Chapter Summaries

Hawkes assigned Bali’s newly formed Tactical Squad to investigate Mountain City and Boulder City, with Vise’s squad held in reserve. Bali gathered his team to prepare for their first mission.

• Bali defeated Vise in a sparring match, and Hawkes advised both captains on their fighting styles.
• Hawkes announced Taylor’s order to investigate troubling signs in Mountain City and Boulder City, where reports mentioned a transforming Level 1 knight and mutated ant-like Magical Beasts.
• Vise and Bali both volunteered, but Hawkes chose Bali’s inexperienced team to lead the mission and ordered Vise’s squad to support them if needed.
• Bali assembled Fisk, Tairo, Leonardo, Venice, and Willicks to plan for possible emergencies.

Bali and the Achilles Tactical Squad entered Boulder City to investigate its strange residents and powerful Ant Beasts, discovering that the city had fallen under the influence of the Sufferers Sect. When a missionary threatened to recruit the great wizard into the sect, Bali killed him, and the squad began fighting the transformed city guards.

• Bali and Venice noticed Boulder City's hairless residents and unusually powerful Ant Beasts, so Bali ordered the squad to load their weapons.
• Boulder City's officer first rejected the squad, then invited them inside after Bali identified them as representatives of Chief Prosecutor Taylor.
• The city gate closed behind the squad, and a gaunt missionary welcomed them while Bali noticed his black teeth and arthropod-like limbs.
• The missionary and soldiers knelt in worship and declared that the great wizard should join the Sufferers Sect.
• Bali shot the missionary before he could finish, then ordered the squad to kill the enraged soldiers.

Bali and the Achilles Warriors fought off a swarm of Half-Insect Men after discovering Boulder City’s people had been transformed into inhuman attackers. As ant magical beasts began carrying enemies through Willicks’s wall of fire, Bali used his enchanted Chainsword to cut down three beasts in one blow.

• Bali killed a crazed preacher, prompting Boulder City’s infected soldiers and residents to attack the Achilles Warriors.
• Venice and Bali organized the warriors into a circular formation, with Willicks, Tairo, and Leonardo using heavy weapons to hold back the attackers.
• Half-Insect Men sent ant magical beasts through Willicks’s flames, allowing the riders to break through the fire and renew their assault.
• Bali drew his enchanted Chainsword and swung a crescent-shaped slash that cleaved three ant magical beasts in two.

As the battle raged at Boulder City's gates, the Sufferers Sect bishop silenced the transformed knight's doubts and began turning him into a devoted follower. The bishop sent the Sect's true Sufferers to eliminate the Wizards' warriors and conceal the Sect's presence.

• The bishop and the transformed knight argued over whether to preserve the Sufferers Sect's secrets or continue sacrificing their forces in Boulder City.
• The bishop used his words to weaken the knight's resolve, and the knight fell to his knees, confused and beginning to accept the Lord of Suffering.
• The bishop ordered the Sect to eliminate the warriors sent by the Wizards and conceal its involvement for as long as possible.
• The sleeping Sufferers awakened, crawled across the tower, and departed to attack the Sect's enemies.

The Achilles Warriors held their ground against the Half-Insect Men until a strange cry drew the enemy toward Boulder City’s tower cathedral. As Bali’s squad cautiously followed, he found a corroded puncture mark with an anti-magic aura, and hidden enemies surrounded them.

• Venice, Bali, Willicks, Fikes, Brother Tairo, and Brother Leonardo refused to retreat and intensified their attack on the Half-Insect Men.
• A strange cry stopped the Half-Insect Men’s assault, and they marched toward the tower cathedral as if on a pilgrimage.
• The Achilles Warriors followed the enemy through Boulder City and stopped at a plaza near the cathedral.
• Bali found a sharp puncture mark in the ground, detected a familiar anti-magic aura, and stored the damaged soil.
• Hissing cries sounded, and savage eyes appeared from shadows and ruins around Bali’s squad.

Bali’s Achilles Warriors were surrounded by insect-men and prepared to fight while Venice sent a distress signal. Far below Maple City-state, the Lord of Suffering’s growing power stirred a Black Flame Beacon that revealed its location to a Greater Demon in the Abyss.

• Bali formed the Achilles Warriors into a defensive circle and ordered Venice to send a distress signal to Vise’s squad.
• The insect-men charged, and the warriors met them with battle cries and gunfire.
• In underground Maple City-state, kneeling insect-men channeled their faith into the Lord of Suffering, strengthening the being on the altar.
• The Lord of Suffering’s aura stirred a Black Flame Beacon, whose ripple reached a Greater Demon in the Abyss.
• The Greater Demon recognized the beacon’s source and said he had finally found it.

A greater demon used the Black Flame Beacon to prepare an invasion and appointed Conqueror Poma to lead the vanguard into the endless planes. Heaven detected the demons’ passage and ordered its Punishment Legion to intervene.

• The greater demon used the authority carried by his old rival to activate the Black Flame Beacon and ordered a demon army assembled.
• The greater demon appointed Poma, a demon chieftain known as the Conqueror, to lead the vanguard and summon the Abyss’s will through slaughter.
• Poma assembled his demon warriors and pure-blood demons, and the greater demon sent them through a mass teleportation across planes.
• The Abyss’s will shielded the blood-black pillar as it passed through spatial barriers and escaped into the endless sea of planes.
• An ancient ten-winged Archangel Lord sensed the demons’ passage, and Heaven ordered an eight-winged Angel Lord to deploy the Punishment Legion.

Taylor sensed an approaching planar threat, while Keloqi's detector identified an Abyssal Black Flame Beacon and warned of a large-scale invasion. Keloqi summoned his forces and sought Taylor's help as White Tower Alliance reinforcements were still a week away.

• Taylor sensed spatial fluctuations tied to his ability and realized that a massive planar transmission was approaching.
• Keloqi's planar detector sounded an alarm and revealed an Abyssal Black Flame Beacon guiding the transmission.
• Keloqi reported the threat to the White Tower Alliance, which promised a Level Four Wizard and three Floating Cities in a week.
• Keloqi deployed his Puppet Legion and Stitched Beast Legion, then set out to recruit Taylor and the other Wizards for the defense.

After learning that Abyss demons were about to invade, Taylor prepared to return to the Wizard Plane and assemble the Puppet Legion while Kano and Hawkes stayed to defend the plane. Kano also learned that investigators in Maple City had encountered unknown beings, so he joined Hawkes in going to reinforce them.

• Wizard Keloqi told Taylor that Abyss demons were preparing to invade the plane, and Taylor decided to gather every available force and fight.
• Taylor told Kano about the invasion, and they agreed to send Kidd and his sister back to the Wizard Tower before assembling the Puppet Legion.
• Taylor assigned Kidd two lengthy papers, then used the White Tower Alliance's official-duty teleportation array to return to the Wizard Plane.
• Kano told Hawkes about the invasion and learned that investigators in Maple City had encountered unknown beings and needed reinforcements.
• Kano joined Hawkes in going to reinforce the Vise Tactical Squad and the investigators.

Bali's Achilles Warriors fought off a massive Suffering Insectmen swarm in Boulder City Plaza as their weapons began to fail. When Bali feared his squad would be overwhelmed, Vise announced that he, the Legion Commander, and Lord Kano had arrived.

• Bali's six Achilles Warriors held their formation against the surrounding Suffering Insectmen, while Willicks supplied ammunition and burned back the largest clusters.
• Venice warned Bali of a spiked insectman diving at him, and Bali killed it before a giant insectman charged the squad.
• The Warriors scattered from the giant insectman's leap, then Bali cut off its head and cleared away five more attackers with a wind blade.
• Tairo reported that his Heavy Bolter was overheating after insectmen destroyed its cooling and Fortification Runes, while Bali grew increasingly desperate as the battle worsened.
• Vise called out to Bali, saying that he, the Legion Commander, and Lord Kano had arrived and urging the squad to hold on.

Hawkes and Kano rescued Bali’s squad from the insectmen in Boulder City, then withdrew after Hawkes ordered the Achilles Warriors to preserve their forces against the coming abyss demons. The insectmen fell dormant at the gates, while the transformed bishop prayed to the Lord of Suffering.

• Hawkes and Kano arrived in Boulder City, where Kano burned attacking insectmen and Hawkes cut through the horde with his Thunder Greatsword.
• Hawkes and the Vise Tactical Squad fought their way toward the plaza as Kano discovered that the city was overrun with insectmen and people being transformed.
• Hawkes split Boulder City with a powerful strike, allowing Bali’s squad to reach him despite several Achilles Warriors suffering severe injuries.
• Hawkes reassured Bali, ordered the forces to gather and withdraw, and said the insectmen might later serve as a defensive line against abyss demons.
• Hawkes led the squads and Kano out through the shattered gates, and the pursuing insectmen curled up and fell asleep.
• The transformed bishop of the Sufferers Sect prostrated himself and prayed to the Lord of Suffering.

Hawkes and Kano withdrew from Boulder City with Bali’s tactical squad, avoiding escalation with the Sufferers Sect. Two days later, Wizard Keloqi’s assembled forces faced an Abyssal invasion, and the chapter ended as Keloqi and the third-level demon Poma began fighting.

• Hawkes and Kano retrieved their subordinates and retreated from Boulder City, while the insectoid bishop let them leave without pursuit.
• Wizard Keloqi gathered the plane’s available forces at a weak point in its spatial barrier to meet the expected demons.
• A black-red beam broke through the barrier, and demons emerged, including their third-level leader, Poma.
• Wizard Keloqi attacked the demons with meteors, but Poma shattered them with his spear.
• Poma transformed into a towering demon and struck at Keloqi, who met the attack with a spiraling drill of starlight.

The Wizards and demons clashed in a fierce battle, with Hawkes and the Achilles Warriors holding back the left-wing demon vanguard while the Wizards’ right flank was overwhelmed. The disciplined demon troops broke through the right-side defenses and slaughtered the Wizards, puppets, and Stitched Beasts.

• The demon commander’s adjutant rallied the demon warriors, while a level-two Wizard called the Wizard army to attack.
• Hawkes led the Achilles Warriors into the demon ranks, and Bali and Vise fought together against two demons.
• Hawkes and Kano occupied two level-two pureblood demons as the remaining Achilles Warriors fought the left-wing vanguard to a standstill.
• The right-wing demon vanguard broke through the Wizards’ defenses, routing the Wizards and destroying the Puppet Legion and Stitched Beast Legion.
• The level-two demons coordinated their troops into disciplined formations, though the demons’ underlying chaos remained a source of their strength.

Wizard Keloqi’s forces fought the demon vanguard, but the right-wing defenses collapsed and demons began invading the human territories to fuel a blood sacrifice. The remaining Wizards held off the main demon force while realizing the invasion had multiple breakthrough fronts.

• Wizard Keloqi’s puppet and Stitched Beast armies and five Level Two Wizards battled the demon vanguard and its four Level Two pure-blooded demons.
• The blue-robed Wizard and a fire Wizard fought black-flame and minotaur-like demons, while a rock-giant Wizard battled a gray-ice demon.
• The blue-robed Wizard and the black-flame demon exchanged powerful attacks, injuring each other and destroying nearby Stitched Beasts and puppets.
• Hawkes and Kano’s forces retreated to a canyon as the demon left wing pressed forward, while demons overran the right-wing Wizards and killed three of them.
• The right-wing demons split into groups and invaded Maple City-state, Governor City, and the mining zones to gather blood and despair for the Abyss.
• The blue-robed Wizard and the rock-giant Wizard realized their defensive line had been breached, and the black-flame demon revealed that other forces had also been deployed to break through.

The Sufferers Sect faced an unexpected Abyssal demon invasion of Maple City-state and sent its hidden Sufferers and Aided Children to defend the eastern cities. On the frontline, the Wizards’ forces continued retreating as demonized Stitched Beasts eroded their remaining numerical advantage.

• A demon infection force breached several cities in Maple City-state before the Pope learned of the invasion.
• The Pope killed the messenger in anger, then ordered the Sufferers in Calamity City and Disaster City to awaken and join the Aided Children against the demons.
• The Wizards’ forces retreated after three Earth Copper mining division Wizards died and their force routed, while infected Stitched Beasts turned against them.
• The blue-robed Wizard and a brown stone giant Wizard gathered Kano, Hawkes, and the surviving forces at a valley to hold out for reinforcements.
• At the Command Center, the blue-robed Wizard recognized that the retreat was going poorly as demonized Stitched Beasts steadily erased the Wizards’ numerical advantage.

Kano proposed exploiting the alien invasion of Maple City-state to divert the demons, then devised a plan to use corrupted Stitched Beasts to feed them false information. The Wizards considered the scheme as they faced threats on multiple fronts.

• The blue-robed Wizard asked the gathered Wizards for a strategy, and Kano offered to explain the alien infiltration of Maple City-state.
• Kano presented evidence of the invasion, while the Wizards secretly collected pieces from the insectoid corpses and passed experimental materials to him.
• The blue-robed Wizard realized Kano wanted to lure the demons toward the alien races, but noted that Maple City-state was too far from their battlefield.
• Kano suggested cultivating a Stitched Beast with a new consciousness, letting it discover selected information and then allowing Abyssal aura to corrupt it so it would pass that information to the demons.

The demons and Abyssal creatures fought the Aided Children and Sufferers to a stalemate at the two cities east of Maple City-state, then withdrew to await reinforcements. At the rear laboratory, Kano and the blue-robed Wizard awakened a crude Stitched Beast, whose confused new consciousness began overhearing the Wizards’ plans to protect a place where many people were gathered.

• A six-eyed first-rank demon warrior killed several pureblood Sufferers before their numbers overwhelmed him and tore him apart.
• After fighting until the following afternoon, the demons withdrew to camp, and the Aided Children retreated into the two cities to prepare for the main force.
• Wizards began producing inexpensive, inferior Stitched Beasts that could be infected by Abyssal energy for their plan.
• Kano and the blue-robed Wizard infused a goat-headed, tiger-bodied Stitched Beast with a spiritual awakening substance made from purchased souls.
• The newly conscious Stitched Beast heard the Wizards say they had to hold the place where the most people were gathered.

Wizards and Angels dispatched reinforcements toward the demon-invaded plane as Poma began a blood ritual to summon the Abyss Will. On the Zombie Plane, Bobby prepared his Golden Iron Golems while the archdemon sensed the portal forming and ordered his forces to ready for invasion.

• Wizard reinforcements and Angel warships traveled through magical passages toward the plane under attack.
• Poma reveled in the slaughter and used his demon artifact to bind nine blood pools in a membrane for the summoning ritual.
• Bobby took Lunna and his apprentice to activate more than ten thousand Golden Iron Golems after hearing Kano and Taylor were in danger.
• The archdemon grew impatient for Poma to begin the blood signs, then sensed the Abyss Will stirring and ordered the demons to prepare for war.

A pure-blood demon discovered that a Stitched Beast’s soul held secrets about the Wizards and used the information to redirect demon forces toward Maple City-state. In the Command Center, Kano urged the Wizards to defend their territory, and they prepared to protect the Earth Copper resource mining area while Keloqi guarded Governor City.

• After being badly wounded by Hawkes and the puppet warriors, the pure-blood demon returned to the blood pools to recover.
• The pure-blood demon recognized a self-aware Stitched Beast, seized and consumed its soul, and extracted memories about the Wizards’ camps and research.
• Excited by the information, the pure-blood demon killed two demon warriors who had watched him and reported what he learned to Conqueror Poma.
• Conqueror Poma ordered second-rank pure-blood demons and first-rank demon warriors to march toward Maple City-state under cover of night.
• Kano advised the Wizards to gather forces and defend their territory, and the blue-robed Wizard said Keloqi was protecting Governor City and its spatial teleportation tower.
• The Wizards decided to change course and protect the Earth Copper resource mining area.

Poma crushed Calamity City and began a blood sacrifice, but the Lord of Suffering awakened beneath the Maple City-state and attacked him. As Poma and the Lord of Suffering fought, a fourth-rank Greater Demon crossed through the scarlet portal and Wizard reinforcements arrived, while the Heaven legion remained en route.

• Poma crushed Calamity City in his hand and swallowed its inhabitants, then was struck by the Lord of Suffering's will and knocked to the ground.
• The Aided Children, archbishops, Sufferers, and Suffering Ones bowed to the Lord of Suffering as it awakened and confronted Poma.
• Poma attacked the Lord of Suffering with a fallen spear, and the Lord of Suffering summoned a magma Suffering One to fight him.
• A fourth-rank Greater Demon praised Poma as Spatial Waves opened and the scarlet portal began drawing power from demons, Abyssal creatures, and corpses.
• The Floating City reinforcements led by a fourth-rank Grand Wizard arrived, while the demon army crossed through the portal and the Heaven legion remained on its way.