Chapter Summaries

Mulan taught his first class at Black Castle, introducing students to existential force, the five elements, and the three worlds that shape supernatural power. After a morning of questions, he returned to his office determined to keep studying so he would have more to teach.

• Mulan began class by explaining existential force and warning students that supernatural knowledge could endanger their minds.
• Mulan described the five elements and explained how they contributed to becoming Supernatural Beings and constructing a formative world.
• Handel Linton answered Mulan's question about existence by identifying the formative world, and Mulan praised him before teaching about the formative, archetypal, and material worlds.
• Benjamin Chakus asked what happened when a formative world became unstable, and Mulan warned that a person's mind and body could collapse or mutate into a monster.
• The Demon reinforced Mulan's warning from inside the glass bottle, and Mulan continued teaching about the surface world, the otherworld, and their dangers.
• Mulan finished class shortly before lunch, returned to his office, and resolved to study harder so he would have enough to teach.

After teaching his first class at the Black Castle, Mulan Jonester spoke with Demon, a shadow imprisoned in a bottle, and rejected its offer to join forces. At the Digo Royal Palace, Nisheriel decided Jonester might be worthy of her trust and asked what he wanted most.

• Handel joined Gena, Upton, Ewan, Malinda, and Louise on their way to the dining hall, where they discussed Professor Jonester and the sinister creature in the bottle.
• Mulan questioned Demon about its offer to combine their powers, rejected it, and considered obtaining the bottle from the old wizard so he could study Demon.
• Walton told Nisheriel that Mulan was teaching at the Black Castle and praised his abilities as a teacher.
• Nisheriel said Mulan might be more worthy of her trust than the other wizards and transcendents, then asked her adviser what he wanted most.

Mulan saw Evan off on the Holy Temple’s train to the Sacred Mountain, then visited Moor and heard his plans for social reform. Moor resolved to devote his life to the struggle, while Mulan admired his wisdom and courage and worried about the dangers ahead.

• Mulan met Evan at Digo Railway Station, discussed research into mental contamination with him, and silently wished him safe travels as the train departed.
• Mulan reflected on Black Castle’s new flexible teaching program and its strict assessments for students.
• Mulan brought breakfast to Moor, who shared his conclusions about workers, industrial change, and the need for another social transformation.
• Moor argued that reform required guiding principles and vowed to devote his life to the struggle, while Mulan warned that the world held powers beyond ordinary understanding.
• Moor called Mulan an example of idealism, and Mulan praised him as a man of extraordinary wisdom and courage.

After meeting Moor, Mulan gained the resolve to confront Queen Nisheriel about unpaid veterans’ benefits and pensions for fallen soldiers. Nisheriel promised to investigate and prioritize payments to the families he supported, while securing Mulan’s pledge to serve her against those harming the empire.

• Mulan left Moor’s home, resolved to help him publish his books and inspired by Moor’s ideals.
• Mulan sent money and letters to the households he supported, then went to the Royal Palace to see Nisheriel.
• Mulan warned Nisheriel that veterans’ pay and fallen soldiers’ pensions were being withheld, threatening the empire’s military.
• Nisheriel promised an Imperial Military Headquarters investigation and special authorization to pay the benefits owed to the families Mulan supported.
• Nisheriel asked whether Mulan would wield his sword for her against those undermining the empire, and Mulan pledged his loyalty before leaving.

Mulan began a covert investigation into corruption in the imperial military by staging a case about an unpaid soldier’s death benefit and drawing public attention to it. As reports of other families’ losses mounted and pressure grew on the military, he taught Black Castle students about the power of collective empathy.

• Mulan sent Nisheriel a detailed proposal for investigating military corruption, and she approved it with an order bearing her seal.
• Mulan recruited Guy and Jenny, restoring their student status in exchange for their help staging a grieving brother and sister seeking their dead father’s unpaid death benefit.
• The staged siblings reported their case at the York District Police Station, and a week later Detective Randy announced that the brother had died after leaving the station.
• Mulan took Chief Inspector Dawson and the detectives to dinner, where reporters overheard their grief and guilt over the siblings’ plight.
• The Dia News Agency published the siblings’ story, received letters from other families, and placed the growing scandal on its front page, increasing pressure on the imperial military.
• Mulan taught Black Castle students that collective empathy could become a powerful form of resonance.

Mulan taught his students about Resonance and its connection to individuality, existence, and Totems. After class, he persuaded the old wizard to lend him the Demon Bottle, whose demon offered to serve him as its master.

• Mulan explained that successful Resonance required a powerful sense of individual existence and that a true Totem manifested the self in the transcendent realm.
• Mulan dismissed the eager students and returned to the office, where Owen praised how lively the Black Castle had become.
• Mulan agreed to cover some of the old wizard’s lessons in exchange for the Demon Bottle and its contents, and the old wizard sealed the stopper with a magic circle.
• Owen teased Mulan about Dolly before leaving, and Mulan then departed with the Demon Bottle while avoiding being alone with Professor Sebastina.
• The demon urged Mulan to accept it as a servant and master, but Mulan shook the bottle and left it dazed.

Mulan helped Queen Nisheriel address corruption in the Imperial Military Headquarters, but she chose a limited investigation and selective punishments rather than a sweeping purge. Back at the Black Castle, he resumed studying how to achieve transcendence and developed a detailed plan for his own path.

• Mulan stored the demon bottle and hurried to the palace after Nisheriel summoned him, while newspapers stopped reporting on the military scandals under official orders.
• Nisheriel confronted the generals and ministers about the scandals, then decided to punish a few logistics officials while avoiding a wider purge.
• Mulan advised Nisheriel to investigate gradually, and she credited him for his help and offered him a vineyard as a reward.
• Mulan left the palace with mixed feelings about Nisheriel's decision and returned to the Black Castle, where he checked the demon bottle and silenced the demon by shaking it.
• Mulan compared magic books and drafted a detailed plan for pursuing transcendence, including his ideas about the five elements and the formative world.

Mulan accompanied Nisheriel on the royal hunt, where a monster suddenly attacked and forced the queen’s party to flee. The monster struck Mulan, but he survived the blow and began fighting back while clinging to its forehead.

• Moor’s books, Capital and The Poverty of the People, quietly reached print while Mulan continued his research.
• Nisheriel invited Mulan to join her autumn hunt, and Mulan impressed her by shooting two deer after she missed her shots.
• A monster charged into the hunting grounds, and a cloaked superhuman confronted it as Mulan helped Nisheriel escape.
• Mulan sent Nisheriel riding toward camp and drew the monster away, but it caught and struck him.
• Mulan’s body became shrouded in black shadow as he braced himself against the monster’s forehead and began to rise.

Mulan defeated the monster, only to discover it was his friend Evan, whose faith had been destroyed by the Evil God. Grieving and disillusioned, Mulan withdrew from his duties and wandered the streets instead of attending his investiture ceremony.

• Mulan fought the monster with Fang and the Ring of Light, wounding it before its tendrils caught and absorbed him.
• Mulan broke free and prepared to kill the monster, but recognized Evan and heard his warning that there was no True God or light above the Holy Temple.
• Mulan saw Evan’s memories of faith and corruption, then plunged Fang into his forehead and watched him die.
• Mulan returned from the hunt dazed, withdrew from class and the police station, and kept reliving Evan’s despair in his dreams.
• Mulan skipped the investiture ceremony at Digo Grand Cathedral and wandered the streets instead.

After Evan’s death and the revelation of humanity’s helplessness before the Evil God, Mulan found renewed resolve through Moor’s encouragement. He absorbed Demon, then arrived at his investiture and swore to defend humanity, awakening as both a Radiant Knight and a Greater Demon.

• Moor sheltered the grief-stricken Mulan and urged him not to surrender to despair over Evan’s death.
• Mulan recovered his resolve, walked through the storm, and used Fang to absorb Demon after ordering him to die.
• Mulan arrived at Digo Great Cathedral and knelt before Queen Nisheriel for his investiture.
• Mulan swore loyalty to the Dilga Empire and privately vowed to protect humanity and drive out the Evil Gods.
• Mulan’s oath awakened a radiant knightly figure with shining wings, while a dark, grinning figure unfurled black wings beneath its shadow.

Mulan was invested as a Radiant Knight in a ceremony that impressed the nobles and clergy, then attended a grand banquet at the Royal Palace. The celebrations ended when the archbishops told him Evan had gone missing after an attack by cultists near the Sacred Mountain.

• Mulan completed his investiture as a knight while the Radiant Knight appeared behind him, and the Holy Temple blessed him with Holy Water.
• The Royal Palace banquet began after staff moved the preparations indoors to escape the rain, and Mulan greeted nobles who came to congratulate him.
• Nisheriel interrupted Mulan's conversation with Susan and led him away from the banquet to meet two archbishops.
• Evan's teacher told Mulan that Evan and four priests had disappeared after cultists attacked them outside the Holy Land, and that three bodies had been found.
• Mulan reacted with disbelief and clenched his fists as the archbishop handed him a letter Evan had sent earlier.

Mulan learned that Evan’s soul flame had gone out and mourned his death, then left the palace determined to uncover the truth and punish those responsible. On the way to Black Castle, he decided to build an organization called the Light of Dawn.

• Mulan refused to believe Evan was dead until his teacher told him Evan’s soul flame had gone out on the Sacred Mountain.
• Mulan read Evan’s unfinished letter and vowed to make everyone involved in his death answer for it.
• Mulan thanked Queen Nisheriel and the archbishops, then left the palace banquet early.
• Walking through the rain, Mulan suspected the Holy Temple was concealing or distorting what had happened to Evan.
• Mulan headed for Black Castle and decided he needed an organization to help achieve his ultimate goal.
• Mulan settled on the name the Light of Dawn for the organization he planned to create.

Mulan returned to the Black Castle and told his students he would resume teaching that week, including lessons on awakening potion fundamentals. At home, he created a secret book to record his views on the changing world, and it awakened as the Book of Dawn.

• Upton and Ewan recognized Mulan outside their dormitory and asked when he would teach again.
• Mulan promised to return to teaching that week and said he would give lessons on awakening potion fundamentals.
• Mulan reviewed his three innate abilities and began building an organizational framework through a specially crafted notebook.
• Mulan wrote chapters criticizing researchers, evil sacrificers, the Holy Temple, and the world’s response to chaos.
• At daybreak, the notebook declared itself the Book of Dawn and named Mulan Jonester as its master.

Mulan prepared to teach again and announced introductory classes for the new students, while Professor Menggeli warned him that the imprisoned Demon had vanished. Mulan revealed that he had reached the Radiant Knight stage and began his packed lecture, promising to help improve the school’s teaching.

• Mulan announced introductory classes for the new students, and returning students eagerly gathered around him and planned to attend.
• Professor Menggeli told Mulan that the Demon had vanished from its sealed bottle without disturbing the bottle or its sealing array.
• Mulan revealed that his totem had appeared and that he had reached the Radiant Knight stage, then offered to help capture the Demon if it came after him.
• Mulan told Professor Menggeli he would teach the basics and speak with the service department about improving the school’s teaching and student levels.
• Mulan arrived at a packed lecture hall that afternoon and began teaching introductory basics.

Mulan presented Walton with a proposal for a more systematic trainee program, which Walton approved and warned would require parts of the Black Castle. Elsewhere, Taylor, a former priest branded a heretic, dreamed of a horrific baptism and awakened as Mulan sensed that someone else was still alive.

• Mulan led two Service Department staff through the Black Castle and brought Walton their proposed training system.
• Walton approved the proposal, advised Mulan to stabilize his formative world, and signed before learning that the plan would use part of his castle.
• Taylor traveled with refugees after injuring his foot and secretly used holy power to ease the pain.
• Taylor dreamed that a sacred baptism turned into a monstrous transformation, then woke in terror among the villagers.
• Mulan woke from a nightmare in the Royal Capital and declared that someone else was still alive.

After discovering that Taylor was alive, Mulan obtained the Holy Temple’s lists of dangerous enemies and identified Taylor as a wanted heretic. Mulan went to sleep hoping to find him through his nightmares, and Taylor dreamed of a towering figure of light and shadow addressing him.

• Mulan visited Digo Grand Cathedral and asked the bishop for the Holy Temple’s rankings of dark factions and wanted individuals.
• The bishop gave Mulan a Darkness Ranking and an Evil Demon Register, warning him about the strongest entries.
• Mulan used his resonance ability while reading the register and sensed that Taylor was the priest listed as a blasphemous heretic.
• Mulan returned to the Black Castle and went to sleep, hoping his nightmares would help him locate Taylor.
• Taylor, traveling with the mountain folk’s caravan, fell asleep and dreamed of a huge figure emerging from the mist and saying it had waited for him.

Mulan entered Taylor’s dream as the First Apostle and guided him through a vision of Evan’s Holy Baptism, where Evan and others began mutating beneath the sacred light. Taylor woke at a campsite and hid his connection to holy power from a visiting priest, who treated his injured leg.

• Mulan introduced himself to Taylor as the First Apostle and urged him to remember the Holy Baptism.
• Taylor’s dream recreated the baptism, where Evan cried out that the being above the holy light was an Evil God and transformed into a monster.
• The archbishops attacked Evan as other priests began to mutate, and Taylor fled the Holy Pool by leaping from the mountain.
• Mulan caught Taylor in the dream and warned him to hide himself from holy light before Taylor woke on a cart at dusk.
• Taylor pretended to sleep when a Holy Temple priest came to examine his rotting leg, then suppressed his holy power as the priest eased his pain.

Mulan visited Moor and urged him to see that words and peaceful protests alone could not end workers’ oppression. After showing him reports of crushed protests and worsening poverty, Mulan argued that those forced to resist would decide whether change came through uprising, and that justice could remain possible even amid destruction.

• Mulan left the Black Castle, ate at the Time Restaurant, and brought roast meat to Moor’s home.
• Moor presented Mulan with his latest writing, which called for workers and their allies to unite in orderly protests.
• Mulan argued that protests and appeals to the powerful would not bring meaningful change, though Moor’s writing could prepare the way for a new movement.
• Mulan showed Moor newspaper reports of a disastrous protest in Dorel City and workers made destitute by machinery in Bach Virilan Province.
• Moor asked whether protests should become an uprising, and Mulan said the oppressed would make that choice and use Moor’s books and ideas as weapons.

Mulan resolved to destroy the Holy Relics and organizations that connected the world to the Evil Gods, while seeking power through Moor’s movement and the empire’s institutions. He joined the Magic Department and followed Walton through a secret teleportation realm toward the Royal Palace to meet the queen.

• After Mulan left, Moor wrote the title Mr. X had given him: “Let all proletarians and sufferers throughout the world unite.”
• Mulan decided to destroy the world’s usable Holy Relics and eradicate irredeemable followers of the Evil Gods, their organizations, souls, and legacies.
• Mulan waited for Walton and applied to become a full member of the Magic Department, and Walton approved the application.
• Walton showed Mulan the Black Castle’s protective hall and its living terrain model, which displayed mapped information and elemental changes.
• Walton led Mulan through a Teleportation Mirror into a maze-like secret realm and said they were heading to the Royal Palace to see the queen.

Mulan visited Queen Nisheriel with Walton and secured approval to join the Royal Magic Department as a magic adviser. After Walton left, Mulan discussed reforming Black Castle and its magic institutions with the queen, who trusted him to help ease her burdens; he left the palace touched by her affection but guilty that he could never be fully loyal to her or Dierjia.

• Walton showed Mulan how mirrors connected to the Otherworld and led him through one into the Royal Palace.
• Walton introduced Mulan to Queen Nisheriel and explained that Mulan had applied to become a full member of the Royal Magic Department.
• Nisheriel approved Mulan's appointment as a magic adviser and asked Walton to leave while she spoke with Mulan privately.
• Mulan proposed coordinating Black Castle School and the Joint Magic Department, and Nisheriel said she would approve Walton's reform proposal and require him to submit a detailed plan.
• Nisheriel shared refreshments and discussed Mulan's circumstances and work with him before he left the palace that evening, feeling touched but guilty about his divided loyalties.