Chapter Summaries

Rover and Lynae lured the Voidworm toward the defense arrays while Mo Bai joined the fight and used his Fused Shikigami to hold the monster back. After the Voidworm destroyed his summons with an energy blast, the explosion wounded it, giving Lynae an idea for their next attack.

• Rover rescued Lynae, and they agreed to lure the Voidworm to the defense arrays while Rover activated them.
• Mo Bai's Motorcycle sped up with help from the Academy, allowing him to catch up to Lynae and Rover.
• Mo Bai summoned Fused Shikigami called Eclipse of the Heavenly Dog to distract the Voidworm, then learned of the plan to trap and weaken it with the defense arrays.
• The Voidworm fired an energy blast at Mo Bai and Lynae, and Mo Bai sent his Fused Shikigami to block it.
• The blast destroyed Mo Bai's summons and exploded inside the Voidworm's mouth, seriously injuring it and giving Lynae an idea.

Lynae, Mo Bai, and the Rover fought the weakened Voidworm as it tried to destroy Star Torch Academy. Lynae stopped its attack by detonating her Motorcycle inside its throat, triggering the Voidworm’s self-destruction and sending her flying into the sky.

• Lynae and the Rover attacked the Voidworm from different directions while Mo Bai escaped its barrage by abandoning his Motorcycle.
• The Rover pinned the Voidworm’s head with her longsword, but it gathered energy and aimed at Star Torch Academy.
• Mo Bai summoned the Great Serpent into a Subjugation Ritual, where it shielded Lynae and the Rover from the Voidworm’s Lasers before dissolving into shadow.
• Lynae rode up the Voidworm and used her Resonance Ability to propel her bomb-filled Motorcycle into its throat.
• The Motorcycle and the Voidworm’s stored energy exploded, causing the Voidworm to self-destruct and launching Lynae into the sky.

Lynae survived her fall, and she, Mo Bai, and Rover returned to Star Torch Academy after defeating the Voidworm. The students celebrated them as heroes, while the Academy’s teachers approached, setting up Lynae’s return to face judgment.

• Rover caught Lynae as she fell, and the two landed safely before rejoining Mo Bai.
• Mo Bai, Lynae, and Rover rode back toward Star Torch Academy on Rover’s Motorcycle, joking and talking along the way.
• Lynae urged Mo Bai to speed up as they neared the Academy, choosing to return despite the judgment awaiting her.
• Students greeted the trio at the gates as heroes and celebrated Rover as Black Lightning and the Voidworm Knight.
• Several Academy teachers approached the celebrating students and the returning trio.

Mo Bai and the Rover waited while Star Torch Academy questioned Lynae, who passed an exam and was allowed to return as a student under probation. After resting, Mo Bai joined Lynae and the Rover in the academy garden, where Lynae opened up about her new life and introduced herself as a first-year preparatory student.

• Mo Bai told the Rover he had helped hunt the Voidworm to protect his friends, and she assured him that he had helped hold it off.
• Lynae returned from questioning with a perfect test score, and the academy let her resume her studies while keeping her on probation.
• The Rover heard an unfamiliar voice tell her to protect the sun after Lynae and Mo Bai left the academy square.
• Mo Bai slept for nearly a day, got his Terminal, and met Lynae and the Rover in the academy garden.
• Lynae shared her worries about returning to school and said her friends had helped her feel at peace.
• Lynae introduced herself as a first-year preparatory student at Star Torch Academy and asked her friends to keep supporting her.

Mo Bai learned that Star Torch Academy had assigned him to the demanding Label Development Department and left Lynae and the Rover after teasing Lynae about being unable to race. Outside the Academy, he prepared to summon a Shikigami.

• Mo Bai, the Rover, and Lynae read Mo Bai's packed Label Development Department timetable, and the Rover explained that the department offered strong resources for training Candidates for Tunnelers.
• Mo Bai recalled learning about the Black Shores and realized that the Rover was an elite Threnodian who had helped him enter the Academy.
• Lynae teased Mo Bai about his schedule, and Mo Bai vanished into the shadows after announcing that he was going for a ride, leaving Lynae to topple against the Rover.
• Mo Bai emerged at the Academy gate with his Motorcycle, rode outside, and stopped to begin summoning a Shikigami.

Mo Bai summoned and subjugated the Toad Shikigami, using it to test his hand-to-hand combat and deliberately attempt Divergent Fist. He then summoned the Great Serpent Shikigami to begin another one-on-one Subjugation Ritual.

• Mo Bai decided to train his hand-to-hand combat and summoned the Toad Shikigami for a Subjugation Ritual.
• Mo Bai seized the Toad's tongue, pulled it toward him, and tried to strike it with a deliberately delayed burst of Cursed Energy.
• Mo Bai found that forcing Divergent Fist weakened his punch, then defeated and subjugated the Toad Shikigami.
• Mo Bai summoned the Great Serpent Shikigami, beginning a new one-on-one Subjugation Ritual.

Mo Bai caught the Rover with his Toad Shikigami, then learned about Tacet Discords and Echoes while they talked. The Rover challenged him to spar, and Mo Bai summoned several Shikigami before a strange effect slowed everything around her.

• Mo Bai summoned his Toad Shikigami and caught the approaching Rover, then released her.
• The Rover explained that Tacet Discords became Remnant Echoes after defeat and that Echoes could be absorbed and used through a Terminal.
• The Rover said Lynae had sent her to check on Mo Bai, then challenged him to a spar.
• Abu refereed as Mo Bai summoned his Divine Dogs and Toad while the Rover charged him and threw her Swift Blade, Blood Pact.
• Mo Bai summoned Nue and several Toads from the Bottomless Well, but a strange sound slowed everything around the Rover.

Mo Bai tested his Ten Shadows Technique against the Rover, but she overpowered him with her time-stopping field and multiple abilities. After the Rover won, an Academy teacher arrived and found the grassland full of craters.

• The Rover slowed Mo Bai's Shikigami with her time-stopping power and destroyed the Toads from the Bottomless Well with her scythe.
• Mo Bai chose to fight the Rover himself rather than sacrifice the White Divine Dog to strengthen the Black Divine Dog.
• Mo Bai used the Divine Dogs' Wolf Claw and shadow travel to attack the Rover, then drew her attention with the recovered Blood Pact.
• The Rover stopped Mo Bai in midair and demonstrated that she could use her time, wind, and dark-purple powers at once, winning their test.
• The Rover helped Mo Bai up and said the Academy would have been in serious trouble without him and Lynae during the Voidworm emergency.
• An Academy teacher arrived with students and was alarmed by the craters across the grassland.

After leaving the teachers’ office, Mo Bai and Rover returned to the Academy Garden and discussed his hesitation during their friendly match. Rover encouraged him to forge his own path rather than follow the knowledge his ability had given him, and Mo Bai accepted her help.

• Mo Bai and Rover left the teachers’ office after being lectured about the damage Mo Bai caused while subduing a Shikigami.
• Rover told Mo Bai that Lynae planned to come mock him, and the two teased each other about how they had changed since meeting.
• At the Academy Garden, Rover asked Mo Bai to discuss their friendly match, and he admitted his attacks lacked imagination.
• Rover pointed out that Mo Bai had hesitated during his final assault, and he explained that he could not bear to destroy his Divine Dogs because they felt like versions of himself.
• Rover told Mo Bai to forge a new path if he disliked the one laid out by his ability, then helped him stand as he accepted her support.

After class, Lynae took Mo Bai to the academy simulator and set it to Holographic Strategy. Mo Bai began a simulation against Impermanence Heron, the powerful avatar defeated in the Jinzhou war, and prepared to fight it with his fists.

• After morning class, Lynae invited Mo Bai to spend time with her and gave him a cup of noodles.
• Mo Bai learned that Rover had permission to leave the academy and roam freely again.
• Lynae led Mo Bai to the simulator above the Label Department and set it to Holographic Strategy.
• Mo Bai entered the simulation and recognized Impermanence Heron as the Threnodian's formidable avatar from the Jinzhou war.
• Impermanence Heron manifested its purple, arm-covered wings, and Mo Bai faced it in a boxing stance without summoning a Shikigami.

Mo Bai challenged Impermanence Heron in Holographic Five and struggled against her strength and scythe. By combining his Shikigami with a shadow-dodge, he exposed her weakness and landed a damaging blow.

• Mo Bai saw that only Moqu, Lynae, and Siglica had cleared Holographic Five, then began the challenge.
• Mo Bai used Toads from the Bottomless Well and Divine Dogs to fight Impermanence Heron, but lacked the power to injure her and retreated from her flames.
• Impermanence Heron formed a giant scythe, so Mo Bai summoned the Feathered Serpent and enlarged the Divine Dogs.
• Mo Bai evaded the Feathered Serpent's attack by slipping into shadows while the Feathered Serpent dodged Impermanence Heron's Blade Aura.
• The Divine Dogs bit Impermanence Heron's legs, allowing Mo Bai to punch the hollow in her chest and send her flying.

Mo Bai used a half-finished Domain Expansion to turn Impermanence Heron’s attacks against her and summon multiple Shikigami, but an outside force broke his domain and triggered Cursed Technique Burnout. As Impermanence Heron attacked, a pink-haired girl intervened, saying outside interference was unfair to students.

• Mo Bai expanded his shadows across the holographic space and used Chimera Shadow Garden to evade and absorb Impermanence Heron’s laser barrage.
• Mo Bai expelled the absorbed beams from the domain’s ceiling, striking Impermanence Heron with her own attacks.
• Mo Bai summoned three Nue to attack Impermanence Heron, but an outside force made all the shadows disappear and broke his domain.
• Mo Bai discovered that Cursed Technique Burnout had left him unable to summon Shikigami and noticed the holographic panel had changed to Holographic Six.
• A pink-haired girl with a lightsaber appeared between Mo Bai and Impermanence Heron and objected to outside interference.

Mo Bai cleared all six stages of Holographic Strategy despite a malfunction, then went to the Infirmary for a checkup. Doctor Lu found him unharmed but warned him that the Remnant Star Society was secretly collecting data on unusual people like him.

• Mo Bai emerged from the simulation pod to find students and teachers reacting to his stage-six clear and the malfunction he described.
• Lynae arrived after fetching a teacher, then took Mo Bai to the Infirmary while using the trip as an excuse to skip class.
• Lu Hess examined Mo Bai and found nothing wrong with him.
• Lu Hess asked about Mo Bai's lack of a Resonance Mark and warned him to watch out for the Remnant Star Society, which was gathering information on unusual people.
• Lu Hess reassured Mo Bai that he was on his side and offered him a piece of candy.

Mo Bai learned that the pink-haired, golden-eyed girl who had helped him was the missing Academy singer Flying Snow Velvet. He listened to her song alone in the Screening Room, still wondering what had happened to her.

• Lynae took Mo Bai on a motorcycle joyride after they received leave passes from N.A.N.A.
• Mo Bai asked Lynae about a pink-haired, golden-eyed student, and she identified her as the famous former Academy singer Flying Snow Velvet, who had disappeared.
• Lynae's teacher called and ordered her to return to the Academy, so she and Mo Bai parted ways at an intersection.
• Mo Bai imported Flying Snow Velvet's songs into the Screening Room and listened to "Farewell of the Voyage Star."
• Mo Bai left the Screening Room, troubled by the song's sad ending and still wanting to thank Flying Snow Velvet for helping him twice.

Mo Bai found Moqu despondent after his club was shut down and took him to eat before listening to his story. Moqu explained that he had started the club to help stressed students laugh, but he had made no friends and failed to cheer anyone up.

• Mo Bai saw Moqu staring at the classroom where his club had been and learned that the club had been shut down.
• Mo Bai offered to buy Moqu a special meal, and Moqu accepted before crying as he ate.
• Moqu invited Mo Bai to the rooftop and asked why he had come to see him.
• Mo Bai said he wanted to repay Moqu for showing him around the Academy, and Moqu decided to tell him what was wrong.
• Moqu explained that he had founded his club to relieve students' stress through comedy, but nobody had become his friend and the club had been closed for accomplishing nothing.

Mo Bai accompanied Moqu to the Dark Side of the Academy, a Sonoro formed from students’ negative emotions, and entered it using a pillow. While searching for Moqu inside, Mo Bai’s Divine Dogs reacted to something nearby, and he found a strand of pink-and-blue hair at a dead end.

• Mo Bai asked Moqu what was troubling him, and Moqu invited him to visit the Dark Side of the Academy.
• Moqu explained that the Dark Side was a Sonoro made from students’ negative emotions and gave Mo Bai a pillow that served as its entrance.
• Mo Bai entered the Sonoro and discovered he could move through its shadows and pass through walls.
• Mo Bai summoned the Divine Dogs to track down Moqu, but they growled at a nearby corner before the trail seemed to disappear.
• Mo Bai found a long strand of hair woven with pink and blue at the dead end.

Mo Bai investigated the Remnant Star Society’s presence at Star Torch Academy while Moqu faced a painful memory in the Sonoro. Mo Bai became trapped in a repeating corridor and discovered a Cursed Spirit waiting in a classroom.

• A pink-and-blue-haired Remnant Star Society agent watched Mo Bai from a rooftop and decided to keep her distance after he nearly sensed her.
• Mo Bai sent the Divine Dogs to search for Moqu and rode the Great Serpent through the academy corridors.
• Moqu found an illusion of himself performing onstage and heard the audience criticize his act before they all turned toward him.
• Mo Bai realized the corridors kept returning him to the same place, even after he smashed a window and leaped outside.
• Mo Bai heard footsteps in a nearby classroom, opened its door, and came face-to-face with a red-dressed, eight-legged Cursed Spirit.

Mo Bai fought Cursed Spirits inside a maze made from his own Cursed Energy while trying to protect trapped students, and Moqu sank into despair under the Dark Side’s hostile audience. A mysterious woman appeared behind Mo Bai and suggested that he himself might be controlling the maze.

• Mo Bai destroyed a weak spiderlike Cursed Spirit, then found the classroom sealed and transformed into a maze reinforced with his Cursed Energy.
• Mo Bai defeated another Cursed Spirit and entered the maze, suspecting its controller would keep sending stronger monsters after him.
• Moqu searched the audience for someone who understood his play but saw only disappointment, and something belonging to Sonoro seeped into him.
• Mo Bai’s Cursed Energy suddenly dropped by half as he fought more Cursed Spirits and gathered frightened students, summoning the Divine Dogs to protect them.
• Mo Bai told the students he would find the person behind the maze and lead them to the Key, but a woman appeared behind him and asked what he would do if he were responsible.

Mo Bai confronted Mo Hei, an opposite self formed from the Sonoro’s darkness and his Cursed Energy, and tested her strength and Cursed Technique. After learning that she also wielded the Ten Shadows Technique, both prepared for their Cursed Energy to surge.

• Mo Bai fought Mo Hei while the Divine Dogs led the students to safety, and he realized she had formed from the Sonoro and his negative thoughts.
• Mo Hei summoned a horde of Cursed Spirits and overwhelmed Mo Bai with her speed and physical strength.
• Mo Bai used Great Serpent, Nue, and Piercing Ox to test Mo Hei, then identified her Cursed Technique as a power that boosted her physical abilities and Cursed Energy output.
• Mo Bai explained his Ten Shadows Technique, and Mo Hei revealed that her technique was the same.
• Mo Hei recalled the Cursed Energy she had given the Cursed Spirits, and the energy around both of them surged.

Mo Bai and Mo Hei revealed their techniques and fought in the strange space within Sonoro, with Mo Hei using a reversed Ten Shadows Technique that fired blasts of light. Mo Bai exploited Mo Hei’s poor awareness and summoned Nue behind him, leaving the fight’s outcome unresolved.

• Mo Bai and Mo Hei gained power after revealing their techniques, and Mo Bai inferred that Mo Hei was using Cursed Technique Reversal.
• Mo Bai slipped into the shadows, while Mo Hei placed a ball of light nearby and waited for him to emerge.
• Mo Hei fired blasts of light throughout the space to drive Mo Bai out of the shadows.
• Mo Hei concentrated his attacks on Mo Bai, leaving the shadows behind him unguarded.
• Mo Bai summoned Nue behind Mo Hei as the lightning-wreathed shikigami screeched.