Recaps

Samuer met Hall, who sought to join him, and revealed that his goal was to kill every living being in the world, including himself. After Samuer walked away, Hall received the powers of Vitality and Drain and called a Mandatory Meeting.

• Hall approached Samuer and offered to serve him, describing his Fractal and Harvest abilities and the Devouring power he had gained from Rosalind’s True Blood.
• Samuer asked Hall to choose again after explaining that he intended to kill every living being and would eventually die himself.
• Hall said he thought the world was not so bad, so Samuer left him with the advice to struggle if he wanted to survive.
• Hall felt the powers of Vitality and Drain flow into him and realized that Wens had gone this far.
• Hall closed his eyes and whispered, “Mandatory Meeting.”

Hall divided his consciousness and Authority among his remaining selves, allowing Hall Number Four to return and Hall Number Five to become independent. Hall Numbers One, Two, and Three then transferred Wens’s power to Number Two and severed their connections, leaving Hall’s future to whichever version survived.

• Hall Number One called a meeting and reported Wens’s death, the legion’s growth, and the uncertain paths of the other Halls.
• Hall Numbers One, Two, and Three voted to let Hall Number Four return to the main body, and his blood mist divided among them.
• Hall Numbers One, Two, and Three agreed to sever Hall Number Five from the main consciousness, and Number Five left as an independent individual.
• Hall Number One proposed giving Wens’s power to Hall Number Two and severing the remaining Halls’ connections.
• Hall Numbers One and Three transferred their power to Number Two, then all three vanished as Hall’s shared consciousness space disappeared.

Samuer killed Hall Number One after Hall agreed to serve him, then suggested he would find someone else to take Hall’s place. Meanwhile, Hall Number Two celebrated completing his Authority by devouring the Blood Corpses, unaware that a tiny plant was growing at the nape of his neck.

• Hall Number One agreed to serve Samuer, who touched his brow and killed him after remarking on his resemblance to Vlad Țepeș.
• Samuer told Icarus that Hall Number One would catch up and that he would find someone willing to take his place.
• Hall Number Two inspected the decaying half-dragon body he had stolen from [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] and summoned a Blood Corpse.
• Hall Number Two drained the Blood Corpse’s life force, devoured its body, and reclaimed its remains, completing his Authority to a degree.
• Hall Number Two plunged into the gathered Blood Corpses and feasted as his body revived, while a tiny plant grew unnoticed at his neck.

Hall recovered after absorbing Wens’s Authority, while the aberrant plant on his neck revived and grew rapidly under Ed’s direction. It fused with Hall’s body and reduced him to a mindless, hunched creature that kept devouring Blood Corpses as the plant drained him.

• After Wens transferred his Authority to Hall before dying, Ed realized Hall had gained power that would make the Demon Realm battles harder.
• Ed detected the dormant aberrant plant reconnecting with the organization and released his suppression of its growth.
• As Hall absorbed the legion’s members, the plant broke its genetic locks, fed on the nourishment, and secretly drugged him with anesthetic and hallucinogenic substances.
• The plant spread roots throughout Hall’s body and grew thick enough to bend his back, while Hall failed to notice it and continued eating.
• Hall’s mind deteriorated until he could only repeat the act of devouring Blood Corpses, while his former consciousness dissipated and the plant continued draining him.

Ed drained the Blood Corpses and took the remaining True Blood and Authorities before Samuer’s roots reached the cavern. He then announced the completion of the first phase of the Calamity quest, granting server-wide rewards and extending the quest into a long-term campaign.

• The remaining vampire marquises fled after a root dragged one of them into the aberrant tree, which had consumed tens of thousands of Blood Corpses.
• Ed made the plant drain the trapped Blood Corpses and die, while his main body absorbed the life force, power, and Authorities of Hall, Rosalind, and Wens.
• Samuer found only drained corpses and a withered plant, drew a little death power, and returned his roots underground.
• Ed examined the two kinds of True Blood he had mastered and composed a live update announcing the Calamity quest rewards.
• The update granted all players new buffs and abilities and upgraded Calamity into a large-scale, long-term quest.

Ed realized Territory Secret Pacts would help him reach the transcendent tier, so he planned to expand the Theocracy by negotiating with the Great Labyrinth City and the Empire. After telling Nuowa to gather key allies in Valhalla and letting a mysterious plan unfold, Ed received a visitor he called [Ginseng Rooster].

• Ed concluded that collecting Territory Secret Pacts would let him spread his root network, grow stronger, and eventually break through to the transcendent tier.
• Ed planned to negotiate with the Great Labyrinth City for Territory Secret Pacts in exchange for military support, and considered discussing the Empire's future with Nuowa.
• Nuowa asked Ed whether he had obtained Wens's authority, and Ed told him to bring Willow, Noya, Liya, and himself to Valhalla.
• Ed directed Duma to prioritize the Blood Corpse army and avoid rushing the Skeleton Alliance's forces, since someone appeared to be preparing a major move.
• Ed welcomed a familiar visitor whom he addressed as [Ginseng Rooster].

After the battle’s High Tiers fell and Ed’s forces claimed victory, [Ginseng Rooster] saw a chance to exploit the Skeleton Alliance’s power vacuum. Colin refused the councilor position, so [Ginseng Rooster] killed himself to travel to Valhalla and set his sights on the Shattered Castle.

• [Ginseng Rooster] resurrected after Rosalind killed him, then returned to battle with Colin and survived the High Tier fighting.
• Ed’s update announced the Theocracy’s victory, while [Ginseng Rooster] noted that the Skeleton Alliance had lost nearly all its High Tier fighters.
• [Ginseng Rooster] asked Colin to become a councilor, but Colin declined, exhausted by his brief time as acting warlord.
• [Ginseng Rooster] slit his own throat, selected the Teleportation Tree in downtown Valhalla as his resurrection point, and asked Light Blue to arrange transport to the Shattered Castle.

Ed approved [Ginseng Rooster]'s plan to take command of the Skeleton Alliance's army and use it for a civil war, then sent him back to the battlefield. There, [Ginseng Rooster] spotted a skeleton carrying one of [Divine Wings]'s broken swords toward Warlord Grant and moved to seize the opportunity.

• Ed questioned whether [Ginseng Rooster] planned to attack the Theocracy after taking command of the Skeleton Alliance's army.
• [Ginseng Rooster] said he wanted to use the army for a sacred civil war and asked to borrow a fleet or teleportation spell to attack the councilors.
• Ed approved the plan, killed [Ginseng Rooster] in his office, and the Resurrection Tree immediately returned him to the battlefield.
• [Ginseng Rooster] announced the plan's approval to his team and noticed a skeleton carrying one of [Divine Wings]'s broken swords toward Warlord Grant.
• [Ginseng Rooster] alerted his allies to search for the other broken sword, then approached the sword-carrier with a three-edged spike in his hand.

[Ginseng Rooster] failed to seize the broken sword, then invoked Colin’s authority to summon the warlords to a meeting. Meanwhile, [Gill's Cuisine] found Palmer’s sword and claimed it, ending with an unexpected declaration.

• [Ginseng Rooster] approached the skeletal soldier carrying the broken sword, but Warlord Grant’s attention forced the soldier to escape to his side.
• Grant challenged [Ginseng Rooster]’s identity and ordered him back to his troops, but [Ginseng Rooster] asserted that Colin was his equal in rank.
• [Ginseng Rooster] announced Colin’s plan to hold a meeting at dusk and assured Grant that Colin could keep the front stable; Grant agreed to attend.
• [Ginseng Rooster] left to notify the other warlords and shared his improvised plan in the group chat.
• [Gill's Cuisine] climbed to the hillside, found Palmer’s sword embedded in rock, and touched its hilt.
• After [Gill's Cuisine] stood motionless with the sword, his companion urged him to hurry, and [Gill's Cuisine] replied, “Do not rush your emperor.”

After [Gill's Cuisine] and [Western Sharpshooter] secured the crystal-cluster sword, they headed toward Colin's territory and reported their success to [Ginseng Rooster]. Colin refused to attend the warlords' meeting, shaken by the battle's scale and by the deaths of powerful leaders.

• [Gill's Cuisine] touched the crystal-cluster sword and felt as if he had received the Mandate of Heaven, then let [Western Sharpshooter] try it.
• [Western Sharpshooter] recited presidential and French oaths after touching the sword, then revealed that an ancestor on his maternal grandmother's side had been French nobility.
• [Gill's Cuisine] and [Western Sharpshooter] traveled toward Colin's territory and told [Ginseng Rooster] through the local area network that they had secured the sword.
• [Ginseng Rooster] returned to Colin and announced that the warlords would meet at dusk, asking him to come along.
• Colin declined, believing he lacked the strength and experience to attend, and reflected on the million-strong enemy legion and the deaths of powerful fighters in the battle.

[Ginseng Rooster] persuaded Colin to attend a meeting of the surviving warlords by warning that his powerful army and absence could make him look like a traitor. Colin learned that [Ginseng Rooster] had already organized the meeting in his name, and they prepared to set out.

• [Ginseng Rooster] warned Colin that he might not survive until morning if he skipped the warlords’ meeting.
• [Ginseng Rooster] explained that only seventeen warlords remained and that Colin commanded nearly sixteen thousand troops, making his absence especially suspicious.
• [Ginseng Rooster] argued that the other warlords could brand Colin a traitor and kill him to unite their battered forces.
• [Ginseng Rooster] revealed that he had organized the evening meeting in Colin’s name, prompting Colin to seize him by the collar.
• [Ginseng Rooster] defended his decision by saying the meeting offered the warlords a chance to communicate and gave them both a better chance of surviving.
• Colin gradually calmed down, and [Ginseng Rooster] urged him to set out.

Colin prepared to attend a meeting with [Ginseng Rooster] and his guards, but [Gill's Cuisine] presented him with [Divine Wings]' damaged crystal-cluster sword. The relic reignited Colin's ambition, and he set off for the meeting with his resolve—and [Ginseng Rooster]'s plan—firmly in place.

• Colin chose to walk to the meeting and ordered [Western Sharpshooter] to bring ten military police and ten personal guards, while [Ginseng Rooster] accompanied him.
• [Ginseng Rooster] told Colin that [Gill's Cuisine] had brought him a gift, and [Gill's Cuisine] presented [Divine Wings]' crystal-cluster sword.
• Colin recognized the relic, reached for it despite the risk, and felt his ambition blaze up again.
• Colin cast aside the bone blade he had received after Shalier's death and strapped the crystal-cluster sword to his waist.
• Colin set out toward the meeting with [Ginseng Rooster], several capable Soul Returners, and the guards following behind.

As the Soul Returner Legion helped the Skeleton Alliance hold back the Blood Corpses, Ed and [Ginseng Rooster] prepared a Hongmen Banquet to carry out their plan. Colin arrived at the meeting site as [Gu Gugu] and [Ever-Changing Master Ye] turned its preparations into a comically oversized round table.

• Duma deployed the Soul Returner Legion between the corpse horde and skeleton army, following Ed's plan to provide cover while keeping the fighting manageable.
• Ed told [Ginseng Rooster] that the plan needed to succeed that night, before more Blood Corpses arrived and the Soul Returner Legion came under greater pressure.
• Colin walked through the battered camp toward the meeting site and asked [Ginseng Rooster] whether he could succeed; [Ginseng Rooster] confidently reassured him.
• [Ginseng Rooster] discovered that [Gu Gugu] and [Ever-Changing Master Ye] were building a giant round table for the warlords instead of arranging individual seats for the Hongmen Banquet.
• [Ginseng Rooster] explained that the banquet needed space for Colin, an empty center, and a sword dance, then wondered whether anyone needed to serve food to the skeleton guests.

Ginseng Rooster scrambled to salvage the warlords’ meeting after his players prepared Whale Tail’s remains as a grotesque centerpiece. He arranged a secret plan with Chosen of the Four Gods and gave Colin a prepared speech as they approached the gathering.

• Ever-Changing Master Ye and Gu Gugu proposed serving Whale Tail’s remains at the meeting, and Ginseng Rooster realized the arriving warlords would see them as a meal.
• Chosen of the Four Gods arrived carrying Whale Tail’s bones on a platter, so Ginseng Rooster ordered Gu Gugu to disguise it as a coffin and told Ever-Changing Master Ye to modify the round table.
• Chosen of the Four Gods revealed that he was still a Blood Corpse and could absorb nearby life force, and Ginseng Rooster whispered a secret mission to him.
• Ginseng Rooster left the others to carry out his plan and escorted Colin toward the warlords.
• Colin asked what to do, and Ginseng Rooster gave him a prepared speech in the Empire’s language for him to translate into Psionic Energy.

Colin and [Ginseng Rooster] gathered the seventeen warlords to decide the stranded Skeleton Alliance army’s next move and elect an acting councilor. Grant rejected the vote, killed Balovi, and declared that he was taking command.

• [Ginseng Rooster] arranged Councilor [Whale Tail]'s remains on a rotating coffin-platter and explained that the round table was meant to honor the dead and seat the warlords as equals.
• [Ginseng Rooster] proposed combining a strategy discussion with an election, so the warlord whose plan won the most votes would become acting councilor.
• A warlord endorsed the election, and [Ginseng Rooster] described it as democracy and a devolution of power.
• Grant proposed fighting through the Blood Corpses' encirclement and continuing the campaign rather than returning to the Alliance.
• When Balovi questioned the plan, Grant accused him of desertion and beheaded him.
• Grant drove his broken sword into the table and declared that he was taking charge.

Grant killed Warlord Balovi and took control of his troops, then challenged Colin to a duel. As Colin faced Grant, Ginseng Rooster tried to boost his confidence by listing Colin’s advantages.

• Grant’s broken sword killed Balovi, and the other warlords’ guards prepared to fight.
• Grant subdued Balovi’s guards and claimed their troops for himself.
• Ginseng Rooster challenged Grant on Colin’s behalf, prompting Grant to offer Colin a duel.
• Colin drew his vine-wrapped sword and accepted Grant’s challenge despite fearing he would lose.
• As Colin approached the dueling space, Ginseng Rooster began listing reasons Colin had the advantage.

Colin faced Grant in a duel for supremacy, unaware that [Ginseng Rooster] had weakened Grant through a hidden attendant’s draining abilities. The fight left Colin cornered, with no room to retreat and forced to block Grant’s next attack.

• Colin accepted Grant’s challenge and said they would settle who lived and died.
• [Ginseng Rooster] had placed [Chosen of the Four Gods] near Grant to drain his life force while hiding the effect.
• [Chosen of the Four Gods] weakened Grant and strengthened himself, narrowing the gap between Grant and Colin.
• [Ginseng Rooster] rang his brass bell to start the duel, and Colin and Grant fought with their swords.
• Grant adapted to Colin’s evasive footwork and used his bulk to drive Colin into a corner.
• Colin gritted his teeth and chose to block Grant’s attacks so he could counterattack.

Colin turned the fight around after Grant’s attacks lost their force, breaking one of Grant’s ribs and driving him back. As Colin pressed his advantage, Grant abruptly stopped to accuse the fight of being wrong.

• Colin blocked Grant’s opening slash and realized Grant’s attacks were weaker than expected.
• Grant became distracted by the weakness of his own attacks, allowing Colin to defend against more than a dozen strikes.
• Colin used a flying knee to break one of Grant’s ribs, surprising the watching warlords.
• Colin entered a focused fighting state and forced Grant to retreat with a series of counterattacks.
• [Ginseng Rooster] looked to [Chosen of the Four Gods], who nodded to confirm his involvement.
• After hearing a distinct boo, Grant lost his temper, turned toward the warlords, and declared that something was wrong with the fight.

Colin exposed Grant’s weakness and survived his accusations, while [Chosen of the Four Gods] proved his innocence with a gruesome stunt. Grant tried to rally the warlords with [Divine Wings]’s relic, but Colin revealed a much brighter divine weapon and pledged to bring their people back to the Skeleton Alliance and the Sand Capital if elected acting councilor.

• Grant claimed he had been sabotaged and accused [Chosen of the Four Gods] of draining his strength, but the warlords dismissed his excuses.
• [Chosen of the Four Gods] gouged out his eyes and passed them around so the warlords could verify their color and reject Grant’s accusation.
• The warlords condemned Grant for making excuses after losing to Colin and reminded him that he had ambushed Balovi.
• Grant displayed his broken sword, claiming [Divine Wings] had personally given him the relic, and the warlords fell silent.
• Colin unveiled a far brighter divine weapon and asked [Divine Wings] and [Whale Tail] to witness his pledge to return their compatriots to the Skeleton Alliance and the Sand Capital if elected acting councilor.

Colin defeated Grant, fused the two relic weapons into a towering saber, and took command as acting councilor. He ordered Grant and Balovi's forces to join his fight against the Blood Corpses and sent their guards back to spread news of what had happened.

• Colin cut off Grant's head and picked up his broken sword.
• Colin fused the two weapons into a horse-slaying saber before the warlords.
• Colin said he would take Grant's remains back to the Sand Capital for the Skeleton Council to judge and ordered that Balovi's remains and the fallen skeletons be brought home.
• Colin took temporary command of Balovi's and Grant's troops and ordered them to his territory to fight the Blood Corpses.
• Colin stopped a brawl between the guards, dismissed Balovi's and Grant's men, and ordered them to inform every Bastion Lord within an hour.

Colin secured the warlords’ support by promising to negotiate transport back to the Skeleton Alliance, then was elected interim acting councilor. The meeting ended with the warlords accepting his authority, while Colin and his allies remained in the hall.

• A warlord questioned how Colin would return the assembled forces to the Skeleton Alliance, and Colin promised to negotiate with the Theocracy or borrow ships from the Graycast Corridor.
• Colin hesitated before formally taking charge, but [Ginseng Rooster] guided the meeting into a vote for Colin as commander-in-chief and acting councilor.
• The fourteen eligible warlords unanimously voted for Colin, who declined a special codename and said he would return his weapon to the council once they reached the Skeleton Alliance.
• The warlords addressed Colin as councilor and left the meeting hall, while [Ever-Changing Master Ye] and [Gu Gugu] crawled out from under the table.

After becoming acting councilor, Colin relied on [Ginseng Rooster] to explain the Soul Returners’ arrival and asked him to recruit more for the Fang Soldiers. [Ginseng Rooster] went to negotiate while the birdwatching duo discussed their evacuation plan, as Skeleton Alliance soldiers began searching for a rune-covered bone that could teleport them.

• Colin promised rewards to his followers, returned to his camp, and faced a crowd of Bastion Lords pledging loyalty to him.
• Colin asked [Ginseng Rooster] about a supposed rift among Theocracy leaders, and [Ginseng Rooster] claimed the Soul Returners had come to the Demon Realm because they needed a war to fight.
• Colin asked [Ginseng Rooster] to recruit Soul Returners for the Fang Soldiers, and [Ginseng Rooster] agreed to ask whether any would join the Alliance.
• [Ginseng Rooster], [Gu Gugu], and [Ever-Changing Master Ye] crossed into Soul Returner territory to meet Duma and discuss their “Dunkirk Evacuation” plan.
• Skeletons in a camp on the southern side of the Skeleton Alliance army camp found a pale finger bone engraved with teleportation runes.

Colin’s skeleton military police took over Lord Grant’s camp while Colin waited amid uncertainty about the million Blood Corpses. At Duma’s feast, [Do Some Farm Work] revealed a plan to use the Blood Corpses to accelerate agricultural mechanization after the Soul Returners secured the main camp for a city.

• Colin sent skeleton military police to take over the camp, where they began questioning the troops and searching for supplies and belongings.
• [Ginseng Rooster], [Gu Gugu], and [Ever-Changing Master Ye] complained to Duma about their harsh desert posting while eating and drinking at his tent.
• Duma explained that he wanted the troops to vacate the main camp so the Holy City could build a city there, and that Nuowa had agreed to arrange the requested teleportation.
• [Do Some Farm Work] joined the group and said that he and [Ginseng Rooster] were both helping their respective sides with advice.
• [Do Some Farm Work] proposed moving into the main camp to make more than a million Blood Corpses harmless and use them to fast-track the Theocracy’s agricultural mechanization.

[Ginseng Rooster] and [Do Some Farm Work] discussed the Blood Corpses’ role in Machine Spirit production before the Soul Returner Legion finalized terms for the Skeleton Alliance’s withdrawal. The Skeleton Alliance’s council considered the proposal, but Colin worried about the loss of their camp and whether the Soul Returners would keep their promise to teleport the army home.

• [Do Some Farm Work] explained that Ed could create plant-and-animal organisms to replace Blood Corpses as the basis for new-energy Machine Spirits.
• [Ginseng Rooster] and [Do Some Farm Work] agreed that they would receive the three grand dukes’ final response, while Duma departed for the front line.
• [Ginseng Rooster], [Gu Gugu], and [Ever-Changing Master Ye] returned to the Skeleton Alliance’s camp and presented the Soul Returner Legion’s terms to the council.
• [Ginseng Rooster] told the council that the Skeleton Alliance had to leave its camp intact and withdraw south, after which a teleportation master would transport its army near the Sand Capital.
• Colin weighed the loss of the camp against the promise of safe transportation and wondered whether the Soul Returners might break their word.

Colin faced pressure to accept the humans’ terms or find a way to strengthen the Skeleton Alliance’s bargaining position. He agreed to risk his life attempting to inherit [Divine Wings]’ Holy Remains, though no one knew exactly how to do it.

• Warlords debated whether to accept the humans’ offer to teleport the Alliance away, fearing the humans might break their promise.
• An old warlord argued that Colin could inherit [Divine Wings]’ Holy Remains and become a high-tier fighter, citing a past councilor who had advanced without the usual ritual.
• Colin agreed to attempt the inheritance and told the warlords to recover the relic and elect a new acting councilor if he died.
• The old warlord explained that inheriting Holy Remains required forming a psionic connection but admitted he did not know the precise method.
• Colin returned to camp and told [Ginseng Rooster] that he had to try because there was no other way.