Recaps

Ed inspected Duolin in White Wax Town and told him that Weeping Willow Town was close to being secured, while introducing a new World Tree model. Outside Weeping Willow Town, a surviving fallen cleric suspected Inspector Tailun had deliberately targeted the Stained Ones.

• Ed appeared before Duolin at the White Wax Town Adventurers' Guild and explained that he wanted to inspect the Second Holy See's work and build better oversight.
• Ed told Duolin that the Soul Returners' plan in Weeping Willow Town was succeeding and that the fallen bishop might soon be captured.
• Duolin offered to confront the vampire count, but Ed said Xilǐ'er and the newly trained Gungnir would handle the fight, then left a World Tree model with him.
• A surviving fallen cleric reported the Blood Corpse bodies to Tailun after being ordered to cut off the dead clerics' heads.
• The cleric realized that nearly all the dead were Stained Ones, while the clerics who had refused to join them had survived, and wondered whether Tailun had targeted his own faction.

Tailun and [Zhongde] carried out the Son of God's plan to eliminate suspected infected clerics and capture the Pure Ones, then led players to seize Weeping Willow Town's church. The bishop ended up hanging from the bell tower as the town's congregants watched.

• Tailun ordered the fallen cleric to dig a one-person pit, and the cleric realized Tailun had uncovered his suspicions before he started digging his own grave.
• Tailun told [Zhongde] that the Son of God had approved passing off one or two executions as mistaken Soul Tree readings.
• Tailun and [Zhongde] brought the captured Pure Ones toward the church while players helped Weeping Willow Town's people reinforce the walls.
• [Zhongde] led players in breaking into the church, and they defeated its defenders in less than fifteen minutes.
• Players hung the bishop from the church bell tower, where the swinging bell struck him as he cried out.

The Soul Returners captured Weeping Willow Town’s church, freed the children, and subdued the remaining Pure Ones. [Zhongde] and his companions then searched for the town’s Territory Secret Pact, which they eventually found hidden beneath the sacred statue.

• The Soul Returners displayed the rescued children and questioned the surviving fallen priests while Tailun arranged to send resistant Pure Ones to White Wax Town for training.
• [Second-Class Biscuit], [Zhongde], and [Concrete Mixed with Spaghetti] discussed how future players could handle similar town quests and remembered they still needed the Territory Secret Pact.
• [Zhongde] tried to get the wounded bishop to reveal the pact’s location, but the bishop refused to speak.
• [Zhongde] asked Tailun for an interrogation room, and Tailun allowed him to use an empty room in the church.
• Two hours later, an amber-like crystal was dug out from the base of the sacred statue in the main prayer hall.

[Zhongde] handed Tailun an amber crystal containing a bishop’s confession and arranged to take the bishop and the children to White Wax Town after the road reopened. Meanwhile, three players secretly hunted Blood Corpses in the forest outside Weeping Willow Town, killing over a hundred before withdrawing at dusk.

• [Zhongde] told Tailun that the bishop had confessed after they recreated his crimes against the test subjects, and Tailun entrusted the bishop and the children to him for transport to White Wax Town.
• [Zhongde] said the road would remain impassable for two days because of the Blood Corpses, which he predicted would all be dead by the third day.
• [Pond Fish and Old Abyss] used Strangler Fig vines to capture Blood Corpses in the forest while [Dark Archmage] watched the count and [Howling Pothos] served as backup.
• The three players shared the captured Blood Corpses and killed them in turn, efficiently hunting the monsters while the count remained unaware.
• As dusk approached and the Blood Corpses began to stir, [Pond Fish and Old Abyss] ended the hunt, and [Howling Pothos] agreed that they should avoid risking an encounter with the vampire count.

[Aluode] lied about the blood corpse horde’s size while secretly helping the players thin its ranks, and Bennett led the remaining force toward White Wax Town. As Bennett launched his attack, [Aluode] prepared to backstab him and become a legend among the players.

• [Pond Fish and Old Abyss] and [Dark Archmage] scattered seeds among the blood corpses to nourish mutated plants.
• [Aluode] told Bennett that more than a thousand blood corpses had gathered, concealing that the players had reduced their number to around nine hundred.
• Bennett ordered the blood corpses spread out, allowing the players to hunt along the edges while tracking his position through [Aluode]’s forum reports.
• After two days, Bennett’s force approached White Wax Town, and [Aluode] reported that 999 blood corpses remained before the attack.
• [Aluode] volunteered to lead the vanguard and resolved to backstab Bennett during the assault.

The players used a hastily built fake wall and plant-based traps to lure Bennett’s Blood Corpses into attacking White Wax Town. Bennett committed nearly a thousand Blood Corpses to the assault, while the defenders staged a panicked response from atop the wall.

• The players built a hollow wall from Iron Birch and prepared wooden caltrops made from Blood-Drinking Thornbush for the night battle.
• [Aluode] led the Blood Corpses toward the wall, and the front ranks were crippled by the caltrops.
• [Aluode] gathered the remaining Blood Corpses and crossed the trap field over the fallen bodies of their companions.
• Bennett saw the apparent panic on the wall and used his authority to send nearly a thousand Blood Corpses charging along the cleared path.
• The defenders pretended to panic and fired arrows as [Do Some Farm Work] questioned [Gill's Cuisine] about their exaggerated acting.

Count Bennett climbed White Wax Town’s wall, survived the players’ grease-and-spark attack, and began slaughtering the defenders. As the first wave was nearly wiped out, [Do Some Farm Work] learned that reinforcements were still about five minutes away.

• Count Bennett scaled the wall and tried to establish a foothold for the Blood Corpses.
• The players interrupted Bennett’s taunt with a grease-filled firebomb, and [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] ignited it with sparks from his throat.
• Bennett smothered the flames with his bat wings, healed his burns, and attacked the players with all four arms.
• Bennett knocked [Ever-Changing Master Ye] off the wall, and [Do Some Farm Work] carried his body away to find his Tree of Rest.
• [Gill's Cuisine] told [Do Some Farm Work] that the first wave was nearly dead and the reinforcements would arrive in about five minutes.

Xilǐ'er led the Gungnir apprentices into their first cavalry battle against Blood Corpses outside White Wax Town, while [Shit Appraisal Master] and [Good Times Don't Last] arrived together on one augmented hoofbeast. The two prepared to charge a special Blood Corpse.

• Xilǐ'er warned the apprentices about mutated Blood Corpses and told them to retreat to him if they encountered the count.
• Xilǐ'er and the Gungnir contingent emerged from the forest and attacked scattered Blood Corpses near White Wax Town.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] arrived with [Good Times Don't Last] sharing his augmented hoofbeast after accepting a hidden quest to join the battle.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] spotted a special Blood Corpse and declared that he would defeat it as [Good Times Don't Last] prepared to dismount.

[Shit Appraisal Master] charged into the Blood Corpses below the city wall, where a powerful mutated Blood Corpse launched him into the defenders. As [Easily Soluble in Water] helped him, his frightened hoofbeast fled, then trampled [Good Times Don't Last] in the bushes and killed him.

• [Good Times Don't Last] agreed to film [Shit Appraisal Master]'s battle and hid in bushes near the battlefield.
• Tiya, Number Four, and Number Ten charged through the scattered Blood Corpses on their hoofbeasts.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] attacked a mutated Blood Corpse that was hurling its companions toward the city wall, but it uppercut him into the air.
• [Easily Soluble in Water] caught [Shit Appraisal Master] on the wall, where he asked him to watch his fleeing hoofbeast and complained about lacking vehicle insurance.
• [Good Times Don't Last] tried to record [Shit Appraisal Master]'s final moments, but the spooked hoofbeast trampled his neck and killed him.

Aluode lured the Blood Corpses into the bloodthorn shrubs and played dead while Count Bennett fought Lion Hidden in the Eyes on the walls. After Bennett tried to persuade him to stand down, Lion Hidden in the Eyes injected Anadrol and began transforming, leaving the count caught by two grease-covered humans as the battle escalated.

• Aluode pushed the remaining Blood Corpses into the bloodthorn shrubs, then collapsed and played dead.
• Count Bennett broke Lion Hidden in the Eyes's arms and offered to spare him if he stepped aside.
• Lion Hidden in the Eyes used a tube to inject himself with a crimson liquid, prompting Bennett to prepare to retreat.
• Two grease-covered humans grabbed Bennett's legs and bound themselves to him with vines.
• Lion Hidden in the Eyes invoked Anadrol and transformed as Professor Evergreen Tree left Dawn Ah to record the results.

Bennett fought off [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] and the players who had set him on fire, but the half-dragon broke his spine before Bennett killed him with a bone spike. Bennett began a second-form transformation as the surrounding fighters watched instead of attacking.

• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] charged Bennett and engulfed him in a burning embrace, with two players still clinging to the count as accessories.
• Bennett fell from the wall with [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] and landed in a ball of fire as Gungnir members and Soul Returners tried to stop him from replenishing his flesh.
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] broke Bennett's lumbar spine, but Bennett pierced the half-dragon's heart with a bone spike and threw him aside along with the two dead players.
• Bennett formed crude bone armor around his lower body and began gathering nearby Blood Corpses into himself.
• The Gungnir members and Soul Returners watched Bennett's transformation and praised how cool it looked.

Bennett called upon Progenitor Antos and transformed into a four-armed monster clad in bone armor. As the players joined the fight, Xilǐ'er struck Bennett with his spear and shattered his armor, surprising them both.

• Gungnir withdrew its forces as Bennett's body became an unstable mass of flesh, while players on the walls began recording his transformation.
• Bennett prayed for Progenitor Antos to look upon him, and a distant gaze repaired his body and helped complete his transformation.
• Bennett emerged as a four-armed monster covered in bone armor and roared, prompting the players to rush into battle.
• Xilǐ'er charged Bennett on horseback and smashed through his bone armor with a spear thrust, leaving both fighters shocked.

Xilǐ'er used his heavily reinforced armor and horse to ram Bennett, then challenged the vampire count to fight. The players gathered around them, waiting for the cutscene to end and the boss battle to begin.

• Xilǐ'er released his spear and sword, then charged Bennett with Radish and knocked him flying.
• Bennett realized Xilǐ'er came from the Eternal Domain and decided he had to survive to report the news.
• Xilǐ'er retrieved his spear, identified himself as a knight of the Eternal Domain, and challenged Bennett.
• The players learned that [Western Sharpshooter] had been smashed by Bennett and guessed the fight had not entered its combat phase.
• The players surrounded Xilǐ'er and Bennett, waiting to join the battle while cheering for both sides.

Bennett tore the helmet from Xilǐ'er, only to discover the silver armor was empty, while the players realized they had a limited window to attack the vampire count. Bennett broke through their encirclement with a sonic roar, but found another wave of players waiting for him.

• Bennett tore off Xilǐ'er's helmet and discovered that the armor had no wearer.
• The players saw a message saying Xilǐ'er would revive in 59 seconds and understood that they had to resist Bennett until then.
• A boss title and health bar appeared above Bennett, showing that he had 90% of his HP remaining.
• More than a hundred players attacked Bennett, piercing him with weapons as he smashed shields and killed them.
• Bennett unleashed a sonic roar that left some players disoriented, then carved his way out of the crowd and found another batch of players waiting.

Bennett fought off the relentless players while discovering that Xilǐ'er could resurrect and regain his memories through a mirror spell Ed had added. As Bennett drained players to restore his strength, Xilǐ'er returned to battle and severed his mouthparts with javelins.

• Players climbed over the walls to search for Blood Corpses and attack Bennett, who pulled weapons from his bone armor while more attackers joined the fight.
• Bennett saw Xilǐ'er’s broken sword become untouchable as silver light restored the knight, revealing that Ed’s new mirror spell was helping him resurrect.
• Xilǐ'er saw his reflection on Radish’s back, remembered his past, and removed his helmet as Bennett realized he might not escape the wall.
• Bennett chose to fight to the death for Antos, charged the players, and drained three of them to recover health despite their blood’s foul taste.
• After [Easily Soluble in Water] warned the others and was drained dry, Xilǐ'er completed his resurrection and hurled javelins that severed Bennett’s mouthparts.

Bennett and Xilǐ'er fought through repeated resurrections while the players wore down Bennett’s health. When [Aluode] offered to help him retreat, Bennett discovered too late that his subordinate had been waiting for a chance to strike him.

• Bennett fought Xilǐ'er again and realized that each resurrection left the armored knight weaker.
• The players repeatedly attacked Bennett as Xilǐ'er returned to battle, eventually reducing Bennett’s health to less than 10%.
• [Aluode] called out to Bennett and offered to lead his retreat through a weak point in the encirclement.
• Bennett accepted [Aluode]’s offer, then turned back to watch him hold off the pursuers.
• [Aluode] stabbed Bennett through the chest with a three-edged spike and revealed that his mission was complete.

[Aluode] defeated Bennett during the siege of White Wax Town, and the players wiped out the remaining Blood Corpses and gathered contribution points. Bennett was packed into a coffin and sent to the old castle as live cargo, though [Aluode] paid the Dragonborn driver to transport him as roughly as possible.

• Bennett realized [Aluode] had betrayed him and suspected a higher existence had changed the rules governing Blood Corpses, but a mysterious voice refused to let him die easily.
• [Aluode] killed Bennett with wooden stakes and then killed himself to clear his debuffs, while the surviving Blood Corpses went berserk.
• The players encircled White Wax Town and killed the last Blood Corpse after nearly two hundred player deaths, then cleaned the battlefield for contribution points.
• [Easily Soluble in Water] asked Darnell what the militia would do with the intact Blood Corpses, and Darnell called them set dressing.
• Xilǐ'er packed Bennett into a nailed coffin, and [Aluode] hired a Dragonborn to haul him to the old castle as dead cargo at top speed.

Ed captured Bennett and stripped away the Blood Corpse’s weapons and regenerative advantages so he could interrogate him about Aduolin Province’s Territory Secret Pact. He summoned Willow Seretima and [Zhong Lele] to assist, while [Zhong Lele] considered whether Bennett deserved to join the Second Holy See.

• Bennett woke in his coffin, saw Ed, and vomited blood and vegetable juice before Ed restrained him with vines.
• Ed cut off Bennett’s hands and teeth and bound him to a chair, leaving the wooden blade in his chest to slow his regeneration.
• Ed asked Bennett about the Territory Secret Pact and where it had gone after Bennett became a Blood Corpse, but Bennett refused to answer.
• Ed contacted Willow Seretima and asked her to come to the study to help with the interrogation.
• [Zhong Lele] arrived first, saw the tortured Bennett, and felt reassured that he was not being recruited without cause.

Ed had Willow interrogate Bennett with repeated lightning shocks to learn about the Territory Secret Pact of Aduolin Province. Willow finally stopped after satisfying herself, and Ed prepared to question Bennett again as the vampire weakly offered to talk.

• Zhong Lele discovered that Willow had been assigned to interrogate Bennett, though Willow initially protested that she could not do it.
• Ed reminded Willow of what had happened in the Demon Realm, and she agreed to use her Call Lightning spell on Bennett.
• Ed questioned Bennett about the Territory Secret Pact, but ordered Willow to shock him whenever he refused to answer.
• Willow stopped when Bennett claimed he would confess, but Ed told her not to trust him and urged her to continue shocking him.
• After five minutes, Willow stopped, satisfied that Bennett was ready to talk, and Ed turned back to question him while Bennett mumbled that he would confess.

Ed questioned Bennett about the Territory Secret Pact of Aduolin Province and learned that Progenitor Antos had taken the pact before the Tree Worship Church later established a replacement. Ed then turned to Bennett’s knowledge of Antos, but an unseen force prevented Bennett from speaking, so Ed entered Bennett’s consciousness to investigate.

• Ed learned from Bennett that Antos had taken the turquoise Territory Secret Pact after Fir City fell, and Willow explained that a new pact could replace it if the old one’s connection was severed.
• Ed concluded that the elven sealing masters had likely severed Antos’s pact connection, making Bennett’s information useless for finding a valid pact.
• Ed abandoned his hope of using the turquoise to help Little Green and reflected that presenting the World of Disorder as a game let players gather supplies, fight, and change the story.
• Ed asked Bennett to describe Progenitor Antos, but an unseen force stopped Bennett from speaking.
• Ed entered Bennett’s consciousness through their Root Network connection to find out what was silencing him.

Ed entered Count Bennett’s consciousness, temporarily blocked Antos’s mental influence, and questioned Bennett about the vampire grand duke and his lineage. Bennett revealed Antos was the Sixth Progenitor and described the ranks and numbers of his Blood Corpses, leaving Ed asking how they were commanded.

• Ed entered Bennett’s mind and found a memory of the battle for Fir City nearly a hundred years earlier.
• Ed disrupted the battlefield memory, temporarily blocked Antos’s control, and asked Bennett to explain what he knew about Antos.
• Bennett said Antos was a vampire progenitor who had led many wars, wielded authority over Bone and Blood, and was called the Sixth Progenitor among seven Blood Grand Dukes.
• Bennett identified Adelaide as the Fourth Progenitor and explained that Antos’s lineage had five marquises, twenty counts, and roughly one million Blood Corpses.
• Ed learned that no one in Antos’s lineage besides the grand duke could reach the high tier, then asked Bennett how the Blood Corpses were commanded.

Ed questioned Bennett about the sealed nobles, the elves who sealed him, and his Blood Corpse abilities, then arranged for Seraphina to help with an unspecified task. The chapter ended with Seraphina leaving the Obsidian Bank counter to make a spectacle for the players.

• Bennett told Ed he did not know where the other counts and marquises were sealed, and explained that two short-eared elves had sealed him.
• Ed suspected the elves' repeated description as short-eared might be memetic contamination, though he believed his otherworldly soul protected him.
• Bennett told Ed he could command about five thousand Blood Corpses in basic combat and had no fixed limit for summoning them.
• Ed told Bennett he would find him a good home, then contacted Seraphina to ask for her help.
• Seraphina agreed to Ed's request for five hundred gold coins and an additional condition that she make a bigger spectacle of it.
• Seraphina left the Obsidian Bank counter, where several players saw her.

Seraphina revealed her enormous true form to the gathered players, then returned carrying the mobile fortress Antasia. Ed told Gray to prepare for his return to the Graycast Corridor and gave him Antasia as a gift, leaving him to repair it before the journey.

• Seraphina transformed in the square, drawing delighted reactions from players and reverent prayers from the Dragonborn.
• Ed visited Gray, praised his biogear work, and offered him a gift.
• Ed told Gray the first crops would be ready for storage and transport in about a month, then reminded him of the Grand Foundry Master election agreement.
• Ed assigned Gray three responsibilities, including completing the biogear research and proposing a trade route to the Graycast Corridor.
• Seraphina landed in the square with Antasia in her claws, and Ed told Gray to repair it for his journey.

Seraphina returned the Antasia to the square, and Ed revealed that his real gift to Gray was the captured vampire count Bennett, whom he intended to use as the Antasia’s engine. Gray learned how to control Bennett with a psionic wheelchair and set off with a way to keep Blood Corpses at bay.

• Seraphina set the Antasia down in the square, then returned to her Obsidian Bank as the mist around her dispersed.
• Ed presented Bennett, a mutilated Blood Corpse and vampire count, and told Gray that he would serve as the Antasia’s engine.
• Ed demonstrated the psionic wheelchair’s brake and electric shock controller, shocking Bennett when he protested.
• Ed explained that Bennett could repel or summon Blood Corpses and make the Blood Corpses powering the engine work more efficiently.
• Gray accepted Bennett and the wheelchair, while Ed warned him that Bennett might deliberately misbehave to use up the stored shocks.

Ed and Gray discussed ways to use captured Blood Corpses, while Soul Returners prepared White Wax Town’s defenses for the Tree Worship Church’s approaching Holy Crusaders. The Crusader officers revealed that their mission was to investigate Bishop Duolin and decide whether he was an ally or a threat.

• Ed told Gray to contact [Do Some Farm Work] about using Blood Corpses to make tractors.
• At the White Wax Town Film Studio, the Concrete Pouring Club and hired players arranged Blood Corpses around the town to create a realistic battlefield.
• Duolin trusted the Soul Returners’ preparations after their recent victories, while Aoda questioned whether the plan would work.
• [Dark Archmage] spotted a camp flying the Tree Worship Church’s banner and reported that its Holy Crusaders were heading toward White Wax Town.
• A Holy Crusader officer explained that his group would investigate Bishop Duolin and eliminate him if he was not one of their own.