Chapter Summaries

Raphael accepted a dangerous Aurora Order mission to search the buried former capital of the Solomon Empire, hoping to find materials for his advancement to Ancient Bane. He and Trissy entered the ruined city, where they encountered its lingering supernatural dangers.

• Raphael considered how to finish digesting his Silent Disciple potion and prepared for the rituals needed to advance to Ancient Bane and Blatherer.
• Benjamin told Raphael that Vice President Freddy had died while searching for a lost relic in Adro, the former capital of the Solomon Empire, and offered the Aurora Order presidency as a reward for retrieving Freddy's characteristic.
• Raphael accepted the mission, studied Freddy's records, and invited Trissy to accompany him, offering her the Gorgon eyes and blood she needed to advance to Sequence 3.
• Raphael assigned Wagner to oversee the Aurora Order's Backlund affairs while he and Trissy departed for Adro.
• Raphael used Corruption to enter the underground city with Trissy, and the two followed Freddy's safe route through its sunlit ruins.
• As Raphael and Trissy passed a towering tree, their hair and body hair began growing rapidly.

Raphael and Trissy followed Freddy’s safe route through the ruins, using transformations and Raphael’s tricks to survive the remnants of divine power. After a distorted hall unexpectedly brought them to their destination, they faced an Angel-level Spider Silk courtyard and began rolling through it inside a barrier.

• Raphael and Trissy passed the rapidly growing tree, the gods’ lightning-and-light battle, and a Bronze Mask by avoiding danger and answering its philosophical question.
• They crossed a building filled with undead Saints as Undead Creatures, then passed the Evernight darkness and the God of Combat’s Twilight-colored Light using a mirror and Raphael’s Marionette transformation.
• With Freddy’s safe route ended, Raphael and Trissy chose a pitch-black hall, where residual Black Emperor power distorted their speech, direction, and bodies.
• Raphael used doors and stones to absorb much of the hall’s distortion, and the pair emerged through a window into a courtyard beside the Gothic Church they sought.
• Spider Silk entered Raphael’s throat, but Trissy burned it away; when her flames could not clear the courtyard, Raphael formed a Dark Hut barrier and rolled them forward inside it.
• A dark shape rose from the Spider Silk and blocked their path.

Raphael and the Demon Personality summoned the Lord of Evil Desires to restrain an Angel-level shadow so Pain could use it to advance. Pain took over the shadow and recovered all his memories, while Raphael gathered ancient remains and prepared to continue toward the church.

• A female shadow trapped Raphael and Trissy in her Shadow World, but Raphael used union with the Dao to cut through her spider silk and escape into a nearby building.
• Raphael summoned Pain, and the Demon Personality arranged for Pain to receive the shadow in exchange for a Trinity Templar characteristic and a Demoness pathway characteristic.
• The Lord of Evil Desires restrained the shadow for several seconds, allowing Pain to envelop her and take over her body.
• Pain recovered all his memories, showed a brief conflict between different aspects of his personality, and then vanished from the area.
• Raphael collected suitable ancient bones from beneath the melted spider silk and looked toward the towering church.

Raphael and Trissy retrieved the Church of the True Creator’s sacred lamp from a Shadow World and escaped the Solomon Empire’s underground ruins. Back in Backlund, Pain revealed that he was the Ancient Sun God’s hidden third personality and could help turn the struggle against God Almighty.

• Raphael and Trissy entered the church, where the Lord of Evil Desires sealed the True Creator’s ancient curse.
• Adam’s Gift dispelled the Shadow World, allowing Raphael to take the sacred lamp, which had been made from the Ancient Sun God’s remains.
• Raphael collected church sculptures for his advancement, then left with Trissy and encountered a monstrous version of Freddy among the trees.
• Raphael returned to Backlund with Trissy, gave her the Gorgon’s Eye, and summoned Pain.
• The Lord of Evil Desires shielded Raphael and Pain from divine observation, and Pain revealed that he was the Ancient Sun God’s secret personality backup and a key to opposing God Almighty.

Pain revealed the Ancient Sun God’s plan to resist God Almighty and asked Raphael to help reunite his personalities and reclaim characteristics. Raphael became President of the Aurora Order, received an Angel-level item from the Underworld Daoist, and prepared to enter the Fog Sea conflict around the Abyss Entrance to digest his potion.

• Pain told Raphael that the Ancient Sun God had planned to reclaim characteristics to prevent God Almighty from awakening, and explained how Pain’s personalities could reunite to challenge God Almighty.
• Raphael agreed to help Pain meet the other personalities and received a Trinity Templar characteristic; he then reported his operation to Benjamin without mentioning Pain.
• Benjamin confirmed Raphael’s promotion to President of the Aurora Order, and Raphael informed Trissy and his other subordinates before taking control of the organization.
• The Underworld Daoist gave Raphael a Black Jade Buddha capable of withstanding Angel-level power, providing the eerie item Raphael needed for advancement.
• Raphael learned that six Mid-Sequence Beyonders and several factions had gathered around the Abyss Entrance in the Fog Sea, then traveled there disguised to hunt and digest his potion.

Raphael manipulated the factions seeking the Abyss Entrance into a violent struggle, then secretly killed two Saints whose groups withdrew. The fighting continued until Agalito's Death Announcer arrived and joined a coordinated attack on the Beria Family Saint.

• Raphael triggered a fight between rival groups on a pirate island and intensified the conflict among six factions searching for the Abyss Entrance.
• Raphael made the Abyss Entrance appear, drawing seven ships to the island, where the factions fought and the Eternal Blazing Sun Order's members were killed.
• The Rose School and an unknown faction withdrew, and Raphael secretly killed their Saints and turned their remaining members into marionettes.
• The four remaining Devil-pathway Saints formed and betrayed alliances repeatedly until the Death Announcer arrived and attacked their ships.
• A Nois Family Saint ambushed the Beria Family Saint, and Agalito's Death Announcer joined the attack as the other Saints turned on him.

Raphael exploited the Devils’ betrayals to eliminate two Saints, then revealed himself as the remaining Saints neared the Abyss Entrance. He overwhelmed them with his power, but the Nois Family’s Saint brought out a dangerous artifact, and their battle continued.

• The King of Immortality joined the Saints’ fight, and Raphael followed and killed the fleeing Beria Family’s Saint.
• Raphael killed the other Saint from the Snow Family after the Devils drove him away, then learned the King of Immortality had been invited as an ally by the Nois and Andariel families.
• The Saints turned against the Nois Family’s Saint aboard the Death Announcer, but he exposed Raphael’s presence and persuaded them to pause their fight.
• Raphael appeared and cursed the Death Announcer into an enormous whale, prompting the King of Immortality to flee into the sea.
• Raphael injured the Andariel family’s Saint and redirected the Nois Family’s Saint’s attacks against him, then struck at the Nois Family’s Saint’s white bone branch.
• The Nois Family’s Saint’s branch blocked Raphael’s sword, so Raphael used Sun Flame to transfer purifying damage to him, but the Saint attacked Raphael’s mind and desires again.

Raphael defeated the Nois Family and Andariel Family saints, then helped the Lord of Evil Desires, Pain, and Gehrman Sparrow kill the Archduke of Blood. After the battle, Raphael realized that his Silent Disciple potion had been fully digested.

• Raphael resisted the Nois Family saint’s Grade 0 Sealed Artifact with the Dark Hut and holy light, while an Eye of Illusions projection killed the saint and the Lord of Evil Desires took away the Bone Branch and Death Announcer.
• Raphael cursed the fleeing Andariel Family saint, but the Archduke of Blood descended through the saint and attacked the Lord of Evil Desires.
• Raphael summoned Pain and prayed to Mr. Fool, while the Lord of Evil Desires seized control of the bloodlike sea and stopped the Archduke of Blood from escaping.
• Gehrman Sparrow joined Pain and the Lord of Evil Desires, blocked the Archduke’s resurrection preparations, and helped separate and secure his Beyonder characteristic.
• Raphael concluded that his Silent Disciple potion was fully digested and understood that a disciple faced powerful enemies fearlessly and eliminated them without a word.

Raphael cleaned up after the battle, collected powerful Beyonder characteristics, and met with Klein at the Tarot Club to negotiate cooperation. The two revealed that they came from the Common Era and agreed to help each other resist the ancient beings seeking to use them for resurrection.

• Raphael disguised the Rose School Saint's death as the result of a battle between Saints, then killed the crew of a ship he suspected belonged to the Church of Knowledge.
• Raphael returned to Backlund and discovered that his spoils included an Archduke of Blood characteristic and six Saint-level characteristics, but he postponed advancing to Angel.
• At the Tarot Club, Raphael offered Klein future assistance connected to a planned campaign against the Celestial Worthy's power in the Western Continent.
• Raphael and Klein recognized each other as transmigrators from the Common Era and shared that the Oldest One and the Celestial Worthy sought to resurrect through them.
• Raphael asked Klein to watch for signs that the Oldest One had taken control of him and to try to save him later; Klein agreed, and Raphael promised to help hold Zaratul back after advancing.

At the Tarot Club, Raphael explained how the Lord of Evil Desires used an Abyss Entrance to lure and defeat members of the Blood Sanctify Sect. After preparing on a remote Fog Sea island, Raphael advanced to Ancient Bane and began readying himself for the expected confrontation with the Oldest One in the Dark Hut.

• Raphael told the Tarot Club that the Lord of Evil Desires had used an Abyss Entrance to trap four Blood Sanctify Sect saints and an angel, and that the Devils killed the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun forces who tried to destroy it.
• Raphael explained that the Church of Knowledge might also have wanted the Abyss Entrance because its Reader pathway was adjacent to the Secrets Suppliant pathway.
• After the Tarot Club meeting, Raphael rested for several days, then prepared the Ancient Bane and Blatherer potions.
• On a remote island, Raphael drank the Ancient Bane potion and endured successive curses, using the Black Buddha to absorb much of their torment before successfully advancing to angelhood.
• Raphael concluded that the Oldest One was likely waiting in the Dark Hut, suppressed the imbalance between his pathways, and drank the Blatherer potion to continue preparing.

Desmond endured the pain and corruption transferred through his Life-and-Death Pact while Raphael advanced from Ancient Bane to Blatherer on a deserted island. Raphael survived, restrained his spirituality, and examined his new powers, including stronger curses, area-wide influence, and mental and bodily pollution.

• Desmond followed the plan and entered a forest outside New Sorn City, where he endured Raphael’s advancement pain as Speaker Haden and the other Saints watched from a distance.
• Raphael transferred some of his advancement agony to Desmond through their Life-and-Death Pact, and Desmond began purifying himself as corruption took hold.
• Raphael successfully advanced to Blatherer, then left the island after its dead plants and animals became corrupted.
• Raphael reined in his spirituality on another deserted island and examined his strengthened curse authority, area-of-effect influence, controllable mythical creature form, and other Angel-level abilities.
• Raphael discovered that his new Blatherer ability could covertly or openly pollute targets, damaging their minds and bodies.

After advancing to Blatherer, Raphael discovered his new abilities and entered the Dark Hut to confront the Oldest One, who intended to assimilate him. The Demon Personality freed God Almighty’s mental remnant and the Supernova Dominator, giving Raphael a chance to escape the Oldest One’s control as the confrontation began.

• Raphael learned that his Clone ability let him create three independent bodies, but escaping the Dark Hut through a clone required him to connect to the outside world.
• Raphael entered the Dark Hut, created two clones, and confronted the Oldest One, who trapped him and invaded his mental world.
• The Oldest One explained that he needed to assimilate Raphael to regain the substance required to return to the level of a Pillar.
• The Oldest One erased the Demon Personality, but a rift opened in Raphael’s mental world and allowed Raphael to escape back into the Dark Hut.
• The Demon Personality, hidden in a clone, revealed that he had freed the Supernova Dominator and God Almighty’s mental remnant.
• God Almighty’s mental remnant struck Raphael with a Blazing White Spear, and Raphael escaped into another clone while the battle against the Oldest One intensified.

Raphael resisted the Oldest One’s assimilation by using the Demon Personality to awaken the Mother Tree of Desire’s power inside the Dark Hut. The Shadow World appeared over the Fog Sea, drawing the attention of the Six Gods, the Mother Tree of Desire, Cosmic Darkness, and the Chained God.

• Raphael used Union with the Dao to resist the Oldest One while God Almighty’s mental remnant fought the Supernova Dominator.
• The Demon Personality climbed the great tree in the Dark Hut and awakened the Mother Tree of Desire’s power, turning its leaves blood-red.
• The Shadow World manifested over the Fog Sea, and the Six Gods prepared to protect the barrier as the Mother Tree of Desire watched from the sky.
• Cosmic Darkness sent power from the Abyss into the Shadow World after its divided consciousnesses reacted to its appearance.
• The Chained God sent power toward the Fog Sea, then relaxed as the flowers and vines on his body went still.

Raphael's three personalities fused as the Mother Tree of Desire's avatar, God Almighty's mental remnant, and the Supernova Dominator fought over the Dark Hut. The fusion let Raphael imprison the Oldest One in his spirit world, though the consequences of his unexpected victory remained unclear.

• The Mother Tree of Desire's avatar entered the Dark Hut, forcing God Almighty's mental remnant, the Oldest One, and the Supernova Dominator to fight her for control.
• Raphael retreated, reunited with the Demon Personality, and tried unsuccessfully to seize control of the Dark Hut.
• Raphael and the Demon Personality decided to use their trump card and brought Zhou Fei into the Northern Continent Raphael's spirit world.
• Raphael fused his three personalities through Union with the Dao, combining their perspectives and memories.
• Raphael raised a hand toward the Oldest One and imprisoned him inside his spirit world.

Raphael subdued the Oldest One and learned that the Ancient Sun God’s Three Gods in One principle had been humanity’s method for resisting divinity. After using his new authority over the sefirot to contain the enemies in the Dark Hut, Raphael began contemplating union with the Dao to gain more control, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Raphael chained the Oldest One’s consciousness in his spirit world and learned that the Ancient Sun God had divided his consciousness into three as a way for mortals to become pillars.
• Raphael discovered that his control over the Oldest One gave him affinity with the sefirot and Beyonder characteristics that originated from the Oldest One.
• Raphael returned to the Dark Hut, used the Chaos Sea to weaken God Almighty’s remnant psyche, and disrupted its cooperation with the Mother Tree of Desire’s clone.
• Raphael used his control of the Dark Hut and the Chaos Sea to force the Mother Tree of Desire’s clone and the Supernova Dominator into conflict, then sealed them and God Almighty’s remnant psyche away from him.
• Raphael told the Demon Personality that he needed to contemplate union with the Dao, warning that the battle would be long.

Raphael completed the second stage of union with the Dao, gained control of the Dark Hut, and sealed the Mother Tree of Desire’s clone, God Almighty’s residual psyche, and the half of the Supernova Dominator. After dividing his personalities and returning to the real world, he discovered his potions were nearly digested, and the Oldest One explained that this was because he had become part of Raphael’s spirit world.

• Raphael had the Demon Personality keep the Mother Tree of Desire’s clone occupied while he attempted the second stage of union with the Dao.
• Raphael succeeded in connecting with the Dark Hut, uprooted the Mother Tree of Desire’s clone from its hold, and regained full control of the hut.
• Raphael resealed the half of the Supernova Dominator and sealed God Almighty’s residual psyche after stripping away its source of power.
• Raphael tore away much of the Mother Tree of Desire’s clone’s power and sealed it, but the remaining clone resisted further compression inside the spirituality dome.
• Raphael recovered, rebuilt the Crystal Palace, and separated his personalities so Zhou Fei could travel to the Western Continent while the Demon Personality watched the Oldest One.
• Raphael found his Ancient Bane and Blatherer potions nearly digested, and the Oldest One said it was because he had become part of Raphael’s spirit world.

Raphael learned that the Oldest One had absorbed the Mother Tree of Desire’s influence, then took control of the Dark Hut while recovering from his ordeal. When Zaratul attacked Klein in Utopia Town, Raphael joined the battle, but Gehrman suddenly stabbed Klein with a Wooden Cross Stake.

• The Oldest One told Raphael that the Mother Tree of Desire’s influence and divinity had come to him, and Raphael concluded that he was usually the dominant consciousness.
• After returning to Backlund, Raphael met Qinglan as the Lord of Evil Desires and agreed to lead the Dark Hut with Qinglan as his deputy.
• Zaratul attacked Klein in Utopia Town with projections of Roselle, William Augustus, and Suah, while Klein summoned Azik, Arianna, and Raphael to help him fight.
• Raphael arrived, cursed Zaratul into a black dog, and destroyed Suah’s projection before returning to Utopia Town and joining the fight against Zaratul.
• A marionette appeared behind Klein as Gehrman Sparrow and pierced Klein’s heart with a Wooden Cross Stake, saying Adam had given him humanity.

Raphael and the Lord of Evil Desires lured Suah into a trap while Raphael fought Zaratul, who fled after their battle turned against him. Qinglan killed Suah, and Raphael was left wondering whether to approach the Corpse Cathedral.

• Zaratul attacked Raphael’s spirit body threads while Adam’s Corpse Cathedral enclosed Klein, and Suah arrived to target Raphael.
• The Lord of Evil Desires summoned Qinglan, who cursed Suah and trapped him in the Black Abyss as Zaratul tried to intervene.
• Raphael used Nine-Tile to disrupt Zaratul’s Historical Projections, then traded a fatal wound with Zaratul and fought him inside the Mysteries Realm.
• Raphael entered his black Buddha form and interrupted Roselle’s projection, after which Zaratul vanished and fled.
• Qinglan and the Lord of Evil Desires killed Suah, collected his Beyonder characteristic, and departed; Raphael wondered whether to greet Klein at the Corpse Cathedral.

Raphael negotiated with Adam over Klein, Amon, and God Almighty’s possible revival, while Klein escaped and Amon seized the Door pathway’s apotheosis ritual to become a god. Raphael returned to Backlund worried about the dangers awaiting him if Klein later fell into slumber.

• Raphael reached the Corpse Cathedral, offered to preserve an independent avatar for Amon in exchange for Adam letting Klein go, and discussed helping God Almighty revive inside Farbauti.
• Klein used his arrangements in Sefirah Castle to kill himself and escape the Corpse Cathedral, then began advancing.
• Raphael restored movement to the people and creatures in Utopia Town, which Zaratul had left as corpses after taking control of Klein’s marionettes.
• Amon used Abraham’s return ritual to replace Mr. Door in his apotheosis, became the Door pathway’s god, and used the first Blasphemy Slate to block the Mother Goddess of Depravity’s corruption.
• Klein swallowed Zaratul’s characteristic and became a dual-Sequence 1 King of Angel.
• Raphael returned to his Backlund villa and worried that Klein’s coming struggle with Amon and possible slumber would leave him exposed to the Mother Tree of Desire.

Raphael prepared to advance to Sequence 1 by arranging the blessing ritual and seeking a safer alternative to sacrificing settlements on Earth. After striking a deal with the Supernova Dominator, he left Earth and reached a distant planet to begin his plan.

• Raphael decided to pursue his Sequence 1 advancement and considered avoiding the sacrifices that would turn the Lord of Evil Desires into a more dangerous enemy of the churches.
• Raphael negotiated with the Supernova Dominator for a safe planet inhabited by more than ten thousand intelligent beings and learned that unknown Outer Deities existed.
• The Supernova Dominator provided the planet's location and bestowed a cosmic-travel ability on Raphael's crystal.
• Raphael left a clone behind Jupiter, traveled through the Astral World for about a day, and arrived at the marked planet.