Chapter Summaries

Jose swore before the Source Sea to inherit Emperor Hashilai’s legacy, but the final trial began when the Devil Grand Duke Kuk'dinni returned in Krananshi’s body. Jose attacked the wounded devil, who eventually abandoned the mage’s body and charged at the Red Dragon with his soul.

• Jose translated Emperor Hashilai’s inscription and learned that an oath against the Abyss was required to claim the inheritance.
• Jose freed Krananshi after he swore to give up the inheritance and leave, then swore his own oath before the Source Sea.
• Emperor Hashilai appeared and announced that Jose’s final trial would be a fight against another contender, as Kuk'dinni revealed he had survived in Krananshi’s body.
• Jose recognized that Kuk'dinni’s soul was injured and attacked him with the World-Ending Firestorm and physical blows, breaking the mage’s shield before Krananshi escaped with a teleportation ring.
• Kuk'dinni struggled to control Krananshi’s body and, as Jose charged again, abandoned it and sent his soul rushing at the Red Dragon.

Jose survived Kuk'dinni's soul attack, received Emperor Hashilai's inheritance and the Calamity Staff, and left the collapsing Land of Inheritance with the guardians' aid. He returned to Fire Rock Camp in the Abyss and prepared to go home after a year and a half away.

• Jose activated the Greater Luck Spell, and a vast starry sky in his Sea of Consciousness destroyed Kuk'dinni's invading soul.
• Emperor Hashilai's image vanished after reminding Jose of his oath, and the palace presented Jose with the Calamity Staff and parts of the Emperor's inheritance, including knowledge of the Flame Monarch class.
• Jose learned the Abyss was consuming the Land of Inheritance and invited Tenacious Rock—Farashir and Guardian Spirit—Keith Buck to join his faction; both declined but gave him a way to summon them in a crisis.
• An Abyssal monster began devouring the Land of Inheritance, so Jose, Farashir, and Keith Buck teleported away; Jose arrived at Fire Rock Camp and declined Francey's offer of half his spoils.
• Jose inspected the camp and its subordinates, then stepped onto the teleportation platform to return home.

Jose returned from the Abyss, learned that Ergou had diverted the Red Nest Matriarch’s invasion by drawing her forces into a battle against the Southern Allied Forces, and began preparing to become the Flame Monarch. After a year of gathering materials, Bianca delivered the final three items, leaving Jose with everything needed to begin the ritual.

• Jose returned to the Inverted Magic Tower and learned from Ergou that the empire had redirected the Red Nest army toward the Southern Allied Forces, ending the threat to its border.
• Jose decided to pursue becoming the Flame Monarch and mobilized his allies and the empire to collect the ritual’s 324 magical materials.
• Jose rested, studied Emperor Hashilai’s inheritance, and waited while the materials were gathered.
• Bianca brought Jose the Balor Flame Demon Heart, Abyssal Firestone, and Netherflame Qi, and Jose rewarded her with two Legendary scimitars.
• Jose placed the final materials in the ritual room’s crystal cabinets, completing the collection needed for the Flame Monarch ritual.

Jose completed the ritual to become the Flame Monarch, gaining command over Fire Elementals and power rivaling a Demigod. Unable to ascend within Tydanore while its Demigod places were full, he chose to drive out Savannah, the Red Nest Matriarch, and announced a campaign against Red Nest six months later.

• After preparing for the ritual, Jose summoned the Primordial Fire and endured its blessing as it transformed his body, mind, and soul.
• Jose tested his Flame Monarch abilities, discovering that he could command nearby Fire Elementals, instantly cast most fire magic, and wield power rivaling a Demigod.
• Jose decided to target Savannah because of Red Nest's border conflicts with the Sussex Empire and the strategic gains her defeat would bring.
• Jose summoned the empire's high-ranking officials and announced that the Sussex Empire would attack Red Nest in six months.
• Hogg, Sorda Bloodtooth, and other clan leaders volunteered their forces for the coming war.

Barton continued guarding Whispering Forest while pursuing revenge against Gordar Shatterbone, and an Ace Scout revealed that Gordar was at Fortress Seven. The scout returned to Wolfheart Castle with intelligence about a secret at Red Nest, leaving Hogg Riverclaw wary as he prepared to advance his master's plan.

• Barton recounted how a Red Nest Ogre's raid had killed his comrades and explained that he had stayed on the front lines for five years to avenge them.
• Barton's Wind Wolf detected an Ace Scout, who verified his identity and told Barton that Gordar Shatterbone was at Fortress Seven.
• Barton suppressed his urge to attack Gordar and resumed patrolling Whispering Forest with his recruits and a veteran guarding them.
• The Ace Scout returned to Wolfheart Castle and reported a secret he had discovered at Fortress Seven to Hogg Riverclaw.
• Hogg pondered the scent of death at Red Nest and reaffirmed that nothing could stop his master's grand plan.

Barton ambushed a Red Nest Hunter squad in Whispering Forest, killing two members before the surviving captain and warriors counterattacked. With his wind wolf arriving, Barton faced the Orc captain and two others in a fight that remained unresolved.

• Barton tracked the Red Nest squad through the night and identified the positions of its members, though he could not locate its captain.
• At dawn, Barton fired three arrows at once, killing the Gnoll Rogue and another gnoll, but the Lizardfolk deflected the third arrow with an enchanted item.
• Barton used Lethal Shot against the Lizardfolk, who dodged, while the hidden Orc captain swung down from the trees and attacked Barton.
• Barton fought off the Orc captain, the Lizardfolk, and an enemy Gnoll Ranger, then used his wolf fang pendant's Tiger's Protection to evade the Orc's kick.
• Barton's wind wolf arrived and attacked the enemy Gnoll Ranger, forcing him to defend as Barton remained surrounded by the Orc and Lizardfolk.

Barton Demon Hunter captured an Orc pirate whose intelligence revealed a possible Red Nest attack route through the Underdark, then returned to camp. Two days later, he received a secret order to join the Third Legion’s elite at Tagi Town, likely in response to the threat.

• Barton lured the Orc into a hidden beast trap, defeated him, and learned that Ravage Fortress planned to use a secret passage to attack the Empire.
• Barton pursued and killed the fleeing Lizardfolk and Gnoll, then tended to his wounded Wind Wolf.
• The Orc revealed that the Ravage tribe had found an underground passage bypassing Whispering Forest, and Barton gave him medicine that slowed the poison before taking him back to the Legion.
• Barton exchanged enemy ears for military merits, returned to camp, and slept after the battle.
• Two days later, Barton received a secret order to assemble with the Third Legion’s elite at Tagi Town, where he suspected they would address the Orc’s intelligence.

During the Empire’s assault on Red Nest, Barton pursued and killed Gordar Shatterbone, avenging his fallen comrades. At Red Nest, Savannah responded to the invasion by declaring an all-out war against Jose.

• The Third Legion ambushed the Red Nest army in a valley, and Barton left the battlefield to chase Gordar Shatterbone into the forest.
• Barton and Gordar fought, while Barton’s Wind Wolf repeatedly attacked Gordar’s wounded ankle and eventually severed his Achilles tendon.
• Barton kept Gordar from rising and killed him with arrows, then approached the corpse to take its head in honor of his fallen comrades.
• At Red Nest, Savannah killed a messenger in anger as the Sussex Kingdom’s army advanced through the Red Nest heartland.
• Savannah looked toward Jose in Moduo Peak Forest and declared that she would give him the all-out war he wanted.

The Sussex Empire defeated the Red Nest Dragon Legion at Bonebite Fortress, capturing most of its dragons and taking the fortress. Furious at the loss, Savannah ordered Redrillaz to crush the Empire, while deciding she would wait for Jose to enter the battle personally.

• Hogger Riverclaw ordered the Sussex Empire army to charge Bonebite Fortress as its siege weapons breached the walls.
• The Empire's Mage Corps activated the Anti-Air Domain, forcing the attacking Red Nest dragons to crash to the ground.
• Imperial warriors poisoned and captured most of the dragons with Olivia's concoction and Dragon Binding Nets, while three escaped.
• Hogger's army occupied Bonebite Fortress, and Grem Stone Hammer, Luna Starfeather, and Christie watched without joining the battle.
• Savannah learned that her Dragon Legion had been defeated and summoned Redrillaz to lead Red Nest forces against the Sussex Empire.
• Savannah told herself that Jose would have to enter the field first if he wanted to challenge her.

Hogger Riverclaw’s army and the Sussex Empire’s elite forces clashed with the Red Nest dragons, while Jose watched the battle from Oka City. When the Red Nest Matriarch Savannah entered the fight, Jose appeared to face her, and their duel began with the Emperor slightly at a disadvantage.

• Hogger Riverclaw halted the Third Legion in a valley, then ordered the soldiers to disperse when the Red Nest’s elite dragons approached.
• Christie, Kashi, Olivia, and the Empire’s other forces joined the Wyvern knights in battle against Wings of Havoc—Redrillaz and the Red Nest dragons.
• Jose watched the fighting through a magical projection and saw the Wyvern knights’ tactics and poisons bring down Red Nest dragons.
• Savannah teleported onto the battlefield and prepared to attack, but Jose appeared and challenged her.
• Jose and Savannah seized control of the Fire Elementals and began fighting, forcing the other dragons to withdraw and watch as Jose fell slightly behind.

Jose and the Red Nest Matriarch, Savannah, fought a devastating battle in the sky, where Jose’s enhanced Starfall Burst damaged her enormous dragon-shaped exoskeleton. Savannah repaired it with a mysterious power and prepared a potentially fatal attack, leaving Jose on guard as their battle continued.

• Jose used Crimson Blaze Tide to slow Savannah’s charge, then cast an enhanced Starfall Burst as she tried to retreat.
• The Starfall Burst exploded and engulfed Savannah, while Jose protected himself with a Fire Elemental Barrier.
• The blast’s elemental sandstorm scorched the mountains below, forcing the spectators to raise barriers and retreat farther from the battlefield.
• Jose saw that Savannah had survived inside a damaged crimson dragon-shaped exoskeleton, which repaired itself by drawing in Fire Elementals.
• Jose recognized that Savannah’s exoskeleton used a dangerous power beyond ordinary demigod limits, while Savannah realized his magic could disrupt the Fire Elementals within her.
• Savannah offered Jose one final chance to surrender before she used a power that could overcome his regenerative ability, and Jose prepared for her attack.

Jose activated Flame Monarch Form and turned the Red Nest Matriarch’s Fire Elementals against her, overcoming her exoskeleton and injuring her. The Red Nest Matriarch survived the attack, but the battle’s outcome remained undecided.

• The Red Nest Matriarch attacked Jose with her Fire Elemental exoskeleton, and Jose escaped using Teleportation and the Multiple Clone Technique, though she wounded his shoulder and slowed his regeneration.
• Jose activated Flame Monarch Form, causing golden flames and an imposing aura to rise around him as Savannah sensed his higher authority.
• Moorlin and the Gold Elf King watched the battle through a magical projection and still favored Savannah, while recognizing Jose’s alarming potential.
• The Red Nest Matriarch charged Jose with her exoskeletal claw, but Flame Monarch Form made the Fire Elementals abandon her control and collapse the exoskeleton.
• Jose ordered the Fire Elementals to attack Savannah from within, and she suffered internal injuries and spat out Dragon Blood.

Jose defeated and captured the Red Nest Matriarch, then forced her to agree to leave Tydanore with her gold and loyal dragons under a Devil Contract. The Sussex Empire emerged as the dominant power in northern Tydanore, while Moorlin and other observers recognized its growing threat.

• Jose subdued the Red Nest Matriarch by controlling her access to Fire Elemental energy and used her as a hostage to drive back the Wings of Havoc.
• Jose proposed that the Red Nest Matriarch leave Tydanore before his own rise to demigodhood, after which he would help her take revenge on the Pompeii Empire and Misty Forest.
• The Red Nest Matriarch warned Jose that the older demigod Moorlin and other established powers would be difficult to defeat, but Jose insisted she had to cooperate or be expelled.
• Jose offered the Red Nest Matriarch her stored gold and permission for willing dragons to leave with her, then secured her agreement with a Devil Contract.
• The Red Nest Matriarch departed with the Red Nest dragons, while the Sussex Empire's people celebrated Jose and Moorlin's observers judged the Empire a greater threat.

Jose gathered his ministers after defeating the Red Nest Matriarch to plan the absorption of the Red Nest and prepare for conflict with the southern factions. He assigned his retainers key responsibilities and prepared to pursue a breakthrough to demigod status.

• Jose told his ministers that Savannah had agreed to cooperate with the Sussex Empire in exchange for ten million gold coins and asked them how to absorb the Red Nest’s people.
• Ergou Bloodtooth proposed gradually accepting Red Nest residents, while Hulk Stonefang urged the Empire to secure key resources and assimilate residents in stages; Jose put Hulk in charge of the takeover.
• Hogger Riverclaw raised the threat from the southern factions, and Ergou proposed dividing their bloc by seeking Misty Forest’s neutrality, negotiating with the Trade City-State, and approaching the dwarves and Orc Empire.
• Jose ordered Luna Starfeather to monitor southern armies, Hogger Riverclaw to guard the borders, Grem Stonehammer to maintain order in the Red Nest, Ergou to oversee the Empire, and Kashi to persuade captured dragons to serve.
• Jose announced that he would enter seclusion to break through to demigod status, after handling one remaining matter.

Jose returned to Red Nest to confirm which dragons would join the Sussex Empire and settle the terms of the Red Nest Matriarch’s departure. He recruited most of her dragons, then brought them to the Empire and explained their benefits and obligations.

• Jose arrived at Red Nest, where most of the dragons chose to join the Sussex Empire, leaving only Wings of Havoc willing to accompany the Red Nest Matriarch.
• Jose paid the Red Nest Matriarch a three-million-gold deposit and agreed to deliver the remaining payments as the Empire took over Red Nest and she left Tydanore.
• Moorlin and Cecil watched Jose meet the Red Nest Matriarch from above Red Nest and decided to return to discuss the apparent agreement between their powers.
• Jose gathered around one hundred and twenty surrendering dragons, including Legendary Dragons Garcias, Tulte, Grace, and Krumlina, and teleported them to the Sussex Empire.
• Jose explained the dragons’ rank-based salaries, servants, duties, and compensation for killing Imperial attendants.

Jose began another attempt to break through to the demigod realm while the Red Nest Matriarch dissolved the Red Nest and attacked southern military targets. On Jose’s twenty-first day in seclusion, the Earth Heart emerged in the Northern Lands, interrupting his breakthrough and shocking Tydanore’s powerful beings.

• Jose activated the Magic Tower’s alert and energy absorption systems, then began absorbing fire elemental energy to force a breakthrough.
• The Sussex Empire began screening and assimilating Red Nest monsters while the Red Nest Matriarch attacked southern fortresses and naval ports.
• Moorlin and the Gold Elf King tried to stop the Red Nest Matriarch, but she avoided decisive battle and continued weakening the southern forces.
• On Jose’s twenty-first day of seclusion, Moorlin intercepted the Red Nest Matriarch, and they fought a destructive battle in the sky.
• Earth elemental energy erupted from the Northern Great Plains, and Jose, the Red Nest Matriarch, and Moorlin sensed that the Earth Heart had emerged.

Jose joined the demigods competing for the Earth Heart after it erupted inside the Northern Great Plains demiplane. Once the group entered and the oath holding them back expired, Jose secretly teleported toward the buried gem and reached the entrance to a hidden cave.

• Jose decided to compete for the Earth Heart and flew to the Northern Great Plains, where he found the other demigods gathered around a crack leaking Earth Elemental energy.
• The demigods saw that Situya possessed the Ocean Heart and agreed they could not let her claim the Earth Heart as well.
• Jose and the Red Nest Matriarch agreed to cooperate, though both remained prepared to compete against each other when the moment came.
• After arguing over who should enter first, the demigods swore an oath not to act against one another until everyone had entered the demiplane.
• The demigods entered the barren demiplane and sensed that the Earth Heart lay deep underground, then dispersed to seek it.
• Jose concealed himself, teleported to a cave near the Earth Heart, and pushed aside the boulder covering its entrance.

Jose found the Earth Heart guarded by a demigod-level Earth Elemental and hid underground as the outside demigods began their assault. He watched through an Arcane Eye as the Earth Elemental used the Demiplane's power to suppress its attackers, and the battle continued with the Red Nest Matriarch under attack.

• Jose found the Earth Heart embedded in a colossal Earth Elemental and retreated before the elementals noticed him.
• Jose chose to hide in the caverns, concealed his aura, and dug an L-shaped pit as the demigods' excavation triggered the Earth Elemental's attack.
• Jose sent an Arcane Eye to the surface and saw the demigods fighting the Earth Elemental, which was strengthened by the Demiplane's dense Earth Elemental energy.
• Situya protected herself from the Earth Elemental's stone-spike barrage with Limitless Ocean Shield, while the Orc Sword Saint's attacks failed to leave lasting wounds.
• Moorlin and the Gold Elf King restrained the Earth Elemental and attacked its chest, but it broke free and struck at the Red Nest Matriarch before a rushing waterfall interrupted it.

Jose watched the demigods battle the Earth Elemental for the Earth Heart while waiting for the Eternal Night Monarch to appear. Silverson ambushed Mugaro, and the chapter ended with the Red Nest Matriarch agreeing to help him in exchange for payment from the other demigods.

• Situya restored her strength with the Ocean Heart, and the demigods agreed to unleash their full power against the Earth Elemental.
• The demigods replenished their energy and injured the Earth Elemental, but its Gravity Domain slowed them and nearly let it strike Savannah.
• Jose stayed hidden underground, expecting Silverson to intervene, as the demigods restrained the Earth Elemental and Mugaro attacked its back.
• Silverson emerged from the void and struck at Mugaro, who evaded the blow with his Image technique before confronting the Eternal Night Monarch.
• Mugaro and Silverson fought, and Mugaro fell into a disadvantage as the other demigods sought help for him.
• Situya offered the Red Nest Matriarch two hundred million gold coins, with Moorlin and Cecil each agreeing to pay one hundred million, and Savannah charged to aid Mugaro.

Jose uncovered the Eternal Night Monarch’s Medusa ally and stopped her ambush, but the Eternal Night Monarch escaped and opened a demigod slot for the giant Earth Elemental. The newly empowered giant Earth Elemental left the gathered demigods facing a far more dangerous battle over the Earth Heart.

• Jose spotted a hidden Medusa aiming at the Orc Sword Saint and detonated his Arcane Eye to warn the battlefield.
• The Medusa’s petrifying arrow missed the Orc Sword Saint and struck the giant Earth Elemental, while Jose fought her using Elemental Vision and Multiple Clone Technique.
• The Medusa escaped after Jose’s dragon-tail strike revealed an unknown substitution spell, and Jose joined the Red Nest Matriarch against the Eternal Night Monarch.
• The Eternal Night Monarch forced back the Red Nest Matriarch and vanished, leaving the Tydanore plane and freeing a demigod slot.
• The giant Earth Elemental broke through to demigod status, and the demigods realized the Eternal Night Monarch had enabled its advancement.