Chapter Summaries

Iver questioned Lucia, also called Little Cain, about the memories and powers she retained after her soul was restored. He told her that surviving meant she had to take responsibility for the suffering caused by the Blood Angel and the Children of the Moon.

• Iver used chess pieces to create a Silence Barrier before speaking with Little Cain.
• Little Cain told Iver she had few memories of being the Blood Angel and had forgotten its mystical knowledge, though she retained Lucia's memories.
• Iver learned that Lucia was at the Fifth Level and could not use her power beyond basic Mist Demon instincts.
• Lucia confirmed that she considered herself the Blood Angel's final holder and remembered who she had been.
• Iver told Little Cain that she had to bear responsibility for the destruction caused by the Children of the Moon.

Iver proposed establishing Mist City so Mist Demons could live freely without becoming isolated and vulnerable to the void, with Cain ruling the settlement and atoning by helping others. He planned to place the city in the Iris and warned that he would force the Iris council to agree if necessary.

• Iver explained that Mist Demons needed constant humidity, could not travel far, and risked Twilight Transformation if isolated from others.
• Cain suggested transporting Mist Demons in water-filled carriages, but Iver proposed creating a fog-covered Mist City instead.
• Iver argued that Mist Demons needed a leader to guide them and keep their Dedication Desire from turning dangerous, and named Cain the best choice for Mist Demon King.
• Cain agreed to lead the Mist Demons, help others, and execute those who lost control, while Iver offered to obtain land and equipment for the city.
• Iver chose a site in the Iris for a permanently neutral Mist City and threatened to make the Iris council surrender it if they refused.

Iver proposed helping Lucia and discussed the future of Mist Demons with Sherlock and Isabel. He argued that Mist Demons could coexist with humans as assistants and producers rather than replace them, but a safe way for them to live among humans still needed to be developed.

• Iver explained that Lucia had inherited some of the Blood Angel's memories and was choosing to accept responsibility for them, so he intended to help her.
• Sherlock warned that Mist Demons could multiply without competing for food or resources, eventually causing conflicts and wars with humans over living space.
• Iver argued that the Mist Angel could be brought down if the Mist Demons became an irreversible threat, and that their ability to live without resources could instead benefit civilization.
• Iver proposed that Mist Demons could serve as assistants who worked and created resources, since they could not replace humans or reproduce.
• Isabel compared the idea to Atlantis's Star Crystal People.

Sherlock used the digital-root theory to infer that nothingness had corrupted not only the Paths of Love and Wisdom but possibly the Path of Authority as well. Iver realized that the Silver Crowned Dragon might have fallen and that a new wave of erosion was rising from the roots of the Source Rivers.

• Iver told Sherlock that Mist Demons could become humanity’s companion race and help improve their efficiency.
• Sherlock showed Iver Lady Hypatia’s book on Sacred Numbers and explained how digital roots linked the first, fourth, and seventh Source Rivers.
• Sherlock connected the Source Rivers’ underlying links to the corruption of the Constant Self, the Beast Lord, and Supreme Heaven.
• Sherlock concluded that the Silver Crowned Dragon might have been infected by nothingness and that the Path of Authority could be corrupted.
• Iver agreed that Sherlock’s deduction was probably right, recalling that the Silver Crowned Dragon had split itself in two and might be containing the World-Destroying Demon Dragon.
• Iver realized that a second wave of nothingness had reached the domains of wisdom and authority from the roots of the Source Rivers.

Sherlock, Iver, and Isabel agreed to guard against the Silver Crowned Dragon, while Iver considered how the Calamity Demon Dragon might descend and what Candle Holder’s three paintings foretold. The chapter left Iver suspecting that the corrupted Silver Crowned Dragon might be prey to the Calamity Demon Dragon and questioning why the Path of Authority had no Angel.

• Sherlock asked Iver and Isabel whether they believed his theory that the Silver Crowned Dragon was corrupted, and both said they believed him.
• Isabel asked whether Avalon was in danger, and Iver admitted he could not tell when or how the Calamity Demon Dragon would descend, though he held the Blade of Separation of All Things.
• Iver connected Candle Holder’s three paintings to the corruption of the Paths of Love and Twilight, Wisdom and Strength, and the conflict between himself and the Ring Angel.
• Iver considered whether the Silver Crowned Dragon had killed the Bear Angel to complete itself and whether the Calamity Demon Dragon might eat the Crowned Lord.

After uncovering clues that Silver Crowned Dragon might be corrupted by nihility, Iver decided to monitor Morgan’s fate and prepare for the Abyss Angel’s arrival in Parthia. He also ordered action against Hawkeye and the Empire Glory Party, while Isabel described him as a sun that gave life and destruction without intent.

• Iver connected Bear Angel’s death and Silver Crowned Dragon’s missing fragment to a possible plan by Hourglass and Lord of Scales and Feathers to prevent Silver Crowned Dragon from completing himself, and he trusted Sherlock’s warning that the dragon might be corrupted.
• Iver proposed using Morgan’s becoming an Angel as an indicator of Silver Crowned Dragon’s condition, then chose to deal with threats elsewhere rather than wait in Avalon.
• Iver warned that the Abyss Angel could descend amid Parthia’s civil war, causing mass deaths and creating more Children of Void, and Sherlock agreed that they should act before the crisis escalated.
• Iver told Isabel to bring Zhu Tang and the others, deal with Iris, and have Hawkeye cleaned out, including suppressing the Empire Glory Party as a possible threat to Iris’s merger with New Herasul.
• Isabel said Iver was like the sun, giving life and destruction equally without intention.

Iver confronted Giant Tree Party chairman Pierre over Hawkeye’s assassination attempt and learned that Pierre led the organization. Pierre surrendered and offered Hawkeye’s remaining resources to Iver, who ordered its remaining assassins dealt with and its welfare institutions kept running before asking whether Iris would return to the Empire.

• Iver and Isabel met Pierre at the Sky Tower after Edward’s diplomatic request prompted Iris’s leaders to arrange talks.
• Iver revealed that he knew Pierre was Hawkeye’s leader and that Master Thomas had decided to assassinate him, so Pierre admitted responsibility and surrendered.
• Pierre offered Hawkeye’s sixteen remaining assassins, including three who had recently reached the Fifth Level, for Iver to decide their fate.
• Iver ordered Pierre to deal with Hawkeye’s remaining assassins without harming innocents and to ensure its welfare homes and orphanages continued receiving support.
• Iver told Pierre that his cleverness had saved Iris and asked whether the Iris Flower Kingdom would return to the Empire.

Iris learned the truth about Iver's assassination attempts and the crimes of Hawkeye, prompting a public purge of the organization. As Hawkeye's upper-rank assassins hunted down their former subordinates, they gained a new name: Watchers.

• The Giant Tree Party publicized Iver's assassination attempts and explained his standing in the Theocracy, turning Iris against Hawkeye.
• The people of Iris realized the attacks could have left their city defenseless and saw them as attempts to provoke a war.
• Hawkeye's assassins were arrested, and those who had harmed innocents or abused their abilities were executed while others were imprisoned.
• Hawkeye's upper-rank assassins used their knowledge of the organization's hiding and evasion methods to track down its members.
• The upper-rank assassins acquired a new name: Watchers.

Iver returned to Avalon after arranging Iris's transition to New Herasul and establishing the Watcher Organization. He reunited with Sine, who returned the Water Icosahedron and explained that Hassan had stolen the Fire Tetrahedron and vanished.

• Iver accepted Speaker Pierre's help in governing Iris and left him to lead the Watchers, while Lucia and Pierre handled negotiations over a city for the Mist Demons.
• Arsene joined the Watcher Organization, and Iver returned to Avalon with Sherlock and Isabel.
• Iver and Isabel wandered around Avalon until Great Mage Sine found them.
• Sine returned the Water Icosahedron to Iver and admitted he had failed to obtain the Fire Tetrahedron.
• Sine revealed that Flame Fist Hassan had stolen the Fire Tetrahedron, disguised its absence with a fake staff, and possibly fled to the Parthian Ancient Kingdom.

Iver agreed to let Sine pursue the Fire Shard in exchange for the Water Shard, which could summon water without a price. As Iver prepared to travel to Parthia with Isabel, the party grew into a large caravan expedition with diplomatic aims.

• Iver forgave Sine and paid him one Water Shard in advance to obtain the Fire Shard from Flame Fist Hassan.
• Iver explained how the Water Shard could summon water without cost, unlike the contracts that had sustained Parthia’s oases through sacrifices.
• Iver decided to bring the pregnant Isabel to Parthia because the Water Shard could provide water, and he concluded that Sherlock was needed to use the shard’s staff.
• Iver and Isabel gathered Zhu Tang, Mr. Mu, Ibn, Lily, Selene, and Sha Sha, bringing their traveling party to eight people.
• Iver’s group formed a caravan of more than fifty people and eighteen wagons, and their journey gained the added purpose of establishing diplomatic relations.

Iver's party crossed the Narcissus Territory with Anar, a guide who helped people travel in and out of Parthia. As they prepared to enter the desert, Sherlock revealed that Rock Cellar City's benevolent lord likely knew about Anar's smuggling network, and Anar mentioned a Serpentfolk temple dedicated to Ring Angel.

• The party crossed the Dense Forest, where Zhu Tang identified the poisonous Corpse Monarch mushrooms and explained their uses.
• Yulia's space-folding carriages made the journey more comfortable as Iver, Sherlock, Zhu Tang, and the others traveled with Anar.
• Anar explained that the party would walk through the desert to Rock Cellar City, where Serpentfolk helped her group escape using underground passages and camels.
• Zhu Tang and Sherlock concluded that Rock Cellar City's benevolent lord knew about Anar's activities and tolerated them to maintain secret trade with Stibium.
• Iver stopped Sherlock from frightening Anar, who explained that her group entered a Serpentfolk temple outside the city and worshipped Ring Angel.

Iver learned that the Snake People worshiped the Ring Angel and decided to visit their temple with Ligeia and Anar. Anar reluctantly agreed, fearing the visit might bring trouble to the Snake People, while Iver expected them to welcome him.

• Iver became interested when Anar mentioned the Ring Angel's temple, and Ligeia joined the conversation as a Moulting Warlock of the Ring Angel's faction.
• Iver explained that the Ring Angel and the Medicine Angel cared for the Snake People, who honored the Ring Angel as their chief god.
• Iver asked Anar to change their route to the Snake People Temple, promising they would leave if its guardians refused them entry.
• Anar reluctantly agreed after asking Iver not to attack the Snake People, and Iver hinted that they might welcome the group warmly.

Anar brought Iver and his companions into the Snake People Temple, where the guards led them deep inside before revealing that a powerful Snake Person wanted to meet Iver. Dong Ya identified Iver as the descendant of the prophet Jacob and addressed him as a Sacred Entity.

• Anar entered the Snake People Temple with Iver, Lily, Ritualist Ibn, Zhu Tang, and Mu while Isabel and Ligeia stayed behind.
• Two temple guards led the group deeper into the dim temple, where Iver realized they had been taken away from the others and demanded to know what was happening.
• The guards urged the group farther in, making Anar and Ritualist Ibn suspect a betrayal like those common in the desert.
• A tall, veiled Snake Person named Dong Ya appeared and said she had wanted to meet Iver.
• When the guards threatened Iver, Dong Ya silenced them and punished them for their disrespect.
• Dong Ya told Iver that she knew he was the descendant of the prophet Jacob and respectfully called him a Sacred Entity.

Iver confronted Dong Ya at Ring Angel’s temple and demanded that Jacob appear, forcing Jacob to arrive with a luminous figure resembling Iver. The chapter ended as Iver asked who the figure was, and it declared, “I am Iver.”

• Iver questioned Dong Ya about why Jacob wanted to see him and demanded that she summon Jacob.
• Iver’s power overwhelmed Dong Ya and shook the temple as he pressured her to answer.
• Jacob appeared in the temple after a luminous, angelic figure intervened and told Iver not to trouble Dong Ya.
• Iver greeted Jacob as his grandfather, and Jacob said he had been watching Iver and praised him.
• Iver asked who the luminous figure was, and it answered that it was Iver.

Iver learned that Jacob had created him by splitting the Ring Angel’s Snake Tail and using the Soul Mirror Image Ritual, while Yulia had been formed from the same divine essence. After Jacob left, Dong Ya asked Iver to save Rock Cellar City, revealing that the city had been petrified.

• Angel “Iver” identified Iver and described his many identities, while Jacob explained that he had created the angel as Iver’s other half.
• Jacob revealed that he had split the Snake Tail, copied its soul, and added sacred essence from the Butterfly Angel to create Iver.
• Jacob explained that he had used the Butterfly Angel’s shell to make the Paradox Flame Butterfly and placed it in Yulia, making her and Iver closely linked.
• Iver asked why Jacob had summoned him, and Jacob warned him that powerful Sixth-Level ritualists had advanced to Annihilation.
• After Jacob departed, Dong Ya begged Iver to save Rock Cellar City, and Anar learned that the entire city had been petrified.

Iver learned that a petrification curse had erupted in Rock Cellar City and was spreading through Priestess Dong Ya’s body despite her attempts to remove it. Jacob had promised to lift the curse only if she brought Iver to him, and Ibn identified the outbreak as blackmail, robbery, and kidnapping.

• Ibn spoke with Priestess Dong Ya in Parthian and translated her account for Iver.
• Dong Ya explained that a petrification curse erupted in Rock Cellar City two days earlier and that her rituals and divine arts could not stop it.
• Dong Ya described how the petrification spread through her body, causing unbearable itching and pain, and how she tore away the affected scales and flesh.
• Dong Ya said her prayer brought the Divine Miracle of Jacob’s descent, but Jacob refused to lift the curse until she brought Iver to him.
• Iver asked why the curse had appeared, and Ibn said Dong Ya had identified it as blackmail, robbery, and kidnapping.

Iver learned that Rock Cellar City’s petrification had followed an impossible extortion demand from Generous Adil of Paradise City, and reasoned that a ritual medium might sustain the curse. He prepared to test the curse on Dong Ya before investigating the site.

• Iver inferred that Anar knew a popular tale blaming Rock Cellar City’s petrification on a desert taboo, and Ibn explained the priests’ account of an extortion threat.
• Dong Ya revealed that Generous Adil demanded two thousand slaves, eighty ka of gold, and three hu of pearls from Rock Cellar City.
• Zhu Tang and Iver concluded that the impossible demand was intended to provoke the city’s benevolent lord and establish Adil’s power.
• Ibn recounted how a golden lotus and spreading light petrified Rock Cellar City and its inhabitants.
• Iver suspected that a ritual medium was sustaining the petrification and learned that the threat had come from Generous Adil of Paradise City.
• Iver said he would test the curse’s substance and touched Dong Ya’s waist.

Iver lifted Dong Ya’s petrification with his golden Liquid Soul and learned how brutal life was in the Parthian desert. After seeing the temple guards cower under threat of being tortured and eaten, he forgave them, leaving Dong Ya to accept his mercy as the choice of the stronger.

• Iver touched Dong Ya’s petrified waist and sensed a powerful curse with divine essence seeping into him.
• Iver’s golden Liquid Soul devoured the curse and restored Dong Ya’s petrified flesh without a ritual or prayer.
• Dong Ya thanked Iver with the highest courtesy of the snakefolk and wondered at the gulf between Fifth and Fourth Level Transcenders.
• Iver learned that Honey Torture involved coating victims in honey and ants, then selling their dried bodies as food.
• Ibn explained that many desert races ate humans and that elves were revered as vegetarians because they refused to eat other races.
• Iver forgave the two frightened temple guards, and Dong Ya accepted his decision without question.

Iver led a small team into petrified Rock Cellar City and concluded that its curse was a continuously maintained ritual weapon prepared as a military showcase for Antin. He headed toward the Good Lord’s residence, where the ritual’s nexus might be.

• Iver reorganized his team, bringing Sherlock, Ligeia, Lily, Viennes, and Little Crow while Isabel stayed behind and Anar was ordered to remain under guard.
• Iver and his companions used the Snake People Temple’s underground passage to reach Rock Cellar City, arriving before sunset and opening a sealed exit with Sherlock’s magic.
• Iver observed that the curse’s power was being continuously transmitted, while Sherlock reasoned that the ritualists were likely inside and would also be caught in its effects.
• Iver argued that the Good Lord of Paradise City had used Rock Cellar City as a demonstration of a petrification weapon intended for Antin, disguising the mass killing as punishment over an impossible ransom.
• Iver led the group toward the Good Lord’s residence to search for the ritual’s nexus.

Iver, Sherlock, and Ligeia reached the Benefactor’s palace, where they discovered that the city’s petrifying curse was actually an extreme stopping spell drawing on Amber’s power. Iver recognized the palace’s ritual mural as a work made from thousands of human and other molars, revealing that its construction had cost hundreds of lives.

• As the group approached the city’s center, Ligeia struggled against the curse, and Sherlock cast a spell to strengthen her resistance.
• Iver and Sherlock determined that the curse did not truly turn victims to stone but slowed and solidified everything, and Iver concluded it was using Amber’s power.
• Iver, Sherlock, and Ligeia arrived at the Benefactor’s palace, the source of the spreading curse, and saw that its fountains and water curtains had been frozen in place.
• Iver identified a ritual mural of 8,888 polished molars beneath the hall’s floor and realized that its materials had required at least seven or eight hundred human lives.