Chapter Summaries

Annan’s forces destroyed the giant Rotting Slime Monster with Black Widow’s Spellbook and returned to camp, finding no survivors from the missing squad. There, Lloyd and Big confronted Black Widow for disrupting their plan to endanger Annan, and she asked if they knew him.

• The Rotting Slime Monsters merged into a towering creature, and Black Widow offered her Spellbook in exchange for command of a unit.
• Black Widow amplified the mages’ fire magic, and their bombardment burned the giant monster to nothing.
• Annan sent Scouts into the charred Woodland, where they found only armor and clothes smeared with rotting flesh.
• Annan brought the Prisoners back to camp through a Portal and promised Black Widow she could choose her people.
• Lloyd and Big confronted Black Widow in the Woodland, accusing her of ruining their plan to put Annan in danger.
• Black Widow denied knowing what they meant and asked, “Do you know him?”

Annan’s alliance debated whether to trust him, and he promised to bring Black Widow and the others back to Free City after the demons were dealt with. After learning the Rotting Slime Monsters served an Outer God, Annan received a new group of demon prisoners and made his soldiers practice fighting them.

• Black Widow admitted she was helping Annan because he called her Hailey, and Annan appeared from hiding to promise that she and the others could return to Free City with him.
• Big accepted that Annan had seen through Lloyd’s plan, and Annan later asked Lloyd about the Rotting Slime Monsters; Lloyd explained that they served the Outer God known as the Source of Plague.
• Annan sent a report to High Mountain City and meditated until dawn, when Della told him Grand Marshal Garkin had arrived at the Camp.
• Grand Marshal Garkin warned Annan that the main demon force was nearby, then agreed to send him more demons for training.
• Prison wagons delivered Lemures, Shadow Demons, and a Berserker Demon, and Annan had the prisoners practice fighting them while the demons shouted in the Common Tongue.

Annan interrogated Nalu, a tortured Lemure, and learned that the demons’ main force might already be hiding underground near High Mountain City. Grand Marshal Garkin tasked Annan’s prisoners with confirming the claim, supported by an elite Ranger squad, as the army prepared to attack the demon vanguard at dawn.

• Nalu begged Annan for mercy, then offered information about the demons in exchange for relief from torture.
• Nalu told Annan that the demons’ main force had arrived and was hiding underground.
• Annan reported Nalu’s claim to Grand Marshal Garkin, who demanded evidence before accepting it.
• Grand Marshal Garkin assigned Annan’s prisoners to investigate and provided an elite Ranger squad to assist them.
• Grand Marshal Garkin planned to attack the demon vanguard at dawn, giving Annan’s group a chance to investigate amid the chaos.

Mogrok anticipated a coming war as an Abyssal portal formed, while Annan gathered troops and waited for High Mountain City’s attack. After learning the Shadow Brotherhood would only help from hiding, Annan ordered his forces to move when the city sounded its marching horn.

• Mogrok burned a newspaper and watched Hellfire demons emerge as a Portal to the Abyss formed in the Lava Lake.
• Annan refused to visit the Old Housemaster and accepted the Laurencet family’s Private Troops for his mission.
• Annan found no sign of the Shadow Brotherhood and warned that he would report their absence from the fighting.
• Annan tried to contact the Demon Lord in the Dream Realm but was forced to watch the Magic Film before being expelled.
• Shadow Song delivered a note saying the Shadow Brotherhood would aid Annan from the shadows.
• Annan ordered everyone to prepare to move when the horn signaled High Mountain City’s forces to march.

Annan followed the Dimon Kingdom’s forces toward the Demon encampment and discovered traces of Sea Folk near the battlefield. As the Demon Vanguard attacked, Andrius unleashed the Silver Tower’s power and the Red Dragon Sorcerer appeared, while the human warriors charged into battle.

• Annan watched Tasia, Brino Jana, and the other warriors depart, then led the Villain Legion after them.
• Lloyd found seawater traces on a distant hill, and he and Annan concluded that Sea Folk had recently watched the battlefield.
• Annan ordered deserters caught by Della to take the hardest, dirtiest jobs while the Villain Legion sheltered nearby.
• The Demon Vanguard advanced, and Andrius revealed the Silver Tower’s power, destroying Demons with a river of silver energy.
• The Red Dragon Sorcerer arrived and attacked Andrius, who raised a silver barrier as human warriors charged the Demons.
• Annan said it was the Villain Legion’s turn to act.

The Villain Legion attacked the Black Rift while the human army kept the demons occupied, but Nanako’s Dragon Breath forced Annan and nearby allies to teleport away. Annan awoke trapped underground and found Brino Jana pinned in rock near two demons.

• Annan led the Villain Legion toward the Black Rift as the human forces battled the demon ranks.
• The Villain Legion struck the Rift, prompting Nanako to abandon her duel with Andrius and attack Annan’s group.
• Nanako’s magic destroyed the group’s Magic Items, but Illymoyas teleported Annan and nearby allies away before her Dragon Breath hit.
• Annan emerged from a rock wall inside a cave near the Black Rift and found his Magic Ring and its contents intact.
• Annan followed approaching demons and discovered Brino Jana trapped below the waist in rock, directly in the demons’ path.

Annan found Brino Jana trapped in stone and freed her, then helped her navigate the demon-filled passages despite her serious injury. After they heard a sound ahead, Annan went on alone and discovered a crude dungeon guarded by demons.

• Annan rescued Brino Jana from a demon attack and found her embedded in stone, where she pretended to be dying to get him to embrace her.
• Annan used an Earth Elemental Summoning scroll to free Brino Jana, then learned that she had a serious chest injury.
• Annan and Brino Jana traveled through branching passages, fighting several demons with magic scrolls as Brino Jana struggled to breathe.
• Annan spotted a person’s legs protruding from a wall and continued searching for a way out with Brino Jana.
• Annan heard a sound ahead, used Darkvision and Stealth scrolls, and approached a bloodstained dungeon where demons patrolled and someone appeared to be imprisoned.

Annan infiltrated a demon dungeon and rescued Black Widow and thirty-three captive women. He learned the demons were taking women to an Incubus and that Durakan’s daughter had seen a Demon Gate, but its purpose remained unexplained.

• Annan disguised himself as a Lemure and entered the dungeon with Brino Jana pretending to be his prisoner.
• Annan helped Black Widow escape her cell, and together they killed six demons who attacked them.
• Annan and Brino Jana freed thirty-three women, including Durakan’s daughter, while Black Widow revealed that an Incubus was taking women as followers.
• Durakan’s daughter told Annan she had seen the Demon Gate, leaving Annan waiting for Brino Jana or Black Widow to explain what it was.

Annan led a growing group of survivors through demon-filled caves while searching for a way out and a chance to warn others about the Gate of Hell. Big found an Underground River that might reach the surface, but Annan had too few Underwater Breathing Scrolls for everyone, leaving the group to decide who would go.

• Black Widow explained that the Daughter of Durikan was a role equivalent to a Divine Servant, and the Girl pleaded with Annan to save her sisters, who had been taken by demons.
• Annan led the survivors through an upward-sloping cave, fighting demons and gathering other people who had undergone Teleportation until the group numbered forty.
• Annan found Big fighting demons, and Big said he knew a route to the surface through an Underground River that might connect to the Anna River.
• Big guided the group through the caves, clearing demons and rescuing several Mages from the Villain Legion along the way.
• The group reached the Underground River, and Annan discovered he had only seven Underwater Breathing Scrolls for more than forty people, so he offered to leave some behind until help could return.

Annan set out through the Underground River with four companions to seek help, but the rapids separated them and a Fishman captured him after he lost consciousness. He woke tied up in a cave, where a Naga examined his Blood Pearls and said he believed Annan’s explanation.

• Annan chose to travel with Big, Durakan's daughter, Black Widow, Brino Jana, and two mages while the others stayed behind to hide and await rescue.
• The Underground River separated Annan from Durakan's daughter and swept him through a violent channel.
• A Fishman appeared as Annan's protective spells failed, and Annan struck his head on a rock and lost consciousness.
• Annan woke tied up in a cave, discovered his Magic Ring was gone, and met a Fishman and a Naga.
• Annan said a Sea Siren had given him the Blood Pearls, and the Naga said he believed him.

Annan escaped the Sea Folk with a Naga and persuaded him to accompany him so he could warn the human leaders about the demons’ plans. The chapter ended with Grand Marshal Garkin arriving through Annan’s Portal to hear his intelligence.

• The Male Naga freed Annan and returned his belongings, but kept the Blood Pearls; Annan asked him to take them back to the Sea Siren’s people.
• Annan persuaded the Naga to escort him to the surface and observe humans as well as demons.
• The Naga gave Annan a scale that let him breathe underwater, then carried him through the Underground River with the Fishman following.
• They emerged near High Mountain City, where Annan regained his ability to cast spells and opened a Portal to Free City.
• Annan told Olmedo that the demons were plotting something, and she arranged for him to brief the city’s leaders.
• Grand Marshal Garkin arrived through the Portal and demanded Annan share his intelligence.

Annan reported that a rescued daughter of Durakan had seen a Demon Gate in the Black Rift, and Grand Marshal Garkin brought the warning before the King and his ministers. As the council prepared to destroy the Black Rift, Annan secured one hour to rescue Illymoyas, the Villain Legion, and the remaining warriors trapped inside.

• Annan told Grand Marshal Garkin that a daughter of Durakan had reported a Demon Gate underground, and Garkin opened a Portal to the Council Chamber.
• Grand Marshal Garkin presented Annan’s warning to the King and ministers, who questioned whether Annan had seen the Demon Gate himself.
• The old King trusted Grand Marshal Garkin’s judgment, and the council agreed that the Mage Tower should destroy the Black Rift and the Demon Gate.
• Annan objected that his companions were still trapped in the Black Rift, but Grand Marshal Garkin warned that delaying the attack risked letting more demons through.
• Annan demanded one hour to retrieve Illymoyas, the Villain Legion, and the warriors who had served at Snow Mountain Fortress, and Grand Marshal Garkin granted him that time.

Annan summoned the Skeleton King, Mr. Swaro, and Dean Breichim to help rescue people trapped in the Dark Rift while keeping the demons unaware of the humans’ discovery. As the Skeleton Army searched the battlefield and caves, Rex met Juster and Aetheran and proposed a ruthless partnership.

• Annan asked the Skeleton King to send an undead army into the Dark Rift to find and rescue the trapped humans, while Mr. Swaro and Dean Breichim agreed to help.
• The Skeleton King summoned a vast Skeleton Army from the battlefield’s dead and ordered it to destroy demons, find humans, and bring them out.
• Skeletons broke through the demons’ defenses and carried endangered soldiers away, sometimes against their will.
• A Skeleton Soldier appeared after Shadow Song killed a demon and signaled for her to follow it.
• Rex introduced himself to Juster and Aetheran, heard about their criminal reputations, and suggested they work together by any means necessary.

Rex, Juster, and Aetheran fought their way through the demon-filled caves, then followed Skeletons toward daylight and a possible rescue. Annan watched rescued people emerge from the Black Rift, but Illymoyas, Della, and the others remained missing.

• Rex, Juster, and Aetheran joined forces to escape underground and fought off two squads of demons.
• Rex and Juster fled when a Berserker Demon arrived, leaving Aetheran to use an Arcane Chain Missile scroll to kill it.
• Rex and Juster returned to help Aetheran defeat the remaining demons, and the three continued searching for an exit.
• Rex accidentally destroyed a Skeleton, but the group followed another Skeleton and encountered others leading people toward daylight.
• Skeletons began bringing people out of the Black Rift, and Annan noted that Illymoyas, Della, and the others had not emerged.

Annan led a rescue mission into the Black Rift as High Mountain City prepared to destroy it, bringing survivors out while searching for those still missing. He withdrew when time ran out, and High Mountain City’s attack began as the group fled.

• Annan learned Rex and Ai Aetheran knew the way to a dungeon and entered the Black Rift with Mr. Swaro and a rescue party.
• Annan found the trapped women and lost Villain Legion mages near the Underground River, while Grand Marshal Garkin ordered the Mage Tower to attack on schedule despite Annan still being inside.
• A skeleton rescued Shadow Song from a Lemure, and Mr. Swaro told Annan that Alice had seen his Blue Dragon.
• Annan returned to the surface with the rescued group, learned Della and many soldiers were still missing, and ordered everyone to withdraw rather than risk another search.
• The hourglass ran out as Annan and the others fled, and High Mountain City flashed with brilliant light.

High Mountain City’s spell destroyed the Black Rift and wiped out the Demon vanguard, but the wounded Red Dragon Sorcerer escaped. Annan returned to Free City, failed to summon Della, and learned that High Mountain City could not pursue Nanako because the attack had exhausted its strength.

• High Mountain City unleashed its spell on the Black Rift, destroying the Demon Gate and burying the Demons, while Nanako survived and fled north.
• Annan returned to Free City and found his companions safe, then gave Naga five Magic Stones as she departed with Fishman.
• Annan tried to summon Della using her boots, but the spell gave no response; Idelia also told him that Shadow Song was acting strangely.
• Annan urged Grand Marshal Garkin to pursue Nanako, but Garkin explained that High Mountain City had no strength left for another attack.

Annan pressed Grand Marshal Garkin to support a campaign against Nanako and planned to persuade the King at a banquet. Back in Free City, Shadow Song revealed her family history and agreed to seek her family, while Annan ordered Luoxi to bring their allies back from High Mountain City.

• Annan argued that the wounded Red Dragon Sorcerer should be pursued, and Grand Marshal Garkin offered him a chance to persuade the King at the evening banquet.
• Annan complained about the Dimon Kingdom's nobles and returned to Free City after failing to summon Della.
• Annan found Shadow Song speaking to her brother's skeleton and learned that she had fled an arranged marriage before joining the Shadow Brotherhood.
• Shadow Song gave Annan her family name, Filerem, and decided to reconcile with her family.
• Annan learned that the Daughter of Durikan and three others remained missing, then ordered Luoxi to bring the Jana family, the Forgotten Ones, and Tasia's people back from High Mountain City.

Annan attended the Dimon Kingdom’s banquet, where the old king praised his help and tried to introduce him to the Third Princess. Annan urged the nobles to hunt the wounded Red Dragon Sorcerer, then rejected the king’s matchmaking attempt by saying he did not like humans.

• Olmedo arranged for Illymoyas to secretly protect Annan at the banquet, while Annan declined to bring the Skeleton King or Mr. Swaro.
• Annan approached Andrius, who said he would support him if Grand Marshal Garkin agreed.
• The old king thanked Annan for resisting the Rat Tide, exposing the demons’ plague, and warning the kingdom about the Demon Gate.
• Annan urged the guests to find and kill the wounded Red Dragon Sorcerer, but a great noble insisted the kingdom’s warriors would win after resting.
• Annan challenged the noble’s empty slogans, and the old king postponed the discussion until the next day.
• The old king introduced the Third Princess to Annan, who refused the match by saying he did not like humans; Illymoyas dropped her fork.

At the banquet, Annan refused a marriage proposal and learned why Duke Bu Brenda and Grand Marshal Garkin had been entangled with the affair. Annan left to consider how to deal with the powerful duke, and an unexpected passenger climbed into his carriage.

• Annan spoke with Grand Marshal Garkin, who warned him that his battlefield awaited the next day.
• Annan learned Duke Bu Brenda had influence over a third of the Dimon Kingdom’s officials and resented Annan because Olin had rejected a marriage alliance for Kingsley’s son.
• Grand Marshal Garkin explained why Annan’s accomplishments made him a desirable match and urged him not to destabilize the Kingdom while it faced the Demons.
• Annan compared Duke Bu Brenda’s influence to a Strangler Vine and said he would think of a way to bring him down.
• Annan said goodbye to Andrius and left the banquet, but someone climbed into his carriage.

After returning to Free City, Annan learned that Shadow Song had withdrawn after discovering the truth and sought advice about dragons and the Red Dragon Sorcerer. At a High Mountain City Council meeting, his call to act against the wounded sorcerer was blocked by Duke Branda’s faction, and a carriage stopped in front of him as he left.

• Illymoyas accompanied Annan back from High Mountain City, collected payment, and asked whether humans gave money when they married.
• Luoxi told Annan that Shadow Song had learned the truth about her family and shut herself in her room at the Villain Legion’s camp.
• At the Mushroom House, the Skeleton King told Annan that a dragon union could require a mountain range, a city, or vast treasure, and warned that killing the Red Dragon Sorcerer could provoke the Demon Lord behind him.
• Annan failed to speak with Shadow Song and helped Tasia, Brino Jana, and Olmedo settle the newcomers in Free City.
• At the Council meeting, Annan urged the Council to exploit the Red Dragon Sorcerer’s injuries, but a Councilor mocked him and Duke Branda’s faction prevented him from gaining support.
• Annan left the Council Chamber without approaching Grand Marshal Garkin, and a carriage stopped in front of him at the foot of the Steps.