Chapter Summaries

Mydei repeatedly died to ask Jiang Lianqiu how to defeat the immortal Nicadori, while Stelle, March 7th, and Phainon fought the Titan. Herta used March 7th’s time power and the Chrono Anchor to restore Nicadori’s divinity, leaving the Titan whole again.

• Mydei revived and repeatedly defended Phainon from Nicadori’s attacks as Stelle and March 7th bombarded the Titan, slowing its regeneration.
• Mydei died to consult Jiang Lianqiu, learned Nicadori had to regain its divinity and reason, and returned before asking how to restore them.
• Mydei went back to Jiang Lianqiu to ask about restoring Nicadori’s divinity, then died again after forgetting to ask both questions at once.
• Herta contacted the group through the Chrono Anchor and used March 7th’s time power to reveal the past Soul-Forging District.
• Golden streams of Nicadori’s divinity flowed from the statues into the Titan, rapidly healing and enlarging its body.

Nicadori regained his reason and fought Mydei and the others as a mad Strife Titan, while Jiang Lianqiu awakened Polyxeus in Styxia. After Polyxeus emerged from the egg, the group found Mydei had died again, and Jiang Lianqiu said they were heading to the underworld too.

• Nicadori's separated reason returned to his body, restoring him as the Black Tide-tainted Strife Titan, and Mydei charged at him.
• Cipher, Xiadie, and Jiang Lianqiu reached the Tower of Twin Moons, where Xiadie recalled fragments of her past and asked Jiang Lianqiu to awaken Polyxeus.
• Jiang Lianqiu contacted the giant dragon in the sea of death, and the River Styx surged through Styxia before the dead tree absorbed the waters and revealed a giant egg.
• Polyxeus hatched from the egg, and Xiadie learned that Polyxeus was male rather than the little sister she had expected.
• Mydei appeared, said Phainon had used him as a meat shield, and left sorrowfully as Jiang Lianqiu told Cipher they were also going to the underworld.

Jiang Lianqiu brought Xiadie and Cipher to the underworld, where Xiadie reunited with Polyxena and reforged Amphoreus’s Order of Death with Herta and Screwllum’s help. The restored rules lifted Xiadie’s curse, and she could finally touch others, though her first unexpected hug frightened Cipher.

• Jiang Lianqiu took Xiadie and Cipher to the underworld, where they met Polyxena among the sea of flowers.
• Xiadie told Polyxena what had happened in Amphoreus and promised she would not be trapped in the underworld after restoring death.
• Xiadie embraced Polyxena, uniting death and undeath as Herta and Screwllum took control of Amphoreus’s death rules and repaired the system.
• Screwllum explained that Amphoreus would become a real world with its own internal rules, and Herta and Screwllum warned Silver Wolf against changing them recklessly.
• Xiadie discovered that her curse had disappeared and hugged Cipher, who panicked and fled into Jiang Lianqiu’s arms.

After Xiadie passed Cenatus’s trial and regained the ability to touch living things, Jiang Lianqiu returned to Okhema with her and Cipher. Cyrene contacted Jiang Lianqiu through a memory space to reveal that Aedes Elysiae had been destroyed and ask him to help March inherit the Core Flame of Remembrance; the chapter ended with Jiang Lianqiu waking beside Xiadie and calling her beautiful.

• Polyxeus stayed at the River Styx to guide the stranded souls while Xiadie returned to Okhema with Jiang Lianqiu and Cipher.
• Jiang Lianqiu learned that Mydei had died blocking Strife’s final attack on the Dawn Machine, while Phainon temporarily received the recovered Core Flame of Strife.
• Xiadie embraced Tribbie in the bathhouse, and Aglaea welcomed the group back and told Jiang Lianqiu to rest.
• Cyrene contacted Jiang Lianqiu as Mimi, explained that Laigus had destroyed Aedes Elysiae, and asked him to have March inherit the Core Flame of Remembrance.
• Jiang Lianqiu woke from a deep sleep beside Xiadie and told her that she was beautiful.

Jiang Lianqiu discovered that his mental exhaustion came from a connection to Amphoreus's land, which he had been helping resist the Black Tide and the Iron Tomb since awakening Polyxeus. March 7th joined him at the bath, but noticed that he still looked tired.

• Feng Jin examined Jiang Lianqiu and found that her stethoscope could not detect any sounds inside his body; Xiadie said the others had returned and described Mydei and Phainon passing out in an overheated bath.
• Jiang Lianqiu urged Xiadie to wait before resuming her plans, and warned that Laigus might trigger a large Black Tide counterattack.
• Jiang Lianqiu sensed grief coming from Amphoreus's land and realized his consciousness had joined the land in resisting the Black Tide and the Iron Tomb after he awakened Polyxeus.
• March 7th surprised Jiang Lianqiu, and he teased and kissed her before carrying her into the bath.
• March 7th noticed Jiang Lianqiu's furrowed brow and asked whether he was truly tired.

Jiang Lianqiu and March 7th went to Januspolis to claim Ouronis’s Core Flame, with Cyrene explaining that the Time Titan could finally rest and be reborn. As March 7th began the transfer, Fuli’s projection appeared and her outfit began changing into Changye Yue.

• Unable to sleep, Jiang Lianqiu told March 7th about his discovery and suggested they take Ouronis’s Core Flame that night.
• Jiang Lianqiu and March 7th left Okhema and traveled to Januspolis, where they saw the Black Tide advancing through the abandoned city.
• At the abyss, March 7th tried speaking with Ouronis but could not understand his whispers, so Cyrene appeared to translate and explain his long suffering.
• Jiang Lianqiu explained that Ouronis could now cross the River Styx and be reborn, and Cyrene began transferring the Core Flame through March 7th.
• Fuli’s projection appeared beyond Amphoreus’s heavens, and March 7th’s clothes turned blood red as Jiang Lianqiu recognized Changye Yue.

March 7th reclaimed her memories as Changye Yue, helped defeat Ouronis, and briefly took control of her body before changing back. The next day, Aglaea’s group entered the Genesis Vortex Heart while Mydei prepared to accept the Core Flame of Strife and Phainon prepared to face the Flame Reaver.

• March 7th absorbed the power of Remembrance with Cyrene, transformed into Changye Yue, and told Ouronis to sleep eternally.
• Changye Yue explained to Jiang Lianqiu that she was March 7th’s past and complete self, and that she could appear only briefly when March unleashed Remembrance’s power.
• Changye Yue used her memories of March’s experiences to take the initiative with Jiang Lianqiu, but changed back into March 7th before their encounter ended.
• March 7th woke to find herself back in control, complained to Jiang Lianqiu, and asked him to keep the incident secret from Stelle.
• The next day, Aglaea led her people into the Genesis Vortex Heart to return the Core Flame of Strife, while Mydei volunteered to undergo its trial and Phainon prepared to face the Flame Reaver.

Jiang Lianqiu drove off the Senate’s Purifiers while Cipher spread rumors of Klyutdra’s return, and Xiadie arrived after the Core Flames were ready. A memory then showed Klyutdra’s defeat at the Sea of the World’s Boundary and the moment she glimpsed that her world was false.

• A Senate envoy tried to take Jiang Lianqiu away, but Jiang incapacitated the Purifiers and warned the Senate not to interfere.
• Jiang Lianqiu sent the envoy back and hinted that Klyutdra might still be alive, frightening the Senate man into leaving with his unconscious companions.
• Cipher told Jiang Lianqiu she had spread rumors that Klyutdra and the Sword Banner Duke would return to Okhema.
• Xiadie arrived and told Jiang Lianqiu and Cipher that everything was ready at the Genesis Vortex Heart.
• A memory recounted Klyutdra’s rise, the start of the Journey of the Fire Chasers, and her disappearance after a crushing defeat by the Black Tide.
• On the battlefield, Klyutdra found the Sword Banner Duke impaled by the sea, realized the world was false, and saw the world pause, shatter, and reassemble.

Jiang Lianqiu awakened Klyutdra and Hysilens from the River Styx’s repeating memory of their final campaign and explained how they had died. He offered to bring them to present-day Amphoreus, then proposed breaking the deadlock with tactics outside the game itself.

• Klyutdra realized that she and Hysilens were trapped in a repeating memory after death, and Jiang Lianqiu told them they had relived the final campaign tens of thousands of times.
• Jiang Lianqiu explained that Klyutdra had become a Law Demigod to change the game, but the River Styx’s broken rules of death had trapped their souls and memories.
• Hysilens recalled experiencing many different endings, and Jiang Lianqiu said those endings had all truly happened.
• Klyutdra teased Jiang Lianqiu and argued with him before Hysilens asked where they were and what he intended to do.
• Jiang Lianqiu paused Klyutdra’s final memory and said he would take them to present-day Amphoreus, explaining that returning to the past had already failed more than thirty million times.
• Klyutdra challenged Jiang Lianqiu to break Amphoreus’s deadlock, and he proposed abandoning the game’s rules and attacking the opponent outside the board.

Jiang Lianqiu brought Kritdralla and Hysilens back from Styxia to Okhema, where they found the city under attack by the Black Tide. Stelle and March 7th unleashed a massive rocket barrage that vaporized the approaching army.

• Jiang Lianqiu told Kritdralla and Hysilens that more than a thousand years had passed and brought them to Okhema.
• Kritdralla learned that Aglaea governed Okhema and that the Senate was rebelling, then urged Jiang Lianqiu to take her back to the city.
• Jiang Lianqiu, Kritdralla, and Hysilens arrived near Okhema and saw the city under siege by the Black Tide.
• Aglaea and the Suspended Peak People prepared Okhema's defenders while Stelle and March 7th positioned eighty automated rocket launchers.
• Stelle gave the launch signal, and the launchers fired hundreds of thousands of rockets that devastated the Black Tide outside Okhema.

Jiang Lianqiu’s rocket barrage devastated the Black Tide outside Okhema, but the Flame Reaver ambushed the launch positions as the weapons cooled. Mydei intercepted him and began fighting, while Phainon failed to stop them and was struck by both.

• Kritdralla watched the rockets destroy the Black Tide and declared that Amphoreus could one day create weapons like them, while Hysilens was shaken by the spectacle.
• Jiang Lianqiu explained that the rockets were weapons from beyond the heavens and that their brief barrage ended when they overheated.
• The Flame Reaver dove toward the cooling rocket launchers, but Mydei intercepted him and called him the other Savior.
• The Flame Reaver wondered how the current Eternal Recurrence had changed and resolved to stop the world's rebirth before attacking Mydei.
• Mydei fought the Flame Reaver despite being stabbed, and Phainon joined them in an attempt to make them stop.
• Mydei punched Phainon in the head as the Flame Reaver kicked him in the lower abdomen.

Mydei attacked the Flame Reaver before Phainon revealed that they knew about Amphoreus and the Flame Reaver’s millions of Eternal Recurrences. Aglaea, Xiadie, and Tribbie helped convince him that this cycle could change, while in Okhema, Kenis faced the return of Caesar Klydella and tried to secure allies before the citizens’ assembly.

• Mydei beat Phainon and confronted the Flame Reaver, blaming him for Mydei’s death in a previous cycle.
• Phainon explained that they knew the truth of Amphoreus and the Flame Reaver’s more than thirty million recurrences, then urged him to trust their plan to end the cycle.
• Aglaea arrived with Xiadie and Tribbie, and Xiadie showed the Flame Reaver that she had passed the trial of death and could now live freely.
• The Flame Reaver began to believe that heroes beyond the prophecy could change Amphoreus, and his Blade fell to the ground.
• Kenis learned that Stelle demanded an additional 11.4514 billion to help the Senate approach her and worried over Caesar Klydella’s return and bid to reclaim power.

As Kritdralla addressed the Citizens' Assembly to reclaim power, Jiang Lianqiu returned to find Hysilens bathing and discovered she had been influencing the vote. He joined her in the bath and used the power of Abundance on her painfully transformed legs, leaving her overwhelmed by the sensation.

• Kenis learned that his people planned to challenge Caesar's identity and prevent Kritdralla from winning the vote.
• Kritdralla addressed the Citizens' Assembly while Jiang Lianqiu watched briefly, then left.
• Jiang Lianqiu found Hysilens bathing in his private bath palace, and she invited him to stay.
• Hysilens admitted she had used water to pressure people into voting for Kritdralla, while Jiang Lianqiu revealed he had made arrangements of his own.
• Jiang Lianqiu examined Hysilens's legs and used the power of Abundance to treat the pain caused by her transformation.

Jiang Lianqiu healed Hysilens’s legs, revealing that she sought pain to feel alive and found pleasure in both inflicting and enduring it. Meanwhile, Kritdralla consolidated her rule over Okhema, arrested corrupt senators, and decided to postpone Aglaea’s proposed reforms until the Black Tide was gone and Amphoreus reconnected with the world beyond the skies.

• Hysilens discovered that her legs no longer hurt after Jiang Lianqiu treated her, and she said the warmth in her body made her feel alive.
• Hysilens broke a glass in her hand to test whether Jiang Lianqiu’s Abundance could heal her, then admitted that pain and others’ suffering gave her pleasure.
• Kritdralla took control of Okhema after the Chrysos Heirs won support from its citizens, then began reclaiming authority from the Senate.
• Leandros arrested Orion and other senators, presenting evidence that they had secretly produced and trained Purifiers.
• Kritdralla reviewed the knowledge Aglaea had learned beyond the skies and agreed that the Black Tide’s continued threat meant the new policies could not yet be implemented.

Jiang Lianqiu and Feng Jin traveled to the Eye of Twilight to retrieve Aegle’s Sky Core Flame, while Herta helped them access the celestial system. After learning the truth about her ancestor, Feng Jin let go of the burden of heroic ancestry and affirmed her resolve to act as a human being.

• Aglaea told Kritdralla that Anaxa had claimed the Core Flame of Reason, Jiang Lianqiu would seek the Earth Core Flame, and Feng Jin and Phainon would pursue the Sky and World-Bearing Core Flames.
• Feng Jin used the Ancestors’ blessings to summon a rainbow bridge, and she and Jiang Lianqiu ascended to the Eye of Twilight while their companions stayed in Okhema.
• Jiang Lianqiu summoned Herta through a Herta Doll to take over the Sky permissions and activate the celestial mural.
• Jiang Lianqiu revealed that Seneos’s legend concealed a different history, in which Feng Jin’s ancestor had begged the Sun-Thunder Knight for mercy.
• Feng Jin said that learning she descended from an ordinary person freed her from the burden of heroic ancestry, and the celestial mural lit up.

Jiang Lianqiu and Herta defeated the Sky Titan, allowing Feng Jin to absorb its Core Flame, but the Black Tide corrupted the fallen Titan and restored it as an eight-headed dragon. Laigus revealed that using enough power to defeat it could destroy Amphoreus’s calculated world, leaving Jiang Lianqiu to face the Titan alone as he sent Feng Jin back to Okhema.

• Herta trapped Seneos’s mark with her doll, and Jiang Lianqiu pulled the Sky Titan through the celestial mural by its golden chain.
• Jiang Lianqiu and Herta attacked the wyvern, shattered its abdominal eye, and defeated it; Feng Jin absorbed the Sky Titan’s Core Flame and gained command over the world’s winds and weather.
• The Eye of Twilight shook as Black Tide began consuming the fallen Titan, and Laigus appeared to urge Jiang Lianqiu to leave Amphoreus.
• Jiang Lianqiu rejected Laigus’s claim that Amphoreus was merely a data world and attacked him, while Laigus warned that defeating the Titan with overwhelming power would collapse the Scepter’s calculation cycle and let him restart it.
• The Black Tide restored the Sky Titan as an eight-headed dragon, and Laigus disappeared after explaining Jiang Lianqiu’s dilemma.
• Jiang Lianqiu told Feng Jin he would send her back to Okhema and handle the Titan alone, while Feng Jin worried about his safety.

Jiang Lianqiu fought the Black Tide-infected Sky Titan while Feng Jin returned to Ohema to enter the Genesis Vortex Heart and master the sky’s authority. As the battle intensified, the Sky Titan’s attacks sent Jiang Lianqiu deep beneath the earth, while the Yun Mo Mystic Phoenix joined the fight above.

• Jiang Lianqiu sent Feng Jin away on a Yun Mo Mystic Phoenix and rammed the Sky Titan through the Eye of Twilight barrier to stop it from pursuing her.
• Kritdralla, Stelle, March 7th, Hysilens, and the others saw a blazing object and heard explosions as Feng Jin returned to the courtyard.
• Feng Jin asked Kritdralla and Aglaea to send her into the Genesis Vortex Heart, explaining that Laigus had infected the Sky Titan with the Black Tide and that Jiang Lianqiu was fighting it.
• The Sky Titan battered Jiang Lianqiu into a mountain and flooded it with Black Tide dragon breath, while Jiang Lianqiu summoned a colossal golden sword that struck the Titan.
• The Yun Mo Mystic Phoenix seized the Sky Titan and fought it across a lava lake as Jiang Lianqiu fell through the rock layers into a mantle-like space.

Jiang Lianqiu accepted the Earth Core Flame and awakened as the new God of Earth, driving the Black Tide from Amphoreus. As the land and sea recovered, the Chrysos Heirs witnessed the change and Tribbie sought an explanation through prayer.

• Jiang Lianqiu absorbed the Earth Core Flame and felt the Earth Titan Georia's pain and its long effort to protect Amphoreus from the Black Tide.
• Laigus realized Jiang Lianqiu had taken the earth's foundational authority, while Herta and Screwllum confirmed that their scepter had suppressed Laigus's authority and helped the takeover succeed.
• Jiang Lianqiu awakened as the God of Earth and spread golden light that dissolved the Black Tide beneath Amphoreus, weakening the corrupted Sky Titan.
• Mydei and Phainon felt the earth's heartbeat from Ohema City's walls and saw the blackened wilderness regain its healthy color and vegetation.
• The Chrysos Heirs watched rain fall as the Black Tide receded and the seas cleared; Hysilens sensed the ocean rejoicing, and Tribbie, Tirisippios, and Ning prayed for divine guidance.

Jiang Lianqiu healed Amphoreus and freed the earth and sky from the Black Tide, allowing Seneos to pass on and Feng Jin to receive the sky's Core Flame. Feng Jin's new bond with the earth left her overwhelmed, and Jiang Lianqiu stayed with her while she tried to calm down.

• Tribbie, Trianne, and Ning realized that Little Qiu had awakened as the Earth Titan as the land around Okhema bloomed and the great canyons healed.
• Jiang Lianqiu found the Sky Titan's remains transformed into a living island and watched Seneos's spirit fade peacefully into the sunset.
• Feng Jin arrived and told Jiang Lianqiu that the sky trial had ended when the earth was healed, freeing her from the sky's pain and granting her its authority.
• Feng Jin's emotions filled the sky with auroras and pink bubbles, so Jiang Lianqiu kissed her to calm the sky and carried her in his arms.
• Jiang Lianqiu suspected that Feng Jin's intense attachment came from the bond between sky and earth and wondered whether Hysilens might react similarly.

Jiang Lianqiu returned to Okhema with Feng Jin after restoring Amphoreus’s land, and the city celebrated the end of the Black Tide threat by naming him co-emperor. During the festivities, Phainon spoke with the Flame Reaver, who asked when he would accept the Core Flame and told him not to feel sad for him.

• Jiang Lianqiu told the Chrysos Heirs that the healed land would block the Black Tide and that Phainon still needed to accept the Core Flame and break the firewall.
• Kritdralla declared Jiang Lianqiu co-emperor and shared her authority with him, while he accepted the title but refused to help with administration.
• Okhema celebrated with feasts and festivities as Phainon walked through the city and watched Baterus and Anaxa cause mischief.
• Phainon joined the Flame Reaver, shared honey brew with him, and listened as he described the unfamiliar hope he saw in the city.
• The Flame Reaver asked when Phainon would accept the Core Flame, then told him not to feel sad for him.