Chapter Summaries

Fang Zheng found Shana grieving after Wilhelmina’s death and comforted her when she broke down in his arms. Once Shana had calmed down, he invited her to meet his second student, another Flame Haze Warrior.

• Fang Zheng watched Shana leave school and decided she needed counseling before he could discuss matters with her.
• Shana returned to the riverbank, where she had been training alone since Wilhelmina died before her eyes.
• Fang Zheng approached Shana, and she embraced him and sobbed as she told him Wilhelmina was dead.
• Fang Zheng comforted Shana until she stopped crying, while Alastor thanked him.
• Fang Zheng asked Shana to wash her face and offered to introduce her to his second student, who was also a Flame Haze Warrior.

Fang Zheng revealed that he had become the leader of Bal Masqué and explained the Serpent of the Festival’s plan to create the Mirror of Nothingness, a new world that would draw the Denizens of the Crimson Realm away from Earth. When Alastor opposed the plan, Fang Zheng exposed a lie behind the Flame Haze Warriors’ mission, leaving Shana stunned.

• Fang Zheng told Shana that he had become the leader of Bal Masqué, then used Fūka to demonstrate his power as the Serpent of the Festival.
• Fang Zheng explained that the Serpent of the Festival planned to create the Mirror of Nothingness in The Rift Between Worlds and summon the Denizens of the Crimson Realm there.
• Alastor declared that they had to stop the plan, while Nanoka argued that it would protect both worlds from further conflict.
• Fang Zheng accused Alastor of hiding a lie and told Shana that Denizens of the Crimson Realm did not consume Power of Existence by devouring humans.

Fang Zheng explained how the Mirror of Nothingness could prevent disasters, but made Alastor and Shana responsible for ensuring Denizens of the Crimson Realm would not devour humans in the new world. After securing their cooperation, he put Shana to sleep and ordered Belpeoel to launch Bal Masqué's attack on the Outer World Inn.

• Fang Zheng explained that devouring caused instability and storms through changes to matter, while the Power of Existence would remain in the world when Denizens of the Crimson Realm left.
• Alastor challenged Fang Zheng to guarantee that the Denizens would not devour humans in the new world, and Fang Zheng said that was not his responsibility.
• Fang Zheng gave Shana part of the Great Life Poem so she and Alastor could instill the rule that humans must not be devoured, and warned Alastor not to sabotage the plan.
• Fang Zheng said he had arranged an alliance of humans, Flame Haze Warriors, and Denizens of the Crimson Realm, with Sanya and the Heart of Ten Thousand Tricks supporting it.
• Fang Zheng put Shana to sleep and stored her in the Quadrangular Crystal on his phone.
• Fang Zheng called Belpeoel and ordered Bal Masqué to attack the Outer World Inn.

Bal Masqué launched coordinated attacks on Outer World Inn strongholds worldwide, crippling its forces with intelligence supplied by Hill. Fang Zheng ordered the attacks to stop after achieving their goals and began preparing the next phase of his plan.

• Sister Sophi learned that Outer World Inns across several regions were under attack and that Dorel and Pietro had been killed, destroying two vital Outer World Inn divisions.
• Fang Zheng revealed that Hill had joined his side and provided intelligence that helped Bal Masqué seize key strongholds.
• Belpeoel reported that the Shanghai branch had fallen and that Bal Masqué had taken much of Europe, America, and Asia.
• Fang Zheng ordered Bal Masqué to withdraw, warned that continued attacks might unite the Outer World Inn, and directed Belpeoel to spread rumors about their cause.
• Tilia told Fang Zheng that many Denizens of the Crimson Realm resented his leadership, and Fang Zheng decided it was time to show them his capabilities.

At Star Palace, the Denizens of the Crimson Realm celebrated their victory while one King grumbled about Fang Zheng's order to withdraw. Fang Zheng appeared before them as their Alliance Leader and, through the Serpent of the Festival's Soul Stone, felt a Creator God's acceptance of all beings' wishes.

• The Denizens of the Crimson Realm celebrated their victory over the Flame Haze Warriors, while the Great Beetle complained that Fang Zheng had ordered them to retreat.
• Fang Zheng prepared to meet the assembled Denizens of the Crimson Realm with Tilia, Hecate, and Belpeoel.
• Fang Zheng entered the hall, and the gathered Denizens fell silent as they watched him with mixed feelings.
• The Great Beetle confronted Fang Zheng, who accepted the Denizen's intentions as an expression of the Serpent of the Festival's will.

Fang Zheng tested Libezal in combat, then opened the Divine Gate and announced the next stage of the Pardon Decree: reclaiming the Serpent of the Festival’s body. He sent his followers into the passage and the Denizens of the Crimson Realm to fight the Flame Haze Warriors, while he stayed in the Star Palace.

• Libezal challenged Fang Zheng to prove he was worthy to become Alliance Leader, but Fang Zheng stopped his charge with one finger and praised his strength and courage.
• Fang Zheng addressed the gathered Denizens of the Crimson Realm and declared that he would open the Divine Gate to reclaim the Serpent of the Festival’s body from the Ancient Trap.
• Fang Zheng opened the Divine Gate, and the Denizens of the Crimson Realm cheered for the Creator God, the Serpent of the Festival.
• Fang Zheng ordered his followers and The Seeker of the Unknown to enter the passage and awaken the Serpent’s body, while the Denizens attacked the Flame Haze Warriors on every front.
• Fang Zheng gave the Soul Stone to Hecate and said he would remain in the Star Palace, telling Belpeoel that he had already seen the ending.

As Bal Masqué began its attempt to free the Creator God, the Serpent of the Festival, Sophi rallied the besieged Flame Haze Warriors to strike the Star Palace. Fang Zheng prepared to defend it, then ordered an attack when their airborne force arrived.

• Sophi learned that Bal Masqué had opened fronts worldwide to pin down the Flame Haze Warriors while attempting to release the Serpent of the Festival.
• Sophi proposed gathering an elite force to break through to the lightly defended Star Palace, and ordered the strongholds to hold the enemy in place.
• Fang Zheng and Fekel discussed the expected assault, with Fang Zheng insisting he would help defend the Star Palace himself.
• Flame Haze Warriors arrived by transport plane after using Fūka to evade radar, and Fang Zheng ordered the garrison to attack and shoot down every plane.
• Fang Zheng recalled the Serpent of the Festival’s memories and resolved to show no mercy to the Flame Haze Warriors.

Fang Zheng ordered the Denizens of the Crimson Realm to draw the Flame Haze Warriors into a battle near the Star Palace, while both sides fought fiercely in the snow-covered valley. The chapter ended with the combatants shouting for their respective causes and continuing to kill one another.

• Fang Zheng emerged from the Star Palace and prepared to fight the invading Flame Haze Warriors after their transport planes exploded.
• A Flame Haze Warrior raised an earth-and-stone fortress, and the gathered forces identified the enemy’s main force.
• Fang Zheng ordered Decarabia to draw back the Eastern and Western Fronts and have the Denizens hold the Flame Haze Warriors until they received orders to withdraw.
• Decarabia sent the Denizens of the Crimson Realm into battle as the Flame Haze Warriors charged their defensive line.
• Flame Haze Warriors and Denizens of the Crimson Realm slaughtered one another across the snow-covered valley, each side shouting allegiance to its cause.

Decarabia strengthened the Denizens of the Crimson Realm as Flame Haze Warriors advanced toward Star Palace, but Fang Zheng and Tilia blocked their bridge. Fang Zheng killed the first attackers with his Forbidden Whip, then summoned Fūka as Zamiel ordered a group assault.

• Decarabia emerged from the ground, making itself immune to attacks and strengthening the Denizens of the Crimson Realm.
• A Flame Haze Warrior used an Existential Law to build a bridge to Star Palace and restrain its movement.
• Fang Zheng and Tilia confronted Zamiel on the bridge, and Fang Zheng wounded him with his Forbidden Whip.
• Several Flame Haze Warriors attacked Fang Zheng, but he killed them with the Forbidden Whip.
• Zamiel ordered the remaining Flame Haze Warriors to attack together, and Fang Zheng summoned Fūka, unleashing a freezing wind.

Fang Zheng trapped the Flame Haze Warriors in a Fūka and unleashed his Undead army against them. Zamiel ordered a retreat and tried to contact Sophi, but a bat-winged woman attacked the messenger and turned her against him.

• Fang Zheng transformed the battlefield into a frozen Fūka and summoned the Warriors of the Frost Wasteland to surround the Flame Haze Warriors.
• Zamiel recognized Fang Zheng’s attempt to stall them and ordered his troops to break through the encirclement.
• The Scourge charged into the Flame Haze Warriors while a purple-robed monster covered them with icy arrows.
• Zamiel ordered a retreat and told a Flame Haze Warrior to report their situation to Sophi.
• A bat-winged woman seized the messenger, bit her, and threw her at Zamiel, after which the wounded Flame Haze Warrior attacked him.

Zamiel’s Flame Haze Warriors were thrown into chaos when one of their own went berserk, while Fang Zheng struggled to defeat the elite forces before Fūka expired. Just as a Bone Dragon appeared and Sophi Sabriels considered using her trump card, an unknown Flame Haze Warrior badly wounded two of Fang Zheng’s strongest bosses.

• A Flame Haze Warrior suddenly went berserk, attacked her companions, and was killed by Zamiel and the others to stop the chaos.
• A Bone Dragon appeared atop the fortress wall, and Zamiel realized the trapped force needed reinforcements.
• Sophi Sabriels lost contact with Zamiel’s force and decided she had to use her trump card.
• Fang Zheng found that the Flame Haze Warriors had adapted to his Scourge and were holding out against his bosses as Fūka’s one-hour limit approached.
• An unknown Flame Haze Warrior struck Lord Mal'Ganis and the Blood Queen, reducing each boss’s health by more than half.

Fang Zheng turned the tide against the Flame Haze Warriors with devastating area magic while Tilia faced Rebecca. After the Earth Giant defeated Malogar, it approached Fang Zheng, who prepared to fight it himself.

• Camus and Rebecca arrived to reinforce the Flame Haze Warriors, boosting their morale.
• Fang Zheng assigned Tilia to fight Rebecca and decided to handle the Earth Giant.
• The Earth Giant defeated Malogar, and the Flame Haze Warriors moved to exploit the opening.
• Fang Zheng ambushed the Flame Haze Warriors with explosions, lightning, Death Cloud, and Sonic Boom, killing nearly fifty and severely injuring over a hundred.
• Fang Zheng raised a Thunderstorm Wall, sent Sindragosa to charge the enemy force, and turned to confront the approaching Earth Giant.

Fang Zheng fought Camus, who had taken the form of an Earth Giant, and used magic to overwhelm him. As the dust settled, Fang Zheng leaped in to strike, and the giant suddenly grabbed at him.

• The Earth Giant stomped at Fang Zheng, but he blasted holes in it with Empowered Fireballs, and it repaired itself with rocks and soil.
• Fang Zheng restrained the giant with clustered lightning, but it gathered more earth to break free.
• When Fang Zheng began casting another spell, the Earth Giant pretended to be vulnerable before launching a surprise hammer strike.
• Fang Zheng blocked the blow with a golden palm and unleashed an Extreme Magic Missile Storm, leaving the Flame Haze Warriors stunned by his assault on Camus.
• Fang Zheng leaped through the dust to slash the Earth Giant, which suddenly reached out to grab him.

Fang Zheng used Vampire to weaken and destroy the Earth Giant, then killed Camus, while Tilia defeated Rebecca with her parasol. The surviving Flame Haze Warriors faced the Bone Dragon as it descended on the battlefield.

• Fang Zheng struck the Earth Giant with Vampire, pierced its chest with Holy Storm, and rushed through the breach to reach Camus.
• Camus threw an iron rod at Fang Zheng, but Fang Zheng’s barrier stopped it, and Vampire pierced Camus’s chest, killing him and causing the Earth Giant to collapse.
• Rebecca attacked Tilia with her Existential Law traps, but Tilia dodged and fired a powerful beam from her parasol.
• Tilia redirected and enlarged the beam, engulfing Rebecca and erasing everything in its path.
• The Flame Haze Warriors watched their reinforcements fall as the Bone Dragon descended toward them.

Fang Zheng’s forces routed the Flame Haze Warrior legion, but as Fūka vanished, Commander-in-Chief Sophi Sabriels ambushed him with purple lightning. Tilia shielded Fang Zheng, and he counterattacked with his Greatsword as their powers collided in a massive blast.

• After Camus and Rebecca died, the Flame Haze Warriors broke and fled while Sindragosa’s Scourge pursued them, killing nearly half their legion.
• Fang Zheng stopped the pursuit and lifted Fūka, revealing that he and Tilia had overcome the frontline forces with their numbers reduced by more than half.
• The Denizens of the Crimson Realm hailed Fang Zheng as their Alliance Leader and the Serpent of the Festival, while the Flame Haze Warriors were stunned by their defeat.
• Sophi Sabriels ambushed Fang Zheng with a bolt of purple lightning just as Fūka ended and his available Power of Existence was depleted.
• Tilia shielded Fang Zheng with golden petals, and he used the Reiji Maigo to restore her defenses before striking Sophi’s lightning with his Greatsword.
• Fang Zheng’s Holy Light and Power of Existence met Sophi’s purple lightning in a massive explosion that surged along the Stone Bridge toward the mountain.

Fang Zheng survived Sophi Sabriels's ambush, while Tilia exhausted herself protecting him and recovered some of her strength from his Power of Existence. He announced that Camus and Rebecca were dead, rallied Bal Masqué, and the Flame Haze Warriors learned that enemy reinforcements had arrived as Sophi struggled to understand how they came so soon.

• Fang Zheng's attack collapsed half the hill and destroyed Stone Bridge, while he and Tilia emerged alive.
• Fang Zheng transferred some of his Power of Existence to Tilia, and she recovered enough to speak but could no longer fight.
• Fekel reported that the reinforcements had arrived, and Fang Zheng left the battle's next phase to him.
• Fang Zheng announced that he and Tilia had slain Camus and Rebecca, rallying the Denizens of the Crimson Realm and shaking the Flame Haze Warriors' morale.
• Sophi Sabriels crawled out of the rubble injured, then used Purifying Flame to cleanse herself and asked about the battle.
• A Flame Haze Warrior reported that the enemy reinforcements had arrived, and Sophi was shocked because she had expected them to take a day to return.

The Three Pillars restored the Serpent of the Festival’s eye and used the Soul Stone and Triangle Scepter to awaken him from his seal. Fang Zheng felt the Creator God’s return approaching and prepared to hold the other gods responsible for their roles.

• Belpeoel reclaimed her right eye, causing the seal to rearrange and reveal the Serpent of the Festival’s stone-bound body.
• Hecate prayed before the statue and used the Soul Stone and Triangle Scepter to restore the god’s divine vessel.
• The Serpent of the Festival awakened, roared, and destroyed the ancient hall that had held him.
• Fang Zheng reflected on the Creator God’s impulsiveness and the Three Pillars’ history of building Bal Masqué after the sealing.
• Fang Zheng looked toward the Divine Gate and declared that the God of Creation was about to return.

Sophi weighed retreating or risking the remaining Flame Haze Warriors against Bal Masqué’s assembled forces, while Fang Zheng prepared to finish the encirclement. Nanoka released Shana and confronted her with Fang Zheng’s final exam, leaving the two Flame Haze Warriors on the brink of a fight.

• Sophi considered ordering a retreat or launching one last charge as Decarabia and the Denizens of the Crimson Realm assembled.
• Fang Zheng told Nanoka the exam was starting, and Nanoka asked Sanya to support her before summoning the unconscious Shana from the Quadrangular Crystal.
• Nanoka explained Fang Zheng’s plan and the battle to Shana, who learned that Fang Zheng had lured the Flame Haze Warrior army into an encirclement.
• Shana tried to leave to intervene, but Nanoka fired a warning shot and asked whether Shana fought to protect the world or humanity.
• Nanoka summoned robot-like constructs around Shana and declared that Shana had to defeat her to pass Fang Zheng’s final exam.

Shana fought Nanoka, whose cautious tactics and mechanical soldiers repeatedly thwarted her attacks. After a disturbance shook the world, Shana struck Nanoka with a powerful flame attack and flew away, leaving Nanoka to recover from the rubble.

• Shana attacked Nanoka, but Nanoka used a black-hole device and mechanical soldiers to restrain and blast her.
• Nanoka and Sanya discussed Shana’s strength while Nanoka kept her distance and fired from behind her soldiers.
• Shana prepared a stronger attack as a tremor shook the world, then seized Nanoka’s momentary distraction.
• Shana’s flames destroyed Nanoka’s Guardian and hurled Nanoka through a building before Shana flew away.
• Nanoka crawled out of the rubble, told Sanya she was fine, and complained that Shana’s attack was cheating.

Fang Zheng revealed the Serpent of the Festival’s return and announced the final stage of the Great Life Poem: creating a new world in The Rift Between Worlds where Denizens of the Crimson Realm could live without devouring humans. He promised the Flame Haze Warriors that the plan would bring peace, leaving both sides stunned as he declared their battle over.

• The black mirror shattered, and the colossal Serpent of the Festival emerged as Denizens of the Crimson Realm cheered and Flame Haze Warriors watched in fear.
• Hecate and the Three Pillars reported to Fang Zheng that they had fulfilled their mission, and Fang Zheng restored the Serpent of the Festival’s Soul Stone.
• Fang Zheng announced that he would create Mirror of Nothingness in The Rift Between Worlds, forming an endless new world called the Unfettered Realm.
• Fang Zheng promised that Denizens could live in the new world without devouring humans and that Flame Haze Warriors would gain lasting peace when the Denizens left the present world.
• Fang Zheng told the Flame Haze Warriors that their battle had ended, while both sides remained stunned by his declaration.