Chapter Summaries

Charles used the vanguard battle to draw King Leland’s cavalry out, then unleashed his elite Blood Ring Knights against them. The Blood Ring Knights smashed through Leland County’s cavalry, leaving the enemy in a bloody rout.

• Bruce and the Blood Ring Knights led the assault on the enemy vanguard while Charles and Scorchflame killed Tide Warriors with spells.
• King Leland sent a viscount to reinforce the struggling front, and Charles noticed the enemy formation weaken as troops moved.
• Charles divided his cavalry into bait and elite groups, ordering the bait cavalry to attack the enemy flank.
• King Leland dispatched his cavalry to intercept the bait, and Charles sent his elite Blood Ring Knights to destroy them.
• The bait cavalry turned aside at the last moment, and the Blood Ring Knights charged into Leland County’s cavalry, killing and scattering its riders.

Charles’s forces routed Leland County’s cavalry and infantry with repeated cavalry charges, witchcraft, and a surge in morale. The King of Leland rallied his remaining troops at the front of his army and prepared to face the invaders himself.

• The Blood Ring Knights and decoy cavalry struck Leland County’s cavalry in successive charges, destroying its formation and leaving the survivors demoralized.
• The Blood Ring Knights charged into the infantry’s rear, killing dozens and halting a fresh group of reinforcements.
• Charles struck down the viscount commanding the reinforcements and blasted their front ranks with Abyssal Flame Burst, causing the infantry to flee.
• Charles used his male Succubus ability to raise his rabble infantry’s morale and sent them after the fleeing Leland soldiers.
• The King of Leland rode to the front of his remaining army, declared that he would fight alongside his warriors, and ordered them to defeat the invaders.

Charles’s forces shattered Leilan’s infantry, while Scorchflame’s Darkness Spell prevented the routed soldiers from regrouping. King Leilan charged Charles, who fought him with demon strength and repeated Radiant Ray attacks, leaving the duel unresolved as Charles struck back.

• King Leilan stopped fleeing soldiers and directed them toward the rear, where nobles tried to restore order.
• Charles ordered Scorchflame to cast Darkness Spell over the routed troops, plunging them into chaos and preventing them from regrouping.
• King Leilan identified Charles as the enemy commander, and Charles opened a path through his infantry to invite him to fight.
• King Leilan charged Charles as the armies clashed, and Charles transformed into his demon form and struck him repeatedly with Radiant Ray.
• King Leilan wounded by the rays attacked Charles, briefly fell under Charm Person, then broke free as Charles swung his sword at him.

Charles and Scorchflame overwhelmed King Leilan with illusions, spells, and coordinated attacks. After suffering severe injuries, King Leilan was dropped from high in the air and knocked unconscious.

• King Leilan broke free of Charles's illusion at the last moment but took a deep wound from Charles's infused longsword.
• Charles used Painful Hallucination to confuse King Leilan while Scorchflame disrupted him and Charles continued commanding the battle.
• King Leilan struck Charles's Wizard Shield, and Charles activated Abyssal Fury as Scorchflame transformed and blasted King Leilan with poisonous dragon breath.
• Charles and Scorchflame battered King Leilan with close-range attacks, Abyssal Flame Burst, and Fel Blast, leaving him gravely injured.
• Scorchflame carried King Leilan high into the air, released him, and the fall knocked King Leilan unconscious.

Charles defeated Leland Kingdom’s main army, captured its nobles and royal family, and took the royal capital. After reorganizing captured soldiers and sending the militiamen home, he began seizing the nobles’ wealth, collecting at least 1.7 million Magic Stones.

• Charles killed the Leland King, and the king’s death caused Leland Kingdom’s soldiers to surrender or flee.
• Charles’s cavalry captured fleeing nobles, while more than four thousand militiamen switched sides and joined his army.
• Charles’s forces buried their fallen comrades, and Charles replenished his crystal ball with the soul power of enemy dead.
• Charles ordered Quake to blockade the island’s ports, then marched into the royal capital and imprisoned the royal family.
• Charles spent nearly a month reorganizing captured troops, expanded his force to four thousand five hundred men, and dismissed the militiamen.
• Charles seized the noble castles and took at least 1.7 million Magic Stones from Leland County.

Charles took control of Leland County, assessed its sources of income, and handed its rule to officials dispatched by Anderson before returning to strengthen Bruce. Elsewhere, a woman whose village had been destroyed prepared an evil ritual and summoned an unknown being for revenge.

• Charles calculated the profits from Leland County and sent Bruce to seize the nobles on the outlying islands.
• Charles learned how Leland County earned income from crops, horses, pearls, Magic Stones, and sea Magic Beasts, and considered ways to increase its revenue.
• Charles handed Leland County's rule to Anderson's officials, returned to Ship Island, and began strengthening Bruce.
• A woman hid in a cave and watched her village burn, losing everyone she had cherished.
• The woman prepared a ritual, offered a wild deer, and summoned an unknown existence, pledging everything she had for revenge.

Charles answered a demon-summoning ritual and discovered that a woman wanted revenge on the Greenleaf Tribe's half-elves. Seeing the chance to reach a valuable plane, he gave her demonic power and instructed her to prepare a stronger ritual for their next meeting.

• Charles felt his Succubus bloodline respond to a summons and followed it to the ritual.
• Charles found the summoner, a woman who asked him to avenge her family and village, which the Greenleaf Tribe's half-elves had destroyed.
• Charles realized that the half-elves suggested the woman's plane had elves, humans, and valuable resources, but she did not know its coordinates.
• Charles offered to help with revenge later if the woman took part and gathered more valuable offerings.
• Charles gave the woman demonic power and a detailed summoning ritual before the ritual energy ran out.

Charles strengthened the woman who summoned him, making her his demon thrall and giving her a ritual to summon him again. He then joined Anderson’s effort to upgrade the cross-planar portal, beginning as an apprentice assistant while studying and refining components.

• Charles used his bloodline power to strengthen the woman, whose body changed and whose thoughts turned toward seeking revenge.
• Charles gave the woman a new ritual attuned to him and hoped she would survive long enough to reveal her plane’s coordinates.
• After returning to Bloodsail Ship Island, Charles resumed his duties while Anderson expanded his holdings in the plane.
• Charles asked Anderson to let him learn about cross-planar portals and joined the upgrade work as an apprentice assistant.
• Charles studied portal knowledge and refined components and runes for the upgrade, which was intended to stabilize teleportation and reduce its cost.

Charles studied interplanar portal construction while helping Anderson and Aiden upgrade their portal, then returned to Isata to continue his education under a planar studies sage. The costly tuition emptied his wallet as he began the next stage of his training.

• Charles bought Anderson's and Aiden's portal-construction insights and studied them while observing their work over the next few months.
• Anderson and Aiden completed the portal upgrade, cutting the cost of each transmission from thirty thousand Magic Stones to about fifteen thousand.
• Charles asked Anderson to let him return to Isata for further study, and Anderson recommended a sage specializing in planar studies.
• Charles left the plane with Bruce and Scorchflame and returned to Isata.
• Charles enrolled with the recommended sage, paying more than eight hundred thousand Magic Stones for one year's tuition.

Charles prepared for his studies at Isata by learning spells and strengthening Bruce with refined demonic essence. When Yvenjieling summoned him again, he learned she had gathered survivors seeking vengeance, bound her to him with an Abyss Contract, and gave her power while instructing her to spread his ritual and find a gifted child.

• Charles used his time before Sage Webster’s classes to learn spells, summon demons, refine their essence, and strengthen Bruce.
• Five months after the previous summoning, Charles answered Yvenjieling’s call at a crude settlement where she and dozens of villagers sought vengeance.
• Charles took the soul of one of three captive half-elves to reinforce the ritual and asked Yvenjieling to pledge loyalty to him.
• Yvenjieling signed Charles’s Abyss Contract and told him that she had escaped Greenleaf City’s pursuit and gathered other victims.
• Charles granted Yvenjieling power and told her to spread the summoning ritual and find a uniquely gifted child who could cultivate his meditation method.

Charles began studying Planar Studies under Sage Webster, hoping to learn cross-planar transportation. Webster introduced the curriculum and instructors, then outlined the demanding research involved in planar traversal.

• Charles used a ritual to teach Yvenjieling the Knight Breathing Technique and basic wizard meditation, then ended her summoning.
• After more than a month, Charles paid the credits required to study Planar Studies under Sage Webster at Isata.
• Charles entered a tower’s lecture room and joined ten other students, including four Third-Ring Grand Wizards.
• Sage Webster arrived with Maltz, Klan, and Isaac, appointed them principal instructors, and scheduled monthly progress reviews.
• Webster began the course by explaining that the students would study twenty-three subjects covering planar mathematics, engineering, spells, and risk management.

Charles and the other wizards began an intensive curriculum in planar studies and interplanar portal construction under instructors Maltz, Klan, and Isaac. Charles eagerly absorbed the material and bought the instructors’ insights to speed his learning.

• Maltz taught rune and wizardry array engineering, material mechanics, protective barriers, engineering management, and planar disaster response.
• Klan assessed the students’ prior knowledge, assigned foundational materials, and taught multiverse structure, planar coordinates, membrane theory, and void navigation.
• Isaac introduced portal security protocols and teleportation theory, along with portal design, cryptography, and planar energy extraction.
• The instructors provided study materials before each lesson and two days for self-study, leaving Charles immersed in new knowledge.
• Charles purchased the instructors’ insights and experiences through Wu Duo Duo Mall to accelerate his understanding.

Charles completed the year’s plane studies coursework in only three months and passed Sage Webster’s assessment, but he could not afford private lessons from the lecturers. While Charles continued studying independently, Bruce broke through and became an Intermediate Demon.

• Maltz told Sage Webster that Charles had finished the year’s courses, and Webster tested Charles with theoretical questions and practical rune work.
• Charles passed the assessment, and Webster attributed his rapid progress partly to his experience with portals and his demon bloodline before asking Maltz to provide advanced materials.
• Maltz explained that extra instruction would cost more, and Charles admitted he could not afford it, so Maltz agreed to send the materials for self-study.
• Charles studied independently and brought questions to the lecturers during their regular classes.
• Bruce used the demon bloodline essence and refined soul power he had consumed to break through in the cultivation room and become an Intermediate Demon.

Charles learned that a survivor child could practice meditation, while Webster discovered increasingly dramatic changes in a plane he had been studying and invited students to join an exploration. Webster then summoned Charles alone, leaving Charles unsure why he had been chosen.

• Yvenjieling told Charles that a survivor child had begun practicing a meditation method, and Charles planned to send the child a Demon Bloodline Potion if he became a first-rank wizard apprentice.
• Webster explored the plane indicated by strange coordinates and observed that its transformation had become more pronounced.
• Webster invited his lecturers and students to join a planar journey and offered credits for completing exploration tasks or making discoveries.
• Charles hesitated to join, worried about the dangers of a project led by a wizard sage.
• Webster's bat messenger summoned Charles to his office, and Charles went there wondering why Webster had selected him.

Webster recruited Charles for a planar exploration project in exchange for waiving five years of credit fees. After the wizards reached the strange plane, Webster identified it as an Outer Plane and instructed them to search for materials with unique power.

• Webster offered to waive Charles's tuition in exchange for joining the exploration, and Charles signed the contract.
• Three days later, Charles joined more than thirty wizards, including Maltz and Klan, at Webster's multidirectional portal.
• Charles entered the plane and struggled with its distorted sense of direction, delayed sounds, and viscous air.
• Webster arrived and told the group that they were in an Outer Plane where many things had a delayed nature.
• Webster instructed the wizards to explore in teams or independently and bring back materials containing unique power.

Charles explored the Realm of Inverse Cause after Sage Webster sent the wizards to search for unusual materials. He observed how the plane separated the stages of a tree burning, and the chapter ended with him still investigating its strange environment.

• Sage Webster transmitted information about the Realm of Inverse Cause, and Charles claimed agency over its mall and purchased Webster’s gathered intelligence.
• Webster explained the risks of the plane and promised rewards for unusual materials, then told the wizards to explore while he stayed behind.
• Charles set off alone toward a hilly region and examined the plane’s black ground and strange plants, which crumbled into dust.
• Charles witnessed a tree vanish in stages as smoke, ghostly blue flames, and the smell of burning appeared separately.
• Charles picked up scentless ash and remarked on the plane’s peculiar nature.

Charles explored the Realm of Inverse Cause, where effects appeared before their causes, and discovered that observed changes could yield special materials. At some ancient ruins, he witnessed a figure silently approach a wall and repeatedly smash its head against it.

• Charles heard a stone fall before he saw it drop, realized the Realm of Inverse Cause revealed effects before causes, and collected the stone as a special material.
• Charles explored the wilderness for more than ten days and gathered several strange materials, suspecting that only observed changes produced them.
• Charles found the ruins of a small house and saw no useful objects inside.
• Charles heard repeated impacts from the remaining wall and watched its center dent as red-stained fragments and dust fell away.
• A figure appeared beside Charles, ignored him, and slammed its head into the wall.

Charles encountered the Causal Walker, bought materials from its shop, and watched it vanish without warning. He continued exploring the plane and finally spotted a vast city beyond a slope.

• Charles saw a Causal Walker appear without warning and repeatedly slam into a stone wall, while his mental power failed to detect it beforehand.
• Charles bought Bansler's Script, Silent Tears, Numb Nerves, and Fated Blood, discovering that the tear caused an illusion and the dried blood strengthened curses.
• The Causal Walker finished ramming the wall, walked toward Charles, and suddenly vanished; Charles cut out the dented section of wall to show Webster.
• Charles decided to keep exploring despite the risks and found increasingly well-preserved buildings over the next two days.
• Charles crossed a high slope and saw a vast city.

Charles explored a silent city frozen at the moment of its destruction, where objects appeared in one place but physically existed elsewhere and quickly decayed when touched. He discovered more Causal Walkers trapped in fixed scenes and headed toward a prominent building to learn about the city.

• Charles entered the city and recorded its suspended rubble and overturned carriage with his crystal ball.
• Charles found that objects he could see were not in their apparent positions, then accidentally crumbled a crate while locating it.
• Charles examined a skeleton with a fatal sword wound and watched a nearby longsword decay after he picked it up.
• Charles spotted a group of armored Causal Walkers pacing within a fixed stretch of road and recorded them.
• Charles climbed a watchtower, chose a prosperous-looking building as his next destination, and set out toward it.

Charles searched Bansler's library for readable records and reached its extraordinary seventh-floor hall, where three mysterious objects stood on pedestals. The title of the central book changed from “Book of Causal Paths” to “Book of Fate,” leaving Charles astonished.

• Charles explored the library's lower floors, finding little useful information and recording Bansler's runes.
• Charles sensed extraordinary power and traces of a vanished protective barrier from the fourth floor upward, but avoided touching the books and scrolls.
• Charles reached the open-roofed seventh floor, where black stone walls displayed fleeting words and images amid a faint rustling sound.
• Charles examined a damaged, energy-filled object resembling a fruit pit and a transparent stone containing a glowing ball of light.
• Charles read the central book's title as “Book of Causal Paths,” then watched it change into Wizard World common language and reveal the title “Book of Fate.”