Chapter Summaries

Sun Fei summoned Duriel inside the Sigh of Divine Grace array, hoping the clash between the demon’s dark energy and the array’s holy power would create a way out. Meanwhile, Lloris resolved to save Sun Fei, and Juninho sent a strand of sword qi toward Gerland City to act in his place.

• Sun Fei summoned Duriel and used the demon’s resistance to the Light Holy Power to provoke a violent explosion inside the array.
• Sun Fei searched for an opening in the trembling space, but Duriel was nearly destroyed and the shock waves were fading before one appeared.
• Lloris told Juninho he intended to save Sun Fei as a friend, despite the danger to the Lyon Empire.
• Juninho praised Lloris’s resolve and said he would act in his place.
• Juninho sent a strand of silver sword qi toward the brightest flames in the Gerland City parish.

Sun Fei escaped the First Church’s divine array and pursued the Golden Skeleton, but the monster fled. Emperor Juninho ordered Lyon’s forces to withdraw from the Church while warning Lloris that greater chaos was coming; Sun Fei then abandoned the chase and hurried back to Zenit.

• Juninho Dadi used a hidden strand of sword energy to disrupt the array, allowing Sun Fei to escape from the First Church.
• Sun Fei battered the Golden Skeleton’s possessed body, but the monster abandoned John’s body and fled.
• Sun Fei chased the Golden Skeleton for hours but lost its trail after it escaped through space.
• Emperor Juninho told Lloris to stay hidden and ordered Lyon’s forces to end their confrontation with the Holy Church.
• Sun Fei gave up searching for the Golden Skeleton and rushed toward Zenit, fearing D'Alessandro and the Moon Class masters had already arrived.

As rumors that King of Chambord Alexander had released an evil Sea Clan god spread, neighboring empires sent envoys to pressure Zenit into punishing him and the Chambordians. On the eighteenth day of the crisis, eight more delegations arrived in Saint Petersburg, where their guards openly looked down on the hostile commoners.

• Fourth Prince Christo lost support after his defeat, while Second Prince Dominguez took control of the southern frontier war zone and held the enemy forces at a stalemate.
• Rumors accused Alexander of betraying humanity, prompting neighboring empires to demand punishment and dividing Zenit's nobles, while the capital's commoners continued to defend him.
• Eight delegations from neighboring empires arrived at Saint Petersburg, bringing the number of empires that had sent pressure on Zenit to at least twenty.
• Anzhi knights mocked the Zenit commoners as the envoys' convoy advanced toward the imperial palace.

Anzhi envoys provoked Zenit’s people as they arrived in the capital, while foreign representatives attended the Senate meeting and bargained with its nobles. The Senate decided to strip Sun Fei of his Empire-Protecting Martial Saint title, and a conspiracy against the people of Chambord began to take shape.

• An Anzhi knight threatened a fruit seller, but Andrew Johnson of the Iron-Blooded Camp stopped him and identified himself to the young envoy Moro.
• The fruit seller and the crowd praised Sun Fei and condemned the Anzhi envoys as their procession continued to the imperial palace.
• Envoys from twenty-two countries attended the Council of Elders meeting, although foreign representatives had no right to be there.
• After a day of political maneuvering, the Senate decided to strip the King of Chambord of his Empire-Protecting Martial Saint position, and powerful figures in the Military Department moved against the Chambord contingent at the southern frontier.
• The imperial family did not challenge the Senate’s decision, and several warriors left the Anzhi embassy at night, radiating killing intent.

Uncle Sam, a poor fruit seller in Saint Petersburg, met two friendly strangers who praised his defiance of an Anzhi envoy and bought his remaining fruit. When the envoy returned with armed men to take revenge, the two strangers laughed at him, leaving their response to the threat unresolved.

• Uncle Sam told the two burly strangers that his son had fought beside the Martial Saint and died defending Saint Petersburg.
• The black-haired and white-haired men praised Uncle Sam and bought all the fruit in his basket.
• The Anzhi knight surrounded Uncle Sam with hostile men and threatened to make him disappear in revenge for their earlier confrontation.
• Uncle Sam shouted for help and tried to signal the two strangers to flee, but they kept eating fruit.
• The black-haired man snickered at the Anzhi knight, who dismissed both strangers as harmless fools.

Drogba and Pierce rescued Old Sam from Anzhi warriors and learned that the Big Family had helped the foreign envoy target him. After sending Old Sam home, the two Chambord warriors went to a small building in Saint Petersburg’s commercial district.

• Drogba and Pierce mocked the Anzhi knight and defeated his warriors with a flurry of slaps.
• Pierce seized the Anzhi envoy and demanded to know which Zenit noble had helped him find Old Sam.
• The Anzhi knight confessed that the Big Family had colluded with him, and Drogba suggested confronting the family, but Pierce chose to wait for His Majesty’s return.
• Drogba and Pierce introduced themselves to Old Sam as Chambord warriors, and Old Sam recognized them as the Black-Haired Berserk Fist and the White-Haired Swift Sword.
• Drogba and Pierce gave Old Sam ten gold coins and then went to a small building in Saint Petersburg’s commercial district.

Sun Fei secretly returned to Saint Petersburg and learned about the Anzhi Empire's threats and the approaching party from Martial Saint Mountain. After D'Alessandro's group split up, Sun Fei sent Drogba and Pierce to trouble the Anzhi envoys while the threat to Chambord City and the imperial capital drew closer.

• Drogba and Pierce met Modrić in a hidden chamber in Saint Petersburg and waited for Sun Fei to arrive through a teleportation portal.
• Sun Fei returned secretly to the imperial capital after traveling through more than twenty teleportation arrays, then heard Modrić's report on the city's political situation.
• Modrić explained that the young Anzhi Emperor Suleiman Kerimov had made Sun Fei his target, and Sun Fei scolded Drogba and Pierce for not doing more against the Anzhi envoys.
• Drogba and Pierce left to cause trouble for the Anzhi envoys after Sun Fei told them not to kill anyone.
• A hummingbird delivered news that D'Alessandro and his companions had entered Zenit and threatened to massacre the imperial family unless it decided by sunrise the day after tomorrow.
• Modrić reported that Albelda was leading twenty-five people toward Chambord City while D'Alessandro continued toward Saint Petersburg with twenty others.

Sun Fei ordered Chambord’s forces to intercept Albelda’s group while keeping watch on D'Alessandro, whose strength he knew he could not yet match. He trained in the Diablo World, reached level 72, and left Mephisto’s Soulstone intact; meanwhile, Albelda’s masters approached Chambord City.

• Sun Fei ordered Lords Brook and Best to attack Albelda’s group and told scouts to monitor D'Alessandro without drawing his attention.
• Sun Fei considered using the coming invasion to test Zenit’s loyalties and see Emperor Yassin’s strength, then entered the Diablo World to train.
• Sun Fei killed the demon guarding the Hellforge hammer, returned to level 70, and chose not to destroy Mephisto’s Soulstone.
• Sun Fei cleared four seals in the Chaos Sanctuary and reached level 72 before leaving the Diablo World.
• At dawn, Albelda led twenty-three masters toward Chambord City.

As Albelda’s fighters traveled toward Chambord, they mocked the kingdom and plotted to seize its royal family and enslave Alexander’s consorts. A mysterious youth killed Zeman, then revealed himself with three powerful companions to confront the group.

• Silver-Haired Venerable warned Albelda’s fighters that Chambord had defeated powerful attackers, but Oliveira and O'Henry dismissed the warnings.
• Zeman urged the group to kill Chambord’s experts and capture Alexander’s consorts, and Albelda approved the idea of enslaving them.
• An unseen attacker declared that Zeman had insulted his master and instantly crushed Zeman’s head.
• Albelda blocked the attacker’s remaining force and used his power to reveal four figures in the void.
• Albelda demanded to know who the youth and his three companions were and why they had attacked.

Deisler, the Virgo Gold Saint, attacked the Moon Class experts threatening Chambord City, killing two and badly wounding another before revealing his allegiance. He held off Albelda's assault with Spiritual Power barriers, but the Great Sun-Rank Venerable's cyan vines broke through and nearly reached his forehead.

• Deisler killed Zeman and O'Henry with Spiritual Power and gravely wounded Oliveira.
• Albelda identified Deisler's ability as Spiritual Power, and Deisler introduced himself as the Virgo Gold Saint under the King of Chambord.
• The Moon Class experts realized Deisler was from Chambord and began to fear the consequences of their expedition.
• Albelda dismissed Spiritual Power as an unorthodox trick and attacked Deisler with streams of cyan light.
• Deisler raised successive Spiritual Power barriers, but Albelda's vines shattered them and nearly struck Deisler's forehead.

A red-haired archer revealed herself as a Great Sun-Rank Venerable and battled Albelda with powerful ice and fire arrows while an assassin attacked the Moon Class experts. The assassin, Inzaghi, killed a bearded expert, leaving the remaining enemies under attack from both sides.

• A blue arrow from the red-haired woman froze Albelda’s vines, pierced his arm, and revealed that she wielded the power of a Great Sun-Rank Venerable.
• The woman fired a fire arrow at Albelda, and the sudden shift from cold to heat worsened Oliveira’s injuries and sent him falling.
• Albelda regrew his arm with Wood-Element Dou Qi and used Blink to evade the woman’s arrows as their battle continued.
• The black-haired young man vanished with an assassin’s technique, and the Silver Moon Venerable warned that he might be one of the Four Thorns.
• Inzaghi struck down a bearded Moon Class expert by cutting his throat and then destroying his heart.

Philip Inzaghi, Deisler, and Garcia fought the Moon Class masters who had invaded Chambordian territory, while two Great Sun-Rank Venerables battled overhead. The invaders were overwhelmed, and the Chambordian masters continued their assault as they hurried to obey Brook’s order to reach the imperial capital.

• Philip Inzaghi used his Concealment skill to evade the Moon Class masters’ spells and attacks, then reappeared and killed the man who had urged the others to attack.
• Inzaghi resumed attacking the panicked invaders, while the two Great Sun-Rank Venerables continued fighting high above.
• Deisler used a Spiritual Power technique to immobilize several Moon Class masters, allowing Inzaghi to kill them.
• Garcia summoned his Wings of Divine Grace and sent holy light swords raining down on the remaining Moon Class masters, turning the fight decisively in Chambord’s favor.

Garcia, Deisler, and Inzaghi defeated the attacking Moon Class masters, while Elena captured Albelda and ordered them to take him to Sun Fei in the imperial capital. In Saint Petersburg, Andrew Shemak pushed the Military Department to condemn Alexander and submit to D'Alessandro.

• Garcia, Deisler, and Inzaghi routed the Moon Class masters and let the survivors flee to spread word of Chambord City's strength.
• Elena defeated Albelda and delivered the nearly dead prisoner to Garcia, explaining that Lord Brook had ordered her to return to defend the royal city.
• Elena told the three men that Sun Fei had returned to the imperial capital, and they eagerly prepared to meet him.
• Military Department leaders debated whether to support Alexander or yield to D'Alessandro, with less than half a day remaining before D'Alessandro's deadline.
• Andrew Shemak claimed the military could unite behind convicting the King of Chambord and continued advocating submission to D'Alessandro.

At a Military Department meeting, young officers defended Sun Fei against demands to hand him over, while Diarra urged First Prince Arshavin to punish them and surrender the King of Chambord. Arshavin instead condemned the surrender faction, ordered Andrew Shemak and Diarra executed for treason, and revealed that his Iron-Blooded Camp had surrounded the hall.

• Gary Cahill and other young officers protested Andrew Shemak’s proposal and declared their support for Sun Fei.
• Diarra accused the young officers of colluding with Sun Fei and urged Arshavin to imprison them and hand Sun Fei over to D’Alessandro.
• Arshavin rebuked Diarra, declared that Zenit would fight, and insisted that the empire alone would decide Sun Fei’s fate.
• Arshavin ordered Andrew Shemak and Diarra taken away and executed for treason.
• Soldiers from Arshavin’s Iron-Blooded Camp entered the surrounded council hall as the two nobles begged for their lives.

Arshavin seized control of the Military Department and executed nobles accused of conspiring with Anzhi. At the Eldest Princess’s residence, Natasha learned the operation was ready and ordered Paris to act, trusting that a mysterious person would help her.

• Arshavin’s Iron-Blooded Camp soldiers killed Andrew Shemak and Diarra, then blocked the council hall’s exits.
• Military Department clerks read letters implicating capital nobles in collusion with Anzhi, and Arshavin’s soldiers executed more than twenty accused nobles.
• Natasha waited in her residence while Ziyan reported that Arshavin controlled the Military Department.
• Natasha told Ziyan to send word to Paris, saying that a mysterious person would help Paris carry out their plan.

Paris and Granero led nearly ten thousand soldiers through Saint Petersburg in a coordinated purge of the empire’s nobles. As the Night of Bloodshed began, the forces of Arshavin and Dominguez attacked the Imperial Council of Elders and other noble strongholds.

• Paris ordered the Public Security Office forces to set out according to plan, and Granero joined her with a mysterious black-cloaked figure following behind.
• Nearly ten thousand elite soldiers split into groups and moved toward different parts of Saint Petersburg.
• The Night of Bloodshed began as Arshavin and Dominguez joined forces to purge noble factions whose loyalty to the empire was divided.
• The Iron-Blooded Camp and Public Security Office soldiers surrounded the Imperial Council of Elders and its members’ residences.
• The soldiers stormed the council hall, and panic-stricken nobles fell beneath their blades.

The Council of Elders’ chairman ordered a Moon Class guardian to rally two legions and plunge Saint Petersburg into chaos as the Iron-Blooded Camp and Imperial Capital Public Security Office besieged the council’s fortress. A guardian escaped from the fortress, leaving the defenders’ treasonous plan in motion.

• The Iron-Blooded Camp and Imperial Capital Public Security Office attacked the Council of Elders’ fortress, and a crossbow bolt killed a nobleman who challenged them.
• The Council of Elders’ chairman reassured the panicking nobles that their three Moon Class guardians could get them out.
• The chairman ordered a guardian to tell two legions that the eldest prince had launched a coup and to let them burn, kill, and loot in Saint Petersburg.
• The chairman revealed he had contacted D'Alessandro and intended to make the council his agents before his arrival.
• A streak of light escaped the fortress, and the Iron-Blooded Camp soldiers shouted that a Moon Class powerhouse was getting away.

Chris Sutton and Luffy arrived to support the imperial forces attacking the Council of Elders’ fortress, and Sutton killed the Senate’s Moon Class master. Luffy smashed the fortress gates and walls with his elastic, iron-hard fists, leaving the onlookers stunned.

• The Council of Elders’ Moon Class master broke through the soldiers’ attacks while the president threatened to destroy Saint Petersburg.
• Chris Sutton killed the Moon Class master with a flash of golden sword light, and Luffy denounced the president for insulting his master.
• Luffy and Sutton’s arrival rallied the imperial troops, who surged against the fortress.
• Luffy leaped from the sky, survived the fall, and shattered the iron gates with his stretching fists.
• Luffy repeatedly extended and retracted his arms to demolish the fortress walls, astonishing the soldiers and Chris Sutton.

Luffy used the ancient Rubber Fist technique to help the attacking soldiers breach the Council of Elders’ fortress and pursued its president. When the Moon Class masters Montoya and Stoch appeared, Chris Sutton intervened to protect Luffy from Montoya’s attack.

• Luffy’s Rubber Fist shattered the fortress wall, and the attacking soldiers overwhelmed the Council of Elders’ guards, who surrendered.
• Luffy chased the Council of Elders’ president, smashing through guards and shields as the president fled and called for Montoya and Stoch.
• Montoya and Stoch unleashed powerful auras that swept the attacking soldiers away and left Luffy struggling to hold his ground.
• Montoya fired a streak of blue energy at Luffy, and Chris Sutton shattered it with golden sword energy.

Sutton defeated the Council of Elders’ Moon Class masters as the purge of Saint Petersburg’s corrupt nobles concluded. The purge succeeded, but Zenit still faced the imminent arrival of D'Alessandro, and Paris departed to prepare for the coming battle.

• Sutton used his golden lance to suppress Montoya and Stoch while Luffy helped rout the Council of Elders’ guards and killed its president.
• Sutton pierced Montoya’s throat and then stabbed Stoch, who detonated himself rather than accept defeat.
• Sutton left with Luffy as the Council of Elders was destroyed and the soldiers began clearing the battlefield.
• Paris watched the purge’s conclusion and noted that D'Alessandro would arrive at sunrise, threatening the Zenit Empire.
• Paris and the mysterious cloaked figure disappeared to prepare for what came next.