Chapter Summaries

Hoshino used the championship to announce that Kazimierz must wake from its illusions and face the coming upheaval. After Rita rallied Młynar Nearl to join her, Hoshino claimed the title unopposed and began a speech broadcast across Kazimierz.

• Rita and W argued to help Hoshino shake off her pressure, and Hoshino confirmed she intended to sound the alarm before Ursus overwhelmed Kazimierz.
• Hoshino asked Rita to summon Młynar Nearl and entrusted her with the wording; Zofia learned the stolen document contained the spark of Kazimierz.
• Rita found Młynar at work and told him that a tremendous change was beginning and that he should come to the finals venue to reclaim his glory.
• Three days later, Hoshino's opponent forfeited, and she received the championship sash before a silent audience.
• Heavy Bunny hijacked broadcast drones in Lungmen to ensure Hoshino's speech reached every television and radio in Kazimierz.
• Hoshino told the people of Kazimierz to wake from their dreams and welcomed them to the real world.

Hoshino publicly exposed Ursus’s “Kazimierz Spring” plan and warned the nation that it would undermine its knights and military. As Ursus angrily dismissed her speech as fake news, W admitted that she admired Hoshino’s willingness to risk everything to protect the people.

• Hoshino revealed a classified Ursus document describing a twenty-year plan to weaken Kazimierz by turning its knights into entertainment.
• Hoshino warned Kazimierz that the plan was already changing how people viewed knights and could destroy their military strengths.
• SilverAsh studied the document, while Młynar and the audience listened to Hoshino’s speech.
• The Ursus Foreign Minister called the allegations “[Fake News],” but knights and viewers across Kazimierz continued listening.
• The Forest Watcher and Meteor discussed Ursus’s methods and watched Hoshino’s influence grow.
• W told Rita that Hoshino was foolish to expose herself for the people, then admitted she treasured such selfless fools.

After Hoshino’s speech stirred the people of Kazimierz, she left the arena and created a blazing buffer zone along the Ursus border as a deterrent. Meanwhile, W failed to get Rita’s contact information, and Wei Yenwu studied Hoshino’s document in Lungmen.

• Hoshino departed the arena after meeting Młynar’s gaze, leaving the crowd to respond to her speech and the changes it might bring to Kazimierz.
• Rita tried to leave, but W demanded her pay or Immortal Blades’ contact information; Rita overpowered W, warned her to prepare to leave Kazimierz, and vanished.
• Hoshino landed outside Kazimierz, traveled to the Ursus border, and carved a thirty-kilometer corridor of unquenchable flames into the terrain as a deterrent.
• Hoshino restrained her power, worried about becoming an enemy of the world, and decided to return to the shrine to rest.
• Wei Yenwu studied a copy of Hoshino’s lengthy document and discussed turning culture into war with Fumizuki.

Wei Yenwu and Fumizuki discussed how Lungmen should respond to Durandal and Yae Shrine, while Ch'en visited the shrine and was caught spying on a sleeping Hoshino. Hoshino left Ch'en behind to attend a dinner with Wei Yenwu, where they were expected to discuss the shrine’s relationship with the Immortal Blades.

• Wei Yenwu and Fumizuki discussed Durandal’s power and planned to assess the ties between Yae Shrine and Durandal before deciding how Lungmen would respond to Ursus.
• Ch'en came to the shrine to practice swordsmanship, heard someone breathing in Tenshukaku, and found Hoshino asleep.
• Hoshino wrapped Ch'en in a blanket after catching her sneaking closer, then revealed that she had helped steal a document and offered to teach Ch'en swordsmanship in exchange for keeping quiet.
• An envoy from Governor Wei invited Hoshino to a gathering, and she left Ch'en at the shrine with instructions not to train before her return.
• Hoshino traveled to Wei Yenwu’s family dinner, intending to trade information about the shrine and the Immortal Blades for greater convenience in Lungmen.

Hoshino told Wei Yenwu how closely she was tied to Durandal, then returned to the shrine to teach Ch'en Blade Reversal. Meanwhile, W sought Durandal through FrostNova, who had no idea where she was.

• Hoshino told Wei Yenwu that she had stolen documents from the Ursus archives and listened to Durandal perform The Death of the Swan, and Wei Yenwu dismissed her once they had spoken frankly.
• Hoshino returned to the shrine and demonstrated Blade Reversal, knocking Ch'en unconscious before asking whether she had learned the technique.
• Ch'en woke wrapped in a blanket, admitted she had not learned the move, and agreed to practice again.
• W crossed the sealed border to FrostNova's camp and asked where she could find Durandal and the Immortal Blades.
• FrostNova said she had met Durandal only once and did not know where she was, while W noticed a statue of Durandal on television.

FrostNova withdrew the Yeti Squad from Ursus while Ch'en struggled to learn Hoshino's sword technique and adjusted to her changing behavior. Hoshino then tested Hler's Serenity beyond Lungmen and sensed a distant pulse from the Deep.

• FrostNova dismissed W and ordered the Yeti Squad to retreat south and resume their guerrilla campaign later.
• Ch'en failed to learn Hoshino's Frenzied Sword Dance, continued practicing quick-draw slashes, and rushed to work after losing four hours to training.
• Ch'en reflected on how mastering the sword technique could make her strong enough to face a woman she opposed.
• Hoshiguma pointed out that Ch'en had stopped scolding Swire, so Ch'en promptly reprimanded Swire for bragging and chatting during work.
• Hoshino went beyond Lungmen to test Hler's Serenity, felt it resonate with a distant pulse from the Deep, and used its tidal-wave attack.

Hoshino put away Hler's Serenity after sensing a dark call from the sea, while Ch'en struggled to master a sword technique and Rhodes Island selected Bagpipe to replace Nearl as its Lungmen ambassador. The chapter ended with an emergency mission announcing that W had reached Lungmen and requiring Hoshino to persuade her to leave with Rita Rossweisse in the party.

• Hoshino sensed a suffocating call from the sea, withdrew her attack, and put away Hler's Serenity.
• Hoshiguma and Swire found Ch'en practicing her sword technique instead of working, then wondered whether she had hit a bottleneck.
• Kal'tsit assigned Bagpipe to serve as Rhodes Island's new ambassador to Lungmen and assured her that Ceobe and Cuora would look after the farm.
• Hoshino read about Durandal's statue in Kazimierz and objected to the possibility of her being elevated into a divine figure.
• An emergency mission informed Hoshino that W had followed the clues to Lungmen and required her to persuade W to leave with Rita Rossweisse in the party.

W sneaked into Lungmen but was captured by Black Raincoats and escaped before Hoshino rescued her from the river. Hoshino arranged for W to wake at an inn and pretended to dismiss her, hoping to draw her into a plan.

• W stowed away in a truck bound for Lungmen and listened as the other passengers discussed the city.
• Four Black Raincoats attacked the truck and confirmed W's identity, forcing her to flee through Lungmen.
• Hoshino transformed into Umbral Rose, left a Shadow Clone at the shrine, and went to the riverbank in the rain.
• Hoshino pulled an injured W from the river, knocked her unconscious while ruffling her hair, and took her to an inn to treat her wounds.
• Sixteen hours later, Hoshino told W to leave because she needed to search for Lady Durandal, and W frowned as Hoshino's bait took effect.

Hoshino brought W to Yae Shrine to find out where Durandal had gone, but Yae Sakura defeated them both and refused to reveal the answer. Rita and W were left serving a long punishment at the shrine with Durandal's whereabouts still unknown.

• W pressed Hoshino about Durandal, then collapsed after forcing herself to follow Hoshino despite her injuries.
• Hoshino explained that Ursus spies were infiltrating Lungmen and that the Black Raincoats were secretly hunting them.
• Hoshino took W to Yae Shrine, where they confronted Yae Sakura about Durandal.
• Yae Sakura defeated Hoshino and W, then ordered them to serve five hundred afternoon teas as punishment.
• Yae Sakura refused to tell Hoshino where Durandal had gone, leaving W discouraged.

W watched Yae Sakura and Rita argue over Durandal, until a Xuanyuan Sword fell from the sky and prompted Yae Sakura to offer a test. Meanwhile, Bagpipe’s visit to the Lungmen Guard Department revealed how Ch’en had changed, and the chapter left Rita preparing to search for Durandal by dealing with Ursus spies.

• W sorted out the relationships among Rita, Durandal, and Yae Sakura, then asked to be paid for her work.
• As Rita and Yae Sakura argued, Bronya and Heavy Bunny launched the Xuanyuan Sword into their midst.
• Bagpipe visited the Lungmen Guard Department, where Swire and Hoshiguma asked about Ch’en’s student days and discussed how she had changed.
• Yae Sakura finished communing with the sword’s owner and offered to reveal Durandal’s whereabouts if Rita passed her test.
• Yae Sakura asked Rita to clear out Ursus spies in Lungmen without being seen by the Black Raincoats.

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.