Chapter Summaries

Qikala and the others besieged Silver Lamp, but she reflected their attacks with a brief spatial-severing Miracle and forced them to switch to close combat. Vesir then fought Ash, Harvey, and Qikala without retreating, convinced that Ash would regret their clash after they uncovered the third Truth Connection.

• Qikala bound Silver Lamp with Piercing Void Robbery Fire Shackles while Black Crow, Harvey, and Igula attacked her.
• Vesir used Testing the Law with One's Body to reflect the attacks, wounding Black Crow and draining the attackers' Spell Power; Gwen's delayed Starlight Flicker scratched Vesir's face.
• Ash concluded that close combat was their safest option, and Igula asked Gwen to prepare a dazzling burst of starlight to interfere with Silver Lamp's vision.
• Harvey changed into the Blood Count troop type as Ash, Harvey, and Qikala attacked Vesir at close range.
• Vesir refused to flee, fought Ash with techniques from the Divine Fire Trial, and believed he would regret their fight once they cracked the third Truth Connection.

Igula realized Silver Lamp’s plan to destroy Senro could spare its people from an eternity as Green Beasts, but he feared Ash would accept the burden of helping her. Igula coordinated an attack that left Silver Lamp and Vesir near defeat, and Ash and Vesir fought amid the ruins as their familiar killing game resumed.

• Igula concluded that Senluo Zhanzhu’s death could leave Senro trapped in an endless cycle of despair and Green Beasts, making Silver Lamp’s plan a form of mercy.
• Igula signaled Qikala, and Gwen blinded Vesir with Starlight so Qikala could strike her and Black Crow could send her into the ruined high-rise.
• Harvey attacked Vesir while Ash drove Silver Lamp down through the high-rise, and Igula predicted that Silver Lamp would soon die from depleted Spell Power.
• Ash confronted the wounded Vesir, who refused to beg for mercy or reveal the truth even as her Holy Domain failed.
• Ash and Vesir fought with the practiced moves they had rehearsed in the Divine Fire Trial, surrounded by their floating blood and the scents of iron rust, lemon, and sweet orange.

Weiser recalled the childhood kindness of Wei-Ou-Nai while fighting Ash, mistaking his restraint for a sign that he would wait for her. When Ash’s blade wounded her and she saw his guilt and pain, she realized the same conflict was hurting him; the Necromancer offered to help, and Ash agreed as he resumed the fight without gentleness.

• Weiser remembered how Wei-Ou-Nai raised her and promised to wait for her, beginning with the name Wei-Ou-Nai as her first phrase.
• Weiser and Ash exchanged rapid blows in the Bottom Layer ruins without raising their Saint Domains or inflicting new wounds.
• Weiser believed Ash was waiting for her despite still seeing her as an enemy, and she chose to enjoy their fighting game before confessing.
• Weiser lost her balance as Ash’s sword swept toward her throat, and the blade cut her despite slowing at the last moment.
• Weiser saw Ash’s sorrow, anger, and guilt as he turned his pain against himself, and the Necromancer offered to help him.
• Ash accepted the Necromancer’s help and continued swinging his sword with renewed ferocity.

Vesir realized that exposing the truth had trapped Ash in an impossible moral choice, and she reconsidered her plan as he offered her a chance to surrender. She chose to meet his charge with her sword, leaving Ash pierced as the battle’s outcome remained uncertain.

• Harvey joined Ash in attacking Silver Lamp while Vesir reflected on the burden her plan placed on Ash.
• Qikala crashed into the fighters, and Silver Lamp failed to redirect all the impact, leaving herself badly wounded and without enough Spell Power to maintain her Holy Domain.
• Ash fought Vesir without committing to injuring her, then abruptly tried to capture her and gave her the choice to surrender or escape by hurting him.
• Vesir rejected the chance to surrender and decided not to force Ash into choosing between two tragic outcomes.
• Vesir met Ash's charge with her longsword, and the blade emerged from the Prince's back.

Silver Lamp escaped the Bottom Layer after mortally wounding Ash, but Black Crow intercepted and fought her, suffering severe injuries before she fled. She destroyed the crucial clue to the Dead City’s third Truth Connection and disappeared into the Dark Night, leaving the group unable to learn the Secret of the Dead City from the records.

• Silver Lamp stabbed Ash and escaped through the hole in the wall, while Harvey caught Ash and Qikala held back from intervening.
• Black Crow ambushed Silver Lamp outside, but she countered his Malfunction technique and fought back as they struggled over Ash’s sword.
• Black Crow used his chained Hand Axe and Grey Fox Blade to tear Silver Lamp’s sword hand, but his wound worsened and Ash caught him as he fell.
• Silver Lamp flew past the distant wall and erased its recorded writing, destroying the clue that could have revealed the third Truth Connection.
• Ash explained that Three-Second Cicada had undone Silver Lamp’s fatal wound, while Igula revealed that he had already deduced the answer from the clue.
• Silver Lamp reached the High Tower and vanished into the Dark Night without looking back, as Igula began to understand something.

Igula realized that the third Truth Connection required accepting Silver Lamp’s mission to destroy the world, explaining why she had concealed the crucial clue and why he could not pass through the Mist Wall. The chapter ended when Black Crow reached through the wall without difficulty.

• Igula considered keeping Silver Lamp’s secret hidden and discovered that he could not pass through the Mist Wall despite solving the third Truth Connection.
• Ash reasoned that the Sanctuary’s test required accepting a gift beyond understanding the ending, while the others discussed waiting up to three years for his spirit possession to grant them Grey Fox citizenship.
• Igula realized that Silver Lamp had escaped the Sanctuary by embracing the mission of destroying the world, and that passing through the wall might require accepting the same mission.
• Black Crow walked up to the Mist Wall and passed his hand through it.

Black Crow discovered that his immunity let him pass through the Truth Mist Wall and retrieve a one-use Zero Hourglass, which could protect and heal its user. After Gwen tested it, the group realized they could use it to escape the Dead City’s dangers and chose to train, leaving Ash facing Black Crow’s promised combat lessons.

• Ash asked why Black Crow could be affected by some Fantasy Creations but ignore other Miracles, and Black Crow explained that he had never triggered Truth Connection and had walked through the Mist Wall.
• Black Crow revealed that the Mist Wall had concealed a huge hourglass, and seeing its mark gave everyone a one-use Sanctuary · Zero Hourglass that stopped time for 12 hours and then granted protection and healing.
• Igula reasoned that the hourglass could help them escape the Dead City’s night, the Time Cage, and their injuries, while Black Crow explained he could not read the text beside the hourglass because words appeared to crawl.
• Igula had Gwen activate the Zero Hourglass and confirmed that Gwen became insensible and could not be harmed or moved, leading the group to consider training while protected.
• Black Crow grabbed Ash and insisted on teaching him Combat Qi and Mind Method through practical combat, warning that Ash would be beaten up.

Ash and his companions spent months training and recovering in the Dead City while the Zero Hourglass kept them outside normal time. After they awoke, they found the Four Pillar Gods Church’s camp burned and its people dead, discovered Igula and Harvey’s Blood Seed curses were gone, and decided to leave Senluo.

• Igula studied Gwen and his Miracles while Qikala, Harvey, Ash, and Black Crow trained separately across the Dead City.
• Over the following months, Qikala, Harvey, and Black Crow each exhausted their Spell Power and used the Zero Hourglass to sleep; Black Crow helped Ash improve his battle awareness and Heart Sword techniques.
• Igula explained to Ash that prolonged activity still depleted their souls, and Ash continued training while urging Igula to stop tormenting Black Crow and help him recover.
• On the ninety-ninth day, Ash used the Zero Hourglass; Vesir visited him, confessed that she knew they had no future, kissed his forehead, and left a tear frozen in time.
• When Ash and the others awoke, they found the Four Pillar Gods Church’s camp burning and its people dead; Igula and Harvey confirmed their Blood Seed curses had disappeared.
• Ash concluded that his Half Touch identity was their remaining problem and proposed that they find a way to leave Senluo.

At Sword Flower University’s crowded masquerade, Lan Shi Le hoped to meet the Red-Haired Sword Maiden, while Gold Mask and the bartender told him about her rejection of Lelouch and her dedication to swordsmanship. The conversation ended when Butterfly Mask dismissed the Sword Maiden’s rapid rise to the Holy Domain as empty achievement.

• Lan Shi Le complained that so many guests had dyed their hair red that he could not recognize the Red-Haired Sword Maiden, then learned the bartender had a fiancé and turned down her offer to introduce him to her roommates.
• Gold Mask told Lan Shi Le that Lelouch had confessed to the Sword Maiden and offered to become her close friend, but she had refused private company with any man, even Dimi.
• Lan Shi Le asked how to make the Sword Maiden like him, and the bartender and Gold Mask advised him to give her tulips and cultivate swordsmanship.
• Butterfly Mask challenged the idea that the Sword Maiden could reach the Legendary Realm, calling her a vase with an empty level and questioning whether she could climb Ruby Mountain.

Sonia’s refusal to accept challenges fueled rumors that her swordsmanship could not match her fame, until she intervened in a duel and revealed her strength. Afterward, Felix offered help with her research into crossing between nations, but Sonia remained wary.

• Butterfly Mask and Black Tiger Mask criticized Sonia’s reputation at a Masquerade Ball, and Black Tiger Mask revealed he was a Swordsmanship Saint Domain.
• Gold Mask, Dimi, and Black Tiger Mask, Adas, fought with swords alone, and their clash spiraled into a dangerous vortex.
• The Masked Singer, revealed as Sonia, disarmed both men with three strikes and stopped their duel.
• Dimi admitted Sonia had caught up to or surpassed him, while Adas returned to the Abyss to grow stronger.
• Felix offered Sonia help crossing between nations, but she refused his assistance.

Felix warned Sonia that her research into crossing countries had attracted the Throne Hall’s attention because the Royal Family and Church treated the desire to leave Star Country as Thought Crime. Felix offered the Mutual Aid Group’s resources and a route through Void Realm Passages, then revealed a strange hole in her palm and immobilized Sonia.

• Felix explained that Sonia’s library searches could put her under Throne Hall surveillance and that she had altered Sonia’s borrowing records to hide them.
• Felix said Star Country monitored Saint Domain Artificers who researched crossing countries because their interest could be treated as disloyalty.
• Felix offered the Mutual Aid Group’s intelligence, research connections, and access to Void Realm Passages if Sonia continued pursuing her goal with them.
• Sonia asked who Felix’s group really was, and Felix revealed a circular hole in her left palm.
• Felix covered her eye with the hole in her palm, leaving Sonia unable to move and freezing her Spell Power.

Lelouch Valuda and two Saint Domain Artificers followed Felix to steal the secret behind Sonia’s rapid rise, only to stumble into a gathering of the Four Pillar Gods Church. As the church members confronted them, a mysterious figure arrived and the intruders lost consciousness.

• Lelouch Valuda, Vile, and Coruno followed Felix from Sword Flower University, believing Felix held the secret behind Sonia’s advancement.
• Sonia told Ash and Diya that Felix was a Four Pillar Gods Church believer and that Ripple Sword had stabbed Felix when the Eye of Bewilderment immobilized her.
• Lelouch, Vile, and Coruno entered a hidden underground hall and found Felix among a gathering of powerful Four Pillar Gods Church Artificers.
• A church member healed Felix’s eye while the gathering surrounded Lelouch, Vile, and Coruno, who tried to retreat.
• A figure appeared behind the three intruders, and Vile and Coruno attacked before the church members greeted the newcomer as Touch Your Excellency; the three then lost consciousness.

Ash and his companions searched for a way to cross between countries while the Four Pillar Gods Church rapidly expanded into a war against the Qin Day Alliance. They resolved to grow stronger and continue exploring, but their plans were interrupted when the entire Void Realm began to shake.

• Ash warned Sonia not to trust the Four Pillar Gods Church, and Sonia said she would avoid Felix while cautiously watching the church from Sword Flower University.
• Sonia accepted that she could no longer investigate crossing between countries after learning the Starry Sky Royal Family treated it as taboo and the Four Pillar Gods Church had no ready-made method.
• Ash told the group that the Four Pillar Gods Church had invaded the Qin Day Alliance, gained several Saint Domain Artificers through defections, and taken over the War Holy Temple.
• Ash explained that the Copper Law Sect's Grey Fox Legacy let authorized artificers teleport within its territory but could not help them cross between countries.
• Ash urged the team to focus on condensing their rainbow Void Wings, becoming stronger, and eventually sneaking into Ruby Mountain, while Diya felt discouraged about the rarity of a suitable Void Realm Passage.
• Sonia began telling the team about a Star Country warning concerning battles in the Time Continent, but a tremor shook the entire Void Realm.

Freya, Annan, and Siffrin broke into the Phase Sealing Altar with the completed Blank Concept, only to learn they could not use it without a Divine Lord. After Freya destroyed the tablet rather than surrender it to Empress Danzel, the altar erupted with golden light, triggering changes across the Void Realm.

• Freya, Annan, and Siffrin led the sports car through the fortress defenses and reached the Phase Sealing Altar using their level-six troop forms.
• The altar activated when Freya presented the Blank Concept, revealing a stream of golden characters and information.
• Empress Danzel surrounded the sorcerers and explained that only a Divine Lord could use the Blank Concept, while Spider Tower, Blood Tomb, and Star Hall forces blocked their escape.
• Freya snapped the Blank Concept tablet in two rather than give it to Danzel, prompting Danzel to cry out that Freya had destroyed something important.
• The Phase Sealing Altar flared with golden characters, while Lois, Ash and his companions, and the Mercury Trojan Horse witnessed upheavals in the Sea of Knowledge, the Distant Void Domain, and Ruby Mountain.

Lois discovered that her Torrent Spell Spirit could carry her through a Vortex to the Great Road, where she was offered the Lake Light Angel’s inheritance and a dangerous trial. Meanwhile, King of Time Klock awakened the Eternal City on the Time Continent and announced a death trial for time arcanists, leaving Annan, Freya, and Siffrin unexpectedly in front of him.

• Lois grabbed a golden chain in the Sea of Knowledge, and her Torrent Spell Spirit swept her through a Vortex to the Great Road, increasing her Silver Artificery.
• A humanoid water monster emerged on the Great Road, and the chain revealed that Lois could challenge the trial for the Lake Light Angel’s inheritance.
• Danzel ordered the Spider Tower Legion to attack the Phase Sealing Altar as Annan told Freya and Siffrin to find a way to the Gilded River.
• The Phase Sealing Altar rose with the Eternal City, and an arc of light destroyed the surrounding Heroic Soul Legions and shattered the six fortresses.
• King of Time Klock appeared, summoned his followers, and invited time arcanists to cross the moat and face a death trial for his inheritance.
• Klock found Annan, Freya, and Siffrin on the altar and added that they needed ten ordinary inheritances before they could claim his ultimate inheritance.

Ash and the others entered Dream Heaven, where the Phantom Prophet’s trial sealed their powers and forced them to fight using newly formed First Soul Spell Spirits. Meanwhile, the Lord of Thousand Desires announced a separate inheritance on Ruby Mountain, inviting arcanists to climb for the power called Wish.

• Ash, Sonia, Diya, and Vesir found their powers sealed inside Dream Heaven and received First Soul Spell Spirits that consumed their souls when used.
• The Phantom Prophet identified Dream Heaven as a place of inheritance and began the trial by sending Soul Hounds to attack them.
• Sonia, Diya, and Vesir used their First Soul Spell Spirits in different ways, but Ash stopped them when their souls began to fade.
• Ash used three collectibles to reveal that collectibles still worked inside Dream Heaven.
• Legendary Arcanists saw a Six-Winged Phantom atop Ruby Mountain, where the lingering will of the Lord of Thousand Desires offered an inheritance and told them to climb for Wish.

Ash and the others advanced through the Phantom Inheritance’s lethal trials, where Vesir explained that teams faced more enemies but received only one reward. After choosing the Phantom Manual, they read the first half of Phantom Arcanist Dorok Mirahon’s account of reaching Ruby Mountain and meeting its angel.

• Ash assigned Vesir the Soul School experience reward, and eight Harpies appeared to attack the group.
• Vesir deduced that the trials grew harder with more participants, while only one person could claim each reward.
• The group defeated the Harpies, then chose the Phantom Manual instead of leaving the inheritance.
• After defeating eight Fish-Slaying Dragons, Ash and the others read Dorok Mirahon’s manual, which recounted his second life and his journey along the Path of Origin to Ruby Mountain.

Ash, Sonia, and their companions learned that the Phantom Inheritance’s Faded Dream path depended on Spell Spirits from the shattered Dreamland Country, while a separate Lake Light Angel inheritance drew Water Arcanists to the Sea of Knowledge. Sonia then learned that the Ruby Mountain inheritance might let victors create new laws, and decided to claim it and create a concept that could cross nations.

• Ash, Sonia, and Vesir learned that Golden Fish, Seven-Colored Tail, and Faded Dream belonged to the Path of Origin, and that Faded Dream might be inaccessible without an Enter dream Spell Spirit from Dreamland Country.
• Vesir explained that the Phantom Prophet’s Second Cycle Divine Spirit allowed only one return to the past, and that everyone might be living through someone else’s second cycle.
• Sonia and her companions left the Phantom Inheritance after clearing five stages, having gained Spell Power but depleted their Soul Energy.
• Sonia discovered that students were renting Water Art Spell Spirits to reach the Lake Light Angel’s inheritance trial, which could boost Sword Flower University’s standing through its Water Art faction.
• Professor Tello Zan told Sonia that victors at the Ruby Mountain Divine Lord inheritance might imprint ideas on the Blank Concept and create new laws, and Sonia resolved to seize it and create a concept that could cross nations.

Ash’s group gathered information about the Angel Inheritances at Black Robe Town’s Fox Lantern Ice Room while the inheritance race displaced the ongoing war. The chapter ended with Ash taking Black Crow outside for snacks after noticing she had been left out of the discussion.

• The Fox Lantern Ice Room manager posted Ash’s information that Phantom Keys appeared every twenty stages and could be used to leave the Phantom Inheritance.
• Ash’s group discussed how the ancient inheritance manuals traced the decline of the Path of Origin, the Ancient Elves, and the resources of Eternal City.
• Gwen reported that the Four Pillar Gods Church had stopped attacking and the front line was at a standstill as sorcerers focused on the inheritances.
• Qikala said he had skipped the Phantom Inheritance because it offered him little, and he told the group he had found an ultra-rare Spell Spirit in an Affix Bubble.
• Ash noticed Black Crow had not touched her milk tea or removed her mask, then invited her to accompany him outside to buy snacks.

Ash and Black Crow shared street food and discussed whether Black Crow would leave Senluo with Ash’s group, given his need to take revenge on Mercury Trojan Horse. Black Crow had not decided, and the chapter ended with him quietly calling Ash’s transformed appearance pretty.

• Ash bought street snacks and persuaded Black Crow to eat with him in a secluded alley, where Black Crow revealed he was Raven Slaughter’s best cook.
• Ash asked Black Crow to leave Senluo with the group, but Black Crow said he still had a reason to stay: taking revenge on Mercury Trojan Horse.
• Ash apologized for being unable to help Black Crow get revenge and offered to find a way to support him, while Black Crow said he could manage alone.
• Black Crow admitted he had not decided whether to stay or leave, and Ash encouraged him to take his time.
• Black Crow asked why Kaleidoscope changed Ash’s appearance so completely, and Ash revealed it made him look like the girl he liked.
• After Ash went to buy more snacks, Black Crow quietly said that Ash looked pretty.