Chapter Summaries

Cocolia told Bronya that humanity’s wish to survive had led to the Eternal Freeze, while Ye Yan and the others arrived at Everwinter Hill and prepared to face the final confrontation. The group reaffirmed their resolve to help Belobog, though Fulisina continued trying to recruit Seele into the Church of Eternity.

• Cocolia explained to Bronya that the first Guardian had turned to the Stellaron, and that the Eternal Freeze began as a consequence of humanity’s wish.
• Cocolia suffered a headache while discussing Eternity, then urged Bronya to keep moving toward Everwinter Hill.
• Ye Yan, March 7th, Stelle, Dan Heng, Fulisina, and Seele arrived through the Gate of Myriad Paths and prayed to Eternity before the final steps.
• Fulisina tried to persuade Seele to join the Church of Eternity by suggesting Bronya could join with her, but Ye Yan stopped her from teasing out the plan.
• The group discussed the strange feeling that their journey was unreal, and March 7th and Dan Heng reminded Stelle that the Astral Express crew were travelers who sometimes had to help decide a world's fate.
• Seele, March 7th, and the others embraced the Trailblaze as helping those in need, making friends, and saving worlds, while Fulisina declared that Eternity transcended rules.

The group reached the Stellaron’s sealed location, where Seele and the others freed Bronya from its influence. Cocolia attacked Fulisina, and Ye Yan ordered Fulisina to take everyone out.

• Fulisina destroyed the frozen Voidranger remains as the group crossed Everwinter Hill.
• Cocolia tried to persuade Bronya to accept the Stellaron’s promise of a world without suffering.
• Stelle struck the Stellaron with her bat, clearing its influence from Bronya’s mind.
• Seele promised to take Bronya back and explained that she had come to save her.
• Cocolia attacked Fulisina, but Fulisina’s shield hurled her away.
• Ye Yan declared that Cocolia had attacked first and told Fulisina to take them out.

Bronya rejected Cocolia’s plan to remake Belobog with the Stellaron, and Fulisina moved to finish Cocolia. The attack left Cocolia unharmed and trapped Fulisina and Ye Yan outside a scarlet barrier, leaving Cocolia to wonder whether she had gained the advantage.

• Fulisina paused her attack so Cocolia could say goodbye to Bronya.
• Cocolia explained her bargain with the Stellaron and asked Bronya to join her in building a new world.
• Bronya thanked Cocolia for raising her but refused to stand with her, declaring that Belobog’s people should decide their own fate.
• Stelle struck the Stellaron with her bat as Bronya denounced Cocolia’s plan to act as judge and god.
• Cocolia rejected Bronya’s choice and claimed she would become a foundation of the new world.
• Fulisina attacked Cocolia, but Cocolia remained unharmed as a scarlet barrier cut Fulisina and Ye Yan off from her.

Cocolia’s attempt to summon the Engine of Creation failed after she joined the Stellaron, while Ye Yan and Fulisina remained trapped in a crimson barrier. Stelle then invoked Eternity in a joking command, and the Engine finally stirred.

• March 7th worried that Ye Yan and Fulisina had been locked away, while Dan Heng and the others prepared to fight Cocolia without them.
• Fulisina tried and failed to break the barrier, then repented over her insufficient understanding of Eternity.
• Ye Yan spoke with Aha, who explained that they had intervened because they were acting as Cocolia’s friend and denied being a sore loser.
• Cocolia commanded the Engine of Creation to rise, but it did not respond, leaving her confused.
• Stelle declared herself one bathed in Eternity and commanded the Engine to rise, causing a giant mechanical arm to burst through the snow.

Stelle and the others fought Cocolia after the Engine of Creation obeyed Stelle, while Ye Yan and Aha watched from afar. Ye Yan suppressed the Stellaron and promised Cocolia would fall within three moves, but the battle remained unresolved after Stelle’s second strike.

• Stelle commanded the Engine of Creation to attack Cocolia, then used its height to survey the battlefield.
• Cocolia survived, appeared behind the group, and kicked Stelle off the Engine of Creation, while a dark shield protected Stelle from an ice spear.
• Seele charged Cocolia, but Cocolia transformed into the Mother of Deception and summoned Fragmentum Monsters.
• Ye Yan erased the Fragmentum Monsters and their corruption, suppressing the Stellaron inside Cocolia as Fulisina announced that this was his first move.
• Stelle struck Cocolia with the Engine of Creation and cracked the mask on her arm, but Cocolia remained alive.
• Ye Yan and Aha discussed how Ye Yan had weakened the protective barrier, and Aha proposed using Belobog’s plight to pressure the IPC into helping the planet.

Stelle fought Cocolia while Ye Yan and Fulisina remained trapped by Aha’s barrier, and Fulisina suspected Sampo had arranged the intervention. Ye Yan contacted Himeko from the battlefield, but the call ended with Himeko spotting an ice lance piercing Stelle.

• Ye Yan and Aha traded jokes while watching the battle on Jarilo-VI.
• Stelle prepared her mimic weapon, rallied the others, and challenged Cocolia alone atop the Engine of Creation.
• Fulisina messaged Blake, blamed Sampo for the situation, and asked Ye Yan for power; Ye Yan gave her milk tea and said he and Aha had agreed not to interfere.
• Ye Yan tried to reach the Engine of Creation, but Aha’s crimson barrier stopped him, so he called Himeko instead.
• Ye Yan told Himeko and Welt that Blake had died, then revealed he was alive; Himeko noticed an ice lance piercing Stelle.

Stelle was impaled by Cocolia after the grinning mask dispelled Ye Yan’s blessing, but she met the Guardians’ will between the Paths and accepted the power of [Preservation]. As she drew the flaming lance and attracted Qlipoth and Aha’s gazes, a giant hourglass monster appeared behind them and threatened them with the wrath of [Eternity].

• Stelle overwhelmed Cocolia with copied weapons until Cocolia’s mask dispelled her [Eternity] blessing and Cocolia impaled her with an ice lance.
• Ye Yan broke through the shield wall and flew to rescue the falling Stelle while Fulisina disrupted Cocolia and announced a miracle over the live broadcast.
• Between the Paths, Stelle spoke with the Guardians’ will, who explained that Cocolia had abandoned [Preservation] under the despair of the expanding Fragmentum and the Stellaron’s whispers.
• Stelle put on the Guardians’ mask and tried to take the flaming lance, then chose to combine [Preservation] with [Eternity] and drew the lance.
• Stelle saw Qlipoth and Aha turn their gazes toward her, then a giant hourglass monster appeared behind them and declared that they would face the wrath of [Eternity].

Stelle survived Cocolia’s attack and learned that she had been marked by both Yite the Eternity and Qlipoth the Preservation. Fulisina defeated Cocolia and stopped the Stellaron’s self-destruction, declaring that Cocolia would face the Church’s judgment rather than an easy death.

• Stelle woke during her fall on Everwinter Hill and landed safely, while Cocolia could not understand how she had survived.
• Fulisina sensed that Yite and the Lord of Preservation had both marked Stelle, and she resolved to recruit her into the Church.
• Cocolia summoned a massive ice attack, but Fulisina destroyed it before Stelle could take the spotlight.
• Ye Yan returned after beating Aha with Qlipoth’s amber hammer as Cocolia prepared her final attack.
• Stelle punched Cocolia out of her transformed state, but the Stellaron began preparing to destroy them all.
• Fulisina shattered the shield around Bronya, batted away the Stellaron, and declared that Cocolia would face the Church’s judgment.

Bronya caught the unconscious Cocolia and thanked her, while Stelle’s hourglass absorbed the Stellaron and gave Jarilo-VI a chance to recover. Blake arrived after hearing March 7th’s prayer, and Fulisina declared Cocolia would be made to feel the agony of those who died because of her.

• Bronya caught Cocolia as she collapsed and thanked her for raising her, while Ye Yan noted that she had not died as she had in the original story.
• Stelle touched the Stellaron with her hourglass necklace, which absorbed it and began glowing with its light.
• Dan Heng explained that sealing the Stellaron would let the Eternal Freeze gradually recede, though Jarilo-VI’s recovery would depend on its people.
• Blake appeared and, after sensing Stelle’s many Paths and the hourglass’s connection to Eternity, invited her to join the Church of Eternity.
• Blake said he had come after hearing March 7th’s prayer, and Fulisina declared that Cocolia would experience the pain of those who died because of her.

After Cocolia left, Bronya struggled with whether to tell Belobog the truth, and Blake argued that the people deserved honesty. Blake then announced that the Church of Eternity would help Jarilo-VI, and its holy light began melting the planet’s ice and snow.

• Fulisina left with Cocolia, and Bronya thanked the others before worrying about how to explain the truth to Belobog.
• Seele urged Bronya to hide the truth to preserve the people’s hope, but Blake insisted that concealing the Supreme Guardian’s crimes would be wrong.
• Blake introduced the Church’s Book of Eternal Virtues, while Dan Heng recalled the Church’s first law about its strange behavior.
• Blake invoked the Church’s code and promised that it would help Jarilo-VI without asking anything in return.
• Blake summoned a beam of holy light from the heavens, and the ice and snow began melting wherever it fell.

Blake used his power with Fulisina to clear Jarilo-VI’s Fragmentum and change its climate, then promoted the Church of Eternity as Bronya prepared to lead Belobog into a new era. As the Astral Express crew watched Bronya’s speech, Ye Yan rested at the Goethe Hotel with Silver Wolf, who focused on Blake and vowed to remember a grudge.

• Blake transformed Jarilo-VI’s climate, cleared the Fragmentum with Fulisina, and proclaimed the end of Everwinter and the beginning of Eternity.
• Blake gave Bronya a paper promising Eternity’s protection and asked her to spread word of the Church of Eternity; he also handed out bars of soap.
• Bronya and Blake addressed the people beneath the Everwinter Inscription, and Bronya swore that Belobog would stand forever.
• March 7th, Dan Heng, and Stelle watched the ceremony, while Stelle learned that Ye Yan had gone back to the Goethe Hotel to rest.
• Silver Wolf watched Bronya’s speech remotely with Ye Yan, then glared at Blake and vowed to remember her grudge.

Silver Wolf discussed Blake’s actions on Jarilo-VI with Ye Yan, while the Astral Express crew prepared to leave after the crisis. As March 7th and Stelle stayed behind to explore Belobog, Ye Yan proposed that he and Dan Heng return to the Express by a more primitive method.

• Silver Wolf blamed Blake for her losing streak and learned from Ye Yan that his visit may have been connected to traces of the Antimatter Legion on Jarilo-VI.
• Ye Yan placed an invisible [Eternity] beacon in the room, and Silver Wolf revealed she expected the Interastral Peace Corporation to visit Jarilo-VI.
• Bronya thanked the crew, explained that Blake was handing out Church soap at the Everwinter Monument, and pledged Jarilo-VI’s support for the Astral Express.
• March 7th, Stelle, Dan Heng, and Ye Yan celebrated the end of the journey and rated Jarilo-VI before March 7th invited Stelle to shop.
• After March 7th and Stelle left, Ye Yan grabbed Dan Heng’s wrist and suggested they return to the Express by a more primitive method.

Sampo spoke with Sparkle about Jarilo-VI and received his returned mask, while Sparkle uncovered footage of Ye Yan assaulting Oswaldo Schneider and planned to send it to the Interastral Peace Corporation. The Astral Express crew completed its mission and prepared to choose their next destination, though Stelle and March 7th had not actually left Belobog when Bronya and Seele thought they had.

• Sampo told Sparkle that Jarilo-VI was safe, received his mask back with a note from [Eternity], and urged Sparkle to stay away from Belobog.
• Sparkle watched anonymous surveillance footage of Ye Yan incapacitating Oswaldo Schneider, leaving soap and a note, and kicking him; she decided to edit the video and send it to the Corporation's higher-ups.
• Seele and Bronya argued over rebuilding the Underworld until a streak of light made them think Stelle and March 7th had departed, but they spotted the pair heading to the [Neverending] Workshop.
• Ye Yan and Dan Heng returned to the Astral Express after Ye Yan launched Dan Heng into the sky, and Pom-Pom confirmed that the train was safe to depart.
• March 7th and Stelle returned to the train, and Himeko, Welt, and the crew celebrated the successful Trailblaze mission before agreeing to choose their next destination.

Himeko discussed Stelle’s questions about Jarilo-VI and revealed that three Aeons had cast their gazes upon her. In the Party Car, Ye Yan asked the robot Shut Up for milk tea and got a pun instead.

• Himeko invited Stelle to ask about the Supreme Guardian and the Stellaron, while March 7th and Dan Heng left to return to their rooms.
• Stelle asked Himeko about Ye Yan, then showed her the lance, hourglass necklace, and mask and explained that three Aeons had cast their gazes upon her.
• Himeko suggested that the Aeons’ attention had enabled Stelle to wield the lance and control the Engine of Creation, but she could not explain why it had an Eternity command.
• Stelle recounted Cocolia’s corruption by the Stellaron and showed Himeko the hourglass that had absorbed it.
• In the Party Car, Ye Yan asked Shut Up for milk tea, and Shut Up told a joke about milk tea shop owners being calm because they were “sick.”

Ye Yan designed a Six-Phased Ice weapon for March 7th, introducing it as an improved ice gun. Meanwhile, Blake learned that Tingyun had escaped the Church and prepared to set out for the Xianzhou Luofu.

• Shut Up told cold jokes in the car, and Ye Yan got the idea to turn March 7th’s Six-Phased Ice into a spray weapon.
• Blake returned to the holy cathedral and spoke with the Acting Priest, who said Tingyun had been cared for while Blake and Fulisina were away.
• The Acting Priest revealed that Tingyun had run off, and Blake accepted the news before announcing he would set out for the Xianzhou Luofu.
• Ye Yan gave March 7th an ice gun and explained that she could load it with Six-Phased Ice, aim at an enemy, and fire.

As the Astral Express prepared to leave Jarilo-VI, Kafka and Silver Wolf interrupted the route meeting with an unexpected transmission. The next stop remained unannounced as Stelle and the others reacted to the Stellaron Hunters.

• March 7th accidentally froze a potted plant with her new water gun and dried it while Stelle teased her.
• Stelle called Dan Heng to the route meeting, but he did not answer or arrive.
• Pom-Pom began the route meeting and praised Stelle for her bravery on Jarilo-VI.
• Kafka appeared as a hologram, recognized Ye Yan, and exchanged tense remarks with Himeko.
• Silver Wolf appeared beside Kafka, and Stelle startled her by displaying her bat and hourglass weapons.
• Silver Wolf and Pom-Pom hid behind Ye Yan while the passengers crowded around him.

Kafka appeared aboard the Astral Express and asked the crew to change their destination to the Xianzhou Luofu, where a Stellaron crisis had led the Alliance to blame the Stellaron Hunters. She wanted help rescuing Blade and clearing the Hunters’ names, but the crew remained divided over whether to get involved.

• Kafka formally asked the Express crew to change their destination, and Himeko refused to accept her request.
• Kafka appeared in person aboard the carriage after Himeko challenged her to come talk face to face.
• Kafka revealed that a Stellaron had erupted aboard the Luofu and said the Xianzhou Alliance had blamed the Stellaron Hunters.
• Kafka explained that Blade had been taken by the Cloud Knights and asked the crew to help rescue him, resolve the crisis, and clear the Hunters’ names.
• March 7th opposed helping Kafka, Stelle considered doing the Hunters a favor, and Silver Wolf quietly asked Ye Yan why Welt was looking at her strangely.

Kafka gave the Astral Express the coordinates to the Luofu and warned that a Stellaron outbreak could kill half its residents. Ye Yan detained her, and the Express prepared to investigate the danger.

• Silver Wolf explained that she had announced her arrival before visiting Ye Yan's home, while Stelle and March 7th discussed how weapons blessed by [Eternity] could seal a Stellaron.
• Kafka warned that the Stellaron would eventually contaminate the Luofu and kill roughly half its residents, then gave Himeko the coordinates and prepared to leave.
• Ye Yan stopped Kafka, arguing that the Express needed her as a guide and that her presence would help them avoid suspicion when arriving at the Luofu.
• Ye Yan explained that Kafka was likely already hiding on the Luofu and had allowed herself to be caught as part of a plan involving possible futures.
• Ye Yan and Kafka vanished from the Parlor Car for a private conversation, while Welt decided to join the operation and Kafka later said she hoped she would not have to perform another scene alongside an Aeon.

The Astral Express decided to travel to the Xianzhou Luofu after Kafka reported a Stellaron outbreak there, while Dan Heng chose to join despite being forbidden from returning. Kafka revealed Ye Yan had left and gave Dan Heng a milk tea meant to disguise him, as the Express prepared to bring her along under guard.

• Kafka told Ye Yan that the other Stellaron Hunters had been dispatched, and Ye Yan gave her milk tea before tearing open space and leaving.
• March 7th and Dan Heng discussed whether to go to the Luofu, where Dan Heng was forbidden to tread, and Himeko decided the Express would go help.
• Dan Heng agreed to join the expedition because Blade might be aboard the Luofu and his companions could be in danger; Stelle and the others reassured him.
• Kafka appeared after the crew finished their discussion and told them Ye Yan had noticed something and left, then gave Dan Heng milk tea to disguise himself.
• Welt proposed handing Kafka over to the Luofu's general and restrained her with Imaginary shackles as Pom-Pom prepared the warp.

The Astral Express arrived at the Xianzhou Luofu, where the crew prepared to disembark and investigate the ship and Dan Heng’s past. Meanwhile, Ye Yan returned to Cloudford after helping the Church of Eternity and headed toward the Sleepless Earl teahouse with a bag of supplies, but someone called out to him at an intersection.

• The Astral Express received permission to dock at the Luofu, while Kafka noted that Silver Wolf had cut off the signal and that the script had changed.
• Stelle and March 7th agreed to ask around about Dan Heng and Ye Yan, and Himeko hinted that Welt’s past was more exciting than he let on.
• Ye Yan helped the Church of Eternity’s knights defeat mara-struck soldiers, declined their invitation to join, and accepted their soap and laundry detergent.
• Ye Yan decided to give the supplies to Mengming at the Sleepless Earl teahouse, but a lively voice called him over at an intersection.