Chapter Summaries

Hoshino asked Penguin Logistics for help finding Theresa, who had captured Mostima after getting her caught up in a fight. Theresa realized she had dragged innocent people into the conflict, panicked about Hoshino finding her, and fled with Mostima still bound.

• Hoshino told Penguin Logistics that Theresa had captured Mostima and asked them to help locate the nun.
• Hoshino explained that Theresa would avoid her out of guilt for involving innocent people, and that Judas's Oath could sense across the city.
• Theresa questioned Mostima about Hoshino's reaction and realized she had made things worse by dragging innocents into the conflict.
• Theresa activated Judas's Oath's Hunt Mode to track threats while evading Hoshino, then carried the bound Mostima away with her staffs.

Mostima was bound by Judas's Oath while Theresa fled through Lungmen, and Penguin Logistics joined Hoshino's shrine-maiden forces in the search. Mostima urged Theresa to escape when Penguin Logistics caught up, leaving her rescue attempt in chaos.

• Hoshino told Penguin Logistics how Mostima had been captured, but her account ended with the rescuers cutting through Judas's defenses.
• Ch'en watched footage of the incident and dismissed it as a family matter, so the Lungmen Guard Department stayed out of the pursuit.
• Hoshino prepared Penguin Logistics for the operation, while Exusiai, Texas, and Croissant readied their weapons.
• Penguin Logistics and the shrine maiden forces searched Lungmen as Theresa fled with Mostima and Judas in pursuit.
• Exusiai shot Theresa from a distance, and Mostima told her to run before the rescuers could catch her.

Penguin Logistics pursued Theresa and Mostima across Lungmen for a week, while Ch'en and Wei Yenwu discussed the authorities’ decision to turn a blind eye. When Penguin Logistics finally caught up, Theresa used Judah to knock them unconscious, leaving the battle between gods to begin.

• Theresa repeatedly evaded Penguin Logistics as they tried to rescue Mostima, and Hoshino watched from the sidelines.
• Wei Yenwu questioned Ch'en about the Guard Department’s response, and Ch'en admitted she trusted the shrine maiden to handle the situation safely.
• Penguin Logistics kept pursuing Theresa despite exhaustion and realized their targets were escaping more slowly each time.
• At the latest encounter, Theresa used Judah’s chains to bind and knock out the exhausted Penguin Logistics members.
• Theresa and her opponent began a fierce battle while Mostima watched and nearly fell asleep from fatigue.

After Hoshino defeated Theresa and the others, Theresa apologized to Ch'en and left Lungmen. Back at the shrine, Mostima woke and stayed beside the sleeping Exusiai, while Hoshino grew more curious about Mostima's twin staffs.

• Hoshino defeated Theresa and the others, leaving them asleep for at least two days, while Mostima also fell asleep from exhaustion.
• Ch'en found Theresa at the Guard Department entrance, where Theresa apologized for the trouble in Lungmen and then departed.
• Wei Yenwu told Ch'en that long-lived races could be difficult to understand, prompting Ch'en to complain about his veiled jabs.
• Hoshino carried Penguin Logistics back to the shrine and tried knocking Mostima's black and white staffs together, but nothing happened.
• Mostima woke, relieved to find the others still asleep, and settled beside Exusiai, who rested her head on Mostima's lap.

After Mostima left the shrine, she encountered a strange time-controlling enemy and fought for her life. Back at the shrine, Hoshino told Ch'en that she had once defeated time itself, while Mostima’s battle against the enemy continued.

• Mostima said goodbye to Hoshino and left, while Hoshino cared for the sleeping Penguin Logistics members and prepared food for them.
• Ch'en arrived, helped Hoshino prepare a meal, and stayed at the shrine; after Exusiai woke, Hoshino beckoned her over to show her a picture.
• Mostima saw a Catastrophe-like storm and was attacked by the Time Manager, whose body reassembled after she destroyed it by accelerating time.
• Hoshino asked Ch'en what could not be changed, then claimed she had once defeated time itself.
• Mostima realized the enemy was only a small avatar of a greater existence as their battle continued across the wilderness.

Hoshino explained to Ch'en how long-lived beings struggle with fate, loneliness, and attachment, then invited her to witness the Spirit-Commanding Blade’s power. They found Mostima battling a colossal beast amid a clash of temporal forces, and Hoshino prepared to intervene with a single slash.

• Hoshino told Ch'en that time and fate could be manipulated and described how long-lived beings sought anchors but could eventually turn against those they loved.
• Hoshino recalled asking Ch'en to witness her true power and invited her to watch the Spirit-Commanding Blade’s first battle.
• Ch'en packed her swords and traveling gear, and she and Hoshino left Lungmen quietly to investigate danger involving Mostima.
• Hoshino showed Ch'en a rock corroded by temporal turbulence and identified the damage as Mostima’s power.
• Ch'en and Hoshino saw Mostima confronting a colossal beast beneath a dark-gold clock face, and Hoshino said her extreme cold could stop time before she struck.

Hoshino revealed that her swordsmanship wielded stasis and used it to defeat Nihilism in one decisive strike. After welcoming Mostima among the long-lived, Hoshino checked whether Ch'en had understood the lesson, and Ch'en admitted she had not.

• Hoshino demonstrated how stasis overpowered the turbulent flow of time, prompting Ch'en to ponder the principle behind the power.
• Hoshino froze time and struck Nihilism, destroying its core and ending the battle for good.
• Hoshino welcomed Mostima to the world of the long-lived and offered her friendship and help without payment.
• Hoshino collected the subjugation reward and asked Ch'en whether she understood the lesson, but Ch'en shook her head.

Hoshino revealed the full power of her sword’s Stasis authority and made Chen praise it to replenish its faith, leaving Chen worried she would be forced to do so again. Back at the Shrine, Hoshino used her rewards to advance Azure Empyrea’s unlock progress and discovered a reusable Seed of Time before checking the next Memory Battlefield boss.

• Hoshino explained to Chen that her sword governed Stasis and demonstrated its power by stopping time completely.
• Hoshino told Chen that the sword needed faith replenished through praise, then made her repeatedly recite congratulations.
• Chen returned to Lungmen still wearing her motorcycle suit, changed into a duty jacket, and worried that Hoshino might demand more praise in the future.
• At the Shrine, Hoshino put the rewarded Valkyrie fragments into the pool, raising Azure Empyrea’s unlock progress to 60%.
• Hoshino found a Seed of Time with a 72-hour cooldown and considered using it to create powerful weapons or characters.

Hoshino learned that Higokumaru would join the next Memory Battlefield in a month, then received Jingzhe, who asked about Yan Kingdom’s search for Mount Taixuan. Hoshino warned that Mount Taixuan was not a mountain on the ground but something to seek in the sky, leaving Jingzhe frightened by the possibility of a hidden guardian above.

• Hoshino saw Higokumaru named as the next Memory Battlefield boss, arriving in one month, and set the matter aside.
• Hoshino revived Bagpipe, who returned to the Lungmen Guard Department and gave up trying to use electronic devices again.
• Ch'en wrote hymns so she could recite them if Yae Sakura asked her to celebrate again, while Bagpipe unsuccessfully tried to learn what she was writing.
• Jingzhe visited Hoshino on Yan Kingdom’s behalf and explained that the Emperor wanted to find Mount Taixuan and Fuyun Temple.
• Hoshino told Jingzhe that Yan Kingdom’s search was driven by its pursuit of orthodoxy and the Emperor’s desire to prove himself against someone.
• Hoshino advised Jingzhe to look to the sky because Mount Taixuan was not a mountain, and Jingzhe left fearing a guardian hidden above.

Hoshino explained that the immortal Jingzhe saw might have been an incarnation of a severed obsession, then began planning around the Seed of Time. In Ursus, Nikolai emerged from the burning Summer Palace to meet Regent Pavlovich, while Hoshino noticed the empire had begun sending supplies to Chernobog and suspected something was wrong.

• Hoshino told Jingzhe that the immortal she saw might have been an incarnation of an obsession its original self had severed.
• Hoshino planned to use the Seed of Time and considered bringing back the Herrscher of the Void, while deciding to let Ch'en defeat Higokumaru.
• Nikolai burned books in the Summer Palace as hunger consumed the palace and its supplies ran out.
• Fifteen days later, Nikolai arrived at the Winter Palace and introduced himself to Regent Pavlovich as the Imperial Grandson.
• Hoshino learned that Ursus had begun sending supplies to Chernobog and suspected the change in policy was not what it seemed.
• Hoshino continued trying to prepare Ch'en to accept the idea of slaying the Three Corpses before facing Higokumaru.

Hoshino transformed into the Sky Ranger and accepted a mission to demonstrate divine power to Columbia’s biotechnology companies. She arrived in Seattle and staged repeated appearances at a Rhine Lab facility, leaving the organization investigating her.

• Hoshino fused her character card with an item, regained clarity, and discovered she could switch the Herrscher of the Void’s eyes between gold and blue.
• Hoshino received a mission to crush Columbia’s biotechnology companies’ confidence, with Judgment of Shamash as the reward.
• Hoshino reviewed Columbia’s research and traveled from Lungmen to the mobile city-state of Seattle, intending to target Rhine Lab.
• Hoshino opened a spatial gate above a Rhine Lab cafeteria, fell through a window, and caused the surveillance cameras to fail before vanishing again.
• Rhine Lab personnel documented the first incident, then captured a complete image of Hoshino during her next appearance and moved to seal the information, clear the area, and contact her.

Joe took charge of Rhine Lab’s response to the presumed artificial god and chose communication over weapons. Hoshino explored a world bubble, then appeared in the cafeteria, where her blue-eyed form failed to intimidate anyone and she cut the cafeteria and much of headquarters out of the world.

• Columbia’s officials identified Hoshino as the deity seen riding a dragon across Ursus, and Joe’s superior assigned him to oversee the response.
• Joe moved the military’s weapons away from the discovery site and prioritized exchange and communication.
• Hoshino visited a nearby world bubble, imagined it as the Yan Kingdom’s legendary Taixu Immortal Mountain, and returned to prepare another appearance at Rhine Lab.
• Joe proposed that Hoshino might simply be hungry, so Rhine Lab arranged extra food in the cafeteria.
• Hoshino appeared in the late-night cafeteria and realized her blue-eyed form lacked the intimidating majesty of her golden-eyed state.
• Hoshino snapped her fingers, cutting the cafeteria and more than half of Rhine Lab headquarters out of the world and leaving a vast pit behind.

After Rhine Lab vanished, Yae Sakura demanded Hemo’s help to find Kiana and entered the incident site with her. Hoshino trapped the researchers in a bubble universe where Originium technology failed, and Yae Sakura and Hemo encountered a white-haired girl searching for her niece.

• News spread that Rhine Lab had vanished, and Yae Sakura stormed into Rhodes Island to demand Hemo’s files about the lab’s research.
• Yae Sakura said Rhine Lab had reached for Kiana and threatened to overcome every obstacle to bring her back, so Hemo agreed to explain what she knew and provide Ptilopsis’s authorization.
• Hoshino moved most of Rhine Lab into a bubble universe, where she disabled their equipment and left the Herrscher of the Void to frighten the researchers before departing.
• Joe discovered that he had crossed into another world, found its boundary, and organized the stranded Rhine Lab personnel to document the loss of their working Originium machinery.
• Hemo accompanied Yae Sakura to Columbia, where they met a white-haired girl carrying a cross who said she had come to find her niece.
• Yae Sakura questioned Hemo about what terrified researchers most and declared that Originium studies did not exist.

Originium stopped working at the ruined Rhine Lab base, driving researchers toward despair as Joe and security watched over them. Theresa, Yae Sakura, and Hemo entered a spatial gate to find Kiana, and Theresa confronted Hoshino, who appeared as the Herrscher of the Void.

• Researchers discovered that Originium and its related products had lost their effectiveness, and security detained those who became suicidal.
• Theresa and Yae Sakura argued over whether Kiana was still herself, until Hemo urged them to work together to bring her back.
• Theresa activated Judah’s Hunt Mode and led the group through a spatial gate, with Yae Sakura and Hemo following her.
• Theresa arrived at the ruins and spread Judah’s domain, while Yae Sakura directed Hemo to move the ordinary people into defensive fortifications.
• Hoshino emerged from the starry sky as the Herrscher of the Void, and Theresa prepared to face her.

Hemo and the Rhine Lab researchers sheltered in a fortification as the battle to reclaim Kiana unleashed devastating aftershocks. The fight’s outcome remained unknown until Theresa arrived through a portal with the bound Herrscher of the Void and reassured everyone.

• Hemo asked Joe whether Rhine Lab’s underground fortifications still existed, and he confirmed that they could shelter the researchers despite their failed systems.
• A Rhine Lab scholar invited Hemo to join a society researching alternatives to Originium energy, but Hemo declined.
• Judah’s weakening field struck the fortification, making Hemo and others collapse or grow faint as a scholar recognized the scale of a god’s battle.
• The weakening field passed, but a wave of cold followed, and Hemo worried about the researchers’ survival while the battle continued.
• Theresa opened a portal into the room with the bound Herrscher of the Void, then told everyone they no longer needed to be afraid because their godmother had arrived.

Theresa subdued the Herrscher of the Void, and Kiana awoke in her arms as the fortification’s survivors reunited. Yae Sakura then offered guidance to the scientists, warning them that the era of Originium-powered civilization was nearing a major upheaval.

• Theresa gently calmed the Herrscher of the Void until Kiana fell asleep in her lap, while Hemo asked if it was over.
• Theresa told Hemo that Yae Sakura was outside controlling her power, and Hemo noticed the researchers developing new ideas about energy beyond Originium.
• Hoshino awoke as Kiana, called Theresa her aunt, and embraced her family as the storm outside gave way to warmth.
• Hemo caught a cold as Yae Sakura entered and offered to answer the researchers’ questions.
• Joe asked Yae Sakura why Originium had stopped working in this world, and she relayed Kal'tsit’s warning that a major upheaval was approaching.

Yae Sakura encouraged Columbia’s scientists to pursue a world without Originium, and their firsthand exposure to Originium-free air inspired a movement to develop an academic association. Hoshino returned with Hemo to the shrine and Rhodes Island, where she used a spatial gate to surprise Ch’en at work.

• Yae Sakura told Joe and the other scientists that a world without Originium existed and urged them to conduct their research in secret.
• The Herrscher of the Void teleported the group back to Columbia, where they developed allergic reactions to Originium in the air.
• The scientists resolved to develop an academic association, and the slogan “For a pure world without Originium!” spread through the academic world.
• Hoshino returned to the shrine with Hemo, who then used a portal to reach Rhodes Island and reflected on her allergy to Originium.
• Hoshino opened a spatial gate into Ch’en’s office, patted her head, and left her a cup of decorated hot coffee.

Ch'en received Sakura Fubuki from Hoshino and learned that Kiana had returned with new abilities. As ominous red clouds approached, Hoshino sent Ch'en home and prepared for the calamity.

• Ch'en investigated a cup of coffee delivered through a spatial gate and learned from Hoshino that Kiana had returned.
• Hoshino lent Sakura Fubuki to Ch'en, saying she would reclaim the sword after a certain moment had passed.
• Ch'en tested Sakura Fubuki at home, then found Kiana on her bed and watched her demonstrate her Herrscher of the Void abilities.
• Kiana told Ch'en that Hoshino had chosen her as a student worthy of being entrusted with Sakura Fubuki.
• A streak of crimson cloud appeared over Higashi, and Hoshino sent Ch'en home, saying it would arrive soon.
• Six hours later, calamitous red clouds shrouded Yae Shrine and cast an unsettling glow over the night.

Ch'en broke through the shrine's barrier with Shadowless Strike and found Yae Sakura and Higokumaru together inside. She drew her swords and stepped toward them, promising the shrine maiden that she was there now.

• Ch'en found a crimson barrier surrounding the shrine and heard a shrine maiden's voice calling for help from within.
• Ch'en's attacks with Chi Xiao and Sakura Fubuki failed to affect the barrier, so she calmed herself and attempted Shadowless Strike.
• Ch'en entered the shrine as Hoshino released Higokumaru, who roared inside the shrine.
• Ch'en saw Yae Sakura seated beside the fox demon and realized the two were connected.
• Ch'en drew both swords and advanced toward Yae Sakura, telling her not to worry because she was there.

Hoshino drove Ch'en away after overpowering her, and Ch'en resolved to find a way to save her. Kiana pointed her toward Mount Taixuan and Fu Hua, and the two set off across Yan Kingdom to search for the immortal mountain.

• Hoshino caught Ch'en's swords barehanded and overwhelmed her, then ordered Kiana to teleport Ch'en away.
• Hoshino asked Ch'en why she had entered the sealed place and warned her to look up before Ch'en lost consciousness.
• Kiana explained that Ch'en's swordsmanship could not defeat Hoshino, but Ch'en declared that she still wanted to save her.
• After watching the sunrise, Ch'en remembered the immortal mountain Taixu and asked Kiana about Mount Taixuan and Fu Hua.
• Kiana said they could search Yan Kingdom's famous mountains by portal, and Ch'en changed into tourist clothes before they headed for Mount Tai'e.