Chapter Summaries

Angel learned that Fafnir wanted him to deliver a message to Odecras in Unmelting Ice Valley, then spent the night worrying about Toby, Sanders, and the risks ahead. Fafnir returned with meat for the bonfire, and their departure for Ice Valley remained set for the next day.

• Fafnir revealed that Odecras lived in Unmelting Ice Valley and warned Angel that he would need to win the Abyss Dragon's favor to get help for Toby.
• Angel agreed to travel with Fafnir, who said she would take him to Ice Valley in twelve hours and withheld the message until they arrived.
• Angel left a message on a stone wall saying he had gone to Ice Valley, hoping Sanders would find it.
• Angel examined the half-constructed Door Model in his thought space and worried that the planar fusion supplying the Outer Eye's energy might have failed.
• After Angel spent hours meditating to restore his magic, Fafnir returned with a freshly hunted haunch of meat and put it over the bonfire.

Angel realizes that Doom Pilgrim’s calamity can spread through Olof Tendril Crabs and warns Sky Island by leaving an exposed message before Fafnir takes him away. Meanwhile, Sanders meets Rhein, who tells him that Florence has mentioned him after the plane fusion failed, and Sanders suspects it is because of Angel.

• Angel realizes that Toby may have inherited misfortune by eating an Olof Tendril Crab tainted by Doom Pilgrim’s calamity.
• Fafnir confirms that the crabs in the Gloomy Dead Sea carry misfortune, and Angel fears that one hunted near Shadow Cave could spread the curse to Sky Island.
• Angel leaves an exposed warning on the stone wall for Sky Island’s wizards, and Fafnir carries him away from Windwhisper Valley.
• Sanders arrives at Cloud Tower and notices traces of Lord Sea God’s visit before Rhein explains that Florence has been exchanging information with him.
• Rhein says apprentices have blamed Sanders for the failed plane fusion, and Sanders guesses Florence mentioned him because of Angel.

Sanders and Rhein traveled to the Abyss to retrieve Angel, after dismissing a proposed trade of Ocean Rhythm for Constant Shards as secondary to Angel’s safety. They reached Windwhisper Valley without trouble, but Sanders spotted a crater and realized something was wrong.

• Rhein told Sanders that Florence wanted to trade up to four drops of Constant Shards for Angel’s Ocean Rhythm, but Sanders insisted that finding Angel came first.
• Rhein relayed Isos’s advice to open a cross-realm passage near Fragrant Lake, and he and Sanders traveled there together.
• Sanders and Rhein crossed safely into the Abyss, then used a Layer-Crossing Gate to reach the Gloomlight Mountains.
• They traveled tens of thousands of miles through the Gloomlight Mountains without encountering demons or ambushes, despite Sanders’s growing unease.
• At Windwhisper Valley, Sanders noticed a sunken crater and abruptly warned that something was wrong.

Sanders and Rhein discovered that Angel had vanished from the lava cave, learned that Toby’s calamity might threaten Sky Island, and decided to warn it before pursuing Angel to Ice Valley. Meanwhile, Angel traveled toward Ice Valley with Toby, carrying Fafnir’s mysterious frozen Dragon Scale, and encountered a giant carnivorous plant as a swarm of bone crows approached.

• Rhein and Sanders found Angel’s blood, signs that someone had erased traces of the cave, and evidence that Angel had been taken away alive or dead.
• Rhein and Sanders read Angel’s warning that Toby was tainted by calamity and that the Olof Tendril Crab Frost Moon might be infected too.
• Sanders learned that Angel had been taken to Unmelting Ice Valley, and he and Rhein planned to relay the calamity warning to Sky Island before going after him.
• Fafnir sent Angel toward Ice Valley on foot, gave him a frozen white Dragon Scale to show Odecras, and watched him set off with Toby.
• Angel wondered whose scale was trapped in the ice, then escaped a giant-mouthed plant as a swarm of bone crows surged toward him.

Angel was overwhelmed by Demonic Beasts in the mountain range until the ice-sealed Dragon Scale protected him and drove the creatures away. He encountered Odecras, who brought him to Unmelting Ice Valley and asked for Binaqiongsi's Dragon Scale.

• Angel fled attacks from carnivorous plants and Bone Crows, drawing an ever-growing horde of Demonic Beasts behind him.
• A Dark Gold Gargoyle cornered Angel, but the Dragon Scale's shield deflected its attack and let him pass safely through the Bone Crows.
• The Bone Crows scattered and the Dark Gold Gargoyle retreated when Angel charged through with the Dragon Scale's protection.
• Odecras appeared and asked why Angel possessed Binaqiongsi's scale; Angel explained that Fafnir had sent it to him.
• Odecras carried Angel to a palace in Unmelting Ice Valley and asked him to hand over Binaqiongsi's Dragon Scale.

Angel watched Odecras restore the frigid aura in Binaqiongsi’s Dragon Scale and then vanish, leaving him alone in an ice-crystal palace in the Unmelting Ice Valley. After the valley’s curse injured his sea of consciousness, Angel remained trapped in the hall until a flame-wreathed man appeared.

• Angel recognized the mural’s white Abyss Dragon as Binaqiongsi and suspected Odecras had painted it out of love for her.
• Odecras used ice flame to melt the ice around Binaqiongsi’s Dragon Scale and replenish its frigid aura.
• Odecras carried out mysterious tasks in the palace, ignored Angel, and then vanished before Angel could ask about Toby.
• Angel looked outside and guessed that the palace stood in the Unmelting Ice Valley, but a curse entered his mental tentacle and left him unconscious with his sea of consciousness in disarray.
• Angel awoke alone in the hall, where a flame-wreathed man stepped out of an arc of light before the mural.

Angel approached Odecras to ask him to remove the calamity curse afflicting Toby. Odecras recognized a familiar aura on Toby and agreed to help if Angel brought him a complete Fire-Passing Stone.

• Angel studied Odecras and approached him in the great hall, where Odecras tried to send him away.
• Angel explained that Toby was cursed and asked Odecras to remove the misfortune.
• Odecras sensed an aura on Toby that reminded him of an old friend from the Bottomless Abyss of Gluttony Face, but saw no sign that Toby was part of the friend's scheme.
• Odecras told Angel he could remove Toby's curse if Angel brought him a complete Fire-Passing Stone.
• Odecras privately considered the stone a way to restore his strength, which had weakened during his long stay in Ice Valley.

Angel learned that Odecras knew where he might find the secret method for synthesizing Fire-Passing Stones and set out for Lasudelan. He left with Odecras's Flame Mark and a limited time to help Toby, while Fafnir questioned him about Odecras and asked whether he had mentioned her.

• Angel asked Odecras whether he knew how to synthesize Fire-Passing Stones, and Odecras said he knew where the method might be found.
• Odecras sent Angel to Lasudelan to seek a Half-Blood Demon who had inherited a Fire-Passing Demon's legacy, and marked him with a Flame Mark that protected him from Ice Valley's curse and masked his human aura.
• Angel left Ice Valley carrying Toby in an ice sphere that could suppress Toby's misfortune for roughly two hundred hours.
• Fafnir descended to meet Angel and was startled by the Flame Mark on his earlobe.
• Angel explained his meeting with Odecras and his mission to Fafnir, who asked whether Odecras had said anything about her; Angel said he had not.

Rhein and Sanders traveled to Sky Island, where an ancient evil god began stirring as Angel hurried toward the Layer-Crossing Gate with Fafnir following him. The chapter ended with Angel asking whether Fafnir intended to accompany him to Lasudelan.

• Rhein and Sanders left Kodo Port aboard the Rainbow Eye and discussed Sanders's dream magic and Angel's research into dreams and illusions.
• Rhein and Sanders reached Sky Island and sensed a terrifying aura rising from within it as Bruffin warned Sinafa that the ancient evil god was nearing a state of fear.
• Angel used Nightflight and a transformation spell to travel secretly toward the Layer-Crossing Gate.
• Angel saw Fafnir following him and asked whether she intended to come with him to Lasudelan.

Angel traveled to the third layer of the Abyss with Fafnir and entered the Resting Place to seek Balalaika’s help obtaining the Fire-Passing Stone. At the bar, he encountered the Half-Blood Demon Stian Trofer, and the Grave Knight recognized Angel as he arrived.

• Angel failed to open the Layer-Crossing Gate, so Fafnir pushed it open and followed him to the third layer.
• Angel passed Nierting Winter Palace and headed for the Resting Place instead of Demon City Lasudelan, hoping to trade with Balalaika.
• Angel crossed the stele into the Resting Place, where the night remained fixed on the final night before the gods fell.
• Angel found Stian Trofer waiting outside Balalaika’s bar and heard the Grave Knight refuse to let him see her.
• The Grave Knight recognized Angel and considered him separately from other visitors.

Angel entered Balalaika’s bar at the Resting Place and offered three alchemical ornaments in hopes of making a trade. Balalaika tried the first two and became absorbed in their illusions, while the exchange remained undecided.

• The Grave Knight let Angel enter the bar after Balalaika invited him, while Stian objected and grew jealous.
• Fafnir appeared in the graveyard and wondered why Balalaika had accepted Angel despite her dislike of humans.
• Angel greeted Balalaika and presented a Crystal Harp, the Stele of the Strange Ring, and a snake-ring ornament as trade goods.
• Balalaika activated the Crystal Harp and spent nearly two hours immersed in its musical illusion.
• Balalaika tried the Stele of the Strange Ring and played its Monument Valley illusion for nearly four hours before withdrawing without reaching the ending.

Angel offered Balalaika three alchemical ornaments, and Ouroboros, an Alchemical Illusion Realm containing a mysterious embodiment, astonished her with the prospect of helping her advance. Balalaika secured the ring and agreed to trade with Angel, leaving him to realize she had been bargaining for it all along.

• Balalaika enjoyed Angel's Crystal Harp and Stele of the Strange Ring and suspected that he had chosen them to win her favor.
• Angel explained that Ouroboros symbolized eternity and immortality, while privately worrying that its mysterious embodiment could draw dangerous attention if its nature became known.
• Balalaika tested Ouroboros and sensed that understanding its strange concept could help her take another step forward.
• Balalaika praised all three ornaments but pretended they were mere trinkets so she could demand them together.
• Angel began collecting the ornaments and reached for Ouroboros, but Balalaika snatched the ring and declared the trade established.

Angel traded Ouroboros to Balalaika and asked her to remove Toby’s Doom Pilgrim curse, but she said only Odecras could likely do so. Balalaika gave Angel a parchment containing the Fire-Passing Stone synthesis method, and he discovered that three required ingredients had no listed substitutes.

• Balalaika accepted Ouroboros from Angel and asked what transaction he wanted.
• Angel showed Balalaika Toby trapped in ice and asked her to remove the Doom Pilgrim’s calamity curse, but she said Odecras was better suited to the task.
• Balalaika told Angel she had no Fire-Passing Stone but produced a parchment recording its synthesis method in Ancient Demon Tongue and human common tongue.
• Angel spent three hours studying the synthesis method and its alchemical annotations, which explained flaws in the Fire-Passing Demons’ original process.
• Angel found that Earth-Vein Fire Rock, the undying Burning Bone of a Black-Gold Nightmare, and White-Ash Fire Solvent had no listed substitutes.

Angel learned that synthesizing a Fire-Passing Stone required rare materials and a way to obtain Hellfire, so he decided to travel to Lasudelan. Before he left the Resting Place, Balalaika gave him Binaqiongsi's Dragon Scale in exchange for two ornaments, then played the crystal harp as Angel departed.

• Angel found that the Fire-Passing Stone’s required materials, especially Hellfire and more than a thousand fragments, would be difficult to obtain.
• Balalaika recommended Lasudelan, where demon-run shops sold rare materials and where Angel might hire a Fire-Passing Demon to produce Hellfire.
• Angel realized that a Half-Blood Demon with a Fire-Passing Demon bloodline might breathe Hellfire if strong enough, and decided to seek it and the needed materials in Lasudelan.
• Balalaika told Angel that Demon City used demon gold coins or barter, and Angel resolved to leave at once because he had limited time before Toby’s misfortune was unsealed.
• Angel gave Balalaika the crystal harp and the Stele of the Strange Ring, and she gave him Binaqiongsi’s Dragon Scale, which could suppress his human aura.
• Balalaika unsealed the crystal harp and played a moving nocturne as Angel walked away from the tavern.

Plapa, a weak Half-Blood Demon whose human parents had been killed, pursued strength and revenge in Lasudelan while struggling to survive its lawless streets. After being attacked by a Bone-Winged Demon, Plapa limped to work at Night’s Prey Hall, where a newly opened shop called Illusion caught its attention.

• Plapa reflected on its parents’ deaths and came to Lasudelan to seek a way to become stronger and avenge them.
• After resting beneath Niming Lake, Plapa entered Lasudelan and was attacked by a Bone-Winged Demon, which blasted it into the ground and called it trash.
• Plapa recovered from its injuries and noticed a newly appeared wooden shop with a sign reading Illusion.
• Plapa arrived at the Prey Hall where it worked, and Night told it to wash the day’s prey and put them on display.

Plapa cleaned the curator Ye’s prey, discovered that Ye might be powerful after seeing a black-flamed beast leg, and failed to find affordable cultivation resources in Lasudelan. Drawn by an Abyssal sign, he entered the Hallucinatory cabin and discovered its occupant was a genuine native inhabitant.

• Plapa cleaned two flawless Flame Leopards and studied the painting in the display room, spotting a human-written signature identifying it as “Night,” by Feng.
• Ye returned with a huge leg wreathed in undying black flames and advanced Plapa two demon gold coins, warning him not to handle the dangerous limb.
• Plapa suspected the leg belonged to a Black-Gold Nightmare and wondered whether Ye could teach him, but concluded Ye’s fire attribute conflicted with his own.
• Plapa searched Lasudelan for cultivation resources but found that anything useful cost at least fifty demon gold coins, far beyond his savings.
• Plapa noticed Abyssal writing beneath the Hallucinatory cabin’s sign and followed it inside, where he realized the occupant was a genuine native inhabitant.

Plapa entered the newly opened Illusion shop, where an Abyssal native shopkeeper offered it an expensive service called the Rhythm of the Ocean. After Plapa paid a discounted eight demon gold coins, the shopkeeper prepared to begin its Experience Journey, though Plapa doubted it would improve its strength.

• Plapa met the Abyssal native shopkeeper in Illusion and saw wounded Half-Blood Demons and a little demon outside the hut.
• A dark-skinned woman returned from fighting the demons and threatened Plapa when the shopkeeper suspected it of causing trouble.
• The shopkeeper offered Plapa the Rhythm of the Ocean for one hundred demon gold coins, and Plapa cried because it could not afford the price.
• Plapa explained that it wanted to grow stronger and avenge its parents, but the shopkeeper collected eight coins for a discounted Experience Journey.
• Plapa accepted the Experience Journey, resigned to the expense but skeptical that it would make it stronger.

Angel opened an illusion shop in Lasudelan to earn demon gold coins for materials needed to synthesize the Fire-Passing Stone, relying on Fafnir’s protection. His first customer, Plapa, experienced Ocean Rhythm and broke through from peak apprentice to formal wizard, drawing attention to the shop.

• Angel explained to Fafnir that he would serve demon customers to earn enough demon gold coins, and promised to tell Odecras about her contribution if the Fire-Passing Stone was refined.
• Angel recalled that he had hired Fafnir’s protection and opened the shop after learning that the materials and Fire-Passing Stone fragments would cost thousands of demon gold coins.
• Plapa entered Ocean Rhythm and endured the illusion far longer than most customers, while Angel collected his first eight demon gold coins.
• Plapa’s water-element affinity surged as it experienced the Sea Goddess, and it emerged from the illusion before sensing a sudden growth in its power.
• Plapa broke through to formal wizard level, producing blue beads that Angel gathered and a blue projection visible across eastern Lasudelan.
• Fafnir explained that Ocean Rhythm had helped Plapa release power held back by its weak bloodline, and grew more curious about Angel and the ornament.

Angel struggled to earn enough demon gold coins to save Toby, while Plapa's breakthrough drew attention to the Illusion shop. Night visited Angel as he continued seeking a way to make money quickly.

• Plapa emerged from the Illusion shop after breaking through, escaped Chinotan's grip in water form, and challenged it to visit the shop itself.
• Chinotan attacked Plapa near the cabin, but Fafnir intervened, hurled both demons away, and warned the watching demons not to cause trouble.
• Plapa tried to apologize, but the shop's new rules and Fafnir's warning breeze kept it outside; Night then suggested it could make amends another way.
• Angel counted only eight gold coins in first-day earnings and worried he could not raise the ten thousand needed to buy materials before Toby's frozen sphere expired in six days.
• Night arrived at the shop, and Angel recalled that Night knew how to synthesize the Fire-Passing Stone but could not reveal the method because of his bloodline restrictions.

Night thanked Angel for helping Plapa, apologized for Plapa’s earlier conduct, and gave Angel an Undying Burning Bone, then advised him to keep the Illusion shop open. After being bullied and having his valuable back fin cut off again, Canaan heard that Plapa had advanced through the shop’s experience and reconsidered his goal of becoming strong.

• Night thanked Angel for helping Plapa, apologized for the trouble Plapa had caused, and gave him an Undying Burning Bone he had obtained from a Black-Gold Nightmare.
• Angel asked Night how to make money, and Night advised him to keep the Illusion shop open because more customers would come once its effects became known.
• Fafnir questioned whether Angel owed Night something in return, prompting Angel to suspect Night’s generosity might be connected to Feng and resolve to repay him.
• A serpent-tailed demon pinned Canaan in an alley, cut off his back fin, and left him to recover.
• Canaan heard Plapa claim that visiting the Illusion shop had improved his water-element affinity, then recalled that he wanted to become strong and confront the father who had hurt his mother.