Chapter Summaries

After Ian fell asleep at Elder Pude’s home, he dreamed of becoming a hive-nest sovereign and foresaw the aftermath of the labyrinth disaster. The vision ended six years later, with Ian’s corpse awakening underground as a new insect swarm gathered around him.

• Elder Pude noticed Ian had withdrawn his aggressive psionic pressure and felt a new warmth, deciding he wanted to build a family of his own.
• Elder Pude sent the exhausted Elan and Ian to bed, and Ian quickly fell asleep and dreamed of becoming a hive-nest sovereign.
• In Ian’s vision, Bishop White Mist reported that Ian, Master Gose, Isengard, and the others had died in the labyrinth while the catastrophe was stopped.
• Bishop White Mist became Elan’s teacher, though Elan continued insisting that Ian was still alive.
• In Terra Year 773, the corpse of the Blazing Flame Lands Special Forces captain opened its eyes underground as insects and azure light gathered around it.
• By Terra Year 779, the new swarm had continued spreading through the deep ruins.

Ian tracked the Blazing Flame Lands outpost to a concealed cave and launched an attack before its soldiers could withdraw. The cave entrance collapsed in a series of alchemical bomb blasts, trapping the outpost’s occupants inside.

• Ian traced the psychic trail to the outpost and left Brin with alchemical bombs to protect the caravan.
• Ian raced through the jungle and discovered a concealed cave beside a hill.
• Psychic Overlook warned his subordinates that Ian had detected him and ordered the team to withdraw across the Iwok River toward the Bison Mountains.
• The dark-skinned commander prepared biological traps while Overlook sent his guard to report Ian’s strength and request reinforcements.
• Ian’s alchemical bombs exploded at the cave entrance and buried it beneath a collapse.

Ian completed the Glazed Dragon’s transformation and brought it to the Crystal Holy Land, where three armies were fighting over the region. He declared himself the leader who would unify the New Continent and challenged the assembled Beast Lords to face him together.

• Ian used Xike Nemasas’s body as a catalyst to complete the Glazed Dragon’s gravitational organs, then reflected with Xike on how the Arcane Path could enable exploitation and vowed to become the sun that ruled above the oppressors.
• Ian empowered Crackle and Big Iron with Spirit-Veneration Armaments and brought them to the Crystal Holy Land to demonstrate the Glazed Dragon’s strength.
• The Illusory Sun Beast Kingdom, the Great Abyss Beast Kingdom, and Dawn Harbor fought fiercely, while Yulan warned the Great Abyss Beast Lord that the Void Mother sought to reshape the New Continent for her species.
• Ian arrived on Dark Cloud Peak, and the Void Mother attacked the floating mountain with a gigantic psionic hammer.
• Crackle blocked the hammer with its Magnetic Field Implosion Fist, stunning both Beast Kingdom armies and Dawn Harbor’s forces.
• Ian claimed the Crystal Holy Land, identified himself as the Dragon-Worshiping Cult’s leader, and challenged everyone present to fight him together.

Ian learned that Master Gose had deduced his identity as the First Knight’s successor, but Gose promised to keep it secret and advised him on concealing his swordsmanship and weapon. Gose explained why he respected the First Knight while calling Inaga II the Black King, leaving Ian with his doubts unanswered but reassured that the Empire might one day honor him.

• Ian realized Master Gose had inferred his identity from the events surrounding the assassination plot, the Great Shaman’s death, and their time in the ruins.
• Gose advised Ian to use less refined swordsmanship around Aels and suggested plating the Deep Abyss Iron Sword with thorium to disguise it; Ian accepted the material.
• Ian asked why Gose called Inaga II the Black King while respecting the First Knight.
• Gose explained that Inaga II’s policies were ultimately right but relied on harsh coercion, while the First Knight had helped Gose and others rediscover their humanity.
• Gose promised not to expose Ian and said the Empire might respect him if he became a powerhouse like the First Knight.

Hilliard Lexi recalled how he had served an idealistic Emperor who rebuilt the Empire, and how the Emperor’s death and the collapse of their achievements left him carrying a mysterious Silver Chip. On Sighing Cliff, Hilliard watched a White Folk boy recover and renewed his vow to remain the Emperor’s knight.

• The Emperor persuaded Hilliard Lexi to serve him, promising to unite the Empire, feed its people, and protect their rights.
• Hilliard helped the Emperor clear dangerous nests, build canals and dams, and spread education across the Empire.
• At Harrison River Bay, the Emperor revealed the ruins of ancient orbital structures and his plan to lead humanity back to the heavens.
• After decades of rebuilding, the Emperor’s enemies attacked, and demonic possession ruined their achievements.
• Hilliard reached the Emperor too late to save him; the dying Emperor gave Hilliard the Silver Chip and suppressed his Frost Prison Calamity Ash.
• On Sighing Cliff, Hilliard held the Silver Chip beside a recovering White Folk boy and swore he would remain the Emperor’s knight forever.

Ian and his companions raced toward the far southwestern sea as natives and sea beasts pursued them, while a storm revealed that the Deepsea Crystal Dragon was advancing. The Great Shaman Animu resolved to seize the Empire’s key and expose Ian as a prophet, as pirates and other forces converged on Ian’s ship.

• Isengard identified bloodstains on the survey ship as the reason sea beasts were tracking it, and Ian suspected a traitor aboard was signaling the natives.
• Master Gose determined that creatures were triggering the storm’s lightning, leading Ian to suspect the Deepsea Crystal Dragon was advancing.
• Animu recalled the Redwood shamans’ sacrifice ritual and the ancestral mission to retrieve the Core Design Blueprint, then vowed to reclaim the Water Key by capturing Ian and his companions.
• Animu concluded that Ian was a prophet who had escaped his visions, and planned to expose him in Harrison Port while sending forces after the ship.
• Scott gave an Ironclad Shark Ian’s sword to deliver, and the shark headed southwest toward the storm as an eastern pirate fleet set sail for the same destination.
• Ian sensed danger from the converging natives and pirates but remained confident that his preparations would let him survive.

Ian asked Anfa whether the Dragon-Worshiping Cult had a god and learned how the Terra Continent distinguished gods, divine power, and false-god sects. After the group reached the battlefield, Ian arranged for Anfa and Pan Sha to help handle the traces and corpse, while a figure awoke in the Imperial Capital.

• Ian spared Purple Maple at Anfa's request and thanked Anfa and Pan Sha for helping him defeat Magnetic Light.
• Ian asked Anfa whether the Dragon-Worshiping Cult had a god, and Anfa explained that powerful rulers were sometimes worshiped as gods while the Four Orthodox Churches alone openly bestowed divine power.
• Anfa suggested Magnetic Light had received power from a hidden false-god sect, making him a heretic in the Orthodox Churches' eyes.
• Ian and the others returned to the battlefield, where Ian asked Anfa and Pan Sha to help deal with the battle traces and promised alchemical potions as payment.
• Ian told Pan Sha to collect Magnetic Light's corpse so he could throw it into the Nine-Spiral Abyss.
• A figure opened his eyes in the distant Imperial Capital.

Ian discussed the Obsidian Key and taught Isengard the Second-Stage Meditation Method before meeting Crown Prince Carlos, who revealed how deception could fool even powerful ascenders. Carlos then asked Ian to identify how he had deceived him.

• Ian agreed to look for information about the Obsidian Key and warned Isengard not to endanger himself while investigating Axel’s plans.
• Ian promised to divine for Isengard and began teaching him the Second-Stage Meditation Method before his meeting with Carlos.
• Crown Prince Carlos welcomed Ian at the Sertal Empire Embassy, demonstrated his speed by producing juice without a visible movement, and explained that it was deception.
• Carlos described how ascenders used deception to evade opponents’ instincts and acknowledged that Ian was a prophet.
• Carlos told Ian they should speak openly before exploring a dangerous ancient ruin together, then asked him to identify the deception Carlos had just used.

Ian received the Rainbow Spear Plume and his rewards after winning first place in the alchemy assessment, while his achievement rapidly made him famous in the Imperial Capital. At the Lone Mountain Conference, High Priest Xin Macey told Second Prince Mikael that Ian had been part of the party that defeated her order’s squad in the South Sea Grand Labyrinth.

• Ian told Master Vana that he wanted to revive the Chehalorvo Family’s inheritance, and she gave him the Rainbow Spear Plume of the Silver Halberd Falcon.
• Ian received his Elite Alchemist Certificate, his appointment as director of the Platinum-Iridium Workshop, and the keys to his office and laboratory.
• The Royal Alchemy Association released footage of Ian’s examination, silencing doubters and making him a rising figure in the Imperial Capital alchemy circle.
• High Priest Xin Macey told Second Prince Mikael that Ian had belonged to Master Gose’s party, which had defeated her order’s squad in the South Sea Grand Labyrinth.

Ian discovered that a blue underground river was full of parasite eggs and worm corpses after killing a pack of infected Azure-Armored Lizards. The parasite’s connection to the Flash Mosquito Syndrome outbreak in the northern colonies left him wary of what the ruins might contain.

• Ian killed the charging leader of the Azure-Armored Lizard pack with a powerful Water Blade, then struck down the other five lizards when they attacked without coordination.
• Ian examined the worms in the lizards’ skulls and used the Silver Chip to identify them as an unnamed First Energy Level parasite from the Southern Sea Ruins.
• Ian determined that the parasites entered the lizards through wounds after they drank the contaminated river water, and confirmed that most of the worms died after their hosts were killed.
• Ian inspected the blue river and realized its particles were chiefly parasite eggs and dead worms, making it a Parasite River.
• Ian wondered whether the parasite might be related to Flash Mosquito Syndrome, an epidemic that had spread through the northern colonies of Southern Ridge six years earlier.

Ian entered Redwood Base and identified it as the Central Nexus controlling the space elevator and orbital accelerator, while considering the danger that Flash Mosquito Syndrome could be revived as a biological weapon. Inside the hall, he found tortured skeletons, iron coffins filled with black liquid, and signs that creatures had recently camped there.

• Ian recorded his suspicion that the Blazing Flame Lands might use the natives and parasites from the Southern Sea Ruins to wage biological warfare.
• Ian crossed the stone bridge and entered the broad passage leading to Redwood Base.
• Ian recognized the base as the Central Nexus responsible for the space elevator, orbital accelerator, and their fusion power units.
• Ian surveyed a cavernous hall containing distorted skeletons, glowing algae, and upright iron coffins filled with murky black liquid.
• Ian found campfires, gnawed giant-rat bones, dried moss beds, and dark marks that appeared to be blood.

Mikael warned Ian that pursuing mass-produced, reusable potions could provoke economic collapse, explaining how Inscribed Intelligence and excessive production had bankrupted workshops in the past. Ian recognized that Terra’s powerful Ascendants and automated systems could make ordinary people economically and politically unnecessary, leaving the story with him confronting the scale of the problem.

• Mikael urged Ian to stop pursuing further potion-cost reductions until he gained enough strength to withstand opposition from the major alchemical workshops.
• Mikael explained that the late Emperor’s push for Inscribed Intelligence and assembly-line production created a surplus of cheap goods that few people wanted, causing workshops to go bankrupt.
• Ian realized that the Empire’s past crisis had stemmed from technology advancing faster than demand and employment could keep up.
• Mikael warned that deploying Inscribed Intelligence freely could replace workers and destabilize the Empire, making technological progress a source of greater danger.
• Ian concluded that Ascendants and artificial intelligence could perform nearly all production, and questioned what role ordinary people could have in such a society.

Ian worried that a looming disaster threatened Harrison Port even as the city remained at war. A catastrophic storm erupted offshore, driving countless sea beasts toward the port and nearby coast.

• Ian considered cultivating the Immovable Fortress True Form and recalled that he still needed to hunt a Reef-Eating Sea Otter for its potion ingredients.
• Ian heard reports of sea beasts fleeing toward Harrison Port and hurried to a high platform overlooking the docks.
• Ian saw the open sea boil as immense vapor columns, spreading storm clouds, lightning, and tornadoes formed offshore.
• The residents fled for shelter as the storm spread across the South Sea and sea beasts surged toward Harrison Port and the surrounding coast.

Ian and the King of Embers watched an Ash Path possibility in which Ashen Ian joined the Blazing Flame Lands, helped turn Terra into an apocalyptic wasteland, and worked with the King of Embers to preserve humanity through endless reincarnations. After two hundred million years, the Cradle shattered and Terminus entered Terra’s black hole, leaving Ian to realize that the universe beyond the Cradle might have no aether.

• Ian and the King of Embers watched Ashen Ian flee to the Blazing Flame Lands, where he rose to power and helped the King develop Flame Reincarnation.
• As war and natural disasters devastated Terra, Ashen Ian exterminated the remaining humans and Ascended so the King of Embers could convert them into demons and begin reincarnation.
• The King of Embers and Ashen Ian sustained successive reincarnations for millions of years while Ashen Ian guarded Dragon Island and waited for a change.
• After aether levels declined, Dragon Island’s seal collapsed, its End Fragment turned the sun into a black hole, and the Cradle shattered two hundred million years after Terra’s destruction.
• Terminus entered Terra’s black hole, and Ian noticed that aether had disappeared after the Cradle opened to the universe beyond it.

Ian learned that Sainan’s appraisal job was backed by powerful Imperial interests, easing his fear that Sainan would be harmed by unscrupulous people. With the maze nearing a major change, Ian planned to use the Platinum-Iridium Workshop’s expedition to study it and the ruins, confident in the abilities he had developed over four years.

• Ian asked Elder Pude to warn Viscount Grant about the maze’s coming changes and investigate who had hired Sainan.
• Elder Pude said Sainan had been recommended for work with the Platinum-Iridium Workshop and that his clients had backing from a marquis’s family, the Alchemy Association, and the Imperial Capital.
• Ian concluded that Sainan was likely safe from people seeking to silence him, though the task’s subject—the maze and its changing resources—could still pose a danger.
• Ian went to the docks intending to check on Sainan and considered the maze’s changes and the Ellen Family’s arrival potential sources of trouble.
• Ian decided he could join the Platinum-Iridium Workshop’s maze exploration as an appraiser and use the opportunity to study the maze and the ruins.

Ian negotiated with the Tree Sea Spirit, which agreed to cooperate and use agricultural buildings to observe humanity while avoiding attention from Light's Embrace. A Nethertrace Order scout realized Ian had noticed the group, and their blindfolded leader suspected he was a true Seer connected to the Order Head's prophecy and Terra's possible demise.

• Ian suggested that the Tree Sea Spirit send out an avatar and promised to ask Light's Embrace about it when he next met them.
• The Tree Sea Spirit explained that dense plant growth in agricultural buildings could let it form an avatar, and Ian proposed it observe humanity through those buildings rather than act as a god.
• The Tree Sea Spirit agreed to cooperate, offered Ian the Foresight Twin Leaves, and said Elan could also become one of its chosen.
• Ian sensed a group watching him from a nearby forest and smiled toward them before leaving for Harrison Port.
• A male apprentice in the Nethertrace Order's party panicked when Ian looked toward him, while a calm female voice warned that Ian had noticed their surveillance.
• The blindfolded woman concluded that Ian might be a true Seer connected to the Order Head's prophecy and considered how to contact him.

Ian and Sister Reflected Light questioned Steward Morda and discovered that a psychic had altered his memories of Baron Layan’s adopted children and biological son. Morda recovered the truth: the little young master had died in the storm six years earlier, and a spirit entity formed from the memories of those who loved him had been haunting the castle.

• Sister Reflected Light calmed Steward Morda after a faceless child spirit’s Despair Aura overwhelmed him with memories of his regrets and dead child.
• Ian questioned Morda about the baron’s adopted children, but Morda could not remember when they had arrived, revealing that his memories had been manipulated.
• Ian and Sister Reflected Light concluded that a psychic had altered Baron Layan’s memories of his biological child and spared Morda from being killed.
• Ian urged Morda to recall what had really happened to the baroness and the little young master, causing two conflicting sets of memories to surface.
• Morda remembered that the little young master had died in the storm and that the child he thought he had raised was a spirit entity formed from their memories.
• Morda recognized that the faceless spirit had only wanted to embrace him, and he identified it as the little young master.

Adalbert recounted how his research into souls led him to the Avak Laboratory, where he discovered that refugees and other people were being used as test subjects for the Undead Monarch project. Ian reached the laboratory and confronted Adalbert, seeking the truth behind the project and the tragedy, but Adalbert warned that Ian should not be there.

• Adalbert described how his research established that souls could survive best in powerful regions such as hell or near the sun, earning him a role at the central laboratory in Avak.
• Adalbert discovered that the Spirit Cognition Institute had deliberately spread a deadly virus among civilians and used sick refugees and other people as test subjects, then asked Grand Duke Solin what was happening.
• Grand Duke Solin explained that the experiments had produced vaccines, offered Adalbert a chance to leave, and urged him to oppose the project by creating a better plan.
• Ian arrived at the ring-shaped laboratory, where Adalbert stood amid the phantom army as its souls gathered into a crown above him.
• Ian accused Adalbert of freeing the laboratory's dead and causing the Silent Abyss and the Avak Domain anomaly, then asked whether the Undead Monarch of Yore project was one of Inaga II's plans.
• Adalbert judged Ian to be a good person who might become the true Undead Monarch, but warned him that he should not be there.

Ian used the power of his dragonized organ to block the Magnetic Light Knight’s attack, then confronted him over Night Snake’s death and the experiments at the Spirit Cognition Institute. After learning the Magnetic Light Knight had tolerated the experiments for technological progress, Ian launched a close-range attack, and the knight prepared to exploit the gap between their energy levels.

• The Magnetic Light Knight tracked Ian with magnetic sand and fired a lightning bolt from his alchemical blunderbuss.
• Ian blocked the bolt with dense Origin Matter shaped like a dragon’s claw, revealing what the knights believed was a dragonized organ.
• The Magnetic Light Knight accused Ian of belonging to the Dragon-Worshiping Cult and asked what he had seen when Night Snake died.
• Ian challenged the knight over his cooperation with Night Snake and his complicity in the Spirit Cognition Institute’s experiments.
• Ian said Night Snake had died a miserable death, threatened the Magnetic Light Knight, and charged at him with his sword.
• The Magnetic Light Knight dodged Ian’s strike and declared that dragon blood alone could not overcome the gap between the First and Second Energy Levels.

Ian learned that the skeletons belonged to his father Ernesto and the sea guards lost in the Southern Ridge storm fourteen years earlier, and witnessed Ernesto's final choice to keep the Brain-Eating Worms sealed away. After honoring the dead, Ian realized his psychic power could reveal forgotten history as well as the future, and led the group toward the ruins' exit.

• Ian identified the skeletons as his father Ernesto and the sea guards who had been trapped by the storm fourteen years earlier.
• Bishop White Mist recognized the dead, purified their remains, and offered to return them to Harrison Port for burial.
• Ian saw the survivors' past through the purification: Ernesto refused to open the underwater passage and fought his maddened comrades to prevent the Brain-Eating Worms from escaping.
• Ian thanked his father and realized his psychic power could reveal forgotten events from the past as well as the future.
• Ian gathered the remains and led the group toward the exit of the ancient ruins near Odell Reef.