Chapter Summaries

Nastisha learned that White Candle Star might soon be ordered to mobilize students for the Galaxy Eye war, and Durgen appointed her to lead the planet’s Reserve Force. The chapter ended with Yawen arriving at White Candle Star Interstellar University.

• Karl criticized the Supreme Council’s political favors, while Nastisha worried that White Candle Star lacked enough powerful defenders.
• Durgen explained that the war against the Night Butterfly People had devastated the frontline and that even lower-ranked soldiers might soon be conscripted.
• Durgen told Nastisha she would become Commander-in-Chief of White Candle Star’s Reserve Force and would have to select students, especially those from the Applied Magic Department.
• Nastisha reluctantly accepted, grieving that she might be unable to protect her students and remembering her promise to Vierria.
• Yawen arrived at White Candle Star Interstellar University and looked at its campus gates.

Ya Wen visited White Candle Star Interstellar University to find Dia Lan and deliver food to Mr. Li Aoz, while Lucite prepared to show Hobbes a new alchemical item. Lucite was mocked by Bei Chonggui Ming and her friends at the library, but he stayed focused on helping his friends.

• Ya Wen reflected on her past and entered the university to find Dia Lan before delivering food to Mr. Li Aoz.
• Lucite directed Ya Wen to Arena 12, then headed to the library to meet Hobbes and show him a new alchemical item.
• Bei Chonggui Ming and her friends insulted Lucite’s appearance and took pictures of him as he entered the library.
• Lucite recalled how Lioz had befriended and supported him despite his appearance, and resolved to repay his kindness.
• Lucite met Hobbes, who had brought discounted snacks, and showed him a blue alchemical sphere.

Bei Chonggui Ming’s hostility toward men led her to attack a passerby who transformed and pierced her eyes, while Lucite demonstrated his new alchemical inventions to Hobbes. The campus was then ambushed by Implant Equipment Vanguards, who slaughtered students as a Terror-inducing voice announced the crescent moon’s return.

• Bei Chonggui Ming’s friends criticized her for mocking men and doubted her claim that Lioz had harassed her.
• Bei Chonggui Ming grabbed a passerby, who turned around and pierced the corners of her eyes with neural tentacles.
• Lucite showed Hobbes a Magic Color-Coding Ball and explained how it could help identify allies and locate missing people.
• Lucite demonstrated his information-scanning lenses, which identified the disguised passerby as an armed implant weapon; the attacker shot Hobbes with a high-pressure blood projectile.
• Implant Equipment Vanguards revealed themselves across Trivella’s campus and opened fire on students and passersby.
• A Terror-inducing voice announced that the long-lost crescent moon had risen once more.

Li Aoz countered Dia Lan’s Draconic Language Chant by building and controlling a Lava Guardian, boosting his strength to Zeta-rank. As he advanced through her spells, the spectators were stunned by the construct’s power.

• Dia Lan unleashed Death Spiral, and its pursuing spikes struck Li Aoz several times despite his evasive footwork.
• Li Aoz remained unfazed, raised slabs of lava, and used Element Architecture to summon a Burning Giant and an Earth Giant.
• Li Aoz merged the giants into a Lava Guardian and took direct control of it, greatly increasing his health and strength.
• Li Aoz walked toward Dia Lan while the Lava Guardian followed and brushed aside her spells.
• The spectators questioned how Li Aoz could drive such a powerful construct with Delta-rank Mental Power, and Dia Lan recognized that he had been hiding his strength.

Li Aoz pressed his advantage against Dia Lan, who tried to drain his mana and restrain him with spells but began running low on energy herself. With less than a minute left, Dia Lan asked him to focus on her as their fight continued unresolved.

• Dia Lan used Mechanized Mind, turned the lava into stone, and repeatedly drained Li Aoz's mana, but he restored his energy by eating rock.
• Li Aoz broke through Dia Lan's barriers and chains as they fought, while Sylvia and Mordot watched and discussed who had the advantage.
• Mordot predicted Dia Lan would lose unless she used her Molten Gold Titan talents, and Sylvia bet him that Dia Lan would win.
• With her mana nearly depleted and less than two minutes remaining, Dia Lan descended and insisted that Li Aoz look at her and continue fighting.
• Li Aoz praised Dia Lan's focus, leaving her confused about what he meant by stereotypes as only 56 seconds remained.

Li Aoz and Dia Lan fought to a draw in a devastating final clash that destroyed the arena. Li Aoz rescued the unconscious Dia Lan, but Ya Wen arrived and demanded to know who the girl in his arms was.

• Li Aoz praised Dia Lan's fighting and compared her to a Valkyrie, while the doctor’s account revealed his hopes for her as a savior and an Agent.
• Dia Lan declared their score tied at 524 each, and she and Li Aoz summoned an Earth Dragonkin and a Lava Guardian for the final attack.
• The colossal summons struck each other as the countdown ended, shattering the arena barrier and disrupting power and the magic network across campus.
• The scoreboard showed Dia Lan and Li Aoz tied at 529 points, and both summons collapsed after their final blow.
• Li Aoz pulled the badly injured, unconscious Dia Lan from the ashes, covered her with his coat, and lifted her into his arms.
• Ya Wen entered the ruins carrying food, saw Li Aoz holding Dia Lan, and coldly asked who the girl was.

Li Aoz and Yawen were separated by Residual Moon’s invisible Dimensional Barrier just as Yawen confessed her jealousy and longing for him. As Yawen’s Blood of Ether began to run wild, Li Aoz reached her through Echo and promised his voice would always guide her; they agreed to share a meal when they got home.

• Yawen confronted Li Aoz, confessed she was jealous, and said she had missed him, but a Dimensional Barrier stopped her just short of reaching him.
• Li Aoz warned Yawen that invisible barriers were spreading through the school and could reduce anyone who touched them to two dimensions.
• Feeling useless and abandoned, Yawen began to transform as her Blood of Ether spiraled out of control.
• Li Aoz used Echo to speak through the barrier, telling Yawen to protect herself and promising his voice would reach her wherever she was.
• Yawen’s transformation receded, and Li Aoz promised they would share a better meal when they got home.

Li Aoz sheltered Dia Lan during Crescent Moon's attack on Trivella and mobilized players, allies, and resources to improve his chances of survival. He learned that Crescent Moon's Dimensional Barrier could not be bypassed and that no powerful mercenaries were available, leaving him to face the crisis largely on his own.

• Li Aoz sent the increasingly spider-like Ya Wen to hide, then sealed himself and Dia Lan inside a second-floor classroom.
• Li Aoz assessed his rank and concluded he was not strong enough to fight Crescent Moon, a Zeta-rank Ability User.
• Li Aoz found that Crescent Moon's Dimensional Barrier had cut off magical communications, so he tasked players with spreading news of the attack and retrieving weapons while ordering a backup implanted body.
• Li Aoz asked Olavier to hire Zeta-rank mercenaries, but learned that all the Valkyrie Fortress groups had disappeared on another job and that none were available.
• Li Aoz paid Olavier to investigate Crescent Moon's backers and asked Liu E how to break the barrier, but she said there was no practical solution and left him to survive on his own.

Li Aoz promoted to Epsilon-rank and began his first Ascension, which required him to choose two divine talents. After considering the options, he ruled out Enjoyable Longevity and Continued Progress but had not yet chosen between the remaining talents.

• Li Aoz used his experience to raise Astral Echoer to level 100 and met the promotion requirement of possessing three Sequence Auras, including one at Perception level or above.
• Li Aoz completed his promotion to Epsilon-rank, gaining 500 years of lifespan and a rank effect that weakened lower-ranked opponents' attacks and checks while strengthening his own against them.
• Li Aoz began his Initial Ascension and received five divine talent options: Dance of the Golden Spears, Continued Progress, Enjoyable Longevity, Smiling Through Suffering, and Death Prison.
• Li Aoz dismissed Enjoyable Longevity and Continued Progress, then weighed the benefits of the war, suffering, and death talents.

Luther drifted through Trivella City’s zombie-like routine, unaware that Implant Equipment Vanguards were massacring the city until a bomb destroyed his train and exposed the horror beside him. Crescent Moon and Mo Zilan watched from a hidden warship as their forces took control of Trivella in pursuit of a fragment of the Eye of Discernment.

• Luther left his apartment and traveled through the ruined city, mistaking corpses and attacks for ordinary parts of his commute.
• Luther chatted with the dead Miss Ruth on the subway while finishing his presentation as Implant Equipment Vanguards slaughtered people outside.
• A terrorist broadcast announced Crescent Moon’s attack, and a Dimensional Bomb destroyed the front half of Luther’s train.
• Luther helped Miss Ruth up and discovered that the blast had split her body in half, then realized the Vanguards were targeting him.
• Crescent Moon and Mo Zilan surveyed Trivella from a stealth warship and declared the city under their control.
• Crescent Moon said they planned to obtain a fragment of the Eye of Discernment to recover the cost of their thirty thousand Implant Equipment Vanguards.

Crescent Moon coordinated with Admiral Bablushka as the attack on White Candle Star continued, agreeing to turn his spacecraft into a teleportation array for Night Butterfly reinforcements. Bablushka planned to use Crescent Moon as a scapegoat, while Crescent Moon accepted the arrangement as a profitable collaboration.

• Crescent Moon watched Mo Zilan celebrate the Vanguard’s slaughter and resolved to find Du Zexin, who had stolen his son’s Sequence Aura.
• Romulus brought Crescent Moon a communication from Admiral Bablushka, who praised the operation and discussed the Eye of Discernment fragment.
• Bablushka revealed that Night Butterfly had destroyed many planets and said exposing Crystal Tower’s fragment could draw enemies to it, even if the operation failed.
• Bablushka asked Crescent Moon to anchor his spacecraft as a teleportation array so Night Butterfly forces could enter White Candle Star.
• Crescent Moon agreed, unaware that Bablushka intended to delay the reinforcements and place all blame for the attack on him.

Lucite and Hobbes defeated an Implant Equipment Vanguard and discovered it carried Crescent Moon’s mark, revealing that the fugitive Zeta-rank pirate could trap weaker beings in a terrifying two-dimensional world. Hobbes explained Crescent Moon’s power and voiced his resentment toward Aoneng users as the two remained cut off from Lioz.

• Lucite smashed the Implant Equipment Vanguard and destroyed its head, while Hobbes confirmed he was unharmed and could not contact Lioz.
• Lucite identified the attacker as an Overlord Class Implant Equipment Vanguard, and Hobbes explained how implantized Overlords could use Aoneng to enslave people.
• While dissecting the Vanguard, they found a heart bomb bearing Crescent Moon’s mark and learned that Crescent Moon had attacked Trivella three years earlier.
• Hobbes explained that Crescent Moon could knock weaker targets into two-dimensional space and use that ability to hide, while Lucite noticed dimensional barriers had already spread through the forest.
• Hobbes condemned Aoneng users and complained that charm earned Lioz attention and favor that hardworking people like him and Lucite lacked.

Lucite challenged Hobbes’s bleak view of the Overlord path, and Hobbes revealed he could not use magic despite attending the Magic Academy. Meanwhile, Li Aoz chose the Death Prison godhead and forcibly advanced a stratum, entering an arena where God Embracers fought.

• Lucite asked Hobbes about the ring he kept touching, and Hobbes admitted he could not use magic.
• Li Aoz compared three candidate talents and decided that Death Prison best suited his plans for future Aonengs.
• Li Aoz chose the D and E godheads, completing his first step onto the Path to Divinity.
• Li Aoz used a Stratum Advancement Ticket, but his Main Class level was too low to gain Zeta-rank effects.
• Li Aoz received a welcome to the arena where God Embracers slaughtered one another.

Li Aoz used the Stratum Advancement Ticket to reach Zeta-rank, then realized he was stranded without the supplies and medicine he needed. While Dia Lan remained unconscious, he discovered that her body seemed to be growing younger.

• Li Aoz advanced to Zeta-rank and checked his status, finding his primary attributes still below the usual Zeta-rank standard.
• Li Aoz noticed the players had not delivered the supplies because it was still early morning in the Yanxia Zone, leaving his Truth Drug and production line out of reach.
• Li Aoz decided to search nearby for resources and survivors while waiting for the players.
• Li Aoz tried to wake Dia Lan and found her feverish and suffering through a nightmare.
• Li Aoz noticed Dia Lan had shrunk enough for her feet to fit on the desk-bed, and her features and breathing seemed younger.

Li Aoz cared for Dia Lan after their battle, and she explained that her Molten Gold Titan bloodline caused her to shrink while healing severe injuries. As he began planning their next steps, Dia Lan’s condition worsened and she regressed into a three- or four-year-old child.

• Li Aoz cooled Dia Lan with a dry ice extinguisher and watched over her until she woke.
• Dia Lan called herself the loser despite their tied score because she had collapsed while Li Aoz remained unharmed.
• Dia Lan explained that her Molten Gold Titan bloodline healed fatal injuries by returning her body to a juvenile state.
• Li Aoz told Dia Lan about Crescent Moon’s attack and his plan to meet Hobbes and Lucite at the library before finding Ya Wen.
• Dia Lan’s fever and injuries worsened, and she collapsed into Li Aoz’s arms as her body shrank to the size of a three- or four-year-old child.

Li Aoz carried the shrinking, feverish Dia Lan while Jannia warned him that the Hidden Society would consume the planet and that he would die. Meanwhile, Hobbes confided in Lucite about his foreknowledge and plans to kill Crescent Moon, before Mordot arrived to evacuate them from the library.

• Li Aoz cut Dia Lan's hair, wrapped her in a curtain, and carried her as she grew smaller and asked for a lullaby.
• Jannia sang Dia Lan to sleep, then told Li Aoz that the Hidden Society had destroyed her homeland and warned that the planet would be consumed and he would die.
• Hobbes told Lucite that the Society would consume the planet, and Lucite chose not to use the Dimensional Bomb against him because Hobbes had not harmed anyone.
• Hobbes told Lucite he intended to kill Crescent Moon and would confess everything to Lioz afterward.
• Mordot and the Enforcement Team entered the library, warned that Implant Equipment Vanguards were surrounding it, and urged Hobbes and Lucite to leave with them.

Mordot led a group of survivors toward the workshop while promising that Koreina could turn the crisis around. Meanwhile, Li Aoz searched the library for Hobbes and Lucite, learned more about Jannia’s past, and stopped in shock when she named one of the Hidden Society’s Councilors.

• Mordot explained how to stop the Implant Equipment Vanguards and led the survivors toward the workshop to make weapons and supplies.
• Mordot revealed that Koreina, the Student Union Guild Leader and a Zeta-rank veteran, was the school’s trump card.
• Hobbes and Lucite suspected that the Enforcement Team had prioritized rescuing influential international students, and Hobbes privately voiced his resentment.
• Li Aoz found Hobbes and Lucite’s cups in the overrun library, tracked their scent south, and continued questioning Jannia about the Pharassia Civilization.
• Jannia recalled that Doctor Laiwo Lushen, the Saintess, an adventurer, and their daughter Vierria had helped the Falicians, while the Hidden Society’s Councilors included Enjenie, Farmer, and the tailor Yawen.
• Li Aoz stopped and asked Jannia to repeat the tailor’s name.

Jannia explained that joining a Society gradually erased a person’s identity, and that Yawen would become part of the Hidden Society if she returned to its main body. Li Aoz learned the Doctor might know how to free her, then received an Intersecting Talisman from a veiled visitor as he continued searching for his missing friends and classmates.

• Jannia told Li Aoz that Hidden Society professionals became containers for their professions and that Yawen would lose her individuality if she returned to the Society’s main body.
• Li Aoz asked how to save Yawen, and Jannia pointed him toward Dia Lan, the Doctor Laiwoluxin, and possibly Vierria for answers.
• Jannia promised to face future difficulties with Li Aoz, her current Sword Holder.
• Li Aoz encountered a veiled woman carrying a Seven-Stringed Zither, directed her to the library, and received an Intersecting Talisman from her.
• The veiled woman watched Li Aoz leave and wondered why his appearance and posture felt familiar before she went on her way.

Hobbes and Lucite learned why Mordot’s Enforcement Team was copying forbidden magic and heard the history of Crescent Moon’s earlier attack before Mordot returned with a powerful magic book. Meanwhile, Li Aoz reached Trivella City and activated Sequence Nine: Gravity as Implant Equipment Vanguards closed in, while officials in orbit debated ideological threats and remained unaware of the disaster below.

• Hobbes suspected the Enforcement Team was secretly copying forbidden knowledge, and he and Lucite took a forbidden spellbook while questioning a team member about Mordot and the school’s suppressed losses from Crescent Moon’s earlier attack.
• Mordot returned with the magic book he had sought and rallied the Enforcement Team to fight back against Crescent Moon.
• Li Aoz followed the group’s tracks through the ruined campus, confirmed that the veiled woman’s talisman was not harmful with Jannia, and continued carrying the sleeping Dia Lan toward Trivella City.
• Li Aoz reached Trivella City, found it surrounded by Implant Equipment Vanguards, and activated Sequence Nine: Gravity outside the school gates.
• At Amaryllis Fortress, Nastisha and Karl argued over the Social Citizens and the Crystal Tower’s ideology while Durgen urged them to focus on their duties; he checked for reports and concluded that nothing abnormal had happened at the school.

After the retreating group dwindled to seven, James II accused the Enforcement Team of leading them into ambushes, and Sylvia attacked Hobbes and Lucite for questioning Captain Mordot. An earthquake disrupted the confrontation, but Lucite transformed to protect Hobbes, Sylvia was killed by Mordot, and Mordot revealed that he was Crescent Moon himself.

• Lucite recalled how the Implant Equipment Vanguard repeatedly ambushed the group, leaving only seven survivors from the original fifty-four.
• James II accused the Enforcement Team of choosing a disastrous route and suggested their intelligence had been leaked; Maria Xuanyin backed him, while Sylvia threatened Hobbes and Lucite for questioning Mordot.
• Sylvia beat Hobbes and threatened Lucite, but an earthquake flooded and collapsed the shelter, forcing the survivors to flee before Kurt disappeared.
• Sylvia accused Lucite of hiding a forbidden magic book and attacked him, so Lucite transformed and warned her not to touch Hobbes.
• An unknown shooter killed Sylvia with implanted blood, and James II accused Captain Mordot of being Crescent Moon's inside agent.
• Mordot denied serving Crescent Moon and revealed that he was Crescent Moon, transforming into a Zeta-rank figure and introducing himself as Mordoctor Husserl.