Chapter Summaries

Angel won the Black-Gold Nightmare's Demonic Soul Horn at auction, intending to use it as a magic power conductor for Death Faction alchemy. The auction then began a slave-selling program, and Angel watched uneasily as a captured mermaid was presented.

• Angel bought the Abyss Nightmare's horn for 6,000 magic crystals, recognizing it as a rare Black-Gold Nightmare's Demonic Soul Horn.
• Angel recalled that the horn could let him use the Blackening Spell as a natural magic power conductor, despite being unable to refine it himself.
• The auction sold four more items, including a Cloud Whale cub that Angel could not afford and a spatial pearl chain bought by a male wizard for 50,000 magic crystals.
• Twilight announced the Dusk Grand Auction's reserved program and had staff bring black-draped cages onto the stage.
• Twilight presented a captured, sixteen-year-old Feg mermaid as a valuable slave, prompting lewd laughter while Angel felt uncomfortable about her captivity.

At the Dusk Auction, Angel watched the Saintess Gabriel offer herself as a slave in exchange for help killing Mudico, but no one accepted her task. The final lot was an Eyeless Man from Gloria’s Barbie Restaurant, whom Angel recognized from his visit there.

• Angel watched a mermaid sell for 320 Magic Crystals and a Crystalfolk sell for 1,500, leaving him unable to bid on the otherworldly slaves.
• Twilight revealed that Gabriel, Saintess of the Pamiji Winged Folk, would become a slave if someone helped her kill Mudico, but no bidder accepted.
• Gabriel left the auction venue after Twilight announced that her lot had failed to sell.
• Twilight introduced the final slave as a former waiter at Gloria’s Barbie Restaurant and opened bidding at 10,000 Magic Crystals.
• Angel recognized the Eyeless Man as the rigid, bouncing waiter he had encountered at Barbie Restaurant.

Toby learned that Gloria might have died and attacked the auction platform to free the Eyeless Man, prompting Angel to rush after him. Twilight grievously injured Angel and then Toby, leaving both companions down as Toby’s eyes began to lose their light.

• After hearing that Gloria might have died, Toby flew at the Eyeless Man’s cage and smashed it open.
• Angel leapt from the VIP section and fired his revolver to disrupt the auction staff’s spells as he tried to reach Toby.
• Twilight struck Angel with a spell, leaving him gravely injured, while the auction hall watched in chaos.
• Toby flew to Angel’s side, and Twilight sent another spell toward him.
• Toby refused to dodge, and the spell passed through him before striking Angel’s arm; Toby crashed beside Angel, coughing blood.
• Angel told Toby he did not blame him, but Toby’s eyes began to grow dull.

As Twilight prepared to kill Angel, he used his own body to construct a Harmonic Illusion, causing an eerie mist to transform the inner hall into a luxurious ancient castle. The illusion swallowed Twilight’s attack and left everyone inside the changed surroundings.

• Twilight questioned Angel about attacking the Dusk Auction House and declared that he and Toby would die.
• Angel realized Flora would not save him and tried to create an illusion, but the suppression array prevented him from releasing magic power outside his body.
• Angel used his organs as illusion nodes and his brain as the core, enduring severe pain as he built the illusion within himself.
• Flora watched Angel’s attempt while Little Red clutched its head and pleaded for her to save him.
• Twilight dismissed Angel’s shifting illusion and fired her Traceless Light, but dense white mist rose from Angel and made the attack vanish.
• Eerie gongs, drums, and horns sounded as the inner hall changed into the grand hall of an extravagant ancient castle.

Angel’s illusion transformed the auction hall into a strange space where the Teacup Band’s music deflected attacks and trapped everyone. As Twilight tried to kill the injured Angel, a mysterious man in black seized her hand, and the band announced the Queen’s night patrol.

• Lydia explored the illusion and found that private rooms and the main hall seemed to overlap, while furniture had disappeared.
• Angel warned David not to touch him and told him to escape with Toby and ask Promi to save him; David carried Toby away.
• Flora arrived and discovered that others could see the skeleton she called Little Red, then hurried toward Angel after hearing his scream.
• Twilight could not contact the backstage, and her glimmer attacks were reflected, killing one Dusk Guard and fatally wounding another.
• The Teacup Band emerged from the mist, deflected the crowd’s attacks, and prompted Twilight to rush in and strike at Angel.
• A terrifying laugh sounded from Angel, the band announced the Queen’s night patrol, and Lord Sanders stopped Twilight from stabbing him.

Angel’s desperate illusion created a Nightmare Domain that let dangerous creatures cross into reality, and Sanders intervened to save him. The chapter ended with Angel seeing the stitched woman on a starry throne beyond the boundary as more creatures approached.

• Cooper learned that Gloria had entrusted her seabird to Sanders’ disciple, and Flora confirmed that Angel was Sanders’ new apprentice.
• The Dusk Guard captain sent a member toward the white mist, while the Teacup Band announced the Queen’s night patrol.
• Sanders stopped Twilight from attacking Angel and woke him, explaining that Angel had created a dangerous Nightmare Domain.
• A Dusk Guard member was dismembered by the Teacup Band, and the laughter from the mist injured apprentices.
• Angel explained that recalling the stitched woman had shaped his illusion, then watched seven-colored dragonflies emerge from the mist and saw the woman seated on a starry throne beyond the boundary.

Angel learned that his Nightmare Realm had opened a passage for a vast host of Demonic Beasts, including a queen beyond Legend, and Sanders warned that the Southern Region faced catastrophe if they escaped. Sanders returned to the auction hall to mark a route and prepare everyone to flee if Angel could not close the passage.

• Sanders told Angel to close the Nightmare Realm after Angel saw a stitched woman beyond Legend and a wizard-level owl emerge, with countless Demonic Beasts still behind them.
• The owl landed on Angel, healed his scalp, and commanded the Rainbow Dragonflies to prepare a path for the Queen’s procession.
• Twilight’s guards attacked the Rainbow Dragonflies, killing more than half before the survivors vanished from sight.
• Sanders emerged from the white mist, marked a route with glass-like shards, and told Flora to prepare for battle or an escape through the interplanar passage.
• Sanders warned Flora that a Demonic Beast far beyond Legend was already behind the world membrane.

Sanders worked to sever the nightmare domain, while Angel struggled to stop Demonic Beasts from crossing into it. After tracing the danger back to the illusion he had created, Angel decided to destroy its core node in his heart.

• Sanders began severing the nightmare domain so Angel could inherit it, and Flora prepared for the crisis.
• Angel saw an amusement park and playing-card guards in the Nightmare Realm, then failed to stop five guards from crossing into it.
• The playing-card guards bowed to the green-furred owl plushie, which ordered them to explore, and they charged away from Angel.
• Angel noticed building-block soldiers approaching and recalled how his attempt to create an illusion had brought the stitched woman and the dangerous passage into being.
• Angel decided to destroy the illusion's core node in his heart, accepting that doing so would injure his physical organs.

Angel destroyed the heart illusion node and collapsed from severe internal injuries, but Lord Ollie healed him. The illusion nodes vanished without changing the Nightmare Domain or its passage, leaving Angel unsure how to proceed as more strange figures arrived.

• Angel's attempt to destroy the heart node caused his organs to fail, and he collapsed unconscious.
• In the outer hall, Twilight tried to send a Dusk Defense Squad member through the mist, but Sanders forbade anyone from entering until Angel finished his task.
• Five armed card guards emerged from the mist and attacked; the wizards helped defeat four, while the invisible Joker card disappeared.
• Angel woke as Lord Ollie healed his injuries, but he found that destroying the illusion nodes had not changed the Nightmare Domain or its passage.
• Angel addressed the owl as Mr. Owl, then apologized after it pecked him and insisted that he be called Lord Ollie.
• A harp-playing red fox and an aria-singing green frog approached, and Angel began to form an idea.

Angel tried to exploit Aoli’s goodwill to learn about the entrance, then discovered that the Nightmare Realm’s performers and officials bore the names of Pat Manor’s servants. The chapter left Angel still seeking a way to widen the entrance as Fox and Frog’s performance incapacitated most of the gathered crowd.

• Angel flattered Fox and Frog, who addressed him as Lord Shava, and learned that Ye Lio and Mana were also involved in the Queen’s procession.
• Aoli listed the procession’s performers, and Angel recognized their names as belonging to people from Pat Manor, including Aoli.
• Angel claimed that he had forgotten how to widen the entrance and blamed his confusion on the filthy outside world, persuading Aoli to stop suspecting him.
• Fox and Frog performed before the crowd, and Frog’s song froze nearly everyone while Fox’s harp caused them to act disgracefully.

Angel’s theatrical farewell coincided with the white mist vanishing, leaving the wizards to question him about the monsters and the terrifying presence they had sensed. Sanders stopped Twilight from using a Truth Spell on Angel and urged the others to forget what they had witnessed, while Angel denied responsibility for the three deaths.

• Twilight used Fular’s Tears to put the apprentices to sleep, and Sanders discovered a weak point in the Nightmare Domain’s space.
• A terrifying aura filled the hall and spoke to someone named Shava; Cooper speculated that its owner might be beyond the legendary level.
• Angel spoke dramatically to Aoli as the white mist vanished into the wound on his shoulder, then claimed a Demonic Beast had controlled his movements.
• The wizards questioned Angel about the mist and monsters, and Twilight tried to force answers from him with a Truth Spell.
• Sanders interrupted Twilight and told the wizards to treat the events as a play, while Angel denied killing the three guards whose corpses lay nearby.

Angel faced questions over the deaths and disruption at the Twilight Auction Hall, while Lydia argued that the dead had brought their fate upon themselves. Sanders agreed to compensate the auction with one hundred thousand magic crystals, healed Toby, and said the wizards could leave once Angel bore responsibility for the Nightmare Realm.

• Twilight demanded an explanation from Angel for the deaths, but Lydia argued that the three victims had caused their own deaths by attacking the Clown Cards and Teacup Band.
• Sanders concluded that Angel was not responsible for the deaths, though he agreed to pay Twilight one hundred thousand magic crystals for disrupting the auction.
• Angel reunited with Little Red, found Toby badly injured, and asked Sanders to heal it; Sanders stabilized Toby and warned Angel not to act recklessly again.
• Angel told Sanders he had sealed the passage and persuaded the wizard-level owl doll to return, while Sanders said the vanished Demonic Beasts had likely left the Nightmare Realm.
• Sanders took responsibility for dealing with the Teacup Band and Block Soldiers, then told Angel that the Nightmare Realm had arisen because of him and that Angel had to bear it before they could leave.

Sanders explained that Angel had to bear the nightmare domain he created, warning that the dangerous process could blur reality and illusion. As they prepared to begin, Angel asked Sanders to bid on the Eyeless Man for Toby, but backed out when he learned the price might exceed two hundred thousand magic crystals.

• Sanders explained that bearing a nightmare domain would merge it with Angel and greatly strengthen his illusions, but could kill him if he could not distinguish reality from illusion.
• Sanders told Angel that the nightmare domain had to be borne by its creator and demanded repayment for the crystals and materials needed to sever it.
• Angel left Sanders his Bone Card and asked him to collect his auction winnings if the auction ended before the process did.
• Angel asked Sanders to bid on the Eyeless Man for Toby, then withdrew the request after hearing the possible price and asked Sanders to remember the buyer instead.

A strange white mist engulfed Dusk's inner venue, making its occupants disappear from view while Dedewiya and other wizards searched for them. The mist eventually cleared, the auction resumed, and Sanders watched over an unconscious Angel as the Eyeless Man's bidding continued.

• Dedewiya entered the fog-shrouded venue, found it apparently empty, and ordered the wizards to search the building and prevent anyone outside from leaving.
• Wizards saw strange clowns and heard a frog and fox perform, whose music and song stirred sinister feelings before the creatures vanished.
• The fog faded and the crowd reappeared; Twilight explained the incident to Dedewiya, who ordered her to continue the auction.
• Twilight restarted the auction with Gloria's Barbie Restaurant waiter as the 172nd item, while the Eyeless Man remained caged and faced private room No. 19.
• Flora joined Sanders in private room No. 19 and complained about his treatment of Angel as Sanders watched the Eyeless Man's bid climb to 100,000 magic crystals.

Sanders and Flora discussed whether Gloria might still be alive while bidding for the Eyeless Man, but Lydia won him and invited Sanders to dinner. The auction then revealed the mysterious Grudge Doll, whose bidding began at 100,000 magic crystals with minimum increases of the same amount.

• Sanders questioned whether Gloria was truly dead, and Flora said she believed Gloria had died in the Nightmare Realm.
• Sanders told Flora that Felicia had visited the Radiant Realm with Prada the Stargazer before they went to the Magnificent Plane, raising questions about Gloria's fate.
• Lydia won the Eyeless Man and invited Sanders to dinner, while she and Flora traded barbs and Dedewiya told Twilight to continue the auction.
• Twilight presented a cloth doll called the Grudge Doll, and formal wizards recognized it as a mysterious item.
• Twilight opened bidding on the Grudge Doll at 100,000 magic crystals, with each bid required to increase by at least 100,000.

Angel woke after the Gorgeous Nightmare Realm fused with his body and discovered he had been unconscious for only three hours. He returned to Dusk Deep Well, reunited with David and Promi, and confirmed that Toby was safe.

• Angel remained semi-conscious while the auction ended and Sanders carried him into his Wizard Garden.
• Angel woke in Sanders's Wizard Garden, and Sanders dropped him from the sky before leaving for Savage Cave.
• Angel used a wind tornado to land safely, checked that his auction purchases and Toby were with him, and returned to Dusk Deep Well.
• David and Promi explained that Toby had disappeared after they were knocked unconscious, and Angel revealed that Toby was sleeping in his pocket.
• Angel told David and Promi what had happened and promised Promi that he would try to inscribe Overture of Annihilation.

Angel learned that Sanders had bought the mysterious Grudge Doll and told David and Promi a story about how a crude silverfish castle became a mysterious item. As Promi began explaining who Lydia was, someone appeared on the stairs and asked whether Lord Red Lotus had arrived in Night Demon City.

• David told Angel that Sanders had bought the Grudge Doll for nearly seven million magic crystals at the auction.
• Angel recounted Feiwenda’s story of a black-spotted silverfish whose castle became a mysterious item after its creator died.
• Promi and Angel speculated about how mysterious items came into being, while Promi warned David that not all of them were valuable.
• Angel asked Promi who Lydia was, and a person peering around the stairs asked whether Lord Red Lotus had arrived in Night Demon City.

Angel let Anada and Huibidon leave after realizing their knowledge of Lord Red Lotus could bring trouble, then stayed up discussing alchemy with Promi and David. In the morning, Angel went with Promi to look for materials, while Lydia met the two consignors from Cloud Six.

• Anada apologized after Huibidon eavesdropped, and Angel asked why they had stayed after breaking his illusion.
• Angel allowed Anada to take Huibidon home, and Promi and Angel suspected the pair's connection to Lord Red Lotus could bring trouble.
• Angel, Promi, and David discussed alchemy through the night, including Angel's music box.
• Anada left without revealing what she had wanted to tell Angel, and Angel later told David that she led a band of pickpockets.
• Angel went with Promi to search alchemy shops for the remaining materials needed for a spatial item.
• At the Twilight Auction Hall, Lydia received the two wizard apprentices who had consigned Cloud Six.

Lydia learned that Dais had found Land in the Clouds among her magical servant’s belongings and planned to visit Savage Cave to question her. Meanwhile, Angel was ambushed by Dusk Guards, and his illusion unexpectedly revealed the Gorgeous Nightmare Realm and a voice from the Teacup Band.

• Lydia threatened Dais until she explained that she had taken Land in the Clouds from her Moon Bell orchid spirit, which had tried to stop her.
• Lydia learned Dais and Anna were from Savage Cave and said she would question Dais’s magical servant there herself.
• A Dusk Guard and four apprentices confronted Angel and accused him of killing their friend, while Twilight watched from nearby.
• Flora arrived and warned Twilight that pushing Angel too far could endanger them all because of the pressure beyond the legendary level.
• Angel used a mist illusion to fight the attackers and discovered the Gorgeous Nightmare Realm had appeared within his illusion.
• Angel heard a strange childlike voice coming from the Teacup Band in the Gorgeous Nightmare Realm.

Angel used a customized illusion to humiliate the Dusk apprentices who had tried to intercept him, but Twilight killed one of her own subordinates and swore revenge. Back in his room, Angel studied the Gorgeous Nightmare Realm and its strange inhabitants, who called him “Shava,” then prepared to test how the realm interacted with illusions.

• Angel freed Promi from the fog, sent him away, and left the Dusk apprentices trapped in tailored spring-dream illusions.
• Twilight and Flora watched the aftermath; when Twilight woke an apprentice and he made an indecent remark, she killed him and blamed Angel for insulting a wizard’s dignity.
• Angel returned to Promi and David, agreed to leave Dusk Deep Well that day, and decided to attend the seven o’clock opera before the nine o’clock airship.
• Angel spread a blank illusion in his room and examined the Gorgeous Nightmare Realm, where the Teacup Band and Block Soldiers joyfully called him “Shava.”
• Angel considered how to combine the Nightmare Realm with illusions and began an experiment to pull the realm into the blank illusion.