Chapter Summaries

Angel explained that the Time Thief had empowered Blood Night's Shelter, and Laplace tested its ability to block prying before accepting his answer. After Laplace left, Angel invited her to talk in the Mirror Realm, then discussed the Wise Sovereign's motives with the others and gave Wai an illusionary nose.

• Angel told Laplace that the Time Thief had compensated him by adding abilities to Blood Night's Shelter, including protection against prying.
• Laplace used her mirror-enhanced scrying to test the cloak, found herself blocked, and accepted Angel's answer despite lingering doubts.
• Laplace declined Angel's private invitation for the moment and told him to come to the Mirror Realm if he wanted to talk.
• Dox teased Angel about Laplace and then offered Wai a nose made from his bloodline, which Wai refused.
• Angel asked Black Earl why the Wise Sovereign had sent Laplace, and Black Earl said the visit was another attempt to gather information.
• Angel created an illusion of Wai's former nose, then looked down at the silent shadow on the ground.

Angel and the others debated who should keep Shepherd God's Twin Faces, and Angel left both masks with Dox for safekeeping. After discussing Kael’s bond with the remnant soul, the group discovered that Kael had vanished.

• Angel asked everyone who wanted Shepherd God's Twin Faces, and Kael declined because owning them could bring him trouble.
• Dox and Wai both said they wanted the masks, but Black Earl advised them to give them up because the Shepherd God Family could pursue whoever possessed them.
• Black Earl and Wai relinquished their claims, and Angel handed both masks to Dox to hold until Angel might need them for studying the Mirror Realm.
• Wai asked Kael whether he would fulfill the remnant soul’s obsession, and Kael wondered whether the soul had helped make him a talent bearer and whether their bond was real.
• Kael suggested he might fulfill the obsession if the remnant soul had helped him, then vanished from the group while they were walking.

Kael and Angel were pulled into Big One-Eye’s stomach, where Angel identified the creature as Gastly and negotiated with it. After they agreed to speak peacefully, Angel asked why Gastly had chosen Kael, leaving the question unanswered.

• Wai panicked when Kael and Angel disappeared, but Dox and Black Earl said the pair had entered a dog hole without sensing malice or danger.
• Angel and Kael found themselves trapped in a dark space where spiritual power was suppressed, and Angel used Ermi’s energy vision to locate a sphere of darkness.
• Angel recognized the sphere as Big One-Eye and called it Gastly; it projected an eye and mouth and explained that Second One-Eye would have tormented them instead.
• Angel explained how he had deduced Big One-Eye’s identity, and Gastly accepted his reasoning and agreed to speak with him.
• Angel asked why Gastly had chosen Kael from the group, and Gastly had not yet answered.

Angel learned why Gengar had captured Kael and negotiated with it for a way to test how they could survive the Nether Servant’s abilities without harming her. After Gengar agreed to ambush the group using its mother’s powers, Angel and Kael rejoined the others, where Angel hinted that Dox might become the subject of a Shadow Box experiment.

• Gengar explained that it had chosen Kael because the power of space surrounding him resembled the destruction mirror creatures feared, and admitted it had taken him as leverage to protect the Nether Servant.
• Angel and Gengar argued over a contract forbidding harm to the Nether Servant, since she might attack them and Gengar could not promise they would safely reach Wise Sovereign’s Hall.
• Angel proposed that Gengar simulate its mother’s abilities and ambush the group so they could find a way through; Gengar agreed and released Angel and Kael.
• Angel told the group about the agreement, and Dox joked that he wanted to watch the coming ambush and have it recorded.
• Angel threatened to make a Shadow Box using Second Treasure’s methods, leaving Dox confused and Kael pale with apprehension.

Gengar’s silent swallowing ability captured Wai, Kael, Dox, Black Earl, and Angel, but Angel used the Earth Vein Record to identify a possible lead. Inside Gengar’s body, Angel exposed and confronted the hidden Second One-Eye, leaving the group facing the One-Eye family’s next move.

• Gengar’s expanding hole swallowed Wai and Kael, then pulled Dox in when he tested it, while Angel and Black Earl recognized that the opening nullified strength and abilities.
• Black Earl used Earth Vein Record to track the magic array as Angel studied its patterns and tested them with an array plate.
• Black Earl leaped above the hole inside an Earth Force Field, but its energy patterns vanished and he fell in; after further analysis, Angel followed.
• Inside Gengar, Angel reunited with Wai, Dox, and Black Earl, then sensed a hidden presence and called out Second One-Eye.
• Second One-Eye appeared and questioned why Angel had exposed it, but Angel regained the initiative by teasing it about its name and asking whether it had come for the interception mission.

Angel explained how he had discovered One-Eye Second Treasure and negotiated a contract with Gengar, then used the magic energy array to limit Gengar and Second Treasure’s abilities. After they approved his method and let the group proceed, Gengar offered to extract Gray Merchant’s memories.

• Gengar explained that it needed Second Treasure’s help to expand the pit and nullify energy at the same time, and Angel hinted that his right eye had helped him find Second Treasure.
• Angel and Gengar agreed to a contract after Angel required Gengar to promise not to reveal his method, and Second Treasure checked the terms before they signed.
• Angel used the stone tablet and external array plates to observe and control the local energy flow as Gengar tested his method with sneak attacks on Kael and Angel.
• Angel’s control of the magic energy array kept the pit small and gave the group time to react, so Gengar and Second Treasure ended their attacks and approved his approach.
• Gengar and Second Treasure declared that Angel had passed and allowed the group to proceed, and Gengar offered to extract Gray Merchant’s memories using a newly made mirror.

Angel safely transferred Gray Merchant’s memories into a newly made mirror and explained how he had used the underground waterway’s magic energy array to suppress Gengar and Second Treasure’s engulfment ability. After Gengar and Second Treasure left, the group prepared for possible Nether Servants while Angel revealed he could have mobilized over a hundred energy veins.

• Second Treasure explained that Gray Merchant’s memories could be kept safely in a newly made mirror, and Angel made one while Gengar retrieved the memories.
• Angel transferred the memories into the mirror and reflected on whether Gray Merchant’s progress toward true knowledge came from loss or heartlessness.
• Gengar warned Angel not to let another person’s memories affect his judgment, then said the coming Time Doppelgängers probably would not include Childlike Heart before leaving with Second Treasure.
• Angel collected the external array disks, and Dox asked whether he would retrieve them if he used them against the Nether Servants; Angel offered to teach Dox to make them on Demon Illusion Island.
• Angel explained that he had borrowed the magic energy array’s strength to suppress the earthen holes and revealed that his array disks could have let him mobilize over a hundred energy veins.

Angel’s group prepared for an ambush, but Gengar and Second Treasure arrived with news that Nether Servant had ordered them to kill Angel specifically. Second Treasure questioned Angel about his purpose and why the Divine Maiden had singled him out, but the chapter ended with Angel still unable to explain the hostility.

• Angel detected an approaching threat, prepared an array plate, and ordered the group to get ready to break through.
• Gengar and Second Treasure appeared and told Angel that Nether Servant had sent only Motherly Heart to intercept the group at the fork.
• Second Treasure revealed that Nether Servant had ordered Angel killed if he could not be captured, while the others could be spared.
• Second Treasure questioned Angel about his purpose at the Legacy Site and his connection to the Divine Maiden, and Angel said his long-term aim would not harm the Underground Waterway.
• Dox suggested the Divine Maiden might have mistaken Angel for someone else or associated him with someone she hated, leaving Angel still bewildered about why he had been singled out.

Angel defended himself against Second Treasure and Gengar’s accusation that he had broken Childlike Heart’s finger, and showed them Childlike Heart’s threatening message. Gengar accepted that Childlike Heart had caused its own injury and apologized before leaving, while Second Treasure departed without resolving their disagreement.

• Second Treasure confronted Angel over Childlike Heart’s claim that he had broken its finger, and Angel revealed the blood-written threat Childlike Heart had left on a mirror.
• Second Treasure and Gengar reasoned that Childlike Heart had likely broken its own finger to write the message, and Angel confirmed that he had been outside the mirror realm.
• Black Earl confirmed that Childlike Heart had provoked Angel at the dressing mirror on the second floor and that Angel’s account was true.
• Second Treasure left after saying Angel had resolved its doubts, while Gengar stayed and apologized on Childlike Heart’s behalf.
• Angel accepted Gengar’s apology, and Gengar wished him a safe return from the Legacy Site before leaving.

Angel and his companions approached the Motherly Heart Nether Servant’s ambush point, preparing to use array discs to escape its trap. Elsewhere, the Wise Sovereign learned that Laplace had failed to deliver a message to Angel and grew more intrigued by Angel’s mysterious nature.

• Angel told Dox and the others how he had encountered the Childlike Heart Nether Servant, then led them toward the Motherly Heart Nether Servant.
• Angel secretly relied on his knowledge of the corridor to plan where to place the array discs, while pretending to infer the ambush’s location from the arrays.
• As the corridor grew dark and cramped, Dox sensed danger ahead, and Angel warned the group that a fork and the Nether Servant might be nearby.
• The Wise Sovereign questioned Laplace about her failed attempt to give Angel a message, and Laplace said she believed an alchemy item from Time Thief had concealed the tether.
• After Laplace departed, the Wise Sovereign reflected that Angel was an anomaly and hoped he might disrupt the Legacy Site’s established course.

Wise Sovereign discussed Laplace’s danger and the Heart’s Reflections she had performed for Adanis, while concealing his true thoughts and probing Adanis’s interests. He began a deliberately long report about Dox and Wai, then introduced Kael as the next person whose reflection he would discuss.

• Wise Sovereign welcomed the possibility that Angel could disrupt the stagnant order, then met with Adanis when she appeared in his mirror.
• Adanis warned Wise Sovereign that Laplace’s true body could awaken and purge stable mirror spaces, but he dismissed her concern.
• Adanis demanded the Heart’s Reflection results for people connected to the Legacy Site, and Wise Sovereign admitted Laplace had performed them.
• Wise Sovereign gave Adanis an extended account of Dox, using details and suspense about his teammates to keep her listening.
• Wise Sovereign then described Noah’s descendant Wai at length, despite Adanis’s impatience.
• After Adanis demanded someone interesting, Wise Sovereign summoned an illusion of Kael, the Seeker of the Past.

Adanis questioned the Wise Sovereign about Angel while watching him and his companions approach the Nether Servants, but the Wise Sovereign knew little about Angel and could not explain Adanis’s fixation on him. The chapter ended with the Wise Sovereign wondering whether Adanis’s interest was connected to another hidden figure in the Legacy Site.

• The Wise Sovereign recounted Kael’s role in beginning the underground waterways exploration, then gave Adanis Laplace’s parting words after she challenged his evasions.
• Adanis sought access to the magic energy arrays to watch Angel and his companions, and the Wise Sovereign displayed them on a transparent screen as they cautiously approached the Nether Servants.
• Angel appeared to look directly at the screen, prompting the Wise Sovereign to wonder whether he could see them, though he dismissed the possibility aloud.
• Adanis asked about Angel’s parting words, and the Wise Sovereign explained that Laplace’s Heart’s Reflection could not see him and that he knew little about Angel’s identity or purpose.
• The Wise Sovereign recalled the Mirror Demon God’s emblem and the rarely seen man associated with Augustine, suspecting Adanis’s interest in Angel might relate to him.

Adanis and the Wise Sovereign debated Angel’s abilities and his possible connection to the Mirror Princess while watching his group approach the Legacy Site. After Angel and the others entered the main hall, Adanis challenged him, and he openly dared her to come after him.

• Adanis questioned the Wise Sovereign about Angel’s abilities and accused him of going easy on Angel’s group, while he defended his cautious approach.
• The Wise Sovereign brought up the Mirror Princess, and Adanis said Laplace might eventually reach a similar level of power in the Mirror Realm.
• The Wise Sovereign struggled to adjust the monitoring image, and Angel’s group appeared in the main hall after passing the Nether Servant’s trial.
• Adanis accused the Wise Sovereign of helping the group, but he denied it and told her to ask the Nether Servant how they passed.
• Adanis demanded Angel explain his purpose at the Legacy Site and declared him unqualified to enter; Angel mocked her and dared her to hunt him down.

Adanis investigated how Angel had bypassed the Nether Servant and traced his array-carving style to Margaret’s legacy, which could explain Olao’s unusual regard for him. Still determined to keep Angel out of the Legacy Site, she returned to prepare while an immensely powerful otherworldly monster awaited his group.

• Adanis questioned the Nether Servant, who described how Angel’s group had passed the fork while she was unable to open the Hollow Abyss.
• The Nether Servant showed Adanis Angel’s discarded array disc, and Adanis realized he had redirected the magic energy array to restrain her.
• Adanis recognized that Angel’s carving habits resembled Margaret’s and concluded that he might be Margaret’s student, explaining Olao’s attitude.
• Adanis dismissed the possibility that Angel’s connection to Margaret would change her plans and decided he still had to be eliminated.
• Adanis returned to the Legacy Site to hold Olao back, expecting Angel’s group to face a powerful otherworldly monster after leaving the hall.

Wise Sovereign brought Angel and the others to a hidden study, where he explained the final test was to reach and leave the Legacy Site. He promised to answer their questions, then began gathering patterns of light in his palm.

• Angel and Wise Sovereign discussed Adanis, the Legacy Site, and Angel's plan to use magic energy arrays or a Planar Corridor to get through it.
• Wise Sovereign revealed a concealed passage behind a painting, and Angel realized the same bookcase in Abyss City might hide a passage of its own.
• Wise Sovereign showed the group his reading room and offered Angel a chance to visit his bedroom, which he regarded as a possible grave; Angel declined.
• Wise Sovereign said the group's final test was to reach the Legacy Site and successfully leave it, then promised to answer their questions.
• Wise Sovereign raised his hand, and patterns of light gathered in his palm.

The Wise Sovereign used the Truth Book to ask questions about the Legacy Site, the Clear Sky Poem Room, Olao, and the man in the Mirror Demon God emblem. Angel answered truthfully that he knew none of them, leaving the Wise Sovereign baffled about why Adanis targeted him and prompting the group to question whether Angel had an unseen source of information.

• The Wise Sovereign brought out the Truth Book and asked Black Earl whether the Noah Clan's records about the Legacy Site had vanished, then invited everyone to answer two yes-or-no questions.
• Black Earl and Angel wrote that they did not know the Clear Sky Poem Room, and the Wise Sovereign concluded that Noah's descendants had forgotten Augustine's story and that a woman's strategy had succeeded.
• Everyone answered that they had never heard of Olao, and the Wise Sovereign wondered why Adanis had targeted Angel if Angel truly knew nothing about Olao.
• The Wise Sovereign asked whether anyone had seen or contacted the man in the Mirror Demon God emblem, and the group recognized that Angel was likely the real target of the question.
• Black Earl answered verbally, signaling that the others should not help the Wise Sovereign interrogate Angel, but Angel wrote his answer in the Truth Book and declared that he had never seen or contacted the man.

Wise Sovereign explained that the Clear Sky Poem Room was the Legacy Site, built by Augustine and Margaret as a secret place to meet. After showing its known layout, he left open the possibility that Augustine had hidden chambers inside it.

• The Truth Book accepted Angel’s answer that he had never seen or contacted the man in the emblem, leaving Angel unsure whether the book judged absolute truth or answered through the Nightmare Realm’s owner.
• Wise Sovereign ended the true-or-false questions and identified the Clear Sky Poem Room as the Legacy Site Augustine had created.
• Wise Sovereign recounted how Margaret and Augustine fell in love and secretly exchanged poems, with Xixia first helping them pass messages.
• After Xixia merged with the box, Wise Sovereign helped Margaret and Augustine build the Clear Sky Poem Room and protected it as their secret meeting place.
• Wise Sovereign displayed the room’s known layout, noted that it had no bedroom and might contain secret chambers, while Angel sensed something unusual about it.

Angel inferred that Clear Sky Poem Room likely contained a hidden chamber where Augustine and Margaret could meet, and Wise Sovereign explained that Olao and Adanis were spirits tied to the site and its inheritance. Wise Sovereign began recounting Olao’s history, leaving off with his first sight of Adanis.

• Angel asked where Margaret and Augustine might have met, and Wise Sovereign confirmed Clear Sky Poem Room had once been open before closing to guests, supporting the idea that it held a secret place.
• Wise Sovereign identified the current owners of Clear Sky Poem Room as Adanis and Olao, explained how Adanis preferred to be addressed, and said he had not seen Olao for ten thousand years.
• Wise Sovereign asked the group to guess Olao and Adanis’s identities; Dox guessed they were connected to them, Black Earl guessed they guarded an inheritance, and Angel guessed they were spirits.
• Wise Sovereign said Olao had appeared in a bronze mirror about three months before Naraka fell, delivering Augustine’s invitation for Margaret to visit Clear Sky Poem Room.
• After Augustine and Margaret hurriedly left during Abyss City’s upheaval, Olao remained; years later, Wise Sovereign found him acting as Clear Sky Poem Room’s butler and saw Adanis for the first time.

The Wise Sovereign explained how his conflict with Adanis began over her raid on Warden Franklin’s residence and how they eventually signed a contract. He also shared his theories about Adanis and Olao, leaving the group with uncertainty about what Adanis took and her origins.

• The Wise Sovereign said Adanis had directed Mirror Demon God believers to damage Warden Franklin’s residence and break its magic energy arrays in search of the Warden’s treasure.
• The Wise Sovereign described confronting Adanis repeatedly before they signed a contract that gave him the Nether Servant and allowed him to raise the One-Eye Family.
• The Wise Sovereign told the Black Earl that he did not know what Adanis had taken, though she had promised to give Augustine’s belongings to Noah’s descendants.
• The Wise Sovereign speculated that Adanis was not native to the Mirror Realm and that Olao had lost his true body, possibly after Augustine or Margaret took it away.
• The Wise Sovereign recalled Olao introducing Adanis as his student and said Adanis disliked the name Augustine had given her.
• The Wise Sovereign said Adanis’s later attacks on Noah’s descendants showed that Olao had failed as her guide.

Wise Sovereign explained that he helped Angel and the others because he hoped they could break the Underground Waterway’s long-standing deadlock by reaching the Clear Sky Poem Room. He said they needed only to arrive and let events unfold, then answered questions about Olao, the Mirror Demon God, and the Abyss before Dox hinted he would seek Angel’s help.

• Black Earl challenged Wise Sovereign’s trust in Adanis, and Wise Sovereign said he valued her more than Olao and believed she had spared Noah’s descendants out of regard for him.
• Wise Sovereign said his core motive was change and explained that reaching the Clear Sky Poem Room could loosen the Underground Waterway’s deadlock, even if the group did nothing once there.
• Wise Sovereign said he had called someone familiar with the Clear Sky Poem Room’s current situation, then invited the group to ask questions while they waited.
• Wise Sovereign told Wai that he did not know why Adanis included Olao in the Mirror Demon God role, but thought she might have used his apparent approval to legitimize her actions.
• Angel said the Mirror Demon God mark represented both the inside and outside of a mirror, while Wise Sovereign said he knew of no Mirror Demon God on the Abyss’s Barren Face.
• Wai mocked Dox for lacking information about the wider world, and Dox quietly implied he had decided to seek Angel’s help.