Chapter Summaries

Stelle and March 7th met the masked sponsor Giovanni at the Interastral Tournament Festival venue on Jarilo-VI and learned about the restored weapons testing ground. Meanwhile, Ye Yan and Silver Wolf discussed the Church’s crisis and Giovanni before Ye Yan prepared to alter their Aetherium Wars game with Eternity Copying.

• Stelle and March 7th confronted Giovanni, who introduced himself as the festival’s sponsor and asked to be their friend.
• Giovanni explained that the festival venue had once been Belobog’s weapons testing ground and that the IPC and the Tournament Association had converted it into an arena.
• At the Goethe Hotel, Ye Yan read Church reports saying Screwllum was missing and feared dead, while other Church leaders were missing or incapacitated.
• Silver Wolf suspected Giovanni might be plotting something and wondered whether he was connected to the Church and Eternity.
• Ye Yan agreed to play Aetherium Wars with Silver Wolf and launched Eternity Copying to modify the game.

Stelle defeated Giovanni in the Aetherium Wars tournament by using the Eternity necklace to absorb his Aether Spirits, then advanced to the final against Ye Yan. After Stelle unleashed her Aether Spirit army, Ye Yan revealed that his level-one Blaze Out of Space had infinite stats and wiped out half her team.

• Stelle used the Eternity necklace to absorb Giovanni's Aether Spirits and won their match.
• The tournament announced that Stelle would face former champion Topaz, but Stelle wondered where Topaz was.
• Stelle and March 7th discovered that Ye Yan was Stelle's opponent in the final, while Silver Wolf watched by holographic projection and warned that Ye Yan was nearly unbeatable.
• Stelle challenged Ye Yan to overcome her past defeats and summoned an army of Aether Spirits.
• Ye Yan sent out a level-one Blaze Out of Space with infinite HP, attack, and speed, which immediately eliminated half of Stelle's Aether Spirits.

After Ye Yan's victory at the Interastral Tournament Festival, Sampo and Giovanni discussed a troublesome Masked Fool bound for Penacony. At the Ever-Flame Mansion, Afrit rejected Acheron's offer to escape and chose to fight Acheron and Fulisina, who unleashed the power of Eternity to end its burning dream.

• Ye Yan won the tournament, and his awards went to Stelle and March 7th because he was aboard the Astral Express.
• Sampo and Giovanni discussed the final mystery player, Sampo's dislike of reckless fellow Masked Fools, and a colleague preparing to go to Penacony.
• Blake arrived at the Tavern at the end of the universe and hurled scripture-covered soap at it while calling for its purification.
• Acheron offered Afrit a chance to leave the music box and survive, but Afrit refused and declared that it would bring purgatory to the Planet of Festivities.
• Fulisina confronted Afrit as an Emanator and, after Acheron drew its attention, used the power of Eternity to freeze the flow of Imaginary Energy and engulf Afrit in light.

After Afrit was sealed in the Coffin of Eternity, Ye Yan served Huohuo at his milk tea shop on the Xianzhou Luofu. Meanwhile, Stelle met Guinaifen to investigate a supernatural incident at Fyxestroll Garden, and Guinaifen began showing her footage from the previous day’s livestream.

• Fulisina sealed Afrit’s final flame inside a crystal Coffin of Eternity, while Acheron watched without drawing her sword.
• Several days later, Huohuo visited Ye Yan’s milk tea shop after Qingque, Bailu, and Hanya had told her about it.
• Ye Yan gave Huohuo a cup of milk tea and reassured her about his supposed therapy for banishing evil.
• Guinaifen asked Stelle to investigate supernatural incidents with her, and Stelle met her in Aurum Alley.
• Guinaifen began showing Stelle footage of a strange event from her livestream at Fyxestroll Garden.

Guinaifen explained why she suspected the Ten-Lords Commission was investigating Fyxestroll Garden and invited Stelle to explore it with her. After Stelle recruited Ye Yan, Guinaifen revealed how her past and her livestream sponsorship connected her to the Church of Eternity.

• Guinaifen told Stelle that Ten-Lords Commission judges had appeared in Fyxestroll Garden and seemed to be preparing something there.
• Stelle brought Ye Yan along as a supposed ghost-catching expert, and Guinaifen greeted him as a longtime supporter of her livestream.
• Guinaifen recalled how the Church of Eternity arrived after the Antimatter Legion invaded her home planet and how a prayer priestess fought the invaders and helped rebuild afterward.
• Guinevere left her homeland to become a street performer, later bringing her acrobatic acts to the Xianzhou as Guinaifen.
• Guinaifen explained that Ye Yan sponsored her livestream and promoted the Church of Eternity by performing an advertisement for its tour and specialty soap.

Guinaifen led Stelle and Ye Yan into the restricted Fyxestroll Garden to investigate rumors of ghosts, where Ten-Lords Commission judges Hanya and Huohuo caught them. Huohuo explained that the supposed ghosts were dangerous Heliobi, while Tail hid in fear of Ye Yan, and the group was left facing the danger of the escaped parasites.

• Guinaifen recounted Fyxestroll Garden's history and ghost stories as she guided Stelle and Ye Yan into the garden.
• Hanya and Huohuo intercepted the group and told them the area was off-limits, while Hanya questioned Guinaifen about returning.
• Huohuo explained that the strange creatures were Heliobi rather than ghosts, but Guinaifen dismissed the distinction.
• Huohuo tried to summon Tail, who stayed hidden and warned her that Ye Yan and another person were frightening.
• The judges explained that escaped Heliobi were roaming the garden, leaving Stelle and Guinaifen more alarmed than they had been by the ghost rumors.

Hanya explained that escaped Heliobi were causing the danger in Fyxestroll Garden and urged Stelle and Guinaifen to leave, while Huohuo reassured them that Tail was subdued. Guinaifen offered to help investigate other supernatural incidents, but Hanya refused, and an unnoticed high-frequency signal sounded in a dark corner.

• Tail revealed himself to Guinaifen and Stelle, while Ye Yan stayed hidden and Huohuo assured them that Tail would not hurt anyone.
• Hanya explained that the Ten-Lords Commission was capturing Heliobi that had escaped after the Matrix of Creation was damaged, and warned the visitors to leave Fyxestroll Garden.
• Hanya described how Heliobi parasitized people by exploiting their thoughts and emotions, and said the Commission planned to imprison them in a Shape-Binding Evil-Warding Array.
• Hanya considered reciting a hymn to Eternity, as a faint high-frequency signal swept through a dark corner she had not noticed.
• Guinaifen offered to help investigate other supernatural incidents, but Hanya declined, while Stelle compared the Heliobi to pests behind urban legends.

Stelle and Huohuo searched Fox-Talking Grove for Guinaifen after she and Ye Yan vanished, while Ye Yan returned to his milk tea shop and found Fulisina there. Stelle was left alone in a creepy courtyard, where her reflection attacked her before a scarlet-armored stranger intervened.

• Guinaifen joked with Stelle about filming Tail, then startled Huohuo with a fake ghost cry and disappeared along with Ye Yan.
• Stelle took Huohuo into Fox-Talking Grove to look for Guinaifen, but the two became separated.
• Ye Yan returned to his milk tea shop and caught Fulisina sneaking a drink; Fulisina claimed she had heard a call invoking Eternity.
• Stelle found herself alone in Fyxestroll Garden and examined a mirror, only to realize her reflection had none of her weapons.
• Stelle dodged an attack from her reflection, and a scarlet-armored man rushed in and told her not to move.

Stelle encountered the Heliobus Cirrus in a mirror maze and was possessed after it recognized traces of her battle with Phantylia. Cirrus negotiated a partnership to escape Crestflame’s maze, but Ye Yan’s defenses inside Stelle kept attacking it.

• Botenis introduced himself as the knight commander of the Church of Eternity and explained that Fulisina had brought him to help.
• Cirrus possessed Stelle, then panicked when a cup of milk tea inside her attacked it.
• After the voice fell silent, Stelle teased Botenis for skipping work, and he insisted the Church strictly followed Chair Blake’s rules.
• Cirrus explained that Crestflame had created the maze and proposed helping Stelle escape in exchange for her help evading the Ten-Lords Commission’s judges.
• Stelle agreed to a partnership, but the milk tea and other defenses inside her continued attacking Cirrus.

Stelle, Botenis, Huohuo, and Tail remained trapped in Cirrus’s illusion, where Cirrus taunted them and recounted Fyxestroll Garden’s history. Botenis tried to recruit Huohuo to the Church of Eternity, but the group’s situation remained unresolved as Cirrus complained that the beating was worsening.

• Stelle and Botenis found Huohuo and Tail in the illusion, and Cirrus used Stelle’s voice to mock Huohuo until she cried.
• Huohuo described her fears, her difficult life with Tail, and her wish to resign from the dangerous Ten-Lords Commission, while Stelle and Tail comforted her.
• Cirrus revealed that Fyxestroll Garden had once been the battlefield of Flint Emperor and a Luofu general, but Botenis interrupted her and asked Huohuo to work at the Church of Eternity.
• Botenis offered Huohuo a vacant shop and a flexible schedule, then admitted that the Church paid no wages, prompting Huohuo to reject the offer inwardly.
• Cirrus cried out that the milk tea was beating her more aggressively, and the group remained inside the illusion.

Cirrus explained the Heliobi’s history and tried to persuade Tail to escape with it, while Huohuo recounted how she had accidentally taken Tail in as a child. Botenis warned Cirrus about Huohuo’s defenses, and as the milk tea and mask attacked Cirrus, Stelle came up with a bold idea.

• Huohuo asked whether General Teng Xiao and Flint Emperor had been evenly matched, and Cirrus said the Heliobus had been defeated and scattered into spirit fragments.
• Cirrus mocked Tail for being bound to Huohuo, and Huohuo told Stelle and Botenis how she had found Tail as a child and put it on her tail.
• Cirrus explained that Heliobi challenged humans because they had been changed by human emotions, then asked Tail to escape with it and return to the world beyond the sky.
• Huohuo refused to let Cirrus escape, and Botenis suggested that Huohuo’s milk tea and mask were protecting her from Cirrus.
• The milk tea and mask struck Cirrus as it tried to think, and Stelle glanced at her hourglass necklace and formed a bold idea.

Xueyi returned safely and explained that a powerful Heliobus had trapped Fyxestroll Garden in an illusion, leaving the spiritfarers missing. As the group urged Huohuo to trust her ability to resist possession, Stelle wondered whether another Church of Eternity member had come to the Luofu, while Fulisina sneezed beside Ye Yan.

• Xueyi reunited with the group, and Botenis introduced himself as the Church of Eternity's knight commander.
• Xueyi learned that a powerful Heliobus had drawn Fyxestroll Garden into an illusion and cut off contact with the spiritfarers.
• Huohuo doubted her ability to fight the Heliobus, but Xueyi and Tail reminded her that she could resist possession and had decades of experience as a judge.
• Botenis held Cirrus and asked whether being possessed could help him face a stronger Heliobus, while Cirrus and Tail argued about their abilities.
• Stelle silenced Cirrus before it could challenge Botenis's claim about Eternity and guessed that another senior Church member had returned to the Luofu.
• Fulisina sneezed while drinking milk tea beside Ye Yan, who wondered whether someone had intercepted the milk tea he sent to the Church.

In Fyxestroll Garden, Cirrus proposed making Crestflame collapse by exploiting his obsession with winning, so the Ten-Lords Commission could seal his weakened fragments. Stelle baited Crestflame into accepting a contest, and the group prepared to face his puppets and spiritfarers.

• Cirrus explained that heliobi could split apart when their unstable merged personalities were provoked, and Xueyi agreed to seek the Ten-Lords Commission's help sealing Crestflame's fragments.
• Cirrus asked for freedom in exchange for her plan, and Xueyi promised to petition the Ten Lords if the crisis was resolved, though she could not guarantee the outcome.
• Stelle challenged Crestflame to prove he was stronger, then claimed she was a powerful pawn; Crestflame accepted Cirrus's offer to let his spiritfarers fight Stelle.
• Cirrus mocked Xueyi and said the group would have to fight their colleagues under Crestflame's control, prompting Botenis to slap her.
• Huohuo asked Tail to lend his strength and said she wanted to help the group, and Tail encouraged her as they prepared for battle.

Stelle defeated Crestflame with the judges, then tried to negotiate with Cirrus, who had possessed a spiritfarer child and revealed that other heliobi had escaped across the Luofu. Cirrus demanded to face the Luofu’s current general, so Stelle summoned Ye Yan, and he arrived bewildered at the request to fight.

• Xueyi, Huohuo, Stelle, and the others overcame Crestflame, while Botenis used his gear and club to help turn the battle against Cirrus.
• Stelle cornered Cirrus, who had possessed a spiritfarer child, and tried to persuade it to leave the child and bargain with her.
• Cirrus revealed that other heliobi had escaped across the Luofu and agreed to negotiate if Stelle brought the current general to face it.
• Stelle called for help, expecting Fulisina, but Ye Yan arrived instead, prompting Cirrus to question how he had become general.
• Stelle explained the situation to Ye Yan, who asked whether she wanted him to fight Cirrus in Fyxestroll Garden.

Ye Yan captured the escaped heliobi in Fyxestroll Garden and turned Cirrus into a night-light before Stelle recounted the events aboard the Astral Express. As the crew prepared for a major cleanup, Ye Yan was missing, and Pom-Pom noticed the Express had veered slightly off course.

• Cirrus challenged Ye Yan to a fight, but Ye Yan revealed he had caught the escaped heliobi and planned to make Cirrus a night-light.
• Ye Yan gave Cirrus milk tea, and Cirrus recognized it as the cup that had beaten it while it possessed Stelle.
• Stelle told March 7th how Cirrus ended up as a warm-colored night-light, while Ye Yan sent the other heliobi to the Church of Eternity.
• Pom-Pom summoned the crew to prepare for the Astral Express's major cleanup and explained they were heading toward a Car Wash Planet.
• The crew gathered in the Parlor Car and realized Ye Yan was missing, possibly having left ahead of them.
• Pom-Pom noticed the Express's heading had deviated and asked Stelle to inspect the route in the control room.

Screwllum tried to contain a Church member’s mistaken belief that the flying mask was a servant of [Destruction], while Cleric Hughes charged at it with a sword. In the Parlor Car, Argenti introduced himself to March 7th and Stelle, spoke of Idrila and [Beauty], and challenged Stelle to a chivalrous contest.

• Screwllum told Cleric Hughes that the mask was a hallucination and asked him to keep others away from the sanctuary.
• Cleric Hughes refused to leave Screwllum alone and charged at the mask with an iron sword.
• Screwllum recalled finding a seemingly suitable planet for a second Church base and leaving a bar of soap there as a scouting gesture.
• Argenti appeared in the Parlor Car and praised March 7th, Stelle, and a potted plant before introducing himself as a member of the [Knight of Beauty Order].
• Argenti asked March 7th and Stelle whether they knew of or believed in Idrila, the goddess of [Beauty].
• After Stelle said she could acknowledge [Beauty], Argenti challenged her to a chivalrous contest so she would recognize Idrila’s unrivaled beauty.

Stelle and Argenti fought before agreeing to cooperate, while Argenti explained his search for discordant notes in the universe. The Express crew met Botenis, and Screwllum contacted Blake about a possible emerging Lord Ravager as Ye Yan relaxed in the Church of Eternity’s hot springs.

• Stelle changed her equipment and easily gained the advantage in her fight with Argenti before Welt interrupted them with news from Himeko.
• Argenti explained that he had rescued Botenis and had come to help resolve the crisis, then said he would search for discordant notes while enjoying the moment.
• Botenis excited Pom-Pom with his offer to clean the Astral Express, and March 7th warmed to him when he recalled his days as a floor scrubber.
• Screwllum teleported Cleric Hughes away from the crimson mask and called Blake to report a faint but powerful aura of Destruction on a planet.
• Blake and Fulisina discussed the possible threat while heading to the Planet of Festivities, as Ye Yan soaked in a hot spring and listened to a mask warn about Irontomb.

Ye Yan considered which Lord Ravager might destroy [Eternity] and headed back to the Astral Express with plans to bring a helper. A True Sting infiltrated the Express and frightened March 7th with a hallucination, leaving the crew worried that more bugs were aboard.

• Ye Yan speculated that Zephyro or the other Lord Ravagers might bring about [Eternity]'s end, then decided to return to the Astral Express and bring another helper.
• Pom-Pom heard a strange noise aboard the Express, and Himeko, March 7th, Stelle, and the others began investigating.
• March 7th found a dark double in her room, took a photo, and discovered that the figure was a True Sting, which she froze with her ice gun.
• Argenti recognized the True Sting, while Botenis explained that he had fought the Swarm and Dan Heng concluded that wing debris had caused March 7th's hallucination.
• Dan Heng warned that more True Stings might be hiding aboard the Express and that the crew needed to prevent them from reproducing.

As the Astral Express Crew searched for signs of the Swarm, Stelle tried to summon Ye Yan after discovering that Botenis could not help. Their search led to Argenti praising a Wubbaboo, while Botenis encountered a seemingly real True Sting in the storage room.

• The crew returned to the Parlor Car after encountering [Propagation], and Stelle found and destroyed suspicious eggs while inspecting the train.
• Stelle and March 7th tried to get Botenis to summon Ye Yan, but he said he could not focus after drinking and getting covered in True Sting wing dust.
• Pom-Pom sent a mobile train-cleaning machine through the train to search for eggs, and its camera showed Argenti with a True Sting in Dan Heng's room.
• Stelle rushed to Dan Heng's room and found Argenti earnestly praising a Wubbaboo as a beautiful life.
• In the storage room, Botenis stared at Fulisina and mistook the True Sting's form for something real.

Dan Heng, March 7th, Stelle, and Argenti realized the Astral Express had been swallowed by a Giant True Sting and discussed risking an engine overload to escape. As the crew prepared to face the danger together, Botenis charged at Fulisina in the Party Car’s storage room.

• Stelle destroyed the True Sting illusion, and Argenti relayed its warning about an unseen overlord.
• Dan Heng connected the warning to the Giant True Sting and suspected it had swallowed the Express.
• A rumble outside the car supported their theory, so the crew returned to the Parlor Car to discuss escape.
• The crew considered overloading the engine to break through the Giant True Sting’s stomach wall, while Himeko and Welt tried to calm everyone.
• Himeko reminded the crew that Trailblazing meant facing challenges and growing, and the crew resolved to face the crisis together.
• Botenis charged at Fulisina in the Party Car’s storage room, accusing her of impersonating an esteemed person.