Chapter Summaries

Hao Ren and his companions learned that the Pope was the combined will of the Sanctuary’s deceased Popes, who had brought the City of Divine Favor into the Nightmare World to strike at Lockmadon. The group agreed to help, and the Pope revealed that Lockmadon was entrenched at Spiral Hill by the Maelstrom Sea.

• Hao Ren and Lily recognized the mysterious old man, who revealed that he was every Pope, including August VII.
• The Pope explained that the Sanctuary’s dead had resisted Lockmadon’s corruption and that Benedict III had sacrificed himself to send a message.
• The Pope described how the Popes used a space-time fragment’s impact and Lockmadon’s possession of August VII to bring the City of Divine Favor into the Nightmare World.
• King of Mountains - Gorton warned that even the Sanctuary’s forces might not be enough to destroy Lockmadon, while the Pope vowed to strike anyway.
• Hao Ren, Izax, Lily, and Little Elizabeth offered to help and asked about defeating Lockmadon; the Pope identified Spiral Hill by the Maelstrom Sea as its stronghold.

Hao Ren and the Wardens discussed Lockmadon’s powers and how to prevent it from reviving, and Hao Ren proposed drawing it away from the Abyss of Oblivion. He revealed a colossal space-based weapons array prepared in the external universe, leaving the others stunned by the scale of the firepower.

• The old bishop and the Wardens explained Lockmadon’s mental domain, regenerative body, and ability to blur the boundary between illusion and reality.
• King of Mountains - Gorton warned that Lockmadon could revive because the Abyss of Oblivion had become its home and protective shell.
• Hao Ren asked whether the group could travel directly from the Abyss of Oblivion to the external universe using the prison’s decryption algorithm.
• Hao Ren said he planned to lure Lockmadon away from its home turf and fight it in a place it had never cultivated.
• The Data Terminal projected tens of thousands of firepower platforms and a massive metal ring in the external universe, astonishing the Wardens and Hao Ren.
• The Data Terminal revealed that it and Nolan had assembled the weapons array using fortress cannons and satellite groups, and said it could have built star-destroying cannons with more time.

Hao Ren showed Gorton the orbital weapons and secured his support for a plan to lure Lockmadon into a trap. As the City of Divine Favor rang its bells, the Order State’s army, the Wardens, and the ancestral dead marched toward the decisive battle, while Hao Ren put the rest of his plan in motion.

• Hao Ren demonstrated the orbital artillery to Gorton, who agreed that the weapons made the plan feasible but asked how they would lure Lockmadon into the trap.
• Hao Ren said he had a supplementary plan and asked Gorton for help.
• The City of Divine Favor rang its bells to announce the coming decisive battle, and an unprecedented force marched out toward the battlefield.
• The ten ancient Wardens joined the army, followed by the spirits of the dead who had remained in the holy city.
• Hao Ren confirmed that the arrangements were complete, opened access to his personal storage space for the Data Terminal, and told it to notify Nolan to connect to the main reactor.
• Lockmadon noticed the approaching legion as Chaos gathered on the horizon, signaling that the first clash was near.

The Sacred Domain Expeditionary Army reached Spiral Hill, where Lockmadon began awakening and unleashed its Chaos forces. As the army fought toward the hill, Lockmadon Derivatives appeared, and Gorton ordered the Wardens to prepare for battle.

• Gorton remembered the Scorched Earth Plains’ lost past as he and Aftina watched the army repel another wave of monsters.
• Hao Ren and the Pope saw Spiral Hill ahead, and the Pope ordered Kalasios to sound the horns for the final battle.
• Lockmadon awakened above Spiral Hill, and its Chaos creatures attacked the exhausted Sacred Domain Expeditionary Army.
• The army’s silver spearhead fought through the black tide while Hao Ren held his forces back and watched for the Wardens to join the battle.
• A mental storm swept across the battlefield, and Gorton spotted Lockmadon Derivatives emerging from the smoke and called the Wardens to battle.

The Sacred Expeditionary Army struggled to advance toward Spiral Hill as Lockmadon’s Derivatives overwhelmed its flank. When Hao Ren prepared to charge, the End Legion and the Heroic Soul Legion arrived, and the armies launched their attack.

• Lockmadon’s Derivatives appeared in force, and the ten wardens led by King of Mountains - Gorton and King of Fire - Gulash shielded the legion’s collapsing flank.
• Hao Ren and Gorton concluded they needed to destroy the smoke pillars containing Lockmadon’s tentacles, but the Sacred Domain Legion was close to breaking.
• Hao Ren prepared to charge with Lily when the End Legion appeared on the flank, led by a mutated warrior carrying a tattered scrap of cloth.
• The Heroic Soul Legion emerged from behind the Sacred Expeditionary Army, and a white-robed ghost signaled to the End Legion’s warrior that the attack had begun.
• The End Legion and Heroic Soul Legion charged with the living armies.

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.