Chapter Summaries

Linden assessed the Demon King's return and the aftermath of the Empire's campaign against Hand of Passing while the transfer ritual at Beast Bone Field neared completion. When Marquis Ravencrow returned to investigate the dead search team, the Yellow Book told Bona to delay him for a day.

• Linden realized the Yellow Book had stirred the soldiers to alert Knight Puji, and Puji returned the book to the unconscious Count Bona.
• Linden considered why the Demon King had spared the Yellow Book and resolved to strengthen defenses at Tidal Sanctuary and Puji Dungeon.
• The Empire pursued Hand of Passing, whose leaders escaped west after sacrificing believers as decoys, and the Empire began purging suspected collaborators.
• The transfer ritual at Beast Bone Field neared completion as Marquis Ravencrow returned to investigate the search team's deaths.
• The Yellow Book told Bona to stall Marquis Ravencrow for one day, and Bona agreed to use any means necessary.

Marquis Ravencrow investigated the deaths of his soldiers on Count Bona’s territory and uncovered evidence that Bona’s forces had murdered them to conceal the excavation site’s Magic Array. As Ravencrow confronted Bona, the array activated, while Knight Puji carried Lord Yellow Book north toward the magical radiance.

• Marquis Ravencrow demanded that Count Bona explain how his soldiers had died, but Bona delayed him before presenting soldiers whose accounts contradicted one another.
• Ravencrow’s guards examined the bodies and found fatal wounds from behind and a broken sword belonging to Bona’s private army.
• A mage reported that the excavation site’s Magic Array was not investigative, leading Ravencrow to suspect Bona had killed the soldiers to hide what they discovered.
• Ravencrow arrived at the excavation site and found its guards dead, then confronted Bona as the sun set.
• Bona said the time had come, and the Magic Array began activating as Ravencrow charged toward him.
• Knight Puji carried Lord Yellow Book north as they saw magic gathering above Beast Bone Field.

The Divine Tree’s transfer ritual tore the subsidiary space from the Beast Bone Field, causing devastating spatial distortions and opening a rift beyond the world. White mist poured through the breach and swallowed the site, while Linden wondered whether the Divine Tree had deceived him.

• The receiving ritual in the Northern Territory forced the subsidiary space into the world, pushing the surrounding ground outward and injuring the stationed Fungal Fortress Soldiers.
• At the Beast Bone Field, space contracted and overlapped, killing or maiming more than half of Ravencrow’s personal guards.
• Ravencrow questioned Bona about the ritual, but Bona’s shattered thoughts revealed only that he had been a controlled puppet carrying out a mission for his master.
• A Spatial Rift opened at the center of the Beast Bone Field, and dense mana and vast white mist poured through it.
• Knight Puji stopped at the sight of the spreading mist, while Linden suspected the Divine Tree might have been deceiving him.

The narrator struggled to sleep and write because an upstairs air conditioner kept thumping. The narrator went upstairs to discuss the noise and resolve it.

• The narrator moved into a new place.
• The upstairs air conditioner kept thumping, disrupting the narrator's sleep and writing.
• The narrator went upstairs to talk about the noise and get it sorted out.

Emperor Mortis learned that a covert ritual near Urbic Territory had unleashed a mist and may have been guided by the Holy Scripture, leaving him anxious about the Demon King's return. Meanwhile, Duke Eleanor pampered Thirteen for protecting her ports, unaware that the Blood Cattle factories around his planned tower were gathering negative energy for him.

• Mofulei reported that Marquis Ravencrow and two guards escaped the mist with mutations and mana addiction, while nearby nobles showed signs of mental control.
• Mofulei said the Holy Scripture was suspected of guiding the ritual but had already left the Empire, and Mortis worried the Demon King was behind it.
• Mofulei reported that Sigismund was focused on selling Blood Jade Wine and Eleanor was focused on pleasing the Mushroom Race, prompting Mortis to question her choice of words.
• At Night Lily Manor, Eleanor visited Thirteen as Half-Vampires in Symbiosis with Mycelium served him and kneaded his limbs.
• Eleanor credited Thirteen's Puji with driving sea monsters from guarded ports and enabling trial ships to complete a round-trip trade voyage, and she agreed to build his Tower of Mushrooms among the Blood Cattle factories.
• Negative energy began gathering toward Thirteen from the Blood Cattle factories.

Linden secured a method for cultivating and evolving Treants from Sirian after confronting him about the Rift caused by the Beast Bone Field ritual. In the Northern Territory, Linden delayed the Yellow Book’s soul experiment while preparing safeguards, then began investigating unusual relics from the fused subsidiary space as new dwarven arrivals brought both a renowned master and suspicious companions.

• Linden, using Number Five’s body, confronted Sirian over the Rift and persuaded him to provide a method for cultivating and evolving Treants.
• Number Five regained control, panicked at its closeness with Sirian, and fled to cling to Vera.
• Linden welcomed the returning Yellow Book but postponed its soul experiment until he had prepared safeguards involving the Sun Stone.
• Linden examined strange metal, crystal, and rune fragments mixed into the materials transferred from the Beast Bone Field and organized a careful excavation.
• Dwarven recruits returned to the Northern Territory with experienced miners, a renowned master from the Dwarf Blacksmith Guild, and companions who seemed to have ulterior motives.

Pollock led Master Marco and a group of Dwarves through the Northern Territory toward the Fungal Fortress, where the well-stocked route and comfortable rest stops eased Marco’s suspicions. After half a month of travel, they arrived before a city so vast that Marco thought it might exceed Forgefire Capital.

• Pollock brought his family, friends, Master Marco, and a mercenary squad out of a hidden passage into the Northern Territory; the squad and Marco were secretly investigating for the Deepforge Clan.
• Pollock used a Guide Mushroom to lead the group to a rest stop, where he prepared stew with Heating Pujis and shared it with the Dwarves.
• The mercenaries kept watch and warned Marco off the food, while the group spent the night in the warmth of the rest stop.
• For the next several days, the group followed the Puji from one well-supplied stop to another, and Marco grew less tense about the journey.
• Half a month later, Master Marco reached a mighty city and wondered whether it was larger than Forgefire Capital.

Master Marco arrived at the Fungal Fortress with Pollock and the dwarf mercenaries, where he discovered a thriving, fortified city and reunited with Torin. When the mercenaries tried to take Torin back to his family, the city’s Security Management Team intervened, and Marco ended his first day in the Fungal Fortress in jail.

• Master Marco saw the Fungal Fortress’s magical defenses, busy gates, and residents as the group approached the city.
• Torin recognized Master Marco and eagerly invited him to see the Battle Puppets, believing Marco had come because of his letters.
• Pollock explained that he had invited Master Marco, disappointing Torin briefly before Torin urged the master to enter the city.
• Dwarf mercenaries told Torin that his elder brother had sent them to bring him home, but Torin refused to go back.
• The mercenaries grabbed Torin, and the Security Management Team arrived with a crowd of Pujis; Master Marco ended up in jail.

Linden released the Dwarf mercenaries after confiscating their equipment and detaining them, then sent them away with a diplomatic letter for the Deepforge Clan. Master Marco and Torin refused to leave Fungal Fortress, while new Dwarf smiths and miners arrived to support the fortress’s work.

• Linden chose a restrained punishment for the Dwarf mercenaries to preserve Fungal Fortress’s prospects for relations with the Dwarven powers.
• The mercenary captain asked to take Master Marco and Torin home, but both refused, and Marco gave the captain a letter explaining his decision to stay.
• Spark gave the departing mercenaries a diplomatic letter for the Deepforge Clan, proposing peaceful relations and future talks with The Mountains Kingdom.
• Dwarf blacksmiths arrived in Fungal Fortress and began using its furnaces and ore, while skilled Dwarf miners joined the excavation of the attached space.

Linden excavated Rock Mud Mountain and discovered that its attached space had been used for experiments involving exotic beasts and the divine artifact Blood Calamity. He found records describing Sargs and its offspring, then encountered a second, scornful voice in another information block.

• Linden uncovered shattered, rune-etched glass jars and a preserved exotic beast skeleton, which suggested the site had been used for experiments.
• Linden found a damaged jar base marked with the Demon Race word "sin" and stored the unearthed artifacts for future research.
• The Dwarf miners uncovered the black shell of an attached space, and Puji used its mental power to enter it.
• Linden found intact jars containing dead exotic beasts and accessed an Information Cube describing how Blood Calamity transformed subject 061 into Sargs and produced the Blood of Sargs.
• Linden opened another information block and read an unknown speaker’s contemptuous remarks about Blood Calamity and the gods.

Linden discovered records revealing that the God of Light had created several intelligent races from humans, while the Demon King had conducted experiments to create beings capable of bearing Great Sins. The records left the Demon King’s larger purpose unclear, and the chapter ended with Puji praising Ming for winning a Colosseum battle.

• Linden found experiment records describing how the God of Light had transformed humans into races such as Elves and Werewolves.
• Linden learned that the God of Light’s experiments sought to create a stable, self-reproducing intelligent race, while a later experimenter pursued specialized individuals who could bear Great Sins.
• The records revealed that the Demon King had created Na to carry [Lust] and had produced the Demon Descendants as failed experiments intended to obtain [Greed].
• Linden wondered why the Demon King had sought to gather Great Sins and Virtues, but found no records explaining his ultimate purpose.
• Ming told Puji that he had defeated a Diamond Rank four-person squad alone in the Colosseum, and Puji praised him.

Linden prepared the subsidiary space for Abyss Magic research and trained [Soul Touch] on drifting souls while Eugene sent a vanguard toward the Fungal Fortress. Piggy’s forces unexpectedly overwhelmed the vanguard, forcing her to order a retreat as Linden realized his [Combat Intuition] upgrade might have made the Puji too strong.

• Linden moved the subsidiary space’s experimental tanks and ritual materials into place, then trained [Soul Touch] on souls in the area sacrificed by the Hand of Passing.
• After the Red Dragon failed to return, Eugene sent a fifteen-hundred-strong Demon Race vanguard toward the Fungal Fortress, keeping his main force ready behind it.
• Linden gave Piggy real-time surveillance of the vanguard, and she deployed her forces across five routes with at least four thousand Puji guarding each position.
• An Elite Melee Puji and a Self-Destruct Puji killed a heavily armed Demon Race soldier, and Piggy saw that the Puji were winning across the battlefield.
• Piggy ordered her forces to withdraw and let the vanguard claim a few more kills to reduce the apparent casualty imbalance, while Linden suspected [Combat Intuition] had made the Puji unexpectedly strong.

General Renard reorganized the Imperial forces after hearing how the Vanguard Army had been mauled, then watched his troops defeat wave after wave of Puji with few losses. The Puji proved far weaker than Halsen had claimed, but their seemingly endless numbers left Renard wondering how many the Northern Territory tribes still had.

• Renard caught up with Halsen’s stalled Vanguard Army and saw its wounded, frightened soldiers before hearing about their costly clash with the Puji.
• Renard merged the Vanguard Army with his main force, strengthened patrols, changed their route, prioritized crushing the Northern Territory tribes’ resistance, and sent the plan to the Demon Descendants’ commander.
• Renard’s troops followed his cautious orders and wiped out a charge of four thousand Puji with only a dozen or so casualties while the Puji Masters fled.
• After further victories against Puji forces, the officers grew contemptuous of Halsen and suspected he had exaggerated the enemy’s strength to hide his own mistakes.
• Renard reviewed reports of nearly twenty thousand Puji killed and wondered how many remained among the Northern Territory tribes.

Linden’s Puji continued to wear down the Empire’s forces while stealing Demon Descendant Magic Cores, prompting their commander to request reinforcements. With the front temporarily stalemated, Linden began testing the Sun Stone on the Yellow Book.

• General Renard slowed his advance after repeated battles with Puji drained his soldiers’ stamina and morale.
• Demon Descendants discovered that Puji swarmed fallen warriors and stole their Magic Cores, losing sixteen warriors but recovering only two cores.
• Demon Descendant squad leaders blamed the Northern Territory tribes and struggled to reach the hidden Puji Masters without suffering further casualties.
• The Demon Descendant commander reported the stolen Magic Cores to his Duke and requested reinforcements to seize the tribe’s Cradle and Magic Cores.
• Linden left the stalemated front to test Yellow Book’s response to direct exposure to a Sun Stone.
• Marshal Puji opened Yellow Book fully toward the Sun Stone, and its pages glowed gold as Yellow Book sensed its core stirring.

The chapter included a February lottery results notice and a story in which Dylan prepared a birthday surprise for Bianka at Puji House. Bianka celebrated with her mother and Dylan, while Linden secretly recorded the moment for Bella.

• The announcement listed the winning serial numbers for the KFC V Me 50 Meal and explained how winners could claim prizes before the February 15 deadline.
• Dylan stopped Norris from revealing too much while drunk, then sent Bianka to buy two new brooms before closing Puji House early.
• On her way to the market, Bianka heard Adventurers gossip about a Puji winning a martial contest and an Orc setting a Puji-control record.
• Bianka returned to the dark shop and found Dylan, her mother, and a birthday cake topped with the Delicious LV10 Red Mushroom she had once tasted.
• Bianka divided the Red Mushroom among herself, Dylan, and her mother as the Pujis lit up around them.
• Linden secretly recorded the birthday celebration, intending to show it to Bella later.

Torin and Grum took a break from the Battle Puppet Reproduction Project to celebrate the Puji Festival and entered its costume contest. After the first winners were abruptly removed and Spark took over hosting, Kallen won the real Puji Cup and wished for Norris.

• Grum found Torin exhausted and frustrated over his failed attempts to forge a battle-puppet component, then persuaded him to attend the Puji Festival.
• Grum and Torin wore crude Puji costumes, ate festival food, and entered a contest to see who looked most like a Puji.
• Orcas disqualified Pink Puji and Riel for using transformations, while Torin and Grum were unexpectedly named winners and Orcas was dragged backstage by Mycelium Tentacles.
• Spark took over the contest, and Kallen won with a Puji costume woven from wolf fur contributed by her fellow clansmen.
• Kallen wished for Norris, and Linden readily granted her wish, leaving Norris bewildered.

Linden used the Sun Stone and a Mycelium Cocoon to copy the Yellow Book’s identity into a Mushroom Race body, giving it a soul-like self. He absorbed the copy and kept the original Yellow Book, whose growing malice left their relationship uneasy.

• Linden found that exposing the soulless Yellow Book directly to the Sun Stone barely changed its core, so he cocooned it with a Puji for a day.
• A new Mushroom Race emerged, recognized itself as the Yellow Book, and claimed it could use the book’s abilities if Linden destroyed the original.
• Linden chose the Yellow Book Puji over the original, and the copy taunted the book before Linden’s Fungal Carpet devoured it.
• As it vanished, Yellow Book Puji warned that the original might seek revenge, then Linden absorbed the copy.
• The original Yellow Book denied any desire for revenge, while Linden laughed as its malice intensified.

Piggy reached Hall Level and insisted on undergoing the next stage of the Blood-Stealing Ritual despite the Yellow Book’s warnings that she could die. Linden agreed to support her, and Marquis Cassinar was brought in as the ritual’s target, believing his suffering was finally about to end.

• The Yellow Book considered seeking the Demon King’s accumulated knowledge to accelerate its soul experiments.
• Louisa directed the Puji forces through the Mycelium Network, keeping the two allied Imperial armies trapped in a cycle of harassment and confusion.
• Piggy drank Water of Life, reached LV60, and gained the Blood Hunter skill, making her eligible for the next stage of the Blood-Stealing Ritual.
• Piggy insisted on proceeding despite Linden’s concerns and the Yellow Book’s warning that the mismatched bloodlines made the ritual especially dangerous.
• Linden lent Piggy the Contribution Points she lacked to obtain the S-Rank Magic Crystals needed for the ritual.
• Ox-Horse Pujis carried Marquis Cassinar away from the Gate of Cries, and he realized his ordeal might finally be ending.

Linden oversaw a Blood-Stealing Ritual that drained Cassinar’s blood essence and nearly killed Piggy, but Water of Life helped her survive and complete her promotion. Afterward, Linden considered the ritual’s costs and turned his attention to the noisy vampire poles outside the Gate of Cries.

• Cassinar endured the ritual as it drew his blood essence into Piggy, whose body violently rejected the foreign Blood Power.
• Linden used Water of Life to repeatedly repair Piggy’s rupturing body while the ritual continued, and she ultimately survived.
• Cassinar and Piggy laughed for different reasons, and the Fungal Carpet devoured Cassinar after the ritual ended.
• Piggy fainted, and Linden sent Norris to carry her away for care.
• Linden learned that forcing the ritual to succeed could attract Blood Clan defectors and Mortis’s retaliation, so he decided to keep the method secret.
• Linden noticed that the vampire poles outside the Gate of Cries were disturbing residents and began considering how to address them.

Louisa recovered enough to resume commanding battles while Norris cared for her, and she watched as Linden’s new Clock Tower was unveiled. At noon, the tower revealed its purpose: it marked the hours with the screams of Blood Clan members undergoing Sunlight Resistance training.

• Norris brought Louisa Blood Jade Wine and found her unable to move because the Blood-Stealing Ritual had left her powers in conflict.
• Louisa continued commanding the war against the Empire despite Linden’s offer to let her rest.
• Louisa asked Norris about the rapidly built tower, and he explained that Boss had ordered it to operate at noon the next day.
• At noon, the Clock Tower opened a panel and broadcast a Blood Clan member’s scream across Fungal Fortress.
• Linden’s solar-powered Screaming Clock sounded another Blood Clan member’s howl at one o’clock, while the remaining vampires continued their Sunlight Resistance training elsewhere.