Chapter Summaries

Gauss found and destroyed a Gnoll camp whose leader wielded demonic power linked to Yenoghu, then returned to his group and began hunting nearby tribes. He suspected the region’s unusually dense Gnoll population and altars had a demonic cause, but focused on reaching his ten-thousand-kill milestone.

• Gauss flew ahead on Hefis and located a Gnoll camp while the others prepared to make camp.
• Hefis burned many Gnolls with his Breath, and Gauss destroyed the camp with a Fireball after its leader used demonic power to attack.
• Gauss confirmed that no Gnolls survived, extinguished the remaining flames, and returned to the group for a meal.
• Gauss told the Gauss Squad that he had found several nearby Gnoll camps and planned to investigate them while gathering the final kills needed for his milestone.
• After scouting the wasteland, Gauss suspected the Gnoll population and their altars were connected to demonic power, then instructed the group to drive the Gnolls inward and leave marked enemies to him.

Gauss wiped out a gnoll camp and reached 10,000 Monster Kills, earning new spells, attribute increases, and the Flight Instinct talent. After hearing a distant explosion that seemed familiar, he flew off to investigate while his companions went to regroup with Theron.

• Gauss and his companions drove the gnolls into their camp, where Gauss cast Fireball and finished off the survivors.
• Gauss's Monster Kill Count reached 10,036, earning him Sleet Storm, Vampiric Touch, four attribute points, and the Flight Instinct talent.
• Gauss considered how Vampiric Touch and his other abilities might help him sustain himself in battle, then checked his increased attributes and new flight talent.
• A distant explosion shook the ground as Gauss and his companions prepared to leave the cleared camp.
• Gauss sent Alya, Shadow, and the others to meet Theron while he flew toward the explosion to investigate.

Gauss encountered the Isterek Family’s army purging Gnoll altars and learned that Yenoghu was spreading his influence through the wilderness. After consulting his companions, he accepted a commission to investigate Old Crow Pass and set off with them toward it.

• Gauss flew to the site of an explosion and watched the Golden Eagle Family’s army destroy a Gnoll camp.
• Mage Lyman invited Gauss into camp, explained that Yenoghu was using Gnoll altars to infiltrate the Prime Plane, and offered payment for information about altars Gauss had destroyed.
• Lyman offered Gauss an advance of 100 gold coins and a total reward of 500 gold coins to clear the suspected altar operation at Old Crow Pass.
• Gauss returned to his companions, and Alya explained the Isterek Family’s history, duties, and reputation.
• Gauss and his companions agreed to take the commission, and Gauss signed a contract with Lyman before naming Old Crow Pass as their next destination.

Gauss led his squad through Old Crow Pass while teaching Abby Ray of Frost and using Ike’s growing flock of crows to locate the Gnolls. After finding signs of corruption in the woods, Gauss began an attack with Snow Rain Burst, leaving the battle about to begin.

• Gauss and his squad reached Old Crow Pass, where they examined an ancient Elf-like statue and explored the canyon for signs of the Gnolls.
• Gauss captured crows for Ike to tame, and Ike’s flock learned the Gnolls’ location and grew to around thirty or forty birds overnight.
• Gauss led the squad deeper into the canyon, where they found Gnoll fur and dying plants that suggested the land was being polluted.
• Gauss arranged guards for Abby and York, then warned the squad he would avoid Fireball because it could trigger a landslide.
• Gauss cast Snow Rain Burst over the woods, unleashing a blizzard of freezing rain and sharp ice shards.

Gauss was trapped in a blood-mist realm by the remnant power of Demon Lord Yenoghu and fought a regenerating wolf-like beast. He discovered that holy-water weapons could disrupt demonic healing and prepared to attack the creature with that advantage.

• The gnolls fled Gauss’s magical snow, but Albenna and the others ambushed them as they emerged and killed them.
• Albenna and the others grew concerned when Gauss failed to return, then finished off the gnolls and turned toward the forest to find him.
• Gauss became trapped in a crimson version of the forest and identified a massive wolf-like beast and its regenerating shadow hounds as his attackers.
• Gauss blocked the beast’s black beam with his holy-water shield and learned that its power counteracted demonic energy.
• Gauss transformed the shield into a sword, enchanted it with Light, and wounded a shadow hound in a way that prevented it from regenerating.

Gauss defeated the demonic Wasteland Wolf after his companions destroyed the altar that sustained the scarlet world, then returned to the real world and completed the Path of the Commander. He gained the purple-quality Talent Demon Hour, and the chapter ended with Ulfhen eating the wolf’s purified ashes.

• Gauss used Tough Scale Bloodline, Flight Instinct, and Holy Water to overpower and kill the demonic Wasteland Wolf as the scarlet world began to collapse.
• Alya, Albenna, and the others reunited with Gauss and explained that Shadow had found and destroyed a glowing altar at the Gnoll camp.
• Gauss learned that the wolf counted as his fifth Commander Grade monster and completed the Path of the Commander.
• Gauss drew the Brain Transplanter Witch’s Host Lord Talent, which the panel adapted into the Superior Quality Talent Demon Hour.
• Alya found that Ulfhen had swallowed the Wasteland Wolf’s ashes, but Gauss stopped her from operating on him and asked her and Theron to check for harmful effects.

Gauss and his companions reached Flute Castle, where they encountered a community of impoverished Tieflings and Gauss paid for bread stolen by a Tiefling boy. The chapter ended with Delai and the other children sharing the bread while facing the prospect of returning to theft when their food ran out.

• Theron found nothing wrong with Ulfhen, and the party continued through Old Crow Pass toward Flute Castle.
• Abby successfully cast Ray of Frost as the party traveled, and Gauss planned to stay in Flute Castle while Alya prepared to break through.
• After arriving at Flute Castle, Gauss learned that the city had a notable Tiefling population and saw guards inspecting a Tiefling at the gate.
• Gauss let a Tiefling boy escape after he stole bread, then paid the cook fifty copper coins for it.
• At the inn, Gauss said the party would visit the Adventurer's Guild the next day to ask about the Golden Eagle Family's office.
• In the shantytown, Delai shared the bread with Fie'er, Hope, Lucis, and the other children, while worrying that they would have to steal again when it ran out.

Gauss received the Golden Eagle Family’s payment and was asked by Plaeos to investigate the disappearance of Tiefling children, but he postponed his decision. As Gauss returned to the inn, a woman tried to lure a starving Tiefling child with bread until someone seized her wrist.

• Gauss visited the Golden Eagle Family’s office, where Adrian paid him the remaining four hundred gold coins for the Wasteland Wolf commission.
• Plaeos met Gauss on behalf of Magistrate Noah and explained that Tiefling children had been disappearing across Flute Castle.
• Plaeos asked Gauss to investigate, but Gauss deferred his decision after learning the case was entangled in political conflict.
• Gauss told Alya to find a place for her secluded cultivation, then returned toward the inn with his companions.
• A woman offered bread to a starving Tiefling child in an alley, but an unseen person grabbed her wrist and told her to wait.

Gauss stopped a woman from drugging a Tiefling orphan and uncovered signs of a larger scheme targeting him and Hefis. While Alya left to pursue her breakthrough, Gauss stayed in Flute Castle and encountered Delai, who wanted to buy a gift for his little sister.

• Gauss caught a woman carrying sedative-laced bread and used magic to make her reveal that someone had paid her to drug homeless Tiefling children and take them somewhere.
• The woman collapsed when asked for the destination, and soldiers arrived to take her away; Gauss refused to go with them and fed the Tiefling boy before he returned to his neighborhood with packed meals.
• Alya found a cave near a waterfall for her breakthrough and left for Tranquil Woodland with Hefis, while Shadow secretly followed and confirmed the area was safe.
• In a hidden basement, three dragon cultists discussed capturing Gauss for the Immortal Dragon Queen and watched the opportunity created by Alya leaving the city with the little dragon.
• Gauss searched Flute Castle for whoever had been spying on him, then met Delai and agreed to help him buy a present for his little sister.

Gauss discovered that the Dragon Worship Cult was targeting him after a suspected cultist died by poison while fleeing, and he accepted Plaeos's commission to investigate the disappearance of the Tieflings. When Ike reported that Alya was surrounded by monsters and Hefis could not fly, Gauss and his party raced out of Flute Castle to help her.

• Gauss helped Delai buy a secondhand doll, then chased a man he suspected of spying on him until the man died from a poison capsule.
• Captain Alec identified the dead man as a member of the Dragon Worship Cult, and Gauss went to the guard station to give a statement.
• Plaeos apologized for Gauss being watched, offered to escort him out of Flute Castle, and gave him a locator bracelet when Gauss accepted the investigation commission instead.
• Gauss told Albenna, Shadow, and Theron about the cult, and they realized Alya and Hefis might be in danger outside the city.
• Gauss and his party hurried toward Alya after Ike warned them that she was surrounded by monsters and Hefis could not fly.

Gauss reached the woods as the Dragon Worship Cult captured Alya and wounded Hefis and Ulfhen, then fought back with Shadow, Albenna, and Theron. After killing the cultist Nolan, Gauss faced the battle’s turning tide just as Lady Cecilia rode a Skeleton Dragon toward him.

• Gauss led his companions into the woods after hearing fighting and finding no sign that Plaeos had arrived.
• Dragon Worship Cultists led by Nolan attacked Hefis and Alya; the assassin wounded Alya and speared Ulfhen, while Alya’s power raised a protective shield around her.
• Gauss arrived, saw his companions fallen, transformed into his draconic form, and began slaughtering the cultists and monsters.
• Shadow took on the invisible assassin, Albenna engaged the burly warrior, and Theron moved to rescue Alya and Ulfhen while Gauss fought Nolan.
• Gauss saw through Nolan’s Green Dragon illusion and killed him, then attacked cultists threatening Theron as the battle continued.
• Lady Cecilia rode a blue-and-white Skeleton Dragon toward the woods, saying Gauss had attracted the Green Dragon Queen’s attention.

Gauss unleashed Ghost Form to break free of Cecilia’s Ice Coffin and fought her and her Bone Dragon alongside Hefis. Though badly outmatched in the ongoing aerial battle, he and Hefis charged from opposite sides to attack the Bone Dragon.

• Gauss fought through the Dragon Worship Cult forces while Alya remained trapped in a barrier and Ulfhen recovered from its wound.
• Cecilia arrived riding a Skeleton Dragon, trapped Gauss in an Ice Coffin, and tried to capture him alive.
• Gauss activated Ghost Form, shattered the Ice Coffin, and struck Cecilia with an enhanced Fireball that broke her mask and damaged the Bone Dragon.
• Cecilia summoned a blizzard and attacked Gauss as he mounted the recovered Hefis, whose power had returned and seemed linked to Gauss.
• Gauss realized he was losing a prolonged spell battle, then ordered Hefis to charge the Bone Dragon while he flew in from the opposite side.

Gauss fought Cecilia through her storm of extreme cold, but Plaeos and Noxil arrived in time to save him and capture the Dragon Worship Cult members. The chapter ended with Guild Master Ferguson responding to an urgent message from the Provincial Capital and summoning Edwards and Curtis.

• Gauss and Hefis attacked Cecilia and the Bone Dragon, and Gauss’s Fireball badly wounded the dragon and blasted Cecilia from its back.
• Cecilia unleashed a storm of wind and snow that overwhelmed Gauss, but he used his Golden Dragon Eyes to find her hidden within the magic.
• Gauss charged Cecilia as she completed her spell and severed her left arm with the Holy Water sword, but her Winter Pulse froze him and knocked him unconscious.
• Noxil caught Gauss as he fell, while Plaeos killed Cecilia with Supreme Holy Slash and then treated Gauss with Life Energy and a powerful potion.
• Noxil captured the two Dragon Worship Cult members, and Plaeos brought Gauss back toward Flute Castle.
• Ferguson emerged from seclusion after receiving a message from the Provincial Capital and ordered Edwards and Curtis to be summoned because they were in serious trouble.

After recovering at the Hayes Family castle, Gauss learned that the Dragon Worship Cult was facing a citywide crackdown prompted by a message from the Palace. Plaeos revealed that Gauss was being credited with killing the Transcendent Dragon Priest Cecilia, leaving him uneasy about the fame and pressure that would bring.

• Captain Kai and Mage Jack arrested residents suspected of ties to the Dragon Worship Cult during Flute Castle's crackdown.
• Gauss woke in the Hayes Family castle, learned that Plaeos had rescued and healed him, and asked after his teammates.
• Gauss visited Alya, who remained unconscious but stable, and saw that Silver Wolf Ulfhen was also recovering nearby.
• Plaeos told Gauss that the Provincial Capital had ordered the crackdown and that the Palace had sent an urgent message to protect him.
• Plaeos explained that Hefis's identity as Gauss's Red Dragon Beast had become known among Flute Castle's authorities.
• Plaeos told Gauss that people believed he had slain Cecilia, and Gauss realized the false credit would bring him unwanted attention and expectations.

After mourning the Scale Powder Butterfly, Gauss returned to Flute Castle, where his fame had spread and preparations for his Master Rank breakthrough were underway. He and Albenna began making arrangements for secluded training, and Gauss arrived at a magic-rich hot spring estate prepared for his cultivation.

• Albenna buried the Scale Powder Butterfly, while Ulfhen and Ike mourned their fallen companion.
• Gauss returned to Flute Castle to crowds celebrating his achievements, then saw Abby into a school.
• A Tiefling Ranger delivered supplies from Plaeos and told Gauss that his investigation into missing Tiefling orphans had been credited as a completed commission.
• Gauss prepared to break through to Master Rank with Albenna, received potions, magic stones, and a Water Manipulation Spellbook, and warned his squad to stay alert for Dragon Worship Cult remnants.
• Gauss escorted Albenna to the city center for her Class change, left Alya in the guarded garden, and continued to a magic-rich hot spring estate for his training.

Gauss completed a four-day breakthrough at Cui Lu Hot Spring Manor, reaching the Master Rank as a Level 6 Magic User and Level 4 Sword Soul. The chapter ended with him eating to recover and considering the benefits of his transformation.

• Gauss entered the hot spring, where its magic, the potions and magic stones, and a life-repair potion helped trigger his breakthrough.
• Gauss’s Magic Cup shattered and reforged as powerful energy gathered around him, causing the hot spring to churn and spiral clouds to appear above the city.
• Noah and Plaeos connected the celestial phenomenon to Gauss, and Noah ordered extra protection for Gauss’s teammates in Flute Castle.
• After four days, Gauss regained consciousness, completed his transformation, and reached Level 6 as a Magic User and Level 4 as a Sword Soul.
• Gauss dressed, ate the food prepared by the maids, and reviewed his increased attributes.

After reaching the Master realm, Gauss visited Alya during her breakthrough and witnessed her complete a moonlit ritual. Alya awakened her elven bloodline and became a Moon Phase Walker, while Gauss learned about her family’s elven ancestry.

• Gauss finished his meal, examined his new Cannon Mage specialization, and left the hot spring estate for Alya’s cultivation garden.
• Gauss found signs of Alya’s breakthrough thriving in the woods and watched a moonlit ritual envelop the wooden cocoon where she was cultivating.
• Alya emerged from the cocoon unconscious, and Gauss covered her with a robe and waited beside her until she woke.
• Alya told Gauss that the Moon Goddess had guided her to become a Moon Phase Walker and awakened the elven bloodline inherited from her family.
• Alya explained that her ancestors were an elven branch expelled from their ancestral lands, and that her bloodline could continue awakening as she grew stronger.

After leaving Flute Castle, Gauss and his companions traveled toward the snowy mountains as the Red Dragon Knight's fame spread. In Snowriver, they avoided a would-be challenge, and Gauss sensed that the growing number of monsters in the frozen river might be tied to the Lake God's commission.

• Alya showed Gauss how her breakthrough had strengthened her bond with Raven Ike and Silver Wolf Ulfhen, and the companions' abilities had grown.
• Gauss departed Flute Castle on Hefis, drawing a crowd that hailed him as the Red Dragon Knight.
• During the journey, Gauss and his squad stopped in Snowriver, where townspeople and travelers recognized him.
• Alya reported that monsters had increased in the frozen river and that an adventuring party planned to challenge Gauss.
• Albenna intimidated the would-be challengers into backing down, and Gauss sensed a foreboding scent while watching the river.

Gauss and the Gauss Squad cleared the water ghouls along the Tarna River, and Gauss gained new skills from his Demon Hour talent. They reached the Isterm snowy mountains, where they survived an avalanche before spotting a white figure in the stormy sky.

• Gauss tested the river with a Holy Water sword, then used his enhanced Magic Missile spell to wipe out a water ghoul camp.
• Gauss and the squad spent two days clearing monsters along the river, and Alya’s kills began adding to his count.
• Gauss gained the Bite and Swimming skills from his Demon Hour talent after killing many water ghouls.
• The squad reached the Isterm snowy mountains, drank cold-resistance potions, and advanced into the mountains using Fly.
• Gauss warned the squad of an approaching avalanche, and they flew above it until the snow finally subsided.
• A loud roar rang across the sky, and Gauss and the others glimpsed a white figure through the flying snow.

Gauss Squad reached Mount Isthmus and met Snow Mountain Spirit Eisvel, who revealed that an ancient evil beneath the mountain had escaped its seal decades ago. Eisvel blessed the group and sent them away aboard a wise white dragon, warning that a time of chaos was approaching.

• Gauss Squad gathered magical fruit from an Ice Vein Tree and continued through the snowy mountains toward Mount Isthmus.
• Gauss followed the water sword's divine guidance to an icy cliff, where Snow Mountain Spirit Eisvel appeared and confirmed that Methera had sent him.
• Eisvel explained that she was the nature spirit of Mount Isthmus and that an evil being had fallen there long ago, forcing her to expand the mountains as she suppressed it.
• Eisvel told Gauss that the evil had escaped control decades earlier and warned that the world was approaching a time of chaos.
• Eisvel granted Gauss Squad the blessing of wind and snow, then summoned a white dragon to carry them down the mountain.