Chapter Summaries

Eris led Paul, Rudeus, Roxy, Elinalise, Talhand, and Geese into the Teleportation Labyrinth to search for Paul's wife. After they crossed into the second floor, they encountered another teleportation-locked door and needed to find its key.

• Eris joined Paul, Roxy, Elinalise, and Talhand outside the inn, while Geese went ahead to scout the labyrinth entrance.
• Geese warned the group about teleportation traps, and Rudeus detected mana on the entrance door before Eris opened it.
• Eris killed three sand lizards in the first-floor passage before Paul and Roxy could act.
• Rudeus and Roxy identified a teleportation circle on a stone door, and Roxy found its matching key in a nearby chamber.
• Paul used the key to open the way to the second floor, where Rudeus guided the group through trap-covered passages.
• The group reached another teleportation-locked door on the second floor and prepared to search for its key.

Rudeus used his earth-sensing magic and Demon Eye of Foresight to guide the party through the second floor and plan an attack on an A-rank Giant Desert Spider guarding the stairwell to the third floor. The battle left the spider with two severed legs, but it had fixed all its eyes on Eris as she charged again.

• Rudeus sensed the second floor's transfer and spike traps and guided Eris, Paul, Master Roxy, Elinalise, and Talhand safely through them.
• Rudeus detected an A-rank monster near the stairwell and identified it as a Giant Desert Spider with corrosive silk and no apparent blind spot.
• Rudeus assigned the party roles and struck the spider with a Rock Bullet, drawing its attention toward him.
• Eris charged the spider and severed one of its legs at the joint after Rudeus warned her of its attack.
• Master Roxy blocked the spider's corrosive silk with an Ice Wall, allowing Eris to circle around and cut off a second leg.
• Eris charged again as the injured spider locked its many eyes onto her.

Rudeus and the others defeated the giant spider guarding the stairwell by exploiting its armor seams, then discovered a hidden passage leading deeper into the dungeon. Rudeus sensed an enormous creature with far greater mana density ahead, but Paul decided they still had to proceed.

• Eris, Paul, Rudeus, and Master Roxy coordinated their attacks, with Roxy using Water Blade to cut open the giant spider’s abdominal armor and Paul tearing the wound wider with his sword.
• The spider sprayed corrosive silk in its death throes before its movements stopped and it died.
• Master Roxy examined the spider’s unusually hard armor while Geese found a hand-cut crack in the wall behind its corpse.
• Rudeus sensed that the hidden passage descended far beyond the second floor and detected an enormous presence with much higher mana density than the spider.
• Paul decided the group would enter the hidden passage, and no one objected.

Eris and the search party found Paul’s missing companions, including Lilia, trapped on the fifth level of the labyrinth. Rudeus sensed Zenith on the sixth level, where Lilia warned that a nine-headed giant snake awaited them, and Paul led the party onward.

• Eris destroyed four patrolling gargoyles with the Nameless Sword as the party descended through warm, sulfurous water.
• Rudeus sensed three surviving people ahead, and Paul rushed into a hall where he reunited with Lilia.
• Rudeus and the others learned that Lilia and two search-party members had been trapped for five days, and Roxy treated Lilia’s injured ankle while Paul carried her.
• Rudeus sensed that Zenith was on the sixth level and detected a huge monster with exceptionally dense mana.
• Lilia revealed that the monster was a nine-headed giant snake, and Paul led the party toward the sixth level.

Paul and the others descended through the increasingly dangerous passage toward the Hydra, which guarded a crystal containing Zenith. The group reached the monster, but Paul rushed toward her before they could plan an attack, and Eris pulled him back before the Hydra fully awakened.

• Paul left Lilia at the entrance with supplies while he and five others continued into the labyrinth.
• As the group descended, Rudeus detected denser teleportation traps and sensed the Hydra waiting ahead.
• The group prepared to fight the Hydra, though Rudeus had already spent half his mana.
• They found the nine-headed Hydra sleeping beside a green crystal with Zenith inside.
• Paul charged toward Zenith, but Eris pulled him back before the Hydra could awaken.

Rudeus and his companions fought the Hydra to reach Zenith, discovering that close-range magic could pierce its scales and fire could stop its heads from regenerating. The battle left four heads destroyed, two regenerating, and three active as the Hydra gathered a combined attack aimed at the crystal encasing Zenith.

• Paul and Eris attacked the Hydra while Rudeus and Roxy tested its defenses, and they learned that only point-blank magic could damage its scales.
• Rudeus realized that burning the Hydra’s severed neck stumps stopped its heads from regenerating, and the group began cutting off and burning them.
• Rudeus used his Demon Eye of Foresight to warn Roxy about an incoming lightning strike, while the Hydra unleashed attacks from several elemental heads.
• Paul, Eris, Rudeus, and Roxy destroyed more heads, but the Hydra turned its remaining three heads toward Zenith’s crystal and began gathering a powerful combined attack.

Rudeus, Paul, and Eris rushed to stop the Hydra from firing at Zenith’s crystal, and Eris struck one head’s joint to deflect the beam. The Hydra fell, but Paul lost his left arm and Rudeus lost his left hand; Zenith’s crystal began to crack and release her.

• Rudeus and Paul charged toward the Hydra’s three heads as they gathered light to attack Zenith’s crystal.
• Eris raced ahead of Paul and stabbed the joint at the base of one Hydra head with the sword Paul had given her, diverting its beam into the rock wall.
• The Hydra’s tail struck Paul’s left arm as he shielded Eris, breaking it severely, while another head crushed Rudeus’s left hand in its jaws.
• Rudeus learned that Paul was alive, and Roxy treated Paul’s wound but could not reattach his arm.
• The Hydra collapsed, and Zenith remained safe inside the crystal as cracks spread across it and light began to shine through.

Rudeus and the others freed Zenith from the crystal, but she awoke with an empty, unresponsive gaze, while Rudeus lost his left hand. After a small movement from Zenith and Roxy’s promise to explore a working prosthetic, Rudeus and Eris left the chamber together to go home.

• The crystal crumbled, and Paul caught Zenith as she fell, but she showed no awareness despite being alive.
• Roxy confirmed Zenith’s body was stable but her consciousness had not recovered, and she could not restore Rudeus’s crushed left hand.
• Rudeus fashioned a crude earthen hand, and Eris apologized for his injury before he reassured her and thanked her for saving Paul.
• Eris felt Zenith’s fingers curl faintly, then told Rudeus they should go home.
• Roxy proposed making Rudeus a moving prosthetic hand using mana circuits and magic item technology, and Rudeus agreed to let her examine it.
• Rudeus and Eris took each other’s hands and walked into the passage without looking back at the Hydra.

Eris and Rudeus’s family reunited in Rapan City as they recovered from the labyrinth and prepared to leave for Sharia. After Aisha arrived and helped bring the family together, the group set out for their new home.

• Eris changed Rudeus’s bandages, and Norn thanked her for bringing Zenith back.
• Eris visited Zenith, who gently touched her cuff before she left the room.
• Aisha arrived in Rapan after traveling alone from Shirone, reunited with Rudeus and Lilia, and volunteered to care for the family.
• Aisha cooked dinner, and Paul comforted her until she broke down and cried in his arms.
• Eris and Rudeus shared a kiss in the courtyard and agreed to look for Rujierd once things were settled.
• The family left Rapan City by carriage, with Sharia ahead of them as their new home.

Rudeus and his family settled into their new home in Sharia, where they shared their first dinner together after reuniting. Rudeus received an invitation to enroll at Ranoa University of Magic next spring and planned to grow stronger, while he and Eris looked ahead to life together.

• Paul brought Rudeus and the family to their new house in Sharia, where they began moving in.
• Rudeus found an invitation from Ranoa University of Magic to enroll as a special student in the spring of Armored Dragon Year 422.
• Zenith gently placed her hand over Paul's, then smiled at Norn when Norn sat beside her.
• Aisha served dinner, and the family gathered around the table while Norn held Zenith's hand.
• Rudeus and Eris stood beneath the crooked tree, discussed their future, and went back inside together.

Rudeus and his family settled into their new house in Sharia, sharing their first meal together and making it feel like home. That night, he watched Eris practice beneath the yard’s tree while thinking about his university admission and the months ahead.

• Rudeus woke in the new house and saw Paul gently brush Zenith’s hair while the family arranged the rooms.
• Rudeus welcomed Eris inside and reassured her that the house was her home too.
• Paul assigned rooms, and Eris hesitantly discussed whether she would share a room with Rudeus.
• Aisha prepared stew, and the family shared their first proper meal in the house as Paul said they were all together.
• Rudeus watched Eris practice sword swings beneath the moon and thought about preparing for Ranoa University of Magic.

Rudeus watched Paul struggle to adapt to life with one arm as he chopped wood, taught Norn, and cooked with Lilia’s help. Paul asked Rudeus to make him an earth-magic prosthetic, and Rudeus agreed to try the next day while the Ranoa University of Magic invitation remained on his mind.

• Rudeus found Paul chopping wood before dawn and noticed his injured right hand, but Paul refused his offer to help.
• Paul began teaching Norn swordsmanship, patiently correcting her stance and showing her how to swing one-handed.
• Lilia steadied the pan and helped Paul cook, and they worked together without fuss.
• Paul examined Rudeus’s earth-magic prosthetic and asked him to make one for his own amputated arm.
• Rudeus agreed to try making Paul a prosthetic the next day, then sat thinking beside the Ranoa University of Magic invitation.

Aisha reflected on her escape from Shirone and her reunion with Rudeus as she described her life serving the family. At dinner, Paul asked when Rudeus and Eris would marry, leaving Aisha troubled by her own jealousy and feelings for her brother.

• Aisha recalled escaping Pax's tower, crossing the sea and desert, and finding Rudeus in Rapan with a missing hand.
• Aisha declined Norn's invitation to practice swordsmanship and focused on cooking, believing her place in the family was as a maid.
• Aisha brushed Zenith's hair, saw her smile, and resolved to help her recover.
• Rudeus thanked Aisha for her work and ruffled her hair, stirring feelings she tried to suppress.
• At dinner, Paul asked Rudeus when he and Eris would marry, and Aisha silently felt hurt.

Eris and Rudeus married in a small ceremony at home, surrounded by their family. The chapter ended the next morning with Eris greeting Rudeus as her husband.

• Eris watched Norn, Lilia, and Aisha prepare the yard for her wedding to Rudeus.
• Norn gave Eris a flower crown, and Aisha gave her a protective charm before Rudeus joined her.
• Paul officiated as Rudeus and Eris exchanged vows, while Norn interrupted him before he could tell them to kiss.
• The family celebrated with dinner and a cake, then left Eris and Rudeus alone in the yard.
• Eris and Rudeus spent their wedding night together, and Eris greeted him as her husband the next morning.

Rudeus and Eris furnished their new home and visited a magic item shop, where Rudeus learned how to begin improving his artificial hand. Back home, Roxy showed him her research and told him the university would likely test him in a mock battle against Fitz.

• Rudeus and Eris bought a desk and wardrobe, and Rudeus bought Eris a wooden practice sword she had admired.
• At a magic item shop, a dwarf explained that Rudeus needed mana circuits, joints, and precise control to make his artificial hand move, then gave him a crystal ball to practice with.
• Walking home beside the river, Eris recalled Ghislaine and the wheat fields of Fittoa before telling Rudeus that wherever he was would be home.
• Rudeus returned home and found Roxy’s research drawing for adding mana circuits to his artificial hand; she told him to practice miniature magic with the crystal ball.
• Roxy explained that Rudeus would take an entrance mock battle against Fitz, a student known for using voiceless magic.

Rudeus began training with Master Roxy to improve his prosthetic hand through Miniature Magic. After practice, he recognized the white-haired boy in Roxy’s photograph as likely being Fitz, Princess Ariel’s bodyguard and Rudeus’s upcoming entrance-test opponent.

• Rudeus visited Master Roxy’s workshop, where she identified the prosthetic hand’s lack of mana circuits, joints, and precise control.
• Master Roxy explained that she would help design the circuits and joints, while Rudeus needed to develop control through Miniature Magic.
• Rudeus repeatedly tried to channel mana evenly through tiny crystal balls, improving slightly before Master Roxy ended the day’s practice.
• Rudeus noticed a photograph of Roxy with a white-haired boy, and Roxy quickly covered it and refused to explain.
• Rudeus connected the boy’s appearance to Fitz and concluded that Fitz was likely Princess Ariel’s bodyguard and his entrance-test opponent.

Aisha cared for Madam Zenith and noticed small signs that she was responding to the world around her. After Madam briefly touched a bluebell, followed Norn turning pages, and squeezed Father Paul's hand, Aisha resolved to find a way to bring her back.

• Aisha washed and dressed Madam Zenith, then wheeled her into the yard, where Madam touched a bluebell and faintly smiled.
• Norn read Madam a story, and Madam's eyes followed Norn's fingers as she turned the pages; Norn believed their mother had heard her.
• Father Paul told Madam he would find a way to help her, and her fingers briefly tightened around his hand, bringing him to tears.
• Aisha recorded Madam's signs of progress in her diary and vowed to grow strong enough to pull her out of her dream.

Norn began training with a wooden sword, learning the Sword God Style from Father and practical swordsmanship from her sister-in-law. After learning that Rudeus would attend the university next spring, Norn resolved to grow stronger so she could go too and stay by her brother’s side.

• Norn practiced swinging a wooden sword before dawn, and Father corrected her stance and assigned her a hundred swings.
• Norn’s sister-in-law showed her a practical sword technique taught by Rujierd, prompting a disagreement with Father about whether Norn should learn it before mastering the basics.
• Norn asked to learn both styles, and she began practicing the Sword God Style with Father in the mornings and Rujierd’s practical swordsmanship with her sister-in-law in the afternoons.
• Norn’s sister-in-law told her that she would follow Rudeus when he enrolled at the university next spring, and challenged Norn to beat her before going wherever she wanted.
• Norn resolved to become stronger quickly so she could attend the university and stand beside Rudeus.

Rudeus prepared for enrollment at the Ranoa University of Magic while training his miniature magic and planning to improve his prosthetic arm, investigate the Man-God, and build connections. On enrollment day, he left home with Eris to begin his new life at the university.

• Rudeus practiced holding mana in a crystal ball, improving his control to eight seconds before it cracked.
• Rudeus visited the university, inspected the campus and its notices, and learned more about the special student system.
• A blond student sensed Rudeus's mana and questioned him about enrolling as a special student before walking away without introducing himself.
• Rudeus planned to work on his prosthetic arm, search the library's restricted section for information about the Man-God, and build useful connections.
• Aisha gave Rudeus lunch, and Paul saw him off on enrollment day.
• Rudeus left home with Eris, wearing his new academy robe.

Rudeus began at Ranoa University of Magic and passed the special-student entrance test by defeating Fitz in a chantless magic duel. Afterward, he received a private research room and encountered Fitz again, feeling a strange familiarity as Fitz walked away.

• Rudeus entered the university plaza for registration and noticed Eris and Princess Ariel among the students and guests.
• Vice Principal Jinas announced that special-student applicants would face Fitz in a chantless magic mock battle.
• Fitz attacked Rudeus with an Ice Lance, but Rudeus disrupted it with Disturb Magic and shattered the barrier with a Rock Bullet, earning a pass.
• Eris joined Rudeus after the test, and the two left the ceremony together.
• Jinas gave Rudeus a private research room, library access, and a monthly allowance.
• Rudeus passed Fitz in a corridor without sunglasses, felt an inexplicable familiarity, and watched Fitz disappear down the hall.