Chapter Summaries

Hoshino fought Void Archives and corrupted his Titans with Jizo Mitama, while the devastation of the Duke’s army shifted Ursus’s political balance. Speaker Vitte joined the Royalist Party and prepared a statement denouncing Talulah, leaving the Empire’s response to her uncertain.

• Hoshino waited at the border as the Empire’s advance stalled, and Speaker Vitte ignored a call in his Kremlin office.
• Hoshino stopped Void Archives’s steam train and attacked him, cutting Godfather Titan in half before Void Archives retreated into the sky.
• Void Archives summoned a thousand Titans, but Jizo Mitama corrupted them; he then merged with Father Titan to fight Hoshino.
• Speaker Vitte considered Hoshino’s request to denounce Talulah, then accepted Duke Rovitch into the Royalist Party after the Duke declared support for equal rights.
• Speaker Vitte began drafting a statement condemning Talulah under the title “The Empire Has No Need for Talulah.”

Hoshino defeated Void Archives and the Titans in the Memory Battlefield, then considered how her political scheme would leave Chernobog independent and Reunion’s control weakened. In Ursus, Vitte’s editorial provoked an expansionist general, who ordered soldiers to block grain deliveries to the Summer Palace and try to force the Emperor out of hiding.

• Hoshino climbed Father's body and struck Void Archives, who let her blade pierce him as he tried to understand its power before vanishing.
• Hoshino defeated the remaining Titans with Goushinnso Memento armor and completed the subjugation.
• Hoshino reflected that Vitte’s editorial would pit the doves against the hawks and leave Chernobog effectively unruled and unnoticed.
• Vitte published his editorial in Ursus Daily under his real name, drawing the anger of a general from the military-industrial sector.
• The general ordered soldiers to block grain trucks bound for the Summer Palace, hoping hunger would force the Emperor to emerge.

Talulah faced Chernobog’s growing isolation as the conflict within Ursus hardened into a cold peace, while Hoshino reviewed the shrine’s gains and prepared for the next Memory Battlefield. Miss Nian arrived at the shrine seeking food and mahjong, where she quickly suspected Hoshino was a fellow director.

• Talulah learned that Ursus had transferred the Third Army Group to the capital and considered the consequences of Chernobog becoming an isolated refuge for the Infected.
• Hoshino reviewed the shrine’s increased Prestige, checked that the next Memory Battlefield would feature Black Ji Lin, and asked the system whether it could add Chi You.
• Hoshino added Valkyrie fragments to the character pool and advanced Azure Empyrea’s unlock progress beyond twenty percent.
• Miss Nian arrived at the shrine, said she had come for food, and asked Hoshino whether she played mahjong.
• Hoshino played mahjong with Nian, Yae Sakura, Kallen, and Bronya, and Nian recognized Hoshino as another director.

Nian stayed at Yae Shrine, where Hoshino introduced her to the shrine’s swords and accepted her application temporarily. Nian befriended Heavy Bunny while Hoshino tried to drive her away with bland food, and Nian revealed that a Yan Kingdom delegation had arrived in Lungmen to discuss contacting Hoshino.

• Hoshino served Nian tomato-flavored boiled fish without chili, and Nian considered leaving Yae Shrine before deciding to stay and learn its smelting techniques.
• Hoshino let Nian examine Sakura Fubuki and Jizo Mitama, and Nian admired the swordsmith’s talent.
• Nian lowered her head so Hoshino could stroke her horns, and Hoshino temporarily accepted her application as Phoenix’s unlock progress reached 1.3%.
• Nian and Heavy Bunny became friends through their shared interests in manufacturing and smelting while Hoshino served Nian increasingly bland meals.
• Nian told Hoshino that a Yan Kingdom delegation had arrived in Lungmen and was discussing who should contact her.

Hoshino appointed Jingzhe to handle Yan Kingdom’s approach, then rejected the kingdom’s request for her protection by pretending to fear its immortals. Afterward, Hoshino questioned Nian about her lost memories and suggested fear might explain them.

• Hoshino decided to invite Jingzhe, a Yan Kingdom official, to discuss relations with her.
• Nian teased Jingzhe until Hoshino intervened and stopped her.
• Jingzhe explained that she had been rapidly appointed to a high-ranking post in the Court of State Ceremonial.
• Jingzhe asked Hoshino to protect Yan Kingdom, but Hoshino refused and planned to leave a Xuanyuan Sword as a warning from the immortals.
• Nian accused Hoshino of putting on an act, and Hoshino asked whether Nian’s fear of sibling conflict could explain her lost memories.

Nian wandered through Lungmen, pretending to have lost her memories while seeking a spicy drink and amusing herself by provoking Jingzhe. When the Xuanyuan Sword appeared and revealed another god had been forcibly made into a weapon, Nian realized she had been drawn into a larger performance.

• Nian visited Emperor’s bar, complained about Kallen’s overly sweet food, and admitted her amnesia was an act.
• Jingzhe reported her failed mission in Lungmen and ate shrimp dumplings under the scrutiny of others.
• Nian surprised Jingzhe and used crackling lightning to make strands of her hair vanish.
• A massive Xuanyuan Sword crashed into the office hall, and Nian sensed the sorrow and resentment of the god trapped within it.
• Hoshino arrived and spoke about the High Immortal, while Nian recognized that a play had begun and claimed she understood the sword’s construction.

Hoshino accepted the Xuanyuan Sword’s apparent summons and prepared to travel to the Yan Kingdom, with Nian swallowing the sword and Hoshino’s two other swords for safekeeping. Jingzhe suspected Nian had engineered the events and agreed to keep Hoshino’s journey secret.

• Hoshino told the Yan Kingdom delegation to take the Xuanyuan Sword to the imperial palace and warned Nian to wash her hands before dinner.
• Jingzhe recognized Nian as the legendary Nian Beast and deduced that Nian had deceived Hoshino to lure her to the Yan Kingdom.
• During transport, the Xuanyuan Sword burst through its container and flew back to Hoshino’s shrine.
• Hoshino interpreted the sword’s return as a summons and decided to travel to the Yan Kingdom.
• Nian swallowed the Xuanyuan Sword and Hoshino’s other two swords, and Hoshino asked Jingzhe to keep her journey secret.
• Nian admitted to Jingzhe that she had caused everything.

Hoshino disguised herself as ninja Yae Kasumi and followed the Yan Kingdom delegation to Jiang Qicheng, where she arranged a nightmare legend to draw attention toward the Red Kite Immortal. As Jingzhe and Nian investigated the deaths in the city lord’s residence, Nian displayed a suspicious greatsword and questioned the witnesses.

• Hoshino changed her identity to ninja Yae Kasumi and joined Jingzhe’s team while secretly planning where monsters would appear.
• Hoshino’s mission instructed her to drive Nian away, and she chose Jiang Qicheng as the setting for her plans involving Chi You and the Red Kite Immortal.
• A shared nightmare spread through Jiang Qicheng, where a sword-bearing woman on horseback appeared and some dreamers died without waking.
• Jingzhe and Nian arrived at the city lord’s residence to investigate the deaths, while Nian wore an imitation Censorate robe.
• Nian produced a greatsword from her mouth and asked the witnesses whether it matched the weapon carried by the woman in their dreams.

Hoshino led Jingzhe and Nian to investigate the shared dream deaths in Jiang Qicheng, then prayed for a tool to enter the dream. City Lord Jiang saw the black-haired girl riding Pipi Horse attack him in his sleep, while a Fenghuang Down feather arrived at the Censorate office.

• Hoshino corrected City Lord Jiang that the western shrine figure was a fox, then left with Jingzhe and Nian to investigate the case.
• At the Censorate office, Hoshino studied the scattered death locations and said they would need to solve the problem within a dream.
• Hoshino prayed to Shenzhou's guardian for a vital tool, while City Lord Jiang fell asleep to observe the dream.
• In the dream, City Lord Jiang saw a crowned girl with black hair and eyes ride Pipi Horse and strike with a greatsword followed by sword-shaped energy attacks.
• City Lord Jiang woke with blood at the corner of his eye, and Hoshino identified a feather that arrived at the office as Fenghuang Down.

Hoshino used Fenghuang Down to draw Nian into a dream while Phoenix's unlock progressed to completion. Hoshino entered the dream and found Nian hiding inside a pile of shields as Ji Lin attacked her, leaving the old grudge unresolved.

• Hoshino warned Nian that Fenghuang Down could lead her through dreams, and Nian agreed to play along and close her eyes.
• Fenghuang Down put Nian to sleep, and she found herself alone in a cavern where she forged weapons and hid from a black-clad girl who asked if she had come back.
• Phoenix's unlock completed, and Hoshino entered Nian's dream after hearing sounds of a battle.
• Hoshino found Ji Lin striking a mound of shields with Nian hidden inside, then kicked the mound and asked where her sword was.
• Nian replied that her sword was in Hoshino's stomach.

City Lord Jiang learned that a gigantic living island was approaching the coast, while Hoshino fought Black Ji Lin inside the dream and returned to find Nian still asleep. Hoshino told Jingzhe that the immortal had other plans for Nian.

• City Lord Jiang discovered that the Astrologer Bureau's armillary sphere had gone haywire, and its chief historian revealed that a massive mobile island made of rock was approaching the shore.
• The chief historian swallowed a stone and began measuring the island, preparing to resonate with his staff and become Infected.
• Hoshino confronted Black Ji Lin while Nian stayed hidden behind a mountain of shields, and she defeated Ji Lin by burning away her resentment.
• Hoshino woke in front of Jingzhe, who wondered why Nian had not awakened, and Hoshino said the immortal had other plans for her.

Hoshino and Jingzhe learned that a colossal monster was approaching Yan Kingdom, prompting a rapid evacuation and a boarding-action plan. As Jiang Qicheng advanced to attack, the Red Kite Immortal appeared and single-handedly stopped the moving city, then forced it to turn around.

• A yamen official told Hoshino and Jingzhe that a monster had arrived, and Jingzhe chose to stay and help evacuate civilians.
• The Astrologer Bureau discovered that the monster had three hearts, one already destroyed by an unimaginably ancient wound, while Lord Jiang organized a boarding action against it.
• Yan Kingdom evacuated the core city, while Jingzhe remained, Nian stayed dazed, and the shrine maiden left, bored by the crisis.
• Jiang Qicheng charged toward the monster but began slowing as the armillary spheres were disrupted by an unknown force.
• The Red Kite Immortal stood before Jiang Qicheng, stopped it with one hand, and pushed the city around in the opposite direction.

Hoshino pushed Jiang Qicheng back into place, then crossed the divided sea and killed the newly awakened Chi You with a basic Taixu Sword Qi attack. She retrieved the Black Xuanyuan Sword and returned to Jingzhe, saying she had come to retrieve someone and had other plans for the Nian Beast.

• Hoshino pushed Jiang Qicheng into place while City Lord Jiang recognized her as the Immortal.
• Hoshino walked toward Chi You as Yan Kingdom watched her arrival through the drones.
• Hoshino split the sea, entered the Deep, and killed Chi You with Taixu Sword Qi · Ordinary Basic Attack.
• Hoshino found and retrieved the Black Xuanyuan Sword from inside Chi You.
• Hoshino destroyed the drones, returned to Jingzhe, and said she had come to retrieve someone.

Hoshino staged a dreamlike encounter to make Nian confront the graveyard of gods and learn how gods could be killed. Nian asked whether Hoshino was a god, and Hoshino replied that she had not been one for a long time.

• Jingzhe watched Hoshino and the Nian Beast vanish, then learned that the Venerable Immortal Fu Hua's arrival had stirred Yan Kingdom into raising statues of her.
• Lord Jiang corrected the sculptors' depiction of the Scarlet Kite Immortal, and the Emperor ordered them to portray her faithfully.
• Hoshino built the Graveyard of Gods with Xuanyuan Swords and used Fenghuang Down to draw Nian into a hazy dream.
• Nian awoke in the graveyard, sensed the sorrow of dead gods, and feared that the ancient beings were real.
• Hoshino showed Nian the Taixu Divine Sword and explained that gods could die if they forgot.
• Nian asked whether Hoshino was a god, and Hoshino said she had not been one for a long time.

Hoshino used Fenghuang Down and the Xuanyuan Swords to frighten Nian into recognizing that her memories might have been altered. After returning to Jingzhe, Nian decided to leave Shenzhou and find her brothers and sisters.

• Hoshino made Nian relive a terrifying vision of the swords erasing the memories of living beings, then ordered her to disperse.
• Hoshino recalled the Xuanyuan Swords, received Spirit Blade: Frozen Naraka, and returned to collect the spoils while scholars and clans began searching for immortals.
• Nian reappeared in Jingzhe’s room, and Jingzhe noticed that she looked lost and had tear stains near her eyes.
• Hoshino returned and explained that Nian’s strange behavior had made her suspect something was wrong with Nian’s memories.
• Nian wondered how much of her memory had been altered and said she would leave to find her brothers and sisters.
• Hoshino corrected Nian, saying the place she called the Yan Kingdom was called Shenzhou.

Nian arrived at Rhodes Island seeking shelter and met Raiden Mei, who revealed that she was Takemikazuchi. At Yae Shrine, Hoshino explained Durandal’s unusual connection to the Exalted Immortal and pushed Ch'en to keep training, leaving Ch'en energized to pursue Dimensional Slash.

• Nian, troubled by the possibility that she had forgotten other siblings, left Yan Kingdom and followed the Snow Mountain God of Kjerag’s advice to seek shelter at Rhodes Island.
• Nian entered the cafeteria, where Raiden Mei recognized her unease and revealed that she was Takemikazuchi.
• Rhodes Island’s armed units surrounded the cafeteria after Ceobe raised the alarm, then fled when they learned Raiden Mei was on kitchen duty.
• Ch'en visited Yae Shrine to practice swordsmanship, and Hoshino told her that Durandal was the Exalted Immortal’s junior sister by seniority.
• Hoshino urged Ch'en to train harder, and Ch'en drew her sword with renewed resolve to master Dimensional Slash.

Nian joined Rhodes Island after meeting Amiya and the Doctor, choosing to work at the Processing Station and requesting special meals. Meanwhile, Hoshino concealed that she still had the Spirit-Commanding Blade and began planning a test of her newly unlocked Herrscher of Rimestar power in the wilderness.

• Nian submitted a deliberately inconsistent operator file, then told Amiya she was a god of forging and smelting and chose to work at the Processing Station.
• The Doctor silently exchanged a glance with Nian, after which she agreed to stay at Rhodes Island on the condition that the cafeteria prepare special meals for her.
• Nian questioned Doctor Gavial during her ability assessment, and the Doctor spoke once to defend Rhodes Island's respect for operators' personal wishes.
• Ch'en asked Hoshino about her missing sword, and Hoshino described a weapon that had once turned everything nearby into an icebound death zone.
• After Ch'en left, Hoshino revealed that the Spirit-Commanding Blade was still in the warehouse and used two Valkyrie fragments to raise Azure Empyrea's unlock progress to 40%.
• Hoshino identified the new boss as Ana Schariac, the Herrscher of Rimestar, and considered testing her extreme cold in the wilderness near the Pole.

Hoshino accepted a long-term quest to restore Victoria and prepared to draw Vina into conflict with the dragon forces. As Bena and Rozaliya approached Rhodes Island to abduct Reed, Nian spotted a huge dragon overhead.

• Hoshino examined the Spirit-Commanding Blade and planned to hide it at the Pole so a Columbia expedition would discover the frozen forbidden zone.
• Hoshino accepted the system's Restoration of Victoria quest, which assigned Bena as her controllable NPC and offered Blood Dance as a reward.
• Hoshino called Ch'en to establish an alibi, claiming she was heading to the Pole to search for her sword.
• Hoshino disguised herself as Rozaliya and had Bena lead her toward Rhodes Island to abduct Reed, with Bagpipe and Talulah also considered as targets.
• Swire asked Bagpipe about an old battlefield custom involving Scottish Vouivres lifting their skirts, and Bagpipe confirmed it had once been practiced.
• Nian looked up from Rhodes Island and spotted a huge dragon and a pink-haired figure.

Bella arrived above Rhodes Island and declared that she would protect Reed and restore her destiny, then flew to Chernobog and froze Talulah after ordering the will possessing her to leave. The chapter ended with Rhodes Island’s observers reacting to Bella’s strange, forceful approach.

• Bella appeared above Rhodes Island and called for the Child of the Drak, exposing Reed’s identity and putting the ship on alert.
• Nian identified Bella as an ancient and powerful Drak, while Rhodes Island’s Guard Department mobilized.
• Bella told Reed she would reclaim her place in Victoria, and Hoshino briefly mistook Reed for another heir apparent.
• Bella took Bagpipe with her and flew to Chernobog, where Talulah confronted her on a tower.
• Bella ordered the will inside Talulah to leave, then sealed Talulah in ice when she resisted.

Bella entered Buckingham Palace to confront Victoria’s powerless King Charles II, while Yae Sakura learned that Bagpipe had been abducted and decided to intervene because one of the captives was connected to Bronya. The chapter left Victoria’s succession struggle poised to unfold as the elderly king revealed that Vina had not returned and that he no longer held power.

• Bella arrived in Londinium and invoked the Drak–Aslan pact to make her claim a matter of Victoria’s royal family, preventing other forces from intervening.
• Yae Sakura learned that Miss Bagpipe had been kidnapped, but Ch’en warned her that going to Victoria would count as interference in its domestic affairs.
• Yae Sakura insisted on intervening after recognizing a captive in a photograph as Bronya’s younger sister, Rozaliya Arlin.
• Talulah thawed as Reed confirmed that she was a Drak, while Hoshino and Bagpipe got along through a headbutt and talk of farming.
• Bella met King Charles II at Buckingham Palace, and he revealed that Vina had not returned and that he had been stripped of power.