Chapter Summaries

The players devised a plan to lure Winterhold’s squad into battle by having Lao Lu pose as a Blood-Weeping Ridge survivor, while hoping God Never Laughs would advance to Second Tier. Jiahao returned to Graycliff Town to relieve Ma Lou, and Ji Luo began assigning the final operational tasks for the next day.

• I'm Not Jiahao reminded the players that Lao Lu was a Second Tier Devouring Apostle and proposed using him as a Cultist survivor to attack Kairils's squad.
• Ji Luo scripted Lao Lu's backstory and declared that he would help prove the Winterhold knights had saved Fog Town and defeated the Blood-Weeping Ridge Cultists.
• The players urged God Never Laughs to reach level 20 and advance to Second Tier, and he promised he would do so by the next morning.
• Jiahao logged back into Graycliff Town, relieved Ma Lou from his refugee act, and prepared for the next day's plan.
• Ji Luo told Give Me Your Phone to bring more Cultists out of the Branch and secure a Second Tier fighter for the battle.

Ji Luo organized a plan to lure Winterhold’s Second-Tier Knights into the Black Forest and ambush them, warning the players to kill every witness if their scheme was exposed. The players pledged to fight to the last person, while Ma Lou watched the chat with a chill of fear.

• Lin Shen promised to persuade a second-tier Black Forest Cultist officer to support the plan.
• Ji Luo assigned Lu Ziye and Xiaozi to provoke and split up Winterhold’s Knights, while he, Kuang Shao, and Bossy Guy prepared to ambush them one at a time.
• Ji Luo warned that if either faction discovered the players’ plot, they must kill every NPC at the scene to prevent the factions from joining forces against them.
• Immortal Star Crazy Young Master, Kindergarten Boss, and Cat Woken Up by a Midnight Urge pledged to help block escapes and leave no witnesses.
• Ji Luo finalized the arrangements and told everyone to rest or grind before the operation began the next morning.
• Ma Lou saw Ji Luo’s order in the group chat and felt a chill run down his back.

Ma Lou prepared the Cultists’ plan for the coming battle while God Never Laughs and God Never Cries fought through the night to gain experience. At dawn, Ma Lou and his companions headed to Graycliff Town’s entrance to approach their targets, the Knights.

• Ma Lou reviewed a plan that would put six second-tier fighters and over a hundred players against the Knights if the scheme was exposed.
• God Never Laughs and God Never Cries continued killing monsters in the Black Forest, determined to reach second tier before morning.
• Ma Lou regaled [Don't Dream of the Day] and [Mosquitoes Faint at the Sight of Blood] with an exaggerated account of his exploits while [I'm Not Jiahao] endured the sleepless night.
• At dawn, Jiahao ended Ma Lou’s storytelling and told the group to prepare to meet their targets at the town entrance.
• Ma Lou and the other three disguised themselves as desperate refugees and set off for Graycliff Town’s entrance, where they encountered the guards from the previous night.

Ma Lou and the other three players prepared to return to Fog Town with Kairils, whose twenty-Knight troop arrived at Graycliff Town. Kairils sent the injured Lodov and nine Knights back to Winterhold while he continued toward Fog Town.

• The old guard warned Ma Lou and the others about the dangerous wilderness, and Ma Lou said Kairils would escort them to Fog Town.
• Kairils arrived at the town gate with four Second-Tier Knights and fifteen First-Tier Knights, surprising the players with the size of his force.
• Ma Lou and Jiahao realized their group could have been overwhelmed if they had not followed Ji Luo's plan to pick the Knights off one by one.
• The players noticed Lodov was badly injured, though he had seemed unharmed the previous night.
• Kairils ordered Lodov to take nine First-Tier Knights back to Winterhold and report his change of course to the Captain and the Archbishop.
• Lodov reluctantly obeyed and rode toward Winterhold with his nine Knights.

Kairils ordered two spare warhorses for Ma Lou, Jiahao, and the two new players, who eagerly climbed aboard. As the group prepared to leave, Kairils asked Viel whether he had paid a priest in Graycliff Town to repair a wooden door.

• Ma Lou realized that Kairils had reduced the Winterhold force to ten men and began calculating how the players could ambush them while leaving survivors to report back.
• Kairils ordered Viel to give the four refugees two spare warhorses, despite Viel’s objections.
• The two new players eagerly claimed one horse, while Ma Lou and Jiahao argued over who would ride in front on the other.
• Jiahao took the reins and boasted about his equestrian credentials, while the two new players awkwardly mounted their horse.
• As the group prepared to set out, Kairils asked Viel whether he had paid the priest in Graycliff Town to repair a wooden door.

Kairils ordered his force to march toward Fog Town after Viel assured him that he had compensated the church and followed his rules. At the Black Forest Branch, reports of repeated squad wipeouts led the priests to suspect Winterhold and consider sealing the headquarters.

• Viel told Kairils that he had visited the church before dawn and compensated the priest with refined ore.
• Kairils reminded the knights to uphold their principles and ordered them to reach Fog Town before nightfall.
• At the Black Forest Branch's morning meeting, squad leaders reported that patrol teams had been wiped out and stripped of their belongings.
• The short priest blamed the casualties on a covert Winterhold operation and warned against attacking Fog Town without knowing the enemy's strength.
• The short priest recommended recalling patrols, sealing the headquarters, and keeping all branch members inside.

[Give Me Your Phone] saw the Cultists accept a plan to hide underground for six months or a year, which threatened his chance to lead them into a fight with Winterhold. He publicly denounced the strategy, and the short priest turned on him in fury.

• The short priest proposed that the Cultists hide underground, build their strength, and wait for Winterhold's forces to leave the Black Forest.
• The Cultist leaders approved the retreat, while [Give Me Your Phone] and [You've Cried Already] grew alarmed that the plan would ruin their mission.
• [Give Me Your Phone] decided to provoke the Cultists into fighting and slammed the table, shouting that the proposal was utterly absurd.
• The short priest erupted with a second-tier aura and berated [Give Me Your Phone] for speaking out of turn.

Lin Shen confronted the Black Forest Branch’s leaders for planning to hide from Winterhold’s Knights, using his own victory over a Knight to shame them into reconsidering. Several Squad Leaders pushed back, accusing him of arrogance and asking who he was to tell them what to do.

• The tall Priest stopped the Second Tier Priest from silencing Lin Shen and let him speak while the High Priest watched.
• Lin Shen declared his loyalty to the Holy Church and condemned the Branch for planning to seal itself underground out of fear.
• Lin Shen reminded the Squad Leaders that his squad had killed a Winterhold Knight, shaming them for wanting to hide.
• A scarred Squad Leader accused Lin Shen of getting lucky, and other Squad Leaders joined in to defend the leaders’ caution and challenge his authority.

Lin Shen answered the squad leaders’ accusations by exposing their failures and challenging their cowardice. He then asked the High Priest for a squad, pledging to return with Winterhold knights’ corpses within one day or pay with his life.

• The squad leaders condemned Lin Shen, while the short priest blamed the tall priest for encouraging him and the High Priest silently watched.
• Lin Shen accused the squad leaders of failing to bring back a lone enemy and reminded them that their squads had been wiped out while he had brought back a Winterhold knight’s corpse.
• Lin Shen challenged the squad leaders’ claims that they were hiding for the Holy Church’s safety, calling them cowards who had shamed the Abyss.
• Lin Shen knelt before the High Priest and volunteered to lead a sortie, asking for a squad and pledging to return with Winterhold knights’ corpses within one day or answer with his head.
• The squad leaders were stunned by Lin Shen’s pledge, and the short priest was left speechless.

At a Black Forest Branch meeting, Lin Shen pledged to risk his life to fight Winterhold, impressing the High Priest. Ovid then seized the chance to attach himself to Lin Shen’s mission and position himself to claim the credit.

• Lin Shen knelt and declared that he would bring back his own head if he failed to defeat Winterhold’s knights.
• Ovid, fearing Lin Shen would win the High Priest’s favor and become Divine Child, loudly praised his vow and helped him up.
• Ovid praised Lin Shen’s loyalty but argued that the newly baptized squad leader lacked combat experience.
• Ovid volunteered to lead Lin Shen into battle, and the short priest endorsed the plan.
• The tall priest recognized that Ovid was maneuvering to take command and claim most of the mission’s credit.

Enkai and the short priest competed to join the expedition, but the High Priest stopped their quarrel and appointed Ovid to lead a force into the Black Forest. Lin Shen and Lin Qian were named deputy squad leaders with authority over tracking, while Enkai was ordered to provide support against any Second-Tier Knight from Winterhold.

• Enkai offered to accompany Ovid's vanguard, and the short priest immediately volunteered to join him.
• The High Priest silenced Enkai and the short priest, rebuked their infighting, and warned that their failures had cost the Church at Fog Town.
• The High Priest appointed Ovid captain and ordered him to select thirty members of his squad for the operation.
• The High Priest named Lin Shen and Lin Qian deputy squad leaders, giving them authority over decisions while tracking the enemy.
• The High Priest ordered Enkai to support the team and kill any Second-Tier Knight from Winterhold, but cautioned him not to act rashly.

Lin Shen secured the Black Forest High Priest’s support for an expedition against Winterhold, while Lin En watched the players’ scheme unfold and prepared a class change for God Never Laughs. The players gathered outside the Ash Church for battle, but an eerie chill interrupted their preparations.

• The High Priest assigned Ovid, Enkai, and Lin Shen to work together, then promised Lin Shen a place before the Holy Lord if he returned with Winterhold knights’ heads.
• Lin En realized that [Give Me Your Phone] had persuaded Enkai to join the expedition and recognized that the players’ plan was going well.
• [God Never Laughs] brought Lin En a miniature Golem, and Lin En began the ritual to change his class.
• [Ji Luo] briefed more than two hundred players on their battle plan, while [God Never Cries] revealed that he had reached the second tier.
• Lu Ziye waited impatiently for [God Never Laughs] to emerge so they could become the twin terrors of Blood-Weeping Ridge, but an unnatural chill spread through the air.

God Never Laughs emerged from the Ash Church with an ominous presence and announced that the group was ready to depart. As Kairils led the convoy through the Wilderness, the riders encountered a pack of Mutant Blood Wolves blocking their path.

• A chilling force swept through the players at the Ash Church, and God Never Laughs stepped out of the shadows.
• God Never Laughs declared that he was ready and urged everyone to head out.
• I'm Not Jiahao struggled to control his horse while Ma Lou clung to him, leading to an embarrassed argument between them.
• Kairils halted the convoy when Mosquitoes Faint at the Sight of Blood warned that something was ahead.
• More than a dozen Mutant Blood Wolves emerged from a thick blood-colored fog and blocked the convoy's route.

Kairils annihilated a pack of mutants, including a second-tier Blood Wolf King, while leading the group toward Fog Town. As the Black Forest came into view, Ma Lou and the other players braced for the ambush they had arranged to begin.

• Kairils ordered Knight Viel and the other knights to stand down, then charged alone into the mutant wolf pack.
• Kairils froze and shattered the attacking hounds before defeating the Blood Wolf King and taking its head as a trophy.
• Ma Lou and Jiahao realized Kairils’s power and combat skill made confronting him head-on nearly suicidal.
• Kairils dispatched more mutant groups along the road as the party continued toward Fog Town.
• Ma Lou, Jiahao, and the two newbies recognized the Black Forest and prepared for their planned ambush to unfold.

Lin Shen guided Ovid’s Cultist squad through the wilderness northeast of Fog Town, hoping to bring them into contact with Kairils’s approaching squad. When Ovid grew tired of finding nothing, Lin Shen tried to send him back, but Ovid suspected a trap and insisted on continuing the search.

• Ovid’s Cultists searched the Black Forest outskirts and Fog Town’s barrier but found no Winterhold Knights.
• Lin Shen persuaded Ovid to change course northeast of Fog Town, claiming they might find tracks and useful intelligence.
• After hours of searching empty wilderness, Ovid complained that the squad had found no clues.
• Lin Shen offered to let Ovid return with tired men while he and Lin Qian continued patrolling.
• Ovid suspected Lin Shen wanted him to abandon the mission and refused to leave, insisting the squad keep searching.

Lin Shen spotted a lone Winterhold knight and led the Cultists in pursuit, while Kairils’s squad advanced toward Fog Town and sensed an unusual presence in the forest. The chapter ended with Kairils halting his knights and fixing on the source of the magical fluctuation.

• Lin Shen spotted a silver-armored figure behind a dead tree and rallied the Cultists to attack.
• The figure fled at remarkable speed as Lin Shen, [You've Cried Already], and more than fifty Cultists chased him; Ovid followed to avoid losing the kill.
• Kairils led his Winterhold squad through the corrupted forest toward Fog Town, with Ma Lou and Jiahao riding at the rear and worrying that they had seen no Cultists.
• Kairils sensed an unusual magical fluctuation ahead, stopped the squad, and pointed out that someone was hiding in the undergrowth.

Kairils spotted Lu Ziye disguised as an Abyss cultist and charged after him, leading the Winterhold knights into the forest. Jiahao and Ma Lou realized the fleeing figure was bait meant to lure the knights toward Phone Bro’s group, while Lu Ziye struggled to stay ahead of Kairils’s warhorse.

• Kairils spotted a red-robed figure in the woods, mistook him for an Abyss cultist, and charged after him on his warhorse.
• Knight Viel rallied the Winterhold knights, who followed Kairils into the forest as Ma Lou, Jiahao, and the two newbies rode behind them.
• Jiahao and Ma Lou recognized the fleeing figure’s movements and realized Lao Lu or Xiaozi was posing as a cultist to lure the knights toward Phone Bro’s group.
• Jiahao told the players to prepare for a possible clash, and the group continued into the forest after the knights.
• Lu Ziye fled through the trees, using the terrain to slow Kairils’s pursuit and avoid being caught by his Long Halberd.

Lu Ziye and Ji Luo prepared to ambush Winterhold’s forces and provoke a bloody clash with the Cultists. Kairils halted in a silent clearing as the trap was about to begin.

• Lu Ziye and Ji Luo escaped into the bushes as the Cultists and Winterhold knights converged in the woods.
• Ji Luo removed the stolen knight armor and asked Lu Ziye whether he had drawn the Winterhold forces in.
• Ji Luo told Lu Ziye to meet Xiaozi and ambush first-tier knights in Cultist robes once the armies clashed.
• Lu Ziye agreed to follow the plan, and he and Ji Luo split up to reach their targets.
• Kairils charged into a woodland clearing and stopped to scan the silent surroundings.

Kairils and his knights were lured into a forest ambush by a scout, where they faced a force of more than fifty cultists led by Enkai and [Give Me Your Phone]. Kairils recognized the trap and challenged the cultists as they prepared to attack.

• Kairils lost the fleeing cultist scout, then agreed with Knight Viel that the squad should leave the forest.
• Before Kairils could order a withdrawal, he sensed danger and drew his White Long Halberd as Knight Viel shouted that they were under attack.
• Ma Lou and Jiahao pretended to be terrified while secretly celebrating the cultists' arrival.
• [Give Me Your Phone] led more than fifty armed cultists out of the woods and recognized Kairils and the Winterhold knights.
• Enkai sensed Kairils's peak second-tier strength and grew alarmed, while Kairils realized the scout had lured his squad into an ambush and taunted the cultists.

When Captain Ovid recognized Kairils as Winterhold’s celebrated young prodigy, he prepared to attack and claim glory, but Priest Enkai realized killing him could bring Winterhold’s full force down on the Cultists. Enkai stopped Ovid and pleaded with Kairils to hear him out, leaving both armies stunned in the sudden silence.

• Ovid recognized Kairils and grew eager to kill him for fame and advancement.
• Ovid began to rally the Cultists to attack Kairils.
• Priest Enkai yanked Ovid back and warned himself that Kairils’s death would provoke Winterhold into destroying the Black Forest Branch.
• Enkai politely asked Kairils to hold his attack, claiming the situation had been a terrible misunderstanding.
• The Cultists and Winterhold Knights stared in shock, while [Give Me Your Phone] and [You've Cried Already] were left stunned.