Chapter Summaries

A newly awakened Blood Corpse leader learned that nearly a century had passed and began transforming [Aluode] into one of his kind. [Aluode] became a Blood Corpse but discovered he could still think and control his character, leaving him to consider how to use his new faction status.

• The Blood Corpse leader killed his remaining captives until [Aluode] told him it was October 10, year 908 of the Royal Calendar.
• The old man realized he had slept for over eighty years and recommitted himself to serving the Grand Duke of Blood by spreading the Corpse Tide.
• The old man offered [Aluode] either a painless death or a place among his blood kin, and [Aluode] chose transformation.
• The old man transformed [Aluode] into a Blood Corpse, and the player panel showed that he had switched factions and received the Count's Gift.
• [Aluode] realized that, as a player, he retained control despite the status requiring absolute obedience, and considered using his new body to protect his valuables before resurrecting.

Ed realized the Blood Corpses were growing stronger as their seal weakened and recognized that the revived count posed a serious threat. Through [Aluode], who appeared to have joined the count but was secretly cooperating with Ed, he learned that the count intended to attack Weeping Willow Town.

• Ed watched players die fighting the revived count and concluded that Blood Corpses would grow stronger until the Grand Duke of Blood emerged.
• Ed used his powers to send [Aluode] hints while the count turned him into a subordinate.
• The count ordered [Aluode] to explain the human powers and identify his home settlement.
• [Aluode] named Weeping Willow Town in Aduolin Province as his home.
• Ed recognized Weeping Willow Town as a likely target of the count and suspected the Tree Worship Church’s Fallen Ones controlled it.

[Aluode] realized that the Blood Corpse Count was Bennett Antos, the former human Marquis Aduolin, and that his squad had awakened a powerful vampire traitor. Bennett summoned more Blood Corpses to join him in an attack on Weeping Willow Town, while [Aluode] worried that the Second Holy See was in danger.

• Ed worried about the players’ plan for Weeping Willow Town and hoped its bishop had followed Antiya Lisi’s orders to fortify the town and hold out for reinforcements.
• Bennett told [Aluode] that he had once been a human named Bennett Aduolin, known as Marquis Aduolin.
• Bennett revealed that he planned to capture Weeping Willow Town and sacrifice its humans to awaken several Blood Corpses of his rank.
• Bennett destroyed the living stone door and used a psionic spell to summon Blood Corpses to join him.
• Bennett returned to the stone hall, made a chair from two Blood Corpses, and waited with [Aluode] for the summoned reinforcements.

After spending the day among the Blood Corpses, Aluode logged off and told his friends that Bennett had turned him into a thinking Blood Corpse and made him an adviser. Gill's Cuisine logged into Aluode's account to seek advice, leaving Aluode to realize what he had done.

• At sunrise, the weakened Blood Corpses retreated into the cave's shadows, and the Soul Returner passed out.
• Gill's Cuisine and Western Sharpshooter went to Aluode's room after discovering that he had not respawned with the rest of their group.
• Aluode revealed that Bennett had turned him into a thinking Blood Corpse and appointed him as an adviser.
• Gill's Cuisine and Western Sharpshooter learned that Aluode had lied about coming from Weeping Willow Town and discussed how he could use his position as an undercover agent.
• Gill's Cuisine borrowed Aluode's helmet to log in and consult a friend, and Aluode realized he had entered the game on Aluode's account.

[Gill's Cuisine] and [Zhongde] exchanged information and devised a plan to exploit the fake wall and the Blood Corpses, while Ed watched the players take initiative. Ed reflected on how players could help him grow stronger and began searching for ideas for the next game event.

• [Gill's Cuisine] met [Zhongde] in the White Wax Town Adventurers' Guild and told him about the cave and the Blood Corpses.
• [Zhongde] showed [Gill's Cuisine] the short fake wall intended to mislead the Holy Crusaders, and they realized the players could shape the plot through their own plans.
• [Gill's Cuisine] logged out and hinted to [Aluode] that he had a solution involving interlocking stratagems.
• [Zhongde] sent [Concrete Mixed with Spaghetti] and Guard Tailun to check on the walls and civilian evacuation in Weeping Willow Town.
• Ed praised the players' initiative, reviewed how Territory Secret Pacts, genes, and leveling strengthened his abilities, and searched for inspiration for a new game mode.

[Aluode] led Count Bennett Antos and his Blood Corpse army toward Weeping Willow Town, hoping the players would stop the force before it reached White Wax Town. As arrows suddenly struck the vanguard, Bennett faced an ambush aided by a translucent player ID.

• Count Bennett Antos awoke and gathered with more than a thousand Blood Corpses in the Wilderness of Chaos.
• At Bennett’s command, [Aluode] led the Blood Corpses toward Weeping Willow Town while Bennett rode in a flesh-and-bone sedan chair.
• After three days of marching, nearly a hundred Blood Corpses had fallen behind, and Bennett learned that nearby villages had been evacuated and fortified.
• Bennett began summoning more Blood Corpses as reserves when archers in the woods shot down the vanguard.
• Several heavy arrows flew toward Bennett, guided by a translucent ID floating in the darkness.

[Aluode] led a group of Blood Corpses into the woods and killed five players, who had staged the fight to help him win Count Bennett’s favor. Bennett believed the story and promised to make him a count when he became a marquis, then ordered his forces to attack Weeping Willow Town before dawn.

• Count Bennett sent [Aluode] after the attackers with a hundred Blood Corpses after an arrow struck him.
• [Gill's Cuisine] and the other players confirmed their plan to let [Aluode] defeat them and claim credit.
• [Aluode] and the five players exchanged a signal before he killed them and presented their heads to Bennett.
• Bennett accepted [Aluode]’s explanation for the mutilated heads and his own wounded face, praising him and promising him a title.
• Bennett ordered his forces to march at full speed and launch an assault on Weeping Willow Town before dawn.

Aluode learned that the Blood Corpses planned to attack Weeping Willow Town that night and alerted his fellow players. In Weeping Willow Town, Tailun and Zhongde had prepared the town’s defenses, and the chapter ended as they braced for the coming assault.

• Aluode warned the Infernal Affairs group that the Blood Corpses would attack Weeping Willow Town that night.
• Gill's Cuisine, Zhongde, and Western Sharpshooter confirmed their plans and reported that White Wax Town's reinforcements would arrive at daybreak.
• Tailun beat a cleric while criticizing the town’s defenses, and the bishop asked him to calm down.
• Zhongde and Tailun explained how they had gained the bishop’s trust and learned which local clerics were Stained Ones.
• The bishop and Tailun imposed martial law, gathered villagers, and organized workers to prepare defenses against the Blood Corpses.

Tailun and [Zhongde] learned that at least a thousand Blood Corpses would attack Weeping Willow Town before dawn, and they pressured the town’s bishop to help defend it. The bishop agreed to put his elite clerics under Tailun’s command, hoping to survive while the others fought.

• Tailun kicked a fallen cleric and worried that Weeping Willow Town was unprepared for the coming Blood Corpses.
• [Gill's Cuisine] rushed into the church and warned Tailun, [Zhongde], and the bishop that at least a thousand Blood Corpses would arrive before dawn.
• Tailun argued that the town could hold out until dawn, while [Zhongde] suggested that the bishop hand his elite clerics over to Tailun.
• Tailun threatened to take his troops to Ginkgo Town and leave the bishop to face the consequences of losing Weeping Willow Town.
• The bishop agreed to place his elite clerics under Tailun’s command while privately hoping the inspector would die in the fight.

Inspector Tailun took command of Weeping Willow Town’s defenders as Count Bennett’s Blood Corpses attacked the town wall. The defenders trapped the vanguard in a ditch and set them alight, while the battle continued into the night.

• Church elites lit arrows to reveal the approaching Blood Corpses, sending frightened townspeople fleeing from the wall.
• Tailun showed the bishop’s insignia and took command of the clerics, then organized local defenders and players on the wall.
• Count Bennett ordered the Blood Corpses to attack the wall’s lowest section, unaware that traitor [Aluode] had directed him toward a trap.
• The Blood Corpses at the front fell into the ditch dug before the wall and began climbing over one another toward the defenders.
• Defenders poured grease onto the climbing Blood Corpses, and a spark ignited the vanguard in the ditch.

Bennett’s Blood Corpse siege stalled against Weeping Willow Town’s shield defense, so [Aluode] manipulated him into committing more forces. Tailun redirected the town’s clerics toward [Aluode]’s attack, intending to use them as casualties.

• Bennett realized the defenders were using large shields to knock burning Blood Corpses off the wall, and began regretting his decision to attack Weeping Willow Town.
• [Aluode] urged Bennett to let him lead an assault, invoking Bennett’s promise to make the town’s people into Blood Corpses.
• Bennett gave [Aluode] two hundred Blood Corpses and ordered him to take the wall.
• [Aluode] led the Blood Corpses toward a position identified by the Soul Returner, while Tailun learned where the attack would land.
• Tailun ordered the local clerics to reinforce that position, threatening them despite knowing they would likely become casualties.

Tailun gathered uncorrupted clerics as temporary guards while [Aluode] led Blood Corpses in an assault on the wall, where Tailun let a Fallen One die. In the Holy Soul Hall, a night watchman found Kandel’s Soul Tree destroyed in a way that matched an old record of a Blood Corpse attack.

• Tailun recruited a middle-aged cleric and other Pure Ones to serve as temporary guards while sending captured Fallen Ones toward the slaughterhouse.
• [Aluode] led the Blood Corpses through a gap in the wall, threw two shield-bearing guards aside, and fought the clerics who rushed to defend it.
• Tailun watched as a Blood Corpse killed a Fallen One, then killed the Blood Corpse and claimed he had arrived too late.
• A Holy Soul Hall night watchman found Kandel’s Soul Tree broken, marked with claws, and covered in grayish-black leaves.
• The night watchman compared the damage with old records and identified it as matching a Blood Corpse attack.

A night watchman discovered that Blood Corpses had returned to Weeping Willow Town and reported the deaths to Cardinal Luxiusi. Luxiusi summoned the other cardinals, ordered reports gathered, and prepared to travel, wondering how Nuowa’s seal had broken so soon.

• The night watchman found three dead Soul Trees in Weeping Willow Town and identified their deaths as Blood Corpse attacks.
• The night watchman reported the deaths to Samuer, Cardinal Luxiusi’s attendant, who took a dead Soul Tree to the cardinal.
• Luxiusi examined the Soul Tree and confirmed that a Blood Corpse had killed its owner.
• Luxiusi ordered Samuer to summon Cardinals Sailesi and Geliwusi, gather reports from Aduolin Province, and prepare for a trip.
• Luxiusi wondered aloud how Nuowa’s seal had broken so soon.

At Weeping Willow Town, Count Bennett rushed onto the wall to save [Aluode] and satisfy his urge to fight, slaughtering players as he prepared a devastating punch. Dawn broke and white light fell on Bennett, threatening the Blood Corpses.

• Bennett doubted [Aluode] was fighting in earnest, but a shield soldier's heavy blow convinced him that [Aluode] had not conspired with the defenders.
• Bennett leapt from his sedan chair and used a hand of bone and flesh to deflect a boulder and shove the unconscious [Aluode] out of danger.
• Bennett landed on the wall and attacked the players, grabbing two shield soldiers and striking them with a Facebreaker.
• Bennett gathered flesh and blood around his fist to unleash a Haymaker, but a shaft of white light fell on him as dawn broke.

After sunlight weakened Bennett and his Blood Corpses, he abandoned the siege of Weeping Willow Town and fled with [Aluode]. Bennett blamed [Aluode] for the defeat and ordered him to die in the coming assault on White Wax Town, unaware that [Aluode] had already planned to die there.

• Dawn weakened Bennett and the Blood Corpses, forcing Bennett to flee the battlefield and follow [Aluode] to safety.
• Once they reached the woods, Bennett summoned scattered Blood Corpses and blamed [Aluode] for the failed attack on Weeping Willow Town.
• Bennett asked about nearby settlements, and [Aluode] told him that White Wax Town lay north, a day and a night away.
• Bennett decided to march slowly for two days and nights, gathering Blood Corpses and spreading his forces to prevent messages passing between the towns.
• Bennett ordered [Aluode] to die during the assault on White Wax Town as punishment for the defeat, and [Aluode] agreed while secretly welcoming the plan.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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