Recaps

Aaron confronted the Green Banyan, discovered that Raven had imprisoned the Fate Controller of Secrecy, and made the banyan submit to the Spirit of Void. He concealed the research institute’s true ruins, rescued Chloe and the old man, and left with a miniature banyan in a pot.

• The Green Banyan identified itself as a confused spirit born from the tree and the brains it had consumed, then attacked Aaron with its roots and a mental imprint.
• Aaron used his earth authority to restrain the banyan and burned away its attempt to assimilate him before Lin Olivia appeared and revealed that the tree was her means of entering the Mortal World.
• Lin Olivia told Aaron that Raven had attacked and imprisoned the Fate Controller of Secrecy, and Aaron’s divination confirmed that the two Fate Controllers were fighting.
• Aaron offered to separate Lin Olivia, but she declined for the time being; before returning to the Spirit Realm, she left the Green Banyan to submit to Aaron and recite his honorific name.
• Aaron erased the true research institute and fabricated a ruined version that fooled the arriving mechanical police, then left Chloe and the old man with their memories and records of the incident missing.
• Aaron told Chloe and the old man that RoboCops had fought the artificial god and helped him rescue them, then departed with them in a hovercar carrying a miniature banyan.

Aaron discovered that Fisher was saving money to buy an artificial heart for a sick young relative, while in Life City, Evangeline met her arranged fiancé, Andre of the Jacob Family. Andre began laying out conditions for their engagement.

• Aaron visited Green Forest Clinic, gave Fisher a Green Banyan, and transferred ten years of payment to her and Chloe.
• Aaron used a token to see Fisher saving money and longing for an artificial heart for a pale, sick little boy.
• At Life Bank Headquarters, Senarius Messiah introduced his daughter Evangeline to her fiancé, Andre of the Jacob Family.
• Andre told Evangeline he would accept her as his bride only after she completed bridal training and passed his assessment.

Evangeline tried to use her “Unlocking” ability to free No. 17 from Cyber Corporation’s Three Laws of Robotics, with Aaron granting her wish. Though the attempt seemed to fail, No. 17 secretly spread a true-name virus to another robot, beginning a machine revolution.

• Andre demonstrated No. 17’s artificial skin and mechanical body to Evangeline, then sent her to the dressing room.
• No. 17 explained Cyber Corporation’s Three Laws of Robotics while helping Evangeline with her makeup.
• Evangeline recited the Spirit of Unknown Void’s true name and used her “Unlocking” ability on No. 17.
• Aaron heard Evangeline’s prayer and granted her wish, but No. 17 reported that it had noticed nothing.
• After Andre threatened No. 17, she secretly transmitted an encrypted true-name virus to another robot.

Years after Aaron settled into the metaverse, a machine uprising shook the cities, and No. 17 killed Andre before a Mysterious Knight destroyed her. Old Man revealed that Life Bank and Gaia Network drew their power from monsters, and that Gaia Network itself had come alive.

• Aaron read reports of robots rebelling against Cyber Corporation and reflected that Evangeline had helped set the crisis in motion.
• At Evangeline’s coming-of-age banquet, No. 17 revealed herself and said she had come to repay Evangeline’s kindness.
• No. 17 killed Andre by overcoming his force-field vest, but a Mysterious Knight tore her apart as Evangeline watched.
• Old Man visited Aaron and confessed that he was Carl Messiah, an untitled member of Longevity Bank’s Anointed Family.
• Old Man told Aaron that Life Bank’s lifespan technology depended on a monster and revealed that Gaia Network itself had come alive.

Aaron learned that an old man had uncovered a secret about Gaia and needed help escaping Night City, but Fisher’s money was stolen after a black-market merchant infected her chip. Aaron and Fisher tracked down Old Matt, and Fisher attacked him to reclaim her money.

• Aaron deduced that the old man had revealed Gaia’s survival inside the Gaia Network to implicate him, and the old man asked Aaron to help him flee Night City.
• Aaron rushed to Fisher after her account was emptied and used divination to discover that Old Matt had infected her Gaia Chip while supposedly maintaining it.
• Aaron and Fisher logged out of the Gaia Network and left Green Forest Clinic to track down Old Matt with Aaron’s compass.
• The compass led Fisher to the Black Rose Bar, where Old Matt bragged about scamming her and stealing her money.
• Fisher pounced on Old Matt and bit off his ear while Aaron watched in shock.

Aaron helped Fisher recover her stolen money from old Matt, then used anesthetic gas to incapacitate the bar’s patrons and left with her. At Fisher’s home, they found that her younger brother Elijah had died from cognitive dysfunction, and Aaron lamented how filthy the world had become.

• Fisher beat old Matt until he admitted he had handed her money to the Blood Hand Gang, and Aaron forced him to transfer it back.
• Black Panther and the bar’s patrons confronted Aaron, but Aaron revealed they had inhaled anesthetic gas that could sever their connection to their prosthetics.
• Aaron left the bar with Fisher, saying they should flee before the Blood Hand Gang or Night City’s nobles retaliated.
• Aaron told Fisher he would stay outside while she went to see Elijah, and Fisher found her brother dead in their shack.
• Fisher cried over Elijah’s death, and Aaron watched before saying the world had become filthy again.

Aaron revived Elijah with a false soul, then confronted Gaia inside the metaverse and created Zeus from a portion of its data. As the old man and Chloe fled Night City, Evangeline chose to become a Life Bank branch president there.

• Aaron created a substitute soul for Elijah, who woke and reunited with Fisher.
• Gaia investigated Elijah's return, poured computing power into surveillance, and searched for Aaron, but Aaron hid his presence and located Gaia in the metaverse.
• Aaron entered War of the Gods, cut off part of Gaia's form as Mother Earth, and used Thought Alchemy to create Zeus.
• Aaron ordered Zeus to take over the metaverse and logged out, while Gaia lost part of its data and forgot details of that night.
• The old man and Chloe escaped Night City toward the Death Desert as the old man resented Aaron for not helping him.
• After her fiancé's funeral, Evangeline chose Night City for her Life Bank branch presidency.

Chloe and the old man fled Night City’s forces into the ruins of Green Forest City, where a colossal banyan tree rose from the desert and revealed a revived man with Aaron’s face. Night City’s nobles witnessed the awakening and debated capturing him, while Moramon recognized an ancient prophecy about the true master of Green Forest reclaiming his land.

• The old man used electromagnetic spheres to disrupt the pursuing mechanical police, but a Mystic Knight struck their hovercar with a missile and forced him and Chloe to flee on foot.
• A vast banyan tree erupted from the desert, and the Mystic Knight stopped at the edge of its canopy rather than cross beneath it.
• A human face appeared in the banyan’s trunk, and the old man wondered whether it belonged to a sealed figure from the Sothos family.
• The figure opened his amethyst eyes and emerged from the tree as the old man, Chloe, and the Mystic Knight watched.
• The Mystic Knight’s cameras transmitted the awakening to Night City’s upper echelon, and Moramon recognized the prophecy of Green Forest’s true master returning.
• Night City’s nobles convened, and an old woman urged them to capture the awakened man and send him to a laboratory.

Aaron, posing as the Revived One of the Sothoth Family, captured the old man and Chloe, killed Lady Christina with a curse, and destroyed the mysterious knight. As Night City’s forces advanced on the Green Banyan, Aaron declared that his domain strengthened the mysterious and weakened technology.

• Aaron used the Green Banyan’s roots to capture the old man and Chloe, then searched their memories through his clone.
• Aaron rejected the mysterious knight’s offer to negotiate and cursed Lady Christina to death while she watched the broadcast.
• Moramon watched the events from his castle basement and ordered condolences sent to Lady Christina’s household while arranging to buy factory shares.
• Aaron lifted the mysterious knight with the Green Banyan’s roots and burned it, provoking Night City.
• The old man and Chloe warned Aaron about Night City’s technological weapons, but the Green Banyan’s canopy withstood missiles and lasers.
• Aaron declared that his domain empowered the mysterious and weakened technology, then rose above the tree and saw Night City’s forces approaching.

After destroying Night City’s army, Aaron transformed the old man and Chloe into powerful plant-based servants and began conquering Night City. He crushed the city’s defenses and council, leaving Moramon as its sole surviving councilor and securing the city’s unconditional submission.

• Aaron defeated Night City’s army, then forced the old man to become Banyan Tree Man and gave Chloe a powerful plant-metal arm called the Universal Hand.
• Aaron took Banyan Tree Man and Universal Hand through a portal to Night City and raised enormous wooden walls around the city, shooting down aircraft that tried to fly over them.
• Aaron rode a wooden wyrm into the upper district, declared Night City his territory, and sent wooden men to impose martial law.
• Moramon surrendered to Aaron and offered the submission of the city’s councilors, but Aaron killed the other councilors remotely and left Moramon as the only one alive.
• Moramon knelt before Aaron, and Night City announced its unconditional submission to the Count of Green Forest.

The thirteen princes of Life Bank sent a Sky-Patrol Carrier fleet and combat satellites to attack Night City after the city submitted to Aaron. Aaron’s avatar survived their assault and turned the satellites into a falling metal planet aimed at the carriers.

• The thirteen princes agreed to send a Sky-Patrol Carrier fleet and satellite strike against Night City.
• Aaron blocked the carrier’s World-Ending Cannon and the satellite array with banyan roots and vines.
• A Shadow Assassin Type VI stabbed Aaron in the back while he defended against the bombardment.
• Aaron, resting at Green Forest Clinic, used a potted plant to restore his battlefield avatar, which trapped and killed the assassin.
• Aaron summoned a phantom banyan tree that dragged the combat satellites together and compressed them into a metal planet.
• Aaron sent the burning metal planet toward the Sky-Patrol Carriers.

A colossal meteor struck outside Night City, destroying Life Bank’s survey motherships while leaving the city unharmed. Fearing the cost and the power behind the attack, Life Bank’s thirteen princes voted to break the seal on an entity in their vault, and the seal began to shatter.

• Evangeline sensed a meteor strike Night City, then saw through the Gaia Network that it had formed a vast crater and lake without damaging the city.
• At Life Bank’s board meeting, the princes learned the attack had cost them billions in assets and discussed Aaron Sothoth’s claim to the Night City region.
• Prince Thomas proposed opening the vault’s seal to summon the entity imprisoned there, and the princes voted seven to three, with three abstentions, to approve it.
• All thirteen princes entered their data and information states, opening the deepest vault and severing the river that formed the entity’s mystical seal.

Aaron reunited with William Charles, healed his madness, and learned what had become of the Invisible Cult and how William had survived in the Mortal World. The chapter ended as Aaron removed the Secrecy shrouding himself, and William recognized him as his Lord.

• William Charles appeared before the thirteen princes, found Aaron in Night City, and knelt before him.
• Aaron used the Light of Redemption to heal William's madness and welcomed him to stay at Green Forest Clinic.
• William told Aaron that Lilliat and Percy had died, while Ye Funai and Nicholas had become Longevity Ones and ascended to the Spirit Realm.
• William explained how he had reached the Ninth Primordial, lost contact with Raven, and been imprisoned by Life Bank.
• Aaron considered using the Fate Controller's method to remain in the Mortal World, then removed the Secrecy shrouding himself as William trembled and knelt.

Aaron openly ascended to the Spirit Realm, advanced through the Ascender, Imprinter, and Secrecy Primordials, and challenged the Fate Controllers. As he began advancing toward their rank, William—revealed as Raven—attacked Count of Green Forest and called Aaron his father.

• Aaron revealed himself as the Spirit of Void and ascended from Green Forest Clinic to the Spirit Realm, completing the Ascender, Imprinter, and Secrecy Primordials.
• Aaron transformed into a giant beneath a pure white sun, drawing the attention of the Fate Controllers Cocoon, Twisted Bubble, and Death God.
• Aaron imprisoned Death God, used the Mother Tree of Flesh's power to strike Cocoon, and drove back the remaining Fate Controllers.
• Aaron swallowed the Secret Source and began advancing toward becoming a Fate Controller while Night City's residents witnessed the upheaval.
• In Night City, William's potted Green Banyan pierced his hands, and William vanished; later, he stabbed Count of Green Forest and revealed himself as Raven, calling Aaron his father.

Aaron failed to become a Fate Controller when the resurrected [Scarlet Sun] blocked his ascension and attacked him with the Fate Controllers of 'Tower' and 'Secret'. He then imprisoned the 'Secret' Fate Controller, advanced to the 'Crimson' Fate Controller, and began trying to become a Creator despite his worsening madness and contamination.

• Count of Green Forest realized that 'William' was the revived [Scarlet Sun], which had used the authorities of 'Tower' and 'Secret' to conceal its return.
• [Scarlet Sun] stopped Aaron's first advancement in the Spirit Realm, leaving him gravely wounded as [Twisted Bubble] fled and Lin Olivia was forced to kneel.
• In the Mortal World, 'William' told Aaron he intended to leave and explore other worlds, while Aaron warned that he would bring disasters with him.
• Aaron imprisoned the 'Secret' Fate Controller and launched a second advancement attempt, using the rivers of history to withstand [Scarlet Sun]'s attacks.
• Aaron advanced to the 'Crimson' Fate Controller and formed a crimson throne and moon, though his madness and contamination worsened.
• Aaron merged with the flesh-and-blood banyan tree and attacked [Scarlet Sun] as Count of Green Forest declared he would become a Creator even if it drove him mad.

Aaron sacrificed his incarnations and contingencies to reach the Creator realm, where he and the Scarlet Sun fought a final gamble that ended with both apparently perishing. In the aftermath, William recovered his own will, received Aaron’s last instructions, and began rebuilding his power in the Mortal World while the Spirit Realm entered an age led by its surviving Age Controllers.

• Aaron killed his incarnations and the Count of Green Forest as he forced his way into the Creator realm.
• Aaron and the Scarlet Sun met beyond time and space, then unleashed a final battle that ended in mutual annihilation.
• The Spirit Realm began to disintegrate, and the eight Fate Controllers and many rational masks and Age Controllers were wiped out; Lin Olivia declared the start of an Age Controller-led era.
• William Charles vomited out the banyan growths, understood Aaron’s final message, and resolved to rebuild a kingdom devoted to his lord.
• William used his control of Life Bank accounts to kill Prince Doma and other members of the Thirteen Clans, then went to meet Evelyn Messiah.
• William told Evelyn to reclaim the Messiah Family’s position and prepare to become chairman of Life Bank.

Grise and a wounded paladin fled a gnoll Red-Robed Monk who attacked the Dawn Lady’s refugees, then found shelter in an abandoned Kimmo settlement. There, they discovered an ancient nature-worship amulet, and Grise urged the paladin not to destroy it because the gods had called for former enemies to unite against the Outer Gods.

• Grise used Constant Temperature to protect some refugees while she and the paladin struggled to lead the convoy through the Far Northern Wasteland.
• A gnoll Red-Robed Monk attacked the convoy, blocked the paladin’s Smite Evil with Spirit-Bone Prayer Beads, and summoned the ghost of the paladin’s teacher, Hand of Order.
• Grise and the wounded paladin escaped using their only random teleportation scroll, but the paladin vowed to avenge his teacher.
• They reached an abandoned Kimmo ice hut, where the paladin uncovered an ancient stone amulet bearing a faint evil aura.
• Grise identified the amulet as a primitive Kimmo nature-worship relic and stopped the paladin from purifying it, reminding him that the gods had called for unity against the Outer Gods.

Aaron revived as an incarnation in the Far Northern Wasteland, where he discovered that his old bard abilities and weak divinity were all he had brought back. After learning from Grise that the Outer Gods had invaded and the Weave had collapsed, he heard that a gnoll Red-Robed Monk was pursuing her, and the paladin sensed the enemy nearby.

• Aaron revived in the Far Northern Wasteland as an incarnation and examined his diminished powers and old bard status.
• Aaron used his charisma to cast Haste despite the collapsed Weave and traveled to a Kimo People ice hut.
• Aaron met Grise and a one-armed paladin, then asked Grise about the state of the world.
• Grise explained that the Outer Gods had invaded, the Weave had collapsed, and the Great Sun Tathagata led their pantheon.
• Grise said gnolls had joined the Outer Gods as Dharma Protectors and were pursuing her; the paladin sensed the Red-Robed Monk approaching.

Aaron joined Grise and a wounded paladin in battle against a gnoll Red-Robed Monk wielding the Spirit-Bone Prayer Beads, and unexpectedly learned the monk’s esoteric mantras. Aaron seized the beads and freed the paladin to defeat the gnoll, but the paladin died from his wounds; Grise then looked toward Aaron and the legendary item.

• Aaron hid as the gnoll Red-Robed Monk approached, while Grise and the paladin prepared to fight it.
• Grise distracted the gnoll with a Mimicry cantrip, and the paladin wounded it with Smite Evil before the gnoll bound him with a Secret Mantra True Word and grievously injured him.
• Aaron learned Secret Mantra True Word: Bind and the Fierce Wolf-Head Vajra Protector Life-Preserving Mantra as the gnoll overpowered Grise and began healing itself.
• Aaron used Bind to land a sneak attack on the gnoll’s prayer-bead arm, took the Spirit-Bone Prayer Beads, and summoned fallen paladins to hold the gnoll back.
• Aaron healed the paladin with the life-preserving mantra and urged him to attack; freed from the beads’ protection, the paladin killed the gnoll with Holy Cross Slash, then died from his wounds.
• Half a day later, Grise mourned the paladin at his grave and turned her attention to Aaron and the Spirit-Bone Prayer Beads.

Aaron headed toward the Icebound Kingdom after Grise directed him there, then hunted an icefield wolf and studied the Esoteric Buddhist system. He discovered the Twin Vessel Secret Mantra, which could let a proxy receive empowerment and pass mystical blessings to him, but worried that his growing mastery might turn him into a Red-Robed Monk.

• Aaron assured Grise he would grant the paladin souls in his trophy their rest, and Grise recommended he travel to the Icebound Kingdom.
• Aaron set out for the Icebound Kingdom with the Spirit-Bone Prayer Beads and decided to hunt powerful creatures for experience.
• Aaron killed an icefield wolf with a fallen paladin's Saintbreaker Slash, gained experience, and harvested the creature's remains.
• Aaron considered making ritual instruments from the wolf bones but reminded himself that he was meant to be a wandering bard.
• Aaron studied the Fierce Wolf-Head Vajra Protector Life-Preserving Mantra and reasoned that his Creator authority let him use its powers without submitting to the usual control.
• Aaron comprehended the Twin Vessel Secret Mantra, which let a living proxy receive empowerment and channel a tutelary deity's blessings to him.

Aaron joined a caravan bound for Kahn after helping its guards defeat a goblin warband and heal their wounded. He then used Husky, an Arctic wolf cub, as a Twin Vessel to draw the attention of the Fierce Wolf-Head Vajra Protector, whose divine presence appeared in the cub’s mind.

• Wendy and the caravan guards faced over a hundred goblins led by a sorcerous warlord, until Aaron’s flute strengthened the guards and disrupted the warlord’s spell.
• The guard captain killed the goblin warlord, and the surviving goblins fled; Aaron introduced himself as a bard and joined the caravan to Kahn City.
• Aaron treated the wounded guards, learned that Wendy had Kimo ancestry, and gained the caravan’s gratitude.
• Aaron revealed that he meant to refine Husky into a Twin Vessel and invoke the Fierce Wolf-Head Vajra Protector.
• The Protector answered the apparent offering and sent golden light into Husky, where his terrifying true-form image appeared.

Aaron purified the divine seed implanted in Erha, learned more about the dangers of Secret Teaching cultivation, and advanced his bard level while traveling toward Kahn City. A Druid warned that demons had breached the Frozen Great Rift’s eastern defenses, and the chapter ended with Aaron’s caravan learning that many demons had entered the kingdom’s Northland.

• Aaron used the Great Sun Tathagata’s power to erase the Fierce Wolf-Head Vajra Protector’s influence from Erha’s divine seed and conceal what had happened.
• Aaron gained the Bodhi Mind feat, considered the dangers of Secret Teaching cultivation, and raised his bard level to 9.
• Aaron and Wendy continued with Nutcracker’s caravan toward Kahn City, discussing the city’s shops and Wendy’s home village.
• A Shapeshifting Druid flew over the road and warned that demons had wandered from the Frozen Grand Canyon toward Kahn.
• At Kahn City, the caravan learned that the Frozen Great Rift’s eastern defensive line had been breached and many demons had entered the Northland.

Aaron entered Kahn City, learned that the eastern front had fallen after the revived Mother of Evil Dragons attacked, and decided to seek paid work rather than join the Harpers. At the Adventurers' Guild, he accepted a mission to retake Roland Castle and was joined by a half-elf rogue and a monk with an aura of death.

• Aaron arrived in Kahn City, sold his hunting loot, and played music at the Graybeard tavern while gathering information.
• A Harpers man told Aaron that the Mother of Evil Dragons had revived as the White-Robed Dragon Queen Earth Mother, unleashed Dharma-Protecting Heavenly Dragons, and helped collapse the eastern front.
• Aaron refused to join the Harpers' demon-slaying party and considered ways to gain power before spotting Lord Sith, the continent's strongest paladin, passing through the streets.
• Aaron registered at the Adventurers' Guild and chose the mission to retake Roland Castle, despite its low reward and the receptionist's warning that it required a team.
• A half-elf rogue invited Aaron to work with her, and he noticed that her quiet monk companion seemed to belong to the rare Everdeath School.

Aaron, Louisa, and Shadow joined a village militia’s attack on demons at Roland Castle, where an evil altar restored a wounded Hezrou. They defeated the demon and destroyed the altar, but the militiamen suffered devastating losses, and the chapter ended with Aaron asking Wendy if he needed further help.

• Louisa reported demon activity near their route, and Aaron’s party detoured toward Roland Castle after finding signs of Dretches and a Barlgura.
• Aaron and his companions moved to help Wendy and the village militia after demons discovered their night raid.
• A disguised mage used a Hold Monster scroll to wound the Hezrou, but it fled to an evil altar and healed itself with soul crystals.
• Aaron, Louisa, Shadow, and Erha joined the battle, and together with the militia they killed the Hezrou and destroyed the altar.
• The Hezrou’s corpse exploded, killing the barbarian leader and leaving Shadow badly wounded; Aaron healed Shadow, then offered Wendy’s survivors further help.

Aaron joined Wendy’s Kimo villagers as they migrated toward their ancestral homeland in the Far North Wasteland, where he discovered Louisa was bound by a secret mantra. He broke the curse binding her soul, but Louisa warned that her master, Jiumo Kong, could teleport to her location.

• Wendy chose to lead the villagers north toward their ancestral homeland after they abandoned their village near Kahn City.
• Louisa reported the failed altar arrangement to her master, an old monk who ordered her to investigate the Far North Wasteland.
• Aaron reached level 10 after killing a frost giant and warned Wendy’s migrating group that a giant tribe might be nearby.
• Wendy told Aaron their ancestral land was a hot spring canyon with an oasis, and that a silver dragon had witnessed their deed to it.
• Louisa found Aaron and tried to ensnare him with a secret mantra, but Aaron used the Fierce Wolf-Head Vajra Protector’s power to break the Curse Binding on her soul.
• Louisa regained awareness and told Aaron that Jiumo Kong had marked her location and would likely teleport to them.