Chapter Summaries

Jon and Seshatri discussed the coming trial to revive the Ancient Egyptian Pantheon while watching London’s docks. As their ship prepared to leave, they spotted someone on the shore.

• Seshatri and Jon discussed the scale of the Pantheon’s believers and the danger of the upcoming trial.
• Jon explained that the trial would likely take place in the Pantheon’s Small World and considered how he might survive it.
• Jon asked whether Seshatri had contacted her aunt, and Seshatri said her family looked down on outsiders despite her divine blood.
• Seshatri and Jon noticed someone on the shore as the ship’s whistle sounded and they began their departure.

Jon and Seshatri traveled to Egypt to investigate the possible revival of a declining pantheon, discussing the gods and powers likely to be drawn into the conflict. After arriving, they chose to sightsee, buy disguising souvenirs, and rest before searching for the signal.

• Jon and Seshatri spotted the Weasley family aboard the ship and speculated that they had won prize money to visit their son in Egypt.
• Jon and Seshatri discussed Dumbledore's improvised plans and how powerful beings from the Muggle world and Small Worlds might interfere with the pantheon's revival.
• Seshatri explained that many gods in Small Worlds were weakened beings who depended on human faith and could be vulnerable outside their domains.
• Jon and Seshatri arrived in Egypt after resting aboard the ship for two days.
• Jon and Seshatri toured the crowded area near the pyramids, noticed no unusual Magical fluctuations, and decided to buy masks and souvenirs before resting at their hotel.

Jon and Seshatri followed a signal to a pyramid and entered the fallen Small World of the Ancient Egyptian Pantheon. Inside, Seshatri led Jon onto a concealed path, explaining that her family’s divine bloodline carried memories of the world from before its fall.

• Jon's glove and the head in Seshatri's ring reacted, prompting them to prepare to enter the secret realm.
• Seshatri proposed waiting until the area was clear, and she and Jon suspected the pyramid was an entrance and that a cult believer might be hiding among the people there.
• Jon reshaped his face with Seshatri's help, and the two disguised themselves before flying toward the pyramid through thick fog.
• Jon stepped through a doorway in the fog and found himself with Seshatri on a broad road filled with strange beings riding old-fashioned carriages.
• Seshatri recognized the place as the Ancient Egyptian Pantheon's Small World before its fall and led Jon along a concealed path.
• Seshatri explained that her family's divine bloodline passed down memories of the Small World from the God of Wisdom.

Jon and Seshatri explored an environment tied to Ancient Egyptian mythology and discovered that it depicted the pantheon’s final era before its decline. Seshatri warned Jon that she might become a vessel for her ancestor and asked him to kill her if she changed, as they prepared to witness the Small World’s collapse.

• Jon and Seshatri went to the Sky Track Platform to identify the era shown by the environment.
• Seshatri explained that the environment aimed to select a vessel for her ancestor’s return and told Jon to kill her if she changed.
• Seshatri gave Jon the Full Moon Disc and explained that fragments of her and her mother’s souls were inside it.
• Seshatri recognized the white limestone as a sign that the setting was at the End of the Tail Era.
• Seshatri explained that the world around them was only an image and said they would witness the Small World’s collapse when the Ancient Egyptian Pantheon fell.

Jon and Seshatri watched the world around them transform into a stormy, flooded landscape as the divine revival sequence continued. They escaped the rising waters on an ice boat, but had no control over where the currents would take them.

• Jon and Seshatri discussed the long opening sequence and suspected that Seshatri's ancestor had designed the revival to make the returning gods stronger.
• The white area vanished, and thunder, lightning, dark clouds, and crashing waves transformed the surroundings into a scene of destruction.
• Seshatri explained that Poseidon had carried out the destruction plan and that Jon's divine artifact had been stolen from him, so its weakened connection would not harm Jon.
• As torrential rain and violent winds eroded the land, Jon shaped his force field into an ice boat to keep them afloat.
• Jon and Seshatri stood steady on the boat as floodwaters tossed it about, unable to choose their destination.

Jon and Seshatri reached the Newborn Nation in the underworld, the place where the Ancient Egyptian Pantheon would be revived. In China, an old man condemned a planned expedition involving descendants of several families and decided to seek help from Master at Jixia.

• Jon and Seshatri crossed the storm-dark sea as Osiris's head vibrated in its lead box, and Seshatri said they would discard it upon reaching land.
• Jon used the Mysterious Bird's power to guide their passage and saw signs that life was forming beneath the sea as the storm began to fade.
• Jon and Seshatri reached a continent that resonated with his glove and the Tears of Atlantis, identifying it as the Newborn Nation in the underworld.
• In China, an old man scolded Xiao Zhu for allowing an expedition involving descendants from several families to proceed without consulting him sooner.
• The old man ordered Xiao Zhu to prepare a generous gift and said he would go to Jixia to ask Master to gather other elders and join the expedition.

Jon and Seshatri entered Osiris's deadly trial, hid the lead box, and found a modern metropolis where contestants were already fighting over treasure chests. They moved through the city under cover, uncertain how many people would die before powerful families intervened.

• Jon and Seshatri learned that Osiris's trial required them to destroy opponents or die, with no way to withdraw.
• Seshatri and Jon hid the lead box in a secluded cave, then saw the dark skies clear and a modern metropolis appear nearby.
• Jon and Seshatri headed toward the city, where a falling contestant was impaled on a mast at its boundary.
• Jon shielded himself and Seshatri with spells as they entered the city and heard contestants fighting amid the sounds of breaking glass.
• Seshatri explained that contestants were fighting over treasure chests containing resources, items, and weapons, and said powerful families would not let all their members die.

Jon and Seshatri watched wizards battle over a box containing Horus’s Wings, then followed the wizard who claimed them to find his companions. Jon ended the chapter by telling Seshatri he had a good idea.

• Jon and Seshatri discussed why the World Will could not directly stop Pantheon Revival and watched wizards fight below them.
• Several allied wizards defeated the remaining contenders and opened a box, revealing a pair of golden wings that Seshatri identified as an incomplete version of Horus’s Wings.
• A wizard equipped the wings and demonstrated his speed and flight before a sniper shot him down.
• Seshatri explained that Lord Pluto could not kill people himself but could send others after them to reclaim his head.
• Jon took Seshatri’s hand and followed the shadow of the person approaching them, then discovered he had two companions.
• Jon asked Seshatri whether she wanted to hear his good idea.

Jon proposed forming an exploration team with Seshatri by recruiting Poet, Gunner, and Little Knife, using musical magic to influence them. Poet hoped the mysterious place would grant him power to establish a true Goryeo mythology, while Jon and Seshatri considered testing their plan.

• Jon suggested that he and Seshatri form a new exploration team with the three men already working together.
• Jon explained that he had studied musical magic and might use it to confuse the three men, and Seshatri considered the team’s balanced skills promising.
• Poet recalled how he, Gunner, and Little Knife had arrived at the strange place and learned that it was a legacy left behind by a god.
• Poet viewed the opportunity as a chance to gain power and create a true mythology for Goryeo.

Jon and Seshatri used an illusion to separate three Easterners so Seshatri could probe their minds, but new arrivals interrupted their plan. Jon diverted them with fabricated monsters and supplied a gunman with a magically replicated firearm, leaving the gunman to kill an attacker in close combat.

• Seshatri began entering one of the Easterners’ minds while Jon guarded them with nested force fields and an illusion.
• Jon sensed newcomers approaching, and Seshatri warned that withdrawing from the person she was probing could shatter his mind.
• Jon altered the newcomers’ path and drew them into an illusion where the gunman saw monsters instead of real people.
• Jon used Geminio to create a decorated firearm with a full magazine for the gunman.
• An attacker rushed the gunman, who knocked him down and killed him by smashing him with his sniper rifle.

Jon watched a gunman kill several members of a wizard squad, then used his water-vapor incarnation to finish off three wounded survivors. After killing them, he sensed the environment changing to suit him, while Seshatri continued concentrating on her task.

• The gunman killed a man and encountered four others who had gathered nearby, including two approaching from the stairs.
• The gunman fought off the group with his rifle and dagger, then ran upstairs to find Little Knife.
• Jon appeared after the gunman left and killed three wounded survivors with an ice spike and soul-crushing magic.
• Jon sensed the air changing to become more suitable for him, then made his incarnation vanish.

Jon and Seshatri recruited three people by planting mental control in the gunman and using his team to approach them. They learned that roughly ten thousand humans lived in this world, then Seshatri warned that controlling the recruits was difficult and unstable.

• Seshatri told Jon she had dealt with two members of the group and opened the gunman's mental barrier so he could reunite with his teammates.
• Jon strengthened Seshatri with magic power and urged her to kill someone herself to adapt better to the world.
• Seshatri used the Full Moon Disc to sense nearby humans and estimated that the world held around ten thousand people.
• Jon and Seshatri reached the gunman and his two teammates, and Seshatri's mental suggestion made them bow to her and call her Big Sis.
• Seshatri explained that controlling three people was difficult and unstable, and said they would need to modify the recruits' memories further.

Jon altered the memories of three people to place himself and Seshatri in their past, strengthening their bond with Seshatri. As the three recovered, Jon and Seshatri discussed exploring the vast city and formed a team with them, choosing codenames and Chinese for communication.

• Jon modified the memories of Li Chengxi, Luo Hua, and Bai Jin to include himself and Seshatri.
• Jon and Seshatri discussed how their preparations had helped them navigate the situation and decided to explore the city before choosing their next move.
• Seshatri introduced Li Chengxi, codename Poet, Luo Hua, and Bai Jin, nicknamed Little Knife, to Jon.
• Jon chose Mysterious Bird as his codename, and Seshatri explained that the team would use Chinese to communicate.

Jon and Seshatri assessed their team’s strengths and discussed a strange surge of magic that Seshatri had sensed in the half-world. They waited for night to reveal whether the phenomenon followed the world’s day-and-night cycle, while the rest of the team searched the building.

• Jon considered how Seshatri, Li Chengxi, Luo Hua, and Bai Jin complemented one another, and decided not to probe Li Chengxi’s memories further because it could harm his soul.
• Seshatri created a coin that distinguished day from night and counted the days they had spent in the half-world.
• Jon told Seshatri that Li Chengxi, Luo Hua, and Bai Jin were searching the building’s more than thirty floors for useful items.
• Seshatri reported detecting a dense, enormous burst of magic that vanished immediately, similar to the fluctuations they had encountered at sea.
• Jon and Seshatri considered whether Lord Pluto was monitoring them or whether the magical surge was a natural effect of the half-world’s day-and-night cycle, and decided to wait for night to investigate.

Jon and Seshatri joined Luo Hua in watching a man with a valuable box fight off his pursuers in the Small World. Seshatri went to investigate while Jon followed to protect her, and the man became trapped in an elevator that could not operate without electricity.

• Luo Hua warned Jon and Seshatri that a man carrying a box was being chased near the exit and asked whether they should intervene.
• Seshatri and Jon flew to the rooftop where Luo Hua was watching the scene, and they observed the man heading toward the elevators.
• Seshatri decided to approach the man and inspect the box while Luo Hua provided covering fire and Jon followed to protect her.
• The man fought six pursuers and cut down two, but they forced him into an elevator that could not function without electricity.

Trapped in a falling elevator, the masked man tried to escape by cutting its cables, but Seshatri and Jon thwarted his plan and Luo Hua nearly killed him with a shot. The man survived the attack and spotted Luo Hua, while the team remained in control of the confrontation.

• The masked man cut the elevator cables and used magic to manage its fall, hoping to escape on the first floor.
• Seshatri pierced the elevator from above and attacked the man, but withdrew after he countered with Corrosive Mist and a Magic Weapon.
• Jon pulled Seshatri to safety with water and Apparition as the elevator crashed to the first floor.
• Seshatri ordered Luo Hua to snipe the man using the coordinates she had marked on the elevator.
• Luo Hua's Magic Bullet blasted through the elevator doors and shattered a lobby pillar, but the man dodged and identified Luo Hua's position.

Jon and Seshatri tested the rule-enhanced Luo Hua’s sniping against a gaunt opponent, who altered his existence to escape Luo Hua’s soul lock. Seshatri called for Poet as the group considered the strange artifact and their next move.

• Jon reflected on how Luo Hua’s magical strengths complemented his sniping and how Seshatri’s rule-based enhancement had improved his abilities.
• Luo Hua’s second shot wounded the gaunt figure’s arm, showing that Seshatri’s Hidden Arrow rule had strengthened his accuracy and power.
• Seshatri realized the figure had used an artifact to alter his own existence rather than dispel Luo Hua’s rule.
• Luo Hua reported that the figure was gone after his soul lock was broken, and Seshatri called for Poet.

Seshatri’s team chose not to pursue the wounded opponent, instead placing a tracking curse on him and preparing for the changes they expected after nightfall. Seshatri used her red-crowned crane power to affect the surrounding battlefield and explained how her inherited bloodlines strengthened her abilities.

• Li Chengxi cast a difficult-to-remove Bone-Clinging Curse on the opponent so the team could track him.
• Seshatri told her team to let the opponent go, arguing that he was a strong competitor and that fighting him early could benefit their rivals.
• Seshatri revealed that she was attracted to the opponent, then admitted she had only said so to lighten the mood.
• Seshatri searched for a strong nearby position and warned Jon and the others that the area would change after nightfall.
• Seshatri summoned her red-crowned crane totem, and she explained that her combined maternal and paternal bloodlines greatly enhanced her power.

As night fell in the Small World, Seshatri sensed its dangers awakening around the group. The city transformed into a brightly lit, populated urban setting modeled after Yingzhou, and Seshatri urged everyone to stay inside and remain vigilant.

• As darkness returned, Seshatri's senses sharpened, and Jon and the others became tense when she warned of a strange aura.
• Sweet and spicy scents drifted through the air as monsters emerged from the darkness and phantom figures filled the streets.
• Bai Jin and Luo Hua watched the city awaken, while lights appeared throughout it despite the dark sky.
• Seshatri lit the room, revealing that its furnishings had transformed, and Jon and the others recognized the setting as a city modeled after Yingzhou.
• Seshatri blocked out the city's noises and told the group to stay inside, remain alert, and check whether the refrigerator still held food.

Jon and his companions settled into a house in Pluto’s Small World, where Seshatri reasoned that Pluto was using the outsiders to recover and rebuild his realm. After bathing and relaxing, Jon found the others had stopped drinking, while Seshatri kept watch over their uncertain surroundings.

• Li Chengxi drank sake with the others, and Jon used his glove to duplicate the food and wine before leaving to check on Seshatri.
• Seshatri told Jon she believed Pluto had brought the outsiders to help him recover and rebuild the Small World, and explained why she expected him to use her before dealing with her.
• Seshatri encouraged Jon to relax and take a bath, assuring him that nothing would happen yet.
• Jon bathed, then learned that Seshatri had scolded the others for drinking and sent them to bathe.
• Jon and Seshatri joked about whether she had hit the others, then laughed together.