Recaps

Shade and Miss Danist visited the Hermits to learn about time travel and the curse caused by Tree Hollow travel. The Hermits explained ways to delay the curse, but Miss Danist admitted she would use the Tree Hollow again if it let her meet her elder in the past.

• Miss Danist told Shade that the Nightsong Elves had lived in Vesta Woodland during the Fifth Epoch.
• Shade and Miss Danist traveled through the rain to Mi Ge Village, where they met Bell Van Buren and gave him Old John's letter.
• Bell Van Buren returned with Mr. Meloni, the Hermit Order's Keeper of Secrets, to discuss Shade's questions about Tree Hollows.
• Mr. Meloni said the time-travel curse could not be broken, though an ancient elven potion and some relics could delay or suppress it.
• Miss Danist told the Hermits that she would use the Tree Hollow again if she could meet her elder in the past.

Shade and Miss Danist met with the Forest Hermits to discuss the Time Curse and the Chosen One of Time. The Hermits brought them to their hidden camp, where Steve Davis gave Miss Danist a Time Stability Anchor and offered Shade their help without joining the wider conflict.

• Shade told Mr. Meloni and Mr. Van Buren that he had informed the city's Churches about the Tree Hollows and explained why the Chosen One of Time would appear in Vesta Woodland.
• Mr. Meloni sent a message and invited Shade and Miss Danist to visit the Hermits' forest station.
• Mr. Meloni led Shade and Miss Danist through a hidden Tree Hollow to the Hermit Order's camp around an ancient Temple.
• Steve Davis introduced himself as the Hermit Order's Great Elder and gave Miss Danist a wooden Time Stability Anchor to suppress her curse.
• Steve Davis said the Hermits trusted Shade and would provide assistance, but would not take the initiative to enter the affairs of the Chosen Ones.

Shade and Miss Danist learned how the Hermit Order managed the Time Curse, Paradox Worms, and Tree Hollows in Vesta Woodland. The Hermits revealed that the forest was accumulating sealed worms and that ancient elves and Time Guardians also helped protect time.

• Mr. Davis told Shade that the Time Curse could be completely removed if Miss Danist repented in My Lord's Temple for twenty years, but she refused to stay there.
• Mr. Davis explained that Vesta Woodland trapped Paradox Worms beneath its forest, where their growing numbers destabilized time and threatened to destroy the region.
• Mr. Davis told Shade that Tree Hollows gradually stabilized and vanished, and that ancient temples could contain them as long as their missions were complete.
• Mr. Meloni said the Hermit Order, believers in Old Gods, ancient elf clans, and mysterious Time Guardians all helped protect time in the Material World.
• Mr. Davis revealed that the Hermits had made Oak's Lucky Potion and likely supplied Father Francois with the Beacon Acorn, which detected people with different Timestamps.

Shade shopped from the Hermits of the Forest, buying time-related items and choosing new knowledge while Miss Danist selected a curse. The chapter left him with a map of Vesta Woodland and a warning that its mysteries made it unreliable for safe travel.

• Mr. Davis explained timestamps and warned Shade not to use Beacon Acorns after time travel.
• Shade exchanged Noble Crimson for a Time Stability Anchor, bought a small bottle of Oak's Lucky Potion for Miss Danist, and purchased thirty Beacon Acorns.
• Shade reviewed Relics, Thaumaturgies, and curses, then chose Miracle Technique - Forest Trail, while Miss Danist chose Blind with a Leaf.
• Shade bought a map of Vesta Woodland and Mr. Meloni warned him that the forest concealed most of its secrets and the map could not guarantee safe passage.

Shade and Miss Danist bought supplies from the Hermits of the Forest, agreed to work with them against the Tree Hole Association, and learned and tested the Miracle Technique - Forest Trail. Back in Vesta City, they reunited with Flora Winslet, who asked Shade to help finish a magic potion.

• Shade visited the Hermits’ underground warehouse and bought a woodland map, four old artifacts, and other supplies, including Miracle Technique - Forest Trail.
• Shade and Miss Danist agreed with the Hermits to investigate the dragon beast and oppose the Tree Hole Association.
• After leaving the woodland, Shade learned Miracle Technique - Forest Trail with Miss Danist and used it to shorten their journey back to the city.
• Shade explained the possible significance of the elven vase, Demon legends notebook, prayer scroll, and silver jewelry box he had bought.
• At the inn, Flora Winslet asked Shade to provide heat for a semi-finished magic potion.

Shade helped Flora Winslet test a warmth Potion and discovered a Poem Chapter Fragment hidden in an antique jewelry box, pointing to Vesta Woodland’s Paradox Worms. He returned to Tobesk during a violent storm, where Luvia stayed the night and agreed to move in with him for the autumn.

• Shade added his fire to Flora Winslet’s warmth Potion, and Flora, Charlotte Bell, Miss Danist, and Shade sampled it.
• Shade opened an antique jewelry box and, with Flora’s spell, revealed a hidden message describing a secret in the woods and a stone stairway to supreme honor.
• Shade identified the message as a Poem Chapter Fragment and said Vesta Woodland’s greatest secret was its sealed Paradox Worms.
• Miss Danist gave Flora the Time Stability Anchor Shade had paid for, and Flora asked whether Shade was the Time Chosen One; Miss Danist said she trusted his denial.
• Shade returned to Tobesk through a storm, abandoned his plan to visit Priest Augustus, and welcomed Luvia, who came to stay the night.
• Luvia agreed to move in with Shade for the autumn after he asked whether she wanted to live with him.

Shade and Luvia discussed the Chosen Ones and Luvia’s vision of Little Mia swallowing the Moon, then agreed to place Shade’s Eternal Fire Mark on Luvia. The next morning, heavy rain flooded the area around Shade’s home and delayed deliveries.

• Shade and Luvia considered Emilia’s likely rank among the Chosen Ones and whether Luvia might be another candidate.
• Luvia told Shade she had seen Little Mia swallow the Moon and breathe silver fire in a vision.
• Luvia persuaded Shade to place an Eternal Fire Mark on her so he could track her location.
• Shade marked Luvia with silver Moon Fire after they agreed on a private location for the seal.
• Shade found standing water outside his home the next morning as heavy rain delayed the postman and milk deliveryman.

Shade spent the rainy day visiting the church and the Golden Dawn Opera Troupe, where he learned that police had sealed off a hall at the Maria Empress Opera House. He found Iluna arriving in uniform as a Church investigation team handled the incident.

• Shade asked Priest Augustus about Angel Bones in Vesta Woodland and learned that he would need to identify their power before finding a relic capable of repairing conceptual damage.
• Shade discussed winter famine preparations with Bishop Owen at the Dawn Church and stayed for lunch.
• Shade visited Siris and Vanessa at the Maria Empress Opera House, gave Siris a parchment from Vesta Woodland, and watched the troupe rehearse.
• Qin Lan Xie Er told Vanessa that police had sealed off a small performance hall on the Opera House's second floor.
• Shade questioned an officer about the incident, realized a Church team was investigating, and encountered Iluna in the corridor.

Shade learned that the Damaged Antarctic Constellation Clock had drawn people into the Maria Empress Opera House and caused them to vanish, while Iluna’s team prepared its containment. The clock’s power erupted during the evening, and Iluna struggled toward a man merging with it as he used its temporal force against her.

• Iluna told Shade that the clock stopped time for anyone who perceived it, then made their bodies vanish into the Gap of Time when its minute hand stopped.
• Shade offered to help, but Iluna explained that her team was preparing a ritual while an uninformed Ring Arcanist would handle containment; she accepted his invitation to dinner.
• Shade spent the afternoon with Vanessa, Siris, and the others before Vanessa sensed the Whisper Element rioting and Shade went to investigate.
• In the sealed performance hall, Iluna found the clock with all three hands stopped and a man merging into its casing; she advanced toward him with the Dark Gold Scales protecting her.
• The man shouted “Stop!” and “Go back!” at Iluna, slowing her movement as she continued struggling toward the stage.

Shade and Iluna contained the temporal anomaly in the performance hall and defeated the man fused with the grandfather clock, though the relic began to repair itself. A vision revealed how the man had merged with it, leaving Shade and Iluna uncertain whether the relic’s properties had changed.

• Shade used the Yggdrasil Staff’s Ancient Elven Stability Principle to confine the relic’s temporal effects to the stage, and Iluna showed him the red velvet needed to contain it.
• Shade retrieved the velvet, but the clock-fused man attacked them with a Time Jump, forcing Shade to evade while Iluna fired the Sunlight Gun.
• Shade pierced the hidden heart inside the grandfather clock with the Yggdrasil Staff, killing the man, whose final attack grazed Shade’s cheek.
• The relic began absorbing the man’s corpse and repairing itself, while gray mist showed Shade how the man had merged with the clock after striking it.
• Iluna said the relic’s old containment file did not record that property, and she and Shade considered whether the Time Calamity had changed it.

Shade and Iluna investigated the clock incident at the Maria Empress Opera House and learned that both a theater handyman and an aspiring actress had contributed to the deaths. The Church suspected the actress’s Mermaid-shaped stone and perfume were connected to the dangerous Mermaid entity Shade knew, which he believed was now in Moon Bay.

• Iluna told Shade the clock was a Sage Level relic, and Shade left her to handle the aftermath at the opera house.
• Shade returned for dinner and watched the evening performance with Vanessa and Siris while the opera troupe continued its scheduled show.
• Iluna reported that a handyman had triggered the clock after finding old instructions that said certain branches could protect someone from its Time Stop effect.
• Iluna revealed that the actress had used a ritual to obtain magical perfume, and investigators found a Mermaid-shaped stone and a Mermaid symbol on the perfume bottle.
• Iluna said similar incidents across the Old Continent might be linked to an Unknown Level Relic the Church had tracked since the Coldwater Port incident.
• Shade identified the Mermaid as the likely culprit, said she was probably in Moon Bay, and explained that she had promised not to harm Miss Belinder or those around her.

After Iluna defeated the time-warping monster at the Opera House, she asked Shade and Luvia for a way to improve her Time Resistance. Luvia devised a ritual involving an acorn soaked in Shade’s blood, and Shade and Iluna planned a trip to Vesta Woodland to complete it.

• Iluna told Shade that she had pierced the monster’s heart beneath its clock face with the Sunlight Gun, but feared she could not handle another encounter like it.
• Shade took Iluna and Little Mia to 6 Saint Derain Square, where Luvia used the Cat and Dog Coin to divine a method for improving Iluna’s Time Resistance.
• Luvia told Iluna to absorb an acorn soaked in Shade’s blood for twenty-four hours using the eye Shade had created for her, at a location in Vesta Woodland.
• Shade proposed borrowing a spatial-transfer relic from the Academy through Miss Danist, and he and Iluna planned to travel to Vesta City on Thursday.
• Iluna agreed to stay overnight at Shade’s house, and Galina later joined Shade and Luvia in his bedroom.

Shade used the Black Time Key again after its month-and-a-half ban and returned to the Doomsday Era to meet Adele Isabella. After reuniting with her, he entered Saint Derain Square to face the sixth powerful enemy.

• At midnight, the Month of Withered Leaves began, restoring Shade’s permission to use the Black Time Key.
• Tifa woke Galina and returned her to the Side Bedroom before Shade left home with the Perfume Bottle and Star Mark as his additional relics.
• Shade entered the Time Corridor and arrived in the Doomsday Era, where he confirmed that the Moon was missing.
• Shade summoned Adele Isabella, embraced her, and promised to keep searching for a way to bring her into the present.
• After Adele blessed him, Shade walked into the storm-swept square to face the new calamity.

Shade fought the Mind-Bone Prophet, which could copy Thaumaturgy and made anyone nearby lose their wisdom. After it stole the silver book from his chest, Shade awakened and drove it through the creature with the Yggdrasil Staff.

• Shade attacked the human-shaped figure by the fountain and discovered that it could copy the Thaumaturgy it saw.
• Adele identified the creature as a Mind-Bone Prophet and warned Shade about its Idiot Aura and copied abilities.
• The Mind-Bone Prophet’s aura reduced Shade to foolish, animal-like behavior, but he fought back through transformations and attacks.
• The creature grabbed Shade and pulled a silver book from his chest, while Adele tried to intervene during Time Stop and was blasted away by Silver Flame.
• Silver Flame consumed the Mind-Bone Prophet as the silver book returned to Shade, stripping the creature of its Wisdom.
• Shade regained awareness and hurled the Yggdrasil Staff through the fleeing creature, pinning it to the wall of 1 Saint Derain Square.

Shade defeated the Mind-Bone Prophet and discovered that Moon Library had been elevated, allowing him to record books he touched. While recovering with Adele, he learned how the Prophet had been overcome and heard of the danger threatening Creekwood Town, leaving the Tree Hole Association’s threat unresolved.

• Shade pulled his staff from the wall after the Mind-Bone Prophet turned to dust, and learned four spells as Moon Library was elevated.
• Adele told Shade that a silver arm had struck the Prophet after it tried to extract his Wisdom and Knowledge, and Shade realized the spells came from the battle.
• Shade tried to record one of the Prophet’s books, but its pages were blank because its contents had disappeared with the Prophet.
• Shade and Adele returned to 6 Saint Derain Square, where he recounted his experiences since leaving her during the Battle of Moon Bay.
• Adele warned Shade that the collapse of the tree holes around Creekwood Town could unleash creatures from across time and cause a vast disaster.
• Adele compared the Tree Hole Association’s danger to the Dragon Devouring Order, and Shade asked whether it could summon evil gods.

Adele taught Shade the thaumaturgy Return of Time and let him place an Eternal Fire Mark on her forehead before he examined the Calamity Card depicting Durut Giles. The card’s memories revealed how Durut was thrown into a spatial rift on Green Lake Island, where he encountered the Mad All-Knowing, leaving Shade puzzled about the events that followed.

• Adele shared the thaumaturgy Return of Time with Shade through a kiss, allowing him to send outsiders back to the time where they belonged.
• Shade placed a Silver Fire Eternal Fire Mark between Adele’s brows before preparing to leave the Doomsday Era.
• Shade turned over the new Calamity Card, which depicted Durut Giles as the Mind-Bone Prophet and described him as the remains of Wisdom.
• A memory showed Durut setting out for Green Lake Island with Lust Edwardz’s soul, despite Professor Manning’s warning about the war and dangers there.
• On Green Lake Island, Laplace Howard pushed Durut into a spatial rift, where the Mad All-Knowing called him a new test subject and urged him to pursue omniscience.

Shade returned from Adele’s memory to the Sixth Epoch, tested his new ability to sense people across time, and learned how his Mind-Bone Prophet card worked. After receiving a potion for the Red-haired Sorceress, he visited Miss Danist and found Little Mia jealously defending his shoulder from Miss Owl.

• Shade watched the Mind-Bone Prophet gather knowledge in the Doomsday Era, then said goodbye to Adele and returned to the present.
• Shade sensed the Eternal Fire Marks of Little Mia, Galina, Luvia, and Adele, and learned that his perception followed the Hermits’ concept of a Timestamp.
• Shade discovered that the Mind-Bone Prophet card could record and cast one of his thaumaturgies for himself or another person.
• The Elf Girl gave Shade a potion made from the first Paradox Worm shell for the Red-haired Sorceress.
• Shade arrived early at the Accordion Hotel and explained to Miss Owl that he had missed the previous day after helping with a time-related Keeper of Secrets Level relic.
• Little Mia lunged at Miss Owl when she tried to land on Shade’s shoulder, and Shade explained that the cat was defending her territory.

Shade told Miss Danist and Miss Winslet about the Damaged Antarctic Constellation Clock and arranged for Iluna to visit Vesta Woodland. After a Beacon Acorn revealed a Time Traveler near Duskwood Outpost, Shade and Miss Winslet waited for the target to approach the city.

• Shade asked Miss Danist to lend Iluna a relic for a one-way trip to Vesta Woodland and to alert the Dawn Church about a ritual that could stabilize the Distorted Tree Hole.
• Miss Danist drank a Paradox Worm Potion and recovered from seven rings to eight, though Shade explained the potion could only suppress her curse and might restore her to the Twelfth Ring at most.
• Miss Danist reported that the Nightsong Elves were searching their Fifth Epoch records and that the Church was deploying forces deep into the woodland.
• Shade ate a Beacon Acorn and detected one abnormal Timestamp near Duskwood Outpost, then found that it was moving toward the city.
• Shade and Miss Winslet estimated that the Time Traveler would arrive around noon, waited through lunch, and then the owl carried the silver cat into the sky.

Shade and Miss Owl tracked Acorn’s sensed target to York Bronte and overheard him meeting Prince William Anjou, who had brought Gray Gloves agents to investigate Twilight Forest Outpost and Aronson River Camp. They followed York from an illegal gambling den to Creekwood Town Conservatory of Music, where he met Linda Bennett, leaving Shade considering a warning after resolving the matter.

• Shade and Miss Owl found York Bronte and William Anjou speaking privately at the Philharmonic Club, then confirmed York was Acorn’s target when he left.
• Shade overheard William tell York that he had secretly brought Gray Gloves agents to investigate Twilight Forest Outpost and Aronson River Camp, and ask for local help.
• William and York discussed local nobles, military camps, and York’s interest in marrying Linda Bennett before leaving the club separately.
• Shade and Miss Owl followed York to an illegal Rhodes Cards Casino, where he stayed until four in the afternoon.
• York went to Creekwood Town Conservatory of Music with flowers and met Linda Bennett, prompting Shade to consider warning her.

Shade and Flora Winslet followed York Bronte to the Twilight Forest Outpost and discovered that he drained a horse’s Life Force and soul. Back in the city, Daniste suggested he might be a Death Apostle, though the group still had no proof or explanation for his Time Curse.

• Shade and Flora Winslet followed York Bronte from the city toward the military camp, where he left the road and secretly drank a horse’s blood and Life Force.
• After York Bronte left, Flora Winslet found that the horse’s soul had also been drained, and she and Shade buried its remains.
• Shade and Flora Winslet continued to the Twilight Forest Outpost, searched York Bronte’s quarters, and confirmed that he had a Time Curse but found no Paradox Worm.
• Shade returned to Daniste and Little Mia and told them what he and Flora had discovered about York Bronte.
• Daniste explained that a Death Apostle escaped Fated Death through unnatural means and survived by consuming other beings’ Life Force, suggesting that York Bronte might be one.

Shade learned from Long-Haired Luvia that her repeated time travel had brought her a Time Curse and cost her standing as a candidate for the Chosen One of Time. She also explained what she could about Death Apostles and warned Shade to be careful in Vesta Woodland, promising to find him if he became lost in the past.

• Shade returned home, where Luvia told him Galina planned to supervise him while he left Leisha a Moon Mark.
• Shade met Long-Haired Luvia in a dream and saw the Eternal Fire Mark he had left on her.
• Long-Haired Luvia explained that she had once been the foremost candidate for the Chosen One of Time, but repeated damage to time had caused her rank to fall away.
• Long-Haired Luvia said she knew about the Death Apostle Shade had encountered, but urged him to ask Priest Augustus how to deal with it.
• Long-Haired Luvia warned Shade to be careful in Vesta Woodland and promised to find him if he became lost in the past.

Shade and Iluna traveled through a portal to Vesta Woodland after he learned more about the Death Apostle and Priest Augustus offered to prepare a weapon against it. The witches planned to investigate York Bronte at a wedding that night while Shade and Iluna went to explore the woods.

• Iluna visited Shade’s home for their trip to Vesta Woodland, and Luvia made breakfast before Shade complimented Iluna’s clothes.
• Shade read Miss Goode’s letter about her hometown’s poor harvest and possible visit to Tobesk at the Year-End Festival.
• Shade went to Dawn Church, where Priest Augustus warned that Death Apostles could drain life from plants, people, or even an entire city, and promised to prepare a weapon.
• Shade traveled to Vesta Woodland, met the Elf Girl, and used the World Travel Handbook to bring Iluna into Room 317 of the Accordion Hotel.
• Shade introduced Iluna to Miss Danist, Miss Winslet, and Charlotte Bell, then said he would explore the woodland with Iluna while the others stayed behind.
• Miss Winslet said she had obtained invitations to the wedding York Bronte and William Anjou would attend and planned to investigate York there.

Shade and Iluna traveled into Vesta Woodland to find the hidden place marked by Luvia, sharing a rare walk together and discussing their relationship. By combining Iluna’s Dark Gold Scales with Shade’s Truth Crystal, they revealed an ancient Temple hidden in the forest.

• Shade and Iluna set out for the woods, while Miss Bell questioned Miss Danist about Iluna’s closeness with Shade.
• Iluna told Shade that the Church was delaying her support assignment to Vesta City until it learned more about the local time-related problem.
• Iluna admitted feeling like an outsider as Shade grew closer to Luvia, and Shade reassured her that neither he nor Luvia had forgotten their promise to her.
• Shade and Iluna searched the South Shore of a mountain stream but found no trace of the place marked on Luvia’s map.
• Iluna joined her Dark Gold Scales with Shade’s Destiny Ring, enhancing his spellcasting and allowing his Truth Crystal to reveal a ruined Temple between two trees.

Shade and Iluna discovered an ancient temple of the God of Order in Vesta Woodland, where Iluna gained a new Spirit Rune and learned powerful divine arts. They used the temple and a blood-soaked acorn to perform a ritual that left Iluna’s left eye glowing gold.

• Shade and Iluna entered the temple after surrounding it with protective magic, then placed flowers beside the altar’s ancient offerings.
• Iluna recognized the God of Order’s emblem, gained the Miracle Law Spirit Rune, and demonstrated a thaumaturgy that could temporarily impose rules.
• Iluna set Shade’s blood-soaked acorn on the Dark Gold Scales at the altar and said it needed to remain in sunlight until after noon.
• After sharing lunch with woodland animals, Shade and Iluna returned to the altar and found the acorn plated in gold.
• Iluna drew a ritual matrix with the remaining blood, and Shade pressed the golden acorn into her left eye as Miracle Elements surged through her body.
• After the light faded, Iluna rose from the altar with her left eye still faintly glowing gold.

Iluna gained a golden eye with limited time-stopping abilities and Time Resistance, and she and Shade found an Old Gods Holy Emblem in the hidden Temple. After spending the afternoon on a forest date, they returned to the city to prepare for a wedding banquet where they planned to observe York Bronte.

• Iluna demonstrated that her golden eye could briefly freeze anything she saw, reveal traces of the past, and resist Shade's Adele's Time Stop, though using it too much risked blinding her.
• Shade and Iluna discovered an Old Gods Holy Emblem of the Upside-down Judge on the altar and discussed how it could help them access the Judge's Court once they found another emblem.
• Shade and Iluna concealed the Temple of the God of Order again, then spent the afternoon exploring the forest, playing pranks on squirrels, and sharing a flight and a kiss.
• Shade and Iluna returned to the Accordion Hotel at sunset and prepared for the wedding banquet, where they planned to observe York Bronte.
• Miss Danist teased Miss Winslet about Shade carrying clothes for Iluna, while Miss Winslet questioned why Danist was so curious about their relationship.