Chapter Summaries

Uchiha Madara, Belaque, and Carter Binda decided to investigate a hidden entrance beneath the ice, where they believed the Magic Stone from the Night Elf Queen’s treasure map might be. They entered together, using Madara’s wooden creations to hold the doors open, and Carter insisted on leading the way through Winterfort territory.

• Carter Binda argued that the ice showed no sign of anyone breaking through it, while Belaque wondered about a small creature-like path nearby.
• Belaque agreed they should enter cautiously, and Carter claimed their arrival was an arrangement that proved they were the most outstanding people on the Elzeran Continent.
• The three debated who should stay behind to guard the entrance, but all refused, so Uchiha Madara summoned two wooden humanoid trees to hold the green doors open.
• Belaque explained that her Absolute Perception could help locate the Magic Stone, while Carter insisted his title and experience made him capable of leading with his eyes closed.
• Carter Binda persuaded Belaque to give him another chance to prove himself and prepared to lead the group forward.

Uchiha Madara, Belaque, and Carter Binda explored the forest beneath the lake while discussing Winterfort’s fame and Carter Binda’s reputation as the Eagle of Winter. Carter Binda sensed that a tree ahead was alive and opened her eyes to inspect it.

• Carter Binda guided Uchiha Madara and Belaque through the forest with her eyes closed, then accidentally walked into a tree.
• Carter Binda and Belaque argued over whether the older generation had been left behind, while Uchiha Madara wondered if the forest had been made to store Magic Stones.
• Carter Binda said she preferred Winterfort’s quiet, mysterious nature and did not want crowds to come there.
• Carter Binda stopped after sensing that a tree ahead was alive, then opened her eyes to examine its ordinary-looking branches and foliage.

Carter Binda, Uchiha Madara, and Belaque encountered a tree that blocked their path and seemed to move on its own. Carter Binda destroyed it with a barrage of sword energy, clearing the way forward.

• Carter Binda and Uchiha Madara sensed that the tree blocking their path was unnatural, and Uchiha Madara smelled blood coming from it.
• Belaque suggested clearing the obstacle, while Uchiha Madara urged caution and recommended finding another route.
• Carter Binda insisted on confronting the tree as a matter of dignity and struck it with a slash of cold-feeling sword energy.
• The tree effortlessly dodged Carter Binda's first attack, prompting him to unleash countless sword slashes.
• Carter Binda's sword energy overwhelmed the tree, slicing it into fragments.

Carter Binda, Belaque, and Uchiha Madara continued through the underwater forest and debated whether a tree they had encountered was an animal in disguise. Carter Binda and Belaque discussed naming the newly discovered forest, and Belaque approved Carter Binda’s elaborate suggestion.

• Carter Binda cleared the path by attacking a tree, which he and Uchiha Madara suspected could move like an animal.
• Belaque asked why they had not seen any animals, and Carter Binda suggested the tree they had encountered was one.
• Carter Binda said the forest was newly discovered and suggested naming it after himself and Belaque.
• Uchiha Madara declined to help name the forest, while Belaque said they wanted to become heroes remembered in history.
• Carter Binda proposed calling it the Forest of Belaque the Shadowless Thief and Carter Binda the Eagle of Winter, and Belaque approved.

Uchiha Madara climbed above the forest to scout for Magic Stones but encountered a strange black bird and found the trees blocked his view. After Carter Binda caught him as he fell, the group continued along the forest paths, wary that the bird might return.

• Uchiha Madara raised himself into the sky on a wooden stake and asked Belaque and Carter Binda to watch for signs of demonization.
• Uchiha Madara saw a many-eyed black bird swoop toward him, released his Wood Style, and fell clear of its attack.
• Carter Binda flew up, caught Uchiha Madara, and brought them both safely to the ground.
• Uchiha Madara warned that the demonized bird might return, but Carter Binda confidently said she could fight it.
• Uchiha Madara admitted he could not see through the dense trees, so the group decided to keep following the trampled paths.

Uchiha Madara, Belaque, and Carter Binda discussed the danger of leaving the forest gate open, then Carter Binda stopped a corrupted black bird with an ice wall. Uchiha Madara realized the bird had survived and warned them that it was still alive.

• Uchiha Madara worried that corrupted creatures might escape through the open gate and endanger Winterfort, but Carter Binda said its people could handle them.
• Carter Binda explained that Winterfort was built to guard the Ice Dragon and claimed its defenders could rival the Holy Knights.
• The corrupted black bird returned, and Carter Binda raised an ice wall that the bird crashed into.
• Belaque questioned Carter Binda about his unusual broken sword, and he said he did not know what it was made of.
• Uchiha Madara warned Belaque and Carter Binda that the black bird was still alive despite the apparent breaking of its bones.

Carter Binda, Belaque, and Uchiha Madara encountered a bird being transformed into a demon by a Magic Stone and continued toward the nearby stone. Uchiha Madara proposed that Magic Stones might have been artificially created, while the group realized others had explored the forest long before them.

• Carter Binda and Uchiha Madara observed a black bird developing a second, tooth-filled head as the Magic Stone’s demonization overtook it.
• Carter Binda froze the attacking bird, and the three travelers continued through the forest toward the Magic Stone.
• Carter Binda asked why Magic Stones existed, and Uchiha Madara suggested that an unknown race might have created them.
• Uchiha Madara pointed out that the forest appeared on an old treasure map despite having no record in Elzeran history.
• Carter Binda lamented that someone else had explored the forest first and might take his chance to leave his name in history.

Uchiha Madara, Belaque, and Carter Binda ventured deeper into the forest toward the Magic Stone, where Madara told Carter to keep her eyes shut. Above the lake, Winterfort’s lord and his men waited for them to surface, but a black creature suddenly attacked the lord.

• Uchiha Madara, Belaque, and Carter Binda lost the path in the forest and continued forward, following a foul stench toward a vast black area.
• Uchiha Madara warned Carter Binda to keep her eyes closed near the Magic Stone, and she agreed despite growing nervous about opening them.
• At the lake, Winterfort’s lord and four men waited beside the hole in the ice, worrying that the three visitors had been underwater too long.
• Bubbles rose to the surface, and the bearded man assumed the three were returning while the lord ordered their clothes brought over.
• A long black creature burst from the water and lunged at Winterfort’s lord with its ghastly white teeth.

The castellan and his men prepared to fight monsters emerging from the underwater Magic Stone site while Uchiha Madara, Belaque, and Carter Binda reached a strange black forest. The three debated whether to enter the eerie place, leaving their next move unresolved.

• The castellan explained that helping Uchiha Madara would also help Winterfort by removing the Magic Stone, and his group prepared to fight as monsters surfaced.
• Uchiha Madara, Belaque, and Carter Binda stopped at the boundary between the green underwater forest and a completely black forest.
• Uchiha Madara and Belaque described the black forest and its foul smell, and Carter Binda opened his eyes to see it for himself.
• Uchiha Madara suggested the black forest could be a trap, while Belaque proposed searching for another route.
• Carter Binda argued that they should enter and name the place after themselves, prompting Belaque to suggest a name combining their names and titles.

Uchiha Madara, Belaque, and Carter Binda searched the strange forest for the Magic Stone but found their route blocked by an impossibly dense stand of trees. Carter Binda cut a path through them, only to reveal more trees, and Uchiha Madara suspected the forest might be a single interconnected whole.

• Uchiha Madara criticized Belaque and Carter Binda for their poor names and urged them to focus on finding the Magic Stone.
• Belaque and Carter Binda noticed that the forest seemed to have a different sense of time, and Carter Binda wondered whether the light in the sky was really sunlight.
• Carter Binda sensed that trees blocked the way ahead, while Uchiha Madara doubted the Magic Stone lay beyond them.
• Carter Binda slashed through a large stretch of trees, but the opening revealed only more dense trees with no space to pass.
• Uchiha Madara reasoned that the trees' intertwined roots might mean the forest was one whole.

Uchiha Madara, Belaque, and Carter Binda reached the edge of the green forest and decided to enter the black forest, which they suspected might be connected to Magic Stone. Carter Binda tested the forest first, found nothing unusual, and the others followed him inside.

• Uchiha Madara suggested that the dense green forest might be a single enormous tree whose roots had joined together, and Carter Binda realized he might only have pruned one branch.
• Uchiha Madara concluded that the green forest ended there and that they would have to change routes through the black forest.
• Belaque said the black forest's smell made him sick and doubted it had anything to do with Magic Stone, while Uchiha Madara suspected Magic Stone might have corrupted it.
• Carter Binda volunteered to enter the black forest first and check for danger, despite Uchiha Madara offering to go ahead.
• Carter Binda walked a few steps into the black forest, found the air no different from outside, and Uchiha Madara and Belaque followed him in.

Uchiha Madara, Belaque, and Carter Binda explored a foul-smelling black forest within Winterfort and sensed a powerful presence hiding there. They continued investigating the forest’s strange plants, but had not yet learned what caused them to turn black.

• Uchiha Madara, Belaque, and Carter Binda entered the black forest and discussed its oppressive atmosphere and Carter Binda’s interest in adventure.
• Carter Binda sensed a powerful presence that vanished as soon as it noticed her.
• Uchiha Madara and Belaque debated whether the hidden presence was human or a monster, while Carter Binda offered to protect them.
• Carter Binda noted that she could sense no animals in the black forest.
• Belaque pointed out that a plant in the black forest had turned black, and Carter Binda asked whether the forest’s plants had always been black.

Uchiha Madara, Belaque, and Carter Binda discussed how the black forest might change living things as they traveled through it. Carter Binda spotted two trees she believed were people in disguise, but they did not respond to her challenge.

• Belaque explained that plants were green outside the forest and had turned black after growing within it.
• Uchiha Madara promised to watch Belaque and Carter Binda for signs of change and thought about Xiao Sang's compatibility with his Divine Tree branch and Hashirama Cells.
• Carter Binda stopped in front of two oddly shaped black trees and said she sensed veins flowing within their trunks.
• Uchiha Madara and Belaque agreed that the trees resembled people after Carter Binda suggested they were disguised humans.
• Carter Binda called herself the Eagle of Winter and demanded that the trees come out, but they stayed silent.

Uchiha Madara, Carter Binda, and Belaque investigated two human-shaped trees blocking their path through Winterfort territory. Belaque sensed that people might be trapped inside, but Uchiha Madara refused to let Carter Binda split the trees open.

• Carter Binda threatened the two trees with her broken sword, but Uchiha Madara persuaded her to wait and investigate first.
• Uchiha Madara approached the trees and found no obvious danger, then called Belaque and Carter Binda over.
• Belaque sensed that the trees had wooden exteriors but strange interiors resembling humans covered in bark.
• Carter Binda suggested splitting a tree to find out whether people were trapped inside, but Uchiha Madara objected to damaging anything in Winterfort territory.

Uchiha Madara cut into two human-shaped trees and discovered they were living creatures that bled and reacted to pain. He, Belaque, and Carter Binda debated whether the trees had once been people or belonged to an unknown species, but their origin remained unexplained.

• Carter Binda suggested that the trees might contain people, and Uchiha Madara examined one and sensed blood-like flow inside it.
• Uchiha Madara cut a small opening in a tree, which shuddered as if it had felt pain.
• The three recognized the liquid leaking from the wound as blood and concluded that the two trees were living creatures unlike the other plants in the forest.
• Carter Binda and Belaque considered whether people had been transformed into trees and discussed the unusual magic of the late mage Thun.
• Belaque said they could not determine whether the creatures were transformed humans, transformed trees, or a new species.

Uchiha Madara, Belaque, and Carter Binda continued through the dangerous black forest, debating whether two strange trees had once been people and whether they should end their suffering. Madara stopped Carter from harming them and warned her to keep her eyes closed against the Magic Stone’s influence; the group then noticed the forest seemed to have no moving animals or other signs of life.

• Uchiha Madara warned Belaque and Carter Binda that the black forest was dangerous if its trees had once been humans.
• Carter Binda suggested ending the two trees’ suffering, but Uchiha Madara stopped her and said they should not decide whether the trees lived normally or were suffering.
• Uchiha Madara reminded Carter Binda not to open her eyes because the Magic Stone’s power could invade her mind, and she closed them.
• The three continued through the pitch-black forest without a sense of direction while Uchiha Madara wondered how the strange trees had formed.
• Carter Binda observed that the forest had no moving animals or signs of other living creatures besides the two trees.

Uchiha Madara, Carter Binda, and Belaque searched the strange black forest for the Magic Stone while discussing the forest’s unusual nature and the unseen person Carter had sensed. Belaque proposed burning the forest to expose the stone, but Uchiha Madara objected, leaving their search unresolved.

• Belaque and Carter Binda speculated that someone in the forest might be from Winterfort, while Carter insisted Winterfort residents would come celebrate if they sensed him.
• The three continued through the foul-smelling forest, and Uchiha Madara observed that its sky had not darkened despite time passing.
• Belaque suggested luring the unseen person to them, then proposed burning the forest to uncover the Magic Stone.
• Carter Binda supported Belaque’s plan, but Uchiha Madara warned that the forest was a miraculous place on the Ezerlan Continent.

Uchiha Madara, Carter Binda, and Belaque investigated another humanoid tree in the black forest and found evidence that it had once been a living person. They concluded that something in the forest might transform people into trees, while Magic Stones were still likely present.

• Uchiha Madara warned Carter Binda that burning the forest would ruin his Eagle of Winter reputation, so Carter Binda agreed to seek another way forward.
• Carter Binda sensed another unusual tree ahead, and Uchiha Madara urged the group to investigate it.
• The three found a tree with human features, and Carter Binda sensed internal organs within it.
• Belaque noted the tree's fearful expression and posture, while Uchiha Madara found no unusual changes in their own bodies.
• Uchiha Madara said the forest likely contained something that turned people into trees and reasoned that the victims might have remained conscious during the transformation.

Uchiha Madara, Belaque, and Carter Binda found that people in the black forest had been transformed into trees and continued searching for a way to restore them. Meanwhile, the city lord and his companions fought magical creatures through the night and grew concerned about Carter Binda’s absence.

• Uchiha Madara and Belaque discovered clothing on a human-shaped tree, confirming that it had once been a person.
• Carter Binda wanted to put the transformed person out of his misery, but Uchiha Madara urged him to wait in case they could be restored.
• The three traveled deeper into the forest and found more people transformed into trees, including one whose hair was still human.
• The city lord and his companions kept killing magical creatures emerging from the water as night fell.
• The city lord sent for reinforcements and worried that something might have happened to Carter Binda below.
• Uchiha Madara, Belaque, and Carter Binda continued through the forest without realizing it was dark outside.

Uchiha Madara, Belaque, and Carter Binda discussed the treants scattered through the forest before investigating muffled sounds nearby. They found a treant with a partly human face and cracked gray-white skin, its fingers transformed into branches.

• Uchiha Madara, Carter Binda, and Belaque speculated about who had turned the forest’s many expert visitors into treants and why they had come.
• Belaque teased Carter Binda about Uchiha Madara, then explained that she might know about events from before the younger generation arrived on the Elzeran Continent.
• Uchiha Madara heard muffled sounds ahead, while Carter Binda said he had detected only one nearby treant and blamed his poor hearing on focusing on his eyes.
• Uchiha Madara, Belaque, and Carter Binda went to investigate and found a treant whose features and cracked skin still looked partly human, though its fingers had become branches.