Chapter Summaries

A Morik Shield agent captured Crawly after the Fire Lizards’ attempt to flee the Morik Empire ended in bloodshed. Azuhan and Akara prepared a major counterattack against the Black Wizards as Richard and Bob learned that it was imminent.

• A group of Fire Lizards fleeing heavy taxes tried to cross the Ash Mountains into Wizard-controlled territory, but a Morik Shield agent intercepted them and killed or scattered the civilians.
• The agent found Crawly beside his dying mother, knocked him unconscious, and carried him away for others to care for.
• At Morik Shield headquarters, Akara and Azuhan discussed rising border crossings and the need to protect intelligence as their counterattack plans neared execution.
• Azuhan told Akara that Linksa would cooperate with the operation, while Minal remained hesitant, and Akara volunteered to lead the effort against the Black Wizards.
• Richard learned from Bob that the Black Wizards had suffered major losses in Morik and Linksa, and they concluded that the Fire Lizards’ counterattack was about to begin.

Richard was urgently conscripted to support the White Wizard Legion’s Spell Support Vehicles as the Fire Lizards launched a fierce counteroffensive. When the Fire Lizards used elemental storms to weaken fortress barriers, an Old Wizard ordered Elemental Golems prepared to counter the tactic.

• Richard received an emergency conscription notice and set out to test the Chainsaw Sword he had designed.
• Richard met Damir and Iyad, learned that their squad now operated Spell Support Vehicles, and was assigned to repair damaged vehicles during missions.
• The Fire Lizards attacked wizard fortresses across the front, using Dragon Breath Cannons and concentrated spellfire to intensify Fire Element storms.
• An Old Wizard recognized that the Fire Lizards were using the storms to drain fortress barriers and ordered Elemental Golems deployed.

The White Wizards used elemental puppets to weaken the storm, but the Fire Lizards pressed their assault with modified Dragon Turtles and overwhelming numbers. Richard’s support convoy remained in the rear until the Command Department ordered it to deploy to breached Position Forty-Three.

• The Alchemist Wizards activated an artificial Flame Giant, and the Command Department sent out stored elemental puppets to absorb the Fire Elements and weaken the storm.
• The Fire Lizard commander ordered his forces to continue attacking, insisting that their numbers and warriors could break the defensive line despite the storm’s loss.
• Fire Lizards and modified Dragon Turtles advanced through the breached defenses as the White Wizards withdrew toward their rear fortresses.
• The Command Department identified the Dragon Turtles’ enhanced defenses and breath, then ordered Small Disintegration Cannons brought out.
• Richard questioned Damir about following him, but an order arrived directing Support Convoys Number One and Number Two to deploy to Position Forty-Three.

Richard headed to Position Forty-Three as the Fire Lizards launched a major counteroffensive, while the position’s surviving wizards struggled to retreat from a collapsing fortress. The chapter ended as Richard’s arriving fire support contacted a trapped wizard team and told them to keep moving.

• Richard set out with the Number One and Number Two convoys and learned that wizards were purging ordinary Fire Lizards from controlled territory.
• Richard reflected that his unused Puppet Kingdom Plan could have turned Fire Lizard civilians into a source of strength, but doubted he would use it even as a Great Wizard.
• A Dragon Turtle devastated Position Forty-Three, and the White Wizard commander ordered the surviving wizards to retreat after only three hundred and fifty of the six hundred had withdrawn.
• A badly wounded wizard team emerged too late to join the main retreat and found Fire Lizards blocking their route.
• The wizard captain led his team forward as Fire Lizards closed in, then received a Communication Crystal Ball message confirming that Richard’s requested fire support had arrived.

Richard’s Spell Support Vehicle unit devastated pursuing Fire Lizards, earning the Alchemist Wizards’ respect as the war settled into a stalemate. During the lull, Damir sought Richard’s academic sponsorship for his research into concentrating water and fire elements, and Richard recognized a way to improve his Annihilation Bombs.

• Richard’s Spell Support Vehicles launched thirty-six thousand fireballs in thirty seconds, crushing the pursuing Fire Lizards and completing the unit’s first support mission.
• The wizards established a second defensive line as the Fire Lizard offensive stalled, while the Command Department sent Richard’s squad on increasingly dangerous missions because of its success.
• Damir approached Richard to request academic sponsorship for his research.
• Damir showed Richard a metal sphere containing highly concentrated water and fire elements, which could trigger a deadly Annihilation Reaction if its barrier failed.
• Richard revealed his Annihilation Bomb and agreed to discuss Damir’s concentration method after the war, considering whether it could increase the bomb’s power.

Richard’s convoy reached Position Nineteen as the Fire Lizard Kings and the Great Wizards prepared to enter the war. When a divine phantom appeared before the position, Richard and Ulysses faced the immediate threat of the kings’ arrival.

• Richard agreed to meet Alchemy Master Damir after the war, then received orders to take his convoy to Position Nineteen.
• Ulysses told Richard that the darkened sky was artificial and signaled that the Fire Lizard Kings and Great Wizards were about to enter the war.
• The battlefield commander strengthened vigilance after learning from Black Wizards that the Fire Lizards planned to attack Position Nineteen, while Ulysses reported that enemy units were gathering nearby.
• Richard realized the wizards could be outnumbered by the three Fire Lizard Kings, and two Fifth-level kings appeared on the horizon.
• Great Wizard Clear Frost and Great Wizard Hellfire appeared to face the kings, and Ulysses urged Richard to hide as a divine phantom appeared before Position Nineteen.

Morik unleashed his power against the Wizards, but the Floating City’s main cannon and the Great Wizards’ coordinated spells forced him to respond to their attacks. As Hellfire’s green-fire chains vanished and Morik appeared before him, the wizard mocked the Fire Lizard King.

• Morik absorbed mana from the surrounding area, grew to twenty meters, and intimidated the Wizards and Fire Lizards with his Dragon Might.
• Richard escaped Morik’s pressure with help from his Courage Badge, but Morik’s punch was diverted by a blast from the Floating City’s main cannon.
• Morik recognized the cannon as a weapon reminiscent of divine relics and prepared to attack the Wizards again.
• Great Wizard Hellfire used a ram-skull Staff to channel another cannon blast at Morik while Great Wizard Clear Frost and Minal prepared to engage.
• Minal attacked Clear Frost, who sacrificed an avatar to delay him, while Hellfire summoned green-fire chains that wrapped around Morik.
• Morik broke the chains and appeared before Hellfire, who mocked him.

Richard and Ulysses watched the Fire Lizard King Morik get swallowed by a Spatial Rift, while the Fire Lizards continued their assault on the wizards’ defenses. As Great Wizard Hellfire fought Morik and Linksa and Great Wizard Clear Frost stalled Minal, the decisive clashes between the powerful fighters remained unresolved.

• Richard closed the Secret Realm Rift after Morik disappeared, and Ulysses warned him not to underestimate Great Wizard Hellfire’s command of spatial laws.
• A golden-armored Fire Lizard told the commander that the force of Morik’s interrupted punch had killed some wizards, so the commander ordered the troops to attack under their contingency plan.
• Wizard crews fired 54,000 fireballs from three Spell Support Vehicle convoys at the Fire Lizard vanguard, and the battlefield commander ordered Small Disintegration Cannons aimed at the approaching Dragon Turtles.
• Great Wizard Hellfire fought Morik and Linksa, blocked Linksa’s golden dragon breath, and forced the two Fire Lizard Kings to reveal their combined technique.
• Morik and Linksa fused through Dragon Alchemy, raising Morik’s strength enough to threaten Great Wizard Hellfire, then charged him together.
• Great Wizard Clear Frost evaded Minal’s attacks, but Minal refused to stop fighting and vowed to kill him quickly before going to help his big brother.

Richard fought Fire Lizards while Ulysses explained why level six marked the end of many power paths, until Heavenly Cry announced that a World Lord was about to die. Great Wizard Hellfire defeated Morik and Linksa’s fused form, but Linksa revealed he had kept a God’s Weapon as the winter sun set.

• Richard repaired weapons on the front lines in exchange for permanent land in Crimson Sun World, and Ulysses said Great Wizard Hellfire had gained the upper hand against the Fire Lizard King.
• Ulysses explained that level six was often the end of a path and that greater powerhouses needed extraordinary talent, diligence, and luck.
• Richard and Ulysses encountered two Imperial Dragon Warriors, whom Ulysses killed before eating their brains.
• Heavenly Cry swept across Crimson Sun World, and Ulysses said a World Lord was about to die as Great Wizard Clear Frost began to laugh.
• Great Wizard Hellfire defeated Morik’s fused form, and Morik and Linksa separated and acknowledged their loss.
• Linksa told Morik he had secretly kept one of God’s Weapons, then vanished into its radiance as the winter sun set.

Great Wizard Hellfire survived the Crystal Tower’s attack but suffered severe injuries, while Linksa fell and Morik was trapped. The wizards moved to conquer the Linksa Empire as Minal waited for a chance to counterattack, and Richard prepared to enter the conflict without Ulysses, who had gone into slumber.

• The Crystal Tower destroyed Great Wizard Hellfire’s body, but he survived and trapped Morik with a Scroll of Truth before escaping with Great Wizard Clear Frost.
• Great Wizard Hellfire ordered Great Wizard Clear Frost to occupy the Linksa Empire while he recovered, and Minal withdrew to his capital after the Floating City Main Cannon forced him to retreat.
• Minal planned to take over the Morik Empire and summoned Harash, Azuhan, and Akara, while he waited for Hellfire’s aura to fade before launching a counterattack.
• The wizards brought a second Floating City to the Linksa Empire, where fleeing nobles and disorderly troops left Balashar unable to protect more than a few provinces.
• Ulysses told Richard he would enter slumber for about ten years, warned him that Great Wizard Hellfire was setting up Minal, and asked him to save Fire Lizard heads.
• Richard placed Ulysses in his nest, instructed a Sacred Tree Elf to care for him, and flew toward the battlefield.

Richard cleared a camp of fallen Fire Lizard bandit soldiers and later reunited with Iyad in a wizard city. Iyad told Richard that the Command Department planned to attack Luxor Province and invited him to join the campaign for a share of the spoils.

• Richard killed 109 bandit soldiers in Flag Town while leaving their captive Fire Lizards unharmed.
• Richard found a dead wizard's Magic Pocket among the camp's loot and took its magic crystals and notebooks.
• Ten years after the counteroffensive began, the wizards controlled more than half of the Linksa Empire and had paused their advance to clear bandits and secure mining supplies.
• Richard arrived in a wizard city, browsed its commercial street, and encountered Iyad, whom he had not seen since the supply convoy.
• Iyad invited Richard to dine with him and proposed that they work together to profit from the Command Department's planned attack on Luxor Province.

Richard cooperated with Iyad, then discovered Victor Roos’s notes on a potion that could temporarily reverse dragonization. He later checked on his secret realm, where Ulysses continued recovering and Richard’s experiment with Blue Flame radiation still showed no progress.

• Iyad explained that the Command Department had assigned him from his White Wizard unit to work with Black Wizards, and he and Richard agreed to cooperate with Richard leading operations and taking sixty percent of any gains.
• Richard examined Victor Roos’s Cipher Notes and extracted the formula for a Dragonization Potion that temporarily granted dragon-blood abilities before returning the user to their original state.
• Richard studied Victor Roos’s research on a Fire Lizard gland that suppressed dragon-blood expression and put the notes away until he could obtain the potion’s ingredients.
• Richard entered his secret realm and observed Ulysses recovering, armored hounds playing with the Sacred Tree Elves, and his clone undergoing Blue Flame radiation experiments.
• Richard found that the clone had developed no resistance after decades of exposure and told the World Mushroom to weaken the radiation.

Richard realized the wizards' campaign against Luxor was likely a trap meant to draw out Minal, while Minal also prepared a counterattack after sensing Great Wizard Hellfire weaken. As danger approached, Richard revealed he could shelter inside a Secret Realm Fragment.

• Richard suspected the White Wizards had a way to fight a Lord of the World and asked Iyad whether their ten-thousand-man groups could use it.
• Minal sensed Great Wizard Hellfire's aura nearly vanish and ordered Maihan and Harash to mobilize for a counterattack.
• Harash suspected the wizards were baiting Minal and decided to use a backup plan, accepting responsibility if his disobedience went wrong.
• Richard concluded that the wizard operation was dangerous and that the reassigned White Wizards were meant to survive as the legion's future core.
• A terrifying pressure swept toward the gathered Black Wizards, and Richard revealed a Secret Realm Fragment where he could take shelter.

Richard hid in his secret realm and watched the battle through an Armored Hound as Minal attacked the White Wizard Legion. Great Wizard Clear Frost and Great Wizard Hellfire trapped and sealed Minal, leaving the Crimson Sun World open to conquest.

• Richard praised his Secret Realm Fragment, fled with the White Wizards, and hid inside it while using the Armored Hound to observe the coming fight.
• Minal confronted Great Wizard Clear Frost, then bypassed him to attack the retreating White Wizard Legion.
• The White Wizard Legion activated its Mind Network and mana shield, while Great Wizard Clear Frost used a Legion Magic Array to reach pseudo-Fifth Ring strength.
• Great Wizard Hellfire appeared behind Minal, and Minal devoured World Force to raise his strength as the two Great Wizards confronted him.
• Minal mistook Great Wizard Hellfire's illusion for the real one and hurled his light spear away, then Great Wizard Clear Frost struck him with the Icefire Spear and sealed him in an ice mountain for fifty years.

Great Wizard Clear Frost’s White Wizard Legion overwhelmed Luxor, and Balashar died as the Linksa Empire fell. Richard entered the Dragon Beast Breeding Base and found an old Fire Lizard preserving its research, which revealed the Fire Lizards’ name for themselves: the Free Ones.

• Great Wizard Clear Frost led the White Wizard Legion through Luxor Province, freezing cities and breaking the Fire Lizards’ resistance.
• Balashar disbanded the Dragon Beast Knight Order, urged its commander to kill Fire Lizards rather than gather and fight, then killed himself as the Linksa Empire fell.
• Richard reached the Dragon Beast Breeding Base and found its Fire Lizard inhabitants dead by suicide, along with a surviving elderly researcher.
• Richard questioned the old Fire Lizard, who explained that he was preserving the breeding research because it represented his life’s work and could record the Fire Lizards’ existence.
• The old Fire Lizard told Richard that the Fire Lizards called themselves the Free Ones.

Richard escaped the Dragon Beast Breeding Base with the old Fire Lizard’s research and a Dragon Alchemy Chip before magma buried the facility. In his secret realm, he studied Dragon Beast breeding and realized Fire Lizard blood might let him use the technology with his own forces.

• The old Fire Lizard gave Richard his research, refused his offer of employment, and died by his own scimitar.
• Richard found a surviving Dragon Alchemy Chip, extracted Half-elemental Creature Flesh Conversion Technology, and escaped as magma buried the base.
• Richard declined to loot Luxor, entered his secret realm, and began studying the old Fire Lizard’s materials.
• Mephisto and the Flame Wizard arrived too late to reach the destroyed breeding base, then flew toward Luxor.
• Richard learned that Dragon Beasts were stable Chimeras with specialized breeding traits and that Fire Lizard blood bonded them to their rider.
• Richard recalled that Fire Lizard blood was an ingredient in the Dragonization Potion and considered how it could help him breed Dragon Beasts.

After the Wizards conquered the Linksa Empire, Richard considered raising Fire Lizards in his Secret Realm while the Fire Lizard leaders prepared to resist the Wizards through scattered units. Azuhan returned to pregnant Akara and learned that the teams he had sent out had come back.

• More than two hundred years after the World Mushroom took root, Richard saw that it had expanded his Secret Realm to roughly one square kilometer and decided he could raise Fire Lizards there.
• Richard returned to Luxor and found that the Wizards had looted the city and branded most of its Fire Lizards as slaves.
• Harash, Maihan, and Azuhan met to plan for the Wizards' advance, and the generals approved Azuhan's proposal to scatter their forces across the empire, even if some turned to banditry.
• Harash told Azuhan that the plan was necessary but humiliating, then urged him to spend more time with pregnant Akara because their child was the future.
• Azuhan visited Akara at her residence, and she told him that the teams he had sent out had returned and were waiting in the reception hall.

Azuhan received a map proving that the Fire Lizard expedition had found islands and dragon skeletons in the Lava Sea, then rewarded the returning explorers. As the Fire Lizards scattered into small units to fight the wizards, Richard and Vladimir considered how the new strategy would affect the war.

• Azuhan welcomed the tenth Lava Sea exploration team and studied its map of sea routes and islands, which included evidence of dragons.
• Azuhan gave the explorers bags of gold and told them that Akara was pregnant; the team then parted, and Logar returned home to Crawly, who said Master Haye had nothing left to teach him.
• Logar realized that Crawly might be an alchemy genius, then wept over a family portrait and mourned Mishaen.
• Azuhan ordered the United Empire's Fire Lizard army to divide into teams of twenty and attack the wizards independently.
• Richard heard Vladimir explain that the wizards would hunt the scattered teams, and he welcomed the chance to capture Fire Lizard slaves.

Richard asked Vladimir which Crimson Sun World resource suited a new merchant guild, and Vladimir recommended Crimson Sun Gold Pattern Stone despite competition and difficult mining conditions. Vladimir introduced Richard to Gano to discuss acquiring a share, but Gano warned that the remaining veins required extensive slave labor and Alchemy Machinery.

• Richard asked Vladimir about profitable Crimson Sun World minerals, and Vladimir explained that Crimson Sun Gold Pattern Stone could be made into powerful Advanced Alchemical Ink.
• Vladimir told Richard that competing guilds already sought the mineral, then explained that resource officials could receive long-term consultant fees for approving deals.
• Richard asked Vladimir to introduce him to the officials and promised to help Vladimir's student after Vladimir revealed his failing health.
• Vladimir brought Richard to a bar beneath the Floating City, where they met Gano, the Dean's youngest student and a Third-Ring Wizard.
• Richard asked Gano about the remaining Crimson Sun Gold Pattern Stone shares, and Gano warned that the mines required many slaves and Alchemy Machinery.

Richard traded a piece of Mutated Flame Beast flesh to Gano for rights to a remote mine containing fifty thousand tons of Crimson Sun Gold Pattern Stone. After traveling to the mine, he found two Fire Lizards in the cave and approached the young one, whose Dragon Alchemy skill had impressed him.

• Richard showed Gano a piece of Mutated Flame Beast flesh, and Gano granted him the remote Crimson Sun Gold Pattern Stone Mine.
• Richard gave Gano the flesh as a gift, and Gano sealed it with the Deathly Still Ice Mountain Sealing Technique.
• Richard and Vladimir left the bar, and Richard flew to the mine in the western part of the Morik Empire.
• Richard found and replaced an alarm device at the cave entrance, then followed the Fire Lizards' traps through the cave.
• Richard discovered an injured middle-aged Fire Lizard and a young Fire Lizard skilled in Dragon Alchemy, then asked the young one for his name.