Chapter Summaries

Archbishop Beta found the bishop of a War God Church dead in a gruesome state and tried to blame the Dark Church, but Magic Net reports had already exposed similar deaths elsewhere. The War God Church’s leaders feared the revelations would undermine their faith and expose the ritual planned for Celebration Day.

• Archbishop Beta entered a War God Church and found its bishop reduced to a mass of flesh beneath the shrine.
• Beta told the clergy to claim that Dark Church heretics had attacked, though he knew the bishop was truly dead and could not return from the Divine Kingdom.
• A bishop showed Beta Magic Net News posts reporting similar incidents at churches in other regions, along with comments questioning the War God Church.
• Beta realized that other faiths and the Transcendents and nobles would soon learn the truth, while the War God Temple panicked that its Celebration Day ritual had been exposed.

The Graycastle Emperor investigated the deaths of eight War Priests and suspected the War God Church was carrying out a larger plan. In the Dawn Kingdom, Geyera realized the danger and suffered a sudden attack, while Viscount Rost saw the Magic Net’s new Database function as an opportunity to upgrade his Internet Public Opinion Brigade.

• The Graycastle Emperor ordered Shadow to monitor the War God Church and report all unusual intelligence after learning that eight War Priests had died.
• Shadow began entering past intelligence into the Database for centralized management.
• The Graycastle Emperor suspected the deaths formed an eight-point pattern tied to a plot by the Church of War, and Prince Wilson wondered whether it involved blood sacrifices.
• Geyera recognized the pattern’s significance and prepared to warn people, but a wave of agony struck him and sent him falling into the fire.
• Viscount Rost studied the new Database function and realized it could give his Internet Public Opinion Brigade a new opportunity.

Viscount Rost created a detailed plan for using the Magic Internet’s News function to shape public opinion and assigned the work to Con Artist Megan’s brigade. Megan agreed to expand the operation, with members traveling throughout the Dawn Kingdom to report local events.

• Viscount Rost wrote a guide explaining how the Public Opinion Brigade could build authority and influence nobles and the wider public.
• Con Artist Megan read the guide and recalled how Rost had rescued her and her companions from poverty by hiring them.
• Megan asked whether the brigade should use the News function to share reports and knowledge until readers trusted its posts.
• Viscount Rost said he would add more collaborators and send brigade members across the kingdom with travel permits to gather local reports.
• Megan offered to accept the danger, and Rost promised a substantial allowance for those who traveled.

Viscount Rost appointed Con Artist Megan president of the World Economic News Agency and tasked her with building a network of reporters across the Dawn Kingdom, eventually expanding across the continent. A day later, Megan’s former underworld associates gathered in a town building, transformed into respectable-looking citizens.

• Con Artist Megan considered the possible effects of Rost’s news-gathering network, while Viscount Rost explained that reporters should initially collect only public, fresh news.
• Viscount Rost appointed Con Artist Megan president of the World Economic News Agency and gave her funding and authority to recruit people and expand the organization.
• Con Artist Megan embraced the role, vowing to leave her old reputation behind and become News King Megan.
• Viscount Rost judged Megan the best choice to lead the agency because of her underworld connections, experience, and influence over the Public Opinion Squad.
• The following day, Megan’s former underworld associates gathered at a town building, dressed and groomed like successful free citizens.

Con Artist Megan told the former royal-capital thugs that Viscount Rost had secured them free-citizen identities and jobs as reporters for the World Economic News Agency, which would gather and verify news for the Magic Net. The new agency would fund their work as an independent company, and its recruits eagerly accepted the chance to earn money and rise in status.

• Con Artist Megan announced that the group would receive legal identities as free citizens and become reporters for the World Economic News Agency, where she would serve as president.
• Megan explained that reporters would gather and verify news in other territories, send it to scholar editors through the Magic Net, and receive operating funds and end-of-year pay and bonuses.
• Tom the Dwarf welcomed the job because it let him use his experience trading information while the agency covered his travel, meals, and lodging.
• Megan clarified that the World Economic News Agency, rather than Viscount Rost, would pay the reporters' expenses as an independent company publishing information on the Magic Net.
• The recruits recognized the agency's arrangement as a buffer between Viscount Rost and work that could draw criticism, and they accepted it without objection.

Con Artist Megan organized the World Economic News Agency’s reporters, assigning them regions and sending them out as the Golden Merchants' Guild expanded across the kingdom. Viscount Rost decided to delay the agency’s major reports until news from distant regions arrived, so it could establish itself as an impartial and credible source.

• Con Artist Megan distributed official certificates and Second-Generation Magic Net Rings, explained reporters’ salaries and subsidies, and let them choose their regions.
• Con Artist Megan told the reporters to find and recruit suitable newcomers as they traveled.
• Tom the Dwarf and several dozen others left Rost Territory, while a new group of scholars joined the World Economic News Agency.
• The Golden Merchants' Guild continued spreading through the kingdom, drawing merchants with clear contracts, cheap goods, and support from participating lords.
• Con Artist Megan asked whether to publish reports about Rost Territory, Magitech Devices, and Druid Potions, but Viscount Rost told her to wait for news from farther places and delay some coverage of the Elf Kingdom.

Roger and the Magic Goddess examined a map tracking the spread of the Magic Energy Network and magitech across the mortal world. They discovered Dragon Island had a small network of its own, and Betty suggested Dragonkind might need a custom-made Magic Net version.

• Roger showed the Magic Goddess a map that tracked Magic Energy Network coverage and magitech industrialization across the mortal world.
• Roger highlighted Rost Territory’s extensive magitech infrastructure and Count Grano’s weaker network spread throughout its agricultural lands.
• Roger celebrated the network’s growth across thousands of cities and territories and considered connecting the regions into one network.
• The Magic Goddess noticed a faint Magic Energy Network on Dragon Island, though it appeared on neither the Magic Net IP Map nor the faith map.
• Betty suggested the Magic Net might be too small for Dragonkind, prompting Roger to propose making custom versions for Dragonkind and giants.

Roger and the Magic Goddess settled on offering adaptable Magic Net devices for races that could not use standard Magic Net Rings, while Roger outlined his plans for expanding network coverage. The chapter ended with Roger asking Betty why she had come over.

• Roger proposed giving users customizable Magic Net Stones and letting races adapt them to their needs.
• The Magic Goddess agreed that users could modify the devices themselves, and Betty realized she had been trapped by overly narrow thinking.
• Betty noticed the Magic Energy Network’s growing coverage and asked whether they could prepare for a full upgrade with images and videos.
• Roger said Wireless Transmission should come first and described plans to bring network access to major cities, lordly territories, towns, villages, and roads.
• Roger asked Betty why she had come over.

Roger and the Magic Goddess saw the Magic Net’s news feature spreading advertising and drawing users into the mortal world. A post revealing the War God Church’s crisis over Archbishop Geyera forced its Missionary Knights to consider seeking reinforcements, while Geyera met an old friend.

• Betty told Roger that the news feature was running smoothly and that she had put Book in solitary confinement for being annoying.
• Roger and the Magic Goddess read news about a writers’ conference and repeated promotions for the Golden Merchants’ Guild, and Roger explained that advertising showed the Magic Net was becoming profitable and indispensable.
• Missionary Knights in the Dawn Kingdom’s Southlands questioned a witness who said Archbishop Geyera had attacked Holy Crusaders, then concealed the accusation and planned to judge him as a deceiver.
• A knight told the Missionary Knights that the Magic Net had exposed Geyera’s betrayal, leaving nobles and extraordinary individuals watching their response and prompting them to consider requesting reinforcements.
• Lava General Geyera encountered an old friend.

The Lava General explained to the Black Knight, Caius, that the War God had rejected him after he defied the Church, and that he continued to fight its forces to protect his homeland. When War Brutes surrounded the weapons convoy, Caius prepared unfamiliar Magitech Devices to meet their attack.

• The Lava General showed Caius his wounds and demonstrated that the War God no longer answered his divine arts.
• The Lava General explained that he had opposed the Church’s plundering and attacks, and vowed to keep sabotaging its operations despite losing his divine power.
• Caius considered whether to recruit the Lava General but decided against consulting the royal capital.
• War Brutes attacked the convoy, and the Lava General warned Caius that their numbers could overwhelm the convoy’s weapons.
• Caius refused the Lava General’s offer to hold off the attackers and ordered strange Magitech Devices set up in front of the soldiers.

The Dawn Kingdom’s Magitech Railguns and Tractor-style Tanks devastated the War Brutes before they could reach the defenders, despite the War bishop’s repeated use of War Divine Arts. The Lava General watched the bombardment in disbelief as the bishop descended into madness.

• The Church of War bishop sent brainwashed War Brutes charging toward the Dawn Kingdom’s forces, believing their strength would let them take revenge on their former oppressors.
• The Dawn Kingdom’s shells exploded across the battlefield, setting the War Brutes ablaze and killing them in vast numbers.
• Black Knight Caius ordered the bombardment to continue without conserving ammunition, confident that Rost Territory could supply enough shells.
• The bishop strengthened the War Brutes with War Divine Arts and ordered them forward, but the protection only let them withstand the shells a little longer.
• The bishop kept casting War Divine Arts as his eyes reddened and his body showed signs of contamination.
• The Lava General watched the Magitech Railguns and Tractor-style Tanks overwhelm the War Brutes and asked Black Knight Caius whether magitech weapons had truly advanced so far.

Black Knight Caius ordered Truth to bombard the War God Church priests, who continued casting spells until they were killed, freeing the War Brutes from their control. A reporter sent an account of the battle to the World Economic News Agency, where a scholar announced it in the Group Chat and claimed the Lava General had betrayed the Church of War.

• The Lava General marveled at magitech weapons and proposed installing Mana Railguns and Super Cannons in every city.
• The Lava General pointed out the War God Church priests hiding on distant high ground, and Caius ordered the third unit to adjust its angle and fire long-range shells.
• Truth’s ground-scouring bombardment struck the priests, who kept casting divine spells until the shells or flames killed them.
• As the priests died, the War Brutes regained their senses and fled in terror from the battlefield.
• A World Economic News Agency reporter recorded the battle and sent the news to Rost Territory.
• A scholar announced the report in the Group Chat, describing the Lava General as a suspected traitor to the War God Church.

Scholar Stelt’s edited report about the War God Church’s life-draining miracle ignited outrage across the Magic Net. In the Goddess of Magic’s Divine Kingdom, Roger and the Magic Goddess concluded that the War God had been sacrificing priests and considered how mortal forces and the Mana Railgun could thwart its plans.

• Scholar Stelt defended his report by arguing that every sentence was true, despite its slanted framing.
• The published report provoked widespread condemnation of the War God Church, and its priests and believers avoided the Magic Net.
• Roger read the news and wondered whether the War God’s new miracle could explain why the Dawn Kingdom had defeated the orcs so decisively.
• Betty said the bodily-activation miracle had never been used before, and the Magic Goddess concluded that the War God had drained the mysteriously dying priests.
• Roger decided to let mortal forces obstruct the War God’s plans while their faction gained faith and strength.
• The Magic Goddess noted that the Mana Railgun had helped the Dawn Kingdom defeat the War Brutes without casualties.

Roger insisted that Rost Territory keep developing Magitech technology, while the Wild Mage and Apprentice accidentally discovered a rail rune array that could make objects float above rails and imagined using it for trains and production lines. At the Graycastle-Dawn border, the Northlands grand duke worried about the War God Church’s erratic soldiers and the threat they posed to spring planting and the frontier.

• Roger argued that Magitech Devices and weapons could defeat any traditional enemy, but said the Magitech Mecha still needed development because technology had to keep advancing.
• The Wild Mage and Apprentice discovered that their runes made a shell float above a rail, revealing a possible rail rune array for moving objects without contact.
• Apprentice proposed using the array for trains, and the Wild Mage suggested adapting it for Rost Territory’s production lines.
• The Wild Mage and Apprentice decided to test the discovery in the Technology Laboratory and considered asking Viscount Rost to prepare an upgrade.
• The Northlands grand duke and his heir discussed the War God Church’s increasingly erratic soldiers and worried they might threaten the border while the Dawn Kingdom’s southern harvest was already lost.

The Grand Duke of the Northlands learned that many War God-believing generals were behaving strangely and contacted the Emperor’s side, which said it already knew and would make arrangements. In the Divine Kingdom, Roger showed the Magic Goddess and Betty an experiment in Rost Territory that appeared to be a maglev train.

• The heir told the Grand Duke of the Northlands that children of War God-believing generals had reported their elders acting strangely and muttering unfamiliar words.
• The Grand Duke of the Northlands estimated that most Graycastle generals believed in the War God and feared the scale of the threat.
• The Grand Duke of the Northlands contacted the Emperor’s side through the Magic Net and was told that His Majesty already knew and would make arrangements.
• Roger’s spell test nearly hit Betty, who complained to the Magic Goddess, and Roger stopped the mecha after sensing something.
• Roger showed the Magic Goddess and Betty a Rost Territory experiment in which a small train floated above a rune-covered track and raced around a loop.

Roger recognized that the Wild Mages had invented an extraordinarily fast and stable Ultra-High-Speed Maglev Train, and he planned to use Rost Territory’s Magitech Devices and Druid Potion trade to build a rail network across the continent. The Wild Mages’ tests succeeded at extreme speeds and across long distances and harsh weather, leaving them eager to bring the invention to Viscount Rost.

• Betty called the Wild Mages’ invention ordinary, but Roger explained how an Ultra-High-Speed Maglev Train could connect cities, speed travel and trade, and advance civilization.
• The Magic Goddess identified Thunderstone as the tracks’ main special material and said it was abundant in the Dwarves’ homeland, easing Roger’s concerns about construction costs.
• Roger proposed using the demand for Magitech Devices and Druid Potion, along with the Golden Merchants’ Guild, to secure permission and build a continental rail network and Magic Energy Network.
• The Wild Mages tested their train on tracks up to ten thousand meters long, reaching a speed equivalent to 450,000 meters per hour while remaining stable in wind, rain, and snow.
• The Wild Mages celebrated the successful tests and said they would go find Viscount Rost.

Viscount Rost and the Wild Mage considered how to fund and coordinate the expansion of the Magic-Energy Ultra-High-Speed Hover Train across the mortal world. Roger chose to let them develop their own plans, while revealing that a bank would be part of his future plans for the Magic Net.

• Viscount Rost rushed to the Technology Laboratory, saw the hovering train, and weighed ways to fund its construction and coordinate routes with nobles and the Golden Merchants' Guild.
• The Wild Mage proposed using the Golden Merchants' Guild to promise benefits to lords and tie their interests to the railway once construction began.
• Viscount Rost and the Wild Mage combined their ideas as they discussed how to persuade nobles to provide land and funds.
• Betty asked Roger how the railways could spread, and he said he would let the tide of the age teach the lords while their inventors worked things out.
• Roger told Betty and the Magic Goddess that he planned to establish a bank to support future online shopping through the Magic Net.

The War Pope began a ritual to ignite a continent-wide frenzy among believers of the War God before Celebration Day. As the influence spread, believers across the Graycastle Empire and the Dawn Kingdom began attacking their rulers and destroying their communities.

• The Dawn Kingdom continued sending conscripts to the Southlands as the War God Church consumed nearby small nations and Faith Power declined.
• The War Pope confirmed preparations for Celebration Day and started a ritual using the souls of fallen Missionary Knights and Holy Crusaders.
• The War Pope entered the flames and gave his followers final orders, sacrificing himself to ignite the war.
• A ripple spread from War God Churches across the Graycastle Empire and beyond, making believers' hearts feverish and intensifying their desires.
• A knight and his men attacked their lord in a town near the Graycastle capital, and similar uprisings and riots spread through the empire.
• The frenzy reached the Dawn Kingdom's Southlands, Westlands, and Eastlands shortly before Celebration Day.

The War God Church’s influence drove believers across the Dawn Kingdom and Graycastle Empire into chaos, while Lucina’s conquered Tiele territory remained calm. The Graycastle Emperor realized the Church was mobilizing believers for a massive invasion and questioned whether Celebration Day should be stopped.

• War God believers and compromised guardian knights caused unrest across the Dawn Kingdom, while Lucina’s conquered Tiele lands stayed peaceful and the beastmen-held regions grew volatile.
• Lucina received reports of the disturbances and warned her forces to prepare for a sneak attack from the Tiele Chiefdom.
• The Grand Duke of the Northlands found the Graycastle Empire’s army camp empty and concluded that War God believers had marched toward the Dawn Kingdom.
• The Graycastle Emperor learned that the War God Church had mobilized its believers through extensive blood sacrifices, using the Southlands as the source of its influence.
• The Graycastle Emperor’s heir asked whether they should stop Celebration Day.

The War Pope told the Graycastle Emperor that the War God’s Apotheosis would unite the world’s pantheons, and the bells marking its arrival unleashed widespread violence and rebellion. As the Graycastle Empire attacked the Dawn Kingdom’s border, unrest erupted within the Dawn Kingdom itself.

• The Graycastle Emperor refused to stop the coming unrest, hoping it would weaken the old nobility and resolve resource conflicts.
• The War Pope appeared before the Graycastle Emperor and said that after Celebration Day, every god would become subordinate to the War God.
• Midnight bells marked the War God’s Apotheosis Day, and a strange wave drove people across the continent to fight, rebel, slaughter, or protect others.
• At the Dawn Kingdom’s southern border, its forces fired thousands of Mana Railguns at the advancing Graycastle Empire.
• In Grano Territory, unemployed citizens attacked Count Grano’s castle, while a neighboring lord’s War God-follower captain killed Magitech-capable soldiers and led a revolt against his lord.
• Nobles and extraordinary individuals unaffected by the wave reported the chaos spreading across the Magic Net.