Recaps

Shade and the witches planned their roles in the coming battle for Vesta Woodland, coordinating with the Church and the Academies to awaken and divert the Paradox Worms while Emilia and Shade pursued the Ancient One. Shade also revealed that his dream suggested the Crescent Moon Secret Society’s treasure hunt could affect the battle’s outcome.

• Vanessa explained the plan to detonate Mithril Mine veins and draw the Paradox Worms out before the siege, while the Academies would lure them away from Vesta City.
• Shade assigned the witches and their allies tasks for the battle, including defending the city, locating the Watcher and Clockmaker, supporting the ship, and helping Emilia complete the Chosen One Ritual.
• Shade said he and Emilia would enter the Time Transfer Station and then head to the Accordion Hotel if the Invitation Letter failed.
• Galina challenged Shade for leaving her without an assignment, and Shade reminded her of the Crescent Moon Secret Society’s promised treasure search.
• Shade revealed that his dream suggested the treasure sought by the Secret Society’s nonhuman Sorceresses might affect the outcome of the battle.

Shade and his allies finalized preparations for the coming battle, then traveled to Moon Sanctuary to treat Miss Danist’s Time Curse and restore her strength. The three-moon ritual succeeded, and Miss Danist fell into a deep sleep in the hot spring.

• Shade told Galina to search the Witches of the Fifth Epoch’s treasure for a piece of bark that could strengthen his Fairy Tale Mizzle.
• The group planned how to confront Thomas Bennett and the Paradox Worm, arranging a divine art, church ritual formations, and weapon enchantments.
• Miss Danist explained that her curse had reduced her to the Tenth Ring and that recreating the strike from the night of the Mad Moon required the three moons to resonate.
• Miss Olanord proposed using Moon Sanctuary, Shade’s Moon Fire, and a ritual to temporarily suppress Miss Danist’s Time Curse.
• Shade, guided by Miss Olanord, painted ritual symbols on Miss Danist before using Moon Fire to activate the ritual.
• The Silver, Red, and Yellow Moon powers merged around Miss Danist, and the ritual ended smoothly as she fell asleep in the hot spring.

Shade and Miss Olanord shared a dream to strengthen their spiritual connection before the Final Battle, then joined the others as preparations for Vesta City’s defense continued. The chapter ended with Luvia telling Shade that Grandma Cassandra’s Omnipotent Currency had arrived, giving her four special coins.

• Miss Olanord warned Shade that she could force herself to wield near-Demigod power if the coming battle became desperate.
• Shade and Miss Olanord slept together in the ship’s Astrology Room and shared a moonlit dream.
• At breakfast, Shade arranged to bring the Golden Lion Armor for Emilia and left Little Mia aboard the ship to protect the others.
• Shade returned to the ship with relics as the Guardian of the Earth joined Vesta City’s defense and the city entered full lockdown.
• During the day, Shade helped move the Luku Birds aboard the ship while the blizzard worsened across Vesta Woodland.
• Luvia told Shade that Grandma Cassandra’s Omnipotent Currency had arrived, bringing her collection of special coins to four.

Shade and Emilia entered Vesta City as the Battle of Vesta Woodland began, then prepared to open the hidden entrance to the Time Transfer Station. The chapter ended with them using the Yggdrasil Staff and Emilia’s crown to reveal the door behind the Accordion Hotel.

• Shade saved the extra coins and reassured Luvia before Leisha arrived aboard the Radiance Messenger with supplies and sacred emblem badges.
• The Radiance Messenger departed, the Great Witches coordinated their forces, and Sivie, Vanessa, and Megan Audrey entered the city to establish a base and help defend it.
• Shade and Emilia left the ship and traveled to Vesta City, where they hid near the sealed Accordion Hotel until explosions signaled the battle’s start.
• Shade explained that the Time Transfer Station lay within the World Tree’s remains and that Emilia would face Thomas Bennett in a decisive duel.
• Shade and Emilia combined the Yggdrasil Staff and Emilia’s crown to cast Thaumaturgy—Door Key and reveal the hidden door.

Emilia and Shade faced Thomas Bennett and his ancestors in the frozen, dark city of Vesta, where he challenged Emilia to a final battle. Shade illuminated the city with moonlight as Emilia fought Thomas, but he vanished into the lantern’s light after freezing her midair.

• Thomas Bennett revealed his Eleventh Ring and called upon his ancestors, whose souls had been bound to the World Tree Remnants.
• Thomas assigned the Corpses to fight Shade across the city and reserved the street for his duel with Emilia.
• Shade flew above Vesta City and cast moonlight over the battlefield.
• Emilia and Thomas entered Time Acceleration and fought with her Ocarina of Time against his cane and lantern.
• Emilia redirected time and summoned withered vines from a Time Rift, then attacked Thomas with a plunging Sword Dance strike.
• Thomas froze Emilia in midair, escaped the blade storm, and disappeared into the lantern’s light and shadow.

Emilia overwhelmed Thomas Bennett in their battle, but he invoked the Words of Sublimation to reverse the city’s time and restore himself. Using her Destiny Ring’s time resistance, Emilia prepared to counter him with her own Words of Sublimation.

• Emilia found Thomas Bennett with the Ocarina of Time and drove him back with a Sun Flare Ray and the Witch Secret Art, Song of Storms.
• Emilia destroyed Bennett’s summoned defenses and pierced the lantern atop the Accordion Hotel, making him fall and the frozen time effect end.
• As Emilia pursued Bennett, he invoked Prisoner of Time and reversed the traces of their battle while restoring himself without healing Emilia.
• Emilia used her Destiny Ring’s time resistance to cast a spell, transformed into an elf-style formal gown, and recited her Words of Sublimation.

Emilia used her Words of Sublimation to defeat Thomas Bennett’s younger self and then faced the centuries of resentment he had awakened. As the darkness threatened to overwhelm her, the Forest Elf appeared behind her and joined her in raising a radiant sword.

• Emilia’s Words of Sublimation drew out Thomas Bennett’s memories of his youth, and his younger self collided with him, leaving him spiritually wounded.
• Thomas thanked Emilia for letting him dream of his youth, then rose again as the curses and resentments stored in the Time Transfer Station gathered around him.
• Shade realized Thomas had unleashed the accumulated hatred of past travelers, possibly as part of the Ancient One’s final purpose.
• Emilia activated her crown and Destiny Ring, flew toward the immense shadow, and confronted the mass of resentment despite its darkness suppressing her light.
• As Shade prepared to intervene, the Forest Elf appeared behind Emilia, embraced her, and helped her raise a longsword whose light made the darkness retreat and begin to melt.

Shade and the Elf Girls restored the flow of time in Vesta City, then confronted Thomas Bennett as he invoked the Mermaid across time to accept a contract with the Ancient One of Great Desire. The Mermaid agreed to grant his wishes, but revealed that his daughters were included in what he had offered.

• The Elf Girls used the Sword of Light to restart time in Vesta City, and the Great Elf told Shade that Thomas Bennett had not yet failed in the Time War.
• Shade and the Elf Girls found Thomas Bennett in Clover Petals Square as pink snow began to fall, and he explained that he wanted freedom from the Fate that bound his family.
• Thomas Bennett accepted a contract with an unseen existence, and Shade recognized the Mermaid's power crossing time through the pink snow and Bennett's contract.
• The Mermaid appeared within the Golden Music Hall doorway and watched Shade as Thomas offered everything he possessed in exchange for power and wealth for his daughters.
• The Mermaid accepted Thomas Bennett's offer and told him that everything he possessed included his three daughters.

Thomas Bennett gained the Ancient One’s power, then conceded the Time War to Emilia and escaped through a Time Rift with the contract’s debt unresolved. Emilia inherited the World Tree mark, while Shade and the Ancient One debated which version of her could collect from Bennett.

• Thomas Bennett’s Destiny Ring reached the Thirteenth Ring before collapsing, and the Ancient One’s power transformed him into something no longer human.
• Bennett tested his new strength against Shade’s Night Curtain Seal but did not follow up with another attack.
• Bennett cut off his own right hand, conceded the Time War to Emilia, and escaped through a Time Rift, leaving his hand and the World Tree Branch behind.
• Emilia received the glowing leaf pattern from Bennett’s severed hand, and Shade recognized the branch as a World Tree Remain.
• The Ancient One asked Emilia which version of herself should collect Bennett’s debt, and Shade pointed out that Bennett’s escape into the past made the contract’s claim uncertain.

Emilia and Shade uncovered how Thomas Bennett used time travel and Shade’s debt-collection task to escape the Ancient One in the Woods. Desire claimed Bennett’s soul, explaining that his tragic love for his wife was the reason she had engineered the events, and the chapter left Shade facing her questions about why she had chosen him for the role.

• Emilia realized Thomas Bennett had escaped his debt because his past self had never signed the contract, and understood that she had helped enable his plan.
• Emilia suggested that Desire could have arranged for Shade to collect the debt in advance, and Shade recognized that Desire had set the events in motion during the summer.
• Desire appeared at the Music Hall door and asked Shade to hand over Bennett, whose corpse had become a toy.
• Shade reconstructed Bennett’s journey through time and learned why no one had been able to contact his spirit: Desire had reserved his soul.
• Desire explained that she had arranged the events because she treasured Bennett’s tragic, devoted love for his wife.

Shade completed the Mermaid’s debt-collection task and received the Founding card, but she delayed his departure to give Emilia a love potion and offer help against the ancient tree. Before Shade left through a doorway of pink snow, the Mermaid reminded him that the Metamorphosis Ring might let Helena Carter arrive in physical form when he summoned her projection from 1821.

• Shade claimed the three Miss Bennetts and their wealth under his agreement with the Mermaid, who gave him the Founding card.
• Emilia accepted the Mermaid’s gift, a pink ice crystal that would make anyone who drank it fall hopelessly in love with her.
• The Mermaid offered to help Shade fight the ancient tree in exchange for a sexual encounter, but Shade refused and prepared to leave with Emilia and the other elf.
• The Mermaid warned Shade that the Metamorphosis Ring might give Helena Carter a physical body when he summoned her projection from 1821.
• Shade recalled that Mana Falianna had used Saint Byron’s Dream and the Metamorphosis Ring to gain a body in the present.

Shade, Emilia, and Emilia escaped the World Tree Remnants after defeating Thomas Bennett, but Shade suspected the Ancient One had orchestrated Bennett’s escape and their victory. As the siege of Vesta City began, they saw signs that the first wave of Paradox Worms was being suppressed, though Shade expected Bennett to return as an enemy.

• The Mermaid teased Shade and Emilia about kissing before explaining how to use the Pink Essence and Metamorphosis Ring to give a projection a combat-capable body.
• Shade returned with Emilia and Emilia to the Accordion Hotel and reasoned that the Ancient One may have collaborated with the Mermaid to arrange Thomas Bennett’s escape and their battle.
• Shade warned Emilia that Bennett would likely reappear in the future Doomsday Era and become their enemy again, though she would not have to face him alone.
• The Great Elf gave Shade the pink crystal, and the three left the hotel as a Paradox Worm crashed into the woodland and started a fire.
• Shade surveyed Vesta City’s Golden Spherical Shield and saw that The Church was suppressing the first wave of Paradox Worms, though the siege had only just begun.

Shade reunited with Vanessa’s group after Emilia defeated Thomas Bennett and brought the exhausted Elf to the Golden Music Hall, where the Witches and Church coordinated the city’s defense. As the night’s dangers escalated, they learned that time rifts were multiplying and a powerful tremor plunged much of the city into darkness.

• The Great Elf left Shade and Emilia to search for more arrows, and Shade lent her his longbow, Star Mark, before promising Emilia he would keep the Elf with them.
• Shade carried the sleeping Emilia to the Witches’ camp at the Golden Music Hall, where Siris and the others welcomed them and learned Emilia had defeated Bennett.
• Sivie told Shade that Paradox Worms were awakening underground, the Paradox Worm Watcher remained missing, and the battle had not yet reached its expected intensity.
• Sivie reported that a contained Tree Hollow had collapsed into a time rift and that rifts in the forest and black fissures in the sky were increasing.
• An earthquake struck the city, extinguishing lights across most districts; Emilia slept through it, and Siris carried her to bed while she murmured about her Unicorn Pillow.

Shade stayed at the church while Emilia rested and received a prophecy from Luvia and Bella about the coming battle. He arranged a rescue for the Hermits of the Forest and prepared to spend one of his remaining divination coins as the crisis continued.

• Shade stayed at the music hall after Sivie advised that the Watcher would probably not appear during the swarm’s first attack.
• Luvia and Bella projected themselves through the fireplace, confirmed that Miss Danist had not awakened, and told Shade that Galina’s group had found an underground cave.
• Luvia judged that Thomas Bennett’s choices could never have changed his tragic fate, prompting Shade to reflect on Luvia’s own path toward destroying time and restarting the era.
• Luvia and Bella shared a prophecy involving the Silver Moon, a new dawn, and the Clear Yellow Moon, then warned Shade that out-of-control Corrupted Tree Men had attacked the Hermits of the Forest’s camp.
• Shade ordered Flora’s mobile support squad to join the Academy team before rescuing the Hermits, and Bella arranged preparations for Sylvia to project a Teleportation Gate.
• Shade confirmed that four divination coins remained and asked Luvia what he wished to know.

Shade consulted Flame Luvia about the insect swarm and learned when its next attacks would arrive, while her long-haired incarnation appeared to comfort and protect him. He marked the sleeping Emilia so he could track her through the night, as the coming battle against the Watcher and the Tree remained ahead.

• Shade learned from Luvia that the swarm's leader would appear southwest of the city at 8:39, while its second attack would begin at 8:17 unless he went out to face it sooner.
• Luvia's divination could not reveal Shade's Words of Sublimation, and she said the Ancient One could not know their secret either.
• Long-haired Luvia revealed that she had not controlled the earlier prophecy, embraced Shade, and promised to protect Luvia during their planned journey into the woods.
• Shade told Long-haired Luvia that they would defeat the Tree and asked her to take care of herself until they met again on the ship.
• Long-haired Luvia blessed Shade with protection that could make masters of Time panic when they looked into his eyes.
• Shade marked the sleeping Emilia so he could always know her location, and resolved to apologize afterward.

Shade helped stop Crawling Chaos from invading Vesta Woodland, then returned to the Music Hall as Emilia woke. He and Megan were summoned to deal with an Ancient Gnome relic whose countdown threatened to destroy the woodland, and the chapter left them without an obvious way to stop it.

• A tentacle of Crawling Chaos emerged from a Time Rift and began destroying a street, so Shade used Blood of Sorrow to cut it apart and close the breach.
• Shade returned to the Music Hall, where Megan said she would stay with him, and Emilia woke from her sleep and described dreaming of a giant tree.
• The Church summoned Shade and Megan after a patrol found a sealed brass box in an alley, its countdown steadily decreasing.
• Megan identified the box as the Keeper of Secrets Level Relic Rune Firepowder of the Ancient Gnomes, powerful enough to devastate Vesta Woodland.
• Gaiana Lis Brown explained that only a few specific relics or time-stopping abilities could halt the countdown, but the woodland's time-related relics had already been transferred away.

Shade froze the Rune Firepowder of the Ancient Gnomes with crystal-form Time Stop and kept it as the insect swarm’s second assault began. He and Megan flew out with the other high-ring Witches to fight, leaving Emilia at the Golden Music Hall as the Old Days Temple answered her wish to inherit the Power of Time.

• Shade used crystal-form Time Stop to freeze the rune bomb’s countdown, then took the relic with him after Miss Brown agreed.
• At 8:17, a burst of light marked the start of the insect swarm’s second wave, as Corrupted Tree Men awakened and insects poured from pits across the forest.
• Shade recognized the falling snow as snow from another time, while the temples’ golden net held back ancient roots breaking free beneath Vesta Woodland.
• The Church deployed most of its prepared forces, and Shade, Megan, and the other high-ring Witches left the Golden Music Hall to fight the swarm.
• Emilia stayed behind to prepare for the next battle, and the Old Days Temple answered her wish as she thought, “If I also had the power of dragons...”

Shade joined the battle against the second wave of the Bug Tide, using the Moonlight Dragon and then his human form to help defend the city. After confirming the Church could hold its positions, he headed southwest to find the Watcher, who Luvia had prophesied would appear there at 8:39.

• Shade and the Moonlight Dragon fought off Paradox Worms, while the Witches warned him to stay within the Church's Ritual Matrix.
• Shade burned a Paradox Worm with Primordial Fire, and a mysterious voice told him he could destroy the creatures by eating them.
• Megan, Audrey, Sivie, and Vanessa joined the battle as the Witches and Followers coordinated their defenses around the city.
• Sister Devlin, the Guardians, and the city's defenders held the aerial and ground lines against the Paradox Worms and Corruption treants.
• Shade returned to human form, helped clear Paradox Worms, and moved southwest to search for the Watcher.

Shade and Vanessa searched the aerial battlefield for the Paradox Worm controlling a powerful earth-related monster while fighting dangerous relics and creatures. At 8:38, Shade transformed into the Moonlight Dragon, destroyed a giant skeleton attacking the city, and sensed an even stronger Whisper Element presence deeper in the forest.

• Vanessa and Shade watched a controlled giant skeleton attack the city before it was blasted down, then saw a Thunderbird, Blue Dragons, and the Laughing Acolyte enter the battle.
• Vanessa revealed a Deathbringer Believer, but Shade invoked the Death Bringer’s name and used his Pendant and Angel’s Right Arm to make it destroy its Paradox Worm and vanish.
• Shade and Vanessa searched the swarm for the commanders controlling powerful creatures, while Shade observed that killing a controlling worm briefly disrupted the nearby bugs.
• At 8:38, Shade told Vanessa to signal Sister Devlin and prepare to finish their target with the Angel’s Right Arm or the nun’s flames, then transformed into the Moonlight Dragon.
• Shade scattered the bugs with Chaos Remnants and burned the giant skeleton with Dragon Breath, then turned toward the forest after sensing the night’s strongest Whisper Element fluctuation.

A Watcher-controlled Gravel Worm fused with the Curse-Eroded Great Tree emerged outside the city and strengthened the Paradox Worms, overwhelming the defenders. As Shade and Vanessa joined the counterattack, the worm unleashed black smoke that created Mad Earth and turned one of The Church’s allies to stone.

• A Curse-Eroded Great Tree rose from the ground, followed by a Gravel Worm that coiled around its trunk and emerged with the Watcher embedded in its brow.
• The Watcher and the tree sent emerald leaves into the city, empowering the Paradox Worms and allowing them to break through the shield.
• Vanessa summoned a stone giant to attack the tree, but the Gravel Worm sandified it before The Church’s support team destroyed it with thaumaturgic attacks.
• Shade asked about Iluna Bayes and learned she remained in the church’s Meditation Room; Gareth Sander then hurled Golden Thunder at the tree, but the Gravel Worm swallowed it and breathed out black smoke.
• The black smoke created Mad Earth and turned the forest to stone, forcing the Ring Arcanists to raise walls; Shade pulled Vanessa aside as the worm sprayed smoke at them, but one of The Church’s team was struck and transformed into a stone statue.

Shade and the Church’s allies fought the Gravel Worm, the Curse-Eroded Great Tree, and the Watcher while trying to stop the Bug Tide. Thunder’s Wrath broke the enemy’s time-stopping magic and gave Shade a chance to attack, but the Watcher survived, and the battle remained unresolved as the others engaged the worm’s tail.

• Shade transformed into a Silver Wolf, absorbed the worm’s black mist, and used Moon Fire to ignite the worm and the tree.
• The corpses hanging from the tree cast Time Stop and Time Reversal, slowing Shade and reversing the attackers’ spells.
• Thunder’s Wrath of the Sun Church unleashed Holy Thunder’s Wrath, shattering the frozen time and striking the worm and tree with lightning.
• Shade struck the Gravel Worm with the Moonbeam Greatsword, then climbed onto the tree and used Moon Fire against the worm and the Watcher, but they survived and the worm bound him.
• Vanessa and the Ring Arcanists reached the crown and attacked the tree, while Vanessa and the Thirteenth Ring Construct Master led the others against the worm’s tail; the Divine Ritual kept the Bug Tide from joining the fight.

Shade and his allies fought the Watcher’s Worm around the Curse-Eroded Great Tree, and Shade used a second Gravel Worm to free himself before sealing it away. The remaining Worm transformed and attacked Shade and Sister Devlin with a sword that could accelerate time, leaving the battle at the city’s edge in greater danger.

• Elderon and the elves joined the dragons, Witches, and Ring Arcanists in attacking the Worms and corrupted treants around the hill.
• Shade summoned a second Gravel Worm, which bit and wrestled the Worm restraining him until both fell into the canopy and Shade escaped.
• Shade recalled his Gravel Worm before their collision could draw Doomsday, and Sister Devlin caught him as a Gale swept him away from the tree.
• The Watcher’s Worm drew on the tree’s Curse Power, grew six-fingered arms, and pulled a giant Stone Sword from beneath the hill.
• The Worm’s sword strike sent a White Fog scar across the ground and melted a hole in the city’s golden shield, forcing the support teams to join the battle.
• The Worm swung its Stone Sword horizontally at Shade as he approached the great tree again.

Shade and his allies set the Curse-Eroded Great Tree and the Gravel Worm ablaze and seemed close to victory, but the worm revealed a new Bug Man. Emilia intercepted it and was quickly overwhelmed, leaving Sylvia considering whether to call for more help.

• Sister Devlin’s Primordial Fire ignited the great tree and burned the Gravel Worm, while Shade grew into a giant and began pulling the tree from the ground.
• The Radiance Messenger, the Blue Dragon, Bella, and the witches joined the battle, and Bella’s blessing helped Shade pull the tree higher as Sister Devlin prepared a powerful Fireball.
• The Gravel Worm shed its burning shell and used an Earth Wall and the Watcher’s time magic to hold off the First Fire.
• The Gravel Worm spat out a black cocoon that burst open, revealing an armored Bug Man that charged at Shade.
• Emilia rode a swarm of Red Butterflies to confront the Bug Man, but it battered her through the air as Sylvia asked Luvia whether to call Leisha and Dorothy for help.

Emilia summoned the Dragon Maids through her Mystic Lock, turning the tide against the Watcher’s worm as Shade uprooted the giant tree and joined the dragons’ assault. The flames weakened the creature, but Sister Devlin warned that it could not be killed by fire, and Shade said he had another way.

• Little Unicorn flew Little Mia toward Emilia, and Emilia pursued the Bug Man while carrying the cat.
• Emilia entered a moment of frozen time, awakened the Thirteenth Ring of Fate, and called for the Dragon Maid Misses.
• Emilia’s Mystic Lock revealed the dragons and a vision of ancient Saint Byron’s, while five time-powered dragons joined the battle.
• The dragons’ breath and the Primordial Fire burned away the White Fog and badly damaged the Watcher’s core power.
• Shade uprooted the giant tree, tore the worm from it, and burned the creature with Moon Fire alongside the other flames.
• Sister Devlin warned that fire could not kill the conceptual evil being, and Shade said he had a way to stop it.

Shade and Emilia helped defeat the Gravel Worm and the Watcher, while Emilia’s Dragon Maid allies briefly appeared through time to help destroy the Watcher. The survivors prepared to return to the city and face the coming third Bug Tide, though the Clockmaker remained unaccounted for.

• Shade’s sealed Gravel Worm devoured the other worm’s tail, turning its body to stone, while Sister Devlin struck down the Paradox Worm that fled from it.
• The Bug Man rose after shedding its body, but Emilia and the five Dragon Maids joined forces to freeze and vaporize it with Time Cleavage; Little Mia and the Angel’s Right Arm destroyed a remaining beetle.
• Shade healed the exhausted Emilia and caught her, while the stone Gravel Worm shattered under the Ring Arcanists’ assault.
• The Dragon Maid projections vanished after speaking with Shade, and Vanessa recovered a mud-wrapped branch from the Bug Man’s burning ashes.
• Grace and Helen reported that the Clockmaker had not been found and relayed Miss Annette’s plan to help The Church resist the third Bug Tide’s vanguard.