Chapter Summaries

McCauley and the Iron Wall Knights visited Evan in Buffalo to negotiate over the Ancient Scroll, and Evan traded them a copy of its chart for a Church loan. He also sold them a thousand missiles, then other Holy Knight groups arrived in Buffalo.

• McCauley saw Buffalo’s construction and trade underway and offered Evan an interest-free loan of five hundred thousand Gold Lions for ten years.
• Evan agreed to McCauley’s request and copied the Ancient Scroll’s nautical chart according to a Grand Knight’s strength standard.
• Evan demonstrated his multiple-launch rocket artillery, and McCauley bought one thousand missiles for twenty thousand Gold Lions.
• The Winter Knights, Arcane Knights, and Silver Knights sent representatives to Buffalo after the Iron Wall Knights’ visit.

Evan and Olivia rode the newly completed Georgia Corridor railway as Evan prepared to connect Faletis’s colonies and accelerate industrial growth. The chapter ended with Hawkins beginning negotiations over the wider Coastal Railway, whose benefits Evan expected Georgia and Far Sail Territory to capture disproportionately.

• Evan and Olivia rode the steam locomotive from Brunswick to Far Sail Port in six hours, celebrating the completion of the 368-kilometer Georgia Corridor.
• Evan secured large interest-free loans and copying fees from the Seven Gods churches, then notified Saint Angel Bellerus that he possessed the Balance Holy Sword.
• The governors of Faletis’s twelve colonies urged Evan to expand the Coastal Railway, while the train carried Georgia’s White Oak toward Far Sail Territory and was set to return with ginned cotton.
• Evan, Olivia, and his father-in-law pursued complementary industrial plans for Buffalo, Georgia, and Far Sail Territory.
• Hawkins and Mrs. Edith prepared to negotiate the Coastal Railway’s construction and division of benefits, as Evan planned to use the railway and price differences to strengthen his territories.

Yellen advanced to Grand Knight through the Clock Tower but accepted corruption from the Ancient God Chaos Worm, while Evan and Angie discovered evidence that the Chaos Worm had come from beyond the stars. The chapter left Yellen poised to corrupt the Night Spirits and Evan redirecting research toward the Blood Holy Grail and a new biological armor for Angie.

• Yellen met the Night Spirits on the island where they and his group had taken refuge after their failed expedition into the Star Shattering Archipelago.
• After reaching the Clock Tower’s Third Layer and advancing to Third-Order Grand Knight, Yellen accepted the Ancient God’s corruption and contaminated the Spring Eye with his blood.
• Yellen declared that he would restore the Iliya Kingdom as the oblivious Night Spirits played in their treehouses nearby.
• Evan and Angie found that the Ancient God Spawn’s genes lacked the Golden Chain and differed from those of known creatures.
• Evan concluded that the Chaos Worm was an outsider from beyond the stars, then told Angie to pause the Spawn research and focus on the Blood Holy Grail and biological armor.

Evan completed two custom third-order Biological Armor · Light Magic Circuits for Olivia and Angie using specially adapted mitochondria. After the two women fitted the armor, Evan suggested they test their newfound strength in training.

• Evan finished making two Light Magic Circuits from high-energy nutrient solution and mitochondrial genetic material.
• Evan explained how mitochondria powered cells and how he adjusted his own Branded Swordsman mitochondria to match Olivia and Angie's genomes.
• Evan invited Olivia and Angie to try on the custom armor, and they accepted.
• The mercury-like armor fused into the women’s cells, forming glowing geometric patterns and brightening their Life Force Fields.
• Olivia and Angie felt warmth and surging strength after completing the fitting, and Evan proposed that they train.

Evan tested Olivia and Angie’s newly enhanced Light Magic Circuits in a sparring match, then planned research to strengthen his team and expand the Mind Network. An unexpected incident among the Native tribes caught him off guard.

• Olivia and Angie used their Light Magic Circuits and Electromagnetic Gunblades to overwhelm Evan during training while his Extraordinary Shackles limited his power.
• Evan assessed the women’s strength and considered claiming part of the Spirit Origin overflowing across the New Continent.
• Evan, Olivia, and Angie relaxed together in a hot spring after their battle.
• Evan scheduled research into dragon blood, the Mountain Giant, and other projects while setting Milan to catch up on his studies.
• Evan put the Mind Network and its Spiritualized Seagulls back on the agenda to monitor the New Continent and investigate the Shattered Star Sea.
• An accident among the Native tribes caught Evan completely off guard.

Evan and Angie completed preparations for Mind Network 2.0 and learned that the Huron People had led a coalition of more than a hundred Native tribes to besiege the Iroquois. The chapter left a forty-thousand-strong allied army marching north to defeat the Iroquois and claim the Great Lakes region.

• Evan and Angie sealed the cultivation chamber while hundreds of Spiritualized Seagulls underwent demonization, bringing Mind Network 2.0 closer to completion.
• Angie ordered Jacob and Calvin to release her experimental Cobra Pitcher Plants when they tried to collect them as specimens.
• Kyle's research team developed the Smallpox Vaccine, and Dilys advanced to become a Formal Wizard before she and Anthony departed for the Old Continent to promote the vaccine and Rail Transport.
• Evan learned from Milan that the Huron People had gathered more than a hundred Native tribes to attack the Iroquois.
• The Huron-led coalition assembled forty thousand fighters and marched north to defeat the Iroquois and divide the lake region.

A Huron-led alliance launched a surprise assault on the Iroquois at Lake Huron, gaining the upper hand as Milan sensed a new danger. Meanwhile, Yellen finished corrupting an island’s inhabitants and sent his transformed followers out to spread the Chaos Worm’s influence.

• Forty thousand allied warriors crossed Lake Huron at night and attacked the Iroquois encampment, beginning a fierce battle.
• Hakaru Tu and Apusuya led the charge as Shaman Sorcery, Poisonous Bees, and allied firepower helped drive the Iroquois ground forces back.
• Great Bear Spirit Gleianm fought Fierce Tiger Spirit in the sky while Milan prepared to rescue Apusuya and then sensed a sudden danger from the east.
• Yellen completed the corruption of every human and Night Spirit on the island, turning them into followers of the Chaos Worm.
• Yellen ordered his Corrupted Believers aboard the Legendary Battleship Southern Cross to set out and conquer the world for their god.

The Huron-led alliance neared victory over the Iroquois when Lady Crow intervened, striking Great Bear Spirit Gleianm and threatening Hakaru Tu. Milan rescued Hakaru Tu and Apusuya, but Lady Crow prepared to attack until Evan arrived aboard his Legendary Battleship and confronted her.

• Apusuya killed the Iroquois chieftain's son at close range, while the allied tribes slaughtered the Iroquois and burned their settlement.
• Gleianm declared the Iroquois defeated and charged Uwakala, but Lady Crow arrived and attacked Gleianm with the Authority of Plague.
• Gleianm weakened and tried to seize Hakaru Tu's body, while Lady Crow moved to kill Hakaru Tu before he could become Gleianm's vessel.
• Milan used a Solidified Space Jump Pad to save Hakaru Tu and Apusuya, then stepped between Lady Crow and the battlefield.
• Lady Crow summoned deadly black snow, but Evan arrived from Lake Huron aboard his Legendary Battleship and told her the road was blocked.

Evan defeated Lady Crow’s plague attacks with sorcery and countered her with a microwave magnetic field, forcing her to retreat. After the allied army’s victory, he turned to the wounded Great Bear Spirit and Chief Hakaru Tu to negotiate the spoils of war.

• Lady Crow confronted Evan in the sky, and they began fighting while the tribal chiefs fled the battlefield.
• Evan sterilized Lady Crow’s black snow and resisted her plague attacks by identifying and destroying the pathogens in his body.
• Evan used a microwave magnetic field to heat Lady Crow’s bacteria, leaving her at a disadvantage and prompting her to withdraw.
• Evan recognized that neither he nor Lady Crow could risk a fight to the death and considered developing his Divine Might for physical-side advancement.
• The allied army won after the Iroquois male members were nearly wiped out, and Evan approached the injured Great Bear Spirit and Chief Hakaru Tu to discuss the spoils.

Evan’s forces expanded across the New Continent as Griffon Air Knights cleared Spirit Ghost sites and the Mind Network improved communication. After Olivia and Angie reported that Evan’s newly planted Peace Tree had left an area almost empty of young spirits, he hinted that it could help solve the Spirit Tide and give him control over the continent’s north.

• A Griffon Air Knight squadron destroyed four Spirit Ghost gathering sites and confirmed that no Atelian tribes remained near the western foothills.
• The squadron reported its findings to Lord Beth using a Communication Amulet connected to Evan’s improved Mind Network.
• Olivia and Angie returned to Long Island Manor and discussed how the Huron people were adapting to life in the territory.
• Evan’s territories absorbed about 190,000 Huron and Iroquois people, bringing their combined population to nearly 970,000.
• Olivia and Angie told Evan that few young spirits had gathered near the plant he had them put in the ground.
• Evan identified the plant as the Peace Tree and suggested it might solve the Spirit Tide and help him monopolize the north of the continent.

Evan planted a Peace Tree to curb the Spirit Tide while secretly planning to harvest Spirit Origin. Across the sea, William Orange led the Eye of Wealth in preparing to challenge Sirius's monarchy by using democracy to advance the power of capital.

• Evan planted a Peace Tree whose scent accelerated the collapse of weak spirit bodies and explained that he intended to stop the Spirit Tide at its source.
• Olivia and Angie teased Evan about his convenient discovery, then agreed with his plan to plant the trees on a massive scale and harvest Spirit Origin later.
• Three years after Philip II became emperor, religious persecution across the Sirius Empire had killed more than a million believers and placed the Frisia Kingdom under severe pressure.
• William Orange rallied wealthy members of the Eye of Wealth, declaring that money and the Lord of Gold's power would shape the future.
• William Orange planned to wait for Sirius's weakness and use democracy to rally the masses against royal autocracy while strengthening the Eye of Wealth and the Black Wing God.

Evan continued expanding his territories’ institutions and armed forces while the Tree of Life Diagram and Theory of Evolution stirred debate among wizards. After Calvin became a Formal Wizard through the World’s Favor, Evan decided to explore the Shattered Star Sea and received Fisher’s summons to Heracleion to claim the Legendary Battleship Sea Soul.

• Evan’s territories carried out cowpox vaccinations and continued integrating Nimanster and Huron residents through shared faith and customs.
• Evan established naval, land, and air forces, including the Air Knight Corps, and built up a powerful military across his territories.
• Milan told Apusuya that his father wanted to meet her, startling her.
• Jacob and Calvin’s Tree of Life Diagram and Theory of Evolution provoked intense debate among the wizards at Waterfall Hill Wizard Tower.
• Calvin became a Formal Wizard after proposing his evolutionary theories, and Evan resolved to explore the Shattered Star Sea to advance the Branded Swordsman.
• Evan received a notice from Fisher summoning him to Heracleion to receive the Legendary Battleship Sea Soul.

Evan and Jerros’s first expedition into the Shattered Star Sea ended in defeat after a vast underwater presence nearly destroyed the Sea Soul. Evan then learned from Livina that the Queen was about to abdicate, forcing their exploration plans to pause.

• Evan took Jerros aboard the restored Sea Soul and led him toward the Star Shattering Archipelago to investigate its dangerous waters.
• The two traveled underwater toward a red-marked island, aiming to assess the region’s dangers and identify safe boundaries for future explorers.
• Their Golden Compasses warned them to flee, and Evan used Chronos Dragon power to escape as a monstrous shadow surged through the sea and struck the Sea Soul.
• The Sea Soul emerged outside the Shattered Star Sea, leaving Evan and Jerros shaken after their failed expedition.
• Livina contacted Evan and said the time was almost here; Evan told Jerros that the Queen was going to abdicate and their exploration would be postponed.

As Beckler prepared for Livina’s coronation, cult factions gathered beneath the city while royal forces tightened security. Livina and Evan discussed Sirius’s naval threat and a new shipbuilding process before moving into the royal palace.

• Cultists and monsters gathered in Beckler’s sewers as the kingdom raised the capital’s alert level ahead of the coronation.
• The chapter explained that Queen Isabella planned to abdicate and pass power to Livina after completing major domestic reforms and weighing the growing rivalry with Sirius.
• Livina told Evan she feared Faletis would remain vulnerable to Sirius at sea, despite the kingdom’s overseas interests and shipbuilding plans.
• Evan said the Far Sail Territory shipyard could produce iron-rib wooden-hull ships and proposed building fifteen Fourth-Rate Battleships within two years.
• Livina teased Evan about funding the ships, then agreed they should move into the royal palace and joked about making a deal on the way.

Livina and Evan discussed wealth redistribution and national prosperity while traveling to the palace, where Evan foiled an assassination attempt against her. As the Queen prepared for Livina’s arrival, a separate group of cultists assembled a corpse-born offering to the demon god Bairam beneath the city.

• Livina asked Evan how Faletis should improve citizens’ welfare and counter the influence of wealthy nations, and he explained that redistribution could promote fairness but wealth creation was needed for prosperity.
• Evan detected six Lizard Shadow Thieves waiting to ambush Livina and used the earth, river, and air to bind them until guards could capture them.
• Livina condemned the assassins’ audacity, while Evan urged her to focus on making the kingdom stronger by increasing the total wealth it created.
• Marquis Hansa assured Queen Isabella that he would oversee security and organize sweeps of the capital before Livina’s coronation, and Isabella expressed confidence in her daughter.
• Rat People cultists in the sewers assembled corpses into a massive sphere around a beating core, which bore the signs of the demon god Bairam.

As Beckler prepared for Livina’s coronation, Evan’s security operation disrupted multiple terrorist plots, though Argo and his allies escaped with the Demon God’s Egg plan still in motion. The city’s defenses continued their searches as foreign envoys arrived and Livina’s succession ceremony began.

• Evil God Cultists began a ritual to poison the Taim River, but Crow-Men stormed their manor with bombs and attacked them.
• Guard Dragoons arrested a Blood Hand Gang group preparing to use explosives, while Kvarina Bach fought the gang’s Scarlet Shooters and cut off their leader’s arms.
• Evan’s security forces and Mind Network swept through Beckler to stop plots against the palace, water supply, and morgues, but several unknown prophets disappeared and the corpse sphere remained hidden in the sewers.
• Argo led ghouls and Profane Cultists downstream from Beckler, explaining that they had funded smaller attacks to conceal the Demon God’s Egg plot.
• Evan ordered another sewer inspection and went to help Livina choose her ceremony dress as envoys arrived and the day of her coronation came.

Livina was crowned queen of Faletis in a ceremony attended by nobles and foreign envoys. As she began her first diplomatic audience, Sirius’s envoy delivered Philip II’s proposal that she marry a Sirius prince, leaving the court facing a pointed provocation.

• Evan observed the coronation guests, including a Sirius envoy accompanied by a master swordsman, while the ceremony began.
• Archbishop Lance administered Livina’s succession oaths and placed St. Edward’s Crown on her head.
• The nobles, generals, and ministers knelt and swore allegiance to Queen Livina after the ceremony concluded.
• Evan learned that citizens had reported strange animal calls from the sewers and that Grand Knight Ambrose had gone to investigate.
• Sirius’s deputy envoy presented Philip II’s letter and proposed that Livina marry a Sirius prince, then asked what she thought.

At Livina’s coronation, Sirius prince Manolo proposed a marriage alliance and maneuvered Evan into a duel against his second, Pedro. Meanwhile, Ambrose confronted a Curse School wizard in the sewers, where strange animal cries came from deeper underground.

• Manolo praised a marriage between Livina and the Sirius Empire, then declared his admiration for her and presented a portrait he had painted.
• The Faletis foreign minister questioned Manolo about remaining unmarried, and Manolo revealed that he spent much of his time with young male artists.
• Livina ordered Evan through the Mind Network to fight Manolo, who invoked a duel of honor and named Pedro as his second.
• Ambrose and the Iron Wall Knights pursued people entering the sewers and found a Curse School wizard transformed by the Spider Curse.
• The wizard denied knowing about the missing citizens, then Ambrose and the others heard cattle and sheep cries from the deepest part of the sewers.

Evan fought Pedro, a Sirius master of Supreme Swordsmanship, in an honor duel that reflected the rivalry between Sirius and Faletis. Pedro gained the upper hand with his Truth Circle, but a terrifying bellow from below interrupted the fight and left Duke wondering what had descended.

• Evan and Pedro faced off as nobles and envoys watched, while Livina worried that Sirius had sent a dangerous opponent.
• Ilvedi began the duel, and Evan and Pedro drew their swords and clashed at extreme speed.
• Pedro's greater mastery of swordsmanship pushed Evan into a disadvantage, and Pedro unleashed the Supreme Swordsmanship Truth Circle.
• As Pedro's sword-qi circle closed around Evan, a loud bellow rose from beneath the square and made everyone feel prey to a natural predator.
• Duke turned to Nymph and asked what she had said had descended.

Ambrose and the Iron Wall Knights discovered that the Funeral Cult had hidden a Demon God's Egg beneath Beckler, and the premature projection of Demon God Bairam emerged during Livina's coronation. Bairam invaded the palace square, and Anita's Emerald Corona and the Rose Sword Saint attacked as the citizens fled.

• Ambrose and the Iron Wall Knights found and killed the Rat People priests in the sewers, then uncovered the corpse sphere and Demon God's Egg hidden in a load-bearing wall.
• The Demon God Bairam hatched as a premature projection, absorbed a bewitched young man, and fled toward the celebration above after Ambrose warned the Mind Network.
• Bairam appeared at St. James's Palace and merged the gates with a blood-red Lower Realm, unleashing monsters on the palace guests and citizens.
• Archbishop Lance used Divine Art · Royal Authority · Command to send the citizens fleeing, while Livina signaled Evan and Anita launched the Legendary Battleship Emerald Corona.
• Anita's Emerald Corona ignited the monsters with golden flames and struck Bairam with Pegasus Strike as the Rose Sword Saint charged at the demon.