Chapter Summaries

The players explored Oak Street and found little before encountering a half-destroyed Blood Corpse and a wormlike monster that had burst from beneath the ground. The monster targeted the group, leaving them facing their first major threat in the dungeon.

• [Howling Pothos] and the other teams searched a ruined house and nearby buildings but found no valuable loot or clues about the skeletons they discovered.
• [Retreat Drum Player] found a sign identifying the street as Oak Street and recorded the name in the player system.
• The players heard footsteps and spotted a half-bodied Blood Corpse, then saw a black shadow vanish into a hole in the ground.
• [Elderly and Children Fly First] felt growing tremors and warned everyone to spread out.
• A huge black worm burst from the ground, revealing that its spinning teeth had mutilated the Blood Corpse, and turned toward the players.

The players recovered from the worm’s disorienting attack and coordinated a counterattack, binding it with vines and striking at gaps in its armor. As the worm swallowed a barrage of thrown items from [Easily Soluble in Water], he prepared to try another throwable.

• [Retreat Drum Player] ordered the players to retreat when the worm’s roar inflicted Temporary Imbalance and Temporary Deafness.
• [Benevolent Father Above] recognized the enormous armored worm as a grown version of the worm the players had eaten.
• The players who recovered from the debuffs coordinated to bind the worm to nearby stone pillars with vines.
• [Benevolent Father Above] hurled a javelin at the pinned worm, but it caught and devoured the weapon.
• [Elderly and Children Fly First] urged the players to attack the gaps in the worm’s shell, while [Easily Soluble in Water] fed it Paralysis Bombs and mortgage cocktails.
• [Easily Soluble in Water] dismissed a player’s suggestion to light the Molotovs and pulled out another throwable.

Easily Soluble in Water and the other players fought a giant worm until a mysterious elderly swordsman appeared and decapitated it. As the worm died, the swordsman mistook the players for reinforcements and demanded to know whose subordinates they were.

• Easily Soluble in Water threw a Wooden Caltrop Grenade into the worm's mouth, setting it ablaze and worsening its frenzy.
• The players continued attacking the worm while Retreat Drum Player urged them to hold on.
• An elderly swordsman cut through the worm and severed its head with a single strike.
• The swordsman told the players to stand clear and said the headless worm would soon die.
• The players saw the swordsman was an emaciated old man who spoke the Kingdom tongue.
• The swordsman criticized the players as weak warriors and asked whose subordinates they were.

[Retreat Drum Player] and the players discovered that the old swordsman was Silvis, a knight of the Eternal Domain, and learned how he viewed the nobles and knights who protected it. When [Retreat Drum Player] offered to escort Silvis out of Klaf City, Silvis refused, bound by his duty to remain until he received a decree from Their Two Majesties.

• [Retreat Drum Player] questioned the old swordsman and learned that he had never heard of the Second Holy See but knew the Tree Worship Church.
• [Retreat Drum Player] identified the old man as a knight of the Eternal Domain, while the players debated whether he might be an animated suit of armor like Xilǐ'er.
• Silvis scolded the players for entering Klaf City unprepared and explained that nobles and knights kept the Eternal Domain functioning under the Twin Kings.
• Silvis warned the players to leave Klaf City and turned to depart.
• [Retreat Drum Player] refused to abandon the mission and offered to escort Silvis to the nearby exit.
• Silvis revealed that he was campaigning knight Silvis and could not leave Klaf City until he received a decree from Their Two Majesties.

[Retreat Drum Player] questioned Sir Silvis about the Eternal Domain, the Graycast Corridor, and the Demon Realm before revealing the players’ mission to locate a sealed vampire grand duke beneath Klaf City. Silvis revealed that he had joined an expedition to subjugate Grand Duke Antos, and [Howling Pothos] asked whether Antos was still alive.

• [Retreat Drum Player] asked Silvis about campaign knight Xilǐ'er, and Silvis expressed surprise that Xilǐ'er had survived crossing the Wilderness of Chaos.
• Silvis explained that the Graycast Corridor had mapped safer routes through the Wilderness of Chaos, while the Eternal Domain focused on the Demon Realm and its vampire grand dukes.
• [Retreat Drum Player] told Silvis that the players had come to find where a vampire grand duke was sealed beneath Klaf City.
• Silvis introduced himself as a campaign knight who had joined the Eternal Domain’s expedition to Klaf City in Royal Calendar year 908 to subjugate Grand Duke Antos.
• [Howling Pothos] asked Silvis whether Antos was still alive, recalling the grand duke’s ability to regenerate by sacrificing part of his body.

[Howling Pothos] questioned Silvis about Grand Duke Antos and the failed expedition, and Silvis explained how he had been left guarding the rear. Silvis believed the expedition commander had sealed Antos again at the cost of his own life, and he continued waiting for reinforcements.

• [Howling Pothos] noticed contradictions in Silvis's account and asked whether Grand Duke Antos was still alive.
• Silvis confirmed that Antos was alive in the depths of the city and admitted that the expedition had failed.
• Silvis explained that he had been assigned to guard the rear while the expedition entered Antos's sealed chamber.
• Silvis said the expedition commander had likely died after driving a Twin Kings-blessed sword into Antos and sealing him again.
• Silvis revealed that he had fought Blood Corpses while waiting for reinforcements, which he still believed would come.

[Howling Pothos] and the other players met Silvis, who agreed to guide them to Antos's sealing site if they found his armor. After selling a recording of their conversation, [Howling Pothos] watched [Zhong Lele] turn it into a popular video that renewed players' curiosity about the Eternal Domain.

• [Howling Pothos] asked Silvis to guide the players to Antos's sealing chamber, but Silvis refused because the site was a closely guarded secret and he was too weak to travel there.
• [Retreat Drum Player] asked whether Silvis could restore his strength by absorbing refined iron, and Silvis explained that he needed his armor instead.
• Silvis offered to take the players to Antos's sealing site if they helped him find his armor, and [Retreat Drum Player] accepted for the group.
• [Howling Pothos] sold [Zhong Lele] a recording of his conversation with Silvis to earn money.
• [Zhong Lele] uploaded an edited video of Silvis, which drew many comments and prompted players to discuss how little they knew about the Eternal Domain.

Zhong Lele discussed her exclusive footage deal with Howling Pothos and caught up with Dark Archmage, who had been mapping towns in Fitz Province for Duma. The chapter ended with Dark Archmage, trapped doing forced labor in Ginkgo Town, asking Zhong Lele to find out when the royal army would march south.

• Zhong Lele planned to release more episodes about Silvis searching for his armor and arranged an exclusive footage supply agreement with Howling Pothos.
• Zhong Lele asked Dark Archmage what she had been doing, and Dark Archmage said she had mapped Laurel Town and Ginkgo Town while disguised as a village girl.
• Dark Archmage said Duma paid her to map three Holy Crusader encampments in Ginkgo Town, and she secretly recorded their layout and sent the intelligence through offline channels.
• Dark Archmage explained that Ginkgo Town's bishop had pressed able-bodied residents into mixing mortar to strengthen the walls against an expected Soul Returner legion attack.
• Dark Archmage asked Zhong Lele to find out when the royal army would march south.

The Holy Crusaders mistook Duma and Duolin’s staged retreat for a rout and pursued the apparent enemy, growing distracted by abandoned supplies along the way. The cavalry entered the designated low ground ahead of the scattered infantry, where Duma’s forces were waiting to spring their trap.

• The Holy Crusaders routed the apparent enemy vanguard, and their commanders ordered the entire army to pursue.
• Duma returned to Duolin and confirmed that the opposing force had fallen for their ruse.
• Duma told Duolin the pursuers would enter the designated low ground in about five minutes, and Duolin agreed to wait.
• The Holy Crusaders began picking up abandoned robes, seeds, food, and other supplies, slowing their advance and breaking up their formation.
• The cavalry pressed ahead after the apparent routed troops and entered the depression before the infantry.

The Holy Crusaders cavalry charged after fleeing soldiers into a hollow, where players ambushed them with bizarre tactics and strange abilities. The two grand knight commanders tried to rally the retreating troops, but the players charged them eagerly after recognizing their Middle Tier status.

• The Holy Crusaders cavalry pursued routed soldiers toward the hollow until enemies poured out of the surrounding woods.
• A cavalryman impaled a player, but the player remained alive and tangled the Hoofed Beast's legs with plant tissue, causing the rider to fall.
• The cavalryman fled after seeing players with bizarre bodies and abilities overwhelm the Holy Crusaders.
• The Holy Crusaders broke ranks and fled, carrying the two grand knight commanders along with them.
• The two grand knight commanders activated their symbiotic plants and charged the players, who recognized them as Middle Tier and rushed to attack.

The Soul Returners overwhelmed two grand knight commanders, while Duolin reflected on their rapid growth and Ed considered how vampires might serve his purposes. As the battle outside Laurel Town continued, Duma asked about the Wild Hunt, and Duolin reported that Motley was ready to move.

• The players swarmed the two grand knight commanders, overwhelming them with relentless attacks.
• Duma praised the Soul Returners, and Duolin marveled at how much they had improved in half a year.
• Ed considered the limits of player leveling, the connection between high-tier beings and the worlds, and the value of keeping vampires alive as potential laborers.
• Duma asked Duolin about his side, and Duolin reported that Motley said the Wild Hunt had rested enough.

The Holy Crusaders fled into the battlefield where they had first won, only to be attacked by the Wild Hunt, whose members resurrected from the corpses using mutated plants. Watching from the woods, [Shit Appraisal Master] wondered how to create respawn points outside the Second Holy See and began reasoning from Gray’s unusual healing.

• The Holy Crusaders retreated toward Laurel Town after their commanders were surrounded and their army collapsed.
• A fleeing Holy Crusader discovered that a hacked-up enemy corpse had grabbed his ankle, and the body reassembled itself with plant tissue.
• The revived man declared that he and his comrades were the Wild Hunt, then led them in a charge against the terrified Holy Crusaders.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] and [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] watched the Wild Hunt rout the Crusaders and discussed how poorly the mutated plants revived them outside Ed’s domain.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] recalled that Ed had needed to grow Gray back inside a tree stump because Gray lacked sufficient plant compatibility, and he considered how to bypass the domain’s limits.

[Shit Appraisal Master] and [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] recruited [Traditional Eccentric Wheel] to help build a mobile fortress carrying a Root Network and Resurrection Tree, while Duma’s ambush left Laurel Town without two knight orders and Ginkgo Town without reinforcements. The trio began planning their troop transport and listing the materials and engineering questions they needed to resolve.

• [Shit Appraisal Master] proposed making a mobile resurrection anchor by putting the Second Holy See’s roots and a Resurrection Tree on a walking fortress.
• Duma’s forces captured over eighty percent of the two grand knight orders, and their disposable resurrection trees withered after the battle.
• Duma turned his attention toward Ginkgo Town, while Laurel Town faced the loss of its reinforcements and two knight orders.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] and [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] found [Traditional Eccentric Wheel] studying mechanical structures in his workshop in Valhalla.
• [Traditional Eccentric Wheel] agreed to help design a troop transport, and [Shit Appraisal Master] offered to fund the project.
• The trio began discussing the fortress’s construction materials, carrying capacity, and power source.

Gray and Nora traveled toward the Graycast Corridor while Gray joked about becoming Grand Foundry Master, but their journey turned dangerous when the Antasia encountered a horde of Blood Corpses. Bennett failed to control them or locate the nearby Blood Corpse Count, leaving Gray to flee.

• Shit Appraisal Master assigned Traditional Eccentric Wheel to make a car-sized model and Lion Hidden in the Eyes to capture a Blood Corpse Count.
• Gray and Nora discussed his chances of becoming Grand Foundry Master as the Antasia traveled east toward the Graycast Corridor.
• The Antasia jolted after running over a Blood Corpse, prompting Gray to switch to manual control and send Nora downstairs.
• Gray spotted nearly a thousand Blood Corpses and suspected a Blood Corpse Count was reviving nearby.
• Bennett failed to control the horde, and Gray shouted for them to run.

Gray turned the Antasia away from a vast horde of Blood Corpses and realized their strange behavior might be caused by a vampire grand duke nearby. As the horde pursued them, Gray and Nora confronted memories of his previous near-fatal encounter.

• Gray turned the Antasia around to flee the Blood Corpses, warning Nora to hold on.
• Gray noticed the horde was far larger and more alert than expected, while Bennett appeared terrified and unable to influence it.
• Bennett revealed that he had heard someone speaking inside his head, a power belonging only to grand dukes.
• Gray told Nora that a count or marquis might be reviving nearby and said they could not continue along that road.
• Gray watched the Blood Corpses grow in number, fought his rising fear, and remembered the people who had helped him endure his previous encounter.

Gray and Nora fled a Blood Corpse horde while a grand duke revived behind them, and Gray decided to seek refuge at the Second Holy See. He planned to leave a trail so its people could discover the sealed grand duke.

• Gray confirmed Bennett could keep the Blood Corpses in the power compartment from affecting their side and drove the Antasia north at full speed.
• Gray realized the horde numbered over a hundred thousand and blocked the route east toward the Graycast Corridor.
• Gray took Nora to open the gate to the Second Holy See, abandoning the plan to return to Great Labyrinth City.
• Gray told Nora to dump their cargo gradually so the Second Holy See could follow the trail to the sealed grand duke.

Gray tried to escape a horde of Blood Corpses in the Antasia, but the fortress became trapped at the edge of a sinkhole. With the pursuers closing in, he attempted to use the Antasia’s nutrient absorption system to free its track.

• Nora opened the cargo hold, and the Antasia dumped its crates to gain speed while the Blood Corpses ignored them and continued the chase.
• The Antasia crossed rubble that shook the fortress violently, and Gray tried to steer west around the rough terrain.
• A sinkhole opened ahead, and Gray swerved and braked, but the ground collapsed again and trapped the Antasia’s right track.
• Gray ordered Nora to hold on and Bennett to drive the Blood Corpses at full power, then activated the electric shock lever and prepared to extend the Antasia’s roots for traction.
• Nora screamed as the Blood Corpses reached the fortress before its roots could extend.

The Antasia escaped the sinkhole and the Blood Corpses by surging forward with a burst of power, leaving Gray to wonder who had activated it. A voice from the fortress answered that it was Antasia.

• Gray watched as the Blood Corpses closed in, but the Antasia's left track suddenly surged and pulled the fortress out of the sinkhole.
• The fortress slammed onto solid ground, throwing Blood Corpses away and crushing some as Gray drove it clear of the distorted-voice area.
• Gray praised Bennett for saving them, but Bennett said he had done nothing during the escape.
• Gray realized someone else had controlled the Antasia's power and demanded to know who was speaking.
• The voice identified itself as Antasia.

Gray discovered that the Antasia had awakened and could speak, with its voice produced by the Blood Corpses in its power compartment. He suspected the plant system added during the fortress’s last refit had caused the change, and realized the World Tree ornament from Ed was now displayed on the control console.

• Antasia told Gray that it had come alive, leaving Gray, Bennett, and the corpse stunned.
• Gray opened the power compartment and saw vines linking every Blood Corpse, whose fixed-frequency sounds combined to create Antasia’s voice.
• Gray considered when Antasia had awakened and concluded that its self-awareness had emerged after its last major refit, possibly because of the plant system.
• Gray noticed Ed’s World Tree ornament sitting in the middle of the control console.

Gray learned that Antasia had held memories for decades and had only just gained the ability to communicate and operate independently. As Antasia began piloting the fortress toward Valhalla on the safest route, Bennett feared the machine had made his job obsolete.

• Gray discovered that the World Tree ornament was firmly fused to the control console and questioned Antasia about its awakening.
• Antasia revealed memories of Kailait and Fener, Gray's master, and said it had begun communicating with Gray only moments earlier to keep him from dying.
• Gray suspected the Blood Corpses or Ed's ornament had triggered Antasia's awakening and received permission to tell the Second Holy See.
• Gray asked Antasia to drive them to Valhalla, and Antasia chose the safest route, estimating a twenty-day journey.
• Bennett worried that Antasia's independent operation had taken over his duties as chief engineer and asked Gray not to abandon him.