Recaps

Sailesi betrayed [Giant Arms] to escape, and the councilor died under attacks from Ed and Duma. When Sailesi returned to loot the fallen arms, another Skeleton Alliance councilor rescued him and sent a vast dome of seawater crashing toward a coastal satellite city, forcing Ed, Duma, and Balund to protect its residents.

• Sailesi chose to teleport away instead of protecting [Giant Arms], leaving the councilor exposed to Ed and Duma's attacks.
• [Giant Arms] shattered and died, and Sailesi returned to collect his fallen arms before Ed, Duma, and Balund pursued him.
• An unnamed Skeleton Alliance councilor used a wall of seawater to block the pursuit and help Sailesi escape.
• The councilor's water dome burst above a coastal satellite city, sending a huge volume of seawater falling toward it.
• Ed guarded the area while Duma contained the water with his domain and Balund slowed its descent with spells, preventing casualties and damage.

[Nether Crossing] reported that the assassination had failed and learned he would become a Skeleton Councilor after [Giant Arms]'s death. Back in Great Labyrinth City, Ed explained paths to transcendent power to Balund, who concluded that his own path was no different from those of countless others.

• [Nether Crossing] told [Whale Tail] that [Giant Arms] was dead and the assassination had failed, with Suolaer's group captured.
• [Whale Tail] said [Nether Crossing] would become a councilor if [Crown] confirmed his account, then ordered the Skeleton Alliance to return to the Sand Capital and call off the war.
• Duma told Ed that [Giant Arms] might have been a former high-tier four-armed demon who recognized him, though he could also have been bluffing.
• Balund told Ed that the battle had made him doubt whether he and the Great Labyrinth City could stand against stronger high-tier fighters.
• Ed described scarcity, concentrated authority, and pioneering new paths as routes toward the transcendent tier, and Balund concluded that he was following an ordinary, well-trodden path.

Balund learned from Ed that reaching the transcendent tier required a rare bloodline, concentrated authority, or blazing a trail, and the two discussed threats and cooperation between their factions. Ed proposed using the Graycast Corridor’s high-tier prisoners in the Theocracy’s Dungeons.

• Balund realized that his decades of study had not qualified him for the transcendent tier, whose prerequisites Ed explained.
• Balund asked whether killing [Giant Arms] had helped the Skeleton Alliance create a transcendent-tier being, and Ed agreed that it might have aided several parties.
• Ed warned that the Eternal Domain posed a greater threat than the Skeleton Alliance and outlined plans for the Theocracy and Graycast Corridor to reinforce their defenses and patrol the sea.
• Ed proposed activating the Graycast Corridor’s other city Machine Spirits to strengthen its mid- and low-tier forces.
• Ed said the Theocracy wanted Ke'en Lisuo si and Brenfield handed over so he could put them to use in its Dungeons.

Ed left Great Labyrinth City after arranging for Balund to keep his avatar in storage, while [Shit Appraisal Master] and [Good Times Don't Last] discovered that a slash of Sailesi’s saber qi had destroyed their shop. [Shit Appraisal Master] turned the damage into a reconstruction opportunity, and the Theocracy’s construction crew later won the bid to rebuild the city.

• Balund agreed that the captured traitors would be sent to Valhalla after interrogation, and Ed arranged to store his avatar in the Rotating Library.
• Ed departed Great Labyrinth City, while [Shit Appraisal Master] and [Good Times Don't Last] rode back toward their shop.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] and [Good Times Don't Last] found their shop in ruins, and [Shit Appraisal Master] collapsed at the sight.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] contacted [Zhongde] and planned to bring the Concrete Pouring Club to Great Labyrinth City to help with reconstruction.
• [Zhongde] and [Concrete Mixed with Spaghetti] inspected the damage, and the Theocracy’s construction crew won the reconstruction bid.

After Gray funded the Great Labyrinth City's reconstruction, [Zhongde] and the Concrete Pouring Club rebuilt the ruined streets at remarkable speed, earning the locals' trust and attracting a local Grand Artisan eager to learn their methods. With northern affairs largely settled, Ed turned his attention to the conflict in the south.

• Gray personally received [Zhongde] and paid the Concrete Pouring Club's reconstruction contract in full up front.
• [Zhongde] mobilized the Concrete Pouring Club, whose members used nonstop shifts to clear ruins and rapidly assemble new buildings.
• The Concrete Pouring Club completed its first rebuilt block in three days and two nights, and Grand Artisan Felix confirmed the houses had no quality issues.
• The Soul Returners rebuilt the last ruined street by October of 909, while a local Grand Artisan studied their construction-site management.
• [Zhongde] recognized the Great Labyrinth City as a source of future contracts, and most of the Concrete Pouring Club departed with their earnings.
• With northern matters largely resolved, Ed turned his attention to the struggle in the south.

[Nether Crossing] agreed to inherit all four of [Giant Arms]'s limbs and take on the mission of killing the vampire grand duke. Meanwhile, [Howling Pothos]'s squad prepared to attack a sand fort after learning that their visible IDs had exposed them during a previous nighttime operation.

• [Crown] explained that [Nether Crossing] had to use all four of [Giant Arms]'s limbs together or pass the complete legacy to another councilor.
• [Crown] told [Nether Crossing] he would inherit [Giant Arms]'s power and responsibility for killing the vampire grand duke, and [Nether Crossing] accepted.
• [Crown] began preparing to reshape [Nether Crossing]'s skeleton so he could control all four arms.
• [Howling Pothos] gathered his squad, including [Easily Soluble in Water], to prepare for an attack on a sand fort and reminded them to hide their IDs.
• [Howling Pothos]'s squad recalled how enemy players had ambushed them at night after their visible IDs revealed their positions.

[Howling Pothos] and [Easily Soluble in Water] discussed rumors that the Skeleton Alliance resurrected the dead using different souls and dug up graves for bones. [Easily Soluble in Water] proposed dying again to see whether the Alliance would take and alter his body, just as Pixel Blue Dragon brought him a new text box.

• [Howling Pothos] led the armed squad out of the military camp and east into Skeleton Alliance territory.
• [Easily Soluble in Water] told [Howling Pothos] that imperial soldiers believed the Skeleton Alliance made skeleton soldiers from the dead using souls other than their original owners.
• [Easily Soluble in Water] added that the Skeleton Alliance turned captured imperial prisoners into skeletons and that soldiers had seen skeletons digging up imperial graves.
• [Easily Soluble in Water] wondered whether the Alliance had taken their corpses after their last deaths, and [Howling Pothos] considered whether that could reveal whose souls inhabited skeleton soldiers.
• [Easily Soluble in Water] offered to die again with marked bones to investigate, and Pixel Blue Dragon presented him with a text box.

Odin Game Company announced an update to "World of Disorder" that introduced secondary factions, faction-based player combat, and a captive system. The update opened the Southern Continent Turmoil quest, allowing players to join either the Skeleton Alliance or the Starlight Empire in their war.

• Odin Game Company introduced secondary faction affiliations while keeping all Soul Returners' primary allegiance fixed to the Holy Tree Worship Church Theocracy.
• Odin Game Company enabled faction-based player combat, forced faction changes for captured players, and organized team battles.
• Odin Game Company opened the Southern Continent Turmoil quest around the war between the Skeleton Alliance and the Starlight Empire.
• The Skeleton Alliance offered players mercenary service defending sand fortresses, while the Starlight Empire offered conscript service attacking them.
• Odin Game Company warned that participating players would lack local resurrection support and would need to survive the battlefield to advance.

After the announcement made their private quest official, the players received payment and rushed to join the Empire and Alliance as the new faction-war quest began. Ed sent them into the brewing conflict because he wanted those who yearned for order to win.

• [Dark Archmage] and [Clear Soup Master] realized their earlier project had become an official long-term quest, and both received five gold coins as payment.
• [Clear Soup Master] posted a screenshot of his payment message on the forum, while [Practice More If You're Bad], [Soaring Clouds 3773], and [Xiexie Huigu] also received payments.
• Players welcomed the new faction-war quest, and more than a thousand traveled to the Theocracy's frontier to join either the Empire or the Alliance.
• The Soul Returners split into two groups: one entered the Empire to seek recruitment, while the other headed to a sand fortress to offer mercenary services.
• Noya asked Ed which side he wanted to win, and Ed said he wanted those who yearned for order to prevail.

Howling Pothos and Easily Soluble in Water watched a skeleton cavalry patrol while preparing to ambush it for Haide’s bounty. After Howling Pothos signaled the others, Xiexie Huigu told the Soul Returners to prepare to intercept the riders.

• Howling Pothos and Easily Soluble in Water hid near the sandcastle and monitored its skeleton sentries.
• The pair spotted five low-tier skeleton cavalrymen leaving the sandcastle on patrol.
• Howling Pothos explained that the team would follow his plan to attack the patrol and claim skeleton fragments for Haide.
• Howling Pothos signaled the group waiting by another dune with a glowing ball of Fluorescent Velvet Grass.
• Xiexie Huigu relayed the plan to intercept and kill the patrol, and the Soul Returners spread out to prepare.

Howling Pothos’s group ambushed a skeleton cavalry patrol and used its horses and disguises to infiltrate the sand fortress. They escaped a pursuing half-treant, but a crystallized skeleton confronted them inside and demanded to know where they had found the monster.

• Howling Pothos’s group used a buried tripwire and ambushes to defeat most of a skeleton cavalry squad, while its captain escaped toward the fortress.
• Howling Pothos gathered the surviving people, horses, and skeletons, then devised a plan to use the captured horses and robes.
• The disguised group rode toward the sand fortress with a half-treant pursuing them, and one cavalryman shot out the monster’s eye to create an opening for the gates.
• The skeletons opened the fortress gates, and the half-treant retreated after being driven back by arrows.
• Howling Pothos and Easily Soluble in Water entered the fortress on skeletal horses, where a nearly crystallized skeleton asked what they had done and where they found the monster.

Five players ambushed a Middle Tier skeleton knight while a half-treant monster drew the fortress defenders’ attention. The knight adapted to their teamwork, identified [Howling Pothos] as the hidden Middle Tier, and began overpowering him.

• The half-treant monster charged the fortress wall, growing bark armor and claws as it climbed through the skeleton soldiers’ arrows.
• The five players threw off their disguise and attacked the skeleton knight while his attention was diverted.
• The players coordinated to hold their ground, and one recovered quickly from a severe wound before returning to the fight.
• The skeleton knight realized he was being worn down and targeted the player who kept protecting the others.
• The knight identified [Howling Pothos] as the hidden Middle Tier and drove his saber deeper into [Howling Pothos]'s shoulder.

[Howling Pothos] and his squad defeated the fortress knight and the skeleton soldiers in the sand fortress, though the knight was later found dead despite being trapped in resin. As the group prepared to loot the fortress, [Howling Pothos] heard hoofbeats approaching.

• [Easily Soluble in Water] attacked the fortress knight with triangular spikes, but his blows passed through the skeleton before the knight kicked him away.
• A half-treant leaped from the wall, crushed the fortress knight beneath it, and immobilized him by coating his bones in sticky plant tissue.
• The squad reunited, rescued [Howling Pothos] with Nutrient-Rich Resin, and defeated all eighty-four skeleton soldiers without losing anyone.
• The group discovered that the resin-bound fortress knight had died by an unknown means and decided to recover his skeletal remains for [Haide] to study.
• As the squad prepared to loot the fortress after its successful surprise attack, [Howling Pothos] heard faint hoofbeats.

[Howling Pothos] and his group prepared to flee as a large cavalry force approached the sand fortress. Among the reinforcements, [Dark Archmage] recognized [Howling Pothos], leaving her to reconsider how to proceed.

• [Howling Pothos] told his group to take the outer wall and appear strong, with the five unaffected players ready to become a Treant Aggregate and escape if attacked.
• A nearby patrol of more than fifty Soul Returner cavalrymen learned that the fortress was under attack after a skeleton soldier identified their crystal cluster markings and asked for help.
• The cavalry reached the fortress, where the defenders and the returning skeleton traded threats and insults across the wall.
• [Dark Archmage] recognized [Howling Pothos] as the group’s leader and told [Aluode] who he was.

Immersion player [Aluode] rode out to prevent a battle between his mercenaries and [Howling Pothos]'s group, using an insult contest to buy time and open negotiations. After returning, he learned the skeleton soldier might not be the only survivor, then helped another player kill him with a concealed armor-piercing arrow.

• [Aluode] recognized that a clash with [Howling Pothos]'s group could cause heavy losses and rode forward alone to intervene.
• [Aluode] revealed his crystal-cluster authentication and shouted insults at the players on the sandcastle wall.
• [Howling Pothos] ordered the defenders not to shoot, and both sides traded profanities while [Aluode] privately contacted him about a plan.
• [Aluode] returned claiming victory in the insult contest and asked the skeleton soldier whether anyone else had survived.
• The skeleton soldier said Lide had gone in another direction to seek reinforcements, and [Aluode] clasped his hands before a player fired an armor-piercing arrow that shattered his skull.

[Howling Pothos] and [Aluode] staged a peaceful handover of the sandcastle so both groups could claim rewards without fighting. After [Easily Soluble in Water] killed himself to investigate the Skeleton Alliance’s bone-recycling secrets, [Aluode]’s people looted the castle and collected its remains.

• [Howling Pothos] explained that he and [Aluode] had agreed to share the spoils and stage a convincing takeover rather than risk a fight.
• [Aluode] persuaded his group to let [Howling Pothos]’s nine players leave with their agreed share, while his own team claimed the castle and most of the loot.
• [Howling Pothos]’s group rode out peacefully, and [Aluode] led his people into the sandcastle, where they found [Easily Soluble in Water] waiting.
• [Easily Soluble in Water] slit his throat so [Aluode] could mark and photograph his remains for an experiment into how the Skeleton Alliance recycled bones.
• [Aluode]’s group looted the sandcastle, taking skeleton horses, equipment, crystal clusters, and eighty-five sets of remains, while Lide’s whereabouts remained unknown.

[Aluode] convinced Lide and the arriving skeleton soldiers that human mercenaries had recaptured the sand fort after Jiāsīdīng and the knight died fighting the Empire. When they accused the humans of betrayal and proposed inspecting the fort, [Aluode] opened its gates and led his wounded players away with the recovered bones and an Empire corpse.

• After hearing approaching hoofbeats, [Aluode] raised the Skeleton Alliance's flag and prepared the fort to look like the humans had retaken it in battle.
• Lide arrived with a hundred-strong party, and [Aluode] claimed that Jiāsīdīng and the knight had died fighting the Empire while the humans rescued the fort.
• Lide demanded to know what had happened to the green monster and accused [Aluode] of betraying Jiāsīdīng.
• [Aluode] defended the mercenaries and angrily agreed to let the skeletons inspect the fort, then announced that the humans would leave.
• The fort gates opened, and over fifty wounded humans marched away with the recovered skeletal remains and the mangled corpse of an Empire soldier.

[Aluode] and the mercenaries returned to Central Border Sandcastle No. 15 with proof that they had defeated a skeleton knight and collected valuable equipment. Their arrival brought victory news to the camp, where [Practice More If You're Bad] and [Soaring Clouds 3773] welcomed them.

• The skeleton soldiers found the fortress looted and covered in blood, so the guardian knight decided to report that the mercenaries had recaptured it.
• [Aluode] and his party rode back with skeleton bones, armor, and weapons, pleased that they had earned rewards without fighting.
• [Howling Pothos] showed a crystallized skeleton skull to the sentries, who recognized it as proof of a Middle Tier skeleton knight's defeat and opened the camp gates.
• [Practice More If You're Bad] and [Soaring Clouds 3773] welcomed the returning mercenaries and their captured equipment.
• [Practice More If You're Bad]'s unit had grown into an elite scout force with many Soul Returners, while its grateful NPC recruits handled the cooking and equipment maintenance.

A young imperial viscount learned that [Howling Pothos]'s scout squad had killed a fort knight and recovered valuable gear, earning a chance to report military merit. After discovering [Howling Pothos] had a symbiotic plant, the viscount mistook him for an illiterate savage and asked him to recount the operation.

• A guard told the viscount that ten hunters had raided a sand fort, killing its knight and skeleton soldiers, though one scout died and several were wounded.
• The guard presented a crystallized skull as proof of the victory, and the viscount summoned Centurion [Practice More If You're Bad] and Decurion [Howling Pothos].
• [Howling Pothos] explained that he had a symbiotic plant and came from Green Forest Territory, leading the viscount to assume he could not write.
• The viscount ordered [Practice More If You're Bad] to write a merit report, while [Howling Pothos] and the centurion joked in chat about being treated as a savage.
• The viscount asked [Howling Pothos] to tell him how the operation had gone.

[Aluode] persuaded Knight Colin to reward his mercenary unit and considered building a wartime partnership with him, while arranging for more Soul Returners to come to the border. The viscount asked [Howling Pothos] to recruit more people from home, and [Howling Pothos] agreed.

• [Aluode] described his unit's battle to Knight Colin, who accepted the account and praised the mercenaries for killing an Empire soldier.
• [Aluode] presented Knight Shalier's bone blade as the only remains recovered, and Colin claimed the military equipment the mercenaries had found as recovered spoils.
• [Aluode] told the chat group that the mercenaries would receive payment and keep the equipment, then proposed partnering with Colin to gain military merit.
• [Aluode] assigned his friends to contact home and recruit more Soul Returners for Sandcastle Number Fourteen.
• The viscount asked [Howling Pothos] to arrange for more recruits from Green Forest Territory, then told him to send a kinsman instead because he was too useful to leave.
• [Howling Pothos] agreed to do his utmost as [Practice More If You're Bad] joked that he and his people respawned automatically.

[Aluode] recruited [Gill's Cuisine] to Colin's front-line force by promising a military-merit scheme involving [Howling Pothos], while [Xiexie Huigu] described plans to repeatedly capture and retake sandcastles. At Sandcastle Number Fifteen, Colin reported the fall and recapture of Sandcastle Number Fourteen to [Hard Armor], then remained kneeling, tense and expectant.

• [Aluode] convinced [Gill's Cuisine] to travel to Colin's post by revealing that [Howling Pothos] would be their opponent and that he had made a deal with him.
• [Xiexie Huigu] invited [Gill's Cuisine] to join a plan to farm military merits by capturing and retaking sandcastles before destroying them.
• [Gill's Cuisine] chose to go with [Aluode] after learning that both groups were pursuing similar schemes.
• Colin used an inscribed bone to contact [Hard Armor] and reported that Imperial forces had taken Sandcastle Number Fourteen, only for Soul Returner cavalry to recapture it before dawn.
• [Hard Armor] instructed Colin to submit the report through normal channels, while Colin stayed kneeling, nervous and expectant.

Colin persuaded [Hard Armor] to appoint him guardian knight of Sandcastle Number Fourteen alongside his duties at Sandcastle Number Fifteen, accepting strict conditions for his promotion. He then placed [Dark Archmage] in charge of Sandcastle Number Fifteen while he prepared to garrison the captured sandcastle.

• Colin asked [Hard Armor] to appoint him guardian knight of Sandcastle Number Fourteen, and [Hard Armor] rebuked him for selfishness, disparaging Faulkner, and arrogance.
• Colin accepted responsibility for defending Sandcastles Fourteen and Fifteen and requested permission to use the vacant troop quota and funding to recruit Soul Returner mercenaries.
• [Hard Armor] approved Colin's appointment and cautioned him to keep the mercenaries in check with a squad of skeleton soldiers.
• Colin gathered the skeleton soldiers and Soul Returners at Sandcastle Number Fifteen and announced his new appointment.
• Colin named [Dark Archmage] commander of Sandcastle Number Fifteen while he led a hundred Soul Returners and fifty skeleton soldiers to garrison Sandcastle Number Fourteen.

After Colin took half the troops to Fortress Number Fourteen, [Dark Archmage] reorganized Sandcastle Number Fifteen and posted a truce offer that redirected enemy players toward Fortress Number Sixteen. At Fortress Number Fourteen, Colin questioned [Aluode] about the change of regime in the Theocracy.

• [Dark Archmage] ordered the remaining garrison to reorganize and patrol more often after the Empire players attacked Fortress Number Fourteen.
• [Aluode] suggested that [Dark Archmage] add information about Fortress Number Sixteen to her forum truce post, and she updated it to encourage Empire players to attack there instead.
• Colin led two hundred soldiers to Fortress Number Fourteen, where the troops cleaned up the looted fortress and began rebuilding its defenses.
• Colin summoned [Aluode] and asked him about the Theocracy's change of regime, and [Aluode] confirmed that he had helped the Son of God bring it about.

Colin recruited [Aluode] to gather Soul Returners for his forces while wondering whether Ed and Adrian were the same person. Elsewhere, [Nether Crossing] awoke in a new skeleton, took a seat on the Skeleton Alliance council, and set out to hunt a vampire grand duke as the voice of [Giant Arms] stirred within him.

• [Aluode] told Colin that Ed and Adrian had not yet openly fallen out, and Colin ordered him to recruit as many Soul Returners as possible.
• Colin promised [Aluode] command of a hundred recruits and planned an attack on an imperial encampment to prove his worth.
• Colin asked Councilor [Hard Armor] whether Ed and Adrian could be the same person, and [Hard Armor] said the possibility could not be verified.
• [Nether Crossing] awoke after ten days adapting to a powerful four-armed skeleton and remembered his identity.
• [Crown] welcomed [Nether Crossing] as the Skeleton Alliance's fifth councilor and asked him to hunt a vampire grand duke in the Demon Realm.
• [Divine Wings] carried [Nether Crossing] across the Floating Corpse Sea, while the voice of [Giant Arms] sounded in his heart.

A jealous centurion learned that [Howling Pothos] used a symbiotic plant and plotted to teach him a lesson. His guard suggested exploiting the plant people’s fear of fire, but the chapter ended before they acted.

• The centurion learned that [Howling Pothos] had captured an Alliance spy and angrily damaged his bed as he reacted.
• The guard reported a rumor that [Howling Pothos] came from the border near the Theocracy and used a symbiotic plant rather than an animal.
• The centurion called [Howling Pothos] a barbarian and demanded that his guard find a way to humiliate him without openly offending the viscount.
• The guard warned the centurion against targeting [Howling Pothos], but the centurion threw a food bowl at him and insisted on a plan.
• The guard suggested using fire, which plant people in the Theocracy were said to fear and were generally forbidden to possess.