Chapter Summaries

As night fell during the battle for Fog Town, the players, guards, townspeople, and Cultists all withdrew rather than face the night’s dangers. The survivors reached the Ash Altar on Sighing Heights, but several players who had stayed behind to loot were found by Lantern Night Terrors.

• [Ji Luo] ordered the players to retreat to Sighing Heights as nightfall weakened their Sanity and strengthened the Mutants.
• Lu Ziye and the high priest led the guards and townspeople back into the Deity Barrier, while the Cultist priest halted his forces’ pursuit.
• [Ji Luo] and [Passing Pure-Love Warrior] led the main group into the Ash Altar’s protective range, where they discovered that several players were missing.
• The players saw the missing looters collapse in an alley after their Sanity reached zero, as three Lantern Night Terrors emerged from the black mist.
• A Lantern Night Terror pierced one collapsed player with its chain, turning the player’s body to ash.

After the players escaped the Lantern Night Terrors, a strange, suffocating dampness spread through Fog Town before vanishing at the Deity Barrier. [Ji Luo] organized the survivors for a final assault at dawn and arranged compensation for broke players, leaving the group ready to recover and fight again.

• The Lantern Night Terrors finished killing players, then vanished into the black fog as Lu Ziye warned that nighttime travel required Ash Protection.
• Ji Luo, Jiahao, and Lu Ziye noticed the black fog sinking and mucus spreading through Fog Town, but the strange dampness disappeared when the players returned to the Deity Barrier.
• Jiahao suspected a Great Old One-sized boss beneath Fog Town or behind the clouds had been preparing to feed before the barrier interrupted it.
• [Ji Luo] told the fifty players to prepare for a final assault at dawn and asked any players who could no longer afford Resurrection Coins to raise their hands.
• [Passing Pure-Love Warrior], Ma Lou, and Jiahao gave twenty Ash Coins each to the bankrupt players to cover their battle losses.

After the players’ victory at Fog Town inspired Knight Kyle with hope, Lin En reviewed the battle’s rewards and recognized that large-scale fights needed better reward distribution. He planned Party and Guild Systems but decided the time was not yet right to introduce them.

• Knight Kyle watched the players share revival currency and prepare to keep fighting for Fog Town, and his despair turned to hope.
• Lin En saw that his Faith Points had risen to 32,950 after the players killed more than three hundred enemies.
• Lin En concluded that the current hit-based reward system would cause disputes and discourage players who tanked or supported their teams.
• Lin En planned a Party System with shared rewards and contribution-based distribution, then imagined charging players for guild creation, bases, and other features.
• Lin En decided that it was not yet the right time to introduce the Party and Guild Systems.

Lin En delayed his planned game-system update until after the players captured Fog Town, while a few players stayed online to hunt monsters and guard the Ash Altar. When the Second Beta players logged off, they flooded the forums with an account of their battle in Fog Town, leaving Cloud Gamers stunned by their reported victory.

• Lin En decided to wait until after the Fog Town assault to launch the guild, party, and third closed-beta updates.
• [God Never Cries] and [God Never Laughs] bought the Lord of Ashes' Blessing and organized night hunts with other players at Sighing Heights.
• [Fragile College Student], [Handsome and Fast], and [Professional Leveling Service 01] continued guarding the Ash Altar while [Handsome and Fast] logged off to eat.
• Cloud Gamers on the forums speculated that the players had been wiped out in Fog Town until verified Second Beta players appeared online.
• [Immortal Star Crazy Young Master] posted a battle report describing how fifty players fought the Cultists in Fog Town, and the forum erupted with replies.

Players shared battle reports and screenshots from the game, while Jiahao made a fortune selling HD photos of Nun Ilyena. After a quiet night at Sighing Heights, the players prepared to log in at seven and launch their assault on Fog Town.

• Second Beta Test players posted screenshots that impressed Cloud Gamers and fueled demands for more codes.
• Jiahao posted a paid photo collection of Nun Ilyena, and players rushed to buy it.
• Handsome and Fast logged back into the game and told Fragile College Student and Professional Leveling Service 01 about Jiahao's profitable venture.
• The three security guards at Sighing Heights killed several Mutant Hounds and collected experience and Ash Coins.
• Players agreed to log in at seven the next morning for the final assault on Fog Town, and Ji Luo ordered the vanguard to scout its defenses.

The Fourth Catastrophe discovered the cultists preparing a Flesh Sacrifice in a fortified courtyard and launched an assault to stop the summoning. As the players broke through the defenses, Fog Town’s high priest led the residents and Guard out of the barrier to join the battle.

• Jiahao and God Never Laughs found over a hundred elite Red-Robed Cultists guarding a courtyard where a powerful Flesh Sacrifice was underway.
• Ji Luo ordered the players to storm the courtyard before the cultists could summon a fully formed monster.
• The players charged through the cultists’ magical barrage, and Ji Luo led the veterans through the gate after Kuang Shao opened a breach.
• The high priest recognized the players’ attack as a chance to stop the cultists and led Fog Town’s residents and Guard out of the barrier to fight beside them.

Jiahao, Ma Lou, Lu Ziye, [Kindergarten Boss], and [Ji Luo] entered the courtyard and found a slaughtered Cultist gathering around a blood altar. The priest summoned the level 30 Screaming Golem, a second-tier calamity that grew stronger when its targets felt fear, leaving the players under crushing mental pressure.

• Jiahao, Ma Lou, Lu Ziye, and [Kindergarten Boss] forced their way into the courtyard, where they regrouped with [Ji Luo].
• The players and Fog Town guards found more than a hundred Cultist corpses surrounding a massive flesh-and-blood altar and a towering golem.
• The priest explained that he had sacrificed his followers to summon the Holy Lord's calamity and began the ritual.
• The priest's ritual filled the courtyard with oppressive force that left the players struggling to move and fight.
• The Cultists' corpses fed the golem, which awakened as the level 30, second-tier Screaming Golem and was revealed to grow stronger when its targets felt fear.

The Screaming Golem and the Fallen Priest overwhelmed the players and Fog Town’s defenders, turning the courtyard into a scene of slaughter. As fear empowered the golem, Fog Town’s High Priest stood firm and prepared to protect the people despite his fading strength.

• [Ji Luo] ordered everyone to retreat, but the Screaming Golem unleashed a shriek that killed several newcomers and badly injured Lu Ziye and others.
• The townsfolk and guards suffered the golem’s mental attack, and their fear fed it until its body grew larger and glowed dark red.
• The players identified the hovering Fallen Priest as a level 22 second-tier Abyss mage, and he blocked their escape with a blood spell that melted several newcomers and shattered Kuang Shao’s shield.
• The players and townsfolk began to despair as the golem and the Fallen Priest continued to loom over them.
• Fog Town’s High Priest stood his ground with his cracked Cross Holy Emblem, remembering his former power as a renowned third-tier high priest and vowing that the town’s people still needed him.

The High Priest sacrificed his life force to dispel the fear affecting the players and townsfolk, allowing them to attack the Priest and Screaming Golem. The Priest’s powerful counterattack and the golem’s shriek killed wave after wave of players, leaving the battle raging amid their repeated resurrections.

• The High Priest crushed the Cross Holy Emblem and spent his life force to restore courage and weaken the Screaming Golem.
• Lu Ziye rallied the players, who unleashed a barrage of attacks that the Priest’s flesh shield absorbed.
• The Priest turned the shield into a storm of flesh spears, killing nearly thirty players and several Fog Town Guard Team soldiers.
• The dead players revived at the Ash Altar and Resurrection Array and rushed back into battle.
• The Screaming Golem unleashed a devastating shriek that shattered stone walls and killed players across the formation.

Ji Luo and the players dragged the flying cultist priest to the ground and overwhelmed him with a brutal group assault. The priest unleashed a deadly blast and pierced Ji Luo with his staff, but Ji Luo held the weapon in place as the players prepared to keep attacking.

• Ji Luo devised a plan to extend a rusty chain with Ashen Shaping and use it to pull the priest out of the sky while the Guard archers disrupted his casting.
• I'm Not Jiahao and God Never Laughs hooked the priest's leg with the chain, and Ji Luo, Lu Ziye, Kuang Shao, and other players dragged him to the ground.
• Lu Ziye struck the priest's bone mask, while Ma Lou and the players and Guard soldiers pinned him down and prevented him from casting.
• The priest burst his robe into dark-red blood plasma, blasting players away and shattering Lu Ziye and Kuang Shao's breastbones.
• Ji Luo blocked the priest's raised staff with his chest, then held it fast and urged the remaining players to focus their attacks.

The players killed the Fallen Priest, but the divine protection expired and the Screaming Golem resumed absorbing fear, rapidly growing stronger. Lin En realized that neither resurrection nor blocking the players’ senses could stop the golem while Fog Town’s terrified residents continued feeding it.

• [I'm Not Jiahao] stabbed the Fallen Priest through the spine, and the players finished him off with a barrage of Ashen Missiles.
• The system announced the players’ first server-wide kill, and the exhausted team celebrated before moving to loot the corpse.
• The Fog Town High Priest’s immunity buff shattered, and the Screaming Golem resumed absorbing fear as the townspeople and players collapsed under its pressure.
• Lu Ziye spotted the fear flowing into the golem, which surged to level 35 and formed bone armor.
• Lin En considered giving the players free resurrection, then asked the system about warning them or blocking their senses; the system explained that neither could stop the fear of Fog Town’s residents.

Lin En realized he lacked the divine power to stop the Screaming Golem and learned that Faith Points could not be exchanged for it until his divine statue reached Lv.5. As the golem trapped Fog Town in fear mist and Ilyena prepared to kill the townsfolk to spare them, a hum sounded from the cracked Weeping Madonna statue.

• Lin En asked the system to spend his Faith Points on a divine attack, but it denied his request because his statue was only Lv.1.
• The Screaming Golem rose, unleashed fear mist, and trapped the Fourth Catastrophe players and Fog Town’s people in the square.
• The golem crushed several guards while the exhausted High Priest and townsfolk lost hope.
• Ilyena prayed to the Weeping Madonna, then drew a dagger and prepared to grant the townsfolk a peaceful death.
• A faint hum came from inside the cracked statue of the Weeping Madonna.

The Weeping Madonna shattered her statue and gave her final divine power to Ilyena, transforming her into a powerful warrior to defend Fog Town. Ilyena reached peak High Priest strength and prepared to face the Screaming Golem.

• The Weeping Madonna’s holy light purified the fear in Fog Town, and Lin En recognized that she was sacrificing her final anchor in the world.
• The Weeping Madonna addressed Ilyena and entrusted her with the power of her followers rather than let the Abyss consume it.
• The Weeping Madonna’s statue shattered, and its light flowed into Ilyena, transforming her clothes, hair, eyes, and dagger into holy garments and the Scepter of Compassion.
• Ilyena gained the temporary third-tier combat power of a peak High Priest, while Lu Ziye and Ma Lou realized she could save them.
• Ilyena confronted the uneasy Screaming Golem and vowed to kill anyone who threatened Fog Town’s peace.

Ilyena and the Fourth Catastrophe players joined forces to destroy the Screaming Golem in Fog Town. After the victory, Ilyena’s divine radiance faded and she returned to her original appearance.

• Ilyena struck the Screaming Golem with a Holy Light Storm, melting its bone armor and forcing it to its knees.
• [Ji Luo] rallied the surviving players to attack while [I'm Not Jiahao] and [Even Monkeys Have Dignity] shaped their remaining mental energy into an ash war spear.
• [Ji Luo], [Immortal Star Crazy Young Master], and [Kindergarten Boss] launched Lu Ziye into the air, and Ilyena infused his spear with holy light.
• Lu Ziye drove the Holy Light Lance into the Screaming Golem’s exposed core, annihilating the creature.
• The surviving players and Fog Town residents celebrated, while Ilyena’s divine appearance faded and the Scepter of Compassion reverted to a dagger.

After the Weeping Madonna destroyed the Golem, she spent the last of her divine power and entrusted Fog Town’s hope to Lin En. In a vision, she urged him to carry on her purpose and seek whether dawn could come to the Wasteland World.

• Ilyena fell to the ground exhausted, and the high priest and Fog Town’s residents mourned the Weeping Madonna’s apparent death.
• A faint orb of light rose from the Madonna’s shattered statue and flew toward the Ash Church, while the high priest accepted that she had entrusted the town’s hope to another being.
• The Madonna’s divine presence entered Lin En’s statue and drew him into a boundless white void, where he confronted the reality of her sacrifice.
• The Madonna showed Lin En memories of Fog Town’s suffering and the Ash Apostles fighting the Golem, recognizing them as fellow travelers despite their mercenary motives.
• The Madonna urged Lin En to live on, carry her share, and discover whether dawn existed beyond the endless night.

Lin En inherited the Weeping Madonna’s authority of compassion and unlocked the Weeping Priest class for his players. After resolving to protect Fog Town, he began tallying the Faith Points earned in its defense.

• The Weeping Madonna gave Lin En her remaining essence and entrusted him with protecting Fog Town and its believers.
• Lin En promised to take responsibility for Fog Town, and the system completed his divine core fusion and unlocked the Weeping Priest class.
• Lin En’s title changed to Lord of Ash and Compassion, with ash and compassion listed as his divine authorities.
• Lin En understood that the Weeping Madonna had chosen him because passing her authority to a mortal would leave Fog Town vulnerable to hostile powers.
• Lin En opened the system ledger and found that players had earned him more than seven thousand Faith Points from defeating minor enemies.

Lin En collected faith points from the battle and reached a balance of 42,390, giving him enough to upgrade the Divine Statue. He decided to wait until after the players’ celebration to announce a coming update, while Fog Town’s residents remained subdued despite surviving.

• Lin En received 500 faith points from the Fallen Priest and 4,000 from the Screaming Golem, bringing his balance to 42,390.
• Lin En considered upgrading the Divine Statue but chose not to interrupt the players during their victory celebration.
• Lin En planned a system announcement previewing the new class, a version update, and third closed beta slots for [The guild era].
• The players looted the battlefield and wondered why their first-kill rewards and experience had not arrived.
• Ji Luo saw that the main quest was complete but its rewards were still being calculated, and Ma Lou suggested the system might be preparing something special.
• Fog Town’s residents and Guard showed little joy despite surviving the battle.

After the Weeping Madonna’s statue shattered and Fog Town’s residents feared losing their divine protection, it reformed into a new statue that restored the town’s barrier and joined Fog Town to the Ash Divine Kingdom. The main quest concluded, and the players learned that the game would soon update with new features and a third closed beta.

• The High Priest mourned the loss of the Weeping Madonna’s protection, and Lu Ziye and [Kindergarten Boss] offered to lead Fog Town’s residents to the Ash Church.
• The shattered statue’s fragments reassembled into a dark gray statue with a white ribbon over its eyes, and a barrier spread across Fog Town to hold back the Mutants.
• The High Priest recognized the statue’s power as the Weeping Madonna’s compassion combined with ash, and the residents knelt and celebrated her return in another form.
• The players realized Fog Town had become a second camp for their faction and that their quest had changed faction control.
• A server-wide announcement declared the main quest complete and announced the Guild Era update, new features, rewards, and a third closed beta, prompting the players to howl with excitement.

After the players defeated the Screaming Golem, they recovered an epic item and agreed to leave it beneath Fog Town’s Divine Statue until they could decide how to distribute it. The players were logged out at night, while Lin En discovered that he could freely move his consciousness between the Divine Statues in Ash Church and Fog Town.

• [Even Monkeys Have Dignity] searched the Screaming Golem’s remains and found the Evil God's Fear Statue, an epic material that might unlock a hidden class.
• Lu Ziye and the other players recognized the statue’s value, but they could not agree on who should own a token earned through the group’s fight.
• [Ji Luo] proposed leaving the statue beneath Fog Town’s Divine Statue until the players could arrange a fair auction or bidding system after the update.
• Ma Lou placed the Evil God's Fear Statue at the Divine Statue’s base, and the players helped Fog Town’s residents clean up and repair their homes.
• The system logged out all fifty players, and the High Priest told Fog Town’s residents that the Apostles had returned to the divine realm and that they should safeguard what the players left behind.
• Lin En learned that the Weeping Madonna’s Compassion Authority had been restored through her Divine Core and found that he could move his consciousness between the Ash Church and Fog Town Divine Statues.

Lin En planned a Lucky Prize Wheel to distribute the Screaming Golem’s rare drop, then spent 10,000 Faith Points to upgrade his Divine Statue. The upgrade unleashed a miracle in Fog Town and the Ash Church, leaving both the High Priest and Sivir convinced their new deity was protecting them.

• Lin En saw the High Priest praying in Fog Town and the injured Guard soldiers patrolling after the battle.
• Lin En planned a free prize wheel for the fifty-five players who fought in Fog Town, with the Evil God's Fear Statue as the grand prize and consolation items in the pool.
• Lin En opened the Divine Statue Upgrade panel and spent 10,000 Faith Points to begin the upgrade.
• Brilliant pillars of light rose from Fog Town's Divine Hall and the Ash Church, and divine power pressed the High Priest to the floor.
• Sivir woke to the radiance and watched the Ash Church's Divine Statue repair itself as the church was reinforced.