Chapter Summaries

Ash and the others discovered two spellcasters using the Doomed Arena to trap a Heroic Soul Commander, then decided to exploit the arena’s rules and steal the Commander’s loot. Sonia outlined a plan to force the Commander out of the team battle and into a fight against their third member.

• Sonia explained that the Doomed Arena restored Spell Power after battles, rewarded consecutive victories, and used its mechanics to arrange opponents.
• Ash and his companions realized two allied spellcasters had lured a Heroic Soul Commander and its follower into the arena to fight them without the Legion’s numerical advantage.
• Ash decided to interfere because the Commander could drop a map that would help him navigate Time Continent and evade the Empress Heroic Soul’s pursuit.
• Sonia proposed having two of them enter as a team to trigger a spellcaster battle, then sending in the third so the arena would pit them against the Commander.

Ash prepared Sonia and Diya for the Colosseum battles, where they faced two hostile Spellcasters while he confronted a Heroic Soul Commander. The Commander recognized Ash’s Heart Sword as a fragment of her soul and revealed that she was Valkas.

• Ash armed Sonia and Diya with armor and spells before they entered the Colosseum together to fight the two Spellcasters.
• Sonia and Diya identified the enemy Spellcasters’ powerful dragon followers and chose one opponent each.
• Ash entered the Colosseum alone and laid an Ink Trace Trench while the Black-Robed Man watched him.
• The Black-Robed Man revealed herself as a Female Elf Commander and said the Heart Sword was born from a fragment of her soul, intended as a gift for her child.
• Ash recognized the Commander as Valkas.

Ash encountered Valkas Ul as a Heroic Spirit in the Void Realm and prepared to kill him for the resources he needed to protect Sword Maiden and Witch. Valkas offered to surrender his map and Soul Summoning Spell Spirit in exchange for his life, and Ash sat with him to talk.

• Ash recognized Valkas Ul as an Artificer Projection turned Heroic Spirit and learned that Valkas had changed gender during life, though the Void Realm restored his original form.
• Ash said he intended to kill Valkas for the map, Soul Summoning Spell Spirit, and other resources needed to grow stronger against Spider Tower.
• Valkas offered Ash the map and Soul Summoning Spell Spirit if Ash spared him, explaining that he had no Soul Power or followers and little chance of winning.
• Ash questioned why Valkas would surrender, since he remembered Valkas as proud and unwilling to compromise, and reflected on how that defiance had contributed to Valkas’s death.
• Valkas sheathed his sword and invited Ash to ask what he wanted to know, and Ash sat down with him.

Valkas explained how Blood Moon Judgment created Gravekeeper Commanders and gave Ash a map and a Soul Summoning Spell Spirit, revealing that the next Great Conferment of the Six Kingdoms was just over seventy days away. In the Sea of Knowledge, Siffrin used a Blood Seed to kill an Orc Arcanist Projection, then flew into a Vortex and collided with a Veela Spellcaster.

• Valkas told Ash that Blood Seeds awakened dead Blood Moon Judgment inmates with Commander talent as Gravekeeper Commanders, whose memories remained but whose emotions were lost.
• Valkas gave Ash her hand-drawn map and a Soul Summoning Spell Spirit, and told him that the next Great Conferment of the Six Kingdoms was a little over seventy days away.
• Siffrin used the Death Flower Spell Spirit to activate an Orc Arcanist Projection’s Blood Seed and kill him, then collected his Spell Spirit and Sorcerer’s Manual.
• Siffrin flew toward a Vortex in the Sea of Knowledge and collided with a Veela Spellcaster emerging in a small boat.

Ash examined the new Blood Tomb troops and learned why Valkas could not surrender from the Void Realm. Before they parted, she asked him to deliver her last words to her child.

• Ash's Soul Summoning Spell Spirit unlocked Blood Moon Servant, Adventurer, Bloodfury Hunter, and Dual-Color Anchor after absorbing Valkas's Spell Spirit.
• Ash questioned Valkas about trusting him with her Spell Spirits, and she explained that Void Creatures could not escape the Colosseum by surrendering.
• Valkas refused to take back the Heart Sword Spell Spirit and asked Ash to find her child and deliver her last words.
• Valkas told Ash to warn her child to live well and never violate the Bloodline Prohibition Law, then wondered aloud why she cared about passing on the message.

Igula was badly injured after a failed Void Realm battle and broke down over losing a chance to gain power and escape his desperate circumstances. Ash and Liss comforted him, but he ended the chapter noticing that Liss seemed strangely familiar.

• Igula recalled how his plan to kill a Heroic Soul Commander had nearly succeeded before Xing Jia Cheng and another female Spellcaster replaced the Commander and defeated him and Harvey.
• Igula fell in the bathroom, lamented the missed opportunity and their lack of hope in Gospel, and admitted his fears to Ash outside the door.
• Ash urged Igula to trust Gospel and promised that she and Harvey would share his burdens.
• Liss rushed into the bathroom to check on Igula, slipped on the wet floor, and showed him sincere concern.
• Igula calmed down and asked Ash to bring him breakfast, then studied Liss and said she seemed strangely familiar.

Ash and his companions worked and ate at Beldet Manor while Ifrin used tailored temptations to drain their Beidian. Igula realized the group was vulnerable to Ifrin’s Domination School, though Ash insisted he had not bought anything.

• Ifrin teased Ash with garter stockings, then splattered tomato juice on the window and left him to clean it.
• Ash spent only fifteen Beidian on lunch and learned that his manor card could borrow up to one hundred million Beidian through Hua Bei.
• Igula said Annan had been reassigned to the Prairie Area and Bange to the Snow Mountain Area, while Harvey revealed he had spent fifty Beidian on a skull.
• Liss showed off a Flexible Mirror Glove she had bought from Ifrin for fifty Beidian, and Ash claimed he had not bought anything.
• Igula scolded Ash, Liss, and Harvey for falling for Ifrin’s temptations and warned that refusing gifts or loans would not protect them from her Domination School.

Annan explained how the Beldets used loans, gifts, and the Domination School to control Menfilans, warning the group to earn their 6,000 Beidian without accepting Ifrin’s money or gifts. After Igula scolded the others for buying from Ifrin, she summoned him, leaving Ash, Harvey, and Liss to fear for his safety.

• Ifrin confined the Funeral Agency members to the Beldet estate and required them to earn 6,000 Beidian before they could leave.
• Annan explained that the Beldets used Hua Bei loans and gifts to bind people through Contracts that traded money for thinking power.
• Annan warned the group to spend only Beidian they had earned and never accept Hua Bei or gifts from Ifrin.
• Harvey noted that the Beldets’ Angel Ancestor had given them access to the Void Realm, enabling their large-scale Domination Miracle.
• Igula angrily accused Ash, Harvey, and Liss of weakening their defenses by buying Ifrin’s goods and speaking with her.
• Ifrin summoned Igula, and after he left, Ash and Harvey speculated about whether a coffin could fit two people while Liss feared Igula would die.

Ash paid a Mental Damage Fee to Ifrin by wearing weights and cleaning statues at Beldet Manor, where he met Anfield, a servant who knew his identity. After Ash accused Beldet of enslaving Menfila, Anfield defended the city’s way of life and left him questioning his resistance to Ifrin’s Domination.

• Ifrin made Ash and Harvey wear weights as compensation for remaining silent while Igula insulted her, and Ash also carried Liss’s share at double weight.
• Ash struggled to clean the manor’s statues and accidentally spilled his bucket while working under his Contract with Ifrin.
• Anfield joined Ash in cleaning the floor, identified him as Ash Hiss, and said the servants trusted the Beldet Family Head’s judgment.
• Ash told Anfield that Ifrin’s Domination enslaved Menfila’s people, but Anfield said residents understood their system and chose the life it provided.
• Anfield’s defense of Menfila left Ash nearly persuaded that serving Ifrin could be worthwhile.

Ash spoke with Anfield, who encouraged him and offered help, before learning that she was Ifrin’s full sister. He secretly followed them to hear Ifrin offer Igula Beldet’s support and power if he made Anfield fall in love with him.

• Ash suspected Anfield of manipulating him, but she reassured him that her advice was sincere and offered to help him.
• Ifrin arrived and revealed that Anfield was her full sister; Ash teased Ifrin until Anfield hurried her away.
• Ash followed Ifrin and Anfield through the garden while his Substitute carried him because Ifrin’s work rules required manual labor.
• Ifrin introduced Anfield to Igula and proposed that Beldet would invest everything in him if he made Anfield fall in love with him.
• Ifrin promised Igula help lifting Annan’s Contract, a chance to pursue the Omniscient Weaver’s Wish, and access to Beldet’s Domination Miracle.

Ash and the others discussed Ifrin’s lucrative offer to Igula and speculated about why he might accept it. Annan confronted Ash over what Ifrin had offered him, while a suspicious moment with Liss left Annan wondering whether someone had influenced her.

• Harvey, Ash, Annan, Bange, and Liss discussed whether Igula would accept Ifrin’s offer to marry Anfield and join the Beldet family.
• Ash lamented that Igula had received such a generous deal, then stopped himself before revealing what Ifrin had offered him instead.
• Annan pinned Ash down and pressured him to confess, but he claimed he had refused Ifrin’s temptation.
• Liss rushed in to separate Annan and Ash, then acted as though she had injured her wrist so Ash would comfort her.
• Annan noticed Liss give her a sly look and wondered whether Ifrin had affected her, while Bange questioned why Ifrin had chosen Igula for her offer.

Annan explained Ifrin’s history and the Beldet Family Heads’ grim inheritance pattern as the group tried to understand why Ifrin had chosen Igula. After deciding Igula’s chance at love and wealth was intolerable, Ash, Harvey, and Annan agreed to sabotage him, leaving Bange uneasy about their plan.

• Annan said Ifrin had once sought a sincere romance but abandoned her dream after her family arranged a fake adventure and she learned the truth.
• Annan explained that Beldet Family Heads usually inherited the position young, and records suggested their parents had died by then.
• Harvey argued that warning Igula about the pattern would be pointless because Igula would already have investigated the risks.
• Bange reasoned that Ifrin could not choose Harvey or Ash because of their dangerous ties to All Gospel and the Empire, while the group suspected Igula offered Beldet something valuable.
• Ash concluded that Igula’s marriage to Anfield would bring him wealth, influence, and happiness, so he and Harvey resolved to sabotage the match, with Annan joining them.
• Bange supported interfering with Igula but felt his conscience troubling him as the others agreed.

Annan and the Funeral Agency tried to interfere with Igula and Anfield’s date, but Ifrin trapped them outside the Gardening Maze. After Anfield explained why she was giving Igula more room to maneuver, Ash chose not to disrupt the date and left with Liss.

• Annan led the Funeral Agency to spy on Igula and Anfield as they talked in the Gardening Maze.
• Ifrin revealed that she had sealed the maze and Silence Barrier, then challenged the group to fight without damaging her family’s property.
• The Funeral Agency members attacked Ifrin while Igula and Anfield continued talking about adventure stories inside the maze.
• Anfield told Igula she hoped delaying his conflict with her Elder Sister might leave room for everyone to benefit.
• After Annan grabbed Ifrin and urged him to act, Ash threw the controller toward Igula and Anfield, then left with Liss.

Ren Suo found himself imprisoned in the Blood Moon Country and recognized a familiar game, while Le Yu and Amy hunted Cultists in another world. Le Yu killed a target who resisted arrest and prepared to face the Divine Lord next.

• Ren Suo read his record, which branded him the leader of a heretical Four Pillar Gods cult, and wondered which four it meant.
• Ren Suo decided to enjoy his freedom before Qiao Muyi and the others found him, then opened the game Petty World Is Wonderful.
• Le Yu killed a Cultist in the Underground Hall, and Amy reminded him that their order had been to arrest the man.
• Le Yu told Amy how to direct complaints about the death to Gerald the Bloodthirsty Hunter Westminster, then left the Underground Hall.
• Le Yu looked at the Blood Moon and said the Four Absolute Divine Weapons had brought them to the New World, where they had become Cult Leaders.
• Le Yu told Blue Flame that their next target was the Divine Lord.

Ash, Sonia, and Diya discussed theories about how to reach the Void Realm’s Third Layer while driving across the Time Continent. The White Bull Hypothesis seemed most promising, but the White Bull’s legs became invisible as spellcasters approached them.

• Sonia and Ash competed in an eye contact game until Diya accidentally fell out of the car and interrupted them.
• Diya explained that a Sorcerer’s Manual described several theories about triggering the Seven-Colored Tail, including gathering seven spellcasters or entering the White Bull’s legs.
• Ash and Sonia considered the White Bull Hypothesis, which proposed using spellcasters’ souls as prisms to refract the Seven-Colored Tail and ascend to the Third Layer.
• Diya said the White Bull’s speed, the Gilded River, and the Silent Domain made its legs difficult and dangerous to approach.
• Sonia compared the White Bull’s vanishing legs to a rainbow.

Ash and his companions tried to evade the Empress Heroic Soul’s legions in the Spider Tower Area, but their escape route led into a trap at the Gilded River. Cornered and facing death before their three hours were up, they were confronted by Danzel as Sonia asked Ash about his life in reality.

• Ash drove the sports car through the Spider Tower Area while Heroic Soul Legions pursued and tried to block their path.
• Ash realized the legions were herding them west and led a charge through a gap in the northeastern defenses.
• The Gilded River and legions advancing from every direction trapped Ash and his companions, revealing that the apparent route of escape was an ambush.
• Danzel appeared and taunted them, saying they had fallen for the trap again and could spend their remaining time as they pleased.
• Sonia drew Ash’s attention from their predicament and asked why he had stopped telling her about his life in reality.

Ash and his companions were trapped behind the Refraction Curtain as Danzel's Heroic Soul Legion prepared to attack. Ash realized Danzel was trying to wear down their judgment, but her real offer had yet to be revealed.

• The Heroic Soul Legion crowded the rain curtain while Ash and his companions faced the Gilded River and the crushing danger of time.
• Danzel taunted the group, and Sonia warned Ash not to try to capture the Empress.
• Sonia urged them to fight their way out, and Diya supported her despite the Witch's worsening condition.
• Ash offered Danzel his Soul Summoning Spell Spirit in exchange for sparing the group, but she explained that she could only take it after his death.
• Ash accused Danzel of trying to break their resolve so she could offer to spare his companions if he died willingly.

Ash refused Danzel’s forced choice between the Witch and Sonia and drove them into the Gilded River Zone. Their Dual-Color Anchor activated as they reached the river, and Ash led them onward to cross it.

• Danzel revealed that Ash could save only one companion and threatened to have her attendants kill and devour the one he abandoned.
• Ash told the Witch he needed her to trust him, and Sonia offered to let the Witch hold a Water Life Thread around her neck; Ash asked for one too.
• As Sonia prepared to fight their way out, Ash drove the sports car through the Rain Curtain and into the Gilded River Zone.
• Ash, Sonia, and the Witch joined hands and activated Dual-Color Anchor as the sports car disintegrated and time’s current washed over them.
• After Anchoring triggered, Ash told Sonia and the Witch to cross the Gilded River with him.

Ash, the Sword Maiden, and the Witch tried to cross the Gilded River, but its temporal force and a surge of Ash’s memories left them stranded before the shore. Danzel learned that the three had crossed the Time Barrier and began planning a different way to capture them.

• Ash struggled to process the Gilded River’s overwhelming stream of lives and histories, while the Sword Maiden and the Witch adapted quickly and swam ahead.
• When Anchoring expired, the river’s temporal force aged Ash and his companions, and each brief crossing left them weaker.
• A drop of Gilded Years entered Ash’s ear and flooded him with memories from his life, preventing him from swimming onward.
• The Sword Maiden returned to help Ash, but the river’s next washing left both of them too feeble to reach shore.
• Danzel sent Alafa Senheiser into the river to retrieve them, but he returned empty-handed because he could not cross the Time Barrier.
• Danzel realized all three Spellcasters had passed the Time Barrier and decided she would need more despicable methods to capture them.

After escaping the Gilded River, Ash and his companions discovered that their Time Factions had advanced to Gold, while Ash worried about the team's trust and his friends' future. The chapter ended with Ash helping Liss get ready and deciding to investigate Beldet's interest in Igula.

• Diya explained that she had pulled Ash and Sonia from the Gilded River using softened Water Life Threads, and the three rested near the river to avoid the Heroic Soul Legion.
• Ash abandoned his idea of using his Substitute to carry the group, and Sonia changed the subject before he could reprimand her for turning back to save him.
• Ash reflected that the Witch did not fully trust the team and resolved to make his leadership stance clear, but the Void Realm work period ended before he could hold a meeting.
• Ash checked the Sorcerer's Manual and found that his, Sonia's, and Diya's Time Factions had reached Gold after their encounter with the Gilded River; Sonia and Diya also gained anti-commander career traits.
• Ash comforted Liss after she described a dream of being left out, helped her comb her hair, and decided to vet Beldet's intentions toward Igula.