Recaps

Charles completed his advancement into a fourth-circle wizard and Greater Demon, then defeated and killed the Devil Baron attacking his fortress. As the surviving higher-ranking devils fled, Charles and the fortress’s Greater Demons pursued them and slaughtered the retreating forces.

• Charles emerged as a nearly ten-meter-tall Balor, clad in lava armor, and drove the Devil Baron back from the fortress.
• Charles used spatial teleportation, wizardry, and two laws to overwhelm the Devil Baron despite his powerful armor and weapons.
• Charles cut off the Devil Baron’s head and tore out his heart core, prompting higher-ranking devils to retreat while ordering their troops to keep fighting.
• The fortress’s Greater Demons charged into the attacking forces as Charles cut down Legion Devils with flaming blades and pursued fleeing enemies.
• Charles teleported behind fleeing devils and killed them, including one that had reached the edge of the volcanic region.

After Charles's forces defeated the Devil army, they hunted down the fleeing Devils and grew stronger by consuming and salvaging their dead. Charles summoned newly advanced Greater Demons and forced one to surrender his true name, leaving him bound to Charles under threat of torture.

• Charles unleashed Firestorms and his Fear Radiance, then ordered his demons and Ratmen to charge out and slaughter the Devils.
• The demons and Ratmen pursued the fleeing Devils for days, while the survivors gathered corpses for food, weapons, and armor.
• The battles helped many demons and Ratmen advance, giving Charles tens of thousands of Lesser Demons, thousands of Intermediate Demons, and the prospect of more Greater Demons.
• Charles summoned the newly advanced Greater Demons to Millstone Fortress and questioned one who had arrived before his throne.
• When the Greater Demon claimed not to know what he should do, Charles demanded his true name and threatened to crush his head.
• The Greater Demon surrendered his true name, and Charles tortured him until he promised to remain loyal.

After becoming a fourth-circle wizard and Greater Demon, Charles forged a devil baron's Heart Core, soul, and bones into a powerful wand. The wand greatly increased his combat strength, though he left space to add a fourth-circle spell after he mastered one.

• Charles studied the complete Flame Rule and considered how to use the devil baron's Heart Core without wasting the rules inside it.
• Charles decided not to give the Heart Core to Bruce or Zarlos, choosing instead to forge it into a wand.
• Charles refined the devil baron's corpse, Starsteel, and other materials, shaping them into a wand and inscribing it with rule runes.
• Charles set the Heart Core into the wand's tip and trapped the devil baron's soul inside it as an energy source.
• Charles finished the wand without a fourth-circle spell, and it increased his combat power by at least thirty percent.

Charles investigated Mark’s dealings and discovered that the Yugoloth merchant had been trading strategic supplies to the devils through bribed demons. He confronted Mark and a Greater Demon in the great hall, accusing an unnamed subordinate of betraying him, and left them both under suspicion.

• Charles summoned Bruce and ordered him to investigate Mark’s recent dealings with devils.
• Bruce’s Ratmen uncovered records showing Mark had bribed several Intermediate Demons and a Greater Demon to smuggle goods to the devils.
• Charles ordered Mark and the Greater Demon brought to the great hall, where Mark tried to flatter him and offered a small gift.
• Charles accused someone under his command of opening a defensive gap and selling strategic supplies to the enemy.
• Mark denied knowing about the betrayal, while the Greater Demon trembled and insisted he was innocent.

Charles exposed Mark for bribing a Greater Demon with hundreds of thousands of soul shards and punished the traitor while terrifying the Yugoloth merchant. He then rejected Mark’s claim that he had promised to allow trade with devils and threatened to kill him.

• The Greater Demon blamed Mark for bribing him, and Mark denied knowing anything about the betrayal.
• Charles revealed the resources Mark had offered as a congratulatory gift, prompting Mark to produce more boxes worth hundreds of thousands of soul shards.
• The Greater Demon tried to teleport away, but Charles trapped him, manipulated his true name, and reduced his body to a head.
• Charles intensified the demon’s pain and kept his soul burning beneath the throne as Mark listened in terror.
• Mark claimed Charles had promised he could trade with devils, but Charles said he was a demon and had no reason to keep that promise.
• Charles accused Mark of bribing his demon, and Mark begged him to spare his life.

Charles forced Mark to arrange the purchase of fourth-circle witchcraft while keeping him confined at Millstone Fortress. As Mark sought ways to profit from the deal, Charles studied witchcraft and his rules in the volcanic lava, realizing that fighting devils could earn him rules and valuable corpses.

• Charles spared Mark on the condition that he arranged for fourth-circle witchcraft to be delivered, but forbade him from leaving Millstone Fortress and threatened him with the Greater Demon's tortured head.
• Mark returned to his residence, decided that Millstone Fortress offered excellent opportunities to make money, and whipped slow-moving slave laborers to keep them working.
• Charles analyzed the rules of the Abyss and flame, developed lower-circle spells, and studied the Greater Demon's improved spell-like abilities.
• Charles submerged himself in volcanic lava, where fire magic strengthened his body and accelerated his analysis of the rule Wuduo bought.
• Charles realized that fighting devils could earn him Abyss rules, let him purchase other rules through the Wu Duo Duo Mall, and provide profit from their corpses.

Charles strengthened Millstone Fortress while deciding to save his money and build a wizard tower in Isata rather than risk building one in the Abyss. He redesigned the fortress’s magical-power pillars and ordered Zarlos and Kaseron to install them, leaving the two demons to work under threat of punishment.

• Charles decided that his future wizard tower should be built in Isata, where it would be safer than in the Abyss.
• Charles redesigned the pillars that gathered magical power and added rule runes to increase their effectiveness.
• Zarlos arrived expecting a reward, then pleaded with Charles not to make him install the pillars again.
• Zarlos accused Kaseron of embezzling soul shards, and Kaseron denied the accusation.
• Charles summoned Kaseron and ordered him and Zarlos to install the pillars, warning them that any mistake would bring punishment.

Charles expanded his power, trained while his demon armies fought nearby devils, and hired Mark to obtain intelligence on local devil legions and the Abyssal Overlord. The chapter ends with a Yugoloth caravan arriving at Millstone Fortress.

• Charles asked Mark when the spells he had ordered would arrive and tasked him with buying intelligence on nearby devil legions and the layer's Abyssal Overlord.
• Charles promised Mark greater freedom once he obtained the fourth-circle spells, while Mark said he intended to remain at Millstone Fortress.
• Charles sent his demon armies to battle the surrounding devils while he returned to training.
• The demon armies suffered heavy losses but grew stronger as demons advanced and their ranks gained new Lesser and Intermediate Demons.
• Demon armies brought devil materials and heart cores to Millstone Fortress, and a Yugoloth caravan finally arrived there.

Charles received Saru and Mark, who brought him three four-ring sorcery scrolls. After tense bargaining, Charles bought them for 1.8 million soul shards each.

• Charles emerged from his underground training chamber and appeared in the hall where Saru and Mark were waiting.
• Mark introduced Saru and explained that Charles had ordered the Greater Demons, including Zarlos, to guard the hall.
• Saru presented three four-ring sorceries: Flame Armor, Demon's Claw, and Abyssal Disintegration.
• Charles threatened Saru over his asking price of three million soul shards per scroll and offered five hundred thousand each.
• Charles and Saru negotiated until they agreed on a price of 1.8 million soul shards per scroll.

Charles learned Abyssal Disintegration and discovered that Abyssal Overlord Hachiwote was marching toward the outskirts to conquer Purgatory territory. Intelligence suggested Hachiwote’s route passed Millstone Fortress, leaving Charles worried that the overlord was already close.

• Charles chose Abyssal Disintegration as his first fourth-circle spell and spent several months learning it.
• Charles tested the spell on a dying volcano, blasting apart the mountain and triggering an eruption.
• Charles learned that Hachiwote ruled this layer of the Abyss and wielded power comparable to a seventh-tier being within it.
• Charles realized Hachiwote’s marching route included Millstone Fortress and summoned Saru and Mark for more information.
• Mark told Charles that the intelligence was about a month old, prompting Charles to fear that Hachiwote was already nearby.

Charles considered fleeing Hachiwote’s army, but the Book of Causal Paths persuaded him to join the coming war by promising to protect him with a false true name and weave a safer destiny. Tempted by the chance to gain power from the battlefield, Charles agreed to take the risk.

• Charles prepared to flee Hachiwote, fearing conscription and the loss of his true name.
• The Book of Causal Paths told Charles it could weave a false true name from one of his mastered rules, limiting the damage an enemy could inflict through it.
• The Book of Causal Paths argued that the war would provide causal power and souls, which could strengthen both it and Charles.
• Charles worried that powerful devils and demons could kill him, but the Book of Causal Paths promised to weave a destiny in which Hachiwote made him a demon general and protected him from death.
• After weighing the risks and deciding he could flee if necessary, Charles agreed to join the war.

Charles created a disguised true name with the Book of Causal Paths, then received Demon Grand Lord Hachiwote’s command to march against the devils in Purgatory. He prepared his forces and left Millstone Fortress under guard, then encountered Mark and Saru’s caravan traveling with his army.

• Charles used the Book of Causal Paths to create a disguised true name and learned it could be targeted without exposing his real name.
• Demon Grand Lord Hachiwote’s summons reached Charles, and the Book of Causal Paths explained that Hachiwote’s authority over the Abyss compelled demons to obey.
• Charles rallied his forces for the Blood War and ordered Bruce to leave selected Ratmen behind to guard Millstone Fortress and preserve their bloodlines.
• Charles left one thousand Lesser Flame Ratmen and one hundred intermediate ones in Millstone Fortress, then led the rest of his forces toward Purgatory.
• Charles found Mark and Saru’s caravan traveling with his army, and they said they welcomed war because it allowed them to make money.

Charles grew his army by absorbing demon forces and reached the Abyssal Overlord Hachiwote, who forced him to surrender his true name and demonstrated that he could punish him through it. Charles swore loyalty to Hachiwote and saw the powerful demon lords gathered in the Overlord’s palace.

• Charles agreed to let Saru and Mark trade his spoils for fourth-circle sorcery.
• Charles recruited demon forces by demanding their true names and absorbing their troops into his army.
• Charles reached the demon legions and saw armies stretching across the land beneath a vast palace carried by demon behemoths.
• Hachiwote seized Charles and demanded his true name, so Charles offered up his false true name.
• The Book of Causal Paths warned Charles that Hachiwote was about to torture him, and Charles felt the pain transmitted through his name.
• Charles swore loyalty to Hachiwote and observed the fifth- and sixth-tier demon lords in the palace hall.

Charles followed Hachiwote’s demon army into the Purgatory world, where the demons’ Abyss-granted protection vanished and the world itself opposed them. The Book of Causal Paths revealed that Hachiwote was a peak sixth-rank Greater Demon Lord seeking to become seventh-rank by defeating powerful devils, and Charles hoped to profit from the war.

• Charles watched Hachiwote’s powerful forces gather and learned from the Book of Causal Paths that it could not determine whether Hachiwote’s rank came from his own strength or the Abyss’s blessing until they entered Purgatory.
• Charles returned to his army and continued absorbing demon forces while the legion advanced, then led an assault that breached a Greater Devil outpost and slaughtered its defenders.
• After crossing into Purgatory, Charles felt the world’s hostility toward the demons, which Hachiwote’s roar briefly dispelled.
• The Book of Causal Paths identified Hachiwote as a peak sixth-rank Greater Demon Lord who hoped to kill powerful devils and advance, but warned that a nearby devil duke could endanger him.
• Charles hoped Hachiwote would win so he could seize spoils and kill devil barons, while the Book of Causal Paths looked forward to absorbing power from the deaths and helping Charles advance.

Charles and the Book of Causal Paths planned to exploit the opportunity to become demon lords and expand their forces. Meanwhile, a devil count prepared his fortress city for an approaching abyssal army and began summoning outsiders to help defend it.

• Charles considered carving out a domain and promoting Bruce and Delis if he became a demon lord.
• Devils and creatures from other worlds crowded into the fortress city as an abyssal army approached.
• The fifth-rank Pit Fiend devil count assessed his forces and reassured his nobles that the city could hold until reinforcements arrived.
• The devil count ordered his forces to fill the city, summon more reinforcements, and put newcomers to work on the walls.
• The devil count entered an underground spell formation and began enticing beings from other worlds with promises of a vast inheritance.

A vast demon army attacked a huge devil city, while Charles tried to stay out of the initial fighting. The assault began with devastating spells on both sides, and a third-circle wizard died in a Firestorm.

• Devils and mercenaries spotted the approaching demon horde and sounded the alarm to prepare the city defenses.
• Charles slowed his legion’s advance, surveyed the city’s three walls, and hid near the back of Hachiwote’s gathering.
• Hachiwote ordered the demons to breach the city quickly and claimed the Devil Count as his prey.
• Millions of demons attacked the city from the air and ground as defenders unleashed spells and earned battle merits for kills.
• A Firestorm swept across a section of wall, killing many devils and destroying the third-circle wizard’s defenses before he died.

Charles held his demons back from attacking the city’s first two walls while his sorcery devastated the defenders and filled the Book of Causal Paths with soul power. As the demonic horde breached the first wall, a newly arrived mercenary was blinded by corrosive blood rain and dragged away by devils.

• Charles slapped Zarlos out of the sky and ordered the Greater Demons to wait until the legion reached the city’s final wall.
• Charles continued bombarding the city with rule-infused sorcery, absorbing vast amounts of devil soul power and gaining two golden pages in the Book of Causal Paths on the first day.
• The demons overwhelmed the city’s defenses and breached the first wall within two days.
• A devil shoved a newly summoned mercenary out of a transport passage onto the third wall amid the battlefield’s blood rain.
• The blood rain and falling demon entrails blinded the mercenary, and nearby devils dragged him away, saying they would find another use for him.

Charles joined the battle for the devils’ final city wall after several days of fighting, revealing the power he had gained by purchasing complete laws. He killed a devil baron with Abyssal Disintegration as the battle continued.

• Demons breached the second city wall and launched a full assault on the final wall, forcing the devil count and nobles to prepare for a desperate defense.
• Hachiwote sent three sixth-tier demon lords against the devil count while battles broke out between the other demon and devil leaders.
• Charles stayed out of the fighting as demons and devils battled for two days, secretly using soul coins to buy complete fire laws from the Wu Duo Duo Mall.
• Charles entered a battlefield where two Greater Demons were attacking a devil baron and revealed his powerful aura, frightening both demons and the baron.
• Charles struck down a Greater Demon and used Fourth-Ring Witchcraft: Abyssal Disintegration, causing the devil baron’s chest and abdomen to explode.

Charles teamed up with two greater demons to kill devil barons, promising them the corpses while keeping the heart cores and Abyss’s blessings. After gaining another complete Abyssal law, he ended the raid and invited the demons to collaborate again.

• Charles killed a wounded devil baron and offered its corpse to two greater demons in exchange for their help holding back rivals.
• Charles killed another devil baron, gained a complete Abyssal law, and split the corpse between his temporary allies.
• Charles and the two greater demons targeted another devil baron, while his allies held off three greater demons and Charles secured the kill.
• Charles distributed the third corpse, kept its heart core, and stopped fighting before the battlefield became too dangerous.
• Charles asked the two greater demons to follow his orders in future battles, promising them a share of the spoils.

Charles watched his two Greater Demon lackeys fail to steal spoils on their own, then threatened the survivor when it blamed him for not helping. Great Lord Hachiwote killed the devil count and ordered the city destroyed, while Charles’s disciplined legion looted it for his benefit.

• After Charles stopped raiding, his two Greater Demon lackeys rushed off to steal spoils and were badly beaten; one teleported away, and the other returned injured.
• When the surviving Greater Demon demanded to know why Charles had not helped, Charles wounded it and threatened to kill it if it challenged him again.
• Great Lord Hachiwote joined the battle against the devil count and killed him, conquering the city.
• Hachiwote swallowed the devil count’s heart core and ordered his legion to kill everyone in the city.
• Charles located his legion, where Bruce led the Ratmen in formation as they looted devil buildings and warehouses and supported Charles’s other demons.

Charles led the Flame Ratmen in plundering a devilish merchant guild and uncovered its hidden vault. He seized its treasures and captives, ordering his army to empty the vault and keep the prisoners alive for later use.

• Charles used the Greater Demons he had gathered to accelerate the army’s rampage through the city.
• Flame Ratmen charged into a devilish merchant guild, defeated its resistance, and began looting.
• Charles detected and broke the concealment array around a secret vault hidden inside the guild.
• Charles opened the vault and overpowered the merchants and their third-circle wizard, who surrendered.
• Charles collected the vault’s witchcraft materials and Calamity Coins, then ordered the Flame Ratmen to remove the valuables and guard the captives.

After Hachiwote’s legion conquered a devil city, Charles and the other demons absorbed immense blessings from the Abyss and grew stronger. The legion advanced toward another devil city, where the gathered reinforcements promised an even more dangerous battle.

• Hachiwote destroyed a massive devil formation, and the Abyss blessed demons who had fought in the city, including Charles, with rules and magic power.
• Charles absorbed four complete Abyssal rules and a huge amount of magic power, greatly increasing his strength and size.
• Hachiwote finished absorbing his blessing and led the legion onward to attack another devil city, hoping to become a seventh-rank demon grand lord.
• Charles kept the three devil baron heart cores he had taken as spoils, deciding to save them for strengthening his subordinates rather than consume them himself.
• Charles sensed that the devils had gathered their forces in the next city, whose defenses were stronger than those of the previous city.

Charles’s demon army attacked a devil city whose defenders were waiting for a marquis’s reinforcements, while Hachiwote ordered an all-out assault to finish them before help arrived. Hachiwote considered leaving the layer of Purgatory after the battle, and Charles welcomed the chance to return with his gains.

• The devil count rallied the gathered devil nobles, telling them to hold the city for a month until a marquis’s army arrived.
• Charles kept his Ratman troops in reserve during the demons’ assault and sent cavalry to round up scattered demons.
• Hachiwote summoned his greater demons and ordered a full-scale attack after learning that the city’s defenders expected stronger reinforcements.
• A sixth-rank greater demon warned that the assault could cause heavy casualties, but Hachiwote said the demons would leave the layer after killing the devil nobles.
• Charles felt pleased at the prospect of leaving Purgatory with his army strengthened and several dozen new golden pages in the Book of Causal Paths.

Charles withheld the Book of Causal Paths’ power as Hachiwote’s forces attacked the devil city. He killed a fourth-rank Pit Fiend, while the battle raged around them.

• Charles asked the Book of Causal Paths to weave a fate in which he killed more than five Devil Barons, but decided to conserve its power in case reinforcements arrived.
• Hachiwote commanded his Greater Demons and Demon Lords to attack the city as both sides’ powerhouses confronted each other in the sky.
• Charles charged into the city, where a fourth-rank Pit Fiend attacked him amid a barrage of support from the city’s defenses and lower-ranking devils.
• Charles used Abyssal Disintegration to pierce the Pit Fiend’s armor and shield, then blasted him from the sky with a concentrated Firestorm.
• Charles drove the Flame Execution Sword through the fallen Pit Fiend and killed him with his rule power.

Charles claimed the battle’s first kill, received an Abyssal rule, and turned his attention to a fight between a Greater Demon and two Pit Fiends. He ambushed and killed one Pit Fiend, leaving the Greater Demon’s other opponent as his next target.

• Charles killed a devil, received an additional reward, and gained a complete Abyssal rule within his soul.
• Charles destroyed nearby devil troops and towers, then watched two Pit Fiends battle a wounded Greater Demon.
• Charles used Abyssal Disintegration to blast the more injured Pit Fiend while the Greater Demon continued fighting the other.
• Charles charged the wounded Pit Fiend through the city and pinned it against a devil tower.
• Charles and his elemental true body pummeled the Pit Fiend, then Charles tore out its heart core and killed it.