Chapter Summaries

Hao Ren and Vivian learned that the Hunt War would end and traveled with Hesperis to Shadow City, where young supernatural factions were growing restless. They arrived as a crowd confronted the city council, and Vivian rushed toward the disturbance.

• Hao Ren told Hesperis that the Hunt War would end and that the Demon Hunters would stop initiating hunts if balance was maintained.
• Hesperis opened a passage to the sanctuary and explained that young families were causing unrest after investigators destroyed unmanned Demon Hunter outposts without facing retaliation.
• Hao Ren and his companions saw a tense, mostly deserted Shadow City and learned that younger factions had begun doubting the Demon Hunters would return.
• A red flare rose near the Great Hall as a united crowd of young families gathered to pressure the council.
• A young Vampire called the city corrupted and urged the crowd to drag the supposed traitors out of the Great Hall, while Vivian charged toward the commotion.

Hao Ren and his companions discovered that the riot outside the Athens Sanctuary’s Great Hall was being organized and that the guards were not seriously opposing it. Vivian beat the Night Demon youth leading the chants, scattered much of the crowd, and headed into the Great Hall to confront whoever was causing trouble there.

• Nangong Sanba, Lily, and Hao Ren noticed that someone was inciting the disordered crowd and that the guards appeared to be cooperating with the rioters.
• A dark-skinned Night Demon youth led chants demanding that humanity be enslaved and condemning Heiserana, while Vivian watched him.
• Vivian confronted the youth and repeatedly slapped him, telling him that he was being used as a weapon and revealing that she was the Red Moon.
• Some rioters fled after Vivian called out the people behind the youth, and Hesperis told Vivian that he belonged to the Finkel family.
• Vivian admitted she had probably never hit the youth’s father, dismissed the detail, and walked toward the Great Hall to find who was causing trouble inside.

Vivian and Hao Ren entered the Athens Sanctuary’s leadership meeting after Vivian dealt with troublemakers outside, where factions argued over how to respond to the Demon Hunters’ disappearance. Hao Ren revealed that his group had just returned from the Demon Hunters’ headquarters, shocking most of the assembled family leaders.

• Vivian recognized that multiple groups were fueling the disturbance outside the Great Hall and led Hao Ren’s group into the meeting without an invitation.
• Vivian reunited with Heiserana, stopped her from pouncing, and brought her to the table as the group took seats.
• Jean Lucas explained that the sanctuary was divided between cautious conservatives and radicals who wanted to reclaim the world by attacking Demon Hunter strongholds.
• Vivian criticized the leaders for playing political games and built pressure before Hao Ren could take control of the discussion.
• Hao Ren announced that his group had just come from the Demon Hunters’ headquarters, startling most of the attendees.
• Hao Ren realized that only the ancient beings had known about Vivian’s plans, while the ordinary family leaders had been kept unaware.

Hao Ren told the Alien Creature leaders that the Demon Hunters’ hunt had ended because an ancient evil spirit had controlled their hunting instinct and was now sealed away. He left the leaders to consider the truth and turned the meeting toward how they would handle the new situation.

• Hao Ren announced that he and Vivian had returned from the Demon Hunters’ headquarters and knew what had happened there.
• Hao Ren told the gathered family leaders that the Demon Hunters had survived their upheaval and that the hunt was over.
• Hao Ren described the cause of the Hunt War, Vivian’s becoming the Fourteenth Saint, and the First Saint’s reincarnation as a husky, while withholding other details.
• Hogworth asked whether the thousands-year war could be dismissed as a misunderstanding, and Vivian urged the leaders to pursue their people’s interests through negotiation.
• Hao Ren reminded the Alien Creature leaders that Vivian and Lily were now honorary supreme leaders of the Demon Hunters.
• Vivian declared the old scores settled and called for a discussion of what to do next.

Vivian explained a proposed new order in which supernatural races could leave their sanctuaries but would not interfere with human civilization, while the Demon Hunters ended their hostilities. The chapter left the family leaders considering the terms for a new organization to regulate the races.

• Jean Lucas asked Vivian how the Demon Hunters would act, and Vivian said they would stop hunting unless the supernatural races declared war.
• Hogworth argued that the supernatural races needed a place in the world, while Izax said leaders should seek profit rather than honor.
• A Night Demon lord warned that some supernatural beings still believed humanity could be defeated and enslaved again.
• Hao Ren projected a devastated Earth and warned that even victory over humanity would leave only a few thousand survivors amid ruin.
• Jean Lucas called for a middle path, and Vivian laid out her agreement with Hao Ren to let supernatural races leave the sanctuaries while creating an organization to regulate them.

Vivian and Hao Ren proposed a new order to let the Others safely enter human society under a supervisory council, with Mimir representing the Demon Hunters. The Others named the organization the Shadow Council and began discussing its leadership, but several representatives objected to Vivian becoming its chair.

• Hao Ren introduced Mimir, who revealed that he had advised the Demon Hunters for more than two thousand years and could represent their organization.
• Vivian proposed allowing assessed Others to leave their sanctuaries under a council that would regulate and monitor them.
• Jean Lucas warned that divisions among the Others could make a unified supervisory organization difficult to establish.
• Heiserana proposed the name Shadow Council, and the representatives accepted it after rejecting other suggestions.
• Heiserana proposed appointing Vivian as chair, but Jean Lucas, Hogworth, and the Night Demon Ms. cited reasons to oppose her.

Vivian declined to chair the proposed Shadow Council but secured her customary right to attend and advise its meetings. Outside the Great Hall, she explained that the supernatural families had no desire to destroy the comfortable modern world they had come to enjoy, and the Sanctuary’s shadow dome was nearing its end.

• Vivian rejected the chairmanship and accepted a special seat in the Shadow Council.
• Jean Lucas confirmed that Vivian would retain her longstanding privilege to participate in supernatural councils and meetings.
• Hao Ren and Vivian left the meeting hall and observed that the plaza had emptied after the earlier protest.
• Vivian told Hao Ren that the families had staged the plaza turmoil to evade responsibility, not to prepare a war against humans.
• Vivian explained that the supernatural races valued modern comforts and wanted to enter the new world freely, and Hao Ren looked up at the dome that would soon become a formality.

As the Shadow Council took shape in the Athens Sanctuary, Hao Ren left the meetings to investigate the fate of the Nine Kingdoms. Hela confirmed that their spaces still existed and revealed she had the spearhead of Gungnir, which might help locate them.

• Hao Ren left the Shadow Council discussions and wandered Shadow City with his family while Heiserana remained at the meetings.
• Ganrudal voiced unease about supernatural beings entering human society, and Vivian explained that the council's agreement would restrict their interference.
• Hela arrived after Hesperis sent her to Vivian, who directed her to Hao Ren.
• Hao Ren asked Hela about the Nine Kingdoms, and she confirmed the Demon Hunters had severed their links to the material world without destroying the spaces themselves.
• Hela produced the spearhead of Gungnir as a possible means of finding the Nine Kingdoms.

Hao Ren learned that Gungnir's spearhead could help locate the Nine Kingdoms, then returned from the Athens Sanctuary after helping stabilize the Shadow Council. He reported back to Raven 12345, who had finally returned to her office.

• Hela explained how Gungnir shattered during the battle with Fenrir and gave Hao Ren its spearhead so he could trace the Nine Kingdoms.
• The Data Terminal said it could amplify the spearhead's signal to search for the Nine Kingdoms, and Hao Ren stored the fragment.
• Hao Ren left Mimir in the Athens Sanctuary, where the old giant had become an important mediator between the Demon Hunters and Otherworlders.
• Hao Ren returned home, slept for a day and night, and then went to submit his report to Raven 12345.
• Hao Ren found Raven 12345 in her office, researching over a bowl of instant noodles.

Hao Ren reported his discoveries in Corpus Space to Raven 12345 and showed her the Godslaying Sword. Raven identified the blade as a fragment of a world, leaving Hao Ren wondering which world it had come from.

• Hao Ren told Raven 12345 about Corpus Space, the Others, and the Shadow Council.
• Raven 12345 reviewed the Data Terminal’s technical report and concluded that the Creation Goddess’s origins could not be determined from the ruins.
• Hao Ren opened the sealed case and released the Godslaying Sword, which trembled in fear as Raven 12345 examined it.
• Raven 12345 handled the sword and explained that its material was a world fragment, containing the rules of the world it came from.
• Hao Ren wondered whether the sword had been torn from the Dream Plane.

Raven 12345 explained that the God-Slaying Longsword came from the Dream Plane before it collided with the Outer World fifty million years ago. She left Hao Ren with a key question about why the Creation Goddess had not dodged the sword that killed her.

• Raven 12345 examined the God-Slaying Longsword and determined that it was forged from a fragment of the Dream Plane from before an ancient upheaval.
• Raven 12345 revealed that the Dream Plane had collided with the Outer World fifty million years ago, nearly merging with it and changing both worlds.
• Raven 12345 explained that the Creation Goddess’s death ten thousand years ago triggered the Dream Plane’s Great Extinction and weakened the Wall of Reality.
• Raven 12345 said the sword could seriously injure a true god but depended on its wielder to strike effectively.
• Hao Ren recalled that the Creation Goddess had not resisted, and Raven 12345 questioned why she had failed to dodge a mortal assassin’s slow attack.

Hao Ren and Raven 12345 investigated the God-slaying Sword and discovered that its corrupting power had mostly faded, leaving behind a faint mental whisper. Raven 12345 gave the sword to Hao Ren, who found that he could hold it safely.

• Hao Ren wondered why the Creation Goddess had allowed herself to be killed, and Raven 12345 said the sword remained their best clue.
• Hao Ren and Raven 12345 concluded that an existence comparable to the Creation Goddess had forged the sword and used its whisper to influence the God Slayers.
• Raven 12345 handed the sword to Hao Ren, who detected a faint, harmless-to-him intent muttering in his mind.
• Raven 12345 explained that the sword's bloodlust and corrupting influence had been added later and had mostly dissipated.
• Raven 12345 told Hao Ren the indestructible sword was his to keep.

Raven 12345 gave Hao Ren the Godslaying Sword and blessed it so it could not harm him or his allies, hoping its lingering connection to the Creation Goddess would lead him to the Founding Star. She then announced that Hao Ren’s year-end bonus had arrived and prepared to show him what it was.

• Raven 12345 explained that the Godslaying Sword’s connection to the Creation Goddess could help Hao Ren find the Founding Star, and insisted he carry it.
• Raven 12345 kept a fragment of the sword for research and blessed the blade to protect Hao Ren and his allies.
• Raven 12345 strengthened the sword’s blessing by biting its edge, while preserving its whispers in case they could help locate the Founding Star.
• Hao Ren stored the sword in his personal dimension, and Raven 12345 told him his year-end bonus had arrived.
• Raven 12345 produced the bonus, leaving Hao Ren utterly dumbfounded.

Hao Ren reported his discoveries to Raven 12345, who continued investigating the universes and learned that the Rift Nebula’s rifts had stopped expanding after Hao Ren entered the Dream Plane. Back home, Hao Ren found Vivian trying to bathe Roll and gave Vivian his year-end bonus: a set of kitchenware.

• Hao Ren spent the day briefing Raven 12345 about the Godslaying Sword, Korperus, the Creation Goddess, Earth’s Supernatural Races, and Vivian and Lily, then received advice and his year-end bonus.
• Raven 12345 studied a model of two interacting universes and examined a fragment of the Godslaying Sword.
• A tiny Raven God reported that the Rift Nebula’s rifts had stopped expanding, and Raven 12345 connected the change to Hao Ren’s first entry into the Dream Plane.
• Hao Ren returned home and caught Roll as she tried to flee from Vivian, who wanted to give her a bath.
• After Vivian and Nangong May bathed Roll, Hao Ren gave Vivian his bonus, an extensive set of pots, dishes, and utensils.

Hao Ren and his family examined the God-Slaying Sword after Raven 12345 returned it, speculating that the stars visible on its blade might exist inside a world fragment. They made no real discoveries, and the chapter ended with Roll running naked from the bathroom before Nangong May dragged her back to get dressed.

• Vivian happily accepted divine-metal kitchenware while Hao Ren complained that the higher-ups had sent pots and pans instead of weapons.
• Hao Ren showed everyone the God-Slaying Sword and explained that it had lost most of its power and received a divine restriction from Raven 12345.
• Hao Ren and the others discussed whether the sword's world-fragment interior might contain a space of its own, and Hao Ren observed that its blade showed what looked like stationary stars.
• The family gave up studying the sword as Lily got hungry and Elizabeth pulled her father away, leaving Hao Ren and Vivian by the coffee table.
• Roll ran out of the bathroom shouting that she was alive again, but Nangong May knocked her down with water and dragged her back to put on clothes.

After waking from strange dreams of the Firstborn, Hao Ren wondered whether they were premonitions, but the Godslayer Sword seemed unrelated. He went outside with Little Merman and met Lily, and the night ended with Vivian returning from a walk.

• Hao Ren awoke from repeated dreams of the Firstborn on Horleta, Tanagrus, and Drom, then checked the Godslayer Sword and found it had not caused them.
• Little Merman woke up and insisted that Hao Ren take her outside to look at the stars.
• Hao Ren found Lily outside, where she said she had dreamed of memories from her previous life as the First Saint.
• Hao Ren and Lily discussed their past lives, the Demon Hunters’ misfortunes, and who had suffered the most while Little Merman occasionally joined in.
• Vivian returned from her walk and asked Hao Ren and Lily why they were outside in the middle of the night.

Hao Ren told Vivian about his recurring dreams of a maddened Firstborn, and she agreed they were suspicious while praising how much he had grown. Vivian and Lily bickered as they went inside to make soup, leaving Hao Ren and Doudou beneath the moonlight before they returned home.

• Vivian returned outside and asked Hao Ren why he and Lily were awake, and Hao Ren described his strange dreams of the Firstborn.
• Vivian reasoned that the recurring appearance of a maddened Firstborn was suspicious, while Hao Ren explained the precautions he had taken against possible danger.
• Vivian praised Hao Ren for becoming more capable and composed, and Lily objected when Vivian teased her.
• Hao Ren reflected on Vivian and Lily's tragic history and their renewed rivalry, and Lily quietly shared his sense of fate's influence.
• Vivian and Lily went inside while arguing, and Hao Ren comforted the cold Doudou before heading home.

Hao Ren analyzed the Gungnir fragment and learned that the other fragments still existed but were somewhere beyond Earth. He requisitioned Kuiper Station’s enormous antenna to scan the Solar System and began searching for where Odin had died.

• Hao Ren brought Izax and Vivian to the Kuiper Station laboratory to examine the Gungnir fragment.
• The Data Terminal reported that the fragment’s material came from an unknown civilization and that the other Gungnir fragments remained detectable beyond Earth.
• Hao Ren asked the old Station Chief to use Kuiper Station’s powerful antenna for a Solar System-wide scan, and the Station Chief agreed.
• Kuiper Station opened its giant antenna, and Hao Ren connected the Gungnir analysis console to it.
• Hao Ren activated the antenna to search for where Odin had died.

Hao Ren used Kuiper Station’s antenna to locate the entrance to Asgard near Jupiter’s Great Red Spot and traveled there with Vivian, Izax, and Nolan. The Giant Turtle Rock Platform reached the abnormal spatial signal, and Nolan prepared to open a passage.

• Hao Ren and Vivian watched Kuiper Station’s antenna scan the Solar System while the Data Terminal searched for the Gungnir fragment’s signal.
• A starship captain spread an exaggerated story about Hao Ren, frightening two mercenaries into leaving Kuiper Station.
• The Data Terminal detected the matching signal near Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, and Hao Ren ordered Nolan to depart.
• Nolan brought the Giant Turtle Rock Platform to Jupiter, where the crew found the abnormal spatial signal near the upper atmosphere.
• Nolan planned to use the Gungnir fragment and the ship’s curvature generator to open a door, while Hao Ren joked about lock-picking.

Hao Ren and his companions opened a gateway to the Nine Kingdoms, but a powerful force inside the dimension severed the connection before they could explore it. The Nine Kingdoms vanished from the area, leaving Hao Ren to return to Kuiper Station and search for another way to find it.

• Hao Ren, Nolan, and the Data Terminal used Gungnir's fragments and the Giant Turtle Rock Platform's antenna to open a gateway near Jupiter.
• Hao Ren, Vivian, and Izax saw the Nine Kingdoms, including vast floating continents and enormous green vines.
• Silver runes appeared on the vines, and the gateway collapsed as Nolan lost the connection.
• Nolan reported that an active force inside the dimension had severed the link, and Hao Ren identified the vines as Firstborn tentacles with unfamiliar abilities.
• Nolan searched the surrounding space but could no longer detect the Nine Kingdoms, so Hao Ren ordered the ship back to Kuiper Station to try the antenna again.