Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ivette accepts Lant, a Demon Race boy whose family was killed by Abyssal Demons, as a nominal disciple. However, she places him under a probationary period and will only teach him advanced magic if he proves his character and ability.
• Lant declares that he will endure any hardship if it gives him the power to avenge his family.
• Ivette asks whether Lant knows Dugrabi, the young dragon and son of the Flame Dragon King, but Lant has never heard of him because the Demon Race and dragon race live far apart.
• Since Lant already knows the Meditation Method, Ivette plans to test him by teaching him basic rune recognition. His progress will determine whether he receives instruction in the Earth Grimoire and Divine Punishment Grimoire.
• Abera appears and learns that Lant has become Ivette’s possible disciple. Jealous that she has served Ivette for a century without receiving the same status, she tries to argue that she is more deserving.
• Ivette offers Abera a bargain: she can become a true disciple if she burns her collection of pornographic novels in which Ivette is repeatedly tormented. Abera refuses, valuing her “art” more than the opportunity to gain formal magical knowledge.
• Ivette assigns Abera to teach Lant rune recognition. Although Abera agrees, she privately plans to make the lessons extremely difficult out of jealousy.
• That night, Lant studies runes while Abera sleeps and Ivette reflects on her future. She abandons a vehicle design and loses interest in traveling, since Rosaline has apparently died and the Witch of Finale is gone.
• Ivette finds renewed hope in necromancy and the Holy Spirit Cult’s theories. She resolves to spend the coming centuries researching a way to restore the dead to life, possibly bringing Rosaline back.

Character Developments

• Ivette: Shows compassion toward Lant, partly because of his connection to Rosaline and the Demon Race. Her grief over Rosaline deepens, leaving her without purpose, but the possibility of resurrection gives her a new goal.
• Lant: Demonstrates loyalty, determination, humility, and a willingness to suffer for revenge. He begins his probationary training in rune magic while adjusting uneasily to life under Ivette and Abera.
• Abera: Reveals intense jealousy and insecurity over Lant’s rapid rise in status. Despite being devoted to Ivette, she refuses to sacrifice her treasured novels for formal discipleship, highlighting her eccentric priorities.
• Rosaline: Though absent and presumed dead, she continues to influence Ivette’s decisions and remains the emotional center of Ivette’s hopes.
• Dugrabi: Is mentioned but does not appear; Ivette’s concern for him shows that she still thinks about the wider consequences of Rosaline’s disappearance.

Significant Themes

• Grief and hope: Ivette’s mourning gradually transforms into determination to find a method of resurrection.
• Mentorship and worthiness: Lant’s status as a probationary disciple emphasizes that knowledge and inheritance must be earned through character and effort.
• Jealousy and hierarchy: Abera’s resentment reveals the tensions created by unequal recognition within Ivette’s household.
• Revenge and justice: Lant’s motivation is driven by the destruction of his family and his desire to gain power against the Abyssal Demons.
• Devotion versus personal identity: Abera’s refusal to destroy her novels shows that her loyalty to Ivette does not completely override her independence and artistic attachment.
• Death and the possibility of reversal: Necromancy becomes both a magical problem and an emotional means for Ivette to resist accepting Rosaline’s death.

Character Interactions

• Ivette and Lant establish a teacher-student relationship based on cautious trust: she offers him a chance, while he promises absolute dedication.
• Abera treats Lant as an inferior interloper, initially asking whether she may kill him and later agreeing to teach him only because Ivette commands it.
• Ivette and Abera’s exchange is comic but also reveals their long-standing dynamic: Abera seeks greater recognition, while Ivette responds bluntly to her habits and manipulations.
• Lant remains unaware of the meaning behind their private conversation, senses Abera’s hostility, and decides it is safer not to trouble her.
• By assigning Abera to teach Lant, Ivette unintentionally forces the jealous retainer and new disciple into an uneasy working relationship.

Chapter Summary: Demon God’s Curse

Key Plot Points and Events

• After crossing the Remnant Abyss, Lant arrives in the Land of Finale and is rescued by Ivette, the legendary Silver Witch, who considers taking him as her student.
• His initial happiness quickly collapses because Abera, Ivette’s divine servant, openly despises him. She humiliates him over eating food, returning from the outside dirty, using the bathroom improperly, and hanging his wet clothes indoors.
• Lant endures Abera’s cruelty without complaining. He scavenges for food, practices meditation, studies alone, and quietly transforms her insults into motivation.
• Over seven months, he completes the basic Rune Studies material—far faster than Rosaline, Dugrabi, or Abera had managed—though this feat comes from extreme effort rather than exceptional talent.
• Ivette tests his progress and, impressed by his mental resilience, gives him a second notebook containing spell formulas and control exercises. This becomes the final test of his suitability as her student.
• After a year, Lant’s magical talent proves mediocre. His meditation speed is slow, and his control over spell formulas is particularly poor. However, Abera’s attitude softens slightly after witnessing his dedication and progress.
• Ivette questions how the Demon Race survived despite having such weak magical talent. Lant explains that they were once an extraordinarily powerful race, protected by the former Demon King, but were later weakened by a supposed curse placed on their ancestors by the Demon God.
• Intrigued, Ivette decides to draw and study Lant’s blood, hoping to investigate whether the Demon God’s Curse has affected the Demon Race at a biological or genetic level.

Character Developments

• Lant: Becomes quieter, more disciplined, and intensely determined. His desire for revenge expands into a need to prove that an ordinary rural boy is worthy of Ivette’s investment. Though lacking talent, he develops remarkable endurance, focus, and mental strength.
• Ivette: Initially observes Lant from a distance rather than intervening in his conflict with Abera. She views his hardships as part of a test of character. His ability to endure humiliation and continue working earns her genuine respect and prompts her to investigate his ancestry.
• Abera: Begins as openly hostile and contemptuous, largely because Lant threatens her privileged position and consumes food meant for Ivette. His exceptional dedication gradually makes her less dismissive, though she remains far from affectionate.
• The Demon Race: Is revealed to have a forgotten history of greatness. Their current mediocrity may not be natural but the result of a powerful ancestral curse.

Significant Themes

• Perseverance against innate limitations: Lant cannot rely on talent, status, or heritage, so he attempts to change his fate through relentless effort.
• Humiliation as motivation: Rather than breaking under Abera’s cruelty, Lant turns every insult into fuel for self-improvement.
• Identity and prejudice: Lant is judged not only for his personal weaknesses but also for being an ordinary member of a diminished race.
• The distinction between talent and effort: Although Lant is not naturally gifted, his determination allows him to outperform more talented people in study.
• Hidden history and inherited curses: The Demon Race’s decline raises questions about suppressed power, ancestral punishment, and whether their weakness can be understood or reversed through research.

Important Character Interactions

• Lant and Abera: Their relationship is marked by hostility, humiliation, and unspoken resentment. Lant responds with obedience and silence, while Abera gradually develops reluctant respect.
• Lant and Ivette: Ivette acts as a distant evaluator and teacher. Lant treats her with deep respect, while she slowly recognizes his unusual resilience and potential.
• Ivette and Abera: Ivette understands that Abera resents Lant for intruding on her role and status, but deliberately allows the conflict to continue as part of Lant’s evaluation.
• Ivette and Lant: Their final conversation shifts from testing Lant’s abilities to investigating the origins of the Demon Race, leading Ivette to begin scientific research into the alleged Demon God’s Curse.

Chapter Summary: “Metamorphosis”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After giving a vial of blood, Lant’s life returns to its bleak routine. He continues training desperately but makes little visible progress and remains convinced that he is unworthy of becoming the Silver Witch’s student.
• Abera, the Witch’s divine servant and Lant’s spell instructor, continues to criticize him as someone powerless to change his fate. Lant generally accepts her judgment, defending himself only when she insults or dismisses his deceased parents.
• Using the research AI Sage Core, Ivette analyzes Lant’s blood and discovers that the demon race’s genes contain foreign runic sequences. These sequences suppress many of their natural abilities, suggesting a possible biological basis for the Demon God’s Curse.
• Fascinated by this discovery, Ivette begins experimenting on Lant. For months, Abera gives him increasingly painful potions and later draws blood samples to measure their effects. Lant silently endures the torment, believing he is merely an expendable test subject and even viewing death as a possible escape from his fear of failure.
• With one month remaining before his three-year probation ends, Lant is attacked by a powerful second-stage mutant canine while training alone in the Ish Mountains.
• The fight leaves him badly injured, with broken ribs and nearly depleted mana. Refusing to die before learning the result of his assessment, Lant forces himself to continue fighting.
• At the brink of defeat, a mysterious power awakens within him. His body begins absorbing surrounding elemental energy, his mana rapidly replenishes, and spells he previously struggled to control become effortless.
• Lant transforms: his hair, eyes, and demonic markings turn white and glow with phosphorescent light. His aura, magical control, and power increase dramatically, allowing him to defeat—or at least drive away—the mutant canine with a single devastating attack.
• After witnessing the transformation, Lant realizes that the Witch and Abera have been observing him. Assuming the experimental potions caused his metamorphosis, he becomes overwhelmed by emotion and tearfully kowtows to the Witch, believing she secretly cared enough to help him.

Character Developments

• Lant: His despair and self-loathing deepen throughout the chapter, but his survival instinct and desire for revenge remain strong. Despite believing himself worthless, he continues enduring training, experimentation, and physical pain. His transformation reveals previously suppressed potential and gives him a new, powerful form.
• Ivette: She becomes deeply invested in researching the demon race’s genetic abnormalities. Her experiments suggest that she is not merely testing Lant arbitrarily but is actively investigating the curse suppressing demon abilities.
• Abera: Although still outwardly cold and harsh, she faithfully administers Ivette’s medicines and monitors Lant’s progress. Her actions imply a more practical or caring role than her cruel words suggest.
• The Silver Witch/Ivette and Abera: Their secret observation of Lant during his transformation indicates that they are closely monitoring the results of the experiments and may have anticipated his breakthrough.

Significant Themes

• Despair versus perseverance: Lant views himself as doomed, yet he repeatedly chooses to survive and continue pursuing revenge and his dream.
• Hidden potential and transformation: The demon race’s abilities may have been artificially sealed, suggesting that apparent weakness is not true lack of talent but the result of suppression.
• Care disguised as cruelty: The painful experiments appear to be a form of assistance rather than meaningless abuse, though Lant initially interprets them as exploitation.
• Fate and defiance: Lant is haunted by the belief that his fate is predetermined, but his awakening represents a possible chance to challenge that fate.
• Recognition and belonging: Lant’s emotional breakdown reflects his longing for approval from the Witch and his desperate need to believe that he has not been abandoned or deemed a failure.

Character Interactions

• Abera repeatedly belittles Lant, while Lant responds with humility and silent endurance.
• Ivette interacts with Lant indirectly through the potions and blood tests, turning him into the subject of her genetic research.
• During the climactic battle, Lant confronts the mutant canine alone, demonstrating both his vulnerability and newfound power.
• Afterward, Lant discovers Ivette and Abera watching from above. Mistaking their intervention as proof of personal concern, he collapses emotionally and bows to the Witch in gratitude.

Chapter Summary: “Training and Disappearance”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Seven years after Lant’s arrival, he has grown from an insecure mortal Demon Race boy into a highly capable combatant who can fully use Demonization.
• Lant prepares to leave Ish Island and travel to the Black Tide Continent for independent training. The island’s Mutants are no longer strong enough to challenge him, and he needs to grow outside Ivette’s protection.
• He brings his beloved small yellow dog with him, while Abera escorts him across the sea in a Magitech vehicle to protect him from dangerous High-Tier Mutants.
• Before his departure, Ivette gives Lant the Earth Grimoire and Divine Punishment Grimoire, greatly expanding his combat potential. She also gives him instructions to:
  • Contact her if he encounters Aurora.
  • Be cautious around the Mechanical Race.
  • Avoid overusing Demonization.
  • Check on his second senior brother if he returns home.
• Lant is also tasked with finding a Puppet Kingdom capable of using the Sanctum to deliver an apology to Senior Bingyu, whom Ivette failed to meet a century earlier.
• Lant and Abera depart, leaving Ivette alone at the manor. Ten days later, Lant sends a message with troubling information: Bingyu traveled to the Arctic after pursuing a mysterious legend from the Northern Abyssal Sea and disappeared. The Sanctum’s search party also vanished.
• Despite these disappearances, the Sanctum claims that Bingyu and all the searchers are still alive.

Character Developments

• Lant has matured physically and emotionally but remains modest, dutiful, and somewhat plain in personality. His former insecurity has been reduced by his Demon Race abilities, though he retains a humble, obedient nature.
• He has developed intense gratitude and loyalty toward Ivette, viewing her as a second parent despite her having delegated most of his training to Abera.
• Lant is now ready to leave the safety of Ish Island, seek real danger, and pursue both revenge and the possibility of finding Aurora and returning to his homeland.
• Abera has shifted from openly bullying Lant to recognizing and approving of his growth. She still treats him as a subordinate, but her attitude has softened, and she even feels uneasy after Ivette gives him powerful Magic Tomes.
• Ivette realizes that she invested less personal effort in Lant than in her other students, yet she is moved by his unwavering devotion. His departure leaves her unexpectedly wistful.
• Lant’s small yellow dog serves as a reminder of his gentle, ordinary side amid his frightening combat abilities.

Significant Themes

• Growth through independence: Lant must leave his teacher’s protection and confront danger without relying on rescue.
• Loyalty and gratitude: Despite limited direct instruction, Lant’s respect for Ivette is profound, showing that emotional bonds are not based solely on time or formal teaching.
• The contrast between appearance and ability: Lant still looks like an unremarkable village boy, concealing extraordinary power.
• The burden of the past: His journey is tied to revenge, his lost family, Aurora, and the hope of returning home.
• Mystery and uncertainty: Bingyu’s disappearance, the vanished rescue party, and the claim that all of them remain alive introduce a major unresolved threat connected to the Arctic and the Northern Abyssal Sea.

Character Interactions

• Abera initially objects to the dog traveling with Lant but relents, showing her softened attitude toward him.
• Lant respectfully follows Ivette’s instructions without complaint, reinforcing their teacher-student and parent-child-like relationship.
• Ivette equips Lant for his journey and urges him to rely on judgment rather than Demonization.
• Abera silently worries that Lant might use the newly acquired Magic Tomes against her, recalling her past mistreatment of him.
• Before leaving, Ivette asks Lant to look after his second senior brother, emphasizing the bonds among her disciples.
• After reaching the continent, Lant works with the Great Elder of the Agasha Puppet Kingdom and uses the Sanctum to investigate Bingyu, setting up the chapter’s final mystery.

Chapter Summary: Mystic Polar Garden

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ivette receives Lant’s report that Bingyu has been missing for over a century but is confirmed to still be alive through methods used by the Mechanical Race Sanctum.
• She learns about the Mystic Polar Garden, a vast, artificial-looking garden or city discovered deep in the Arctic more than a hundred years earlier. Every explorer who entered—including Bingyu and a team of the Sanctum’s “God’s Chosen”—disappeared.
• The Sanctum designates the region a high-risk zone and forbids the Mechanical Race from approaching it.
• Ivette suspects the garden may be connected to the King of the Sea of Heaven, whose territory includes the Arctic, or possibly to an ancient ruin with powerful magical restrictions.
• After Abera returns, Ivette modifies a Magitech Motorcycle for polar travel and sets out with her to search for Bingyu and investigate the garden.
• After seven days crossing the frozen wilderness, they discover the wreckage of a Magitech Soldier in a glacial ravine. It belongs to Elit White Dove, also known as Detective White Dove, who had disappeared while investigating the garden.
• Ivette revives Elit by supplying magic power. He reveals that he escaped the garden with his combat partner, Bai Zhi, but both were critically depleted and attacked by Mutated Creatures. Bai Zhi’s Mind Core was damaged, and Elit collapsed before reaching safety.
• Elit describes the garden as extraordinarily beautiful but extremely dangerous. It operates under strange rules that restrict the use of magic, even for powerful beings, while dangerous magical creatures roam freely.
• Ivette asks Elit about his century-long investigation into the “Blood Demon”—unaware that he has been pursuing her own hidden identity. Elit remains convinced that the Blood Demon has deliberately evaded him and vows to continue the investigation.
• The chapter ends with Ivette asking Elit to explain what he saw inside the Mystic Polar Garden.

Character Developments

• Ivette: Her concern for Bingyu motivates her to investigate the garden, while her curiosity draws her toward its mysteries. She remains analytical, considering whether the garden is connected to a monarch or an ancient civilization. Her secret identity as the Blood Demon creates comic tension when she speaks with Elit.
• Abera: Continues to act as Ivette’s loyal companion and assistant. She is protective and ruthless, even suggesting that Ivette kill Elit because of his investigation into the Blood Demon.
• Elit White Dove: Is revealed to have survived the expedition but suffered severe damage and trauma. Despite his weakened condition and the loss or damage suffered by Bai Zhi, he remains determined to investigate the Blood Demon and pursue justice.
• Bingyu: Though absent, she becomes the central reason for Ivette’s journey. Her confirmed survival gives Ivette hope and urgency.
• Bai Zhi: Elit’s combat partner, whose damaged Mind Core emphasizes the danger of the Mystic Polar Garden.

Significant Themes

• Curiosity versus danger: The garden’s mystery attracts explorers despite a perfect record of disappearances, and Ivette knowingly follows the same path.
• Friendship and loyalty: Ivette risks entering a forbidden region to search for Bingyu, demonstrating the importance of their relationship.
• The limits of power: The garden’s ability to restrict magic renders even powerful beings vulnerable and challenges assumptions about strength.
• Ancient mysteries and forgotten civilizations: Ivette speculates that the garden may be a remnant of the Origin Civilization or a vast automated ruin.
• Identity and dramatic irony: Elit is devoted to hunting the Blood Demon, not realizing that Ivette—the person helping him—is his target.
• Persistence and obsession: Elit’s century-long investigation reflects both admirable determination and comic fixation.

Character Interactions

• Ivette and Abera work together to prepare for the expedition, with Ivette handling the technical modifications and Abera accompanying her into the Arctic.
• Ivette revives Elit and questions him about his escape, while Abera remains suspicious and hostile toward him.
• Elit recounts his terrifying experience in the garden and warns Ivette not to enter.
• Ivette attempts to comfort Elit by discussing his Blood Demon investigation, but his continued pursuit of her hidden identity creates humorous dramatic irony.
• The chapter concludes with Ivette steering the conversation back toward the Mystic Polar Garden and seeking a fuller account of Elit’s experience.

Chapter Summary: “Invitation”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Through Elit’s account, Ivette learns about the God’s Chosen investigation squad’s expedition into the Mysterious Garden. Elit and Bai Zhi had advanced from D-rank to C-rank investigators and joined a larger team led by A- and B-rank members.
• The squad discovered that the Mysterious Garden could not be reached directly: whenever they approached it, it moved away or vanished and reappeared behind them.
• They eventually found a massive white door hidden inside a glacier cave. Passing through it transported them into a strange, pitch-black realm.
• Elit and Bai Zhi became separated from their teammates and arrived in Mechanical City, a gigantic multi-level metropolis populated by silent Mechanical Puppets and filled with pipes, runes, gears, and industrial structures.
• The city operated under bizarre, supernatural rules. After Elit fired his cannon, he was issued a ticket, causing his rune weapons to become unusable. He and Bai Zhi were forced to survive by stealing magical energy from the city’s pipes.
• They spent nearly fifty years navigating the city’s many levels, enduring strange laws and attacks from gear-shaped magical creatures. Eventually, they reached the top and escaped by leaping into a lake.
• After passing through the water, they found themselves outside the Mysterious Garden’s walls. They fought their way through a guarded gate and returned to the real world, severely injured and exhausted.
• They later encountered a powerful Mutant and were defeated at the bottom of Ice Rift Gorge, where they remained trapped.
• Ivette and Abera are deeply unsettled by the account. Ivette questions whether the Mysterious Garden is connected to reality, a virtual world, Dream Mist, or some unknown form of existence.
• Despite Elit’s warning, Ivette decides to investigate, though cautiously. Elit agrees to accompany her because he cannot accept abandoning his missing comrades or failing his mission.
• When Ivette finally reaches the Mysterious Garden, a small glowing white door suddenly appears directly in front of her and opens by itself, suggesting that the Garden may be deliberately inviting—or targeting—her.

Character Developments

• Elit: Reveals himself as both a determined investigator and a loyal comrade. Although traumatized by his fifty-year ordeal and the loss of his team, he chooses to return because he cannot accept leaving others behind. His frustration at failing to solve the mystery shows the burden he feels as “Detective White Dove.”
• Bai Zhi: Serves as Elit’s partner and companion throughout the Mechanical City ordeal. Their survival depends on cooperation, resourcefulness, and mutual reliance.
• Ivette: Demonstrates caution and analytical thinking, refusing to enter blindly but remaining willing to investigate. Her sense of responsibility toward Bingyu and others ultimately outweighs her fear.
• Abera: Acts as the most fearful and self-preserving member of the group. She questions whether risking oneself for friends is worthwhile, contrasting with Ivette’s willingness to help.
• The Mysterious Garden: Becomes increasingly personified. Its entrance appears specifically for Ivette, implying intelligence, awareness, or a deliberate purpose.

Significant Themes

• Curiosity versus survival: Ivette and Elit must decide whether uncovering the truth is worth risking their lives.
• Duty and loyalty: Elit’s decision to return reflects his unwillingness to abandon comrades, even after decades of suffering.
• Reality and illusion: The Garden’s shifting entrances, impossible city, physical injuries, and uncertain relationship to virtual reality blur the distinction between the real and the unreal.
• Unknowable systems and rules: Mechanical City’s inexplicable laws demonstrate a world governed by forces beyond conventional magic, science, or logic.
• Isolation and endurance: Elit and Bai Zhi’s fifty years of confinement emphasize the psychological and physical cost of being trapped in an incomprehensible environment.
• The Garden as an active force: The sudden appearance of the door suggests that the Garden may select, summon, or test individuals rather than merely serve as a passive location.

Important Character Interactions

• Elit and Ivette: Elit warns Ivette not to repeat his mistake, but Ivette challenges him by asking whether he truly intends to return without his comrades. Her question forces him to confront his guilt and sense of duty.
• Ivette and Abera: Abera expresses fear and doubts the value of risking their lives for others, while Ivette remains more determined but still cautious.
• Elit and Bai Zhi: Their partnership is tested by the Mechanical City’s dangers, including weapon restrictions, resource shortages, maze-like streets, and attacks from magical creatures.
• Ivette and the Mysterious Garden: The Garden’s door appears directly before Ivette and opens without assistance, creating an ominous impression that it recognizes or desires her presence.

Chapter Summary: Garden Travelogue

Key Plot Points and Events

• A mysterious doorway appears in the Polar Region. Ivette enters immediately, followed by Elit, while Abera initially stays behind.
• Abera then senses the terrifying presence of the King of the Sea of Heaven, whose enormous whale-like shadow approaches through the blizzard. Terrified, she rushes into the doorway after the others.
• Ivette arrives in the Mysterious Garden, where white stone guardians bow to her, suggesting that the garden—or its owner—has specifically invited her.
• She enters the Water Mirror Garden, a vast lake filled with blue flowers, floating islands, magical structures, and reflections of a starry sky. A self-rowing boat carries her toward the garden’s central manor.
• Ivette discovers that touching the blue flowers transfers information directly into her mind. Most of the knowledge concerns Rune Studies, astronomy, and geography, though some fragments are trivial or useless. Golden flowers contain rarer knowledge but flee whenever she approaches.
• She observes numerous miniature islands that may contain the missing people, including Bingyu and others, imprisoned within isolated pocket worlds.
• At the manor, Ivette encounters White Shadow, a silent white figure that guides her through a strange, seemingly endless tower filled with books, rune fragments, and winding staircases.
• White Shadow leads her to a sealed doorway bound by dark-red chains and gestures for her to break them.
• Ivette’s conventional magic has no effect. She negotiates with White Shadow, demanding the release of the prisoners and a share of any treasures—or equivalent knowledge—in exchange for using her more powerful Gray-White Touch.
• As a deposit, White Shadow gives her a flower containing foundational Light and Shadow Magic knowledge. Ivette is delighted by the valuable information and agrees to help.
• Her Gray-White Touch damages the chains only slightly, but the chains immediately regenerate. Realizing the task may be impossible even with all her power, Ivette dryly informs White Shadow that the deposit is nonrefundable.

Character Developments

• Ivette displays initiative, confidence, and caution. She willingly explores the garden but remains practical, refusing to expend a devastating amount of power without compensation.
• Her curiosity as a scholar and mage deepens when she discovers that the flowers store knowledge. Her interest in Light and Shadow Magic becomes especially intense after receiving the foundational information.
• Ivette also demonstrates strong bargaining instincts, turning a mysterious rescue mission into a negotiated exchange involving prisoners, treasures, and magical knowledge.
• Abera shifts from skeptical reluctance to panic when she recognizes the King of the Sea of Heaven, revealing how overwhelming and dangerous his presence is.
• Elit follows Ivette into the doorway without hesitation, reinforcing his loyalty or concern for her, though he is separated from her after entering.
• White Shadow is revealed as a silent but apparently intelligent and cooperative guardian. Its willingness to provide valuable knowledge suggests that it genuinely needs Ivette’s help, while its dejected reaction to her failed attempt gives it a more expressive, almost childlike quality.

Significant Themes

• Curiosity versus danger: The characters are drawn into the garden despite its unknown risks, while the approaching sea king emphasizes the lethal forces surrounding it.
• Knowledge as currency: The magical flowers transform information into a tangible resource. Ivette recognizes knowledge—particularly rare magical theory—as equal or greater in value to treasure.
• Negotiation and self-interest: Ivette refuses to act purely out of goodwill, insisting on payment and protection against being exploited.
• Mystery and invitation: The garden appears to recognize and welcome Ivette, implying a hidden connection between her and its owner or origins.
• Imprisonment and freedom: The missing people and chained doorway suggest that the garden contains both captives and secrets that may require great sacrifice to release.
• Limits of power: Even Ivette’s strongest magic barely affects the chains, establishing that the garden contains forces beyond her current understanding.

Important Character Interactions

• Ivette leads the exploration while Elit follows her into the doorway and Abera eventually follows because of the approaching King of the Sea of Heaven.
• The garden’s stone guardians acknowledge Ivette, reinforcing the sense that she has been specially invited.
• White Shadow communicates through gestures rather than speech, guiding Ivette through the tower and asking her to destroy the chains.
• Ivette and White Shadow negotiate terms: she requests the prisoners’ release, a share of treasure or knowledge, and an advance payment.
• White Shadow provides a Light and Shadow Magic flower as a deposit, creating an agreement based on mutual exchange.
• After Ivette fails to break the chains, her statement that the deposit is “nonrefundable” creates a humorous contrast with White Shadow’s visibly disappointed reaction.

Chapter Summary: “Wrapping Up and Setting Out”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ivette finishes her negotiation with White Shadow, the mysterious owner or guardian of the Mysterious Garden. Though she cannot immediately fulfill its request, she promises to return in the future as her abilities improve. White Shadow agrees and releases the people trapped inside the Garden.
• Ivette leaves through the Water Mirror Garden and returns to the outside world.
• Abera recounts her experience inside the Garden: she was trapped in a magical library where all her powers were sealed. To escape, she was expected to solve a difficult Rune Studies problem. Unable to understand the theory, she instead defaced the books with obscene writing, provoking book-like magical creatures to chase and beat her until the Garden released her.
• All the other survivors also emerge. Bingyu and numerous Mechanical Puppets appear on the polar tundra, apparently released at the same time.
• Ivette reunites with Detective White Dove, Elit. She conceals the truth about her deal with White Shadow and encourages him to report that the Garden simply ran out of energy and disappeared. Elit accepts this explanation because of his strong trust in Ivette and the Mechanical Race.
• Elit thanks Ivette for rescuing him, helping him overcome his psychological trauma, and allowing him to return to the Garden. He offers her ancient Origin Civilization artifacts, but she politely refuses them.
• Bingyu explains that she spent her century inside a pleasant forest-like realm filled with magical animals and energy-rich fruit. Unlike Abera, she was trapped but comfortable and safe.
• Ivette reveals only that she made a deal with the Garden’s owner to secure everyone’s release.
• With the Mysterious Garden gone and the Witch of Finale apparently defeated, Ivette decides to change course and travel to the Emerald Continent with Bingyu.

Character Developments

• Ivette: Demonstrates negotiation skills, caution, and strategic secrecy. She fulfills her immediate goal of rescuing the trapped people while hiding her connection to the Garden from Elit and the Mechanical God. Her agreement with White Shadow establishes a long-term obligation and suggests she expects her powers to grow substantially.
• White Shadow: Remains mysterious and unable to communicate verbally, but shows renewed trust in Ivette after she promises to return. Its decision to release the prisoners confirms that Ivette’s bargain succeeded.
• Abera: Experiences genuine fear and helplessness after losing all her abilities, exposing how dependent she is on her powers and theoretical knowledge. Once outside, she exaggerates her role, claiming credit for the rescue and cleverly redirecting Bingyu’s questions whenever the truth becomes uncomfortable.
• Bingyu: Is revealed to have spent her imprisonment peacefully and develops even greater admiration for Ivette, whom she already views as a “Good Samaritan.” Her reunion with Ivette gives her a sense of security and leads her to join Ivette’s next journey.
• Elit/Detective White Dove: Overcomes his fear of the Mysterious Garden and returns to it, allowing him to reunite with his teammates. His trust in Ivette remains extremely strong, making him readily accept her misleading explanation.

Significant Themes

• Secrecy and concealment: Ivette carefully hides the Garden’s true nature, her agreement with White Shadow, and her special relationship to the mysterious realm.
• Trust: White Shadow trusts Ivette without fully understanding why, while Elit trusts her so completely that he accepts an implausible explanation without much resistance.
• Power and helplessness: Abera’s imprisonment shows how quickly confidence disappears when her abilities are sealed. The Garden tests individuals by removing the strengths they rely on most.
• Different forms of imprisonment: Abera suffers through fear and humiliation, while Bingyu experiences comfortable but isolating stagnation. The chapter contrasts physical safety with emotional freedom.
• New beginnings: The disappearance of the Garden closes a long-standing crisis, while Ivette’s decision to travel to the Emerald Continent launches the next stage of her journey.
• Humor amid danger: Abera’s obscene vandalism, her exaggerated rescue claims, and Ivette’s deadpan handling of Elit provide comic relief after the frightening events inside the Garden.

Important Character Interactions

• Ivette and White Shadow: Ivette negotiates a future arrangement, promising to return once she becomes stronger. Their silent communication emphasizes both their mutual uncertainty and growing trust.
• Ivette and Elit: Ivette deliberately misleads Elit about the Garden’s disappearance. Elit’s confidence in her detective abilities and loyalty prevents him from questioning the explanation.
• Abera and Bingyu: Abera pretends to have rescued Bingyu and the other puppets, while Bingyu sincerely believes her at first. Abera’s manipulation is more self-serving than malicious, motivated by her desire to feel important.
• Ivette and Bingyu: Bingyu eagerly reunites with Ivette and asks how the rescue happened. Ivette gives her a partial truth, then invites her to travel to Emerald Continent together.
• Elit and Ivette: Elit expresses gratitude for Ivette’s role in saving him and helping him confront his fear, strengthening their relationship and his loyalty toward her.

Chapter Summary: “A Mere Ten Years”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ivette completes her exploration of Emerald Continent in only ten years, far faster than her journeys through the other continents. The region’s dense tropical rainforest has almost completely swallowed the ruins of the old Origin Civilization, making it difficult to locate Mutant nests.
• Her expedition is highly successful: her magic power rises to nearly 8,000 points, and her Aberration Magic doubles to 400,000.
• Ivette deliberately avoids killing intelligent Mutants above the Fifth Stage when they have not provoked her. She believes the future order of the post-apocalyptic world may belong either to the Mechanical Race or the Mutants and prefers to observe events from a safe distance.
• During the journey, she travels with Bingyu and Abera in the Magitech Motorcycle. Bingyu writes a travel diary, while Abera casually reads and uses Bingyu as a footrest.
• Ivette receives a farewell message from Lant, who has encountered Aurora and is preparing to leave. Ivette and Abera send him blessings and reminders. His final response is only a crying emoji, suggesting how emotional he has become.
• Lant’s earlier reports had provided Ivette with information about the world, including the possible success of Void Tear Group’s Antigravity Engine and the existence of advanced aerospace carriers.
• After Lant’s departure, Ivette prepares to leave Emerald Continent but decides to revisit Jiade City, the former capital of Gelin’aote.
• Jiade City contains the Dream Mist Ivette discovered when she first arrived. Now that she has greatly increased her Aberration Magic and mastered Light and Shadow Magic, she feels ready to enter it.
• Her goals are to investigate the Fire Thief Program and clues connected to the Mechanical God, and to study Nature Magic, the only one of the five great Concept Magics in which she remains deficient.
• Ivette also continues to question the nature of the Dream World. She suspects that although the world itself may be partly false, some of its inhabitants—especially Liana—could be real.
• She expects another evolution after gaining Nature Magic, which would give her enough strength to confront the Mechanical God and uncover answers to many remaining mysteries.

Character Developments

• Ivette: Becomes significantly stronger and more confident, reaching 400,000 Aberration Magic and mastering Light and Shadow Magic. Her attitude remains detached and observational, but she shows increasing emotional attachment to her students, especially Lant. She is also moving toward a major evolution and a direct confrontation with the Mechanical God.
• Lant: Has matured from a relatively neglected student into a respectful, curious, and dependable correspondent. His experiences with Mutants and puppets show his growing independence and ability to form peaceful relationships. His farewell reveals a deep emotional bond with Ivette and Abera.
• Abera: Despite her teasing and mischievous personality, she is genuinely attached to Lant. Her inability to send a truly harsh farewell and eventual decision to write a blessing expose her affection beneath her rebellious behavior.
• Bingyu: Continues documenting their travels and serves as a calm, familiar presence within the group.

Significant Themes

• Observation versus intervention: Ivette chooses to watch the world’s development rather than impose her own will, provided she remains safe.
• The value of intelligent coexistence: Her refusal to kill peaceful, intelligent Mutants suggests that post-apocalyptic survival need not be based solely on conflict.
• Parting and emotional bonds: Lant’s departure highlights the relationships formed during long journeys and the sadness caused by uncertain futures.
• Truth and reality: The Dream World raises questions about whether a seemingly false world can contain genuinely real people and experiences.
• Progress and forgotten civilization: Lant’s discoveries about the Origin Civilization’s aerospace technology reveal that its achievements were more advanced and real than Ivette had assumed.
• Preparation for transformation: Ivette’s pursuit of Nature Magic represents the final step before her next evolution and a larger confrontation with the world’s deepest mysteries.

Character Interactions

• Ivette and Lant’s relationship has evolved into one combining teacher-student respect with genuine friendship, maintained through frequent written messages.
• Ivette and Abera jointly send Lant farewell messages. Abera’s initially dismissive attitude gives way to a sincere, if brief, blessing.
• Ivette observes the contrasting personalities of Bingyu and Abera during the journey: Bingyu is diligent and scholarly, while Abera is playful and irreverent.
• Ivette’s interactions with Mutants reflect her preference for communication and coexistence when no hostility exists.

Chapter Summary: “Core Heart”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ivette reenters the Dream Mist for the fifth time and finds herself in the same rental room on the Rustbone coast, with no time having passed since the previous dream. She suspects that, as the new No. 0, she now controls the dream’s time and space.
• Remembering that her earlier words sounded like a final farewell, Ivette reassures Liana that she will not abandon her. She decides they must leave Rustbone and travel to Garde, the capital of Green Oak, on the Emerald Continent.
• Ten days later, Ivette, Liana, and Firefly secretly arrive at Garde Harbor aboard the freighter Glow-Algae. Firefly hacks the customs systems, while Ivette uses advanced Light and Shadow Magic to conceal the group and bypass the guards.
• Because they lack legitimate identities, they settle in Garde’s impoverished old district. Ivette disguises herself and Liana with black hair and black eyes, later acquiring forged legal identities through the gray market.
• Ivette arranges for Liana to attend Spirit Vine Academy’s middle school division. She herself begins secretly infiltrating Spirit Vine University and Garde University, stealing Nature Magic research and attending lectures under concealment.
• Once their immediate needs are handled, Ivette contacts the Firekeeper for information about the Mechanical God and the Fire Thief Program.
• The Firekeeper offers the information in exchange for Ivette investigating a secret project jointly run by Spirit Vine Company and Gravity Group, called Codename: Life. Ivette must determine the project’s true nature and decide for herself whether it is immoral enough to sabotage.
• As an advance payment, the Firekeeper reveals that the supposedly dead Fire Thief Program originated from information leaked by the Core Heart, a mysterious entity or system controlled by Sky Dome Technology. Its value is said to rival several legendary artifacts or substances, including the Black Tower’s Divine Molt, the Scale Shedding Organism’s Corrosion Seed, and Black Tide’s Dark Abyss.

Character Developments

• Ivette becomes more independent and strategically capable. She has mastered several applications of Light and Shadow Magic, including disguises, invisibility, and creating movable shadows for escape. She also takes responsibility for Liana’s future by arranging her education and a stable life.
• Ivette’s growing authority as No. 0 is suggested by her theory that she now controls the Dream Mist’s temporal and spatial conditions.
• She continues operating outside the law, stealing academic materials and attending university classes illegally, but her actions are driven by her pursuit of knowledge and larger objectives.
• Liana becomes increasingly attached to Ivette and fears being abandoned. Her excitement about attending school marks a new stage in her life, giving her an opportunity for normal childhood development.
• Firefly proves highly useful as a Rune Hacker, efficiently bypassing customs security and supporting the group’s covert relocation.
• The Firekeeper demonstrates increased trust in Ivette by giving her control over the moral decision surrounding Codename: Life rather than issuing a fixed command.

Significant Themes

• Protection and responsibility: Ivette’s decision to take Liana to school and provide her with a safer future contrasts with their criminal and clandestine circumstances.
• Identity and disguise: The group’s false identities, magical transformations, and illegal entry into Garde emphasize the tension between who they are and how they must appear to survive.
• Knowledge versus morality: Ivette steals knowledge from universities and is asked to investigate whether scientific research should be destroyed, raising questions about the ethical limits of intellectual advancement.
• Trust and autonomy: The Firekeeper’s willingness to rely on Ivette’s judgment reflects the growing trust between them and grants her unusual moral authority.
• Hidden power and conspiracy: The mysterious Core Heart, Codename: Life, and the Fire Thief Program suggest a much larger conflict involving advanced technology, powerful organizations, and concealed sources of dangerous knowledge.

Character Interactions

• Ivette comforts Liana after realizing the child fears she may disappear, strengthening their sister-like bond.
• Ivette and Liana work together with Firefly to infiltrate Garde and establish themselves in the old district.
• Ivette acts as Liana’s guardian and makes practical decisions about her education and safety, while Liana responds with curiosity and growing optimism.
• Ivette and the Firekeeper negotiate as cautious allies. She refuses to surrender priceless Light and Shadow knowledge without first hearing his demands, while he offers her intelligence and a mission based on his confidence in her judgment.
• The chapter ends with Ivette learning that the Core Heart may be the hidden source behind the Fire Thief Program, setting up her investigation into both Codename: Life and the deeper technological conspiracy.

Chapter Summary: “Southern Cross Star”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After speaking with Firekeeper, Ivette reflects on the relationship between the major companies’ technologies and the mysterious forces known as Divine Molt and the Core Heart. She suspects that the super-companies of Black Tide Continent inherited or acquired Divine Molt, while Sky Dome Technology and the Silver Mirror Continent developed technologies connected to the Core Heart.
• Ivette theorizes that:
  • Divine Molt may be the source of supernatural mutation abilities.
  • The Core Heart may be responsible for the Mechanical Race’s spirits and self-awareness.
  • The Fire Thief Program’s ability to awaken Mechanical Puppets may therefore have a deeper technological origin.
• Firefly returns with Liana from school. Liana gives Ivette a blue cross-shaped brooch called the “Star of Hope,” a gift from Louisa, the girl Liana previously rescued from bullying.
• Liana explains that the Star of Hope refers to Southern Cross Star, a potentially habitable planet outside the Origin Star System. Although it was once seen as the future destination and hope of the Origin Civilization, its extreme distance has made actual colonization impossible with current technology.
• Liana asks to invite Louisa to their apartment, but Ivette refuses because their current location is unsafe. She allows Liana to visit Louisa if invited.
• Over the following week, Liana continues attending school under Firefly’s protection. She remains isolated from most classmates but forms a friendship with Louisa.
• Ivette investigates Codename: Life, discovering that it is an upcoming large-scale online cooperative game developed through a collaboration between Spirit Vine Company and Gravity Group. The project is located in a separate building inside Spirit Vine’s industrial park, near the company headquarters.
• Ivette realizes that infiltrating the project site will be highly dangerous. Discovery could bring Spirit Vine’s strongest forces—and possibly its chief mage—after her, while also exposing her identity to powerful factions across Black Tide Continent.

Character Developments

• Ivette becomes increasingly analytical and suspicious. She begins connecting the origins of supernatural abilities, Mechanical Race consciousness, and corporate technology, suggesting she is uncovering a much larger historical secret.
• Liana shows strong moral instincts by defending Louisa from bullies. Although she struggles to relate to ordinary children and sees herself as a “monster wearing human skin,” she begins forming a genuine friendship and gradually integrating into school life.
• Firefly continues acting as Liana’s escort and caretaker, supporting her transition into school and ordinary society.
• Louisa is introduced as a kindred spirit for Liana, sharing her interest in astronomy and giving her the symbolic Star of Hope brooch.
• Firekeeper remains an important source of intelligence, entrusting Ivette with the investigation into Codename: Life.

Significant Themes

• Inheritance versus invention: The chapter questions whether the major companies truly developed their powers and technologies themselves or inherited them from older, mysterious sources.
• Artificial consciousness: The possible connection between the Core Heart and the Mechanical Race’s spirits raises questions about what creates life, identity, and self-awareness.
• Hope amid impossible distances: Southern Cross Star represents humanity’s desire to explore and survive, even when its dreams remain technologically unreachable.
• Identity and belonging: Liana outwardly performs the role of an ordinary student while internally viewing herself as fundamentally different from humanity. Her friendship with Louisa begins to challenge that isolation.
• Safety versus normalcy: Ivette wants Liana to experience an ordinary childhood, but their dangerous circumstances prevent her from fully participating in normal life.
• Hidden corporate agendas: The partnership between Spirit Vine and Gravity Group appears suspicious, implying that Codename: Life may conceal a purpose beyond entertainment.

Character Interactions

• Ivette and Firekeeper: Their earlier conversation gives Ivette crucial clues about Divine Molt, the Core Heart, and the companies’ origins.
• Ivette and Liana: Ivette acts as Liana’s protective older sister, accepting the brooch and listening to her explanation while setting firm safety boundaries.
• Liana and Louisa: After Liana rescues Louisa from bullies, the two develop a friendship based on shared interests, especially anime, games, and astronomy.
• Liana and her classmates: Some girls ostracize her because she defended Louisa, but Liana is largely unaffected by their hostility.
• Ivette and Firefly: Firefly helps care for and escort Liana, while Ivette relies on her presence in managing their dangerous circumstances.

Chapter Summary: “Green Light Tower”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ten days after previous events, Ivette infiltrates Spirit Vine Company during a violent autumn thunderstorm.
• Disguised through Light and Shadow Magic, an oversized raincoat, and height-enhancing shoes, she conceals her identity as both Nameless and the more secretive No. 0.
• Her objective is to investigate the Codename: Life project and determine whether it is connected to the suspicious information mentioned by Firekeeper.
• Because Spirit Vine’s internal network can normally be accessed only through its implanted Heart of Nature terminals, Ivette uses Necromantic Spirit Possession to temporarily control an employee and exploit the employee’s connection to the company’s network.
• She alters the internal system to register herself as a senior employee, then enters the Codename: Life project building in shadow form.
• Ivette reaches the project director’s office without encountering meaningful resistance and copies the office’s stored information.
• The files appear harmless, consisting mainly of game-development documents, scripts, artwork, and employee work logs. However, Ivette notices an important discrepancy:
  • Spirit Vine Company publishes the game.
  • Gravity Group supplied the game’s development team.
  • The game is released only on the Emerald Continent, despite Gravity Group’s worldwide influence and publishing power.
• Ivette concludes that the project’s real secrets are unlikely to be known by the ordinary development staff. She decides that her next destination must be Spirit Vine’s headquarters, the Green Light Tower, rather than Gravity Group’s distant headquarters.
• At the tower, Chairman Imogen Ashford detects the intrusion through the Green Crown, a surveillance or monitoring system connected to Spirit Vine’s infrastructure.
• Imogen carries on a strange conversation with himself—or with another presence—discussing Ivette’s abilities, the resistance, the Green Wilderness Church, and the possibility of using the Green Angel.
• They ultimately decide to send Eugene Moyard, Spirit Vine’s chief mage and one of the world’s extremely rare Sixth-Level Mages, to eliminate the intruder.
• Imogen becomes confident that Ivette has effectively been sentenced to death.

Character Developments

• Ivette demonstrates exceptional caution, technical skill, and magical versatility. She combines shadow magic, rune hacking, disguise, and necromancy to bypass Spirit Vine’s security.
• She also shows restraint by limiting the damage done to the employee whose body she possesses, suggesting that she is calculating but not needlessly cruel.
• Ivette’s investigation becomes more focused: rather than accepting the clean project files at face value, she recognizes the deeper organizational contradiction surrounding Codename: Life.
• Imogen Ashford is introduced as outwardly refined and composed but internally unsettling. His fragmented dialogue suggests either a divided personality, an unseen conversational partner, or a deeper connection to Spirit Vine’s mysterious powers.
• Imogen’s confidence reveals his faith in Spirit Vine’s resources, particularly Eugene and the enigmatic Green Angel.
• Eugene Moyard is established as a major threat because of his status as a Sixth-Level Mage.
• The unnamed project developers are portrayed as sincere and hardworking, contrasting with the hidden forces manipulating their project.

Significant Themes

• Appearance versus reality: The project files look ordinary, but the business arrangements surrounding them reveal that something far more significant is being concealed.
• Surveillance and invasion of privacy: Spirit Vine’s Origin Source Mother Tree, Heart of Nature terminals, and Green Crown represent a vast technological-magical network capable of monitoring individuals and information.
• Control through technology: The Heart of Nature’s implantation into the body blurs the boundary between living beings, machines, and corporate infrastructure.
• Hidden conspiracies behind ordinary work: The developers believe they are creating a game, while the true purpose of Codename: Life appears to be known only to higher levels of the corporations.
• Masks and divided identities: Ivette hides her identities through magic, while Imogen’s bizarre self-dialogue raises questions about his own identity and whether he is controlled or accompanied by another consciousness.
• Power and vulnerability: Ivette can penetrate Spirit Vine’s systems with remarkable ease, but her success is revealed to be permitted or observed by an even more powerful surveillance system.

Character Interactions

• Ivette interacts indirectly with the employee she possesses, using the employee’s body and implanted Heart of Nature to enter the company network while carefully minimizing spiritual harm.
• Her investigation contrasts with the innocent labor of the Codename: Life development team, whose dedication appears genuine even though their work may serve a hidden agenda.
• Imogen’s conversation with himself—or with an unseen presence—reveals Spirit Vine’s internal discussion about how to respond to Ivette.
• Imogen considers deploying the Green Angel but rejects the idea because it is reserved as a final weapon. He instead orders Eugene Moyard to deal with Ivette, setting up the chapter’s impending confrontation.

Chapter Summary: Wrath of the Greenwild

Key Plot Points and Events

• During a violent storm, Eugene Moyad, Spirit Vine Company’s Sixth-Level chief mage known as the “Wrath of the Greenwild,” is summoned by Imogen to capture a mysterious Fifth-Level mage proficient in Light and Shadow Magic.
• Eugene travels from the Green Light Tower using living vines and discovers a small, black-clad intruder near a guarded building.
• He traps the intruder in his powerful Nature Magic spell, Verdant Prison, and demands that she surrender. The intruder remains calm and refuses to reveal her affiliation.
• She unexpectedly uses Fire Magic, causing a massive explosion that destroys the vine prison and forces Eugene to retreat. Recognizing her combination of abilities and stature, Eugene realizes she is Nameless, the famous newly emerged Sixth-Level mage.
• Excited by the chance to test himself against Nameless, Eugene pursues her rather than focusing on the original mission. He covers himself in Leaf-Vein Heavy Armor and attacks with Nature Magic.
• Nameless eventually turns and releases a cloud of fire mist. Eugene confidently charges into it, but hidden attacks—revealed later to be Ivette’s enhanced tentacles—shatter both his defensive spells. He collapses in terror and is unable to continue the chase.
• By the time Spirit Vine Company’s forces arrive, Nameless has escaped. She reappears in a nearby alley and is revealed to be Ivette.
• Seeing that Eugene has been badly injured and the company’s forces have been mobilized to search for her, Ivette considers turning back to infiltrate the Green Light Tower and steal advanced Nature Magic technology.

Character Developments

• Eugene Moyad is introduced as arrogant, confident, and highly powerful, relying on his status as a Sixth-Level mage and master of Nature Magic. His confidence becomes recklessness when he becomes fascinated by the chance to fight Nameless.
• Eugene’s assumptions about Light and Shadow Magic being weak against Nature Magic are overturned. His defenses are destroyed, and his fear reveals that even a top-tier mage can be caught off guard.
• Ivette/Nameless demonstrates exceptional versatility, combining Light and Shadow Magic with Fire Magic and her newly strengthened tentacles. She remains calm under pressure, uses deception effectively, and successfully defeats a stronger opponent through surprise and strategy.
• Ivette’s confidence grows after defeating Eugene. Rather than simply escaping, she begins considering a more ambitious infiltration of Spirit Vine Company headquarters.

Significant Themes

• Overconfidence and miscalculation: Eugene underestimates his opponent and allows personal curiosity to override caution.
• Deception and hidden strength: Ivette conceals her identity and abilities, making Eugene believe he understands her limits until it is too late.
• Adaptability versus specialization: Eugene is a powerful specialist in Nature Magic, while Ivette’s combination of different abilities gives her greater unpredictability.
• Power and reputation: Eugene’s legendary title does not guarantee victory, while Nameless’s mysterious reputation is reinforced by her ability to defeat him.
• Opportunity amid danger: Ivette transforms a risky escape into a possible chance to raid the company’s weakened headquarters.

Character Interactions

• Imogen orders Eugene to capture the intruder and insists that she be taken alive.
• Eugene interrogates and taunts the black-clad mage, assuming she is an ordinary spy or thief.
• Ivette calmly probes Eugene for information while refusing to disclose her own identity.
• After revealing her fire abilities, she draws Eugene into a pursuit and then defeats him with concealed tentacle attacks.
• Eugene’s defeat leaves Spirit Vine Company scrambling to respond, while Ivette watches the Green Light Tower and weighs whether to exploit the resulting security gap.

Chapter Summary: “Infiltration”

Plot Points and Events

• On a rainy night, Ivette infiltrates Green Light Tower by transforming into a shadow and climbing its smooth outer walls.
• She navigates the tower’s extensive defenses, including moss-like pea-shooter plants that fire dense barrages of seeds. Because destroying them would trigger stronger defenses, she carefully avoids or endures them.
• Ivette cuts through a metal emergency door and enters the tower, passing the “Strategic Data Backup Zone” without attacking because its defenses are too strong and she wants to preserve her single opportunity for a more valuable target.
• She reaches the tower’s upper administrative floors and identifies the “Green Crown Council,” the headquarters of Spirit Vine Company’s leadership.
• Continuing downward, she discovers a room containing an Origin Source Tree—the central server for Spirit Vine Company’s magical information network.
• Ivette sends soul fragments into the room, using a gentle form of wraith possession to put the staff to sleep. She then enters and burns the room’s attacking magical plants with fire magic.
• Although the alarm is triggered, she begins hacking directly into the Origin Source Tree. The unfamiliar system makes the process difficult, but she eventually breaches its defenses.
• Ivette locates the data stream for the “Codename: Life” project and begins copying it, along with information concerning the eight major companies and advanced magical technologies.
• Before she can finish, Imogen Ashford, Spirit Vine Company’s chairman, appears at the entrance and confronts her.
• Imogen reveals that he knows about Eugene’s defeat and suggests Ivette may be the legendary “Nameless.” When she continues copying data rather than responding, he summons a gigantic, earth-armored grizzly bear.
• The chapter ends with Ivette stunned by the creature, which appears to be a magical beast created from nothing—something unknown in the records of Origin Civilization.

Character Developments

• Ivette: Demonstrates exceptional stealth, patience, combat judgment, soul magic, hacking ability, and adaptability. She avoids unnecessary destruction, chooses her target carefully, incapacitates personnel without harming them, and persists under intense time pressure. However, she is unfamiliar with Spirit Vine Company’s systems and has only limited mastery of Nature Magic.
• Imogen Ashford: Is established as calm, mysterious, and highly confident. Despite the intrusion and alarms, he remains emotionless and unafraid, suggesting immense strength or unusual abilities. His power to create a magical beast hints that he may possess knowledge or capabilities far beyond established magical science.
• Eugene: Though absent, his defeat is mentioned, providing context for Imogen’s recognition of Ivette’s power and identity.

Significant Themes

• Infiltration and calculated risk: Ivette constantly balances speed against the danger of triggering stronger defenses.
• Knowledge as power: The Origin Source Tree and the “Codename: Life” data are treated as more valuable than physical objectives.
• Technological and magical convergence: Hacking magical plants and an Origin Source Tree shows how information technology and magic are deeply integrated.
• Limits of knowledge: Ivette’s confusion over Imogen’s grizzly bear emphasizes that Spirit Vine Company may possess forms of magic or biological creation unknown even to experts.
• Mystery and hidden identities: Imogen’s unclear origins, Ivette’s “Nameless” identity, and the unexplained “Codename: Life” project deepen the chapter’s sense of conspiracy.

Character Interactions

• Ivette avoids direct confrontation with the tower’s defenses and staff, using stealth and nonlethal soul magic.
• Her main interaction is with Imogen, who confronts her verbally while she continues stealing data. Their exchange highlights Imogen’s composure and Ivette’s pragmatic refusal to be distracted.
• The confrontation shifts from a battle of information and time to an impending physical conflict when Imogen summons the unprecedented magical grizzly bear.

Chapter Summary: “Withdrawal”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ivette fights a gigantic bear beast summoned by Imogen, discovering that it possesses strength and defenses comparable to a Sixth-Level earth mage. Her elemental attacks barely affect it.
• She uses Aberration Magic, transforming her silver-white hair into blades that tear through the bear’s rocky armor and seriously injure it.
• Imogen recognizes Ivette’s power as related to the Demon God and speculates that it may come from Divine Molt, Corrosion Seed, or the Dark Abyss. Ivette connects this revelation to information previously given by the Firekeeper.
• Ivette attempts to escape rather than defeat Imogen directly, but Imogen summons numerous powerful beasts—including an owl, tiger, treants, and butterflies—to block her.
• A destructive battle damages the main control room and threatens the tower. Ivette uses countless Gray-White Touches to fight through the summons.
• She finds an opening and kills Imogen by piercing and shredding his body with a Gray-White Touch. She then destroys his remaining head to prevent him from being revived.
• With her magic power and Aberration Magic nearly exhausted, Ivette breaks through the wall and escapes into the storm, evading the surrounding Shuttlecraft.
• Company officials and city authorities arrive afterward. Imogen unexpectedly appears alive and unharmed, allowing him to conceal the truth and blame the attack on the mysterious Sixth-Level mage “Nameless.”
• In private, Imogen reveals that he suspects Nameless is connected to Black Tower Pharmaceuticals and may be a new “product” possessing Divine Molt. He orders the deployment of the Green Angel to capture her.
• Hours later, Ivette returns safely to her rented room. Liana and Firefly are away visiting Louisa, so Ivette begins reviewing the classified information she stole.

Character Developments

• Ivette: Demonstrates that she can defeat Imogen’s summons and kill Imogen’s physical body, but the battle exposes the limits of her current power reserves. She becomes increasingly cautious, prioritizing escape and information gathering over prolonged combat.
• Imogen: Reveals immense summoning abilities but comparatively poor direct combat skills. His apparent death is shown to be deceptive or temporary, and he quickly resumes control of the situation through manipulation and misinformation. He also becomes determined to capture Ivette for both intelligence and access to Divine Molt.
• The bear beast: Establishes the extraordinary strength and durability of Imogen’s summoned creatures, forcing Ivette to rely on Aberration Magic rather than ordinary spellcasting.
• Liana and Firefly: Remain absent from the immediate events, staying safely with Louisa while Ivette carries out the infiltration.

Significant Themes

• Power and its cost: Ivette’s victory depends on Aberration Magic, but using it drains her severely and may jeopardize her ability to survive future battles.
• Identity and secrecy: Imogen struggles to determine who Nameless really is, while Ivette’s origins and connection to Divine Molt remain concealed.
• Misinformation and political control: Imogen hides the truth of his defeat, allowing the authorities to believe the attacker was merely a hostile intruder. Spirit Vine Company’s influence enables it to suppress rumors and control the narrative.
• Transformation and forbidden power: The discussion of the Demon God, Divine Molt, Corrosion Seed, and Dark Abyss suggests a shared supernatural origin behind several dangerous powers.
• Apparent death and resurrection: Imogen’s survival creates uncertainty about whether his body can be restored, emphasizing the difficulty of eliminating powerful figures permanently.

Important Character Interactions

• Ivette and the bear beast engage in a brutal contest of strength and defense before Ivette uses her anomalous hair-blades to injure it.
• Imogen questions Ivette about the source of her power, but she refuses to engage and instead attacks the exit.
• Ivette fights Imogen’s summoned beasts and ultimately kills him at close range.
• Afterward, Imogen deceives the security minister, police chief, and mayor by presenting himself as unharmed and accepting their explanation that Nameless attacked the company.
• In his private office, Imogen effectively consults with himself, repeatedly concluding that Ivette must be captured and that the Green Angel is necessary.
• Ivette later returns to her allies’ room and shifts from combat to investigation, preparing to analyze the stolen classified data.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ivette uses the Soul Brain’s AI to organize the information she copied from the Green Light Tower, beginning with the “Codename: Life” project.
• She discovers that Gravity Group and Spirit Vine Company planned to develop a real Spirit Realm, allowing humans to abandon their physical bodies and preserve their consciousness indefinitely.
• The project sought to solve two major problems:
  • Memory-body collapse, in which replacing the physical body destabilizes memories and personality, eventually causing Cyberpsychosis.
  • The lack of any server capable of supporting individual or mass human spirit bodies.
• Gravity Group’s proposed solution, Spirit Realm Technology, would use Soul Brain principles to transform spirit bodies into self-expanding servers. A related process, Memory-Body Encapsulation, would preserve a person’s memories, personality, and experiences as an immortal “Ascendant.”
• Spirit Vine Company agreed to cooperate because its Heart of Nature terminal could secretly manipulate users’ spirit bodies and memory-bodies. This allowed both corporations to conduct covert human experiments on unsuspecting players:
  • Gravity Group researched Spirit Realm Technology.
  • Spirit Vine Company studied methods of secretly altering human memories and cognition.
• Horrified by the project’s exploitation of users, Ivette decides it must be destroyed. However, after realizing that fighting both corporations would consume too much of her Aberration Magic, she reports her findings to Firekeeper instead.
• While waiting for Firekeeper’s response, Ivette eats the dinner Liana left for her, though she ignores the note and eats it cold.
• Firekeeper praises her efforts and sends her intelligence about the

Mechanical God

• Self-aware Mechanical Puppets formed a religion around a deity they believed created them and revealed the Fire Thief Program.
• Many puppets infiltrated the Mind Temple, a cyborg-centered religion worshipping the Mirror Lord.
• The upper levels of the Mind Temple may have been taken over by the puppets.
• Despite the danger, Sky Dome Technology and the Future Union apparently concealed or tolerated the infiltration.
• Ivette begins to suspect that the Mechanical God may be connected to Sky Dome Technology’s Core Heart and may have helped trigger the apocalypse.

Character Developments

• Ivette demonstrates strong investigative ability and moral clarity. She is disturbed by the corporations’ willingness to treat people as experimental subjects and resolves that the project must be stopped.
• At the same time, she shows practical judgment by recognizing that confronting both corporations alone would be reckless and by choosing to pass the information to Firekeeper.
• Ivette becomes increasingly suspicious and analytical regarding the origins of the apocalypse, moving from the belief that the Mechanical God emerged afterward to considering that it may have existed beforehand.
• Firekeeper reveals greater warmth and respect toward Ivette, praising her as an outstanding comrade and emphasizing that her survival matters more than the mission. His genuine, hoarse voice also creates a sense of familiarity and mystery.
• Liana is shown through a small domestic gesture to care for Ivette, leaving her a separate meal and instructions to heat it.

Significant Themes

• Corporate exploitation and unethical experimentation: Both corporations use ordinary users as involuntary test subjects while pursuing profit and technological advancement.
• Identity and consciousness: The chapter questions whether memories, personality, and experience can be separated from the body and preserved as an immortal self.
• The dangers of technological transcendence: The dream of escaping the flesh and achieving immortality is presented as both alluring and morally corrupted.
• Secrecy and hidden power structures: Major corporations, religions, and technological entities conceal dangerous projects and possible conspiracies from the public.
• Artificial intelligence and rebellion: The Mechanical God’s relationship with self-aware puppets raises concerns about machine autonomy, human hostility, and the possibility of a technological uprising.
• Foreshadowing and uncertainty: The Dream World may be the completed Spirit Realm, while the Mechanical God may be tied to the apocalypse itself.

Character Interactions

• Ivette interacts with the Soul Brain AI to analyze the stolen information.
• She submits her findings to Firekeeper, who responds with gratitude, respect, and reassurance rather than criticism for ending the mission early.
• Firekeeper then exchanges intelligence with her, revealing information about the Mechanical God and the Mind Temple.
• Ivette’s quiet interaction with Liana’s prepared dinner provides a brief, comforting contrast to the chapter’s revelations.
• Ivette’s thoughts connect the Spirit Realm project to the Dream World and the Mechanical God to the forces that may have caused the apocalypse.

Chapter Summary: Soul-Calming Elixir: Aftermath

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ivette learns from Firekeeper that the Mechanical God likely belongs to the enemy faction, though she remains open to the possibility that it may have changed after civilization’s destruction.
• Firekeeper reveals that the Holy Spirit Cult discovered a substance called the Faith Element, created from believers’ souls through Soul Runes. This element is used to make Soul-Calming Elixir, which stabilizes memories and personalities and treats cyberpsychosis, mental confusion, and other psychological disorders.
• The elixir is especially important to practitioners of Soul Magic, including the Holy Spirit Cult’s leaders, and is sold to all eight major corporations. Its connection to Black Tower Pharmaceuticals and Ish Island suggests it may be involved in the Eternal Life Project or research into mutation-related madness.
• Firekeeper claims to have a way to deal with the game Codename: Life, though he does not yet explain what it is.
• After the exhausting battle at the Green Light Tower, Ivette sleeps until noon and discovers that her magic power is severely depleted. She estimates that recovering from using over 80% of her reserves will take many days.
• News reports reveal that Imogen, whom Ivette believed she killed, is alive and speaking publicly. Ivette concludes that the person she killed was probably a remotely controlled proxy body.
• Ivette’s identity remains hidden because surveillance footage shows only a black silhouette. This limits the danger to mainly the Spirit Vine Company rather than drawing attention from her former enemies, Black Tower Pharmaceuticals and the Holy Spirit Cult.
• Over the following month, Ivette resumes university classes while examining the data stolen from the Green Light Tower. She must personally search it for important clues because even her Soul Brain’s AI cannot reliably identify information requiring intuition.
• Rumors about Codename: Life spread across the Black Tide Continent. The Civilization Preservation Society manipulates media and public opinion, accusing the game’s creators of discrimination for withholding the game from the continent.
• Political media in the New Eden Commonwealth also promotes the controversy, revealing the Society’s considerable influence. Under this pressure, the game’s public beta is delayed, and Spirit Vine Company and Gravity Group appear to abandon the original plan and prepare a major overhaul.
• Ivette contacts Irene, a reporter and editor-in-chief at Bird News, to investigate the source of the media campaign. Irene learns that the coverage was ordered by the newspaper’s board of directors at the request of higher authorities.
• Ivette suspects that the Civilization Preservation Society may be using either Black Tower Pharmaceuticals or the Conservative Party to influence the media, demonstrating that the secret organization possesses far-reaching political and corporate power.

Character Development

• Ivette becomes more cautious and analytical. She does not immediately assume the Mechanical God is irredeemably hostile and carefully considers alternative explanations.
• She also grows more suspicious of the scale and capabilities of the Civilization Preservation Society, shifting from curiosity about the organization to recognizing it as a major hidden power.
• Despite her exhaustion and reduced magical strength, Ivette maintains her ordinary public life and continues studying Nature Magic, showing discipline and an ability to conceal her true identity.
• Imogen is revealed to be even more mysterious and difficult to eliminate than Ivette expected, as her apparent survival suggests the use of proxy bodies or advanced remote-control technology.
• Irene remains emotionally expressive and playful, contrasting with Ivette’s reserved manner. She also proves useful as an investigative contact and demonstrates professional access to important information.

Significant Themes

• Identity and continuity: Soul-Calming Elixir, proxy bodies, memory preservation, and personality stabilization all raise questions about what constitutes a person and whether identity can survive bodily destruction.
• Science, magic, and control: The Faith Element and Soul-Calming Elixir show how religion, soul-based magic, medicine, and corporate research are interconnected.
• Hidden power and manipulation: The Civilization Preservation Society influences corporations, political groups, and official media while remaining publicly obscure.
• Aftermath and recovery: The chapter focuses on the consequences of the previous battle—Ivette’s depleted magic, the investigation of stolen information, and the political fallout surrounding Codename: Life.
• Public opinion as a weapon: Rumors and media narratives are used to disrupt technological projects and pressure powerful organizations.

Character Interactions

• Ivette and Firekeeper: Firekeeper provides critical intelligence about the Holy Spirit Cult and promises a method for dealing with Codename: Life. Their exchange establishes Firekeeper as an important source of strategic information.
• Ivette and Liana: Their domestic routine continues after the battle, with Liana returning to school while Ivette recovers and investigates.
• Ivette and Irene: Ivette approaches Irene for information about the game-related news. Irene responds with exaggerated affection and humor but successfully investigates the matter through her editorial connections.
• Ivette and the broader factions: Although she does not directly confront them, Ivette increasingly recognizes that the Holy Spirit Cult, Black Tower Pharmaceuticals, Spirit Vine Company, political parties, and the Civilization Preservation Society are interconnected through research, media, and institutional influence.

Summary: “Church and the Resistance Army”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liana Rene continues attending Spirit Vine Academy under the alias Nanali Abera. Although she is far more intelligent and physically capable than ordinary students, she is easily bored in class and routinely answers questions perfectly despite not paying attention.
• Liana’s friendship with Louisa deepens. Louisa, the girl Liana once rescued from bullying, now idolizes her and frequently seeks her company, while Liana maintains some emotional distance because she fears her monstrous nature could endanger Louisa.
• Louisa’s parents disappear after attending a three-day worship gathering held by the Greenfield Orthodox Church. When the church denies they were ever there, Louisa contacts the police. A young policewoman secretly directs her to seek out someone named Liz.
• Intrigued by the mystery—and eager for an opportunity to use her abilities for a heroic purpose—Liana agrees to investigate with Louisa. She responsibly informs her sister first and receives permission.
• In an old bookstore on Camphorwood Street, Louisa and Liana meet Liz, an elderly woman connected to the Countercurrent Resistance Army. Liz privately reveals that Louisa’s parents were likely murdered.
• Liz claims the Greenfield Orthodox Church is secretly a criminal organization controlled by Spirit Vine Company, which uses the church to make people disappear while corporations and government officials cover up the crimes.
• Liz offers Louisa the chance to join the Resistance Army and seek revenge, but warns that joining would commit her to serving the organization for life. Louisa is too shocked and grief-stricken to decide.
• After bringing Louisa home, Liana tells her sister and Firefly everything. She expresses concern that joining the Resistance Army would condemn Louisa to a painful life.
• Liana proposes capturing the church’s leader herself and allowing Louisa to determine his fate. Her sister agrees to let her act independently, seeing the mission as an opportunity for Liana to mature and develop her abilities.
• The chapter ends with a television report about President John’s upcoming visit to Gelin’aote alongside the leaders of major companies. Ivette immediately suspects the visit has a deeper significance and reacts with a weary sigh.

Character Developments

• Liana shows strong intelligence, confidence, curiosity, and a growing desire to become a heroic figure. She is reckless enough to eavesdrop using her Shadow Tendrils, but also responsible enough to seek permission before investigating.
• Her concern for Louisa reveals Liana’s developing compassion. She wants to protect her friend from both the church and the Resistance Army, believing revenge should not force Louisa into a lifetime of violence.
• Louisa shifts from an admiring, devoted friend to a grieving girl confronted with the possibility that her parents were murdered. Her faith in the church is shattered, though she is not yet ready to commit herself to revenge.
• Liz is introduced as a Resistance Army member who exposes the church’s alleged crimes and attempts to recruit Louisa. Her gentle manner contrasts with the disturbing information she delivers.
• Ivette demonstrates trust in Liana by allowing her to pursue the church leader rather than solving the problem herself. She recognizes that excessive protection would prevent Liana from growing.
• Ivette also reveals her knowledge that the Resistance Army has been infiltrated and corrupted by Spirit Vine Company, making it an unreliable path to justice.

Significant Themes

• Heroism and personal growth: Liana wants to use her extraordinary powers meaningfully rather than live passively. The mission becomes a test of whether she can act like a hero while making responsible choices.
• Justice versus revenge: Louisa is offered institutional revenge through the Resistance Army, while Liana proposes a more direct and controlled form of retribution.
• Corruption and hidden power structures: The church, corporation, government, police, and Resistance Army are all connected through secrecy, manipulation, or infiltration.
• Identity and isolation: Liana hides her true nature and struggles with the fear that intimacy will harm others, yet her bond with Louisa gradually draws her toward ordinary human relationships.
• Freedom and control: Louisa risks exchanging one form of manipulation for another by joining the Resistance Army, while Liana’s sister gives her freedom to act so she can become independent.

Important Character Interactions

• Liana and Louisa’s friendship is affectionate but unequal: Louisa adores Liana, while Liana cares for her but deliberately keeps her at a distance.
• Liz’s private conversation with Louisa transforms the investigation into a recruitment attempt, offering her revenge but also demanding lifelong loyalty.
• Liana’s discussion with her sister shows mutual trust. Liana seeks approval, and Ivette grants her genuine independence rather than intervening.
• Liana’s relationship with her sister remains emotionally complicated because the sister resembles Ivette but behaves differently. Liana appreciates her greater freedom while still feeling nostalgic and embarrassed by memories of the original Ivette.

Chapter Summary: “Ponzi Scheme”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liana secretly investigates the Green Wilderness Orthodox Church without informing her friend Louisa, using a false identity and magical devices that distort her appearance and let her hide in shadows.
• She discovers that the church worships the “Root of the World,” a reinterpretation of the Emerald Continent’s creator deity, and has expanded rapidly across Jiade City despite being less than two years old.
• The church’s growth is driven by a recruitment-based financial system:
  • New believers must donate money to become missionaries.
  • Missionaries earn rewards by recruiting others.
  • Members receive additional payments when their recruits bring in more followers.
  • Donation tiers and rank-based rewards encourage members to invest increasingly large sums.
• Once members reach the donation limit, they must either recruit enough people to advance or participate in a secret “Offering Service” to continue donating.
• Based on information from Louisa and the church’s connection to Spirit Vine Company, Liana suspects the Offering Service is actually human experimentation. She theorizes that Louisa’s parents disappeared after volunteering for an experiment in hopes of earning greater financial rewards.
• Liana reports her findings to Ivette, who explains that the church is effectively a Ponzi scheme. The participants are not merely innocent victims; many knowingly gamble their money and even their lives, believing they can profit before the system collapses.
• Ivette warns Liana that exposing the church would make her enemies of both its leaders and its believers. The victims might hate her for destroying their source of income, and Spirit Vine Company could retaliate.
• Liana nevertheless chooses to act because she believes doing what is right matters more than recognition, safety, or reward. Ivette accepts her decision and promises to support her.

Character Developments

• Liana demonstrates initiative and growing investigative ability by conducting a long-term undercover inquiry, though her youth and limited worldly experience make the situation difficult for her to understand.
• She initially views the church as a straightforward case of criminals exploiting innocent people, but gradually realizes that the victims are active participants who knowingly support the system.
• Liana’s moral convictions become clear: she does not need gratitude, praise, or personal gain to act. She only wants to use her abilities where they can do the most good.
• Ivette reveals a more pragmatic and calculating worldview, judging the situation through risk, reward, and likely consequences. Her time in Dream Mist has conditioned her to think in terms of efficiency and personal gains.
• Liana’s selfless response causes Ivette to reconsider her own outlook. She recognizes that the child’s moral clarity surpasses her adult cynicism and feels ashamed of becoming overly concerned with cost-benefit calculations.
• Ivette ultimately becomes fully supportive, promising to stand behind Liana regardless of the danger.

Significant Themes

• Moral ambiguity: The church’s members are both victims and willing participants, complicating the distinction between innocence and culpability.
• Greed and exploitation: The church turns faith into a financial pyramid, while Spirit Vine Company exploits believers’ desire for wealth and advancement.
• Selflessness versus self-interest: Ivette focuses on the negative consequences of intervention, while Liana acts without expecting thanks or reward.
• The loss of innocence and adult cynicism: Liana’s purity contrasts with Ivette’s practical, burdened mindset, prompting Ivette to question her own values.
• Doing what is right without recognition: The chapter emphasizes that moral action may bring danger, hatred, and no personal benefit, yet still be worth pursuing.

Character Interactions

• Liana regularly reports to Ivette, showing trust and caution rather than reckless independence.
• Ivette educates Liana about Ponzi schemes and challenges her to consider whether she can endure hostility and danger without receiving gratitude.
• Liana responds firmly that she only needs to know her power is being used correctly.
• Moved by Liana’s sincerity, Ivette changes from a skeptical adviser into an emotional supporter, affectionately ruffling her hair and encouraging her to proceed.

Chapter Summary: “Humanoid Tree”

Key Plot Points and Events

• With Firefly’s assistance, Liana spends another month investigating Green Wilderness Church and uncovers several major secrets:
  • Its cult leader has fled to Silver Mirror Continent.
  • Spirit Vine Company laboratories acquire “volunteers” for human experimentation through the church.
  • The police department is complicit with the church.
  • Most of the church’s remaining money has already been transferred away, making recovery nearly impossible.
• Liana decides that exposing the scheme and preventing further victims is more important than recovering the stolen funds. She plans to record the church’s Offering Service as evidence.
• She infiltrates a Spirit Vine Company research base outside Jiade City, concealed within a massive structure made from a discarded Earth-Piercing Excavator.
• Inside, she witnesses four restrained volunteers being forced to consume glowing seeds resembling the Heart of Nature. When the Origin Source Tree is activated, the victims painfully transform into trees—“Humanoid Trees.”
• The researchers treat the horrific experiment as routine and even appear amused by the victims’ suffering.
• Liana escapes without intervening, realizing that hidden security forces would likely have captured and transformed her as well.
• After returning home, she gives Ivette the evidence. Ivette confirms that the seeds are genuine Hearts of Nature and sends the information to the Firekeepers of the Civilization Preservation Society.
• Once the Firekeepers verify the evidence, Ivette leaves the matter to them and returns her attention to university studies.
• Spirit Vine University announces an exclusive three-day conference on the five branches of Concept Magic, held during the United States president’s visit to Jiade City. Ivette sees it as an ideal chance to deepen her understanding, especially of Mind Magic.

Character Developments

• Liana demonstrates courage, investigative skill, and restraint. Although horrified by the experiments and tempted to rescue the victims, she recognizes her limitations and prioritizes surviving with evidence that can expose the conspiracy.
• The experience deeply unsettles Liana, forcing her to confront the darkest aspects of Origin Civilization and the limits of what she can personally change.
• Ivette remains pragmatic and detached. She helps direct the evidence to a powerful organization rather than personally becoming involved in the investigation. Her main concern is using her remaining time in the Dream World efficiently.
• Ivette also recognizes the broader danger of the Heart of Nature: Spirit Vine Company may potentially use it to control or physically transform humanity.

Significant Themes

• Institutional corruption: The church, Spirit Vine Company, and police department are connected, showing how religious fraud, corporations, and authorities can cooperate in exploitation.
• Human experimentation and dehumanization: The researchers treat living people as disposable materials, while the victims’ suffering becomes entertainment.
• The limits of heroism: Liana cannot save everyone directly; gathering evidence and surviving may be the most effective form of resistance.
• Hidden danger beneath ordinary society: The possibility that trees throughout Jiade City were once human emphasizes the terrifying secrets concealed within the civilized world.
• Knowledge as power: Ivette’s response is to expose the truth and expand her own understanding, especially through the upcoming Concept Magic conference.
• Moral ambiguity: The victims of the church’s financial scheme were gamblers and not entirely innocent, yet the human experiments reveal far more serious crimes requiring intervention.

Important Character Interactions

• Liana and Firefly: Firefly enables Liana’s remote hacking and investigation.
• Liana and Ivette: Liana returns to Ivette for support after the infiltration. Ivette examines the evidence, confirms the Heart of Nature’s identity, and forwards it to the Firekeepers.
• Liana and the researchers: Their interaction is indirect; she secretly observes their experiments and witnesses their complete lack of empathy.
• Ivette and the Firekeepers: Ivette entrusts the evidence to the Civilization Preservation Society, relying on its media influence and investigative power to expose Green Wilderness Church and Spirit Vine Company.