Chapter Summaries

The Dragon God explained that Roland’s Key of All Spirits was a remnant of the Serpent and that a monster called the Angel of the Sixth Heaven was hunting it. Roland chose to fight beside the Dragon God rather than retreat, and the Dragon God offered to become his Contract Spirit.

• The Dragon God explained that the Serpent had created the Self-Destruction Factor to kill itself, and that the Key of All Spirits was a lifeless remnant carrying the Serpent’s possibilities.
• Roland realized the Key of All Spirits had released Contract Spirit possibilities while searching for someone capable of confronting the monster pursuing it.
• The Dragon God identified the monster as the Angel of the Sixth Heaven and estimated that it currently possessed power on the scale of multiple universes.
• Roland acknowledged that retreat was the rational choice but decided he would rather risk death than live in fear and abandon his ambitions.
• The Dragon God proposed formal terms and offered to become Roland’s Contract Spirit.

Roland agreed to make the Dragon God his Contract Spirit, and they returned to Earth to prepare a trap for the approaching Angel of the Heaven of Heavens. They chose Gensokyo as their battlefield, while Eirin Yagokoro warned Yukari Yakumo that the growing disturbance threatened to destroy it.

• Roland accepted the Dragon God's offer, and the Key of All Spirits established an unbreakable Contract between them.
• The Dragon God said the monster would arrive in less than one Earth day, and Roland decided to lure it into a prepared battlefield.
• The Dragon God brought Roland to Gensokyo and explained how the Hakurei Great Barrier divided it from the outside world.
• Eirin Yagokoro told Yukari Yakumo that the approaching phenomenon was foreign to the whole world and beyond their ability to investigate.
• Eirin warned Yukari that Gensokyo's destruction was only a matter of time if they could not find a way to stop the disturbance.

As darkness threatened to destroy Gensokyo, Yukari Yakumo rejected Eirin Yagokoro’s advice to abandon it and prepared to reverse the Living World and the Netherworld to delay the catastrophe. Before she could begin, a Black-Haired Youth emerged from her gap and warned her against spreading the apocalypse beyond the barrier.

• Eirin Yagokoro explained that the darkness would annihilate everything in its path and that seals could only delay the destruction of Gensokyo.
• Yukari Yakumo refused to abandon Gensokyo and agreed to reverse the Sealing Magic Formula as a last resort to make it fall later in the order of destruction.
• Eirin Yagokoro proposed using Yukari Yakumo’s connection to the Netherworld to reverse the positions of the Living World and the Netherworld.
• Yukari Yakumo prepared to use her gap to begin the reversal, despite the consequences for the outside world.
• A Black-Haired Youth spoke from inside Yukari Yakumo’s gap, took control of it, and stepped out to warn her against spreading the apocalypse.

Roland confronted Yukari Yakumo and Eirin Yagokoro over Yukari’s plan to reverse Gensokyo’s barrier, arguing that they should keep the barrier intact and trap the descending enemy under the world’s rules. When Yukari used her boundary power to stop him, Roland seized her wrist and told her to stop interfering.

• Roland emerged from a gap and met Yukari Yakumo and Eirin Yagokoro as the darkness spread around them.
• Yukari introduced herself and apologized, while Roland criticized her plan and said he forgave her for acting on her conviction.
• Eirin asked Roland to explain a wiser course, and he proposed maintaining Gensokyo’s barrier so the enemy would remain constrained while descending into the world.
• Yukari questioned whether the barrier could survive, and Roland insisted that it had to remain intact for his plan to work.
• Roland walked toward the darkness and told the others not to get in his way, but Yukari invoked the Boundary of Motion and Stillness.
• Roland moved through Yukari’s power, grabbed her wrist, and told her he had no time for her nonsense.

Roland defeated Yukari Yakumo by freezing her in place, then consulted the Dragon God and restored the destroyed land and Hakurei Great Barrier. He told Yukari that his authority outranked hers.

• Eirin Yagokoro watched Roland restrain Yukari Yakumo and concluded that the outcome was decided.
• Roland held Yukari Yakumo's wrist and called on the Dragon God, who appeared and agreed that her power could be useful.
• The Dragon God reported that Gensokyo's Barrier was stable and that the collapsed regions had been handled.
• Roland carried Yukari Yakumo past Eirin Yagokoro and stepped into the darkness where the world had been destroyed.
• Roland parted the darkness, recreated the lost world, and restored the missing portion of the Hakurei Great Barrier.
• Roland told the astonished Yukari Yakumo that his authority outranked hers.

Roland used the Star Cup and Yukari Yakumo’s boundary power to turn Gensokyo into the foundation of a pseudo-universe, preparing a trap for the Angel of the Heaven of Heavens. After Yukari asked him to save Gensokyo, Roland agreed and declared that he would accept only victory.

• Roland explained how his authority surpassed Yukari Yakumo’s and used the Star Cup to create a pseudo-universe around Gensokyo.
• The Dragon God instructed Roland to synchronize with Yukari and spread the boundary between reality and illusion throughout the universe.
• Yukari recognized that she could not oppose Roland and pleaded with him to save Gensokyo, whatever the cost.
• Roland told Yukari he would save Gensokyo regardless of her plea and insisted that he could not lose to the Angel of the Heaven of Heavens.

Roland used the Star Cup to construct a simulated universe while Yukari Yakumo borrowed its power to extend her boundary abilities and aid him. When the Angel of the Heaven of Heavens arrived, Roland faced the Winged Serpent and launched a Divine Strike, knowing the coming battle would be dangerous.

• The Dragon God warned Roland that the Angel of the Heaven of Heavens was drawing near as the Star Cup helped him build a universe.
• Roland expanded Yukari Yakumo’s boundary powers, and she helped him shape the simulated universe while struggling with her feelings about him.
• Roland transferred Yukari Yakumo back to Gensokyo and teased her for thoughts he had heard while she borrowed the Star Cup’s power.
• Roland and the Dragon God entered a region where spatial logic had collapsed and sensed the Angel’s overwhelming presence.
• Roland hurled a spear of God-Slaying Power at the Winged Serpent as it entered the void.

Roland and the Dragon God faced the Angel of the Heaven of Heavens, whose overwhelming strength endured Roland’s Divine Strike. Roland lured the serpent away from Gensokyo, but when it shook the universe and disrupted his support, he called on the Dragon God to fight.

• Roland’s Divine Strike tore open a breach, but the Angel of the Heaven of Heavens forced its way through and shattered the universe’s Crystal Wall.
• Roland and the Dragon God saw the enormous Winged Serpent emerge, and Roland realized it was far stronger than the two of them combined.
• The Winged Serpent charged Roland, who used Made in Haven to flee and draw it away from Gensokyo while probing its combat behavior.
• The Winged Serpent pursued Roland through space, shrugging off his flames and growing increasingly frustrated as obstacles repeatedly slowed it.
• The Winged Serpent unleashed energy that shook the universe and wrenched the stars from Roland’s control, so Roland called out, “Dragon God, I choose you!”

Roland and the Dragon God fought the Winged Serpent in the collapsing Simulated Universe, but the Serpent turned the battle around by using the Contract Spirits and revealed a power that negated its opponents. With the Dragon God badly injured and Roland facing the Serpent’s Total Annihilation of All Forms, Roland summoned the Key of All Spirits’ power and transformed to fight back.

• The Dragon God charged the Winged Serpent and grappled with it, pinning it down while Roland tried to stay out of reach.
• The Winged Serpent used the power of its Contract Spirits to evade the Dragon God, bind it, and blast it away with a crimson orb.
• Roland intercepted the wounded Dragon God, then used his AT Field and the Spear of Longinus to counter the Winged Serpent’s next attack.
• The Winged Serpent’s power caused meteors to strike Roland and damage his AT Field, revealing its ability to negate other powers.
• Roland recognized the attack as Total Annihilation of All Forms and invoked the Key of All Spirits, transforming into a vast dragon-like shadow crowned in red and gold.

Roland used the possibilities represented by the Key of All Spirits to suppress the Winged Serpent’s total annihilation power, then bet all his accumulated futures on a direct attack. He overwhelmed the Serpent and revealed that his strength depended on a progress bar rather than a health bar.

• Roland’s Heart Light and other defenses failed against the Winged Serpent’s total annihilation power, which began erasing his possibilities.
• Roland’s golden-red archetypal power contained the black smoke and restored the Dragon God’s ability to fight, though each moment consumed his futures.
• Roland told the Dragon God to hold off the Winged Serpent while he wagered every possibility he had accumulated.
• Roland converged his possibilities and launched Reverse Canal: Primordial Dawn, charging the Winged Serpent with the full force of his futures.
• The Winged Serpent met Roland head-on but was driven backward and battered by the giant of light.
• Roland told the confused Winged Serpent that he had no health bar, only a progress bar that would reset when his accumulated progress was destroyed.

Roland and the Dragon God struggled to withstand the Winged Serpent’s Total Annihilation of All Forms, which threatened to exhaust Roland’s possibilities. After the Dragon God merged with the world to reinforce him, Roland baited the Winged Serpent into another close-range attack, and the Golden Sword began reacting to the Wings of the Radiant Contract Spirit.

• Roland used his possibilities to match the Winged Serpent’s power and struck it, but the serpent coiled around him and corroded his body with its venom.
• The Winged Serpent attacked relentlessly while Roland dodged, unable to risk counterattacking as his possibilities dwindled.
• The Dragon God assimilated into Roland’s sea of possibilities, restoring his wounds and strengthening him with the world’s power.
• Roland taunted the hesitant Winged Serpent and charged at it, allowing it to coil around and bite the giant of light again.
• The Winged Serpent felt its body affected despite its venom and saw the Golden Sword trembling beneath the radiance of the Wings of the Radiant Contract Spirit.

Roland used the Key of All Spirits and a costly Word Spirit strike to shatter the Winged Serpent’s Contract Spirit wings and wound it, then contracted the freed spirits to empower himself. The seal broke, and the transformed Roland charged the serpent at a speed it could not follow, wielding the Principle of Desire.

• Roland used the Key of All Spirits to reclaim possibilities from the Winged Serpent and struck it with the Golden Sword, sealing it in a cocoon of light.
• Roland broke the Winged Serpent’s Contract Spirit wings, leaving it badly wounded but still dangerous while his own body suffered severe erosion.
• As the cocoon began to crack, Roland contracted the freed Contract Spirits through the Key of All Spirits, drawing their power into himself.
• The Winged Serpent broke free and found Roland transformed with crimson eyes and horns, then watched him charge directly at it.
• Roland moved too quickly for the Winged Serpent to track and raised a claw-like arm, revealing the Principle of Desire flowing from his chest.

Roland contracted countless Contract Spirits to gain enough power to fight the Winged Serpent, but their influence overwhelmed his mind. He rejected their offer of cooperation and used the World-Eating Sword to seize control of them, preparing to devour them as his possibilities.

• Roland contracted the Contract Spirit Wings and countless other spirits, causing their crimson influence to overwhelm his mind.
• The Contract Spirits tore apart Roland's mind and tried to tempt him into accepting their terms, but he refused their offer to cooperate.
• Roland realized the spirits were weaker than him because they could not sever his connection to his heart's fragments.
• Roland manifested the World-Eating Sword and declared that he would devour the Contract Spirits.

Roland used Slash Emperor to wound the Winged Serpent, whose domineering principle clashed with his own, but both fighters were left near death. As the Winged Serpent charged for a final fight, Roland asked what distinguished a king from his mount.

• The Winged Serpent bit through Roland's arm, but Slash Emperor pierced its body and inflicted severe pain.
• Roland's Heart Light had become the principle of desire, allowing Slash Emperor to cut through the Winged Serpent's essence.
• The Winged Serpent tore itself free, leaving its fangs embedded in Roland's arm, and prepared for a desperate fight.
• Roland and the Winged Serpent faced each other in a battlefield where both were badly weakened.
• Roland smiled at the approaching Winged Serpent and asked what the difference was between a king and his mount.

Roland defeated the Winged Serpent by letting it devour his possibilities before Slash Emperor consumed it in turn, but the victory left him nearly dead at the bottom of a singularity. Yukari Yakumo pulled him toward a gap, and Roland’s final act began reversing the world.

• The Dragon God gave its remaining existence and energy to Slash Emperor, while the Winged Serpent charged Roland through the collapsing Solar System.
• Roland let the Winged Serpent devour his possibilities, then Slash Emperor expanded inside it and consumed the serpent as they fell into the real Solar System.
• Roland explained that instinct and an unrestrained desire to fight had let him defeat the Winged Serpent, then declared that he had won as Slash Emperor tore the creature apart.
• Exhausted and unable to move, Roland stopped at the bottom of a singularity, where a cracked Star Cup prevented him from falling beyond the world.
• Yukari Yakumo reached through a gap and tried to pull Roland to safety, but Roland used his last strength to reject the outcome and start time flowing backward.

Yukari Yakumo visited Roland in the Infinite Temple of Time, where he showed her the Black Serpent threatening the unrepaired crack in the world. Roland explained that the victory had only postponed the apocalypse and that his return to life would awaken the serpent, before revealing that he could speak with Yukari through her dreams.

• Yukari Yakumo reached Hakurei Shrine and found Roland resting at its torii.
• Roland revealed the Infinite Temple of Time, a Sanctuary he had built using the Principle of Desire, and explained that the Golden Throne amplified his power.
• Yukari Yakumo told Roland that Gensokyo's crisis was mostly settled, and Roland warned that their victory had only postponed the disaster.
• Roland sent Yukari Yakumo's consciousness beneath the Throne, where she saw the Black Serpent coiled around the world's unrepaired crack.
• Roland explained that he was dead and that leaving the Throne would bring him back to life, which would let the serpent destroy the world.
• Yukari Yakumo realized Roland was communicating with her through her dreams.

Roland explained to Yukari Yakumo that the world had ended and now existed as a Dream Realm sustained by the Star Cup, with time frozen to hold back the Angel of the Heaven of Heavens. He revealed that he needed Yukari’s help and began introducing his Gensokyo Paradise Plan.

• Roland told Yukari that the Winged Serpent could not truly be killed and that its death had prompted the Angel of the Heaven of Heavens to unleash a vastly stronger force.
• Roland explained that he had died after the world’s possibilities were exhausted, then used the Star Cup to create an infinite Dream Realm from the world’s embers.
• Roland told Yukari that the dream world had no new possibilities, so its inhabitants could not create new inventions or make theoretical breakthroughs.
• Yukari realized that Roland had frozen time across the world using the Star Cup and his Principle of Time to restrain the serpent.
• Yukari offered to help Roland, who unfolded a map of Gensokyo and began explaining the Gensokyo Paradise Plan.

Roland asked Yukari Yakumo to create incidents in Gensokyo so he could use their power to spread his dream without leaving the Golden Throne. Yukari agreed that the plan might protect Gensokyo, but said it first needed a new Hakurei Shrine Maiden.

• Roland explained that incidents could provide the firewood needed to spread his dream, while insisting he would not sacrifice Gensokyo’s residents directly.
• Yukari Yakumo worried that frequent incidents could harm Gensokyo’s people and disturb the Black Serpent, but Roland assured her the inhabitants would suffer no lasting harm.
• Roland assigned Yukari Yakumo to guide or cause incidents so he could absorb their power and maintain his stalemate with the Black Serpent.
• Roland described his Gensokyo Paradise Plan, in which residents would resolve incidents, forget their suffering, and enjoy everyday life together.
• Yukari Yakumo said the plan required a new shrine maiden and told Roland they first had to find the next Hakurei Shrine Maiden.

Yukari Yakumo told Roland that the current Hakurei Shrine Maiden was nearing retirement and that Gensokyo needed a successor, but the world’s stagnation had made finding a worthy candidate difficult. After learning how the Hakurei Power shaped each shrine maiden, Roland claimed he could make a new one, leaving Yukari stunned by what he seemed to imply.

• Yukari Yakumo told Roland that the current shrine maiden wanted to retire and that the Hakurei Power was accelerating her growth toward her limit.
• Yukari Yakumo explained that the First Shrine Maiden had created the Hakurei Great Barrier and that the Hakurei Power chose successors for their pure, balanced attitude as well as their reiki talent.
• Roland learned that each shrine maiden’s communion with the Hakurei Power eventually pushed her beyond humanity, requiring her to retire and be replaced.
• Yukari Yakumo said she had found no suitable successor and suspected that the stagnation of the world’s possibilities was preventing one from being born.
• Roland looked at the Yin and Yang Orb and announced that he and the orb could make a new Hakurei Shrine Maiden, leaving Yukari Yakumo staring at him in shock.

Roland used the Yin-Yang Orb to create a baby girl from its power and emotions, explaining that she would be a new life rather than the first shrine maiden reincarnated. The child inherited an innate ability that made her untouchable by others, and Roland named her Reimu Hakurei, the Thirteenth Hakurei Shrine Maiden.

• Yukari Yakumo asked whether Roland could bring the first shrine maiden back, and he explained that she had died content and would not be reincarnated through the Yin-Yang Orb.
• Roland used the Yin-Yang Orb to create a baby girl, while Yukari Yakumo watched expectantly.
• The baby girl manifested an innate power that made her intangible and impossible for Yukari Yakumo to touch, but she could still reach Roland.
• Roland named the child's power Innate Dream and explained that she had inherited the essence of his isolated state.
• Roland named the baby girl Reimu Hakurei and declared her the Thirteenth Hakurei Shrine Maiden.