Chapter Summaries

Nymph taught the Cursed Children about quantum physics, then answered their questions about the collar marking her as Fang Zheng’s property. Tilia revealed Fang Zheng was unmarried and suggested the children still had a chance to marry him, leaving Nymph puzzled by their excitement.

• Nymph finished her lesson and explained that her collar showed she belonged to her master, Fang Zheng.
• The Cursed Children asked whether Nymph was married and what kind of person Fang Zheng liked, then wondered if he would marry Hecate, Tilia, Xia Shi, or Cui.
• Tilia entered the classroom and asked whether the children were interested in whom Fang Zheng might marry.
• Tilia told the children that Fang Zheng had not married anyone and could marry more than one person, exciting several of them.
• After class, Tilia amusedly imagined how Fang Zheng would react if the children proposed to him.

Fang Zheng used rewards and police corruption to intensify arrests of people who had abused Cursed Children, making the Tokyo Area increasingly fearful and unstable. He then brought imprisoned murderers to his hall and began an experiment with Xenomorph eggs.

• Fang Zheng paid the police to arrest people using evidence of past abuse of Cursed Children, and officers competed for the rewards.
• Police began investigating and raiding suspected abusers, while residents, businesses, and former offenders grew nervous about being reported.
• Fang Zheng paid an officer who delivered a group of prisoners accused of killing Cursed Children.
• Fang Zheng restrained the prisoners with shadowy tentacles and revealed several Xenomorph eggs.
• The eggs opened and small white creatures emerged as the prisoners watched helplessly.

Fang Zheng tested Lurana’s brain-controlling scouts on human prisoners and ordered further research to make them better impersonators. Back at Heavenly Dao Palace, he reassured Xia Shi that she and the other children should enjoy peaceful lives rather than fight or kill for him.

• Fang Zheng tested the prisoners’ movement and speech after Lurana’s modifications, then had the scouts emerge from their heads when the experiment failed to reproduce their behavior convincingly.
• Fang Zheng told Lurana to study the prisoners’ memories and thought patterns so the scouts could imitate their original owners more accurately.
• Fang Zheng returned to Heavenly Dao Palace, where Xia Shi served him tea and noticed the smell of blood on him.
• Xia Shi offered to do anything Fang Zheng asked, even kill, but he stopped her and told her she should live a peaceful life as a child.
• Xia Shi thanked Fang Zheng and leaned into his embrace.

Sogen Saitake, ruler of the Osaka Special Zone, asked Fang Zheng to join him in ruling and reunifying the country after the Gastrea were defeated. Fang Zheng weighed Saitake’s offer of territory and Cursed Children and said he would think about it.

• As Taurus approached Tokyo, the authorities ignored the growing persecution of Cursed Children while preparing their last-resort defenses.
• Sogen Saitake visited Fang Zheng and asked him to rule the country alongside him.
• Saitake said Heavenly Dao Palace had convinced him humanity could exterminate the Gastrea and proposed reunifying the special zones afterward.
• Saitake showed Fang Zheng an agreement granting a foreign government access to Japan’s Kain reserves in exchange for weapons to help him unify the country.
• Saitake offered Fang Zheng territory and promised to send every Cursed Child to Heavenly Dao Palace, and Fang Zheng said he would consider the proposal.

Fang Zheng watched the Self-Defense Forces clear Gastrea and prepare defenses while keeping his Adjusters out of the fighting. Knowing Taurus would land at midnight, he ordered the children to rest before their battle.

• Fang Zheng watched the Self-Defense Forces fight Gastrea while their orders kept him and the Adjusters away from the front.
• Fang Zheng criticized the military's confidence and dismissed Fuse Cui's concern, saying the soldiers should fight without their help.
• Aihara Enju rushed over for attention, and Fang Zheng stopped her while reflecting on how he had selected only a small group of Adjusters for combat.
• Fang Zheng told the children to rest because the battle would begin late that night, when Taurus was set to land.

Fang Zheng’s Cursed Children fought to retake the defensive positions after the Self-Defense Forces were wiped out by the Gastrea. The battle turned more dangerous when the Gastrea shot down the arriving fighter jets and new enemies appeared.

• After Nymph reported that the Self-Defense Forces had been wiped out, Fang Zheng ordered the Cursed Children to advance and assigned Xia Shi to lead the front line.
• Xia Shi unleashed a lightning storm against the charging Gastrea, while Aihara Enju and Fuse Cui attacked the advancing swarms.
• The thirty-five Cursed Children formed three defensive lines and steadily pushed toward the captured defensive positions as Fang Zheng noticed the Gastrea were withdrawing strategically.
• Nymph warned Fang Zheng that aerial support was approaching, but beams fired from behind the Gastrea destroyed the fighter jets.
• Xia Shi and the others dodged the falling beams, and Fang Zheng heard cries from the enemies approaching ahead.

Fang Zheng joined the battle against the Gastrea and revealed the overwhelming power of his sword techniques. After he annihilated the advancing army, Xia Shi confirmed to the others that he had done it.

• Fang Zheng learned that the enemy’s Light Spears were high-pressure mercury spray and decided to enter the battle.
• Xia Shi withdrew to rest when Fang Zheng arrived and told her to leave the remaining Gastrea to him.
• Fang Zheng used his Second Sword to split the Gastrea army with an invisible strike.
• Fang Zheng unleashed a second attack that engulfed the battlefield in lightning and reduced the remaining Gastrea to charred remains.
• Xia Shi reassured the others through the Mind Network that Fang Zheng had destroyed the Gastrea.

Tokyo Area officials watched the Cursed Children use overwhelming powers against the Gastrea and realized Heavenly Dao Palace had transformed them into forces capable of reshaping the world. The Holy Ruler concluded that the battle could bring unprecedented changes to Tokyo Area and the entire world.

• Tokyo Area officials watched fewer than fifty Cursed Children hold back the Gastrea after the army had been annihilated.
• Xia Shi, Enju, Tina, and the tachi-wielding girl displayed extraordinary powers as they attacked the Gastrea.
• The officials feared that Heavenly Dao Palace had turned the Cursed Children into beings like gods, and some secretly hoped the Gastrea would defeat them.
• A rain of light hindered the Cursed Children, while legislators feared what their victory would mean for the world they knew.
• The Holy Ruler watched Fang Zheng amid the black ashes and concluded that the battle could change Tokyo Area and the entire world.

Fang Zheng mastered the Second Sword by manipulating time to amplify his attacks, then faced Taurus and its army of Stage IV Gastrea. As the enemy advanced, he prepared to fight Taurus while Nymph told Xia Shi and the others to hold the line.

• Fang Zheng used the Second Sword to stretch and compress time, turning Charge and Chain Lightning into devastating attacks.
• Fang Zheng felt his Time Dragon bloodline make Time Manipulation flow more naturally and sensed that something significant was coming.
• Taurus appeared with hundreds of Stage IV Gastrea and a host of other Gastrea advancing around it.
• Nymph told Xia Shi and the others to hold the line while Fang Zheng dealt with Taurus and its subordinates.
• Fang Zheng drove Vampire into the ground, spread freezing winds and frost across the battlefield, and called out to Fūka.

Fang Zheng realized that advancing required the resolve to use his power to protect those who depended on him and change everything, then unleashed the Sword of Nine against Taurus. The attack began as time stopped.

• Fang Zheng watched Taurus ignore the Scourge and wondered about the Zodiac’s origins and purpose.
• Fang Zheng realized Heavenly Dao Palace had become a force and that protecting its people meant accepting responsibility for influencing the world.
• Fang Zheng thought of the people and children he wanted to protect, and the force restraining him faded as he committed himself to changing everything.
• Fang Zheng raised his sword and said, “Shatter, Sword of Nine,” causing time to stop.

While Fang Zheng was gone, Xia Shi tried to keep the Cursed Children fighting and reassure them that he would return. A strange vision brought Taurus and the other Gastrea back, then a giant clock appeared in the sky and unleashed a devastating attack on them.

• Midori Fuse asked Xia Shi where Fang Zheng had gone, while Xia Shi told the Cursed Children that Nymph said he was safe and had gone to eliminate Taurus.
• Xia Shi reassured the frightened girls as they fought the remaining Gastrea, though Enju worried that Fang Zheng might not return.
• The ground trembled, the Gastrea retreated, and Xia Shi saw the world shift through different scenes before everything went dark.
• A silver-white blade fell from the sky, and Taurus and its companions reappeared alongside the other Gastrea.
• A giant clock appeared overhead, restrained the Gastrea, and summoned the image of a World-Devouring Dragon.
• The clock's hand reached its mark, shattering the world around the Gastrea and piercing Taurus with a rain of golden rays.

After advancing to Legend, Fang Zheng overused the Sword of Nine and collapsed from exhaustion, leaving the children of Heavenly Dao Palace terrified. He woke up to reassure them, while Tilia handled the Tokyo Area’s invitations and Xia Shi apologized for breaking down after he fainted.

• Fang Zheng explained that he had used the Flow of Time to obtain the Sword of Nine, which could pull a target out of the timeline, but he could sustain it for only a minute before being returned to his temporal anchor.
• Nymph told Fang Zheng that he had fainted from exhaustion, the Cursed Children had panicked, and Tilia had calmed them and declined invitations from the Tokyo Area.
• Fuse and Tina rushed to Fang Zheng’s bedside, and he reassured them that he was recovering.
• Xia Shi apologized for losing control after Fang Zheng collapsed, and Fang Zheng comforted her and praised her efforts.
• Fuse, Tina, and Xia Shi embraced Fang Zheng as he promised he would not die easily.

After the Taurus Legion’s defeat, the Holy Ruler faced a divided Tokyo Area government debating whether to sever ties with Heavenly Dao Palace or seek its support. At a meeting with Tilia, the officials learned that the Cursed Children’s extraordinary powers were gifts from the gods, and Tilia declared them children chosen by God.

• The Holy Ruler reviewed the Tokyo Area’s factions, as military hardliners sought to expel Heavenly Dao Palace and conservatives pursued closer ties for its power.
• The Holy Ruler invited Tilia to explain the powers the Cursed Children had displayed against the Taurus Legion.
• Tilia entered the conference room and dismissed the officials’ question as unimportant.
• Tilia said the Cursed Children had gained their power because they were children chosen by God.
• A legislator accused Tilia of joking, but she insisted their abilities were gifts from the gods.

Fang Zheng decided to abandon his strategy of fleeing and asked Tilia to help him conquer the world. Meanwhile, a boy investigating Heavenly Dao Palace’s suspected experiments entered an abandoned factory and discovered something horrifying in its basement.

• Tilia mocked the humans who had reacted greedily to Heavenly Dao Palace’s offer to transform Cursed Children, and Fang Zheng praised her.
• Fang Zheng asked Tilia whether she would help him conquer the world, and she promised to follow him.
• A boy followed orders from his guardian, Zi Heng Xianyi, and went to investigate rumors that Heavenly Dao Palace was secretly experimenting on Cursed Children and criminals.
• The boy entered an apparently abandoned factory, found footprints leading downstairs, and followed them into the basement.
• The boy heard a strange cry in the dark, turned on his flashlight, and froze at the sight before him.

A young soldier infiltrated Heavenly Dao Palace’s laboratory, discovered people being controlled by strange creatures, and was killed by an alien. Fang Zheng learned the Deformed Worm research had succeeded and decided to begin large-scale human experiments, with a suitable volunteer apparently at hand.

• The young soldier found people wrapped in flesh and connected to their brains by tentacles in the basement.
• A black alien ambushed the soldier, pierced him with its tail, and smashed his head with its inner jaw.
• Fang Zheng returned to the laboratory, learned Lurana had disposed of the intruder’s body, and asked about the research.
• Lurana reported that the reconstructed Deformed Worm could fuse with and control a target’s brain, though the process took three hours and caused a high fever and coma.
• Fang Zheng approved large-scale human experimentation, then checked his phone and said they had a suitable volunteer.

Fang Zheng lured Sogen Saitake into an abandoned factory and had him and his entourage captured as the first test subjects for the Zerg’s Deformed Worms. He committed to using them to infiltrate the world’s leaders and reshape society, leaving himself ready to become its final boss to protect the Cursed Children.

• Sogen Saitake arrived to discuss cooperation with Fang Zheng at an abandoned factory, believing Heaven Dao Palace’s power could help him rule a new era.
• Fang Zheng asked Sogen Saitake to consider whether the Gastrea Virus came from alien creatures, then warned him to prepare himself.
• Fang Zheng’s gaze caused Sogen Saitake and his men to collapse unconscious, and he ordered Lurana to take them as test subjects.
• Lurana’s improved Deformed Worms could replace hosts’ brains while retaining their memories and controlling their actions for the Swarm.
• Fang Zheng planned to infect powerful leaders and opponents of laws protecting the Cursed Children, gradually bringing human society under his control.
• Fang Zheng decided to become the world’s final boss if that was what it took to save the Cursed Children.

Fang Zheng sent Sogen Saitake back to Osaka to spread the Swarm’s influence and learned that Sogen belonged to the Five-Winged Society, an organization tied to the creation of the Gastrea Virus. After a global conference established protections for the Cursed Children under the Heavenly Dao Palace, Fang Zheng’s forces controlled much of the world’s leadership, and he prepared to return to the Main World.

• Fang Zheng confirmed that Lurana’s experiment let Sogen Saitake switch between his usual demeanor and obedient loyalty, then ordered him to infect targets in Osaka while avoiding people who had not harmed the Cursed Children.
• Sogen Saitake revealed that he was a senior member of the Five-Winged Society, whose predecessors had researched and created the Gastrea Virus and whose members developed cyborg soldiers.
• After Taurus’s death, the Holy Ruler invited nations to a joint conference in Tokyo, where representatives agreed to enact the Cursed Children Protection Act and place protection institutions under the Heavenly Dao Palace.
• Governments around the world began implementing the Act, opposition leaders were arrested, and the IISO became a Heavenly Dao Palace organization responsible for protecting Cursed Children.
• Fang Zheng’s Deformed Worms had infected and replaced sixty percent of human settlements’ upper leadership, and he decided it was time to return to the Main World.

Fang Zheng returned from the Pitch-Black World with a B+ evaluation, an embarrassing permanent title, and a renewed resolve to use his power with restraint. Back in the growing Heavenly Dao Palace, he struggled to find suitable schools for the Cursed Children and rejected several unsettling or girls-only options.

• Fang Zheng settled the Pitch-Black World and received a B+ evaluation, a Free World, and the automatically equipped title Shy Loli King.
• Fang Zheng reflected on the Deformed Worm's power to alter people's minds and resolved to use it cautiously.
• Fang Zheng returned to the Heavenly Dao Palace, which had shifted back into the Main World and grown into a town where Cursed Children greeted him.
• Fang Zheng considered expanding the Heavenly Dao Palace with schools but rejected several options associated with horror, detective, or despair-filled settings.
• Fang Zheng found that the remaining schools were girls' academies and wondered if the Heavenly Dao Palace would soon be filled with lilies.

Fang Zheng established three schools and designed the Heavenly Dao Palace’s training, points, and administrative systems, but remained overwhelmed by the workload. Fuse Midori then told him that Xia Shi had found a visitor seeking him, and Maria Waist arrived with an invitation from the Platinum Star Family.

• Fang Zheng assigned Hecate, Tilia, and Nymph to lead Star Palace, Cradle Garden, and Xenappus, each training Cursed Children in security, administration, or technology.
• Fang Zheng created a sister system, had capable Cursed Children train as teachers, and designed a points system to reward coursework and contributions while penalizing violations.
• Fang Zheng struggled with the work of establishing the Heavenly Dao Palace, then Fuse Midori told him that Xia Shi had found someone seeking him.
• Maria Waist, sent by Lady O'Glan, reached a small island and asked a girl identifying herself as Fang Zheng's maid to deliver an invitation.
• The girl accepted Maria's Invitation Letter from the Platinum Star Family for Fang Zheng.

Fang Zheng received O'Glan's invitation to Golden Bay's Foundation Ceremony and planned to use it to showcase Heavenly Dao Palace's strength. He realized Heavenly Dao Palace had no suitable transportation for the trip and decided to use a Vehicle Event World Exclusive Invitation Card to get some BMWs.

• Fang Zheng learned from Nymph that O'Glan had invited him to Golden Bay's Foundation Ceremony and that the Holy Temple held part ownership of Golden Bay alongside the Platinum Star Family and Heavenly Dao Palace.
• Fang Zheng decided to attend the ceremony in ten days and make a show of Heavenly Dao Palace's strength, while Nymph reported that the first Variable Wing Systems would be ready for testing in five days.
• Nymph asked how they would travel to Golden Bay, and Fang Zheng realized Heavenly Dao Palace had no suitable vehicle for the Main World.
• Fang Zheng considered several possible rides, rejected them, and remembered that he had a Vehicle Event World Exclusive Invitation Card.
• Fang Zheng found the card and told the girls to stay put while he went to get a few BMWs.