Chapter Summaries

Yu Sheng'an escaped Benjamin’s traps and exposed the weaknesses of the workers’ planned general strike. He urged Benjamin to change the country’s fundamental system, leaving the strike’s leaders facing a new course of action.

• The old man trapped Yu Sheng'an in a room rigged with threads and metal spheres while Benjamin and he discussed whether Yu Sheng'an was an Empire spy.
• Yu Sheng'an overheard Benjamin and the old man debating his fate and learned they planned to detain him until the general strike succeeded.
• Benjamin and the old man returned to find Yu Sheng'an free, reading documents that revealed eighty-seven core members of their organization.
• Yu Sheng'an warned Benjamin that capitalists could undermine the strike through intimidation, promotion, output-based pay, and inflation.
• Benjamin asked Yu Sheng'an what the workers should do, and Yu Sheng'an said they needed to change the fundamental system.

Yu Sheng'an used Benjamin as his path into the Prime Plane while secretly studying its technology, then returned to Felix Magic Academy and challenged Erin’s team to find a way to stabilize magical plant traits. The chapter left Erin preparing to bring ordinary assistants into the discussion as Yu Sheng'an considered testing them and replacing the Magic Apprentices.

• Yu Sheng'an left Benjamin, who interpreted his disappearance as a divine revelation and resolved to lead the others.
• Yu Sheng'an decided to avoid openly spreading the Internet, used Archid's avatar to record factory machinery in Puen, and sent Asheff back to Kevil after he bid farewell to Aphnora.
• Erin and the Magic Apprentices struggled to reproduce magical plants, and the apprentices urged her to abandon the research or ask Asheff for help.
• Asheff appeared and told the group to focus on stabilizing magical plant traits rather than declaring the research impossible.
• Yu Sheng'an told Erin to bring the ordinary assistants from Time Rain Farm into the discussion so he could assess their ability to innovate.

Yu Sheng'an encouraged unconventional magical research at the Magic Forest and discussed Saint Todd’s plans with Dendall. As Gorde left Kevil with the Saint Todd Delegation, he prepared to ignite a war against the Bayer Empire.

• Pous arrived at the Magic Forest hall and was excited that Yu Sheng'an remembered him.
• Winston proposed crossbreeding ordinary plants with magical plants, and Yu Sheng'an praised him and explained asexual reproduction as a way to replicate magical plants.
• Pous felt overshadowed by Winston and vowed to prove himself to Yu Sheng'an.
• Dendall told Yu Sheng'an that Saint Todd planned to attack the Bayer Empire in December and seek Kevil's neutrality, while Dendall had secretly sent the negotiations to the Kaman Gregg Grand Duchy.
• Yu Sheng'an asked Dendall to gather elite blacksmiths, and Dendall agreed to provide them.
• Gorde left Kevil territory with the Saint Todd Delegation and prepared to sound the horn of war.

Village Chief Morm returned from the City with supplies, but an Undead Legion poured through a Light Gate and overran his village and the City. As the defenders and refugees faced disaster, Morm sent Ron toward Willis with his Internet Ring and turned to confront the undead.

• Morm returned to his village with goods, and the villagers celebrated their newfound prosperity under the God of the Internet’s protection.
• A Light Gate appeared above Elk Forest, and Morm recognized the emerging force as the God of Death’s Undead Legion and urged the villagers to flee.
• Morm led a group toward the City as the undead pursued and killed many villagers, while Bone Dragons attacked the fleeing crowd.
• The City’s Magic Shield vanished to admit the refugees, but the Magic Tower collapsed and Bone Dragons swept into the streets with corrosive breath.
• Morm gave Ron his Internet Ring and directed him to find Willis, then drew his Mountain Cleaver and faced the approaching Undead Legion.

Saint Todd Federation forces invaded the Kevil Empire, and Guardian Mage Stanford defended Twit from the Undead Legion. As civilians fled toward the cities, players received warnings to return to reality, relocate, and use their Puppets to help evacuate people.

• Knight Taut arrived through a Portal and joined Life Priests and soldiers in slaughtering Farmers for the God of Life.
• Stanford ordered the Magic Shield around Twit opened so civilians could enter, then used the Magic Tower and a lightning attack to repel the Undead Legion and an Undead Dragon.
• Caesar and his father fled Dakan Village after warnings announced the invasion and the real-world summoning function.
• Caesar summoned an earth Puppet to rescue an old man and a child, then urged villagers to summon Puppets to help people reach the cities.
• As Caesar approached the City, masses of earth Puppets poured out to assist the fleeing people.

Keshan and the Three Magic Gods confronted the Five Great Gods’ invasion of Kevil, which had become a target after turning into Yu Sheng'an’s Missionary Zone. Yu Sheng'an proposed using his allies to meet the attackers, but the defense of Kevil still depended on whether he could face the God of War’s forces.

• Yu Sheng'an explained that the Five Great Gods attacked Kevil because it had become his Missionary Zone, and the invasion had already destroyed two Cities.
• Bethany estimated that Edgar could hold out for fewer than ten days against the God of War’s forces, while Dendall warned that Kevil might be reduced to Willis if outside help arrived too late.
• Yu Sheng'an said three of the Five Great Gods had entered the war and that the Goddess of Music could join Kevil’s side, bringing their potential defenders to five.
• Zimor said the Magic Gods could hold off the God of Death and the God of Life for two or three months, and Yu Sheng'an volunteered to deal with the God of War.
• Bethany questioned Yu Sheng'an’s confidence, noting that the God of War had brought one hundred thousand troops, six Battle Ancestors, and one Battle God.

Yu Sheng'an and Magic God Bethany defended Edgar against a massive assault by the God of War's legion. Bethany phased the entire city to defeat the attack, but the retreating troops were only Helot Cannon Fodder, leaving Yu Sheng'an shaken by the threat still ahead.

• Yu Sheng'an told Bethany to evacuate Edgar's population if the city could not be held, and the group prepared its defenses as Kevil upgraded its wartime communications.
• Bethany received word of a new attack and Yu Sheng'an joined her atop Edgar's walls as the War God Legion advanced.
• The legion's War Soul Giants shielded its soldiers from Bethany's magic and combined into a giant that cracked Edgar's magical shield with an axe strike.
• As the soldiers charged into the city, Bethany phased all of Edgar out of reality, then restored it after five breaths while the War Soul Giants dwindled.
• The War God Legion withdrew at a bugle call, and Bethany revealed that the attackers had been only Helot Cannon Fodder.

Caesar and Humphrey joined a deployment of top Players, who watched footage of the Five Great Gods’ atrocities before teleporting into their missionary zones to retaliate. Yu Sheng'an revealed to Aphnora that the Heart-Piercing Scheme aimed to use the Players’ attacks and broadcast footage to break the enemy soldiers’ morale on the Kevil front.

• Caesar and Humphrey received a summons, selected powerful Puppets, and gathered with other top Players in Dorphy City's Novice Village.
• A screen showed the Five Great Gods’ forces slaughtering civilians, and the Players roared for revenge.
• Yu Sheng'an opened a teleportation route to the Five Evil Gods’ missionary zones and offered Merit Points for each enemy killed.
• Aphnora doubted that the Players could force the Five Great Gods to withdraw, but Yu Sheng'an explained his plan to broadcast their attacks to the front lines and damage enemy morale.

The Five Great Gods agreed to launch an all-out assault on Kevil’s frontline cities, while Ron used a Divine Melody to soothe the wounded before the attack began. The city defenses collapsed under the gods’ trump cards, and the chapter ended as an ominous shout rang across all three battlefields.

• Yu Sheng'an proposed using flyers as psychological warfare, and Aphnora agreed to distribute them before he jokingly offered himself as repayment.
• The Puen Evening News accused Benjamin’s movement of stealing its printing presses, while Benjamin denied the charge.
• The Five Great Gods argued over their stalled campaign, then agreed that the God of War would attack Edgar while the God of Death and the God of Life each took a city.
• Ron played a Divine Melody through his Internet Ring to comfort wounded soldiers, then saw the Titan Remains approaching the city.
• The God of War’s forces, the God of Death’s Titan Remains, and the God of Life’s World Tree root struck Edgar, Twit, and Harold at once, breaking their Magic shields.
• Bethany called for Asheff as the cities’ defenders faced the assault, then a low shout rang across all three battlefields.

Yu Sheng'an's divine strike devastated the undead armies and shattered the morale of the God of Death and God of Life, forcing them to retreat while Kevil's forces pursued. The God of War's Legion continued advancing through the lava, leaving Yu Sheng'an to wonder why his Heart-Piercing Scheme had failed against them.

• Yu Sheng'an's attack turned the battlefields outside Twit, Edgar, and Harold into lava, destroying the undead and killing or tormenting countless soldiers.
• The God of the Internet's images of villagers being slaughtered broke the remaining morale of the God of Death's and God of Life's armies, and both forces retreated through Teleportation Arrays.
• Kevil's soldiers and mages pursued the retreating armies, and Taut died after an ice spear pierced his head despite the God of Life's vitality sustaining him.
• The God of War's remaining troops advanced across the lava behind their Undying War Soul, and Yu Sheng'an realized the Heart-Piercing Scheme had not affected them.

Yu Sheng'an withdrew his forces from Edgar rather than fight the unpredictable God of War head-on, then went to seize Spada, the capital of the God of War's Missionary Zone. He arrived with Caesar and Humphrey and prepared to attack as reinforcements began appearing across the forest.

• As the War God Legion advanced on Edgar, Yu Sheng'an ordered the Three Magic Gods to prepare the Teleportation Array and evacuate everyone, explaining that fighting a madman to the death was pointless.
• Yu Sheng'an told the Three Magic Gods to hold the battlefield while he went after the God of War's Missionary Zone.
• At Spada, Caesar and Humphrey received the Conquest of Sub-Plane mission and watched Lord Asheff emerge from a Teleportation Array.
• Yu Sheng'an revealed himself to Caesar and Humphrey and declared that he alone was an army, intending to seize Spada.
• Teleportation Arrays lit up throughout the forest, and powerful magical fluctuations surged into the sky.

As Spada mobilized for war, Geli received access to the Internet and found comfort in a song from her childhood as a warrior threatened her. The attack on Spada then began, while the God of the Internet and the God of War wagered on whether Spada or Edgar would fall first.

• After Spada’s soldiers left, Geli suffered abuse from the remaining Helots and War Academy Devils and considered killing herself.
• Paper prayers fell from the sky, and Geli recited one to connect to the Internet; she played “A Maiden’s Prayer” and remembered her mother as a warrior raised a sword over her.
• A Mountain Giant struck Spada’s divine shield, and Devils and giants attacked as Spada’s Battle Disciples rushed out to fight them.
• The God of the Internet attacked Edgar with the War God Legion while teleportation arrays evacuated Edgar’s citizens and Mud Golems defended the city.
• The God of the Internet challenged the God of War to a wager over whether Spada or Edgar would fall first, and Dendall said the attack could deter Aizeya’s gods from threatening Kevil.

Chad rescued Geli after finding her broken by abuse, then rushed toward Beren Cathedral as Aphnora confronted the Gods of Fertility, Plague, and Misfortune. After showing them the collapse of the Gods of Death and Life’s legions, Aphnora declared that she no longer needed to join forces with them against the Five Great Gods.

• Chad found Geli in despair, hid her in a wine cellar, and promised to take her home before leaving for the cathedral.
• Aphnora entered Beren Cathedral, where the Gods of Fertility, Plague, and Misfortune mocked her alliance with the God of the Internet.
• Aphnora told the three gods that they could annex the Missionary Zones of the Gods of Death and Life.
• The Gods of Fertility, Plague, and Misfortune dismissed her warning and mocked her, so Aphnora showed them a Virtual Scroll depicting the enemy legions’ defeat.
• The God of Misfortune apologized and asked Aphnora to join forces against the Five Great Gods, but Aphnora said there was no longer any need.

Aphnora showed the Three Gods of Fertility the God of the Internet’s forces conquering Spada, then proposed a deal concerning the ruined city. The God of War’s retreat from Edgar turned into a chaotic battle as Kevil’s forces pursued him.

• Aphnora showed how Yu Sheng'an’s demon and undead forces overwhelmed the War God Legion and broke Spada’s divine shield.
• Spada collapsed, and the Undead Demon Legion entered the ruins as a voice urged the survivors to open the Internet for mercy.
• The God of War ordered a retreat from Edgar, but Yu Sheng'an and the Three Magic Gods pursued the War God Legion with a counterattack.
• The God of War unleashed Bloodthirsty Rage, plunging both armies into renewed chaos.
• Aphnora offered the Three Gods of Fertility a deal involving Spada, and the God of Fertility proposed that the ruins could protect Beren Cathedral.

After Kevil defeated the Five Great Gods’ forces, Yu Sheng'an and the Magic Gods discussed the war’s spoils and the Empire’s reconstruction costs. With the treasury strained and the Empire needing to clear roaming Necromancy creatures, Yu Sheng'an proposed living beyond their means.

• Mud Golems rescued Geli from the rubble, and Chad reunited with her before they headed back toward the city.
• Humphrey showed Caesar the wine jars he had hidden inside his belly as they prepared to leave.
• The rulers of the Kevil Empire reviewed the Five Great Gods’ losses, Kevil’s devastation, and Yu Sheng'an’s sale of Spada to the Puran United Kingdom.
• Yu Sheng'an said the Empire had gained more from the war than territory, citing its strengthened position and future commercial opportunities.
• Bethany and Zimor warned that reconstruction costs had left the treasury short, and the Magic Gods considered raising taxes.
• Yu Sheng'an rejected targeting citizens with sudden taxes and said he had a way to obtain the money: living beyond their means.

Yu Sheng'an proposed ways for the Kevil Empire to raise and manage money, including national debt, banks, and virtual currency. The Magic Gods rejected national debt for now but listened to his banking plans, leaving more convinced that the God of the Internet might be an Abyss Devil.

• Yu Sheng'an explained that national debt would let the Empire borrow voluntarily from citizens, but Bethany and Dendall argued that issuing it after the war could make Kevil appear weak.
• Yu Sheng'an proposed banks that could gather deposits and lend funds to the Empire, eventually enabling virtual currency and a financial exchange system.
• Yu Sheng'an explained that Magic Towers could serve as bank branches and that Kevil's military victory could reassure depositors about their money's safety.
• The three Magic Gods ended the meeting at sunset, shocked by Yu Sheng'an's financial ideas and suspecting that he was an Abyss Devil.

Yu Sheng'an prepared to establish a bank in Kevil, planning its services and staffing while postponing decisions on monetary policy until he could study banks in Vilia. His recruitment plans changed when Princess Clementine chose to join the bank teller training class, prompting other noblewomen to follow and leaving Keshan unable to stop her.

• Yu Sheng'an planned to use Kevil's Magic Towers as bank branches, create accounts based on the Internet Points system, and enable payments through the Contract Godhead.
• Yu Sheng'an decided to study Vilia's banks before setting deposit and lending rates, but planned to begin accepting deposits and lending the funds to the Kevil Empire.
• Yu Sheng'an arranged to train forty women recruited from noble households as the bank's first employees.
• Keshan tried to dissuade his sister Clementine from attending teller training, but she said she wanted to control her own fate and left for the class.
• Clementine's departure stirred the Willis Ladies' Circle as young noblewomen took the training opportunities that would otherwise have gone to female stewards and maids.

After the Kevil Empire’s victory, the people celebrated the God of the Internet and speculated that Asheff was his follower. Clementine joined a bank teller training class hoping to meet Asheff, but Yu Sheng'an rejected the gathered noblewomen and angrily summoned Dendall to answer for the poor selection.

• The Empire’s people discussed how the God of the Internet had turned the war around and celebrated the Heart-Piercing Scheme and the conquest of Spada.
• Rumors that Asheff was a follower of the God of the Internet spread as his role in the Spada Campaign made him famous.
• Clementine attended the bank teller training class to see Asheff for herself, while noblewomen joined after she did.
• Yu Sheng'an arrived at the Magic River, saw the women dressed for high society, and turned to leave in anger.
• Yu Sheng'an called Dendall and demanded to know why he had sent him a group of aristocratic women instead of suitable bank tellers.

Yu Sheng'an rebuked Dendall over the unsuitable trainees and warned the noblewomen about the demanding clerk work, then set plans to strengthen his position and establish a foothold in the Vilia Prime Plane. Meanwhile, in Puen City, Benjamin anxiously awaited a meeting with Archid, hoping for guidance as his growing movement became harder to control.

• Yu Sheng'an confronted Dendall after seeing the noblewomen recruited as trainees, and Clementine and the others pleaded to stay.
• Yu Sheng'an explained that the trainees would receive one day of instruction before being sent in pairs to Magic Towers as resident clerks, and warned them that quitting would cost ten thousand Kevil Gold Coins.
• Yu Sheng'an ordered Dendall to rearrange the personnel within one day and began preparing to strengthen his military power and secure escape routes.
• Yu Sheng'an planned to become the hidden Swordholder of the Vilia Prime Plane, gaining territory before the Four Primal Gods could discover him.
• In Puen City, Benjamin waited for Archid, troubled by the rapid growth of the Reduce Hours Raise Wages Movement and his loss of control over it.

Benjamin told Archid that the Reduce Hours Raise Wages Movement had made it difficult to obtain a Bicycle Production Line, then arranged a meeting with Sir Baird. Baird offered the line on the condition that his businesses stay uninvolved, but Archid demanded an Ironclad Production Line as well.

• Benjamin reunited with Archid, who asked whether he had obtained a Bicycle Production Line.
• Benjamin explained that the Empire was closely monitoring industrial production because the Reduce Hours Raise Wages Movement could turn machinery toward weapons manufacturing.
• Benjamin said Sir Baird might provide the line, but warned that Baird wanted to meet Archid.
• Benjamin and Archid visited Sir Baird at his estate, where Baird asked why past workers' uprisings had failed and Archid answered that they lacked guiding ideology.
• Baird offered a Bicycle Production Line if his shipyard and other enterprises remained uninvolved, and Archid demanded an Ironclad Production Line too.