Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Cui Ji holds Soldier 11 captive in a Hollows research facility and reflects on their shared past in the Silver Army, which was destroyed in a failed operation.
• Girl A, the last surviving clone from Cui Ji’s first batch, warns Cui Ji that danger is approaching.
• Griseo arrives, having been summoned by Trigger to find Soldier 11. She has already overwhelmed the facility’s guards, vehicles, and mechs.
• Cui Ji attacks Griseo, but Griseo’s knight, Mr. Knight, knocks her into the wreckage.
• Griseo’s anger is being intensified by the facility’s oppressive emotional “colors.” Mobius arrives and calms her, explaining that absorbing others’ emotions can affect Griseo herself.
• Mobius takes charge of the facility and orders Girl A to guide her inside. When Girl A asks her to save her sister, Mobius agrees to bring Cui Ji along.

Character developments and interactions

• Cui Ji appears driven by a distorted sense of kinship with Soldier 11, but acts violently when confronted. Despite this, Girl A still tries to protect her.
• Girl A risks approaching Griseo to stop her and pleads for help, revealing concern for both her sister and Cui Ji.
• Griseo is powerful but emotionally vulnerable: the facility’s gloomy atmosphere nearly overwhelms her judgment. She responds to Mobius’s guidance and apologizes.
• Mobius steps in as Griseo’s protector and takes control of the situation. Though she views Cui Ji coldly, she shows some mercy in response to Girl A’s request.
• Soldier 11 remains unconscious and captive, unable to respond to Cui Ji’s claims about their shared past.

Significant themes

• Fate and unexpected intersections: The anticipated reckoning between Cui Ji and Anby is interrupted by other people and events.
• Identity and shared past: Cui Ji sees Soldier 11’s face and history as a bond, though Soldier 11 knows little about the past Cui Ji invokes.
• Ethics of cloning: Mobius recognizes the facility’s cloning work as a violation of human ethics.
• Empathy as both gift and danger: Griseo can perceive and embody emotions, but absorbing too much can distort her own feelings and actions.
• Compassion amid violence: Girl A’s plea leads Mobius to spare Cui Ji, despite the attack on Griseo.

Key plot points and events

• Severely injured Silver Army clone Cui Ji drifts through memories of her sisters, battles, and the horrific abuse she endured before being rescued. She awakens in a research institute, where Mobius monitors her recovery.
• Mobius reviews records documenting the institute’s crimes, including cloning, organ trafficking, and human experimentation. Cui Ji challenges her judgment, insisting the clones only wanted a home and an ordinary life.
• Mobius offers Cui Ji and the surviving sisters a chance at healthier bodies and a future outside their current exploitation. In exchange, they must assist with some experiments and protect someone by obeying her orders.
• Cui Ji doubts Mobius can shield them from TOPS and the organ-trafficking network. Mobius implies she can retaliate against the Ravenlock Family and promises that the person they protect will bring them support.
• In the closing scene, Cui Ji returns to a home the sisters have made together. She now has a regular life and income, and is welcomed warmly by her family.

Character developments

• Cui Ji moves from trauma and defiance toward cautious hope. Her anger reflects both her suffering and her determination to protect her sisters; by the end, she has begun to build the ordinary life she once longed for.
• Mobius initially appears mocking and intimidating, but reveals a practical offer: she intends to help the clones and has a plan to confront their exploiters.
• Girl A and the sisters provide Cui Ji with companionship and a sense of family, while their reunion at the end shows the security they have gained.

Significant themes

• Trauma and survival: Cui Ji’s memories and physical damage show the lasting cost of exploitation.
• Dignity and belonging: The clones’ wish for ordinary lives—a home, work, and relationships—is set against a world that treats them as disposable.
• Hope through solidarity: The sisters’ care for one another helps make a home possible, while Mobius’s offer suggests that protection may require difficult compromises.

Character interactions

• Mobius’s clinical scrutiny and sharp remarks provoke Cui Ji, who confronts her about the clones’ suffering.
• Their exchange shifts into negotiation: Cui Ji demands protection for the sisters, while Mobius offers aid in return for cooperation and service.
• The final greeting—“I’m home” and the sisters’ welcome—turns Cui Ji’s long-held dream of belonging into a reality.

Summary: “The First Order After the New Year”

Key Plot Points and Events

• On the first business day of the new year, Wise announces that the video store has received an unusually large reservation, with a deposit worth several months of Fairy’s electricity bill.
• The client, Hugo, arrives shortly afterward. Dressed elegantly in a purple suit and top hat, with pale skin, mismatched eyes, and a golden ponytail, he resembles a vampire to Belle.
• Hugo introduces himself as a collector and flatters Wise and Belle, explaining that he has come to investigate information about [Son of the Devil], an Old Capital-era film.
• The title immediately makes both managers tense. Before Hugo can continue questioning them, Griseo appears and knocks him unconscious with her [Discipline] Signets, believing he may be an enemy.
• Wise carries Hugo into the HDD room and later revives him. He pretends that Hugo merely fell asleep, concealing the fact that Griseo incapacitated him.
• Hugo is confused because he remembers a flash of movement and then losing consciousness, but he finds no evidence of poisoning, psychic interference, or an attack. He begins to suspect that the managers are not as helpless as his intelligence suggested.
• Wise asks Hugo about the film. Hugo explains that it follows a protagonist forced to become a vampire who eventually kills his sinful “father” and is reduced to ashes himself.
• Hugo then invites Wise to attend an upcoming auction or related public raffle where valuable videotapes may be obtained. He leaves politely after asking Wise to give Belle his regards.

Character Developments

• Wise demonstrates quick thinking and social deception. He hides Griseo’s involvement, maintains the appearance of an ordinary shop manager, and carefully questions Hugo while pretending ignorance.
• Belle remains energetic, curious, and impulsive. She openly examines Hugo and jokes about him being a vampire, but becomes serious once [Son of the Devil] is mentioned.
• Griseo shows strong protective instincts toward Wise and Belle. Although she misinterprets the situation, her immediate reaction is to neutralize what she perceives as a threat.
• Hugo is revealed to be observant, intelligent, and skilled at gathering information. His flattering manner masks a probing investigation into the managers and their possible connection to the film. After being knocked out, he becomes suspicious but chooses not to expose his doubts.
• Wise and Belle’s reaction to the film confirms that the title carries a dangerous or highly sensitive connection to their past.

Significant Themes

• Hidden identities and deception: Both Hugo and the managers conceal their true intentions. Hugo poses as a friendly collector while investigating them, while Wise pretends that nothing unusual happened.
• The danger of forbidden knowledge: Mentioning [Son of the Devil] instantly changes the atmosphere, suggesting that the film is linked to traumatic or threatening secrets.
• Appearance versus reality: Hugo looks like a vampire but denies that vampires exist in New Eridu; similarly, the apparently ordinary video-store managers may possess far greater abilities than outsiders believe.
• Protection and loyalty: Griseo’s intervention emphasizes the close bond among the store’s residents and her willingness to defend Wise and Belle.
• Social manipulation: Hugo’s compliments and polished manners win the managers’ initial trust, while Wise uses politeness and feigned concern to control the encounter.

Character Interactions

• Belle’s intrusive curiosity about Hugo contrasts with Wise’s attempts to maintain professionalism.
• Hugo charms both managers with praise, then tests them by mentioning [Son of the Devil].
• Griseo responds to the managers’ tension by attacking Hugo, creating an awkward situation that Wise and Belle must conceal.
• Wise and Hugo engage in a subtle battle of suspicion: Wise pretends ignorance, while Hugo notices inconsistencies but chooses to withdraw.
• Hugo’s invitation to the auction gives the encounter a possible continuation and may represent either a genuine opportunity or another step in his investigation.

Key plot points and events

• The day after winning a raffle prize, Wise is urgently summoned back to the video store by Belle. Victoria Housekeeping members Lycaon and Ellen are waiting there with Griseo.
• Lycaon reveals that their employer, Meflor—the mayor of New Eridu and head of the Meflor family—is coming to meet Wise, Belle, and Griseo because of their involvement in several recent incidents.
• Meflor arrives and recognizes Wise and Belle as “children of Helios.” He says he knew their teacher, Carole, and believes the Old Capital’s fall involved more than the official account suggests, though he notes that the truth is politically difficult to address.
• Meflor offers to upgrade the siblings’ HDD system, which would gradually restore their natural Ether aptitude and potentially let them enter Hollows themselves. He says they owe him nothing and will have Lycaon carry out the upgrade openly.
• He also commissions the siblings to attend a TOPS auction and help the Municipal Government recover the stolen Sacrificial Ghost Core, with Victoria Housekeeping offering support.
• Finally, Meflor invites Griseo to the Municipal Government, hinting that an unused Void Hunter Badge might be given a new owner. Griseo is intrigued, while Wise and Belle are left bewildered.

Character developments and interactions

• Wise is startled by the mayor’s visit and remains wary, stepping in front of Belle when Meflor discusses Helios. He questions Meflor’s motives before accepting the proposed upgrade and mission.
• Belle is anxious about the visit but quickly takes the lead in questioning Meflor about Carole, showing her personal interest in their teacher and Helios’s past.
• Meflor presents himself as approachable and sincere, balancing personal sympathy for Helios with the political limits of his office. He offers practical help while recruiting the siblings for a sensitive government task.
• Lycaon acts as a composed intermediary, reassuring the siblings and explaining the upcoming upgrade and commission.
• Ellen treats the meeting casually, teasing Griseo and trying to ease the tension.
• Griseo quietly scrutinizes Meflor rather than acting impulsively. His invitation and mention of the badge spark her curiosity.

Significant themes

• Public truth versus political necessity: Meflor suspects the Old Capital’s destruction has a deeper explanation, but says the government needs a public culprit.
• Power, trust, and responsibility: The siblings’ latent Ether abilities could affect all of New Eridu, making Meflor’s support and their new commission consequential.
• A changing future: The HDD upgrade could transform Wise and Belle from remote operators into Hollow entrants, while Griseo may be offered a new role through the Void Hunter Badge.
• Uneasy coincidences and entangled interests: Wise notices that the auction commission follows closely after his raffle win, leaving him suspicious of how events and political interests may be connected.

Key plot points and events

• Mayor Meflor reads Griseo a creation myth from the Twelve Gods Chronicle: the God of Chaos split into the God of Good and the Dark God, whose war ended with the Dark God’s victory. The universe became “Eternal Night,” and the balance began to fail.
• Meflor asks Griseo which deity she represents. She answers that she is [The Stars]—a guide to humanity’s stories, discoveries, and unknown possibilities.
• The discussion turns to humanity’s lost connection with the stars. Meflor recalls that people in the Old Capital once looked toward space, while residents of New Eridu are now focused on survival.
• Griseo’s Infinity Signet appears, and Mobius takes over her voice and demeanor. She accuses City Hall of complicity in the Old Capital’s fall: officials allegedly knew Hollow Zero was unstable, permitted Helios Institution’s human Ether experiments, concealed the danger, and prioritized profit.
• Mobius also condemns the government for abandoning Defense Force troops, covering up the catastrophe during reconstruction, and silencing or persecuting witnesses. The Shiyu Towers’ destruction stopped the disaster but also helped bury the truth.
• Meflor admits the Old Capital’s destruction grew from political infighting and competing interests among numerous factions. He adds that New Eridu remains similarly compromised, with City Hall and TOPS in a public contest while other powers plot behind the scenes.

Character developments

• Griseo first presents herself as a gentle, thoughtful child and describes her identity through hope and exploration. Her sudden shift into Mobius’s colder persona reveals that she can speak with formidable authority and knowledge.
• Meflor begins the conversation on guard, prepared for a possible threat from Griseo. Her willingness to communicate calms him, but her accusations force him to acknowledge the government’s past corruption and the city’s continuing instability.
• Mobius emerges as a sharp, confrontational presence, using Griseo’s voice to challenge Meflor directly.

Significant themes

• Light and darkness, balance and collapse: The myth’s cosmic conflict foreshadows the political and social imbalance beneath New Eridu’s apparent stability.
• Truth versus official history: The chapter contrasts the public account of the Old Capital’s fall with allegations of cover-ups and deliberate suppression.
• Power, greed, and complicity: Political factions’ pursuit of profit and influence contributed to catastrophe and continues to threaten the city.
• Hope and exploration: Griseo’s “Stars” represent humanity’s capacity to seek knowledge and possibility beyond mere survival.

Character interactions

• Meflor treats Griseo respectfully but tests what she is; Griseo answers candidly and describes her purpose.
• Mobius abruptly takes over the exchange, confronting Meflor with accusations about City Hall’s role in the disaster.
• Meflor initially challenges her evidence, then concedes that her conclusions are difficult to refute and openly acknowledges the factional rivalries behind the Old Capital’s destruction.

Key plot points and events

• Mayor Meflor guides Griseo through the archives to the medals of the seven First-generation Void Hunters, whose deeds marked the Old Capital’s peak of strength. Even they could only push back the Black Wall so far before making a Pact with powerful entities.
• Meflor explains that New Eridu is weakened by internal conflict and Hollow Zero’s expansion. The Municipal Government has watched the Lost Lands and fears the old Pact no longer protects humanity.
• He admits he invited Griseo to become a Void Hunter because he believes she could have destroyed New Eridu already, but instead has lived among its people and shown some goodwill.
• Griseo challenges his motives, accusing him of luring her away from Phaethon so his political plan could proceed. Meflor confirms it: the Sacrificial Ghost Core, the auction, Hugo, and Phaethon were all part of a scheme to link TOPS and the Praise Society, shift blame for the Bringer scandal onto TOPS, and restore City Hall’s public standing.
• Griseo says she will not stop the scheme, as she wants to see whether it succeeds. She tells Meflor to come with her, leaving him alone with the Void Hunter medals.

Character developments

• Griseo shows sharp political insight, seeing through Meflor’s plan and questioning why she should help a government that tried to use her. Though guarded and critical, she remains curious about the unfolding scheme.
• Meflor is revealed as a pragmatic and calculating mayor, willing to manipulate events and people to weaken TOPS and repair City Hall’s reputation. His reverence for the Void Hunters—and especially Wanzhou—suggests he sees his own mission as a lonely, risky pursuit.

Significant themes

• Humanity’s vulnerability: Even past heroes could only delay disaster; present-day New Eridu is more divided and less prepared.
• Power, faith, and political manipulation: The chapter contrasts the Praise Society’s worship of the Primus with Meflor’s attempt to negotiate with a being he fears, while showing how political actors turn people and crises into tools.
• Trust and responsibility: Griseo questions whether a powerful outsider should be expected to save humanity, especially when leaders approach her through deception.
• Legacy and sacrifice: The medals—and Meflor’s reflection on Wanzhou—underscore the burden of confronting darkness alone.

Character interactions

• Meflor speaks to Griseo with formal respect, presenting humanity’s history and his reasons for seeking her help.
• Griseo responds with skepticism, exposing his political maneuvering and forcing him to admit the truth.
• Their exchange shifts from recruitment to negotiation: Griseo declines to promise help but chooses to accompany Meflor, while he is left contemplating the example of an earlier Void Hunter.

Plot points and events

• On Children’s Day, Griseo, Billy, and Meflor watch a worn-out man perform as the Starlight Knight in Lumina Square.
• Though exhausted and wearing a battered costume, the performer gives the children an enthusiastic show. Some adults pay him, while several children offer their own pocket money.
• After the crowd disperses, the man gathers the coins and packs away his props. Griseo notices the smell of disinfectant; Billy guesses he has a family member in the hospital and is performing to cover medical costs.
• Griseo says she sees “strength,” “sorrow,” and “optimism” in him, then asks Billy to take her to the Municipal Government rather than to the hospital.

Character developments and interactions

• The performer appears shabby and desperate offstage, but his effort to bring joy to the children reveals his resilience and devotion.
• Billy sees a “true knight” in the performer and responds with sympathy, trying to infer his circumstances from the disinfectant smell.
• Griseo observes the man closely and expresses compassion through her unusual perception of his emotions. She also hints that she may soon become a Void Hunter.
• Meflor, watching as mayor, sees the performer as one of the citizens struggling to survive. His position leaves him reflecting on the limits of what he can do for everyone.
• Billy and Griseo speak casually and affectionately, while Meflor remains quiet and contemplative.

Significant themes

• Heroism beyond appearance: The performer embodies the Starlight Knight’s ideals despite his worn costume and hardship.
• Compassion and generosity: The children’s small donations carry meaning because they give freely and sincerely.
• Private hardship and public responsibility: The man’s likely family crisis contrasts with Meflor’s broader, difficult duty to care for the city.
• Hope amid sorrow: Griseo recognizes both the performer’s suffering and his optimism.

Plot points and events

• Mayor Meflor reviews Public Security’s report on Morel, the performer who plays the Starlight Knight. Griseo is present and asks to hear about him.
• Morel is a struggling single father whose nine-year-old daughter, Claire, has spent three years in hospital with Ether Adaptation Failure Syndrome. He earns money performing by day, then visits her with the milk he can afford.
• Claire is delighted by the milk and listens as Morel describes the Starlight Knight’s heroic performance. He promises that the Knight will visit and perform with her once she gets better.
• After Claire falls asleep, Morel rests briefly in the corridor, overwhelmed by exhaustion and mounting medical costs. At 2 a.m., he leaves for another job, asking the nurses to look after Claire. A nurse gives him bread, and the staff discuss their unsuccessful attempts to raise enough money for the family.

Character development and interactions

• Morel hides his hardship behind an upbeat, reassuring performance for Claire. Though exhausted and desperate, he keeps working because he feels he must remain a dependable father.
• Claire remains hopeful and affectionate despite her serious illness. She shares her milk with her father and believes in the Starlight Knight’s promise.
• The nurses show quiet compassion, helping with food and medical expenses even when their efforts cannot solve the family’s financial crisis.
• Meflor and Griseo frame Morel’s story: Meflor shares the official report, while Griseo listens.

Significant themes

• Parental love and sacrifice amid poverty and illness.
• Hope and imagination as comfort: Morel’s Starlight Knight persona gives Claire something to believe in.
• The contrast between public performance and private exhaustion—Morel appears heroic to others, but his own life is a struggle to endure.
• Community kindness matters, yet remains insufficient against overwhelming medical costs.

Key plot points and events

• Morel’s three years of relentless work—at a freight yard, a part-time job, and street performances—have left him exhausted. He keeps going to pay for his daughter’s hospital care.
• After one performance, Billy, Griseo, and Meflor approach him. They offer him a paid role performing as the Starlight Knight at a Sixth Street event, complete with a new costume.
• Morel is wary until Meflor presents official-looking permits and authorization. When he learns his daughter could attend, he reveals she has Ether Adaptation Failure Syndrome. He has used the Starlight Knight story to encourage her and hide his street work.
• Believing himself a failure unworthy of playing a hero, Morel hesitates. Griseo asks why he has kept fighting for three years; Billy reassures him that his devotion makes him like the Starlight Knight. Meflor offers 500,000 Denny, including a 300,000 advance.
• Morel signs the contract and leaves with food for his daughter. Afterward, Billy praises Meflor’s convincing “official” act—then jokes that he must have forged the government seal, leaving Meflor speechless.

Character developments

• Morel moves from exhaustion, shame, and suspicion to accepting help and an opportunity to make his daughter happy. His perseverance is reframed as heroic rather than a sign of failure.
• Griseo shows quiet empathy, guiding the conversation with a perceptive question that helps Morel reconsider himself.
• Billy uses warmth, humor, and admiration to encourage Morel, while revealing his own strong idealization of the Starlight Knight.
• Meflor handles the practical side of the offer with documents and a contract, though Billy’s suspicion of the paperwork undercuts his serious presentation.

Significant themes

• Everyday heroism: Morel’s sacrifice and endurance embody the courage associated with the Starlight Knight.
• Parental love and self-sacrifice: Morel’s punishing routine is driven by his determination to care for his daughter.
• Dignity, hope, and self-worth: Morel sees himself as a fraud, but others help him recognize the value in what he has done.
• Compassion through action: The group offers not just sympathy, but paid work, food, and a chance for his daughter to attend the event.

Character interactions

• Billy’s friendly teasing helps put Morel at ease, while Griseo’s gentle question reaches the heart of his shame.
• Meflor reassures Morel with paperwork and a concrete financial offer; Morel responds with gratitude and urgency.
• Billy’s later joke about forged seals contrasts with the group’s sincere effort to help, ending the scene on a light, comedic note.

Chapter Summary: The Beginning of Healing 2

Key Plot Points and Events

• While Griseo accompanies Mayor Meflor to organize the “Sixth Street Starlight Knight Public Performance,” Wise and Belle continue investigating the Sacrificial Ghost incident. With Victoria Housekeeping’s help, they establish contact with the Mockingbird Organization, meeting Hugo and the charming purple-haired Vivian.
• The investigation draws Wise and Belle deeper into Mayor Meflor’s larger scheme. After Mobius agrees not to interfere with Griseo, events begin unfolding according to Meflor’s plan.
• Three days later, Sixth Street hosts a massive Starlight Knight event, complete with banners, a decorated stage, and hundreds of children. Belle, Billy, and Griseo watch from the video store while Wise, Anby, Trigger, and others remain inside the Hollows investigating the Sacrificial Ghost Core.
• Griseo reassures Belle that she placed some of her power on Wise, prompting Belle and Billy to relax and focus on enjoying the performance.
• Backstage, Morel receives an elaborate Starlight Knight costume. Seeing himself dressed as the hero gives him a renewed sense of dignity and confidence. He prepares to fulfill his promise to his daughter by appearing publicly as the Starlight Knight and declaring that he will protect everyone.
• Public Security officers Qingyi and Zhu Yuan bring Claire, a seriously ill girl confined to a wheelchair, to the front of the stage. Claire believes deeply in Qingyi’s ability to protect her and is thrilled to leave the hospital and see the Starlight Knight.

Character Developments

• Griseo shows growing confidence and influence. Her connection to Meflor’s plan is becoming more significant, while her protective gesture toward Wise demonstrates genuine concern for him and the others.
• Belle remains energetic and irreverent, quickly shifting from worrying about Wise to wanting to enjoy the performance. Her teasing relationship with Griseo continues to develop.
• Billy maintains his enthusiastic, dramatic personality and joins Belle in prioritizing the spectacle, even while the others are in danger.
• Morel experiences a major emotional transformation. Initially doubtful that he deserves the costume, he begins to see himself as the heroic father his daughter believes him to be. The performance represents hope, self-respect, and his promise to protect Claire.
• Claire is portrayed as physically fragile but emotionally hopeful. Her excitement at attending the event reveals how meaningful the Starlight Knight is to her.
• Qingyi and Zhu Yuan demonstrate compassion and responsibility by personally escorting Claire and ensuring she receives the best view.
• Wise and Belle continue moving further into the dangerous investigation, while their connection with Vivian and Mockingbird expands the circle of characters surrounding the Sacrificial Ghost conspiracy.

Significant Themes

• Hope and healing: The performance offers emotional relief and joy amid illness, danger, and political manipulation.
• The power of belief: Claire’s faith in Qingyi and Morel’s belief in the Starlight Knight identity allow both characters to transcend their ordinary limitations.
• Ordinary people becoming heroes: Morel is not a traditional hero, but the costume and his promise to Claire enable him to embody courage and protection.
• Protection and responsibility: Several characters—Griseo, Qingyi, Zhu Yuan, and Morel—express care by safeguarding others.
• Appearance versus reality: The public performance is a joyful spectacle, but beneath it lies Meflor’s hidden scheme and the ongoing Sacrificial Ghost investigation.
• Privilege and compassion: The crowd makes way for Claire because of both her vulnerability and the authority of the officers accompanying her, highlighting social power while also showing collective kindness.

Important Character Interactions

• Belle and Griseo: Belle playfully tugs Griseo’s braid after learning that Wise is protected. Griseo reflects on Belle’s carefree nature and concludes that it comes from Belle herself rather than from Griseo’s influence.
• Belle and Billy: They jokingly scold Griseo for not revealing Wise’s protection sooner, emphasizing their playful, unserious dynamic.
• Morel and his daughter Claire: Though Claire is not physically present with him in the backstage scene, Morel’s entire performance is motivated by his promise to her. Becoming the Starlight Knight allows him to act as the father she believes he can be.
• Qingyi, Zhu Yuan, and Claire: The officers treat Claire gently and ensure she can attend the performance safely. Qingyi directly asks for Claire’s faith, strengthening their emotional bond.
• Wise, Belle, and the wider investigation team: Their divided roles show the contrast between Belle’s participation in the public celebration and Wise’s continued danger inside the Hollows.

Key plot points and events

• Mayor Meflor arranges for Zhu Yuan and Qingyi to attend the children’s event, presenting the assignment as a chance for the overworked officers to relax.
• Morel performs as Starlight Knight. He defeats three staged villains, winning over the children and the audience.
• From the video store, Billy gets so excited that Griseo has to restrain him with [Discipline]. Griseo gathers the colors of the crowd’s happiness, explaining that a father’s color has brought everyone together.
• After the show, Morel approaches his daughter, Claire. She is thrilled to meet Starlight Knight, but tells him she knows her illness is worsening and she may not have much time.
• Rather than wishing to be cured, Claire asks Starlight Knight to make life easier for her exhausted father. Morel accepts, and they seal the promise with a pinky swear.

Character developments

• Morel shifts from performer to father: seeing Claire’s joy sustains his heroic act, but her awareness of his exhaustion breaks through his composure. He hides his tears and accepts her wish with solemn resolve.
• Claire shows perceptiveness and selflessness. Though seriously ill, she is less concerned with herself than with the strain her father bears.
• Griseo interprets the shared happiness as “color,” connecting Morel’s love for Claire with the crowd’s joy.
• Billy reveals his unrestrained enthusiasm for Starlight Knight, while Belle responds with affectionate amusement.

Significant themes

• A hero’s real purpose: Starlight Knight’s staged victories matter because they bring children hope and happiness.
• Love and sacrifice: Claire’s wish reflects her concern for her father, while Morel’s performance is an act of love for her.
• Facing mortality with tenderness: Claire speaks plainly about her declining health, yet the scene focuses on connection and a promise rather than despair.
• Hope and shared joy: Griseo’s colors symbolize how one family’s feelings can bring a community together.

Character interactions

• The children cheer Morel on, and Claire joins them, creating a warm bond between performer and audience.
• Morel and Claire’s private exchange transforms the spectacle into an intimate father-daughter moment: she recognizes his weariness, and he responds by honoring her request.
• Belle and Griseo share a brief, reflective exchange about the meaning of the colors Griseo collects, while Belle remains unsure of the story behind them.

Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• In City Hall, Mayor Meflor reviews Lycaon’s report on Hugo’s plans. Hugo has secretly secured support from Edmond, a senior TOPS figure, while pretending to ally with his uncle Hartmann to contest the Ravenlock Family inheritance.
• Meflor intends to use Hugo and the Ravenlock conflict to expose TOPS’s connection to the Praise Society’s planned Sacrificial Ghost attacks. By blaming TOPS, he hopes to restore the Municipal Government’s reputation and weaken TOPS’s public standing.
• If successful, Meflor plans to send Phaethon to Weifei Land to obtain Yunkui Mountain’s support. He also intends to manipulate Griseo into traveling to Pale Land to eliminate Niniwe and Gepetto, allowing him to recall elite forces from the Hollow Zero defenses.
• Meflor believes everything is proceeding according to plan, although he feels uneasy—especially because of his twitching right eye, which he associates with an omen of disaster.
• Servilian arrives with news that Morel and Claire—the father and daughter Meflor had ordered protected—have been found dead near the Hollow in eastern Janus District.
• The report reveals that the Ravenlock Family, after profiting from the Silver Revival organ trade, began targeting poor citizens when the supply of organs dwindled. Meflor had tolerated the earlier operation because it involved Silver Army clones protected by Griseo, but the murders of Morel and Claire show that the Ravenlocks have gone too far.
• Meflor realizes the Ravenlock Family has provoked Griseo, whom he regards as an extremely dangerous and powerful figure. His original strategy of using Hugo to dismantle the family may no longer be sufficient.
• A mysterious blue message summons Meflor to Lumina Square. Though he dismisses it as “nothing” in front of Servilian, he immediately orders emergency preparations:
  • The Public Security Department is placed on level-one combat alert.
  • H.A.N.D.’s elite forces, including Hoshimi Miyabi, are recalled from Pale Land.
  • High-ranking HIA investigators are called back to New Eridu.
  • Meflor’s family is instructed to activate Contingency Plan One.
• These measures are normally reserved for disasters comparable to the fall of the Old Capital, signaling that Meflor expects an imminent catastrophe.
• Alone, Meflor ominously addresses Griseo as “Your Highness,” suggesting that the coming crisis is directly connected to her.

Character Developments

• Meflor: Initially confident and calculating, Meflor believes he can manipulate Hugo, TOPS, Phaethon, and Griseo to strengthen City Hall’s position. The deaths of Morel and Claire shatter his confidence. He becomes visibly frightened and abandons normal political maneuvering for full-scale emergency preparations.
• Servilian: Usually composed and efficient, Servilian is deeply shaken by the discovery of the bodies. Despite his fear and confusion over Meflor’s secret message and drastic orders, he remains disciplined and obeys without questioning the mayor.
• Griseo: Although she never appears directly, her influence dominates the chapter. Meflor has been trying to cultivate her goodwill, but he now recognizes that her response to the Ravenlock Family may be uncontrollable and potentially devastating.
• Meflor’s view of TOPS: His anger toward TOPS intensifies. He sees the conglomerate as morally corrupt and willing to sacrifice human lives for profit, yet he remains aware that City Hall cannot openly challenge it without risking destruction.

Significant Themes

• Political manipulation and power struggles: Meflor treats criminal conspiracies, family inheritances, public opinion, and military resources as pieces in a larger political strategy.
• Profit versus human life: TOPS and the Ravenlock Family reduce people to sources of money and organs, exposing the brutality hidden beneath New Eridu’s institutions.
• The limits of control: Meflor’s elaborate plans depend on manipulating others, but Griseo and the Ravenlocks represent forces he cannot reliably control.
• Consequences of exploitation: The Ravenlocks’ organ trafficking eventually leads to the deaths of vulnerable citizens and provokes a far greater threat.
• Foreboding and impending disaster: Meflor’s unease, the ominous message, and emergency protocols create the sense that New Eridu is approaching a crisis on the scale of the Old Capital’s fall.

Character Interactions

• Meflor and Lycaon: Lycaon’s report gives Meflor information about Hugo, Hartmann, Edmond, and the internal power struggle surrounding the Ravenlock Family.
• Meflor and Servilian: Servilian reports the murders and receives Meflor’s emergency orders. Their exchange shows Meflor’s authority and Servilian’s trust, but also reveals the subordinate’s growing alarm.
• Meflor and Griseo: Their relationship is based on political goodwill and attempted manipulation. Meflor plans to use Griseo’s strength, but the deaths of Morel and Claire make him fear her retaliation.
• Meflor and TOPS/Ravenlock Family: Meflor seeks to exploit their conflict for City Hall’s benefit while condemning their disregard for ordinary human lives.
• Meflor and the unseen messenger: The blue message establishes a direct, secretive connection between Meflor and the force summoning him, ending the chapter on a threatening note.

Key plot points and events

• Griseo waits by the riverside in Lumina Square while Mayor Meflor approaches, wary of the danger she could pose if she lost control.
• Meflor apologizes for Morel and Claire’s deaths. Griseo points out that their deaths matter little to him—or to TOPS and New Eridu—and says their survival matters just as little to her.
• She summons two strange forms of ether energy, which she calls her authority. The yellow orb lets Meflor witness a tender memory of Morel and Claire sharing breakfast in the hospital shortly before their deaths.
• Griseo explains that the authority of [The Stars] collects “paint.” Meflor realizes her power can reveal or preserve memories beyond the usual limits of Hollow phenomena.
• Griseo offers him the gray orb, but Meflor senses something disturbing about it and asks to avoid it. She disperses it, leaving his fear unexplained.

Character developments

• Griseo appears sweet and childlike, but her detachment from human life makes her unsettling. She calmly acknowledges that she does not care whether Meflor, TOPS, or New Eridu lives or dies.
• Meflor remains formal and truthful, but witnessing Morel and Claire’s private happiness deepens his unease about Griseo’s abilities and the danger she represents.
• Morel and Claire are shown in a brief, loving moment: Morel is relieved by the prize money and Claire’s improving health, while Claire delights in the breakfast he brings her.

Significant themes

• Beauty and suffering: The chapter’s epigraph frames the contrast between a sunny, affectionate memory and the deaths that follow.
• Indifference and value: Griseo challenges the assumption that individual lives matter to those in power—or to her.
• Memory and power: Her “paint” may preserve or reveal moments in ways that exceed ordinary Hollow phenomena.
• Fragile happiness: Morel’s wish for time to stop underscores how temporary the family’s peaceful moment is.

Character interactions

• Griseo questions Meflor directly about fear and forces him to confront his indifference toward ordinary people.
• Meflor answers honestly and respectfully, while trying to understand the nature of Griseo’s authority.
• The memory of Morel caring for Claire contrasts their warmth and closeness with the detached conversation between Griseo and Meflor.

Plot points and events

• Morel’s life improves after becoming the Starlight Knight: he earns more from street performances, gets flexible, well-paid work at an amusement park, and quits his grueling jobs to spend more time with Claire.
• As he leaves the freight yard, his coworkers quietly show their support and relief. Morel can only thank them.
• Unbeknownst to Morel, a hospital administrator tells Lord Hartmann that Claire’s genetic sample is ready. Hartmann orders them to proceed with supplying a “demanding” client.
• Two days later, Morel is called back to the hospital: Claire’s condition has suddenly worsened. A doctor claims her recent improvement was only a final rally before the end and says she needs emergency experimental surgery.
• Believing it is Claire’s only chance and unable to afford other treatment, Morel signs the consent form. Claire is taken into surgery, and three hours later the doctor tells Morel, “I’m sorry. We did everything we could.”

Character developments and interactions

• Morel moves from desperation toward cautious hope, finding better work and devoting himself to Claire. Her sudden decline shatters that hope; despite his doubts about the trial, he agrees to surgery out of love and fear of losing her.
• Claire has been smiling more and appears to improve, but becomes unresponsive and critically ill.
• Morel’s coworkers part from him warmly, treating him like a brother who has finally escaped hardship.
• The hospital staff and Hartmann appear compassionate in their dealings with Morel, but the earlier call reveals a concealed scheme involving Claire’s genetic sample. The doctor’s reassuring manner and the suspiciously suppressed smile contrast with the apparent betrayal.

Significant themes

• Hope and its fragility: Morel’s happier life is abruptly overturned.
• Parental love and sacrifice: He accepts a dangerous experimental procedure because he sees no other way to save Claire.
• Exploitation and unequal access to care: Morel’s poverty limits his choices, while powerful figures treat Claire as a potential “supply.”
• False appearances and betrayal: The hospital’s reassuring language hides a darker agenda, leaving the surgery’s true purpose uncertain.

Chapter Summary: The Beginning of Despair 7

Key Plot Points and Events

• Morel is informed that his daughter, Claire, has died during surgery. Devastated, he enters the operating room to see her body.
• While grieving, Morel notices inconsistencies: the corpse’s hands lack the needle marks Claire should have had, her body is unnaturally cold and stiff, and the distinctive birthmark on her neck is missing.
• Realizing the dead girl is not Claire, Morel suspects that Doctor Lin has abducted his daughter and replaced her with another body.
• Morel searches the hospital and learns that Doctor Lin has left. He eventually finds Lin loading large boxes—large enough to contain a child—into a vehicle near the hospital.
• The vehicle escapes, so Morel contacts Zhu Yuan and reports the license plate and direction of travel. Zhu Yuan uses surveillance and coordinates a police pursuit, warning Morel not to act recklessly.
• Tracking the vehicle to the eastern edge of Janus District, Morel learns that it has entered a Hollow. Despite the danger, Claire’s fragile health, and his lack of equipment or guidance, Morel enters the Hollow alone to rescue her.

Character Developments

• Morel: His initial grief transforms into sharp suspicion, determination, and desperate courage. His strong bond with Claire and the influence of his [Strong Luck] help him recognize the corpse’s inconsistencies and locate the kidnappers. He abandons caution and enters the Hollow, fully embracing the role of a real “Starlight Knight.”
• Claire: Though absent and presumed dead, Claire’s medical history and identifying birthmark become crucial clues proving that the corpse is an impostor. Her vulnerability—especially her low Ether aptitude—raises the urgency of the rescue.
• Zhu Yuan: She responds professionally and compassionately, immediately mobilizing surveillance and law-enforcement support. Her concern for Morel’s safety contrasts with his willingness to risk everything.
• Doctor Lin: His unexplained disappearance and involvement in transporting child-sized boxes strongly establish him as the likely abductor or conspirator.

Significant Themes

• Parental love and desperation: Morel’s refusal to accept Claire’s apparent death drives him beyond grief and into dangerous action.
• Hope emerging from despair: What initially appears to be an irreversible tragedy becomes a chance for rescue when Morel notices the body is not Claire.
• Fate and luck: Griseo’s idea that all colors are connected is reflected in Morel’s sudden return to clarity and the fortunate chain of events leading him to Doctor Lin.
• Courage versus recklessness: Morel’s decision to enter the Hollow demonstrates immense bravery, but also shows how desperation can overpower reason and safety.
• Truth beneath appearances: The chapter emphasizes that physical evidence and emotional assumptions can conceal a larger plot; Claire’s apparent death is revealed as a deception.

Character Interactions

• The doctor delivers the false death announcement, while the nurses initially restrain Morel before allowing him to see the body.
• Morel’s examination of the corpse becomes a private confrontation between his grief and his instincts as a father.
• He indirectly confronts Doctor Lin by pursuing him, though Lin escapes before Morel can reach him.
• Zhu Yuan acts as Morel’s main support and guide, coordinating the authorities and repeatedly warning him to wait for professional help.
• Morel thanks Zhu Yuan and Qingyi sincerely but ultimately disregards Zhu Yuan’s instructions, choosing to enter the Hollow alone.

Chapter Summary: “The Start of Depression 8”

Plot and key events

Morel enters the Hollows without a Proxy or Carrot Data, relying entirely on his [Strong Luck] to locate his kidnapped daughter, Claire. As Ether corrosion weakens him, he discovers a camp occupied by Hollow Raiders, with several children imprisoned in cages. He finds Claire alive but realizes that charging in would likely get them both killed.
When one bandit leaves the camp to relieve himself, Morel ambushes and kills him with a stone, then disguises himself in the man’s clothing. He infiltrates the camp and approaches the cages, but Doctor Lin recognizes him. Morel attacks Lin with a wooden stick, breaks Claire’s cage, and reunites with her. However, the other bandits quickly surround them. At that moment, Morel’s [Strong Luck] is exhausted, implying that their escape—and possibly their survival—is no longer possible.
A later document reveals the tragic outcome: Doctor Lin, enraged after being attacked, deliberately keeps Morel alive while Claire is subjected to organ harvesting in front of him. Morel suffers thirty-seven severe fractures, and Claire’s organs are removed for a buyer.

Character development

Morel changes from a frightened, desperate father into someone willing to kill to save his child. Although killing the bandit horrifies him, his paternal love and determination overcome his fear and revulsion. His resourcefulness is also emphasized as he uses stealth, disguise, and timing instead of recklessly attacking the camp. His hope peaks when he rescues Claire, only to be destroyed by the ensuing brutality.
Claire is portrayed as traumatized and terrified, believing that her father may have abandoned her, but she immediately recognizes him and finds comfort in his embrace. Doctor Lin is revealed as especially cruel and vindictive, using his authority and Claire’s vulnerability to enact revenge.

Character interactions

Morel’s interactions with Claire center on reassurance and unconditional paternal love: he repeatedly tells her that he is present and will protect her. His confrontation with Doctor Lin is sudden and violent, driven by Morel’s protective rage. The bandits treat the captives as commodities and respond to Morel’s rescue attempt with contempt and violence. Doctor Lin’s later actions turn the conflict into an act of deliberate revenge rather than mere exploitation.

Significant themes

The chapter explores parental devotion, desperation, sacrifice, and the transformation of an ordinary person under extreme circumstances. It contrasts Morel’s love and humanity with the bandits’ dehumanization of children as “goods.” The exhaustion of [Strong Luck] symbolizes the collapse of hope just as father and daughter are reunited. The abrupt shift from apparent rescue to horrific tragedy reinforces themes of helplessness, cruelty, and the devastating unfairness of fate.

Key events

• At Lumina Square, Griseo—speaking with Mobius’s detached second personality—confronts Mayor Meflor about expecting The Stars to save New Eridu. She insists humanity must save itself.
• Mobius explains that The Stars perceives human emotions as colors: warmth can inspire her to help, while cruelty can make her want to destroy the city. Opposing impulses restrain one another, which is why she has lived among humans rather than acting as their unquestioned savior.
• Meflor realizes the story of Morel and Claire ends in horrific abuse and organ theft. He fears that learning the truth should have made Griseo turn against humanity.
• Mobius admits she nearly lost control and destroyed New Eridu, but says humanity’s capacity for unexpected goodness also prevents her from giving in completely.
• Declaring that she is willing to fight, Mobius raises a non-corrupting Ether barrier around herself and Meflor. It also traps seven powerful fighters who had been lying in wait.
• Miyabi and a white-haired fighter launch attacks, followed by the others. Mobius switches Griseo’s Infinity Signet to Mortal Life and begins forming the Taixu Formation. The battle’s outcome is left unresolved.

Character developments and interactions

• Griseo/Mobius: The contrast between Griseo’s timid manner and Mobius’s cold, candid presence becomes explicit. Mobius is neither humanity’s ally nor its enemy by default; her response shifts with the emotions she encounters.
• Meflor: He moves from questioning Griseo’s behavior to recognizing the danger her changing feelings pose. His attempt to understand her is interrupted by the fighters’ ambush.
• The fighters: Their coordinated attack reveals that Meflor prepared a formidable force, though the chapter does not identify all seven or show the result.

Significant themes

• Humanity’s responsibility: No god or outside power can reliably save New Eridu.
• Moral contradiction: Human cruelty and kindness coexist, complicating any simple judgment of humanity.
• Balance and restraint: Mobius’s opposing impulses check each other, echoing the Taiji symbol she draws and the Yin-Yang imagery of her counterattack.
• Consequences of survival: New Eridu’s institutions may have crossed ethical lines in the name of survival, raising the question of when necessity becomes cruelty.

Key plot points and events

• Meflor’s group springs a coordinated attack on Griseo inside a sealed barrier. The seven attackers include Void Hunter-level fighters Hoshimi Miyabi, Yixuan, and Ithaqua, plus four Municipal Government combatants.
• Griseo’s body is being controlled by Hua through the [Mortal Life] Signet. Hua reveals her strength by raising Bagua Rebirth, a Taoist formation that suppresses opponents rather than killing them.
• The formation restrains Miyabi and absorbs Yixuan’s first attack. Yixuan recognizes similarities to Yunkui Mountain’s arts and quickly identifies the formation’s vulnerable gates, but Hua protects them with a second formation and traps Yixuan as well.
• Ithaqua attempts a sneak attack. Griseo repels him, but Hua’s anger and brief distraction allow Miyabi and Yixuan to escape.
• Hua intensifies the formation and delivers a devastating, nonlethal punch. Miyabi and Yixuan weather the force, Ithaqua is driven to one knee, and the four weaker fighters are thrown aside.
• Griseo returns to control of her body and tells Meflor she is not an avatar. Overwhelmed, he surrenders, though he mistakenly assumes Hua’s power is another authority Griseo acquired by devouring Divine Ethereals.

Character developments and interactions

• Hua shifts from controlled restraint to open irritation after Ithaqua’s dishonorable ambush. Her display establishes her as a formidable martial artist and makes clear that the confrontation was intended as a warning, not a slaughter.
• Griseo trusts Hua to handle the fight and can endure the strain of the plan. She later reveals that her [The Stars] authority is not her only ability.
• Miyabi attacks without lethal intent, then adapts to the formation’s restraints and discusses its resemblance to Yixuan’s techniques.
• Yixuan demonstrates sharp tactical insight, finding a way to target the formation’s gate positions, and confirms that its arts share a likely origin with—but are not the same as—her school’s.
• Meflor begins the encounter confident enough to test Griseo, but her overwhelming strength convinces him to surrender. His mistaken explanation for her abilities keeps him from understanding what he witnessed.
• Ithaqua’s failed sneak attack becomes the turning point in Hua’s attitude and earns him the harshest impact from her counterattack.

Significant themes

• Restraint versus force: Hua initially uses a formation designed to contain rather than kill, but responds forcefully when her opponents violate the encounter’s unspoken rules.
• Respect and martial conduct: Ithaqua’s ambush is presented as dishonorable, prompting Hua’s anger and a lesson in consequences.
• Shared origins and cultural inheritance: The similarity between Bagua Rebirth and Yunkui Mountain’s arts suggests different traditions can descend from common roots.
• Misjudging power: Meflor’s surrender shows how completely Griseo and Hua overturn his expectations, while his mistaken theory highlights the limits of what he understands.

Plot points and events

• Meflor’s surrender ends the clash between the Municipal Government and Griseo. The Ether barrier disappears, and the authorities agree to keep the unusual incident secret.
• Griseo asks Meflor whether a story’s ending matters. She argues that Morel and Claire’s tragedy is painful not merely because it ended badly, but because such cruelty has become ordinary in New Eridu.
• She leaves Meflor with the question of whether the thousands of similar stories in the city matter, inviting him to seek her out once he has considered it.
• Her words awaken grief and reflection in Miyabi and Yixuan. After the others disperse, Meflor gives Miyabi a renewed order to plan Niniwe’s elimination and invites Yixuan to discuss Yunkui Mountain at City Hall.

Character developments and interactions

• Griseo shows compassion for ordinary people and challenges the city’s leaders to question their acceptance of suffering. She leaves without resolving the conflict, but her words affect everyone present.
• Meflor maintains his political composure and treats the encounter as a chance to strengthen an alliance. Though he initially feels little concern for Morel’s tragedy, Griseo’s challenge leaves him to reconsider the value of individual lives and endings.
• Miyabi recalls her mother’s final command, “Miyabi, live,” and the guilt of killing her to spare her from Ether Corruption. Griseo’s words make her feel that her mother’s story should not have ended that way; she salutes Griseo in acknowledgment.
• Yixuan remembers her sister’s sacrifice during the Hollow disaster and the grief she has concealed for eleven years. Griseo’s words give voice to her buried wish that her sister were still alive.
• The other officials and fighters leave quietly, each affected in their own way. Miyabi accepts Meflor’s order, while Yixuan agrees to meet with him.

Significant themes

• Regret and tragic endings: The chapter asks whether a story’s ending matters, especially when suffering is treated as inevitable.
• Indifference versus compassion: New Eridu’s powerful have grown accustomed to brutal outcomes; Griseo challenges that normalization.
• Grief and memory: Miyabi and Yixuan’s past losses remain central to them, despite the ways they have learned to carry—or conceal—their pain.
• The value of ordinary lives: Morel was not a hero, but his love for his daughter left a meaningful “color” behind. Griseo insists that individual stories deserve attention, even amid the city’s many crises.

• After the confrontation: Griseo’s immense display of power against seven Municipal Government experts leaves her exhausted. Cui Ji catches her as she nearly collapses and carries her back toward the video store. Griseo accepts the care, revealing a vulnerable, human side beneath her formidable presence. Cui Ji reminds her not to blame herself for Claire’s illness: Griseo cannot save everyone, and she has already changed the Silver Replicas’ lives for the better.
• Two days earlier: At The Stars Publishing House, Cui Ji searches for Ether-based medicines made by Mobius. The medicines can slow the Silver Replicas’ bodily deterioration, and Griseo hopes they may also help Claire, whose condition is caused by Ether-related decline. After confirming with Mobius that the doses are suitable, Griseo takes two vials and agrees to go with Cui Ji to the hospital.
• Character development and interactions: Cui Ji shifts from devoted assistant to active caretaker, showing affection through teasing and practical support. Griseo trusts her enough to accept help, though she remains determined to help Claire. Their warm, playful banter during the rainy drive—including Cui Ji’s request for more comic updates—contrasts with the seriousness of Claire’s illness.
• Themes: The chapter emphasizes compassion without limitless responsibility: caring for others matters, but Griseo need not see herself as a savior. It also highlights solidarity and found family, as Cui Ji and the Silver Replicas support one another, and the tension between extraordinary power and ordinary human vulnerability.