Recaps

Saria set out to rescue Muelsyse after Kal'tsit concluded that the shrine needed investigating, but Hoshino pulled Saria into her consciousness domain when she tried to smash the shrine steps. Hoshino challenged Saria to a fight and hurled her away by the tail, leaving their confrontation unresolved.

• Kal'tsit told Saria that Muelsyse had sent an incomprehensible symbol and revealed her location near the shrine, and they suspected she had deliberately arranged for someone to rescue her.
• Saria traveled to the shrine with a riot shield and medical supplies and found Muelsyse frozen on the steps.
• Saria raised her Calcified arms to smash the shrine steps, but Hoshino dragged her into her consciousness domain before she could damage them.
• Hoshino appeared as an immortal on a throne, provoked Saria into fighting, and struck first.
• Saria judged that Hoshino was not truly an immortal and deliberately exposed an opening, but Hoshino grabbed her tail, spun her around, and threw her away.

Hoshino flung Saria into Muelsyse's path, and the two reunited and exchanged what they knew about the inescapable realm. Hoshino began a battle against them, leaving Saria to meet her first attack amid a torrent of weapons.

• Hoshino threw Saria through the air toward Muelsyse, who dodged the falling figure with a water shield.
• Saria emerged from the crater, and Muelsyse recognized her as Director Saria and told her that Hoshino had overwhelmed her control of water.
• Muelsyse explained that the false city had an impassable barrier, while Saria confirmed that Hoshino was too powerful to defeat and that dying only brought pain.
• Saria proposed that they stall until the shrine maiden noticed them, and Muelsyse agreed.
• Hoshino arrived on the Xuanyuan Sword and announced that the game had begun.
• Hoshino attacked Saria and Muelsyse with martial skill and a torrent of weapons, and Saria's fists clashed with Hoshino's before her sleeves were torn apart.

Hoshino fought Saria and Muelsyse in an illusory Lungmen, then decided to summon Nian to help guide them. Nian was abruptly transported into the illusion and recognized Hoshino as resembling the Immortal, wondering whether the Immortal had sisters.

• Hoshino attacked Saria and Muelsyse, insisting they should devote themselves to her, while Saria resisted and argued that Hoshino was not the Immortal.
• Saria and Muelsyse realized they needed to shatter the illusion's three formation cores and call for help, but they had not understood how to escape it.
• Hoshino stopped fighting and returned to her throne, deciding to summon Nian as a more helpful guide for the trapped pair.
• Nian was preparing to eat spicy ice cream when Hoshino transported her to a rainy, deserted Lungmen street.
• Nian saw Hoshino and wondered whether the Immortal had sisters.

Nian met Hoshino in the illusion over Lungmen and agreed to guide Saria and Muelsyse through its trial. Hoshino revealed that three weak points could break the illusion, while Nian settled in to enjoy a dream hot pot and hurry the others along.

• Nian climbed the mountain to confront Hoshino, who summoned weapons and challenged her to fight, but Nian swallowed her greatsword and tried to reason with her instead.
• Hoshino demanded that Nian worship her, but Nian refused, calling herself a nihilist.
• Hoshino left to beat up Saria and Muelsyse, then returned and complained that they had not made progress in the trial.
• Hoshino told Nian that she had placed three weak points in Lungmen and granted her authority to try returning to reality.
• Nian volunteered to act as a guide, and Hoshino created a hot pot restaurant where Nian explained that she would help them break the illusion.

Nian enjoyed a hotpot meal with Muelsyse and explained that they could escape the illusory Lungmen by destroying three formation cores. Hoshino tested Nian in battle, then Nian led Saria and Muelsyse away and pointed them toward the supposed way out.

• Nian invited Muelsyse to eat hotpot while Saria stood aside, and the three stayed in the restaurant until Nian finished her meal.
• Nian described the illusory world as a formation and said they could escape by destroying its cores rather than waiting for Hoshino to lose interest.
• Hoshino appeared before the group and challenged Nian, who answered with a torrent of tools from her great cauldron.
• Hoshino defeated Nian in a single clash, but Nian used giant stone hands to carry Saria and Muelsyse away.
• Nian told Saria and Muelsyse that three formation cores were scattered across Lungmen and claimed she had found them using the Mountain Gazing and Aura Reading Art.

Hoshino’s group reached the first array node and faced Lightning Empress, a powerful illusion of Mei, while Nian, Saria, and Muelsyse fought to overcome her attacks. Muelsyse trapped Lightning Empress in an enormous mass of water, and Nian set off a barrage of firecrackers inside it.

• Nian explained that time in the illusion could pass at different rates, then urged Muelsyse and Saria to hurry.
• Hoshino’s group arrived at the first array node, where Lightning Empress appeared and immediately attacked them.
• Nian’s shield failed to stop Lightning Empress’s electrified blade, and Nian joined Saria and Muelsyse in the fight.
• Saria used Calcification to withstand Lightning Empress’s lightning strike while Muelsyse prepared a water trap.
• Muelsyse gathered thousands of tons of rain into a huge bubble around Lightning Empress, and Nian threw firecrackers into it, setting off repeated explosions.

Nian, Saria, and Muelsyse destroyed the Lightning Empress and found what Nian claimed was a formation node, then stopped for hotpot instead of continuing their task. Hoshino prepared to confront them, but Ch’en’s arrival distracted her, and the Three Mecha Brothers descended as the next opponents.

• Nian survived Muelsyse’s prolonged bombardment, and the Lightning Empress vanished, leaving a katana that Nian pulled from the ground and swallowed.
• Muelsyse replenished her water while Nian complained about being exhausted and led the group to a nearby hotpot restaurant.
• Hoshino prepared to teleport to Nian and overturn her table, but Ch’en arrived at the shrine and Yae Sakura told her to leave Saria and Muelsyse alone.
• The Herrscher of Sentience decided to adjust the flow of time and make the next fight three against three.
• Father, Hephaestus, and Heimdall descended as the Three Mecha Brothers, blocking the sunlight while Nian inspected their construction.

Nian, Saria, and Muelsyse fought three mechs Hoshino sent to stop them from reaching a moving formation node. Nian held off Father while Saria and Muelsyse struggled against Heimdall and Hephaestus, and the chapter ended with berserk Heimdall forcing Saria to one knee.

• Nian, Saria, and Muelsyse assigned themselves one mech each after the three mechs attacked their hotpot meal.
• Nian opened a path to Lungmen’s core furnace and created a colossal lava giant to fight Father.
• Saria fought Heimdall head-on and matched its greatsword strikes with her fists.
• Muelsyse discovered that Hephaestus was waterproof and tried to escape to a canal.
• Heimdall turned berserk red, overwhelmed Saria, and drove her to one knee as Hoshino urged Nian to help.

Nian defeated the lava giant's opponent and rescued Saria from Heimdall, then joined Saria in attacking Hephaestus before Muelsyse could counterattack. Muelsyse's battle remained unresolved as the chapter ended with Nian and Saria grappling with the mech.

• Nian overloaded the lava giant with a second furnace and ordered it to self-destruct while she escaped, defeating Father in the ensuing explosion.
• Nian broke Heimdall's shield and smashed the mech, rescuing Saria, who was embarrassed to be naked in front of her.
• Nian told Saria to help the pointy-eared fighter and charged toward Muelsyse's battlefield.
• Muelsyse stopped the canal and summoned water spears to counter Hephaestus, but Nian and Saria rushed in and grappled with the mech before she could attack.

Nian defeated all three mechs while Saria and Muelsyse survived the battle, but Nian forgot to identify the formation core. Hoshino appeared and declared that she was the final step before they could leave successfully.

• Nian attacked Hephaestus, dodged its electromagnetic beacons, and forged the mech with her cauldron and hammer.
• Muelsyse and Saria discussed Muelsyse’s lack of involvement while Nian finished destroying the mechs.
• Nian claimed she had saved Saria and Muelsyse, then realized she had destroyed everything and forgotten to find the formation core.
• Hoshino arrived, praised their performance, and announced that she was the final step before they could leave.

Hoshino trapped Nian, Muelsyse, and the others in her domain and demanded that they entertain her before she would let them leave. As Hoshino attacked with a mind-erasing sword, Yun Mo appeared beneath her umbrella, and Nian immediately took shelter behind her.

• Hoshino revealed that the only way to leave her flawless domain was to earn her permission by entertaining her.
• Hoshino challenged the group to fight and unleashed eight enormous Taixu Divine Swords.
• Hoshino warned that the swords could erase their consciousness, leaving them as vegetables even if they escaped the illusion.
• Hoshino brought Yun Mo into the illusion as a sudden solution to the confrontation.
• Yun Mo invited the group beneath her umbrella, and Nian ran to hide behind her.

Yun Mo ended the trial by turning the illusory world into an ink-wash painting and guiding Saria, Muelsyse, and Nian through her domain. After sending them back as the dream shattered, Hoshino returned to the shrine and considered how to make Muelsyse feel threatened.

• Hoshino confronted Yun Mo, while Nian, Saria, and Muelsyse crowded beneath Yun Mo's umbrella for protection.
• Yun Mo questioned Hoshino's desire to become her, and Hoshino condemned Yun Mo for protecting the weak.
• Yun Mo invoked her art and transformed the world into an ink-wash painting, causing the Herrscher of Sentience's illusion to disappear.
• Yun Mo led the others through the painted landscape, then put away her umbrella and told them to return.
• The illusory world vanished and the group began to awaken; back at the shrine, Hoshino saw Saria raise her fist and formed an idea to unsettle Muelsyse.

Hoshino used an illusion of two Fu Huas fighting to frighten Muelsyse into fleeing for her life and complete the mission. The illusion ended with Muelsyse stranded in the wasteland outside Lungmen, disheveled and bewildered.

• Saria struck the Shrine floor and sent Muelsyse flying onto her shoulder, leaving Muelsyse injured and dazed.
• Muelsyse saw two Fu Huas battling in an illusion, and the shock waves made her fear for her survival.
• Muelsyse ran from the battlefield in panic while Saria watched her leave.
• Hoshino received the mission reward, and the illusion shattered to reveal Muelsyse in the wasteland outside Lungmen.

Nian experimented with spicy milk tea on Rhodes Island while Hoshino tested Fenghuang Down's firearm form and contemplated her unfinished mission to assassinate the Emperor of Ursus. Her boredom ended when Shang Boliang arrived at the shrine looking for Ms. Durandal.

• Nian made a spicy stocking milk tea and decided to share it with the Demon King.
• Hoshino fired The Mortal Realm Is Hard to Cross at a boulder, but the shot had no visible effect.
• Hoshino reflected on her unfinished mission to assassinate the Emperor of Ursus, then grew bored at the shrine.
• Hoshino opened a package from Ursus Logistics Company and found a white scholar's robe inside.
• Shang Boliang entered the Tenshukaku, asked Hoshino for his clothes, and said he was looking for Ms. Durandal.

Shang Boliang told Hoshino that he had discovered a truth about Originium that would cause his death, then revealed his plan to seize the immortal Black Snake’s position. Hoshino was left to pass his request to Durandal as Shang Boliang prepared to exploit Ursus’s collapse.

• Hoshino questioned Shang Boliang, who said that discovering and speaking the truth about the world had made his death inevitable.
• Shang Boliang explained that he believed an ancient civilization had exhausted other energy sources, transformed itself into Originium, and left a curse that killed anyone who uncovered the truth.
• Shang Boliang told Hoshino that he wanted to usurp the immortal Black Snake’s position to escape death.
• Shang Boliang said he had made a pact with the dukes’ children to bypass parliament and divide Ursus, weakening the Black Snake in the process.
• Shang Boliang left his scholar’s robe with Hoshino to send by courier, and Hoshino began considering what he had told her.

Hoshino brooded over Black Snake being erased by Shang Boliang’s attempt to become an immortal, then fought Ch'en at the shrine while weighing whether to help. Ch'en’s question about whom Hoshino cared about most ended her hesitation, and Hoshino chose Black Snake over the stranger Shang Boliang.

• Hoshino reflected on Black Snake’s predicament and worried that Shang Boliang might become a corrupted immortal after gaining all available knowledge.
• Hoshino summoned Ch'en to the shrine for a two-hour sword fight, using Sakura Fubuki and Crimson Sakura while offering her blunt instruction.
• After the fight, Ch'en asked what was troubling Hoshino, and Hoshino explained that Shang Boliang needed to replace Black Snake to become an immortal.
• Ch'en asked Hoshino how close she was to each of them, prompting Hoshino to realize Shang Boliang was a stranger while Black Snake was Ch'en’s enemy.
• Hoshino decided she had no reason to hesitate and patted Ch'en on the head for helping her see the answer.

Hoshino comforted Ch'en, then left the shrine to travel to Ursus and deal with Emperor Shang Boliang and the coming political split. Ch'en stayed behind to guard the shrine, discovering that its quiet daily routine left her alone and uneasy.

• Hoshino soothed Ch'en by patting her head and touching her horns, then sent her to bathe in the shrine's hot spring.
• Hoshino considered the ancient genetic curse and planned a staged death for Shang Boliang when the Ursus split began.
• After her bath, Ch'en found Hoshino and Kallen gone, along with a note assigning her to guard the shrine.
• Ch'en read Hoshino's leisurely schedule, made cherry blossom tea, and grew uncomfortable with the silence of the empty shrine.
• Hoshino headed to Ursus under a new identity to investigate the dukes' children, the expected purge, and public opinion.

Hoshino entered Chernobog under the name Delta to observe life under the Reunion Movement and speak with Talulah. After spending the day distributing food, she reached the top of the tower at night and introduced herself to Talulah as the older sister of Rozaliya and Lilia.

• Hoshino transformed into Delta and decided to investigate the Reunion Movement by speaking with Talulah.
• Delta entered Chernobog openly, joined the Reunion Movement, and was assigned to a public security maintenance squad under the Yeti Squad.
• Delta distributed food and observed that Chernobog's residents appeared happier than people in Ursus, while realizing Black Snake's Snake Scale Unit supplied the city.
• Talulah spent the night awake on the tower, thinking the quiet felt incomplete as she looked at Rozaliya's repeatedly collapsed nest.
• Hoshino arrived by elevator and told Talulah that she was Delta, the older sister of Rozaliya and Lilia.

Hoshino, disguised as Delta, confronted Talulah and accused her of imprisoning Rozaliya, but Talulah explained that Rozaliya had stayed with her willingly. Hoshino accepted the explanation and forced Talulah to travel through Ursus under her protection.

• Hoshino revealed that she had put Rozaliya in solitary confinement and challenged Talulah's identity.
• Hoshino drew Swan Lake and held it to Talulah's throat, threatening to kill her for mistreating Rozaliya.
• Hoshino accused Talulah of imprisoning Rozaliya and forcing her to live in a heap of garbage.
• Talulah explained how Rozaliya had chosen to stay with her and showed Hoshino the little nest and its doorplate.
• Hoshino lowered her sword, then invited Talulah to travel through Ursus under Delta's protection and made clear that Talulah could not refuse.

Hoshino ordered Talulah to leave her tower and travel with her to Ursus, using Rozaliya’s confinement as leverage. They flew by Schicksal mechs to the frozen north, where Talulah warned that nearby farms would fear trouble from outsiders.

• Hoshino dismissed Talulah’s claim that she had work and threatened to keep Rozaliya in solitary confinement unless Talulah came along.
• Talulah agreed to go, though she worried that her wanted status in Ursus would put her at risk; Hoshino said the nobles would likely see her arrival as part of Black Snake’s plans.
• Hoshino reassured Talulah that a Fenghuang Down feather would disguise her as Reunion members expected to see her, then took her from the tower.
• Hoshino summoned three Schicksal mechs to carry Talulah, herself, and their weapons to Ursus’s northernmost reaches.
• Talulah warned Hoshino that nearby farms would be wary of outsiders because of Ursus’s tax collectors, while Hoshino hoped the country’s recent changes had made things different.

Hoshino and Talulah investigated a remote Ursus farmstead, where farmers attacked them after mistaking them for grain thieves. They learned that a stranger preaching rebellion and quoting Shang Boliang had visited the village, and Hoshino decided to investigate.

• Hoshino criticized Ursus's disorganized economy as she and Talulah approached a poor farmstead.
• Hoshino triggered the village alarm, then beat back the armed farmers while keeping the fight away from their crops.
• An old farmer told Hoshino that a stranger had urged the villagers to overthrow the nobles and had called Shang Boliang his mentor.
• After the villagers fled, Hoshino decided to investigate the mysterious stranger.

Hoshino and Talulah waited in a snowy field for Shang Boliang’s disciple while, at Reunion headquarters, Crownslayer reported her findings to a figure created by Fenghuang Down. The chapter left Hoshino and Talulah preparing to meet someone approaching after nightfall.

• Hoshino and Talulah waited beside the farmers’ fields for Shang Boliang’s disciple to arrive.
• Crownslayer rode the elevator to Reunion headquarters’ rooftop to report what she had learned about Shang Boliang and Ursus’s reforms.
• Fenghuang Down made Crownslayer see an imagined Talulah, who claimed to control events in Ursus and dismissed Crownslayer’s report as trivial.
• Crownslayer left the rooftop, and the illusion vanished as Fenghuang Down’s feather continued to drift.
• Talulah sneezed in the snow, and Hoshino teased her about her rough habits and told her to take better care of herself.
• Hoshino warned Talulah that someone was approaching.

Hoshino and Talulah encountered Demit, a university student recruiting supporters for Shang Boliang’s ideas, and learned how the movement appealed to Ursus’s powerless young nobles. Demit recognized Talulah as a traitor and fled, after which Hoshino asked her to impersonate Black Snake at a nearby noble manor.

• Hoshino and Talulah approached Demit in the snow, and he drew a hidden hand crossbow as Hoshino charged him.
• Hoshino caught Demit’s bolt in her teeth, introduced herself and Talulah as travelers, and said she was interested in Shang Boliang.
• Demit mistook Hoshino for a friend of the New School and explained that he hoped to win its members over with benefits.
• Hoshino learned that Shang Boliang’s ideas challenged Ursus’s established beliefs and appealed to young nobles excluded from power.
• Demit recognized Talulah as a traitor and fled when she joined the conversation.
• Hoshino suggested visiting a noble manor and asked Talulah if she could play Black Snake.

Hoshino tried to have Talulah impersonate Black Snake, but Black Snake briefly took control before Talulah proved she could reproduce the sinister act. The next morning, Talulah arrived at Count Demit's estate in character, leaving Demit stunned and the count wary of what her visit meant.

• Hoshino dragged Talulah toward a city and insisted that they cooperate by having Talulah play Black Snake.
• Black Snake's soul took over during their attempt to enter the city, but Hoshino quickly overpowered her and warned her that Hyperion could erase an immortal.
• Hoshino asked Talulah to act like Black Snake, and Talulah copied Black Snake's sinister manner convincingly.
• Demit returned to the count's estate, debated reporting his encounter, and sent intelligence to the Hermit Society.
• The count went outside to welcome Talulah, while Demit recognized her from his window and nearly fainted.
• Talulah told the count she had come on important business and began a cryptic speech about the Empire's uncertain future.

Shang Boliang dismissed reports about Talulah while pursuing his plans as emperor, and Talulah used her charm to secure a stay at a count’s manor. Hoshino revealed that Talulah was bait for drawing out the Hermit Society’s leaders, as Demir wrote Shang Boliang a desperate plea for help.

• Shang Boliang learned that Black Snake had entered Ursus but dismissed the report, then ordered palace thresholds removed so he could ride his new bicycle.
• Shang Boliang arranged a show of force and a proposed compromise over a grain dispute between the southern provinces and the north.
• Talulah’s charm persuaded the count to let her and her pink-haired attendant stay at his manor, leaving Demir terrified that his family would be branded rebels.
• Talulah removed her colored contacts and told Hoshino that she had overheard evidence of a scholars’ council behind Demir.
• Hoshino explained that she had made Talulah bait to provoke Demir and assess how the Hermit Society handled a crisis.
• Demir wrote a frantic letter to Shang Boliang asking him to save him.