Recaps

Meflor learned that Morel and Claire had been killed after the Ravenlock Family turned to targeting poor citizens for organs. A mysterious message summoned him to Lumina Square, and he ordered New Eridu onto emergency footing while addressing Griseo as “Your Highness.”

• Meflor reviewed Lycaon's report and continued planning to use Hugo to weaken TOPS and advance City Hall's position.
• Servilian reported that Morel and Claire had been found dead near the Hollow in eastern Janus District.
• Meflor read the report linking the Ravenlock Family's organ trafficking to the deaths of poor citizens and condemned TOPS.
• A blue orb delivered a message summoning Meflor to Lumina Square.
• Meflor ordered a level-one combat alert, the return of elite personnel and Hoshimi Miyabi, the recall of high-ranking investigators, and the activation of Contingency Plan One.
• Alone in his office, Meflor murmured, “Your Highness Griseo...”

Griseo showed Meflor how her authority could preserve scenes from the past, revealing Morel and Claire sharing a happy moment before their deaths. She offered him a second, unsettling vision, but Meflor asked to skip it, and Griseo dispersed it.

• Griseo told Meflor that Morel and Claire's deaths mattered as little to her as New Eridu's fate did, then offered to show him her authority.
• Meflor touched Griseo's yellow ether orb and experienced Morel bringing breakfast to Claire in the hospital as she enjoyed a meat bun and began to recover.
• Meflor realized the vision had captured a past moment from Morel and Claire's lives and feared the power Griseo had demonstrated.
• Griseo explained that [The Stars]' authority collected paint and gestured toward a gray orb.
• Meflor asked to skip the gray orb, and Griseo dispersed it.

Morel found a better job and spent happy days with Claire, but her condition suddenly worsened and doctors persuaded him to approve experimental surgery. The chapter ended with the doctor telling Morel that Claire had died.

• Morel quit his freight-yard jobs after finding flexible, better-paid work as the Starlight Knight at an amusement park so he could spend more time with Claire.
• Hartmann ordered a hospital administrator to act once Claire's genetic sample was ready, agreeing to payment and a location as usual.
• Morel received a call that Claire's condition had worsened and returned to the hospital, where a doctor claimed her improvement had been a final rally before the end.
• The doctor persuaded Morel to sign consent for experimental Organ-Targeted Repair Surgery using an Ether reagent, and nurses took Claire into the operating room.
• After three hours, the doctor came out and told Morel, "I'm sorry. We did everything we could."

After discovering that the girl in the operating room was not Claire, Morel tracked Doctor Lin and the people who had taken his daughter. He pursued their vehicle into a Hollow despite Zhu Yuan’s warning, determined to rescue Claire himself.

• Morel noticed the body’s clean wrists and missing birthmark and realized the girl in the operating room was not Claire.
• Morel learned Doctor Lin had left, then found him loading large boxes into a vehicle near the hospital’s back entrance.
• Morel called Zhu Yuan with the vehicle’s license plate and followed it as it headed east.
• Zhu Yuan tracked the vehicle into a Hollow and warned Morel to stop and wait for professionals.
• Morel thanked Zhu Yuan, then entered the Hollow without protective equipment or a Proxy’s guidance to search for Claire.

Morel found Claire imprisoned in a Hollow Raiders’ camp and fought his way to her, but Doctor Lin and the bandits surrounded them. A later document revealed that Morel and Claire were brutally killed and Claire’s organs were harvested.

• Morel endured Ether corrosion in the Hollows and spotted Claire among children held in cages at a bandit camp.
• Morel killed a bandit who had left the camp, took his clothes, and disguised himself to get closer to Claire.
• Doctor Lin recognized Morel, but Morel knocked him down and broke open Claire’s cage.
• Morel reunited with Claire as the bandits gathered around them, and his Strong Luck was exhausted.
• Servilian’s document reported that Doctor Lin kept Morel alive while Claire’s organs were removed, then Morel suffered thirty-seven comminuted fractures.

Mobius revealed to Meflor that Griseo’s perception of human emotions could make her either protect or destroy New Eridu, and challenged him to decide whether to fight. Meflor’s hidden fighters attacked, and Griseo began forming a Taixu array to counter them.

• Mobius explained that Griseo sensed humanity’s emotions as colors and that the events surrounding Morel and Claire had nearly driven her to destroy New Eridu.
• Meflor realized Griseo’s calm concealed how close she had come to losing control, while Mobius formed an Ether barrier around Lumina Square.
• Mobius sensed seven fighters concealed nearby and acknowledged Meflor’s ability to gather them.
• Hoshimi Miyabi and a white-haired fighter launched attacks at Griseo, followed by the other hidden fighters.
• Mobius switched the Infinity Signet to Mortal Life, and Griseo began forming the Taixu Formation—Bagua Rebirth.

Hua used Griseo’s body to demonstrate the Bagua Rebirth formation against Meflor’s assembled fighters, then Griseo revealed she was present in person. Meflor surrendered, mistaking Hua’s power for another authority Griseo had acquired.

• Hoshimi Miyabi, Yixuan, Ithaqua, and four Municipal Government fighters attacked Griseo inside the sealed barrier.
• Hua took control of Griseo and used Bagua Rebirth to trap Hoshimi Miyabi and Yixuan while nullifying the other fighters’ attacks.
• Ithaqua attempted a sneak attack, but Griseo’s force repelled him, briefly allowing Hoshimi Miyabi and Yixuan to break free.
• Hua expanded the formation and struck its center with Inch force, cleaving the heavens, forcing Ithaqua to one knee, and sending the four weaker fighters flying.
• Griseo returned to herself, told Meflor she was not an avatar, and Meflor raised his hands in surrender.

After Griseo ended the confrontation with Meflor, she challenged him to consider whether a story’s ending mattered, prompting Hoshimi Miyabi and Yixuan to revisit painful memories of their families. The group dispersed, while Meflor asked Miyabi to plan an operation against Niniwe and invited Yixuan to discuss Yunkui Mountain.

• Meflor surrendered, ending the clash between the Municipal Government and Griseo, and Griseo asked whether a story’s ending mattered.
• Griseo said Morel and Claire’s story was over but New Eridu’s stories continued, then left Meflor to think about her question.
• Hoshimi Miyabi remembered killing her mother at her mother’s request and realized she wished that story had ended differently.
• Yixuan remembered her sister’s sacrifice in Hollow Zero and the grief she had hidden for eleven years.
• Meflor told Ithaqua to report the confrontation as a false alarm and asked everyone to keep the events confidential.
• Meflor asked Hoshimi Miyabi to prepare a plan to eliminate Niniwe and invited Yixuan to discuss Yunkui Mountain at City Hall.

After Griseo exhausted herself confronting the Municipal Government experts, Cui Ji carried her toward the video store and reassured her about Claire. The story then turned back two days, when Griseo and Cui Ji prepared Mobius’s reagents to try to help Claire.

• Griseo’s knees buckled after she left the confrontation, and Cui Ji caught her and carried her on her back.
• Cui Ji told Griseo not to blame herself for what happened to Claire and reminded her that she did not have to save everyone.
• Two days earlier, Cui Ji searched The Stars Publishing House for the reagents Mobius had made to extend the Silver Replicas’ lifespans.
• Cui Ji found the vials, and Griseo confirmed with Mobius that they could be used for Claire.
• Griseo and Cui Ji drove through a storm toward the hospital, joking about rainy-night scenes and Griseo’s comic updates.

Griseo and Cui Ji learned that Claire had supposedly died, while her father Morel had vanished after entering a Hollow to rescue her. Zhu Yuan’s investigation revealed that the body was a clone created with Silver Army technology, and Cui Ji set out to investigate Morel’s disappearance in Hollow LB-10.

• Griseo and Cui Ji visited the hospital to see Claire, but the nurse told them Claire had died after a failed surgery and Morel had disappeared.
• Zhu Yuan arrived and explained that Morel had reported Claire abducted, then entered a Hollow alone to rescue her and could no longer be contacted.
• Zhu Yuan examined Claire’s body, and Cui Ji identified it as a clone made with Silver Army technology.
• Zhu Yuan called for the Criminal Investigation Squad to investigate the suspected identity fraud and seal the hospital exits.
• Zhu Yuan warned Cui Ji that the case involved the Ravenlock Family and said Morel was last seen in Hollow LB-10; Cui Ji left to find Griseo.

Griseo and Cui Ji entered LB-10 Hollow to search for Morel and Claire after Griseo failed to sense their fate. Pardo found Morel’s phone and led them to an Ether Rift, which she entered first.

• Griseo and Cui Ji reached LB-10 Hollow, and Griseo decided to search for Morel and Claire despite being unable to sense their fate.
• Pardo was chased by Ethereals after collecting Ether crystals, but Griseo’s attacks weakened the pack and Pardo defeated the survivors.
• Pardo showed Griseo Morel’s old phone, which had a picture of Claire on its wallpaper.
• Pardo led Griseo and Cui Ji to the Ether Rift where she had found the phone, then entered it first.
• Griseo followed Pardo into the Ether Rift, and Cui Ji hurried after them.

Cui Ji, Griseo, and Pardo discovered a Ravenlock Family laboratory using Silver Army cloning technology to replace and harvest people from New Eridu’s lower classes. Griseo uncovered the memory of Doctor Lin dissecting Claire while her father, Morel, was forced to watch.

• Cui Ji recognized the facility as a Ravenlock Family lab built with the Silver Revival project’s cloning technology and blamed herself for giving the family that technology.
• Griseo led the group down the corridor, and Pardo picked the lock on a heavy metal door.
• The three entered a laboratory filled with cloning tanks containing copies of people, including a clone labeled ClaireA003.
• Griseo entered an adjoining operating room and used the Signets of The Stars to reveal a memory of Doctor Lin cutting open Claire while her father, Morel, watched.
• The memory showed Doctor Lin harvesting Claire’s organs and telling Morel that Claire could not scream because he had destroyed her vocal cords.

Griseo’s despair unleashed a dangerous surge of Ether Energy in the laboratory, and Pardo and Cui Ji tried to calm her before Doctor Lin and armed guards arrived. Qianjie and Kosma subdued the attackers, while Pardo escaped with Griseo and Cui Ji and Qianjie stayed behind to deal with Doctor Lin and the facility.

• As Griseo’s despair deepened, her powers shook the laboratory and cracked the cultivation pods, and Pardo and Cui Ji tried to bring her back to herself.
• Cui Ji urged Griseo to spare the city and ordinary people, and Griseo gently closed her fingers around theirs as Doctor Lin entered with armed guards.
• Doctor Lin ordered the guards to shoot, but Pardo and Cui Ji took down four while Kosma stopped the remaining bullets and Qianjie killed the last two guards.
• Qianjie picked up Griseo, told Pardo to take her and Cui Ji away, and Pardo carried them through the Ether Rift.
• Qianjie ordered Kosma to handle the rest of the facility and kept Doctor Lin for himself.

Griseo emerged from the Hollow upset that she could not resurrect Morel and Claire, whose souls could not be reached through her authority. Kevin and Mobius comforted her, and Mobius suggested a way to make others help change tragic endings.

• Pardo brought Griseo and Cui Ji out of the Ether Rift, and Cui Ji checked that Griseo had returned to normal.
• Griseo explained that she had tried to resurrect Morel and Claire but could not find their soul fragments in the Ether Sea.
• Kevin appeared and told Griseo she did not have to save everyone or take every responsibility upon herself.
• Mobius reassured Griseo that her abilities had limits, then whispered an idea for making other people help change endings.
• Griseo said she understood Mobius's suggestion, and Mobius urged her to act.

Kosma and Qianjie returned from destroying a Ravenlock Family base with Doctor Lin captured and evidence recovered. After Belle learned the extent of the organ-trafficking operation, Griseo planned to eliminate those involved, send the evidence to Zhu Yuan, and have Kosma destroy the remaining research institutes.

• Kosma returned with the battered Doctor Lin and a USB drive containing evidence, while Qianjie emerged from the destroyed base.
• Griseo sent Pardo and Cui Ji to retrieve Eous, and Pardo returned with them about an hour later.
• Belle connected to Eous, read the memory card, and discovered records of the Ravenlock Family's organ-trafficking network and hidden research institutes.
• Griseo asked Belle to organize the evidence for Zhu Yuan and said she would eliminate everyone involved except innocent people.
• Griseo asked Belle to guide Kosma in destroying the research institutes, and Belle enthusiastically introduced herself to him.

Griseo and her allies planned an operation against the Ravenlock Family, coordinating around the mayor, Victoria Housekeeping, and the need to expose the family’s crimes through official channels. Belle agreed to help, and the operation was set to begin the next day.

• Belle realized that her and her brother’s investigation into the Sacrificial Ghost Core connected to Griseo’s investigation of the Ravenlock Family and City Hall.
• Griseo outlined a plan that used Wise as bait, while she arranged to meet Mayor Meflor as an alibi and distraction.
• Qianjie agreed to bring down the Ravenlock Family, and Hua offered to use a formation to conserve Griseo’s energy during the operation.
• Griseo assigned Cui Ji to take the unconscious Doctor Lin to Zhu Yuan so the Public Security Department could investigate the Ravenlocks’ crimes.
• Belle put aside her concerns and promised to help Griseo, as the group prepared for change in New Eridu.

Wise learned that Belle was missing and Griseo had returned, while Vivian agreed to accompany him undercover at a Ravenlock Family banquet. Elsewhere, Griseo waited at Lumina Square, Belle traveled through a Hollow with Kosma, and Qianjie headed to meet buyers connected to the Silver Incident.

• Wise asked Fairy for information about Belle, Griseo, and Eous, but their whereabouts were restricted by the highest privacy level.
• Lycaon told Wise that the Ravenlock Family was hosting a banquet and that Mockingbird could infiltrate Hartmann's study; Vivian agreed after learning she would pose as Wise's partner.
• Lycaon and Fairy informed Wise that Griseo had returned four days earlier and was meeting the mayor at Lumina Square, though Belle's whereabouts remained unknown.
• Vivian prepared to teach Wise noble etiquette before the banquet and suggested they practice acting as a couple.
• Griseo waited beside the river at Lumina Square while Belle traveled through a Hollow with Kosma.
• Qianjie entered Thorne District carrying Eous to visit buyers involved in the Silver Incident.

Wise and Vivian infiltrated the Ravenlock Family estate to investigate Hartmann, but he caught them in his study and aimed a gun at them. Hugo intervened, revealed that he had faked his death and was the leader of Mockingbird, before Qianjie arrived and interrupted his speech.

• Wise and Vivian attended the Ravenlock banquet, where Vivian used coded references to Ravenlock secrets to persuade Burton to arrange an After-Dinner Dessert.
• Wise and Vivian searched Hartmann's study for clues about the Sacrificial Ghost Core but found nothing before Hartmann entered with a pistol.
• Hartmann revealed that he had recognized Wise and Vivian and aimed his gun at them beneath the desk.
• Hugo knocked Hartmann's pistol away with a silver coin and revealed that he had faked his death.
• Hugo declared himself the leader of Mockingbird as TOPS announced it was severing ties with the Ravenlock Family.
• Qianjie descended from the abyss and told Hugo he had three more minutes if he was not finished.

Qianjie rescued Wise and Vivian from Hartmann, killed Hartmann, and faced three Black Branch agents who wanted to recruit him. He rejected Zhao’s offer and challenged her worthiness.

• Qianjie punched a hole in the wall and ordered Hugo, Wise, and Vivian to leave, then gave Wise the barely conscious Eous, which contained the Praise Society’s coordinates.
• After Wise and Vivian escaped, Hartmann tried to shoot Qianjie, but Qianjie seized him and began choking him.
• Zhao, Liuyin, and a stern woman entered through the window, and Qianjie killed Hartmann in front of them.
• Zhao explained that TOPS had cut ties with the Ravenlock Family and said Black Branch wanted to recruit Qianjie after his attacks on major families exposed their crimes.
• Qianjie laughed at Zhao’s offer and asked what made her think she was worthy of recruiting him.

Qianjie rejected Zhao’s attempt to recruit him and defeated Promia when she attacked, then continued his mission against the Ravenlock Family. He slaughtered the family at its banquet, leaving the manor burning and the Ravenlocks erased from New Eridu’s history.

• Qianjie told Zhao and Promia that the Ravenlock Family deserved death for killing innocent girls, then refused to stop his pursuit.
• Promia attacked Qianjie, who caught her strike and sent her crashing into Liuyin; he told Promia his path of vengeance might not suit her.
• Zhao ordered Liuyin to take the injured Promia for treatment and abandoned the pursuit of Qianjie.
• Qianjie fought through the Ravenlock Manor guards and entered the family’s banquet, where he killed everyone on his list.
• The surviving guests fled as Qianjie left the bloodied hall, and flames began consuming the manor and the Ravenlock Family’s traces.

Belle and Kosma destroyed the Ravenlock Family’s Hollow base while Belle drew Kosma into a conversation about his [Daybreak] Signet. When a surge of Ether Energy struck nearby, they rushed to find Wise and Vivian unconscious and learned that Aponia had intervened, though she warned Belle and Wise that removing the force within them would kill them.

• Belle teased Kosma during their mission to destroy the Ravenlock Family’s Hollow base and erase its organ-trafficking and Silver Army records.
• Belle asked Kosma about [Daybreak], and he explained how it represented the first hope before Griseo’s [The Stars] brought countless others.
• After Kosma demolished the base, Belle felt pain and called out for Wise as golden patterns appeared on her body, then abruptly faded.
• Kosma carried Belle toward a surge of Ether Energy and found Wise and Vivian unconscious while Aponia began to fade away.
• Aponia explained that Wise had awakened the power of Griseo’s [Discipline] Signet to save Vivian from transforming into an Ethereal, then warned that expelling the force within Wise and Belle would kill them.
• Kosma carried Wise and Vivian out of the Hollow with Belle after Aponia entrusted him with the cleanup.

Wise was held captive by an obsessive Vivian and nearly escaped before collapsing from starvation. The story then revealed the ordeal as Griseo’s fictional comic, which Vivian indignantly denied resembled her.

• Vivian kept Wise tied up in a basement, insisting she wanted him all to herself and would never let him escape.
• Wise rejected Vivian’s affection and warned that her captivity would leave them with only hatred, but Vivian said she did not care if he hated her.
• Wise stopped eating and waited for an opening; when Vivian thought he was dead and left the door open, he shoved her aside and ran.
• Wise collapsed near the exit from weakness, and Vivian kissed his forehead while promising to punish him for trying to escape.
• On the video store’s third floor, Vivian protested that she would never imprison Wise, while Griseo said she had based the comic on real events.

Belle and Griseo used Ether Energy to show Vivian’s private fantasies about Wise, embarrassing her with scenes of her waking him and preparing for their date. After Griseo stopped the display, Belle asked Vivian to tell them where she and Wise had gone on the date.

• Griseo used her paintbrush and Ether Energy to show Vivian tenderly watching Wise sleep and contemplating touching his face.
• Belle teased Vivian as Griseo showed her trying on outfits and sewing a headscarf printed with Phaethon’s portrait for her date with Wise.
• Belle claimed Vivian had no serious rivals for the position of Wise’s sister-in-law, and Griseo encouraged Vivian to do her best.
• Vivian pleaded with Griseo to stop before she could reveal another scene, so Griseo dismissed the Ether Energy.
• Belle asked Vivian where she and Wise had gone on their date.

Wise and Vivian revisited the river where she had learned he was Phaethon, and Vivian took him to steps carved with words from broken and reconciled relationships. After Wise misunderstood her romantic hint, Vivian left to test whether she could still see tragic futures.

• Wise and Vivian walked together along the river at Lumina Square, recalling how Vivian had discovered his identity and followed Phaethon’s trail.
• Vivian led Wise to a wisteria-covered staircase and showed him the angry words carved on one side and heartfelt pleas carved on the other.
• Wise said the staircase’s design had a flaw because a heartbroken person might never turn back to see the other person’s feelings, leaving Vivian embarrassed.
• In the studio, Belle laughed at Vivian’s failed hint, and Vivian vowed to win Wise’s heart while Griseo shared her chips.
• Belle asked whether Vivian could still see tragic futures, prompting Vivian to leave and test whether her ability had disappeared.

Belle persuaded Griseo to share her private account of Vivian’s past, which revealed how Phaethon’s words had given Vivian hope. Griseo then confirmed that Belle and Wise possessed [authority] and explained that it had drawn her to them two years earlier.

• Belle asked Griseo for the private version of Vivian’s story, and Griseo handed her another sample issue.
• The comic recounted how Vivian’s childhood prophecies brought her rejection, until Phaethon’s message offered her comfort and became the focus of her devotion.
• Belle noticed that Vivian’s prophetic ability resembled Aponia’s [Discipline] Signet, and Griseo said Aponia had erased Vivian’s ability because it came from only a minuscule amount of [authority].
• Belle realized that Aponia’s earlier warning referred to power within her and Wise, and Griseo confirmed that the siblings possessed [authority].
• Griseo explained that the siblings’ hidden power had drawn her to them when she first entered the real world, rather than Sixth Street’s residents being the true reason she stayed at the video store.