Chapter Summaries

Gong Qiying used cryptic references to convince Crimson Fang that he was an ancient being before Crimson Fang gathered five new City Lords to fight the Burning Demon. As the battle became a test of their abilities, Gong Qiying decided to send a fireproof Black Knight.

• Rainbow Horn recalled how Zane Dungeon’s unusual mutations and varied attractions had made other Dungeon Lords believe Gong Qiying was an astonishing ancient monster.
• Crimson Fang asked Gong Qiying what era he came from, and Gong Qiying hinted at memory problems and described things he had supposedly witnessed.
• Crimson Fang recognized the reference to the golden tree and grew more receptive to Gong Qiying, then turned his attention to the five Dungeon Lords he had invited.
• Crimson Fang announced that the newcomers would fight the Burning Demon for a chance to earn gifts, while he controlled the overall situation with his Flame Dragon.
• Gong Qiying told Rainbow Horn he had changed his plans and asked whether he had ever seen a Black Knight that was not afraid of fire.

Gong Qiying and the other City Lords led their monsters into Eagle Capital Dungeon to exterminate the Burning Demons, but the demons regained their flames and overwhelmed the armies. Gong Qiying’s fire-resistant Black Knights turned the battle around, defeated the Demon Warlord with the broken black spear, and brought the campaign to an end.

• Red Fang explained the extermination plan, and the City Lords deployed their monsters against the Burning Demons aboveground.
• The City Lords adapted their tactics as their monsters struggled, while Gong Qiying’s Black Knights steadily advanced through the demon hordes.
• After the battle moved underground, Red Fang’s Flame Dragons exploded, restoring the Burning Demons’ flames and setting the other armies ablaze.
• Gong Qiying’s fire-resistant Black Knights fought through the flames and slaughtered most of the Burning Demons while Red Fang summoned more Flame Dragons.
• The Demon Warlord appeared, and Red Fang revealed that the broken black spear could kill him if driven into his heart.
• Twenty Black Knights overwhelmed the Demon Warlord, broke his shell, and used the spear to pierce his heart as Red Fang declared the battle over.

After defeating the escaped Sealed Objects, Gong Qiying received Eagle Capital Dungeon as his reward and taught the other City Lords how to design more enticing dungeons. Red Fang then offered him an additional authority and revealed that Dungeon Lords were also responsible for destroying escaped Sealed Objects.

• Red Fang rewarded the City Lords for defeating the Burning Demons, giving Gong Qiying Eagle Capital Dungeon after he had defeated the most monsters.
• Slime congratulated Gong Qiying, and Gong Qiying teased him by claiming modern etiquette called for showing one's belly instead of shaking hands.
• At Red Fang's victory banquet, the City Lords asked Gong Qiying how Sain attracted adventurers, and he shared advice about rewards, traps, and dungeon layouts.
• Gong Qiying explained the Triangle Law of dungeon design, leaving the City Lords eager to learn more and planning to apply his ideas.
• After the other City Lords departed, Red Fang offered Gong Qiying a new authority and said Dungeon Lords had to destroy Sealed Objects that escaped from dungeons.

Gong Qiying learned how dead dungeons could be revived to hunt escaped Sealed Objects, then acquired Red Fang Dungeon and the Absolute Domination authority. He began planning a new dungeon at Eagle Capital Dungeon and found a sinister Sealed Orb among its spoils.

• Red Fang explained that escaped Sealed Objects erased all knowledge of themselves and that reviving their dead dungeon could lure them back, though the method was dangerous and difficult.
• Red Fang transferred Red Fang Dungeon to Gong Qiying and arranged a duel with Verdant Peak Dungeon so he could obtain the Absolute Domination authority.
• Gong Qiying took control of Eagle Capital Dungeon and planned to build the Catacombs of Carthus there as part of Zane Dungeon’s next phase.
• Gong Qiying found the Ancient Eagle Kingdom's Sealed Orb, which required tens of thousands of sacrifices to restore the ancient kingdom, and stored it away.

Da Er discovered that Farron Keep’s underground path had opened and lit its bonfire, triggering a vision that revealed the fading fire, the Sunlight Kings, and a mysterious usurper. The vision ended with a strange red-and-purple glow around a sword, and Da Er rushed to tell everyone what he had seen.

• Da Er read that the Curse Frog had won Bede Weekly’s most handsome monster award and cursed the newspaper.
• Da Er recalled how Bede City and Zane Dungeon had prospered over the two weeks since Gapar defeated Kang Luode, while the Farron Guards continued training in the dungeon.
• Da Er found a bonfire before Farron Keep’s underground path, which had opened since his last visit.
• Da Er lit the bonfire and saw a vision of King Gwyn, the fading Initial Flame, and the rise of the Abyss Watchers, Yhorm, and Aldrich as Sunlight Kings.
• Da Er saw a mysterious usurper and a sword wreathed in red and purple light, then hurried to tell everyone about the vision.

After Zane Dungeon opened the Catacombs of Carthus beneath Farron Keep, Lu Lu Wo led the Skyrim Strategy Team into the new area. The team learned the history of Carthus and its ruler Wolnir, then faced a swarm of skeletons clinging to the middle bridge.

• News of Zane Dungeon’s new footage drew adventurers to Farron Keep, where they discovered they could unlock the underground area by surviving the Undead Legion without defeating it.
• Sid gathered elite adventurers at the Adventurers’ Guild and announced that the Guild would support small teams exploring the new area.
• Lu Lu Wo assembled the Skyrim Strategy Team, offered tributes to the Undead Legion, and led the group down the passageway beneath Linking the Fire Throne.
• The team arrived at the Catacombs of Carthus and read that Wolnir’s warlike nation had been destroyed by the Farron Undead Legion after encountering the Abyss.
• As the Skyrim Strategy Team cautiously crossed the middle bridge, Mi La spotted countless skeletons clinging beneath it and swarming toward them.

Lu Lu Wo was dragged into a sea of skeletons while the Skyrim Strategy Team escaped into the Catacombs of Carthus without her. Ta Mi showed off his cleverness against a skeleton trap, but a teleportation trap separated him from the team, and he ended the chapter facing a strange jar puzzle.

• Lu Lu Wo let the Skeleton Monsters drag her away, while Bei Er Tuo and the others crossed the bridge before it collapsed into the Bottomless Abyss.
• After waiting in vain for Lu Lu Wo, Bei Er Tuo led the Skyrim Strategy Team into the Catacombs of Carthus, where they fought assembled skeleton monsters with holy water.
• Ta Mi chased a Skeleton Monster to trigger a rolling skeleton-ball trap early, then helped Mi La destroy it and impressed Bei Er Tuo.
• Ta Mi followed another fleeing Skeleton Monster but was teleported away from the team, despite his Danger Perception not warning him.
• Ta Mi found a recently used Healing Potion, swallowed his Teleportation Crystal, and discovered a tablet describing a Carthus jar game beside a pile of jars.

Ta Mi struggled through Zane Dungeon’s endless jar field, where breaking jars released treasures, curses, monsters, and eventually a group of Carthus Warriors. As the warriors cornered him in the tomb, the long-missing Hero Elsa rescued him with her greatsword.

• Ta Mi cautiously broke jars, found a chocolate treasure, and accidentally released Humanitys and cursed mist that forced him to flee as the jars reset.
• Ta Mi grew tired of cautious exploration and charged through the jar field, drawing a growing swarm of Humanitys before finally encountering a Carthus Warrior.
• Ta Mi used his Danger Perception and a running fighting tactic to defeat the Carthus Warrior, but its attacks released more warriors from nearby jars.
• Ta Mi fled five Carthus Warriors through the tomb’s traps, becoming badly wounded and trapped at a dead end.
• Elsa appeared and smashed the pursuing Carthus Warriors with her greatsword, revealing herself as the missing Hero.

Ta Mi was rescued by Elsa and met Sally and the Light Eagle Legion, who were stranded in the Catacombs of Carthus without supplies or a way out. As the group prepared to search for food, Ta Mi was invaded by Red Spirit Man-Eating Mildred, the persistent enemy hunting the mercenaries.

• Elsa killed the Carthus Warriors and the Humanity pursuing Ta Mi, then took his chocolate as payment for saving him.
• Sally and the Light Eagle Legion arrived, treated Ta Mi's wounds, and explained that they were lost and nearly out of supplies.
• Ta Mi revealed he was a member of the Skyrim Strategy Team and had entered the dungeon with Captain Lu Lu Wo, while Sally privately dreaded Zane's connection to the Catacombs.
• The mercenaries accepted Ta Mi's directions to the food jars and set off to search for supplies, while Ta Mi chose not to join them.
• A notification announced that Red Spirit Man-Eating Mildred had invaded, and Sally warned Ta Mi that she repeatedly returned after being killed.

Ta Mi and the Light Eagle Legion mercenaries were relentlessly hunted through the Catacombs by Man-Eating Mildred, whose invasions accelerated into a deadly bug because of Elsa’s strength. Ta Mi escaped through a portal, only to emerge outside and be surrounded by armed mercenaries.

• Elsa defeated Man-Eating Mildred, but the Red Spirit invaded again while Ta Mi and the mercenaries searched for supplies.
• Sally told Ta Mi that Patch had tricked the Light Eagle Legion into the Catacombs, where Mildred had repeatedly attacked them.
• Mildred began targeting Ta Mi, so he joined Sally and the remaining mercenaries as they tried to find a way out.
• Mildred’s attacks became nearly constant, and she killed most of the party as Elsa kept defeating her; the invasion bug worsened because the dungeon misjudged Elsa’s strength.
• Mildred dragged Ta Mi underground, and he later woke beside a bonfire in a Grave Chamber with a portal leading outside.
• Ta Mi left through the portal and found himself surrounded by armed Light Eagle Legion mercenaries, who shouted for the others to grab him too.

Ta Mi and other Bede City adventurers were mistaken for spies after emerging from a dungeon portal inside the Light Eagle Legion’s base, sparking a fight before Lu Lu Wo and Leon negotiated a settlement. As adventurers continued arriving, the absent commander Iliphis ordered the Legion to explore the dungeon at any cost and be the first to clear it.

• Ta Mi learned that Lu Lu Wo had been taken from the prison, then reunited with her, Leon, and the others when they arrived to free the Bede City adventurers.
• Lu Lu Wo explained that the Light Eagle Legion had mistaken the adventurers for enemy spies, and that Leon’s group had fought the mercenaries to clear up the misunderstanding.
• The Light Eagle Legion agreed not to attack adventurers, restricted them from entering deeper into its base, and offered paid horses and purchases of dungeon loot.
• Lu Lu Wo led Ta Mi and the other adventurers back into the dungeon instead of toward the royal capital.
• While commander Iliphis was away escorting a Princess, he sent word that the Legion should explore the dungeon at any cost and become the first group to clear it.

The Light Eagle Legion recruited legendary dungeon explorer Kent to prepare for the Catacombs of Carthus, while Gong Qiying read a strange romance novel pairing its author’s protagonist with Ornstein. As tensions rose between mercenaries and Bede City adventurers, Lu Lu Wo’s team challenged Kent to race to produce a dungeon guide.

• After discussing the Legion’s weaknesses in dungeon exploration, Aston went to the royal capital and persuaded Kent to help by telling him about the pattern-defying Zane Dungeon.
• Kent joined the Light Eagle Legion’s preparations, helping select exploration squads as the mercenaries gathered supplies.
• Gong Qiying read The Tale of the Four Knights of Gwyn and discovered that its fictional fifth knight had an unrequited romance with Ornstein.
• Gong Qiying continued handling issues in the Catacombs of Carthus and considered how to treat the Light Eagle Legion fairly despite his resentment toward them.
• After Kent’s arrival emboldened the mercenaries to look down on Bede City adventurers, Lu Lu Wo’s Skyrim Strategy Team challenged him to see who could produce a Catacombs guide first.

Kent led the Light Eagle Legion into the Catacombs of Carthus, where his cautious tactics failed to protect the group from a deadly trap and powerful monsters. Ghost Hands pulled him into the Painting World "Carthus Warrior," where he found himself fighting as one of Overlord Wolnir’s warriors.

• Lu Lu Wo insulted Kent outside the portal and led her team into the Catacombs of Carthus before Kent’s group followed.
• Kent lit the Grave Chamber bonfire, and the group watched a vision of the Zane Dungeon serial before setting out through the catacombs.
• Kent guided the mercenaries around hazards, mapped their route, and led them to treat an ordinary tombstone as a monster until an iron cage trapped all twenty of them.
• Kent ordered the group to blast through the floor to escape skeleton archers, but the falling cage crushed two mercenaries and Human Dregs attacked the survivors.
• A book hidden in the chamber released Ghost Hands that grabbed Kent and struck his face with the Painting World "Carthus Warrior," transporting him to a battlefield beside Carthus Warriors and Overlord Wolnir.

Kent was trapped in a Painting World that repeatedly forced him to fight the Farron Undead Legion and die, until the painting shattered and returned him to Aston. He emerged trembling and apparently unable to speak coherently.

• Kent became absorbed in the Carthus Legion’s wars, fighting as a warrior and slaughtering enemies across shifting battlefields.
• When the Farron Undead Legion appeared, Kent was killed repeatedly and sent back to the moment before the battle began.
• Kent realized the Undead Legion overwhelmed Carthus and tried different ways to escape the repeating illusion, but each attempt ended in another death.
• Kent hoped Overlord Wolnir would defeat the Undead Legion, but the scene reset before Wolnir’s battle, leaving Kent terrified and crouching on the ground.
• Outside the Painting World, Aston and the mercenaries killed the remaining Human Dregs, and a mercenary found Kent’s painting.
• The painting shattered, and Kent returned to Aston, who offered him a Healing Potion before Kent answered with an incoherent “Abba abba?”

After Master Kent became mentally incapacitated in the Painting World, Light Eagle Legion tried to use the news to deter its rivals, but the publicity drew more adventurers into the Catacombs of Carthus. Ta Mi was ejected from the Painting World and, while searching for Lu Lu Wo’s group, stumbled into a secret chamber and encountered an elite monster.

• A physician told Sally and the other captains that Master Kent’s mental injury would likely heal within a week, and Aston proposed slowing their competitors’ progress.
• Aston spread news of Kent’s condition to intimidate Lu Lu Wo’s group, but adventurers instead flocked to the Catacombs of Carthus to investigate.
• Lu Lu Wo learned that Ta Mi was trapped inside the Painting World, where Ta Mi defected to the Farron Undead Legion in a desperate attempt to survive.
• The Farron Undead Legion protected Ta Mi from Overlord’s spell, and the Painting World shattered, ejecting him into a dark passage away from his companions.
• Ta Mi chased a Gem Crystal Bug across a suspension bridge, fell into a secret chamber, and came face-to-face with a Three Corpse Necromancer.

Ta Mi defeated the Three Corpse Necromancer and discovered that its reward let him kindle a bonfire with humanity, granting powerful recovery and enhancements. After finding and kindling a bonfire, he gained an Element Bottle and continued deeper into the dungeon, where a scream came from the darkness.

• Ta Mi dodged the Three Corpse Necromancer’s fire attacks, used his sword and shield to stagger it, and defeated it despite severe burns.
• Ta Mi received the Kindling Secret Ritual and a piece of humanity after the Three Corpse Necromancer died.
• Ta Mi found an open bonfire, tossed his conjured flame into it, and used humanity to kindle it, healing his injuries and boosting his strength.
• Ta Mi learned that a kindled bonfire could restore Spirit Power, improve mental fortitude and attributes, and grant persistent benefits.
• Ta Mi discovered an Element Bottle that replenished at bonfires and restored stamina and Spirit Power when he drank from it.
• Ta Mi decided to continue exploring, then heard a scream from deep along the dark road.

Ta Mi teamed up with Elsa in the darkness-shrouded Catacombs of Carthus, helping her resist fear and learn to make her own choices as they searched for her companions. After they defeated a Battle Knight, Ta Mi stood by Elsa when the cursed mercenary Lute rejected and insulted her, while Gong Qiying watched and considered how to make Elsa a fan of Zane Dungeon.

• Ta Mi found Elsa after a Light Eagle Legion mercenary fled from her, learned that a monster's curse made people see her as frightening, and offered to help her find her companions.
• Ta Mi and Elsa navigated the Catacombs together, and he pushed her to choose routes herself until she grew more confident, though her choices led them into traps and dead ends.
• Ta Mi and Elsa reached an icy chamber, where Elsa drove off the Battle Knight and Ta Mi finished it; the darkness then made Ta Mi see Elsa as the thing he feared most.
• Ta Mi overcame his fear, gave Elsa the Battle Knight's Pontiff's Right Eye, and confronted Lute when the mercenary recoiled from Elsa and attacked him before fleeing.
• Ta Mi encouraged Elsa to keep searching for her companions, while Gong Qiying watched them through a Crystal Ball and resolved to make Elsa a fan of Zane Dungeon.

Gong Qiying created the two-person Painting World "Sain Ancient City" to bring Elsa and Ta Mi closer, and the pair were pulled into its deadly obstacle course. After surviving repeated traps together, they approached the ancient city only to face armed snake-men, leaving Ta Mi in despair.

• Gong Qiying decided to use Ta Mi to get closer to Elsa and created the two-player Painting World "Sain Ancient City".
• A Ghost Hand trapped Ta Mi inside the painting, and Elsa followed him into the world to rescue him.
• Elsa and Ta Mi were weakened and forced to slide along separate paths, where pendulums, blades, and other traps repeatedly killed them and sent them back to the start.
• Ta Mi figured out how to adjust his sliding speed, and he and Elsa endured more traps that could affect each other's paths.
• As they neared the ancient city, Ta Mi encountered a shield-bearing snake-man and a snake-man mage preparing a Lightning Spear, and he cried out in despair.

Ta Mi and Elsa endured Sain Ancient City's traps with Jack Mcya, reached the finish, and escaped the Painting World with his gift and a hint about Anor Londo. Meanwhile, Lu Lu Wo's team reached the dark region of the Catacombs of Carthus, learned the Light Eagle Legion had put a bounty on them, and prepared to respond.

• Ta Mi and Elsa met Jack Mcya, teamed up with him to cross the traps, and heard his account of the undead and places beyond Sain Ancient City.
• Jack Mcya thanked Ta Mi and Elsa at the finish, gave them Force Eruption and other rewards, and left toward Anor Londo as the pair escaped the Painting World.
• Lu Lu Wo's group reached the dark region of the Catacombs of Carthus and decided to rest before searching for their separated teammates.
• I Don't Like Rosemary invaded Lu Lu Wo's group, revealed that the Light Eagle Legion had hired invaders to delay them, and offered to join a retaliation.
• Lu Lu Wo noticed poison on I Don't Like Rosemary's dagger, and the invader died.

The Light Eagle Legion hired invaders to disrupt the Skyrim Strategy Team’s exploration, but veteran invaders instead descended on the Legion’s mercenaries. The harassment stalled the Legion’s progress until the competition deadline arrived, leaving the winner to be decided by how deeply each team had explored.

• The Light Eagle Legion’s Aston learned that I Don't Like Rosemary had found the Skyrim Strategy Team but quit because they were too strong, and several other veteran invaders left as well.
• Aston divided the Legion’s exploration teams between Route One and the newly discovered Route Two, confident their numbers would help them compete with the Skyrim Strategy Team.
• Invincible Bede War God, Play Invasions for Life, Okay?, and I Like Eating Rosemary invaded Aston and badly wounded him while the mercenaries he had hired refused to help.
• Invaders repeatedly targeted the Light Eagle Legion throughout the Catacombs of Carthus, slowing its exploration and raising its medical expenses.
• The competition deadline arrived before the Legion could recover its lost progress, and the contestants’ deepest exploration would decide the winner.