Chapter Summaries

Fang Zheng called an overnight meeting to set Heavenly Dao Palace’s principles for intervening in other worlds, but the Cursed Children disagreed over when to help. He assigned Hecate to calm them and promised to write stories for Tina, ending on an idea for “Kino’s Journey.”

• Fang Zheng recognized that the Cursed Children’s experiences made them eager to intervene when they saw others being oppressed, so he gathered his core members to discuss Heavenly Dao Palace’s principles.
• Xia Shi reported that forum voters were split between active intervention and noninterference, while most others left the choice to Fang Zheng.
• Cui questioned whether they should intervene when people did not see themselves as victims, and Enju cited Rinon Aihara as an example of someone who had blamed herself for being mistreated.
• Fang Zheng told Hecate to calm the arguing Cursed Children and instructed Tina to avoid telling bloody ghost stories.
• Fang Zheng promised to write stories for Tina and the others, then chose “Kino’s Journey,” about a girl who traveled with a talking motorcycle.

Fang Zheng diverted the Cursed Children’s attention from a frightening ghost story by sharing fables from Kino's Journey, then received an invitation to a Holy City banquet. A chilling premonition made him suspect the invitation might be connected to a threat, though he could not tell who was behind it.

• Fang Zheng gave Tina stories from Kino's Journey, and Tina’s broadcasts and discussion program shifted the Cursed Children’s forum away from the ghost story.
• Enju delivered Fang Zheng a letter from Knight Commander Wells, and Fang Zheng felt a terrifying chill when he touched it.
• Fang Zheng asked Enju whether everyone had returned safely from the Northern Lands, then opened the letter and read the Holy City’s banquet invitation.
• Fang Zheng recalled the trouble caused by his previous Holy Temple banquet and considered whether the invitation might conceal an assassination plot.
• Fang Zheng suspected several nations and hostile groups could want him dead and concluded that staying in Heavenly Dao Palace would be safest.

Fang Zheng prepared to attend the Pope’s banquet despite fearing it might be dangerous, and arranged for Heavenly Dao Palace to remain secure while he was away. He left with Hecate, Iona, and Rodney, trusting his escape measures and ordering the others to prepare for the worst.

• Fang Zheng told Hecate, Tilia, Nymph, Iona, and Musashi about the Pope’s invitation and ordered Musashi to seal Heavenly Dao Palace after his departure.
• Fang Zheng chose Hecate, Iona, and Rodney to accompany him, while Nymph and Tilia stayed behind to manage Heavenly Dao Palace if he did not return.
• Fang Zheng explained that his level-eight Divination Spell had produced no useful result, so he suspected either his fears were unfounded or a powerful enemy could block his prediction.
• Fang Zheng told Tilia to move the children from the Northern Lands and prepare the Cursed Children to return to the Pitch-Black World if he went missing.
• Tilia urged Hecate to protect Fang Zheng, and Hecate promised to protect the Alliance Leader.

Fang Zheng arrived in the Holy City and was welcomed by Bishop Karl, who learned that Fang Zheng had a premonition of possible trouble and ordered heightened vigilance. After meeting the wary Highest Bishop Mombart, Fang Zheng reached the Pope’s door for their meeting.

• Fang Zheng admired the Holy City’s lotus-shaped design as his two warships approached its airship Dock.
• Bishop Karl welcomed Fang Zheng and said the Pope wished to meet him before the evening banquet.
• Fang Zheng told Bishop Karl he had a small premonition, so Bishop Karl ordered everyone to watch for abnormalities.
• The Highest Bishop, Mombart, met Fang Zheng and kept him at arm’s length, while Bishop Karl explained that Mombart and the Pope disagreed about him.
• Bishop Karl led Fang Zheng to the Pope’s door and said the Pope was waiting inside.

Fang Zheng met with the Pope, who revealed that she was Cardani, a Gold Dragon, after recognizing Fang Zheng as a Time Dragon. The Pope asked him whether he would become her mate, leaving Fang Zheng stunned.

• Fang Zheng met the Pope and discussed cooperation between the Holy Temple and Heavenly Dao Palace.
• The Pope asked Bishop Karl to send everyone out except Hecate so she could speak with Fang Zheng privately.
• The Pope identified Fang Zheng as nonhuman, then rushed over and sniffed him to confirm he was a Time Dragon.
• The Pope revealed that her name was Cardani and that she was a Gold Dragon.
• Cardani asked Fang Zheng if he was interested in becoming her mate.

Fang Zheng learned that Kani, the Holy Temple’s apparent Pope, was a Gold Dragon temporarily running the Holy Kingdom after losing a bet. Kani wanted to marry him so she could leave her post, and Fang Zheng ended the chapter wondering who posed the real threat to his life.

• Kani invited Fang Zheng to visit her treasure-filled lair and proposed that they become mates, leaving him confused by her sudden advances.
• Fang Zheng questioned why Kani wanted to marry him, and she explained that Time Dragons were rare and her clan would welcome such a match.
• Kani revealed that her Gold Dragon clan had promised to protect the Holy Kingdom, but she was serving as Pope only because she lost a bet with the real Pope.
• Kani said her younger sister would take her place once she found a mate, while insisting that she had kept the Holy Kingdom running without anyone noticing she was a Dragon.
• Fang Zheng concluded that the Holy Temple was probably not the threat to his life and wondered who was.

Fang Zheng learned that the Holy City was protected by an Order Contract and a divine barrier, though he still worried that Chaos and the Hell Demon Kings might cooperate. The golden dragon girl offered to protect him and asked him to consider marrying her, but Hecate firmly objected.

• Fang Zheng told the golden dragon girl that he sensed danger at the banquet, and she explained that the Holy City’s barrier and the Order Contract made an attack there unlikely.
• The golden dragon girl explained that the fallen Holy Spirit Knight had been barred from the city because he had sided with Chaos, which threatened the stability of order.
• Fang Zheng asked whether Chaos and the Hell Demon Kings might join forces, and the golden dragon girl admitted her investigation had found no answers.
• The golden dragon girl offered to summon Bahamut if danger arose and asked Fang Zheng to propose marriage to him if she saved him.
• Hecate stepped between Fang Zheng and the golden dragon girl, insisting that she would protect the Alliance Leader, while the golden dragon girl urged him to consider her as a mate.

Brand, disgraced and grieving after losing his daughter Connie and his holy powers, agreed to serve a Devil in exchange for the promise of bringing Connie’s soul back. The chapter left him holding a cursed dagger and preparing to infiltrate the Holy Temple’s victory banquet to draw it before Fang Zheng.

• Brand recalled how the Holy Temple stripped him of his title and privileges after he attacked an Angel and threatened a Holy Spirit Knight.
• A shadowy woman confronted Brand and taunted him about his incestuous abuse of his daughter, Connie.
• Brand agreed to join the Devils if they could bring Connie’s soul back.
• The shadowy woman gave Brand a dagger marked by her lord and ordered him to draw it before Fang Zheng at the banquet.
• Brand accepted the dagger and promised to carry out the task.

Brand entered the Holy City through its underground tunnels, intent on indulging his madness, while Fang Zheng attended a banquet under the persistent sense that his life was in danger. As Fang Zheng reached the skyport after the uneventful celebration, a Paladin drew a dagger and the world around him changed.

• Brand watched the palace and, believing the Goddess had abandoned him, used his knowledge of the Holy City's tunnels to enter.
• Fang Zheng attended the banquet with Hecate, Iona, and Rodney while staying on guard and using Future Sight to watch for an attack.
• The Pope honored Fang Zheng as a Holy Spirit Knight, promoted him to Knight Commander, and awarded him the Order Starfire Medal.
• After the banquet, Bishop Karl reported that the Holy City's security checks had found no intruders or breaches.
• At the skyport, Fang Zheng's Future Sight shattered, so he leapt backward as a Paladin drew a dagger and the world changed around him.

Fang Zheng was attacked by a demigod's Imprisonment Spell and escaped it by transforming into the Star Forging Dragon King. He fled through a portal with a dagger still embedded in his chest, struck back at his attacker, and replaced his Soul Stone before losing consciousness.

• A demigod's Imprisonment Spell trapped Fang Zheng as Iona, Rodney, and Hecate vanished from his side.
• Fang Zheng transformed into the Star Forging Dragon King and shattered the crystal barrier with Star String High Fall.
• An arm carrying a strange dagger split the starfire and stabbed Fang Zheng, even as he opened a portal to another Plane.
• Fang Zheng used his remaining strength to stop the arm and send a spinning nebula through the hole, where explosions and anguished screams followed.
• Fang Zheng replaced the Soul Stone in his body and then lost consciousness as the Star Forging Dragon King dispersed.

Fang Zheng awoke injured and powerless in an unfamiliar, medieval-looking place, where his system and abilities were offline. After equipping himself with unfamiliar weapons, he killed a monster blocking the exit and recognized its appearance as that of a werewolf.

• Fang Zheng woke with a severe chest wound and discovered that he could not use his magic, the Power of Time, or Dragon Scale.
• Fang Zheng found that the Dimensional Codex was offline and its inventory and communications were inaccessible.
• Fang Zheng dressed in clothes he found nearby and took a transforming cane that became a Chain Sword, along with a firearm.
• Fang Zheng heard a creature feeding in the hall and found a large monster blocking the exit.
• Fang Zheng stabbed the monster from behind with his cane, then drove the blade through its heart and recognized it as a werewolf.

Fang Zheng explored a decaying, deserted town filled with werewolf-like corpses and encountered only hostile, deranged villagers. After fighting his way through them and opening a gate with his Cane Sword, he continued into a world that seemed to have no normal people.

• Fang Zheng examined the werewolf-like creature and the strange bodies nearby, then cautiously entered the abandoned town.
• Fang Zheng met a man carrying an axe and torch, but the man attacked him, so Fang Zheng disarmed and killed him.
• Fang Zheng used his Cane Sword to hook a switch through an iron gate and open a path.
• Fang Zheng approached four more armed men, who shouted that he was there and charged him.
• Fang Zheng transformed his Cane Sword into Chain Sword form and killed the attacking villagers, then wondered what had happened to the town.

Fang Zheng searched Yharnam for shelter during the Night of the Hunt and agreed to help a little girl find her missing mother, Viola. He continued fighting monsters as he followed the trail, with his next encounter waiting beyond the stairs.

• Fang Zheng learned that the town was Yharnam and that its residents were hiding indoors during the Night of the Hunt.
• A little girl asked Fang Zheng to find her mother, Viola, and gave him a music box associated with her father, Gascoigne.
• Fang Zheng left the girl’s house and heard the town’s bells toll as he considered whether anyone in the town could still be alive.
• A werewolf attacked Fang Zheng, and he drove it back with his Chain Sword before killing it.
• Fang Zheng climbed the stairs and heard a strange thumping sound at the top.

Fang Zheng fought a crazed, axe-wielding man in the graveyard and briefly reached him through the music box’s tune. The man urged Fang Zheng to protect the little girl and go to the church before transforming into a wolf.

• Fang Zheng encountered a long-coated man in the graveyard who attacked him with a pistol and an axe.
• Fang Zheng dodged the man’s attacks, broke his pistol while blocking an axe blow, and stabbed the man in the chest with his Cane Sword.
• The man clutched his head in pain when the little girl’s music box began playing.
• The man recognized the child, asked Fang Zheng to protect her, and directed him to the church behind the graveyard.
• The man transformed into a wolf before Fang Zheng.

After defeating a werewolf, Fang Zheng buried a dead couple, explored a church, and learned from an old man that Yharnam had fallen into chaos because of blood. He rested in Oden Chapel, then awoke in darkness and heard a familiar voice address him as the Ashen One.

• Fang Zheng killed the werewolf, found a dead woman’s red-gem brooch, and buried her and the hunter in nearby graves.
• Fang Zheng searched a building beside the cemetery, found scattered documents and a strange tool in a treasure chest, then entered Oden Chapel.
• An old man told Fang Zheng that the Night of the Hunt had overtaken Yharnam and that the chapel’s incense kept beasts away.
• Fang Zheng asked to rest in the chapel, leaned against a wall, and fell asleep.
• Fang Zheng awoke in a dark place and heard a familiar voice ask whether he could hear it, calling him the Ashen One.

Fang Zheng met the Fire Keeper in his soul, where Abyssal sludge had devoured his flame and weakened his power. She rekindled his soul and reforged his weapons, leaving him with restored weapons and a renewed path to fight.

• Fang Zheng realized he was meeting the Fire Keeper inside his soul, and she explained that his flame had been drained by Abyssal things.
• The Fire Keeper lit a protective bonfire and told Fang Zheng he needed to gather power as kindling to strengthen his flame.
• The Fire Keeper summoned Fang Zheng’s weapons and used his Equipment Soul Stone to transform them.
• Fang Zheng grasped the weapons as the flames drove back the sludge, and Vampire became the Sword of Piercing Truth while the Skycleaver Sword became the Sword of Demon Slaying.
• The Fire Keeper wished Fang Zheng victory and promised to remain by his flame.

Fang Zheng left the church after introducing himself as an Abyss Watcher and found Yharnam’s monsters had returned, while the hunter and his wife remained dead. He persuaded the old woman to leave for Oden Small Church with him and tell Cecilia what had happened, and they arrived at the girl’s home.

• Fang Zheng recovered beneath the church’s flames, saw that the Dimensional Codex was repairing, and told the old man he was an Abyss Watcher from Farron’s Undead Legion.
• Fang Zheng found that slain monsters had respawned, while the dead hunter and his wife had not, and he suspected the hunter’s stolen power explained the difference.
• Fang Zheng returned to the old woman and convinced her to accompany him to bring Cecilia to Oden Small Church.
• The old woman recognized the brooch as belonging to Father Gascoigne and his wife, then explained how Blood Ministration had driven Yharnam’s residents mad or turned them into beasts.
• Fang Zheng and the old woman reached the lantern outside Cecilia’s home.

Fang Zheng escorted Cecilia and Lady Sophie toward Oden Small Church, then diverted to Doctor Yusefka’s clinic after spotting a cloaked stranger. Cecilia recognized that the person behind the clinic door was impersonating the doctor, and Fang Zheng broke in to confront her.

• Fang Zheng persuaded Cecilia to leave her home and join him and Lady Sophie on the way to Oden Small Church.
• Fang Zheng chose a safer route and asked Lady Sophie how long the Night of the Hunt would last, but she did not know.
• Cecilia spotted a cloaked figure heading toward Doctor Yusefka’s clinic, so Fang Zheng led the group there.
• A voice behind the locked clinic door invited Cecilia and Lady Sophie inside, claiming to be Doctor Yusefka.
• Cecilia said the voice was not Doctor Yusefka’s and challenged the speaker to name her.
• Fang Zheng kicked open the clinic door and found a panicked woman in a white doctor’s coat.

Fang Zheng rescued the real Doctor Yusefka from an impostor and escorted her and Cecilia toward the chapel. There, he intervened in a fight between a frenzied hunter and a crow-clad hunter named Irene, blocking the blow that threatened her.

• Fang Zheng defeated the impostor disguised as Doctor Yusefka, revealing a tentacled monster and gaining a force like the one he received after defeating Father Gascoigne.
• Fang Zheng found the real Doctor Yusefka tied up on the clinic’s second floor and freed her after confirming she knew Cecilia.
• Doctor Yusefka said the impostor came from the Choir and that the clinic was no longer safe, so Fang Zheng led her and Cecilia toward the chapel.
• Fang Zheng and the others heard a battle in the graveyard, where a yellow-clad hunter was overwhelming a crow-clad hunter named Irene.
• At Doctor Yusefka’s request, Fang Zheng stepped in and blocked the yellow-clad hunter’s cleaver just before it struck Irene.

Fang Zheng saved Irene by killing the powerful mad Hunter Henrik, then brought her to the chapel and asked her and Yosefka for help understanding Yharnam. He declared that he intended to kill the town’s most powerful monsters and leave the cursed city.

• Fang Zheng blocked Henrik’s attack on Irene, then defeated him with a series of powerful sword strikes.
• Fang Zheng helped Irene to her feet, and she questioned why an outsider had come to Yharnam.
• Fang Zheng suggested they go to the chapel, where Irene and Yosefka joined him in a private room.
• Fang Zheng explained that he had arrived in Yharnam by accident and wanted help ending the Night of the Hunt.
• Fang Zheng refused Blood Ministration and asked where the powerful monsters and mad Hunters were.
• Fang Zheng told Irene and Yosefka that he planned to kill every powerful enemy in Yharnam.