Chapter Summaries

Players watched a video of the battle and struggled to reach its distant location, while [Shit Appraisal Master] regretted logging out and begged Ed to save them. In the underground space, Liya fought Hall’s empowered puppets as one fled, while [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] battled Kebola and the other players waited for the Citrus Aggregate to take effect.

• Players flooded [Shit Appraisal Master]’s video with questions, but he could not provide battlefield coordinates because the nearby Teleportation Trees were unusable or destroyed.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] regretted logging out, checked his resurrection progress, and pleaded for Ed to save them.
• Liya continued killing Hall’s puppets, but Hall’s Cultivation and Harvest authority transferred power into the surviving bodies and strengthened them.
• Liya wounded a newly high-tier puppet, which fled as a streak of blood-colored light, and she pursued him.
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] fought Kebola, whose Amber Dragon abilities and slow-motion skills turned their brawl into a contest between strength and agility.
• The other players watched the fight while they waited for the Citrus Aggregate to take effect.

Grand Duke Hall, attached to [Shit Appraisal Master], searched for a chance to possess the Dragonborn [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] while fleeing a female assassin. As Kebola trapped [Lion Hidden in the Eyes], the assassin decapitated [Shit Appraisal Master], and Grand Duke Hall launched a blood arrow toward the Dragonborn to possess him.

• Grand Duke Hall observed the battlefield through [Shit Appraisal Master]'s puppet body and targeted the enraged Red Dragon's Dragonborn for his Cultivation ability.
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] worked out that Kebola controlled targets' speed, but Kebola restrained him with his tail and slowed his heart.
• The female assassin cut off [Shit Appraisal Master]'s head as Grand Duke Hall faced imminent death.
• A blood mark appeared on [Shit Appraisal Master]'s severed head, and Grand Duke Hall fired a blood arrow at [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] to possess him.
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] realized Grand Duke Hall was trying to escape death by taking over his body.

Grand Duke Hall possessed [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] and then Kebola, while [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] restrained Kebola with the half-treant’s vines. As Hall invaded Kebola’s mind, he recognized signs of altered memories and encountered the descending consciousness of the King of Domination, Vanessa.

• Kebola failed to stop Hall’s blood arrow, which struck [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] and let Hall take control of the half-dragon’s body.
• Hall broke Kebola’s spell by striking the half-dragon’s chest, restoring its heartbeat as [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] grabbed and bound Kebola with vines.
• Hall targeted Kebola with another blood arrow and took control of the Amber Dragon’s Dragonborn despite Kebola’s prayer to the Eternal Twin Kings.
• Hall recognized that someone had tampered with Kebola’s memories, then sensed the King of Domination’s consciousness and heard Vanessa address him as a blood relative.

Vanessa offered Hall a chance to surrender his authority and survive, but he refused, abandoning his attempt to possess Kebola. The Immortal King then chose to travel in person to stop anyone else from capturing or killing Hall.

• Vanessa revealed that Antos and Adelaide had lost their power but were still alive, and announced her plan to become the new True Ancestor.
• Vanessa offered to share her research and help Hall surrender his authority without dying, but Hall refused her terms.
• Hall gave up on possessing Kebola, and [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] blocked the female assassin's twin Psionic Energy blades.
• At the Twin Kings Palace, the Immortal King decided to go in person and opened a spatial rift to the windswept land where Hall was.

Aeldra transformed into an enormous amber dragon and struck the Wilderness of Chaos, while Vanessa began the agreed action in the Twilight Capital. The impact broke into the underground cavern, where Aeldra’s dragon head appeared through the ceiling as the battle below remained unresolved.

• Aeldra fell from a spatial rift, transformed into a giant amber dragon, and crashed into the Wilderness of Chaos, killing the players gathered nearby.
• Vanessa heard Aeldra’s call and began acting from her throne in the Twin Kings Palace, murmuring, “Blood, bone, flesh.”
• The impact shook the underground cavern, lifting everyone who could not fly into the air and disrupting the fighting.
• A second impact shattered the obsidian ceiling, and Aeldra’s enormous head pushed through the opening to survey the cavern.

Ed discovered that the players were in danger and set off to help by riding a Resurrection Tree from the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess. As Amber Dragon Aeldra attacked the battlefield, Ed and the Machine Spirit raced toward the players, while the female assassin tried to protect the half-treant from the dragon’s lightning.

• Ed saw through a player's eyes that Hall had trapped the female assassin and mage, and decided to intervene when the players could not manage the situation.
• Ed found that the nearest Resurrection Tree was inside the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess, and contacted its Machine Spirit to borrow it.
• The Resurrection Tree pulled itself free and raced across the wilderness toward the battlefield, while the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess followed behind.
• When Amber Dragon Aeldra appeared on the horizon, Ed shifted the Resurrection Tree into four-wheel drive and the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess accelerated after it.
• Aeldra fired lightning at Grand Duke Hall’s surviving duplicates, and the female assassin kicked the half-treant out of danger before rushing toward the crystal cluster.

The mage used his powers to rescue the cavern’s occupants from Aeldra’s devastating attack, teleporting them all to safety. Above ground, Aeldra confronted Ed, froze him into a lifeless figurine, and swallowed him before flying away.

• The mage confronted Aeldra and redirected the dragon’s lightning as icicles and electricity surged through the cavern.
• The mage teleported the players, the grand duke’s puppets, the half-treant, Kebola, and the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess away from the attack.
• Aeldra swallowed one of Hall’s puppets while Ed emerged from the Resurrection Tree and realized the cavern had been emptied.
• Aeldra froze Ed into a motionless figurine, unleashed a lightning storm that erased his traces, swallowed him, and flew away.

Ed wondered why Aeldra had abruptly left after destroying his clone, then found the badly damaged Hall and tried to recruit him. Hall attacked Ed before he could finish explaining the job.

• A new Ed clone emerged from the Resurrection Tree, and Ed suspected Aeldra had left because of a private weakness.
• Ed found Hall's mangled body in an excavated opening and surrounded him with rapidly growing plants.
• Hall assessed Ed as a dangerous new High Tier opponent and weighed his chances while recovering from his imprisonment and recent battles.
• Ed introduced himself as Ed Adrian Number Two and offered Hall a job with meals and accommodation at Quality Charcoal.
• Hall fired a blood arrow between Ed's eyebrows before Ed could finish speaking.

Ed stopped Hall from possessing him and revealed that Adelaide True Blood, which he called the power of Absolute Punishment, had made them equal in rank. Hall pleaded for his life by offering to surrender, and Ed began questioning him while considering how to use him.

• Hall's blood arrow entered Ed's brow, but Hall failed to control Ed's body and met Ed in his consciousness.
• Ed explained that Hall had lost a chance to work at the High-Quality Charcoal Processing Plant and help produce Machine Spirits.
• Ed revealed that he possessed Adelaide True Blood, or Absolute Punishment, which prevented Hall from possessing him.
• Hall claimed that his Cultivation and Harvest Authorities made him a Pillar of the world, but Ed argued that the Pillar could remain standing if someone spared Hall.
• Hall offered to surrender and do whatever Ed asked, so Ed identified himself as Cardinal Ed Adrian and asked how many clones Hall had.

Ed imprisoned Hall in a modified body and forced him into a lightning-equipped wheelchair under the Second Holy See’s rules for vampires. Hall accepted the restraints rather than risk permanently losing his ability to infect others.

• Ed confirmed Hall’s account of the three bodies and declared that Hall would remain imprisoned until the great crisis was resolved.
• Ed had Hall manifest the face of his former puppet and transformed the body to match it as they approached the Resurrection Tree.
• A third Ed emerged, bound Hall into a wheelchair, and used its electric shock to make the vampire more obedient.
• Hall asked to walk freely, but Ed explained that only Muller was permitted because Ed had permanently removed Muller’s ability to infect others.
• Hall refused to undergo the same procedure and decided that the wheelchair, seal, and electric shocks were acceptable.

Ed brought Hall under his control while secretly allowing him a chance to survive, and Hall used a hidden puppet to escape the ruins in a new body. Ed told Noya he intended to let Hall grow stronger so he could eventually harvest him.

• Ed's avatar pushed Hall's wheelchair across the Wilderness of Chaos while players returned to the battlefield and hunted the remaining Blood Corpses.
• Hall's sealed puppet awakened beneath the ruins, revealing that he had concealed a fourth puppet and retained a sliver of True Blood.
• Hall transferred himself into the burned body of a half-dragon, recovered enough strength, and crawled out of the ruins after nightfall.
• Hall headed east, away from Ed and his avatar, while a slender shoot swayed unnoticed on the back of his new body's head.
• Noya asked Ed why he had not exposed Hall's deception, and Ed explained that he wanted to track Hall's avatars and eventually harvest his power.

Ed explained why Hall would likely return to the Demon Realm, while Aeldra brought Hall to the King of Domination in the Eternal Domain. Ed then asked Hall about the mage and assassin who had sealed him away.

• Ed reasoned that Hall would avoid the Second Holy See, the Eternal Domain, the Wilderness of Chaos, and the Graycast Corridor, leaving the Demon Realm as his likeliest place to recover.
• Ed explained that Hall’s return could weaken the other vampire grand dukes and provoke infighting, while he planned to feed Hall information and watch events unfold.
• Aeldra returned to the Twin Kings Palace with Hall, after learning that Kebola had been taken to the Graycast Corridor.
• Hall recognized Vanessa, and she welcomed him as a blood relative; Hall then asked her to explain again how she could extract his True Blood while keeping him alive.
• Ed asked Hall who the mage and assassin were that had sealed him away.

After an emergency teleport dropped the black mage, the female assassin, the players, and their captives into a Graycast Corridor city’s barbican, the guards surrounded them and demanded explanations. The guards accepted their warning about a vampire grand duke but reacted with excitement when Kebola claimed he could revive after death, ordering him shot.

• The black mage teleported the group into Graycast Corridor Satellite City No. 42’s barbican while escaping Aeldra’s dragon breath, and the guards surrounded them with crossbows and ballistae.
• The black mage asked the guards to summon their city lord with urgent intelligence about a vampire grand duke, and the captain went to fetch him.
• [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] told the vice-captain that the players were Soul Returners from the Second Holy See, which had allied and traded with the Graycast Corridor.
• Marquis Kebola identified himself as a noble of the Eternal Domain and claimed the Twin Kings’ blessing let him revive after death.
• The vice-captain ordered the guards to shoot Kebola when he confirmed he could revive.

Graycast Corridor defenders killed Kebola with a volley of arrows while [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] shielded the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess from the stray shots. The Machine Spirit then cried out in a Blood Corpse’s voice, prompting the deputy captain to demand that the fortress surrender its elite Blood Corpses.

• The deputy captain ordered the defenders to fire repeated volleys at bound Kebola, who used his ability to slow the arrows until he could no longer endure the pain.
• [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] realized that stray arrows could hit the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess and created a wooden helmet around it.
• The arrows killed Kebola, who turned into a streak of light and began the revival process, while the remaining shots struck the Machine Spirit’s wooden helmet and the fortress wall.
• The King of Fall Resistance, I Guess cried out, and the Graycast Corridor defenders recognized the blended voice as that of a Blood Corpse.
• The deputy captain accused the fortress of harboring elite Blood Corpses and demanded that they be handed over for execution.

The Short-Eared Elf revealed that the captured Blood Corpse was the vampire Grand Duke Hall, making Graycast Corridor’s soldiers realize how powerful the young mage must be. The city lord arrived in a towering mechanical suit and surveyed the group.

• [Do Some Farm Work] stopped secretly manipulating a mechanism after a soldier threatened to shoot him.
• The Short-Eared Elf confirmed that an elite Blood Corpse was present, and the young mage levitated the captive before the walls and forced him to identify himself as vampire Grand Duke Hall.
• The deputy captain ordered the soldiers to remain on guard and wait for the city lord to handle the situation.
• The city lord returned atop the wall in a towering, dark-yellow mech, drawing the players’ attention, especially [Do Some Farm Work]’s.
• The mech stopped at the wall’s edge and looked over the group, paying little attention to the captured Kebola and Hall.

The city lord Collins recognized the Short-Eared Elves as people he had known nearly a century earlier, but they had only recently awakened from their seal. After learning they were in Satellite City No. 42 and hearing that the Soul Returners had broken the seal, the elves asked Collins to explain the unfamiliar places and factions around them.

• Collins removed his mech helmet, asked the Short-Eared Elves if they remembered him, and was recognized as Little Collins.
• Collins jumped onto the mech and asked the elves how they had been; the male elf explained that they had only been unsealed a few hours earlier.
• The female elf asked where they were, and Collins identified the Graycast Corridor, Satellite City No. 42, and his duty to keep Blood Corpses from crossing the border.
• The male elf introduced the Soul Returners as people from the Second Holy See and explained that they had broken the seal while trying to make amends.
• Collins reacted angrily to the Soul Returners, but the male elf explained the seal had needed maintenance and had lasted nearly a century.
• The male elf asked Collins to explain the Second Holy See, the Graycast Corridor, and the Eternal Domain.

Collins and [Do Some Farm Work] offered what little they knew about the Graycast Corridor and Second Holy See, while the Short-Eared Elf turned to the captured Kebola for information about the Eternal Domain. After Kebola refused to cooperate, the elf manipulated the ballista bolts and Kebola’s resurrection, enabling the group to kill and revive him repeatedly as they questioned him.

• Collins said he could only give a detailed account of the Graycast Corridor, and [Do Some Farm Work] offered to share what he knew about the Second Holy See.
• Kebola resurrected, saw the armed guards, and agreed to stay while waiting for an Eternal Domain envoy, but refused to answer Collins’s questions.
• Collins ordered the ballistae to fire, and the Short-Eared Elf prevented Kebola from using his slowing ability before the bolts killed him.
• The Short-Eared Elf pulled the bolts free and accelerated Kebola’s resurrection, then asked him about the Eternal Domain.
• When Kebola refused to answer, the Short-Eared Elf sent the bolts through him again and repeatedly sped up his resurrection so the group could continue the interrogation.

After forcing Kebola to cooperate, the short-eared elf asked [Do Some Farm Work] to explain the Second Holy See’s history and learned it had begun in White Wax Town. The elven mage revealed that Ed might be one of several Saviors and said he wanted to meet him, then the elves turned their attention back to Kebola.

• After thirty deaths, Kebola asked what the short-eared elf wanted to know, and the elf had Collins translate before letting him revive safely.
• The short-eared elf asked about history after the elves were sealed away, and [Do Some Farm Work] recounted the Second Holy See’s growth through its major quests and regions.
• The elven mage recognized White Wax Town as the Second Holy See’s starting point and said he wanted to meet Ed once matters there were settled.
• The elven mage told [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] that Ed was a Savior, but not the only one, and suggested that he and Collins might also be Saviors.
• The elven mage offered to teach Collins the elves’ lifespan-extending techniques, though they required a place with pure psionic energy, and the elves turned back to Kebola.

The Short-Eared Elf interrogated Kebola and revealed that the Eternal Domain’s rulers were an Amber Dragon and a vampire who used Blood Corpses to populate and control the realm. After Kebola’s memories triggered a fatal restriction, the mage revived him and began explaining how he and the elf assassin knew the Twin Kings.

• The Short-Eared Elf repeatedly killed and revived Kebola until the Dragonborn answered questions about the Eternal Domain and its rulers.
• The elf mage deduced that the Eternal Domain was founded by the Twin Kings, whom he identified as the Immortal King and the King of Domination.
• The mage told Kebola, Collins, and the players that the Immortal King was an Amber Dragon, the King of Domination was a vampire, and the realm’s commoners and serfs were Blood Corpses.
• When the mage asked Kebola about his birthplace and parents, Kebola convulsed and died; the mage revived him and sent him outside the soundproof barrier.
• The mage explained that the Twin Kings captured and brainwashed Blood Corpses to replenish the Eternal Domain’s population, and that Kebola was part vampire.
• After [Do Some Farm Work] asked how the elves knew so much about the Twin Kings, the mage eagerly offered to tell his story, noting that he had stayed awake while the assassin slept for eighty years.

The elven mage explained how Aeldra gained power by killing the last members of other dragon races and absorbing their Authority, making his death dangerous to the world. He revealed that he and the elven assassin had chosen to seal Aeldra rather than kill him, then began explaining the plan to City Lord Collins.

• The elven mage recounted that he and the elven assassin arrived on the main continent after their human and White Dragon friends had been killed by Aeldra.
• The elven mage explained that a race's final death broke its Pillar and disrupted the world's order, while absorbing its Authority could slow the world's collapse.
• The elven mage deduced that Aeldra had killed the last White Dragon and likely a Blue Dragon, prompting the pixel Blue Dragon assistant to sob.
• The elven mage and the elven assassin revealed that Aeldra had also eliminated other Amber Dragons so the world could not risk his death.
• Short-Eared Elf said Grand Duchess Vanessa had given Aeldra information about the two friends, and explained that they chose to seal Aeldra instead of killing him.
• City Lord Collins asked about their plan, and the elven mage said a seal would simply prevent Aeldra from moving.