Chapter Summaries

Ian completed the Floating City’s Tenth Tier systems, including a Super Arcane Spark, upgraded Aether Cores, and armies of angels and Demons. He then activated a Signal Jammer that cut the Milky Way Galaxy off from the Universal Web while leaving it functional elsewhere.

• Morgana reported that the Floating City needed more Aether Core capacity and repairs to its Energy Conversion system, and Ian assigned her the work.
• Ian tested the navigation system with Rowena’s help, then traveled through worlds he had visited before returning to the Empire’s headquarters.
• Ian, Hermione, and Visha created a Super Arcane Spark by merging the Underworld and Elysium, and Ian tested its power by erasing a universe.
• Ian installed Reincarnation Pools for angels and Demons, then discovered that the Super Arcane Spark could absorb emotions to fuel the Law of Causality.
• Ian forged a second Aether Core and, with Aqua’s help, purified and upgraded the original core to handle Tenth Tier energy.
• Ian activated the Signal Jammer, severing the Milky Way Galaxy’s connection to the Universal Web; Guznader and others learned that the network had gone silent.

Seven Tenth-Tier gods struggled to breach the Milky Way’s shield and learned that the Arcane Empire had severed their control of the region’s Universal Web. Delilah proposed a solution to the barrier, while the gods concluded that the Empire had likely found an Ancient Wizard Race Primary Core Legacy.

• The seven gods bombarded the Milky Way’s purple shield, but Isambard explained that it could take thousands of years to exhaust the artifact’s energy.
• The gods debated possible interference from dragons and Guardians, and Ganar challenged Enwa over the Authority of Cruelty before Laifu warned him to obey their alliance’s rules.
• Isambard suggested finding an insider who could weaken or distract Guznader long enough for the gods to break through the shield.
• Delilah discovered that she had lost access to the portion of the Universal Web in the Milky Way, and the gods suspected the Arcane Empire was responsible.
• The gods inferred that the Arcane Empire had found a Primary Core Legacy of the Ancient Wizard Race and vowed to destroy it once they breached the shield.
• Delilah said she might have an excellent solution to the barrier.

Ian completed the Floating City’s costly optimization and learned the Empire had exhausted its resources, while Luna’s divination sent him to Thorpe Star to meet Huji Ironflame. He arrived as Huji’s battered mercenary squad defended an employer from the undead, and Huji recognized Ian Bones.

• Delilah’s group rejected using their races to fight Guznader and agreed that Isambard would spend decades rebuilding the Machinist Tribe and advancing its technology.
• Ian adopted Charmy as his daughter during dinner, and Amelia told him the Floating City upgrade had nearly collapsed the Empire’s economy and destroyed one of its resource-gathering cities.
• Amelia reported that Guznader’s attacks had slowed and warned Ian to delay announcing his return; she also relayed Luna’s prediction that a meeting on Thorpe Star could lead to the Dwarves joining the Empire.
• Ian spent time with Charmy and his family, then traveled to Thorpe Star and found Huji protecting an employer from the undead among the planet’s ruins.
• Ian teleported above Huji’s squad, and Huji recognized him as Ian Bones.

Ian rescued Huji and King Sazmin Ironhelm from an undead attack, revealing his overwhelming power and the Arcane Empire’s hidden strength. Sazmin explained that he had been lured to the planet by false intelligence about a Stellar Magic Core, and Ian guessed he wanted to use it to raise Chaos Vista to a higher tier.

• Huji recognized Ian as the Arcane Archon and asked why he had come to the planet.
• Ian destroyed the undead horde and the Seventh Tier Mummy with a wave of golden light, then identified the planet’s Mithril deposits as a strategic resource for the Empire.
• Ian revealed that his advisor’s divination had led him to King Sazmin Ironhelm, who had been traveling in secret.
• Sazmin learned that Ian had come to meet him and admitted that he had been lured into the undead attack by false intelligence about a Stellar Magic Core.
• Sazmin described the Dwarves’ role in forging weapons for allied races and how the worsening war had left the Ironhelm Kingdom increasingly desperate for protection.
• Ian explained the value of a Stellar Magic Core and guessed that Sazmin wanted to use it to raise Chaos Vista to a higher tier.

Ian visited Longbeard Star with Sazmin and examined Chaos Vista, revealing the sword’s origins and potential to become a divine weapon. Impressed by Ian’s vision for the Arcane Empire, Sazmin decided to make a choice about his kingdom’s future.

• Ian accepted Sazmin’s invitation to assess Chaos Vista and gave Huji Ironflame and the mercenaries magical gear and scrolls before traveling with Sazmin to Longbeard Star.
• Dwarves on Longbeard Star inspected Sazmin for mind control and possession, then confirmed his identity when he wielded Chaos Vista.
• At a feast, Ian identified Chaos Vista as an ancient Orichalcum sword whose accumulated Faith Power had granted it Divinity and a sword spirit.
• Ian said Chaos Vista could reach the Eighth Tier and might evolve into a False God if it gained more enchantments and Faith Power.
• Sazmin asked whether the Arcane Empire truly offered equal treatment and free magical education to every race, and Ian affirmed that this was his purpose for creating the Empire.
• After considering Ian’s answer, Sazmin declared that he had made his decision.

Sazmin formally submitted the Ironhelm Kingdom to Ian, who brought its star system under the Empire’s protection and began plans to enhance the Dwarves’ bloodline. Months later, the Empire opened advanced magical knowledge to all citizens, sparking widespread excitement.

• Sazmin offered the Ironhelm Kingdom’s submission to Ian, who accepted and promised to lead the Dwarves toward prosperity.
• Ian revealed that the Empire had already identified and secretly dealt with the traitor who endangered Sazmin.
• Ian and Sazmin discussed the Fusion, and Ian moved the Ironhelm Kingdom’s star system near the Empire’s border and integrated it into the Grand Arcane Shield.
• Ian organized a bloodline enhancement project for the Dwarves, with Pheobe set to oversee the research, and Sazmin agreed to cooperate.
• Months later, the Empire Arcane Library opened previously restricted advanced magical knowledge to all citizens, causing a frenzy across the Empire.

Chris Qiu pursued new paths to magical talent but failed aptitude tests for both Arcane Warlock and Druid, leaving him determined to follow his long-term plan to earn a Dragon Potion. On his way to work, his old friend Cruz contacted him with a possible way to help raise money.

• Chris asked friends to lend him Arcane Merit so he could buy a Third Tier Dragon Potion, but none agreed.
• Angela reminded Chris of his aptitude tests and upcoming loan appointment as he followed his daily routine.
• Marjorie Evans tested Chris's affinity for numerous energies and found it was low in all of them.
• Chris took the Druid aptitude test with Mr. Federico and discovered he had no talent for that path either.
• Chris resolved to keep saving toward the Dragon Potion and received a call from Cruz, who offered a possible way to help him raise money.

Chris Qiu received only 150 Arcane Merit points from the Central Arcane Bank, leaving him frustrated about how long he would need to wait to afford a Dragon Potion. After drinking Fire Source Liquor, he met his old friend Cruz, who asked what he thought of a proposal involving a race.

• Chris met Hassan at the Central Arcane Bank and learned the bank would lend him only 150 Arcane Merit points.
• Hassan explained the Merit System's shortcomings and described laws planned to help people in non-research professions earn merit.
• Chris realized the loan and temporary potion price cuts would still leave him waiting decades, then drank Fire Source Liquor despite Angela's warnings.
• Chris traveled to a café in the Japan Region to meet Cruz, his old friend who had vanished after the Arcane Empire was established.
• Cruz asked Chris what he thought of his proposal, and Chris asked him to explain the race.

Cruz persuaded Chris Qiu to attend an illegal underground Death Race on Rockbach by offering the chance to win one thousand Arcane Merit. After secretly traveling to the planet, Chris watched the crowd gather and saw the race’s brutal highlights, while his discussion with Cruz exposed their differences over imperial control and commercial freedom.

• Cruz told Chris about the Death Race and its Arcane Merit prize, and Chris agreed to attend despite his doubts about its legality.
• Chris met Cruz and a hooded man, let them use a Signal Jammer on his Identity Arcane Terminal, and was transported with the other participants to a spacecraft.
• Cruz and Chris traveled covertly to Rockbach and reached the packed stadium, where Chris saw footage of past races and grasped their lethal danger.
• Chris and Cruz argued over the Empire’s control of private businesses and whether imperial oversight was preferable to unchecked capitalism.
• The race host made a dazzling entrance as magical fireworks ignited the stadium crowd.

Chris watched Dom Toretto and Ryan O'Connell return to the Death Race, where O'Connell used a rival as a collision-powered stepping stone while the Death Loop eliminated four drivers. As the surviving racers headed toward the next obstacle, Chris became convinced that racing could offer him a future beyond the Arcanist path.

• Kramer introduced Dom Toretto and Ryan O'Connell as former brothers and rivals, and Dom accused Ryan of betraying his family and asked about his pregnant sister.
• Chris asked Cruz why talented underground racers avoided official sports, and Cruz explained their dislike of regulations and New Age sports divided by Arcanist tier.
• The Death Rally began, and Dom took the lead as the twelve cars entered the Death Loop.
• Ryan kept his speed below the required threshold and used a pursuing car's collisions to boost himself, causing that driver to miss an acceleration node and crash.
• Four drivers were eliminated in the Death Loop, while the survivors sped toward the Drift Abyss.
• Chris felt exhilarated by the race and resolved to pursue racing glory instead of becoming an Arcanist.

After watching O'Connell win a Death Race, Chris Qiu briefly considered abandoning his lifelong goal of becoming an Arcanist to pursue racing, but he resisted the sudden urge and sought psychological help. Doctor Shanice King discovered that an unknown entity had implanted a powerful suggestion in his soul, while two shadowy figures revealed that their plan targeting Chris had failed.

• After Cruz offered to introduce him to a racing coach, Chris decided racing could earn him the money to buy a Dragon Potion, but memories of his lifelong pursuit of magic made him question the choice.
• Chris contacted the National Mental Health Service Center and met with Doctor Shanice King, telling her about the sudden change in his ambitions and his participation in the illegal race.
• Doctor Jin scanned Chris in Soul Link mode and found a coercive mental suggestion, comparable in strength to a Fifth Tier Archmage's spell, intended to change his profession.
• Doctor Jin was astonished that Chris had broken free of the spell unaided and said she would report his unusual case, while assuring him the race organizers would face punishment.
• In a secretive demiplane, a kneeling servant told his master that their plan targeting Chris Qiu had failed, and the master angrily rebuked him.

After breaking free of Tartarus's psychic suggestion, Chris Qiu recovered with Doctor Jin and pursued a degree in Psychic Software Engineering, sacrificing his savings to advance his cultivation. Five years later, as he approached the end of his studies, the sun vanished and the world began to shake, leaving him staring at a terrifying dark sky.

• Tartarus told Hades that his mission to manipulate Chris Qiu had failed, and Hades ordered him to lie low while doubting his excuse that the Empire had secretly protected Chris.
• Chris finished a counseling session with Doctor Jin, decided to return to school, and enrolled in Arcane Online University to study Psychic Software Engineering.
• After failing the practical portion of his first major assessment, Chris learned he needed to reach at least First Tier, with Third Tier recommended, and spent his savings on cultivation resources.
• Chris endured five years of work, training, and study, then entered the final sprint of his six-year course.
• As Chris walked home, the world and its physical laws trembled, the sun disappeared, and he looked up at a sky turned black.

Chris survived the Cataclysm, helped rescue civilians, and learned that the god of death Guznader had devastated the Milky Way’s peak-tier civilizations, killing 2.7 billion people in the Arcane Empire. After the Empire’s resurrection effort restored only about a quarter of the victims, Chris received a mandatory terminal-upgrade order and a private follow-up call request from Doctor Jin.

• A collapsing building trapped Chris beneath rubble, but his Third Tier Battle Aura let him escape, and he rescued a woman before Imperial Arcanists and golems took over disaster relief.
• Chris returned to his apartment, found that its magically expanded rooms had vanished, and read emergency messages promising compensation and urging citizens to remain calm.
• Akana Mikasa reported that Guznader had attacked the Milky Way’s peak-tier civilizations, destroying the Interstellar Federation and Machinist Tribe and killing 2.7 billion Imperial citizens.
• Grand Archon Ian led a memorial silence, warned citizens to prepare for a brutal interstellar war, and promised to attempt resurrection with Taboo Resurrection Magic.
• The Empire announced that its resurrection ceremony had restored only 675 million victims, then ordered citizens to upgrade their terminals and promised to build apocalypse-grade shelters.
• Doctor Jin requested a private video call with Chris to check on his mental health after the Cataclysm.

After the Cataclysm, Chris recovered, received the title of Honorary Citizen for rescuing a trapped woman, and graduated before joining the Imperial Space Fleet as a military programmer. As he left for his new post, he grew wary of the spreading Universal Web, while Archon Ian secretly returned to the Empire after an interdimensional expedition.

• Doctor Jin told Chris that the Cataclysm had caused a severe mental-health crisis and that the government was considering erasing civilians' memories; she later confirmed that Chris was mentally stable.
• Chris watched a report expose corruption and terrorist sabotage of protective enchantments, then learned he would receive the title of Honorary Citizen and 1,000 Arcane Merit for his rescue during the disaster.
• Chris attended the honors ceremony with Empress Olivia, then graduated in Academy City and noticed the growing presence of undead creatures.
• Chris told Gerard he would join the military as a programmer for Imperial Space Fleet systems, while Gerard introduced him to the unregulated Universal Web, which Chris decided to investigate before using.
• Chris prepared for his new position, boarded a military warship for his posting, and spent ten years there as Archon Ian secretly returned to the Empire.

Chris learned that the Arcane Empire had made magic accessible to every citizen, then awakened as an Arcanist and discovered extraordinary willpower and a rare magical attribute. After receiving an Archmage bloodline and a device for entering a monster-filled alternate dimension to earn skill points, he hurried home to prepare for his first trial.

• Chris argued with Gerard about the Universal Web's collapse, the Arcane Empire's power, and whether ordinary citizens would be conscripted, while insisting clones would be used first.
• An announcement revealed that the Arcane Grand Library had updated its system to let every imperial citizen awaken and cast magic.
• Chris went to the talent-testing facility, learned he had a willpower value of 2, and awakened his mana, successfully casting Lumos for the first time.
• A personal Grimoire appeared for Chris, revealing his signature Haste Magic, which he recognized as Vector Manipulation Conversion.
• Chris received an Archmage bloodline through surgery and a wristwatch that would send him into a dangerous alternate dimension to kill monsters and earn skill points.
• Chris returned to his apartment with a survival guide, determined to prepare for the trial and pursue magical advancement.

Chris entered the KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World! dimension to train, rose to the peak of Third Tier, and later began studying how to advance to Fourth Tier. After developing a proposal to use willpower to influence magic, he received an invitation from the Imperial Family to discuss its potentially far-reaching implications.

• Chris prepared for the trial, chose a Second Tier hunting area, and killed Boxing Kangaroos to gain levels and increase his magic reserves.
• Chris learned to control his magic longsword at a distance, devised a defensive force-field spell, and improved through a month of hunting until he reached Level 60 and Third Tier.
• Chris returned to the real world, recognized that he had reached a bottleneck, and postponed entry into more dangerous dimensions until he could afford a potion.
• Chris enrolled at school to study Magic Core formation and considered how to overcome the difficult requirements for advancing to Fourth Tier.
• Chris researched whether willpower could influence magic, submitted his proposal to the official Idea Suggestion Box, and received an invitation from the Imperial Family to a private discussion.

Ian managed the Arcane Empire’s expansion and security while learning that Chris’s research could transform the Arcane Path. He explained Chris’s importance as a Fate Node and offered him the resources to develop a system for cultivating willpower, leaving Chris overwhelmed but ready to continue his studies and research.

• Ian reviewed the Empire’s resettlement, magical training, and security preparations, while Grindelwald reported that the Ghost Squad had eliminated the Underworld’s members and proposed creating a separate intelligence and assassination branch.
• Morgana told Ian that Chris’s proposal explained why Chris had become a Fate Node, so Ian invited him to dinner.
• Ian explained how Chris’s research could help combat-oriented Arcanists advance and asked him to create a universal system for cultivating willpower.
• Ian revealed the forces targeting Chris and explained that Cruz had contacted him because a terrorist organization suspected he was the Empire’s Fate Node.
• Ian promised Chris every resource needed for his research, including a Fifth Tier potion and potentially a Sixth Tier potion, and Chris left determined to return to school and continue his studies.

Ian coordinated the Empire’s expansion and met with the queen of the Star-Skin Tribe as she prepared to surrender. Meanwhile, Guznader ordered his lich servant to recruit Abyssal Demons by conquering a layer, escalating the conflict with the Arcane Empire.

• Ian told Olivia that Chris appeared trustworthy but agreed to keep him under secret surveillance, then learned the Star-Skin Tribe’s queen wanted to meet him.
• Ian heard that Hermione had led the Empire’s first cross-plane expedition and that Visha was studying Life Magic to restore undead to life.
• Ian traveled to the Sirius System to meet the queen of the Star-Skin Tribe.
• A lich servant reported that the Arcane Empire had uprooted its spies, strengthened its military, and was close to securing the Star-Skin Tribe’s surrender.
• Guznader ordered the lich to use his clone to conquer an Abyssal layer and recruit a marquis, despite the danger of drawing other gods and Abyssal Princes into the conflict.

Ian met Queen Katula to negotiate the Star-Skin Tribe’s surrender and learned that her people had fled their homeland after Moon Demons invaded the Brilliant Plane. After studying the Planar War Guide’s methods for surviving planar invasions, Ian realized Hermione’s expeditionary force might be in danger and ordered an urgent investigation.

• Ian gave Queen Katula a potion that healed her fatal hidden injuries, then negotiated the Star-Skin Tribe’s allegiance with her delegation.
• Ian and Katula agreed to pause negotiations over the queen’s royal authority and arranged to resume them the next day.
• Katula privately revealed that the Star-Skin Tribe came from the Brilliant Plane, where Moon Demons had driven them into exile.
• Katula gave Ian the Planar War Guide, and he studied its rules about Planar Wills and the methods invaders used to evade their suppression.
• Ian recognized that Hermione’s expeditionary force could be at risk and ordered his wives to investigate its status immediately.

Ian learned the Cosmic Faith Plane’s history and outlined the eras leading up to the present, resolving to establish an Arcane Era and eventually build a Twelfth-Tier civilization. After negotiations with Queen Katula concluded, Hermione returned from a failed expedition, and Ian proposed trying to negotiate peacefully with the plane’s Will.

• Queen Katula shared the Star-Skin Tribe’s historical records, and Ian learned how the High Elves rose to power before the High Elf Rebellion defeated them.
• Ian outlined the Genesis, Ancient Gods, Wizard, High Elf, and Faith eras, then voiced his ambition to establish an Arcane Era and reach the Twelfth Tier.
• Queen Katula heard Ian’s remarks and began imagining a future beyond reclaiming her people’s former plane.
• Ian and Queen Katula concluded negotiations, set a date to announce their merger, and Ian gave her access to The Library and the online school.
• Hermione returned from her expedition and reported that the plane’s Cosmic Will had suppressed the Floating City, banished its cannon attack, and destroyed the Golem Legion.
• After reviewing the Planar War Guide, Ian proposed communicating with the Planar Will and attempting peaceful negotiations before resorting to invasion.