Chapter Summaries

Ten Xinfei Merchant Guild Mana Airships landed near Sunset Valley in the heart of the Candel Empire, prompting Laroul’s officials to mobilize their forces. Viscount Soss approached the Guild’s armed guards to negotiate, but the person who came forward made his expression turn grim.

• People in Laroul watched the Mana Airships pass overhead, then saw them descend near Sunset Valley.
• Morey and Viscount Soss rushed toward the landing site with Laroul’s cavalry and heavily armed soldiers.
• Morey recognized the Xinfei Merchant Guild Guard Corps and its Military Magic Machinery, including Mana Cannons, and demanded to know whether the Guild had imperial approval.
• Two Guild guards trained their weapons on Morey, who hesitated before ordering an attack as Viscount Soss arrived.
• Viscount Soss asked who was in charge, and his expression darkened when a figure emerged from behind a Mana Airship.

Viscount Sosk confronted the Xinfei Merchant Guild Guard Corps as it arrived in the Sunset Mountain Ranges to destroy the bandits who had attacked its caravan. The Guard Corps located the bandits and opened fire with ten Mana Cannons, leaving Sosk and his men stunned by the devastation.

• Viscount Sosk sent Laroul Town's soldiers to meet the Xinfei Merchant Guild Guard Corps but sought to avoid a clash.
• The male elf commanding the Guard Corps told Sosk that President Xu had ordered them to wipe out the bandits because the Candel Empire had failed to resolve the attack.
• The elf confirmed that the Guard Corps had pinpointed the bandits' location in a valley and received Airship Three's report that they remained there.
• The elf ordered the ten Mana Cannons to attack the valley northwest of their position.
• The Mana Cannons struck the distant mountains with dazzling blasts, triggering thunderous explosions and blasting away a layer of the peaks.

The Candel Emperor and his advisers confronted the threat posed by the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s Mana Airships and its destructive Military Magic Machinery. Prince Cruze Candel urged cooperation, and the emperor ordered an announcement praising the joint operation with the guild.

• News spread that the Xinfei Merchant Guild Guard Corps had attacked bandits in Laroul and blasted away part of the Sunset Mountain Ranges.
• The Candel Emperor asked how the guild’s Mana Airships had reached Laroul undetected, revealing that the empire had little way to defend its territory against aerial attacks.
• Great Mage Mavie Westcondin and Marshal Campbell Sudiman acknowledged that the empire could not protect its vast territory with defensive arrays or its limited number of flying Mages.
• Prince Cruze Candel urged the empire to cooperate with the Xinfei Merchant Guild, warning that the Malo Empire could gain a dangerous advantage if it acquired Mana Airships and Military Magic Machinery.
• The Candel Emperor ordered an announcement praising the joint operation between Tagna Province and the Xinfei Merchant Guild as evidence of close cooperation.

Xu Yi learned that the Candel Empire had turned his Guard Corps’ raid into an opportunity for cooperation, but he warned that further attacks against the Xinfei Merchant Guild would bring more forceful retaliation. Meanwhile, Bluebeard and his pirate gang were compelled by mysterious mages to raid another Xinfei fleet, and Bluebeard prepared to escape.

• The Candel Empire officially praised the Xinfei Merchant Guild Guard Corps’ operation in Laroul Town and proposed further cooperation.
• Xu Yi told Archmage Camilla that he had deliberately demonstrated the guild’s military strength and would continue acting against those who threatened it.
• Bluebeard’s pirate gang had been forced into the service of powerful mages, who ordered them to raid Xinfei Merchant Guild fleets.
• After three successful raids alongside the mages, Bluebeard resolved to escape at the first opportunity rather than risk being killed to conceal their plans.
• Bluebeard and his men encountered a Xinfei Merchant Guild fleet of giant steel ships on the Endless Sea.

Bluebeard’s pirate fleet and Great Mage Glofin’s mages attacked the Xinfei Merchant Guild fleet, but the guild’s ships revealed powerful defenses and weapons. The chapter ended with a beam of white light obliterating a ship beside Glofin’s.

• Bluebeard withdrew his ships as twenty-three advanced mages launched a barrage of Flamefire Bombs at the Xinfei Merchant Guild fleet.
• The Large Cargo Mana-Powered Ships survived behind Azure Guardian Formations, shocking the mages and Bluebeard.
• Great Mage Glofin dismissed the formations as a temporary device and ordered another attack on the fleet.
• The Xinfei Merchant Guild ships answered with a relentless storm of fireballs that rapidly drained the defending mages’ mana.
• Great Mage Glofin began casting the forbidden spell Darkness Burst, but a ship in the Xinfei fleet fired a beam of white light that erased a nearby ship from the sea.

The Xinfei Merchant Guild fleet devastated the Bluebeard Pirate Gang with its Dawn's Wrath Cannon and frigates, then Great Mage Rena confronted Great Mage Glofin. After the fleet's Space Mana Detectors stopped Glofin from escaping, Rena declared that the President's anger over the guild's losses meant Glofin would die.

• Garn Solon ordered the fleet to keep its shields active and send its frigates to attack while conserving the Dawn's Wrath Cannons.
• Great Mage Glofin watched the frigates destroy pirate ships and told the Advanced Mages to continue attacking, believing they could dodge another cannon shot.
• Great Mage Rena emerged from a black mana vortex, captured two Advanced Mages, and confronted Great Mage Glofin over the ships he had sunk.
• Great Mage Glofin tried to escape with Space Magic, but the fleet's Space Mana Detectors destabilized the area and forced him to reappear.
• Great Mage Rena told Glofin that the President was angry about the guild's losses and said Glofin could die.

A broadcast of the New Moon Merchant Guild’s “News Weekly” reported on the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s joint anti-bandit operation with the Candel Empire and its victory over a pirate fleet led by mages from the Mana Magical Kingdom. The Xinfei Merchant Guild planned to demand an explanation from the kingdom, leaving the audience stunned by its challenge to the Mages’ Guild.

• More than twenty thousand people gathered at Candel Imperial Plaza to watch the New Moon Merchant Guild’s weekly “News Weekly” broadcast.
• “News Weekly” showed footage confirming that the Xinfei Merchant Guild Guard Corps had joined the Candel Empire in an operation against bandits in Laroul Town.
• The broadcast reported that the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s transport fleet had defeated pirates attacking it at sea, killing the great mage Glofin and capturing three advanced mages and dozens of pirates.
• The captured pirates and mages identified their group as being from the Mana Magical Kingdom, and the broadcast showed a powerful beam from a cargo ship destroying a pirate vessel.
• Kennard announced that the Xinfei Merchant Guild would demand an explanation from the Mana Magical Kingdom and reserved the right to pursue the matter further.

Emperor Alfonso Candel ordered Murdoch to spread and control mana illusion projection devices across the empire after seeing how News Weekly shaped public opinion. He then considered the threat posed by the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s powerful new weapon before refusing to discuss the guild with Great Mage Naduro and Great Mage Griffindo.

• Murdoch reported that News Weekly had persuaded viewers to trust its account of the Xinfei Merchant Guild, and Alfonso ordered him to spread the devices throughout the empire while keeping them under control.
• Alfonso reflected that banning the devices would be futile and decided their broadcasts could be used to influence the empire’s subjects.
• Alfonso considered intelligence about the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s sea battle and feared its devastating weapon could be mass-produced and used against the empire.
• Great Mage Griffindo and Great Mage Naduro arrived to see Alfonso, and Naduro explained that he had come on behalf of the Mana Magical Kingdom.
• Alfonso refused to discuss the Xinfei Merchant Guild with Naduro, leaving both great mages confused and Naduro grim.

The Xinfei Merchant Guild launched an invasion of the Mana Magical Kingdom after accusing it of ordering attacks on its transport fleets. Near the capital, its Guard Corps routed the Mana Glory Legion’s first assault, but Fario warned Hart that the real battle was about to begin.

• The Mana Magical Kingdom denied responsibility for the attacks on the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s fleets, declared the guild hostile, and banned its goods.
• The Xinfei Merchant Guild issued a public final warning, then sent its Guard Corps into the Mana Magical Kingdom in May of year 3793.
• The Guard Corps broke through the kingdom’s border defenses and advanced to Sossrui City in less than two days.
• Hart ordered the Guard Corps to fire its Mana Cannons at the Mana Glory Legion after Meken reported that the units’ mana shields remained intact.
• The Guard Corps’s barrage overwhelmed the Glory Legion’s mages, who fled and shattered their formation.
• Fario warned Hart and Oma that the real battle was about to begin.

The Xinfei Merchant Guild launched its attack on the Mana Magical Kingdom with Xu Yi and Archmage Camilla’s backing, relying on Military Mana Armor to withstand magical attacks. As five Great Mages joined the fight, Hart ordered the Guard Corps to begin its planned assault, and their cannon fire began draining the mages’ mana.

• Xu Yi pushed for war against the Mana Magical Kingdom, and Archmage Camilla’s support persuaded the guild’s senior managers to agree.
• The Guard Corps assessed the kingdom’s conventional army as no threat and relied on Military Mana Armor to protect its forces from mages.
• Five Great Mages rose from the Glory Legion after its ordinary mages failed to stop the Guard Corps.
• Hart ordered the Guard Corps to resume its attack and target the Great Mages before they could counterattack.
• The Mana Cannons struck the five Great Mages’ shields, and Meken reported that their mana had fallen by roughly five to twenty percent.

The Xinfei Merchant Guild Guard Corps used the Mana Space Stabilizer to withstand the Glory Legion’s Great Mages, while Meken prepared a data analysis of their opponents. After adjusting their tactics to conserve energy, Hart ordered the units to attack once the analysis was complete.

• The five Great Mages attacked with Space Magic, but a strange magical light around the Mana Airships and Mana Armored Vehicles neutralized the spatial disturbances.
• Oma, Hart, and Fario discussed the Magic Data Analysis Module and its potential to make magic easier to understand and teach.
• Hart ordered the airships to evade attacks while Meken analyzed the five Great Mages, but their maneuvering used more energy than holding position.
• The controller explained that the enemy Great Mages were weaker than Great Mage Rena, so the Mana Space Stabilizing Instrument did not need to run constantly.
• Meken completed the data collection, and Hart ordered the units to take down the five Great Mages.

The Xinfei Merchant Guild, the Mana Magical Kingdom, and the Mages' Guild exchanged accusations and threats after the guild's military operation. Reports later revealed that the Xinfei Merchant Guild Guard Corps had routed the Glory Mage Legion and killed four Great Mages, leaving the continent stunned by the guild's power.

• The Xinfei Merchant Guild announced that its attack had punished mages who robbed its Transport Fleet and warned the Mana Magical Kingdom against allowing another incident.
• The Mana Magical Kingdom called the operation an invasion, denied the guild's accusations, and threatened retaliation, while the Mages' Guild imposed a ban on contact with the merchant guild.
• Powerful mages across the continent challenged the Mages' Guild's authority and demanded that it rescind the ban, throwing its headquarters into disarray.
• Reports revealed that the Xinfei Merchant Guild Guard Corps had swept aside the Mana Magical Kingdom's regular troops and routed the Glory Mage Legion outside the capital.
• The battle reportedly killed 218 mages of the fifth rank or above, including four Great Mages, making the Xinfei Merchant Guild a source of fear across the continent.

Xu Yi explained how rigorous, data-based analysis could make magic more consistent and powerful, while Archmage Camilla reflected on the fall of five great mages. The chapter ended with Xu Yi's Fireball Spell research proving successful and the guild's mages preparing to advance their mathematical studies.

• Archmage Camilla told Xu Yi she struggled to accept how easily the Guards Corps had brought down five great mages, and Xu Yi asked whether she believed great mages should not fall so easily.
• Xu Yi argued that magic could be analyzed through concrete data and criticized the continent's vague, unrigorous approach to magic research.
• The Xinfei Merchant Guild's mages embraced Xu Yi's data-analysis framework and studied Intermediate Mathematics to prepare for more advanced research.
• Xu Yi's analysis found an optimal Fireball Spell shape and elemental concentration, and he trained one hundred first-level mages to cast it using his method.
• The trained mages mastered the Fireball Spell in less than a week, producing much more powerful fireballs with far less variation.

Archmage Camilla reflected on Xu Yi’s magic data-analysis theory and how it could make magic accessible to ordinary people as the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s returning guard reported defeating five great mages. Xu Yi then inspected a nearly completed mana network capable of gathering enough energy to destroy the guild’s Main Base, leaving its purpose ominously unstated.

• Archmage Camilla considered how Xu Yi’s research could let ordinary people learn magic after seeing first-level mages master a powerful Fireball Spell.
• Hart, Oma, Fario, and the returning Guard Corps arrived, and Meken reported that they had defeated five great mages without facing serious danger.
• Archmage Camilla took Meken and the other returning guards off to spar, while Xu Yi went to inspect Avita’s preparations.
• Avita showed Xu Yi that more than eighty percent of the mana-network nodes were complete and that the network could gather over five hundred thousand aether in five minutes.
• Avita warned that detonating the gathered mana would erase the guild’s entire Main Base, and Xu Yi said the preparations were very good.

The Xinfei Merchant Guild’s summer sales soared, while its break with the Mages' Guild Headquarters drove a wave of low-rank mages to seek work with the guild. At the passenger station, Roken welcomed newly arrived mages and began explaining the recruitment process and pay.

• The Xinfei Merchant Guild sold millions of summer appliances and earned more than four million gold coins in net profit.
• Mages flocked to the Stantin Duchy after the guild offered them jobs and vocational training, increasing its mage workforce to more than four thousand.
• A Large Passenger Magic Locomotive brought a new group of mages to the Xinfei Magic Locomotive Passenger Station.
• Roken and Sarah greeted the newcomers and offered to take those seeking work to the guild headquarters.
• A middle-aged Third-Level Mage asked whether older mages could join and whether the guild paid at least twenty gold coins a month, and Roken said that was not quite right.

Roken explained the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s wages and benefits to newly arrived mages, then welcomed two advanced mages interested in the Magic Research Institute. He took the recruits toward the Main Base, where the factories caught the advanced mages’ attention.

• Roken clarified that ordinary mages earned a base wage of ten gold coins monthly, with higher pay for good work, and that the guild provided housing and necessities.
• Nineteen of the twenty-seven arriving mages followed Sarah to the reception vehicle, while eight stayed behind or made other arrangements.
• One of the remaining mages asked about the Magic Research Institute, and Roken said researchers earned at least thirty gold coins monthly and could make over five hundred a year.
• The mage and his companion agreed to visit the institute, and Roken arranged to take the recruits to the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s Main Base.
• As the Large Passenger Magic Locomotive entered the Main Base, the two advanced mages showed particular interest in the factories.

Levin Hasoko destroyed a Xinfei Merchant Guild steelworks with a forbidden spell and confronted Archmage Camilla and Xu Yi. After Xu Yi blocked Levin’s space magic, Levin introduced himself and his companion Sarandur Clay, leaving Camilla alarmed by their identities.

• Levin Hasoko asked to see the guild’s military magic machinery factories, then obliterated a steelworks with a forbidden spell.
• Roken questioned Levin, who urged him to leave the guild before disappearing into the sky with Sarandur Clay.
• Archmage Camilla and Xu Yi arrived, and Xu Yi began directing the response to the attack.
• Levin fired a Space-Warping Ray at Xu Yi, but Xu Yi’s magic nullified it without interrupting his instructions.
• Levin introduced himself and Sarandur Clay, and Archmage Camilla recognized their names.

Archmage Camilla confronted Levin Harsoko and Sarandur Clay, who sought revenge for their disciples’ deaths and demanded Xu Yi and the Xinfei Merchant Guild. Xu Yi arranged separate fights to protect the guild’s people, then began his battle with Levin Harsoko by signaling a concealed attack.

• Levin Harsoko and Sarandur Clay said they had come to avenge relatives and disciples killed in the battle with the Xinfei Merchant Guild Guard Corps.
• Levin Harsoko demanded that Xu Yi be handed over and the Xinfei Merchant Guild surrendered as compensation, while Xu Yi condemned the destruction of the steelworks and its casualties.
• Xu Yi proposed splitting the fight into two one-on-one battles away from civilians, and Levin Harsoko accepted his challenge while Sarandur Clay took on Archmage Camilla.
• Archmage Camilla and Sarandur Clay left to fight over the sea, while Xu Yi led Levin Harsoko to deserted mountains north of the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s Main Base.
• Levin Harsoko gave Xu Yi five minutes to attack him, and Xu Yi signaled for a hidden barrage before teleporting away as fireballs and beams converged on Levin Harsoko.

Xu Yi used military magic machinery and the forbidden spell Thunder Serpent Frenzy to keep Levin Hasoko occupied while his team prepared Mana Space Interference. As Levin sensed a powerful mana fluctuation, he discovered Xu Yi had vanished.

• Xu Yi ordered his team to monitor Levin Hasoko's mana and prepare Mana Space Interference while the military machinery bombarded Levin's Mana Shield.
• Levin Hasoko expanded his shield, dismissed the attacks as insufficient to harm an Archmage, and reminded Xu Yi that their five-minute limit was running out.
• Xu Yi summoned dark clouds and cast Thunder Serpent Frenzy while secretly coordinating with Avita to time the interference with the spell's impact.
• Levin Hasoko endured the lightning strikes and resolved to kill Xu Yi when the agreed time ended, fearing Xu Yi might eventually become an Archmage.
• Levin Hasoko sensed an immense mana fluctuation and looked toward its source, only to find that Xu Yi had vanished.

Xu Yi escaped Levin Harsock by throwing mana space into chaos, trapping Levin inside a vast barrier that prevented Spatial Teleportation. As Levin tried to walk out, an explosive attack hurled him away and left him spitting blood.

• Levin Harsock dispelled Xu Yi's Thunder Serpent Frenzy but could not trace his escape through the chaotic magic elements.
• Levin attempted to teleport to the Xinfei Merchant Guild's Main Base, then discovered that unstable mana space enclosed him in a complete sphere.
• Levin concluded he could not use Space Magic or Flight Magic to escape and descended to walk through the barrier.
• Levin stopped influencing the chaotic magic elements and walked forward, but a sudden sense of danger made him raise a Mana Shield.
• An explosion hurled Levin dozens of meters, and he spat out a mouthful of blood after getting back up.