Chapter Summaries

Orsaga sent the Reaper, a heavily armed construct, to attack an adventurer squad investigating the forest. The squad escaped its first barrage with Shadow Transfer, but the Reaper continued its assault as the ground shook beneath its approach.

• The Captain ordered the squad to withdraw if danger appeared, while a hidden Phantom Eye watched them from above.
• Orsaga identified the adventurers and sent the Reaper to kill them.
• The catkin assassin spotted something approaching, and the squad prepared for battle as a red light appeared in the sky.
• The Reaper fired a laser from beyond visual range, carving a vast trench through the forest and scattering the squad with the blast.
• The Reaper landed and unleashed a rapid barrage of laser fire, but a Spellcaster used Shadow Transfer to pull the squad into the shadows.
• Explosions covered the battlefield as the Reaper advanced, shaking the ground with its footsteps.

The Reaper launched a devastating attack on the adventuring party, whose Spellcasters blocked its lasers with defensive magic. The Captain charged and struck the Reaper’s Void Shield, but his attack barely made it ripple.

• The Captain watched the Reaper smash through the forest and leap into the sky toward his party.
• The Reaper fired a rain of lasers, and the Spellcasters used Light Mirror, Imprisonment Field, and Powerful Barrier to protect the party.
• The Captain asked the Spellcasters to layer defensive spells on him so he could try fighting the Reaper at close range.
• The Reaper landed before the party with an earth-shaking impact, and the Captain swallowed his urge to flee.
• The Captain charged through the spell shield and slashed the Reaper’s Void Shield, barely making it ripple.

The adventurers tried to exploit the Reaper’s weaknesses, but its defenses and firepower overwhelmed their efforts. After unleashing a devastating 360-degree barrage, the Reaper waited in a lava lake for survivors hiding in the Shadow Realm.

• The captain dodged the Reaper’s attacks, but its Phantom Eye Group tracked him and its lasers stripped away his defensive spells.
• The party protected the captain with additional spells, including Light Mirror, while restraining the Reaper and hindering its movement.
• The warrior-class adventurers attacked the Reaper’s Void Shield as its restraints began to fail.
• The Reaper drove its reactor to maximum output and swept the battlefield with crimson lasers, carving the terrain into a lava lake.
• The Reaper spotted surviving adventurers in the Shadow Realm but could not attack them, so it remained on standby.

Orsaga finished stripping the primeval forest of its resources and sent his Shadow Crocodile to deal with the adventurers who had fought the Reaper. The Shadow Crocodile swallowed their group and the surrounding land, leaving a vast abyss.

• Orsaga recalled his Giant Excavators and other resource-gathering creations after deciding to leave the depleted forest.
• Orsaga summoned the Shadow Crocodile and traveled through a shadow doorway toward the Reaper's wreckage.
• A Kou Clan woman and an adventurer captain discussed their costly battle with the Reaper and the captain's investigation mission.
• The Kou Clan woman realized the Reaper might have been connected to a powerful owner just as colossal shadows surged from the ground.
• The Shadow Crocodile consumed the adventurers and a region dozens of square kilometers wide, leaving a gigantic abyss.

Wujin refused Nicol Bolas’s request to help him gain greater strength and status, so the brothers fought inside Wujin’s artificial realm. Nicol Bolas summoned several past versions of himself, leaving Wujin trying to send them back through time and space.

• Nicol Bolas entered Wujin’s realm and asked his brother to help him advance in strength and status.
• Wujin rejected the request, suspecting Nicol Bolas would betray him once he got what he wanted.
• Nicol Bolas declared that he would eliminate Wujin as a threat, and Wujin attacked first with Dragon Breath.
• The brothers’ Dragon Breaths collided, annihilating much of Wujin’s artificial world and forcing him backward.
• Nicol Bolas summoned several versions of himself from the past, while Wujin attempted to reverse time and space to exile them.

Nicol Bolas killed and devoured Wujin, triggering changes across several worlds and planes. The Only God launched a vast experiment to create a being stronger than itself to face Shi Tiankong.

• Nicol Bolas tore Wujin apart, burned his body and soul, then swallowed his essence and grew more powerful.
• Nicol Bolas's roar warped time and space into a catastrophic vortex capable of devouring worlds.
• Wujin's death stopped the magical storm in Tachyon World, leaving humans to consider the dragons' weakened ability to reproduce while they waited to see if the change lasted.
• Wujin's death weakened Zendikar's sealing ritual, allowing Imokku, Ulamo, and Kojire to begin recovering sooner; Orsaga wondered who had helped him.
• The Only God accepted that it could not defeat Shi Tiankong and placed three hundred quadrillion experimental subjects across its plane, intending to make them compete until the strongest survived.

After completing the final trial of Crimson Heaven’s Peak Ladder, Sena asked Orsaga to revive her captain, Ite. Orsaga rewrote their fates so they had survived together, and Sena and Ite knelt before him in gratitude.

• Orsaga watched Sena complete her final trial after spending an immense span of time climbing the Peak Ladder.
• Sena opened the palace gates, entered the hall, and asked Orsaga to bring her captain back to life.
• Orsaga showed Sena Ite’s life and let her choose the moment from which he would be revived.
• Orsaga denied Ite’s destined death and altered the Timeline so Sena and Ite had survived together.
• Sena and Ite knelt in the hall and prayed to Orsaga.

After Sena and Ite left, Orsaga explained to Golanel how he had allowed Sena to pass the Peak Ladder and discussed the couple’s possible futures. He then described how his Present as the Beginning authority made him nearly impossible to kill, though he admitted he was not invincible.

• Golanel appeared beside Orsaga and said she had only given Sena an opportunity after finding her near death, while Orsaga said Sena had earned her progress through her own ability.
• Golanel asked whether Orsaga had gone easy on Sena in the final trial, and he replied that her success was inevitable after she had reached the 6,666,665th trial.
• Golanel asked whether Sena and Ite would have a happy future, and Orsaga said most of the two million Timelines he examined had good endings, though forces beyond their control could still ruin them.
• Golanel asked whether Orsaga could see his own future, and he explained that Present as the Beginning made his past, present, and future selves independent yet unified.
• Orsaga told Golanel that he could draw upon power from his other selves but could not reach Demon Prince-level power, though he believed no Abyss Lord could kill him.

Orsaga reflected on his Authorities and how they let him grow stronger by exploiting and weakening others, while his Future Bodies tested powerful beings for him. He was left feeling lonely because he had never found a worthy opponent to fight.

• Orsaga recognized that he had little direct experience judging his strength, since weaker beings died instantly and he avoided stronger ones.
• Orsaga used his Future Bodies to test powerful natives of Outer Planes, but acknowledged that his ability had limited range and risked detection by Abyss Lords.
• Orsaga reviewed his Authorities, including Sole Dominator, Source of Eternal Suffering, False Calamity Flame, Boundless Demonic Plague, Eternal Metamorphosis, and Master of Seven Emotions and Six Desires.
• Orsaga noted that his Authorities let him harvest power from weaker targets and grow rapidly, even without effort.
• Orsaga felt lonely and regretted that his demonic life had consisted of bullying weak targets instead of facing worthy opponents.

Orsaga continued gathering resources while Nicol Bolas remained dormant, and the Fragment Demons grew powerful enough to travel between worlds. They invaded Huai Sha World, where their rapid evolution and spreading contamination forced its rival factions to unite.

• Orsaga roamed from plane to plane, plundering resources for his Great Demon Level Crimson Card while avoiding detection.
• The Fragment Demons conquered a desolate world, divided into six clans, and developed an imperfect ability to travel between worlds.
• A Fragment Demon arrived in Huai Sha World through a spacetime current and crashed near Glagna City, contaminating people with its power.
• Modified beings sent Huai Sha World’s coordinates to Fragment Demons across spacetime, and many invaded despite losses during their journeys.
• The Fragment Demons devastated Huai Sha World’s native factions, evolving by consuming their prey and driving rival races to join forces.

Rade used a powerful spell to tear apart many Fragment Demons, but the battle still looked grim and his mana was limited. General Pard confirmed that Lord Boer had received a request for aid and would come to Huai Sha World, though the defenders had to hold out until he arrived.

• Rade asked for countermeasures, then summoned supersonic air blades that shredded most of the Fragment Demons they struck.
• Rade's attack left allied troops covered in demon remains, but their precautions against corruption prevented a major friendly-fire disaster.
• Several nobles praised Rade's spell while he hid his frustration at their uselessness and worried about his limited mana and the growing number of Fragment Demons.
• Rade asked General Pard whether the king had requested aid from Lord Boer.
• General Pard said Lord Boer had received the message but was far away, so the defenders needed to hold out until he arrived.

Boer arrived at the battlefield in Huai Sha World and confirmed that the Fragment Demons were an exceptionally dangerous threat. He unleashed a vast magical attack and watched for signs of Planeswalker-level Fragment Demons.

• Boer opened a Space Door and appeared above the battlefield, where the natives recognized him.
• Boer saw a Fragment Demon kill and devour a serf soldier, then rapidly evolve and heal.
• Several Fragment Demons attacked Boer, but a crimson blaze burned them to dust before they could reach him.
• Boer cast a spell that rained silent, heatless flames across the battlefield, burning the Fragment Demons while sparing allies.
• Boer studied the burning battlefield for hidden Planeswalker-level Fragment Demons that could warrant a warning to other Planeswalkers.

Boer defeated the Fragment Demons on the battlefield and took command of the allied forces, ordering them to reorganize and guard against infection. He hoped to resolve the crisis quickly so he could return to researching a parasitic moss with commercial potential.

• Boer’s fire spell killed or drove off the Fragment Demons, while he stayed alert for hidden Planeswalker-level enemies.
• Boer descended into the command camp, where the gathered officials were intimidated by his presence and Rade envied his power.
• Boer entered the command post and asked about the allied forces’ losses.
• Nicholas Zhao Shi introduced himself as a descendant of Boer’s former subordinate, Nicholas Kyle, and reported to Boer.
• Boer ordered the troops to rest, reorganize, and screen for Fragment Demon infection, then warned the nations to obey his instructions.
• Boer planned to return to researching a parasitic moss that he expected to sell across many worlds.

Orsaga reviewed how Imokku’s churches had spread across worlds and watched believers build a city designed to conceal a Special Ritual. He left the pope to keep the plan on schedule, while the ritual’s true purpose remained far beyond the believers’ lifetimes.

• Orsaga examined information about Imokku’s churches and the Sacred Texts he had written to help them flourish across different worlds.
• A maid who believed Orsaga was the Divine Emissary of the God of Sky left after serving him, unaware that he was an existence from an Outer Plane.
• Orsaga looked over a new city built by Imokku’s believers and reflected that its design would secretly house a Special Ritual aiding the Ozhaki trio.
• The pope arrived and reported that Orsaga’s instructions had been carried out.
• Orsaga told the pope to ensure everything proceeded according to plan without unnecessary interference, and the pope agreed.

After setting the Church’s child-rearing program on course, Orsaga left to visit other worlds. More than two hundred years later, a teleportation mishap brought him to an abandoned artificial world, where he examined its crude mechanically modified creatures.

• Orsaga told the Pope to seek help from Churches in other worlds if a crisis arose, then departed.
• More than two hundred years later, Orsaga emerged from an azure portal in an unfamiliar, decaying artificial world.
• Orsaga concealed himself and discovered crudely modified beasts among the world’s abandoned machinery.
• Orsaga inspected a metal-reinforced giant lizard and identified its basic drive system and three attack tubes, noting that its attacks also injured its own mouth.

Orsaga descended through the layered metal world and discovered that its strange grease was a modified, mutation-inducing lifeform. He followed the clues toward the core, where he found a Planeswalker being dissected and stopped to observe.

• Orsaga used Bloody Sigh to fall through the metal layers, then paused to examine a layer coated in strange grease.
• Orsaga used Omniscient Vision to learn that the grease was a bacteria-virus-like substance that accelerated growth and mutation, and that someone had modified it.
• Orsaga connected the modifications to crude creatures nearby and headed toward the world's core.
• Orsaga arrived at a bloody dissection chamber and found a man dissecting a wounded female Planeswalker whose power had been sealed.
• Orsaga moved closer to watch the dissection without being noticed.

Orsaga watched Yogmoth’s experiments on the captured Planeswalker, Difid, and secretly read her memories after she died. He learned how Yogmoth had deceived and captured her, and that the artificial world they were in was the world Yogmoth had transformed into Phyrexia.

• Difid died after two days of torment, and Yogmoth continued dissecting her body.
• Orsaga secretly collected fragments of Difid’s soul and read her memories.
• Orsaga learned that Difid had met Yogmoth on Dominaria while seeking Gracian, a Sollan genius studying time and space.
• Difid collaborated with Yogmoth, then discovered evidence of his crimes and confronted him.
• Yogmoth lured Difid into Phyrexia, revealed his monstrous creations, and stabbed her while she was distracted.
• Yogmoth captured Difid and used her in experiments on Planeswalker power.

Orsaga watched Yogmoth’s experiment on Difid fail, leaving Yogmoth trapped in Phyrexia and plotting to escape by completing a dangerous fusion ritual. As Yogmoth brooded over Rebecca’s betrayal, his past experiments and crimes were recounted.

• Orsaga pitied Difid after learning about her tragic life, while Yogmoth’s dissection experiment failed.
• Yogmoth blamed Planeswalker and Rebecca for his predicament and vowed to slaughter his enemies if he escaped.
• Yogmoth planned to finish a fusion ritual that could merge him with Phyrexia and give him a chance to open a spatial passage.
• Yogmoth’s experiments began with death-row prisoners, but the Sollan authorities stopped funding them after he killed subjects too quickly.
• Yogmoth secretly obtained more test subjects, was exposed for causing disappearances, and was exiled rather than executed.
• Yogmoth pursued revenge through further experiments, including releasing targeted viruses and dissecting civilians.

Yogmoth planned to control the Sollans and perfect Glistening Oil, while Orsaga used Omniscient Vision to recognize him as a fate-favored villain. Orsaga decided to exploit his expertise to guide Yogmoth’s development and advance a plan of his own.

• Yogmoth grew resentful of the Sollans and considered turning them into flesh Divine Artifact creatures once he gained enough power.
• Yogmoth examined Glistening Oil and valued its ability to drive endless evolution, despite its tendency to cause madness and mutation.
• Orsaga studied Yogmoth’s modified Glistening Oil and inferred the direction of his research.
• Orsaga used Omniscient Vision and saw Yogmoth as a growing black vortex, identifying him as a villain favored by fate.
• Orsaga decided to guide Yogmoth’s plague research and formed a plan after considering Difid’s spark.

The chapter compared native Power Systems with the highly competitive systems of the Bottomless Abyss, explaining how native heroes and villains usually served their plane’s fate and how their powers often had severe limitations. It left the Abyss’s surviving powers divided into all-round systems and extreme systems, including cunning and brutally strong Abyss Demons.

• The chapter explained that a plane’s consciousness treated internal destruction and slaughter as natural changes, while invaders such as Abyss Demons caused real losses by taking resources beyond the plane.
• It described most Children of the Plane and Children of the World as temporary figures whose rise and fall were set by fate, while Abyss Creatures looked down on natives as sacrifices in their planes’ evolution.
• The chapter listed weaknesses common to native Power Systems, including fragile bodies, mental vulnerabilities, limited lifespans, and powers that failed outside their own plane.
• It contrasted planes where different powers competed along the same path with the Bottomless Abyss, where beings used radically different methods and weaker systems were eliminated.
• The chapter concluded that the Abyss’s surviving Power Systems were either broadly capable in every area or extreme systems with few fatal weaknesses and exceptional strengths, such as those of Abyss Demons.