Chapter Summaries

Lynn and his allies searched for Ether with the Clown’s Authority and five Megastructures, then found him in the black mist. Lynn discovered that Ether carried a trace of his Firstborn Power, and the Megastructures struggled to pull Ether apart as the confrontation began.

• Lynn ordered the Clown to maximize his Authority, sent Captain Constantine to search the Sea of the Mind, and tasked Silver Fantasy with building more Megastructures.
• The Clown, Captain Constantine, and Lynn’s five Megastructures searched the region for Ether.
• A Megastructure reacted to Ether’s presence, and the Twelve Wings Archangel slashed away the black mist to reveal him.
• Lynn saw Firstborn Power surrounding Ether and realized Ether could use it after reconnecting with his true form.
• Lynn activated all five Megastructures to pull Ether apart, but their power worked sluggishly against Ether’s Firstborn Power.
• Ether taunted Lynn, asking whether he had built only five Megastructures.

Lynn and his allies struggled to restrain Ether as he revealed that he had contacted his true form and summoned a vast force of Atomic Machinery. As the silver tide advanced toward the Border, the woman from the Dollhouse summoned her dolls to face it.

• Ether broke free of the Megastructures’ restraint and attacked Lynn, but Captain Constantine struck him in the mental realm and Sir Awen slammed him to the ground with psionic force.
• Lynn told Sir Awen that Ether had gained Firstborn power from the part of Lynn’s soul he had devoured, helping him resist the Megastructures.
• Ether revealed that his true form had contacted him and threatened to bring a feared calamity to Hell while his true form held it back.
• Ether expanded to tens of thousands of meters tall and summoned two-thirds of his Atomic Machinery from the west, sending a silver tide toward the Border.
• Sir Awen and the Twelve Wings Archangel charged at Ether as the woman from the Dollhouse moved to confront the silver tide.
• The woman from the Dollhouse summoned numbered dolls, including four enormous creatures and a multitude of other puppets, some of them deities.

Lynn and his allies fought Ether while Clown’s curse authority weakened him enough for them to extract the Colossus Brain. The Colossus emerged from Ether’s body, leaving the battle ongoing.

• The Dollhouse summoned her puppets to hold back the atomic tide while Sir Awen and the Self-Binding Angel fought Ether.
• Lynn opened the Strange Otherworld and sent Azephala and Cthulhu into the battle.
• Lynn kicked Clown toward Ether and ordered him to activate his curse authority at maximum output.
• Clown unleashed all his music boxes, intensifying Curse Deepening and causing Ether’s body to split and melt.
• Sir Awen and the Self-Binding Angel weakened Ether, allowing Sir Awen to pull the unconscious Colossus Brain out of him.

Lynn caught the barely surviving Colossus as Ether absorbed the atomic frenzy and rose from the Abyss as a vast giant. Silver Fantasy activated five Megastructures, allowing Lynn to drain Ether and giving the others a chance to attack him.

• Lynn caught the naked Colossus but feared that Zuo Zuo might not survive.
• Atomic Machinery broke through Dollhouse's blockade and attacked Lynn's group from both sides.
• Ether merged with the atomic frenzy and rose from the Abyss as an enormous giant.
• Silver Fantasy revealed that she had completed five Megastructures, and Lynn fueled them with his firstborn power.
• The Megastructures began draining Ether, while the Twelve Wings Archangel, Sir Awen, Azephala, and Dollhouse attacked him.

Lynn’s power faltered briefly as he kept the Megastructures running to suppress Ether, raising fears that he had reached his limit. While the battle continued, powerful figures above the battlefield argued over whether to intervene and chose to wait for hidden dangers and God Kings to reveal themselves.

• Lynn’s connection to the Megastructures and the power sustaining Sir Awen and the Twelve Wings Archangel’s godhood vanished briefly, then returned as he resumed channeling power.
• Sir Awen and the others continued defending Lynn from Ether’s attacks, but they feared the strain was pushing him toward his limit.
• Silver Fantasy warned Lynn that he could no longer hold on, but Lynn insisted he was not at his limit and activated the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Megastructures.
• Ether furiously attacked the False Gods but could not break through their defense or reach Lynn as the Megastructures drained and sealed his power.
• Above the battlefield, a pitch-black knight and an old man debated whether to intervene, and the old man urged them to wait for the greater dangers and hidden God Kings to act.

Lynn pushed himself to his limit to suppress Ether, but ran out of the spring water and potions sustaining him. Ether left the battlefield to expand beyond the Border, while the Jailers debated Lynn’s resolve and the Knight hinted at a connection between him and the Great Lord.

• Lynn sealed Ether inside the Ninth Megastructure, then nearly collapsed from the strain.
• Silver Fantasy caught Lynn and searched his System Space for spring water, but found only empty containers.
• Ether taunted Lynn, withdrew from the battle, and charged toward the chaotic colors beyond the Border.
• Sir Awen, the Twelve Wings Archangel, and the others continued fighting Ether, but could not destroy him.
• A Jailer mocked Lynn’s efforts, prompting a beast to attack him and the rival Jailer factions to clash.
• The old man stopped the Jailers, and the pitch-black Knight said Lynn had reached his limit before suggesting he resembled the Great Lord.

Lynn activated two Megastructures simultaneously to seal Ether, despite the strain threatening to destroy him. The seal closed, and Silver Fantasy caught Lynn as his vision faded.

• Lynn learned from Captain Constantine that at least two Megastructures had to operate simultaneously to weaken Ether enough.
• Lynn ordered Silver Fantasy to activate two Megastructures, and she warned that he would not survive the effort.
• Sir Awen and the Twelve Wings Archangel ended their ascended states to reduce the burden on Lynn as the Megastructures drained Ether.
• Lynn maintained the Megastructures despite collapsing and turning transparent, then poured in his remaining Firstborn Power to complete the seal.
• Silver Fantasy caught the fading Lynn as he tried to comfort her by telling her that machines could not cry.

Lynn’s soul collapsed after he used his Firstborn Power against Ether, leaving only a raven’s corpse. Captain Constantine revealed Lynn’s prearranged plan to find Ether’s core and imprison him from within, but Lynn’s fate remained uncertain.

• Silver Fantasy tried to restore Lynn’s shattered soul, but he faded away and left a raven’s corpse in her arms.
• Captain Constantine seized the raven and led Silver Fantasy and Sir Awen into the cabin, ordering everyone else to resist Ether’s counterattack.
• Captain Constantine explained that Lynn had asked him to find Ether’s reflection in the Sea of the Mind and locate a path to his true core.
• Lynn had planned to use Ether’s own power to build a prison around him, since destroying Ether’s core alone would not kill him.
• Captain Constantine said Lynn might still exist inside Ether, because Ether had taken the portion of Lynn’s soul needed to understand Firstborn Power.

Silver Fantasy and Sir Awen entered Ether’s Spirit World to find the part of Lynn’s soul he had devoured. They found it by following the Firstborn Power, while discovering that Ether had imprisoned copies of other powerful beings as well.

• Constantine steered the Giant Ship through the Sea of the Mind to the door anchored above it and stayed behind to stabilize the anchor point.
• Silver Fantasy and Sir Awen entered Ether’s Spirit World with Raven’s corpse, and Silver Fantasy vowed to find Lynn’s soul and bring the corpse to him.
• Silver Fantasy saw the buried souls beneath the silver-white desert and traced the Firstborn Power to locate Lynn’s devoured soul.
• Silver Fantasy and Sir Awen passed the imprisoned Scholar without stopping, knowing that touching him would alert Ether.
• Sir Awen and Silver Fantasy saw chained manifestations of Eve, Witch God, and Colossus, and realized Ether had retained copies of their minds, knowledge, and powers.

Silver Fantasy and Sir Awen followed a resonance from Lynn’s raven corpse to a mountain where his soul fragment was held. There they found Zuo Zuo repeatedly trying to climb toward the summit, furious and heartbroken over Lynn’s sacrifice.

• Silver Fantasy exposed Lynn’s raven corpse to firstborn power, restoring its warmth and revealing a resonance toward Lynn’s soul fragment.
• Sir Awen reasoned that Lynn could be reborn if the fragment and raven corpse were reunited, and he and Silver Fantasy followed the resonance.
• Silver Fantasy and Sir Awen reached a towering mountain whose summit radiated firstborn power and identified it as the place where Lynn’s soul fragment was locked up.
• They spotted Zuo Zuo climbing the mountain, but a burst of firstborn power blew her back to the ground.
• Zuo Zuo rejected Sir Awen and Silver Fantasy as phantoms, then tried climbing again while shouting that Lynn had let everyone down by sacrificing himself for her.

Sir Awen and Silver Fantasy discovered that Zuo Zuo was the conscious soul of the part of Lynn that Ether had devoured. Through Zuo Zuo’s memories, they learned that Lynn had endured repeated torture and willingly supplied Ether with Firstborn Power to spare Zuo Zuo from the same torment, leaving Sir Awen facing the mountain where that power was being released.

• Zuo Zuo mistook Sir Awen and Silver Fantasy for hallucinations and attacked Sir Awen, who let her blade pierce his neck so he could confirm her identity.
• Sir Awen used psionics to probe Zuo Zuo’s memories, revealing the torture Ether inflicted on the devoured portion of Lynn’s soul.
• Zuo Zuo’s memories showed that Lynn had resisted Ether’s threats until Ether threatened to torture Zuo Zuo, prompting Lynn to surrender and produce Firstborn Power for him.
• Sir Awen and Silver Fantasy realized that Ether’s Firstborn Power came from Lynn’s willing sacrifice, while Zuo Zuo collapsed in grief.
• Silver Fantasy held Raven’s corpse and understood the special place Zuo Zuo had held in Lynn’s heart, as Sir Awen looked toward the mountain releasing Firstborn Power.

Sir Awen and Silver Fantasy found Zuo Zuo inside Ether’s consciousness and explained Lynn’s plan to use the swallowed fragment of Brain’s soul to turn the battle around. Zuo Zuo warned them that Ether would detect them if they approached the summit, leaving them to reconsider how to reach the soul fragment unnoticed.

• Zuo Zuo woke up, recognized Sir Awen and Silver Fantasy as real, and asked whether Brain was still alive.
• Sir Awen told Zuo Zuo that Lynn’s exhausted soul had become a dead raven and explained that Brain’s plan could still reverse their defeat.
• Sir Awen said they had to bring Lynn’s corpse to the swallowed soul fragment near the summit before Ether discovered them.
• Zuo Zuo stopped Sir Awen and Silver Fantasy, warning that Ether watched the summit closely and would move Brain’s soul fragment if he detected their approach.

Zuo Zuo took Brain's raven body and climbed the mountain in Ether's Spirit World to reach a fragment of his soul. She reached the summit's platform and confronted the chained, half-merged Brain.

• Zuo Zuo convinced Sir Awen and Silver Fantasy to let her carry Brain's body to his soul fragment, and Silver Fantasy handed it to her.
• Zuo Zuo began climbing the mountain despite having no power, vowing not to abandon Brain and to grow strong enough to protect him.
• As the Firstborn's storm battered the mountainside, Zuo Zuo continued climbing while Sir Awen and the others watched anxiously below.
• Brain remained chained atop the mountain as Ether siphoned away his Firstborn Power, until Zuo Zuo reached the platform's edge and called him a rotten jerk.

Zuo Zuo reached Lynn and reminded him of the plan he had made to defeat Ether, restoring his memories and resolve. Lynn broke free of his chains and summoned Awen and Miss Machine Intelligence as the seal began activating inside Ether, leaving Ether in agony as his Firstborn Power went out of control.

• Zuo Zuo ran to the chained Lynn and told him not to give up, confessing that she had brought him there.
• The raven's corpse fused into Lynn, restoring his memories of the plan to forge the sealing matrix inside Ether using Firstborn Power.
• Lynn thanked Zuo Zuo, broke his chains, and called for Big Brother Awen and Miss Machine Intelligence to join him.
• Awen and Miss Machine Intelligence saw Lynn alive and rushed toward him as he confronted Ether.
• Ether stopped breaching Hell Borderland when Lynn's voice came from inside him, and his Firstborn Power began rampaging through his body.

Lynn and his companions infiltrated Ether’s Spirit World and began suppressing him, while Sir Awen disrupted Ether’s control with psionics. Lynn then urged Silver Fantasy to reclaim the machine intelligence Ether had devoured, leaving her poised to take control of the atomic machinery.

• Ether discovered Lynn and the others atop the mountain in his Spirit World and tried to fight back as Lynn activated a vast matrix that devoured his data and ether.
• Ether declared that he could be reborn anywhere, but the Self-Binding Angel and the others realized Lynn’s plan had succeeded.
• Ether sent countless silver tentacles against Lynn’s group, but Lynn used the matrix to suppress him and called on Sir Awen to attack his will with psionics.
• Sir Awen became a Psychic Giant and battered Ether’s consciousness, disrupting his control of the atomic machines and ether.
• Lynn told Silver Fantasy to reclaim the machine intelligence Ether had consumed and help her become the God of Ten Thousand Machines.
• Silver Fantasy understood that the weakened Ether had gathered the Machine Gods and atomic machinery within himself, and prepared to act.

Lynn’s plan to resurrect and reassemble the Machine Intelligence Civilization’s mechanical deities succeeded, while allies attacked Ether from within and without. With Lynn’s help, Silver Fantasy pushed past the God of Ten Thousand Machines’ curse and continued growing in power as the fight against Ether intensified.

• Silver Fantasy summoned the data fragments of the Machine Intelligence Civilization’s mechanical deities, and Ether counterattacked, suppressing many of them.
• Sir Awen announced that Lynn’s plan had worked, prompting the Self-Binding Angel and Dollhouse to attack Ether with their full strength.
• Captain Constantine brought his ship of the Void into Ether’s Spirit World and released countless undead souls, disrupting Ether’s consciousness.
• With Ether weakened by the attacks, Silver Fantasy fought him for control of the mechanical deities and absorbed their data.
• Lynn touched Silver Fantasy’s data stream and used Firstborn Power to hold back the curse, allowing her power to rise to 90%.

Lynn and Silver Fantasy turned the tide against Ether by creating a new Goddess of Ten Thousand Machines, who reclaimed control of the Atomic Machinery and gathered it into Mechanical Megastructures. The Megastructures activated using Ether’s power, leaving him with no chance to escape or preserve a surviving fragment of himself.

• Silver Fantasy broke through her limits and became the Goddess of Ten Thousand Machines, surpassing Ether’s authority over the Atomic Machinery.
• Lynn ordered Silver Fantasy to recall the Atomic Machinery, and she halted its worldwide rampage and drew it toward the west.
• Ether separated his fluid masses from the machines to preserve a chance of survival, but Lynn had anticipated his move.
• The Atomic Machinery assembled into Mechanical Megastructures across the world, and Lynn activated them using the firstborn power inside Ether.
• The Jailers watched Ether’s defeat become inevitable, while the pitch-black Knight praised Lynn’s strategy, judgment, and courage.

Ether’s final attack failed, and he realized that a force beyond him controlled the Border. As the Jailers rallied to the Female Host and the Four Kings, the Colors of Chaos began turning azure just as they had when Lynn fell from the Main Universe.

• Ether charged toward the Colors of Chaos to destroy himself and drag Lynn and the others with him, but an unseen barrier stopped him.
• Ether understood that the being behind the chaos controlled the world and roared a warning to his true form to run.
• The old man invoked the Female Host, and the Jailers swore allegiance and received orders to restore the lands, seal the Border, and support her.
• The Four Kings— the Northern Border’s pitch-black Knight, Lin Meng, the Bone King, and the Violet Flower Guard—each pledged their service.
• At the Border, the Colors of Chaos began to flow and turn azure, recalling the sky’s transformation when Lynn fell from the Main Universe.

Lynn’s plan succeeded: Hell’s Border trapped Ether’s true form and drew it in, while Ether’s spirit world began to collapse. Lynn stayed behind to maintain the matrix, telling his companions he expected to die.

• Lynn revealed that he had been waiting for the weakened Ether to attack so Hell’s Border could ensnare him.
• Hell’s azure chaos dragged Ether’s true form toward the border as Ether realized Lynn had used himself as bait.
• Ether’s consciousness was sealed in the matrix, and his spirit world began collapsing as Sir Awen urged everyone to escape.
• Constantine’s Giant Ship arrived, and Sir Awen, Zuo Zuo, and Silver Fantasy boarded while Lynn sent Zuo Zuo’s soul aboard.
• Lynn refused to leave because only he could maintain the matrix, and he told his companions that he had planned to die.

Lynn stayed behind in Ether's Spirit World to finish the sealing process, while the others escaped and waited for him to return. The Ether vanished in a blinding collapse, but Lynn did not appear, leaving everyone fearing he had been lost.

• Lynn revealed that his apparent farewell had been a joke, then told everyone to leave while he remained behind to give Ether a dignified send-off.
• Constantine piloted the Giant Ship through the closing entrance, bringing Silver Fantasy, Sir Awen, and Zuo Zuo safely back to the real world.
• Sir Awen told the Self-Binding Angel and the Dollhouse members that Lynn was still in Ether's Spirit World and trusted he could return.
• The group watched the Ether collapse into a singularity as Silver Fantasy warped the world's Megastructures into the vortex.
• After the Ether vanished, Silver Fantasy lost her connection to Lynn, and Zuo Zuo cried out for Brain when he failed to appear.