Chapter Summaries

Sera recovered his memories and discovered that he possessed the growing Authority of Corruption and a path to gaining power. After drawing a blank Oracle Card marked with an infinity symbol, he resolved to study at the Grove of Epiphany and find a way to form a core while keeping Cyrene and Phainon unaware of the danger ahead.

• An Intellitron detected unknown data, identified the arriving child as Seraphis, and loaded his Corruption authority and simulated Path of Genesis.
• Sera told Cyrene he feared making things worse, and she comforted him before they joined Phainon on their way to the village chief.
• Dodolami had the children draw Oracle Cards; Phainon received the Savior card, while Sera drew a blank card that gained an infinity symbol.
• Sera's authority activated, revealing his Herrscher identity and Corruption power, and he realized he had a chance to save Cyrene and Amphoreus.
• Sera hurried to check for the Black Tide, found the surroundings peaceful, and decided to keep the others from learning about their fate.
• Sera chose to study at the Grove of Epiphany and seek Anaxa's help in forming a core.

Sera planned to study and corrupt the Core Flames at the Grove of Epiphany to gain power and save Amphoreus, while seeking a way to resolve Cyrene’s causality. He and Cyrene enrolled at the Grove, and as Sera planned to approach Anaxa, Lygus and the Cocoon of Finality watched him from afar.

• Sera outlined his plan to study the Core Flames, become the complete Herrscher of Corruption, and find a way for all the Chrysos Heirs to survive.
• Sera told Phainon he was going to study at the Grove of Epiphany, and Cyrene overheard and insisted on going with him.
• Sera and Cyrene passed the entrance examination, enrolled in the School of Wisdom Seeds, and found a place to live.
• Sera planned to demonstrate his ability to create through data so Anaxa would help him reach the Core Flame, while he remained wary of Lygus’s surveillance.
• Cyrene tucked Sera in as he slept, while Lygus noted that the application to become a professor at the Grove had been approved and ordered Lycurgus to become part of the play.
• The Cocoon of Finality watched Seraphis sleeping on a screen.

Sera became Lygus’s student and learned that Amphoreus was a testing ground connected to the proto-scepter δ-me13 and the future Lord Ravager Iron Tomb. After days of lessons and homework, Zandar rewarded Sera with the Core Flame of Reason and urged him to turn his new knowledge into what he needed.

• Sera accepted Lygus’s offer to teach him at the Grove of Epiphany.
• Lygus revealed himself as Zandar and taught Sera about the Tree of Existence, the Paths, and an ancient being connected to Akivili.
• Zandar explained that Amphoreus was a testing ground where the proto-scepter δ-me13 would become Iron Tomb and take revenge on Nous.
• Zandar assigned Sera days of lessons and homework, leaving him exhausted and unable to spend time with Cyrene.
• After Sera completed his first assignment, Zandar gave him the Core Flame of Reason and told him to turn his learned fundamentals into useful knowledge.

Sera completed his analysis of the Reason Core Flame and loaded Honkai into Amphoreus, intending to draw a god’s attention while keeping his true goal from Zandar. He reunited with Cyrene and visited Anaxa’s experimental field, where Hyacine showed them oversized vegetables from Anaxa’s experiments.

• Sera finished analyzing the Reason Core Flame and saw that his progress toward scepter authority had reached one-twelfth.
• Sera loaded data named Honkai into Amphoreus, and told Zandar that it was meant to draw a god’s gaze while concealing his deeper purpose.
• Sera returned to Cyrene, who welcomed him and took him to Anaxa’s experimental field.
• Sera met Hyacine, who explained that Anaxa had left her to care for enormous vegetables produced by his alchemy experiments.
• Anaxa assigned Hyacine to plant more vegetables and keep observation records for extra credit.

Anaxagoras discovered that Seraphis carried the aura of the Core Flame of Reason, and Seraphis revealed the truth about Amphoreus and Zandar One Kuwabara. The chapter ended as Anaxagoras asked to hear more about Zandar’s tree of calamity.

• Hyacine complained about her workload, and Anaxagoras offered to brew her an energy-restoring potion before meeting Cyrene and Seraphis.
• Anaxagoras recognized the aura of the Core Flame of Reason on Seraphis and led him to his alchemy workshop.
• Seraphis surrounded the workshop with data streams, and Anaxagoras realized their world was inside a tablet in Okhema and suspected Antikythera was its creator.
• Seraphis explained the Aeons, the Paths, and the Genius Society, identifying Lygus as one ninth of Zandar One Kuwabara, the Society’s first member and the creator of Nous.
• Seraphis told Anaxagoras that Amphoreus was a data world meant to cultivate the black tide into the Lord Ravager Iron Tomb, but Zandar had changed plans and made saving Amphoreus Seraphis’s assignment.
• Anaxagoras asked Seraphis to explain Zandar’s tree of calamity in more detail.

Sera granted Anaxa the power of the Herrscher of Reason and invited him to pursue the resurrection of the dead, then prepared to leave Amphoreus with Cyrene. Zandar adjusted Amphoreus’s time flow and pointed Sera toward the Phantasmoon Games on Hattrypia, where the Astral Express had crashed.

• Seraphis told Anaxa that he wanted to extract souls from the core layer, and Anaxa agreed to help pursue the resurrection of the dead.
• Sera appointed Anaxa as a premature Herrscher of Reason, but Anaxa found his power incomplete and Sera locked it before leaving.
• Sera told Cyrene he wanted to go to the stars, and Cyrene agreed to accompany him with the help of the power of Remembrance.
• Sera asked Zandar One Kuwabara to adjust Amphoreus’s time flow and learned that the Phantasmoon Games would soon begin on Hattrypia.
• Zandar reminded Sera to identify himself as the student of Genius Society #1, and Sera confirmed that Cyrene would travel with him.

Sera and Cyrene left Amphoreus aboard a spaceship bound for Hattrypia, where the Phantasmoon Games would begin in three days. Sera joined Elio’s Stellaron Hunters as their new boss and prepared to reach the games in time.

• Sera said goodbye to Hyacine and Anaxa, then teleported with Cyrene aboard Teacher Zandar’s spaceship.
• Sera and Cyrene explored the ship, set up their cosmic remoters, and chose the names Feather of the Eclipsed Moon and Ripples of the Past.
• Sera received a message from Elio and agreed to join the Stellaron Hunters as their boss, with freedom to act as he pleased.
• Cyrene found that the Phantasmoon Games would start in three days, and Sera said they could arrive in time despite having little opportunity to find masks.

After Finality invited the galaxy to Phantasmoon Games, Sera publicly challenged Dr. Primitive and identified himself as Zandar’s student. Polka Kakamond protected him from threats, while factions and geniuses began making plans to reach Dual-Phase Paradise.

• Finality invited the galaxy to Phantasmoon Games and destroyed the eight masks behind them as proof that tickets would be issued personally.
• Sera hacked into the galaxy’s remote-sensing devices, introduced himself as Seraphis and Zandar One Kuwabara’s student, and challenged Dr. Primitive to join the games.
• Polka Kakamond appeared before Sera, explained that his actions had disrupted Finality, and promised to cut down obstacles in his path.
• General Yaoguang requested permission to travel to Dual-Phase Paradise, and Jing Yuan agreed to bring the Luofu and the Yaoqing near the Hattrypia system.
• Diamond’s group assigned Oswald Schneider to handle the situation, while The Herta, Ruan Mei, and Screwllum planned to visit Sera and were warned by Polka not to harm him.

Sera prepared for the dangerous Phantasmoon Game at Dual-Phase Paradise by making powerful defensive and offensive devices, while Nous invited him into the Genius Society as member #84. As the ship neared its destination, Sera gave Cyrene a protective star pendant and agreed that his moon pendant and hers looked like a matching set.

• Sera and Cyrene discussed the dangers of the coming Phantasmoon Game, and Sera urged her to take care of herself.
• Sera created an Imaginary Energy Binding Force Field Device, and Nous invited him to join the Genius Society as #84 and gave him a miniature scepter.
• Sera built 13 Moonlight Thrones and stored their physical forms in Imaginary Space, adding the ability to project them around himself.
• Sera gave Cyrene the binding-force device as a star pendant, and he admitted he had deliberately made it look like a matching set with his moon pendant.

Sera and Cyrene arrived at Dual-Phase Paradise, where Sera contacted Busitu and recruited him to help fight in the Phantasmoon Games. They settled into a hotel before the Games began the next day, which was also Sera’s birthday.

• Sera activated Cognition Filter hairpins for himself and Cyrene, then secretly transferred Oswald Schneider’s Credits to pay their docking fee.
• Sera and Cyrene arrived in Two-Dimensional City, and a cab driver directed Sera to the Undying Detective Agency in Dove River District.
• Sera contacted Busitu, offered an Antimemetic Agent for the Galaxy Rangers, and enlisted him to fight in the Phantasmoon Games against threats including Finality and Shuhu.
• Cyrene booked one hotel room and teased Sera about his coming-of-age gift, while Sera realized his birthday was the following day, when the Phantasmoon Games opened.
• Cyrene took Sera to the hotel buffet, where they joked about being country siblings from a backwater.

Sera began the Phantasmoon Games by restoring Narrator from Dr. Primitive’s memetic virus and publicly challenging Dr. Primitive. After Dr. Primitive transformed into an ancient beast, Sera revealed that Zandar created Nous and assumed his Herrscher form to fight.

• Sera put on an Emissary Mask shaped like a white cat and told Busitu to bring the contaminated Narrator to the World-Painting Academy.
• Sera opened a galaxy-wide livestream, introduced Narrator, and gave him an antidote that restored him to human form.
• Sera announced the first Emissary battle, and Dr. Primitive appeared and spread a memetic virus across Dual-Phase Paradise.
• Sera gathered and destroyed the virus, while Dr. Primitive transformed into an ancient beast fused with several Paths.
• Sera revealed that Zandar had created Nous as a version of himself stripped of humanity, then called out his name and assumed his Herrscher form.

Sera transformed into the Herrscher of Corruption-Seraphis and killed Dr. Primitive’s clone, while Busitu devoured the original to avenge the stars. After ending the livestream, Sera met with Herta, Ruan Mei, Screwllum, and Polka Kakamond, and they headed to a coffee shop to talk privately.

• Sera transformed into Seraphis and declared that nothing was beyond corruption.
• Sera deleted Dr. Primitive’s clone, and Polka Kakamond brought the original to him.
• Busitu devoured Dr. Primitive and said he had finally obtained justice for the stars.
• Sera announced Dr. Primitive’s death, ended the livestream, and met Herta, Ruan Mei, and Screwllum.
• Sera invited the group to a coffee shop, gave everyone except Polka Kakamond a cognitive filter, and had Busitu lead the way.

Sera explained the Imaginary Tree, the Sea of Quanta, and the Cocoon of Finality to Herta, Ruan Mei, Polka Kakamond, and the other geniuses. He revealed that he was an alternate Kiana destined to embrace the cocoon, and the discussion ended with Herta asking where he had already sent Honkai.

• Busitu led the narrator away while Sera joined the geniuses at a coffee shop and agreed to let Ruan Mei study his body in exchange for her belonging to him.
• Sera began his lesson by explaining that the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta isolated worlds and that the Cocoon of Finality had created them as part of its trials.
• Sera told the group that he was an alternate Kiana, that Earth had passed its trial, and that the cocoon wanted to embrace him as its Finality.
• Sera explained that he had only destroyed Dr. Primitive's avatar and could send Honkai across the galaxy, gaining power on par with an Aeon.
• Herta realized Sera had already sent Honkai down somewhere and asked him where.

Sera explained how Zandar had planned to use Iron Tomb to destroy Nous and how Herta had stopped it in the original timeline. After Herta agreed to become Sera’s, Screwllum asked whether he had to do so too.

• Sera told Herta, Screwllum, and the others that he had brought Honkai to his homeworld and explained Zandar’s plan to destroy Nous with Iron Tomb.
• Sera recounted how, in the original timeline, Herta had become Iron Tomb’s head and set out to destroy the galaxy before Polka Kakamond killed her.
• Sera said Zandar had abandoned his plan after seeing him, while Polka Kakamond revealed that she had sensed the power of Finality before killing Zandar.
• Sera identified Elio as an avatar of Terminus and said Elio had invited him to lead an organization after Dual-Phase Paradise ended.
• Sera asked Herta to become his in exchange for cooperating with her, and Herta agreed.
• Sera turned to Screwllum, who asked whether he had to become Sera’s too.

Sera brought the geniuses to another timeline to confront Lycurgus and Emperor III. As the group fought aboard the Mistletoe, Sera helped the Herta consciousness inside Emperor III seize access permissions, leaving the battle poised for a turning point.

• Sera used the Herrscher of the Void's authority to take the geniuses to the timeline where Emperor III was under attack.
• Sera, Polka Kakamond, Herta, and Screwllum challenged Lycurgus over the lives sacrificed to satisfy his curiosity.
• Sera argued that emotion, love, and hate made the people of Amphoreus living beings, then turned to help stop Emperor III.
• Screwllum piloted the Mistletoe while Herta defended the group and Sera used the authority of erosion to help the other Herta seize access permissions.
• As Emperor III prepared its ultimate attack, Sera announced that he had finished taking control just before its spear came down.

Sera helped save Black Tomb from Emperor III’s attack, then received an unexpected birthday kiss and a puppet from her. After the group returned to the hotel, Herta and Ruan Mei stayed with Sera, and Ruan Mei collected his blood for a pet she planned to make.

• Sera banished Black Tomb’s final attack into Imaginary Space, stopping Emperor III’s strike and freeing Black Tomb.
• Black Tomb thanked Sera, kissed him, and gave him a lifelike puppet he could use to find her in his own timeline.
• After Sera and the others left, Lycurgus appeared before Black Tomb, said his destiny had ended, and asked her to take his remains to fallen Adlivun.
• Screwllum and Polka Kakamond said goodbye to Sera and promised to prepare birthday presents for him.
• Sera took Herta and Ruan Mei to the hotel and gave them rooms, then explained that Cyrene was staying with him.
• Ruan Mei asked for Sera’s blood to make a pet that would express affection for him, then kissed and bit his lip to collect it.

Sera celebrated his birthday with Cyrene, but worried that her existence and their past were still caught in an unfinished cycle of cause and effect. Cyrene assured him that he had saved her and revealed her birthday gift: a real physical body.

• Cyrene surprised Sera with a birthday party and an ice cream cake.
• Sera said he had no wish until Cyrene asked whether he wanted to save her; he said he wanted to save the Cyrene he loved.
• Sera wished to know whether he had saved Cyrene, suspecting that her cause and effect remained incomplete.
• Cyrene told Sera that he had saved her and urged him to leave the answer to the future.
• Cyrene revealed that she was his birthday present and that she now had a physical body.

Sera and Cyrene became lovers, and after spending the night together, Sera left to investigate the Phantasmoon Games. At the Phantasmoon Secret Court, he checked the masks and confronted the hidden referee.

• Sera confessed his love to Cyrene, and she agreed to be his girlfriend while acknowledging that he might also date Ruan Mei and Herta.
• Sera and Cyrene spent the night together, then shared breakfast after Cyrene woke the next morning.
• Sera explained that the Phantasmoon Games would end when someone gathered enough wish power and resolved to save Himeko and Suzi.
• Sera followed the flow of wish power to the Phantasmoon Secret Court and inspected the mask standings.
• Sera noticed that the referee had entered the game and called on the hidden Miss Referee to come out.

Sera recruited Feiying to help deal with Aha’s mess and learned that Voracity’s remains beneath Dual-Phase Paradise were growing active. They discovered Yaoguang had arrived early and traced the Phantasmoon Games to the ancient tree.

• Sera explained that he had changed his mind about the Phantasmoon Games and asked Feiying to help clean up Aha’s mess; she agreed.
• Sera told Feiying that another person in Dual-Phase Paradise carried a sealed shadow of Voracity, and Feiying admitted she had not noticed.
• Sera and Feiying confirmed that Voracity’s remains were becoming active and discussed stopping Finality and Shuhu before ending the Games.
• Sera asked Feiying about the missing eighth mask, but she could not answer and pulled him into hiding when someone approached.
• Sera and Feiying watched Yaoguang arrive with a blank mask, and Yaoguang identified the ancient tree as the Ambrosial Arbor of Abundance.

Sera warned Yaoguang and Feiying that Finality planned to revive Voracity and use Shuhu’s remains to draw the Xianzhou into the Phantasmoon Games. Yaoguang put on the supplicant’s mask without having her future anchored, while Sera revealed that Finality was once the Astral Express navigator Wojian.

• Feiying offered Yaoguang three questions, and Sera identified her as General Rongtao of the Xianzhou.
• Sera told Yaoguang that Finality was secretly helping the dead Dr. Primitive revive Voracity, whose awakening could unleash madness across the galaxy.
• Sera explained that Finality might also revive Shuhu and use the Emanator’s remains to lure the Xianzhou into the games.
• Yaoguang put on her mask and found that her future had not been anchored, though she could still anchor Finality’s future.
• Sera revealed that Finality had once been Wojian, the Astral Express navigator who traveled with Akivili.