Chapter Summaries

After surviving a night of Demons, Xilian heard Nuen explain that people corrupted by Chaos posed a greater danger than Demons and must be killed without mercy. As the Tidal Night receded, Nuen grew troubled by how suddenly it had arrived.

• Xilian noticed that killing Demons no longer increased the Soul Marrow in his body, while Tim and Mick joked and scuffled among the burning corpses.
• Nuen praised Xilian, Tim, and Mick for surviving the battle, then sent Tim and Mick to rest while he spoke with Xilian.
• Nuen told Xilian that Chaos-corrupted people, including rebels and extraordinary fighters, were the greatest threat to the Civilized World and ordered him to kill them without hesitation.
• Xilian thought of Bell, the corrupted townsman who had become the first Demon he killed, and firmly told Nuen that he understood.
• As the Interstice Gray Domain receded, Nuen realized the Tidal Night had come far too suddenly and searched the burning wilderness.

Deathbird and his companions found White Cliff Town and prepared to attack Nuen, while Nuen reinforced the town and showed Xilian how Soul Marrow was refined. After Xilian completed the process, he reflected on Nuen’s years of sacrifice to preserve the town.

• Tania identified Nuen in White Cliff Town, and Deathbird ordered Gene and Toren to support him while he prepared to borrow his lord’s power.
• Deathbird rejected Tania’s attempt to join his side and threw her to the ground when she pressed him about his identity.
• Nuen warned Mayor Bohr that the Source-Energy Tide could bring dangerous creatures into reality and urged him to reinforce the town.
• Nuen led Xilian to the Refining Room and used the Soul Marrow Refiner to extract and purify Soul Marrow from Xilian’s blood.
• Afterward, Xilian imagined Nuen enduring the same process for years and understood why he had stayed to protect White Cliff Town.

On a rainy autumn day in White Cliff Town, Xilian talked with Ava about the sea and asked Mick and Tim what they wanted for dinner. As everyone settled into a quiet evening, Xilian sat listening to the rain.

• Ava asked Xilian about rivers, lakes, and the sea while searching for ingredients for Fried Shrimp Paste, and he promised they would see the world's wonders together.
• Xilian visited Mick, admired his homemade jigsaw puzzles, and promised to draw him a new one before asking what he wanted for dinner.
• Xilian spoke with Tim about his room and tested Tim's dumbbell, while remembering that Tim had survived a Demonic attack as a child after being too weak to hold a door shut.
• Mick rested before his night watch, Tim watched the rain after showering, and Ava prepared everyone's requested dinner.
• Xilian sat quietly on the stairs and listened to the rain as the household enjoyed a peaceful evening.

After the Source-Energy Tide ended, Xilian continued hunting Demons and prepared for the Soflova Brothers’ trip to Her City. At White Cliff Town’s celebration, he set aside his sword to dance with Ava, while Tim watched them with mixed admiration and jealousy.

• Xilian told Ava and the Soflova Brothers that Demons had become scarce since the Source-Energy Tide ended, and Ava warned him against pursuing them.
• Xilian planned the route and supplies for the journey to Her City while the townspeople prepared for their evening celebration.
• Ava dressed Xilian for the celebration and persuaded him to leave his sword beside the table so they could dance.
• Ava taught Xilian the waltz, while Tim watched them from a chair and admitted that Xilian was the only one who could make Ava dance.

Nuen learned that White Cliff Town might not survive without relocating to Her City, but an approaching threat forced him to prepare the town for battle. He confronted Deathbird outside the town, and Deathbird revealed that he was also a Torchbearer.

• Nuen and Boll discussed White Cliff Town’s bleak prospects, and Nuen suggested moving its people to Her City.
• Nuen sensed hostile visitors approaching and ordered Boll to end the celebration, gather the Guard, and prepare the townspeople for battle.
• Deathbird warned Tania not to compare his lord to the beings she served, while Tania told Gene and Toren a rumor about another Miracle Creation in the Origin Sea.
• Nuen confronted Deathbird’s party and clashed with him, damaging Deathbird’s Curse-Mourning Sword with his Boiling Sword.
• Deathbird identified Nuen as Nunn Soflova and declared that he, too, was a Torchbearer.

Deathbird tried to recruit Nuen by promising to save White Cliff Town and revealing that he belonged to the surviving Doom Omen Clan. Nuen refused, and Deathbird unleashed a warped Crimson Sun whose power threatened to collapse the Interstice Gray Domain into the Spirit Realm.

• Deathbird confronted Nuen and urged him to join forces, arguing that the world was dying and that they shared the goal of saving it.
• Deathbird revealed that Nuen carried the Sunflower Clan’s hope of rebuilding and offered to take White Cliff Town’s people to safety in the Flamecore Inner Ring.
• Nuen ignited his Soul Marrow and drew out the full power of his sword, while Deathbird revealed the Doom Omen Clan tattoo and said his clan had survived the century-old campaign.
• Nuen charged Deathbird, who cut his chest and summoned a distorted Crimson Sun that flooded the Interstice Gray Domain with overwhelming power.

During White Cliff Town's celebration, Xilian and Ava recalled how he had praised her, and Tim asked her to dance. A crimson flare and Burning Wind struck the town, Boll transformed into a Demon and died, and Xilian set out to face the threat while Tim led the townspeople toward shelter.

• Xilian told Ava that Tim liked her, and Ava explained she had fallen for Xilian after overhearing his praise of her last summer.
• Tim approached Ava and asked her for a dance, but Boll arrived with a warning before she could answer.
• The Crimson Sun flared over the Wilderness, and a scorching Burning Wind battered White Cliff Town's high wall and devastated the celebration.
• Boll suffered severe burns, transformed into a Demon, and attacked Ava before Tim killed him.
• Xilian discovered his sword was missing, accepted Tim's sword, and ordered Tim to lead the townspeople to Torchlight Lighthouse while he went to face the threat.
• Tim organized the evacuation as Mick kept watch, and Xilian headed toward the blazing wall with his Soul Marrow burning.

Xilian fought his way through the Demons to the Crimson Sun, where Nuen confronted the Deathbird and learned Xilian carried Torchbearer Sacred Blood. The Deathbird destroyed Torchlight Lighthouse, plunging the land into darkness as the Chaos tide surged back.

• The Crimson Sun's burning wind destroyed White Cliff Town's wall and devastated the town before Demons poured through the breach.
• Xilian fought through the Demons toward the Crimson Sun and saw that it extended into the Spirit Realm.
• Nuen appeared before the Crimson Sun with Gene's remains, while the Deathbird revealed that Nuen had given Xilian Torchbearer Sacred Blood.
• Xilian attacked Tania, but Toren intervened and drove him back.
• The Deathbird focused the Crimson Sun's power into a spear that tore down Torchlight Lighthouse, ending its light and letting Chaos surge across the land.

After Torchlight Lighthouse fell and Chaos engulfed White Cliff Town, Xilian fought Toren while Nuen battled the Deathbird. Xilian overcame Chaos’s hold and killed Toren, but the invasion and the fighting around the town remained unresolved.

• The Deathbird destroyed Torchlight Lighthouse, and Tania used a ritual to summon a Grey Fog that swallowed White Cliff Town.
• Toren left the fog to attack Xilian, who tricked him with a burning blood-flame and knocked him to the ground.
• Toren transformed under Chaos’s influence, and he and Xilian fought until a heat wave knocked them both down.
• Toren caught Xilian in Chaos’s grasp and drove a bone spike toward his heart, but Xilian broke free with the Ouroboros Mark’s power.
• Xilian set Toren ablaze and cut off his head with his longsword.

Xilian returned to White Cliff Town as the Grey Fog overwhelmed it, while Tim and Mick struggled to protect the surviving townspeople. Xilian led the survivors toward the ruined Torchlight Lighthouse, hoping to use the Soul Marrow stored beneath it to survive the night.

• Xilian found White Cliff Town saturated with Chaos and worried that his friends would be corrupted by the Grey Fog.
• The Torchlight Lighthouse collapsed, and the Grey Fog flooded the town as demons slaughtered its inhabitants.
• Tim and Mick gathered the surviving townspeople around their Soul Marrow torches and fought off demons as the light weakened.
• A demon killed the baker's daughter, and Ava pulled the shaken Tim back to his senses.
• Xilian arrived, cut down demons with the Fire Sword, and led the survivors toward the Torchlight Lighthouse and its Soul Marrow storehouse.

Xilian led White Cliff Town’s survivors through the Grey Fog as Demons overwhelmed them and the torchlight faded. When they reached the ruined Torchlight Lighthouse, Tania appeared and unleashed another horde, but a fiery sweep split the Demons and let Xilian reach her with his sword.

• Xilian and Mick fought through waves of Demons while the townspeople struggled to keep up, and Mick lost his left ear protecting Xilian’s flank.
• Xilian killed a townsman who tried to seize a torch, revealing that the man had been corrupted by Chaos.
• Mick stabbed a survivor who shoved another man into the Demons to claim his place under the light.
• Xilian led the survivors toward the burning Torchlight Lighthouse, but found its ordinary flames could not repel Chaos.
• Tania emerged from the Grey Fog, and Xilian recognized her as a figure from Her City before she summoned a horde of Demons.
• Xilian charged Tania’s line, and a dazzling stream of fire split the Demon horde and carried him within striking distance of her.

Xilian and the surviving townspeople faced Deathbird after Chaos corrupted White Cliff Town and its Soul Marrow. Nuen and Mick died in the battle, while Xilian awakened the Blessing Cultivation of Ten Thousand Forms and struck down Deathbird with the Fire Sword.

• Tania was dragged into the Grey Fog by a filament-covered hand, and Nuen returned with severe wounds as the survivors gathered by Torchlight Lighthouse.
• Nuen revealed that Chaos had corrupted the Soul Marrow and fought Deathbird, who used Forbidden Art: Threshold Liberation to unleash a deadly Grey Domain.
• Mick stabbed Deathbird in the throat to create an opening, but Deathbird killed him; Nuen then struck Deathbird while being run through by his bone sword.
• Nuen recited the Torchbearers' oath as Chaos froze Xilian, and the oath stirred Xilian's Soul Marrow and awakened his Blessing, Cultivation of Ten Thousand Forms.
• Xilian reached Nuen, seized the Boiling Sword, and drove it through Deathbird's heart, unleashing flames that swept away the darkness.

After the Deathbird’s defeat, Xilian and the survivors grieved for Mick and watched Nuen sacrifice himself to keep them safe until dawn. As daylight arrived, Xilian took up Nuen’s sword and began organizing the survivors, though Tim feared their troubles were not over.

• Xilian found Mick dead and carried his body back to Nuen and the survivors.
• Xilian explained that the Wanderer had given him the Blessing: Nurture Myriad Forms, which adapted into a power that strengthened him as he fought Chaos.
• Nuen told Xilian he had long intended to return to the Dark World and die searching for the Sunflower Clan, then warned him that the Doom Omen Clan still hunted their bloodline.
• Nuen gave Xilian the Boiling Sword and walked into the fire, using the Soul Marrow in his body to protect the survivors until morning.
• After the Grey Fog dispersed, Xilian told Tim to take the survivors to the Armory while he searched for others and prepared to defend White Cliff Town.

After discovering that White Cliff Town had no survivors and that the Armory survivors were all contaminated, Xilian prepared to leave for Her City. Tim stayed behind with the dying, while Xilian departed alone, carrying grief and a newly accepted purpose to hunt the enemies of Chaos.

• Xilian returned to the Armory with supplies and told Tim that White Cliff Town had been destroyed and they needed to reach Her City.
• Tim showed Xilian that every survivor was contaminated and would become a Demon when night fell, and Xilian learned Ava was likely contaminated too.
• Ava told Xilian she loved him and the life they had shared, then fell asleep after asking him not to forget them.
• Tim revealed that he was contaminated as well, and Xilian agreed to leave alone after the survivors were given poison for a painless death.
• Xilian told Tim that killing Bell had filled him with ecstasy and that he found purpose in killing the enemies of Chaos.
• Tim said goodbye to Xilian, then returned to Ava and invited her to dance.

After the Grey Fog slaughtered the people at the Armory, Xilian buried the dead, gathered Nuen's belongings, and resolved to pursue those responsible. In the year 434 of the City-State Calendar, he left White Cliff Town for Confluence City Hel.

• Xilian slaughtered the demons that attacked him through the night, then broke down in grief before the burning Ashen Mountain.
• Xilian found the survivors, Ava, and Tim dead, embraced Ava and Tim, and spent the day burying the victims outside White Cliff Town.
• Xilian opened Nuen's Iron Chest, found a torn flag linked to the Boiling Sword, and packed it along with supplies from the Armory.
• Xilian studied his sketches of the Doom Omen Clan, Tania, and the Ouroboros Mark, then vowed to make someone answer for the bloodshed.
• Xilian ate Ava's leftover Syrup Pancakes, said goodbye to White Cliff Town, and rode toward Confluence City Hel.

Xilian endured another night in the Wilderness when the Craftsman’s hammerblows shook the Grey Fog and nearly killed him. After waking to a devastated landscape, he found a newcomer who had emerged from the sand and discovered that the man had become a white dog.

• Xilian restrained his anger toward the demons and meditated beside his Soul Marrow fire, recognizing that he needed stronger enemies to advance.
• The Ouroboros Mark burned as the Grey Fog churned, and Xilian fed Soul Marrow to the fire to keep himself anchored in reality.
• Xilian saw the Craftsman strike an ancient anvil, and the hammerblows shattered demons and battered Xilian before dawn interrupted the Craftsman’s ascent.
• Xilian woke at midday among flattened ruins, recovered his pack and damaged motorcycle, and searched the sand when something moved nearby.
• A newcomer emerged from the sand, and Xilian used the Boiling Sword to reveal that the man’s reflection showed a white dog’s head.
• The newcomer saw his reflection and screamed in disbelief that he had become a dog.

Xilian found a talking white dog in the Outer Flame Frontier and learned it could use Source Energy to repair and modify his broken motorcycle. The two agreed to work together, though the dog could not explain who it was or how it had arrived, and it began to suffer from the heat.

• Xilian left his broken motorcycle and started walking, but the big white dog followed him across the barren wilderness.
• The dog revealed it could use Source Energy and offered to repair the motorcycle.
• The dog smelted metal from the surrounding earth and rebuilt the motorcycle, modifying its engine to run on Source Energy.
• Xilian tested the repaired motorcycle and agreed to work with the dog, while asking about its identity and arrival.
• The dog said it did not know how it had appeared and asked to discuss the matter later because it was getting heatstroke.

Xilian and Bruce, a human-minded dog with no memories, discussed Bruce’s origins and set out together for Confluence City Hel. Xilian hoped Bruce might find clues about his past there, while he continued his journey for revenge.

• Bruce theorized that someone had transplanted his brain into a dog’s body and removed part of it, causing his memory loss.
• Bruce recalled that he was likely a low-ranked Spirit Artisan on the Machinery and Bone Fated Path, though he did not know which Foundry Court he came from.
• Xilian named the dog Bruce, and Bruce learned that his new body had been neutered.
• Bruce reminded Xilian of his brother Tim, but Bruce’s distress over his body’s condition eased Xilian’s grief and made him smile.
• At daybreak, Xilian and Bruce rode toward Confluence City Hel to seek clues about Bruce’s past, while Xilian pursued revenge.

Xilian and Bruce raced across the Wilderness toward Confluence City Hel, but Demons surrounded them after nightfall and they had to follow an armored Fogbreaker through the horde. They reached the city, where Darin Morrison and the City Guard Bureau stopped them for questioning.

• Xilian learned that Bruce could build machinery from memorized blueprints, though damage to his brain had left many of them incomplete.
• Xilian and Bruce found a river and followed it toward Her City after seeing its white light rise in the distance.
• As night fell, Demons swarmed the pair, and Xilian fought through them with his motorcycle and Boiling Sword.
• A Fogbreaker broke through the Grey Fog and led Xilian and Bruce through the Demons toward the city.
• Darin Morrison identified himself as a member of the City Guard Bureau and ordered Xilian to cooperate, so Xilian sheathed his Boiling Sword.

Xilian was interrogated in Her City and cleared of Chaos corruption, though Dailin realized he had lied about his past. As Xilian left, Dailin and Anya uncovered evidence that Chaos Followers had returned, and Anya secretly fixated on Xilian’s blood.

• Dailin questioned Xilian about his identity and his journey through the Wilderness while suspecting he might be corrupted by Chaos.
• Anya injected Xilian with Soul Marrow Agent, and he channeled his Source Energy without triggering a dangerous reaction.
• Dailin released Xilian, explaining that Bruce’s presence had made him doubt Xilian was a Chaos Follower.
• After Xilian left, Dailin concluded he had lied about traveling with a caravan, but Anya agreed he posed no proven threat to the city.
• Anya showed Dailin a tattooed piece of skin taken from a man she had dated, and they recognized it as evidence that Chaos Followers were active in Her City again.
• Alone in the interrogation room, Anya picked up the syringe holding Xilian’s blood and whispered his name.