Chapter Summaries

Rosell reunited with the God of Steam and Machinery and confronted him over making Bonoa an angel to keep Rosell from leaving the Steam Church. Their argument exposed the pain behind their split, and Rosell ended by accusing the god of nearly killing his child.

• Rosell greeted the God of Steam and Machinery, while both reflected on their former bond and the reasons their relationship had broken down.
• Rosell introduced Luo Lin as his current boss, Mr. Lucifer, and said Lucifer hoped to partner with the God of Steam and Machinery to promote technological development.
• The God of Steam and Machinery objected when Rosell said he would not argue about the past, insisting that Rosell had betrayed him without cause.
• Rosell accused the God of Steam and Machinery of making Bonoa an angel to keep Rosell under his influence, and the god admitted that this had partly been his intention.
• Rosell said he had never cared about the Gustav family's glory and accused the God of Steam and Machinery of nearly killing Bonoa.

Rosell confronted the God of Steam and Machinery over their unequal relationship, while Luo Lin made clear that he valued the god mainly for his usefulness. The God of Steam and Machinery questioned Luo Lin’s nature and sensed that he possessed terrifying power.

• Rosell accused the God of Steam and Machinery of treating him as a subordinate rather than a friend and said they were destined to part ways.
• The God of Steam and Machinery argued that their relationship had been proper and that they were now equals, but Rosell concluded they had never understood each other.
• Luo Lin told Rosell he did not need the God of Steam and Machinery to understand him, only to be obedient and advance technology.
• Rosell warned the God of Steam and Machinery to speak politely to Luo Lin or risk being beaten.
• The God of Steam and Machinery asked what kind of existence Luo Lin was, and Luo Lin learned that the god could sense his terrifying power but could not see his essence.

Luo Lin summoned the Ancient Sun God, Grisha, and introduced him to the God of Steam and Machinery and Rosell. Grisha welcomed Amon’s study of humanity and noticed that Rosell had freed himself from the effects of the Outer Gods’ corruption.

• Luo Lin asked the God of Steam and Machinery about Grisha and revealed that the Sun God would be joining their side.
• The Ancient Sun God appeared beside Luo Lin, and the God of Steam and Machinery recognized him from the Third Epoch.
• Grisha asked whether Amon had caused trouble, but Amon said he had been studying humanity under Luo Lin’s guidance.
• Grisha praised Amon, while Rosell joked about the Sun God’s excessive parental affection and Luo Lin teased Rosell about his own parenting.
• Luo Lin introduced Rosell and the God of Steam and Machinery to Grisha, who congratulated Rosell for freeing himself from the effects of Outer Gods’ corruption.
• Rosell’s memories of his recent suffering resurfaced, and Grisha asked whether he had said something wrong while probing the unusual balance of corruption within him.

Luo Lin explained how he had balanced Rosell’s corruption and discussed plans to help Bethel and Tolzna. When the God of Steam and Machinery doubted the Ancient Sun God’s identity, Luo Lin decided to let Grisha settle the matter with a beating.

• Rosell thanked Luo Lin for resolving his corruption, and Luo Lin joked with him about becoming Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial.
• Luo Lin told the Ancient Sun God that he could likely treat Bethel’s corruption the same way, but needed more samples before attempting to help Tolzna.
• The Ancient Sun God praised Luo Lin, and Luo Lin replied that the Ancient Sun God was fortunate to have met him too.
• The God of Steam and Machinery asked whether Luo Lin was a Great Old One, then grew suspicious after Rosell explained that Luo Lin had summoned the Ancient Sun God from the past.
• Rosell suggested proving the Ancient Sun God’s identity by beating the God of Steam and Machinery, and Luo Lin told Grisha to teach him a lesson without killing him.

Luo Lin, the Ancient Sun God, Rosell, Amon, and Bonoa went to the God of Steam and Machinery’s divine kingdom to beat him up over Bonoa’s faith and Rosell’s anger. The God of Steam and Machinery shut his gates, but the Ancient Sun God kicked through the barrier.

• The Ancient Sun God agreed to help Luo Lin beat up the God of Steam and Machinery, and Luo Lin invited Rosell and Bonoa to join them.
• Amon asked to come along, and the group arrived at the God of Steam and Machinery’s divine kingdom in the Astral World.
• Rosell shouted through a loudspeaker, demanding that the God of Steam and Machinery open the door and accusing him of brainwashing a child.
• The God of Steam and Machinery wondered whether he had done something wrong as he listened from inside his divine kingdom.
• The Ancient Sun God kicked through the divine kingdom’s barrier and apologized for using rough methods.

Rosell regained his peak Black Emperor strength with the Ancient Sun God’s help and fought the God of Steam and Machinery to settle their old grievances. Meanwhile, Luo Lin startled the Desire Mother Tree into fleeing from beyond the Astral World’s barrier and revealed that he held one of its characteristics.

• Rosell asked the Ancient Sun God to restore his strength so he could personally fight the God of Steam and Machinery, and Luo Lin approved the request.
• The Ancient Sun God empowered Rosell, who temporarily returned to his peak as a Black Emperor.
• Rosell and the God of Steam and Machinery fought without trying to kill each other, with Rosell gaining the upper hand and repeatedly punching him.
• Luo Lin inspected the Astral World’s barrier and greeted the Desire Mother Tree when its shadow appeared outside.
• The Desire Mother Tree fled, and Luo Lin showed the Ancient Sun God a small characteristic he had taken from it.

Luo Lin stole a Sequence 9 characteristic from the Mother Tree and planned to rescue Tolzna from the Rose School of Thought with the Ancient Sun God's help. The Eternal Blazing Sun, Oseus, arrived and learned that the Ancient Sun God had come from the past, who comforted him by saying what happened was not his fault.

• Luo Lin used the Marionette of Destiny, amplified by his Nyarlathotep fragment, to steal a Sequence 9 characteristic from the Mother Tree and stored it for later study.
• Luo Lin told the Ancient Sun God, Grisha, that he planned to rescue Tolzna from the Rose School of Thought, and Grisha agreed to help.
• Luo Lin and the Ancient Sun God sensed the Eternal Blazing Sun, Oseus, approaching and met him in the Astral World.
• Oseus sensed Luo Lin's dangerous power, and Luo Lin said he stood on humanity's side for now; Grisha confirmed it.
• Oseus asked whether Grisha knew his future, and Grisha told him it had not been his fault before gently patting his head and saying he had worked hard.

Oseus recalled how the Sun God had saved him and become like a father to him, before the reviving primordial will took control of his body and drew him into Redemption Rose’s plan. After the Sun God’s death devastated the East Continent, Oseus regained consciousness as a god of the Sun pathway.

• The Sun God saved Oseus’s tribe and rescued him, and Oseus followed him onto the Sun pathway, eventually becoming his right-hand man.
• Oseus grew close to the Sun God and became curious about Adam and Amon, though he disliked Amon and worried he would bring shame upon the Lord.
• The primordial will within Oseus began influencing his actions, and he discovered that God had controlled his body while he had no memory of the previous day.
• Oseus woke at a gathering of angels and learned that Sasrir and Amanises had formed Redemption Rose to kill and revive the Sun God to free him from God’s affliction.
• Though Oseus understood the plan would end in tragedy, God controlled him as Redemption Rose carried it out, and the Sun God’s death devastated the East Continent.
• Oseus regained consciousness on the battlefield and discovered he had acquired the final Sequence 1 characteristic and uniqueness of the Sun pathway, becoming a god.

Oseus confronted his guilt over helping cause the Sun God’s fall, while the returned Sun God reassured him that they had both been victims of the Primordial Creator. Oseus still feared God would awaken within him again, and begged the Sun God to kill him before that could happen.

• After the Sun God fell, Oseus became the Sun, while Leodoro and Herabergen became gods and the former Angel of Kings split into opposing groups.
• Oseus learned that God seemed to be preparing to cooperate with the Fallen Mother, and resolved never to let God use his body again.
• Oseus met the returned Sun God, who told him that neither of them was to blame for what God had done.
• The Sun God ordered Oseus to stop condemning himself, but Oseus warned that the Primordial One had awakened within him again.
• Oseus begged the Sun God to kill him so that God could not resurrect within his body.

Luo Lin offered to study Oseus’s soul and attempt a brief, dangerous suppression of the God’s will within him, while warning that lasting resistance depended on Oseus himself. Oseus agreed to the examination, leaving Luo Lin to investigate the Sun characteristics in his soul.

• Luo Lin told the Sun God that he could not directly suppress spiritual imprints but might find a temporary method by studying Oseus.
• Luo Lin warned the Sun God and Oseus that using Nyarlathotep’s power could be dangerous and might contaminate Oseus’s soul.
• The Sun God thanked Luo Lin, and Oseus was astonished that his ancient affliction might have a temporary remedy.
• Luo Lin asked Oseus to owe him a price for the treatment if it worked, and Oseus agreed to let him examine his soul after the Sun God approved.
• Luo Lin examined Oseus’s soul, focusing on his Sun characteristics, while Oseus felt deeply uncomfortable.

Luo Lin confronted God, who had possessed Oseus, and rejected God's attempt to persuade him to abandon humanity. The two ended their exchange with Luo Lin proposing a bet, while Sun God agreed to lend Sasrir to him.

• God took control of Oseus's body and threatened that contaminating him with madness could infect beings connected to God.
• God warned Luo Lin that humanity would betray him, but Luo Lin dismissed the argument and asked Sun God whether he had anything to say.
• Sun God offered to lend Sasrir to Luo Lin, and Luo Lin eagerly accepted.
• God questioned why Luo Lin had given up his former power to become mortal, and Luo Lin said power was necessary to protect his humanity.
• Luo Lin told God that human anchors could suppress him and proposed that they make a bet.

Luo Lin confronted God with a wager: if humanity could restrain God, God would help Earth resist the Outer Gods; otherwise, Luo Lin would do one thing for him. God challenged Luo Lin’s ability to control the Celestial Worthy, and the chapter ended with Luo Lin leaving the outcome of their negotiations up to God.

• Luo Lin proposed a wager that would obligate God to help Earth if humanity could restrain him, while Luo Lin would owe God one favor if God won.
• Luo Lin threatened to prevent God’s return, strip away the relevant characteristics, or taint him with madness, and invoked the Celestial Worthy as a possible ally.
• God regained his composure and pointed out that Luo Lin still needed time to master the Nyarlathotep fragment and could not fully trust or control the Celestial Worthy.
• Luo Lin argued that he did not need to trust the Celestial Worthy as long as he could fight the Outer Gods and keep God sealed away.
• God said neither of them would yield, and Luo Lin replied that the result depended on God.

Luo Lin and God formalized a wager that could give Earth another powerful ally against the Outer Gods. Afterward, Luo Lin explained to Oseus that humanity was the key to resisting God's reviving will, then suggested that the Sun God call Oseus “my son.”

• God accepted Luo Lin’s wager, and they signed a contract under the strongest notary’s witness.
• The Sun God warned Luo Lin that God was not trustworthy, while Luo Lin explained why the wager could provide a path for cooperation.
• The Sun God told Oseus that helping him suppress God’s will to revive was what mattered.
• Luo Lin argued that Oseus’s humanity was the only force capable of opposing God’s will and that Oseus needed more of it.
• Luo Lin suggested that the Sun God call Oseus “my son,” and the Sun God asked whether he was serious.

The Sun God told Oseus that he regarded him as his eldest son, leaving Oseus overwhelmed with joy and Amon visibly jealous. After Amon said the fighting had ended, the group set out to check on Rosell and his pollution.

• Luo Lin urged the Sun God to tell Oseus how he felt, and the Sun God said he had always regarded Oseus as his eldest son and loved him.
• Oseus fainted from shock, then recovered and told the Sun God he was very happy.
• Luo Lin teased Amon about being jealous, while Oseus exchanged a provocative look with him.
• Amon said the fighting had ended and asked what Adam was to the Sun God; the Sun God replied that Adam was him.
• Luo Lin and the others went to check on the battle, and he told Oseus that Rosell's pollution had been temporarily resolved.

Oseus confirmed that Luo Lin’s method had strengthened his humanity enough to suppress God, and the group returned to find Rosell had defeated the God of Steam and Machinery. Luo Lin revealed that he wanted the God of Steam and Machinery to advance technology and support reforms, while Rosell’s grudge remained unresolved.

• Oseus told the Sun God that his humanity had suppressed God, while Amon admitted his own humanity was not as abundant.
• The Sun God warned Oseus and Amon to keep their rivalry within limits as they returned with Luo Lin to the divine kingdom of the God of Steam and Machinery.
• The group found Rosell victorious and injured, while Bonoa treated the God of Steam and Machinery with medicine left by Lilith.
• Oseus and Rosell exchanged a tense greeting, and Luo Lin asked the God of Steam and Machinery what he had to say about joining them.
• Luo Lin said he needed the God of Steam and Machinery to advance technology and support mortal-world reforms, then explained that Rosell had beaten him over a personal grudge.

Luo Lin asked the God of Steam and Machinery to help Bonoa regain humanity, prompting the God to recognize that he had wrongly suppressed Bonoa’s selfhood. The God encouraged Bonoa to pursue humanity and offered to be treated as Rosell’s old friend rather than as a deity.

• Luo Lin explained that he wanted the God of Steam and Machinery’s help in making Bonoa a normal angel with humanity.
• The God of Steam and Machinery agreed to reduce his influence on Bonoa and tell him to pursue humanity.
• The God admitted that he had mistaken Bonoa’s loss of humanity for a harmless sacrifice and urged him to seek his own self.
• Bonoa struggled to look the God in the eye, and the God told him to treat him as his father’s old friend—perhaps an uncle.

The God of Steam and Machinery struggled to advise Bonoa on gaining humanity, so he turned to Luo Lin. Luo Lin used his Personality Mask on Bonoa, who began to feel affection and embraced Rosell.

• Bonoa accepted the God of Steam and Machinery as his uncle and asked how to obtain humanity.
• The God of Steam and Machinery recalled that believers and Rosell had helped sustain his own humanity, but he could not admit that to Bonoa.
• The God of Steam and Machinery asked Luo Lin to help Bonoa, and Bonoa agreed to wear the mask.
• Luo Lin activated his Personality Mask, and Bonoa said he wanted to hug Rosell.
• Rosell embraced Bonoa, who returned the hug, while Luo Lin explained the ability to Oseus and the God of Steam and Machinery.

Luo Lin gave Oseus a Personality Mask to help strengthen his humanity and discussed testing a way to suppress God's power within him. Rosell then began explaining how Lucifer had suppressed the corruption inside him.

• Luo Lin explained that Personality Masks were powerful but limited, and Oseus asked to wear one despite the risk of being controlled.
• Oseus said he trusted the Sun God's judgment, and Luo Lin gave him a mask; Oseus felt it becoming another anchor.
• Luo Lin told Oseus he had ideas for suppressing God's power within him and planned to test them.
• Rosell teased Oseus about the upcoming experiments, then asked whether he knew how Lucifer had suppressed Rosell's corruption.

Rosell warned Oseus that the power Luo Lin would use to suppress God's will brought a terrifying, alluring madness, but Oseus agreed to undergo the painful experiment. After arranging their next steps, Luo Lin and the Sun God considered summoning an avatar of Sasrir to help manage the era's affairs.

• Rosell described the agony and dangerous allure he experienced while confronting the madness within the Nyarlathotep fragment, and Oseus thanked him for the warning.
• Luo Lin told Oseus the experiment would be painful but promised he would remain safe and sane, and Oseus agreed because he would rather endure pain than become God's puppet.
• Luo Lin scheduled Oseus's experiment, left the divine kingdom with Rosell, and told Rosell to return in three days to discuss establishing the Mechanical Laboratory.
• Luo Lin asked the Sun God to prepare Sasrir to help with work, and the Sun God suggested creating and summoning a lower-Sequence avatar instead.
• Luo Lin agreed that summoning Sasrir's avatar might work, and the Sun God explained that he wanted more control over the era through a mind and emotions.

Luo Lin needed Sasrir to help manage the growing workload in the future, and the Sun God asked his Avatar to take the opportunity. Sasrir agreed to go, but reminded the Sun God that he had once replaced his original body.

• Luo Lin told the Sun God he needed Sasrir to help with the work and agreed that Sasrir could remain in the future if his spiritual consumption was low enough.
• The Sun God returned to the Third Epoch and told Sasrir that Luo Lin had agreed to try the proposal.
• Sasrir agreed to remain in the future, despite condemning the Sun God for exploiting him.
• Sasrir asked why the Sun God's Avatar could not go instead, then said he was considering replacing his original body.
• The Sun God pointed out that Sasrir had eventually taken the original body's place in the future, and Sasrir told him his joke was too cold.