Chapter Summaries

After deciphering the Black Emperor card, Tao Yu traded theories with Klein and prepared to advance along the Hunter Pathway. He endured the Provoker potion’s effects and paid Alger 12,000 Gold Pounds to find a Sequence 5 Hunter Characteristic, while Klein continued investigating disappearances.

• Tao Yu and Klein deciphered the Black Emperor Tarot card using Bernadette’s name in Ancient Hermes, and Klein learned details about the Black Emperor Pathway’s resurrection.
• Tao Yu told Klein he had met Bernadette while stealing a bookmark and had received benefits from her after sharing his theories.
• Tao Yu prepared and drank the Sequence 8 Provoker potion, enduring its painful effects without losing control of his flames.
• Tao Yu planned to gather Sequence 5 materials and contacted Alger, who offered to search for a Hunter Characteristic for 12,000 Gold Pounds.
• Tao Yu agreed to Alger’s price and asked Mr. Fool to transfer the money quickly, surprising both Alger and Klein.

Tao Yu’s counterfeit Gold Pounds helped him digest his Witch and Conspirer potions, but their discovery triggered a crackdown and inflamed tensions between the churches, the Demoness Sect, and the Aurora Society. The chapter ended with Klein discovering that seventy Gold Pounds he had received were counterfeit.

• Tao Yu realized that the circulation of his counterfeit bills had rapidly digested his Conspirer potion, then continued spending money until he finished digesting both his Conspirer and Witch potions.
• When an official Beyonder approached, Tao Yu left clues behind and escaped through a mirror, prompting the authorities to suspect the Demoness Sect.
• Ace Snake called on the Churches of the Storm, Evernight, and Steam to unite against the suspected counterfeit-money conspiracy.
• Pandatia blamed the Aurora Society for worsening the crisis and decided that the Demoness Sect had to move its plan forward.
• Mr. A resented the Demoness Sect’s latest actions while the Aurora Society continued investigating the Tarot cards organization.
• Klein discovered that seventy Gold Pounds he had received at a Beyonder gathering were counterfeit and wondered whether he should spend them.

Tao Yu advanced to Sequence 5 as both a Reaper and a Disease Sorceress, then agreed to help Sharron and Klein confront the Indulgence Faction pursuers. They prepared to act as bait despite the pursuers’ full-moon artifact exploiting the Rose School’s weakness.

• Tao Yu advanced to Sequence 5 as a Reaper and felt the Sword of Will’s purification strengthen his abilities.
• Tao Yu also advanced as a Disease Sorceress and considered using the potion’s acting method against the Demoness Sect.
• Sharron told Tao Yu that the Indulgence Faction had forced them to act ahead of schedule while official Beyonder organizations were becoming active.
• Tao Yu and Klein agreed to help Sharron and learned that their pursuers included a Sequence 5, a Sequence 6, and a Sequence 7.
• Sharron explained that the Scarlet Lunar Corona empowered the Indulgence Faction and weakened the Temperance Faction, and said the Rose School’s problems began after the Child of God was born.

Tao Yu and his allies defeated Steve, but a Sequence 3 Rose School Beyonder ambushed them before withdrawing. Realizing Outer Deities might have tracked him, Tao Yu warned the others to flee and risked absorbing a Sequence 4 characteristic to strengthen himself against the danger.

• Tao Yu used shadows to kill Steve and claimed the spoils and the Book of Secrets from Sharron.
• A curse wounded Tao Yu, and Zatwin, a Sequence 3 Beyonder of the Rose School, emerged and attacked before Klein's fireworks helped drive him away.
• Tao Yu suspected that the Rose School's moon or another Outer Deity had tracked him, possibly because of the corruption he had used to replenish his Inherent Domain.
• Tao Yu warned Klein and the others not to go home, urged them to seek safety, and disappeared into the shadows.
• Tao Yu absorbed the Sequence 4 Iron-Blooded Knight characteristic despite its violent backlash and resolved to pursue more Pathways for power.

After forcibly advancing to Half-Human Half-God, Tao Yu sought allies and divine aid before moving against the Aurora Society and Demoness Sect. The Fool refused to provide the powerful assistance he requested, while the Demoness Sect prepared to pursue its plan to create a new Black Emperor.

• Eve warned Tao Yu that advancing before digesting everything could kill him, and Tao Yu asked her for the Aurora Society’s location and urged her to leave the Demoness Sect.
• Tao Yu recruited Bernadette to help attack the Aurora Society and Demoness Sect by promising her a secret she could not refuse.
• Tao Yu asked the Fool for help against threats that might include a Sequence One Angel, but Klein refused and advised him to seek protection from the Orthodox Churches.
• Tao Yu gathered his power and met Bernadette, warning her that they might encounter a Sequence One Angel and need to draw the Churches’ attention.
• Katarina told Pandatia that the Primordial Demoness had ordered action because an outsider had appeared on their Pathway, and they agreed to continue the plan to create a new Black Emperor.

At a royal estate, the Aurora Society and Demoness Sect discovered that someone had deceived both groups, while Bernadette and Tao Yu interrupted their meeting. Tao Yu trapped the gathered Beyonders in his Inherent Domain and began attacking them to claim their Beyonder Characteristics.

• Mr. A and Pandatia realized that neither the Aurora Society nor the Demoness Sect had ordered the assassination of the Intis Ambassador or attacked the Breeze Dance Hall.
• Katarina connected the unknown new Demoness, who had appeared around September, to the Primordial Demoness's oracle target.
• Bernadette and Tao Yu arrived in a pumpkin-adorned carriage, which smashed into the gathering before Peach Blossom Spring sealed off the area.
• Kisma revealed himself as a Sequence 4 Black Knight, while Katarina recognized Bernadette and identified Tao Yu as the Primordial Demoness's target.
• Tao Yu opened his Inherent Domain, and Scathach pinned Katarina with a spear as black chains surged toward everyone present.

Tao Yu and Bernadette defeated Katarina and claimed her Beyonder Characteristic before escaping to Backlund. After Tao Yu translated Roselle's diary, Bernadette warned him that trying to absorb multiple incompatible Pathways could kill him, while Tao Yu still sensed that something was watching him.

• Tao Yu and Bernadette overwhelmed the high-sequence Beyonders, and Bernadette attacked Katarina as she began to break free.
• Ince Zangwill sensed someone had disrupted the script, and Katarina escaped to him before the golden-masked figure banished her and closed the underground passages.
• Katarina was sent back to Tao Yu, who killed her with a black spear and took her Beyonder Characteristic before returning to Backlund with Bernadette.
• Tao Yu translated Roselle's diary for Bernadette and told her Roselle might have become the Black Emperor, been reborn, and regained his memories.
• Bernadette warned Tao Yu against absorbing the Characteristics of several Pathways, and he admitted he had little time but still felt watched.

After returning to Backlund, Tao Yu absorbed the Black Knight Characteristic and used its Grazing ability to expand his powers. He warned Leonard and Pallez that an Abomination tied to the Outer Deity the Bound One was targeting him, then tried to Graze Medici as he prepared to flee or seek protection.

• Tao Yu chose to absorb the Sequence 4 Black Knight Characteristic despite the risks, becoming more stable and gaining access to Grazing.
• Tao Yu Grazed the Demoness of Despair and Demoness of Unaging Characteristics, adding their abilities to his existing powers.
• Tao Yu sent Leonard a report on the Aurora Society and the Demoness Sect, then revealed that Medici lived inside him and asked whether Pallez had sensed anything.
• Pallez warned Tao Yu that an Abomination was near his home, and Tao Yu concluded that the Rose School figure was connected to an Outer Deity.
• Medici confirmed that the Bound One was behaving strangely and agreed Tao Yu's judgment was right, urging him to pray to the True Creator.
• Tao Yu attempted to Graze Medici, intending to give him a body and refine him, while Medici protested.

Tao Yu prepared to draw the True Creator's and Primordial Demoness's Angels into a fight, relying on Medici, Scathach, and stored magic to hunt one. He warned Klein that he might soon leave for somewhere even Mr. Fool could not reach, as the Angels began closing in.

• Tao Yu told Medici he could draw on Tao Yu's Hunter abilities and pressed him to reveal what he was hiding.
• Tao Yu prayed to the True Creator and the Primordial Demoness, hoping to attract an Angel while keeping a way to escape if captured.
• Tao Yu manifested Scathach through Grazing and cleansed her of taint, preparing her to fight alongside him.
• Klein privately asked Tao Yu why he had stopped attending the Tarot Club, and Tao Yu said he might soon leave for a place beyond Mr. Fool's reach.
• Mr. Fool admitted he could not intervene, and Tao Yu said goodbye as he sensed the True Creator's and Primordial Demoness's Angels approaching.

Klein warned Azik about the danger in Backlund, while Leonard learned that several church leaders had vanished and Anthony prepared to activate a powerful Sealed Artifact. As forces from the Aurora Society and Demoness Sect converged on the city, Tao Yu encountered a strange priest who seemed to be watching him.

• Klein wrote Azik about the threat in Backlund, including a possible Rose Sect Abomination, and asked him to consider helping.
• Anthony Stevenson questioned Leonard about Tao Yu's report, then revealed that Crestet and leaders of the Machinery Hivemind and Mandated Punishers, along with the Spellsinger of God, had gone missing.
• Anthony decided to activate Sealed Artifact 0-17, the Hidden Angel, in the church's underground chambers.
• A black-robed man entered Backlund to carry out the Lord's will, while a Demoness noblewoman questioned a revelation and Zatwin received orders from Lord Suah to spare no cost.
• Tao Yu noticed a priest watching him from a nearby table and asked Medici what was happening.

Tao Yu met Adam in a restaurant, where the King of Angels revealed his interest in Tao Yu and offered to help him obtain Sequence 2 Beyonder Characteristics in exchange for information. Adam left Tao Yu with an advance payment: a Weather Warlock Characteristic.

• Medici emerged from a serving platter and recognized the priest as Adam, while the restaurant’s diners remained unaware of them.
• Tao Yu realized Adam had created an environment cut off from the world and secretly strengthened his connection to the World Will so he could escape.
• Adam discussed Ouroboros, Suah, and the Royal Family of Luen’s Hand of Order, leaving Tao Yu alarmed by the larger forces involved.
• Tao Yu asked why Adam had come, and Adam said he wanted to learn about Tao Yu and could arrange fair opportunities for him to face Sequence 2 Angels.
• Tao Yu agreed to consider the deal but insisted on seeing the goods first, and Adam offered him a Weather Warlock Characteristic as an advance payment.

Tao Yu prepared to leave Backlund, but Stiv ambushed him under orders from the True Creator, with Ouroboros apparently involved. Tao Yu trapped Stiv in his Inherent Domain and, with Medici and Scathach’s help, killed the Sequence 2 Angel.

• Tao Yu asked Mr. Fool to store counterfeit Gold Pounds and two Tarot cards, and learned that the person he had met before was in Backlund and might help him.
• Tao Yu left Eve a letter telling her to turn herself in to the Church of Evernight, then encountered Stiv, who tried to seal the space and capture him.
• Ouroboros’s clash with an Abomination shattered Stiv’s spatial seal, allowing Tao Yu to pull Stiv into his Inherent Domain.
• Tao Yu fought Stiv with his domain’s powers, Divine Era Magic, and Scathach’s attacks, while Stiv’s Word Spirit and shadow abilities kept him at bay.
• Medici disrupted Stiv’s gathering Shadow Soldiers, and Tao Yu struck him with a charged black spear, killing the Sequence 2 Angel.

After defeating Stiv’s forces and taking their Beyonder characteristics, Tao Yu returned to Backlund and received another characteristic from the Evernight Goddess. He accepted her gift and prepared to confront Adam, whose plans he suspected had shaped the battle.

• Tao Yu reflected that he had taken a Sequence 2 Red Priest pathway characteristic from Adam’s arrangement and a Sequence 3 characteristic from Stiv’s enslaved War Bishop.
• Tao Yu offered Medici a choice of characteristics, and Medici took the Sequence 3 one; Tao Yu promised to provide another characteristic and help stabilize his power after advancing.
• Tao Yu emerged from his Inherent Domain after the clash between Ouroboros and Suah had ended, and he suspected Adam had manipulated events to exploit the chaos.
• A mysterious black-haired woman appeared beside Tao Yu, silenced Medici, and identified herself through Tao Yu’s realization as the Evernight Goddess.
• The Evernight Goddess offered Tao Yu a Demoness Pathway characteristic and confirmed she had the same question as Adam; Tao Yu accepted it and said he was ready to proceed.

Tao Yu returned from the Mysterious World after meeting Evernight Goddess and Adam, carrying the Angel characteristics and new ideas about his abilities. Back in the Avatar world, he considered how much stronger he needed to become before he could return to rescue Mr. Door.

• Tao Yu explained the Abyss to Evernight Goddess's avatar and Adam, then used the World Will's protection to return through the barrier.
• Mr. Fool watched the red star representing Mr. Fate disappear as Tao Yu left the Mysterious World.
• Tao Yu reunited with Scathach and Medici in the starry sky and told Medici that his world was on the moon.
• Tao Yu concluded that he needed King of Angel-level strength before returning to rescue Mr. Door and planned to improve his Shepherding abilities.
• Tao Yu descended through the atmosphere toward the Avatar world and reflected on whether his power qualified as Catastrophe-class.

After Sunagakure’s conflict with the Fremen worsened, Paul led an elite force toward the mysterious Oasis of Death during a massive sandstorm. A stranger descended from the sky and landed on Paul’s sandworm, whom Paul recognized as the turning point in his visions.

• Sunagakure fought the Fremen over water sources, then turned its attention to the rainforest and traded spice for supplies after its conquest plans failed.
• Paul used his visions to help the Fremen avoid attacks, but growing pressure from Harkonnen warriors and ninja forced him to lead them toward the Oasis of Death.
• Paul guided elite Fremen Warriors through a once-in-a-thousand-years sandstorm on sandworms, though his visions could not reveal what awaited them.
• A shooting star changed course and landed on Paul’s sandworm, revealing an elegant stranger surrounded by an aura that kept the sand away.
• Paul understood that the stranger was the turning point his visions had shown him.

Tao Yu met Paul and the Fremen in the desert, accepted their offer of allegiance, and planned to use them to build a team and secure spice. He left the sandstorm with them and asked them to perform a loyalty ritual.

• Tao Yu followed the fragment's World Will and encountered Paul and the Fremen atop a sandworm.
• Paul knelt and offered to lead the Fremen in swearing allegiance to Tao Yu, believing him to be their chance to survive.
• Tao Yu accepted the offer and considered exploiting the spice while avoiding unnecessary conflict with the Harkonnen family.
• Tao Yu traveled with the Fremen out of the sandstorm as Paul explained their threats from Sunagakure and its controlled birds.
• Tao Yu promised to protect the Fremen and give them a better life, then told them they would need to perform a loyalty ritual.

After Tao Yu secured the Fremen’s allegiance, he directed them toward confronting the Harkonnen family. Sunagakure’s ninjas and the family’s forces converged on the Fremen, leaving an approaching attack near the oasis.

• Tao Yu completed the Fremen’s oath of allegiance, gained their collective strength, and named the Harkonnen family as their next target.
• Tao Yu said the Fremen would fight the ninjas for now but suggested they could later cooperate with Sunagakure.
• A ninja eagle spotted the Fremen, and Pakura ordered her unit to notify the Harkonnen family and observe without attacking.
• The Harkonnen family told Pakura’s unit to keep watch until its main force arrived, while Pakura’s second-in-command raised concerns about the Fremen’s sandworms.
• The Harkonnen family sent dozens of shielded flying machines toward the oasis, threatening the pioneers there.

Fied, Rasa, and Pakura led the Harkonnen and ninja forces toward the Fremen, only to be ambushed by Tao Yu’s new legion-powered magic. Tao Yu destroyed more than twenty helicopters, leaving the Fremen convinced that he was a god.

• Fied traveled with Rasa toward the Fremen stronghold, expecting to defeat them and build his standing as the Harkonnen heir.
• Pakura joined the command aircraft and reported that the Fremen were moving toward the Harkonnen stronghold with a sandworm-summoning machine.
• The Fremen advanced in formation as the helicopters approached, and Fied ordered the aircraft to open fire.
• Rasa and Pakura sensed danger and escaped the helicopters with Fied and nearby guards as shadowy spears erupted from beneath the sand.
• Tao Yu drew power from the Fremen and used Divine Era Magic to destroy more than twenty helicopters, astonishing the tribe.

Fied refused to retreat after the Fremen’s shadows pierced the Holtzmann Shields, so Rasa led a Sand Village attack that Medici and Scathach swiftly crushed. Seeing his forces and Pakura badly hurt, Rasa captured Tao Yu and demanded that the fighting stop.

• Fied ordered Rasa to attack the Fremen despite Rasa’s warning that they should retreat.
• Rasa organized the Sand Village ninjas, sending the puppet squad to scout while Pakura guarded the rear.
• Medici and Scathach appeared among the attackers and rapidly destroyed the puppets and scattered the ninjas.
• Scathach gravely wounded Pakura, while Medici’s shuriken inflicted weakness-amplifying injuries that left her drenched in blood.
• Rasa seized Tao Yu with sand and held a kunai to his throat, demanding that the others stop fighting.

Tao Yu captured Rasa and forced the Sand Ninja to surrender after Rasa’s assassination attempt failed. Fied admitted the Harkonnen forces had attacked without knowing Tao Yu was there, and Rasa apologized as Tao Yu demanded compensation.

• Tao Yu used the Chains of Heaven to bind Rasa and seal his chakra, then ordered him to stop the Sand Ninja.
• Rasa ordered his forces to surrender, and Medici caught the fleeing Fied and brought him back to Tao Yu.
• Tao Yu maimed Fied and learned he was an heir to the Harkonnen family who had attacked while pursuing the Fremen.
• Tao Yu said the Fremen were his followers and accused the Harkonnen forces and Rasa of attacking him.
• Rasa accepted responsibility and apologized, and Tao Yu demanded compensation for being frightened.