Recaps

Emperor sent Croissant to invite someone from a shrine to help him find inspiration for new songs, threatening to dock her pay if she failed. Croissant reached Tenshukaku and told Hoshino she had come on her boss’s behalf to ask her to take care of something.

• Emperor ordered Croissant to find a blade-shaped flower so he could taste it and regain his lost songwriting inspiration, while warning her that the work came with no extra pay.
• Croissant left the bar and went to a shrine, where she saw a visitor leave money in the offering box and prayed that she could receive money so easily too.
• Hoshino appeared to Croissant and led her to Tenshukaku.
• Hoshino questioned why Croissant had come, and Croissant admitted she was there to invite her to the bar and ask her to take care of something.

Hoshino accepted Croissant’s invitation to meet Emperor after a mission prompted her to help restore his creative inspiration. Meanwhile, Texas and Exusiai escaped a car that had been following them, leaving their pursuers behind as they drove through a wheat field.

• Hoshino explained to Croissant that her shrine offerings gave people reassurance, then received a mission to help Emperor regain his creative inspiration by having him experience her sword’s sharp cherry blossoms.
• Hoshino accepted Croissant’s invitation, collected the Lungmen Dollars from the shrine’s offering box, and asked whether Exusiai and Texas were at Penguin Logistics.
• Croissant told Hoshino that Exusiai and Texas were away on a mission, while Texas and Exusiai noticed a car quietly following them on an elevated highway.
• Texas told Exusiai to shake a bottle of cola and throw it onto the pursuers’ windshield, then drove their car over the guardrail into a wheat field to escape.

Exusiai and Texas were pursued by unknown enemies as their battered car raced through the wheat fields, prompting them to call Emperor for backup. Croissant set out to help them, and Hoshino offered to go along, hoping Exusiai’s modern firearm might help her unlock something through her system.

• Exusiai and Texas sped through the fields while a drone followed them, and Texas admitted the car was badly damaged after Exusiai called Emperor for backup.
• Emperor arranged for Croissant to support Exusiai and Texas, while Texas and Exusiai shared Pocky during the chase.
• At Yae Shrine, Hoshino signed a confidentiality agreement with Croissant concerning Emperor’s request for help with his creative burnout.
• Croissant received Emperor’s call and left to support Exusiai and Texas, explaining the mission to Hoshino.
• Hoshino offered to help Croissant, hoping that seeing Exusiai’s Vector could trigger her system’s unlock conditions.

Croissant and Hoshino went to find Texas and Exusiai, who were trapped in a convoy ambush arranged by Hogg. Texas and Exusiai escaped on foot toward Yae Shrine, while Texas warned Emperor that Hogg had blown up her car and wanted to kill him.

• Croissant showed Hoshino the nonlethal weapons she had brought and set off with her to find Texas and Exusiai.
• Hogg confronted Texas and Exusiai in a convoy, accusing Penguin Logistics of allying with Yae Shrine against him.
• Texas rammed through the cars blocking them, then escaped with Exusiai after their damaged car stopped and caught fire.
• Texas and Exusiai evaded their pursuers and headed for Yae Shrine, while Hogg became convinced Emperor planned to strike against him.
• Texas called Emperor and told him that Hogg had destroyed her car and was plotting to assassinate him.

Texas and Exusiai evaded their pursuers while Emperor rejected Lin Yuhsia’s attempt to mediate and ordered Hogg driven out of Lungmen. In the Outer Ring, Hoshino and Croissant defeated Hogg’s convoy, and Hoshino knocked him unconscious after he mistook their arrival for a Penguin Logistics plot.

• Texas told Exusiai that the cat should pay for the damage to the boss’s car, while Exusiai’s Energy Ring repeatedly exposed their location as they fled.
• Emperor searched Penguin Logistics’ records, learned about Hogg, and told Lin Yuhsia he had no secret plan involving the Yae Shrine.
• Lin Yuhsia canceled mediation and warned Emperor not to use dangerous weapons in Lungmen.
• Emperor ordered Hogg driven out of Lungmen, while Croissant and Hoshino searched the Outer Ring for Texas and Exusiai.
• Hoshino and Croissant encountered Hogg’s convoy, and Hoshino swiftly defeated its members.
• Hogg accused Penguin Logistics of sending Hoshino to eliminate him, so Hoshino struck him unconscious with her sword hilt.

Croissant and Hoshino subdued Hogg’s convoy while Texas and Exusiai escaped pursuit, then learned that other groups were gathering against Penguin Logistics. Emperor watched the growing turmoil from the safety of the base, confident no one would find him.

• Croissant tied up Hogg’s defeated men and punctured their tires while Hoshino explained that the group had been easy to defeat.
• Croissant reassured Hoshino that Penguin Logistics was not a criminal enterprise and searched for Exusiai’s glowing halo.
• Texas and Exusiai realized Hogg’s pursuers had vanished, then hid as another convoy passed and accused Penguin Logistics of oppression.
• After the convoy left, Texas and Exusiai decided to return and check whether Croissant had defeated Hogg’s group; Exusiai perked up at news of Ch’en’s injuries and Hoshiguma feeding her.
• Emperor watched the growing conflict from Penguin Logistics’ base and bragged that no one could find it.

Emperor watched enemies seal the doors and windows of his bar, trapping him in the safehouse beneath it. Meanwhile, Hoshino and Croissant met Texas and Exusiai after Hoshino defeated a group of enemies, and Hoshino’s system detected Exusiai as a source for unlocking a character.

• Emperor watched enemies wall up his bar instead of entering, cutting off his escape from the safehouse.
• Texas and Exusiai followed a succession of screams and found Hoshino defeating enemies while Croissant watched.
• Hoshino asked Croissant and Texas for wages, then introduced herself to Texas as Yae Sakura.
• Hoshino’s system detected Exusiai and identified Sky Ranger in her Soul Awakening state as the character she could unlock.
• Hoshino introduced herself to Exusiai and invited her to visit and stay at Yae Shrine.

Hoshino helped Penguin Logistics prepare to rescue Emperor after his bar was sealed off, while Ch'en and Hoshiguma discussed the shrine maiden’s unexplained attack on nearly four hundred people. Elsewhere, Jingzhe, a vacationing member of Yan’s Dali Temple, was mistaken for someone powerful by six organization leaders.

• Hoshino, Exusiai, Texas, and Croissant finished tying up their enemies, then learned Emperor was trapped inside Penguin Logistics’ bar.
• Exusiai, Texas, Croissant, and Hoshino drove toward the bar, and Hoshino learned Sora was safe at an idol event.
• Ch'en and Hoshiguma reviewed a report about the shrine maiden defeating nearly four hundred people and debated whether the Guard Department could intervene.
• Jingzhe explained that she was a vacationing member of Dali Temple, but six organization leaders treated her like their godfather and mistook her lightning-casting for divine power.

Jingzhe’s lightning and composure convinced Lungmen fanatics that she was a heavenly goddess, and they interpreted her brief dismissal of the conflict as approval to attack Penguin Logistics. Texas, Exusiai, Croissant, and Hoshino arrived at the enemy gathering, where police watched from a rooftop.

• Jingzhe watched Lungmen residents revere her lightning, though she was embarrassed and hoped the Dali Temple would not hear about it.
• After Jingzhe called the conflict a farce, the fanatics took her words as encouragement and prepared to attack Penguin Logistics.
• The fanatics learned that three Penguin Logistics members and a shrine maiden were approaching at high speed and shouted for battle.
• Texas drove the car into a dramatic airborne landing, while Hoshino realized why Croissant had insisted she wear a seatbelt.
• Texas, Exusiai, Croissant, and Hoshino got out of the car as police watched from a rooftop, and Hoshino waved to them.

Hoshino and Penguin Logistics fought off a huge mob while Ch'en watched for illegal weapons, but the attackers’ cries and the arrival of Jingzhe revealed a strange connection between the mob and the thunder. Hoshino recognized Jingzhe aloud, leaving the hooded woman stunned.

• Hoshino approached the surrounded Penguin Logistics bar, and Ch'en ordered Hoshiguma to deploy a drone and monitor the fight.
• Texas, Exusiai, Croissant, and Hoshino fought the crowd with nonlethal force, while Hoshino’s swift sword strikes sent attackers flying.
• Hoshino and Penguin Logistics noticed that some attackers shouted about thunder, and the remaining enemies surrendered while crying that they had been abandoned.
• Dark clouds gathered and thunder rolled across the sky as Jingzhe arrived in a hood, hoping to avoid being recognized.
• Hoshino recited the seasonal description of Jingzhe and identified her, leaving Jingzhe bewildered.

Jingzhe returned to the embattled street, where Hoshino recognized her and offered to help her escape the situation. Hoshino then called Jingzhe her friend and tried to persuade the Lungmen Guard Department and Penguin Logistics to stand down, though Ch'en remained uncertain.

• Jingzhe's sudden return rallied the people around her and put the Lungmen Guard Department and Penguin Logistics on alert.
• Texas admitted Penguin Logistics was poorly equipped to fight Jingzhe, while Emperor shouted at the crew not to flee.
• Hoshino approached Jingzhe and quietly offered to help her in exchange for a favor.
• Hoshino hugged Jingzhe, called her a friend, and asked everyone to put away their weapons.
• Hoshino jokingly claimed that all charlatans were family, and Ch'en wondered if she belonged to Yae Shrine.

Hoshino helped Jingzhe defuse a tense standoff with the Lungmen Guard Department, then brought her to Yae Shrine and revealed that she wanted Jingzhe to help her cultivate. Jingzhe panicked at Hoshino’s request and wondered whether she could still escape.

• Hoshino claimed Jingzhe was shy and had only joined the shrine maiden by accident, while Jingzhe destroyed the brick wall with White Lightning to demonstrate goodwill.
• The blast hit Emperor, and Penguin Logistics dug him out and decided to take him to the hospital.
• Texas told Sora that Emperor had been struck by lightning, and Sora responded without sympathy.
• Hoshino took Jingzhe to Yae Shrine and explained that she was helping her because of divine revelation and expected payment.
• Hoshino told Jingzhe that the payment was to help her cultivate, leaving Jingzhe panicked.

Hoshino used Jingzhe’s lightning to unlock Lightning Empress’s Lightning Empress, then transformed to test her new power at Yae Shrine. Jingzhe returned and demanded to know what divine being Hoshino was.

• Jingzhe agreed to help Hoshino train and revealed her qilin horns and crackling hair.
• Hoshino asked Jingzhe to shock her, then startled her into unleashing a powerful burst of lightning that unlocked Lightning Empress’s Lightning Empress.
• Hoshino thanked Jingzhe, treated her to a meal, and gave her rice balls before Jingzhe left the shrine.
• Hoshino transformed into Lightning Empress’s Lightning Empress and tested her ability to control purple lightning.
• Jingzhe returned to Yae Shrine after sensing another thunderstorm and demanded that Hoshino state what divine being she was.

Hoshino tested the Lightning Empress’s powers on Jingzhe, knocking her unconscious and discovering her control over lightning and magnetism. When Jingzhe woke, Hoshino convinced her the Lightning Empress was a critically ill infected person, and Jingzhe prepared to leave Lungmen.

• Hoshino silently let Jingzhe summon lightning, then used the Lightning Empress’s power to erase the bolt and immobilize Jingzhe.
• Hoshino experimented with the Lightning Empress’s abilities, making a thunderous voice and levitating Jingzhe’s staff while Jingzhe remained unconscious.
• Jingzhe woke on Hoshino’s lap and asked where the Lightning Empress had gone.
• Hoshino claimed the Lightning Empress was a god living within someone’s body, and Jingzhe mistook her for a critically ill Oripathy patient.
• Jingzhe respected Hoshino for sheltering the supposed infected person, then picked up her rice ball and set off to leave Lungmen.
• Hoshino decided she could impersonate the Lightning Empress and knock Officer Ch’en unconscious if Ch’en came asking about the hooded person.

Jingzhe returned to Tenshukaku after sensing powerful lightning and found Ch'en asleep on Hoshino’s lap after being struck by the Queen of Lightning. Jingzhe realized her fear had stopped her from approaching the figure behind a screen, then left after Hoshino warned her to keep the lightning wielder under control.

• Jingzhe recognized Constable Ch'en on the way down the mountain but walked past without speaking to her.
• Jingzhe smelled ozone and saw lightning gathering over Yae Shrine, then turned back toward the summit because Ch'en had gone there.
• Jingzhe found Ch'en asleep on Hoshino’s lap, and Hoshino explained that Ch'en had provoked the Queen of Lightning and been struck.
• Jingzhe approached the screen where Hoshino said the lightning wielder was, but a spark made her recoil and realize she was afraid.
• Hoshino told Jingzhe the lightning wielder’s emotions were unstable and asked her to keep the person under control, then Jingzhe left.

Hoshino cared for the unconscious Ch’en, whose injuries healed after the lightning strike, then watched her leave the shrine burdened by an unresolved worry. With Penguin Logistics on an indefinite break, Hoshino called Exusiai and asked for her to be delivered to Yae Shrine, making her blush.

• Hoshino waited beside the unconscious Ch’en and soothed her furrowed brow until Ch’en woke after two hours of sleep.
• Ch’en found her wounds healed, and Hoshino explained that lightning had accelerated her recovery and that the Lightning Empress had knocked her out.
• Ch’en asked whether she had provoked the Lightning Empress, and Hoshino said it was because Ch’en had cursed at her.
• Ch’en warned Hoshino about caring for someone with late-stage Originium Infection, then left the shrine feeling burdened; Hoshino told her to practice her swordsmanship.
• Hoshino called Exusiai after learning Penguin Logistics was on an extended vacation and asked her to deliver herself to Yae Shrine.
• Croissant overheard the call and asked whether Exusiai was blushing.

Hoshino invited Exusiai to her shrine under the pretext of sharing rice balls and a hot spring, hoping to get hold of Exusiai’s Vector submachine gun and unlock Sky Ranger. After Hoshino took the gun, Exusiai realized it was the object of her attention and happily spent the visit talking about firearms.

• Exusiai called Hoshino back to negotiate Penguin Logistics’ delivery fee, and Hoshino invited her to the shrine to hang out.
• Exusiai arrived at the shrine and admired its luxurious hot spring before changing into a yukata.
• Exusiai handed her gun to Hoshino for safekeeping, and Hoshino’s predatory attention shifted from Exusiai to the weapon.
• Exusiai relaxed in the hot spring while Hoshino served her oversized rice balls and hot spring eggs.
• Hoshino cradled Exusiai’s gun as its progress bar advanced, and Exusiai later found her holding it blissfully.
• Exusiai enthusiastically told Hoshino stories about guns, while Hoshino waited impatiently for the lecture to end.

Exusiai left Hoshino at Yae Shrine after enjoying the hot springs, while Texas misunderstood her visit and sped away with her. Ch'en returned to Lungmen with healed hands and told Hoshiguma about the Lightning Empress, then asked for help finding an expert on the Infected who could investigate the mysterious queen.

• Exusiai admired Hoshino's quiet beauty as she left Yae Shrine and decided to visit its hot springs again whenever she had free time.
• Texas asked whether Exusiai had charged Hoshino, then drove away at high speed while Exusiai remained confused.
• Ch'en returned to the Lungmen Guard Department with her healed hands and told Hoshiguma that Hoshino had blessed her after the Lightning Empress defeated her.
• Ch'en said the shrine was sheltering a seriously ill Infected patient and identified the Lightning Empress as the mysterious hooded figure from their earlier encounter.
• Hoshiguma warned Ch'en not to let her feelings toward Hoshino affect her judgment, and Ch'en asked whether they had allies who specialized in researching the Infected.

Ch'en arranged to seek Rhine Lab’s help for her Oripathy, while Hoshino tested her new powers as Lightning Empress and contacted Ch'en through her communications earpiece. The chapter left Hoshino alarmed after she learned that Ch'en had late-stage Oripathy.

• Ch'en asked Hoshiguma to contact Rhine Lab, and Hoshiguma persuaded Swire to join a trip to Rhodes Island by saying Ch'en was sick.
• Hoshino tested her Spatial Spears, changed into Lightning Empress, and experimented with controlling lightning and electromagnetic force.
• Hoshino used her electromagnetic abilities to contact Ch'en through her communications earpiece.
• Hoshino told Ch'en that she had found a Rhine Lab doctor to ease the pain of her late-stage Oripathy, leaving Hoshino shocked by the diagnosis.

Hoshino tried to discourage Ch'en from sending doctors to examine her, then visited Penguin Logistics and used her sword on Emperor to fulfill a mission. The mission awarded her the Bow of Hel, while Emperor recovered in a frenzy of inspiration.

• Hoshino realized Ch'en believed her Arts meant she was Infected, and she made Ch'en feel guilty about sending Rhine Lab doctors to examine her.
• Hoshino learned Ch'en had already sent a superintendent to Rhodes Island and began considering how to handle the scholars who might come.
• Hoshino went to Penguin Logistics after Exusiai called and found Emperor celebrating his supposed death by lightning strike.
• Hoshino performed a beautiful sword draw that shattered the pool table and broke Emperor's gold chain, leaving him convulsing but alive.
• Hoshino received the Bow of Hel as her mission reward and left as Emperor shrieked that inspiration was pouring out.

Hoshino sparred with Officer Ch'en while Swire and Hoshiguma asked Rhodes Island for help investigating the infected Lightning Queen. Silence accepted the research project and went back to sleep, leaving the investigation to begin after she woke.

• Hoshino went down the mountain and challenged Officer Ch'en to spar, then overwhelmed her with close-range kicks and fast movements despite holding pistols.
• At Rhodes Island, Doctor Kal'tsit questioned Swire and Hoshiguma about their request for a Rhine Lab researcher and reviewed Hoshiguma's report on Ch'en's encounter with the Lightning Queen.
• Swire guessed that Ch'en had been struck unconscious by the Lightning Queen, while Hoshiguma advised her not to insult Kal'tsit on Rhodes Island's grounds.
• Kal'tsit approached Silence with the report and explained that Lungmen had found an infected person who called herself the Lightning Queen.
• Silence accepted the project after skimming the report, then fell asleep and said they could discuss leaving after she woke that night.

Silence arrived at the shrine to examine Hoshino, the Lightning Empress, after learning that her Arts could affect the weather. Hoshino greeted her with a carefully staged display of queenly menace and bashful cuteness, while Silence began the examination.

• Hoshino carried the sleeping Silence to Swire's car, where Swire and Hoshiguma briefly pretended she was dead.
• Silence reached the shrine and told Hoshiguma and Swire to stay back so they would not interfere with her work.
• Silence found Hoshino curled up in the shrine and read a note explaining that she preferred solitude and could trigger a thunderstorm if crowded.
• Hoshino woke and asked whether she had scared Silence, then acted embarrassed beneath her imposing Lightning Empress persona.
• Silence adjusted her glasses and told Hoshino to take off her clothes for the examination.

Silence’s attempts to examine Hoshino failed because her lightning protection blocked blood collection and disrupted an MRI, so Silence collected saliva and hair instead. After reporting her theories about Hoshino to Kal'tsit, Silence arranged to meet Hoshino’s guardian, while Hoshino transformed into Yae Sakura and planned to visit Silence.

• Silence failed to draw Hoshino’s blood when the needle struck her electrically charged protection, and the MRI produced no usable image.
• Silence collected Hoshino’s saliva and hair, then asked to meet her guardian; Hoshino warned her that Yae Sakura would come if she learned Silence was looking for her.
• After Silence left, Hoshino worried that researchers might send Warfarin to examine her saliva and transformed into Yae Sakura to seek Silence out.
• Hoshiguma arranged accommodations for Silence in Lungmen, with Miss Swire covering the costs.
• Silence told Doctor Kal'tsit that Hoshino might be a new species or an uninfected person whose Originium existed as a core, and said she had collected saliva for further testing.

Silence questioned Hoshino about how she had found Lightning Empress, but Hoshino told a persuasive, fabricated story and disappeared before Silence could press further. Silence crossed out both recruiting Hoshino into Rhodes Island and going to war, leaving her next move undecided.

• Silence finished preparing the saliva samples, then woke when Hoshino knocked on her window and brought her flower tea.
• Silence questioned Hoshino about meeting Lightning Empress, and Hoshino claimed she had rescued the child from an incubation chamber at a power plant attacked by Sarkaz.
• When Silence asked about Hoshino's origins, Hoshino evaded the question with a story about the shrine's code of conduct.
• Hoshino opened the window and leapt away, leaving Silence with her tea and lingering cherry-blossom fragrance.
• Silence crossed out the options to recruit Hoshino into Rhodes Island and to go to war.

Silence asked Warfarin to identify an unknown biological fluid collected in Lungmen, and Warfarin discovered that it gave her an intoxicating rush. The fluid’s source remained unknown, but Warfarin declared that she wanted to enslave and drink from its owner.

• Kal'tsit told Warfarin that Silence had collected an unfamiliar biological fluid in Lungmen and wanted her help identifying it.
• Ifrit overheard that Silence was in trouble and pressured Warfarin into taking her along to Silence’s hotel.
• Silence let Warfarin test a tube of inactivated fluid while warning Ifrit to keep her presence in Lungmen secret.
• Warfarin tasted the fluid, then drank the rest and described an intense, electric rush.
• Warfarin admitted that she could not identify the species and said she wanted to enslave its owner and drink her blood every day.