Recaps

Fu Qian reasoned that the Night Watcher was holding back to protect the barrier separating the Graveyard of Gods from the human Mind World. After he used Gospel Blast on a fanatic, the man transformed in a violent burst of enlightenment, and Fu Qian answered Kelin’s renewed pressure by unleashing Madness Fire.

• Fu Qian concluded that the Night Watcher’s restraint was likely meant to avoid damaging the barrier around the Great Royal Court.
• A fanatic charged Fu Qian with a blade, and Fu Qian sent Gospel Blast into the man’s mind.
• The fanatic transformed violently, releasing blood, flesh, and white powder in a storm of enlightenment that affected Fu Qian and the leech on his hand.
• Fu Qian ignited Madness Fire as golden flames swept through the surroundings and tightened around the transformed man’s leg.
• Fu Qian told Lady Kelin that he thought he knew what she had come for.

Fu Qian used the Madness Fire to provoke the Night Watchers, hoping to make them take Ariel seriously. A new Ragdoll unleashed a devastating power that Fu Qian recognized as Lord Ariel’s, and his mission updated with a warning about the Lone King.

• Fu Qian reasoned that the Night Watchers had come to investigate the Madness Fire and suspected the site was connected to the White-faced Man and Akons.
• Fu Qian deliberately revealed the Madness Fire to force the Night Watchers to act and help Ariel take center stage.
• A second Ragdoll appeared, smiled at Fu Qian, and unleashed a sea of scorching light.
• Fu Qian recognized the Ragdoll’s power as Lord Ariel’s and saw his mission update to prevent the Lone King from fathering an heir.

Fu Qian deduced that the Native Council had impersonated Kelin to test him and revealed itself to avoid being blamed for the Madness Fire. As the Council used a display of power to prove that its Ariel was real, Fu Qian remained poised to continue the contest over Ariel’s identity.

• Fu Qian concluded that the earlier Ragdoll was the Native Council impersonating Kelin and that the Council had used its test to probe him and clear Kelin’s name.
• Fu Qian reasoned that the Native Council knew the Night Watchers were investigating the Madness Fire and had been monitoring arrivals through the interview process.
• Fu Qian recognized that the Native Council had revealed itself because his actions risked making the Night Watchers blame it for the Madness Fire.
• The Native Council’s second doll unleashed a storm of light to prove it was the real Ariel and redirect the Night Watchers’ suspicion toward Fu Qian.
• Fu Qian stood after the chair beneath him vaporized and did nothing as the display of light continued.

Fu Qian used his strange behavior and a staged imitation of Ariel to confuse the Night Watchers, then attacked the Ragdoll carrying Ariel’s power. Needle Witch tried to restrain and kill him, but Fu Qian escaped by jumping through the Wriggling Seed he had planted in the Ragdoll.

• Fu Qian reasoned that his refusal to flee after being burned would make the Night Watchers question why a powerful supernatural was impersonating Ariel.
• After the Ragdoll carrying Ariel’s power hesitated, Fu Qian gathered golden flames and forced it to fade away, striking it just before it vanished.
• Fu Qian turned his attention to Needle Witch’s Ragdoll as it moved closer and began forming red restraints around him.
• A bolt of plasma struck the place where Fu Qian had been standing, but he had already escaped by using Extreme Hunger Infection to jump through the Wriggling Seed inside the Ragdoll carrying Ariel’s power.

Fu Qian reasoned that the Night Watchers had deliberately held back after he escaped, so he stayed put rather than pursue Ariel and risk exposing his plans. As he waited in hiding, red snow began falling and transformed him and the people outside into White-faced Men.

• Fu Qian revealed that he had planted the Seed of Corrosion in the Ragdoll and used the mark from the interview to glimpse its trail and escape.
• Fu Qian suspected the Night Watchers had tracked him but were waiting to see what he would do, and he wondered what they wanted from him as Ariel.
• Fu Qian chose to stay still instead of chasing Ariel, reasoning that the Night Watchers could help him uncover the Native Council's plans for the Lone King.
• Fu Qian watched red snow fall outside as pale-faced figures walked through the city, then touched his own face and realized he had become a White-faced Man.

Fu Qian reasoned that the Night Watcher had transformed him into a White-faced Man and was bringing him closer to the Lone King. As he walked through the red snow, he wondered whether he was being prepared as a vessel for the Lone King, and sensed Ariel's location again.

• Fu Qian felt the leech beneath his skin grow and spread as the Lone King's radiance bathed him, confirming his connection to Severing and the White-faced Men.
• Fu Qian concluded that the Night Watcher had helped transform him so he could blend into the Lone King's domain and draw closer to the ruler.
• Fu Qian stepped outside into red snow that felt warm and turned into bloodlike pools when it reached the ground.
• Fu Qian observed that passersby seemed unable to perceive the snow and suspected that his transformation let him see more of the world's true nature.
• Fu Qian speculated that the Night Watcher might intend to use him as a vessel for the Lone King, then sensed Ariel's location again.

The narrator followed his connection to Ariel to a building where the Native Council had gathered, while the Night Watchers kept him under surveillance. He concluded that Ariel might have been made a vessel for the Lone King too, then came face-to-face with him.

• The narrator questioned why he could still sense Ariel and headed toward him to investigate his new distinction.
• The Ragdoll appeared nearby, confirming that the Night Watchers were still following the narrator.
• The narrator reached a building where the motionless Native Council members and passersby seemed focused on Ariel.
• A person at the entrance looked between the narrator and Ariel, apparently unable to tell which one was the True King.
• The narrator climbed upstairs and found Ariel alone, greeting him as his brother.

Fu Qian faced the real Ariel as the Lone King’s descent transformed both of their bodies, while the Night Watchers and the Native Council watched for an opening. Ariel then produced a familiar grotesque doll, leaving Fu Qian to recognize it as a Stand User.

• Fu Qian sat across from Ariel while the Night Watchers watched and the Native Council remained unseen.
• The crimson snowfall intensified, and the leeches inside Fu Qian went still as cracks revealed his ash-gray body beneath its glasslike covering.
• Fu Qian realized the Lone King was descending through both him and Ariel, and that Ariel had stayed because the Native Council still meant to eliminate its rival.
• Ariel silently reached into empty air and produced a palm-sized, grotesque doll that Fu Qian recognized as a Stand User.

Fu Qian realized the Native Council had linked him to the Stand User and begun transferring his will into it, forcing him to act. He used the Calamity's Eye to slow the Lone King's descent, but the room transformed into the Lone King's palace.

• Fu Qian recognized the Stand User as resembling the doll Crow Feather had used to transfer a will and survive without a physical body.
• The Stand User began dissolving and revealing a white form that mirrored Fu Qian, while his consciousness gained a second point of view.
• Fu Qian realized the Native Council was using the Stand User to force his will into the doll and chose to respond rather than remain passive.
• Fu Qian opened the Calamity's Eye and imposed the King of Prison Break's authority, halting the spread of the Lone King's power.
• The snow and roof vanished, the surroundings became white ash, and Fu Qian found himself inside what seemed to be the Lone King's palace.

As the Lone King's descent stalled, Fu Qian reasoned that the Night Watchers could observe the characters but not the changing surroundings. A new change then struck the Stand User and Fu Qian: dark-red thorns burst from their bodies, prompting Fu Qian to suspect the Goddess of Sin was involved.

• The landscape rose toward the divine realm, revealing a ruined city and ash-like figures marked with a single wing and horn, while Ragdoll remained unchanged.
• Fu Qian concluded that the Night Watchers likely could not see the altered surroundings and were inferring events from the characters' reactions.
• The Native Council and Night Watchers stayed motionless as the Lone King's descent remained stalled and the Stand User's struggle for control nearly stopped.
• Dark-red thorns erupted from the Stand User and Fu Qian, causing Fu Qian familiar pain.
• Fu Qian recognized the thorns' resemblance to Sir William's second form and wondered whether the Goddess of Sin was involved.

Fu Qian used the Madness Fire to burn away the Stand User’s Sin Thorns, but the Lone King’s power then made Fu Qian’s wounds run wild. The Stand User collapsed first, breaking the standoff, while Ariel’s abdomen had begun to swell.

• Fu Qian realized the Night Watchers could not see the Sin Thorns and suspected the Native Council had prepared the Goddess of Sin’s power as a hidden weapon.
• Fu Qian grasped the thorns on his arm and spread golden Madness Fire throughout the area.
• The Madness Fire overwhelmed the Stand User, but the Lone King’s power emerged through the Messenger and began affecting Fu Qian’s wounds.
• Fu Qian endured the damage as the Stand User’s body collapsed, breaking the three-way standoff.
• Fu Qian noticed that Ariel’s lower abdomen had grown noticeably swollen.

Fu Qian confronted Ariel, who appeared to be carrying the Lone King’s heir, as the Night Watcher’s lightning strike halted in a gap between time and space. Ariel’s words suggested that the Native Council had achieved its goal, but Fu Qian still sought to learn what they stood to gain.

• Fu Qian recognized Ariel as the Lone King’s true host and suspected the Native Council had arranged for the Lone King’s heir to develop within him.
• The Night Watcher unleashed a devastating lightning attack against the gathered groups, but Ariel asked Fu Qian what he was hoping for before the strike could land.
• Fu Qian answered by engulfing Ariel and the surroundings in Madness Fire, making clear that he would continue unless the situation changed.
• Ariel said they were in a gap between time and space beyond others’ perception, where the incoming lightning and the flames had nearly stopped moving.
• Fu Qian asked whether the Lone King had frozen time and wondered what the Native Council expected to gain from delivering His child.

Fu Qian realized the Native Council had brought him close to the Lone King to interfere with the Divine Son’s birth, but Ariel’s offers of peace concealed an attack. The chapter ended with Ariel questioning how Fu Qian had survived the storm of blades.

• Fu Qian concluded that the Native Council had drawn him into the special domain because they wanted to affect the Divine Son’s birth and could not solve the problem without him.
• Ariel admitted to being the Lone King and warned Fu Qian that the Sword of Heavenly Punishment could destroy his backup means of survival.
• Ariel demanded that Fu Qian either leave or become his enemy, while Fu Qian pretended to consider retreating.
• Ariel unleashed a storm of bloodlike blades that tore into Fu Qian’s battered body.
• After the attack subsided, Ariel was surprised that Fu Qian remained unharmed.

The narrator explained how Crow Feather’s perception-based attack had harmed Ariel more than him, then concluded that Crow Feather had likely fled after the failed ambush. As the scene shifted, the narrator saw a flower-covered temple where a familiar woman stood rigidly in the arms of a visibly pregnant figure, with a carpet of flesh beneath them.

• The narrator reasoned that Crow Feather had guided the attack through Ariel’s belief, while the Lone King had amplified it.
• The narrator asked whether Crow Feather had left, and Ariel admitted that Crow Feather had been present.
• The narrator guessed that Crow Feather had fled and stayed calm instead of retaliating, deterring further action.
• Ariel praised the narrator as the deathly scene receded and a flower-covered religious building appeared.
• The narrator saw a familiar woman held stiffly by a pregnant figure, standing above a carpet of flowers made from flesh.

Fu Qian entered the Goddess of Sin’s sanctuary and found the Lone King beside Her, his body stitched together with broken blades and living, independent parts. As the two divine beings’ powers assaulted Fu Qian, his Madness Fire went out and Sin Fire began corrupting him.

• Fu Qian recognized the Goddess of Sin from the survival game and saw that the Disaster Eyes were fixed on Her.
• Fu Qian examined the Lone King’s grotesque body, noticing broken blades, mismatched parts, and a babylike face that breathed independently.
• Fu Qian suspected the blades were the same weapons used by the White-faced Man and wondered whether slaughter had nourished the Lone King’s changing body.
• Fu Qian realized Ariel had disappeared after bringing him into the sanctuary, seemingly leaving him before the Lone King and Goddess of Sin.
• The divine beings’ power extinguished Fu Qian’s golden Madness Fire and replaced it with painful, corrupting Sin Fire.

While the Goddess of Sin’s power corrupted Fu Qian, he investigated what sin meant and how it related to his Original Sin Sage form. The Lone King took control of Fu Qian’s body, drew the White-faced Man’s blade from his palm, and stabbed him, revealing that the White-faced Men pillaged Sanity Value.

• Fu Qian found the Goddess of Sin’s punishment weaker than he expected and wondered whether her sin was connected to the Original Sin Sage.
• Fu Qian tested his Madness Fire and saw it become corrupted by the Sin Fire.
• A blood spear pierced Fu Qian’s palm, and his crippled arm moved against his will to pull it out.
• The spear lengthened into the White-faced Man’s blade, which Fu Qian’s controlled body used to stab his lower abdomen.
• Fu Qian received a Sanity Value loss notification and concluded that the White-faced Men pillaged Sanity Value.

Fu Qian concluded that Lone King's radiance had awakened the White-faced Man within him and let Lone King plunder his Sanity Value, while his deep reserves of strength kept him alive through brutal self-inflicted wounds. His Golden Flames engulfed the sanctuary and brought it crashing down, until a baby's cry sounded from inside the groom's belly.

• Fu Qian lost five Sanity Value points and suspected Lone King's power of plunder was responsible.
• Fu Qian reasoned that Sanity Value might benefit Higher Beings and wondered what Lone King gained from collecting it.
• Fu Qian's other self drove a blood blade into him and shattered it into spikes, but his reserves kept him standing.
• Golden Flames erupted from Fu Qian's wounds, setting the sanctuary's flowers alight and sending bloody rain and falling stones through the hall.
• The Goddess of Sin's sanctuary began to collapse under the flames, and a baby's wail came from inside the groom's belly.

Fu Qian was cut off from the wedding battle when a baby’s wail transformed his Madness Fire and sent him outside the transcendent order. As he began to lose his anchors, he saw Lone King’s belly stretching as the Divine Son prepared to be born.

• Fu Qian felt a baby’s wail leave him helpless and disconnect him from the other Higher Beings.
• Fu Qian saw his Madness Fire turn gray-black and realized its nature was changing.
• Fu Qian recalled Rainbow of Yao Bian’s explanation that new divine traits were reflected throughout the transcendent order.
• Fu Qian concluded that the wail had expelled him beyond that order, stripping his authority of its definition and loosening his body’s form.
• Fu Qian saw Lone King’s belly stretch as the baby’s cries grew louder, and heard the wedding guests laughing.

Fu Qian realized Rom had tried to banish him to secure the Native Council’s plan to possess the Lone King’s unborn child. He resisted the banishment and recognized the laughter of a possible third Higher Being, Pachi, leaving the wedding’s hidden players uncertain.

• Fu Qian deduced that Rom was hidden within the Lone King’s child and that the Native Council intended to use the Lone King as a vessel to establish possession.
• Fu Qian concluded that Rom had banished him at the last moment to remove interference and ensure the plan succeeded.
• Fu Qian decided that Rom’s banishment technique might not be powerful enough to remove him, even though resisting it would expose his Ariel persona.
• Fu Qian recognized the guest’s laughter as belonging to Pachi and reconsidered who might be manipulating events at the wedding.

Fu Qian watched as Pachi’s intervention led to the destruction of the Goddess of Sin’s statue and the Lone King’s body, completing the containment mission. The chapter ended with Fu Qian and Pachi observing the Lone King’s body bloom into a flower.

• Fu Qian recognized Pachi’s laugh and stopped moving to watch what he would do.
• Pachi confirmed Fu Qian’s identity, and Fu Qian urged him to proceed.
• The Goddess of Sin’s statue crashed down and broke apart, releasing Sin Thorns.
• The Lone King roared in fury, clutched part of the goddess’s head, and began to fall apart.
• The Lone King’s body exploded and bloomed into a flower as Fu Qian received notice that No. 1-423 had been contained.

Fu Qian watched Pachi’s scheme turn Lord Rom and the Lone King’s rebirth into nourishment for a brilliant bloom, then questioned Pachi about what he had sought. The bloom vanished, and the mission evaluation revealed that Ariel had become the palace’s new king and strengthened its barrier.

• Fu Qian realized Lord Rom had merged into the bloom and that the Lone King lacked the nourishment to bring its offspring into the world.
• Fu Qian told Pachi that the bloom was tied to the Blood Order and that Rom had been made nourishment instead of a seed.
• Fu Qian reasoned that Pachi had misled Rom and asked what he had been looking for, but Pachi did not answer directly.
• Pachi recognized that Fu Qian was not serving the King of Prison Break and said he would join Fu Qian’s game before the bloom disappeared.
• The mission evaluation stated that Ariel had become the palace’s new king and that the barrier would be more secure, while Fu Qian received 20 Sanity Value and the special reward Seal Heart.

After completing a mission, Fu Qian learned more about the Lone King's greed, downfall, and Ariel's succession, then received a ring that could seal a target's Supernatural Perception. He ended by wondering how to activate it.

• Fu Qian considered how the Lone King had harvested Sanity Value in the Mind World, become greedy, and been trapped at a mission site after sacrificing himself.
• Fu Qian concluded that Rom and Pachi had pursued separate plans involving the Lone King and the bloodline growing in his belly.
• Fu Qian reasoned that Pachi had helped turn the dispute over the real and fake Ariels into a mess the Native Council could not conceal.
• Fu Qian discovered his reward, the Seal Heart ring, which consumed Sanity Value to seal a target's Supernatural Perception.
• Fu Qian recognized the ring's usefulness but wondered how he could activate it.

Fu Qian examined his rewards and replayed the event, wondering what Pachi had sought to prove and whether the hidden information involved crystallization. After gearing up for the Nightmare Corridor exploration, he met the Witch, who handed him a familiar bone chain.

• Fu Qian inspected Seal Heart, recovered his normal shape after his rank returned, and watched the event replay.
• Fu Qian pondered Pachi’s motives and the connection between crystallization and Warehouse’s appraisal of Seal Heart.
• Fu Qian gathered his gear in preparation to explore Nightmare Corridor with the Witch.
• Fu Qian met the Witch, showed off his outfit, and received a familiar-looking bone chain from her.

Fu Qian entered the Nightmare Corridor to investigate its connection to the Dark Moon and found it swallowed by darkness, with its inhabitants and familiar doors unresponsive. He finally encountered the Envoy, who greeted him warmly from behind the Serpent of Fate’s door.

• Fu Qian took the bone chain and entered the Nightmare Corridor to scout ahead for the Witch.
• Fu Qian found the Corridor dark, decayed, and nearly deserted, with no sign of the Envoy.
• Fu Qian considered whether the Envoy had escaped through the book or was hiding in Yarakir’s nightmare theme park.
• Fu Qian found the Serpent of Fate’s silver door and watched it open.
• The Envoy appeared inside the door and warmly greeted Fu Qian.

Fu Qian visited the Speaker in the Serpent of Fate’s domain and found that Yarakir’s door had appeared there. After discovering an ordinary-looking passage beyond it, Fu Qian persuaded the Speaker to go inside and lead the way downstairs.

• Fu Qian greeted the Speaker, who welcomed him through the door into the Serpent of Fate’s domain.
• Fu Qian saw that the desolate space held another door belonging to Yarakir and wondered how it had reached the Serpent’s home.
• Fu Qian looked through the open door and found ordinary steps and a path beyond it, with no visible nightmares or demons.
• Fu Qian asked whether the Speaker had gone downstairs, and the Speaker admitted that he had.
• Fu Qian reminded the Speaker that he owed him a favor, and the Speaker went through the door.