Chapter Summaries

Ian used his experiments to study the Speed Force while the team pursued a new speedster, Dark Flash, whom he had created. After Barry exposed Ian’s experiments and confronted him, Ian revealed his goal of creating the Speed Force and sealed the powers of Barry, Wally, Caitlin, and Sisko.

• Ian identified the Time Wraiths as guardians of the Speed Force and decided to use test subjects to gather data while keeping Barry involved.
• Ian gave Barry a suit designed to redirect the energy from his running into greater speed, then spent the day observing the team.
• The team investigated a desperate new speedster who robbed banks, but Dark Flash escaped Barry by using clones and other abilities.
• Over two weeks, Ian gathered data from Barry’s encounters with Dark Flash, whom he had created for his experiments.
• Barry confronted Ian after learning from the Speed Force about Ian’s experiments on Wally in a parallel reality, and Ian admitted he wanted to create and reshape the Speed Force.
• Ian slowed time, sealed Barry and Wally’s connections to the Speed Force, and also disabled Caitlin and Sisko’s powers.

Ian coerced Barry and Wally into helping with his Speed Force experiment by manipulating the team’s lives and finances, then used a curse tied to Wally to keep the Speed Force from interfering. After Barry tried sending a Time Remnant for help, Ian destroyed Earth and restored it as a warning, leaving the team terrified and Barry under his control.

• Ian threatened to ruin the team’s lives and frame Barry as Dark Flash unless they cooperated with his research.
• Iris, Joe, and Sisko confirmed that records and witnesses supported Ian’s fabricated story about Barry’s firing, hospital stay, and debts.
• Barry agreed to cooperate, and Ian connected him and Wally to instruments to collect data for his experiment.
• Ian created a curse bound to Wally that stopped the Speed Force from removing his tracking marks, allowing the tests to continue for a month.
• Ian discovered that Barry had sent a Time Remnant to seek help across the Multiverse, but Rick Sanchez’s technology had sealed off the timeline.
• Ian transported the team into space, destroyed Earth, restored it with a clock’s reversed time, and warned Barry not to try the stunt again.

After Ian's experiments exposed the danger of his power, Barry and a hidden Time Remnant assembled a team to stop him. Ian destroyed the assembled heroes, extracted the speedsters' Soul Flames, and prepared to challenge the Speed Force's consciousness.

• Ralph quit the team after learning that Ian could destroy the world and reverse time, and the others failed to find a way to stop Ian.
• Ian subjected Barry and Wally to repeated tests, and by the second week Wally was removed from the research because his Speed Force connection was too weak.
• Barry revealed that the team had blocked Ian's ability to read their thoughts, while Sisko opened portals for allies led by Oliver Queen, Kara Danvers, and Jay Garrick to arrive in Speed Force Armor.
• Ian used divination to discover that a hidden Time Remnant had assembled the team, then blocked their attacks and killed nearly everyone with the Law of Destruction.
• Ian extracted the remaining speedsters' Soul Flames and planned to force the Speed Force's consciousness into a battle of wills with him.

Ian reached Level 9 willpower after confronting the Speed Force, then prepared to leave the world after altering Earth’s memories and human DNA and eliminating Harrison Wells. He and Morgana acquired the secrets of Green Lantern rings, and Ian created a ring that gave him Tenth Tier power before setting out to say goodbye to Diana.

• Ian recovered from his confrontation with the Speed Force and discovered his willpower had reached Level 9.
• Ian erased memories of supernatural events, altered human DNA across Earths connected to Team Flash, and erased Harrison Wells to prevent him from developing Omniversal Travel Technology.
• Ian and Morgana sought magical knowledge, then captured a Green Lantern ring and found they needed the Guardians’ core secrets to reproduce it.
• Ian released a weaponized Obscurus to draw most of the Green Lantern Corps away, then infiltrated their headquarters and uncovered the ring’s secrets.
• Ian created his own Green Lantern ring, gaining Tenth Tier power, and finished his studies after his soul recovered.
• Ian prepared to leave the world after saying goodbye to Diana.

Ian used Felix Felicis to locate and obtain the Anti-Life Equation from billionaire Bates, then visited Diana in her timeline. He joined the Justice League’s meeting about Darkseid after offering to help with Apokolips’ technology.

• Ian and Morgana failed to locate the Anti-Life Equation through divination and a curse, so Morgana used Felix Felicis to guide them toward Diana’s timeline.
• Ian found Bates and extracted the Anti-Life Equation from his mind, then successfully read it and discussed its effects with Morgana.
• Ian traveled to Diana’s world, where Batman and the Justice League reacted warily to his arrival, and he explained that he had used extreme methods while researching the Speed Force.
• Diana welcomed Ian and invited him to wait until the League finished its meeting about Darkseid.
• Ian offered to help the Justice League with Apokolips’ technology, and most of the team agreed to let him join their meeting.

Ian revealed that he already possessed the Anti-Life Equation and told the Justice League it was in billionaire Bates’s mind, then clashed with Batman over his contingency plans. After learning that Darkseid’s invasion would begin in three days, Ian gave Diana a device that could move the battle into the Mirror Dimension.

• Ian explained the Anti-Life Equation to the Justice League and revealed that it was in the mind of billionaire Bates, who knew how to use it.
• Batman demanded to know Ian’s intentions, and Ian criticized Batman’s contingency plans and accused him of letting his parents’ deaths define him.
• Ian left the meeting, and the Justice League decided to capture Bates before preparing for Darkseid’s invasion.
• Diana visited Ian in New York and asked when the invasion would happen, and Ian said it would begin in three days.
• Ian gave Diana a device that would transport Darkseid and his army into the Mirror Dimension so the League could fight without endangering Earth.

Ian stole a sample of Darkseid’s Omega Effect during the Justice League’s battle, then reunited with Diana before leaving her world. He warned her that a multiversal war was coming and departed for the Fate/Type-Moon Universe.

• Ian planned to use Time Remnants of the Floating City to reach a temporary Eleventh Tier and steal the Omega Effect from Darkseid’s higher dimension.
• Three days later, Ian watched the Justice League battle Darkseid while carrying out his theft; he escaped with a sample, though its space-time power proved less useful than he had hoped.
• Ian met Diana, who explained how she had become an ambassador of peace, joined the Justice League, and found purpose in helping people.
• Ian and Diana spent several days talking and sparring before he told her Bruce could make her happy and warned her about Talia al Ghul and Damian.
• Ian warned Diana that a war of unprecedented scale would soon engulf the Multiverse, then left for the Fate/Type-Moon Universe.

Ian sent a projection into the Holy Grail War as Archer, summoned by Rin Tohsaka, and planned to acquire Ea, Enkidu’s chains, and Primordial Runes. He offered to improve Rin’s Magic Circuits, then warned her that the corrupted Holy Grail would twist any wish into a malicious outcome.

• Morgana told Ian that his spy had successfully begun infiltrating Samsara Hall.
• Ian sent his projection into the world and appeared before Rin Tohsaka as her Archer-class Servant.
• Ian explained that he wanted Gilgamesh’s Ea, Enkidu’s chains, and the world’s Primordial Runes.
• After seeing Ian’s exceptional magical parameters and skills, Rin asked whether he could use magecraft.
• Ian proposed manipulating Rin’s soul to improve her Magic Circuits, and she threatened him with a Command Spell until he explained the Grail’s corruption.
• Ian told Rin that the Holy Grail had been contaminated since the Fourth Holy Grail War and would twist any wish into a malicious outcome.

Ian told Tohsaka that the Holy Grail had been corrupted by the Einzbern Family and revealed that he was the legendary Arcane Emperor. Tohsaka accepted his offer to modify her Magic Circuits, while Ian planned to investigate the truth behind the legend attached to his name.

• Ian explained that Angra Mainyu had corrupted the Holy Grail through the Einzbern Family’s contract, but withheld other details until Tohsaka could hear them calmly.
• Tohsaka asked how Ian knew about the previous war, and he said he had learned it through divination.
• Ian revealed that his name was Ian Bones, and Tohsaka recognized him as the Arcane Emperor from historical records describing his empire and its destruction by the gods.
• Tohsaka asked Ian about his empire, Netheril, and Arcane Runes, and he confirmed Netheril existed and promised to teach her the runes after the war.
• Tohsaka agreed to trust Ian to modify her Magic Circuits.

Ian transformed Tohsaka’s Magic Circuits, giving her a dramatic increase in power, then tested her abilities and discussed their priorities in the Holy Grail War. The chapter left off as Tohsaka asked why Caster was such a great threat.

• Ian redrew the summoning circle and used it to give Tohsaka new Magic Circuits, putting her through half an hour of agony.
• Tohsaka discovered she had 108 Magic Circuits, plus twelve more added to her nervous system, and tested her new power against Ian.
• Ian exposed Tohsaka’s poor control of magical energy by interrupting her spells throughout their five-minute battle.
• Ian told Tohsaka they should target Lancer or Caster, explaining that he wanted Lancer’s Primordial Rune knowledge and hoped to meet his teacher, Scathach.
• Tohsaka asked Ian why Caster was such a great threat.

Ian warned Tohsaka that Caster and Souichirou Kuzuki planned to drain the students’ life force, then joined her at Shirou’s house, where he fought Lancer. Lancer was recalled before the battle concluded, and Ian left with knowledge of the eighteen Primordial Runes, though he suspected the true runes were older and more powerful.

• Ian told Tohsaka about Caster’s plan to drain the students and said Souichirou Kuzuki was helping her.
• Tohsaka and Ian headed toward Shirou’s house, where they found Shirou, Saber, and Lancer fighting.
• Ian criticized Shirou’s self-destructive hero complex and explained that Shirou had been using magic dangerously without understanding how to activate his Magic Circuits.
• Ian attacked Lancer with magic missiles and invisible explosive orbs, while Lancer used Primordial Runes to counter the traps.
• Lancer was recalled by his Master, and Ian retained knowledge of Lancer’s eighteen Primordial Runes while deciding to investigate whether a more ancient form existed.

Ian confronted Arthur, the consciousness possessing Saber, and learned that Merlin warned him to advance quickly before the Holy Grail War drew him in. After Tohsaka agreed to let Ian teach Shirou the basics of Spiritronizing Saber, the group headed to the church to meet Kirei Kotomine while Ian’s avatar focused on creating the Speed Force.

• Ian and Saber recognized each other, and Arthur appeared through her to criticize Ian and argue with him about their personalities.
• Ian challenged Arthur’s judgment of him and described Arthur’s struggle with the consequences of war before Merlin intervened and sent Arthur away.
• Merlin warned Ian that he would be drawn into the war once he reached the Twelfth Tier, and time resumed with Saber asking Ian how he knew her.
• Tohsaka explained the Holy Grail War to Shirou and asked Ian to teach him how to Spiritronize Saber; Ian agreed to implant the knowledge after their visit to the church, warning Shirou would suffer a twelve-hour headache.
• Tohsaka, Shirou, Saber, and Ian set out to meet Kirei Kotomine, while Ian’s other self resumed researching how to create the Speed Force and upgrade Morgana’s core processor.

Ian joined Tohsaka, Shirou, and Saber as they encountered Illyasviel and Berserker on the way home, then helped Saber survive the fight while revealing more of his power. The group returned home with Shirou in pain, and Saber kept watching Ian.

• Ian accompanied Tohsaka, Shirou, and Saber to the church, where Kirei explained the Holy Grail War to Shirou and Gilgamesh discussed his resentment toward the Arcane Emperor.
• Illyasviel von Einzbern confronted the group with Berserker, and Ian told Saber to hold him off while Tohsaka dealt with Illyasviel.
• Ian enhanced Saber and used magic to teach Shirou the basics, while his magic missiles created openings for Saber to attack Berserker.
• Saber sacrificed her shoulder to strike Berserker with Excalibur, and Ian fired a cannon-like weapon from a Void rift, but Berserker and Illyasviel survived the explosion and withdrew.
• The group took the injured Shirou home, where Tohsaka questioned Ian about his hidden abilities and Saber continued staring at him.

Saber recognized Ian as the Arcane Emperor and asked whether he shared her wish to use the Holy Grail. Ian warned her that the Grail was corrupted and could not grant her wish, then left with Tohsaka after Shirou recovered, still considering his plans for this world.

• Saber recognized Ian as the Arcane Emperor and revealed that her former master had often spoken of him.
• Ian told Saber that the Holy Grail could not grant her wish, and she summoned Excalibur to force him to help her.
• Shirou woke, and Tohsaka confirmed that the Holy Grail had been corrupted since the last war.
• Tohsaka declared that she and Shirou were enemies in the war, while Shirou protested that he did not want to fight her.
• Ian left with Tohsaka, reflected on Merlin, and reviewed the benefits he had gained in this world.

Ian discovered that Reality Marble could let Arcanists create Magic Domains without relying on external artifacts. After he revealed Sakura Matou was Tohsaka Rin’s biological sister, Rin attacked Shinji and brought Sakura home to learn what the Matou family had done to her.

• Ian realized Reality Marble could turn projection magecraft into a real domain, making Magic Domains attainable for Arcanists through training and prana.
• On the way to school, Ian told Rin that Sakura was her biological younger sister and had suffered abuse from Shinji and the Matou family.
• Rin attacked Shinji in class, while Ian restrained Shirou and prevented Shinji from dying; Sakura eventually called for Rin to stop.
• Ian repaired the classroom and erased the witnesses’ memories, then left with Rin and Sakura as Shirou followed them.
• At home, Rin asked Sakura to explain the Matou family’s treatment of her, and Ian reassured Sakura that he could deal with Zouken and the worms in her body.

Ian helped Sakura remove the Crest Worm and confront Zouken, while Tohsaka supported her. The sisters killed Zouken, and Sakura broke down in tears as Tohsaka comforted her.

• Ian explained how Zouken used Crest Worms to drain Sakura's life energy, and Tohsaka agreed to go after him.
• Ian removed the worm from Sakura and replenished her life energy by taking it from Zouken.
• Ian left Shirou to watch the unconscious Shinji, then teleported with Sakura and Tohsaka to Zouken.
• Zouken split into thousands of worms to escape, but Ian sealed the area, and Tohsaka and Sakura killed them until only Zouken remained.
• Ian exposed Zouken's plea for mercy as a lie, and Sakura destroyed him with a projection spell.
• Sakura collapsed sobbing, and Tohsaka embraced her as Ian reflected on the regret he had finally relieved.

Ian and the others confronted the consequences of Caster’s attack and went to Ryuudou Temple to stop her barrier. They met Medea, who recognized Ian from his past, and left Saber to face Assassin while the rest continued inside.

• Ian returned with Tohsaka, Sakura, and Shirou, learned that someone had tried to release Shinji, and had Shirou repair the damaged residence.
• Sakura begged Tohsaka to spare Shinji, so Tohsaka castrated him and knocked him unconscious.
• Ian explained that Caster was draining the children at school and building a barrier at Ryuudou Temple, while Shinji’s Command Spells had mysteriously vanished.
• Ian brought Tohsaka, Shirou, and Saber to Ryuudou Temple, leaving Sakura behind under a protective barrier.
• Caster revealed herself as Medea, recognized Ian as her former king, and recalled that they had kissed before he rejected a relationship with her.
• At the temple gate, Ian identified Caster’s summoned Assassin and assigned Saber to fight him while the others continued onward.

Ian defeated Medea in the temple, then used Rule Breaker to sever his contract with Tohsaka and free himself from her Command Spells. Gilgamesh threatened to kill Ian as Tohsaka demanded that he keep his promise to help her.

• Shirou faced Kuzuki while Ian gave him a protective golden aura, then Ian and Tohsaka went deeper into the temple as Rider blocked their way.
• Ian battled Medea, countering her spatial magecraft and defeating her with golden beams and physical projectiles until she dropped Rule Breaker.
• Gilgamesh interrupted Ian as he moved to take Rule Breaker and revealed that the dagger could sever Ian's Master-Servant Contract with Tohsaka.
• Ian admitted his plan and stabbed himself with Rule Breaker, causing Tohsaka's Command Spells to disappear.
• Ian promised to keep helping Tohsaka and teach her magic, while Gilgamesh opened golden rifts filled with weapons and prepared to attack.

Ian defeated Saber and then confronted Gilgamesh, seeking the Holy Grail to gain freedom from Akasha’s restrictions. After capturing Gilgamesh and sealing Ea and the Chains of Heaven, Ian took his eyes as a gift for Luna.

• Ian urged Tohsaka to stop hesitating about Saber, and they arranged a friendly match at Shirou’s house.
• Ian defeated Saber with Archer’s attacks and a cannon from the Void, and Saber dispersed after saying goodbye to Shirou.
• Ian and Tohsaka infiltrated the Einzbern Family and watched Gilgamesh defeat Berserker while trying to extract the Holy Grail from Illya.
• Ian rescued Illya, left her with Tohsaka, and challenged Gilgamesh inside his Netheril Reality Marble.
• Ian trapped Gilgamesh with a cursed chain, sealed Ea and the Chains of Heaven, and gouged out Gilgamesh’s eyes for Luna.

Ian defeated Gilgamesh, freed Illya from the corrupted Holy Grail, and gained a physical body before helping Tohsaka strengthen her magic. After studying Ea and the Chains of Heaven, he concluded that Akasha had brought him to this world to create the Sixth Magic and prepare for a coming war.

• Ian brought Tohsaka and Illya to his Floating City, removed the corrupted Holy Grail from Illya, and rebuilt her as a healthy ordinary girl.
• Ian purified the Holy Grail and used its power to break free of his Servant limitations and obtain a physical body.
• Ian took Illya to live with Shirou, then promised to teach Tohsaka magic and used her mansion's basement as a research laboratory.
• Tohsaka reported the Holy Grail War's end to the Clock Tower and returned with the Tohsaka family recognized as one of the world's most powerful mage families.
• Ian trained Tohsaka for three months and researched Ea and the Chains of Heaven, discovering their potential and the need for True Magic.
• Ian concluded that Akasha had brought him to the world to create the Sixth Magic and prepare for an approaching war.