Chapter Summaries

Linden studied the Sun Stone and the Book of Miracles while Julia remained imprisoned, and the Mushroom Garden’s residents continued their preparations. The Kingdom’s diplomatic mission reached a deserted town after crossing Scarecrow Abyss, where Adventurers waited uneasily for someone to investigate.

• Linden decided to leave Julia in her cell for now, where she could strengthen her faith in the Puji God, and kept Emergency Hotline No. 12 available in case of trouble.
• Linden learned how to actively activate the Sun Stone and studied the Book of Miracles, which described Abyss Rituals and a method for making wishes by finding Concept Anchors in the Abyss.
• Piggy trained against the former Half-Demon leader, Linden upgraded Norris’s Jida and gave Norris new abilities, and Spark, the Yellow Book, and Torin continued work at Fungal Fortress.
• Inanna’s diplomatic mission crossed Scarecrow Abyss and reached a thriving but deserted town where Adventurers had looted the shops and gathered in a tavern, unwilling to scout ahead.

The envoy found a nearly deserted town and learned that its residents had vanished within the past week, with few signs of a struggle. Number Ten later discovered a human cult conducting a ritual nearby, and Sword Saint Puji recognized it as the Hand of Passing and eagerly prepared to act.

• Inanna's envoy entered the deserted town, where a warrior and a mage explained that its residents had disappeared within the past week and that the potion shop showed signs of fighting.
• Ronan questioned the warrior and mage, heard several unconfirmed rumors about the disappearance, and ordered the envoy to continue onward.
• Sword Saint Puji sensed a figure carrying unrestrained malice, but Number Ten secretly followed it instead.
• Number Ten returned with bloodstains and reported that black-robed people were performing a ritual in a nearby gully, while their leader had noticed it.
• Number Ten advised against attacking the cult because it posed no apparent threat to the envoy, but Sword Saint Puji identified it as the Hand of Passing and welcomed the chance to fight.

Aurora tortured captives at the Hand of Passing’s camp, while Seral defended using ruthless outsiders as tools to complete the goddess’s sacrifices. After Number Ten Puji’s discovery brought Inanna St. Clair’s forces near, Seral ordered a retreat, and Aurora returned to kill a captive, but her knife was abruptly stopped by an unseen arrival.

• Aurora tortured a captive until Charon intervened, healed him, and condemned her cruelty as contrary to the Hand of Passing’s teachings.
• Charon challenged Seral for permitting Aurora’s blasphemy, and Seral said he needed her and other outsiders to complete the sacrifices before purifying them.
• Seral spotted Number Ten Puji, who escaped after losing two tentacles, while a scout reported that Inanna St. Clair’s force had crossed the Scarecrow Abyss.
• Seral ordered the believers to abandon the camp and leave the captives behind, but Aurora slipped away from the retreat and returned to the basement.
• Aurora moved to kill the captive, but her knife rang against something and broke, leaving only its hilt in her hand as a strange sound came from behind her.

Sword Saint Puji pursued the cultists, rescued their captives, and defeated Seral, a Blessed One. The survivors thanked Inanna, and Eugene offered his service to her.

• Sword Saint Puji cut off Aurora’s arms and freed the imprisoned man, who picked up her poisoned cross-spikes and approached her.
• Inanna sent Cave Four to check on Sword Saint Puji while Number Ten stayed to guard her.
• Sword Saint Puji caught up with the cultists, and Seral ordered Charon to scatter the group before confronting it alone.
• Sword Saint Puji fought Seral, severed the part of its body tainted by his blue flames, and killed him.
• Sword Saint Puji and Cave Four returned to Inanna with a group of rescued survivors.
• Eugene, a poison master, thanked Inanna and offered to devote the rest of his life to her service.

After Fourteen saved the captives from Seral's cultists, the envoy continued toward the Elf Forest with Eugene among its members. At the border, the group encountered Echo and a Puji who turned out to be Cave Four's brother.

• Seral's order to scatter let some cultists escape, while Eugene stayed behind and joined the envoy after Sword Saint Puji rescued him.
• Eugene poisoned himself to complete parasitism and communicate through the Mycelium Network, earning Sword Saint's praise.
• Cave Four envied Fourteen's fame and decided it would charge ahead of Fourteen the next time danger arose.
• The envoy reached the Elf Forest border, where Eugene noticed elves had surrounded the group.
• Echo emerged with a round Puji perched on his head, and he regarded Fourteen as a possible threat.
• The Puji jumped down as Cave Four sprang from Inanna's arms, and the two greeted each other as brothers.

Number One told Fourth Brother how Number Two had taken the Northern Territory representative position and asked whether his recruitment efforts were succeeding. Meanwhile, Inanna and the envoy saw how Puji had become part of elven life, though the elves were also controlling the spread of Fungal Carpet, and the group waited while leaders discussed forest ecology.

• Number One told Fourth Brother that Number Two had won their contest after Cave Thirteen betrayed his side, leaving Number One exiled to the Elf Forest.
• Number One asked whether Fourth Brother had successfully drawn over Pink Puji and Number Ten, and Fourth Brother said things were going fairly smoothly.
• Inanna and the envoy entered the Elf Forest and saw its distinct Puji culture, while Sword Saint Puji worried about exposing his identity to old acquaintances.
• Elven authorities used Nature Magic to clear Fungal Carpet from parts of the forest.
• The envoy rested in a royal palace side hall while the elven leaders attended a meeting about forest balance and controlling Fungal Carpet.

Queen Galadriel’s council debated the Fungal Carpet’s ecological damage, underground tunnels, and the difficulty of controlling its spread, while Druids worried about growing support for studying and accepting it. After the council assigned the Druids to devise a control plan, Galadriel went to meet the visiting delegation and found herself staring at the armed Puji in Inanna’s arms.

• Young council members defended the Delicious Mushrooms, but an elderly Druid warned that the Fungal Carpet had displaced native plants and made the forest less diverse.
• Salian revealed the vast network of tunnels dug by the Puji beneath the Elf Forest, raising fears about security despite their reinforcement of the soil.
• The council discussed fire, Druid magic, and Number One Puji as possible ways to control the Fungal Carpet, but found no practical solution.
• Linden allowed the elves to test their own methods, while Slimes on the western coast ate the Fungal Carpet and its tunnels.
• The council tasked the Druid group with drafting a prevention and control plan, as two Druid representatives worried that dissenting Druids were forming a new research society.
• Galadriel went to the delegation to announce the formal talks and became fixated on the four-sword Puji in Inanna’s arms.

Galadriel became fixated on Four-Sword Puji and joined Inanna in searching for it while the delegations negotiated cooperation. Elwin, reborn as Sword Saint Puji, was seized by other Pujis and faced an unwanted hug from Galadriel and Inanna.

• Galadriel found that Four-Sword Puji lingered in her thoughts after meeting Inanna’s delegation.
• The Kingdom and Elf Forest argued over defensive aid and access to the missing Hero’s party.
• Inanna told Galadriel that Fourteen had defeated cultists near Scarecrow Abyss and offered to teach her how to hug a Puji.
• Elwin mourned the deaths of Aurell and himself before Number One and Cave Four restrained him at the Fungal Lord’s order.
• Inanna found Fourteen with Galadriel and reached for him, prompting Elwin to decide that the Lord of Puji was evil.

Inanna taught Galadriel how to handle Pujis, and Linden persuaded Sword Saint Puji to let Galadriel keep him for a day. After a dream made Galadriel see a resemblance between Fourteen and the dead Elwin Slayne, the chapter shifted to the Silver Thorn Squad struggling to save the unconscious Ivan, as a Puji quietly emerged from under his bed.

• Inanna demonstrated how to rub a Puji, and Number One warned Cave Four that Pujis who did not work hard could become playthings.
• Galadriel asked to take Sword Saint Puji with her, and Linden guilted him into agreeing.
• Galadriel dreamed that Elwin Slayne had become a Puji, then woke and decided she wanted to keep Fourteen nearby.
• The Silver Thorn Squad learned that Ivan's overmagic would likely cause brain death within a month, despite their efforts to treat him.
• Night Owl proposed seeking a potion in Isildorin, but Nova doubted there was time to make the trip.
• A Puji quietly crawled out from under Ivan's bed.

Linden secretly entered Ivan’s dream to investigate his prolonged unconsciousness and discovered an immense library filled with magical knowledge. After studying there through the night, Linden learned to cast a spell without a Magic Crystal, revealing a new understanding of [Metamagic].

• Linden used [Mental Guidance] to enter Ivan’s dream and found him endlessly reading in a vast circular library.
• Linden and several Pujis read the library’s books, discovering that its organized magical knowledge grew more complex higher up the shelves.
• Nova tended to the unconscious Ivan while Silver Thorn Squad continued searching for a remedy.
• Linden tested what he had learned and cast Illumination Art without a Magic Crystal, despite Puji having only one magic Node.
• Linden realized that [Metamagic] might reveal the essence of magic.

Linden rewarded Number Ten for its diligence by transferring soul power to strengthen it for a rare magical-learning opportunity. He then turned to securing a lasting identity for Ivan, whose dwindling mental strength made their nightly library visits unsustainable, as a cloaked figure stopped an Elf Night Owl in an alley.

• Linden had Number Ten study the Elf Royal Palace library’s books, where it rapidly absorbed material beyond magic texts.
• Linden praised Number Ten’s initiative and offered it a choice of a magical-knowledge opportunity or material resources, and Number Ten chose the opportunity.
• Linden transferred part of his soul power through a Sun Stone to increase Number Ten’s mental strength before its next trip to the Super Magic Library.
• Linden considered how to give Ivan a proper identity that would let him remain in the Silver Thorn Squad’s courtyard and avoid the risks of nightly library visits.
• In a secluded alley in Norwid, a cloaked figure stopped a female Elf Night Owl as she passed over a wall.

Orcas offered to awaken Ivan in exchange for a favor from the Silver Thorn Squad, using Mycelium parasitism and a diluted Water of Life potion to restore Ivan’s physical health. The next day, Orcas returned with the spiritually sublimated Number Ten Ji, leaving Ivan’s remaining mental treatment ahead.

• Night Owl brought Orcas to the Silver Thorn Squad, where he offered to risk his life to treat Ivan and asked for a favor if he succeeded.
• Night Owl tasted Orcas’s potion, found it rich in pure life energy, and the squad agreed to owe the Mushroom Worship Cult a favor if Ivan woke.
• Orcas made Ivan a Puji Master and gave him the diluted Water of Life, visibly improving Ivan’s physical condition.
• The next day, Orcas brought the spiritually sublimated Number Ten Ji to the squad’s courtyard.

Number Ten absorbed the Super Magic Library’s knowledge while shielding Ivan from it, and the envoys finalized an agreement with the elves before leaving Elf Forest. In the Sacred Tree Dungeon, a male elf emerged and hurried away, but a Puji called out to him.

• Number Ten expanded its consciousness to absorb books throughout the Super Magic Library and sealed Ivan’s mage consciousness inside itself to cut off his connection to the knowledge overwhelming him.
• The Kingdom and the elves agreed to allow limited, non-coercive contact between the elves and the Hero, while publicly announcing cooperation on a new defensive line and other exchanges.
• Galadriel failed to persuade Fourteen to stay in Elf Forest, and Elwin left with the envoy group after reflecting on his feelings for her.
• A male elf appeared in the deepest part of the Sacred Tree Dungeon and hurried away, but a Puji called out to him before he could escape.

Linden confronted Sirian, the Sacred Tree, and bargained for help studying Abyss Magic safely. Sirian gave him a way to relocate an abandoned Abyss Space, then asked Linden to find Vera and his squad, who were likely near the West Coast.

• Linden recognized Sirian as the Sacred Tree and threatened to reveal his identity to Vera unless he helped.
• Linden demanded a divine artifact, then other favors, but Sirian rejected them and suggested using an abandoned Abyss Space for his experiments.
• Sirian gave Linden instructions and coordinates for moving the connection to an independent Abyss Space fragment, located within the Empire.
• Sirian asked Linden where Vera and his squad were, but Linden could not find them and guessed they were active near the West Coast.
• Linden promised to search for Vera, and Scout Pujis began searching the Kingdom's Fallen Zone.

Vera, Feiling, and Feiyin searched the mountain forest for missing adventurers and clues about Sirian, but found a Succubus instead. They ambushed Mengya as she mourned the Goblin companion taken by unknown captors, leaving Vera’s blade at her throat.

• Vera killed a Slime while Feiling collected its core, and the sisters found no trace of Sirian nearby.
• The three recalled that Sirian had disappeared after saving them from the mist and explained they had returned to search for Anton’s missing squad.
• Feiling heard a sound, and Feiyin used pink powder to mask their mana as they approached it.
• They discovered Mengya plucking thorns from a vine and muttering that she would not save Stinky Fish, who had been taken by captors.
• An arrow struck Mengya, and Vera pressed her curved blade to the Succubus’s neck before she could draw her dagger.

Vera, Feiling, and Feiyin learned from Mengya that an evil cult was holding captives in an Abandoned Church, including her Goblin partner Stinky Fish and possibly the missing adventurers. After Mengya detonated an Explosive Arrow to draw cultists away, the group crept toward the church, while Scout Puji sensed the blast and headed into the forest.

• Mengya surrendered and revealed that humans and Demon Race scouts had disappeared near an evil cult’s stronghold, where her partner Stinky Fish had been captured.
• Vera’s group found the Abandoned Church and spotted more than thirty cultists of mixed races inside and around it.
• Vera spared Mengya and sent her to detonate an Explosive Arrow, while Feiyin used Tracking Powder to monitor her.
• Mengya set off the arrow, drawing nine cultists away from the church, and Vera, Feiling, and Feiyin crept toward it.
• Scout Puji sensed the explosion with Vibration Sense and darted into the mountain forest to investigate.

Linden’s Scout Puji fought a dark green Slime with the Familiar status, drawing nearby Cultists into a chaotic battle. Meanwhile, Mengya followed a fleeing Cultist, and Feiling discovered Vera and Feiyin were facing Jini, now a Diamond Rank Priest, as she prepared a ritual with captives.

• Scout Puji found a dark green Slime that evaded its Mushroom Cannon and damaged its cap with a poisoned strike.
• Linden and the Slime fought fiercely, and nine Cultists arriving at the blast site were caught in the battle; one died after being hit by a Mushroom Cannon.
• Mengya returned to observe the chaos and quietly followed a wounded Cultist who fled from the fight.
• Feiling scouted the Abandoned Church and found Anton and other captives bound around a ritual array, along with a terrified Goblin.
• Jini sensed Vera and Feiyin hiding and invited them to join the ritual, revealing that she had reached Diamond Rank.

Vera and his companions fought Jini’s Cultists in the Abandoned Church until Jini’s fear-inducing magic incapacitated nearly everyone. Vera recovered and killed the staff-wielding Cultist, while the Slime defeated Scout Puji—only to find itself surrounded by three more Scout Pujis.

• Feiling, Vera, and Feiyin fought Jini’s Cultists, but the staff-wielding Cultist overwhelmed Vera and disrupted their teamwork.
• Jini unleashed a ring of ghostly blue light that trapped the fighters in illusions of their greatest fears; Vera broke free and found the staff-wielding Cultist holding him at bay.
• A mind-controlled Cultist charged the staff-wielder, giving Vera an opening to rise and drive his curved blade into the Cultist’s chest.
• Vera checked on Feiling and Feiyin as Jini retreated, while the watching Succubus Mengya hesitated outside the church.
• The Slime defeated Scout Puji but, while trying to consume the fallen opponent, was surrounded by three more Scout Pujis.

After Jini fled, Vera helped the exhausted adventurers escape the Abandoned Church and negotiated for Mengya and Stinky Fish to leave unharmed. As the group departed, Linden noticed Vera’s newly appeared Virtue of Sacrifice and decided to pursue him for an experiment.

• Vera stopped the waking adventurers from attacking Mengya and Stinky Fish, and Anton persuaded his companion to lower his weapon.
• After Anton patted him, Vera collapsed from severe internal injuries, but the group gave him a Healing Potion and he recovered enough to leave.
• Feiyin panicked when Vera asked who Sirian was, assuming his injury had damaged his brain.
• Linden observed Vera’s Virtue of Sacrifice from above and sent one of the three Pujis after him.

Sirian explained that the power of [sacrifice] came at the cost of Vera’s memories, then departed without revealing more about the great sins and virtues. Vera could no longer remember Sirian, while Linden’s Puji joined Vera’s group and Vera woke from a nightmare about a cruel, beautiful elf.

• Linden told Sirian that Vera had obtained [sacrifice], and Sirian warned that losing memories meant losing part of oneself.
• Sirian left through the Rift into Puji Dungeon without answering Linden’s question about the great sins and virtues.
• Vera remembered Feiling and Feiyin but could not recall Sirian, so the group blamed his memory loss on his head injury and planned to find a healer.
• Linden’s Scout Puji charmed Feiyin with its affection and Mana Potion, then settled in with the team.
• Vera woke from a nightmare in which a beautiful, vicious elf burned village supplies, ruined Anton’s family, and drugged the group.