Chapter Summaries

Derek used the Seraphim to tear through the Colossus Civilization’s fortress and destroy its approaching warships, then left the Seraphim Sword embedded in the fortress wall. The Blue Star Federation recovered wreckage and studied the sword, while the Colossus researchers struggled to explain its power.

• Derek used the Seraphim’s spiritual perception to look into the Colossus Civilization’s command room, frightening its commanders and exhausting much of the Seraphim’s energy.
• Derek threw the Seraphim Sword into the fortress and unleashed a blast of crimson-gold flame that destroyed the nearby warships.
• Commander Cao Yang ordered reconnaissance ships to investigate the battlefield and retrieve wreckage after the Blue Star Federation witnessed the attack.
• The Blue Star Federation’s reconnaissance ships collected wreckage and recorded footage while the Colossus Civilization’s forces pulled back.
• Researchers from the Colossus Civilization examined the Seraphim Sword and found that its energy and properties could not be replicated or fully explained.

Derek discovered that Seraphim could absorb some Transcendent Energy from the void, but its energy still ran down quickly. When the Blue Star Federation probed Great Xia’s defenses, Derek deployed Seraphim again, and the chapter ended as it returned to battle after briefly withdrawing.

• The Colossus Civilization’s officials ordered researchers to study the fading Seraphim, but the researchers warned that it would soon vanish.
• Derek returned to the Warship Carrier and learned that Seraphim’s energy would be exhausted within a day, even while idle.
• Derek told Tru that Seraphim could absorb some Transcendent Energy from the void, and Tru began considering ways to apply the discovery.
• The Blue Star Federation’s fleet arrived, and its reconnaissance force exchanged fire with Great Xia’s outer patrol squad.
• Derek prepared Seraphim and ordered two more, while Commander Cao Yang’s fleet probed its defenses and observed it withdraw as its energy waned.
• Commander Cao Yang concluded that Seraphim’s power depended on a limited energy supply, but Seraphim returned before the Federation could act on that weakness.

Derek used Seraphim to devastate the Blue Star Federation fleet and fortress defenses, breaking the Pioneer Command’s morale. Afterward, Commander Cao Yang asked the Cabinet to establish direct communication with the enemy or replace him, but the Cabinet rejected his resignation and kept him in command.

• Derek restored Seraphim and resumed its assault, targeting Blue Star Federation warships to inflict heavy casualties and undermine morale.
• Commander Cao Yang ordered the fleet to retreat within the fortress’s protective range, but Seraphim returned and continued its attack.
• The Blue Star Federation’s conventional weapons failed to stop Seraphim, and Cao Yang collapsed after it departed.
• Cao Yang sent the Cabinet the battlefield information and requested direct communication with the enemy or his replacement.
• The Cabinet reviewed the footage, rejected Cao Yang’s resignation, and left him in command at the front line.

The Blue Star Federation’s cabinet agreed to seek communication with the Angel Civilization while preparing for the possibility of war, and assigned Commander Cao Yang to initiate contact. As Derek recovered, ships from the Federation and the Colossus Civilization approached the fortress, where Michel welcomed them on behalf of the Great Xia Empire.

• Minister He and the Minister of Defense argued that the Federation should pursue preliminary exchanges while maintaining its military readiness.
• The cabinet agreed to communicate with the Angel Civilization and gave Commander Cao Yang the task of sending a ship to its station.
• Derek ordered Tru to collect data and work toward unlocking the Seraphim’s true form.
• Ships from the Blue Star Federation and the Colossus Civilization approached the fortress and sent signals introducing their civilizations.
• Archangels and Powers emerged from the fortress, and Michel welcomed the visitors as a representative of the Great Xia Empire, which presented itself as the Angel Civilization.

Michel used the Angel Civilization’s religion to explain the Seraphim to the Blue Star Federation, persuading its envoy that divine power and gods were real. The envoy returned to Pioneer Command with religious symbols, where Cao Yang angrily rejected the beliefs.

• Michel welcomed the Blue Star Federation and Colossus Civilization representatives and showed them around, and the first meeting ended peacefully.
• The three civilizations maintained peace in the star system while they investigated the Angel Civilization and avoided landing on its habitable planet.
• After the Blue Star Federation cabinet pressed him to act, Cao Yang decided to question Michel about the Seraphim.
• Michel told the Blue Star Federation envoy that the Seraphim served the gods and demonstrated divine power by producing white light in his palm.
• Michel taught the envoy the New Church’s beliefs and gave him religious symbols, leaving the envoy convinced that divine power was real.
• The envoy returned to Pioneer Command with the symbols, and Cao Yang flew into a rage over what he saw as irrational beliefs.

Cao Yang ordered the Blue Star Federation to test whether the Angel Civilization’s religious symbols could grant supernatural powers, while the Great Xia Empire proposed spreading faith on the ecological planet instead of developing it. The three civilizations agreed to let the New Church descend with observers, and Derek’s Seraphim arrived above the primitive civilization.

• Cao Yang warned his envoy not to dismiss the Angel Civilization’s claims and ordered tests of whether faith worked.
• Michel told the Blue Star Federation and Colossus Civilization that the Great Xia Empire wanted to guide the planet’s humans back to faith rather than develop the ecological planet.
• The Blue Star Federation and Colossus Civilization agreed to allow the New Church to spread faith under the supervision of their observers.
• The three civilizations finalized an agreement for the New Church to descend on the planet with observers accompanying it.
• Derek’s Seraphim leaped into the sky above the primitive civilization.

High Priest Manhab’s fading faith was renewed when Derek appeared in the sky as a winged figure and granted him the Seraphim’s divine power. Derek discovered that Manhab’s spiritual energy helped the Seraphim draw Transcendent Energy from the void, while Manhab began a new path toward becoming a holy spirit.

• The planet’s inhabitants noticed the satellites in their sky and, under the priests’ rule, incorporated them into their faith and sacrificial ceremonies.
• High Priest Manhab presided over a ritual, hoping for a sign from the gods despite his weakening faith and growing doubts.
• Derek appeared before the ceremony as a winged figure, and Manhab stared at him with fervent devotion as the eclipse darkened the land.
• Manhab’s spiritual power, infused with his civilization’s faith, locked onto Derek and caused the Seraphim to extract Transcendent Energy from the void more quickly.
• Derek granted Manhab the Seraphim’s power, strengthening his body and imprinting the Seraphim’s image in his mind.
• Manhab vowed to shepherd the land forever, while Derek recognized the civilization as a promising testing ground for the Seraphim’s energy.

Manhab received the Seraphim’s power, awakened his Transcendent Power, and established his authority as High Priest. Michel and his Mecha Knights arrived, and Michel persuaded Manhab that the planet was God’s pasture and its people should return to God’s embrace.

• Manhab’s flames ignited several men who challenged his authority, and he announced that the Seraphim had bestowed divine power upon him.
• The people around Manhab knelt and begged the gods for forgiveness after witnessing his power.
• Michel and the Mecha Knights descended, and Manhab welcomed them as messengers of the gods.
• Burdett corrected Manhab for treating Michel as an equal, and Manhab apologized and paid respect to Michel’s Sacred Bloodline.
• Michel told Manhab that the planet was God’s pasture and that his people had forgotten their history, persuading Manhab that they should return to God’s embrace.

Michel invited High Priest Manhab to travel through space aboard a Great Xia warship, giving him his first view of the stars and explaining the difference between mortal technology and divine power. Back on the planet, Commander Cao Yang's team examined ancient myths and found disturbing similarities to the Angel Civilization, including possible links to Blue Star's past.

• Michel invited Manhab to roam the stars, and Manhab accepted before boarding a landing craft with the Angels.
• Michel showed Manhab the Great Xia warship and the starry sky, explaining that warships came from mortal wisdom while divine power was unique.
• Manhab toured the star system, learned about the Great Xia Empire, and welcomed its visitors back on the ground.
• The observers confirmed Manhab's Transcendent Power but found no flaws in the evidence, leaving their scientific convictions shaken.
• Commander Cao Yang asked about religious myths, and an advisor presented ancient murals that appeared to depict Seraphim, spacecraft, and the stars.
• The advisor suggested Great Xia's early civilization might also have encountered the Angel Civilization, leaving Cao Yang stunned by the possible connection to Blue Star.

Commander Cao Yang concluded that the Angel Civilization may have contacted Blue Star Civilization in its primitive era, and his findings prompted an emergency cabinet meeting. The chapter ended with the cabinet assembled in silence, facing the report’s implications.

• Commander Cao Yang connected similarities between Blue Star myths and Angel Civilization history, then sent his analysis to the rear.
• The Minister of Defense initially dismissed Cao Yang’s report as superstition but reconsidered it after a staff officer brought him the Ministry of Defense’s supporting analysis.
• The Minister of Defense called an urgent online cabinet meeting and sent the report to Minister He of the Ministry of Commerce.
• Minister He paused his investigation into Maple Leaf Mining’s statues and read the report twice before the other cabinet members arrived.
• The Director-General asked the silent cabinet members to share their thoughts.

The Blue Star Federation cabinet agreed to cautiously investigate the Angel Civilization and avoid provoking it, while Minister He leaked intelligence to Maple Leaf Mining in hopes of gauging its connection to the Angels. The Colossus Civilization then sent an official emissary to the Angel Civilization before receiving recognition, surprising Michel when he met the envoy.

• The Director-General and the federal cabinet agreed to proceed cautiously, seek more information, and avoid aggressive action against the Angel Civilization.
• Minister He decided not to expose Maple Leaf Mining and instead passed it detailed information about the Angel Civilization.
• Virut told List that Minister He was offering goodwill while protecting himself, and advised Maple Leaf Mining to ignore his hesitation and respond as ordinary Federation businessmen.
• Maple Leaf Mining offered to fund additional warship supplies in exchange for joining the pursuit of the Angel Civilization, disappointing Minister He.
• The Colossus Civilization dispatched an official government emissary to the Angel Civilization before the two civilizations had established relations.
• Michel met the Colossus Civilization's emissary and was surprised by the encounter.

Michel met an envoy from the Colossus Civilization, whose belief in shared angelic ancestry led him to invite Michel to visit and help restore the sacred bloodline. Michel accepted the opportunity as a chance to build a Sacred-Angel Civilization Sphere, and Derek gave him a crimson-marked gift for the journey.

• The Colossus Civilization's envoy showed Michel his vestigial wings and explained his civilization's legends of ancestry shared with winged gods.
• The envoy invited Michel to the Colossus Civilization and proposed that beautiful women help him pass on his sacred bloodline, prompting Burdett to angrily defend him.
• Michel calmed Burdett and the envoy, then reassured the envoy that the Lord would not leave His children scattered abroad.
• Michel told Derek he wanted to visit the Colossus Civilization and use the opportunity to establish a Sacred-Angel Civilization Sphere.
• Derek let Michel choose to face the risks and marked his forehead with a crimson sign he had recently researched.

Michel arrived in Colossus Civilization territory and used a welcome ceremony to demonstrate the Angel Mecha to the civilization’s leaders. As Colossus warships prepared to fire on him, the governor ordered his officers to let them shoot.

• Michel traveled from the New Star System to Colossus Civilization territory, where Ganis introduced him to the civilization’s twin-star home and its traditions.
• Michel met the Colossus Civilization’s governor and upper echelon, intending to establish the New Church without requiring all their leaders to adopt the faith.
• Michel donned the Angel Mecha and, with permission, flew into space to demonstrate its speed and maneuverability to the Colossus leaders.
• After the Colossus Civilization collected data on the mecha, its governor revised his assessment of their capabilities.
• An alarm revealed that Colossus military warships were charging their energy weapons, and the governor stopped the interception response and ordered his officers to let them fire.

After a Colossus Civilization warship fired on the Angel Civilization’s delegation, Burdett protected Michel and retaliated by boarding the ship. He killed the fanatical officers behind the attack, leaving the New Church’s first impression on the Colossus Civilization marked by slaughter.

• The Archon learned that bloodline-theory fanatics, rather than the opposition party, had caused the warship attack and chose to let the incident unfold.
• Burdett shielded Michel from the energy-cannon barrage with his Mecha Knight, then ordered the other knights to protect His Highness.
• Burdett charged the attacking warship, while the Archon refused his military personnel permission to retaliate.
• Peter cut through the warship’s armor and reached its command center, where fanatical officers declared their loyalty to the Angel Civilization.
• Burdett called the officers blasphemers and enemies of Great Xia, then killed them with his Greatsword.

After Burdett crippled a Colossus warship, Michel demanded that the Colossus Civilization surrender those responsible for attacking the Divine Bloodline and their immediate families. The Archon rejected the demand publicly but signaled that he might use popular consent to agree, while Michel insisted the punishment would only be delayed, not changed.

• Burdett left the Colossus warship so badly damaged that it had lost nearly all combat capability, and the Colossus Civilization assessed that defeating him would require at least cruiser-class warships.
• Michel, encouraged by Burdett, broadcast a demand that the Colossus Civilization hand over the attackers and their immediate families for punishment.
• The Archon ordered the Colossus Civilization to ignore Michel’s notice until the Great Xia Empire’s representatives arrived, while referring to them as Great Xia rather than the Angel Civilization.
• At a meeting with the Colossus leadership, Michel framed the attack as both a political offense and blasphemy, while the Archon defended the rights of the Colossus people and refused to implicate the innocent.
• The Archon hinted that the people might accept Michel’s demand, and Michel agreed to delay the punitive action while insisting that its terms would not change.

Davis presented Tru with a method for infusing mecha with spiritual power, which greatly improved their resistance to energy weapons. Tru approved more resources and proposed building Utopia, a space-station society designed to cultivate faithful subjects as research materials.

• Michel began a propaganda campaign in the Colossus Civilization, while the Great Xia Empire rebuffed the Blue Star Federation’s requests for deeper exchanges.
• Davis told Tru that spiritual power could be infused into mecha, and demonstrated that the process increased their resistance to attacks from energy weapons.
• Tru recognized Davis’s results, promised him research resources, and instructed him to continue both the spiritual-conditioning and control experiments.
• Davis requested more consumables for his experiments, and Tru agreed to provide them.
• Tru proposed building Utopia, where residents would be divided between a comfortable upper level and a harsh lower level according to their faith, and designated both levels as sources of research materials.

Davis’s experiments in Utopia stalled because the institute lacked enough materials, so Count Little Jefferies recruited Brack to manage the black slaves there. Brack summoned Abraham and his former Black Overseers, giving Abraham renewed hope that he was needed.

• Davis demanded more materials for his experiments and nearly suggested crossing a forbidden line before the supervisor stopped him.
• The supervisor promised to seek a new batch of materials, and Count Little Jefferies arranged emergency supplies for Utopia.
• Count Little Jefferies called Brack and asked him to take a lower-ranking post managing black slaves; Brack accepted and agreed to bring his Black Overseers.
• Brack summoned Abraham and asked if he could still swing a whip, then ordered him to prepare to work again.
• Abraham accepted Brack’s call and felt hopeful because he had been given a purpose again.

Abraham inspected Utopia and advised Brack on restructuring it to produce more devout believers. He proposed widening class divisions and intensifying hardship and privilege, leaving Brack with a detailed plan for exploiting the residents.

• Brack ordered Abraham to manage Utopia and improve its low rate of producing qualified believers.
• Abraham inspected the second level, where residents lived in luxury and indulged in parties, then visited the harshly controlled lowest level.
• Abraham's subordinates argued over whether residents needed harsher discipline or better treatment, while Abraham withheld his opinion.
• Abraham recommended increasing luxury on the second level by squeezing the lowest level, while using promotions, demotions, and circulating residents to sharpen class divisions.
• Abraham proposed worsening conditions for most residents, supporting devout exploiter classes, and publicizing a few people who advanced from the lowest level.

Abraham helped implement Utopia’s promotion system and expanded welfare by exploiting conflict between its levels. He recruited McKens to return to the bottom level and produce goods that could condemn his conscience.

• Abraham blended into Utopia’s second level and watched unmanned aircraft kill protesters opposing the new promotion and demotion system.
• Utopia announced that unqualified believers would be demoted, then expanded second-level residents’ living spaces while worsening conditions below.
• Abraham moved into a small estate and let his bottom-level workers glimpse his affluent lifestyle.
• Abraham selected the ambitious McKens and told him to return to the bottom level to make products that might condemn his conscience.
• McKens declared his loyalty to Abraham and said he had no conscience.

Abraham gave McKens management of a food processing plant in Utopia’s lower level, where McKens built wealth by manipulating food supplies and exploiting the poor. As McKens sent women to the upper level and resentment grew, more lower-level residents turned to devout faith, increasing Utopia’s population and output.

• Abraham offered McKens management rights to a food processing plant as compensation, and McKens accepted.
• McKens introduced a tiered range of food products, using the more expensive goods to build wealth while shortages gradually worsened.
• Over two months, McKens improved his lifestyle and strengthened his security after another factory manager was killed for raising prices.
• McKens devised traps to recruit women for the upper level, exploiting their family needs, desires, and financial troubles.
• McKens sent a group of women upward, intensifying resentment among lower-level residents.
• As hardships grew, more residents turned to devout faith, and Utopia’s second-level population and output began to rise.