Chapter Summaries

Rhein, Angel, Sanders, and the Tree Spirit investigated the knight armor’s inexplicable appearance in the ruins but found no clear location for a hidden room. Rhein then revealed that one of Tizhalo’s bronze plaques had been written and revised later than the others, leaving the group to consider what the anomaly meant.

• Rhein told the Tree Spirit that the knight armor had appeared out of thin air and had not moved afterward.
• Angel wondered whether a hidden room lay near where the armor appeared, but Rhein said he had found no trace there.
• Sanders explained that spatial magic could have moved the armor from elsewhere, so its location offered no reliable clue.
• Rhein said the bronze door plaques had stirred his intuition and gathered four of them for inspection.
• Rhein showed that the study plaque had been written later and revised, unlike the other plaques, and the group examined its inscription.

The Tree Spirit, Sanders, Angel, and Rhein examined why Tizhalo had altered a bronze plaque shortly before leaving the ruins. They found no evidence of a bedroom in the study, and Angel suggested Tizhalo may have learned about it through ordinary means, from information left in plain sight.

• The Tree Spirit and Rhein established that Tizhalo had altered the plaque near the end of his time in the ruins, and Sanders reasoned that an outside trigger likely prompted him.
• Angel pointed out that the plaque contrasted a study with a bedroom, leading the group to speculate that Tizhalo had discovered the study was actually a bedroom.
• Rhein searched the study with the Eye of Truth but found no traces of a bedroom or hidden room.
• Angel suggested Tizhalo might have learned about the bedroom through normal means, from something openly available in the ruins.

Rhein described two anomalies he had found in the ruin: a possible bedroom suggested by the bronze plaque, and a storage room that carried the scent of mystery. With the clues still unconnected, he consulted the Unspeaking God’s statue at Cloud Tower and returned with the intention of sharing what its heart’s voice had revealed.

• Angel and the others set aside the search for the bedroom suggested by the bronze plaque and continued listening to Rhein’s findings.
• Rhein explained that the innermost room of the lower laboratory had been a storage room and that he had sensed a mysterious aura there.
• Tree Spirit wondered whether the ruin’s original owner had been a mysterious alchemist, while Sanders suggested the owner might instead have possessed a mysterious item.
• Rhein said Angel might be able to identify the aura, but could not yet bear the Eye of Truth, and confirmed he had found no other anomalies.
• Rhein withdrew into silence for about ten minutes, then revealed that he had spiritually returned to Cloud Tower to ask the statue of the Unspeaking God for answers.

Rhein learned from the Unspeaking God that the ruin was safe, but the group made no progress uncovering its hidden room or the knight armor’s secrets. After Angel agreed to keep deciphering the armor’s magic patterns, Rhein and Sanders discussed Black Castle’s friendship with Demon Illusion Island, and Rhein wondered what Maya had seen in the stars.

• Rhein said the Unspeaking God had confirmed the ruin was safe, easing concerns about outsiders while revealing nothing about the hidden room.
• The Tree Spirit left deciphering the knight armor’s damaged magic patterns to Angel, and Rhein advised him not to waste too much time searching for the hidden room.
• Rhein asked Sanders about Demon Illusion Island establishing friendship with Black Castle, and Sanders confirmed it was happening.
• The Tree Spirit said other organizations had also sought ties with Black Castle, but Black Castle had accepted only Demon Illusion Island’s offer.
• Rhein looked forward to seeing Isabella at the tea party and analyzed the benefits and drawbacks of the new friendship for Sanders.
• When the grandfather clock struck twelve, Rhein wondered whether Maya had learned anything from the star chart of the future.

Maya struggled to use the Mystery of the Starry Sky to learn whether the Budding Believers would target Angel, while she noticed an unsettling change in Dodolo. She finally received a fragment of a future showing a starlit road, an indistinct box, and a blue-glowing monster, but gained no useful answer about Angel.

• Maya repeatedly sought a prophecy about the Budding Believers and Angel but saw nothing as the Mystery of the Starry Sky neared its peak.
• Maya noticed Dodolo radiating an otherworldly indifference, and observers in the center of the hall took an interest in him.
• Maya calmed herself and looked into the star map again as her intuition began to stir.
• Maya saw a pitch-black space, a road of starlight leading to an indistinct box, and a blue-glowing monster before the vision crumbled.
• Maya dismissed the vision as unhelpful and entered stillness again, sensing that her inspiration had begun to flow.

Maya watched fragments of the future during Stargazing Day, most of which seemed useless, until she saw a steam airship heading toward Savage Cave. The vision showed a group of newly awakened talents aboard, but Maya could not connect them to Angel or the Budding and hoped a future fragment would prove more valuable.

• Maya watched many disconnected future fragments, including visions of an unfamiliar city and a city populated by illusion beasts.
• Maya finally saw the Windmill Town steam airship flying over the Snow Agate River toward Savage Cave.
• Maya observed a bandaged youth provoking the people around him aboard the airship, then saw a slender girl arrive and frighten the others away.
• Maya concluded the passengers were likely newly awakened talents bound for Savage Cave, but the vision offered her no useful information about Angel or the Budding.

Maya’s vision of a future in Thorn Ridge revealed Madeleine trapped in a thorn-covered castle in the Abyss. As Madeleine tried to unlock a spell wall, a monstrous girl emerging from the thorns attacked and swallowed her head.

• Maya recognized the black-thorn-covered landscape north of the Cold Antiquity Ruins as Thorn Ridge in the Abyss.
• Maya followed a light into a castle and saw Madeleine leave a locked room in response to eerie laughter.
• Madeleine hurried down the corridor and began unlocking the spell wall she had created.
• A pale girl's face emerged from the thorns and stretched its neck toward Madeleine.
• The girl opened its jaws and swallowed Madeleine's head as screams and chewing filled the corridor.

During Stargazing Day, Maya saw fragments of the future that revealed Madeleine might be killed and showed her a terrifying apocalyptic world. She lost track of time, and when she recovered, Stargazing Day had ended before she could investigate Angel or the ruins, leaving her unsettled by what the final vision meant.

• Maya awoke from a vision in which a strange girl would likely kill and devour Madeleine, and she decided to report it after Stargazing Day.
• Maya entered another time fragment, where a peaceful plain transformed into an apocalyptic world filled with Evil Spirits, a bone army, and colossal evil gods.
• Dodolo roused Maya from her daze, and she realized Stargazing Day had ended while she was lost in the vision.
• Maya regretted failing to investigate Angel or the ruins and wondered what the apocalyptic fragment meant.
• Lapuye used a stellar secret art to soothe the gathered wizards, while Shikel inferred that Maya had witnessed an astonishing prophecy.

After Stargazing Day ended, Lapuye opened the exchange meeting and let participants choose their own speaking order. Hydra and Asethos discussed Maya and Dodolo’s possible importance, and Hydra was stunned when Dodolo detected his secret prophecy; Lapuye then asked who would speak first.

• Lapuye used the Starry Sky Secret Art to calm the attendees and showed approval of Dodolo’s composure.
• Lapuye announced that Stargazing Day had ended and began the exchange meeting, allowing independent speeches without a set order.
• Hydra speculated to Asethos that Maya’s and Dodolo’s visions might explain Lapuye’s unusual speaking rules.
• Asethos warned Hydra that Dodolo had strange talent and mysterious origins, though he withheld what Lapuye suspected about him.
• Hydra secretly examined Dodolo’s past and future, but Dodolo noticed and looked directly at him, shocking Hydra.
• Lapuye asked the gathered wizards who would speak first.

After a long silence at Stargazing Day, Dodolo volunteered to speak first, drawing skepticism from the prophecy wizards and support from several Observers. Lapuye welcomed the choice, leaving Dodolo poised to share his prophecy.

• The prophecy wizards and Observers remained silent after Lapuye changed the speaking order.
• Maya began to offer to speak, but Dodolo interrupted and asked to go first.
• Shikel praised Dodolo’s courage and said he looked forward to hearing his prophecy.
• Ivan challenged Dodolo to avoid wasting everyone’s time, while Shura also questioned whether his prophecy would be meaningful.
• Lapuye said he was pleased to see an apprentice speak first again after more than three hundred years.

At Stargazing Day, Dodolo shared a prophecy about a phantom theater drifting ashore and a pink-lit ticket booth appearing in the Land of Eternal Night. Hastur recognized a possible connection in the heart-shaped sign and asked whether Dodolo had seen who was inside the booth.

• After the prophecy wizards gave Dodolo a chance to speak, he announced that a theater occupied by phantoms would drift ashore from the long river of illusion, with its first ticket booth appearing in the Land of Eternal Night.
• Ivan used the Truth-Verification Art to confirm Dodolo was telling the truth and asked what the prophecy meant.
• Hastur, intrigued by the prophecy, asked Dodolo to describe the theater and its ticket booth.
• Dodolo said the theater and booth were shrouded in pink light, which came from a heart-shaped sign beside the booth.
• Hastur reacted to the heart-shaped sign and asked Dodolo whether he had seen the person inside the ticket booth.

Dodolo used Light-Shadow Art to reveal the ticket seller’s appearance, and Hastur recognized the theater as the legendary Peach Heart Theater, though the man was not his old acquaintance. Shura and Gauss suspected the ticket seller might be Sirod, a long-vanished headmaster of Shining Gold Academy, and Shura asked Hastur to explain the theater and his old acquaintance.

• Hastur asked Dodolo to project the ticket seller’s appearance, and Dodolo agreed to use Light-Shadow Art.
• Dodolo successfully projected an old man with a white beard and bizarre peach-heart clothing.
• Hastur said the man was not his old acquaintance but identified the theater as the legendary Peach Heart Theater.
• Shura suspected the ticket seller resembled Sirod, the sixteenth headmaster of Shining Gold Academy, and Gauss recalled that Sirod had disappeared.
• Shura asked Hastur who his old acquaintance was and what the theater and ticket booth were.

Hastur revealed that his missing mentor Mibury had entered Peach Heart Theater as an actor in pursuit of a breakthrough to Legend. The chapter left the Southern Region facing a likely rush of ambitious wizards after Dodolo’s prophecy exposed the theater’s coming arrival.

• Hastur identified his mentor as Mibury, a renowned prophecy wizard who vanished after Year 4067 of the New Calendar.
• Hastur explained that Mibury had secretly entered Peach Heart Theater during the Fallen Gold Era, and Lapuye confirmed the theater’s name and history.
• Lapuye described how Peach Heart Theater appeared in the Southern Region for less than a month, while ticket booths offered limited tickets to intelligent beings.
• Hastur revealed that ticket booths also offered actor registration forms, and that most actors died while survivors could be forced to serve as the theater’s staff.
• Hastur said Mibury had survived as an actor but never escaped the theater, while many geniuses had traveled to the Southern Region seeking the theater’s promised rewards.

Dodolo’s prophecy that Peach Heart Theater might offer a path to Legend earned him recognition from the prophecy wizards and made the theater the exchange’s focus. When Shura took the floor, he asked what Peach Heart Theater was and learned it might embody the will of a peak Transcendent lifeform.

• Dodolo’s prophecy about Mibury and Peach Heart Theater stunned the gathered prophecy wizards, who stopped mocking him and sought more information.
• Hastur warned that becoming an audience member was safe, but actors risked elimination if they had no chance to perform.
• Lapuye ended the prolonged discussion, praised Dodolo, and formally recognized his standing among the prophecy wizards.
• After no one volunteered to speak, Shura took the floor and asked whether Peach Heart Theater was a mysterious object.
• Hastur explained that his mentor had described Peach Heart Theater as the manifestation of a peak Transcendent lifeform’s will, like Time Thief’s will to steal others’ choices.

Shura revealed a prophecy that a vengeful returner from a thousand years ago would bring disaster to Elysian Pure Land, and warned that the attacker was stronger than Huanpu Witch. He withheld another important prophecy until he could discuss it with the Crowned Stargazer, leaving the meeting waiting for Lapuye to speak.

• Shura told Miya Witch that a returner from a thousand years ago planned to attack Elysian Pure Land out of hatred.
• Shura said the returner would stain much of Elysian Pure Land with blood and was far stronger than Huanpu Witch.
• Miya Witch recognized the warning as a serious threat and said Elysian Pure Land would remember Shura's guidance.
• Shura said he had seen another important prophecy but would decide whether to reveal it after consulting the Crowned Stargazer.
• Shura returned to his seat, and the attendees turned their attention to Lapuye.

At the Stargazing Day exchange, Maya revealed that she had seen a scene of doomsday and recreated it with an illusion for the gathered prophecy wizards. The chapter ended with a tranquil landscape before them, whose location and coming disaster remained uncertain.

• Several prophecy wizards shared their visions, including reports of Sea Glowing Velvet Grass, Sherris Castle, and coordinates for an unfamiliar world.
• Maya rose to speak after the exchange quieted and said she had seen a future fragment that filled her with dread.
• Maya declared that the fragment showed the scene of doomsday, alarming the gathered wizards.
• Lapuye calmed the crowd with Astral Arcana and asked Maya whether she was certain of what she had seen.
• Maya offered to recreate the scene and projected a peaceful wilderness of fields, trees, and a lake.

Maya’s illusion prompted the prophecy wizards to search for the location of the scene, but their divinations were blocked. Lapuye suggested a mysterious item might be interfering and asked Maya to show them the apocalypse itself.

• Maya asked the assembled wizards to identify the landscape, but no one recognized it.
• Shura used the vegetation to list sixty-three possible regions, and the wizards narrowed these to forty-eight without finding a match.
• Anglu and Tuvalu reported that the World's String and the Bell of Inquiry could not reveal the location because prophecy seemed veiled.
• After conferring, Lapuye said a mysterious item might be obscuring prophecy and outlined three possible explanations, including that it could be linked to the apocalypse.
• Lapuye asked Maya to show the true scene of the apocalypse so they could gather more information.

Maya showed the Stargazing Hall an apocalyptic vision of Evil Spirits, a deity, and a monstrous eye, frightening the prophecy wizards and Observers. Lapuye and the Extreme Sect concluded that the events probably lay outside the Southern Region, while Maya quietly noticed Dodolo reacting strangely to the eye.

• Maya recreated the illusion, showing a ruined plain where Evil Spirits, a bone army, a colossal deity, and a gigantic eye appeared.
• The terrifying vision stunned the prophecy wizards and Observers, and Luchi judged that it might surpass the battle of Lasudelan if real.
• Dodolo stared at the Eye of Heaven with a fleeting look of recognition, which Maya noticed but did not mention.
• Lapuye and a woman from the Extreme Sect explained that the Southern Region's rules made such powerful beings and a prolonged war there unlikely.
• Lapuye thanked Maya for revealing the information, though the group could not determine whether the vision showed real events or a mysterious object.

After Maya’s apocalyptic prophecy unsettled the Stargazing Day gathering, Lapuye ended the first day’s exchange early, and the participants rushed to report what they had learned. Maya withheld the identities of two figures she had recognized in the vision and approached Tuvalu to seek information about the ruins, despite his warning that she would have to pay a price.

• Maya’s prophecy earned her and Dodolo the admiration of the prophecy wizards and drew the observers’ attention to Savage Cave’s rising prominence.
• Maya kept secret that she had identified two figures in the apocalyptic vision because Dodolo’s reaction made her suspect he had perceived something unusual.
• The grim atmosphere discouraged further exchanges, so Lapuye ended the meeting early and participants hurried to send reports to their organizations.
• Maya approached Tuvalu, hoping to learn about the ruins after failing to find useful clues for Lord Rhein, but she worried about the price he would demand.

Maya spoke with Tuvalu about the ruins after Stargazing Day, and he shared a vision showing monsters carrying spatial magical materials down a staircase. Maya was left wondering what the creatures planned to do with them.

• Shura praised Dodolo’s performance and proposed several titles for him, but Dodolo ignored the suggestions.
• Maya asked Tuvalu what price he wanted for information about the ruins, but Tuvalu offered to share his vision as repayment for seeing her Doomscape illusion.
• Tuvalu explained that his vision showed a staircase descending deeper into the ruins, where waves of bizarre creatures carried magical materials.
• Tuvalu said the materials he recognized had spatial attributes, then left the Star-Gazing Hall.
• Maya wondered whether the creatures were expanding the ruins’ interior space or using the materials for another purpose.