Recaps

Manazuru Chitose reunited with Novia and decided to take Erice with them to Tokyo, where they met the Night Watch member John Dee. Dee recognized an abnormal change in Erice’s evil spirits, while Novia showed that he knew Dee’s thoughts and history; Alice, meanwhile, heard a disturbing voice in her sleep.

• Chitose greeted Novia warmly, showed off her elaborate Black Sailor Uniform, and explained that Lucius was investigating murders involving stolen Command Spells.
• Erice challenged Chitose for neglecting her duties, then confronted Novia about leaving her behind; Novia told her she was coming with them to Tokyo.
• After the visitors left, Alice fell asleep and heard a voice speak of starting over and urging someone to embrace and dissolve into Alice.
• Chitose and the others arrived in flooded Tokyo and met John Dee, the Night Watch member responsible for the city, and his Servant Cleopatra.
• Dee noticed that the evil spirits within Erice had become submissive, and Novia correctly predicted the words Dee had been about to say.

Erice and her companions explored the ruins of Underworld Tokyo, where John Dee revealed a newly appeared temple and its mysterious inhabitant, Rushana, a reconstruction with Gautama’s memories. Rushana explained that her Buddhahood and Buddha wisdom had been stolen, and Dee warned that the theft could threaten the world; John then questioned Novia about whether destruction could truly be prevented.

• Erice struggled with returning to submerged Tokyo, but Novia reassured her and she resolved to keep going.
• John led Erice, Novia, Chitose, and Tiamat into a newly appeared temple and asked them to keep what they learned confidential.
• A Buddha statue opened, revealing a blue-haired girl who introduced herself as Rushana.
• Rushana explained that she was a reconstruction based on Gautama’s personality and memories, and that someone had stolen her Buddhahood and Buddha wisdom.
• John warned that the theft could have a major impact and possibly destroy the world, while Novia observed that efforts to resist destruction could perpetuate tragedy.
• John asked Novia whether the world was beyond saving, having failed to simulate him with Atlas Institute techniques.

Novia agreed to help Rushana recover her Buddhahood and Buddha-Mind after she recognized him as resembling her teacher, while John Dee investigated the mystery behind her memories. The group left to visit a fruit parlor in ruined Tokyo, where Rushana and Tiamat teased Erice and enjoyed a rare peaceful outing.

• Rushana asked Novia to help her find her Buddhahood and Buddha-Mind, and he accepted after learning she possessed Gautama's memories.
• Rushana recalled a compassionate figure from Gautama's childhood and wondered why she had called Novia her teacher.
• Dee reported that he had searched Tokyo and concluded Rushana's missing Buddhahood and Buddha-Mind must have been stolen, while Rushana said she remembered bringing them to Tokyo.
• Rushana explained that Novia resembled her teacher, and Dee concluded that Novia was connected to Saint Barlaam.
• Novia outlined Underworld Tokyo's four main areas and considered the connections among John, Rushana, and the city's mysteries.
• Rushana led Novia, Erice, and Tiamat to a fruit parlor amid the ruins, while John, Cleopatra, and Chitose stayed behind.

Novia’s group met Euclid, a Foreigner-class Servant who suspected that Rushana was the last Servant to appear in Marseille Mosaic City because new summons had recently stopped manifesting. Euclid’s conversation with Erice revealed a connection between her name and the Demon King, and the chapter ended with Euclid apologizing after Novia defended her.

• Tiamat reconciled with Rushana, and Erice noticed a hooded Servant watching him at the shop.
• Euclid approached Rushana, identified him as the being who had appeared thirty days earlier, and introduced herself as a Foreigner-class Servant and librarian from Alexandria.
• Euclid explained that Servants had recently stopped appearing for new summons in Marseille Mosaic City, leading her to believe Rushana might be the last Servant.
• Euclid and Rushana discussed how Novia and Rushana seemed to fall outside the usual framework of a Holy Grail War.
• Euclid connected Erice’s name to Elysium and the Champs-Élysées, prompting Erice to remember that the Demon King had once told her about its meaning.
• After Erice said the Demon King was gone, Novia praised her knowledge, and Euclid apologized for making her uncomfortable.

Erice woke from a prophetic dream of a new Holy Grail War and questioned whether Novia was the Demon King named in it. Taira no Masakado delivered her a strange insect and told her she was a human miracle born to a Servant mother, while Novia questioned Masakado about his purpose and wish.

• After returning to the inn, Erice woke from a dream of seven Servants gathering for a Holy Grail War and recorded its details, including a voice identifying Novia as the Demon King's class.
• Erice overheard Novia speaking with a tall stranger, who gave her a motionless black insect and claimed she had no father, her mother was a Servant, and she was still human.
• Novia identified the stranger as Taira no Masakado, leaving Erice shocked.
• The chapter recounted how Novia met Masakado and questioned him about his class, abilities, Noble Phantasms, views, and purpose.
• When Novia asked Masakado what he wished for, Masakado began to explain that he wanted one particular thing above all else.

Erice discovered that the bug Taira no Masakado gave her claimed to be her mother, Nami, and struggled to accept the revelation. Nami urged Erice to face her loneliness and reconnect with people, while her startled reaction to Rushana hinted at a connection she kept hidden.

• After hearing the bug claim to be her mother, Erice asked its name, and it answered that it was Nami.
• Erice took Nami to her room and said she was content with her modest life, then recalled enjoying visits to Shinjuku but said she could not return because she had nowhere to belong there.
• Nami told Erice she was afraid to go back and challenged her claim that she did not need friends.
• Erice woke Rushana and insisted he was one of her many friends, but Nami cried out in alarm when she saw him.
• Rushana left to search for Buddha-Mind and Buddhahood with Novia, and Nami told Erice to make her move quickly.

Erice learned that Izanami had given birth to her without a father and that Chitose had adopted her, then apologized to Chitose and found renewed resolve. As Novia and Rushana discussed Kavia, a black sun appeared over Underworld Tokyo, and an ominous, soundless chamber bearing Novia’s statue was revealed.

• Izanami told Erice that she had become pregnant during the Tokyo Holy Grail War and had named her Erice, leaving Erice stunned to learn she was not Chitose’s biological granddaughter.
• Erice apologized to Chitose, who assured her that she belonged to herself, and Erice resolved to end the Holy Grail War and confront Novia and the Demon King.
• Rushana told Novia about a dream in which she considered him as a lover, then asked him about Kavia and heard how he was remembered.
• Rushana grew solemn after hearing the passage about Kavia, and a wave of malicious Od descended into Underworld Tokyo beneath a black sun.
• A soundless, isolated chamber was shown with a Saint Novia Statue replacing the Virgin Mary’s statue and one corner of the Holy Trinity blackened.

John Dee and Cleopatra moved against Tiamat in Underworld Tokyo, but Novia destroyed Ashiya Dōman before his attack could succeed. Later, Novia’s group reached the overgrown commercial district and encountered Ushiwakamaru chasing the dine-and-dash Shinkurō.

• John Dee discussed Tiamat, Novia, and the coming moves with Cleopatra, then began a Japanese magecraft incantation.
• Ashiya Dōman unleashed a black-sun attack toward Tiamat’s inn, threatening Underworld Tokyo’s remaining barrier.
• Novia countered with a powerful chant, causing Ashiya Dōman’s attempted escape to fail and reducing him to black dust.
• Novia, Erice, Tiamat, and Rushana explored the ruined commercial district while Erice and Izanami discussed Erice’s feelings and past.
• The group found the commercial district transformed into a dense forest, and Erice recognized it as the other world where she had lived.
• Ushiwakamaru chased the multicolored-haired Shinkurō through the forest, accusing him of dining and dashing from her fried-bun stall.

Novia and Erice met A Xiu, the ailing fourteen-year-old Master of Taira no Masakado and Ushiwakamaru, at Kanda Shrine, where she agreed to help them find Rushana’s Buddhahood but asked them to join the Kanda Festival. As preparations continued, Erice confronted her feelings about Tokyo and the festival, while Ushiwakamaru promised to protect A Xiu and the others from danger.

• Ushiwakamaru mistook Novia for her uncle Minamoto no Tametomo, but Taira no Masakado arrived and threw her to the ground before introducing himself as Kanda Myōjin.
• A Xiu welcomed Novia, Erice, Rushana, and Tiamat into Kanda Shrine and agreed to help them find Rushana’s Buddhahood and buddha-mind.
• A Xiu invited the group to take part in the Kanda Festival, and Novia pushed Erice to confront why she resisted helping with it.
• A Xiu revealed that she was fourteen and had an incurable illness, while Erice recognized Tokyo as the place where she had been born and felt grief for its lost past.
• Ushiwakamaru thanked Erice, Rushana, and Tiamat for their assistance and promised to shield A Xiu and the others if the festival became dangerous.

Erice considered whether her connection to Wicked Spirits and the Underworld made her a manifestation of Chigaeshi no Okami, then admitted her feelings for the Demon King to Shrine Priest A Xiu. Meanwhile, Taira no Masakado told Novia that his Master had survived Tokyo’s destruction as a living dead person, and the city’s AI had flooded Tokyo to preserve her.

• Ushiwakamaru left after Tiamat protested her decision, while Erice felt out of place with the others at Kanda Shrine.
• Erice recognized the Chibiki Stone and wondered whether she was Chigaeshi no Okami because of her power over Wicked Spirits and the interest death gods had shown in her.
• Shrine Priest A Xiu teased Erice about Novia, and Erice insisted that the person she cared about was someone else who had helped her through her recent adventures.
• Erice told A Xiu that she resented how the Demon King made friends so easily, but she could accept it if he was happy.
• Taira no Masakado told Novia that his Master had failed to complete her journey along Yomi Hirasaka and become one of the living dead.
• Masakado explained that Tokyo’s remaining City AI had submerged the city to let his Master, its last human, continue living.

Taira no Masakado asked Novia to help Erice complete the Kanda Festival and journey through Yomi Hirasaka so his Master could rest in peace. The festival began in Underworld Tokyo with Yomi Ugly Women carrying the deity palanquins, and Erice joined the ceremony scattering flowers.

• Taira no Masakado explained that Tokyo's underworld had become the Land of Roots and asked Novia to help Erice fulfill the contract and complete her journey through Yomi Hirasaka.
• Taira no Masakado recounted how Ushiwakamaru's words persuaded him to sign the contract and support her despite his grudge against Fujiwara's descendants.
• Erice, Tiamat, Rushana, Manazuru Chitose, and A Xiu prepared for the Kanda Festival with too few people to perform its full traditional rites.
• Erice stepped outside as the festival began and found the deserted shopping district filled with frightening, nonhuman attendees.
• Novia identified the attendees as Yomi Ugly Women, and Erice took her place scattering flowers as the deity palanquins were carried out.

Dee summoned David of Sasun, whose emergence killed Susa-no-O and shook Underworld Tokyo. As Taira no Masakado defended the Kanda Festival, David struck Myōken Bodhisattva and pierced his Spirit Core.

• Dee invoked a sacred hymn and called forth David of Sasun from beneath Tokyo Tower.
• Susa-no-O was revealed to be dead as David emerged into Underworld Tokyo.
• Taira no Masakado learned that Tokyo’s gates had fallen and prepared to defend his Master and the Kanda Festival.
• Taira no Masakado summoned Myōken Bodhisattva and attacked David with his tachi.
• David’s radiance overwhelmed Myōken Bodhisattva and pierced his Spirit Core.

Taira no Masakado was defeated and returned to the Throne of Heroes, while Novia intercepted Little Mher’s attack on Erice and accepted his challenge to fight. Little Mher unleashed the Lightning Divine Sword against Novia, and the battle threatened to devastate Tokyo Tower’s surroundings.

• Taira no Masakado’s Spirit Core shattered, and he returned to the Throne after touching the words “It isn't over yet” carved at Tokyo Tower.
• Little Mher attacked Erice with a world-destroying blow, but Novia appeared beside him and shattered the attack.
• Novia confronted Little Mher at Tokyo Tower and identified him as David’s son rather than David.
• Little Mher demanded that Novia fight him or take his soul, and Novia accepted his challenge.
• Little Mher unleashed the Lightning Divine Sword, summoning seawater, storms, and blades around Tokyo Tower.

Novia fought Little Mher in a manifested Saint Novia Cathedral, while John Dee's plans for Erice faltered and he unleashed Ouroboros against Tokyo. Elsewhere, Euclid lost control of the Evil God within him as Taira no Masakado's return weakened Myoken's Buddhist aspect.

• Novia manifested Saint Novia Cathedral and began battling Little Mher, protecting Underworld Tokyo from the destructive force of their blows.
• Novia challenged Little Mher's identity and resolve, provoking him to reveal his full rage and declare that he would destroy Novia and the world for Sasun.
• John Dee realized Little Mher was occupied and his plan to make Erice Poimandres was at risk, so he sent Ouroboros toward Tokyo's weakened defenses.
• Euclid heard the Evil God's whispers grow stronger after Taira no Masakado's return weakened Myoken's Buddhist aspect, and he could no longer suppress it.

Euclid encountered Luce-light, a blue-haired girl who claimed to be an accidental creation and a devoted follower of her father. In Underworld Tokyo, Chitose fought the returning Ouroboros while Erice was dressed in shrine maiden clothes in Chitose’s absence.

• Euclid mistook the blue-haired girl who appeared from a bubbling lake for the King in Yellow, but she introduced herself as Luce-light and said she was looking for her father.
• At the Kanda Festival, Chitose spotted Ouroboros outside Underworld Tokyo’s barrier and left Erice and the others to handle the festival.
• Chitose attacked Ouroboros with the Sacred Nails, breaking one of its teeth and countering its Magecraft as it raged about her past victory.
• Chitose realized Ouroboros was stalling her and that she could not contact Lucius, whose Holy Lance was needed to finish the serpent.
• Erice took Chitose’s seat on Sukunahikona’s phoenix palanquin, then gave in as Rushana, Shrine Priest A Xiu, and another companion persuaded her to wear shrine maiden clothes.

Erice helped A Xiu decide to continue the Kanda Festival, but John and Cleopatra appeared and declared Erice was destined to become Poimandres. Elsewhere, Novia confronted Little Mher, whose memories revealed the tragedy and vengeance that had driven him to madness.

• A Xiu blamed herself for the Tokyo turmoil and offered to give up her Command Spells so another Master could summon Masakado.
• Tiamat and Rushana urged A Xiu not to sacrifice herself, and A Xiu explained that she held the Kanda Festival because she had promised a friend.
• Erice accepted A Xiu’s reason and agreed to support the festival, which moved toward its conclusion.
• John and Cleopatra appeared before an altar and told Erice she was destined to become Poimandres.
• Little Mher attacked Novia and accused him of being Jehovah, while Novia insisted he was not the god Little Mher hated.
• Little Mher’s memories revealed that he killed Chimshkin Kasudan and his half-sister in revenge for his parents’ deaths, then convinced himself that his killings upheld divine justice.

Novia fought Little Gelm, drawing on the Second Sun and the Fifth Sun to defeat her before Luce arrived and covered the unconscious girl. Meanwhile, John Dee revealed that Erice was central to his plan and ordered Cleopatra to kill Rushana as the Philosopher’s Stone appeared.

• Little Gelm attacked Novia over the deaths of her family, but he cut through her chains and continued fighting her.
• Novia deployed the Second Sun and used the Fifth Sun’s power to drive Little Gelm into the ground, disintegrating her body.
• Little Gelm reached for the Holy Sword of the Sea, and Novia let her take it before apologizing.
• Luce appeared after the bounded field around Tokyo Tower vanished and covered the unconscious Little Gelm with her raincoat.
• At the Kanda Festival, John Dee told Erice that no Servant was worthy of becoming her familiar and that she was a miracle tied to his plan.
• Dee used power taken from his child to destroy the statue, while Cleopatra ordered Rushana to kill Erice and a Philosopher’s Stone appeared.

The chapter revealed Cleopatra’s origins and showed Dee and Cleopatra using the Philosopher’s Stone to activate Rushana’s creator-bound nature. Erice fled with A Xiu to Kanda Shrine, where her appearance changed and A Xiu identified her as Lady Izanami’s daughter, while Rushana resisted her compulsion and prayed for her teacher.

• The chapter traced Cleopatra’s lineage from Zenobia and Zosimus and identified her as an alchemist created from their descendants.
• Dee and Cleopatra advanced their ritual, and Cleopatra’s Philosopher’s Stone cut off the source sustaining Rushana’s existence.
• Rushana urged Erice to flee with A Xiu, and Erice carried A Xiu toward Kanda Shrine.
• At the shrine, Erice heard a voice challenge her humanity and saw that her eyes and hair had transformed.
• A Xiu told Erice that Lady Izanami was her mother and that Aunt Nami’s protection had kept her alive.
• Rushana resisted the command to kill Erice and prayed for her teacher, while Dee said Rushana’s hidden enemy would kill her past and accepted that Cleopatra would eventually kill him.

Erice learned that John Dee and his allies were too strong to confront directly, so Izanami revealed a dangerous route through Tokoyo that might offer a chance to survive. Erice arrived at the legendary inner sea and learned she had to defeat Ōwatatsumi to enter.

• Erice reflected on Tokyo's uneasy peace and how its residents treated her and Izanami as objects of fascination.
• Izanami awakened in bug form and admitted that John Dee's group was formidable, while promising to fight alongside Erice.
• Erice told Izanami that she trusted her to stand by her as her mother, and Izanami revealed a perilous alternative to facing their enemies.
• Izanami sent Erice to Tokoyo, the inner sea of the heart in Japan, where Erice found herself on a shore with no boat.
• Izanami explained that Erice had to defeat the Great Sea God, Ōwatatsumi, to gain the sea's recognition and enter Tokoyo.

Erice reached Tokoyo, where Sukunahikona revealed her potential as the founder of Japan’s Fourth-Generation Divine System and she faced a choice between two paths. Novia appeared as Poimandres and tested her, leaving Erice overwhelmed by the difference in their power.

• Erice used the Pod Boat to cross the sea, and Ōwatatsumi let her pass into Tokoyo.
• Sukunahikona welcomed Erice to the Dragon Palace and explained that she could become a sovereign god of the Utsu divine system.
• Erice entered a strange white space, found two diverging paths, and saw Novia seated on a throne.
• Novia called himself Poimandres and asked Erice whether she could defeat him.
• Novia attacked Erice with storms, then shattered all six of her Magic Bullet Shooter shots with a sigh.
• Erice realized Novia had deliberately missed his attacks to show their power gap and demanded to know why he had her name.

Erice rejected becoming Poimandres and chose to keep moving forward on her own path, defeating the Bird of Hermes as she faced Novia. Novia then asked her to close her eyes and imagine the universe before beginning to tell her about her birth and the war that followed.

• Erice drew on her other self’s resolve and stood up despite the overwhelming power of Novia and the Bird of Hermes.
• Erice declared that humanity would keep advancing and challenging the unknown rather than accept Poimandres’s definition of correctness.
• Erice summoned the Wicked Spirit Medium Demon King and the Alder Tree to bind the Bird of Hermes, then destroyed it with the Magic Bullet Shooter’s final bullet.
• Erice refused both Poimandres and the Great Lord of the East, choosing to keep moving forward as Utsumi Erice.
• Novia rose and told Erice to close her eyes and imagine the universe, then began describing her birth in 2011 and the Third World War.

Novia showed Erice the truth of her birth and Tokyo’s destruction, then helped her accept responsibility for the dead and affirm her chosen path as a weak human. He sent her back to Kanda Shrine in Underworld Tokyo to face Cleopatra, whose power manifested Hermes Trismegistus.

• Novia explained that Erice was born as the hoped-for divine heir of Japan and that John Dee and Baal had plotted to use her for their own ends.
• Novia showed Erice her childhood memories of the 2015 attack that destroyed Tokyo, including her mother’s death, her friend’s death, and her escape across the sea.
• Erice recalled feeling responsible for Tokyo’s 521,471 deaths and accepted responsibility for her mother’s death, her friend’s death, and her own death.
• Novia affirmed Erice’s choice to remain weak and promised to oppose anyone who rejected her, then told her to face the approaching Cleopatra.
• Novia returned Erice to Kanda Shrine, where Cleopatra’s approach revealed the power of Hermes Trismegistus.

Rushana accepted that she was not Buddha but admitted she still wanted to pursue her path and live, even if doing so was selfish. Novia encouraged her to choose for herself and sent her to Erice alone, where she resolved to carry out his will and protect his name.

• Novia found Rushana sitting near Kanda Shrine and spoke with her about Gautama’s teachings and the path he had chosen.
• Rushana said she hated the plan to make her a sacrifice for Erice and feared that staying near her could lead to losing control.
• Novia asked Rushana whether she truly wanted to give up her pursuit, and she confessed she did not want to disappear, even if that wish was selfish.
• Novia told Rushana that a choice made from her heart was enough and encouraged her to pursue her own desires.
• Novia ordered Rushana to go to Erice alone, and Rushana resolved to carry out his will and protect his name and glory.

Erice confronted Cleopatra, who used the Pluto Drug to impose a death fixed in Erice’s past, but Erice awakened her Poimandres authority and exposed Cleopatra as Hermes the Thrice-Great. Hermes argued that the planet itself was responsible for their predetermined lives and should be destroyed, leaving Erice facing the scale of his goal.

• Rushana, the Savior, and Dainichi Nyorai discussed Rushana’s unknown younger sister, and Dainichi privately worried that he had created her through alchemy.
• Erice emerged from Kanda Shrine and confronted Cleopatra, who explained that she had used the Pluto Drug to make Erice destined to die within minutes.
• Erice attacked Cleopatra with the power of the Great Lord of the East, but Cleopatra’s defenses stopped her and Erice began to weaken.
• Erice drew on the land’s leylines and alchemical knowledge to overcome Cleopatra’s flames and identify her as Hermes the Thrice-Great.
• Hermes claimed that he, John Dee, Manazuru Chitose, Ouroboros, Little Mher, and Erice were victims of lives fixed by the planet, and declared that the planet should be destroyed.

Erice confronted Hermes Trismegistus in Tokyo ten years in the past, but his curse left her unable to move before a distant voice called her name. Meanwhile, Novia challenged John Dee’s attempt to recreate the past and forced him to confront the limits of his ideals, leaving Dee stunned by the truth about the Church’s changing worth.

• Hermes Trismegistus explained his plan to destroy Earth and create another planet, and Erice refused to yield unless he killed her.
• Hermes Trismegistus sent Erice to Tokyo ten years earlier and used poisonous dust to immobilize her while identifying the gods whose powers she held.
• John Dee knelt in Underworld Tokyo, lamenting his failure and remembering the man whose deeds had inspired his dream of healing divisions among believers.
• Novia told John Dee that he had deceived himself by believing he could restore the past and revealed that he was Avia, the man Dee had revered.
• John Dee demanded to know why Avia had not purified the Church, and Avia explained that its corruption could not simply be undone and that its worth had changed with time.