Chapter Summaries

After defeating Dorkas, Charles absorbed the Abyss World Authority and ordered his Greater Demons to conquer more territory. Dorkas was left injured and subservient, stripped of most of his hidden resources, but he finally felt the wind again atop the Wizard Tower.

• Charles gained Dorkas's Authority and commanded his followers to seize more territory through long-distance portals.
• The Greater Demons departed for the front lines while Dorkas stayed on the Wizard Tower to recover from his injuries.
• Charles discovered Dorkas's hidden storehouse and ordered him to bring out its resources, taking most of the valuables for himself.
• Dorkas wept over his losses and lamented that even the wind was gone, then noticed wind blowing by his ear.

Charles gained enough authority from his expanding territory to break through to sixth-rank power, then tested a destructive black sphere that shattered the Abyss’s barrier. Dorkas recognized Charles’s new strength and struggled to dismiss it as temporary.

• Charles’s aura grew as his Greater Demons expanded his territory and brought more demons under his rule.
• Charles broke through the threshold to sixth-rank power, blasting Dorkas off the wizard tower.
• Charles formed a pitch-black sphere of energy and hurled it into the distance, where it shattered space and the Abyss’s barrier.
• Dorkas realized Charles had reached sixth-rank power through authority and tried to convince himself that Charles’s strength was not genuine.

Charles’s Authority gave him temporary false sixth-tier power, drawing the attention of Anog and Kolsama. After Kolsama threatened to ally with Anog against him, Charles considered how to respond if the demon lords joined forces.

• Anog sensed a new sixth-tier power and suspected Charles had gained it.
• Kolsama saw Charles’s power and worried that Charles had benefited from his war with Anog.
• Kolsama confronted Charles, who threatened to ally with Anog against him.
• Kolsama proposed joining forces with Anog to kill Charles, then left.
• Dorkas warned Charles that the demon lords might cooperate, and Charles considered how to face them both.

Charles worried that Anog and Kolsama could join forces against him and destroy the territory supporting his unstable sixth-order power. Kolsama reached Anog and proposed cooperation against Charles, but Anog dismissed the threat, prompting Kolsama to angrily point out Anog’s weakness.

• Charles considered how Anog and Kolsama could overwhelm him by attacking his legion and territory, then kicked Dorkas out of sight when he noticed Dorkas enjoying his predicament.
• Kolsama captured a Yugoloth and threatened him until the subordinate found a way to contact Anog.
• Anog decided to hear Kolsama out because Charles’s advancement threatened the standing and authority of the sixth-order demon lords.
• Kolsama met Anog through the Yugoloth’s body and proposed that they cooperate.
• Anog called Charles only a pseudo sixth-order demon lord and claimed he could crush him, so Kolsama retorted that Charles was uninjured while Anog hid underground.

Anog and Kolsama debated how to deal with Charles, whose growing strength and wizard tower threatened them both. They agreed to meet to remove the rule power lodged in each other, but the encounter ended in mutual accusations as they acted at the same time.

• Kolsama warned Anog that Charles had grown to false sixth-rank strength and could now defeat him.
• Anog and Kolsama considered joining forces, but Anog rejected a direct attack on Charles and agreed instead to take turns holding him back while the other attacked his legion and territory.
• Kolsama suggested they remove the rule power they had left in each other to heal faster, and Anog agreed to meet him.
• At the meeting, Kolsama considered killing the injured Anog, while both demons claimed they wanted to cooperate.
• Anog and Kolsama reached for each other’s rule power at the same time, then shouted accusations.

The two sixth-rank demon lords failed to cooperate smoothly but renewed their plans to target Charles. Meanwhile, the devils mobilized an army of over ten million to destroy him, leaving Charles to assess the danger from both sides and seek a response.

• The two sixth-rank demon lords injured each other while trying to form an alliance, then contacted one another again to discuss targeting Charles.
• The devils gathered intelligence about Charles and learned that he was a fifth-rank demon lord, a fifth-circle wizard, and the owner of a five-story wizard tower.
• The devil marquis ordered the devil army to assemble and warned nearby devil cities to prepare for battle against Charles.
• Yugoloths sold intelligence between both sides, and reports about the devils reached Charles's wizard tower.
• Charles and his officers assessed the threat from the two demon lords and the more than ten million devil soldiers, while Charles considered how to respond.

Charles ordered his demons to evacuate their settlements and gather at Millstone Fortress, aiming to preserve his forces against the advancing devils. The devil army began its advance through abandoned ruins, while its marquis recognized that the retreat would make the fortress assault costly.

• Charles decided to withdraw his forces rather than fight the devils across scattered settlements, and ordered his demons to bring everything movable to Millstone Fortress and destroy what they left behind.
• Many demons began evacuating with their families and supplies, while others hesitated, refused to leave, or fled into the wilderness.
• A devil marquis learned of the retreat and ordered troops to pursue the demons, while preparing the rest of the army to advance.
• The devil marquis warned that Charles was gathering his forces inside a well-built fortress and that the devils would suffer losses if they ignored him.
• The devil troops advanced through ruins and encountered only small, weak groups of demons, leaving them without enough corpses for sacrificial rituals as they marched under the Abyss's hostile will.

Charles gathered an elite force of demons to strike the scattered devil vanguard invading the Abyss. After rallying his troops, he sent the wizard tower through an enormous long-distance teleportation gate toward the devils.

• With the devil vanguard advancing without resistance, Charles ordered elite Intermediate Demons and Greater Demons to prepare for battle.
• Charles punished Zarlos for complaining, and Zarlos gathered the demons as ordered.
• Charles loaded two hundred thousand Intermediate Demons and three thousand Greater Demons into his expanded wizard tower.
• Charles rallied the assembled demons by promising advancement for those who fought bravely and killed devils.
• Charles powered the wizard tower with the elemental plane core and led it through a massive teleportation gate, declaring the devils' destruction had come.

Charles's demon legion ambushed and destroyed a devil army, then launched a surprise attack on another force commanded by a devil baron. The baron's escape attempt failed after Charles's wizard tower locked down the surrounding space.

• A Pit Fiend commander found the settlement in ruins and ordered his devils and Lemures to repair it.
• Charles's wizard tower emerged from a portal above the devil army, and spells and demons attacked before the troops could respond.
• Zarlos tore the Pit Fiend commander in half, and the demons wiped out the leaderless devil legion with almost no losses.
• After the demons returned to the wizard tower, Charles found another target and teleported above an army of several hundred thousand devils.
• A devil baron tried to escape with a teleportation scroll, but Charles's Dimensional Anchor caused it to explode and cut off his escape.

Charles used his wizard tower to destroy several devil legions before the Abyss's warning prompted him to withdraw toward Millstone Fortress. The devils stopped splitting their forces and advanced as one enormous legion, which reached the volcanic range and was astonished by the fortress.

• Charles killed a devil baron and used third-circle spells from his wizard tower to help his demons annihilate the baron's legion.
• Charles attacked several more devil legions over several days, then withdrew toward his core legion after receiving a hint from the will of the Abyss.
• A devil marquis prepared an ambush for Charles, but Charles avoided it and attacked other frontline forces instead.
• The devil marquis gathered his forces into one enormous legion and ordered it to advance directly toward Millstone Fortress.
• The devils reached the outskirts of the volcanic range and marveled at the fortress.

Charles prepared Millstone Fortress for a massive devil invasion, organizing its vast demon and Ratmen garrison while promising advancement to those who fought loyally. The devil army encamped outside instead of attacking immediately.

• The devil marquis surveyed Millstone Fortress and judged its layered walls, volcanic defenses, and mountain forts formidable, but expected its garrison to fail.
• Charles assessed the opposing forces: over ten million devils led by a marquis, against his much larger demon population and millions of Flame Ratmen.
• Charles assigned Flame Ratmen and fire-element demons as the defense’s backbone, deployed Greater Demons throughout the fortress, and arranged support from his wizard tower.
• Charles urged the demons to fight for opportunities to advance, and they cheered as the sky over Millstone Fortress turned blood-red.
• The devils built military camps around Millstone Fortress without launching an attack.

The devil marquis began a prolonged campaign against Millstone Fortress, expanding devil territory while his troops attacked the fortress walls and struggled in the air. The devils’ aerial forces were driven onto the defensive as Vrocks and imps bombarded their army from above.

• The devil marquis ordered troops to expand their territory and establish camps along the supply routes, threatening Charles’s power.
• Devils attacked Millstone Fortress with siege equipment, broke through part of the outer wall, and fought the defenders amid heavy losses on both sides.
• Demons outnumbered the devils in the air, and after several days the devil flying troops could barely defend their own army.
• Vrocks and imps flew over the battlefield, fought the devil flyers, and bombarded the devil troops with lava, stones, and spell-like arts.

The devils continued their siege of Millstone Fortress, but demon air support and Charles’s wizard tower inflicted heavy casualties and repeatedly disrupted their attacks. The devils resumed charging after the aerial forces withdrew, expecting the wizard tower’s energy limits to give them an opening.

• Imps dove through the fog to attack devils, while many crashed blindly and died.
• The devils struggled to capture Millstone Fortress because its connected walls required costly assaults, and demon air forces flew in reinforcements and demon eggs.
• Vrocks drove off the devils’ aerial forces as imps carried demons and Flame Ratmen to the fortress, then the demon air forces withdrew.
• Legion Devils resumed their siege, only for Charles’s wizard tower to unleash Abyssal Flame Bursts and Firestorms that devastated their ranks.
• A devil baron commander ordered another wave to charge, believing the wizard tower would need time to recover its energy.

Charles revealed that his apparent dependence on volcanic lava was a ruse and said he could escape with his forces if the devils overwhelmed him. While the devil nobles prepared to cut off the lava, Anog attacked their settlements to heal himself and pursue greater power.

• Charles told Delis that his wizard tower actually drew energy from the Fire Elemental Plane and that he could flee through the void with willing demons and elite Flame Ratmen if necessary.
• A devil viscount reported that the Pit Fiends were preparing to cut off the lava flow, and the devil marquis awaited the devil queen’s order to sever the area’s energy supply.
• Anog, still injured and hungry for strength, teleported out of his underground cave and attacked a devil settlement outside Charles’s Millstone Fortress.
• Anog killed every devil in the settlement, took the heart cores of high-ranking devils, and moved on to attack more settlements.
• After devouring a devil baron, Anog felt his injuries healing and vowed to kill more devils before eventually slaughtering Kolsama.

As Anog threatened the devil legion’s supply lines, the devil marquis tightened his defenses while Charles tried to persuade Anog to join forces against them. Anog refused and headed for Purgatory to hunt weaker demons, leaving Charles frustrated and the marquis relieved.

• The devil marquis recalled his troops, called for reinforcements, and ordered the Pit Fiends to seal the underground magic while fighting at Millstone Fortress intensified.
• Charles welcomed Anog’s attacks on the devils and considered how Anog might recover his injuries by devouring them.
• Charles proposed that he and Anog attack the devil legion together, but Anog refused and threatened to wait for Charles to leave the Abyss layer.
• Anog realized the devil army’s deployment left gaps in Purgatory’s defenses, then left for Purgatory to prey on demons below Rank Six.
• The devil marquis felt relieved when Anog departed, while Charles cursed the demons for weakening one another instead of resisting the devils.

Charles discovered the devils’ underground plan and weighed how to use his wizard tower and growing forces against them while the siege continued. Kolsama proposed an alliance with Charles, who challenged him about their earlier plan to kill him.

• The Devil Marquis welcomed a sixth-rank demon lord’s retreat and prepared to confront Charles as the devils’ underground project neared completion.
• Charles’s forces advanced in rank through the fighting, but their losses and lack of reinforcements made the prolonged battle dangerous.
• Charles learned what the devils were building underground and calculated that his wizard tower and elemental true form could help him resist their legion.
• Anog recovered from his injuries by raiding the edges of Devil Counts’ territories, while Kolsama secretly watched the battle and considered devouring the Devil Marquis.
• Kolsama contacted Charles to propose cooperation, and Charles questioned him about his former plan with Anog to kill him.

Kolsama proposed joining Charles against the devil army in exchange for the devils’ corpses, promising to leave the Abyss once he recovered. Charles accepted, but the Book of Causal Paths warned that Kolsama’s cooperation depended on Charles remaining strong enough to deter betrayal.

• Kolsama offered to help Charles defeat the devil army and asked for the devil marquis’s corpse, or the devil viscounts’ corpses if the marquis survived.
• Kolsama argued that he posed less danger than the devil marquis and promised to surrender the Abyss layer’s authority to Charles before leaving for another world.
• Charles agreed to cooperate but rejected Kolsama’s suggestion of a soul oath.
• After Kolsama ended their communication, Charles asked the Book of Causal Paths whether Kolsama’s offer was trustworthy.
• The Book of Causal Paths said Kolsama would honor the deal only while Charles remained powerful enough to prevent an attack, and advised Charles that he could flee if necessary.

Charles’s wizard tower and the devils clashed after the Devil Marquis cut off the underground flow of fire magic, but Charles kept attacking despite the Marquis’s belief that his tower was running out of power. After days of battle, the Devil Marquis began to suspect something was wrong.

• Charles warned Kolsama that fighting could begin at any moment, while Kolsama stayed hidden as the devils completed their underground preparations.
• The Devil Marquis ordered the devils to activate a rune array that cut off the surrounding lava and fire magic, then mistook the wizard tower’s attacks for a bluff.
• When demons entered the underground area to inspect the array, fighting broke out, and the Devil Marquis launched a full assault on Millstone Fortress.
• Charles and Dorkas joined the battle as the wizard tower unleashed spells, while the Devil Marquis’s forces attacked its layered shields.
• Charles pretended to fear that his tower would run out of magic, but it kept attacking for days until the Devil Marquis began to suspect something was wrong.

Charles kept his wizard tower fighting despite the severance of the magical power below, then trapped the devil forces in the area when Kolsama finally joined the battle. The devil marquis faced Charles and Kolsama together, but summoned five devil viscounts to even the odds.

• The devil marquis realized Charles's wizard tower was still operating and vowed to destroy it despite its apparent independent energy source.
• Charles threatened to abandon his agreement with Kolsama unless he joined the fight, and Kolsama approached the battlefield.
• The devil marquis ordered his forces to retreat when Kolsama revealed himself, but Charles used Dimensional Anchors to prevent teleportation.
• Charles, Kolsama, and the devil marquis fought in the air, with Charles and Kolsama gaining the advantage against the marquis.
• The devil marquis called five devil viscounts to attack Charles and Kolsama, bringing the battle close to an even match.

Charles’s forces overwhelmed the devils as his wizard tower blasted their ranks and healed wounded Greater Demons. When the Devil Marquis ordered a retreat, Charles sent the tower into the air and pursued them, sealing the area with Dimensional Anchor.

• Charles’s wizard tower and Greater Demons killed seven or eight Devil Barons while the injured demons returned to the tower for treatment.
• The Devil Marquis realized the battle was lost and ordered his forces to retreat beyond the wizard tower’s attack range.
• Kolsama pursued the Devil Marquis as the devils withdrew.
• Charles uprooted the wizard tower and flew it into the air, revealing that it had another source of energy.
• Charles’s forces chased the fleeing devils while the wizard tower cast Dimensional Anchor to seal the surrounding space.