Chapter Summaries

Amon flew to Brazil aboard Kassel College’s modified jet with Finn von Frings, a fourth-year student assigned to deliver an ancient alchemical weapon. Finn revealed that the weapon was a wooden sword from True Martial Temple, said to have slain revived Dragon Kind, and promised Amon would see its true form in battle.

• Amon introduced himself to Finn von Frings aboard the Principal’s jet, and Finn warned that the mission was unusually dangerous.
• Finn recognized Amon as the Hunter Market user He Xiaomeng, and Amon confronted him for leaking his sister’s information.
• Finn explained that he was carrying an ancient alchemical item to agents waiting in the Brazilian rainforest.
• Amon guessed the item was a sword, and Finn opened the case to reveal a wooden longsword.
• Finn said the sword came from True Martial Temple and had slain revived Dragon Kind, then told Amon its true form would appear when activated by a bloodline.

Amon suspected Lu Mingze had drawn him into the mission because his connection to Jormungandr defied the script, and he resolved to stay cautious. After Amon and Finn arrived at an unfinished airport, an Executive Department agent met them and reluctantly accepted the pair as reinforcements.

• Amon considered whether Lu Mingze had arranged the mission to investigate or eliminate him, then concluded that being Jormungandr's brother may have made him an anomaly in the script.
• Amon decided to be cautious during the mission, relying on the survival boost from Fenrir's blood.
• Amon and Finn landed at an unfinished airport and were met by two Executive Department agents in a military jeep.
• An agent recognized Finn and learned that the captain expected two reinforcements, including a specially recruited newcomer.
• Finn pleaded with the agent to protect him, then joked that the agent would never recover his five-hundred-dollar debt if Finn died.

Qiu Hao and Liang Chen briefed Amon and Finn on the Amazon mission, where an expedition had encountered bird-beaked monsters and the first Academy team had been wiped out while searching for the Feathered Serpent God. The agents reached a remote village, and Liang Chen warned them that they were already in a dangerous area.

• Qiu Hao explained that an explorer had recovered ancient porcelain from an Amazon pyramid after monsters killed the rest of his expedition.
• Qiu Hao revealed that the first Academy team sent to find the pyramid had been wiped out after transmitting the words “Feathered Serpent God.”
• Qiu Hao said the first team had carried heavy weapons and introduced their current leader as headquarters' ace agent, codenamed the Sword Immortal.
• Finn panicked theatrically about being sent on the dangerous mission, then asked if he could stay in the rear while the others worked.
• After hours on a rough road, Amon, Finn, Qiu Hao, and Liang Chen reached a remote village surrounded by rainforest.
• Liang Chen told the group to stay alert because they had entered a dangerous area.

Amon, Finn, and Liang Chen met Arjun Singh and Annie Burke in an abandoned rainforest village, where they learned that its residents had vanished and a strange feather had been found. Finn experienced a terrifying vision after seeing it, while Arjun explained that the village showed no signs of a forced evacuation or a giant serpent's presence.

• Liang Chen led Amon and Finn to the village's largest hut, where they met Arjun Singh and Annie Burke.
• Finn handed Arjun a wooden sword, and Arjun welcomed Amon as the specially recruited agent he would guide.
• Arjun said the village had been empty when his group arrived and showed them a feather found inside an intact house.
• Finn stared at the feather and saw a monstrous feathered serpent coiled on a pyramid beneath a gigantic gate before snapping out of the vision.
• Arjun explained that the villagers appeared to have left voluntarily, but no one knew where they had gone.

Amon and the others realized the river had become part of a Nibelungen after an eerie mist and silence transformed their surroundings. When a colossal Feathered Serpent emerged and flew away, Arjun ordered Liang Chen to pursue it.

• Qiu Hao and the others failed to find the pyramid after three days of searching the waterways.
• Amon sensed a disturbance as fast-rising mist and a strange yellow sky enveloped the river.
• Amon identified the place as a possible Nibelungen, and Arjun agreed that the mist had likely marked its entrance opening.
• A gigantic Feathered Serpent rose from the water and flew into the distance.
• Arjun ordered the group to follow the creature, and Liang Chen accelerated the speedboat after it.

Arjun led Amon and the others through the Nibelungen entrance hidden in the abandoned village, where they found a vast pyramid covered in reliefs depicting Dragon history. The carvings showed them the ancient war between two Dragon Kings and ended with the Black Dragon Emperor Nidhogg victorious.

• Finn recognized the forest path as the route to the abandoned village, and Arjun explained that the Nibelungen entrance overlapped with the real world.
• Arjun strapped a longsword to his back, then led the group along the path into the forest.
• The group found an immense vine-covered pyramid where the abandoned village had been and climbed to its summit.
• The reliefs resonated with their Dragon Blood and showed them the two Dragon Kings ruling together before one led a third of the Dragon Raja in rebellion.
• The group witnessed the brutal dragon civil war and saw the wounded victorious dragon atop a mountain of corpses.
• Arjun identified the victorious dragon as the Black Dragon Emperor Nidhogg.

Arjun explained the erased history of the White King and questioned why the pyramid’s reliefs preserved it so clearly. As Bird-men surrounded the group and blocked their escape, Amon discovered a hidden staircase beneath the pyramid summit, leaving them with a dark passage leading downward.

• Aini asked about the White King and the Four Monarchs, and Arjun described the White King as Nidhogg’s powerful creation and the leader of a bloody rebellion.
• Amon wondered whether the pyramid held a White King contingency, while ominous cries announced the arrival of Bird-men from the surrounding woods.
• Arjun identified the Bird-men as villagers transformed after entering the Nibelungen, and the creatures charged up the pyramid steps.
• Arjun ordered the agents to fire, and their gunfire halted the Bird-men’s advance without driving them away.
• Amon pressed a carved dragon claw, opening a hidden staircase that descended into darkness beneath the summit.

Arjun and his team descended into the pyramid to escape the Bird-men and discovered a tomb chamber whose funerary objects seemed to have been rearranged by the coffin’s occupant. The stone coffin began opening, leaving the group facing an unknown threat.

• The Bird-men fled when the passageway opened, and Arjun led the team down the stairs while Amon followed behind them.
• Finn heard footsteps behind him and turned to find Amon, then hid his unease from the others.
• Arjun and the others reached a tomb chamber containing a stone coffin, ancient vessels, and human skulls.
• Finn noticed that the funerary objects had been moved, and Arjun suggested the coffin’s occupant had returned them after killing tomb raiders.
• The stone coffin’s lid began to move open.

Arjun and his team descended deeper into the tomb, where they encountered Mai Sakatoku, a hunter from Hunter Market. After bird-men forced them into the underground tunnels, Mai warned them that the creatures there were far more dangerous than those outside.

• A black-feathered bird-man rose from a coffin, but Arjun beheaded it before the group continued down the passage.
• Arjun fought a mysterious ambusher in a cavern, then discovered she was Mai Sakatoku, a hunter from Hunter Market.
• Mai heard bird-men approaching and led Arjun, Finn, Qiu Hao, Liang Chen, Aini, and the others into a narrow side passage.
• The group hid until the bird-men's cries faded, and Mai explained that the underground creatures were faster, winged, and more dangerous than the ones outside.

Mai Sakatoku led the Kassel College group through the Nibelungen toward its sole fixed exit, warning them that a powerful Feathered Serpent God and hordes of Bird-men made escape perilous. At the lake, Amon discovered that the Giant Cocoon was a nearly dead egg sustained by God's Blood.

• Mai Sakatoku told Arjun and the others that the Nibelungen was a vast maze and that the Feathered Serpent God was an exceptionally powerful Second Generation Dragon, so their goal should be survival and escape.
• Mai Sakatoku explained that the only fixed exit lay at a lake where Bird-men guarded the route, then led the team through the maze.
• Mai Sakatoku and Arjun fought together to kill Bird-men as the group infiltrated deeper into the caverns.
• The group reached the pale-red lake and saw a Giant Cocoon on a boulder, surrounded by scarlet threads and rows of stone coffins, many of which held monsters.
• Amon examined the Giant Cocoon and realized that the egg was nearly dead but could still be saved, with God's Blood sustaining its last breath.

Arjun and the others found a possible escape route from the Nibelungen, but Amon reached the boat first and exposed his uncanny ability to go unnoticed. The group realized they could not follow him across the deadly lake and were left waiting on the shore.

• Mai Sakatoku warned Arjun not to approach the Giant Cocoon and explained that the boat and current might lead them out of the Nibelungen.
• Arjun ordered Finn and Mai Sakatoku to clear a path to the boat while he guarded the rear, and Finn revealed a powerful bloodline presence.
• Amon silently crossed the coffins, boarded the boat, and began rowing toward the center of the lake.
• Aini spotted Amon, and Mai Sakatoku, Arjun, Finn, and the others realized they had repeatedly overlooked him because his presence seemed blurred.
• Finn explained that the lake's dead water would sink anyone who entered it, leaving the group unable to reach the boat as Mai Sakatoku urged them to wait.

Amon encountered Kukulkan, a Feathered Serpent who was using God's Blood to revive the White King's scale. After learning that Amon knew where the White King's Holy Remains could be found, Kukulkan agreed to a deal.

• Amon examined the Giant Cocoon and realized its God's Blood was reviving it, but chose not to extract the blood.
• Kukulkan revealed himself, restored the White King's scale with God's Blood, and introduced himself as a former servant of the High Priestess.
• Kukulkan explained that he had survived the war by entering cocooned slumber after being gravely wounded.
• Amon told Kukulkan about the Holy Remains and warned that the being revived from them might not truly be the White King.
• Amon offered to reveal the Holy Remains' location in exchange for Kukulkan's blood and help staging a performance, and Kukulkan agreed.

Amon rejoined Arjun’s group after investigating the Giant Cocoon, and they escaped the bird-men by boat while Kukulkan pursued them across the lake. The group was suddenly transported from the pale-red lake to a moonlit river in the real world.

• Amon returned from the Giant Cocoon and claimed his unusual Spirit Word made people overlook him, prompting Arjun and Finn to question him about his ability.
• Arjun apologized for suspecting Amon, and Mai Sakatoku urged the group to prioritize escaping the lake.
• Stone coffins burst open and bird-men attacked as the group ran to the boat; Finn and Mai fought them off, and Arjun kicked a bird-man into the water.
• Kukulkan rose from the lake and pursued the boat, while Mai Sakatoku used Spirit Word: Underworld Reflection and Finn rowed with all his strength.
• The air rippled around the group, and they found themselves floating on a familiar moonlit river beside the real-world rainforest.

The team escaped the Nibelungen but was hunted through the rainforest by Kukulkan, and Liang Chen died after the serpent attacked. Amon secretly drank Kukulkan’s blood and learned that the High Priestess would be resurrected in Japan; the survivors reached their village only to find the Feathered Serpent blocking their escape.

• Arjun used Sword Control and the Seven Star Sword to wound Kukulkan while it attacked Liang Chen, but Liang Chen died from the serpent’s venomous bite.
• Amon examined Liang Chen’s blood, then met Kukulkan and drank its Dragon Blood while discussing the High Priestess’s resurrection and the Eight Clans of the Serpent in Japan.
• Kukulkan repeatedly ambushed the fleeing team, evading Arjun’s attacks as they ran through the rainforest.
• The team returned to the village and found their jeep crushed beneath the Feathered Serpent, leaving them trapped.
• Finn urged Mai Sakatoku to use any remaining trump cards, and Mai prepared to fight for their lives.

Finn, Arjun, and Mai Sakatoku fought Kukulkan, the Feathered Serpent God, after Lu Mingze enhanced Mai with a powerful blessing. Mai wounded Kukulkan, which retreated while considering escape.

• Finn and Arjun entered Second Degree Blood Rage and joined the fight against Kukulkan.
• Lu Mingze appeared to Mai Sakatoku, enhanced her with a blessing, and warned her that Kukulkan was the White King's Dragon Servant.
• Finn attacked Kukulkan with a black-flamed blade, but its Domain of Dustless Space blasted him away and left him injured.
• Arjun's Seven Star Sword cut open Kukulkan's domain, and Mai charged through the gap despite Lu Mingze telling her to flee.
• Kukulkan unleashed Thunder Pool, but Mai endured the lightning and struck it with Ame-no-Habakiri and Futsu-no-Mitama, drawing Dragon Blood.
• Kukulkan retreated from the Hunters and began considering escape.

Angers arrived to help the battered squad fight Kukulkan, but the Feathered Serpent unleashed the catastrophic Spirit Word Rhine. Lu Mingze blocked the blast and vanished, leaving the survivors to rely on Angers against a monster capable of controlling Rhine.

• Kukulkan withdrew after Mai Sakatoku wounded it, but Angers dropped onto its back and slashed it with Time Zero.
• Angers revealed his hatred of the Dragon Kind and refused Kukulkan's demand that he submit.
• Kukulkan unleashed Rhine, and Amon escaped through a Gate to Nibelungen as the energy engulfed the rainforest.
• Lu Mingze used an AT Field to deflect Rhine's blast and protect the squad, though the surrounding forest was devastated.
• Angers recognized the attack as Rhine and realized Kukulkan had controlled the normally self-destructive Spirit Word.
• Lu Mingze vanished after warning Mai Sakatoku that he could not intervene again, leaving the squad to depend on Angers.

Angers’s preparations allowed two Rafale fighters to strike Kukulkan with missiles after Mai Sakatoku protected the group from its attack. Wounded and bewildered by the unfamiliar weapons, Kukulkan retreated into Nibelungen.

• Mai Sakatoku’s Barrier diverted Kukulkan’s destructive light, but she collapsed from exhaustion afterward.
• Angers revealed that he had come by plane and called on the old dragons to witness the changed times.
• Da Gu and Xin Cheng used a Rafale fighter to fire a missile that struck and badly wounded Kukulkan.
• Da Gu and Xin Cheng launched a second missile, and Kukulkan’s Wind Wall failed to stop its fragments from injuring the dragon.
• Kukulkan wondered what new power the Hybrids had developed, then fled into Nibelungen.

Angers and his team drove off the Feathered Serpent, but a fighter jet crashed because of a control failure, and the mysterious He Xiaomeng vanished. After Mai Sakatoku woke, she sold Angers her information and revealed that the Feathered Serpent God had obtained God's Blood.

• Angers confirmed that the Feathered Serpent had escaped into a Nibelungen, and he ordered the team to patrol for ten more minutes before withdrawing.
• Da Gu and Xin Cheng lost control of their fighter jet and ejected before it crashed; Angers realized the aircraft had gone down because of their own failure.
• Angers's team found no trace of Liang Chen or He Xiaomeng, collected samples, and left the scorched village in an armored vehicle.
• Mai Sakatoku woke in the vehicle and told Finn that the Academy's reinforcements had driven off the Second Generation Dragon.
• Angers offered Mai ten million US dollars for her intelligence, and she accepted the check and revealed that the Feathered Serpent God had obtained God's Blood.

Amon and Mai Sakatoku discussed the dangers of God's Blood, while Kukulkan recovered from its battle and told Amon how its attackers had injured it. Odin then breached Kukulkan's Nibelungen, demanded its allegiance, and prepared to kill it with Gungnir after Kukulkan refused.

• Mai Sakatoku told Angers that God's Blood could corrupt its users and that factions lacked enough pure blood for systematic experiments.
• Kukulkan expelled embedded metal fragments and toxins, healed its wounds, and explained to Amon that a mysterious figure had blocked its attack before its enemies struck it with a missile.
• Odin tore open Kukulkan's Nibelungen and arrived amid rain and thunder on Sleipnir.
• Odin asked Kukulkan to become his right hand, promising it status under the returning king.
• Kukulkan rejected Odin and declared that it would serve only the High Priestess, so Odin summoned Gungnir and prepared to attack.

Odin pierced Kukulkan with Gungnir, but the God's Blood revived and corrupted the dragon, forcing Odin to flee the Nibelungen. Amon escaped the ensuing blast, transformed into a Human-Faced Dragon, and wounded Odin before he fled into the mist.

• Odin used Gungnir to pierce Kukulkan's heart, while Kukulkan's Senluo Spirit Word restrained Odin after the spear struck.
• Amon recognized Odin's scheme and retreated as Kukulkan's God's Blood awakened, mutating it into a mad monster that expelled Gungnir and revived.
• Kukulkan unleashed Rhine, destroying the Nibelungen landscape, and Odin escaped through the boundary river at the cost of Sleipnir.
• Amon escaped the blast through a passage gate, reached the ruined village, and entered his fifth degree of Blood Rage to become a Human-Faced Dragon.
• Amon ambushed the battered Odin and tore off part of his forearm, but Odin fled into the river mist rather than fight.