Chapter Summaries

Medici killed William I and joined George III’s battle against the Red Angel, while Zaratul and Einhorn intervened and the Primordial Demoness arrived. The battle escalated as Cheek joined the fight, and Medici escaped through a Historical Projection to Intis, where Bornova began praying to the Fool.

• Medici killed William I, cremated his body, and left the mausoleum as George III’s laws swallowed the remains.
• George III attacked Medici, who revealed the Sauron and Einhorn identities and fought back as Zaratul’s Marionette Army entered the battle.
• Sauron attacked George III with sunlight and a reflection of the king, but the Primordial Demoness arrived and disrupted Zaratul’s script.
• Einhorn spread the Abyss beneath the battlefield, corrupting the Land of Shadows and George III’s Kingdom of God.
• In Intis, Bornova used a Historical Projection to summon Medici, who entered the Metal Divine Descent Vessel and said Cheek had joined the battle.
• Medici left, and Bornova began reciting the Fool’s honorific name after Medici said he could pray for help.

The Red of War and its allies fought George III, the Primordial Demoness, and Zaratul as the War of the Gods raged, while Klein learned that the Lord of Storms had killed the God of Knowledge and Wisdom. The chapter left Klein facing a desperate plea to aid the True Creator’s side, despite believing he could do little to help.

• The Primordial Demoness spread a disease of love through the Red of War, but Einhorn redirected it through Zaratul and restored the soldiers’ cohesion.
• Sauron and George III’s Reflection fought George III as his Kingdom of God descended into lawless chaos, leaving Sauron struggling against the King of Angels’ superior strength.
• Sauron and Einhorn prepared to keep fighting rather than accept a quiet death, while George III believed victory was within reach.
• Klein concluded that the Lord of Storms had killed the God of Knowledge and Wisdom and learned that the War of the Gods had devastated Lenburg and other countries.
• A young Church of Steam and Machinery member asked the Fool to help Medici and stop Zaratul, leaving Klein stunned by the requests and searching for a way to assist.

Klein tried to help the True Creator’s allies in their war against the Primordial Demoness by using Sefirah Castle to empower his Spirit Worms and locating the battlefield through Bornova Gustav’s device. He left Medici with a strange mist and sent a hypnotized thug carrying an Aurora Order charm toward the royal palace, where George III and Zaratul were fighting.

• Klein decided to use Sefirah Castle’s aura to strengthen his Spirit Worms, then tested how many he could destroy without overwhelming his spirit body.
• Bornova Gustav sacrificed a device that let Klein locate the God of Steam and Machinery, and Klein recognized him as the angel he had once known as an adorable child.
• Klein saw the God of Steam and Machinery and Medici battling the Primordial Demoness Cheek in the Astral World.
• Klein combined Sefirah Castle’s aura with his Spirit Worms and a Worm of Time to create a patch of mist, which he cast onto Medici.
• Klein hypnotized a thug and sent him near the royal palace with a Best Employee Reward Charm and Paper Angel blessings, then had him begin a divination ritual.

Leodero interrupted a ritual that threatened the Northern Continent, but the contaminated Projector began channeling the Chaos Sea into George III’s battlefield. In the Eastern Continent, Edward shaped the True Creator’s dream to make him confront the cruelty and emptiness of the world he had created, leaving the True Creator shaken by a young couple’s devotion to dying for God.

• Leodero’s lightning destroyed the district around the Loen Royal Palace and interrupted the thug’s divination, preventing a foretold catastrophe from spreading across the world.
• Leodero discovered a strange eye in the shadows, while the contaminated Projector showed Zaratul, George III, and Sauron an image of the Chaos Sea approaching.
• Edward continued altering the True Creator’s dream, while the True Creator struggled to understand his unease over human trafficking and his own past.
• The True Creator wandered through a sunlit city and learned from a young couple that people had no work beyond prayer and that they considered dying for God their greatest honor.
• The couple’s fervent praise of their dead relatives’ sacrifice made the True Creator’s head and heart burn with pain.

The True Creator recognized that humanity’s obsessive worship had turned his gifts into a cause for self-erasure, then remembered his own human past and recoiled at what he had done. Edward noticed the Chaos Sea’s resistance weaken, but an unexplained power shift redirected the True Creator’s attention toward something connected to Sefirah Castle.

• The True Creator watched a mother and a young woman teach a little girl that praising flowers without praising the Lord was ungrateful, and realized his followers worshipped him out of fear and atonement.
• The True Creator recalled that he had once been human, then remembered destroying most of Earth’s population and allowing human trafficking, leaving him horrified.
• Edward noticed that the Chaos Sea’s resistance against him had weakened and added a period to his sentence before the change could reverse.
• Edward saw writing appear in his notebook saying that someone had drawn away the Chaos Sea’s power using something related to Sefirah Castle.

Edward discussed the True Creator’s dream and the danger God Almighty posed to his personality, while encouraging him to exploit God Almighty’s diverted attention to gain control of the Chaos Sea. The True Creator revealed developments in the War of the Gods and identified Klein’s hiding place, while Edward disclosed the Genie’s identity and deal.

• Edward explained that God Almighty would erase the True Creator’s personality and encouraged him to keep struggling for dominance.
• The True Creator decided to use God Almighty’s temporary distraction to leave mental imprints on the Chaos Sea, and Edward agreed to help.
• The True Creator asked about the Magic Wishing Lamp, and Edward revealed that the Genie was a remnant of a Great Old One sealed by the Celestial Worthy.
• The True Creator reported that Medici and the God of Steam and Machinery were fighting the Primordial Demoness before the Hidden Sage joined them, while Leodero dealt with Chaos Sea corruption in Loen.
• The True Creator told Edward that Klein was hiding above Sefirah Castle and that Amon had noticed its aura but feared approaching Leodero.

While the War of the Gods endangered Backlund, Klein learned that the Churches of Storms and Evernight were preparing to eliminate the Earth Mother’s believers at Harvest Church. He warned Emlyn and secretly blessed him, but remained unable to choose a side as the Red Gloves approached.

• Alger reached Bayam safely, joined the Resistance Army’s prayer ritual, and donated a dormitory to the Charity School.
• Leonard prayed to the Fool from Saint Samuel Cathedral and warned that the Red Gloves were heading to Harvest Church to kill Utravsky, Emlyn White, and other Earth Mother believers.
• Klein passed Leonard’s warning to Emlyn, who considered fleeing but decided to stay and help the people sheltering in Harvest Church.
• Utravsky refused to abandon the church, declaring that he would follow the Mother Goddess’s stance.
• Klein blessed Emlyn with a Paper Angel to protect him from dreams and prepared to intervene with the Sea God Scepter if their lives were threatened.

Maria Stevenson and Mr. Z confronted Crestet Cesimir and the Red Gloves as the Church of Evernight moved to seize the Pilgrimage Church’s facilities. Meanwhile, the True Creator asked Edward to help Him regain control of the Chaos Sea and prepare to draw God Almighty’s attention.

• Leonard followed his squad toward Harvest Church, where lights and voices showed that people were still inside.
• Maria and Mr. Z discussed falling revenue, rising food prices, and the difficulty of leaving Loen before Maria realized their conversation had been distorted.
• Crestet Cesimir confronted Maria and Mr. Z, declared the Aurora Order and Pilgrimage Church targets of a cleanup, and said the Church of Evernight would take over the foundation’s facilities.
• Maria attacked Cesimir and the Red Gloves with Mr. Z’s help, invoking the East Borough’s laws as their fight began.
• The True Creator asked Edward to help Him stabilize His control over the Chaos Sea and His sense of identity while He accepted God Almighty’s memories.
• The True Creator entered the universe in God Almighty’s memories, intending to draw God Almighty’s attention and help Klein.

The True Creator abandoned his attempt to defeat God Almighty and worked with Edward to rewrite his memories as a story of God Almighty’s death and rebirth. He merged into the true sun, leaving Edward with a message for Klein and a request to come stop him.

• The True Creator manifested Edward Vaughan from God Almighty’s memories and explained that he planned to become part of God Almighty rather than fight him.
• The True Creator and Edward invented a history in which God Almighty favored humanity, conspired with the gods to die, and split into Adam and the True Creator.
• Edward helped patch the story while the world beneath them replayed the rise of humanity and the Great Cataclysm.
• The True Creator watched a vision of his lost homeland, then walked toward the true sun to merge with God Almighty.
• The True Creator asked Edward to find Klein, tell him to come, and stop him; Edward watched him disappear into the starry sky.

The Monarch of Decay left the collapsing dream after the True Creator vanished into the Chaos Sea, while Edward reflected on his choice and waited for his memories to settle. Edward told Amon that the True Creator planned to accommodate the Chaos Sea and began composing an epic poem in his memory.

• The Monarch of Decay watched the universe fade, said farewell, and left the dream.
• Edward returned to himself in Chernobyl and judged that the True Creator had ingeniously woven his life into God Almighty’s memories.
• Amon emerged and admitted that his avatars had been sharing information with him while he watched Chernobyl.
• Edward told Amon that the True Creator would return and planned to accommodate the Chaos Sea, while warning that God Almighty might not accept him.
• Edward took out his notebook and decided to finish an epic poem for the True Creator.

Leonard joined the Church of Evernight’s assault on the Harvest Church despite his personal connection to Emlyn, while Emlyn and Utravsky resisted a dream attack and prepared to face the attackers. The battle began outside the church, where Emlyn tried to counter the Mandated Punisher as Leonard secretly signaled a bat.

• Soest briefed Leonard that the squad would help trap Utravsky, and Leonard weighed whether to return to Tingen after earning enough merit for advancement.
• The Nightmares and Soul Assurers lulled the Harvest Church’s occupants to sleep, but Emlyn woke and found Utravsky resisting the dream attack.
• Emlyn gave Utravsky hurriedly prepared medicine that helped him recover, and the bishop opened the church doors to confront the attackers.
• The Mandated Punisher and the Church of Evernight’s Senior Deacon discussed their failed decapitation strike as Utravsky emerged to fight beneath Emlyn’s blood-moon powers.
• The Mandated Punisher charged toward Emlyn, while a bat noticed Leonard winking and making faces from the shadows.

Emlyn and Bishop Utravsky fought the Senior Deacon and a Mandated Punisher while Leonard maintained the dream, and Emlyn struggled to find a way to help Utravsky. Meanwhile, Maria wounded Crestet Cesimir with a piece of flesh from her companion, leaving him sprouting eyes, faces, and arms.

• Soest rebuked Leonard for letting his figure blur while he checked on the people sheltering in the Harvest Church, then told him to focus on maintaining the dream.
• Emlyn recognized Leonard as The Star and hoped to use him as an escape route, but he attacked the Mandated Punisher with Abyss Shackles and was forced back into hiding.
• The Mandated Punisher broke Emlyn’s shackles and raised a round object that filled the area with intense golden light, countering Emlyn’s moonlight and threatening Utravsky as the Senior Deacon’s dream effects accumulated.
• Maria told Crestet Cesimir she would no longer hold back now that the children had evacuated, then attacked him with a pebble that empowered Bribery and gave him flesh from her companion.
• Crestet’s shoulder began growing eyes, faces, and arms after Maria revealed what she had gifted him.

Maria and Crestet Cesimir fought to the death as the sacred bone sword unleashed its power, while Mr. Z struggled against a nightmare attack. The Red Gloves found both fighters fallen and rushed to save Cesimir as Mr. Z lost control.

• Maria realized her luck and strength were fading as the Darkness Pathway’s effects worsened her condition.
• Crestet Cesimir cut away corrupted flesh, then drew out the bone sword’s power and transformed into a more monstrous form.
• Maria and Cesimir fought at close range, with neither able to retreat and Maria believing she had little chance of winning.
• Mr. Z endured a fierce nightmare assault from the Red Gloves as his memories and thoughts began to collapse.
• Cesimir’s broken sword pierced his throat while its middle section pierced Maria’s chest, and Mr. Z’s will shattered as he witnessed them fall.
• The Red Gloves contained Mr. Z’s rampaging flesh and carried the still-breathing Cesimir away, discovering that the sacred artifact had broken.

Emlyn struggled to escape the Mandated Punisher while Utravsky fought the Church of Evernight’s senior deacon, until Klein’s lightning storm gave Emlyn a chance to flee with the wounded priest. As the pursuers closed in, Utravsky received a revelation and hurled Emlyn away before turning to face them alone.

• Emlyn escaped the Mandated Punisher’s grasp and hid in the shadows while the two deacons fought Utravsky inside the dawn storm.
• The dawn storm weakened, revealing that Utravsky and the senior deacon were both badly injured, and the Mandated Punisher joined the attack on Utravsky.
• Klein summoned a ten-second Lightning Storm, allowing Emlyn to seize Utravsky and flee as the deacons withdrew to alert the Archbishop.
• Emlyn carried Utravsky through concealed paths, scattering potions and driving away spirits, but the deacons pursued them.
• Utravsky said the Mother Goddess had commanded him to clear a path for Emlyn, then hurled Emlyn away and stayed behind in incandescent white light.

Emlyn escaped his pursuers but broke down over why the gods had chosen him as the Sanguine’s supposed Savior, while Leonard explained his ties to Emlyn and Utravsky to Soest. Elsewhere, Medici and the God of Steam and Machinery prepared to use Third Epoch records to overwrite Cheek’s data, though the plan had only a thirty percent chance of success.

• The Senior Deacon and the Mandated Punisher abandoned their pursuit of Emlyn after he escaped, and they left the East Borough.
• Emlyn reached an empty house and pleaded with the Mother Goddess and the Ancestor for an explanation, then apologized for his outburst and grieved over Utravsky’s sacrifice.
• Leonard admitted to Soest that Emlyn and Utravsky were friends and defended them as harmless, helpful people rather than dangerous cultists.
• Soest explained that Feynapotter’s war and the Earth Mother Church’s role in border unrest had made its followers cultists in Loen, and he urged Leonard to accept that the Red Gloves could only protect themselves and their companions.
• Medici and the God of Steam and Machinery fought Cheek and the Hidden Sage in the Astral World, then prepared to use Third Epoch records to overwrite the Primordial Demoness data with the Red Angel data.

Medici and the God of Steam and Machinery attacked the Primordial Demoness, but the Hidden Sage intervened and began probing the battlefield. Klein and Cattleya were also examined by the Hidden Sage’s eyes, while a Daoist master in the Western Continent revealed that he had discovered the Celestial Worthy’s successor in the east.

• Medici learned from Einhorn’s interrupted message that Sauron and Einhorn had encountered the Chaos Sea, then helped the God of Steam and Machinery trap and burn Cheek.
• The Hidden Sage watched the battle and scanned the God of Steam and Machinery, but departed after encountering the deity’s civilization scrolls and a shifting view of history.
• Klein sent Cattleya back near the Future, where the Hidden Sage’s eyes scanned her and the ship before vanishing; the eyes later examined Klein in his shelter as well.
• A Daoist master woke from a long meditation and told his disciple Si Nan about the world beyond the seal, including the Northern and Southern Continents and their warring nations.
• The master told Si Nan that the Celestial Worthy’s successor was in the east and described him as a black-haired, black-eyed man who was still growing.
• After Si Nan left to summon the master’s colleagues, the old man reflected that the Celestial Worthy seemed different and that his journey had revealed the successor.

Klein recovered in an underground shelter after helping in a battle involving gods, then dreamed of a cultivation world connected to the Hidden Sage. The dream ended when Medici called for the Fool’s support, leaving Klein to consider how to respond.

• Busuanzi’s divination went awry in a Taoist temple, and he and Xiaoyaozi received Heavenly Mechanism’s invitation to meet.
• Klein recovered from spiritual exhaustion while Richardson and Walter watched over him in the shelter.
• Klein dreamed of a Republican-era cultivation world where a master lost control and turned into data, then his disciple entered a small door and returned as information.
• Klein realized the dream was connected to the Hidden Sage and wondered whether its people gained Beyonder powers without potions.
• Medici’s call for more support woke Klein, who cursed the True Creator for spreading the Fool’s Honorific Name and began considering how to help.

Ileana and Mr. A watched Trier’s first electric streetlamp illuminate the city, after which Bornova Gustav transformed its infrastructure and a masked old man spread instructions that helped residents accept electricity. In the Astral World, the God of Steam and Machinery grew stronger while Medici continued his mental contest with Cheek, whose defeat remained unresolved.

• Ileana and Mr. A observed the Machinery Hivemind install and switch on Trier’s first electric streetlamp.
• Bornova Gustav reshaped Trier’s infrastructure, replacing gas lamps and updating the city’s pipes, cables, and trains.
• A masked old man circulated electricity instructions through Trier’s collective minds, easing residents’ fears and encouraging acceptance of the new energy.
• The God of Steam and Machinery gained prayers and power as His form changed, while He waited for Medici’s signal.
• Medici played the Betrayal Banquet card against Cheek, invoking the catastrophe and challenging her record of affliction and despair.

Medici challenged Cheek for control of the Demoness pathway by invoking his military achievements, changing into a woman, and beginning to act out its lower sequences, before their mental duel turned into a fight. Elsewhere, George III pursued Sauron through Backlund as the Lord of Storms flooded Intis, then found the Magic Wishing Lamp and rubbed it.

• Medici used his achievements and feminine appearance to shake Cheek’s influence over the Demoness pathway, then confronted her in a battle of disasters and swordplay.
• A young red-haired man bought tobacco from a shopkeeper in Cherwood Borough and vanished in flames after warning him that staying nearby was dangerous.
• George III’s pursuit pinned Sauron beneath the law against flight, but the rising sound of ocean waves heralded the Lord of Storms flooding Intis with the Sonia Sea.
• George III found the Magic Wishing Lamp beneath the Royal Palace’s rubble and rubbed it to test its wish-granting power.

George III tested the Magic Wishing Lamp and asked it to restore Backlund after the War of the Gods. As the Lord of Storms devastated Intis, the God of Combat turned on Death, while the Earth Mother chose Emlyn White as a potential leader for the Sanguine and gave him a mission.

• George III questioned the Magic Wishing Lamp, then wished for Backlund’s destroyed buildings to be restored after the War of the Gods in the emperor’s name.
• The Lord of Storms sent a massive tsunami across Intis, and Bornova tried to hold it back with a growing metal wall.
• The God of Combat ambushed Death and pursued him into the Spirit World toward Calderón.
• Badheil confronted Death and blocked his way, while Death threatened to let the River of Eternal Darkness swallow Feysac.
• The Earth Mother decided to preserve Emlyn White and called on him to help the Sanguine, and Emlyn vowed to become strong enough to save them.