Chapter Summaries

General Baldwin planned to exchange Krim Fortress’s uncooperative blood thralls for supplies and help from Murphy’s forces, while the players’ swamp campaign stalled as they awaited a new weapon. The chapter ended with the weapon revealed as a mortar and Doorman Grandpa Qin surprising the young players with his apparent military experience.

• General Baldwin and his aide planned to send defiant blood thralls to Transia in exchange for supplies and for Murphy’s warriors to clear beasts from the swamp.
• Baldwin rejected intervening in Murphy’s plan to carve a road through the swamp and ordered a proposal for the prisoner exchange to be sent to Crimson Castle.
• The three player fronts stalled in the swamp as the major guilds slowed their advance and prepared for a rumored weapon of mass destruction.
• Rainbow Cat Hero recruited new players to help transport bombs from Morland Village, and the wagon convoy set off with Doorman Grandpa Qin among them.
• At the temporary warehouse, Sweet Potato Liquor broke a crate and Grandpa Qin identified the weapon inside as a replica Stokes mortar.

Lin welcomed the new players delivering supplies and sent Rainbow Cat with a group toward the western front, where Old Qin spotted a Gnoll shaman raid threatening the outposts. Old Qin rallied the group to ambush and delay the enemy, and they prepared to fire their mortars.

• The new players unloaded supplies at the warehouse and received purses and a choice of weapons as a welcome reward from the Hammer and Sickle Regiment.
• Lin warned the recruits about the swamp and asked volunteers to carry supplies to the fronts; Rainbow Cat agreed to scout the route toward the Golden Gorse vanguard's base and took new guns with him.
• Rainbow Cat led two groups of newbies west, where Old Qin spotted a huge, silent force of elite skeletons moving toward a gap behind the western front.
• Old Qin recognized the threat as a Gnoll shaman raid and persuaded the group to delay the enemy while someone contacted the student players.
• Old Qin led the group to a defensible outcropping, set up eight mortars, and ordered the first calibration shot.

Qin and the students ambushed a lich’s undead army with cannons loaded with white phosphorus shells, but the lich counterattacked and devastated their position. As the lich approached, Qin ignited an aerial bomb, engulfing the high ground in flames while A-Cha arrived too late.

• The lich’s skeletons suffered heavy losses when the first two cannon barrages scattered burning white phosphorus across their ranks.
• Qin ordered the students to keep firing as skeleton cavalry charged, and Rainbow Cat found an aerial bomb among the supplies.
• A Flame Strike killed several students and wounded Qin, but Sweet Potato Liquor and Rainbow Cat continued firing until the shells were spent.
• Sweet Potato Liquor charged the skeletons and detonated his grenades, while Rainbow Cat escaped the high ground and Qin prepared the aerial bomb.
• The lich approached Qin, who struck the bomb’s chemical fuse and set off a massive explosion across the high ground.
• A-Cha arrived above the burning battlefield and realized he was too late.

A-Cha and Cheche discovered that the defeated necromancer was Rotem Hugh Baldwin, the ancestor of the Winter Wolf General, while Murphy decided to join the coming swamp offensive and received a one-use teleportation charm from Triss. The chapter ended with Loyal Brother warning his colleagues not to investigate Old Qin the Doorman and anticipating the next stage of the campaign.

• After Old Qin's attack broke the undead army's command, A-Cha found Rainbow Cat in shock and arranged for him to return to the rear lines for treatment.
• A-Cha and Cheche found the dying necromancer, who named himself Rotem Hugh Baldwin and revealed that he was the Winter Wolf General before his skull crumbled.
• A-Cha and Cheche planned to report the victory, compensate Old Qin's group, and help clear the battlefield.
• Murphy decided to head to the swamp and take part in the vampire air force's debut, and Triss gave him a one-use teleportation charm.
• Border City Loner told Loyal Brother about Old Qin's battlefield leadership, and Loyal Brother ordered him not to investigate Old Qin.
• Loyal Brother prepared to leave work, then returned for the helmet he had forgotten.

Murphy and the vampire players launched a night bombing raid against the gnolls’ defenses in the Filthy Swamp. As the bombs set the battlefield ablaze, Murphy and Little Countess Sharon also sought to capture necromancers, and Murphy claimed the swamp for Transia.

• Thirty-Year-Old Smokey briefed the vampire players on the bombing plan, and Amina joined the squadron with a specially made small bomb.
• Murphy disguised himself and joined the departing bombers, while Little Countess Sharon secretly joined them too.
• The vampire squadron flew toward the northern front as Thirty-Year-Old Smokey instructed the players to follow his guiding incendiary and drop their bombs.
• Murphy and Little Countess Sharon dove into the attack, and Murphy targeted necromancers and death knights as explosions engulfed the battlefield.
• Murphy declared that the Filthy Swamp belonged to Transia and would serve his cause.

Vampire bombers devastated the undead command network in Plague Marsh, clearing the way for Avalon’s forces and their allies to advance. As Vesta’s White Mountain faction joined the fighting, the player Three Jin Sweet Potato Liquor used a mortar against a fleeing lich and was called to support another assault.

• Happy Rod’s vampire nightwalkers bombed carefully selected undead command nodes, then firebombed strongholds across Plague Marsh.
• Mother Marianne, Natalie, and Amber debated the Church’s changing theology before Natalie urged the forces to exploit the bombing and advance with more than three thousand treants.
• Vesta ordered his progeny to help Murphy’s warriors by assassinating undead commanders, while warning them to follow Count Andre’s will rather than the Wolf Queen’s court.
• The bombing and coordinated ground advance shattered the undead defenses, forcing a lich to flee through the marsh.
• Three Jin Sweet Potato Liquor fired a white phosphorus bomb at the fleeing lich, marked his second kill, and hurried to support A Can of Tomato Sauce’s squad.

Flesh-Ripper responded to the Transians’ devastating attack by abandoning the outer defenses and preparing the Bone-Biting King’s body, while learning that the king’s soul remained missing. After the Explorer agreed to return in two or three days, Flesh-Ripper decided the Explorer was a blasphemer who intended to destroy the Land of Creation and resolved to punish him.

• A gnoll messenger told Flesh-Ripper that Transian vampire bombers had burned through two defensive lines and destroyed most of their commanders.
• Flesh-Ripper ordered the remaining spellcasters to retreat to the final line while he prepared a surprise, then asked Lameclaw about the Bone-Biting King’s revival.
• Lameclaw reported that vampire hearts were powering the king’s body, requested Ningkinanka venom, and admitted he could not find the king’s soul.
• Flesh-Ripper contacted the Explorer, who said he would return in two or three days to confront Lord Murphy and offered to bring Creator’s potato chips.
• After hearing the Explorer compare himself to the Creator, Flesh-Ripper concluded that he was a blasphemer plotting against the Land of Creation and vowed to punish him.

The Transian players reached Plaguevenom Town and learned they had to clear its outer dungeons before Lady Femis could counter the gnoll mage tower for six-hour assault windows. As the western front prepared to advance with artillery support, Ge Bao and A-Cha pursued a secret alternative plan, while the southern front battled through the swamp and Knight Liwen spoke with the Astral Dragon.

• Student players planted their flags opposite Plaguevenom Town and earned the hidden achievement “Victory Day.”
• Lady Mary announced that the undead garrison had to be cleared before Lady Femis could counter the mage tower, giving attackers six hours to assault the town each time.
• Teacher Li and the guild leaders planned to use mortars and Goldenbloom field guns against the elite undead guarding the outer dungeons.
• Ge Bao and A-Cha said they would spend up to three days testing a lore-based plan that might bypass the dungeon restrictions.
• Zhulan asked the western-front teams to leave unusual undead for the Eight Demons to bind and study.
• Biji and the southern-front paladins fought undead ambushers as Knight Liwen heard the Astral Dragon reflect on the foreigners and the change beginning in the world.

Student players discovered gnoll warlocks bleeding the legendary swamp serpent Ningishzida at a supernatural boundary, but a mysterious explorer banished their reconnaissance party to the Astral Plane. There, Cheche recognized the enormous serpent that had eaten him before as it descended on the group.

• The players’ probing assault on the western mini-dungeon faltered when a death knight knocked Two Big Cucumbers’s grenades back at his squad, and Old Qin ordered a retreat.
• Electronic Snail led the student players into the eastern swamp, where Meow Shark spotted gnoll warlocks using undead to attack Ningishzida and harvest its blood.
• The explorer explained that an ancient boundary kept Ningishzida from entering the mortal world, then used his staff to banish the student players to the Astral Plane.
• The explorer left to meet Ripping Flesh and reflected that Lord Yuan had plans for the Bone-Biting King’s remains and the coming Twilight Fire.
• Cheche began guiding the banished players through the Astral Plane, but a gigantic serpent emerged from a rift, and he recognized it as the one that had eaten him before.

Murphy and Triss learned that the student faction had been thrown into the Astral Realm by a mysterious figure near Plaguetown, and Murphy decided to go there as danger from Dusk grew clearer. Meanwhile, the Explorer’s scheme at Plaguetown collapsed when the revived King of Bone-Biting killed his puppet body, leaving Ripmeat with the Creator’s staff and determined to protect his clan’s legacy.

• Murphy and Triss discovered the students’ forum post about a strange man who had teleported them into the Astral Realm, and they recognized his metal staff as an artifact of the Creator.
• Bonnie brought back the students’ calculation orbs and dog tags, and Triss suspected that a force in the Astral Realm was monitoring them and returning their belongings.
• Murphy decided to head to Plaguetown and help conquer it, while Triss began analyzing the Astral Realm traces.
• The Explorer argued with Flesh-Tearing over whether Lameclaw would remain in Plaguetown, then followed him to the Construction Tower when Lameclaw failed to answer.
• Flesh-Tearing found Lameclaw’s body torn apart, and Lameclaw warned that the revived King of Bone-Biting had awakened and was outside.
• The King of Bone-Biting killed the Explorer’s puppet double, but the Explorer spoke through its shattered head before Ripmeat crushed it and vowed that his clan would carry on the king’s unfinished work.

The three fronts advanced on Plague Town after reinforcements arrived, with artillery and player forces breaking through the undead defenses. The southern team breached the city’s psychic barrier, only to find Zombie Kenport waiting inside with a formidable group of undead.

• Unaffiliated players adopted cautious ambush tactics while the three fronts waited for reinforcements.
• Major Ron ordered the Pioneer Legion’s field guns to bombard the undead position, and the western front’s players charged through the barrage to seize a quarter of it.
• Meow Brother led the southern front’s treants and players through the final defense, destroyed the southern gate, and reached Plague Town’s psychic barrier.
• Femis performed a psychic countermeasure ritual that shattered the barrier, and Meow Brother charged through before being thrown back out by Zombie Kenport.
• Orchid Flower prepared to defend the group against Zombie Kenport, four zombie barbarian soldiers, and four Demonic Heart Wraiths.

Ripflesh left Crippleclaw to defend Blighttown while it pursued the Blightplague clan’s civilization tablet, and Happy Stick’s team faced a different gatekeeper than the Zombie Warlord. After the vampire-gnoll patchwork monster overwhelmed them, Happy Stick planned to destroy its shadow refuge and attack again in daylight.

• Ripflesh accused Crippleclaw of plotting to use the King of Bonechewers against it, then ordered Crippleclaw to defend Blighttown and escape with the King after three days.
• Ripflesh took the Staff of Creation and a red bucket of materials, then flew away on its wyvern toward the Land of Creation.
• Happy Stick learned that Meow Brother’s team had been wiped out by Kenport’s poison attacks, so he equipped his own team with poison-resistant gear.
• Happy Stick’s team entered Blighttown’s northern gate and discovered that its gatekeeper was Experimental Subject 16-C, a powerful undead vampire-gnoll patchwork monster.
• The monster dodged an execution attempt in bat form and killed five players with its soul-attacking strikes, forcing Happy Stick to retreat.
• Happy Stick ordered his team to rest, recruit faster fighters and specialists, and locate the spell sustaining the shadow before challenging the monster again in daylight.

The student players on the western front abandoned their attempt to reach the wizard tower after occult traps summoned a powerful Reaper of Bones. They headed for the swamp’s forbidden zone to try to lure the giant serpent into attacking Plagueblight Town, and Murphy listened in as they planned to steal its eggs.

• Master Yang explained that capturing the other two psionic nodes could weaken the wizard tower’s barrier, and Old Qin led his squad and several newcomers toward Psionic Node One.
• The Hymn of Loyalty guild volunteered to capture Psionic Node Two, while Brother Bang’s team defeated the northern front’s guardian and reached the warlock tower before withdrawing after heavy losses.
• A-Cha, Ge Bao, Teacher Li, and Zhou Lan agreed to prepare a backup plan as the western front began its attempt to advance toward the tower.
• Basha warned the players that the road was covered in interconnected occult traps, and Ge Bao triggered one that summoned a Reaper of Bones and four Ghost Guards.
• The western attempt failed, and Murphy followed the student players toward the forbidden zone after learning they intended to lure Ningkinanka into attacking the town.
• Ge Bao proposed drawing lots to choose a scout who would search for Ningkinanka’s lair and steal something valuable, preferably snake eggs, while Murphy listened in disbelief.

Cheche and the other students searched the forbidden swamp for a way to lure the injured Ningji Nanka toward the gnolls, uncovering a hidden facility built to preserve the endangered serpent species. After finding a petrified egg that could serve as bait, they decided to use it in their Plaguehaven strategy despite expecting the serpent to attack them.

• Cheche sneaked into the forbidden swamp, observed the injured Ningji Nanka fighting the gnolls, and reported its wounds to the others.
• Cheche found a maze filled with discarded serpent scales, and the students joined him to gather the valuable crafting materials.
• Murphy spotted a concealed passage and kicked Electronic Snail through an illusionary rock wall into the serpent's lair.
• The students discovered that the lair contained artificial equipment, ancient gnoll remains, and a petrified Ningji Nanka egg identified as a special story item.
• A-Cha realized the forbidden zone was a sanctuary for preserving the serpent species, and Ge Bao decided the students would use the egg as bait in their Plaguehaven plan.
• The students agreed to risk their lives to draw the serpent toward the gnolls and proposed drawing lots to choose who would go first.

The Big Bird and Silvermoon guilds defeated Kenport but failed to break through the Plague Warlock Tower, while A-Cha’s group launched a plan to lure the giant serpent into attacking it. Coo-Coo Chicken successfully drew the serpent across the forbidden-zone boundary, but the gnoll warlocks began teleporting as the plan’s next phase started.

• Brother Black Silk and Little Ashina killed Kenport, but the Big Bird and Silvermoon guilds retreated from the Plague Warlock Tower after a poison trap overwhelmed their exhausted forces.
• Orchid, Little Ashina, and their companions discussed the tower’s defenses, the campaign’s difficulty, and the missing gnoll warlocks before returning to camp.
• A-Cha organized his brothers to use the stone egg to lure the giant serpent toward Plaguewind Town and make it trigger the tower’s traps.
• Coo-Coo Chicken carried the egg toward the gnoll encampment, and the giant serpent crossed the forbidden-zone boundary to pursue it.
• Cheche and Ge Bao shielded Coo-Coo Chicken from the serpent’s poison as he flew past the gnolls, where the serpent’s venom killed three warlocks.
• Coo-Coo Chicken announced the plan’s success, then reported that the gnolls were teleporting and called on Meow Shark as he was about to die.

After the students lured the legendary giant marsh serpent into the plague-ridden town, Cheche carried its egg into the warlock tower and delivered it to Crippleclaw. Crippleclaw released the Bone-Biting King to fight the serpent, leaving Murphy to warn Triss that the gnolls had unleashed a Golden-rank giant zombie.

• Brother Bang saw the giant marsh serpent emerge from the eastern marshes and ordered the players to prepare for a full assault on the town.
• Lan Huahua and Madam Shui realized the students had used the serpent as a third force, then called the southern front and unaffiliated players to join the final attack.
• Ge Bao passed the giant egg to Cheche before Ningkinanka killed him with its attack, and Cheche flew toward the town with the egg.
• Cheche entered through Femis's psychic rift and charged through the traps, while Ningkinanka smashed through the western entrance behind him.
• Murphy used Necessary Evil to open a breach in the warlock tower's defenses, allowing Cheche to throw the egg at Crippleclaw before the Heartfiends hurled him out of the tower.
• Crippleclaw released the Bone-Biting King, which attacked Ningkinanka, and Murphy warned Triss that the gnolls had made a Golden-rank giant zombie.

Murphy joined the fight against the resurrected Bonechewer King, Phiriel Bonechewer, while the battle tore through Plagueclaw Town. After enduring its attacks and weakening it, Murphy used Femis’s psionic blast to expose it to direct sunlight, leaving the undead king vulnerable.

• Murphy identified the Bonechewer King as Phiriel Bonechewer, a Golden-rank undead construct empowered by vampire hearts, and prepared to fight it.
• Femis blocked the construct tower’s attacks so the players could assault it, while Murphy plunged into the battle to keep the Bonechewer King from killing Ningkinanka.
• The Bonechewer King wounded Murphy, but Colonel Fraser and Major Ron led the Plantagenet gunners in cannon volleys that struck Ningkinanka’s back wound and disrupted its attack.
• Murphy fought the Bonechewer King for 187 seconds as its power declined, then stopped it from answering Limpclaw’s summons to return to the warlock tower.
• Femis cleared the haze above Plagueclaw Town with a psionic blast, exposing the Bonechewer King to sunlight and causing its rotting fur to crumble into ash.

The players stormed the warlock tower and defeated Crippleclaw, though artillery fire collapsed the tower and killed many of them. As the survivors celebrated, the Gold-rank Bonechewer King emerged from the fog behind Little Hand.

• Major Dunn ordered the Carnation artillerymen to bombard the warlock tower while players opened the route into Blightplague Town and charged inside.
• Crippleclaw prepared undead minions as the players breached the top-floor laboratory, and Master Yang stole the Spectral Grimoire before Master Li helped him escape the undead.
• Bro, Three-Five Dou, Sister Pomegranate, Cat Brother, Madam Water, and the other players attacked Crippleclaw while Carnation artillery fire battered the tower.
• The tower collapsed during the final attack, but Brother Black Silk emerged with Crippleclaw's severed head, confirming the players had won the fight.
• Showoff No-Hands began distributing Crippleclaw's loot as Old Qu warned Little Hand about a monster behind him; Little Hand identified it as the Gold-rank Bonechewer King.

Players used sunlight to weaken the Defiled Bone-Biter King while Murphy recovered from their fight and stopped the Goldfinch soldiers from killing the swamp giant snake. Murphy and Triss pursued the escaped Tearmeat, which vanished into the Astral Plane but lost its metal staff to Murphy, who recognized it as the Creator’s inheritance.

• Fu Ge explained that the Defiled Bone-Biter King lost health in sunlight, and the players began kiting it through sunlit areas while Happy Stick drew its attention.
• Melia told Happy Stick that the Bone-Biter King’s vampire heart was destroyed and urged the players to keep wearing it down with sunlight.
• Femis opened the clouds to guide the players’ route as Murphy healed, shared a claw blade with Femis, and left to meet Triss in the swamp.
• Murphy ordered Colonel Fraser to cease firing and keep the weakened giant snake alive for further study, then joined Triss to explore the forbidden zone and search for Tearmeat.
• Triss bound Tearmeat when it emerged from a hidden passage, but Tearmeat opened an astral rift and escaped; Necessary Evil severed its left paw, leaving its metal staff behind.
• Murphy told Triss to have the Blood League Knights capture Tearmeat and declared that the staff was the Creator’s key and his inheritance.

Murphy identified the staff as the Creator’s Legacy, Myriad Forms, and planned to return to the locked Creator ruin with Triss in three days. Meanwhile, Flesh-Ripper escaped with the gnolls’ Civilization Tablet but was killed by Nefertari’s hellhound, leaving her with the relic.

• Murphy learned that Myriad Forms could open Astral Plane rifts, defend its user, and access Creator terminals, though its power was nearly depleted and its functions required further components.
• Murphy and Triss found the Creator ruin locked for 72 hours and agreed to return together after dealing with the situation in Plague Poison Town.
• Flesh-Ripper treated its severed hand, realized it could use the Civilization Tablet to restore gnoll power, and rode toward gnoll territory while planning to spread the Creator’s teachings.
• Flesh-Ripper encountered Nefertari and her rampaging three-headed hellhound, which attacked and burned the gnoll warlock to death.
• Nefertari found the Civilization Tablet among Flesh-Ripper’s belongings and decided to hide it from the vampire pirates.