Chapter Summaries

Angel brought Xiliu into the Dream Wilderness, where she could think clearly despite having no access to her powers. As her memories of the arena battle faded, Xiliu recalled strange whispers that had ended with the question, "What about you?"

• Xiliu wondered whether she was trapped in a dream or an illusion after finding herself unable to sense or use energy.
• Angel appeared and explained that he had brought Xiliu into his dream through a Dream Bridge.
• Angel told Xiliu that she was still in the medical room and that Nausicaa, Shan, and the others were watching over her.
• Xiliu said her memories of the arena battle were fading and asked Angel to record what she could still remember.
• Xiliu recalled that strange whispers carried on the wind during her fight with Onassis and repeated their final question: "What about you?"

Angel explained how Onassis defeated Xiliu through a philosophical saying, then helped her return safely to reality. After learning that Irene had disappeared in Sky Mechanical City, Angel went to the signal tower to hear what had happened.

• Angel explained that Onassis had used words from the Temple of the God of Courage to awaken Xiliu's true nature, and assured her that she had suffered no harm.
• Angel sent Xiliu out of the Dream Wilderness, and she woke in reality with her magical source and Water Transmutation talent intact.
• Xiliu told Nausicaa and the others what Angel had said, and they took her to Youthful Grace Hall to rest while Angel stayed behind.
• Glen contacted Angel about Alan's vacant, distressed state, so Angel went to the signal tower in Sky Mechanical City.
• Alan told Angel that Irene had entered Sky Mechanical City for the New Star Tournament but vanished after leaving to take a walk on the night she arrived.

Alan told Angel that Irene had gone missing in Sky Mechanical City more than a month ago, and Angel and Glen agreed to help search for her. Angel then went to watch the semifinal between Devil Gourmet and Phantom Deer, where he recognized Trom as the youth who had once stared at him resentfully.

• Alan told Angel that Irene had disappeared in Sky Mechanical City and that a prophecy apprentice had failed to locate her.
• Angel offered to ask Dodolo to investigate Irene after returning to Savage Cave, and Glen volunteered to search for her in Sky Mechanical City.
• Alan described Irene to Glen, and Angel used an illusion to show Glen her appearance.
• Angel flew to the Infinite Tower and watched the semifinal between Azaz, the Devil Gourmet, and Trom, the Phantom Deer.
• Angel recognized Trom as the antler-hatted youth who had once watched him resentfully, and he sensed familiar energy fluctuations around him.

Angel and Gloria recognized demonic power around Azaz and discussed the dangerous practice of Gourmet Wizards sacrificing demons, which could lead them to use humans as ingredients. As Gloria considered killing Azaz, Angel doubted he had fallen; the match began, and a demon phantom appeared behind him.

• Angel sensed demonic power surrounding Azaz, and Gloria explained that he had likely sacrificed a demon.
• Gloria described how demon sacrifice empowered Gourmet Wizards while tempting them to use extraordinary humans as ingredients.
• Gloria developed killing intent toward Azaz, but Angel questioned whether Azaz had truly fallen because his eyes seemed clear.
• The countdown ended, Azaz and Trom began their confrontation, and a strange demon apparition rose behind Azaz.
• Angel wondered why only a phantom appeared and where the demon itself was.

Angel and Gloria discussed whether Kafolian had been turned into living ingredients because she confronted the demon’s true body, while disagreeing over Azaz’s responsibility. As they watched Trom battle Azaz, Queenie contacted them through her alchemical snow raven and introduced herself to Angel.

• Angel speculated that Kafolian had encountered the demon’s true body while using the Spacetime Witch Garb, which might explain why she alone had been harmed.
• Gloria argued that Azaz remained responsible for teaching the demon to turn humans into living ingredients, while Angel maintained that the evidence did not prove Azaz had fallen.
• Angel and Gloria watched Trom match Azaz, and they marveled at Trom’s strength and speed, which approached the level of a formal wizard.
• A white snow raven perched on an alchemical puppet’s cane told Angel and Gloria that Trom belonged to the Frost Moon Alliance and had been trained by the Alliance itself.
• Gloria recognized the snow raven’s owner as Queenie, also known as Sudoer, and introduced her to Angel.

Angel, Gloria, and Queenie watched Trom fight Azaz in the New Star Tournament semifinal, while Queenie explained her ties to Trom and the Frost Moon Alliance’s plans for Angel. After Azaz sent Trom out of the ring with demonic power and burned him with unusual flames, Angel identified the power as belonging to a Fire Pattern Demon, leaving Gloria puzzled by how such a demon had become Azaz’s tribute recipient.

• Queenie told Angel that she had not come for him and that the Frost Moon Alliance might later invite him to claim the Frost Blossom and Moon Chapter; she also revealed that Trom was her disciple.
• Queenie dismissed the food lineage’s combat strength, but Azaz used a Stench Bomb to catch Trom off guard and struck him out of the arena with demonic power.
• The judges allowed Trom to continue, and he climbed back into the arena with a deep chest wound and burns from black flames tinged with red.
• Gloria recognized that Azaz’s flames carried demonic power and wondered what kind of demon had granted it.
• Angel identified the flames as the power of a Fire Pattern Demon, prompting Gloria to question how a demon noble could have accepted tributes from a food-lineage apprentice.

Trom revealed his icy half-beast form and overwhelmed Azaz in close combat, but Azaz borrowed more of Sebastian’s demonic power and unleashed a blast that engulfed the arena in darkness. The audience could not see whether Trom had survived, and the chapter ended with the match’s outcome unknown.

• Trom questioned Azaz about his demon fire, and Azaz said he had borrowed power from someone he could not identify.
• Trom transformed his limbs into hooves and used his frost power to turn the arena beneath him to ice.
• Trom pressed Azaz with increasingly fast attacks while Azaz struggled to defend against the freezing aura.
• Azaz asked Sebastian to lend him more power and gathered the demonic energy into a black-red sphere.
• Trom fled as the sphere cracked, and its explosion swallowed the arena in darkness.
• A snow raven asked whether Trom was dead, while the audience waited in silence for the darkness to clear.

Azaz used a Stench Bomb to overcome Trom’s defense, but his attack was stopped by Trom’s frost aura, leaving Trom poised to win the match. Queenie revealed that Trom had agreed to defeat Angel within three years without knowing Angel was already a formal wizard, while Snow Crow invited Angel to the Frost Moon Alliance.

• Sebastian told Azaz that demon fire could eventually burn through Trom’s ancient phantom beast hide, but demanded Trom as a living-person gourmet offering in exchange for lending more power.
• Azaz refused to sacrifice Trom and chose to keep fighting with the demonic power he had left.
• Azaz disguised a Stench Bomb as demon fire, disorienting Trom, then attacked him; Trom’s frost aura repelled the blow and chilled Azaz’s hands.
• Queenie told Gloria and Angel that Trom had agreed to defeat Angel within three years to earn entry to the Moon Chapter, unaware that Angel was already a formal wizard.
• Snow Crow left the arena and invited Angel to visit the Frost Moon Alliance for the Frost Moon rewards.

After Trom defeated Azaz in the semifinal, Gloria and Angel waited for Azaz and discussed whether he had truly fallen to the demon he sacrificed to. Azaz left for his inn, unaware that Gloria planned to capture him, while Sebastian urged him to enter a bar where a living ingredient awaited.

• Trom used his half-beast form to defeat Azaz, and Trom and Onassis advanced to the finals.
• Gloria secretly marked Azaz and waited outside the Infinite Battle Tower with Angel, who questioned whether Azaz and his demon had reached an agreement.
• Gloria decided to capture Azaz and asked Angel about going to the Frost Moon Alliance, but he postponed the visit despite her offer of free meals made from lost recipes.
• Azaz left the tower for his inn on Champagne Road, discouraged by his defeat and his inability to restrain Sebastian.
• Sebastian urged Azaz to enter Kihara Bar, where he said there was a delicious ingredient, and privately thought of a living ingredient.

Azaz was cornered by Gloria, who sought to capture him because she believed his demon sacrifice endangered food wizards. Sebastian’s demonic fire protected Azaz and let him flee, but a strange distortion trapped him on the fourth floor as someone emerged from his room.

• Azaz learned that someone had entered his room and retreated, but Gloria appeared in the stairwell and blocked his escape.
• Gloria accused Azaz of sacrificing to a demon and attacked, while Azaz refused Sebastian’s offer to turn her into food or send her to his true body.
• Gloria tried to restrain Azaz, but Sebastian released powerful demonic fire from Azaz’s chest, burning and weakening her hand.
• Sebastian urged Azaz to run, and Azaz fled toward the stairwell while Gloria struggled to dispel the fire.
• After a door opened, Azaz found that the stairwell led back to the fourth floor, where the door to his room stood open and a figure was walking out.

Angel arrived as Azaz faced pressure to accept Sebastian’s offer, but Azaz held fast to his faith. Angel gave Azaz a chance to explain and turned his attention to Gloria, whose body was being consumed by the Fire-Pattern Demon’s fire.

• Angel emerged from Azaz’s room, and Azaz realized that Angel and the girl who had confronted him were working together.
• Sebastian urged Azaz to abandon his convictions and accept his support, but Azaz refused and reaffirmed his faith.
• Azaz told Angel that he had not danced with a demon, and Angel let Gloria decide what to do with him while asking her to hear his explanation.
• Angel saw that Gloria was struggling to contain the demon fire and offered to drive out the Fire-Pattern Demon’s fire himself.

Angel expelled Sebastian’s demon fire from Gloria and revealed that he could recognize the Flame-Pattern Demon through its flames. Gloria spared Azaz so Angel could question him, then confined him before they left to talk elsewhere.

• Angel guided Sebastian’s demon fire out of Gloria’s body, and Sebastian realized Angel bore Odecras’ Flame Mark.
• Sebastian asked Azaz for information about Angel and offered to save him if he pulled Angel into the void, but Azaz refused.
• Angel destroyed the demon fire because Sebastian’s will within it prevented him from controlling it for alchemy.
• Gloria approached Azaz with killing intent, but held back when Angel asked to hear his explanation.
• Gloria confined Azaz to prevent further trouble, and she and Angel left the corridor.

Azaz explained how his mentor Tubal had introduced him to demonic offerings and how he continued offering to Sebastian after Tubal died. Sanders judged Azaz’s story truthful, though the demon behind him remained at the center of the investigation.

• Sanders joined Angel and Gloria to question the restrained Azaz about his offerings to a demon.
• Azaz said he had trained under Tubal, a food wizard from the Northern Territory who had made offerings to a demon and was dying from injuries sustained after wizards attacked him.
• Azaz recounted that Tubal asked him to continue making offerings so Tubal’s soul would be spared, and Azaz agreed despite refusing Tubal’s ideals.
• Tubal’s soul was devoured by Sebastian despite Azaz’s offerings, and Azaz discovered more than two hundred human skeletons Tubal had used as sacrifices.
• Azaz said he refused to use humans as offerings, even when Sebastian offered him greater power, and Sanders told Angel that Azaz was telling the truth.

Gloria and Sanders debated how to handle Azaz, whose tribute to a demon made him a threat, while Sanders questioned the Fire Pattern Demon Sebastian. Angel revealed his connections to the demon world, and Sebastian ended by denying that he had chosen Azaz as his tribute bearer.

• Gloria called Azaz an unstable factor, and Sanders warned that killing him would not stop the demon from choosing another tribute bearer.
• Sebastian emerged from Azaz and confirmed he was a Fire Pattern Demon, claiming Sanders could not kill him while his true body remained hidden in the void.
• Angel asked Sebastian about Tandin, then showed an illusion of Butler Tandin, prompting Sebastian to recognize him and ask about the Young Fire Demon Grewu.
• Angel told Sebastian that Grewu had likely come close to transforming after being nourished by the Lord of No Flame's fallen true spirit.
• When Angel asked why Sebastian had chosen Azaz, Sebastian denied choosing him and compared the matter to whether gods chose believers or believers worshipped gods.

Gloria weighed Azaz’s danger to the Southern Region’s gourmet community and decided to spare him under her supervision. Azaz accepted her offer to join Barbie Restaurant, where he would have a chance to earn his freedom again.

• After the demon left, Gloria and the others discussed whether to kill Azaz, recognizing that his death would not stop the Fire-Pattern Demon from tempting other Gourmet Wizards.
• Angel questioned Azaz about his life and values, then learned that Azaz had no knowledge of what happened to Kafolian and had not harmed her.
• Gloria told Azaz that his offerings to a demon made him a potential threat, but praised him for resisting the demon’s temptations.
• Gloria offered Azaz a choice between death and employment at Barbie Restaurant, where she could monitor him until she trusted his convictions.
• Azaz recognized Gloria as the legendary Steel Bone Barbie and eagerly accepted the position, seeing it as a chance to fulfill his childhood dream.

Gloria removed the demon’s living-ingredients state from Kafolian while Alan searched for his missing sister, Irene. Serum’s recollection suggested Irene had left Sky Mechanical City around the time she vanished, and Alan hurried off after Glen sent him new information.

• Azaz packed his belongings while Sebastian questioned his decision to stay with Gloria and urged him to learn who truly cared about him.
• Gloria treated Kafolian at Youthful Grace Hall as Angel watched Leon spar with Ganke.
• Alan told Shan that Glen was helping him search for Irene through the Magic-Energy Eyes, then Angel showed Shan an illusion of his sister.
• Serum recalled seeing Irene flying alone toward the road from Sky Mechanical City during the first half of Drizzle Rain Month, leaving Alan and Angel to suspect she had gone outside the city.
• Alan received a message that Glen had new information and hurried out to investigate.
• Gloria confirmed that Kafolian’s living-ingredients state had ended, then left to check on Azaz after postponing Sini Cui Ze’s agreed payment.

Angel helped Glen dismantle a damaged Magic-Energy Eye so Glen and Alan could recover its recordings and search for Irene. The footage showed Irene visiting an inconspicuous shop in Red Sunflower Ward before leaving.

• Glen and Alan told Angel that Irene had entered Red Sunflower Ward during Drizzle Rain Month and that one of the ward’s Magic-Energy Eyes had been damaged.
• Glen explained that he had secretly taken the damaged Magic-Energy Eye from a processing plant, but its active signal had drawn other eyes to the area.
• Angel concealed the group with an illusion, examined the device, and removed its memory core without triggering its defenses.
• Glen searched the recordings with Alan and found footage of Irene walking through Red Sunflower Ward.
• The footage showed Irene entering an inconspicuous shop and leaving the ward afterward.

Angel, Alan, and Glen searched Nightmare Stone Shop for clues about Irene’s disappearance and learned she had asked where to buy Sea Night Dew. Alan concluded she may have gone to nearby Paladova and decided to investigate.

• Angel, Alan, and Glen entered Nightmare Stone Shop and learned it sold specially blended cosmetic powders.
• Alan questioned the clerks about Irene, and Angel used an illusion to help them recall her visit.
• The clerks remembered that Irene had come to buy Sea Night Dew, but the shop was out of stock.
• A clerk recalled that Irene had asked where she could buy Sea Night Dew and had been told Paladova might have it.
• Glen explained that Paladova was near the North Sea and had been close to Sky Mechanical City in early Drizzle Rain Month.
• Alan decided to go to Paladova to find out what had happened to Irene.

Angel reviewed Frod’s rapid progress on Sin Demon research and approved Knight Sabel’s planned fusion with Sin Demon Number 7, while deciding to keep observing Rabu before granting him the authority of Sin Mist. The chapter ended with Angel asking Frod what he knew about Paladova.

• Angel read Frod’s reports on the first twelve Sin Demons and found the experiments were being handled meticulously.
• Frod explained that Number 13 attacked through sound, while seven Sin Demons strengthened their hosts and were easier to match with candidates.
• Angel agreed that Knight Sabel would fuse with Sin Demon Number 7 after Frod confirmed Sabel had accepted.
• Frod judged Rabu responsible and suited to the authority of Sin Mist, but recommended observing him longer while his emotions settled.
• Angel asked Frod what he knew about Paladova.

Angel prepared to suppress a Sin Demon after learning that Paladova held no obvious clues to Irene’s disappearance. Knight Sabel underwent the first voluntary fusion with Razor Sunflower, and Angel suppressed the Sin Demon after it invaded him, leaving Sabel unconscious but returning to normal.

• Angel learned from Frod that Paladova had no known extraordinary faction beyond Sky Mechanical City and worried that Irene had encountered something on her journey.
• Angel joined Frod and the researchers as Knight Sabel prepared for the first voluntary Sin Demon fusion.
• Razor Sunflower approached Sabel and invaded his body through his mouth while the researchers watched in horror.
• Sabel collapsed and began mutating as Razor Sunflower took hold of him.
• Angel used the Authority Tree’s Sin Mist authority to suppress the Sin Demon, and Sabel’s mutations receded as he fell unconscious.