Chapter Summaries

Mahiro and Shadow Garden discussed adding anti-counterfeiting features to Arcadia’s banknotes, while Zeta revealed Yue Dan’s ties to the Major Corporate Alliance and the Cult. Snow Woman confronted Yue Dan, who tried to flee, and she struck him with her tails.

• Mahiro proposed adding moiré patterns or security threads to Arcadia’s currency, and Ita volunteered to develop them.
• Alpha refused Ita’s request to expand her research budget without restrictions, while Beta reacted fearfully to memories of Ita’s experiment on her.
• Zeta told Mahiro that Yue Dan was backing the Major Corporate Alliance and had officially joined the Cult.
• Snow Woman confronted Yue Dan, and he recognized Mahiro as the man behind the Arcadia Trading Company.
• Yue Dan attacked Mahiro, but Snow Woman blocked his blade and challenged him to fight her.
• Yue Dan tried to escape, and Snow Woman slashed his back with one of her tails.

Mahiro and Shadow Garden subdued Yue Dan after he attacked Snow Woman, but she chose to spare him and leave him to suffer the loss of his power, sight, and legs. Snow Woman departed while Yue Dan screamed alone in the room.

• Mahiro and Delta cornered Yue Dan after he tried to flee, and Delta crushed him with a punch before Alpha identified Shadow Garden.
• Yue Dan swallowed the cult’s pills, healed his injuries, regained his sight, and felt his strength surge beyond its former limits.
• Mahiro struck Yue Dan with a white flash that took away his eyes, legs, and power again, then left him to Snow Woman.
• Snow Woman refused to kill Yue Dan because he had once saved her and her village, and she told him he would lose everything he valued.
• Snow Woman left Yue Dan crawling and wailing, while someone outside remarked on her decision not to kill him.

Mahiro killed Yue Dan and watched the Arcadia Trading Company rise as the trading alliance collapsed. Two years later, he told Claire and Sherry that Cid might be hiding his true strength, leaving them to reconsider what they thought they knew about him.

• Snow Woman said she did not know how Yue Dan had lost his eyes, and Mahiro decided Yue Dan had to die because he had seen Mahiro's face.
• Mahiro used Nihility to turn Yue Dan into ash as Yue Dan called out for Snow Woman.
• After the alliance collapsed, the Arcadia Trading Company became the Midgar Kingdom's leading company and expanded into neighboring nations.
• Two years later, Alexia Midgar and Cid Kagenou began attending Midgar Royal Spellsword Academy, where Cid soon faded into obscurity.
• At the academy gates, Mahiro told Claire and Sherry that Cid had talent and might be disguising his strength, leaving them stunned.

Claire struggled to believe Mahiro’s claim about Cid’s strength, while Cid confessed to Alexia as part of a punishment game and later watched Mahiro teach swordsmanship. Alexia sought Mahiro’s guidance, then shocked the class by asking him to go out with her and insisting she was serious despite her engagement to Teacher Jeno.

• Claire doubted that Cid had been hiding his true strength, though suspicion had begun to take root.
• Cid confessed to Princess Alexia as part of a punishment game and was rejected.
• Cid and his friends recognized Mahiro, Rose, Sherry, and Claire in the cafeteria, where Yulo declared he would pursue Claire.
• Alexia left Teacher Jeno’s group to spar with Mahiro, who criticized her speed and strength and then disarmed her.
• Alexia asked Mahiro to go out with her, and she insisted she was serious even after he reminded her that Teacher Jeno was her fiancé.

Alexia asked Mahiro to go out with her, but she refused to explain her conflict with Zenon. Later, Claire found Alexia being kidnapped and confronted a mysterious black-clad figure she suspected was Cid.

• Alexia repeatedly asked Mahiro to go out with her, then said she preferred him to her fiancé, Zenon, and hurried away.
• Zenon apologized to Mahiro for Alexia’s behavior, while Mahiro decided to focus on the coming Trial of the Goddess and Bushin Festival.
• Est asked Mahiro for fried tofu, and he took her to dinner as evening fell.
• Claire searched for Cid and worried that he might have been hiding his strength from her.
• Claire found kidnappers trying to abduct Alexia and attacked them, but a black-clad figure blocked her sword and told her to leave the rest to him.
• Claire recognized the figure’s silhouette and asked whether he was Cid.

Mahiro negotiated Claire’s release from the Knights by promising Princess Alice that Alexia would be returned safely by morning. After Claire left, she told Mahiro that she had recognized Cid as Shadow and realized he had deceived her, leaving her deeply upset.

• Shadow escaped after the Knights arrived and took Claire into custody as a suspect in Alexia’s kidnapping.
• Mahiro learned that Zenon Griffey had kidnapped Alexia and that Claire had been caught up in the case, so he decided to rescue her before Shadow Garden attacked the cult’s base.
• Mahiro met Princess Alice at the Knights’ headquarters and promised to return Alexia safely by morning if she released Claire.
• Alice agreed, and the Knights freed Claire.
• Claire told Mahiro that she had seen Cid as Shadow and now believed he had been deceiving her all along.
• Mahiro comforted Claire as she left for the dormitories, while Alpha asked whether it was safe to let her go alone.

Alexia awoke chained in a dungeon, where a deranged researcher drew her blood to revive demons and ranted about his ruined research. A black-clad man appeared and killed the researcher with a snap of his fingers.

• Mahiro asked Alpha to ensure Claire returned safely to the dorm, and Alpha said Zeta would protect her from the shadows.
• Alexia woke in a dungeon restrained by magic-sealing cuffs and discovered a hideous chained monster in the adjoining cell.
• A researcher drew Alexia’s blood, claiming it was demon blood he needed to revive demons.
• The researcher raged about his destroyed laboratory and blamed Olba and others for ruining his work.
• A black-clad man appeared in the dungeon, and the researcher charged at him before being reduced to dust by a snap of his fingers.

Mahiro rescued Alexia from a prison, killed her captor, and used magic to restore Milia from a monster to a human girl. After explaining the events behind Alexia’s kidnapping, he refused to reveal his identity as the prison began to shake.

• Mahiro entered the cell, recognized Milia, and restored her human form with white magic.
• Mahiro covered the unconscious Milia, freed Alexia from her restraints, and agreed to explain what had happened.
• Mahiro told Alexia about Alpha’s information and his negotiations with Princess Alice, then teased her for suspecting him.
• Alexia asked who Mahiro really was, but he refused to answer and said there was no time.
• The prison trembled as a huge explosion sounded in the royal capital’s pleasure district.

Shadow Garden launched a coordinated assault on Cult members across the royal capital, while Alexia followed Mahiro through the sewers and encountered Zenon Griffey. Mahiro attacked Zenon after he tried to take Alexia away, leaving her stunned and unsure what to believe.

• Delta began hunting Cult members, and her destruction of a building served as Shadow Garden’s signal to start its operation.
• Alpha and Beta moved into the city as attacks erupted across the royal capital, and Princess Alice hurried between crime scenes.
• Mahiro told Alexia that his people were exterminating the Cult as they made their way through the sewers.
• Zenon Griffey appeared and claimed Mahiro was a dangerous criminal while offering to rescue Alexia.
• Mahiro called Zenon a Cult mongrel and slammed him into a wall with his bare hands, stunning Alexia.

Mahiro reunited with Shadow and fought him in a swordsmanship duel beneath the royal capital, while Alexia watched in awe. As Shadow began unleashing his strongest technique, Mahiro prepared a counter with an azure magic circle.

• Mahiro encountered Shadow, who challenged him to a sword fight and praised his Demon-Slaying Holy Sword.
• Mahiro and Shadow traded rapid sword strikes without using magic power, impressing Alexia with their skill.
• Mahiro wounded Shadow by striking where he anticipated his movement, and Shadow began gathering magic for a new technique.
• Instructor Jeno transformed into an Awakened One Level Three and burst through the sewer wall, but Mahiro and Shadow kicked him away together.
• Shadow unleashed his blue-violet magic and declared, "I... Am... Atomic," as Mahiro raised an azure magic circle to counter the expanding power.

Mahiro reversed Cid’s nuclear explosion and returned Alexia to the knights’ headquarters, while Alexia became captivated by his swordsmanship. Shadow Garden’s operation uncovered references to the Knights of the Rounds and Sacred Land Lindwurm, leaving the group to decide whether to investigate.

• Mahiro used Magic Power Reverse Flow: Magic Sequence Reversal to suppress Cid’s explosion until it vanished, and Cid escaped with severe injuries.
• Mahiro escorted Alexia back to the knights’ order as she reflected on his swordsmanship and asked who he was; he called himself a passing Masked Rider.
• Mahiro returned Alexia to Alice, then handed the unconscious Milia over to Alpha, adding her to Shadow Garden.
• Shadow Garden’s operation uprooted the cult’s peripheral members in the royal capital but found no access to its core.
• Shadow Garden discovered intelligence mentioning the Knights of the Rounds and Sacred Land Lindwurm, and the group considered whether to go there.

Mahiro planned to settle matters with Sherry before leaving, while Alexia asked him to teach her swordsmanship and he questioned Vice Principal Lutheran about the powerful person who had helped Zenon Griffey. Mahiro accused Lutheran of assisting Zenon in kidnapping Alexia and holding Claire back.

• Mahiro learned that Cid had taken a week of sick leave, while Claire said Cid could take care of himself.
• Alexia told Mahiro that her engagement to Zenon Griffey had been annulled, the Griffey Family had been imprisoned, and she planned to join her sister's investigation.
• Alexia apologized to Mahiro, asked him to teach her swordsmanship, and tried to pressure him by threatening to tell Princess Alice about his fight with Cid, but he refused.
• Mahiro asked Vice Principal Lutheran about the powerful swordsman who had restrained Claire during Alexia's kidnapping.
• Mahiro accused Lutheran of being the person who helped Zenon Griffey kidnap Alexia and held Claire back.

Mahiro confronted Ruslan Barnett about his ties to the Diabolos Cult and negotiated for Sherry’s freedom, then traveled to Sacred Land Lindwurm for the Trial of the Goddess. As the festival approached, Nu told him his registration was arranged.

• Mahiro revealed that he knew Ruslan had been a Bushin Festival champion and claimed to be the master of Shadow Garden.
• Mahiro offered to help decipher the Eye of Avarice in exchange for Ruslan handing Sherry over, telling her the truth about her mother, and leaving her side.
• Sherry returned before Ruslan could answer, and Mahiro left the office with Est.
• Mahiro traveled to Sacred Land Lindwurm, where the Trial of the Goddess festival was due to begin the next day.
• Nu joined Mahiro at the hot spring and told him she had arranged his registration for the Trial of the Goddess.

Mahiro questioned Nu about her former family and learned that she considered Shadow Garden her home, then went to Lindwurm’s Goddess’s Trial and reflected on how the Order had distorted the history of the Three Heroes. He watched Annerose win a trial match and spotted Beta, publicly known as Natsume Kafka, among the VIPs, where she noticed him.

• Mahiro asked Nu whether she wanted to return to House Marx, and Nu said she had no ties to her former family and belonged to Shadow Garden now.
• Nu told Mahiro that Ita had contacted Sherry, that Sherry and Ita were getting along, and that Alpha planned to handle matters at the Sacred Land herself.
• Mahiro visited Lindwurm’s arena and told Nu that the statues of the Three Heroes did not show their original appearances, especially Olivier’s.
• Mahiro watched several contestants fail before Annerose of the Kingdom of Beccada summoned an ancient hero and won her match.
• Mahiro noticed Beta, appearing as the author Natsume Kafka, in the VIP seating, and Beta met his gaze as Alexia watched her.

Yotsuba Mahiro entered the Goddess’s Trial, and the Sanctuary’s magic system summoned three legendary figures: an elf resembling Alpha, a beastkin resembling Zeta, and Aurora, the Witch of Calamity. Acting Archbishop Nelson struggled to explain their appearance as the spectators erupted in confusion.

• Yotsuba Mahiro rose to take his turn in the Goddess’s Trial while Nu wished him luck.
• Mahiro entered the arena, and the Sanctuary’s magic system malfunctioned, forming an ominous crimson-black magic circle.
• An elf resembling Alpha and a beastkin resembling Zeta emerged from the magic circle.
• Aurora, the Witch of Calamity, appeared and smiled meaningfully at Mahiro.
• Beta identified the names Olivier, Lili, and Aurora on the magic circle, then asked Nelson to explain.
• Nelson claimed Olivier and Lili might be descendants of the Three Heroes and began telling Alexia and Rose about Aurora as the spectators erupted into an uproar.

Mahiro faced Aurora, Olivier, and Lili after the Goddess's Trial summoned three ancient warriors against him. He revealed the Demon-Slaying Holy Sword and used his Alpha Stigma to stop their attacks, then killed Lili and Olivier in rapid succession.

• The magic circle began to summon a fourth figure, but it closed before she could emerge.
• Mahiro summoned the Demon-Slaying Holy Sword as Olivier and Lili attacked from both sides and Aurora sent crimson tentacles at him.
• Mahiro blocked Olivier's strike and caught Lili's claw before activating his Alpha Stigma, which stopped Aurora's tentacles.
• Mahiro knocked Olivier aside, slashed Lili, and smashed her into the ground.
• Mahiro stabbed Lili through the heart, making her body scatter into fragments.
• When Olivier attacked from behind, Mahiro redirected Aurora's suspended crimson spears through her body and killed her instantly.

Yotsuba Mahiro defeated Aurora with a powerful Tendo-style iaijutsu strike and won the one-against-three trial. Aurora vanished into the Sanctuary, whose gate opened and drew Mahiro inside, while a masked woman in black appeared as the spectators began to evacuate.

• Yotsuba Mahiro evaded Aurora’s attacks and defeated her with the Tendo-style iaijutsu technique Unrei Hikyaku Yusei.
• Aurora disappeared after acknowledging Mahiro, and the crowd realized he had won the trial against Olivier, Lili, and Aurora.
• A gate to the Sanctuary opened, and Yotsuba Mahiro touched its magic circle and entered in a flash of white light.
• Nelson ordered the trial to end and the spectators to evacuate, explaining that the Sanctuary’s gates could have different purposes.
• A masked, golden-haired woman arrived with black-clad figures and silently signaled Rose not to reveal that she recognized her.

Mahiro entered the Sanctuary and met Aurora, the Calamity Witch, whom he recognized as Diabolos and freed from her chains. Aurora thanked him for releasing her after a thousand years, while Mahiro said he had come seeking answers and other things.

• Mahiro passed through the door into the Sanctuary and found Aurora chained to its walls.
• Mahiro compared Aurora’s appearance to his mother, Maya Yotsuba, and identified Olivier and Lili as the heroes he had fought.
• Mahiro revealed that he knew Aurora’s identity as Diabolos and the truth the Order had concealed.
• Aurora asked Mahiro to free her, and he teased her before cutting her chains and catching her as she fell.
• Aurora changed into a Gothic gown and thanked Mahiro for freeing her after at least a thousand years.

Yotsuba Mahiro made a deal with Aurora to help him obtain her and Diablos's essence blood, then traveled with her through Sanctuary’s memories. After Mahiro comforted a crying child who resembled Aurora, the memory shattered, and they continued through darkness until an orange-red light appeared.

• Yotsuba Mahiro told Aurora he wanted to obtain her and Diablos's essence blood, and Aurora agreed to his terms.
• Aurora opened a sealed door into a botanical-garden memory filled with test subjects and explained that Olivier had become part of Sanctuary's defenses while Lili's memories remained there.
• Aurora moved to strike a crying child who resembled her, but Yotsuba Mahiro stopped her and offered the girl candy instead.
• The child accepted the candy, thanked Yotsuba Mahiro, and vanished as the botanical-garden memory shattered.
• Yotsuba Mahiro and Aurora walked through a dark void as his magic power drained, until an orange-red light surrounded them.

Mahiro and Aurora crossed Aurora’s bloody memories, then Mahiro shattered Sanctuary’s defenses and reunited with Shadow Garden and Rose. Nelson revealed himself as the Order’s eleventh Knight of the Rounds before Aurora killed him.

• Aurora tried to attack her crying younger self, but Mahiro stopped her as the battlefield’s corpses rose around them.
• Est refused to let Aurora borrow Mahiro’s sword, then transformed back into the Demon-Slaying Holy Sword for him.
• Mahiro used his sword technique to tear through Sanctuary, opening a path to the group led by Alexia, Alpha, and the others.
• Aurora emerged with Mahiro, and he told Shadow Garden that she was not an enemy.
• Mahiro identified Nelson as the Order’s research-specialist Knight of the Rounds, and Nelson began to reveal himself as the eleventh seat, Greed.
• Aurora’s dog pierced Nelson’s chest and killed him before he could finish speaking.