Chapter Summaries

Key Plot Points and Events

• Qian Mochen's Black Tortoise Martial Soul Avatar effortlessly destroys Black Prison Pass's defenses, killing hundreds of Soul Masters and Emperors.
• A Titled Douluo sacrifices himself to detonate a powerful Soul Tool, creating a breach in the city wall, but Qian Mochen defuses it and uses it to create another breach.
• Qian Mochen gathers Soul Tool materials and equipment from the military camp.
• The Evil Eye Tyrant herds soul beasts to collect human food and weapons, sparing human lives.

Character Developments

• Qian Mochen demonstrates his immense power and strategic thinking, aiming to bring back Sun Moon Continent's Soul Tool technology to Douluo Continent.
• The Sun Moon Empire's Titled Douluo shows bravery and determination but ultimately fails to stop Qian Mochen.

Significant Themes

• The power of advanced technology (Soul Tools) in warfare.
• The futility of resistance against overwhelming force.
• The strategic thinking and long-term planning of Qian Mochen.

Character Interactions

• Qian Mochen interacts with Gu Yuena and the other women, discussing his plans to bring back Soul Tool technology.
• Qian Mochen communicates with the Evil Eye Tyrant, ordering it to control the soul beasts and collect supplies.
• The Sun Moon Empire's Titled Douluo interacts with the Black Serpent, attempting to kill it before detonating the Soul Tool.

Chapter Summary: The Sun Moon Empire’s Fury

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Sun Moon Empire’s capital receives news that Black Prison Pass has fallen to soul beasts, and its commander has died in battle.
• Emperor Xu Yaoyuan reacts with fury, blaming the pass’s officials and demanding immediate military action.
• General Xiao Fentian volunteers to retake the pass. The emperor gives him 200,000 troops—more than requested—and orders him to drive out every soul beast.
• Xu Yaoyuan mobilizes the empire’s resources:
  • Funds and provisions must be prepared.
  • One-third of the Magnetic Crystal Mine is allocated.
  • A Fentian Crystal Core Cannon Platform is ordered for Black Prison Pass.
  • Additional soldiers are recruited from nearby towns.
• Ten days later, Xiao Fentian addresses the assembled army, portraying the soul beasts as a threat to the soldiers’ families and homes. The army responds with overwhelming morale and killing intent.
• Xiao Fentian leads the army on a forced march and reaches Black Prison Pass in under fifteen days.
• He sends three groups of scouts to investigate the situation, locate the hundred-thousand-year soul beast, and support the cannon platform’s installation.
• One scout group consists of twenty speed-type Soul Emperors, including the elite assassin known as Number One.
• Instead of finding a battlefield or rampaging soul beasts, the scouts discover merchants traveling toward Black Prison Pass.
• Disguised as merchants, the scouts learn that the soul beasts allegedly abandoned the city after looting everything of value, leaving it empty.
• Number Fifteen enters the city with the merchants and is stunned by what he sees, ending the chapter on a cliffhanger.

Character Developments

• Xu Yaoyuan: Demonstrates his harsh, authoritarian leadership. His anger quickly turns into decisive action as he organizes a large-scale military response and commits substantial imperial resources.
• Xiao Fentian: Is presented as a confident, loyal, and aggressive commander. He willingly accepts responsibility and appears eager to confront the Evil Eye Tyrant and reclaim the pass.
• Number One: Is characterized as a highly disciplined, emotionless assassin with a perfect mission record. His reputation—including the successful assassination of a Soul Douluo—makes the other scouts wary of him.
• Number Fifteen: Acts as the group’s sociable and talkative member. His casual behavior contrasts with Number One’s cold professionalism, though he remains competent enough to gather information through conversation.
• The merchant: Appears loud, friendly, and physically powerful. His account of the soul beasts’ retreat shapes the scouts’ initial understanding of the situation.

Significant Themes

• Imperial power and militarism: Xu Yaoyuan responds to crisis through overwhelming force, mobilizing troops, technology, and economic resources.
• Patriotism and propaganda: The emperor frames the conflict as a defense of soldiers’ families, successfully turning fear and anger into collective killing intent.
• Appearances versus reality: The empire expects a city overrun by soul beasts, but instead finds merchants entering an apparently abandoned pass. The true situation is clearly more complicated than official reports suggest.
• Discipline versus individuality: Number One’s emotionless mission focus contrasts with Number Fifteen’s humor and social ease.
• Uncertainty and hidden danger: The unexplained condition of Black Prison Pass creates suspense. The city’s intact defenses and the scouts’ shock suggest that something unexpected lies within.

Character Interactions

• Xu Yaoyuan interrogates and intimidates the reporting soldier before turning to Xiao Fentian for a solution.
• Xu Yaoyuan and Xiao Fentian establish a direct relationship of imperial trust and military responsibility.
• The emperor rallies the army by invoking their homes and loved ones, prompting a unified response.
• Number Fifteen attempts to converse with Number One, but Number One ignores him, reinforcing his reputation as a detached killer.
• Other scouts warn Number Fifteen that interfering with Number One could be fatal, highlighting the assassin’s intimidating status.
• Number Fifteen befriends a merchant through drinking and conversation, extracting information about Black Prison Pass.
• Upon entering the city, Number Fifteen’s shock contrasts with the merchant’s smug, worldly attitude, leaving the chapter’s central mystery unresolved.

Chapter Summary: “Black Prison Pass in Full Swing”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The merchant and his workers return to the ruined Black Prison Pass to unload goods. Encouraged by the promise of doubled wages, the exhausted laborers quickly resume working.
• Number Fifteen is stunned by the pass’s condition. Once a major military fortress, Black Prison Pass has been stripped almost completely bare: only four walls remain, while its floor tiles, courtyard walls, and other materials have been removed.
• Marshal Xiao Fentian arrives with a 200,000-strong army, intending to attack or weaken the powerful Soul Beasts of Evil Demon Forest and obtain their beast rings. Instead, he discovers that the beasts have already retreated and dismantled the fortress.
• Xiao learns that Black Prison Pass was constructed with crystal-infused materials that allowed it to absorb battlefield Soul Power and support its Soul Guidance Cannons. Restoring it would require an enormous, nearly unaffordable quantity of crystals.
• Although Xiao initially hopes the remaining walls can be reused and the cannons redeployed, an academy expert explains that operating the cannons would consume the Soul Power of too many high-level Soul Masters. This would leave the army unable to defend itself against the Soul Beasts.
• Xiao abandons plans for a direct confrontation and instead orders the massive labor force to rebuild the pass as quickly as possible.
• In Evil Demon Forest, the Soul Beasts are processing the materials stolen from Black Prison Pass. Qian Mochen uses golden flames to refine the materials and extract their crystal components.
• The Evil Eye Tyrant and other Soul Beasts are forced to perform exhausting manual labor. Even the powerful Evil Eye Tyrant obeys Gu Yuena out of fear after remembering how thoroughly she defeated it.
• Once enough crystals have been refined, Qian Mochen reveals that the first batch is only the beginning and implies that he intends to continue exploiting the Sun Moon Empire’s resources.
• Bibi Dong reports that Black Prison Pass has been rebuilt with another hundred Soul Guidance Cannons, including a powerful cannon capable of threatening a Titled Douluo.
• Gu Yuena decides to send the Evil Eye Tyrant and another team to attack the restored fortress. Bibi Dong unexpectedly asks to accompany them, revealing a sudden and suspicious interest in the operation.

Character Developments

• Xiao Fentian: His confidence and aggressive plans collapse when he sees the ruined pass and learns how costly its restoration will be. He shifts from planning an offensive against the Soul Beasts to focusing on reconstruction.
• Gu Yuena: She maintains firm control over the Soul Beasts, supervising their labor and intimidating the Evil Eye Tyrant into obedience. She also remains cautious and observant, especially toward Bibi Dong’s unusual behavior.
• Qian Mochen: He demonstrates technical skill and patience by refining the stolen materials. His decision to continue “fleecing” the Sun Moon Empire shows his strategic and opportunistic nature.
• Evil Eye Tyrant: Its pride is humiliated as it is reduced to an unpaid laborer. Despite its status as a ferocious beast, it becomes obedient whenever Gu Yuena is involved.
• Bibi Dong: She moves from apparent indifference to active involvement in intelligence gathering and the coming attack. Her eagerness suggests she has a hidden motive.

Significant Themes

• Resource exploitation and reversal of power: The Soul Beasts strip Black Prison Pass for valuable materials, turning the empire’s own fortress into resources for their enemies.
• The limits of military technology: Powerful Soul Guidance Cannons require immense Soul Power and manpower, making them difficult to use effectively in a prolonged battle.
• Humiliation and forced obedience: Even powerful beings can be reduced to laborers when confronted by superior strength and authority.
• Strategic warfare: Both sides prioritize preparation, logistics, and resource management rather than relying solely on direct combat.
• Hidden motives and uncertainty: Bibi Dong’s sudden enthusiasm raises questions about her real intentions.

Important Character Interactions

• Xiao Fentian and the academy expert: Their exchange destroys Xiao’s hopes of quickly restoring the pass and exposes the practical limitations of the cannon defenses.
• Gu Yuena and the Evil Eye Tyrant: Gu Yuena’s intimidating authority keeps the rebellious Evil Eye Tyrant working efficiently.
• Qian Mochen and Gu Yuena: Gu Yuena reports the completion of the first refining stage, while Qian Mochen confirms that the operation will continue.
• Gu Yuena and Bibi Dong: Gu Yuena notices Bibi Dong’s suspicious eagerness but ultimately grants permission for her to join the next mission.
• Bibi Dong and the Evil Eye Tyrant: Bibi Dong receives authorization to accompany the Evil Eye Tyrant’s team, setting up the next confrontation at Black Prison Pass.

Chapter Summary: “Black Prison Pass Suffers Again”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The chapter opens with playful domestic conflict between Qian Mochen and Gu Yuena. Gu Yuena accuses him of persuading Bibi Dong (“Dong’er”) to become more involved in the development of the Spirit Hall and possibly pursue the position of empress.
• Qian Mochen explains that Bibi Dong is tired of being merely the Female Pope and wishes to become Her Majesty the Empress. Gu Yuena teasingly accuses him of manipulating the situation and threatens to punish him, leading to flirtatious banter between the two.
• Five days later, the soul beast tide from the Evil Demon Forest once again approaches Black Prison Pass. Instead of being worried, Marshal Xiao Fentian is delighted because defeating the beasts would allow him to turn his recent failure into a military victory and earn praise from the emperor.
• Xiao Fentian orders the entire force of two hundred thousand soldiers to prepare for battle and commands three Soul Sages to activate the newly improved Fentian Crystal Core Cannon Platform.
• The cannon fires when the Evil Eye Tyrant, a massive hundred-meter-wide eyeball and the leader of the soul beasts, comes within range. The blast severely injures it and cuts a huge corridor through the beast tide.
• Xiao Fentian immediately leads several newly promoted Titled Douluo in an assault against the wounded Evil Eye Tyrant. He transforms into his Martial Soul Avatar, the Crimson Flame Divine Falcon, and unleashes powerful fire and blade attacks.
• Confident that the Evil Eye Tyrant is close to death, Xiao Fentian announces that whoever lands the final blow will receive its valuable Soul Ring and Soul Bone. The accompanying Quasi-Titled Douluo become openly competitive and attack simultaneously.
• The chapter ends with a reversal: the Evil Eye Tyrant suddenly counters with enormous tentacles. It catches Xiao Fentian’s blade lights and begins breaking them apart, revealing that it remains far more dangerous than expected.

Character Developments

• Qian Mochen is shown as clever, flirtatious, and politically influential. He claims merely to have offered Bibi Dong an idea, while clearly benefiting from and encouraging her ambition.
• Gu Yuena displays her possessive and playful side. Although jealous of Qian Mochen’s influence over Bibi Dong, she remains affectionate and confident in their relationship.
• Bibi Dong is characterized as ambitious and dissatisfied with her current role as Female Pope. Her apparent desire to become empress suggests a major political and personal development.
• Xiao Fentian shifts from anxiety over his past mistake to extreme confidence once the soul beast tide appears. He is aggressive, opportunistic, and determined to exploit the battle to restore his reputation.
• The Quasi-Titled Douluo accompanying him reveal their ambition and competitiveness, each hoping to claim the Evil Eye Tyrant’s Soul Ring and rise into the ranks of the strongest experts.
• The Evil Eye Tyrant is initially caught off guard by the empire’s advanced Soul Tool technology but quickly demonstrates that it is not defeated, setting up a dangerous counterattack.

Significant Themes

• Power and ambition: Bibi Dong’s desire for a higher title, Xiao Fentian’s pursuit of military glory, and the Quasi-Titled Douluo’s struggle for the Evil Eye Tyrant’s rewards all reflect characters seeking greater status and authority.
• Technological advancement versus natural power: The Fentian Crystal Core Cannon Platform severely wounds the soul beast king, showing the growing strength of the Sun Moon Empire’s Soul Tools. However, the Evil Eye Tyrant’s counterattack emphasizes that technology has not eliminated the threat posed by powerful soul beasts.
• Overconfidence and reversal: Xiao Fentian assumes the wounded Evil Eye Tyrant is already defeated and encourages competition over the finishing blow. The beast’s sudden resistance exposes the danger of underestimating an enemy.
• Intimacy and political influence: The opening exchange combines romance with imperial politics, showing how personal relationships among powerful figures influence the future direction of the Spirit Hall and the empire.

Character Interactions

• Qian Mochen and Gu Yuena engage in teasing, flirtatious conflict centered on his relationship with Bibi Dong. Their exchange demonstrates both jealousy and deep familiarity.
• Qian Mochen and Bibi Dong do not interact directly, but his advice appears to have strengthened her political ambitions.
• Xiao Fentian and his troops act with strict military coordination, with Xiao Fentian directing the cannon assault and leading the charge.
• Xiao Fentian and the Quasi-Titled Douluo share the goal of killing the Evil Eye Tyrant, but his promise of the Soul Ring creates rivalry among them.
• The empire’s forces and the Evil Eye Tyrant enter a decisive confrontation, ending just as the beast begins to turn the battle in its favor.

Chapter Summary: “The Great Evil Eye Tyrant Answered Its Followers”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Evil Eye Tyrant effortlessly survives Xiao Fentian’s attack and the assault of several Quasi-Titled Douluo, revealing that it remains overwhelmingly powerful.
• Its mental attack crushes the Quasi-Titled Douluo and destroys Xiao Fentian’s Martial Soul Avatar. The Evil Eye Tyrant then kills the Quasi-Titled Douluo and captures Xiao Fentian.
• Xiao Fentian demands to know how the Evil Eye Tyrant escaped the lock-on of the Fentian Crystal Core Cannon Platform, but the beast refuses to reveal its method.
• At Qian Mochen’s request, Xiao Fentian is spared and thrown back toward the Sun Moon Empire’s army. Qian Mochen explains that Xiao Fentian is the commander of the two-hundred-thousand-man force and that allowing him to escape may create chaos within the empire’s leadership.
• The Evil Eye Tyrant attacks the Fentian Crystal Core Cannon Platform while stronger Soul Beasts destroy the other Soul Guidance Cannons. Black Prison Pass falls in less than an hour.
• As defeat becomes inevitable, the Sun Moon Empire’s soldiers begin fleeing. The civilian population hides indoors, fearing both the soldiers and the Soul Beasts.
• Although one wolf Soul Beast nearly attacks a family for food, the Evil Eye Tyrant’s pressure forces it to control its instincts and restricts the beasts to taking only supplies and materials.
• A group of devoted believers openly performs a ritual honoring the Evil Eye Tyrant, offering it a pile of crystal ore. Their ritual produces genuine faith power, finally drawing the Evil Eye Tyrant’s attention.

Character Developments

• The Evil Eye Tyrant is established as nearly invincible against the human attackers. It displays overwhelming physical and mental strength, but also surprising discipline by restraining the Soul Beasts from indiscriminately slaughtering civilians.
• Xiao Fentian changes from an arrogant commander confident in his weapons to a humiliated and helpless survivor. He is spared not out of mercy, but because Qian Mochen sees strategic value in his survival.
• Qian Mochen reveals a calculating, politically minded strategy. He intends to exploit Xiao Fentian’s survival and the army’s defeat to provoke internal conflict and embarrass the Sun Moon Empire’s emperor.
• The Evil Eye Tyrant’s believers are shown to be fanatical and adaptable. They quickly reinterpret their god’s changing preferences and adjust their offerings accordingly.
• The wolf Soul Beast demonstrates that the Evil Eye Tyrant can impose control over the beasts’ violent instincts, preventing unnecessary attacks.

Significant Themes

• Overwhelming power and human arrogance: The humans’ confidence in their Soul Tools and numbers proves meaningless against the Evil Eye Tyrant.
• Strategic warfare and political manipulation: The battle is not only about military victory; Qian Mochen aims to use the defeat to destabilize the Sun Moon Empire internally.
• Faith and divine authority: The believers’ rituals generate actual faith power, suggesting that belief can directly strengthen or affect powerful beings.
• Control versus instinct: The Soul Beasts are naturally bloodthirsty, but the Evil Eye Tyrant’s authority imposes order and restraint.
• Fanaticism and opportunism: The believers unquestioningly reshape their practices to satisfy what they believe are their god’s desires.

Character Interactions

• The Evil Eye Tyrant taunts Xiao Fentian and refuses to explain how it evaded the crystal cannon’s targeting.
• Qian Mochen orders the Evil Eye Tyrant to spare Xiao Fentian, and the beast immediately follows his command, indicating their cooperative relationship.
• Qian Mochen explains his plan to use Xiao Fentian’s survival to create political turmoil, while the Evil Eye Tyrant learns from the strategy.
• The Evil Eye Tyrant suppresses the wolf Soul Beast’s hunger and commands the broader Soul Beast forces to take resources rather than massacre civilians.
• The elderly cult leader and his followers perform a ritual and offer crystal ore to the Evil Eye Tyrant. Their faith power reaches it, prompting the beast to notice them for the first time.

Chapter Summary: “Willing to Brave Fire and Water for My God!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• A bishop and his followers continue praying to the Evil Eye Tyrant while occupying a valuable pile of crystal ore.
• Their loud ritual attracts hundreds of soul beasts, which surround the courtyard and prepare to attack.
• The frightened believers begin to panic, but the bishop insists that their faith will protect them. He dramatically offers the crystal ore as a sacrifice to the Evil Eye Tyrant.
• The Evil Eye Tyrant notices that the group has gathered a significant amount of ore and decides to invest in them. It sends a trace of spiritual power into the bishop.
• The soul beasts attack, killing several believers—including Zhao Si, Wang Wu, and others—but retreat in terror when they sense the Evil Eye Tyrant’s power. The ore disappears as part of the sacrifice.
• The bishop interprets the retreat as divine protection and claims that those who died were insufficiently faithful. The surviving believers accept this explanation, recalling instances when the dead had neglected their prayers.
• The bishop discovers that the Evil Eye Tyrant’s power has strengthened his body. He survives a jump from the fourth floor and destroys part of a stone wall with one punch.
• The believers become even more devoted to the bishop—and visibly greedy about the power they might gain through future sacrifices. They immediately ask when the next sacrifice will take place.

Character Developments

• The bishop reveals himself as manipulative, opportunistic, and skilled at rationalizing events to maintain authority. He transforms a terrifying disaster into proof of his religious leadership and divine favor.
• After receiving the Evil Eye Tyrant’s power, the bishop gains enhanced physical strength and durability. His confidence and influence over the believers increase dramatically.
• The believers shift from fear to fanaticism. They accept the bishop’s explanation for the deaths and begin treating survival as evidence of superior faith.
• Their devotion is also mixed with self-interest: after witnessing the bishop’s new strength, they immediately become eager for another sacrifice.
• Zhao Si, Wang Wu, and the other dead believers are posthumously blamed for their own deaths, allowing the group to preserve its belief system and avoid questioning the bishop.
• The Evil Eye Tyrant is portrayed as detached but pragmatic. It does not genuinely care about the believers, but it recognizes their usefulness and rewards them as an “investment.”

Significant Themes

• Religious manipulation and scapegoating: The bishop uses the deaths of several followers to reinforce obedience, claiming they were punished for weak faith.
• Self-deception: The bishop first convinces himself that the Evil Eye Tyrant is protecting them, making it easier to persuade everyone else.
• Faith as power and control: The believers’ rituals attract supernatural attention, while the bishop uses that power to strengthen his authority.
• Exploitation and opportunism: Both sides benefit from the arrangement—the believers gain protection and power, while the Evil Eye Tyrant receives valuable crystal ore.
• Fanaticism and greed: The survivors’ fear quickly becomes worship, but their worship is inseparable from the desire to gain supernatural strength.
• Dark humor and irony: The bishop’s absurd explanations, including blaming the dead for insufficient devotion, expose the hypocrisy of the group’s faith.

Character Interactions

• The frightened believers look to the bishop for guidance, while he rebukes their fear and commands them to continue chanting.
• The bishop signals trusted followers to support his ritual, demonstrating his control over the group.
• After the attack, grieving believers question the deaths, but the bishop silences them and redirects their attention toward the supposed failures of the dead.
• The believers reinforce one another’s faith by recalling the dead men’s past laziness during prayers.
• Once the bishop demonstrates his enhanced strength, the believers’ admiration turns into worshipful curiosity and greed, culminating in their demand to know when another sacrifice will occur.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• The bishop exploits his followers’ ignorance by claiming that his newly acquired power came from the Evil God and that devoted worshippers can receive similar strength.
• The Evil Eye Tyrant secretly contacts the bishop, brands his palm with an eyeball mark, and orders him to gather more crystal ore for future sacrifices. It promises even greater power in return.
• The bishop presents the mark as proof of a divine oracle, persuading his followers to collect at least as much ore as they sacrificed previously. The followers eagerly agree, hoping to become Soul Masters.
• Protected by the Evil Eye Tyrant’s mark, the bishop and his followers leave Black Prison Pass unharmed. The Soul Beasts ignore or flee from them, causing the bishop to become even more arrogant and convinced of the Evil God’s invincibility.
• In Mingdu, General Xiao Fentian returns with over twenty thousand surviving troops after suffering a disastrous defeat against the Soul Beasts. He reports the loss to Emperor Xu Yaoyuan.
• Xu Yaoyuan initially tries to comfort him, but the surviving commanders reveal that they have been effectively crippled: their ninth Soul Rings were forcibly created through sacrifices involving Ten-Year Soul Beasts.
• When the commanders display their martial souls, Xu Yaoyuan sees the horrifying white ninth Soul Rings. He realizes the extent of their degradation and turns angrily toward Xiao Fentian.

Character Developments

• The Bishop: Becomes increasingly greedy, ambitious, and self-important. Rather than questioning the source of his power, he embraces the Evil Eye Tyrant’s manipulation and uses false religious claims to control others.
• The Followers: Their desperation for power makes them highly susceptible to the bishop’s deception. They become more fervent and enthusiastic after believing they can gain strength through additional sacrifices.
• The Evil Eye Tyrant: Reveals itself as a calculating manipulator. It rewards the bishop with a mark and uses him to obtain more ore and sacrifices.
• Xiao Fentian: Returns defeated and humiliated, accepts responsibility for the military failure, and is forced to admit that his commanders have suffered permanent damage.
• Xu Yaoyuan: Shifts from confidence and attempted reassurance to shock and fury after discovering the true cost of the defeat.

Significant Themes

• Manipulation through faith: The bishop turns a mysterious supernatural event into a religious doctrine, exploiting people’s desire for strength.
• Greed and corruption: The promise of greater power drives the bishop and his followers to participate in increasingly dangerous sacrifices.
• The price of power: The commanders’ white ninth Soul Rings demonstrate that their apparent strength came at the cost of their futures and dignity.
• False divinity and blind worship: The followers mistake the Evil Eye Tyrant’s influence for benevolent divine favor, while the bishop mistakes being used for being chosen.
• Military defeat and political consequences: The loss against the Soul Beasts threatens the Sun Moon Empire’s authority and exposes the disastrous consequences of the expedition.

Character Interactions

• The bishop addresses his followers as spiritual “children,” reinforcing his authority while misleading them about the source of his power.
• The Evil Eye Tyrant privately communicates with the bishop, establishing a direct relationship based on obedience and promised rewards.
• The bishop displays the divine mark to his followers, using it to intensify their faith and mobilize them to gather more ore.
• Xu Yaoyuan initially welcomes Xiao Fentian and attempts to console him, but the conversation becomes tense when the defeat is revealed.
• Xiao Fentian kneels and accepts blame, while his trusted aides expose the deeper truth: their ninth Soul Rings were created through Ten-Year Soul Beast sacrifices.
• The chapter ends with Xu Yaoyuan turning his anger toward Xiao Fentian, suggesting severe consequences for the failed campaign.