Chapter Summaries

Angel privately told the group that the golden-haired woman behind the mirror was named Adanis and warned them that they might encounter a powerful creature from another world on the way to the Legacy Site. He withheld how he learned this and left the group preparing for the journey while cautioning them not to involve Wise Sovereign in a possible fight.

• Dox was tricked by Angel into answering another question after claiming he would never answer any of Angel's questions again.
• Angel sealed off a private space and revealed that the mirror-hidden woman was named Adanis, though he refused to disclose how he learned her name.
• Angel said he had two further pieces of intelligence, including a possible encounter with a powerful creature from another world beyond Wise Sovereign's Hall.
• Black Earl explained the dangers posed by creatures from other worlds and considered how one might have entered the Southern Region.
• Angel said the Extreme Sect probably would not intervene, urged everyone to avoid drawing a battle toward Wise Sovereign's Hall or asking Wise Sovereign for help, and promised to share more after confirming the intelligence.

Angel and his companions discovered a concealed creature in the passageway, which Wood Spirit could sense because it shared the origin of the creature’s concealment ability. Suspecting it was the Wise Sovereign’s promised surprise, Angel organized an encirclement hunt and confirmed the creature was trapped within a corridor about two hundred meters long.

• Dox tried to persuade Angel to remove all the wall sconces, but Angel let him keep only one and warned him about the danger.
• Dox ran into the alchemy puppet occupied by Swift Spirit after Angel stopped in the passageway.
• Wood Spirit alerted Angel to a hidden creature nearby and explained that it could sense the creature because the concealment ability came from the same lineage as its own.
• Angel proposed an encirclement hunt because the creature kept moving and Wood Spirit could not track it quickly enough.
• Angel and Swift Spirit established boundaries around a stretch of passage, and Wood Spirit confirmed that the hidden creature was inside.

Angel and the others cornered the hidden creature, which appeared as a masked poet named Luigi and demanded that Dox solve a formula and interpret its result as the price for arriving. Kael solved the puzzle, the group produced a poem that Luigi sang, and Luigi vanished, leaving a broken mask behind.

• Angel and Swift Spirit closed in on the hidden creature while Dox counted down, prompting a poet to appear and address Dox.
• Angel explained that the creature's aura had vanished when Wise Sovereign activated a magical energy array, and that Luigi was likely a method created by the creature rather than the creature itself.
• Luigi demanded that Dox solve a complex formula and interpret the result as payment, and the group chose to pursue the mystery rather than move on.
• Kael recognized the formula as a variation of the Tao Miheba Puzzle and solved it while Dox copied his work.
• Wai interpreted the final expression as a poem, which Luigi sang before thanking Dox and identifying himself as Luigi.
• Luigi dispersed into motes of light, leaving a broken mask on the ground.

Angel identified Luigi’s mask as Old Stone before Gleipnir appeared and presented Black Earl with an astral sign to interpret. Black Earl correctly named the Evil God Demon Abyss, but Gleipnir’s message left him shaken; Angel then joined the two masks and saw that a third piece was missing.

• Dox picked up Luigi’s broken mask, and Angel identified its material as Old Stone, a substance he had only encountered in records.
• Gleipnir appeared before Black Earl, formed an astral chessboard, and presented him with an astral sign to interpret.
• Black Earl had Wai and Dox examine the sign before declaring that it meant the Evil God Demon Abyss.
• Gleipnir accepted Black Earl’s interpretation, gave him a message, and vanished after revealing her name as Gleipnir, the astrologer.
• Wai handed Gleipnir’s broken mask to Angel, who joined it with Luigi’s mask and found that the nose and lower face were missing.

A silent Rabbit Girl appeared, watched Angel, and left the final broken mask before vanishing. Angel assembled the mask and explained that it was made of Old Stone, whose effects depended on the memories it accumulated; the group still had to discover what this mask would do.

• The Rabbit Girl appeared in the corridor, stared at Angel, then vanished after tossing out a broken mask.
• Angel explained that the Rabbit Girl’s satchel held a derivative of the Wood Spirit and that the masks were complete.
• Angel fitted the three broken pieces together, and they fused into a plain gray-white mask.
• Angel told Dox to try the mask, but Dox refused because he suspected a trap.
• Angel explained that Old Stone froze its holder’s aging while recording their memories, which could give it effects shaped by the holder’s experiences.
• Angel said the mask’s Old Stone could not preserve its holder for a thousand years, and likely would not last even that long.

Angel explained that Old Stone’s recorded memories could disrupt a person’s emotions and sense of identity, while the group continued to question the mask’s purpose. Their discussion was interrupted by a new apparition: a silver-haired girl who gave the names Laplace, Gleipnir, and Luigi.

• Kael warned that Old Stone’s memories could carry powerful emotions and alter the holder’s personality, and Angel confirmed the danger.
• The group considered whether the mask or its memories were Wise Sovereign’s promised surprise, but they could not determine the mask’s purpose.
• Dox avoided Angel’s attempts to hand him the mask, so Angel had the Magic Hand hold it as they prepared to move on.
• A field of light formed a prismatic plane, within which a silver-haired girl with different-colored eyes appeared.
• The girl introduced herself by saying, "My name is... Laplace. Gleipnir. Luigi."

Angel and Dox questioned the silver-haired girl, who revealed that the earlier figures were her Time Doppelgängers and that she was only a Mirror reflection. She demonstrated a mysterious connection involving matching masks, then delivered a parting message from the Wise Sovereign to Wai before turning her attention to Dox.

• The silver-haired girl explained that her three Time Doppelgängers represented different versions of herself and confirmed that their names formed parts of her own name.
• She told Angel that the figure before them was a Mirror reflection, then described Time Doppelgängers as a bond and the masks as a Fate Bridge.
• Angel and the silver-haired girl held matching masks and moved in perfect synchronization, but she said the Fate Bridge still would not work.
• The silver-haired girl delivered the Wise Sovereign's parting words to Wai, telling him to leave his shelter and set out on the long road again.
• The silver-haired girl said she was only responsible for delivering the words, then turned toward Dox.

The silver-haired girl gave Dox, Black Earl, and Kael cryptic parting words, revealing that Kael’s interest in ruins came from a powerful remnant soul inside him. She began explaining the soul’s obsession but had not yet finished when the chapter ended.

• The silver-haired girl called Dox a treasure-seeking hunter, while Angel considered how her descriptive titles fit Dox, Black Earl, and Wai.
• Black Earl asked whether the Abyss of Evil Gods would help or harm him and whether his choice was right, but the silver-haired girl told him to trust his own answer and suggested the Source World might hold it.
• The silver-haired girl skipped Angel and told Kael that his obsession was tracing the past and that the Underground Waterway was not where the remnant soul inside him belonged.
• Dox asked about Kael’s remnant soul, and the silver-haired girl said she did not know its identity but believed it had once been about as powerful as Black Earl, perhaps stronger or weaker.
• The silver-haired girl began to explain the remnant soul’s obsession and purpose, but the chapter ended before she completed her answer.

The silver-haired girl explained that Kael’s remnant soul had been paying soul power to influence him, and urged him to consider whether to fulfill its obsession before it vanished. She then revealed that she could not establish a bond with Angel or observe him, leaving Angel to wonder what might be blocking her ability.

• The silver-haired girl told Kael that his remnant soul’s obsession was to be fulfilled and that he had little time to decide because it would fade as he grew stronger.
• Dox advised Kael to postpone his choice, but the silver-haired girl explained that the remnant soul had transferred soul power to him and that he might owe it for the benefits.
• Angel questioned the silver-haired girl about bonds, and she described them as connections that balanced gains with corresponding costs.
• The silver-haired girl warned Kael to consider whether his own will controlled his thoughts, and he fell into prolonged contemplation.
• The silver-haired girl told Angel that Rabbit Girl Laplace and the mask had failed to establish a bond with him, so she could not observe him or fulfill the Wise One’s request.
• Angel considered whether Green Pattern, Origin Fire, Blood Night’s Shelter, Dream Wilderness, or Outer Eye might be preventing the silver-haired girl from perceiving bonds.

Angel challenged the silver-haired girl for secretly creating Tethers and treating unsolicited advice as sufficient repayment. After recognizing the others’ anger, she returned their Tethers, severed their Bridges of Fate, and offered Shepherd God's Twin Faces as compensation.

• The silver-haired girl offered Angel advice based on the Reflections of the Heart, but Angel said he did not know what had caused her to form Tethers with him.
• After the silver-haired girl insisted Angel must have an answer, Angel admitted he had considered several possibilities but would not reveal his secrets.
• Angel accused the silver-haired girl of arranging tests and masks to create causal Tethers without their consent, and the others grew angry with her.
• The silver-haired girl acknowledged that her actions could have caused the others’ anger, despite her intention to repay the Wise One’s kindness.
• The silver-haired girl’s three time bodies restored the Old Stone Mask, and she returned the Tethers, severed the Bridges of Fate, and offered Shepherd God's Twin Faces as compensation.

Angel negotiated with Laplace, agreeing to give her one possible answer in exchange for answers to his questions. Laplace explained the dangers of the Empty Mirror Sea and the origins of the Shepherd God's Twin Faces, but the masks’ stubborn inner shadows remained unreadable.

• Laplace accepted Angel’s proposal to exchange one possible answer for answers to several of his questions.
• Laplace explained that the Empty Mirror Sea connected mirror worlds and erased living beings’ memories and consciousness, and warned that mirror worlds were dangerous and unstable.
• Laplace told Angel that she was a lifeform born within mirrors and explained that mirror surfaces themselves served as passages between worlds.
• Laplace explained that she had found the Shepherd God's Twin Faces in the Empty Mirror Sea, where most of their memories had already been washed away.
• Laplace revealed that she had filled the masks with fragmented memories and even shattered the male-faced mask, but neither attempt exposed the stubborn shadows within.

Angel and the others discussed whether Shepherd God's Twin Faces were part of Shepherd God's Divine Regalia and learned that the Empty Mirror Sea's Sea Eyes had stripped away the masks' powers. Laplace revealed details about the Nether Servant's Time Doppelgängers and began explaining the unusual position of the one behind the Nether Servant.

• Black Earl said Shepherd God's Divine Regalia included two masks, and Angel and the others speculated that Shepherd God's Twin Faces might be those masks, with demon god memories trapped inside.
• Laplace explained that she found the masks near a Sea Eye, a dangerous place that erased memories and reduced objects to their fundamental state.
• Angel asked about the Nether Servant, and Laplace said it had Childlike Heart, Maiden Heart, and Motherly Heart Time Doppelgängers with different temperaments.
• Angel asked Laplace about the one behind the Nether Servant, and Laplace said the Wise Sovereign had sent him a message and that her position in the mirror realm was unusual.

Laplace explained Adanis’s unusual ability to cross between reality and the Mirror Realm, along with the dangers of opposing her there. Angel also questioned Laplace about Adanis and the Mirror Demon God’s emblem, then quietly recognized how much he still had to learn.

• Laplace explained that Adanis could travel between reality and the Mirror Realm without a vessel and could grant that ability to other mirror creatures, giving her powerful allies in the Mirror Realm.
• Laplace said the Nether Servant’s children had possessed their ability to enter the Mirror Realm since birth, and explained that Adanis avoided using destructive powers in its unstable spaces.
• Angel wondered about Laplace’s origins and strength but refrained from asking directly because she had previously avoided the subject.
• Angel asked whether Laplace knew about a man who might be connected to Adanis, but she said she had heard nothing of him.
• Laplace described how memories in the Empty Mirror Sea mostly came from nonhuman life and lacked subjective emotion, prompting Angel to acknowledge his narrow perspective and reassess himself.

Angel asked Laplace to guide him through the world within the mirrors, but she refused and explained that only Second One-Eye had been able to contact her in the Empty Mirror Sea. Laplace gave parting readings for Angel’s companions, ending with a cryptic description of Ermi as a Demon Man seeking to awaken once more.

• Angel asked Laplace to guide him through the world within the mirrors, but she refused and explained that her Time Doppelgänger rarely left the Empty Mirror Sea.
• Laplace said Second One-Eye had served as the Wise Sovereign’s medium and offered to have her Time Doppelgänger find Angel if he ever reached the Empty Mirror Sea with the mask.
• Laplace gave brief parting advice about Dangros and the Wood Spirit, saying their thoughts were changing and that the Wood Spirit believed it had made the right choice.
• Wai and Dox argued through the Mind Tether, and Angel redirected their attention by asking whether Dox would return with him to Savage Cave or Demon Illusion Island.
• Laplace described Ermi as a Demon Man seeking to awaken once more and said that amid chaotic ember-flames, he might have a faint chance of rebirth.
• Angel recognized that Ermi was already an awakened Demon Man and wondered what it meant for him to awaken again.

Angel and his companions discussed what they knew about the Panic Realm and the origins of its demons, learning that many published accounts might be unreliable. Kael then began describing a mural he had found in a ruin near Sandworm Market, which had vanished before he could study it fully.

• Laplace challenged Angel to ask his companions what they knew about the Panic Realm and demonkin, and Dox mentioned three rumored theories about demon origins.
• Black Earl explained how Winter Academy’s Winter Secrets had circulated three unsupported theories in a veiled retaliation against the Extreme Sect.
• Black Earl warned that the Frost Moon Alliance’s records might be unreliable and recounted how an old friend had turned back before reaching the Panic Realm because of a Void calamity.
• Kael told the group that he had found a hidden chamber while following a cipher map near Sandworm Market, but its mural faded after he opened the chamber.

Kael showed Angel and the others a realistic painting of a mural depicting an awakened demon-human living affectionately with a butterfly-winged person. The group questioned what the ancient image meant, and Kael wondered whether the Panic Realm’s inhabitants and awakened demon-humans could coexist.

• Kael opened the private space he had inherited from Lord Isos and searched through it for his mural painting.
• Kael retrieved the painting, and a parchment covered in spatial diagrams and formulas fell from its frame, prompting Dox to tease him about his unusual drawings.
• Angel examined the parchment and praised it, then studied the realistic framed painting and recognized its figures as a butterfly-winged person and an awakened demon-human.
• Dox asked whether the mural was real, and Kael said it had appeared on Starcolor Stone and likely dated to around Year 3800 of the New Calendar.
• Kael suggested that the Panic Realm might be more complicated than they assumed and that awakened demon-humans might be able to coexist with its ordinary inhabitants.

Kael, Black Earl, and the others discussed whether reports about the Panic Realm and awakened demonfolk could be trusted, as Black Earl recounted how Sky Mechanical City had shaped the Manluo Plane’s history and public image. After Angel noticed Ermi showing signs of emotion, Laplace offered to share memories she had seen in the Empty Mirror Sea about awakened demonfolk.

• Kael questioned whether awakened demonfolk could coexist with ordinary natives and whether reports about the Panic Realm were exaggerated.
• Black Earl described how Sky Mechanical City used propaganda and force to develop the Manluo Plane, then shaped its public image through favorable news.
• Black Earl warned that magazines and other channels could control public opinion, leaving the truth about the Panic Realm uncertain.
• Angel called Ermi out to examine the mural, but Ermi did not recognize the awakened demonfolk depicted in it.
• Angel noticed Ermi’s confused expression and recalled other signs of emotion, wondering whether Ermi was beginning to awaken again.
• Laplace said she had seen memories of many Panic Realm beings in the Empty Mirror Sea and offered to share them.

Laplace showed Angel and the others memories from the Panic Realm, revealing an awakened demon human who had regained her human form and possibly her reason after killing those she loved. She also revealed that wizards had established several cities in the Panic Realm, overturning the belief that it was barren and leaving the group to wonder who had concealed its true resources.

• Laplace explained how the Empty Mirror Sea recorded and erased memories, then showed an image of a grieving bee-winged girl with the traits of an awakened demon human.
• Angel and the others saw a second image revealing that the girl had first appeared as a violent pure white demon with the same little red flower.
• Laplace confirmed that the girl had undergone a second awakening, which might have restored her reason and memories after she killed and devoured people close to her.
• Laplace revealed that another memory showed several wizard cities in the Panic Realm, indicating that wizards had found valuable resources there.
• Angel realized that their belief that the Panic Realm was barren had misled them, and the group questioned whether the Frost Moon Alliance or someone else had hidden the truth.

Angel and the others connected the Panic Realm’s history to a gap in the Southern Wizarding World’s records and decided to seek answers from ancient wizards. Laplace also revealed that Ermi’s heart reflected a desire for a second awakening, though the way to achieve it remained unclear.

• Black Earl reasoned that the Frost Moon Alliance’s traceable members had not secretly explored the Panic Realm, suggesting the alliance might not have started the rumors or known the full truth.
• Dox realized the timing of Laplace’s memories mattered, and Laplace showed that wizards had built a city in the Panic Realm centuries before the scene of a girl’s second awakening.
• Angel concluded that the Frost Moon Alliance had rediscovered the Panic Realm after a historical break obscured earlier wizard activity, and proposed asking long-lived figures such as Wise Sovereign and Tree Spirit about its past.
• Angel asked whether Ermi could awaken again, and Laplace said his heart’s reflection showed he desired a second awakening and was near its brink.
• Laplace said Ermi’s reflection pointed to chaotic ash flames as the place where he might find a faint chance of rebirth.

Angel explained that Blood Night's Shelter had blocked Laplace's Heart's Reflection, then recounted how he encountered the River of Fate and the Wheel of Time in the cloak's alchemical omen. He revealed that a figure called the Time Thief had taken away one of his choices, leaving Laplace and the others to recognize the identity behind the story.

• Angel reasoned that Heart's Reflection revealed subconscious inclinations rather than conscious thoughts, and Laplace confirmed that Ermi's yearning was trying to break through the Twisted Seed's blockade.
• Angel put on Blood Night's Shelter, whose presence-obscuring effect made the others notice how it altered his presence, and Laplace objected that an anti-prophecy item could not block Heart's Reflection.
• Angel explained that Blood Night's Shelter had appeared among his possible answers before he understood Heart's Reflection, and then described its alchemical omen, where he had spent five years as a Bell Tower Freak near the River of Fate.
• Angel said that after leaving the riverbank, he had encountered the Wheel of Time and a figure who claimed Angel had made one choice and intended to take away the other.
• Angel identified the figure as the Time Thief, prompting Dox and the others to recognize the name.