Chapter Summaries

Hao Ren and Lily crossed the Wall of Roses into the moonlit grassland where Vivian was sleeping, finding no sign that she or the Evil Spirit had fully awakened. Hao Ren brought Hassu around and tried to persuade him to help stop Vivian from awakening in a dangerous state.

• Heiserana explained that the Wall of Roses only let through those with resolute minds and no malice toward Vivian, and Hao Ren and Lily crossed it safely.
• Hao Ren and Lily found themselves in an endless grassland beyond the castle, but could not see Vivian or the Evil Spirit.
• Lily questioned why Hassu had passed through the barrier, and Hao Ren explained that the unconscious hunter had no active hostility.
• Hassu woke as Lily prepared to strike him, but Hao Ren stopped her and said they needed Hassu's expertise.
• Hassu refused to cooperate, so Hao Ren showed him the grassland and warned that he could either help calm Vivian or face her wrath alone.

Hao Ren persuaded Hassu to cooperate against Vivian and learned how the Demon Hunters planned to stop her awakening. Hassu performed a blood ritual that brought Vivian down from the crimson moon, and Hao Ren prepared to fight with reinforcements.

• Hao Ren explained that he had restrained Hassu to prevent their groups from fighting before they could confront Vivian, then partially restored Hassu's strength while keeping the shackles on.
• As the moon turned red, Hassu revealed that Vivian would awaken first in the dream and then in the real world, and that a Blood Sacrifice could awaken her early before she reached full strength.
• Hassu cut his finger with a holy silver dagger and used his blood to perform the ritual, while Heiserana reported that she had secured control of the soulless guards.
• Vivian's shadow emerged from the crimson moon and descended toward them in a pillar of blood-red light.
• Hassu prepared his hand crossbow and rune cards, while Hao Ren drew two black swords and summoned turrets and Missile Launchers for the fight.

Hao Ren, Lily, and Hassu fought Vivian’s Evil Spirit in the collapsing Shadow World while Heiserana’s Soul-less Guard restrained it. The Evil Spirit repeatedly regenerated beneath the blood-red moon, and the chapter ended with the cemetery shaking for reasons unrelated to the battle.

• Heiserana sent the Soul-less Guard into battle, and the guards attacked the Evil Spirit with aerial strikes and waves of Nightmare Monsters.
• Hao Ren explained to Hassu that the Evil Spirit was an incarnation of Vivian’s negative powers, while the Soul-less Guard recognized Vivian’s true self as its mistress.
• Hao Ren, Lily, and Hassu attacked the Evil Spirit, but its silent shrieks destroyed their attacks and the moonlight restored it after each injury.
• Hassu said the Evil Spirit had no fatal weakness, while Hao Ren worried that the Shadow World would collapse before Vivian awakened.
• The cemetery space suddenly trembled, with the shaking unrelated to the fight.

Hao Ren arranged for Heiserana to lure Lockheed’s Demon Hunter Hunt Group into the cemetery so they could help fight Vivian’s Evil Spirit. After breaking through the Wall of Roses, the hunters found Hassu allied with Hao Ren and joined the battle against the Countess.

• A tremor weakened the Shadow World’s boundaries, and Helen and Madam Mary reported that the Demon Hunters had breached the castle and were destroying their way through it.
• Hao Ren learned that the Rose Barrier could not be shut down, then persuaded Heiserana to lure the Demon Hunters into the cemetery to fight the Evil Spirit.
• Heiserana sent soulless guards to draw Lockheed’s Hunt Group toward the cemetery while Hao Ren and Hassu continued fighting the Evil Spirit.
• Lockheed’s Demon Hunters blasted through the weakened Wall of Roses and entered the cemetery, where they found Hassu fighting alongside Hao Ren and the soulless army.
• Hassu declared a temporary alliance and ordered Lockheed’s forces to coordinate with them and attack the Countess.

Hao Ren and the Demon Hunters repeatedly destroyed Vivian’s Evil Spirit, but she kept resurrecting until she vanished from the moonlight. When the Evil Spirit ambushed Lily, the real Vivian appeared and attacked her, furious over the Evil Spirit stealing her bedroom, coffin, and territory.

• Hao Ren’s Demon Hunter allies joined the battle, and Lockheed, Hao Ren, Lily, and Hassu each struck down the Evil Spirit as she resurrected beneath the Red Moon.
• The Demon Hunters believed they had killed Vivian, but Hassu told them the enemy had only been one of her maddened incarnations.
• Hao Ren warned Hassu that the real Vivian had not appeared, and the group realized the Shadow World and red moonlight remained unchanged.
• The Evil Spirit suddenly reappeared and lunged at Lily from behind, leaving her unable to dodge.
• Black-haired Vivian crashed into the Evil Spirit, dragged her across the ground, and beat her while shouting about her stolen bedroom, coffin, and territory.

Vivian woke and destroyed the weakened Evil Spirit, then rewarded warlock Barn for helping her. As the Shadow World collapsed, Lily recognized Barn’s true name and asked if he was Baptiste.

• Vivian beat the weakened Evil Spirit to death and asked what had happened.
• Hao Ren greeted Vivian, who said someone had awakened her and pointed out the missing warlock.
• Barn knelt before Vivian, and she gave him a Blood Drop to help him find her other followers.
• Heiserana clung to Vivian, and Vivian learned that Barn had stolen the Shadow Key but had helped her wake and reach the battlefield.
• Lily asked Barn whether his true name was Baptiste.

Hao Ren and Lily exposed Baptiste’s plan to open a gate to Purgatory, then used a key to awaken Vivian from the false spacetime. Vivian recognized them as the dream faded, leaving Hao Ren to explain what had happened.

• Lily guessed that Barn was Baptiste, and Hao Ren explained that he knew of the wizard’s future connection to Purgatory.
• Baptiste revealed his intent to open the gate to Purgatory, and Heiserana restrained him as Vivian reconsidered their agreement.
• Vivian failed to recognize Hao Ren and Lily, so Hao Ren offered her a door key as proof of their identities.
• Vivian took the key, causing the false spacetime to fade and its inhabitants to turn gray-white.
• Vivian recognized Hao Ren and Lily, noticed Heiserana, and asked where she was as Hao Ren began to explain.

Vivian briefly awakened in the frozen Moonlight Grassland, reunited with Hao Ren and Lily, and then vanished as the unstable sandbox moved on. Hassu and Heiserana entered the scene and recounted how the Evil Spirit escaped in the original history, while Hao Ren resolved to find Vivian across the ages without repeating Baptiste’s path.

• Vivian described her dream of immense wealth, learned about the crisis, and trusted Hao Ren to find all her historical selves.
• Vivian joked with Lily, admitted she had sleepwalked into her Shadow World, and said she could not remember the events involving Baptiste and the Evil Spirit.
• Vivian faded from the frozen space, and Hassu and Heiserana appeared, complaining about the blows Hao Ren and Lily had dealt them.
• Hao Ren asked how the six-hundred-year-old incident had ended in the original history, and Heiserana and Hassu explained that the Evil Spirit’s escape let Heiserana flee while the Demon Hunters suffered heavy losses.
• Heiserana speculated that Baptiste had contacted Vivian and possibly helped the Evil Spirit escape, and Hao Ren silently vowed not to follow Baptiste’s path.

After the Gate of Roses left a rift to the next spacetime, Lily briefly lost her connection, prompting Raven 12345 to explain that the companions would become harder to project as Hao Ren traveled beyond their historical baselines. Hao Ren accepted that they would eventually have to leave, and the four companions stepped through the rift together.

• Lily froze near the spacetime rift, then returned to normal and said she had briefly seen May and the others in the real world.
• Raven 12345 possessed Lily and explained that the companions’ connections would weaken as Hao Ren regressed past their historical baselines.
• Raven 12345 estimated the companions could remain active for another one or two thousand years beyond their baselines and said she would try to improve the sandbox system’s tolerance.
• Hao Ren explained the situation to Lily, who said her previous life as the Demon Hunter leader did not count as her current historical baseline.
• Hao Ren, Lily, Heiserana, and Hassu entered the rift to continue their journey.

Hao Ren and his companions continued their journey through history, arriving in Ancient Rome, where Heiserana remembered first meeting Vivian. They began searching for the place where they had lived, hoping to find Vivian still awake.

• Hao Ren watched Vivian fade away after their journey through many eras of history.
• Hao Ren and his companions left the frozen scene at Chibi and stepped through a door into an ancient city.
• Hassu used a spell to disperse the curious bystanders who had gathered around them.
• Heiserana recognized the city as Ancient Rome and recalled that she had first met Vivian there after becoming a spirit.
• Hassu estimated that they had arrived around 1 AD, while Heiserana remembered Caesar was still alive.
• Hao Ren proposed that they search for Vivian's former home, where she might still be awake.

Hao Ren and his companions explored ancient Rome near the end of the Mythical Era, learning that the Olympian gods were still fighting the Demon Hunters. He decided to seek answers from them and led the group to the Temple of Apollo.

• Hao Ren, Heiserana, Lily, and Hassu wandered through ancient Rome while searching for clues about Vivian's past.
• Heiserana explained that she and Vivian had once roamed the region around Rome, while Hassu described the Demon Hunters' campaign against Mount Olympus.
• Hassu said the Olympian gods were likely not yet completely fallen, and Lily realized the gods might still be fighting the Demon Hunters.
• Hao Ren proposed finding a temple to ask the gods what Vivian was doing at that time.
• After getting lost for thirty minutes, Hao Ren found the Temple of Apollo.

Hao Ren and his companions entered Apollo’s temple to contact the god while Olympus remained sealed off by the war. The chief priest revealed that contact with the Divine Kingdom had nearly ceased, but Hao Ren activated the temple’s communication badge and prepared to speak privately.

• Hao Ren and his companions entered the temple and demanded that its chief priest help them contact Apollo.
• Lily revealed her wolf ears, and Heiserana summoned a sphere of energy, convincing the priest that they were deities.
• The chief priest led them to a hidden Apollo altar and handed Hao Ren a golden communication badge, warning that Apollo had not answered prayers in years.
• Hao Ren decoded and activated the badge, connecting it to Olympus’s communication hub.
• Hao Ren sent the chief priest away so the group could discuss matters with Apollo in private.

Hao Ren and his group learned that Hassu’s forces had breached Mount Olympus and killed Apollo, leaving the gods unable to help them find Vivian. As they searched for another lead, Caesar appeared in Rome, reminding Hao Ren that the ruler had once encountered Vivian.

• Hao Ren used Apollo’s badge to listen in on Mount Olympus and heard Apollo cry out before the signal went silent.
• Hassu realized that his historical self had led troops through Olympus’s rear defenses, and Hao Ren abandoned plans to seek help from the Greek gods.
• Hao Ren and the others left the temple without telling the old priest that Apollo had died, while Lily and Heiserana discussed what the gods’ disappearance meant for priests.
• Hao Ren decided against going to Mount Olympus because the Demon Hunters and Greek gods were fighting a final, chaotic battle there.
• A crowd welcomed Gaius Julius Caesar in Rome, and Hao Ren recalled that Vivian had once kicked Caesar into a moat.

Hao Ren and his companions questioned Caesar about Vivian Ancestor, and he revealed where she often appeared in Rome. They reached the run-down neighborhood and began searching, where Heiserana recognized a wall from her memories.

• Caesar told Hassu and the others that Vivian Ancestor had stayed in Rome, then revealed that she often appeared in a neighborhood beside the northeastern city wall.
• Hao Ren explained to Heiserana why he had kept her hidden during the meeting with Caesar, and the two bickered on their way to the neighborhood.
• Hao Ren and Heiserana found the impoverished district, where residents discussed recent fires that had damaged two houses.
• Hao Ren assigned Heiserana and Lily to search for Vivian using their connection to her and Lily’s keen sense of smell.
• Heiserana remembered carving something into a stone wall, and Lily spotted marks on the wall.

Hao Ren and his companions revisited the place where Heiserana had spent her childhood and encountered her younger self. Heiserana pretended to be her own older sister, then broke down after Little Heiserana offered her flatbread and brought back memories of waiting for Vivian to return.

• Hao Ren, Lily, Hassu, and Heiserana examined the childhood drawings on the wall, and Little Heiserana appeared behind them.
• Hao Ren and Hassu asked Little Heiserana about Vivian, and she said Vivian was away and told them to leave.
• Heiserana introduced herself as Hathaway, claimed to be Little Heiserana's older sister, and convinced the girl with her bat wings.
• Little Heiserana offered Heiserana a piece of flatbread that Vivian had made, and Heiserana began to cry.
• Heiserana recalled that Vivian had told her to wait at home and promised to return before the flatbreads ran out, but she had waited for years and saved the last one until it crumbled to ash.

Heiserana revealed that Vivian had gone to Mount Olympus in 44 BC to rescue Hesperis and other friends, prompting Hao Ren’s group to prepare an infiltration. Little Heiserana led them toward her home, sharing stories about Vivian as the group learned more about her life in that era.

• Heiserana explained that Vivian had gone to Mount Olympus to save Hesperis and several other friends during the fall of Olympus.
• Hao Ren and the others decided they would need to infiltrate the Demon Hunters’ blockades and plan their route, cover, and escape in advance.
• Little Heiserana asked whether the group was going to find her mother and invited them to her home to play with her.
• Little Heiserana led the group onward and talked about Vivian, including her refusal to become Caesar’s guardian deity and the branch Vivian had given her.

Hao Ren and his companions visited the abandoned Roman home where young Heiserana once lived with Vivian, then Hassu outlined their route into the fallen Mount Olympus. The group planned to search near Poseidon Temple, where Vivian might be hiding, and began identifying an infiltration point.

• Young Heiserana showed the group her old home and recalled how she remained nearby after Vivian left, fearing Vivian would return and be unable to find her.
• Hao Ren shared snacks with young Heiserana, while the older Heiserana and Hassu watched her welcome the group.
• Lily asked how they would reach the battlefield on Mount Olympus, and Hassu projected a map while explaining its peaks, control systems, and dangerous radiation fields.
• Hassu identified Poseidon Temple as the likely place to find Vivian, recalling that Olympus's remaining defenders had made their final stand there and that he had last encountered Hesperis nearby.
• Hassu said the group would need to infiltrate near Poseidon Temple rather than enter it directly, and began pointing out the best location.

Hassu explained how Hao Ren and the others could reach Poseidon Temple by entering Tartarus and bypassing most Demon Hunter defenses. Hao Ren agreed to take little Heiserana with them because she could help Vivian recognize their group.

• Hassu revealed that Tartarus was a failed artificial realm guarded by Hades and described the locked passage connecting it to Hades's temple and Poseidon's temple.
• Hao Ren summarized the route through an anchor point near Rome, Tartarus, and Hades's temple to reach Poseidon Temple, where Vivian might be.
• Hassu said the main Demon Hunter forces had withdrawn from Tartarus, leaving mostly undead creatures and soulless giants.
• Little Heiserana asked to join the search for her mother and demonstrated that she could transform into a tiny bat.
• Hassu recommended bringing little Heiserana because Vivian would not recognize the others, and Hao Ren agreed to take her as a diplomatic envoy.

Hao Ren and his companions entered the underworld through a cave near Rome and saw how Hades's death had left the realm polluted and out of control. They discovered that trapped souls had been released from the soul furnaces, while a rift above them showed Olympus still being consumed by war.

• Hao Ren, Hassu, Heiserana, and the others found the openly known cave that led to the underworld.
• Hassu and Heiserana explained how the destruction of Olympus marked the Mythical Era's decline and how Hades's death was worsening the underworld's pollution.
• Hao Ren handed out life-support collars as the group descended through the toxic, increasingly cold cave.
• The group emerged into the vast underworld and saw a rift in the sky showing the war-torn ruins of Olympus.
• Hassu explained that the drifting phantoms were souls released when Hades's three soul furnaces lost control.

Hao Ren and his companions crossed the collapsing Underworld, discovering the truth behind the Elysian Fields as they made their way toward Hades’s fortress. They reached the edge of Tartarus, where Hades’s remaining power and wandering undead still guarded the Sacred Hall of the Underworld.

• Hao Ren and his companions followed Hassu across Helheim’s unstable ground, avoiding collapsing chasms and dangerous clusters of escaped human souls.
• The group found Charon pinned to his ferry by a Demon Hunters’ sword; after Heiserana placed coins over his eyes, the ferry and Charon’s corpse broke apart, spilling a vast hoard of coins and bones.
• Hassu led the group across the dried-up River Styx, using the coins as a path to the withered Elysian Fields.
• Hassu explained that Persephone had used the Elysian Fields as a nursery, feeding magical plants with human souls while the spirits believed they were in paradise.
• Hao Ren and his companions crossed the burned gardens and saw Tartarus, its copper-walled fortress, and the rotating tower that connected to Hades’s temple.
• The group faced the prospect of reaching the Sacred Hall of the Underworld while Hades’s remaining power and wandering undead still surrounded the fortress.