Chapter Summaries

Uesugi Koshi learned that he had two sons and a daughter, who led rival factions in Japan, and rushed to stop them from fighting. Angers offered to help only if Koshi helped him in return, leaving Koshi realizing he had been drawn into Angers's plan.

• Caesar revealed that Uesugi Koshi was likely the genetic source of the Dragon King of Nippon Stronghold, the Minamoto Clan head, and the Uesugi Clan head.
• Uesugi Koshi questioned Angers about the children's mothers, then reacted with joy and concern upon learning he had three children.
• Angers told Uesugi Koshi that his children were on opposing sides of the Purge of Sins, prompting Koshi to hurry off to stop them.
• Angers warned Koshi that his identity would not help him find his children, then agreed to help if Koshi helped him in return.
• Uesugi Koshi cursed Angers for manipulating him into joining his plan.

Ange explained Japan’s escalating crisis to Uesugi Koshi and sought a way to counter He Xiaomeng, whose rapid rise and delay in destroying the Embryo threatened the Academy’s plans. The discussion ended with Caesar suggesting that Kazama Ruri meet Uesugi Koshi.

• Ange assured Uesugi Koshi that they were allies and agreed to help with his children, then explained that Kazama Ruri and Minamoto Chisaki had not yet gone to war.
• Ange outlined the dangers involving the Lenin, the Dragon Kind Embryo, Takamagahara, the Feathered Serpent God, Wang Jiang, Tachibana Masamune, and Mike Amon.
• Ange said He Xiaomeng had gained immense influence in Japan and was delaying the destruction of the Embryo, while Uesugi Koshi suggested he might be motivated by greed.
• Caesar said He Xiaomeng was pursuing another goal and revealed that Chu Zihang was dating He Xiaoyu, making him a poor choice to investigate He Xiaomeng.
• Ange and Caesar discussed He Xiaomeng’s unexplained rise and the risks of investigating his ties to President Ronald and Smith Winchester.
• Caesar offered to arrange for Kazama Ruri to meet Uesugi Koshi, and Uesugi Koshi eagerly agreed.

Uesugi Koshi prepared to work with Kazama Ruri to kill Wang Jiang while keeping his identity as Genji Wakana’s father secret. Meanwhile, Amon arranged a nuclear strike as a last resort against the awakening threat and called for Rigerif and Fenrir to join him.

• Caesar told Uesugi Koshi that Kazama Ruri wanted to kill Wang Jiang and would meet an outside ally, but warned that Genji Wakana might see a father as a source of terror.
• Uesugi Koshi decided not to reveal his identity to Genji Wakana until after Wang Jiang was dead, and Angers instructed Caesar to arrange a secure meeting with Kazama Ruri.
• Amon confirmed with Smith that a strategic nuclear submarine was carrying the weapon and that its launch codes were divided, while Smith warned him about the consequences.
• Amon told Smith he had not informed Angers of the plan and suggested they could frame the Japanese government or extremists if they used the bomb.
• Rigerif told Amon that Fenrir had completed his dragon body, and Amon asked them both to come help him near the Trench.

Fenrir left his Nibelungen with Rigerif and flew toward Japan to help his Big Brother, following a direction Amon provided through Rigerif’s phone. During the flight, Naga recognized Fenrir from a passenger jet, while Fenrir sensed a familiar presence and continued onward.

• Fenrir ran through the Nibelungen, emerged into the Hungry Dragon Food Co. warehouse, and ate some packaged food before flying through the roof with Rigerif in his claw.
• Fenrir roared during his first flight in his complete form, and Rigerif told him to stop and climb higher so people would not see him.
• Rigerif tried to find a route to Japan on her phone, and Amon appeared on the navigation screen as a red arrow pointing southeast.
• Fenrir followed the arrow toward Japan as Kamaitachi flew alongside him and formed a roaring escort.
• A boy aboard a passenger jet spotted Fenrir, and Naga recognized him from the plane’s window.
• Fenrir sensed a familiar presence near the jet, but Rigerif urged him to fly on, and he continued toward Japan.

Caesar visited Amon to press him about the delayed Abyssal Zone operation, and Amon scheduled it for the next day under cover of a severe storm. Amon refused to join the expedition, openly admitting that he feared dying, and ordered Mimi to prepare the submersible.

• Caesar confronted Amon at Xingshen Temple about the delay and the embryo in the Trench.
• Amon said the human-side preparations were nearly complete and set the Abyssal Zone operation for the next day, with Minamoto Chisaki providing surface support.
• Caesar asked whether Amon would join the expedition, and Amon said he would stay behind because he cherished his life and feared death.
• Caesar accepted Amon's choice but privately questioned why Angers and the family feared him.
• Amon told Mimi to contact the Head of the Miyamoto Clan and prepare the submersible for the operation.

Minamoto Chisaki brought Lu Mingfei, Caesar Gattuso, and Chu Zihang to the Sumeru Platform, where a heavily armed force prepared for their dive into the Abyssal Zone. After reviewing the danger of facing the Ancient Dragon Embryo or the Feathered Serpent God, the three chose to descend in the Trieste while Finn stayed behind to guard the safety tether.

• Minamoto Chisaki arrived at the Sumeru Platform with Lu Mingfei, Caesar Gattuso, Chu Zihang, and Finn and addressed its assembled fighters.
• Caesar Gattuso explained that the heartbeat in the Abyssal Zone could come from the Ancient Dragon Embryo or the Feathered Serpent God, and warned the others about the danger of the dive.
• Caesar Gattuso and Chu Zihang committed to diving, and Lu Mingfei chose to join them after seeing Erii.
• Caesar Gattuso assigned Finn to watch the safety tether and winch and to report any suspicious actions by the Eight Clans of the Serpent.
• Caesar Gattuso, Chu Zihang, and Lu Mingfei entered the Trieste, and its hatch closed behind them.

The Trieste descended toward the deep-sea mission while Erii worried about Lu Mingfei’s return. As Lu Mingfei learned the submersible carried a tactical nuclear bomb and depended on Minamoto Chisaki’s crew to retrieve it, he set aside his indignation and watched the darkness outside.

• Erii watched the Trieste disappear beneath the water, then asked Minamoto Chisaki whether Mingming would return; he reassured her.
• As the Trieste descended, Lu Mingfei felt the isolation of the deep sea and asked Caesar about their plan to find the Embryo and retreat.
• Caesar revealed that the Trieste carried a timer-activated tactical nuclear bomb supplied by the Ganryu Research Institute, based on intelligence He Xiaomeng found in Tachibana Masamune’s hidden chamber.
• Caesar warned that launching the bomb would leave the Trieste dependent on the Sumeru Platform’s winch, so angering Minamoto Chisaki could endanger their return.
• Minamoto Chisaki reassured Lu Mingfei that He Xiaomeng, as General Mike Amon, would prevent Team K from continuing its secret nuclear research, and Lu returned his attention to the porthole.

Mai Sakatoku and Xia Mi became trapped together in a cramped compartment aboard the Trieste as it descended, each hiding her own reason for being on the submersible. Mai planned to search the Lenin for a Dragon Kind embryo, but Xia Mi insisted on accompanying her when she tried to leave.

• Su Enxi contacted Mai Sakatoku through the communication cable and learned that Xia Mi had squeezed into the same compartment, leaving Mai trapped and trembling.
• Xia Mi recognized Mai and questioned her presence, while Mai claimed she was a Hunter Net operative working to support her senior brothers' mission.
• Xia Mi warned Mai not to sabotage the mission and asked her not to tell her brother about Xia Mi's own presence.
• Mai grew anxious about her secret mission to recover the vital part of the Dragon Kind embryo aboard the Lenin and tested whether Xia Mi could withstand the water pressure.
• Mai suggested she would need to leave the compartment, but Xia Mi eagerly said she could stay underwater and would go with her.

Xia Mi and Mai Sakatoku left Trieste and descended toward the Trench, while the submersible plunged into the hidden realm around the Ancient City of Takamagahara. As the crew neared the Embryo, dangerous Dragon Kind creatures fled from Xia Mi’s display of royal majesty.

• Mai Sakatoku injected an enhancement drug from the Boss, then followed Xia Mi out of Trieste into the deep sea.
• Xia Mi and Mai Sakatoku avoided Trieste’s searchlights as the submersible plunged downward; Minamoto Chisaki stabilized it with the safety latches.
• Lu Mingfei, Chu Zihang, and Caesar saw the abnormal ecosystem at nearly eight thousand meters and concluded that the Embryo had affected the area.
• A Dragon Blood-altered Basilosaurus approached Trieste, then fled when swarms of Ghost-Toothed Dragon Vipers emerged from the Trench.
• Mai Sakatoku recognized the dangerous vipers, but Xia Mi’s majesty drove the school away.

The Trieste discovered Takamagahara, a vast ancient city at the bottom of the Trench, while Xia Mi sensed a powerful embryonic Dragon King nearby. Lu Mingze transported Lu Mingfei into an illusion on the submersible’s hull, where Lu Mingfei noticed others beside them.

• The Trieste’s crew and the observers at Kassel College and the Sumeru Platform saw the enormous ruins of Takamagahara on the seafloor.
• Xia Mi concealed her Dragon King aura, then stopped Mai Sakatoku from swimming toward the Embryo and revealed her dragon form.
• Lu Mingfei wondered where the Lenin was, and Lu Mingze appeared beside him in the submersible’s control room.
• Lu Mingze snapped his fingers and transported Lu Mingfei into a blizzard-covered ice field, where Lu Mingfei glimpsed fighter jets and a dog sled.
• Lu Mingze’s illusion shifted to the Trieste’s upper hull, where Lu Mingfei realized that others were there with them.

Lu Mingfei discovered that Xia Mi and Mai Sakatoku had transformed into dragons outside the Trieste, then realized a White King guardian had detected the submersible. The Feathered Serpent God, Kukulkan, emerged beside the sunken Lenin as Lu Mingze warned that the mission had become dangerous.

• Lu Mingfei spotted dragon-transformed Xia Mi and Mai Sakatoku atop the Trieste and realized Xia Mi was a genuine pureblood Dragon Kind.
• Lu Mingfei refused Lu Mingze's offer to trade a quarter of his life for answers, and Lu Mingze warned him that escaping unharmed might be difficult.
• Lu Mingfei noticed Xia Mi watching the sunken Lenin and saw a huge serpentine dragon emerge from the sediment nearby.
• Lu Mingfei identified the creature as the Feathered Serpent God, Kukulkan, and Lu Mingze said it had detected the submersible.

Lu Mingfei suspected Xia Mi had come to protect them, and he rejected Lu Mingze’s warning about trusting He Xiaomeng. Back in the Trieste, he tried to hurry Caesar and Chu Zihang away from the wreck after spotting the Lung Snails covering it.

• Lu Mingfei decided Xia Mi might be their ally and told Lu Mingze that he trusted He Xiaomeng.
• Lu Mingze warned Lu Mingfei to be careful around He Xiaomeng, then vanished.
• Lu Mingfei returned to the Trieste’s cockpit and saw the wreck of the Lenin covered in Lung Snails with Caesar and Chu Zihang.
• Lu Mingfei urged Caesar and Chu Zihang to drop the tactical Nuclear Bomb and leave, claiming he urgently needed the bathroom.

Caesar’s team prepared to launch a tactical nuclear bomb at the Lenin, but the Feathered Serpent God Kukulkan emerged and guarded the sunken vessel. Xia Mi learned that the ancient dragon was the White King’s Dragon Servant, leaving her alarmed by its power and identity.

• Professor Schneider authorized the Trieste to launch a tactical nuclear bomb at the Lenin.
• Kukulkan emerged from the silt and coiled around the Lenin, while Caesar and Chu Zihang watched from the submersible.
• Caesar and Chu Zihang discussed Kukulkan’s strength, and Lu Mingfei realized it was wary of Xia Mi and the approaching Dead Servants.
• Amon observed the standoff through his Dead Servant puppets and told Mai Sakatoku to wait for the right moment.
• Xia Mi questioned Mai about Kukulkan, and Mai identified it as the White King’s Dragon Servant.

Xia Mi learned that the White King’s Holy Remains had led to Japan’s Hybrids and considered whether she could devour the embryo hidden in the trench. As the Trieste rose away from Takamagahara, the exposed embryo stirred Xia Mi with a faint sense of recognition, leaving her troubled by the fate of a dead old rival.

• Mai Sakatoku explained that the White King’s Holy Remains had made its human bearer the key to the White King’s return and that the Eight Clans of the Serpent carried her blood.
• Caesar launched the nuclear bomb toward the Lenin, and Minamoto Chisaki and Crow began winching the Trieste toward the surface.
• The bomb’s approach shook Takamagahara, and the Lung Snails peeled away to reveal the Lenin fused with a blood-covered Dragon Kind embryo.
• Chu Zihang and Caesar explained that the embryo was dead and had been left as a sacrifice to nourish the Holy Remains, while Lu Mingfei reacted with disgust.
• Xia Mi sensed that the embryo had once been an old friend or rival, and the Trieste continued rising as Takamagahara vanished into darkness.

The ancient city of Takamagahara began to awaken as the Embryo's blood revived its buried Corpse Guardians, while the Trieste carried Caesar, Chu Zihang, and Lu Mingfei toward the surface. Xia Mi dove back into the darkness after asking Mai Sakatoku to escort the others, leaving Lu Mingfei to wonder whether she planned to confront the god.

• The Embryo's blood revived the Corpse Guardians buried beneath Takamagahara, and the Feathered Serpent God's roar appeared on Kassel College's sonar.
• Arkadura Ahmed Mohammed Faruk and the Equipment Department fled toward Svartalfheim, while Professor Schneider insisted that a nuclear blast could still threaten the White King.
• The safety locks pulled the Trieste upward, and Caesar, Chu Zihang, and Lu Mingfei hoped their mission was complete as Chu Zihang sensed the ruins awakening.
• Xia Mi asked Mai Sakatoku to escort the three men to the surface, then dove toward the darkness below.
• Caesar and Chu Zihang spotted what looked like a winged person swimming past the Trieste, and Lu Mingfei suspected Xia Mi was heading toward the god.

Xia Mi fought the mindless Feathered Serpent God Kukulkan among the Takamagahara ruins, using her mastery of force to evade and injure him. Though she had the upper hand, Kukulkan’s regeneration let him endure her attacks, and she searched for the weakness that could stop him.

• Xia Mi confronted Kukulkan and found that he had no reason, only hostility and instinctive reverence for her as a Monarch.
• Kukulkan attacked with the Spirit Word Thunder Pool, but Xia Mi blocked it with the Domain of Dustless Space.
• Xia Mi dodged Kukulkan’s charge and struck a vulnerable point in his body, causing him pain without visibly breaking his scales.
• Dragon-form Dead Servants watched the battle and debated whether Xia Mi could defeat Kukulkan, who had absorbed God's Blood.
• Kukulkan repeatedly charged and regenerated from Xia Mi’s precise blows, while she avoided his attacks and searched for a fatal weakness.

Xia Mi fought Kukulkan beneath Takamagahara, but his Spirit Word Rhine unleashed a devastating blast that she survived by burrowing into the seabed. She realized Kukulkan had controlled the attack’s destructive force and emerged to face him, her interest shifting toward defeating and eating him.

• Xia Mi’s blows worsened Kukulkan’s grotesque mutation, and she recoiled from his appearance as he attacked her.
• Xia Mi retreated, freeing Kukulkan to chant Rhine, then burrowed into the seabed to escape the blast.
• Rhine’s shockwaves shook the Trieste, and Mai Sakatoku, Lu Mingfei, Caesar, and Chu Zihang saw countless golden eyes rising from the depths.
• Xia Mi survived the blast but found that Kukulkan was still alive, with much of Takamagahara’s ruins destroyed.
• Xia Mi deduced that Kukulkan had controlled Rhine’s release and focused its destruction, then crawled out to confront him, eager to grow stronger by eating him.

Lu Mingfei, Chu Zihang, and Caesar faced an attack by Corpse Guardians as the Trieste was hauled toward the surface. In the abyss, Xia Mi escaped underground just before a nuclear explosion engulfed Kukulkan, and she waited for the destruction to pass so she could claim the spoils.

• Minamoto Chisaki explained that the golden-eyed figures were ancient Hybrid Corpse Guardians guarding Takamagahara.
• A Corpse Guardian pressed its face against the Trieste's window, then the surrounding guardians began ramming the submersible's hull.
• Lu Mingfei urged Minamoto Chisaki to pull them up, while Caesar teased him about hitting on Minamoto Chisaki's sister.
• Xia Mi drew Kukulkan's attention and fled underground as a nuclear bomb exploded beneath the sunken ship.
• Xia Mi endured the shockwaves and waited beneath the strata, believing Kukulkan had been killed and planning to claim the spoils.

A nuclear blast devastated Takamagahara, injuring Lu Mingfei, Chu Zihang, Caesar, and Mai Sakatoku while killing most of the Corpse Guardians. Xia Mi watched the shattered Feathered Serpent God from a distance, waiting to see whether it would die or unleash one last attack.

• The underwater nuclear shockwave battered the Trieste crew, and Caesar identified the blast as a nuclear bomb.
• The shockwave shattered most of the Corpse Guardians, while Mai Sakatoku survived with the help of her Spirit Word domain and Dragon Blood serum.
• The nuclear blast destroyed Takamagahara and left the Feathered Serpent God gravely wounded, unable to regenerate.
• Xia Mi approached the ruins but stayed back, wary that the Feathered Serpent God might use Rhine for a final counterattack.

Amon survived the nuclear blast by using Spirit Word: Gate, while the Yamata no Orochi fused with the wounded Kukulkan and emerged as a nine-headed dragon. Xia Mi arrived too late to stop its birth and faced the newly awakened monster.

• Amon redirected the nuclear shock wave through six gates, but the blast killed the Dead Servant puppets and cut off his view of Takamagahara.
• The Yamata no Orochi emerged from the seabed and burrowed into the dying Feathered Serpent God's body to devour Kukulkan.
• God's Blood activated Kukulkan's flesh, turning the Yamata no Orochi's feeding threads into a binding network that fused the two creatures.
• Xia Mi heard the Orochi's roar and rushed toward the ruins, but Kukulkan's body swelled as its essence gathered to feed the emerging monster.
• The Yamata no Orochi crawled from Kukulkan's corpse with nine heads, and Xia Mi retreated in shock as it fixed its golden eyes on her.