Chapter Summaries

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.

Raphael negotiated with the second Master of the Shadow Cottage over his role in the Dark Hut and agreed to keep supplying its power. During a sacrificial ritual, the current Master of the Shadow Cottage used the Heaven and Earth Mirror to inspect the secret realm and discovered that Raphael had changed its interior and claimed it as its new master.

• The second Master of the Shadow Cottage explained how offerings and invocations let him check the Dark Hut's condition, and Raphael agreed to keep supplying its power.
• Raphael considered how to negotiate with the current Master of the Shadow Cottage without appearing weak or provoking a fight inside the Dark Hut.
• At the Dark Hut Headquarters in Jing Province, the high priest and Dark Hut disciples performed a sacrificial ritual while Demon Lord Xuanyin and the other great cultivators watched.
• The Master of the Shadow Cottage used the Heaven and Earth Mirror to look into the secret realm and noticed that its wooden walkway, pavilion, and lava pool had changed.
• The Master of the Shadow Cottage saw a malicious figure sitting in a wooden chair inside the pavilion, and the figure announced that the Dark Hut had a new master.

Raphael negotiated with the Master of the Shadow Cottage, offering to weaken the Dark Hut’s influence and help the school expand in exchange for cooperation. The Master chose to wait and see, while Raphael returned to Backlund and planned his third round of acting in a church cemetery.

• Raphael claimed to be the awakened master of the Dark Hut and promised to protect the Master of the Shadow Cottage from its corrosion.
• The Master of the Shadow Cottage asked whether Raphael was the Demon Lord Xuanyin had summoned from the Otherworld, and Raphael described his connection to the Dark Hut.
• The Master of the Shadow Cottage declined to commit and ended the first negotiation by choosing to wait and see.
• The Master of the Shadow Cottage stopped sustaining the secret realm entrance, told the gathered priests and Demon Lords that nothing was wrong, and returned underground.
• Raphael returned to Backlund, considered his next steps, and chose a public cemetery run by the Church of the Evernight Goddess for his third round of acting.

Raphael chose a cemetery as the site for his next acting and prepared to investigate it while Klein attended the Tarot Club gathering. Klein explained his game with Amon, discussed his predicament and the king’s failed attempt to become the Black Emperor, then revealed that Raphael Collins had killed George III.

• Raphael selected the Evernight Goddess’s cemetery for his acting and had his subordinates investigate it and find a suitable funeral.
• At the Tarot Club gathering, Klein told the members that he had used the World’s body to play a game with Amon in the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
• Klein explained that Amon was waiting beside his corpse, so the members discussed whether the Sun could help change his resurrection location, and Klein asked Leonard to consult Old Grandpa.
• Klein told the members that George III had tried and failed to become the Black Emperor, and that Queen Mystic and he had tried to stop the king’s advancement.
• When Cattleya asked who had killed George III, Klein answered through the World that it was Raphael Collins.

At the Tarot Club gathering, the World revealed Raphael’s role in George III’s death and shared new information about the Aurora Order’s failed search for a powerful Sealed Artifact. The members learned Raphael had joined Rose Redemption and discussed how his undercover position could grow more influential.

• The World explained that Raphael had disrupted George III’s advancement during the Aurora Order’s operation, causing the king to explode, and the members discussed the king’s crimes and deliberate role in starting the war.
• The World said the Aurora Order had found only a powerful mental remnant, which had dissipated, and that both the True Creator and Adam had watched the matter closely.
• Audrey told the Tarot Club that Raphael had become the Aurora Order’s Mr. A, and Alger urged the members not to reveal information that could expose him.
• The members speculated about Raphael’s future authority, and the World revealed that Raphael had been admitted to Rose Redemption, an organization serving the True Creator.

After learning that Raphael had killed the king and joined Rose Redemption, Audrey met Xio and Fors and accompanied them to a high-level Beyonder gathering in Backlund. Raphael avoided explaining Mr. C’s death during the Aurora Order operation, leaving Audrey’s questions unanswered as they arrived at the gathering venue.

• Audrey reflected on the Tarot Club’s revelations that Raphael had killed the king, joined Rose Redemption, and that Mr. Fool had fought Amon to a draw.
• Audrey left her mansion after dinner and met Xio and Fors on Queen’s Road.
• Raphael told Audrey and Xio that his carriage driver was a Zombie, then asked whether they belonged to the same organization; Audrey confirmed they did, and Fors introduced herself.
• Raphael warned the women to conceal themselves because the gatherings they were attending included Sequence 7 Beyonders and demigods.
• Audrey asked how Raphael had become an Oracle, and Raphael said Mr. C had died; Xio mentioned the Aurora Order’s operation, but Raphael changed the subject to the Loen Kingdom Museum.
• Raphael and the three women discussed the museum’s exhibits during the journey, then arrived at the gathering venue.

Raphael attended Botis’s gathering, learned Fors’s grievance against the Abraham Family’s traitors, and warned her that they could not defeat Botis. He then entered a funeral in disguise to carry out an act that appeared to attract a final, suspicious spectator.

• Audrey bought Sequence 5 supplementary ingredients, several potions, and a moving oil painting for eighteen hundred pounds.
• Raphael told Audrey, Xio, and Fors how to find future gatherings after Botis approved them as newcomers.
• Fors explained that traitorous apprentices had stolen the Abraham Family’s Sealed Artifacts and killed its members, but Raphael warned her not to challenge Botis without confidence.
• Raphael learned that a suitable funeral would take place the next day and attended it in disguise using the Faceless Jade Pendant.
• At the funeral, a man beside Raphael put on a crystal monocle and said he had arrived at just the right time.