Chapter Summaries

Kraun drove the Starry Creature from the Alienated Zone, developed Demon-Breaking Metal, and expanded Moya's Smithy by training new Senior Blacksmiths. Meanwhile, Fekat returned to Rhine City with the Warlock Brotherhood's decision and called the high-ranking Warlocks to a meeting.

• Kraun's golden light wounded the Starry Creature and forced it to retreat underground, while Kraun discovered that the clash had improved his Golden Light Incantation proficiency.
• Kraun left the Alienated Zone with Del and practiced the Golden Light Seal on Iron Essence during the drive to Hamus City.
• Kraun hired Rubat Milu, Aaron Cole, and Jim Lavav at Moya's Smithy and began teaching them Tier 3 forging techniques.
• A month later, Del and Rubat became Senior Blacksmiths, and Kraun confirmed that his transformed Demon-Breaking Metal could burn and suppress Evil Spirits.
• Fekat returned to Rhine City, sent word for the high-ranking Warlocks to gather, and prepared to deliver the Brotherhood headquarters' decision.

Fekat returned with headquarters’ order to resume large-scale Golden Light Potion trade, while Lannister gathered intelligence and planned to travel to Hamers City. Lisa struggled to finish cleansing her Spirit Familiar, and Kraun offered Lorraine and Lia jobs with better pay and access to potions on credit.

• Fekat told the Warlock Brotherhood council that headquarters had sent over fifty pounds of Mithril and ordered the Golden Light Potion trade resumed, but Roger revealed that the local branch had been paying for the monthly quota with Gold Spirit Coins.
• Yennefer warned that Kraun might raise his prices because the Brotherhood had previously stopped trading Mithril, while Fekat decided to travel to Hamers City and meet Lisa and Kraun.
• Fekat secretly briefed Lannister, who asked about routes to Hamers and took a detailed wilderness map before planning to meet Fekat at the Gilded Rose.
• Lisa found that a small spot of contamination remained on her Spirit Familiar and decided to ask Lorraine and Lia to help her obtain more Golden Light Potions.
• Kraun learned that Lorraine and Lia had cut back on potions because they had run out of money, then offered them six Gold Spirit Coins a month and the option to buy potions on credit if they worked for him.

Kraun recruited Lia and Lorraine, then advanced Beast Taming to the Extreme Realm and gained powerful effects for himself and his pets. Three days later, Fekat arrived in Hamus City with Lisa to resume trade and meet Kraun, who suspected he had another purpose.

• Kraun offered Lia and Lorraine positions in his faction, promised to discuss their departure from the Brotherhood with Lady Lisa, and gave them ten Golden Light Potions.
• Kraun advanced Beast Taming to the Extreme Realm, gaining Wild Protection, Wild Fury, Wild Heart, and Life Pact, which raised his contract limit to four pets.
• Fekat returned to Hamus City with Warren and told Lisa that headquarters had postponed its decision while approving fifty pounds of Mithril for trade.
• Fekat told Lisa he wanted to meet Kraun and attend the next trade, bringing ten pounds of Mithril as a show of goodwill.
• At the Central Church, Kraun welcomed Fekat and Lisa and asked whether Fekat had another reason for coming.

Kraun refused Fekat and Lisa’s attempt to expand their Golden Light Potion trade, then learned that Fekat was working with the Silver Rank Lannister to target him. Lannister’s plan collapsed when he discovered Kraun was already Silver Rank, leaving their next move uncertain.

• Kraun limited the Brotherhood’s potion supply to sixty vials at the old price, raised the price for future vials, and told Lisa that Lia and Lorraine would leave the Brotherhood’s office.
• After Fekat secretly probed Kraun, Kraun sent Bastet to watch him.
• Lannister entered Fekat’s room under cover of a spell, took the information Fekat had gathered on Kraun, and planned to use Psychic Magic to obtain Kraun’s potion formula.
• Kraun visited the Alienated Zone alone, where the Golden Light Domain suppressed its laws, then returned to Hamus City.
• Lannister approached Kraun’s residence intending to cast Psychic Magic, but recognized that Kraun was Silver Rank and had to pretend his approach was innocent.

Kraun met Lannister, a Silver Rank envoy from the Warlock Brotherhood, who sought to negotiate for the Golden Light Potion after his secret plans failed. As Kraun refused to expand production or sell the formula without the Archbishop’s support, Lisa used her final vial to purge her Spirit Familiar’s Evil Thoughts completely.

• Kraun sensed danger outside his mansion and confronted Lannister, who identified himself as an envoy from the Warlock Brotherhood and proposed discussing the Golden Light Potion.
• Kraun brought Lannister to the Central Church, where Fanny and Nick witnessed their negotiations, and accepted a generous gift of Mithril and Valyrian Steel.
• Lannister offered to expand the Brotherhood’s potion trade and buy the formula, but Kraun said he needed the Archbishop’s support and could not promise greater production.
• Kraun told Nick and Fanny that Lannister’s visit seemed suspicious and that he felt no qualms about accepting the gifts.
• Lisa drank her last vial of Golden Light Potion, completely purged her Spirit Familiar’s Evil Thoughts, and wept with relief.

Kraun and the Rhine City church prepared for a growing threat after learning that tens of thousands of corrupted cultists had gathered in the Andes Mountains. The chapter ended with the diocese planning for a two-front war next spring and Kraun preparing to increase weapons production.

• Lannister regretted giving Kraun two pounds of Mithril and decided to negotiate a legitimate potion trade through the Warlock Brotherhood’s headquarters.
• Kraun studied Soul-Infused Weapon plans and purified the Leshy’s Spirit Soul with twenty-one vials of Golden Light Talisman Water.
• Fland arrived in Hamus City, reprimanded Lannister for entering the diocese without permission, and ordered him to report to the Holy See.
• Fland revealed that thirty to forty thousand corrupted cultists had gathered about three hundred kilometers from Zack Town, while bad weather prevented airships from scouting the Andes Mountains’ western coast.
• Fland and Kraun agreed to prepare for a possible two-front war by seeking reinforcements, stockpiling supplies, and increasing production of weapons and artillery shells.
• Kraun reported that two more Senior Blacksmiths had joined the blacksmith shop and planned to produce more High Explosive.

Kraun prepared his allies and businesses for an approaching conflict, then forged a Soul-Infused Weapon named Thunder Wrath. The chapter left him with the weapon completed and Lia preparing to swear allegiance to him.

• Fland learned that Golden Light Potion could purify Evil Spirits and might purify Spirit Familiars, then arranged to take Lannister away and bring Kraun to the Holy See in two weeks.
• Kraun supplied Lia and Lorraine with potions, assigned Del and William more production work, and accepted Melissa’s allegiance while ordering her to train more fighters.
• Lia urged Lorraine to become Kraun’s subordinate, but Lorraine hesitated; Lia decided she would swear allegiance herself.
• Lannister left Hamus City for Rhine City, and Kraun began making a Soul-Infused Weapon after mastering the process of forging arrays.
• Kraun forged a greatsword from Valyrian Steel, bound a Spirit Soul inside it, and engraved its name: Thunder Wrath, the Blessing of the Windseeker.

Kraun completed Thunder Wrath, a powerful Soul-Infused Weapon that inherited all of the Leshy’s attack abilities, and set out for the Holy See with Cardinal Cavendi. Before leaving, he tasked William with keeping the workshops running and stockpiling supplies, while Lia and Lorraine began working toward his test for their loyalty.

• Kraun tested Thunder Wrath’s Magic Crow, Position Swap, and Thorn Spikes abilities, then confirmed its Valyrian Steel blade could split an iron pillar without dulling.
• Lia and Lorraine asked to pledge loyalty to Kraun, and he challenged them to guide two newly awakened knights to Tier 2 Spirit Controller within six months.
• Over the next half month, Kraun improved his abilities, prepared High Explosive, and expanded the Fire Seed Cube’s metal storage.
• Kraun told William to keep the workshops operating and stockpile supplies while he traveled to the Holy See with Cardinal Cavendi, taking Bastet but leaving the Crow behind.
• Harry welcomed Kraun aboard the airship as William departed for the Potion Workshop, while Lannister learned that the Rhine City Diocese had three Silver Rank experts.

Kraun traveled toward the Holy See with Fland, Cavendi, and Lannister while working on his talisman materials, and his Spirit Familiar advanced during the journey. Meanwhile, Pope Osman Deluke prepared for the cardinals’ arrival and investigated a strange figure in the Rubia Kingdom; Kraun ended the chapter discovering his new Time Clockwork ability.

• Kraun joined Fland, Cavendi, and Lannister aboard the airship and asked Fland about the Church and where to find jade.
• Fland warned Kraun that Lannister was staying nearby, while Cavendi left to rest during the three-day journey to Rhine City.
• At St. Peter's Cathedral, Osman Deluke learned that Ahe Ahmed and Drag Mio had gained strength from the secret texts and discussed the approaching cardinals.
• Osman Deluke's hidden aide reported that Shadow Guards were investigating a Tattered Yellow Robe figure in the Rubia Kingdom that gave scholars yellow symbols and secret knowledge.
• Kraun spent the journey practicing the Golden Light Seal and recovering his Life Qi and Time Sand until his Spirit Familiar advanced.
• Kraun discovered that Time Clockwork created a field that slowed enemies around him without affecting him.

Kraun tested the Tier 3 Time Hourglass and discovered that Time Clockwork slowed everything within a small field, then arrived in Blei City with Fland and Cavendi. At a meeting with the region’s cardinals, Fland warned that Rhine City faced a growing Evil God army and asked for reinforcements as the cardinals debated how firearms might affect the coming war.

• Kraun tested his upgraded Time Hourglass, confirmed Time Clockwork slowed objects by 10% within two meters, and transformed more of his Metal Avatar into Demon-Breaking Metal.
• Kraun, Fland, Cavendi, and Lannister arrived in Blei City, where Fland took Lannister to St. Peter’s Cathedral to be received by the Church.
• Fland brought Kraun and Cavendi to the Laurel Inn, introduced Kraun as a twenty-six-year-old Silver Rank warrior, and surprised the other cardinals.
• Fland reported that more than sixty thousand Cultists and monstrous creatures had gathered in the Andes Mountains and asked the cardinals to secure reinforcements.
• Ivan noted that ordinary people could now use firearms against low-tier Transcendentalists, while Martin warned that monsters capable of manipulating minds might make widespread firearm use dangerous.

Kraun and the other Silver Rank cardinals met Pope Osman beneath St. Peter's Cathedral, where they formally established the College of Cardinals. The meeting ended with Fland warning that the Rhine City Diocese faced a growing cultist threat in the Andes Mountains and might soon have to fight on two fronts.

• Theo told Fland that the Pope had allowed Lord Lannister to remain in the kingdom for three months and stay at the Brotherhood's Rhine City branch.
• Theo led the cardinals through St. Peter's Cathedral's purification chamber and layered underground defenses to the Sanctuary.
• Osman saw that six Silver Rank cardinals had gathered and learned that Kraun was twenty-six and believed to have awakened Bloodline Power.
• Osman agreed to establish the College of Cardinals under the Church Canon and announced that its members would share the Church's burdens.
• Fland warned Osman and the cardinals that cultists were massing in the Andes Mountains and that the Rhine City Diocese might face a war on two fronts after the thaw.

Fland warned Osman that the Rhine City Diocese faced a growing Cultist threat in the Andes Mountains and requested reinforcements, while Osman weighed the church’s response and pursued his own political and personal aims. After the meeting, Kraun asked Theo to help him find warm jade from the Sintra Kingdom.

• Fland reported that the Andes Cultists numbered at least twenty to thirty thousand, had grown stronger, and might be transformed by the Evil God Kin.
• Osman ordered an investigation and said nearby dioceses and the church’s own forces would send elite troops if Fland’s reports were confirmed, while he considered the wider threats to the continent.
• Osman told Sako to keep monitoring the strange yellow-robed man in Rubia and send more Shadow Guards there, as Osman hoped to use the anomaly to advance.
• Theo escorted Fland, Kraun, and the other archbishops to the guest rooms after lunch.
• Kraun showed Theo broken jade and asked for warm yellow jade, and Theo offered to contact a trading company that had brought it from the Sintra Kingdom.

Lorraine celebrated the complete purification of her Spirit Familiar, while Del learned that Janice was close to becoming a Transcendentalist. As Cultists gathered in the Andes Mountains and war seemed imminent, Kraun learned that a merchant in Blei City had arrived with a rough stone he was seeking.

• Lorraine told Lia that a Golden Light Potion had completely purified her Spirit Familiar, and the two celebrated with wine.
• Del promised to ask the Bishop to take Janice as his student after she graduated from the Training Base, once she told him she was nearing the requirements to become a Transcendentalist.
• Feli reported that tens of thousands of Cultists had gathered near the Andes Mountains, and Yennefer volunteered to investigate with the Brotherhood's support.
• Yennefer suspected the Cultist gathering meant a large-scale war was coming, while Feli revealed that Fland and Cavendi had left Rhine City for the Holy See.
• Kraun finished studying the Library of St. Peter's Cathedral and gained Spirit Scholar proficiency as he learned more about evil gods and their followers.
• Theo told Kraun that the merchant Rivigaz had arrived in Blei City with several large rough stones, including one Kraun wanted.

Osman and Sako discussed how to win Kraun over, while Theo brought Kraun to meet merchant Rivigaz and find Warm Jade for a Solar Thunder Seal. Kraun identified suitable jade in Rivigaz’s Bright Yellow Stone, and Rivigaz called in his stonecutter to weigh and polish it.

• Osman told Sako he wanted to recruit Kraun and considered offering to groom him as his successor.
• Sako advised Osman that Kraun’s bond with Fland could make him difficult to win over, and Osman planned to separate them after the Rhine City Diocese war.
• Theo took Kraun to meet Rivigaz, a powerful Tier 3 Knight and major shareholder in the Good Luck Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce.
• Rivigaz welcomed Kraun and served him and Theo Storm Spirits before Kraun asked about the golden-yellow stone.
• Kraun used Spirit Vision to see Warm Jade inside Rivigaz’s Bright Yellow Stone and agreed to buy it.
• Rivigaz called his stonecutter, Mason, to polish and weigh the stone.

Kraun bought Bright Yellow Stone from Rivigaz, crafted Jade Talismans, and successfully drew Solar Thunder Seals. Meanwhile, Yennefer and Geralt discovered a vast Cultist camp in the Andes Mountains, where a peak Tier 3 Two-Headed Chimera approached their airship.

• Rivigaz sold Kraun forty pounds of Bright Yellow Stone at a discount and agreed to visit him in the Rhine City Diocese.
• Kraun used his Metal Avatar to cut the jade, made Jade Talismans, and successfully drew Solar Thunder Seals with Sun Essence.
• Lannister waited under church supervision and resolved to establish a large-scale trade channel for Golden Light Potions.
• Yennefer and Geralt spotted a red glow during their airship scouting mission and found a camp containing around a hundred thousand Cultists and their creatures.
• A peak Tier 3 Two-Headed Chimera carrying two Cultists flew toward the airship, and Yennefer ordered the pilot to climb at full speed.

Geralt and Yennefer tried to escape a Two-Headed Chimera aboard an airship, but its mental attack incapacitated the crew and forced a trainee pilot to make a crash landing in the Andes Mountains. The Chimera caught up after they landed, and Geralt leaped out to face it.

• Yennefer explained the Two-Headed Chimera's abilities as the monster pursued their airship through the blizzard.
• The Chimera's cry knocked out the pilots and crew, and Yennefer and Geralt revived a trainee pilot to take control.
• The trainee pilot stabilized the airship, but the Chimera's acid attacks drained its protective magic circle, forcing an emergency landing.
• The trainee pilot crash-landed the airship on a mountain slope, and the Chimera's cry knocked him unconscious again.
• Geralt and Yennefer headed outside to confront the Chimera, and Geralt jumped out as it dove toward them.

Geralt and Yennefer fought a Two-Headed Chimera and its Cultist riders in a desperate battle beside their airship. After Geralt transformed into a Werewolf and killed the remaining Cultist, the pair grounded the Chimera and Yennefer finished it with an Ice Spike, while Geralt collapsed from exhaustion.

• Geralt dodged the Two-Headed Chimera and drew its Cultist riders into battle while Yennefer killed one Cultist with an Ice Spike.
• Geralt struggled to overcome the surviving Cultist's Source Armor as Yennefer defended herself from the Chimera, and the battle left both companions in danger.
• Geralt transformed into a Werewolf, tore open the Cultist's chest, and crushed his head while Yennefer blocked the Cultist's retreat with an Ice Wall.
• Geralt tore the Chimera's wing as Yennefer drew it into an attack, leaving the monster unable to fly.
• Yennefer restored her magic aboard the airship and killed the Chimera with an Ice Spike through its mouth; Geralt fainted and returned to human form.

Geralt woke in the Andes after the battle with the Two-Headed Chimera and learned the damaged airship was being repaired. At the Holy See, Moon Kagla reported that Cultist forces were gathering near Rhine City, and Osman ordered dioceses to prepare reinforcements.

• Geralt woke after two days of sleep, and Yennefer told him the airship had damaged gasbags but could still be repaired.
• Kraun worried that the Church's reconnaissance party had not returned, then went to meet Osman after Moon Kagla came back with urgent news.
• Moon Kagla reported that a Beholder and two Two-Headed Chimeras had attacked the Church airship near the Cultists' camp, killing one Transcendent and forcing the survivors to wait for rescue.
• Fland, Cavendi, and Martin Hodges argued that the Church should reinforce Rhine City, while Ahe questioned whether mobilization was necessary.
• Osman ordered nearby dioceses and St. Peter's Cathedral to assemble forces for Rhine City and directed the Church to prepare supplies and weapons.

Kraun proposed using specialized airships and powerful weapons against the Cultists, then returned to Hamus City to train in the Alienated Zone. The chapter left him reunited with Fugin and Bastet, as the Crow flew back carrying a huge reindeer.

• Kraun proposed building small reconnaissance airships and large bombing airships, and Fland agreed to test the power of ordinary weapons against magical defenses.
• After the airship reached Rhine City, Fland kept Lannister there to attend meetings and help rally the Warlock Brotherhood, while Kraun returned to Hamus City.
• Kraun traveled by skis to the Alienated Zone with Fugin and Bastet, then used Golden Light Illumination to purify pollution and raise his Golden Light Incantation proficiency.
• Kraun left the Alienated Zone with his strength partly depleted and found that his proficiency had risen by nearly three thousand points.
• Fugin flew back to Kraun carrying a huge reindeer, with Bastet riding along by holding its antlers.

Kraun returned to Hamus City with Fugin and Bastet, reported that the Church’s reinforcements had been secured, and reviewed the diocese’s preparations for war. He told his subordinates that Cultists were gathering in the Andes Mountains and that their attack was expected next spring, leaving the Rhine City Diocese with a few months to prepare.

• Bastet hunted a reindeer possessed by an Evil Spirit, and Fugin retrieved Spirit Meat from its skull for a meal.
• Kraun returned to Hamus City and told Nick and Fanny that the Church now had nine Silver Rank Transcendentalists, including three allies of Archbishop Fland.
• Nick reported that the army and Crusader forces had gained many Transcendentalists, and explained how ordinary people’s firearms could help fight low-tier monsters.
• Kraun learned that the Arsenal had expanded and that Church orders had increased its profits, then told William to buy a hundred Spirit Coins a day.
• Kraun told his subordinates that Cultists were gathering in the Andes Mountains and would likely attack Zack Town next spring, and promised to make each of them high-grade armor.