Chapter Summaries

Oroba watched Falga and Loki bind and experience their Drama Shadow Boxes while she tried to determine whether Angel had made them. Falga praised the immersive royal-family story, while Loki emerged shaken by a tragedy and claimed he had spotted supernatural forces behind its natural disaster.

• Oroba opened a red bubble and examined its ornate but unmarked box, then asked Falga to bind his before she did.
• Falga chose a dark purple box and Loki chose a black one, and both activated their boxes in the shop.
• Viking explained that each box could only be viewed alone during its first activation and could be shared afterward with its owner's permission.
• Oroba questioned Viking about the refiner, and his refusal to disclose the identity left her believing Angel had likely made the boxes.
• Falga emerged and described an immersive story about royal-family rivalries, love, and hatred, highlighting a realistic thunderstorm scene.
• Loki emerged tearful from a tragedy about a disabled townsman caught in a natural disaster and said he had found signs that supernatural power caused it.

Oroba entered Angel’s illusion and watched a sinister fairy-tale scene centered on a Magic Mirror that embodied tangible malice. As the story continued, she realized its many extraordinary details reflected Angel’s mastery of illusion rules, and she was left eager to study the mirror.

• Loki told Falga that the illusion’s extraordinary traces seemed to contain real information, prompting Oroba to reconsider the Drama Shadow Box.
• Oroba entered the illusion and found herself in a dark castle before appearing in a dim room with a mirror.
• A girl dragged Shalina’s corpse into the room, asked the Magic Mirror who was fairest, and learned that her stepmother was still more beautiful.
• Oroba sensed endless malice within the mirror and concluded that its rules were real rather than fabricated by the illusion.
• Oroba watched the girl attempt to assassinate her stepmother, flee the castle, and deceive seven dwarves, while noticing extraordinary details throughout the story.
• Oroba realized the details were likely incidental results of Angel’s ability to define an illusion’s rules and recognized that his mastery had reached a new level.

Angel declined Liana’s request to meet Oroba and explained why he had made Drama Shadow Boxes and chosen Breeze Magic Materials Shop to sell them. He left his support for the shop deliberately ambiguous, preserving room to maneuver later.

• Liana told Angel that Oroba had praised his Drama Shadow Boxes at the Fragrance Tasting Gathering and wanted to meet him, but Angel refused because he was busy.
• Liana asked why Angel had made the shadow boxes, and he said he had promised Gloria one and had made others along the way.
• Liana questioned why Angel had chosen Breeze Magic Materials Shop instead of using Savage Cave’s resources, and Angel said it was a repayment to the shop.
• Angel considered how the unsigned shadow boxes let him lend Breeze Magic Materials Shop an ambiguous reputation without committing himself to supporting it.

Angel spoke with Liana about David and Ku Doudou, then checked Toby’s progress as he continued enduring Fate’s Boiling Melody. Toby was steadily improving, and Angel returned to the laboratory with only the New Star Tournament winners’ custom rewards left among his pressing tasks.

• Angel learned that David was doing well under Liana’s training and agreed to visit Ku Doudou, who had lost the will to cultivate and still could not cast a basic cantrip.
• Liana urged Angel to ask Lord Rhein to replace Savage Cave’s crystal-ball communicators, and Angel decided it was worth trying.
• Angel went to the courtyard and asked Azaz about Toby’s condition; Azaz reported that Toby had endured forty-four sessions of Fate’s Boiling Melody after consuming forty Demon Flower Sprite Bloodstones.
• Angel saw that Toby’s endurance was steadily improving and told Azaz to contact him immediately if Toby seemed unwell after waking.
• Angel returned to the laboratory, having repaid his debt to Breeze Magic Materials Shop, with the New Star Tournament winners’ custom rewards still to prepare.

Angel chose to craft custom items for Xiliu and Onassis, leaving Trom’s request for Guxiluo because Trom’s defensive material would take too long to adapt to Angel’s enchantment methods. The chapter ended with Angel considering Onassis’s request for any item related to philosophy.

• Angel told Antonio to give Trom’s customization task to Guxiluo and took the other two tasks for himself.
• Antonio explained that Trom had hoped Angel would craft his item, but agreed to notify Guxiluo.
• Angel concluded that adapting Trom’s Kasisomi fur would require months of work and burned Trom’s request.
• Angel reviewed Xiliu’s options, which included a potion, an item to help with lethargy, or a weapon, and set her request aside.
• Angel examined Onassis’s complicated weapon requirements and his simpler request for an item related to philosophy.

Nausicaa gathered with her friends for a farewell meal before leaving on a dangerous journey, while Angel remained in seclusion and could not attend. After Nausicaa departed, Glen arrived with Xiliu’s completed alchemical item and said Lord Pat had crafted it himself.

• Alan reported that Azaz had told him Lord Pat had been in the laboratory for ten days, and Leon said he had not seen Angel either.
• Nausicaa reassured Shan that she would return safely and explained that her teleportation arrangements with Reynolds were ready.
• Nausicaa shared a meal with her friends, then left for the teleportation hall and urged them to keep training.
• Kafolian said Nausicaa was well suited to become a wizard, while Shan lamented that Angel had missed the farewell.
• Glen arrived and delivered Xiliu’s custom alchemical item, revealing that Lord Pat had crafted it himself.

Angel met Nausicaa at the teleportation hall before she left with Reynolds to pursue an important goal, giving her a one-use communicator. Afterward, Angel retrieved the scouting puppet he had used to learn when she would depart, but noticed something happening in Youthful Grace Hall.

• Glen explained that Angel had left the Infinite Battle Tower for the teleportation hall, reassuring Shan and Xiliu that he had not missed Nausicaa.
• Angel met Nausicaa at the teleportation hall and respected her decision to travel somewhere dangerous with Reynolds for an item she needed.
• Angel gave Nausicaa a monocle that could send him a message once, and she left without revealing what she sought.
• Angel controlled his scouting puppet outside Youthful Grace Hall and prepared to retrieve it after Nausicaa departed.
• Angel glimpsed something happening in Youthful Grace Hall as the scouting puppet flew upward.

Xiliu tested the Frost Ice Whip Angel had customized for her, revealing its immense power. Kafolian volunteered to face Xiliu’s full-strength strike, and Xiliu prepared to attack while Kafolian reinforced her defenses.

• Xiliu’s casual whip strike carved a long, deep, frost-covered fissure into the training ground, astonishing Leon and the others.
• Xiliu realized the Frost Ice Whip could extend its attacks far beyond its physical length, and Serum suggested testing it outside.
• Kafolian offered to test the whip and transformed her gown into the War Goddess's Armor.
• Xiliu struck Kafolian with about half her strength, blasting her into a crater, but Kafolian emerged uninjured.
• Kafolian asked Xiliu to attack with full strength and said she would add defensive bloodline techniques; Xiliu agreed to begin.

Xiliu unleashed the Frost Ice Whip against Kafolian, whose defenses held but whose shield broke. As Kafolian grappled with the gap between the weapon and ordinary alchemy, Wizard Kihara confronted an unseen figure about the damage to Youthful Grace Hall.

• Kafolian activated her bloodline defenses as Xiliu poured her magic into the Frost Ice Whip and sent an ice dragon charging at her.
• Kafolian survived the collision, but the attack dented and cracked her shield, leaving her armor and body apparently unharmed.
• Sini Cui Ze checked on Kafolian, who admitted she was fine but recognized that Xiliu could break through her strongest defenses.
• Kafolian compared Xiliu's Research Institute-made whip with the custom weapon being forged for her and felt frustrated by the difference.
• Wizard Kihara surveyed the wreckage of Youthful Grace Hall and blamed the unseen figure beside him, who said he had only delivered Xiliu's weapon to the Infinite Battle Tower.

Angel’s Frost Ice Whip prompted doubts about whether it suited Xiliu, until she explained that it was designed to break through enemies’ defenses and let her use Water Transmutation. The chapter ended with Xiliu still disappointed that her excessive sleepiness remained unresolved, while Angel hoped Dream Wilderness would eventually help her.

• Wizard Kihara, Shan, and Serum questioned whether the Frost Ice Whip was truly suited to Xiliu.
• Xiliu revealed that she had requested a weapon capable of quickly breaking through opponents’ defenses.
• Kafolian explained that the whip’s attacks could breach defenses and give Xiliu access to opponents’ bodily fluids through Water Transmutation.
• Xiliu said she was satisfied with the whip but regretted that her request for help with excessive sleepiness had not been addressed.
• Angel told Wizard Kihara that Xiliu’s sleepiness was difficult to resolve for now and considered that Dream Wilderness might let her use her sleeping hours productively.

News of Xiliu’s Frost Ice Whip spread through Sky Mechanical City, drawing the attention of the Profound Alchemy Society. The chief priest ordered the group to assess Angel’s abilities and his connection to Breeze Magic Materials Shop, leaving open the possibility of approaching Angel—or targeting Breeze Valley—to obtain the Demon Flower Sprite Bloodstone.

• Word spread through Sky Mechanical City that Angel had made the Frost Ice Whip Xiliu used against Kafolian, and recordings of the duel began circulating.
• Members of the Profound Alchemy Society watched the recording and concluded that the Frost Ice Whip was a powerful, blood-bound weapon that could reach half a step into the high rank.
• The chief priest and the others discussed Angel’s rapid production of high-rank alchemical works, including the custom orders for Li Zhixi Liu and Onassis.
• The chief priest explained that Angel seemed to be backing Breeze Magic Materials Shop through the Drama Shadow Boxes and called for an analysis of his information.
• The chief priest said he hoped to reason with Angel over the Demon Flower Sprite Bloodstone, but suggested starting with Breeze Valley if they could not.

Angel finished refining a Magician-exclusive item for Shali, creating an alchemical omen, then learned Toby might be close to overcoming the Extreme Grudge Intent. Toby woke after a long trial in the Heart House, but had not yet explained what he had discovered.

• Angel emerged from his laboratory after completing Shali's intermediate-level item, and Gloria confirmed that the refinement had caused an alchemical omen.
• Gloria told Angel that Toby had found a possible key to defeating the Extreme Grudge Intent and had repeatedly tested it while Shali monitored him.
• Angel read Azaz's records showing Toby had endured eighty Heart House experiences and had gradually managed to face the Extreme Grudge Intent for up to half an hour.
• Shali reported that Toby's emotions had receded after more than half an hour, and Toby soon woke and flew to Angel's shoulder.
• Gloria impatiently asked Toby how the latest attempt had gone.

Toby narrowly failed to defeat the Extreme Grudge Intent again, so Gloria used Angel’s Dreamscape Twins illusion to give everyone a restful visit to its Bathhouse. While relaxing in a hot spring, Angel and Gloria discussed a Drama Shadow Box he had made.

• Toby told Angel and Gloria that he had come close to defeating the Extreme Grudge Intent as a giant Snakebird, and Gloria postponed another challenge so he could rest.
• Gloria used her brooch to bring Angel, Toby, Shali, and Azaz into Dreamscape Twins, an illusion Angel had refined as an apprentice.
• The group boarded Catbus and traveled through the night mountains to the Bathhouse, where they soaked in separate hot springs.
• Gloria teased Angel with a suggestive massage, but Angel recognized the scene as an illusion and identified its resemblance to Snowy Night Visitor.
• Gloria revealed that she had bought a copy of Angel’s Snowy Night Visitor Drama Shadow Box after he had given her only The Princess Who Killed the Dragon.

Gloria told Angel that his simulated scent in The Growth Story of the Fairy Queen had become a sensation among fragrance witches, and that Frost Ice Whip was drawing attention too. Angel revealed that the scent came from Abyssal figures and disclosed that he had crafted a Hall of Philosophical Inquiry for Onassis.

• Gloria told Angel that a witch had shared The Growth Story of the Fairy Queen at the Fragrance Tasting Gathering, prompting witches to seek the flower fairy's scent.
• Angel explained that he had simulated the scent using notes from a Panas Succubus and an unnamed owner of a mysterious shop in the Abyss.
• Gloria told Angel that Xiliu's Frost Ice Whip had attracted widespread attention after she tested it at Youthful Grace Hall.
• Gloria said people were curious about the custom works Angel had made for Onassis and Shali, and Angel revealed that Onassis's was a Hall of Philosophical Inquiry.

Angel explained how he forged a Hall of Philosophical Inquiry for Onassis, using Nightmare Illusion to incorporate a limited philosophical concept drawn from his past experiences. He kept the work private because Mystical Manifestations were too dangerous to reveal openly.

• Angel chose to forge an item related to philosophy rather than try to satisfy Onassis's contradictory weapon requirements.
• Angel described how books in the Hall of Philosophical Inquiry would prompt Onassis to begin philosophical inquiries when he opened them.
• Gloria realized Angel had incorporated a concept similar to the Mystical Manifestation she encountered on Mysterious Mountain.
• Angel explained that the Hall contained only a small, controlled fragment of a concept and was not a true Mystical Manifestation, though it had reached the peak of the mid-tier.
• Gloria considered publishing a similar work through the Research Institute, but Angel refused because revealing anything resembling a Mystical Manifestation could put him at risk.

Gloria questioned Angel about Toby’s Dream Feather and the dreams where he fought Extreme Grudge Intent. Angel confirmed the feather’s name but withheld the truth, telling Gloria she would learn it when the time was right.

• After Shali and Azaz left Dreamscape Twins, Shali praised the lifelike hot spring, and Angel offered to make her an Alchemical Illusion Realm.
• Gloria placed Toby in the Fate's Boiling Melody magic array, where Shali began another challenge as Toby prepared to enter a dream.
• Gloria discussed Toby’s dream-entering feather with Angel and revealed that she had used Birth Art to make the Cloudthread Tree bear drinks.
• Angel named the feather Dream Feather, and Gloria guessed Toby was entering a fixed place in the Dream Realm connected to Angel.
• Angel told Gloria that her guess was close but said she would have to wait for the right time to learn the truth.

Toby finally defeated Extreme Grudge Intent in the Heart House after eighty-one failures, and celebrated his victory by soaring through the sky. He avoided explaining the ordeal to Gloria and Angel, who recognized that he might not want them to worry.

• Gloria and Angel waited as Shali sustained her talent through Toby’s prolonged battle with Extreme Grudge Intent.
• Shali stabilized Toby’s emotions and reported that his battle should be over.
• Toby woke, then transformed into a griffin and soared excitedly as Gloria realized he had succeeded.
• Toby revealed through his actions that he had defeated Extreme Grudge Intent on his eighty-second attempt after two weeks of trials.
• Toby pretended not to understand human speech when Angel asked about the battle, and Gloria and Angel let the matter pass.
• Gloria and Angel reflected that Toby had matured and learned to bear his troubles himself.

Toby prepared to face the Extreme Grudge Intent again, but Gloria made him rest so Shali could recover. Angel then gave Shali the promised profession-exclusive item, and the chapter ended as she opened the iron box and found a stack of cards.

• Toby prepared to enter the Heart House again, but Gloria stopped him and explained that Shali needed rest.
• Angel invited Shali to the hall and gave her the iron box he had promised to refine for her.
• Shali discovered the box had a Suspension Rune and a concealed Veiled Rune bearing Angel's Lionheart's Flame emblem.
• Shali opened the box and found a stack of cards inside.

Angel introduced Shali to a deck of poker cards and explained how magicians used them for card magic. Gloria recognized the Joker as resembling a card set reported in Sleepless City, and Angel began demonstrating card magic through an illusion.

• Shali touched the arranged cards, causing fifty-two cards from four suits to fly out and circle her while two unusual cards remained in the box.
• When Shali picked up one of the remaining cards, a black-and-white clown appeared and plunged the surroundings into darkness until Gloria took the card and the clown returned to it.
• Gloria said Candy House had reports of a similar, larger card set appearing in Sleepless City, and Angel identified the clown card as the Joker from the Nightmare Realm.
• Angel explained that poker cards were tools for magicians who performed card magic, then created an illusion of an elegant theater and a magician preparing to perform for its most distinguished guests.

Angel showed Shali a deck of playing cards that opened into a special illusion called Poker Time, where card combinations produced different effects. Shali eagerly began studying the deck, while Gloria asked Angel about the cards’ connection to Sleepless City, a mystery he could not explain.

• Shali watched a magician perform close-up card tricks and became fascinated by the sleight of hand and psychological techniques.
• Angel explained that opening the iron box placed Shali inside Poker Time, where playing cards formed the foundations of illusions.
• Angel combined a Joker Card and a Club Guard card to create a Black Night Ambush that cut Shali’s cheek.
• Angel described how card combinations could create effects such as healing, defense, attacks, traps, and summons, and Shali began considering ways to use them in magic performances.
• Gloria praised the deck and asked Angel about the origin of the playing cards and their connection to Sleepless City, but Angel said he did not know.