Chapter Summaries

Lina was unwillingly revived as a vampire through Murphy’s Embrace, then admitted she had directed the astral rift that swallowed Cadman City and agreed to help rescue its surviving inhabitants. She explained how the Tower of Rings’ Grand Dean had been activated and described the sacrifice of the mage Maredin.

• Lina awoke from the Embrace and resisted the forced urge to submit to Murphy, who told her he wanted to restore her freedom but lacked primordial blood.
• Lina confessed that she had directed the astral rift over Cadman City, accepted responsibility, and asked Murphy, Triss, and Femis to spare her apprentice Chuchu.
• Murphy told Lina that one hundred thousand people remained trapped in the astral plane and urged her to help stop Twilight from sacrificing them to create World-Burning Demon Troops.
• Lina read the reports on Twilight and vowed to search the Dark Mountains, rescue the trapped people, and burn down the Tower of Rings, now a Twilight stronghold.
• Lina explained that the Grand Dean had been activated after Maredin brought back an unknown object from the Dark Mountains, and that it had guided the Tower of Rings’ operations.
• Lina said Maredin had died with thirty high-ranking psychics while helping the Sun Boat destroy the Bone-Biting King’s territory and end the Fourth Black Disaster.

Triss explained the Tower of Rings’ history and its transformation after the Fourth Calamity, while Femis revealed that she was becoming a spirit destined to reach the demigod realm. When Qiuqiu Te awoke, her divine knife exposed her connection to Kukulkan, and Murphy learned that she blamed Old Finok for devastating her homeland; he took her to hear the dead man’s story.

• Triss described the Tower of Rings’ founding, its former reputation as humanity’s hidden guardians, and its shift toward aggressive intervention after the Fourth Calamity.
• Murphy said the group needed to meet the Grand Dean, whom they suspected was a Golden Age AI, while Femis insisted she was ready to learn the group’s secrets.
• Femis explained that Avalon had told her she would awaken her talents and advance toward demigodhood as a spirit born from its seed of divinity.
• Triss, Murphy, and Femis opened the time-frozen box and woke Qiuqiu Te, whose obsidian knife released powerful solar energy when Triss took it.
• Qiuqiu Te said she had come from the New Continent to save Kukulkan and her kingdom, and accused the white Demon King of slaughtering her people.
• Murphy showed Qiuqiu Te Old Finok’s statue, recognized him as the Demon King she described, and offered to tell her how he had died and why he was not as evil as she believed.

Murphy passed Kulkulkan’s Sun Grail trial and learned that the Astral Titans had sworn the Frontier Pact to fight the Warp in exchange for the Creator’s gifts. Kulkulkan warned that some Titans planned to break the pact, leaving Murphy alert to a dangerous conflict among the gods.

• Murphy warned Chuchute that the Dusk might be manipulating her, and she explained that Kulkulkan had sent her to find knowledge that could purify the god.
• Chuchute presented Kulkulkan’s Sun Grail and challenged Murphy to touch it as a test of trust.
• Murphy revealed himself to Kulkulkan as Alpha, and the god’s sunfire spared him while driving Chuchute away and burning Avalon’s hiding place.
• Murphy received the Grail’s memories and witnessed the Titans swearing the Frontier Pact before the Creator’s appointed defender.
• Kulkulkan explained that the Titans had fought the Warp for over a thousand years and warned Murphy that some of them planned to tear up the pact.

Murphy learned why Kulkulkan wanted to amend the Frontier Pact and negotiated for her to transfer her fire-based purification symbolism to the Holy Light. Kulkulkan agreed and asked Murphy to help cleanse her corruption and protect the Aztecs, who guarded the Heart of the World.

• Murphy questioned Kulkulkan about breaking the Frontier Pact, and she explained that the gods had been trapped fighting the Warp for over a thousand years without a way to retreat and recover.
• Kulkulkan described how Liuguk's death led to Wam's birth and said Wam's ability to return to the material world had shown the other gods what they lacked.
• Kulkulkan asked Murphy to find the Spider Lady's original shrine and intervene in the Aztec Kingdom, while Murphy insisted she make amends for her past desertion.
• Murphy proposed that Kulkulkan grant the Holy Light seed her purification-by-fire symbolism, and Kulkulkan agreed to help the seed grow and empower its followers.
• The Everlasting Manner warned Murphy that Kulkulkan might be trying to claim motherhood of the Holy Light and expose it to corruption, so Murphy demanded she strip away the power instead.
• Kulkulkan accepted Murphy's offer and asked him to help cleanse her, speak well of her to the other gods, and protect the Aztecs and the Heart of the World.

Murphy survived his encounter with Kulkan and sought Avalon's help in granting the seed of the Light the symbol of Healing, which could establish new knight paths. Avalon agreed to help in exchange for Murphy finding the Spider Lady's original shrine, while revealing that the Warp was corrupting its aspects and that the Mother of the Forest was in danger.

• Murphy emerged unharmed from the Sun's Fire, comforted Triss, and told her that Kulkan had granted the seed of the Light the symbol of Purification by Fire.
• Murphy planned to ask Avalon for Healing and seek the Earth Holy Grail's aid in creating Protection Knights, while Triss took the Sun's Holy Grail to Chuchute.
• Murphy told Lina to keep her distance because the blood pact could intensify her feelings for him, and Adele advised Lina to await Source Blood and prepare for battle.
• Murphy asked Avalon about the Frontier Pact and requested Healing for the seed of the Light in exchange for undertaking a mission.
• The Maiden of the Moon said the Frontier Pact would break and tasked Murphy with finding the Spider Lady's original shrine to help her complete her fated separation.
• Avalon showed Murphy the Mother of the Forest being consumed by darkness and explained that freeing the Spider Lady would also help save Avalon from corruption.

Murphy learned that Princess Padella Chuchute Osiris had come from the powerful Aztec Sun Kingdom to demand aid against the undead and expose the Explorers' Association's crimes, while he uncovered the kingdom's formidable arsenal. Natalie agreed to join Lina's mission against Dusk, and the two prepared to seek a fortune-teller in Gloomy Valley.

• Natalie accepted responsibility for her father's crimes and promised Chuchute that the Avalon Church would help make amends in the New World.
• Chuchute revealed her identity as King Osiris's daughter and accused the Explorers' Association of poisoning Kulkhan and massacring the people of Machut; Murphy suspected someone had disguised their actions to provoke conflict.
• Murphy told Chuchute to conceal her identity in Transia for now and arranged for Mirian to teach her diplomacy.
• Chuchute and Murphy exchanged weapons, and she revealed that the Aztec Kingdom had tens of thousands of Artificer's weapons and hidden vaults capable of arming ten legions.
• Lina asked Natalie to join her search for Dusk's scholarly faction and the missing Cardmen; Natalie agreed to bring Witch Hunters and set out with Lina for Gloomy Valley.

A goatfolk raid led by Poll destroyed a Rending Claw Clan fortress and potion fields, which were producing ingredients for a psionic plague. After learning that ratfolk might guard a nearby life-eater mushroom farm, Captain Daims sought help from the Sin Dwarves before the planned assault.

• A Star Realm rupture swallowed a Rending Claw fortress and thousands of acres of potion fields, killing or driving away the gnolls there.
• Gray-robed sorcerer Dennis explained to Poll that the ghostface flowers were a secondary ingredient in the psionic plague, and Poll resolved to carry out more ruptures for Governor Murphy.
• An elven ranger told Poll that Daims had found a life-eater mushroom farm and requested a Star Realm rupture to support its destruction.
• Poll warned that ratfolk might be guarding the underground farm, and the ranger hurried back to report the danger to Daims.
• Daims sent the ranger to seek help from Colonel Fenris Ironfist and the Sin Dwarves at Sin Fortress.

Huxson ordered the weakened Splitclaw Clan to stake everything on an invasion of Transia, while the Bloodscar Clan maneuvered to control his army and seize Splitclaw territory. The Army of Revenge prepared to march, with Huxson heading toward Blackflame Pass and Manson arranging a separate assault on Courage Fortress.

• Huxson heard reports that astral attacks and enemy raids had devastated Splitclaw territory, destroyed food and mushroom supplies, and left the clan facing starvation.
• Huxson ordered the Splitclaw Clan and its sixteen vassal clans to mobilize everyone for war, including females and cubs, and declared that they must conquer new territory or die fighting.
• Huxson offered the Splitclaw Clan's territory and treasured secrets as collateral for food and equipment, then agreed to leave the Bloodscar Clan in command of the army's operations.
• Huxson set out with the Army of Revenge, composed of sixty thousand Splitclaw warriors and forty thousand Bloodscar brutes, while Manson ordered Marshal Shute to capture Courage Fortress for the Bloodscar Clan.
• Manson arranged for Splitclaw lands to be seized and psychic plague to be sent to Gorgon Pass, then praised the Lord of the Hunt and watched the army prepare to march.

Gnolls attacked Fort Valor, where Frod led Vam’s Berserkers into battle with mines and Transian weapons, while cannons fired from the fortress walls. At Shadowvale, Old Qin and Five Wheels learned that Hugeson was blasting a path through Blackflame Pass and discussed using the pass and their tunnels for guerrilla warfare.

• Fort Valor sounded the alarm as the gnolls approached, and Vam’s Berserkers charged out before the other defenders had finished preparing.
• Frod ordered his warriors to hold behind a minefield and explained that Vam accepted the use of Transian weapons; the barbarians then used explosives and guns against the gnolls.
• After the gnolls crossed the minefield, Frod killed a Hunting Chosen in close combat as the cannons at Fort Valor opened fire.
• Hugeson used repeated Meteors to clear a path through the mines at Blackflame Pass, and scouts reported the gnoll army’s advance to Shadowvale.
• Five Wheels and Old Qin discussed relaying mines at the pass and using tunnels to stage ambushes and guerrilla attacks.

As the gnoll army advanced toward the Barrenlands, Qin launched a coordinated defensive operation and ordered players to abandon their improvised fighting style for professional command and control. The chapter ended with Miss Peachy and Uncle Fuding receiving orders for a night-long encirclement-and-ambush trial at Blackflame Pass.

• King Shark complained that the players were delaying their Silver promotions until a gnoll army broke through toward the Barrenlands, prompting him and the other players to prepare for war.
• Meow Brother briefed the Big Bird Squad on Qin's new command system, and Domestic 007 assigned them a concealed tunnel march as part of Operation Hungry Bird.
• Ge Bao told Meow Brother that his group had been assigned aerial reconnaissance, information delivery, and ordered fire support, while other forces received separate missions.
• Qin and Old Soldier of the Qing coordinated operations from the command post, where psions and Kadman People's Army recruits tracked the battlefield on a three-dimensional sand table.
• Qin ordered Miss Peachy and Uncle Fuding to follow his deputy at Blackflame Pass and conduct an overnight encirclement-and-ambush trial as battles began in multiple locations.

Meow Brother’s squad reached its staging area after reporting a massive gnoll advance, while Qu Ge received a powerful new anti-gnoll rifle. Hugesen diverted its army toward Shadow Valley after learning Murphy was there, and Murphy prepared to face the furious warlord despite the valley being sealed against portals.

• Meow Brother’s squad spotted gnoll forces near their tunnel, and Yansang reported that at least thirty thousand gnolls were advancing toward Shadow Valley under the Splitclaw Clan’s great warlord.
• Meow Brother sent the reconnaissance report to Domestic 007, then led his squad to Point A, where Qu Ge received the oversized Troll Hammer rifle.
• Taipal arrived after his squad exposed a tunnel entrance and received disciplinary action for the mistake.
• Hars advised Hugesen to bypass Shadow Valley, but Hugesen decided to attack after learning that Murphy’s command banner was in the valley.
• Hugesen assigned Hars a third of the army and hurried the rest toward Shadow Valley, while gnoll priests began sealing the area against portals.
• Murphy discussed the danger with Maxim and chose to face Hugesen himself, confident that the Hunting Lord’s blessing had given the warlord a weakness he could exploit.

The gnolls attacked Shadow Valley but Hugsen decided to march toward the Filthy Swamp, forcing Qin Ye to mobilize a battlefield defense while Murphy went out to fight. Murphy met Hugsen in battle and weakened him with the white ring and an obsidian hunting blade, leaving the Warlord injured and vulnerable.

• Colonel Fraser's artillery and the earth priests repelled the kobolds' charges, while Rending Claw forces captured the karst cave and stalled at the suspension bridge.
• Hugsen rejected a costly assault on Shadow Valley and ordered Harth to take half the troops toward the Filthy Swamp, leaving a third behind to contain the valley.
• Qin Ye ordered an air raid, a makeshift minefield, and a counterattack, but Murphy left the valley to join the fight despite the commander's objections.
• The Vampire Air Force bombed the gnoll forces as Maxim led People's Army warriors and players into battle, and Murphy charged into the fighting with Bonnie and Wilanthir nearby.
• Wilanthir pursued Manson after sensing the corrupted Shadow Elf relic, while Hugsen fought off the players and struck at Murphy.
• Murphy blocked Hugsen's attack, weakened him with the white ring, and stabbed him with the obsidian hunting blade before taunting him as the wounded Warlord struggled to rise.

Murphy drove off Huxerson, the weakened Chosen of the Hunt, while players launched a coordinated campaign against the gnolls’ supply lines around Shadow Valley. Meow Brother’s squad destroyed a convoy and repelled reinforcements, then continued fighting as aerial support struck the enemy.

• Murphy dispelled Huxerson’s hunting power and wounded him, forcing the Chosen of the Hunt to retreat with help from Split-Claw wolf riders.
• Meow Brother’s squad received orders to destroy a gnoll supply convoy and hold their position while other squads ambushed nearby garrisons.
• Brother Qu shot the convoy’s wolf rider captain, signaling Miss Biki’s Rapids Knights to charge as the players burned the wagons and routed the escort.
• Veteran of the Qing Dynasty sent the squad to a second ambush point, where they fought elite Bloodscar Gnolls and held off their counterattack.
• Big Sister Doris and her vampire companions dropped aerial bombs on the gnoll spellcasters and archers, allowing Meow Brother’s forces to press their attack.

After the Hungry Bird operation disrupted the gnolls’ supply lines, Old Qin ordered more aggressive tunnel raids and paired players with NPC soldiers. Hugson sent kobolds underground to hunt the Transians, while Manson revealed he had a plan to destroy Shadow Valley.

• The veteran of the Qing army reported that the Hungry Bird operation destroyed gnoll convoys and outposts, while Five-Wheeled reported the successful raid at the Xiuma River and the canceled attack on the main camp.
• Old Qin ordered frequent supply-line attacks, NPC-player teams, and coordination with Fort Courage to delay the gnolls for at least twenty days.
• Meow Brother accepted a thirty-person NPC squad, gathered supplies, and sent Smoke and Old Qu to scout the tunnels with three inexperienced scouts.
• Priest Manson told Hugson that Transian ambushes had cut off supplies and used underground tunnels, and Hugson ordered kobolds to destroy the tunnels and protect the supply routes.
• Hugson kept the siege of Shadow Valley in place to pin Murphy down and sent Manson to the battlefield, where Manson revealed he had secretly prepared a way to destroy the valley.

Chenlong defied command by leading Unfallen Pride in a suicide raid on the gnoll camp’s supply depots, using Decisive Victory Wine to turn the newcomers’ deaths into powerful explosions. The attack set the depots ablaze and reached Hugsen, while NPC soldiers looted and planted charges at the armory.

• Sai'en’s squad encountered armed kobolds in the tunnels, and forum users discussed scouting tactics for tunnel warfare.
• Chenlong gathered Unfallen Pride in Tunnel No. 9 and announced that he would carry out the canceled raid on the gnoll supply depot.
• Hailong and Xugou armed the newcomers with TNT and Decisive Victory Wine, while Chenlong prepared to lead the assault.
• Chenlong’s force broke into the gnoll camp, and Chenlong drank the wine before exploding with dark divine power among the defenders.
• Chouniu led the attack onward as Zishu, Yinhu, and Maotu’s demolition squads set supply depots ablaze.
• Hugsen charged into the battle and was caught in a newcomer’s explosion, while Hailong seized his helmet and NPC soldiers planted charges and looted the armory.

Qin Ye urged his officers to exploit players’ willingness to sacrifice themselves and treated the Transia front as a military academy, while gnoll Hunting Chosen began threatening players in the trenches. Players discussed the Chosen’s abilities and counters, then organized to respond to an ambush and sabotage a dire wolf pen.

• Qin Ye praised the raid on the gnoll encampment and told Five Pairs of Wheels and the officers to plan bolder tactics around the players’ willingness to die.
• Domestic 007 proposed using trench collapses as bait, and Qin Ye framed the fighting as a training ground for future commanders before gnoll wyvern riders attacked.
• Hugheson punished the officer responsible for the failed patrol and sent kobolds and Hunting Chosen underground to fight in the trenches.
• Players reported that Hunting Chosen were powerful melee fighters immune to ordinary ranged damage, and they shared advice about skills, status effects, and equipment that could counter them.
• Players coordinated patrols and reinforcements after Lion's Roar reported an ambush in Trench 8, while Race of the Shrimp invited others to sabotage a dire wolf pen.

General Baldwin prepared Krim Fortress for the spreading war as the Wolf Queen sent reinforcements, including the Great Wilderness Legion and eight thousand Ironfeet. Colonel Duke’s forces faced another gnoll attack at Baphomet Gorge, where they had to hold their incomplete defenses until the Transian front and fortifications were ready.

• General Baldwin repaired Krim Fortress and received urgent support from the Wolf Queen, including the Great Wilderness Legion.
• A Frost Dwarf messenger delivered a stone scepter and announced that eight thousand Ironfeet would join Baldwin under his honorary command while Lord Badelde pursued revenge for his father’s murder and the stolen relic Winter’s Strike.
• Baldwin learned that nearly two thousand troops had been lost in Duke’s battle at Baphomet Gorge, ordered reinforcements and care for the wounded, and paid to insure every soldier.
• Colonel Duke prepared his exhausted troops for another gnoll attack, ordered artillery fire and Transian walking machines into position, and refused to abandon the gorge.

Hugsen disrupted the Transians’ psionic command network and ordered a sweep of the tunnels, forcing Old Qin’s staff to switch to backup communications and reposition their forces. At Blackflame Mountain Pass, Old Qu discovered the gnolls were preparing to tear open the astral realm, and Meow Brother rushed to alert headquarters as the ritual neared completion.

• Hugsen identified the Calculation Orbs as the Transians’ command-network weakness and ordered psionic disruption and a tunnel sweep.
• Old Qin’s headquarters detected the communications blackout, established an hourly forum reporting system, and deployed troops to defend tunnel junctions.
• Wheels proposed sending flexible players to Baphomet Gorge, while Old Qin left to command there and kept the Blackflame Mountain Pass blockade in place.
• Meow Brother and his squad discussed backup communications and the prototype radio while their communications module remained disabled.
• Old Qu called Meow Brother after discovering the gnolls preparing an astral-realm rupture, and Meow Brother set off to report the imminent threat to headquarters.

Old Qu and the Big Bird Squad discovered that Bloodscar gnolls were preparing a ritual near Shadowvale and agreed to help stop it. As the squad prepared to establish a teleportation beacon for Courage Fortress, Old Qu began his Silver Trial and lined up a shot at Manson’s ritual staff.

• Old Qu and Mia observed Manson leading a Bloodscar gnoll ritual, and Mia urged the squad to stop it because the ritual threatened Shadowvale.
• The Big Bird Squad contacted headquarters and learned that they had to plant a one-use rune stone as a teleportation marker, despite being exposed afterward.
• Meow Brother agreed to defend the marker, while Old Qu decided to snipe Manson’s staff and begin his Silver Trial.
• Mia and two other huntress apprentices followed Old Qu, and he gave them a spare Troll Hammer in case he missed.
• Old Qu and the apprentices took positions on the ridge, and Old Qu activated his Ancestral Powers before aiming at Manson’s staff.

Manson tried to open an Astral Rift above Shadow Valley, but Old Qu and Corporal Mia destroyed his star staff and left him bound to the unstable ritual. As the Big Bird Squad struggled to hold a position in the valley, Fort Courage’s winged cavalry entered the battlefield through a portal to drive off the jackalopes.

• Manson used the star staff to power a ritual that would tear open an Astral Rift above Shadow Valley and weaken its defenses.
• Old Qu and Corporal Mia shot Manson’s star staff until it broke, forcing him to stabilize the ritual with his own body; Old Qu then faced five wyverns carrying Prowlerclaw hunters.
• Brother Meow and the Big Bird Squad fought to protect their positioning stone as the war thornbeast fell and the team’s position came under pressure.
• Lady Femis opened a portal at Fort Courage, and Valand led the winged cavalry through it to reinforce the battlefield and drive off the jackalopes.