Chapter Summaries

Suren discovered that Alec Barrett and the Holy Judgment Legion had been branded traitors by the Lu Ying Royal Family and were struggling to survive in Pirate City. He arranged to trade supplies for their Activated Silver and the Cursed Incense Burner, then sought Doctor Pickman for help obtaining the potions they needed.

• Suren learned from Amaris that the Lu Ying Royal Family had executed Barrett's family and placed the Holy Judgment Legion on its wanted list.
• After Barrett and his soldiers left the Black Market, Suren followed them to their warship and approached openly with a piece of Activated Silver.
• Suren negotiated with Barrett to exchange supplies for Activated Silver and recover the Cursed Incense Burner, offering to make Barrett a stronger Hand of Silver in the future.
• Barrett gave Suren a supply list and a military communicator, and said the Legion would leave port if Suren did not return by the following evening.
• Suren bought supplies around the city, then went to the Fire Dance Tavern to find Doctor Pickman for help with the Legion's rare potions.

Suren secured Doctor Pickman's potions for Danny, reunited Pickman with his son, and persuaded Pickman to consider joining New Dawn City. After receiving the complete Neuro-Mechanical Blueprints and supplies from Barrett, Suren told him about the Outer God and pitched the vision of an absolutely neutral land dedicated to humanity and Alchemy Civilization, leaving Barrett intrigued and reconsidering his future.

• Suren collected Doctor Pickman's Gene Mutation Reversal Potions and the first part of the Neuro-Mechanical Blueprints, then arranged to ship the potions to Danny.
• Suren connected Doctor Pickman with Danny through the communicator, and their reunion dispelled Pickman's suspicions of Suren.
• Suren asked Pickman to refine potions for the cursed Judgment Legion members, and Pickman agreed and expressed interest in joining New Dawn City.
• Suren received the remaining Neuro-Mechanical Blueprints and dozens of potions, then brought Barrett the supplies he had requested.
• Barrett paid Suren with the Poisonous Incense Burner and extra Quicksilver Bricks, and Suren explained the Outer God and the events at Cursed Valley.
• Suren described Dawn City and the possibility of an absolutely neutral land to Barrett, who began reconsidering his loyalty to the Lu Ying Royal Family.

Suren studied Doctor Pickman’s Neuro-Mechanical blueprints and continued developing a silver arm for Barrett, while his pirate crew prepared for a mission to Mountain Concealed Country. The Ninth Fleet set sail with new weapons, and Suren saw a Void Implant that might lead him to the information he sought.

• Suren ran Experiment Number 006, successfully connected a silverized arm to a Living Corpse at first, then lost its nerve feedback and recorded the failure.
• Suren left the hotel to join the Ninth Fleet’s operation and learned that the fleet planned to collect taxes in Mountain Concealed Country.
• Hanz Schmidt announced that the Fifteenth Squad would serve as the vanguard and promised each pirate a reward of at least one hundred thousand Liso.
• Hanz showed off a Fifth Tier Void Implant bestowed by Oleg, giving Suren a chance to investigate the source of Void Implants.
• The Ninth Fleet received advanced weapons from Mafa, and its squadrons set sail for Mountain Concealed Country the next morning.

Suren’s fleet encountered Shiranui and kappa while sailing toward the Mountain Concealed Country, suffering heavy casualties and losing its ships. The survivors followed Matsunaga Hisahide inland toward a nearby village, while Suren remained alert to the dangers ahead.

• Suren stayed watchful during the voyage and followed the Black Crow’s warning onto the deck, where Matsunaga Hisahide urged Hands not to anger the yokai.
• An orange-red Shiranui appeared over the sea, and the fleet sailed into its flames after the crew mistook them for a harmless mirage.
• Duden and other pirates suddenly burst into flames, and Suren deduced that fear helped the Shiranui spread and burn its victims.
• Kappa attacked the ships from beneath the water, sinking two and damaging the others as the pirates fought back.
• Suren swam ashore with the survivors, and after Peon ordered them to continue, they followed Matsunaga Hisahide toward a nearby village.

Suren traveled with the Ninth Fleet toward Edo and spent the night in Sword Forging Village, where he discovered the villagers’ shrine held a blade with a strange soul fluctuation. The Koike family revealed that the blade was the legendary demonic sword Onimaru Kunitsuna, leaving Suren stunned by its presence in the remote village.

• The Ninth Fleet marched through the snow toward Sword Forging Village after a yokai sank its ships, and Matsunaga Hisahide warned the pirates not to disturb local rituals.
• Suren noticed a strange soul fluctuation from the blade enshrined in the village hall, then lodged with the impoverished Koike family.
• Suren learned that the old man’s daughter, Koike Teppei, was working as a geisha in Golden City, and he gave the family clothes and a Healing Potion.
• The Koike family told Suren that the village shrine’s blade was Onimaru Kunitsuna, the third-ranked demonic blade among the Twelve Master Craftsmen’s Famous Blades.

Suren heard how the demon blade Onimaru Hyakume Munemasa was forged from a sword used to seal a Hundred-Eyed Demon. During his night watch, he killed two pirates who were attacking Koike's family, then encountered the demon's presence and sensed it was about to act elsewhere in the village.

• Koike Koichiro told Suren that Grandmaster Munemasa Kenshin forged the demon blade by sealing a Hundred-Eyed Demon inside the Fifth Generation Munemasa.
• Suren worried that the pirates might discover the blade and took his night watch with Sharp.
• Polk and another pirate sneaked into Koike's home, drugged the family, and tried to assault their daughter.
• Suren killed Polk and his companion, hid their bodies, and carried the girl back to her family.
• A Hundred-Eyed Demon-like presence stripped Suren's vision, but he saw through the illusion with the All-Seeing Eye and recognized its connection to the demon blade.
• The sinister aura withdrew, and Suren sensed a commotion elsewhere in the village before quietly going to investigate.

Suren witnessed the demonic blade Onimaru Hyakume Munemasa turn Yakos into a murderous killer who slaughtered the pirates in Sword Forging Village. After Yakos killed himself, Suren reached for the blade, while a hidden watcher sneered at him.

• Suren joined the pirates as they discovered dozens of villagers and pirates dead with their eyes gouged out, and the ancestral hall's sword missing.
• Hisahide explained that the Hundred-Eyed Demon protected the village, and Kahn revealed that Magitan and the others had killed a local woman and dumped her body in a well.
• Hands ordered the pirates to seize the villagers, but Yakos drew Onimaru Hyakume Munemasa and unleashed its demonic power, blinding the crowd and attacking them.
• Yakos slaughtered the pirates, including Hands, before turning away from Suren and blinding himself before stabbing his own heart.
• Suren collected Fragmented Souls and reached for the demonic blade as an unseen observer watched and mocked his attempt.

Suren took the demonic blade Onimaru Hyakume Masamune and discovered that the Sword Forging Village’s inhabitants had been dead for a year, though they had appeared alive. After a female ninja escaped and the village reverted to charred ruins, Suren contacted Sister Chijou, who needed his help with a complication in the plan to assassinate the Rune Old Man.

• Suren drew Onimaru Hyakume Masamune from Yakos’s corpse, resisted its demonic influence, and wrapped the blade in the tattered kasaya.
• Suren confronted Matsunaga Hisahide and exposed the mismatch in Koike Teppei’s and Koike Koichiro’s accounts, concluding that the village’s inhabitants had died a year earlier.
• Suren’s threads revealed that Hisahide was a disguise, and he fought a female ninja who escaped using ninjutsu and the monsters Nyūnai Suzume and Kage Onna.
• Suren returned to find the Sword Forging Village reduced to old ruins and its inhabitants’ corpses, then left the mountain hollow without finding an explanation.
• Suren contacted Sister Chijou, who told him that the plan to assassinate the Rune Old Man had encountered trouble and asked for his help.

Suren reached Red Rice and joined Qiantiao’s injured group as they fled the Ghost Samurai and the Shogunate’s forces. Qiantiao took up the cursed Onimaru Hyakume Munemasa, and Suren’s Death God’s Phantom helped stabilize the blade’s struggle, leaving Kamifuku Miko stunned by their power.

• Suren traveled from Izumo to the bamboo sea in Red Rice, where he found Qiantiao, Lolota, Kamifuku Miko, and their wounded companions fleeing after a failed assassination.
• Qiantiao explained that the Rune Old Man had sealed her hands and that an unkillable Ghost Samurai pursued them after nightfall.
• Suren offered Qiantiao the demonic blade Onimaru Hyakume Munemasa, and Kamifuku Miko warned that it contained the Hyakume Oni King and had doomed its past owners.
• Qiantiao reached for the blade despite the danger, and its demonic energy clashed with her Rakshasi aura as Suren prepared to intervene.
• Suren manifested a Death God’s Phantom, forming a three-way standoff with Qiantiao and the blade; the demonic energy began to recede, and Kamifuku Miko recognized Suren’s formidable power.

Suren and Qiantiao discussed the demonic blade, the Sword Forging Village’s destruction, and the mysterious force behind the failed assassination of Takeda Nobuno. Qiantiao gave Suren a Rune Mage inheritance and the soul of Ghost Sword Yaxi, and the group waited in the bamboo forest for the pursuing Ghost Samurai as night fell.

• Suren suppressed the demonic energy in Onimaru Hyakume Munemasa, and Qiantiao kept the blade despite not having fully subdued its sealed spirit.
• Kamifuku Miko tied an Amaterasu Witch Rope to the blade, then explained that the Black Dragon Society may have been involved in the Sword Forging Village’s destruction.
• Suren, Qiantiao, and Miko suspected that a hidden force had disrupted Miko’s assassination attempt against Takeda Nobuno, and Miko named Miteya Hime as someone to investigate.
• Qiantiao gave Suren a Rune Mage inheritance and the soul of Ghost Sword Yaxi, explaining that she had obtained them as part of her agreement with Miko.
• The group rested in the bamboo forest, and Suren heard a crow call and announced that the pursuers had arrived.

Suren waited while Kamifuku Miko and her companions fought the seemingly immortal Ghost Warriors, searching for the source behind their relentless attacks. After Kamifuku Miko chose to trust him, Suren revealed his Puppet Legion, leaving the battle poised to turn.

• Suren observed the Ghost Warriors’ ability to reform after being destroyed while Kamifuku Miko, Qiantiao, Lolota, and the ninja guards fought them.
• A Ghost Warrior commander in powerful crimson armor joined the battle, and Qiantiao explained that its only vulnerable spot was a narrow gap behind its head and neck.
• As the defenders grew exhausted, the guard captain urged Kamifuku Miko to retreat, but she chose to trust Suren and ordered everyone to keep fighting.
• Suren detected an abnormal soul fluctuation among the Ghost Warriors and identified the moment to act.
• Suren cast Puppet Theater and released hundreds of puppets, including a Mechanical Armor wielding a Ship-Slaying Blade.

Suren turned the Ghost Samurai battle around with his Puppet Legion, then used Mental Tentacles to immobilize the warriors and joined Kamifuku Miko in sealing them. He tracked their controller, Abe Taihe, and fought him in a Chessboard space, but the Onmyoji escaped before Suren could learn all his secrets.

• Suren released hundreds of Abomination Puppets, which clashed with the Ghost Samurai and restrained their commander in Mechanical Armor.
• Suren bound nearly a hundred Ghost Samurai with his Hundred Cocoon Binding Technique, and Kamifuku Miko agreed to help seal them.
• Suren located the controller, Abe Taihe, and drew him into a black-and-white Chessboard space.
• Abe Taihe summoned Kamaitachi from the Hundred Demons Night Parade Scroll, while Suren used Adamantine and Caged Bird against him.
• Suren and Abe Taihe fought at close range using body-enhancing techniques, but Abe escaped inside a red Mokugyo Daruma.
• Suren ended the Chessboard space and returned without pursuing Abe Taihe.

Suren and his companions escaped Abe Taihe by agreeing to escort Kamifuku Miko to her secret base at Chaming Mountain. Meanwhile, Ekaterina bid farewell to her great-grandmother, who set out alone for Mountain Concealed Country to revisit a story from her past.

• Suren said Abe Taihe had held back, then helped seal the remaining Ghost Warriors and studied their Shinto talismans.
• Kamifuku Miko asked Suren and Qiantiao to guard her, and Suren agreed so he could learn more about Shinto techniques.
• Suren advised Kamifuku Miko to split from her guards and send them in different directions with decoy clothes; she accepted and changed into her Shrine Maiden Attire.
• Kamifuku Miko sent her guards to four shrines, then led Suren and Qiantiao toward her secret base on Chaming Mountain, whose hot springs interested Qiantiao.
• At a harbor in Hasterlin, Ekaterina said goodbye to her great-grandmother, who departed for Mountain Concealed Country to seek traces of her old love, Gustav.

Suren and his companions took refuge at Granny Xia's Bathhouse, where he absorbed Yaxi Aurora's Rune Mage knowledge and searched a scroll for materials to refine the Imitation Primal Rune. He struggled to gather the rare ingredients until he realized Kamifuku Miko's royal connections might help.

• Suren, Chijou, Lolota, and Kamifuku Miko reached Granny Xia's Bathhouse and shared a suite after the elderly owners welcomed Miko.
• Chijou and Miko went to the hot spring while Suren stayed behind to work; he extracted Yaxi Aurora's soul and gained extensive Rune Mage knowledge.
• Suren deciphered the Rune Mage inheritance scroll and found two recipes compatible with the Imitation Primal Rune, including one requiring rare materials.
• Suren considered how to gather the ingredients, then saw Miko return from the hot spring and realized her royal status might be useful.

At a bathhouse, Suren asked Kamifuku Miko to help obtain rare materials and learned about Shinto techniques while they grew closer through several days of conversation and cooperation. After Miko helped him gather and prepare everything he needed, Suren successfully refined an Imitation Primal Rune and prepared to advance to the Fourth Tier.

• Qiantiao, Miko, and Lolota returned refreshed from the hot springs, and Suren asked Miko for help obtaining rare alchemical materials.
• Miko suggested substitutes for some materials, promised to draw on the royal treasury and Suga Shrine, and sent a Shikigami Spirit Crane with the request.
• Miko explained the Abe Clan's Shikigami Paper Figurine Technique to Suren, and the two talked until dawn while Qiantiao and Lolota slept.
• Over the following days, Miko and Suren exchanged knowledge as she stayed hidden and arranged deliveries of the materials he needed.
• On the sixth day, Miko helped Suren prepare the rare ingredients, and he successfully refined the Imitation Primal Rune on his first attempt.
• Suren decided to use the rune to advance to the Fourth Tier.

Suren successfully advanced to Fourth Tier after two days of refining the Imitation Primal Rune, greatly improving his runology and gaining confidence that he could remove Qiantiao’s Anti-Magic Rune Seal. He joined Qiantiao, Kamifuku Miko, and Lolota on a trip to a secluded mountain hot spring, carrying Miko up a steep cliff when she hesitated to climb.

• Qiantiao, Kamifuku Miko, and Lolota guarded Suren while playing shogi as his advancement caused increasingly powerful Dark Spiritual Energy fluctuations.
• Suren emerged from the sealed room after successfully advancing to Fourth Tier and described the experience as strong.
• Suren thanked Miko for helping him prepare for the advancement and said he could now undo Qiantiao’s Anti-Magic Rune Seal.
• After realizing he had not bathed in more than half a month, Suren agreed to go with Qiantiao, Miko, and Lolota to a mountain hot spring.
• Qiantiao led the group above the snow line to a secluded spring, and Suren carried the hesitant Miko up a near-vertical cliff.

Suren, Miko, Qiantiao, and Lolota soaked in a secluded hot spring on Chaming Mountain, where they spotted a Snow Woman and discussed the yokai’s origins. Miko explained her connection to Hidden Mountain’s deities and revealed that she was the ninety-ninth Saiou, while Suren learned that his fire secret art came from Shintoism.

• Suren brought Miko up to the cliffside hot spring, where Qiantiao and Lolota were already bathing, and the four settled into the crowded pool.
• Lolota spotted a Snow Woman on a distant snowy peak, and Miko explained that the yokai hunted men who had broken their vows.
• Qiantiao teased Suren about Miko’s beauty, then called him over to examine the Magic-Sealing Seal on her arm.
• Suren asked Miko about Chaming Mountain’s legends, and she told him the Lord of the Underworld was buried there.
• Miko recognized Suren’s fire spell as the Unattendant of Fire Secret Art and explained that it descended from Amaterasu’s Imperial Fire Secret Art.
• Miko revealed she was the ninety-ninth Saiou, and she explained that a Saiou could pursue romance after leaving office.

Miko revealed that an unknown outside force may be behind the attack on her, and she suspected it could be connected to Oleg. She told Suren and Qiantiao that she would return to the imperial capital for the Great Black Sun Festival, but Qiantiao promised to accompany her.

• Miko told Qiantiao and Suren that Abe Taihe likely was not working for the Takeda Shogunate and that a hidden third-party force had emerged in the Mountain Concealed Country.
• Miko suspected Oleg might be behind the force, since Abe Taihe needed a powerful outside patron to pursue her.
• Miko said she would return to the imperial capital in half a month to preside over the Great Black Sun Festival.
• Qiantiao promised to accompany Miko after Suren released the seal on her arm.
• Qiantiao pulled Miko into Suren's arms as a teasing prank, and their playful banter eased the tense mood.

Suren joined Qiantiao’s trip to the Great Black Sun Festival and removed the Magic-Sealing Seal from her arm at a secluded hot spring. Afterward, their teasing turned unexpectedly physical before they headed back toward Granny Xia’s Bathhouse.

• Suren asked Miko about the Great Black Sun Festival and said he wanted to travel with her and Qiantiao to Edo.
• Suren spent four or five hours deciphering the seal on Qiantiao’s arm, restoring the flow of Dark Spiritual Energy through her meridians.
• After waking, Qiantiao confirmed the seal was gone and praised Suren’s increased strength.
• Qiantiao changed clothes at the hot spring while Suren watched, then allowed him to touch her when he took her teasing question seriously.
• Suren and Qiantiao headed toward Granny Xia’s Bathhouse, where Qiantiao teased him about becoming audacious and struck his head with her sword’s scabbard.

Qiantiao began taming the demonic blade Onimaru Hyakume Masamune while Suren and Kamifuku Miko discussed the dangers awaiting them in Edo during the Great Black Sun Festival. As Suren studied Rune Mage techniques and worked on new projects, Qiantiao eventually subdued the blade and announced that she had obtained it.

• Qiantiao asked Kamifuku Miko to protect the room with barriers while she attempted to tame Onimaru Hyakume Masamune, and Suren prepared to intervene if she lost control.
• Kamifuku Miko explained that the Great Black Sun Festival would weaken the Kamifuku Clan and bring chaos, while Suren learned that Oleg's Ninth Fleet was heading for Edo under Ixil Peon's command.
• Suren studied the Rune Mage inheritance and developed plans for rune-enhanced combat, puppets, Living Corpses, and the Hand of Silver as Qiantiao continued her struggle with the blade.
• After a day and night, the blade's demonic energy weakened and Qiantiao's Rakshasa Phantom gained the advantage; Miko wondered whether Qiantiao's Fate/Destiny had changed at the cliffside hot spring.
• Qiantiao overcame the blade's final resistance and told Suren, Miko, and Lolota that she had obtained it.