Chapter Summaries

After the Firstborn’s remains began nourishing Tanagrus’s recovering ecosystem, Hao Ren arranged a way to neutralize the planet’s Wrath Spirits and prepared to take Becky back to Horleta. He also established a teleportation outpost, anticipating that the group would need to travel through the Dream Plane again.

• Hao Ren ordered the Data Terminal to arrange energy towers that could filter Tanagrus’s Wrath Spirits into harmless energy.
• Becky reminded Hao Ren that he had promised to send her home, and Hao Ren agreed to take her to Horleta, where he also planned to investigate the Creation Goddess and the sleeping Firstborn.
• The Data Terminal calculated the route to Horleta, and Becky eagerly anticipated reclaiming her estate and noble title.
• Hao Ren installed a protected teleportation device beside the spatial rift at Andre Ancient Castle, planning to create a network of Dream Plane outposts.
• Hao Ren and his companions prepared to travel to Horleta to surprise Marshal Ofra.

Hao Ren and his companions returned to the Dragon Ridge Mountains and found the Beinz Region transformed into a vast crater filled with crystals and volcanic glass. Elson Eben met them on Marshal Ofra’s orders and arranged for them to travel to the royal capital.

• Hao Ren and his companions teleported back to the Dragon Ridge Mountains, where Lily spotted the enormous crater left by the cataclysm.
• The Data Terminal explained that the Firstborn’s activity and the Giant Turtle Rock Platform’s bombardment had created the basin and its crystal deposits.
• Hao Ren wondered whether the Kingdom Knights remained and how he could find Marshal Ofra.
• Elson Eben appeared and revealed that Ofra had ordered him to wait for the group and clear the area around the mountain’s main peak.
• Elson said Ofra wanted the group brought to the royal capital, and Hao Ren asked him to take them somewhere to stay first.

Elson brought Hao Ren and his companions to a knights' outpost and explained how Horleta had covered up the Beinz disaster and its aftermath. The group learned that the Dragon Ridge Mountains were sealed and that the search for the other Firstborn had stalled, then began planning a discreet journey to meet Ofra.

• Elson told Hao Ren and the others the official story of the Beinz disaster, which blamed an evil god and described the crystal forest as a divine miracle.
• Elson explained that Ofra had returned to the royal capital, the Dragon Ridge Mountains had been sealed, and the crystal forest was being studied as a valuable resource.
• Elson said the king's forces had found the entrance to a secret chamber but had made little progress opening its inner gate.
• Hao Ren kept his knowledge of the mature Firstborn on Planet Tanagrus to himself as he considered the danger the remaining Firstborn might pose.
• At the outpost, Hao Ren asked for a detailed map so the group could teleport discreetly and contact Ofra.

Hao Ren and his companions met Ofra and traveled with her to Horleta's royal capital, where the king and Pope awaited them to discuss the crisis in the Dragon Ridge Mountains. Ofra revealed that the official story declared them dead heroes, so they would need to conceal their identities, while Becky focused on collecting her promised bounty.

• Hao Ren's group used fuzzy teleportation, landed in a tree, and then spotted Horleta's royal capital nearby.
• Ofra met the group and took them by carriage toward the capital, where Becky excitedly told her she was a fan.
• Hao Ren introduced Nangong Sanba as a new team member and told Ofra they had found a passage to return the four masters home.
• Ofra asked Hao Ren to meet the king and Pope, who knew about the events in the Dragon Ridge Mountains and wanted to discuss the crisis.
• Becky demanded the bounty and rewards for the Holy Church Orb, and Hao Ren told Ofra to give them to her.
• Ofra explained that the official account said Hao Ren and his companions had died heroically, and that their gravestones and statues stood in the front row.

Hao Ren and his companions visited Ofra in the royal capital after the church declared them dead heroes of the Dragon Ridge Mountains. At Ofra’s residence, Becky asked how Ofra had met Prince Gadon and why she had guarded Horleta for over four hundred years, and Ofra answered that Horleta had paid well.

• Hao Ren and his companions saw sculptures honoring the supposed martyrs of the Dragon Ridge Mountains, and Ofra explained that the church had declared them dead to keep them from being swarmed by admirers.
• Becky asked Ofra to change the story so she could boast about surviving, and Ofra agreed to discuss it with the Pope and the king.
• Ofra brought the group to her mansion in the royal capital’s aristocratic district and arranged for their rooms and a banquet.
• Becky asked Ofra how she had met Prince Gadon and why she had guarded Horleta for more than four hundred years, and Ofra said Horleta had paid well.

Ofra revealed that she had joined Gadon for a well-paid job and stayed in Horleta out of duty and affection, prompting Becky to rethink the heroic legends surrounding them. Hao Ren and his group attended a secret meeting with Horleta’s king and church leaders, who agreed to open records about the Radiant Church and the Goddess while asking the Outlanders to keep the information from the public.

• Ofra explained that she became Gadon’s commander because he offered her a salary, and that her four-hundred-year promise began as a paid arrangement.
• Ofra warned Becky that bards would invent noble motives for her journey, though Becky had started it to claim a bounty.
• Ofra told the group that King Moron and the pope had agreed to share their records about the Radiant Church and the Goddess, provided the Outlanders did not destabilize the kingdom.
• The group traveled to the palace for a small secret meeting, where Ofra introduced King Moron, the pope, Cardinal Auben, and the attending ministers.
• Becky nervously greeted the dignitaries and pinched Lily’s tail to test whether she was dreaming.

Hao Ren met with King Moron, the Pope, and Church officials to discuss the sleeping eldest sons and how to deal with them. He agreed to inspect the Divine Caves and asked about the Church’s Branding ritual, hoping it could help locate the Creation Goddess.

• Lily interrupted the formal meeting to ask when dinner would be served, prompting Moron to order food brought in.
• Hao Ren explained that he came from another world and wanted only to resolve the threat posed by the eldest sons.
• Archbishop Aubin reported that the Church had found evidence of the eldest sons in the Divine Caves but had not opened the final gate for fear of waking them.
• Prince Huffman said the holy coffins had been moved near the eldest sons as suppressors, though their function was unknown and might last less than a year.
• Hao Ren said the orbital cannon was a last resort and asked to inspect the Divine Caves under Church supervision.
• Hao Ren showed Aubin the Church’s Holy Scripture and asked about the Branding ritual, leaving Aubin and the Pope silent.

Hao Ren persuaded the pope to let his group observe the Radiant Church’s Marking Ritual so he could learn about the sacred substance used in it. As they headed to the Sixteenth Holy Temple, Moron and his court discussed the foreigners and the threats facing Horleta.

• The pope agreed to let Hao Ren and his companions observe the Marking Ritual at the Sixteenth Holy Temple.
• Hao Ren gathered Lily and Becky and left the palace with Archbishop Oben, while Ofra stayed behind to arrange Becky's reward.
• Moron questioned Ofra about the foreigners, and she described them as an organized team from another world led by Hao Ren.
• Moron and Ofra concluded that the foreigners seemed willing to help with the Firstborn and posed no apparent hostility.
• The pope warned that the Firstborn and the Return Sect threatened Horleta’s civilization and said the foreigners should be left to act as the Goddess intended.
• Hao Ren and his companions set out for the place where the Marking Ritual was held.

Hao Ren and his companions watched Pierre Raymond undergo the Radiant Church’s inscription ritual, which transformed him into a priest able to wield divine arts and hear the Goddess’s voice. Vivian recognized the ritual’s blood as familiar, and Archbishop Aubin revealed it was the ancient Blood of Origin, leading Hao Ren to identify it as a sample of the Primordial Seed.

• Cardinal Archbishop Aubin led Hao Ren and the others through a hidden route to a monastery beside the Grand Cathedral.
• Lily waxed poetic about the moonlight, prompting Vivian and Hao Ren to tease her about her sudden literary mood.
• Aubin brought the group into the monastery chapel to observe Pierre Raymond’s inscription ritual.
• The priests injected Pierre with glowing, bloodlike liquid, and the runes on the mat activated as his body and brain changed.
• After Pierre awoke hearing the Goddess’s voice, Vivian recognized the liquid as resembling the Firstborn’s source blood.
• Aubin identified the liquid as the Blood of Origin, and Hao Ren realized it was a sample of the Primordial Seed.

Hao Ren obtained a living sample of replicated Primordial Seed source blood from the Radiant Church to study its connection to the Firstborn and the Creation Goddess. Becky received a vast royal reward and noble title, becoming a legendary mercenary as she remained overwhelmed by her good fortune.

• Archbishop Aubin explained that the Church's sacred blood was replicated Primordial Seed source blood, and Hao Ren asked to take a sample for study.
• After Hao Ren warned Aubin that the Firstborn could destroy the Church as it had another civilization, Aubin agreed to give him a container of source blood.
• Hao Ren and his companions stayed in the royal capital for two days while Becky celebrated her reward.
• King Moron granted Becky an estate, a western castle, and the title of viscount for her role in saving the world.
• Becky became a celebrated legendary female mercenary at twenty-three and said she could die without regrets after seeing how much money she had received.

Becky celebrated receiving a manor and learned the Royal Family planned to revive her public image as a legendary mercenary and religious hero. Hao Ren and his companions visited the cemetery where the kingdom had erected memorials for them, leaving them to joke about their own graves.

• King Moron rewarded Becky with a furnished manor after she decided to remain in Horleta, and Ofra visited with Hao Ren and the others to congratulate her.
• Becky joked about enjoying her new status, while Hao Ren asked Ofra to keep an eye on her and Lily bit him after he compared Becky’s intelligence to hers.
• Ofra explained the Royal Family’s plan to announce that Becky had survived the Beinze Great Explosion and would receive legendary mercenary and religious titles, while Becky learned that cenotaphs had been built for the group.
• Nangong Sanba’s sister led the group to the cemetery north of the royal capital, where they found their memorial steles and statues.
• Becky admired her tomb, Lily dug a hole to burn paper offerings for herself, and Vivian asked her to burn some for her too.

Hao Ren and his companions visited their memorials before helping Becky settle into her new manor in Horleta. They installed a teleporter in the wine cellar, establishing the manor as the Time-Space Administration Bureau’s Horleta Station, while Becky prepared for her new life as a noble.

• Hao Ren objected to being commemorated alongside heroes who had died, but Ofra explained that survivors wanted to honor them and the heroes’ image.
• Hao Ren hurried Lily and Vivian away when a priest told visitors that the memorialized heroes had gone to the Goddess.
• Ofra explained Becky’s new responsibilities and servants, then arranged to take Becky to the Firstborn’s seal site with Archbishop Aubin the next day.
• Hao Ren told Becky to find a secure basement location, and Becky discovered the manor’s extensive wine cellar.
• Hao Ren installed an encrypted teleporter in the cellar and designated it the Time-Space Administration Bureau’s Horleta Station, linked to Alamanda City on Planet Tanagrus.

Hao Ren and his companions prepared to investigate the Firstborn sealed in the Divine Cave at Sunset Volcano, using the Royal Magic Association’s teleportation array. At the association, they met its eccentric vice president Rudolf before setting out for the site.

• Hao Ren discovered that Doudou had eaten the buttons off his coat, then argued with the Data Terminal after it struck him.
• Ofra and other kingdom officials arrived at Becky’s home to arrange an expedition to the Firstborn’s seal, and Becky tumbled down the stairs while welcoming them.
• Archbishop Aubin said the group would investigate the Divine Cave at Sunset Volcano, where the Firstborn’s seal was expected to break in less than a year.
• A minister said the King had authorized the Royal Magic Association’s teleportation array and a team of elite arcane mages for the expedition.
• Ofra led the group to the Royal Magic Association, where Rudolf introduced himself and invited them to follow him to the teleportation array.

Hao Ren and his companions traveled to Grayrock Stronghold to investigate Sunset Volcano, where they learned that a Divine Cave beneath it sealed a Firstborn. The locations of all three Divine Caves matched the kingdom’s ancient wonders, and Hao Ren prepared to explain the truth before they visited the sleeping Firstborn.

• Hao Ren toured the magic tower and discussed its orderly facilities with Becky and Ofra.
• Rudolf sent Hao Ren and the others through the tower’s transmission array to Grayrock Stronghold, while he teased his apprentice Seul.
• Ofra showed the group Sunset Volcano, and Hao Ren recognized it as the site of the second Divine Cave and a Firstborn’s seal.
• Hao Ren asked whether the third Divine Cave lay beneath the Giant Life Tree, and Ofra confirmed it did.
• Archbishop Aubin realized the three Divine Caves sealed Firstborn rather than marking places punished by the Goddess, and Hao Ren said he would explain the truth before they visited the sleeping Firstborn.

Hao Ren and the others entered the underground defenses beneath Sunset Volcano to inspect the Firstborn and the sacred coffin used to keep it dormant. They found the Firstborn sleeping beyond a breached ancient barrier, and Archbishop Aubin showed Hao Ren where the coffin had been moved.

• Ofra led Hao Ren and the group from Grayrock Stronghold to the monastery guarding the second Divine Cave beneath Sunset Volcano.
• Archbishop Aubin explained how the underground sanctuary and sacred coffin were designed to suppress the Firstborn.
• The group passed the monastery’s broken outer wall and entered the Firstborn’s underground territory, where monks and knights guarded the passages.
• Hao Ren and the others reached the breached inner barrier and saw tentacles extending through a crack in the ancient shell.
• Hao Ren looked into the secret chamber and found the Firstborn dormant in a vast mass of tentacles.
• Archbishop Aubin pointed Hao Ren toward the small stone building where the sacred coffin was kept.

Hao Ren and his companions opened the holy coffin and discovered that the Life Progenitor was a dying organ of the Primordial Seed that might have communicated with the Creation Goddess. After collecting a tissue sample, they considered how to destroy the Firstborn without triggering a catastrophic eruption, leaving Hao Ren to seek a careful solution.

• Hao Ren used the Data Terminal to examine the holy coffin, and Archbishop Aubin opened it for the group.
• The Data Terminal identified the Life Progenitor as a failing nerve ganglion that could send and receive information, possibly communicating with the Creation Goddess.
• An Autonomous Mechanical Unit collected a tissue sample from the Life Progenitor for study and replication.
• Ofra and the Data Terminal warned Hao Ren that attacking the Firstborn could disrupt the surrounding magma system and cause mass destruction across Horleta.
• Hao Ren ruled out orbital bombardment and said he would have to use his brain to find another way to kill the Firstborn.

Hao Ren and his companions explored the dangerous caverns beneath the Sunset Volcano and confirmed that the Firstborn there was deeply rooted in a vast underground network. They returned to the capital to plan its defeat, said farewell to Becky, and Hao Ren revealed that another important ruin remained to be seen.

• Hao Ren, Vivian, Ofra, and Archbishop Aubin ventured into the caverns beneath the Sunset Volcano and encountered intense heat, sulfur, and the Firstborn’s mental interference.
• The group reached a vast rift filled with tentacles and magma, where Vivian’s bat scout died; after the Data Terminal completed its scan, Hao Ren called off the expedition.
• Hao Ren and his companions returned to the capital, gathered records about the Giant Life Tree, and told Ofra they would return with a plan to resolve the Firstborn problem.
• Hao Ren asked Ofra to watch over Becky and the heretical cult, while Vivian reminded her to deliver a letter explaining the Firstborn’s role in the world’s destruction and the Magic Emperors’ innocence.
• Becky chose to remain at her estate despite Hao Ren’s offer to take her to Earth, and the group said farewell.
• After leaving Becky’s estate, Hao Ren announced that they still had another important ruin to visit.

Hao Ren and his companions traveled to the Main Moon to investigate the ancient lunar ruins and the Great Red Spot, believed to be a frozen blood lake. As they approached the site, they spotted tentacle-like forms beside it.

• Hao Ren and his companions released Giant Turtle Rock Platform in the wilderness and traveled toward the Main Moon.
• The Data Terminal described how silent the universe was, while Hao Ren discussed studying Sacred Coffin samples to replicate the Primordial Seed.
• Hao Ren and his companions entered lunar orbit and surveyed the melted remains of the ancient lunar colony.
• The Data Terminal reconstructed the ruins, and Hao Ren explained that they had come to learn how the tentacled creature had launched an interstellar war.
• Hao Ren and his companions saw the Great Red Spot and noticed tentacle-like forms beside the frozen blood lake.

Hao Ren and his team explored the frozen red blood tide on the Moon and discovered a Firstborn-created seed that had been designed as a warship. The discovery suggested that the Firstborn had used these vessels to spread blood tides and destroy ecosystems across other planets.

• Hao Ren collected samples from the frozen red lake and examined the dead tentacles along its edge while the Data Terminal explained how the lunar environment had collapsed.
• The Data Terminal ordered the Autonomous Mechanical Units to drill into the ice and collect human relics preserved beneath it.
• Vivian tried to send bats to investigate the tentacles, but they fell to the ground because the Moon had no atmosphere.
• Nangong Sanba found a huge seed frozen near the edge of the red ice, and Hao Ren had an Autonomous Mechanical Unit free it.
• The Data Terminal identified the seed's communication organs, propulsion system, sensors, and possible fusion reactor or bomb, concluding that it had served as a Firstborn warship used to destroy planetary ecosystems.

Hao Ren and his companions examined the destroyed Primordial Seed, considered whether any civilizations had survived the Firstborn catastrophe, and set up a passive radar station to search for signals. They returned from the Dream Plane to Andre Castle, where Igor fainted upon seeing them after their week-long absence.

• Hao Ren and the others examined the dead seed and realized the Firstborn had designed it as a weapon for space combat.
• Lily, Nangong May, Data Terminal, and Vivian discussed whether any civilizations might have survived by hiding from the Firstborn.
• Hao Ren ordered a self-replicating passive radar station launched far from Horleta to monitor the universe for communication signals.
• Hao Ren sent the seed and samples to the spaceship's laboratory, then left an Autonomous Mechanical Unit at the Alamanda teleportation plaza to build defenses.
• Hao Ren and his companions passed through the stable rift and returned from the Dream Plane to the snowfields outside Andre Castle.
• Igor fainted when Hao Ren and the others emerged from the Underground Palace, then woke and learned they had been gone for a week.