Chapter Summaries

Elisara reflected on how Duanmu Huai’s terrifying presence had reignited her emotions and considered bringing him to Ulthuan, while worrying she might soon have to leave. Duanmu Huai and Ann prepared to search for the Warpstones before the evening banquet.

• Elisara recalled Duanmu Huai’s rescue and realized she craved more of the fear and terror he inspired.
• Elisara considered proposing to Duanmu Huai and bringing him to Ulthuan, but worried he would reject her and that other Elves would pursue him.
• Ann told Duanmu Huai that Elisara liked him because she had asked many questions about him.
• Duanmu Huai reminded Ann that she was technically his fiancée and told her not to cause trouble.
• Duanmu Huai planned for them to locate the Warpstones before the banquet so Ann could absorb and neutralize their power.

Duanmu Huai led Ann, Okegis, and the Elven Princess through the royal capital’s sewers to stop a dangerous Warpstone ritual. Ann stabilized the out-of-control magic, but after Duanmu Huai exposed and destroyed a disguised Pink Horror, a large force approached, and he prepared to hold the doorway.

• Duanmu Huai and his companions entered the sewers, where Ann dispelled the magical seal and Duanmu Huai forced open the iron bars.
• At the underground water source, Ann sensed unstable magic that could destroy the royal capital, so Duanmu Huai assigned her to control it while he drew the enemy’s attention.
• Duanmu Huai fought past the guards and found nine Evil God Believers caught in the Warpstone’s out-of-control energy, which their failed ritual had unleashed after he replaced the Warpstone used in their magic circles with ordinary stones.
• Ann used her Magic Book and a spell to stabilize the surging magic, while Duanmu Huai recognized and destroyed a Witch Hunter who transformed into a Pink Horror.
• After the Recon Servo-skull detected many approaching life readings, Duanmu Huai ordered Okegis to protect Ann and took position at the doorway to face them.

At a royal banquet, the First Prince demanded the Holy Relics from his brothers, but the Second Prince exposed his plot to kill their father and revealed that he served God of a Thousand Changes. The First Prince was stabbed, and the Third Prince unleashed a plague across the banquet hall.

• The Second Prince and Third Prince presented Wind God's Scepter and Earth God's Wrath, but the Second Prince demanded to know where the First Prince had hidden Gift of the Water God.
• The First Prince accused the Second Prince of taking Gift of the Water God from Silver City and demanded that he submit.
• The Second Prince revealed that he knew the First Prince had colluded with Northern Lands barbarians to assassinate their father.
• The First Prince's trusted subordinate stabbed him in the back, and the Second Prince confessed that he had served God of a Thousand Changes and manipulated the First Prince.
• The Third Prince rejected the Second Prince's demands, and a roast turkey exploded as the banquet guests became infected by a spreading plague.

Kevin confronted his sons after golden flames destroyed the banquet hall, and the Second Prince explained that he had betrayed the Empire to save it from Chaos by serving the Lord of a Thousand Changes. The Second Prince tried to sacrifice the royal city, but the Chaos power vanished, leaving him unable to control what happened next.

• The First Prince's warhammer unleashed golden flames that burned the banquet hall, killing the guests and leaving the three princes barely alive.
• Kevin arrived with the Forbidden Army, reclaimed the Fire God's Hammer, and revealed his imperial authority to the Second Prince.
• The Second Prince said he had betrayed Kevin because he believed the Empire would be destroyed by Chaos and that serving the Lord of a Thousand Changes could preserve it.
• The Second Prince discarded the Wind God Scepter and used a gemstone to summon the Lord of a Thousand Changes, intending to sacrifice the city.
• The summoned eye and its magical power vanished, and Kevin warned the Second Prince that surrendering his fate to another meant surrendering control of the ending.

Duanmu Huai and his companions destroyed the ritual core beneath Altdorf, ending the Plague Fiends’ assault and foiling the enemy’s plan. After receiving the three remaining Holy Relics from the Emperor, Duanmu Huai returned to the space station with Ann and Okegis to begin its transformation.

• Duanmu Huai used magic to freeze and shatter the attacking Plague Fiends in the sewers while Okegis guarded Ann as she absorbed the ritual’s psychic power into her Magic Book.
• Ann absorbed the last of the psychic power, causing the Warpstone to go dim and shatter; the enemy then stopped attacking, and Duanmu Huai led the group out of the sewers at dawn.
• General Paster later told Duanmu Huai that the curfew had prevented serious damage from the Evil God Believers’ attempted fires, while the Emperor had defeated and executed his three rebellious sons.
• The Emperor gave Duanmu Huai the three remaining Holy Relics they had agreed upon, and Duanmu Huai declined a fief and title.
• The Emperor announced plans to have the Empire’s Elector Counts choose the next Emperor based on support rather than bloodline.
• Duanmu Huai said farewell to the Emperor and returned to the space station with Okegis and Ann.

Duanmuhuai powered up the space station, converted it into a Glory Queen-Class Battleship, and used the Webway to travel alone to a scarlet planet for a Secret Advancement Mission. He left Ann, Kukulu, and the others behind, with Okegis entrusted to watch over the ship.

• Duanmuhuai upgraded the Hall of Inquisition Library, used Super Intelligence to analyze the Antimatter Energy Core, and unlocked the Antimatter Reactor and Hyperdimensional Tunnel Engine.
• The station activated its engine and converted into a Glory Queen-Class Battleship, revealing the Old Ones' Webway routes on its Star Map.
• Duanmuhuai reconnected an intact Webway route and told Ann that his trial would keep him away for at least a few months.
• Ann, Kukulu, and the others returned to their world, while Duanmuhuai asked Okegis to guard the warship.
• Duanmuhuai entered the Webway and arrived at a scarlet planet, where he planned to pursue the Secret Advancement Mission.

Duanmu Huai reviewed the history behind a hidden advanced-class quest that could permanently kill demons, then descended in a Drop Pod into a base consumed by a Warp Space eruption. He fought off corrupted soldiers and a small demon, but their weakness made him suspect stronger threats lay deeper inside.

• Duanmu Huai recalled how the Black Hole Project left human colonies isolated and learned that the hidden advanced class could kill Warp Space demons permanently.
• Duanmu Huai entered a Drop Pod and crashed through the steel base's dome, finding a bloodstained corridor filled with corpses and warning lights.
• Duanmu Huai killed a corrupted human soldier that attacked him from a nearby corner.
• Duanmu Huai charged through gunfire and smashed three mutated soldiers with his warhammer.
• Duanmu Huai crushed a small demon against the wall, then continued forward while wondering whether stronger demons waited ahead.

Dr. Brad watched Duanmu Huai slaughter the demons in the base and recognized him as the warrior depicted on the ancient stone tablets. As Duanmu Huai headed for the Warp Space gateway, Dr. Brad decided to use the teleportation device to send him into Hell.

• Dr. Brad saw Duanmu Huai smash through demons, including a charging bull demon and the Fat Otaku Demon, and identified him from the final stone tablet as the warrior who had destroyed the ancient civilization.
• Duanmu Huai followed the strongest Warp Space fluctuations through the sealed base, tearing open the elevator doors and surviving the elevator's fall.
• Dr. Brad realized Duanmu Huai was heading for the teleportation device and planned to send him into Hell instead of letting him destroy the gateway.

Duanmu Huai fought through a realm of Primordial Demons and suspected it was a Warp fragment untouched by the Chaos Gods. Dr. Brad died after Duanmu Huai’s Intimidation overwhelmed him, accidentally activating a portal that sent Duanmu Huai to Hell, where he prepared to fight a demonic army.

• Duanmu Huai reasoned that the demons he encountered were Primordial Demons from a Warp fragment that the Chaos Gods had not tainted.
• Duanmu Huai killed a giant spider demon and continued toward the teleportation room.
• Dr. Brad watched Duanmu Huai approach, then died from terror when Duanmu Huai’s Intimidation overwhelmed him.
• Dr. Brad’s falling body struck the activation button, teleporting Duanmu Huai to a blood-red wilderness in Hell.
• Duanmu Huai faced the gathered demons, tightened his grip on his warhammer, and prepared to attack.

Duanmu Huai rescued the Night Watch from demons in Hell and learned that the Yakin People’s Meike Clan overlords had betrayed them by allying with the demons and enslaving the Elemental Spirits. He joined forces with the Night Watch and set out to fight back to the Nuer Ring and destroy the Meike Clan and the demons.

• Duanmu Huai fought his way through countless demons in Warp Space until distant battle sounds led him to a group of besieged warriors.
• Duanmu Huai entered the battle, routed the demons, and killed a gigantic demon that had attacked the warriors.
• The Steel Knights recognized Duanmu Huai as an Astartes and told him that they were the Night Watch, a force of the Yakin People.
• The Night Watch explained that the Meike Clan had betrayed the Yakin People, imprisoned the Elemental Spirits, and allied with the demons to obtain Hell Essence.
• Duanmu Huai joined the Night Watch and resolved to return to the Nuer Ring to destroy the Meike Clan and the demons.

Duanmu Huai and the Night Watch reached the ruined Nuer Ring, where they met its ghostly King. He asked Duanmu Huai to destroy the Yakin Energy Factory in Hell and free his people's souls, activating a hidden quest that Duanmu Huai agreed to complete.

• Duanmu Huai escorted the Night Watch survivors back to their base, and they activated a Teleportation Gate to the Nuer Ring.
• Duanmu Huai and the Night Watch found the city in ruins, apparently long after the demons had attacked, and discovered the royal palace abandoned.
• The King appeared as a ghost and told the Night Watch that demons had destroyed the Nuer Ring and imprisoned its Elemental Spirit.
• The King asked Duanmu Huai to destroy the Yakin Energy Factory and free the souls of his people, and a hidden quest appeared.
• Duanmu Huai accepted the quest and promised to free the souls from the demons.

Duanmu Huai and the surviving Night Watch reached the Yakin Energy Factory, where he planned to free three imprisoned Elemental Spirits by breaking their seals. In Manaria, Ann worried about Duanmu Huai’s silence and realized she had developed romantic feelings for him.

• Duanmu Huai smashed through the demons guarding the factory while the Night Watch suffered heavy losses, leaving only three survivors.
• Duanmu Huai entered the Yakin Energy Factory to find and break the seals holding three Elemental Spirits, puzzled that the Meike Clan had not mounted a stronger defense.
• Ann told Gureiya that she wanted to adventure with Duanmu Huai again and worried because he had not sent word.
• Gureiya asked Ann whether she liked Duanmu Huai, and Ann reflected on how he let her act like an ordinary person despite her status as a princess.
• Ann imagined marrying Duanmu Huai and blushed so intensely that she buried her face in a pillow and rolled around in embarrassment.

Duanmu Huai freed the Elemental Spirit and the imprisoned souls of the Yakin People, gaining the spirit’s mark and an army of ghostly Night Watch. He learned that the Meike Clan and their demon allies were attacking another human-inhabited planet and set out to destroy them.

• Duanmu Huai forced open the sealed door and found the Elemental Spirit chained above a factory line carrying the souls of the Yakin People.
• Demon guards who had betrayed the Night Watch confronted Duanmu Huai, and he slaughtered them.
• Duanmu Huai smashed the chains imprisoning the Elemental Spirit, which freed the captive souls and gave him its mark.
• Thousands of ghostly Night Watch appeared and knelt before Duanmu Huai, forming the army promised by the quest.
• Duanmu Huai learned that the Meike Clan and demons were attacking another human-inhabited planet, so he prepared to pursue them.

Duanmu Huai and his companions arrived at a planet overrun by demons and discovered that three Diashu Society wizards were sustaining the invasion. As ARC forces faced defeat at a fortress guarding an underground city, Duanmu Huai and the Night Watch appeared and launched an attack.

• Duanmu Huai brought Ann, Gureiya, Felin, and Lorena aboard his warship and traveled to the invaded planet.
• Mia showed them communications and images of cities consumed by demons, and Duanmu Huai explained that killing the three wizards would close the Warp Space passage.
• Duanmu Huai chose an attacked steel fortress as their first target and ordered everyone to prepare for battle.
• ARC soldiers struggled to defend the fortress, the entrance to an underground city sheltering civilians, as demons broke through its western line.
• A huge demon shattered the fortress wall and struck down the commander, but Duanmu Huai's pod crashed into the hall and killed it.
• Duanmu Huai emerged as ghostly Night Watch knights arrived through teleportation gates, and he ordered them to attack.

Duanmu Huai and the Night Watch repelled the demons’ assault and introduced the Inquisition to the Armed Reaction Alliance. After setting up camp in a department store, Duanmu Huai began showing Felin and Lorena around while Ann and Gureiya explored the bookstore.

• Duanmu Huai led the Night Watch and his companions into battle, where they crushed the demons’ advance and forced the attackers to retreat.
• The frontline commander reported the victory to headquarters and explained that Duanmu Huai’s Inquisition planned to eliminate the three wizards who had summoned the demons.
• Duanmu Huai’s group camped in a department store, and Ann wondered why a technologically advanced world had fallen so easily to the demons.
• Duanmu Huai suggested Ann look for answers in a bookstore, so she took Gureiya upstairs to explore it.
• Felin said she wanted to look around, and Duanmu Huai agreed to show her and Lorena the department store.

Duanmu Huai and the girls explored the human world before the Night Watch located the Hell priests and the Meike Queen. Duanmu Huai killed the priests and confronted the Meike Queen, who prepared to fight him.

• Duanmu Huai answered the girls' questions as they explored the unfamiliar world, and Felin showed interest in a travel guide.
• A Night Watch member told Duanmu Huai that the three Hell priests and the Meike Queen were at the UAC forward base.
• The Hell priests learned that the Night Watch had returned and the Yakin Energy Factory had been destroyed, while they planned to finish assimilating the planet into Hell.
• Duanmu Huai and Ann entered the base, where Duanmu Huai killed two Hell priests and confronted the last one about betraying humanity.
• The Meike Queen emerged from a teleporter and challenged Duanmu Huai, who raised his Thunder Warhammer and vowed to destroy her.

Duanmu Huai and his allies fought Queen Meike and the Metal Monsters, breaking through Queen Meike’s Barrier and defeating her. When Queen Meike claimed she would resurrect, Duanmu Huai ordered Felin and Ann to seal her in ice, leaving the battle won but the larger conflict unresolved.

• Queen Meike attacked the flying group with a pillar of light and summoned robed Metal Monsters through Teleportation Gates.
• Duanmu Huai assigned Ann to attack Queen Meike, Gureiya to protect Ann, and Felin to fight the Metal Monsters.
• Duanmu Huai, Lorena, and Okegis weakened Queen Meike’s Barrier, and Ann shattered it with her Rune Magic Piercer Cannon.
• Okegis restrained Queen Meike while Duanmu Huai and Lorena struck her face, breaking her mask before Queen Meike drove them back and damaged the Metal Secret Dragon.
• Felin froze Queen Meike and Ann sealed her after Queen Meike claimed she would resurrect outside her domain.

After the Night Watch extracted the Meike Queen’s memories, Duanmu Huai learned that the Meike Clan and demons shared an origin and that their resurrection depended on Life Spheres. He was summoned to the ARC headquarters to discuss the next operation, where he discovered Dr. Hayden was a badly damaged robot.

• The Night Watch extracted the Meike Queen’s memories, revealing that the Heavenly Father created Urdak, Jerald, the Meike Clan, and Davos, whose rebellion led to Hell’s creation.
• Duanmu Huai learned that the Meike Queen had allied with demons after the Heavenly Father’s Life Sphere vanished and left the Meike Clan unable to resurrect through the Creation Engine.
• Duanmu Huai considered finding the Heavenly Father’s and Davos’s Life Spheres, but the Meike Queen’s memories did not reveal their locations.
• Ann told Duanmu Huai that an Armed Reaction Alliance representative wanted to discuss the next operation, and she said she had learned the local language in one day.
• An ARC representative brought Duanmu Huai to the headquarters aboard an aircraft carrier, where he saw Dr. Hayden’s damaged robot body in a maintenance pod.

Duanmu Huai agreed to enter Hell’s Sanctuary trial without weapons, but doubted Dr. Hayden’s motives and questioned why the Heavenly Father had spared Davos. He fought his way toward the Sanctuary bare-handed, leaving the demons terrified as the girls watched through his Recon Servo-skull.

• Dr. Hayden told Duanmu Huai to find the Heavenly Father’s Life Sphere in the Sanctuary and said he must enter the trial without weapons.
• Duanmu Huai questioned Dr. Hayden about the Heavenly Father sealing Davos instead of killing him, then decided to investigate the Sanctuary himself.
• Duanmu Huai told the girls he did not trust Dr. Hayden, returned to Hell alone, and began fighting toward the Sanctuary while they watched remotely.
• Duanmu Huai used his jetpack and bare hands to kill demons, including a Fallen Night Watch, and frightened the survivors.
• The girls realized Duanmu Huai could use magic and then concluded they had no reason to worry about him.

Duanmu Huai slaughtered the demons guarding Hell’s Sanctuary and reached the Heavenly Father’s Life Sphere. Rejecting the idea of trusting the Heavenly Father, he faced a choice between absorbing its power and destroying it, but had not yet decided.

• Duanmu Huai killed demons with his bare hands until they fled, frightening the Reaction Armed Alliance observers and Ann.
• Duanmu Huai reached the Sanctuary and found the Heavenly Father’s Life Sphere, which Dr. Hayden urged him to take to Urdak.
• Duanmu Huai declared that he would obtain the Sphere’s power and eradicate the Meike Clan and the demons because he did not trust the Heavenly Father.
• The system presented Duanmu Huai with the options to absorb or destroy the Life Sphere, while Dr. Hayden warned that the Heavenly Father’s consciousness could devour him.
• Duanmu Huai weighed the risks and left the choice unresolved.