Recaps

Hoshino recruited W as a temporary partner and worked with her to hunt Ursus spies in Lungmen. After silently killing one spy with a timed explosive, they set out to find the next.

• Hoshino defended Yae Sakura’s reliability, then invited W to cooperate with her as vice-captain of the Immortal Blades, and W accepted.
• Hoshino and W returned to the inn and checked their weapons, where W revealed a large stockpile of guns and other equipment.
• Ursus spies decided to move their operation to daytime and kill their target if necessary, while one spy discovered that his handler’s address had disappeared.
• Hoshino and W ambushed the spy at an inn, using anesthetic-laced bread and a timed bomb to kill him with a silent explosion.
• Hoshino dismissed W’s question about how she found spies by claiming it was a maid’s ability, then led her toward the next target.

W and Hoshino continued hunting Ursus spies, leaving the Black Raincoats to clean up the explosions. Meanwhile, Ch'en trained with Yae Sakura, and W and Hoshino collected a truckload of explosives from Croissant after Hoshino destroyed W's old firearms.

• The Black Raincoats found the inn in ruins and spent the night cleaning up scenes left by W and Hoshino, while four teams cleaned up all sixteen targets they had been sent to eliminate.
• Ch'en practiced swordsmanship with Yae Sakura, who asked whether she had been distracted by Bagpipe and later returned the Xuanyuan Sword to its hiding place.
• Hoshino noticed Penguin Logistics had been unusually quiet and realized its employees were helping W obtain weapons and equipment.
• W explained that she had arranged a shipment of weapons, and Hoshino cut apart W's battered Laterano firearms to stop her from taking them to Penguin Logistics.
• Hoshino and W received a truckload of explosives from Croissant, including some bearing Mayer's signature.

Ch'en received Wei Yenwu's order to quietly handle Ursus spies operating in Lungmen, while W and Hoshino sabotaged them with silent bombs. Their work brought them into a staged clash with Ch'en, who later asked Yae Sakura whether she knew a particular Sarkaz maid.

• Wei Yenwu told Ch'en about the Ursus spies and ordered her to deal with them discreetly.
• W and Hoshino hid a container of weapons in a scrapyard and planted a silent bomb beneath an Ursus spy's bed.
• Mayer defused the bomb before it could explode, and Ch'en arrived as W and Hoshino went to investigate.
• Hoshino fought Ch'en while pulling W away, and Ch'en asked whether Hoshino knew Yae Sakura before pursuing her again.
• Ch'en and Hoshino dealt with four Ursus spies that day.
• The next morning, Ch'en asked Yae Sakura about a sarcastic Sarkaz maid, and Yae Sakura described a different maid she knew.

Key Plot Points and Events

• The chapter begins with a meta-narrative, addressing the reader directly about the delay in updates due to the editor taking a day off.
• The chapter is essentially an apology and an explanation for the delay, rather than a progression of the story's plot.

Character Developments

• No significant character developments occur in this chapter as it focuses primarily on the narrative structure and the editor's decision to take a day off.

Significant Themes

• The theme of time and the importance of rest is subtly introduced, with the editor acknowledging the need for a break.
• The theme of communication and transparency is highlighted, as the editor openly discusses the delay with the reader.

Character Interactions

• There are no character interactions in this chapter, as it is written from the perspective of the editor, not the characters in the story.

Ch'en questioned Mayer about a bomb while the Ursus Secret Bureau arranged a dusk attack on Yae Shrine using three crystallized giants. The giants reached the mountain gate and began climbing toward the shrine.

• Ch'en visited Mayer at the Guard Department, where Mayer revealed that the bomb's serial number had been erased and praised its craftsmanship before Ch'en realized she was praising her own work.
• Ursus operatives reported that their contacts had been captured and eliminated, but the Secret Bureau refused to expose its secret weapon routes and instead ordered disposable Leithanien test subjects.
• Two days later, three medical vehicles brought bound test subjects into a warehouse, where Leithanien wizards used Originium Arts to transform them into crystalline giants.
• At dusk, the three giants struck the ground near Yae Shrine, leapt toward the mountain, and began climbing from beneath its gate.

Yae Sakura defeated a crystal giant at Yae Shrine while the crowd watched as if it were a performance. As dusk approached, the Leithanien mages reassembled the crystal fragments, and Hoshino and W prepared to fight the rebuilt monster.

• Yae Sakura cut down a crystal giant as Lungmen onlookers cheered from the foot of the mountain.
• Hoshino brought W to the shrine and explained that another fight remained before sunset.
• Yae Sakura returned to the shrine, leaving Hoshino and W to handle the next stage of the battle.
• The Leithanien mages gathered the crystal fragments into a spinning sphere using Originium Arts.
• Hoshino took the front while W prepared to fire explosive bolts, and Yae Sakura told Ch'en not to come watch the apparent performance.

W and Hoshino fought a crystal sphere attacking Yae Shrine while Ch'en and Mayer searched the crowd for the casters behind it. Ch'en killed all three with her new technique, Shadowless, but collapsed afterward; at the shrine, W was caught in an illusion caused by a glowing Fenghuang Down feather.

• W fired flashy bombs at the crystal sphere as Hoshino attacked it with her scythe, slowing its advance toward Yae Shrine.
• Ch'en brought Mayer to the shrine, recognized the sphere as forbidden Leithanien Originium Arts, and had Mayer's mechanical otters locate three casters in the crowd.
• Ch'en used Shadowless to kill all three casters in an instant, then collapsed from the effort.
• Mayer carried Ch'en toward the Lungmen Guard Department as the crystal sphere crashed to the ground and Hoshino and W entered the shrine.
• W saw a glowing Fenghuang Down feather and fell into an enormous illusion.

Hoshino completed her illusion for W and obtained Aphrodite, then helped Ch'en train in Lungmen. Meanwhile, Rhodes Island celebrated Halloween as May began investigating the shrine, only to be interrupted by Warfarin.

• Hoshino used an illusion to convince W that Durandal’s golden gladiator form was a possible result of her training, then sent W away while she demanded her unpaid wages.
• The mission completion chime sounded, confirming that Umbral Rose’s exclusive weapon, Aphrodite, had been added to Hoshino’s inventory, while the Black Raincoats cleaned up the shrine grounds.
• Ch'en tried to demonstrate Chi Xiao: Shadowless but failed to summon the technique, so Hoshino explained that her heart was unsettled and knocked her down to continue her training.
• Warfarin went door to door at Rhodes Island dressed as a vampire, asking operators for blood and receiving candy from Kroos.
• May began investigating the shrine by writing questions on a whiteboard, but Warfarin’s frightening Halloween costume at her door left her trembling.

Hoshino received a seven-day trial card for Misty City Xunyu, which could be permanently unlocked by completing a mission in Victoria. She used May’s interest in detective work as an excuse to travel there with her, while Ch'en discovered Hoshino had left and assigned Swire to receive her.

• May hid after knocking at Yae Shrine, then repeatedly played dead when Hoshino startled her.
• Hoshino received a trial card for Misty City Xunyu and learned that permanent access required completing the Phantom of the Opera mission in Victoria.
• Hoshino persuaded May to guide her to Victoria, leaving May to claim her investigation was going well despite having no plan.
• The next morning, Ch'en found Hoshino gone and learned she had traveled to Londinium.
• Ch'en assigned Swire to receive Hoshino in Victoria, and Swire accepted.

Hoshino arrived in rainy Londinium with May and settled into a Swire Group hotel while May went scouting. After activating a trial character card, Hoshino encountered May outside the Globe Theatre and introduced herself as the Phantom of the Opera.

• Hoshino and May reached Victoria Harbor and traveled with the Swire Group to a hotel in Londinium.
• Hoshino chose a room overlooking a quiet alley, and May left to scout the city.
• Hoshino activated the trial character card Misty City Xunyu and went out into the rain.
• May wandered through Londinium to the West End and examined the Globe Theatre's ticket listings.
• Hoshino approached May, spoke of the theater's mysterious mentor, and called herself the Phantom of the Opera.

Hoshino used her detective skills and extraordinary abilities to investigate the Phantom of the Opera after a staged chandelier scare at the Globe Theatre. As the audience gathered around her, she introduced herself as Sherlock Holmes and prepared to reveal the truth.

• Hoshino deduced Mei Ke's situation, and Mei Ke became eager to follow the great detective.
• A crash interrupted the opera at the Globe Theatre, prompting Hoshino and Mei Ke to enter the hall.
• Hoshino lit the theatre with lightning and caught the falling chandelier after discovering someone had cut its ropes.
• Tina claimed the Phantom of the Theatre was angry, and Hoshino interrupted the leading singer to support investigating the phantom.
• Hoshino introduced herself to the audience as Sherlock Holmes and declared that there was only one truth.

Hoshino met Phantom at the Globe Theatre and agreed to investigate Tina’s lovesickness. After discovering that Phantom’s mask had triggered a Sixth Serenade notification, she prepared to confront Tina the next morning.

• Hoshino confronted Phantom at the Globe Theatre and assured him she could withstand the effects of his voice.
• Hoshino learned that Tina had fallen in love with Phantom after seeing him at the theatre, and Phantom admitted he had allowed the situation to continue.
• Phantom vanished after leaving his mask behind, and Hoshino accepted the implied contract to resolve Tina’s delusion.
• Hoshino received a Sixth Serenade unlock notification when she picked up Phantom’s mask.
• Hoshino returned home, watched the unlock progress, and opened the window the next morning after Mei left.

Hoshino questioned Tina about the theatre Phantom, then staged a confrontation with Sixth Serenade that convinced Tina the Phantom was a girl. May tried to comfort Tina by explaining that detectives and their archenemies loved and killed each other.

• Hoshino questioned Tina about what she had seen of the Phantom and learned that Tina had only glimpsed a dark silhouette beneath the moon.
• Hoshino introduced Sixth Serenade as her archenemy when irises and a masked figure appeared in a mirror at the theatre.
• Hoshino shattered the mirror, while Sixth Serenade teased her and declared that purple irises symbolized adoration and love.
• Tina grew despondent after deciding the Phantom she loved was a girl, and May told her that detectives and their archenemies loved and killed each other.

Hoshino pursued the phantom thief Sixth Serenade and staged a string of seductive brooch thefts across Victoria. After discussing the case with Phantom, she turned to investigating the Victoria Harbor Blue Iris Incident.

• Hoshino described Sixth Serenade to Tina, but Tina doubted that the playful thief matched the elegant phantom she had seen before.
• Hoshino decided to keep the thefts small and chose brooches belonging to girls as her targets.
• That night, Sixth Serenade visited forty-six girls, stole their brooches, and left a blue iris behind each time.
• At the theater, Hoshino told Phantom she would postpone his matter and handle the Victoria Harbor Blue Iris Incident first.
• Hoshino set out to visit the girls who had been robbed and compare their accounts.

Hoshino tried to expose the Phantom Thief at a noble girls’ tea party, but the thief’s romantic reputation only grew. Hoshino planned to perform at the theater the next night, while the Phantom Thief sent invitations to the women whose hearts she had stolen.

• Hoshino brought May and Tina to a tea party, where she called the noble girls victims of the Phantom Thief, but they found the thief’s romantic exploits charming.
• After the tea party, a girl suggested that Hoshino was the Phantom Thief’s greatest love rival, and Tina said she had identified the detective’s target.
• Hoshino proposed staging a performance at the closed theater and said she would take the stage herself to deal with the person who had tampered with the chandelier.
• The Phantom Thief delivered purple invitations with iris petals to the noble girls whose hearts she had stolen.
• Yae Sakura complained about Victoria’s endless rain while May hurried out to continue her investigation.

Hoshino staged a romantic detective drama in which she played both herself and Sixth Serenade, enthralling the noblewomen gathered at the theater. The performance ended with the phantom thief's escape and Hoshino holding her mask, while a spectator asked when the two would finally get together.

• Hoshino wrote lyrics for a drama about a songstress and a mysterious masked instructor, then transformed into Victoria's detective.
• Noblewomen dressed in purple and wearing blue irises filled the theater, waiting to see Sixth Serenade.
• Hoshino began the performance, and Sixth Serenade appeared in the mirror to flirt with her.
• Hoshino and Sixth Serenade fought across the stage as Hoshino performed both sides of their exchange.
• Sixth Serenade vanished after the theater windows shattered, leaving Hoshino holding her purple mask.
• Hoshino apologized for shattering the audience's dream, and a spectator asked when she and Sixth Serenade would get together.

Hoshino completed the theater case and left May to decide whether to reveal that Tina’s father had cut the chandelier rope to comfort her. After May struggled with the consequences of uncovering the truth, Hoshino persuaded her not to pry into other people’s secrets.

• Hoshino completed the mission, unlocked the character card, and discovered that Fu Hua’s trial weapon had been taken back.
• Hoshino gave May her verified conclusion that Tina’s father, the theater’s prop master, had cut the chandelier rope, and told her to choose whether and when to reveal it.
• May learned that Tina believed the Phantom had singled her out, but could not bring herself to expose Tina’s father’s actions.
• May asked Hoshino whether detectives should reveal truths that could hurt victims, and Hoshino advised her not to pursue secrets out of curiosity.
• May apologized for trying to investigate the shrine and vowed not to pry into other people’s secrets.

Phantom met the purple-clad phantom thief, who warned him to stay away from the detective and suggested Rhodes Island for treatment. Meanwhile, Patriot approached the Radiant Knight’s scorched exclusion zone, judged that her lance could kill him, and returned to his guerrillas.

• The phantom thief confronted Phantom, told him not to appear before the detective again, and recommended that he seek treatment at Rhodes Island.
• Ch'en questioned Swire about her sudden purple outfit, and Swire admitted she thought it made her look like a purple sweet potato.
• Patriot ordered his guerrillas to halt and walked alone toward the Radiant Knight’s sea of fire, keeping FrostNova’s safety in mind.
• Patriot judged that the Radiant Knight could kill him with a direct lance strike and returned to his waiting guerrillas.
• Patriot told FrostNova, "The sun, too, will set."

FrostNova reflected on mortality as the guerrillas crossed the snow, while Ch’en struggled with sword training and Hoshino learned that the system’s new Memory Battlefield would unleash the Herrscher of the Void at a location and time of her choosing. Meanwhile, Mephisto woke from his coma, and Talulah arrived to calm W and Faust as their efforts to contact Lungmen’s slums faltered.

• FrostNova considered the limits of life and strength as Patriot’s guerrillas marched across the snowfields.
• Ch’en failed to unleash Chi Xiao: Shadowless, and Hoshino told her to take a break from swordsmanship.
• Hoshino discovered that the system had loaded Memory Battlefield, whose first boss was the Herrscher of the Void, and planned where to deploy her safely.
• Mephisto woke less than a month into his expected four-month recovery, while W provoked Faust as he prepared his crossbow.
• Talulah came down from the tower and learned that few people in Lungmen’s slums had responded because they feared the city’s guardian deity.

W considered how to draw Lungmen’s attention away from the Reunion Movement, while Hoshino launched the Herrscher of the Void from northern Ursus toward Lungmen. The Herrscher confronted Patriot’s guerrillas, and Ch’en found Hoshino injured at the shrine.

• W told Faust that the Reunion Movement needed a major upheaval to create an opening to drive Chernobog into Lungmen.
• Hoshino chose a route for the Herrscher of the Void from the frozen wilderness of Ursus to the outskirts of Lungmen and confirmed the deployment.
• The Herrscher of the Void appeared above Ursus aboard Benares, and her Honkai beasts defeated the army group’s attempt to stop them.
• Patriot’s guerrillas looked up as the giant dragon halted over their path, and the Herrscher of the Void appeared before Patriot to announce her judgment.
• Ch’en visited the shrine to practice her swordsmanship and found Hoshino pale and bloodless; Hoshino confirmed that she was injured.

Ch'en discovered that Kiana Kaslana had injured Yae Sakura and was riding a giant dragon toward Lungmen and Yae Shrine. After leaving a cryptic letter, Yae Sakura stood waiting in the wasteland as the mobile fortress approached.

• Ch'en learned from the news that a giant dragon had emerged from the Crazy Mountains and attacked Ursus.
• Heavy Bunny sent aerial photographs, and Ch'en recognized Kiana Kaslana atop the dragon and concluded that she had injured Yae Sakura.
• Ch'en returned to Yae Shrine, where Bronya gave her Yae Sakura's letter and said Yae Sakura had left.
• Patriot and FrostNova watched the dragon depart while the mobile fortress continued toward the south.
• FrostNova stopped the fortress after spotting Yae Sakura waiting alone in the wasteland, and Yae Sakura and Hoshino met each other's gaze.

Hoshino asked FrostNova to help her recover ancient ice-and-snow combat techniques, and their training triggered a vast blue snowfall around the moving fortress. Meanwhile, Talulah fought the Herrscher of the Void’s beasts and realized the god was heading toward Lungmen.

• Hoshino stopped the fortress and asked FrostNova to help her train, so FrostNova led her to an open training ground.
• Hoshino explained that FrostNova’s ice powers could help her recover buried combat memories, then pinched FrostNova’s ears while FrostNova released a cold current.
• Patriot watched Hoshino train with FrostNova, and Hoshino’s Goushinnso Memento unlock progress rapidly rose.
• Talulah saw the Herrscher of the Void heading toward Lungmen and fought two Temple Honkai Beasts that emerged from her spear.
• Hoshino’s training caused blue snow to blanket the fortress and the surrounding dozens of kilometers, while FrostNova felt comfortable in the cold.

Yae Sakura, now called Hoshino, faced the Herrscher of the Void alone after awakening a power that could wield both extreme cold and heat. As Ch'en, Bronya, and Princess Wen Yue watched the battle through a live broadcast, the fight remained locked in a stalemate on the frozen field.

• Hoshino demonstrated her overwhelming power to FrostNova, then explained that she would face the Herrscher of the Void herself rather than ask Durandal for help.
• Patriot tried to comfort FrostNova after Hoshino left, and FrostNova teased him for asking someone how to do it.
• Benares sensed a painful cold as the Herrscher of the Void flew across the wilderness and stopped above Hoshino on the icefield.
• Hoshino drew her blade and struck, causing Benares to convulse; the Herrscher of the Void sent the dragon away through a purple gate.
• The Herrscher of the Void attacked Hoshino with a spear, while Hoshino redirected her slash into Imaginary Space and held the fight at a stalemate.
• Ch'en, Bronya, and Princess Wen Yue watched the battle through Bronya's live broadcast as the gods fought on the frozen field.

Hoshino and Yae Sakura’s battle threatened Lungmen, while observers across Terra struggled to understand the power involved. As the fight continued beyond their sight, Talulah and Victoria’s regent considered how its outcome would reshape the world’s politics.

• Bronya told Princess Wen Yue that Yae Sakura’s victory was certain and explained that her swordsmanship could freeze air, light, and time.
• Princess Wen Yue accepted that Lungmen’s fate depended on the battle and said the city needed time to adjust to what had happened.
• Patriot returned to Chernobog, where Talulah described the ongoing fight and said she would approach the victor, despite Patriot’s concerns about the combatants’ power and aims.
• Talulah predicted that the battle would bring a cold peace, which would end when a power capable of defeating the victor emerged.
• Victoria’s regent reviewed reports of the battle and concluded that Lungmen’s power would deepen the divide between it and Yan, while preventing a hot war.

Hoshino defeated the Herrscher of the Void with Goushinnso Memento and withdrew to Yae Shrine, where she kept up the appearance of mourning while planning for the next subjugation. As Durandal publicly waited outside the shrine in solidarity, Hoshino learned that the next boss would be a 10,000-entity Titan Legion arriving after a one-month cooldown.

• Hoshino used Frost-Heaven Frenzy, Zero-Time Blade Flash, and Dance of Sakura to subjugate the Herrscher of the Void, then returned silently to Lungmen and Yae Shrine.
• Princess Wen Yue stopped Ch'en from approaching Hoshino, and the shrine shut its gates to visitors and pilgrims.
• Hoshino accidentally froze the hot spring because she had remained in her Goushinnso Memento state, then checked the subjugation results and learned the next boss was a 10,000-unit Titan Legion after one month.
• Hoshino began planning a staged machine uprising and considered involving Rim Billiton, while thinking about how to assure the world that Yae Sakura would not betray them.
• Durandal arrived at the shrine, sat outside with her lance, and told the public she would stay until Hoshino came out.