Chapter Summaries

Ash, Igula, and Harvey tried to recover while trapped amid the conflict between the Robbery Fire Church and the Four Pillar Gods Church. Ash guessed that the Robbery Fire Church had a powerful weapon, only to learn that he was expected to host its Divine Spirit Great Law in a ritual.

• Igula urged the group to find an escape, but Harvey argued that guards had sealed off the palace and they should rest before deciding what to do.
• Igula proposed surrendering or joining the Four Pillar Gods Church if they could not defeat it, while Ash apologized for dragging his companions into danger.
• Ash reassured Igula and Harvey by joking about their predicament, and the three fought playfully in the bath until their tension eased.
• Ash reasoned that the Robbery Fire Church must possess a weapon against the Four Pillar Gods Church that it could not use on its own.
• The Red Robe Priest told Ash that the God-Hosting Ritual would let him wield the Robbery Fire Church's Divine Spirit Great Law, leaving Ash with no chance to refuse.

Ash and his companions learned that the Calamity Fire Sanctuary occupied a lavish bathhouse and sought to have Ash host its Great Law, the Ten Thousand Tribulations Fire Great Art. Ash reached the Flame White Tiger without being burned and stroked its head, leaving the God-Hosting Ritual’s outcome unresolved.

• Ash and Igula realized the sanctuary’s palace had originally been a bathhouse when the Red Robe Priest brought them into its steaming sauna hall.
• The Red Robe Priest explained the Fire Cat God Era, the sanctuary’s five Great Laws, and how a traitor had joined the Four Pillar Gods Church with several of them.
• The Red Robe Priest said hosting a Great Law required matching its beliefs, and Harvey was carried out after the heat stopped him from approaching the Flame White Tiger.
• Ash walked through the unbearable heat without harm and stroked the Flame White Tiger’s head.

Ash successfully hosted the Flame White Tiger’s Great Law and led the Red Robe Priests out to fight the Four Pillar Gods Church. He unleashed his power on the battlefield, but a Blazing Fire traitor wielding four Great Laws defeated him and captured him.

• Ash mastered the Flame White Tiger’s Divine Might through the God-Hosting Ritual and set out with the Red Robe Priests to sever their ties with the Four Pillar Gods Church.
• Ash emerged from the Calamity Fire Sanctuary and used Myriad Tribulations Fire Fall to attack the Black-Clad Spellcasters besieging the Ruined City.
• The Blazing Fire traitor swallowed Ash’s attack with her Orange Flame Rabbit and revealed that she carried four Great Laws: Strength, Wisdom, Life, and Joy.
• Ash charged the traitor, but she overwhelmed him, returned him to normal, and captured him along with the Flame White Tiger.
• The traitor sat on Ash, began taking notes about him, and said she wanted to continue their conversation.

Ash, Igula, and Harvey were taken to the Four Pillar Gods Church’s base and locked in an indestructible padded room. They realized it was a treatment room in a former mental hospital, but found no way to break out.

• Ash mocked himself for losing, while Igula and Harvey teased him about his defeat.
• Igula explained that the trio could not escape easily because they were imprisoned at the Four Pillar Gods Church’s main base, where they had encountered the church before.
• After Ash was defeated, Igula and Harvey surrendered, and the church seized the Calamity Fire Sanctuary without slaughtering its defenders.
• The church transported the trio by Maglev Train pulled by Pack Beasts and brought them to its base, a city built atop the ruins of a mental hospital.
• The trio discovered that the padded treatment room absorbed all physical and spell damage, and Igula recognized that the church had likely repurposed the padding as armor.

Ash, Igula, and Harvey assessed their options after arriving in a post-apocalyptic country and agreed to seek a way out of the Four Pillar Gods Church rather than cooperate with it. Ash also discovered that he could no longer summon the Gospel and explored a new Operator Search while they waited.

• Igula argued that the post-apocalyptic society might welcome their advanced knowledge and that the woman who captured Ash could be a potential ally.
• Igula and Harvey learned that Ash had reached the Distant Void Domain, and the three discussed cooperating with the Four Pillar Gods Church while they built their Holy Domains.
• Ash found that his Gospel Ring no longer summoned the Gospel, then checked a limited Operator Search featuring Youlan Weiser and new dress-up gear.
• Harvey said Alice disliked staying in the Four Pillar Gods Church, and Igula proposed escaping to seek cooperation with another faction.
• Ash agreed that he wanted to leave as soon as possible, and Igula declared that they had reached a consensus.

Ash spent Source Crystals on 54 searches and won Dress-up Gear for the Sword Maiden and Witch, along with several powerful new items. He examined the rewards and discovered the Sword Maiden and Witch had both reached Bond Level 4, then began reviewing a new Operator, Youlan Weiser.

• Ash bought 54 searches, pulled golden rewards including Dress-up Gear for the Sword Maiden and Witch, and excitedly hugged Igula and Harvey.
• Ash reviewed Career Potions and refined eight into three Advanced Career Potions, deciding he wanted the Sword Maiden and Witch to pursue their ambitions.
• Ash examined the Advanced Trial Card, Aurora Vehicle Unscrupulous Navigation System, and Lightless Saint Domain Potions, considering whether to save the potions for the Sword Maiden and Witch.
• Ash used the Sword Maiden's Silver Coin and the Witch's Magic Mirror Shard, raising both to Bond Level 4 and unlocking new Resonances of Bonds.
• Ash inspected Aurora's Dream Treasure and its powerful Collections for use in Dream Bubbles.
• Ash saw that Youlan Weiser was a new Operator.

Youlan Weiser met another version of herself from a different World Line, who warned that Tactile no longer had a reason to keep her alive now that Blazing Fire had been extinguished. A gunshot then blew apart the spellcaster sitting in the chair.

• Youlan Weiser examined four genuine Calamity Fire Sanctuary shopping cards while the hospital camp's followers held their nightly revelry.
• A quiet Youlan Weiser from another World Line appeared and spoke with the Blue Flame Squirrel version of herself.
• The quiet Youlan explained that she had failed to defeat the wielder of the Ten Thousand Tribulations Fire Great Art in her World Line, where the Calamity Fire Sanctuary grew stronger.
• The quiet Youlan warned that Tactile had wanted to get rid of the Squirrel and no longer needed her now that Blazing Fire was extinguished.
• A gunshot rang out, and the female spellcaster sitting in the chair had her head blown apart.

Sally and two chief priests tried to kill the Nameless One, but Silver Lamp used a double made from a god-hosting familiar to deceive them and reveal herself. After capturing Sally, she heard an explosion at the hospital prison where the otherworldly travelers were being held.

• Sally watched the chief priests approach the Nameless One’s apparently ruined body, while they discussed her past as the Silver Lamp Saintess.
• The chief priests attacked the body and found Grey Fox Shopping Cards, then realized it had been an illusion when Silver Lamp appeared behind them and struck with Dust Calamity Fire.
• Silver Lamp told the chief priests she preferred the name Silver Lamp, then killed them before they could deploy their Holy Domains.
• Sally recognized that Silver Lamp had turned a familiar into a double, but Silver Lamp pushed aside her rifle and seized her by the throat.
• Silver Lamp said Tactile had helped her decide whether to leave the Four Pillar Gods Church, then heard an explosion at the prison holding the otherworldly travelers.

Ash and his companions escaped their prison with the help of Black Crow, who sought the First Gospel and warned them about the darkness beyond the camp. Meanwhile, Silver Lamp used an ancient Grey Fox God-era tool to drain the hospital camp, leaving its believers and Spellcasters near death.

• Ash, Igula, Harvey, and Alice debated how to live in their prison until Ash accidentally broke through a wall and Black Crow appeared.
• Black Crow offered to rescue the First Gospel, and Ash claimed the identity before joining him and the others outside.
• Black Crow led them past a frenzied believers’ Ritual to an abandoned house, where he explained that no one was in the darkness outside.
• Silver Lamp spoke with a quiet version of herself about their different World Lines and decided to use her Crystal Skull Key despite the consequences.
• Silver Lamp activated the key and expanded its red circle over the camp, draining the believers and Spellcasters and gathering their energy around her.

Ash, Igula, and Harvey learned from Black Crow that Senro Land’s night was filled with Twisting Green creatures and that Great Laws protected camps from them. Igula suggested that the Four Pillar Gods might protect camps through desire, leaving Black Crow’s explanation unresolved.

• Igula questioned Black Crow about the darkness and used his knowledge of Sorcerer's Manuals to persuade him that other countries had ordinary nights.
• Black Crow explained that Twisting Green transformed people into aggressive monsters and that gatherings of the creatures formed Green Calamities.
• Black Crow warned that connecting with Twisting Green creatures could contaminate Spellcasters, and said people needed lightless-night protection from a Great Law.
• Harvey asked how the Four Pillar Gods could protect camps if they were not Great Laws, and Igula proposed that desire was the answer.

Black Crow explained the Great Laws, the Dark Night, and why he intended to uproot the Four Pillar Gods Church. As the Dark Night swallowed the camp and drained the group’s strength, he left to judge the people behind the attack, revealing the Raven Slaughter Sect’s ideal.

• Black Crow explained that the Four Pillar Gods Church had spread as people abandoned the Great Law, and he argued that the Church must be uprooted.
• Igula learned that people with pure, unwavering ideals could cross the Dark Night and become Candle Lords, while Ash wondered whether his ordinary desires made him a believer of the Four Pillar Gods Church.
• Harvey noticed that their Spell Power was draining away, and Black Crow destroyed the warehouse when the Dark Night approached.
• Black Crow carried Ash and Igula toward the camp’s center, where the group saw the Dark Night draining their souls and Physical Bodies as the camp’s protection failed.
• Black Crow left Alice to guard Ash, Igula, and Harvey while he went to adjudicate the camp’s inhabitants, declaring that he would slaughter them if they disregarded the group’s innocence.

Silver Lamp gained Silver Dragon Blood through a Grey Fox-era ritual that drained everyone in the camp, while Black Crow confronted her and accused her of lying. As he prepared to kill her to end the ritual, Silver Lamp defended herself as innocent.

• Silver Lamp learned how the Dragon Blood Cultivation System evolved bodies with purified high-level blood and felt her body and soul grow stronger.
• A stone-throwing attacker wounded Silver Lamp, but she used Burning Sky Shield and Flame Flow to survive and heal.
• Silver Lamp recognized Black Crow as her attacker and told him the ritual could not be stopped until everyone in the camp was drained.
• Black Crow accused Silver Lamp of lying about her remorse and identified her as the ritual’s beneficiary because she had silver blood.
• Silver Lamp claimed she had activated the device by accident and was innocent, but Black Crow declared that his duty was to send her to Hell.

Black Crow fought Silver Lamp, who escaped into the Dark Night after identifying him as Tamashi Raven Slaughter, a Void Realm Insulator. As the Dark Night closed in on Ash, Igula, Harvey, Tamashi, and Alice, Mercury Trojan Horse appeared and offered Ash a way to survive and take revenge by becoming a Tactile.

• Silver Lamp called on the Four Pillar Gods and fought Black Crow, but his Grey Thorn Blade wounded her and forced her to retreat into the Dark Night.
• Silver Lamp recognized Black Crow as Tamashi Raven Slaughter, the Void Realm Insulator, and warned him that his friends might not survive.
• Alice brought the incapacitated Spellcasters to Tamashi as the Dark Night swallowed the camp, and Ash, Igula, and Harvey discussed whether to give up or keep living.
• Igula told Ash that Ash still owed him a Wish and began to make a demand before footsteps interrupted him.
• Mercury Trojan Horse arrived, revealed that the Four Pillar Gods Church had fired her as Tactile, and offered to save Ash and help him take revenge if he became Tactile.

Ash and his companions learned that the Mercury Trojan Horse could perceive reality as a Tactile of the Four Pillar Gods and explained the three crises threatening them. The chapter ended with the revelation that the woman tied to their Blood Core was searching for the Divine Treasury of the Fire Cat God Era.

• The Mercury Trojan Horse identified Ash as a Tactile and explained that Eternal Everpresent had left him with the scent of Tactile.
• Igula questioned the Mercury Trojan Horse about her power to awaken talents and implant mercury in people, prompting Tama Hill to attack her before Alice stopped him.
• The Mercury Trojan Horse explained that Tactiles let the Four Pillar Gods perceive the world, and that she perceived reality as clearly labeled information.
• The Mercury Trojan Horse said the Blood Seed Miracle was draining the group’s life force and would be difficult to remove without the right solution or a Legendary Arcanist.
• The Mercury Trojan Horse warned that Dark Night would contaminate Ash, Igula, and Harvey with different negative traits and that each could survive only a limited number of crossings.
• The Mercury Trojan Horse revealed that the woman becoming Tactile was searching for the Divine Treasury of the Fire Cat God Era.

Mercury Trojan Horse explained that New Tactile sought the scattered Divine Fire System to become a Great Law and impose her ideal that reality was a dream. Ash chose to compete for the Tactile position to stop her and uncover the truth about Hiss, then called upon the Four Pillar Gods.

• Mercury Trojan Horse explained that New Tactile intended to rebuild the Divine Fire System, become a Great Law with a personality, and free people from what she believed was the Divine Lord’s dream.
• Mercury Trojan Horse warned that New Tactile could destroy the other Great Laws, seize control of the Four Pillar Gods Church, and threaten Ash’s group with her ideal.
• Ash asked Tama Hill about Mercury Trojan Horse’s past, and Tama Hill said Mercury Trojan Horse had controlled and killed her mentor, friends, comrades, and juniors.
• Ash rejected Igula’s attempt to claim the Tactile opportunity and decided to compete with New Tactile for the Four Pillar Gods’ favor.
• Mercury Trojan Horse activated Ash’s potential, and Ash invoked the Four Pillar Gods, asking them to heed his command.

Mercury Trojan Horse explained that Ash and Silver Lamp were competing Half Touches and offered to help them kill the Blood Core, though her proposal appeared to be a trap. After Tama Hill killed Mercury Trojan Horse, Silver Lamp learned that she would likely join a Void Realm party captained by Ash Hiss.

• Mercury Trojan Horse explained that Ash and Silver Lamp were Half Touches, and that killing the Blood Core would make Ash the true Tactile and bind him to the Four Pillar Gods.
• Mercury Trojan Horse offered to help Ash capture and kill the Blood Core if he brought Silver Lamp to the Four Pillar Gods Church, while warning that Tactiles would be hated by the Void Realm.
• Igula recognized Mercury Trojan Horse's offer as a challenge that could be a trap, and Mercury Trojan Horse revealed Silver Lamp's title and name.
• Tama Hill beheaded Mercury Trojan Horse and threw her body into the campfire, then offered Ash and the others food.
• A quiet girl warned Silver Lamp that she would likely be drawn into a party of Spellcasters exploring the Void Realm, and revealed that its captain was Doomsday Watcher, whose true name was Ash Hiss.

Adele, under pressure from her family to investigate Sonia, discussed Sonia’s rapid rise to the Holy Domain with Lois and Ingrid. They concluded that a powerful exploration Miracle likely explained Sonia’s progress and that her Saint Domain status left her able to protect her secrets; Adele finished a report that let her and her family satisfy their assignment without betraying Sonia.

• Adele and Ingrid discussed Sonia’s habits and gathered details for Adele’s family, while Lois learned that a Jingong Noble was likely behind the request.
• Lois analyzed Sonia’s extraordinary speed in reaching the Holy Domain and suspected she possessed a Miracle that accelerated exploration or Spell Power growth.
• Ingrid pointed out that Sonia’s Saint Domain status made it difficult for even powerful nobles to pressure her.
• Adele explained that she felt hurt by her family’s request but understood their position and wanted to complete her report without revealing Sonia’s private information.
• Adele finished writing and left to eat with Ingrid, while Lois stayed behind to study.

Lois secretly searched Sonia’s belongings, driven by jealousy and a desire to betray her, but found Sonia’s detailed Notebook of ways she had cared for her friends—including Lois. The discovery of their first group photograph moved Lois to tears, and she admitted she was the worst.

• Lois used an eyeball-like device to inspect Sonia’s belongings and searched them for a secret she could use to betray her.
• Lois read Sonia’s Notebook, which recorded ways to maintain friendships and detailed her kindnesses toward Adele, Ingrid, and others.
• Lois found her own page in Sonia’s Notebook, including Sonia’s understanding of her jealousy and plans to support her after she became a Spellcaster.
• Lois retrieved their first group photograph and remembered the early days of their friendship.
• A droplet transformed into a winged Spell Spirit, which wiped Lois’s tears as she held it and called herself the worst.

Sonia studied Saint Domain Artificers’ writings while avoiding offers and attention after her advancement. Felix visited her, praised her achievement, and asked whether she wanted to become a Jingong Noble or a Weigong Noble.

• Sonia read Spellcaster essays and travel journals to prepare for the upcoming Void Realm Exploration and rejected outside offers despite receiving an Advanced Career Potion.
• Felix congratulated Sonia on reaching the Holy Domain and asked whether she had chosen a saint title.
• Sonia explained that she was unlikely to receive royal sainthood soon and joked about the proposed titles circulating on the university forum.
• Felix admitted he had felt embarrassed about once trying to tempt Sonia with a shortcut to becoming a Saint Domain Artificer, then praised her success.
• Felix told Sonia that a noble title was practically inevitable and asked whether she wanted to become a Jingong Noble or a Weigong Noble.

Felix offered Sonia a way to escape Stars Blessing’s loyalty compulsion, but she refused and chose to remain a Sword Baron rather than sacrifice what she valued for status or career opportunities. Later, Sonia found Watcher in the Distant Void Domain, only to see the Witch reach him first.

• Felix explained the duties and benefits of Jingong Nobles and invited Sonia to join his spellcaster Mutual Aid Group, which could free her from Stars Blessing’s Mental Suggestion.
• Sonia rejected Felix’s offer, saying she would remain a Sword Baron and explaining that her mother was content to stay in their hometown.
• Sonia said that before, she would have pursued fame and noble resources, but her life now held more than her career.
• Sonia entered the Distant Void Domain and searched anxiously among unfamiliar pedestrians for Watcher and the Witch.
• Sonia spotted Watcher and ran toward him, but the Witch threw herself into his arms before Sonia could reach him.