Chapter Summaries

Biki defeated Old Black’s avatar with a concentrated strike of Holy Light, ending the eternal night over East Prussia. Old Black escaped through a fragment of Baphomet’s dream, but the dream’s new owner expelled it back into the darkness, where Murphy was waiting.

• The Dawn Maiden unlocked Holy Light powers for Uncle Fuding and Taipal, and Uncle Fuding resurrected Taipal on the battlefield.
• Taipal transformed through Lesser Divine Descent and charged Old Black, but Old Black knocked him aside.
• Biki used the Blood Eagle Clan’s fighting style to concentrate the Dawn Maiden’s power into one strike that destroyed Old Black’s avatar and brought back the dawn.
• Old Black fled through a fragment of Baphomet’s dream, but Baphomet’s daughter refused it passage because it had not reserved a way through.
• The dream sent Old Black back into the remaining eternal night, where Murphy waited for it.

Murphy watched the final battle for Banks City and questioned Old Black about who had orchestrated the Veil of Eternal Night. After Old Black named Vydia, King of Ten Thousand Curses, Murphy destroyed the Lord of Darkness and took a crystal as a keepsake, then left to attend a funeral.

• Murphy watched Loren and the allied forces fight the Chaos army as the Veil of Eternal Night weakened.
• Murphy told Old Black that the crisis had served as a rehearsal to warn the world about Chaos, then pressed it to identify the mastermind behind the plan.
• Old Black agreed that its power would be divided among the Night Singer, the Daughter of Dawn, and the ratmen, and named Vydia, King of Ten Thousand Curses, as the one who had set events in motion.
• The Shadowchaser's solar bombardment split the Veil of Eternal Night and restored sunlight to the ravaged land.
• Old Black attacked Murphy, but Murphy slowed time and used the divine artifact of Radiance to destroy it.
• Murphy collected a crystal from Old Black's remains and left the cliff to attend a funeral.

After the Curtain of Eternal Night lifted, Marshal Loren accepted Count Sikomel’s sentence and prepared to die rather than abandon his convictions. He said goodbye to his pregnant wife and entrusted the Pioneer Legion’s future to General Soros before setting out for the gallows.

• Sunlight returned to Banks City, and Count Sikomel gave Loren until midnight before his execution; Loren asked the underworld army to prepare his weapons and supplies.
• Loren asked the Earth Priest to bring his wife from Silverkeep, then told General Soros to lead the Pioneer Legion and hold Pioneer Fortress despite the soul pact binding its soldiers to Sikomel’s army after death.
• Ron argued that the Capet family’s new realm could not be stopped and accepted the prospect of serving in the underworld army, while Soros agreed to remain with the Pioneer Legion.
• Loren’s pregnant wife arrived, and he spent time with her before Soros departed to rejoin his soldiers; Ron gave his father advice about obtaining a prosthetic leg.
• At midnight, Loren gave his wife letters and asked her to tell their child the truth about him, then followed A Feng toward the gallows where Count Sikomel awaited.

Murphy rewarded Biji and recruited Black Servantson as a partner, entrusting him with a fragment to forge a holy relic that could help unite the ratmen. He directed Black Servantson toward Mejewa City to prepare for Murphy’s forces, while warning him not to name the ratmen’s future god the Great Horned Rat.

• Murphy gave Biji a fragment of the Dark Lord’s gloom for the Daughter of Dawn and learned that Liwen sensed a major change in the dragonkin bloodline linked to Venerable Celestial Yunlan.
• Murphy heard the Shadowstalker’s crew struggling with bugs in its main control system and left the bridge without interrupting their repairs.
• Black Servantson recounted how he helped the Frost Dwarves recover their holy spear, gathered ratmen and Jackalmen into an army, and resisted Darkness’s call to fight Transia.
• Murphy accepted Black Servantson as a partner and gave him a sealed fragment to take to the Silver Dwarves’ Temple of Gaia to forge a holy relic for the ratmen.
• Murphy instructed Black Servantson to claim territory in Mejewa City and wait for his warriors, warning him not to call the ratmen’s future god the Great Horned Rat.

Murphy returned to Crimson Castle with the last fragment of the Dark Lord’s power and offered it to the Midnight Twins, while assessing the political and environmental fallout from East Prussia’s endless night. The fate assimilation gave Murphy the Devourer of Light’s power and the divine art Midnight Falls, leaving him newly able to bring night over the Midnight Tower in broad daylight.

• Murphy and Black Servant Sen planned the ratmen’s next steps, and Sen left for Silverhold with his followers to have a holy relic forged.
• Murphy and Adele discussed East Prussia’s recovery, Count Leon’s precarious political position, Transia’s nonintervention, and the planned financial scam in Kafuhoka.
• Murphy returned to Crimson Castle and learned from Triss that Shani had refused to allow a Midnight Sanctuary in the Thorn Duchy, deepening the rift within the Thorn Clan.
• Murphy placed the Dark Lord’s final power fragment on the Midnight Twins’ altar, beginning the assimilation of their related fates.
• Murphy received the Devourer of Light’s power and the divine art Midnight Falls, then shrouded the Blood Vulture Gallery and Midnight Tower in night at noon.

King Louis learned that Plantagenet forces had lost control of three border provinces and that Marshal Loren had died saving East Prussia, while Loren’s final letter urged peace with Transia and warned of a rebellion within the kingdom. Queen Elizabeth and Margaret then revealed their dealings with Helms Island and the Capet family’s role in protecting Margaret and Princess Bridget, leaving Louis demanding to hear Count Lyon’s explanation.

• King Louis learned that communications with East Prussia were cut off, the Transians were blocking his troops, and armed hillfolk and elves had isolated other border provinces.
• Marshal Dunkins reported that the Pioneer Legion still held its fortresses but that Marshal Loren had died summoning the spirits of West Ke to save Banks City and clear Chaos corruption.
• King Louis read Loren’s final letter, which urged him not to wage war on Transia, warned of a possible rebellion within the kingdom, and proposed restoring the prewar borders.
• Marshal Dunkins told Major General Buck that he would command the defenses at Dorod Fortress under his father, who would take over the Pioneer Legion.
• Queen Elizabeth told King Louis that Helms Island had joined the Plantagenet Kingdom, and Margaret revealed that Count Lyon had saved her and Princess Bridget from the Lord of Darkness’s servants.
• King Louis asked Margaret what excuse Count Lyon had for supposedly planning to become a traitor.

King Louis accepted Count Leon’s proposal to make East Prussia a hereditary duchy under the crown prince, preserving the kingdom’s legal claim while avoiding a conflict with Transia. Margaret and Elizabeth discussed the political settlement, their choices, and Murphy’s motives, while Louis summoned Leon to Fog City for William’s crown prince ceremony.

• Margaret and Queen Elizabeth persuaded King Louis that Count Leon’s proposal was the best way to keep Transia from openly taking East Prussia and to preserve the crown’s legal claim.
• Margaret explained that Leon had offered Prince William the grand dukedom, making the Capet Grand Duchy a royal fief administered by the Capet family.
• Queen Elizabeth admitted she had deceived Louis to protect their son’s future, but refused to surrender her crown; Louis rejected her plan to enter a monastery.
• Louis told Margaret to write Leon an angry reply that also invited him to Fog City for William’s crown prince ceremony.
• After Louis left for the garden with his daughter, Margaret and Elizabeth discussed the kingdom’s losses, Margaret’s limited time to live, and Murphy’s apparent lack of interest in old grudges.

Mirian met Fraser in Scarlet Keep, where he explained that he had given up his claim to the Capet family’s power and become its acting ambassador to Transia. After lunch, Fraser received a remade Arbiter Holy Sword and learned from Dolores that it was Mirian’s birthday, prompting him to pursue her with a bouquet of roses.

• Mirian attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony and prepared for a meeting about aid and commercial projects in East Prussia.
• Fraser told Mirian that he had been appointed Acting Ambassador of the Capet Grand Duchy to Transia and had chosen to leave his family’s succession struggle.
• Mirian and Fraser ate at East Mountain House, where Fraser described King Louis’s plan to grant East Prussia, Saxony, and Cato to the Capet family.
• Fraser told Mirian he hoped to travel and write while remaining ready to fight for Order, and they parted as friends.
• Dolores gave Fraser the remade Arbiter Holy Sword on Lord Murphy’s orders and urged him to catch Mirian because it was her birthday.
• Fraser took the roses Dolores handed him and hurried after Mirian.

Crow declined Boss Huo’s invitation to a trade banquet so he could treat people suffering mental disorders in Rapids Fortress, then said goodbye to Sarif Shadowblade after a final confrontation about Sarif’s guilt, nihilism, and violent plans. Crow left for Rapids Fortress with Grand Archbishop Natalie, while Sarif vanished into the shadows, still headed toward self-destruction.

• Crow refused Boss Huo’s invitation to the merfolk merchants’ banquet and warned him to finish the financial scheme within a month.
• Sarif Shadowblade returned Crow’s borrowed books and announced he was leaving Transia for good.
• Crow confronted Sarif about his guilt over killing Truman and urged him to seek answers through knowledge rather than violence.
• Sarif mocked Crow as a quack and disappeared into the shadows without taking the book Crow offered him.
• Crow met Grand Archbishop Natalie and traveled with her to Rapids Fortress to help treat the patients.
• Crow told Natalie that Sarif would act on his own once he found an answer, though he had no chance of redemption.

Katerina and the merfolk envoys agreed to attend a Treasure Bay banquet after Boss Huo assured them it was part of an official operation overseen by the Goddess of Wealth. At the gathering, Ivankov prepared to draw Kavhoka’s wealthy investors into the Misty Sea Trading Company’s scheme, which Crow Brother called a divine trial that would end within a month.

• Boss Huo explained that the merfolk were invited to promote trade and reveal the Goddess of Wealth’s involvement, easing Katerina’s concerns about the banquet.
• Boss Huo told Katerina that the operation would punish greedy Northerners through the Goddess of Wealth’s trial, while innocent people would eventually recover their losses.
• Treasure Bay closed to host the Misty Sea Trading Company’s shareholders and prospective investors from Kavhoka, who arrived to lavish entertainment and generous investment promises.
• Marshal Heraclius encouraged wealthy acquaintances to invest in Ivankov’s company, citing large returns from weapons trading and his own platinum-client status.
• Crow Brother and Boss Huo prepared Ivankov to address the investors, and Crow Brother urged him to treat the scheme as a trial of reason, greed, and restraint before the operation concluded within a month.

At the Mistsea Trading Company's shareholder gala, Mr. Ivankov announced spectacular profits and promoted new investments tied to wars and expansion. As Katerina presented the Atlantean Kingdom's plans, Ivankov considered opening low-cost investments to ordinary people, pending the boss's approval.

• The Mistsea Trading Company staged a lavish shareholder meeting, drawing Kaffahoka's elite and royal financial officer Mr. Maro.
• Desert dancers performed, and Marshal Heraclius told Mr. Maro that the company had legitimate operations and influential connections in the Sanghai Empire.
• Mr. Ivankov announced a 243 percent return and predicted returns above 500 percent in the next investment round, prompting shareholders to celebrate.
• Mr. Ivankov introduced Katerina and other speakers to promote opportunities tied to Atlantean expansion and Plantagenet colonization.
• A halfling accountant reported that many shareholders were reinvesting and proposed opening low-threshold investments to the common people; Ivankov said he would seek the boss's instructions.

At the Mistsea Trading Company’s shareholders’ meeting, Ivankov used world news and carefully staged success stories to attract investors while Marshal Heraclius defended the company and Sir Maro investigated it for the Wolf Girl. After Ivankov arranged a reunion between Maro and Vera, he learned that a man claiming to be his brother had arrived with his wife and child.

• The Mistsea Trading Company gave small shareholders booklets explaining how news about the Atlantean Kingdom and the Plantagenet Kingdom could create investment opportunities, while Sir Maro recorded the intelligence for the Wolf Girl.
• Mr. Huguenot announced that the House of Capet was about to become regent of a grand duchy, and planted investors praised the company to encourage more people to invest.
• Marshal Heraclius accepted Ivankov’s dividends for the Kafhoka Legion’s veterans but ordered him to reinvest the money, despite Ivankov’s private fear that the venture was becoming too risky.
• Heraclius and Ivankov tried to involve Sir Maro in their interests, and a dancer named Vera recognized him as her former lover before the others left them alone together.
• Ivankov thanked a Thorn Clan vampire for helping arrange the reunion, then received word that a man claiming to be his brother had come to the casino with his wife and child.
• Ivankov told the guards to take the man and his family to his hotel room so he could meet them after the shareholders’ meeting.

Ivankov reunited with his brother Anton and cousin Anna, then refused Anton’s demand to invest the proceeds from selling the family estate. After knocking Anton unconscious, Ivankov arranged for Anna and her daughters to escape to Paradise Island while he stayed behind.

• Ivankov returned to the King's Suite after Misty Sea Trading Company’s successful shareholders' meeting and met Anton, Anna, and their two daughters.
• Ivankov sent Anna and the girls to the restaurant, where Anna found his note asking her to meet him privately.
• Anton demanded an investment and revealed he had sold the family estate, so Ivankov punched him and knocked him unconscious.
• Ivankov met Anna alone, gave her a passbook, and told her to take the girls to Paradise Island under new identities.
• Ivankov reassured Anna that he would stay behind and handle Anton, then gave her medicine for the bruise on her neck.

Ivankov and Old Huo expanded their Kafhoka investment scheme, while Murphy learned how its collapse could destabilize the Wolf Girl’s rule and chose to leave Kafhoka’s future to Mirian and Transia’s leaders. When intelligence revealed Shani was investigating the scheme across several regions, Murphy decided to seek permission to help Andrei deal with her.

• Ivankov told Old Huo that Anton had accepted money to leave, and he planned to send Anna and the children to Paradise Island with Lady Katerina.
• Ivankov proposed opening Class A investments to Kafhoka’s private capital, and Old Huo approved the plan as part of the Wealth Goddess’s trial.
• Adele reported to Murphy that the Mistsea Trading Company’s scheme had drawn enormous wealth from Kafhoka and could cause the Wolf Girl’s rule and the Kafhoka Legion to collapse when exposed.
• Murphy said he would leave Kafhoka’s fate to Mirian and Transia’s leadership and intended to relinquish his governorship after resolving the Life Greenhouse conflict.
• Murphy learned that Shani was investigating the Mistsea Trading Company in multiple regions, and he decided to seek the Sovereign’s permission to help Andrei and his sister stop her.

Murphy agreed to confront Shani after Sovereign Payen declared her unfit to lead the Thorn clan and warned that she could no longer appear again. In the Empire of Sanghai, Shani uncovered the Mistsea Trading Company's schemes, then Murphy arrived to deliver the Sovereign's final warning.

• Murphy met Sovereign Payen, who said Shani had ignored his summons and asked Murphy to remove her from leadership without killing her if possible.
• Murphy and Payen discussed Andrei as acting Grand Duke and considered Queen Angelina as a possible future leader of the Thorn clan.
• Payen said his power was approaching the demigod level and warned Murphy to resolve Shani's situation before the Life Greenhouse assault.
• Shani's progeny showed her evidence that the Mistsea Trading Company was a fraudulent operation connected to Transia and a threat to Angelina's rule.
• A sudden unnatural midnight fell over the oasis, and Shani sent her vampires to warn Angelina while she stayed behind.
• Murphy landed before Shani and told her to stop investigating and heed the Sovereign's warning.

Murphy confronted Shani over her allegiance to the mortal kingdom and fought her after she refused to surrender. He overwhelmed her with resurrected Thorn Dukes, destroyed her Thorn Crown, and sealed her clan’s power, then ordered her to kneel.

• Murphy accused Shani of neglecting the Thorn Clan and warned that her past loyalty to the Romanovs was holding her back, while Shani defended her alliance with the kingdom.
• Shani attacked Murphy, but he blocked her strikes and marked her with the Blood Oath’s sin brand as her Haunting Shadow turned against him.
• Murphy summoned Lady Sophie Bloodrobe, who wounded Shani while Murphy defeated the wraith and used Shani’s blood to strengthen himself.
• Murphy resurrected Sophie and Lady Oksana, then summoned the first five Thorn Dukes to surround Shani.
• Murphy destroyed Shani’s Thorn Crown and sealed her Thorn Clan bloodline power, leaving her weakened beneath the gathered dukes.
• Murphy declared that vampires must return to orthodoxy and demanded that Shani kneel for her last chance.

Murphy defeated Shani and forced her to confront how her attempt to protect her family and kingdom had alienated them. After Andrei revealed that he and Angelina had chosen a new future for the Thorn Clan, Shani broke down and asked Murphy to kill her.

• Murphy's summoned Thorn Dukes subdued Shani, and he demanded to know whether she still believed she had done nothing wrong.
• Duchess Oksana explained that the Thorn Clan's tragedy came from its members' deep attachment to the past, and Murphy gave Shani a computational orb to contact her people.
• Shani warned Andrei about a plot threatening Angelina's rule, but Andrei showed her that the Thorn Duchy capital was under attack and revealed his alliance with Angelina and Murphy.
• Andrei told Shani that he and Angelina would join the vampire dynasty while preserving Nordtov's unity, leaving Shani devastated by their rejection.
• Murphy pressed Necessary Evil to Shani's neck, and she closed her eyes and asked him to kill her.

Murphy left Shani in Triss’s care and headed to Origin Harbor to check on Lady Flindis. In Kafhoka, Ivankov managed the Misty Sea Trading Company’s finances, inferred the Wolf Queen’s political strategy, and prepared for a mass investment scheme as its index surpassed 90,000.

• Murphy handed Shani’s coffin to Triss, who took it to the Blood Vulture Corridor while joking about turning Shani into a clone of her will.
• Murphy told Adele they would visit Origin Harbor to check on Lady Flindis’s repairs and seek information from the Sentinel Legion.
• Ivankov arranged to move Kafhoka’s funds through ordinary channels and planned to attract small investors with Class A goods.
• After reading a book Mr. Raven recommended, Ivankov connected Marshal Heraclius’s reassignment to the Wolf Queen’s possible plan to weaken her opponent’s faction.
• A halfling accountant showed Ivankov the return curve calculators and described the investment groups and data monitoring planned for the scheme.

Ivankov opened Class A investments to the public, drawing crowds of eager buyers across Kavhoka Province, and changed the settlement terms despite his secretary’s warning. As investors watched their apparent returns soar, a small merchant was beaten into selling his certificate, then heard a mysterious voice tell him to preserve his principal and buy the dip.

• Crowds formed outside Mistsea Trading Company offices across Kavhoka Province as small merchants and servants rushed to invest in Class A goods.
• Ivankov decided to shorten the settlement period to ten days and set the settlement rate at ten percent, overruling his secretary’s warning against changing the plan.
• A small merchant bought investment item A-04-11 and learned from other investors how to use his calculation orb to track its rapidly rising returns.
• A group led by a handsome man cornered the small merchant and forced him to sell his investment certificate for a bag of gold coins after beating him.
• As the distraught merchant stood by the docks, a female voice urged him to preserve his principal, wait for a dip, and remember to revere wealth.

The Mistsea Trading Company's investment frenzy spread through Kafhoka, and Andre learned that the resulting financial disaster could devastate the province. He agreed to let Crow Brother and Boss Huo proceed with a plan to save commoners by sacrificing nobles who invested in the scheme.

• The Mistsea Trading Company's three-day subscription rush drew commoners and merchants into Class A goods, while Boss Huo and the players realized the frenzy had become a dangerous snowball.
• Crow Brother blamed Lady Dutena's intervention for drawing more commoners into the scheme and argued that a collapse could destroy Kafhoka's economy.
• Andre arrived in Borne City and learned that the company had raised wealth worth twice Nordtov's annual treasury revenue in just over four months.
• Ivankov explained the investment scheme to Andre, who trembled as he imagined the consequences and worried that telling Grand Duchess Shani would undermine his standing.
• Crow Brother offered Andre a choice between reimbursing commoners by sacrificing the lords' investments or letting Kafhoka collapse, then proposed using the next payout to draw in more aristocrats before triggering the scheme's failure.
• Andre accepted the plan, reasoning that sacrificing nobles could save the rest of the province and clear the way for his sister's reforms.