Chapter Summaries

Owen visited Shire after the train attack and met with Mulan, who told him he had killed Silver Mane Dobrich but been bitten by the werewolf’s venom. Owen warned that Mulan needed to return to the Black Castle within a month, then left for Digo with a vial of Mulan’s blood while Mulan continued his search for materials and asked Owen to investigate the vampires and werewolves near the Imperial Capital.

• Owen questioned the Shire Police Station about the train attack, then went to the Baron's Residence after learning Mulan was there.
• Shire welcomed Owen and kept him occupied with talk about tourism and Shire's development while Mulan and the others hid their secrets.
• Mulan told Owen he and Handel had destroyed a werewolf lair and that Mulan had killed Silver Mane Dobrich, who had bitten him.
• Owen examined Mulan’s wound and warned that the venom could be dangerous, urging him to return to the Black Castle within a month.
• Mulan asked Owen to investigate the vampires and werewolves near the Imperial Capital, and Owen took a vial of Mulan’s blood before leaving for Digo.

Mulan examined his rapidly healing wounds and discovered that the full Wyrd Moon, Mosslib, awakened Werewolf power inside him. He used his Demon Shadow to devour the wolf shadow, leaving the threat of transformation negligible, though his wounds reopened.

• Mulan removed his bandages and saw that his severe wounds had healed far faster than expected.
• Mulan's heart and muscles reacted violently when he saw the full Wyrd Moon, Mosslib, and he feared he was turning into a Werewolf.
• Mulan resisted the wolf's influence and summoned his totem's Demon Shadow.
• Mulan's Demon Shadow devoured the black wolf shadow, reducing the danger of the Werewolf power taking control.
• Mulan's wounds reopened after the struggle, and he began cleaning them again.

After Mulan and his companions departed, Shire revealed his fear of Mulan and continued studying the supernatural world. A mysterious vampire arrived, praised Shire for concealing his condition, and promised to help him gain power and approach the Black Castle.

• Mulan, Handel, and Farolynch said farewell to Baron Shire and left Shire by train.
• After the train departed, Shire relaxed and admitted that he had feared Mulan would discover his condition.
• Late that night, Shire found his study window open and heard an unseen voice discuss Silver Mane's death and Sandro's likely fate.
• A pale, red-eyed stranger emerged from the shadows and praised Shire for deceiving Mulan and hiding his vampiric nature.
• Shire complained that Sandro had deceived him, and the stranger promised his benefits would come and offered to arrange vampire blood essence so he could gain power.

Shire resisted the Book of Blood’s influence and began absorbing its power and knowledge, while Mulan and Farolynch traveled toward a mysterious auction. Farolynch resisted Mulan’s offer to join Dawn for now, and the two arrived near a station filled with mystical auras.

• Shire opened the Book of Blood, resisted its attempt to enslave him with Dawn’s power, and absorbed its red light, strength, and knowledge.
• On the train, Mulan discussed Farolynch’s longing for sunlight and offered him a place among Dawn, but Farolynch said he needed to understand Mulan before deciding.
• Farolynch dreamed of darkness and demons surrounding Mulan and the Book of Dawn, then woke as the train approached its destination.
• Mulan sensed mystical auras near the station and told Farolynch that he was his friend.

Mulan arrived in Sorens with Farolynch and took command of Dierjia’s intelligence team as they investigated the mysterious people gathering for an auction of supernatural treasures. Elsewhere, two hidden observers noticed the team’s activity and prepared to begin the auction early.

• Mulan and Farolynch arrived at Sorens Railway Station, where Special Observer Six and Nine brought them to the intelligence team.
• Observer Six told Mulan that the Sunwheel Gem and several other suspicious items would be auctioned in a week, drawing supernatural practitioners to Sorens.
• Mulan checked into an inn and heard further reports from intelligence personnel assigned to monitor different parts of the city.
• A white-haired man and a woman sharing a house with an unaware family noticed Dierjia’s agents gathering and concluded that the person in charge had arrived.
• The woman celebrated rolling a two, then produced a golden pistol as she and the man discussed starting the auction early.

Mulan learned that the Sorens Grand Auction had been moved forward and prepared to bid for the sunstone with the Dierjia royal family’s support. A shapeshifting woman named Chris offered to give him an auction item privately, revealed that she knew his identity, and left after introducing herself.

• The Blue Sky Trading Company moved the Sorens Grand Auction to the afternoon two days later, and Mulan confirmed that the sunstone was in the catalog.
• Mulan learned that the royal family had prepared unlimited funds for him to bid on the sunstone.
• A boy delivering an invitation told Mulan that the company would privately give him any auction item he wanted withdrawn.
• Mulan recognized that the boy was a woman in disguise by noticing that her soul’s shadow did not change, and she transformed back into her true form.
• The woman identified herself as Chris, called Miss Misfortune, and left after Mulan introduced himself as Mulan Jonester.

Chris and her white-haired brother created a powerful avenger to take revenge on Mulan, but the creature immediately lost control and charged into Sorens City. Mulan heard its resentful roar from the inn as it drew near.

• Chris told her brother that Mulan had seen through her disguise and claimed to be a Radiant Knight, and they discussed how to retaliate against him.
• Chris insisted on revenge, and her brother used newspaper clippings, bodily remains, and Philosopher's Stone powder to make a gelatinous figure.
• The white-haired man transformed the figure into a hulking brute and urged it to seek revenge on Mulan while protecting him and Chris.
• The brute swallowed two test tubes, became excited about becoming a real person, and roared loudly enough to shake Sorens City.
• The brute smashed through the floor and charged outside, while Chris and her brother pursued it.
• Mulan set down his book at the inn after hearing the brute's roar and sensing its fierce resentment.

An Avenger rampaged through Sorens City, pursuing a man and destroying buildings as they fought. Mulan intervened on behalf of the Dilga Empire, but his shots released purple mist from the man, who engulfed him in flames.

• The Avenger charged through Sorens City, wrecking a carriage and knocking a horse unconscious before continuing toward his target.
• Mulan and his agents followed the Avenger, while Chris pursued him ahead of them.
• The Avenger crashed into a formally dressed man at an inn, and the two fought through buildings until the man blasted the Avenger backward with explosions and fire.
• Mulan arrived with the Seventh Department's personnel and attacked the man with the Ring of Light, declaring the Dilga Empire's authority.
• The man's wounds sprayed purple mist, and a burst of flame engulfed Mulan in midair.

Mulan intervened in a battle in Sorens, drove off a dangerous supernatural attacker, and protected the Avenger from an ambush. His old wound reopened, and he demanded that Chris explain her connection to the incident.

• Mulan split the combatants apart and ordered them to stop fighting in Sorens, but the purple-smoke man disappeared after dismissing the damage he had caused.
• The Avenger admitted he had attacked first because he wanted to become human, while Mulan questioned what he meant.
• Chris warned Mulan of an ambush, but Fang blocked the purple Crystal Claw on its own, and Mulan pinned the attacker to a distant wall with two Light Spears.
• Mulan charged the pinned attacker and cut him in two, but the man's body turned into purple mist and exploded before he vanished again.
• Mulan's exertion reopened his old wound, and after agents arrived, he confronted Chris and demanded an explanation.

Mulan ordered help for Sorens after fighting Belust, then confronted Chris and the Avenger over the destruction. Chris agreed to cooperate with him, while her brother realized how formidable Mulan was and learned the Avenger wanted to become his pupil.

• Mulan ordered the police and residents to fight the fires and rescue the injured, then questioned Chris about the Avenger's creation.
• The Avenger said he wanted to kill Belust and become human, and Mulan showed him the suffering caused by their fight.
• The Avenger and Farolynch helped lift a fallen wall and rescue a trapped man, while Seventh Department personnel and police brought the chaos under control.
• Mulan offered to help Chris avoid liability if her brother cooperated with him, and ordered her to bring her brother and information about Belust.
• Chris told her white-haired brother that Mulan had wounded and driven off Belust despite being injured, and revealed that the Avenger wanted to become Mulan's pupil.

Mulan treated his wounds from killing Silver Mane Dobrich and offered the Seventh Department a chance to study at Black Castle. He recorded his new Radiant Knight technique, Dimensional Holy Spear, in the Book of Esoteric Arts, then faced the Avenger, who wanted to learn from him.

• Number Six treated Mulan’s wounds, and Mulan revealed that he had killed the powerful werewolf Silver Mane Dobrich.
• Mulan promised to suggest that members of the Seventh Department attend lectures at Black Castle, and Number Six thanked him for the offer.
• Mulan wrote his newly developed Dimensional Holy Spear technique into the Book of Esoteric Arts.
• Mulan considered the escaped enemy and expected Chris’s mysterious Alchemist brother to visit him.
• Farolynch brought the Avenger to Mulan’s door, where the Avenger asked to learn from Mulan and gain strength and personhood.

Mulan questioned Farolynch about the Avenger’s false promise of becoming human, then hired Matt as a professor at Black Castle in exchange for his help and information about their enemies. As they prepared for a possible attack at the auction, Matt revealed the Avenger’s expendable purpose, leaving the Avenger shocked and despairing.

• Farolynch told Mulan that Matt’s promise to make the Avenger human by having him devour an enemy was likely a cruel lie, and said he wanted the Avenger to join Mulan.
• Matt introduced himself to Mulan as Chris’s brother and an alchemist, then accepted Mulan’s offer to become a professor at Black Castle.
• Matt explained that his enemies had ties to forces that fought against Dierjia in the last Diba War and would likely gather in Sorens City for the auction.
• Mulan realized he lacked enough supernatural combatants to face the expected enemy forces and said he would seek help elsewhere.
• Matt explained that the Avenger had been created as an expendable tool, and Chris and Mulan noticed the Avenger’s shock and despair.

Matt warned Mulan that the Twilight Brigade was a growing threat, but their discussion was interrupted when a Gilvari Airship from Basman appeared over Sorens. The Twilight Brigade bombed the city, setting fires and plunging its residents into panic.

• Matt told Mulan about the Twilight Brigade and urged him not to underestimate its growing power.
• Mulan spotted a Gilvari Airship approaching Sorens and ordered the city’s security forces to declare an emergency.
• Mulan rushed outside with the Avenger while Matt and Chris prepared to respond.
• The Twilight Brigade’s members opened the airship’s bomb bay and dropped explosive-filled barrels over Sorens.
• The barrels exploded across the city, starting fires and causing widespread panic.

Mulan retaliated against the Gilvari Airship after its bombing threw Sorens City into chaos, unleashing a powerful Light Spear that pierced the vessel. The airship caught fire and exploded as it fell from the sky.

• The Gilvari Airship's crew bombed Sorens City while arguing about Mulan and planning their next move.
• Mulan crossed the rooftops toward the airship as residents fled and other people with mysterious powers noticed the attack.
• Mulan gathered magic around the Ring of Light and formed a Radiant Knight totem as he prepared to fire.
• Mulan used Dimension, Holy Gun Light Spear, and the projectile pierced and tore through the Gilvari Airship.
• The damaged airship caught fire, began falling, and exploded above Sorens City.

After destroying the Twilight Brigade’s airship, Mulan Jonester rallied Sorens’s police, Guard Corps, and mysterious-power users to rescue residents and confront the attackers. Survivors of the crash fled to the Square Corner Tower and began a brutal robbery.

• Mulan ordered Sorens’s police and Guard Corps to organize rescue efforts and called on people with mysterious powers to help stop the terrorists.
• The damaged Gilvari Airship crashed into houses, killing several Twilight Brigade members and injuring others.
• The surviving Twilight Brigade members escaped the wreckage and raced toward the Square Corner Tower.
• The Brigade’s tall member smashed through the tower’s outer wall while a short member maimed guards and attacked staff.

The Twilight Brigade raided Square Corner Tower to steal an item from its vault, but its magical defenses resisted their attacks. As the Brigade tried to break through, the crimson fighter battled the auction guests outside, who hoped to stall the robbers until Dierjia's powerful fighter arrived.

• The Twilight Brigade stormed Square Corner Tower and killed the guards outside its underground vault.
• The tall fighter's punches failed to open the vault, and the Brigade discovered that it was a sealed metal block protected by a magical formation.
• The Brigade began attacking the vault with brute force while the tall fighter recovered outside the tower.
• A gentleman with an umbrella confronted the tall fighter, but the crimson fighter injured him and sent him flying.
• The gentleman called on nearby auction guests to help delay the robbers, and they attacked the charging crimson fighter.

Senmi battled a growing crowd of supernatural fighters above the Square Corner Tower while the Twilight Brigade worked to open the vault below. The Brigade prepared to face Dierjia's Radiant Knight as their scruffy member began dismantling the Ritual Array.

• Senmi defeated two attackers in their first exchange, but both survived and urged the surrounding fighters to attack him together.
• Senmi pulled a dagger from his arm, dismissed the poison, and challenged the gathering opponents to fight him.
• The Twilight Brigade realized Senmi would not return soon and decided to open the vault without him.
• The scruffy member placed metal cylinders on the Ritual Array's nodes and connected them with magic power to decipher the array.
• The Brigade agreed to stall or kill Dierjia's wounded Radiant Knight while the scruffy member worked on the vault.

Mulan led the Sorens Guard Corps to the Square Corner Tower and used a display of radiant power to intimidate the Twilight Brigade. Instead, the Brigade recognized him as a wounded, high-tier Radiant Knight and charged out to fight him while their vault expert continued working.

• Mulan and Chris discussed letting the fighting around the Square Corner Tower weaken the Twilight Brigade as they approached with the Guard Corps.
• Mulan took command of the soldiers, positioned them around the streets, and ordered them to fire on the crimson giant and anyone emerging from the tower.
• The Guard Corps fired volleys at the crimson giant, driving him into a nearby house and revealing that he feared the bullets.
• Mulan invoked radiant power, unfurled radiant wings, and revealed a totem that the Twilight Brigade identified as belonging to a fourth-tier-or-higher Radiant Knight.
• The Twilight Brigade's leader ordered the vault expert to continue opening the vault and led the others out to attack Mulan.

Mulan empowered the Sorens Guard Corps with Radiant Inspiration and Exaltation, then faced a coordinated assault by the Twilight Brigade, whose members targeted him. Amid the Guard Corps’ gunfire, Mulan killed the purple attacker with a surprise sword-and-gun strike, and the remaining Brigade members cried out in rage.

• Mulan used Radiant Inspiration and Exaltation to bolster the four hundred Sorens Guard Corps soldiers.
• The Twilight Brigade launched a coordinated attack, focusing on Mulan and forcing him to flee across the rooftops.
• Mulan shot several attackers while the Sorens Guard Corps and its heavy machine guns opened fire on the pursuers.
• Mulan used the sunlight and his radiance to appear beside the wounded purple man.
• Mulan slashed at the purple man, pinned him with Ring of Light, and shot him in the head.
• The Twilight Brigade members screamed and roared after the purple man was killed.

Mulan fought to escape the Twilight Brigade while the Sorens Guard Corps suffered heavy losses. With Matt and Avenger's help, he brought dark clouds over Sorens City, and as the battlefield plunged into darkness, a concealed shadow began taking shape.

• Mulan kicked the purple man's corpse into the crimson man, then evaded the Twilight Brigade as they attacked the Sorens Guard Corps and pursued him.
• Chris used her whip to pin down two enemies, but Mulan's pursuers continued killing the Guard Corps soldiers while he searched for a way to escape.
• Mulan drew the Twilight Brigade after him and told Matt to create dark weather while Avenger carried Matt and Farolynch away.
• Matt prepared a dusky gray mixture, and Avenger hurled it into a cloud, which darkened and spread across the sky.
• A swordsman and the crimson man cornered Mulan, broke his right arm, and nearly overwhelmed him before the sudden darkness distracted the battlefield.
• As the clouds covered Sorens City, a concealed shadow detached from Mulan and began taking shape on a nearby rooftop.