Recaps

The dead and the End Legion charged the chaos forces, giving the Sacred Expeditionary Army a chance to wound Lockmadon and advance to Spiral Hill. Lockmadon revealed its true form and attacked the army, while Hao Ren, the jailers, and Lily struck back.

• The dead army charged the chaos forces, and a tall undead reunited with Aaron before urging the dead to clear a path for the living.
• The Sacred Expeditionary Army regrouped and advanced as King of Fire - Gulash and King of Lightning - Gino struck Lockmadon's tentacles, stopping the derivatives from entering the battlefield.
• Lockmadon revealed itself, shattered most of Spiral Hill, and caused soldiers beneath its shadow to vanish.
• The ten jailers unleashed the Light of Order and flew toward Lockmadon as Hao Ren deployed heavy weapons and the three magic warships opened fire.
• Lily unleashed a huge beam of light with her howl, piercing Lockmadon's defenses before fear made her swallow the rest of the howl.

Hao Ren and his allies battled Lockmadon at Spiral Hill, using the wardens’ sudden display of divine power to make the Nightmare Tyrant fear a trap. Lockmadon fled through a rift in the prison barrier, leaving Hao Ren with its bewildered final thought: “Ah?”

• Lily unexpectedly fired a beam of white light at Lockmadon, though neither she nor Hao Ren understood why.
• Hao Ren fought on the ground with Gungnir and the Godslaying Sword while the wardens, armies, and warships attacked Lockmadon across physical and mental battlefields.
• Hao Ren sensed fear beneath Lockmadon’s fury and told King of Mountains - Gorton that the monster was losing confidence.
• The wardens launched a reckless assault, then revealed a mutated power resembling that of a god, convincing Lockmadon that they had planned a hunt with the Creation Goddess’s legacy.
• Lockmadon withdrew its tentacles, opened a rift in the divine barrier, and escaped into the unfamiliar starry sky beyond it.

Hao Ren’s plan lured Lockmadon out of the Forgotten Abyss and into a vast space-firepower network, where the orbital bombardment stripped away most of its body. Lockmadon’s glowing core resisted conventional weapons, and it escaped into a gloomy vortex.

• Hao Ren and the wardens opened a rift that pulled Lockmadon out of the prison, while the chaotic monsters around them faded away.
• Hao Ren ordered the unmanned space-firepower network to attack Lockmadon as it emerged into the outer universe.
• Lockmadon’s mental attack failed against the unmanned weapons, and its Nightmare Legion was torn apart by the bombardment.
• The bombardment dismantled Lockmadon’s outer form but could not destroy its glowing core.
• Lockmadon recovered, escaped the concentrated fire, and plunged into a gloomy vortex.

Lockmadon escaped the Dream Plane through the Universe Gate, only to be surrounded and sentenced to destruction by Hao Ren and the assembled examiners. After Lockmadon was destroyed, Tunala and Anthony brought its captured remains to Hao Ren, where something might still be inside.

• Lockmadon crossed the Universe Gate and headed toward the inhabited planet, but dozens of spacecraft blocked its path.
• The examiners gathered around Lockmadon, forming a divine-power barrier that prevented it from escaping.
• Hao Ren declared Lockmadon guilty of its crimes and proposed that it be destroyed; the examiners agreed and carried out the sentence.
• Ten minutes later, Tunala and Anthony brought Lockmadon's captured fragments to Hao Ren's captain's cabin, warning that something might remain inside.

Hao Ren read the memories preserved in Lockmadon’s soul fragment, learning how Lockmadon was created and raised by a mysterious mother on a desolate red world. He reached the buried memories of a disastrous expedition into space, but the chapter ended before he could discover what had happened.

• Hao Ren examined Lockmadon’s soul fragment with Singer Tunala and Anthony, then asked them to guard him while he read its memories.
• Hao Ren saw Lockmadon’s earliest memory: its mother rejoiced at its birth and eventually named it Lockmadon.
• Lockmadon’s memories showed its mother raising it on a lonely red world, where they explored the ocean, stars, and the world’s only patch of land.
• Lockmadon grew intoxicated by the divine power its mother gave it and became dissatisfied with her restrictions and their monotonous world.
• Hao Ren followed Lockmadon’s memories toward a deeply buried account of a terrifying space expedition, but had not yet uncovered what happened.

Hao Ren explored Lockmadon's memories and learned how it grew from the Creation Goddess's child into a destructive monster, leading her to imprison it in Kolo. The memories ended before Lockmadon's imprisonment and later events, and Hao Ren returned to the bridge to recover and report what he had seen.

• Hao Ren saw memories of Lockmadon and the Creation Goddess exploring space together and encountering strange primordial life in ancient, dark star regions.
• Lockmadon's later memories became distorted, showing a horrifying world as it turned into a dark monster and attacked the first ecological planet the Creation Goddess had created.
• The Creation Goddess destroyed Lockmadon's body and extracted its power, but its indestructible Divinity Core prevented her from killing it safely.
• The Creation Goddess created the Kolo World and its first twenty-one prison wardens to imprison Lockmadon.
• Hao Ren returned to the Giant Turtle Rock Platform, told Singer Tunala and Great Sage Anthony that he had seen the memories, and said he needed to clean up the aftermath.

With Lockmadon defeated, dawn returned to Kolo and the surviving dead departed for the afterlife. Kalasios accepted the duty of Pope, and Hao Ren returned to confirm Lockmadon could never resurrect before preparing to tell the world what lay ahead.

• The nightmare's darkness lifted, and the surviving soldiers watched as the dead legions returned to their original forms and marched into the light.
• The old Pope's final wish was conveyed to Kalasios, who accepted the Thorn Staff and the responsibility of becoming Pope.
• Muru assured the King of Mountains - Gorton that Hao Ren would return, and Hao Ren arrived through a beam that opened the prison system's barrier.
• Hao Ren showed Kalasios Lockmadon's last soul fragment and confirmed that it could never resurrect or return.
• Hao Ren asked Gorton to use the wardens' influence and Kalasios's church to tell the world what came next and about the universe beyond.

Rudolf III and his ministers learned that the Chaos had vanished, the Annihilation Cultists had spontaneously combusted, and the Holy Domain had resumed contact. Kalasios announced that Lockmadon had been destroyed, the Chaos War had permanently ended, and Hao Ren had become Kolo’s Second Pope.

• General Groen and Alfred reported that the Chaos power had withdrawn and disappeared, while the Holy Domain’s barrier had reignited.
• Veronica reported that Annihilation Cultist activity had stopped and suspected the cultists had been erased with the Chaos.
• A messenger reported that nobles with suspected ties to the Annihilation Cult had spontaneously combusted, and Rudolf III ordered an investigation.
• A Sacred Stone relayed a message from Kalasios, who announced that Lockmadon had been destroyed, August VII had died in the purification war, and the Chaos War had ended permanently.
• Kalasios proclaimed Hao Ren the Second Pope of Kolo, with authority equal to the Holy Domain Pope and responsibility for guiding the world’s reconstruction.

After Lockmadon’s destruction, Hao Ren arranged plans for Kolo’s recovery and reflected on the elaborate trap that had lured Lockmadon out of the Dream Plane so the demigods could kill it safely. The chapter left Kolo preparing for reconstruction under the Sacred Domain’s coordination and the protection of Raven 12345.

• Hao Ren and Kalasios announced plans for rebuilding Kolo, exploring Kana'an Secret Realm, updating star charts, and establishing monitoring stations after the divine barrier lifted.
• Hao Ren learned that Gorton and the other wardens were recovering from injuries caused by bearing Raven 12345’s divine power.
• Hao Ren recalled how he used the wardens’ divine-powered items to make Lockmadon believe the Creation Goddess was awakening and flee from the Dream Plane.
• Hao Ren had the Data Terminal open the Universe Gate to the Rift Nebula, where Lockmadon could be killed without crossing the Wall of Reality alive.
• Hao Ren summoned demigods from across the Outer World to attack Lockmadon, and they destroyed it within the Rift Nebula.

Hao Ren met Asuman’s captain, a Starry Sky Person, and asked about the race’s connection to the Creation Goddess and Lockmadon’s fall. Asuman began explaining the universe’s primordial age, revealing that its earliest life forms were extensions of the Lord of Madness.

• Hao Ren learned that Asuman’s captain had awakened and that the vessel would take several hours to lift Kolo’s divine-power suppression and phase concealment.
• An thanked Hao Ren for saving a civilization, and the group entered the Will Nexus with the reconstructed Gatekeeper.
• Hao Ren discovered that Asuman’s captain was a Starry Sky Person who recognized the goddess’s blood on his right hand.
• Asuman said the Starry Sky People had served the Creation Goddess as jailers and sentinels, then confirmed that the Lord of Madness was the primordial force Hao Ren had asked about.
• Asuman explained that the Lord of Madness had ruled the chaotic early universe and that its earliest life forms, including the Starry Sky People, were extensions of it.

Asuman told Hao Ren how the Ancient Ones arose, how the Creation Goddess defeated and sealed the Lord of Madness, and how Lockmadon became corrupted and was imprisoned beneath Earth. The conflicting timelines were explained when Asuman revealed that the Creation Goddess had erased her memories and all traces of the war because her memories could unlock the Lord of Madness’s prison.

• Asuman explained that the Ancient Ones originated from the Lord of Madness’s power and discovered the Creation Goddess’s expanding Order Zones.
• The Creation Goddess arrived with Lockmadon, then took him to explore the Lord of Madness, where he became corrupted.
• The Creation Goddess rallied the Starry Sky People and her created army, fought the Lord of Madness for a million years, and sealed it in its lair.
• The Creation Goddess imprisoned the corrupted Lockmadon beneath Earth, and Asuman volunteered to guard him.
• Hao Ren noticed that the Creation Goddess’s history did not match the brain monster’s memories, and Asuman revealed that she had erased her memories and records of the war to keep them from opening the Lord of Madness’s prison.

Asuman explained that Creation Goddess’s erased memories had become the key to Lockmadon, the prison holding Lord of Madness, and Hao Ren suspected she had arranged her own death to secure the seal. Asuman confirmed she could not kill herself without risking the prison and revealed that the God-slaying operation and the catastrophe that followed had gone beyond her control.

• Asuman explained that Creation Goddess’s memories had become a vessel for Lord of Madness’s power, so she erased them to protect Lockmadon’s seal.
• Hao Ren learned that the Starry Sky People had preserved the truth and secretly watched the Dream Plane’s eras while keeping silent about Lord of Madness.
• Hao Ren and the others suspected Creation Goddess had allowed the God-slaying operation so that her death would eliminate the threat posed by her connection to Lord of Madness.
• Asuman said Creation Goddess had tacitly approved the operation, but the Firstborn and Guardian Giant’s corruption exceeded her expectations and forced her to take emergency measures.
• Asuman revealed that Creation Goddess could not kill herself because denying herself could destabilize the prison, so she had to be killed by someone else.

Hao Ren and the others learned that the Creation Goddess had forged the two End Blades and debated the contradictions surrounding her plans and the God-slaying War. As the gates to the Kolo World opened and a living starry sky appeared, Hao Ren resolved to uncover the remaining secrets.

• Hao Ren and the others struggled to reconcile the Creation Goddess's preparations to die with her unfinished Creation Engine and her role in the God-slaying War.
• Hao Ren showed Asuman the World-Breaking Blade taken from corrupted August VII, and Asuman identified it as one of the End Blades forged by the Creation Goddess.
• Asuman explained that the Creation Goddess had wielded both End Blades against the Lord of Madness, after which the swords disappeared.
• Asuman said that Lockmadon could have hidden the blade inside its body, while Vivian questioned how the wardens had never discovered it.
• The gates to the Kolo World opened, revealing a vast, unfamiliar starry sky, and Hao Ren said they would eventually figure out the truth.

After the divine blockade lifted, Kolo appeared as a system of floating continents beneath the Universe Gate, and Hao Ren began planning its reconstruction and the wardens’ next mission. He organized a search for the Creation Goddess and information about Lord of Madness’s prison, while Asuman and the wardens agreed to cooperate.

• The blockade over Kolo lifted, revealing the floating continents, the Old World, and the Universe Gate as Nolan sent mechanical units to investigate abandoned facilities.
• Hao Ren discussed the challenges of rebuilding Kolo with Vivian and worried about how its peoples would adapt after the Chaos Tide ended.
• Calasius I led the faithful in a final farewell to Crystal Sacred Mountain Asuman, which rose from the Divine Realm and joined Giant Turtle Rock Platform in space.
• Asuman and King of Kings Loken briefed Hao Ren on the Abyss cage, where Lord of Madness remained confined and showed no sign of escaping yet.
• Hao Ren rejected an immediate attack on Lord of Madness and said he would first search for the Creation Goddess and gather information about the prison.
• Hao Ren asked Asuman and the wardens to work with Muru on Tanagrus Planet, study the Goddess’s divine power and artifacts, and contact the sentinels guarding the Abyss cage; they agreed.

Hao Ren arranged for Asuman’s repairs and planned a cautious attempt to contact the sentinels imprisoned in the Abyss of Darkness. Back at the station, Lily’s water-spitting experiment unexpectedly produced a powerful Dog Cannon and set off the alarm.

• Hao Ren told Asuman that the Crystal Core Research Station would repair his worn components while drone teams approached the Abyss of Darkness to establish a communications base.
• Asuman warned Hao Ren that signals from the prison could let the Lord of Madness spread contamination, but Hao Ren assured him the antenna came from the Crystal Core Research Station and had been made by his superior.
• Hao Ren asked Asuman to seek out other Starry Sky People in hiding so they could learn about the prison’s condition and offer help.
• Hao Ren found Lily and Dum-Dum practicing water-spitting beside a basin, with Lily trying to imitate Dum-Dum.
• Lily unexpectedly fired a blazing Dog Cannon that scorched the wall and triggered an alarm throughout the corridor.

Hao Ren and his companions returned home after nearly two months away, settling back into their familiar household routine. Lily’s successful Dog Cannon and her novel about their adventures left Hao Ren with new reasons to worry about what she had been doing.

• Lily fired a Dog Cannon after practicing spitting water with Dodo, and Hao Ren decided she needed a full examination to check for side effects.
• Hao Ren told Lily it was time to go home, and she eagerly left Kolo with him and the others.
• The group returned to their South Suburbs house, where Nangong May cleaned with octopus tentacles and Hao Ren organized chores before turning on the lights.
• The household resumed its noisy routine, and Roll relaxed on the sofa while Lily inspected the house and returned to writing.
• Hao Ren discovered Lily was writing a novel based on their adventures, including a version where she defeated Lockmadon with one Dog Cannon.

After Lily’s writing startled the family, Hao Ren went to bed but dreamed of the Creation Goddess, the Seeds of Origin, and the Lord of Madness. He later spoke with Vivian outside, and her thoughts about the Goddess’s failed attempt to seal away memories helped ease his worries.

• Hao Ren accepted that Lily could keep writing stories about his adventures and went to bed without finishing his mission report.
• Hao Ren dreamed of the Seeds of Origin spreading life, then saw the Creation Goddess and a dark shadow consumed by an explosion.
• Dodo woke Hao Ren by splashing water on him and told him that he had been talking in his sleep.
• Hao Ren went outside after he could not return to sleep, where Vivian found him and asked about his strange dreams.
• Vivian suggested that the Creation Goddess’s hidden memories had influenced her plans and reassured Hao Ren that he did not face the burden alone.
• Hao Ren said he felt better, and Vivian offered to use “Kinetic hypnosis” to help him sleep.

Hao Ren reported his findings about Lockmadon and the Creation Goddess to Raven 12345, who discussed Vivian’s amnesia and arranged protection against chaotic power. Raven examined the World-Breaking Blade and discovered that its energy did not match the other God-slaying Sword.

• Hao Ren told Raven 12345 that Lockmadon had been the Creation Goddess’s first creation, and that her memories and the God-slaying War may have been tied to the Lord of Madness’s seal.
• Raven 12345 reasoned that Vivian’s amnesia was probably an accident in the original design but was now influenced by the Lord of Madness, and she promised to prepare a ritual to strengthen Vivian against chaotic power.
• Vivian reassured Hao Ren that she showed no signs of infection, while Lily misunderstood their concern as romance and joked about her unfinished Dog Cannon.
• Hao Ren presented the World-Breaking Blade, which had belonged to Lockmadon, and Raven 12345 suppressed its contaminating energy before examining it.
• Raven 12345 compared the blade’s lingering aura with the energy sample from the first God-slaying Sword and concluded that the two samples did not match.

Hao Ren and Raven 12345 investigated why the two End Blades had different energy signatures and concluded that the God Slayer Sword was likely altered by an unknown third party. After learning little from either sword, Hao Ren stored them and turned his attention to Lily’s Dog Cannon.

• Raven 12345 explained that the God Slayer Sword was more likely than the World-Breaking Blade to have been altered, and suggested the Ancient Ones might have had the power to do it.
• The God Slayer Sword said it remembered nothing from before the God-slaying race used it, while Raven 12345 explained that its Echo Wall nature made its memories dependent on conscious observers.
• Hao Ren suspected a third mastermind had modified the God Slayer Sword to influence people’s minds before giving it to the God-slaying race.
• The World-Breaking Blade spoke briefly, calling itself lazy, but said it remembered nothing important about its past.
• Raven 12345 said the End Blades could help Hao Ren because they held the Creation Goddess’s power, and Hao Ren put both swords away.
• Hao Ren asked Raven 12345 to examine Lily’s Dog Cannon.

Hao Ren and Raven 12345 investigated Lily’s new light cannon, which Raven identified as a divine art she could release instinctively. Raven suspected Lily’s soul, inherited from the King of Demon Hunters, was responsible, but the reason remained unknown.

• Hao Ren called Lily’s new move the “Dog Cannon,” and Lily demonstrated it by spitting a beam of light after drinking water.
• Lily described how she first unleashed the beam in beast form and explained that human form required water as a catalyst.
• Raven 12345 examined Lily’s ability and explained that she could actively turn traces of divinity into an attack, unlike the others around Hao Ren.
• Raven 12345 suspected Lily’s soul from the King of Demon Hunters let her release divine arts instinctively.
• Raven 12345 asked why a Demon Hunter’s soul had that innate effect.

Hao Ren and the others theorized that Demon Hunters might have an innate talent for divine arts, which could reveal that their creation was connected to the Creation Goddess after all. They decided to test the theory and began planning a carefully limited meeting between Earth’s Demon Hunters and Horleta’s Ancient Species.

• Vivian suggested that Lily’s divine-art talent might be a dormant Demon Hunter ability awakened by her rebirth and exposure to Goddess’s power.
• Raven 12345 explained that innate divine arts would mean the Demon Hunters’ creators had maintained a power connection with the Creation Goddess, contradicting the account that they were made through blasphemy.
• Raven 12345 said the theory needed to be tested on pureblood Demon Hunters, and Hao Ren proposed visiting Colperus and asking Marshal Ofra to help examine the Ancient Species in Horleta.
• Vivian proposed bringing the Demon Hunters from Colperus together with their compatriots in Horleta, and Hao Ren agreed that they could begin revealing history to the Dream Plane remnants on Earth.
• Raven 12345 approved a first trip through the Rift Nebula gate but limited the group to fewer than a hundred people because the passage could strain the Wall of Reality.

Hao Ren discussed investigating the Demon Hunters’ possible talent for divine power with Raven 12345 and planned a visit to their Arctic headquarters. He arrived at the Ice Fortress with Vivian, Lily, the Nangong siblings, and Roll, intending to begin the investigation and arrange a homecoming visit for Demon Hunters from Colperth.

• Hao Ren returned home with lunch from the Nangong Family’s restaurant and found Roll and the others waiting hungrily.
• Hao Ren told the group he planned to visit the Demon Hunters and arrange a survey of their population, along with a homecoming group for Demon Hunters from Colperth.
• Hao Ren explained that Raven 12345 had linked Lily’s Dog Cannon and the End Blades’ inconsistent energy samples to the possibility that Demon Hunters had an innate talent for divine power.
• Vivian said the survey required the purest Demon Hunters, while Nangong May worried the investigation sounded like human experimentation.
• Two days later, Hao Ren led Lily, Vivian, the Nangong siblings, and Roll to the Ice Fortress, where Bai Huo had signaled that the fortress was ready to receive them.

Hao Ren asked the Demon Hunters to help investigate their possible connection to divine arts and proposed a homecoming visit to the Dream Plane for them and open-minded otherworldly leaders. Grigoriwen and Hassu agreed to cooperate, while the trip’s purpose included easing old hostilities and testing for the Creation Goddess’s lingering mechanisms.

• Hao Ren explained the Demon Hunters’ possible divine-art talent and asked them to provide the earliest available bloodline samples, since the first-generation Demon Hunters had died.
• Grigoriwen and Hassu welcomed the proposed homecoming visit, and Vivian clarified that it would help ease tensions between Demon Hunters and otherworldly beings while testing the Creation Goddess’s remaining power.
• Hao Ren said he would bring a small group to the Dream Plane to see whether their return activated any divine contingencies left behind by the Creation Goddess.
• Hassu asked how Hao Ren would manage conflict during the trip, and Hao Ren joked that troublemakers would be beaten, bound, and transported anyway.
• Grigoriwen and Hassu promised the Demon Hunters would cooperate, reassured by Vivian’s offer to help keep order.

Hao Ren’s group traveled from the Demon Hunters’ settlement to Athens Sanctuary to confirm the Others’ delegation for the expedition to the Dream Plane. Vivian rejected the Shadow Council’s attempt to submit an unsuitable list and approved a revised one, while Roll lamented being dragged away from the fireplace.

• Hao Ren carried the sleepy Roll away from the fireplace and teleported with his group toward Athens after discussing the Demon Hunters’ selection process with Grigoriwen, Hassu, and Bai Huo.
• Hassu said he intended to join the Dream Plane visit, while Bai Huo said he would remain on Earth because he did not belong there and was concerned about the lack of Wi-Fi.
• At Athens Sanctuary, Hao Ren’s group confirmed plans for the Otherworld Expedition, and Vivian required the delegates to be moderates with influence who could withstand a beating.
• The Shadow Council first submitted an unsuitable list, so Vivian had Heiserana arrange for the families and sanctuaries to prepare a revised delegation.
• Vivian reprimanded the councilors for trying to mislead her, approved the revised list, and warned them not to attempt it again.

Hao Ren and Vivian informed the Shadow Council about the Dream Plane and the nonhuman races’ origins, while discussing plans to let some of them visit it. Heiserana then told Vivian about strange dreams of ancient events, as Raven 12345 observed the Evil Spirits’ growing resonance.

• Hao Ren explained that the Day of Return prophecy had partly been true and promised the council an official document about the Dream Plane, with Mimir’s approval.
• After the meeting, Vivian and Hesperis discussed why the nonhuman races had little interest in tracing their origins, while Hao Ren joked about forming a sightseeing group.
• Jean Lucas expressed interest in visiting the Dream Plane, and Hao Ren told Mimir that the gate in the Rift Nebula could let him return there temporarily.
• Heiserana asked Vivian whether she had been designed to dream, then described hazy visions of ancient wars, nonhuman races, and human sacrifices.
• Raven 12345 watched the Evil Spirits in the divine storage vault and noted that their resonance was becoming more frequent.