Chapter Summaries

Mu En’s lines were systematically captured, and his subordinates believed their plan had been exposed and destroyed. After escaping their burning hideout, Mu En revealed that the plan had been designed to fail so the enemy would trust the apparent clues, while Franklin’s team arrived at Richard’s rented courtyard and forced its gate open.

• Mu En ordered his subordinates to keep deploying lines despite reports that Line Six, Line One, Line Three, and Line Four had fallen.
• Mu En sent out Line Ten, Line Eleven, and Line Twelve as the enemy continued capturing his lines.
• A subordinate reported that most remaining lines had fallen and warned Mu En that the plan was exposed, but Mu En insisted Line Ten could still secure success.
• After Line Ten fell, Mu En led two subordinates through a secret passage and escaped as their hideout burned.
• Mu En told his subordinates that the plan had been designed to fail and led them into the darkness.
• Franklin and Red Hair Promi led their team to Richard’s rented courtyard, where Franklin blasted the gate away.

Franklin led his Wizards through a trap-filled underground corridor, determined to uncover what lay beyond it. After a key shattered a hollow outer door and spilled foul black liquid, the sturdy inner door opened by itself, leaving the group facing whatever was behind it.

• Franklin ordered his subordinates to search the courtyard, where they uncovered a passage leading underground.
• Franklin's group entered the corridor, survived a trap, and Franklin used Earth Magic to trigger or destroy traps ahead.
• At a fork, Franklin sent Wizards down both paths; one group found a stone door, while the other found a key that seemed to fit it.
• A Wizard turned the key, shattering the hollow outer door and spilling foul black liquid over the ground.
• Franklin's group smashed the outer door and found a sturdy second door behind it, which suddenly opened by itself.

Franklin led his Wizards into a secret chamber, where a masked man used a rapid-firing machine to slaughter them. With his last subordinates dead, Franklin swallowed a golden pill, transformed into a golden werewolf, and charged through the bullets toward the masked man.

• Franklin found a masked man waiting in a secret chamber and ordered his Wizards to capture him alive.
• The masked man activated a machine that fired explosive bullets, killing the two Wizards who entered the chamber.
• The machine’s bullets tore through the Wizards in the narrow passage, leaving Franklin nearly alone.
• Franklin swallowed a golden pill and transformed into a powerful golden werewolf.
• Franklin’s aura surged through seven flashes of light, and he charged toward the masked man through the bullets.

Richard used a prepared trap and Spell Guns to kill the Wizards who had invaded his home, then emerged to find Pandora guarding the wrecked courtyard. He concluded the attackers were likely all eliminated and considered investigating their Iron Rings for information about the Black Spirit Empire and the Black Spirit King's Treasure.

• Richard increased the Spell Gun's firing rate, and its barrage stripped Franklin down to a skeleton and killed him.
• Richard inspected the passageway and confirmed that none of the invading Wizards had survived.
• Richard reflected that his preparations had made the ambush effective, though the Spell Guns depended on a confined environment and had consumed nearly half his Spell Bullet reserves.
• Pandora guarded the wrecked courtyard with a hand cannon and confirmed that no one else had come out or broken in.
• Richard judged the site relatively safe and planned to search the dead Wizards' Iron Rings for information about the Black Spirit Empire and the Black Spirit King's Treasure.

Richard pieced together the mysterious organization’s missions and deduced that clues to the Black Spirit King’s Treasure lay near Siver City, Blood Valley, and Gray Bell Town. He used geometry to locate a likely point in the surrounding mountains, then noticed the abandoned Black Stone Graveyard nearby and thought of the grave he had excavated outside White Stone City.

• Richard left Floren and settled in a rented courtyard in a small town before entering Eden Garden to examine the slain Wizards’ records.
• Richard mapped the organization’s activity around Siver City, Blood Valley, and Gray Bell Town, where their missions involved secrets linked to the Black Spirit Empire.
• Richard concluded that the three sites likely held clues rather than separate treasures and drew their triangle’s circumcenter as a possible treasure location.
• Richard noticed that the estimated location was near the abandoned Black Stone Graveyard and recalled excavating Alex’s ancestors’ grave outside White Stone City.

Muse discovered that Franklin and most of his squad had died after leaving on a mission, so she ordered Thomas to revive them. After the revived Franklin returned, Muse brutally killed him for concealing what had happened and ordered Thomas to revive him again.

• Muse found Franklin absent from the hall and learned from Thomas that he had left with most of his squad and could no longer be contacted.
• Muse questioned Thomas about Franklin's situation, then ordered him to use the Resurrection Pool to revive Franklin and the members of his squad.
• More than half a day later, Franklin and his squad returned, and Franklin tried to understand how they had died while Muse silenced him.
• Muse crushed Franklin with air and mental force until he died, then pulverized his corpse in front of the hall.
• Muse ordered Thomas to revive Franklin a second time.

Franklin was repeatedly resurrected and killed after Steward Muse summoned him to the Council Hall. The chapter left him dead again, with the hall’s witnesses accustomed to his repeated deaths.

• Franklin emerged from the Resurrection Pool and followed Thomas to meet Steward Muse.
• Muse brutally killed Franklin, then ordered Thomas to resurrect him for the third time.
• Thomas brought the newly resurrected Franklin to the Council Hall, where Franklin saw blood and flesh on the floor.
• Franklin was crushed by an invisible force before he could speak, while the witnesses watched with weary familiarity.

Muse had Franklin revived once more, erased his retained memories, and punished him for a grave mistake while demanding that he protect the Grand Plan. After Franklin identified six people as threats, Muse returned with their heads and ordered him to coordinate with Donnie and Huron’s teams.

• Muse ordered Thomas to revive Franklin one last time and erase his retained memories.
• Muse made Franklin confront and eat part of a body he had once used, then warned him not to interfere with the Grand Plan.
• Franklin told Muse that six powerful people suspected the organization and could disrupt the plan, and he gave her their locations.
• Muse returned with seven heads, killed the six identified targets and an additional Level 3 Wizard who had followed her.
• Muse told Franklin to coordinate with Donnie and Huron’s teams, then left the hall as her subordinates returned to work.

At Deep Blue Fort, Linda reported that White Stone Tower's representatives had been waiting to see Vice Dean Sig or Dean Logan. After she stumbled upon Sig and a Black-Robed Man discussing a secret, the Black-Robed Man killed her and erased her body, while Sig warned him not to harm his subordinates again.

• Linda entered Vice Dean Sig's office to report that the increasingly angry White Stone Tower delegation had been waiting for days.
• Linda approached Sig's desk, struck an invisible Air Wall, and saw Sig appear from the inner room after his apparent double vanished.
• Sig questioned Linda about what she had heard or seen, then told her he would handle the visitors from White Stone Tower.
• As Linda tried to leave, the Black-Robed Man appeared and killed her by inserting a hand into her chest.
• The Black-Robed Man erased Linda's corpse and cleaned away the evidence, prompting Sig to reprimand him for killing his subordinate.
• The Black-Robed Man defended the murder as a way to protect their secret, and he and Sig briefly clashed over their plans.

Sig met with the Black-Robed Man, who urged him to take control of Deep Blue Fort, while Richard and Pandora explored an underground passage in the abandoned Black Stone Graveyard. Richard left the lurking creature dead and continued his exploration.

• The Black-Robed Man promised Sig he would stop casually attacking Sig’s people and told him to seize Deep Blue Fort, while Sig pressed him about the promised delivery.
• Sig met with Macbeth and the White Stone Tower delegation to discuss business as similar talks took place among other Wizard organizations.
• Richard entered the underground passage at Black Stone Graveyard with Pandora and told her to wear a mask and stay close.
• Richard and Pandora spotted a shadow moving across the ceiling, so Richard loaded his Spell Gun and waited for it to appear again.
• Richard shot the shadow with a barrage of Spell Bullets, killing it, then approached its body to identify the creature.

Richard and Pandora defended themselves from repeated waves of Lizard Monsters in an underground space, using a magically raised bunker and their firearms. As the horde launched its final charge, Pandora fired her Hand Cannon into the monsters.

• Richard examined the dead Lizard Monster and identified its fatal internal injuries from the air burst.
• Richard raised a fortified bunker while Lizard Monsters gathered and charged from every direction.
• Richard used the Spell Gun to repel repeated waves of Lizard Monsters, including attackers from the ceiling.
• As the final horde overwhelmed the Spell Gun’s medium-rate firing, Richard called Pandora forward.
• Pandora fired a massive shell from her Hand Cannon into the horde, crushing monsters and triggering a powerful air burst.

Richard and Pandora blasted their way through the underground monsters and reached a gray treasure chamber. Richard found three boxes on a stone pedestal and approached them, curious about their contents.

• Pandora fired a Spell Cannonball that devastated the Lizard Monsters, and the survivors fled deeper underground.
• Richard and Pandora entered a passageway and killed a swarm of blue beetles with Spell Bullets and Pandora’s hand cannon.
• Richard and Pandora advanced by repeatedly shooting and bombarding monsters, sealing biological nests with chlorine gas and Earth Magic.
• Richard led Pandora into the deepest chamber, where he found three boxes atop a stone pedestal and stepped toward them.

Richard discovered a Blood-Red Short Staff and read scrolls explaining how its magic patterns could produce a devastating close-range attack. He learned that the weapon could harm its user’s mana source with excessive use, then began examining the remaining scrolls.

• Richard opened the left box and found a Blood-Red Short Staff whose presence made the Wandering Energy Elements in his mana source stir.
• Richard stored the staff in his Space Iron Ring and opened the center box, which contained parchment scrolls.
• Richard read a scroll describing how the staff’s magic patterns transformed mana or Wandering Energy Elements into an ultra-active state capable of killing powerful enemies.
• Richard learned that the staff had an extremely short range and could cause irreversible damage to its user’s mana source if overused.
• Richard compared the staff to a close-range shotgun and his Spell Gun, then began examining the remaining scrolls.

Richard discovered the Black Spirit Empire’s unfinished blueprint for the Gloves of Extinction and solved a Seventeen-Layer Rubik’s Cube that revealed a clue to another treasure. The clue was the name Yadis.

• Richard found scrolls describing the Gloves of Extinction, a powerful spell artifact the Black Spirit Empire had failed to complete before its destruction.
• Richard stored the scrolls and opened the final box, finding a metal ball that transformed into a Seventeen-Layer Rubik’s Cube.
• Richard told Pandora he might stay in the chamber while she continued admiring the coins and jewelry.
• Richard used magic to solve the Rubik’s Cube and opened its hidden compartment.
• Richard unfolded a strip of parchment and read the clue: “Yadis.”

Richard infiltrated a Jungle Hut student group to enter one of its Gathering Places in Witch Forest, hoping to get closer to Yadis. As Martha led the frightened students deeper into the forest, Richard continued with his plan.

• Richard learned that Yadis was Jungle Hut’s holy land, hidden deep within Witch Forest and protected by its Gathering Places and guardians.
• After spending more than three months investigating and preparing, Richard joined a group of new Jungle Hut students traveling into Witch Forest.
• Richard continued researching the Gloves of Extinction blueprints and suspected their missing details would be explained by Black Spirit King’s final treasure.
• Martha threatened the frightened students with having their heads stuffed into the roadside pumpkins, and they hurried to catch up.
• Martha led the group onward toward the depths of Witch Forest.

Martha brought Richard and the other students to Jungle Hut’s Gathering Place, where Lilith tested their Wizard aptitudes and sorted them into groups. Richard concealed his true ability and was classified as ordinary before Martha led the students to be assigned to Wizards.

• Martha led the thirty-two students to the Gathering Place and reported to Lilith that she had recruited fewer than planned.
• Lilith summoned a golden light gate and ordered the students to pass through it for aptitude testing.
• Lilith rated the first girl’s aptitude excellent and the chubby boy’s inferior, while Richard’s disguised aptitude appeared ordinary.
• Lilith divided the students into five with excellent aptitude, twelve with ordinary aptitude, and fifteen with inferior aptitude, then gave Martha a scroll of Wizards seeking students.
• Martha sorted the students by aptitude and led them toward the center of the Gathering Place while Richard followed inconspicuously.

Martha assigned the students gathered by Lilith to different Wizards, while Quentin traded her a high-grade Toroman Potion for one extra student. He selected Richard for being exceptionally ordinary and led him away, forcing Richard to reconsider his undercover plans.

• Martha visited several Wizards, who chose students to keep and teach, until the group dwindled to about a dozen.
• Quentin blocked Martha and requested a student, offering her a high-grade Toroman Potion in exchange for one extra student.
• Martha agreed to provide Quentin a student with ordinary or low-grade aptitude, and Quentin rejected her first suggestion before choosing Richard.
• Richard realized his carefully disguised, inconspicuous appearance had made Quentin select him and considered adjusting his infiltration plan.
• Quentin told Richard to follow him, and Richard went after him.

Pust brought Richard to a cellar and revealed that he wanted Richard to become the student of Guluo, an elderly Wizard who guarded the Holy Land Key. Richard suspected Pust was using him to pursue the key, but agreed to cooperate as Pust began training him to attack a mannequin.

• Richard followed Pust into a cellar beneath a Wooden Building, where Pust demanded that Richard call him Teacher Pust.
• Pust explained that he wanted Richard to become Guluo’s student and described her declining strength, powerful Spirit Spells, and possession of the Holy Land Key.
• Richard suspected Pust had designs on the Holy Land Key and decided to play along because he also needed it.
• Pust gave Richard a Bomb Vest and a poisoned dagger that could break a specific Spell Shield, then described the attack course as training for Guluo’s approval.
• Pust told Richard to cross the cellar obstacles and stab a mannequin, explaining that he would later try to reach Guluo herself, and urged him to begin.

Pust trained Richard for three days to clear obstacles quickly and stab a dummy, then brought him to Master Guluo’s underground chamber for a supposed student test. Richard charged toward the hooded figure as instructed, but Guluo realized he was carrying a weapon and struck him with pale magic.

• Pust made Richard repeat an obstacle course while wearing a Bomb Vest and stabbing a dummy with a poisoned rune dagger.
• After three days, Pust led Richard to a ruined building and ordered him to drink a purple potion, then searched him to ensure he had swallowed it.
• Pust told Richard to attack the figure in Master Guluo’s chamber when signaled, and Richard pretended to comply.
• Pust introduced Richard to Master Guluo, who angrily rejected the offer of a student but eventually allowed Richard to enter without answering.
• Richard rushed toward the hooded figure, who spotted his weapon and struck him with a pale white glow.

Pust fought the supposed Guluo over the Holy Land Key, but their battle ended with both discovering that the other had been impersonating someone. The woman revealed that she was the Wizard from White Mist City, leaving Pust’s identity uncertain.

• Pust entered the underground room and demanded that Guluo give him the Holy Land Key, but she challenged his identity and rejected his claim that he came from White Mist City.
• Pust attacked with lightning and a blood-red fire lance, while Guluo countered with wind blades, compressed water, and icy spikes.
• Pust transformed into a golden beam and pierced Guluo, but she scattered into white mist and reformed unharmed.
• Pust recognized that the woman’s face did not match Guluo’s, and she admitted that she was not Guluo.
• The woman told Pust that he was not from White Mist City because she was the one from White Mist City.