Chapter Summaries

Duanmu Huai, Mary, and Lorena fought through the Man-Serpent guards and reached an underground temple where Snake God Yig attacked them. Duanmu Huai shattered Yig’s stone serpent form and confronted the god directly, ending the chapter as he charged into battle.

• Mary and Lorena killed the Man-Serpent guards while Duanmu Huai urged them onward.
• Duanmu Huai, Mary, and Lorena entered an underground hall filled with Man-Serpent relics and a gigantic stone snake statue.
• The statue released a swarm of snakes, but Duanmu Huai stopped them with a roar and called out Yig.
• Duanmu Huai unleashed Black Flame, burned the attacking snakes, and smashed the stone serpent into the pillar.
• Yig emerged from the rubble and threatened Duanmu Huai, who declared his intent to destroy the Snake God and charged at him.

Duanmu Huai defeated and killed Snake God Yig in a brutal close-combat fight, then discovered that the Man-Serpents were dying from the shock of their god’s death. He received the Echo of the Great Old One and the Omen of Epolietta skill, whose effects remained unknown.

• Duanmu Huai and Yig exchanged poisoned and curse-infused blows as both tested the other's strength.
• Duanmu Huai charged through Yig’s attack and battered him with a barrage of punches.
• Duanmu Huai stopped time and punched through Yig’s chest, killing him as Black Flame reduced his body to ash.
• The Man-Serpents emerged from their cocoons in agony and killed themselves after their god died.
• Duanmu Huai sent puppets to search for survivors, reassured Lorena and Mary, and received the Omen of Epolietta skill.

After killing Snake God Yig, Duanmu Huai arranged for the ruins to be excavated and tested his new tentacle ability. He then went to Yellowstone Park, where he unexpectedly drew the sealed Deus Ex Machina card from the Foundation and fled as its alarms sounded.

• Duanmu Huai cleared the underground ruins, discovered the diary explaining how the slave trader’s tunnel reached the Man-Serpents, and reported that Snake God Yig had been eliminated.
• Duanmu Huai arranged for Professor Parmal to excavate the ruins and secured recognition for Mary as their first discoverer.
• Duanmu Huai experimented with the Omen of Epolietta, discovering that he could transform parts of his body into tentacles.
• Duanmu Huai traveled to Yellowstone Park and repeatedly used Blood Raven Heart to pull random objects from the Foundation’s underground base.
• Duanmu Huai obtained the sealed Legendary Soul Card Deus Ex Machina, triggering the Foundation’s alarm, and disappeared into the darkness.

Duanmu Huai unsealed the Deus Ex Machina card and discovered its powerful effect, but could not awaken its follower because the required conditions were unmet. After learning that a Reaper advance fleet would arrive in three months, he ordered preparations to slow the invasion and warned the Systems Alliance.

• Duanmu Huai released Deus Ex Machina's seal and gained an effect that reduced Warp Space Heat consumption whenever he played a Creations card.
• Duanmu Huai summoned Deus Ex Machina, but a system warning said its awakening conditions were unmet, so he put the card away.
• Mia reported that a Reaper advance fleet of about fifteen thousand ships would arrive in three months, while the Inquisition Fleet had about eight thousand five hundred warships.
• Duanmu Huai ordered Rumiere to invite pro-alien human factions into Reaper territory so the Reapers would eliminate them.
• Duanmu Huai told Li Longcheng about the Reapers and advised the Systems Alliance to destroy Mass Relays to delay their advance, offering Star Gates as an alternative transport network.

Duanmu Huai settled his missions, opened six disappointing Soul Chests, and gained the Old God title and traits after killing Yig. Meanwhile, Li Longcheng’s Systems Alliance warned the Citadel Council that the Reapers would arrive in three months, then withdrew to prepare for war, leaving the Alliance to rely on the Inquisition.

• Duanmu Huai settled his missions and received 320 soul points, with Dark City earning an S rating and the other missions receiving lower ratings.
• Duanmu Huai spent points on six Soul Chests and received a crowbar, cigarettes, a lighter, a fruit knife, a blank diary, and an ivory die.
• The system granted Duanmu Huai the Old God title and the Sanity Loss and Past Vision traits for killing Snake God Yig.
• Representative Hackett told the Citadel Council that the Reapers would arrive in three months and announced that the Systems Alliance would withdraw, seal its borders, and destroy connected Mass Relays.
• Hackett cited the Council’s dismissal of Shepard’s warnings as he refused to promise Alliance aid, while Li Longcheng prepared to rely on the Inquisition.

The Reapers bypassed the Citadel races’ Mass Relay defenses and began harvesting their homeworlds, while the Systems Alliance watched the overwhelming assault and prepared for the Reapers’ arrival. On the Turian homeworld, Duanmu Huai unleashed Blood Moon Corpse Mutants against the Reapers’ Corpse Puppets, beginning a brutal contest between the two forces.

• The Systems Alliance sealed the Mass Relays and prepared for the Reapers after warning the public about the coming invasion.
• The Reapers bypassed the Citadel races’ relay blockades, attacked their homeworlds, and destroyed Turian ships with ease.
• Li Longcheng and Admiral Hackett watched the Reapers’ attack and discussed the time they had to prepare before the fleet arrived.
• Duanmu Huai reached the ruined Turian homeworld and learned that the Reapers were using Corpse Puppets made from the dead.
• Duanmu Huai activated Sphere of Blasphemy, raised Corpse Mutants from the fallen Turians, and sent them to attack the Reapers.

The Reapers and newly appearing Corpse Mutants devastated the Turian homeworld as Duanmu Huai used a stele to fuse the mutants into a gigantic Blood Moon. The Blood Moon attacked the Reapers, while Duanmu Huai wondered why his system reported that numerous strangers had gone insane after sensing his will.

• Turian soldiers discovered that mutated Turians could survive devastating injuries, infect victims, and turn them into more Corpse Mutants.
• General Moran learned that millions of Turians had transformed, then his adjutant Lawrence killed him after proclaiming devotion to the God of Destruction.
• Duanmu Huai commanded the stele to merge the gathered Corpse Mutants and debris into a massive, Moon-like Blood Moon.
• Several Reaper warships attacked the Blood Moon, which struck back with its enormous tentacles.
• Duanmu Huai judged the Blood Moon promising for fighting the Tyranid, then found system messages reporting that Lawrence, Bress, and many others had gone insane after sensing his will.

Duanmu Huai’s Blood Moon strategy helped destroy a third of the Reaper fleet and nearly wiped out the Citadel species, bringing humanity closer to a direct confrontation with the Reapers. Meanwhile, Mary visited the Inquisition flagship to share her newly published novel, whose portrayal of Duanmu Huai left its readers surprised by how restrained it seemed.

• Duanmu Huai used the Blood Moon to draw Reaper fleets into concentrated attacks, then detonated stars with the Myriad Eagle Battleship to destroy the fleets and the surrounding star systems.
• Duanmu Huai reduced the Reaper fleet by a third and prepared for humanity’s direct confrontation with the remaining Reapers.
• Mary arrived at the Inquisition flagship and met Princess Ann, Princess Gureiya, Felin, Lorena, and Okegis.
• Mary told Lorena that her first novel had been published and explained how its editor had pushed her to make Duanmu Huai’s character more fearsome.
• Lorena, Ann, and Gureiya read Mary’s novel and agreed that its version of Duanmu Huai seemed gentler than he was in real life.

Mary learned why Ann and Gureiya had become Duanmu Huai's fiancées, as Ann described the disastrous secrets she had discovered about her handsome arranged suitors. Duanmu Huai then summoned the women to the bridge because their visitors had nearly arrived.

• Ann told Mary that she and Gureiya were Duanmu Huai's fiancées and warned her not to judge men by their looks.
• Ann recounted discovering that Kevin secretly visited the elderly Knight Commander with unusual equipment, while another suitor enjoyed dressing as a woman and admiring himself.
• Ann praised Duanmu Huai for his good temper and exciting adventures, while Gureiya and Ann discussed Lia's assertive behavior.
• Duanmu Huai entered the room and told the women to get ready to go to the bridge.
• Ann eagerly agreed to join Duanmu Huai and watch the arriving visitors.

The Systems Alliance and the Inquisition fought the Reaper fleet before the First District Defense Line, while Duanmu Huai and his companions watched from his flagship. The battle continued as Reaper numbers and ammunition shortages strained the defenders, and Duanmu Huai remained at the controls of the fleet.

• General Kislev received word that 3,800 Reaper ships were approaching and ordered the Systems Alliance fleet to prepare for battle.
• The Inquisition opened fire on the Reapers, and Kislev then led the Systems Alliance fleet into the fight.
• Duanmu Huai’s group watched the battle, while Ann cheered and Mary stood frozen with fear.
• The Reapers attempted to bypass the defenders, but an Inquisition Patrol Fleet intercepted them; the Fifth and Seventh Fleets remained on patrol to protect human systems.
• After the defenders destroyed tens of thousands of Reapers, the Systems Alliance’s First Fleet neared collapse as ships ran out of ammunition.
• Ann asked to join the battle, but Duanmu Huai told her to rest if she was tired and stayed to control the fleet; after a Reaper attack struck their Void Shield, Ann decided to keep watching.

As the Reapers attacked across multiple star systems, Duanmu Huai arranged for Rumiere to build a Signal Amplifier from the Mantle's Approach so she could breach the Reaper network. He and Mary entered the network to attack its core while the Inquisition Fleet defended the amplifier, and their connection began as a beam of light shot into space.

• Duanmu Huai learned that Rumiere needed a warship-sized Signal Amplifier to infiltrate the Reapers' control network, so he ordered Kukulu and Maria to transform the Mantle's Approach.
• Rumiere gave Duanmu Huai a key to the Reaper network and proposed projecting his consciousness into its core, with Mary as his partner because of her Gold Eye.
• Duanmu Huai left fleet command to Mia and ordered the flagship to separate from the Mantle's Approach and protect the Signal Amplifier.
• The Spark transformed the Mantle's Approach into an awkward-looking amplifier, prompting Ann, Gureiya, and Ling Nu to react with amusement and embarrassment.
• Duanmu Huai and Mary entered connection pods, and Rumiere began uploading their consciousnesses into the Reaper network as the amplifier sent a beam into space.

Duanmu Huai and Mary entered the Reaper Network, where Mary used her Gold Eye to guide them to the central core and Duanmu Huai confronted Catalyst. Mary destroyed the core with the Virus Dagger, and the network began to change as the golden beams turned black.

• Rumiere gave Duanmu Huai a Virus Dagger and explained that they had entered a Reaper communications hub.
• Mary followed golden light visible to her Gold Eye, guiding Duanmu Huai past firewalls and hidden routes to the central control system.
• Duanmu Huai and Mary encountered Catalyst, who explained that the Reapers harvested advanced civilizations to prevent synthetic life from destroying organic life.
• Catalyst summoned Xenomorphs to stop them, so Duanmu Huai fought the attackers while Mary ran toward the core.
• Mary dodged the Xenomorphs' attacks, reached the central core, and drove the Virus Dagger into its multifaceted sphere.
• The dagger shattered, but Rumiere confirmed that it had worked as the network shook and its golden beams turned black.

Duanmu Huai destroyed the Reaper control core, ending the war and leaving most alien species extinct while humanity survived. After celebrating with Mary and the Inquisition, he received the God of Destruction’s new divine power and the Instant Kill Mortal skill.

• Duanmu Huai and Mary watched the Reaper Network collapse, and Duanmu Huai destroyed the Catalyst after rejecting its argument about humanity’s future.
• The Reapers lost power and the war ended, with the Systems Alliance and the Inquisition victorious but most alien races wiped out.
• The Systems Alliance and Duanmu Huai held celebrations, where Mary struggled to believe she had helped save humanity.
• Duanmu Huai told Mary about the Inquisition’s past world-saving missions and sent her to join the others.
• Duanmu Huai completed the mission and gained Intermediate Divine Power and the once-daily Instant Kill Mortal skill.

After the Reaper battle, Duanmu Huai sought capable fleet commanders for the Inquisition and tested Officer Academy students in a brutal Tyranid simulation. He discovered that Echote Marius, the academy valedictorian, had survived the challenge with brilliant tactics and set out to recruit her.

• Duanmu Huai realized his fleet lacked commanders and discussed the loyalty risks of recruiting officers from other worlds.
• Ling Nu suggested searching the Officer Academy, so Duanmu Huai gave her a modified VR simulator to find promising candidates.
• Ling Nu returned a week later with the results, and Duanmu Huai watched the top candidate defeat the Tyranids using long-range fire, careful calculations, evacuations, and scorched-earth tactics.
• Ling Nu identified the candidate as Echote Marius, a debt-ridden commoner and the academy valedictorian whose strategist level was LV2.
• Duanmu Huai ordered Echote brought to him, then decided to go find her himself.

Duanmu Huai tested Echote Marius’s military skills in fleet battles and was repeatedly defeated by her balanced, adaptable tactics. Impressed, he invited her to join the Inquisition, and Echote accepted, though he hinted that her induction training would be unusual.

• Ling Nu brought Echote Marius to meet Duanmu Huai, who learned she was the Officer Academy’s top student and had defeated the Tyranids during a test.
• Duanmu Huai challenged Echote to a fleet battle and lost while controlling the Eldar, Space Necrons, and Tau.
• Duanmu Huai recognized Echote’s steady, versatile command style and reassured her when she apologized for beating him.
• Duanmu Huai invited Echote to join the Inquisition and urged her to stop belittling herself.
• Echote gathered her courage and accepted the invitation, and Duanmu Huai promised her induction training.

Duanmu Huai briefed the girls on a politically fractured star system where humans fought among themselves while aliens threatened them, then tasked Echote with organizing a fleet for the Inquisition’s mission. He recalled how players had turned the world’s wars into battles between big ships, mechas, and power-armored fighters, and the group prepared to see what awaited them there.

• Ann and the others eagerly asked Duanmu Huai about the New World, and he explained its rival human factions, genetically modified people, and alien threats.
• Duanmu Huai said the Inquisition would eliminate alien Xenomorphs and kill any humans who attacked them.
• Duanmu Huai ordered Echote to organize a fleet and explained that the world’s forces mainly fought with spacefaring mechas rather than warships.
• Duanmu Huai recalled players fighting over big ships and mechas, with some power-armored players dismantling mechas by hand.
• Duanmu Huai favored big ships and heavy guns, noting that their Void Shields could let them destroy mecha carriers and leave their units stranded.

Duanmu Huai and his companions entered the New World through a Spacequake and discovered a human conflict in space and a planet with signs of civilization. He ordered Echote to establish a nearby base so they could investigate the planet.

• Duanmu Huai accepted Echote’s versatile fleet plan and led the assembled group through a Spacequake into the New World.
• Echote’s scouts found a cylindrical space station and a green planet, and the group watched green mechs attack the station.
• Duanmu Huai refused to intervene in the human conflict unless either side involved Demons, Xenomorphs, or other inhuman forces.
• A black figure with a lightsaber destroyed the attacking mechs before a white warship rescued it and departed.
• Duanmu Huai spotted a gigantic tree on the green planet and ordered Echote to establish a nearby base before they investigated.

Duanmu Huai and the girls arrived at a peaceful world and explored a nearby town, but a rift suddenly opened in the sky and a horde of dragons attacked. Gureiya brought the dragons down with her Dragon Shout, and Duanmu Huai led a group to confront them while the others defended the town.

• The girls admired the world’s peaceful scenery, and Ling Nu reported that a nearby town was safe.
• Duanmu Huai stayed behind while the girls explored the town, where Lorena explained that Okegis was jealous of Mary.
• A rift opened in the sky, and a huge black dragon and a group of dragons emerged and charged toward the town.
• Gureiya used Dragon Soul Tear to make the dragons plummet from the sky.
• Duanmu Huai ordered Lorena, Mary, and Shizuka to protect the town, then charged toward the dragons’ landing site with Ann, Gureiya, and Okegis.

Duanmu Huai defeated a giant dragon, then discovered that the fallen Dragons had been women transformed from humans who claimed to come from another world. After they fled through a closing Singularity, a group of STMC monsters appeared and advanced toward a town, while a warship arrived to confront them.

• Duanmu Huai killed the giant dragon with his warhammer after Okegis and Ann restrained it.
• Duanmu Huai found the Dragon Group transformed into frightened women, and one woman claimed they were true humans from another world and accused Gureiya of betraying her people.
• The woman warned that the Singularity had stayed open too long as Lia reported an unknown life-form approaching.
• An enormous insectoid STMC and several smaller monsters appeared, and the women transformed into pink Dragons and escaped through the closing Singularity.
• Duanmu Huai ordered his group to attack the STMC as the monsters advanced toward a town.
• A woman captain aboard a black warship ordered her crew to deploy against the STMC.

After the Minerva joined Duanmu Huai and his companions in fighting the Universe Monsters, a second wave threatened to overwhelm the mobile suits. Duanmu Huai destroyed the monsters with orbital bombardment, and Talia Kulaudis opened negotiations with the Inquisition for help.

• Talia Kulaudis learned that the Minerva had been displaced by a spacequake and needed repairs, then watched human-sized fighters battle Universe Monsters with magic and brute strength.
• Talia ordered the Minerva's units to sortie and help Duanmu Huai's group defeat the first wave of monsters.
• Duanmu Huai and his companions let the mobile suits handle much of the battle, and the Minerva's pilots defeated the last of the first wave.
• A new force of nearly a hundred Universe Monsters appeared, so Duanmu Huai ordered Rumiere to destroy them with orbital bombardment after the mobile suits withdrew.
• Duanmu Huai introduced himself as Grand Inquisitor aboard a massive cathedral-covered warship, and Talia asked to speak with him about the Minerva's situation.