Recaps

Lanchi’s fighters brutally overwhelmed Kuse during the match, while the referee struggled to intervene after the arena barrier’s controls failed. The match ended in a notorious accident that led Iketerite City to permanently ban the academy’s large public events, and a mysterious figure was revealed to have sabotaged the controls.

• Kuse accused Lanchi’s fighters of lacking Martial Soul, while Lu Weixier tried to justify their techniques during the broadcast.
• Lanchi told Hughberlian that his authentic boxing techniques would subdue Kuse, and they noticed Frei was missing.
• The fighters surrounded Kuse, beat him mercilessly, and struck his throat when he tried to surrender.
• Loren tried to stop the match, but the control terminal failed; he weakened the barrier until it dispersed after Kuse had already been badly injured.
• Iketerite City permanently banned Iketerite Academy’s large public events, while a figure in the Knight Institute Arena control center left behind a magically severed wire.

After finishing her exams, Hughberlian began Winter Vacation and prepared to travel north with Lanchi for their project, leaving Talia behind. As Hughberlian and Talia headed to lunch, they discussed Lanchi’s debts, bounty, and the trouble he had caused at the academy.

• Hughberlian finished her final exam and met Talia, who was waiting with pastries before they walked toward the Cat Boss Restaurant.
• Hughberlian explained that Lanchi had earned enough credits through Shadow Worlds and Student Union work to skip most of his exams.
• Hughberlian said she had given her 4,500-pound bounty to Lanchi and Frei, while Talia claimed Lanchi’s money as repayment for his debt to her.
• Hughberlian listed the Rebirth Church bounties on Lanchi and mentioned the Dimensional Bishop’s offer to donate 20,000 pounds if Lanchi killed the Saint Child of Destruction.
• Hughberlian recalled Iketerite Academy’s 5–0 victory over Yarolan Royal Academy and said Juliana Knight Commander planned to confront Lanchi after dealing with the Rebirth Church.

Hughberlian and Talia returned to Cat Boss Restaurant, where Lanchi showed them a pink Divine Spell Card he had modified and gave it to Hughberlian. Hughberlian accepted the dangerous card tearfully as she and Lanchi prepared for their trip to the Northern Continent.

• Hughberlian asked Talia to return with her to South Wantina, and Talia agreed while wondering about a picture Lanchi had once drawn.
• Hughberlian and Talia arrived at Cat Boss Restaurant and found Lanchi working on a Magic Card.
• Lanchi shared the cakes with Talia and Hughberlian, who each gave her part of their portions.
• Lanchi showed them Elegant Styling, a pink Divine Spell Card that could alter a touched target's hair, and Talia objected to his changes to her card.
• Lanchi gave Elegant Styling to Hughberlian for their Northern Continent trip, and Hughberlian accepted it tearfully.

After a semester, Hughberlian had learned Lanchi’s spells and become a defensive trickster mage much like him. Lanchi and Hughberlian prepared to travel to the Northern Continent, with Lanchi finishing a core card before they set out.

• Talia stayed quiet when Lanchi asked what magic she had taught Hughberlian, while Hughberlian reflected on learning Basic Etiquette and Friendly Exchange.
• Hughberlian looked over the Hair Transformation Spell Card and acknowledged that she had changed from an offensive mage into a support mage like Lanchi.
• Lanchi delivered the cards and left Talia’s house, where Hughberlian brought him an umbrella as rain began falling.
• Lanchi told Hughberlian that his core card would be ready within a few days and that they would then apply to the school and leave for the Northern Continent.
• Hughberlian suggested they discuss retiring at twenty instead, worried that Lanchi would become caught up in the Northern Continent’s conflicts.

Lanchi brought Cat Boss home and discussed his feelings for Hughberlian and Tata, insisting he loved all living beings equally and wanted to bring World Peace. In Dorm 101, he prepared to begin a dangerous card-making session with Poet of Great Love, using two powerful materials whose compatibility Cat Boss doubted.

• Lanchi found Cat Boss hiding in his shadow and carried the cat home under his umbrella.
• Lanchi told Cat Boss that Hughberlian and Tata were companions and a teacher, and that he loved all living beings equally.
• Lanchi returned to Dorm 101 and found Poet of Great Love dressed to resemble Talia in the Card Making Workshop.
• Lanchi took out an ancient, indestructible heart and a sacred red crystal made from Phoenix's Destruction Spark.
• Cat Boss warned that the two materials were incompatible, but Lanchi began preparing to craft a seal that would bring warmth and peace to everyone.

Lanchi and the Poet of Great Love began making a high-grade sealing card using Wolf King's Pride, with Cat Boss watching from outside the workshop. They remained absorbed in engraving the card’s complex spell formation as hours passed, and the card was still unfinished when Cat Boss brought Lanchi lunch.

• Cat Boss watched Lanchi work from outside the magically sealed Card Making Workshop and wondered what he would make without an explosion.
• Lanchi set up a recording device and prepared the expensive materials for a sealing card centered on Wolf King's Pride.
• The Poet of Great Love mixed Magic Ink and helped Lanchi begin the card-making process.
• Lanchi removed Wolf King's Pride's outer layer, revealing its jewel-like core, and he and the Poet of Great Love engraved the spell formation in close synchronization.
• Cat Boss brought Lanchi lunch, but Lanchi and the Poet of Great Love continued working without stopping.

Lanqi and the Poet of Great Love completed an extremely dangerous Magic Card whose unstable creation caused an explosion in Lanqi's workshop. The card survived as an Orange Epic called Nuclear Fusion Wolf, a summoning card that could devour Magic Cards and chain-detonate them.

• Lanqi and the Poet of Great Love finished sealing and stabilizing a dangerously unstable Magic Card while Cat Boss watched from outside.
• The Poet of Great Love asked what they would do if the card's reaction could not be stopped, and Lanqi calmly continued the final engraving.
• The card erupted in light and Mana ripples, destroying magical tools and apparently blasting apart the dormitory's soundproofing barrier.
• Cat Boss returned to the workshop and found Lanqi and the Poet of Great Love exhausted beside a completed Orange Epic Magic Card.
• Lanqi revealed the card's name as Nuclear Fusion Wolf and explained its ability to devour summoned creatures or equipment, then self-detonate and chain-detonate Magic Cards.

Lanchi and Hughberlian submitted their graduation project application to seek a Stone Tablet Holder, planning to travel to the Northern Continent. After Loren approved it, Lanchi kept their intended destination a secret, promising the dean a surprise when they returned.

• Loren reviewed Lanchi's absences and Hughberlian's excellent grades before the two students visited his office with their project documents.
• Lanchi and Hughberlian asked Loren to approve their graduation project, "Seek the Stone Tablet Holder," and he explained that their work could be published by the Demon Tower Society.
• Lanchi and Hughberlian said they had bought tickets and would leave that day for the Northern Continent, where their trip could take more than two months.
• Loren approved their application and asked which powerhouse they planned to visit.
• Lanchi declined to reveal their destination, telling Loren he would give him a surprise when they returned.

Loren warned Lanchi and Hughberlian about the dangers of traveling to the Northern Continent and demonstrated the overwhelming power of a Tier 8. He approved their travel documents, leaving them with up to five and a half months to explore before they risked expulsion.

• Loren inferred that Lanchi planned to seek a powerful Different Race opponent in the Northern Continent and gave him a book and warnings about its conflicts.
• Loren explained that the Primordial Slab holders Light and Undead were dangerous, then immobilized Lanchi and Hughberlian to show how easily a Tier 8 could overpower them.
• Loren warned Hughberlian that the Protos Empire could execute her for disguising her race or enslave her if she revealed her demonic blood without proof of freedom.
• Loren cautioned them about Slab holders, other powerful fighters, and the Rebirth Church, and urged them to hide their identities and avoid trouble.
• Loren stamped their travel documents and told them they could delay their return by two months at most before risking expulsion.

Lanqi said farewell to Frei before leaving with Hughberlian for the Northern Continent, where they planned to travel under new identities. Frei warned him about the Rebirth Church bishops’ battle and suggested that wolf-blooded people might instinctively feel close to Lanqi.

• Frei used the Level Appraisal Technique to measure Lanqi at level forty-six and himself at fifty-four.
• Lanqi told Frei that he and Hughberlian might not return from the Northern Continent until the following semester, and Frei encouraged them to be cautious about the pursuing bishops.
• Lanqi explained that he and Hughberlian would travel south first, then disguise themselves as humans before heading north.
• Frei said that wolf-blooded people might feel naturally close to Lanqi, who promised to treat any wolves in trouble as friends.
• Lanqi put on his coat and left to meet Hughberlian at Cat Boss Restaurant before their journey.

Lanchi and Hughberlian left Cat Boss Restaurant with Cat Boss to begin their journey across the Northern Continent. After saying goodbye to Talia, they traveled through the capital toward the central station under new identities, leaving their journey about to begin.

• Lanchi met Hughberlian at Cat Boss Restaurant, where Cat Boss asked to travel with them and explained that Asina and Tata would run the restaurant while she was away.
• Lanchi agreed to bring Cat Boss, and he and Hughberlian said goodbye to Talia before leaving the restaurant.
• Talia hugged Hughberlian and wished both travelers a safe journey, then wondered whether she could hear Lanchi's thoughts yet.
• Lanchi and Hughberlian rode a sightseeing carriage through the capital and discussed using the aliases Milian and Luo Qi after leaving Iketerite.
• Hughberlian promised to watch over Lanchi and stop him from acting recklessly, and Lanchi agreed to heed her warnings as their Northern Continent journey began.

In Lilom City, a noble enlisted a Rebirth Church priest to kill Viscount Francis so he could seize control of the city. While discussing the empire’s hunt for Loren, the priest dismissed the idea that Loren would infiltrate the Protos Empire, and the two joked about the Imperial Capital Prison.

• A Lilom City noble toasted the Rebirth Church priest and proposed removing Viscount Francis, who opposed the church and favored the Goddess of Fate Church.
• The noble revealed he planned to exploit Francis’s daughter and take control of the city, and the priest agreed to help kill Francis.
• The noble offered Francis’s usual sea route and arranged a ship so the priest and other clergy could approach him without suspicion.
• The noble and priest examined imperial documents and found a warning instructing southern port cities to report Loren and the Primordial Slab - Wind.
• The priest said Loren would aid the Aetherland Kingdom openly rather than infiltrate the empire, and the two laughed about the danger of Loren releasing demons from the Imperial Capital Prison.

Viscount Francis reflected on the Protos Empire’s growing dangers as he went to meet a young man rescued from a shipwreck. The young man had survived severe injuries, and Francis was struck by the compassion in his eyes.

• Viscount Francis worried about war, the Rebirth Church’s amnesty, and the dangers facing his remote province.
• His secretary told him that the rescued guest had awakened, and Francis ordered tea and fruit sent to the cabin.
• Francis recalled how sailors had rescued the wounded young man from driftwood during a storm.
• Francis considered leaving the empire with his daughter Zestira because of discrimination against her demonic traits.
• Francis met the brown-haired young man and saw compassion in his emerald-green eyes.

Lanchi, a shipwrecked scholar from the Hutton Kingdom, explained his situation to Viscount Francis and asked for help finding his companion. Unable to travel without an accepted identity, he agreed to tutor Francis’s difficult daughter, a position that could help him reach the imperial capital.

• Lanchi told Viscount Francis that a Magic Storm had sunk his ship and that he had lost his documents.
• Francis confirmed that Lanchi was not a member of the Goddess of Fate Church, which the Protos Empire was purging as an evil cult.
• Lanchi asked Francis to help him find his missing companion, but Francis explained that Lanchi could not travel far without a recognized identity.
• Francis offered Lanchi a tutoring job with his daughter, who refused school despite passing the Protos Royal Magic Academy Preparatory Examination.
• Lanchi confidently accepted the tutoring job, and Francis considered using his authority to arrange Lanchi a new identity if his daughter accepted him.

After a magical storm separated Lanchi from Hughberlian, he and Cat Boss set out to establish themselves in the Protos Empire so they could reunite. The chapter leaves Viscount Francis’s ship under attack by Resurrection Cultists.

• Cat Boss explained that a fight between the Dimensional Bishop and Destruction Bishop had helped trigger the storm that sank Lanchi and Hughberlian’s ship.
• Lanchi used the Poet of Great Love’s connection to sense that Hughberlian was likely safe, though he could not communicate with her clearly.
• Lanchi resolved to build a foundation in the Protos Empire, find Hughberlian, and complete their research assignment, while Cat Boss agreed to accompany him.
• The next morning, Viscount Francis learned that his ship would reach Lilom City that night.
• Viscount Francis ordered his crew to stay alert when a small merchant ship approached at suspicious speed and signaled for help.
• Silver-robed Resurrection Cultists rushed aboard Viscount Francis’s ship, and a battle broke out on deck.

The Resurrection Cultists captured Viscount Francis and his crew, and their Silver Armor Priest tried to force Francis into a contract. Lanchi summoned the priest to a cabin and confronted him, leaving the priest facing questions about his department and leader.

• The Resurrection Cultists quickly subdued the merchant ship's crew and guards, leaving Viscount Francis unbound.
• The Silver Armor Priest questioned Francis about the Rebirth Church and presented a magical bracelet to compel his cooperation.
• Lanchi used directional voice-transmission magic to summon the Silver Armor Priest to a room at the end of the second-floor corridor.
• The Silver Armor Priest entered the room and found Lanchi reading Imperial Law.
• Lanchi asked the Silver Armor Priest what department he belonged to and who led it.

Lanchi used his encrypted holy seal to establish his authority with the Silver Armor Priest, but the priest challenged him to prove his strength. Lanchi overwhelmed him with Tier 7 magic, leaving the priest terrified and begging for mercy.

• Lanchi showed the Silver Armor Priest his encrypted purple holy seal and asked him not to obstruct Viscount Francis.
• The Silver Armor Priest refused to obey Lanchi, saying the Ba Tian Sect respected strength rather than status.
• Lanchi deployed a Tier 7 Sound Sealing Barrier and unleashed Purgatory Sound against the Silver Armor Priest.
• The Silver Armor Priest collapsed to his knees and begged Lanchi to spare him.
• Lanchi dispelled Purgatory Sound and removed the barrier, restoring the cabin to silence and calm.

Lanchi spared the Silver Armor Priest and advised him on how the Ba Tian Sect could win Lilom City's support while avoiding political retaliation. The priest left with a plan to fill the gap left by the Goddess of Fate Church and build public trust.

• Lanchi ordered the Silver Armor Priest to apologize to Viscount Francis, then asked him to explain the Ba Tian Sect's work.
• The Silver Armor Priest described the sect's plan to gain residents' trust and spread its doctrines, and Lanchi warned that their misconduct could give the Conservative Faction evidence to overturn the Rebirth Church Legalization Act.
• Lanchi advised the priest to obey the law, act honestly, and demonstrate that the Rebirth Church's legalization benefited the Empire and the residents of Lilom City.
• Lanchi urged the Ba Tian Sect to fill the market gap left by the Goddess of Fate Church and earn the city's support, leaving the Silver Armor Priest stunned by his guidance.

Lanchi instructed the Silver Armor Priest to reshape the Ba Tian Sect branch into a charitable organization and use its followers to develop the town and build prestige. After the priest left, Lanchi discussed his plans for the Rebirth Church’s work and media strategy with Cat Boss, while Cat Boss worried that Lanchi had lost sight of his assignment.

• Lanchi tested how much the Silver Armor Priest had remembered, wrote down the key points, and ordered him to begin carrying out the plan the next morning.
• The Silver Armor Priest agreed to follow Lanchi’s instructions and left, hoping to show results and earn High Priest Kane’s attention.
• Lanchi explained to Cat Boss that Ba Tian Branch followers could help develop the seaside town and the Southwest Province through construction work.
• Lanchi said he wanted to focus on media once the Rebirth Church improved its image, and he wished to find a talented reporter or editor-in-chief.
• Cat Boss realized that Lanchi was seriously planning the Rebirth Church’s operations and wondered whom he was supposed to seek out for the assignment.

The Silver Armor Priest freed Viscount Francis and the sailors after confirming that someone had obtained Francis’s route and planned to harm him. When the ship reached port, Francis invited Lanchi to stay at the Lord’s Mansion as Zestira’s tutor, while remaining unaware of Lanchi’s role in resolving the shipboard crisis.

• The Silver Armor Priest compared the Nautical Log with another document, ordered the sailors untied, and apologized to Viscount Francis for the staged anti-terrorism drill.
• The Silver Armor Priest gave Francis the Nautical itinerary as evidence that someone intended to harm him, then left with the Silver Robe Priests.
• Viscount Francis questioned whether the cultists’ actions had been a drill or whether they had received an expert’s help, while the sailors celebrated their release.
• The merchant ship reached port, where Viscount Francis invited Lanchi to stay at the Lord’s Mansion and asked whether he knew what had happened aboard the ship.
• Lanchi said he had noticed the ship stop but had not known what was happening, and Viscount Francis dismissed his suspicions.

Lanqi arrived in Lilom City with Viscount Francis and insisted on beginning lessons with Zestira the next morning despite his injuries. As the carriage neared the Lord's Mansion, Francis explained his daughter's painful isolation and Lanqi promised to try to reach her emotionally.

• Lanqi and Viscount Francis traveled from the dock to the Lord's Mansion by carriage.
• Lanqi asked to begin tutoring Zestira the next day, and Francis agreed while offering to provide the empire's magic textbooks.
• Lanqi explained that he wanted to build a separate legal identity in the Protos Empire rather than rely on his Rebirth Church certificate.
• Viscount Francis told Lanqi how prejudice against Zestira's demonic traits had wounded her and driven her to shut herself away.
• Lanqi promised to communicate with Zestira on an emotional level, while Francis remained doubtful but clung to the hope that he could help.

Lanchi began his first lesson with Zestira by quietly working and drawing her into conversation instead of trying to teach her. He left the lesson learning spellcasting from her, while Viscount Francis discovered their roles had been reversed.

• Viscount Francis introduced Lanchi to Zestira, who ignored her new tutor and continued reading.
• Lanchi sat quietly and worked until he asked Zestira about breakfast, then asked if they could be friends.
• Zestira told Lanchi she would be his friend and offered to teach him spellcasting after he said he lacked magic talent.
• Lanchi joined Zestira at her table and listened as she taught him basic spellcasting techniques for over an hour.
• Viscount Francis listened at the door and was stunned to hear Zestira teaching Lanchi.

Lanchi’s first tutoring session with Zestira turned into a long conversation in which she taught him fire magic, and Viscount Francis was pleased that she had opened up to someone. After Lanchi left, Zestira found his annotated textbook and read through his Demon Magic Text notes, leaving the book behind for his return the next day.

• Zestira patiently taught Lanchi the Tier 1 Fireball Spell, and his progress advanced by about one-tenth after more than two hours.
• Lanchi told Zestira he would see her the next day and admitted to Viscount Francis that she had ended up teaching him instead.
• Viscount Francis asked Lanchi to keep Zestira company, and Lanchi promised to help her prepare for the Protos Royal Magic Academy examination.
• Zestira discovered Lanchi’s annotated textbook and read his Demon Magic Text notes, then decided to leave the book for him to retrieve tomorrow.

Hughberlian reached the Aetherland Kingdom and was brought to the Goddess of Fate Church’s Saintess, who revealed that she had once been known as the Ice Witch and belonged to the Great Demon Race. The Saintess ended their first meeting by asking Hughberlian about her relationship with Ifatia or Talia.

• Hughberlian arrived in the Aetherland Kingdom after a shipwreck and sought help from the Goddess of Fate Church to obtain an official identity.
• The God Head Trio escorted Hughberlian to the temple in the royal capital at the Saintess’s request.
• Hughberlian worried that the Saintess might hold her responsible for Lanchi’s misdeeds, but the priest reassured her that the summons concerned her Half-Demon Race identity.
• Hughberlian met the white-haired Saintess, who said she had once been called the Ice Witch and had belonged to the Great Demon Race.
• The Saintess asked Hughberlian what her relationship was with Ifatia or Talia.

Hughberlian learned that her mother, Ifatia, was a missing Demon princess and that she had an aunt named Talia. The Ice Witch asked Hughberlian to infiltrate the Protos Empire and rescue a Demon Race doctor who had been close to Talia, leaving Hughberlian with a dangerous mission to consider.

• Hughberlian confirmed that her mother's name was Ifatia, and the Ice Witch identified her as the Last Princess of the Demon Race.
• The Ice Witch explained the surviving Great Demon Race members' factions and said Ifatia's reputation could earn Hughberlian their consideration.
• The Ice Witch asked Hughberlian to infiltrate the Protos Empire and contact three imprisoned Great Demon Race members.
• The Ice Witch revealed that Ifatia had an elder sister named Talia and identified a prisoner close to Talia as the rescue target.
• The Ice Witch explained that the target was a valuable Demon Race Doctor and Coordinator, while warning Hughberlian not to expect the other two prisoners to serve another race.