Chapter Summaries

Three days after the bombing, Wise and Belle worried about Griseo’s long sleep and the consequences of her actions while Victoria Housekeeping began investigating who defeated the Dead End Butcher. Corin offered a lead, but Lycaon’s meeting was derailed by Rina’s Stargazy Pie.

• News reported that the Cunning Hares had accepted residents’ claims against Vision Corporation, Belobog Heavy Industries had begun reconstruction, and Public Security had issued a bounty for information about the Dead End Butcher’s defeat.
• Belle told Wise that Griseo’s vital signs were healthy despite her sleeping for thirty-seven hours, and she planned to take Griseo to Astra Yao’s concert.
• Lycaon asked Victoria Housekeeping for leads on the Dead End Butcher’s defeat, but Ellen fell asleep during the meeting.
• Corin told Lycaon that a Bangboo investigator had saved her during the Vision Corporation bombing and that a little girl and a Cat Thiren were there; she recognized the Cat Thiren as a Cunning Hares member.
• Rina invited the team to try her Stargazy Pie, revealing that she had learned the dish from a game, while Ellen pretended to keep sleeping rather than face it.

Tsukishiro Yanagi searched for Hoshimi Miyabi before an important meeting, but her broken glasses led her to mistake Anby for the missing section chief. Yanagi got Anby through the meeting in Miyabi’s place, only to find Miyabi back in the office and suggesting they make it a regular arrangement.

• Tsukishiro Yanagi searched New Eridu for Hoshimi Miyabi and accidentally crushed her glasses after Nekomata leapt from a trash can.
• Without her glasses, Yanagi mistook Anby for Miyabi at Cunning Hares and dragged her to Hollow Operations Section headquarters while Miyabi stayed behind eating melon.
• Harumasa tried to get leave and Soukaku asked for food, but Yanagi promised to fulfill their requests if they helped her handle the meeting.
• Yanagi dressed Anby in Miyabi’s samurai uniform, wig, and fox ears, then brought her to the meeting and delivered the report herself.
• After the meeting, Yanagi found Miyabi back in the office, where Miyabi praised the substitute and suggested Anby attend future meetings in her place.

Siki hosted TOPS’s Good Voice, where Astra Yao, Epha, and Cecilia judged a singing competition. Nekomata’s performance and fabricated sob story ended when Zhu Yuan arrived to arrest the Cunning Hares, and the group fled.

• Siki introduced Astra Yao, Epha, and Cecilia as the judges and announced that the winner would receive prize money and perform with Astra Yao.
• Nekomata performed a cat-themed song while Anby, Billy, and Nicole cheered from the audience.
• Epha asked Nekomata why she entered, and Nekomata gave an emotional account of being a stray rescued by the Cunning Hares.
• Zhu Yuan arrived with Qingyi and Seth, accused the Cunning Hares of several crimes, and prompted Nekomata, Nicole, Anby, and Billy to flee.
• Zhu Yuan delivered an anti-fraud warning before chasing after her companions, leaving the audience to question Nekomata’s story.

At Siki’s singing competition, Ben’s children’s song and Grace’s attempt to examine Epha caused more chaos before Victoria Housekeeping performed. Angels of Delusion closed the show with an emotional band performance and won first place with three perfect scores.

• Ben sang “Boonie Bears,” then explained that an unexplained force had made him choose the song instead of the one planned.
• Grace rushed at Epha to study her mechanical body, and Evelyn, Ben, and Anton carried her off the stage.
• Ellen and Corin performed a duet for Victoria Housekeeping while Lycaon and Rina acted as citizens reporting the Cunning Hares.
• Angels of Delusion performed as a band, moving the audience and judges with their songs.
• Cecilia, Astra Yao, and Epha each awarded Angels of Delusion 10 points, and Siki declared them the winners.

Belle touched Griseo’s special paints and witnessed memories of people facing sacrifice and death, leaving her overwhelmed by their stories. The chapter ended with Belle laughing through tears and deciding to take the day off from writing.

• Belle visited Belobog Heavy Industries’ construction site to handle unresolved matters from the bombing case while waiting for her contact.
• Griseo showed Belle that her special paints could now work outside the Hollows, and Belle touched the red paint to see a red-haired woman give Kiana a final lesson.
• Belle touched the blue paint and saw a pink-haired fighter protect her sister’s pride, then burst the remaining paints to view their memories.
• Belle saw a green-haired woman bid farewell to her assistant, a red-haired woman leave a civilization behind, a Cat Thiren charge into a disaster, and a pink-haired girl turn into flowers.
• Belle laughed through tears at the memories, then decided to stop writing for the day.

Belle accepted Koleda’s commission to recover three missing intelligent construction machines from Dead End Hollow, then joined Griseo and Grace in searching for Grater. The search drew a swarm of Ethereals, and Belle made Eous claim she was a Void Hunter before he shouted an attack name.

• Koleda told Belle and Griseo that Belobog Heavy Industries had lost three intelligent machines and asked them to retrieve them from the Hollow.
• Belle accepted the commission and Koleda paid the deposit before returning to the construction site.
• In Dead End Hollow, Grace identified the missing machine as Grater and worried that she might have become rebellious.
• Griseo rode Mr. Knight deeper into the Hollow with Eous while he crushed the Ethereals in their path.
• The fighting attracted a large swarm of Ethereals, and Belle had Eous announce that she was a Void Hunter before he shouted, “Chibaku Tensei—!!!”

Belle and Griseo used a powerful new move to destroy a horde of Ethereals, then encountered the lovestruck [Grater] and summoned Vill-V to help. Vill-V introduced herself as the bearer of [Spiral], while Belle noted that Griseo had now summoned five Signets.

• Belle and Griseo gathered Ether into a sphere and used Mr. Knight to send it crashing down, destroying more than a hundred Ethereals.
• Belle, Griseo, and Grace found [Grater], which became furious when Belle questioned its beloved Mashiro.
• [Grater] attacked Grace with its chainsaw, and Mr. Knight blocked the strike while Belle pulled Grace clear.
• Griseo summoned a new Signet, causing Ether blasts to disable [Grater]'s mechanical joints.
• Vill-V appeared, greeted Griseo, and introduced herself to Belle and Grace as the bearer of [Spiral].

Vill-V met Belle, Griseo, and Grace, repaired Grater, and explained why Grace’s creation would never pass the Forbidden Fruit Test. She then unleashed a spectacular attack on the Ethereals, leaving Belle wondering what Vill-V had done before.

• Vill-V realized Belle was speaking through Eous and greeted Grace, who introduced herself as a senior engineer and showed Vill-V the disabled Grater.
• Vill-V examined Grater and discussed Grace’s hope of creating an Intelligent Construct with real feelings and human rights.
• Vill-V told Grace that Grater would never pass the Forbidden Fruit Test because both her creator and the authorities treated her as a tool, then repaired her.
• Vill-V asked Griseo what colors she saw, spotted the Ethereals, and staged an explosive attack that wiped out the creatures and the surrounding building.
• Belle asked Griseo what Vill-V used to do, and Griseo answered that Vill-V was “in eight parts.”

Grace persuaded Grater to return with her by promising to build new Mashiros, while Griseo received a trace of love as a paint color. At the Black Swan Construction Site Ruins, Griseo ended Anton and the grabber’s argument with a show of force and ordered them to come back.

• Grace comforted Grater over Mashiro’s destruction and promised to help it build more Mashiros, so Grater agreed to return with her.
• Mr. Knight offered Griseo a faint pink light, which she identified as the color of love and absorbed into her [True Self] Signet.
• At the Black Swan Construction Site Ruins, Anton and the industrial Hollow grabber argued over the grabber’s name and challenged each other to a Manly Man Showdown.
• Belle and Griseo played cards while Anton and the grabber continued their contest, and Griseo told Belle she wanted to go back.
• Griseo summoned a Celestial Star that crashed into the ruins, then ordered Anton and the grabber to return with her.
• Anton and the grabber apologized and agreed to go back with Griseo.

Koleda reunited two intelligent machines with Griseo and Eous, while Lycaon learned the Dead End Butcher investigation had reached politically sensitive figures and that Ellen’s grades had fallen to eighteen points. Ellen reluctantly agreed to tutoring at the video store, where Wise prepared to teach her and her friends.

• Koleda thanked Belle for finding two intelligent machines and saw Anton and the grabber machine pampering Eous and Griseo.
• Rina told Lycaon that investigators had identified people tied to the Dead End Butcher incident, including Phaethon and Sinner's Child, and that the mayor had ordered them to wait before taking further action.
• Rina revealed that Ellen scored eighteen points on her exam and insisted Lycaon attend her parent-teacher conference, while Ellen stayed after school for tutoring.
• Ellen discovered that her friends had brought her to the video store so they could visit the princess of The Stars's art studio, but agreed to try tutoring after seeing her report card.
• Wise cleaned the video store in preparation for tutoring Ellen, and confidently told Belle that high school knowledge would be easy for him.

Wise tried to tutor Ellen for her retake exam, but her paper was filled with wildly mistaken answers and she dreaded studying. Griseo returned to the video store, leaving Ellen to continue her lessons while Belle took Griseo upstairs.

• Ruby, Mona, and Rin arrived at the shop looking for Griseo, and Wise sent them upstairs to Belle.
• Wise examined Ellen's test paper and found that she had filled it with absurd answers to literary questions.
• Ellen complained about exams and said she would rather stay home than study, while Belle encouraged Wise to keep tutoring her.
• Anton delivered Griseo and Eous to the shop before leaving to search for another machine.
• Griseo saw Wise tutoring Ellen, and Ellen warned her that school was dangerous until Belle stopped her and took Griseo upstairs.

Belle discovered that Griseo had secretly drawn a manga series inspired by people from her past and present. After recognizing herself and her brother in one story, Belle promised not to tell him.

• Ruby, Mona, and Rin admired Griseo's paintings in the studio and enthusiastically crowded around her when she returned with Belle.
• Griseo offered to paint for the students, but Ruby revealed that they had mainly come to ask about her manga, The Stars.
• Ruby asked Griseo when she would update the manga, and Belle took it from her before Griseo could stop her.
• Belle read the manga's stories about Qianjie, Kevin, and Su, then recognized herself and her brother in the fourth story's character profiles.
• Belle told Griseo that the manga was well drawn and promised not to tell her brother.

Belle looked after Ellen and the exhausted Wise downstairs, then sent Ellen to join Ruby, Mona, and Rin for a portrait by Griseo. Griseo finished the painting, but the girls had not figured out who would pay for it.

• Ellen found Wise sprawled over the counter after his tutoring lesson, and Belle brought her juice and Shark Crunch Bites while tidying up and covering Wise with a jacket.
• Ellen apologized for the trouble she and her friends had caused, and Belle said Wise had been able to live out a dream before telling Ellen that Ruby wanted her upstairs for a portrait.
• Ruby persuaded Ellen to pose with Mona and Rin while Griseo painted them, and Griseo sang a song written by Sunna as they waited.
• Griseo finished the portrait, and Ruby, Mona, and Rin praised it and took pictures.
• Ellen asked who would pay for the painting, leaving Ruby and the others stumped.

Ruby and her friends visited Griseo’s studio, where Ellen bought Ruby’s painting and Griseo made a new one of the departing group. In an extra scene, Lycaon distracted Ellen’s teacher with housekeeping services during a parent-teacher meeting, and Ellen later tried to bring Rina to school as her mother.

• Griseo quoted Ruby an oddly precise discounted price for the painting and music-listening service, and Ellen paid for it.
• Ruby said she would find a job, but Rin pointed out that Ruby’s scratch-card habit was the real problem.
• Griseo gave Ruby the framed painting, then painted a new picture of Ellen, Ruby, Rin, and Mona leaving; Belle recognized it as Griseo’s new harvest.
• At Ellen’s parent-teacher conference, Lycaon cleaned the office, fixed the teacher’s hair, and charged her for Victoria Housekeeping’s services instead of discussing Ellen’s grades.
• Ellen told Rina that her teacher wanted to meet her mother, and the next day she brought Corin, who was disguised as a young mother.

Belobog Heavy Industries and Phaethon searched the Hollow near the Old Capital for the runaway pile driver Friday. After Griseo blasted a crater in its path, Friday was left stuck with its mechanical legs buried in the ground.

• Koleda led Anton, Grace, Griseo, Eous, and Ben into the Hollow to retrieve Friday while Belle and Wise coordinated from the video store.
• The team traveled toward the Old Capital and found the Ether concentration rising, while Griseo’s surrounding Ether energy surpassed the concentration in the Hollow.
• Belle considered investigating the Helios District to learn the truth about the Old Capital’s fall, but Wise warned her not to take Griseo into Hollow Zero.
• The team located Friday, but it fled when Koleda tried to approach it.
• Grace warned that Friday was heading toward a large gathering of Ethereals, so Belle and Fairy guided Griseo’s attack.
• Griseo’s barrage blasted a crater in Friday’s path and left the pile driver stuck with all four legs buried.

After Friday revealed that he had fled to answer a summons from Mentor Hors, Belobog Heavy Industries learned the name belonged to Koleda’s disgraced father and Grace’s uncle. Koleda and Grace argued over Hors’s past until Griseo intervened, leaving the family conflict unresolved.

• Griseo joined Friday’s chuuni roleplay and pressured him into promising to explain why he had run away.
• Friday said Mentor Hors had summoned him to reinforce a seal in the land of disaster, shocking Koleda and Grace.
• Koleda explained that Hors had disappeared with a large amount of money, leaving Belobog Heavy Industries in crisis and his name a taboo.
• Grace defended Hors, insisting there was no proof he had taken the money and that he must have had a hidden reason.
• Koleda and Grace angrily argued about Hors until Griseo stood between them and ordered them not to fight.

Belle helped Koleda reveal why she had concealed what she saw on the night her father disappeared, then persuaded the Belobog Heavy Industries crew to continue deeper into the Hollow. Koleda commissioned Belle to uncover the truth about her father as they set out to help Friday seal the Calamity.

• Griseo forced Koleda and Grace to confront their feelings, and Koleda admitted she had seen her father leave with the company’s missing money.
• Koleda explained that she still believed her father was a hero but had spent years searching for evidence against the Public Security Department’s findings.
• Belle urged Koleda to keep searching for the truth, and Griseo gave the crew Ether-resistant protective suits.
• Koleda agreed to continue into the Hollow and asked Belle to help discover what her father had really done.

At Pioneer Memorial Plaza, Koleda and the others discovered Belobog Heavy Industries’ lost Prototype Machine beneath a mass of black Ether crystals. When Griseo summoned her painted creatures to confront the corruption, a skeletal monster broke free from its seal and descended upon them.

• Ben recognized Pioneer Memorial Plaza as a project Belobog Heavy Industries had secured before the former president disappeared.
• Grace, Koleda, and Anton found the Prototype Machine holding back black Ether crystals beneath the memorial tower.
• Koleda touched the machine’s cockpit, but Belle warned the group and Anton carried Koleda away as Griseo sensed a dangerous presence.
• Griseo used her Signets of The Stars to summon the Wheat Reaper, the Girl with a Wide-Brimmed Hat, and Madame Mallier on a Sheep's Back.
• The crystals shattered, and a purple-corroded skeletal monster with mechanical armor embedded in its skull broke free and leaped toward the group.

Griseo and her summoned companions defeated the Sacrificial Ghost at the memorial plaza. After the battle, Koleda sent her team to check for threats and recover the Prototype Machine, while Belle arranged to bring Griseo back safely.

• The Sacrificial Ghost reappeared and attacked Griseo and her companions, but they wounded it with a coordinated assault.
• Griseo created a painted domain that trapped the Sacrificial Ghost and let her summons destroy it.
• Koleda ordered Anton and Ben to check for other threats and asked Sis and Friday to haul the Prototype Machine back.
• Belle agreed to send Koleda the coordinates and prioritized bringing Griseo back, concerned that her power had strained her body.

Koleda gave Belle and Wise the Prototype Machine’s encrypted external storage after reporting that Hors had likely been shot dead. Cecilia then took Griseo and the Angels of Delusion to Weifei Land for a week, while Fairy hinted that accepting Nangong’s lottery ticket would make sense when next week’s electricity bill arrived.

• Koleda told Belle and Wise that a settlement bill showed Hors had used the money to pay off the Prototype Machine, though the damaged cockpit suggested he had been shot dead.
• Koleda asked Belle and Wise to decrypt the Prototype Machine’s external storage, and Wise accepted it.
• Cecilia requested a week off to take Griseo and the Angels of Delusion to Weifei Land, where they would prepare for a future music festival.
• Nangong offered her winning 500,000 Denny lottery ticket to cover the Managers’ electricity bills, and Wise accepted it.
• Fairy said accepting the ticket was optimal and that the reason would become clear with next week’s electricity bill.