Chapter Summaries

Angel left his courtyard for the Source of Flow, carrying Toby and the newly refined Snow-Kissed Feather. On the way, he considered Toby’s unusual origins and the possibility of creating original spells, then entered the lake with Bais’s record card to reach the Alternate-Dimension Laboratory.

• Zhulington tried to stop Angel with gifts, but Angel invoked Sanders and continued on his way.
• Angel released Toby on the vine bus and explained that Snow-Kissed Feather was a nine-cubic-meter spatial tool he had made for him.
• Angel learned that Gloria’s Creation Art had produced Toby with intelligence, magic power, and an innate love of colorful clothing.
• Angel wondered whether he could turn the knowledge of Earth civilization into self-created spells.
• At the Source of Flow, Angel used Bais’s record card and stepped into the lake to enter the Alternate-Dimension Laboratory.

Angel entered the Source of Flow, where Iron Armor Granny introduced him to Iron Armor Fort and the rules governing its alternate-dimension laboratories. He reached his own spacious laboratory, Number 13, and began moving in his alchemy materials.

• Angel activated his record card, and Iron Armor Granny arrived in the metal shack called Iron Armor Fort to take him into the Source of Flow.
• Iron Armor Granny explained that Savage Cave had 102 official wizards, whose laboratories were off-limits, and warned Angel about the dangers and rules of the area.
• Iron Armor Granny brought Angel to laboratory Number 13 and left him there, noting that no one lived within a hundred miles.
• Angel inspected the laboratory, found its advanced alchemy equipment and specialized storage facilities, and woke Toby to help move his materials inside.

Angel completed the two-track crafting of a spatial ring and entered an alchemical omen that tested him in a silent, unfamiliar land. After following a lonely road, he reached a lively town and wondered what the omen expected him to overcome.

• Angel spent two days practicing two-track operation, then spent another two days crafting while inscribing Boundless Silence and the Contract Rune at once.
• Angel fused the two enchantments using the Cold Condensation Method, completed the ring, and was transported to a dim Annihilation Land.
• Angel recalled that alchemical omens tested their creators and realized he could not use magic power in the silent landscape.
• Angel followed the only road through the darkness and reached a bustling town filled with people singing, dancing, and celebrating.
• Angel avoided the townspeople’s invitations and wondered whether the town was a test shaped by the spatial ring’s characteristics.

Angel chose the Boundless Silence magic energy array for the spatial bracelet and learned that its concealment effect could help him pass a trial by keeping the townspeople from noticing him. As he began leaving the town, the bracelet’s crafting caused a concealed anomaly near No. 13 Otherworldly Laboratory, which Iron Armor Granny recognized as the work of an alchemical item.

• Angel selected Boundless Silence because it could hide a spatial item and weaken its user’s presence.
• In the phenomenon, Angel realized that drawing the townspeople’s attention would make him fail the trial, so he discarded a calla lily and continued down the town’s only street without being noticed.
• Angel completed the Cold Condensation Method while holding the ancient bracelet, which began emitting a strange aura.
• Iron Armor Granny sensed abnormal gusts near No. 13 Otherworldly Laboratory and identified them as a concealed anomaly caused by Angel’s new item.
• Iron Armor Granny praised Angel’s cleverness and wondered whether Sanders had changed because of Wallace.

Angel completed the anomalous omen trial and finished binding the space bracelet, then left the Source of Flow with Toby. After asking whether any anomalous omens had appeared during his alchemy, he learned that only nonstop wind had occurred.

• Angel crossed the town, forest, and plain, resisted turning back during the explosion, and returned to the anomaly's starting point, where he found a black gate.
• Angel passed through the gate and completed the space bracelet, binding it to himself and testing its concealment and storage effects.
• Angel rested, found that the Void Algae had built a small nest inside the bracelet, and discovered that the Outer Eye could not be stored there without collapsing its interior space.
• Angel comforted Toby, promised to visit Toby's little companion, and left the Source of Flow aboard Iron Armor Fort.
• Angel activated Boundless Silence's Detachment effect and asked Toby about anomalous omens during his alchemy; Toby said only the wind had blown nonstop.

Lydia visited Mirror Princess, and the two compared music boxes before discussing Angel and Sanders. Their conversation ended when Lydia received an urgent message that Night Demon City had fallen into a ghostly domain and the Moya clan was in grave peril.

• Lydia visited Mirror Princess and teased her about rumors that she had once loved a great being.
• Lydia showed Mirror Princess Cloud No. 6, claiming Sanders had given it to her, and Mirror Princess revealed that Angel had made it.
• Mirror Princess told Lydia about Angel’s alchemical talent, while Lydia described how Angel had provoked Dusk and been rescued by Sanders.
• Lydia received a blood-sacrifice message from the Moya clan pleading for help because Night Demon City had fallen into a ghostly domain.

Angel visited Nausicaa to record the measurements needed for her mechanical prosthetic limb and let her design its appearance, though he took over after finding her drawing incomprehensible. After evading the crowd outside his home, he followed Toby into the mountains near 1st Apprentice Town to meet Toby’s mysterious companion, but his concealment suddenly trembled.

• Angel visited Nausicaa, recorded her sensitive physical and magical data, and promised to keep it safe.
• Nausicaa designed a prosthetic limb based on the past, present, and future, but Angel took over the practical design after seeing her drawing.
• Angel, Nausicaa, and Serum shared a meal at the Butterfly Bar.
• Angel packed away his valuables, evaded the crowd around his home, and followed Toby out of 8th Apprentice Town.
• Toby led Angel toward the mountains beyond 1st Apprentice Town to meet a companion that Angel suspected might be a Magic Beast.
• Angel’s Detachment suddenly trembled in the mountains, making him wonder whether someone had noticed or divined his location.

Angel sensed someone using a powerful method to locate him, but the visitor turned out to be Tree Spirit Lord. Meanwhile, Lydia and Mirror Princess learned that Night Demon City had become a ghost domain and discovered that a rapidly spreading infection might have reached Dusk Deep Well.

• Angel called Toby back, gave him Demon Illusion Island's flight slip, and told him to hide and flee if Angel was attacked.
• Lydia and Mirror Princess learned from Tebiqiu's blood-sacrifice message that Night Demon City had fallen into a ghost domain, and Mirror Princess sought Tree Spirit's help.
• Lydia used her essence blood and Mirror Princess's energy to contact Tebiqiu through an alchemical puppet while the Moya clan sacrificed the mutated Huo Rui.
• Tebiqiu told Lydia that the infection had driven people mad and that no wizards had emerged from Dusk Deep Well.
• Tebiqiu reported seeing a mad female wizard flying on a broom, leading Lydia and Mirror Princess to call for Night Demon City's immediate quarantine.

Lydia and Mirror Princess discovered that the strange mutations in Night Demon City were likely caused by a parasite, not a contagious disease, and learned the city was almost entirely overrun. After Tebiqiu was infected and Huibidon’s identity was exposed at Tree Spirit Hall, Lydia warned the Tree Spirit that Dusk might have fallen and sought help investigating the threat.

• Lydia and Mirror Princess watched a glowing parasite leave Huo Rui’s corpse and infect Lula, prompting Lydia to burn the mutated guard.
• A parasite emerged from Lula’s charred body and infected Tebiqiu; Lydia restrained him and told Domino that the condition might be reversible.
• Mirror Princess described Night Demon City’s fog and the rapidly spreading mutations, which had infected nearly all of its population within three days.
• Huibidon recognized Tebiqiu in Lydia’s transmitted image, and Lydia exposed his identity to the Tree Spirit and Gude Mosa.
• Lydia told the Tree Spirit that the parasite could affect transcendents and that Dusk might have fallen, but the Tree Spirit said Book Elder would not help investigate.

Tree Spirit and Mirror Princess searched for Angel after learning that Sanders had sent word from Dusk, where trouble had broken out. Tree Spirit found Angel concealed in the mountain forest and brought him to Tree Spirit Hall to hear Sanders' message.

• Mirror Princess asked Tree Spirit to contact Dusk, and Gude revealed that Sanders had sent word asking him to find Angel.
• Mirror Princess failed to locate Angel with Heaven-Gazing Earth-Viewing, so Tree Spirit used Angel's Bone Card to find him outside 1st Apprentice Town.
• Tree Spirit bound Angel in midair and examined his concealed bracelet, identifying its presence-weakening magic energy array as Boundless Silence.
• Tree Spirit told Angel that Sanders had sent a message and that Dusk seemed to have run into trouble, then took him toward Tree Spirit Hall.
• Angel reassured Toby that he could not yet buy Eyeless Man back from Lydia, while Toby held onto hope that Gloria might return.

Angel learned that Night Demon City and Dusk had fallen to a mind-controlling parasite that exorcism could not remove, and Sanders said Angel was the solution. Angel traveled toward Dusk Deep Well with Lydia, who pressed him to reveal what he knew about the parasites and the mist.

• Gude told Angel that Sanders had summoned him to Dusk Deep Well and that Night Demon City had become a ghost domain where people, including Huibidon's father, had mutated.
• The Tree Spirit contacted Sanders and projected an image of him and Dedewiya among unconscious, parasitized wizards from Dusk's three great families.
• Sanders explained that the parasites controlled their hosts but also provided beneficial effects, so exorcism would not expel them.
• Sanders said Angel's arrival was the solution, and Angel set out for Dusk with Lydia on a Red-backed Flying Lizard.
• Lydia questioned Angel about why Sanders wanted him alone and urged him to disclose what he knew about the parasites and the mist.

Angel traveled with Lydia to Night Demon City, where a mysterious fog appeared connected to the parasites and possibly to Angel’s opening of a passage to the Nightmare Realm. Sanders sent Angel into the city alone, and Lydia asked him to rescue a living member of the Moya clan in exchange for a chance to buy back Eyeless Man.

• Lydia brought Angel through an underground route toward Night Demon City, while Tree Spirit observed the strange fog surrounding it.
• Angel suspected that the fog shared components with the mist released when he opened the passage to the Nightmare Realm and felt guilty about the danger facing Night Demon City and Dusk.
• Lydia and Angel found a dead farmhand outside the fog, and Sanders told Angel to enter the city alone while Lydia waited outside because she risked being parasitized.
• Lydia explained that she needed a pure-blooded Moya clan member to avoid contractual backlash, and Sanders said Angel would not be parasitized without explaining why.
• Angel bargained with Lydia for a chance to buy back Eyeless Man, and she agreed to sell him intact for o hundred thousand magic crystals if he brought her one living Moya clan member.

Angel entered the mist-shrouded Night Demon City and discovered that its parasitized residents treated him as the revered Shava, while the city’s uncanny calm soothed him. Sanders revealed that the residents were still alive and asleep, and that Angel alone could awaken them.

• Lydia gave Angel five years to earn three million magic crystals before taking Toby away, and Angel accepted her condition.
• Angel entered Night Demon City with Toby and felt an unnatural joy and safety in the Dark Mist, despite knowing the feeling was wrong.
• Mutated residents stopped singing when they saw Angel, bowed to him, praised Shava, and withdrew without answering his attempts to communicate.
• Angel confronted Sanders about the city’s strange effects, and Sanders told him not to mistake the mist’s comfort for a true paradise.
• Sanders explained that the parasitized residents were alive and asleep, and that Angel could awaken them, though Angel worried about having to reach millions of people.

Angel traveled through Night Demon City to Moya Duke's Manor, where he found Domino and offered to lead him and the guards out. The group concealed Duke Tebiqiu in a sack, but Angel discovered him and decided to let him out to test something.

• Angel crossed Night Demon City and reached Moya Duke's Manor, intending to rescue Lydia's family before heading to Dusk Deep Well.
• Angel found Lydia's golem, learned that a secret passage lay behind the study bookshelf, and went underground to locate Domino.
• Angel told Domino that Lady Red Lotus had sent him and gave him five minutes to prepare to leave with the guards.
• While waiting, Angel noticed that seeing humans irritated him and wondered what was controlling his emotions as he murmured Shava's name.
• Domino brought the guards out with him, but Angel discovered that they were hiding Duke Tebiqiu in a sack and ordered them to release him.

Angel used the Opulent Nightmare Domain to draw the parasite out of Tebiqiu and returned him to Domino, who learned that his father was safe. Angel left the parasite in the care of the Teacup Band, while the danger from the passageway feeding the fog remained unresolved.

• Tebiqiu stopped struggling when Angel approached, and Angel heard him softly singing praise to Shava.
• Angel placed Tebiqiu alone inside the Opulent Nightmare Domain, where the parasite began absorbing its energy.
• Angel used his control over the domain’s energy to pull the faint-glow parasite out through Tebiqiu’s mouth.
• Angel tossed the parasite to the Teacup Band, withdrew the Nightmare Domain, and handed the unconscious Tebiqiu to Domino.
• Angel told Domino that Tebiqiu was fine, while the passageway releasing the fog remained a separate threat.

Angel escorted Tebiqiu and Domino safely out of Night Demon City, then returned alone to Dusk to investigate the parasites emerging from the white wall. After meeting Sanders, he followed the five-colored dragonflies toward their nest, where their target lay.

• Tebiqiu awoke after Angel cured him, and Domino and the household rejoiced before Tebiqiu thanked Angel.
• Angel led Tebiqiu, Domino, and their followers through the mist to the southern gate, where they reunited with Captain Nieboya and the civilians.
• Angel warned the group to stay out of the mist, then returned to Night Demon City and entered Dusk through the white wall.
• Angel found five-colored dragonflies praising him as Shava and explored the damaged magic plant store while Sanders searched for him.
• Sanders told Angel to investigate the dragonflies' nest inside the Women's Bathhouse and warned him to leave immediately if he sensed danger.

Angel entered the ruined Women's Bathhouse with Sanders and discovered that the Rainbow Dragonflies treated him favorably because of Shava, allowing him to reach their nest and its passageway without resistance. Sanders then took Angel to the private residence of Gray Lion Dedewiya.

• Angel collected valuable magical plants and pried more than fifty magic crystals from the Women's Bathhouse before Sanders reprimanded him for wasting time.
• Sanders instructed Angel to approach the Rainbow Dragonflies' nest while remaining ready to rescue him if they attacked.
• Angel saw the nest release radiant threads and learned from Sanders that the Rainbow Dragonflies obtained parasites through a ritual rather than reproduction.
• Angel walked and climbed to the top of the nest, where he found the passageway, while the Rainbow Dragonflies let him pass unharmed.
• Sanders praised Angel's success and brought him to Gray Lion Dedewiya's private residence.

Angel met with Dedewiya and learned that he and Sanders had to close the two mist passages simultaneously to stop the Nightmare Realm mist spreading through Dusk. Sanders assigned Angel the passage in the Women's Bathhouse and warned him against becoming too attached to the identity of Shava, while Dedewiya supplied protective gear for the task.

• Dedewiya praised Angel and agreed to provide him with protective items before the mist passages were closed.
• Sanders explained that he and Angel had to shut the passages at the same time, assigning Angel the passage in the Women's Bathhouse and giving him Nightmare Stones to repair it.
• Angel offered to handle the Twilight Auction Hall passage because he was curious about Frog and Fox, but Sanders refused and warned him not to immerse himself in the identity of Shava.
• Dedewiya gave Angel a magic-patterned hide bearing a defensive array and a black-and-white trench coat fitted with Mana Barrier.
• Angel examined the trench coat's unusual asymmetrical design and eerie smiling-face buttons.

Angel received Dedewiya’s coat and hat, repaid part of his debt to Twilight with space necklaces, and prepared to enter the closed passage in the Women’s Bathhouse. He reached the nest and waited for Sanders’ message while studying the fog passage.

• Angel accepted Dedewiya’s black-and-white trench coat and matching top hat, which carried a Purification Field cantrip.
• Sanders and Dedewiya planned to lure away the Frog Lamenter and the Fox Fiddler, while Dedewiya left the freed wizards in the manor to plan Twilight’s recovery.
• Twilight watched Angel leave through the fog and fixed a cold smile on him.
• Angel gave Dedewiya four space necklaces worth at least one hundred thousand magic crystals as repayment, and Dedewiya returned the Ink-Colored Butterfly Heart to him.
• Sanders reminded Angel that he still owed him another one hundred and fifty thousand magic crystals, then left with Dedewiya.
• Angel went alone to the Women’s Bathhouse, reached the nest, and waited for Sanders’ message as he observed the fog passage.

Angel found that the stable passage connected to the Nightmare Realm but could not safely serve as a route without a spatial beacon. As Sanders and Angel worked to close it from opposite sides, Sanders confronted Fox the Harpist and revealed a second version of himself.

• Angel examined the passage at the nest’s summit, and Sanders explained that entering the Nightmare Realm required coordinates and could leave a traveler lost.
• Sanders used Nightmare Substitute to teleport himself and Dedewiya into the Twilight Auction Hall’s inner hall, where Dedewiya drew Frog the Crooning One and Fox the Red Fox Harpist away from the nest.
• Sanders unleashed his Black Tower Nightmare Domain, killing dragonflies that absorbed its aura, while he and Angel began closing the passage from opposite sides.
• Fox the Harpist appeared behind Sanders and demanded that he stop obstructing the Queen’s descent, then attacked him with white lines from its harp.
• Sanders asked whether Shava was a Watcher, then summoned a younger, dark-skinned version of himself whose gloved hand set Fox’s white lines ablaze.