Recaps

Wei Yenwu assigned Jingzhe to investigate Hoshino, who began searching for Yae Sakura with her. Meanwhile, Lungmen’s syndicate leaders learned that Hoshino had taken over Yae Shrine and considered paying their respects.

• Wei Yenwu reviewed what he knew about Hoshino and chose Jingzhe of the Dali Temple Supervisory Division to investigate her.
• Hoshino told Wei Yenwu that she had burned down Fuyun Temple on Mount Taixuan herself.
• Jingzhe arrived at Yae Shrine, where Hoshino recognized her and examined her White Thunder Orthodox Technique.
• Hoshino explained that Jingzhe’s connection to Little Fox could help her find her, and the two obtained the Yae Sakura case files to begin their search.
• Lungmen’s struggling syndicate leaders heard that Hoshino had taken over Yae Shrine and discussed visiting her while disparaging the shrine maiden.

Hoshino searched Lungmen for Yae Sakura, using her loneliness and old acquaintance with the fox to coax information from Rope and Jingzhe. At Yae Shrine, she staged an immortal’s awakening, blasted away a crowd accusing the shrine maiden of misdeeds, then transformed into Yae Sakura and pretended not to know what had happened.

• Hoshino questioned Rope, who refused to reveal Yae Sakura’s whereabouts, and Jingzhe recorded Hoshino’s brief moments of disorientation and staged sorrow.
• Jingzhe suggested checking Yae Shrine, and Hoshino hurried there before dawn.
• Hoshino found a crowd accusing the shrine maiden of wrongdoing and listened as its leader and members shouted their complaints.
• Hoshino performed an ethereal awakening and used White Night’s ultimate to scatter the crowd, knocking Jingzhe down as well.
• Hoshino activated Yae Sakura’s transformation card, then claimed the immortal had left and that she had been sleepwalking.

Jingzhe reported Hoshino’s supposed departure to Wei Yenwu, who was relieved that the immortal would no longer affect his affairs. At Rhodes Island, Specter briefly regained her lucidity and asked Pramanix to observe her before allowing her outside.

• Jingzhe left Hoshino’s shrine after reflecting on the immortal and recorded what she had witnessed for herself.
• Hoshino shut the shrine gates and admitted to herself that her grand display had been a risky act.
• Jingzhe reported the events to Wei Yenwu, who felt relieved that Hoshino had supposedly departed.
• Specter awakened in a Rhodes Island therapy room and recognized that she was in a medical ward.
• Pramanix arrived for Specter’s psychological evaluation, and Specter condemned the Church of the Deep before asking Pramanix to observe her longer.
• After four hours, Pramanix opened the door and took Specter outside.

After Specter awakened with a new personality and her memories cleared of black fragments, Kal'tsit linked the change to an immortal's sunrise appearance at Yae Shrine and sent Specter and Pramanix to investigate. At the shrine, Specter found that touching Hoshino's Jizo Mitama calmed her mind, and Pramanix said the blade's god might have driven away the fragments for good.

• Specter changed into a white cloak, told Pramanix that black fragments had vanished from her memories, and asked about Skadi.
• Kal'tsit connected Specter's sunrise awakening to an immortal's appearance at Yae Shrine and decided they should go there immediately.
• Hoshino served tea to Specter and Pramanix, while Specter revealed that she had smuggled her circular saw out of Rhodes Island.
• Specter examined Hoshino's Jizo Mitama and felt her mind gradually calm as she touched the blade.
• Pramanix explained that the god sealed inside Jizo Mitama had authority over the mind and might have frightened away Specter's black fragments.

Hoshino agreed to help Specter destroy a Church of the Deep stronghold, taking a touch of Specter’s hair as payment, and the two set off while Pramanix stayed behind at the shrine. At Rhodes Island, Amiya correctly guessed how they had split up, and she and Kal'tsit considered how to learn where the pair were headed.

• Hoshino accepted Specter’s plan and asked to touch her hair as payment, which Specter agreed to.
• Hoshino and Specter rented an off-road vehicle and left for the seaside, while Pramanix was left to cover for them at Yae Shrine.
• At Rhodes Island, Kal'tsit handled Medical Department paperwork caused by Warfarin and discussed the group’s departure with Amiya.
• Amiya reasoned that Hoshino and Specter had gone together while Pramanix stayed behind, and she and Kal'tsit considered asking an enthusiastic operator for help locating them.
• Grani sneezed while patrolling Rhodes Island and worried aloud that she might have caught a cold.

Hoshino and Specter entered a coastal city while investigating the Church of the Deep, and Specter tracked down a suspected cult member. After the man transformed into a creature corrupted by the Deep, Hoshino cut it apart, and Specter explained the nature of the mutation.

• Hoshino and Specter entered the coastal city after Specter explained that she had escaped the chapel where the Church of the Deep had performed a ritual on her.
• Specter and Hoshino passed the guards by claiming the iron coffin carried instruments for their band, the Abyssal Hunters.
• Specter spotted a man in the crowded district and followed him into a secluded alley with Hoshino.
• Specter crushed the man beneath her coffin, but the coffin began to tremble as something stirred inside.
• Hoshino severed a tentacle and then cut apart the half-human, half-ghost creature that emerged from the coffin.
• Specter explained that the Deep corrupted the minds of its devout followers and that the spiritual change could mutate their bodies.

Hoshino learned that killing a Deepsea cultist had marked her and would draw further attacks, while Specter explained the Hunters’ struggle against the Deepsea. Grani followed Specter’s scent to the coastal city and found her beside a pink-haired, rabbit-eared woman.

• Specter told Hoshino that Deepsea cultists shared a memetic connection and would recognize her after she killed one.
• Hoshino reasoned that the Deepsea’s influence came through cultists’ distorted thoughts and transformed their bodies, and Specter agreed.
• Specter warned Hoshino that she had been marked, so Hoshino prepared to leave for a less populated place.
• Grani followed the scent of an Abyssal Hunter from Lungmen across the wilderness toward a coastal city.
• A concert security guard mistook Grani for a devoted fan and let her into the city.
• Grani searched the streets until a pink-haired, rabbit-eared woman greeted her beside Specter.

Hoshino, Specter, and Grani fought their way through a street encircled by Abyssal cultists as the cultists drank blood and began transforming. After the enemy and its sea mist withdrew, the group was left to consider how the mist had reclaimed the power it had given its followers.

• Grani tracked the group by Skadi's scent while Hoshino realized cultists were closing in around them.
• A horn sounded, and the surrounding cultists drank dark red blood and began mutating as sea mist gathered over the street.
• Specter killed a transforming cultist and urged Hoshino and Grani to attack before the others finished changing.
• Hoshino cut through the enemies with her blade, then summoned Jizo Mitama to destroy the fully transformed figures.
• After the fighting, the sea mist swallowed the corpses and departed, while Grani kept Specter's white cloak clean.

Hoshino, Specter, and Grani faced a lull in the attacks as Aldrich prepared to exploit Specter’s buried darkness. After a bell-driven assault briefly overwhelmed Specter, Hoshino used Jizo Mitama to restore her and bluffed that she had to remain still while Hoshino dealt with the threat.

• Hoshino, Specter, and Grani continued through the city after defeating a basic enemy, while Specter praised Hoshino’s attacks.
• Aldrich discussed the hunters with the souls inside its body and split itself in two to carry out separate plans.
• Aldrich rang a holy bell and vanished into the black mist as Specter realized that the pause in attacks meant something powerful was coming.
• A cloaked figure used wind chimes and a swarm of voices to overwhelm Specter with darkness.
• Hoshino planted Jizo Mitama to suppress the darkness, restored Specter’s senses, and told her to stay still while she went to deal with the threat.

Hoshino left Specter and Grani behind, then hunted down and killed an avatar of the Deep Saint in a rain-soaked alley. She waited for Aldrich to arrive and set him ablaze as he descended on her.

• Hoshino asked Grani to stay with Specter, then raced through Lungmen to find the black-robed figure.
• Hoshino pinned the figure to the ground and discovered it was a mass of flesh that called itself the Deep Saint.
• Hoshino mocked the Deep Saint and killed it, then changed character cards and waited for Aldrich to come.
• Aldrich arrived as a mass of black fog, but the sky turned crimson and he began burning as he fell toward Hoshino.

Hoshino pursued the wounded Aldrich after his pleas to the deep sea went unanswered, while Specter and Grani drew a crowd into a street performance. As Hoshino tried to leave the city, Seele’s Stigma began glowing and answered a call from somewhere deeper than the ocean.

• Goushinnso Memento burned Aldrich, but the deep sea ignored his pleas for mercy.
• Aldrich recovered enough to threaten Hoshino and vow to devour Jizo Mitama, so Hoshino pursued him.
• Specter reassured Grani that Yae Sakura could take care of herself, then recruited Grani to perform with Jizo Mitama for the gathered crowd.
• Hoshino used a Swallowtail Phantasm character card to pass through the amusement park guards, but sensed a call from Seele’s glowing Stigma.
• Hoshino wondered whether the deep sea had noticed Seele because her Stigma came from the Sea of Quanta.

Hoshino, transformed into Seele and linked to the Deep, confronted Aldrich after he mistook the Deep’s attention for a sign of his own greatness. She killed him for provoking the [Shrine], and the chapter ended with Aldrich dead and Hoshino’s purpose fulfilled.

• Hoshino sensed the Church of the Deep’s believers and found Aldrich celebrating what he believed was the Deep’s favor.
• Aldrich mistook Hoshino for a divine messenger or examiner, while she revealed that the Deep had been watching her, not him.
• Hoshino told Aldrich that he had provoked the [Shrine] and declared that he would die.
• Hoshino’s attacks carved Aldrich’s mutated body into a complete form, and he asked whether his life could repay his transgression.
• Hoshino accepted Aldrich’s apology and beheaded him.

Hoshino killed the Saint of the Deep and met Specter after the battle, while ancient Deep Sea beings took notice of Seele. Back in Lungmen, Hoshino returned with Specter and Grani, and Pramanix misunderstood the payment of Specter’s reward as something intimate.

• Seele arrogantly taunted the ancient Deep Sea beings who watched after the Saint of the Deep died.
• Hoshino transformed into Goushinnso Memento and found Specter performing for a huge crowd, then waited until the performance ended.
• Hoshino told Specter that the chaos had ended and that the new terrifying presence had come for her, not Specter.
• Pramanix waited bored at the shrine until Hoshino, Specter, and Grani returned to Lungmen.
• Hoshino told Specter’s attending physician that Specter’s treatment had succeeded and asked for Doctor Kal'tsit to be informed and Skadi to come pay the remaining reward.
• Pramanix questioned what had happened in the car, and Hoshino said Specter had paid her portion of the reward, leaving Pramanix flustered.

Hoshino tested Durandal's power and accidentally devastated a mountain range before disguising the destruction as a ball-lightning disaster. She met Ch'en in the wilderness, claimed to be a passing knight seeking an immortal, and left to continue her search.

• Hoshino transformed into Durandal and realized her power was too dangerous to test at the shrine.
• Hoshino threw Durandal's lance through thirty-six mountains, leaving lava-filled destruction behind.
• Hoshino transformed into Lightning Empress and staged the scene as damage caused by ball lightning.
• Hoshino met Ch'en, introduced herself as Bianca Durandal Ataegina, and explained that she was searching for an immortal to challenge.
• Hoshino learned the immortal had already left Lungmen and departed without seeking out Yae Sakura.

Ch'en questioned Hoshino about Durandal and the Immortal Blades, but Hoshino gave her only limited information. A new quest then appeared, asking Hoshino to bestow flame power on Surtr, and its reward revealed itself as 999 Xuanyuan Swords.

• Swire suggested Ch'en visit the shrine to investigate the Immortal Blades, and Ch'en reluctantly agreed.
• Hoshino returned to the shrine and prepared a story about the Immortal Blades and their origins.
• Ch'en told Hoshino about Durandal stopping the ball of lightning, and Hoshino described Durandal as powerful and straightforward.
• Hoshino withheld further details, so Ch'en returned to the Lungmen Guard Department with what she had learned.
• Hoshino checked the new emergency quest about Surtr and discovered that its quest item was a Xuanyuan Sword and its reward was 999 Xuanyuan Swords.
• Hoshino decided she could give Surtr one of the Xuanyuan Swords.

Hoshino set out for Ursus to find Surtr, whom she hoped to test with the Xuanyuan Sword. After entering the country under Durandal’s identity, she headed for the deep forests where Surtr was likely to be exploring.

• Hoshino examined the Xuanyuan Sword, found its plain white form dull, and decided to seek out Surtr.
• Hoshino left Lungmen after writing Ch'en a misleading letter and took on Durandal’s appearance.
• Hoshino crossed into Ursus, telling the border officer she was searching for Surtr because she might be compatible with a weapon under development.
• Hoshino surveyed Ursus’s imperial architecture and concluded that Surtr would likely be in the wilderness rather than at tourist attractions.
• Hoshino set off toward the deep forests to find Surtr.

Hoshino, disguised as Durandal, found the newly Infected Surtr in Ursus and tried to offer her power. Surtr refused, and Hoshino carried her away from the Ursus soldiers, leaving their partnership unresolved.

• Surtr escaped Ursus soldiers who had identified her as Infected and hid in the wilderness, fearing imprisonment in a mine.
• Hoshino followed the soldiers’ trail and found Surtr, but Surtr mistook her military uniform for a threat and leaped from a cliff.
• Hoshino pinned Surtr to the cliff with her lance and offered to grant her power if she fought her.
• Surtr said she wanted to leave Ursus and find treatment for Oripathy, not gain power.
• When Ursus soldiers approached, Hoshino flew away with Surtr, then crashed into the ground and asked again whether she craved power.
• Surtr refused because she did not want to fight Hoshino after receiving power.

Hoshino brought Surtr to the Yeti Squad so Surtr would accept her offer of power, then introduced herself to FrostNova as Yae Sakura’s old friend. Surtr remained dazed as Hoshino asked whether she was ready to accept the power and fight.

• Surtr tried to delay Hoshino’s offer by asking to see a rare wonder in Ursus, the Yeti Squad.
• Hoshino agreed and led Surtr to the tundra, where FrostNova sensed their approach and prepared for a powerful opponent.
• Hoshino descended in a fiery meteor and introduced herself to FrostNova as Bianca Durandal Ataegina, captain of the Immortal Blades and Yae Sakura’s old friend.
• FrostNova introduced herself as captain of the Yeti Squad and Yae Sakura’s new friend, while remaining wary of Hoshino.
• Hoshino asked the dazed Surtr whether she would accept the power and fight her, and FrostNova demanded to know Hoshino’s purpose.

Hoshino brought Surtr to meet the Yeti Squad and urged her to pull the Xuanyuan Sword to awaken her power. After Surtr’s Originium Infection triggered an empathic ability that overwhelmed her with others’ sorrow, Hoshino and FrostNova discussed its risks.

• Hoshino planted the Xuanyuan Sword in a rock and told Surtr that she had to pull it free to earn its recognition.
• FrostNova asked Hoshino to help destroy a mine, and Hoshino’s fiery attack turned it into a lava pit while the Yeti Squad evacuated the infected.
• Hoshino found that Surtr still could not awaken the power needed to unlock the system’s characters, and Surtr remained afraid of the sword.
• Surtr’s Originium Infection symptoms erupted as the group traveled, allowing her to see her surroundings clearly and deeply feel the sorrow of the Yeti Squad members.
• Surtr looked at Hoshino and saw warmth and dawn, while Hoshino and FrostNova considered whether Surtr’s ability could confuse her memories.

Hoshino helped Surtr adjust to her awakening while the Yeti Squad continued destroying Ursus mines, causing strange weather and rumors across the empire. As FrostNova suspected they were being used, Hoshino asked Surtr whether she wanted power and told her to draw the sword.

• FrostNova explained that Surtr’s Originium talent could bring what she wanted at a cost, while Hoshino gave Surtr time to adapt.
• The Ursus capital was struck by an unexpected blizzard, and the general blamed the meteorological minister for failing to predict the chaotic weather.
• The Yeti Squad destroyed another mine, and rumors spread about Vulcan and her cheerleading fan club.
• Hoshino tested Surtr’s ability and found her overwhelmed by memories and incoming information.
• FrostNova worried that the Yeti Squad was being used as a weapon as Hoshino asked Surtr whether she desired power and urged her to draw the sword.

Hoshino escorted Surtr to the Xuanyuan Sword, whose transformation began when Surtr grasped its hilt. While Surtr changed, Hoshino defended the sword from Ursus forces and received confirmation that her mission was complete.

• FrostNova parted ways with Hoshino and Surtr, then decided to rest while the Yeti Squad handled its own problems.
• Hoshino guided Surtr toward the Xuanyuan Sword, and Surtr saw the sword as a person before reaching for it.
• Surtr gripped the hilt, prompting the Xuanyuan Sword to transform around her as the mission entered a new phase.
• Hoshino saw Ursus soldiers approaching and held them back with flames, keeping them away from Surtr and the sword.
• The mission confirmed that the Xuanyuan Sword had been given away, and Hoshino told the soldiers they had picked up an extra life.

Hoshino subdued Surtr after the Sarkaz girl unleashed the Xuanyuan Sword’s power, then watched her recover and unlock Blood Rose. Surtr accepted her defeat, while Hoshino pointed her toward Fu Hua as a future opponent and warned her to eat more ice cream if she traveled south.

• Hoshino grabbed Surtr by the horn and carried her away as the Ursus witnesses feared the minister would be executed for the catastrophe.
• Hoshino checked her character cards and saw Blood Rose unlocking while 999 mass-produced Xuanyuan Swords appeared in her inventory.
• Surtr collapsed after using her life-consuming power, and Hoshino watched over her as her breathing stabilized.
• Blood Rose finished unlocking, and Hoshino noticed that Rozaliya's Fervent Tempo Delta counted as a separate character.
• Surtr woke and admitted defeat when Hoshino offered to fight her again.
• Hoshino told Surtr that Fu Hua was the Xuanyuan Sword’s original owner and advised her to eat more ice cream if she went south.

After leaving Ursus, Surtr headed south toward Yan, while Hoshino returned to Lungmen and transformed into Blood Rose to test Ch'en’s reaction. Ch'en fainted during their encounter and woke up with Hoshino denying that anything unusual had happened.

• Hoshino left Surtr and flew from Ursus, while Surtr decided to travel south toward Yan.
• Hoshino landed outside Lungmen, returned to Yae Sakura’s form, and noted that her Goushinnso Memento unlock progress had barely advanced.
• At Yae Shrine, Hoshino transformed into Blood Rose and approached Ch'en as she practiced swordsmanship.
• Ch'en tried a Draw Slash, but a barrier stopped her before Hoshino struck her with light swords and knocked her unconscious.
• Ch'en woke with her head on Hoshino’s lap and accused the shrine of being haunted, but Hoshino claimed she had fainted from fatigue.

Ch'en saw the red-haired female ghost at Yae Shrine again and recruited Hoshiguma to help investigate the threat to Lungmen. When the ghost appeared before Hoshiguma, three phantom swordswomen joined the fight.

• Ch'en spotted the red-haired female ghost at the shrine gate and fled home in fear.
• Ch'en told Hoshiguma about the ghost and decided they would surveil Yae Shrine together.
• Ch'en practiced quick-draw techniques while Hoshiguma watched from the back mountain as Hoshino counted money in Tenshukaku.
• Hoshiguma heard Ch'en had reported a ghost, and the red-haired female ghost appeared atop Tenshukaku.
• Three phantom figures carrying greatswords approached Hoshiguma, who rose from the grass and fought them with her shield.

Hoshino convinced Ch'en and Hoshiguma that a corrupted Xuanyuan Sword had drawn a red-haired woman to the shrine, and that an immortal in the heavens was watching them. She left with the two inspectors to find the woman while keeping their investigation quiet.

• Hoshino intervened in Hoshiguma's fight with elemental clones, making it appear that she had defeated them with her blades.
• Hoshino questioned Ch'en about the red-haired woman and learned that she carried a black sword surrounded by sinister energy.
• Hoshino showed Ch'en a Xuanyuan Sword and invented a story that the woman was controlled by a Black Xuanyuan Sword seeking to devour it.
• Hoshino persuaded Ch'en and Hoshiguma to help find the woman, then took them to a coffee shop and claimed an immortal in the heavens was watching her.