Chapter Summaries

Titus killed Batu Shatterskull and helped the dwarves and elves repel the Orc invasion at Avendell Dan, earning renown as the Dawn Dragon. The surviving Orcs retreated north, while Keosius later celebrated the experience he gained from Batu’s death.

• Batu Shatterskull fought Ed and Rhea, but Titus struck from above and killed him with dragonfire.
• Titus drained divine power from the Blood of Gruumsh as Batu’s soul escaped, and Soro Blood Drinker led the remaining Orcs in retreat.
• The dwarves and elves counterattacked, won the battle, and praised Titus as the Dawn Dragon.
• Ed thanked Titus and pledged the High Mountain Kingdom’s support for Catherine Moonchaser’s restoration, while Rhea vowed to help eliminate the northern Orc threat.
• Titus and Rhea became renowned heroes, and Titus gained a reputation across Feanso as an ancient, righteous Golden Dragon.
• At Dragon Blood Mountain, Keosius saw that Batu’s death had earned him 60,000 XP and remarked that stealing someone else’s kill was easier than fighting himself.

After the battle for Avendell Dan, Ed worried that the High Mountain Kingdom could not survive future crises without a powerful ally. Aurora visited Keosius, who was posing as Titus, and invited him to join the Skincarver Organization; he accepted, gaining access to its inheritance while secretly infiltrating the Metallic Dragons.

• The dwarves and elves mourned their dead and repaired Avendell Dan as Ed reflected on his dwindling life and the kingdom’s uncertain future.
• Bjorn told Ed that he had a way to protect Avendell Dan for at least a hundred years, and Ed considered whether the kingdom needed a stronger ally.
• Aurora arrived at Avendell Dan, and Ed directed her to the cave where Titus was staying.
• Aurora met Keosius, who was posing as Titus, and invited him to become an elder of the Skincarver Organization.
• Keosius accepted Aurora’s offer, intending to learn the Skincarver inheritance and infiltrate the Metallic Dragons.

Aurora brought Keosius into the Eternal Order Realm, the Skincarver Dragons’ Golden Dragon sanctuary, where he agreed to join while continuing to aid the High Mountain Kingdom. After exploring its monastery and learning that a scale of Landis anchored the Demiplane, Keosius met the elder Beatrice, who noticed a veil of concealment around him.

• Aurora opened a portal to the Eternal Order Realm, and Keosius followed her and the other Golden Dragons into the Demiplane.
• Keosius saw the Realm’s tranquil floating island and learned from Aurora that the Skincarver Dragons there were all Golden Dragons.
• Elhernan welcomed Keosius, who agreed to join the Skincarver Dragons while remaining committed to helping the High Mountain Kingdom against the Orc threat.
• Aurora showed Keosius the monastery and explained the origins and practices of Skin Carving as he observed Golden Dragons cultivating.
• Keosius saw the runed scale of Landis at the monastery’s center and learned that Ferdinand had used it to create the Eternal Order Realm.
• Beatrice arrived and welcomed Keosius, then questioned why she sensed a veil of concealment upon him.

Keosius faced Beatrice’s suspicion and, in the Eternal Order Realm’s prison, used the Chaos Fire he claimed he had been forced to bear to persuade her to hear his past. He began a tale of a Golden Dragon alliance devoted to fighting evil, leaving Beatrice captivated by his story.

• Beatrice confronted Keosius, while Aurora tried to defend the guest she knew as Titus.
• Beatrice took Keosius to Unforgiven Valley and confined him in a rune-lined interrogation chamber.
• Keosius revealed a small amount of Chaos Fire, and Beatrice feared it meant he had sought the Abyss’s power.
• Keosius said he had no choice but to bear the Chaos Power and asked Beatrice to hear an old sinner’s story.
• Keosius described forming an alliance of Golden Dragons to punish evildoers, and his eloquence drew Beatrice into the tale.

Keosius disguised himself as Titus and persuaded Beatrice to initiate him into the Skincarver Dragon tradition, secretly copying the inheritance for his true body. After completing the ritual, Keosius accepted the prestige class and gained new defenses against spells, poison, chaos, and fear.

• Titus told Beatrice a fabricated story about accepting Abyssal power to save his family, and she agreed to let him train in Unforgiven Valley.
• Keosius secretly controlled his true body from afar while Beatrice explained the Skincarver Dragon runes and carved the word for order into Titus's scales.
• Beatrice spent several days covering Titus's body with runes, completing his Skincarver initiation.
• Keosius carved runes into his own Gilded Scales despite their extreme hardness and completed the ritual.
• Keosius accepted the Skincarver Dragon prestige class and gained Spell Resistance, Poison Resistance, Iron Will, and Suppress Weakness.

Keosius grew into a fifty-meter red dragon, strengthened by his four advanced classes and the Empire’s resources, and prepared to bring the Embers of the Burned Empire onto the Feanso Continent. The story then turned to the White Bone Wilds, where the Orcs’ failed campaign at the Blackstone Mountain Battle left the Bindler River stained with blood.

• Keosius reached fifty meters in length while consuming Kareks' Body and the Empire’s stores of precious materials.
• Keosius assessed the weakened Three Great Kingdoms and the Empire’s planted agents, then considered whether he could defeat the Gods’ Favored and divine incarnations.
• Keosius saw his Challenge Rating of 30 and declared that the people of the Feanso Continent should prepare for the dragons’ arrival.
• The narration described the White Bone Wilds and the history of Orc wars fought over its fertile plains.
• After Batu Shatterskull’s Orcs nearly broke through Avendell Dan at the Blackstone Mountain Battle, their blood and battle pollutants stained the Bindler River.

Soro Blood Drinker struggled to hold the Red Blood Tribe together as Orcs blamed him for their defeats and an assassin from the Raven Tribe attacked him. After the assassin exposed the Red Fang Tribe’s role in the Raven Tribe’s dispossession, Soro was left wondering how to prevent more Orc-on-Orc violence, unaware that something dark was stirring in the Bindler River.

• Orc commanders challenged Soro’s leadership and demanded revenge, but he reminded them that the Orcs were too scattered and weak to confront the Golden Dragon and the High Mountain Kingdom.
• An arrow coated in venom narrowly missed Soro, and he traced the attack to an Orc hiding in the dead grass.
• Soro’s Dire Wolf Cavalry captured the Raven Tribe assassin, who accused the Red Blood Tribe of seizing Raven lands and blamed the Red Fang Tribe for the Raven Tribe’s downfall.
• The assassin threw a poison-coated dagger at Soro, and nearby Orcs killed him before he could say more.
• Scouts reported that Dwarven forces had devastated the Raven Tribe, leaving Soro to wonder whether Orcs would keep killing one another as a corpse in the Bindler River began to tremble amid spreading darkness.

Charlotte and the Magic Coin players infiltrated Earl Donald Foster's estate to steal the key to his underground secret chamber. After Charlotte drugged Donald while disguised as Leia, the guild looted the estate and prepared to escape, leaving Donald hanging with a message on his back.

• Charlotte disguised himself as Leia and lured Earl Donald into drinking a Drunken Dream potion.
• After Donald fell asleep, Charlotte revealed his identity and the Magic Coin players emerged from hiding.
• The players searched Donald for the secret-chamber key and plundered his valuables while teasing Charlotte about his disguise.
• Lucky Emperor was assigned to search Donald, while the guards outside obeyed orders not to enter despite hearing bedroom noises.
• The chapter ended with Donald hanging from the ceiling and the words “The mage was here” written across his back.

Charlotte and the Magic Coin Guild infiltrated Earl Donald's secret passage, where traps and a powerful Animated Armor threatened to kill them. Charlotte impersonated the earl to make the construct recognize him as its master, leaving the group temporarily safe inside the chamber.

• Charlotte stopped Flying Witch from approaching the iron door and sent a Machine Dog ahead to trigger the passage's traps.
• The Machine Dog was destroyed by a Thracian Animated Armor, which demanded a password and attacked after Charlotte guessed incorrectly.
• The Animated Armor blocked the passage exit and resisted the guild's spells with its Anti-Magic Shield while Charlotte struggled to evade its hammer.
• Flying Witch transformed into a sheep, while Charlotte used Greater Invisibility to escape the armor's attacks.
• Charlotte disguised himself as Earl Donald with the Doppelganger Cloak, causing the Animated Armor to recognize him as its master and kneel.

Charlotte and the Magic Coin players raided Earl Donald’s secret chamber, recovered a hidden contract bearing the name Zariel, and escaped Thrace pursuers with Mass Teleportation. Back at Magic Coin’s experimental grounds, Charlotte subdued the Animated Armor and declared it a test subject, while Lucky Emperor secretly recorded him.

• Charlotte named the surrendered Animated Armor Tie Dan, entered Earl Donald’s secret chamber, and ordered the players to collect its treasure while he and Lucky Emperor searched for intelligence.
• Lucky Emperor discovered a hollow wall, and Flying Witch smashed through it to retrieve a hidden metal box containing a damaged contract signed by Zariel.
• Ming Yue activated Mass Teleportation as an Angel Divine Descendant and a Red Robe Mage arrived, and the group escaped with Tie Dan just before the pursuers could trap them.
• Lord Hans and William failed to track the teleporting players and worried over the contract they had lost.
• Charlotte’s group arrived at Magic Coin’s experimental grounds, where Charlotte used a Dead Magic Zone to stop Tie Dan when it turned hostile.
• Charlotte introduced Tie Dan as Magic Coin’s test subject, while Lucky Emperor secretly recorded him with an Image Recording Stone.

Keosius learned that Zariel and Hell were backing the Thrace Kingdom and decided to counter them by working with a rival archdevil. He ordered Mezhuolash to capture devils in the Empire and planned to negotiate with Bael, leaving the Empire poised to use Hell’s internal rivalries against Zariel.

• Lang Pu reported that devils were active across Fei An Suo, especially in Thrace, and that Hell might have become the kingdom’s patron.
• Keosius rejected Lang Pu’s proposal for a broad campaign against devils and summoned Mezhuolash and Aurest.
• Keosius ordered Mezhuolash to capture every devil within the Empire and imprison them in Bator City.
• Aurest examined the contract and explained that Zariel’s enemies in Hell could be recruited to oppose her.
• Aurest identified Bael as a former Lord of Avernus who hated Zariel, and Keosius decided to negotiate with him and use devils to contend against devils.

Mark Brown was manipulated by the devil Frank into trying to kill his family over his inheritance, but the Imperial Guard intervened and exposed Frank. Count Charlotte helped capture Frank, as the Empire’s Exorcism Squad continued arresting devils across the land.

• Frank convinced Mark that Gordon Gray planned to take his inheritance and urged him to kill Gordon, his mother, and Theodore Gray.
• Mark entered the house with a pitchfork, but the Imperial Guard arrived and ordered everyone to leave while they arrested a devil.
• Mark realized Frank was a devil when Frank revealed his true form and the Tiefling captain shot him with a rune-engraved bullet.
• Frank tried to escape but crashed into Count Charlotte’s Evil Barrier, and Count Charlotte imprisoned him in a cage.
• Across the Empire, Mezhuolash’s Exorcism Squad searched for and arrested devils.

Albert tempted the Chimera King with a contract that promised wisdom, but the deal let him invade the Chimera’s mind and attempt to seize its body. The Chimera’s master trapped Albert inside the goat head and prepared to make him the Chimera’s actual wisdom.

• Albert urged the Chimera King to resent the Empire’s hierarchy and offered a Hell contract granting devil’s wisdom in exchange for one favor.
• The Chimera King’s goat head secretly contacted Albert and pressed its clawprint onto the contract, hoping to gain power and dominance over the body.
• Albert revealed that the promised wisdom meant taking control of the Chimera, then entered the goat head while battling the dragon head for control.
• The dragon head lured Albert into the Chimera’s consciousness, where he encountered a colossal Red Dragon and found himself trapped inside the goat head.
• The Chimera King knelt to its master, who condemned Albert for invading his territory and threatened to make him the Chimera’s wisdom.

Keosius confronted Albert after the devil tried to recruit the Chimera, then learned that Albert served Bael, Zariel’s rival for Avernus. Keosius forced Albert to summon Bael, who appeared willing to cooperate with the Red Dragon against Zariel.

• Keosius dragged Albert and the Chimera into the Iron Dragon Wing Palace and overwhelmed the devil with his power.
• Albert abandoned his plan to invoke Bael’s authority and admitted that he had tried to lure the Chimera into rebellion.
• Keosius learned that Bael sought revenge against Zariel and kept Albert bound to the Chimera as punishment while ordering him to contact his master.
• Albert performed a summoning ritual, and Bael appeared before Keosius.
• Keosius proposed that Bael cooperate with the Embers of the Burned Empire and reclaim the position of Lord of Avernus.

Keosius negotiated an alliance with Bael against Zariel, learning that she planned to drag the Thrace Kingdom into Hell and claim its souls. The Empire presented Bael with a lengthy treaty asserting its leadership, and Bael began searching it for loopholes.

• Keosius told Bael the Empire would cooperate with any force that shared its interests and enemies, regardless of its reputation.
• Lang Pu showed Bael a stolen contract, and Bael identified Zariel as its maker and agreed to share what he knew.
• Bael explained that Zariel planned to pull the entire Thrace Kingdom into Hell and make it her Soul Land, giving her an enormous army and power.
• Keosius and Bael agreed to cooperate against Zariel while acknowledging that their alliance depended on shared interests.
• Keosius had Lang Pu present the Empire's extensive alliance treaty, which put the Empire in the leading role.
• Bael accepted the treaty for review and began examining its clauses for loopholes.

Keosius signed a treaty with Bael that appeared to let devils gain Players' souls in exchange for Hell Power, but Keosius had designed it to exploit the fact that Players had no souls recognized by Erezege's laws. Meanwhile, Lang Pu began incorporating hundreds of imprisoned devils into the Empire's system by offering them freedom in exchange for obeying its laws and paying taxes.

• Bael tried to negotiate loopholes in the treaty, but Keosius summoned legal counsel Players and insisted that Bael either sign or refuse.
• Bael signed the Hell Contract and left the Prime Material Plane without rescuing Albert, who remained trapped in the Chimera King's head.
• Keosius revealed that Players had no souls bound by Erezege's laws, so Bael's contracts would drain Hell Power without giving him souls in return.
• Keosius planned to send up to fifty thousand Players to siphon Hell Power from Bael as the Empire and Bael began cooperating against Zariel.
• Lang Pu told the devils imprisoned on Gedani Island that their crimes were offending Keosius, violating Imperial territory, and disrupting public order.
• Lang Pu offered the imprisoned devils freedom if they submitted to Imperial management and paid taxes, and they agreed to join the Empire's system.

Over a million players rushed to Bator City after the Empire announced the Nine Hells class expansion, forcing Mezhuolash to enforce order at the gates. At the Hell Exchange, Lucky Emperor reached the front of the line and decided to pursue a devil contract despite fearing Charlotte’s reaction to his leaked video.

• Players flooded into Bator City by train, air, mounts, and space rifts to seek devil powers from the Nine Hells expansion.
• Black Night Poem tried to sneak past the city gates but Mezhuolash cut him in half, prompting the players to line up obediently.
• Mezhuolash reflected on how far the Empire and his own power had risen before returning to his duties.
• Lucky Emperor discovered that Charlotte had traced an anonymous video of Charlotte in disguise back to him and threatened to confront him later.
• Lucky Emperor reached the Hell Exchange, saw players proudly displaying their devilish transformations, and resolved to secure an expansion class.

Lucky Emperor signed a contract with the Succubus Eunice at the Hell Exchange and gained the Warlock - Devil Pact class, but his new Devil Body transformed him into a Succubus. After Lucky Emperor fled from the attention of other players, Charlotte secretly prepared to record and share the incident.

• Eunice seduced Lucky Emperor into selling his soul and contracting with her, giving him the Warlock - Devil Pact class and the Hell Apostle trait.
• Charlotte warned Lucky Emperor that he had missed a stronger contract with Bael, then discovered Lucky Emperor had already taken Eunice's deal.
• Lucky Emperor and Charlotte examined his Charm Spell and Devil Body abilities, and Lucky Emperor transformed into a female Succubus.
• Charlotte urged Lucky Emperor to use his new form to seduce powerful nobles, while Lucky Emperor begged him to keep the transformation secret.
• Players spotted the transformed Lucky Emperor, who used Smoke Art to escape, and Charlotte picked up a hidden Image Recording Stone and planned a video.

Lang Li Bai Tiao entered the Hell Exchange and eagerly signed a contract with Bael, gaining the Pact Master - Devil Overlord class path. Bael recognized the players as Soulless Ones and considered Lang Li Bai Tiao a possible way to investigate them, while Keosius watched and planned to use Bael’s interest to his advantage.

• Lang Li Bai Tiao resisted Eunice’s seduction with protective gear and hurried through the Hell Exchange past the devils’ offers.
• Lang Li Bai Tiao found Bael’s secret chamber and willingly accepted a Hell contract without reading it.
• Lang Li Bai Tiao confirmed the Pact Master - Devil Overlord path, and Hellfire flooded his body as he signed the contract.
• Bael realized the players’ souls could not be perceived or corrupted and decided Lang Li Bai Tiao might serve as a useful pawn.
• Keosius told Lang Pu that more than three hundred players had signed devil contracts and explained that Bael’s interest was part of his plan.
• Lang Li Bai Tiao celebrated his new Hell Power in Baator City while Bael and Keosius watched him as a pawn.

Walter Graham took command of North Aisel and prepared to defend its cities from the advancing Embers of the Burned Empire, then flew to seek allies from Mount Paradise. Barachiel recognized Walter’s mission and prepared a celestial army to confront Keosius Klauberwu Norikesius.

• Walter Graham learned that Wilhelm had withdrawn Thracian garrisons from several cities, leaving them vulnerable to the Embers of the Burned Empire’s advance.
• Walter ordered Ian and the other Angel Divine Descendants to defend North Aisel’s cities, explaining that he would seek help from allies he had aided in the past.
• Walter summoned a pillar of light and flew toward Mount Paradise while the people of Collins City cheered him.
• Barachiel recalled Walter’s rescue of Heralds of the Horn and learned that he was heading to Mochuria to seek Bahamut’s palace.
• Barachiel judged Keosius Klauberwu Norikesius a threat and raised a lightning-charged sword, signaling that a celestial army was preparing for war.