Chapter Summaries

Henry failed to forge a usable longsword, but Thor recruited him as a retainer after seeing his extraordinary strength. After celebrating his new wages with his family, Henry arrived at the castle, where George sent him to Thor and warned him not to disturb Eric, who was breaking through.

• Henry worked through the day to forge a knight's longsword, but it bent during Guy's test and he failed to become a journeyman.
• Thor arrived at the smithy, saw Henry lift and carry a 230-pound anvil, and appointed him as a retainer with a month's wages advanced.
• Henry spent some of his silver coins on hamburgers and new clothes, then gave ten silver coins to his father and celebrated with his family.
• Henry arrived at the castle the next morning, met George, and learned that Eric was breaking through and that no one could disturb him.

Moas failed to break through to the Second tier, while Eric used the Creator’s Nail to reach the Fourth tier through his magnetic Steel Qi. Eric credited Raven for his success, but the upheaval from his breakthrough disturbed a little girl nearby and triggered a frightening reaction.

• Beta, Heng Qidun, and Pip celebrated their successful Second-tier breakthroughs as Moas entered the hut to attempt his own.
• Moas’s breakthrough failed when his Battle Qi surged backward, and Beta, Heng Qidun, and Pip carried him outside and tried to comfort him.
• Eric began his Fourth-tier breakthrough with the Creator’s Nail, choosing to specialize in the magnetic properties of his Steel Qi.
• Eric drew the Creator’s Nail’s magnetism into himself and succeeded, sending metal objects flying across the castle before they crashed down.
• Eric thanked Raven for helping him rise from the First tier to the Fourth tier, then resolved to find a more secluded place for his next breakthrough.
• The disturbance reached a nearby ranger’s cottage, where a little girl grinned as the holy emblem of the Lord of Light bent and a chilly wind swept through the room.

Laxus exorcised the evil spirit Gulusuofei from a young girl and comforted Fiona and Denise as they confessed their regrets and guilt. Denise admitted her relationship with Raven, and Laxus told her she had at most five years to live, prompting Denise to pledge her support for Raven and prepare for war.

• Laxus performed a purification ritual, drew Gulusuofei from the ranger's daughter, and destroyed the evil spirit when it attacked her.
• The ranger's daughter survived, and Laxus advised her parents to help her recover and accepted their payment before returning to the Church in Eagle Town.
• Fiona confessed that she had resented and wished for the death of her senile grandfather, and Laxus reassured her that she had not sinned and urged her to move forward.
• Denise confessed that she and Raven were in an improper relationship, and Laxus forgave her and said she understood her feelings.
• Laxus told Denise that her poison would kill her within five years, and Denise vowed to support Raven and prepare for war in her territory.

Denise Ota Griffith took control of Snow Maple Fortress and asserted her authority by replacing its castle officials with her experienced female staff. She left the officials with a warning to prove their worth and ordered Kuman to expand forging production ahead of Raven’s war against the Orc Empire.

• Denise welcomed the officials of Snow Maple Territory and announced that her staff would take over every position within the castle.
• Eric objected to Denise’s dismissal order, and Kuman urged her to allow a three-month evaluation period.
• Denise defended the experience of Angie, Jeanne, Aijiaer, and her other recruits, then ordered Kuman to carry out the purge.
• Denise intimidated the officials by using magic and warned them that inadequate work or deliberate sabotage would bring consequences.
• Denise reassured Kuman that she would preserve the territory’s administration but ordered him to triple forging output within the year.
• Thor overheard Baron Mark and Baron Kate’s envoys praising Denise’s authority, while Pip was pleased that he had done Count Raven a great service.

Pip learned that his father had secretly reinforced his armor with Misty Smelted Iron to improve his chances in the coming Orc War and earn a Nobility Title. Meanwhile, Savannah arrived in Eagle Town with the Angel Legion, reunited with Mancini, and, after an unexpected kiss, came to Raven’s study carrying a secret letter from Archbishop Thomas.

• Pip delivered the chest from Little Flayer’s collection to the warehouse and returned home, where Junusheng showed him newly made armor reinforced with refined Misty Smelted Iron slag.
• Junusheng explained that he wanted Pip to earn a Nobility Title to protect their family, then said he would confess his actions to Lady Denise and urged Pip to unite with the next generation of outsiders.
• The Angel Legion, consisting of 557 heavily equipped troops, arrived in Eagle Town, and commander Savannah delayed meeting Raven until the next day.
• Savannah reunited with Mancini and toured Eagle Town before they sparred; after Savannah treated Mancini’s wound, Mancini kissed her, and Savannah fled in confusion.
• Savannah arrived at Raven’s study the next morning with a secret letter from Archbishop Thomas, but a guard told her Raven was receiving another guest.

Suohei revised a specialized anti-werewolf weapon, while Count Raven received reinforcements and the powerful Divine Kingdom Radiance formation blueprint from Thomas. The costly formation left Count Raven searching for money, as Baron Hudson awaited news from a knight.

• Suohei presented a polearm designed to counter the Nightshadow Cavalry, and Count Raven pointed out flaws that made the original design unsuitable for widespread use.
• Suohei sketched an improved weapon, which Count Raven approved for limited use by elite units and ordered produced in a first batch of 3,000 as Suohei's Blades.
• Savannah reported that 557 Holy Knights had arrived and delivered Thomas's letter, which promised the Angel Legion, weapons, magic crystals, and the Divine Kingdom Radiance blueprint.
• Count Raven learned that Divine Kingdom Radiance could weaken orc forces across a vast battlefield, but its 800,000-gold-coin cost forced him to consider selling Misty Smelted Iron or finding another source of funds.
• Baron Hudson waited tensely for a knight to enter and asked whether he had obtained it.

Hudson obtained a Nether Prison Bewitching Butterfly pupa and its control method, but Zeswell’s undead army attacked the Mountain Territory to seize the pupa. Zeswell killed Hudson, raised him as an undead warrior, and conquered the territory as a crow carrying a message flew toward Eagle City.

• Hudson examined the Nether Prison Bewitching Butterfly pupa and discovered its cultivation and control method in the leather pouch lining.
• An emergency alarm sounded, and Hudson saw Zeswell’s undead army approaching the castle with an Abomination and a flying skeleton.
• Zeswell demanded the treasure, but Hudson refused and ordered the defenders to fight while sending his butler to seek Count Raven’s help.
• Hudson attacked Demon Slave with his martial soul, but Zeswell’s spell disabled him and Demon Slave strangled him with its chain.
• Zeswell took the pupa, raised Hudson as a Black Warrior, and led the undead in destroying the castle and the Mountain Territory.
• A crow carrying a leather pouch flew toward Eagle City.

Raven sent Thor and 2,500 Eagle Army soldiers to reclaim the devastated Mountain Territory, where they encountered a tide of undead. As the battle began, Sephrin killed a Second-tier Black Warrior and Hervey charged through the enemy to slay a Soul Shepherd, while the rest of the fighting continued.

• Raven declined to use the Holy Knights against the corpse tide and assigned Thor five battalions of the Eagle Army to reclaim the Mountain Territory.
• Thor prepared for the campaign, studied Eric's route advice, and led his 2,500 soldiers into the Mountain Territory.
• Scouts reported that thousands of living corpses were gathering ahead, and Thor ordered the troops into battle formation.
• Magde led the Second Battalion's advance, while Sephrin's spearhead defeated a Second-tier Black Warrior with his Supreme Holy Slash.
• Hervey charged the Soul Shepherd, killed him despite attacks from two Black Warriors, and raised the herder's head as the Fifth Company also entered the fight.

Moas’s tactics helped the Eagle Army defeat a walking corpse horde, but a Third-tier necromancer named Zeswell escalated the battle with a devastating spell. Thor rallied the soldiers, destroyed Zeswell’s Plague Colossus, and forced the necromancer to summon a Demon Slave.

• Moas ordered the Eagle Army to advance in double-column formations, splitting the corpse horde and exposing its herder.
• Beta and Gron killed the herder, causing the walking corpses to lose coordination as Moas saw the other battalions making progress.
• Moas spotted an abomination closing on Hoaz’s Fourth Battalion, while Thor noticed Zeswell arriving above the battlefield on a silver skeleton.
• Zeswell cast Calamity Ash Starfall, killing soldiers and raising their remains, but Banks struck the silver skeleton with Blood of Light and forced Zeswell to interrupt the spell.
• Zeswell created a Plague Colossus, but Thor blocked its attack and destroyed it with Mountain-Break Slash.
• Thor led the Eagle Army in a renewed charge, and Zeswell cried out to summon a Demon Slave.

Hoaz, Pip, Heng Qidun, Moas, Beta, and Gron joined forces to defeat Zeswell’s Third-tier Abomination, with Hoaz delivering the killing blow. Moas broke through after the battle, while Zeswell revealed his true power as Thor charged at him.

• Pip intercepted the Abomination’s iron hook to save Hoaz, and Heng Qidun joined them in attacking the monster.
• Moas and Beta arrived with their group, and the six fighters coordinated to restrain the Abomination while Hoaz gathered water-element Battle Qi.
• The Abomination hurled its hook at Moas, but Hoaz used surging water to bind the monster with its own chain and smash its head with the anchor.
• The fighters found Moas encased in ice after he broke through, while Zeswell received no response from the Demon Slave or Hudson.
• Thor charged at Zeswell, who cast off his cloak and spread a grayish-white aura of death while declaring himself the Pale Lord.

Zeswell transformed into a Pale Lord and overwhelmed Thor with his empowered undead army, then wounded him and offered him power and eternal life in exchange for betrayal. Thor used the Mirror Shield technique he had learned from Eric to destroy Zeswell, but after killing him he found a black cocoon and a ring among the remains.

• Zeswell became a Pale Lord, strengthening his undead army and halting the advancing Eagle Army.
• Thor charged through the undead and attacked Zeswell, who shattered his Steel Qi drill with the Nether Staff Sword and wounded him.
• Zeswell offered Thor eternal life, wealth, and rule over Eagle City if he betrayed Raven, but Thor refused and declared the Dyson Family would never betray Griffith.
• Thor remembered Eric's Mirror Shield training and used the technique to reflect Zeswell's attack, shatter his bone armor, and bring down a storm that left him as a skull in a crater.
• Thor refused Zeswell's pleas and offers, then destroyed his skull with battle aura, ending his Soul Fire.
• Thor noticed a black cocoon and a ring among Zeswell's remains.

After Thor’s forces defeated Zeswell and reclaimed the Mountain Territory’s castle, Thor returned to Eagle City with the spoils and received a reward from Raven. Raven discovered a valuable item in Zeswell’s spatial ring and brought it to his Meditation Room, where a stone statue began spreading black ice.

• After Zeswell died, Lamb led Donkey Face and Freckles in killing Hudson, then ordered his soldiers to follow the First Battalion without pursuing enemies recklessly.
• Thor’s army occupied the Mountain Territory’s castle, celebrated their victory, and later received Raven’s order to withdraw with the spoils.
• Thor returned to Raven with the cocoon of the Nether Prison Bewitching Butterfly and Zeswell’s spatial ring, and Raven rewarded him with a Second-tier Enchanted Weapon.
• Raven inspected the seized goods and found that the Tiris Family’s wealth fell far short of the amount needed to activate the Divine Kingdom Radiance magic array.
• Raven activated Zeswell’s spatial ring in his Meditation Room, where a stone statue appeared and began spreading black ice.

Raven absorbed a fragment of the Eternal Freeze law into the Primordial Wildfire, creating the Desolate Deathfire, which briefly froze part of Eagle City. Meanwhile, Laxus organized a literacy campaign across the Griffith territory, and the chapter ended with Raven receiving an urgent letter from Heinri in Ganville Province.

• Raven used the Eye of Truth to analyze the Eternal Freeze law and combined its knowledge with the Primordial Wildfire, briefly freezing part of Eagle City before creating the Desolate Deathfire.
• Raven reassured Patti and the people of Eagle City, then wrote to Denise about the incident.
• Thomas's second batch of reinforcements arrived with 127 Divine Spellcasters, whom Laxus ordered to teach children across the Griffith territory to read.
• Laxus rebutted the priests' objections by citing the Church's teachings, and the Divine Spellcasters began teaching in villages and towns.
• After hearing a serf explain why he wanted his child to learn to read, Madi taught more earnestly, and Raven received reports of the campaign's progress.
• Raven opened an urgent letter addressed from Heinri in Ganville Province.

Raven received Marquis Duncan’s plea for help against a destructive Bone Dragon but postponed the long journey, then successfully bred 109 Nether Prison Bewitching Butterfly eggs using Corrupt Soul Essence. He discovered Simon was suited for an undisclosed plan and ordered him to remain in Eagle City for a month while Priest Laxus returned.

• Marquis Duncan’s letter told Raven that an earthquake and a fast-flying Bone Dragon had devastated Ganville, and offered two million gold coins to whoever stopped it.
• Raven considered asking Margaret to help deal with the Bone Dragon after the Teleportation Array was completed, since traveling there himself would take too long.
• A message announced that the Nether Prison Bewitching Butterfly had hatched, and Raven used Corrupt Soul Essence to make it lay 109 eggs before it died.
• Simon enjoyed breakfast with his family in Pompo Territory, then rode to Eagle City after Raven summoned him.
• Raven gave Simon a potion and used the Eye of Truth to confirm that he was the person Raven needed, then ordered him to stay in Eagle City for at least a month.
• Hyena reported that Priest Laxus was returning, while Raven hurried out and left Simon wondering why he had been told to abstain.

Raven welcomed Laxus back to Eagle Town and gave her a new Church, where she rang its first bell before Raven forced himself on her. The next morning, Pip visited the smelting factory to repair his armor, lost two bottles of wine to Bowell, and left with Suohei's Blade to test.

• Raven welcomed Laxus to a grand new Church in Eagle Town and showed her its halls and quarters.
• Laxus rang the Church's first bell, and its sound awakened Eagle Town.
• Raven carried Laxus to her bedroom and forced himself on her despite her resistance; the next morning, she watched him leave and hid when he looked back.
• Pip visited the smelting factory to have his damaged armor repaired and encountered Parasen and Bowell.
• Bowell took Pip's two bottles of Angel's Tear, then gave him Suohei's Blade to test while his armor was repaired.

Raven completed the Teleportation Array, demonstrating its enormous capacity despite its staggering costs, then traveled alone to the Evol Duchy. There, Archduke Evol VIII welcomed him as a feared superior, and Grand Duchess Cuiqi offered to attend to him personally.

• Raven activated the Teleportation Array, which revealed a huge shipment of goods and amazed the spectators.
• Joan estimated that the array had transported at least four million pounds of supplies, while Raven considered its construction, maintenance, and operating costs.
• Over eight days, the array activated eleven times to transport goods, and on June 9 Raven used it to travel to the Evol Duchy.
• Youseit and the assembled crowd watched as Raven arrived alone at Blue Castle, and Archduke Evol VIII abandoned his impulse to attack and welcomed him.
• Raven refused to sit on the Evol throne and took a seat below it, drawing the nobles' attention away from Archduke Evol VIII.
• Grand Duchess Cuiqi knelt before Raven and offered to care for him, while someone in the hall watched in fury.

Raven reviewed Evol’s financial records while the duchy’s leaders awaited his orders, and Archduke Evol VIII grew convinced that Raven had come to expose and kill him. Evol died in a bloody accident during a storm, and Lanza announced his death to Raven and the assembled court.

• Raven left the banquet and asked Cuiqi to bring him Evol’s financial reports from recent years.
• The next morning, Raven waited with Cuiqi, Quentin, and Aberon for Archduke Evol VIII, who failed to appear.
• Archduke Evol VIII suspected Raven was investigating the plot against him and panicked in his bedchamber during a storm.
• Archduke Evol VIII fell onto a shard of porcelain, cut his neck, and died before he could reach the door.
• Lanza entered the hall and announced Archduke Evol VIII’s death, drawing everyone’s attention to Raven.

At Evol VIII’s funeral, Raven denied responsibility for the archduke’s death and discussed keeping the duchy stable with Marquis Talon. Raven then confronted Cuiqi and learned that she and Evol VIII had arranged the Soul Falling Ritual that caused his sudden aging; he coerced her and used an Imprint Crystal to threaten her into obedience.

• Boser presided over Evol VIII’s funeral as nobles whispered about the archduke’s poor rule and untimely death.
• Marquis Talon questioned Raven about Evol VIII’s death, and Raven denied killing him before they discussed finding someone to hold Evol together.
• Raven confronted Cuiqi about the missing 1.6 million Gold Coins and Margaret’s absence, and Cuiqi confessed that Evol VIII and Thomas had arranged the Soul Falling Ritual against him.
• Raven forced Cuiqi to submit and showed her an Imprint Crystal recording her humiliation.
• Raven threatened to reveal the recording to the citizens of the Evol Family’s territory unless Cuiqi obeyed him.

Tang San disobeyed Jack and entered the Blood of the Madman tournament, where he defeated a formidable mercenary despite his Blue Silver Grass martial soul. After learning Tang San was determined to pursue martial arts, Jack agreed to let him train with Wood, while a blue light appeared above Eagle Town’s Teleportation Array.

• Tang San entered the Bloodied Saber tournament using money he had taken from Jack, and Jack found his note and grew worried.
• Tang San faced a much larger opponent whose Blood Tiger martial soul was revealed, then used throwing knives, a concealed crossbow, and his sword to win.
• Tang San ate the arena infirmary’s supposed healing pills before learning they were Mixed-blood Goblin feces, then collected his five-silver-coin prize and returned home.
• Jack accepted Tang San’s decision to pursue martial arts and took him to Wood the next morning, paying five silver coins for his training.
• Wood explained that Jack had tried to keep Tang San from leaving the village to protect him, while Tang San headed home and saw a blue radiance rise from the Teleportation Array as people cried that Lord Earl had returned.

Raven returned from Evol with 1.63 million Gold Coins after arranging the duchy’s new leadership and freeing Lanza from his soul contract. Julia gave birth to Raven’s daughter, Merovee, and Raven arranged a birth banquet while inviting Weston to return and meet his niece.

• Raven brought nearly three hundred boxes of Gold Coins back to Eagle City and told Denise how he and Tylon had arranged Evol’s regency before the Phidon United Council could intervene.
• Raven burned Lanza’s soul contract, freeing him, and urged him to recognize the Evol Duchy’s greatest enemy and problem.
• Patti summoned Raven when Julia went into labor, and Julia gave birth to a healthy girl.
• Raven named his daughter Merovee, meaning “brilliant treasure” and “happiness and good health,” and stayed close to her during her first days.
• Raven set Merovee’s birth banquet for August 10 and asked Fiona to invite Weston to meet his niece.