Chapter Summaries

Kuse insulted Hughberlian and threatened the injured Iketerite Academy fighters, but Frei stopped him from advancing. Lanchi stirred the fighters’ resolve and promised to help them defeat Kuse, leaving Hughberlian worried about what his plan would demand.

• Kuse leered at Hughberlian, insulted her, and threatened the Iketerite Academy fighters before the public matches.
• Frei aimed a crossbow and held magic-engineering bombs ready, forcing Kuse and his fighters to leave the arena.
• Lanchi patted Hughberlian on the head and then asked the battered fighters whether they wanted to win.
• Lanchi described what Kuse might do to Cerveny, reigniting the fighters’ anger and determination.
• Lanchi offered to help the fighters defeat Kuse if they accepted a price, and they agreed.
• Lanchi promised to make their wish come true, while Hughberlian grew worried about his intentions.

The Soul of a Fighter Team arrived at Iketerite Academy’s arena after two days of Lanchi’s secret training, unnerving the crowd and their former friends. Lanchi ended the chapter by having both teams sign a Life and Death Agreement before their match.

• A huge crowd gathered at Iketerite Academy to watch the team combat match, while Loren worried that Lanchi would cause trouble.
• Hughberlian and Talia watched from the front row as Noe eagerly anticipated the spectacle, and Cerveny wondered whether to join the fight.
• Lanchi led the Soul of a Fighter Team into the arena, where the five fighters’ menacing appearance shocked Cerveny and Talia.
• Kuse taunted the Iketerite fighters, but they stared back in silence as Lanchi asked the referee for a risk agreement.
• The Soul of a Fighter Team signed the document, and Lanchi handed it to Kuse to sign.

Lanchi’s Iketerite Academy fighters signed a life-and-death agreement and faced Yarolan Royal Academy in a match that spectators expected them to lose. When the fight began, the Iketerite fighters charged in heavy armor and with brutal weapons, appearing so frenzied that their opponents and Loren were alarmed.

• Lanchi presented Kuse and the other Yarolan fighters with a formal life-and-death agreement, and all ten contestants signed it.
• The referee sent the coaches off the platform, and the spectators discussed the long odds against Iketerite Academy.
• After the bell, both teams advanced, but Iketerite’s fighters surprised the crowd by equipping heavy armor and oversized weapons.
• Kuse’s team hesitated at the sight of the Iketerite fighters’ bloodshot eyes and unsettling behavior.
• Loren wondered whether the five fighters were really Iketerite students as they charged toward their opponents, shouting for battle.

The Iketerite Academy team’s brutal, pain-suppressing fighting style overwhelmed Kuse and the Yarolan martial artists, turning their match into a bloody struggle. As the crowd cheered the Demon King Army, Talia grew uncomfortable and asked Hughberlian to leave.

• Kuse rallied the hesitant Yarolan martial artists, and both teams began fighting in a thunderstorm.
• The Iketerite fighters ignored injuries and attacked lethally, while the Yarolan fighters struggled to hurt them and began suffering severe wounds.
• Kuse fought on as the other Yarolan martial artists were battered aside, and the Iketerite team closed in on him.
• Lu Weixier mistakenly called the Iketerite team the Demon King Army during his commentary, while the crowd cheered the match.
• Talia gripped Hughberlian’s hand and asked her to go home, afraid others would notice her connection to Lanchi and the Poet of Great Love.

Hughberlian watched the brutal match between the modified Fighters from Iketerite Academy and Yarolan Kingdom, then learned how Lanchi had used a horror-themed Artificial Shadow World to condition his team. The five Fighters had defeated everyone except Kuse, and the match was left on the verge of his likely slaughter.

• Talia left the arena after Hughberlian gently encouraged her to go home, while Hughberlian stayed to watch the match.
• Lanchi's five modified Fighters savagely defeated the Yarolan Kingdom team, leaving only Kuse conscious and surrounded.
• Kuse grew terrified as the Fighters muttered about Cerveny and repeatedly rose after he knocked them down.
• Hughberlian joined Lanchi in the coaches' area and demanded to know what he had done to the Fighters.
• Lanchi explained that he and Professor Bora Ao had put the five Fighters through more than thirty hours of personalized horror scenarios in the Artificial Shadow World, repeatedly making them witness Cerveny's death and crushing their hopes.

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.