Ethan Cart

Ethan Cart is the King of Crows, a former revolutionary and one of the Metaverse Six Gods. Known as the God Without a Vicegerent, Ethan creates willing dying Followers as Dolls, sustains them through the Graveyard of Crows, and becomes one of Jaehwan's most durable allies after centuries of isolation.

Biography

The Metaverse and Its Gods to War on the Metaverse Floors

Ethan first enters the narrative through a damaged statue and the village of Dolls they have maintained for five hundred years. The inhabitants were Andersen's dying Followers, who asked Ethan to convert them so their prayers could keep their forgotten god from disappearing. When Jaehwan mistakes that preservation for predation, Ethan initially fights through the body of Rachel Young and the illusions of their Sanctuary, then surrenders once the confrontation exposes Andersen's presence. Ethan confirms that Kim Yoonhwan has not been Dollified, gives Andersen a separate crow body, and agrees to leave the doomed village when the Alliance prepares to erase it. (Chapters 113 and 117–123)

The ascent reopens Ethan's conflict with former companions and Followers. Jihan, once Ethan's Vicegerent, has left to seek a world built on equality and now fights for the Alliance. Ethan supplies an army of Dolls with World Power, lends Jaehwan Raven Armor, transforms into a giant crow for aerial support, and wages the war they had spent five centuries preparing for. After the battlefield collapses, a mortally wounded Jihan prays to Ethan and asks to become a Doll. Ethan reluctantly accepts the freely made request, and that final reconciliation gives the powerless god enough faith and World Power to survive. (Chapters 125–135)

Ethan's recovery also reframes the title God Without a Vicegerent. It does not mean they cannot form divine links; it marks a long rejection of replacing Jihan and a preference for Dolls who retain autonomous movement through supplied World Power. Jihan's return as a Doll lets Ethan fly again without undoing the history of their separation. Ethan remains behind briefly after the Sixth Floor battle, then rejoins the broader group as a surviving ally rather than the feared collector whose reputation drove Vicegerents onto other routes. (Chapters 119, 126, and 131–147)

War on the Metaverse Floors to Ancient Gods and the Grand Auction

After Jaehwan destroys Metaverse, Ethan and the other gods lost inside it return when the tower's accumulated World Power releases their souls. Ethan later appears with Andersen, Arteina, and Justice when Maiad van Declan activates Deus Ex Machina. Their flock shields the battlefield while the revived gods buy time for Jaehwan's escape. The intervention cannot defeat a Divine-Throne-level opponent, but it restores the revolutionary group as active defenders and allows Andersen and Karavan to carry the badly wounded Jaehwan away. (Chapters 153, 158–159, 172, 175–176, and 192–194)

Only One World

When Rift and the Great Lords attack the Seventh Site, Ethan arrives on a massive crow with Shiyu and Thanatos. They refuse to frame the intervention as allegiance to one faction and instead fight to protect the Abyss itself, reinforcing the outmatched defenders against Great Lord Barcant. After Maiad falls, Ethan joins the Committee and continues defending its new institutions. He watches Jaehwan's departure among former enemies turned companions and later holds the Assembly Hall's southern gate against the White Revolutionary Corps. (Chapters 228, 237–238, and 248)

Appearance and personality

Ethan is often encountered through borrowed or created bodies rather than one fixed human form. They initially possess Rachel Young's Doll, can become a giant crow, and also manifest through the flock and the miniature crow constructs they create. These forms belong to one god and should not be confused with the independent souls or memories of the Dolls carrying them. (Chapters 118–123 and 133)

They are sardonic, secretive, and deliberately difficult to read. Their terrifying reputation conceals a strict rule: Ethan asks dying Followers whether they want Dollification and does not force the process on unwilling souls. They can be ruthless toward enemies and irritatingly playful with allies, yet five hundred years spent tending Andersen's village and preparing for war reveal exceptional patience. Their refusal to exploit Jihan's dying body until Jihan makes a final informed request shows the boundary beneath the cynicism. (Chapters 118–123 and 131–135)

Powers and limitations

Doll creation and possession

Ethan is the first Creator of Dolls and can convert a consenting, dying Follower into a constructed form that preserves enough personality to move and fight. They can possess compatible Dolls, as with Rachel Young, and fold an entire Doll village into storage for transport. Dollification does not guarantee full restoration of a dead soul, and Ethan explicitly states that no ordinary method can return a Doll to life. Their practice also depends on consent and a surviving soul form; it is not the indiscriminate collection suggested by hostile rumors. (Chapters 118–122 and 135)

Graveyard of Crows

Graveyard of Crows is Ethan's Worldview and the foundation through which they animate and sustain their forces. Their crows scout distant movement, overwhelm groups of Vicegerents, provide flight, and carry other combatants. Dolls can use their own Settings and move autonomously while Ethan continuously supplies World Power. That army is powerful but costly: when trust and World Power are exhausted, the Dolls disappear and Ethan can barely act. Prayer from even one remaining Follower can restore a small reserve, as Jihan demonstrates. (Chapters 122–135)

Raven Armor

Raven Armor is Ethan's exclusive defensive Setting. They place it over Jaehwan as pitch-black armor that diverts incoming bombardment and blocks attacks he cannot intercept. Ethan can also transform into a giant crow and carry Jaehwan through extreme aerial maneuvers. The armor is support supplied by Ethan rather than part of Jaehwan's Naked or swordsmanship, and its continued operation draws on Ethan's limited World Power. (Chapter 133)

God Without a Vicegerent

Ethan's divine strength is fueled by trust and prayer like that of other gods, but they operate for centuries without an active Vicegerent. Their title reflects history and choice, not immunity to God Severance or freedom from the divine economy. At the end of the Six Gods war they are almost extinguished when no Followers or Dolls remain. Jihan's last prayer restores them, while later Committee battles show that their recovered flock and World Power remain formidable but not equivalent to a Divine Throne. (Chapters 119, 126, 130–135, 228, and 248)

Power progression

Relationships

• Andersen: Ethan preserves Andersen's dying Followers as Dolls for five hundred years and gives her the Moya Moya Crow when she needs a body separate from Jaehwan. Their old friendship survives disagreement over the village and draws Ethan back into the climb.
• Jaehwan: Ethan begins as Jaehwan's opponent, becomes his information broker, and then equips and fights beside him. Jaehwan's destruction of Metaverse restores Ethan and the other lost revolutionary gods to the Abyss.
• Jihan: Ethan's former Vicegerent leaves over the limits of Graveyard of Crows and later serves the Alliance. Mortally wounded, Jihan freely returns as Ethan's Doll and offers the prayer that keeps the King of Crows alive.
• Runald: Runald treats Ethan as a trusted uncle after the Metaverse climb. Ethan repeatedly answers that trust by reinforcing the Seventh Site and Committee defenses.

Items

• Moya Moya Crow: A wind-up crow Doll created by Ethan. It gives Andersen an independent speaking body within Jaehwan's Unique World and carries the additional Setting Cuteness.
• Dolls: Constructed bodies made for consenting dying Followers. They can preserve memories and independent action to varying degrees, but are not guaranteed to be complete restorations of the original soul.
• Crow flock: Ethan's scouting, transport, and combat constructs. Their effectiveness depends on the World Power and trust Ethan can supply.