Chapter Summaries

Iver connected the Second Sun’s death, the giants’ origins, and the separation of the Material and Dream Realms to a hidden struggle among the Pillar Gods. By asking Cardinal Galatea about the Path of Beauty, he learned that its Source River was Difference and realized that Source River powers could be subtracted as well as added.

• Iver reasoned that Winged Angel had defeated and devoured the Sky Eating Beast Nibiru, taking its power and leaving the giants with instincts inherited from Nibiru.
• Iver connected the Second Sun’s death and transformation into stars with the Tower to the Heavens, Great Philosopher, and the weakening of language through equilibrium.
• Iver asked the group which Path language belonged to, and they identified the Path of Beauty.
• Iver asked Cardinal Galatea for the Source River of the Path of Beauty, and Twin Mirrors answered through her that it was Difference.
• Iver concluded that subtracting Creation from Civilization could leave language that divided people, and that Source River powers could be subtracted.

Iver reasoned that Dawn Angel had become an angel of the Dedication Path by burning her life to create the sun, then set out with Cardinal Galatea to find the mind-reading device. They were transported into an overlapping ruin, where Iver recognized the ritual site of the Foul Blood Angel and the Child of the Moon who would become its material.

• Iver asked Rogue to map the stars while the group prepared to retrieve or disable the mind-reading device.
• Iver decided to search the ruin alone, and Cardinal Galatea volunteered to accompany him.
• Sine gave Iver a rune bracer that let him communicate with the group across the Material Realm.
• Iver and Cardinal Galatea entered a handleless door and vanished into another ruin.
• Iver recognized the Blood Pool, nine iron pillars, and black coffin as the site where the Foul Blood Angel would be created.

Iver and Cardinal Galatea infiltrated the Ancient Ruins of the Blood Altar and attacked Lord Lester as he prepared a Sacred Ritual. After Lester defeated Lia’s flame attack and believed the intruders had vanished, Withered Silence cut his neck, leaving his fate sealed.

• Iver recognized the Blood Altar as a speed-farming instance and hid with Cardinal Galatea behind an illusion.
• Lester dismissed his guards’ report and hesitated to disrupt his ritual, unsure whether the intruders had been real.
• Iver summoned Lia, who attacked Lester with Guiding Flame Stream.
• Lester used the sapphire in his body to wield powerful ice magic, wounded the Paradox Flame Butterfly, and trapped her in an iceberg.
• Lester lowered his icy defenses after the battle, and Withered Silence sliced across his neck.

Iver and Cardinal Galatea defeated a Child of the Moon through an illusion and recovered Sister Sasha’s contaminated feet and a blue gemstone. They returned to the Tower to the Heavens ruins, where the group’s uncontrolled thoughts caused a misunderstanding about the holy relics.

• Cardinal Galatea’s illusion made the Child of the Moon believe he had frozen the Paradox Flame Butterfly, letting Iver kill him when his invincibility ended.
• Cardinal Galatea used an illusory Cardinal Siegfried to destroy the corpse and retrieve the water-blue gemstone.
• Iver found Sister Sasha’s contaminated Offering of Dancing Feet in the coffin and decided to have the relic repaired before using it as a sacrifice for Blood Angel Aleister.
• Iver and Cardinal Galatea returned to the Tower to the Heavens ruins, where Little Cat and the others reacted to the feet and gemstone.
• Iver identified the feet as Sister Sasha’s holy relics, but Little Cat’s uncontrolled thoughts sparked a chaotic misunderstanding about his interest in feet.

Iver, Sine, and the others found the machinery behind the mind-reading effect and began shutting it down. After the shared thoughts stopped, Sine spotted the blue gemstone in Cardinal Galatea’s arms.

• Little Cat explained that the group had followed Sine to help with the traps and other problems.
• Sine cracked a hidden door’s password and led the group into a room filled with glowing cylindrical devices.
• Sine identified the room as an Energy Chamber and had Little Cat pull off devices while he froze them.
• The group’s shared thoughts stopped when Sine disabled the fourth device, and he restored the first three without restarting the effect.
• Sine explained the devices’ potential uses and noticed the blue gemstone Cardinal Galatea was holding.

Sinus became obsessed with the Water Icosahedron, a Geometric Angel fragment, while Iver recognized that Sinus’s fixation was turning dangerous. Iver offered him the fragment in exchange for the Fire Tetrahedron, and Sinus agreed as power surged into him from above the tower.

• Sinus recognized the Water Icosahedron and, despite mage taboos against pursuing power, begged Iver to let him have it so others would recognize his genius.
• Iver realized Sinus was close to madness, but Sinus regained control before attacking him.
• Iver offered to give Sinus the Water Icosahedron if he brought him the Fire Tetrahedron held by Tower Master Sandro.
• Cardinal Galatea told Iver that Sinus’s abnormality came from the tower itself.
• Iver claimed Sandro was dead and had no legitimate heir to the Fire Tetrahedron, prompting Sinus to agree to retrieve it.
• A powerful surge of Transcender power entered Sinus from above the tower.

Iver and Zhu Tang experienced a vision of the ancient Tower to the Heavens and learned that its people had connected the Source River before a cataclysmic thunderclap. After Iver saved Sine from approaching loss of control, he and Zhu Tang wondered which Source River the ancient people had reached, with Iver suspecting the Eighth.

• Iver, Zhu Tang, and Cardinal Galatea witnessed a vision of ancient Winged Ones and Scaled Ones sharing thoughts throughout the Tower to the Heavens.
• Iver heard an ancient thought announce that the Source River had been connected, before a thunderclap and brilliant light ended the vision.
• Iver used blessings and hypnosis to calm Sine, who showed signs of losing control, and put him into a deep sleep.
• Zhu Tang told Iver that he had heard the same announcement and suggested the Great Sage might not have caused the thunder that destroyed the Tower.
• Iver agreed that the ancient people may have been reaching a Source River, then proposed that it was the Eighth rather than the Fourth.

Iver and Zhu Tang discussed how ancient mages combined powers from different Source Rivers, leading Iver to uncover the purpose of the Tower to the Heavens and the taboo history it preserved. Iver concluded that the ancient ritual had forcibly made the Fallen Angel a god, and that this violation was why the history endured.

• Zhu Tang explained that ancient supernatural beings may have combined powers from different Source Rivers instead of following the later, separate profession paths.
• Zhu Tang connected the First, Second, and Third Source Rivers to the idea that creation, differences, and civilization successively gave rise to new Source Rivers.
• Iver realized the Tower to the Heavens had been built to connect to the Eighth Source River and forcibly send someone up to become a god.
• Iver reasoned that the ritual had targeted the Fallen Angel, who had once been free of sin and could communicate with the ancient people.
• Iver concluded that the history persisted because the ritual had committed the taboo of stealing Source River power to create a true god.

Iver decided to lead the expedition deeper into the Tower to the Heavens despite the danger, after Insect Amber Master revealed that he sought Light Amber on the Ninth Layer. The team resumed its ascent, with Iver promising to protect them and Insect Amber Master offering to revive anyone who died.

• Zhu Tang asked Iver whether the expedition should stop exploring after the ancient device revealed a danger connected to the Pillar Gods and the Source River.
• Iver concluded that the Tower’s taboo and a vision of its destruction might reveal secret history and create an opportunity to change the future, so he chose to continue toward the Seventh and Eighth Layers.
• Rogue agreed to proceed, and Insect Amber Master promised to bring back anyone who died.
• Insect Amber Master offered the expedition the spoils from the lower layers in exchange for reaching the Ninth Layer and finding Light Amber, which he hoped could restore a destroyed childhood treasure.
• Iver recognized Light Amber as a currency associated with lost things, questioned Insect Amber Master about his regret, and received the team’s agreement to continue upward.

As the lift climbed the Tower to the Heavens, Cardinal Galatea recovered her ancient memories and revealed the failed ritual that created the Fallen Angel and the Ring Angel’s Endless Knot. The lift jammed on the Eighth Layer as a swarm of demons approached, and Galatea identified the first demons as the souls of the Winged Ones.

• Iver and Cardinal Galatea discussed how the Tower to the Heavens had influenced later civilizations, while Galatea revealed that her memories were returning.
• Galatea explained that she had been an Atlantean apprentice who left the tower before its destruction and later awoke in a Star Crystal body.
• Galatea described the plan to use the Tower’s rituals and the number eleven to send Lucifer into the Dream Realm, but said the plan had failed.
• As the lift reached the Eighth Layer, Rogue warned everyone of danger and the lift jammed as a swarm of crows approached.
• Galatea revealed that the snake had stolen the ritual’s power, causing the Ring Angel’s Endless Knot, and identified the approaching creatures as demons whose first souls belonged to the Winged Ones.

Iver and his companions faced a horde of winged demons as Cardinal Galatea explained how the loss of dedication corrupted the King of Winged Ones and created the Seven Great Sins. Iver uncovered the Ring Angel’s role in the failed Tower to the Heavens ritual and wondered whether the plan had already been proven useless against the apocalypse as the demons charged.

• More than five hundred winged demons rushed toward Iver and his companions, who prepared defenses while Cardinal Galatea maintained an illusion around them.
• Cardinal Galatea explained that the King of Winged Ones and the souls who sacrificed themselves fell into corruption when dedication gave way to the pursuit of strength, producing the Seven Great Sins and the demons.
• Iver realized the Tower to the Heavens ritual had inherently involved transcendence and would have failed without dedication, while the Ring Angel’s intervention both corrected and exploited the ritual’s flaw.
• Cardinal Galatea explained that the Fallen Angel’s demons were once innocent souls transformed by the Seven Great Sins, accounting for their ties to dedication, priests, and the Ring Angel.
• Iver suspected the Ring Angel had acted ruthlessly because earlier loops may have shown that the Tower to the Heavens could not stop the apocalypse, and he resolved to escape being used as a chess piece.
• The horde of demons crashed toward Iver and his companions as Iver remained absorbed in his deductions.

Iver’s group fought off a demon tide by combining Mu’s strength, Sine’s thunderstorm, and Zhu Tang’s ritual of equilibrium. After Mirror Demon killed Sine by reflecting a spell into his head, the surviving demons were expelled, and Insect Amber Master said Sine could still be saved.

• Mu enlarged himself with the Silver Crowned Dragon’s divine art and held back the demon tide while Dream Wandering Monk Encyclopedia’s Dharma form bought time for Sine to prepare a spell.
• Sine summoned a devastating thunderstorm that reduced roughly six hundred and sixty demons to fewer than twenty, but Mirror Demon hid in his glasses and killed him with a reflected spell.
• Paradox Flame Butterfly killed Mirror Demon, and Zhu Tang completed a remote ritual that bathed the demons in Supreme Purity Holy Light and weakened them.
• Mu, Rogue Du Lu'er, and Little Cat defeated or expelled the remaining demons before the ritual’s light faded.
• Zhu Tang asked whether Sine could be saved after his head and upper body were destroyed, and Insect Amber Master confirmed that he could.

Iver attempted resurrection for the first time and brought Sine back to life, revealing the power of his Mythical Posture. Sine awoke confused but unharmed, while Iver’s conversion rate remained at 7%.

• Iver assessed Sine’s recent death as a light death and prepared to try resurrecting him himself.
• Iver transformed into his radiant Sin Beast Mythical Posture and wept over Sine’s body.
• Iver’s tear surrounded Sine in white light, restored his body, and revived him.
• Sine woke screaming, then realized his wounds and pain had vanished.
• Iver observed that the resurrection consumed little power, and Sine struggled to believe he had truly returned to life.

After Zheng Yin was miraculously resurrected, Iver asked Zhu Tang to interpret the runes on his body. Zhu Tang connected them to the sun, sin thorns, and an old wound, and Cardinal Galatea invited Iver to climb higher in the Tower to the Heavens to see something on the Ninth Layer.

• The deer-man restored Zheng Yin from ashes and cured his ailments, stunning everyone who witnessed the resurrection.
• Iver asked Zhu Tang to examine the runes on his body, and Zhu Tang identified them as totems from the solar lineage.
• Zhu Tang interpreted the markings as the sun being the sky's wound, with weeds and wheat representing betrayal, recovery, or persistence.
• Iver revealed that the thorns were sin thorns, prompting Zhu Tang to interpret them as the earth's old scars and kin to all living things.
• Iver wondered what the Tower to the Heavens connected to and what the Sky Eating Beast Nibiru had eaten, and Cardinal Galatea invited him to continue to the Ninth Layer.

After Iver revealed himself and restored the group’s protections, Sinus repaired the lift but warned that its route to the Ninth Layer could be dangerous. Rogue pressured Sinus to continue, and Iver reminded the mage that their promised arrangement depended on everyone returning safely as the lift reached the Ninth Layer.

• Iver ended his transformation, restored his mana through prayer, and cast protective blessings on the group.
• Professor Bard lent Sinus his worn coat, which left the proud mage uncomfortable, while Little Cat noticed that Sinus seemed more approachable than before.
• Sinus repaired the lift and explained that damage to the tracks made the route to the Ninth Layer risky and potentially unstable.
• Rogue challenged Sinus to explain how magic could protect them if the lift failed, then used the mage’s answer to pressure him to keep going.
• Iver backed Rogue’s demand and warned Sinus that their agreement would be considered only after the group returned safely.
• The lift carried the group to the Ninth Layer.

On the Ninth Layer, Iver and Cardinal Galatea discussed the Tower to the Heavens’ past and connected the Second Sun’s destruction to the Gemini Era and the event called Severing Heaven and Earth. The storm gathered overhead as Galatea explained that the sun’s destruction had sealed the heavens and separated the Material Realm from the Dream Realm.

• Thunder sounded as Rogue reassured Xianyin that there was no danger, while Xianyin regretted wasting his mana and having to continue with the group.
• Rogue urged the Insect Amber Master to find the Light Amber quickly, and the Insect Amber Master sensed his way across the ruined Ninth Layer.
• Iver fell behind with Cardinal Galatea, who covered them with an illusion so they could speak privately about what the Ninth Layer would reveal.
• Cardinal Galatea showed Iver a vision of the Tower to the Heavens before its collapse, when Winged Ones and Scaled Ones shared a flourishing civilization.
• Iver and Cardinal Galatea linked the Second Sun’s destruction to the Gemini Era and the sacrifice made by the twins.
• Cardinal Galatea explained that destroying the Second Sun sealed the heavens, banished the Celestial Angels and Pillar Gods, and split the Material Realm from the Dream Realm.

Iver and Galatea discussed the Wise Philosopher’s secret and Galatea’s decision to preserve the memory of Atlantis rather than continue as a Cardinal. As a vast eye formed in the dying sun and stars began to flare above pillars of light, Iver recognized the phenomenon from the Trial of Odin.

• Galatea told Iver that the Wise Philosopher had revealed the secret of the First Sun to the Ring Angel, whom she called a lying snake.
• Galatea said she would not directly join Iver’s struggle with the snake and wanted to return to Atlantis’s ruins to preserve its history.
• Iver granted Galatea indefinite leave instead of accepting her resignation, and warned her to be careful beneath the sea.
• Galatea pointed out that the sun was dying as it swelled and dimmed, its surface filling with Deep Blue runes that formed a ring like an eye.
• Iver recognized the eye in the sky from the Trial of Odin as lightning swept across the land and bright pillars rose beneath a brilliant star chart.

As the world changed after the Deep Blue eye was wounded by the Heaven Piercing Spear, Iver and Galatea encountered a preserved consciousness of Lucifer. Lucifer explained how the Serpent Father repaired the sky and asked Iver whether he would deceive him as they had in the past.

• The Candle Keeper and the Lord of Scales and Feathers and Amber returned to the Dream Realm, while the moon fell after the Deep Blue eye struck it with lightning.
• Supreme Heaven pierced the eye with the Heaven Piercing Spear, and its blood illuminated the world as new creatures and spirits of the earth emerged.
• A young man explained that Atlas had damaged the sky and that the Serpent Father used the sun's blood to repair it, taking authority over sacrifice from the Hourglass's judgment.
• The young man identified himself as Lucifer, the second King of Winged Ones, and greeted Galatea and Iver.
• Lucifer revealed that he was a consciousness preserved by magic and asked Iver whether he would deceive him again as they had in the past.

Iver met Lucifer, who revealed that the Ring Angel had repeatedly split off versions of himself and shaped events around Iver to restore a remembered story. Lucifer urged Iver to defeat the Ring Angel, then faded away and left his wings as a gift.

• Lucifer explained that he sensed Iver’s guilt and saw him as distinct from the snake, and Iver promised to act according to his true heart.
• Lucifer told Iver that the snake had described his repeated cycles, shed selves, and the possibility that Iver could defeat and consume him.
• Iver connected Lucifer’s account to the system, his past lives, and the Ring Angel’s strange behavior, concluding that the Ring Angel had reconstructed the game’s plot around him.
• Iver realized that he was the key the Ring Angel had prepared a world and script to fit, and recalled Professor Moriarty’s reaction to his remark about becoming a Beast Lord’s Key.
• Lucifer offered Iver his gift, asked him to tell the snake that he had never hated him, and vanished, leaving his three pairs of wings behind.

Iver received Lucifer’s legacy and gained the Gospel Wings and the Lost Paradise spell, a new power beyond the Ring Angel’s plan. As Lucifer’s preservation spell failed and space collapsed, Galatea guided Iver toward the others, and six white wings appeared behind him.

• Iver accepted Lucifer’s legacy as the six wings became light and were absorbed into him.
• Iver learned that he had gained the Gospel Wings trait, the Lost Paradise spell, and the Great Sin Redemption trait.
• Iver realized Lucifer’s power could let him unite the Great Sin Beasts with the Gospel White Wings instead of following the Ring Angel’s path.
• The space around Iver began to collapse after Lucifer’s power stopped sustaining the preservation spell.
• Galatea guided Iver toward the others with footprints projected into his vision, and six white wings appeared behind him.