Chapter Summaries

Lin En revealed to Ophiel that he was the Great Demon who had deceived her and imprisoned the Valkyrie, shattering her faith in him. Ophiel collapsed in despair, then attacked him in a desperate refusal to believe the truth.

• Ophiel confronted Lin En, mistaking him for an evil demon and demanding to know what he had done to her Divine Chosen.
• Lin En revealed that he was Ophiel's Divine Chosen and the Great Demon, and explained that he had imprisoned the Valkyrie and fabricated the invasion and inspection.
• Ophiel looked to the Valkyrie for reassurance, but the Valkyrie remained silent as Lin En described how he had deceived the Church.
• Lin En explained that he had survived Holy Flame by building resistance to it and showed the flames had no effect on his body.
• Ophiel's faith and resolve collapsed as she remembered trusting Lin En, but she rose and charged at him with a spear of Holy Flame.

Lin En revealed to Ophiel that he had saved and used her to strengthen his cover, then stopped her from killing herself and demanded her loyalty. He left her with the choice of helping him defend Clockwork City from the coming invasion or watching Shinsen Saya suffer.

• Ophiel attacked Lin En and demanded to know whether he had deceived her, and he admitted that he had used her and others for his plans.
• Lin En stopped Ophiel from ending her life and warned that Clockwork City would be devastated if she abandoned her people.
• Lin En explained that he had chosen to reveal the truth now rather than let Ophiel trust him more deeply before discovering his lies.
• When Shinsen Saya tried to intervene, Lin En restrained her and threatened to abuse her if Ophiel refused to cooperate.
• Lin En demanded that Ophiel pledge loyalty and return to help him establish a foothold in Clockwork City ahead of the Lord of Crimson's invasion.

Lin En coerced Ophiel into supporting him by threatening Clockwork City, then returned to the Lower Realm as he prepared for the Lord of Crimson's invasion. The next morning, Hana Ye's fever worsened as she described a dream of becoming the moon and fighting monsters, leaving Lin En unsure what was happening to her.

• Lin En demanded that Ophiel keep affirming his identity, answer his calls, and conceal their arrangement, threatening to leave Clockwork City unprotected if she refused.
• Ophiel rejected him and demanded to be killed, but Lin En invoked her duty to protect her people as the Lord of Crimson's invasion approached.
• Lin En returned to his Vessel and reflected that Ophiel would likely accept his terms, while considering her a potential trump card and wondering how the King of the Red Moon's Corpse would manifest.
• Hana Ye woke with a persistent high fever and told Lin En she had dreamed of becoming the moon, watching the sky collapse, and killing giants.
• Lin En found the mark between Hana Ye's brows growing brighter and suspected her fever came from turmoil in her soul as Red Moon Day approached.

Lin En began his escape plan, exploiting Jiu's departure from the Cathedral and help from loyal clergy to take Hana Ye out through the dungeon. He reached Nero at the rendezvous point, where a forged identity and an airship awaited, while the Crimson Eye and Liu Si watched his moves and prepared their own plan for nightfall.

• Lin En studied records of the Great Demon Invasion and, fearing that the coming Red Moon Event would force their hand, sent out prearranged messages to advance his plan.
• The Crimson Eye told Liu Si that Lin En was preparing to flee and that Jiu would leave the Cathedral at noon to confront a protest arranged by Mogans.
• After Jiu departed, Lin En used the distraction to leave his room with the sleeping Hana Ye, carrying her through the dungeon with help from loyal Tribunal Office clergy.
• Lin En met Nero outside the Cathedral, where Nero provided a forged identity and arranged an airship departure along guarded routes.

Lin En left Clockwork City aboard an airship with Hana Ye, while Nero explained the frontier and the border beyond the Human Race's territory. After noticing the airship was crowded with unfamiliar passengers, Lin En realized someone had arranged to target him.

• Lin En boarded an airship with the sleeping Hana Ye, escorted by Nero, who promised to help him reach a neighboring city-state.
• As the airship crossed the desert, Nero explained the Human Race's southern border, the Great Rift, and the Beacon Tower that would warn the Church of danger.
• Nero described how city-states connected the Human Race's territory, anchored by the Holy City and the Imperial Capital.
• Lin En and Nero noticed that the airship was unusually crowded with unfamiliar travelers, so Nero offered to question the captain.
• After Lin En returned to his room, the dining room fell silent, and he concluded that someone had gone to great lengths to deal with him.

Lin En’s airship was dragged into the Third Layer of the Spirit Realm, where the passengers had vanished and a girl with eyes like Crimson Sorrow waited in the dining hall. She revealed that she had patiently prepared to kill Lin En and brought out her finest Vessel.

• Lin En waited for an attack as the airship approached a dangerous Spirit Realm Overlay zone.
• The airship plunged through two layers and landed in the Third Layer of the Spirit Realm, leaving Nero unable to contact the other guards.
• Lin En and Nero searched the empty airship and found the dining hall’s windows shattered and its passengers sitting motionless.
• A girl resembling a young noblewoman addressed Lin En and said she had brought out her finest Vessel to kill him.

Lin En confronted the little girl, Crimson, aboard the airship to stop her from using Hana Ye as the vessel for her ascension. Nero suddenly betrayed Lin En and transformed into a vessel for another being, while Crimson revealed that she had secretly planted countless vessels throughout Clockwork City.

• Lin En recognized the little girl as his third encounter with her and explained that he had escaped because he expected her to come after Hana Ye.
• Crimson unleashed the mutated diners and red figures to attack Lin En, while Nero offered to cover his retreat.
• Nero stabbed Lin En from behind, then underwent a transformation as an entity descended through his body.
• The transformed Nero revealed himself as a vessel prepared by Crimson, and Lin En realized Nero had been her hidden pawn.
• Crimson explained that she had infiltrated Clockwork City for centuries, replacing residents with unaware vessels as part of her true Vessel Plan.

Lin En was overwhelmed by the Lord of Crimson and Asheris after poison weakened his vessel, and he fell into the blood mist with Hana Ye. When Asheris moved to strike, the Firstborn appeared and cut him in half with a single sword slash.

• The Lord of Crimson introduced Asheris, who attacked Lin En with a scythe and tore open his side.
• The Lord of Crimson revealed that she had poisoned Nero’s body with Blood Collapse, which made Lin En’s vessel decay as he used his power.
• Lin En unleashed his power to repel the demons, damaged the airship, and leaped into the blood mist with Hana Ye.
• The Lord of Crimson summoned Red Moonlight to burn Lin En while Asheris pursued him and formed bone spikes around his fall.
• Lin En called on the Firstborn, who appeared with a Flexible Sword and severed Asheris in a single slash.

Lin En and Firstborn revealed that they had worked together to lure the Lord of Crimson into a trap, while she tried to convince Firstborn that Lin En and Lin Yin were the same person. Firstborn rejected her claim, leaving the Lord of Crimson furious and their confrontation unresolved.

• Firstborn arrived to help Lin En, and Lin En explained that his powers came from the Lord of Crawling, whom he claimed was his master.
• Firstborn revealed that he had contacted Lin En after meeting the Lord of Crimson and had joined forces with him against her.
• The Lord of Crimson realized they had set her up and tried to tell Firstborn that Lin En and Lin Yin were the same person.
• Firstborn dismissed her claim as absurd, saying it would make him gay if Lin En and Lin Yin were one person.
• The Lord of Crimson angrily cited her memories of Lin En's admission and the fact that Lin En and Lin Yin had never appeared together, but Firstborn still called her shameless and absurd.

Firstborn attacked the Red Moon’s forces while Lin En returned to reality and searched for the place where the King of the Red Moon had died. Beneath the Gobi, he found an ancient buried city and confronted Liu Si of Yuzhi at the ruins.

• Firstborn shattered the Red Moon illusion and destroyed the airship, then pursued the little girl and Asheris while sending Lin En back to reality.
• Lin En returned to the Gobi outside Clockwork City and concluded that the King of the Red Moon had died in the vanished ancient city beneath it.
• Lin En used his tentacles to break through the desert sand and descend into a hidden underground cavern.
• Lin En explored the ancient ruins and found Liu Si of Yuzhi holding an ancient scabbard.
• Lin En asked Liu Si whether he had planned to meet there and open Red Moon's Tomb.

Lin En confronted Yuzhi Liu Si in the underground ruins, revealing that the Hana Ye he had brought was a disguise and refusing to reveal her location. As Yuzhi Liu Si attacked, Lin En used Jiu's Black Coffin to block his sword, making Yuzhi Liu Si realize Jiu could track him through it.

• Yuzhi Liu Si recognized that the Hana Ye on Lin En's back was fake, and Lin En revealed the disguise and absorbed the scarlet flesh into his body.
• Lin En refused to tell Yuzhi Liu Si where Hana Ye was and said he had to oppose her Ascension to survive.
• Yuzhi Liu Si declared that he would kill Lin En before nightfall, then attacked him with a swift sword strike.
• Lin En used Calamity Transformation to unleash tentacles, but Yuzhi Liu Si cut them apart and overwhelmed him with sword attacks.
• Lin En blocked Yuzhi Liu Si's powerful strike with Jiu's Black Coffin, and Yuzhi Liu Si realized Jiu could locate him through the weapon.

Lin En used the Spirit Coffin’s Holy Flame to reveal that Ophiel had survived and brought her back to confront Yuzhi Liu Si. Yuzhi Liu Si vowed to bring back the Red Moon, explaining that he could not let go of the woman he had lost.

• Yuzhi Liu Si launched his deadly sword strike at Lin En, but Lin En opened the Spirit Coffin and unleashed Holy Flame.
• Ophiel emerged from the flames and forced Yuzhi Liu Si back with her golden blade.
• Lin En told Yuzhi Liu Si that he had revived Ophiel and that she had acknowledged him as her master.
• Yuzhi Liu Si drew the Black Sword and vowed to bring the Red Moon back, even if it cost him his life.
• Ophiel asked Yuzhi Liu Si why he had abandoned his oath, and he said he still wanted to hear the lost woman’s answer for himself.

Yuzhi Liu Si revealed his self-created Sword God Sequence and battled Lin En and Ophiel, who struggled to contain his greater strength and skill. The fight broke through the underground cavern into the Gobi, where Lin En feared the battle would become a war of attrition.

• Yuzhi Liu Si challenged Ophiel and Lin En, revealing that his final Origin Substance and Sequence was the Sword God, which he had created through years of training and killing monsters.
• Yuzhi Liu Si drove Ophiel back and accused her of wasting her years on worldly affairs, shaking her resolve as she fought him.
• Lin En urged Ophiel to fight alongside him, transformed into a gigantic flesh monster, and warned that he might force her god to descend if they could not defeat Yuzhi Liu Si within thirty seconds.
• Yuzhi Liu Si overwhelmed Lin En's tentacles and Space Solidification, while Ophiel met his attacks with Holy Flame in a battle that threatened to collapse the cavern.
• The cavern collapsed, and Yuzhi Liu Si and Ophiel continued fighting above the Gobi as Lin En emerged into the Great Sun's light and realized they had to end the battle quickly.

Lin En and Ophiel severed Yuzhi Liu Si’s sword arm, but he awakened a seventh origin substance and became far stronger. As Lin En tried to summon Shinsen Saya, a hooded woman arrived and attacked them with a forest of blades.

• Lin En used [Time Stop] to slow Yuzhi Liu Si, giving Ophiel an opening to cut off his sword arm.
• Yuzhi Liu Si slashed through Lin En’s tentacles with an invisible sword and formed a seventh origin substance, reaching the third [Sword God] sequence.
• Lin En realized he and Ophiel could no longer defeat Yuzhi Liu Si and tried to use Ophiel as a beacon for Shinsen Saya.
• The Black Coffin burst from underground as a hooded woman carrying the Spirit Coffin arrived and covered the Gobi in blade-like vines.
• The hooded woman reached toward Yuzhi Liu Si and Lin En, then clenched her hand.

Lin En survived Jiu’s attack by returning to his true body and healing, while Jiu badly wounded Yuzhi Liu Si but failed to stop his escape. Jiu then turned on Lin En, and Ophiel rushed to shield him.

• Jiu’s blade forest struck Lin En and Yuzhi Liu Si, but Lin En escaped by severing his projection and returning to his true body above the Great Rift.
• Lin En descended into his badly damaged vessel, healed with Eight Flesh, and restored himself to Lin En’s form.
• Lin En found that Yuzhi Liu Si had escaped through a spatial rift after Jiu severely injured him.
• Jiu restrained Lin En with blade-like vines and approached with a bladed whip.
• Ophiel stood between Jiu and Lin En and pleaded, “Big sister, you can't kill him!”

Jiu reunited with Ophiel and questioned Lin En about his identity and the monster he had fought. Ophiel confirmed Lin En was the Divine Chosen, while Lin En revealed that his conflict with Jiu had been staged to draw out their enemies.

• Jiu embraced Ophiel and welcomed her back, and Ophiel apologized for worrying her.
• Jiu asked Lin En what the monster was, and he claimed it was an accomplice he had lured out with the others.
• Jiu pressed Ophiel to confirm whether Lin En was truly the Divine Chosen, and Ophiel affirmed that he had saved her and been appointed by Her Majesty the Valkyrie.
• Jiu released Lin En but questioned why he had acted without telling her, and Lin En explained that their apparent rift had helped lure their enemies out.
• Jiu asked about Firstborn, and Lin En said their earlier confrontation had been staged, adding that even Jiu could not have stopped Firstborn if he had truly tried to kill him.

Jiu lent Lin En her third origin substance so he could pursue the wounded Yuzhi Liu Si through the Spirit Realm. Yuzhi Liu Si reached a sealed structure in the Third Layer and raised a vast blood-patterned defense as he waited for the Lord of the Old Days to revive.

• Jiu restrained her rage long enough to explain that she had marked the wounded Yuzhi Liu Si and could track him into the Spirit Realm.
• Jiu embedded her third origin substance in Lin En’s left arm, granting him the power to wield Riftblade Flower, and told him to kill Yuzhi Liu Si.
• Lin En and Ophiel set off to pursue Yuzhi Liu Si while Jiu headed toward Clockwork City.
• Yuzhi Liu Si emerged in the Spirit Realm’s Third Layer badly wounded, with his seventh origin substance’s formation interrupted.
• Yuzhi Liu Si reached an intact building in the ruins, spoke of Hua Yin’s notes and the coming revival of the Lord of the Old Days, then raised walls and spread blood-colored patterns across the area.

Lin En and Ophiel fought through the ruins in the Third Layer of the Spirit Realm to reach Yuzhi Liu Si, who was guarding a sealed gate. Liu Si revealed that his wife was inside and vowed to kill them both rather than lose his chance to bring her back to life.

• Ophiel asked Lin En to spare Clockwork City's people after they defeated the Lord of Crimson, and Lin En promised he would.
• Lin En and Ophiel reached the ruined fortress, where Lin En suspected the Lord of Crimson had offered Liu Si hope of reviving Hua Yin.
• Lin En used Jiu's Riftblade Flower origin substance to tear through the fortress walls and monsters as he and Ophiel fought their way inside.
• Lin En and Ophiel found the wounded Yuzhi Liu Si beside a gate, with something pounding from within.
• Ophiel sensed a familiar presence behind the gate, and Liu Si said his wife was inside before declaring that he would kill them both to protect his final chance to revive her.

Lin En and Ophiel fought the gravely wounded Yuzhi Liu Si, who transformed into a Demon by absorbing the buried corpses beneath the battlefield. As a blood-red Magic Formation healed him and reversed their advantage, Lin En realized Yuzhi Liu Si had been buying time and urged Ophiel to hold him off.

• Ophiel recognized the chained door and demanded to know what Yuzhi Liu Si had done, but he attacked her before explaining.
• Lin En and Ophiel battled Yuzhi Liu Si, and Lin En unleashed his Outer God form to overwhelm him with Riftblade Flowers and tentacles.
• Near death, Yuzhi Liu Si seized the second origin substance in his heart and revealed that the Lord of Crimson had helped him prepare for their arrival.
• Yuzhi Liu Si activated Demonization, drawing flesh from buried corpses to transform into a Demon and rapidly heal his injuries.
• Lin En spotted a blood-red Magic Formation beneath the battlefield, realized Yuzhi Liu Si had been stalling for time, and told Ophiel to hold him off.

Lin En and Ophiel nearly defeated the demonized Yuzhi Liu Si, but the broken door released the girl he had longed for, who impaled him and began devouring him. Ophiel recognized her as someone from the past as she clung to Yuzhi Liu Si and whispered that she liked him.

• Lin En used Mind Detonation to attack Yuzhi Liu Si, enduring severe pain as Ophiel struck him with Holy Flame.
• Lin En repeatedly blasted Yuzhi Liu Si back into the flames while Ophiel burned the corpses underground to cut off his source of power.
• Ophiel knocked Yuzhi Liu Si into the great door, breaking its chains, then pleaded with him to stop fighting and return with her.
• Yuzhi Liu Si declared that he would not abandon the King of the Red Moon's revival and absorbed more power from the corpses.
• A crimson tentacle emerged from the broken door, pierced Yuzhi Liu Si's chest, and dragged him toward the voice of the girl he had longed for.
• The tentacled girl clung to Yuzhi Liu Si and bit his neck, while Ophiel recognized her face.