Chapter Summaries

Murphy discovered that destroying the newborn gods only led people to worship him, so he rejected the power of faith and tried teaching wizards knowledge and magic instead. Two hundred years later, he found that the shamans he had taught had become gods themselves, and he feared he could never defeat humanity’s enduring belief in gods.

• Murphy returned to the valley and found worshipers had erected a statue of him, whose collected faith gave him vast mental power and magic.
• Murphy rejected the idea of becoming the one true god, recognizing that faith could pollute him and make humanity dependent on authority.
• Murphy learned that wizards’ prayers and imagination created gods, then used Memory Duplication to teach selected shamans basic knowledge so people could learn magic themselves.
• After half a year ensuring the knowledge had spread, Murphy used the third Time-Turner to travel two hundred years into the future.
• Murphy returned to the valley and found a giant city with statues of gods, including the shamans he had taught, who had become gods themselves.
• Murphy understood that people’s belief in gods would endure and concluded that he might have no chance of winning his war against them.

Murphy killed the Three-Headed God and traveled two centuries forward to assess his attempt to spread the Path of Self-Awareness, only to find it had become a religion that worshiped him. Concluding that humanity could not yet eliminate the gods, he decided to seek ways to restrain them by exploiting their rivalries and shaping them through legends.

• Murphy used his Blade of Fate to kill the Three-Headed God and drain its divine power.
• Murphy traveled through time and tried spreading scientific thinking among Muggles, but their knowledge of science faded into ignorance and magic.
• Murphy spent years promoting the Path of Self-Awareness, then jumped two centuries ahead and found his teachings had turned into a religion that worshiped an Awakened God resembling him.
• Murphy killed the Awakened God and concluded that humanity needed greater productivity and technological advancement before it could eliminate gods.
• Murphy realized he should focus on restraining the gods for a time and considered manipulating their rivalries and spreading legends to influence their behavior.

Murphy gave Homer the vision of the Ring of the Nibelung, hoping the blind poet would adapt and spread the epic. More than ten years later, Murphy found Homer’s tomb without hearing the story sung, and Apollo appeared to meet him.

• At a Theban banquet, Murphy offered Homer wine and asked about the blind poet’s songs and travels.
• Murphy sent the story of the Ring of the Nibelung into Homer’s mind, including Siegfried’s death, Brunhild’s sacrifice, and the fall of Valhalla.
• Shaken by the epic, Homer decided to preserve and pass it on, despite not knowing who Murphy was.
• More than ten years later, Murphy searched Thebes for the epic and found Homer’s tomb beside a ruined temple.
• Murphy left wine at the tomb, and Apollo appeared, saying Homer’s epic would make him immortal and that he had waited for Murphy.

Apollo revealed that Zeus had created Wotan as an avatar to guard against a prophecy of betrayal and asked Murphy to spread the Nibelung story so Apollo could destroy it and claim Olympus’s throne. Murphy demanded one-third of Apollo’s divine power, then demonstrated magic whose quality stunned the sun god.

• Apollo explained that Zeus had used poisoned Nectar to silence the poet whose long poem had alarmed the gods.
• Apollo told Murphy that Wotan was Zeus’s hidden avatar, created to avert Cronus’s prophecy that Zeus would be betrayed by his children.
• Apollo asked Murphy to spread the Nibelung story through several city-states so he could use its power to eliminate Wotan without openly confronting Zeus’s allies.
• Murphy agreed in principle but demanded one-third of Apollo’s divine power in exchange for taking the risk.
• Apollo grew furious at the demand, but Murphy revealed his extraordinary magic power, leaving Apollo shaken by its quality.

Murphy accepted Apollo’s divine power and Golden Fleece, then reconsidered how legends might let him restrain the gods as a whole. As he began forming a plan based on deception and control of divine power, Hades appeared before him.

• Murphy explained that his apparent divinity was actually magic and accepted half of Apollo’s divine power in exchange for keeping Apollo’s affairs secret and spreading the Nibelungen Epic.
• Apollo gave Murphy a Golden Fleece that Murphy suspected had belonged to Khnum, prompting him to wonder about the gods’ hidden identities and incarnations.
• After Apollo left, Murphy concluded that legends could influence gods but would not control them unless he created an information gap and deceived them.
• Murphy began to consider using divine power, rather than divinities, to restrict and isolate the gods, but Hades appeared as the sky turned dark.

Murphy agreed to help Hades pursue Zeus in exchange for all the divine power they gained. More than a century later, Odin’s gods confronted altered omens of Ragnarok, and a mysterious brother arrived at Valhalla claiming to have brought everything.

• Murphy questioned Hades about Apollo’s betrayal, and Hades admitted he wanted Zeus dead.
• Hades offered Murphy all the divine power gained after their plan succeeded, and Murphy agreed to cooperate.
• In Asgard, Heimdall presented a singing head that recited the Song of the Nibelungs, alarming the gods with its prophecy of Valhalla’s ruin.
• Frigg warned that the omens of Ragnarok had changed, while Balder described a dream of darkness consuming the Nine Realms.
• Odin declared that war could not be avoided and that the gods must prepare.
• A strange red-haired god entered Valhalla, knocked the singing head aside, and dropped a sack before Odin, saying he had brought everything.

Loki returned to Asgard with magical treasures for the gods, including the Ring of the Nibelung, and Odin accepted the ring despite Frigg's warning. As the ring filled Odin with power and greed, Loki declared that its destruction would be the beginning of a new world.

• Loki returned to Asgard and gave Odin a spear, Freyr a ship, Thor a hammer, and Sif a magically restored head of golden hair.
• Loki revealed that he had found the Ring of the Nibelung in a dwarf's cave beneath the Rhine and offered it to Odin.
• Odin hesitated over the ring's destructive legend but took it after seeing the gods drawn to its power.
• The ring drained Odin's divine power briefly, then greatly expanded his perception and ability to wield his power across Asgard and the mortal world.
• Frigg urged Odin to destroy the ring, but Odin refused, believing it could help the gods survive Ragnarok.
• Frigg accused Loki of bringing destruction, and Loki called it the beginning of a new world.

Loki explained how the Ring of the Nibelung and the legends around it had fueled a curse ritual that set Asgard ablaze. As Apollo transformed into Siegfried and attacked Valhalla, Loki revealed that the ritual was meant to bring about a son killing his father.

• Loki told Hades that the Ring of the Nibelung had become a powerful wishing vessel and curse medium through legend, enabling the wildfire ritual.
• Loki and Hades discussed how they had helped create Siegfried from Balder and how Fenrir's attack on Sól had exposed Hades to Apollo.
• A blazing giant emerged from the forests, split Valhalla Temple with his sword, and challenged Odin.
• The gods recognized the giant as Siegfried, and Hades realized Apollo had become him.
• Loki explained that Apollo had mixed half his soul into Siegfried and taken the role of Odin's son killing his father.

Surtur’s attack on Asgard ended when Odin destroyed the Ring of the Nibelung, but Hades immediately launched an invasion with Hela and the Underworld army. After a giant wolf tore Odin apart, Hades led his forces into Asgard, intent on killing the gods and claiming them as his own.

• Surtur wounded Odin while fighting under the curse, and Loki explained that the Ring of the Nibelung was the source of Surtur’s power.
• Sol impaled Odin alongside Surtur, but mistletoe sprouted from Surtur’s back and exposed the Ring of the Nibelung in his heart.
• Odin used Gungnir to split the ring, causing Surtur to explode and the ring to fall back into the Rhine.
• Hela arrived with the Underworld fleet, and Odin’s spear failed to stop her; a giant wolf then tore away half of Odin’s body.
• Hades announced Odin’s death and ordered the Underworld army and its monsters to slaughter the gods and conquer Asgard.

Thor reclaimed the Eyes of Horus, transformed into Ra, and defeated Hades, then urged the Aesir to wage war against Olympus. Loki left Asgard unharmed, shed his disguise, and vanished toward the next era to prepare another lie for the gods.

• Loki watched Thor defeat Surt, Jörmungandr, and Fenrir, then take Mimir’s eye and Odin’s intact head.
• Thor placed the Eyes of Horus in his sockets, revealed his connection to Ra, and destroyed Hades with help from a flaming sword.
• Thor absorbed Hades and transformed into Ra before leading the Aesir to rout the underworld army.
• Thor declared that Zeus and Hades had plotted Ragnarok and called for war between the Aesir and the Olympian Gods.
• Loki left the battle, crossed Asgard’s cursed flames unharmed, and shed his God of Tricks disguise.
• Loki used a pocket-watch-shaped object to disappear and travel to the next era.

Murphy returned from the Ragnarok experiment with divine power and Rhinegold secured for his planned divine prison, then arrived at a tense wizard camp near Camelot. Myrddin Wyllt tried to protect him from the soldiers, but Godson Merlin appeared and seized Myrddin for speaking against him.

• Murphy reflected on the success of the Ragnarok experiment and the divine power he had gathered.
• Murphy used his ring to sense and control the Rhinegold sleeping beneath the Rhine, which he planned to use as the core of a divine prison.
• Murphy teleported to a military camp near Camelot and discovered that it was a gathering place for wizards and other intelligent species.
• An officer accused Murphy of being a spy and ordered the soldiers to seize him.
• Myrddin Wyllt intervened, claiming Murphy was one of Godson Merlin's men, then warned him that Merlin was a warlord rather than a savior of wizards.
• Godson Merlin seized Myrddin by the throat with a hand of branches and vines and threatened to kill him for speaking against him again.

Murphy confronted Merlin, who was enslaving wizards at a camp as part of a war against Christian followers. After Merlin attacked him, Murphy killed him and scanned his brain, learning that Britain’s native gods had created multiple sons of God to rally an army; other powerful figures then surrounded Murphy.

• Merlin threatened Wilt to test Murphy, but Murphy severed the vines and freed Wilt.
• Wilt told Murphy that Merlin and the other sons of God had enslaved wizards to forge weapons for their war against Christians.
• Merlin attacked Murphy with earth and thorny vines, but Murphy emerged unharmed and seized him.
• Murphy used a physical brain scan to kill Merlin and read his memories, discovering the native gods’ plan and that other sons of God were at the camp.
• Several powerful magical presences gathered around Murphy.

Murphy watched a battle between the children of Britain's native gods and a Christian angel legion, as mortal forces attacked their camp. With the gods cut off from their followers and Cú Chulainn near death, Murphy offered Ríg a chance to save his friend.

• Murphy recognized that Britain around 400 CE was contested by Christianity, native gods, and other pantheons, and watched as children of the Tuatha Dé Danann surrounded him.
• An angel legion descended from the clouds while Christian cavalry charged the camp, and Cú Chulainn led the children of gods into battle.
• Four archangels emerged from the angels’ ritual and overwhelmed the children of gods, while Ríg used his healing cauldron to treat the wounded.
• The cavalry broke through the camp’s defenses, most of the children of gods were killed or gravely wounded, and Cú Chulainn was left near death.
• Murphy told Ríg that the Christian God’s power had blocked their prayers and offered to help save Cú Chulainn.

Murphy saved Cú Chulainn’s camp from the Archangels and Crusader cavalry, then revealed that he intended to recruit Britain’s native gods and empower wizards. He declared that he would help the wizards build the Magic Web, leaving the camp poised for a new alliance.

• Murphy destroyed the Archangels and drove off most of the Angel Legion, allowing the godchildren and camp forces to defeat the Crusader cavalry.
• The survivors thanked Murphy, and he asked why the godchildren had gathered wizards in their camp.
• Cú Chulainn explained that they were protecting hunted wizards and teaching them goblin alchemy so they could forge weapons.
• Murphy challenged the godchildren’s belief that wizards were too weak to fight, then summoned thousands of flaming swords over the camp.
• Murphy told the wizards that they could become powerful warriors through the Magic Web and promised to help them build it.

Murphy explained how he would build a Magic Web to strengthen wizards and attract the Godchildren and deities into using it. He planned to make the network a controlled trap, with himself retaining hidden access and authority.

• Murphy described the Magic Web’s components and explained that magical metals, varied magic power, and a ritual would be needed to build it.
• Murphy said he would have the wizards produce the network’s magical materials and use their magic power, while keeping the Godchildren involved only later.
• Murphy planned to equip the Magic Web with a trained neural network that would let users cast spells through simple commands while conserving magic power.
• The Godchildren were overwhelmed by Murphy’s explanation and eagerly left the complex construction work to the wizards.
• Murphy decided the Magic Web would serve as a cage for the deities, who would depend on its power while remaining under his control.

Murphy led the wizards in preparing the Magic Web and, after months of work, completed its large model and began building the first node. He left the gathered wizards and divine children impressed after creating the node’s underground foundation through precise magic.

• Murphy took over Merlin’s identity and used Seeds of the Mind to give thirteen wizards the knowledge and loyalty needed to organize the Magic Web project.
• Over several months, the wizards learned to refine Orichalcum, built a smelting furnace, and gathered specialized magic power while Murphy trained the Magic Web’s large model.
• In the seventh month, Murphy announced the construction ceremony and demonstrated how he could shape his magic power into a sharply bounded area without external tools.
• Murphy transformed the ground into a deep pit, then formed and hardened a cylindrical basin with a complex honeycomb structure underground.
• The watching wizards and divine children were astonished, and Murphy called for the Orichalcum to be brought over.

Murphy completed the first Magic Web node, secretly supplying it with divine magic while a public ritual made the wizards appear to power it. The node awakened, and the wizards discovered they could cast magic with their minds alone.

• Murphy forged a layered Orichalcum circuit motherboard, installed magical chips and functional modules, then sealed the node inside a ceramic casing.
• Hundreds of wizards, led by Murphy's thirteen disciples, performed a ritual to feed the node crystals containing polar magic.
• Murphy secretly added divine magic and concealed his role, while the watching godchildren debated whether the Magic Web was genuine.
• After the ritual ended, a wave passed through the wizards, connecting them to the surrounding magic and giving them a new sensation of ability.
• One wizard produced sparks by willing them into being, and the wizards realized they had finally mastered magic.

Murphy explained that divine children had to contribute magical power to use the Magic Web, which had been built with the wizards’ power. After Cú Chulainn registered and paid into it, he used its support to unleash a devastating spell, leaving him astonished by how effortlessly he could wield magic.

• Gro confronted Murphy when the divine children could not feel the Magic Web’s effects, and Murphy explained that users had to contribute magical power to receive its benefits.
• Murphy said the wizards had funded the Web’s foundation and that later users could register and invest power to gain its feedback.
• Cú Chulainn recited the registration spell and contributed magical power to the Magic Web.
• Cú Chulainn used the Web to cast a fiery attack that destroyed half of a distant mountain.
• Cú Chulainn marveled at how naturally and powerfully the Magic Web let him cast magic.

Murphy drew the divine children and gods toward the Magic Web, then met Morrigan when she arrived to investigate it and demand control. Morrigan recognized that Murphy was using the Web in a hidden scheme against Satan, and invited him to join her against their common enemy.

• Cú Chulainn amazed the divine children with a powerful spell, prompting them to register for the Magic Web.
• Murphy taught his disciples how to replicate Magic Web nodes, while Morrigan secretly observed the camp and his lesson.
• Murphy dismissed the wizards and greeted Morrigan, who questioned his identity and the source of his power.
• Morrigan demanded control of the Magic Web, but Murphy explained that it ran through a self-sustaining feedback mechanism and could not be handed over.
• Morrigan sensed Murphy’s conspiracy and identified Satan as his powerful enemy, then offered him eternal victory if he joined her.

Morrigan tried to persuade Murphy to give her authority over the Magic Web, but he revealed that it could fundamentally strengthen gods by improving their divine power. He explained how its communication and processing abilities could deepen faith and divinity, leaving Morrigan eager to learn more about its potential.

• Morrigan offered Murphy allies and protection in exchange for the Magic Web, while warning him that gods resented his killing of Merlin.
• Murphy told Morrigan that the Magic Web could purify a god's divinity and permanently raise the quality and limit of divine power.
• Morrigan demanded to know how the Magic Web could strengthen gods, and Murphy said the key was communication with believers.
• Murphy explained that the Magic Web could deliver prayers in real time, reduce the cost of miracles, gather believers' thoughts, and let gods communicate with many followers at once.
• Murphy said the Magic Web could imitate a god's routine responses, allowing divine power to rise while reducing the god's workload.