Recaps

Aleister returned to the Clock Tower and suspected that the Ascenders had chosen the most dangerous path by voting for the Endless Knot. Princess Noel joined her, believing the tower would become the battlefield, and hinted that she had received courage from the Sun, prompting Aleister to question who else Noel meant.

• Aleister assessed the ruined city and reasoned that the Ascenders might have chosen the Endless Knot without understanding its identity.
• Aleister anticipated a possible confrontation with the Ring Angel and resolved to fight rather than submit to its plans.
• Princess Noel climbed the Clock Tower and thanked Aleister for killing the Crimson Annihilator.
• Noel concluded that the intact Clock Tower was likely the host's chosen battlefield, and Aleister warned her she would not protect her.
• Noel said she had come to find courage, and Aleister noticed her saying that they were all good people and asked who she meant.

Noel told Aleister that the Sun had sacrificed himself in the first painting, and Aleister revealed her faith that he would win and return. After Aleister rejected the sixth question’s three choices, the survivors gathered at the Clock Tower and faced a descending Pillar God Apostle that she recognized with uneasy familiarity.

• Noel confessed that the Sun had sacrificed himself to complete the first painting, and Aleister calmly accepted the news.
• Aleister declared that the Sun would win and revealed that she loved him more than herself; Noel realized he was His Holiness the Pope.
• Aleister refused to choose among the sixth question’s doors, arguing that they should resist the apocalypse rather than accept its offered paths.
• When time resumed, Laro and the other surviving experts appeared beside Aleister and Noel at the Clock Tower.
• A Pillar God Apostle descended, and Aleister felt an unsettling familiarity with the angelic figure.

The Ring Angel overwhelmed the ascenders with attacks drawn from the four elements, forcing Aleister and her allies to fight back. Gray Falcon wounded the angel’s defenses, but she struck through his chest and burned him away, leaving the battle in a desperate state.

• The Ring Angel unleashed a vast Meteor Fire Rain, and Viennes evaporated the blood rain before Aleister called for help.
• Noel transmuted metal into a one-handed sword, which Gray Falcon used to crack the angel’s red tetrahedral shell.
• The angel switched to an icy shell, froze Viennes, and began freezing her further before Aleister recalled her and summoned Hellerchein with the Thunder Strike Halberd.
• Noel raised metal bunkers, Gray Falcon gathered power, and Laro recited a prophecy as the ascenders prepared their counterattack.
• Gray Falcon’s emerald sword strike shattered the angel’s ice wall, but the angel dodged Aleister’s Star Ice and pierced Gray Falcon’s chest.
• The angel transmuted the wind within Gray Falcon into fire, burning him until no corpse remained.

Princess Noel, Miss Aleister, and Laro fought the angel during the promotion ritual, but the angel’s power forced Noel to forfeit. Miss Aleister realized the angel was using advanced divine arts through the Endless Knot and identified the seventh question as who He was, while the battle entered its third phase.

• Gray Falcon died in the angel’s fiery explosion, triggering a special victory condition that required one of the remaining three participants to be eliminated within ten minutes.
• Laro volunteered to help the others, sang a battle hymn, and gave them protective sand armor.
• Princess Noel tried to use alchemy against the angel, but the angel stopped her power, and Hellerchein repeatedly wounded the angel in close combat.
• Miss Aleister asked Noel to forfeit, but Noel surrendered on her own and vanished from the ritual.
• Miss Aleister recognized the angel’s strange mental influence as the Shepherding Method and noticed the Liquid Soul in her necklace.
• The angel began a third phase against Hellerchein, and Miss Aleister faced the seventh question: whether He was the Element Emperor, the Apostle of the Present Age, or the Eternal Pope.

Aleister reasoned that the Shepherd had been a severed fragment of Iver who sacrificed himself to free the Fallen Angel, and that the Ring Angel was still trying to complete the Ouroboros Ring Ritual. She decided to use Iver’s Liquid Soul and strengthen her Shepherding Method to save the unconscious Iver, then entered the world of the Promotion Ritual for the eighth time.

• Aleister rejected the possibility that the angel was Iver’s close companion and entered the door marked “Eternal Pope” because she accepted only that identity for him.
• Aleister connected the Shepherding Method, the Tail Severing Method, and the Ouroboros Ring, concluding that the Shepherd had deliberately sacrificed himself to release the Fallen Angel.
• Aleister realized the Ring Angel’s Shepherding Method was incomplete and that she could overwrite it with a stronger method using Iver’s Liquid Soul.
• Aleister chose to spend the Liquid Soul she had saved for rebuilding her Phantom Demon body and resolved to use more power to ensure her Shepherding Method succeeded.
• Aleister entered the battered amber door and began her eighth visit to the world of the Promotion Ritual.

Aleister used the Liquid Soul and sacrificed herself to help Iver break free of the Ring Angel’s influence and become complete. She left the story as blood-stained crimson pearls that flew into Iver and merged with him.

• Aleister released her suppression of the Path of Love and crushed the Liquid Soul inside a wound in her chest.
• Aleister summoned the Withered Silence and realized that Iver’s Dedication was driven by Nihility, while true Sacred Number eleven required Dedication driven by Transcendence.
• As the Paradox Flame Butterfly and the Wild Hunt King collided, Aleister pressed the sickle to her own neck and offered herself to Iver.
• Aleister transformed into a blood-soaked ice sculpture that shattered into crimson pearls, which flew to Iver and merged with him.

Aleister restored Iver’s missing soul by giving up her life, leaving him to grieve as he transformed and destroyed the halo in the sky. Iver chose never to look back, and the fictional world completed its mission and shattered.

• Aleister gave her life force to the angel, restoring Iver’s memories and completing his soul as she dissolved.
• Laro mourned the dead while Iver tore off his Eye Mask, wings, and hair in anguish.
• A little girl appeared beside Iver and calmed him, after which he threw the purple-red halo into the sky and cleaved it apart with golden light.
• The Eighth Question offered three answers, and Iver pushed open the third Amber Door, choosing never to look back.
• The fictional world completed its mission and shattered.

Iver reunited with Aleister’s consciousness and learned that Candle Holder’s ritual had given him a chance to resurrect her. After realizing the ninth cycle was his final chance to leave the world, he chose to stay, and Candle Holder rewarded him with six traits and its blessing.

• Iver watched the ritual’s visions and understood that Aleister’s soul had survived within him through the Shepherding Method, giving him a way to revive her in Sasha’s prepared body.
• The score sheet confirmed Iver’s first-place victory and his completion of the special victory, Holy Resurrection.
• Iver realized that escaping the painting had required leaving before answering all nine questions, and that the final question represented the world’s ninth cycle.
• Candle Holder told Iver he could leave before the last moment, but that staying past it would trap him in the cycle or bring the world to dusk.
• Iver chose to remain because his home and bonds were in this world, and Candle Holder gave him blood that revealed six traits and promoted one into Candle Holder’s Horn.

Iver considered the six Traits offered by his Promotion Ritual and asked Candle Holder to explain the two golden Traits from Dedication. He learned that Endless Mercy could resurrect the recently dead, while Candle Holder’s Horn could perform miracles at the cost of transforming him into a successor to Candle Holder.

• Iver ruled out the purple Traits and Element Emperor, deciding he needed to preserve his light and darkness attributes and choose Serpent of Transcendence.
• Iver struggled to choose between Endless Mercy and Candle Holder’s Horn because he did not know what either Trait did.
• Iver noticed Candle Holder had stayed nearby and asked the deity to explain the two Traits.
• Candle Holder explained that Endless Mercy could revive someone treated within three seconds of death, but could not revive Iver himself.
• Candle Holder explained that Candle Holder’s Horn could invoke miracles at a steep personal cost, gradually reshaping Iver’s body and soul until he could take Candle Holder’s place.

Iver chose Serpent of Transcendence and Candle Holder's Horn, advancing to the Fifth Level and gaining a powerful Sin Beast transformation. He realized Candle Holder's Horn could help free Pure White Saintess from solidified amber and summoned her to discuss it.

• Iver decided to take Candle Holder's Horn because it could provide ritual resurrection and help treat solidified amber.
• Iver reflected on the loneliness and emptiness of life as Eternal Pope and chose to fuse Serpent of Transcendence with Candle Holder's Horn.
• During his advancement, Iver shed his skin, gained snake scales and small antlers, and returned to reality as his powers fused.
• Iver recognized that the fusion prevented him from becoming either a self-sacrificing but empty pope or a desire-driven madman.
• Iver examined his Fifth-Level abilities and learned that his Sin Beast form could heal allies, resist damage, and use Candle Holder's privileges.
• Iver contacted Pure White Saintess and told her he had a way to solve her solidified amber problem.

Lily learned that Aleister’s body had become a stone statue after her consciousness fused with Iver, while Laro received the Twin Mirrors’ gift after completing his Promotion Ritual. The chapter ended with Laro revealing that he could perfectly take on the appearance of a chosen master, including Princess Noel.

• The Night Demon Viennes told Lily and Selene that Aleister’s consciousness had fused with Iver, leaving her body a soulless stone statue.
• Viennes warned Selene not to revive Aleister with blood and instructed Lily to take the statue to the Narcissus Principality for Iver.
• Viennes said Iver would soon be free to leave the Theocracy, then vanished when Iver awoke and summoned her back.
• Laro completed his Promotion Ritual and checked Princess Noel, finding that her soul had suffered only slight tearing but that she could not use supernatural powers for two weeks.
• Laro invoked the Twin Mirrors and revealed that he could become an indistinguishable mirror substitute for a chosen master, transforming into Princess Noel.

Grey discovered that Iver had received power from Candle Holder and could cure Amberization Disease. Iver transformed into a half-human, half-deer form and made Grey Acting Pope, leaving her to hold the Most Holy Crown while he remained the true Pope.

• Grey saw antlers growing on Iver and realized he had become the Child of Candle Holder.
• Iver told Grey that Candle Holder's power let him heal injuries, including Amberization Disease, and vowed to make the condition controllable.
• Grey explained that Sin Thorns Fruit could suppress Amberization symptoms and might be developed into a preventive treatment.
• Grey questioned whether she should become Eternal Pope, but Iver said he would cure her and make her Acting Pope without announcing his new identity.
• Iver placed the Most Holy Crown and Pope's robes on Grey, then transformed into a half-human, half-deer figure that Grey recognized as a Mythical Posture.

Grey examined Iver’s transformed Sin Beast body, discovering that his black markings were wounds that could grow and control Sin Thorns bearing Carefree Lilies. Iver learned that regret medicine made from the flowers existed and that Rest might hold Akropolis’s formula, but he postponed seeking it as he considered a future trip there after dealing with Aleister and the Fallen Angel.

• Grey touched Iver’s antlers and recognized the natural Illumination Spell and Sacrificial Fire Method within them.
• Grey touched one of Iver’s black markings, causing it to bleed and revealing that the markings were painful wounds.
• Iver manifested Sin Thorns from his wounds and shaped them into wings, armor, spikes, and Carefree Lily blossoms.
• Iver recognized the flowers as an ingredient in Stat Reset Potion and asked Grey about regret medicine made from Carefree Lily.
• Grey explained that Akropolis had invented regret medicine and said Rest likely had its formula, offering to have the Theocracy search for it.
• Iver declined Grey’s offer for now and thought about visiting Rest after creating Aleister and resolving the Fallen Angel issue.

Iver cured Grey’s Amberization Disease with his wish-granting power, raising his conversion rate and unlocking a new immunity. He learned that the Candle Holder’s power had set him on a path toward transformation, then ordered the Church to intervene in Astrin as the Eternal Theocracy ended its neutrality.

• Iver used his wish-granting ability to cure Grey’s Amberization Disease, spending sixty-three mana.
• Grey’s eyes returned to normal, and she wept with relief as Iver comforted her.
• Iver’s conversion rate rose to 7%, granting him immunity to instant death, fire, and holy damage.
• Iver realized the Candle Holder’s power would prevent him from living an ordinary mortal life and could serve as a safeguard if he lost to the Ring Angel.
• Iver told Grey, as Acting Pope, to inform the Church and ordered it to intervene in Astrin’s chaos.
• The Eternal Theocracy announced that it was ending its permanent neutrality in a resolution unanimously approved by the Cardinal Bishops.

The chapter explains the forgotten history behind Fool’s Day before showing how the Theocracy’s end to its neutrality alarms Antimony’s factions. Louise’s Children of the Moon believe the announcement is unlikely to target them, while Master Walter suspects the Theocracy is coming after the Department of the Army over a leaked secret.

• The chapter recounts how the Fool Dionysus opposed the powerful and defended the weak, leading to the tradition of Fool’s Day after his name was forgotten.
• The Theocracy announces the end of its permanent neutrality on Fool’s Day, prompting people to debate whether the statement is true.
• Louise and the Children of the Moon discuss whether the announcement threatens them, and General Lister argues that the Theocracy is unlikely to intervene directly in Antimony.
• The Department of the Army interprets the announcement as a threat against them, and Master Walter asks who leaked the secret of the Ouroboros Ring Ritual.

Master Walter and the Rosy Cross Society voted to continue the Ouroboros Ring Ritual and began planning a new nation in case the ritual failed. Elsewhere, Laro considered the danger of his Illusory Blood ability and vowed not to give in to his desires, but his reflection answered with a mocking smile.

• Master Walter said the Theocracy was targeting the Ouroboros Ring Ritual, and the Society voted to continue it despite the danger.
• Miss Sprengel volunteered to trick a foreign Transcender into becoming the ritual’s sacrifice.
• Master Walter proposed establishing a nation of Transcenders if the ritual failed, and the Society agreed to found it on May 1 with the Princess as a powerless symbol.
• Laro realized his Illusory Blood ability could let him take the Princess’s place and gain power, while the Princess’s damaged soul depended on his treatment.
• Laro vowed to resist his desires, but his reflection smiled and silently challenged him.

After Pure White was cured, Iver became the Theocracy’s decisive authority, naming Theresa the Black Saintess and ending the Church’s policy of permanent neutrality. He assigned the cardinals to address international injustices, winning Belisarius’s fervent support, and left the Theocracy poised to intervene in Astrid’s turmoil.

• Iver secured the cardinals’ unanimous agreement to make Pure White Pope, end permanent neutrality, and intervene in Astrid’s political turmoil; they quickly appointed Theresa as the Eternal Saintess.
• Iver named Theresa the Black Saintess and arranged for her title to be announced on May 5, while Pure White slept on the Pope’s throne.
• The cardinals brought Iver longstanding crises to judge, including slave conflicts in the Parthian Ancient Kingdom, goblin trafficking, and assassinations organized by the Hawkeye Organization.
• Iver told Belisarius to act against injustice in the Parthian Ancient Kingdom without waiting for further authorization, while holding him responsible for his decisions.
• Belisarius, previously opposed to a human becoming Pope, became Iver’s fervent follower after Iver freed him to pursue justice.

Iver summoned Hellerchein, whose restored spirit had retained his full consciousness, and reunited him with Fafner after centuries apart. Fafner embraced her husband in tears, while Iver reflected on the tragedies his actions had prevented.

• Iver remembered that Fafner had relentlessly trained Rhine to fulfill what she believed was Hellerchein's last wish.
• Iver summoned Hellerchein before Fafner and the Cardinal Bishops.
• Fafner recognized Hellerchein and realized his spirit was lucid and genuine.
• Hellerchein apologized to Fafner, then embraced her when she began to cry.
• Fafner clung to Hellerchein and wept with joy and sorrow as Iver watched their reunion.

Iver stayed in the Theocracy while Fafna forged Hellerchein a new lance and Rhine grew close to his father. He then prepared the Theocracy for the coming apocalypse by restarting its military and sharing the burden of defense, as other nations began to realize the elves were preparing for something major.

• Iver remained in the Theocracy while Fafna forged Hellerchein a new lance, and Hellerchein bonded with Rhine by carrying him around as a Ghost Horse.
• After the Holy Day ceremony, Iver set the Theocracy’s ancient factories and wartime techniques back into operation.
• Iver argued that the Theocracy needed a powerful military to protect the world from the coming crisis and that he could not face the Fallen Angel alone.
• The Theocracy reactivated its Paladin Legion divisions and opened large-scale recruitment to adults who passed rigorous tests.
• Other nations grew alarmed as the Theocracy’s preparations became impossible to hide and recognized that the elves intended to accomplish something major.

Isabel discussed Astyn’s sudden acceptance of her state visit, the White Tide, and the Spirit Tower’s impending move to Avalon. She then asked Mycroft to help establish a Second Legion of Black Knights to oversee power as Avalon’s society grew more diverse.

• Isabel and Mycroft concluded that Astyn had agreed to her visit because the Theocracy had begun conscripting troops, and Isabel scheduled her departure for a week later.
• Isabel explained that Iver planned to visit the Narcissus Principality and reunite with his mentor, while Mycroft described the White Tide affecting Astyn.
• Isabel told Mycroft that the Spirit Tower would fly to Avalon on April 9 and settle in Eagle Cape Village.
• Isabel revealed that Hai Na and David were among those gathered for a new Second Legion, and that David had become a Black Knight.
• Isabel asked Mycroft to organize the Black Knights under the Inspectorate to supervise power and handle matters that could not be done openly.

Iver arrived at Basel Port in the Narcissus Principality aboard Theocracy’s powerful warship, the Cruel Evangelist, and reflected on the history of the giants and Theocracy’s conflicts with them. Cardinal Galatea offered to guide him to the ancient site, but Iver declined, noting that the landscape might have changed in the six centuries since her last visit.

• Iver stepped ashore at Basel Port in papal robes, carrying the Corona Scepter, while the Cruel Evangelist remained ready for orders.
• Iver recalled the Cruel Evangelist’s weaponry and considered how its firepower might have changed Hellerchein’s fate during his mission to Avalon.
• Iver reviewed the history of the Alke People, the elves’ wars with the giants, and Kastenning’s role in restraining them.
• Cardinal Galatea, who had visited the region six hundred and forty-one years earlier, offered to guide Iver.
• Iver declined Galatea’s offer because he expected the terrain to have changed over the centuries.

Professor Bard prepared for an archaeological expedition to investigate a possible Amber Era ruin, hoping it would help him become an apostle. Iver arrived with Cardinal Galatea and revealed that she was an Amber Era Star Crystal Person who might understand the ruin, bringing the expedition’s number of transcendent members to nine.

• Professor Bard reflected on his age, his ambition to become an apostle, and his plans to excavate a possible Amber Era ruin in the Narcissus Principality.
• Professor Bard questioned Albrecht Dürer about why the assembled archaeological team had not yet departed, but Dürer remained silent.
• Iver arrived and explained the origin of Protagoras Territory’s name, startling Professor Bard with his appearance in the Eternal Pope’s attire.
• Albrecht Dürer greeted Iver as Pope Your Majesty, and Iver recognized him as the Insect Amber Master and asked him not to reveal Iver’s identity to the others.
• Iver introduced Cardinal Galatea as an Amber Era Star Crystal Person who might understand the ruin better than the team did.
• The Insect Amber Master realized that the group now contained nine transcendent members, the number associated with extremity and required for a great ritual.

Rogue returned from drinking and discovered that important guests had joined the expedition team. He recognized the blond young man and his beautiful companion as powerful Fifth Level supernatural beings, leaving him wary as he entered the Reception Room.

• Rogue sobered up when he sensed numerous breaths inside the villa and cautiously checked his equipment before entering.
• Little Cat met Rogue outside and warned him that an important lord was inside.
• Rogue learned that the guest was even more important than the Great Mage who had brought him.
• Rogue entered the Reception Room and met a blond young man whose class and strength he identified as a Fifth Level Healer.
• Rogue assessed the young man's white-haired companion as a Fifth Level expert skilled with illusions.

Rogue met Iver and the other members of the expedition, learning their codenames and backgrounds. The introductions ended with Professor Bard describing the rare Horus and Primordial people in the group.

• Rogue realized Iver's white-haired companion did not breathe or have a heartbeat, then introduced himself as a Fourth Level Survival Expert.
• Iver chose the codename Pope, Cardinal Galatea chose Doll, and the Great Mage chose Sine while Professor Bard remained Professor.
• Little Cat recognized Professor Bard from a ruin expedition five years earlier, and Bard confirmed they had met when she was a Third Level Assassin.
• Sine introduced Encyclopedia as a Horus Dream Wandering Monk, and Iver exchanged blessings with him using the Horus name for Dawn Angel, Aton.
• Rogue recalled the Horus Empire's history, its defeat, and the curse it laid on the nations that invaded it.
• Sine introduced Mu, a silent Temple Warrior Monk, and Zhu Tang, a Grand Wizard from the Primordial Empire who had crossed the desert with him.

Iver met Wizard Zhu Tang, a blind Primordial exile who had fled Parthia after helping its starving commoners resist the Good Lords. Iver promised to help him return home and decided the expedition’s priority was to keep everyone safe as they explored the ruin.

• Iver spoke Primordial Language with Zhu Tang, who asked to touch Iver’s horns and then performed the three bows and nine kowtows ritual to honor the Child of Candle Holder.
• Zhu Tang explained that he and Mr. Mu had tried to help starving Parthians, angering the Good Lords and forcing them to flee west through the desert.
• Zhu Tang revealed that he had been exiled from the Primordial Empire and wanted to return to protect his family, despite the danger posed by the Good Lords.
• When Cardinal Galatea asked whether he would make the same choice again, Zhu Tang said he would still help the commoners because ignoring injustice was unrighteous.
• Iver promised to help Zhu Tang and resolved to protect everyone summoned to explore the ruin, whatever they found there.
• Iver announced that the group would set out the next day and cast a Calming Blessing as the team’s captain.