Recaps

Priest led a Black Sun Cult team to Diat after the High Priest divined that something they sought was there. Lin ambushed them, but Priest survived her attack and trapped her in a domain of darkness.

• Priest and Victor searched Mas's abandoned camp, where Priest burned away web-like strands after sensing that his divination had been interfered with.
• Olivia identified Priest as a high-ranking Black Sun Cult member, and Lin left to attack the group while Olivia warned her to save the Scepter of Flesh for emergencies.
• Lin used her new Mimicry ability to disguise herself as water and dissolve Victor with a corrosive blood attack.
• Priest rushed to the scene and found a dead follower, then avoided Lin's dagger by using his explosive Black Flame Avatar.
• Priest recognized Lin and unleashed Darkness Descends, engulfing her in a pitch-black domain.

Lin defeated the Black Sun followers with the Scepter of Flesh, but Olivia had to take the Strange Object from her before its influence took hold. Aaron spotted the High Priest hiding nearby and warned Lin and Olivia, who confronted him by animating his shadow.

• Lin animated the building, trapped the Priest, and killed him with the Scepter of Flesh.
• Lin's other attacker burst apart into insects, which the animated building swallowed.
• Olivia took the scepter from Lin and warned that its influence could make her dangerously possessive.
• Aaron watched the fight and discovered the High Priest hiding in the shadows, waiting to ambush Lin.
• Aaron sent Lin and Olivia an image of the hidden Dark Beast, and they approached its hiding place.
• Olivia used the Scepter of Flesh to animate the shadow and attack the High Priest.

Lin and Olivia fought the High Priest, who used Shadow Leap to ambush Olivia before escaping wounded. Back at the Department Store Branch, Olivia proposed attacking the Black Sun Cult's headquarters in Black Sun Town while the High Priest recovered, leaving Aaron worried that the cult might summon the Black Sun.

• Lin and Olivia attacked the High Priest with the Dark Beast, bone arrows, and animated threads, but he concealed his Shadow Leap ability.
• The High Priest emerged from a shadow behind Olivia and stabbed her, but she healed with the Scepter of Flesh and struck him with it.
• Lin rushed to Olivia's aid, and Aaron realized the wounded High Priest had escaped into the shadows.
• Olivia and Lin returned to the Department Store Branch, where Lin admitted she could no longer use the Scepter of Flesh and promised to avoid the Black Sun heretics until she advanced.
• Olivia argued that the High Priest's contamination wound made it an ideal time to attack Black Sun Town and try to kill him.
• Aaron worried that the cult might summon the Black Sun during the planned attack, which he could not stop.

At Sothoth Castle, Colin learned that Theodore was investigating his dealings with the Wild Wolf Bandit Group and joined Feli in a scheme to seize control. Colin declared himself acting Count of Green Forest after Theodore fell gravely ill, confined Sonia, Sean, and Ginny, and summoned Aaron and the lords.

• Theodore confronted Colin with an investigation report linking him to supplying weapons to the Wild Wolf Bandit Group, and Colin accused his father of favoring Aaron.
• Colin told Feli that he would make Theodore too ill to govern rather than kill him, and Feli supplied a dose of Dream of Konjac.
• Colin and Feli planned to drug Theodore and confine Sonia, while Feli intended to use their supporters to control Sothoth Castle.
• The next day, Colin arrived with guards and announced that Theodore was gravely ill and that he would act as Count of Green Forest.
• Colin kicked Sean, then ordered guards to lock Sean, Ginny, and Sonia away.
• Colin ordered a message sent to Aaron and summoned the lords, intending to eliminate those who stood in his way.

Lin and Olivia captured two Black Sun Cult clerics, disguised themselves as them, and infiltrated Black Sun Town to reach the High Priest. He recognized them and used Lin’s brother’s skull to attack her, leaving Olivia poised to strike back.

• Lin and Olivia used sleep powder to capture Adonis and Orr outside Black Sun Town, then learned that the High Priest had returned and gone into seclusion.
• Olivia used her Chrysalis ability to disguise herself and Lin as the two clerics, and they headed for Black Sun Town.
• Lin presented blood-red human skin to a patrolling Son of Burning, who led them to the High Priest’s residence.
• The High Priest revealed that he recognized Lin and Olivia and showed Lin her brother’s skull, now a Strange Object that could sense and attack her through their blood connection.
• Lin cried out under the psychic attack, and Olivia’s disguised mouth opened wide as she prepared to fight.

Lin and Olivia killed the corrupted high priest, but the Black Sun turned every cultist in Black Sun Town into a human torch. Aaron Sothoth intervened to save the two women, who escaped with a mysterious white stone as Dark Beasts emerged from the ashes.

• The Son of Burning exploded his black-flamed heart, and the high priest summoned wraiths made from the souls of sacrifices.
• Olivia shot the high priest, while Lin used the Scepter of Flesh to bind him and kill him.
• The high priest called on the Black Sun, whose gaze set the cultists of Black Sun Town on fire and threatened Lin and Olivia.
• Lin and Olivia prayed to the Spirit of Unknown Void, and Aaron Sothoth sent mystical power through their connection to extinguish the flames.
• Olivia found a pure white stone among the high priest's ashes, and she and Lin fled the church.
• Small Dark Beasts emerged from the ashes, transformed by surviving the Black Sun's burning.

Aaron sealed his spirituality with a Secret Covenant Ritual, then learned that Count Theodore was gravely ill and was summoned to the castle. After divination warned that the castle was deadly, Aaron suspected Colin had seized control and decided to confront him.

• Aaron performed the Secret Covenant Ritual, slowing the loss of his spirituality with a circular seal on his left arm.
• Daili told Aaron that Scholar Albert had arrived with an urgent letter summoning him to the castle because Count Theodore was gravely ill.
• Aaron suspected Colin had caused Theodore's illness and divined that going to the castle posed mortal danger.
• Aaron gathered his stewards and attendants, rejected Eight-Fingers's advice to bring more guards, and decided to go to the castle with only two attendants.

Lady Sonia urged Sean and Ginny to abandon their claims and support Colin as he consolidated control of Sothoth Castle. Meanwhile, Aaron arrived near the castle as Lin and Olivia performed a grand sacrificial rite, offering the Scepter of Flesh and Pure White Ice to their Lord.

• Lady Sonia told Sean to publicly renounce his inheritance claim and ordered Ginny to swear loyalty to Colin and get close to him.
• Colin welcomed visiting lords, then entered the dungeon, where Turner Shorien was imprisoned and Murdoch agreed to serve him.
• Colin learned that his younger brother had arrived and went to welcome him.
• Aaron traveled to Sothos Town with Ava and Bill while sleeping in the carriage, and his Danger Perception warned him of danger.
• Lin and Olivia led the believers in offering the Scepter of Flesh and Pure White Ice at the altar, and the Gate of Truth accepted the offerings.

Aaron returned to Sothos Town with an enormous amount of Spirit of Crimson sealed inside him and found his father Theodore gravely ill. As Colin prepared to secure power at a banquet, Feli plotted to ensure Theodore died and to frame Colin, while Aaron discovered signs of a conspiracy and received a warning.

• Aaron's leaking spirituality stirred intense desires in the people and animals around his carriage, but Olivia and the others had used Pure White Ice to seal his power.
• Aaron reached the castle, embraced Colin, and found Theodore unconscious as Lady Sonia and Sean kept vigil; Colin invited Aaron to a welcome banquet.
• Colin admitted to Feli that he was uneasy about taking the earl's seat, but Feli ordered his servant to arrange Theodore's death and spread rumors blaming Colin.
• A maid slipped Aaron a note warning of a “Bloody Banquet,” and Aaron sensed bloodied prisoners and repositioned soldiers throughout the castle.
• Aaron concluded that a conspiracy was approaching and said he had waited to give Colin a chance to repent.

Aaron attended Colin’s banquet, where Colin announced that he would take the Count of Green Forest’s title and used armed soldiers to force the lords’ submission. Aaron unleashed a gigantic Green Banyan that destroyed the hall and killed Colin’s loyalists, leaving the survivors to witness his power.

• Colin announced that he would inherit the title of Count of Green Forest and had Baron Dennis shot when he objected.
• Colin ordered his champion Murdoch to attack Aaron, while Aaron said he had never wanted the title and challenged them with Wood Release.
• Aaron grew a colossal Green Banyan through the castle, which crushed Murdoch and shattered the banquet hall.
• The lords and soldiers recognized the sacred tree and many fell to their knees as Aaron offered Colin a chance to surrender.
• Colin ordered his soldiers to kill Aaron, but the banyan’s aerial roots impaled Colin’s loyal followers and Colin died among them.

Aaron used the Green Banyan’s power to seize control of Sothos Castle, punish Feli, and awaken his poisoned father, Theodore. The Green Forest hailed Aaron as its king, while he reassured Ginny and showed her a small display of magic.

• Aaron stopped the lords’ shouting, ordered them to restore order and arrest Colin’s accomplices, then left the banquet hall to handle the remaining threats.
• Feli escaped toward Elaine’s villa, but Aaron trapped him with Green Banyan roots, revealed that the kingdom’s hatred would bring back the Green Disaster, and left him to die as the villa burned.
• The next morning, townspeople gathered to worship the Green Banyan, and Aaron told the awakened Theodore that he had saved him from poison and that Colin was dead.
• Aaron comforted Ginny, explained that she could think of the banyan as a magic trick, and transformed a flower seed into a tulip for her.

Aaron agreed to become Count of Green Forest after Theodore abdicated, while promising to avenge Colin and arrange a peaceful home for Sylvie and Xia Ya. At the public ceremony, Theodore handed Aaron the signet ring, and the lords acclaimed him as the Son of Green Banyan and King of Green Forest.

• Aaron told Theodore he had to take authority as Count of Green Forest to prevent division and another civil war, and agreed to avenge Colin against the Kagash Kingdom.
• Aaron agreed to bring Colin's body down from the Green Banyan for burial and proposed granting Xia Ya a knight's fief where Sylvie could live with him.
• A guard reported that Sonia had killed herself, and Theodore went to see her while Aaron reflected on the Crimson spirituality draining from him and the desires he could sense.
• Theodore gave Aaron the signet ring and declared him Count of Green Forest before the gathered lords at Sothos Castle.
• The lords acclaimed Aaron as the Son of Green Banyan and King of Green Forest, and Theodore stepped aside as Aaron took the platform.

Aaron rallied the Green Forest lords to war against the Kagash Kingdom and led five thousand warriors into the north, defeating Marquis Arnold’s army. After Arnold refused to submit at Frost Wolf Castle, Aaron’s men used granular gunpowder to blast open the gate and part of the wall.

• Aaron declared war on the Kagash Kingdom and called on the Green Forest lords to muster their forces.
• Aaron’s five thousand warriors routed Marquis Arnold’s three thousand soldiers at River Valley Beach and pursued them to Frost Wolf Castle.
• Aaron rejected Arnold’s offer of compensation and demanded that the marquis surrender and join his rebellion.
• Arnold refused to submit, and the castle defenders wounded Green Forest warriors with arrows and stones.
• Sanchez’s men planted granular gunpowder by the gate, and the explosion shattered the doors and collapsed part of the wall.
• The Green Foresters cheered and charged toward the breach.

In Kagash, Anthony II’s court prepared to face Aaron Sothoth’s Green Forest army, while Aaron advanced through the kingdom and planned to defeat its main force by cutting off its supplies. The armies met on Windbell Plain, where Aaron left Viscount Bury in command and set out to attack the royal army’s supply lines.

• Anthony II’s council learned that Aaron Sothoth had succeeded Theodore as Count of Green Forest, and the Grand Duke of Bauhinia volunteered to lead a thirty-thousand-man royal army against him.
• Aaron took Twin River Castle, ordered Sanchez to hold the former count hostage and recruit surrendered vassals as auxiliary troops, and considered the difficulties of governing conquered territory.
• Half a month later, Aaron’s army of seven or eight thousand faced the royal army on Windbell Plain, and Aaron called the Green Forest lords together to plan their response.
• Aaron assigned Viscount Bury to hold the position with Knight Yiman as his deputy while he led men on a back route to attack the royal army’s supplies.

Aaron used his supernatural powers to capture and burn a key food warehouse, then entered Kagash disguised as a bard to pursue a plan to end the war by targeting the kingdom’s leaders. He reached the capital safely and prepared to move within the city.

• Aaron led a cavalry raid on a guarded town, using his powers to break through its defenses and kill the soldiers.
• Aaron found the town’s grain warehouse, ordered it burned, and left the reinforcements with only a smoldering ruin.
• Aaron told Sanchez he would head to Kagash’s capital and allowed at most two cavalrymen to accompany him.
• Aaron entered Kagash disguised as Yasuo, a Northland bard, after passing the gate guards’ inspection.

Aaron entered Kagash and claimed to be a wizard to answer the King's call for people with mystical abilities. After demonstrating fire magic, he was brought to the palace, where he waited among other supposed practitioners to be summoned.

• Aaron found the King's notice seeking gifted people and heard the crowd spread rumors about the Count of Green Forest.
• Aaron introduced himself as a wizard and produced a flame, convincing a soldier to take him to Lord Dean Alexi.
• Dean tested Aaron's apparent fire magic, then escorted him to the palace to meet the royal court.
• Aaron saw the heads of suspected frauds displayed outside the palace and entered a room with three other applicants.
• Aaron spoke with the Witch, who claimed to be cursing the Green Devil, then learned that the old man with the crystal ball was a celebrated divination master.

Aaron entered the Kagash royal palace as a supposed fire mage and met Prince Theon, who threatened to test him by throwing him into a bonfire. At the banquet, Aaron revealed his violet eyes to Vivian of House Bauhinia, then was summoned by Anthony II to demonstrate whether the Count of Green Forest wielded mysterious power.

• Prince Theon mocked Aaron and ordered guards to prepare a bonfire, but a servant summoned him away before the test.
• Aaron joined the witch, the fortune-teller, and the middle-aged man at the royal banquet, then left them to serve himself food.
• Vivian of House Bauhinia spoke with Aaron about the Green Devil and recognized his resemblance to Aaron Sothoth, then became terrified.
• Dean summoned Aaron to meet Anthony II, who asked him to convince Prime Minister Mason that the Count of Green Forest possessed mysterious power.

Aaron revealed himself at Anthony II’s banquet and massacred the king, Prince Theon, ministers, nobles, and guards in retaliation for the bloody banquet at Sothoth Castle. He spared Vivian and sent her to deliver his ceasefire terms, then left the palace as the survivors faced the aftermath.

• Aaron claimed he could divine futures in fire and predicted that Prince Theon would die by fire.
• Aaron killed Theon with black flames, then used roots and earth magic to slaughter the palace guards and seize the banquet hall.
• Aaron tortured the Prime Minister, Minister of Intelligence Caston, and Anthony II, while declaring that the royal bloodline would be wiped out.
• Aaron spared Vivian and demanded Northland and a million Nar in reparations within a month, threatening to raze the nobles’ estates if the terms were refused.
• Aaron gave the Witch advice for making Witch Soup Pasta, left the palace, and a guard discovered that Anthony II and his ministers were dead.

Aaron returned from the Kagash capital after destroying the royal palace, while the news of the massacre threw the kingdom’s army into chaos. Green Forest’s forces routed the retreating army, leaving Viscount Bury to learn that Aaron had killed the king and countless nobles.

• Aaron left the Kagash capital and learned that the opposing armies were locked in a war of attrition on Windbell Plain.
• The Grand Duke of Bauhinia and Lord Yunisis struggled to control their starving troops as supplies dwindled and Green Forest’s attacks continued.
• A letter reporting the destruction of the royal palace reached the Grand Duke of Bauhinia, who ordered his forces to retreat and preserve what remained of House Bauhinia.
• Knight Yiman spotted the enemy camp’s disarray and rode to alert Viscount Bury, prompting Green Forest’s forces to attack.
• Green Forest’s army routed the Kagash forces, killing over ten thousand and capturing over ten thousand more.
• Knight Yiman told Viscount Bury that House Bauhinia had fled after learning Aaron had stormed the royal palace and killed the king and countless others.

Six years after the Battle of Windbell Plain, Aaron ruled the Green Forest and Northland from Frost Wolf Castle while the region prospered in peace. Troubled by the dwindling spirituality that powered his abilities and his inability to contact his dream consciousness, he resolved to keep pursuing the extraordinary.

• Lord Yunisis survived, succeeded the Grand Duke of Bauhinia, placed Vivian on the throne as queen, and accepted Aaron's terms for peace.
• Aaron returned to Sothoth Castle, ordered a feast for the warriors, and planned to reward Knight Yiman with a title and land.
• Theodore recognized that Aaron's rule had made his own era come to an end.
• Six years later, Aaron ruled from Frost Wolf Castle as the Green Forest and Northland prospered under his administration.
• Aaron realized his spirituality was nearly gone and that using his powers had cost him years, while he still could not contact his dream consciousness.
• Aaron reaffirmed that he would avoid marriage and children and continue seeking the extraordinary before entering the dream world.

Lin and Olivia learned that disasters were spreading across the world as they investigated reports of a drifting ship carrying refugees from another continent. Lin set out to examine the ship, while the gray-haired captive aboard it hoped to find a miracle in the New Continent.

• Abner reported that the nothingness in Laya Grand Canyon was expanding and survivors there were becoming spiritualized.
• Lin and Olivia discussed worsening disasters across the west, south, and Black Sun Cult territory, then their offering to the Spirit of Void failed again.
• A follower reported that the Black Sun Cult had captured a ship carrying more than a hundred refugees from another continent and planned to use them as kindling.
• Lin decided to investigate the drifting ship, drawing on her reputation as the Undying Witch.
• At an abandoned harbor, Black Sun followers drove the ship's captives away while a Dark Beast watched, and a gray-haired man hoped to find a miracle in the New Continent.

Lin and Olivia defeated a Black Sun Cult Dark Beast and met Ymir, a supernatural from another continent who sought redemption. After Ymir was purified at the Spirit of Void’s altar, he recognized Aaron as the being he had been searching for and prepared to share confidential information.

• Ymir secretly observed the Black Sun Cult as a disguised prisoner while Lin killed cultists and fought a Dark Beast during the rescue.
• The Dark Beast warned that the Black Sun Festival was coming, and Lin vowed to destroy the cult before it began.
• The Dark Beast killed Ymir’s apparent body, but Lin and Olivia captured and defeated it; Ymir then revealed his identity and his search for redemption.
• Lin and Olivia brought Ymir and the surviving exiles to Diat to be purified before the Spirit of Void’s altar.
• Aaron purified Ymir, who sensed the Spirit of Void’s power and told Lin and Olivia that he had confidential information to report.

Ymir warned Lin and Olivia that the Fate-Ruling Gods were encroaching on the world and would destroy it by controlling fate. Aaron used his mysterious energy to plant a rumor in fate that the gods had to seize the Crimson Sun’s authority to grow stronger, prompting uncanny beings across the world to stir.

• Ymir told Lin and Olivia that the Fate-Ruling Gods were binding fate and would leave humanity without free will, and he believed a miracle at the altar could stop the destruction.
• Aaron realized his remaining mysterious energy could let him interfere with the dream world, while Lin and Olivia prayed for help against the coming calamities.
• Aaron told his believers he would require a price, then declared that defeating the Black Sun Cult required dealing with the Black Sun and destroying the Crimson Sun.
• Aaron spent his accumulated mysterious energy to make it a fate-born rumor that the Fate-Ruling Gods had to seize the Crimson Sun’s authority to advance.
• Transcendents across the dream world felt their Paths stir, as Lin saw a blood moon and a Mother Tree of Flesh reach toward the Crimson Sun while mighty beings roared across the land.

Aaron returned to Sothoth Castle after learning that Theodore was critically ill, but Theodore refused Aaron’s offer to extend his life and died the next day. At the family graveyard, Aaron granted Xia Ya the barony of River Valley, exiled Sean, and appointed Ginny Duchess of Frost Wolf.

• Aaron hurried to Sothoth Castle after Scholar Albert told him Theodore was critically ill.
• Aaron visited Theodore and offered to perform a ritual that could give him another ten years, but Theodore refused and quietly apologized to Aaron.
• Theodore died, and Aaron, Ginny, Sean, Sylvie, and Xia Ya gathered at his grave.
• Aaron appointed Xia Ya Baron of River Valley beneath the Green Banyan.
• Aaron sentenced Sean to lifelong exile from the Sothoth Family lands.
• Aaron appointed Ginny Duchess of Frost Wolf.

Aaron named Ginny his heir and prepared to abdicate as Count of Green Forest. In the dream world, he guided four believers through visions of the occult war and ordered them to pray to the Crimson Sun, but it did not answer.

• Aaron told Ginny he would pass her the Ring of Green Forest and abdicate within a month, leaving her to prepare to rule the Northland.
• Lin and Olivia reported that darkness had engulfed Diat and that their supplies would last only two weeks.
• Aaron strengthened Lin, Olivia, Ymir, and Abner, allowing them to witness colossal occult beings fighting at the source of the occult.
• Aaron told the four believers to perform a ritual and pray to the Crimson Sun, whose true name they had sensed during their visions.
• The four Beyonders and their followers completed a blood-filled Solar Ritual Array and prayed, but the Crimson Sun did not respond, so Olivia continued.