Chapter Summaries

Fingel and his companions fought through the serpent-men guarding the altar, but a drake and a powerful Dragon Man nearly overwhelmed them. The mountain bell rang before they could discover who had rung it, and the serpent-men froze as clouds and mist swept over the group.

• Hawkwood explained that the final trial offered Twinkling Dragon Stones, while Serena became fixated on the path to the bell atop the peak.
• Fingel and his companions charged the serpent-men, using Aleya's magical plants to disrupt their ranks as they fought toward the altar.
• A drake and a moving Dragon Man arrived, turning the battle against Fingel's group as Aleya's plants and Matilda's phantoms failed.
• The bell rang, halting the serpent-men and Hawkwood's fight with the Dragon Man, while Hawkwood searched for the Black Separation Crystal.
• Clouds and mist surged over everyone as Fingel wondered who had rung the bell.

Serena accidentally rang Archdragon Peak’s great bell, bringing the Hasawi Squad face-to-face with the Nameless King atop the Storm Dragon. The group realized too late that ringing the bell meant challenging him, and his lightning spear attack began as Hawkwood’s helper vanished.

• Serena accidentally pulled the lever that rang the great bell while fleeing the serpent men.
• Fingel and the others were swept through the storm to a sea of clouds, where they reunited with Serena.
• The Nameless King descended on the Storm Dragon and raised his Dragonslayer Swordspear as the group tried to greet him.
• Matilda spotted the gathering lightning, and the group discovered a message declaring that ringing the bell meant challenging the Nameless King.
• The Hawkwood helper left, and the Nameless King’s Storm Lightning Strike fell toward the group.

Fingel and the Hasawi Squad faced the Nameless King's overwhelming Storm Lightning Strike and were killed, then revived at the bonfire. After reviewing the battle, Gong Qiying considered a new dungeon branch and a request for help from Bonds Dungeon, while Serena decided to join Fingel for another attempt at finding Ornstein and seeing the Nameless King again.

• The Nameless King unleashed Storm Lightning Strike, and Fingel raised Yorshka's Chime before the lightning spear killed him and the Hasawi Squad.
• Fingel, the Hasawi Squad, and Serena revived at the bonfire, still shaken by the lingering sensation of the lightning.
• Gong Qiying reviewed the one-sided fight, considered declaring war on a protected dungeon in Warrior Country when its protection ended, and read Bonds Dungeon's request concerning the Hidden Blood Parasite in Red.
• Fingel checked on the group and wondered whether the Nameless King had failed to recognize Yorshka's Chime and his Dark Moon Blade covenant.
• Serena agreed to accompany Fingel on another attempt, claiming she wanted to find Ornstein but admitting she also wanted to admire the Nameless King again.

The Hasawi Squad explored the misty battlefield beyond Archdragon Peak’s great bell and found the remains of Ornstein’s armor and spear. Serena ended the chapter delighted to have found another original Ornstein relic rather than grieving over it.

• The Hasawi Squad returned to the great bell without summoning Hawkwood and joked about his departure and Patch.
• Serena crossed the clouds and mist before the bell was rung, and the others followed her into the open battlefield.
• Fingel and the squad discovered Dragon Men, rubble, and weathered armor scattered across a broken bridge.
• Serena asked the squad to search for armor pieces, and Matilda recovered a broken spear while Aleya found a lion-shaped helmet.
• The squad identified the scattered armor and spear as Ornstein’s, but Serena hugged the helmet and gleefully called it another original Ornstein item.

Serena restored Ornstein’s armor and discovered a ring containing a painting-world trial tied to the Way of the Ancient Dragon. The ring transported her to the mountain’s foot, where she came face-to-face with the living Ornstein.

• Serena reassured the Hasawi Squad that the armor did not prove Ornstein had died, and she decided his fate seemed fortunate compared with other figures in Zane Dungeon.
• Serena assembled Ornstein’s armor while the Hasawi Squad reviewed their expedition’s discoveries and decided not to challenge the Nameless King.
• Serena fitted the armor’s final fragment into place, restoring the set and revealing a ring hidden within it.
• The ring’s painting described a trial that granted part of the Ancient Dragon’s power to seekers who passed it.
• Serena was transported to the foot of Archdragon Peak, where the gathered seekers parted and the living Ornstein appeared behind her.

Serena endured the painful climb up Archdragon Peak, where seekers began transforming toward dragonhood, and found resolve after witnessing the tragic reasons others sought power. She reached the point of pressing on to meet Ornstein and see his full story, but her Spirit Power was nearly gone; meanwhile, the dungeon closed and she appeared unconscious before Fingel and the others.

• Ornstein ignored the seekers, leapt into battle with drakes, and the crowd began climbing toward Archdragon Peak as Serena followed.
• Serena struggled against the stairway’s cold and scraping pain, which began transforming climbers toward becoming dragons, and nearly gave up.
• After touching two fallen seekers, Serena saw their tragic pasts and resolved not to surrender to hardship.
• Ornstein returned from battle and looked disdainfully at those who had fallen, inspiring Serena to climb so she could meet him and witness his complete story.
• Serena pushed upward despite the growing pain, unaware that her Spirit Power was nearly exhausted.
• The dungeon closed while Serena remained inside the Painting World, then she appeared unconscious before Fingel and the others.

After the Warrior Country attacked a gathering of kingdom officials, Serena helped Iliphis calm the public while the Royal Palace prepared for possible war. Under Iliphis’s watchful supervision, she found a chance to return to Zane Dungeon using a magic page.

• Serena woke in the carriage and eagerly told the Hasawi Squad about meeting the living Ornstein in the Painting World.
• At the Royal Palace, Iliphis showed Serena and Fingel evidence of an attack that had burned a palace, killed officials and flying dragons, and left Minister Aoluo unconscious.
• Iliphis asked Serena to calm the people and Fingel to restrain impulsive adventurers; Serena spent the following days soothing public anger as her reputation rose.
• Iliphis presented the attack as the Warrior Country’s betrayal of peace, while he and Serena became prominent figures and public interest in Archdragon Peak continued.
• Serena grew weary of her duties and Iliphis’s nightly visits, then accepted a teleportation necklace from him.
• After Iliphis left, Serena used a magic book page to return to Zane Dungeon.

Serena secretly climbed Archdragon Peak and witnessed the conclusion of Ornstein and the Nameless King's story, while Leon realized Ornstein responded to adventurers’ persistence. The chapter ended with Elsa announcing that she would leave the Light Eagle Legion.

• Matilda told Serena that eight Dragon Head Stones had entered the market, shared news about Archdragon Peak, and gave her an Image Transmission Device from Fingel.
• Serena secretly entered the Painting World and climbed Archdragon Peak, where Ornstein’s spear stopped her from falling.
• Leon realized Ornstein had begun controlling the dangers of the climb and encouraging adventurers who kept trying.
• Serena reached the summit and watched the Nameless King and Ornstein duel before Ornstein removed his armor and disappeared into the clouds.
• Elsa told Lu Lu Wo that she had decided to leave the Light Eagle Legion.

Serena received a Lion Ring that let her enter Painting Worlds connected to Ornstein, while Elsa prepared to leave the Light Eagle Legion and travel toward the demon continent. Sally tried to stop Elsa by inviting her into the newly collected Painting World "Berserk Eclipse."

• Serena took the Lion Ring from Archdragon Peak and discovered that it opened short Painting Worlds featuring Ornstein.
• Gong Qiying revealed that he had given Serena the Painting Worlds as a special reward for clearing the challenge first.
• Fingel and Matilda discovered footage of Serena's adventure, then hurried away to watch it in private.
• Elsa told the Skyrim Strategy Team she planned to leave the Light Eagle Legion, and they accompanied her to the relocated base.
• Sally met Elsa on the road, but she refused to return and said she had never enjoyed being a mercenary.
• Sally's thoughts changed under a red light, and he unfolded the Painting World "Berserk Eclipse" to persuade Elsa to stay.

Sally persuaded Elsa to enter the Painting World Sword Wind Legend with him, hoping their shared adventure would make her stay with the Light Eagle Legion. They watched Guts join Griffith’s Band of the Hawk and enjoy a peaceful victory celebration, but the scene shattered into a hellscape of demons, leaving them confronted by the story’s sudden horror.

• Sally brought out the completed Painting World and persuaded Elsa to accompany him when the dungeon reopened.
• Elsa and Sally entered Sword Wind Legend and watched a baby found beneath a tree of hanged corpses grow into the mercenary Guts.
• Guts fled after accidentally killing his cruel adoptive father, then earned renown as a skilled Greatsword wielder.
• Guts joined Griffith’s Band of the Hawk, where he became captain of the Assault Team and shared a close bond with Griffith.
• The Band of the Hawk celebrated its victories in a peaceful dance, but the image shattered into a hellscape of demons that turned to look at Sally and Elsa.

Sally and Elsa fought to save the Band of the Hawk from the monsters during the Eclipse, while Elsa discovered that the world depicted an age before people had magic. The battle grew more relentless and the monsters stronger, until a giant fist began to open in the sky.

• Sally and Elsa saw the Band of the Hawk branded as sacrificial offerings, and monsters began slaughtering them.
• Elsa and Sally joined the battle, with Elsa using flames to form a barrier while Sally rallied the surviving mercenaries.
• Elsa fought alongside Guts and glimpsed a vision of the Band of the Hawk being devoured, including the big man she had rescued.
• Elsa realized that the people in the Painting World lacked magic and that Guts was fighting at the limits of an ordinary human body.
• The battle dragged on as monsters grew stronger, Guts and Sally ran low on strength, and Elsa saw the giant fist slowly opening.

Elsa and Sally faced Dark Wings Femto after witnessing Griffith’s tragic rise, but his powers overwhelmed them and the Painting World reset after their failed raid. They realized they had to protect the Band of the Hawk more quickly in the next attempt.

• The giant hand opened and revealed Griffith transformed into Dark Wings Femto, while Elsa and Sally saw visions of the events that led to the Eclipse.
• Elsa decided to leave the Light Eagle Legion, then attacked Femto, but his invisible defense stopped her blades and sent her flying.
• Femto crushed the surviving Band of the Hawk, while Sally’s spells failed to reach him and Elsa returned to fight with fire.
• Femto’s spatial power nearly erased Elsa, and she could find no way to break through his defenses.
• The Painting World rewound to the beginning of the Eclipse, and Sally realized their failed raid had caused the reset.
• Elsa and Sally resolved to protect the Band of the Hawk sooner in their next attempt.

Elsa and Sally repeatedly tried to save the Band of the Hawk in a punishing Painting World, but exhaustion and despair led them to fail. After returning to Firelink Shrine, Elsa resolved to leave the Light Eagle Legion, and Sally decided to go with her.

• Outside Zane Dungeon, Lu Lu Wo, Ta Mi, and Bei Er Tuo wondered why Elsa and Sally had spent so long inside and why the Painting World allowed two people to enter.
• Elsa and Sally repeatedly fought shifting monsters while trying to rescue the Band of the Hawk, but the mercenaries kept dying and both adventurers grew exhausted.
• After Elsa and Sally gave up, the Painting World showed Griffith's assault on Guts and one of his friends, before Guts was overwhelmed by monsters.
• Sally and Elsa returned to Firelink Shrine, where Sally ate a Happiny egg and guessed that their despair had caused the Painting World to judge them as defeated.
• Elsa declared that she would leave the Light Eagle Legion, and Sally agreed to go with her.

Elsa quietly left the Light Eagle Legion after returning from the Painting World, then defeated Iliphis in a duel when he challenged her departure. Sally noticed a red object resembling the Overlord Egg in Iliphis's clothes, and Iliphis asked what he had seen.

• Elsa and Sally returned from Zane Dungeon, and Lu Lu Wo decided to follow them to the Light Eagle Legion camp.
• Elsa packed her belongings and asked Sally to give Iliphis her badge because she did not want to face him.
• Iliphis confronted Elsa and challenged her to settle her departure with blades.
• Elsa broke Iliphis's weapon and spared him, then left the Light Eagle Legion to pursue her mission.
• Sally spotted a red object resembling the Overlord Egg in Iliphis's clothes, and Iliphis asked him what he had seen.

Sally’s recovering memories led Iliphis to seize him and bring the other captains into the Painting World, where Iliphis watched Griffith’s Eclipse and became fascinated by using sacrifice to gain power. After directing the Assault Captain to attack the Band of the Hawk, Iliphis saw Guts fighting and decided to visit Princess that night.

• Sally remembered seeing red eggs with other captains and tried to attack Iliphis, who knocked him down and gripped his face to inspect what had happened to him and Gers.
• Iliphis brought the captains into the Painting World, where they watched the black sun, the monsters, and the slaughter of the Band of the Hawk.
• Iliphis compared his Fallen Devil Eggs with Griffith’s Overlord Egg and considered the Eclipse a possible model for gaining power through sacrifice.
• After the Painting World reset, Iliphis shot two Band of the Hawk members and ordered the Assault Captain to fight the humans, then watched him charge into battle.
• Iliphis saw Guts fighting the Assault Captain, thought about the Black Swordsman’s origins and Elsa, and resolved to visit Princess that night.

Princess Serena learned that Iliphis had entered Zane Dungeon, watched reports of adventurers exploring Archdragon Peak, and visited her ailing father, King Anzi III. When Iliphis cornered her in the king’s bedchamber, Anzi III transformed and attacked him, followed by beastly knights and Maids.

• Serena learned that Iliphis and another captain had entered a new Painting World in Zane Dungeon, while Minister Aoluo and General Ji Li Man Bo remained unconscious.
• Serena watched the Hasawi Squad test weapons and tactics against Pontiff Sulyvahn's Phantom and Aldrich, then heard about Archdragon Peak’s popularity and adventurers imitating Havel Warriors.
• Serena visited King Anzi III and wiped fur from his body while he lay exhausted in bed.
• Iliphis entered the bedchamber, dismissed the attendants, grabbed Serena, and considered imitating Griffith’s assault on a princess.
• Anzi III transformed and scratched Iliphis, then the knights and Maids rushed in as beast-men and attacked him.

Iliphis captured Anzi III and the beastified knights and Maids, discovered that the King’s blood spread beastification, and began experimenting with combining it with the Fallen Devil Egg. In the Zane Dungeon, Fingel saw Iliphis’s experiments through the Image Transmission Device and recognized the transformed attendant as resembling the beastified people from his hometown.

• Iliphis realized Anzi III commanded the beastified knights and Maids, then used Serena’s staff and magic to bind them and capture the King.
• Anzi III tried to escape with Serena, but the palace’s spells stopped him; Iliphis put Serena to sleep and secured all seven beastified people.
• Iliphis tested Anzi III’s blood on sleeping guards and discovered that beastification spread through blood, while Happiny in palace food and perfume prevented the syndrome from spreading beyond the Royal Palace.
• Iliphis compared the King’s transformations with those made using the Fallen Devil Egg, then combined Anzi III’s blood, negative emotions, and an egg to transform an attendant.
• Matilda noticed the Image Transmission Device was showing the Princess’s side again, and Fingel saw Iliphis’s experiment and recognized the monster as resembling the beastified people from his hometown.

Fingel discovered Iliphis experimenting on people and feared he was responsible for destroying Fingel’s homeland, while Gong Qiying arranged to move to an abandoned dungeon near Pan Sen and shared Lunastra with Red Fang. The chapter ended with news that the King had suddenly fallen critically ill.

• Matilda and Fingel watched Iliphis transform a person into a beastman, and Matilda suspected he had destroyed Fingel’s homeland.
• Fingel regained his composure and asked Matilda and Aleya to join him, even if they became wanted by the Kingdom.
• Gong Qiying received Pan Sen’s invitation to take over an abandoned dungeon near Boulder Dungeon and accepted.
• Gong Qiying shared Lunastra with Red Fang, whose shocked reply arrived five minutes later.
• Gong Qiying planned to finish updating the Kingdom’s dungeons before relocating, then heard that the King was critically ill.

At Elsa’s farewell banquet, she left the royal capital but was lured to Sea Moon Lake, where a demon injected her with Beastification Blood. Meanwhile, Serena prepared to expose Iliphis at Founding Plaza, but Gold-Rank Adventurers attacked and Fingel stabbed Iliphis before Serena could finish speaking.

• Lu Lu Wo and the Skyrim Strategy Team held a quiet farewell banquet for Elsa while the king was critically ill, and Elsa set out from the royal capital.
• A Light Eagle Legion veteran told Elsa that Sally wanted to meet at Sea Moon Lake, so she changed direction and went to their old hideout.
• At the cave, Elsa found Sally chained and deformed, then a disguised demon injected her with Beastification Blood and she began to transform.
• At Founding Plaza, Serena planned to reveal Iliphis’s crimes, though he had secretly used Beastification Blood to control her, Aoluo, and Ji Li Man Bo.
• Ba La and Alice attacked the guards at the plaza, and a cloaked figure stabbed Iliphis in the neck before revealing himself as Fingel.

Fingel and the Hasawi Squad attacked Iliphis in the royal capital, intending to expose his crimes, but Iliphis stopped their first attempt and nearly defeated them. Princess Sai Li then broadcast evidence of his demonic experiments to the guards, leaving Iliphis exposed and the Fallen Devil Egg stirring.

• Gold-Rank Adventurers supporting the Hasawi Squad attacked Founding Plaza, while Fingel fought Iliphis and declared that he knew the truth about his family’s murder.
• Fingel exposed evidence of Iliphis’s crimes, but the apparent Iliphis was revealed to be an archer captain, and the real Iliphis destroyed the transmission device and restrained Fingel.
• Iliphis gained the upper hand against Fingel and the other Adventurers, while Leon rescued Fingel and fought beside him.
• Princess Sai Li used her necklace’s Image Transmission Device to broadcast footage of Iliphis controlling people and transforming them with the Fallen Devil Egg.
• The guards watched the evidence and questioned Iliphis’s allegiance as the Fallen Devil Egg in his arms opened its eyes.