Chapter Summaries

Lilith, imprisoned in a mist-shrouded land, sought purpose through human company and books, then learned she might be a Demon Realm lord who could escape by finding an heir. Sean offered to take her place by committing an unforgivable crime, but Tang Qi concluded from Lilith's notebook that the plan had failed.

• Lilith grew bored of endless imprisonment and tried to find meaning through fear, sunlight, human affection, and reading.
• Lilith befriended Sean, who visited her tomb with books and explained human customs and relationships.
• Sean revealed that he had hidden Lilith's existence from the people and later introduced her to a book about the Demon Realm and its imprisoned lords.
• Lilith learned that a Demon Realm lord could escape by finding a qualified heir, and Sean offered to inherit her power and imprisonment to protect his family.
• Tang Qi read Lilith's notebook and concluded that Sean's attempt to take her place had failed.

Tang Qi uncovered the truth behind the Twilight Forest’s mist and the Night Raven family’s history: Lilith had saved Sean after he betrayed and killed his brother, and he lived for centuries under his brother’s identity as Van Vreene. The mist contained Sean’s remains, left behind after he finally chose to end his life in sunlight.

• Tang Qi exchanged his travel guide manuscript with Lilith, then explained how he had recognized her as the author Mary Sue.
• Tang Qi’s notes revealed that the Twilight Forest was an overlaid Demon Realm, and that its mist responded to Lilith’s past crime of betrayal.
• After Sean killed his loved one and tried to gain power through betrayal, Lilith gave him her blood and saved him from his attempted suicide.
• Sean became a vampire and assumed his brother’s identity as Van Vreene, helping Lilith and Ferrier preserve the Night Raven family and defend the land from the Tide of Chaos.
• After a century of maintaining the disguise, Sean decided to end his life and stepped into the sunlight after saying farewell to Lilith.
• Tang Qi finished his account and realized that the Vampire Mist was made from Sean’s remains.

Lilith learned about the world beyond the mist through Tang Qi’s manuscript, while Tang Qi uncovered more of Twilight Forest’s history and the mystery of Van Vreene’s lingering spirit. As the group prepared to leave, they decided to draw Sean’s blood mist to the castle so Van Vreene could finally release him.

• Lilith read Tang Qi’s manuscript and asked whether he had written more about the world beyond the mist.
• Tang Qi learned that Merlin had encouraged Lilith to write Home of Mist but had kept the profits from her books.
• Lilith explained that the Hags brought her food and that she woke from nightmares on nights with double moons.
• Tang Qi told Van Vreene that Sean’s guilt had driven him into the sunlight and left his remains as blood mist throughout the forest.
• Arthur offered to use his blood to lure Sean’s mist to the castle, but Fide took the Crimson Curved Saber and said her stronger regenerative ability made her the better choice.

Tang Qi used Fide’s blood and a song to draw Sean Nightraven into the castle and help him face Van Vreene. The brothers’ cycle ended after Sean entered the banquet hall, and the castle’s repeated scenes dissolved into mist.

• Fide cut her wrist to contribute to the group, and Lilith tasted her blood as Tang Qi realized the blood mist was avoiding the castle.
• Tang Qi led the group into the mist and sang Van Vreene’s story with [Silver Tongue], while Arthur’s [Aura of Vitality] protected them.
• The song made the blood mist hesitate and form Sean Nightraven’s silhouette at the castle doors.
• Lilith urged Sean to go, and he gave his name to the servant outside the banquet hall before entering.
• The banquet hall doors closed, the castle’s repeating figures dissolved into mist, and Tang Qi declared the cycle over.

Tang Qi exposed Kane’s deception after Fide tested whether Kane would sacrifice the village for her, and the Beastkin learned that the Hag had left the forest years ago. Tang Qi offered them a way to remove their beastification curse and choose whether to stay or leave.

• Kane grieved over Fide’s apparent corpse and agreed to give Tang Qi the village’s food and hunting grounds in exchange for her resurrection.
• Fide revealed that she had been pretending to be dead so she could learn whether Kane valued her more than the village, and Kane embraced her in relief.
• Kane tried to reject the bargain and capture the other Beastkin, but Fide stopped him and insisted they deserved the freedom to choose their lives.
• Tang Qi revealed that Kane had concealed the Hag’s departure ten years earlier, prompting the Beastkin to question why he had gathered them in the village.
• Kane attacked Tang Qi, but Dawn knocked him aside, and Tang Qi explained that Kane had sought companionship rather than power.
• Tang Qi presented Arthur’s [Remove Curse] as a way for the Beastkin to leave, while urging them to learn the truth and decide for themselves.

Arthur exposed Kane’s deception and began removing the beastkin’s curses, but many villagers chose to stay or needed time to decide. Tang Qi then persuaded Arthur to help devise Twilight doctrines to unite the beastfolk, leaving Arthur uneasy but committed to the plan.

• Arthur explained that Kane had ordered his arrest after he tried to remove the villagers’ curses, and Eric asked if he could return to Rekzek Village.
• Arthur cured Eric’s curse, and Eric celebrated that he could no longer transform into a wolf.
• The villagers hesitated to have their curses removed, citing lost ties, the benefits of their beast forms, and their children; Tang Qi urged them to choose freely.
• Tang Qi asked Fide to count who wanted to leave and provide the promised food, then recruited Arthur to help compile religious doctrines.
• Tang Qi argued that new doctrines could unite and civilize the beastfolk, and Arthur agreed to help despite fearing the plan’s risks.

Tang Qi established a doctrine to unite the Fierce Roar Tribe and gained Shivana’s respect while helping Fide deal with her village’s crisis. As Tang Qi prepared to leave, Arthur chose to return to the village where he had killed a Vampire Spawn and confront his past.

• Tang Qi recited a doctrine that framed Beastfolk fury, unity, conquest, and obedience to the prophet as Gruush’s will, then had Shivana translate it into language the tribe understood.
• Tang Qi declared Shivana the tribe’s chief, and the Beastfolk and Goblins cheered her name as she thanked him and accepted his strength.
• Fide told Tang Qi that her village had lost many people and that she had taken over Kane’s duties; Tang Qi suggested she seek Beastkin recruits in Dragon Gold City.
• Fide and Tang Qi exchanged thanks and promised to help each other, while Arthur said he would lift the curse, escort the villagers out, and return to the village where he had killed a Vampire Spawn.
• Arthur explained that he had killed the Vampire Spawn without investigating whether the child had harmed anyone, and Tang Qi urged him to consider whether he had acted on impulse.
• Arthur and Fide departed as a lute ballad played, leaving Tang Qi to continue his journey.

Geya visited Moonlight Castle to report that Tang Qi was alive and had become a remarkable figure, astonishing his older sister Yena. Yena decided to conceal the news from her family and prepare to claim a close bond with him, while Geya returned to the Poet Academy and encountered someone in a familiar carriage.

• Geya brought Yena an apology gift and explained that Tang Qi had not died; he had simply been too busy to reply.
• Yena questioned why the Poet Academy kept sending updates about Tang Qi and learned that he had become renowned on the other side of the continent.
• Yena hid her shock, told Geya she would inform their father, and privately planned to fabricate evidence of her concern for Tang Qi.
• Geya left Moonlight Castle and rode the magic train to Lingering City, reflecting on how people’s regard for Tang Qi had changed.
• At the Poet Academy gates, Geya heard someone call her and recognized a lavish carriage associated with a manuscript she had once had rejected.

Geya received expensive shoes and an assignment from Kohlhaeron Versace, then found an idea for this year’s New Year celebration play in Home of Mist. In the forest, Tang Qi reviewed rewards that granted him Ultimate Stamina, a faith-based bearing, two spells, and a Spirit Story about the Night Raven Family.

• Kohlhaeron Versace gave Geya Maliana shoes and said he would leave Lingering City to deal with unrest on the border.
• Geya considered adapting Home of Mist for the New Year celebration and planned to ask her mentor for approval.
• Tang Qi examined his upgraded Ultimate Stamina reward and considered how it might protect him in dreams with Elusha.
• Tang Qi received the Heretical Prophet bearing and the Second Ring Suggestion Spell.
• Tang Qi gained the Third Ring Speak with Dead spell and questioned how useful it would be on a Beastfolk corpse.
• Tang Qi obtained the Spirit Story: Song of the Vampire after uncovering the truth about the Night Raven Family and closing the cycle in the mist.

Tang Qi examined the power of his Song of the Vampire and then watched Anbi, Shivana, and Houke hunt Serpent-Chicken Beasts. The hunt went badly when Houke and Shivana were petrified, leaving Anbi to lead the beasts toward the Sky Turtle and call for Dawn’s help.

• Tang Qi learned that his ballad could summon Lilith’s spirit and temporarily transform visible creatures within twenty meters into Half-Bloods.
• Tang Qi watched Anbi’s group hunt Serpent-Chicken Beasts, while Anbi showed her growing skill as a hunter and Barbarian.
• Houke charged the beasts despite Anbi’s warning, and venom from a wounded beast petrified him.
• Shivana struck at the beasts to rescue Houke, but their venom petrified her as well.
• Anbi drew the beasts’ attention away from the stone statues and ran toward the Sky Turtle, calling for Dawn to help.

Tang Qi led the party in preparing Serpent-Chicken Beast dishes, but both his stew and Anbi’s roast chicken were so revolting that everyone vomited. After the party crossed out of the Twilight Forest, Tang Qi gained the Mist Walker feat and recorded his first day in the Wasteland.

• Dawn killed eight Serpent-Chicken Beasts, and Tang Qi organized the party to prepare them for dinner.
• Tang Qi’s stew tasted awful, so Anbi tried making roast chicken, which also left the party vomiting.
• Tang Qi saved portions of both failed dishes to make the petrified Shivana and Houke taste them later.
• The party traveled south through the thinning mist and reached the boundary between the Twilight Forest and the Wasteland.
• Tang Qi gained the Mist Walker feat, which let him sense mist and use Misty Step, and recorded the party’s departure from the forest.

Tang Qi explored the Wasteland aboard the Sky Turtle while searching for the Road to Prison. After Shivana's party brought back a dead Halfling, Tang Qi learned about Source Essence and realized that casting magic in the Wasteland could be unstable, just as a Fireball suddenly surged toward him.

• Tang Qi journaled about the Wasteland's unstable Magic Web and planned to find the Road to Prison before exploring farther.
• Shivana's hunting party returned with a dead Halfling, whom Tang Qi identified as a member of House Hal from the badge in his Dimensional Bag.
• Tang Qi used Speak with Dead and learned that the Halfling collected Source Essence, which could stabilize magic in the Wasteland.
• Tang Qi realized that ordinary spells might be unstable, and Dawn warned him as a scorching Fireball rushed toward him.

Tang Qi survived a chaotic Fireball blast because Dawn resurrected him, but the Tide of Chaos transformed her into a doll and left her unable to fight or cast spells. Fearing the effect might be permanent, Tang Qi prepared to seek help from House Hal, only for a stampede of sheep carrying a mysterious scroll to approach the turtle.

• A Fireball exploded in the market, and Dawn used [Resurrection Spell] to save Tang Qi before he died.
• Tang Qi recovered with a Health Potion and learned that Dawn had become a miniature magical doll who could no longer cast spells or wield weapons.
• Tang Qi suspected the Tide of Chaos had inflicted a powerful, lasting transformation on Dawn and decided to seek House Hal's help controlling the magic.
• Tang Qi warned Shivana that dangers were growing in the Wasteland and told her to ready the tribe's fighters.
• A guard sounded an alarm, and Tang Qi saw a stampeding flock of sheep approaching the giant turtle with a ram carrying a scroll.

Tang Qi led the [Roaring Throats] tribe against a fleeing flock of adventurers pursued by fire-breathing Allosauruses. The adventurers were herded toward the giant tortoise, where they recognized Tang Qi as their apparent honored guest, and saw a Beastfolk kneeling before him.

• Tang Qi spotted Allosauruses chasing the sheep and ordered Jilago to herd the flock while the Beastfolk confronted the predators.
• Tang Qi played a song that summoned a blood-rimmed black hole, startling the sheep, who were adventurers transformed into animals by the wild surge.
• The Allosauruses attacked the flock, but Beastfolk leaped from the tortoise and fought them while the goblins guided the sheep toward safety.
• The adventurers watched the Beastfolk heal by drinking Allosaurus blood and feared they would be kept as livestock.
• The flock recognized Tang Qi playing music on the watchtower and saw a Beastfolk kneeling before him.

Tang Qi learned that a flock of sheep included adventurers transformed by a chaotic spell while transporting a crate for House Hal, and agreed to lead them to Wilderness Village. Their account of a red dragon attacking the expedition gave Tang Qi another reason to investigate the Wasteland, but the route ahead led through ruined settlements.

• Butcher brought Tang Qi a map of the Road to Prison and showed him that he and some of the sheep were people transformed about a month earlier.
• Tang Qi questioned Butcher and learned that the adventurers had accepted a House Hal job to transport a crate from the Wizard Tower after a competition in Wilderness Village.
• The adventurers explained that a red dragon attacked their group and a Wizard Tower mage's Fog Spell turned them into sheep, allowing them to escape.
• Tang Qi released the flock, identified the adventurers, and promised to bring them safely to Wilderness Village.
• Tang Qi decided to seek answers from House Hal about the crate, the dragon, and the tides of chaos, then continued toward the Road to Prison.
• Tang Qi found that the route toward the Wasteland's Stable Zone was lined with devastated ruins and collapsed walls.

Tang Qi and his companions reached a village devastated by a Red Dragon and met Halahar, the surviving House Hal spellcaster. Halahar warned them about the spreading beast tides, but Tang Qi sought her help restoring Dawn, and she offered to explain the family secret as long as he told no one else.

• Tang Qi and Shivana explored the ruined village while Butcher identified its broken tower as House Hal's residence.
• Anbi sensed someone inside the tower, and Tang Qi used a clone to enter before speaking with the hidden survivor, Halahar.
• Tang Qi showed Halahar a House Hal badge and reported the Red Dragon; Halahar confirmed it had destroyed the village amid a beast tide that had been growing for about half a year.
• Halahar warned Tang Qi not to travel farther south and offered to take his group north with House Hal's refugees, but he asked instead for help restoring Dawn.
• Halahar said the family forbade her from sharing the method, then suggested Tang Qi keep it secret from everyone else.

Tang Qi asked Halahar how to dispel the transformation affecting someone, but House Hal had run out of source essence and Halahar urged him to persuade its elders to send another expedition. Halahar joined Tang Qi’s group, then recognized him as the man whose political scandal had made the Lionheart Lord step down, leaving Tang Qi worried that Leon had abandoned his post to pursue Eve.

• Halahar explained that dispelling a ninth-ring transformation required source essence to control the chaotic Magic Web, but House Hal had none left.
• Halahar refused to reveal where her family gathered source essence and asked Tang Qi to persuade the elders to organize another expedition rather than leave the Wasteland.
• Halahar showed Tang Qi her reusable Source Power Kids and agreed to travel with his group after he offered to tell her what had caused the beast tide.
• Butcher recognized Halahar as familiar, but she said she had not seen him before, and Tang Qi carried him toward the giant turtle.
• Halahar recognized Tang Qi Weinberg from reports that he had exposed a political scandal and forced the Lionheart Lord to step down, prompting Tang Qi to fear Leon had given up his position to chase Eve.

With House Hal trapped inside a Mansion Spell by a growing beast tide, Halahar returned with the Source Power Kid and unexpected reinforcements. She brought Toto Hal outside to reveal Tang Qi Weinberg leading a Beastfolk army that was attacking the beasts surrounding them.

• Toto Hal worried that House Hal would run out of food or outlast the Mansion Spell before the beast tide cleared, while Halahar remained missing after leaving to retrieve her Source Power Kid.
• An adventurer scout reported that the beasts and rapidly growing vegetation had made escape nearly impossible, and Toto Hal paid him for the day.
• Halahar returned safely with the Source Power Kid and reinforcements, then urged Toto Hal to gather everyone able to fight and break through the encirclement.
• Halahar pulled Toto Hal outside, where they saw Beastfolk fighting the beasts and three enormous tortoises entering the fray.
• Halahar identified the human playing music atop a tortoise as Tang Qi Weinberg and called the Beastfolk his army.

Tang Qi learned from Toto Hal that House Hal’s failed expedition sought to install a source essence refining device in the Wasteland, and he resolved to retrace the adventurers’ route to find it and restore Dawn. In the mansion, he discovered its portrait of Archmage Merlin Hal looked exactly like the Merlin he remembered.

• Tang Qi told Toto Hal that the adventurers he had sent into the Wasteland had been transformed into sheep and that he had found one House Hal member dead.
• Toto Hal said the Obelisk Towers had been destroyed, leaving no source essence available to undo Dawn’s Complete Transfiguration.
• Toto Hal explained that Eve Edel had built the Obelisk Towers to stabilize the Magic Web, and that House Hal’s expedition had carried a Wizard Tower device to refine replacement source essence.
• Tang Qi decided to retrace the failed expedition’s route and search for the missing device, then asked the sheep adventurers what they remembered.
• Tang Qi recognized the mansion’s portrait of Archmage Merlin Hal as the Merlin he knew.

Tang Qi learned that a red dragon had attacked the adventurers near Windless Canyon and likely taken the Source Essence medium. He organized an advance party to scout the canyon and search for the medium, ending with Anbi volunteering to replace Houke.

• Tang Qi learned that Grandfather Merlin was believed dead but was now alive at the Golden Oak, and that House Hal’s elders remembered his eccentric love of fire magic.
• Butcher translated the adventurers’ account of their journey, explaining that a red dragon had attacked them in Windless Canyon after they encountered an overlord and its family.
• Toto Hal and Tang Qi concluded that the red dragon might have destroyed the Obelisk Towers to obtain the Source Essence, and Tang Qi decided to investigate its possible lair despite the danger.
• Toto Hal volunteered to guide the expedition, while Halahar revealed that he had stored several spells in Source Power Kids, most of them fire-based.
• Tang Qi planned a stealthy advance party of himself, Shivana, Houke, Halahar, and Yiwu, with the rest following on the Sky Turtle.
• Anbi objected to Houke joining the advance party because he might ruin their plans, then volunteered to take his place.