Chapter Summaries

Wendy judged Ch'en a worthy mech pilot, embraced her, and became the energy core for Father. Hoshino integrated Wendy's Herrscher Core into the mech, and Ch'en woke in its cockpit as Father finished repairing and stood up.

• Wendy praised Ch'en's character and piloting qualities, then hugged her until she fainted.
• Hoshino collected the Fourth Herrscher Core and learned Father could not remove or fully modify it once installed.
• Hoshino placed Ch'en in Father's cockpit and began integrating Wendy's Herrscher Core while the mech repaired itself.
• Ch'en woke in the cockpit and learned Wendy could still come out to help when needed.
• Father's repairs finished, and the mech rose to its feet as Hoshino told Ch'en to begin her performance.

Ch'en and Exusiai tried piloting Father, but neither could synchronize with it, and Exusiai was ejected from the cockpit. Ch'en returned Father to the shrine and hurried back to work, where she noticed Gatekeeper Kallen's hair had come undone.

• Ch'en piloted Father with Wendy's wind power, but her Sync Rate fell to zero and the mech shut down.
• Exusiai approached Father and asked Ch'en to let her try piloting it.
• Father rejected Exusiai, launched her and the pilot seat from the cockpit, and replaced them with a new cockpit.
• Texas found Exusiai in an abandoned factory chimney and confirmed she was not seriously hurt.
• Ch'en returned Father to the shrine's rear mountain and left, then noticed Gatekeeper Kallen's hair had come undone beneath the torii gate.

Kallen watched Ch'en leave with wounded hands, while Mostima recovered from her weapon’s backlash by traveling and writing a Sami food guide. When she was asked to investigate a shrine displaying mysterious golden wings, Mostima refused and instead suggested recruiting a convent to approach it.

• Kallen watched Ch'en depart and worried that her wounds from Chi Xiao might leave scars.
• Ch'en went to the Guard Department infirmary, where she explained that she had reused bandages from someone else's foot because the injured person was a beautiful girl.
• Mostima finished writing a note about Sami roasted venison while recovering from her weapon's backlash.
• A caller sent Mostima a recording of a white-haired girl in clerical clothes surrounded by golden light and feathers, and asked her to investigate the organization behind it.
• Mostima refused to investigate the shrine again and proposed sending a convent under the pretext of theological exchange.
• Mostima advised getting the convent drunk and casually telling them that the shrine was wealthy and offered comforts they would desire.

Mostima’s plan persuaded the drunken members of Landon Monastery to arrange an exchange with the shrine, and Monk Xidejia was chosen for the mission. When Bison informed Hoshino that Fiammetta would visit, Hoshino received a new mission to show off her wealth and began planning.

• Mostima suggested that Landon Monastery send someone to learn how the shrine acquired its wealth, while warning that the shrine’s food and fighting could leave visitors feeling defeated.
• A drunken nun agreed that Landon Monastery should embrace change and arrange an exchange with the shrine.
• Landon Monastery appointed Monk Xidejia to visit Lungmen, though she was startled when she learned about the assignment.
• Bison told Hoshino that Fiammetta of Landon Monastery would visit the shrine and asked whether Hoshino would receive her.
• Hoshino received a mission to display her wealth to Fiammetta and smiled as she began considering a plan.

Hoshino accepted Landon Monastery’s request to bring Fiammetta to the shrine, eager to use the mission to show off her strength and wealth. Fiammetta passed Lungmen’s screening and was allowed to visit, but Ch’en’s dual role as a Guard Department inspector and Yae Sakura’s disciple left her wondering whether the shrine controlled the city.

• Hoshino agreed to Landon Monastery’s application, whose reward was Celestial Hymn’s graduation weapon, and Bison arranged for the client to be brought over.
• Hoshino planned to show off her wealth gradually and imagined fighting Hephaestus while Fiammetta watched.
• Fiammetta traveled from Landon Monastery to Lungmen with Bison and asked what kind of religious official Yae Sakura was.
• Bison described Yae Sakura as a shrine maiden whose blade was good and who killed quickly, making Fiammetta uneasy about the visit.
• Ch’en questioned Fiammetta on behalf of the Lungmen Guard Department and permitted her to proceed to the shrine.
• Ch’en revealed that she was both the Guard Department’s head inspector and Yae Sakura’s disciple, prompting Fiammetta to suspect the shrine controlled Lungmen.

Fiammetta visited Hoshino’s shrine in Lungmen for an academic exchange, but her real purpose was to learn how the shrine made money. After Hoshino showed her the shrine’s wealth, the two clasped hands in agreement just as something unexpected happened.

• Ch'en escorted Fiammetta through Lungmen and explained that the shrine’s enormous mech, Father, was worshipped by visitors who left offerings.
• Fiammetta joined the worshippers, prayed to Father, and then met Hoshino, who served her two enormous sour plum rice balls.
• Fiammetta steered their exchange away from theology and asked Hoshino how to make money.
• Hoshino showed Fiammetta the shrine, including six tons of Originium gold stored inside the hollow mountain.
• Fiammetta clasped Hoshino’s hand in agreement, and something unexpected happened.

Hoshino discovered that Fiammetta could help unlock Dea Anchora, then received a system mission to demonstrate traditional archery and restore her confidence in Landon Monastery. The next morning, Hoshino used the wind to guide an arrow into an apple, leaving Fiammetta stunned.

• Fiammetta agreed to help Hoshino unlock Dea Anchora, then left the shrine for her lodging in Lungmen.
• Hoshino argued with the system and received a mission to demonstrate traditional archery to Fiammetta, with Star-Piercing Spear: Sagittarius as the reward.
• Fiammetta dreamed of saving Landon Monastery and becoming its abbess, then went to the shrine the next morning.
• Hoshino explained that archery needed to compete with guns and asked to see Fiammetta's compound bow.
• Hoshino drew the bow without Originium Arts, and a fierce wind bent her arrow's path until it struck a red apple.

Hoshino demonstrated that her archery could defy ordinary limits, then used a wind-guided arrow to strike at Exusiai in a Lungmen bar. Fiammetta witnessed the attack, while Exusiai recognized it as a greeting from someone in Laterano.

• Hoshino explained how a compound bow reduced its draw weight and fired all twenty-nine of Fiammetta's arrows at an apple at once.
• Hoshino denied that her shots were Originium Arts and proposed testing whether bows could defeat guns by targeting Exusiai.
• Hoshino sent an arrow flying in a straight line through the air and told Fiammetta that a friend would modify her weapon with electromagnetic technology.
• Exusiai celebrated with Croissant and Texas at the End of the Earth bar after surviving being blasted into a chimney.
• A wind-carried arrow shattered the bar's glass door, circled Exusiai, cut off a lock of her hair, and embedded itself in the counter.
• Exusiai said someone from Laterano had greeted her and declared that she was happy about it.

Exusiai confronted Fiammetta in her hotel room with a pie, a gun, and an arrow, but Bronya rescued Fiammetta and took her to the shrine. Exusiai interpreted the incident as a challenge from Landon Monastery and accepted it on behalf of Penguin Logistics.

• Exusiai learned that a monk from Landon Monastery had arrived at the shrine and planned to visit Sister Xidejia with a gun and an apple pie.
• Fiammetta reflected on the shrine's immense presence and went to sleep at her hotel with her compound bow beside her.
• Exusiai entered Fiammetta's room at night and offered her a choice between the pie and the gun while showing her an arrow.
• Bronya arrived with Heavy Bunny, carried Fiammetta out through the window, and said she would oversee the design and manufacture of Fiammetta's weapon.
• Exusiai decided the encounter was a challenge from Landon Monastery and accepted it as a member of Penguin Logistics.

Hoshino completed Fiammetta’s character card and brought her to the shrine, where Yae Sakura announced a joint military exercise with the Hyperion. Meanwhile, Exusiai and Texas tried to obtain weapon permits for a religious battle, only to discover a massive ship looming over Lungmen.

• Hoshino questioned and evaluated Fiammetta while secretly completing her character card, then flew her straight to the shrine.
• Yae Sakura welcomed Fiammetta and announced a joint military exercise with the Hyperion.
• Exusiai gathered Penguin Logistics and headed with Texas to the Lungmen Guard Department to apply for temporary weapon permits.
• Ch'en questioned Exusiai and Texas about their plan to fight a religious war with live ammunition, then let them leave without issuing permits.
• Outside the Guard Department, Exusiai spotted an enormous ship blocking the sky and realized it was the Hyperion.

A Hyperion delegation arrived near Lungmen, and the shrine organized a joint exercise that drew the attention of Exusiai, Texas, Ch’en, and Fiammetta. Durandal described the archery-themed operation and its planned target, leaving Fiammetta astonished at the shrine’s resources.

• Exusiai and Texas recognized the Hyperion near Lungmen and decided to ask the shrine about it, while Ch’en also headed there to investigate.
• Kallen told the visitors that the Hyperion delegation would take part in a joint exercise in an uninhabited wilderness far from Lungmen.
• Exusiai decided to join the exercise with Texas, seeing it as a chance to fight without Lungmen’s usual weapons restrictions.
• Durandal told Fiammetta that the operation, temporarily named Reforge the Glory of Archery, would help revive interest in archery.
• Fiammetta read the exercise plan and learned that the crimson, flying Hephaestus unit would be destroyed, leaving her envious of the shrine’s wealth.

Fiammetta gathered Exusiai, Texas, Croissant, and Ch'en for Hoshino's joint exercise against Hephaestus. The mech's first attack scattered them, and Ch'en held off its blades before it sent her crashing through a wall.

• Fiammetta showed Exusiai and Texas the exercise documents and led them into the abandoned city to find cover.
• Croissant and then Ch'en joined the group, completing the team as Hoshino sent the Hyperion away and began the exercise.
• Hephaestus descended in a black pillar and released a lightning field, which Fiammetta escaped and helped Croissant avoid.
• Exusiai fired at Hephaestus's head while Ch'en charged in and blocked the mech's twin blades, cracking the ground beneath her.
• Hephaestus transformed and spun, knocking Ch'en through a thick wall; she climbed out of the ruins unharmed.

Ch'en, Fiammetta, Texas, and Exusiai struggled to damage Hephaestus as it devastated the ruined city. Hoshino transformed into Durandal and prepared to show Fiammetta a decisive attack.

• Ch'en caught Fiammetta's arrow, leapt from the crater, and ordered the others to charge Hephaestus.
• Texas, Fiammetta, and Exusiai coordinated attacks, but Hoshino judged that their damage was too low to break Hephaestus's defenses.
• Fiammetta took command and assigned Ch'en to attack targets below ten meters while she handled anything higher.
• Hephaestus dropped six beacon towers, then rampaged through the ruined city with twin blades as the team used guerrilla tactics.
• Hoshino transformed into Durandal, landed in front of Fiammetta, and declared that her next strike would pierce the stars.
• Durandal pressed her spears together, forming a massive longbow.

After the assessment, Hoshino gathered the others at a safe distance and demonstrated Dea Anchora’s overwhelming strength against Hephaestus. She launched the enemy into the sky with a point-blank shot from her energy bow, and the resulting blast erased the ruined city.

• Hoshino explained that Hyperion had stopped believing in Schicksal and now believed only in itself.
• Hoshino threw Fiammetta, Exusiai, Texas, and Croissant toward Heavy Bunny, while Yae Sakura caught the unconscious Ch'en.
• The group watched from a distance as Hoshino kicked Hephaestus's sword in half and drew her energy bow against it.
• Hoshino fired at point-blank range and sent Hephaestus soaring into the sky.
• A brief sun-like blast and storm swept across the ruined city, reducing its remaining ruins to dust.

Hoshino’s overwhelming archery demonstration left Fiammetta and the others stunned, and Fiammetta agreed that the attack could promote Landon Monastery as the pinnacle of archery. After returning to Lungmen, Ch'en announced that the distant Catastrophe posed no danger, while Hoshino arranged for Heavy Bunny to develop Fiammetta a powerful bow.

• Bronya gave Fiammetta the recording of the strike for Landon Monastery’s recruitment publicity, suggesting they blur Durandal’s face and claim anyone could become her.
• After the explosion erased the Originium particles from the air, Croissant felt uncomfortable and Fiammetta wondered whether Hyperion’s technology had escaped dependence on Originium.
• Hoshino realized she had not completed either of her tasks, flew down to Fiammetta, and offered her permission to use the demonstration as publicity.
• Fiammetta said Hoshino’s attack had transcended archery, triggering the notification Hoshino had been waiting for.
• Ch'en announced that a Catastrophe had occurred twenty kilometers from Lungmen but would not affect the city’s patrol routes.
• Hoshino ordered Heavy Bunny to develop a bow for Fiammetta, who eagerly awaited the weapon.

Fiammetta’s attempt to sell Landon Monastery’s bread and beer failed, but the Shrine gave her a new weapon to test. After trying Bronya’s recoil-reducing gauntlets, Fiammetta fired the electromagnetic bow and briefly lit up the sky southwest of Lungmen.

• Fiammetta failed to persuade twelve companies to invest in a trade route for monastery bread and beer.
• A Lungmen merchant told Fiammetta that Kazimierz’s knight competitions had ended after Durandal won the championship.
• Heavy Bunny broke through Fiammetta’s window and carried her to the Shrine for Bronya’s weapon test.
• Bronya explained that she had reduced the weapon’s power and made armor to protect Fiammetta from recoil.
• Fiammetta tested the charged gauntlets, then drew the electromagnetic bow and fired a bolt of lightning into the sky.

Fiammetta received a free experimental weapon from Bronya and left Lungmen with a new friend and renewed confidence. When Sarkaz bandits blocked her route, she prepared to join the fight, while Hoshino discovered the 11th Sacred Relic’s domain could drive away Originium’s aura.

• Bronya examined Fiammetta’s arms, explained the weapon’s limits, and gave it to her free as an experimental volunteer.
• Hoshino completed the shrine-wealth task and added the 11th Sacred Relic to her inventory.
• Before leaving Lungmen, Fiammetta exchanged planting techniques with Bagpipe and reflected on how her trip had changed her.
• When Sarkaz bandits blocked the logistics vehicle’s route, Fiammetta ignored the personnel’s refusal and readied her weapon to join the battle.
• Hoshino transformed into Celestial Hymn and activated the Golden Bow, whose domain purified the shrine’s sky and removed the annoying aura of Originium.

Hoshino considered using the Eleventh Holy Relic to create a dust-free refuge after visiting sick Penguin Logistics employees. Meanwhile, FrostNova found the Emperor of Ursus waiting in a strangely clean mine, where he asked her to take him to Miss Durandal.

• Hoshino put away the Eleventh Holy Relic and went to visit the Penguin Logistics employees hospitalized after experiencing an Originium-free environment.
• Exusiai and Texas told Hoshino that the sudden exposure to clean air had caused their bodies to reject it, while paid sick leave was unavailable at Penguin Logistics.
• Hoshino realized she could use the Eleventh Holy Relic to make the interior of Yae Mountain a dust-free area.
• The Yeti Squad raided a mine where FrostNova noticed the miners were unusually few and the mine air was unnaturally clean.
• FrostNova found the Emperor of Ursus in the mine, and he asked her to lead him to Miss Durandal.

Shang Boliang defeated FrostNova by suppressing Originium Arts and told her he intended to dismantle Ursus to investigate Originium and humanity’s dependence on the land. FrostNova returned to Chernobog and recounted their encounter to Patriot, who called the emperor a madman.

• FrostNova attacked Shang Boliang, but he shattered her ice spears and suppressed Originium Arts within fifty meters.
• Shang Boliang explained his plan to destroy Ursus and asked FrostNova where to find Lady Durandal, then left to prepare for a journey to Lungmen.
• FrostNova’s strength returned after Shang Boliang departed, but her Originium illness left her in pain, and she collapsed after rejoining the Yeti Squad.
• FrostNova woke in Chernobog and told Patriot everything about Shang Boliang and their encounter.
• Patriot called Shang Boliang a madman and wondered why the people of Ursus had chosen him as emperor.

FrostNova fell ill after leaving the Emperor’s restorative environment and sent W to warn Hoshino that the Emperor of Ursus was searching for Durandal, also known as Shang Boliang. Hoshino received the warning and chose to wait, while W left the shrine shaken by its effects.

• FrostNova ordered that she would stop commanding for a while and wrote Hoshino a warning about the Emperor seeking Durandal.
• W read FrostNova’s letter, realized the warning concerned a major threat, and carried it to Yae Shrine.
• Hoshino pinned W when she infiltrated the shrine, then read FrostNova’s letter and considered killing Shang Boliang.
• Hoshino decided to wait and asked W to tell FrostNova to focus on recovering.
• W suffered pain as she left the shrine, while Hoshino inspected the mountain cellar and confirmed that the eleventh holy relic was isolating Originium fragments.