Chapter Summaries

Angel and Sanders met Kimberly at Black Castle and explained that they had come to find Gloria. As they were escorted inside to wait, Angel noticed that Natasha resembled the woman in Sparrow Sparrow’s drawing, who may have taken Sparrow Sparrow away.

• Kimberly emerged from the spatial node, recognized Angel, and confirmed that she could represent Black Castle while Isabella was occupied.
• Sanders told Kimberly they had come to find Gloria but withheld the private reasons for seeking her.
• Natasha returned and reported that Gloria was conducting an experiment with Felicia in the Ice Cavern and could not be contacted.
• Kimberly invited Angel and Sanders to rest in Black Castle, and Natasha guided them through a spatial node.
• Angel watched Natasha after she changed clothes and realized her silhouette resembled the woman in Sparrow Sparrow’s drawing.

Angel and Sanders confirmed that Natasha was likely the woman who had taken Sparrow Sparrow, based on her matching footprints and appearance. After reaching the Soul Domain, they met Kimberly, who sought to discuss mechanical alchemy with Angel while awaiting Gloria's return.

• Sanders dampened the soil beneath Natasha's feet, and Angel and Sanders found that her footprints closely matched the prints beneath the graveyard well.
• Angel offered to waive the ten magic crystals Natasha owed in exchange for consulting her later, and Natasha agreed as long as he asked no secrets.
• Natasha led Angel and Sanders up into the Soul Domain, where Angel recognized the witches' cruelty and felt disgust toward them.
• Angel and Sanders met Kimberly, who said she had arranged for someone to watch for Gloria and asked Angel to exchange insights about mechanical alchemy.

Angel exchanged alchemical knowledge with Kimberly, who was impressed by his expertise, then used an illusion of Huahua to ask Natasha about Sparrow Sparrow. Natasha recognized the girl and mentioned Isabella, leaving Angel and Sanders to wonder whether Isabella had arranged Sparrow Sparrow’s abduction and whether her whereabouts were confidential.

• Angel agreed to exchange alchemical knowledge with Kimberly after Sanders entered a false sleep through the Dream Gate.
• Angel led the discussion on mechanical alchemy, and Kimberly and Natasha gained new insights from his explanations.
• After six hours of discussion, Kimberly decided to ask Isabella about borrowing Angel’s alchemical weapon and invited Angel and Sanders to dinner.
• Kimberly arranged guest rooms for Angel and Sanders in the Soul Domain, where Angel asked Natasha whether she remembered his earlier question.
• Angel used Harmonic Illusion to show Natasha an image of Huahua, and Natasha recognized her and asked why she had come without Isabella’s permission.
• Angel explained that the image was an illusion and said his question was related to it.

Angel learned that Natasha had taken Huahua from the deep well on Isabella’s orders and that Huahua was now with Isabella. A mysterious silhouette had prompted Huahua to leave the well, and Sanders expected Isabella to come find Angel soon.

• Angel revealed that he had created Huahua’s illusion room and told Natasha how slave traders had killed Huahua and left her beneath the well.
• A record book showed Natasha leading Huahua away, and Natasha admitted Isabella had ordered her to bring Huahua to Black Castle.
• Natasha said Huahua stayed by Isabella’s side and agreed to tell Huahua about Angel if she came to visit.
• Angel showed Natasha a faceless silhouette from Huahua’s record book, and Natasha nodded that it had caused Huahua to leave the well.
• After Natasha left, Sanders told Angel that Isabella would soon come looking for him.

Angel visited the Dream Wilderness to ask Sanders what they should do next, but Sanders told him to wait. Before finding his mentor, Angel reassured Aoli that Luciga would soon be able to come to Firstheart City.

• Angel entered the Dream Wilderness and found Aoli startled in his room after she broke his porcelain cup.
• Angel learned that Aoli missed her best friend Luciga and promised that Luciga would likely come to Firstheart City soon.
• Angel discovered that Leon had left Firstheart City for training and that Jon was still working in the library.
• Angel found Sanders reviewing records of Firstheart City’s residents and learned that Sanders and Frod were organizing the Dream Wilderness’s affairs.
• Angel asked Sanders what they should do next, and Sanders told him to wait.

Angel refused Isabella’s request to borrow his alchemical weapon, Prelude of Reincarnation, and challenged her attempt to intimidate him. He hinted that Black Castle’s own actions had caused the undead crisis, leaving the meeting tense.

• Angel found Isabella, Kimberly, and Sanders waiting in the hall after he left the meditation chamber.
• Isabella asked to borrow Angel’s weapon to deal with the undead, and Sanders told her the decision belonged to Angel.
• Isabella pressured Angel with her wizardly aura, but he remained calm and reminded her of how she had threatened him in Silent Hill.
• Angel refused to lend her Prelude of Reincarnation, citing their past encounter as a reason.
• Angel suggested that Black Castle was responsible for the undead outside, prompting Sanders to warn him and leaving Isabella and Kimberly displeased.

The Dusk King Isabella appeared and halted the confrontation between Black Castle and Savage Cave, then urged Angel to reconsider letting Isabella borrow Prelude of Reincarnation. She revealed that Black Castle’s changes were connected to an undead Angel had shot with the weapon, leaving him to explain that the first test had gone wrong.

• Isabella prepared to fight Angel and Sanders, and Kimberly reluctantly took her side.
• The Dusk King Isabella arrived, rebuked her former student, and spoke with Angel about his journey through the Abyss and his connection to Odecras.
• Isabella refused to judge Angel and Isabella’s past dispute but asked Angel to reconsider lending Isabella Prelude of Reincarnation.
• Isabella showed the group an undead soul whose condition she said was connected to the changes in Black Castle.
• Angel admitted that the soul had been his first test subject for Prelude of Reincarnation and realized that one White Light Bullet had not made her vanish.

Angel explained how Prelude of Reincarnation had turned the thirteenth daughter of the Guman King into an undead, and Isabella revealed that the gun could restore undead to souls if all six bullets were used correctly. Isabella then described how the woman had taken control of Black Castle’s undead, leaving Angel asking how they had discovered her appearance despite her concealment ability.

• Angel recounted how the thirteenth daughter of the Guman King had been killed at Black Castle and became an undead, while withholding that he had helped preserve her body and build her resentment.
• Angel explained that Prelude of Reincarnation could purge undead energy, and Isabella identified its true purpose: restoring undead to ordinary souls with all six bullets fired in sequence.
• Angel admitted the gun’s full function and explained that he had shot the woman only once, while Isabella argued that he had helped cause her transformation.
• Isabella stopped the argument and urged Angel to help Isabella clear the undead, prompting Angel to ask what the woman had done to destabilize Black Castle.
• Isabella explained that the woman could command undead and conceal herself, and that her attacks had overwhelmed Black Castle for more than half a year.
• Angel asked how Black Castle had learned what the concealed woman looked like.

Isabella explained that the Source of Calamity had repeatedly tried to recruit Huahua because Huahua was a special soul, and Angel agreed to destroy the undead spirit while keeping Prelude of Reincarnation in his own control. Isabella revealed that Angel had joined Sky Mechanical City's Research Institute, and Natasha arrived with Sparrow Sparrow as Angel waited to reunite with Huahua.

• Isabella told Angel that the Source of Calamity had visited Huahua beneath the well to tempt her into joining forces, but Huahua had resisted, likely encouraged by Angel's illusion.
• Angel agreed to destroy the undead spirit but refused to lend out Prelude of Reincarnation, and Isabella rebuked Isabella for mocking the weapon.
• Isabella told Angel she would arrange for him to meet Huahua, then left through a spatial rift after congratulating him on joining Sky Mechanical City's Research Institute.
• Kimberly and Isabella reacted with shock at Angel's new status, and Kimberly asked him to exchange alchemical knowledge.
• Angel answered Kimberly's questions for nearly four hours until Natasha arrived holding Sparrow Sparrow's hand.

Angel reunited Sparrow Sparrow with her brother Jin, then agreed to help Black Castle clear out its undead. The group headed toward the Black Forest node while Gloria remained unresponsive and her attempt to purge the undead aura stayed unexplained.

• Angel learned that Sparrow Sparrow's precognition had awakened enough to let her handle light objects, and she showed him a silk painting of herself with her brother.
• Angel told Sparrow Sparrow that her brother had revealed her precognitive ability, then brought her to meet Jin, who recognized her as his sister.
• Sanders told Angel that Isabella's preparations to clear out the undead were complete, and Angel agreed to begin immediately.
• Kimberly summoned the group to the Black Forest node, and Natasha led Angel and Sanders there as witches mobilized through Black Castle.
• Angel asked Sanders about Gloria's silence and learned that Gloria and Felicia were attempting a feast in the Ice Cavern to purge the undead aura from Black Castle.

Angel and Sanders reached the Soul Domain’s teleportation hall, where Kimberly warned them that the Source of Chaos had strengthened the undead near the Black Forest node. While waiting for Isabella, Angel reviewed his experiments and realized the Guman King's Thirteenth Daughter had transformed far more quickly after being hit by a White Light Bullet than Aiqi had.

• Sanders explained that Gloria and Felicia planned to transform Black Castle and remove the source of its undead problem, easing Angel’s doubts about helping them.
• Natasha led Angel and Sanders through the Soul Domain to the hall containing the teleportation node to the Black Forest.
• Kimberly arrived from the node and reported stronger undead, including aggregates of death spirits, warning Angel to activate his bloodline and keep his distance from the enemy.
• Angel wondered how the Guman King's Thirteenth Daughter had survived a White Light Bullet and recalled her strange behavior when he first shot her.
• Angel compared his notes on the Prelude of Reincarnation and noticed that the Thirteenth Daughter had become half-undead immediately, unlike Aiqi, who took more than ten minutes.

Angel suspected that special souls could become half-undead and resolved to investigate by trying to save a half-undead woman. Isabella gathered Black Castle’s wizards to confront the undead crisis, but nearly a hundred Undead Aggregates destroyed the Black Forest node in a massive chain of explosions, leaving Angel shaken by the danger ahead.

• Angel recalled that Tulas and the Thirteen Daughters of Guman had become half-undead after being struck by White Light Bullets and suspected their special souls were the common factor.
• Angel decided to try pulling a half-undead woman out of her condition so he could learn more, while Sanders noted that Black Castle would need an explanation for the experiment.
• Isabella ordered the first-row wizards to accompany Angel and assist with the undead crisis, while the others remained behind and were told to reflect on the Blood Bath ritual.
• Angel encountered an Undead Aggregate as he exited the Black Forest node, and its self-destruction hurled him away while his Phantom Limb shielded him from the blast.
• Nearly a hundred Undead Aggregates detonated together, destroying the spatial node and leaving a massive crater and injured witches; Angel retreated and realized the undead threat was worse than he had expected.

After the undead ambushed the wizards, Kimberly deduced that the source of 'chaos' was observing them from Black Castle or a nearby vantage point. Angel advanced toward the castle and used the Prelude of Reincarnation to destroy thousands of undead, leaving the wizards hopeful that they could clear Black Castle.

• Kimberly and the other wizards concluded that the source of 'chaos' was monitoring them and adjusting the undead attacks to their numbers and scale.
• Kimberly reasoned that the source might be watching from Black Castle, and Angel suggested approaching the castle to find out.
• Isabella assigned Angel to clear the undead while the other wizards guarded him and kept undead aggregates away.
• Angel walked toward Black Castle and used the Prelude of Reincarnation to erase waves of undead as they rushed at him.
• After more than ten minutes, Angel had killed over two thousand undead and collected a White Light Bullet, prompting the wizards to hope they could clear the castle's undead.

A masked man escaped into the void after fighting a powerful undead, while Angel encountered two Infant Spirits during the undead purge outside Black Castle. Isabella took the spirits from Angel, and Sanders anticipated she would soon bargain with him for the Prelude of Reincarnation’s White Light Bullets.

• The masked man cut off his corroded right arm, regenerated it, and headed back toward the place his information pointed to.
• Angel killed a female undead outside Black Castle, and two Infant Spirits latched onto his shoulders while his attention was elsewhere.
• Sanders warned Angel not to turn around and explained that the Infant Spirits would cause trouble if they saw his face.
• Kimberly, other wizards, and Isabella asked Angel for the Infant Spirits, and Isabella removed them from his shoulders in exchange for a future payment.
• Sanders told Angel that Isabella would likely bargain for the White Light Bullets because the Prelude of Reincarnation could turn undead back into souls.

Angel survived a mass detonation of disguised Undead Aggregates when Sanders rescued him with Nightmare Substitute. Angel, Sanders, and Isabella concluded that a hidden intelligence was targeting Angel, possibly for the Prelude of Reincarnation, and Angel connected the incidents to the Guman King's thirteenth daughter.

• Nearly a thousand undead surrounded Angel, and over a hundred disguised Undead Aggregates began self-destructing at once.
• Sanders used Nightmare Substitute to pull Angel from the blast, leaving him unharmed beside Sanders.
• Angel told Sanders that an Undead Aggregate had appeared silently behind him and seemed to reach for the Prelude of Reincarnation before the explosion.
• Isabella explained that Undead Aggregates lacked the reasoning to act deliberately, and Sanders noted that an infant spirit had also singled out Angel.
• Isabella warned that the source of chaos had likely set its sights on Angel, while Angel recalled other undead who recognized the Prelude of Reincarnation and fled.
• Angel compared the fleeing undead to the Guman King's thirteenth daughter, though the earlier undead had not resembled her.

Angel and the wizards fought an overwhelming undead assault near Black Castle as necromantic aggregates disrupted the battlefield and severed the Mind Tether. A colossal undead Peril Mountain Giant appeared, and Angel realized it was a necromantic aggregate just as Kimberly ordered Isabella to lure it away from Black Castle.

• Angel and the wizards advanced to within a thousand meters of the densest undead, where the horde surged toward them in a massive attack.
• Kimberly ordered the wizards to move closer to Angel, but more than a thousand necromantic aggregates appeared and charged, throwing the battlefield into chaos.
• The aggregates' explosions destabilized the primordial magic and severed Angel's Mind Tether, leaving him isolated as he continued clearing nearby undead.
• An undead Peril Mountain Giant emerged from beneath a cliff, and Isabella flew toward it to confront it.
• Angel spotted a second giant head embedded in the creature's back and recognized it as a colossal necromantic aggregate.
• Kimberly offered to stabilize the energy around the giant and told Isabella to lure it away from Black Castle.

The undead unleashed by the source of chaos kept Black Castle’s defenders occupied while Isabella faced Moliya and Sanders confronted a Red-robed Vile Spirit. The Peril Mountain Giant’s distant self-destruction engulfed the sky in white light, and Isabella realized the distraction might have left Angel vulnerable.

• Kimberly’s plan led the Peril Mountain Giant to follow Isabella away from Black Castle, but a Red-robed Vile Spirit then drove nearby undead to attack and self-destruct.
• Sanders intercepted the Red-robed Vile Spirit and entered a battle with her inside a cloud of gray mist.
• Isabella recognized Moliya, a former fellow apprentice who had become a fallen undead, and decided she needed to capture her to learn what had happened a thousand years earlier.
• Isabella sent her soul avatar to protect Angel while she fought Moliya, who opened her void-black eyes and began burning with black fire.
• A pillar of white light erupted where Isabella and Kimberly had led the Peril Mountain Giant, and its blast illuminated the sky.
• Isabella looked toward Angel after realizing the explosion could distract the defenders, then froze at what she saw.

Angel let a hidden undead drag him beneath Black Castle, where he found a vast chamber filled with undead that were following the Guman King's Daughter's orders. He followed the only open route into a dead-tree passage, and a field of undead hands rising from the ground showed him the way forward.

• A disguised undead aggregate tried to explode while a skeleton seized Angel and dragged him underground, and Angel chose not to resist.
• Angel illuminated the chamber with a Light Spell and saw a crowd of undead leave a path open for him, confirming he could still escape with his Door Model.
• Angel walked through the undead-lined passage and noticed one female undead react when he drew Prelude of Reincarnation before she vanished.
• Angel passed through a hollow dead tree hung with tortured corpses and entered a vast, mist-filled grove of withered trees.
• Undead hands rose from the ground across the chamber and pointed Angel toward his next destination.

Angel recognized the underground area as Black Castle’s Corpse Forest and followed a path that led deeper into it, encountering powerful undead that did not attack him. The chapter left him curious about the Guman King's Daughter’s influence over the undead as he continued onward.

• Angel identified the forest of corpse-filled trees as Black Castle’s first underground level, the Corpse Forest.
• Angel reasoned that the Corpse Forest was partly real underground space and considered breaking through the ceiling to reach the surface, while noting the undead above were being restrained.
• Angel encountered a gigantic undead python and passed it without being attacked.
• Angel saw a crimson-clad vengeful spirit and a threatening coffin among the trees.
• Angel crossed a dilapidated suspension bridge over a deep chasm as a huge Peril Mountain Giant undead rose below and watched him pass.
• Angel wondered how the Guman King's Daughter had gained control over so many powerful undead.

Angel crossed the trench and confronted the Guman Princess, who used a red-clad vengeful spirit and a horde of undead to challenge him. The darkness revealed an enormous undead eyeball identified as Sese Bilas, leaving Angel facing a dire threat beside the advancing undead.

• Angel entered the darkness beyond the trench and resisted a red-clad vengeful spirit's word-spirit power.
• Angel called on the hidden Guman Princess to reveal herself and argued that the undead forces were not her own strength.
• The Guman Princess attacked, and the gathering undead illuminated the area around Angel.
• Angel saw the Peril Mountain Giant and giant serpent undead approaching behind him, with more red-clad vengeful spirits nearby.
• Angel recognized the giant undead eyeball before him as Sese Bilas, a peak second-level Demonic Beast.