Chapter Summaries

Li Lin agreed to help Dick treat Grand Duke Moore, who had been affected by the Caseli Magic Core. After learning that Moore descended from one of the five heroes who invaded Li Lin’s homeland, Li Lin decided to use the opportunity to settle an old grudge.

• Dick explained that Grand Duke Moore had been affected by the Caseli Magic Core and that the Mages’ Association and Temple had failed to help him.
• Dick asked Li Lin to assist Moore, and Li Lin agreed on the condition that his involvement remain secret.
• Li Lin told Angela and Nia about Moore’s condition, and Nia recognized the grand duke’s name.
• Li Lin revealed that Moore was descended from one of the five heroes who had invaded his country and said he intended to avenge a past injury.
• Li Lin asked Angela and Nia to help him, and Angela eagerly agreed.

Li Lin and Angela arranged for Mina and Fina to charm two young nobles, hoping to stir discord among the group while avoiding suspicion from the swordsman in black. Li Lin then confronted the swordsman about the nobles’ behavior, and the caravan continued toward Blackwater City.

• Li Lin learned that the young nobles were the children of Grand Duke Moore and added them to his revenge list, while Nia warned against using magic or seduction under the swordsman’s watch.
• Angela whispered a plan to Li Lin, who allowed her to try it, and the fat merchant invited the nobles’ carriages to join the caravan after hearing Li Lin’s account of their connection to a troubled nobleman.
• Nia cast Charm Person on Mina and Fina, and Angela ordered them to entertain two young noblemen; Fina managed the attention calmly while Mina struggled to hide her anger.
• Li Lin asked the swordsman in black to restrain his companions, and the swordsman apologized and warned the young men, unaware that Li Lin had caused their behavior through the spell.
• The swordsman noticed growing discord among the six young nobles but could not resolve it, as the caravan neared Blackwater City.

Li Lin and Angela captured Weijia in the woods and used magic and coercion to question her about Lika. Weijia exposed her resentment toward Lika and finally revealed that Lika loved her brother.

• Weijia followed her fiancé and Mina into the woods, where Li Lin’s spell trapped her and silenced her cries for help.
• Li Lin and Angela restrained Weijia and used magic to overwhelm her before questioning her identity and her connection to Lika.
• Under Angela’s influence, Weijia confessed that she resented Lika and believed Lika kept her around as an inferior companion.
• When Li Lin threatened to stop the spell’s pleasurable sensations, Weijia gave in and revealed that Lika loved her brother.

Li Lin and Angela watched Weijia pretend to reconcile with Lika while secretly plotting revenge, then arrived in Blackwater City. After learning Grand Duke Moore had collapsed because of the strange stone inside him, Li Lin went to treat him with a plan to make him a puppet.

• Weijia returned to Lika and acted as if they were friends again, while Lika promised her desserts and help punishing the young nobles.
• Nia canceled the spells on the sisters, and the travelers reached Blackwater City after the nobles stopped pursuing them.
• The fat merchant went to the merchants' guild, while Dick brought the nobles home and told Li Lin that Grand Duke Moore had collapsed.
• Dick explained that Moore had grown increasingly ill and spent most of his time unconscious, so the grand duchess summoned Li Lin to treat him.
• Li Lin followed Dick toward Blackwater Castle and told Angela that they needed only a puppet.

Li Lin met Grand Duke Moore’s family and examined the sleeping ruler, whose illness came from the Caseli Magic Core. He secretly altered the core with Angela’s blood and returned it to Grand Duke Moore, beginning his plan to destroy the family from within.

• The grand duchess told Li Lin that Grand Duke Moore had suffered worsening nightmares since Dick took the children hunting.
• Li Lin examined Grand Duke Moore and assured Dick that they could remove the Caseli Magic Core, but refused to explain his methods.
• Li Lin asked Dick to withdraw the guards, then suppressed his desire to kill Grand Duke Moore as Nia reassured him.
• Li Lin, Nia, and Angela drew out the Caseli Magic Core and fused it with Angela’s blood, changing its nature before returning it to Grand Duke Moore.
• Li Lin declared that he would lead Grand Duke Moore’s family to ruin and destruction.

Li Lin left Grand Duke Moore after securing a promise and setting plans for future revenge, while Angela and Nia argued over how to spend the day. Mina then arrived with news that the Temple had captured Fina, leaving Li Lin to respond to her sister’s abduction.

• Grand Duke Moore thanked Li Lin by buying the merchant’s goods and giving him a verbal promise of future assistance.
• Li Lin left the grand duke’s estate with Angela and Nia, reaffirming his desire for revenge and rejecting forgiveness.
• Angela and Nia argued over whether to go shopping or visit the library, and Li Lin proposed doing both.
• Mina reported that the Temple had taken Fina after a cleric friend recognized her undead nature and struck her with a divine spell.

Fina was captured by the Temple after her former friend ambushed her, and Bishop Kaili interrogated and struck her while treating her as an undead enemy. After Li Lin and Nia learned that the Temple planned to hand Fina over to its superiors, Li Lin chose not to attempt a rescue and said they had another way.

• Fina woke chained beneath holy light, with her vampire abilities suppressed, and realized a former friend had ambushed her.
• Bishop Kaili arrived with five paladins and Fina’s former friend, then accused Fina of becoming undead and demanded she explain herself.
• Fina said she did not know how she had become a vampire, and Kaili struck her with his staff as the young priest watched.
• Kaili urged the young priest to see Fina as a walking corpse, and the priest agreed that setting Fina free was all they could do.
• Li Lin and Nia left the Temple after learning Fina would be sent to the superiors, and Li Lin decided they would use another way to address her situation.

Li Lin and his companions waited at the inn while Angela explained why the Temple might want to study Fina rather than execute her, and Li Lin devised a plan involving Fina and the gods. Mina then brought in the woman who had betrayed Fina, but Li Lin recognized the cold young priest as the Goddess herself.

• Li Lin told Mina that Fina's death would affect Angela, while Nia questioned why the Temple had not publicly purified Fina.
• Angela argued that the Temple wanted to learn how Fina had gained undead immortality, and Li Lin agreed that her unusual nature could alarm the Temple.
• Li Lin asked Angela to contact Fina and secretly gave her instructions for a plan that might involve the gods; Nia offered to help.
• Mina entered with a young priest and revealed that she had betrayed Fina and handed her over to the Temple.
• Li Lin noticed a deep blue radiance in the priest's eyes, bowed to her, and addressed her as the Goddess.

The Goddess of Secrets visited Li Lin in a priestess’s body and hinted that she needed his help against the God of Justice. Li Lin inferred they had made a bargain: he would divert the God of Justice’s attention, while she would help conceal his secrets.

• Li Lin questioned the Goddess of Secrets about her unexpected Divine Descent and whether the priestess might be her Divine Chosen.
• The Goddess of Secrets said she had come because Li Lin had returned, then left after telling him, “We both know.”
• Li Lin explained that the goddess’s appearance and cryptic words signaled she wanted his help, while Angela complained that they had been used.
• Li Lin concluded that the goddess had arranged for Fina to be imprisoned so the Temple would study her and lose time, and that she would repay him by helping him stay hidden.
• Li Lin comforted Angela and promised her a joyful night, making her excited.

Angela used her Vampire Species powers to deceive priest Hanmo into a degrading act, while she and Nia carried out Li Lin’s plan in Xiernas. The chapter ended with Nia casting a spell that enveloped the town in a dim halo.

• Hundreds of bats flew over Xiernas while its sleeping residents and sentries failed to notice them.
• Angela appeared to Hanmo as the Holy Maiden and used his devotion to the God of Justice to manipulate him.
• Angela revealed to Nia that she had altered Hanmo’s subconscious rather than turning him into a member of the Vampire Species.
• Nia explained that Li Lin’s plan targeted the Five-Nation Alliance, not the coastal tribes, because he did not intend to destroy humanity.
• Nia raised her staff and cast a spell that enveloped Xiernas in a dim halo.

Bishop Kaili sent Knight Commander Yuegeer to report the Vampire Species threat to the church leadership, while Li Lin prepared to exploit the Temple’s fear of the undead. After explaining his reasons for opposing the God of Justice to Mina, Li Lin learned Nia had completed her task and moved to rescue Fina.

• Bishop Kaili gave Knight Commander Yuegeer an urgent letter warning that a necromancer was assembling hidden undead to infiltrate the church.
• Li Lin watched the knights depart and told Mina that the current God of Justice was an impostor, explaining that gods gained power through their divine offices.
• Li Lin explained that spreading fear of the Vampire Species could distract the God of Justice and damage the Temple’s reputation if it attacked creatures who looked human.
• Li Lin received word from Nia that her task was complete and ordered the group to rescue Fina.

Li Lin and Mina rescued Fina from the Temple with help from the Goddess of Secrets, who formed an alliance with Li Lin. After they escaped the city without exposing Fina’s disappearance, Li Lin planned their next steps while they waited for a merchant to finish his business.

• Fina endured the Temple’s holy light until the Goddess of Secrets appeared and opened a rift for Li Lin and Mina.
• Mina cut Fina’s chains, and Li Lin confirmed that Angela had completed the Goddess of Secrets’ requested task before forming an alliance with her.
• The Goddess of Secrets offered herself to Li Lin, but he declined and instead arranged a deposit before the group left the Temple.
• Li Lin made a simulacrum of Fina to distract the Temple, and the group escaped into the night while Fina replenished her strength by drinking her friend’s blood.
• Fina asked whether Li Lin had often been intimate with goddesses, and Li Lin explained that such offerings came from their devout believers.
• Li Lin told Fina to stay inside for several days and said they would wait for the merchant to finish his business.

Li Lin’s caravan left Blackwater City after Angela forced the merchant to stop delaying, and Li Lin learned that Angela had influenced the grand duke to arrange a marriage. When the merchant considered routes to Kudel, Li Lin and Angela discovered an infiltrator among the mercenaries and decided to watch him.

• Angela threatened the fat merchant, who then hurried the caravan’s preparations to depart.
• Angela told Li Lin she had ordered the grand duke to have his son marry the little girl, as Li Lin had instructed.
• The fat merchant learned that trade by sea to Kudel had nearly stopped and debated taking the dangerous Black Road through the Snowfall Mountain Range.
• Angela sensed a rat in the caravan, and Li Lin realized one mercenary had been killed and replaced by an impostor.
• Li Lin used Nia to place a new magical signal on the infiltrator and chose to wait while Angela and Nia kept watch.
• Angela confined Fina and Mina to the carriage for ten days, while Li Lin concluded the infiltrator should not be allowed to leave easily.

Li Lin and Nia considered potential allies against the Five-Nation Alliance, including the Black Elves, whose strict hierarchy could make them useful but difficult to control. Li Lin decided to consult the Elf Goddess before choosing how to approach them, then confronted the mysterious young mercenary traveling with the caravan.

• Li Lin and Nia discussed recruiting oppressed nations and races, while weighing the limits of relying on gods and foreign armies to govern conquered lands.
• Nia described the Black Elves, their hatred of humans, their combat skills, and their female-led society, which made gaining their obedience difficult.
• Angela suggested killing the Black Elves' evil god, but Li Lin rejected the idea because of the risks of killing gods and his own principles as an Arcane Mage.
• Li Lin decided to speak with the Elf Goddess before making a decision about the Black Elves.
• Li Lin noticed the young mercenary leave the caravan and follow him into the woods, then magically restrained him and introduced himself.

Li Lin confronted a disguised thief who had infiltrated the caravan and learned the thief’s story, then chose to keep him alive for his disguise skills. When the group reached the port and found their ship had already sailed, they decided they would have to take the Black Road.

• Li Lin exposed the young mercenary as a thief who had stolen a real mercenary’s identity, and the thief confessed that he had stolen a diamond and fled Blackwater City.
• Li Lin verified the thief was telling the truth, warned him to do the job he had been paid for, and returned to the carriage.
• Angela argued that Li Lin should have killed the thief because he would bring bad luck, but Li Lin said his disguise skills might prove useful.
• At the port, a fat merchant told Li Lin that the last cargo ship had sailed and the next would not leave for half a month.
• Li Lin concluded that the group would have to take the Black Road.

Li Lin’s group fought their way through the Underdark, where Angela and the vampires slaughtered the attacking monsters while the mercenaries struggled to keep up. During a rest, Nia described the dark elves’ cities and possible allies, and Li Lin prepared to target Kasos City to draw out the evil god threatening the Elf Goddess.

• Li Lin, Nia, and Angela killed the underground monsters that repeatedly attacked the group, while Mina and her sister protected the mercenaries and elf.
• Angela repeatedly saved the thief from stone crawlers only after letting him come close to being killed, until Li Lin called a halt and ordered everyone to rest.
• Li Lin used magic to secure the camp, while the elf prayed and Nia showed him information she had gathered during her years exploring the Underdark.
• Nia identified Menzoberranzan as the dark elves’ largest city and Kasos City as a useful target, explaining that its eight leading families were favored by the evil god.
• Nia told Li Lin that the dark elves had enslaved kobolds, orcs, and goblins and had contacted a group of dwarves; Li Lin thanked her, and she leaned against him.
• Angela noticed Li Lin and Nia together, smiled gently, and returned to admiring the darkness.

Matron Ryan prepared the First House of Kasos for a danger she said the Spider Goddess had revealed, while Li Lin led his companions through the Underdark toward the Dark Elf city. As they reached Kasos territory, he warned the sisters and gave Angela permission to fight without restraint.

• Maya reported that the First House had prepared explosive arrows and spells, and Matron Ryan claimed the Spider Goddess had warned them of an approaching threat.
• Matron Ryan told the young priestess that the other houses should unite against outsiders, though her daughter privately doubted the goddess's intentions.
• Li Lin explained that the Elf Goddess was changing her teachings to protect the elves from human attacks, and Fina asked whether the elves would become as cruel as the Dark Elves.
• Nia announced that the group was entering Kasos City's territory and transformed back into the Eternal Library.
• Li Lin gave Fina a powerful Magic Shield Spell and instructed Mina and Fina to protect the others from the Dark Elves.
• Li Lin told Angela she could do whatever she wanted when they arrived, and she accepted his order with delight.

Li Lin and his companions reached Kasos City, where he attacked its Dark Elf patrol to provoke the Spider Goddess into appearing. As the city prepared for war, Li Lin used the Eternal Library to envelop it in a powerful spell, and Angela publicly taunted its inhabitants.

• Li Lin shielded his party from a Dark Elf patrol, and Angela attacked the patrol leader after he insulted Li Lin.
• Li Lin blinded the Dark Elves with Chain Lightning and killed them with strong acid, while their warning signal alerted Kasos City.
• The families of Kasos City prepared for battle, gathering their matrons and driving orcs and goblins toward the gates.
• Li Lin cast a powerful spell that enveloped the city, alarming Matron Ryan and the other matrons.
• Angela stood on the city wall with a captive priestess and ordered the Dark Elves to come out and kneel before Li Lin.

Li Lin used a temporary mythal to weaken the Dark Elves and began slaughtering their slaves, hoping to force the Spider Goddess to appear. As the matrons watched and debated, a young cleric tried to dispel his protection, but her divine spell failed.

• Li Lin told Angela to protect the elf while the matrons of Kasos City gathered outside the walls and ordered their slaves to attack.
• Angela provoked the Dark Elves, and Li Lin began killing the advancing slaves with spells while the mythal neutralized attacks against him.
• Fina, the mercenaries, the elf, and the Elf Goddess watched Li Lin’s magical assault, while the matrons hesitated to act against him.
• As the slave ranks dwindled, the matrons argued over whether to commit their own forces, and Li Lin prepared for them to fight once the slaves were gone.
• A young Dark Elf cleric cast Dispel Magic at Li Lin, but the weakened divine spell vanished before it could affect him.

Li Lin exploited the Mythal’s suppression of divine magic to disrupt the dark elf assault, raise the dead, and force the matrons to retreat. As the dark elves attacked Kasos City under cover of darkness, the Elf Goddess prepared to draw out the Spider Goddess, while Li Lin shielded her and unleashed power into the city wall.

• Kama killed a priestess who revealed that the dark elves could no longer use divine magic, and Li Lin’s fireballs sowed confusion among the ranks.
• Li Lin raised fallen warriors as undead, driving the dark elves back and prompting Matron Ryan and the other matrons to order explosive arrows against them.
• Li Lin returned to the city wall to recover while Angela, Mina, and Fina defeated dark elf assassins who entered under cover of Darkness.
• The Elf Goddess manifested her divine power and produced a wooden longbow, intending to draw out the Spider Goddess, but Li Lin sealed her aura inside a shield.
• Li Lin pressed both hands against the city wall and poured power into it as the earth began to rumble.