Chapter Summaries

Angel gave Broy and Guy an illusion recording of Uriel’s reactions so they could choose the best score, then met Saliel and her companion, Tonga, in the waking world. Tonga turned out to be Oil Badger, a former Barbie Restaurant employee Angel had once encountered while naked, and Angel learned Bauxia had rescued him.

• Angel told Broy that “Three Chapters of Sbro” had raised his ranking by one seat and gave him an illusion recording of Uriel’s expressions to analyze.
• Broy summoned Guy, and the two concluded that Uriel preferred the final chapter, though they debated which of twenty matching scores to select.
• Angel logged out and met Saliel and a short, round man named Tonga, who admitted he had once secretly seen Angel through a hidden hole while Angel was undressed.
• Angel recognized Tonga as Oil Badger, a gourmet wizard who had worked at Barbie Restaurant preparing edible oils.
• Oil Badger told Angel that Bauxia had rescued him after Barbie Restaurant suffered its mishap.

Angel learned that Oil Badger had stayed with Bauxia out of gratitude and affection for Saliel, despite having lost contact with the Candy House. He accepted Bauxia’s original manuscript on a special extraction method, then assigned Saliel and Oil Badger tasks connected to his hat-making plans.

• Angel questioned Oil Badger about why he had not returned to the Candy House or contacted Gloria, and learned that Bauxia had rescued him and that he had remained to repay her.
• Saliel explained that Oil Badger had already repaid Bauxia by producing valuable essential oils, while Angel realized that Oil Badger and Saliel cared for each other.
• Angel decided to tell Gloria about Oil Badger and Bauxia’s interest in life alchemy, but left Oil Badger to decide for himself whether to contact the Candy House.
• Angel accepted Bauxia’s original manuscript and experimental records for the special extraction method, intended for Qili.
• Angel confirmed that Saliel would serve as his assistant and asked her to buy leather and yarn materials for refining hats.

Angel commissioned Oil Badger to distill an unusual essential-oil formula, hoping to turn it into Beacon fragrance and use it to locate Dong Liz in the Reincarnation Box. After entering the Dream Wilderness, Angel found Broy and Guy still debating which music Uriel preferred.

• Angel gave Oil Badger a strange essential-oil formula and ten thousand magic crystals, then sent him and Saliel to gather materials and attempt the distillation.
• Olao recalled seeing a similar formula commissioned by Margaret and said she had made its resulting fragrance for her master, though only she could smell it.
• Angel explained that he hoped Beacon fragrance on Dong Liz's hat might let him find her in the Reincarnation Box while exploring through the Void Illusion Gate.
• Olao chose to stay with Wood Spirit, and Angel returned to the deep quiet room before logging into the Dream Wilderness.
• Angel found Broy and Guy still arguing over three remaining pieces of sheet music, having agreed that Uriel preferred the final chapter of Three Chapters of Sbro but not what kind of satisfaction he favored.

Broy and Guy repeatedly watched the Three Chapters of Sbro but could not decide which preference best explained Uriel’s gaze, leaving Angel to wait for their verdict. Meanwhile, Cameron’s critique helped Gloria rethink her approach to creating life, and Angel’s message revealed that Oil Badger was safe with Bauxia and Saliel, prompting Gloria to consider contacting Bauxia about Genesis.

• Broy and Guy argued over whether blazing thrill or secret delight better matched Uriel’s gaze, then rewatched the performance from the beginning without reaching a conclusion.
• Cameron rated Gloria’s creatures and explained that extraordinary abilities needed to develop through natural evolutionary logic and life cycles.
• Cameron studied Moss Baby, a first-generation Dream Plant Fairy whose Mother Tree energy system baffled him.
• Gloria read Angel’s message and learned that Bauxia had rescued Oil Badger, who was now with Angel alongside Saliel.
• Gloria decided she was willing to discuss Genesis with Bauxia, reasoning that she no longer feared being led astray and owed Bauxia for saving Oil Badger.

Angel discussed Oil Badger and Moss Baby with Gloria, then warned Leon about the dangers of the Long-Distance Mission. Broy and Guy eventually selected “Black Sheep Confession Song” for Uriel after finding a clue in his reaction to religious music.

• Gloria told Angel she would visit Sky Mechanical City to meet Oil Badger, and Cameron declined to score Moss Baby but received permission to study it.
• Angel learned Leon had been improving through Sky Tower battles and teaching Maid Aoli, then warned him and his acquaintances not to join the Long-Distance Mission.
• Angel left Broy and Guy to study Uriel’s seat-selection illusion while he worked on the Unbreakable Heart Mirror.
• Broy and Guy chose “Black Sheep Confession Song” after noticing Uriel looked irritated during a religious passage in the first chapter of “Three Chapters of Sbro.”

Broy and Guy chose “Black Sheep Confession Song” to test whether religious resistance could stir Uriel during seat-setting, while Angel agreed to help Luigi practice it. Luigi planned to use a time-altering haunted house in Pipi Castle, but Angel learned that Mirror Ghosts would attack visitors there.

• Broy and Guy selected “Black Sheep Confession Song,” believing its defiance of religious authority might reach Uriel’s heart.
• Angel accepted the score for the next seat-setting and promised to share the resulting visions with Broy and Guy if they did not reach one of the top three seats.
• Luigi said he needed more practice with the song’s emotions and planned to visit Pipi Castle to see his friend Babaregon and use Shoke’s Haunted House to gain extra practice time.
• Angel agreed to accompany Luigi and create illusions to help him enter the song’s oppressive atmosphere.
• Laplace warned Angel that Mirror Ghosts attacked visitors inside Shoke’s Haunted House, and Luigi admitted that the haunted house came with real danger.

Luigi explained the limits of Shoke's Haunted House, and Angel agreed to help him practice the Black Sheep Confession Song inside it. Angel and Luigi traveled toward Pipi Castle as Laplace and Gleipnir headed for Crystal City, and Angel spotted the Hundred Dragons Divine Kingdom near the Undying Mirror Sea.

• Luigi explained that Shoke's Haunted House slowed perceived time but spawned increasingly strong Mirror Ghosts, and Angel agreed to help him practice the Black Sheep Confession Song there.
• Angel and Luigi left the Heart Space for Pipi Castle, while Laplace and Gleipnir set out for Crystal City and Rabbit Girl stayed behind to guard the Heart Space.
• Angel and Luigi traveled through the Mirror Corridor toward the Undying Mirror Sea and saw many mirror-dwelling races heading to the gathering, including Scarlet Lantern Banshees from Grudge Woman Town.
• Luigi explained that Pirus had invited the Scarlet Lantern Banshees because they brought rare goods, and Angel said the Login Device would be presented as a joint project with Laplace.
• Angel saw a rainbow-lit Dome emerge from the Undying Mirror Sea, and Luigi identified it as the Hundred Dragons Divine Kingdom.

Angel and Luigi discussed why the Hundred Dragons Divine Kingdom had moved away from the Undying Mirror Sea and how Babaregon had fallen out with it. The chapter left them searching for Pipi Castle while heading toward Crystal City.

• Luigi explained that the Hundred Dragons Divine Kingdom moved away to keep its curious young Mirror Dragons from sneaking into the gathering, though adult dragons could still attend.
• Angel considered using the Dream Crystal Plain to safely satisfy young dragons’ curiosity, but recognized that it needed more appealing places and activities.
• Luigi explained that the Mirror Dragons disliked the Pirus because Babaregon, a small Multi-Headed Dragon from the Hundred Dragons Divine Kingdom, lived in Pipi Castle.
• Luigi revealed that Babaregon left the kingdom after other young dragons mocked his small size, and that he later received the Dragon God Mark, a sign of great potential.
• Luigi said the kingdom blamed the Pirus for drawing Babaregon away, though its leaders understood that Babaregon himself chose not to return.
• Laplace and Gleipnir continued on to Crystal City while Angel and Luigi searched for Pipi Castle and resumed their conversation.

Angel and Luigi reached Pipi Castle to meet Babaregon, but found only the Pirus guard Duoyi on duty. After Duoyi alternated between threatening them and groveling, he registered them and gave them passes, and they entered the castle to find Babaregon.

• Angel asked Luigi about Babaregon’s relationship with the Hundred Dragons Divine Kingdom and learned that it had not left Pipi Castle in over a decade while researching a secret project.
• Luigi connected the Mirror Corridor to Pipi Castle, where Duoyi confronted them and arrogantly called them lowly humans.
• Luigi mentioned Little Labi and Gudan, frightening Duoyi into apologizing and theatrically kneeling and pretending to slap himself.
• Duoyi explained that Little Labi and Gudan were away at Crystal City, then agreed to register Angel and Luigi and contact Babaregon.
• Duoyi returned with passes after Babaregon learned of their arrival, and Angel and Luigi entered Pipi Castle.

Angel and Luigi traveled through Pipi Castle, learning how its pollution, air taxes, and invention culture shaped the city. They reached the inner city by railcar to visit Babaregon, while Luigi began explaining why dental clinics and dye shops were so common.

• Angel saw the polluted transition zone and learned from Luigi about the air tax and Duke Pi Xiu’s support for commoner inventions.
• Luigi explained that Duke Pi Xiu had promoted invention among ordinary Pirushu and helped bring the Pirushu to support the multi-race gathering.
• A Pirushu guard tried to charge Luigi and Angel for a railcar, but Luigi refused and the guard arranged their ride anyway.
• Angel and Luigi rode an aerial railcar through the outer city, where most shops were closed and dye shops and dental clinics were especially common.
• Luigi said Babaregon had explained that most Pirushu’s teeth were fine, but their brains were the problem.

Luigi explained how red-skinned Pirus set fashions that green-skinned Pirus copied, including tooth-dyeing, as Angel and Luigi traveled into Pipi Castle’s inner city. Luigi then speculated that Babaregon was helping Sage Pika develop armed war machines, and the pair continued toward Babaregon’s territory.

• Luigi told Angel that red-skinned Pirus formed the wealthy class and dictated fashions, while green-skinned Pirus imitated them, including dyeing their teeth.
• Luigi recounted how tooth-dyeing began among red-skinned Pirus and described it as a custom rooted in discrimination against green-skinned Pirus.
• The rail carriage received authorization from a city guard and entered Pipi Castle’s inner-city isolation barrier, where Angel saw Grand Duke Pi Xiu’s castle and learned about the Eye of Thunder.
• Luigi told Angel that Sage Pika was researching armed war machines and reasoned that he and Babaregon were likely collaborating on them.
• Luigi suggested Angel ask Babaregon about his research, but Angel ignored the suggestion as they approached Babaregon’s territory.

Luigi and Angel visited Babaregon to enter Shoke's Haunted House, and Angel learned why Luigi had avoided it and met the tiny multi-headed dragon. Babaregon brought out the haunted house as a palm-sized crystal, and Luigi and Angel were poised to enter it.

• Luigi and Angel entered Babaregon's brightly lit laboratory after convincing its eye-lamp sentry to let them in.
• Luigi explained that he had avoided the haunted house because Babaregon wanted to name it after him, and Babaregon revealed Shoke's full name was Shoke Luigi Robinau.
• Babaregon recognized the Flame Mark of an Abyss Flame Dragon on Angel, greeted him as a potential friend, and showed its tiny secondary heads and babyish main voice.
• Babaregon described the laboratory corridors and led Luigi and Angel to a guest room where they could enter the haunted house.
• Babaregon placed a palm-sized black cube on the table and identified it as Shoke's Haunted House.

Luigi and Angel entered Shoke's Haunted House, found its cellar safe house, and learned that it extended time perception rather than changing time itself. Angel created illusions to protect the cellar and immerse Luigi in practicing "Black Sheep Confession Song," while they waited for the mirror ghosts.

• Babaregon used Aggregation Energy to open the crystal entrance, and Luigi and Angel stepped into the haunted house.
• Luigi explained that they had to find a safe house before the mirror ghosts broke through the mirrored barrier, and Angel found a concealed cellar entrance.
• Angel studied the cellar's rainbow light film before Luigi explained that it was only an outward manifestation of the haunted house's time-related power.
• Angel entered the cellar and understood that its mysterious charm extended time perception, allowing one cellar hour to feel like thirty-six hours outside.
• Angel built a mist illusion to hinder mirror ghosts and a story-driven illusion for Luigi, who became immersed in the priest's role while practicing the song.

Angel wondered why Shoke's haunted house made visitors search for a safe house, then looked for Shoke's diary in the cellar but found no hidden space. As the Mirror Ghosts grew more numerous and showed signs of greater potential, Angel strengthened his illusion while Luigi improved his performance of "Black Sheep Confession Song."

• Angel considered whether searching for the safe house was a ritual or a recreation of Shoke's panicked escape, then recalled that Shoke's diary should appear in each safe house.
• Angel searched the cellar for the diary, first probing with spiritual tentacles and then tapping the floor and walls with his cane, but found no concealed space.
• A Wand Ghost entered through the ceiling and became trapped in Angel's Mist Illusion, after which Angel checked its entrance point for a hidden space.
• Three Mirror Ghosts appeared on the second day: a fast, faceless humanoid and two weak Bedsheet Ghosts that Angel suspected could merge.
• Angel covered the cellar with more illusion nodes and continued searching the ceiling, while Luigi's "Black Sheep Confession Song" became markedly more expressive on the third day.

Angel continued searching the cellar for Shoke's diary while Luigi practiced the Black Sheep Confession Song, and the third wave of Mirror Ghosts attacked in successive groups. After Luigi trapped the Light Calamity, Angel prepared to investigate the spot beneath Luigi's seat.

• Angel realized that the cellar's center, where Luigi had been sitting, was the one conspicuous place he had not searched, but he waited for Luigi to finish practicing.
• The first wave of Mirror Ghosts included merging black and white Bedsheet Ghosts, which became a powerful Bald Demon that Angel trapped in his mist.
• Angel countered the Mirror-Holding Banshee's Danger Mirror Space by filling its mirror with an expanding illusory boulder, then redirected the trapped banshee to absorb the spreading Light Calamity.
• Luigi finished practicing early, identified the Light Calamity, and trapped it in a cage of black mirror-faced square steles.
• Angel told Luigi that he no longer needed help with his task, leaving Luigi confused as Angel prepared to act.

Angel found and read Shoke's diary, then theorized that the mirror ghosts had driven Shoke into the secret room as part of a ritual that might not be complete. He left the haunted house after discovering that its exit offered a choice that could also be a ritual step.

• Angel uncovered a hidden compartment beneath the tile where Luigi had been sitting and found Shoke's diary inside.
• Angel read all thirteen entries and noticed that Shoke had survived ten days in the Mirror Ghost Domain despite being an ordinary person.
• Angel proposed that the mirror ghosts had guided Shoke to the secret room for a ritual, with the mysterious figure in Shoke's final entry presiding over it.
• Angel and Luigi considered whether the ritual might still be unfinished and whether completing it could change the haunted house.
• Angel touched the cellar's light membrane, learned he could either leave the haunted house or return to the ground outside, and chose to leave.

After Angel uncovered a possible ritual hidden in the Haunted House, Babaregon promised to investigate and asked how it could stay in contact with him. Luigi gave Babaregon a Dream Crystal Plain Login Device disguised as a pacifier, then left with Angel for the gathering of multiple races.

• Luigi teased Babaregon by tugging its exposed gelatinous tail, then told it Angel had found something strange in the Haunted House.
• Angel explained that the redundant step of finding the safe house might be connected to a ritual, leading Babaregon to suspect Shoke's arrival in the Ghost Domain had been deliberately arranged.
• Babaregon thanked Angel and said it would investigate the Haunted House, asking whether it could consult Angel about ritual studies.
• Luigi gave Babaregon a Bobo Pacifier Login Device so it could contact them, and explained that the device would connect it to the Dream Crystal Plain.
• Babaregon learned Luigi and Angel planned to present their unregistered Login Devices at the gathering, then watched them leave for it.

After leaving Pipi Castle, Angel and Luigi traveled through the Undying Mirror Sea toward Crystal City, where they joined the VIP queue for the gathering. A Mirror Dragon confronted Luigi and asked to see Babaregon, and Luigi offered a way to arrange it at the gathering without appearing himself.

• Robbers disguised as a red-skinned Pirus attacked Angel and Luigi inside Pipi Castle, but Luigi subdued them and summoned the city defense guards.
• Luigi explained that the carriage’s colored buttons summoned guards with different levels of responsiveness and that the Pirus used artificial Golden Silk Stomach Pouches to store objects.
• Angel and Luigi left Pipi Castle, discovered it had moved, and traveled by Mirror Corridor toward Crystal City.
• They joined the VIP queue at Crystal City and Angel observed the many powerful races attending the gathering.
• A Mirror Dragon recognized Luigi and demanded to see Babaregon, but Luigi refused to guide it directly.
• After Angel confirmed Babaregon was online, Luigi told the Mirror Dragon he could arrange a meeting at the gathering without showing himself.

Angel and Luigi entered Crystal City’s frozen wasteland, where Luigi helped a group of young Tooth Fairies reach safety in a borrowed crystal shell. As they continued toward the gathering, Luigi explained that the Cave Dragon Kukulus had once mocked Babaregon for his small size but now eagerly sought to see him.

• Luigi warmed a shivering group of young Tooth Fairies with his harp and explained that they had secretly followed Big Gold Tooth to Crystal City.
• Luigi scolded the Tooth Fairies for sneaking into the frozen wasteland, while Big Gold Tooth returned with a crystal shell to protect them.
• Luigi persuaded the Tooth Fairies to enter the crystal shell, and it floated away with them and Big Gold Tooth inside.
• Angel and Luigi continued toward Crystal City and observed the many races and temporary shelters gathered across the frozen wasteland.
• Luigi told Angel that the gigantic Mirror Dragon was Kukulus, a Cave Dragon and childhood playmate of Babaregon who had mocked his size but now wanted to see him.

Angel and Luigi traveled to Crystal City, where Luigi explained the Yingji Race’s Heartfire and the Crystal-Eyed Race’s Sacred Corpse Crystals. They reached the city and joined Laplace at a secluded entrance, where she told them Greipnir had gone to borrow a catalog for the gathering.

• Luigi explained that the eyeless Yingji Race used Heartfire to see, and Angel considered whether an alchemical item could let him use spiritual power.
• Luigi described how Crystal City was built from Unmelting Ice, Inextinguishable Frost, and Sacred Corpse Crystals, which might also pass on the dead Crystal-Eyed Race members’ abilities.
• Angel and Luigi arrived at the immense Crystal City and saw Laplace waiting at a secluded entrance.
• Laplace invited Angel and Luigi onto the platform, then told Angel that Greipnir had gone to borrow a catalog for the gathering.
• Angel wondered whether Greipnir could borrow a catalog, which combined displays, trading, and communication.