Chapter Summaries

Frost learned that the crimson tide and the Norwegian Sea’s monstrous abundance had appeared decades earlier, possibly through Dragon Blood contamination, while the Gattuso elders insisted the ship was following the right course toward the Kingdom of God. As the icebreaker crossed the red waters, a steady heartbeat followed beneath it, and Maria of the Stars’ face quietly grew in tendrils wrapped around the hull.

• Frost read an old file describing the 1943–1944 crimson tide and the hyper-evolution of sea life in the Norwegian Sea.
• Frost suspected that Dragon Blood contamination had transformed the ecosystem, but Alpha refused to explain the elders’ plans and said the crimson sea confirmed their course.
• The icebreaker advanced through the red water as sonar revealed abundant sea life, while the elders replayed Maria of the Stars’ cryptic account of the Kingdom of God.
• A crewman told Frost that a regular heartbeat had appeared on sonar and was following directly beneath the ship, so Frost ordered a more intensive search.
• Blood-red tendrils spread through the space between the ship’s hulls around a mass resembling Maria of the Stars’ face, which murmured, “We will live forever—we will also die.”

The icebreaker entered a region of red ice and was attacked by a monstrous sea snake, which Frost’s crew killed. Frost then saw hundreds or thousands of other strange creatures closing in on the ship and ordered everyone to prepare for battle.

• Two crewmen kept watch on the icebreaker while a long creature climbed silently up its hull.
• A monster pierced the younger crewman’s throat with its tongue, and the older crewman cut the tongue and sounded the alarm.
• Frost arrived and ordered the crew to open fire on the creature.
• AK-47 rounds wounded the monster, and two Barrett shots destroyed its head and killed it.
• Frost saw countless bizarre monster snakes advancing from the ice in every direction and ordered everyone to prepare for battle.

Pompeii Gattuso crossed into the Arctic icebreaker through a mirror, left Frost to fight the snake monsters, and attacked the Elders. Alpha recognized Pompeii as Odin before dying, leaving Pompeii’s true identity revealed.

• Pompeii Gattuso stepped out of a mirror in a hidden chamber aboard the icebreaker and calmly drank Macallan while the battle raged outside.
• Frost fought off the snake monsters with an alchemical short blade as they swarmed the ship.
• Pompeii toasted Frost through the wall, poured out his drink, and said farewell to his brother before leaving the chamber.
• Pompeii entered the Elders’ quarters and stabbed Alpha through the chest, prompting the other Elders to unleash their Dragon Blood and attack.
• Pompeii killed the Elders in an instant, and the dying Alpha identified him as Odin before taking his last breath.

Pompeii disposed of the Gattuso elders by feeding their bodies to tendrils in the ship’s hull, then blasted a hole through the outer hull and drew a flood dragon into the interlayer. As the dragon devoured the tendrils, Pompeii sensed the true ruler of the waters awakening beneath the sea.

• Pompeii threw the elders’ corpses, including Alpha’s, into the ship’s double-hull interlayer, where tendrils emerged from the darkness.
• Pompeii used Spirit Word: Indra to breach the outer hull, let seawater rush into the interlayer, and shut the valve before the inner hull flooded.
• Frost learned that the outer hull had been damaged from the inside as the ship began to sink, while the monitoring room detected a massive creature nearby.
• A flood dragon entered the interlayer through the breach and ate the tendrils, ignoring their attacks.
• Pompeii sensed a vibration beneath the sea and recognized that the world’s ultimate existence was awakening.

Odin used Maria of the Stars' flesh as bait to draw the Gattuso elders to Nidhogg's hatchery, where the colossal Black Dragon rose and destroyed the Icebreaker. As the creature emerged, a young man in black robes watched from a starlit gate in the Void and wondered whether fate had begun to converge.

• Odin reflected that the chaos caused by the Evil God had ruined his plans, so he devoured the brother who shared the throne of Sky and Wind and became its complete king.
• Odin had cultivated Maria of the Stars' flesh in the Icebreaker's interlayer, intending it to serve as a Key and a Sacrifice.
• Odin had promised the Gattuso elders eternal life in his Nibelungen, but had lured them to Nidhogg's hatchery instead.
• The glacier broke apart as the colossal creature beneath the sea rose and swallowed a wyrm that had fled through the Icebreaker's hull.
• The enormous creature smashed the Icebreaker in two and emerged from the water as a young man in black robes watched from a starlit gate and spoke of fate converging.

Amon and Wa Master discussed Lu Mingfei, Naga, and their possible connection while Lu Mingze sent Mai Sakatoku and Su Enxi to tell Lu Mingfei where Naga was. Naga learned that Odin had gone north and awakened Nidhogg, as Pingyangzi prepared to set out.

• Amon and Wa Master speculated that Amon, Lu Mingfei, Naga, and Pingyangzi were connected.
• Lu Mingze appeared before Mai Sakatoku and Su Enxi and told them to inform Lu Mingfei where the Little Dragon Maiden was.
• Lu Mingze sensed that Odin was not in the coastal town and realized he had gone to fight the boss before leveling up.
• Naga found the Zero Elevated Bridge covered with dead snake-bodied monsters and challenged the absent ruler of Sky and Wind.
• A vast will spoke through Naga's soul, revealing that Odin had gone north and awakened Nidhogg.
• Pingyangzi heard the news through his sword and declared that he was leaving.

As the ship sank into the Blood Sea, Frost realized it was Nidhogg’s hatchery and fell toward the water. Odin revealed the colossal, malformed Nidhogg, weakened it with a hidden nuclear bomb, and sacrificed Hydra to fuse with it before declaring war on the Dragon Emperor.

• The ship broke apart, and Frost fell into the Blood Sea as a vast creature rose from beneath it.
• Frost recognized the sea as Nidhogg’s hatchery, where the Dragon Emperor cultivated and devoured creatures enriched with Dragon Kind genes.
• Odin watched the malformed Nidhogg attack the icebreaker and detonated a hidden nuclear bomb inside its mouth.
• Odin raised Hydra from beneath the ice and sacrificed the nine-headed serpent to fuse its body and strength with his own.
• Odin unleashed lightning and a vast storm as the King of Sky and Wind declared war on the Dragon Emperor.

Pingyangzi arrived as Odin attacked the wounded Nidhogg, and the two temporarily joined forces to defeat the colossal behemoth. After Odin and Pingyangzi exhausted their strength killing it, they prepared to fight each other.

• Pingyangzi arrived on the Sword of Covering Feathers and confronted Odin before he could finish killing Nidhogg.
• Odin and Pingyangzi agreed to attack Nidhogg together, and their first strikes barely damaged its armored back.
• Odin used Wrath of Indra to expose and scorch Nidhogg's scales while Pingyangzi wounded it with the ancient Bronze Sword.
• Odin combined Wrath of Indra and Candle Dragon as Pingyangzi sent his sword through Nidhogg, leaving a massive fatal wound.
• Nidhogg died and floated to the surface, while Odin's Hydra body withered after exhausting its power.
• Odin and Pingyangzi, both weary, faced each other to settle who stood above the other.

Mai Sakatoku and Su Enxi found themselves driving through a rainforest instead of the city, while Lu Mingfei discovered that Aunt's door now opened onto an abandoned subway station. He Xiaomeng recognized the station as part of Fenrir's Nibelungen, and Lu Mingfei set out to explore it.

• Mai Sakatoku braked when the road around her car changed into a vast rainforest, and Su Enxi realized they were no longer in the city.
• Mai Sakatoku said the forest looked like the Brazilian rainforest.
• Lu Mingfei opened Aunt's front door and found it led to a dim, abandoned subway platform.
• He Xiaomeng examined Lu Mingfei's surroundings through the phone camera and identified the station as Fenrir's Nibelungen.
• Lu Mingfei wondered whether Xia Mi had brought him there and walked out to explore.

Lu Mingze warned Lu Mingfei that doomsday was coming and declared him the world’s only hope, but Lu Mingfei resisted the call to save the world. Lu Mingze then revealed that Erii was waiting for him nearby.

• Lu Mingfei found Lu Mingze sitting beside a mist-shrouded canyon and learned that doomsday was about to descend.
• Lu Mingze said that everyone, including himself, would die, and Lu Mingfei promised to stay with him until the world ended.
• Lu Mingze told Lu Mingfei that one sliver of hope remained and that he was the world’s only hope.
• Lu Mingfei rejected the idea that he could save the world and challenged Lu Mingze’s account of his past victories.
• Lu Mingze said Erii was waiting for Lu Mingfei and revealed that she was right there.

Lu Mingze told Lu Mingfei that Dragon Emperor Nidhogg had awakened and connected every Nibelungen into one vast battlefield. Lu Mingfei resolved to enter it, save the girl trapped inside, and fight the bosses threatening the world.

• Lu Mingfei saw the enormous Red-spotted Pythons in the canyon and learned it was only one part of the connected Nibelungen.
• Lu Mingze explained that an incomplete Dragon Emperor Nidhogg had awakened and united the world's Nibelungen as the kings' final battlefield.
• He Xiaomeng panicked that Bleach Hela's authority was being used, but Lu Mingze identified Dragon Emperor Nidhogg as the cause.
• Lu Mingze urged Lu Mingfei to rescue the girl trapped in the Nibelungen and defeat its bosses, including the final boss.
• Lu Mingfei gathered his resolve and agreed to save the world.

Lu Mingfei agreed to spend a quarter of his remaining life turning the merged Nibelungens into a dungeon, giving him a nearby save point and a limited monster-fighting and leveling function. After Lu Mingze vanished, Lu Mingfei returned to the platform and prepared to begin his journey.

• Lu Mingfei told Lu Mingze he trusted him and asked how to use the three-quarters of his life he had left.
• Lu Mingze proposed repeatedly restarting the dungeon, comparing the challenge to finding the perfect ending in Heaven and Earth Calamity.
• Lu Mingze explained that Odin had restarted the Alpha Worldline into the Beta Line and offered to set a nearby save point so Lu Mingfei could retry after dying.
• Lu Mingze added a limited leveling function and a phone map, and Lu Mingfei agreed to pay a quarter of his life to turn the world into a dungeon.
• Lu Mingze disappeared, and Lu Mingfei found himself back at the platform before going home to wash his face and start the dungeon journey.

Lu Mingfei found a pistol, ammunition, and a knife in a suitcase on the abandoned platform, then headed away from Fenrir’s dwelling through the tunnel. He encountered countless Golden Eyes in the walls and fled as wingbeats and cries filled the darkness.

• Lu Mingfei opened a suitcase hidden in a junk pile and found an M1911, three magazines, bullets, and a military knife.
• He Xiaomeng explained that Lu Mingze had moved the equipment and that the phone’s map could scan Lu Mingfei’s surroundings.
• Lu Mingfei chose the route leading out of the station and continued along the tracks with a flashlight.
• Lu Mingfei saw hundreds of Golden Eyes embedded in the tunnel walls and heard creatures beating their wings.
• Lu Mingfei turned and ran from the creatures watching him.

Lu Mingfei fled through a tunnel from blood-hungry Ghost Cart Birds, but an invisible barrier blocked his escape and the flock killed him. He woke up alive in his room at Aunt's house and confirmed that he had truly restarted.

• Lu Mingfei and He Xiaomeng ran from Ghost Cart Birds, and Lu Mingfei killed one with his military knife.
• He Xiaomeng ordered the birds to get lost, briefly stopping their pursuit, but they soon attacked again.
• Lu Mingfei tried to vault over wooden boards marked with the words "This door cannot be opened from this side" and was repelled by an invisible barrier.
• The Ghost Cart Birds swarmed Lu Mingfei and killed him in the tunnel.
• Lu Mingfei woke up in his bed at Aunt's house, and He Xiaomeng confirmed that he had died in the instance.

After resetting the world, Lu Mingfei explored another route through Fenrir’s Nibelungen and learned that it followed rules like an adventure game. He died after getting trapped in an oiled pit, then immediately set out again with a better plan.

• Lu Mingfei asked He Xiaomeng why a gate could not be opened, and He Xiaomeng explained that Fenrir had imposed rules on the Nibelungen and modeled it after Home Alone.
• Lu Mingfei collected his starter gear and took the other route toward Fenrir’s residence, avoiding the Kamaitachi.
• Lu Mingfei found a pit crossed by thin floating planks and climbed down, but oil on the lower wall kept him from getting back out.
• He Xiaomeng confirmed Lu Mingfei was stuck, so Lu Mingfei shot himself and reset the world.
• Lu Mingfei woke up, collected his gear, and headed straight back toward the pit.

Lu Mingfei crossed the pit, navigated the winding tunnels, and discovered a shrine that let him set a new divergence point before opening a blocked door. Beyond it, he entered a candlelit underground arena where a massive coffin began to open.

• Lu Mingfei crossed the wooden planks over the pit and fought a lone Kamaitachi as he explored the tunnels.
• Lu Mingfei found a shrine beside the door and set it as a new divergence point.
• Lu Mingfei removed the wooden beam blocking the door and opened it.
• Lu Mingfei entered a vast underground arena and watched a huge coffin open as he prepared for a possible fight.

Lu Mingfei encountered He Xiaomeng’s corpse, now a Corpse Guardian, and was killed before he could speak with it. After reloading his save, he learned that Xia Mi had transformed He Xiaomeng’s body and heard about its injuries from before death.

• Lu Mingfei recognized the Dead Servant rising from the coffin as He Xiaomeng and hoped it might still recognize him.
• Dead Servant He Xiaomeng lunged at Lu Mingfei and tore out his heart, killing him.
• Lu Mingfei reloaded his save in the tunnel and asked He Xiaomeng about the Corpse Guardian.
• He Xiaomeng said Xia Mi had refined his corpse into a Corpse Guardian, possibly to keep him with her.
• He Xiaomeng told Lu Mingfei that his left leg and right hand had been badly injured before he died and might still be weaker.

Lu Mingfei repeatedly fought Dead Servant He Xiaomeng in the Nibelungen, but its overwhelming strength killed him every time. After considering He Xiaomeng’s advice to hunt weaker monsters, Lu Mingfei realized the Kamaitachi flock might be unable to pass through the wooden door either.

• Lu Mingfei tried to sprint past the sleeping Dead Servant, but the door on the far side would not open, and the monster killed him.
• Lu Mingfei fought the awakened Dead Servant, used its clumsy movements to land several attacks, and died because his weapons barely harmed it.
• Lu Mingfei repeatedly reloaded and tried new tactics, including shooting the Dead Servant as it emerged from its coffin, but it kept killing him.
• He Xiaomeng suggested Lu Mingfei might need to level up by hunting weaker monsters, and Lu Mingfei considered trying it despite the danger.
• Lu Mingfei noticed the wooden door and reasoned that the Kamaitachi flock might be unable to pass through it, since the Dragon King had to obey the Nibelungen’s rules.

Lu Mingfei exploited the Nibelungen’s door rule to kill Kamaitachi and repeatedly respawn, growing stronger and more draconic with each attempt. By his thirty-sixth run, he entered the boss room to attack the Dead Servant before it could fully emerge from its coffin.

• Lu Mingfei used the wooden door’s barrier rule to shoot several hundred Kamaitachi, then noticed his body becoming faster and bluish-black scales appearing on his neck.
• After running out of ammunition, Lu Mingfei fought the Dead Servant with a tactical knife, died, and respawned with his ammunition restored while keeping his scales.
• Lu Mingfei repeatedly killed Kamaitachi and challenged the Dead Servant, lasting longer and gaining scales, claws, and brighter Golden Eyes with each attempt.
• On his thirty-sixth attempt, Lu Mingfei left his backpack outside the boss room and charged the opening coffin, firing into the Dead Servant’s exposed chest.
• Lu Mingfei pushed the coffin lid back down while continuing to fire and taunting the Dead Servant.

Lu Mingfei defeated the Dead Servant by exploiting its injuries and crippling its wings, then healed himself with “Do Not Die.” He found a hidden passage beneath the coffin and emerged through the wooden door, where an icy wind greeted him.

• Lu Mingfei attacked the Dead Servant before it could fully rise and tore off half its right wing.
• Lu Mingfei used the Dead Servant’s injured limbs to evade its attacks and wound it, then grappled with it despite being badly hurt.
• Lu Mingfei crushed the Dead Servant’s heart, killing it, and used “Do Not Die” to restore his body.
• Lu Mingfei found a hidden door beneath a stone in the coffin and retrieved his backpack and flashlight.
• Lu Mingfei walked through the passage, emerged on the other side of the wooden door, and continued down the tunnel into an icy gust.