Chapter Summaries

Luigi waited for a new Tree Door to form in the Uriel Instance while a storm and thick fog swept through the courtyard. Camilo reported finding a Living Dead knight in Mist Swamp and revealed that the Text Panel had briefly appeared to him in reality before vanishing.

• Luigi saw a translucent Tree Door forming in the Uriel Courtyard as strong winds and fog spread through the area.
• Luigi welcomed Blanche and Camilo into the Travel Cabin, where its abilities warmed them and relieved their exhaustion.
• Luigi explained the Tree Door to Blanche and Camilo, who inspected it before returning inside.
• Camilo told Luigi he had found a knight in Mist Swamp whose corpse-like body still held a trace of vitality and contained strong negative energy.
• Camilo said the Text Panel had appeared while he scanned the knight, identifying it as a Living Dead, then vanished after he clicked the marked words.
• Luigi recognized that the Text Panel's appearance raised the question of whether Wonderland Authority could affect reality, but he kept what he knew to himself.

Camilo’s brief Text Panel flash led Luigi and Angel to suspect that his contact with the Living Dead had linked the Mist Swamp and Uriel Instances. The Tree Door opened onto the already-full Mist Swamp Instance, leaving Angel to conclude that it was a clue directing them to investigate the connection and Uriel himself.

• Angel reasoned that Camilo’s Text Panel had appeared because his contact with the Living Dead briefly connected two beings tied to Wonderland Authority, rather than because the authority had broken reality’s laws.
• Blanche spotted a flash near the courtyard’s dead tree, and Luigi connected it to Camilo’s recent offline contact and the strange changes in the Uriel Instance.
• Luigi touched the solidified Tree Door and saw that it led to the Mist Swamp Instance, whose five participant slots were already occupied.
• Angel concluded that the Tree Door was likely a hint about a deeper connection between the Mist Swamp and Uriel Instances, not an entrance for new participants.
• Angel told Laplace that Luigi should have Camilo investigate the Living Dead’s truth by seeking a connection to Uriel, and Laplace agreed to pass the suggestion along.

Angel brought nearly 140,000 Prushans into Fool's Academy City and oversaw their orderly reception, setting the academy on a path toward its new stage. After the rain stopped and the city came alive, he told the Spirit of the Academy City he planned to leave, but said he still had one thing to do first.

• Angel learned about the Night City Evening Bell and Luigi's linked instances, then continued preparing Fool's Academy City for the Prushans.
• Angel and the Spirit of the Academy City watched from a rooftop as faculty and staff gathered to welcome the new students.
• Angel sent Prushans into the academy in test batches, and the logistics team efficiently installed Auxiliary Hands and enrolled them despite some students' instinctive reactions to rain and other stimuli.
• Angel increased the incoming batches to around eight to ten thousand at a time, and over six hours the staff received nearly 140,000 Prushans in seventeen batches.
• The rain stopped as the final batch was enrolled, and the academy's staff began managing the new students while the Academy City System's energy circulation started up.
• Angel told the Spirit of the Academy City to coordinate with Dean Pisi on producing Academy City Crystal Devices, then said he would leave after completing one final task.

Liriel and the Decayer discovered how the Treasure-Seeking Staff worked and used it to locate a nearby treasure chest. The Decayer then broke down in tears after sensing that the Prushan soul fragments Angel had taken away were finally gone, leaving it to mourn their disappearance.

• Liriel told the Decayer that a Purple Flame had led her through a false wall to a treasure chest containing the Treasure-Seeking Staff.
• Liriel and the Decayer returned to the Decayer’s Purple Flame, where the staff charged rapidly as it drew on the labyrinth’s power and the flame faded away.
• Liriel used the fully charged staff, which revealed a guiding line toward a treasure chest within five hundred meters.
• The Decayer stood frozen and wept while Liriel waited beside it in silence.
• The Decayer explained that it had suddenly lost its perception of the Prushan soul fragments Angel had taken away, and that their disappearance had overwhelmed it.

As the Decayer and Liriel crossed the Interrogation Labyrinth, the Decayer learned that the Prushans were safe in a pure Academy City, and its head began to shrink as their consciousnesses left its mind. Angel explained the change to Nomephins, then contacted Behemoth and waited for a pink-haired youth he had located on the Dream Bridge.

• Liriel noticed the Decayer's head shrinking, and the Decayer asked Nomephins whether the Prushans were all right.
• Nomephins told the Decayer that the Prushans had settled in a vast, pure Academy City and that it might find a place there if it passed the Interrogation Labyrinth.
• Angel told Nomephins that the Decayer's head had shrunk because the Prushans' consciousnesses had left its mind, while their soul fragments remained.
• Angel decided not to urge the Decayer to abandon the soul fragments, since doing so could expose the Dream Crystal Plain to the Cruel Scholar.
• Angel spoke with Behemoth and Nakbi, invited Behemoth to become an academy head, and heard Behemoth decline until the fools had awakened their intellects.
• Angel used the Dream Gate to locate the pink-haired youth he had been waiting for on a Dream Bridge.

Angel enrolled Star Attendant in Fool's Academy City as an ordinary student, using the attention his personal welcome attracted as a test of whether Star Attendant would grow attached to him. After leaving the Academy City, Angel joined Laplace's Tea Party and began explaining Sebas's sealing and the related matter of Blue Flame.

• Angel brought Star Attendant into Fool's Academy City, enrolled him, and told the Spirit of the Academy City to treat him like an ordinary student.
• Angel explained that his conspicuous welcome was a test intended to make Star Attendant associate his chance at enlightenment with Angel and gradually feel a sense of belonging.
• Angel left the Academy City and visited Laplace at Text Manor, where he joined a Tea Party with Montedan, Maggie, Book Fairy, and Nomephins's clone.
• Angel and Book Fairy discussed how Sebas's thirst for knowledge made him willing to accept being sealed, and Angel said he expected the seal to hold for centuries.
• Angel began recounting his encounter with Sebas in the Demon Gods' Chambers and said he would also explain Blue Flame.

Angel discussed Sebas and Blue Flame with the Tea Party, where the group drifted into gossip about the Cruel Scholar. He then inspected the Uriel Instance and learned from Luigi that an old newspaper might connect Uriel to the Mist Swamp Instance.

• Angel described Sebas's past and the divine-thought avatars, prompting Montedan and the Book Fairy to discuss why the Cruel Scholar might permit them to challenge his original self.
• The Tea Party considered collecting special flames to trade with Blue Flame for intelligence, but Angel and Laplace rejected sacrificing Book Demons or Book Sprites to obtain them.
• The group began speculating about the Cruel Scholar's secrets, and Angel left the Tea Party to inspect the Uriel and Mist Swamp Instances.
• Laplace told Angel to check Satan's Live Show and Wine Cup Live Show later, saying their recent changes would surprise him.
• Angel examined the door beneath the withered tree in the Uriel Instance and sensed that it led through warped space toward the Mist Swamp Instance.
• Luigi showed Angel an old Dawn Morning News newspaper whose reports mentioned the Forty Thieves and Mist Swamp's Evil Spirits, suggesting Uriel connected the two instances.

Angel discovered that Kemei and a merchant caravan had fallen unconscious after an encounter with the Evil Spirit of Mist Swamp, while Kemei remained hidden under Phantom Concealment. Angel sensed a faint authority fluctuation that might fade within two days, but Kemei’s remaining illusion nodes were unlikely to last that long.

• Angel left the Uriel Instance and found Kemei hiding near an unconscious camp in Mist Swamp.
• Kemei told Angel that his team had joined the Flute Merchants' Guild caravan while searching for clues about the swamp.
• The Evil Spirit attacked and killed a ranger, then its mournful cry caused the caravan and Kemei’s team to collapse unconscious.
• Kemei used Phantom Concealment to escape the sound, but the mournful cry returned whenever he lowered the concealment.
• Angel sensed a faint authority fluctuation on Kemei that might dissipate within two days, though Kemei’s illusion nodes were nearly exhausted.

Angel replenished Kemei’s illusion nodes and discovered that the camp’s unconscious people were trapped in a life-draining dream caused by the Whispers of the Living Dead. After comforting Kemei and helping him recognize clues in the main quest, Angel left him resolved to seek answers from the Forty Thieves.

• Angel replenished Kemei’s illusion nodes and had him check the unconscious people, whose power fluctuations revealed the Whispers of the Living Dead and its life-draining dream.
• Angel told Kemei that the unconscious might have to escape the dream themselves, and reassured him that the Challengers would not truly die and that the caravan’s deaths were scripted.
• Kemei regained his resolve, secured the unconscious people and the Many-Legged Pack Leeches in tents, and prepared to investigate the Evil Spirit.
• Angel pointed out that the Evil Spirit could not talk, prompting Kemei to reread the main quest summary and focus on the Forty Thieves.
• Kemei planned to pose as a caravan member, gathered identifying clothes and ordinary supplies, found the leader’s marked map, and chose a nearby circled location as his next destination.

Kemei reached the Forty Thieves’ hideout to learn about the rotting knight and how to wake the caravan members who had fallen unconscious. One-Eyed Dragon explained the Evil Spirit’s supernatural influence, and Kemei pressed him for information about the creature’s origins and purpose.

• Angel silently watched Kemei, wondering whether his earlier help had disrupted the Instance’s intended course.
• Kemei gained a lookout’s trust, asked about the rotting knight, and was escorted to the Forty Thieves’ hideout.
• Kemei met One-Eyed Dragon and explained that the rotting knight had left most of Long Tone Squad unconscious.
• One-Eyed Dragon demanded the weapons the caravan had ordered, then said the unconscious would wake after two days if they endured the Evil Spirit’s influence.
• One-Eyed Dragon described the supernatural world and claimed the Evil Spirit’s mere presence had caused the caravan’s losses.
• Kemei acted impressed and asked One-Eyed Dragon where the Evil Spirit had come from and why it was wandering in Mist Swamp.

Kemei learned that the Evil Spirit had been a priest of the Radiant Church, raising his Instance completion to 35%, then returned to camp to find people dying and disappearing inside the Living Dead’s dream. As more participants were eliminated, Angel spotted a new door in a dead tree in Mist Swamp, which he suspected was linked to Uriel Courtyard.

• One-Eyed Dragon told Kemei that the Evil Spirit had been a priest of the Radiant Church in Evening Lantern Harbor, and Kemei’s Instance completion rose to 35%.
• Angel realized Kemei’s success depended on the Forty Thieves needing supplies, while Kemei returned to camp hoping to trade supplies for more information.
• Kemei found four caravan members dead and six others near death, apparently from the Living Dead’s dream.
• Kemei discovered Bulko was missing and watched Rebecca bleed and vanish, then confirmed the participant count had fallen to three.
• Angel saw a new door appear in a dead tree in Mist Swamp and suspected it was connected to the door in Uriel Courtyard.

Angel investigated Bulko and Rebecca’s experiences after they were eliminated from the Mist Swamp instance, learning that both had followed a mysterious woman’s song through a dark void and dreamlike city. He then checked Uriel Courtyard, where the group discovered that only Luigi and Blanche were on the admission list for the newly accessible instance slot.

• Angel found Bulko recovering at his home in Rabbit Tower and heard how a song drew him through a dark void before eerie laughter ended his challenge.
• Angel waited until Rebecca was stronger, then learned she had followed the song into a distorted dream city and died after entering the wrong building.
• Angel wondered why the Living Dead’s whispers sounded like a woman humming, but Bulko and Rebecca’s accounts left him with more questions.
• Angel transferred outside the Uriel Instance and entered the Box Garden perspective to check whether Luigi’s group had learned of the open Mist Swamp slots.
• The group explained that a glowing door beneath the dead tree had revealed the Mist Swamp instance and an admission list; only Luigi and Blanche among those present could enter.

Luigi explained why Blanche had Legal Identity and why she appeared on the Mist Swamp admission list, while the group debated who should use the newly opened spots. Angel contacted them from outside the Uriel Instance and shared information about Mist Swamp, including that its Evil Spirit was a cleric of the Radiant Church.

• Luigi told the group he believed the World Will had favored Blanche and granted her Legal Identity when she entered the Dream Crystal Plain.
• Blanche noticed that another spot had opened in the Mist Swamp Instance, and the group discussed whether she and Uriel should enter.
• Mr. Sun asked Luigi why his approval rating for the others had stalled at 90%, but Blanche and then Angel interrupted the conversation.
• Angel introduced himself and relayed what Bulko and Rebecca had learned about Mist Swamp, its factions, and the Evil Spirit.
• Camilo was shocked when Angel revealed that the Evil Spirit was a cleric of the Radiant Church in Evening Lantern Harbor.

Camilo identified the Evil Spirit as Shi En Wenganda, an enforcement priest killed by the Forty Thieves according to the Radiant Church’s investigation. His inquiry into a possible link between Shi En and Uriel ended with the discovery that Uriel had once accompanied a white-robed divine officer to consult Shi En’s case file.

• Camilo left to investigate the Evil Spirit’s identity, and Blanche explained that she and Camilo were demon hunters working secretly alongside the Radiant Church’s priests.
• Camilo returned and revealed that the Evil Spirit was enforcement priest Shi En Wenganda, whom the Forty Thieves had attacked while he escorted a prisoner three years earlier.
• Camilo recounted how the Tribunal searched for the Forty Thieves, eventually declaring them eliminated despite their survival and later return to Mist Swamp.
• After finding no answers in the church’s old reports, Camilo asked whether Shi En had any connection to Uriel.
• The scarlet hierarch recalled that Uriel had once accompanied a close friend, a white-robed divine officer, to consult Shi En’s case file.

Camilo learned that Uriel’s missing partner Ligota was arrested for a heretical performance, sentenced to punishment by Priest Sion, and vanished afterward. The group suspected Ligota’s singing might be connected to the Mist Swamp Instance, but they still did not know where she was or why only cursed people heard it.

• Camilo questioned Uriel’s white-robed godservant friend, who explained that Uriel had searched for Ligota and wanted confirmation that Priest Sion was dead.
• The godservant recounted how Ligota was arrested after a charity performance in Evening Lantern Harbor and sentenced to walk in red-hot iron boots.
• Priest Sion took Ligota into the wilderness to carry out her punishment, then returned alone and later died while escorting a Forty Thieves informant.
• Camilo realized Ligota was Glaimo’s younger sister, and the godservant admitted he had concealed details because he wanted to protect his close friend Uriel.
• Camilo returned to the group and described his findings, prompting Luigi and the others to suspect Ligota was connected to the Mist Swamp Instance and might be the source of its singing.
• Camilo and the group wondered why people heard the singing only after being cursed and where Ligota herself had gone.

Luigi and the others chose Uriel and Blanche for the two Mist Swamp entry slots, hoping Uriel could identify whether the swamp’s singing came from Ligota. Luigi asked Uriel to enter, and the chapter ended as Uriel learned that the Evil Spirit was Shi En, an enforcement priest from Evening Lantern Harbor.

• Angel advised the group to send someone who knew Ligota into the instance, and Luigi agreed that Uriel or Glaimo could identify the source of the singing.
• Mr. Sun and Ms. Moon accepted the proposed arrangement after Angel explained that Luigi’s approval alone could not determine whether they would eventually explore the wider Dream Crystal Plain.
• Luigi and the others chose Uriel and Blanche for the Mist Swamp slots, then wondered whether Uriel would agree to enter.
• Uriel played Black Sheep Confession Song and reflected on how his regret over Ligota’s fate had turned him against the Radiant Church.
• Luigi visited Uriel in the dream and told him about the Mist Swamp instance and its wandering Living Dead, the Evil Spirit.
• Luigi revealed that the Evil Spirit was Shi En, an enforcement priest from Evening Lantern Harbor.

Uriel agreed to enter Mist Swamp to find Shi En and learn what happened to Ligota, while Blanche took on the role of his bodyguard and borrowed Luigi's Travel Cabin. When they arrived, Uriel found the swamp so vivid that he could no longer tell himself it was a dream.

• Uriel decided to go to Mist Swamp after learning Shi En might be conscious there and able to answer his questions about Ligota.
• Luigi told Uriel that Blanche would accompany him and explained that their goal was to complete the main quest and uncover the truth behind the Evil Spirit.
• Blanche declared herself Uriel's bodyguard, and Luigi lent her the Travel Cabin to protect them from negative conditions.
• Blanche and Uriel entered Mist Swamp through the door beneath the dead tree, while Angel watched their arrival from the Box Garden perspective.
• Blanche surveyed the swamp, but Uriel was unsettled by how real its mud, cold, and fog felt after the dreamlike haze vanished.

Blanche and Uriel followed Angel’s illusion arrow through Mist Swamp and found Kemei at the merchant caravan’s camp. As Kemei recounted his bargain with One-Eyed Dragon for information about the Evil Spirit, a scout warned that the Evil Spirit was approaching.

• Blanche used an illusion node to contact Angel, who guided her and Uriel toward Kemei with an illusion arrow.
• Blanche and Uriel followed Angel’s route through the Swamp Forest and discussed Great Detective Rever as they traveled.
• Blanche and Uriel reached the caravan camp before sunset, where Kemei accepted them as replacement challengers after Angel confirmed their story.
• Kemei described bringing weapons and military supplies to One-Eyed Dragon in exchange for information about the Evil Spirit.
• One-Eyed Dragon tried to learn how many more supplies Kemei could provide before honoring their bargain, but a scout cried that the Evil Spirit was coming.

Kemei escaped the Forty Thieves’ ambush against the Evil Spirit after their arrows enraged it and triggered a deadly attack. Back at camp, Uriel explained that Priest Sion had been killed by arrows, while Angel clarified why Uriel had special knowledge of the instance’s real-world prototype.

• One-Eyed Dragon armed the Forty Thieves and ordered them to ambush the Evil Spirit, while Kemei hid nearby.
• The Forty Thieves shot the wandering Evil Spirit with arrows, causing it to erupt in rage and attack them.
• Kemei fled through the forest under Phantom Concealment and returned safely to the merchant caravan’s camp.
• After Blanche and Uriel arrived, Kemei told them what had happened, and Blanche pointed out that giving the arrows to the Forty Thieves had removed a danger from camp.
• Uriel revealed that records said Priest Sion had been killed by the Forty Thieves in a hail of arrows, explaining the Evil Spirit’s reaction.
• Angel explained that Uriel knew the instance’s prototype through his connection to its real-world setting, even though he had entered Dream Crystal Plain as a challenger.

Uriel recounted his connection to Priest Sion and his search for Ligota, while Angel suggested that completing the instance quest might awaken the Evil Spirit’s consciousness. After Uriel played Ligota’s composition by the campfire, Angel noticed a tall figure watching from the forest.

• Uriel decided to tell Angel, Blanche, and Kemei about his past with Ligota and his reason for entering Mist Swamp.
• Kemei and Blanche promised to help Uriel find Ligota, and Angel suggested the Evil Spirit might awaken as they uncovered the truth behind the instance quest.
• Blanche brought a harp from Mr. Luigi’s Travel Cabin, and Uriel played Misty Moonlight, a piece composed by Ligota.
• Angel warned the group that a tall figure had appeared in the forest and was listening.