Chapter Summaries

After Lioz was killed during the pirate attack, Nalia considered how to handle the crisis without damaging her standing in the company. Dundee advised her that managing the unexpected well could improve her reputation, and Nalia began assessing how to turn the situation to her advantage.

• The pirates searched and taunted the hostages, while passengers mourned Lioz and a woman blamed herself for switching seats with him.
• Dundee told Nalia that his divination could no longer reveal Lioz’s future, suggesting that Lioz was dead or protected from fate-reading.
• Nalia said she could not afford to lose Lioz and worried that returning him to the Fixed Time Domain would expose the company’s kidnapping.
• Dundee argued that handling the accident through effective crisis public relations could win Nalia praise from the company’s directors.
• Nalia recalled Andrew’s successful response to a business setback and began evaluating how to use Lioz’s death to demonstrate her adaptability.

After Lioz’s apparent death, Nalia arranged to have him revived on Tomb Stars under guard, while Nefes remained with the hostages and pirates. As the new plan unfolded, Nefes realized she no longer felt the fear and awe Lioz had once inspired in her.

• The group decided to preserve Lioz’s corpse and revive him rather than kill the hostages, fearing repercussions from the Empire State and damage to the company’s reputation.
• Nalia proposed taking Lioz to a Zeta-rank Redemption Class priest on Tomb Stars, where criminals could help contain him after his revival.
• Nalia contacted the priest and organized the transfer team and forces, calculating that the revised plan would cost less and bring Lioz under control sooner.
• Nefes stayed behind to keep the pirates in line while their speedboats blockaded the civilian spacecraft around the Dimensional Anchor.
• Nefes questioned how Lioz had died and realized that the fear and awe she had felt toward him were gone.

Nefes began questioning her orders after Lioz’s blood made her doubt that he was dead, but she submitted to Nalia’s command. Meanwhile, Nalia arrived at Tomb Stars to recruit criminals and seek Priest Ailiya, only to learn that the priest was at a nightclub.

• Nefes felt no fear when Lioz’s blood stained her hand and began wondering whether he had faked his death.
• Nefes warned Nalia that Lioz might still be alive, but Nalia insulted her and threatened to have her destroyed.
• Nefes resisted her fear of death briefly, then answered Nalia with a submissive “Yes.”
• Nalia arrived at Tomb Stars and met seven members of the Alden Mixed-Blood Gang, whom she had recruited as Zeta-rank fighters.
• Nalia asked the gang to take her to Priest Ailiya, but they reported that Ailiya was dancing at a nightclub.

At a Tomb Stars nightclub, Priest Ailiya and Duggen Golas prepared to revive Lioz, the man who had killed Can Yue. Nalia arrived with an empty Cryo-chamber, and Lioz's head suddenly struck her, shattering her skull.

• Ailiya and Duggen discussed Can Yue's death and warned that the person who killed him might be powerful enough to threaten them.
• Ailiya revealed that her client, Nalia of Verrazzi Security, had hired her to revive the killer of Can Yue.
• Nalia arrived with her entourage and brought a Cryo-chamber containing the supposedly preserved corpse.
• Ailiya opened the Cryo-chamber and discovered it was empty.
• Lioz's head appeared and smashed into Nalia's face, shattering her skull.

Li Aoz confronted Nalia and the criminals at a Tomb Stars nightclub, using Crescent Moon’s Aoneng to attack before they surrounded him. When they demanded he cooperate or fight them, he unleashed Dark Light and left the nightclub engulfed in golden flames and darkness.

• Li Aoz used Lioz’s bio-armored head and Crescent Moon’s Aoneng to unfold a Dimensional Barrier, killing bodyguards and warping the nightclub’s space.
• Priest Ailiya and Duggen Golas confronted Li Aoz, while Nalia recovered from her injuries and offered to pay off the gathered criminals if he surrendered.
• Nalia and the Tomb Stars criminals surrounded Li Aoz and demanded that he help them exploit the world or fight more than a hundred Zeta-rank opponents.
• Li Aoz activated Sequence Thirteen, Dark Light, and his Bloodline Determination forcibly passed against the gathered enemies.
• Dark Light forbade magic and other abilities as golden flames consumed the nightclub, leaving pillars of salt where its occupants had stood.

Li Aoz used his Mastery-level Darklight to unleash Heavenly Fire on sinners and send Gomorrah after enemies in a nightclub. As the summons’ limited range threatened to constrain them, he prepared to rely on his Astral Echoer class.

• Li Aoz reflected on how Aoneng development represented the gradual acquisition and usurpation of power.
• Li Aoz activated Darklight, which called down Sodom’s holy fire on those bearing Original Sin and summoned Gomorrah to seal hostile targets’ transcendent abilities.
• Sodom burned targets into pillars of salt while Gomorrah possessed enemies and cut off their powers in the nightclub.
• Li Aoz recognized that his summons’ short combat radius limited their performance, but his Astral Echoer class offered a way to address the problem.

Li Aoz and his allies overwhelmed the Zeta-rank fighters in the nightclub, but Nalia used a miracle to protect them and Dugen prepared powerful ice magic. With no quest appearing and the crowd still challenging him, Li Aoz stacked four Sequence Auras and launched himself toward the ground with Final Scarlet.

• Sodom and Gomorrah used Echo Power to spread their attacks, leaving the nightclub’s Zeta-rank fighters unable to use supernatural powers.
• Nalia invoked a miracle that rescued the fighters from Heavenly Fire, while Ailiya healed the wounded.
• Dugen broke free of Gomorrah’s possession, banished them to the Shadow Plane, and plunged the nightclub into extreme cold.
• Li Aoz recognized Dugen and dismissed the surrounding fighters as fodder, noting that the system had not given him a quest.
• Li Aoz stacked Crescent Moon, Calamity, Bloodline, and Gravity, then transformed into Final Scarlet and plunged toward the ground.

Li Aoz struck Tomb Stars with a devastating crimson Echo that spread his bloodline and reached across the universe. His signal prompted allies to move, while Grina Vortex decided to leave her gallery and seek him out.

• Atalai sent mecha and defenses against Li Aoz's falling crimson form, but its dimensional shifts defeated the interception attempts.
• Nalia, Dugen, Ailiya, and others tried to escape the Nightclub as a Dimensional Barrier trapped it, then Li Aoz's impact unleashed a blood tsunami across Tomb Stars.
• Andrew Verrazzi learned the operation against Li Aoz had failed, while Dia Lan heard his Echo and joined the mobilization toward the Star Abyss.
• Caramel Snail heard Li Aoz's Echo and continued mining, intent on repaying his debt before seeking a way into the Star Abyss.
• Vulcan explained the limits of Li Aoz's Gravity Wave ability to Grina Vortex, who declared she wanted freedom and set off to find him.

Priest Ailiya and Nalia Verrazzi surveyed the devastation caused by Lioz and watched him overpower Duggen Golas. Nalia called for help, and Nefes promised to take her home.

• Priest Ailiya emerged from the Blood River and found the battlefield filled with dead Zeta-ranks and Humanoid Imprints.
• Nalia Verrazzi begged Ailiya to save her from the living blood, and Ailiya healed her enough to carry her out of the river.
• Nalia asked whether Duggen Golas could challenge Lioz as the Ice Demon confronted him with a storm of ice spells.
• Li Aoz survived Duggen's attacks by redirecting their damage and restored his health by draining a wounded Zeta-rank.
• Ailiya questioned Nalia about Lioz's identity, but Nefes called and promised to take Nalia home.

Li Aoz overwhelmed Dugen Golas with devastating attacks and exposed how completely he anticipated the Archmage’s spells. Dugen surrendered, asking Li Aoz to stop the crushing assault.

• Dugen Golas summoned Frost Demons to attack Li Aoz, who tore a city from Tomb Stars and crushed it into a massive metal sphere.
• Li Aoz dropped the sphere through the dome megastructure, then shattered it into fiery meteors that devastated the artificial planet.
• Dugen survived the destruction and fought Li Aoz alongside the Sodom Angel, but Li Aoz repeatedly anticipated and countered his prepared spells.
• Li Aoz kept attacking without pausing to talk, relying on efficient strikes rather than his more powerful time-space or curse abilities.
• Dugen threw down his Magic Guidebook and sword-staff and surrendered, begging Li Aoz to stop fighting.

Li Aoz dominated Tomb Stars, using its criminals to test his strength while he waited to settle accounts with Verrazzi Security. After Dia Lan rescued the hostages on White Candle Star, Nefthys Cleopatra descended toward Li Aoz, setting up a clash that might finally test his limits.

• Li Aoz froze Dugen Golas in space-time, took his Staff Sword and Magic Guidebook, and spared him before leaving.
• Li Aoz deliberately drew Tomb Stars' criminals into attacking him and crushed them, eventually harvesting more than four hundred Zeta-ranks.
• Li Aoz decided Tomb Stars had little left to offer and planned to withdraw, leaving his reckoning with Nalia and Verrazzi Security for another time.
• Dia Lan led White Candle Star's assault team in rescuing the hostages and reported that no Zeta-rank had been present.
• A Fire Meteor brought Nefthys Cleopatra toward Li Aoz, who welcomed the chance to test his limits.

Nalia’s panic over her failed plan turned into a breakdown, while Nefes briefly questioned the company’s control before her Loyalty Agreement suppressed her thoughts. As Nalia threatened to have the Gabros destroyed, Nefes realized her own body was about to be destroyed.

• Nefes reported that Nefthys Cleopatra was descending from orbit and warned Nalia to be careful.
• Nalia blamed Nefes for the failed plan and ranted that the mistakes belonged to inferior products and employees, not capitalists.
• Nalia collapsed into incoherent ravings over the lost investment, leaked news, and the sacrifices she had made to rise in rank.
• Nefes wondered whether products could overturn corporate rule, but her Loyalty Agreement activated and erased the rebellious thoughts.
• Nalia threatened to send every Gabros to the furnace, and Nefes felt her body stop in midair as she realized it was going to be destroyed.

Nefes questioned the meaning of life while the company’s conditioning punished her, and Li Aoz tried to convince her that her name, identity, and life belonged to her. She rejected his offered hand and resumed her mission to hunt him.

• Nefes’s loyalty conditioning triggered a muscle-shock punishment after she questioned the meaning of life.
• Li Aoz approached Nefes and asked whether she feared death; she admitted that she did despite her modifications.
• Li Aoz told Nefthys Cleopatra that her name, beauty, and life gave her something of her own.
• Nefes slapped Li Aoz’s hand away, armored up, and declared that Mission 0192, “Star Hunt,” had begun.

Nefes fought Li Aoz while her instincts and combat power overwhelmed her, and he endured her devastating attacks by spreading their damage across Tomb Stars. As they traded wounds without restraint, Li Aoz recognized Nefes’s choice to keep living and met her ferocity head-on.

• Nefes slammed Li Aoz into a mountain, but discovered she had grabbed his Cursed Abyss Crimson Blade instead of his head.
• Li Aoz used Death Link to spread the destruction from Nefes’s attacks across Tomb Stars, triggering atomic explosions and radiation across the planet.
• Li Aoz countered Nefes with his maggot blade, but she evaded it and renewed her attack under the command to continue her mission.
• Li Aoz asked whether Nefes had chosen to live, and her wild cry confirmed her resolve.
• Nefes and Li Aoz abandoned defense and exchanged savage attacks, tearing into each other as their health rapidly fell.

Li Aoz and Nefes fought brutally until Nefes admitted that she wanted to live. Li Aoz activated Dictator Form and recombined ten Aoneng, awakening Lioz's Armor as the stars answered an ancient name.

• Li Aoz and Nefes exchanged savage attacks, each using their abilities and armor to endure the other's assault.
• Nefes's fear of death awakened, and she told Li Aoz that she wanted to live rather than be destroyed.
• Li Aoz accepted Nefes's answer and activated Dictator Form, declaring that he would take her as payment.
• Li Aoz combined ten Aoneng as Nefes glimpsed a colossal figure emerging behind him.
• The radioactive dust cleared, stars gathered and chanted Realze, and Lioz's Armor returned around Li Aoz.

Nefes challenged Li Aoz to take her life if he could defeat her, then unleashed her full strength against his immovable armor. Li Aoz repelled her attacks and demanded that she go all out as she roared and continued fighting.

• Nefes removed her clothes, transformed into her armored crocodilian form, and declared that she would never surrender her life to Li Aoz.
• Nefes charged Li Aoz, but he used his Aoneng abilities to redirect her strike and reflect its impact back at her.
• Li Aoz summoned elemental giants and Implant Equipment Vanguards to attack Nefes, but she destroyed the constructs and pressed forward.
• Nefes unleashed a barrage of claws, kicks, and throws, while Li Aoz's armor absorbed the impacts and returned their damage to her.
• Li Aoz told Nefes to go all out or he would crush her, and she roared as she continued swinging at him.

Li Aoz fought Nefes until Sodom and Gomorrah sent her falling into space, where Nalia rescued her aboard a corporate warship and attacked Li Aoz. After the warship’s cannon blasted a massive hole through Tomb Stars, a mysterious attacker struck the bridge, leaving Nalia convinced the ship was finished.

• Li Aoz wounded Nefes and forced her to keep fighting, then used Gravity Reversal to send her falling toward space as Sodom and Gomorrah attacked.
• Nefes landed on Nalia’s warship, and Nalia charged into battle against Li Aoz with its weapons.
• The warship’s Frost Ray, neutron beams, and Void Energy Ship Cannon bombarded Li Aoz and blasted a 120-kilometer hole through Tomb Stars.
• Nalia turned the warship around to check on Li Aoz, but a deep-blue attacker smashed through the bridge glass and pierced Priest Ailiya with a demonic sword.
• The warship’s anti-air system opened fire as Nalia struggled to turn, then a violent impact struck the ship and Nalia declared it finished.

Nalia’s escape from the destroyed warship ended in a confrontation with Nefes and Li Aoz, who forced her to face the way she had treated Nefes. After Nefes killed Nalia and declared her identity, she offered her life to Li Aoz, who raised his blade to strike.

• Nalia escaped the crushed warship and contacted Kleila to request extraction after the mission failed.
• Nalia berated Nefes and insisted that capitalists were above blame, but Li Aoz arrived and struck her.
• Li Aoz demanded that Nalia apologize to Nefes and showed her Priest Ailiya’s head to force her compliance.
• Nefes killed Nalia after she continued calling her a product, then declared that she was Nefthys Cleopatra.
• Nefes knelt before Li Aoz and offered him her life, and he raised his blade toward her neck.

Li Aoz freed Nefes instead of killing or enslaving her, and she explained how the company had made her a weapon. Her story ended with the revelation that her silver armor had belonged to the sister she was forced to kill.

• Li Aoz removed Nefes's collar and healed her, then told her he had no reason to kill her.
• Nefes questioned why Li Aoz would let a powerful former Gabros go free, and he said he did not need to enslave anyone to pursue his goals.
• Nefes decided not to report Li Aoz to the corporation and struggled to understand what freedom meant to her.
• Nefes recounted how the company took her as a child, forced her to fight for survival, and trained her and other children to become warriors called Gabros.
• Nefes revealed that the company ordered her to kill her sister and made her wear the dead girl's armor, giving her the name Silver Armor.

Li Aoz realized Bloodline might be far more powerful than its limited combat traits suggested, as contact with his blood had awakened Nefes’s emotions and fear. He wondered whether he could use it to change other beings’ bloodlines and reverse the Hidden Society’s forced conversion of people into Blood of Ether.

• Nefes told Li Aoz that his blood made her fear being erased and had awakened feelings she could not experience before.
• Li Aoz reconsidered Bloodline’s high Sequence rank and concluded that its purpose might not be direct combat.
• Li Aoz realized that later-stage Path users often lacked biological bodies and blood, which could explain why they had underestimated Bloodline.
• Li Aoz proposed that Bloodline might let him alter other species’ traits by changing their bloodlines.
• Li Aoz wondered whether his Bloodline could reverse the Hidden Society’s transformation of citizens into Blood of Ether and help people like Dai Yawen.