Chapter Summaries

Olivia, Lin, and Barnard discussed the Black Sun Cult’s attack as Aaron set out to scout the cultists. He overheard Mas recruiting survivors and ordering Rem to investigate the Light of Redemption and capture Lin, then concluded that the cult’s devoted followers could not be saved.

• Barnard explained that the Son of Burning’s strange flame could only be extinguished with ritual and spiritual power, and Olivia offered to try.
• Lin wanted to retaliate against the Black Sun Cult, but Olivia urged caution while Aaron left to scout their forces.
• Mas preached to a survivor settlement, offering extraordinary power to those who joined the Black Sun Cult.
• Mas told Rem to investigate the Light of Redemption and capture Lin, whom the High Priest suspected was favored by the cult’s great enemy, the Mother Tree of Flesh.
• Aaron overheard Mas’s orders and decided the Black Sun Cult’s devoted believers were too far gone to save.

Rem discovered Lin’s hideout and alerted Mas, who led Black Sun cultists in an assault. Lin’s traps killed two attackers, but Mas used a Dark Seeker ability to overwhelm her, leaving her collapsed as the darkness lifted.

• Aaron decided to let the Black Sun heretics make their own plans and gain combat experience.
• Rem recognized Lin in Diat and went to alert Lord Mas, while Olivia and Lin prepared for the cultists’ attack.
• Mas led three cultists to Lin’s hideout and ordered two men to guard the back entrance before blowing open the front door.
• Lin’s thread trap decapitated the tall Unburnt, and her Blood Blade killed another cultist.
• Mas told Lin that Aike was dead and that the High Priest had turned his bones into an exhibit, then attacked her with black fire.
• Mas activated a stone that brought darkness over the room, and Lin collapsed after the ensuing fight.

Olivia and Lin defeated Mas and his men, while Aaron received the offerings and considered the dangers of Strange Objects and Lin’s desire for revenge. At Blackstone Manor, Albert brought news that the earl had ordered arrests and might make Aaron Xia Ya’s godfather.

• Mas used the Light-Devouring Stone to consume two corpses, but invisible threads strangled him before he could retrieve it.
• Olivia picked up the Light-Devouring Stone, revived Lin with medicine, and told her she had killed Mas and the back-door guards with Barnard’s help.
• Olivia searched Mas and found spiritual materials and the Words of the Sun Chaser, while Lin wanted to offer Mas’s spiritual essence to Aaron.
• Aaron tested the spiritual essence of darkness and reflected on Strange Objects, the Black Sun Cult’s likely response, and Lin’s perilous desire for revenge.
• Albert told Aaron that the earl had ordered the lords of Upper Green Forest to arrest people on a list and might make Aaron Xia Ya’s godfather.

Aaron learned that he might become Xia Ya’s godfather and sensed a strange vision, while Ferry Gato approached Colin with an offer to help secure the Green Forest title. Colin listened as Ferry encouraged him to move against Aaron, leaving his response unresolved.

• Aaron rejected the idea of encouraging rumors that he would become Xia Ya’s godfather and wondered whether his dark spirituality had granted him a glimpse of the future.
• Ginny and Sean worried that Aaron’s guardianship of Xia Ya could put him ahead of Sean in the succession if Colin died.
• Colin went to visit Elaine and found Ferry Gato waiting for him.
• Ferry offered to help Colin become Green Forest’s undisputed count and warned that Aaron could take his place.
• Colin stopped reaching for his sword as Ferry urged him to target Aaron.

Lin tried to gain power by gazing at the Crimson Moon without the Spirit of Void’s protection, but the Mother Tree of Flesh’s corruption overwhelmed her. Olivia attempted to contain Lin and summon the Spirit of Void, but received no answer.

• Olivia refused to let Lin seek revenge against the Black Sun Cult alone and urged her to wait until their cult grew stronger.
• Lin prayed to the Spirit of Unknown Void, received no response, and decided to gaze at the Crimson Moon for power.
• Lin saw the Mother Tree of Flesh on the moon and was overwhelmed by its beauty and corrupting whispers.
• Lin began transforming into a bloodthirsty monster, and Olivia rushed in to restrain her with invisible threads.
• Olivia called on the Spirit of Unknown Void to drive out Lin’s corruption, but the Spirit did not answer.

Aaron answered Olivia and Lin’s ritual just as the Scarlet Moon’s contamination threatened to consume Lin, purged the fleshly corruption, and saved her from the Mother Tree of Flesh’s influence. Lin survived with dangerous occult knowledge, while a terrifying crimson Strange Object formed from the flesh that had covered her.

• Olivia and Lin received no answer at first, and Lin was nearly engulfed by flesh as the Scarlet Moon’s presence descended.
• Aaron Sothoth connected to the ritual and poured his mysterious energy into Lin, recognizing the influence of the Mother Tree of Flesh.
• Aaron used his power to cleanse Lin’s contamination and drive the flesh away, warning her not to look at the moon again.
• A lump of flesh detached from Lin, devoured a chair, and transformed into a crimson staff that Olivia identified as a terrifying Strange Object born directly from a true god.
• Aaron also removed hidden contamination from Olivia, while she scolded Lin and Lin apologized for putting them all in danger.
• Lin remained burdened with forbidden knowledge, including occult methods for advancing her path and crafting Strange Objects.

Lin and Olivia discovered the Scepter of Flesh’s powers and dangerous side effect, while Aaron recovered from the Scarlet Moon’s influence and learned that bandits were targeting Blackstone Territory. After Aaron sent Eight-Fingers and Sanchez to deal with them, the bandit leader Wild Wolf prepared to attack on behalf of their hidden masters.

• Lin and Olivia named the Strange Object the Scepter of Flesh, recognized its power to animate living and inanimate things, and locked it away after discovering its growing object fetish side effect.
• Aaron woke from a disturbing experience of the Scarlet Moon and reflected on his pursuit of the extraordinary.
• Eight-Fingers told Aaron that bandits had robbed Dave’s garden, and Aaron ordered him to pursue them with Sanchez and ten men.
• A wandering farmer secretly sent a raven carrying news of Aaron’s response to the bandits.
• Wild Wolf learned that Aaron would not act personally and announced that he would attack Blackstone Territory that night.

After Old Kru and his family were murdered and marked by the Wild Wolf Bandit Group, Aaron prepared to confront the bandits but sensed the supposed trail might be suspicious. He used his followers to gain spiritual energy and divined that the coming operation involved the Wild Wolf, fire, blood, and potentially fatal danger.

• Eight-Fingers reported that Old Kru, his wife, and daughter had been murdered, and Aaron found the Wild Wolf Bandit's claw-mark symbol at the scene.
• A guard reported that Aaron's men had picked up the bandits' trail, but Aaron ordered everyone back to the manor to prepare before pursuing them.
• Aaron fell asleep and contacted Calvin through the Light of Redemption, asking him to offer dark spiritual energy as a sacrifice.
• After awakening with spiritual energy, Aaron performed a crystal-ball divination about the operation and saw the Wild Wolf's marks, flames, blood, and darkness.
• Aaron interpreted the visions as a warning that the operation could put his life at risk.

Aaron raised a militia force after suspecting a conspiracy behind the attempt on his life, then pursued the Wild Wolf Bandit Group. He trapped the bandits with Knight Yiman’s help and ordered their hill set ablaze.

• Aaron ordered every household to send an adult man for conscription and had a house searched before leading his force out.
• Wild Wolf prepared an ambush with well-equipped bandits, but scout Fast-Leg Rosen reported that Aaron had brought more than a hundred men, so Wild Wolf abandoned the trap and fled.
• Aaron found the bandits’ empty camp and learned that Wild Wolf had escaped toward Knight Yiman’s Emerald Territory.
• Aaron asked Knight Yiman to help encircle the bandits, and three days later their forces cornered the group outside a hill.
• Aaron ordered the hill set on fire, prompting One-Eyed Dragon to flee downhill as Wild Wolf despaired.

Aaron and Knight Yiman uncovered evidence that the Wild Wolf Gang had military weapons, while Colin learned the failed attack could expose his involvement. Feli urged Colin to strike first against Aaron, and Elaine’s pregnancy further inflamed Colin’s resentment toward Sylvie and Xia Ya.

• Aaron apologized to Knight Yiman for the damage caused by the operation, then showed him Wild Wolf’s corpse and the gang’s military-grade weapons.
• Knight Yiman agreed to add his name to the testimony about the weapons, while Aaron returned to watch over the dream world.
• After receiving news of the attack’s failure, Colin confronted Feli, who warned him that the missing military supplies could not be concealed.
• Feli suggested that Colin strike first against Aaron, but Colin ordered him out of the study.
• Elaine told Colin she was pregnant, and Colin vowed that things would get better while raging against Sylvie and Xia Ya.

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.