Chapter Summaries

Roland’s team successfully tested a Seris-based Yellow Millet Dream spell, whose unexpectedly powerful response to the laws of time produced near-perfect results. After outside researchers verified the findings, Roland’s work was recognized as surpassing Gallo’s team and taking precedence in Seris mental-time magic.

• Roland accelerated research at the East Lainer Mage Tower after learning that Gallo’s team had developed Yellow Millet Dream and magicalized the Ouse script.
• Roland’s team activated their Yellow Millet Dream model, and the Seris runes triggered an unexpected resonance with the laws of time.
• Ald and the other researchers confirmed that the spell successfully tracked a dream while passing safety and efficiency assessments.
• Gallo learned of the results, while Oksaya dismissed them as potentially fabricated and Gallo remained uneasy about Seris’s capabilities.
• Roland’s team submitted numerous interim papers, and independent checks corroborated their findings despite widespread initial doubts.
• Arcane researchers ultimately accepted that Roland’s results surpassed Gallo’s and should take precedence in Seris mental-time magic.

The Arcane Committee resolved the naming dispute by asking Gallo to rename his spell, while Roland registered his own work and led research into Seris dream magic. Roland’s team completed the first test of a level 7 dream-based form of Tongues of Seris, and Diego awoke confirming it had succeeded.

• The Arcane Committee debated Roland and Gallo’s competing claims to the name “Yellow Millet Dream” and decided to ask Gallo to yield it.
• Gallo accepted the request publicly and renamed his unfinished spell “Gallo’s Wisdom Enlightenment,” though he privately resented the committee’s decision.
• Roland registered his research into mental and temporal Seris magic, then planned a level 7 “Yellow Millet Dream” spell that could teach Seris through lifelike dreams.
• Roland’s team launched the project to develop the dream spell as the perfect form of “Tongues of Seris,” while related research projects produced further results.
• Roland cast the completed spell on Diego, who awoke after experiencing the dream and told his teacher that they had succeeded.

Roland’s dream-based Tongues of Seris spell proved capable of permanently imparting language knowledge, though its cost and variable results limited its use. After Diego and Bona graduated early and stayed at the Mage Tower, Roland sought funding to expand the spell’s use, while Gallo faced pressure to commercialize an immature rival scroll.

• Roland questioned Diego after the dream experiment and confirmed that Diego had absorbed its preprogrammed lessons and developed new ideas about Seris history and political order.
• Further tests showed that Tongues of Seris could permanently impart language skills, but it was expensive and less effective for ordinary students and illiterate volunteers.
• Arcane publications publicized the breakthrough, and Roland used the attention and funding to master several languages while other researchers pursued follow-up experiments.
• Roland granted Diego and Bona early graduation as first-rank mages, and both chose to remain at the tower as teaching assistants and researchers.
• Roland obtained funding that reduced the tower’s casting cost for Tongues of Seris, while a Scroll Association envoy pressured Gallo to commercialize his unfinished Gallo's Wisdom Enlightenment scroll.
• Gallo hesitated over the envoy’s demand, knowing that broad sales could expose the risks of technology that had only been tested on a small scale.

Roland oversaw Princess Rosa’s Seris knowledge infusion, while Gallo’s soul experiments produced a powerful forbidden spell that he secretly gave to Piero. Piero traded Atrelin knowledge to Dialos and received the status and power of a true emissary.

• Roland supervised Princess Rosa’s infusion in the Yellow Millet Dream laboratory, and she emerged with increased Seris knowledge that she began integrating.
• Gallo ordered soul experiments and later recreated the Soul-Stealing Art, then secretly taught it to Piero and the other apprentices.
• Piero left the West Lainer Mage Tower and visited an infernal altar in the Lower City.
• Piero offered Dialos a parchment containing Higher Tier knowledge from Atrelin in exchange for something of equal value.
• Dialos declared Piero a true emissary and granted him power and wisdom, marking him with flames that did not harm him.

Roland welcomed Jog and Dylent to the Seris School and organized a formal branch in Lainer World, drawing in resources and new mages until it seemed to encompass half the Runes School. At the West Lainer Mage Tower, an Atrelin mage faced a rejected research manuscript, while Piero took eliminated apprentices to conduct a secret experiment with the Soul-Stealing Art.

• Diego reported that the Elite Apprentices had improved their Seris skills, and Roland welcomed Jog and Dylent, former assistants from the Runes Editorial Department, to the school.
• At a gathering with the school’s members, Roland assigned Rosa to arrange a Lainer branch, and Moberon Capel volunteered to fund and manage its facilities and daily support.
• Jog and Dylent became supervisors for Seris Academy’s Elite Apprentices, while Roland used his connections to recruit more mages until the Seris School’s growth seemed to include half the Runes School.
• At the West Lainer Mage Tower, an Atrelin mage’s printing-technology manuscript was rejected as insufficiently innovative.
• Piero watched apprentices who failed their exams get eliminated, requested them for his experiments, and secretly began testing the Soul-Stealing Art after blocking the Tower Spirit’s surveillance.

Piero used an improved Soul-Stealing Art to strengthen his magic and conceal the traces of killing an apprentice, while planning to target stronger victims. At the East Lainer Mage Tower, Roland began writing Romance of the Three Kingdoms for Atali, and the work quickly captivated its readers.

• Piero extracted an apprentice’s soul with the Soul-Stealing Art, and the devil praised his skill while urging him toward Hell.
• Piero dissolved the apprentice’s corpse and regrew flesh over it to hide evidence, then considered hunting unaffiliated mages and magical creatures for greater gains.
• Roland found Atali reading a knight novel in the library and learned that she believed in holy light and had once passed a trial to bond with a griffin.
• Roland promised to write Atali a Seris knight novel and began composing Romance of the Three Kingdoms, drawing astonishment from Princess Rosa and Atali.
• Readers across the Mage Tower praised Roland’s manuscript, and some speculated that Guan Yu’s appearance in the peach garden oath foreshadowed his becoming a deity.

Gallo struggled to improve Ouse Magical Script while Roland’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms inspired arcane scholars, writers, and businesses across Atrelin and Lainer. As the novel approached the Battle of Red Cliffs and Gallo planned to defend Zhou Yu in print, Oksaya arrived with alarming news.

• Gallo’s attempt to use a costly magical potion with Ouse Magical Script failed, and Oksaya told him that Roland had begun writing Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
• Atrelin’s arcane scholars interpreted Roland’s novel as a way to connect Seris language with magical meaning, while Archmage Ovesto asked whether Roland intended to pursue godhood.
• Roland established the Seris Literary Society under the Joint Research Association, funded it, and appointed Rosa to organize editors and critics.
• Readers created fan fiction, while the Catona and Hilt companies produced Seris Phantom Magic Cards and Moberon Capel urged Lacey to promote them as Diao Chan.
• As Romance of the Three Kingdoms reached the Battle of Red Cliffs, Gallo resolved to write in praise of Zhou Yu and criticize Zhuge Liang, but Oksaya soon rushed to him with bad news.

After the Soul-Stealing Art experiment killed McMillan, Gallo used the Truth-Seeking Spell to reveal what happened and put Piero in charge of a new laboratory, unaware that Piero and Dialos had engineered the incident. Roland discussed returning home with Atali and resumed his writing, while a mysterious stranger approached Gennobion with an offer to fulfill his wishes.

• Gallo used the Truth-Seeking Spell to confirm that McMillan's interrupted experiment caused the subject to mutate, kill him, and trigger the Mage Tower's security spells.
• Gallo concealed the Soul-Stealing Art's role, blamed McMillan's breach of procedure, and assigned Piero to establish an outside laboratory and study the Frenzy Spell.
• Piero privately admitted his ambition for greater power as Dialos praised their successful scheme and looked forward to working through Piero's new laboratory.
• Roland agreed that Atali could return to their hometown with him when he had time, then continued writing Romance of the Three Kingdoms and approved Poietes's request to adapt it.
• A mysterious mage in a black cloak waited for Gennobion at West Hill Manor and offered to help fulfill his wishes.

Gennobion learned that the mysterious stranger was likely Agathus, leader of the Dagg Brotherhood, who warned that war would soon come to Lainer World. The next night, an attack at the Governor's Residence unleashed demons and killed Leon, while Sophia and Polina remained hidden nearby.

• A stranger revealed that he knew Gennobion was the surviving prince of the Lochia Dynasty and warned him that war would soon descend on Lainer World.
• The stranger identified himself as a remnant who had endured for a hundred years, and Gennobion recognized the dagger Higro's Fang as Agathus's legendary weapon.
• Gennobion recalled Agathus's history as the Dagg Brotherhood's leader and wondered why he had returned.
• At the Governor's Residence, Leon told Sophia and Polina to give more places in their training classes to returning mages and selected proxies, but they resisted asking Roland to intervene.
• An explosion struck the residence, and Leon cast Invisibility Spell on Sophia and Polina before heading toward the attack.
• Leon found a summoning gate releasing Abyssal Legion demons, but Agathus stabbed and killed him from behind.

After a deadly attack in Savaran killed Leon and wiped out the Mage Corps’ Battle Mage squadron, Atrelin’s Council warned the mages and began mandatory combat training. Roland learned that the Abyssal Legion had appeared, and after training he received word that Gennobion had important leads about the assassination.

• Roland attended an emergency Council meeting where Grand Mage Watson announced the Savaran attack, the deaths of twenty-three Leiner students and Leon, and the destruction of the Battle Mage squadron.
• Watson revealed to senior mages that the attackers had used the Abyssal Legion, a forbidden summoning spell that could let Abyssal Lords invade the material world.
• Roland reassured Princess Rosa that the Mage Tower was not currently threatened and urged her to prepare herself and watch Atrelin’s response.
• Roland and the other Arcanists began mandatory combat training, where Roland discussed battlefield tactics and won praise from their Battle Mage instructor for defending Fireball’s usefulness.
• Princess Rosa told Roland that Gennobion had important leads about the assassination and wanted to speak with him.

After Agathus’s return prompted warnings and heightened security, Roland stayed in the Mage Tower and trained against surprise attacks while Agathus failed to reach him at the hospital. In Dogula City, Dialos declared that the Quagmire Plan to draw Atrelin into war had begun.

• Gennobion reported Agathus’s return to Roland, and Grand Mage Watson warned Roland not to trust Gennobion or meet him alone.
• Roland learned that Sophia and Polina had been injured in the attack, but stayed in the Mage Tower after Aier warned him it was unsafe to leave.
• Roland used Oracle Bone Divination and combat exercises to prepare for danger, while the High Mages later built the True Dreamscape for training.
• Sophia and Polina left Holy Song Hospital, and Agathus watched them before retreating as patrols tightened around the city.
• Dialos announced from Piero’s laboratory in Dogula City that the Quagmire Plan to drag Atrelin into war had begun.

As the three-year deadline approached, Roland dealt with academy business and learned that the Mage Towers’ competition had become entangled with attacks by the Dagg Brotherhood and a growing prize fund. After supporters rallied behind Phantom Magic Cards, Antonia chose them as the competition event, leaving the towers to prepare for the contest.

• Dylent proposed developing Dream-Making Runes, and Roland directed him to seek support from the Capel Company and the Arcane Committee.
• Lie Yi and Blaise told Roland that Seris Academy was expected to compete for the Mage Towers’ education funding.
• After an attack on Atrelin nationals, the Mage Tower debated whether to hold the competition, and Grand Mage Watson suggested using it to draw out hidden forces.
• Media coverage and sponsorships raised the competition prize to twenty-five million gold coins, while prominent figures and organizations supported Phantom Magic Cards as the event.
• Antonia and the committee members decided to make Phantom Magic Cards the competition event and consider popularizing them across Atrelin.

Roland’s Phantom Magic Cards contest expanded into an open grand prix as churches, the Card Association, and the Arcane Committee sought to benefit from it. The event also became part of a wider effort to draw out Agathus and advance schemes involving dark-game cards, leaving factions across Lainer World preparing to participate.

• Tiluowei explained to Roland that the Card Association and Church of Light shared an interest in promoting Phantom Magic Cards, offered rare-card materials, and planned sponsored cards for the contest.
• Aier asked Roland to help the Silver Moon Church enter the event with seductive cards, explaining how fantasies and desires could spread the church’s influence.
• The Arcane Committee announced an Open Grand Prix in Lainer World, and Ovesto and Lunifis warned Roland that the contest could help trap Agathus, who had allied with Hell and gained Abyssal power.
• Gallo and Oksaya learned that the event would use unrestricted dark-game duels and proposed creating combat cards with captured souls, while Piero and Dialos saw the plan as an opportunity to advance their own scheme.
• Pollas received a secret order to oversee the grand prix, recognized Antonia’s symbol as a sign of fate, and ordered his forces to keep hunting the Dagg Brotherhood.
• Selad’s wife announced that Xingtian’s divine will called for the tribe to join the competition, and Selad agreed to follow Roland’s suggestion.

Roland inspected the new Romance of the Three Kingdoms cards, trained his students, and attended the Phantom Magic Cards Open Grand Prix opening ceremony. As Polina’s Holy Light Divine Envoy Bodhisattva performance stirred the audience, Roland sensed the Avatar of God card absorbing their faith and growing more substantial.

• Roland praised the new Romance of the Three Kingdoms cards that Skord and Thibault had prepared for the Grand Prix.
• Gang Jide warned Atali that an attack might occur during the competition and told her to prioritize Roland’s safety.
• Roland taught his students card tactics and Seris idioms, including the strategy called “Borrow the Road to Conquer Guo.”
• Roland attended the Grand Prix opening ceremony in Terry City and watched performances featuring Seris culture.
• Polina appeared as the Holy Light Divine Envoy Bodhisattva, and the Church’s religious leaders watched her performance with reverence.
• Roland sensed the ten-star Avatar of God card absorbing the audience’s spiritual energy and changing its appearance.

Roland discovered that the faith gathered through the tournament was empowering both the Goddess of Light’s emerging incarnation and himself. As the Phantom Magic Cards Open began and its matches were broadcast, Piero and a flaming skull planned to exploit the tournament’s attention to open a gateway for the Abyss.

• Roland realized that Seris-style faith was shaping the card into a Goddess of Light incarnation and strengthening his own mental will and destiny.
• Arkham XIV welcomed the crowd and officially began the Phantom Magic Cards Open Grand Prix.
• Grand Mage Pollas asked Roland about the unusual power at the venue, and Roland said the atmosphere had directed faith toward his card.
• A tournament broadcast showed Competitor A’s goblin deck overturning the odds and defeating Competitor B’s adventurer deck.
• In the Mage Tower in Terry City, a flaming skull told Piero that the tournament’s gathered power could help open a gateway for the Abyss, and Piero agreed to compete with its prepared deck.

As the tournament drew growing attention and mental energy gathered over Terry City, Diego defeated Jonis with a Qin Qiong deck against Jonis’s Liu, Guan, and Zhang. The brothers’ loss stirred readers’ grief across worlds, and Roland discovered that their shared regret had formed a divine Seris rune called “Righteousness.”

• Roland learned from Blaise that Selad and the other visitors from the North were competing normally and had not yet used their hidden card.
• Agathus watched the mental energy gathering around the tournament while one of his followers reported that they had infiltrated the staff and obtained the next round’s schedule.
• Diego and Jonis met in the fourth round, where Jonis fielded the Oath of the Peach Garden deck and Diego unveiled the previously unseen Qin Qiong card.
• Diego used two priests’ conflicting light and dark powers to support Qin Qiong, outmaneuvered Jonis, and won the match.
• Roland felt a resonance across universes as readers mourned the Peach Garden brothers’ defeat, and a divine Seris rune named “Righteousness” manifested in the void.

Roland continued studying the faith and resonance behind Seris runes while the tournament entered its knockout stage and Seris culture spread through commercial ventures. A mysterious tribal warrior used legendary cards to frighten Aileen into forfeiting, and Piero and the flaming skull recognized the match as part of a larger plan.

• Roland learned that Diego had qualified with a perfect record and told the apprentices to leave him undisturbed before his harder matches.
• Roland reflected on how faith could help him pursue transcendence, while advertisements promoted Seris cards, products, and planned adaptations of Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Investiture of the Gods.
• Roland instructed Aier to portray Seris culture positively and avoid depicting Serisians as villains.
• A tribal warrior serving Selad entered the knockout round with legendary cards containing heroic spirits, and his warrior Talmud overwhelmed Aileen's defenses.
• Aileen panicked under the dark game's real threat and forfeited, while her fear and the spectators' alarm flowed into the warrior's deck and strengthened a card.
• Piero watched the match as the flaming skull revealed that other factions had brought legendary cards and said Agathus and the others should have begun their move.

Roland investigated the mental assaults linked to Xingtian’s Dark Game and realized the tournament might help the Arcane Committee trap Agathus in a divine domain. He used the gathered faith and Xingtian’s power to strengthen two Equipment Cards, then watched Selad reveal himself at the quarterfinals.

• Roland visited Aileen in Holy Song Hospital and learned that her symptoms resembled curses caused by mental debilitation.
• Bona and other East Lainer competitors advanced through the tournament, while Roland’s Seris Academy students filled much of the top thirty-two and generated faith power he began channeling into cards.
• Andemar collapsed during his match against Xingtian’s servant, and Roland learned from Blaise and Morella that the Dark Game involved deadly battles in a mental realm.
• Roland deduced that the Arcane Committee planned to use the tournament’s faith to summon the Dark Game’s divine kingdom and seal Terry City, potentially trapping Agathus.
• Roland used Xingtian’s power to create and strengthen Axe and Shield Equipment Cards, which absorbed soul power and developed a sheen of divinity.
• At the June 14 quarterfinals, Xingtian’s masked servant revealed himself as Selad.

Selad invoked the Legendary Card Xingtian, turning the tournament match against Domuan into a genuine Dark Game. The organizing committee secretly gave Domuan a Legendary Card to defend himself, while Roland and Trina recognized the soul-sacrifice rules behind the duel.

• Selad revealed himself as the leader of the Tiniara Restoration Army, and Roland explained that he had invited him because Selad possessed the Legendary Card Xingtian.
• Domuan used elemental combos and traps to restrain Selad's warriors, Talmud and Gian, and froze them with Ice Storm.
• Selad summoned Xingtian, whose arrival darkened the venue and transformed the arena into a terrifying, palace-like Dark Game.
• Grand Mage Watson told the High Mages to leave the tournament response to the organizing committee, and a Card Association mage secretly told Domuan to continue the duel.
• The mage replaced a card in Domuan's deck, allowing him to summon the Legendary Card Adventurer Doze, whose presence blocked Xingtian from attacking Domuan directly.
• Trina explained that Dark Games used souls as offerings, and Roland said the ritual let pact spirits absorb faith and cultivate divinity.

Selad’s Xingtian nearly killed Domuan, but Roland intervened and took his place in the unfinished Dark Game. Roland offered Xingtian’s two Equipment Cards as stakes, persuading Selad to begin a new match while the Card Association prepared to intervene if needed.

• Domuan used a Shield Spell and laid a trap, but Selad’s Xingtian sacrificed Talmud and Gian to strengthen his axe and cut down Adventurer Doze.
• Xingtian’s next attack bypassed Domuan’s frost trap, but Roland used Antonia’s Spellbook and the True Word “Repel” to make Xingtian retreat while the Card Association rescued Domuan.
• The organizers declared Selad the winner of the outward match, but Tiluowei told Roland that the Dark Game remained active and could reap Domuan’s soul unless someone continued the duel.
• Roland volunteered to take Domuan’s place and asked Selad to negotiate new stakes, then displayed two Equipment Cards that drew Selad’s interest.
• Selad agreed to face Roland for the two Equipment Cards, and the match began again as the Card Association gathered forces and prepared to intervene.