Recaps

King of Fall Resistance, I Guess practiced controlling its roots and making blades, impressing its creators with its ability to learn independently. After thirty-six hours underground, it finally produced a blade that met the standard, though whether it could break through the rock remained unknown.

• King of Fall Resistance, I Guess struggled to control its roots but kept practicing and studying the books left by its creators.
• [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] sensed what the vines observed and told the group that King of Fall Resistance, I Guess was teaching itself to grow and install a blade.
• [Traditional Eccentric Wheel] explained that the Antasia could not manipulate roots as appendages, prompting the group to call King of Fall Resistance, I Guess a genius.
• [Good Times Don't Last] urged the others to nurture the Machine Spirit and keep it from meeting its own kind, while [Traditional Eccentric Wheel] asked [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] to keep monitoring it.
• King of Fall Resistance, I Guess spent a day absorbed in making blades, while the players waited anxiously for news from underground.
• Thirty-six hours after it went underground, [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] reported that King of Fall Resistance, I Guess had made a blade that met the standard.

The players waited as the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess learned to replace its blades and dig through the hard rock wall. After twenty-four hours of work, it opened a passage and returned to the surface, where it invited the players aboard but excluded [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop].

• [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] reported that the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess had made usable blades but still needed help sharpening and replacing them.
• The King of Fall Resistance, I Guess used its roots to replace its blades, restarted, and began slowly cutting into the hard rock wall.
• The players learned that the machine could cut through the rock by replacing enough blades, and it dug continuously through the night.
• The King of Fall Resistance, I Guess opened a spindle-shaped passage and reversed through it back to the surface.
• The King of Fall Resistance, I Guess opened its side door to invite the players aboard but barred [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop].

The players explored the cave dug by the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess and reached a vast underground space. [Retreat in the Face of Difficulty] found the source of the lights and discovered someone there.

• The King of Fall Resistance, I Guess shut its hatch and careened around the wilderness with the players trapped inside, then dumped them out near the cave entrance.
• The players entered the cave and marveled at the stone tunnel the Machine Spirit had ground through the rock.
• [Retreat in the Face of Difficulty] spotted the lights through a spindle-shaped opening, and the group widened it and rappelled into the cavern.
• The players explored the cavern while [Good Times Don't Last] lit a torch with help from [Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop].
• [Retreat in the Face of Difficulty] climbed over a rocky outcrop, found the source of the lights, and shouted that someone was there.

The Soul Returners discovered a massive glowing crystal cluster with three people trapped inside and decided to climb up for a closer look. [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] reached one of the figures and saw a dark-eyed man with salt-and-pepper hair sealed within, leaving the group poised to investigate further.

• The Soul Returners found a huge blue-glowing crystal cluster containing three human silhouettes.
• [Retreat in the Face of Difficulty] cut his arm on the crystal, but nothing happened after his blood touched it.
• The players voted to climb the cluster and wrapped themselves in plant tissue for protection.
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] tested the crystal against his scales, found they could withstand it, and climbed up easily.
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] inspected one trapped figure and saw a sharply featured man with deep black eyes and curly salt-and-pepper hair.

Lion Hidden in the Eyes and the other players examined three figures frozen in a crystal cluster, finding a fleeing nobleman, a poised female assassin, and a sinister-looking mage. As they studied the sealed figures, cracks suddenly appeared at the tops of all three crystals.

• Lion Hidden in the Eyes inspected the first crystal and saw an elaborately dressed nobleman frozen as if falling backward.
• Lion Hidden in the Eyes examined the second crystal and realized a white-haired woman with twin short swords had been aiming at the nobleman's back.
• The other players gathered around the third crystal, where Lion Hidden in the Eyes saw a young mage holding a blood-scented staff.
• Lion Hidden in the Eyes heard crystal cracking and spotted a crack appearing at the top of each of the three crystals.

Cracks spread through the crystals sealing three powerful figures, and the players debated whom to help as the prisoners began to awaken. The players split into two camps after [Good Times Don't Last] considered accepting the middle prisoner’s offer of noble titles.

• Cracks spread across the crystal pillars, and the sealed middle-aged man asked the players for help.
• The middle-aged man claimed he was a hunted noble and offered the players titles, while [Shit Appraisal Master] suspected he was hiding something.
• A young mage’s Psionic Energy illuminated his staff, revealing it was made from a human spine, as the other two crystals began cracking faster.
• [Traditional Eccentric Wheel] urged the players to choose a side before the three prisoners broke free.
• [Good Times Don't Last] asked the middle-aged man what titles he could grant, then suggested they help him after hearing the offer.
• The players retreated from [Good Times Don't Last], splitting into a camp with him and a camp without him.

Good Times Don't Last and Shit Appraisal Master triggered a deadly blood-thread attack when they approached the runaway noble’s crystal, forcing the players to scatter. Lion Hidden in the Eyes struck the dark mage’s crystal pillar, and its yellow gemstone slowed the blood threads just as the pillar began to shatter.

• Good Times Don't Last and Shit Appraisal Master tried to break the runaway noble’s crystal, but blood threads struck them and began controlling players nearby.
• Blood threads spread among the players, striking seven more, including Retreat in the Face of Difficulty.
• Traditional Eccentric Wheel warned everyone to scatter and avoid meeting the controlled players’ eyes.
• Lion Hidden in the Eyes realized the dark mage was behind him and punched its crystal pillar with his mechanical fist.
• The pillar cracked, exposing the dark mage’s yellow gemstone, whose light slowed the pursuing blood threads as the controlled players turned toward it.
• The crystal pillar shattered completely.

The players realized the dark mage had freed himself by using them and that the sealed “runaway noble” was the vampire grand duke. As the controlled players attacked, [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] tried to plant a Temporary Resurrection Tree seed so she could summon Boss Ed, while the dark mage began removing crystal shards from [Lion Hidden in the Eyes].

• The dark mage halted the crystal fragments and cut apart the blood arrows, but nine players had already been attacked and controlled.
• The controlled players demanded that the dark mage stop, and he answered that only one of them would die.
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] realized the sealed noble was the vampire grand duke, who had used the players to escape, and urged them to summon Boss Ed.
• [Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop] and [Traditional Eccentric Wheel] distracted [Good Times Don't Last] while [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] prepared a Temporary Resurrection Tree seed.
• [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] directed the survivors toward the opening in the stone wall, hoping to throw the seed into soil beyond it.
• The dark mage apologized to [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] and began pulling the crystal fragments from his body.

The dark mage killed the grand duke’s puppet and freed the last sealed assassin, Liya, while the players fled toward the exit with a Resurrection Tree seedling. At the entrance, an unknown figure caught the seedling and destroyed it, blocking the players’ escape plan.

• The dark mage transformed his bone-and-gem staff and used its flying vertebrae to pulverize [Good Times Don't Last], who was possessed by the grand duke.
• The grand duke controlled [Retreat in the Face of Difficulty] and tried to break the last crystal, but the dark mage made him abandon the attack and flee.
• The dark mage shattered the final crystal, freed Liya, and ordered her to stop the grand duke and his eight puppets.
• [Do Some Farm Work] urged the players to throw the Resurrection Tree seedling through the exit, and [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] hurled it toward the opening.
• An unknown figure at the entrance caught the seedling, killed it, and told the players they could not have their way.

Marquis Kebola of the Eternal Domain ambushed the Soul Returners in the cave and used his power to slow [Good Times Don't Last]. A Red Dragonborn injected himself with several cylinders and fought Kebola, while a forum post revealed that an unknown entity had possessed [Shit Appraisal Master] and made him attack his companions.

• Marquis Kebola introduced himself to the Soul Returners and revealed that the Eternal Domain had tracked them to the cave.
• [Do Some Farm Work] distributed citrus and tried to distract Kebola, but Kebola slowed [Good Times Don't Last] with his power.
• A Red Dragonborn arrived, injected himself in the chest with several cylinders, and transformed before charging Kebola.
• Kebola and the Red Dragonborn collided in battle, each fighting at full strength.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] posted a video showing a blood-red thread possessing him and forcing him to attack his companions.
• After a crystal shattered and a new NPC appeared, the entity controlling [Shit Appraisal Master] fled with his body into the crystal clusters.

Players watched a video of the battle and struggled to reach its distant location, while [Shit Appraisal Master] regretted logging out and begged Ed to save them. In the underground space, Liya fought Hall’s empowered puppets as one fled, while [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] battled Kebola and the other players waited for the Citrus Aggregate to take effect.

• Players flooded [Shit Appraisal Master]’s video with questions, but he could not provide battlefield coordinates because the nearby Teleportation Trees were unusable or destroyed.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] regretted logging out, checked his resurrection progress, and pleaded for Ed to save them.
• Liya continued killing Hall’s puppets, but Hall’s Cultivation and Harvest authority transferred power into the surviving bodies and strengthened them.
• Liya wounded a newly high-tier puppet, which fled as a streak of blood-colored light, and she pursued him.
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] fought Kebola, whose Amber Dragon abilities and slow-motion skills turned their brawl into a contest between strength and agility.
• The other players watched the fight while they waited for the Citrus Aggregate to take effect.

Grand Duke Hall, attached to [Shit Appraisal Master], searched for a chance to possess the Dragonborn [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] while fleeing a female assassin. As Kebola trapped [Lion Hidden in the Eyes], the assassin decapitated [Shit Appraisal Master], and Grand Duke Hall launched a blood arrow toward the Dragonborn to possess him.

• Grand Duke Hall observed the battlefield through [Shit Appraisal Master]'s puppet body and targeted the enraged Red Dragon's Dragonborn for his Cultivation ability.
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] worked out that Kebola controlled targets' speed, but Kebola restrained him with his tail and slowed his heart.
• The female assassin cut off [Shit Appraisal Master]'s head as Grand Duke Hall faced imminent death.
• A blood mark appeared on [Shit Appraisal Master]'s severed head, and Grand Duke Hall fired a blood arrow at [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] to possess him.
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] realized Grand Duke Hall was trying to escape death by taking over his body.

Grand Duke Hall possessed [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] and then Kebola, while [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] restrained Kebola with the half-treant’s vines. As Hall invaded Kebola’s mind, he recognized signs of altered memories and encountered the descending consciousness of the King of Domination, Vanessa.

• Kebola failed to stop Hall’s blood arrow, which struck [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] and let Hall take control of the half-dragon’s body.
• Hall broke Kebola’s spell by striking the half-dragon’s chest, restoring its heartbeat as [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] grabbed and bound Kebola with vines.
• Hall targeted Kebola with another blood arrow and took control of the Amber Dragon’s Dragonborn despite Kebola’s prayer to the Eternal Twin Kings.
• Hall recognized that someone had tampered with Kebola’s memories, then sensed the King of Domination’s consciousness and heard Vanessa address him as a blood relative.

Vanessa offered Hall a chance to surrender his authority and survive, but he refused, abandoning his attempt to possess Kebola. The Immortal King then chose to travel in person to stop anyone else from capturing or killing Hall.

• Vanessa revealed that Antos and Adelaide had lost their power but were still alive, and announced her plan to become the new True Ancestor.
• Vanessa offered to share her research and help Hall surrender his authority without dying, but Hall refused her terms.
• Hall gave up on possessing Kebola, and [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] blocked the female assassin's twin Psionic Energy blades.
• At the Twin Kings Palace, the Immortal King decided to go in person and opened a spatial rift to the windswept land where Hall was.

Aeldra transformed into an enormous amber dragon and struck the Wilderness of Chaos, while Vanessa began the agreed action in the Twilight Capital. The impact broke into the underground cavern, where Aeldra’s dragon head appeared through the ceiling as the battle below remained unresolved.

• Aeldra fell from a spatial rift, transformed into a giant amber dragon, and crashed into the Wilderness of Chaos, killing the players gathered nearby.
• Vanessa heard Aeldra’s call and began acting from her throne in the Twin Kings Palace, murmuring, “Blood, bone, flesh.”
• The impact shook the underground cavern, lifting everyone who could not fly into the air and disrupting the fighting.
• A second impact shattered the obsidian ceiling, and Aeldra’s enormous head pushed through the opening to survey the cavern.

Ed discovered that the players were in danger and set off to help by riding a Resurrection Tree from the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess. As Amber Dragon Aeldra attacked the battlefield, Ed and the Machine Spirit raced toward the players, while the female assassin tried to protect the half-treant from the dragon’s lightning.

• Ed saw through a player's eyes that Hall had trapped the female assassin and mage, and decided to intervene when the players could not manage the situation.
• Ed found that the nearest Resurrection Tree was inside the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess, and contacted its Machine Spirit to borrow it.
• The Resurrection Tree pulled itself free and raced across the wilderness toward the battlefield, while the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess followed behind.
• When Amber Dragon Aeldra appeared on the horizon, Ed shifted the Resurrection Tree into four-wheel drive and the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess accelerated after it.
• Aeldra fired lightning at Grand Duke Hall’s surviving duplicates, and the female assassin kicked the half-treant out of danger before rushing toward the crystal cluster.

The mage used his powers to rescue the cavern’s occupants from Aeldra’s devastating attack, teleporting them all to safety. Above ground, Aeldra confronted Ed, froze him into a lifeless figurine, and swallowed him before flying away.

• The mage confronted Aeldra and redirected the dragon’s lightning as icicles and electricity surged through the cavern.
• The mage teleported the players, the grand duke’s puppets, the half-treant, Kebola, and the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess away from the attack.
• Aeldra swallowed one of Hall’s puppets while Ed emerged from the Resurrection Tree and realized the cavern had been emptied.
• Aeldra froze Ed into a motionless figurine, unleashed a lightning storm that erased his traces, swallowed him, and flew away.

Ed wondered why Aeldra had abruptly left after destroying his clone, then found the badly damaged Hall and tried to recruit him. Hall attacked Ed before he could finish explaining the job.

• A new Ed clone emerged from the Resurrection Tree, and Ed suspected Aeldra had left because of a private weakness.
• Ed found Hall's mangled body in an excavated opening and surrounded him with rapidly growing plants.
• Hall assessed Ed as a dangerous new High Tier opponent and weighed his chances while recovering from his imprisonment and recent battles.
• Ed introduced himself as Ed Adrian Number Two and offered Hall a job with meals and accommodation at Quality Charcoal.
• Hall fired a blood arrow between Ed's eyebrows before Ed could finish speaking.

Ed stopped Hall from possessing him and revealed that Adelaide True Blood, which he called the power of Absolute Punishment, had made them equal in rank. Hall pleaded for his life by offering to surrender, and Ed began questioning him while considering how to use him.

• Hall's blood arrow entered Ed's brow, but Hall failed to control Ed's body and met Ed in his consciousness.
• Ed explained that Hall had lost a chance to work at the High-Quality Charcoal Processing Plant and help produce Machine Spirits.
• Ed revealed that he possessed Adelaide True Blood, or Absolute Punishment, which prevented Hall from possessing him.
• Hall claimed that his Cultivation and Harvest Authorities made him a Pillar of the world, but Ed argued that the Pillar could remain standing if someone spared Hall.
• Hall offered to surrender and do whatever Ed asked, so Ed identified himself as Cardinal Ed Adrian and asked how many clones Hall had.

Ed imprisoned Hall in a modified body and forced him into a lightning-equipped wheelchair under the Second Holy See’s rules for vampires. Hall accepted the restraints rather than risk permanently losing his ability to infect others.

• Ed confirmed Hall’s account of the three bodies and declared that Hall would remain imprisoned until the great crisis was resolved.
• Ed had Hall manifest the face of his former puppet and transformed the body to match it as they approached the Resurrection Tree.
• A third Ed emerged, bound Hall into a wheelchair, and used its electric shock to make the vampire more obedient.
• Hall asked to walk freely, but Ed explained that only Muller was permitted because Ed had permanently removed Muller’s ability to infect others.
• Hall refused to undergo the same procedure and decided that the wheelchair, seal, and electric shocks were acceptable.

Ed brought Hall under his control while secretly allowing him a chance to survive, and Hall used a hidden puppet to escape the ruins in a new body. Ed told Noya he intended to let Hall grow stronger so he could eventually harvest him.

• Ed's avatar pushed Hall's wheelchair across the Wilderness of Chaos while players returned to the battlefield and hunted the remaining Blood Corpses.
• Hall's sealed puppet awakened beneath the ruins, revealing that he had concealed a fourth puppet and retained a sliver of True Blood.
• Hall transferred himself into the burned body of a half-dragon, recovered enough strength, and crawled out of the ruins after nightfall.
• Hall headed east, away from Ed and his avatar, while a slender shoot swayed unnoticed on the back of his new body's head.
• Noya asked Ed why he had not exposed Hall's deception, and Ed explained that he wanted to track Hall's avatars and eventually harvest his power.

Ed explained why Hall would likely return to the Demon Realm, while Aeldra brought Hall to the King of Domination in the Eternal Domain. Ed then asked Hall about the mage and assassin who had sealed him away.

• Ed reasoned that Hall would avoid the Second Holy See, the Eternal Domain, the Wilderness of Chaos, and the Graycast Corridor, leaving the Demon Realm as his likeliest place to recover.
• Ed explained that Hall’s return could weaken the other vampire grand dukes and provoke infighting, while he planned to feed Hall information and watch events unfold.
• Aeldra returned to the Twin Kings Palace with Hall, after learning that Kebola had been taken to the Graycast Corridor.
• Hall recognized Vanessa, and she welcomed him as a blood relative; Hall then asked her to explain again how she could extract his True Blood while keeping him alive.
• Ed asked Hall who the mage and assassin were that had sealed him away.

After an emergency teleport dropped the black mage, the female assassin, the players, and their captives into a Graycast Corridor city’s barbican, the guards surrounded them and demanded explanations. The guards accepted their warning about a vampire grand duke but reacted with excitement when Kebola claimed he could revive after death, ordering him shot.

• The black mage teleported the group into Graycast Corridor Satellite City No. 42’s barbican while escaping Aeldra’s dragon breath, and the guards surrounded them with crossbows and ballistae.
• The black mage asked the guards to summon their city lord with urgent intelligence about a vampire grand duke, and the captain went to fetch him.
• [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] told the vice-captain that the players were Soul Returners from the Second Holy See, which had allied and traded with the Graycast Corridor.
• Marquis Kebola identified himself as a noble of the Eternal Domain and claimed the Twin Kings’ blessing let him revive after death.
• The vice-captain ordered the guards to shoot Kebola when he confirmed he could revive.

Graycast Corridor defenders killed Kebola with a volley of arrows while [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] shielded the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess from the stray shots. The Machine Spirit then cried out in a Blood Corpse’s voice, prompting the deputy captain to demand that the fortress surrender its elite Blood Corpses.

• The deputy captain ordered the defenders to fire repeated volleys at bound Kebola, who used his ability to slow the arrows until he could no longer endure the pain.
• [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] realized that stray arrows could hit the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess and created a wooden helmet around it.
• The arrows killed Kebola, who turned into a streak of light and began the revival process, while the remaining shots struck the Machine Spirit’s wooden helmet and the fortress wall.
• The King of Fall Resistance, I Guess cried out, and the Graycast Corridor defenders recognized the blended voice as that of a Blood Corpse.
• The deputy captain accused the fortress of harboring elite Blood Corpses and demanded that they be handed over for execution.

The Short-Eared Elf revealed that the captured Blood Corpse was the vampire Grand Duke Hall, making Graycast Corridor’s soldiers realize how powerful the young mage must be. The city lord arrived in a towering mechanical suit and surveyed the group.

• [Do Some Farm Work] stopped secretly manipulating a mechanism after a soldier threatened to shoot him.
• The Short-Eared Elf confirmed that an elite Blood Corpse was present, and the young mage levitated the captive before the walls and forced him to identify himself as vampire Grand Duke Hall.
• The deputy captain ordered the soldiers to remain on guard and wait for the city lord to handle the situation.
• The city lord returned atop the wall in a towering, dark-yellow mech, drawing the players’ attention, especially [Do Some Farm Work]’s.
• The mech stopped at the wall’s edge and looked over the group, paying little attention to the captured Kebola and Hall.