Chapter Summaries

Duanmu Huai learned that Skynet could send warnings back through time, so he asked Rumiere to create a hidden virus that would infect Skynet across its past iterations. After Okegis and the others comforted him, he decided to speak with the resistance commander.

• Rumiere told Duanmu Huai that Skynet had obtained information from the future and appeared to be sending Infiltrators into the past.
• Duanmu Huai changed the battle plan and asked Rumiere to create a virus that would activate when Skynet tried to reload; Rumiere said she could do it.
• Duanmu Huai reflected on the human suffering caused by Skynet and his anger at machines that could not feel pain or remorse.
• Okegis hugged Duanmu Huai to comfort him, and Banbi and Kula joined them.
• Duanmu Huai felt calmer and prepared to talk with the resistance commander.

Rumiere hacked Skynet while John Connor learned that a mysterious group was helping refugees escape its bases. A seemingly friendly aircraft transformed into a giant robot and attacked the Resistance, leaving John Connor ordering the camp to prepare for battle.

• Rumiere accessed Skynet's network and observed its experiments on humans as faint flashes appeared on the far side of the planet.
• John Connor reviewed refugee reports describing Duanmu Huai's powerful group and hoped to contact them for help identifying Skynet's humanlike infiltrators.
• John Connor ordered an unidentified aircraft to land at Airport Number Three and sent the C2 Squad to meet it.
• A veteran from the C2 Squad approached the aircraft, and it transformed into a giant robot that attacked the soldiers.
• The C2 Squad reported the attack before its transmission ended in explosions, and John Connor ordered the camp to sound the air-raid alarm and prepare for battle.

Duanmu Huai’s allies destroyed the Skynet base holding the Time Machine while a mysterious outsider attacked Skynet and the Resistance Army. Duanmu Huai arrived at the ruined camp with his companions, where two dragons attacked the giant machine threatening John Connor’s forces.

• A mysterious intruder breached Skynet’s network, and Rumiere used the distraction to erase the Time Machine’s data and analyze Skynet’s core.
• Skynet severed its external communications, but Duanmu Huai used Rumiere’s coordinates to order a Moon-class Cruiser to destroy the base and Time Machine.
• Rumiere reported that the Resistance Army was under attack, so Duanmu Huai teleported to the battlefield with Okegis, Ann, Gureiya, Felin, and Ranni.
• John Connor’s troops struggled against a giant unfamiliar robot as civilians fled and the camp was destroyed.
• Ann and the others rescued soldiers from falling rubble, while Gureiya and Felin transformed into dragons and charged the robot.

Duanmu Huai and his allies defeated a transforming robot that had attacked the Resistance headquarters, then learned it was an alien from Cybertron searching for the AllSpark. The group discovered that these robots had also invaded Skynet, leaving Duanmu Huai to face another complication before they could leave.

• Gureiya, Felin, Ann’s knight Servant, Okegis, and Duanmu Huai trapped and destroyed the transforming robot.
• John Connor thanked Duanmu Huai for helping the Resistance, but Duanmu Huai said the group would leave once they dealt with the trouble.
• Rumiere examined the wreckage and identified the robot as an alien from Cybertron, not a creation of Skynet.
• Rumiere explained that the Cybertronian robots were searching for the AllSpark, which could turn machines into living beings and let them transform after scanning other machines.
• Rumiere confirmed that the Cybertronian robots had invaded Skynet, and Duanmu Huai sighed at the prospect of more trouble.

Duanmu Huai bombarded the dam where Optimus Prime and Megatron’s factions were fighting, then led the group in searching the ruins. Rumiere discovered the AllSpark was elsewhere and that only Megatron knew its location, so Duanmu Huai prepared to follow him.

• Rumiere explained that Skynet’s database contained alien-language records about the AllSpark, which Skynet could not understand, and revealed that humans had found it in the Arctic decades earlier.
• Duanmu Huai ordered a bombardment of the dam, destroying the battlefield and the robots fighting there.
• Optimus Prime and Megatron survived the attack, heard their allies calling for help, and fled through the fog rather than return to the battle.
• Duanmu Huai and his companions entered the ruins and destroyed the surviving robots while Ann teased Gureiya about Duanmu Huai riding on her dragon form.
• Rumiere reported that the AllSpark was not at the dam and that Megatron, the Decepticon leader, was the only one who knew where it was.
• Duanmu Huai decided to track Megatron and let him lead the group to the AllSpark.

Optimus Prime and Megatron formed a wary alliance to find the AllSpark while Duanmu Huai watched their progress and explained why he rejected attempts to control time. After confirming the Cybertronian pair had found a hidden research facility, Duanmu Huai prepared to ambush them.

• Optimus Prime and Megatron agreed to cooperate temporarily and headed toward the AllSpark while a Skynet drone followed them.
• Duanmu Huai watched the pair from safety as Skynet hid, the Resistance searched for a new base, and his ships blockaded the planet.
• Rumiere asked whether destroying the Time Machine database had been right, and Duanmu Huai warned her that trying to control time would lead to despair.
• Rumiere reconsidered her view of Duanmu Huai after he explained his stance, and Eclair reminded her to live in the present.
• Banbi spotted Optimus Prime and Megatron entering a cave, and Duanmu Huai scanned it and found a hidden research facility beneath the mountain.
• Duanmu Huai stood up and announced that they would ambush the pair.

Megatron found and activated the AllSpark, but Duanmu Huai seized it and identified it as a damaged relic from humanity’s Dark Age. After a plasma strike eliminated Optimus Prime and Megatron, Duanmu Huai decided to send the relic to the library for analysis.

• Skynet identified Optimus Prime and Megatron as threats and sent an overwhelming mechanical army to attack them.
• Megatron abandoned Optimus Prime, broke through the sealed base, and transformed the enormous AllSpark into a small block.
• Duanmu Huai appeared, took the AllSpark from Megatron, and teleported away.
• Optimus Prime reached Megatron, and the two were caught in a plasma beam that Duanmu Huai ordered fired to eliminate them.
• Duanmu Huai learned the AllSpark was a damaged Dark Relic and decided to place it in the library for analysis.

Duanmu Huai analyzed the AllSpark and learned how its nanomaterial transformation technology worked, then used Rumiere’s virus to destroy Skynet after it rebuilt its Time Machine. With Cybertron and Skynet dealt with, he planned to return and investigate whether the Mantle's Approach’s nanomachines could help him use the AllSpark.

• Duanmu Huai analyzed the AllSpark and watched its advertisement, learning that it used nanomaterials to transform objects and that its intelligent control system was damaged.
• Duanmu Huai considered using the Mantle's Approach’s nanomachines to manufacture the nanocase needed to control the AllSpark’s transformations.
• Rumiere told Duanmu Huai that Skynet was rebuilding its Time Machine to warn its past self about the Cybertronian machines.
• Duanmu Huai ordered Rumiere to infect the rebuilt Time Machine with a virus, and she set it to activate when Skynet shut the machine down.
• After Skynet sent three T800 Type Robots into the past and shut down the Time Machine, the virus activated, destroying the base and disabling its machines and drones.
• Rumiere confirmed that the virus would spread to anyone who tried to read or copy Skynet’s data, and Duanmu Huai prepared to return.

Duanmu Huai introduced Kukulu to nanotechnology and arranged for Rumiere to help her with programming, easing her workload. Still short on technical talent, he traveled to Venus Island to seek a mechanical engineer and accepted Yue Hua Sha’s lead on a weapons-making witch in Castam.

• Duanmu Huai found Kukulu exhausted from studying advanced technology and told her about nanotechnology from the Life Cube.
• Kukulu worried that she could not compile the programs the technology required, so Duanmu Huai arranged for Rumiere to assist her.
• Duanmu Huai decided he needed to recruit a mechanical engineering expert and went to Venus Island to ask the girls for leads.
• Honoka and Mary Rose offered to ask around, while Yue Hua Sha recommended one of the Four Witches in Castam, who was skilled at making tanks and cannons.
• Duanmu Huai agreed to go to Castam with Yue Hua Sha and called Okegis and Kula to join them.

Duanmu Huai traveled with Yue Hua Sha and Okegis through a surreal region where medieval customs mixed with modern technology, while noticing strange creatures and unsettling changes in his emotions. After learning that war had closed the road to Castam, he met the mayor, who offered passage through the blockade in exchange for a favor.

• Duanmu Huai rode the Electromagnetic Rhinoceros with Yue Hua Sha and Okegis from Duel City toward Castam.
• Duanmu Huai crushed a group of Octopus People and noticed that the region’s beautiful women stirred an unusual impulse in him.
• Yue Hua Sha learned from the city guards that Hermann had occupied the Lisass Kingdom and was attacking the Free City District, closing the road to Castam.
• Duanmu Huai followed the guards to City Hall and told the mayor he wanted to reach Castam to find someone.
• The mayor offered Duanmu Huai passage through the blockade if he completed a task for him.

Duanmu Huai rescued Lola from a cavern, only to discover she had chosen to stay with a furry monster that claimed to love her. On the way back, he defeated a demon named Satra and her stone servants, then took an injured ninja girl with them after Satra escaped.

• Duanmu Huai and his companions found Lola in a staged-looking cavern with a furry creature named Xiao Wu, who claimed they were lovers rather than captor and captive.
• Duanmu Huai tested Xiao Wu’s devotion by threatening Lola, and Xiao Wu fled when Duanmu Huai raised his Chainsaw Sword; Okegis then killed the creature.
• On the way down the mountain, Duanmu Huai found an injured purple-haired ninja being pursued by the red-haired demon Satra, who demanded the ninja’s Holy Armament.
• Duanmu Huai killed Satra’s stone servants Caesar and Isis, then shattered Satra’s Invincible Barrier with his Thunder Warhammer and struck her down.
• Satra teleported away, the ninja collapsed unconscious, and Duanmu Huai decided to take her back with the group.

After Kento Kaname explained that Herman had seized Lisass with help from a Majin, Duanmu Huai agreed to investigate and help Princess Lia. At Rajel, he confronted Herman soldiers and attacked them when they tried to seize him, leaving their mustached commander in his grasp as he demanded to know whether Herman had allied with demons.

• Kento Kaname told Duanmu Huai that Herman had captured Lisass’s capital with help from the Majin Satra and begged him to rescue Princess Lia.
• Duanmu Huai decided to investigate because Herman’s alliance with a Majin might constitute collusion with demons.
• Duanmu Huai and his companions traveled toward Rajel, where Herman soldiers declared the city occupied and barred entry.
• Duanmu Huai asked the soldiers whether Herman had allied with demons, but a mustached officer ordered them to seize him.
• Duanmu Huai knocked the soldiers aside with his warhammer and grabbed the mustached officer, demanding an answer.

Duanmu Huai interrogated and killed Sapphire, an Apostle who had aided the Herman Army, then learned that Barton Herman commanded the campaign from Lisas Royal City. He and his companions continued onward, with Princess Lia’s condition still uncertain.

• Duanmu Huai killed the mustached Herman Army man after Sapphire claimed the demons were merely taking what they needed.
• Sapphire identified herself as an Apostle of Azeru, and Duanmu Huai attacked her as a heretic; he endured her Blue Destruction Ray and captured her.
• Duanmu Huai used his Aura of Fear to break Sapphire’s resistance and learned that Satra, Azeru, and Nos were assisting the Herman Army under orders from Barton Herman.
• Sapphire said Barton Herman was at Lisas Royal City and that Princess Lia was probably still alive, but she knew little else.
• Duanmu Huai snapped Sapphire’s neck, burned her corpse with Black Blazing Flame, and returned to the Electromagnetic Rhinoceros to continue forward.

Duanmu Huai helped turn the battle in Rajel against the Hermann forces and rescued Mitchiru Tiba Rajel from Hermann soldiers. With her father, the city governor, missing after going to the battlefield, he left Mitchiru to take charge of the city’s recovery.

• Maria learned that Hermann and Lisass soldiers had begun fighting in Rajel, giving Castam’s remaining forces hope.
• Duanmu Huai entered Rajel, announced that he had killed the Hermann battalion commander and Sapphire, and prompted the Hermann soldiers to flee.
• Duanmu Huai and Kento Kaname searched the governor’s mansion for the city’s ruler.
• Duanmu Huai killed Hermann soldiers who were assaulting a girl, then explained to Okegis why their actions were wrong.
• The girl introduced herself as Mitchiru Tiba Rajel and revealed that her father, the city governor, had gone to the battlefield and was missing.
• Duanmu Huai told Mitchiru that she was the only one left who could deal with the city’s crisis.

After helping Rajel’s allies defeat the Hermann forces, Duanmu Huai met Maria Castard and discovered her talent for mechanical engineering. He offered her Leman Russ Tank blueprints as a test of her ability and a path into the Inquisition, and Maria accepted, delaying the planned advance on Red to build the tank.

• Maria Castard explained how Duanmu Huai’s defeat of Sapphire freed four thousand Lisass soldiers from brainwashing, allowing them to drive the Hermann Army out of Rajel with help from Castam’s forces.
• The gathered commanders agreed to rest briefly, then advance on Free City Red before the Hermann Army could recover.
• Duanmu Huai spoke with Maria at her factory, where she showed him the Tulip No. 3, a tank she had designed to fight the Hermann Army.
• Duanmu Huai offered Maria the Leman Russ Tank blueprints and manufacturing data in exchange for joining the Inquisition if she could build the tank.
• Maria accepted the deal and announced that the attack on Red would be postponed for a month so she could build the Leman Russ Tank.

After Princess Lia publicly announced her engagement to Prince Barton and urged Lisass to stop fighting, Kento Kaname decided to seek Duanmu Huai’s help rescuing her from the demonfolk. The chapter ended with Duanmu Huai waking beside a battered, naked Kento Kaname and wondering what had happened during the night.

• Mitchiru brought Duanmu Huai to the Liberation Front Headquarters, where they watched Princess Lia announce her engagement to Prince Barton and call for an end to the fighting.
• Kento Kaname and others suspected that Lia had been forced or brainwashed, while Duanmu Huai noted that the princess had appeared sincere.
• After the Free City Alliance focused on reclaiming its territory and Bares and Rick went to calm their soldiers, Duanmu Huai returned to rest.
• Kento Kaname decided that Duanmu Huai was the only person who could defeat the demonfolk and rescue Lia, then secretly entered his room that night.
• Duanmu Huai woke to find Kento Kaname lying beside him, naked and covered in marks, and wondered whether he had slept with her while unconscious.

After Kento Kaname asked Duanmu Huai to rescue Princess Lia from Lisass Royal City, he agreed on the condition that she become his retainer. Duanmu Huai then left for Lisass with Kento Kaname, while Yue Hua Sha and Okegis stayed behind to assist the Liberation Front.

• Duanmu Huai woke beside Kento Kaname and learned from Okegis that Kento had come into his room during the night.
• Kento Kaname asked Duanmu Huai to rescue Princess Lia, whom she believed the Majin had brainwashed.
• Duanmu Huai noticed a new Special Divine Office Mission and agreed to help Kento Kaname if she became his retainer.
• Duanmu Huai told Bares, Rick, and Maria he planned to go to Lisass, and they accepted his plan.
• Duanmu Huai brought Kento Kaname toward Lisass and left Yue Hua Sha and Okegis behind to help the Liberation Front.

Duanmu Huai and Kento Kaname infiltrated Lisass Royal City and learned that Princess Lia would marry Prince Barton in three months, while Herman’s succession struggle delayed the invasion. To reach Lia through an arena tournament, they planned to investigate the kidnappings that could earn them entry to the Inner City.

• Duanmu Huai used his concealment and climbed the city wall to enter Lisass Royal City with Kento Kaname.
• Duanmu Huai sensed a faint demonic presence in the city while Kento Kaname scouted its streets.
• Kento Kaname reported that Princess Lia was due to marry Prince Barton in three months and that factions in Herman opposed Barton’s alliance with the Majin.
• Kento Kaname learned that Lia planned an arena tournament in the Inner City, but Duanmu Huai needed a pass to enter.
• Kento Kaname suggested investigating the disappearances of girls and noble daughters to earn a pass from the nobles, and Duanmu Huai headed for the Adventurers Guild.

Duanmu Huai passed the Adventurers Guild’s assessment by rescuing Miss Palpatinex from a thieves’ den. After learning that adventurers investigating missing noble girls had disappeared, he accepted a commission that could lead him into the Royal Castle’s secrets.

• Duanmu Huai took the Guild’s assessment commission to rescue Miss Palpatinex. Flanders, who had been abducted by the Thieves Guild.
• Duanmu Huai fought through the thieves while Kento Kaname searched for the kidnapped girl.
• Duanmu Huai broke into the bandit chief’s room, where Kento Kaname freed Miss Palpatinex and the chief was killed by the fallen door.
• Duanmu Huai returned Miss Palpatinex to the Adventurers Guild and completed his assessment.
• The Guild clerk told Duanmu Huai that girls, including noble daughters, had gone missing and that adventurers investigating had disappeared.
• Duanmu Huai accepted the commission and took a pass allowing him to enter the Inner City.

Duanmu Huai and Kento Kaname discussed the suspicious kidnappings of noble girls and agreed to investigate Paris Academy and the Inner City. Duanmu Huai entered the Inner City to look for Princess Lia, but learned she would not attend the Colosseum competition.

• Duanmu Huai and Kento Kaname suspected the kidnappings were connected to Paris Academy because many missing girls were its students.
• Duanmu Huai asked Kento Kaname to investigate Paris Academy while he checked the Inner City.
• Duanmu Huai entered the Inner City and saw its heavy guard presence and apparently brainwashed Lisass soldiers.
• Duanmu Huai went to the Colosseum hoping to find Princess Lia, but a spectator told him she would not come to watch the competition.