Chapter Summaries

Arwen and Freyja fought the Kikimore army and its Queen in the underground hall. After Freyja’s magic restrained the Queen, Arwen upgraded his mutagen, wounded it with toxin, and killed it, leaving the Kikimore army outside Freyja’s barrier.

• Freyja restrained the Kikimore Queen with vines while Arwen held back the charging Kikimore Workers.
• Arwen used Northern Wind Bombs and Aard to freeze and kill the Kikimores, raising his Kikimore Warrior Mutagen acquisition to 1125% and upgrading his mutagen.
• The Queen broke free and attacked Arwen, who dodged its strikes and fought it with Tor Zireael.
• Arwen’s charged sword strike cut into the Queen’s carapace, and Rotthorn Toxin began corroding its wound as Freyja blocked the Kikimore army with a magical barrier.
• Arwen slowed the Queen with Yrden, severed its hind leg, and stabbed its neck, killing it.

Arwen killed the Kikimore Queen and gained the purple Pheromone Domination talent, which let him control insectoid creatures and discover a surviving queen larva in the nest. He bonded with the larva, left with Freyja and the Kikimores at his command, and prepared to deal with the blue-robed wizard who had Earl Rupert’s child.

• Arwen equipped the Kikimore Queen Mutagen, increasing his mental power and gaining Pheromone Domination.
• The Kikimores treated Arwen with wary reverence, and he found and mentally bound a Kikimore Queen larva in the nest.
• Arwen coaxed the larva to hatch and fed it Royal Wyvern meat while Freyja gave him a protective insect cage.
• Arwen told Freyja that he had found Earl Rupert’s child with the blue-robed wizard, then transformed into the wizard’s appearance.
• Arwen used the larva’s pheromones to make the Kikimores clear the exit and left with Freyja, intending to deal with the wizard.

Victor and Rono investigated the frenzied Kikimores, triggering Arwen and Freyja’s trap and exposing the Hydra organization’s plan to perform a ritual. After Arwen and Freyja questioned Victor, a pillar of light rose from the canyon, signaling that the ritual had begun.

• Rono detected a swarm of Kikimores but could not sense the missing Kikimore Queen, so he and Victor entered the burrow.
• Victor and Rono found the frozen, bloodied chamber and discovered that the Kikimore Queen was gone.
• A Dancing Star bomb filled with Eerie Green Flame exploded; Victor used Rono as a shield, then escaped the burrow badly burned.
• Arwen and Freyja confronted Victor, subdued him with dimeritium and magic, and learned that the Hydra Ritual required nine wizards and that Ida Emean was meant to be the god’s vessel.
• A blackish-gray pillar of light and red lightning erupted from the canyon, and Victor laughed that the ritual had begun.

Arwen and Freyja discovered that the ritual had begun early and found Ida Emean imprisoned in its magic formation. Disguised as an envoy, Arwen entered the gathering, but the bishop exposed him, and Arwen began fighting the remaining envoys.

• A black pillar of light triggered fanatical prayers among the villagers, and Earl Rupert led soldiers carrying dimeritium toward the village.
• Arwen killed the hypnotized Victor, then followed Freyja deeper into the canyon and found Ida Emean shackled at the center of a magic formation.
• Arwen disguised himself as the Insect Envoy and approached the other envoys while Freyja planned to get close to Ida Emean.
• The bishop arrived and announced that the ritual was about to begin, then exposed Arwen as the one who had killed Victor and the others.
• Arwen killed the sorceress with his greatsword, while the three remaining envoys used magic to trap and attack him.
• Arwen blocked seven rock spears with an empowered Quen Sign and prepared to counterattack with [Pheromone Domination].

Arwen defeated the bishop’s mages and rejected the bishop’s offer to join his cause, exposing his hypocrisy toward the people under his control. The bishop raised a powerful shield against the Kikimores’ venom and warned Arwen that he would regret refusing him.

• Arwen used poison bombs and the Kikimore Warrior’s ambush to overcome the mages, while Harold was killed by the swarm.
• Arwen shot the gray-robed mage out of the air, and the Kikimores devoured his body as the bishop watched.
• The bishop praised Arwen’s abilities and offered him a place in a movement promising constitutional monarchy and democracy.
• Arwen refused, accusing the bishop of controlling villages and using their people as resources for his ascent to godhood.
• Arwen commanded the Kikimores to attack the bishop with corrosive venom, but the bishop blocked it with a powerful magical shield and warned Arwen he would regret his refusal.

Arwen fought the black-clad bishop, a wizard who split into four elemental doubles, and used the Kikimores, a Dracolizard Golem, and a Dimeritium Bomb to gain the advantage. The chapter ended as the last double defied the bomb’s magic-nullifying effect and destroyed a magic formation.

• The black-clad bishop released insecticide against the Kikimores, but Arwen used [Pheromone Domination] to make the swarm retreat and then attack.
• The black-clad bishop divided into four elemental doubles and bombarded Arwen and the Kikimores with fire, ice, wind, and earth magic.
• Arwen escaped into the forest, summoned a Dracolizard Golem, and hid in mist before ambushing one double and cutting it in two.
• Arwen took the double’s head and crushed it, then detonated a Dimeritium Bomb hidden in the severed body to disrupt the other doubles’ magic.
• Arwen used his silver chain and greatsword to pull down and kill two doubles, but the last one remained airborne inside the bomb’s field and destroyed a magic formation.

Arwen and Freyja destroyed the magic formation, but the black-robed bishop revealed that the ritual could continue and became a vessel for the Hydra Evil God. As the god’s domain suppressed magic, Arwen discovered that Tor Zireael could counter its darkness and fought back, while the Hydra Evil God became determined to take his body.

• Freyja freed Ida Emean and destroyed the magic formation’s core while Arwen attacked the black-robed bishop.
• The mortally wounded bishop revealed that the ritual did not require the surviving emissaries and offered his body for the Hydra Evil God’s descent.
• The Hydra Evil God revived the bishop’s body, drained the villagers and Kikimores, and spread a domain that stopped magic.
• Arwen drank [Thunderbolt], [Blizzard], and [Tawny Owl], then attacked with Tor Zireael and found that its silver light could dissolve the god’s dark energy.
• Arwen struck the Hydra Evil God with a powerful kick and continued attacking as [Deadly Rhythm] triggered; the god decided to devour him and claim his body.

Arwen fought and killed the Hydra evil god with help from the Dracolizard Golem and Ida Emean, but the collapsing portal swept Arwen, Lady Freyja, and Ida Emean away. Earl Rupert arrived at the ruined canyon and ordered his soldiers to search for Baron Arwen.

• Arwen used his sword, bombs, and strength to wound the Hydra evil god, then kept attacking as the god begged for mercy.
• The Hydra evil god tried to escape through a portal, but Ida Emean halted it long enough for Arwen to kill him.
• The system overloaded after Arwen killed the Hydra evil god, and the unstable portal began pulling the canyon into it.
• Arwen recalled the Dracolizard Golem, but the portal swept him, Lady Freyja, and Ida Emean away before collapsing.
• Earl Rupert and his soldiers reached the devastated canyon, and Rupert ordered them to search for Baron Arwen.

After arriving in a primeval forest with injuries from his battle against the Hydra, Arwen installed the Magic Suppression Domain talent and rescued Ida Emean from a group of Giant Centipedes. He found numbered markings on the monsters and returned to Ida, leaving them together in the forest.

• Arwen recovered from the portal journey, checked that the Kikimore Queen larva was safe, and installed the red Magic Suppression Domain talent, which stopped magic within a fifty-meter radius, including his own.
• Arwen followed a scream through the forest and found Ida Emean threatened by a Giant Centipede.
• Arwen used Pheromone Domination and his silver sword to kill the first Giant Centipede, then killed three more with a Northern Wind Bomb after Hydra's curse hindered his swordsmanship.
• Arwen synthesized and installed the Giant Centipede Mutagen, then noticed serial numbers 04 and 07 branded on the monsters' carapaces.
• Arwen returned to Ida Emean, gave her his cloak, and she thanked him.

Arwen and Ida crossed the Kestrel Mountains after the spatial turbulence separated them from their companions, and Ida explained how Arwen might repair Tor Zireael. They reached Morgraig, where Alzur’s Stone Circle reacted to the magic within the ruined witcher headquarters.

• Arwen and Ida escaped the giant centipede’s corpse and camped in the forest, where Ida identified their location as the Kestrel Mountains.
• Ida told Arwen that master dwarven smiths in the Mahakam Mountains could repair Tor Zireael, but the chaotic magic around them prevented portals and magical communication.
• Arwen killed a numbered mutant Slyzard that approached their camp, and Ida recognized it as an experimental monster.
• Arwen and Ida traveled through the ruins and arrived at Morgraig, the former headquarters of the Order of Witchers.
• Arwen noticed bones in Morgraig’s moat, concluded that many remains came from later events, and saw Alzur’s Stone Circle react to the magic inside the castle.

Arwen and Ida rested before approaching Morgraig, and Ida told Arwen that a spring and healing vines in Brokilon might cure the Hydra Evil God's curse. They found Aiden, a wounded School of the Cat witcher, fighting monsters near the castle, and Arwen rescued him.

• Ida persuaded Arwen to wait until morning before entering Morgraig, and they recovered in a nearby cave.
• Ida examined Arwen and said the curse could not be treated with her magic, but Caer a'Muirehen Valley in Brokilon might heal him.
• Arwen and Ida saw Aiden fighting two slyzards and a Giant Thorny Devil Tree on the road to Morgraig.
• Arwen killed one slyzard with a punch, buried the other with vines, and burned the Giant Thorny Devil Tree with Igni.
• Aiden introduced himself as a brother of the School of the Wolf and thanked Arwen for saving his life.

Arwen, Ida, and Aiden reached Morgraig Castle by a hidden route so they could search its laboratory for a mutation formula and other secrets. Arwen gained the Toxin Spores ability after killing three Giant Thorny Devil Trees, and Aiden opened the concealed entrance into the castle.

• Arwen recognized Aiden as a School of the Cat witcher, introduced himself, and joined Ida in treating Aiden's wound before they withdrew from approaching monsters.
• Aiden explained that he had come to Morgraig seeking a flawless School of the Cat mutation formula, and Arwen agreed to work with him in exchange for directions to the laboratory.
• Aiden led Arwen and Ida around the castle to a hidden door, where three Giant Thorny Devil Trees guarded the entrance.
• Arwen silently approached and killed all three trees with a sword strike, then installed their mutagen and gained the Toxin Spores ability.
• Aiden used a steel needle to trigger the concealed mechanism, opening the hidden door into Morgraig Castle.

Arwen, Aiden, and Ida entered Morgraig Castle’s judgment hall and destroyed a pack of Nekkers, including a Nekker Warrior. They discovered the castle was strangely clean, then Arwen caught a Bruxa who claimed to serve a master, whose voice ordered him to release her.

• Arwen led Aiden and Ida through the secret passage into Morgraig Castle’s ruined judgment hall and pointed out the route to the underground laboratory.
• Ida found Nekker tracks, and the group prepared for battle as dozens of Nekkers and a Nekker Warrior emerged from the shadows.
• Ida blinded the Nekkers while Aiden and Arwen fought them; Arwen killed the Nekker Warrior with Rotthorn Toxin, and the group wiped out the pack.
• Arwen installed the Nekker Mutagen and noted the hall was too clean for a castle abandoned for hundreds of years, while Ida and Aiden agreed something was wrong.
• Arwen caught a hidden Bruxa by the throat, and she warned that he had trespassed on her master's territory.
• An unseen voice ordered Arwen to release the Bruxa, his servant.

Arwen fought the higher vampire and its minions in the castle, using poisoned blood, witcher Signs, and swordsmanship to defeat the Bruxae and Fleders. When the higher vampire attacked from the shadows, Arwen turned and struck it with a powerful punch, sending it crashing into a wall.

• The higher vampire demanded that Arwen release his servant and leave the castle, but Arwen killed the Bruxa instead.
• The higher vampire summoned seven Bruxae, and Arwen drank Black Blood and coated his sword with Rotthorn Toxin while Ida Emean exposed the vampires with Light Shield.
• Arwen killed or poisoned several Bruxae, driving the survivors into the shadows as Aiden protected Ida Emean.
• Eight Fleders dropped from the ceiling, and Arwen cut down more than half of them with his silver sword.
• The higher vampire used Shadow Realm Jump to ambush Arwen, but Arwen spun around and punched it into a stone wall.

Arwen drove off the higher vampire, killed the bruxae, and continued with Aiden and Ida Emean into Morgraig’s underground passages. There, the vampire begged him to save Ileira and their unborn child, but a disguised attacker ambushed Arwen, revealing that Aiden was a vampire.

• Arwen wounded the higher vampire, who fled, then killed two bruxae and installed the mutagens from the slain vampires.
• Arwen discovered that Aiden’s injured arm was infected, but Aiden insisted on continuing with him and Ida Emean toward the laboratory.
• The group found a recently killed woman and reached a rune-covered stone door, where the higher vampire waited beside Ileira, whose body was being kept alive by blood bags.
• The higher vampire pleaded with Arwen to save Ileira and their unborn child, offering the Law of Surprise and even his life in exchange.
• A hidden attacker struck Arwen with School of the Cat swordsmanship, and Arwen recognized the technique before accusing Aiden of being a vampire.

Arwen exposed Valerius, a higher vampire who had impersonated Aiden, and defeated him after suppressing his blood magic with [Magic Suppression Domain]. After installing Valerius’s mutagen, Arwen left Ida Emean convinced that a new god was about to be born.

• Arwen explained how he had recognized Valerius’s disguise, and Valerius revealed his true form and admitted that Ileira was real.
• Valerius attacked Arwen and Ida Emean with [Blood Prison], trapping them in a mass of blood tentacles and destroying Tor Zireael.
• Arwen activated [Magic Suppression Domain], dismantled the prison, and battered Valerius until the higher vampire died.
• Arwen received Valerius’s mutagen and installed it, gaining increased mental power and the [Blood Absorption] talent.
• Ida Emean witnessed Arwen’s domain and decided that a new god was about to be born.

Arwen learned how Valerius had killed Ileira Gauser’s family and discovered that Ileira was dying while carrying their child. After Ileira died giving birth to Virona, Arwen and Ida Emean opened Alzur’s laboratory and found the witcher mutation formula and Cosimo Malaspina’s notes.

• Arwen questioned Ileira under the Axii Sign, and she recounted falling in love with Valerius, her father’s attempt to execute him, and the slaughter that followed.
• Ileira revealed that Valerius had kept her imprisoned and had sought Aiden, then asked Arwen and Ida Emean to save her unborn child and name her Virona.
• Ida Emean helped Ileira give birth, but Ileira died; Ida examined the frail baby girl and agreed to raise her.
• Arwen found Alzur’s laboratory in Morgraig and opened its sealed stone door with Alzur’s Stone Circle.
• Arwen and Ida explored the laboratory, where Arwen found Alzur’s witcher mutation notes, a Trial of the Grasses bed, and Cosimo Malaspina’s notes.

Arwen explored Alzur's laboratory, discovered Cosimo Malaspina's records and three living Koshcheys, and used the Juvenile Kikimore Queen and his own magic to subdue them. He learned that a magical triangle concealed Morgraig and decided to keep the laboratory while Ida Emean studied how to leave.

• Arwen found Cosimo Malaspina's notes describing how he and Alzur created the Koshchey through mutation.
• Ida Emean recognized three living Koshcheys in culture vessels and recounted how one had once slaughtered a Basilisk nest and driven off a lesser dragon.
• Arwen brought out the Juvenile Kikimore Queen, then used Axii and [Pheromone Domination] to subdue the largest Koshchey and imprint all three.
• Arwen and Ida Emean explored the laboratory's luxurious facilities, including its magical freezers and living quarters.
• Ida Emean identified the magical triangle that concealed Morgraig and began studying its pattern, while Arwen resolved to keep the laboratory and use the time to develop his abilities and creatures.

After six years of study at Morgraig, Arwen had mastered powerful magic and alchemy and prepared to leave for Temeria, while Ida Emean took Virona back to Dol Blathanna. He departed through a portal, intending to reconnect with his allies and learn what had happened in the Northern Kingdoms.

• Arwen demonstrated Alzur's Thunder against monsters near Morgraig while Ida Emean and Virona watched from the walls.
• Ida Emean reminded Arwen that they had agreed she would take Virona to Dol Blathanna and send word to Francesca, while Arwen returned to his worried friends.
• Ida Emean and Virona said farewell to Arwen and left through a portal.
• Arwen reviewed his six years of progress, including advanced swordsmanship, mental power, spellcasting, and his mastery of alchemy.
• Arwen left the Kikimore Queen and three koshcheys at Morgraig, then considered the risks of using Alzur's Double Cross.
• Arwen opened a portal and departed to contact Kaer Morhen and Temeria and investigate the Northern Kingdoms.

Arwen traveled to a Redanian town, learned that a basilisk was troubling the eastern woods, and tracked down the witchers hunting it. Aiken and Lambert killed one basilisk in its cave, but heavy footsteps revealed that something larger was approaching.

• Arwen arrived west of the Kestrel Mountains and entered a tavern, where he heard rumors of a monster in the eastern forest.
• Arwen paid a serving girl for information and learned that the creature was a basilisk and that a witcher had been hired to hunt it.
• Arwen traveled toward the alder woods, collected alchemical herbs, and sensed two mutated men inside a cave.
• Aiken and Lambert entered the cave, fought a basilisk, and killed it with their swords and Signs.
• Aiken heard heavy footsteps coming from deeper in the cave, and Lambert prepared to face the approaching creature.