Chapter Summaries

Li Lin’s Earthquake spell triggered a natural disaster that devastated Kasos City, prompting the dark elves to seek their goddess’s aid. As the goddess’s arrival drew near, Maya killed Matron Ryan as a sacrifice, and divine wrath descended before Li Lin and his companions.

• Li Lin’s Earthquake spell set off a chain reaction beneath Kasos City, and he protected his companions while the city was wrecked.
• After the shaking briefly stopped, the ground erupted again, collapsing stone structures and killing many dark elves.
• Matron Ryan and the other matrons used the goddess’s ruby to summon divine aid, while Li Lin expected the goddess to arrive.
• Maya stabbed Matron Ryan and offered her as a sacrifice to the Great Spider Goddess.
• The ruby crumbled, a ring of fire appeared before Li Lin and the others, and the goddess’s angry voice shook them.

Li Lin and Angela defeated the Spider Goddess’s demons and Yochlol, then Li Lin burned the goddess’s palace web and provoked her to enter the Prime Material Plane. He destroyed the Mythal to close her gate and released the Elf Goddess, who confronted the trapped Spider Goddess with her bow.

• The Spider Goddess sent Yochlol and demons through the gate, while Li Lin assigned Angela to fight the envoys and attacked the demons himself.
• Angela tormented and tore apart the Yochlol as Li Lin killed the demons with spells.
• Li Lin cast magical fire into the gate, burning the webs beneath the Spider Goddess’s palace and driving her to emerge in person.
• The Spider Goddess came through the gate with spiders and threatened Li Lin, while Angela fled back to his side.
• Li Lin destroyed the Mythal, collapsing the gate, then released the Elf Goddess from her barrier.
• The Elf Goddess appeared and raised her longbow toward the Spider Goddess, who realized she had been trapped.

After the Spider Goddess and the Elf Goddess vanished into the Elf Goddess’s divine domain, Li Lin prepared to shape the aftermath while Angela captured Dark Elf matrons. Maya, left alone amid Kasos City’s ruin, confronted Angela but lost the will to resist when an agony erupted in her soul.

• Li Lin reassured himself that the Spider Goddess was weakened, then began altering the mercenaries’ memories to conceal Nia’s transformation into the Eternal Library.
• Angela explained that a spider had traumatized her when she awoke from a centuries-long sleep, and Li Lin left her to attend to Mina and Fina.
• Maya wandered through the ruins after the First Family’s forces and stronghold were destroyed, with no followers left to command.
• Angela captured several Dark Elf matrons, forced the Second Family’s matron to bark like a dog, and challenged Maya to fight.
• Maya refused to fight, reflected on the collapse of her ambitions, and was suddenly overcome by bone-deep agony from within her soul.

After the Spider Queen's defeat, the Elf Goddess gave her corpse to Li Lin and began reorganizing the Dark Elves under the Dark Maiden. Li Lin found a possible representative in Maya Ryan, the former First Matriarch of Kasos City, whose despair and defiance set her apart from the other Dark Elves.

• The Elf Goddess gave Li Lin the Spider Queen's corpse, sealed in a hidden demiplane, as a reward.
• The Elf Goddess appointed the Dark Maiden to govern the Dark Elves, while the elf who had served as her Divine Descent medium became a divine messenger in the World Tree.
• Angela brought Li Lin and the Elf Goddess an unconscious Dark Elf girl and revealed that she had killed the previous First Matriarch and taken her place.
• Maya Ryan told Li Lin that she believed the Dark Elves were doomed after their god's defeat and challenged him on whether he planned to destroy or enslave them.
• Li Lin told the Elf Goddess that Maya seemed suitable to serve as their representative.

Li Lin tried to make Maya the Dark Maiden’s representative and persuaded her to accept the task of uniting the dark elf cities. Maya agreed to work for him under a Geas, but asked Li Lin to grant her one request if she succeeded, and he accepted.

• Li Lin searched the ruins for a suitable dark elf representative but found no one he trusted as much as Maya.
• Li Lin argued that the dark elves would need another god’s support to survive and warned Maya against turning to the demon lords of Hell.
• Maya agreed to persuade the other dark elf cities to avoid unrest while Li Lin returned to the surface, and Li Lin arranged to monitor her and place a Geas on her.
• Maya asked Li Lin to grant her one request if she achieved satisfactory results, and Li Lin agreed.

Li Lin returned from the Underdark with Angela and the others, leaving Nia and the little thief behind to help oversee Maya’s rule among the Dark Elves. At the caravan’s camp, they discovered an armed force lying in wait, and Li Lin confronted its commander, Kagali, to learn why his caravan had been surrounded.

• Li Lin left Nia and the little thief in Kasos City to watch Maya and relay information, while Angela accompanied him back to the surface.
• Li Lin used Mass Teleportation to return with Angela, Mina, Fina, and the mercenaries, and considered how to make use of the Underdark and its tunnel.
• Angela smelled blood near the caravan’s village and spotted warriors and archers hiding in its houses.
• Li Lin and Angela entered the village under Invisibility and found Kagali, the commander of the concealed force, keeping watch.
• Kagali attacked Li Lin, but Angela knocked him down before Li Lin could question him.

Li Lin learned from the old warrior that Kudel’s soldiers had entered the hidden Black Road, then returned to the trapped caravan and explained what he had discovered. He ordered the group to continue toward the Black Road despite the soldiers guarding it, and Angela declared they would kill any who attacked.

• Li Lin killed the stubborn old warrior, interrogated his soul, and sent it to the world of the dead.
• Li Lin and Angela defeated the ambushers and returned to the merchant company, where Old Pikachu described the soldiers’ attack and the caravan’s desperate defense.
• Li Lin identified the disciplined attackers as soldiers from Kudel and suspected they had reached an agreement with the Dark Elves to use the Black Road.
• Li Lin contacted Nia and ordered her to ask Maya and other Dark Elf matriarchs what they knew about Kudel’s passage through the Black Road.
• Mina reported that about a hundred soldiers guarded the entrance, but Li Lin ordered the caravan to rest and then head for the Black Road.
• Angela told the fat merchant that they would kill every soldier who attacked them.

Angela led the caravan toward the Black Road, killing Kudel’s soldiers who tried to stop it while Li Lin waited for their commanders to respond. Roni, commander of Kudel’s Third Battle Corps, appeared and claimed the route had been requisitioned, and Li Lin challenged his authority over Lalia and the Black Road.

• Angela slaughtered several soldiers who confronted the caravan, terrifying the rest into backing away.
• Angela caught an arrow shot from the bushes and hurled it back, killing the hidden archer.
• Li Lin allowed the caravan to keep advancing toward the Black Road while waiting for Kudel’s forces to make a decision.
• Roni, commander of Kudel’s Third Battle Corps, stepped forward and asked the caravan to stop, saying Kudel had requisitioned the route.
• Li Lin confronted Roni, pointing out that the road was in Lalia’s territory and that Kudel could not decide who used the Black Road.

Li Lin forced Knight Roni and his soldiers to let the caravan enter the Black Road, then revealed that he planned to use a lich hidden in the Mages' Association to stir up conflict. The caravan entered the passage while Roni ordered his superiors to prepare to arrest them if they returned.

• Li Lin immobilized Roni with magic, threatened him with fire, and demanded that he show proper respect.
• Li Lin gave Roni the choice of letting the caravan pass into the Black Road or dying; Roni and his soldiers stood aside.
• The caravan entered the Black Road, and Li Lin warned Roni that the Mages' Association would retaliate if anything happened to him.
• Roni ordered a report to the National Council and told the soldiers to prepare to arrest the caravan if it emerged from the passage.
• Angela overheard Roni's orders, and Li Lin summoned the disguised lich through his ring and said he had a task for him.

Li Lin led the caravan along the Black Road while reassuring the merchant and teaching Fina to accept her new life as a vampire. When Mina reported that Angela had vanished inside a glowing, plant-filled cave, Li Lin went to search for her and left the sisters to guard the caravan.

• The fat merchant worried that the Dark Elves would betray the caravan, and Li Lin warned him not to call them “it.”
• Li Lin said Nia’s lack of contact meant she was probably safe, while the mercenaries’ tales of his and Angela’s past battles made the caravan respect them and fear Angela.
• Fina grew sad remembering her life at the Temple, and Li Lin urged her to decide whether she could accept being a vampire and follow Angela’s orders.
• Mina reported that Angela had disappeared after entering a glowing cave filled with plants, and Li Lin set out to find her while ordering Mina and Fina to protect the caravan.

Li Lin found Angela in the Underdark, and the two left the cave after a private encounter. Meanwhile, the Knights Templar gathered Xiernas’s villagers in the church, where their holy light triggered a violent reaction and Hanmo fled with a stone he claimed held the child of the saintess and himself.

• Li Lin followed his spiritual connection to Angela and found her in the cave Mina had mentioned.
• Angela denied being lost, but Li Lin teased her before they eventually left to return to the caravan.
• The Knights Templar arrived in Xiernas and ordered Pete to gather the villagers in the church for a blessing against evil.
• As the holy light filled the church, the villagers suffered from the effects of Angela’s dark aura and Nia’s light-aversion spell.
• Hanmo burst into the church, accused the knights of evil, and escaped with a stone he said contained the child of the saintess and himself.
• The knight commander ordered the villagers killed, beginning by beheading a child who begged him for help.

Li Lin and the caravan reached the ruined Kasos City, where the dark elves treated him with wary respect and sheltered the humans. Nia returned and reported that Maya had been injured but their mission had succeeded, prompting Li Lin to go see her.

• The caravan arrived at Kasos City and the mercenaries and merchant saw the devastated dark elf city for the first time.
• A male dark elf welcomed Li Lin and said Maya had gone to Lebijiales City and ordered the dark elves to protect the humans.
• Dark Maiden priestesses guided the caravan to safe lodgings, and Li Lin warned the humans not to wander around the city.
• Nia returned and told Li Lin that Maya had been injured and taken to the Temple for treatment, but their goal had been achieved.
• Li Lin stood up and said he would go see Maya.

Li Lin learned that the Dark Elves had agreed to lease the Black Road to the Kingdom of Kudel in exchange for gold and human slaves. He persuaded Maya to keep the agreement open and consider making concessions, then revealed a plan that astonished her.

• Maya explained that she had defeated the Dark Elf matriarchs’ plot and uncovered their agreement with the Kingdom of Kudel.
• Maya told Li Lin that Kudel planned to lease the Black Road for five months, while the Dark Elves intended to ambush the human force and capture slaves.
• Li Lin asked whether Maya could keep the agreement in place and make concessions, despite the Dark Elves’ plans having changed.
• Li Lin argued that the Dark Elves could benefit from ending their isolation underground and said the Elf Goddess lifting their curse could make the surface accessible.
• Li Lin shared his plan with Maya, who called it dangerous but potentially beneficial for the Dark Elves.

Li Lin resolved to recruit the Duergar while Maya challenged the idea of allying with kin who had once betrayed the Dark Elves. He reassured her that they would fight the Five-Nation Alliance as his subordinates, then prepared to visit other Dark Elf cities before traveling with the sisters to meet the Duergar.

• Maya argued that the surface elves had betrayed and condemned the Dark Elves, and questioned whether they could ever trust their former kin.
• Angela praised Maya, and Li Lin explained that he cared about defeating the Five-Nation Alliance rather than judging the old feud between the elves and Dark Elves.
• Maya accepted Li Lin's reasoning and agreed to help, while Li Lin requested twenty elite Dark Elf warriors without priestesses.
• Li Lin told Angela to stay with Maya and keep the Dark Elves in line, authorizing her to deal with anyone disobedient.
• Li Lin refused Angela's offer to help recruit the Duergar and said he would take the sisters with him instead of Sister Nia.

Li Lin prepared to travel to negotiate with the Duergar, choosing Mina and Fina to accompany him while Angela and Nia stayed behind. Before leaving, he told the frightened caravan merchants to trade with the Dark Elves and rely on Angela or Nia if trouble arose.

• Li Lin decided to bring Mina and Fina to help communicate with the Duergar, while Angela warned the sisters to behave and Nia remained absorbed in the library.
• Li Lin surveyed the recovering Kasos City and learned from Maya that the male Dark Elves' attempt to seize power had failed.
• Li Lin told the fat merchant he would leave for a few days and reassured him that the Dark Elves would not harm the caravan if treated respectfully.
• Li Lin warned the merchant that Angela and Nia would remain in the city, but seeking Nia's help while she read could be deadly.
• Li Lin told the merchant to receive the Dark Elves who would soon come to do business, leaving the merchant and mercenaries anxious as he departed.

Li Lin traveled with Fina, Mina, a disguised little thief, and Dark Elf guards toward the Duergar city, learning that the Duergar had gone underground after rejecting a woman chosen as their dwarf king because she could not drink. As the group neared the city, Li Lin detected four humans hiding in a distant passage, but their presence vanished before the others could find them.

• Li Lin learned that the Duergar had left the surface because they opposed the gnomes’ choice of a king who could not drink, and that the Dark Elves later enslaved them.
• Li Lin agreed to take the little thief to the Duergar city after requiring him to disguise himself as a Dark Elf.
• Fina told Li Lin she and the others usually attended to Angela, while Mina interrupted them after hearing a voice in the passage.
• Mina and the Dark Elf guards searched for the sound but detected nothing, and Li Lin urged the party to continue toward the Duergar city.
• Li Lin’s magic detected four humans in a distant passage, but their presence disappeared as the party moved on.

Li Lin arrived at the City of Ten Thousand Stones with a group of dark elves and killed Cardiff after the warrior threatened him at the gate. A dark elf leader welcomed him and offered to host him, while unseen figures in the tunnels considered asking him for help.

• Li Lin used magic to detect people in nearby tunnels before his party reached the City of Ten Thousand Stones, where dark elves and gray dwarves shared power.
• Two gray dwarf guards let Li Lin's party enter after seeing the dark elf warriors bow to him, but Cardiff shot an arrow at Li Lin and ordered him to stop.
• Li Lin blasted Cardiff with magic and walked into the city, while hidden watchers discussed whether the powerful human might help them achieve their goal.
• News of Cardiff's death spread among the city's human merchants and mercenaries, but the dark elves did not arrest Li Lin.
• A dark elf leader in silken robes greeted Li Lin as an Arcane Mage, apologized for Cardiff, and invited him to bathe, eat, or join her for afternoon tea.

Li Lin brought Fina and Mina to the City of Ten Thousand Stones, where a Dark Elf priestess welcomed them and explained her changed view of humans. After warning the sisters that the priestess’s respect might signal a dangerous rival, Li Lin began testing their combat skills, and Mina’s blade and Fina’s magic appeared to strike him directly.

• The Dark Elf priestess led Li Lin and his companions through the City of Ten Thousand Stones to a prepared residence and arranged a meeting with the local Duergar leader for the next day.
• The priestess told Li Lin that humans had courage, talent, and wisdom, and said her time among them had changed her outlook.
• Fina saw the priestess’s attitude as a hopeful sign, but Mina warned that praise from an enemy could mean they understood their opponent’s strengths.
• Li Lin agreed that the priestess might be dangerous, then enclosed himself and the sisters in a barrier and asked them to demonstrate their Vampire Species abilities.
• Mina damaged Li Lin’s shield with a swift sword strike, while Fina weakened it with magic so Mina could break through.
• Mina’s blade pierced Li Lin’s defense and body, and Fina’s Magic Missiles struck him as well.

Li Lin trained Mina and Fina in combat, exposing their weaknesses against a mage and warning Fina to prioritize defense. After leaving the sisters to rest, he wandered through the City of Ten Thousand Stones with the disguised little thief and was stopped by a cloaked man asking for his help.

• Mina and Fina struck Li Lin with a coordinated attack, but he revealed that he had used an illusion and swiftly defeated them.
• Li Lin restrained Mina and knocked Fina down, then criticized their defenses and explained how they should fight mages.
• Li Lin praised Mina’s swordsmanship but advised her to improve her equipment, while Fina acknowledged her mistake.
• Mina and Fina left to rest, and Li Lin reflected that both sisters needed more practical combat experience.
• Li Lin took the disguised little thief with him as he walked through the City of Ten Thousand Stones.
• A cloaked man carrying a longsword stopped Li Lin and asked him to help with some matters, and the little thief recognized him.

Nia investigated the Dark Elves’ historical records and found a possible clue related to restoring Li Lin’s power, while Angela offered to help. In the City of Ten Thousand Stones, Li Lin questioned a veiled man who wanted help crossing the Black Road to Lalia, then ended the conversation without hearing his offer.

• Nia searched the Dark Elves’ records, found useful information in older histories, and continued consulting books to verify her suspicions.
• Angela complained that the Dark Elves were behaving too carefully, then volunteered to help Nia investigate a possible Seven Ring Spirit Envoy.
• Li Lin questioned a veiled man who asked for help crossing the Black Road to Lalia and offered a generous reward.
• Li Lin asked how the man had entered the Black Road, since Kudel had restricted access to approved merchant groups.
• Li Lin noticed the disguised Dark Elf beside him reacting angrily, then left before the man could explain his offer.