Recaps

Raphael uncovered an imagined Mr. C’s trap beneath Backlund and used Adam’s Cross to reach a hidden passage, while another Raphael followed the same route beneath Langya Mountain. Both arrived at thresholds guarded by mysterious voices and saw black mirrors reflecting Raphael in the Beyonder world.

• Raphael recognized that the Mr. C leading the expedition was an imaginary replacement and followed the real Mr. C’s warning to crawl through the Black Rift, saving himself and Xavier from being killed.
• Raphael inferred that the cavern lay beneath Backlund and learned the real Mr. C had been trapped there for months; the imaginary Mr. C appeared and claimed Raphael as his finest subordinate before vanishing.
• Raphael reached the colored light beyond the final obstacle, and Adam’s Cross opened a Surreal Passage, burned the imaginary Mr. C and Xavier, and protected Raphael as he entered.
• Beneath Langya Mountain, Raphael followed the hanging corpses to the Gray Fog, where the Cross’s counterpart burned the Penglai Immortal Sect members and the corpses before opening a passage through the fog.
• The Backlund Raphael reached an illusory pool, while the Langya Mountain Raphael arrived at a Light Gate; the White Jade Orb answered the voices at both places, and Raphael saw a black mirror reflecting himself in the Beyonder world.

Raphael discovered that the Cultivator World was the Western Continent and watched the White Jade Orb seize power from the Lord of the Mysteries and God Almighty. He used the threat of suicide to force the orb to negotiate, then demanded a way to control it.

• Raphael realized the Cultivator World was the Western Continent and understood that the orb's standoff involved the Lord of the Mysteries beneath Langya Mountain and God Almighty beneath Backlund.
• The White Jade Orb covered God Almighty's power with light, then revealed that the Lord of the Mysteries' true revival plan through Sefirah Castle had failed and absorbed the gray fog.
• The White Jade Orb said it would hand the Lord of the Mysteries over to the Mother Goddess of Depravity and the Goddess of Fate, but Raphael threatened to kill himself if the orb continued ordering him around.
• Raphael used his importance as the orb's chosen vessel to force it to accept his terms: it would explain its identity and plans in the Dark Hut, let him call the shots, and tell him how to keep it in check.

Raphael forced the Lord of the Mysteries’ lingering consciousness into his body and used the White Jade Orb to influence George III through the Nation of Disorder. Klein realized that George III’s public speech was only an imagined projection, while the real king advanced to Black Emperor inside a mausoleum.

• Raphael had the White Jade Orb imprison the Lord of the Mysteries’ mental remnant in his consciousness, where it joined Raphael’s Killer Personality and God Almighty’s avatar.
• The White Jade Orb revealed that the black mirror connected to the Nation of Disorder and could influence Beyonders of the Justiciar and Black Emperor pathways.
• Raphael ordered the White Jade Orb to influence George III, and it showed him the king beginning a speech in Anniversary Square.
• Klein noticed that the apparent George III was an Imagination and went Above the Gray Fog to confirm that the platform held no real king.
• Klein notified Bernadette Gustav and Trissy that the operation had begun, then traveled to a mausoleum and fought its defenders as Zaratul joined the battle.
• The real George III drank the potion and began transforming toward Black Emperor in a secret mausoleum, where a young man’s voice addressed him.

Raphael used the White Jade Orb to disrupt George III’s advancement and kill him, causing the king to explode during his speech and the mausoleum to collapse. As Klein fled Zaratul and Adam, Amon trapped him at home; Raphael then entered the Dark Hut while the Celestial Thearch sensed that a secret realm had become complete.

• Raphael disrupted George III’s advancement by overwhelming his anchors with voices, then engulfed him in black liquid until he dissolved and left behind his crown and three Sequence 1 characteristics.
• George III exploded during his speech in Anniversary Square, while the collapse of his mausoleum halted his advancement and let Trissy escape Prince Grove.
• Klein fled Zaratul through Groselle’s Travels and the historical void, but Amon appeared in Klein’s residence wearing a monocle and immobilized him.
• Raphael used the White Jade Orb to open a passage to the Dark Hut and entered it, while his other self left the cavern with the remaining zombies.
• The Celestial Thearch restored order after the Thirty-Third Heaven shook and realized that the secret realm of the Soaring Heaven Hall had become complete.

Raphael explored the Dark Hut, learned about its Source of Curses and former masters, and questioned the second master about the Hut’s erosion and origins. He then confronted the White Jade Orb about their relationship, and it claimed to be the Original Creator, fully awake.

• Raphael asked the White Jade Orb about the Dark Hut and learned he could change its appearance only after becoming a Demigod and partly mastering it.
• The White Jade Orb identified the pool as the Source of Curses and explained that the four figures nearby were the Dark Hut’s first four masters.
• The second master told Raphael that the Dark Hut’s power came at the cost of gradual assimilation, and described how the other former masters had been changed or destroyed.
• The second master warned that the tree-like former master had been affected by a God in the Astral World, whom Raphael recognized as the Mother Tree of Desire.
• Raphael introduced himself and said he would decide whether to connect with the Dark Hut after settling his relationship with the White Jade Orb.
• The White Jade Orb told Raphael it was the Original Creator and had always been fully awake.

Raphael learned that the White Jade Orb was a personality of the Original Creator, while Amon told Klein that Raphael carried a wisp of the Oldest One’s consciousness. In the Forsaken Land of the Gods, Amon gave Klein a chance to escape as they headed toward their destination.

• The White Jade Orb explained to Raphael that the Oldest One had four personalities, including one that represented the Father of All Living Beings.
• Amon’s avatar brought Klein into the real Giant King’s Court and offered to stop parasitizing him until they reached their destination, challenging him to escape.
• Klein asked about the Dark Angel Sasrir, and Amon said he was waiting to see which of several powerful beings would investigate first.
• Amon mentioned his friendship with Raphael and asked Klein what he had noticed about him.
• Amon revealed that a wisp of the Original Creator’s consciousness resided inside Raphael, and Klein was shocked.

Klein learned that the Oldest One might be awakening through Raphael, while Raphael returned from the underground ruins with a powerful Cross and learned more about the Oldest One’s plans for him. The chapter left Raphael wondering whether the Oldest One’s consciousness inside him represented the Oldest One’s humanity.

• Amon told Klein that the Oldest One could observe the world through the consciousness inside Raphael and might be awakening through the resurrection efforts of the Mysteries and God Almighty.
• Raphael gathered Beyonder characteristics in the ruins and met Adam, who let him keep the Cross as a Mystical Item.
• The Primordial sealed the Cross’s negative effects using Raphael’s connection to the Shadow World and explained its limits and dangers.
• Raphael concluded that Adam may have noticed the Oldest One’s presence when Audrey Hall hypnotized him, while the True Creator may have noticed when Raphael joined the Aurora Order.
• The Oldest One told Raphael he wanted him to become Abyss and Chained, accommodate the Dark Hut, and possibly separate the Shadow World from the Mother Tree of Desire.
• When the Oldest One linked humanity’s foundation to desire, Raphael asked whether the Oldest One was the Oldest One’s humanity.

The Oldest One recounted how the universe was ordered, how the Great Old Ones created humanity, and how humanity’s emotions strengthened his human consciousness. He explained that the Oldest One’s collective awakening triggered a near-apocalypse, leaving Raphael to grasp how close the universe came to destruction.

• The Oldest One told Raphael that he began as the collective consciousness of the supernatural and ordered the universe, causing time, space, reality, and illusion to emerge.
• The Oldest One explained that the universe’s rules forced him to split into the Mother Goddess of Depravity, the Mother Tree of Desire, the Son of Chaos, and other Great Old Ones.
• The Mother Goddess of Depravity created humanity with gifts from the other Great Old Ones, while the Oldest One helped design human Spirit Bodies and strengthen human physiques.
• The Oldest One said his human consciousness emerged when a baby’s humanity fully suppressed its divinity, and humanity’s growing emotions gradually made him stronger.
• The Oldest One described how his plan to guide humanity into a second Axial Age led the Celestial Worthy and God Almighty to awaken and merge with him.
• The Oldest One told Raphael that their collective awakening stirred the dormant destruction and reunification consciousnesses, nearly waking the complete Oldest One and annihilating life; Raphael asked if the apocalypse had happened because the Oldest One merely sat up in his coffin.

The Oldest One explained how the Original Creator’s divided consciousnesses fought over control and how he sabotaged the Celestial Worthy’s and God Almighty’s resurrection plans. He revealed that Raphael might provide the stable power he lacked, because Raphael inherited the first humans’ gifts from the Great Old Ones.

• Raphael concluded that the Oldest One’s account of the Original Creator’s awakening differed from remembered history and suspected it concealed a struggle among the Creator’s consciousnesses.
• The Oldest One said the Creator divided control among four consciousnesses, giving forty-nine percent each to the Celestial Worthy and God Almighty, 1.8 percent to him, and 0.2 percent to Destruction and Unification.
• The Oldest One explained that he became the Creator’s only waking consciousness after the Celestial Worthy and God Almighty fought each other into near-slumber.
• The Oldest One admitted that he sabotaged the Celestial Worthy’s and God Almighty’s resurrection plans, diverting the Celestial Worthy’s soul and disrupting God Almighty’s awakening through the Error Uniqueness.
• The Oldest One said he had invested in the Moon, Mother, Chained, and Abyss pathways to gain power rooted in human nature, but those efforts failed until he met Raphael.
• The Oldest One told Raphael that he had inherited the gifts given to the first generation of humans by the Great Old Ones.

Raphael learned that his unusual human traits could help him retain his humanity as a Great Old One and strengthen the Oldest One, then negotiated limits on their alliance. The Oldest One agreed to make Raphael the Dark Hut’s true master, and a surge of power followed.

• The Oldest One explained that Raphael had inherited gifts from humanity’s first generation and could serve as a foundation for its power.
• Raphael warned the Oldest One not to control or erode his consciousness, and they agreed to help each other while respecting Raphael’s choices.
• The Oldest One revealed that Raphael’s spirit had survived the last Apocalypse outside time and that he had not caused Raphael’s transmigration.
• The Oldest One offered to make Raphael the Dark Hut’s true master, helping him suppress its erosion and gain access to the Western Continent and the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
• The Oldest One’s power made the volcano erupt and the Source of Curses boil, and the Dark Hut’s second master asked Raphael why he had come.
• Raphael told the second master that he had come to collect rent.

Raphael gained an abstract connection to the Dark Hut and learned how to use its powers and reach people linked to the Shadow World. He considered answering the Mother Tree of Desire’s believers’ prayers while remaining hidden from her.

• The Oldest One explained that God Almighty’s arrangements had made Raphael half a master of the Dark Hut and could be suppressed as Raphael advanced.
• Raphael reassured the second Master of the Shadow Cottage that their method was excellent and that he would not charge rent.
• Raphael sat in the pavilion and used his spirituality to rearrange the courtyard and create a lava pit filled with blue flames.
• The Oldest One explained that the flames represented Astral Bodies connected to the Dark Hut, including disciples and worshippers of the Mother Tree of Desire, the Dark Side of the Universe, and the Chained God.
• Raphael learned he could answer some prayers to the Mother Tree of Desire, though too many replies might expose his impersonation, and God Almighty’s arrangements kept her from controlling the Shadow World.

Raphael tested the Dark Hut’s powers and discovered that he could potentially project the source of curses into the real world through an astral body. While he watched his Northern Continent self meet Botis, the Church of Storms attacked them underground, and Botis fled with Raphael and his zombies.

• Raphael learned the ancient demonic language and discovered that a man in the Forsaken Land of the Gods was praying to the Demon Monarch for help controlling a high-level monster.
• Raphael learned that he could use the source of curses inside the Dark Hut and considered projecting its power into the real world through someone’s astral body.
• The Master of the Shadow Cottage sensed an unexplained change in the Dark Hut secret realm and decided to hold a sacrificial ritual to investigate.
• Botis asked Raphael whether he was the only one to escape, but the Church of Storms appeared and demanded the Sealed Artifact.
• Dark shadows shielded Raphael from the Church of Storms’ lightning, and Botis opened the Spirit World and fled with Raphael and his zombies.

Raphael reported the expedition’s failure to find a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact and claimed the True Creator’s guidance had helped him destroy the illusory pool. The True Creator rewarded him with entry to Rose Redemption, and Raphael chose to become an Oracle directly and receive a Grade 2 Sealed Artifact.

• Raphael arrived at the Aurora Order’s headquarters with Saint Tenebrous, where Vice President Freddy and the other Saints listened to his report.
• Raphael explained that the Mr. C who led him underground had been an impostor, and said the real Mr. C had mutated and attacked him and Xavier beside the illusory pool.
• Raphael claimed Xavier died fighting Mr. C and that he had destroyed the pool with the True Creator’s guidance, prompting the True Creator to turn His attention toward them.
• Freddy announced that the True Creator had permitted Raphael to join Rose Redemption.
• Freddy offered Raphael either a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact or a Grade 2 Sealed Artifact and direct promotion to Oracle, and Raphael chose the second reward.

Raphael joined Rose Redemption, chose the Oracle code name Mr. A, and took charge of the Aurora Order’s battered Backlund branch. After reviewing its assets and surviving members, he learned that the branch’s gatherings required the most careful handover.

• Freddy offered Raphael a chance to reconsider becoming an Oracle, but Raphael insisted on serving the Aurora Order and chose the vacant code name A.
• Freddy accompanied Raphael to select the Rose Handkerchief, a grade 2 sealed artifact with Flesh Magic and Hiding in Shadows, and allowed him to keep Mr. C’s Beyonder characteristic.
• Raphael returned to the Backlund villa with Botis and Kisma, and Botis used divination to find the branch’s asset list in Mr. C’s room.
• Raphael learned that the Backlund branch held extensive property, businesses, and funds, and that most of its Beyonder members could no longer be reached.
• Botis told Raphael that the Aurora Order’s Backlund gatherings required the most careful handover.

Raphael took charge of the Aurora Order's Backlund branch, then returned to the Western Continent through the Dark Hut. Deep beneath Langya Mountain, he encountered Yan Ruobing, the Luo Sect's Holy Maiden, who had come looking for him.

• Botis assigned Raphael responsibility for the Aurora Order's low-sequence gathering in Backlund, while Saint Tenebrous warned him about clashes with secret organizations.
• Raphael briefed his subordinates, gave them upcoming assignments, and promised three of them potion ingredients to prepare for advancement.
• Raphael discussed the person waiting outside Langya Mountain with the Oldest One and arranged for his Northern Continent self to provide help if needed.
• Raphael left the Dark Hut and carefully made his way through the passages beneath Langya Mountain, using Adam's Gift to conceal himself.
• Yan Ruobing emerged from a distant underground opening and called out to Raphael, saying she knew he was nearby.

Raphael faced Yan Ruobing at the foot of Langya Mountain and bluffed that he could wield the power of a Saint to discourage her from capturing him. Yan Ruobing let him leave, and Raphael escaped while hiding his relief.

• Yan Ruobing threatened Raphael with her ability to make plants drain his vitality, while he remained hidden and considered how to escape.
• Raphael revealed himself, and his other self in the Dark Hut flooded him with power until his aura seemed that of a Saint.
• Raphael pretended his body could wield power equivalent to the early Void Refinement Realm and warned Yan Ruobing that her plants might mutate if they absorbed his vitality.
• Yan Ruobing invited Raphael to the Main Altar, but Raphael told her to relay a message to the Unborn Venerable Mother and said they owed each other nothing.
• Raphael walked away, and Yan Ruobing respectfully let him go while he secretly celebrated having fooled her.

Raphael experimented with the Dark Hut, created an honorific name for it, and learned how its powers could strengthen and project him into the real world. After reviewing his new Mystical Items, he received another prayer from the middle-aged man in the Forsaken Land of the Gods.

• Raphael devised the honorific name “Father of Devils, Lord of Misfits, Source of Curses; the embodiment of all desires; the symbol of all evil thoughts and spirits.”
• Raphael successfully used the name to connect to the Dark Hut, sacrifice all his Beyonder characteristics, and receive bestowal.
• Raphael discovered that the Dark Hut could empower his Prisoner and Criminal abilities and project an image of him that even angels could not see through.
• Raphael considered summoning a Sequence 4 projection of himself through a Secret Contract Ritual, but postponed testing the idea because it required killing carefully chosen targets.
• Raphael assessed the four Mystical Items he had obtained and worried that he lacked a powerful offensive ability.
• Raphael saw a blue flame appear in the Dark Hut and recognized the middle-aged man from the Forsaken Land of the Gods, whose request he intended to hear.

Raphael answered Zed’s prayers in the Forsaken Land of the Gods and offered to help control the Giant King’s youngest son. Zed returned to Sorn City to report the encounter, and parliament members suspected the being’s authority exceeded the Demon Monarch’s.

• Raphael manifested before Zed and learned that the Giant King’s youngest son periodically attacked Sorn City.
• Zed explained that the Sen’er Federation relied on the monster to defend against the Bidisis City-State, and Raphael agreed to help control him.
• Raphael told Zed to recite his name near the monster and asked him to provide historical records and information about the region.
• Zed went to Parliament Hall and told Speaker Dohaden Hawk that a god had answered his prayers.
• Zed recited the being’s honorific name to the assembled parliament members, who judged his authority greater than the Demon Monarch’s.

The Sen'er Federation sought protection from a new god as its war against the god-protected Bidisis City-State threatened its survival. Raphael answered Zed’s question about the Giant King's youngest son, then punished Zed with agonizing supernatural torment.

• Dohaden Hawk ordered Zed to ask the newly responsive god why the Giant King's youngest son had become as he was, promising him a council seat if he survived.
• Dohaden warned the council that the Sen'er Federation would not survive ten years without a new god's protection and urged them to prepare to worship one.
• Raphael entered the Dark Hut, saw Zed offering the federation's records, and opened the Gate of Sacrifice to receive them.
• Zed asked why the Giant King's youngest son had changed, and Raphael answered that it was because of the Ancient Sun God's curse.
• Raphael's power burst Zed's belly open and then restored his body, leaving Zed to understand that any repeat offense would bring worse pain.

Raphael read Zed’s documents and learned how Sorn City had converted to the True Creator, gained a supernatural food source, and later suffered mutations when the deity stopped answering prayers. Outside the temple, Zed emerged alive and warned the others not to test God.

• Raphael used the Rose Handkerchief’s Flesh Magic to restore Zed’s body, then read the documents Zed had sacrificed.
• Raphael learned that Sorn City had turned from worshipping the Sun God to the True Creator after suffering losses in a war with the Bidisis City-State.
• Raphael discovered that the True Creator had once provided clean food by separating edible flesh from the monsters Sorn City hunted, but the supply ended when the deity stopped answering prayers.
• Raphael wondered why Sorn City’s war and conversion had occurred when they did, suspecting higher powers had influenced events.
• Speaker Dohaden and the others waited outside the temple, believing Zed had died and discussing whom to send to pray next.
• Zed crawled out of the side hall and warned them not to put God to the test.

Raphael watched Zed being brought to the Giant King's youngest son and discovered a connection between the cursed giant and the Evernight Goddess. He left Sefirah Castle’s seal in place to avoid revealing the Oldest One’s recovered power, then learned that Klein and Amon had arrived.

• Dohaden had Zed carried toward the Giant King's youngest son after hearing about the deity’s punishment.
• Raphael enjoyed an elaborate dinner and breakfast before entering the Dark Hut to observe Zed and the Mother Tree of Desire’s worshippers.
• Raphael saw Zed kneeling in prayer as the cursed Giant King's youngest son approached through lethal curse mist.
• Raphael noticed an illusory black tube above the giant and recalled that the Evernight Goddess controlled the cursed corpse through the Death God's Uniqueness.
• The Oldest One warned Raphael that lifting Sefirah Castle’s Fooling would expose them to the Celestial Worthy and God Almighty, so Raphael left the seal intact.
• The Oldest One told Raphael that Klein and Amon were there.

Raphael watched Amon and Klein’s struggle over Sefirah Castle while planning to claim Bradel’s corpse after the Evernight Goddess intervened. Klein used Sefirah Castle’s power to destroy himself and Amon’s avatar, while Bradel escaped after the Ancient Sun God’s curse vanished.

• The Oldest One told Raphael that Amon wanted to steal Sefirah Castle by leaving Klein with the fate of the Celestial Worthy’s revival, and that the Evernight Goddess planned to help by killing Klein.
• Raphael discovered that the Ancient Sun God’s curse kept Bradel’s spirit trapped in his corpse and decided to wait for a chance to claim the body.
• After digesting his Sequence 3 potion, Klein returned to Sefirah Castle, where Amon’s avatar emerged from him and tried to enter the castle.
• The Evernight Goddess used Bradel to block Amon, giving Klein time to seize the Poseidon Scepter and channel Sefirah Castle’s power into the real world.
• The lightning destroyed Amon’s avatar and Klein’s body, and the Evernight Goddess withdrew her power from Bradel.
• Amon found the curse gone, and Bradel turned and ran.

Raphael turned Bradel, the Giant King's youngest son, into a controllable zombie and extracted the Ancient Sun God's curse into a usable crystal, while Amon's avatars spread through the people and creatures around Zed. The next morning, Raphael took over the Aurora Order's Backlund gathering as Mr. A, where he recognized Audrey Hall, Xio Derecha, and their companion.

• Raphael used the Dark Hut and the Source of Curses to remove the curse from Bradel and transform his corpse into a zombie, then sent it running from the battlefield.
• Raphael condensed Bradel's curse into a consumable Curse Crystal and discovered the zombie could unleash only a limited number of powerful attacks.
• Raphael noticed that Amon avatars wearing monocles had infiltrated the people and creatures around Zed, who was returning to Sorn City.
• Raphael returned his consciousness to the Northern Continent and prepared for the Aurora Order's Beyonder gathering.
• Raphael recognized Audrey Hall and Xio Derecha among the attendees and introduced himself as Mr. A, the new host replacing Mr. C.

Raphael attended a Beyonder gathering under the code name Mr. A, surprising Audrey and the others who recognized him. When a Sequence 7 Beyonder tried to steal an ingredient, Raphael killed him and sold his Beyonder characteristic, then compensated those affected and resumed trading.

• Audrey recognized that the new Mr. A was Raphael, though she kept quiet to avoid exposing him.
• Raphael hosted the gathering while Audrey watched him and considered that his new role as an Oracle could benefit the Tarot Club.
• A Sequence 7 Beyonder tried to seize a sought-after ingredient, and Raphael hypnotized him before attacking him with a broken chair arm.
• Raphael used the Rose Handkerchief and Flesh Magic to fatally wound the Pyromaniac, then offered his Beyonder characteristic for sale.
• The characteristic sold for 1,380 pounds, and Raphael paid compensation to participants splattered with blood and gave the attendants a bonus before resuming the gathering.

Raphael hosted a Beyonder gathering as Mr. A, invited Audrey, Xio, and Fors to a higher-level gathering, and reported his recent actions to Klein. Later, the Dark Hut’s power surged after someone began making sacrificial offerings to its secret realm.

• Raphael killed a Sequence 7 Beyonder at the gathering, and Xio suspected that Mr. A was Raphael after recognizing his Hypnosis Ring and his indifference toward death.
• After the gathering, Raphael invited Audrey, Xio, and Fors to a higher-level gathering in three days, then remarked that Audrey and Xio knew each other.
• On the carriage ride home, Audrey, Xio, and Fors discussed Raphael and hoped to ask Mr. World about him at the Tarot Club.
• Raphael prayed to the Fool and told Klein that he had inadvertently killed the king, the Aurora Order’s search for the Grade 0 Sealed Artifact had failed, and he had become Mr. A.
• Raphael pondered how to digest his potion, then sensed the Dark Hut’s power surging and entered its secret realm.
• The second Master of the Shadow Cottage told Raphael that someone was making sacrificial offerings to the Dark Hut’s secret realm.