Chapter Summaries

Li Lin investigated a Serei legend and suspected the figure people worshipped was a god whose human form had survived. He agreed to visit the Kingdom of Serei, and the chapter left him preparing to fly to its capital aboard a Magic Empire airship.

• Li Lin reasoned that worship of gods’ human forms could stabilize their existence and suspected the figure in the Serei legend had once been a god.
• Li Lin promised the Serei commander that the steel fortress would aid the kingdom until it secured fertile plains in Lalia, then requested a meeting with the king.
• After Yi Aier questioned his trip, Li Lin said he might meet an old friend and waited for transport to arrive.
• The Serei commander sent elite soldiers to escort Li Lin, but Li Lin asked for only a guide because he would travel by other means.
• A Magic Empire flying ship arrived, astonishing the Serei soldiers, and the commander decided to accompany Li Lin to the royal capital himself.

On Mount Celestia, the God of Justice learned that five Weapon Spirits had vanished and that his Divine Envoys had failed against the returning Magic Empire. With his power and influence threatened, he decided to devise a new countermeasure against Li Lin and the empire.

• The God of Justice discovered he had lost contact with five Weapon Spirits and blamed the Magic Empire’s formidable methods.
• The God of Justice reflected on his failure to rise above the rank of greater god, his unanswered questions about the Great Book of Law, and his mounting conflicts in the Upper and Lower Planes.
• The God of Justice recognized that Li Lin’s victory in the Federation had shown him the Prime Material Plane was not under his control and could threaten his supply of faith.
• The God of Justice recalled sending Gabriel and the Divine Envoys of the Seven Commandments against the Magic Empire while pursuing political reforms in the Five-Nation Alliance.
• After learning that the Divine Envoys of the Seven Sages had failed, the God of Justice decided to change his plans and devise a new countermeasure.

The God of Justice recruited a powerful being imprisoned in darkness to travel to the Prime Material Plane and fight Li Lin’s Magic Empire. His ally agreed after confirming Li Lin was not the feared Arcane Mage Luoxia, while the God of Justice left confident that his new weapon would defeat the empire.

• The God of Justice visited a sealed cave on Mount Celestia and asked its imprisoned inhabitant for help, promising that his research could eventually fulfill the being’s wish.
• The cave’s inhabitant demanded to know whether the God of Justice had completed his promised work, and the God of Justice showed him an object as proof of his progress.
• The God of Justice explained that the Magic Empire had returned and asked the inhabitant to lead his people against Li Lin and the undead army.
• After hearing about the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys, the inhabitant feared that Li Lin might be Luoxia, but the God of Justice assured him that Li Lin was someone else.
• The inhabitant agreed to help and to lead the God of Justice’s people and archangel against the mages, while the God of Justice departed confident that his ally would defeat Li Lin.

Li Lin negotiated an alliance with the Kingdom of Serei, offering a mobile fortress to help it seize Lalia’s plains and proposing improvements to its barren capital. During a visit to a memorial palace, he recognized the woman honored as Serei’s mother of the nation and realized she was the goddess whose help the Goddess of Secrets had sought.

• Li Lin arrived in Serei’s rocky capital aboard his floating ship and met the king.
• Li Lin and the king agreed that Serei would use a mobile fortress to occupy Lalia’s plains while staying out of Magic Empire territory, and Serei would help restrain countries plotting against the empire.
• Li Lin offered to send mages to improve Serei’s capital by enriching its soil and planting trees.
• Li Lin visited a memorial palace and saw a statue of the woman revered as Serei’s mother of the nation.
• Yi Aier recognized the woman as someone who had often appeared in Li Lin’s bed, and Li Lin realized she was the goddess the Goddess of Secrets had asked him to help.

Li Lin entered the palace at night to find the Goddess of Theft, Seliana, and recruit her to steal the Great Law Spell from the God of Justice. He freed her from a crystal prison, but before they could leave, he accused her of stealing something from him.

• Li Lin concluded that the Goddess of Theft was hiding beneath the palace and planned to wake her so she could help retrieve the Great Law Spell.
• Li Lin slipped past the palace guards and used magic to dispel the traps concealing a passage beneath the statue.
• Li Lin found Seliana's skeleton in a crystal coffin and used a magical crystal to restore her to life.
• Seliana mistook Li Lin for Luoxia, but Li Lin identified her and told her to leave with him.
• Seliana put on Li Lin's maid outfit and headed for the exit, but Li Lin stopped her and demanded that she return what she had stolen.

Li Lin learned why the Goddess of Theft had hidden on the Prime Material Plane and asked her to help steal the Great Book of Law. She warned him that the God of Justice might have used an unnamed power in the Magic Empire’s destruction, leaving Li Lin troubled by the possibility of another inevitable defeat.

• The Goddess of Theft explained how she had fled the upper planes, fused with her Divine Chosen, and later hid among the barbarians after the Magic Empire fell.
• Li Lin proposed that the Goddess of Secrets shelter the Goddess of Theft in exchange for her help stealing the Great Book of Law, and she reluctantly considered the dangerous mission.
• The Goddess of Theft warned Li Lin that the God of Justice might have used a mysterious power called “that” to conceal his role in the Magic Empire’s destruction.
• Li Lin questioned whether the God of Justice could truly control that power, while the Goddess of Theft admitted she had only heard rumors and suggested the Goddess of Secrets might know more.
• The Goddess of Theft tried to leave after offering to rekindle old times with Li Lin, but he demanded that she return what she had stolen from Yi Aier.
• The Goddess of Theft gave Yi Aier back her panties, which she had taken as a greeting.

Li Lin returned from the Kingdom of Serei with the Goddess of Theft and learned that the United Government had begun a counterattack while Catherine could not be reached. As he ordered a cautious response, Catherine and Gabriel faced a mysterious black-cloaked man whose power had helped the allied forces defeat the undead.

• Li Lin returned to Ringwraith City, confronted the Lady of Secrets over her failure to warn him that the God of Justice might use “that,” and handed the Goddess of Theft over to her.
• Nia told Li Lin that the United Government had retaken Broken Stone City and Sunwatch City, and that she could not contact Catherine.
• Li Lin ordered the undead armies withdrawn from distant positions, leaving some behind as bait, and told Nia to keep trying to reach Catherine.
• Catherine watched the allied soldiers burn the dead and questioned Gabriel about the black-cloaked man directing the United Government’s counterattack.
• Gabriel revealed that the God of Justice had ordered her to obey the man, whose power had weakened the undead, though his dark aura frightened her.

Li Lin identified the mysterious commander as the God of Justice’s otherworldly agent and planned to lure the combined army deeper into the undead-held Federation. Suoxiate delivered his orders to Catherine in disguise, and Catherine agreed to spread news of the army’s victories to draw the enemy in.

• Li Lin decided to surrender empty, contaminated cities and lure the enemy deeper before destroying them, especially the mysterious commander.
• Li Lin ordered Suoxiate to contact Catherine and have her spread news of the combined army’s victories; he planned to use an illusion of Angela as bait.
• Catherine reflected on her covert loyalty to Li Lin before Gabriel came to her room and revealed that she knew about their true master.
• Gabriel transformed into Suoxiate, who explained that Li Lin understood Catherine’s difficulties and instructed her to publicize the victories.
• Catherine recognized the plan to lure the enemy deep, voiced her concerns, and promised Suoxiate she would carry out Li Lin’s orders.

The expeditionary force captured a third city and grew overconfident as reports of victory spread through the United Kingdom. On the eighth day, a massive undead army attacked, led by a silver-haired girl who confronted the mysterious envoy, Catherine, and Gabriel as the battle began.

• Catherine and Gabriel waited while the expeditionary force debated whether to hold its cities or advance, then received reinforcements from the United Kingdom.
• The mysterious envoy led the expanded army forward and captured a third city, where his power and holy light made the undead vulnerable.
• Victory reports and the undead’s repeated failed assaults boosted the allied soldiers’ confidence, though some officers remained wary of the Magic Empire’s unobserved forces.
• Eight days after the city’s capture, a vast undead army appeared in a storm, and the envoy, Catherine, and Gabriel rallied the soldiers on the walls.
• A silver-haired girl with devilish wings challenged the humans, then sent the undead surging against the city walls.

After a successful defense against Angela’s undead, the United Army split its forces and sent the mysterious man on an offensive into the Federation. Li Lin revealed that the man had taken the bait, and the army reached the City of the Federation, where his trap was prepared.

• Catherine noticed that Angela’s undead had lost their speed and strength, and the defenders repelled the fifty-thousand-strong army with fire and holy power.
• Catherine reported the mysterious man’s ability to the council, dividing the United Government over whether he should lead an offensive or stay to defend.
• Catherine urged the officers to protect their supply lines, so Gabriel and the mysterious man led the main force onward while Catherine took a smaller contingent to scout and guard supplies.
• Catherine contacted Li Lin, who called the mysterious man a scavenger and told her to stay away from the front as his plan unfolded.
• Li Lin explained that Suoxiate had impersonated Angela and that he had lured the mysterious man into the Federation to keep the God of Justice from intervening.
• Over the next month and a half, Li Lin used staggered undead attacks and Suoxiate’s feigned retreats to encourage the United Army to advance until it reached the City of the Federation.

The allied army’s commander refused Gabriel’s warnings and pressed on toward the Federation’s capital to pursue Angela, while Catherine discovered a huge undead counterattack closing in on the expeditionary army. Angela, meanwhile, waited impatiently as the professor studied the objects she had brought him.

• Gabriel urged the commander to halt and consolidate, but he admitted he wanted revenge on Angela for insulting him and rejected her attempt to retreat.
• Catherine warned that the Magic Empire’s controlled undead might be part of a larger plan and continued patrolling the army’s supply lines.
• Scouts reported that five hundred thousand undead were converging on the Federation’s capital to outflank the allied army, and Catherine sent riders to warn it before assembling her troops.
• Angela demanded that the professor hurry, but he insisted on studying her recovered artifacts, and they traded insults before she backed down.

Li Lin’s forces lured the allied army into a desperate attack on the City of the Federation, where a trap awaited the mysterious man leading them. Li Lin appeared and revealed that he had drawn the man, whom he called Godspawn, into a temporary mythal, leaving the confrontation poised to begin.

• Li Lin learned that Catherine was heading to the allied army and decided to face the enemy himself while his forces adjusted the undead advance.
• After learning that nearly a million undead threatened them, the allied officers debated retreating, defending their camp, or attacking the City of the Federation.
• The mysterious man ordered the allied army to attack the city, arguing that killing the undead Manipulator would make the undead army collapse.
• The allied army charged into the City of the Federation, broke through its defenders, and sent three thousand elite soldiers toward the Federation Council.
• At the council, Angela transformed into a maid named Suoxiate, who activated a temporary mythal and welcomed the mysterious man as her master’s invited guest.
• Li Lin appeared inside the mythal and called the man Godspawn; the man recognized Luoxia and the God of Justice, then erupted into black mist.

Li Lin fought the Godspawn with his Temporary Mythal, while Gabriel abandoned the battle and ordered the allied army to retreat. The survivors fled through the undead under Gabriel’s holy light, with the Godspawn still attacking Li Lin.

• The Godspawn transformed under the Temporary Mythal’s suppression and attacked Li Lin as Gabriel weighed whether to fight beside it.
• Li Lin deflected the Godspawn’s attacks, blocked its shadow monsters with magic, and destroyed them with a pillar of light.
• Gabriel flew back to the city and ordered the officers to abandon the failed operation and break through the undead defenses.
• The allied army, with 280,000 soldiers left, charged through the undead under Gabriel’s holy light while many at the edges were killed.

Gabriel’s allied army nearly succumbed to the undead until Catherine arrived and renewed their escape. Elsewhere, Angela chose to return to Li Lin’s world through a rift opened by the professor, while Li Lin defeated a Godspawn and began questioning it about its alliance with the God of Justice.

• Gabriel’s holy light weakened as the undead overwhelmed the allied army, but Catherine arrived and drove them back with her own radiance.
• Angela refused the professor’s offer to stay and help remake Earth, choosing instead to remain loyal to Master.
• The professor used the Root and Li Lin’s magical ornament to open a spatial rift, and Angela stepped through it to try to return to her world.
• Li Lin defeated the Godspawn with the Temporary Mythal and restrained it with chains filled with positive energy.
• Li Lin demanded to know when and how the Godspawn had begun cooperating with the God of Justice, and the Godspawn agreed to talk.

Li Lin questioned the Godspawn about the God of Justice’s past, learning that the god had vanished for decades at a time and may have visited the Astral Plane, but not why he attacked the Magic Empire. As Li Lin prepared to kill the Godspawn, a mysterious beam destroyed his Temporary Mythal and seemingly obliterated the creature, leaving him wary beside a vast crater and a small black speck.

• Li Lin pieced together the Godspawn’s account of its alliance with the God of Justice, the god’s unexplained absences, and his role in the Magic Empire’s destruction.
• The Godspawn suggested that the God of Justice had traveled to the Astral Plane, but could not explain why he wanted the Magic Empire destroyed.
• Li Lin decided not to release the Godspawn and prepared to kill it, but sensed unstable energy gathering overhead.
• A powerful beam shattered Li Lin’s Temporary Mythal and destroyed the Godspawn, while Li Lin escaped by spatial transference.
• Li Lin examined the devastated Council Square, noticed a black speck beside the crater, and heard a voice complain about a damned human.

Angela returned to Li Lin’s plane after following his destructive beam through a planar rift, while the United Kingdom faced the consequences of its disastrous campaign and Gabriel lost the God of Justice’s favor. The chapter ended with Angela meeting Catherine and Nalu and urging Catherine to prove her strength.

• Angela endured a dangerous planar crossing, landed injured near the City of the Federation, and reunited with Li Lin.
• Angela explained her return to Li Lin and the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys, while the United Kingdom’s retreat and the Scourge Legion’s recapture of its occupied cities intensified public outrage.
• Catherine gained praise for opposing the advance and rescuing soldiers, while Gabriel withdrew into prayer and realized the God of Justice had abandoned her.
• Catherine dismissed Gabriel’s failure and continued to dominate Nalu, who had become her Weapon Spirit and obedient servant.
• Angela arrived, inspected Nalu, and encouraged Catherine to demonstrate her abilities and seek another person to enslave.

Angela led the undead conquest of Lalia, leaving three of the Five-Nation Alliance’s countries destroyed, while Li Lin prepared to investigate the God of Justice’s possible secret in the Astral Plane. Before leaving with Angela, Li Lin assigned the others their duties, and Angela urged Nia to act on her feelings for him.

• Angela returned to command the undead and invaded Lalia, whose capital had already been burned by rebels; Lalia became the third destroyed country in the alliance.
• Li Lin explained that the God of Justice could still wield an unknown power, possibly connected to the Magic Empire’s collapse, and decided to search the Astral Plane for evidence.
• Li Lin ordered Angela to accompany him while Nia, Suoxiate, and the others remained in Ringwraith City to manage its defenses, forces, and production.
• Angela questioned Nia about her relationship with Li Lin and encouraged her to stop hesitating, mentioning that Catherine had already moved ahead.
• Angela offered to teach Nia a way to win Li Lin’s attention, and Nia remained uncertain about taking her advice.

Li Lin prepared to travel to the Astral Plane and accepted Nia’s confession, beginning a relationship with her. He left for the plane with Angela, while Nia stayed behind with the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys to manage Ringwraith City.

• Angela’s seduction led Li Lin to discover that Nia had taken her place and was trying to express her love for him.
• Nia told Li Lin she had waited for him through a thousand years and asked him to accept her; he agreed, and they became intimate.
• Li Lin realized his defensive spells had attacked him when they injured Nia, but he countered them and comforted her until she relaxed.
• The next morning, Angela complained that she had spent the night under the bed, and Li Lin told her to prepare for their trip to the Astral Plane.
• Li Lin inspected the portal in his tower, set its coordinates, and warned the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys to stay alert while he was away.
• Nia kissed Li Lin in front of the astonished Seven Ring Spirit Envoys, then assured him she and the others would handle things before he entered the portal with Angela.

Li Lin and Angela traveled through the Astral Plane to find Star City, where they encountered a giant tentacled whale attacking the city. After the whale killed several defending mages, Li Lin intervened with a lightning strike and began casting a spell.

• Li Lin explained the Astral Plane’s dangers and led Angela along a silver track toward Star City.
• Li Lin and Angela found Star City moving along the track and followed it until they reached the city.
• As they approached, they saw the city’s defenders fighting a giant whale-like astral creature.
• The whale’s antimagic field neutralized the mages’ protections, and its tentacles seized and killed several of them.
• Li Lin decided to stop the whale, struck it with lightning, and cast magic that enveloped both the creature and Star City.

Li Lin and Angela defeated an Astral Plane Giant Whale and reached Star City, where they met its controllers. Li Lin asked them to uncover the God of Justice’s trail, and the controllers began searching their shared records.

• Li Lin’s spells and Star City’s defenders wounded the Astral Plane Giant Whale, but it kept attacking.
• Angela charged the whale, tore it in two with her bare hands, and returned to Li Lin as its remains dispersed.
• Li Lin and Angela landed in Star City and were escorted to meet its controllers.
• Li Lin asked the controllers to identify what the God of Justice had sought and where he had gone.
• The controllers consulted their shared network of Star City records and reopened their eyes after searching.