Arc 2The Pope’s Disappearance

Novia defied the apocalypse to save Nero and the world, then vanished before waking in a later era and becoming entangled in a new labyrinth and a journey through the past. As Avia, he slew Fafnir with Siegfried, took the Rhine Gold, and set out to help Meli find her parents in Wales.

  • Albion took human form and reunited with Novia, while Novia introduced her to Nero and the two women eyed each other with hostility.
  • Novia reorganized the Burial Agency and the Church, gave Peter renewed confidence, and received the Keys of Heaven as Christians compiled the New Testament.
  • Claudius made Christianity the Roman Empire’s sole legal religion before his death, and Nero became emperor as Novia founded the Holy Church and was elected Pope.
  • Novia named Albion Melusine and traveled to Armageddon, where he faced the forces of the Apocalypse and rejected Yahweh’s plan to destroy humanity.
  • Novia sacrificed the Keys of Heaven to stop the coming destruction, then disappeared into the Mediterranean as Shiyali sent Melusine’s remains back to Albion.
  • Novia awoke in a later era, met Sajyou Aika, and entered the Alcatraz Seventh Labyrinth, where he reunited with Shiyali and summoned Melusine to defeat Wolfgang Faust.
  • Novia accepted a brief journey through time and awoke as Avia in 418 AD, where he befriended Siegfried and helped him kill Fafnir before claiming the cursed Rhine Gold.
  • Avia met Meli on Avalon Island and agreed to find her missing parents, then reached Wales and sensed a strange, powerful region as crows took flight nearby.
Chapters 26–50 Vol. 1 Read

Ch. 26Chapter 26

Albion transformed into a human and rejoined Novia, but her hunger drove her to bite him before she regained control and apologized. As Novia showed her around Rome, she grew possessive of him and clashed with Nero, who discovered Albion had injured her teacher.

  • After 147 days and 20 hours unable to speak, Albion shaped a human incarnation, entered Novia's room through the 'spear,' and announced herself before biting his shoulder.
  • Novia explained that Albion's transformation had left her desperately hungry, treated her wound, and accepted her apology before taking her for a walk around Rome.
  • Albion followed Novia through the city while struggling with an unexplained urge to eat him, and she resolved to suppress it if he truly meant to stay with her.
  • Nero appeared as Albion tried to ask Novia about his promise to remain with her, and the two women immediately felt hostility toward each other.
  • Novia introduced Albion to Nero as his friend, and Nero restrained herself after noticing the blood from Albion's bite on Novia.

Ch. 27Chapter 27

Nero left Novia and Albion after Novia encouraged her to keep singing. Novia reorganized the Burial Agency, sought Locusta, and urged the apostles to compile their writings into a New Testament; Peter, heartened by Novia's words, decided to give him the key he carried.

  • Nero teased Albion, then left after Novia told her that her songs made people happy and encouraged her to continue performing.
  • Narubareck agreed to place the Burial Agency under Novia's command, recruit members by ability, and send others to serve churches across the Roman Empire.
  • Novia ordered Narubareck to end the family rule that defeated members had to die and asked him to find Locusta in the forests of Gaul.
  • Novia proposed compiling the apostles' letters and scrolls into a New Testament and having them guide Christianity's development across the provinces.
  • Peter recalled his guilt over denying Jesus, but Novia and Paul reassured him and renewed his confidence.
  • Peter grasped the key hanging from his chest and decided to give it to Novia.

Ch. 28Chapter 28

Novia received Peter’s Keys of Heaven and brought Locusta to Rome to develop an antidote for a poison that had afflicted someone for more than ten years. As Claudius’s health failed in October 54 AD, the emperor summoned Novia to discuss what would come next.

  • Peter gave Novia the Keys of Heaven, and the Christians began compiling the New Testament before preparing to spread Christianity across their provinces.
  • Narubareck found Locusta living at Luke’s church, where Luke had sheltered her for years, and brought her and Luke’s books to Rome.
  • Novia asked Locusta to create an antidote to Agrippina’s poison formula, and she estimated that the task would take three years.
  • Novia put Locusta in charge of palace food safety as Christianity continued to spread through the Roman Empire.
  • In October 54 AD, Claudius fell gravely ill and summoned Novia to the palace on October 12 to discuss the future.

Ch. 29Chapter 29

Novia secured Claudius’s deathbed order making Christianity the Roman Empire’s sole legal religion, and Nero succeeded him as emperor. After Nero’s coronation, Novia kissed her, then returned home to face an angry Albion, whose feelings for him had been hurt.

  • Novia entered Claudius’s room despite Brutus and the Praetorian Guard, and Claudius asked him to baptize him and protect his children.
  • On October 12, 54 AD, Claudius made Christianity the Roman Empire’s sole legal religion; the next day, Novia baptized him, and Claudius died that evening.
  • Nero became the fifth emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and went to the former Pantheon to receive Novia’s blessing at her coronation.
  • Albion bit Novia and vanished before Nero arrived, while Nero asked Novia to close his eyes and revealed a white coronation outfit she had designed.
  • Nero demanded a reward for her outfit, and Novia kissed her before declining her invitation to return to the palace.
  • Novia returned home and found Albion waiting angrily; he told her not to be willful, and she demanded to know what he meant.

Ch. 30Chapter 30

Novia used Albion’s jealousy to change her feelings toward him, then worked with Nero to formalize the Holy Church and convened its first Ecumenical Council. The council appointed Novia Pope and ended with his covenant calling believers to unite against inhuman threats.

  • Albion bit Novia after he told her he hated her, then pleaded with him not to hate her and tried to erase Nero’s scent from him.
  • Nero learned Novia had taken leave, approved Lucius Longinus as commander of the Praetorian Guard, and asked Novia to accompany her to Greece.
  • Novia invited Nero to join the Christian council in Rome, and she agreed because she did not want to be separated from him.
  • Novia convened the Ecumenical Council, established Easter, renamed Christianity the Holy Church, and was elected its leader with the title Pope.
  • Novia declared the Holy Church a covenant and urged believers to unite and eliminate nonhuman enemies who threatened humanity.

Ch. 31Chapter 31

Novia learned from John that his vision of the apocalypse identified Novia as the Holy Spirit and foretold calamity connected to Nero. As Nero prepared to leave for the Greek peninsula, Novia kissed her and told her she only needed to listen to him.

  • Novia established the Holy Church in 55 AD as its founder and first Pope.
  • John secretly told Novia about the Pre-Revelation Scripture he had seen, which depicted Novia as the Holy Spirit and described future calamities and the apocalypse.
  • Novia asked John to write down the vision as the New Testament’s final chapter and keep it secret until it was finished.
  • Novia considered the vision’s descriptions of himself and wondered whether Nero might be connected to the foretold calamity.
  • Nero visited Novia after postponing her departure for the Greek peninsula, asked him to keep calling her Nero, and said she could do anything to stay with him.
  • Novia kissed Nero and told her she did not need to do everything she had offered, only listen to him.

Ch. 32Chapter 32

Novia left Rome to investigate Armageddon, the prophesied final battlefield, after giving Albion the name Melusine to help restrain her urge to eat him. At the site, a vision of Rome’s founding appeared, linking Romulus and Remus to the prophecies Novia feared.

  • Nero announced that she would travel to the Isthmus of Corinth to dig a canal, while Novia prepared to leave for Armageddon.
  • Novia told Albion he feared her hunger but wanted her to live, then named her Melusine and let her bite his shoulder once more.
  • Melusine carried Novia across the Mediterranean and confessed that she loved him, wanted to stay with him forever, and desired his body.
  • Novia reassured Melusine that he would not abandon either her or Nero, and Melusine returned to the spear to recover her mana.
  • Novia reached the plain north of Jerusalem and recognized it as the final battlefield described in the Book of Revelation.
  • An earthquake brought forth a vision from the Sibylline Oracles depicting Romulus and Remus’s rift and the origins of Rome’s bloodshed.

Ch. 33Chapter 33

The chapter recounted Romulus’s final transformation into the Supreme God and Nero’s painful childhood and devotion to Novia. In the present, Shiyali arrived at the Praetorian Guard camp hoping to see Novia, but he had already left for Armageddon.

  • Remus fought Romulus to prevent Rome’s rise, warning that the Child of Dawn would bring destruction, but Romulus defeated him and later became the Supreme God to bless Rome.
  • Nero celebrated the opening of the Isthmus of Corinth canal and remembered how Novia’s kindness had rescued her from an abusive childhood and made him the center of her world.
  • Lucius told Shiyali that Novia had left for Armageddon and offered to pass along a message.
  • Shiyali declined to leave a message, while Lucius recognized her affection for Novia and tried to encourage her to express it.

Ch. 34Chapter 34

Shiyali recorded a message for Novia in a stone, but he received it without learning how to hear it. While Nero remained away from Rome, Novia rejected Agrippina’s claim that Nero was doomed to repeat her family’s past, as Nero’s request that Locusta make poison exposed her grief and left her sobbing alone.

  • Shiyali gave Lucius a stone containing a recorded message for Novia, congratulating him and saying she looked forward to seeing him again.
  • Novia received the stone from Lucius after returning to Rome, but he did not know how to play its message; Melusine asked whether Shiyali liked him, and Novia assured her they were friends.
  • Novia visited Agrippina, who predicted that Nero would eventually kill him or be killed by him because of her nature and family history.
  • Novia insisted that Nero was her own person and said he would accept her past because he was her teacher.
  • Six days before Nero was due back in Rome, she ordered Locusta to use a supposedly poisonous liquid to make a stronger poison, but Locusta discovered it contained no poison.
  • Nero began crying, sent Locusta away, and sobbed alone.

Ch. 35Chapter 35

After Nero returned to Rome, her despair triggered a transformation into the Beast of Sodom, but Novia calmed her and used the power of Rome’s seven hills to delay it. The next morning, Novia stayed with the unconscious Nero and began writing about there being only one god.

  • Nero returned to Rome after six days and collapsed into darkness while pleading with Novia not to abandon her.
  • Nero began transforming into a dragon, and Melusine warned Novia that she was becoming the Beast of Sodom.
  • Novia promised Nero he would not abandon her, and she briefly regained control before dropping the Primal Fire and breaking down in tears.
  • Novia asked Melusine to gather the magical power around Nero, and the radiance of Rome’s seven hills delayed her transformation.
  • Novia carried Nero to bed and decided he would take responsibility for preventing her flames from harming anyone.
  • The next morning, Novia wrote about there being only one god while Melusine opened the window and asked what he was writing.

Ch. 36Chapter 36

Novia killed Agrippina, then went to Armageddon to stop Nero’s apocalyptic transformation by channeling the Primal Fire. He devoured the three beasts of the Apocalypse and faced Moses and Noah, insisting that he would oppose the Book of Revelation as Satan if necessary.

  • Novia left Melusine and went to the Temple of Quirinus, where he killed Agrippina and apologized to Romulus Quirinus.
  • Half a month later, Novia and Melusine prepared at Armageddon to use the Primal Fire connected to Nero against the coming Apocalypse.
  • Leviathan, Ziz, and Behemoth manifested, while Heaven’s Gate and Hell’s Gate appeared over Armageddon.
  • Novia used Phantom Albion to devour Ziz and Leviathan, then killed and consumed Behemoth with a cross staff.
  • Moses and Noah appeared in their true bodies and warned Novia that the Book of Revelation could not be stopped without harming his spirit.
  • Novia admitted he had failed as Nero’s teacher and declared that he would stand against the Book of Revelation as Satan.

Ch. 37Chapter 37

Novia received the Roman gods’ blessings and crossed the sea of light to confront Yahweh, refusing to let Him kill Satan or begin the Book of Revelation. The chapter ended as Novia attacked Yahweh and their clash unleashed overwhelming divine power.

  • Moses destroyed Noah’s abyssal flood and fought Novia, warning him that angels would come even if he won.
  • Romulus Quirinus arrived after battling the Vice Regent and gave Novia the gathered authorities and blessings of Rome’s gods, sacrificing their influence on the present world.
  • Moses held back from opening Hell’s Gate, while Noah sent Novia the particle of knowledge and Zohar radiance as he crossed the sea of light toward God.
  • Novia met Yahweh and rejected His plan to purify humanity, declaring that he would stop Him from killing Satan and initiating the Book of Revelation.
  • Yahweh removed the Roman gods’ authority from Novia and attacked him, but Novia invoked the God Paradox and launched a magically empowered strike.

Ch. 38Chapter 38

Novia gave up his key to Heaven to stop the Beast’s birth and spread keys and hope throughout the world, accepting that his body would die. After asking Shiyali to send Melusine’s remains back to Albion, Novia vanished into the Mediterranean, and his ultimate destination remained unknown.

  • Novia comforted Nero and Melusine in the sea of blood, encouraged Nero to choose her own happiness, and disappeared as the sea turned blue.
  • Novia sacrificed his key to Heaven and used his final strength to end the coming destruction, restore the devastated land, and give everyone in the world a key through their connection to him.
  • Moses and Noah witnessed the Beast’s transformation being stopped, then Hell’s Gate closed and Heaven’s Gate opened as they vanished.
  • Shiyali offered Novia a contract that could preserve his mind and soul, but he asked her to send Melusine’s remains back to Albion instead.
  • Novia entered the Mediterranean and disappeared, leaving Shiyali with no way to know where he had gone; later accounts said he had gone to Heaven.

Ch. 39Chapter 39

The chapter presents Novia’s uncertain fate after the Age of Gods and the lasting influence of the Holy Church he established. It then details his possible Lancer and Ruler forms, including their abilities and Noble Phantasms, and explains that he would destroy his growing Spirit Origin before it reached its final stage.

  • The account says no one could confirm whether Novia reached the Kingdom of Heaven, died, or traveled to another world.
  • The chapter describes how the Holy Church continued to spread the principles Novia had wished to promote.
  • Novia’s Lancer profile presents him as a first-century Christian leader fused with Albion and armed with powerful dragon-based abilities and Noble Phantasms.
  • Novia’s Ruler profile describes him as the first Pope, a reformer of Rome, and a figure empowered by Church faith and Roman authority.
  • The profile explains that Novia’s Words of Revelation Holy Spirit Noble Phantasm could elevate him toward divine authority, but he would destroy his Spirit Origin before it reached its conclusion.

Ch. 40Chapter 40

Novia returned to modern Bucharest, learned that Nero had carried out his plans and awaited his promised return, and discovered that Goetia and Draco were preparing to reshape human history in hopes of bringing him back. Meanwhile, Sajyou Manaka rejected her parents’ attempt to set her up with Novia, unaware that he had just arrived in the city.

  • Novia woke in a taxi driven by Sajyou Hiroki, accepted a cross pendant as an orphanage keepsake, and introduced himself by name.
  • Hiroki dropped Novia off in Bucharest, where Novia realized that Hiroki’s daughter was the thirty-seven-year-old Sajyou Manaka, who still looked fourteen.
  • Novia read that Nero had become Rome’s emperor and second Pope, enacted his plans, and vanished while waiting for the person who had promised to return.
  • Goetia and Draco discussed placing Holy Grails and using them to sever the torrent of history, hoping to create a world where Novia existed.
  • Sajyou Manaka refused her parents’ plan to arrange a meeting with Novia, dismissing him as no prince on a white horse, then remembered to log into a game.

Ch. 41Chapter 41

Sajyou Aika met Novia expecting to reject him, but instead fell for him and asked to accompany him on his dangerous trip. Meanwhile, Shion Elnatan Atlastraxia learned that Novia was connected to the ancient Institute Director Shiyali and reacted with jealousy.

  • Sajyou Aika planned to reject Novia after their blind date, but blushed and panicked when she met him.
  • Novia arrived at the restaurant and considered joining the Sub-species Holy Grail War in the Alcatraz Seventh Labyrinth.
  • Sajyou Aika used magecraft to tidy herself, paid the bill, and invited Novia to eat at her home.
  • Novia told Sajyou Aika he had not fallen in love at first sight but genuinely liked her, then asked her to wait for his return.
  • Sajyou Aika asked Novia to take her with him, promising she would not cause trouble.
  • Shion Elnatan Atlastraxia dismissed a request concerning the Alcatraz Seventh Labyrinth, then recalled finding Shiyali's recorded message to Novia and grew displeased by their apparent closeness.

Ch. 42Chapter 42

Novia and Aika entered the Alcatraz Seventh Labyrinth as the Sub-species Holy Grail War began, but Novia absorbed the energy meant for a Servant instead of summoning Nero or Melusine. On the second floor, they met Shion, whose inexplicable reaction to Novia’s name left her searching for an explanation.

  • Shion recalled her resentment toward Pope Novia and accepted a trial assigned by the dean, though she disliked dealing with the Holy Church.
  • Novia and Aika reached the labyrinth entrance, where he sent away the Mage’s Association’s outsourced personnel to keep them from being killed by Wolfgang Faust’s Great Serpent.
  • Aika analyzed the labyrinth’s six hundred sixty-six Solar Magic Circles and destroyed the Great Serpent when it attacked; three marks appeared on her hand as Novia’s magical energy surged.
  • At the labyrinth’s lowest level, Wolfgang Faust began the ritual and noticed a blond man appear behind him.
  • Novia failed to summon a Servant and absorbed the incoming magical energy; he and Aika fought through the first floor, cooked monster meat, and continued downward.
  • On the second floor, Shion met Novia and Aika, felt her heartbeat quicken when she saw Novia, and began questioning her reaction after he gave his name.

Ch. 43Chapter 43

Shion recognized Novia as the reincarnation of Shiyali and tried to capture him, but their reunion brought her to tears. After Aika and Shion clashed over Novia, he restrained them and urged them to accept one another, then told Aika he wanted her to live as a genuine human and not hide her tears from him.

  • Shion's Thought Partitions agreed to attack Novia with Aether Lines, but the threads stopped just short of him.
  • Novia called Shion by her former name, Shiyali, wiped away her tears, and asked her to keep him company.
  • Aika and Shion traded insults and prepared to fight over Novia, who restrained them with his power and told them he would not let any of the women he loved go.
  • Shion and Aika reluctantly agreed to stop fighting, though Aika struggled with Novia's declaration that there were two other women he loved.
  • Novia told Aika he cared for the person she had become and hoped she would live as a human rather than make him her entire world.
  • Aika said she would cry only where Novia could not see, and Novia asked her not to hide from him when she cried.

Ch. 44Chapter 44

Novia, Aika, and Sion advanced to the fourth floor after Novia destroyed Wolfgang Faust’s Artificial Dragon, while Wolfgang prepared to use Novia as the final sacrifice for his transformation. A distant masked figure felt a long-dormant heart beat and called out to Novia as he confronted Wolfgang.

  • Manaka confessed that she liked Novia, and Sion led the group onward to the labyrinth’s third floor.
  • Wolfgang Faust revealed that he had harvested Servant Spirit Cores through seventeen Sub-species Holy Grail Wars and explained the Holy Church’s violent defeat of Crimson Moon’s forces.
  • Novia withstood the Artificial Dragon’s attacks, hurled it backward, and destroyed it with the Blue-black Armament.
  • A masked figure sensed a heart beating again after thousands of years and called out to Novia from another timeline.
  • Novia, Aika, and Sion reached the fourth-floor Holy Grail, where Wolfgang identified Novia as his final sacrifice, and Novia vowed to kill him.

Ch. 45Chapter 45

Novia reunited with Melusine, who destroyed Wolfgang Faust and his summoned Servants, ending his ritual. After the survivors gathered at the hot spring, Shiyali investigated the collapsing magic circle while Aika mysteriously began using her Command Spells.

  • Wolfgang Faust activated his Heroic Spirit Core and unleashed his controlled Servants against Novia, but Novia summoned Albion through their bond.
  • Melusine arrived, reunited with Novia, and kissed him before Wolfgang's panic interrupted them.
  • Melusine killed Wolfgang with a single sword strike, and Brad revealed himself before leaving the unsealed labyrinth after Novia spared him.
  • Melusine took Novia to the hot spring and used magecraft to keep Shiyali and Aika out, while Shiyali inspected the self-destructing Solar Magic Circle.
  • Shiyali suspected the magic circle's modifications involved the Atlas Institute and the Holy Church, then noticed Aika lying near the hot spring as her Command Spells were consumed and her face flushed.

Ch. 46Chapter 46

Novia left the labyrinth after spending the night with Melusine, then accepted a mysterious traversal into an unknown era. He arrived in 418 AD as a fourteen-year-old Hunnic hostage in Milan, where Attila demanded that he leave with her.

  • Draco reflected on her failed experiment to bind someone through the Alcatraz Seventh Labyrinth and longed to see Novia again.
  • Novia and Melusine emerged from the hot spring, while Sajyou Manaka and Sion watched them with flushed faces.
  • A system notification offered Novia a five-minute traversal to an unknown era, and he chose to go despite the risk.
  • Novia awoke in 418 AD as Avia, a Hunnic youth held as a hostage in Milan, and wrote King Lua about their situation.
  • Attila confronted Avia at the door and begged him to leave Milan with her.

Ch. 47Chapter 47

Avia left Attila in Rome to hunt an Evil Dragon Fafnir and bathe in its blood, hoping to strengthen himself as the Church’s persecution and rigidity threatened to make bloodshed necessary for change. In the forest near the Rhine, he met a scratched young man named Siegfried, who learned that Avia was a Hun.

  • Attila asked Avia to give her a cuter name, and he brushed the snow from her head while explaining that destroying people only hid problems rather than solving them.
  • Attila confronted Avia about leaving her behind and offered him her Sword of Mars, but he said he would kill a dragon, bathe in its blood, and then defeat her fairly.
  • Avia considered using the Giants’ ruins but abandoned the idea because he worried that doing so while Attila was alive might affect her.
  • Avia went to the forest near the Rhine to seek Fafnir and met a scratched young traveler, offering him a leaf.
  • The young man introduced himself as Siegfried and recognized Avia’s gentle manner as a sign of justice.
  • Siegfried learned that Avia was a Hun.

Ch. 48Chapter 48

Avia and Siegfried discussed Avia’s loyalty to the Huns and agreed to slay Fafnir together. After confronting the dragon at the bottom of the Rhine, they defeated it, though Fafnir warned them that the Rhine Gold was cursed.

  • Avia explained to Siegfried that he remained with the Huns because they had adopted him and were his kin.
  • Avia invited Siegfried to join him in slaying Fafnir, and Siegfried agreed that they would win together.
  • Avia and Siegfried found Fafnir sleeping at the bottom of the Rhine beside the Rhine Gold.
  • Avia and Siegfried attacked Fafnir together, overcoming its defenses and regeneration with repeated strikes.
  • Avia and Siegfried delivered the final blows that killed Fafnir, which warned them that the treasure was cursed.

Ch. 49Chapter 49

After killing Fafnir, Avia took the cursed Rhine Gold from Siegfried and parted ways with him before traveling to Britain in search of the Star Sword and a way to address the Church’s corruption. While waiting for fae in Avalon, Avia was paralyzed and carried off as their prospective meal, then heard an unknown childlike voice.

  • Siegfried tried to take the Rhine Gold’s curse upon himself, but Avia claimed the treasure, arguing that he had contributed most to defeating Fafnir.
  • Avia reassured Siegfried that he would accept the curse and spend the gold freely, then left with the Rhine Gold as Siegfried watched him go.
  • Avia headed for Britain, hoping to investigate the Church’s corruption and find the Star Sword beneath Avalon.
  • After waiting four days in a forest on Avalon, Avia attracted a group of fae, who paralyzed him and carried him away to eat him.
  • As the fae took Avia through the mist, his body was nourished by unfamiliar magical energy, and he heard a childlike voice speaking nearby.

Ch. 50Chapter 50

Avia rescued Meli, a young Half-Nightmare, from the fairies and agreed to search Wales for her missing parents. Half a month later, he reached the Church-controlled region and noticed signs of a strange, oppressive magecraft as crows flew toward a distant height.

  • Meli pretended Avia was her father and invoked the Great Mother to persuade the fairies to hand him over.
  • Meli used magecraft to take Avia back to Avalon Island, where he recovered and learned her name and nature.
  • Meli asked Avia to go to Wales and find news of her parents, who had gone there and never returned.
  • Avia agreed to help Meli, and half a month later he arrived in Wales, where he sensed a maze-like region steeped in disturbing smells and powerful magecraft.
  • Avia heard nearly ten crows take flight and looked toward the distant height they were flying toward.
Arc 2 of 25
Arc 2 of 25