Chapter Summaries

Lanchi arrived at the Botanical Garden and questioned Lilette and Hughberlian about the classroom’s destruction while delaying for reinforcements. He proposed a test to decide whose account to believe, leaving Hughberlian to realize he was manipulating the standoff.

• Lanchi appeared at the Botanical Garden with demon teachers, and Lilette recognized him as a dangerous principal blocking their escape.
• Hughberlian ran to Lanchi, who let her approach and asked her to describe what had happened.
• Hughberlian accused Lilette and her companion of killing the demon teacher and students, while Lilette blamed Hughberlian and the silver summoned creature.
• Hughberlian denied controlling Immortal Mercury, and Lilette secretly tried to make the creature attack her while demanding that the director stop obstructing it.
• Lanchi said he leaned toward Hughberlian’s account and offered to believe whoever helped the director deal with Immortal Mercury.

Lanchi exposed himself as Demon Academy’s principal and arranged for the demon teachers to punish Lilette after she attacked Hughberlian. As the Shadow World neared its end, Lilette revealed Hughberlian’s mixed demon lineage, leaving Hughberlian afraid that Lanchi would think she had deceived him.

• Lilette attacked the Silver Aberrant Form while Hughberlian pretended to despair, and Lanchi signaled that their plan had worked.
• After the summon was defeated, the head of the Magic Department attacked Lilette, while a demon teacher killed her Black Mist Warlock ally.
• Lanchi revealed that he was the principal, and Hughberlian confirmed that Lilette had already learned the truth.
• Lanchi ordered the demon teachers to punish Lilette for her violations, and they overwhelmed her as she screamed in despair.
• Before the Shadow World ended, Lilette revealed that Hughberlian was a mixed-blood demon duke’s daughter, and Hughberlian tried to explain to Lanchi that she had meant to tell him herself.

After the Shadow World challenge ended, Hughberlian revealed to Lanchi that she was a Half-Demon and explained her family history and the hostility she faced in the Royal Capital Ikelite. Lanchi responded with admiration and warmth, leaving Hughberlian relieved that she had found someone who accepted her.

• Lanchi closed the ancient demonic tome, and he and Hughberlian returned to the Liminal Space as the Shadow World began to dissolve.
• Lanchi noticed Hughberlian was troubled and asked whether it was because the dying criminal had called her a Half-Demon.
• Hughberlian told Lanchi that her mother was a Great Demon from the north who had fallen in love with her father, Duke of Mi Gaia Aransal, and given birth to her.
• Hughberlian explained that people in the Royal Capital Ikelite hated her because of her demonic blood, despite her status as a duke's daughter.
• Lanchi reframed her situation as one in which people still respected her as a duke's daughter, and Hughberlian smiled in relief.

Lanchi and Hughberlian cleared the Purgatory Corridor Academy Shadow World, rose to the next tiers, and received their rewards. After agreeing to start a company that could sell demon-magic tools, they examined the powerful Tier 3 Epic Summoning Card Purgatory Sound.

• Lanchi proposed that he and Hughberlian establish a company under the Aransal Family name so he could sell demon-magic tools without attracting suspicion, and Hughberlian agreed.
• The Shadow World settlement gave their team an SSS evaluation for its accomplishments and raised Lanchi from Tier 2 to Tier 3 and Hughberlian from Tier 3 to Tier 4.
• Lanchi and Hughberlian agreed to challenge another Tier 4 Shadow World together after the two-month cooldown.
• The settlement awarded Lanchi Purgatory Sound and Transformation Art: Human, while Hughberlian received Transformation Art: Demon.
• Lanchi and Hughberlian inspected Purgatory Sound, a Tier 3 Epic Summoning Card that summoned the demonic dead souls of Purgatory Theater.

Lanchi and Hughberlian collected their Magic Cards and discovered that their Shadow World had revealed a hidden series leading to the lost Blood Moon Ruined World era. They chose to keep the mission secret and prepared to return to the Real World, where Hughberlian asked Lanchi how he had identified the professor’s paintings.

• Lanchi took an orange Magic Card and said he would rename it Wonderful Notes, while Hughberlian examined the two purple Transformation Art cards.
• Lanchi and Hughberlian received Transformation Art: Demon and Transformation Art: Human, then prepared to leave the Liminal Space and return to Iketerite Academy.
• The Shadow World revealed a hidden Series Shadow World mission tied to the lost Blood Moon Ruined World era and required an SSS-rated clear of its final node.
• Hughberlian warned Lanchi that reporting the mission could draw the attention of vampires, so they agreed to keep it secret.
• Before they entered the Void Gate, Hughberlian asked how Lanchi had distinguished the professor’s paintings from the students’ work, and Lanchi replied that he had used no magic.

In the Krui Di Empire, Marquis Heliti'er learned that a Resurrection Cultist had failed to kill Hughberlian and insisted that the Demon Race remnants be eliminated. Back at Iketerite Academy, Lanchi considered the Card Maker registration exam and the need to discover which magic suited his Card Making best.

• A robed man reported to Marquis Heliti'er that a Resurrection Cultist had failed to kill a Half-Demon Race member.
• Marquis Heliti'er reflected that Hughberlian's two prophesied deaths had been prevented and blamed a human freshman at Iketerite Academy for changing events.
• Marquis Heliti'er declared that the Demon Race remnants had to be eliminated and predicted the return of the age of the blood moon.
• Lanchi studied the Southern Continent Card Maker Association's registration charter and considered applying for the exam in more than a month.
• Lanchi recalled Talia's advice that choosing the magic type most compatible with him would improve his chance of passing the Card Maker Examination.

Lanchi spent his free morning planning to visit Talia, but Vice Principal Ron arrived at his dorm for a chat. Seeing an academy leader nearly brought back Lanchi’s former dean-like habits, while Ron reflected on how different Lanchi was in the Real World from the demon lord he had seen in the Shadow World.

• Lanchi fed his birds and planned to ask Talia whether he had an affinity for magic beyond Mental Magic.
• Lanchi remembered the Poet of Great Love wanted to grow flowers and considered buying potted plants for his dorm.
• Lanchi prepared to visit Talia at her new residence and discuss magical affinities and Hairstyle Transformation Magic.
• Vice Principal Ron knocked on Lanchi’s dorm door, introduced himself, and accepted Lanchi’s invitation inside.
• Ron admired Lanchi’s tidy dorm and reflected on the contrast between his polite student and the dangerous demon lord he had witnessed in the Shadow World.

Vice Principal Ron visited Lanchi to ask where he had obtained the Friendly Exchange card, and Lanchi gave him a cover story that it came from a refugee woman. Ron explained that the exam records had been sealed to protect Lanchi and warned him to keep the card’s power secret, leaving Lanchi relieved after managing not to act like a dean.

• Lanchi told Vice Principal Ron that he had traded for Friendly Exchange from an elderly refugee woman in the South Wantina Border Territory.
• Ron concluded that the card might be a naturally occurring Magic Card from a Shadow World and felt reassured that it was not already circulating on the market.
• Ron told Lanchi that Dean Loren had sealed the Third Round Exam records and warned him that people might target him if Friendly Exchange became known.
• Ron said Lanchi might visit prestigious schools with a Sage Institute delegation and encouraged him to show youthful confidence while remaining respectful.
• After Ron left, Lanchi admitted that he had nearly treated the vice principal as a subordinate because he had mistaken himself for the dean.

Lanchi visited Talia at the Cat Boss Restaurant, where she had moved into a room above the restaurant. Talia confronted him in her room, still angry and curious about what had happened in the Demon Realm Shadow World two days earlier.

• Lanchi went to the Cat Boss Restaurant to find Miss Tata and described Talia to the employee.
• Talia appeared behind Lanchi, pressed a hand onto his shoulder, and ordered him to follow her upstairs.
• Talia brought Lanchi into her room and sat in the living room while he admired the furnishings.
• Talia asked Lanchi why he had come, while privately thinking about her anger and her desire to learn what he was thinking.

Lanchi gave Talia a Shadow World Recording Program containing the Demon Realm’s history and proposed they research magic that could modify human hair. After taking the card, Talia agreed to teach him up to Tier 4 and led him to test his magic-type compatibility so he could prepare for the registered Card Maker examination.

• Lanchi offered Talia the Shadow World Recording Program as payment for her teaching.
• Lanchi proposed adapting monster-fur modification magic to style or remove human hair during battle, and Talia became interested.
• Talia took the Recording Program and agreed to teach Lanchi up to Tier 4.
• Lanchi asked Talia to test his compatibility with different magic types to improve his chances at the Card Maker examination.
• Talia led Lanchi into the inner room to test his magic-type compatibility.

Talia tested Lanchi’s compatibility with different types of magic by having him complete semi-finished Magic Cards under intense pressure. After a long day of card-making, she discovered that sealing magic was his strongest affinity, leaving her concerned that his naïveté would grow after the Registered Card Maker Examination.

• Talia brought Lanchi to her bedroom and explained that he would complete basic Magic Cards so she could assess his magical compatibility.
• Talia taught Lanchi how to finish a mental-type card and used high-pressure training to make him concentrate more seriously.
• Lanchi and Talia worked in silence until nightfall, and Lanchi fell asleep at the table after completing the final card.
• Talia examined the completed cards and found that Lanchi showed good compatibility with mental and healing magic, passable compatibility with light magic, and poor compatibility with most other types.
• Talia discovered that Lanchi had exceptionally high compatibility with sealing magic and wondered how his naïveté would increase after the Registered Card Maker Examination.

Talia watched the Shadow World recording and began to question her belief that humans could never treat demons kindly after seeing Lanchi’s sincere friendship with Hughberlian. She left with Lanchi to get dinner, offering to pay.

• Talia watched the recording and suspected Hughberlian might be her younger sister’s daughter because of their similar hair and eye colors.
• Talia saw Lanchi defend demons and urge Hughberlian not to discriminate against them, but initially interpreted his remarks as prejudice.
• Lanchi woke and told Talia that Hughberlian was a good person, and Talia warned him not to provoke her.
• Talia realized Lanchi had sincerely treated Hughberlian as a companion even after learning she was a Half-Demon, making him the first human she had seen act kindly toward demons without prejudice.
• Talia asked Lanchi whether he was hungry and offered to pay for dinner.

After two weeks of intensive card-making practice under Talia's guidance, Lanchi returned to classes at Iketerite Academy and continued studying Sealing Art. He reunited with Hughberlian, who asked whether he had rejected several team invitations because of her.

• During the vacation, Lanchi trained in card-making with Talia, focused on Sealing Art, and practiced running as she advised.
• Lanchi learned that Sealing Art was difficult to use against enemies of equal or higher tier, so he considered starting with smaller sealing functions.
• The Poet of Great Love encouraged Lanchi to keep studying and called on him to become a Super Exorcist before returning to his body.
• Lanchi went back to the Sage Institute classroom, where his classmates discussed the explosions coming from the dormitory building during the afternoons.
• Lanchi greeted Hughberlian, who asked whether he had turned down several team invitations because of her.

After Lanchi refused teams that would not respect Hughberlian, Vivian suggested they join the Student Management Committee instead. Lanchi eagerly agreed to check it out after class, leaving Vivian worried that her recommendation had set a dangerous chain of events in motion.

• Lanchi told Hughberlian he had turned down every team that did not welcome her, and she thanked him for respecting her.
• Lanchi and Hughberlian discussed forming their own team to gain access to school missions, benefits, and leave.
• Vivian explained that the Student Management Committee managed teams and campus disputes, and that its fair-minded president welcomed talented students.
• Lanchi said mediating disputes was his specialty and proposed visiting the committee with Hughberlian after class.
• Vivian left in alarm, fearing Lanchi would become a formidable force on the committee.

Lanchi and Hughberlian visited the Student Union to ask about joining, and President Monast welcomed them as new members. Monast then revealed an urgent task that he had planned to handle with Frei, but trusted the three newcomers to take it on together.

• Lanchi and Hughberlian went to the Student Union room in the Old Liberal Arts Building to ask whether it was recruiting.
• President Monast introduced himself, Vice President Asina, and Frei, a first-year Knight Institute student who had already joined the Student Union.
• Monast explained that the Student Union lacked members and invited Lanchi and Hughberlian to join.
• Lanchi and Hughberlian accepted, and Monast said he would handle their applications.
• Monast told Lanchi, Hughberlian, and Frei that an urgent task needed attention and that he would entrust it to the three of them.

Lanchi, Hughberlian, and Frei received an urgent Student Union assignment to clear the disbanded Soul of a Fighter team's unsafe clubroom before its demolition deadline. They headed to the Knight Institute, while President Monast trusted Lanchi's abilities despite Vice President Asina's concern about provoking the team.

• President Monast explained that former Soul of a Fighter members were occupying a dangerously dilapidated clubroom that had to be vacated and demolished that day.
• Lanchi confidently accepted the assignment, and Monast outlined the leave, course credits, and potential Student Union funding offered for completing the work.
• Monast asked Frei to lead Lanchi and Hughberlian to the Knight Institute and warned them to communicate with the combative former members without causing a confrontation.
• Lanchi promised to resolve the fire safety problem peacefully, and the three students left the Student Union Room.
• Vice President Asina worried that Lanchi might anger a powerful, hot-tempered third-year student, but Monast said he trusted the newcomer's abilities.

Frei, Lanchi, and Hughberlian went to the Soul of a Fighter clubhouse to negotiate its evacuation and demolition, with Frei explaining the Knight Institute’s rules and the fighters inside. The Soul of a Fighter team rejected the Student Union’s order, leaving the dispute poised to escalate.

• Frei led Lanchi and Hughberlian to the Knight Institute’s old wooden building and said he would handle negotiations because he knew its rules.
• Frei identified Cerveny as the team’s leader and warned that she and the other fighters would be difficult to subdue by force.
• Lanchi asked whether the building was the Soul of a Fighter clubhouse, and Cerveny confirmed it.
• Hughberlian announced that the Student Union had to clear and demolish the building under an order from the Royal Capital Fire Department.
• The fighters roared that the clubhouse was important to them and told the Student Union officers to leave.

Lanchi and Frei confronted Cerveny and the Knight Institute martial artists over their clubroom, which stood in the way of a planned demolition. Frei proposed a duel, and the chapter ended with the sides agreeing to let him fight for the Student Union.

• Lanchi cited fire-safety law and warned Cerveny's group that obstructing the demolition could bring detention and fines, but they refused to back down.
• Frei challenged the martial artists to submit to his strength, prompting Cerveny to offer a one-on-one duel with the clubroom at stake.
• Cerveny agreed to surrender the clubroom if Frei won, but demanded the Student Union leave them alone if he lost.
• Lanchi and Hughberlian accepted the terms, and Frei volunteered to fight for their side.
• Hughberlian wondered what understanding Lanchi and Frei had shared in their brief exchange.

Frei used a Magic Engineering Institute Light Bomb to defeat Cerveny’s Tier 5 fighter in their duel, provoking the Martial Artists. Lanchi stepped in to calm both sides and proposed a rematch with the rules written into a contract.

• Cerveny assigned her Tier 5 second-year vice minister to fight Frei, and Lanchi agreed to begin the duel.
• As the fighter charged, Frei threw a Light Bomb and knocked him unconscious, then declared that he had won.
• The Martial Artists accused Frei of using a concealed weapon, while Frei argued that nobody had forbidden new-style weapons.
• Lanchi proposed that the match not count and that both sides sign a contract specifying the rules before a rematch.

After Lanchi calmed the Fighter Club members and negotiated rules for a fair duel, he chose to fight Cerveny himself. The match began with both treating each other as worthy opponents, leaving the outcome undecided.

• Lanchi apologized to the Fighter Club and eased tensions after Frei's disruptive behavior.
• Cerveny demanded that Frei be suspended, and Lanchi agreed before drafting rules for a fair duel.
• The fighters approved clauses banning concealed weapons and retaliation, and Cerveny agreed to fight Hughberlian's side again.
• Lanchi announced that he would take Hughberlian's place and fight Cerveny himself.
• Cerveny and Lanchi exchanged respectful bows, and the referee started their duel.