Chapter Summaries

Bata battled a swarm of Gold-Striped Silver Snakes in the first hall while Richard watched, then followed him to a larger second hall. After Bata touched one of its statues, arrows fired from every wall, and he raised shields to defend himself.

• Bata killed the first Gold-Striped Silver Snake, then armored himself with Azure Rock Armor and fought off the swarm that emerged from the hole.
• After the snakes were nearly all dead, Richard crossed the hall and continued through the tunnel, with Bata following after him.
• Richard entered the second hall and examined its four lifelike stone statues while Bata waited outside.
• Bata entered the hall and touched a statue despite Richard's warning, triggering arrows from all four walls.
• Bata condensed the surrounding air into four massive shields to block the arrows.

Richard watched Bata trigger a deadly trap in the hall, where spell-material arrows drove him into a fatal ambush among four statues. After Bata died, Richard destroyed the hall’s second trap with his Spell Gun and continued into the new passage.

• The arrows embedded in Bata’s Air Shields exploded, forcing him to reinforce his defense with Azure Rock Armor.
• Bata hid between four stone statues to escape the arrows, but spikes thrust from the statues and fatally pierced him.
• Bata pleaded with Richard to save him, but Richard refused and explained why he would not risk helping him.
• After Bata died, Richard triggered the hall’s next trap and destroyed the statues and walls with his Spell Gun.
• Richard surveyed the wreckage and walked toward the new passage.

Richard reached the final hall of Yadis Village’s treasure and encountered a huge Demonized Land Turtle guarding the way. The turtle’s powerful defenses and multiple spell abilities made it a more difficult opponent than expected.

• Richard bulldozed through the treasure’s mechanisms to save time and reached a vast hall with a pitch-black door.
• A Demonized Land Turtle erupted from the floor and attacked Richard with a volley of ice cones.
• Richard dodged the ice cones and fired a full drum of 315 Alloy rounds at the turtle, but its shell showed almost no damage.
• The turtle charged and snapped at Richard, who evaded it and narrowly avoided stone cones that erupted where he had planned to land.

Richard defeated the Giant Turtle and reached a vast black gate, where the ancient Black Spirit King recognized the Feather of Judgement as proof that Richard could inherit his treasure. The gate opened, and Richard entered to see what the Black Spirit King had left behind.

• Richard wounded the Giant Turtle with his Spell Gun, then killed it by firing Pandora's hand cannon down its throat and stored its powerful shell in his Space Suitcase.
• Richard approached the enormous black gate, and touching it caused the passage behind him to close.
• The Black Spirit King’s furious will scanned Richard and prepared to attack him for trespassing and seeking the treasure.
• The Feather of Judgement on Richard’s chest released energy that calmed the Black Spirit King and revealed him as eligible to inherit the treasure.
• The Black Spirit King invited Richard inside, the gate opened, and Richard entered.

Richard discovered that the Black Spirit King's treasure was an enormous library of magical knowledge and began studying its scrolls. Meanwhile, Sig Adolf and Bayer launched an attack on the city as its Wizards prepared for a Final Battle Discussion, leaving Eva and Russell to respond to the assault.

• Richard explored the palace's Stone Tables and found scrolls documenting knowledge about energy storage and fire spells.
• Richard realized the Black Spirit King's treasure was a vast, categorized collection of magical knowledge and began reading about wind spells.
• Sig Adolf and Bayer confirmed their forces were ready and ordered their Wizards to attack the city.
• Eva learned from Russell that several leaders and their forces had arrived for the Final Battle Discussion, which was scheduled for the next day.
• Russell sensed the approaching attack, sounded the alarm, and flew toward the outskirts as an explosion destroyed part of the city wall.

While Richard absorbed knowledge in the underground treasure palace, a battle began aboveground, and he sent Teddy, Noel, Jenny, and the troops to support Eva while he returned below. Noel accused Richard of killing Bata and demanded to investigate, so Richard attacked him with a Metal Needle.

• Richard emerged from the underground passage and learned from Teddy that a battle was underway to the north.
• Richard told Teddy, Noel, Jenny, and Commander Ulong to support Eva's side while he went back underground to deal with the situation there.
• Noel stopped Richard and asked where Bata was, and Richard said Bata had died to a dangerous mechanism underground.
• Noel accused Richard of silencing Bata, while Jenny said she would remain neutral until someone presented evidence.
• Richard suggested that his spell tools could explain where he had gotten so many, then stepped toward Noel and shot a Metal Needle at his eye.

Richard killed Noel after Noel attacked him, then entered the passage to deal with the problem underground and pursue the Black Spirit King's ultimate treasure. Teddy and Jenny joined Ulong's team, though not before dividing Noel's spell tools and burying his body.

• Richard pierced Noel's Spell Shield with a Metal Needle, killed him, and told Jenny that Wizard Bata had died in an accident.
• Richard instructed Teddy to lead the team to provide support and said he was going underground; Teddy agreed to follow his orders with Jenny.
• Teddy returned to Noel's corpse and stripped away his spell tools, but Jenny caught him and demanded half.
• Teddy and Jenny argued over the split, then divided the five spell tools, buried Noel, and chased after Ulong's team as the battle to the north intensified.

Richard discovered that the palace scrolls were protected by a spell that destroyed them whenever they were moved or placed in a Space Item. Unable to take them, he decided to photograph their contents with a camera, leaving him to record the palace’s knowledge one scroll at a time.

• Richard tried to collect the scrolls but watched them crumble into dust as soon as he lifted them from their stone tables.
• Richard realized the scrolls were bound to the tables by an anti-theft spell designed to prevent their knowledge from being stolen.
• Richard tried storing a stone table and its scroll in Space Iron Rings and the Space Suitcase, but the scroll still turned to dust.
• Richard took out a camera and decided to photograph the scrolls while they remained spread open on the tables.

Richard discovered that the Black Spirit King's prophecy-based anti-theft spells destroyed scrolls when he tried to photograph them, so he decided to memorize the palace's knowledge instead. He returned to the surface to call Pandora, who was working on his assigned homework in the Space Suitcase.

• Richard used a camera to photograph a scroll, but the camera exploded and the scroll and several nearby scrolls turned to dust.
• Richard concluded that the Black Spirit King had protected the knowledge with prophecy-based anti-theft spells and decided he would have to read and memorize what he could.
• Richard left the palace, took out the Space Suitcase, and called for Pandora.
• Pandora worked through a difficult calculation by reasoning backward, wrote down her answer, and considered resting before her scheduled time.

Pandora recalled her lonely life with Gregory, her growing bond with Richard, and her decision to study so she could help him. Back in the laboratory, she adjusted Eden Garden’s lighting as Richard had instructed, then heard something outside.

• Pandora remembered how she had disciplined the forest animals while living with Gregory, before Richard arrived.
• Pandora recalled how Richard stopped her from confronting the Wizard who killed Gregory and helped her avenge him.
• After the battle in White Stone City left Pandora unable to protect herself, she asked Richard to teach her useful skills.
• Pandora remembered studying mathematics and believed she would eventually use what she learned to help Richard.
• Pandora noticed she was nearly out of time to finish Richard’s assigned problems, adjusted Eden Garden’s lights, and heard something outside the laboratory.

Richard tasked Pandora with keeping watch while he explored the underground palace, and she accepted despite a sudden feeling of unease. He left her with a hand cannon and began selecting valuable scrolls to study, while Pandora stayed outside to do her homework and watch for danger.

• Richard instructed Pandora to watch the passage entrance, alert him if strangers approached, and avoid fighting them.
• Pandora felt a sharp pain and an ominous premonition but agreed to keep watch because Richard said his work inside was very important.
• Richard gave Pandora a loaded hand cannon, disguising the Giant Turtle’s saliva on it as rust-preventing oil when she asked what the sticky strands were.
• Pandora set the hand cannon aside in disgust, placed her homework on a rock, and began writing while watching the surroundings.
• Richard entered the underground palace and hurriedly searched its scrolls, setting aside promising ones to read and memorize.

Richard pushed his body to its limits while studying the Black Spirit Empire’s scrolls, then mastered how to operate the Gloves of Extinction. After testing a pair of the gloves, he prepared to use them against any enemy who came looking for trouble.

• Richard read scrolls at a frantic pace and used stimulating potions until his heartbeat, vision, and hearing showed that his body was near its limit.
• Richard regulated his heart rate and replenished his body before continuing to study.
• Richard discovered six scrolls explaining how to manufacture and use the Gloves of Extinction and read them carefully.
• Richard learned that the gloves required precise control and enormous energy to unleash their combined functions.
• Richard put on his left- and right-handed Gloves of Extinction and successfully activated their complete attack functions.
• Richard heard explosions and tremors from the north and said he would test the gloves on anyone who came to attack him.

Powerful leaders of the Alliance of Revenge turned back the surprise assault on the northern city, but a fresh wave of black-robed attackers forced the defenders into a shrinking defensive position. Sig and Bayer watched from the hills and judged that the Alliance’s defeat was inevitable once their final force entered the battle.

• Master Russell, Andrew, Tris, Aphrodite, and Holm led the defenders’ counterattack and killed many of the attackers.
• The defenders drove the first wave of attackers toward the outskirts, but more black-robed Wizards arrived and reversed the battle.
• Holm persuaded Russell and the other leaders to tighten their defenses and reduce casualties while waiting for reinforcements.
• Sig and Bayer watched the defenders retreat into a defensive perimeter and declared the outcome effectively decided.

Bayer betrayed Sig during negotiations over the restored Black Spirit Empire, but Sig survived by using preparations he had made in advance. Bayer then revealed that Jia Suo Er had slaughtered Sig’s elite Wizards for their blood, leaving Sig confronted by a horrifying enemy.

• Bayer offered Deep Blue Fort the rest of the Moore Alliance as compensation, then attacked Sig with a blood-red dagger that pierced his Spell Shields and struck his heart.
• Sig’s body exploded, but he reappeared beside a stone and revealed that he had anticipated Bayer’s betrayal and prepared for it.
• Sig summoned dozens of elite Deep Blue Fort Wizards, but Bayer called on Jia Suo Er for help.
• Jia Suo Er engulfed the Wizards in blood mist, drained them into withered corpses, and called them nutritious ingredients.
• Sig stared at Jia Suo Er in horror as the creature explained that human bloodlines were inferior to those of Singular Species and Demonized Creatures.

Bayer exposed Sig’s failed preparations and revealed that Di Lin had defected, while Sig threatened to kill Deep Blue Fort’s people with poison if he died. As Sig dismissed Muse as crippled, she appeared and charged toward him.

• Bayer revealed that he knew about Sig’s Hidden Arrow plan and summoned Di Lin, who urged his former teacher to surrender.
• Di Lin told Sig that Bayer had shown him a larger world and that resisting Bayer was futile.
• Sig claimed he had secretly poisoned Deep Blue Fort’s people and threatened that they would die without him and his antidote.
• Bayer said Sig’s threat would not change the outcome of their plan, and Sig challenged him to fight.
• Sig dismissed Muse as too injured to threaten him, then sensed her approaching and saw her charge toward him.

Muse left Sig helpless and joined the Black-Robed Men in attacking Russell’s defensive line in the city. Bayer then incapacitated Sig and revealed that his organization never intended to rule the East Coast; its goal was to destroy it.

• Sig unleashed his power against Muse, but she ignored him and flew toward the city.
• Muse and the hidden elite Black-Robed Men pierced Russell and her companions’ defenses and advanced toward the city’s core.
• Sig threatened Bayer and Jia Suo Er, but Bayer’s incantation drained Sig’s magic, strength, and mental energy.
• Bayer told Sig that the organization had long controlled him and explained that it wanted to destroy the East Coast rather than rule it.

Bayer revealed that his side intended to destroy the East Coast and prevent a unified wizard nation from emerging. In the city battle, Muse fought six prominent wizards, severely injuring Russell and Andrew as the confrontation continued.

• Bayer told Sig that the plan was to destroy the East Coast and purge Deep Blue Fort, leaving the region without wizards.
• Muse broke through the defensive line, prompting Russell, Andrew, Gael, Tris, Aphrodite, and Holm to attack her together.
• Muse and the six wizards exchanged spells, suffering injuries before Muse challenged Russell to fight her directly.
• Russell hit Muse with her Three-Ring Spell God's Eye, but Muse pressed on, shattered Russell's Energy Ball, and sent her flying.
• Andrew struck Muse with a Three-Ring Spell Curse Acid Arrow, and Muse tore open her back to remove the acid and damaged flesh.
• Muse launched one of her severed fingers through Andrew's chest, making him cough up blood.

Muse overwhelmed the allied Wizard leaders, then ordered her forces to kill the fleeing Wizards as the East Coast’s Formal Wizard organizations neared destruction. On a hill, Bayer explained his plan to reshape the region into a foundation for Paradise, killed Sig, and prepared to return to the Main Continent.

• Muse defeated Gael, tore apart Tris’s summoned ghost and arm, and repelled Aphrodite and Holm.
• Russell and the other leaders renewed their attack, but Muse’s forces broke their defense and the Wizards fled in all directions.
• Muse ordered the Black Robe Wizards and Deep Blue Fort Wizards to kill every fugitive.
• Bayer told Sig that the destruction of the East Coast’s Wizard inheritance would create the conditions for a new world called Paradise.
• Bayer stabbed Sig to death and made his body disappear as Wizards broke through the city’s defenses and escaped.
• Bayer surveyed the battlefield and said it was time to return to the Main Continent.

Richard read the Black Spirit King's autobiography and learned how Augustus Caesar rose from an orphaned village boy to a powerful wizard under an extraordinary mentor. The scroll left off as Augustus began his task of ending the East Coast's chaos, discovering that no one could match his strength.

• Richard reached the deepest part of the hall and found a huge scroll and a Black Iron Mask on an unusual stone table.
• Richard read the scroll and recognized it as the Black Spirit King's autobiography, whose later pages described his past and the fall of the Black Spirit Empire.
• The scroll recounted how Augustus Caesar grew up in Yadis Village during a chaotic age and was chosen by a powerful old wizard to become his student.
• Augustus and two other children studied under the old wizard for fifteen years and became powerful wizards despite their poor talents.
• The old wizard tasked Augustus with ending the East Coast's chaos and founding a stable empire, and Augustus discovered that no opponent could match him.

Augustus built the Black Spirit Empire into a stable nation, but a rebellion exposed the Supreme Order Divine Assembly’s infiltration and drove him into a losing war. Richard read Augustus’s account of the Assembly and learned how precariously the empire had fought against it.

• Augustus unified the East Coast, established the Black Spirit Empire, and spent years strengthening its government with lessons from his old teacher.
• After failing to understand the teacher’s warning to “Beware of them!”, Augustus ruled for another dozen years before a rebellion spread across the empire.
• Augustus discovered that the Supreme Order Divine Assembly had infiltrated his empire, then fought its nearly immortal members with spies, armies, and spell weapons.
• After the war turned against him, Augustus funded the Gloves of Extinction and hid resources, records, and weapon designs for his descendants in secret caches.
• Richard concluded that Augustus had died and the Black Spirit Empire had collapsed, then read the scroll identifying “them” as the Supreme Order Divine Assembly.
• Richard learned that the Assembly’s lower-ranking members had nearly defeated the empire and that its higher-ranking members had not even joined the fight.