Chapter Summaries

Jon and Seshatri discovered that China had likely stabilized the Small World with a bamboo scroll and discussed how its intervention could affect Osiris’s plan and their chances of escape. As night fell, Jon sensed demons awakening outside the city and heard a pipa playing “Ambush from Ten Sides.”

• Seshatri pointed out a bamboo-scroll shape in the eastern clouds, and she and Jon concluded that China had helped stabilize the Small World.
• Seshatri reasoned that Chinese participants might complicate Osiris’s plan, while Jon warned that they could also be trying to claim something from the Small World.
• Seshatri said she would hide her identity until she knew whether her maternal relatives were safe, and Jon admitted he might not escape unscathed because the World Will treated him as a tool.
• Jon sensed a disturbance outside the city and projected an eerie temple where a pipa played “Ambush from Ten Sides.”
• Jon warned Seshatri that the demons had awakened and the hunting hour had begun.

Jon and Seshatri watched a group of intruders approach a temple in Yingzhou, where eerie pipa music trapped them in a maze. Seshatri amplified the faint sounds from the scene, and the group heard one man warn that something was watching them.

• Jon broadcast the temple's pipa music while he and Seshatri discussed the danger facing the people approaching it.
• Luo Hua and the other two finished bathing, joined Jon, and watched the live broadcast.
• The intruders explored the temple grounds, and the pipa music led them into a maze-like loop in the alley.
• Seshatri asked Jon to capture the intruders' voices and enhanced the faint sounds he transmitted.
• The group heard a hoarse man warn his companions that something strange was watching them.

Jon watched a water projection of a group entering a temple where demons hunted them, then saw a lone young woman arrive carrying a curved blade marked with a symbol from a pyramid. The chapter left her standing at the temple gate as Jon continued observing.

• Jon and the others watched a projection showing armed travelers approaching something hidden near the temple.
• A middle-aged man tried to lift an unseen curtain, and his lamp went out as darkness swallowed the group.
• Seshatri concluded that the temple and surrounding alleys were the demons’ hunting grounds, and the travelers disappeared without a trace.
• Luo Hua and the others fell asleep while Seshatri cultivated, and Jon kept watching the projection.
• A young woman carrying a curved blade walked through the darkness to the temple gate and bowed in salute.
• Jon recognized an inscription on the blade’s hilt as the same symbol he had seen on a pyramid in a tourist brochure.

Jon and Seshatri experienced a strange domestic scene in the unfinished house, where an old woman served them breakfast and delivered a clasp from the master. After the scene vanished, Seshatri offered to explain why it had happened.

• Jon woke after a restless night and followed Seshatri out to find Luo Hua and the others staring blankly at breakfast prepared by an old woman.
• Seshatri assured Jon the food was safe, and the group ate while the old woman treated her as the household's master.
• Seshatri waited on the sofa with the others nearby, and the old woman delivered her a clasp from the master.
• When the old woman left, the room reverted to the unfinished house, and Seshatri offered to explain the strange scene.

Seshatri explained that Pluto ruled the world’s revival, turning the maze into a deadly trial for some outsiders and a game for others. She and Jon discussed using the situation to escape their apparent fate, while Jon chose to risk death for a chance at resurrection; the group was left under mounting pressure.

• Seshatri told Jon and the others that Pluto governed the world’s revival and that she had prepared to use his power to delay her Ancestor’s return.
• Seshatri explained that Pluto’s elaborate trial would divide outsiders into different classes, making the maze a life-or-death crisis for some and a game for others.
• Jon and Seshatri agreed that the situation might offer a chance to survive, though Seshatri said she had no place in that opportunity.
• Jon decided to gamble on dying in the maze because the circumstances could make his resurrection more likely.
• Seshatri accepted Jon’s decision, and the group fell silent as pressure filled the room.

Seshatri led the group out to find a route toward the city’s central temple complex, where they hoped to advance their escape from Yingzhou. As Jon searched through the layered spaces with the Waterline, the group worried that they had lost their way.

• Seshatri explained that Pluto’s clasp suppressed her ancestor’s awakening and might also affect her.
• Seshatri said the group had to reach the central city and temple complex, despite the dangers and their lack of powerful allies.
• The group left their building under Jon’s magical barrier and used concealment to travel through the gray city.
• They entered staggered spaces that Seshatri and Jon recognized as a structure resembling Space Bubbles.
• At Seshatri’s request, Jon used the Waterline to investigate their position, while asking what the people in the central district were doing.

Jon and his companions discussed the balance of power in the magical world as they searched for their destination. Jon discovered their route was erasing itself behind them, and after two hours they reached a magnificent temple complex.

• Jon asked whether people from Goryeo had come to help, and Li Chengxi explained that China’s control of the Eastern Magical World had weakened Goryeo and Yingzhou.
• Bai Jin said ordinary people had little influence over a world shaped by the strong, and Jon urged him to grow stronger and change it.
• Jon determined that the group was moving toward the central area but had entered a small, separate space with chaotic surroundings.
• Jon noticed that their path disappeared behind them as they advanced, leaving them unable to turn back.
• After two silent hours, the group reached a magnificent complex of temples, and Jon suggested they investigate.

Jon and Seshatri brought their group into an old temple, where an eccentric abbot unexpectedly asked them to fill out forms. The group concealed their real abilities and information as they completed the paperwork, leaving the purpose of the visit unclear.

• Jon reflected on cosmic questions and followed Seshatri toward the temple, reminding himself not to treat the dangerous world like a game.
• A monk registered Jon, Seshatri, and their three companions and led them to the abbot's room.
• The old abbot joked about eating the young outsiders, smoked a cigarette, and then remembered that they were supposed to fill out forms.
• Seshatri signaled Jon not to reveal anything true, and Jon and the other three filled out their forms while making themselves appear weak.
• The group handed their completed forms to Seshatri, who submitted them to the abbot.

The old abbot sent Seshatri and Jon to take over a challenge arena, while they learned that outsiders across the Small World would face disasters designed to drive them into evacuation temples and fuel the Pantheon Revival. Seshatri warned Jon that Osiris might try to kill him rather than let him leave, and they arrived at the arena needing another plan.

• The old abbot dismissed Seshatri's forms and invoked the temple's rules, then assigned her group an arena challenge whose victory would grant them control of the arena.
• Seshatri and Jon followed a novice monk to the challenge arena and questioned him about the trial's new rules.
• Seshatri learned that outsiders across the Small World would face disasters and be pushed toward evacuation temples, where the weak would be sacrificed for the Pantheon Revival.
• Seshatri told Jon to seek an exit through Osiris in the central city, but Jon said Osiris might kill him because his survival could allow his ancestor to revive.
• Seshatri and Jon agreed they needed another way to protect Jon and reached the enormous arena.

Jon's team learned that they had to defeat the team already occupying the training ground before claiming its area. Seshatri weighed how to lead the group without drawing Osiris's suspicion, and the chapter ended before she chose how to proceed.

• Luo Hua complained that the novice monk had deliberately brought them to a guarded training ground.
• The novice monk explained that teams had to defeat the group occupying the sole area allocated for teams before taking it over.
• After the novice monk left, Jon's companions asked whether they should fight, and Jon looked to Seshatri for a decision.
• Seshatri considered the need to balance her performance so Osiris would neither see her as too powerful nor deem her useless.
• Seshatri assessed the likely number of survivors and team areas before deciding whether to attack.

Seshatri concluded that her group had to fight the team occupying the training ground to seize its resources. She assigned roles for the attack as Jon prepared to cover them with a curtain of water.

• Seshatri reasoned that the defenders and her group had become rivals because both needed the training ground’s resources.
• Seshatri told her group to prepare for a fight and said they had to survive by defeating the defenders.
• Jon created a curtain of water around the group after Seshatri signaled him.
• Bai Jin reported that she could use her stealth to pick off isolated defenders but could not carry out a decapitation strike.
• Seshatri ordered Gunner to snipe from high ground, Mysterious Bird to draw fire, Bai Jin to infiltrate, and Poet to protect their stamina from magic and curses.

Seshatri’s team prepared to attack a newly assembled group of nine defenders, while Jon used his abilities to assess their positions and strength. As temple bells pressured them to act, both sides took their positions, leaving the battle about to begin.

• Seshatri told her teammates to spread out and wait for the Mysterious Bird’s signal while she remained conspicuously exposed.
• Jon warned Seshatri to protect herself, but she explained that she was studying the location and wanted to make the most of their chance to win it.
• Jon used the force field and Listening to Wind Whispers to estimate that up to ten enemies were inside and advised against delaying too long.
• The temple bells grew more urgent, and Seshatri coughed to signal the attack as Jon moved behind a building with the Earth Scepter ready.
• The defenders revealed themselves as a temporary team of nine, including a powerful magical beast, and worried that the approaching group would attack.

Jon and Seshatri entered a training hall where hidden opponents were waiting, and Jon provoked them while Seshatri inspected the defenses. Jon was infected by a divine virus curse, but Li Chengxi began sending him healing and defensive magic as the threat inside the hall remained concealed.

• Jon pushed open the training ground's door and entered the hall with Seshatri.
• Jon amplified his voice to provoke the people hiding inside, while Seshatri examined the hall's defenses.
• Jon felt numb and unwell as he began drawing on his magic.
• Li Chengxi warned Jon that an enemy had infected him with a virus curse and sent healing and defensive magic.
• Li Chengxi identified the virus as divine in origin and linked it to the special Divine Miracle blessings in the boxes the others had fought over.

After recovering from the virus, Jon searched the training grounds for the person spreading it, unleashing the Mysterious Bird’s power and leaving Seshatri behind. He entered the darkness in anger, while Seshatri prepared to explore and deal with any stragglers.

• Poet dispelled the virus affecting Jon and warned that repeated exposure could make it difficult to cure.
• Sally reasoned that the plague likely came from a serpent god or plant god, and Jon searched the training grounds for its source.
• Jon released the Mysterious Bird’s power, splitting a black bird into many smaller birds that flew through the grounds.
• Jon told Seshatri to wait while he dealt with the plague’s source, then disappeared into the darkness.
• Seshatri stayed behind, wary of Jon’s anger, and planned to explore the area and eliminate any stragglers.

Seshatri reflected on how leaving her family and meeting Jon had changed her life as Jon and Little Knife attacked the defenders concealed in a magically darkened training ground. Jon and Little Knife killed four of the nine enemies, while Seshatri maintained their connection and trusted in Osiris's protection as the fight continued.

• Seshatri recalled how Grindelwald had brought her to Hogwarts, where she met Jon, and resolved to remain allied with him rather than return to her former destination.
• Jon used his speed and Seshatri's relay of signals to keep dispelling magic active as he hunted down three people hidden in the darkness.
• Little Knife stabbed another enemy to death and vanished back into the dark.
• Seshatri stayed calm, relying on Osiris's power to help her survive an attack while Jon and Little Knife hunted the remaining enemies.

Seshatri and Jon defeated the remaining ambushers and examined two artifacts, including the source of the plague. Jon then asked Seshatri to finally tell him about Helga’s matter.

• Seshatri dodged an ambush, killed one attacker with the Full Moon Slash, and Jon reported that Little Knife was hunting the last two.
• Jon gave Seshatri two recovered items, and she identified one as the Plague Bracelet, an imitation of the Full Moon Disc, while the other seemed to amplify damage.
• Little Knife killed a hidden wizard with a clean slash to the throat.
• Jon reflected on the Wizarding world's overreliance on magic and his priorities, then asked Seshatri whether she would finally tell him about Helga.

Seshatri dispelled the barrier around the area and explained that time flowed differently in the Small World. Jon planned to survive until the final round, when Osiris’s attempt to seize bodies or devour souls might give him a chance to break the blockade and reveal Osiris to the World Will.

• Seshatri sensed that control of the area had passed to her and dispelled its barrier so Luo Hua could snipe more effectively.
• Seshatri told Jon that the trial could last up to a year outside, though she avoided discussing her secret agreement involving Helga and Grindelwald.
• Jon considered how the Small World’s time flow and fragile barrier made it vulnerable to pressure from the real world.
• Jon concluded that Osiris had entered the Small World illegally and was hiding from the World Will with China’s help.
• Jon resolved to survive until the final round, when he could exploit his connection to Osiris and expose his location to the World Will.

Jon and Seshatri discussed Pluto’s motives while Seshatri used her authority to rebuild the training ground as a Hogwarts-like home. They left the reason for Pluto’s reliance on the participants uncertain, with Jon arguing that Seshatri lacked enough evidence to judge how he had changed.

• Jon and Seshatri joked about how their shared hardships had made life seem easier and finished each other’s words.
• Seshatri used her creation authority to clear away the dark substances and rebuild the training ground, while Jon told her what to construct.
• Seshatri suggested Pluto was using the roughly ten thousand participants to discover possibilities beyond his own expectations.
• Seshatri questioned why the once-arrogant Pluto would rely on others, and Jon said he might have changed despite her limited contact with him.

Jon and Seshatri discussed their place in the gods’ conflict and waited in their restored training-ground home. Seshatri then revealed that a powerful person had appeared in Fire Prison ten days earlier, and Jon asked her to explain.

• Seshatri gathered everyone to see the living space she had made in the training ground.
• Jon and Seshatri discussed how they were caught in a game between gods and speculated that Ancestor would be the one granted entry.
• Jon and Seshatri compared their situation and teammates to Hogwarts and its students.
• Jon asked what they should do next, and Seshatri pointed out that their progress had come from cheating and would require a delay.
• Seshatri told Jon that her information network had reported the appearance of an incredibly powerful person in Fire Prison ten days earlier.
• Jon asked Seshatri to tell him more about the person.

Seshatri showed Jon a recording of a deadly woman who had slaughtered everyone in Fire Prison and warned that she could become his greatest obstacle. They discussed the coming trial and Seshatri’s plan to sacrifice her bloodline for a chance to transform, leaving together for a meal as they hoped to become the people they wanted to be.

• Seshatri projected a recording of a woman standing among the corpses of everyone she had killed in Fire Prison and warned Jon that she might survive to challenge him.
• Jon realized the final ruler was not Osiris and that Helga was preparing to enter the place through his body, confirming his decision to transfer the Mysterious Bird bloodline’s power into his soul.
• Seshatri explained that Pluto’s time manipulation would make their training more efficient, while Luo Hua killed someone trying to sneak in.
• Jon asked Seshatri what she wanted, and she said she planned to discard her bloodlines and seek a new transformation beyond their limits.
• Jon promised to support Seshatri, and she invited him outside to eat as they shared hope for their futures.