Underlord

In Iteration 986, lone Abidan Titan Pariana is ambushed by four Vroshir invaders who seize her defensive formations and slaughter the colonists she was sworn to protect. As she dies, Judge Suriel (the Phoenix) arrives, rewinds the entire world, and single-handedly dismantles the attackers—reclaiming the formations, slicing through their strongest weapons, and banishing the last Vroshir with a word. Suriel restores Pariana and the colony, then departs to aid other besieged worlds, leaving the Titan in awe of the Judge’s transcendent power.

In the wake of Ghostwater's collapse, Akura Charity mourns her grand-nephew Harmony while coldly assessing the Blackflame survivors' unexpected triumph, choosing not to destroy them but to apply pressure instead. Meanwhile, Lindon and his companions crash-land their depleted cloudship near a town, only to be immediately surrounded by Skysworn led by Underlord Naru Gwei, who demands their surrender for Renfei's death and Bai Rou's assault. When Gwei's wind-binding forces them to the ground, Lindon refuses to submit to another imprisonment, shattering the technique and striking a Truegold, igniting open conflict.

In Chapter 2, Lindon and his companions face off against Naru Gwei’s Skysworn squad. Thanks to Dross’s mental assistance and his Ghostwater-enhanced body, Lindon moves with unprecedented speed and precision, quickly subduing three Truegolds and four Highgolds without fatalities. When Naru Gwei himself descends, the fight ends in a tense stalemate; the Underlord agrees to investigate the surrounding incidents rather than arrest them. Aboard the Skysworn cloudship, Lindon shares a vial of rare elixir with Yerin in private, reaffirming their mutual determination to advance while the weight of recent power shifts—and unspoken tensions—settle between them.

In the Imperial palace, Emperor Naru Huan receives the Akura Sage, Akura Charity, who announces that the Blackflame Empire and Seishen Kingdom must compete for three Underlord spots in the Uncrowned King Tournament, granting them access to the Night Wheel Valley training ground. Charity reveals her personal interest in Lindon, a young Blackflame disciple, and warns that failure will bring severe consequences. Meanwhile, in Stormrock, Lindon and his companions confront Naru Gwei and Bai Rou over past grievances, only for Eithan to dramatically intervene, swearing an oath to lead them as a Skysworn squad and securing their freedom from the Captain's direct control.

In the Skysworn training facility, Lindon, Yerin, Mercy, and Orthos receive new armor while Eithan announces they must complete missions to fund their advancement to Underlord. Eithan outlines the three steps to Underlord—mastering oneself, weaving soulfire, and achieving a personal revelation—while Yerin receives dream tablets about her Blood Shadow. The team begins taking on missions together, including hunting sewer spirits and criminals, as Eithan privately reflects on their progress and his own limitations in guiding them.

In Chapter 5, Eithan’s team lands on Starsweep Tower to confront Cassias Arelius, who reveals that Eithan forfeited his Patriarch title and demands he resume duties or meet the family elders. Eithan refuses the meeting but agrees to serve as an Underlord in the capital, then hints he has three candidates—including Lindon and Yerin—for the upcoming Uncrowned King tournament. Two months later, the Emperor’s call brings the Empire’s young Truegolds to Blackflame City, where Eithan leads his squad into a sudden pillar of darkness that opens the Night Wheel Valley, a contested Akura territory. The Sage of the Silver Heart publicly announces the valley’s riches and the need for young champions, while rival Seishen Kingdom Underlords, including Prince Kiro and his deadly gardener Meira, prepare to compete against Lindon’s group for the Sage’s favor.

In Chapter 6, Lindon, Yerin, Mercy, Eithan, and Orthos arrive via spatial gate in the Akura family's Night Wheel Valley, a shadowed realm thick with potent aura and natural treasures. Lindon takes command of their treasure hunt, pairing with Mercy to harvest death-aspect Sylvan Graveseeds while grappling with the moral weight of possessing Harmony's axe. Meanwhile, Yerin wrestles with her Blood Shadow's future, torn between the Sage of Red Faith's path of creating a sentient clone and Eithan's counsel to pursue safer, less volatile options, as the group's dynamics shift under the valley's oppressive atmosphere.

In the Night Wheel Valley, Eithan unveils the Heaven’s Drops—soul-strengthening constructs that catapult Lindon and Yerin to the peak of Truegold and open their soulspaces, while Mercy refuses hers to avoid returning to her family. Orthos, confronting the sacred beast’s need to choose his true form, bids a quiet, tearful farewell to the group, walking alone through the portal back to the Empire. The chapter closes on a note of bittersweet triumph and loss, as the companions watch their oldest friend vanish into shadow.

In the Seishen Kingdom's castle, Prince Kiro pleads with his father King Dakata not to launch a surprise attack on the Blackflame Empire, fearing the Akura clan's Sage will intervene, but the King overrules him and orders Kiro and his gardener Meira to target Lindon specifically. Meanwhile, Lindon senses the unity of aura in the forest when an emergency call reveals the Seishen Kingdom's coordinated assault; he rushes alone to defend a Redflower caravan under attack by Seishen Underlord Prince Kiro. After saving the Skysworn squad, Lindon confronts the prince in single combat, knowing the Akura family is watching.

Yerin and Mercy confront the Underlady Meira, who demands Lindon's location, while Lindon battles Prince Kiro nearby. Yerin holds her own against Meira's life-scythe until the Blood Shadow breaks free and begins draining her. Meanwhile, Lindon overpowers Kiro with dual Paths and a devastating Blackflame Ruler technique.

Lindon ambushes Underlord Kiro to cover the Skysworn retreat, then flees through the Night Wheel Valley forest while Dross models the prince’s techniques. When Kiro corners him, Mercy and Yerin intervene; Yerin fights both Kiro and the newly arrived Underlady Meira with her Blood Shadow, driving the Seishen pair away with a gatestone. As Blackflame reinforcements approach, the chapter shifts to Cassias and Naru Jing’s desperate defense against an enemy Underlady until Eithan arrives to turn the tide.

After the Seishen Kingdom attack, Lindon and Yerin recover in separate medical tents outside Blackflame City. Lindon learns he ranks 96th and Yerin 87th among Truegolds, but discovers Yerin's lifeline is damaged beyond repair—she has only two months to live. Overcome with guilt for not saving Life Well water for her, Lindon vows to advance to Underlord together, and they share an intimate moment where he confesses his feelings and they commit to entering the Uncrowned King tournament as a team, with Eithan providing powerful healing elixirs to prepare them.

In a rain-soaked camp outside the Blackflame capital, Mercy wrestles with guilt over her refusal to help the injured Yerin advance, even as she confronts Akura Charity about the Sage’s ruthless use of Seishen Underlords to push Lindon and Yerin toward the Uncrowned King tournament. Charity reveals that Northstrider may still live inside Ghostwater and that the Dreadgods are stirring, making the upcoming tournament a desperate bid for power amid looming war. The chapter closes with Mercy torn between her desire for independence and the crushing weight of family duty, as Charity vanishes after hinting she may yet draft Mercy back into the Akura ranks.

In Chapter 13, Eithan takes Lindon to Fisher Gesha’s mobile Soulsmith foundry, where he unveils Dross’s gift: the Arelius family library. After Dross absorbs the construct’s knowledge, he gains the ability to simulate complex Soulsmithing experiments in Lindon’s mind, allowing Lindon to craft a flawless explosive construct without a drudge. Meanwhile, Yerin confronts her Blood Shadow, which has begun feeding independently and speaking; she warns it that if she fails to advance, they will both perish, establishing a tense, uneasy alliance.

In Starsweep Tower, Lindon finally grasps his revelation—I fight so I won't be worthless—when Mercy urges him to follow his fear, triggering the Underlord transformation that he wisely delays until the Night Wheel Valley. Mercy then helps Yerin attempt the same breakthrough, but their meditation is interrupted by Naru Gwei's summons. The Skysworn captain reveals the Empire has abandoned the tournament and asks for their input on withdrawal strategy, prompting Lindon to seize Mercy with a sudden, unvoiced idea.

In a tense Skysworn meeting, Akura Mercy reveals the location of a hidden Akura vault within the Night Wheel Valley, proposing the Blackflame Empire seize its treasures before the Seishen Kingdom can claim them. The Emperor agrees to the plan only with Sage Akura Charity's approval, which she grants via her owl construct, shifting the room's mood from retreat to restless anticipation of battle. Meanwhile, at the Seishen Kingdom's victory celebration, Sage Charity appears and reveals that the Blackflame Empire will return, orchestrating a new, fair competition between the young Underlords of both factions while forbidding harm to Mercy, leaving Kiro determined to prove himself without failing again.

As the Blackflame Empire's cloudship bursts through the portal into the Night Wheel Valley, the Seishen Kingdom springs its trap with a dream-aura boundary field that leaves most of the crew disoriented. Lindon uses Little Blue to cleanse Yerin, Mercy, and the Emperor while Eithan and the Emperor assess their dire odds against twenty-nine enemy Lords and an Overlord. The mission to loot the Akura vault is abandoned as the Emperor orders an immediate retreat, with Eithan volunteering to overload the propulsion constructs for their escape.

As the Seishen Kingdom's cloudship pursues the Blackflame Empire, Yerin, Lindon, and Mercy slip into the Akura vault to advance. Three Seishen Underlords—Kiro, his brother Daji, and Meira—follow them inside, leading to a fierce battle. The chapter ends with Lindon facing Kiro alone while Yerin fights Meira and Mercy distracts Daji, as Lindon desperately tries to buy time for Yerin to advance.

As the Emperor's ship flees through Night Wheel Valley, Eithan and his allies clash with Seishen forces while Overlords exchange devastating techniques. Below, Lindon unleashes a resonance cannon of fused Striker techniques against Kiro, shattering his shield and armor, while Yerin battles Meira until her Blood Shadow intervenes and a revelation about her fear of loss advances her soulfire. Mercy stalls Daji with tricks and arrows until he overpowers her, but she throws herself on his blades to stop him from killing her friends, triggering darkness that halts the fight.

In Chapter 19, Akura Mercy’s sealed powers are restored by her mother, Monarch Malice, after Mercy sacrifices her freedom to save her friends, fulfilling their bet and returning her to the Akura family as heir. Meanwhile, Lindon advances to Underlord amid the vault battle, using soulfire and the Archstone to rebuild his Remnant arm and unleash devastating new power against Prince Kiro. Yerin, on the brink of death, seizes the moment to strike Meira, while Daji is intercepted by Mercy’s shadows, shifting the fight’s momentum as the Seishen team fractures under the Golds’ rising strength.

In the Night Wheel Valley vault, Mercy, Lindon, and Yerin each advance to Underlord while battling Seishen Daji and Meira. Mercy defeats Daji with shadow techniques, Yerin overwhelms Meira using the Endless Sword, and Lindon arrives as an Underlord. After the fight, Akura Charity appears, awards the Blackflame Empire victory, and reveals she is taking Lindon to train with the Akura clan for the Uncrowned King tournament, separating him from Yerin and Mercy.

In the epilogue of Underlord, Suriel discovers Iteration 943 has been completely erased by the Reaper’s Scythe, leaving a void that terrifies her and signals an escalating cosmic threat. Meanwhile, Yerin learns she and Eithan have been selected for the Uncrowned King tournament, though their team is diminished by Lindon and Mercy’s absence. The chapter closes with Kelsa’s desperate flight from Fallen Leaf pursuers, interrupted by Orthos—sent by Lindon—who arrives to protect her, marking the first hopeful reunion for the Wei family amid Sacred Valley’s chaos.

In this chapter, Lindon and his companions navigate a series of comedic mishaps and confrontations in the Night Wheel Valley. Key events include Lindon leaping from a height to reach a valuable tree, the Skysworn refusing to engage due to the group's formidable reputation, and an owl swallowing Dross. Character developments show Lindon's resourcefulness with his armor's gadgets and his ongoing struggle with splitting his core, while the emotional tone remains light-hearted and humorous, underscored by Eithan's whimsical presentation of the 'O’ree’o' elixir.