Chapter Summaries

Mi Yue’s assault on Oldwood Fortress was interrupted when an Elf Race priest arrived and fought her, but Zhou Yu’s fire magic forced the priest to order a retreat. Mi Yue’s forces entered the city, and she learned Avilan had sent Zhou Yu because he was worried about her.

• Bierteli’s Dark Elf defenders were struck by ballista bolts, and Mi Yue attacked him in a cloud of bats.
• An Elf Race high priest arrived, stopped Mi Yue’s attack on Bierteli, and demanded that the attackers withdraw.
• Mi Yue challenged the priest, who attacked her with blood-draining vines and Splendor of Nature; she countered by transforming into bats and using black mist.
• Zhou Yu appeared above the wall and unleashed a powerful rain of fire, forcing the priest to order a retreat.
• Mi Yue’s foreign race legion charged into Oldwood Fortress, and Zhou Yu told Mi Yue that Avilan had sent her because he was worried about her.

Zhou Yu, Mi Yue, and their allies defeated the Dark Elves and captured Oldwood Fortress, making Tian Ye its new lord. As Tian Ye gathered Wild Men to secure the fortress, the Piten Tribe considered seizing control for itself.

• Miuo and Tian Ye led the assault on the Dark Elves while Zhou Yu and Mi Yue kept Priest Alpha occupied.
• Tian Ye and Miuo killed Bierteli as the attacking forces overwhelmed the Dark Elves and captured the fortress walls.
• Alpha ordered the Dark Elves to retreat, and Zhou Yu let them withdraw to avoid costly losses.
• The victors took Oldwood Fortress, where Mi Yue claimed the captured elves and merchants were allowed to leave.
• The next day, Tian Ye became lord of Oldwood Fortress and gathered thousands of Wild Men under the former War God Tribe banner.
• The Piten Tribe, a powerful nearby group, considered taking control of Oldwood Fortress for itself.

Pi Teng led the Piten Tribe into Oldwood Fortress, where Tian Ye disarmed them and revealed that the Wild Demonfolk had set a trap. As the slaughter began, Avilan observed the War God’s power of faith, and Tian Ye wounded the old shaman with a demonbreaking battleaxe.

• Pi Teng accepted Lord Fox’s assurance that the Munk Kingdom would support the Piten Tribe if it seized Oldwood Fortress.
• Tian Ye trapped Pi Teng’s warriors in a killing ground, and ballistae killed or wounded nearly half of them before Fox ordered them to surrender their weapons.
• Tian Ye allowed only five unarmed Wild Men to enter unless the rest swore allegiance to Avilan, while the old shaman accused them of betraying their god.
• Pi Teng and his warriors invoked the Light of the War God, and Avilan sensed the power of their faith as Tian Ye ordered the Piten Tribe slaughtered.
• The old shaman flew to attack Tian Ye, but Tian Ye’s enchanted battleaxe cut through his gold-element shield and left him wounded.

Tian Ye and the Wild Demonfolk crushed the Piten Tribe at Oldwood Fortress with superior armor and Gun Staffs, killing Pi Teng and the old shaman while leaving Fox alive. As Mi Yue consolidated control of the fortress, Avilan described how industry and technology could reshape the use of magic.

• Tian Ye revealed his Barbarian Warrior strength and led twenty Wild Men armed with Gun Staffs in an attack on the old shaman.
• The Wild Demonfolk overwhelmed the Piten Tribe’s defenders, and Tian Ye killed the old shaman as Pi Teng was torn apart after evolving into a Barbarian Warrior.
• Fox survived the massacre and watched Wild Demonfolk soldiers clear the bodies from the barbican.
• Mi Yue, now lord of Oldwood Fortress, had turned three hundred captured Dark Elves into Blood Thralls and drew close to Avilan.
• Avilan explained that industrial methods such as Directional Demolition Magic Orbs and Gun Staffs let warriors use magic without traditional mage training.

Avilan spared Fox and offered the Fox Clan a weapons and armor deal, using the Munk Kingdom’s rivalry with the Raccoon Dogfolk to draw him in. Fox inspected Avilan’s enormous stockpile, leaving the negotiations poised to continue.

• Avilan decided to question Fox rather than kill him, hoping to learn important information from the Fox Clan chief.
• Fox toured Oldwood Fortress and met Avilan, while Miuo reported that the Piten Tribe’s remaining members had been killed.
• Avilan proposed selling weapons and equipment to Fox, warning that he could sell to the Raccoon Dogfolk instead.
• Fox explained the Munk Kingdom’s shortage of metal and the Noyin Coordinating Committee’s restrictions, then asked to inspect the goods before agreeing on a price.
• Avilan led Fox to the warehouse, where Fox was stunned by its vast, neatly organized supply of armor and weapons.

Fox negotiated a large weapons and armor purchase from Avilan for the Munk Kingdom, while Avilan prepared Despair Fortress for a prolonged war by restoring farmland, recruiting craftsmen, and planning a merchant guild. The chapter left Avilan frustrated that the humans needed for the guild had not been found.

• Fox agreed to buy ten thousand sets of armor and weapons from Avilan, signing a contract and taking one thousand sets back to the Munk Kingdom without a deposit.
• Mole Xiu reported that one-fifth of the northern food base had been restored, with more than 1.5 million mu cultivable and 500,000 mu already being planted.
• Avilan ordered Despair Fortress to recruit craftsmen, alchemists, and mages, then announced plans to establish a merchant guild.
• Zhou Yu advised Avilan to appoint merchants from different races to handle trade with their own peoples and nations.
• Avilan asked about the search for Eddie and the other humans, and Didi reported that their remote village remained unfound.
• Arthur rebuked Didi at Avilan's command, and Didi prostrated himself in fear.

Avilan questioned Zhou Yu about the satellite towns and ordered one built near the southern waters while waiting for intelligence on the Blood Church. Meanwhile, Allen and his companions returned to Moning Village, where Allen came face-to-face with a terrifying figure at his doorstep.

• Zhou Yu reported that Chika Village could become the eastern satellite town and described the Narisi River and ocean south of the Messiah Great Forest.
• Avilan ordered a satellite town built about fifty kilometers from the southern waters and asked about intelligence from the Roen Kingdom, but Zhou Yu had no news.
• Avilan worried that the Blood Church might ally with the Eternal Night Duchy and resolved to strengthen Despair Fortress.
• Eddie, Allen, Agonsi, and the others traveled through the Kia Mountains to avoid exposing Moning Village while fleeing Despair Fortress.
• Allen and his companions returned to peaceful Moning Village, and Allen found a terrifying figure waiting at his doorstep.

Avilan spared Allen and the other three villagers after they fled home, moving Moning Village’s residents to Chika Village and assigning the newcomers to help expand and defend it. As civil war spread through the Kompno Duchy, Vought City’s officials struggled to contain the growing conflict among the province’s lords.

• Avilan confronted Allen and the others, then agreed to spare Moning Village if they moved its residents to Chika Village and served him.
• Allen and the other three persuaded Moning Village’s residents to relocate, and Avilan brought more than forty villagers to Chika Village.
• Avilan praised Anxi and Wellington’s training and told them to welcome refugees and expand the village.
• Anxi asked Avilan for weapons and armor to protect the growing village, and he agreed to provide them.
• After the Sovereign died, the princes’ struggle for power spread to Vought Province, overwhelming Vought City’s officials.

Cameron abandoned Vought City and joined Essin City as the duchy’s political order crumbled. Avilan learned of the ancient Dark Seal and assigned Mitqi to develop magic technology, leaving the Eastern District set to receive priority resources.

• Edward ordered Cameron to warn Essin City to stop its attacks, but Cameron resolved to leave Vought City and join it.
• Cameron secretly departed with his family and five hundred elite soldiers, and Edward could not send troops after them.
• Zhou Yu told Avilan that ancient books and murals confirmed a great battle called the Dark Seal had taken place at least a thousand years earlier.
• Avilan suspected the Blood Church was pursuing the sealed dark existence and decided to contact his business partners.
• Avilan had Mitqi inspect Fox’s list of magic technology products, and Mitqi said it could make nearly all of them if the Eastern District’s industrial zone was restored.
• Avilan prioritized resources for the Eastern District, gave Mitqi authority to recruit personnel, and shared mechanical ideas that excited Mitqi and impressed the onlookers.

Avilan received an invitation from the Komer Family and agreed to attend its banquet, suspecting it was a trap. Later, Xuelin Ai visited with Li En Conde and tried to recruit Avilan to serve the second prince, but he refused.

• Light Tiger delivered the Komer Family’s invitation, and Avilan ordered him to confirm that the Despair Chamber of Commerce would arrive in seven days.
• Light Tiger reported that Xuelin Ai of the Baoli Chamber of Commerce would visit, and Avilan agreed to receive her.
• Xuelin Ai arrived with Li En Conde, who belittled the Despair Chamber of Commerce until he learned Avilan had killed Adahua.
• Xuelin Ai asked Avilan to join the second prince, but Avilan refused and offered only to sell weapons and equipment.