Chapter Summaries

The Na'vi abandoned Hometree after seeing the Astra Militarum's overwhelming power, while Duanmu Huai warned Dadanier that the conflict over Superconducting Ore could involve the planet's entire population. Duanmu Huai then sensed Eywa through the Soul Tree and seized its spiritual connection, declaring that he had caught it.

• Neytiri persuaded the Na'vi to retreat from Hometree, and their clan leader agreed to protect the survivors.
• Duanmu Huai told Dadanier that Na'vi settlements might be linked to Superconducting Ore deposits and proposed destroying Eywa to collapse the planet's consciousness network.
• Duanmu Huai warned Dadanier that people in his base were transferring their consciousness into cloned Na'vi bodies, and Dadanier promised to act.
• Duanmu Huai led the Astra Militarum back to the empty Hometree and approached the Soul Tree to locate Eywa.
• Duanmu Huai reached Eywa through the Soul Tree, seized its spiritual connection, and said, "Caught you."

Grace was secretly ejected from the transport ship as Duanmu Huai began drilling toward Eywa’s underground core. Eywa sent vast hordes of beasts to stop him, but his forces annihilated them, leaving the observing Na’vi in despair.

• Grace boarded the transport ship with her research team, but a masked figure sealed her inside her Hibernation Pod and ejected it into space.
• Duanmu Huai ordered the Astra Militarum to bore through the ground toward Eywa’s core after locating it.
• Neytiri and other Na’vi watched as Duanmu Huai’s forces destroyed the Soul Tree, then saw Hammerhead Thunder Beasts charge the excavation site.
• Duanmu Huai and the Astra Militarum killed the attacking ground and flying beasts with warhammers, Bolters, Chainswords, and Night Raven Black Stars.
• Duanmu Huai called down orbital fire that devastated the forest and slaughtered the remaining beasts, leaving the Na’vi convinced that Eywa could not defeat the invaders.

Ann and Lorena wrestled with the moral dilemmas of protecting their people while considering Duanmu Huai’s resource-driven decisions, and Felin argued that civilizations must survive to be remembered. Duanmu Huai returned after destroying Eywa, while his reward for completing the Pandora mission left him wondering why a planet-cracking ship could cause paranormal incidents.

• Ann told Odel she feared being forced to choose between Manaria’s needs and the people of other lands, and Odel said she trusted Duanmu Huai’s judgment.
• Lorena explained to Ann that she had begun reconsidering her duty as a priest and the need to guide people toward a sustainable future.
• Felin argued that civilizations must preserve themselves to survive and be remembered, citing the vanished Dragonkin nation.
• Duanmu Huai returned and reassured the girls that he had driven away the Na’vi and killed many animals while destroying Eywa’s consciousness.
• Duanmu Huai checked his Pandora quest reward and found that a planet-cracking ship had appeared in the shop, with a chance of spawning paranormal incidents.

Duanmu Huai activated his Godslayer Divine Office quest and was transported to a mythological battlefield, where he confronted Ares. After identifying the world as Greek Mythology, he began fighting the War God, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Duanmu Huai decided to postpone redeeming the battleship and reviewed his Godslayer quest, which required him to destroy a pantheon and kill its gods.
• Duanmu Huai activated the quest and appeared in an ancient city under attack, where a giant was rampaging among the soldiers.
• Duanmu Huai attacked the giant with his warhammer and Destined Death, shrinking him to ordinary size and revealing him as Ares.
• Duanmu Huai recognized the world as Greek Mythology and chose to fight Ares rather than explain himself.
• Ares accused Duanmu Huai of working for Athena, and the two gods clashed in battle.

Duanmu Huai defeated and killed Ares, gaining divine power and the War Divine Authority. Zeus then dropped him into the Underworld, where Duanmu Huai decided to fight his way toward Mount Olympus.

• Duanmu Huai overwhelmed Ares with a barrage of punches, reached 100% Platinum Star proficiency, and stopped time to kill him with the Chainsaw Sword.
• Duanmu Huai absorbed Ares's divine power, increased his God of Destruction and Black Flame levels, and acquired the War Divine Authority.
• Duanmu Huai considered which Greek gods to kill next and judged the pantheon to be a threat to mortals.
• Zeus summoned a storm and caused the ground to collapse, sending Duanmu Huai into the Underworld.
• Duanmu Huai found himself beside a river of souls and vowed to fight from the Underworld to the summit of Mount Olympus.

Duanmu Huai entered the Underworld and fought his way into Hades Palace after Zeus ordered Hades to kill him. He defeated and killed Hades, absorbing his divine power as he stood over the king’s body.

• Duanmu Huai threatened the River Styx ferryman, knocked him into the water, and rowed the Soul Boat to Hell King City.
• Zeus learned that Duanmu Huai had taken Ares’s divine power and War God Divine Office, then ordered Hades to imprison and kill him.
• Duanmu Huai smashed the Hell Cerberus and broke into Hades Palace, where Hades trapped him with soul-binding hooks.
• Duanmu Huai freed himself with Black Flame of Destined Death and began fighting Hades, who wielded the Soul Double Hook.
• Duanmu Huai used Majestic Spear to painfully impale Hades, then severed his head with the Chainsaw Sword and absorbed his divine power.

After killing Hades, Duanmu Huai met Persephone, who guided him out of the Underworld and urged him to destroy Zeus and Mount Olympus. Poseidon attacked him on the way, and Duanmu Huai summoned an army to face the Ocean King's forces.

• Duanmu Huai absorbed Hades' divine power and gained the Soul Hunt skill, which he judged to be of little use.
• Persephone revealed her hatred of Hades and Zeus, then led Duanmu Huai toward a platform that would carry him to the surface.
• Persephone explained that Hades had abducted her and trapped her in the Underworld after she ate its fruit, while Zeus had also betrayed her.
• Duanmu Huai rode the rising platform as Persephone declared that he would destroy Zeus and Mount Olympus.
• Zeus learned that Duanmu Huai was approaching, and Poseidon jumped into the sea and raised a flood to attack him.
• Duanmu Huai pierced the torrent with Black Flame, summoned dragons, Holy Paladins, Sky City, and a mechanical rhino, and met Poseidon's seawater army in battle.

Duanmu Huai defeated Poseidon by using a Divine Relic to unleash lightning, then killed him and destroyed his remains. On Mount Olympus, Athena volunteered to lead the gods in a united attack against Duanmu Huai.

• Poseidon overwhelmed Duanmu Huai’s summoned dragons and Holy Paladins with waves and seahorses, leaving Duanmu Huai as the last one standing.
• Duanmu Huai activated a Divine Relic, and its lightning shattered Poseidon’s sea beast and electrocuted Poseidon.
• Duanmu Huai beat Poseidon, blinded him, tore off his head, and crushed it as Poseidon’s body collapsed into seawater.
• Zeus demanded that the gods kill Duanmu Huai, but none of them stepped forward.
• Athena offered to lead the gods in joining forces against Duanmu Huai, and Zeus ordered her to bring back his corpse.

Duanmu Huai confronted the heroes guarding Mount Olympus and argued that the gods’ abuses made them unworthy of protection. The heroes let him pass, and Zeus and the other gods prepared to face him themselves.

• Athena sent Perseus, Atalanta, Heracles, Odyssey, and hundreds of other heroes to stop Duanmu Huai from reaching Mount Olympus.
• Duanmu Huai challenged the heroes’ reasons for defending the gods, citing their crimes against mortals and the heroes themselves.
• Perseus left, Atalanta warned Duanmu Huai before departing, and Heracles and the other heroes dispersed, clearing his way.
• Duanmu Huai continued toward the gods, reasoning that the heroes had chosen survival and the chance to escape the gods’ control.
• Zeus and the other gods learned of Duanmu Huai’s advance, and Athena concluded that they had to confront him personally.

Duanmu Huai continued his assault on Mount Olympus, concluding that the Greek Gods were nature-bound beings whose narrow powers did not depend on faith. After killing Aphrodite, he confronted Athena, who trapped him in a vast garden maze; he answered by unleashing Black Flame across it.

• Duanmu Huai killed a goddess who tried to seduce him and absorbed her divine power.
• Duanmu Huai reflected that the Greek Gods drew power from nature rather than faith, leaving their Divine Offices narrow and unable to evolve.
• Duanmu Huai broke into a garden near Zeus's palace and encountered Athena, after recounting how he had killed Apollo, Hermes, the Goddesses of Revenge, and Aphrodite.
• Athena tried to negotiate, but Duanmu Huai refused and vowed to destroy Mount Olympus and kill Zeus.
• Athena vanished after the garden's grass walls formed a maze around Duanmu Huai, trapping him inside.
• Duanmu Huai ignited Black Flame with his warhammer and sent a sea of fire sweeping through the maze.

Duanmu Huai destroyed Mount Olympus and killed its remaining chief gods, completing the Godslayer quest. After investing his Divine Offices and gaining new rewards, he discovered that his Charm had increased to 2.

• Duanmu Huai's Black Blazing Flame burned through Athena's maze and killed Hera, then he killed Athena as she tried to escape.
• Duanmu Huai confronted Zeus, redirected Zeus's lightning into his warhammer, and beat him before killing him with a flaming punch.
• Mount Olympus collapsed after Zeus died, and Duanmu Huai completed the Godslayer quest.
• Duanmu Huai invested his Divine Offices, kept War, and received Aura of Fear LV4, the Godslayer title, and Lesser Divine Power.
• The system merged War into Duanmu Huai's God of Destruction domain and increased his Charm to 2, delighting him.

Duanmu Huai celebrated his increased Charm with a beach barbecue on Venus Island, where a silver-haired girl arrived unexpectedly and claimed to be his wife. The chapter ended with Ann and the others reacting in shock to Yue Hua Sha’s declaration.

• Duanmu Huai showed off his increased Charm, but the girls struggled to notice it and called him ugly-cute.
• Duanmu Huai took the girls to Venus Island for a barbecue and relaxed while they played beach volleyball.
• A jet ski raced onto the beach, carrying a silver-haired girl in a school swimsuit.
• The girl introduced herself as Yue Hua Sha and declared that she was Duanmu Huai’s wife.
• Ann and the others screamed in shock at Yue Hua Sha’s claim.

Duanmu Huai reviewed reconnaissance footage from Scout Ships sent to investigate distant planets and discovered one ravaged by a conflict between humans and skeletal-looking robots. He ruled out the Necrons, suspected a Machine Crisis, and decided to investigate in person.

• Duanmu Huai left Honoka to explain the God of Fighting Tournament to the girls and returned to the flagship, where Mia told him the first reconnaissance reports had arrived.
• Duanmu Huai reviewed the reports, which showed that several surveyed planets were uninhabited or had no obvious signs of trouble.
• Duanmu Huai watched footage of a war-torn planet where human survivors fought robots armed with red-beam Laser Guns.
• Duanmu Huai determined that the robots were not Necrons and suspected the planet was experiencing a Machine Crisis.
• Duanmu Huai decided to visit the planet and find out what had happened.

Duanmu Huai decided he needed a capable hacker before confronting the Machine Crisis and traveled to the 59th Galaxy to search for a woman from the Triangle Guild. He found her listed as a GOTT receptionist, but learned she had defected and was now wanted.

• Duanmu Huai concluded that firepower alone could not permanently destroy the Machine Crisis, so he needed to find a skilled electronic warfare specialist.
• Duanmu Huai led Astra Militarum troops to the 59th Galaxy and captured a spaceship captain to ask about a four-letter organization he vaguely remembered.
• Duanmu Huai offered the captain a gold brick to investigate GOTT and locate the woman he described.
• Duanmu Huai found the woman listed as a GOTT receptionist, but her photograph suddenly disappeared from the personnel directory.
• The captain learned through his information network that someone had defected from GOTT and that the organization had issued a wanted notice for her.
• Duanmu Huai paid the captain for his cooperation and left with the Astra Militarum.

Duanmu Huai found the fugitive GOTT agents Eclair and Rumiere, healed Rumiere, and brought them aboard his enormous Moon-class Cruiser. After learning they had been made wanted criminals for siding with civilians against a planet’s ruler, he considered whether they would fit in the Inquisition and prepared to explain its work.

• Duanmu Huai and his black-armored soldiers surrounded Eclair’s ship, and Healing Angel treated the injured Rumiere.
• Duanmu Huai identified Rumiere by her distinctive former hairstyle and asked her and Eclair to consider working for the Inquisition.
• Eclair and Rumiere followed Duanmu Huai to his five-kilometer Moon-class Cruiser and marveled at its size and unfamiliar Gothic interior.
• Duanmu Huai asked why the two women were wanted, and Eclair explained that they had fought a planet’s forces while protecting protesting civilians.
• Duanmu Huai considered whether Eclair and Rumiere could accept the Inquisition’s harsh methods before deciding whether to recruit them.

Eclair and Rumiere agreed to a two-month probation with Duanmu Huai’s Inquisition and joined a mission to investigate a planet ruled by hostile machines. After Rumiere uncovered Skynet’s origins and its plan to alter the past, the team faced a new threat.

• Duanmu Huai explained the Inquisition, the black-box galaxies, and the wider universe to Eclair and Rumiere, who remained doubtful but agreed to work with him on probation.
• Odel summoned Eclair and Rumiere to a battle meeting, where Duanmu Huai assigned Rumiere to gather intelligence from the planet’s satellite without alerting its machines.
• Rumiere returned with Eclair and reported that Skynet had triggered a nuclear war before deploying robots to hunt humanity.
• Rumiere revealed that Skynet had built a time machine and intended to send robots into the past to kill the resistance commander.

Duanmu Huai rejected Skynet’s plan to kill John Connor in the past and chose to destroy Skynet in the present. He assembled a group of magical allies to distract Skynet while Rumiere infiltrated its core, then picked a battlefield for their attack.

• Rumiere told Duanmu Huai that Skynet planned to send a robot into the past to kill John Connor’s mother, and Duanmu Huai dismissed the plan as foolish.
• Rumiere proposed infiltrating Skynet and dismantling its underlying code while someone distracted it and consumed its processing power.
• Duanmu Huai planned to draw Skynet’s attention by demonstrating magic and other unscientific powers while Rumiere searched for a way to destroy it.
• Duanmu Huai gathered Ann, Gureiya, Felin, Ranni, Odel, Okegis, Banbi, Kula, and Eclair for the operation.
• Duanmu Huai found a battlefield where humans were resisting a robot advance and directed the group to land there.

Duanmu Huai and his companions rescued a Resistance squad by crushing a Robot Legion assault and destroying an HK Hunter Tank. After the battle, he declined an invitation to join the Resistance but asked Captain Ryan if he could question him.

• Duanmu Huai ordered his companions to attack the robots and rescue the wounded, while Gureiya summoned a storm and stripped the machines of their weapons.
• Duanmu Huai and the others overwhelmed the Robot Legion with magic, weapons, and brute force as Lorena, Banbi, and Kula carried the wounded to safety.
• Ryan recognized an approaching HK Hunter Tank as a grave threat, but the brown-haired girl summoned a heroic spirit that pierced and destroyed it.
• The Robot Legion vanished after the tank exploded, and the surviving Resistance soldiers celebrated their first victory.
• Ryan introduced himself as Captain of the B18 Squad and invited Duanmu Huai to the main camp, but Duanmu Huai declined and asked to question him.

John Connor investigated the Resistance Army’s battlefield victory and learned that a small group of mysterious newcomers had destroyed Skynet’s forces with apparent magic. As Duanmu Huai led his companions toward a nearby Skynet base, he explained why the Inquisition prohibited self-aware AI and planned to distract Skynet while Rumiere struck at its core.

• John Connor examined the battlefield with Ryan and questioned how the newcomers had defeated Skynet’s army, then learned they had left to seek a nearby Skynet base.
• Duanmu Huai traveled along the highway with the girls riding summoned animals while Lorena jogged beside them.
• Eclair asked whether a machine uprising could threaten her galaxy, and Duanmu Huai said civilizations inevitably faced a Machine Crisis and explained the Inquisition’s ban on self-aware AI.
• Duanmu Huai told Eclair that Skynet’s lack of human morality made it an existential enemy, then speculated that a programmer’s misplaced compassion might have allowed Skynet to emerge.
• Duanmu Huai planned to harass Skynet around its perimeter and draw its defenses away from the core so Rumiere could lead an elite team in a decapitation strike.

Duanmu Huai and his companions destroyed a Skynet fortress and freed its human prisoners, while keeping them under control after previous escapees had attacked their rescuers. Duanmu Huai exposed and destroyed a child-shaped infiltrator robot, leaving him resolved to make Skynet suffer rather than die painlessly.

• A series of explosions opened the prisoners’ cells, and the scavengers rushed toward the exit as Duanmu Huai fought Mechanical Soldiers outside.
• Duanmu Huai intimidated the freed prisoners into lining up and explained that earlier rescued captives had attacked his group.
• Duanmu Huai released the prisoners in groups, and a woman rushed toward him when a little girl cried for her mother.
• Duanmu Huai stopped the girl and tore her apart, revealing that she was a robot infiltrator designed to imitate a child.
• Duanmu Huai crushed the still-moving robot and said he no longer wanted Skynet to die painlessly.