Chapter Summaries

King Ghidorah ate a priceless relic while Lavas explained the treasures’ historical value, then let Lavas take the remaining artifacts away for study. Sangis briefed him on incoming envoys and reported that the Lord Protector had gone to the Forbidden Land without authorization.

• Lavas explained the relics’ rarity and history until King Ghidorah swallowed a glowing orb for its energy.
• Lavas recovered from his shock, asked to study the remaining treasures, and received King Ghidorah’s permission to take them away.
• Lavas packed and locked the artifacts in a chest, resolving to prevent King Ghidorah from eating more of the world’s heritage.
• Sangis told King Ghidorah that envoys from Karelia, Saint Junxi, and Vostok were arriving, and he decided to wait until everyone had arrived before meeting them.
• Sangis reported that the Lord Protector had left his territory without authorization for the Forbidden Land and asked whether King Ghidorah wanted to punish him.

King Ghidorah dismissed concerns about the Lord Protector and received news that authorities had arrested more heretics across the empire. Meanwhile, Kertison met with the Destruction and Revelation Society and considered a plan to cause chaos around the Forbidden Land so the two groups could break in and awaken something there.

• King Ghidorah pardoned the Lord Protector, heard that more heretics had been arrested, and asked Sangis to send him the interrogation reports.
• King Ghidorah asked Sangis for mythology books, intending to read the world's myths as distorted accounts of real history.
• Kertison met with the Destruction and Revelation Society, whose representative proposed that they cooperate to search the Forbidden Land.
• Kertison consulted the sect master, who agreed to hear the society's plan.
• The society's representative revealed that they planned to use the demon god's remains to awaken marks across the Vagrian Empire, cause unrest, and enter the Forbidden Land while Valerirus and the Lord Protector were distracted.
• Kertison said he lacked authority to approve the plan and would consult the sect master again.

Valerirus accepted his loss of the imperial throne to Caesar and reflected on how he had become Vagrian’s ruler and guardian of the Forbidden Land. He remained at the sealed land to watch over the sleeping evil god, finding comfort in the peaceful future Caesar’s strength promised.

• Selivis visited Valerirus, who told him Caesar’s guard had defeated him and that Caesar was now emperor.
• Valerirus ordered Selivis to watch his ambitious offspring and assist Caesar in governing Vagrian.
• Valerirus watched the still-sealed Forbidden Land and recalled how a god had healed him and charged him with guarding the evil being within.
• Valerirus remembered how he had sheltered the small country that became Vagrian and had ruled it for a thousand years.
• Valerirus recalled a childhood flight over a peaceful town and the beauty that had drawn him to protect the land.

Nuoyaji walked through Vagrian's capital with Chaluoke and Fuyila while recalling Chaluoke's history in the city and searching for the location of its Forbidden Land. He spotted a Darkblood Guard in the crowd and grew wary of Marquis Darkblood's presence as Vagrian prepared for a change of emperors.

• Nuoyaji left the delegation with Chaluoke and Fuyila and walked through the western part of the capital.
• Chaluoke said he had once met Vagrian's Lord Protector, who had warned him because he seemed dangerous.
• Nuoyaji recalled vague clues about the Forbidden Land east of the capital and thought about approaching Vagrian's new emperor.
• Nuoyaji noticed a red-robed man whose concealment spell identified him as a Darkblood Guard serving Marquis Darkblood.
• Nuoyaji warned Chaluoke that the vampire's appearance was suspicious, then hurried onward while Chaluoke watched the surrounding streets.

King Ghidorah heard reports about a missing blood-race elder, foreign envoys, and preparations for his enthronement ceremony. Sangis left to manage the Senate’s objections and corruption while Ghidorah remained in the hall listening to an ancient myth.

• Sangis told King Ghidorah that the blood race was searching for Marquis Darkblood, who had failed to attend a high-level assembly and could not be contacted.
• King Ghidorah left the response to Sangis, then told her to wait until all foreign envoys had arrived before receiving them.
• Sangis reported that the enthronement preparations were nearly complete and that the Lord Protector had stopped Valerirus’s offspring from traveling to the capital.
• Sangis left the hall burdened by Senate demands to question the succession and by nobles seeking to profit from the ceremony.
• The guard continued reading a myth about the God of Light sealing the being of the abyss, whose lingering evils waited in the darkness.

Kertison and an old man from the Destruction and Revelation Society entered an ancient chamber to awaken Aiyileiyas, the legendary king of magical beasts. They opened the seal, but the chapter ended before the old man explained what they should do next.

• Kertison escorted the old man and the Silence Organization's personnel as they transported a sealed fragment of Wolunxius's remains through an underground passage.
• The old man told Kertison that Aiyileiyas had been transformed by a demon god's curse and was eventually defeated with the holy sword Tyrfing and sealed near Vagrian's border.
• The old man pressed a token to the bronze door, and its golden beam broke harmlessly against his barrier before the door opened.
• Kertison and the old man entered the chamber, examined murals depicting Aiyileiyas's transformation and destruction, and Kertison asked what they should do next.

Kertison watched the old man begin a ritual using Demon God's flesh, but held back from recording it for the patriarch. In Valerilus City, Senator Robieko visited Sangis and asked to meet the emperor the next day.

• The old man placed the writhing Demon God's flesh in a floor depression, awakening the room's runes and murals.
• The old man raised a token and recited an incomprehensible incantation as rings of light spread through the room.
• Kertison considered activating his recording device to transmit the ritual to the patriarch, then decided to wait.
• Sangis processed documents in her temporary office in Valerilus City before agreeing to receive Senator Robieko.
• Robieko placed an unsealed letter on Sangis's desk and asked whether he could meet His Majesty tomorrow.

Robieko met a mysterious black-robed man who said the fate of the world depended on Caesar’s opinion, while Chaluoke briefed Nuoyaji on Vagrian’s new emperor and the political unrest surrounding his coronation. The chapter ended with Chaluoke questioning Nuoyaji’s identity, and Nuoyaji saying he only wanted to save the world.

• Robieko left a late-night meeting with a black-robed man who said Caesar’s opinion held the key to saving the world.
• Sangis decided to report Robieko’s request for an audience to His Majesty the following day.
• Chaluoke entered Nuoyaji’s inn room through the window and reported that Caesar was a three-headed golden dragon who had taken the throne after Valerirus’s defeat.
• Chaluoke explained that Valerirus had been sent to guard the Forbidden Land and that royalist senators wanted to restore him, while Caesar’s coronation was expected the day after tomorrow.
• Chaluoke told Nuoyaji that Sangis was handling palace affairs and asked who he really was; Nuoyaji replied that he was someone who wanted to save the world.

Nuoyaji and Chaluoke decided the coronation would be their chance to enter Vagrian's palace and meet Caesar. Meanwhile, King Ghidorah encountered Weitestan, Valerirus's young son, and Sangis arrived just as the dragon confronted him.

• Nuoyaji and Chaluoke realized the coronation would gather the envoys and nobles and offer a chance to slip into the palace.
• After waking from a night of being read to, King Ghidorah noticed a red dragon flying toward the palace.
• Weitestan introduced himself as Valerirus's biological son and Vagrian's future heir, then challenged King Ghidorah as a throne-stealing stranger.
• Sangis rushed to the palace, found Weitestan confronting King Ghidorah, and hurried to intervene.
• King Ghidorah asked Sangis telepathically who the idiot was.

King Ghidorah struck Weitestan unconscious with lightning after the young dragon challenged him, then ordered Sangis to bring Governor Valerirus back from the Forbidden Land and summon the Lord Protector. Meanwhile, senators and nobles learned that their attempt to test the new emperor had failed and discussed the Lord Protector’s actions.

• Sangis identified Weitestan as Governor Valerirus’s son and a claimant to the Vagrian throne, and King Ghidorah called him a dumbass before knocking him down with lightning.
• King Ghidorah ordered Sangis to send Weitestan to the Forbidden Land to bring Valerirus back and to summon the Lord Protector to guard the palace.
• Sangis sent beast tamers to haul the still-breathing Weitestan east to the Forbidden Land and resolved to investigate how he had reached the palace unchallenged.
• Senators and nobles learned that Caesar had charred Weitestan and sent him away, while the Lord Protector had refused to attend their assembly.
• A senator reported that the Lord Protector had visited Valerirus and then intercepted other princes who were traveling to the nobles’ gathering.

After Weitestan’s disastrous encounter with Caesar, the nobles decided to observe the emperor at his coronation before making a decision. In Vagrian’s capital, Nuoyaji and Chaluoke surveyed the palace, sensed a white-robed member of the Silence Society, and Nuoyaji turned back, suspecting that converging factions signaled an approaching crisis.

• The nobles agreed to attend Caesar’s coronation to assess him and the factions supporting him, while preparing a formal response to Lady Sangis’s letter.
• Nuoyaji and Chaluoke explored Vagrian’s capital and discussed how Chaluoke could help Nuoyaji enter the palace.
• Nuoyaji and Chaluoke sensed a watcher in the crowd and spotted a white-robed figure associated with the Silence Society.
• Nuoyaji reflected on the many unusual people and factions gathered in the capital and suspected that a major event was drawing them there.
• Nuoyaji ended their survey and led Chaluoke back to the inn, saying Yifula might be waking up.

Valerirus flew east to investigate an unfamiliar surge of magic while trying to reach the capital before the coronation and rein in rebellious nobles. Aiyileiyas awakened and headed west under an unknown command, while King Ghidorah examined a strange black flame in the palace as Lavas brought him a report on the treasures.

• Valerirus learned that Weitestan had reached Caesar and that nobles were protesting the succession, so he hurried toward the capital.
• Valerirus sensed a powerful, unfamiliar surge of magic and diverted toward its source near an unmapped mountain range.
• Aiyileiyas emerged from underground after the old man and Kertison completed the awakening ritual, and the old man proposed obtaining another piece of the demon god's flesh.
• Aiyileiyas followed a mysterious voice's command and flew west, while Kertison discovered a silent black flame and prepared to report to the sect leader.
• King Ghidorah examined a similar black flame on the palace floor as Lavas presented his completed treasure report, which King Ghidorah postponed until the coronation.

Sangis warned the Senate not to disrupt Caesar’s coronation as a Victoria airship approached Vagrian seeking cooperation. Aiyileiyas struck the airship without slowing and continued west, driven by a mysterious command toward a city.

• Sangis confronted the senators, reminded them that Caesar had not harmed them, and warned that she would report any trouble at the coronation.
• Hermann learned that the Victoria airship would be inspected upon entering Vagrian airspace and prepared to seek cooperation over wyvern transport.
• The airship’s detection spell warned of a rapidly approaching magical object, and Hermann ordered the crew to get out of its way.
• Aiyileiyas pierced the airship’s hull in passing, leaving it damaged and smoking while Hermann was injured.
• Aiyileiyas flew west over settlements, its speed and power intensifying as the command in its mind grew clearer.
• Aiyileiyas spotted a large, brightly lit city and dove toward it at the urging of the will in its mind.

A group of children discovered a strange black flame in a vacant lot just as the city’s alarm announced a tremendous threat. The King of Magical Beasts, Aiyileiyas, attacked the city with a purple sphere, but a crimson pillar of light destroyed it and struck the beast, leaving two suns visible in the sky.

• Children gathered around a black flame that did not burn when they touched it.
• The city’s alarm sounded, and the children saw the enormous purple King of Magical Beasts flying toward the city.
• Aiyileiyas gathered purple light into a sphere and sent it falling toward the city as people stood frozen.
• A crimson pillar of light flew in from the western horizon, erased the purple sphere, and struck Aiyileiyas in the chest.
• Aiyileiyas steadied itself in the air, while a child pointed at the sky and wondered if there were two suns.

Valerirus struck Aiyileiyas with his Corona Light and drove it into the mountains, while a group of agents used the clash as an opportunity to move toward the Forbidden Land. King Ghidorah sensed the battle and raced west, leaving Sangis and the city wondering where he had gone.

• Valerirus challenged Aiyileiyas, then blasted it with Corona Light and sent it crashing into a mountainside.
• Agents watching the fight concluded that Valerirus had left the Forbidden Land and headed down the hillside to act on their mission.
• King Ghidorah sensed the distant clash, took flight from the palace, and raced west without telling Sangis where he was going.
• People in the city watched King Ghidorah's golden streak vanish, while Nuoyaji worried about the growing number of crises and Chaluoke asked a food vendor for grilled meat.

Valerirus fought Aiyileiyas while trying to keep their battle away from nearby cities, as Aiyileiyas unleashed a strange black substance that began spreading across the world. Drawn toward the unfamiliar energy, King Ghidorah changed course, while Hermann sent the damaged Victoria airship to support Valerirus and alert Vagrian authorities.

• Valerirus slammed into Aiyileiyas and drove it through the ground, but Aiyileiyas emerged with its wounds already regenerating.
• Aiyileiyas released black energy that turned trees to ash, spread through a distant patch of black flames, and began covering the Chaos Beast King Core in Vagrian's palace.
• King Ghidorah sensed a powerful, unfamiliar energy away from Valerirus's battle and flew toward its source.
• Valerirus continued fighting Aiyileiyas but chose to stall it rather than risk drawing it toward nearby cities.
• Hermann ordered the damaged Victoria airship to support Valerirus and send a message to Vagrian authorities.
• The Victoria's engines restarted, and the airship rose toward the battling monsters.

Weitestan woke in the Lord Protector’s grasp and saw a black corruption spreading from the Forbidden Land, while Kertison’s plans unraveled amid reports of an attack on Silence Society headquarters. Valeria found its master’s palace, forced the people inside to repair the entrance, and discovered a small patch of black corruption among the rubble before setting off to find its lord.

• Weitestan regained consciousness as the Lord Protector carried him and saw the black substance spreading from the Forbidden Land, destroying everything it touched.
• Kertison and the old man realized the spreading corruption was not part of their plan, and Kertison received a signal that the Silence Society headquarters was under attack.
• Kertison accused the old man of lying, threw a poisoned needle at him, and fled while the old man ordered his followers not to pursue.
• Valeria found its master’s palace, confronted the dark-blue-uniformed people living inside, and ordered them to repair the hole it had made.
• Valeria prepared to leave and find its lord, but noticed a small patch of black substance flickering among the rubble and decided to wait for its master.

Nuoyaji recognized black flames as signs that the evil god sealed in Vagrian’s Forbidden Land was reviving and warned Sangis. When black tentacles burst through the palace, Sangis ordered an evacuation and took Nuoyaji and Chaluoke with her as the palace was swallowed.

• Nuoyaji spotted a black flame near a building and told Chaluoke that a major disaster was coming.
• Nuoyaji and Chaluoke went to Sangis and explained that the Filth Nexus was the evil god’s creation and that the seal in the Forbidden Land had weakened.
• A violent tremor struck, and enormous black tentacles burst through the palace, spreading across its walls and dome.
• Sangis ordered the wyvern cavalry to seal off the palace area, evacuate civilians, and alert the Senate and the Lord Protector.
• Sangis brought Nuoyaji and Chaluoke into her carriage as the palace was engulfed by the tentacles.

Valerirus defeated Aiyileiyas, but a strange black substance emerged from the monster and began spreading across the Forbidden Land and the continent. As the substance gathered around a mysterious orb, King Ghidorah was swallowed by a gigantic mouth that appeared from a seemingly ordinary patch of ground.

• Valerirus battered Aiyileiyas until its mana failed and it collapsed, then watched black substance seep from its body and expand into a writhing shell.
• Hadrian spotted a silent black flame in a corridor of the imperial palace, while Reinhardt found another clinging to an Archon Mech's magic core.
• Black flames appeared across the continent as black substance spread through the unguarded Forbidden Land and consumed its seals and runes.
• A disembodied voice held a black orb and declared that its power had returned before commanding it to cleanse the world.
• King Ghidorah detected chaotic mana and investigated a vast circular depression, where a gigantic toothed mouth sprang up, swallowed him, and vanished.

King Ghidorah was swallowed into a dead, gravityless world and met Leonsel, who called himself the God of Light. Elsewhere, Valerirus faced a powerful black-armored figure, attacked it, and was struck down as he tried to protect a nearby city.

• King Ghidorah explored the floating landmasses and examined the headless serpent whose black matter had brought him there.
• A voice greeted King Ghidorah, and a golden sphere appeared and identified itself as Leonsel, the God of Light who had defeated the evil god.
• Valerirus blasted a huge black sphere apart and saw a humanoid figure emerge from the black matter, its body armored and set with purple crystals.
• Valerirus judged the figure stronger than his previous enemy and tried to flee, but turned back to fire at it to protect a nearby city.
• The figure appeared beside Valerirus and punched him through the ribs, sending him tumbling through the air as he wondered why powerful foes kept appearing.