Chapter Summaries

As the Flügel city-state approached, Roland and the Elchea Alliance prepared to fight Artosh and the Flügel. Roland led Jibril and the Ex-Machina in combining their power for a massive attack on the Sky Throne.

• Roland reflected on his close relationship with Schwi after Riku fled, then learned the Flügel city-state was approaching.
• Hingko, Riku, and the alliance's leaders assessed the nearly thousand Flügel and reported their completed war preparations and weapons.
• Roland ordered the alliance to follow its plan while he flew ahead to challenge the Flügel and Artosh.
• Schwi commanded the Ex-Machina to unseal their Grimoires, and she and Jibril invoked Heavenly Strike.
• Roland combined the Ex-Machina's spears of light, named the attack Divine Strike, and hurled it toward the Sky Throne.

The Flügel and Artosh answered the Alliance’s attack with a Divine Strike that overwhelmed Roland and devastated Disboard. Roland proposed taking Artosh into space so their battle would not destroy the forces fighting below.

• Azriel recognized the Ex-Machina’s opening attack and ordered the Flügel to prepare a counterattack while guarding against the Dwarves and Elves.
• Azriel saw Roland begin gathering a Divine Strike, but Artosh arrived and gathered the Flügel’s power to unleash his own strike.
• Artosh’s Divine Strike collided with Roland’s, and the resulting energy tore through the planet and badly damaged the Alliance’s fleet despite its protective blessing.
• Schwi calculated that Artosh retained 12% of his power, still more than Okan’s or the Will Unit’s, while Roland acknowledged that he remained at a disadvantage.
• As Avant Heim and the Flügel prepared to attack, Roland told Jibril and the others he would take Artosh to a battlefield in space.

Roland revealed that destroying the planet’s source of the Elf Corridor could make the Star Cup appear, but he planned to fight Artosh in space so the God of War could not claim it first. Roland and Artosh raced into space to settle their battle, leaving the Alliance behind as Roland challenged his opponent.

• Okan and Jibril realized Roland intended to take the battle beyond the planet because destroying the source of the Elf Corridor could make the Star Cup appear.
• Roland explained that making the Star Cup appear would not win it for him while Artosh remained the strongest, so he had to defeat Artosh away from the planet.
• Hingko understood that Roland had never given up on victory, blessed him, and called him a savior for villains.
• Roland ascended in a surge of scarlet light, and Artosh changed course to pursue him into space.
• Artosh reached space ahead of Roland and halted, and Roland called on him to fight.

Roland confronted Artosh on the moon, where the God of War sought an answer to what it meant to be the strongest. Roland challenged him to learn through defeat, but Artosh declared that he would remain undefeated and unleashed power that enveloped the planet.

• Roland admired the planet and stars before Schwi warned him that a Divine Core reaction had been detected and urged him to use the Ex-Machina network’s analysis.
• Roland landed on the moon and met Artosh, whose immense presence distorted spacetime.
• Artosh explained that he had never found an equal and asked Roland what it meant to be the strongest.
• Roland said he did not know the answer, then proposed that Artosh could understand strength by losing to him.
• Roland hurled Longinus at Artosh, who declared that he would remain undefeated and caused his power to grow until it enveloped the planet.

Roland challenged Artosh and explained that he pitied the god for being unable to see beyond his own supremacy. Artosh answered with a full-force punch, leaving Roland’s AT Field cracking and making him realize he had provoked him too far.

• Artosh’s power expanded until he encompassed the world, and he caught and neutralized Roland’s God-Slaying Spear.
• Roland escaped the storm around Artosh and pierced his palm with the spear, drawing the God of War’s interest.
• Artosh asked why Roland was confident enough to challenge him and promised to kill him swiftly if he answered.
• Roland told Artosh that he pitied him for being trapped at the top and unable to imagine anything beyond his empty world.
• Artosh accepted Roland’s words and charged, striking him with a full-force punch that cracked Roland’s AT Field.

Roland’s AT Field shattered under Artosh’s punch, revealing that the God of War was rapidly recovering his full strength and far surpassing Roland. The blow struck the moon and sent a devastating shock toward the battlefield, where Jibril recognized the danger and ordered everyone to retreat and raise their defenses.

• Artosh shattered Roland’s AT Field with a punch and drove him back.
• Roland realized Artosh was regaining his original strength and that a single mistake could kill him.
• Artosh’s attack tore across the moon, splitting its surface and forming a vast crater.
• Jibril recognized the incoming white streak as Artosh’s fist and ordered everyone to activate their defenses and move toward the battlefield’s edge.

The Flügel watched the moon crumble amid the battle between Artosh and Roland, and feared that Artosh might lose. As Schwi reported the Alliance’s losses and the state of the battlefield, Roland concluded he could not defeat Artosh in a direct fight and began considering another way to defeat {the strongest}.

• The moon shattered under the force of Artosh and Roland’s battle, while a tenth of the Alliance’s forces were wiped out by the falling debris.
• The Flügel realized that Roland was an opponent only Artosh could face, and Azriel insisted that they would win because Lord Artosh was {the strongest}.
• Schwi reported that Roland’s trail had been found and warned that Artosh’s continued assault would leave Roland with less than a tenth of his power by the time Mars shattered.
• Roland regenerated his missing hand and recognized that Artosh’s growth made a direct confrontation a vicious cycle he could not win.
• Roland considered that he might not need to defeat Artosh head-on, but only defeat {the strongest}, as the ancient wheel bearing the Ten Phases stirred within him.

Roland decided to suppress Artosh head-on while Schwi and the Ex-Machina analyzed Artosh’s divine core, staking victory on their completing the analysis in 251 seconds. Roland launched a relentless assault, but Artosh’s overwhelming power culminated in a white light that swallowed Roland and the planet.

• Roland learned that the Ex-Machina could analyze Artosh’s current divine core in 251 seconds if they had a steady supply of data.
• Roland told Schwi to prepare while he planned to suppress Artosh and create an opening for the analysis.
• Roland suppressed his instinct to escape danger and chose to risk death in a direct clash with Artosh.
• Roland unleashed his AT Field and Crown-reversal, then used speed and a barrage of attacks to wound Artosh.
• Artosh endured Roland’s assault and answered with a blast of white light that swallowed Roland and everything on Mars.

Roland used the Wisdom Sword, forged from his analysis of Artosh’s Divine Core, to turn the tide of their battle. He trapped Artosh in a golden world and unleashed a vast rain of swords, leaving the fight’s outcome unresolved.

• Artosh grew increasingly enraged and unsettled by Roland’s repeated resurrections and refusal to yield.
• Roland revealed that he had survived for 251 seconds and declared that his turn had come.
• Roland invoked the Word Spirit of certain victory and manifested the Wisdom Sword after the Ex-Machina helped him complete his analysis of Artosh’s Divine Core.
• Artosh attacked with renewed power, but Roland’s Golden Sword pierced his fist and severed his hand.
• Roland declared that he would win because Artosh was a god and he was a Campione, then transformed the battlefield into a golden world filled with Word Spirit Swords.
• Artosh faced a sky-blotting rain of swords as the chapter ended.

Roland sealed Artosh’s concept of the strongest with the Golden Sword, then escaped toward Earth by using Boar and White Horse to buy time. As the Alliance launched its weapons into space, Jibril recognized Roland’s signal and ordered a celebratory barrage while Azriel tried to stop it.

• Artosh separated war from his Divine Core after the Golden Sword sealed his strongest concept, leaving Roland exhausted but facing an opponent who could now be surpassed.
• Roland summoned Boar to drive Artosh away, then used White Horse to carry him toward Earth instead of attacking Artosh.
• The golden flames appeared above Earth, and Azriel worried that Roland had reached the planet before Artosh.
• Jibril recognized the flames as a signal and ordered the Alliance to fire its Void Zero Blessings, Marrow Bursts, and other weapons into space.
• Azriel launched a Heavenly Strike to interrupt the Alliance’s attack, while Jibril joined the exchange and called it a salute to the birth of a king.

Roland and the Alliance turned the energy storm into the Ex-Machina’s True Canon, Star Killer, while Artosh believed the weapon was meant to kill him directly. Roland instead fired it into the planet beneath Artosh, leaving the God of War furious as his world-ending plan unfolded.

• Artosh charged into the storm and used a Divine Strike to carve a path through the Alliance’s weapons.
• Hingko, Okan, and Jibril discussed how Roland’s Void would require the end of the world as its material vessel.
• Roland told Schwi to activate every Traffic Control, and the Ex-Machina redirected the storm’s energy toward him.
• The Ex-Machina reported that Star Killer had been reproduced at 72.8% output and entrusted it to Roland.
• Artosh prepared for Roland to attack him, but Roland fired Star Killer into the planet below, prompting Artosh to accuse him of planning the strike.

Roland destroyed the Star Core with Star Killer, causing the Elf Corridor’s wellspring to erupt and the Star Cup to appear beside him. He refused to claim it before facing Artosh again, and the two prepared to settle who was truly strongest.

• Roland fired Star Killer through the planet’s core, shattering the Star Core and releasing the Elf Corridor’s wellspring.
• The nothingness from the wellspring swept Roland and Artosh into the universe, leaving them unable to move as the Star Cup appeared within Roland’s reach.
• Roland explained that defeating Artosh still mattered more to him than claiming the Star Cup, and he chose to surpass the Old Deus without its power.
• Artosh accepted Roland as his finest opponent, drew on the wellspring to strengthen himself, and charged Roland with a blazing spear.
• Roland condensed his Heart Light into a silver double helix and summoned Slash Emperor as Artosh attacked.

Roland completed the Demonic Sword Slash Emperor by fusing the Elf Corridor’s power, Old Deus Divine Cores, and the Sixteen Races’ sacrifices into a blade that could grow to match its opponent. As Artosh sacrificed his Divine Core to unleash his full strength, Roland prepared to test Slash Emperor’s power and banished the world.

• Roland fused the Star Killer with the source of the Elf Corridor and the Divine Cores of Cairneas and Okan to forge the embryonic Slash Emperor.
• The Alliance warriors linked their warships and sacrificed themselves to form the sword’s tip, while Okan used his forging power to strengthen the weapon.
• Slash Emperor took shape as a vast black blade extending beyond the earth and moon, and Artosh recognized it as Roland’s desire made real.
• Artosh charged Roland, then pierced his own Divine Core to sacrifice his accumulated strength and fight at full power.
• Roland absorbed the universe’s torrents of energy into Slash Emperor, raised the blade, and spoke the Word Spirit: “Banish this world!”

Roland fought Artosh with Slash Emperor, a world-devouring Demonic Sword, and gradually overcame the God of War through superior technique and adaptability. After Roland released Artosh's sealed Divine Core for one final attack, he cleaved its overwhelming beam in two, and Artosh accepted his defeat as his body split apart.

• Roland used Slash Emperor to wound Artosh and devour his attacks, while Artosh countered with Divine Strike and fought at close range.
• Roland's precise control and learned techniques let him keep the initiative as Slash Emperor steadily consumed the world and Artosh's Divine Core.
• Roland taunted Artosh that the strongest god had done his best, and Artosh realized his Divine Core was the final ingredient needed to complete Slash Emperor.
• Artosh asked what the strongest was, and Roland released the Golden Sword's seal so Artosh could unleash one final, universe-spanning attack.
• Artosh fired his ultimate beam, but Roland cleaved it in two with Slash Emperor.
• Artosh acknowledged Roland as his strongest enemy before his upper body slid away from his waist.

Roland defeated Artosh, absorbed his Divine Core, and accepted the Flügel and the surviving races’ hopes as he took the Star Cup. With the universe’s power in his grasp, he declared the end of the old era and the beginning of a New World.

• Artosh acknowledged Roland’s victory and explained that his concept of the strongest had an upper limit, then vanished after entrusting his wings to Roland.
• Roland reflected on the sacrifices and discoveries that had enabled him to defeat Artosh and put away Slash Emperor.
• Jibril told Roland that Azriel had stopped the Flügel from killing themselves and passed on Artosh’s final command.
• Jibril asked Roland to end the war and the era, and Roland took the descending Star Cup.
• Roland connected his Inner Landscape to the Star Cup, unlocked the universe’s shackles, and gained access to its power and knowledge.
• Roland proclaimed the beginning of a New World, and light covered the world as time, space, the sun, and the galaxy trembled.

After the Alliance defeated its enemies, the One True God restored the world and established the Elchea Empire, which eventually adopted Earth as its name and made Roland its Earth Emperor. Years later, Roland relaxed while Jibril handled imperial business, then revealed that his experiments showed the Star Cup could enable travel between universes.

• Time stopped as a radiant light erased the Spirit Remains and restored the world, and Azriel confirmed that the Alliance had won.
• The races celebrated their victory, then established a council under the One True God's absolute authority to settle disputes and govern the Alliance.
• The Sixteen Races agreed to form the Elchea Empire, while shared magic, technology, education, and commerce gradually brought their societies closer together.
• The races adopted Earth as their world's name, and Roland became known officially as the Earth Emperor.
• Years later, Roland lounged on a cloud while Jibril handled government work, and he told her his experiments showed the Star Cup could enable travel between universes.

Riku discussed Mage Technology and the Mechanicus with Roni, while sensing an unexplained connection to machine spirits as he silently praised the Emperor. Roland explained to Jibril that the Star Cup was the divine core of omniscience and omnipotence, then entrusted her and Schwi with Disboard while he set out alone to investigate fate and causality beyond universes.

• Riku walked through Hadenfell's Nature Park with Roni, who praised their Mage Technology that let Dwarves and other races gain strength through bodily modifications.
• Roni explained that the Mechanicus worshiped the Omnissiah, an aspect of the Emperor, and Riku refused to pledge himself to any faith beyond the Emperor and Tet.
• Riku silently praised the Emperor and briefly felt the strange machine-spirit connection again, but found nothing abnormal when he checked himself.
• Roland told Jibril that the Star Cup was a divine core, and Jibril realized its concept was omniscience and omnipotence.
• Roland explained that the Elf Corridor had formed from the Star Cup's overflowing power and had evolved into the universe, then said the Star Cup was beginning to reach toward other universes.
• Roland left practical affairs to Jibril and Schwi as he prepared to travel alone and investigate the fate and causality beyond universes.

Roland returned to his original world and found that only an instant had passed, then discovered that a Dragon God had emerged from a mobile game to bargain with him. The chapter left Roland facing the mysterious visitor.

• Roland used the Star Cup to travel beyond the Sea of Worlds and enter his original universe.
• Roland returned to his former room, confirmed that no time had passed, and enjoyed being home.
• Roland checked his phone and spent his remaining game currency on a ten-pull.
• Every pull produced a golden result, and the final card showed an unfamiliar Eastern Dragon.
• The Dragon God emerged from the phone, introduced himself, and told Roland he had come to bargain.

Roland met the Dragon God, the will of his original world, which sought to negotiate an alliance against a crisis that could destroy the universe. The Dragon God showed him its Akashic Records, where Roland recognized the infinite Sea of Worlds as scales or strands of hair belonging to a being named Serpent.

• A Chinese-style Dragon God emerged before Roland and explained that it had come to negotiate rather than fight.
• The Dragon God said a crisis was coming and that Roland’s return made his strength necessary, while Roland questioned why the world had not prepared for the threat.
• Roland learned that Youkai, impure Lunarians, and Sennin existed but had hidden behind a barrier to escape Humanity’s growing destiny.
• The Dragon God carried Roland to the world’s boundary and used its Akashic Records to show him the Sea of Worlds from a new perspective.
• Roland looked at the Key of All Spirits and realized that the existence embodied in the reality was Serpent.

Roland learned that {Snake} had died in an unusual way and concluded that it had used its own Self-Destruction Factor to overcome infinity and kill itself. The Dragon God showed him a future in which a monster made of Contract Spirits threatened worlds connected to the Key of All Spirits, and Roland realized it was coming for him.

• The Dragon God explained that it had left the Key of All Spirits alone because interfering with {Snake}'s arrival risked catastrophic consequences.
• Roland questioned how the Dragon God had survived {Snake}'s approach, and the Dragon God revealed that {Snake} had died.
• The Dragon God used its connection to the Akashic Records to show Roland futures ending in a single destruction caused by a monster with wings made of Contract Spirits.
• The Dragon God warned that the monster was coming for Roland and any world touched by the Key of All Spirits.
• Roland concluded that {Snake} had used its own Self-Destruction Factor to transcend infinity and kill itself.