Chapter Summaries

Tang Qi took control of the Snakefolk cave and freed the captives, including the Dwarf Fireforged, whom he had met in Dragon Gold City. He then found Leon Lionheart imprisoned in the deepest cell and asked whether he wanted to be rescued.

• Bell led Tang Qi to a Snakefolk outpost while Bella's silence revealed that Bell had lied about where the entrance led.
• Tang Qi forced the Deep Pit Lord to order the Snakefolk troops to surrender, then demanded to see the prisoners, especially a black-furred captive.
• Tang Qi recognized Fireforged in the cells and ordered the Snakefolk to release him and the other adventurers.
• The Snakefolk opened the cells, and the freed captives cheered as Tang Qi continued to the last cell.
• Tang Qi found Leon Lionheart sitting in the gloom and asked whether he wanted to be rescued.

Tang Qi agreed to help the imprisoned Deep Pit Lord reclaim Wind Sand Islet and Dragon Gold City in exchange for the Snakefolk collars that controlled the slaves. He drew Leon into a private dream and challenged him to reveal what he truly wanted.

• Tang Qi and Shalti confronted Leon and Night Wind in the prison, where Yiwu blasted Leon with a Gravity Orb.
• The Deep Pit Lord offered Tang Qi the Snakefolk collars and the slaves’ lives if Tang Qi helped him reclaim Wind Sand Islet and rebuild the empire.
• Tang Qi proposed waiting until morning to travel and used a Resting Melody to bring Leon into a private dream.
• Tang Qi argued that Leon’s lawful surrender and concern for Yiwu showed he was not simply a power-hungry dictator.
• Tang Qi asked Leon what he truly wanted.

Tang Qi questioned Leon about his motives, the Southern Great Wall’s fragile defense, and Eve Edel’s death, while learning that Leon had sought to reach the wall as a prisoner. The chapter ended with Kandelian ordering Wind Sand Islet’s gates opened to receive grain as an army arrived through the burning battlefield.

• Leon told Tang Qi that he had stepped down because he was shackled and captured while serving his sentence, and explained that psionicists maintained the Southern Great Wall with Spice until their minds collapsed.
• Leon said Eve Edel’s former subjects and allies had opposed her ideals because they feared losing power, while he admitted he had shared their opposition.
• Leon said he had intended to serve his sentence, have his shackles removed lawfully, and help defend the Great Wall, and he was investigating how a Snakefolk obtained an Aether Prism.
• Tang Qi told Leon that Kandelian had slaughtered the people and emptied the granaries at Plague Outpost, prompting Tang Qi to suspect Leon had helped appoint the mage as its lord.
• An army transporting grain crossed the battlefield beneath Wind Sand Islet’s walls, and Kandelian ordered the guards to open the gates and accept the supplies.

At Wind Sand Islet, Kandelian and Uha learned the city was near starvation and that no further coalition troops had arrived, while Tang Qi heard how the Southern Great Wall’s defenders had been overwhelmed by powerful beastfolk forces. Tang Qi rallied the defeated adventurers to march south, then realized his presence might let him win over beastfolk as well as humans.

• Uha joined Kandelian, Damon, and Shedskin for a meal and learned that the city’s food was nearly gone and no other coalition troops had appeared.
• Tang Qi questioned captured adventurers, who described the coalition’s defeat by red hounds, dragons, and disciplined beastfolk spellcasters.
• Night Wind gave Tang Qi Leon’s note revealing that the Greenhouse had been found beneath the desert, and the Deep Pit Lord ordered the group to descend toward Wind Sand Islet.
• Tang Qi persuaded the demoralized adventurers and mercenaries to continue south by urging them to defend their homes and promising them recognition as heroes.
• Tang Qi realized his presence traits might help him win over beastfolk, while Shivana objected to the humans’ calls to drive them all out.

Tang Qi led the enlarged alliance toward Sandworm Hollow in search of food and supplies while investigating Leon’s account of the regicide. They found the coastal settlement destroyed and piled with corpses, and Tang Qi tried to rally the shaken survivors as the group entered.

• Fireforged proposed heading to Sandworm Hollow for supplies, and Tang Qi agreed as the alliance continued west across the Gray Desolate Plains.
• Tang Qi tested a claim in his journal about the nobles’ motives and received the Mind Barrier spell, deepening his doubts about Leon’s account of the regicide.
• Yiwu and Shalti detected the coast ahead, and Tang Qi encouraged the alliance by announcing they were nearing Sandworm Hollow.
• The Deep Pit Lord asked Leon about the secret passage to Wind Sand Islet, and Leon said the Aether Prism was needed to open it.
• The alliance found Sandworm Hollow burned and ruined, with corpse mounds and a tower of severed heads, and Tang Qi urged the survivors to turn their fear into anger against their enemies.

Tang Qi’s allied force searched the devastated Sandworm Hollow, rescued young survivors, and learned that beastfolk had attacked with hellhounds and other creatures. With food running short, Leon planned a scouting mission against the beastfolk, while Tang Qi recognized a growing connection between them, the Nine Hells, and Elusha.

• Tang Qi’s force found Lucy and a group of children hiding in a locked cellar, and Tang Qi put them to sleep before arranging to bring them along.
• Lucy told Tang Qi how the beastfolk attacked Sandworm Hollow, destroyed the ship, and killed her father, who had locked the children in the cellar to protect them.
• Tang Qi’s force found no food in the town and discussed reaching Wind Sand Islet with dwindling supplies, so Leon proposed scouting and harassing the beastfolk for provisions.
• Tang Qi put Shalti in charge of the scouting unit and warned her to withdraw if the enemy’s strength became dangerous.
• Shivana identified the attackers’ red hunting dogs as hellhounds, and Tang Qi resolved to investigate the links between the beastfolk, the Nine Hells, and Elusha.

Shivana learned that the Poison Wolf Tribe, led by the tongue-less Troll who drove her people from their homeland, was nearby, and she chose to face them openly. Tang Qi rejected a quick, casualty-minimizing attack because he aimed for a lasting peace through conquering the Beastfolk and converting them to his faith.

• Shivana dreamed of her tribe's defeat and remembered her old chieftain's lesson that survival required self-control.
• Tang Qi told Shivana that the nearby Beastfolk included the Poison Wolf Tribe and its mute Troll leader, who had driven the Rift Roar Tribe from its oasis.
• Shivana wanted to attack at once, but Tang Qi urged her to win openly and honorably, and she resolved to settle the score that way.
• Leon confronted Tang Qi over risking soldiers for honor and argued that they should defeat the Beastfolk with the fewest casualties possible.
• Tang Qi argued that driving the Beastfolk away would not prevent them from returning and declared that he intended to conquer them and make them accept his faith.

Shivana led a 3,000-strong allied army to confront Tumor’s Beastfolk, while Tang Qi’s plan sought to unite the tribes under his claimed authority as Gruush’s prophet. Shivana challenged Tumor to single combat, and he accepted, setting the battle’s outcome on their duel.

• Tumor ordered his allied tribes to march despite days of harassment by Great Wall scouts, then spotted Rift Roar’s banner approaching with a much larger army.
• Shivana descended from the giant turtle carrying the allied army and recited Tang Qi’s proclamation, demanding that the Beastfolk surrender and kneel to Tang Qi Weinberg.
• Tang Qi told Leon that his religious claim would legitimize bringing the Beastfolk into the alliance, while acknowledging that some people would reject it.
• Shivana taunted Tumor and the Beastfolk, then resisted Tumor’s attempt to unsettle her with mockery.
• Shivana challenged Tumor to fight her, wagering that the losing side would surrender its lives, and Tumor stepped forward to accept.

Shivana fought Tumor in a Beastfolk gladiatorial duel, using her Rage abilities and a returning enchanted Great Axe to overcome his strength and poison. She left Tumor kneeling and helpless with his limbs severed, as the duel’s outcome turned against the Poison Wolf chieftain.

• Tumor struck down at Shivana with his spiked club, but she used Rage to brace herself with the strength of a savage bear.
• Shivana’s Wild Surge sent shadowy tentacles into Tumor, draining his stamina and allowing her to knock his club aside and wound him.
• Tumor’s poisonous blood slowed Shivana, but she endured the venom and continued the fight while her temporary protection lasted.
• Shivana blinded Tumor with a burst of light, then discovered she could throw her enchanted Great Axe and call it back to her hand.
• Shivana repeatedly hurled the returning axe, severing Tumor’s right arm, left leg, and left hand, then striking his chest as he fell to his knees.

Shivana defeated Tumor, but Pus’s false translation triggered a battle before the allied army forced the Beastfolk and Goblins to surrender. Tang Qi Weinberg took the prisoners under his authority and defended his plan to reform them, while survivors remained wary of their former enemies.

• Shivana defeated Tumor and demanded the Poison Wolf Tribe surrender, but Pus mistranslated his plea and provoked an attack.
• Dawn healed Shivana and carried her from the battlefield as the allied army overwhelmed the charging Beastfolk and drove them to flee.
• Tang Qi sounded a halt, and the surviving Beastfolk and Goblins surrendered and knelt before him as the great prophet.
• Tang Qi ordered Jilago to confine the prisoners, feed them minimally, teach them the Ironblood Bible, and admit those who learned it into the temporary army.
• Survivors from Sandworm Hollow questioned Tang Qi’s decision to spare the Beastfolk, and he argued that discipline could reduce violence and make the world safer.

Tang Qi's allied forces occupied the beastfolk camp, where they captured three prophets and uncovered evidence linking the beastfolk to devils. He recognized the mark left by the prophets' exploding brains as one associated with Hope, and planned to use the surviving prophet to sway the beastfolk before continuing toward Wind Sand Islet.

• Tang Qi rationed the captured supplies and limited the allied forces to three cups of beer, though he allowed helmetfuls for the adventurers who tried to evade the rule.
• Shalti's scouts returned with three captured prophets, a red dragon hatchling, and Bell's folding carriage and magic bag.
• The Deep Pit Lord tried to read a prophet's mind, but the captive's head exploded when asked who his sovereign was, leaving a distinctive symbol in blood.
• Tang Qi recognized the symbol from Hope's teleportation circle and realized the red weasel had concealed the truth about her mission and possibly the scabbard she took.
• Tang Qi ordered the Deep Pit Lord to control the remaining female prophet and make her tell the beastfolk she had embraced the true doctrine, promising to help him reclaim his homeland at Wind Sand Islet.

Tang Qi freed Bella from the Snakefolk camp and learned about the Aether Prism and the legend of an imprisoned god beneath Wind Sand Islet. After agreeing to help Bella steal the Prism, he discovered Shivana had made him a ring and realized what she had been trying to express.

• Tang Qi healed Bella after the Deep Pit Lord punished her, took her away from the Snakefolk, and asked her to care for the Red Dragon, whom he named Spitfire.
• Bella admitted that the Deep Pit Lord had sent her to steal the Aether Prism and explained that it could cause an addictive mental high; she revealed she had once retrieved it from the Great Wall.
• Bella told Tang Qi that the Deep Pit Lord believed an ancient god was imprisoned beneath Wind Sand Islet, and Tang Qi agreed to pretend to help Bella steal the Prism so he could uncover her intentions.
• Shivana arrived at Tang Qi's tent, grew upset when she learned Bella would stay there, and left after crushing the daisy ring she had made.
• Dawn pointed out the crushed flowers, and Tang Qi recognized that Shivana had woven them into a ring and realized he had missed her feelings.

Tang Qi confronted Shivana about her anger, and she revealed that she wanted to remain with him and give him a ring. After they reconciled and sat together outside camp, Shivana suddenly pounced on him.

• Tang Qi used Suggestion Spell to get Shivana to stop and explain that he had not planned anything with the snakefolk woman and cared about her feelings.
• Tang Qi proposed that he and Shivana split up, with her helping a new prophet infiltrate the beastfolk alliance, then offered her the Unfair Contract so she could regain her freedom.
• Shivana rejected the contract, told Tang Qi how much he mattered to the tribe, and admitted she had wanted to give him a ring and was jealous of the snakefolk woman.
• Tang Qi and Shivana made up and sat outside camp while she showed him how to weave daisies into a ring.
• After a nearby beastfolk couple's noisy encounter interrupted them, Shivana pounced on Tang Qi.

Tang Qi received rewards for bringing the Beastfolk to the Southern Great Wall, including a powerful prayer-based Heroism effect and the ability to attune to ten rings. He led the growing group across the desert to Leon's supposed secret-passage entrance, where moving sand began to threaten them.

• Tang Qi gained 351 followers, whose prayers could grant nearby believers Heroism for one minute, and received the Daisy Ring and Ring Collector feat.
• Shivana left Tang Qi after their night together, and he headed back to camp to continue the journey toward Wind Sand Islet.
• Tang Qi's journal recorded the group crossing the Gray Desolate Plains, capturing tribes bound for Wind Sand Islet, and converting prisoners to the Ironblood Bible.
• After entering the Little Desert, Tang Qi followed Leon's guidance to the secret passage but found only endless sand.
• Leon had Bella use the Aether Prism to open the passage and told Tang Qi to store the Sky Turtles; the sand suddenly began moving.

Tang Qi and the allied forces traveled inside a giant sandworm to reach Wind Sand Islet, then followed Leon through an underground passage toward the origin of Spice. The chapter ended as Tang Qi recognized a gigantic creature with three crimson eyes as an Aboleth.

• Leon told Tang Qi to keep the allied forces together as a sandworm swallowed them beneath the desert.
• Leon explained that the sandworm had been fed Spice by His Highness and was carrying them to the pyramid in seven hours instead of seven days on foot.
• The sandworm deposited the allied forces near a man-made tunnel, where Bella told Tang Qi she understood why someone had refused to give up the Aether Prism.
• Leon warned the group about mental instability and psychic attacks, and Tang Qi cast [Mind Barrier] on Dawn, Shivana, and Shalti.
• As the group entered a vast cavern, psychic sounds drove some adventurers mad, and Tang Qi looked up to see a huge creature with three crimson eyes and identified it as an [Aboleth].

Tang Qi and Leon crossed the aboleth-filled pool and reached the buried snakefolk empire, where they learned the Great Wall had been built to buy time. The Deep Pit Lord hurried to the temple altar, convinced he would awaken the Snake God Mairshauk and restore the snakefolk empire.

• Tang Qi saw imprisoned aboleths whose fungal neural network spread thoughts across the cavern, and Leon explained that their brain fluid became the dangerous spice used by psionic users.
• Leon revealed that the Golden Country had imprisoned the aboleths and built the Great Wall to gain time, while the snakefolk homeland lay beneath Wind Sand Islet.
• Aboleth influence began to overwhelm the adventurers, but Tang Qi's song calmed them and restored order as the group advanced.
• Leon led Tang Qi and the others into the ruined snakefolk temple, where the Deep Pit Lord rushed toward its sacred altar.
• The Deep Pit Lord saw the altar inscription and Ouroboros symbol and believed awakening Mairshauk would begin the snakefolk's revival.

Leon showed Tang Qi that the Deep Pit Lord’s sacrifice would fail, then used an Aether Prism and [Spice] to let Tang Qi witness Eve Edel explaining the origin of the universe, the gods, and their dependence on living believers. The vision left Tang Qi with the truth that gods could abandon a dying world and its people when they were about to return to nothingness.

• The Deep Pit Lord sacrificed the blood of eighty-eight Pureblood Snakefolk, but the Stone Tablet did not answer, and Leon told him that his god had abandoned him.
• Leon asked Tang Qi to use the Aether Prism and [Spice] to view events from a thousand years earlier, and Tang Qi saw Eve Edel in the ancient Temple.
• Eve explained that the universe began as a singularity that split into two primal origins, giving rise to opposing concepts and the first gods.
• Eve described how living beings’ wishes gave concepts power and brought gods into being, while the gods later competed for believers to strengthen themselves.
• Eve explained that gods could abandon believers and a world facing the Phlogiston Sea if those beings were about to cease to exist.

Tang Qi learned from the Aboleth’s memories that the world was a cosmic junkyard and that Eve Edel had sought to escape it, then confronted Leon about why he had abandoned that hope. Leon admitted he was a villain who had forsaken his oath, but argued that life’s flaws gave the universe meaning.

• Eve explained to the Progenitor that civilizations were randomly cast into a forgotten land to be devoured by phlogiston and recycled.
• Eve urged the Progenitor to lead the Snakefolk Empire into the Lord Alliance, restore stability, and help her find a way to escape the world.
• Tang Qi connected Eve’s drive to preserve time and peace with the fading records in the Journal and Stone of Oblivion, but could not understand their significance.
• Stella glimpsed Tang Qi in the Aboleth’s memories before the memory ended and Tang Qi returned to the present.
• Tang Qi asked Leon whether he had extinguished the hope of escaping the world, and Leon explained how people had lost faith during the long wait.
• Leon admitted he was a villain who had forsaken his oath, then argued that hesitation and baseness gave the universe meaning.

Tang Qi kept the world’s truth secret and traveled with Leon through a water-powered elevator to Wind Sand Islet. There, Uha mistook the arrivals for an invasion, while Shedskin exposed Uha’s secret role in helping his brother Monka escape and discovered that Uha suspected him of reading minds.

• Tang Qi refused to record the Aboleth’s memories in his Journal, writing only that he had realized the truth about the world.
• Leon used the Temple’s jade-and-glass pillar to send groups of adventurers upward in a surge of seawater.
• Uha saw unfamiliar figures emerge from the Pyramid and raised an alarm, but Damon and Kandelian ordered him to return with his soldiers to the walls.
• Shedskin taunted Uha about helping Monka escape after the Yellow Snake Lane murders, and Uha insisted that his brother had been framed.
• Shedskin read Uha’s thoughts and learned that Monka’s prosthetic body made it unlikely he could have committed the crimes; Uha realized Shedskin had uncovered his secret.

Tang Qi brought the allied force to Wind Sand Islet, where Kandelian vouched for them and Damon arranged their lodging. After Leon secretly escaped, Tang Qi learned that the Deep Pit Lord had left and recruited Night Wind to investigate a pureblood snakefolk.

• Tang Qi surrendered to Wind Sand Islet's guards, then realized Leon had disappeared during the journey through the Pyramid.
• Tang Qi summoned Kandelian, who confirmed the allied force's identities and persuaded Damon to lower the guards' weapons.
• Tang Qi told Damon the force had come from Dragon Gold City to stop the south from falling to the beastfolk, and Damon arranged lodgings in Sunset Market.
• Tang Qi settled the beastfolk in tents and counted 1,003 believers before Night Wind came to ask why Leon had left.
• Tang Qi offered to relay Leon's message if Night Wind gave an Aether Prism to the pureblood snakefolk feeding the red dragon and secretly followed her.