Chapter Summaries

Ace used Astrology Divination to discover that Ludendorff was exchanging information with another king, then rushed to capture Malgan Norton before the enemy could act. After freezing Malgan and slowing time around him and Helix, Ace began banishing them beyond the world’s boundary, but King Norton sensed the magic and intervened.

• Ace cast Astrology Divination and saw Ludendorff speaking through a mirror with another city-state’s king.
• Ace urged Hercules to fly to Malgan Norton’s residence, where Hercules reported Bunyan’s murder by the Dark Crow Devil.
• Ace hid in Malgan’s shadow while Helix described the Dark Crow Devil, then revealed himself and froze Malgan with shadow tentacles.
• Ace cast Time Stasis on Malgan and Helix, then used Spatial Banishment to try to send them beyond the world’s boundary.
• King Norton detected the disturbance at Malgan’s residence and summoned a small statue of Hercules, radiating the power of a Pseudo-rank Legendary Hero.

Ace banished Malgan and Helix, escaped King Norton's attack, and regenerated his destroyed body with the Golden Regeneration Technique. Meanwhile, Nicholas gained Great Hero strength, and the kings of northern Salia discussed hunting down the wounded Dark Crow Devil.

• Ace banished Malgan and Helix with Spatial Banishment, then fled as King Norton struck him with the statue of Hercules and shattered his body.
• Ace escaped beyond the Norton border, abandoned his dying body, and used the Golden Regeneration Technique to grow a new one.
• Ace dressed and headed for the Lar Mountains to meditate and replenish his magic power.
• Nicholas achieved symbiosis with an ancient mech and gained the strength of a standard Great Hero.
• Ahmed advised Nicholas that their enemies would seek the injured Dark Crow Devil, and Nicholas noted that Malgan and Helix had vanished with him.
• King Ludendorff convened a Mirror Conference where King Milne urged the kings to find and kill the Dark Crow Devil before he recovered.

The kings used the Searching Stone and Ace’s blood to locate him, then set out with ten Great Heroes to confront the Dark Crow Devil. Ace improved his Eye of Delusion Breaking (Pseudo), detected the tracking link, and waited in the Lar Mountains as Nicholas’s group split up to help him and attack the Punishment Hall.

• Yves Milne and the other kings gathered in Milne City, where Ludendorff Bakar used Ace’s blood to activate the Searching Stone.
• Ace obscured himself when the Searching Stone first revealed his image, but Yves used Milne’s rank power to strengthen the artifact and restore its tracking.
• Ace embedded runes from Bunyan’s Level 2 Artisan Bloodline into his spell, enhancing his Eye of Delusion Breaking (Pseudo) and tracing the link back to ten Great Heroes.
• Yves led the Great Heroes toward the Lar Mountains while Nicholas and Ahmed decided to split up, with one group following to aid Ace and the other attacking the Punishment Hall.
• Ace entered the Lar Mountains, sensed the pursuers’ distance, and prepared for their arrival.

Ace prepared to confront the ten Great Heroes while Alesha explained that he needed divine authorization to rule the High Tower Territory. He ambushed the heroes with his Mindscape, killed four of them, and introduced himself to the survivors as a wizard.

• Alesha told Ace that invading a city-state without divine authorization would bring divine punishment, and proposed securing a demigod’s backing and an oath witnessed by the gods.
• Nicholas tracked the ten Great Heroes from a distance as Ace waited for them and prepared his spells.
• Ace covered the battlefield with his Mindscape, summoning a flood of undead that scattered and delayed the Great Heroes.
• Ace slowed the Jim Brothers with Time Stasis, then killed all three with the Four-Elemental Grinding Disc and dragged their bodies and souls into the Mindscape.
• Ace used the Demon Eye of Fear to overwhelm Croft and killed him with the Four-Elemental Grinding Disc.
• Ace introduced himself to the six surviving heroes as a wizard, while Nicholas arrived nearby.

Ace revived the Jim Brothers and Croft as undead to fight the kings while he faced a God of War descendant whose combat arts were approaching Golden Hero rank. He froze the battlefield, formed a dark elemental sphere, and caught Nicholas spying on him.

• Ace raised four coffins, and the undead Jim Brothers and Croft attacked the Great Heroes.
• Ace singled out the God of War descendant and observed his battle techniques as he fought off the skeletal undead.
• Ludendorff recognized that the descendant was close to becoming a Golden Hero after comprehending the Battle Heart.
• Ace expanded the Six-Elemental Ring, froze the battlefield with Extreme Cold Touch, and trapped the descendant with Time Stasis.
• Ace condensed the battlefield’s elements into a dark sphere while the five kings huddled behind a protective shield.
• Nicholas watched from afar, but Ace spotted him and continued shaping the elemental sphere into a palm-sized orb.

Ace extracted the Monument’s crystalline heart and destroyed it with an unstable Element Annihilation Ball, leaving the five kings near death. He confronted the survivors and met Nicholas, who claimed he had been waiting for a chance to help him.

• Ace used a Teleportation Gate to reach the Monument’s heart, tore it free, and planted the Unstable Element Annihilation Ball on its head before escaping.
• The explosion annihilated the Monument and ancient battlefield, gravely wounding the five kings and leaving Nicholas battered by the shockwave.
• Ace intimidated Ludendorff, Yves, and the others with his presence as his magic power dwindled.
• Yves begged for mercy, while King Norton tried to attack Ace with a statue of Hercules; Ace burned Norton’s hands with Glazed Heart Flame.
• Ace called Nicholas out, and Nicholas introduced himself as a Salia Purification Sequence 13th who had hoped to sabotage the kings and assist Ace.

Ace forced the five kings to forge a divine truce with him, and Nicholas secured the Fire Thief Alliance’s participation. The gods set the agreement for thirty years, leaving both sides bound to peace under divine witness.

• Ace rejected Ludendorff’s claim that killing the kings would anger the gods and demanded a divine truce oath instead.
• Ludendorff and the other four kings invoked their ancestral gods’ domains and agreed to a truce with Ace and the High Tower wizards.
• Nicholas joined the agreement on behalf of the Fire Thief Alliance, and Ace accepted his participation.
• Hercules Norton bore witness and declared that the parties must maintain peace for thirty years.
• The oath’s power entered the participants’ souls and prevented either side from initiating substantive combat.
• Ace warned the kings not to scheme against him and said those who broke the divine oath would lose their souls and never be reborn.

After the truce with the five kings, Ace explained to Nicholas why the High Tower wizards could not destroy the Northern Five States and argued that their true enemies were the Divine Nobles, not the gods. Nicholas agreed to cooperate with Ace, bringing the chapter to a proposed alliance between the High Tower wizards and the Fire Thief Alliance.

• Ace and Nicholas watched the five kings depart, securing the High Tower wizards thirty years of stable development.
• Nicholas asked why Ace had not killed the kings and destroyed the Northern Five States, and Ace explained that divine punishment could follow threats to city-states.
• Ace told Nicholas that the Divine Nobles, not the gods, were their enemies, while cautioning that the gods were not yet a threat they could challenge.
• Nicholas asked Ace's age, and Ace revealed that he was thirty-four and had found the key to his extraordinary path in Nicholas's diary.
• Ace credited Nicholas's diary and Hibbs's work with helping him, then proposed deeper cooperation between the High Tower wizards and the Fire Thief Alliance.
• Nicholas accepted the proposal and offered to unite Salia's seekers of knowledge and truth with Ace's group.

Ace visited the Fire Thief Alliance’s underground base to begin cooperation between the Alliance and the High Tower. He introduced the Wizards’ origins and principles, leaving the scholars eager to learn Magic and exchange knowledge.

• Ace arrived at the Fire Thief Alliance headquarters, where Tus recognized him as the person who had saved his life and thanked him.
• Nicholas explained that Ace was a fourth-ring Wizard, equivalent to a Golden Hero, and Ahmed publicly asked to study at the High Tower.
• Nicholas announced that the Alliance would send a delegation to the High Tower, with Ahmed as its leader.
• Ace praised the Alliance’s achievements in machinery and proposed broad cooperation and exchanges between the two groups.
• Ace explained that Wizards inherited the shamans’ pursuit of knowledge and developed Magic through logic, mathematics, experiments, and the search for underlying principles.

Ace returned to the High Tower after securing a truce with the Northern Five States, and the wizards welcomed him as a hero. He promised thirty years of peace and development, then shared the power of his Mindscape with the wizard apprentices.

• Ace explained his framework for studying Magic, defining Magic Elements, runes, spell models, and the laws of Magic, and invited others to explore the field at the High Tower.
• After recovering his spiritual power, Ace used Mindscape to take Ahmed, Tus, and others from Erik's frontier town, while Nicholas left with the rescued people and his base.
• Ace advised Nicholas to rebuild his headquarters in Salia Forest, and Nicholas agreed to depart after Ace left.
• Ace contacted the High Tower to report the events, and three days later arrived to a grand welcome in Nightglow City.
• Ace announced a thirty-year truce with the Northern Five States and promised the High Tower would develop its territory and produce more magical theories and formal wizards.
• Ace manifested his Mindscape over the city, nourishing the bodies and souls of the wizard apprentices with magic power.

Ace welcomed the Fire Thief Alliance to Nightglow City and appointed Betty as the High Tower’s ambassador to negotiate cooperation with Great Scholar Ahmed. Betty and Ahmed discovered their shared interest in mechanical alchemy and nearly fought before Eddy intervened, leaving their contest for another day.

• Ace introduced Ahmed and the Fire Thief Alliance as allies of the High Tower, and Betty volunteered to handle liaison with them.
• Ace appointed Betty the High Tower’s plenipotentiary ambassador to negotiate cooperation with Ahmed.
• Eddy arrived to guide Ahmed and his party around Nightglow City, but Betty’s landing damaged the bluestone street before she magically repaired it.
• Betty introduced herself to Ahmed, and the two recognized their similar research into mechanical technology.
• Betty and Ahmed transformed into mechanical warriors and prepared to test their strength, but Eddy stopped them and Betty arranged for the guests to stay at the Magic Castle.

Under Eddy’s guidance, Ahmed and the Fire Thief Alliance toured the Magic Castle and Nightglow City, where they experienced the wonders of Magic and its use in everyday life. Ahmed learned about the Curse School’s Magic Trick spells, leaving him with still more questions about the High Tower’s magical system.

• Eddy took Ahmed and the others by flying carpet to the Magic Castle, where they discovered its hall had been expanded by a Spatial Extension Rune formation.
• Earth Element creatures served the group food and vitality-restoring wine, which astonished Ahmed and improved the visitors’ physical condition.
• Ahmed recorded his admiration for Ace’s achievements and the way Magic shaped Nightglow City after studying his bedroom’s one-way mirror magic wall.
• Eddy led Ahmed and the others around the city the next day, showing them magical performances, magical cuisine, and Magic’s everyday conveniences.
• Ahmed asked Eddy about wizard apprentices’ miraculous lip-moving Spell, and Eddy explained Magic Trick and the Curse School’s related spells and research.

Ahmed asked Eddy about the principles of Magic, then fought Betty for the chance to study it at the Magic Castle. After Betty admitted the group, Ace studied the gains from the recent battle in the West Tower’s meditation room.

• Ahmed questioned Eddy about incantations, spell series, and Simulated Rune Groups, and Eddy suggested asking Ace.
• Betty invited Ahmed to fight her, promising that everyone could study magical knowledge at the Magic Castle regardless of the result.
• Betty and Ahmed battled in the wasteland, where Ahmed broke through her barrage and severed one wing of her mechanical warrior before it electrocuted him.
• Betty healed Ahmed and agreed to admit the group to the Magic Castle, while promising to repair his shattered mechanical bracelet.
• Ace examined the bloodlines, artifacts, and four Skeleton Warriors he had gained from the battle.

Ace transformed Alesha from a Divine Noble into an advanced warlock apprentice and began developing a new form of alchemy based on personal paths. After deducing the Level 2.5 Eye of Delusion Breaking, he completed a Golden Spell and awakened to its power.

• Alesha cleansed away her Artisan Bloodline in the Lake of Magic Power, losing her Hero-class strength as Ace guided her onto the warlock path.
• Ace opened Alesha's Soul Secret Treasury Space, raised her soul scale to nearly its limit, and left her the extracted Artisan Bloodline as material for a natal magic implement.
• Ace considered creating natal magic implements by entrusting a warlock's bloodline or a wizard's path to an integrated magic item.
• Ace used the Magic Network to deduce the Level 2.5 Eye of Delusion Breaking, causing a new spell model to emerge and storms to sweep across the Mindscape.
• Alesha watched a vast rune-covered eye survey the Mindscape, then Ace's true spirit opened golden-lit eyes as the meditating Ace awakened with the same radiance.

Ace advanced the Eye of Delusion Breaking (Pseudo) to the Fourth Ring and planned to transform Ancesta into an undead knight once he upgraded the necessary spells. He began deriving a Golden Spell Model for the Six-Elemental Ring, leaving the Dream World on the verge of a major change.

• Ace advanced the Eye of Delusion Breaking (Pseudo) to the Fourth Ring and renamed it the Golden Eye of Delusion Breaking.
• Ace told Arno that Ancesta could undergo the undead transformation after Ace advanced the necessary runes and Spell Models, while Auli might not awaken until Ace reached Legendary Hero-equivalent power.
• Ace decided to advance the Six-Elemental Ring into a Golden Spell Model and upgrade the runes for Ancesta’s transformation ritual.
• Ace entered the Dream World’s foundation and drew out the Six-Elemental Ring Spell Model, shaking the Dream World.
• Ace connected the Dream World to the Gensokyo imprint and used the Magic Network to derive an advanced version of the Six-Elemental Ring as its runes began turning pale gold.

Ace studied vitality in the city and wilderness for more than a month, deepening his understanding of life before returning to the West Tower. He approved Betty’s proposal for closer ties with the Fire Thief Alliance and established a new department under the Magic Council to manage those relations.

• Ace advanced the Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind Element runes into Golden Runes, then paused to recover his depleted mental power.
• Ace explored the city, valley, sea, and sky to study natural vitality and advance the Life Element runes.
• Betty, Arno, and Daina waited for Ace at the West Tower after searching for him for more than a month.
• Ace returned, reassured Arno that Ancesta’s transformation and revival were not ready, and kept Betty behind to discuss her cooperation plan.
• Betty proposed exchanging knowledge and building ideological ties with the Fire Thief Alliance, and Ace approved her approach.
• Ace created the Supernatural Integration Liaison Department under the Magic Council, appointed Betty as its first director, and authorized her to request her father’s assistance.

Ace entered the Reflection World to seek Golden Runes that could advance his death-element rune series and restore balance to the Mindscape, but his search yielded little until a huge undead bone dragon appeared. The chapter ended with Ace facing the Tier 3 creature, whose soul fire shone with pale golden radiance.

• Ace agreed to Betty's request to have Leon help establish a new department, then entered the Mindscape to address the imbalance caused by the Reflection World.
• Ace traveled to the Reflection World and used his life force to destroy the shadow creatures that attacked him.
• Ace transformed into a shadow giant and searched the world for traces of death, shadow, and undeath Golden Runes.
• After two weeks of slow observations, Ace began fighting shadow creatures and undead to find suitable runes, but found few powerful opponents.
• Ace released some of his excess life force and continued searching until a massive bone dragon descended before him.
• Ace recognized the bone dragon as a Tier 3 undead whose skull held a blazing pale-golden soul fire.

Ace fought a legendary Bone Dragon and escaped through Spatial Banishment, but the dragon knocked him into Spatial Turbulence. After surviving there for two months and studying its spatial laws, Ace combined four teleportation spells into two Golden Spells, transforming his Mindscape dream world.

• Ace used his blood qi and spells against the Bone Dragon, but its spatial leaps and attacks overwhelmed him.
• Ace activated Spatial Banishment on himself, escaping the Bone Dragon but being knocked into Spatial Turbulence and badly torn apart.
• Ace decomposed a remnant of the Star of Extreme Evil to restore his magic and spiritual power, then drifted through Spatial Turbulence while studying it.
• After two months, Ace combined the Directional Teleportation Gate, Stable Subspace, Non-directional Teleportation Gate, and Unstable Subspace into two Golden Spells.
• Ace's Mindscape dream world transformed as the two Golden Spells settled onto the Rune Pyramid, while Alesha watched in awe.

Ace escaped the Spatial Turbulence passage and landed on a grassland west of Salia, where he disguised himself as a stone while recovering. The next evening, Luna discovered the stone when it saved her from a Thunder Leopard.

• Ace used Dimension Guard and Dimension Burst to break through the Spatial Turbulence and escape into the Inner World west of Salia.
• With almost no magic power remaining, Ace covered his head in stone using Stone Skin and hid on the Green Field Grassland.
• Luna returned to the grassland searching for a divine revelation, then stayed until darkness fell.
• As Luna ran toward her village, she tripped over Ace and fell near an approaching Thunder Leopard.
• Ace, still disguised as a stone, floated up and smashed the Thunder Leopard's head before falling back to the ground.

Luna brought a bloodstained stone head back to her poor home, unaware that it was Ace, who watched over her and learned about the Artemis Kingdom. Ace decided to recover and study the Old Continent, but his efforts to understand the Legendary Skeletal Dragon’s runes stalled beyond his abilities.

• Luna discovered that the bloodstained stone was a hollow head sculpture, carried it home, and survived encounters with Demonic Beasts that collapsed near her.
• Luna ate her last piece of black bread and boiled water, remembering her dead parents and her dream of becoming Divine Chosen as Ace listened.
• Ace learned from the village chief and other villagers that the village lay in the Artemis Region, where night gods’ Divine Chosen shared rule with Divine Nobles.
• Ace decided to restore his magic power, rebuild his body, explore the Old Continent, and advance his death-element runes.
• Ace studied a Legendary Skeletal Dragon’s bone finger and sealed dragon breath, but could not comprehend their Level 3 rune mysteries.