Chapter Summaries

Eros explained his slow Spirit growth by revealing that the family’s divine artifact had chosen him and absorbed most of the Spirit he gathered. By the time Barbara recovered enough to stay awake for a long time, Eros reached Sequence 9’s limit and advanced to Sequence 8-Listener in a ritual held in the Shadow Realm.

• Eros told the family elders that the divine artifact had contracted with him and was absorbing most of his Spirit, delighting them.
• Eros declined to use the family’s remaining spirit marrow for himself and decided to help Barbara recover gradually with his own supplies.
• When Eros was nineteen, Barbara said she had recovered enough to remain awake for a long time.
• Eros’s Spirit quickly reached the Sequence 9 limit, and he advanced to Sequence 8-Listener in the Shadow Realm.

After advancing to Sequence 8, Eros felt safe from the horrors thanks to Tentacle Big Brother, but Barbara told him it was time to see the world. When Eros asked to travel, his family and the elders tried to keep him at home.

• Eros considered how dangerous Sequence 8 was for sorcerers who attracted horrors, while Tentacle Big Brother quietly watched over him each night.
• Barbara told Eros that it was time for him to see the world because no saint had emerged from a life of comfort.
• Eros asked Duke Renka and Estelle for permission to venture outside and gain experience, and Duke Renka said he would consult the elders.
• Wendy eagerly announced that she wanted to go with Eros, while Estelle watched her children and sighed.
• Duke Renka returned with the elders, who urged Eros to stay home because of his rare bloodline and exceptional importance.
• Eros repeated Barbara's words about becoming a saint, leaving some elders flustered and the others confused.

The Night Clan discussed the artifact spirit’s belief that Eros could become a Saint and eventually a Great One. They decided to send him to the Imperial Capital First Holy Academy, relying on his awakened elven bloodline and magical protections to conceal his connection to the Night Clan.

• The Night Clan members marveled at the possibility that Eros could become a Saint and raise a Divine Throne with their ancestor’s artifacts and Shattered Divine Kingdom fragments.
• A family member suggested enrolling Eros at the Imperial Capital First Holy Academy, and others agreed that it would help him adapt to the world.
• Several members worried that the academy, jointly run by the Three Great Churches, would put Eros under their scrutiny.
• A member argued that Eros’s elven bloodline, the Servant of Secrets, and the Book of the Night would hide his Night Clan identity.
• The family agreed to send Eros to the academy and hoped that his elven bloodline might make their situation safer.

Estelle agreed to travel to the imperial capital with Eros, and the family elders arranged for her to take companions and search for useful sealed artifacts. As Estelle reflected on visiting her family after many years, she told Eros and Wendy that she missed her parents and mentioned her lost necklace, making Wendy look uneasy.

• Estelle offered to accompany Eros to the imperial capital, citing her Sequence 6-Fire Thief abilities and family connections there.
• The elders approved Estelle’s offer and said she should take companions and check the storeroom for useful sealed artifacts.
• After the elders and Duke Renka left, Eros noticed Estelle’s subdued mood and asked whether she missed her parents.
• Estelle said she missed both her parents, and Wendy hugged her and said she had never met them.
• Estelle recalled that portraits of her parents had been inside a pendant on her missing necklace, and Wendy’s expression froze as her gaze darted about.

Eros made Wendy call him “big brother” in exchange for keeping her secret and helping her join the trip. A few days later, they were told they could depart and followed a servant to the Duke's Mansion backyard.

• Wendy threatened Eros to keep him from telling Estelle that her necklace was missing, and Eros agreed in exchange for her calling him big brother.
• Estelle went to pack her belongings while Wendy and Eros remained in the hall, where Eros told Wendy she could not come unless he spoke up for her.
• Wendy pleaded with Eros and promised to thank him that night, then reluctantly called out, “Thank you, big brother!”
• Eros entered the soul space to study with Barbara, and a few days later, he and Wendy followed a servant to the backyard after being told they could depart.

Eros and Wendy prepared to leave for the Imperial Capital aboard an airship. After Duke Renka gave them final instructions, their luggage was loaded and they stood ready to depart.

• Eros and Wendy watched an airship descend into Duke Renka's backyard.
• Duke Renka told Eros and Wendy to visit their eldest brother and fourth sister in the Imperial Capital and explained that the ducal residence was ready for them.
• Duke Renka told Eros to take care of Wendy, but Wendy insisted she would look after her little brother.
• The servants loaded the last of the luggage aboard the airship as Duke Renka saw his children ready to leave.

As Eros left the Duke’s Mansion aboard an airship, two artifacts from the Shadow Realm entered him and strengthened his inherited divine skills. The artifacts could not leave the realm in their true forms, but their power and part of their consciousness traveled with him.

• Eros’s family elders anxiously urged him to put his safety before pride as he boarded the airship.
• As the airship rose, Barbara warned Eros that two things were coming, and two streams of black light entered his body.
• The black light merged with Eros’s skills, turning Servant of Secrets into Divine Art: Lord of Secrets while leaving Divine Art: Eternal Night Judgment unchanged.
• Barbara explained that the artifacts had formed a contract with Eros and sent part of their power and consciousness through his bloodline inheritance.
• Eros realized he had gained two more powerful artifacts to accompany Army Breaker, Daybreak, and the Big Book.

Eros teased Wendy instead of explaining the strange lights that entered his body. Later, in the Soul Space, he chose Barbara over the Book of the Night and the Moon of Eternal Sleep, and the scene ended with mist hiding the pair from view.

• Eros refused to tell Wendy what the two black streaks were, then moved away as she fumed.
• Eros found Barbara wearing white stockings and asked why she had changed her mind about them.
• The Book of the Night and the Moon of Eternal Sleep approached Eros, but Barbara swatted their projections away and pressed his head into her lap.
• Eros immobilized the two Divine Artifact projections, pulled Barbara into his embrace, and sent a tentacle flying away.
• Mist rose around Eros and Barbara as she blushed and he grew bolder.

After Eros’s kiss left Barbara too embarrassed to appear again, he traveled with Estelle and Wendy by private steam train toward the Imperial Capital. The family arrived in Intiles after a long journey, while Wendy’s boredom grew along the way.

• Eros kissed Barbara, who kicked him away and vanished, then refused to respond to him for many nights.
• Eros, Estelle, and Wendy transferred from their airship to a private steam train.
• Wendy excitedly watched passing trains until Eros’s calm reaction dampened her enthusiasm.
• Estelle had Eros rest his head on her lap and cleaned his ears aboard the train.
• After Estelle said they had two days left, the train carried the family into Intiles, the Imperial Capital of the Holy Chris Empire.

Eros arrived in the Imperial Capital with Estelle, Wendy, and his siblings, then spotted a red-haired woman killing a man in an alley and resisting her attempt to invade his mind. The family reached their new home, while the woman’s identity and Barbara’s sudden silence remained unresolved.

• Mishuel and Sivier greeted Estelle, Eros, and Wendy at the train station and led them into a carriage.
• Mishuel raised the family banner and told Estelle about the family's progress and difficulties in the Imperial Capital.
• Barbara alerted Eros to a spiritual fluctuation, and he saw a red-haired woman kill a man in an alley.
• The red-haired woman tried to invade Eros's mind through her gaze, but his defenses blocked her.
• Eros and the others crossed from the poorer outer city into the cleaner inner city and arrived at their new home.

After reuniting with her family at Count Bain's Estate, Estelle learned that her younger sister Elusa had disappeared in a Sin Domain more than a decade earlier. Estelle vowed to search for her, but her parents urged her not to risk going.

• Estelle brought Eros and Wendy to Count Bain's Estate, where she reunited emotionally with her parents and introduced the children to their relatives.
• After lunch, Estelle asked her mother where Elusa was, and Count Eureka told her that Elusa had disappeared in a Sin Domain in the Mount Matigold Range.
• Count Eureka explained that the Church's searches had failed, though they believed Elusa was still alive and trapped in the Sin Domain.
• Estelle recalled her close bond with Elusa and realized that her parents had concealed the disappearance while she mistakenly believed her sister had grown distant.
• Estelle said she would search the Sin Domain herself, but Count Eureka and the countess objected because it was dangerous.

Estelle entered the Mount Matigold Range sin domain to search for her missing sister Elusa, while Eros waited for Barbara to return to the soul space. Estelle came back gravely injured, and Barbara revealed that a fifth of her soul had been forcibly erased.

• Estelle convinced Count Eureka to let her enter the sin domain using her strength and the sealed artifacts her family had given her.
• Estelle refused to let Eros accompany her, explained that the Church permitted one family member to search for Elusa, and left for the sin domain the next morning.
• Eros spent twenty-seven days longing for Barbara until she returned, forgave him, and sparred with him.
• Estelle returned pale and exhausted, then collapsed after reaching home.
• Barbara told Eros that a fifth of Estelle's soul was missing and appeared to have been forcibly erased.

Eros used the Divine Art-Hymn of Life to heal Estelle’s soul, then spent a month unconscious from the backlash. After reuniting with his recovered mother, he learned she had escaped the Sin Domain using the family’s Spirit World Gate, though she could not remember what had happened.

• Barbara explained that the Divine Art-Hymn of Life could heal soul damage and that Eros might survive its backlash.
• Eros cast the Divine Art-Hymn of Life on Estelle, healed her soul, and collapsed from the spell’s backlash.
• Estelle used Alchemy Potions to keep Eros alive, and he woke after a month bedridden.
• Estelle embraced Eros and urged him not to risk himself so recklessly again.
• Estelle said she could not remember the day her soul was damaged, but recalled seeing Elusa before activating the Spirit World Gate to escape the Sin Domain.

After recovering enough to travel, Eros learned about the academy and its ties to the Three Great Churches before setting out for school. He arrived at the mountain academy’s foot and faced a long climb while still weak, then looked to his fellow passengers for help.

• Estelle explained that the Level Three Sealed Object could open a door to any location but randomly took something from its user’s body, and Eros said he had discovered her missing soul fragment with his Divine Artifact.
• Estelle put the search for Eros’s missing aunt aside because she lacked the strength to handle the crisis.
• Wendy described the Imperial Capital First Holy Academy and explained that students who wanted to advance beyond Sequence 7 had to join a church or repay their tuition.
• A month later, Eros said goodbye to Estelle and took the train to the academy, though his body had not fully recovered.
• Eros arrived at the foot of the mountain, saw the many steps leading to the academy, and looked to the other student passengers for help.

Eros hired Bru, Newt, Seth, and Mojie to help him reach the academy after he ran out of strength climbing the mountain. As they carried him toward the gates, Wendy and two companions waited for his arrival.

• Eros offered Bru, Newt, Seth, and Mojie fifty gold pounds each to help him up the stairs.
• Eros exhausted himself after climbing only a quarter of the way, so the four men built a crude sedan chair and carried him.
• Eros learned the men's names and that they had returned to the academy after helping their families with the autumn harvest.
• Eros and the four men neared the academy gates with only a few dozen steps remaining.
• Wendy waited by the gates and happily confirmed that Eros was coming, while a handsome man said he looked forward to meeting the genius.

Eros arrived at the academy with Bru and the others, where nobles mocked him for being carried up the mountain. Wendy came down to greet him and thank his helpers, while Saliba claimed her as his and tried to put an arm around her.

• Saliba arrived and warned a handsome man not to entertain thoughts about Wendy because she was his.
• Saliba tried to put an arm around Wendy, but she dodged him and told him not to overstep.
• Nobles mocked Eros for being carried up the academy steps, and Wendy angrily ordered them to be quiet.
• Wendy hurried down to meet Eros, who had Bru set him on the ground, and she apologized for not warning him about the staircase.
• Wendy thanked Bru and the others, and Eros gave Bru two hundred gold pounds as their agreed payment.

Eros and Wendy entered the academy, where Prince Saliba tried to interfere with Wendy supporting her brother. Eros learned that Saliba was courting Wendy and condemned his intentions as they continued toward the aptitude test.

• Eros gave Bru the two vouchers, then left with Wendy supporting him.
• Joanie introduced herself to Eros, while Saliba offered followers to help him and tried to pull him away from Wendy.
• Wendy refused Saliba's help and continued into the academy with Eros as the young nobles followed them.
• After recovering somewhat, Eros asked who Saliba was and learned that the prince was courting Wendy.
• Eros said Saliba could dream if he thought Wendy would become his mistress, and Wendy told Joanie she was used to Eros calling her random names.

Eros underwent an enrollment assessment at the academy, where a crystal ball revealed a green glow linked to his claimed Elf Race bloodline. The priests could not verify it and sought permission to consult a Sacred Artifact as academy officials and curious students gathered.

• Eros placed his hand on the crystal ball, which glowed green and turned emerald.
• Father Takrida asked whether Eros had awakened a nonhuman bloodline, and Eros said his family elders had identified it as the Elf Race.
• Father Takrida silenced the noblemen and brought two other priests, who said they could not confirm the bloodline because records of the Elf Race were scarce.
• The gray-robed priest proposed asking the Sacred Artifact and hurried off to seek a dean's approval.
• Senior academy officials arrived with a crowd of curious students.

Eros accompanied three deans into a chapel to have the Emerald Light Orb judged by a sacred artifact. He saw the artifact spirit despite the deans’ protective barrier and learned that Barbara could also appear in the real world.

• Priests recognized Eros’s elven blood, and the three deans escorted him into the chapel with the Emerald Light Orb.
• A priest stopped Wendy from following, warning that the sacred artifact could corrupt someone of her strength.
• One dean summoned the Holy Spirit from a Small Round Mirror while the other two shielded Eros from its presence.
• Eros saw the little boy artifact spirit clearly through the barrier because of the Eye of Eternal Night.
• Eros asked Barbara why she had never appeared in the real world, and Barbara stayed silent.

Eros’s elven bloodline was confirmed to come from a Nameless Divine, and Dean Como advised keeping his identity as a Holy Son secret until the church responded. Eros learned that his bloodline made him a target for anyone seeking valuable elven materials, while Barbara explained why the church would protect and support him.

• Barbara warned Eros not to name his elven ancestor and told him to say the bloodline came from a Nameless Divine; the Sacred Artifact accepted the answer.
• The three deans were shaken by the revelation, and Dean Como told Eros he still had to take a placement exam to enter a higher year.
• Eros asked how to enter the fifth year, and the gray-robed dean said he needed to answer eighty percent of the exam questions correctly.
• Outside the Small Church, Dean Como advised Eros to keep his Holy Son identity secret, then confirmed to the priests that Eros had the bloodline of the Elf Race.
• Alchemy instructors offered large sums for Eros’s blood, and Barbara explained that elven body parts were prized for alchemy and that the bloodline put him in danger.
• Barbara told Eros that the church would keep his secret and provide resources because his family followed the Reincarnation Church.