Chapter Summaries

Angel received a hidden quest to free the Prussia Civilization’s souls from Decayer and give them new lives in the Dream Crystal Plain. After weighing the costs and risks with Laplace, he decided to accept, but the outcome depended on Decayer’s permission.

• Angel learned that the Wonderland Authority had issued him the custom quest “Reignite the Spark” to release the souls within Decayer and let them be reborn.
• Angel sent Laplace and Rabbit Girl a Nightmare Illusion recording and waited for Laplace’s assessment.
• Laplace warned Angel that the Prussians’ fractured consciousnesses would require long-term care and that their desire to rebuild their civilization could become aggressive.
• Laplace suggested investing in the Prussians’ care while guiding their ambitions toward a greater purpose, and Angel agreed with her analysis.
• Angel decided to accept the quest, then approached Decayer to seek its permission.

Angel challenged Decayer’s despair by suggesting that a solution to the soul fragments in his head might come from outside the Abyss. After confirming Decayer’s willingness to accept any cost and uphold the rules, Angel revealed that he knew a theoretical method and asked whether Decayer would agree to test it.

• Angel urged Decayer to seek a solution rather than keep bearing the soul fragments, but Decayer explained that Spirit Eye had said reconstructing them would require an impossible amount of Abyssal Soul Sand.
• Angel suggested looking beyond the Abyss for powers from other systems, and Decayer acknowledged that even Lord Knowledge might have unexplored knowledge.
• Angel asked what Decayer would sacrifice for a solution, whether he would accept the fragments’ return in altered forms, and how he would treat them if their choices conflicted with the rules; Decayer said he would give everything and stand with the rules.
• Angel told Decayer that he knew a theoretical method from a greater source and asked whether Decayer agreed to test it.

Angel used the Wonderland Authority to draw soul fragments from the Decayer into the Dream Bridges, attempting to restore the Decayer’s people. He left the Prushans waiting at the gate to the Dream Crystal Plain and selected three to bring into the Heart Chapter space.

• The Decayer agreed to let Angel test his method, and Angel granted the Wonderland Authority temporary use of Dream Gate and Gatekeeper.
• Angel guided the Decayer into a dreamlike state while the Little Demon host watched and promised to stay quiet.
• A blue flame examined the sleeping Little Demon host and the Decayer, noticed the scent of dreams, and returned to the horse lantern.
• The Wonderland Authority brought the Prushans’ incomplete consciousnesses onto the Dream Bridges, and Angel kept them from entering the Dream Crystal Plain.
• Angel searched the Dream Bridges for more complete consciousnesses, found none, and decided to choose three Prushans at random.

Angel quieted the Decayer’s kin by sending their consciousnesses to the Dream Crystal Plain, then used temporary authority to summon one of them into the Heart Chapter. The Decayer chose Elan, an old acquaintance, and froze in shock when he appeared before it.

• After Angel’s test, the Decayer woke to find the voices of its kin had stopped, though the swelling in its brain remained.
• Angel explained that the kin had not vanished but had been revived in another form, and offered to summon some of them.
• When the Decayer doubted whether the summoned figures would truly be its kin, Angel asked whom it most wanted to see.
• The Decayer chose Elan and described the pure white Six-Pointed Star tattoo on his face so Angel could locate him.
• Angel used his authority to summon Elan, whose appearance shocked both the Decayer and the Little Demon host.

Angel summoned Elan in the Heart Chapter, allowing the Decayer to reunite with its old friend, though Elan’s damaged consciousness and memories soon faded again. The Demon God’s Divine Will noticed Angel before the Wonderland Authority expelled it, and Angel then turned back to the Decayer to settle their remaining matters.

• The Decayer recognized the summoned Elan as real, approached him, and wept against his shoulder before greeting him.
• Elan briefly regained consciousness, asked who the Decayer was, and then lost his awareness again as Angel explained that his soul and memories were badly damaged.
• The Decayer accepted that Elan might never recover his past and thanked Angel for giving the Prushans a chance to begin again, promising to fulfill its own promise.
• The Demon God’s Divine Will spoke through Little Demon Host’s blue lantern, identified Angel as the one who changed the Decayer’s future, and said they would meet again.
• The Wonderland Authority’s countdown expelled the Demon God’s Divine Will, and Angel turned back to the Decayer to address their remaining matters.

Angel explained that the Prushans’ consciousnesses would be reborn in the Deep Dream, then prepared to choose an examiner for the Little Demon host’s third trial. Decayer revealed that the seemingly foolish examiner Kagu had once been its student and follower, making Kagu the easiest choice for Angel.

• Angel told Decayer that Elan and other Prushans would be taken to a consciousness world in the Deep Dream, though Decayer might not be able to see them again.
• Decayer accepted that the Prushans’ soul fragments remained in its brain and said it would handle them properly before reuniting with Elan.
• The Little Demon host offered Angel three examiner choices: one judged stance, one judged viewpoints, and one asked obscure questions.
• Angel favored the examiner who judged stance because it seemed faster and easier than guessing viewpoints or consulting others about obscure questions.
• Decayer identified the supposedly foolish examiner as Kagu and explained that Kagu had once been its student and follower, so Kagu would let Angel pass while Decayer was present.

Angel accepted the Decayer’s help and chose Kagu as his examiner so he could pass the Heart Chapter and meet the Cruel Scholar. Kagu asked whether truth was an objective treasure or a revisable map, and Angel chose the treasure faction, grounding his answer in Jon’s reasoning.

• The Decayer explained that helping Angel pass would support the Cruel Scholar’s wishes, and Angel accepted his assistance.
• Angel approached Kagu’s Sealing Stele, and Kagu emerged acting like a foolish, honest cow until he recognized the Decayer as his teacher.
• Kagu learned that the Cruel Scholar was waiting for Angel and asked about Angel’s preferences before choosing a question.
• Kagu asked whether truth objectively existed in the universe or was a map people pursued and revised.
• Angel considered the competing views and chose the treasure faction, citing Jon’s argument that objective truth was the foundation of the wizard system.

Angel argued before Kagu that truth was an objective treasure underlying wizarding power, using a Light Spell model to contrast verifiable knowledge with subjective belief. Kagu said Angel’s reasoning had persuaded him, then revealed that a wizard he once heard at Balalaika’s tavern had favored the opposing map view, prompting Angel to wonder whether the wizard was his mentor Sanders.

• Angel demonstrated how modifications to the Light Spell model changed its effects while preserving its objective foundation.
• Angel contrasted cumulative, reproducible knowledge with spells based on subjective will, which he said would make wizarding power unstable and prevent civilization from advancing.
• Angel concluded that truth was an objectively existing treasure, and Kagu, the Little Demon host, and the Decayer were impressed by his argument.
• Kagu admitted he had intended to ask a casual test question and said Angel’s answer had convinced him, then asked whether Angel’s position was truly his own.
• Angel explained that a wizard he had overheard at the Reviving Witch Balalaika’s tavern had favored the map view, and Kagu said the wizard’s identity and voice had been concealed.
• Angel wondered whether the wizard might have been Sanders, whose map-oriented view would contrast with Jon’s treasure-oriented position.

Angel passed Kagu’s Heart Chapter trial by explaining that his stance could change as his understanding grew. As the dreamlike trial ground dissolved, the Decayer realized they were in a dream and asked Angel whether Elan and the other consciousness fragments could truly be reborn in Deep Dream.

• Angel told Kagu that he currently supported the treasure faction but would revise his stance if new knowledge changed his understanding.
• Kagu declared that Angel had passed the test, completing the Heart Chapter trial, and the Text Panel advised him to wait until the Sealing Ritual Formation was fully repaired before facing the Devil God.
• Angel saw that Gabriel was still challenging the final outside point and expected him to finish before the repair countdown ended.
• The Heart Chapter’s Sealing Steles and cubic space began to dissolve, while the Little Demon host, Kagu, and the Decayer found their energy sources inaccessible.
• The Decayer guessed that the collapsing Heart Chapter was a dream, and Angel confirmed the guess by asking how it had discovered the truth.
• The Decayer asked Angel whether Elan and the other consciousness fragments would reach Deep Dream and be reborn, or whether Angel had lied.

Angel confirmed that the Heart Chapter and its participants existed within a dream, then watched the Little Demon Host, Kagu, and the Decayer begin waking. As the Decayer recalled its bond with Elan and faced parting, Wonderland Authority marked it as a Gifted Citizen, leaving open the possibility of a reunion.

• Angel told the Little Demon Host that the dream reflected the real Heart Chapter and that the Cruel Scholar present was only a wisp of divine consciousness.
• The Little Demon Host and Kagu dissipated as they woke, while the Decayer faded more slowly and received a mark from Wonderland Authority recognizing it as a Gifted Citizen.
• The Decayer recounted how Elan had mentored and supported it at the Academy of Stars before entrusting it with the chance to explore the outer realms.
• The Decayer asked Angel to care for Elan and the other Prushans in the world of Deep Dream, and Angel promised they would recover.
• Angel told the Decayer they could meet again and asked it to guide the Prushans once they were revived.

Angel learned that the Cruel Scholar might target him after hearing about his actions, while Gabriel completed the sealing ritual array restoration. As Angel entered the final stage to meet the Demon God's divine consciousness, Nomephins appeared to stop him, and the Cruel Scholar questioned Wicks about a dream.

• The Decayer vanished after promising Elan that they would meet again and that it would guide him to become a star-track scholar.
• Angel asked Nomephins for advice about meeting the Demon God's divine consciousness, and Nomephins warned that the Cruel Scholar might target him in the Abyss.
• Angel told Nomephins that the Lord of No Flame had died before his eyes, but a glowing door appeared before Nomephins could ask how.
• Gabriel completed the final black-point challenge, bringing the sealing ritual array restoration progress to 9/9, and Angel chose to enter the face-to-face Demon God stage.
• Nomephins transformed into a golden sphinx and blocked Angel's doorway as the Sea of Flowing Flax vanished.
• The Cruel Scholar contacted Wicks and asked what he had dreamed, but Wicks could not remember.

The Cruel Scholar discovered that an unknown force had erased Wicks, the Decayer, and Kagu’s dream memories directly within the Dream Realm. It sent them to Aisha Underground City to seek help from a dream wizard, while the Decayer secretly noticed that the noise of its soul echoes had gone silent and sensed hidden messages remained.

• The Cruel Scholar used an inscription to test Wicks’s memories, then concluded that his dream had likely been erased or isolated within the Dream Realm.
• The Cruel Scholar summoned the Decayer and Kagu, confirmed that they also bore traces of a Strange Dream, and found their dream memories had been erased in the same way.
• The Cruel Scholar told Kagu that an unknown force had manipulated their dreams inside the Heart Chapter and ordered Wicks to take the Heart Chapter to Aisha Underground City.
• The Cruel Scholar directed Wicks, Kagu, and the Decayer to find the Pleasure Pavilion Master, a dream wizard who could follow their dreams to search for clues.
• After the Cruel Scholar left, the Decayer concealed that its soul echoes had fallen silent and sensed that hidden messages within them might reveal missing secrets.

Wicks, Kagu, and Decayer reached the Dream Experience Hall to find traces of the Strange Dream, but the Pleasure Pavilion Master exposed Wicks’s purpose through a dream fantasy. She invited them to follow her after confirming their request was harmless.

• Wicks led Kagu and Decayer through Aisha Underground City toward the Dream Experience Hall while Decayer pretended to remain distracted, hiding its discovery of an image involving Elan.
• At the hall, Wicks met Little Mushroom, then a silver-haired clerk also called Little Mushroom, and demanded to see the Pleasure Pavilion Master using Cruel Scholar’s token.
• The Pleasure Pavilion Master appeared in Wicks’s dream fantasy and revealed that she knew its purpose, after which the dream dissolved and Wicks found itself still outside the hall.
• Kagu told Wicks that it had revealed its mission while dreaming, and the Pleasure Pavilion Master said she had only taken precautions before inviting the group to follow her.

Angel entered Between the Rifts after passing Nomephins’s challenge and found the Rift Sealing Rite finishing its repair. There, the Devil God’s divine consciousness appeared as a figure made of information and recognized the rite as the method intended to seal Him.

• Nomephins explained that Wonderland Authority had tasked it with guarding Between the Rifts and required Angel to pass a challenge before entering.
• Angel answered Nomephins’s three questions correctly and opened the gate to the Facing the Devil God phase.
• Angel followed a glowing path through the All-Knowing Prison Hall, where he saw Rabbit Girl, Gabriel, and Gray Porcelain frozen as his livestream began to distort.
• Angel entered Between the Rifts and watched the Rift Sealing Rite’s crack close as its repair countdown reached zero.
• The white jade floor transformed into a window onto the Echo Library, and the Devil God’s divine consciousness appeared above Angel as a figure formed from streams of information.

Angel encountered Sebas, a rebellious divine will of the Cruel Scholar who wanted to break free from the original body and replace it. Sebas sought Angel’s help in reaching truth, while Angel remained guarded and saw potential in Sebas’s arrogance.

• Angel recognized the upside-down figure as the Cruel Scholar’s divine will and wondered why it knowingly remained sealed in the Echo Library.
• Angel questioned the figure about its appearance and learned that it called itself Sebas, a name given by another divine will named Kurieran.
• Sebas explained that it belonged to an Anti-Original-Body Alliance seeking independence from the Cruel Scholar, then urged Angel to help it overthrow the original body.
• Sebas broke free from its chains and approached Angel, whose Nightmare Illusion power strengthened enough to withstand its divine essence.
• Sebas claimed Angel could help it reach truth and defeat the Cruel Scholar, but Angel said he could not approach truth with his current abilities.
• Sebas admitted it wanted Angel’s flashes of insight to help break through the Wall of Truth, and Angel judged its arrogance potentially useful.

As Angel faced Sebas inside Between the Rifts, the people outside worried over his long silence, while the Book Fairy and Nomephins feared the Demon God’s aura was overwhelming him. Angel realized Sebas wanted the knowledge behind the Decayer’s revival and claimed he knew only how to use it, leaving Sebas with no direct answer about its source.

• Rabbit Girl, Gray Porcelain, and Gabriel waited anxiously as the Luminous Disc faded, and Gabriel counted the breaths that had passed since Angel disappeared.
• The Book Fairy lost contact with Nomephins and prayed Angel would meet the scholarly Xialuolinde or Kurieran rather than a cruel divine thought.
• Nomephins explained to itself that it could no longer contact the Book Fairy after becoming Between the Rifts’ gatekeeper, and it worried that Sebas’s unrestrained aura might be testing or harming Angel.
• Sebas praised Angel for solving the Decayer’s predicament and demanded to know what knowledge had revived the Prussia Civilization’s ghost.
• Angel said someone—or the will of the world—had granted him authority to use the knowledge, but he did not understand its truth and could not ask its source for answers.

Sebas analyzed Angel’s ability and concluded that it was likely a gift from the Great Will, then pressed Angel to share its Root Principle. Angel concealed that his power came from authority and looked for a way to draw Sebas into studying Specialized Knowledge.

• Sebas used a data analysis of Angel’s ability and concluded that it was a gift from the world will.
• Sebas explained how world wills could wither and argued that Prussia’s world will had perished along with the Decayer’s talent.
• Sebas suspected Angel’s ability was a gift from the Great Will because it could affect multiple worlds, while Angel knew his power actually relied on authority.
• Sebas invited Angel to cooperate in breaking the Wall of Truth, and Angel warned that he could not use his ability again soon.
• Sebas introduced the idea of a Root Principle, and Angel used it as a possible opening to bring up Specialized Knowledge.
• Sebas decided to stay in the rift and seek knowledge from Angel rather than leave or contact the Original Body.

Sebas explained that seals let the Cruel Scholar gather knowledge, then used the threat of breaking the seal to bargain for Angel’s Root Principle. Angel agreed to demonstrate the foundation he had dismantled from his abilities, leaving Sebas eager to study it.

• Sebas considered how to trade for Angel’s Root Principle but realized he lacked useful knowledge and computational power.
• Sebas described how the Cruel Scholar’s seals allowed its divine thoughts to collect new knowledge, and admitted he was willing to remain sealed for that reason.
• Sebas claimed he could escape whenever he wished, though Angel sensed that he was uncertain, and demanded the Root Principle in exchange for not breaking the seal himself.
• Angel pretended to resist before agreeing to demonstrate the Root Principle he had dismantled from his abilities, while warning that he could not explain its principles.
• Sebas accepted the offer and eagerly anticipated studying the Root Principle, overlooking his own lack of computational power.

Angel used Imaginary Alchemy to draw Sebas into an unending state of scholarly fanaticism, satisfying the sealing condition in Between the Rifts. After observing Sebas and leaving safeguards behind, Angel prepared to return while Rabbit Hole waited for him outside All-Knowing Prison Hall.

• Rabbit Hole claimed first place with a perfect score, but its members stayed inside All-Knowing Prison Hall rather than leave without Angel.
• Book Fairy apologized after Rabbit Girl, Gray Porcelain, and Gabriel insisted that they would wait for Angel.
• Angel demonstrated Imaginary Alchemy to Sebas and offered possible research directions, immersing Sebas in scholarly fanaticism.
• Angel observed Sebas for five hours and found that its concentration and thought speed showed no decline.
• Angel concluded that Sebas had been sealed, left Imaginary Alchemy creations as safeguards and monitoring tools, and turned toward the door.

Angel left Between the Rifts after giving Blue Flame his name and learning it would trade information for flames. He reunited with Nomephins in the Gatekeeper Space, learned about its new abilities and limitations, and prepared to take Nomephins's avatar and Elan with him.

• Blue Flame stopped Angel to ask his name on Sebas's behalf, and Angel told it he was called Angel.
• Blue Flame let Angel leave and offered to trade information for different kinds of flames.
• Angel emerged into the former Heart Chapter space and found that Nomephins had gained a body and become a Gifted Citizen.
• Nomephins explained that it ruled the Sealed Land, could create an avatar, and needed the space to remain within a hundred li of its avatar.
• Angel agreed to take Nomephins's avatar and Elan with him when he left.