Chapter Summaries

Brenfield’s attempt to kill Gray triggered a battle at the banquet, but Aiboke and Ed protected Gray from [Giant Arms]. As Brenfield called for everyone to attack, the disguised waiter restrained him and asked about his brooch.

• Brenfield fought the red spider lily brooch’s influence, then shoved Gray onto the stone tile to trigger [Giant Arms]’s attack.
• The road rose into a metal wall while nearby houses descended underground to protect the residents.
• Balund delayed [Giant Arms] with magic arrays, and Aiboke used his transforming armor and Ed’s vines to meet the attack.
• The collision destroyed the banquet hall, but Gray remained largely unharmed under Aiboke and Ed’s protection.
• Brenfield urged the others to attack Gray, but the disguised waiter seized his gauntleted hand and asked where he had gotten his brooch.

Brenfield escaped Ed’s vines by sacrificing his mechanical arms, then rebuilt himself and attacked with a powerful launcher. Ed recognized the spider lily as a clue to Lord [Nether Crossing], but before he could choose whether to pursue him or fight the two undercover agents, Sailan rushed into the ruined banquet hall.

• Brenfield tried to reach the spider lily brooch, but Ed seized his hand and vines began spreading through his body.
• Brenfield detached his arms and launched himself away, causing the arms to explode while Ed’s vine stole the brooch.
• Brenfield used a prepared metal pillar to rebuild his arms, then fired a barrage at Ed, who blocked the shots with a bark shield.
• Ke'en Lisuo si joined Brenfield in a standoff with Ed, and the two agents recognized him as the Son of God.
• Ed connected the spider lily and other clues to Sailesi, now known as Lord [Nether Crossing], and weighed whether to pursue him or fight the agents.
• Sailan, the retired general known as the Iron Hunt, rushed into the banquet hall from the smoke-filled ruins.

Ed realized Sailesi was targeting Gray and used the Great Labyrinth City's temporary rule to strengthen his plant power. He transformed Little Green into a [Clear Void Pine] as its domain began spreading.

• Sailan and Felix attacked Brenfield and Keen while protecting the banquet hall and its civilians.
• Ed noticed Suolaer was being overwhelmed by players and assessed the battlefields, leaving Sailesi as the only unoccupied high-tier enemy.
• Ed deduced Sailesi's mission was to reach Gray, found him already impaired by Sailesi's floral fragrance, and enclosed him in protective vines.
• Ed asked the Great Labyrinth City to make the surroundings favorable to plant growth, temporarily increasing his strength.
• Ed called on Little Green to transform into a [Clear Void Pine], and its domain of purity and clarity began expanding.

Ed’s Clear Void Pine domain freed Gray and others from Sailesi’s illusion, leading Ed to track Sailesi to a tower in the Great Labyrinth City. Ed confronted the crystallized councilor, who denied his identity before accusing Ed of refusing to let him live.

• Ed expanded the Clear Void Pine’s domain, restoring Gray’s senses and calming the people protected by Felix.
• Sailesi spread [Dream of Rebirth] through the Great Labyrinth City, making civilians believe they were in an unrestricted fighting tournament.
• Sailesi sensed the battle near the banquet hall going badly and felt someone tear through his illusion with power he associated with Cardinal Luxiusi.
• Sailesi realized Ed might have arrived and prepared to flee, but Ed appeared beside him and greeted him.
• Sailesi denied being the former Cardinal Sailesi and claimed Ed had driven him to abandon his old name, power, and status.
• Ed rejected Sailesi’s accusation and questioned how he could claim to be wronged.

Ed fought Sailesi, now fused with [Dream of Rebirth] and transformed into [Nether Crossing], while weakened outside his territory. Elsewhere, three battles raged through the Great Labyrinth City, leaving a group of Soul Returners stuck before their mission until Pixel Blue Dragon appeared and requested a special passage.

• Ed discovered that he could not strip away Sailesi's abilities because Sailesi had become a crystal-based fusion with [Dream of Rebirth].
• Ed entered combat against [Nether Crossing], facing a difficult fight without an advantage or an easy weakness to exploit.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] and his group emerged from an alley and saw three battles: two groups fighting near the ruins, [Giant Arms] battling a mech and a hooded mage, and Ed clashing with [Nether Crossing] in the sky.
• The sixty Soul Returners in Corridor Guard uniforms realized the crossfire blocked their route to arrest a middle-tier spy.
• Pixel Blue Dragon appeared and requested a special passage through the congested Great Labyrinth City.

The Soul Returners opened a hidden passage and used [Aluode]'s impersonation tactics to trick Morris into leading his family into it. As Morris's family entered the tunnel, [Aluode] ordered the players to seize them.

• Pixel Blue Dragon guided the Soul Returners through a newly opened underground passage toward Morris's building.
• [Aluode] organized the players into squads and disguised more than twenty of them as Graycast Corridor Guards.
• [Aluode] convinced Morris that the Grand Foundry Master was dead and a manhunt was coming, and promised to escort his family to safety.
• Morris gathered his family of eight and followed [Aluode] to the hidden passage.
• After Morris signaled that his family had entered, [Aluode] told the players to get ready and grab them.

The Soul Returners captured Morris and exposed his role in a plot to assassinate Grand Foundry Master Gray Gris. After turning their attention to the captured Suolaer Aoermo, [Aluode] entered his cell to assist with the interrogation.

• [Aluode] and the Soul Returners restrained Morris and threatened his family until he admitted he had cut corners while building the banquet hall.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] revealed that Morris had plotted to assassinate Grand Foundry Master Gray Gris, shocking Morris's family.
• [Aluode]'s squad delivered the captured criminals and their relatives to the Corridor Guard and requested to question Suolaer Aoermo.
• The warden allowed [Aluode] to interrogate Suolaer Aoermo with Corridor Guard recorders present, hoping the Soul Returners could question the hard-to-pressure orphan.

[Aluode] interrogated Suolaer Aoermo in Great Labyrinth City's prison, using a seed called Green Tooth Headphones to inflict unbearable itching inside his ear. He pressed Suolaer to explain why he betrayed Graycast Corridor, while the recorders waited for his confession.

• The warden dismissed concerns about letting a Soul Returner interrogate Suolaer and returned to his room to await the results.
• [Aluode] recalled that [Ginseng Rooster] had asked him to learn the truth behind Suolaer's betrayal after the accusation proved true.
• [Aluode] told Suolaer that a double agent had helped Graycast Corridor anticipate the clique's plans and that his confession would serve as a reference.
• [Aluode] slipped a Green Tooth Headphones seed into Suolaer's ear and controlled its roots as they spread through his ear canal.
• Suolaer cried out in pain, and [Aluode] urged him through the seed to confess.

[Aluode] interrogated Suolaer Aoermo and uncovered how the Skeleton Alliance had recruited him as a spy and arranged First Mate Cooper’s death. Suolaer admitted that he had killed Cooper and concealed the truth, leaving his betrayal exposed.

• [Aluode] forced Suolaer to reveal that the Skeleton Alliance had captured and tortured him in Sand Capital nearly two years earlier.
• Suolaer explained that the Skeleton Alliance used crystal clusters and medicine to control him and assigned him to gather information about the Graycast Corridor.
• Suolaer said his spring voyage reached Sand Capital, where Councilor [Whale Tail] offered to support his bid to become Grand Foundry Master.
• Cooper overheard [Whale Tail] reveal Suolaer’s identity, and [Whale Tail] pressured Suolaer to kill the first mate as proof of loyalty.
• [Whale Tail] had Cooper controlled and later released him, prompting Cooper to lead a mutiny during the return voyage.
• Suolaer killed Cooper and other witnesses, fabricated a story about Cooper’s mutiny, and obstructed the investigation to hide the truth.

[Aluode] sent the recorders’ notes to [Ginseng Rooster], and the warden ordered an overnight interrogation as the fighting in Great Labyrinth City continued. [Giant Arms] and [Nether Crossing] planned to create an opening to withdraw, while Ed’s aerial battle with Sailesi remained nearly even.

• [Aluode] photographed and translated the recorders’ notes, sent them to [Ginseng Rooster], and left without removing the seed in Suolaer’s brain.
• The warden read the notes, recognized the case’s significance, and ordered the recorders to interrogate the suspects through the night and produce names before dawn.
• [Giant Arms] fought Balund, Aiboke, and Great Labyrinth City amid widespread destruction, then coordinated with [Nether Crossing] to seek a chance to withdraw.
• Ed shifted his battle with Sailesi into the sky to protect the city, but an outer-district house was still destroyed by an attack’s aftershock.
• Ed and Sailesi fought to a near standstill, with Ed’s level already past 70 on Little Green’s hundred-level scale.

Ed refused Sailesi’s offer to end their fight and condemned him for sacrificing people to his plans. As Sailesi appeared to trigger an escape, Keen and Brenfield vanished from their battle with Sailan and Felix, and [Giant Arms] broke into the ruins.

• Ed rejected Sailesi’s proposal to withdraw and argued that Sailesi had betrayed and sacrificed his own people during the Demonic Tide.
• Sailesi performed a Tree Worship Church salute, and Ed heard a crisp crack.
• Sailan and Felix gained the upper hand against Keen and Brenfield in the ruins of the banquet hall.
• The crystal-cluster spider lilies on Keen and Brenfield lit up, and the two traitors disappeared.
• [Giant Arms] shattered Felix’s metal cage and forced his way into the banquet hall.

[Giant Arms] broke the battlefield’s balance, defeating Ed’s duplicate and forcing Balund to seal the area as [Giant Arms] and [Nether Crossing] tried to escape. Ed returned in a new body, and a four-armed demon appeared beside Balund as the confrontation escalated.

• [Giant Arms] shattered Sailan’s shield and badly injured him while Felix remained immobilized.
• [Giant Arms] vanished through Balund’s Psionic Energy seals, and Balund ordered the armed mech to capture Keen and Brenfield.
• [Giant Arms] broke the airborne domain and destroyed Ed’s duplicate, then reclaimed the crushed finger bone from [Nether Crossing].
• Balund blocked [Giant Arms] and [Nether Crossing] as they prepared to flee, saying he had called for help.
• A tree outside the Great Labyrinth City launched a cocoon carrying Ed, who returned to the battlefield.
• Balund asked Ed what he had learned, and a four-armed crimson demon formed from the ash of Ed’s duplicate.

Duma confronted [Giant Arms] over his apparent connection to Duma’s past, but the fight resumed when [Giant Arms] refused to explain himself and Ed returned to the battlefield. Below, Aiboke subdued Keen and Brenfield, revealed himself to Brenfield, and had both traitors imprisoned by the Great Labyrinth City.

• Duma questioned [Giant Arms] about his identity, but [Giant Arms] said his current self had nothing to do with Duma.
• Duma prepared to fight, and Ed returned, giving his side a three-to-two advantage over [Giant Arms] and [Nether Crossing].
• [Giant Arms] and [Nether Crossing] chose to fight, and the two sides clashed in the sky above the Great Labyrinth City.
• Aiboke restrained Brenfield, who recognized him as the Grand Foundry Master and accused the brothers of deceiving the city; Aiboke tore off Brenfield’s limbs and had the city imprison him.
• Aiboke confronted Keen over his past choices and stripped away most of his mechanical parts before the Great Labyrinth City imprisoned him too.

After the battle damaged the Great Labyrinth City, Aiboke and his allies prepared the city for evacuation while Ed, Balund, and Duma drove [Giant Arms] and [Nether Crossing] farther into the sky. The fight continued to wear down the two enemies, and Duma unleashed an immense heat attack that turned the surrounding sky into a dead zone.

• The Great Labyrinth City transformed damaged districts as Aiboke relayed Balund's warning to prepare for evacuation.
• Sailan and Felix reunited with Aiboke, and Felix began building temporary housing for civilians.
• Ed, Balund, and Duma pursued [Giant Arms] and [Nether Crossing] southward until the Great Labyrinth City disappeared from view.
• [Giant Arms] ordered [Nether Crossing] to block three attacks so he could break the spatial lockdown and help [Whale Tail] locate them near the coast.
• Ed realized that [Giant Arms] used rune-inscribed finger bones as consumables and that the crystal-cluster spider lilies let the pair exchange positions.
• Duma condemned [Giant Arms] for using his kin's remains and raised the surrounding temperature until the sky became a matterless dead zone.

Sailesi and [Giant Arms] endured Duma’s flames while Balund’s enchanted engraving knife struck them, leaving both badly injured. Ed then revealed a trump card granted by Adelaide of [Absolute Punishment], whose transformed Symbiotic Tree began weakening Sailesi as the battle continued.

• Sailesi withstood Duma’s Flame Hell and urged [Giant Arms] to hurry charging his Psionic Energy.
• Balund launched his accelerated, hardened engraving knife at Sailesi, who sacrificed his right arm trying to stop it.
• The engraving knife pierced [Giant Arms]’s manifested psionic arm and destroyed his right shoulder, but Sailesi caught the severed arm and asked if he was ready.
• Ed transformed Little Green into a sinister tree and unleashed Adelaide of [Absolute Punishment]’s power.
• Sailesi felt his Psionic Energy slow and his heat resistance weaken as his crystal body began fading and breaking apart.

Sailesi betrayed [Giant Arms] to escape, and the councilor died under attacks from Ed and Duma. When Sailesi returned to loot the fallen arms, another Skeleton Alliance councilor rescued him and sent a vast dome of seawater crashing toward a coastal satellite city, forcing Ed, Duma, and Balund to protect its residents.

• Sailesi chose to teleport away instead of protecting [Giant Arms], leaving the councilor exposed to Ed and Duma's attacks.
• [Giant Arms] shattered and died, and Sailesi returned to collect his fallen arms before Ed, Duma, and Balund pursued him.
• An unnamed Skeleton Alliance councilor used a wall of seawater to block the pursuit and help Sailesi escape.
• The councilor's water dome burst above a coastal satellite city, sending a huge volume of seawater falling toward it.
• Ed guarded the area while Duma contained the water with his domain and Balund slowed its descent with spells, preventing casualties and damage.

[Nether Crossing] reported that the assassination had failed and learned he would become a Skeleton Councilor after [Giant Arms]'s death. Back in Great Labyrinth City, Ed explained paths to transcendent power to Balund, who concluded that his own path was no different from those of countless others.

• [Nether Crossing] told [Whale Tail] that [Giant Arms] was dead and the assassination had failed, with Suolaer's group captured.
• [Whale Tail] said [Nether Crossing] would become a councilor if [Crown] confirmed his account, then ordered the Skeleton Alliance to return to the Sand Capital and call off the war.
• Duma told Ed that [Giant Arms] might have been a former high-tier four-armed demon who recognized him, though he could also have been bluffing.
• Balund told Ed that the battle had made him doubt whether he and the Great Labyrinth City could stand against stronger high-tier fighters.
• Ed described scarcity, concentrated authority, and pioneering new paths as routes toward the transcendent tier, and Balund concluded that he was following an ordinary, well-trodden path.

Balund learned from Ed that reaching the transcendent tier required a rare bloodline, concentrated authority, or blazing a trail, and the two discussed threats and cooperation between their factions. Ed proposed using the Graycast Corridor’s high-tier prisoners in the Theocracy’s Dungeons.

• Balund realized that his decades of study had not qualified him for the transcendent tier, whose prerequisites Ed explained.
• Balund asked whether killing [Giant Arms] had helped the Skeleton Alliance create a transcendent-tier being, and Ed agreed that it might have aided several parties.
• Ed warned that the Eternal Domain posed a greater threat than the Skeleton Alliance and outlined plans for the Theocracy and Graycast Corridor to reinforce their defenses and patrol the sea.
• Ed proposed activating the Graycast Corridor’s other city Machine Spirits to strengthen its mid- and low-tier forces.
• Ed said the Theocracy wanted Ke'en Lisuo si and Brenfield handed over so he could put them to use in its Dungeons.

Ed left Great Labyrinth City after arranging for Balund to keep his avatar in storage, while [Shit Appraisal Master] and [Good Times Don't Last] discovered that a slash of Sailesi’s saber qi had destroyed their shop. [Shit Appraisal Master] turned the damage into a reconstruction opportunity, and the Theocracy’s construction crew later won the bid to rebuild the city.

• Balund agreed that the captured traitors would be sent to Valhalla after interrogation, and Ed arranged to store his avatar in the Rotating Library.
• Ed departed Great Labyrinth City, while [Shit Appraisal Master] and [Good Times Don't Last] rode back toward their shop.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] and [Good Times Don't Last] found their shop in ruins, and [Shit Appraisal Master] collapsed at the sight.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] contacted [Zhongde] and planned to bring the Concrete Pouring Club to Great Labyrinth City to help with reconstruction.
• [Zhongde] and [Concrete Mixed with Spaghetti] inspected the damage, and the Theocracy’s construction crew won the reconstruction bid.

After Gray funded the Great Labyrinth City's reconstruction, [Zhongde] and the Concrete Pouring Club rebuilt the ruined streets at remarkable speed, earning the locals' trust and attracting a local Grand Artisan eager to learn their methods. With northern affairs largely settled, Ed turned his attention to the conflict in the south.

• Gray personally received [Zhongde] and paid the Concrete Pouring Club's reconstruction contract in full up front.
• [Zhongde] mobilized the Concrete Pouring Club, whose members used nonstop shifts to clear ruins and rapidly assemble new buildings.
• The Concrete Pouring Club completed its first rebuilt block in three days and two nights, and Grand Artisan Felix confirmed the houses had no quality issues.
• The Soul Returners rebuilt the last ruined street by October of 909, while a local Grand Artisan studied their construction-site management.
• [Zhongde] recognized the Great Labyrinth City as a source of future contracts, and most of the Concrete Pouring Club departed with their earnings.
• With northern matters largely resolved, Ed turned his attention to the struggle in the south.