Chapter Summaries

Hao Ren learned that most of the City of Divine Favor had vanished and investigated the Nightmare victims with An, who revealed their connection to Lockmadon’s prison. The chapter ended when a Church Knight reported that the captured Nightmare Monster was evaporating.

• Bishop Hozman told Hao Ren and Kalasios that most of the City of Divine Favor had disappeared and its remaining palaces showed no signs of life.
• Hao Ren suspected the city's ruler had deliberately severed its connection to the outside world, while An asked to examine the Nightmare victims before going to Asuman.
• An explained that the victims' souls had fallen into the Abyss of Forgetting and that their projected shadows were weakening the prison holding Lockmadon.
• Hao Ren told Father Bernstein that his group had captured a Nightmare Monster and left it guarded outside the city.
• A Church Knight called Hao Ren and reported that the captured monster was evaporating.

Hao Ren touched the vaporizing Nightmare Monster and saw visions of the ancient prisoner Lockmadon before the creature identified itself as a long-dead Pope and revealed that the prison entrance lay at Asuman’s summit. The chapter left Hao Ren facing Lockmadon’s vast shadow as it appeared in the sky above the Grand Cathedral.

• The Nightmare Monster began vaporizing after shouting about Lockmadon, the Forgotten Abyss, a door, a seal, and the Endless War.
• Hao Ren touched the monster with his marked hand and saw visions of the Guardians, the ancient prisoner, and a world consumed by conflict around a pillar.
• Hao Ren restored the monster’s clarity briefly, and it called itself Valensil, Saint Tenniel Benedict before revealing that the prison entrance was at Asuman’s summit.
• Kalasios identified Benedict as Pope Benedict III, and Hao Ren and Kalasios questioned whether the monster’s claim was credible.
• Priests spotted an enormous tentacled shadow moving behind the clouds, and Hao Ren recognized it as Lockmadon.

After Lockmadon’s projection appeared over Luan City, Hao Ren protected the Grand Cathedral with divine talismans and led Kalasios’s group toward Asuman. They reached the ruined City of Divine Favor and entered the corrupted Holy Image Palace to seek the mountain’s gatekeeper.

• Hao Ren explained that Lockmadon had projected part of itself into the world and warned that the Forgotten Abyss’s restraints were close to failing.
• Hao Ren gave Father Bernstein Raven 12345’s couplet and his own inscriptions to hang on the Grand Cathedral as protection against nightmares and Chaos power.
• Hao Ren and Kalasios traveled with the Sanctuary Investigation Team soldiers and demi-human berserkers to the Crystal Sacred Mountain, Asuman.
• The group saw that most of the City of Divine Favor had vanished and found the Holy Image Palace shrouded in darkness and evil power.
• Kalasios explained that they had to reach a platform inside the Holy Image Palace to call the mountain’s gatekeeper, and Hao Ren led the group through its Great Gate.

Hao Ren and his companions discovered that the Holy Image Palace had been emptied and that Chaos was corrupting the tombs of the past Popes. As the corrupted Popes overwhelmed the garden district with mental attacks, Hao Ren prepared to purify the mausoleum and called for reinforcements.

• Hao Ren, Kalasios, and the others found no survivors or signs of battle in the Holy Image Palace.
• Lily detected Chaos power beneath the garden, and Kalasios identified the area as the Holy Spirit Resting Ground where past Popes were buried.
• The tombs shook as corrupted souls burst from the ground, and Hao Ren recognized them as the past Popes after seeing one wear the Church symbol.
• The monsters attacked with mental illusions that overwhelmed the Church warriors and demihuman barbarian soldiers, while Hao Ren and Lily resisted.
• Hao Ren told Kalasios to withdraw so he could purify the mausoleum, but Kalasios had succumbed to the mental attack.
• The Data Terminal contacted Hao Ren to announce that the Matter Teleporter beta 1.0 was working, and Hao Ren asked it to send a powerful fighter.

Hao Ren and his companions fought the Nightmare Monsters in the underground mausoleum beneath the Holy Image Palace until the miniature Vivian arrived by accident and turned their mental attacks back on them. Hao Ren destroyed the weakened monsters, and the group recovered as he wondered whether the little weakling had defeated them because her mind was empty.

• Hao Ren held back the Nightmare Monsters’ psychic assaults while protecting Kalasios and the others, and the Data Terminal prepared to transmit one reinforcements member.
• The monsters focused their mental power on Hao Ren just as the Data Terminal began its countdown, but miniature Vivian appeared instead of Izax or Vivian.
• Miniature Vivian ignored the monsters’ attacks, and the Nightmare Monsters slowed and began to dissipate as their psychic assault backfired.
• Hao Ren seized the opening and destroyed the Nightmare Monsters, devastating the garden district and exposing parts of the collapsed Underground Palace.
• Kalasios and the others awoke from their hallucinations, and Hao Ren caught miniature Vivian and speculated that her mind’s emptiness had turned the attacks against the monsters.

Hao Ren and the others learned that An was a backup consciousness of Asuman and entered the Crystal Sacred Mountain after the gatekeeper warned them the Will Nexus was under threat. Meanwhile, August VII emerged from a shattered barrier, transformed by dark corruption and carrying a strange sword.

• After the psychic attack ended, Hao Ren’s group mourned their losses and continued through the quiet Holy Image Palace toward the platform leading to Asuman.
• An revealed that she and the gatekeeper were separate backups of Asuman’s sleeping consciousness, stored in different places for safety.
• The gatekeeper said invaders had reached the Final Protocol Zone and locked the Will Nexus, then faded away as An opened a teleportation gate.
• Hao Ren rallied the confused group and led them through the gate into Asuman to intercept the invaders.
• August VII broke through a crystal barrier with two companions, his body warped by corruption as he wielded a bizarre, star-filled black sword.

Hao Ren learned that Asuman was an ancient starship whose failing power supply threatened its defenses and the seal holding Lockmadon. He volunteered to repair its energy-circulation nexus alone, then discovered the damage was tied to a powerful fragment that had struck the ship months earlier.

• Dark led Hao Ren and the others through Asuman toward the Will Nexus, explaining that the invaders were trapped near the Holy Ark and that the system needed to be restarted.
• Hao Ren recognized Asuman as a spaceship, prompting Dark to reveal the ship's damaged systems and her dangerous backup plan for restarting the Will Nexus.
• Dark explained that a fragment lodged in Asuman's energy-circulation nexus had caused its power loss, and Hao Ren realized he knew about the fragment.
• Dark warned that the True Word Stone Slab made the ship's upper section lethal to mortals, but Hao Ren insisted he could withstand its divine power and repair the nexus alone.
• The others remained in the Astrology Hall while Dark guided Hao Ren to Asuman's top level, where he learned the truth behind the Crystal Sacred Mountain's deterioration.

Hao Ren discovered that the crystal he had thrown through the Wall of Reality had damaged Asuman’s energy circulation nexus, and he removed its protective barrier so he could recover it and repair the system. With the nexus restarting, he prepared to join Kalasios and the others at the Final Protocol Zone, where intruders were nearing the Ark of the Covenant.

• Hao Ren entered Asuman’s energy circulation hall and recognized the damaged gate-opening crystal by the words “Eight Hearts Eight Arrows” and “Exquisite Craftsmanship.”
• Hao Ren examined the True Word Stone Slab and found that his divine-blood-marked hand let him perceive only scattered fragments of information.
• An explained that the crystal’s protective barrier had prevented her and Number One from repairing the energy nexus, then was repelled when she approached it.
• Hao Ren dispelled Raven 12345’s “Get lost” divine art while the Autonomous Mechanical Units diagnosed the damaged conduit and outlined a temporary repair.
• An reported that intruders had nearly reached the Ark of the Covenant, and Hao Ren stored the crystal and accelerated the conduits’ recovery with the mechanical units.
• Hao Ren told An that they could activate the Will Nexus and set out to meet Kalasios and the others before heading to the Final Protocol Zone.

August VII, Lavinia, and Count Willie broke through Asuman’s defenses and reached the Ark of the Covenant, where Lavinia struggled to figure out how to use the tiny Radiant Disc. Hao Ren arrived just as she was about to place it in the pyramid’s enormous depression, leaving both groups stunned.

• August VII, Lavinia, and Count Willie broke through the final barrier and entered the underground cavern beneath Asuman.
• August VII identified the Crystal Pyramid as the Ark of the Covenant and ordered Lavinia to use the Radiant Disc to open the Forgotten Abyss.
• Lavinia reached the pyramid but realized the disc was far too small for its circular depression, and Count Willie and August VII guessed at how to use it.
• Hao Ren appeared and warned them not to handle the artifact without reading its instructions.
• Both groups reacted in shock as Hao Ren and his companions confronted the Annihilation Cultists.

Hao Ren confronted the possessed August VII, who wielded the World-Breaking Blade, while Lavinia began a ritual at the Crystal Pyramid and Willy led the Annihilation Cultists into battle. Hao Ren revealed that he had the Godslaying Sword and attacked August, but the two blades’ collision began tearing apart space as his sword recognized its counterpart.

• August VII revealed that Lockmadon had possessed him and given him the World-Breaking Blade.
• Willy sent Lavinia to begin the ritual with Lily’s disk and summoned hidden Annihilation Cultists to attack the defenders.
• Lily, Kalasios, the demi-human berserkers, and the Church warriors confronted Willy and his forces.
• Hao Ren drew the Godslaying Sword from a spatial rift and knocked August back, revealing that he also wielded a World-Breaking Blade.
• Hao Ren attacked August with the Godslaying Sword, and their clashes warped space despite the Ark’s divine protection.
• The Godslaying Sword recognized August’s blade as its twin and called out to it, leaving Hao Ren frustrated.

Hao Ren defeated August VII after the World-Breaking Blade apparently succumbed to the Godslayer Sword’s chatter, while Lavinia’s ritual released divine power that restored the ancient Wardens instead of resurrecting Lockmadon. Willy tried to escape, but a mysterious red shoe emerged from a ripple and kicked him in the face.

• Hao Ren overwhelmed August VII, and the Pope shattered after the World-Breaking Blade’s backlash swallowed him.
• Hao Ren realized the Godslayer Sword might have talked the World-Breaking Blade into madness.
• Lily and the Church forces fought Willy and the Annihilation Cultists, while Willy focused on buying time for Lavinia’s ritual.
• Lavinia lifted the seal from the disk, and the released white light assimilated her before flowing into the twenty-one ancient Wardens.
• Willy recognized that Lockmadon’s resurrection had failed and began an escape technique, but a red princess shoe kicked him in the face.

Hao Ren and his companions overwhelmed the exhausted Annihilation Cultists, then examined the Ark of the Covenant and the ancient Jailer statues. The twenty-one Jailers awakened and warned that the battle was not over.

• Elizabeth emerged from a portal and battered Willy before Hao Ren’s companions poured through spatial rifts and defeated the Annihilation Cultists.
• Muru joined the assault, explaining that Siv had taken over his work maintaining the antenna.
• Hao Ren reunited with Vivian and checked that Weakling had survived the chaotic battle.
• Hao Ren and the Data Terminal examined the Ark of the Covenant and concluded that its empty recess required a different Radiant Disc, which An Ye said had vanished from Kasuan Sacred Hall.
• Muru recognized the Jailer statues as possible prototypes of the guardians, and all twenty-one statues awakened and warned that the fight was not over.

Hao Ren learned that the awakened Wardens had secretly preserved the real key to the Ark of the Covenant, and they used it to activate the prison’s final system. As the system warned of imminent containment failure, Hao Ren realized the Ark and crystal disc were likely an early version of the Creation Engine.

• The divine power from Lavinia’s stolen artifact freed the twenty-one Wardens from Chaos corruption, and their leader, Loken, told Hao Ren that Lockmadon was forming a physical body beyond the Abyss of Oblivion’s final gate.
• Loken explained that Lockmadon had to be fought inside the Abyss and that the Ark of the Covenant’s key was needed, then revealed the disc in the Kasuan Sacred Hall had been a decoy.
• Loken and the other Wardens drew crystal fragments from their chests and joined them into the real Radiant Disc, which they had hidden within their souls as a safeguard.
• Loken placed the crystal disc into the Ark of the Covenant, activating the Kolo security system, which reported severe contamination and imminent containment failure.
• Loken explained that the Ark and disc could push Kolo beyond the ordered universe, destroying everything within it, and Hao Ren recognized the device as a possible prototype of the Creation Engine.

Hao Ren and the warriors crossed the Mirror Realm into the Nightmare World to face Lockmadon, while Loken and the remaining wardens stayed behind to defend the Holy Ark. The party reached the Dusk Fortress, the final line of defense on the Nightmare frontier.

• Loken sent Hao Ren and the warriors through the Mirror Realm with ten wardens, while he and the others remained in the Awake World.
• Gorton introduced himself as Loken's brother and deputy, and led Hao Ren's group toward the Eternal Battlefield.
• Loken and the wardens prepared to hold the Holy Ark against monsters emerging from the Nightmare World as Asuman's Light of Order swept over the sanctuary.
• Gorton warned the travelers to avoid the false oasis pools, and explained to Muru that giants like them had originally guarded the Nightmare World.
• Hao Ren's party emerged from the tunnels and reached the Dusk Fortress, the final line of defense on the Nightmare frontier.

Hao Ren and the others emerged into the ruined Forgotten Abyss, where Gorton explained that it was the original Kolo, sealed inside the nightmare after Lockmadon shattered the Old World. The group learned that the Kolo they knew had been reconstructed outside the sealed world, and Gorton welcomed them to the true Kolo.

• Hao Ren and the others emerged from a cavern into a twilight wasteland and saw a mirrored tower reflecting the Kolo World where Mount Asuman had stood.
• Gorton identified the wasteland as the Forgotten Abyss, pointed out the ruined Dusk Fortress, and explained that the landscape replicated Kolo with strange spacetime misalignments.
• A phantom continent descended through the clouds and sank into the ground, prompting Gorton to explain that such apparitions were fragments of the shattered planet.
• Gorton described how Lockmadon’s power tore Kolo apart and how the Wardens sealed and inverted the planet, then constructed a new Kolo outside it.
• Hao Ren summarized that the Forgotten Abyss was the original Kolo, and Gorton welcomed the group to the Old World as another phantom continent appeared.

Hao Ren and the Wardens crossed the ruined old Kolo to find a monitoring station and learn the state of the Nightmare World. The station revealed that a mortal legion had fought Lockmadon’s minions on the Scorched Earth Plain, and Hao Ren spotted a vast shadow on the horizon.

• Gordon led Hao Ren’s group across the barren plain toward a monitoring station while Hao Ren’s probes surveyed the shattered old world.
• Gordon explained that the Wardens had lost contact with the Forgotten Abyss for a thousand years and that no resistance forces were expected to remain.
• The monitoring station played a seven-century-old recording of a mortal soldier reporting that the legion’s position on the Scorched Earth Plain had been overrun.
• Gordon said the legion consisted of heroic spirits who had joined the war against Lockmadon after death, and Lily remarked that they had lasted longer than the Wardens’ main forces.
• Hao Ren recognized the cries of battle he had heard earlier and saw a vast, oppressive shadow on the horizon.

Hao Ren and his companions crossed the corrupted wasteland after witnessing phantom armies battle, then followed a mysterious old man toward the Scorched Earth Plain. They found a ruinous camp beside a shattered city that Kalasios identified as the City of Divine Favor.

• Phantom Chaos monsters and an undead human army fought silently before Hao Ren and the others, then vanished with the battlefield.
• A mysterious old man appeared before Gorton, spoke of the Eternal Battlefield, and headed toward the Scorched Earth Plain before disappearing.
• Hao Ren ordered the group to continue toward the Scorched Earth Plain, where Chaos corruption and signs of Lockmadon grew stronger.
• The Data Terminal detected many life signals ahead, and Kalasios raised a Level 1 Alert as the group cautiously approached a camp.
• Hao Ren and the others spotted a ruined camp and a shattered city beyond it, which Kalasios recognized as the City of Divine Favor.

Hao Ren and his companions discovered a ruined City of Divine Favor and a camp of organized corrupted creatures in the nightmare world. As a Chaos horde attacked, the city's Sacred Domain Legion joined the corrupted army in battle, and Hao Ren prepared to intervene.

• Kalasios recognized the ruined city as the City of Divine Favor, prompting Hao Ren to wonder whether it had been transported from the real world into the Forgotten Abyss.
• Nangong May pointed out a nearby camp of disciplined corrupted creatures, whose soldiers seemed distinct from ordinary Chaos monsters.
• The Data Terminal detected a surge of Lockmadon's power, and Gorton warned that the approaching Chaos minions were heading toward the city and camp.
• The corrupted soldiers formed ranks and marched out as the City of Divine Favor's bells rang and its Sacred Domain Legion charged through the gates.
• The corrupted army and Sacred Domain Legion fought alongside each other against the Chaos horde, and Hao Ren armed himself to join the battle.

Hao Ren and the Jailers joined the Sanctuary Knights in battle and helped defeat the Chaos monsters attacking them. Afterward, Hao Ren asked Verol about the monster-like legion, and Verol revealed that it was the last battle group stationed in the Forgotten Abyss long ago.

• The Sanctuary Knights entered the battle but failed to coordinate with either legion, so they fought the Chaos monsters on their own.
• Leonidas saw Hao Ren's force arrive and attack the Chaos monsters with Vivian's lightning and Hao Ren's explosive weapons, drawing many enemies away.
• The ten Jailers and the Sanctuary Knights helped clear the remaining Chaos monsters while the ramshackle camp's Monster Legion ignored everyone and returned to its camp.
• Verol recognized King of Mountains - Gorton as one of the legendary Jailers, and Gorton asked why the City of Divine Favor had appeared in the Forgotten Abyss.
• Kalasios recognized Verol and the Sanctuary Knights as people from the City of Divine Favor, then Hao Ren asked about the Monster Legion.
• Verol told Hao Ren that the supposed monsters were the last battle group stationed in the Forgotten Abyss long ago.

Hao Ren learned from an ancient journal how Lockmadon had corrupted the stranded Heroic Soul Legion after the Wardens vanished. Verol brought him to the ruined City of Divine Favor to meet its Pope, whose identity and condition remained unknown.

• Verol showed Hao Ren a journal documenting the Heroic Soul Legion’s isolation, mutations, and loss of reason under Lockmadon’s corruption.
• Verol said the transformed soldiers could no longer communicate or think, though they still fought chaotic monsters and did not attack his group.
• Hao Ren asked how the City of Divine Favor had entered the Nightmare World and what had happened to its Popes, and Verol invited him to meet the Pope.
• Hao Ren and his companions crossed the damaged city, where repairs and salvage work continued in an orderly fashion.
• Hao Ren noticed the Holy Image Palace had remained outside the Nightmare World, while most of the Side of Divine Will had been destroyed.
• Verol led Hao Ren’s group to the surviving Grand Cathedral, where they saw a gaunt, barefoot old man presented as the Pope.