Chapter Summaries

Xilian settled into Her City with Bruce and spent a week learning about the city and its history while avoiding the Firekeeping Cult. When their money ran out, Xilian decided he needed to find work and integrate into the city so he could investigate Tania and avenge White Cliff Town.

• Xilian and Bruce surveyed Her City at dawn, and Xilian reflected on how the city had once represented his hopes for the future.
• Xilian exchanged his soul marrow for City-State Coins, rented an apartment, and settled into life in Her City with Bruce.
• Xilian explored the city and studied its history, noticing gaps in the public record and learning that the Year of Rebellion was not suitable for a public library.
• Xilian avoided contacting the Firekeeping Cult because he feared the trouble that discovery of his bloodline could bring, while Bruce stayed home trying to repair its memories.
• After a week, Xilian and Bruce realized they were out of money and argued over how to earn more.
• Xilian resolved to look for a job and integrate into Her City while pursuing his investigation into Tania and vengeance for White Cliff Town.

Xilian learned that Chaos could corrupt Giant Gods into Abominations, then sought work with the City Guard Bureau. After White Cliff Town’s Torchlight Lighthouse went dark, Dailin visited Xilian and confirmed that he had come to recruit him.

• Xilian studied the history of the Noonday Calamity and learned that corrupted Giant Gods became Abominations, while the calamity’s cause remained unknown.
• Xilian decided to seek work with the City Guard Bureau, hoping to use his night-patrol experience and investigate Chaos.
• Bruce told Xilian that Her City’s Starwatchers had confirmed a nearby Torchlight Lighthouse had gone out, and Xilian recognized the lost city-state as White Cliff Town.
• Bruce explained that the disappearance had frightened Her City’s residents and likely pointed to a Chaos faction, while Xilian saw an opportunity.
• Dailin arrived at Xilian’s apartment, and Xilian correctly guessed that he had come to invite him to join the City Guard Bureau.

Xilian accepted Dailin’s offer to join Her City’s City Guard Bureau and went with Bruce to search the shopping district for ingredients for an Ascension Elixir. The chapter ended with them spotting the Centipede Trading Company, a major hub for trade between city-states.

• Dailin offered Xilian a position in the City Guard Bureau, and Xilian agreed to report there before noon the next day.
• Dailin explained that the Bureau accepted recruits from varied backgrounds and revealed that he followed the Throne Fated Path.
• Xilian asked Bruce about the diversity of Transcendent organizations, then decided to look for ingredients for an Ascension Elixir.
• Bruce explained that automated vertical farms supplied city-states with necessities, while trade provided goods they could not produce.
• Xilian and Bruce traveled by light rail to Her City’s shopping district and saw a Sea-Whale-Class Airship above the city.
• Bruce pointed out the Centipede Trading Company, which served as a major link in trade between city-states.

Xilian bought a damaged Golden Age Jet Revolver with nearly all his remaining money after Bruce urged him to trust him, and Bruce promised to repair it despite worsening memory damage. Anya saw Xilian leave the Centipede Trading Company and asked Meifuni to find out what he had bought, while Valerie arrived and watched her with amusement.

• Xilian explored the Centipede Trading Company, admired advancement materials and Transcendent weapons, but could not afford what he needed to advance.
• Bruce led Xilian to the Sacred Relics and urged him to buy a damaged Jet Revolver whose price matched nearly all his remaining money.
• Xilian bought the Jet Revolver, and Bruce explained that it was a common Golden Age weapon and that he could repair it and make special bullets.
• Bruce suffered a brief seizure after trying to recall design blueprints, then said his brain damage was worse than he had thought.
• Anya watched Xilian leave and asked Meifuni to find out what he had bought.
• Valerie approached Anya and Meifuni, teasing Anya with an amused gaze.

Xilian joined the City Guard Bureau despite the job’s deadly probation period, then met his colleagues and learned about their communications technology. The chapter ended with Meifuni confronting Dailin after he disparaged her work.

• Xilian accepted the City Guard Bureau job and asked Dailin for an advance because he was short on money.
• Xilian completed the hiring forms and met Anya Polk, a Rank Two Smelter who followed the Torchbearing Path.
• Xilian met Elton Hawk, who explained how the Swift Swallow Transceiver sent signals through the Spirit Realm, where messages could emerge at random times.
• Elton claimed the technology might receive signals from the future, and Xilian called the idea cool rather than dismissing him.
• Dailin said the team was short-staffed because the other members had died, then criticized an absent colleague for padding her résumé.
• Meifuni appeared behind Dailin, kicked him in the shin, and insisted that she did her job properly.

Xilian met Meifuni at the City Guard Bureau, where Dailin offered him money and a tentative job, while Anya investigated his background. Anya revealed that Xilian’s bloodline stirred a powerful, reverent response in her, as if he were the blazing sun and the source of her bloodline.

• Meifuni introduced herself to Xilian, teased him about his looks, and mistakenly suspected Anya was romantically interested in him.
• Dailin offered Xilian an advance from his own money and called him a friend, while explaining that the Bureau director was unavailable to meet him.
• Anya sent Meifuni away and told Dailin that the Love Family was considered an outside power by the City-State Council, keeping Meifuni away from the front lines.
• Anya explained that Xilian had exchanged Soul Marrow, rented an apartment, and bought a damaged Jet Revolver, a purchase that made little sense to her.
• Anya told Dailin that Xilian was not a Chaos Follower but that his bloodline made her feel as if she stood before its source, calling him a blazing sun.

Xilian began working for the City Guard Bureau, where his quiet night patrols introduced him to Her City’s history and helped him build friendships with his coworkers. After a month, he arrived for a gathering Meifuni had arranged and met Valerie, who offered to guide him.

• Xilian joined Dailin on his first night patrol along Her City’s wall and learned how the bureau monitored the Soul Marrow and defended the city from demons.
• Dailin explained how the Linkage Foundry Court’s mobile fortress had once appeared beside Her City and how the Spirit Artisans who stayed helped rebuild it.
• Xilian began making friends with Dailin, Elton, Meifuni, and his other coworkers while keeping his past and plans for revenge to himself.
• After a month of uneventful patrols, Xilian searched for Meifuni’s gathering and was approached by Valerie, who recognized that he was lost.

Xilian attended a board-game gathering at the Ink House, where Valerie acted unusually intimate with him and later announced she wanted to meet him again. Before his city patrol, Bruce explained that he had repaired Xilian’s Jet Revolver and made Soul Marrow Bullets from Xilian’s unusually pure blood, raising new questions about Xilian’s Torchbearer Sacred Blood.

• Valerie led Xilian through the alleys to the Ink House, where he joined Meifuni, Dailin, Anya, Elton, and the others for a board game.
• Valerie repeatedly leaned against Xilian and asked him personal questions, while Xilian left early for his first city patrol.
• Dailin teased Xilian about Valerie’s attention and dismissed his suspicions about her behavior.
• Valerie accused Anya of pursuing Xilian to provoke her, then asked Meifuni to arrange a meeting with him.
• Bruce showed Xilian the repaired Jet Revolver and explained that its twelve Soul Marrow Bullets were made from Xilian’s blood, which seemed unusually pure.
• Xilian recalled the Deathbird’s name for his blood, Torchbearer Sacred Blood, and agreed with Bruce that anyone who made him bleed should be killed.

On his first solo night patrol, Xilian followed the Ouroboros Mark into Dark Alley and uncovered a Chaos-tainted underground passage. He faced the spreading mycelium with elation, realizing he had finally found the enemies he had been hunting as Chaos power closed in around him.

• Xilian used the Ouroboros Mark to search Her City's dark streets for traces of Chaos and followed its warning beyond his patrol area to Flower River.
• Xilian discovered Dark Alley, an underground market for contraband and illicit pleasures, where the Ouroboros Mark began to burn.
• A tattooed man threatened Xilian with a dagger, so Xilian killed him and continued deeper into the passage.
• Blue-green fungi spread across the passage and began consuming Xilian, who recognized the mycelium associated with Tania and declared that he had finally found his enemies.
• Chaos power spread rapidly through the passage as Xilian's unseen enemies sensed his arrival.

Xilian attacked a Chaos ritual, killed its followers and defeated their Rank One Iron Guard while pursuing Tania. A new enemy with Rank Three Source Energy shot Xilian, forcing him to escape into the underground River.

• Xilian stormed the ritual chamber, killed the robed figures, and discovered a woman with a slit belly filled with mycelium.
• Xilian fought the Iron Guard, learned he knew Tania, and explained that he intended to pursue his enemies piece by piece like a jigsaw puzzle.
• Xilian used his Soul Marrow rounds, fire, and Boiling Sword to overcome the Iron Guard's defenses and kill him.
• Xilian sensed an approaching Transcendent whose Source Energy reached Rank Three, then took a bullet through his left shoulder.
• Xilian fled into the rushing underground River as the footsteps drew nearer.