Recaps

Talulah found Rozaliya gone but preserved the little tent she had built, while Hoshino carried a sleeping Ch'en back toward her dormitory. Red stumbled upon them at the shrine, and Hoshino teased her for looking away.

• Hoshino returned Talulah’s greatsword through a portal and teased her about imprisoning and keeping Rozaliya.
• Crownslayer brought Talulah clothes and found the rooftop intact, with Rozaliya’s handmade tent still standing.
• Talulah reinforced Rozaliya’s tent and wondered whether Rozaliya would return.
• Hoshino found Ch'en asleep at the shrine and carried her toward her dormitory before sunrise.
• Red tried to infiltrate the shrine, stumbled when Hoshino noticed her, and turned away after seeing Ch'en’s blanket slip.

Hoshino returned Ch'en to the Guard Department dormitory after undoing her corruption, while Red decided she wanted to leave the Shrine. Ch'en woke with gaps in her memory, learned that Hoshino had left her room, and confronted Hoshino at the Shrine, where Hoshino said she was trying to save her.

• Hoshino carried the unconscious Ch'en back to her dormitory, where Hiyumaru appeared asleep beside her after the corruption had been undone.
• Ch'en woke confused about having slept naked and recalled a hazy dream in which she fought and bit Talulah to death.
• Hoshiguma told Ch'en that she had seen a Shrine maiden leaving her room, and Ch'en fainted.
• Ch'en woke in the infirmary, pulled out her IV, and rushed to the Shrine, where she confronted Hoshino.
• Hoshino told Ch'en she was thinking about how to save her.

Hoshino told Ch'en that she had suffered qi deviation and warned that she had only two weeks to resolve the problem. Ch'en began listing the people she could not let go of, giving Hoshino a possible lead as the chapter ended.

• Ch'en questioned Hoshino about what had happened to her, and Hoshino admitted that her own negligence had caused Ch'en's current condition.
• Hoshino explained that Ch'en had suffered qi deviation, while Ch'en recalled saving Hoshino from the demon fox.
• Hoshino showed Ch'en a recording of her fox-eared self and said Talulah had been brought to awaken her conscience.
• Hoshino warned that Ch'en was as good as dead if she failed to solve the problem within two weeks.
• Hoshino asked Ch'en to name the people she could not let go of, and Ch'en listed Hoshino, Talulah, and Wei Yenwu.

Ch'en returned to work after Hoshino promised to watch over her, while Hoshino kept Fenghuang Down ready in case she needed to suppress Ch'en's foxified state. At night, Ch'en stormed into Wei Yenwu's manor and attacked his hidden guards, leaving Wei Yenwu facing his furious chosen heir.

• Ch'en left Yae Shrine for work, then told the Lungmen Guard Department infirmary to discard her remaining glucose.
• Hoshino considered Fenghuang Down as a last resort and waited for nightfall instead of following Ch'en during the day.
• Wei Yenwu watched Nikolai II's televised address and suspected the young emperor was concealing his real thoughts.
• The power went out at Wei Yenwu's manor, and he suspected an assassination attempt as his guards moved in the darkness.
• Ch'en arrived in a furious state, struck a hidden guard with one slash, and the hidden guard unit withdrew into the shadows.

Wei Yenwu fled Ch'en’s attack with Mrs. Fumizuki on her motorcycle, and they headed to Yae Sakura’s shrine to investigate Ch'en’s fox ears and crimson blade. Hoshino reached the Tenshukaku first and waited for them with tea.

• The shadow guard warned Wei Yenwu that Ch'en’s condition was abnormal and left him to handle the family matter.
• Wei Yenwu tried to teach Ch'en a lesson, but she cut his pipe in half with her katana and forced him to dodge her attacks.
• Mrs. Fumizuki arrived on her motorcycle, picked up Wei Yenwu, and sped away from Ch'en.
• Ch'en chased after Wei Yenwu and Mrs. Fumizuki, while Hoshino followed them.
• Wei Yenwu told Mrs. Fumizuki that Ch'en’s fox ears and crimson blade came from the shrine, so they decided to ask Yae Sakura for help.
• Hoshino used a portal to reach the Tenshukaku ahead of them and prepared tea before asking what they needed.

Hoshino spoke with Wei Yenwu and Madam Fumizuki about Ch'en's demonic madness and who might still reach her. Madam Fumizuki asked Hoshino to save Ch'en, and Hoshino promised she would not let go of her hand.

• Hoshino accepted responsibility for Ch'en's condition and told Wei Yenwu that she would try to help her.
• Hoshino explained her efforts to reach Ch'en, including sending children into the Reunion Movement's headquarters to capture people.
• Wei Yenwu suggested that Ch'en would listen to Hoshino, though Hoshino doubted that he understood his niece as well as he claimed.
• Madam Fumizuki compared Ch'en to Wei Yenwu in his youth and called the Wei family a family of hot-blooded fools.
• Madam Fumizuki asked Hoshino to help Ch'en, and Hoshino promised not to let go of her hand.

Hoshino accepted Wei Yenwu’s request to become Ch’en’s guardian, then stopped the transformed Ch’en from reaching him and took Crimson Sakura from her. She carried the unconscious Ch’en into the Tenshukaku and decided to give her a Void Blade as compensation.

• Lady Fumizuki questioned Wei Yenwu’s decision to entrust Ch’en to Hoshino, while Wei Yenwu relaxed after making the request.
• Hoshino realized she had been tricked into accepting responsibility for Ch’en and waited for her to arrive at the shrine.
• Ch’en charged toward the Tenshukaku in her fox-transformed state, smashing through walls as she searched for Wei Yenwu.
• Hoshino blocked Ch’en and ordered her to hand over Crimson Sakura; Ch’en obeyed, and the sword’s karmic fire went out.
• Hoshino carried the fainted Ch’en into the Tenshukaku, passed Wei Yenwu and Lady Fumizuki on the stairs, and chose to give Ch’en a Void Blade.

Hoshino waited for Ch'en to wake after taking away her demon blade and giving her a replacement. Meanwhile, Red reported her encounter with Yae Sakura to Kal'tsit, who was horrified by what she heard, and Ch'en woke at the shrine to find the Void Blade beside her.

• Hoshino watched over the unconscious Ch'en and gently moved a strand of hair from her face.
• Red returned to Rhodes Island and awkwardly told Kal'tsit that Yae Sakura had tied her up, touched her, and fed her.
• Red told Kal'tsit that she had seen Yae Sakura holding a naked Ch'en wrapped in a blanket on a cliff and waving Red over.
• Kal'tsit reassured Red, praised her for returning, and warned her to keep the top-secret mission confidential.
• Ch'en woke at the shrine, recognized the Void Blade, and agreed to use it instead of the demon blade.

Hoshino taught Ch'en how to use the Void Blade, a weapon that created a six-second time-space deceleration field, and Ch'en brought it to work at the Lungmen Guard Department. When a shootout broke out at Penguin Logistics’ End of the Earth Bar, Ch'en arrived and activated the blade’s power against Lappland.

• Hoshino demonstrated the Void Blade’s time-slowing field and explained its six-second limit to Ch'en.
• Ch'en took the Void Blade to the Lungmen Guard Department, where Swire admired it and watched Ch'en demonstrate its power.
• The Guard Department received a report of a shootout at the End of the Earth Bar, Penguin Logistics’ base.
• Lappland and Exusiai exchanged fire while Lappland explained that she was trying to rob Texas for travel money.
• Ch'en arrived and slowed time around Lappland, announcing that one second had passed.

Ch'en used her time-stopping sword to arrest Lappland, Exusiai, and Texas, while Hoshino received a main quest to kill the Ursus Emperor and uncover why he wanted Durandal. The newly enthroned Nikolai secretly arranged a body double and set out to investigate Durandal and the Reunion Movement himself.

• Ch'en used Void Blade to subdue Lappland, then caught Exusiai and Texas as they tried to flee and ordered all three taken away.
• Hoshino received the main quest to kill the Ursus Emperor and learned that the emperor wanted something from Durandal.
• Nikolai ordered his secretary to find a convincing body double so he could secretly investigate Durandal and the Reunion Movement.
• After a week of training the double, Nikolai set out to find Durandal, curious whether the double might rebel.

After a brawl landed Lappland, Exusiai, and Texas in the Lungmen Guard Department, Lin Yuhsia arranged Lappland’s release while Emperor collected the other two. Hoshino then considered her next Memory Battlefield opponent, the heavily armed Peacekeeper, as Wei Yenwu’s quiet mahjong break ended when Madam Fumizuki called him to dinner.

• Ch'en questioned Lappland, Exusiai, and Texas over the property damage and demanded that one of them pay for it.
• Lappland offered to rob criminals for the money, but Ch'en refused and planned to put her to work directing traffic.
• Lin Yuhsia brought bail money for Lappland, who left Lungmen overnight, while Emperor collected Exusiai and Texas for delivery assignments.
• Hoshino learned that the main quest had no time limit and examined the Peacekeeper boss, whose arsenal included armor, cannons, mines, and tactical nuclear missiles.
• Wei Yenwu spent a half-day playing mahjong in the park until Madam Fumizuki appeared and told him dinner was ready.

Wei Yenwu left a mahjong game to return home with Fumizuki, while Mudrock's Squad encountered Winterwisp Blood Shamans in the mountains. Hoshino heard that the squad was trapped and wondered why Mudrock had gone there.

• Wei Yenwu gave his mahjong winnings to his companions and returned to the city lord's residence with Fumizuki.
• Mudrock heard the earth speaking, apologized for disturbing a root, and replanted it before continuing to lead her squad out of Leithanien.
• Winterwisp Blood Shamans emerged from the fog, and Mudrock told her companions to get behind her as she advanced with her engineering hammer.
• Hoshino heard over the radio that Mudrock's Squad was trapped in the Winterwisp Mountains and wondered why Mudrock had gone there.

Mudrock’s Squad was trapped in the Winterwisp Mountains, so Mudrock asked Arden to send a distress signal to Rhodes Island as well as the Reunion Movement. Rhodes Island accepted the request, while Kal'tsit speculated that the Reunion Movement’s leader might have become a shut-in.

• Mudrock led her squad through the Winterwisp Mountains and destroyed a Winterwisp Blood Shaman with her hammer.
• Arden reported that neither the Leithanien authorities nor the distant Reunion Movement had answered their distress signal.
• Mudrock asked Arden to contact Rhodes Island, believing it had people who could hear the voices of all things.
• Rhodes Island’s staff debated Mudrock’s Squad and passed the distress signal to Kal'tsit.
• Kal'tsit ordered Rhodes Island to respond and joked that the Reunion Movement might have changed if its leader had been beaten into becoming a shut-in.

Kal'tsit, Talulah, and Hoshino each sent forces to rescue Mudrock's squad and deal with the Winterwisp Blood Shaman in the Winterwisp Mountains. Mudrock's squad fought its way through enemies but became trapped in a foggy loop in the Winterspirit graveyard.

• Kal'tsit sent Rosmontis's squad, medical personnel, and Saria to the Winterwisp Mountains, while Talulah dispatched FrostNova's squad to rescue Mudrock.
• Hoshino received a side quest to rescue Mudrock's squad and eliminate the Winterwisp Blood Shaman, with a High-Frequency Cutting Knife as the reward.
• Rescue forces from Yae Shrine, Rhodes Island, and the Reunion Movement converged on the Winterwisp Mountains.
• Mudrock smashed the Winterwisp Blood Shamans with her hammer, cracking the earth as she fought.
• Mudrock realized her squad had walked in a loop and was lost in the Winterspirit graveyard.

Rosmontis established contact with Mudrock in the Winterwisp Mountains and learned that Mudrock was lost and alone after fourteen squad members died fleeing. As Rosmontis’s team searched for her, FrostNova also entered the mountains, leaving Mudrock worried that Rhodes Island and the Reunion Movement would meet and fight.

• Rosmontis’s squad arrived in Leithanien and contacted Mudrock’s Squad through a real-time communication link.
• Mudrock reported that she was lost, had no combat personnel besides herself, and had lost fourteen people while they fled.
• Rosmontis asked Mudrock to describe the feeling of her surroundings and said she understood, then began trying to locate her.
• FrostNova contacted Mudrock and said she had entered the Winterwisp Mountains and eliminated a squad of Winterspirit Snow Witches.
• Mudrock worried about Rhodes Island and the Reunion Movement encountering each other as she led her remaining squad through the snow and fog.
• Mudrock struck a threat with her hammer, told her squad to mark their route, and urged them to stay focused.

Hoshino crossed the Winterwisp Mountains to find Mudrock's Squad, drove off a Winterwisp Blood Shaman, and encountered FrostNova and the Yeti Squad. FrostNova and Hoshino reunited after both responded to Mudrock's distress signal, and FrostNova considered giving her a candy.

• Hoshino entered the Winterwisp Mountains with her two blades and declared that she had come to save Mudrock's Squad.
• A Winterwisp Blood Shaman captain appeared in the fog but fled when Hoshino challenged him, while an eerie voice told her to leave.
• FrostNova and the Yeti Squad became lost in the mountains, and FrostNova concluded that the terrain was luring travelers to become prey.
• The Yeti Squad prepared to fight as Hoshino arrived and greeted FrostNova, explaining that she had followed Mudrock's distress signal.
• FrostNova let Hoshino take her hand and, feeling more comfortable beside her, considered giving her a candy.

Hoshino brought FrostNova through the Winterwisp Mountains, intending to find Rhodes Island while investigating the danger troubling the range. They encountered Saria and Rosmontis’s squad, and Hoshino introduced FrostNova as a yeti from the Ursus tundra.

• Hoshino planted her blazing demonic blade to warm the ground and told FrostNova the Yeti Squad could rest safely.
• Hoshino persuaded FrostNova to search for Rhodes Island, arguing that the distress signal’s two communication codes meant they might have responded.
• Rosmontis sensed sadness and fear in the mountains and guided the Rhodes Island squad toward the source of the fear.
• Saria cleared the white mist with her Arts and prepared to fight when two figures approached.
• Hoshino greeted Saria and Rosmontis, then introduced FrostNova as a yeti from the Ursus tundra.

Rosmontis sensed sorrow and fear in the Winterwisp Mountains and questioned Hoshino’s plan to end the suffering by destroying the dead. She set out to ask about the method, while Saria offered FrostNova treatment at Rhodes Island and FrostNova refused.

• Rosmontis sensed an icy presence from FrostNova and learned from Biyin that the Yetis’ legends had become ballads among the serfs and miners.
• Hoshino explained that the Winterwisp Mountains’ dead could be freed from suffering by eliminating them, and Rosmontis admitted she found Hoshino deeply unsettling.
• Rosmontis stood to ask about the specific method, and Biyin pledged to follow her.
• Saria asked FrostNova about her power and declining health, then offered her care at Rhodes Island.
• FrostNova rejected Saria’s offer, saying she did not want to watch the innocent drown.

Hoshino, FrostNova, Rosmontis, and Biyin crossed into a sorrow-filled valley in the Winterwisp Mountains, where Rosmontis was overwhelmed by the emotions around them. FrostNova agreed to help Hoshino after they shared a brief handshake, and Hoshino ended up carrying Rosmontis as Biyin struggled with the cold.

• FrostNova told Hoshino that seeing girls like Rosmontis and Biyin fight while she remained alive made her feel ashamed, though not because of their strength.
• Biyin explained that she had followed Rosmontis because her captain might forget her if they stayed apart, and Rosmontis silently accepted her presence.
• In the valley, Rosmontis absorbed the mountains' sorrow, fear, and resentment, and Biyin carried her onward when she could no longer walk.
• Hoshino asked FrostNova to help carry Rosmontis, and FrostNova agreed in exchange for a handshake.
• As Biyin grew too cold to keep walking, she handed Rosmontis to Hoshino, triggering progress on a Valkyrie character card.

Hoshino carried Rosmontis through the Winterwisp Mountains while Rosmontis sensed the way to Mudrock's Squad and Celestial Hymn unlocked. They reached a silent, mist-covered area, where an unseen voice claimed the squad as its prey.

• Hoshino held the uneasy Rosmontis, and Celestial Hymn's unlock progress began to rise.
• Hoshino woke Rosmontis and asked her to sense Mudrock's mental fluctuations; Rosmontis detected a scent of soil and flowers and pointed the way.
• Hoshino teased Biyin while carrying Rosmontis, and FrostNova nearly stumbled at Hoshino's remark.
• Celestial Hymn's unlock progress reached one hundred percent as the group crossed several peaks.
• Rosmontis sensed Mudrock's Squad inside a white mist, and Hoshino approached it after passing Rosmontis to Biyin.
• The mist churned as an unseen voice declared, "This is my prey..."

Hoshino rescued Mudrock’s Squad from the Winterwisp mist and offered Mudrock a choice between joining Rhodes Island with Rosmontis or going with FrostNova. After Mudrock explained that her squad had changed and needed a place to belong, Hoshino accepted her help in cleansing the Winterwisp Mountains.

• Mudrock struggled to defend her squad as the Winterwisp creatures wore her down and the land rejected her attempt to summon a stone giant.
• Hoshino entered the mist, burned it away, and rescued Mudrock’s Squad.
• Hoshino presented Mudrock with Rosmontis and FrostNova as possible companions, while teasing her about the choice.
• Mudrock explained that many former squad members had returned home and that she wanted to find a place for the Infected who had joined them.
• Hoshino accepted Mudrock and her squad’s help in cleansing the sorrowful Winterwisp Mountains, while the squad cheered and Hoshino teased Mudrock about her concealed gender.

Hoshino led FrostNova, Mudrock, and Rosmontis to a valley swarming with Winterwisp Blood Shaman captains, then used Peacekeeper’s tactical nuclear weapon to destroy them. Peacekeeper remained standing in the crater, while the system’s hidden reward promised that Father could join Hyperion’s mech hangar if someone else destroyed it.

• Biyin led Mudrock’s Squad toward Rhodes Island, while Mudrock offered Rosmontis help as the group pushed deeper into the Winterwisp Mountains.
• Rosmontis guided the squad to a fog-shrouded valley where FrostNova estimated that around three hundred and fifty Winterwisp Blood Shaman captains awaited them.
• The system warned Hoshino that Peacekeeper’s subjugation could begin and revealed a hidden reward involving Father.
• Hoshino evacuated the group through purple portals and launched a low-yield tactical nuclear bomb at the valley.
• The blast erased the valley and its Blood Shamans, leaving Peacekeeper standing in the crater.

Hoshino and her companions battled Peacekeeper in the Winterwisp Mountains while Hoshino arranged for reinforcements to arrive. Yae Shrine flew from Lungmen toward the battlefield, and Leithanien's Empress ordered the nearby city-states to let it pass.

• Peacekeeper attacked Hoshino's group with heat rays and a battering-ram charge, but FrostNova diverted the beams and Hoshino shifted the battlefield through a portal.
• The group agreed Peacekeeper had to be stopped before it endangered teams around the mountain range, while Hoshino claimed reinforcements were on their way.
• Hoshino arranged for a clone to travel from Yae Shrine to the Winterwisp Mountains so Celestial Hymn could join the fight.
• Ch'en saw Yae Shrine take flight from Lungmen and told her subordinates not to issue an evacuation alert.
• Yae Shrine crossed Leithanien toward the Winterwisp Mountains, and the Empress ordered a city lord to make way for it.

Theresa transformed into Celestial Hymn aboard Yae Shrine as the flying fortress entered the Winterwisp Mountains, while the Empress focused on finding her newly awakened younger sister. Yae Shrine reached the isolated squads and Celestial Hymn immobilized Peacekeeper, leaving the fighters to attack it with her support.

• The capital allowed Yae Shrine to pass, and Theresa transformed into Magical Girl Teriri before preparing to descend into the Winterwisp Mountains.
• The Empress ordered a search of the sealed capital for her younger sister, whom she called her adopted daughter, then learned that Yae Shrine had flown into the mountains.
• Saria and the other squads spotted Yae Shrine, and Saria recognized Theresa beneath her angelic appearance and decided to keep the secret.
• FrostNova and the others waited for reinforcements as Yae Shrine arrived above the canyon, but Hoshino explained that they had brought support rather than attackers.
• Celestial Hymn enveloped the canyon in holy light and pinned Peacekeeper in place, telling the fighters they had been buffed and should go.

Hoshino’s divine-grace domain empowered FrostNova, Mudrock, and Rosmontis as they defeated the Peacekeeper. Once the domain ended, their Oripathy symptoms returned, and Hoshino took their hands to help them.

• Falling golden feathers healed and strengthened FrostNova and Mudrock, while Mudrock summoned a massive rock giant and Rosmontis joined the attack with a spectral hand.
• Hoshino watched the group wear down the Peacekeeper, and they eventually completed its subjugation.
• The divine-grace domain ended, and FrostNova and Mudrock collapsed as their severe Oripathy returned; Rosmontis also struggled to stand.
• Hoshino took FrostNova’s, Mudrock’s, and Rosmontis’s hands, then froze briefly when she touched Mudrock.