Chapter Summaries

Yavi and Yennefer shared a meal in the camp at Saize, where Yavi used magic to provide better food and quietly gave bread to a hungry child. As night fell, Yavi warned Yennefer that magic was returning but remained too weak to support a proper magical battle, leaving the camp to face an uncertain night.

• A village woman served Yavi and Yennefer thin broth and coarse bread while hungry villagers queued for food.
• Yennefer recalled her painful childhood as she offered Yavi some bread, and Yavi conjured warm soup and fresh food for them.
• Yavi noticed a hungry child and tossed a piece of buttered bread to the child’s mother, who thanked him silently.
• Brand assigned exhausted villagers to guard the camp as night approached.
• Yennefer asked Yavi whether danger would return, and he said he did not know but that magic was recovering too slowly for a proper magical battle.
• Darkness covered the camp and ruined village as the villagers entered an uncertain night.

Yavi detected an enormous ghoul horde closing in on the camp and prepared to face it alone while directing the sorcerers to defend the villagers. The first ghoul lunged at him as the sorcerers began carrying out his orders.

• Yavi heard ghouls approaching from all sides and smelled the horde before anyone else noticed it.
• Yavi warned the night watch, sent the villagers inside, and barred the camp gate.
• Yavi drew the Moonlight Cursed Blade and prepared his shield and Aard Sign as the horde roared and attacked the camp.
• Red spotted the mass of ghouls surrounding the camp, and Brand and the other sorcerers joined him on the lookout platform.
• Yavi ordered the sorcerers to illuminate the area and reinforce the camp's defenses instead of casting offensive spells, while he faced the ghouls alone.
• The first ghoul burst from the darkness and lunged at Yavi's throat.

Yavi fought off the Ghoul horde in the forest, using potions, alchemy, Signs, and his sword to kill or frighten away wave after wave of monsters. After his strongest abilities left him drained, he advanced into the burning Ghouls and continued fighting at close quarters.

• Yavi killed an attacking Ghoul, drank three potions, and readied himself as the horde encircled him.
• Yavi used a Dancing Star bomb and Igni to set the charging Ghouls ablaze, then swept a laser beam through the monsters on his left.
• Yavi unleashed a draconic roar that scattered the remaining Ghouls, though the laser had drained much of his magic.
• Dozens of burning Ghouls broke through the flames and charged Yavi, who advanced and fought them with his sword and close-combat attacks.

Yavi survived the Ghoul swarm, but three Giant Ghouls emerged from the forest and surrounded him. Red and the mages restrained the two smaller monsters, leaving Yavi to face the intelligent leader alone as it prepared to attack.

• Yavi killed the last charging Ghoul and spotted three Giant Ghouls approaching from the forest.
• The ordinary Ghouls fled when the three larger monsters appeared, leaving Yavi alone on the battlefield.
• Yavi ordered Red to hold off the two smaller Giant Ghouls while he fought their leader.
• Red struck the two monsters with stone pillars, while Yennefer froze one and Cahir bound the other to a tree.
• The Giant Ghoul leader ignored its trapped companions and focused its killing intent on Yavi as their confrontation began.

Yavi fought the Giant Ghoul leader, using speed, strength, and an Aard Sign to overcome the monster’s size and ferocity. He left it bleeding out on the battlefield and prepared to deliver a cautious finishing blow as the surrounding creatures and sorcerers watched.

• Yavi dodged the Giant Ghoul leader’s aerial attack and slashed open its abdomen.
• Yavi blocked the wounded leader’s counterattack, enduring its force while the clash worsened the monster’s injury.
• The enraged leader charged again, and Yavi used an Aard Sign to make it slip on the bloodied ground.
• Yavi drove his silver sword through a crack in the leader’s carapace and pierced its chest beneath the ribs.
• Yavi backed away from the dying leader and raised his sword for a cautious finishing blow while the sorcerers watched.

Yavi killed the Giant Ghoul leader after surviving its final attack, then collapsed into exhaustion as Red organized the camp to handle the aftermath. The two remaining Giant Ghouls stayed bound, and the danger had not completely passed.

• The dying Giant Ghoul leader launched a final charge at Yavi, who used Quen to block the blow and dodged aside.
• Yavi decapitated the Giant Ghoul leader with the Lady of the Lake's Sword.
• Yavi leaned on his sword as his wounds, fatigue, and the effects of his potions overwhelmed him.
• Red ordered Cahir to keep the remaining Giant Ghouls bound, Ailiya and others to burn the ordinary Ghouls' corpses, and the camp to tend the wounded and reinforce its defenses.

After Yavi helped repel the Ghoul assault, Yennefer supported him back to camp while Red and the others finished the cleanup. By morning, the Giant Ghouls and most of the remaining Ghouls were dead, and Yavi woke to share soup with Yennefer as the exhausted survivors began repairing their defenses.

• Yavi stopped Yennefer from healing him and let her support him back to camp after the battle.
• Yavi left Red in charge of clearing the remaining Ghouls, and Red promised to report what happened to the academy.
• Yennefer kissed Yavi's forehead before returning to help deal with the Giant Ghouls.
• Yavi listened until the last Ghouls and both Giant Ghouls were silent, then fell asleep from exhaustion.
• The next morning, Yennefer told Yavi that the Giant Ghouls had been killed and Red was reinforcing the defenses.
• Yennefer gave Yavi soup, and they ate quietly together as the survivors recovered.

Yavi and the mages returned to the village to investigate the church after surviving the previous night’s attack. They found no monsters inside, only a dead priest, though Yavi sensed something was not quite right.

• Yavi checked his equipment and confirmed that his supplies and magic had recovered.
• Red ordered the group to return to the church, and Yavi led them through the silent village.
• Yavi detected no monsters near the church, and Red directed the mages to keep their formation as they entered.
• The group found the church interior undisturbed except for a dust-covered corpse in a priest’s robe at the pulpit.
• Yavi sheathed his sword and lowered his defensive sign, but remained uneasy about something he could not identify.

Yavi and the mages searched the church, where a dead priest suddenly attacked Ailiya and Cahir collapsed without any detectable cause. Red ended the mission, and the group returned to the villagers before preparing to teleport back to the academy.

• Yavi and the mages searched the church but found nothing unusual until the priest's corpse rose and lunged at Ailiya.
• Yavi knocked the priest aside with an Aard Sign and burned its body to ash after confirming it showed no detectable signs of magic or life.
• Cahir suddenly choked and collapsed, and Red and Yavi found no toxin, curse, or other cause.
• Yavi advised Red to evacuate, and Red ended the mission and ordered the mages to carry Cahir back to the gathering point.
• Red told the grateful villagers that their squad had to return to the academy, then activated an ancient teleportation array in the village ruins.

Cahir revived as a black, predatory creature and killed a sorceress before revealing that the Ghouls and Bruxae had been guarding the village to keep it contained. After the creature absorbed the sorceress and threatened the group, it targeted Yavi.

• Cahir abruptly rose and stabbed a sorceress in the throat with a black bone blade.
• The creature used black sludge to consume the sorceress’s corpse, while Yavi drew his sword and warned the others to retreat.
• Yavi identified the being as something connected to the entity from the church, and it explained that it had been trapped in the village.
• The creature revealed that the Ghouls and Bruxae had guarded the village and that the group had freed it by killing them.
• The creature threatened the group and singled out Yavi as its next prey.

Yavi and the mages fought Cahir, whose living black substance resisted magic and attacked the group. Cahir targeted Yavi again, and Yavi prepared to meet its charge with his remaining Talismans and sword.

• Cahir attacked Yavi with a black bone blade, and Yavi blocked it using the Rabbit and Ox Talismans.
• Yennefer and the six remaining mages attacked Cahir, but its black armor deflected their magic.
• Cahir revealed that it had devoured two people and inherited their memories, then launched black droplets at everyone.
• Yavi shielded Yennefer with Quen while the other mages defended themselves from the droplets.
• Yavi concluded that the Moonlight Cursed Blade could pierce Cahir's defenses and considered using his unused Talismans.
• Red warned Yavi as Cahir charged him again, and Yavi readied his sword.

Yavi and Red fought Cahir, but it absorbed two sorceresses and grew stronger. Red ordered the apprentices to activate the portal while he and Yavi launched a joint attack on Cahir.

• Yavi overwhelmed Cahir with his swordsmanship and struck it in the chest, causing its black substance to burst apart.
• Cahir's black substance reached two sorceresses, pulled them in, and absorbed them, increasing its strength.
• Red ordered the sorcerer apprentices to activate the portal and retreat while he and Yavi stayed to fight.
• Red attacked from Cahir's left as Yavi struck from its right, forming a pincer attack.
• Cahir reacted faster than Yavi and Red expected and moved to meet their attacks.

Yavi and Red struggled to overcome Cahir’s living black armor, which blocked their attacks and countered on its own. Yavi devised a simultaneous strike to overwhelm its defenses, and he and Red launched their coordinated attack.

• Cahir’s black substance blocked Red’s broadsword and Yavi’s Moonlight Cursed Blade, then counterattacked and forced both men back.
• Yavi and Red recognized that Cahir’s autonomous black armor was the main threat and that Yavi’s cursed blade was their only weapon able to reach its body.
• Cahir adapted by avoiding direct clashes with Yavi’s blade, while repeated attacks from Yavi and Red failed to break through its defenses.
• Yavi told Red that the armor took time to regroup after blocking and planned to strike Cahir’s chest as Red attacked its head.
• Yavi and Red launched simultaneous attacks at Cahir from opposite sides.

Yavi and Red held Cahir back long enough for the teleportation circle to activate, but both were badly injured. Yennefer, Ailiya, Red, and the apprentices escaped, leaving Yavi alone in the ruins to face Cahir until reinforcements arrived.

• Yavi and Red attacked Cahir while Yennefer, Ailiya, and two apprentices charged the teleportation circle.
• Cahir gathered its black substance into a massive whip, sending Yavi flying and breaking Red’s arm and broadsword.
• Yavi used his remaining magic to strike Cahir with Aard, buying the sorcerers enough time to complete the circle.
• Yavi told Yennefer to take Red and the others to safety while he stayed behind to hold Cahir off; Red offered to stay in his place.
• Yennefer, Ailiya, Red, and the apprentices teleported away, leaving Yavi and Cahir alone in the ruins.
• Yavi challenged Cahir to attack him as Cahir covered itself in black substance and declared its hunger.

Yavi faced Cahir alone in the ruined castle and revealed the Demon Breaker, a sword that could destroy the parasitic black substance. After the blade badly wounded Cahir, Yavi prepared to continue their fight.

• Cahir taunted Yavi and offered to preserve him by absorbing him, while Yavi laughed at the idea that Cahir could inherit his experience and instincts.
• Yavi summoned the Demon Breaker and challenged Cahir to round two.
• Cahir charged, but the Demon Breaker burned the black substance when their weapons collided.
• Yavi sliced through the substance on Cahir’s left arm, exposing and scorching Cahir’s original body beneath it.
• Cahir recoiled in fear and demanded to know who Yavi was, while Yavi raised the Demon Breaker and continued the fight.

Yavi nearly killed Cahir with Demon Breaker, but Cahir’s divided black substance encased him in a cocoon and began invading his body. As Yavi lost consciousness, the Tiger Talisman activated its power of balance, and a golden light began to glow inside the cocoon.

• Yavi used Demon Breaker to overwhelm Cahir, burning through its black substance and cutting Cahir in half.
• The black substance split into two entities, and Yavi used Pig Talisman: Laser Eyes to burn through the upper portion’s attack.
• The lower portion climbed onto Yavi, joined with the upper portion, and encased him in a black cocoon.
• As the black substance invaded Yavi and his consciousness faded, the Tiger Talisman activated its power of balance.
• A golden light began to brighten inside the motionless cocoon.

Yavi woke after surviving the black substance and learned that his Monkey Talisman had unlocked and his Pig Talisman had upgraded. With Yennefer, Sicco Jett, and Loriess beside him, he went to report to the Magic Committee about the mission.

• Yavi woke to find Yennefer asleep beside his bed, holding his hand.
• Yavi learned that he had unlocked the Basic Monkey Talisman and upgraded the Pig Talisman to its Intermediate form.
• Yennefer checked that Yavi was awake and recovering, then Sicco Jett and Loriess arrived to examine him.
• Sicco Jett told Yavi and Yennefer to attend an emergency meeting and report on the mission.
• Yavi dressed, noticed his swords were missing, and followed the others to the magic conference room.
• Yennefer reassured Yavi outside the familiar meeting room, and he opened the door.

Yavi reported how he survived Cahir and the black substance to Tissaia’s tribunal, which concluded that Chaos Magic might have consumed the substance and ordered regular observation without restricting his freedom. Tissaia returned Yavi’s swords, and he left the hearing reassured after checking on Red.

• Red reported the mission at Saize Village, including Cahir’s attack and the deaths of his companions, and Ailiya and the other sorceresses confirmed his account.
• Yavi described fighting Cahir alone, being enveloped by the black substance, and losing consciousness, while presenting Laser Eyes as a fire spell he had cast himself.
• Tissaia said the black substance had vanished without a trace, and Sicco Jett proposed that Yavi’s Chaos Magic had rejected or devoured it.
• The tribunal ordered regular observation of Yavi without limiting his freedom, and Tissaia returned the Moonlight Cursed Blade and Demon Breaker to him.
• Yavi asked Red about his injuries, and Red said he and the sorceresses would recover.