Chapter Summaries

Hogg departed with Palanno for Shadowvale to meet the Butcher and Lord Paine, while Murphy prepared to become a Bloodkin civilization candidate. During authentication, Murphy entered Salokdar’s memories and witnessed the Bloodkin’s plans to alter their species and the catastrophe that followed.

• Palanno promised that the Blood Oath Clan would return to Transia’s front lines, and Murphy gave Hogg Golden Age armor and instructions for choosing Godslayer Warriors.
• Hogg told Murphy that the Creator had personally devised the Alpha Plan and called him the Creator’s Chosen One, pledging the jackalmen’s loyalty to him.
• Murphy and Triss discovered that the damaged Bloodkin Civilization Slate could authenticate a Blood Eagle candidate, and Triss persuaded Murphy to undergo the process.
• Murphy entered Salokdar’s memories in Eden District, where the Bloodkin planned genetic changes to their species and discussed the coming completion of the Creation Engine.
• Murphy witnessed a memory of Salokdar rescuing Oksana amid collapsing ruins as a voice blamed the Bloodkin for destroying a blueprint and warned that a corrupted piece had to be left behind.

Murphy recovered memories from Salokdar’s blood that might reveal the vampires’ original sin and the Sanghai Empire’s origins, then gained new ancestral powers and began his Silver Trial. After collecting a curator’s reward, he prepared to test Creator technology at the Desolate Mountain.

• Murphy awoke from the blood-memory experience and told Triss he had seen evidence about the vampires’ original sin and the Sanghai Empire, but needed to verify it.
• Murphy’s authentication granted him the Psychic Aura · Blood Eagle, the ancestral powers Dark Night Claws and Scarlet Arcana, and triggered his Silver Trial.
• Murphy tested his ability to manipulate blood on Triss, who explained that the power was associated with the Secret Blood Clan.
• Murphy discovered a curator’s reward and unlocked achievements for helping Hogg and hatching two Millennium Eggs.
• Murphy told Triss about Salokdar’s memories, then collected five high-energy batteries and two Fixed Energy Matrix Generators from the warehouse.
• Murphy planned to test the shield generators’ power at the Desolate Mountain.

Murphy and Triss helped Shani undergo the Thorn Clan’s inheritance ritual in the Land of Creation, where she uncovered the vampires’ role in the first Warp invasion and the deliberate erasure of the survivors’ memories. Shani nearly succumbed to the returned memories’ corruption, and Triss told her they had to fight the Warp rather than flee.

• Murphy and Triss made Shani remove her psionic items before letting her enter the Land of Creation, then explained that she had to complete the Thorn candidate ritual to access her clan’s inheritance.
• Shani warned Murphy and Triss about her Ghostly Haunting supernatural law, gave Murphy the Envy fragment, and entered the biopod for authentication.
• Murphy experienced a brief, embarrassing resonance with Shani’s Ancient Dream, in which their consciousnesses inhabited Salokdar and Oksana during an intimate memory.
• After the ritual, Shani revealed that the ancient vampire grand dukes’ Perfect Life project in the Eden District triggered the first Warp invasion, which the Sentinel stopped, and that the survivors’ memories had been deliberately erased.
• Shani began to panic as she suspected a hidden force was drawing the vampires back toward the past, so Murphy slapped her to bring her out of the Warp’s influence.
• Triss reminded Shani that Dusk served the Warp and said they had to fight unless they were willing to kneel before it.

Murphy learned that the Sentinels may have represented the Creator after Eden fell, then asked Shani to find the framed Plasticity Master Lina Firm Annetara. At Wolf Castle, he told Hru that his mentor had joined the Dusk, and Hru chose to help investigate him.

• Murphy asked Mannis when the first deity was born and concluded that the Sentinels might have represented the Creator and protected the World's Heart after Eden's destruction.
• Mannis said it could not visit the time of Eden's fall, revealed that Fallen Virtue had been lost after the Avalon Church's destruction, and offered future secrets in exchange for Murphy breaking its seals with the Creator's power.
• Murphy gave Shani a journal describing Lina Firm Annetara's framing and asked her to find Lina and arrange a meeting in Transia.
• Murphy left Shani to rest with Triss and went to Wolf Castle, where he told Hru that his mentor had faked his death and joined the Dusk.
• Hru denied receiving messages from his mentor, then chose to join the Shadow Intelligence Bureau and help confront him; Murphy warned him of the danger and gave him source blood.

After Shani left the Land of Creation, Murphy and Triss discussed the secrets of Eden and the approaching Black Calamity, while Murphy prepared to launch the expansion in twenty-five days. Meanwhile, players cleared a ratmen nest and Uncle Qin found evidence that the ratmen were genetically engineered weapons, leaving him suspicious that a scientist had infiltrated Transia.

• Murphy and Triss used the Creator’s Leisure Soda, which improved their condition and advanced their subspace resistance and detection talents.
• Triss suspected Shani knew the location of Eden and that the history of Oksana’s death had been distorted; Murphy proposed questioning Old Edward and Lord Pailing about the past.
• Murphy decided to end the closed beta in twenty-five days and launch the Black Calamity expansion, while he and Triss promised to face the crisis together.
• Sister Pomegranate led the Blood Eagle players in an assault on the ratmen nest as players from other races joined the battle and searched its rooms.
• Uncle Qin found a diary describing the ratmen as genetically engineered biological weapons created under Lord Scholar, and he pocketed the diary and a chart.
• The players burned the giant mother rat, and Uncle Qin suspected that a scientist from an organization had infiltrated Transia.

After A-Cha'en won Murphy's ratman hunt, Sister Pomegranate planned to transfer to the Thorn Clan to strengthen her combat role. Meng Haha uncovered evidence that the ratmen were unfinished biological weapons and warned the authorities, while Brother Loyalty began investigating the possibility of a hidden advanced civilization.

• A-Cha'en won the ratman hunting contest by a wide margin and claimed Murphy's staff-sword, while Sister Pomegranate decided to seek a transfer to the Thorn Clan.
• Sister Pomegranate explained to Little Ashina and Lumina that Thorn Clan training would suit her monk abilities and help her serve her team, and she planned to ask Murphy and Grand Duke Triss for permission.
• Qin Ye gave Meng Haha notes and diagrams from the ratmen's laboratory, and she found that the ratmen were created through genetic engineering and still had three stages of enhancement ahead of them.
• Meng Haha warned the Young Lady and Lady Adele about the potential ratman threat, and Adele established a Ratman Task Force with Meng Haha as its leader.
• Meng Haha reported her suspicions to Brother Loyalty, who decided to investigate whether Transia concealed a highly advanced technological civilization.

Hogg recruited Ripsoul to help him unite the gnolls and prevent their corruption by the fallen Hunting Lord. Ripsoul agreed to aid the Wise Wolf, and they planned to gather the Plague-Poison clan and restore Crippleclaw.

• Murphy arranged a tour of Transia for Shadow Valley’s half-elf delegation while Hogg met with the undead Ripsoul.
• Ripsoul recognized the Bone-Biting King’s influence in Hogg and learned that Hogg intended to become the gnolls’ civilized representative, not their king.
• Hogg revealed that the Hunting Lord was about to become corrupted and warned that the gnolls would be doomed if its influence spread.
• Hogg urged Ripsoul to help him rally the Plague-Poison clan and build support for a gnoll homeland aligned with Transia and its allies.
• Ripsoul accepted Hogg’s plan, despite warning that the Splitclaw clan threatened his weakened people.
• Hogg gave Ripsoul the phylactery containing Crippleclaw, and Ripsoul suggested asking Nefertari to restore his mind and guide the gnolls toward the Death Moon.

Hogg rallied Transia’s leaders and veteran players to join a quest to enter Moss Valley and kill the Lord of the Hunt before it was born. More than two hundred players accepted the legendary quest, which would select 120 participants after Hogg’s quest chain ended.

• Tearflesh explained that the Church of the Death Moon welcomed Hogg’s offer to make Nefertari its future guardian of faith, while warning that Twilight had secretly advanced the Black Calamity and corrupted gnoll clans.
• Murphy restored Tearflesh’s severed hand and asked it to teach his warriors hunting-priest techniques without requiring them to worship the Lord of the Hunt.
• Hogg entered the Avalon temple in Shadow Valley, where Murphy, representatives of the four vampire clans, Avalon Church leaders, and veteran players gathered to support its god-slaying mission.
• Hogg revealed that it was the Bone-Biting King’s chosen heir and called on Transia’s warriors to follow it into Moss Valley and destroy the Lord of the Hunt.
• Murphy distributed the orange legendary quest, and more than two hundred players accepted despite warnings that the quest was extremely difficult and only 120 would ultimately be selected.

Murphy organized the preparations for a godslaying expedition against the Lord of the Hunt, setting trials for the players and assigning Adele to manage the shadow elf vampires. After learning that Mejewa might become part of their conflict, Adele considered a possible future as its ruler, while Palanno confronted Murphy over his relationship with her.

• Natalie, Ironfist Turner, and Knight Liwen announced that their gods had ordered them to join the campaign against the Lord of the Hunt, and Murphy pledged support from the vampire clans.
• Murphy and Hogg laid out two training stages for the players and gave them ninety days to recover the Bonechewer King's weapons from a guarded tomb.
• Happy Stick and Meow Brother set off with other players for Wolf Fort after Murphy confirmed that the godslaying squad's places were open to anyone who proved worthy.
• Murphy asked Adele to lead Vilanser's remaining shadow elf followers, then revealed that Dusk's destruction of Mejewa could force them to return there and suggested Adele might rule the city if it were rebuilt.
• Adele agreed to lead the shadow elves and said she might eventually accept ruling Mejewa, while Murphy told her she was free to refuse.
• Palanno confronted Murphy about Adele, but Murphy explained that he had given her his Source Blood, and Palanno agreed to let him keep the rose while warning him not to break his oath.

Maxim and Murphy prepared the Transian forces to hold the Shadowy Valley against the gnolls, while Murphy proposed offering dying soldiers the choice to become vampires or return to battle through mechanical modifications. The chapter ended with Maxim accepting responsibility for the plan and Murphy urging Kudell to fulfill his duty to Transia.

• Maxim and Kudell surveyed the Shadowy Valley, where Maxim planned to hold the gnolls while Kudell commanded the Maginot Line.
• Murphy presented Maxim and Kudell with a plan to offer dying soldiers a vampire embrace using diluted primal blood, along with war insurance that could return them to battle through mechanical modifications.
• Kudell condemned the plan as coercive, and Murphy insisted he would do whatever was necessary to keep the gnolls out of Transia.
• Maxim stopped their argument, took the documents, and promised the Shadowy Valley would become a graveyard for Transia's enemies and a resting place for its fallen defenders.
• Murphy told Kudell he would fight alongside his people and asked him to fulfill his duty to Transia.

Major Ron learned from Fraser that Murphy and Maxim were building the People's Army around elite veterans and could rapidly expand it, possibly using vampires to escape the Black Calamity. On the road to Blackflame Pass, Murphy explained his plan to replace blood pacts with shared ideals and ordered Maxim to pursue Laennia while he dealt with High Lord Paine.

• Major Ron questioned why Murphy kept the People's Army to three thousand soldiers, and Fraser explained that veterans formed its core and that experienced workers and reservists could quickly expand the force.
• Fraser argued that Murphy could turn the soldiers into vampire warriors who could escape the gnolls by flying, prompting Ron to understand why Fraser was writing a will.
• Murphy told Maxim that soldiers would be asked to sign a document and that he wanted to replace blood pacts with Source Blood and shared ideals as the basis for the Blood Eagle Clan.
• Murphy and Maxim discussed Lord Heather, the Blood Oath Knights, and High Lord Paine during their journey to Blackflame Pass.
• Murphy used the blood pact to make Maxim reveal that he and Laennia had reached second base, then ordered Maxim to win her over and promised to handle High Lord Paine.

Murphy visited Blackflame Pass to assess its defenses and discuss Transia’s purchase of burning gold with Lady Heather. He left Maxim behind to coordinate with her after offending her by calling Loren a “shorty.”

• Blood League retainer knights escorted Murphy and Maxim to Blackflame Pass, where Murphy surveyed its defenses and learned the forces stationed there.
• Captain Heather urged Murphy to bring his soldiers to the pass, but Murphy explained that Shadowvale’s defenses would provide a fallback if the pass fell.
• Heather revealed her identity as a dwarf vampire and told Murphy that burning gold powder was already on its way to Transia, with a halfling airship chartered for transport.
• Murphy praised Heather and gave her liquor, then angered her by insulting Loren as a “shorty” and fled into the sky after deflecting her thrown shield.
• Heather calmed down over the liquor and offered to advise Maxim on the Silver Trial, while Murphy left him to discuss military affairs at the pass.

Murphy flew to Hunger Mountain to meet the halfling warlord Siuk Flywheel, hoping to do business and recruit ogres against the gnolls. After persuading Big Strong and his brothers that he was an invited guest, Murphy was summoned into Siuk Flywheel’s laboratory and challenged to explain the contents of a computing orb.

• Murphy escaped Lord Heather’s anger and flew toward Hunger Mountain, while surveying Blackflame Pass and worrying that its defenses would not withstand the gnolls’ weapons and tactics.
• Murphy passed the Brass Fortress and concluded that the gnolls would probably focus their attack on Transia rather than assault the fortified dwarf city.
• Murphy landed among four ogres and offered them meat, explaining that he had come to meet their boss, Siuk Flywheel.
• Big Strong doubted Murphy’s story until Twoegg recognized the Core Orb as an item belonging to Siuk Flywheel.
• Murphy offered Siuk Flywheel money and proposed hiring the four ogres to fight gnolls in exchange for two meals of meat a day.
• Siuk Flywheel spoke through the Core Orb, told Murphy to stop manipulating the Four Hungry Brothers, and invited him into his laboratory to explain the computing orb.

Murphy explored Sluik Flywheel’s factory inside Hunger Mountain, met the steam automaton Molly, and discovered Flywheel was repairing another automaton with a mechanical heart. Flywheel confronted Murphy over the stolen shipment, and Murphy proposed becoming a new client and buying all his stored computing orbs.

• Murphy saw bugbears operating a large factory that produced weapons and armor for the gnolls.
• Molly searched Murphy, examined his transforming rifle, and warned him that Sluik Flywheel was a brilliant engineer and alchemist.
• Murphy entered Flywheel’s laboratory and helped him restart Dina’s mechanical heart while asking about the Twilight and Flywheel’s weapons sales to the gnolls.
• Flywheel revealed that he had hidden tracking devices in the weapons and refused to join Murphy’s war against the Twilight.
• Flywheel threatened Murphy with a coil pistol over the stolen shipment, and Murphy offered to buy all of Flywheel’s stored computing orbs.

Murphy negotiated with Shuke Flywheel to buy calculation orbs and acquire his weapons, troops, and factory assets, while proposing ambitious communication and administrative systems for Transia. After Shuke rejected Murphy’s attempt to pay nothing, Murphy revealed a newly discovered fuel-gold deposit and offered it as payment, leaving Shuke to consider the deal.

• Shuke Flywheel revealed that he had 36,700 cracked calculation orbs, and Murphy agreed to buy them if Shuke customized them for Transia’s information and communication systems.
• Shuke examined Murphy’s core orb, discovered its scrambled psychic factors and enhanced functions, and offered Murphy a twenty-percent discount.
• When Murphy asked for more core orbs, Shuke offered to obtain unfinished prototypes from Chardo Port for 100,000 gold coins each.
• Murphy offered to buy Shuke’s weapons, mercenaries, raw materials, and factory production lines, then admitted he did not intend to pay with money.
• Shuke ordered his automaton bodyguard to remove Murphy, but Murphy showed him raw fuel gold from a newly discovered Transian deposit and offered it as payment.

Murphy negotiated with Sulk Flywheel over Scarlet Castle’s Goldfire and persuaded him to help search the Dark Mountains for a larger deposit and the Creator’s legacy. Sulk agreed to gather prospecting equipment and Explorers’ Association members, beginning their partnership as the Flywheel Consortium.

• Sulk Flywheel examined Murphy’s Goldfire samples and agreed to inspect the rich deposit beneath the Holy Blood Hall in Scarlet Castle.
• Sulk offered Murphy his factory, workers, and equipment in exchange for all Goldfire in Murphy’s territory, while Murphy bargained the deal down to a fifth of the profits.
• Sulk explained his plan to use the ore to establish an independent engineering school and challenge the Brass Dwarves’ monopoly, and Murphy proposed forming the Flywheel Consortium.
• Murphy told Sulk that a vast Goldfire deposit and the Creator’s legacy might lie beneath the Dark Mountains, and asked him to help search for them.
• Sulk agreed to contact old friends and the Explorers’ Association to assemble prospecting equipment and a team, and Murphy welcomed him as the Consortium’s leader.

Murphy arranged for Femis to transport Luc Feilun’s factory, weapons, and treasury to Transia while he led the former factory guards toward Shadowvale. Along the way, his forces rescued a group of goatfolk from gnoll scouts, and their leader revealed that Triss was a sought-after honorary elder of Dark Root.

• Femis arrived with her psions, and Murphy tasked her with moving the factory, its supplies, and its treasury to Transia.
• Murphy set out overland with the troll and hobgoblin mercenaries, intending to reinforce Shadowvale and scout the gnoll advance.
• Raveno spotted gnoll riders attacking goatfolk, so Murphy ordered the trolls and hobgoblins to charge and joined the fight from the air.
• The trolls and hobgoblin cavalry defeated the gnolls, and Murphy stopped the goatfolk from fleeing without thanking their rescuers.
• The goatfolk leader recognized Murphy as a Blood Eagle vampire and asked about Triss, revealing that she was Dark Root’s honorary elder.

Murphy persuaded Julia and the Dark Roots to consider joining Transia’s war in exchange for the Book of All Spells and help against the Baphomet cult. In Triss’s laboratory, the book revealed a divine message from Widia telling her to find and serve Murphy as chaos approached.

• Murphy learned that Julia was a second-level scholar from the Dark Roots, and Julia warned him that the Baphomet cult planned to use the Nightmare Tyrant to reach the World Dream and kill Widia.
• Murphy offered Julia access to the Book of All Spells and help against the Baphomet cult if the Dark Roots sent curse mages to aid Transia; Julia agreed to bring the book before the elders and traveled with Murphy toward Shadow Valley.
• Murphy appointed Julia as a mentor for Transia’s Tricksters and learned that the Book of Darkness and Annihilation had helped divide the goatfolk and foster the Baphomet cult.
• Triss studied the Book of All Spells in her laboratory, touched its glowing runes, and received a vision in which Widia warned her of coming chaos and ordered her to find and serve Murphy.
• Triss recognized the vision as a resonance of divine power and wondered why Widia wanted her to serve Murphy.

Murphy brought the Transian Foreign Legion through Blackflame Pass, dealt with Villancer’s Shadow Elf vampires, and learned of a coming upheaval in the Kato region. Meanwhile, players failed to seize the Bonechewer King’s legendary weapon and decided to improve through direct combat.

• Murphy brought ogres, bugbears, and goatfolk through Blackflame Pass after Lady Heather approved their passage, then led them toward New Mejewa.
• Julia argued that the Dark Roots should seek a future in Transia under Lady Triss, while Old Finley advised her to wait and assess the offer.
• Murphy found Shadow Elf vampires feasting on blood in New Mejewa and questioned Villancer, who said she had killed suspected Eyes of Dusk and turned 130 survivors into loyal followers.
• Villancer gave Murphy a roster and warned him of upheaval in the Kato region; Murphy assigned her to watch the goatfolk and told her to have the Avalon Church organize a quest for the holy blade.
• Happy Stick and the Tiger-and-Leopard Cavalry failed to retrieve the Bonechewer King’s weapon from the Hunting Guards’ Graveyard after triggering its defenses.
• Madam Water persuaded the players to stop seeking shortcuts and hone their combat skills against the cave’s enemies.

Players discussed the growing competition for the 120 god-slaying qualifications, then Orchid revealed that mastering a racial skill had awakened her Nord Ancestral Power and raised her potential gauge to 66%. The group agreed to keep her discovery off the forums while Orchid and the others pursued their ancestral powers and prepared to explore the Great Dungeon.

• A-Cha and his dormmates compared the Fight Club challenges they had received, while Dai Xi Hu explained that specializing in a suitable fighting style had helped him raise his potential release to 40%.
• Niu Niu and the other players entered the Hunter Guard cavern, where a gnoll assassin nearly killed Cheche before Orchid froze it with Ancestral Power: Frost Finger.
• Orchid explained that mastering Winter's Breath had awakened her ancient Nord power, advanced the racial skill, and raised her potential gauge to 66%.
• Pomegranate Sis theorized that players should build their potential to 100% before attempting the Silver Trial, and Meow Brother asked everyone to keep Orchid's discovery secret until she earned the server-first achievement.
• The players split up to pursue their own Ancestral Powers, while Brother Bang and Meow Brother offered to help Orchid explore the Great Dungeon and raise her potential gauge.