Chapter Summaries

Duanmu Huai refused the Kara Clan’s invitation and hurried to O.J. after Ling Nu reported that Oda Nobunaga was claiming to be the Sixth Heaven Demon King. He attacked the battlefield to test his Sphere of Blasphemy, raising the dead to fight the Oda Clan’s Demonic Army.

• Duanmu Huai declined Igis’s invitation, and the group left Kara Village for O.J.
• Ling Nu returned from scouting and reported that Oda Nobunaga was conquering O.J. with a Monster Army and seemed impossible to injure.
• Duanmu Huai changed plans and took the group to O.J. aboard Sky City.
• Duanmu Huai spotted fighting between human forces and the Monster Army near the territory of the Asakura Clan and the Uesugi Clan.
• Duanmu Huai leaped into the battlefield and activated Sphere of Blasphemy, raising the corpses as Corpse Mutants to attack the Oda Clan’s Demonic Army.

Duanmu Huai used the Blood Moon to rout the Monster Army and learned that Demon King Nobunaga had conquered much of O.J. while searching for a mysterious gourd. He led Uesugi Lianxin and his companions toward Oda territory to confront Nobunaga, and Ling Nu spotted an Oda castle ahead.

• Duanmu Huai summoned the Blood Moon, which swept up and devoured the monsters until the rest fled.
• Uesugi Lianxin and Asakura Yoshikage told Duanmu Huai that Nobunaga had massacred the Tenchi Sect, conquered much of O.J., and sought a gourd guarded by the Uesugi Clan.
• Uesugi Lianxin explained that the allied clans had suffered heavy losses fighting Nobunaga, who appeared to possess an Invincible Barrier.
• Duanmu Huai decided to attack Oda territory and kill Nobunaga, then set out aboard the Sky City with Uesugi Lianxin and his companions.
• As they passed ruined villages and Monster Army troops, Uesugi Lianxin asked Duanmu Huai if he was the hero rumored to have killed the Demon King and the Majin.
• Ling Nu pointed out an Oda Clan castle ahead.

Duanmu Huai, Uesugi Lianxin, and Ling Nu dropped into Oda Castle to find Oda Nobunaga, but learned that the majin Xavier had taken over Nobunaga and left to undo a seal. Ling Nu rescued the sick Oda Kaori, and the group returned to Sky City just before the Drop Pod destroyed the castle.

• Duanmu Huai took Uesugi Lianxin and Ling Nu down from Sky City in a Drop Pod, crashing through Oda Castle's dome.
• Uesugi Lianxin identified the fat, big-eared man as someone other than their target, and Duanmu Huai struck him down before killing a woman who ambushed him.
• Duanmu Huai interrogated the fat, big-eared man, who revealed that the majin Xavier had possessed Oda Nobunaga and was away undoing a seal after collecting the seven fragments of his Demon Blood Soul.
• Duanmu Huai killed the fat, big-eared man, while Ling Nu returned with the unconscious Oda Kaori, Nobunaga's sick younger sister.
• Duanmu Huai opened a Teleportation Gate to Sky City, and he, Uesugi Lianxin, and Ling Nu escaped as the Drop Pod exploded and obliterated Oda Castle.

Ann urged Gureiya to build ties with the Inquisition by bringing Regnis’s marginalized Dragonkin there, offering them a safer future and strengthening Gureiya’s position. As the girls spent the day aboard the Inquisition ship, Mia detected a small unverified spacecraft approaching, apparently carrying surviving Space Pirates whose target was Steel Hammer.

• Ann and Gureiya discussed their upcoming practical exam exemptions, and Ann proposed letting Manarian students join Inquisition operations to gain experience.
• Ann suggested Gureiya bring Regnis’s Dragonkin to the Inquisition, where they could be accepted as demi-humans, and Gureiya agreed to consider it.
• True Clever began livestreaming a tour of the Inquisition after getting permission from Big Brother.
• Ann and Gureiya visited the library, where they found Ranni studying and several others reading or working.
• Gureiya went to the Command Room, where Mia reported that an unverified spacecraft had entered the Inquisition’s star domain and was likely carrying surviving Space Pirates targeting Steel Hammer.

A Turian pirate captain led his crew aboard the apparently unguarded Planet Cracking Ship Steel Hammer, hoping to seize it as leverage against the Inquisition. The ship seemed deserted, and a hidden presence began picking off the intruders as the captain searched for a way to control it.

• The Turian captain disguised his pirates as a damaged Systems Alliance transport and requested assistance from Steel Hammer.
• The pirates landed on the ship, found the pad and bridge empty, and discovered that its doors were unlocked.
• The crew realized Barry, the Krogan mercenary guarding their rear, had vanished without a sound.
• The captain ordered the human crewman to search nearby compartments for the command card needed to access the controls.
• The human crewman found an empty, running shower and saw a twisted figure behind him in the metal wall’s reflection.
• The figure slammed the human crewman into the bathtub, where scalding water killed him, and the hatch sealed his corpse inside.

Duanmu Huai learned that Oda Nobunaga had once stayed at Honnō-ji Temple and marched to confront the resurrected Majin. Majin Nobunaga mistook Duanmu Huai for the Demon King and offered to serve him, but Duanmu Huai attacked him in fury.

• Oda Kaori told Uesugi Lianxin that Majin Nobunaga had stayed at Honnō-ji Temple while seeking treatment, and a messenger reported that his army was approaching.
• Duanmu Huai faced the Monster Army alone, summoning dolls and Corpse Mutants that devastated the monsters and drove Majin Nobunaga into the forest.
• Majin Nobunaga fled to Honnō-ji Temple, decided Duanmu Huai must be the Demon King, and waited there to submit.
• Duanmu Huai entered the temple and heard Majin Nobunaga offer to help enslave humanity, then swung his warhammer at him.

After defeating Demon King Nobunaga, Duanmu Huai returned to Lisass and learned that the AL Cult had declared the Inquisition heretical and ordered his arrest. He discovered the campaign was tied to the Pope Election, while Bishop Oz and Hermann’s Prime Minister Stisser plotted against him and planned to use the crisis to strengthen their own power.

• Ling Nu, Shizuka, and Magica laughed at Duanmu Huai after Ling Nu recounted how a Majin had mistaken him for the Demon King.
• Duanmu Huai’s victory over Demon King Nobunaga left O.J divided among the Asakura, Uesugi, and Hojo clans, and Lia offered O.J reconstruction aid in exchange for vassalage to Lisass.
• Lia told Duanmu Huai that the AL Cult had declared the Inquisition heretical and demanded his arrest, while Hermann supported the order and Zeth and Lisass refused to cooperate.
• Lia proposed that Lisass and Zeth join forces against Hermann, and Duanmu Huai learned the AL Cult’s campaign was connected to the upcoming Pope Election.
• Bishop Oz revealed that he had targeted Duanmu Huai to improve his chances of becoming Pope, and he had allied with Prime Minister Stisser in exchange for helping Hermann stabilize its rule.
• Prime Minister Stisser dismissed the threat of a Zeth-Lisass coalition and vowed that Hermann would defeat them and reunify the world.

Duanmu Huai decided to intervene in Herman’s unrest by backing the rebels and bringing the Inquisition’s Night Watch. Ann, Gureiya, Lia, Magica, and Shizuka each gathered forces from their realms, leaving Herman facing a coalition led by the Inquisition.

• Duanmu Huai chose to deal with Herman first because Oz Bishop’s order did not represent the entire AL Cult, and he planned to support a rebel army against Herman’s rulers.
• Duanmu Huai decided to deploy around ten Night Watch knights, while Ann offered a Manarian magic force and Gureiya offered a Dragonkin unit.
• Duanmu Huai accepted offers from Lia and Magica to send units from Lisass and Zeth, and asked Maria to observe the mechanized army.
• Ann gathered Manaria Academy graduates led by Hanna, while Gureiya recruited Dragonkin from Regnis and Lia sent her personal guards.
• Magica obtained a Magic Guard unit from Gandhi King, and Shizuka brought a logistics unit from the Free City Alliance, completing the coalition assembled under Duanmu Huai.

Duanmu Huai hosted a banquet aboard the Inquisition’s flagship to welcome representatives supporting his operation in Herman. He met the newly arrived leaders and learned that Gureiya had struggled to recruit Dragonkin allies, while Copandon planned to profit from Herman’s financial collapse.

• Duanmu Huai welcomed Hanna, who had graduated from Manaria and was leading Princess Gureiya’s personal guard for the coming battle.
• Duanmu Huai comforted Gureiya after she admitted that only a few Dragonkin had accepted her invitation, then met the one-winged sisters Lumiere and Argent.
• Kilty Sharp introduced herself as captain of Lia’s personal guard and privately resolved to assess Duanmu Huai’s strength.
• Uluze thanked Duanmu Huai for helping Zeth begin to improve and explained that the Gandhi King had sent her to support the operation in Herman.
• Shizuka introduced Copandon Dot, who said she was supplying the team and shorting Herman’s financial market in hopes of profiting from the resistance operation.

Duanmu Huai activated the Inquisition’s enormous Steel Giant and its machinery as Herman’s Fourth Army watched from the southern border. Commander Nero ordered his fifty thousand soldiers to charge the approaching force, ignoring Krim’s warnings.

• Duanmu Huai ordered Maria to start the machinery, and she rang the great bell three times to awaken the Steel Giant.
• Nero Capet VII boasted that his fifty thousand soldiers could defeat Lisass and Zeth, while Krim warned that invading them could provoke a counterattack.
• The ground shook, and Krim spotted a towering Steel Giant bearing an Inquisition cathedral, followed by self-propelled Steel Chariots.
• Krim identified the approaching force as a likely Inquisition weapon and urged Nero to warn the Council and defend the city.
• Nero rejected Krim’s advice and ordered the Fourth Army to charge the Steel Giant.

Duanmu Huai led the Inquisition’s overwhelming armored force against Herman to crush the AL Cult’s influence and demonstrate the Inquisition’s power. After the Fourth Army was devastated and Nero fled, Adjutant Krim chose to surrender the city to protect its people.

• Duanmu Huai sent Maria to command the armored formation as it advanced on Herman’s Fourth Army.
• The Fourth Army charged, but a Poison Sword Super-Heavy Tank’s Earthquake Bomb devastated its front lines, followed by tank and Valkyrie attacks.
• Nero refused to allow a retreat and ordered the Fourth Army to keep assaulting, while Adjutant Krim secretly ordered the remaining units to withdraw and surrender if needed.
• Nero ordered Krim to defend the southern gate, then hurried away without explaining where he was going.
• Krim opened the southern gate to admit fleeing soldiers and ordered the city to surrender, saying the army had no chance of winning.

After Herman’s Fourth Army surrendered, Duanmu Huai persuaded deputy commander Krim to join the Inquisition in purging Chancellor Stiser’s faction under the banner of protecting the Emperor. Krim accepted the plan, and the chapter ended with her preparing to execute General Nero for fleeing his post.

• Krim told Duanmu Huai she had surrendered to spare her soldiers and civilians, and he offered to cooperate rather than annex Herman.
• Duanmu Huai urged Krim to march on the capital to purge Stiser’s entourage and protect Emperor Shila, framing the campaign as loyal service rather than rebellion.
• Duanmu Huai instructed Krim to maintain strict discipline, protect civilians, and fund the army by confiscating the wealth of Stiser’s collaborators.
• A Night Watch brought the fleeing General Nero before Krim, and she knocked him unconscious after he berated her for surrendering.
• Krim declared that Nero would be publicly beheaded under military law for fleeing battle, then took him away.

Krim and the Inquisition issued proclamations against Chancellor Stiser and Oz Bishop, while the Herman Council struggled to respond to the advancing Fourth Army and Inquisition. As recruitment for the Inquisition grew in Zeth and Lisass, Kierty told Duanmu Huai that they had captured slave traders, and he went to see them.

• Krim executed Nero and announced that the Fourth Army would march to the Imperial Capital to rescue Emperor Shila from Chancellor Stiser and the Council.
• The Inquisition and Fourth Army issued proclamations targeting Oz Bishop and Prime Minister Stisser, respectively, and their accusations caused an uproar across the continent.
• Chancellor Stiser ordered the Second Army to join the Fifth Army against the Inquisition and rebels, despite concerns about weakening the western defensive line.
• Duanmu Huai reviewed reports that believers were joining the Inquisition in Zeth and Lisass, where recruitment was progressing well.
• Kierty told Duanmu Huai that they had captured slave traders and their slaves, and Duanmu Huai asked to see them.

Duanmu Huai ordered the captured slave traders investigated and arranged for a homeless girl and the children with her to join the logistics corps. Meanwhile, Kriolev decided to obey the Council’s order and lead a hundred-thousand-man joint force against the Inquisition and the Fourth Army.

• Kierty reported that patrols had captured slave traders, and Duanmu Huai ordered their leaders interrogated and their buyers investigated.
• Duanmu Huai let the freed captives choose whether to return home, then assigned a girl with nowhere to go to the logistics corps.
• Kriolev and Adjutant Carl discussed soldiers defecting to the Fourth Army and the threat posed by the Inquisition’s mechanical giant.
• Kriolev ordered the First Army to mobilize forty thousand men, alongside fifty thousand from the Second Army and the full Fifth Army, for a decisive battle against the Inquisition and the Fourth Army.

Kaname and Ling Nu fought off spies and assassins while Duanmu Huai’s allies debated how to counter the Council’s planned assault. Duanmu Huai chose to seize Bonn Fortress and rally the cities behind the Loyal Service Army, while Kierty began considering how to win his attention.

• Kaname killed several assassins before Ling Nu appeared and revealed she had been fighting nearby.
• Kaname and Ling Nu discussed the recent influx of spies and assassins, which they linked to the Council’s plans to send three armies against them.
• Krim proposed marching straight to the Royal Capital, but Duanmu Huai explained that its civilians could be used as shields and the Fourth Army could not safely take the city.
• Duanmu Huai proposed capturing Bonn Fortress, then liberating cities in the rear to bring most of Herman’s territory and people to their side.
• Kierty admired Duanmu Huai’s strategic skill and decided to find a way to attract his attention.

Duanmu Huai’s forces launched a surprise night raid on Bonn Fortress using Valkyrie Gunboats, exploiting the defenders’ lack of anti-air defenses. After his troops overwhelmed the garrison and Duanmu Huai confronted the commander, the commander surrendered.

• Kierty warned Duanmu Huai that Lucian appeared to be a disguised noble with healing magic, and he approved transferring her to the personal guard.
• Duanmu Huai organized four assault teams and ordered them to raid Bonn Fortress at night aboard Valkyrie Gunboats.
• Ling Nu and Kaname silently cleared the fortress walls, allowing the gunboats and Duanmu Huai’s troops to enter.
• Duanmu Huai and Kierty attacked the command center and armory while Ann, Gureiya, and Uluze’s forces trapped the defenders and secured the walls.
• Manaria-Dragonkin forces stopped Herman soldiers from setting fire to the supplies, and Duanmu Huai smashed into the commander’s quarters.
• Duanmu Huai demanded the fortress commander surrender, and the commander agreed.

Duanmu Huai’s forces captured Bonn Fortress, and he explained to Lucian why the Resistance Army was fighting while arranging for the Fourth Army to secretly take over the fortress. Meanwhile, Kriolev waited for reinforcements and supplies, unaware of the attack, and worried that the Fifth Army had not reported in.

• Duanmu Huai rescued Lucian from a fortress soldier and led her through the aftermath of the battle.
• Duanmu Huai told Lucian that the Resistance Army fought because Herman’s common people faced poverty and exploitation, while the Inquisition considered the attack by Herman and the AL Cult grounds for retaliation.
• Duanmu Huai ordered Ling Nu to tell Krim to send troops from the Fourth Army to take over Bonn Fortress before dawn, and Lucian rejoined Kierty’s unit to treat the wounded.
• Kriolev learned from Adjutant Carl that the Second Army’s reinforcements were at least three days away and that supplies were running low.
• Kriolev reflected that the Council had exposed his forces and was withholding supplies to force a quick, costly victory, then worried that the Fifth Army had not reported in.

Kriolev received the Council’s order to take Bonn Fortress and hold it against the advancing Inquisition, abandoning his original plan to intercept them. Duanmu Huai explained that the Council’s political fears had forced Kriolev’s hand and prepared to welcome the First Army.

• Kriolev learned that the Inquisition’s Steel Giant, five Steel Chariots, and five thousand Fourth Army soldiers were advancing toward Bonn Fortress.
• Commander-in-Chief Kaichak ordered the First Army to take Bonn Fortress and defend it at all costs, so Kriolev prepared to depart.
• Ling Nu and Kaname reported the First Army’s movement to Kierty and Uluze, who were surprised that Kriolev had taken the initiative.
• Duanmu Huai explained that the Council, not Kriolev, was their true opponent because political pressure had compelled the general to obey its orders.
• Duanmu Huai ordered everyone to prepare a grand welcome for the approaching First Army.

Kriolev led the First Army to Bonn Fortress, only to find it seized by Duanmu Huai and the Inquisition. After Duanmu Huai declared his challenge against Stiser and the Council, the Council ordered Kriolev to retake the fortress, leaving him feeling like a pawn in their conflict.

• Kriolev marched the First Army to Bonn Fortress despite his soldiers’ wavering loyalty to the Council.
• Duanmu Huai refused Kriolev entry and revealed that the Inquisition had taken control of the fortress.
• Duanmu Huai questioned whom Kriolev and Carl served, then declared he would punish Stiser, Oz Bishop, and their allies.
• Duanmu Huai announced his identity before the First Army and returned to the fortress, leaving Kriolev to recognize that the Council would take the bait.
• The Council ordered Kriolev to retake Bonn Fortress and capture Duanmu Huai alive, and Kriolev reluctantly prepared to attack.

Kriolev launched a desperate assault on Bonn Fortress before the Steel Giant could arrive, but Manaria’s graduates protected the fortress with a powerful magical barrier. As the Herman soldiers charged the walls, a hooded Manarian girl struck a match and summoned dark figures among them.

• Kriolev ordered the First Army to attack Bonn Fortress continuously and sent three thousand soldiers across the Cliff Mountain Range to target enemy supplies.
• The First Army’s fire arrows were stopped by a multicolored barrier covering Bonn Fortress, leaving Kriolev astonished.
• Uluze watched as Manarian mages and graduates prepared to defend the fortress, while Milan warned them not to repeat earlier mistakes.
• Kriolev ordered his soldiers to charge the fortress under cover of the archers.
• At Milan’s instruction, a hooded blonde girl struck a strange match, causing countless pitch-black figures to appear among the advancing Herman army.