Recaps

Simon ambushed Elias in the black market to obtain his blood, but Lai turned the attack into an opportunity to beat Elias nearly to death. As tier-3 professionals approached, Lai used Blood of the Furnace on Elias and fled by flight.

• Simon waited in the black market until Elias entered his attack range, then slashed him with his greatsword and drew blood.
• Lai struck Elias with a secret-word attack, helping Simon’s blow send him flying and leave him badly wounded.
• Lai grabbed Elias by the neck and repeatedly smashed his head with her electrified club while Simon watched in shock.
• Simon fled as the fight’s noise threatened to draw other tier-3 professionals, leaving blood droplets from his sword behind.
• Lai fused Elias with the surrounding soil using Blood of the Furnace, twisted the mass with her mental power, and flew away as tier-3 professionals arrived.

Rory found Elias barely alive after a newcomer and Simon attacked him, then called in the Alchemists to stabilize him. The attack left Bohan’s Third Order Professionals wary of outsiders, but Rory upheld the city’s policy of accepting them and ordered the group missions changed.

• Rory followed Elias’s blood aura to a crater and discovered Elias had survived by concentrating his remaining blood to maintain his ruined body.
• Elias asked Rory to find the Alchemists, and Rory’s men brought Timothy and another Alchemist to treat him.
• Timothy said Elias would probably live but might never regain his Third Order strength because his body had suffered nearly crushing damage.
• Rory told the gathered Third Order Professionals that an unfamiliar woman had attacked Elias alongside Simon, prompting them to distrust recent arrivals.
• Rory said he would circulate a description of the woman and changed the seed-spreading operation so people would move in groups of three.

After killing Elias, Lai investigated why she had not gained the Secret Wordspeaker Profession and realized she needed to study Secret Words as an Alchemist rather than merely activate them. She discovered she could alter a Secret Word by replacing one of its words, and her Divine Power began to increase as she found the right path.

• Lai returned to the Inner City after killing Elias and wondered why the Panel had not granted her the Secret Wordspeaker Profession.
• Lai concluded that becoming a Secret Wordspeaker required studying the effects and structure of Secret Words, not simply releasing them with Divine Power.
• Lai experimented with “Black Phantom Swings Its Claws,” focusing on its nouns and verb to produce a sustained phantom-like state and black claw ripples.
• Lai realized that manifesting a Secret Word's effects did not count as truly using it and tried manipulating the words in her mind.
• Lai moved “phantom” into “Night Will Descend After the Sun Sets” in place of “night,” discovered that Secret Words could be altered, and felt her Divine Power begin to increase.

Lai realized Secret Words might help her meet the Time Traveler requirements, but a citywide suspension of activities raised doubts that Elias had died after her attack. She decided she needed to confirm his fate and prepare for Black Claw to suspect her.

• Lai concluded she could join lower-level Secret Words to reshape them and potentially leave a mark on the continent through time.
• Lai planned to gather more Secret Words and use time-related Alchemy Devices to work toward the Time Traveler requirements, while continuing her Sword Saint training.
• A hotel attendant told Lai that Mage Gareth had canceled activities for ten days and advised mages to stay inside, citing Lord Timothy's business in the Outer City.
• Lai suspected her attack on Elias had been discovered and wondered whether Timothy was treating him because he had survived.
• Lai decided to wait for Black Claw to learn more about Elias and realized she would need to prepare for him to suspect her.

Gareth confronted Felix Childe in his workshop about building a steam engine from the Alchemy School journals, then told him that Elias had been gravely injured and needed treatment. Felix refused to help Elias and agreed to follow the city lord’s order not to assist the suspects on Gareth’s list.

• Gareth found Felix working on a malfunctioning steam engine and challenged him for reading the Alchemy School journals and building it.
• Felix admitted he had long envied mages and explained that his Third Order rank made him difficult to kill in Bohan.
• Gareth reminded Felix of their history: Felix had discovered Gareth’s murder of a mage and used the evidence to secure valuable goods and support for his smuggling business.
• Gareth told Felix that Elias had been ambushed in the Black Market of the Lower City and that Rory wanted him treated for Bohan’s sake.
• Felix refused to treat Elias, saying he needed to study the knowledge Gareth had brought from The Alliance.
• Gareth gave Felix the city lord’s order not to help the suspects listed on a document, and Felix agreed.

Lai questioned Black Claw about the Black Market clash and learned Elias had survived but lost his Third Order strength. Richard offered Simon’s location in exchange for Lai killing the city lord’s Third Young Master, but Lai refused to commit, claiming she lacked the power to do it.

• Lai visited Black Claw and asked about recent events in the Outer City and at the Black Market.
• Black Claw told Lai that Elias had survived the clash but no longer possessed Third Order strength, and that Rory had arranged treatment for him.
• Lai decided to wait until Elias was sent back to the Outer City before trying to kill him.
• Black Claw relayed that Richard knew Simon’s location and would trade it for a favor, then identified the target as the city lord’s Third Young Master.
• Richard emerged from a hidden passage and asked why Lai had rejected the deal.
• Lai told Richard she was too weak to kill an important figure in Bohan City and advised him to find someone more capable.

Richard realized Lai wanted Elias dead and planned to keep Elias alive as leverage for a future deal, though he worried this would damage his relationship with Lai. Meanwhile, Boao arrived in Bohan with reinforcements from Elephant of Mountains Island and questioned the local believer after hearing an account of the holy relic’s power that conflicted with the Deity’s description.

• Lai rejected Richard’s offer to kill Elias and left after learning that Elias was badly injured.
• Richard and Black Claw discussed Lai’s strange behavior, and Richard concluded that he could negotiate with her if he kept Elias alive for now.
• A tall man in white robes watched Elephant of Mountains Island’s reinforcements enter Bohan, then greeted their leader, Brother Boao.
• The local believer told Boao that the thief had overwhelmed four Third Order Professionals, flooded Bohan, and caused night to overtake day.
• Boao questioned whether the thief’s relic was the Black Stone Slab the Deity had described, which could enhance abilities by merging with objects and bore difficult inscriptions.

Lai explored how her rituals produced Secret Words, combined them into a phrase that made her body intangible, and gained the Secret Wordspeaker profession. She considered using her new abilities to meet the requirements for Time Traveler.

• Boao entered Bohan after hearing that a thief had supposedly wounded four Third Order Professionals and nearly killed a Sword Saint, and he worried that his group was unprepared.
• Lai noted that her daily Secret Word ritual made her wake earlier, and she concluded that the words she received were shaped by her personal connections.
• Lai used alchemical solutions in a ritual and obtained the Secret Word "Water Element will give rise to quicksand," which she could use with [Heart of Quicksand].
• Lai combined Secret Words into "Phantoms will descend after flames sink into Water Element" and briefly made her body intangible at great mental-power cost.
• Lai checked her panel, confirmed she had gained the three-star Secret Wordspeaker profession, and thought the profession might help her qualify for Time Traveler.

Lai went to Black Claw seeking information about the Elephant of Mountains believers, but the Second Young Master offered a new bargain: kill the city lord’s Third Young Master in exchange for Elias’s life. Lai recognized that the offer threatened her plans for Elias and warned that the Second Young Master might face consequences.

• Lai helped Philly and Aurora solve a math problem, then dismissed their concerns about her going outside while the city was tense.
• Lai decided to investigate the Elephant of Mountains believers and went to Black Claw’s office in the Outer City.
• Lai found that the secret passage she had previously discovered had been sealed, and noticed Black Claw was avoiding her gaze.
• Lai pressured Black Claw into explaining that the Second Young Master wanted her to kill the city lord’s Third Young Master, offering Elias’s life in return.
• Lai realized the Second Young Master had targeted her desire to keep Elias from joining the city lord’s side and challenged him to consider the trouble his scheme could cause.

Lai learned where Simon might be hiding and went to the Blackwater District to kill him instead of following the Second Young Master’s plan to kill the Third Young Master. She found Simon and attacked him, and the chapter ended as she pressed her hands against the back of his neck and invoked Burning Sun Power.

• Black Claw gave Lai information about the Elephant of Mountains Sect, Simon’s possible hiding place, and the Third Young Master’s residence.
• After Lai left, Black Claw criticized the Second Young Master for threatening a Third Order Professional and hiding from her.
• Lai went to the Blackwater District to search for Simon, having decided to deal with the Second Young Master later.
• Lai found Simon in a shack and attacked him with Flame-Born Quicksand.
• Simon used his blood ability to loosen the sand’s restraints and tried to escape, but Lai reached his neck and invoked Burning Sun Power.

Lai failed to kill Simon but marked him with a tracking light, while the Third Order Professionals mistakenly believed he was weakened and began searching Bohan City to capture him. The Alliance to subjugate Simon fell apart, leaving Rory to manage the damage as the hunt spread across the Outer City.

• Simon used his blood-powered greatsword to break Lai’s barrier and escape, despite losing sensation and movement in his neck.
• Lai marked Simon with a tracking light that let her sense his location anywhere in Bohan City, then fled as other Third Order Professionals arrived.
• Rory and the gathered Professionals learned that Simon had escaped, and Rory concluded Lai was the woman who had previously attacked Elias.
• The Professionals speculated that Simon was weakened after using the holy artifact and scattered to search for him and seize it.
• Rory urged them to follow the City Lord’s rules, then returned to the Inner City and planned to tax the searchers to help Bohan recover.

Simon sought shelter with Jesse after a woman’s attack left his neck and shoulders numb, and the two discovered that Bohan had wrongly credited Simon with several powerful attacks. Their conversation about the mysterious woman was cut short when someone opened Jesse’s protective barrier.

• Simon asked Jesse to let him stay for half a month, and Jesse agreed in return for the favor Simon owed him.
• Jesse and Simon compared what they had heard about the flood, the prolonged darkness, and attacks on Third Order Professionals, realizing the city mistakenly believed Simon had caused them.
• Jesse suggested that the woman who attacked Simon might also be behind the earlier incidents and noted that she had joined Elias and Rory’s alliance against Simon.
• Simon worried the woman might have placed a tracking mark on him, and Jesse reassured him that his Magic Barrier could withstand Third Order attacks.
• A barrier passage opened, and a woman’s voice announced herself with a smile.

Lai broke into Jesse’s house by exploiting a flaw in the magic barrier and confronted him and Simon. After their first attacks failed to stop her, she began taking control of the fire elements in the house, leaving the fight unresolved.

• Lai discovered that Jesse had poorly installed the Construct School barrier, activated its inscriptions, and entered through a hole in it.
• Jesse questioned how Lai had breached the barrier, then offered to help Simon escape if they could weaken her within a minute.
• Lai noticed the black stone slab on Simon’s chest and sensed its crude attraction, recognizing it as the holy artifact sought by the Elephant of Mountains Sect.
• Jesse filled the house with fire while Simon charged Lai with his blood-coated greatsword, but Lai used “Black Phantom swings its claws” to evade their attacks.
• Lai began drawing the fire elements away from Jesse’s control, prompting him to urge Simon to attack her.

Lai used elemental conversion to overwhelm Jesse and strike Simon with a powerful Pyroblast before escaping Bohan. Boao and the priests arrived afterward, found traces of the sect’s holy artifact, and prepared to pursue Simon during the next attack.

• Lai converted the fire elements into violent wind, disrupting Jesse’s defenses and throwing Simon off course as Jesse urged him to flee.
• Jesse raised a wall of fire and shielded himself while Simon hesitated, then tried to use Jesse as cover to escape.
• When Jesse dodged aside, Lai exposed Simon and struck him with Elemental Regression and Pyroblast, leaving the house in ruins before she departed.
• Boao and the priests searched the wreckage, found black blood and powder from the Elephant of Mountains’ holy artifact, and concluded Simon had escaped.
• Boao assigned the priests to spread out and watch for the next attack, while identifying Lai as the formidable attacker who had outmatched a Flame School mage.

Fran led the Ocean Affairs Department's Territory Mage Working Group into the Magic Duel round-robin, where they faced the favored Ocean Management Department group. She sent First Order Mage Willow against Third Order Mage Olean Cross, and Willow surrendered after her spell failed to affect him.

• The Territory Mage Working Groups began drawing contestants for their duels, and Eleanor was selected as the Ocean Affairs Department group's Third Order Mage.
• Eleanor told Fran that their first opponents were backed by the Elemental School and fielded award-winning researcher Olean Cross.
• Olean entered the arena to fight first, but Fran stopped Eleanor and sent Willow, a First Order Mage, to face him instead.
• Willow's spell barely affected Olean's shield, so she surrendered, giving Olean the match victory.
• Olean looked grim after winning, while Willow returned to cheers from her relieved teammates.

Fran used a weaker-against-stronger strategy to help the Ocean Affairs Department win several duels and secure second place. After the other departments learned her tactic, her team struggled in later matches, and Fran chose a plot of land far from White Dragon Port’s coast.

• Aolain sent a Second Order mage against Fran’s Battle Mage, who won and left the Ocean Management Department under pressure to choose its next fighter.
• Fran’s team lost the third duel, but Eleanor won the fourth after Aolain sent a First Order mage against her Second Order.
• Brandon expected Eleanor to send out a Third Order mage, but Eleanor chose Willow, and Fran later won the second match herself using [Steam Concerto].
• Fran’s team used the same tactic to win three matches against the next working group, but other departments copied it, leaving Fran’s team unable to fight back in the final two major duels.
• The Ocean Affairs Department placed second after defeating the Ocean Management Department, and Fran chose an area far from the coast when Eleanor asked where they wanted land.

Fran chose Wall District instead of the wealthier districts, aiming to win over its merchants and artisans for The Alliance. Aolain then chose Withered Flow District, the port district controlled by the Church of the Goddess of Ocean Currents, leaving the other mages baffled.

• Fran rejected Dragon Wing District and chose Wall District, surprising the host and the other mages.
• The host explained that Wall District would not be ready for handover until the day after tomorrow, forcing the Command Council to speed up its plans.
• Fran had chosen Wall District because its merchants and artisans were likely to welcome The Alliance and support its territorial Profession.
• Fran tried to leave with Eleanor, but Eleanor hesitated while the district selection continued.
• Aolain chose Withered Flow District, the church-controlled port district, prompting surprise from Fran and the other mages.

Percival received the Command Council’s order to attack White Dragon Port and prepared to seize the Withered Flow District while minimizing political objections from the Territory Mage Working Group. Meanwhile, Lai cornered the exhausted Simon in Bohan, but a representative of the Elephant of Mountains Sect asked her to spare him so the Sect could punish him publicly.

• Percival opened the sealed order and learned that the Command Council had approved an attack on White Dragon Port, with the Withered Flow District to be taken by the day after tomorrow.
• Percival ordered aerial units to seal off the Withered Flow District with binding spells and target its apprentices and stronger fighters.
• Percival ordered Flame Bomb Type Three strikes on every district selected by the Territory Mage Working Group so they would suffer roughly equal damage.
• Percival’s subordinate relayed the orders as the Tower Battle Mage Corps prepared for battle, while Percival hoped to use the victory to lead his corps to the Lohan Archipelago.
• After three days of pursuit, Lai found the wounded and exhausted Simon in Bohan’s Outer City.
• A representative of the Elephant of Mountains Sect asked Lai to spare Simon so the Sect could take him back and punish him before its believers.

Lai refused to let Boao take Simon and attacked while Simon and Boao hesitated, using her abilities to kill Simon and bind Boao. With the Black Stone Slab in hand and other tier-3 professionals approaching, Lai flew away.

• Lai attacked Simon, but he dodged her first blow as an earthquake disrupted all three of them.
• Lai cast [Wide-Area Vibrating Adhesive Wave], slowing Simon and Boao, then struck Simon down with her club.
• Lai used two Secret Words to wound Boao and trap him in quicksand.
• Lai pressed her hand to Simon's head and killed him in ten seconds while Boao remained bound.
• Lai took the Black Stone Slab from Simon's chest and flew away as nearby tier-3 professionals approached.

After Lai took the Black Stone Slab from Simon’s corpse, Rory prevented the city’s Third Order Professionals from clashing with Boao and the Elephant of Mountains Sect. Boao then questioned Mage Jesse and learned that Lai was an Elemental School mage acting under the Alliance’s instruction, leaving him puzzled about her magic.

• Rory asked Boao whether the Elephant of Mountains Sect had recovered its holy relic, and Boao said a powerful woman had taken it.
• Rory identified the woman as the one who had joined his side, injured Elias, and attacked Simon, then offered Boao assistance, which Boao refused.
• Rory abruptly departed, and Boao’s priests followed, while the remaining Third Order Professionals speculated that Rory might have taken the relic.
• Boao told his priests to stay together and led them to Mage Jesse’s residence to question him about the woman who had attacked him.
• Jesse confirmed that the attacker was a mage acting on the Alliance’s instruction and belonged to the Elemental School.
• Boao wondered why Lai’s magic seemed to indicate the Alchemy School despite Jesse’s identification.

Timothy prepared to secure Simon’s suspicious corpse while he and Gareth planned to restart the academic exchange. Boao’s search for Lai ended when she revealed she was an applicant in Gareth’s program, leaving the Elephant of Mountains Priests unsure whether The Alliance had authorized her actions and Boao planning to seek guidance from the Deity.

• Timothy had Simon’s corpse moved to the Tranquil Hotel basement so he could make sure Simon was truly dead.
• Timothy and Gareth discussed resuming the academic exchange and arranging activities for the visiting Mages.
• Boao asked Gareth and Timothy whether they had seen a third-tier female Mage who had taken the Elephant of Mountains Sect’s sacred artifact, and Gareth denied knowing her.
• Boao and the Priests encountered Lai outside the hotel, where she identified herself as an applicant who had listed her rank as a second-tier Mage.
• Boao concluded that Lai might have The Alliance’s authorization and decided to seek the Deity’s guidance before acting.

Lai examined the Black Stone Slab while planning to capture the City Lord’s third son that night and use the information he knew to pursue Richard. She discovered that the slab bore Abyssal Script and resolved to seek help deciphering it at the Alliance.

• Lai reasoned that her apparent Alliance backing would discourage Boao and the Elephant of Mountains Sect’s followers from attacking her.
• Lai decided to visit the City Lord’s third son at a secluded property that night, hoping to learn about the City Lord and satisfy her Sword Saint condition by defeating Second Order opponents.
• Lai studied the Black Stone Slab and found that it could grant blood-control abilities without the usual prerequisites of Blood Law Sword Art.
• Lai found hidden writing on the slab, recognized it as the same script as the Abyss Contract, and identified the slab’s aura as coming from the Abyss.
• Lai wrapped the slab and planned to ask the Alliance for a way to decipher its Abyssal Script.

Lai found Kyle, the City Lord’s Third Young Master, at a small house and attacked after learning he planned to profit by restricting food supplies during Bohan’s unrest. She defeated his three Second Order guards and left Kyle at her mercy with her bat against his head.

• Lai located the house near the City Lord’s Mansion and used her Divine Power to identify Kyle and his three Second Order guards inside.
• Lai overheard Kyle discuss tightening food inspections to drive up prices and profit from the city’s food shortages.
• Lai entered the house and deflected a guard’s flying knives before facing the three guards.
• Lai used her blood-controlling power to cripple the first guard and then smashed through the other two guards’ formation with Sky Strike.
• Kyle fell through the broken floor, and Lai pressed her bat against his skull.

Lai forced Kyle to reveal Richard’s locations and learned that the Elephant of Mountains followers were searching for the Black Stone Slab. After Kyle disclosed a chance to attack Richard, Lai killed him and framed Elias for the murder, hoping Elias would flee before the City Lord caught him.

• Lai killed Kyle’s Second Order guard and demanded information about Richard’s whereabouts and security.
• Kyle revealed Richard’s locations and offered to investigate the Elephant of Mountains followers in exchange for his life.
• Kyle told Lai that Richard would be at the City Lord’s Mansion that night while the City Lord was occupied, and they signed an All-Spirit Contract.
• Lai searched the City Lord’s Mansion with her mental power, found no Third Order Professionals there, and went to confront Richard.
• Richard tried to bargain by threatening to reveal Elias’s whereabouts, but Lai killed him with a core move from the Blood Law Sword Art to make Elias appear responsible.

The City Lord learned that Elias had killed Richard and ordered Rory to block Elias and have him killed if found. Meanwhile, The Alliance attacked White Dragon Port, where Nolan tried to flee but became trapped with his Wyvern in the cathedral.

• Rory identified Richard’s fatal wound as a core move of the Blood Law Sword Art and named Elias as the likely killer.
• The City Lord ordered Rory to block Elias and told the third-tier Professional guarding the city to kill him on sight.
• The Alliance attacked White Dragon Port by surprise, setting off fire bombs as its residents realized the assault had begun.
• Nolan flew to the Church of the Goddess of Ocean Currents and demanded that Cesar help him escape, but found only a communications device and learned Cesar had already left.
• The Alliance’s fire bomb shattered the cathedral dome, and a transparent force immobilized Nolan’s Wyvern.