Chapter Summaries

Hoshino spoke with Rope about her longing to join the Lungmen Guard Department and urged her to consider how people living in the sunlight lived. Rope reflected on her fear of losing her new life at the shrine and decided to learn gratitude.

• Hoshiguma advised Ch'en to be patient, but Ch'en waited beneath the mountain gate for Yae Sakura's sword while Hoshiguma returned to night duty.
• Hoshino brought Rope inside and told her that Kallen had discussed her candidacy with examiner Hoshiguma, and that Rope's mindset—not her skills—was her greatest obstacle.
• Hoshino pointed out that Rope no longer needed to put survival first and asked her to think about how people living in the sunlight lived.
• Rope realized that she had avoided settling into the shrine because she felt its comforts did not belong to her.
• Rope stretched her feet into the sunset and, warmed by the sunlight, decided she needed to learn gratitude.

Hoshino staged a confrontation with Ch'en to help Rope take a step into the sunlight, and Rope intervened before the two could fight. Hoshiguma then asked Rope to become an auxiliary officer with the Lungmen Guard Department.

• Hoshiguma delivered breakfast to Ch'en and showed her a newspaper story about Ch'en guarding the shrine, prompting Ch'en to blame Swire.
• Ch'en removed the seal from Chi Xiao and prepared to face Hoshino, who rested her hand on the supposedly legendary Flood Dragon Cutter.
• Rope saw that Hoshino and Ch'en were about to fight and rushed down the steps to stand in front of Hoshino.
• Hoshino praised Rope for truly living in the sunlight and told her to find Hoshiguma while she dealt with Ch'en.
• Hoshiguma caught Rope and asked whether she would become an auxiliary officer with the Lungmen Guard Department.

Hoshino defeated Ch'en in a controlled sword exchange while helping Rope earn a place in the Lungmen Guard Department. Ch'en collapsed with a stomachache, but Hoshino later discovered Chi Xiao had also badly injured her and visited her office as Kallen to apologize.

• Hoshino completed the mission to help and protect Rope, received a blade, and faced Ch'en with Sakura Fubuki.
• Ch'en wielded Chi Xiao in a frenzied attack, but Hoshino calmly parried all seventeen strikes and demonstrated her superior control.
• Ch'en crouched down with a stomachache after exercising soon after breakfast, and Hoshiguma took her away on her motorcycle.
• Ch'en ordered Rope to report to the Lungmen Guard Department that afternoon, while Hoshino returned to Tenshukaku and prepared to wander Lungmen as Kallen.
• Ch'en rested in her office with a hot water bottle, hiding a severe wound caused by Chi Xiao's killing intent, when Kallen entered and apologized on Sakura's behalf.

Hoshino relayed Yae Sakura’s advice to Ch’en, who accepted that she needed to train with a wooden sword and explained why she had delayed treating her injured hand. Meanwhile, the Guard Department prepared a welcome party for Rope, and Hoshiguma kept Swire from sneaking upstairs to photograph Ch’en asleep.

• Hoshino told Ch’en that her swordsmanship needed to start with wooden-sword practice and that she should examine whether her own anger had caused her troubles.
• Ch’en agreed Yae Sakura’s advice was true, admitted she had put off treating her injured hand to preserve her full-attendance bonus, and asked Hoshino to keep others from seeing her condition.
• Ch’en wondered whether Kallen was Yae Sakura’s subordinate, while Hoshino left her to rest and went downstairs.
• Hoshino found Hoshiguma and Swire preparing a welcome party for Rope in the Guard Department.
• Swire wanted to sneak upstairs and photograph Ch’en sleeping, but Hoshiguma warned her to stay put and keep inflating balloons.

Hoshino watched Rope begin her new job at the Lungmen Guard Department, then met reporter Wenwen at the shrine and demonstrated her swordsmanship. Wenwen left to write a report about Hoshino’s sharp cherry blossoms, and a penguin at a bar wondered whether drinking them would be amazing.

• Hoshino spotted Rope arriving at the Lungmen Guard Department but continued to the shrine without greeting her.
• Hoshino joined Hoshiguma and Swire in preparing Rope’s welcome party, and Rope helped inflate balloons.
• Hoshino returned to the shrine, where reporter Wenwen interviewed her and asked to see her swordsmanship.
• Hoshino’s sword slash scattered cherry blossoms that cut Wenwen’s palm, and Wenwen hurried off to write a report.
• At a bar, a penguin read Wenwen’s report and wondered whether drinking Hoshino’s cherry blossoms would feel amazing.

Emperor sent Croissant to invite someone from a shrine to help him find inspiration for new songs, threatening to dock her pay if she failed. Croissant reached Tenshukaku and told Hoshino she had come on her boss’s behalf to ask her to take care of something.

• Emperor ordered Croissant to find a blade-shaped flower so he could taste it and regain his lost songwriting inspiration, while warning her that the work came with no extra pay.
• Croissant left the bar and went to a shrine, where she saw a visitor leave money in the offering box and prayed that she could receive money so easily too.
• Hoshino appeared to Croissant and led her to Tenshukaku.
• Hoshino questioned why Croissant had come, and Croissant admitted she was there to invite her to the bar and ask her to take care of something.

Hoshino accepted Croissant’s invitation to meet Emperor after a mission prompted her to help restore his creative inspiration. Meanwhile, Texas and Exusiai escaped a car that had been following them, leaving their pursuers behind as they drove through a wheat field.

• Hoshino explained to Croissant that her shrine offerings gave people reassurance, then received a mission to help Emperor regain his creative inspiration by having him experience her sword’s sharp cherry blossoms.
• Hoshino accepted Croissant’s invitation, collected the Lungmen Dollars from the shrine’s offering box, and asked whether Exusiai and Texas were at Penguin Logistics.
• Croissant told Hoshino that Exusiai and Texas were away on a mission, while Texas and Exusiai noticed a car quietly following them on an elevated highway.
• Texas told Exusiai to shake a bottle of cola and throw it onto the pursuers’ windshield, then drove their car over the guardrail into a wheat field to escape.

Exusiai and Texas were pursued by unknown enemies as their battered car raced through the wheat fields, prompting them to call Emperor for backup. Croissant set out to help them, and Hoshino offered to go along, hoping Exusiai’s modern firearm might help her unlock something through her system.

• Exusiai and Texas sped through the fields while a drone followed them, and Texas admitted the car was badly damaged after Exusiai called Emperor for backup.
• Emperor arranged for Croissant to support Exusiai and Texas, while Texas and Exusiai shared Pocky during the chase.
• At Yae Shrine, Hoshino signed a confidentiality agreement with Croissant concerning Emperor’s request for help with his creative burnout.
• Croissant received Emperor’s call and left to support Exusiai and Texas, explaining the mission to Hoshino.
• Hoshino offered to help Croissant, hoping that seeing Exusiai’s Vector could trigger her system’s unlock conditions.

Croissant and Hoshino went to find Texas and Exusiai, who were trapped in a convoy ambush arranged by Hogg. Texas and Exusiai escaped on foot toward Yae Shrine, while Texas warned Emperor that Hogg had blown up her car and wanted to kill him.

• Croissant showed Hoshino the nonlethal weapons she had brought and set off with her to find Texas and Exusiai.
• Hogg confronted Texas and Exusiai in a convoy, accusing Penguin Logistics of allying with Yae Shrine against him.
• Texas rammed through the cars blocking them, then escaped with Exusiai after their damaged car stopped and caught fire.
• Texas and Exusiai evaded their pursuers and headed for Yae Shrine, while Hogg became convinced Emperor planned to strike against him.
• Texas called Emperor and told him that Hogg had destroyed her car and was plotting to assassinate him.

Texas and Exusiai evaded their pursuers while Emperor rejected Lin Yuhsia’s attempt to mediate and ordered Hogg driven out of Lungmen. In the Outer Ring, Hoshino and Croissant defeated Hogg’s convoy, and Hoshino knocked him unconscious after he mistook their arrival for a Penguin Logistics plot.

• Texas told Exusiai that the cat should pay for the damage to the boss’s car, while Exusiai’s Energy Ring repeatedly exposed their location as they fled.
• Emperor searched Penguin Logistics’ records, learned about Hogg, and told Lin Yuhsia he had no secret plan involving the Yae Shrine.
• Lin Yuhsia canceled mediation and warned Emperor not to use dangerous weapons in Lungmen.
• Emperor ordered Hogg driven out of Lungmen, while Croissant and Hoshino searched the Outer Ring for Texas and Exusiai.
• Hoshino and Croissant encountered Hogg’s convoy, and Hoshino swiftly defeated its members.
• Hogg accused Penguin Logistics of sending Hoshino to eliminate him, so Hoshino struck him unconscious with her sword hilt.

Croissant and Hoshino subdued Hogg’s convoy while Texas and Exusiai escaped pursuit, then learned that other groups were gathering against Penguin Logistics. Emperor watched the growing turmoil from the safety of the base, confident no one would find him.

• Croissant tied up Hogg’s defeated men and punctured their tires while Hoshino explained that the group had been easy to defeat.
• Croissant reassured Hoshino that Penguin Logistics was not a criminal enterprise and searched for Exusiai’s glowing halo.
• Texas and Exusiai realized Hogg’s pursuers had vanished, then hid as another convoy passed and accused Penguin Logistics of oppression.
• After the convoy left, Texas and Exusiai decided to return and check whether Croissant had defeated Hogg’s group; Exusiai perked up at news of Ch’en’s injuries and Hoshiguma feeding her.
• Emperor watched the growing conflict from Penguin Logistics’ base and bragged that no one could find it.

Emperor watched enemies seal the doors and windows of his bar, trapping him in the safehouse beneath it. Meanwhile, Hoshino and Croissant met Texas and Exusiai after Hoshino defeated a group of enemies, and Hoshino’s system detected Exusiai as a source for unlocking a character.

• Emperor watched enemies wall up his bar instead of entering, cutting off his escape from the safehouse.
• Texas and Exusiai followed a succession of screams and found Hoshino defeating enemies while Croissant watched.
• Hoshino asked Croissant and Texas for wages, then introduced herself to Texas as Yae Sakura.
• Hoshino’s system detected Exusiai and identified Sky Ranger in her Soul Awakening state as the character she could unlock.
• Hoshino introduced herself to Exusiai and invited her to visit and stay at Yae Shrine.

Hoshino helped Penguin Logistics prepare to rescue Emperor after his bar was sealed off, while Ch'en and Hoshiguma discussed the shrine maiden’s unexplained attack on nearly four hundred people. Elsewhere, Jingzhe, a vacationing member of Yan’s Dali Temple, was mistaken for someone powerful by six organization leaders.

• Hoshino, Exusiai, Texas, and Croissant finished tying up their enemies, then learned Emperor was trapped inside Penguin Logistics’ bar.
• Exusiai, Texas, Croissant, and Hoshino drove toward the bar, and Hoshino learned Sora was safe at an idol event.
• Ch'en and Hoshiguma reviewed a report about the shrine maiden defeating nearly four hundred people and debated whether the Guard Department could intervene.
• Jingzhe explained that she was a vacationing member of Dali Temple, but six organization leaders treated her like their godfather and mistook her lightning-casting for divine power.

Jingzhe’s lightning and composure convinced Lungmen fanatics that she was a heavenly goddess, and they interpreted her brief dismissal of the conflict as approval to attack Penguin Logistics. Texas, Exusiai, Croissant, and Hoshino arrived at the enemy gathering, where police watched from a rooftop.

• Jingzhe watched Lungmen residents revere her lightning, though she was embarrassed and hoped the Dali Temple would not hear about it.
• After Jingzhe called the conflict a farce, the fanatics took her words as encouragement and prepared to attack Penguin Logistics.
• The fanatics learned that three Penguin Logistics members and a shrine maiden were approaching at high speed and shouted for battle.
• Texas drove the car into a dramatic airborne landing, while Hoshino realized why Croissant had insisted she wear a seatbelt.
• Texas, Exusiai, Croissant, and Hoshino got out of the car as police watched from a rooftop, and Hoshino waved to them.

Hoshino and Penguin Logistics fought off a huge mob while Ch'en watched for illegal weapons, but the attackers’ cries and the arrival of Jingzhe revealed a strange connection between the mob and the thunder. Hoshino recognized Jingzhe aloud, leaving the hooded woman stunned.

• Hoshino approached the surrounded Penguin Logistics bar, and Ch'en ordered Hoshiguma to deploy a drone and monitor the fight.
• Texas, Exusiai, Croissant, and Hoshino fought the crowd with nonlethal force, while Hoshino’s swift sword strikes sent attackers flying.
• Hoshino and Penguin Logistics noticed that some attackers shouted about thunder, and the remaining enemies surrendered while crying that they had been abandoned.
• Dark clouds gathered and thunder rolled across the sky as Jingzhe arrived in a hood, hoping to avoid being recognized.
• Hoshino recited the seasonal description of Jingzhe and identified her, leaving Jingzhe bewildered.

Jingzhe returned to the embattled street, where Hoshino recognized her and offered to help her escape the situation. Hoshino then called Jingzhe her friend and tried to persuade the Lungmen Guard Department and Penguin Logistics to stand down, though Ch'en remained uncertain.

• Jingzhe's sudden return rallied the people around her and put the Lungmen Guard Department and Penguin Logistics on alert.
• Texas admitted Penguin Logistics was poorly equipped to fight Jingzhe, while Emperor shouted at the crew not to flee.
• Hoshino approached Jingzhe and quietly offered to help her in exchange for a favor.
• Hoshino hugged Jingzhe, called her a friend, and asked everyone to put away their weapons.
• Hoshino jokingly claimed that all charlatans were family, and Ch'en wondered if she belonged to Yae Shrine.

Hoshino helped Jingzhe defuse a tense standoff with the Lungmen Guard Department, then brought her to Yae Shrine and revealed that she wanted Jingzhe to help her cultivate. Jingzhe panicked at Hoshino’s request and wondered whether she could still escape.

• Hoshino claimed Jingzhe was shy and had only joined the shrine maiden by accident, while Jingzhe destroyed the brick wall with White Lightning to demonstrate goodwill.
• The blast hit Emperor, and Penguin Logistics dug him out and decided to take him to the hospital.
• Texas told Sora that Emperor had been struck by lightning, and Sora responded without sympathy.
• Hoshino took Jingzhe to Yae Shrine and explained that she was helping her because of divine revelation and expected payment.
• Hoshino told Jingzhe that the payment was to help her cultivate, leaving Jingzhe panicked.

Hoshino used Jingzhe’s lightning to unlock Lightning Empress’s Lightning Empress, then transformed to test her new power at Yae Shrine. Jingzhe returned and demanded to know what divine being Hoshino was.

• Jingzhe agreed to help Hoshino train and revealed her qilin horns and crackling hair.
• Hoshino asked Jingzhe to shock her, then startled her into unleashing a powerful burst of lightning that unlocked Lightning Empress’s Lightning Empress.
• Hoshino thanked Jingzhe, treated her to a meal, and gave her rice balls before Jingzhe left the shrine.
• Hoshino transformed into Lightning Empress’s Lightning Empress and tested her ability to control purple lightning.
• Jingzhe returned to Yae Shrine after sensing another thunderstorm and demanded that Hoshino state what divine being she was.

Hoshino tested the Lightning Empress’s powers on Jingzhe, knocking her unconscious and discovering her control over lightning and magnetism. When Jingzhe woke, Hoshino convinced her the Lightning Empress was a critically ill infected person, and Jingzhe prepared to leave Lungmen.

• Hoshino silently let Jingzhe summon lightning, then used the Lightning Empress’s power to erase the bolt and immobilize Jingzhe.
• Hoshino experimented with the Lightning Empress’s abilities, making a thunderous voice and levitating Jingzhe’s staff while Jingzhe remained unconscious.
• Jingzhe woke on Hoshino’s lap and asked where the Lightning Empress had gone.
• Hoshino claimed the Lightning Empress was a god living within someone’s body, and Jingzhe mistook her for a critically ill Oripathy patient.
• Jingzhe respected Hoshino for sheltering the supposed infected person, then picked up her rice ball and set off to leave Lungmen.
• Hoshino decided she could impersonate the Lightning Empress and knock Officer Ch’en unconscious if Ch’en came asking about the hooded person.

Jingzhe returned to Tenshukaku after sensing powerful lightning and found Ch'en asleep on Hoshino’s lap after being struck by the Queen of Lightning. Jingzhe realized her fear had stopped her from approaching the figure behind a screen, then left after Hoshino warned her to keep the lightning wielder under control.

• Jingzhe recognized Constable Ch'en on the way down the mountain but walked past without speaking to her.
• Jingzhe smelled ozone and saw lightning gathering over Yae Shrine, then turned back toward the summit because Ch'en had gone there.
• Jingzhe found Ch'en asleep on Hoshino’s lap, and Hoshino explained that Ch'en had provoked the Queen of Lightning and been struck.
• Jingzhe approached the screen where Hoshino said the lightning wielder was, but a spark made her recoil and realize she was afraid.
• Hoshino told Jingzhe the lightning wielder’s emotions were unstable and asked her to keep the person under control, then Jingzhe left.