Chapter Summaries

At Farol Park Plaza’s magic event, Arthur’s Holy Light protection magic attracted young women, but Liszt Muen’s Spatial Distortion drew even more attention by producing flattering portraits. Ashley realized the borderlands casters’ magic was growing more alarming and wondered what Ansu would present.

• Arthur’s blatant display magic gained votes as women sought its Holy Light protection, drawing him close to Ashley’s leading total.
• Ashley expected her Wolf Repellent Holy Light Technique to win because it served both defense and offense for a broader range of women.
• Liszt Muen presented Spatial Distortion, using Holy Light Recording and Light Sketching to create a subtly altered portrait of an older woman.
• Liszt’s magic made the woman appear younger and more beautiful, horrifying the audience with its potential to deceive people through images.
• Liszt’s votes surged, while Ashley wondered what Ansu would bring to the event.

At the civilian magic event, Liszt’s Spatial Distortion and Arthur’s Open and Aboveboard dominated the voting, alarming the organizers and prompting them to consider limiting the borderland contestants. Ansu Morningstar took the stage and introduced the problem of noisy neighbors, leaving Ashley increasingly uneasy about what his magic would be.

• Liszt’s Spatial Distortion surged to 310 votes, while Arthur’s Open and Aboveboard rose to 259 as citizens sought ways to alter or conceal their appearances.
• Ashley questioned the event’s purpose, and the review committee decided Liszt and Arthur could remain but insisted that at least one priest place in the top three.
• The committee saw that the next contestant, Ansu Morningstar, was another borderlander and considered suppressing his votes if his magic proved outrageous.
• Ansu took the stage and described how noisy neighbors caused insomnia, headaches, and psychological distress.
• Ashley guessed Ansu might create a soundproof barrier or music magic, but his introduction suggested a more extreme torment of both mind and body.

Ansu demonstrated Friendly Exchange, a magic that altered voices and amplified noise, and it earned overwhelming support despite the audience’s fear of its uses. The chapter ended with Friendly Exchange winning first place and gaining the name Borderline Magic.

• Ansu cast Friendly Exchange on John, making his insults sound like a little girl’s voice and adding “meow” to his words.
• The audience imagined ways to combine Ansu’s magic with Liszt and Arthur’s inventions, and votes for all three rose.
• The staff limited Ansu’s vote count to 210, placing him fourth behind Arthur, Liszt, and Ashley.
• Ansu used Friendly Exchange’s berserk version on the ceiling to amplify its vibrations, then changed an angry Strongman Sorcerer’s voice when he tried to curse at the crowd.
• The crowd’s votes surged until Ansu reached 971 votes and claimed first place, and the spell became known as Borderline Magic.

Enya resisted the sinister whispers surrounding Ansu’s room and denied knowing where his pajamas were. The Morningstar family took a day off to search for the missing clothes and prepare for the upcoming Church examination.

• Enya struggled against the forbidden whispers and Evil Power near Ansu’s room, using pain to stay sane.
• Ten minutes later, Ansu asked Enya whether she had seen his pajamas.
• Enya calmly denied knowing where the pajamas were.
• The Morningstar family took a day off to find the clothes and prepare for the Church examination.

Citizens voted for public-benefit magic, and Ansu’s Friendly Exchange took first place despite the Magic Guild staff’s worries about the top three spells. Ashley warned Ansu that he would meet the highly accomplished Cersei Milton in the upcoming deacon exam, then directed the group to have their magic rated and collect their rewards.

• Citizens collected their rewards after Ansu Morningstar’s Friendly Exchange, Arthur Sunny’s Open and Aboveboard, and Liszt Muun’s Spatial Distortion placed first, second, and third in the vote.
• Ashley confronted Ansu about the spells, but he insisted he had helped citizens and offered to solve other public problems.
• Ashley told Ansu that he might face the Radiant Holy See’s genius Saintess in next month’s deacon exam, and Ansu realized she meant Cersei Milton rather than Luojia.
• Ashley described Cersei’s rapid rise and legendary magic creation, while Liszt and Arthur joked about Ansu’s supposed willingness to endure humiliating challenges.
• Ashley explained that their civilian spells were considered weak by professional standards, then sent the group to the Magic Guild’s third floor for ratings and rewards.

Ansu, Liszt, and Arthur submitted their Magic Circuits for appraisal, but the Holy Sees’ experts refused to claim the spells and devolved into a chaotic fight. Ashley waited outside, hearing the strange voices and mistaking the appraisal room’s brawl for an orgy.

• Ashley registered the Three Borderlands Departments’ Magic Circuits and was told to wait while they were appraised.
• Ansu, Liszt, and Arthur relaxed in the lounge as other Sorcerers watched appraisal results appear on the Magic Screen.
• Seventy appraisers argued over which Holy See should claim the trio’s magic, with each faction insisting it belonged elsewhere.
• A Radiant Holy See expert used Friendly Exchange on an alchemy appraiser, and the experts copied the spell and started fighting one another.
• Ashley approached the room after the appraisal ran late and heard the appraisers’ magically altered voices, concluding that the elderly priests were engaged in depraved acts.

Ansu, Ashley, Liszt, and Arthur waited outside Appraisal Room 301 while the experts inside delayed their appraisal. Ansu and his companions exposed the noises to the waiting Sorcerers, leaving Ashley horrified as the crowd gathered at the door.

• Ashley and Ansu listened at the Appraisal Hall door and realized the experts inside were engaged in a scandalous encounter.
• Ansu agreed to keep quiet, then grew impatient after waiting an hour and a half for his appraisal.
• Ansu, Liszt, and Arthur used Open and Aboveboard to conceal their faces and called attention to the strange noises from Room 301.
• Arthur and Liszt altered their voices as they publicly complained about the sounds, drawing the waiting Sorcerers' attention.
• A priest from the Chastity Holy See listened at the door, froze, and prompted more Sorcerers to gather and listen.

Ansu provoked the Holy Sees into blaming one another for the scandal inside Appraisal Room 301, while Elvera struggled with the suggestion he had planted before preparing to infiltrate Farol again. The chapter left Elvera determined to uncover the Chaos Frontier’s secrets and clear her shame.

• Ansu announced that the experts inside Appraisal Room 301 were not members of the Radiant Holy See, prompting its officials to deny any connection to them.
• Officials from the other Holy Sees also disowned the experts, and the sorcerers outside began accusing one another as the argument escalated.
• Ansu enjoyed the chaos and regretted not using the Friendly Exchange magic to let everyone communicate properly.
• Elvera gave in to Ansu’s suggestion by completing a test from the forbidden grimoire, then cursed him for planting the urge in her mind.
• Elvera sensed the Mother Goddess searching for true chaos, then prepared to infiltrate Farol again to investigate the Chaos Frontier and find the source of chaos.

Ansu and his companions received high ratings for their spells after the forced inspection exposed the experts’ humiliating antics. Though the experts and Sorcerers dismissed Ansu, he asked them to appraise the first spell he had ever written: the X-ray Illumination Technique.

• Ansu’s disruption led the priests to force open Room 301, where they found the experts wrestling in disheveled clothes and using Voice-changing Magic.
• Ashley realized she had imagined a forbidden scene and grew mortified, while Ansu teased her as a “Downer Auntie.”
• The experts rated Arthur Sunny’s Open and Aboveboard and Liszt Muen’s Spatial Distortion superior, and Ansu Morningstar’s Friendly Exchange excellent.
• Ashley felt reassured that the gods might reject the three spells, while Ansu won the reward of personal instruction from Merlin, the God of Magic.
• After Sorcerers and experts disparaged him, Ansu calmly produced the blueprint for the X-ray Illumination Technique and requested an appraisal.

Ansu’s X-ray Illumination Technique baffled all seventy Magic Guild appraisers, who debated its classification after he left the appraisal room. The Magic Screen ultimately displayed a provisional perfect rating, the highest evaluation within the ordinary tier.

• Dark examined Ansu’s single-circuit spell and could not understand how its Magic Circuit and mana flow produced X-rays.
• Seventy experts failed to appraise the X-ray Illumination Technique, discussed it for ten minutes, and sent Ansu away while they decided its rating.
• The experts argued over whether the spell belonged to the Radiant Holy See or the Healing Holy See, then agreed to seek a higher-ranking appraiser and issue a provisional rating.
• Ansu, Ashley, and Arthur waited in the lounge, eating cakes and drinking coffee until a priest confronted Ansu about remaining there.
• The Magic Screen announced Ansu Morningstar’s X-ray Illumination Technique with an overall rating of Ordinary—Perfect (Provisional).

Ansu’s X-ray Illumination Technique earned a provisional perfect rating, astonishing the sorcerers and drawing the Magic Guild’s attention. After learning that he would meet Merlin, Ansu began plotting another unorthodox scheme as Ashley warned him to behave.

• The Magic Guild’s appraisal gave Ansu’s X-ray Illumination Technique a provisional Common Magic—Perfect rating despite its weak circuit and precision scores.
• Ashley was shocked that Ansu had created a proper healing spell, while Ansu considered new ways to combine it with his other magic.
• Ashley explained that Ansu would need a higher rank and greater fame before he could offer the spell to the gods and earn many Faith Points.
• The lounge deacon apologized to Ansu and invited him to meet Merlin, the Magic Guild’s vice president and a powerful demigod.
• Ashley straightened Ansu’s collar and told him not to do anything strange, and Ansu innocently promised he would behave.

Ansu reached Heaven's Gate, the Magic Guild's hidden tenth floor, and met its keeper Merlin, who complained that Ansu had made him work overtime. Merlin reviewed Ansu's magic and upgraded his X-ray Illumination Technique into a Legendary Mid-tier spell with radioactive Holy Light.

• Ansu climbed the Spiral Staircase alone and discovered that the Magic Guild's tenth floor was the seventh-tier Naraku World Heaven's Gate.
• An ethereal voice warned Ansu not to step into the Cecilia flower field, then told him he could walk around it.
• Ansu met Merlin, the rotating keeper of Heaven's Gate, who revealed that he had been guarding the gate for a year because his colleague had left him covering extra shifts.
• Merlin praised Ansu's Friendly Exchange spell and discussed combining it with other magic to livestream enemies' feminized naked bodies.
• Ansu showed Merlin his X-ray Illumination Technique Magic Circuit, and Merlin revised it into the Radiant Light Illumination Technique, a Legendary Mid-tier spell that could cause mutations.

Ansu asked Merlin to teach him Magic Creation, and Merlin used a demigod battle at Heaven’s Gate as a lesson in learning and plagiarism. After Merlin’s Judgment Light beheaded the invading cavalry, he told Ansu to copy the Epic Magic and make it his own.

• Ansu praised Merlin’s Holy Light design and asked him to teach Magic Creation.
• Merlin explained that Magic Creation involved learning and plagiarism, then an invasion began as Heaven’s Gate opened at dusk.
• A Pain Apostle’s iron cavalry charged into Heaven, and Merlin cast Judgment Light to behead every rider.
• Merlin said he had copied the spell’s first half from his teacher, the Previous Radiant Patriarch, and adapted the second half himself.
• Merlin told Ansu to copy the Epic Magic and make it his own.

Ansu tried to learn Merlin’s Divine-tier Judgment Light despite the unbearable strain on his soul. After repeated failures and deaths, he decided to copy just one of its three thousand Magic Branches, while Merlin watched another day of work begin.

• Merlin showed Ansu the Magic Circuits of Judgment Light and challenged him to copy the Divine-tier spell.
• Ansu kept studying the circuits despite the pain, and he argued that Merlin would be liable if he died at work.
• Merlin protected Ansu as he repeatedly failed to understand the spell’s structure and watched him continue.
• After enduring the circuits’ strain for a full minute, Ansu realized he could not copy the whole spell and decided to make one Magic Branch his own.
• A new day arrived, leaving Merlin to work again.

Ansu endured three days of Merlin’s soul-shattering test and developed his own preliminary version of Judgment Light by grafting a single Magic Circuit. When the Painful Cavalry invaded again, Merlin pointed Ansu toward the legion so he could test his new magic.

• Merlin regretted assigning Ansu the test and tried to get him to leave, but Ansu persisted in studying the three thousand Magic Circuits.
• Ansu endured repeated soul damage, gradually increased how long he could study, and identified a circuit he could adapt into his own magic.
• Merlin recognized Ansu’s approach as grafting and watched him reshape the circuit into a new version of Judgment Light.
• Ansu completed a preliminary Conceptual Magic that judged targets by Soul Attractiveness and shaved the hair of anyone below the caster’s level.
• The Painful Cavalry invaded through Heaven’s Gate with nearly a thousand apostles, and Merlin urged Ansu to test his new magic on them.

Ansu received temporary authority over Heaven's mana from Merlin and faced the Crimson Blood Legion as its demigod general, Rada Harrington, led the charge. Ansu called down Judgment Light, summoning his Guardian Angel as the battle began.

• The Crimson Blood Legion arrived at Heaven's Gate under General Rada Harrington, who sought to defeat his rival Merlin.
• Merlin granted Ansu temporary authority over Heaven's mana and ordered him to test his new spell against the attackers.
• Rada led nearly a thousand Painful Cavalry toward the city, equipped with Saint's Forehead Protectors against Merlin's Judgment Light.
• Ansu stood beneath Heaven's protection and called upon the world to unleash Judgment Light.
• Ansu's Guardian Angel descended under Heaven's blessing as the magic answered his call.

Ansu awakened his Guardian Angel and used a temporarily Divine-rank Judgment Light against General Rada and the Pain Legion. The spell shaved away their crimson hair and severed their worldly attachments, driving Rada and his soldiers to leave, while Merlin wondered what kind of angel Ansu had created.

• Ansu chanted as his Guardian Angel awakened, and General Rada recognized the spell as a version of Judgment Light.
• General Rada attacked with the Blade of Suffering, but Merlin countered it with Holy Light and destroyed the gathered souls.
• Ansu's Guardian Angel judged the Pain Legion, first shaving the hair from the soldiers and their horses, then stripping away their attachments to the world.
• General Rada declared that he had let go of his relationship with Merlin and led the bald Pain Legion away beneath the starlight.
• Merlin explained that heaven's mana and his assistance had temporarily raised Ansu's Judgment Light to Divine rank, then wondered how Ansu's Guardian Angel had been created.

Ansu left Heaven’s Gate after his Guardian Angel vanished and Merlin explained how he could develop his Divine-tier magic. The world’s settlement then listed Ansu as a contributor alongside Merlin, revealing that his defense of the gate had counted as a World Strategy.

• Ansu’s Guardian Angel cast Judgment Light at Merlin, but Merlin cut off Ansu’s magic, silenced him, and survived the strike before the angel kissed Ansu and faded away.
• Merlin explained that Guardian Angels reflected their owners’ inner consciousness, then refused to answer Ansu’s questions about Heaven and told him to prepare for the Deacon promotion.
• Merlin said Ansu needed to become a Magic Guild deacon to access the seventh-floor library and learn how to build new branches for his Divine Magic.
• Merlin sent Ansu away while planning to confront Bishop Randall and the other bishops, unaware that Ansu’s Judgment Light had left a bald spot in the middle of his hair.
• Ansu exited Heaven’s Gate and learned that the Seventh-tier World had been completed, with Merlin Andre and Ansu Morningstar named as contributors.

Merlin Andre and Ansu Morningstar received their settlement for the Seventh-tier World strategy, with Merlin earning numerous achievements and Ansu receiving a D+ evaluation. Ansu gained a key granting another entry to Heaven’s Gate and began considering how to earn more by supervising Merlin.

• Merlin Andre’s achievements were settled, including purifying a million suffering souls and completing a full year without leave while guarding Heaven’s Gate.
• Ansu Morningstar received achievements for keeping Merlin on duty, creating Buddha Light, influencing General Rada’s feelings, and giving free haircuts to Pain Apostles.
• Ansu received a D+ overall evaluation and a Heaven’s Key that allowed one more entry into Heaven’s Gate.
• Ansu wondered whether supervising Merlin repeatedly could earn him more keys and create an endless torment loop.
• The Astral Envoy watched Ansu with satisfaction, recalling that the previous specimen like him had been Merlin Andre.

Merlin Andre returned to the Hall of Seven Gods intent on confronting the Holy See’s senior bishops, but discovered that everyone had been staring at his bald head. At the Magic Guild, Ansu Morningstar publicly gave Merlin the epithet “Head of Radiance.”

• Merlin returned to the Hall of Seven Gods after a year away and planned to settle accounts with the Holy See’s senior bishops.
• Merlin’s powerful aura startled the Saints and drew reporters and bishops as he made his way to confront Randall.
• Merlin demanded that Randall make up his missed compensatory leave, and Randall readily agreed while looking at Merlin’s head with pity.
• Merlin realized that he was bald after noticing the bishops’ strange gazes.
• At the Magic Guild, Ansu told reporters that Merlin was the leader of the Radiant Holy See and helped make “Head of Radiance” his new epithet.