Chapter Summaries

Otto and Durandal waited for their night duel while discussing Otto’s script and Durandal’s acting. Zhao Bai brought Moonlit Embrace to a presidential suite and tried to keep her awake with video games, prompting Bronya to accuse him of encouraging her bad habits.

• Durandal waited above the sea for night to arrive so she could duel Otto.
• Otto pretended not to care that Durandal had criticized his script, then teased her about being good at flirting.
• Zhao Bai arrived with Moonlit Embrace at the HOMU-themed presidential suite and woke her up.
• Zhao Bai handed Moonlit Embrace a game controller and encouraged her to stay awake and play.
• Bronya questioned Zhao Bai for encouraging Moonlit Embrace to change her usual sleep schedule.

Zhao Bai introduced Moonlit Embrace to video games and taught her how to use an Xbox S controller. He started her on Watch Dogs 2, then went to bed wearing an Elizabethan collar around her as a precaution.

• Zhao Bai decided that teaching Moonlit Embrace to play games was a good way to guide her.
• Moonlit Embrace examined an Xbox S controller and asked why anyone would play games.
• Zhao Bai explained what video games were and showed Moonlit Embrace how to use the controller.
• Zhao Bai started a new Watch Dogs 2 save and handed control to Moonlit Embrace.
• Zhao Bai put an Elizabethan collar on Moonlit Embrace before going to bed so she would not eat him.

Zhao Bai watched Yue Xia become absorbed in gaming and invited her to watch him fight that night, but she refused. He left her to play as she wished, still focused on causing chaos in the game's open world.

• Zhao Bai prepared blood bags and straws, then fell asleep on Homu-printed bedsheets while Yue Xia played games.
• After ten hours, Zhao Bai found Yue Xia still gaming and asked why she had not progressed the main story.
• Yue Xia admitted she did not know what the main story was and continued messing around in the open world.
• Zhao Bai invited Yue Xia to watch him fight that night, but she refused without looking away from the game.

Zhao Bai brought Durandal food before their long-awaited duel began on the frozen sea. The two clashed with matching Void Blades, and their fight continued beyond the chapter.

• Zhao Bai found Durandal still waiting above the sea and asked whether she had eaten.
• Zhao Bai offered Durandal cream puffs and doughnuts, and she ate them before preparing to fight.
• Durandal summoned a Void Blade with Myriad Martial Arts and raised her lance.
• Zhao Bai revealed a matching Void Blade, froze the sea within three thousand meters, and leaped from his motorcycle.
• Zhao Bai and Durandal charged at the same time and clashed their blades.

Zhao Bai and Durandal tested their skills in a series of weapon duels, ending with Zhao Bai’s overwhelming gun-fu victory. Durandal then summoned gauntlets for their next match, and Zhao Bai chose a weapon to face her.

• Zhao Bai and Durandal fought with katanas across the ice, and their contest ended in a draw.
• Zhao Bai froze the sea into a larger arena and challenged Durandal to a gun-fu duel.
• Zhao Bai fired Heavenly Fire Judgment, blasting half the ice field backward and forcing Durandal to surrender.
• Durandal, excited to experience a loss, summoned Nuoyada of the Broken Light for a gauntlet fight.
• Zhao Bai selected a weapon he considered suitable to face Durandal’s lightning-wrapped gauntlets.

Zhao Bai defeated Durandal in their second fist match, and Durandal proposed skipping their lance match because she thought her spear techniques were better. The contest remained unresolved as Zhao Bai pointed out that her blunt suggestion had hurt his feelings.

• Zhao Bai used Sleeve Cloud Wrap and the Inch Heart Fist to dissolve Durandal's attacks without striking back.
• Durandal recognized Zhao Bai's technique as a hidden branch of the Taixu Divine Sword and charged at him.
• Zhao Bai summoned a divine sword from a black sphere and defeated Durandal again.
• Durandal got up, admitted she had lost, and acknowledged that she had fought at full strength.
• Durandal asked to count the upcoming lance match as her win, and Zhao Bai said her bluntness hurt because she implied her spear techniques were better.
• Durandal wondered where Zhao Bai had obtained his many weapons.

Zhao Bai and Durandal ended their clash in a draw after Zhao Bai revealed the aura of Black Abyss White Flower, preventing her from pursuing the truth of Moonlit Embrace. Durandal accepted his decision, disarmed herself, and followed Zhao Bai, who asked what she wanted.

• Zhao Bai revealed the aura of Black Abyss White Flower, and Durandal recognized the threat of their weapons colliding.
• Durandal called their contest a draw and accepted that the truth of Moonlit Embrace would remain beyond her reach.
• Durandal removed her Moonlit Armor and asked Zhao Bai to treat her to dinner.
• Zhao Bai agreed to pay only if Durandal paid for the meal at his restaurant, and Durandal said she would compare his cooking with Rita's.
• Durandal followed Zhao Bai after their sparring session, and he asked what she wanted.

Zhao Bai brought Durandal back to the hotel, where she found Moonlit Embrace exhausted and asleep after playing Bloodborne Curse. Durandal took up the controller to defeat the boss before Moonlit Embrace woke, but immediately died to a werewolf.

• Zhao Bai returned to the hotel with Durandal, who was surprised by its Homu-themed decor and Moonlit Embrace's Elizabethan collar.
• Zhao Bai explained that Moonlit Embrace had switched from Watch Dogs 2 to Bloodborne Curse after the fight.
• Zhao Bai patted Yue Xia's back, and she collapsed asleep from exhaustion.
• Durandal saw Moonlit Embrace's character die and decided to beat the monster before she woke.
• Durandal tried to play Bloodborne Curse but was killed by a werewolf, leaving her confused about why her attack had not defeated it.

Durandal struggled for hours to make progress in the game, repeatedly dying before she could see the boss. Zhao Bai took the controller and connected to the Quantum Neural Network, preparing to play through Bronya’s hands.

• Zhao Bai encouraged Durandal to keep playing, and she resolved to kill the beastified Cleric for Moonlit Embrace.
• Durandal spent four hours dying to villagers and a dog without seeing the boss, then threw the controller aside before picking it back up.
• Zhao Bai offered to take over and claimed he had never died while playing this kind of game.
• Zhao Bai closed his eyes and connected to the Quantum Neural Network, while Bronya questioned whether playing was childish.

Zhao Bai let Bronya help Moonlit Embrace clear the beastified Cleric in Bloodborne, then warned her that the game’s suffering was far from over. Moonlit Embrace continued playing and complained that her life felt like it had been written by incompetent planners, leaving Zhao Bai to correct her that the writers were to blame.

• Bronya finished the beastified Cleric fight while Zhao Bai kept his eyes closed, then returned control to him.
• Zhao Bai asked Durandal what she thought, and she admitted that playing the game made her feel stupid and irritable.
• Moonlit Embrace woke up, picked up the controller, and continued exploring before thanking Zhao Bai and Durandal for helping her clear the game.
• Zhao Bai warned Moonlit Embrace that clearing the game only marked the beginning of her suffering.
• Moonlit Embrace complained that trash planners had written her life, and Zhao Bai told her to blame the writers instead.

Durandal misunderstood how Zhao Bai had redirected Moonlit Embrace's affection toward video games, while Yue Xia and Durandal both grew hungry. Zhao Bai took Durandal to the hotel kitchen and began preparing grilled beef ribs on the Jie Mie Greatsword.

• Yue Xia quietly drank from a bag of blood as Durandal pulled Zhao Bai aside and asked how Moonlit Embrace had changed.
• Zhao Bai explained that Moonlit Embrace was now addicted to video games, and Durandal praised him for redirecting her affection.
• Durandal's stomach growled, so Zhao Bai offered to treat her to a meal.
• Zhao Bai found beef ribs in the hotel kitchen and used the Jie Mie Greatsword to thaw them.
• Zhao Bai spread garlic butter across the sword, filling the kitchen with a rich aroma that caught Durandal's attention.

Zhao Bai cooked grilled ribs and beef for Durandal, who eagerly devoured the meal. Durandal left full and satisfied, while imagining using a Godfall Sword to cook steak someday.

• Zhao Bai grilled ribs on the Jie Mie Greatsword and pan-fried beef for Durandal.
• Durandal complained that the proper method for preparing the beef would take too long.
• Zhao Bai removed the bones and cut the meat into pieces as Durandal ate them eagerly.
• Durandal finished the rack of ribs and declared herself full and content.

After sharing a meal with Zhao Bai, Durandal decided to spend her time off defeating Bloodborne Curse and asked Otto for gaming equipment. Back at Yue Xia’s side, Zhao Bai noticed her growing anxiety as she continued playing.

• Durandal thanked Zhao Bai for dinner and declared that they were friends.
• Durandal resolved to defeat Bloodborne Curse during her three and a half days off.
• Durandal asked Otto for a PS4 Pro, an Xbox One X Scorpio Edition, and a high-end gaming PC, and Otto agreed to pay for the consoles.
• Zhao Bai returned to Yue Xia and watched her continue playing Bloodborne Curse.
• Yue Xia looked at Zhao Bai with helplessness and a trace of resolve after her character died.

Zhao Bai reassured Moonlit Embrace that she would not die and explained Bloodborne’s three endings, while she continued to mistake the game’s world for history. Meanwhile, Otto prepared for Moonlit Embrace’s staged death at St. Freya, intending to use it to provoke Zhao Bai.

• Moonlit Embrace feared that she would die like the blood-changed creatures in Bloodborne, and Zhao Bai comforted her.
• Moonlit Embrace asked about the game’s ending, so Zhao Bai contacted Bronya and relayed its three possible outcomes.
• Otto reflected that Durandal had become foolish and recognized that he himself had caused the awkward situation.
• Otto prepared priestly robes and planned to stage Moonlit Embrace’s death beneath the Valkyrie statue at St. Freya on the thirteenth dawn.

Durandal tracked down the record-setting gamer Metal Gear Blonja and mistakenly connected the name to Zhao Bai, who denied that the account was his. Moonlit Embrace then sought out the legendary gamer, but Zhao Bai denied being Blonja as her health continued to deteriorate.

• Durandal added Zhao Bai as a game friend after identifying him as the speedrun record holder Metal Gear Blonja.
• Durandal asked Zhao Bai why his ID was Blonja, and he said it belonged to a friend.
• Durandal accepted Zhao Bai’s explanation as a familiar “I have a friend” story and ended the conversation.
• Moonlit Embrace asked Zhao Bai if he was Blonja, and he denied it.
• Moonlit Embrace continued playing difficult games despite worsening weakness, fainting several times.

Otto used a Soul Steel clone to reach St. Freya, retrieve the Gem of Stillness from Zhao Bai’s motorcycle, and stage a rainy funeral scene as Zhao Bai arrived with Yue Xia. The events were recorded, leaving Otto’s scheme exposed to whoever watched the footage.

• Zhao Bai believed Yue Xia’s wish to meet Metal Gear Blonja and carried her back toward St. Freya as night fell.
• Otto watched Zhao Bai, dressed for a funeral, and decided to go to St. Freya to recover the Gem of Stillness.
• Otto transmitted his Soul Steel clone to the academy and prepared rain and musicians for his staged entrance.
• Otto pried open Zhao Bai’s motorcycle, recovered the Gem of Stillness, and replaced it with a Honkai energy crystal.
• Otto held roses beneath a black umbrella as rain began, while someone confirmed that the scene had been recorded.

Zhao Bai and Bronya confronted Otto in the rain and pressured him to save Yue Xia. Bronya showed Otto a newspaper exposing him as a battery thief, leaving him speechless and disgraced.

• Zhao Bai stopped in the rain when Bronya warned him that Otto was approaching.
• Otto recited a mournful verse, and Zhao Bai asked him to save Yue Xia.
• Zhao Bai waited while Bronya emerged with Heavy Cannon Rabbit and handed Otto a freshly printed newspaper.
• Otto read the headline accusing him of sneaking into St. Freya to steal batteries, along with a clear photograph of him.
• Otto's bouquet fell into the mud as he fell silent, and Zhao Bai laughed.

Otto tore up his blood-written script and praised Zhao Bai’s play before using the Gem of Stillness, restrained by Soul Steel, to save Yue Xia from death. He left her alive but unconscious and insisted that she could not remain in Zhao Bai’s care without powerful supervision.

• Otto tore apart his script and explained that it was a tragic love story written for Moonlit Embrace.
• Otto praised Zhao Bai’s absurdist play and Moonlit Embrace closed her eyes as she began to die.
• Otto crushed the Gem of Stillness and used Soul Steel to place it in Yue Xia, restoring her breathing and color while keeping her from becoming a Herrscher.
• Otto warned Zhao Bai that the dangerous Yue Xia could not stay by his side, and Zhao Bai suggested assigning Durandal to watch her and using a game console to calm her.

After a three-day break, Durandal tried to copy Zhao Bai’s weapon-based cooking with Rita, but accidentally burned the beef and scorched the testing ground. The Archbishop then called to tell Durandal that he was sending her a new attendant.

• Durandal told Rita that Zhao Bai had used a flaming greatsword to grill a rack of ribs, and Rita recalled hearing about it from Theresa.
• Rita prepared marinated beef for Durandal to cook with the Godfall Sword: Surtr.
• Durandal unleashed the sword’s power, turning the beef to charcoal and scorching the ground.
• The Archbishop called Durandal and told her to receive a new attendant.

Durandal searched the Quantum Sea for Moonlit Embrace’s target while Cocolia presented Anti-Entropy’s Executors with satellite images of a battle in Canghai City. The chapter ended with Cocolia asking whether they recognized the mysterious man whose eyes resembled a lion’s.

• Moonlit Embrace became a popular Chinese game streamer, and Durandal took on the task of finding her target in the Quantum Sea.
• Cocolia convened the twentieth Anti-Entropy Executor Assembly and explained that the Canghai City explosion had a deeper cause than an offshore oil fire.
• Cocolia showed satellite images of Durandal facing a mysterious man across an ice field.
• Tesla recognized the man in the images and angrily struck the table.
• Cocolia asked the Executors to identify the man, drawing attention to his lion-like eyes.