Chapter Summaries

Laryel watched a massive Bagnian fleet bombard Mooncrown City, killing demons but also destroying elven homes and striking their own defenders. After the barrage broke the demonic assault, the elves met with the fleet’s commander, and Knife-in-the-Butt, Alibaba, and Home Alone were summoned to the command room.

• Laryel spotted a vast fleet arriving offshore and hoped its guns were attacking the demons surrounding the Bagnians.
• The fleet bombarded Mooncrown City, devastating the demons but also killing wounded elves, archers, and possibly residents near the World Tree’s roots.
• Knife-in-the-Butt, Alibaba, and Home Alone discussed the bombardment’s destruction and friendly-fire casualties aboard the Sea Lion.
• Lilaana Morningstar of the Emerald Dream requested a meeting with the Bagnian commander, and elven envoys boarded the Sea Lion.
• After the tense meeting, a messenger summoned Knife-in-the-Butt, Alibaba, and Home Alone to the general’s command room.

Lin Ruoyu questioned the Second Revenge Fleet’s use of demon flesh as its survivors rebuilt their devastated beach position. At sea, Vice Admiral Marlow ordered Knife-in-the-Butt to lead a warband ashore and investigate the world tree behind Mooncrown City’s magical barrier.

• Lin Ruoyu warned Shanghai Pirate King that demon flesh was dangerous and affected players’ emotions, while Shanghai Pirate King said the others would not listen and pointed out the value of the Abyssal Demon Dragon’s remains.
• The Second Revenge Fleet’s postbattle tally showed only six hundred of its eight thousand players fit to fight, and the survivors began rebuilding the Eastern Beach Position with help from the demonized players.
• Players found the Mechanicus Cult Church’s resurrection site destroyed and filled with an ominous blood pit, so they set it alight before starting construction elsewhere.
• Vice Admiral Marlow told Knife-in-the-Butt to lead the Mountain Tiger Warband ashore the next day and bring the magic advisor close to the Elven Royal Palace to assess the world tree.

Knife-in-the-Butt led the Mountain Tiger Warband from Mooncrown City's harbor into the city, where its disciplined infantry and artillery overwhelmed successive demon attacks. The chapter ended with stunned elves and half-elves watching the warband advance, unsure what the human soldiers were.

• Knife-in-the-Butt ordered nearly a thousand Mountain Tiger players to land at the docks and establish a defense.
• When demons attacked the landing area, Knife-in-the-Butt signaled offshore ships to bombard them, then led the warband toward the city center.
• At an intersection, Mountain Tiger players used coordinated flintlock volleys and Crouching Tiger Cannons to halt the demons' advance.
• Demon warlocks struck the front rank with fel magic, but Mountain Tiger's soldiers held formation while medics treated casualties and replacements filled the gaps.
• Mountain Tiger snipers killed the warlocks with City-Breaker Guns, and cannon crews annihilated a charging squad of berserker demons with grapeshot.
• The surviving demons fled deeper into the city as nearby elves and half-elves watched the silent, victorious formation in awe and fear.

Laryel spotted a demonic ambush targeting the Mountain Tiger Warband and fired a signal arrow, but the demons struck before the warning could prevent the attack. Knife-in-the-Butt watched the players hold their formation under pressure and suspected the assault was not over.

• Laryel noticed cunning demons concealed in the Scholars' District buildings and realized the human army's flank was exposed.
• Laryel fired a signal arrow to warn the Mountain Tiger Warband, but horned demon hounds and fel servants launched their ambush at the same time.
• The demons struck both flanks, breaking into close combat and hitting the rear ranks with fel fireballs.
• Knife-in-the-Butt directed the Mountain Tiger Players as they formed bayonet groups, fired on the attackers, and used grapeshot to suppress demonic reinforcements.
• Knife-in-the-Butt scanned the battlefield and sensed that someone was watching him.

A Shadow Demon and two six-armed serpent demons ambushed Knife-in-the-Butt and the soldiers, but Polka, Aether, and the troops helped him turn the attack around. The battle ended with all three demons dead, while Knife-in-the-Butt survived exhausted and bloodied.

• A Shadow Demon emerged from Knife-in-the-Butt’s shadow and killed a nearby soldier before attacking him with shadow whips.
• Polka used Arcane Missiles to break the Shadow Demon’s whips, giving Knife-in-the-Butt time to tear it apart with his chainsword.
• Two six-armed serpent demons burst from a house and attacked as Knife-in-the-Butt was recovering from the fight.
• Polka shielded Knife-in-the-Butt while Aether wounded one serpent demon, and Knife-in-the-Butt pinned her with his chainsword.
• Polka, Aether, and the soldiers slowed and killed the second serpent demon by targeting her weak points.
• Knife-in-the-Butt killed the first serpent demon, and the battlefield fell silent.

Knife-in-the-Butt’s troops reached Tears of the Firmament with Aether’s guidance and confirmed that the World Tree showed no obvious corruption. A rift then split the sky, and Aether revealed that the World Tree on Evermeet Island had fallen.

• Aether guided Knife-in-the-Butt and his troops through the corrupted ruins toward Tears of the Firmament.
• Knife-in-the-Butt’s troops destroyed the profane constructs attacking Captain Aramil’s guards, prompting the elves to confront them over their dangerous weapons.
• Aether and Polka persuaded Captain Aramil to let the humans continue under elven supervision.
• Polka examined Tears of the Firmament and reported that its core was stable and showed no obvious demonic corruption.
• A jagged black rift opened in the sky, and Aether identified the event as the End of Days.
• Knife-in-the-Butt pressed Aether for an explanation, and Aether said the World Tree on Evermeet Island had fallen.

After a World Tree fell and the crystal wall split, Chris felt his sealed essence awakening and ordered the Blue Banner Army to destroy the demonic meteors landing near Treasure Island City. Chiliarch Lawrence’s troops found dead demons and three weakened survivors at a crater, killed them, and blew apart the meteor, leaving him uneasy about its strange condition.

• Chris felt the World Tree’s fall through a fissure in the sky and endured his suppressed essence beginning to emerge.
• Chris ordered the Blue Banner Army to clear the fallen meteors and destroy them, while deciding the players should grow stronger.
• Chiliarch Lawrence led soldiers to a crater where more than a hundred demons lay dead around a meteor-like construct.
• Lawrence’s soldiers found three weakened berserker demons and killed them with flintlock volleys.
• Lawrence ordered combat engineers to blast the construct, which cracked apart unusually easily, then sent a report and moved his troops toward the next impact site.

After receiving an oracle during the catastrophe, Lydia instructed the Goddess of Agriculture’s clergy to trust King Chris and follow his leadership. She remained uncertain about his plans but believed in his concern for ordinary people.

• Lydia prayed at the Goddess of Agriculture Cathedral for guidance amid the cracks in the sky and falling hellfire.
• The Goddess delivered an oracle telling the faithful to trust their King and Chris, who had chosen to sacrifice himself.
• Lydia ordered the clergy to pass the oracle secretly to regional bishops, reassure the faithful, and prepare to sacrifice themselves to protect life and the land.
• Alone at the altar, Lydia wondered what Chris was planning and recalled how his policies had improved life for farmers and other ordinary people.

After the World Tree fell and the game announced the start of the demon invasion, Knife-in-the-Butt’s Mountain Tiger Warband prepared for its next orders in Mooncrown City. Meanwhile, Demon Lord Grosag lamented his delayed advance and considered committing his remaining high-rank demons.

• Aether and the elves silently watched Knife-in-the-Butt’s warband rest and maintain its weapons, uncertain what to make of the humans.
• Little Knife read the emergency update announcing the World Tree’s fall, the demon invasion, and the new quest chain already triggered by the Mountain Tiger Warband.
• Knife-in-the-Butt ordered his soldiers to check their gear and sent the Signalman to contact Lieutenant General Marlow for instructions.
• Demon Lord Grosag celebrated the World Tree’s fall but grew frustrated that the humans had disrupted his plans to establish portals near Mooncrown City.
• Grosag looked toward the sky and considered sending in his remaining high-rank demons.

Players poured into Mooncrown City and slowed the demons, though their chaotic fighting damaged elven property and strained relations with the elves. At dawn, a thousand reinforcements joined the Mountain Tiger Warband, whose new priests raised defenses, healed fighters, and helped drive demons from hiding as Aether reconsidered human cooperation.

• Players landed at Mooncrown City's docks and fought demons with reckless force, damaging buildings and magical sites while disrupting the demons' advance.
• The Mountain Tiger Warband rested outside the Royal Palace with few attacks as the other players kept the demons occupied.
• At dawn, a thousand green-uniformed reinforcements arrived and joined Knife-in-the-Butt's forces, bringing priests of the Earth Mother Goddess and the Goddess of Agriculture.
• The Earth Mother Goddess's priests raised an earthen wall, while the Goddess of Agriculture's priests healed the King's Guards and detected demons nearby.
• Knife-in-the-Butt ordered a barrage against the hidden demons, and the combined forces drove them away as Aether considered setting aside some prejudices.

Blue Flame Kingdom leaders debated whether they could rely on or control the destructive human reinforcements, while players continued hunting demons in Mooncrown City. The elves’ attempt to place the King's Guards under a joint command failed, and the players returned their attention to fighting and earning rewards.

• Eliunor and Lilaana described the Bagnians as effective but difficult to control, leading Blue Flame Kingdom leaders to agree to try guiding them with objectives and rewards.
• Treating Children's Crying killed Lesser Demons with a grenade and cleaver, escaped a Berserker Demon using a Smoke Grenade, and returned safely to the docks.
• Treating Children's Crying watched elven envoys ask Vice Admiral Marlow to establish a joint command over the King's Guards.
• Vice Admiral Marlow explained that the King's Guards answered to Chris and operated autonomously, advising the elves to cooperate with them through clear objectives and rewards.
• The elven envoys left without securing command authority, and Marlow told his adjutant to tactfully encourage the players to clear key areas and avoid sensitive sites.
• Treating Children's Crying turned in his spoils, collected supplies, and headed back toward the fighting.

The elves tried to recruit players through quests, but cheating and a disputed reward soured their efforts. Then players aboard the Sea Lion mistook the elven ship Mirror Moon for a vessel they held a grudge against and bombarded it, causing the elves to turn against the fleet.

• Stops Kids Crying accepted an elven quest to kill a Succubus, but another player claimed the reward first with a fake whip, and the elven officer questioned Stops Kids Crying’s quest item.
• After two days of complaints, the elves revised their quest procedures and began regaining players’ interest.
• Players aboard the Sea Lion recognized the approaching elven ship Mirror Moon as the ship that had once attacked them and kidnapped Not Playing If I'm Not Having Fun.
• Not Playing If I'm Not Having Fun rallied the players, who loaded Explosive Shells and fired more than a dozen guns at Mirror Moon, wrecking its hull, figurehead, and mast.
• The elves raised alarms and aimed their weapons at the Bagnia fleet as their trust collapsed, while Vice Admiral Marlow ordered the fleet to hold fire and demanded that the Sea Lion stop shooting.

Vice Admiral Marlow defended the players after they bombarded the Mirror Moon, threatening to withdraw Bagnian support unless the elves surrendered the Mirror Sea Adventuring Company. As the alliance neared collapse, the High Priest sent Demon Hunter Ilúvatar to search for Abyss-corrupted elves sabotaging the kingdom from within.

• Naval military police stopped the players' bombardment, but the Mirror Moon was left badly damaged and Mooncrown City demanded an explanation from Vice Admiral Marlow.
• After learning the players fired in revenge for the Mirror Moon's attack on the King's Guards, Marlow refused to punish them and demanded that the elves hand over the Mirror Sea Adventuring Company or lose Bagnian support.
• The players celebrated Marlow's response, while divisions among the elves deepened and the alliance with the Bagnians neared collapse.
• In the Moon Goddess Temple, the High Priest told Ilúvatar that recent events suggested Abyss-corrupted elves were deliberately driving a wedge between the elves and the Bagnians.
• The High Priest ordered Ilúvatar to investigate the council and nobility, and Ilúvatar left the temple to hunt the hidden fallen.

At Forgotten Beach, Shanghai Pirate King watched the demon players’ dangerous resurrection experiments finally show promise after they agreed to mix other demons’ flesh with Abyssal Demon Dragon flesh. In Mooncrown City, Ilúvatar tracked down Hobert, killed him and Alice when he refused to reveal his master, and prepared to question them after death.

• I Love Science directed experiments that produced grotesque, unstable resurrected players from Abyssal Demon Dragon flesh, while Shanghai Pirate King urged the players to try safer materials.
• The demon players agreed to mix flesh from other demons with the dragon flesh, and their next resurrection experiment showed hope of success.
• Ilúvatar followed the Mirror Sea Adventuring Company’s secret marks into a ruined mansion and took Alice hostage, demanding information about Hobert and his master.
• Hobert appeared and refused to reveal who he served, warning Ilúvatar that a storm was coming.
• Ilúvatar killed Alice and defeated Hobert in a fight, then decided to use her Moon Goddess-given ability to make their bodies reveal their secrets.

Mooncrown City’s defenses collapsed as a massive, coordinated demon assault targeted the world tree and Royal Palace. Ilúvatar uncovered evidence of an elven traitor while the players raced to return from the Demon Woodlands, leaving the city’s fate uncertain.

• Treating Children's Crying witnessed a huge demon tide overwhelm the elven defenses and fled through the city to warn the other players.
• Ilúvatar found the Elven Elder dead and discovered his deployment orders had created weaknesses that helped the demons break through.
• Ilúvatar secured the documents as evidence and resumed her hunt for the mastermind behind Mooncrown City’s fall.
• Knife-in-the-Butt redirected the Mountain Tiger Warband from a Demon Altar toward Mooncrown City after the players saw the signals from the city.
• Demons ambushed the returning warband with Trolls, Horned Demons, and Burrowing Demons, killing players and slowing their advance toward the city.

Grosag watched his plan to corrupt Mooncrown City’s elves unfold, but a squad of player-made dragonkin demons broke into his lair and attacked him. The players wounded Grosag and drove him into a rage, leaving the battle against the Demon Lord just beginning.

• Grosag reflected on how the Heart of Corruption had helped him turn key elves into accomplices and weaken Mooncrown City’s defenses.
• A squad of dragonkin demon players infiltrated Grosag’s lair and carved through his guards with claws, tails, weapons, and dragon breath.
• Grosag struck down the leading player, but the remaining players charged him without retreating.
• The players injured Grosag by targeting his legs and burning through his fel armor, humiliating and enraging him.
• Grosag unleashed a storm of fel energy and prepared to destroy the players, while the surviving players welcomed the start of the boss fight.