Chapter Summaries

Alex and Angel discovered that Knight Riven and Camelot were undead pursuing the wounded Madam Connie, and they rescued her from the two hunters. They escaped down the mountain with Madam Connie while Knight Riven and Camelot realized they had been deceived and gave chase.

• Knight Riven and Camelot pursued Madam Connie, but she escaped while they were distracted by a bobcat.
• Angel told Alex that Knight Riven and Camelot were undead and suggested someone might be controlling them.
• Alex decided to keep Madam Connie alive as bait to expose the undead’s controller, and he and Angel found her wounded in a cave.
• Knight Riven and Camelot reached the cave, but Angel’s illusion concealed Alex and Madam Connie while the undead followed a false blood trail.
• Alex treated Madam Connie’s wound and carried her away, while Knight Riven later found the cave and resumed the pursuit.

Mrs. Connie woke in an abandoned Ranger's Cabin after losing her left hand and told Alex that the resurrected Riven and Camelot had attacked her. Alex manipulated her account into a supposed secret of resurrection and convinced her to hide while he investigated Gust Town.

• Mrs. Connie woke beside Alex and discovered that her left hand was missing.
• Alex gave Mrs. Connie a false explanation for finding her, then persuaded her to recount the attack by Riven and Camelot.
• Mrs. Connie described crossing an invisible barrier and being attacked by Riven before escaping into a cave.
• Alex claimed that someone was hiding a resurrection secret beneath Gust Town and warned that Mrs. Connie was in danger.
• Mrs. Connie agreed to stay in the cabin while Alex returned to town to investigate and promised to bring her food and information each day.

Alex and Angel waited to see whether the undead would track Madam Connie, then hid her with Angel’s illusion when no pursuers appeared. They returned to Gust Town and found the church crowded with grieving townspeople, as Father Bolunlang began explaining what had happened.

• Alex concluded that the undead controller was inside the cage after nearly twenty hours passed without anyone coming to find Madam Connie.
• Angel concealed the Ranger's Cabin with an illusion, giving Madam Connie temporary protection for about a week.
• Alex and Angel took secluded routes back to Gust Town and slipped into Kruya Church after dark.
• Alex noticed that Father Bolunlang had not visited his room that morning, then went to the brightly lit church with Angel.
• Father Bolunlang comforted the grieving crowd, spoke with Alex, and began telling him what had happened.

After Anthony was found murdered in the same manner as the earlier victims, Alex investigated the scene and realized his death did not fit the previous pattern. He and Angel suspected Anthony and Madam Martin had been killed for witnessing Knight Riven and Camelot, who might now be inside Gust Town.

• Bolunlang told Alex that Madam Martin had vanished and Anthony had been found dead, with only his head left on a doll.
• Alex reasoned that Anthony could not have reached the cage’s boundary and noted that the route to his secret base also led toward the Holy City.
• At Anthony’s secret base, Alex spotted blood on the walls and floor and concluded it was the primary crime scene.
• Angel pointed out that Madam Martin’s pasture overlooked Anthony’s base and suggested both victims had witnessed something they should not have seen.
• Alex inferred that Anthony and Madam Martin may have seen Knight Riven and Camelot, then feared the two undead might be watching Gust Town.

After Anthony’s death, Alex tried to protect Mrs. Connie while more killings spread fear through Gust Town. He watched the town from Kruya Church with Father Bolunlang when another scream sounded in the darkness.

• Alex left Kruya Church to bring Mrs. Connie food and medicine, and warned her not to return to Gust Town because Anthony had died and Martin had disappeared.
• Alex returned to find the townspeople praying at Kruya Church, but a boy arrived with news that a man’s wife and daughter were dead.
• The sheriff confirmed that three people had been murdered and their heads arranged on dinner plates, prompting knights to escort the townspeople away.
• Alex went to the crime scene, then climbed Kruya Church’s watchtower that night to watch for the pursuers.
• Father Bolunlang found Alex on the watchtower and told him to go back inside, but a scream from southern Gust Town interrupted them.

Alex and Angel investigated a new wave of killings and learned that two undead victims were accompanied by a living, hunched figure who could be the controller. They suspected Father Bolunlang knew something about the murders, while fear spread through Gust Town and some residents tried to flee.

• Angel told Alex that Madam Martin and Mr. Shrek had appeared as undead killers and vanished into a special space with a living figure who took the victims’ bodies.
• Alex and Angel considered why the undead were killing people and suspected the controller was escalating the murders after failing to find Madam Connie.
• Angel said Father Bolunlang seemed to know hidden details, and Alex decided to test him about the matter.
• After another night of killings, fear spread through Gust Town, and Alex watched residents head for the outskirts despite the danger of leaving.

Alex and Angel investigated who had prevented Gust Town’s residents from leaving, tracing the order to Father Bolunlang. After a massacre at Viscount Beja’s estate, Alex confronted Bolunlang and asked what he meant when he said it was over.

• Knights turned back residents trying to leave Gust Town, and Alex learned that Father Bolunlang had ordered the interception by visiting the sheriff.
• Alex said he did not believe Bolunlang was the undead controller, though Angel suspected the priest was helping preserve the town’s false peace.
• The sheriff arrived at Kruya Church and told Bolunlang that Viscount Beja’s wife and children had been killed.
• Alex learned that eighteen people at Beja’s estate had died while the viscount survived in his secret chamber.
• Bolunlang repeatedly murmured that it was over, and Alex took him aside and asked what he meant.

Alex confronted Bolunlang about Gust Town and its secrets, but Bolunlang attacked him before he could explain. A ghostly hand killed an apparent Bolunlang, though Angel revealed that the corpse was an illusion and the real Bolunlang had survived.

• Alex questioned Bolunlang about the cage surrounding Gust Town and how he knew Alex from before his lost memories.
• Bolunlang tried to stab Alex, but Alex disarmed and subdued him.
• A ghostly hand attacked Alex and pierced Bolunlang, but Angel pulled Alex to safety.
• Alex mourned over Bolunlang's apparent corpse and recited the funeral rites.
• Angel revealed that the body was an illusion and that he had saved the real Bolunlang.

Bolunlang revealed that Gust Town was a constructed cage and that an implanted memory had ordered him to kill Alex, whom he instead adopted and tried to protect. He explained that Alex’s search for the truth had helped shatter the cage’s fragile balance, then prepared to tell Alex about the Realm of the Dead and the woman pursuing him.

• Bolunlang asked Alex to destroy the deathly dagger, but Angel concealed its aura with an illusion and gave it to Alex to use against the undead.
• Bolunlang told Alex that Gust Town was a constructed space-time cage and that he had learned this from memories planted in his mind by an unknown existence.
• Bolunlang revealed that the implanted memory ordered him to kill every outsider, including Alex, but he resisted and adopted Alex instead.
• Bolunlang explained that he had used the holy scriptures and his faith in Father God to suppress his urge to kill Alex.
• Bolunlang said that Alex’s pursuit of the truth and Madam Connie’s disappearance had helped drive the cage toward chaos, and he began to explain the Realm of the Dead and the woman behind the threat.

Bolunlang revealed that a woman inside the cage controlled the undead and was trying to turn Gust Town into a domain of ghosts while testing and seeking to kill him. Alex resolved to preserve the town’s balance by killing her, and his final remarks pointed toward the irises at Kruya Church.

• Bolunlang explained that the woman had killed people who learned the cage’s truth and was using undead experiments to turn Gust Town’s residents into undead.
• Bolunlang said the woman had disrupted the town’s balance to force him to act against Alex, but now believed she wanted to kill him and escape his restraints.
• Alex thanked Bolunlang for saving him and promised to find a way to preserve the cage’s balance.
• After Bolunlang went to meet Viscount Beja, Alex told Angel that Lady Connie was only an excuse and that he intended to kill the woman.
• Alex asked Angel about the cemetery flowers and described the irises at Kruya Church, hinting that he had identified his target.

Alex identified Sister Tessa as the one controlling the undead and set out to kill her, but Anthony, Riven Knight, and Tailor Sansi ambushed him. Angel helped Alex escape, only for him to find Sister Tessa waiting in the garden behind Kruya Church before she vanished into the space of the dead, leaving more than twenty undead to surround him.

• Alex concluded that Sister Tessa controlled the undead and decided to act before she learned that Father Bolunlang was alive.
• Alex and Angel found the townspeople fleeing after Riven Knight and Anthony were seen near a murder, and Alex recognized Anthony watching from a window.
• Anthony and Riven Knight trapped Alex in an alley, and Tailor Sansi joined them as an undead, but Angel used an illusion to pull Alex to safety.
• Alex reached the garden behind Kruya Church, where Sister Tessa appeared with an oil lamp and then vanished into the space of the dead.
• More than twenty undead approached Alex in the garden.

Angel returned from the Cage after using his illusion to trap the undead surrounding Alex, then recorded his findings and renamed the Door Model spell the Void Illusion Gate. While the gate slowly recharged, he checked on Sparrow Sparrow and Bobota’s Shapeshifting Softworm research and showed them a newly refined box.

• Angel found that the gate had faded and its energy would take nearly half a year to recharge, leaving Alex to face the Cage’s conflict without his help.
• Angel recalled using nearly all his illusion energy to trap the undead and leaving Alex, who could use his dagger to enter the space of the dead and pursue Tessa.
• Angel spent a day recording his experiment’s discoveries and unanswered questions, then renamed the Door Model the Void Illusion Gate.
• Angel learned from Sparrow Sparrow that the Shapeshifting Softworm eggs were expected to hatch within a day, and brought Sparrow Sparrow and Bobota into the testing ground.
• Angel revealed a strangely shaped box he had refined and offered to show it to the exhausted researchers.

Angel showed Sparrow Sparrow and Bobota an immersive stage play based on his real experiences, following Alex and the investigation into Knight Riven’s death before unfolding into a dark, supernatural story. The play had no known ending, so Angel asked Sparrow Sparrow to use her prophetic ability to discover what happened to Alex and the others.

• Angel activated a miniature stage-play device, immersing Sparrow Sparrow and Bobota in a gloomy story that began in a church with Father Bolunlang and Alex.
• Sparrow Sparrow watched the story move to the discovery of Knight Riven’s severed head and realized the scenes shifted between places and times.
• After about three hours, Sparrow Sparrow and Bobota awoke and asked Angel how the story ended.
• Angel explained that the play was based on a true story but that he did not know whether Alex killed the dark nun or escaped the Cage.
• Angel suggested that Sparrow Sparrow use her prophetic ability to learn the ending, hoping to discover Alex’s fate and the Cage’s location.

Angel, Sparrow Sparrow, and Bobota watched a special stage play before the long-awaited insect egg hatched into an unusual snot-like Soft-State Worm. Angel then visited Sanders, discussed his Void Illusion Gate, and brought up the difficulty of identifying the new worm.

• Sparrow Sparrow used her precognitive ability and recognized Angel's voice in an image of the time-space traveler, then promised to share Alex's ending with him if she discovered it.
• Angel noticed signs that the insect egg was hatching, and Sparrow Sparrow and Bobota turned their attention to the Insect Nest.
• A bluish-green, snot-like Soft-State Worm emerged from the egg, leaving Bobota doubtful that it was the Shapeshifting Softworm they expected.
• Angel suggested the worm's strange appearance might be its true form and proposed a stress test to identify it.
• Sanders told Angel that Kimberly was overwhelmed by inquiries about his advancement, then teased him about the name Void Illusion Gate.
• Angel told Sanders that the new Soft-State Worm had hatched but that they still could not determine its identity.

Angel and Sanders tested the Snot Monster and confirmed that it was a Shapeshifting Softworm. Moliya identified it as a potentially excellent variety, and began explaining how its quality affected Transformation Spells.

• Angel tested the Snot Monster’s responses to environmental dangers, and Sanders used an illusion to provoke it into defending itself and trying to escape.
• Sanders identified spatial fluctuations and the creature’s changing skin as evidence that it was a Shapeshifting Softworm, then suggested Angel consult Kimberly or Isabella.
• Angel visited Madam Kimberly, apologized for delaying the testing grounds, and explained why he had come with Moliya present.
• Kimberly and Moliya examined the creature, and Moliya confirmed it was a Shapeshifting Softworm that might be a particularly fine variety.
• Moliya explained that Transformation Spell limits depended on a wizard’s energy foundation and the quality of the Shapeshifting Softworm variety.

Angel learned that the siblings had cultivated a top-grade Shapeshifting Softworm and prepared to leave Black Castle with Sanders and Gloria. He also heard that Toby’s Extreme Grudge Intent still caused brief episodes, then showed Gloria and Sanders a device he had named Shadow of the Cage.

• Moliya confirmed that the Snot Monster was a top-grade Shapeshifting Softworm, and Angel said he had promised the next one to Kant for Qili.
• Kimberly learned about Qili’s past and condition, then Angel left and told Bobota and Sparrow Sparrow that he would leave Black Castle the next day.
• Angel found Toby back with Gloria and Sanders, who had been discussing the danger of the Nightmare Realm and Gloria’s missing physical body.
• Gloria told Angel that Toby had twice awakened with a brief flash of venomous resentment and fury, which she suspected came from the stirring Extreme Grudge Intent.
• Gloria agreed to leave with Angel and Sanders and help train Toby, and Angel revealed his stage-play playback device, Shadow of the Cage.

After the illusion, Gloria and Sanders praised Angel’s storytelling and discussed the accents and possible location of Gust Town, while Angel kept the Void Illusion Gate’s secrets hidden. The next day, Bobota prepared to leave without Sparrow Sparrow, and Angel reassured him that the siblings might reunite someday.

• Gloria and Sanders reflected on Shadow of the Cage, praising Angel’s illusion work while discussing how its story and presentation differed from his other illusions.
• Angel said the story was true, and Gloria and Sanders noted that Alex’s accent resembled one from the Stone Mulberry Dynasty, though Gust Town’s location remained uncertain.
• Gloria left to pack and inform Felicia, and Sanders praised Angel before advising him to ask his questions directly.
• Angel thought about why he had concealed the Void Illusion Gate’s special energy and its connection to the Outer Eye.
• The next day, Bobota told Angel that he had sent Sparrow Sparrow ahead, then prepared to leave with him.
• Angel told the grieving Bobota that he and Sparrow Sparrow might reunite one day, words that Angel believed would eventually come true.

After defeating Sister Tessa, Alex collapsed and awoke in an unfamiliar place called the Abyss of Sin Gods. He learned he had been rescued from a mudslide and saw terrifying gods outside, leaving him to wonder whether he had escaped the cage.

• Alex stabbed Sister Tessa before Knight Riven’s sword pierced his back, and Sister Tessa died after recalling how she had been made a servant of the cage.
• Father Bolunlang arrived, comforted Sister Tessa, and approached Alex, but a mirror-like barrier separated them before Alex lost consciousness.
• Alex awoke in a primitive stone house, where Emily treated his wound with medicinal soup and told him they were in the Abyss of Sin Gods.
• Emily explained that Alex had rolled down Deadwish Hill in a mudslide and that his back wound had come from a weapon.
• Alex opened the door and saw a vast plain, monstrous figures, and a gigantic eye in the sky before Emily pulled him inside and warned him that the figures were gods.

Angel returned to Sky Mechanical City with Sanders and Gloria, accepted Talos's apology and a valuable Secluded Silence Merchant Guild discount card, then studied materials for learning the Transformation Spell. The chapter ended with Angel and Gloria watching two figures clash outside Sanders's estate.

• Angel, Sanders, and Gloria arrived in Sky Mechanical City, and Angel used his Research Institute membership to avoid trouble for casting a spell in the main district.
• Antonio relayed that Muse wanted Angel to visit Fantasy Mechanical City after Muse's seclusion ended.
• Angel read Talos's apology letter and accepted the Secluded Silence Merchant Guild VIP card Ivan had given him, while making clear that accepting it did not mean forgiveness.
• Angel studied The Essentials of Transfiguration and compiled a list of materials needed to transplant the Shapeshifting Softworm's skin.
• Angel noticed the estate's protective barrier stir, and Gloria showed him two figures fighting beneath the moon.

Angel received an invitation from Fingernail Granny and left the manor for Mansi Magic Material Street while concealing himself from apprentices and reporters seeking him out. On the way, he saw the widespread fighting around the New Star Tournament, including a battle too dangerous for the nearby enforcement squad to stop.

• Angel watched Falga fight the Flower Sickle Woman and judged that Falga would eventually win because moonlight strengthened his demonic bats.
• Angel received an invitation from Fingernail Granny and decided to visit her at the Nail Alchemy Shop.
• Gloria warned Angel that apprentices wanted to challenge him and magazine reporters wanted to verify his advancement, so Angel used a Concealment Illusion to leave unnoticed.
• Angel flew toward Mansi Magic Material Street and saw fights breaking out across the area, including one the enforcement squad could not safely intervene in.