Chapter Summaries

Fang Yuan helped Baron Schanke lure Sir Frey’s army into a trap and launch a counterattack inside the castle. As the battle raged, the dying Baron entrusted his family and affairs to Timo and Tanya before he died.

• Fang Yuan rejected Frey’s offer of surrender and persuaded Knight Gray to propose a feigned surrender to Baron Schanke.
• Frey and Bishop Daniel approached the castle at night, and Frey ordered his troops inside after Daniel sensed death within.
• Fang Yuan triggered an explosion that buried the castle gate, then led the defenders in attacking Frey’s trapped soldiers.
• Bishop Daniel recognized Fang Yuan as Rune and identified him as a Calamity Knight.
• Baron Schanke told Timo that everything was in his hands and urged Tanya to help her brother before dying.

After Baron Schanke’s death, Fang Yuan helped settle the succession, accepted Storm Hill as Tanya’s dowry, and proposed sending Bishop Daniel and the other Church prisoners to the Grand Duke. Meanwhile, Ge Fei’s voyage brought him to the Mountain Kingdom, and the meeting of the Light-Dark and Five Elements continents caused Fang Yuan’s grotto-heaven to advance.

• The castle’s leaders recognized Timo as the new Baron Schanke, with the baroness acting as regent, and confirmed Sir Rune and Tanya’s betrothal with Storm Hill as her dowry.
• Fang Yuan suggested offering Bishop Daniel and the other Church prisoners to the Grand Duke, and the baroness accepted the plan.
• Ge Fei’s ship weathered a storm and discovered a harbor in an unfamiliar world, where Mountain Kingdom warships surrounded it and demanded that the crew submit to inspection.
• The meeting of the Light-Dark Continent and the Five Elements Continent generated a holy radiance that drove Fang Yuan’s grotto-heaven upward, advancing it.

After refining the Demon Placenta, Fang Yuan crossed into the Monge World and established the Ninefold Hell in its underworld, gravely wounding the Sun God and unleashing demons across the world. The Deities were unable to stop the new realm’s expansion, while an army in the Kingdom of Not faced its first monsters.

• Fang Yuan refined the Demon Placenta and prepared to travel to another world to master source force.
• Fang Yuan broke through Great Gan World’s resistance and left as Extreme Yin, Liu Mengmei, and the Nine Absolute Mountains’ leaders vowed to protect their organization.
• A blood-red meteor heralded Fang Yuan’s arrival in the Monge World, and the Deities recognized that their world was under attack.
• Fang Yuan declared himself Apophis, Lord of the Ninefold Hell, wounded the Sun God, and established the Ninefold Hell in the underworld.
• The Ninefold Hell turned souls into demons that spread through the underworld and toward the main world, while the Deities realized they could not destroy it without destroying the Monge World.
• A general’s army in the Kingdom of Not encountered demons emerging from a split in the ground, and the general sensed power entering him as he killed them.

Fang Yuan unleashed his plan to spread source force through demons across the Monge World, while disguising himself as Rune Knight and preparing to pose as a Child of the Purgatory. As the Year of the Demons' Descent began, King Charles III learned that the invasion had devastated the Kingdom of Not and was changing survivors into stronger beings.

• Fang Yuan turned his Sage's body into Purgatory and sent demons through the Underworld River to invade planes and spread divinity across the Monge World.
• Fang Yuan returned as Rune Knight, and when villages near the Stan Duchy came under attack, he volunteered to lead cavalry while planning to disguise himself as a Child of the Purgatory.
• In Sun God Calendar 2666, the Ninefold Hell appeared and Apophis became infamous as a Great Evil God, marking the Year of the Demons' Descent.
• Advisers told King Charles III that demons had devastated the Boland Plains, killed tens of thousands, and forced him to cancel the campaign against the Stan Duchy.
• A minister reported that surviving soldiers had developed Demonization Sickness and grown stronger, and that Supernatural Beings had received similar gifts; Charles III asked how the church would respond.

The churches began purging soldiers infected with Demonization Sickness, branding anyone empowered by demons a heretic. When Jay was caught and taken to be executed, Duke Freyne gave him his power, awakening Jay as a Divinity Wielder and demon who escaped vowing revenge on the Death God Church.

• A Hess bishop ordered Demonized knights purified and declared that anyone who gained power from demons must be burned alive.
• The churches enacted the purge, and the Death God Church began arresting and executing soldiers returning from the front lines.
• Jay was identified as Demonized during a battlefield inspection and dragged into a tent where captured soldiers were being slaughtered.
• Duke Freyne broke free, attacked the executioners, and gave his power to Jay before dying.
• Jay awakened as a Divinity Wielder, transformed into a demon, killed the priest, and escaped while declaring himself the Child of the Purgatory.

In 2670, Fang Yuan oversaw a fortified and prosperous Storm Hills as the demon calamity reshaped the continent and drew powerful outsiders toward the Kingdom of Not and Stan Duchy. New reports about Timo’s politically significant marriage and the weakened Death God Church’s search for a new headquarters left Fang Yuan suspecting that major upheaval was coming.

• As Divinity Wielders spread, the churches intensified their hunt for them, while ordinary people with Demonization Sickness gradually ceased to be persecuted.
• Fang Yuan patrolled Storm Hills and reviewed its strong harvest, fortified settlement, and population of about three thousand people and a standing army of three hundred.
• Fang Yuan considered how the demon calamity had sent nobles fleeing toward the less-affected fringes, leaving the Kingdom of Not vulnerable to outside control and renewed conflict over the Stan Duchy.
• Fang Yuan returned to Tanya, his pregnant wife, then directed Masai to prepare a gift for Timo’s wedding to the daughter of the Stan Duke.
• Fang Yuan received a report that the weakened Death God Church was considering moving its headquarters to the Kingdom of Not or the Stan Duchy.

Fang Yuan decided to attend the Stan Duchy duke’s daughter’s wedding while the Death God Church moved its headquarters to the capital, hoping to gain influence there. Meanwhile, Jay learned of the relocation and ordered Hal to disrupt the church’s plans, hinting at a scheme tied to Hess.

• Fang Yuan concluded that the Death God Church’s relocation could serve other factions’ interests and decided to go to the wedding without his pregnant wife.
• Fang Yuan reviewed his status and reflected on the limits of his power, the nature of Deities, and the growing number of Legendaries pursuing divinity.
• The Death God Church’s Pope arrived in the capital of Stan and planned to bargain with the Grand Duke at his daughter’s wedding.
• Hal confirmed the church’s arrival to Jay through a blood altar, and Jay ordered him to disrupt its plans.
• Jay vowed to expose Hess’s secret plan and promised to send more believers to Stan.

Fang Yuan accompanied Timo to Santa City for Timo’s wedding to Princess Mirilai, where Archbishop Daniel hinted at a coming upheaval. Meanwhile, Daniel plotted revenge, and the Secret Agency recruited Count Floren by warning him that Grand Duke Stan planned to purge his enemies at the wedding.

• Fang Yuan and Timo arrived in Santa City, where Timo worried about facing nobles angered by his engagement to Princess Mirilai.
• Archbishop Daniel visited the villa, announced that the Death God Church would work with the Stan Duchy, and said the Pope would officiate at the wedding.
• After leaving, Daniel recalled the castle raid and resolved to use the wedding upheaval to take revenge on Fang Yuan and others.
• A Secret Agency agent told Count Floren that Grand Duke Stan intended to eliminate hostile nobles at the wedding, including the Floren Lineage.
• Count Floren agreed to share information about the Calamity Knight’s advancement, explaining that Calamity Aura required absorbing undead and resentment.

On the day of Princess Mirilai’s wedding, Fang Yuan attended the celebration in Santa City and watched Jefa win the grand competition. As Timo began the wedding rites, the Death God Pope confronted Fang Yuan about his Calamity Knight legacy, while Daniel believed the Church had arranged to abandon him.

• Fang Yuan accompanied Timo and the Former Baroness to the celebration, where Grand Duke Stan hosted a competition for the wedding festivities.
• Fang Yuan bet on Jefa in the final duel, and Jefa defeated Will by breaking his neck.
• Grand Duke Stan named Jefa an Honorary Lord and Duchy Warrior, awarded him coins, and invited him to the wedding and court banquet.
• Grand Duke Stan began Timo and Mirilai’s wedding rites, presenting Mirilai as his bride to Timo.
• The Death God Pope questioned Fang Yuan about inheriting Glandon’s legacy and confirmed that the Calamity Knight’s advancement required the dead and their resentment.
• Daniel believed the Pope had negotiated with the Grand Duke to use Fang Yuan before putting him on trial.

At Timo and Mirilai’s wedding, the newlyweds were poisoned with Death God’s Kiss as the nobles launched a coup against Grand Duke Stan. The Death God Church sided with Stan, but the rebels revealed a Legendary fighter and Garrett waited for Stan to use his secret trump card.

• Fang Yuan watched the tense wedding as nobles and soldiers discreetly prepared for conflict.
• After Timo and Mirilai kissed, they collapsed from Death God’s Kiss, and Pope Garrett froze them in ice when his divine arts failed to cure them.
• The Water God’s Blessing Magic array sealed the noble district, and the leaders of the Floren, Messiah, and Lance Lineages admitted they had arranged the coup.
• Grand Duke Stan called on his loyal soldiers, while Garrett ordered the Death Knights to defend him under their True God’s oath.
• Count Floren revealed that the rebels had allied with Kingdom of Not and summoned the Legendary fighter Orysh the “Storm.”
• Garrett turned to Grand Duke Stan, expecting him to reveal the secret trump card he had prepared.

Fang Yuan killed Archbishop Daniel and several priests, then revealed that Rune had become a Legendary Calamity Knight and turned the battle in Grand Duke Stan’s favor. Count Floren’s forces faltered, but Floren prepared to call on another ally.

• Sulun confronted Orysh and used the Way of Zero-Sum to reflect his storm attacks as their forces clashed around them.
• Fang Yuan killed Daniel and several priests after they pressured him to defend the Grand Duke, then tried to escort the Baroness through the battlefield.
• Fang Yuan revealed Rune’s Legendary power and used Calamity Aura to strengthen the Grand Duke’s soldiers and weaken their enemies.
• Grand Duke Stan accepted Fang Yuan as an ally and urged his soldiers to attack, while Count Floren’s forces panicked at the arrival of another Legendary.
• Count Floren, furious that the Secret Order had not appeared, raised his head and prepared to rely on another ally.

The gods launched a massive assault on the Ninefold Hell, while Fang Yuan observed the invasion and a rebellion in the Main World. The chapter ended with Jefa killing Pope Garrett and offering the key to the Realm of Death God to Lord Jay.

• The gods' saints led more than a million soldiers into the Underworld to attack the Ninefold Hell, and Hess explained that they would have to fight through its first eight layers to reach Apophis.
• Hess secretly hoped to seize the Hell's source power for himself, while Fang Yuan sensed the invasion from the Stan Duchy.
• Fang Yuan watched the nobles' rebellion falter against three Legendaries, as Jefa slipped behind Pope Garrett while Garrett worried over turmoil in his divine kingdom.
• Jefa used a burst of false-god power to pierce Garrett's protective barrier and kill him with a poisoned, cursed dagger.
• Jefa offered the key to the Realm of Death God to Lord Jay, and a radiance enveloped the Pope's Golden Crown before disappearing.

Jay invaded Hess’s weakened divine realm and attacked the God of Death, while Hess’s forces were fighting in the Ninefold Hell. Hess fell, leaving the Saints in Poisonous Hell unsure whether to advance or retreat.

• After Jay assassinated Pope Garrett and stole his divine artifact, Fang Yuan realized Jay was using the opportunity to seize Hess’s Divine Position.
• Hess’s forces broke through into Poisonous Hell, but Hess sensed danger when he learned that a Child of the Purgatory had attacked his agent in the mortal world.
• Jay used Garrett’s golden crown to slip past the guards in Hess’s Peaceful Plains, then destroyed the crown to break into Hess’s pyramid.
• Jay confronted Hess in his true form and attacked him, igniting a battle inside the divine realm.
• Hess’s incarnation vanished in Poisonous Hell, tens of thousands of his Knights and petitioners turned to ash, and the Saints realized Hess had fallen.

Jay inherited Hess’s Divine Position and became the new Death God, but the collapse of Hess’s realm threatened the world. Fang Yuan used the crisis to force Ramon to intervene, draining the world’s power and casting the gods down into the mortal realm.

• Hess fell, extinguishing the power of his churches and causing his priests and Death God Knights to collapse.
• Jay announced that he would inherit Hess’s Divine Position and ascended as the new Death God, but he could not stabilize Hess’s realm.
• Fang Yuan used the realm’s collapse to make the Ninefold Hell expand, forcing the World Will and its avatar, Ramon, to emerge.
• Ramon descended and suppressed the upheaval, but the effort drained the Divine Realm and caused the Prime World, Divine Realm, and Realm of Death God to begin merging.
• The gods’ true bodies were cast down into the mortal world as disasters swept across it, and Fang Yuan welcomed the beginning of a new era of chaos.

After the gods’ descent plunged the Main World into chaos, a meteor storm devastated Santa City and killed Grand Duke Stan and Count Floren. Fang Yuan installed the comatose Princess Mirilai as Duchess of Stan with Timo as regent, then turned his attention to controlling the duchy and investigating the mysterious force behind the storm.

• Fang Yuan and the others emerged from the sealed arena as a meteor shower began striking Santa City.
• Fang Yuan protected the Baroness and carved out a safe zone while the storm destroyed much of the city.
• A meteor killed Grand Duke Stan and Count Floren, and Orysh withdrew with the surviving Storm Warriors after Sulun ended his involvement.
• Fang Yuan summoned the surviving nobles and secured their approval for Princess Mirilai to inherit the Grand Duchy, with Timo serving as regent while she remained comatose.
• Fang Yuan resolved to use the duchy to advance his plans and investigate the being possibly connected to the meteor storm.

Fang Yuan crushed Count Rod’s rebellion and searched for the fallen Goddess of Joy Shani after tracing a meteor strike to her crash site. Elsewhere, a priest of Earth Mother Mera discovered that refugee boy Jiang Ge possessed divinity and welcomed him under the Goddess’s protection.

• Fang Yuan defeated Count Rod’s forces with three thousand soldiers, killed Rod, and punished twenty-seven noble houses that had joined the rebellion.
• Fang Yuan seized the Death God Church’s books and learned that Shani’s uncontrolled bracelet had caused the Meteor Fire Rain.
• Fang Yuan followed the meteor’s traces to a mountain cave, where he found the frightened Shani hiding.
• A bishop of Earth Mother Mera detected divinity in refugee boy Jiang Ge and told him the Goddess’s oracle instructed her followers to treat people like him kindly.

The Deities changed their approach to the Child of the Purgatory after learning that Apophis planned to resurrect himself through the last surviving Child. Meanwhile, Fang Yuan captured the Goddess of Joy, Shanni, and sealed her after discovering her divided personalities and taking her artifact bracelet.

• The bishop told his aide that the Church would stop hunting the Child of the Purgatory and instead try to win them over by forming a Faith Guard Knights.
• Mera comforted Jiang Ge, blessed him, and reflected on the Deities' plan to guide the Child of the Purgatory away from Apophis's scheme.
• Fang Yuan captured Shanni in her cave and took her artifact bracelet.
• Shanni alternated between an innocent personality and a formidable one, revealing that separating them would divide their source and Divine Position.
• Fang Yuan knocked Shanni unconscious and layered seals over her.

Fang Yuan kept Goddess Shanni in his care while studying her Divine Position and using honeyed words to win over her innocent younger self. Months later, Villar arrived to take Shanni away, and Shanni warned her that Fang Yuan’s ambitions seemed greater than the Joy Divine Position before Villar suspected he was a Child of the Purgatory.

• Fang Yuan learned that Shanni had recently become a True God, that her older sister usually controlled their body, and that her younger sister had taken over after the older sister was gravely injured.
• Fang Yuan decided to study Shanni’s Divine Position and planned to hand her over to Villar after gaining what he could, while anticipating that the Church of Joy would come for her.
• Over the following months, Fang Yuan strengthened Grand Duchess Mirilai’s position, subdued the Stan Duchy’s nobles, and charmed Shanni’s younger sister into trusting him.
• Fang Yuan told Shanni she was free to leave, then noticed Villar’s arrival and let the Goddess of Harvest take her away.
• Villar restored Shanni’s older sister, who warned that Fang Yuan had greater ambitions and that she had sensed a fog of fate around him.
• Villar told Shanni that her church’s investigation showed Fang Yuan had risen from a penniless Freemen to a Legendary Knight in only a few years, leading her to suspect he was a Child of the Purgatory.

Shanni agreed to consider Rune as a candidate in the Deities’ plan to defeat Apophis, while Villar prepared to test him during an expedition in the Kingdom of Not. There, a baby named Heim was found after a battle, and his presence miraculously cured soldiers of Demonization Sickness.

• Villar told Shanni that the Deities wanted a powerful Child of the Purgatory to destroy Apophis’s will, and Shanni agreed that Rune could be observed as a candidate.
• Villar said an elite force would target a legendary Child of the Purgatory in the Kingdom of Not, securing the region as a base for her faction and assessing Rune in the process.
• A human army attacked demons emerging from a mine fissure and sealed the breach with magic.
• The soldiers found a baby boy among captives near the fissure, and the general named him Heim and decided to adopt him.
• A soldier noticed that his Demonization Sickness had vanished after he picked up Heim, and the surrounding troops discovered that their own symptoms were improving too.

Fang Yuan accepted Lady of Harvest and Shanni’s proposal to work with them, but demanded control of the secular Kingdom of Not in exchange for targeting a Legendary Child of the Purgatory. He sensed that the Monge World was preparing a backlash and resolved to act before its Children of Destiny could mature.

• Shanni confronted Fang Yuan with the revelation that he was a Child of the Purgatory, and Lady of Pleasure offered the goddesses’ help against Apophis.
• Fang Yuan pretended to accept their offer of support for his eventual ascension to godhood, while Shanni assigned him a Legendary Child of the Purgatory hiding in the Kingdom of Not.
• Fang Yuan demanded the Kingdom of Not’s secular rule, and Shanni admitted the arrangement could work because the goddesses wanted its faith rather than its mortal government.
• Fang Yuan sensed a new force gathering over the Kingdom of Not and concluded that the Monge World had begun preparing its response to his actions.
• Fang Yuan resolved to establish his plans before the world’s Children of Destiny could grow strong.