Chapter Summaries

Angel learned that Bogula had emerged from the Myriad Sounds Demon Abyss as a quasi-Truth-Knowing wizard, but he was seriously injured and under Rosen’s control. As the New Star Tournament finals approached, the judges settled the Endless Corridor rewards and prepared to enter the arena.

• Angel and Falina discussed the judges’ dispute over how many Endless Corridor floors contestants ranked below fifteenth place could access.
• Midora contacted Angel and reported that Bogula had emerged from the Myriad Sounds Demon Abyss as a quasi-Truth-Knowing wizard.
• Falina told Angel that Bogula had suffered a serious injury and cognitive impairment, and Rosen was keeping him under control.
• The judges agreed to award contestants below fifteenth place access to the Endless Corridor in four rank-based brackets, with maximum floors of 140, 160, 180, and 200.
• As the finals neared, the judges began leaving for the Boundless Arena, while the special invited judges stayed to enter through the teleportation platform.

The New Star Tournament final began with the judges selecting the Raging Sea of Trolls battlefield, a stormy ocean inhabited by dangerous sea trolls. Phantom Deer emerged onto one of the reefs as the match was about to begin.

• The Boundless Arena opened for the New Star Tournament final, and Angel took his seat among the special guest judges.
• Hydra declined to draw the battlefield, Angel also refused, and Falina drew the Raging Sea of Trolls card.
• Falina explained that the ocean battlefield would contain sea trolls at least as strong as level-three apprentices.
• The Boundless Arena transformed into a stormy sea with two reefs and an entrance door behind each one.
• Phantom Deer was announced and stepped through the door onto one of the reefs.

Trom the Phantom Deer and Onassis the Philosopher entered the Boundless Arena for a match against ocean trolls. After the narrator introduced the contestants and the countdown ended, the match began with the sea still calm beneath darkening clouds.

• Trom emerged onto a reef and searched the sea for signs of ocean trolls, but the narrator said they would awaken only when the match began.
• Onassis entered on a distant reef, greeted Trom with a line from the phantom thief Parlov, and received no response.
• Angel explained Parlov's catchphrase to Falina, who recognized why the narrator had asked whether it came from morning or evening.
• Onassis called Trom ignorant and looked toward the sky, while the narrator speculated about whom he wanted to see.
• Trom and Onassis prepared as the countdown ended, and the match officially began.

Trom and Onassis fought in the ocean arena, displaying powerful water-based abilities as Trom gained the initiative with a series of attacks. Their battle stirred the Raging Sea of Trolls, and Angel realized the ocean trolls were arriving.

• Trom fired a powerful spindle-shaped water projectile at Onassis, who turned into a water-like avatar and let it pass through him.
• Falina and Angel discussed Onassis's ability to merge with water, which seemed to come from the philosophy in the Sea-Listening Wizard's Handbook.
• Trom used a hidden underwater attack to destroy Onassis's reef, then ambushed him through the cover of the water curtains.
• Trom struck Onassis with opposing heat and frost, sending him into the sea, but Onassis rose unharmed and his rippling body carried a strange whisper.
• Trom charged again as bubbles rose from the sea and dark clouds gathered; Angel said the ocean trolls had arrived.

Trom attacked Onassis repeatedly, but a golden halo intercepted and reflected every blow while Onassis showed no visible effort. Angel and Hydra explained that Onassis spread philosophical information simply by being present, and Hydra said the method could be countered by blocking that information or overpowering Onassis’s limits.

• Trom’s first punch struck a golden halo around Onassis and rebounded, sending Trom flying.
• Trom summoned his Phantom Deer bloodline and launched rapid attacks, but the golden light reflected each one.
• Kemonai observed that Trom was wasting his strength because Philosopher’s energy fluctuations had not changed.
• Falina asked Angel about Onassis’s golden light, and Hydra explained that information could be conveyed through more than words.
• Angel explained that Onassis constantly spread information, and Hydra confirmed that anyone facing him came under his philosophical influence.
• Hydra said the method could be broken by blocking the information or exceeding Onassis’s endurance, though his limit was unknown.

Trom and Onassis’s match was interrupted when two Ocean Trolls emerged from the sea and attacked them. Onassis fought one troll while Trom transformed and battled the other, but Trom was struggling against its strength.

• Trom returned to the reef and watched as thunder and lightning heralded a giant wave that struck Onassis.
• An Ocean Troll emerged from the wave, wounded Onassis, and pursued Trom as a second Ocean Troll surfaced nearby.
• Onassis surfaced and engaged one Ocean Troll, leaving Trom to face the other alone.
• Trom used Bloodline Release to take on a deer-like form, raced across the sea on ice, and burst the troll’s left eye with ice spikes.
• Trom continued attacking at close range, but the Ocean Troll’s powerful water-element attacks struck him several times and put him at a disadvantage.

Trom defeated his sea troll and discovered that Onassis had already killed his own, but Onassis’s barrier repelled Trom’s attack. The judges discussed the limits of Onassis’s power, while Trom faced the prospect of surrender unless he could find a way through the defense.

• Trom’s frost mist slowed the sea troll from within and without, and he shattered its remaining eye before it fell into the ocean.
• Trom saw that Onassis had already killed his sea troll, but Onassis had not taken the opportunity to attack him.
• Trom challenged Onassis, who spoke of matter and energy as rain began to fall around them.
• Trom charged Onassis with an ice-powered kick, but a halo deflected the blow and sent Trom rolling back.
• Falina, Angel, and Hydra discussed how Onassis’s limited load capacity might prevent him from attacking and defending at once, while noting that Trom still faced a difficult fight.

Trom realized that Onassis’s light barrier could be broken by force exceeding its limit, then revealed a symbiotic contract with the strategic phantom beast Kasisomi. His transformation gave him the power to challenge Onassis’s shield, leaving the match poised for Onassis’s response.

• Trom noticed that the sea troll’s severed limbs and spiked mace had cracked the ice, and recalled the blow that had injured Onassis through his light barrier.
• Trom concluded that the barrier had an upper limit and that he needed strength comparable to the sea troll’s powerful strike to break it.
• Trom raised his aura, froze the surrounding sea, and transformed as an enormous elk phantom appeared behind him.
• Falina recognized the phantom as Kasisomi, while Hydra explained that Trom had formed a symbiotic contract with the beast rather than fused with its bloodline.
• Falina realized Trom could use a portion of Kasisomi’s power to break Onassis’s shield, and the spectators waited to see how Onassis would respond.

Trom used Kasisomi’s power to overwhelm Onassis and break his absolute defense, leaving the audience convinced Trom had won. As the frozen sea broke apart, an Ocean Troll awakened from beneath the arena, and the match faced a new danger.

• Trom warned Onassis that he could not fully control Kasisomi’s power, then attacked with rapid shifts that seemed like teleportation.
• Trom’s relentless blows weakened Onassis’s golden defense until it shattered, revealing Trom’s wizard-level offensive power.
• Trom continued battering Onassis, leaving him bloodied on a reef and believing the match was over.
• The shattered ice and broken reefs allowed a huge whirlpool to form, and an Ocean Troll roared from its center.
• Falina and Angel explained that the two reefs had sealed the troll, which Trom had awakened by destroying them.

Trom watched Onassis disappear into a deadly vortex, then found himself trapped by a colossal sea troll that resisted his attacks. As the battle continued, an unknown figure opened crimson eyes deep beneath the ocean.

• Trom realized the vortex was pulling the injured Onassis toward it and urged him to concede, but Onassis could not respond and vanished into the darkness.
• When the match did not end, Trom decided to retreat, but a sea troll targeted him with tracking water columns and trapped him inside a prison of pillars.
• A nearly hundred-meter sea troll emerged from the ocean, wielding a trident and wearing scale armor.
• Trom attacked the sea troll repeatedly but was thrown back by its powerful defenses, so he searched for a weakness while protecting himself with Kasisomi's hide.
• Deep beneath the ocean, an unknown figure slowly opened eyes that glimmered crimson.

Trom struggled to find a weakness in the ocean troll while his stamina dwindled, then became trapped in a water bubble as the troll attacked. He braced for the trident’s strike, but it stopped several meters from the bubble, leaving the outcome unexplained.

• The ocean troll anticipated Trom’s attacks and forced him to dodge until he had used nearly eighty percent of his remaining stamina.
• Trom escaped the troll’s trident by charging forward, but the water energy grazed him and left him with little strength.
• Trom recalled that Onassis was still alive and blamed the Water-Pattern Witch for the final’s dangerous setup.
• The ocean troll’s roar dazed Trom, and he discovered that water vapor had trapped him inside a pale blue bubble.
• Trom failed to break the sturdy bubble in time, so he defended himself with energy and Kasisomi’s fur as the troll thrust its trident.
• The trident stopped several meters before reaching the bubble, and Trom saw that he had not been struck.

Onassis returned from the depths and used his mysterious speed to sever the ocean troll’s arms before dismembering it completely. Trom, terrified by Onassis’s power, surrendered.

• Trom escaped the water bubble and realized an outside force had severed the ocean troll’s right arm.
• Onassis appeared on the ocean troll’s shoulder, and Trom recognized him as the fighter who had vanished into the sea.
• Onassis repeatedly vanished and reappeared, cutting off the ocean troll’s remaining arm while the troll attacked him.
• Onassis laughed and dismembered the ocean troll, then turned his crimson eyes toward Trom.
• Trom felt threatened by Onassis and surrendered.

After Onassis defeated Trom and won the New Star Tournament, observers wondered what had changed in him during the fight. Angel connected Onassis’s repeated words to the autobiographical novel The Long Road of Day and Night, whose protagonist had a split personality.

• Onassis’s victory over Trom left the audience stunned, and the commentator announced him as champion and Trom as runner-up.
• Sang Ye questioned Su Yatutai about his feelings toward Onassis’s victory and warned him not to call Rabelais his mentor after returning to Deep Sea Song.
• In the medical room, Trom wondered why Onassis had hidden his strength and noticed his unsettling laughter and red eyes.
• Falina asked Hydra and Angel what had happened to Onassis, and Angel identified the source of his repeated words as The Long Road of Day and Night.
• Angel explained that the novel’s protagonist had a split personality.

After Onassis's victory, Angel and Falina considered whether his changes came from a dual personality, while Hydra used his Right Head's Eye to explain that Onassis's hidden power had been within him all along. The judges recognized Onassis as the champion and awaited his request to the tournament organizers.

• Angel explained the story of a priest who secretly executed villains, prompting Falina to wonder whether Onassis had modeled himself on the book's protagonist.
• Falina and the other judges discussed whether Onassis's changes and strength came from a dual personality, while Angel kept Frost's Dark Canticle secret.
• Hydra opened his Right Head's Eye and found that he could not see through Angel, whose body seemed shielded by green patterns.
• Hydra told the judges that Onassis's power had always existed within him but had not manifested, possibly because only his other personality could wield it.
• The judges accepted Onassis's victory and anticipated his request, along with the other rewards he had won as champion.

Melantha Yada and Hisha informed Hydra that New Star Tournament champion Onassis had fallen into a strange, uncontrolled state after the finals. Onassis briefly regained lucidity to send a distress signal and request that the Infinite Battle Tower suppress his inner demon, and Melantha sought Hydra’s help before the award ceremony.

• Melantha Yada entered the judging room and politely greeted Angel, who recalled her past role as Sky Tower supervisor in Savage Cave.
• Melantha told Hydra that something had happened to Onassis and asked for help.
• Hisha explained that Onassis had arrived at the medical room uninjured but was laughing strangely, repeating “darkness and light,” and acting crazed.
• Hisha said Onassis briefly returned to normal and sent Phantom Deer a distress signal using Jabal Cipher.
• Melantha revealed that Trom deciphered Onassis’s message: he invoked the tournament winner’s reward and asked the officials to suppress his inner demon.
• Melantha said Onassis could not control himself when provoked and that she could not identify or treat his condition, so she appealed to Hydra before the award ceremony.

Melantha brought Hydra, Falina, and Angel to examine Onassis after his violent reaction left him confined in the medical room. Hydra confirmed Angel’s theory that Onassis had dual personalities and said there was a way to awaken the sleeping personality, though fully resolving the condition would be difficult.

• Hydra agreed to accompany Melantha and invited Angel because Angel had proposed that Onassis had dual personalities.
• Falina joined them, and the group went to the medical room where Onassis was being kept after attacking someone during a stress test.
• Angel greeted Trom in the corridor before Melantha led the visitors inside.
• Onassis ignored the group and muttered about darkness and light while standing in a dark corner.
• Hydra examined Onassis and concluded that his consciousness and id were united, supporting Angel’s dual-personality theory.
• Hydra told Melantha that completely resolving the divided personality would be difficult, but awakening the sleeping personality was possible.

Melantha and Hydra searched for a way to awaken Onassis’s primary personality before the award ceremony, but every proposed method either took too long or risked harming him. Hydra turned to Angel for insight, leaving Melantha hopeful that he might offer a solution.

• Hydra explained that Onassis’s chaotic thoughts made ordinary mental intervention impossible and that forced intervention could take ten days to a month while damaging his mental strength.
• Melantha rejected a long delay because the New Star Tournament’s award ceremony needed to happen soon to preserve its publicity and counter the negative attention from Purification Garden.
• Falina suggested beating Onassis’s secondary personality unconscious, but Hydra said weakening either personality would also weaken the other.
• Hydra suggested asking Beast Emperor Rosen Yada, but Melantha and Falina noted that Rosen was occupied at the Research Institute and unlikely to help with the ceremony.
• Hydra asked Angel whether he had any insights, and Melantha looked to him expectantly.

Angel agreed to try to resolve Onassis’s condition and used Nightmare Illusion to send his secondary personality into the Dream Wilderness. Onassis’s eyes reopened with their normal gaze, though he still seemed lost in thought.

• Angel considered using Melantha’s promised reward from the Infinite Battle Tower to secure Leon access to the Endless Corridor.
• Angel asked the others to leave, then learned from Hydra that his left head’s intuition had pointed Hydra toward him.
• After Hydra and the others departed, Angel inspected Onassis and found him still muttering philosophical phrases.
• Angel used Nightmare Illusion to bring Onassis’s secondary personality into the Dream Wilderness.
• Onassis’s eyes reopened without their scarlet glow, and his pupils moved as though he were still pondering something.

Angel awakened Onassis and learned that his secondary personality, which embodied impulse, had helped advance Onassis’s study of Cartesian Philosophy. Onassis wanted the personality back, and Angel warned him to make sure he could control it before the upcoming coronation ceremony.

• Angel told the newly awakened Onassis that the secondary personality was in the Dream Wilderness, walking toward the darker side.
• Onassis explained that his secondary personality embodied impulse, while his primary personality held all his rationality, and that this division had helped his philosophical progress.
• Onassis said he could not bring himself to eliminate the secondary personality because philosophy needed impulse as well as reason.
• Angel said he could release the secondary personality at any time and asked whether Onassis could suppress it before the awards and coronation ceremony in the Boundless Arena.

Angel restored Onassis’s primary personality and left him pondering whether his secondary personality’s wilderness was real. Onassis thanked Trom with an amberstone that glowed like moonlight, while Hydra hinted that he had seen through Angel’s claim about Sanders.

• Angel revealed Onassis’s secondary personality within his consciousness, and Onassis suppressed it.
• Onassis asked where his secondary personality had been, and Angel suggested that the wilderness might exist beneath a distant starry sky.
• Angel left the medical room and told Melantha and Falina that Onassis’s condition had been resolved; Hydra credited Angel’s ability and hinted that he knew Sanders had not taught it to him.
• Onassis emerged with normal eyes, thanked Angel, and gave Trom a crescent-shaped amberstone for reporting his distress.
• Onassis recited a line about the gift of moonlight, causing the amberstone to glow faintly in Trom’s hand.