Chapter Summaries

Alhaitham’s elaborate plan continued while Azar, the other Sages, and The Doctor prepared to turn the Balladeer into a god using Shouki no Kami and the Electro Archon’s Gnosis. The Doctor activated the brute-force process to force the Gnosis to release its power.

• Alhaitham’s plan relied on numerous stratagems to give his side a chance against the Sages.
• Azar and three other Sages watched over Shouki no Kami in the God-Descension Workshop beneath the Sanctuary of Surasthana.
• The Doctor questioned Azar about the missing dream energy and canned divine knowledge needed to complete the God Project.
• The Balladeer declared that he had waited his whole existence to house the Gnosis and become a god.
• The Doctor pressed the activation button, sending dream energy through the machines and into the Electro Archon’s Gnosis.
• The Doctor and the Sages used the Akasha to try every possible password and draw power from the Gnosis by brute force.

The Akasha failed to crack the Gnosis password before its dream energy ran low, so The Doctor began extracting Nahida’s mental energy as a backup. After Azar approved sacrificing her for the God Project, Nahida resolved to escape and stop the Sages, fixing her attention on the scroll in her arms.

• The Sages waited as the Akasha consumed the remaining dream energy without cracking the Gnosis password.
• Azar told The Doctor to begin his preparations, and The Doctor drew Nahida’s dream energy from her in the Sanctuary of Surasthana.
• Nahida connected to the Akasha and saw the God-Descension Workshop, where the Sages were creating a New God.
• The Doctor warned that continued extraction could permanently harm or kill Nahida, but Azar ordered him to proceed and declared he would accept the charge of deicide.
• Nahida heard Azar’s decision, rejected the Sages’ plan, and resolved to stop them as she looked at the scroll she had been clutching.

As The Doctor drained Nahida’s mental energy in the Sanctuary of Surasthana, she signed the mysterious scroll in blood and was pulled inside it. The Doctor confirmed that Nahida was still alive and had been rescued, leaving the Sages shocked by her disappearance.

• Nahida recognized the scroll’s strange writing from a note Yucheng had shown her and, with her strength fading, decided to sign it in blood.
• Nahida wrote “Buer” on the scroll and saw a towering armored warrior with a human figure bearing a crest she associated with the Regent.
• A voice greeted Nahida, then an arm emerged from the scroll, grabbed her, and pulled her and the scroll away from the empty birdcage.
• The Doctor noticed that Nahida’s dream energy had stopped and hurried to the Sanctuary of Surasthana with Azar and the others.
• Azar demanded to know where Nahida had gone, while Kavus suggested she might have vanished as Greater Lord Rukkhadevata had.
• The Doctor examined the empty cage and declared that Nahida was alive and someone had rescued her.

The Doctor discovered that a mysterious scroll likely caused Lesser Lord Kusanali to escape her cage, then told the Sumeru Sages their God Project was at risk of failure. The Gnosis’s power was successfully drawn out to fuel the Mecha, and The Doctor prepared to leave Sumeru for Snezhnaya.

• The Doctor identified traces of spatial fluctuations in Lesser Lord Kusanali’s cage and learned that a scroll delivered from Inazuma had also disappeared.
• Kavus explained that the Akademiya had photographed the scroll’s unreadable script, and The Doctor examined the image as a promising research lead.
• The Doctor blamed the Sages for obstructing the project and warned that he would take the Gnosis and Scaramouche to find collaborators elsewhere if the project failed.
• A surge of power and purple lightning signaled that the Gnosis’s energy had been drawn out, and The Doctor confirmed it was powering the Mecha.
• The Doctor told Azar that Scaramouche was suited to wield the Gnosis and said he would return to Snezhnaya at the Tsaritsa’s summons.

Scaramouche absorbed the Electro Gnosis and began his final transformation as the Sages plotted to control him by tampering with Alhaitham’s missing canned divine knowledge. Meanwhile, Nahida arrived in a mysterious green domain and found a courtyard full of thriving plants, where an unseen speaker warned her not to damage them.

• Scaramouche drew the Gnosis’s power into himself, while the observing Sages celebrated the God Project’s second stage.
• Azar and the other Sages learned the missing canned divine knowledge was likely with Alhaitham and planned to kill him if necessary, tamper with the knowledge, and claim control of the New God.
• Nahida was pulled into a lush green domain and approached a three-story wooden villa surrounded by plants from four nations.
• Nahida reached toward a bed of qingxin, but a nearby voice warned her that they were ingredients planted by the speaker’s beloved.

Yucheng revealed that Nahida was in his Kamui Dimension and began restoring her exhausted mind and body through their Summoning Contract. The contract linked them across distance, while Yucheng’s system rewarded him with Wood Release Chakra Nature Transformation.

• Nahida recognized Yucheng and realized she could not sense elemental energy or connect to the Akasha in his Kamui Dimension.
• Yucheng told Nahida that the Akademiya had extracted the Gnosis’s power and that their New God had already reached a god’s raw strength.
• Nahida wanted to return to Sumeru, but Yucheng urged her to recover and said someone else would deal with the Sages.
• Yucheng activated the scroll Nahida had signed, forming a mental link and transferring energy that repaired her mind and nourished her body.
• Yucheng’s system announced that he had completed a Summoning Contract with Buer and rewarded him with Wood Release Chakra Nature Transformation.
• Yucheng explained that either he or Nahida could use the contract to summon the other from far away, and Nahida asked whether he could summon her to Inazuma.

After Nahida signed a Summoning Contract with Yucheng and fell asleep, he began considering taking control of the Akademiya and deepening Inazuma’s influence in Sumeru. As the Sabzeruz Festival approached, the Akademiya searched for Nahida while Lumine and her allies secretly planned to rescue her.

• Yucheng used his powers to restore Nahida’s strength, and she fell into a deep sleep.
• Yucheng decided that, with his fate now bound to Nahida’s, he could pursue control over the Akademiya and closer ties between Sumeru and Inazuma.
• Three days passed, and the Akademiya prepared to enter new decrees into the Akasha, including a ban on public artistic performances.
• The Akademiya searched Sumeru City for Nahida and forced its way into the Inazuma Delegation Residence, but found nothing.
• Lumine, Paimon, Alhaitham, Cyno, and Dehya gathered in the Grand Bazaar to plan Nahida’s rescue.

Alhaitham, Cyno, Dehya, and Lumine prepared to rescue Lesser Lord Kusanali by recruiting Nilou to perform during the Sabzeruz Festival. Nilou agreed, but her mention of a promise to the Inazuma Regent made Alhaitham realize he had overlooked the Regent’s role in the affair.

• Cyno told Alhaitham that strict inspections had increased around Sumeru City, but he had successfully brought Rahman and his men inside by staging their arrest.
• Dehya reported that The Doctor had left for Snezhnaya, and Alhaitham warned that the Akademiya might still create an incomplete god before they rescued Lesser Lord Kusanali.
• Alhaitham, Cyno, Dehya, and Lumine visited the Zubayr Theater and asked Nilou to join their plan to overthrow the Sages and rescue Lesser Lord Kusanali.
• Nilou accepted despite the danger, saying she wanted to help Lesser Lord Kusanali and fulfill a promise to the Inazuma Regent.
• Alhaitham questioned Nilou about the promise and began to suspect the Regent had played a significant role in the events.

Alhaitham realized Yucheng had quietly helped orchestrate the plan to rescue Lesser Lord Kusanali, but accepted that their goals aligned and let the group prepare for the operation. After everyone went home to rest, Nahida reflected with Yucheng on the people risking everything to save her and wondered why they cared.

• Alhaitham suspected Yucheng had been using his group to advance the Inazuma delegation's goals, but decided to continue because rescuing Lesser Lord Kusanali remained his objective.
• Nilou promised to enlist the Grand Bazaar's help, and Lumine encouraged everyone to rest before the operation the next day.
• Alhaitham declined to give a morale-boosting speech, so Lumine offered the group a few reassuring words before they went home.
• Yucheng and Nahida watched events from the Kamui Dimension, where Nahida had recovered and grown slightly taller after three days of treatment.
• Nahida was moved that people would risk treason to rescue her, and asked Yucheng why they would help a god they had never seen; he told her to ask them herself when the time came.

Yucheng and Nahida watched the rescue team use the Sabzeruz Festival to undermine the Akademiya’s plans and draw Sumeru City’s guards away. As the operation approached its climax, Nahida prepared to take the stage and face the coming battle against Scaramouche.

• Nahida asked Yucheng why he let her followers risk their lives, and he explained that Sumeru needed to resolve its own crisis and that he wanted her to learn from their plan.
• Nahida offered to revoke the Sages’ access to the Akasha, but Yucheng told her to prepare without acting too soon and to focus on the battle against the New God.
• On the Sabzeruz Festival, Lumine and Paimon entered Azar’s office and were captured, while Alhaitham secretly replaced the Knowledge Capsule being uploaded to the Akasha.
• Nilou performed at the Akademiya’s entrance, and Azar’s order to the guards was replaced with a message claiming Nahida had escaped, drawing Sumeru City’s guards away.
• A boy disguised as Nahida lured the guards into the Grand Bazaar, where Rahman, Dehya, and their allies defeated them.
• Yucheng told Nahida the operation was nearing its climax, and Nahida steeled herself to take the stage.

Azar learned that the Akasha had announced an order to arrest Lesser Lord Kusanali, exposing her return and stirring rumors that the Akademiya had imprisoned her. Fearing her revenge, he fled to the Sanctuary of Surasthana for safety, only to find her back in her birdcage.

• Azar noticed the House of Daena was unusually empty and asked Uday where the guards had gone.
• Uday told Azar that the guards had been sent to arrest Lesser Lord Kusanali after the Akasha announced her return.
• Azar confirmed the arrest order in the Akasha and realized the secret of Kusanali's escape had become public.
• Azar told Uday he would investigate Kusanali's whereabouts, then ran from the Akademiya toward the Sanctuary of Surasthana.
• Azar arrived at the Sanctuary of Surasthana and found Lesser Lord Kusanali in her birdcage.

Nahida freed herself from the Akademiya’s restraints, incapacitated Azar, and tasked Cyno with arresting his accomplices. Lumine and Paimon learned from Dehya that the rescue had succeeded, though they still did not know why their attempts to contact Nahida had failed.

• Cyno confronted Azar in the Sanctuary of Surasthana and accused him of imprisoning Nahida and defying the gods.
• Nahida opened the cage, revoked Azar’s Akasha permissions, and struck him unconscious with a painful attack.
• Cyno confirmed Azar was alive, then agreed to lead the Matra in arresting Azar’s accomplices using the locations Nahida provided.
• Lumine and Paimon continued searching for Nahida’s signal in the confinement room, unable to connect through Alhaitham’s modified Akasha Terminal.
• Dehya arrived with the key and told Lumine and Paimon that Nahida had been rescued, Azar was in Cyno’s custody, and arrests were underway.

After rescuing Nahida, Lumine and Paimon learned that Scaramouche had become a god in power, though he had not yet gained divine knowledge. Nahida asked Lumine to help defeat him, and the group prepared to head for his location.

• Lumine and Paimon left Dehya to handle the unrest in Sumeru City and hurried to the Sanctuary of Surasthana.
• Nahida welcomed Lumine and Paimon, thanked them for rescuing her, and apologized for her role in the Akademiya's plans.
• Nahida revealed that Scaramouche had drawn power from the Electro Archon's Gnosis but had not received the Divine Knowledge Capsule.
• Nahida explained that she was not skilled at fighting and declined Paimon's suggestion to ask Yucheng for direct help.
• Nahida asked Lumine to help defeat Scaramouche, and Lumine agreed.
• Nahida located Scaramouche, and the group set out to confront him.

Nahida brought Lumine and Paimon to the hidden God-Descension Workshop to confront Scaramouche, who had become the New God Shouki no Kami. After he attacked them and dismissed his former identity, Scaramouche challenged Nahida to a fight and declared he would take her Dendro Gnosis.

• Nahida brought Lumine and Paimon through the underground workshop and told them she was curious to experience her own fate firsthand.
• The three opened the iron door and found Scaramouche meditating as part of the towering Shouki no Kami Mecha.
• Nahida tried to strike Scaramouche with Dendro energy, but he awoke and unleashed enough pressure to scatter it and drive them back.
• Scaramouche attacked Paimon with a mechanical palm, but Lumine pulled her away from the blow.
• After Paimon compared his power and Mecha unfavorably to others, Lumine said he was still the same Scaramouche, and he rejected that name in favor of Shouki no Kami.
• Scaramouche challenged Nahida to reenact part of the Archon War and vowed to take her Dendro Gnosis.

Lumine and Nahida fought Scaramouche’s Shouki no Kami, but the Mecha’s overwhelming power and defenses gave Lumine little chance. After she failed to pierce the chest plate protecting the Gnosis, Scaramouche struck her into a crater and left her unable to rise.

• Lumine attacked the Mecha’s joints, but Scaramouche teleported behind her and struck her with lightning; Nahida’s Geo shield helped her survive.
• Scaramouche trapped Lumine with elemental waterspouts and followed her attempted escape with a powerful Electro attack that sent her crashing to the ground.
• Lumine taunted Scaramouche by comparing him unfavorably to the Raiden Shogun and Ei, enraging him and driving him to increase the Mecha’s power.
• Scaramouche unleashed a barrage of missiles, and Lumine dodged through them to reach the Mecha’s chest and attack the Gnosis’s protective plate.
• The chest plate resisted Lumine’s strike, and Scaramouche’s iron fist hit her as she fell, leaving her in a crater unable to rise.

Nahida used a dream and the wisdom of Sumeru to help Lumine learn Scaramouche’s moves and fight back. Scaramouche seized Nahida and reached into her chest, but pulled out a person’s arm as laughter sounded behind it.

• Scaramouche offered Lumine the chance to become his follower, then realized Nahida had trapped him in a dream that reset the battle.
• Nahida revealed that Lumine had fought Scaramouche 152 times in the dream and gave her a Knowledge Capsule containing those memories.
• Nahida transmitted the battle to Sumeru’s people, whose shared mental energy strengthened the Akasha Terminal behind Lumine.
• Lumine used her knowledge and the terminal’s mental blasts to evade Scaramouche’s attacks and strike back.
• Scaramouche forced Lumine away from Nahida, grabbed Nahida, and thrust his hand into her chest to take what he thought was her Gnosis.
• Scaramouche pulled out a person’s arm instead, and someone laughed behind it, saying, “You were the one who pulled me out, you know! Kunikuzushi!”

Yucheng appeared to protect Nahida from Scaramouche, who had tried to seize her Gnosis and become a god. Yucheng withstood Scaramouche’s attacks and countered by trapping the Mecha’s joints, leaving Scaramouche unable to control it.

• Yucheng emerged from Nahida’s chest and shielded her, shocking Scaramouche, who had expected to take the Gnosis from her.
• Scaramouche powered up his Mecha and attacked, but Yucheng protected himself and Nahida with the Wood Release: Hōbi Technique.
• Yucheng summoned four enormous wooden arms with the Hotei Technique; Scaramouche destroyed them after his Electro attack made one arm grow larger.
• Scaramouche launched five explosive lightning spheres at Yucheng’s wooden mask, then sent a concealed sphere over it toward Nahida.
• Yucheng and Nahida vanished before the concealed attack landed, and Yucheng struck the Mecha’s joints with Cutting Sprigs, leaving Scaramouche unable to control it.

Yucheng confronted Scaramouche over his pursuit of godhood and his exploitation of Sumeru’s people. Scaramouche freed his damaged Mecha and tried to flee, but Yucheng appeared in his path and faced his final charge.

• Scaramouche realized wooden spikes had pinned his Mecha’s joints, while Yucheng revealed he was human despite having a god’s combat power.
• Scaramouche explained that his lifelong pursuit of power stemmed from being abandoned and betrayed, and Yucheng condemned his harvesting of Sumeru’s people and scholars.
• Angered by Yucheng’s comparison of him to a puppet Ei had abandoned, Scaramouche burned the wooden restraints off his Mecha at the cost of damaging it.
• Scaramouche blasted through the workshop ceiling and threatened to destroy Sumeru City before escaping toward Snezhnaya.
• Yucheng appeared above the ceiling, and Scaramouche drove his Mecha at him as Yucheng’s eyes turned crimson and a powerful aura surged forth.

Yucheng manifested a two-hundred-meter Perfect Susanoo and effortlessly crushed Scaramouche’s Shouki no Kami. After the battle, he challenged Scaramouche’s choice to gain power through the Gnosis, calling it a dead end that had sacrificed his future potential.

• Yucheng’s Susanoo erupted through the God-Descension Workshop, causing an earthquake and panic in Sumeru City, while Rahman and Dehya’s mercenaries stopped looters and the Inazuma delegation dispelled rumors about the giant warrior.
• Yucheng caught Scaramouche’s Shouki no Kami between Susanoo’s fingers and slammed it into the workshop floor, disabling the Mecha.
• Yucheng landed on the Mecha and told the defiant Scaramouche that becoming a god through a Gnosis had not made him powerful enough to rival greater gods such as Orobashi, Osial, or Buer.
• Yucheng argued that Scaramouche’s shortcut had only raised him to the level of cannon fodder among gods and had cut off his future, leaving Scaramouche confused.

Yucheng’s words made Scaramouche suspect that Dottore had engineered his rise in strength, while Nahida took the Electro Archon’s Gnosis from him. Scaramouche’s final attack shattered the God-Descension Workshop’s supports, leaving Sumeru City at risk of collapse.

• Yucheng reminded Scaramouche that Inazuma’s original puppet could not have protected the nation during the disaster, leading Scaramouche to question whether Dottore had controlled his growth in power.
• Yucheng left Scaramouche to Nahida, who broke open the Mecha and reached for the Electro Archon’s Gnosis.
• Scaramouche used the Gnosis’s power to strike a main support beam in the workshop, then lost consciousness.
• Nahida took the Gnosis, and Yucheng carried the unconscious Scaramouche away with Lumine and the others as the workshop began to collapse.
• Nahida discovered that Scaramouche’s attack had destroyed the workshop’s load-bearing beams, leaving the hollowed ground beneath Sumeru City unable to support its weight.