Recaps

Ian explained that he avoided conquering Olivia’s world because it held little value and was protected by the higher-dimensional entity Truth, though he had devised contingency plans against it. Olivia handled the fortress crises and questioned Ian about the Empire’s use of the Philosopher’s Stone and unequal lifespan benefits, leaving her persuaded by his argument for rewarding contribution.

• Ian told Olivia that Truth, the universe’s collective consciousness, protected her world and described three theoretical plans for fighting it.
• Olivia used the northern cold to trap Sloth in an elevator shaft and freeze him into an ice sculpture.
• Major General Raven arrived at Briggs Fortress with Kimblee, and Olivia gained his trust while learning about the Immortal Army and eternal life.
• Olivia asked Ian whether immortality relied on Philosopher’s Stones made from human lives, and Ian said the Empire mostly used clones or non-sapient lifeforms.
• Ian explained that ordinary citizens received a 200-year lifespan while elites could earn a 1,000-year premium, and Olivia found his argument about contribution and fairness reasonable.

Ian extracted the white Homunculus's memories, used its alchemical knowledge to create a genuine nuclear explosion, and theorized that Truth traded human knowledge and souls with the Origin Gate. He realized Alchemy might depend on Truth's influence and decided to seek help from an old multiversal acquaintance.

• Ian used Enhanced Legilimency to extract Homunculus Number One's memories and learned that it contained innate alchemical knowledge as a fragment of God.
• Ian combined uranium-235 and plutonium-239 through Alchemy, creating a nuclear explosion in the desert between Amestris and Xing.
• Ian opened a spatial vortex and pulled radioactive dust from the blast area into his independent dimension.
• Ian reviewed the Homunculus's memories and connected God, Truth, and the mysterious Origin Gate to the Akashic Records.
• Ian realized that the Gate of Truth might be a plugin limited to Truth's domain, which could prevent the Arcane Empire from using Alchemy.
• Ian decided to contact an old, powerful multiversal wanderer who might help him confront Truth or obtain its rules.

Ian learned that Olivia had killed Lieutenant General Raven and prepared for the coming Promised Day by planting a hidden transmutation circle designed to steal alchemical knowledge through Father. Hughes chose to join the fight, while Ian waited for Father’s attempt to devour God.

• Morgana reported that Olivia had killed Lieutenant General Raven, and Ian ordered her to share the intelligence with Hughes.
• Ian told Olivia he would not stop the nationwide transmutation on her behalf, and she resolved to fight in her own way.
• Ian planted concealed transmutation formulae at five points across Amestris to create a circle that would parasitize Father’s connection to God and steal divine knowledge.
• Hughes refused Ian’s offer to flee and chose to fight to protect his country and family.
• Ian gave Hughes an Optical Camouflage Mask and waited for the Promised Day.

Ian watched Father’s Promised Day ritual and used his hidden Transmutation Circles to steal Divine Knowledge as Father connected to the Gates. He demonstrated the ability to create a miniature star, but the chapter ended with Ian suspecting that Truth had allowed him to take that power.

• Ian appeared beside Olivia Armstrong after the battle, revealed he had preserved Buchanan’s soul, healed Olivia, and took her to his dimensional observatory.
• Ian and Olivia watched Father activate the nationwide Transmutation Circle, tear the souls from fifty million Amestrians, and open Earth’s Gate and the Gate of Heaven.
• Father swallowed God and became a god, while Ian’s hidden Transmutation Circles intercepted and copied Divine Knowledge through Father’s connection to the Gate of Truth.
• Ian used his new knowledge to create a miniature star, then dispelled it when his power drained and he suspected Truth had permitted the theft.

Ian watched Father’s defeat and gave Zhang Mei a Philosopher’s Stone made from Dragon Vein energy, allowing her to pursue immortality without sacrificing lives. He vanished when the others hoped he would grant their requests, leaving Hughes to remark on his coldness.

• Ian used a backup brain and strict mental defenses while observing the battle against Father.
• Hohenheim’s plan stripped Father of the souls sustaining him, and the gathered heroes defeated him as Edward gave up his Gate of Truth to restore Alphonse’s body.
• Zhang Mei asked Ian if someone could live forever without sacrificing another person, and he explained that Dragon Vein energy could create a Philosopher’s Stone.
• Ian made Zhang Mei a white Philosopher’s Stone and gave it to her as a reward for her devotion to her father.
• Ian disappeared when Hawkeye, Hughes, and the Chimeras looked to him for help, and Hughes called him cold as ever.

In the days after the Promised Day, Ian received visitors at his estate and explained the limits of Edward’s lost Alchemy while offering the Elric brothers a path to help their Chimera friends. After settling his remaining affairs, Ian decided to leave Amestris and return home.

• Edward and Alphonse visited Ian, who offered them access to his library in exchange for knowledge so they could seek a way to restore Jerson and Sambano.
• Ian told Edward that regaining Alchemy would require surpassing Truth, explained that Edward’s sacrificed Gate had removed his ability to release Alchemy, and described why Mustang could recover his eyesight with a Philosopher’s Stone.
• Morgana spoke with Ian about his frustration with Truth and the limits of what he could learn about it.
• Maes Hughes visited with Gracia, Elicia, and Nina; Ian saw that Nina had settled happily into her new home with the Hughes family.
• Olivia Armstrong arrived to drink with Ian and told him that Grumman had become Führer, that she had been promoted to general, and that she was his designated successor.
• After drinking with Olivia, Ian watched the sunrise and announced that he was ready to return home.

After returning to the Dimensional Interstice, Ian investigated the changes caused by his encounter with Truth. His magic had begun adapting to new worlds and his soul had grown stronger, but a subconscious scan revealed that his humanity was fading.

• Ian returned to the World Gate and ordered Morgana to scan his body, magic, and soul for traces of Truth.
• Morgana found that Ian's physical abilities had surpassed human limits and his magic was mutating to adapt to the laws of other worlds.
• Ian examined other wizards and confirmed that interdimensional travel caused their magic to become more vital and adaptable.
• Morgana reported that Ian's soul had grown at least tenfold stronger after absorbing Divine Knowledge, but found no external marks or interference.
• Ian underwent a deep psychological and subconscious scan, and Morgana discovered that his humanity was fading.

Ian discovered that Truth had implanted an obsession with spreading Alchemy in his subconscious to turn the Arcane Empire into a source of knowledge and Soul Energy. He rejected Truth’s influence and began designing a new, independent magic system called Arcane Rune Magic.

• Morgana warned Ian that his fixation on bringing Alchemy to the Arcane Empire contradicted his usual survival-first reasoning and was likely planted by an external force.
• Ian realized Truth had manipulated his desire to spread Alchemy into making him consider changing the Empire’s laws to accommodate the Gate of Truth.
• Ian concluded he could build a new system without Truth’s authorization, using his Divine Knowledge and the Dwarf in the Flask’s attempt to create a Gate of Truth as precedents.
• Ian told Morgana to create Gate Alchemy and Arcane Rune Magic project folders, importing their knowledge from the other world into Gate Alchemy.
• Ian began planning a universal, modular, programmable rune language that could cast spells through mental models and create permanent enchantments on objects.

Ian experimented with different ways to etch and activate spells, discovering that soul energy could form a stable magic array but the spell still exploded. He identified incompatibility between magical systems as the cause and began designing a unified Alchemical Rune framework to tune their frequencies.

• Ian tried Magic Etching, but the spark faded because Magic Power could not sustain the spell structure.
• Ian tested Blood Etching and Battle Aura Etching, but the first caused an explosion and the second proved too unstable.
• Ian used soul energy to create a stable crimson fireball, but it exploded shortly after activation.
• Ian traced the explosion to conflicting frequencies among the Latin, Norse, Dragon Tongue, and Alchemy systems, with Dragon Tongue Magic disrupting the circuit.
• Ian decided to use Alchemical Runes as a universal framework for adjusting different systems' energy frequencies and began drawing a new Rune structure.

Ian developed Arcane Rune Magic, optimized his spells, and engraved spell models into his Soul Space to overcome the limits of multi-casting. After merging his consciousness with his Soul Space, he could instantly unleash spells with a thought, becoming a walking arcane artillery platform.

• Ian created stable, controllable spells with Alchemy Runes and had Morgana optimize the first-circle spell models.
• Ian discovered that drawing more than four spell arrays at once overwhelmed his mental capacity and began engraving spells into his Soul Space.
• Three months later, Ian activated twenty stored spells at once and unleashed a destructive storm across the testing grounds.
• Ian spent another three months merging his consciousness with his Soul Space despite the risk of developing a split personality.
• Ian succeeded and gained instant access to the spell models in his Soul Dimension, able to fire them with a thought.

After completing the foundation of Arcane Runes, Ian visited Olivia at Briggs Fortress and took her to an artificial resort in his dimension. Their vacation ended with Ian giving Olivia the blueprints for an advanced individual combat system, which she brought back to her military plans.

• Ian created an identical avatar and appeared in Olivia’s office after six months away, then invited her on a date at a water resort.
• Olivia agreed to go, and the next day Ian merged his avatar with another body and showed her holographic swimsuit designs.
• Ian took Olivia to an artificial ocean populated by awakened clones and explained that they were a backup civilization prepared in case of disaster.
• Over the following weeks, Ian arranged resort activities and a movie premiere for Olivia, who gradually enjoyed the vacation despite knowing the crowds were clones.
• Ian showed Olivia a military exercise featuring drones, exoskeletons, and modern firearms, then placed the blueprints for the combat system in her mind.
• Olivia returned to her battlefield with the blueprints, while Ian resumed his magical research.

Ian developed a Composite Forbidden Spell that stopped time without the Gate of Truth, then discovered Microscopic Inscription, which gave ordinary weapons powerful conceptual enchantments. He left off wondering whether he could inscribe concepts such as explosion or fission into atomic nuclei.

• Ian combined numerous magic arrays into a Composite Forbidden Spell and used it to halt a supersonic baseball, but the spell nearly drained his Magic Core.
• Ian accused Morgana of deliberately delaying his magic recovery because he had refused to credit her on the project, then punished her by ordering her to hand-copy a sentence one hundred thousand times.
• Ian inscribed a Flame Rune between the atoms of a steel sword and used a Chain Array to spread miniature runes throughout its lattice, creating an undying fire that burned a dummy to ash.
• Ian inscribed a Wind Blade Rune into another sword, giving it conceptual sharpness that let it slice through tungsten-alloy armor.
• Ian realized Microscopic Inscription could transform artifact forging and wondered whether inscribing explosion or fission into atomic nuclei could make alchemical nuclear weapons commonplace.

Ian developed Core Inscription by embedding a charged micro-Subspace inside a Star Iron sword, giving it immense magical power and concealing its workings. After considering how the technology could create devastating bombs, he turned to upgrading the World Gate before leaving the world.

• Ian tested different metals for Core Inscription, and the first 233 swords broke, melted, or exploded.
• Ian successfully embedded a micro-Subspace in the 234th sword, made from Star Iron, and fired a fireball over a hundred meters wide.
• Ian recognized Core Inscription's power and security, and considered using collapsing Subspaces to make bombs capable of destroying planets or small star systems.
• Ian noted that his attempts to connect Subspace directly to his soul had failed, so he planned to use the technology in equipment instead.
• Ian uploaded his experimental data to Morgana and headed to the World Gate to give it a complete system upgrade.

Ian rebuilt the World Gate’s core systems with Arcane Runes and a three-dimensional matrix, then installed a new Void Curvature Engine that greatly improved travel through the Multiverse. With the upgrade complete, he turned to the long-delayed advancement of his Magic Core.

• Ian entered the Virtual Mirror World and spent three years translating the World Gate’s subsystems into Arcane Runes.
• Ian spent twenty years in the virtual world designing a three-dimensional Arcane Matrix, then recovered from the mental strain with Morgana’s help.
• Ian used Magic Metal and Alchemy to build a ten-meter sphere around the Philosopher’s Stone and activated the new engine.
• Morgana reported that the system had increased spatial stability by 300 percent and energy utilization by 500 percent, reducing the trip to the Harry Potter world from 120 years to one.
• Ian celebrated the engine’s new escape capability and went to another laboratory to work on advancing his Magic Core.

Ian liquefied the mana in his core and advanced to Fourth Tier, then tested whether other wizards could survive the breakthrough. After confirming the advancement’s universal designation and its requirements, he returned to his laboratory determined to reach Fifth Tier before going back to his original universe.

• Ian compressed the mana in his Magic Core into Liquid Mana, which transformed his body and extended his lifespan to thousands of years.
• Ian recognized the soul-engraved designation “[Fourth Tier · Grand Wizard]” and connected it to a universal power-ranking standard.
• Ian’s first two prisoner test subjects died during mana liquefaction because their souls and bodies could not withstand it.
• Ian successfully advanced a genetically modified prisoner with Battle Aura to Fourth Tier and confirmed that the designation appeared in the prisoner’s mind as well.
• Ian returned to his laboratory and considered mana solidification or crystallization as a path to Fifth Tier.

Ian forced his mana reserves to the peak of the Fourth Tier, then fused a Perfect Philosopher's Stone with his heart to become a Fifth Tier Archmage. After purifying the fused souls' resentment, he decided to leave the world and return home with his research.

• Ian used the Dimensional Core to forcibly infuse his body with mana for seventy-two hours, reaching the peak of the Fourth Tier.
• Ian realized that mana needed to fuse with soul energy to become stable crystals, and began a dangerous alchemical fusion with the Perfect Philosopher's Stone.
• Ian endured the destruction and reconstruction of his heart and body, successfully becoming a Fifth Tier Archmage with a crystalline core.
• Ian chanted the Great Sun Tathagata World-Purifying Mantra for seven days and nights, purifying the resentment of the souls within the stone and absorbing their spiritual energy.
• Ian assessed his power as Land-Sinking Rank and decided to return home with his experimental data and magical system.

After stabilizing his Fifth Tier Magic Core, Ian gained Cosmic Awareness, discovered that Truth was an immensely powerful but constrained threat, and tested his destructive magic. He expanded his core’s capacity and prepared to leave the dimensional void and return home.

• Ian tested Cosmic Awareness and learned that Truth was an Eleventh Tier conceptual entity anchored to the Fullmetal Alchemist world and unable to move freely.
• Ian used the Room of Requirement to simulate Earth and destroyed Asia with Crustal Resonance: Continental Collapse.
• Ian cast Stellar Descent, creating a miniature star that penetrated the simulated Earth and caused it to explode, though the spell consumed much of his magic and required a long charge.
• Ian integrated the Undetectable Extension Charm into his Magic Core, creating folded space and greatly expanding its capacity.
• Ian put away his staff and prepared to return home.

Ian spent twenty years overhauling magic and preparing two secret plans, then responded to Olivia’s urgent call as her father neared death. He took Olivia’s family to his world while she chose to remain in Amestris, and returned to find both plans complete, ready to begin his final plunder.

• Ian ordered Morgana to translate the Arcane Empire’s old magic into the Arcane Rune System and complete the Void Shield Interference and Authority Usurpation plans.
• After twenty years of seclusion, Ian received an urgent message from Olivia and sent a clone to the Armstrong estate.
• Olivia asked Ian to save her dying father and decided to remain in Amestris and fulfill her responsibilities as president.
• Ian took Olivia’s parents and unconscious brother to the Dimensional Space and preserved them in a Time Stasis Pod, leaving a clone to accompany Olivia.
• Morgana reported both secret plans complete, and Ian prepared to begin the final plunder.

Ian used a Void-powered shield and a modified Invisibility Cloak to evade Truth’s perception and the world’s causal records. He stole Luck from Amestris’s surviving heroes, drank the resulting Destiny Plunderer, and spread the Meme Virus through the planet’s Dragon Veins to poison Truth.

• Ian surrounded the manor with a Void Shield that blocked Truth’s awareness, then confirmed after three days that Truth had not detected it.
• Ian transformed the Invisibility Cloak to hide him from causality and silently killed inmates in several prisons without drawing Truth’s attention.
• Ian collected blood from Edward Elric, Alphonse, Zhang Mei, President Mustang, Lieutenant Hawkeye, Teacher Izumi, and other surviving heroes, then used it to make and drink the Destiny Plunderer.
• Ian poured the Meme Virus into the manor’s soil, where it spread through the planet’s Dragon Vein network toward Truth.

Ian’s Meme Virus spread across Amestris while Truth ignored it, distracted by a knowledge transaction with the Origin Gate. After confirming that Truth had not detected the virus, Ian began his ultimate confrontation and prepared to attack Truth Space.

• Ian’s clone waited as the Meme Virus spread across Amestris, and after several days without divine retaliation, Ian concluded that Truth had not noticed it.
• Truth connected to the Origin Gate and traded accumulated alchemical knowledge for higher-tier Dimensional Leap technology.
• Truth immersed itself in the knowledge and reduced its monitoring of Ian, while Ian’s stolen destiny made events favor him.
• After the virus infected everyone in Central City, Ian decided the test was over and entered Phase Four: Ultimate Confrontation.
• Ian ordered Morgana to power the Void Engine and target Truth Space, then armed himself for the attack.

Ian launched Phase Four by using invisible Bio-Puppets to provoke Human Transmutation incidents around the world, causing Truth to withdraw and delegate enforcement to an automated program. Ian planned to exploit the program after the Meme Virus had spread widely enough to help him seize Divine Authority.

• Ian sent more than a hundred Bio-Puppets, cloaked from the world's surveillance, to spread shattered seeds across the world.
• A Bio-Puppet manipulated the grieving alchemist Thomas into attempting Human Transmutation, and Truth's clone took one of Thomas's legs as punishment.
• Human Transmutation incidents began erupting across multiple countries, including Amestris, Drachma, Creta, Xing, and Ishval.
• Truth failed to recognize the incidents as an organized conspiracy and created an automated program to handle Gate of Truth violations before shutting off his senses.
• Ian watched Truth's withdrawal and decided to wait for the Meme Virus to mature before attempting to seize Divine Authority.

After fifty years of preparation in the Dimensional Void, Ian brought the aging Olivia Armstrong into hibernation and prepared to confront Truth. With his ties to the mortal world severed, he declared that the final showdown was beginning.

• Ian reflected on fifty years of reforming the Arcane Empire’s magic and strengthening his power, while noting that his body remained a weakness.
• Olivia Armstrong told Ian she was ready to die and confronted him about waiting for her death before carrying out a dangerous plan.
• Ian admitted he had kept his true plan from Olivia, and she accepted their years together before asking him to take her away.
• Ian teleported Olivia to Dimensional Space, restored her youth with potions, and placed her in a hibernation pod.
• Ian returned to the control room, declared all ties severed, and turned his attention to Truth for the final showdown.

Ian activated the Meme Virus to link billions of infected minds into a Hive Mind and use their collective denial to weaken Truth. He dragged the god into the mortal world, but Truth still overwhelmed him until Ian threatened to detonate five Void Cores, leaving their confrontation at a standstill.

• Ian awakened the infected creatures across the planet and linked their minds into a Hive Mind, with Morgana diverting the mental data overload.
• Ian commanded the Hive Mind to deny Truth's existence and divine authority, weakening the god through Concept Erasure.
• The Planetary Will emerged through Earth's Gate, broke open the Sky Gate, and dragged Truth into the mortal world.
• Truth's power fell to the Ninth Tier, and Ian accused It of manipulating him through a mental suggestion to make him spread knowledge.
• Truth attacked Ian with Dimensional Erasure, but Ian's Void Shield held long enough for him to threaten Truth with five Void Cores.

Ian used the Void Cores and hidden Space Bombs to weaken Truth and force it to divide its attention, then prepared to seize its Divine Authority. The chapter ended with Ian activating the Authority Usurpation Program as Truth struggled to protect both the material world and its Knowledge Dimension.

• Ian threatened Truth with five Void Cores, then detonated them to make it suppress the spreading Void Energy.
• Ian ordered Morgana to scan Truth, which she identified as a Pure Energy Lifeform with an Energy Dimension in its Life Code.
• Ian detonated Space Bombs hidden in Truth's Knowledge Dimension, collapsing its structure and destroying its knowledge spheres.
• Truth divided its consciousness to contain the damage in both the Knowledge Dimension and the material world, while Ian summoned three Divine Artifacts.
• Ian activated the Authority Usurpation Program and demanded that Truth hand over its Divine Authority.

Ian’s clone stole Truth’s Authorities while the main body secured coordinates to the Akashic Gate. Ian then set the World Gate on course for the Arcane Empire, leaving the Fullmetal World behind.

• Ian sacrificed millions of Gates of Truth to break Truth’s hold on the world’s laws and steal the Authorities of Death, Space-Time, and Wisdom.
• Ian’s clone sent the three Authorities, Morgana’s backup data, and pure Soul Energy to his main body through the World Gate projection.
• Truth unleashed divine punishment, erasing Ian’s clone and the tower ruins.
• Ian’s main body revealed that a probe had recorded the Akashic Gate’s energy coordinates and sealed them inside the Magic Core.
• Ian ordered Morgana to take the World Gate toward the universe of the Arcane Empire, with an estimated travel time of one year.