Chapter Summaries

Ian drove away the Temple Knights, then resumed the wizards’ gathering and taught them advanced magical theories while urging them to unite and build a haven. Goddess Athena arrived and offered to shelter the wizards if Ian would let her live when Ragnarok came.

• Ian frightened the Temple Knights into fleeing after their priest failed to receive an answer from Athena.
• Ian persuaded the wizards to continue their gathering, and they shared ancient magical research with him.
• Ian corrected the wizards’ theories on elemental magic, soul resonance, and stellar summoning while teaching them new principles.
• Ian urged the wizards to unite and establish their own order and haven, but said he would eventually leave and could not protect them.
• Athena appeared at the barn and offered to shelter the wizards in exchange for Ian letting her live through Ragnarok.

Athena approached Ian to ask for protection from Ragnarok, revealing that she believed his words could command Destiny. She showed him Kratos climbing out of the Underworld to take revenge on Zeus, and the chapter ended with Athena seeing Ian’s true form as a Raven.

• Athena appeared before the gathered wizards and asked Ian to keep her alive when Ragnarok came.
• Athena explained that she expected Olympus to fall and said Zeus had enough troubles of his own as Kratos’s soul climbed out of the Underworld.
• Athena showed Ian and the wizards Kratos fighting through the Underworld and forcing his way toward the mortal realm.
• Athena asked Ian to protect her, and the wizards reacted with awe at the god’s plea.
• Athena told Ian that his words were the will of Destiny and that she believed he was its master.
• Athena’s pupils reflected Ian’s true form as a Raven.

Ian learned from Athena that Raven had consumed the Creator’s authority of Destiny, then secured Athena’s protection for the Wizards and taught them before leaving to meet the Sun God. He accepted the items Zeus had sent and departed in Raven form, while the Wizards prepared to establish their own age.

• Athena put the Wizards in the barn to sleep and told Ian that the Titans had devoured the Creator, but Raven had first eaten the Creator’s authority of Destiny.
• Ian agreed to Athena’s request, and she promised to protect the Wizards until the end of the Age of Gods before disappearing.
• Ian woke the Wizards and told them Athena would protect them, then spent two days teaching them magic and learning their ancient spells.
• The Sun God arrived on the third morning, and Ian left the Wizards after promising they would meet again.
• The Sun God gave Ian the items Zeus had sent, and Ian transformed into a Raven and flew away as the Wizards discussed honoring their departing teacher.

After leaving Greece, Ian used the Time Machine to travel to Ancient Egypt in search of three items for Titaness Claire. He arrived in a prosperous city along the Nile, where a vendor hinted that sacred objects could be obtained by undergoing the gods’ trials.

• The Sun God returned to Mount Olympus after seeing Ian off, and Athena pretended she hoped Ian would never come back while Zeus focused on Kratos escaping the Underworld.
• Zeus vowed to stop Kratos, while Hermes warned that Kratos was a Godslayer and an exception to Destiny; Athena grew stronger as the gods lost wisdom.
• Ian evaded the gods’ sight, activated Claire’s Time Machine, and learned that his Egyptian objectives were the Fragment of the Eye of Ra, the Oar of the Underworld Ferry, and the Pharaoh’s Cursed Gold Leaf.
• Ian traveled to Ancient Egypt, disguised himself in local clothing, and reached a prosperous city along the Nile.
• Ian examined an Eye of Horus amulet and questioned a one-eyed vendor, who said the most effective sacred objects required the gods’ trials.

Ian explored Ancient Egypt while seeking the Fragment of the Eye of Ra, the Styx Oar, and the Pharaoh's Cursed Gold Foil. After priests exposed his presence in Thebes, he found the tomb of Ramesses III and entered it, reaching a chamber filled with scarabs.

• Ian learned from an old wizard and two dancers that the gods tested mortals and that Set might be returning.
• Three priests accused Ian of stealing temple offerings, but he disabled their scarab and erased the witnesses' memories before vanishing.
• Ian gathered leads on the Fragment of the Eye of Ra, the Styx Oar, and stolen funerary objects, then traveled to Ramesses III's pyramid.
• Ian slipped past the tomb guards, opened the shifting entrance with a Deconstruction Rune, and cut through the curse threads inside.
• Ian entered a burial chamber with a turquoise-inlaid sarcophagus and walls full of scarabs.

Ian raided an ancient Egyptian pyramid, collecting rare potion ingredients, magical artifacts, and secret texts before taking the Cursed Gold Foil. As dawn broke, he left for his next target: Anubis's Styx Oar.

• Ian put the tomb's scarabs to sleep, gathered them and their eggs, and harvested Styx Fluorescent Fungus from the walls.
• Ian cleared the coffin's curse, destroyed the awakened Mummy with Corpse-Dissolving Water, and took the Cursed Gold Foil.
• Ian collected the Pharaoh's Death Guard Scorpions, embalming formulas, and preserved ingredients from a workshop.
• Ian discovered a hidden alchemy laboratory and took the Book of the Sun, its tools, and a spirit-bearing bronze furnace.
• Ian looted a sealed chamber full of cursed objects, then left the pyramid at dawn to borrow Anubis's Styx Oar.

Ian explored the Egyptian desert for rare Fantastic Beast samples and discovered the buried tomb of the god Set. He ignored Set’s pleas, looted the palace, destroyed its magical guard system, and escaped as the temple collapsed, leaving Set imprisoned and furious.

• Ian transformed into a Raven and collected blood, venom, and research footage from rare desert Fantastic Beasts.
• A magical detector led Ian to a buried palace, where he deciphered inscriptions identifying it as Set’s sealed tomb.
• Ian ignored Set’s promises and threats while recording the palace and taking its alchemical tools, manuscripts, and other treasures.
• Set animated dozens of magic-immune metal guards, but Ian destroyed them with a Gatling gun and found the ceiling rune controlling their creation.
• Ian removed the control rune, causing the guards to collapse, and fled as the palace crumbled around Set’s still-intact seal.

Ian reached Anubis’s temple to obtain permission to enter the Underworld and borrow the Styx Oar. After passing three trials, he arrived at the River Styx and faced Anubis, asking directly for the oar.

• Ian left Set’s temple and traveled east to Anubis’s temple to seek the Styx Oar.
• Ian persuaded Anubis’s priest to let him attempt three trials for entry to the Underworld.
• Ian passed the wisdom trial by answering “the future.”
• Ian extinguished the trial’s sea of fire with a potion and passed the courage trial.
• Ian broke out of the coffin during the death trial and found himself beside the River Styx, where Anubis was waiting with the oar.
• Ian told Anubis he wanted to borrow the Styx Oar.

Ian accepted Anubis's trials to earn the right to hold the oar of the River Styx and crossed the river in Raven form, defeating the fallen wizard souls that tried to possess him. Anubis summoned an ancient arena and announced the first trial.

• Ian asked Anubis to lend him the oar, and Anubis required him to pass three trials before he could hold it safely.
• Anubis told Ian to cross the River Styx, then face heroic souls, an immortal wizard, and Anubis's will.
• Ian transformed into a Raven and flew over the River Styx, striking down the fallen wizard souls that tried to tempt or possess him.
• Ian reached the far bank, where Anubis praised his transformation and prepared the challenges.
• Anubis raised an ancient arena from the ground and announced that the first trial had begun.

Ian began Anubis’s first trial against the heroic soul Seti and used an enormous cleaver and powered armor with jet engines to overwhelm the ancient warrior without relying on magic. Seti struggled to fight back as Anubis realized Ian came from the future.

• Anubis began the first trial, summoning the legendary Ancient Egyptian Warrior Seti to face Ian.
• Ian filled half the stands with illusory spectators cheering for him and learned that he could use magic only three times.
• Ian revealed a forty-meter cleaver and powered armor, then used its jet engines to fly above Seti.
• Seti protested that the trial was unfair, but Anubis ordered it to continue, and Ian battered Seti’s shield with his oversized blade.
• Seti’s Khopesh failed to damage Ian’s armor, and Anubis realized Ian was from the future.

Ian defeated Seti in Anubis's first trial and began the second trial, facing the demigod wizard Heka-Ur. Their battle escalated as Heka-Ur attacked with a spear infused with Ra's divinity.

• Anubis recognized Ian as someone from the future, then resumed the trial after their exchange.
• Seti admitted defeat, and Ian struck him down, scattering his form into golden particles.
• Anubis transformed the arena into a wizard-exclusive stage and announced Ian had passed the first trial.
• Heka-Ur appeared as Ian's opponent in the second trial, and the two exchanged powerful spells.
• Ian dispelled Heka-Ur's life-draining burial shrouds and reversed their effect, visibly aging the demigod.
• Heka-Ur, enraged, threw a spear wreathed in blue flames and empowered by Ra's divinity.

Ian defeated Heka-Ur in the second trial by combining magic, alchemy, and potions, then refused Anubis’s final trial and challenged him directly. The story left Ian preparing to face the ancient god in a duel.

• Heka-Ur attacked Ian with the Spear of Divine Punishment, but Ian froze it with Eternal Ice and countered Heka-Ur’s undead summons and binding magic.
• Ian survived Heka-Ur’s Underworld attack with three layers of defenses, then used an enchanted mirror to turn Heka-Ur’s fire attack against him.
• Ian and Heka-Ur traded powerful spells until Ian summoned a Mirror Alchemy Golem that replicated Heka-Ur and grew stronger with time.
• Heka-Ur conceded, and Anubis declared that Ian had passed the second trial.
• Ian rejected the final trial to challenge Anubis directly, seeking to forge a new Legend by facing a god as a mortal.

After defeating Heka-Ur, Ian challenged Anubis directly, wagering the final destination of his soul. Ian’s paradoxical powers overcame Anubis’s laws and divine domain, and Anubis ended the duel by awarding him the Styx Oar before the trial ground collapsed.

• Ian rejected the third trial and challenged Anubis, accepting a wager over his soul’s final destination.
• Anubis transformed the arena into a desert Pocket Dimension and filled it with undead warriors, while Ian conjured an enormous crowd of virtual spectators.
• Anubis attacked Ian with the law of death and the River Styx, but Ian used Paradox Anima and Tempus Inversus to resist and reverse his powers.
• Ian countered Anubis’s soul judgment with contradictory memories, then opposed Anubis’s divine domain with Logos Apophis.
• Anubis ended the duel before their clashing domains could destroy the Underworld and gave Ian the Styx Oar.
• As the trial ground collapsed, Ian acknowledged that his power came from plunder.

Ian defeated Anubis’s trial, claimed the Styx Oar, and returned from the Underworld. After learning that the Temple of Ra lay north along the Nile, he flew toward the Divine City to retrieve the Fragment of the Eye of Ra.

• Ian admitted to Anubis that he had seized the Paradox Divine Authority from a Legendary Wizard, unsettling Anubis and drawing the attention of a presence in the Underworld.
• Anubis gave Ian the Styx Oar and warned him that the true Death had gone mad and was wandering.
• Ian left a Golden Apple inscribed “To a worthy opponent” for Anubis before being sent back to the mortal world.
• Ian returned to the Temple of Anubis, confirmed to the priest that he had defeated Death, and asked how to reach the Temple of Ra.
• Ian transformed into a Raven, flew north toward the Divine City, and arrived near the temple where the Fragment of the Eye of Ra awaited him.

Ian arrived in fourteenth-century BCE Memphis to investigate the Fragment of the Eye of Ra and gathered clues while visiting a tavern. After hearing ominous reports about Ra and seeing a crude amulet imitation, he followed its owner into an alley and asked to examine it.

• Ian flew over Memphis, transformed into local clothing, and entered a tavern to eat and listen for news.
• Ian overheard priests say scarab statues had turned west and Ra had not appeared for a long time.
• A deranged old man burst into the tavern warning that disaster would come when Ra closed His eyes, and Ian noticed his glowing Eye-shaped amulet.
• Ian recognized the amulet as a crude imitation linked to the Fragment of the Eye of Ra and followed the old man outside.
• Ian cleansed the old man's mind, identified himself as a wizard, and asked to touch the amulet.

Ian used Legilimency on Nakht and discovered that a dark wizard had impersonated Ra, giving him a fake Eye of Ra and ruining his life. After revealing the truth, Ian left Nakht shaken and questioning whether the amulet had truly shown him anything.

• Ian confronted Nakht in a Memphis alley and noticed that his amulet’s distorted magic seemed to affect Nakht’s mind.
• Ian cast Legilimency on Nakht and found memories of him as a prosperous merchant and temple scribe.
• Ian watched a false Ra deceive Nakht with a staged vision and give him a blue-glass charm presented as a fragment of the Eye of Ra.
• Ian saw Nakht abandon his family and wealth to guard the fake relic, eventually becoming a beggar after the priests exposed the deception.
• Ian ended the spell and told Nakht that a fraud had impersonated Ra, but Nakht insisted the amulet had protected him and shown him the truth.

Ian told Nakht that the Eye of Ra’s revelation was a fabricated dream, but Nakht rejected the truth and fled. A mysterious servant of Ra warned Ian that sixteen investigating wizards had died and directed him to return to the temple at night; while waiting for dusk in Memphis, Ian overheard talk of another disappearance near the temple.

• Ian told Nakht that a wizard had impersonated Ra in his dreams and used him, but Nakht called Ian a liar and fled with the shard.
• Ian concluded that the dream involved advanced mental manipulation or a ritual, then encountered a black-robed woman who warned him to stop investigating.
• The woman said sixteen wizards had died while investigating, identified herself as a servant of Ra, and urged Ian to visit the Temple of the Sun God at night before transforming into a falcon and flying away.
• Ian decided to investigate the temple after nightfall and spent the intervening hours walking through Memphis’s market.
• Ian noticed a street performer was a foreign wizard and overheard men discussing a third disappearance that month and a black shadow near the temple.

Ian investigated the disappearances and growing fear in Memphis, then entered the Temple of the Sun God under the guise of a scholar. After the Black-robed woman secured his release, he watched the temple at night and realized a terrifying ritual was underway.

• Ian questioned market residents about the disappearances, but their fear and warnings about divine punishment made them refuse to speak freely.
• Ian presented forged credentials to the priests and agreed to a magic-power inspection, noticing unusual guards, a strange star chart, and a worn drainage channel inside the temple.
• The Scepter Priest ended the inspection after the Black-robed woman vouched for Ian, and she appeared to confirm he could move freely through the city.
• Ian found Memphis deserted under an early curfew and saw guards threaten to send a captured merchant to the temple.
• Ian climbed to a rooftop and saw golden lights illuminating the temple before sensing a low vibration and realizing a frightening ritual was already underway.

Ian transformed into a Raven and watched the priests of Ra conduct a forbidden nighttime ritual in Memphis, using blood, a corpse, and a strange embryo to summon shadow creatures. The creatures began feeding on chained civilians and escaped the temple to hunt through the city.

• Ian inferred that the Black-robed woman wanted him to witness the temple's nighttime secret, then transformed into a Raven and flew over Memphis.
• Ian saw the priests prepare blood-soaked offerings and a magic circle while the Scepter Priest brought a glowing creature in a crystal box.
• The Black-robed woman appeared at the altar, declared that the birth of a new sun was at hand, and began the ritual with the creature and her own blood.
• Ian recognized the creature as an embryo forged within Mount Doom of the Misty Illusion and fled as the ritual awakened it.
• The embryo produced monstrous shadows that drained the life from chained civilians, and the Scepter Priest demanded more nourishment.
• The shadows poured out of the temple into Memphis to hunt for more people.

In Memphis, temple shadows hunted people to feed an embryo that the priests hoped would become a replacement for Ra. The Black-robed woman halted the sacrifices, while Ian witnessed signs that the creature was corrupt and learned that Ra might have fallen and a disaster was approaching.

• The temple's shadows killed people across Memphis, including an orphan, a drunkard, Taka, and a weaving slave, then carried their life force back to the embryo.
• The embryo grew to adult size and demanded more sacrifices, prompting the Scepter Priest to order another thirty people hunted.
• The Black-robed woman stopped the hunt after learning that seventy-nine people had already been sacrificed, warning that the embryo could become a monster and drive Memphis into chaos.
• The embryo tried to corrupt the Black-robed woman's power, but she severed its influence and kept her faith in Ra.
• From the shadows, Raven watched the embryo's compound eyes turn toward the Black-robed woman, and Ian suspected Ra had fallen and the priests were creating a replacement to face an approaching disaster.