Chapter Summaries

Pandora witnessed Somen and Wa Xi Li ambush Ai Sen after they destroyed the carriage, then took shelter with townspeople as the Wizards fought. The battle ended at the courtyard gate when the dying Ai Sen crashed inside, with footsteps approaching behind him.

• Pandora ran to meet the approaching carriage, but an invisible force lifted it and wind blades cut up the carriage, groom, and horses.
• Somen and Wa Xi Li confronted Ai Sen, a Level 1 High-Rank Wizard from the White Stone Tower, and attacked him with spells.
• Pandora watched the battle until an elderly man called her into his courtyard for safety.
• The old man asked Bo Te to check whether the Wizards had left, but Ai Sen crashed through the gate and fell into the courtyard.
• The townspeople froze as footsteps approached from outside.

Wa Xi Li killed Ai Sen and slaughtered the people in the courtyard before trying to kill Pandora. His wind blade vanished against her neck, and an unseen force sent him flying.

• Wa Xi Li killed Ai Sen after declaring that the White Stone Tower and the other Wizards would die in the city.
• Wa Xi Li kicked the injured Bo Te into the courtyard, then killed the people there with wind blades despite Somen urging him to hurry.
• Wa Xi Li noticed Pandora hiding among the corpses and approached her, asking about her age and parents.
• Wa Xi Li launched a wind blade at Pandora’s neck, but it disappeared on contact, and an overwhelming force struck him and sent him flying.

Pandora fought Wa Xi Li in the courtyard, enduring his wind blades and repulsive spells as she repeatedly charged him. She finally broke through his defense with a shout and landed a punch that Wa Xi Li feared would kill him.

• Pandora punched Wa Xi Li through several walls, but he survived by using spells to soften the blow.
• Wa Xi Li tore out his broken ribs and told Somen not to interfere while he fought Pandora.
• Wa Xi Li attacked Pandora with wind blades, which shattered against her skin, and repeatedly bounced her back with a Kinetic Wind Spell.
• Pandora charged Wa Xi Li a third time and shouted as his wind spell failed to push her back.
• Pandora's fist tore through the wind, and Wa Xi Li realized he was about to die.

In White Stone City, Somen and Wa Xi Li tried to kill Pandora after discovering that she resisted ordinary spells and reacted strongly to a dragon-slaying curse. Pandora survived their combined attack, and her blood revealed her connection to dragons.

• Pandora’s punch failed to harm Wa Xi Li, and Somen intervened to save him.
• Somen tested Pandora with spells, then struck her with the Curse of Utmost Evil and concluded she was nearly like a giant dragon.
• Somen and Wa Xi Li attacked Pandora together, carving her with wind blades and engulfing her in a massive fire blast.
• Pandora burst from the courtyard ruins, badly wounded but alive, and her scorching blood boiled the rainwater around her.

Pandora struggled against two Wizards while injured and weakened, believing she would not make it back to Richard. Richard arrived in time to rescue her, then faced Somen, the Wizard who had killed Gregory and whom Richard had killed twice.

• Pandora, wounded and alone, thought she had failed Richard and could not return to him.
• As Somen prepared to use Purple Flame against Pandora, Richard's White Jade Shard exploded and struck the two Wizards.
• Richard reassured Pandora and told her to rest, and she collapsed as her strength gave out.
• Richard recognized the attackers as members of the mysterious organization and decided he had to kill them.
• Somen revealed himself as the Wizard Richard had killed twice and vowed to kill Richard in revenge.

Richard used the Crystal Skull’s mental attack to interrupt Somen’s transformation and kill him before he could gain power. He then blocked Wa Xi Li’s spell with his combat suit’s Reaction Shield, leaving Wa Xi Li terrified of what Richard might be.

• Somen prepared to swallow Purple Flame and ordered Wa Xi Li to hold Richard back.
• Richard reminded Somen of his previous death, then used the Crystal Skull to unleash Mental Shock on Somen and Wa Xi Li.
• Somen lost control and began transforming into a werewolf, but Richard used enhanced speed and strength to twist off his head.
• Wa Xi Li cast Calamity Scythe at Richard, who blocked it with a Reaction Shield formed from his combat suit.
• Richard approached Wa Xi Li as Wa Xi Li struggled against the Mental Shock and feared that Richard was an incomprehensible monster.

Richard fought Wa Xi Li, who survived his attacks by transforming into bone armor and then Vampire Bats. Wa Xi Li escaped with his memories intact and threatened to hunt Richard and everyone connected to him.

• Wa Xi Li stalled Richard while recovering from the effects of Mental Shock, but Richard revealed that he had also been preparing an attack.
• Richard blasted Wa Xi Li with a spell barrage, and Wa Xi Li survived inside his Silver Bone Armor.
• Richard coated Wa Xi Li's bones with Spell Salt and shattered the armor with another barrage, leaving only Wa Xi Li's head.
• Wa Xi Li's head burst into blood mist, which formed several Vampire Bats that evaded Richard's attacks.
• Wa Xi Li flew away as Vampire Bats, vowing to remember Richard and hunt him and his associates.

After Wa Xi Li escaped as a Vampire Bat with his memories intact, Richard decided to take the fight to the mysterious organization before it could expose him. He hid his injured companion Pandora and reached the base ahead of Wa Xi Li, preparing to begin his plan with his consciousness body.

• Richard concluded that the Vampire Bat could reveal his identity to the mysterious organization and resolved to try to kill everyone at its base.
• Richard told Pandora to hide in his suitcase, promised to let her help next time, and stored her in his Space Iron Ring.
• Richard pursued Wa Xi Li's Vampire Bat with Lord of the Winds, but Wa Xi Li circled toward White Stone City's outskirts to keep the base's location secret.
• Richard evaded Wa Xi Li and headed directly to the base entrance he had found during his earlier out-of-body exploration.
• Richard reached an abandoned courtyard near the base, descended into its cellar, and sent out his consciousness body to begin his plan.

Wa Xi Li returned to the Underground Base and urged Ji Bo Lun to continue the plan against White Stone Tower, but Ji Bo Lun detected an invisible intruder and chased them through the corridors. The intruder vanished, while Richard opened his eyes in a cellar outside the base and revealed a tube of deadly powder.

• Wa Xi Li told Ji Bo Lun that Somen had been killed and that a strange boy had shattered his body during their mission.
• Wa Xi Li asked to join the plan against White Stone Tower so he could identify and kill the boy if they encountered him, but Ji Bo Lun realized an intruder had entered with him.
• Ji Bo Lun fired Energy Arrows at the invisible intruder and pursued them through the Underground Base with the others.
• After more than ten minutes, Ji Bo Lun lost the intruder at a corridor intersection and wondered how they had disappeared without spatial fluctuations.
• Richard opened his eyes in a cellar outside the Underground Base and took out a box containing a glass tube of powder.

Ji Bo Lun discovered that a mysterious illness was spreading through the Underground Base, causing people to cough up blood and oily green matter. He rushed to the Council Hall and used a Transformation Life Spell to revive a dying man, but the outbreak remained unexplained.

• Ji Bo Lun searched for the infiltrator’s hiding method while Wu Er began coughing uncontrollably.
• Ji Bo Lun and those nearby developed symptoms, and Wu Er vomited blood mixed with oily green jelly.
• A messenger arrived from the Council Hall, coughing blood, and warned that everyone there was afflicted.
• Ji Bo Lun rushed to the Council Hall and found its occupants collapsed and convulsing in their vomit.
• Ji Bo Lun used Body Rebirth on the most severely afflicted man, who screamed and stood up.

Ji Bo Lun tried to save the infected people in the hall, but Richard’s engineered Fungal Spores kept attacking their bodies. After temporarily restoring everyone with a powerful spell, Ji Bo Lun organized a hunt for the intruder, while Richard began the third stage of his plan.

• Ji Bo Lun healed Brook, but Brook collapsed again as the Fungal Spores made him cough up blood.
• Ji Bo Lun tried healing another victim, then used the Transformation-Type Life Spell Holy Light Praise to temporarily restore everyone in the hall.
• Ji Bo Lun told the survivors that they had to capture the intruder before his spell wore off, and they agreed to follow his command.
• A figure wearing a Beak Mask darted past the hall, but Ji Bo Lun stopped the survivors from chasing and ordered them to make a plan.
• Richard ran through the base and began the third stage of his plan, ready to lead his pursuers into a dangerous game.

Ji Bo Lun led a search through the underground base, believing he had cornered the infiltrator in the Council Hall. When he struck a table, a hidden Destruction Pearl activated and unleashed an explosion that destroyed the hall and spread through the base, ending the infiltrator’s third-stage plan, Dance on the Knife’s Edge.

• Ji Bo Lun divided the organization’s members into teams and ordered them to search the corridors for the infiltrator.
• After repeated searches found nothing, Ji Bo Lun revealed that his orders were meant to drive the infiltrator into the Council Hall.
• Ji Bo Lun sent teams to seal the Council Hall’s entrances and led the rest inside, but they found no enemy.
• Ji Bo Lun struck a table, sending a metal ball flying and activating the Destruction Pearl hidden inside it.
• The Destruction Pearl exploded, consuming Ji Bo Lun, the organization’s members, the Council Hall, and the underground base.

Richard escaped the mysterious organization’s underground base and left White Stone City with Pandora, heading for the Seaside Port. Elsewhere, a man in a golden robe wondered why something had failed and held a Crystal Skull resembling Richard’s.

• Wizards at White Stone Tower found a massive pit where part of White Stone City had collapsed and suspected the enemy had displayed its power.
• A high-ranking White Stone Tower Wizard sent the others to investigate the East District, where Wizard Ai Sen had gone missing.
• Richard hired a carriage driver with a gold coin and left White Stone City with Pandora for the Seaside Port.
• Richard reviewed how he had destroyed the mysterious organization’s underground base with the Destruction Pearl and the self-destructing metal ball.
• A man in a golden robe appeared on a nearby hill, questioned why something had failed, and examined a Crystal Skull like Richard’s.

Ji Bo Lun realized he had failed his mission and died alongside all his subordinates, while Supervisor Long Mei Er explained that the organization would not punish him. As the false Council Hall shattered, Long Mei Er said he would personally take White Stone Tower.

• Ji Bo Lun woke during a meeting and proposed transferring personnel from Black Rock Valley and Red Fort to support the White Stone Tower plan.
• Ji Bo Lun recognized that the discussion had happened before, and the people around him dissolved into green smoke.
• Long Mei Er appeared and told Ji Bo Lun that he and all his subordinates had died in a premeditated attack, with no survivors.
• Long Mei Er told Ji Bo Lun the organization would not punish him, but he would have to wait for a future major operation because no suitable body vessels were available.
• Long Mei Er said he would personally deal with White Stone Tower, then left as the Council Hall began to shatter around Ji Bo Lun.

Long Mei Er used a mysterious scroll to summon a mountain-sized meteor that destroyed White Stone City and the White Stone Tower. Richard escaped the disaster and suspected the mysterious organization behind Ji Bo Lun, while wondering how powerful its members were.

• Long Mei Er burned an intricate scroll, causing dark clouds to gather and a flaming meteor to fall toward the White Stone Tower.
• Wizards in White Stone City panicked as the meteor approached, but its impact and a strange energy wave destroyed the city and killed or incapacitated those caught in its path.
• Richard's groom spotted White Stone City's destruction and asked Richard what had happened.
• Richard told the groom to drive farther away before the spreading aftershock caught them.
• Richard suspected the mysterious organization behind Ji Bo Lun had caused the disaster and reflected that the world was becoming more complicated and interesting.

Richard and Pandora reached Hague and sought passage north toward Moore, while Richard hired the tavern owner to watch for a suitable ship. A masked woman then approached Richard with a deck of Tarot Cards, claiming she could divine his fate.

• At Guevara Tavern, Duke and Hal argued with Pist over rumors that the Black Thorn and Nautilus had vanished after encountering the Ghost Ship.
• Richard and Pandora entered the tavern, and Richard asked the owner about northbound ships.
• Richard paid the owner to find a large northbound ship willing to take them as passengers and requested a room and water.
• A masked woman offered to divine Richard’s fate and showed him a deck he recognized as Tarot Cards.
• The woman called the cards Fate Cards and asked whether Richard would let her divine his fate.

Richard accepted a free tarot reading from a fortune-telling woman, then grew suspicious when she urged him to delay his departure from port. After the cards exposed the woman with the Demon Card, she stormed out, warning that misfortune would begin that night.

• Richard noticed the fortune-telling woman's unusually youthful hands and agreed to a reading to discover her intentions.
• Richard skillfully shuffled the Fate Cards and drew The Fool, which the woman used to warn him not to set sail for three days.
• Richard challenged the woman's motives and proposed that she draw a card for herself and let him interpret it.
• The woman drew the Demon Card, but she denied that it proved she meant Richard harm.
• The woman angrily left after Richard questioned her hands and warned that misfortune would plague him starting that night.
• Richard asked the tavern owner about his room, then went upstairs with Pandora and decided to wait for the woman's promised misfortune.

Richard decided that mathematics was the most universally useful knowledge and began teaching Pandora the Nine-Nine Table. Five days after leaving White Stone City, Pandora was still working to memorize it.

• After feeling useless following the events in White Stone City, Pandora asked Richard to teach her something genuinely useful.
• Richard concluded that mathematics was the foundation of science and the key to understanding the world.
• Richard chose to start Pandora with elementary mathematics, beginning with the Nine-Nine Table.
• Pandora spent five days trying to memorize the Nine-Nine Table and remained blankly focused on the bed.

Richard tested Pandora on the Nine-Nine Table, but she repeatedly forgot the Five-Character Table, especially three times five. Repeated knocks at the door interrupted her recitation, though nobody appeared when Pandora checked, and the chapter ended with Richard holding her in place as she blamed the knocking for distracting her.

• Richard asked Pandora to recite the Nine-Nine Table, and she confidently but incorrectly said three times five was thirty-five.
• Pandora again struggled with the Five-Character Table, guessed several wrong answers, and concluded that five equaled seven.
• A knock interrupted Pandora's recitation, but she found nobody outside when she opened the door.
• Further knocks arrived whenever Pandora got stuck, and she repeatedly hurried to check the door instead of reciting.
• Richard pressed Pandora back onto the bed and told her to finish the table while she insisted the knocking distracted her.

Richard discovered that the fortune-telling woman had sent a rat to knock on his door, captured it, and decided to use it for experiments in Eden Garden’s Biological Laboratory. He then continued teaching Pandora the Five-Character Table, leaving her in tears over five times five.

• Richard used Gaze of the Eye to see a tiny shadow sneaking through the roof and knocking on his door.
• Richard opened the door during the rat’s next attempt and froze it with Ice Shards.
• Richard thawed the shadow, identified it as a Semi-Demonized Creature, and stored it in a suitcase for laboratory experiments.
• Richard asked Pandora to recite the Five-Character Table, and she struggled to remember five times five.
• Pandora spent the night crying and repeating that five times five was too hard.