Chapter Summaries

Kang De and Horus used advanced armored tactics, battlefield coordination, and a points-based support system to overwhelm Griffin’s defenses and break the Council army’s morale. Cornered by Phaethon, Griffin activated a Star Palace device that filled the Council troops with hatred and drove them to attack the Fire Thief.

• Horus used drone intelligence, rapid deployment, and direct battlefield orders to guide Distant Harbor’s assault through Griffin’s untested trench defenses.
• Distant Harbor’s soldiers earned and spent battlefield points for combat actions and support, while Kang De used game developers to help design the system and other civic plans.
• As Distant Harbor advanced, Council troops surrendered or fled, and broadcasts claimed Griffin had abandoned them, further weakening the army’s morale.
• Phaethon demanded that Griffin activate the Star Palace device or be killed, after Griffin revealed the Star Palace’s plans and secrets.
• Griffin activated the device, causing the Council’s combat personnel to lose control of their wills and unite in hatred against the Fire Thief.

An unknown force turned the Council’s troops into fearless, hostile fighters, and Kang De identified the Star Palace as the likely cause. He rallied the assembled powers to capture Griffin and investigate the mind-altering effect, then tested affected soldiers and shifted the plan toward capturing enemy commanders.

• A psychic anomaly transformed the Council’s soldiers into frenzied fighters, halting the combined brigade’s advance, and Horus and the Fire Thief suspected the Star Palace was responsible.
• Kang De showed his assembled allies battlefield footage of the transformation and warned them against using the Star Palace’s power for their own purposes.
• The emperor’s representative and other factions pledged support, and Kang De ordered Dong Tianming to coordinate the elite hunters while Horus, Dairila, and the Dragon Emperor managed battlefield duties.
• Kang De demonstrated that soldiers became frenzied in the Mortal World but remained calm in the White Mist World, and he ordered A Fu to compare their bodies and souls for the cause.
• Kang De told Dong Tianming to stop taking prisoners and prepare to capture high-ranking officers and commanders instead.

Distant Harbor’s advance faltered when Council soldiers became fearless, frenzied attackers, but Kang De refused to retreat and entered the battlefield aboard Astolfo. As his forces advanced, former Council prisoners prepared to help locate Griffin Williams and end the war.

• Council soldiers counterattacked with suicidal charges, forcing Distant Harbor’s troops to fight desperately and leaving them shaken by the enemy’s transformation.
• Horus reported that commanders wanted permission to withdraw, but Kang De ordered every unit to hold its ground and announced that he was coming to the front.
• Kang De arrived aboard Astolfo, carried over land by the River of Origin, and led reinforcements forward as the Council soldiers redirected their attacks toward him.
• Mei Xizhu and the Greenskin Musket Corps rallied to the advance, while Dairila told Kang De that he had looked unbelievably handsome.
• In the White Mist World, an instructor left to join the battle, and surrendered Council soldiers began asking how they could help Distant Harbor find Griffin Williams.

Kang De led his army into battle against the manipulated Council forces, refusing Kaliusi’s plea to withdraw because capturing Griffin and stopping the Star Palace mattered more. As Kang De’s arrival restored order and morale, Griffin and Phaethon watched and reflected on the fate of past heroes who had opposed the Star Palace.

• Kang De advanced with the Astolfo, airships, dragons, and the Greenskin Musket Corps’ modified road rollers, while Kaliusi warned him that fighting would cause a blood feud and cost many lives.
• Kang De explained to Kaliusi that he had weighed the lives at stake and chose to prioritize capturing Griffin and preventing the Star Palace from destroying the world; Kaliusi then flew off to help capture Council officers and locate Griffin.
• Dairila challenged Kang De’s willingness to risk himself, and Kang De ordered Horus to broadcast his position across the army.
• Horus’s real-time reports rallied the soldiers as Kang De’s forces reinforced the battlefield, captured infiltrators, and regained control through coordinated attacks and teleportation support.
• Griffin and Phaethon watched Kang De’s advance, and Phaethon remarked that heroes like Kang De had shone in every age but had all died in the end.

Phaethon told Griffin that every Fire Thief and civilization that resisted the Star Palace had ultimately been defeated, then warned him that his betrayal had destroyed any chance of returning to his former life. Griffin was left grappling with his choices as Kang De’s army advanced on his command post.

• Phaethon recounted the many past Fire Thieves who fought the Star Palace and described how their efforts and sacrifices had ended in defeat.
• Griffin asked why the Star Palace always won, and Phaethon said the Mortal World was destined to be harvested by his master.
• Griffin demanded to know more about the master, but Phaethon seized him and insisted he had already lost his humanity and could never return to his old life.
• Phaethon ordered Griffin to turn the Council’s North County soldiers into puppets and make the region a costly battlefield, claiming the Star Palace was his only hope.
• Kang De’s forces advanced across the battlefield and received intelligence pointing to Griffin’s command post.

Kang De used intelligence from defected Council soldiers to identify three heavily defended positions and advanced to the front, urging his comrades into battle. Distant Harbor’s forces assaulted the positions, destroying one target and exposing a fortified magic mechanism as Prism tanks prepared to fire.

• Defected Council soldiers and captured officers supplied intelligence that helped Kang De’s forces identify three likely high-value positions.
• Kang De advanced aboard the Astolfo and told a soldier to place his trust in him before victory and give his love to the world afterward.
• Kang De reached the front and called on his comrades to follow him into battle, prompting Horus to order all forces to charge.
• Distant Harbor’s troops attacked the Council’s positions, and the Corona Cannon destroyed one target while Kang De used a Phase Gate to sweep away enemy defenses and soldiers.
• Mei Xizhu directed the armored assault toward a fortified magic mechanism, and Prism tanks took firing positions as the target’s energy shield held.

Kang De rejected Griffin Williams’s offer to surrender, swearing before the battlefield that he would kill him and never betray the soldiers who had fought and died. The Prism Tanks transformed into siege mode, destroyed the enemy’s shield and disabled the Deceleration Field, opening the way for the final assault on Griffin and the God of the Star Palace.

• Mei Xizhu led eight Prism Tanks in an attack on the magitech mechanism, but their beams failed to penetrate its shield while enemy forces surrounded them.
• Kang De refused to send reinforcements to the western front, then explained to Dong Tianming that he would not spare Griffin at the cost of betraying soldiers who had sacrificed themselves.
• Dong Tianming’s captured letter revealed Griffin’s offer to surrender in exchange for protection, but Kang De publicly rejected the offer and vowed to execute him.
• Phaethon described why the Star Palace’s gods respected the Fire Thieves, while Griffin grew resentful of Kang De and the reverence he inspired.
• The Prism Tanks transformed into siege mode and concentrated their fire on the magitech mechanism, breaking its shield and causing the Deceleration Field to disappear.
• Kang De ordered the army forward as air support swept over the western battlefield, declaring that they were coming to kill Griffin.

As Kang De’s forces advanced against Griffin’s mind-controlled army, the former Council soldiers’ grief and anger erupted into a collective demand for justice. Griffin realized his betrayal had destroyed his honor, then unleashed a furious challenge as he prepared to act.

• Griffin raged at Kang De’s decision to kill him, and Phaethon urged him to order his soldiers to fight to the death before retreating.
• The Distant Harbor Legion destroyed the battlefield’s slowing mechanisms and advanced, while former Council troops joined the fight to bring Griffin down.
• Kang De ordered his forces to prioritize killing controlled enemies rather than risking their own soldiers to capture and free them.
• Former Council soldiers, overwhelmed by the deaths of their comrades, shouted “Why the hell!” and their cry spread across the battlefield as Kang De joined them.
• Griffin saw his soldiers dying and understood that his betrayal would erase his fame and honor, then laughed hysterically and shouted, “What gives you the right?!”

Griffin Williams ordered Phaethon to free the mind-controlled soldiers, but Phaethon revealed he had always understood Griffin’s schemes and defeated him with a self-consuming burst of power. Phaethon then rose above the battlefield and challenged the Fire Thief to begin the final battle, and Kang De ordered the army to shoot him down.

• Griffin Williams demanded that Phaethon shut down the mind-control mechanism and free the soldiers.
• Phaethon recounted Griffin’s betrayals and schemes, explaining that he had known Griffin’s motives and missed chances to change course.
• Griffin attacked Phaethon with a powerful spell, but Phaethon absorbed the elemental assault and struck Griffin down while burning his life and soul for power.
• Griffin sent a beam through the earth to signal the battlefield, and Phaethon burst into the sky without killing him.
• Phaethon announced the Star Palace’s descent and called on the Fire Thief to begin the final battle.
• The Fire Thief raised his sword toward Phaethon, and Kang De ordered the army to shoot him down.

The Mortal World’s armies and champions fought Phaethon as he burned his accumulated life and power to launch a killing assault on Kang De. After the Dragon Emperor, Dong Tianming, the Sun Imperial Guard, Dairila, and the elves took turns stopping him, the Dragon Emperor ordered them to bite Phaethon to death.

• The Mortal World’s forces unleashed a vast barrage at Phaethon, but he broke through the attacks and charged Kang De.
• Dong Tianming intercepted Phaethon’s attack, and the Dragon Emperor drove him into the ground, but Phaethon emerged after wounding the Dragon Emperor.
• The Dragon Emperor and the Dragon Break Squad fought Phaethon, but Kang De sent Dong Tianming and the Sun Imperial Guard to relieve them with a combined assault.
• Dairila and the twelve elves of Twilight Moon joined the battle, using coordinated attacks to bring Phaethon down and wear away his defenses.
• Phaethon fought off the elves and charged again, while the Dragon Emperor, Dong Tianming, and their forces regrouped around him.
• The Dragon Emperor ordered the assembled fighters to bite Phaethon to death.

Kang De and the Mortal World's champions defeated Phaethon, who died without allowing Kang De to extract his soul. Apophis revealed that Phaethon's death had been a deliberate sacrifice, while a mysterious stone awakened a reaction in Wang Xiaoman.

• Phaethon dismissed the Mortal World's warriors, then charged Kang De as his life burned away, and Dairila, Dong Tianming, and the Dragon Emperor fought to stop him.
• Kaliusi found the wounded Griffin Williams beside the psionic mechanism, and Griffin pleaded to be kept alive so he could free the soldiers under mind control.
• Kang De ordered Kaliusi to watch Griffin and helped the champions bring Phaethon down, but Malegith moved Kang De and Phaethon to the White Mist World when Phaethon began to self-destruct.
• Kang De killed Phaethon but failed to extract anything from him, then returned to the Mortal World with Malegith to investigate the soldiers' mind control and Griffin's condition.
• Apophis learned of Phaethon's death and vowed to honor his sacrifice, while a mysterious stone found near Lake Huron sent a planet-wide fluctuation.
• Wang Xiaoman woke in H City, frightened by the fluctuation, and messaged Kang De, but he did not reply.

Kang De returned from his battle with the God of the Star Palace and executed Griffin Williams before the assembled armies. Griffin died admitting his crimes but refusing to repent, and his public death left the powerful witnesses recognizing that an era had ended.

• Kang De returned safely to the Astolfo, and the soldiers and gathered dignitaries cheered his survival.
• Griffin apologized to Kaliusi, then urged him to endure and warned him against repeating his mistakes.
• Kang De confronted Griffin and learned that Griffin could no longer operate the mental mechanism, but had stayed alive because he believed Kang De could use his remaining power and knowledge.
• Griffin agreed to die, secured Kang De's promise to protect his subordinates and family, and insisted that his crimes be recorded without portraying him as repentant.
• Griffin denounced the Council's corruption and defended his own actions, then Kang De carried him into the open and executed him before the watching army.
• The battlefield fell silent before the soldiers began cheering, while the gathered rulers and powerful fighters realized Griffin's death marked the end of an era.

After killing Griffin Williams, Kang De freed the Council soldiers from mind control and forced them to surrender, promising they could return home after a month in custody. He then told Kaliusi and the generals that the war was not over, leaving the Council’s future uncertain.

• Kang De confirmed that he had inherited Griffin Williams’s power and used the mind-control mechanism to free the Council troops.
• As the freed soldiers broke down in shock, Kang De threatened harsh punishment for suicide and ordered them to surrender, promising their release after quarantine and examinations.
• Distant Harbor forces secured the battlefield and transported the Council prisoners to the White Mist World.
• Kang De told the Council generals that they would have to take part in a campaign of revenge against the Star Palace.
• Kaliusi proposed reunifying the Council under Tula Xiaye, but Kang De challenged him by asking whether he thought the war was really over.

Kang De rejected Kaliusi’s plea to end the war and demanded the entire Northern Council, then laid out plans to occupy and govern it while forcing its leaders to surrender their property and cooperate. He left Kaliusi facing the choice of accepting a humiliating arrangement to preserve a chance of future reunification or resisting Distant Harbor.

• Kang De told Kaliusi that Griffin’s death did not end the war and demanded that the Council pay for its defeat.
• Kang De rejected Kaliusi’s offer of reparations and declared that he wanted all of the Northern Council’s territory.
• Kang De ordered Horus to prepare a rapid advance and Dong Tianming to offer northern elites surrender terms involving confiscated property and relocation, backed by threats against their families.
• Kang De ordered compensation for Council soldiers’ families and offered surrendered troops jobs and a chance to serve in Distant Harbor’s forces; the generals accepted and shook his hand.
• Kang De outlined three possible arrangements for the northern counties and warned Kaliusi that further resistance would bring harsher consequences, then asked him to cooperate against the Star Palace.

Kang De persuaded Kaliusi to accept his terms and publicly announced their agreement, then revealed that Alex had met with Griffin and the Star Palace’s god. Griffin’s memories renewed Kang De’s resolve to avenge his past, and Dairila comforted him as he vowed to kill Alex.

• Kang De pressured and coaxed Kaliusi into accepting an alliance, then seized his hand and embraced him as the two announced their agreement before witnesses and cameras.
• Kang De promised that the northern counties would not secede or be occupied, and arranged compensation, pensions, and a month-long transition for the Council’s surrendered soldiers.
• Kang De told the Sun Imperial Guard commander that Alex had visited Griffin and the God of the Star Palace, warning that Alex might have received the same mind-control power used on the battlefield.
• Kang De recalled seeing Alex kneel before the Star Palace’s god in Griffin’s memories and realized that his revenge was still unfinished.
• Dairila held Kang De’s hand and reassured him that he had the strength to defeat Alex, then offered to go kill him together.

After Griffin’s defeat, Kang De forced the northern counties’ powerful families to surrender and established a teleportation-based security network to control the region. As Kang De and Dairila discussed plans for the future beyond the war with the Star Palace, news from the Empire abruptly interrupted them.

• After Griffin’s execution and the destruction of the Deceleration Field and mind-control mechanism, the northern counties’ leaders tried to return to Tula Xiaye or plead innocence to Kang De, but both efforts failed.
• Kang De ordered the northern counties’ wealthy families to surrender most of their property, remain in place, and provide members for the Special Investigation Department, while warning that anyone who fled or hid assets would be treated as a rebel.
• Kang De deployed purple crystal pillars and teleportation equipment across the northern counties, explaining to Dairila how the Great Wall system could rapidly detect and suppress unrest with a small force.
• Kang De told Dairila he wanted to clear out the rentier class and experiment with a path suited to the Mortal World, while postponing civilian teleportation corridors until after the Star Palace was defeated.
• Kang De and Dairila agreed to explore the universe together after the Star Palace’s defeat, and Dairila named the planned civilian teleportation network the Webway.
• Kang De answered a call from his child, heard there was news from the Empire, and asked whether they had found the bastard.

Apophis revealed that Kang De was an otherworldly Fire Thief and explained how Phaethon died to mark Kang De’s world with a Homecoming Beacon for their master. The Gods of the Star Palace prepared to keep Kang De distracted by stirring unrest, beginning with someone in the northern snowfields, while A Chuan worried about an alien object recovered on Earth.

• Apophis told the Gods of the Star Palace that Kang De was a Fire Thief from another world, and that their master had commanded them to stop him.
• Apophis explained how Phaethon sacrificed himself to carve a Homecoming Beacon into Kang De’s world, giving their master a route and energy to return.
• The Gods of the Star Palace mourned Phaethon and agreed to wait for their master’s clearer instructions while keeping Kang De occupied with unrest in the Mortal World.
• Apophis chose someone trudging through the northern snowfields as the first target, calling him both Kang De’s obsession and a seed Phaethon had left behind.
• A Chuan warned officials over the phone to handle a strange recovered object safely, then wondered whether he should contact Kang De.

Kang De discussed the Star Palace threat and the nature of power with Otto II, who taught him the Otto Triangle linking power, money, and strength. Kang De then revealed his last-resort plan to save people by taking them to another world and proposed funding the effort by selling refuge there, leaving Otto II persuaded by the scheme.

• Kang De examined the magic emperor Qisifudinuo’s manuscript and showed that he had absorbed the entirety of Griffin’s knowledge and power.
• Otto II challenged Kang De’s readiness to die for the Mortal World, and Kang De admitted that defeat would mean they all died together.
• Otto II explained the Otto Triangle and warned Kang De that using force to seize the nobles’ wealth could provoke unrest.
• Otto II offered to make Kang De his son-in-law and heir, but Kang De pressed him to reveal the Empire’s resources and identified the nobles as the richest group.
• Kang De revealed that he could evacuate people to a world beyond the Star Palace’s reach and proposed selling refuge there, prompting Otto II to join his plan.

Otto II agreed to support Kang De’s plan to dismantle the nobles’ wealth and power, hoping to make Kang De his son and help shape him into a righteous ruler. He challenged Kang De to consider whether he could ignore the suffering of his own world after the Star Palace was defeated, and teased that Kang De would become a yandere.

• Otto II recognized that Kang De’s proposal would break the nobles’ hold on wealth, force, and authority, and he chose to cooperate rather than oppose him.
• Otto II explained that ruling had become a joyless burden and confessed that he had once nearly strangled a consort for pleasure before stopping himself.
• Kang De called Otto II pitiful, and Otto II revealed that he wanted to experience familial love by making Kang De his son.
• Otto II promised to help Kang De gather authority, wealth, and strength, and described how corruption could return after the Star Palace was defeated.
• Kang De said he might return to his home world after the war, but Otto II asked whether he could ignore its suffering and warned him about the role he would have to take on there.
• Otto II told Kang De that if he became a slut centuries later, he would definitely be a yandere.

Kang De agreed to wager the Empire’s future with Otto II, who offered him the throne and promised to support his plans against the Star Palace. Kang De outlined a scheme to turn Distant Harbor and the Shelter into a global engine for concentrating wealth, talent, and technology, while Otto II agreed to attend the international summit; their discussion ended with Otto II proposing that Kang De marry one of his daughters to establish his legitimacy as heir.

• Kang De questioned Otto II’s offer to make him the Empire’s heir, and Otto II explained that he wanted to see the Mortal World change, whether for better or worse.
• Otto II described his wager: if Kang De became ruthless enough to betray his convictions, he would unleash fury on the Mortal World, the Star Palace, and Earth; Kang De rejected that outcome but accepted the emperor’s handshake.
• Kang De asked Otto II to support selling land in the Shelter and attending an international summit, and Otto II agreed to both.
• Kang De laid out a plan to use publicity, investment, lotteries, and development incentives to draw resources into the Shelter, then proposed an organization to fight the Star Palace and called it GDI.
• Kang De asked for a bounty on Alex, but Otto II warned that it would damage the Empire’s prestige and suggested establishing Kang De as his chosen heir first.
• Otto II proposed that Kang De marry one of his daughters and offered to summon his children so Kang De could choose a bride.