Chapter Summaries

Cui Ciyou and his companions arrived at Perugius's Floating Fortress, the Chaos Breaker, and marveled at its enormous castle, elaborate garden, and sea of clouds. Shivalier the Void, Perugius's first servant, welcomed them and began leading the group inside.

• Cui Ciyou examined the teleportation circle and saw the towering castle and carefully maintained garden of the Floating Fortress.
• Sylphy, Linia, Pursena, and Julie gazed nervously at the sea of clouds surrounding the fortress.
• Shivalier the Void appeared, introduced herself as Perugius's first servant, and offered to show the visitors around the Chaos Breaker.
• Cui Ciyou introduced himself, and Nanahoshi Shizuka exchanged a brief greeting with the familiar Shivalier.
• Shivalier led Nanahoshi, Cui Ciyou, and the others into the Floating Fortress.

Cui Ciyou and the others crossed the Floating Fortress with Shivalier, who questioned Sylphy about whether she felt compelled to kill humans. After Sylphy’s denials eased Shivalier’s suspicion, the group reached the hall of the Armored Dragon King, Perugius Dola.

• Shivalier led the group through the Epic Corridor and explained that Lord Maxwell, the current Nether Dragon King, had designed it and inherited the former king’s title and power.
• Light particles appeared around Sylphy as the group passed through the gateway, and Shivalier identified them as the visible manifestation of a factor.
• Shivalier asked Sylphy whether she had heard a voice or felt a purpose urging her to kill humans, and Sylphy firmly denied it.
• Shivalier asked whether the word “human” provoked uncontrollable anger or murderous intent in Sylphy, and she denied that as well, relieving Shivalier’s tension.
• Shivalier led the group through the Floating Fortress to a grand hall, where they encountered Perugius Dola seated on a crystal throne.

Nanahoshi Shizuka brought Cui Ciyou, Sylphy, and their companions before Perugius Dola, the Armored Dragon King. Perugius asked about Nanahoshi’s work on summoning between worlds, then declared that exploring knowledge was the Dragonfolk’s destiny, leaving Cui Ciyou skeptical because of his experience with Orsted.

• Cui Ciyou and Sylphy felt uneasy as they sensed a similarity between Perugius and the Dragon God, Orsted.
• Shivalier led the group through Perugius’s grand hall, where they saw all twelve of his powerful Familiars gathered.
• Perugius introduced himself, and Nanahoshi Shizuka greeted him and explained that she had completed an initial attempt at targeted summoning.
• Perugius asked whether Nanahoshi had uncovered crucial clues about summoning between worlds.
• Perugius declared that exploring the unknown was the destiny and glory of the Dragonfolk, and Cui Ciyou privately doubted his claim because of Orsted.

Nanahoshi Shizuka brought Cui Ciyou and her other research collaborators to meet Perugius and claim his promised knowledge of summoning arts. After Perugius mistook Cui Ciyou’s reputation for a challenge, the tension eased, and he offered the group a reward for helping Nanahoshi.

• Nanahoshi asked Perugius to honor their agreement and teach her the world’s summoning arts, then introduced her collaborators and explained Roxy Migurdia had been turned away because she was Demonfolk.
• Perugius examined Cui Ciyou, described his resistance to magic, and warned him not to use Magic Nullification inside the Floating Castle.
• Perugius cited Cui Ciyou’s reputation for wounding Orsted and threatened him, prompting his twelve Familiars and Cui Ciyou’s companions to prepare for a fight.
• Cui Ciyou clarified that he had come peacefully, and Perugius called him wise as the Familiars’ killing intent subsided.
• Nanahoshi asked Perugius to treat her friends generously, and he offered them a choice of wealth or greater power as compensation for helping her research.

Perugius invited Nanahoshi’s helpers to make wishes, and Pursena and Linia asked for freedom from the clan customs governing their future. He recommended that the loser of their leadership duel be allowed to choose her own path instead of being forced into marriage or service, leaving the two girls overjoyed.

• Perugius offered to grant wishes to those who had assisted Nanahoshi, and Almanfi rebuked Linia for addressing him too casually.
• Cui Ciyou urged Linia and Pursena to show Perugius respect, and Linia apologized.
• Linia and Pursena explained that after graduating, they would duel to decide who ruled the Great Forest, while the loser would become the winner’s deputy and marry a clan-selected warrior.
• Perugius recommended that the girls hold their final duel before graduation and that the loser be free to remain in the forest or leave and live as she wished.
• Linia and Pursena thanked Perugius with relief and excitement.

Perugius offered to grant the visitors’ wishes, but Cui Ciyou had nothing to ask for. Sylphy asked about the Displacement Incident, and Perugius admitted that its cause remained unknown before sending Almanfi to show the group around his Floating Fortress.

• Pursena and Linia asked Perugius for help resolving their succession issues, while Julie had no wish and Sylphy requested Water God Style training methods.
• Nanahoshi Shizuka received Perugius’s agreement to teach her about the essence of the world’s summoning arts, while Cui Ciyou declined to ask for anything.
• Perugius asked whether Sylphy was married and had children; after Cui Ciyou identified her as his wife, Perugius offered to name their future son.
• Sylphy asked Perugius who caused the Displacement Incident, and he said he had no definite answer, suggesting it could have been an accident or involved forces beyond their understanding.
• Perugius ended the audience and ordered Almanfi to guide the visitors around the Floating Fortress.

Cui Ciyou and his companions settled into the lavish guest quarters of Perugius’s Floating Fortress and explored the castle. The day ended with Cui Ciyou resting peacefully with Sylphy, while the mysteries of the Five Dragon Generals and the “factor” remained unanswered.

• Shivalier led Cui Ciyou and his companions to the guest quarters and showed them the identical, luxurious rooms.
• Cui Ciyou chose a room and reflected on the fortress’s immaculate but uninhabited atmosphere and its history of hosting important guests.
• Pursena and Linia raced off to explore, while Julie followed Nanahoshi Shizuka deeper into the castle.
• Cui Ciyou and Sylphy chose the same room, embraced, and sank into its soft feather bed.
• Cui Ciyou wondered about the Five Dragon Generals and the mysterious “factor,” then set the questions aside and fell asleep with Sylphy.

Cui Ciyou began studying summoning under Shivalier, who corrected his understanding and explained the two branches of the art. The lesson revealed that a primordial pact forbade summoning people, leaving Cui Ciyou wondering why Nanahoshi Shizuka had been summoned.

• Cui Ciyou, Sylphy, Nanahoshi Shizuka, and Julie attended Shivalier's introductory lesson on summoning.
• Cui Ciyou explained his existing knowledge, but Shivalier clarified that Magic Circles were preparatory work rather than summoning itself.
• Shivalier taught Cui Ciyou that summoning consisted of Magic Beast Summoning and Spirit Summoning.
• Shivalier explained that Magic Beast Summoning could call independent living creatures but could not summon intelligent beings whose racial names included the word "person."
• Cui Ciyou asked why summoning people was forbidden when teleportation could move them, and raised the question of Nanahoshi Shizuka's own summoning.
• Shivalier admitted she did not understand the taboo and continued the lesson by distinguishing the two types of summoning.

Nanahoshi Shizuka collapsed after Sylphy’s Healing Magic made her cough up blood, and she remained unconscious while Yurz the Atoning began an unusual treatment. The chapter left her condition unexplained and her companions waiting to see whether the Armored Dragon King’s methods could help.

• Nanahoshi visited Sylphy and Cui Ciyou while ill and asked Sylphy to use Healing Magic on her.
• Sylphy’s Advanced-level Healing Magic worsened Nanahoshi’s coughing, and Nanahoshi coughed up blood before collapsing unconscious.
• Cui Ciyou and Sylphy sought the Armored Dragon King’s help, and Almanfi carried Nanahoshi to the infirmary.
• Nanahoshi remained unconscious two days later, while Julie cried and Linia and Pursena expressed concern.
• Almanfi explained that Yurz the Atoning was treating Nanahoshi with a magic based on transferring health, stamina, and mental energy, which required a powerful third-party assistant.

Nanahoshi Shizuka fell gravely ill in Perugius’s Floating Fortress, and Yurz the Atoning used Sylphy’s magic to keep her alive while Carowant searched for the cause. Cui Ciyou returned to Sharia to inform Roxy, but his memories offered no explanation, leaving him afraid Nanahoshi might die.

• Sylphy supplied magic power as Yurz began treating the unconscious Nanahoshi, but Carowant determined the illness could not be fully cured by Yurz’s ability.
• Perugius ordered Carowant and other familiars to search the library for records that might explain Nanahoshi’s contradictory, unknown condition.
• Cui Ciyou offered to help search, but Perugius barred him from the restricted library.
• Yurz continued the treatment while Sylphy remained beside Nanahoshi, growing pale from the sustained use of magic.
• Cui Ciyou told Roxy what had happened, and she arranged leave from the Ranoa University of Magic and informed Alice, Ariel, and the others.
• Cui Ciyou wondered whether the world had begun rejecting Nanahoshi after eight years and feared she might die.

Cui Ciyou and Perugius learned that Nanahoshi suffered from Dulai Disease, a fatal condition caused by ambient Magic Power harming people without Magic Power. With Sokasi Grass unavailable, Perugius planned to place her in stasis, but Yurz reported that his ability had temporarily suppressed her worst complications.

• Shivalier identified Nanahoshi's illness as Dulai Disease, a rare condition that once killed Powerless children as they neared ten years old.
• Perugius explained that Sokasi Grass could treat Dulai Disease, but none was currently available, so he proposed stopping Nanahoshi's time with Scaichet of Time.
• Yurz entered and revealed that Nanahoshi had regained consciousness because he had temporarily suppressed the symptoms of her most life-threatening complications.
• Cui Ciyou realized Nanahoshi's frequent coughing might have been an early symptom of Dulai Disease, triggered into a sudden crisis by Sylphy's Healing Magic.

Nanahoshi Shizuka broke down over her incurable illness and her fear of dying far from home, while Cui Ciyou listened. He used Magic Nullification to ease her symptoms, leaving Nanahoshi furious that he had not helped sooner.

• Cui Ciyou sat with Nanahoshi Shizuka in the infirmary and confirmed that Yurz had said her illness could not be cured.
• Nanahoshi described her efforts to stay healthy, her inability to adapt to the world, and her fear that she would die without seeing her family again.
• Nanahoshi threw a water pitcher against the wall and sobbed about her unfinished life and her family back home.
• Cui Ciyou used Magic Nullification to remove the accumulated magic power causing Nanahoshi's symptoms and helped her breathe more easily.
• Nanahoshi grabbed Cui Ciyou by the collar and angrily demanded to know why he had not used his ability sooner.

Cui Ciyou learned that Magic Nullification could only ease Nanahoshi Shizuka’s Dulai disease, so he planned to seek the Demon Eye Emperor Kishirika Kishirisu for a cure or information about sokasi grass. With Perugius’s teleportation circles, they prepared to search the Demon Continent, where Kishirika had been missing for half a year.

• Cui Ciyou explained that Magic Nullification and Healing Magic could not repair the damage Dulai disease had done to Nanahoshi Shizuka’s body.
• Cui Ciyou proposed seeking someone ancient enough to know about sokasi grass and identified the Demonfolk, especially Kishirika and Badigadi, as possibilities.
• Cui Ciyou asked Perugius for help reaching the Demon Continent, and Perugius agreed to provide access to its major towns.
• Cui Ciyou and Nanahoshi Shizuka learned that the directionally challenged Kishirika had been wandering and missing for half a year.
• Perugius provided teleportation circles, leaving Cui Ciyou and Nanahoshi Shizuka to search the Demon Continent for Kishirika.

Cui Ciyou planned a search across the Demon Continent to find Kishirika, using Teleportation Magic Circles and Adventurers’ Guild rewards to cover the major towns. He decided to go alone first, with Sylphy and others joining once she recovered, and promised they would keep searching until they found their friend.

• Cui Ciyou considered Teleportation Magic’s strategic power and focused on finding Kishirika across the Demon Continent.
• Cui Ciyou proposed searching towns with Teleportation Magic Circles and posting reward notices based on Kishirika’s appearance.
• Sylphy said she needed a month to recover, while Julie was too young and Linia and Pursena lacked knowledge of the Demon God Tongue to join the search.
• Cui Ciyou decided to travel alone to Old Kishirisu City, record his progress every three days, and have Sylphy bring Roxy, Alice, and Bannie once she recovered.
• Julie asked what they would do if they never found Kishirika, and Cui Ciyou promised they would keep searching until they did.
• Nanahoshi Shizuka teared up at Cui Ciyou’s promise, and he called her reaction cliché and uncool.

Cui Ciyou prepared to travel to the Demon Continent through a teleportation circle established by Perugius. After Shivalier warned him that the exit might be sealed, Cui Ciyou began the teleport, leaving his destination unknown.

• Cui Ciyou packed supplies, maps, crystals, and a sword for the journey to the Demon Continent.
• Shivalier led Cui Ciyou to a teleportation circle connected to an ancient site on the Demon Continent.
• Shivalier explained that Perugius had reestablished the circle’s connection and believed it was near Kishirika, though his estimate might be wrong.
• Shivalier warned Cui Ciyou that the exit could be sealed and told him to use a Teleportation Token rather than force his way out.
• Cui Ciyou stepped into the circle, closed his eyes, and began teleporting as it blazed with light.

Cui Ciyou emerged from an ancient prison into the Demon Continent and recognized the crater city below as Rikarisu Town, also known as Old Kishirika City. He left the chapter at the city’s edge, having found a familiar place after Perugius’s teleportation sent him somewhere unexpected.

• Cui Ciyou arrived in a sealed, dusty chamber through a Teleportation Magic Circle and found no visible exit.
• Cui Ciyou sensed an empty space behind one wall, broke through it, and discovered a prison filled with chained skeletons of different Demonfolk.
• Cui Ciyou climbed a spiral staircase and forced open a metal hatch, escaping the underground prison into sunlight.
• Cui Ciyou spotted a Great King Land Turtle near a Bone Forest and suspected he was close to a Migurdia village.
• Cui Ciyou climbed a slope and recognized the crater city below as Rikarisu Town, or Old Kishirika City.

Cui Ciyou traveled to Rikarisu Town to search for Kishirika and posted a high-reward missing-person request at the Adventurers' Guild. There, he found an old request from Paul seeking him after the Displacement Incident and set out to cancel it.

• Cui Ciyou connected the Great King Land Turtles to the Biekoia Region and wondered why Perugius had not used the nearby ruins.
• Cui Ciyou entered Rikarisu Town, paid the gate fee, and crossed its market to the Adventurers' Guild.
• Cui Ciyou posted a high-reward request to find a petite girl matching Kishirika's description.
• Cui Ciyou spotted an old request from Paul seeking him as the hero who saved the Fitoia Territory.
• Cui Ciyou gathered proof of his identity and went to the counter to cancel Paul's request.

Cui Ciyou sought out Rikarisu Town’s information broker, Nokopara, to find Kishirika. After paying him in advance, Cui Ciyou described her and agreed to wait half a day for news.

• Cui Ciyou found Nokopara, the horse-headed information broker and Roxy’s former teammate, in Rikarisu Town.
• Nokopara recognized Cui Ciyou as the Seven Great Powers’ newest member, and Cui Ciyou told him he was Roxy’s husband.
• Cui Ciyou asked Nokopara to find someone and paid him four Green Ore Coins up front.
• Cui Ciyou described Kishirika’s appearance, title, and terrible sense of direction.
• Nokopara agreed to search for Kishirika and told Cui Ciyou to wait half a day at the tavern near the Adventurers’ Guild.

Cui Ciyou searched Rikarisu Town for Kishirika and learned she had been seen there about a year earlier. Nokopara revealed that Atofe, a powerful Demon King and Badigadi’s older sister, was also in town looking for a purple-haired girl.

• Cui Ciyou questioned the Bountiful Mistress’s staff and customers, who said Kishirika had not been seen for at least six months.
• Cui Ciyou considered where Kishirika might have gone, then decided to wait for Nokopara’s findings instead of guessing.
• Nokopara reported his research on Kishirika and told Cui Ciyou that a Demon King had been searching for her in Rikarisu Town.
• Nokopara identified the Demon King as Atofe, who had arrived about a year earlier and was staying in the town’s central castle with black-armored guards.

Cui Ciyou searched for Kishirika Kishirisu in Rikarisu Town after learning that Badigadi was away and that approaching Atofe would be dangerous. He found Kishirika among the slums’ beggars, and she offered to grant him a wish after he fed her.

• Nokopara told Cui Ciyou that Badigadi had been gone for two years and warned him that Atofe was dangerous and wanted to find Kishirika.
• Cui Ciyou decided to search places where beggars gathered, reasoning that the lost and penniless Kishirika might be among them.
• Cui Ciyou bought all the meat skewers from a vendor in Rikarisu Town’s slums and handed them out while checking the beggars for Kishirika.
• Cui Ciyou used his Mental Power to scare off a Demonfolk who kicked a beggar, then gave her more food.
• The beggar revealed herself as Kishirika Kishirisu, the Demon Eye Emperor, and offered to grant Cui Ciyou a wish.