Chapter Summaries

Cave Thirteen, stranded in a barren region after being cut off from the Fungal Carpet, wondered whether the Fungal Lord had exiled it for its pranks. Succubus Mengya and Goblin Stinky Fish fled human adventurers while trying to decide whether to return to The Port, then spotted Cave Thirteen and wondered if they had found a member of the Mushroom Race.

• Cave Thirteen recalled its habit of setting up other mushrooms and suspected its exile was punishment for its pranks.
• Mengya and Stinky Fish escaped pursuing human adventurers and argued over Mengya's delay in leaving The Port.
• Stinky Fish suggested they return to The Port and wait for a ship or an organized evacuation rather than risk crossing the adventurer-filled region.
• As Mengya and Stinky Fish headed back toward The Port, they spotted Cave Thirteen in the distance.
• Stinky Fish recognized that the unusual Puji might belong to the Mushroom Race.

Cave Thirteen let Mengya and Stinky Fish take it toward the Empire, while the demons discovered that The Port was in chaos and under attack by a sea monster. The chapter ended with the monster pursuing fleeing Demon Race soldiers as a floating Little Eyeball watched from above.

• Mengya tried to claim Cave Thirteen, but it escaped her grasp and chose to cling to Stinky Fish instead.
• Stinky Fish and Mengya hurried toward The Port with Cave Thirteen, while Stinky Fish planned how to exaggerate their achievement in his report.
• The demons saw smoke and flames rising from The Port, whose defensive magic arrays had been shut down.
• A diamond-rank mage officer blew open the city gate and was then cut in half by a towering, six-clawed monster.
• Stinky Fish recognized the attacker as a creature from the sea, while a floating Little Eyeball watched the scene from afar.

Kees’s hunger drove it to attack The Port, but when its insects chased Mengya, Stinky Fish, and Cave Thirteen into a canyon, it mistook the mana-rich area beyond the rocks for a trap and ordered the swarm to retreat. The Port burned as Kees withdrew to the sea, satisfied that it had outsmarted Mushroom despite failing to catch the fleeing group.

• Driven by worsening hunger and fear of Mushroom, Kees chose The Port as a target and sent its insects to devour the settlement.
• A swarm poured through The Port’s gate and chased Mengya, Stinky Fish, and Cave Thirteen as they fled toward the mountains.
• Mengya led the group into a dead-end canyon, where a small Slime emerged from a crack and the pursuing insects abruptly turned away.
• Kees used an Eye Bug’s [Mana Perception] to detect dense mana beyond the canyon’s rock walls and concluded that the valley was a trap.
• Kees recalled its swarm, which had gathered food in The Port, and ordered the insects to withdraw into the sea while the city burned.

After The Port fell to Kees's insect swarm, Mengya, Stinky Fish, and Thirteen escaped with a handful of Demon Race survivors and reached High Keep Fortress. Sigismund recognized that Thirteen was no Common Puji, while Thirteen sensed something strangely familiar about him.

• Mengya and Stinky Fish returned to The Port and found it destroyed, with a small group of traumatized Demon Race survivors hiding near a warehouse.
• The survivors gathered supplies and set out for High Keep Fortress, but the Evil Cult ambushed them on the way.
• Thirteen revealed its strength by killing two Gold Rank Cultists and saving Mengya, shocking her and Stinky Fish.
• Fewer than ten Demon Race survivors reached High Keep Fortress with Mengya, Stinky Fish, and Thirteen, and Sigismund summoned them.
• Sigismund asked whether Thirteen was a Common Puji, while Thirteen wondered why he felt familiar.

Duke Sigismund examined Cave Thirteen, then let Mengya and Stinky Fish leave with the puji, choosing to watch how Eleanor dealt with the Mushroom Race. Alone, he worried about his mysterious roommate’s possible ties to the Mushroom Race, but when the clock struck, he transformed into a puddle of Blood Clan after enjoying honey and red wine.

• Mengya told Sigismund she had found the strange puji and meant to bring it to Duke Eleanor, and Sigismund inspected Cave Thirteen before ordering Simon to outfit and release the soldiers.
• Mengya praised Sigismund for letting them leave, while Stinky Fish stopped her from criticizing the duke’s appearance aloud.
• Sigismund dismissed Simon and decided to let Eleanor serve as a stepping stone while he watched the Mushroom Race’s contact with the Blood Clan.
• When the clock struck, Sigismund took honey and red wine from a hidden compartment and transformed into a puddle of Blood Clan.

Linden expanded his forces across the Northern Territory, the sea, and the Murloc population while investigating the Murlocs’ sacrificial ritual. He suddenly reached level 70 and opened his panel to inspect his new skill.

• Linden turned stronger Mist Monsters into controlled Puppets and prepared to expand the Mushroom Garden once Inanna returned with the Binding Ring and subdued the Frost Elemental Lord.
• Linden arranged for Thirteen to infiltrate the Empire through Duke Eleanor and prepared his navy to hunt Kees as the insect swarm grew stronger.
• Linden developed new aquatic Puji varieties and expanded the Mycelium Network among the Murlocs, who continued their sacrificial rites under Gugulu’s direction.
• Linden observed the ritual stripping skills from the souls of dying Murlocs and considered whether Gugulu had accumulated the skills of those sacrificed.
• Linden reached level 70 and opened his panel to inspect the newly appeared skill.

Linden compared three skills and chose Soul Touch, then tested it on a Puji. He summoned Norris to the Mushroom Garden to show him the new ability.

• Linden considered Information Spore, Ultimate Taste, and Soul Touch, weighing their uses and limits.
• Linden chose Soul Touch and obtained the skill.
• Linden found that he had to operate the skill himself, then watched cyan radiance spread across a Puji's tentacle.
• Linden summoned Norris to the Mushroom Garden and told him to skip training the Underwater Puji Assault Squad.

Linden tested Soul Touch, learning how it could damage souls and shield others from mental control. After the experiment revealed its limits and potential, he considered how it might eventually help him face powerful beings.

• Linden used Soul Touch on Norris and found that his soul could shield Norris from the Charm Mushroom’s effects while Linden maintained focus.
• Linden experimented on a captive D-Rank killer, discovering that Soul Touch could gradually shatter a soul and leave its body alive but effectively dead.
• Linden failed to use Soul Touch to enter another person’s soul and control them, and he concluded that crushing a soul took several minutes regardless of the target’s rank.
• Linden found that Soul Touch could not affect ordinary plants or monsters, but it could touch the Yellow Book and interrupt its mental control by forming a Soul Barrier.
• Linden judged the experiment successful but recognized that Soul Touch needed more practice and that the D-Rank personnel at home might not be enough to develop it.

Linden considered how to recruit more D-Rank personnel for Soul Touch training, weighing the risks and logistics of gathering them across the Empire. Meanwhile, two dwarf blacksmith apprentices who had followed a promise of a northern blacksmith’s paradise reached the barren border and encountered a Puji emerging from the snow.

• Linden concluded that the Empire’s chaotic administration offered the best chance to recruit D-Rank personnel, but transportation and security remained obstacles.
• Linden considered Eleanor’s coastal territory and Thirteen as a possible route for expanding the Fungal Carpet, though building a fleet to face Kees would take time.
• Jading and Pollock traveled north after spending their shares of an A-Rank Magic Crystal on provisions and travel, hoping to find the promised blacksmith’s paradise.
• Jading and Pollock feared they had been tricked when they found only frozen wilderness and no one waiting to receive them.
• A snow-covered Puji struggled out of a hole as Jading and Pollock braced themselves with their forging hammers.

Jading, Pollock, and the escaped slave Joel traveled with a Puji for half a month through the frozen Northern Territory and reached a vast city. Spark welcomed them, but the Puji suddenly surrounded them, leaving Jading fighting to resist capture.

• A Puji led Jading and Pollock out of an underground passage, where they encountered Joel, an escaped slave from Stone Valley Mine.
• The Puji gave Joel food and a constant-temperature Pendant, then guided all three travelers north across the snow.
• Over half a month, the group crossed Fungal Carpet, found fresh Delicious Mushrooms, and grew closer as Joel recounted his life in the Empire's mines.
• On the seventeenth day, they followed mixed tracks through a snowstorm and discovered a large city with towering walls and Magic Towers.
• Spark met the travelers outside the city and reassured them that they were not in the Empire, but barbed tentacles suddenly attacked and the Puji surrounded them.
• Jading shoved Joel out of danger, then raised his hammer and charged at the Puji.

Torin welcomed Jading and Pollock to Fungal Fortress, where they learned the truth about Joel and were offered a chance to forge with abundant resources. They signed Spark’s contract and agreed to Mycelium Symbiosis, unaware that the fortress had its own way of ensuring debts were repaid.

• Torin met Jading and Pollock and heard how Joel had revealed himself as a Shapeshifter during the Pujis’ attack.
• Torin told the dwarves that Fungal Fortress had abundant ore they could use if they had the skill, while worrying that none of the experts he had invited to help with Battle Puppets had arrived.
• Spark showed Jading and Pollock the enormous forging factory and its stocked warehouse, explaining that the resources were shared among blacksmiths working at the fortress.
• Spark offered them a contract to borrow ore against Contribution Points and repay it with finished goods, and explained that Mycelium Symbiosis provided communication and cold resistance.
• Jading and Pollock signed the ordinary-paper contract and went to undergo Symbiosis, while writing on Spark’s Yellow Book joked that debtors in Fungal Fortress always found a way to pay.

Linden gained the Negative Energy Collection skill and repaired a damaged Binding Ring, while the Frost Elemental Lord arrived to confront Inanna and the Fire Elemental Lord. Their clash began in the ruins, leaving Cave Four caught in the elemental storm.

• Linden welcomed young Dwarf blacksmith apprentices to Fungal Fortress and let them practice forging with abundant ore.
• Sword Saint Puji returned from Scarecrow Abyss with the Negative Energy Collection skill, which Linden absorbed and began testing on negative energy.
• Linden and his allies repaired a damaged Binding Ring, restoring most of its functions but leaving its binding power weakened.
• The Frost Elemental Lord sensed Inanna and approached her, but her fiery aura stopped it and the two Elemental Lords challenged each other.
• The Fire Elemental Lord emerged from Inanna's ring to protect her, and the ensuing clash swept Cave Four into a spinning storm of heat and ice.

Pollock and Jading noticed the Fungal Fortress warming as the Frost Elemental Lord defeated the Fire Elemental Lord in the ruins. Inanna gained the Frost Elemental Lord’s blessing and subdued it, leaving her with both fire and frost under her command.

• Pollock and Jading headed to breakfast at the Gate of Cries and noticed the cold easing around the Fungal Fortress.
• Inanna tried to stop the Frost Elemental Lord and Fire Elemental Lord as their battle damaged the ruins, while Cave Four snapped off its scorched, frozen tentacle and asked her to taste it.
• The Frost Elemental Lord gained the advantage in its home territory, and the Fire Elemental Lord withdrew into Inanna’s Binding Ring.
• The Frost Elemental Lord replaced Inanna’s [Blessing of Blazing Fire] with [Frost's Blessing] and allowed Inanna to subdue it.
• Inanna emerged with the Fire Elemental Lord in her left hand, the Frost Elemental Lord guiding her right, Cave Four atop her head, and Sword Saint Puji in her arms as the Northern Territory began to warm.

Inanna visited Julia, leader of the Mushroom Worship Cult, in prison and sought to release her, prompting Fahr to alert Alama. When Alama reunited with Inanna, an icy gown suddenly appeared and struck him with intense cold.

• Julia prayed in her cell and spoke with the hidden Number twelve Puji about revising her prayer.
• Inanna visited Julia, confirmed she was the leader of the Mushroom Worship Cult, and noticed a Puji hiding in the cell.
• Fahr objected to Inanna’s plan to release Julia, then told Mirabelle to inform the Duke about the situation.
• Alama arrived a day later, hugged Inanna, and triggered an icy gown that left him shivering.

Alama visited Inanna in Mushroom Capital and struggled to reconcile his gratitude toward Puji with his duty to protect the United Kingdom from their unknown influence. Unable to persuade Inanna to distance herself from the Mushroom Worship Cult, he left to explain the situation to The Church, while Fourteen offered him an enigmatic pat on the shoulder.

• Alama examined Inanna’s Binding Ring, and the Fire Elemental Lord flared up until Inanna sealed it away.
• Alama tried to reconnect with Inanna, but saw that Puji had become the focus of her affection.
• Alama warned Inanna that the kingdom needed stability and urged her to support the Church of Light, but she defended the Mushroom Worship Cult.
• Alama considered the risks of Puji’s growing influence and feared Inanna would choose them over humanity if forced to decide.
• Alama gave up trying to persuade Inanna and left to explain matters to The Church, where Fourteen patted him on the shoulder.

Julia founded the Great Mushroom Charity to build shelters for refugees and spread belief in Puji, while the Fungal Fortress celebrated the thaw and prepared for the Empire to discover it. The chapter left the fortress’s leadership debating how to respond to the threat of an imperial confrontation.

• Julia gathered Puji’s followers and founded the Great Mushroom Charity to build safe homes for refugees in the wilderness.
• Twelve demonstrated how mycelium could form towering Mushroom Houses linked by bridges, and Julia explained the group would shelter refugees and tell them of Puji’s gifts.
• Julia and twelve left the Mushroom Capital to seek refugees beyond the cities, while Linden planned to let their mission cultivate belief in Puji.
• Rising temperatures brought relief and celebration among the Fungal Fortress’s residents, but Shou, Spark, and Piggy worried that the Empire would soon discover the fortress.
• Piggy urged the council to meet any imperial aggression with force.

At the Fungal Fortress’s first cabinet meeting, its leaders argued over how to respond to the Empire’s growing threat. Linden ordered them to resist an invasion without destroying the enemy completely, while the Yellow Book offered to infiltrate the Empire and arrange a magical ritual.

• Louisa urged the Fungal Fortress to strike the Empire decisively, while Shou recommended appearing submissive and buying time, and Spark proposed sowing discord within the Empire.
• Linden silently weighed their arguments, judging that the fortress needed time to grow but could use its defenses and the Frost Elemental Lord to resist an invading army.
• Linden ordered the fortress to fight an imperial invasion to a standstill or appear slightly disadvantaged rather than purge the enemy completely.
• The Yellow Book offered to arrange informants and create chaos inside the Empire, and suggested combining that work with Linden’s planned magical ritual.

A strange cold left Cold Bay Fortress nearly abandoned as Demon Race soldiers awaited an investigation by the northern dukes. Meanwhile, Yellow Book was airdropped into the Empire on a dangerous mission and warned Kruma not to return to his caravan.

• Two Demon Race soldiers in Cold Bay Fortress discussed the warming weather, the city’s deserted state, and Duke Eugene’s investigation with Demon Descendant Duke Dean before finding fallen mycelium.
• Linden sent Yellow Book toward the Empire with a chain of Pujis, promising to research a soul for it if it completed the mission and returned safely.
• A Horned Demon caravan carrying Blood Jade Wine approached Beast Bone Field, while Kruma spotted something falling from the sky and left the road to investigate.
• Kruma found a nearly blank book in the forest and saw a message appear, warning him not to return.

Kruma followed the Yellow Book’s instructions and led five Trolls into the ambush, giving his elder brother and the caravan a chance to escape. After the book charmed Kruma into trusting it completely, he closed it and pursued the caravan while Knight Puji watched unseen.

• Kruma found the cave the Yellow Book described and was chased out by five Trolls.
• Kruma led the Trolls into the battle, where they disrupted the attackers and opened a gap in their encirclement.
• Kruma’s elder brother ordered the caravan guards to flee through the gap, though a Troll smashed one of the wagons.
• Kruma asked the Yellow Book what it was, and it promised to help him fulfill his wishes if he followed its guidance.
• The Yellow Book cast a charm that gave Kruma complete trust in it, and Kruma chased after the caravan as Knight Puji observed from a treetop.

Linden tracked Little Black’s growing Ancient Dragon Path as her instincts suddenly warned her of a coming fight, and he suspected the threat lay within the Empire. At Twilight Castle, Emperor Mortis learned of unusual activity in Dragon Cliff Dungeon and decided to visit it himself to meet an old dragon.

• Linden measured Little Black’s growing wings and scales, and her Ancient Dragon Path advanced to 9%.
• Little Black’s lazy eating and sleeping continued, but Linden pushed her to use Bloodline Enhancement until her progress reached 10%.
• Little Black suddenly sensed an impending fight, and Linden used her changing growl directions to infer that the threat might be inside the Empire.
• Mofulei reported unusual activity in Dragon Cliff Dungeon to Emperor Mortis, who decided to go there himself and meet an old dragon.