the tower.
• Angel spotted a strange winged statue and a gaunt demon beneath it, then ran toward the doorway when cracking sounds came from behind him.
• A terrifying pressure locked onto Angel, forced him down, and made blood seep from his skin as he slowly raised his head.

Angel encountered Cruel Scholar’s consciousness in the underground hall, where it probed the secret in his soul. A new Green Pattern shielded Angel from the probe, and he was left back in the hall with the pattern on his right hand.

• The statue in the hall awakened as Cruel Scholar, and its whispers overwhelmed Angel before drawing him into a dark chaos.
• Cruel Scholar questioned Angel about the secret in his soul and revealed it could read his thoughts and inspect his body.
• Cruel Scholar probed Angel’s Soul Land, causing the itching in his soul to manifest as a Green Pattern that grew into a long vine.
• The Green Pattern shattered into smaller patterns that shielded Angel from Cruel Scholar’s gaze and forced the probing power to withdraw.
• The patterns merged into one new Green Pattern on Angel’s right hand, while Cruel Scholar’s motionless statue concealed its shock and fear.

The Cruel Scholar examined Angel’s strange soul and felt the force of a powerful being beyond its understanding. After Angel refused its offer to become a believer, the Scholar blocked his escape, and the awakened starving corpse rushed toward him.

• The Cruel Scholar’s investigation of Angel’s soul triggered a torrent of negative information that injured its true body and revealed a terrifying presence behind Angel.
• Angel tried to slip out of the hall, but the Cruel Scholar called him back and asked him to become its believer.
• Angel refused, while the Cruel Scholar waited to see whether the being behind him would react to its proposal.
• The starving corpse demon awakened and shook the hall, giving Angel a chance to reach the door.
• Angel struck an inscription blocking the exit, then saw the starving corpse demon approach and open its fanged mouth before him.

Angel discovered that the injured demon was driven by hunger and kept it occupied with food while considering poisoning it. Meanwhile, Iyadase returned to the underground hall after sensing renewed inscriptions and found the Cruel Scholar statue moving and Angel feeding Jupiter.

• Angel realized the demon's saliva produced poisonous mist, then discovered that feeding it Demon Nourishing Meat stopped it from drooling and chasing him.
• Angel kept feeding the demon to limit the poisonous mist, but worried his magic would run out and considered poisoning it.
• Iyadase took Baphomet's Lord-level Demonic Beast heart and turned back toward the underground hall after hearing Jupiter's roar and sensing the inscriptions reappear.
• Iyadase met Bobota heading toward the hall, and they found the entrance sealed by glowing inscriptions.
• Iyadase saw that the Cruel Scholar statue's wings had spread and found Angel feeding Jupiter inside the hall.

Angel struggled to survive as the demon recovered its strength and developed increasingly effective attacks, until the Cruel Scholar froze time and asked him to become its believer. Angel resisted the offer and thought of summoning the Nightmare Realm’s Demonic Beasts, unsettling the Cruel Scholar before it stopped reading his thoughts.

• Angel discovered that the demon rejected his Magic Bread, then resumed chasing him while growing stronger from energy-rich food.
• The demon wounded Angel with its extending tongue and began using more varied combat tactics as Angel’s injuries and exhaustion worsened.
• With Lasudelan’s destruction drawing nearer, Angel tried throwing energy items to buy time, but the demon ignored them and attacked him.
• The Cruel Scholar stopped time and asked Angel to become its believer, while Angel weighed submission against defiance.
• Angel thought of bringing the Nightmare Realm’s Demonic Beasts to turn the situation around, causing the Cruel Scholar to sense danger and stop peering into his thoughts.

Angel accepted the Cruel Scholar’s demand to carry a miniature statue in exchange for being spared, forming a Word Pact. The hall returned to normal, Jupiter was knocked unconscious, and Angel survived but remained in Lasudelan.

• The Cruel Scholar offered to spare Angel if he carried a miniature statue, explaining that it would observe him for up to two hundred years.
• Angel questioned the statue’s effects and secured a promise that he would leave the hall alive, though the Cruel Scholar made no guarantees about his survival in Lasudelan.
• With the Cruel Scholar’s power drawing the attention of ancient gods, Angel agreed to carry the statue and formed a Word Pact.
• Iyadase watched as the Cruel Scholar statue crumbled and the miniature statue landed in Angel’s palm.
• The hall’s time freeze ended, the statue’s glowing dust knocked Jupiter into a pit and left it unconscious, and Angel collapsed as the entrance patterns faded.

After Cruel Scholar vanished, Angel was confronted by Iyadase, who took the unconscious greater demon Jupiter and left Angel unharmed. Meanwhile, Lasudelan’s collapse accelerated as Sanders searched for Angel and learned from Kant that Orucia was heading toward the central region and Monchi might soon act.

• Cruel Scholar’s consciousness departed, leaving Angel with a miniature statue that Iyadase identified as a descent vessel.
• Iyadase took the unconscious Jupiter away in bone chains and told Angel to take care of himself.
• Angel realized Jupiter was a greater demon and was stunned that he had fought one for half a day.
• Sanders sensed that his blood essence remained intact but could not locate Angel, who he suspected was inside the Void Giant Tower.
• Kant told Sanders that Prey Hall had collapsed, Orucia was heading toward the central region, and Samantha and Sinafa had gone to report to Monchi.
• Kant said they had not seen the Night Innkeeper, but the flames in the sky suggested it would soon appear.

Sanders attempted to reach the Void Giant Tower with his untested Light-and-Shadow Nightmare Substitute while Kant guarded him from Frost Moon’s enemies. As Lasudelan neared collapse, a fiery streak arrived and landed atop the tower.

• Sanders told Kant that a wizard from Above the Ice Floe had attacked Angel, and vowed to collect the debt from those responsible.
• Kant agreed to guard Sanders while he tried the Light-and-Shadow Nightmare Substitute to cross the chaotic energy surrounding the Void Giant Tower.
• Sanders sent the nearly invisible nightmare toward the tower, enduring severe strain as he calculated its path through the chaotic energy.
• Nereus held back the Gravity Forest wizards from attacking Sanders, while two Gravity Forest wizards on the ice floe were burned alive by inexplicable flames.
• As Lasudelan’s tremors worsened, the demons fled and made way for a fiery streak that circled the Void Giant Tower and landed on its summit.

Angel searched the maze-like first floor of the Void Giant Tower for an exit and discovered that Fire-Holding Statues concealed doors. He found that many of the rooms were kitchens containing imprisoned demon chefs, but he left without confronting them.

• Angel left the burning underground hall and wandered through the tower’s dark, windowless corridor, unable to find a way out.
• Angel activated his shielding Green Pattern before examining the Cruel Scholar’s statue, which Iyadase had called a Descent Object.
• Angel sent a scouting puppet through the corridor, then realized the Fire-Holding Statues might mark hidden paths.
• Angel touched a Fire-Holding Statue, which flipped aside to reveal a concealed door.
• Angel explored several hidden rooms and found imprisoned fat demons preparing Abyssal Demonic Beasts as food; he retreated rather than face them.

Angel avoided a room guarded by possibly sleeping Gargoyles, found the route through the Void Giant Tower’s corridor maze, and reached a new resting area near its outermost ring. There he encountered a mutated creature bearing Bobota’s chain and learned that Bobota believed no one could stop him.

• Angel sensed danger from four statue-like Gargoyles and shut the door on the room containing a blood-red battle axe.
• Angel realized the oversized fire-holding statue in a resting area concealed a passage and entered the corridor maze.
• Angel determined that the shorter corridors led inward, so he chose routes toward the outer ring and reached corridors where the floor shook and Komodo’s voice carried from afar.
• Angel entered a resting area and found a monstrous mutant seated on the sofa.
• A flame-wreathed chain emerged from the mutant and locked Angel in place; Angel recognized it as the chain he had forged for Bobota.
• The mutant confirmed Angel’s suspicion and declared that no one could stop him.

Angel encountered the transformed Bobota, who attacked him after the chain reacted to Angel’s aura, but Sanders arrived and fought Bobota while Angel took shelter. Angel suspected Bobota had gained power by consuming or sacrificing Infernal Slave corpses and realized he was likely the intruder who destroyed Lasudelan’s inscription hub, though Bobota’s purpose remained unknown.

• Bobota’s chain returned to him, and he decided Angel had to die because Angel’s aura still affected it.
• Bobota caught Angel with crushing pressure, but a nightmare beast appeared and Sanders rescued him.
• Sanders confronted Bobota, and Angel identified the aberration as Bobota rather than Jupiter before retreating into the Palmfire Statue.
• Angel recalled Bobota killing an Infernal Slave and suspected the missing corpses had fueled his sudden rise in strength.
• Angel concluded Bobota was likely the intruder who destroyed the inscription hub and wondered why he had done it.

Angel and Sanders discussed Bobota’s attack on Lasudelan and searched for clues to his purpose and origins. Recognizing the sparrow associated with Bobota’s sister, Angel remembered a girl from his past and concluded that he knew where Bobota came from.

• Angel wondered whether Bobota’s talk of rekindling his people’s fire revealed his purpose or the identity of someone guiding him.
• Sanders told Angel that Bobota had been driven away, then asked how Angel knew him; Angel shared what he had learned from his scouting puppet and their earlier encounters.
• Angel asked Sanders about the sparrow, and Sanders conjured an image of the same colorful bird Angel remembered.
• Angel opened the hidden compartment in a heart-shaped ruby necklace and told Sanders he thought he knew Bobota’s origin.
• Angel recalled finding the necklace by a child’s bones outside Black Castle, along with a painting of a little girl and a youth; the girl had a matching bird perched on her hand.

Angel and Sanders connected Huahua, Bobota, and Dodolo to the nearly extinct Source-Worshippers, whose inheritance was tied to the Origin Fire. Sanders then asked Angel what had happened after he fell into the underground passage, and Angel began to show him a miniature statue.

• Angel explained that Huahua’s memories and accent suggested she was Bobota’s younger sister and shared Dodolo’s origins.
• Angel and Sanders concluded that Bobota might be a descendant of the Source-Worshippers seeking the Origin Fire to revive his clan.
• Sanders said the destruction of Lasudelan’s inscription nexus would not prevent them from finding a way out.
• Sanders revealed that the Tree Spirit, Maya, and others had already suspected Dodolo’s identity and asked Angel about the strange aura around him.
• Angel admitted that something had happened after he fell into the underground passage and took a miniature statue from his pocket.

Angel told Sanders about his encounter and agreement with the Cruel Scholar, and Sanders concluded that the Archdemon had backed away from Angel’s soul rather than risk marking it. Sanders warned Angel against relying on unknown powers and explained the dangers of the statue, but their discussion was interrupted when Nitotip’s rain clouds enveloped the Void Giant Tower.

• Sanders questioned Angel about the Cruel Scholar, and Angel recounted meeting its will underground and agreeing to its terms.
• After hearing that the Cruel Scholar had examined Angel’s soul and withdrawn without marking him, Sanders suspected it feared the power behind Angel’s soul.
• Sanders warned Angel that the unknown force was not his own power and explained that the statue was a Descent Object that could summon the Cruel Scholar’s will.
• Sanders advised Angel to keep the shielding pattern active and the statue outside his Nightmare Domain when doing secretive work.
• The Void Giant Tower shook, and Angel and Sanders reached its open gate as Nitotip’s rain clouds spread around the tower.

Monchi’s forces prepared to confront Orucia at the Void Giant Tower, while Samantha used a one-time Garden of All Spirits control core to clear a path through the demons. The chapter ended with Orucia revealing his ghostflame-green eyes and meeting Monchi’s gaze.

• Monchi identified Orucia atop the Void Giant Tower and told Nereus to prepare while making clear he would not interfere with Sanders so long as his plans were unaffected.
• Nereus left with resentment, and Samantha rejected the need to wait for Sanders before agreeing to clear the demons from the tower.
• Samantha released a stream of projected Phantom Spirits that drove the demons back and opened a path through the black clouds.
• Monchi announced that the final act had begun and pointed toward the exposed summit of the Void Giant Tower.
• Orucia partially removed his porcelain-white mask and met Monchi’s gaze across the distance.

Monchi’s wizards advanced on the Void Giant Tower, but Orucia’s Netherflame turned the attack into a brutal stalemate. As Monchi began wearing Orucia down, a dark cloud appeared and a haunting voice sounded overhead.

• Monchi led the wizards and elemental creatures in an attack on the tower while the demons scattered, and Orucia entered the battle after ordering Tandin to guard the mysterious painting.
• Luchi sensed that the painting was alive and changing, and Liwita suspected it was a work by the Magic Painting Witch, Mirafael Feng.
• Kant returned to Floating Ice and suggested Angel might have known more about the painting, prompting the wizards to look suspiciously at Nereus.
• Orucia slaughtered wizards with his icy-blue Netherflame, so Monchi ordered Winchester to study it and sent the True-Knowledge Wizards to keep Orucia occupied.
• Monchi’s plan began to wear Orucia down, but Orucia hesitated to retreat from the painting; then a dark cloud formed and a voice said, “Pitter-patter—”

Nitotip joined the battle and covered the Void Giant Tower with rainclouds, forcing the human wizards to reconsider their strategy. Monchi ordered an all-out assault into the clouds, while Orucia remained focused on a painting of night as dawn approached.

• Nitotip arrived at the Void Giant Tower and spread rainclouds around Orucia, rallying the demons and forcing the human wizards to retreat.
• Iyadase received a message through the council chamber gemstone and learned that Lord Galar was about to arrive because the Lord of No Flame strongly cared about Orucia.
• Monchi proposed an all-out assault into Nitotip's Raincloud Space, with the wizards restraining her while he confronted Orucia.
• Kant agreed to the assault, hoping to inspect the tower and find out whether Sanders had entered it.
• Monchi moved the floating ice toward the rainclouds, and Nitotip warned Orucia that she might not be able to hold off the humans alone.
• Orucia said nothing and continued watching a painting of night as dawn drew near.

The battle in Nitotip’s rain clouds erupted as her umbrella weakened the human wizards, while Orucia and Monchi finally clashed. Fafnir recovered her senses and realized an old injury was affecting her, but Komodo remained consumed by the demonic consciousnesses he had devoured; she began to remember that his original target was Angel.

• Nitotip’s umbrella began weakening everyone trapped in the rain clouds, and Sinafa and Essek realized they needed to end the fight quickly.
• Orucia attacked Monchi, and their clash scattered rain mist as Sinafa fought off tentacles with Essek’s warning.
• Fafnir and Komodo paused their duel when a powerful presence appeared overhead, and Fafnir noticed the humans and demons had resumed fighting.
• Fafnir recovered from her battle frenzy, suspected her centuries-old injury had left a hidden effect, and saw Edesinos and Minotaur’s phantoms influencing Komodo.
• Fafnir realized Komodo had forgotten his goal of capturing Angel and wondered what that goal had been.

Monchi transformed into a frost giant and suppressed Orucia, which then unsealed its true form as a porcelain-white creature. Meanwhile, the wizards searched for a way to counter Nitotip’s Mystic Umbrella and discovered Kant was missing.

• Monchi removed his mask and Frost Moon Silver Crown, transforming into a frost giant with an embryonic domain that overwhelmed Orucia.
• Nitotip’s cry briefly dazed Monchi and let Orucia escape his strike, while Monchi chose not to pursue Nitotip through the rain clouds.
• Maher asked Luchi how to counter the Mystic Umbrella, and Luchi said they would have to kill Nitotip and take it.
• Vifit suggested Kant’s Night Bloodline could help Monchi, but the group could not find Kant.
• Orucia unsealed its true form, shedding its porcelain-white shell into a radiant, many-winged creature that revealed its divine presence.

Monchi used the Delusion Pearl to keep his true form safe while fighting Orucia, then struck back and damaged its left scythe. Before he could gain the upper hand, Iyadase appeared and revealed that it had come because it wanted to escape the birdcage trapped by flames.

• Orucia appeared behind Monchi and repeatedly attacked, but Monchi used a Delusion Pearl to hide his true elemental form while the Frost Giant Spirit fought in his place.
• Orucia cut the Frost Giant Spirit in half and swallowed it in a void rift, leading the wizards on Above the Ice Floe to believe Monchi had been killed.
• Monchi returned unharmed and used his greatsword to ambush Orucia, cracking its left mantis scythe.
• Monchi’s allies realized that his true form was stored in the Delusion Pearl and that the Frost Giant Spirit could be reborn as long as Monchi survived.
• Iyadase arrived before Orucia, and told it that it had come because it wanted to leave the birdcage trapped by flames.