Chapter Summaries

Raphael’s puppet play reenacted the Fourth Epoch’s wars and the deaths of Solomon and Trunsoest, drawing the attention of several powerful observers. After fully digesting his Marionette potion, Raphael prepared his anchors and advanced to Sequence 3 on a deserted island, where the Source of Curses appeared to him.

• Raphael performed the final acts of the puppet play, depicting Trunsoest’s rise, his search for power, and his death at the hands of the six warlocks.
• William I and Arianna watched the play, while Klein and Bernadette secretly observed; William I recognized the order to search for a lamp as a clue but chose not to question Raphael.
• The audience applauded as the play ended, and Raphael returned home knowing he had fully digested his Marionette potion.
• Raphael visited Gass Island and the Assassin Company to inspect his anchors, distribute funds, and tell people to pray to the Lord of Evil Desires.
• On New Year’s night, Raphael traveled through the Spirit World to a deserted island, drank the Silent Disciple potion, and entered the pool of clear water before the Source of Curses.

Raphael successfully advanced to Silent Disciple, but the two-level gap between his Prisoner and Criminal pathways caused his body, spirit, and mind to collapse. He stabilized himself with the Dark Hut’s power and resolved to advance to Demon as soon as possible.

• Raphael heard the prayers and thoughts of the Lord of Evil Desires’ church order and realized that anchors had helped him advance to Silent Disciple.
• After leaving the spirit world, Raphael encountered hallucinations of people he had killed and discovered that his body was dissolving because his pathways had become badly unbalanced.
• Raphael resisted Demon Personality’s suggestion to seek help from the Oldest One and struggled to ignore the hallucinations, including Dunn Smith and Daly Simone.
• Raphael entered the Dark Hut and used its power to temporarily stabilize his body, while noticing that his control over it had deepened.
• Raphael left the Dark Hut and decided to prepare the Demon potion quickly to restore balance between his pathways.

Raphael struggled to brew his advancement potion while powerful hallucinations disrupted his senses and pushed him toward violence. Audrey followed his confused request for help, stabilized the situation, brewed the potion, and handed it to him, though one hallucination warned him not to drink it.

• Raphael tried to brew his potion on the beach, but hallucinations interfered with his measurements and kept provoking him.
• Raphael accidentally sent a letter meant for Xio to Audrey, who read his plea for help and traveled to the beach with Pain.
• Audrey arrived and used her Spectator ability to make Raphael recognize her after he attacked her under the influence of his hallucinations.
• Raphael gave Audrey the potion formula, and she checked the ingredients and brewed the potion.
• Audrey collected the finished red potion and handed it to Raphael as the Underworld Daoist warned him that it was poison.

Raphael advanced to Sequence 3, becoming a Silent Disciple and a Demon after surviving a perilous descent into humanity’s evil thoughts. He recovered, asked Audrey to keep his secret, and examined the new abilities he had gained.

• Raphael drank the potion Audrey prepared and turned into a stable puddle of black liquid as his consciousness sank through humanity’s evil thoughts.
• Protected by the desires and evil thoughts he had created, Raphael reached the bottom of the waves of malice and returned safely to the real world.
• Raphael thanked Audrey for helping him advance and asked her not to reveal his secret; Audrey promised to keep silent and left the dream.
• Raphael regained control of his spirituality and resolved to prepare the other pathway’s potion before his next advancement.
• Raphael examined his Silent Disciple abilities, including stronger curses, Damage Transfer, distant possession, and free travel through the Mirror World.
• Raphael examined his Demon abilities, including Hellfire, Acid Swamp, Corrosive Ghost Mist, Filthy Phantom, and Projection.

Raphael examined the abilities he gained as a Demon and discovered that the Dark Hut raised him to roughly angel level. Worried that the Oldest One might take over his consciousness, Raphael sought the Underworld Daoist to learn Union with the Dao, and heard that a pillar had altered the universe’s rules to make humans fragile.

• Raphael examined his Demon abilities and learned he could secretly turn targets below Sequence 3 into lifelong Marionettes.
• Inside the Dark Hut, Raphael sensed that he reached roughly angel level, but its seals limited his power and his danger from the Oldest One remained.
• Raphael decided to cultivate the Demon Source Scripture, support the operation on the Western Continent, and let his Demon Personality handle matters unless a fight began.
• After reaching Sequence 3, Raphael traveled into the Land of Extreme Yin and asked the Underworld Daoist to teach him Union with the Dao.
• The Underworld Daoist accepted Raphael as his pupil and explained that a pillar had altered the universe’s rules, making humans incredibly fragile.

The Underworld Daoist explained the origins of humanity’s diminished potential and taught Raphael the principles of Union with the Dao, while Audrey helped Raphael’s Demon Personality ease his pressure. After weeks of cultivation, Raphael weakened God Almighty’s arrangements in the Dark Hut, then noticed a change when he balanced the Chaos Sea’s power with power from the Supernova Dominator.

• The Underworld Daoist told Raphael that the Great Old Ones and the Oldest One had changed the universe’s rules, lowering humanity’s potential and making humans fragile around the supernatural.
• The Underworld Daoist urged Raphael to pursue the highest possible ceiling through Union with the Dao and explained how inner drive and spirituality formed a combined force.
• At Earl Hall’s New Year’s reception, Audrey’s therapy helped Raphael’s Demon Personality feel more hopeful, and Raphael told her that Sorn City’s people were being relocated to his prepared island.
• Raphael spent weeks cultivating the Demon Source Scripture and contemplating Union with the Dao, nearly mastering its seventh level.
• Raphael used the Dark Angel evil spirit to strip a much larger amount of Chaos Sea power from God Almighty’s arrangements, then siphoned power from the Supernova Dominator to balance it.
• Raphael froze and looked toward the sealed Supernova Dominator.

Raphael secretly negotiated with the Supernova Dominator, who offered to help seal the Oldest One once Raphael advanced to Angel. After learning more about the Oldest One’s motives and independent consciousnesses, Raphael returned to the Real World and pretended to trust the Oldest One while he and the Demon Personality planned to benefit from their conflict.

• Raphael communicated with the Supernova Dominator through the sealed crystal, and it proposed helping seal the Oldest One in exchange for release or a temporary place in the Dark Hut.
• The Supernova Dominator told Raphael that extracting power from it and the Chaos Sea suggested Raphael possessed traits of a Great Old One, and Raphael recalled how he had devised the method.
• Raphael and the Supernova Dominator agreed to wait until Raphael became an Angel, when they would sever the Oldest One’s connection to him and try to seal it.
• The Supernova Dominator explained that the Oldest One’s independent consciousnesses represented different possible directions for the universe, while the one within Raphael represented mutation and new possibilities.
• The Supernova Dominator admitted it did not know what had changed in the universe a few thousand years earlier, then Raphael sealed it back in the crystal and returned to the Real World.
• The Oldest One said it did not intend to overwrite Raphael’s consciousness, while Raphael and the Demon Personality privately decided to let the Oldest One and Supernova Dominator clash for their benefit.

Raphael returned to the Tarot Club after advancing to Sequence 3, intending to use the gathering to practice silence and continue preparing for his dangerous advancement. During the meeting, his Demon Personality explained the origins of the twenty-two pathways and revealed that six had come from the Astral World, leaving the members with questions about the Arbiter pathway.

• Raphael abandoned his plan to investigate God Almighty’s arrangements in the Colorful Lamp and focused on preparing for his advancement and digesting his potions.
• Raphael attended the Tarot Club gathering for the first time since reaching Sequence 3, and Alger asked what information he should withhold from the Church during his investigation of New Sern City.
• Emlyn asked whether the Planter and Moon pathways had unusual traits, prompting the Fool to ask where the twenty-two Beyonder pathways originated.
• Raphael’s Demon Personality explained that the Oldest One’s characteristics and authorities had split, with six pathways later brought from the Astral World into the real world.
• Raphael’s Demon Personality named Prisoner, Criminal, Planter, Apothecary, Lawyer, and Arbiter as the six pathways from the Astral World and explained that the Earth Mother’s Blessed guarded against its influence.
• Xio asked where the Arbiter pathway had come from, and Klein thought that he knew the answer.

At the Tarot Club, Raphael and the members discussed pathway origins, potion names, and plans for the City of Silver, while Raphael began digesting his potion by silently joining the bustle of a stock exchange. In the Dark Hut, Raphael made a breakthrough in his understanding of union with the Dao and gained greater control over its power before the Holy Monk arrived to meet him and his teacher.

• Klein told the Tarot Club that the Lawyer and Arbiter pathways and the Nation of Disorder originated from the Son of Chaos, while World warned that some knowledge caused corruption.
• Emlyn asked about gendered potion names, and Audrey compared them to the Assassin pathway's Witch potion.
• Derrick asked how the City of Silver could earn money and spread the Fool's faith, and the Tarot Club offered advice on mercenary work, trade, investments, and religious practice.
• Raphael discovered that silently participating in the lively discussions at the Securities Trading Center helped digest his potion.
• After nearly a month of contemplation in the Dark Hut, Raphael sensed the force governing the universe, gained greater control over the Hut, and calmed its erupting volcano.
• Raphael met Huiyuan and the Holy Monk outside the Underworld Daoist's hall, where the Holy Monk addressed him as Zhou Fei.

The Underworld Daoist concluded that Raphael had escaped the altered rules of the universe and might be a remnant of the Beyonder world's efforts before its destruction, while reports of the Celestial Worthy's renewed activity raised concerns for Klein. Raphael then accelerated his potion digestion by forcing a colonial battle to continue, and returned to Backlund ready to prepare for his plan.

• The Holy Monk greeted Raphael as Benefactor Zhou Fei before leaving with Huiyuan, and the Underworld Daoist questioned Raphael and Wen Tuo about their recent insights.
• The Underworld Daoist realized Raphael had not been affected by the altered rules and warned him and Wen Tuo to keep the revelation secret.
• The Underworld Daoist reported coastal attacks, Penglai Sect activity, and sea mirages linked to the Celestial Worthy, whose forces the Holy Monk, Celestial Master, and Celestial Thearch planned to oppose.
• Raphael traveled to Lurni State and used his powers to make both sides continue fighting until the local armed force routed, digesting much of his potion in the process.
• Raphael returned to his Backlund villa and thought it was time to prepare, while the Demon Personality gleefully anticipated their plan.

After advancing in Union with the Dao, Raphael used his new power to expose and seal God Almighty’s avatar in the Dark Hut, then considered how to prepare the Dark Hut for war against the Penglai Sect. He projected himself to the Western Continent to meet the Master of the Shadow Cottage.

• Raphael sensed his progress in Union with the Dao, which strengthened his connection to Beyonder characteristics and let him influence the Dark Hut’s power over a vast range.
• Raphael deduced that the second Master of the Shadow Cottage was God Almighty’s avatar, and the avatar revealed that he had sealed Raphael’s control of the high-backed chair.
• Raphael used Union with the Dao to break the seal, sent God Almighty’s avatar into the Colorful Lamp, and sealed him alongside the aura of the Chaos Sea.
• Raphael found that the first and third Masters of the Shadow Cottage had merged into the Dark Hut, while the fourth remained unchanged under the Mother Tree of Desire’s influence.
• Raphael decided to give the Dark Hut unused Prisoner and Secrets Suppliant characteristics to strengthen it for a possible war with the Penglai Sect.
• Raphael projected himself into the Dark Hut’s headquarters on the Western Continent, where the Master of the Shadow Cottage recognized that he had grown stronger.

Raphael strengthened the Dark Hut and planned a deception in Valterk, where Rose School members were meeting. He manipulated their beliefs about the Chained God and the Mother Tree of Desire, then appeared before Lejia, who recognized him.

• Raphael gave Qinglan Beyonder characteristics for the Dark Hut disciples and asked him to prepare elites for a coming war.
• Qinglan revealed his Daoist name, and Raphael realized he had accepted Raphael as the Dark Hut’s future master.
• In Valterk, Lejia and six Rose School members planned an attack on a Church of Evernight and argued over a supposed sacrifice to the Mother Tree of Desire.
• Griffiths showed Lejia a bracelet and explained that Raphael had warned them the Mother Tree of Desire could influence Lejia and make him forget important events.
• Griffiths recounted Raphael’s claims that the Chained God had become the Lord of Evil Desires and was reclaiming the Rose School.
• Raphael appeared in the meeting room, and Lejia recognized him by name.

Raphael, posing as the Demon Personality, convinced Rose School saint Lejia that the Mother Tree of Desire had sealed his memories and that his mentor might also abandon her. After Lejia asked the Lord of Evil Desires to restore his memories, Raphael used illusions to make him believe he had already changed allegiance, leaving Lejia worshipping the Lord of Evil Desires.

• Raphael told Lejia that the Mother Tree of Desire had hidden his memories and that the Rose School's attacks on Raphael reflected a struggle between gods.
• Raphael used Lejia's transformed subordinates and his intercepted distress signal to make his deception seem credible, and Lejia agreed to have his memories restored.
• Raphael summoned the Lord of Evil Desires, whose presence convinced Lejia that the deity was powerful enough to challenge the Mother Tree of Desire.
• Using the jade eyes' illusion power, Raphael fabricated memories in which Lejia had already learned the truth and switched his allegiance.
• Lejia praised the Lord of Evil Desires, and Raphael felt that a considerable portion of his Demon potion had been digested.

Raphael assembled a coalition to attack the Rose School, disguising his plan to provoke a civil war as a joint assault. The allies gathered in Valterik City, where Klein arrived with the final contingent.

• Raphael recruited Lejia and two other Rose School Saints as believers in the Lord of Evil Desires and planned to use them as inside agents.
• Raphael enlisted Sharron, the Sanguine, and the Church of the Evernight Goddess, then traveled to Utopia and persuaded Klein to join the operation.
• Raphael booked a hotel in Valterik City and prepared it as the coalition’s assembly point and command center.
• Lejia and the other Saints arrived and met the forces from New Sorn City and the Western Continent, learning where those allies had come from.
• Sharron and her companions arrived, and Raphael revealed that Lejia’s group would act as inside agents; the Sanguine and Nighthawks followed.
• Klein arrived in Valterik City, leading the coalition’s final contingent.

Raphael and his allies planned a coordinated assault on three Rose School outposts, aiming to draw out and kill its Saints while containing its Angels. The attacks began as scheduled, and the Mother Tree of Desire issued an oracle ordering the Rose School to gather its forces for battle.

• Klein arrived with Church of the Fool forces, and Raphael outlined a plan to target three Rose School outposts while powerful allies kept its Angels occupied.
• Sharron, Emlyn, and the Spirit Warlock added further Saints to the alliance, and the factions agreed on spoils and set the operation for the following evening.
• Raphael and Klein discussed the Chained God, whom Raphael said was nearly under the Mother Tree of Desire's control, and the Lord of Evil Desires' plans to strike the Rose School.
• The alliance attacked three Rose School outposts, prompting the Rose School to send Saints as reinforcements until the battles became deadlocked.
• Rose School Saints prayed to Abomination Suah and Angel Baranka for guidance, and the Mother Tree of Desire ordered them to gather their forces and inflict heavy losses on the attackers.

Raphael’s forces launched a coordinated assault on the Rose School’s hidden rainforest outpost, killing its leaders and overwhelming its Saints. Raphael used his Union with the Dao sword technique to destroy a doll empowered by a Mystical Item, while the battle between the Angels continued.

• Lejia and another Rose School Saint tried to lure the assembled Saints into a trap, but Raphael withheld reinforcements, and Baranka transformed them into a dog and a rabbit that the Rose School Saints killed.
• Demon Lord Xuanyin attacked the outpost with maddening laughter, while Roderick confronted him and Gehrman Sparrow summoned Mr. Azik, Lady Arianna, and a Snake of Fate to help pin down Baranka.
• Raphael and his Saints emerged from the Spirit World and attacked; Raphael cursed Mahames, who became a venomous snake, and the outpost erupted into battle.
• Raphael killed Mahames and wounded a Marionette as his forces gained the advantage, while a Rose School Saint used a Mystical Item to become an oil-dripping doll with near-Angel-level power.
• Raphael manifested Union with the Dao and cut the doll in half, then stabbed the grease-soaked head inside it until it dissolved into black smoke.

Raphael and his allies crushed the Rose School’s Saints while the Lord of Evil Desires and Klein kept Abomination Suah and the fleeing Angels occupied. The battle ended with Baranka dead and the Lord of Evil Desires claiming his Ancient Bane characteristic, while Suah and the remaining Rose School forces escaped.

• Raphael killed the grease-covered puppet, but Abomination Suah’s arm descended and caused mutations that let the Rose School’s Saints flee into the Spirit World until the Lord of Evil Desires drove them back.
• The Lord of Evil Desires summoned the Underworld Emperor’s zombie and an Angel-level Jade Eye phantom to hold Suah, while Raphael and the other Saints killed Rose School fighters.
• A Silent Disciple escaped through a powerful Spirit World creature, and Suah withdrew after most of the Rose School’s Saints had been killed.
• Klein used the Snake of Fate to restart Baranka’s escape, then the Lord of Evil Desires trapped Baranka in the Underworld Emperor’s divine kingdom and had the zombie devour him.
• The Lord of Evil Desires claimed Baranka’s Ancient Bane characteristic and agreed to compensate Klein for the shared spoils.

Raphael led a coordinated campaign that devastated the Rose School, then returned to Backlund and continued running the Aurora Order. At the Tarot Club, he revealed that he had initiated the operation, while the members questioned how he had turned the Rose School’s Saints.

• Raphael used the Dark Hut’s power to shield Klein’s divination, then led forces to locate and attack the Rose School’s outposts and subordinates.
• After the operation, Raphael shared the remaining banquet food with tramps, returned to Backlund, and decided the True Creator was allowing him to remain in the Aurora Order.
• At the Tarot Club, Xio described the mysterious town of Utopia, and the World identified it as an advancement ritual.
• Raphael told the Tarot Club that he had initiated the campaign against the Rose School and that the Lord of Evil Desires had fought Suah.
• Alger, the World, and Emlyn asked how Raphael had managed to turn the Rose School’s Saints.

At the Tarot Club, Raphael described how he helped destroy the Rose School and secured a promise that the Lord of Evil Desires would not aid Amon. Back in Backlund, Raphael prepared bait for the Blood Sanctify Sect’s Demons and moved the Abyss Entrance toward the Fog Sea.

• Raphael explained that he had infiltrated the Rose School by posing as a blessed of the Chained God, and that the operation killed one Angel, eight Saints, and many other members.
• Klein asked Raphael to convey his request that the Lord of Evil Desires refrain from helping Amon, and Raphael agreed to pass it along.
• Raphael considered how to lure Demons from the Blood Sanctify Sect and chose the Abyss Entrance as irresistible bait.
• Raphael traveled to the Forsaken Land of the Gods and summoned the Lord of Evil Desires through a monster reciting his honorific name.
• The Lord of Evil Desires found the Abyss Entrance near Chernobyl, pulled it from the Forsaken Land of the Gods, and headed toward the Fog Sea.

Raphael used Mateo and other marionettes to spread word of the Abyss Entrance, provoking conflict among Devil pathway Beyonders and fully digesting his Demon potion. With the rumor beginning to draw attention, he planned to let stronger factions fight before seeking their Beyonder Characteristics and turned to his Silent Disciple potion and advancement ritual.

• Mateo revealed the Abyss Entrance’s location to the Desire Apostle and a Devil, but the Devil killed him after extracting the information.
• The Desire Apostle secretly kept a sample of Abyss substance, used it to evade the Devil’s Malice Perception, and killed him before sailing for the Fog Sea.
• Raphael watched through Mateo, revealing that he had made six survivors into marionettes and sent them to spread word of the Abyss Entrance across the Rorsted Islands.
• Raphael realized that the resulting infighting had digested his Demon potion, especially the Desire Apostle’s betrayal and murder of her companion.
• Raphael decided to let the conflict grow until Saints were drawn in, then shifted his focus to digesting the Silent Disciple potion and preparing for its advancement ritual.