Chapter Summaries

Nether and the other Natural Federation leaders reacted to a Federation meeting called by the Great World Tree after Richard arrived. The chapter ended with Nether confronting the Great World Tree and Richard outside the conference hall.

• Nether learned that the Great World Tree had convened a Federation meeting and questioned what he was planning.
• Yuka reported attacks on the Gloomhaven settlement, and Nether explained that the Mechanical Race and Tide Spirit Race were using public opinion to signal their opposition to renewed war.
• Nether told Yuka that the Federation had to endure because its member races could not survive without it, though war could still serve their interests.
• Mech Head and a Tide Spirit Race member suspected Nether was preparing for another war and speculated that the meeting was connected to his recent visit to the Great World Tree.
• The Great World Tree told Richard that he was the meeting’s main subject, and Nether arrived and challenged him over calling someone a stubborn mule.

Richard attended the Natural Federation conference with the Great World Tree and warned the five races that the Civilization Devourer was destroying the Wizard Alliance’s enemies and growing stronger through war. Netherworld challenged the proposal to stop fighting the Curse Demon Empire and demanded something tangible in return for the federation’s cooperation.

• Richard escaped Netherworld’s Gloomhaven Kingdom and confirmed that he was an Alchemist Wizard from the Wizard Civilization.
• The chieftains of the Winged Human, Mechanical, and Xi Ling races arrived, and the Great World Tree brought them and Richard into the Council Hall.
• The Great World Tree told the assembled chieftains that the Civilization Devourer had destroyed the previous generation of civilizations and could grow stronger by consuming worlds through war.
• Richard confirmed the threat and explained that the Spirit Desert Civilization, despite having six Dominators and the Wizard Alliance’s help, was steadily losing territory.
• The Great World Tree proposed ceasing the war with the Curse Demon Empire, but Netherworld argued that the federation could not control whether the demons attacked and implied that he wanted a concrete concession.

Richard’s efforts to mediate between the Natural Federation and the Curse Demon Empire stalled when Netherworld left the council, but the meeting revealed that relics from the previous civilization might be activating. At the Mechanical Race’s mother world, the Mechanical Race chief told Richard that Netherworld had hidden an artifact excavated from an ancient relic site.

• Netherworld rejected Richard’s mediation efforts and left the council, after which the Tide Spirit Race chief warned that their agreement depended on settling the dispute.
• The Great World Tree told the council that relic items from the previous civilization were becoming active, and Richard offered to inspect the Mechanical Race for corruption.
• Richard considered restoring two Dominator souls and sensed an approaching Dominator in the mist.
• Richard traveled with the Mechanical Race chief to the Mechanical Race’s mother world and agreed to help inspect its people during the Great Mechanical Festival.
• The Mechanical Race chief sealed his workshop with a dimensional barrier and told Richard that Netherworld had hidden something from a previous-civilization relic site in the Gloomhaven Tribe’s mother world.

Richard learned that Netherworld was secretly extracting power from a strange sealed creature, while the creature’s recent activity had increased. When Richard’s contamination-detecting puppets found widespread infection during the Great Mechanical Festival, he realized someone was deliberately spreading it.

• The Mechanical Race chief told Richard that Netherworld had a mysterious relic guarded by Wraith and was rushing to restart the war.
• Netherworld suppressed the sealed creature’s outbreak in the church and warned Wraith to report changes after learning the creature had become more active.
• Richard and the Mechanical Race chief exchanged knowledge until the Great Mechanical Festival began on the Mechanical Race’s mother world.
• Richard activated his Alchemy Puppets to search for Civilization Devourer contamination as the Mechanical Race chief sealed the world with Astral Battleships.
• The puppets detected a growing number of contaminated beings, and Richard saw that the celebrating crowds were twisting and shedding components.
• Richard realized that someone was deliberately spreading the contamination.

Richard used a virtual dimension to screen the Mechanical Race for corruption, then purified those infected with Miracle Fire, saving some but killing several million. The Mechanical Race chief investigated the survivors’ memories and discovered that Xi Ling was connected to the corruption.

• Richard created a virtual dimension and used tens of millions of Alchemy Puppets to screen the Mechanical Race in three rounds, while the Mechanical Race chief calmed the crowd.
• Richard gathered the corrupted Mechanical Race members in the dimension and used Miracle Fire to expose and burn away the corruption.
• Several million Mechanical Race members died from severe corruption, while those with milder cases survived purification.
• The Mechanical Race chief examined the survivors’ memories and was horrified to find that Xi Ling was involved.

Richard investigated signs of contamination within the Natural Federation and suspected that the Mechanical Race might be manipulating the evidence against the Tide Spirit Race and Gloomhaven Tribe. He sent Ulysses, concealed by a powerful robe, to investigate the Xi Ling Merchant Guild without alerting whoever was behind the plot.

• Mech told Richard that several Mechanical Race members had contacted a Xi Ling Merchant Guild, but he believed the Tide Spirit Race had been framed.
• Richard asked the Mechanical Race chieftain to keep the discovery secret, then returned to the Tree Spirit Mother World and explained his suspicions to the Great World Tree.
• Richard argued that the Mechanical Race might be diverting suspicion and predicted that investigating the merchant guild could reveal Gloomhaven involvement.
• Richard summoned Ulysses through a Spatial Rift and used his Miracle Codex and Dimensional Power to make him a robe that concealed his presence.
• Richard briefed Ulysses and sent him to investigate, promising he could intervene if Ulysses was discovered.

Richard investigated the Xi Ling Merchant Guild’s presence in Federal World Three and discovered that Furnace People had taken over Tide Spirit cities and were spreading corruption through an Earth Vein Node. After destroying one city and finding a Cross-world Communicator, he learned that the takeover had happened within days, suggesting someone was using his investigation as part of a conspiracy.

• Richard traveled with Moore to Federal World Three and sent him into the sea to contact the Tide Spirits.
• Furnace People attacked Moore on the seabed, and Richard restrained them and found their corrupted city built over an Earth Vein Node.
• Richard seized a Cross-world Communicator from the city and destroyed the city with Miracle Fire before heading to other undersea cities.
• Richard brought the communicator to the Great World Tree, who said it could crack the device and identify coordinates within three days.
• Richard learned from Ulysses that the cities had still belonged to the Tide Spirits a few days earlier, and suspected someone was manipulating his investigation.

Richard and the Great World Tree uncovered a plot involving the Gloomhaven Tribe Mother World and a network linked to the Civilization Devourer, then prepared to expose the evidence at a second Federal Conference. The chapter ended with the Great World Tree confronting Netherworld about why the mother world's coordinates appeared in the minions' communicators.

• The Great World Tree deciphered the Cross-world Communicator and found coordinates pointing to the Gloomhaven Tribe Mother World, while Richard suspected someone was framing the tribe to conceal a different target.
• Richard explained Ulysses's findings and chose to follow the apparent plot while disrupting its intended outcome; the communicator contained twenty-three sets of coordinates.
• Richard spent nearly half a year purging contaminated worlds as Ulysses traced the Xi Ling Merchant Guild to a larger alliance operating across those worlds.
• After the purge, Richard and the Great World Tree arranged a second Federal Conference, while Richard continued editing a Titan's personality and studying souls.
• The Dominators gathered at the Council Hall, where the Great World Tree opened the conference by asking Netherworld why the Gloomhaven Tribe Mother World's coordinates appeared in the minions' communicators.

Richard and the Great World Tree confronted the Dominator of Netherworld over suspected corruption in Gloomhaven Tribe Mother Worlds. Netherworld agreed to let the Great World Tree investigate during the Soul Sacrifice Festival, while Richard suspected the Dominator of Xi Ling might be involved.

• The Great World Tree accused the Dominator of Netherworld of allowing the Civilization Devourer to corrupt Gloomhaven Tribe worlds, and Netherworld denied it as slander.
• The Dominator of Xi Ling condemned Netherworld for blaming him, and the two Dominators clashed until the Great World Tree restrained them.
• Richard urged the Great World Tree and Netherworld to calm down, then offered to help locate the corruption using an avatar while a trusted Dominator investigated.
• The Great World Tree volunteered to inspect Gloomhaven World, and Netherworld agreed on the condition that the visit take place during the Soul Sacrifice Festival.
• After the other Dominators departed, Richard told the Great World Tree that his intuition pointed to Xi Ling, and they resolved to keep searching for a revealing clue.

Ulysses investigated the Flourishing Merchant Guild and uncovered a network of basic businesses spanning all five races, while Richard and the Great World Tree entered the Gloomhaven Tribe Mother World to investigate suspected pollution. Richard recognized Ulysses’s array clues, destroyed a key node, and approached Netherworld’s church just as a vast array activated beneath it.

• Ulysses reported to Richard that Flourishing had spread across all five races through basic businesses, while its managers remained relatively weak and its purpose was unclear.
• Richard warned Ulysses that a Dominator might have defected and said he would enter the Gloomhaven Tribe Mother World as the Federation conference proceeded.
• Richard and the Great World Tree arrived in the Gloomhaven Tribe Mother World for the Soul Sacrifice Festival, and Netherworld invited them to inspect the suspected pollution.
• Ulysses found Gloomhaven Tribe members installing devices he suspected were array bases, then followed them out of the world on a merchant caravan transport train.
• Richard recognized the devices as components of an artificial domain, destroyed one array node, and flew toward Netherworld’s church on the Ash Plain.
• The Wraith Dominator tried to stop Richard from entering the church, but Richard pressed on as Netherworld approached and the array activated beneath the church.

Richard arrived in Gloomhaven World and confronted Netherworld over the corruption spreading beneath the church, while the Great World Tree challenged Netherworld’s attempt to hide his affairs. Wraith emerged from the ruined church, corrupted and claiming he had taken control of something, leaving Netherworld under the Great World Tree’s accusation.

• The Great World Tree blocked Netherworld and demanded to know what he had hidden as Netherworld tried to reach the church.
• Netherworld used Gloomhaven Space to trap the Great World Tree, but Richard arrived through a Dimensional Gate and resisted Netherworld’s spatial attack.
• Netherworld revealed that he had broken the limits of physique and ordered Richard to leave or face death.
• The Great World Tree broke through Netherworld’s Gloomhaven Space and forced him back toward the church.
• Wraith burst from the corrupted church in a pitch-black form, declared that he had controlled someone and broken a restriction, and drew the Great World Tree’s attention.

Richard reported that the Gloomhaven Tribe had been contaminated by the Civilization Devourer, and the Great World Tree took Netherworld, Wraith, and Specter into the Endless Dimensions. As the Federation prepared to capture the corrupted Dominators, Ulysses watched a covert plot unfold around a World Tree avatar and told Richard it was time to close the net.

• Netherworld fought the parasitized Wraith, while Richard warned that the Civilization Devourer's contamination might require destroying Gloomhaven World.
• The Great World Tree judged that the Gloomhaven Tribe had been contaminated, drew Netherworld into an illusion, and took him, Wraith, and Specter into the Endless Dimensions.
• Richard told the Federation's leaders that Netherworld and Wraith could still be purified, then led them through a rift to support the Great World Tree and capture the two Dominators.
• Mechanical and Tide Spirit forces attacked Gloomhaven territory as riots spread across the Federal World.
• Ulysses watched people secretly attach devices to a World Tree avatar and told Richard it was time to close the net.

The Great World Tree and Richard’s allies fought the Dominators of Wraith and Netherworld while keeping up a performance for their hidden plan. After Ulysses signaled it was time to act, the Dominator of Xi Ling revealed his allegiance to the Civilization Devourer and struck the Winged Humanoid Dominator, while a chained figure attacked the Mechanical Dominator from behind.

• The Great World Tree held off Wraith and Netherworld until Richard, the Mechanical Dominator, the Dominator of Xi Ling, and the Winged Humanoid Dominator arrived.
• The Great World Tree transformed his domain into a spear and blasted Wraith apart, while Wraith regenerated and charged back into battle.
• Richard and the other three Dominators attacked Netherworld, who revealed that he had opened Gloomhaven Space within his body to absorb and return their attacks.
• Ulysses told Richard that it was time to draw in the net, and Richard passed the message to the Great World Tree, who pretended to be sent flying and accused someone of corrupting his avatar.
• The Dominator of Xi Ling attacked the Winged Humanoid Dominator and admitted that he had joined the Civilization Devourer to bring about eternal peace by merging everyone into one collective.
• As Richard and the Mechanical Dominator prepared to fight the Dominator of Xi Ling, a black figure wrapped in chains struck the Mechanical Dominator from behind.

Richard exposed the Mechanical Dominator’s role in the contamination, while the Dominator of Netherworld revealed that he and the Great World Tree had staged a trap to draw out their enemies. The Mechanical Dominator and the Dominator of Xi Ling became Limit-Breaking Dominators, and Richard struck the Mechanical Dominator with Shanhai as the battle began.

• Richard explained that the Mechanical Race could spread Curse Memes and that his people had seen them placing contaminants near a World Tree offshoot.
• The Dominator of Netherworld attacked the Dominator of Xi Ling and revealed that he had only pretended to be corrupted.
• The Great World Tree’s earlier conversation with the Dominator of Netherworld showed that they had planned to use Wraith as bait and expose the culprits at a Federation meeting.
• The Mechanical Dominator and the Dominator of Xi Ling broke their limits, while Ulysses reported that the octopus-men and robots had become Furnace People and Titans.
• Richard sent Shanhai crashing through the Mechanical Dominator’s mechanical domain and mocked his strength.

Richard battled the Mechanical Dominator, who submitted to the Civilization Devourer and gained a terrifying new form and weapon. After a barrage of Small Dimensional Annihilation Cannons, Richard remained standing, though battered and broken.

• Richard used Shanhai’s chains and intertwined laws to destroy the Mechanical Dominator’s Mechanical Kingdom and crack his Soul Chip.
• The Mechanical Dominator accepted the Civilization Devourer’s vast will, restoring his Soul Chip and transforming into a Titan-like figure.
• The transformed Mechanical Dominator struck Richard with an imitation Dimensional Annihilation Cannon, damaging Shanhai, but Richard repaired it with Dimensional Power.
• The Mechanical Dominator unleashed a saturation barrage of Small Dimensional Annihilation Cannons, alarming the Great World Tree and the Dominator of Netherworld.
• The barrage faded to reveal Richard still alive, standing battered and emaciated at its center.

Richard survived the Mechanical Dominator’s attack and defeated the Civilization Devourer’s Dominator avatars, though Xi Ling died and Wraith was left contaminated. After the alliance began purging contaminated worlds, Richard purified Wraith and gave him a powerful new body, then reminded him that the Gloomhaven Tribe had become part of the Wizard Alliance.

• Richard restored Shanhai, trapped the Mechanical Dominator in the combined gravity of four black holes, and forced the Mechanical Dominator, Xi Ling, and Wraith to self-destruct.
• The Great World Tree saved Wraith’s soul, but Netherworld failed to protect Xi Ling’s soul from the blast.
• Richard warned Netherworld and the Great World Tree that contamination remained in the Mechanical Race’s, Tide Spirit Race’s, and Federal worlds, so they left to help purge it while Richard purified Wraith.
• Richard spent a year cleansing Wraith’s soul with the Miracle Fire, then explained that Mechanical and Mechanical had been the traitors and that Xi Ling had likely been contaminated.
• Richard gave Wraith a powerful body made from Gloomhaven Tribe flesh and blood, and Wraith thanked him before Richard said the tribe now consisted of Wizard Alliance councilors.

Wraith returned to the Natural Federation after a year of purification and learned how joining the Wizard Alliance had transformed its government, society, and research. As he became director of the Natural Federation Research Institute, Richard completed the creation of a Titan soul who addressed him as “My King.”

• Wraith returned to Netherworld, recovered his missing memories, and learned that the Natural Federation had joined the Wizard Alliance and reorganized into shared Federal Worlds.
• Netherworld showed Wraith the Natural Federation's capital and explained that the Great World Tree had rejoined the returning Titans as an Abyss Titan.
• Netherworld took Wraith to the Natural Federation Research Institute, where Alliance members shared technologies and researchers studied projects including the Artificial Corpse Pit and Corpse Blood Stones.
• Netherworld appointed Wraith director of the Natural Federation Research Institute.
• In Miracle Dimension, Richard shaped a soul into a Titan, and the newly formed Titan saluted him and called him “My King.”

Richard stabilized the Titan Soul's new personality as Tyler Peak Anderson and gave him a temporary body while preparing him to rebuild his Dimension. Richard also advanced his Dimensional Thread Weaving research before the Ghost Artisans summoned him to collect his completed hammer.

• Richard named the Titan Soul Tyler Peak Anderson, anchoring his reconstructed personality.
• Tyler Peak entered a temporary Abyss Titan body, and Richard told him to recover his old Dimension or return to the Abyss.
• Richard's growing faction encompassed twelve of the Wizard Alliance's twenty-three Dominators, though he remained uninterested in ruling.
• Richard used Dimensional Thread Weaving to create a dimensional organ in Wraith that generated enormous energy by annihilating elements.
• The Great Elder welcomed Richard to the transformed Elder Village and presented the hammer the Ghost Artisans had forged using their skills and insights from the Miracle Fire.

Richard obtained a hammer forged by the Great Elder, who had simulated a world inside it, and offered a World Seed and Dimensional Threads for further improvements. Equipped with the hammer, Richard began the Titan Trial in the Furnace Dimension against the Dimensional Avatar.

• Richard accepted the Great Elder's hammer and learned that it held a simulated world built from World Annihilation Stone and rules.
• Richard gave the Great Elder an un-sprouted World Seed and Dimensional Threads technology to study and incorporate into the hammer.
• Richard left the Great Ghost World with the hammer, confident that it would help him pass the Titan Trial.
• Richard returned to the Furnace Dimension, where the Dimensional Avatar noted his rapid progress and his approach to breaking his limits.
• Richard and the Dimensional Avatar transformed into Titans, each wielding a hammer forged by Ghost Artisans, and prepared to fight.

Richard fought the Dimensional Avatar, which could wield the techniques of one hundred Star-Herding Titan Dominators. By enduring its attacks and analyzing them, Richard found a way through its defenses and shattered the golden-crystal stone, passing the trial.

• Richard and the Dimensional Avatar clashed in their True Bodies, and Richard learned that the Avatar could use every technique recorded in the Titan Dimension.
• The Dimensional Avatar revealed that Richard could win by shattering the golden-crystal stone in its chest, but blocked Richard’s attempt to strike it.
• In the Furnace Dimension, Richard traded blows with the Avatar and realized he had to study and unravel its techniques rather than focus on attacking.
• As the battle continued for months or years, Richard analyzed the Avatar’s attacks while both combatants repeatedly healed from devastating injuries.
• Richard struck through the Avatar’s defenses, shattered the stone in its chest, and saw one hundred figures bow to him as their king.