Chapter Summaries

Ace and Mirror Ace prepared an ambush in an underground performance hall before exploring the Central High Tower. Inside the tower, Mirror Ace discovered that its machines could drain magic power, mental power, and even souls.

• Ace and Mirror Ace returned from the underground city and planned to explore the Central High Tower the next day.
• Ace hunted Demonic Beasts for resentful soul powder, then meditated to restore his magic and mental power.
• Ace and Mirror Ace laid traps in the performance hall, concealing its magical fluctuations and preparing spells to attack an unknown explorer.
• Ace set up Magic Glycerin tubes near the Central High Tower while Mirror Ace led Demonic Beasts inside and examined the tower's machinery.
• Mirror Ace tested a Spiral Wind Blade against a machine, then touched it and discovered that it drained magic power, mental power, and souls.

Ace examined a gear fragment that siphoned supernatural power, while Mirror Ace investigated the tower’s grinding disk and discovered it consumed magic, life force, and souls to produce liquid that replenished the blazing fireball. As Mirror Ace was ambushed on the stairs, Main Body Ace spotted a giant enemy standing on a nearby building.

• Mirror Ace broke off a gear fragment, and Main Body Ace tested its magic-draining effect before sealing it in a lead box.
• Mirror Ace explored the tower’s lava-like liquid and found that a grinding disk turned bones into the liquid while consuming magic, life force, and souls.
• Mirror Ace saw the liquid erupt in flames that connected to and replenished the blazing fireball above the tower.
• A black broken blade attacked Mirror Ace as he descended the tower, and he dodged the strike and prepared to defend himself.
• Main Body Ace used concealed perception spells while transformed into an iron nail and identified a giant man on a nearby building as the attacker’s likely source.

Mirror Ace fought Fearless Hercules Milne, using layered defenses, a powerful wind blade, and a decoy explosion to injure him before Hercules killed him. Mirror regenerated and trapped Hercules with magic crystal weapons and Magic Glycerin tubes, leaving the fight unresolved.

• Fearless Hercules Milne attacked Mirror Ace with a black broken blade, overwhelming him with extraordinary martial techniques while Main Body Ace analyzed his combat skills.
• Mirror Ace trapped Hercules in five layers of magic crystal rings and struck him with a Great High Whirlwind Blade, grinding Hercules's left arm to fragments.
• Hercules broke free, attacked Mirror Ace, and killed him by crushing his head, but Mirror Ace had used an exploding decoy to survive the blow.
• Mirror Ace regenerated his head, then pinned Hercules temporarily with magic crystal weapons and sent nearly a thousand Magic Glycerin tubes to engulf his legs.

Mirror Ace was destroyed by Hercules the Fearless, and Ace absorbed the returning soul-fragment information while remaining hidden. After Hercules freed the souls trapped in the millstone, Ace attacked him with a tracking flameblast to draw him into a prepared trap.

• A black broken blade carrying a severed palm killed Mirror Ace, who marked the palm before his soul fragments returned to Ace and he dissolved into red liquid.
• Ace hid as a rusty iron nail and watched Hercules regenerate from the severed palm, destroy the red liquid, and boast that he had defeated the blasphemer.
• Ace analyzed Hercules's combat abilities and learned from his words that Nicholas of the Fire Thief Alliance had survived and buried Punisher Organization Heroes.
• Hercules shattered the millstone and freed the captured souls; his father's spirit comforted him before entering the black broken blade.
• As the underground city's dome faltered, Ace used an Illusion Barrier and fired a tracking flameblast at Hercules, who dodged as more shells closed in.

Ace used illusions, magic, and the Steel Firmament itself to wear down and injure Hercules, then taunted him into pursuing. Hercules recovered from the fireball’s devastating blow and chased Ace in uncontrollable fury.

• Ace’s Book Spirit recorded Hercules’s combat techniques while Ace attacked him with Flameburst Bombs and illusions.
• Hercules resisted Ace’s illusions with help from his black blade, found Ace, and was trapped briefly in a magic crystal sphere before breaking free.
• Ace fled toward Steel City’s center, used an imperfect Magic Glycerin tube as a decoy, and flew to the Steel Firmament.
• Ace’s Super-Powerful Subsonic Resonance shook the Steel Firmament and caused a blazing fireball to fall, destroying Hercules’s lower body before it regenerated.
• Ace taunted Hercules from the air, and the furious Hercules chased after him.

Ace lured the enraged Hercules into the abandoned performance hall and trapped him in a lethal ambush. After Hercules’s body was destroyed, a flash of starlight purified his soul and carried it away, while Ace sealed the severed finger in a crystal box.

• Ace amplified Hercules’s fury with the Illusion Barrier, then slowed his pursuit with crystal obstacles as Hercules gathered magic power and unleashed a devastating crimson attack.
• Ace protected himself with layered Crystal Protection Rings, escaped into the performance hall, and disguised himself as a thumbtack while Hercules smashed into the building.
• Ace activated the hall’s rune arrays, and crystal chains pinned Hercules in place as Ace triggered Magic Glycerin tubes and the Soul Burst array before fleeing.
• The black broken blade cut off one of Hercules’s fingers and sent it outside, where Ace sealed it inside a crystal box using Advanced Magic Trick.
• The explosion destroyed Hercules’s body, and the Soul Burst array’s vengeful spirits attacked his soul until starlight from the black blade purified him and carried him away.

Ace escaped the collapsing underground city with Hercules's severed finger and returned toward the Northern Territory Fortress, where he read the Book Spirit's copies about the predecessor civilization. He learned how Augustine's empire rose and transformed its population into divine descendants, while his research discoveries and gains awaited study.

• Ace preserved Hercules's severed finger and escaped the underground city, surviving several days beneath the earth before emerging in the Lar Mountains.
• Ace assessed his gains, then traveled toward the Northern Territory Fortress while hunting weaker Demonic Beasts and avoiding stronger ones.
• Ace read The Chronicles of the Agustin Empire and learned that Augustine, son of God-King Knoans and a Legendary Hero, rose from exile to lead the tribes and repel demonic invasions.
• Augustine unified the Kaya Continent and ruled the empire through successive technological ages, eventually reaching the Steam Age.
• Augustine adopted Divine-Blood Universalization, and over several centuries the empire's population became almost entirely divine-blooded, enabling people to operate mana-infused machinery.

Ace read about the Agustin Empire’s collapse before reaching Mount Baal, while Daina led surviving Enchanting Wizard Apprentices in a fight against the legion. Daina killed their Hero-class captain with her newly developed magic, leaving her group’s survival uncertain.

• Ace read how the Agustin Empire’s Emperor became a demigod through a symbiosis with a mechanical giant, though the empire still collapsed, then continued toward Mount Baal.
• Ace reached Mount Baal and synchronized with the Signal Tower to learn what had changed during the past half year.
• Daina, wearing Ace’s iron mask, led several dozen Enchanting Wizard Apprentices through the Lar Mountains, using the magic book’s Fellow Traveler function to find survivors and evade the legion.
• Daina’s group surrounded a legion camp and killed sleeping soldiers before charging the alerted Divinely Inspired.
• Daina used her improved Electric Tremor Activation spell and Daina Steel Fist Style to fight the Hero-class captain, then trapped and devoured him with blood-red magic crystal liquid.

After the Enchanting Wizard Apprentices were exposed and hunted, Ace resolved to infiltrate the Northern Territory Fortress in disguise and find a safe place for his apprentices. As Borg’s caravan approached the fortress, Ace recognized old acquaintances among its travelers, including Bayern, who had discovered that Tsimari’s residents were mermen.

• Daina defeated the attackers, and Sulu and the other surviving apprentices cheered her while Polina escorted her away.
• Ace learned that the legion had launched an extermination campaign against the Enchanting Wizard Apprentices, whose relatives and friends had been detained and watched.
• Ace decided to investigate the fortress and his underground laboratory, then disguised himself as a stone and waited near a road fork.
• Borg’s caravan neared the fortress, while Donna openly pursued Ancesta and he rejected her advances.
• Ace sensed that Ancesta and Bayern were in the caravan; Bayern had traveled north after discovering Tsimari’s secret, that its residents were mermen.

Bayern and Ancesta arrived at the Northern Territory Fortress with Borg’s caravan as persecution of wizard apprentices intensified. Ace sent a warning through their spellbooks and waited in hiding, considering whether to gather the apprentices and evacuate.

• Bayern secretly observed Ancesta practicing the Heart Intent Flow and seeking to unite his knightly creed of Mercy with innate magic power.
• Borg presented his pottery pass and bribed Captain Soron, who warned him that the fortress was hunting Devil Worshippers.
• Ancesta and Bayern saw wanted notices for Enchanting Wizard Apprentices and realized that apprentices were being targeted.
• Ace linked his spellbook to the city’s Signal Tower and sent apprentices warnings to conceal their magic power and avoid contact.
• Bayern and Ancesta received Ace’s message, while Ace slipped away from the caravan as an iron nail and waited for night.

Arno and Auli formed a magic covenant, while Bayern learned that the city-state was hunting wizard apprentices and their families. Ace reflected on the danger of his carelessness and resolved to move the remaining apprentices once he had investigated further.

• Arno practiced the Heart Intent Flow and fighting techniques before Auli asked him to explore the road of magic with her.
• Auli used her saved crystals to make Arno her junior, and they formed a covenant under the Golden Scales.
• A message appeared in Auli's magic book, leaving her deathly pale as she clung to Arno.
• Ancesta left the merchant caravan to find Arno, while Bayern stayed in the market to seek a target and received a notice that the magic book would update.
• Ace infiltrated legion officers' homes, learned the city-state intended to exterminate wizard apprentices and imprison their families, and resolved to relocate the remaining apprentices after investigating.

Arno and Auli received Ancesta’s warning to learn Magic Power Fluctuation Concealment, while Ace secretly checked his underground laboratory and created a new mirror image. The chapter left Ace preparing to lead the war against the Divine Descendants, with some of his emotions entrusted to the mirror image to shield himself from the strange whispers.

• Ancesta woke Arno and Auli, led them out of the relief home, and warned them to learn Magic Power Fluctuation Concealment to stay alive.
• Ace questioned soldiers near the hospital and learned that Dickens Rona oversaw its defenses and inspected it frequently.
• Ace entered the hospital in disguise, confirmed his warning runes were untouched, and inspected and cleaned his underground laboratory.
• Ace prepared new materials and modified the ritual arrays before performing the Mirror Ritual, which created a mirror image bearing some of his emotions.
• Ace meditated to restore his mental power and synchronized with the mirror image, then resolved to lead the war against the Divine Descendants.

Ace realized his Meditation Method could no longer advance his mental power, and he began analyzing how to recreate the conditions that had once let him advance. When Mirror Ace investigated Jeanne at Ace’s request, he discovered she had disappeared, deepening Ace’s suspicion that she might be connected to the Dark Clergy.

• After failing to stabilize a three-dimensional spell model, Ace concluded that his Soul Space needed time to recover and that the Advanced Wizard Apprentice Meditation Method no longer sufficed to increase his mental power.
• Mirror Ace reported that his abilities had reached above 1 scale and asked whether he could try opening a Soul Space.
• Ace and Mirror Ace analyzed the external and internal conditions of Ace’s past advancement and planned to recreate them, but Ace told Mirror Ace to investigate Jeanne through Soron instead.
• Mirror Ace searched for Jeanne in Sharp’s appearance, but Soron revealed that she had gone out to buy wine and had been missing for half a month.
• Mirror Ace left warning rune arrays at Soron’s home and recalled Jeanne’s angry defense of ordinary people, which made him suspect she might be connected to the Dark Clergy.
• Ace’s unease grew as he considered Jeanne’s disappearance and the Dark Clergy’s attacks on villages across the Northern Frontier.

Mirror Ace investigated the fortress, suspected Dark Clergy had infiltrated it, and disguised himself as the resident doctor while Bayern searched for a way to obtain a legal identity. The chapter ended with Bayern finding a suitable person to replace.

• Main Body Ace told Mirror to monitor the fortress and postpone helping Daina until after relocating the laboratory.
• Auli insisted that Arno study mathematics so he could advance in magic, while Ancesta watched them with a wistful smile.
• Mirror Ace reviewed reports of apprentices being captured and killed, then saw evidence of a strange ritual that led him to suspect Dark Clergy had infiltrated the fortress.
• Mirror Ace captured Puchou, took his appearance, and began treating patients at the hospital.
• Bayern left the caravan, decided to seek a hidden group of Wizard Apprentices and a legal identity, and found a suitable target after several days of searching.

Bayern hid in York’s home under the identity of Lazy York and reflected on how he had stolen Anazil’s Dice after infiltrating a Merfolk tribe. The chapter left Bayern newly rested and preparing to leave, with the artifact and his stolen identity in hand.

• Bayern knocked out York, imprisoned him in a concealed cellar, took his blood, and transformed into him.
• Bayern meditated using his enhanced rune structure, then examined Anazil’s Dice, an artifact he had stolen from the Merfolk.
• Bayern recalled surviving a shipwreck, infiltrating a Merfolk tribe, and studying its language, customs, and Water Attribute Demonic Beasts.
• Bayern developed multiple water-attribute spells by experimenting with density runes, including Water Mist Technique and Heavy Water Missile.
• Bayern recalled how an old Merfolk priest chose him as an attendant, giving him access to Anazil’s Dice, which he stole before escaping.

Mirror Ace studied Bayern’s Water Element runes and developed a healing spell that could restore bodies and souls while accelerating plant growth. He mourned the Enchanting Wizard Apprentices killed while gathering information, vowed to avenge them, and considered Bayern as a possible emissary for the Wizard Organization.

• Bayern used Anazir's Dice to evade pursuit and reach the Northern Frontier, where he studied the die and tried to replicate and degrade its Soul Runes.
• Mirror Ace examined Bayern’s research and tested a Water Element Nourishment spell, finding that it healed injured Demonic Beasts and accelerated the growth of plant-type Demonic Beasts.
• Mirror Ace combined the Nourishment Rune with an auxiliary rune and developed a mature lesser spell, which he named “Lesser Potent Nourishment.”
• Mirror Ace noted that more than six hundred Enchanting Wizard Apprentices had been wiped out, while Daina led the remaining survivors in guerrilla fighting near the Lar Mountains.
• Mirror Ace vowed to remember and avenge the fallen, declared Ace the Firebearer, and planned to test whether purified soul powder would improve his new spell.

Ace read about Moon-worshipping Wolves while recovering, then tested a spell that slightly restored his injured soul. Meanwhile, Bayern sought promising apprentices and became absorbed in rune research, ending with renewed determination after nearly exhausting his spiritual power.

• Main Body Ace read that Moon-worshipping Wolves in the Salia Jungle could draw on the moon's power and considered observing them after he recovered.
• Mirror Ace tested Lesser Potent Nourishment with purified soul powder on injured Demonic Beasts, confirmed it worked, and cast it on Main Body Ace with only a slight effect.
• Main Body Ace concluded that lesser runes were too weak and that they needed to derive the Water Element Series' Soul Runes, so Mirror Ace began the work with the Book Spirit.
• Bayern searched the fortress for possible wizard apprentices by day and meditated by night, resolving to gather researchers who could explore the fundamental questions about magic and runes.
• Bayern studied Anazir's Dice until he nearly exhausted his spiritual power and spat blood, then recovered through meditation and vowed not to overexert himself again.

Bayern degraded several Soul Runes and tested them, discovering that one spell let him perceive magic power through colored glows. He developed several more rune-based spells, including ones for tracking, heightened perception, and predicting an enemy’s movements.

• Bayern copied Soul Runes into degraded forms and tested one on Lazy York and himself, finding that it made him clear-headed and revealed colored glows around people.
• Bayern hypothesized that the glows represented magic power concentration and tested the spell on Anazir's Dice, which briefly emitted blinding golden light.
• Bayern refined the spell into Lesser Magic Sensitivity and recorded the glow colors he had observed for ordinary people, Divine Nobles, heroes, and Great Heroes.
• Bayern derived Lesser Super Vision, Lesser Tracking, Lesser Guidance, Lesser Insight, and Lesser Prediction runes and combined them into effective spell models.
• Bayern developed Lesser Super Vision Guidance Missile, Lesser Insight Perception, and Lesser Enemy First Strike, while postponing further work on a more complex missile spell.

Mirror Ace reverse-engineered the Water Element Soul Rune and helped Main Body Ace activate a Nourishing Magic Array to heal his damaged soul and Soul Space. Meanwhile, Bayern detected mysterious black-and-red lights in the fortress and grew concerned that danger was approaching.

• Mirror Ace used the Book Spirit and the mental imprint network to reverse-engineer the Water Element Soul Rune, then discussed how he would reveal himself as the Firebearer to selected apprentices.
• Main Body Ace and Mirror Ace built and activated a Soul Rune-level Nourishing Magic Array, which sent restorative energy into Main Body Ace.
• Bayern used Lesser Magic Sensitivity to spot faint traces from concealed apprentices and discovered strange black-and-red lights among people entering a wealthy man's home.
• Bayern suspected the figures might be Dark Clergy and decided he should warn the apprentices and leave the fortress if necessary.
• Bayern encountered Borg's caravan, flattered Donna after she challenged his stare, and watched her depart while she spoke of wanting to see Mr. Ancesta again.

Betty, a gifted wizard apprentice and inventor, prepared to introduce her friend Donna to magic after earning enough points for a new magic book. Borg brought Donna to the Chief Official's villa, where Betty greeted them.

• Bayern noticed a faint magical glow on Donna and suspected it was connected to the wizard apprentices or Ace.
• Betty celebrated taking first place in the exams and planned to bring Donna into the world of magic.
• Betty worked on recreating machines from a previous civilization, while the Enchantment Enthusiasts Research Society pursued other enchantment projects.
• Ace planned trials for wizard apprentices who wanted to join his Wizard Academy.
• Betty spent one thousand points on a new magic book and prepared a surprise for Donna.
• Borg brought Donna to the Chief Official's villa, where the Chief Official welcomed him and Betty greeted them with a curtsy.