Chapter Summaries

Charles used waves of imps to wear down the devils and lure a force of one thousand Legion Devils into an ambush. Zarlos led a second massive demon attack that shattered the Legion Devils’ defenses as Charles’s greater demons joined the assault.

• Charles stationed one hundred thousand imps at the first ambush site, where they attacked the devils and suffered heavy losses.
• The devils’ commanders held back while their troops repelled the imps, and more than fifty thousand imps eventually fled.
• Charles sent Zarlos and three Greater Demons to ambush the one thousand Legion Devils pursuing the fleeing imps.
• Zarlos led another force of one hundred thousand imps in an attack that overwhelmed the Legion Devils’ defenses, while the Greater Demons unleashed their spells.

Zarlos’s forces trapped two Greater Devils with waves of imps while Buck abandoned them and led the remaining devils into a second ambush. Charles’s much larger army attacked the retreating force, and Buck ordered his troops to scatter and flee.

• Zarlos and the other Greater Demons used their attacks and the imps’ relentless swarms to wear down two encircled Greater Devils.
• Buck decided the devil army should retreat and left the trapped Greater Devils behind despite their cries for help.
• Zarlos urged the imps to keep attacking until the two Greater Devils were too weak to resist, then joined the assault with the other Greater Demons.
• Buck led his remaining troops toward a volcanic peak, where Charles and ten Greater Demons waited with a massive force.
• Charles ordered his demons to attack, and Buck, overwhelmed by the enemy numbers, told his troops to scatter and flee.

Charles led his demon army to annihilate a devil force, personally killing Buck the Pit Fiend and another Greater Horned Devil. After the victory, he planned to expand his fortress network and discovered that the Abyss’s favor made his studies and experiments easier, prompting him to seek more battles against devils.

• Charles fought Buck the Pit Fiend, using his strength, teleportation, and Flame Whip to defeat and kill him.
• Charles killed a Greater Horned Devil and unleashed his Fear Radiance across the battlefield.
• Charles and his army destroyed the devil force, leaving none of its tens of thousands alive.
• Kaseron reported that roughly seventy thousand imps and two to three hundred Lesser Demons had died, while some imps had advanced into stronger ranks.
• Charles ordered Kaseron to announce the victory and decided to expand Millstone Fortress and build smaller supporting fortresses nearby.
• Charles sensed the Abyss’s favor after the battle and resolved to draw in and kill more devils.

Charles led his demons through a devastating battle against devil armies in the volcanic valleys, using his Fear Radiance and the power of an eruption to overwhelm the enemy. After the devils fled or died, he urged his surviving servants to eat the corpses and grow stronger.

• Charles fought through the devil ranks, killing Greater Devils as his Fear Radiance weakened the surrounding enemies.
• Charles sensed a massive devil army approaching and decided to end the battle quickly so his demons could claim the corpses.
• Charles triggered a volcanic eruption and redirected its flames across the battlefield, killing devils and demons alike.
• After the battle, Charles told his surviving demons to eat, break through, and become stronger.

After the battle’s spoils caused demons and Ratmen to advance, Charles received the Abyssal Will’s favor and prepared to break through. He persuaded the Book of Causal Paths to help him pursue fourth-ring wizard status as a massive devil army approached.

• Imps and Ratmen gathered the battlefield’s corpses and heart cores, advancing into stronger demon forms as they consumed the spoils.
• A pillar of blood-red light descended on Millstone Fortress’s core tower while Charles’s followers and other demons watched him break through.
• Charles gained the Abyssal title Abyssal Scourger, which the Book of Causal Paths said would help him advance into a Great Demon.
• Charles realized that enslaving and whipping demons had earned him the title, and celebrated the benefits of gaining the Abyss’s favor.
• Charles asked the Book of Causal Paths to weave him a fate that would make him a fourth-ring wizard and a Great Demon-level Balor.
• Charles warned that a massive devil army was approaching and that he might return to Isata if he could not advance, so the Book reluctantly agreed to spend its power.

Charles advanced to the Four-Ring realm by mastering the rules contained in Abyssal Blessing and purchasing a complete Abyssal Flame rule through the Wu Duo Duo Mall. His transformation left the demons around the central tower reacting with fear and celebration.

• Charles used the Abyss's favor and the Book of Causal Paths to anchor his fate and begin advancing to Four Rings.
• Charles analyzed Abyssal Blessing and gained insight into the rules that governed the multiverse.
• Charles discovered the Sea of Rules proxy mall and spent most of his Soul Coins to purchase the complete Abyssal Flame rule.
• The Abyss Rule and Abyssal Flame rule transformed Charles's magic and spiritual power as fiery clouds gathered above the central tower.
• Zarlos feared that Charles's rise had ruined his future, while Bruce, the Flame Ratmen, and Kaseron celebrated their lord becoming a Greater Demon.

Charles advanced to the Fourth Ring and then began transforming his Balor bloodline using the complete fire rule. As his evolution continued inside a shell of Abyssal Fire, a devil baron led a massive army toward his fortress.

• Charles absorbed the Abyss's magical power, condensed a phantom true body of power, and advanced to the Fourth Ring.
• Charles used the complete fire rule from Wuduo to break through his Balor bloodline and began a painful transformation into a fiercer Balor.
• Zarlos knelt in devotion to Charles, while Kaseron angrily rebuked him for abandoning Balor pride.
• A devil baron arrived near Charles's fortress with an army of about five hundred thousand devils and declared that he intended to take the fortress.

The Devil Baron led a huge army to attack Millstone Fortress while Charles was breaking through. Charles ordered the demons to defend from within the fortress, leaving the Devil Baron facing its walls and coveting its defenses.

• The Devil Baron ordered the flying units to scout ahead as his ground forces advanced through the Abyss.
• Elven mercenary archers spotted the demon slave laborers, and the demons raised an alarm and attacked the scouts in the air.
• Devil reinforcements arrived and slaughtered demon laborers and troops across the volcanoes.
• Zarlos asked Bruce to lead a counterattack, but Charles ordered the demons to hold the fortress and threatened to eat anyone who went out to fight.
• The Greater Demons enforced Charles's order, killing demons that tried to leap from the walls.
• The Devil Baron arrived at Millstone Fortress, admired its defenses, and said he could hold it against far larger forces.

The devil baron launched an assault on Millstone Fortress, but its mountain defenses and subsidiary fortresses inflicted heavy casualties on the attacking army. After the devils and their elven allies took to the air, Zarlos ordered the fortress’s flying demons to counterattack, leaving the battle in the skies raging.

• The devil baron ordered his troops to assault Millstone Fortress, believing the Greater Demon inside was too afraid or injured to fight.
• The devils suffered heavy casualties while hauling siege equipment up the mountain and attacking its subsidiary fortresses, some of which triggered volcanic eruptions.
• The devil baron sent his flying forces against the fortress walls, where Ratmen fired flaming bolts and giant crossbows at them.
• Elven archers riding Griffins attacked the defenders, but Ratmen weapons shot down their mounts and killed an elf.
• Zarlos commanded the flying demons to charge, and swarms of Imps and other demons surrounded the devils, Griffins, and thunderbirds in the sky.

The devil baron launched a full-scale assault on Millstone Fortress, believing its Greater Demon was too injured to fight. When he attacked Charles at the central tower, Charles revealed overwhelming power and ordered the devils killed, leaving the battle poised to turn against the invading legion.

• The devil baron waited two days before deciding the Greater Demon inside Millstone Fortress was too injured to emerge.
• As the fighting continued, demons advanced by devouring fallen devils, while Ratman teams carried their demon eggs to safety.
• The devil baron ordered a full-scale assault, and legion devils teleported onto the walls and exploded among the defenders.
• Bruce urged the demons to fight, and Greater Demons poured out to meet the invading Greater Devils.
• The devil baron struck down Zarlos and charged toward Charles at the central tower, but a pillar of fire blasted him away.
• Charles emerged amid black-and-red smoke, revealed his terrifying aura, and ordered his forces to kill every devil.

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.