Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Modi leaves Via with a soybean-sized “revolutionary seed,” which Via keeps, suspecting he may soon need it.
• In a secret meeting, Duke Descartes and other nobles discuss murdering King Bill III, angered by the Crown’s treatment of the nobility. They hesitate over the risk, but Descartes remains determined.
• Via bursts into the meeting and reveals that he is Shadow, the King’s hidden operative. He kills Descartes and the other conspirators, including Bros, a former friend. Via then crosses one of four remaining noble lineages off his list. The purge is part of Bill III’s plan to remove obstacles before launching reforms.
• In the Mist World, Penny commands the Southern Legion’s defense of Griffin City-State against more than a million newly appeared “Magic Beast Soldiers.” The creatures have been attacking settlements without warning and multiplying rapidly.
• Aerial scouts discover a vast Portal more than seventy kilometers away. Green sends reinforcements, recognizing that Penny’s force of just over a hundred thousand may not withstand the invasion—and that the soldiers may only be its vanguard.

Character developments and interactions

• Via shifts from cautious observer to decisive enforcer. His hidden identity and Calamity Rank power are revealed, and he carries out the King’s orders without hesitation, even killing an old friend.
• The conspirators are exposed as divided and self-interested: they resent the King but fear the consequences of acting, while Descartes pushes the plot forward.
• Penny demonstrates veteran composure, directing the city’s defense despite the enemy’s overwhelming numbers. She coordinates with Fast and Mrs. Hilgaf and reports the threat to Green.
• Green reacts swiftly by sending help and recognizes the invasion as an existential danger to his forces and the Graveyard.

Significant themes

• Power and political reform: Bill III’s reforms require eliminating entrenched opposition, raising questions about the Crown’s use of force.
• Loyalty, betrayal, and duty: Via’s mission pits personal history against loyalty to the King.
• Escalating threat and survival: The sudden invasion transforms the Southern Legion’s consolidation into a desperate defensive campaign.
• The danger of underestimating an enemy: The Magic Beast Soldiers’ rapid growth and the mysterious Portal suggest that the initial attack is only the beginning.

Key plot points and events

• Green responds to the threat of an invasion by ordering full mobilization. More than sixty races gather 1.5 million troops within ten days, while the Mecha Factories return to round-the-clock production, making 50,000 Mechas per month.
• Green concentrates most of his forces at Griffin City-State and takes command there in his Mecha Death Angel form. The surrounding northern tribes fear the mobilization, then relax when the army marches south.
• Seeking greater industrial capacity and a fallback base, Green orders Dr. Vincent to expand the factories and recruit workers. He also ends the separation between human and Orc laborers, hoping to foster a shared society.
• Green sends Black Claw and Professor Arkansas to the Main World to survey Alsa Province’s mineral resources and secretly relocate some Mecha production there.
• At Griffin City-State, Magic Beast soldiers attack at dawn. Green’s arrival and the sight of the Undead Empire’s army rally the city’s defenders.
• Green repurposes captured Airships as potential flying aircraft carriers. After rejecting Black Claw’s costly, magically buoyed design, he creates a cheap, lightly built airplane powered by a basic steam core. It is intended to carry Rockets and Bombs against ground targets, with Griffin cavalry and Wyvern Knights protecting it.

Character developments and interactions

• Green shows himself as a cautious, pragmatic commander: he mobilizes heavily but avoids exhausting his reserves, favors replaceable weapons over expensive elite equipment, and prepares a backup base in case his current holdings fall.
• He also acts as a social reformer, experimenting with closer integration between humans and Orcs while recognizing that prejudice and exploitation may undermine the effort.
• Black Claw is tasked with both industrial development and aircraft design. His initial airplane relies on magical lift rather than aerodynamics, prompting Green to take over the design.
• The defenders of Griffin City-State shift from fear and resentment toward enthusiastic loyalty once Green arrives and the empire’s army appears.

Significant themes

• Industrialized warfare: Victory depends on mass production, logistics, and affordable weapons as much as individual strength.
• Pragmatism and adaptation: Green repurposes existing technology and accepts crude equipment when it can serve a clear strategic role.
• Power and loyalty: The people of Griffin City-State rally behind the ruler they had feared, showing how protection can transform public sentiment.
• Social integration and prejudice: Green’s effort to unite humans and Orcs confronts the gap between biological compatibility and social acceptance.

Plot points and events

• Three airships deploy 540 aircraft, whose pilots are inexperienced but protected by Griffin Cavalry. The planes’ main purpose is to deliver rockets and bombs.
• The first bombing wave devastates the Magic Beast Soldiers, killing tens of thousands and leaving Griffin Lord Fast and the city’s observers stunned by the weapons’ power.
• The enemy responds to the next wave with a Magic Barrier and flying troops. A cannon blast breaks through the barrier, but a mysterious black arc detonates the bombs high above the ground and sweeps toward the aircraft and Griffin City-State.
• Green counters by sending Bajin, a Bone Dragon in Bone Dragon Mecha. Bajin overpowers the enemy’s Psychic-Energy Colossus, forcing its creator—a Calamity-Rank Black-Winged Angel—to reveal herself.
• The Angel uses black arcs and evasive attacks to keep Bajin occupied rather than retreating. Green suspects she is buying time for a hidden trump card.
• Green concludes the Magic Beast Soldiers are artificially created beings, with artificial souls and highly developed mass-breeding methods. Their creators likely control a Void World.

Character developments and interactions

• Green remains composed and strategic. He uses the air assault to exploit his side’s battlefield advantage, then lets Bajin engage the Angel while he watches for the enemy’s real plan.
• Fast is overwhelmed by the attack and feels newly grateful—and afraid—that he surrendered to Green rather than face such weapons himself.
• Bajin demonstrates the gap between Mid Calamity Rank and the Angel’s initial Calamity Rank, dominating her Colossus despite its size.
• The Black-Winged Angel emerges as a powerful, calculating opponent. Rather than fight Bajin directly or withdraw, she relies on mobility and stalling, suggesting a larger strategy.
• Green’s allies and the Griffin leaders witness the bombardment and Bajin’s clash with the Angel, deepening their awe and fear of Green’s forces.

Significant themes

• Technological warfare: Cheap aircraft carrying disproportionately powerful weapons transform the battle and make mass aerial bombardment decisive.
• Power and intimidation: The display of force reinforces Green’s authority and makes former opponents recognize the danger of opposing him.
• Artificial life and hidden origins: The Magic Beast Soldiers’ manufactured bodies and souls point to a sophisticated, organized enemy rather than a natural invading species.
• Strategy beneath appearances: The Angel’s apparent retreat and the soldiers’ seemingly simple nature conceal a deeper plan and a larger power behind the invasion.

Key plot points and events

• A High Calamity Rank Water Elemental King appears over the battlefield, calling up a huge wave and strengthening the surrounding Water Elementals. The Magic Beast army resumes its assault on Griffin City-State.
• Green orders the Great Ape King to intercept it. The construct’s main and secondary cannons break the wave, then it transforms into a mechanical ape and engages the Elemental King at close range.
• Controlled by Bekelong and Red Queen, the Great Ape King outmaneuvers and batters its opponent. The Water Elemental King counters with Psychic Energy and water attacks, and their duel continues in the air. At one point, the Elemental King crashes into the enemy ranks, killing more than ten thousand soldiers.
• On the ground, Griffin’s defenders and Green’s arriving forces fight the Magic Beast army. The enemy also sends in enormous Giant Monsters armed with wooden hammers.
• General James commands the Undead Empire’s nearly two-million-strong force, assisted by Claire and Red Queen, using their intelligence and projections to direct the battle. Mecha troops, the Retainer Army, flying squadrons, and armored Dragon Bone Warriors engage the enemy across the battlefield.
• As the fighting reaches its most intense, a black arrow of light destroys Griffin’s Outer City gatehouse and a thirty-meter section of wall, opening a breach.

Character developments

• Green faces a war that threatens both his empire and the Graveyard. Though anxious about the enemy’s strength, he is also exhilarated because this is the first major war whose outcome directly concerns what he has built.
• General James shows composure and skill under the unprecedented strain of commanding an army of nearly two million.
• Red Queen demonstrates her value as a tactical intelligence, calculating combat strategies for the Great Ape King and supporting James’s command.
• The Great Ape King proves more than a powerful machine: its effective fighting depends on its controllers’ tactical judgment.

Significant themes

• War’s brutality: The battle is portrayed as chaotic slaughter rather than a noble contest, with weapons, casualties, and corpses dominating the scene.
• Scale and responsibility: Green’s personal investment makes this conflict different from wars he has merely witnessed; the survival of his empire and control of the Graveyard are at stake.
• Strategy versus raw power: The Great Ape King gains an advantage through intelligent tactics, while the Water Elemental King’s strength is undermined by its poor choice to fight at close range.
• Escalation and uncertainty: Both sides commit formidable forces, and the sudden breach in Griffin’s defenses signals that the battle may worsen.

Character interactions

• Green directs the Great Ape King against the Water Elemental King, while Bekelong and Red Queen operate the construct.
• Red Queen and Claire feed information to General James, who uses it to coordinate the Undead Empire’s forces.
• Griffin’s defenders fight alongside the Undead Empire’s reinforcements against the Magic Beast army, while the Great Ape King’s duel unfolds above them.

• The Outer City breach: Magic Beast Soldiers break through Griffin City-State’s wall. Mrs. Hilgaf rallies the defenders by charging into the breach, while Penny orders a retreat to the Inner City. Griffin Lord Fast joins the frontline, and Hilgaf’s forces buy time for preparations—but the defenders are being worn down by the fearless attackers.
• Green’s army is hit from the air: A swarm of enormous, fire-propelled insects attacks Green’s troops, their corrosive venom eating through the army’s Magic Barrier and armor. The assault causes severe casualties and briefly unsettles part of the Retainer Army. Green stays composed and senses the distant figure directing the enemy.
• The enemy’s hidden leadership: The swarm’s commander is Archbishop Platin, who has arrived through a huge Portal at the direction of Pontiff Saint Fran. Fran calls his dark army the Dark Holy Crusaders and intends to use it in a campaign against the Deities. Platin recognizes that Griffin City-State is far stronger than expected and that Green is a formidable opponent.
• The Church’s heresy: Platin understands Fran’s rebellion against Divine Authority. According to the chapter’s account, the Deities have secretly taken the lifespans and powers of ordinary people—and other intelligent peoples—while concealing this truth by restricting access to Saint Spirit Rank. Fran’s ambition is to free humanity from that exploitation.
• A parallel crisis in Asgar: In the Main World, Via watches the capital after six major noble families have been massacred. The kingdom’s elite are shaken, and rumors—especially that Lorenzo is responsible—spread without evidence.
  Character developments and interactions: Hilgaf emerges as a courageous battlefield leader, restoring the defenders’ morale through direct action. Penny balances the defense with a planned withdrawal, and Fast chooses to risk himself on the frontline. Green remains hardened and practical in the face of casualties, while his and Platin’s mutual awareness establishes them as opposing forces. Platin’s loyalty to Fran is grounded in shared conviction, not mere obedience. Via’s quiet observation contrasts with the turmoil caused by the killings.
  Themes: The chapter emphasizes the human cost of war, leadership under pressure, and the value of endurance over futile sacrifice. It also introduces a conflict between religious authority and liberation from divine exploitation, while the unexplained noble murders show how fear and rumor can destabilize political power.

Key plot points

• After Lorenzo Kingdom’s victory over Asgar, public anger in Asgar blames Lorenzo for a brutal assassination. Asgar’s government formally protests to Lorenzo before Lorenzo’s intelligence services have completed their investigation.
• Queen Cyrabelle asks Anomalies Bureau Director Kebayifu to investigate, suspecting the protest may conceal a plot. She reassures him that Lorenzo’s strength should protect it from Asgar’s schemes.
• At headquarters, Kebayifu sends a trusted intelligence chief to Asgar for firsthand information. He is troubled that the Bureau failed to alert the queen first, but takes responsibility without blaming his staff.
• Modi, a powerful and notorious intelligence operative, appears in Kebayifu’s office. He offers to help Kebayifu win Cyrabelle’s affection, but Kebayifu refuses and declares that he will never betray the kingdom or the queen.
• Modi immobilizes Kebayifu and appears to alter his mind or memories. Kebayifu resumes his work as though nothing happened, while Modi disappears.
• That night, Grand Duke Prady visits Kebayifu and uses Psychic Energy to remove Modi’s influence. Kebayifu recovers his memories and realizes Modi had acted on him.

Character developments and interactions

• Kebayifu is shown to be deeply devoted to Cyrabelle—not merely romantically interested, but also loyal to her as a ruler and determined to protect her. His refusal surprises Modi, who had underestimated his resolve.
• Cyrabelle is confident in Lorenzo’s strength and trusts Kebayifu with a potentially serious investigation. Kebayifu’s admiration for her continues to grow, though he privately fears her rise to Calamity Rank will end any hope of winning her affection.
• Modi tries to recruit Kebayifu by exploiting his feelings for the queen. When persuasion fails, he uses an unexplained power to control or alter Kebayifu.
• Grand Duke Prady intervenes and restores Kebayifu’s awareness, though his reasons and what he has learned are not yet revealed.

Significant themes

• Loyalty versus manipulation: Kebayifu’s allegiance withstands Modi’s emotional appeal, but his refusal is followed by coercion.
• Power and vulnerability: Lorenzo’s political and military strength does not prevent hidden threats from reaching its officials.
• Public resentment and scapegoating: Asgar’s losses and tax burdens fuel hostility toward Lorenzo, regardless of the evidence.
• Duty and personal desire: Kebayifu’s feelings for Cyrabelle coexist with—and ultimately yield to—his commitment to her and the kingdom.

Key plot points

• The Lorenzo Kingdom’s safeguards reveal that Modi used a Mind Illusion to influence Kebayifu, head of the Anomalies Bureau. Grand Duke Prady dispels it, while reports show Modi’s revolutionary ideas have already attracted many followers.
• Queen Cyrabelle decides the movement threatens the Kingdom’s social order. She believes ordinary people’s revolt against Transcendents would only cause futile bloodshed, so she resolves to stop it before it spreads.
• The next day, Cyrabelle orders a secret, nationwide purge. Under the pretext of an assassination plot, security forces arrest and execute suspected followers. Strict accountability measures drive the campaign’s speed; within three days, more than 5,300 people are sentenced to hang.
• In a border town, Baron Aldin tells Modi that the crackdown has devastated the movement in Lorenzo. Modi realizes Cyrabelle has also likely neutralized Kebayifu and decides to abandon Lorenzo for now and build support in the Asgar Kingdom.

Character developments and interactions

• Cyrabelle shows herself to be a decisive, iron-fisted ruler. Though she respects Prady, she rejects his plea for a gentler response, convinced that unchecked revolutionary ideas will destabilize society and bring needless deaths.
• Grand Duke Prady supports Cyrabelle’s authority but is uneasy about turning the state’s violence against ordinary subjects. He cannot morally endorse the purge, even as he sees its political logic.
• Kebayifu feels humiliated and enraged at being manipulated, but recognizes he is too weak to take revenge on Modi.
• Modi responds to defeat with calm admiration for Cyrabelle’s speed rather than anger. He presents revolution as requiring sacrifice from everyone, including himself, and persuades Aldin to remain committed.
• Aldin is devastated by the arrests and executions, but Modi’s willingness to sacrifice himself strengthens Aldin’s resolve. He accepts the risks of continuing the cause.

Significant themes

• Revolution versus order: Modi’s egalitarian doctrines challenge a deeply rooted hierarchy, while Cyrabelle sees their spread as a threat to social stability.
• Power and repression: The Kingdom’s surveillance and state machinery make it possible to suppress dissent swiftly, but at immense human cost.
• Ideals and sacrifice: Modi frames revolutionary struggle as demanding blood from leaders and followers alike; Aldin’s commitment deepens despite the crackdown.
• The moral cost of prevention: Cyrabelle believes harsh action will avert a futile uprising, while Prady’s discomfort highlights the danger of treating citizens as enemies before a revolution has even begun.

Plot points

• In the Lorenzo Kingdom, Modi abandons his failed campaign and withdraws his remaining forces rather than risk further losses. He shifts his attention to consolidating power in the Asgar Kingdom.
• After repelling the Dark Holy Crusaders at Griffin City-State, Green recognizes that the city is difficult to defend and orders its people evacuated. He abandons the city and pulls his army back.
• The crusaders return to find Griffin empty. Two hundred kilometers behind it, the Undead Empire has built a fortified defensive line at a mountain pass, where General James takes command. Green leaves two High Calamity Rank forces to help secure the front.
• Green returns to the Graveyard to investigate a captured Magic Beast Soldier. Professor Arkansas confirms that the soldiers are biologically human, artificially accelerated in growth, and carry a highly contagious virus that can be activated by a biological switch.
• Fearing an outbreak, Green orders the entire empire sealed off, halts travel and commerce, imposes rationing, and launches a nationwide Necromantic disinfection campaign.

Character developments and interactions

• Modi remains a calculating idealist: when his plans fail, he cuts his losses instead of retaliating recklessly.
• Green learns from his poor choice to defend Griffin on open ground and adapts by establishing a stronger position. His concern extends beyond military victory: he wants a functioning society, not merely an empire of undead.
• Archbishop Platin proves intelligent but inexperienced at battlefield command. His retreat gives Green time to withdraw and fortify; he realizes his error only when he sees the new wall.
• General James is presented as the more capable military commander, while Penny is also shown to be developing strong strategic judgment.
• Professor Arkansas provides the biological evidence behind Green’s suspicions and warns him of the virus’s danger. Green responds decisively, prioritizing containment despite the disruption it will cause.

Significant themes

• Adaptation and strategic judgment: Green’s withdrawal and new defensive line contrast with Platin’s failure to press his advantage.
• The costs of war: Both sides suffer heavy losses, though the crusaders lose more in the battle for Griffin.
• Scientific and biological threat: The enemy’s artificially produced soldiers and dormant virus reveal a danger beyond conventional warfare.
• Security versus freedom: Green imposes sweeping restrictions to protect the population, treating survival and the preservation of society as more important than unrestricted movement.

Key plot points and events

• Rumors spread that Green planned to turn the empire’s population into undead. The government suppressed them with severe punishment and instead blamed disease threats on hostile infiltrators.
• A Main World noble attempted to exploit the crisis by raising a rebellion. His force was crushed, and thirteen thousand people—including the noble and his family—were hanged. Green made clear that he would not tolerate threats to the empire’s stability.
• A Biochemical Virus outbreak struck a town near the front, killing more than a thousand people. Green ordered Locarius, an undead calamity-level Necromancer, to contain it.
• Archbishop Platin’s Holy Light Church had deliberately spread the virus, which it called the Black Death Virus. When its effects began disappearing, Platin ordered it activated immediately.
• The virus erupted across several cities and many towns and villages, killing over a million. Quarantine limited its spread, and Locarius’s forces turned infected victims into undead and used Death Psychic Energy to destroy the virus.
• Platin’s simultaneous offensive failed against the Undead Empire’s fortified defenses and large, reinforced army.
• Far to the north, a human city-state’s Elders’ Council received news of the southern war. Alarmed by the armies and powerful fighters involved, its leaders feared they could not resist either side if it turned north. Archbishop Link privately wondered what force backed the Undead Empire and mistakenly suspected the Sison Kingdom.

Character developments and interactions

• Green responds to both political unrest and the outbreak with ruthless decisiveness. He prioritizes keeping the empire stable and its war effort intact, while recognizing that the virus may be too advanced to prevent entirely.
• Locarius is entrusted with the outbreak response; his necromantic abilities prove effective against the infected and the virus.
• Archbishop Platin abandons his plan to wait for maximum viral spread and chooses an immediate outbreak and military attack, but neither produces the decisive advantage he wants.
• Archbishop Link is surprised by the Undead Empire’s strength. At the Elders’ meeting, he keeps his knowledge of the Dark Holy Crusaders largely to himself and privately investigates the empire’s possible backers.
• The First Elder urges the city-state’s leaders to confront the threat openly and asks them to discuss their options.

Significant themes

• Security versus freedom: Green’s harsh suppression of rumors and rebellion illustrates the cost of maintaining control during a crisis.
• Biological warfare and containment: The virus demonstrates how quickly a hidden weapon can cause mass death, while quarantine and specialized countermeasures can limit its damage.
• Power and vulnerability: The southern war’s immense scale makes smaller states recognize how little protection their own forces can offer.
• Uncertainty and misjudgment: Link’s incomplete intelligence leads him to the wrong conclusion about the Undead Empire’s origins, foreshadowing delayed discovery of Green’s connections.

Summary

Key plot points

• Via’s secret residence: The Asgar Kingdom’s Shadow, Via, hides in a countryside villa disguised as a merchant’s home after assassinating six great nobles.
• Modi confronts Via: Modi appears and implies he could threaten Via’s supposed family. Via immediately shoots the boy in front of him. The woman calmly carries the body inside, and the dog behaves as if nothing happened. Modi realizes the family scene is an elaborate illusion meant to mislead observers.
• A bargain is proposed: Via warns that he would fight Modi to the death rather than submit to threats. Modi backs down and offers a deal: Via is to kill several influential figures and search their homes for specific items. Via is suspicious of Modi’s true purpose and demands an advance payment before acting.
• A new threat at the Graveyard: In the Mist World, Green has Professor Arkansas investigate the Black Death Virus, hoping to develop it for the Undead Empire’s use. Meanwhile, the Dark Holy Crusaders deploy a mass of fast, leaping, bite-armed creatures resembling StarCraft Zerglings.
• Green assesses the creatures: He recognizes the resemblance but sees that these are crude, genetically engineered organisms rather than system-generated units. Their numbers are formidable: after hours of combat, their dead have built a mound that has reduced the apparent height of the defenders’ wall.

Character developments

• Via is shown to be ruthless, composed, and difficult to intimidate. His apparent family is a calculated deception, and he treats even the possibility of personal sacrifice as a tactical matter. He remains wary of Modi and refuses to act on promises alone.
• Modi is checked by Via’s resolve. His recent setbacks make him reconsider his belief that his enhanced strength puts him above the old kingdoms, though he still pursues his plans through manipulation and bargaining.
• Green remains confident in his researchers and in the Undead Empire’s ability to adapt, but he takes the viral outbreak seriously and quickly turns his attention to the new enemy’s battlefield tactics.

Character interactions

• Via and Modi: Their meeting is a tense contest of leverage. Modi attempts intimidation, Via answers with a shocking display of resolve, and Modi switches to negotiation. They reach no clear agreement, as Via demands proof and suspects a hidden agenda.
• Green and his researchers: Green relies on Professor Arkansas and the research team to study the virus, viewing the outbreak as both a danger and a possible resource.
• Green and the enemy force: Through the Death Angel’s viewpoint, Green observes and analyzes the Zergling-like soldiers, judging their origins and likely purpose.

Significant themes

• Deception and hidden motives: Via’s domestic life is a façade, while Modi’s stated objectives may conceal a broader scheme.
• Power and restraint: Both Via and Modi are formidable, but Via’s willingness to escalate forces Modi to choose negotiation over confrontation.
• Adaptation through crisis: Green seeks to turn a devastating virus into an advantage, while the enemy shifts to cheaper, mass-produced soldiers when direct attacks prove costly.
• Underestimating opponents: Modi recognizes that the old kingdoms have survived for reasons he does not yet understand; Green, in turn, avoids assuming that the Zergling-like creatures are exactly what they resemble.

Chapter Summary: “The Second Defensive Line”

Key plot points and events

• Archbishop Platin sends waves of Zerglings against the Undead Empire’s fifty-meter First Defensive Line, intending to use their corpses as a ramp. The mound grows to nearly forty meters, bringing the attackers close to the wall’s top.
• General James orders a disciplined withdrawal. Rocket fire from airships briefly halts the Zerglings, allowing most defenders to retreat by fast steam-powered vehicles. Green’s Mech troops remain behind to fire one last salvo, then escape.
• The Dark Holy Crusaders capture the abandoned wall, only to discover an identical Second Defensive Line about fifty kilometers farther on. A third line is already under construction.
• Platin recognizes the scale of the Undead Empire’s defenses but, lacking time and maps to choose another route, decides to keep advancing. He orders more Zerglings sent in as expendable “cannon fodder.”
• Meanwhile, the chapter notes the devastating Black Death outbreak near Griffin City-State, which killed nearly a million people before Necromancers contained it. Studying the virus has led Green to open a new field of research: microscopic biology.

Character developments and interactions

• Archbishop Platin shifts from dismissing Zerglings as mere beasts to realizing he faces a capable, well-prepared opponent. Though unsettled by the successive walls, he chooses speed over caution and continues sacrificing Zerglings.
• General James directs an orderly retreat through the battlefield Soul Network, demonstrating the Undead Empire’s efficient command system and willingness to abandon ground strategically.
• Green oversees the defense and prepares successive fortifications. His interest in the Black Death also expands from military concerns into biological research.
• Claire and Red Queen assess the enemy force at over three million Zerglings, while Ghost scouts report that reinforcements continue pouring through the Portal.
• The Dark Holy Crusaders’ newly opened, even larger Deep Blue Portal raises Green’s concern that a major threat may soon emerge.

Significant themes

• Strategic defense and endurance: The Undead Empire trades space for time, using layered fortifications rather than trying to hold every position.
• Industrial and technological power: Rapid construction, steam vehicles, rockets, Mechs, and the Soul Network make the defenders formidable beyond their battlefield strength.
• Expendable lives versus disciplined forces: Platin treats Zerglings as disposable resources, while the Undead Empire coordinates its troops to preserve them where possible.
• Scientific progress: The virus catastrophe becomes the catalyst for Green’s biological research, highlighting how magic and Alchemy have left deeper scientific questions—especially genetics—unexplored.

Plot points and events

• Green’s directive to pursue genetic research combined with magic and alchemy led Professor Arkansas to develop the Number One Virus, an improved form of the Black Death Virus.
• Unlike the Church’s version, Number One infects corpses, not living humans. It can animate huge numbers of bodies by spreading through them and drawing on nutrients and death energy, greatly increasing a Necromancer’s reach.
• The Dark Holy Crusaders and Hopper Army capture the first defensive wall and attack the second with Zerglings, using their corpses to build a ramp. Archbishop Platin expects the tactic to work and regards the Zerglings as expendable.
• Green’s forces have secretly infected the battlefield’s Zergling corpses. At night, Arkansas activates them with a Psychic Wave Generator. The dead rise as Zombie Hoppers, overwhelm the advancing Zerglings, and surge back toward the attackers.
• Green launches a counterattack: Marine Mechs leap from the wall, aircraft strike with rockets and bombs, and part of the Retainer Army advances through the gate. The momentum shifts sharply against the Church.
• Platin orders a retreat and calls on a Void Warship to fire Wrath of Holy Light twenty times. The ship forces its way through the Mist World’s unusually thick World Crystal Wall, and powerful psychic fluctuations begin to gather.

Character developments and interactions

• Green turns his scientific priorities into a battlefield advantage, coordinating with Arkansas and timing the virus activation to exploit the enemy’s corpse ramp.
• Professor Arkansas is thrilled by his first experience of the front and by the importance of his invention. He carefully activates the virus, helping trigger the undead counterattack.
• Archbishop Platin recognizes his limits as a commander and considers recruiting more capable military leaders. His confidence in the Zergling strategy gives way to alarm when he realizes the corpses have become the threat; he orders a retreat and resorts to the Void Warship’s ultimate weapon.
• Green’s silent signal to Arkansas initiates the trap, while Platin’s orders to his forces and the warship show his shift from offensive confidence to desperate defense.

Significant themes

• Adaptation and strategy: Green’s unconventional use of genetic science and necromancy counters a seemingly effective mass-assault tactic.
• The cost of treating lives as disposable: Platin’s use of millions of Zerglings as expendable material ultimately supplies the enemy with an army.
• The limits of command: Platin’s battlefield experience makes him recognize that his earlier “wars” were not true tests of large-scale leadership.
• Escalation and unintended consequences: A weapon meant to strengthen necromancy transforms the battlefield and forces the Church to unleash a much more dangerous power.

Key plot points and events

• Green recognizes the attackers’ weapons and forces as belonging to the Holy Light Church. Before the Church can fire its Wrath of Holy Light at the Undead Empire, an unknown Saint Spirit Rank being appears.
• A gigantic claw crushes the Church’s Void Ship, destroying the weapon and ending the threat. Neither Green nor Archbishop Platin knows who intervened.
• Platin retreats to Griffin City-State, abandoning the Dark Holy Crusaders and Zerglings trapped in the canyon. With their escape blocked and the undead closing in, the Church’s forces are defeated.
• The Number One Virus turns many fallen enemies—and over 500,000 Magic Beast Soldiers—into undead. Green’s army grows by nearly a million, then advances toward Griffin City-State with roughly five million troops.
• Troubled by the mysterious powerhouse, Green consults three surviving figures from the previous age. Locarius and Smedley suggest the being may be someone from the north whom Smedley recognizes; Alexia realizes who they mean, but the chapter ends before the identity is revealed.

Character developments and interactions

• Green proves decisive in battle, but his focus shifts from victory to the unknown Saint Spirit Rank being and what it means for the world. He also discovers how dramatically the virus can expand his army.
• Archbishop Platin responds pragmatically to the ship’s destruction: he abandons the trapped forces, withdraws, and leaves the decision about continuing the conquest to Pontiff Saint Fran.
• Alexia, Locarius, and Smedley reveal the limits of their knowledge of the north while piecing together a possible identity. Smedley’s hesitation and Alexia’s fear suggest the figure is formidable and notorious.

Significant themes

• Power and uncertainty: The unexpected intervention overturns both sides’ plans and exposes forces beyond their understanding.
• The double edge of victory: Green wins decisively, but the battle reveals a frightening weapon and raises new questions about the world’s hidden powers.
• Righteousness and corruption: Green sees the Holy Light Church’s monstrous forces as evidence that a glorious public image can conceal a darker reality.
• Undeath as an expanding force: The virus makes the Undead Army stronger through combat, unsettling enemies and even Green’s own allies.

Key plot points and events

• After the Holy Light Church’s Void Ship was destroyed, Smedley Tawa identifies the possible attacker as Bai He, the legendary and immensely powerful king of the White Dragons. The group wonders why he might still be in the Mist World and whether he is bound by conditions that restrict when he can act.
• Green suspects the attacker may be protecting the Mist World, though he recognizes this is only a theory. He resolves to ask Angdalagon, an escaped White Dragon, about Bai He later.
• In Griffin City-State, Archbishop Platin reports the disaster to Pontiff Saint Fran. He admits he is unsuited to command a major war and asks for reinforcements and a capable commander.
• Platin describes the Undead Empire’s varied technologies and biological weapons, leaving the Church unsure who might be supporting it. Saint Fran decides to withdraw rather than commit himself to a costly campaign.
• Saint Fran reassures Platin that mistakes are human and explains that, although he wants to free people from the control of Deities, he does not want to become a new Deity himself.
• The following day, Green’s forces find that the enemy has already retreated through its Portals, leaving leaping insects behind to cover its escape. Green is relieved the Church has withdrawn, though he regrets losing the chance to add many Magic Beast Soldiers to his zombie army.

Character developments and interactions

• Green shifts from speculation about the mysterious attacker to a practical plan: seek information from Angdalagon. He also weighs his disappointment at losing potential recruits against the strategic relief of avoiding a larger war.
• Archbishop Platin candidly acknowledges his limits as a commander and accepts responsibility for the losses. His respect for Saint Fran deepens when he learns the pontiff rejects the prospect of becoming a god.
• Pontiff Saint Fran shows both strategic restraint and humility. He chooses retreat because the enemy is too formidable, and frames his leadership as a means of liberation—not a path to personal worship or divine power.
• Smedley Tawa helps connect the destruction of the Void Ship to Bai He’s legendary reputation, prompting the group’s investigation.

Significant themes

• Power under constraint: Even a being capable of breaking through the World Crystal Wall may be restricted in when or why he can act.
• Leadership and accountability: Platin admits his weaknesses, while Saint Fran rejects the expectation that a leader must be flawless.
• Liberation versus replacing one ruler with another: Saint Fran argues that freeing people from Deities would be meaningless if it simply created a new one.
• Strategic restraint: The Church’s retreat and Green’s relief underline that avoiding a destructive confrontation can be a victory in itself.

Key plot points and events

• After Archbishop Platin’s retreat, more than a million Hoppers left in Griffin City-State became Green’s zombies, bringing his forces to over six million. The zombie troops could strengthen the Marine Armor Legion, though their limited lifespans—about five years for Hoppers and three for Magic Beast Soldiers—would require further research.
• Green established an independent Biological Research Institute and put Professor Arkansas in charge of extending the virus’s viability.
• The war had devastated Griffin City-State and killed 1,135,000 people, about one-third of its population. Green decided not to rebuild it: instead, he would construct a new fortress-city in the canyon defenses and seal the two Portals to prevent another direct incursion.
• In the Main World, nobles of the Divine Eagle Empire pressured Gemu Company and Lorenzo Kingdom. Princess Mulesina refused to yield, while Queen Cyrabelle mobilized more than four million troops toward the border, turning a supposed military exercise into a forceful warning.
• Green returned and concluded that Emperor Kronwell was likely allowing the crisis to unfold so he could purge troublesome nobles. His explanation reassured Cyrabelle and Mulesina.

Character developments and interactions

• Black Claw realizes that his growing administrative duties are turning him from a dedicated scientist into a bureaucrat. Professor Arkansas’s sudden rise jolts him into recognizing the danger, and he resolves—implicitly—to preserve his focus on research.
• Professor Arkansas moves from being the least regarded of Green’s three researchers to leading a major institute and challenging Black Claw in biotechnology.
• Mulesina and Cyrabelle present a united, uncompromising front against the Divine Eagle Empire. Their confidence is bolstered by knowing Grand Duke Mora is alive and has reached Saint Spirit Rank, even if he cannot readily appear.
• Green supports Lorenzo’s position through his strategic analysis, identifying the likely purpose behind the Divine Eagle nobles’ aggression.

Significant themes

• Power and responsibility: Black Claw’s authority threatens to distract him from the work that earned it.
• Resilience and adaptation: Green responds to catastrophic losses by changing the empire’s defenses rather than restoring a vulnerable city.
• Deterrence and political calculation: Mulesina and Cyrabelle use bold threats and military mobilization to resist pressure, while Green sees the apparent crisis as a possible internal purge by the Divine Eagle Empire.
• The costs of war: The immense death toll and destruction underscore the human consequences behind Green’s growing military strength.

Key plot points and events

• Grand Duke Mora returns and confirms that Green has reached Calamity Rank. He says the time has come for Green to go to Alsa Province, but agrees to let him travel north first.
• Mora reassures Princess Mulesina and Queen Cyrabelle that the Divine Eagle Empire’s apparent pressure is largely a pretext: its leaders are using the aftermath of the last war to root out internal threats. He praises Cyrabelle’s purge and urges her to maintain a firm stance.
• In the neighboring Asgar Kingdom, Via sends his elite Death Squad to carry out the assassinations promised to Modi. That same night, sixteen prominent noble households are brutally massacred, drawing attention far beyond the targeted killings.
• Via suspects Modi arranged the massacres as cover for another plan. He learns that a mysterious visitor has appeared in King Bill III’s bedchamber and realizes it is likely Modi. Though uneasy about their secret dealings, Via decides to wait and watch.
• At a guarded estate, a demon posing as a young man—and as the middle-aged duke who owns the mansion—hears about the bloodshed. He tells the duke’s wife that Modi, not Via, is involved, but claims the matter is irrelevant to them. He promises the woman eternal youth and immortality in exchange for serving the demon prince Apollo; privately, he regards the promises with contempt.
• As the demon changes back into the duke’s appearance to answer another knock, a weapon pierces the door and his chest. He survives the initial blow thanks to his demonic vitality, setting up a confrontation.

Character developments and interactions

• Green is now powerful enough for the planned mission to Alsa Province, but first asks to resolve personal business in the north.
• Mora demonstrates his political authority and reassures the Kingdom’s leaders. His confidence strengthens Mulesina and Cyrabelle’s resolve.
• Via acts decisively but grows suspicious of Modi’s larger scheme. He remains loyal to the royal line, warning himself that he would kill even King Bill III if the King endangered its interests.
• Modi remains offstage, but his apparent alliance with Bill III and involvement in the capital’s violence deepen the mystery surrounding his aims.
• The demon and the duchess share a transactional, deceptive relationship: she knowingly accepts his demonic nature and hopes to gain immortality, while he manipulates her with promises he does not intend to honor.

Significant themes

• Political power and hidden agendas: Public violence and diplomatic tension conceal internal purges and secret bargains.
• Loyalty versus suspicion: Via serves the royal family but is prepared to oppose its King if he threatens the greater cause.
• Deception and exploitation: The demon’s assumed identities and false promises show how vulnerable people can be manipulated by their desires.
• The cost of guarding the Abyss: Asgar’s apparent prosperity rests on its people’s sacrifice, while its once-mighty Abyss Legion has effectively disappeared.

Plot points and events

• Via kills the demon posing as the duke with the Demon-Hunting Spear, which drains the demon’s life force. He breaks into a hidden safe and takes a stack of documents.
• The duchess tries to leave, then discovers she has died and become a Ghost, bound to her corpse. The manor is empty and burning.
• Modi’s Revolutionary Army has been watching the manor, hoping to kill the duke and find the documents. Via ambushes them, kills most of the group, and wounds their bearded captain, who escapes toward the city to warn Modi.
• Via reveals that he and Modi had been temporary partners, but he believes Modi was not sincere. He frames the documents and massacre as a warning: anyone who tries to use him will pay.
• Underground, Apollo learns that his subordinate Morimah has died. He sends Xiweina Ye to the Asgar Kingdom to take over the subordinate’s affairs.
• Xiweina Ye has repaired her mechanical body and has chosen to work with Apollo rather than follow Gaia, though she and Gaia remain allies.
• In the north, Green hears that Angdalagon, the Elder White Dragon, has died just as Green was preparing to investigate him.

Character developments and interactions

• Via demonstrates ruthless efficiency, killing the demon and the Revolutionary Army operatives to secure the documents and punish Modi. His calm manner contrasts with the brutality of his actions.
• The duchess shifts from grief and rage over the loss of her promised immortality to horror when she realizes she is dead.
• The bearded captain shows loyalty by trying to protect his younger followers, then struggles to survive so he can carry the news to Modi.
• Xiweina Ye asserts her independence from Gaia and aligns herself with Apollo for strategic advantage, while preserving her alliance with Gaia.
• Apollo treats the death of his subordinate as an opportunity to extend his influence, placing Xiweina Ye in charge.
• Green is surprised by the White Dragon’s reported death, which disrupts his plans to investigate the dragon.

Significant themes

• Betrayal and retaliation: Via’s actions make clear that he will punish anyone who seeks to manipulate or exploit him.
• Power and pragmatism: Characters form alliances according to advantage, as Xiweina Ye’s shift toward Apollo illustrates.
• Death and false hopes: The duchess’s promised immortality proves hollow, while her transformation into a Ghost exposes the cost and limits of the demon’s bargain.
• Uncertainty and coincidence: Morimah’s and Angdalagon’s deaths prompt new questions and shift the plans of powerful figures.

Key plot points

• Puzzled by the rumors surrounding the White Dragon Angdalagon’s disappearance, Green travels to the dragon’s northern lair to investigate.
• There he meets a four-armed Cyclops who claims not to know Angdalagon’s fate. The Cyclops suddenly attacks, but Green’s Skeleton Lord, Death Angel, and Bone Dragon overpower him.
• Green initially plans to send the captive to the Graveyard and turn him into a subordinate. A warning instinct makes him reconsider, so he orders the Death Angel to kill the Cyclops instead.
• Once the body’s flesh is stripped away, Green finds dense Magic Runes covering the bones. The “Cyclops” is actually a Skeleton Lord hidden beneath artificially grown flesh and organs.
• Green realizes that sending it to the Graveyard might have exposed both the Graveyard and the Mist World to its unknown master. The Skeleton Lord destroys the disguised spy, but Angdalagon’s disappearance and the identity of the enemy remain mysteries.

Character developments and interactions

• Green is cautious and perceptive: he recognizes that the Cyclops’s behavior and solitary life are suspicious, and trusts his instincts over his usual plan to recruit a powerful foe.
• The Cyclops begins as a swaggering attacker but quickly becomes a helpless captive. His apparent ignorance about Angdalagon provides no useful answers; after his disguise is uncovered, he is revealed not to be a genuine Cyclops at all.
• Green’s allies coordinate effectively in battle. The Skeleton Lord restrains the enemy, while the Death Angel and Bajin block escape routes; together they defeat a foe who could match the Skeleton Lord one-on-one.
• The Skeleton Lord’s Mecha and Titan Armor are shown to greatly enhance its combat strength.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: The enemy’s convincing Cyclops disguise conceals its true nature and purpose.
• Vigilance and suspicion: Green’s instincts prevent him from unknowingly revealing the Graveyard’s location.
• Hidden threats and uncertainty: The disguised Skeleton Lord points to a powerful unseen controller, raising the stakes even as the central mystery remains unresolved.

Key plot points and events

• Green regrets traveling north after killing a Skeleton Lord disguised as a Cyclops. Since investigators could trace him through Bajin, his Bone Dragon, he must decide whether to confront whoever was behind the scheme or retreat to Lorenzo.
• Unbeknownst to him, Angdalagon, the White Dragon he seeks, has already reached Green’s territory, Alsa Province.
• In Asgar’s capital, the First Prince Gabriel returns but is denied an audience with King Bill III, who claims to be unwell. Gabriel is secretly a demon impersonator, frustrated that he cannot move against the king.
• Gabriel learns that the king’s Shadow Force is purging officials and nobles, while the Revolutionary Army led by Modi is also active. He dismisses Modi as a nuisance and is reassured that Lorenzo is distracted by conflict with the Divine Eagle Empire.
• Gabriel plans to contact Lord Apollo through Duke Morimah, only to learn that Morimah has been killed—apparently by Via with the demon-killing Demon-Hunting Spear. The weapon’s threat makes Gabriel briefly lose control, but he conceals his reaction.
• At the Divine Eagle Empire’s founding-day banquet, Emperor Kronwell receives urgent news from an attendant. His expression turns grim, and he abruptly leaves, leaving the assembled guests alarmed and speculating.

Character developments and interactions

• Green shifts from a straightforward search for information to weighing the risks of retreat against continued confrontation.
• Gabriel reveals himself as an ambitious demon in disguise. His frustration at Bill III’s refusal and his hatred of the Demon-Hunting Spear expose both his political aims and vulnerability.
• General Xindik dutifully enforces strict security at the capital’s gate, even while knowing that his post earns him resentment.
• Gabriel and his unseen informant discuss political unrest, Lorenzo’s position, and the deaths of Morimah and others, showing the demon’s network operating within the kingdom.
• Emperor Kronwell’s sudden departure signals a major crisis, though its nature remains undisclosed.

Significant themes

• Hidden identities and infiltration: Demons have replaced powerful figures and are moving through the human world.
• Power and political instability: Asgar is unsettled by royal purges, revolutionary activity, and competing factions.
• Dangerous consequences: Green’s earlier killing may draw scrutiny, while Morimah’s death and the Demon-Hunting Spear demonstrate the costs of conflict.
• Uncertainty and looming crisis: Both kingdoms face unseen threats, and the chapter ends with a mysterious event that may shake the continent.

Key plot points

• Emperor Kronwell learns that Princess Muer Yatis has vanished and suspects she has been killed. He believes the disappearance is a deliberate attack on him.
• He orders his brother, Prince Simdo, to stay out of the search and govern the empire while he investigates personally. Simdo agrees and prepares to hold the empire together.
• The brothers recognize that signs point toward another Divine War: deities are becoming more active, and the barrier to Saint Spirit Rank is weakening. They fear advancement will make them tools in the gods’ war, but believe the empire cannot survive without powerful defenders.
• Kronwell orders the intelligence divisions to identify the culprit by seven the next morning. He waits through the night, furious and intent on punishing whoever harmed his daughter and everyone behind them.
• After the banquet, the capital is quietly restricted for three days. Rumors of Muer Yatis’s disappearance spread overnight, then are confirmed by dawn, alarming politically perceptive observers.
• In the Lorenzo Kingdom, Queen Cyrabelle is alerted to a corpse in the palace gardens. She follows the terrified maid to investigate, puzzled that she can detect no trace of death.

Character developments and interactions

• Kronwell shows both the grief of a father and the resolve of an emperor. Though he intended to end Muer Yatis’s life himself, he sees that as no permission for anyone else to harm her. His anger hardens into a vow of vengeance.
• Simdo moves from shock and speculation to solemn loyalty. He trusts his brother’s judgment and accepts responsibility for the empire during Kronwell’s absence.
• Cyrabelle responds decisively to the palace disturbance, silencing the maid’s panic and investigating directly while leaving her weaker aides behind.
• Kronwell and Simdo share a grave conversation about the coming crisis, their obligations, and the need to endure for their family, empire, and humanity.

Significant themes

• Family love and duty: Kronwell’s affection for Muer Yatis is genuine, even amid his secret plans for her; the attack exposes how deeply personal and political concerns overlap.
• Power and sacrifice: The approaching Divine War may force leaders to advance in rank despite knowing they could become expendable pawns.
• Impending catastrophe: Rising divine activity and loosening limits on advancement signal that a larger conflict is near.
• Hidden threats and uncertainty: The unexplained disappearance, sudden restrictions, and mysterious corpse suggest danger extending beyond the Divine Eagle Empire.