Recaps

Astra Yao began her New Year’s concert at Star Ring while Belle, Wise, and Griseo watched from a private box. Elsewhere, Evelyn tried to reach the atrium to stop Fugue, but Hobbs’s security team attacked her, leaving the corridor in a hostage standoff.

• Astra Yao descended onto the stage and greeted the audience as the concert began.
• Belle compared Astra’s passionate performance with Eden’s, while Griseo showed her messages from the Angels of Delusion.
• Astra began singing, and Star Ring transformed and rose as its Ether engines started.
• Evelyn asked Hobbs whether Astra knew he planned to stop her, then explained that she was heading to the atrium to stop Fugue.
• Hobbs ordered his guards to capture Evelyn, so she took one of them hostage and demanded that the others let her pass.
• Hobbs ignored the hostage and ordered his team to attack, promising compensation for any casualties.

Griseo sensed the Star Ring’s crisis and headed for the main control room as Fugue attacked during the station’s takeoff. After Evelyn warned Belle and Wise, the three fought their way toward the control room, where they found fallen enemies bound by golden threads.

• Griseo used the Signet of Wisdom to survey the Star Ring, learned of Evelyn’s fight and the threat to the main control room, and went there herself.
• Evelyn arrived at Belle and Wise’s private box and warned them that Fugue’s people were threatening the Star Ring while it took off.
• Belle and Wise decided to help Evelyn reach the main control room, taking Eous with them.
• Evelyn defeated enemies along the route, while Wise knocked out an attacker with a wall painting and Belle struck two assassins with Eous.
• Evelyn led Belle and Wise toward the main control room, passing bodies wrapped in faint golden threads.

Evelyn, Wise, and Belle found Star Ring’s control room filled with unconscious staff and Fugue members, along with a countdown that could trigger a catastrophe. While Wise and Belle tried to stop it, Evelyn went to help Astra, and Griseo’s presence on the observation deck revealed Vill-V’s role in changing Star Ring’s course as Aponia persuaded Mrs. Tivert to abandon her revenge.

• Evelyn found Star Ring staff and Fugue members unconscious in the control room and realized a third party had intervened.
• Wise discovered that a countdown would soon send commands to Star Ring’s systems or possibly detonate a bomb, but he could not quickly crack its password without Fairy.
• Evelyn failed to contact Astra because Star Ring’s communications link had been cut, then left with Eous to help Astra while Wise and Belle worked on the countdown.
• On Star Ring’s observation deck, Vill-V used a control terminal to change the ship’s course and assured Griseo that her performance was under control.
• Aponia got Mrs. Tivert to confess that she had planned to attack Astra’s concert out of grief and hatred, and Mrs. Tivert agreed to help complete the performance.

Vill-V and Griseo turned Astra Yao’s performance into a surprise dance battle, while Wise and Belle discovered that Vill-V’s modified bombs were still causing explosions aboard Star Ring. The chapter left Vill-V pleased with the chaos and Griseo worried the ship might blow up.

• Aponia vanished in a shower of blue, butterfly-like lights after handing the rest of the plan to Vill-V and Griseo.
• Vill-V launched her surprise show during Astra Yao’s performance, plunging Star Ring into darkness and summoning four challengers to the stage.
• The challengers performed the Coffin Dance and challenged Astra Yao to prove she deserved Yulan’s name, and Astra accepted their dance battle.
• Wise and Belle watched the spectacle from the control room as four explosions made Star Ring lurch.
• Vill-V said the explosions were only a scare and claimed the modified bombs would go off as fireworks at midnight, while Griseo worried about the ship.

Astra Yao overcame the staged challenge by singing a song that stirred the audience’s memories, evening the score. Vill-V then introduced two new challengers as the performance continued.

• Astra Yao realized the men’s challenge was tied to bombs planted around the Star Ring, with one set to detonate each time she lost.
• Astra Yao accepted the challenge and sang “The Camellias Have Bloomed,” while Griseo’s ability drew the audience into memories of their grandmothers and home.
• Griseo told Vill-V that Evelyn was about to enter for the next step, and Vill-V praised Griseo’s use of her abilities to shape the performance.
• Vill-V announced that Astra Yao had evened the score and introduced two new challengers, one carrying a huge sword and the other performing martial-arts moves.

Astra Yao and Evelyn teamed up to defeat the challengers on the Star Ring stage, but learned the detonator countdown was still active. Mrs. Tivent appeared above the stage and declared that the challenge was not over, accusing Astra of tarnishing Yulan’s name.

• Evelyn arrived in time to protect Astra Yao from Michael’s Dance and Kun Dance Iron Mountain Lean.
• Astra Yao gave Evelyn her microphone, and the two sang together as Evelyn drove back the challengers and their allies.
• Their duet sent a wave of sound across the stage, blasting the enemies away as the audience cheered.
• Wise noticed the detonator countdown had not ended, and Belle warned Astra Yao and Evelyn through Eous.
• Mrs. Tivent appeared on the lighting rig, called herself Yulan’s widow, and declared that she would not let Astra tarnish Yulan’s name.

Mrs. Tivert accused Diga, Fugue, and Yulan’s fans of driving Yulan to his death, then used the Harmonic Cores and a massive mecha to seize control of Star Ring. As the station fell and a requiem threatened the audience, Astra Yao defended her music and began singing against Mrs. Tivert.

• Mrs. Tivert denounced Yulan’s death as murder and blamed Diga, Fugue, and the fans who had hurt him.
• Mrs. Tivert activated the Harmonic Cores, summoned a massive mecha, and used “Sanctuary of Atonement, Concerto: Finale” to control Star Ring.
• Star Ring began plummeting, while an invisible force trapped the audience and Mrs. Tivert’s requiem intensified the danger for Astra Yao and Evelyn.
• Mrs. Tivert taunted Astra Yao as a counterfeit who relied on Yulan’s unreleased songs, and Astra Yao rejected the accusation, declaring that her notes belonged to her.
• Astra Yao rose and began singing her final song, determined to carry Yulan’s wish and music into the future.

Astra Yao’s song moved the starlight and helped Mrs. Tivent honor Yulan’s music, while Evelyn confessed she was a Fugue spy and Astra accepted her. Mrs. Tivent’s apparent attack turned out to be a New Year’s fireworks surprise, and Griseo ended the night with a mysterious badge in hand.

• Astra Yao sang with Yulan’s hope in her voice, drawing the starlight away from Mrs. Tivent as the audience joined in with their glow sticks.
• Evelyn confessed to Astra Yao that she was a Fugue spy, but Astra reassured her and invited her to sing together.
• Mrs. Tivent’s mecha aimed its cannon at the stage, then the Star Ring went dark and fireworks erupted across the dome and night sky.
• Wise and Belle realized someone had transformed the performance into one of [Elation], and they wished each other a Happy New Year.
• Mrs. Tivent gave Astra Yao a USB drive containing Yulan’s unreleased music and left the stage.
• Griseo withdrew the power of [Spiral], watched Vill-V fade away, and held a badge-like object as she wished the night a Happy New Year.

On the last day of the New Year holiday, Anby, Soldier 11, and Cui Ji arrived at the video store after a chase turned into a sword fight. Wise suggested they share a meal to make peace, leaving the three to consider his proposal.

• Soldier 11 spotted the Cunning Hares and chased Anby, while Anby called Cui Ji for help.
• Cui Ji learned Soldier 11 only wanted to talk to Anby, but Anby kept running and Cui Ji decided not to intervene.
• Soldier 11 caught up with Anby, and they fought with swords before Anby kicked her away and continued fleeing.
• Anby ran behind Cui Ji, forcing Cui Ji to block Soldier 11's attack and join their three-way melee.
• At the video store, Soldier 11 explained she had only wanted to greet Anby, and Wise suggested the three share a meal.

Anby, Cui Ji, and Soldier 11 met for a meal to ease the awkwardness between them, but Soldier 11 secretly spiced Anby’s dipping sauce until it was unbearably hot. When Anby tried to share Cui Ji’s normal sauce, Soldier 11 poured her own chili sauce into Cui Ji’s bowl, leaving both older sisters stunned.

• Cui Ji suggested that Anby and Soldier 11 join her for hot pot, and they agreed.
• While Anby and Cui Ji bought hamburgers, Soldier 11 mixed her prized chili sauce into Anby’s dipping bowl and kept the remaining sauce for herself.
• Anby tasted the doctored sauce and coughed from the heat, while Cui Ji tried it and suffered the same burning spice.
• Soldier 11 admitted she had added the chili sauce because she thought Anby would enjoy it, and Cui Ji refused to try Soldier 11’s even hotter bowl.
• After learning the restaurant had run out of dipping sauce, Anby asked to share Cui Ji’s bowl, but Soldier 11 poured all her chili sauce into it so they could share together.

Wise remembered how Anby’s past as a Silver Army clone soldier began when Nicole rescued her and brought her into the Cunning Hares. The flashback ended with Anby mistaking Nicole’s instructions for military commands and vacuuming up the gang’s belongings.

• After Anby and Cui Ji recovered from the spicy food with Griseo’s healing, Wise reflected that Anby’s story had begun with the Silver Army.
• Anby fought Ethereals alongside her cloned sisters before waking from a nightmare in a messy room, realizing she had escaped her life as a clone soldier.
• Nicole found Anby badly wounded in a garbage dump, spent her savings on serum, and injected it before falling asleep beside her.
• Anby woke in Nicole’s home, watched a cartoon, and introduced herself as Silver Army Captain Anby when Nicole asked her name.
• Nicole introduced herself and Amillion, then ordered Anby to learn to use a vacuum cleaner and clean the room.
• Anby followed the order by vacuuming up account books, Nicole’s underwear, and cockroaches, prompting Nicole to demand a refund.

The chapter recounts how Nicole took in Anby, cared for her, and eventually helped her choose her own path beyond the Defense Force. It ends with Anby joining Nicole on a new commission to the Outer Ring.

• Nicole taught Anby basic life skills and brought her to a hamburger shop, where Anby tasted a burger for the first time.
• When Nicole returned injured from a dangerous job, she gave Anby the food she had brought home and called her the first family member she had picked up.
• Anby asked to join Nicole’s operations, but Nicole told her to learn to give herself orders.
• Years later, Anby left her Defense Force uniform on the wall and kept her tactical gear and equipment ready.
• Nicole announced a new Outer Ring commission, and Anby prepared to go with her.

Cui Ji recounted how she was mutilated and exploited, then helped a former military doctor and TOPS Capital launch a project to clone the Silver Army. As the replicas failed to meet the original soldiers’ standards, Cui Ji grew attached to them, while the doctor’s appraisal of the girls threatened that bond.

• A black-market doctor experimented on Cui Ji, who had been sold after losing her limbs, and called her the Legacy of Silver.
• Cui Ji allied with the doctor, gained prosthetics, and helped TOPS Capital establish the Silver Revival research institute in the Hollows.
• When researchers revealed Cui Ji’s first clone, Cui Ji embraced the newborn girl and felt the warmth of seeing a Silver Army sister again.
• The cloned girls performed poorly in their tests, and Cui Ji blamed the limits of their template and her own shortcomings.
• Girl A massaged Cui Ji’s aching shoulders while the other sisters watched, but the black-market doctor reminded Cui Ji that the replicas were defective products.
• Cui Ji challenged the doctor’s purpose for visiting as the doctor looked over the replicas like goods awaiting sale.

Cui Ji learned that the doctor planned to exploit her newborn sisters for their organs, and after being drugged and restrained, vowed to fight the world. She later replaced the doctor, supplied organs to the Ravenlock Family, and devised a plan to revive the Silver Army using Soldier 11 and Anby.

• The doctor demanded that Cui Ji make her sisters useful as specimens, and Cui Ji attacked her before armed personnel restrained and drugged her.
• Cui Ji lay helpless as the doctor left, then vowed to fight the world and never let her feelings weaken her again.
• Cui Ji pretended to obey the doctor, killed one of her younger sisters to gain the doctor's trust, and learned the institute's secrets.
• Cui Ji struck a deal with the Ravenlock Family, replaced the doctor, and began supplying them with organs from her newborn sisters.
• After learning that Soldier 11 and Anby were alive, Cui Ji planned to capture Soldier 11, lure Anby in, and use the resources to achieve Silver Revival.

After Trigger enlisted Griseo’s help, Griseo reached the research facility where Cui Ji held Soldier 11 and confronted Cui Ji. Mobius arrived to calm Griseo and took charge of the facility, while Girl A asked her to spare Cui Ji.

• Cui Ji held Soldier 11 captive in a research facility and reflected on their shared past.
• Girl A warned Cui Ji that danger was approaching, and they fled toward the exit.
• Griseo arrived, demanded to know where Soldier 11 was, and attacked Cui Ji when Cui Ji lunged at her.
• Girl A tried to stop Griseo, but Mobius arrived and used her Signet to calm Griseo.
• Mobius told Griseo to guard the facility, then ordered Girl A to guide her inside.
• Girl A asked Mobius to save Cui Ji too, and Mobius allowed her to bring Cui Ji inside.

Mobius revived Cui Ji, offered to perfect her and her sisters in exchange for experiments and caring for someone, and promised protection from the Ravenlock Family. The chapter left Cui Ji living safely with her sisters and returning to their home on New Year’s Eve.

• Cui Ji relived memories of her torture as Mobius and Girl A monitored her recovery.
• Mobius confronted Cui Ji and Girl A about the institute’s crimes, and Cui Ji defended her sisters’ desire for a home.
• Mobius offered to help Cui Ji and the other clones perfect themselves in exchange for experiments and obedience to someone she would assign them to care for.
• Mobius promised protection and offered to collect interest from the Ravenlock Family.
• Cui Ji later returned to the sisters’ home with gifts, where they welcomed her as she joined their New Year’s Eve preparations.

On Fairy’s first business day of the new year, Hugo visited Wise and Belle to ask about the [Son of the Devil], but Griseo knocked him unconscious after sensing their alarm. Hugo later described the film and invited Wise to a public raffle connected to an upcoming videotape auction before leaving the store.

• Wise told Belle that a huge order had arrived, and she hurried to prepare for the client.
• Hugo arrived, introduced himself as a collector, and asked Wise and Belle about the [Son of the Devil].
• Griseo sensed the managers’ tension and knocked Hugo unconscious with her [Discipline] Signets.
• Wise carried Hugo to the inner HDD room, where Hugo woke and pretended that he had simply fallen asleep.
• Hugo explained that [Son of the Devil] was an Old Capital film and invited Wise to try a public raffle for an upcoming videotape auction.
• Hugo said goodbye to Wise and left the store.

Mayor Meflor visited the video store, revealed that he had known Carole, and offered to upgrade Wise and Belle’s HDD system so they could regain their Ether aptitude. He also commissioned them to retrieve the stolen Sacrificial Ghost Core at a TOPS auction, then invited Griseo to the Municipal Government with the prospect of a Void Hunter Badge.

• Wise rushed back to the video store after Belle warned him it was in danger and learned that Victoria Housekeeping’s master, Mayor Meflor, was coming to meet them.
• Meflor arrived and revealed that he knew Belle and Wise’s teacher Carole, while saying that the fall of the Old Capital required a public culprit despite his belief that more had happened.
• Meflor explained that the HDD system suppressed Wise and Belle’s natural Ether aptitude and offered to have Lycaon upgrade it so they could eventually enter Hollows themselves.
• Meflor commissioned Wise and Belle to attend a TOPS auction and help the Municipal Government recover the stolen Sacrificial Ghost Core.
• Meflor invited Griseo to the Municipal Government, suggesting that she could take ownership of a long-unused Void Hunter Badge.

Mayor Meflor questioned Griseo about her identity after sharing an ancient myth, and she identified herself as [The Stars]. Speaking through Mobius, Griseo accused the Old Capital government of enabling the Helios Institution’s experiments and covering up its role in the city’s fall; Meflor acknowledged the political infighting behind the disaster and hinted that old factions still sought power.

• Meflor read Griseo a story from the Twelve Gods Chronicle and asked which deity she represented.
• Griseo said she was [The Stars] and described her journey toward unknown possibilities.
• Mobius spoke through Griseo and accused the Old Capital government of knowingly allowing dangerous Ether experiments and concealing the Hollow threat.
• Griseo recounted how officials abandoned Defense Force units, erased evidence, and suppressed witnesses after the Old Capital fell.
• Meflor admitted that factional rivalries and political maneuvering had contributed to the Old Capital’s destruction and said New Eridu remained vulnerable to old power struggles.

In the archives, 'Griseo' challenged Mayor Meflor over his request that she become a Void Hunter and exposed his plan to use an auction to implicate TOPS in the Praise Society’s schemes. She agreed not to stop him and invited him to come with her, leaving him alone with the First-generation Void Hunter Medals.

• Meflor showed 'Griseo' the seven medals of the First-generation Void Hunters and explained that New Eridu was nearing a crisis as Hollow Zero expanded.
• Meflor said the Municipal Government had watched Griseo for two years and hoped she would become a variable against the threat to New Eridu.
• 'Griseo' accused Meflor of inviting her to City Hall to separate her from Phaethon and admitted she had uncovered his plan to divert public attention and weaken TOPS.
• Meflor confessed that the Sacrificial Ghost Core, auction, Mr. Hugo, and Phaethon were bait in a scheme to link the Ravenlock Family and TOPS to the Praise Society.
• 'Griseo' said she would let Meflor's plan proceed because she wanted to see its outcome, then asked him to come with her.
• After 'Griseo' left the archives, Meflor looked at Lady Wanzhou's medal and wondered whether her solitary pursuit of the Primus's power had felt like his own path.

Griseo, Billy, and Meflor watched an exhausted street performer portray the Starlight Knight for children in Lumina Square. After Griseo suggested he might be raising money for a hospitalized family member, she asked Billy to take her back to the Municipal Government, leaving Meflor quietly affected by what he had witnessed.

• Billy greeted Griseo and Meflor in Lumina Square and posed proudly as the Starlight Knight.
• The group watched a worn-out performer act out Starlight Knight moves for children, who cheered and gave him pocket money.
• After the crowd left, the performer removed his helmet and gathered his props and the Denny he had received.
• Griseo asked Billy whether he smelled disinfectant, and Billy guessed the performer was raising money for a family member's medical expenses.
• Griseo told Billy to take her to the Municipal Government and said she was about to become a Void Hunter.

Meflor read Griseo a report about Morel, a struggling street performer who played the Starlight Knight to bring joy to his hospitalized daughter, Claire. After promising Claire that the hero would visit her, Morel left for another job while hospital staff worried about his health and finances.

• Sivillian delivered Meflor the report on the performer, and Griseo asked Meflor to read it aloud.
• The report described Morel's nightly performances and his visits to Claire, who had been hospitalized for Ether Adaptation Failure Syndrome for three years.
• Morel shared milk with Claire and told her about the Starlight Knight, promising the hero would visit when she felt better.
• After Claire fell asleep, Morel rested briefly in the corridor before leaving at two in the morning for another job.
• Phil gave Morel a loaf of bread, while another nurse suggested asking the head nurse for more financial help.

Morel accepted a job performing as the Starlight Knight on Sixth Street after Griseo, Billy, and Meflor learned of his sacrifices to care for his daughter. He left with a meal for her and an advance payment promised, while Billy mistook Meflor’s official documents for forgeries.

• Billy, Griseo, and Meflor invited the exhausted Morel to eat and offered him a paid performance job on Sixth Street.
• Meflor showed Morel documents for the event and offered to arrange care for his daughter if she came along.
• Morel explained that his daughter had Ether Adaptation Failure Syndrome and confessed he felt unworthy of playing the Starlight Knight for her.
• Griseo and Billy encouraged Morel to accept the role and bring his daughter to the show.
• Meflor offered Morel 500,000 Denny with a 300,000 advance, and Morel signed the contract before leaving with food for his daughter.
• Billy praised Meflor’s convincing disguise, then accused him of forging a Municipal Government seal.

Three days after Griseo’s meeting with Meflor, Sixth Street held a large Starlight Knight performance while Wise and the others continued investigating the Sacrificial Ghost Core. Morel prepared to fulfill his promise to his daughter, and Claire arrived at the show with Qingyi and Zhu Yuan.

• Belle, Billy, and Griseo watched the crowded performance venue from the video store, and Griseo reassured Belle that her power would protect Wise.
• Morel put on the new Starlight Knight suit and went backstage, determined to tell his daughter and the crowd, “In the name of starlight, I will protect you.”
• Qingyi and Zhu Yuan brought Claire to the front of the stage in a wheelchair, and Claire said she trusted Qingyi to protect her.

Morel performed as Starlight Knight to bring joy to his daughter Claire, who was seriously ill. After the show, Claire asked the knight to make life easier for her exhausted father, and Morel promised to grant her wish.

• Belle spotted Zhu Yuan and Qingyi attending the event with Claire, while Meflor had sent them as a way to give them time off.
• Morel appeared as Starlight Knight and defeated three villains in a staged fight, delighting the children and Claire.
• Griseo gathered colored light, explaining that a father's color had brought everyone's happiness together.
• Morel left the stage and approached Claire, who joyfully recognized Starlight Knight and touched his costume.
• Claire refused to wish for her illness to be cured and instead asked Starlight Knight to make things easier for her tired father.
• Morel promised to grant Claire's wish, and they sealed the promise with a pinky swear.