Chapter Summaries

Charles drove the construction of the Undertow Pirate Crew’s Outpost Base, promising his pirates a future with Demonbone Ships and dominance over the major kingdoms’ navies. As work accelerated, he and Bruce produced magical adhesive from summoned Demon Worms to strengthen the base and its defenses.

• Charles explained that the island would become the starting point for the Undertow Pirate Crew’s rise, and promised to build Demonbone Ships after the base was finished.
• The pirates grew excited about earning places aboard a two-masted Demonbone Ship, and Charles encouraged them to work through a system of work points exchangeable for Golden Shells or a chance to become Tide Warriors.
• Charles summoned dozens of Demon Worms each day, while Bruce killed them and carried their corpses to a blood pool.
• Charles used Essence Sorcery to combine the Demon Worm remains with earth-element materials, producing magical adhesive for the Outpost Base’s buildings and defensive rune array.

Charles oversaw the construction of a Teleportation Beacon to guide Anderson’s future army to a safe landing near the Outpost Base. The base and beacon continued to rise, but the beacon’s rune-covered structure would take a long time to finish.

• Charles explained that random planar teleportation could place an invading army in dangerous locations and alert the plane’s will.
• Charles directed pirates to carry sturdy stones for the Teleportation Beacon and reinforced the structure as it was built.
• Charles used special solvents, Mage Hands, and mental-power runes to inscribe complex rune arrays into the beacon’s walls.
• Charles planned to install the lighthouse core at the beacon’s summit and connect its runes to the Outpost Base for guidance and defense.
• The Outpost Base’s walls and buildings took shape as the Teleportation Beacon grew, and Charles estimated the beacon would take even longer to complete.

The Bone Anchor Pirate Crew set out to attack the Undertow Pirate Crew after Iron Claw Marcus concluded that they were secretly building a Demonbone Ship. As Charles worked on the Outpost Base, he spotted pirate ships approaching the island and realized danger was near.

• Iron Claw Marcus and Bone-Shatter Isabel discussed the Undertow Pirate Crew’s purchases and decided to capture Charles alive to make him finish a Demonbone Ship.
• Marcus took more than six hundred trusted pirates aboard a Demonbone Ship and four twin-masted ships toward the Undertow Pirate Crew’s lair.
• The Bone Anchor Pirate Crew sailed through worsening weather, relying on their Demonbone Ship to calm the waves.
• Charles and the Undertow Pirate Crew continued building the Outpost Base, completing its outer walls and some defensive stone houses.
• Charles spotted several pirate ships approaching the island with the Eagle Eye Spell and wondered whether they were enemies or allies of the Garrote Pirate Crew.

Charles prepared the Undertow Pirate Crew for the Bone Anchor Pirate Crew’s arrival, then kept everyone at the Outpost Base while Marcus and Isabella seized their ships and burned their huts. Marcus sailed the ships away, but the Undertow pirates still refused to come down from the mountain.

• Charles warned Quake that ships were approaching and ordered the pirates to prepare for battle.
• Charles recognized the incoming fleet as the Bone Anchor Pirate Crew and told Dalle and Quake not to worry about their ships being taken.
• Marcus and Isabella found the Undertow Pirate Crew’s ships and huts empty, then searched the Black Pearl and discovered only books and worthless belongings.
• The Bone Anchor pirates burned the wooden huts and sailed the harbor ships into the open sea, but the Undertow pirates stayed at the Outpost Base.
• Marcus grew frustrated when the Undertow pirates refused to descend, then silenced a pirate who proposed burning the harbor and sailing away.

Charles held the Undertow Pirate Crew on the mountain while Marcus and Isabella tried to lure them down and then prepared an attack. By nightfall, the Bone Anchor Pirate Crew had taken every ship away again, and Charles had decided his pirates had squandered their chance to advance.

• Charles used the Succubus's charm to rally the Undertow Pirate Crew and ordered them to rest in the mountain fortifications instead of chasing the ships.
• Marcus and Isabella sent a former Garrote Pirate Crew member up the mountain to lure the Undertow Pirate Crew down, but Charles killed him with a bone spike before he could reach them.
• After waiting nearly half a day without hearing from their envoy, Marcus and Isabella decided to attack the mountain the next day and sailed the ships away for the night.
• Charles calmed his restless pirates and slaves, scattering Golden Shells to settle the slaves, then judged that the pirates had ruined their chance for advancement.

Charles prepared his island defenses after the Bone Anchor Pirate Crew returned with more than six hundred elite pirates. As the enemy climbed the mountain, Charles went down with Bruce and his Tide Warriors to slow them and summoned Delis for battle.

• Charles ordered his crew to rest for two days and remain alert while the Bone Anchor Pirate Crew approached the island again.
• Charles counted more than six hundred enemy pirates and ordered Quake and Dalle to prepare the outpost for battle.
• Charles sent his guard ahead to set traps, left ten Tide Warriors as support, and continued down the mountain with Bruce.
• Charles summoned Delis with the Summon Lesser Demon spell, and she agreed to fight alongside him.

Charles sent Delis and several summoned demons to attack the pirates climbing the mountain, while Delis used stealth and charm to sow chaos among them. Marcus reached the battlefield, badly wounded a Minotaur Demon, and realized the attackers were strange creatures.

• Charles promised Delis greater compensation and soul power in exchange for killing and wounding the pirates.
• Delis entered her combat state and slipped away as Charles summoned two Lower Minotaur Demons, two Ape Demons, and a Lower Berserker Demon.
• Charles ordered the demons to charge, and their attack and the Berserker Demon's stench devastated the pirates at the front of the narrow trail.
• Delis killed a Tide Warrior and used Charm Person to turn several pirates against their comrades, throwing part of the force into chaos.
• Marcus charged uphill, struck a Minotaur Demon with an azure-lit short spear, and demanded to know what the creatures were.

Charles and his allies attacked the Bone Anchor Pirate Crew as Marcus fought through the summoned demons, using sorcery and Delis’s ambush to hinder him. Isabella charged toward Charles, while Marcus was wounded by a Tide Warrior manipulated by Charles and grew wary of the sorcery.

• The Ape Demon cast a Darkness Spell as Marcus attacked a Minotaur Demon, and Charles struck Marcus with Soul Strike.
• Delis used Shadow Transformation to ambush Marcus, then bound him with her whip and stabbed at his side before Isabel forced her to retreat.
• Charles fired Dawnlight Arrow Rain into the pirate ranks, killing and injuring pirates, Tide Warriors, and demons as the Bone Anchor Pirate Crew surrounded the demons.
• Charles struck a Tide Warrior with Soul Strike, allowing the Berserker Demon to smash the warrior’s head, and Marcus ordered Isabella to attack Charles.
• Charles used Attack Misdirection to make a Tide Warrior strike Marcus, wounding him before Marcus killed the warrior and realized Charles’s sorcery was a threat.

Charles and his allies fought Isabella and the Tide Warriors, using spells and coordinated attacks to hold back the pirates. Charles’s Netherworld Scythe wounded Isabella, leaving her alive but greatly weakened.

• Marcus and the pirates killed the Berserker Demon and the two remaining Ape Demons as Isabella charged toward Charles.
• Charles strengthened Bruce and the Tide Warriors, while Bruce engaged Isabella and Charles used Soul Strike and Web Bomb to disrupt their enemies.
• Delis attacked the Tide Warriors as Charles filled the path behind them with moths and darkness, causing the pirate reinforcements to panic and impede one another.
• Marcus hurled a short spear at Charles, but Charles’s shield held and the spear shattered.
• Bruce’s stomp and Delis’s Charm Person created an opening for Charles’s Netherworld Scythe to cut through Isabella’s armor and injure her.

Charles and the Undertow Pirate Crew retreated to their mountain Outpost Base after delaying Marcus and the Bone Anchor Pirate Crew with spells, counterattacks, and traps. Marcus led his battered forces to the base and rallied them to attack its walls for the treasure inside.

• Charles and Bruce escaped Marcus’s charge while the Tide Warriors retreated, and Marcus’s attack smashed a tree instead of hitting Charles.
• Marcus saw that Isabella was wounded and his pirates had suffered heavy casualties, but ordered them to keep pursuing the Undertow Pirate Crew.
• Charles and Bruce led another countercharge, then Charles returned to the Outpost Base and recovered magic power inside the Teleportation Beacon.
• The Bone Anchor Pirate Crew reached the mountainside, where Marcus and Isabella saw the Outpost Base’s walls and Marcus considered retreating before deciding to attack.
• Marcus urged his pirates to climb the low walls and promised them a share of the Golden Shells and other spoils.

Marcus led the Bone Anchor Pirate Crew in an assault on the Undertow Pirate Crew’s Outpost Base while Charles defended the walls with spells and archers. Charles’s Corpse Explosion Spell and Dawnlight Arrow Rain tore through the attackers, but Marcus reached the wall and charged into it.

• Marcus ordered pirates to make siege ladders while Charles ordered the defenders to fire arrows at the resting attackers.
• Marcus assigned Rottooth Benny to suppress the wall’s archers as he led the main force forward behind shields.
• Charles cast a Darkness Spell on the charging pirates, but Marcus urged them onward through the darkness.
• Charles used Corpse Explosion Spell on a fallen pirate, blasting a gap into the attackers’ shield wall.
• Charles followed with Dawnlight Arrow Rain, killing more pirates around the gap.
• Marcus reached the wall, unleashed his totem power, and charged into it.

The pirates launched an assault on the outer wall of Outpost Base, where Charles’s forces used witchcraft and deception to counter them. Isabella’s defenses faltered against Bruce and Delis, and the chapter left her badly wounded by Bruce’s axe.

• Marcus slammed into the outer wall but failed to damage it, while Isabella climbed up and was burned by Charles’s Scorching Ray.
• The Tide Warriors of the Undertow Pirate Crew, led by Quake, Qiu Qi, and Dalle, joined the fight along the wall as Charles retreated into Outpost Base and Marcus pursued him.
• Bruce attacked Isabella in witchcraft armor enhanced by Charles’s defensive spells, while Delis used Charm Person to turn a Tide Warrior against Isabella.
• Delis distracted Isabella with her charm, allowing Bruce to cleave her scimitar in two and sever her shoulder blade with his battle axe.

Bruce and Delis cornered Isabella at the wall while Charles kept Marcus occupied inside the Outpost Base by summoning demons. The chapter left Marcus trapped in a fierce fight against five Lesser Demons, unable to answer Isabella’s call for help as Charles prepared to cast again.

• Bruce severed Isabella’s blade and wounded her shoulder, while Delis tripped and killed a Tide Warrior who tried to help her.
• Charles summoned doves and several kinds of Lesser Demons as he fled from Marcus through the Outpost Base.
• The Cunning Demons’ Revenge Aura caused Marcus to suffer injuries whenever they were wounded, while the other demons kept attacking him.
• A Serpent Demon charged Marcus with its halberd, and the combined assault of five Lesser Demons prevented him from escaping to save Isabella.
• Charles finished summoning and freed his hands to continue casting.

Charles directed the Undertow Pirate Crew through the Outpost Base’s alleys, where his sorcery and coordinated ambushes helped them wear down the Bone Anchor Pirate Crew. He healed Bruce, froze and killed a group of attackers, then used Pain Focus on Marcus, leaving the pirate leader overwhelmed by pain.

• Marcus pursued Charles through the buildings but was harried by demons and called for pirate reinforcements.
• Charles withdrew his Tide Warriors from the outer walls and used mental commands to coordinate alley fights and create local numerical advantages.
• Charles cast Star-Tear Healing on Bruce, restoring his wounds as Bruce charged toward Isabella.
• Charles froze an attacking Tide Warrior and several pirates with Frost Breath, then killed them with Bone Needle Bee.
• Charles used Pain Focus on Marcus, magnifying the pain from his many wounds until Marcus cried out.

Marcus fought through the demons and tried to escape the Outpost Base, but Charles intercepted him and killed him with repeated Scorching Rays. Marcus died just short of the open ground.

• Marcus charged toward the Outpost Base’s outer wall, forcing Charles to direct a Tide Warrior and pirates to intercept him.
• Marcus killed the Tide Warrior and tore through the pirates blocking his path.
• Charles blocked Marcus’s escape and struck him with Soul Strike, worsening his already critical pain.
• Marcus deflected Charles’s first Scorching Ray, but three more rays burned through his armor and fatally wounded him.
• Marcus collapsed and died near the mouth of the alley.

After killing Marcus, Charles and his allies killed Isabella and used the two leaders’ heads to break the Bone Anchor Pirate Crew’s morale. The surviving pirates surrendered after Charles killed the Tide Warriors leading their attempted escape.

• Charles sent the Minotaur Demon and Berserker Demon to attack Isabella, then blew up a Tide Warrior’s corpse beside her, badly wounding her and killing nearby pirates.
• Delis bound Isabella with her whip and stabbed her through the chest, killing her.
• Charles had Bruce carry Marcus and Isabella’s heads into the Outpost Base, where news of the leaders’ deaths threw the Bone Anchor Pirate Crew into panic.
• Some Bone Anchor pirates surrendered, while others tried to escape through the outer wall.
• Charles killed the Tide Warriors leading the escape, and the remaining Bone Anchor pirates surrendered.

Charles's crew defeated the Bone Anchor Pirate Crew on the mountain, and Charles saved the gravely wounded Quake with Star-Tear Healing. Bruce then led survivors to the harbor, where they seized the Bone Anchor ships and slaughtered the pirates left aboard, securing every vessel.

• The surviving Bone Anchor pirates surrendered, and Charles ordered them bound while his crew counted casualties and treated the wounded.
• Charles used Star-Tear Healing to stabilize Quake, then ordered Bruce to capture the ships at the harbor.
• Bruce led two or three dozen Undertow Pirate Crew survivors down the mountain and reached the harbor without raising suspicion.
• Bruce killed a Tide Warrior aboard the Demonbone Ship and sent his men to clear the other vessels.
• Bruce cast a Darkness Spell inside the ship's cabin and slaughtered the pirates there.
• Bruce and his men cleared the remaining ships, preventing the Bone Anchor pirates from escaping and keeping every vessel.

After defeating the Bone Anchor Pirate Crew, Charles treated his injured men and prisoners, resumed construction, and completed most of the Outpost Base and Teleportation Beacon despite Storm Month’s harsh weather. He installed Anderson’s beacon core and began activating it, sending light through the clouds and between planes.

• Charles treated the wounded, arranged for the dead to be buried or disposed of, and paid the remaining cost of the demon summoning.
• Charles treated the Bone Anchor prisoners and put them to work building the Outpost Base and Teleportation Beacon.
• Storm Month brought torrential rain and halted construction for several days before work resumed.
• Charles ordered Quake to confine the prisoners and prepared the Undertow Pirate Crew to defend the base before activating the beacon.
• Charles placed Anderson’s beacon core in the rune array, and its light pierced the storm clouds and the barriers between planes.

Anderson struggled under the debts he had taken on to prepare for planar conquest while waiting for Charles to activate the Teleportation Beacon. When the beacon finally activated, Anderson assembled his forces and sent Loran to check on Charles and bring him back.

• Anderson worked nonstop in his laboratory to repay the debts from buying a planar coordinate and preparing an interplanar portal and army.
• Anderson cared for the dormant Scorchflame and used him to monitor Charles’s life in the foreign plane.
• The crystal ball at Anderson’s waist began glowing, showing that Charles had activated the Teleportation Beacon.
• Anderson stopped work in the laboratory and summoned the wizards gathered for the planar conquest campaign.
• Anderson asked Loran, who knew Charles best, to teleport to the foreign plane, confirm it was safe, and bring Charles back.

Charles activated the Teleportation Beacon at Outpost Base, drawing the attention of powerful beings across the plane. A huge sea Magic Beast and a Merman tribe moved toward the beacon, while the king of the Sahoan Kingdom sensed a distant threat.

• Charles activated the Teleportation Beacon and considered how the plane's will might attack him.
• The king of the Sahoan Kingdom sensed a new threat in the distant sea, then set the concern aside to continue his banquet.
• Powerful beings across the plane vaguely sensed danger, and a huge sea Magic Beast began moving toward Charles's location.
• A Merman High Priest identified the beacon's direction as the source of danger and warned that the tribe could be wiped out.
• A Merman warrior left the cave and blew a conch horn to summon the tribe.