Chapter Summaries

As Gray Mist’s coordinated crises destabilized the Three Great Empires and weakened the Star Gazer’s restraints, the Star Gazer chose to exile Gray Mist into the future rather than stop his breakthrough outright. Just as he acted, he noticed Anvis, whose encounter with the Star Gazer’s projection left its purpose unclear.

• The councilors accepted the Speaker’s plan to equip citizens with construct humanoids while focusing on the Spark Rebel Army’s growing conquests and the displaced kingdoms attached to the Federation Parliament.
• Heretic Cultists and awakened ancient beings drove the Holy Messiah Empire’s Overlapping Zones to expand, adding to the crises Gray Mist had set in motion.
• Gray Mist’s schemes caused the Web of Fate around him to destabilize, increasing the power he could gain by breaking through to Ninth Rank.
• The Star Gazer calculated that stopping Gray Mist was unlikely, so he decided to exile him into the future despite the cost to his recovery.
• The Star Gazer locked onto Gray Mist through the Web of Fate and began dissolving his spiral beard to unleash the exile, making Gray Mist uneasy and prompting him to speed up his breakthrough.
• Anvis stared at a projection visible only to him as the Star Gazer recognized him as a little one of the Olyvendi Family.

Anvis confronted Star Gazer Brentz, who revealed that he had foreseen Anvis’s trump cards and declared his defeat inevitable. Brentz sent Gray Mist far into the future and returned to slumber, leaving Anvis warned but still looking for a chance to resist.

• Anvis introduced himself to Brentz and tried to stall while assessing how much power the Star Gazer could spare from fighting Gray Mist.
• Brentz explained that the Four Great Families’ resistance to their intended fate had caused Anvis to emerge as an anomaly, then said his vision had exposed Anvis’s hidden resources and allies.
• Brentz offered to take Anvis as a student after the Olyvendi Family collapsed, but Anvis mocked him over his treatment of students like Gray Mist.
• Gray Mist vanished from the Continental Web of Fate after Brentz sent him far into the future, and Brentz said the era could not produce another Ninth Rank Diviner.
• Brentz warned Anvis that he had prepared against another breakthrough, then his projection disappeared as he returned to sleep.
• Anvis reflected on Brentz’s warning and the danger he posed, but concluded he still had a chance.

Anvis brought Fiona back toward the Olyvendi Family while urging her to build relationships and prepare for a future without his help. On the way, they saw three Golden Dragons flying toward Frei Province, apparently connected to the Aslaid Family.

• Anvis found Fiona chatting with Helena and told her they were leaving, so Fiona gave Helena a Crystal Ball to keep in touch.
• Anvis explained that they could return home while their hidden enemies were distracted by recent events.
• Anvis warned Fiona that she needed allies as well as strength, then asked what she would do if they ever became enemies; Fiona insisted she would never oppose him.
• Anvis and Fiona spotted three Golden Dragons flying toward Frei Province, and his divination linked them to the Aslaid Family.

Anvis returned to the Olyvendi Family with Fiona, but Duke Carlot found no proof that Pomona had betrayed them, so Anvis focused on preparing for his Ninth Rank breakthrough. Meanwhile, Dragon Island returned and allied with the Aslaid Family, which used its new power to intervene in the civil war through the Seventh Prince.

• Anvis and Fiona secretly contacted Duke Carlot, who brought them back to the family and promised to watch Pomona after his Time Rewind Spell revealed no evidence against him.
• Anvis returned to Pamir Academy and prepared for his Ninth Rank breakthrough, confident he could succeed unless the Star Gazer interfered.
• The Aslaid Family announced that Dragon Island had returned to the Main Material World and that multiple Ninth Rank Dragons would affiliate with it.
• The Seventh Prince, Viller Augustine, ambushed the First Prince's forces with Ninth Rank experts, severely wounding the First Prince and killing two of his retainers.
• At the Upper House Meeting, Viller entered behind the Head of Aslaide Family, revealing that the Aslaid Family was backing him and had become the real power behind his actions.
• The Aslaid Family sought the other great families' support for its intervention and offered them access to contracts with dragons in return.

Anvis understood that the Aslaid Family was provoking the Imperial Royal Family to test its hidden strength while seeking support from the other great families. As he kept his Force Dragon Avatar concealed at Pamir Academy, he traded advanced weapons to armies fighting across the continent.

• Anvis concluded that the Aslaid Family’s bold actions were meant to probe the Imperial Royal Family and draw the other three great families into its camp.
• The Imperial Royal Family made no visible response, allowing the Seventh Prince to seize territory from the First Prince and Fourth Princess with Aslaid Family support.
• Duke Carlot warned Anvis to hide his Force Dragon Avatar after Dragon Island returned, and Anvis kept it sealed in its subspace.
• Anvis linked Dragon Island’s return to the expanding Overlapping Zones and gathered intelligence as wars erupted across the Yar Continent.
• Raphael, Anvis’s Black Ring Merchant Guild avatar, sold a Noble Manager tens of millions of Imperial Gold Coins’ worth of weapons and Constructs, including secret Magic Element Fusion Mechs.

Anvis discussed selling a customized airship to the Noble Manager while observing the battlefield, then repaired a malfunctioning Energy Core powered by Original Sin Beast flesh. After returning to the reception room, he learned that several intruders had infiltrated the airship.

• Anvis offered the Noble Manager a customized airship and suggested a discount in exchange for a long-term rare-material procurement deal.
• The airship trembled, and Anvis learned that the Energy Core in the Power Room had developed abnormal fluctuations.
• Anvis inspected the unstable core and traced the malfunction to a rejection reaction between its Energy Furnace and the Original Sin Beast flesh.
• Anvis stabilized the core with corrupted Holy Power and a specially formulated Soothing Agent.
• Anvis returned to the reception room and heard that several little mice had infiltrated the airship.

Princess Paola, Landon, and the Last Dragonborn infiltrated an airship to stop Vassashi’s transaction by disabling its barrier. Paola persuaded Landon that delaying the war would save innocent lives, and the group continued toward the Control Room, unaware that Rivers’s live stream had over 100,000 viewers.

• Paola explained that she had sabotaged the airship’s Mana furnace to keep it aloft and give them time to act.
• Landon doubted that capturing Vassashi would change anything, but Paola argued that delaying the war would protect the kingdom’s citizens.
• The Last Dragonborn reported no nearby guards or surveillance, and Landon confirmed that Lord Dark Raven sensed no threat.
• Paola led the group onward to shut down the Space Imprisonment Array, while Rivers noticed that his live stream had over 100,000 viewers.

Last Dragonborn helped Princess Paola infiltrate the airship’s Control Room and disable its Space Barrier Device, allowing her allies to teleport aboard. They confronted Vassashi as he tried to escape through the Teleportation Hall.

• Last Dragonborn led Princess Paola and Landon through the airship, using his Blue Eye and their disguises to evade detection.
• Princess Paola used a Royal Family Arcane Artifact to overload the Control Room’s guard Golems, triggering an alarm and locking the door.
• The three forced their way into the Control Room, subdued its personnel, and Paola disabled the Space Barrier Device and sent a teleportation signal.
• Vassashi heard the alarm and fled toward the Teleportation Hall after learning enemies had breached the ship.
• Last Dragonborn and Paola entered the reception room, and Paola fired Deep Cyan Lightning at the glowing Teleportation Array as Vassashi tried to activate it.

Anvis, posing as Raphael, stopped Princess Paola and her allies from pursuing Vassashi after he escaped through the Teleportation Array. With the teleportation ripples fading, the Last Dragonborn proposed that they buy access to the array, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Paola’s forces attacked Vassashi, but Anvis blocked their attacks and let Vassashi teleport away.
• Anvis identified himself as Raphael of the Black Ring Merchant Guild and promoted his sword, Breaker III Type, while the Last Dragonborn watched.
• Paola offered compensation and urged Anvis to let them pursue Vassashi before the teleportation ripples faded.
• Anvis refused to let them pass, citing his duty to protect his guest, and challenged them to defeat or persuade him within three minutes.
• As Paola’s group prepared to fight Anvis, the Last Dragonborn suggested buying permission to use the Teleportation Array.

Anvis charged Princess Paola and her group 110,000 Gold Coins before letting them pursue Vassashi, then used Landon’s connection to Vio to bolster Landon’s reputation among Players. Vassashi was captured, while Anvis’s Construct business continued to profit from the Federation’s wars and he publicly defended himself against accusations of fueling them.

• Anvis demanded 110,000 Empire Gold Coins from Princess Paola, who paid him before her group left to pursue Vassashi.
• Anvis told Landon that Vio had King's Aptitude and that he had last seen him in Du Lan City, leaving Landon disappointed and Lord Dark Raven suspicious.
• Princess Paola asked whether the Black Ring Merchant Guild would continue taking orders, and Anvis assured her that it would do business with anyone who paid enough.
• Landon's group intercepted Vassashi near his headquarters, defeated him, and took him captive as the Blackfeather Kingdom's conflict consolidated around Paola and Auttomo's camps.
• Anvis supplied Construct materials and equipment through the Black Ring Merchant Guild, then used Gold Coins and paid commenters to counter accusations that he fueled wars and smuggled Constructs to the Rebel Army.

As construct humanoids improved ordinary people’s lives but also made them targets for criminals, the Construct Network introduced Body Constructization, creating a new class of Construct Humans. Meanwhile, Anvis invited Olbins to Carlras City to test the Magic Council’s response, and Olbins agreed to meet.

• Princess Paola paid to free the Seventh Rank bandits captured by the Black Ring Merchant Guild’s airship guards.
• Commoners used construct humanoids for work, but thieves’ gangs began forcing them to serve as bait and cannon fodder.
• The Construct Network introduced Body Constructization, allowing users to upload their consciousness and inhabit construct bodies as Construct Humans.
• Construct Humans sought modifications from Anvis’s Black Ring Merchant Guild, especially Flight Modules.
• Anvis invited Olbins to meet in Carlras City, and Olbins promptly accepted.

Anvis met Olbins at the Crystal Bird's Nest, where Olbins delivered a message from the Star Gazer. The Star Gazer explained Gray Mist's fate and asked Anvis to become his next student.

• Anvis hosted Olbins in the Crystal Bird's Nest's Lord's Suite and learned that Olbins's teacher had sent him with a message.
• Olbins activated an Image Recording Crystal Ball while Anvis watched without touching it.
• Brentz the Star Gazer explained that he had sent Gray Mist into the distant future, where Gray Mist would reach the Ninth Rank and encounter the taboo of the Unknowable.
• Brentz predicted Gray Mist would later return to a future point of his own choosing rather than come back to the current era.
• Brentz asked Anvis Olyvendi to become his next student.

Anvis spoke with the Star Gazer and Veronica, the Ring of Space-Time, about the coming Darkness and the fate of the Olyvendi Family. After Veronica warned him to stop the Federal Speaker’s plan, Olbins revealed a preliminary design for miniaturizing the Eternal Core and gave Anvis a list of rare materials.

• Olbins learned that the Star Gazer wanted Anvis as a student, then activated the Crystal Ball so his teacher could contact Anvis.
• Veronica told Anvis that the future Darkness threatened humanity, warned that a second Prophet reaching the ninth rank would bring it sooner, and said the Four Great Families were destined to disappear.
• Veronica advised Anvis to stop the Federal Speaker’s plan, claiming it would threaten him even more than the Magic Council.
• Olbins told Anvis he had a preliminary design for miniaturizing the Eternal Core and handed him a list of rare materials.
• Anvis offered to supply ten sets of each material, but Olbins said three sets should be enough and regretted not asking for more.

Olbins presented Anvis with the Sky Heart, a portable miniature Pseudo-Infinite Mana Source, and Shield Array Generators designed for use by Anvis’s forces. Their linked Fusion Mode offered construct legions defenses capable of withstanding Eighth Rank spells, and Anvis paid Olbins while offering further support for his research.

• Olbins gave Anvis the Sky Heart, a pendant that could power a large Mage Tower or let a Ninth Rank Limit user maintain peak output indefinitely, with strict heat and usage precautions.
• Olbins explained that he had also made three Shield Array Generators and provided Anvis with their blueprints and processing procedures.
• Olbins described the generators’ layered shields, overload protection, destructive Overdrive Mode, and Fusion Mode, which linked multiple devices into a shield capable of resisting Eighth Rank legion spells.
• Anvis accepted the devices, paid Olbins, and offered to provide materials for future research.

As the civil war intensified and Players grew more cautious, Anvis considered the danger of reaching the Ninth Rank and whether the Stellar Disk could let him escape into another era. At the academy, Lanno approached him, but the chapter ended before revealing what the Ninth Prince wanted.

• Viller Augustine's forces reclaimed Imperial territory north of Palosia, pushing the First Prince and Fourth Princess into the south while the other great families stayed neutral.
• War refugees spread disorder across the Empire as Players pursued quests, reached a range of levels, and increasingly reincarnated after exhausting their resurrection attempts.
• Anvis walked beside Lake Gloria and reflected on the Star Gazer's warning that a Ninth Rank Diviner would encounter the Unknowable and bring about a terrible disaster.
• Anvis considered using the complete Stellar Disk to cross time and space and break through in another era.
• Lanno joined Anvis by the lake, and Anvis asked whether he needed something.

Lanno asked Anvis for personal support in his bid to become a contender in the Throne Seizure, and Anvis promised an answer within three days. After Lanno left, Anvis considered how Gray Mist’s disappearance had left the influence built around Lanno without its hidden architect.

• Lanno revealed his intention to enter the Throne Seizure and asked Anvis for his personal support, while Anvis ruled out support from the Olyvendi Family.
• Lanno cited Anvis’s rumored connections and offered him compensation in return for high-rank Prophets, a secret protector, and help securing Fiona’s mediation with his Fourth Sister.
• Anvis asked about Lanno’s relationship with the Outsiders, and Lanno described his failed attempt to organize them and his distrust of their growing power.
• Anvis told Lanno he would decide within three days and watched him leave.
• Anvis considered how Gray Mist’s disappearance had left the forces and influence arranged for Lanno without an owner.

Anvis approached Leo, whose Spark Organization was struggling after Gray Mist disappeared and other prophets refused to help. Leo accepted Anvis’s offer of a courageous Eighth Rank Peak prophet as an ally, declaring his resolve to bring down the nobles.

• Anvis planned to take over Gray Mist’s covert networks and support Ninth Prince Lanno in exchange for Fate Feedback.
• After Gray Mist’s disappearance, Spark’s secret operations became exposed, and Leo failed to persuade High-rank Prophets to assist the organization.
• Leo’s subordinate White Falcon reported that a powerful visitor claimed he could solve Spark’s difficulties, and Leo ordered him brought in.
• Anvis met Leo and explained that most prophets feared associating with Spark because they might suffer Gray Mist’s fate.
• Anvis offered to connect Leo with an Eighth Rank Peak prophet willing to help, and Leo accepted as long as their ideals aligned with Spark’s.

Anvis expanded his secret influence over Spark and the Empire’s factions, then watched the Olyvendi Family receive Dragon contracts while learning that ancient beings would return as the Main Material World’s protection weakened. Duke Carlot refused Anvis’s request to borrow the family’s Key.

• Anvis replaced Gray Mist as the hidden guide of Spark and sent an Avatar to assist Ninth Prince Lanno, testing whether his changes could avert the Olyvendi Family’s decline.
• The First Prince and Fourth Princess joined forces against the Aslaid Family, bringing the imperial civil war to a stalemate and prompting the Aslaid Family to compensate the neutral Great Families with Dragon contract slots.
• Evan and Aranis contracted Eighth Rank Dragons, Raymond contracted a Seventh Rank Dragon, and Pomona contracted the Ninth Rank adult white Dragon.
• Ninth Rank Limit Dragons warned the other Great Families that Dragon Island’s return signaled weakening protection and the coming return of ancient dangers.
• Duke Carlot refused Anvis’s request to borrow the Olyvendi Family’s jointly owned Key.

Anvis asked Duke Carlot for the key he needed to break through to become a Ninth Rank Diviner, but Carlot had previously rejected cooperation with the Circle of Truth. After Anvis revealed that he was an Eighth Rank Peak diviner, Carlot agreed to find a way to get him the key, though the Circle of Truth remained an obstacle.

• Duke Carlot explained that the family’s Ninth Rank Meeting had deadlocked over cooperating with the Circle of Truth, and the later attack on Star Territory made the family unwilling to work with them.
• Anvis kept his identity as the Circle of Truth Leader secret because revealing it could expose him and entangle the Olyvendi Family’s fate with the Circle’s.
• Anvis told Carlot that the key was essential to his attempt to become a Ninth Rank Diviner and sent him proof of his Eighth Rank Peak aura.
• Carlot was stunned by Anvis’s rank and wondered whether he was the true star in the prophecy, but Anvis said he did not think so.
• Carlot resolved to find a way for Anvis to obtain the key, then asked about the Circle of Truth Leader, and Anvis refused to disclose anything about him.

Anvis asked Duke Carlot to keep his strength and identity secret while helping him gain access to the family key. Meanwhile, Fiona’s Star Territory prospered, and Landon warned Leo that Construct Headbands could bind users to the Construct Network, prompting Leo to seal his study.

• Anvis told Duke Carlot to conceal his true strength, especially from His Eminence Zero-Degree Ice Crystal, and explained that revealing himself could harm his path as a Diviner.
• Duke Carlot agreed to pursue cooperation with the Circle of Truth without exposing Anvis, then planned to persuade a Family Guardian by claiming that mysterious phenomena near the door hinted at a breakthrough to Legendary.
• Fiona returned to governing Star Territory, where reforms, Players, and merchants helped raise living standards and turn the region into a growing economic center.
• Landon warned Leo that Construct Headbands might bind users’ consciousness to the Construct Network and leave them unable to defy its controller.
• Leo acknowledged the danger but said he could not prohibit Construct Headbands because promoting them was part of the secret cooperation with the Federation Parliament.