Chapter Summaries

Phainon revealed that he was the cat-eared girl Bai Fei and begged the group to keep his transformation secret from Mydei. The group reached the Cloud Marble Heavenly Palace, where Nicadori’s oppressive aura affected them as they approached the battlefield and encountered an armored figure carrying a golden spear.

• Castorice recognized Phainon’s familiarity and asked who he was after he identified the roar as Nicadori’s.
• Phainon told Castorice that he was Phainon and explained that the painting in his bracelet had led to his transformation into Bai Fei.
• Castorice and the others agreed to keep Phainon’s secret, while Castorice began imagining fanfiction about him and Mydei.
• Theresa gave Phainon a pink magic wand, and Stelle persuaded him to use it instead of his greatsword so Mydei would not recognize his fighting style.
• The group teleported to the Cloud Marble Heavenly Palace and struggled against the pressure of Nicadori’s aura as they approached the battlefield.
• A roar sounded, and an armored, humanlike figure holding a golden war spear descended before the group.

Stelle and the others resisted the Black Tide’s bloodlust in the Cloud Marble Heavenly Palace, then Phainon used the Super Dimensional Concerto to transform into a magical girl and destroy Nicadori’s incarnation. Aglaea arrived after the battle and questioned Phainon and the visitors from beyond the stars.

• Phainon warned Stelle and the others to resist the Black Tide’s influence, and Theresa used the Aha mask’s laughter to dispel their killing intent.
• Theresa gave Phainon the Super Dimensional Concerto and told her that greater embarrassment would unleash greater power.
• Phainon transformed into a pink-and-white catgirl magical girl, broke Nicadori’s golden spear, and annihilated its incarnation with a beam of light.
• Aglaea explained that the defeated Nicadori was only an incarnation with less than one percent of its original power, while the Kin of Strife and Heaven’s Punishment Legion retreated.
• Aglaea asked Phainon whether she was herself and questioned Theresa and the Stellaron Hunters about being visitors from beyond the stars.

Aglaea explained the Senate’s hostility toward the Chrysos Heirs and revealed that she hoped the Stellaron Hunters would help deal with it. After probing her account, Theresa and the others learned the ancient history behind the feud and why neither side could easily eliminate the other.

• Aglaea warned that her golden threads could observe events and sense some people’s thoughts, while Acheron, Yinyueyue, and Himeko cautioned her against probing them.
• Aglaea introduced the Senate, and Phainon and Castorice explained that it opposed the Chrysos Heirs and sought to halt the Journey of the Fire.
• Theresa questioned Aglaea’s motives, and Phainon revealed that the Senate cultivated Purifiers, tried to assassinate Chrysos Heirs before they awakened, and obstructed their mission.
• Theresa, Yinyueyue, and Acheron tested Aglaea and learned that the Senate could revive its elders in other bodies, had greater popular support, and had existed longer than the Chrysos Heirs.
• Theresa and the others uncovered that, a thousand years earlier, Hysilens and Krydla had saved Okhema from an allied invasion, after which Krydla purged the Senate and ruled the city.
• The Senate’s fear of that purge became a lasting grudge against the Chrysos Heirs, while the Chrysos Heirs sought to dismantle the Senate through publicly accepted means.

The Stellaron Hunters declined to become Aglaea’s tools against the Senate, while leaving open the possibility of future cooperation. Phainon accepted the name Bai Fei after her transformation into a catgirl, and Stelle placed a Realm Anchor in Okhema before the group headed to Hero’s Bath.

• Theresa told Aglaea the Stellaron Hunters needed time to consider her proposal and would not proactively contact the Senate.
• Aglaea explained that her golden threads let her see, hear, and smell wherever they reached, then teased Phainon about Mydei’s interest in her transformed appearance.
• Castorice and Aglaea began calling Phainon Bai Fei, and Bai Fei agreed to the name while hoping she could eventually change back.
• Yinyueyue asked Aglaea for permission to leave a Trailblaze beacon, and Aglaea approved.
• Stelle created a Realm Anchor so the Trailblazers could teleport back to Okhema, and Aglaea invited the travelers to Hero’s Bath.

Aglaea welcomed Theresa and the others to the Chrysos Heirs’ Hero’s Bath and used its bath spirits to teach them about Amphoreus. The group listened to the Titans’ history in a goofy baby-story mode, while Phainon fled back to her residence before the bathing began.

• Aglaea reassured the visitors that the beacon was a Realm Anchor, then invited them to the exclusive Hero’s Bath.
• Phainon panicked about bathing with the others and returned to her residence, while Aglaea led the women to the bathhouse.
• Theresa, Himeko, Stelle, Acheron, and Yinyueyue changed into swimsuits and entered the pool; Castorice sat apart because her aura of death could harm others.
• Stelle approached Castorice but backed away after Castorice warned her not to make contact.
• Aglaea summoned bath spirits to recount Amphoreus’s history, then changed the narration to baby mode when Stelle found it too heavy.
• Theresa joked that baby mode suited Stelle because she was less than a year old, leaving Aglaea surprised.

Aglaea explained that the Chrysos Heirs’ Journey of the Fire meant slaying the corrupted Titans and gathering their twelve Core Flames to recreate Amphoreus. She asked Theresa and the others to help Okhema survive the apocalypse, but Stelle’s remark about the local gods left Aglaea and Castorice stunned.

• After the bathhouse spirit finished recounting Amphoreus’s past, Aglaea abandoned her plan to test the visitors with golden threads when Theresa’s glance frightened her.
• Theresa pressed Aglaea to explain the Chrysos Heirs’ Journey of the Fire plainly, and Aglaea assured the group that the heirs meant them no harm.
• Aglaea explained that the Black Tide had corrupted the Titans, plunged Amphoreus into darkness, and left Okhema as humanity’s last refuge.
• Aglaea said the Chrysos Heirs sought the twelve Titan Core Flames to trigger Re-creation and begged Theresa’s group to help Okhema.
• Stelle called the local gods lame compared with Theresa, and Yinyueyue’s attempt to shush her came too late to prevent Aglaea and Castorice from hearing.

Theresa revealed that she was the Cat Girl Titan, and Aglaea accepted her and the Trailblazers as allies in Amphoreus. Castorice found comfort in Theresa’s embrace, fulfilling her wish to touch someone without harming them, while Aglaea explained the painful history behind Castorice’s power of death.

• Theresa told Aglaea and Castorice that she was the Aeon of Binding, while the Trailblazers affirmed that they saw her as family and a companion.
• Aglaea accepted Theresa’s identity and allowed the Trailblazers to travel freely through Amphoreus, offering help and ending her tests of them.
• Theresa hugged Castorice, whose power of death could not harm her, and Castorice clung to Theresa and sobbed with relief.
• Aglaea explained that Castorice’s death power had made her the Saintess of Death in Aideria and forced her to grant death from childhood.
• Aglaea recounted how Castorice had eventually granted death to her adoptive mother, Amunet, and cried as she died in Castorice’s arms.

Castorice began telling Theresa and the others about her tragic childhood in Aideria, where her death-giving power made her a feared Death Saintess. Her memories ended with her fleeing the executions she was forced to perform and discovering that even a flower withered beneath her touch.

• Aglaea left to handle affairs in Okhema, and Theresa invited Castorice to share her past.
• Castorice asked to touch Theresa's cat ears before agreeing to tell her story, and Theresa let her pet them.
• Castorice recounted how the people of Aideria revered her as the Death Saintess and how Amunet became her godmother and trained her to use her power.
• Amunet ordered young Castorice to end the suffering of an old deer, and Castorice killed it with a touch.
• After Amunet made her perform more executions, young Castorice ran away in fear and watched a flower turn to ashes when she touched it.

Castorice’s memories showed how her death-giving power isolated her from childhood and shaped her life as a Saintess. After decades serving as the Battle Overseer Saintess, she returned to Aideria and reunited with the girl who had first tried to befriend her, only to grant her a final embrace.

• As a child, Castorice accepted a branch offered by a girl so they could walk together, but she fled after remembering Amunet’s warning about the danger of touching others.
• Castorice endured the burden of executing people and later ran away from the palace, but the order brought her back.
• When Amunet asked Castorice to grant her death, Castorice reluctantly touched her cheek, and Amunet turned to ash.
• After reading Amunet’s letter, Castorice left Aideria to become the Battle Overseer Saintess and spent decades granting peaceful deaths amid war and tragedy.
• Castorice returned to Aideria and found her childhood friend as an old woman at a cemetery; when the woman took her hand, Castorice embraced her as she died.
• After the funeral, Castorice left her cloak on the woman’s gravestone and departed while a little deer watched her go.

Castorice recounted her thousand-year search for her origins, while Theresa gave her and Aglaea custom terminals. After Castorice went home to write a Mydei-and-Bai Fei fanfic, Theresa transformed the train car into a villa for the Stellaron Hunters.

• Castorice told Stelle and Yinyueyue that she had left Aideria, met Aglaea in Ochema, and spent time with Cat Girl Titan and Cipher over the past thousand years.
• Aglaea arrived, reassured Castorice, and offered the Trailblazers communication tablets, but Theresa showed her group’s terminals instead.
• Theresa created golden, woven-style terminals for Aglaea and pinkish-purple, butterfly-themed terminals for Castorice, then taught them how to use the devices.
• Aglaea offered the group luxurious suites, but Theresa declined because their train car had room for everyone to rest.
• Castorice returned to her residence and began writing a fanfic about Mydei and Bai Fei titled “Fei, Don't Run! The Domineering Mydei Dotes on You Mercilessly!”
• Theresa set up the modified train car in a secluded clearing, where it transformed into a two-story villa with a garden and swimming pool.

Aglaea and Mydei visited the garden villa where the Stellaron Hunters were staying, and Mydei grew suspicious that the catgirl Bai Fei was the missing savior Phainon. After entering the villa and sharing breakfast, Mydei struggled to accept that his first love had become his best friend in a beautiful girl’s form.

• Guards turned away citizens gathering around the garden villa, while Aglaea ordered them to keep the Senate and other visitors away and tested Theresa’s barrier with her golden threads.
• Mydei arrived with Bai Fei and Aglaea, greeted Bai Fei, and began to suspect that she was the savior who had disappeared several days earlier.
• Stelle nearly called Bai Fei by Phainon’s name, strengthening Mydei’s suspicion, and Theresa opened the barrier to invite the visitors inside.
• Theresa served breakfast from the Xianzhou Golden Market, and Bai Fei happily ate while Mydei watched her and lamented that Hajie had become so pretty.

Bai Fei admitted that she was Phainon and explained how the Little Chicken Ascending the Mountain Painting had transformed her, while Mydei and Aglaea learned how much she was struggling with her new form. Theresa offered to restore Bai Fei after a week of preparation, but the impending crisis came first, and Mydei realized he was unsure whether he wanted Bai Fei to change back.

• Mydei confronted Bai Fei after she let slip that she had traveled with the Trailblazers, and Aglaea explained that Bai Fei was Phainon and had not chosen her transformation.
• Bai Fei told Mydei and Aglaea that the Little Chicken Ascending the Mountain Painting had transformed her and that her body and mannerisms had continued changing.
• Bai Fei asked Theresa for help, and Theresa said she could prepare a restoration potion in a week but suggested they address Amphoreus's crisis first.
• Theresa warned Bai Fei that a more direct way to restore her would be brutal, so Bai Fei agreed to wait for the potion.
• Mydei realized that he did not really want Bai Fei to change back, while Theresa stayed noncommittal about using her divine power to restore her immediately.

Bai Fei accepted her new female form and resolved to continue the Journey of the Fire, while Aglaea learned about modern facilities from Theresa and Yinyueyue. As Bai Fei and Mydei talked alone in the garden, Mydei grabbed and stroked her tail, leaving her flustered.

• Bai Fei told Aglaea and Mydei she would adapt to her female form and keep fulfilling her responsibilities as a savior.
• Theresa invited Aglaea, Bai Fei, and Mydei to tour the garden villa, and Aglaea asked Yinyueyue to explain its appliances and facilities.
• Bai Fei and Mydei walked together in the garden, both feeling shy as they noticed their growing attraction to each other.
• Bai Fei asked Mydei whether he wanted to help make their world better and eradicate the black tide.
• Mydei asked Bai Fei if she had considered what would happen if she could not change back, then grabbed and stroked her tail.
• Bai Fei blushed and punched Mydei lightly as she complained that having her tail grabbed made her feel weak.

Mydei and Bai Fei recommitted themselves to training, while Aglaea began optimizing the World Wide Web after learning from Theresa and the others. The group toured Okhema on an Earth Beast and ended their trip at its ranch.

• Mydei let go of Bai Fei’s tail and said he would grow stronger to help reclaim Castrum Kremnos, and Bai Fei vowed to train with him.
• Theresa and the others taught Aglaea modern networking concepts, and Aglaea posted a maintenance notice before reworking her golden threads.
• Bai Fei left to train with Mydei, while Theresa led the others on a tour of Okhema and Stelle took photographs.
• Stelle converted Credit Points into Liheng Coins through the World Wide Web, and the group paid a mustached old man to ride his Earth Beast around Okhema.
• After two system hours, the group dismounted at an Earth Beast ranch, where the old man explained that the animals rested and ate red soil there.

Castorice reunited with Stelle and the others at the Earth Beast breeding grounds and explained why she visited the beasts. Stelle tried eating their red soil feed and regretted it immediately.

• Castorice greeted Stelle and the others after being away for several days, and Theresa hugged her while the citizens watched in shock.
• Acheron teased Stelle about her jealousy, and Stelle agreed to let Theresa cuddle her rather than tell Liu Ying and Yinyueyue about her feelings for Castorice.
• Castorice explained that she visited the Earth Beasts to watch and feed them because she longed to experience the atmosphere of life.
• Castorice told everyone that Earth Beasts ate soil, and Stelle bit into a chunk of red soil before grimacing at its bitter, dry texture.
• Castorice and the others laughed as Stelle complained about the awful taste.

Stelle befriended an Earth Beast, and Castorice shared an embarrassing story about her teacher Anaxa’s fondness for Earth Beast plushies. The group took several photos together, and Castorice and Stelle happily kept their picture.

• Theresa cleared the dirt from Stelle’s mouth after she tried eating it, and Stelle cautiously petted the Earth Beast.
• Castorice told the group that Anaxa collected Earth Beast plushies and liked napping while hugging a large one.
• Theresa asked Castorice to take photos with the Earth Beasts, and Stelle supplied March 7th’s camera.
• Castorice took a group photo and several smaller photos of the others together.
• Theresa hugged Castorice for a photo, and Stelle later posed with Castorice for a picture they both kept.

Theresa showed Castorice photographs of Jarilo-VI and explained its history, then toured Okhema with her. Castorice took the group to find Bai Fei and Mydei so Theresa could arrange for the Flame-Chasers to train the Chrysos Heirs.

• Theresa let Castorice look through the camera after the others agreed, and she showed her pictures of Jarilo-VI, Belobog, and its people.
• Castorice asked Theresa about Stellar Cores, Abyss rifts, and whether Qlipoth was a deity like the Titans.
• Theresa and the group continued touring Okhema, where the Lion of Truth treated Theresa with unusual deference.
• Theresa asked Castorice where Bai Fei and Mydei trained, explaining that she wanted the Flame-Chasers to help them grow stronger.
• Castorice summoned an Earth Beast and carried the group toward the outskirts, while Stelle took a photo of their unusual arrangement.

Bai Fei and Mydei trained together outside Okhema while Theresa brought Kevin and Kalpas to serve as their mentors. Kevin and Kalpas introduced themselves as Flame-Chasers, and Kalpas warned the group that his training could be deadly.

• Castorice led the group to a hidden forest outside Okhema, where Bai Fei and Mydei were sparring.
• Bai Fei dodged Mydei's attacks with nimble, teasing movements, and Theresa, Stelle, and Castorice copied her playful pose.
• Theresa told Bai Fei and Mydei that she could help them become stronger by summoning their Parallel Identities, while Stelle asked to train too.
• Theresa used an Etherium Coin to summon Kevin and Kalpas, whose opposing cold and heat altered the surrounding grass.
• Bai Fei and Mydei introduced themselves to Kevin and Kalpas, who identified themselves as Flame-Chasers.
• Kalpas warned Bai Fei and the others to be prepared to die if they wanted him to train them.

Theresa had perfected the Thirteen Flame-Chasers and planned for them to retire in Penacony after the crisis in Amphoreus. Mydei and Bai Fei became Kalpas and Kevin’s disciples, then faced their first demonstrations of the brutal training ahead.

• Theresa had given the Flame-Chasers new bodies and created a virtual world for them, intending to let them settle in Penacony after the apocalypse.
• Mydei accepted Kalpas as his mentor, while Bai Fei agreed to train under Kevin despite both mentors’ warnings about their harsh methods.
• Kevin and Kalpas told their new disciples to attack them so they could assess their abilities.
• Kalpas countered Mydei’s punch with a suplex that buried him headfirst in the ground.
• Kevin caught Bai Fei’s sword between two fingers and snapped it, then prescribed daily runs and one thousand sword swings.
• Kalpas told Mydei to kill one hundred monsters each day, and Mydei agreed to train without fear.

Theresa and the others watched Bai Fei train while Mydei and Kalpas fought the Black Tide monsters. Stelle restored Bai Fei’s broken greatsword with Orionis’s Prayer, which drew Mimi to them, and Kevin froze Bai Fei when she got distracted again.

• Mydei charged into the Black Tide monsters, enduring a spear through his chest and slaughtering them with his Golden Blood keeping him alive.
• Kalpas joined the battle with golden-red flames, while Kevin warned Bai Fei to stay focused on her sword practice.
• Theresa asked Stelle to use Orionis’s Prayer, and Stelle restored Bai Fei’s broken greatsword.
• Stelle’s prayer drew Mimi, a pink rabbit, who flew over and hid in Stelle’s arms after Kalpas threatened her.
• Bai Fei became distracted by Mimi, so Kevin froze her with a burst of cold air.