Chapter Summaries

Ed prepared for the expedition to White Wax Town, agreeing to bring several Upperstream Village youths along to carry supplies. As the players organized teams, [Dawn Ah] recruited the exhausted [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] and found that [Evergreen Tree] and [Backstabbing Expert] had become intensely absorbed in their research.

• Kaping asked Ed to let several Upperstream Village youths join the trip so they would learn to work and witness the dangers firsthand, and Ed agreed to have them transport supplies.
• Ed used the Territory Secret Pact absorbed by Little Green to command gravity magic and began trying to make the patched-up alchemical golem move.
• The players gathered weapons, arranged boats, and formed five-person teams for the quest.
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] asked [Dawn Ah] to save him a spot on his team after hunting in the woods for two days, then passed out from exhaustion.
• [Dawn Ah] brought [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] to the laboratory, where [Evergreen Tree] welcomed him because his commission was unfinished and [Backstabbing Expert] declared an ambition to change the world.

Ed launched the final phase of the campaign to reclaim White Wax Town after the players completed their boats and parties. He rallied the assembled force as the Second Holy See against the corrupted Tree Worship Church and began outlining the battle arrangements.

• Duolin led the players and villagers in completing three boats, while players also built two small rafts and finalized their parties.
• [Dark Archmage] and [Zhongde] led ten players ahead to White Wax Town to dig a tunnel, while the remaining forty assembled with Ed and their allies.
• Ed opened the final quest phase by denouncing the Tree Worship Church's corruption and declaring their force the Second Holy See.
• The players erupted into battle cries, impressing Duolin and Xilǐ'er and frightening the disloyal youths from Upperstream Village into submission.
• Seraphina stayed away from the assembly and resolved to invent something that would impress Ed.
• Ed began explaining the detailed battle arrangements after the cheering subsided.

Ed sent Duolin and Xilǐ'er on their assignments, then rallied the players to reclaim White Wax Town aboard an alchemical golem. The players received the battle quest and set off by boat, with their expedition leaving the makeshift dock in high spirits.

• Ed ordered Duolin and five volunteers to protect supplies aboard the first boat and sent Xilǐ'er and Radish to carry out a previously agreed mission.
• Ed summoned a towering alchemical golem, climbed onto its shoulder, and announced that the Soul Returners would reclaim White Wax Town.
• The players received the third-stage quest, which required them to reach White Wax Town, fight, win, and capture fallen clerics alive.
• Ed reflected that he could guide the players through rewards and his own image, but could not give them deep convictions or fully control them.
• The players boarded the boats at the makeshift dock, and [Shit Appraisal Master] beat a drum as they rowed toward White Wax Town and caught up with Duolin's group.

Ed issued a special quest to lure White Wax Town’s patrol to a location in the northern forest while his flotilla continued toward its destination. [Easily Soluble in Water] accepted the quest and provoked a cleric patrol into chasing him out of town.

• [Evergreen Tree] continued shaking a test tube while [Dawn Ah] rowed beside him, and Ed prepared to issue a quest through Little Green’s local network.
• Ed sent a special quest to players in White Wax Town, excluding [Dark Archmage] and [Zhongde], asking one player to lure a patrol to a location in the northern forest.
• [Zhongde] told the players they could leave without losing their progress on the excavation, and [Easily Soluble in Water] won the quest by comparing stats with the others.
• [Easily Soluble in Water] performed a convulsive street-dance routine near the northern outskirts, attracting a cleric patrol.
• The cleric captain mistook [Easily Soluble in Water] for the fugitive wanted by the bishop and ordered his patrol to chase him out of town.

[Easily Soluble in Water] lured the pursuing priests into a clearing, where Xilǐ'er blocked their path, while [Dark Archmage] and the players completed the rescue of the church’s imprisoned test subjects. All thirty-nine captives escaped the dungeon, and [Dark Archmage] encountered [Zhongde] at the tunnel entrance.

• [Easily Soluble in Water] led the patrol priests through the woods and drew them into a clearing, where Xilǐ'er rode out and barred their way.
• Yiden dismissed the need for reinforcements and ordered the patrols to guard the church against possible accomplices.
• [Zhongde] and the players widened the hole through the rock wall while [Dark Archmage] cut through the prison bars and helped the children escape.
• [Dark Archmage] and the players rescued Tiya’s gravely wounded father and all thirty-nine prisoners by 9:05 a.m.
• As [Dark Archmage] prepared to crawl back through the tunnel, she came face-to-face with [Zhongde], and they asked each other what they were doing.

Zhongde and Dark Archmage led the players into the dungeon beneath White Wax Town’s church to prepare a surprise attack, while Xilǐ'er captured five clerics for Ed. After the main force regrouped by the river, Ed ordered everyone to prepare to attack the church.

• Zhongde and Dark Archmage agreed to send the players through the tunnel and strike the Tree Worship Church from inside while the main force attacked from outside.
• Zhongde told Tiya and the others to hide the tunnel entrance, then returned to the dungeon with the players.
• Xilǐ'er skewered five clerics on her spear and told Easily Soluble in Water that she would take them to the church after they had bled enough.
• Easily Soluble in Water met Ed and the main force at the river and reported that the advance party had reached the dungeon beneath the church.
• Ed ordered everyone to prepare to attack the church.

Ed led the Soul Returners to attack the church in White Wax Town after Duolin challenged Yiden to surrender, and the alchemical golem smashed through the doors to begin the battle. As the players stormed inside, Evergreen Tree prepared to reveal the result of his research to Lion Hidden in the Eyes.

• Ed's force marched openly to the church, where the clerics shut the doors and Yiden ordered his people to hold their positions.
• Duolin demanded surrender and insulted Yiden, who refused and taunted him to enter the church.
• Ed ordered the Soul Returners to prepare for indoor combat and commanded Little Green to activate the Cognitive Filter Test Version.
• Little Green drove the alchemical golem through the church doors, and the players charged in to fight the clerics.
• Evergreen Tree stopped to show Lion Hidden in the Eyes his research, claiming the result was safe and could give him a dragon's power without eating dragon scales.

[Lion Hidden in the Eyes] transformed into a Dragonborn after [Evergreen Tree] injected him with an experimental substance, then led the players into the church. Outside, Ed coordinated the assault, sent Duolin to retrieve the rescued children, and welcomed Xilǐ'er back with five captured clerics.

• [Evergreen Tree] injected [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] with three syringes of an experimental substance called Trenbolone.
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] endured the burning pain and transformed into a Dragonborn, gaining a three-hour transformation status.
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] led the players toward the church doors as [Dawn Ah] prepared to continue the assault.
• Ed positioned the alchemical golem to help the players escape and used their vision and Little Green's computing power to map the church and guide them.
• Ed sent Duolin to retrieve the children who had escaped, while Duolin instructed Aoda to watch the volunteers.
• Xilǐ'er arrived with five half-dead clerics, and Ed told him to rejoin the ranks and leave the coming fight to his warriors.

Ed reunited with the experimental subjects and used severed body parts to restore their missing limbs, while Duolin helped and guarded them. After ordering the rescued youths protected, Ed headed into the church with volunteers carrying chests of body parts, where players received a warning that he was entering the combat zone.

• Duolin brought Ed thirty-eight experimental subjects and one severely injured family member, and they recognized Ed as Number Three.
• Ed told the subjects he would treat them, then instructed Duolin to cut while he assembled body parts and used [Vitality Touch Mark] to keep patients alive.
• Ed restored Darnell’s foot and reattached missing limbs and other body parts for the waiting subjects, who ate jerky as they recovered.
• Ed ordered Duolin and the guards to protect the subjects and watch the captured clerics while the apostates remained a threat.
• Ed led volunteers carrying chests of human parts toward the church, and a notification warned the players that Healer Ed Adrian would enter the combat zone.

Zhongde and the players broke into the church’s experimental basement and overwhelmed the priest guarding it. An earthquake struck, and strange roots swallowed the priest before continuing to grow around the players.

• The priest guarding the experimental area was stabbed through the trapdoor by Zhongde and the other players, who broke in and cornered him.
• Zhongde ordered the players to attack the priest, and they overpowered him and left him barely alive.
• As the players prepared to tie the priest to Zhongde’s back, an earthquake shook the basement.
• Roots and vines emerged through the stone floor, pierced the priest, and dragged him underground despite his pleas.
• The roots continued growing around the players after swallowing the priest.

Ed entered White Wax Town Church and confronted Yiden, who had covered the church and its sacred statue with Boston Ivy. After Ed destroyed the statue, the golem smashed through a wall and opened the trapped players’ route, leaving them face-to-face with the golem.

• Yiden’s Boston Ivy gave players inside the castle movement and immobilization debuffs, while the missing clerics left nine players trapped behind a wall underground.
• Ed cut down a vine that tried to attack him and found Yiden’s eyes hidden among the ivy covering the World Tree statue.
• Yiden mistook Ed for Duolin’s golem and threatened to make Ed remember his past as Test Subject Number Three.
• Ed sent the alchemical golem to smash the desecrated statue and used his vines to clear Boston Ivy from the area.
• The golem crashed through the wall, revealing the passage and surprising the players who had taken cover.
• Dark Archmage spotted Ed at the church entrance and realized he had freed them.

Ed led the players through White Wax Town's church, where their squads encountered traps, hidden clerics, and strange ivy that dragged away the defeated. The group continued sweeping the building, with [Litang's Supremely Fierce Tiger] left badly wounded after a cleric ambushed him.

• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] walked through the corridor's traps, caught a cleric, and began grinding his face against the stone wall.
• Ivy roots emerged from the cracks and dragged the cleric into the wall before [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] could finish him.
• Ed arrived with two squads and several NPCs, then ordered the players to rejoin the group and continue sweeping the church.
• A hidden cleric stabbed [Litang's Supremely Fierce Tiger] in the waist, but he ignored the pain and struck the cleric with his elbow.
• The cleric pulled out his blades, and [Litang's Supremely Fierce Tiger] collapsed while trying to gather his spilled insides; [Zhong Lele] tossed him a Vine Bandage Pack.

Ed led the players through the church, clearing the first floor and pushing through increasingly difficult fights on the second. As the group charged the last line of defense, [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] kicked the priest captain away from [Dark Archmage].

• [Pond Fish and Old Abyss] and her teammates cornered the dual-blade priest, but he was cut in half during their tug-of-war and they recovered only his legs.
• Ed gathered more than twenty players and led them upstairs, where the teams defeated elite priests despite heavy injuries and deaths.
• Ed rescued battered players across the second floor and found [Howling Pothos], [Good Times Don't Last], [Shit Appraisal Master], and two newbies fighting four priests.
• [Dark Archmage] identified the priest who had stolen Tiya's father's face, prompting the players to charge the enemy squad.
• The priest captain charged at [Dark Archmage], but [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] kicked him back down the corridor.

Bishop Yiden transformed the White Wax Town church into a vast enclosed sanctuary and revealed himself as a summoning boss. Ed prepared the players for battle as Yiden’s corrupted priests emerged, and [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] charged at the start of the fight.

• The middle-aged priest retreated into the confessional after Bishop Yiden ordered him to withdraw.
• Bishop Yiden reshaped the church into a huge stone cube overgrown with ivy, trapping Ed’s party inside.
• Ed gave the players Greater Night Vision, revealing Yiden and the corrupted priests the party had defeated earlier.
• Yiden welcomed the players to his sanctuary, and Ed displayed the boss health bar for [Yiden, Lord of the Gloomy Sanctuary, the Apostate].
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] entered his overheated state and charged toward Yiden’s forces.

The players fought Yiden’s clerics, who used the bishop’s ivy to repair their bodies and return to battle. As Ed ran short of spare left hands, Howling Pothos came up with a way to get more, and the chapter ended with him using a vine-wrapped dagger to tear off a cleric’s arm.

• Litang's Supremely Fierce Tiger baited a half-cleric with its own severed lower body, letting Zhong Lele and the players cut its supporting vines before Yiden’s ivy stitched it back together.
• The clerics accepted Yiden’s parasitism and began fighting in a more organized way, while Ed explained that their repeated repairs were not unlimited.
• Good Times Don't Last arrived with a mangled left shoulder, and Ed discovered he had run out of spare left hands.
• Howling Pothos asked Ed whether he could use other people’s hands, then headed back toward the fighting.
• Howling Pothos used a Deadwood Vine to snare a cleric’s arm and wrench it free with a dagger.

Yiden tilted and transformed the church with his ivy, turning the battle against the players in his favor. Ed suspected Yiden’s power came from a hidden cost or White Wax Town’s Territory Secret Pact, then began revealing a change in his own power.

• [Howling Pothos] brought Ed the cleric’s stolen left arm, and [Good Times Don't Last] had it attached.
• The church tilted as Yiden used ivy to turn its floor into a wall and shift the battle in the clerics’ favor.
• Ed reasoned that Yiden’s strength might depend on an unavoidable price or White Wax Town’s Territory Secret Pact.
• Yiden declared himself ruler of White Wax Town and taunted the struggling players.
• Ed challenged Yiden, withdrew the vines supporting the players, and began transforming as his plant crown and right eye changed color.

Ed transformed into his psionic form and changed the rules of Yiden’s Gloomy Sanctuary, freeing the players and letting them choose their own direction of gravity. The battle shifted into three dimensions as the players attacked the clerics and Pond Fish and Old Abyss used vines to scout for ambushes.

• Ed transformed from a Verdant Bishop into a Psionic Warlock, revealing that he had gained a claim over territory and psionic abilities by digesting the Territory Secret Pact.
• Yiden ordered the clerics to attack, but Ed used his commands to free the players from the ivy and make them weightless before they could crash into the ceiling.
• Ed’s combat assistance feature let players set gravity toward their chosen attack plane, allowing them to move and fight in any direction.
• The players formed teams and attacked the clerics in midair, while Lion Hidden in the Eyes led four technicians into an assault.
• Pond Fish and Old Abyss swung between surfaces on Deadwood Vines, marking clerics attempting to sneak up on the players.

Yiden turned the Sanctuary into a deadly battlefield as Ed closed in, and the players fought through the chaos to eliminate the priests. Yiden transformed into his strongest form, but the players focused on clearing his remaining minions while an alchemical golem charged through the dust toward him.

• Yiden’s vines dragged [Pond Fish and Old Abyss] toward a pit, prompting [Zhong Lele], [Litang's Supremely Fierce Tiger], and other players to rush in and create a bloody melee.
• Yiden realized Ed was directing the players and attacked him with waves of rapidly spreading creepers.
• Ed approached Yiden while redirecting the plant attacks, and the combatants were swept together into the corner of the Sanctuary.
• Yiden transformed into a massive alchemical-golem-like form as the cubic Sanctuary crashed onto a flat plane.
• The players trapped the remaining priests and began killing them before confronting Yiden, while an alchemical golem charged through the dust toward him.

Ed resurrected the fallen players while Yiden destroyed the alchemical golem and attacked the group in his plant-giant form. After Yiden’s attacks left the other players scattered or wounded, he focused his next grab on Ed.

• Ed used vines to assemble bodies and resurrect fallen players, while [Howling Pothos] and [Good Times Don't Last] cut off a cleric’s left hand to supply a missing body part.
• Yiden tore the alchemical golem’s head off, disabling it, and Ed scolded Little Green for losing control of the golem.
• Yiden challenged the players, and Ed’s displayed boss health bar returned to 60%.
• Yiden’s ground spikes and hardened ivy volleys wounded and impaled several players, but the group focused on dodging and carried on fighting.
• Yiden swept nearly ten players away with his sticky ivy arm, then prepared to grab Ed, the last enemy in front of him.

Ed Adrian-Dragonblood Berserker escaped Yiden’s vine prison and revealed the Tree God’s power in his eye, prompting Yiden to risk everything to capture him. Ed empowered the players with a dangerous flame buff, and they launched their final assault on Yiden.

• Yiden trapped Ed in a ball of vines, but Ed’s flames burst the prison apart and revealed his Dragonblood Berserker form.
• Ed unleashed dragon breath that shattered Yiden’s giant’s head, while Yiden pulled his real head into the giant’s chest and survived.
• Yiden recognized the red power in Ed’s eye as a sign of the Tree God’s resurrection and resolved to stake his life on capturing Ed.
• Ed snapped his fingers and gave the players the Ignite status, boosting their attributes and attacks while draining their health and shortening their lives.
• The Soul Returners charged Yiden in groups, chopping apart his giant body as Ed protected them from large-scale attacks.