Recaps

Shade and Sister Belen returned to the cottage after trading four burial objects to a mysterious black fog, which warned them that a god ruled the wasteland and that the exit lay among special tombs. With their supplies reduced and the danger growing, Shade planned to explore a special tomb on his next outing.

• Shade and Sister Belen avoided a black church and encountered a voice inside a patch of black fog, which demanded a companion’s soul or their burial objects.
• Shade traded a false tooth and three bracelets for information about special tombs, the value of burial objects, and the dangers of revealing that they were alive; the fog ended by saying, “God is in the kingdom.”
• Shade and Sister Belen returned to the cottage, where Shade told Miss Liard and Theresa about the encounter and the group reacted with fear at the mention of God of Graves.
• Shade traded two burial objects for an iron shovel, leaving the group with two shovels and six gold items, and urged the women to stay inside.
• Sister Belen suggested that special tombs might contain the valuable objects and clues needed to leave the wasteland, and Shade agreed to investigate one on his next outing.

Shade left Gravedigger's Cabin with a black spirit hound after it brought him two burial objects, while Theresa, Sister Belen, and Miss Liard stayed behind. After he departed, Theresa asked the other women to help her summon Violet Majesty, following instructions she had received in case Shade appeared again.

• A black spirit hound knocked at Gravedigger's Cabin, then led Shade to two gold earrings that he recognized as burial objects.
• Shade decided to follow the hound alone, gave the earrings to Sister Belen, and left the cabin after saying he might not return soon.
• Theresa, Sister Belen, and Miss Liard watched Shade disappear into the fog, and Theresa sensed that the world's order grew more confused in his absence.
• Theresa revealed that Violet Majesty had instructed her to summon her if Shade appeared again, and asked Sister Belen and Miss Liard to help perform the ritual.

Shade encountered the Corpse Tree, a powerful relic sealed around the soul of a hound named Lina, and struck a deal with her to help free her and her daughter. He learned about dangers in the wasteland and sent a letter to his companions, leaving to find a way to suppress the tree.

• Shade followed a spectral hound to the Corpse Tree and found an inscription explaining that a Witch had sealed the relic with her beloved hound, Lina.
• Shade transformed into a Silver Wolf and negotiated with Lina, who asked him to take her daughter out of the land of the dead and promised knowledge and a reward in return.
• Shade traded burial objects to Lina and learned that the stone slab was a sacrificial inscription and that Gargoyles, Death Frogs, Bone Nuns, and White Candle Monks threatened living people.
• Shade sent Lina's daughter with a letter for his companions, then left to find a way to free Lina and suppress the Corpse Tree.

Shade returned from the Gravestone Wasteland, told his companions about the Kingdom of Graves, and sought information at Saint Byron’s before leaving for the Snow Mountain. Administrator Miss identified the Demon Sword as the Angel Level Relic Sword Spawn Mother Nest and began inquiries into the Corpse Tree, while Shade planned to consult his Bloodkin friends about the sword.

• Shade returned in Silver Wolf form, reunited with Tifa, and joined Sylvia, Luvia, and Galina for breakfast.
• Shade described meeting Theresa and learning about the Kingdom of Graves, then said he would seek an exit and leave if the Bone King appeared.
• Shade received a delayed holiday letter from John Flynn, and Galina explained that representatives would travel to Laggson Duchy for talks between Delarion and Milson.
• Shade visited Administrator Miss, who identified the Demon Sword as the Sword Spawn Mother Nest, also called Gormora’s Cradle of Offspring, and warned him not to touch it.
• Shade asked Daniste about the Corpse Tree and the Bone King, and she agreed to seek information from Serkeses Higher Medical College while prioritizing the sword and tree.

Shade sought Mr. Albert’s help with the Demon Sword’s effects and received a Holy Blood mixture to temporarily suppress the victim’s condition. He then traveled with Sylvia to Keltod Town to meet Elder Harald, but learned Harald had taken the injured man to a secret mountain cave and had not yet returned.

• Shade told Mr. Albert about the Demon Sword, and Mr. Albert promised to ask Armand to investigate it.
• Mr. Albert used the Sword of Light to prepare Holy Blood for Shade to apply to the victim’s wound once a day for ten days.
• Shade and Sylvia traveled to the Woodland and then Snow Mountain, arriving at the village before their meeting time.
• Old Priest Kane told Shade that Elder Harald had left with the injured city man and taken him to a cave where the Holy Mountain could suppress the Whisper Element.
• Kane invited Shade to wait for Harald in Keltod Town, where Shade learned about the settlement and saw its Snow Mountain Hall fortress.

Shade toured Kael-Todd Town with Old Priest Kane, learning about the local customs and Great Elder Harald’s family as they waited for the Snow Mountain group. After a distant explosion led them into the mountains, they found Harald wounded and a strange, metallic-looking woman wielding a black sword emerging from a cave.

• Shade and Old Priest Kane watched a water burial, toured Kael-Todd Town, and shared lunch at the Priest’s home.
• While waiting at the mountain pass, Shade learned from Old Priest Kane about Great Elder Harald and Harald’s exceptionally gifted granddaughter, who might return for the Ten Thousand Spirits Festival.
• A tremendous explosion sounded from the Snow Mountain, so Old Priest Kane sent a message to town before taking Shade to investigate.
• Shade and Old Priest Kane reached a mountainside cave and sensed powerful Whisper Element nearby.
• Eleventh Ring Elder Harald emerged from the cave injured, followed by a towering, pale woman with black eyes and a sword wreathed in black light.

Shade fought the puppet wielding the Angel Level Relic Sword Spawn Mother Nest on Fatumonst Snow Mountain and appeared to defeat her with Moon Fire and the Black Moon Rune. The relic then revealed a second sword-wielding man, leaving Shade facing two linked opponents as Elder Harald and Priest Cain prepared something.

• Priest Cain shattered the puppet’s black sword beam before Shade engaged her, while Elder Harald warned Shade that Dali and Konstan were dead.
• The puppet unleashed a massive sword strike that struck Shade at its center, but he survived and pierced her with Moon Fire, then pinned her with a Thunder Spear and destroyed her with the Black Moon Rune.
• The puppet turned to dust and her sword fell onto the snow, but a middle-aged man appeared behind Shade wielding an identical blacklight greatsword.
• The relic split the man into two identical sword wielders, who attacked Shade together and forced him to defend while Elder Harald and Priest Cain prepared something.

Shade fought three sword-wielding enemies wielding demonic Angel Level Relics on Fatumonst Snow Mountain, but was knocked toward the forest. Claire Reinhart arrived to protect Elder Harald and faced the attackers with powerful sunlight and ice-snow magic.

• Shade used Chloe's Ice Echo and Dragon Breath to freeze and shatter two sword-wielding men, but a one-eyed sailor appeared and split into three copies wielding the demonic swords.
• The three enemies overwhelmed Shade, shattered his Moonbeam Greatsword, and sent him crashing toward the forest before approaching Elder Harald and Old Priest Kane.
• Elder Harald prepared to make a final stand, but Claire Reinhart arrived and urged him to seek help from the Holy Mountain, warning that Church members were already in town.
• Claire attacked the three enemies with Sunlight Crystal and Blazing Sun Spear, then used sunlight and ice-snow clones to block their swords.
• Claire and her two clones fought the demonic swords while Elder Harald continued seeking the snow mountain's aid and wondered why Shade had not returned.

Claire Reinhart and Shade joined forces to defeat the magic sword wielders, but the survivors escaped and trapped them, Claire, and Elder Harald in a relic’s deadly snowbound duel. Elder Harald explained the rules as the game began, while Shade and Claire were introduced as allies.

• Claire Reinhart fought the magic sword wielders until Shade arrived, and the two combined their lightning attacks to defeat the old man leading them.
• Three more sword wielders appeared; one escaped with six swords while another activated the Infinite Duel Corridor relic, trapping Shade, Claire, Elder Harald, and the remaining enemy in its game.
• Elder Harald explained that the relic forced its targets to cross harmful squares and duel, and he sent Old Priest Kane to retrieve the unconscious people and alert the Church.
• Elder Harald introduced Claire Reinhart to Shade as his granddaughter and their ally.

Shade, Claire Reinhart, and Elder Harald played the Infinite Duel Corridor against the Fat Fishmonger as they crossed the snow-covered squares and suffered the relic’s curses. The chapter ended when Shade’s Blood Echo drove away the bats causing their blood loss.

• The Fat Fishmonger rolled a five and suffered soul damage from a reaper’s scythe, while Elder Harald’s wound appeared to worsen.
• Claire Reinhart rolled a four, and Shade, Claire, and Elder Harald endured a supernatural cold that Claire resisted with a spell.
• The Fat Fishmonger rolled a six, reached the final square, and was cursed with blindness.
• Claire rolled a six, bringing her group to the tenth square, where bloodsucking bats attacked them.
• Shade’s Blood Echo activated and frightened the bats away before they could bite him.

Shade and Miss Reinhart battled the Fat Fishmonger over the demonic sword as The Game’s curses weakened them. Shade and Miss Reinhart prepared a ranged attack to disable him without destroying him, hoping to keep other demonic swords from appearing.

• The dice moved Shade, Miss Reinhart, and Elder Harald to the twelfth square, where the Relic cursed them with hunger and cold.
• The Fat Fishmonger rolled a four, shifting the score to 18:12 and triggering a sword duel between him and Shade.
• Elder Harald gave Claire his staff and urged her to help Shade keep the demonic sword.
• Claire blessed Shade and fired Sun Flare Ray at the Fat Fishmonger, distracting him long enough for Shade to force him back.
• The Fat Fishmonger retreated to the highest square and shattered Claire’s pursuing spell, while Shade and Miss Reinhart prepared to attack him from a distance.

Shade and Claire Reinhart defeated the Fat Fishmonger by combining Sun and Moon power, then sealed the Demon Sword that had consumed his soul. Shade agreed to help Claire and Elder Harald protect the Snow Mountain after she offered him instruction in Sun Thaumaturgy and the Fatu tribes’ support.

• Shade and Claire Reinhart combined their Sun power to overpower the Fat Fishmonger’s Demon Sword, and Shade added Moonlight to blast him from the duel.
• The Infinite Duel Corridor ended, restoring the Sun and greatly increasing Shade, Claire, and Elder Harald’s spirits.
• Claire used the Snow Mountain’s power and the Great Sin Chains to freeze and restrain the Demon Sword, while Shade confirmed the Fat Fishmonger was dead and his soul was gone.
• Shade identified the sword as the Angel Level Relic Sword Spawn Mother Nest and warned that its other Demon Swords would return.
• Claire offered Shade Sun Thaumaturgy and the Fatu tribes’ assistance if he stayed to help, and Shade agreed.

Shade and Claire Reinhart descended Fatumonst Snow Mountain after helping contain the Demon Sword, and Shade sensed that the mountain’s Spirit and Elements were unusually active. Claire brought him into Kael-Todd Town and began to suspect that he was the strange person foretold by Bella Belinder; they arrived at the Harpoon Hotel, where her students and friends were waiting.

• Elder Harald descended toward Kael-Todd Town alone with the temporarily sealed Demon Sword while Shade and Claire Reinhart planned to meet him after The Church left.
• Shade gave Claire his Victoria Street address, explained that he was pursuing a dangerous enemy, and declined her offer to investigate the enemy for him.
• Claire told Shade that the Ten Thousand Spirits Festival soothed the increasingly unstable Snow Mountain and that she expected another incident this year.
• Shade touched the earth and sensed that Spirit and Elements were unusually active across the Snow Mountain, surprising Claire because the mountain had accepted his presence.
• Claire recalled Bella Belinder’s divination about a strange person who would help her, then led Shade through the western docks into Kael-Todd Town.
• Claire introduced Shade to the townspeople as a friend visiting for the Ten Thousand Spirits Festival and brought him to the Harpoon Hotel, where her students and friends were waiting.

At the Harpoon Hotel, Claire Reinhart introduced Shade to her apprentice Stella Larson and discussed the appearance of the Angel Level Relic, the Sword Spawn Mother Nest. Claire then began teaching Shade a practical Sun-related Thaumaturgy to help him keep the Demon Sword at a distance.

• Claire arranged rooms at the Harpoon Hotel for Shade and her followers.
• Claire introduced Shade to her apprentice, Stella Larson, and spoke with him on the inn’s balcony.
• Shade and Claire suspected that the Demon Sword’s appearance before the Ten Thousand Spirits Festival had a deeper cause.
• Claire learned Shade was a Nine-Ring Arcanist and questioned him about his background.
• Shade described two categories of Sun Power, and Claire praised his knowledge.
• Claire offered to teach Shade a Thaumaturgy that could push opponents away without direct contact.

Shade learned Thunderclap Wave from Claire Reinhart and met with Elder Harald at Snow Mountain Hall, where he used Holy Blood to suppress injuries caused by the Demon Sword. The relic was identified as the Sword Spawn Mother Nest, but Harald’s condition remained uncertain as the Ten Thousand Spirits Festival approached.

• Claire Reinhart explained Thunderclap Wave to Shade and gave him its learning scroll after he promised to help contain the Demon Sword.
• Shade met the woman whose child he had helped, learned the child had recovered, and continued with Claire to Snow Mountain Hall.
• Shade and Claire found the Magic Potion Merchant unconscious and badly transformed, while Elder Harald was also suffering from a Demon Sword wound.
• Shade gave the group Holy Blood and explained that it could temporarily suppress the transformation, but the divided supply would last only five days.
• Shade identified the relic as the Sword Spawn Mother Nest and urged the elders to share its name with the local Church so they could investigate its properties.
• Elder Harald said he might be too ill to attend the Ten Thousand Spirits Festival, even if Shade’s distant friends discovered how the relic worked.

Shade and Claire agreed to investigate the Demon Sword while the Fatu People prepared for the Ten Thousand Spirits Festival. After Claire arranged their next steps, she challenged Shade to a test of strength, and he summoned a sunset-colored greatsword.

• Elder Vilda explained that Claire would take over the High Priestess’s duties and urged her and Shade to investigate the Demon Sword.
• The Fatu People gave Shade Fatumonst Snow Mountain Water and a horn pendant as advance payment and a token of identity.
• After speaking privately with the elders, Claire agreed with Shade to investigate separately and exchange information the following evening.
• Claire asked to test Shade’s strength in the courtyard, and they concealed their sparring with magic.
• Shade cast the Sword of Light and summoned a greatsword blending sunset gold and red with silver-blue light, surprising Claire.

Shade tested his new combined Sun-and-Moon power in a spar with Claire Reinhart, then conceded and left Snow Mountain Hall. He returned home to find Galina, Sylvia, and Vanessa waiting, while Little Mia worried over his briefly numb hand.

• Shade attacked Claire with a twilight sword strike, but she countered with solar magic and a duplicate that met his punch with Sun Fist.
• Claire used Thunderclap Wave and a sacrificed duplicate to launch a powerful blast, while Shade defended himself with the Night Curtain Seal.
• Shade conceded the spar, and Claire praised his abilities while deciding to conceal his identity from the Witch Council until the Demon Sword and Ten Thousand Spirits Festival matters were settled.
• Shade returned to his home in Tobesk, where Little Mia rubbed his numb hand until it nearly recovered.
• Galina, Sylvia, and Vanessa welcomed Shade and asked what had happened, and he explained that he had traded blows with Claire's Sun Fist.

Shade learned that Claire Reinhart was Sun’s Great Witch and heard about her gem-based magic and mysterious past. The witches forbade him from revealing his connections to the Council, assigning him instead to investigate Claire while he planned a visit to Sister Devlin before traveling to Fatumonst Island.

• Shade showed the witches Claire’s image, and they confirmed she was Sun’s Eleventh-Rank Great Witch and held the Council’s sixth seat.
• Sylvia and Vanessa described Claire’s mineral exploration business, while Galina and Vanessa explained her unique Gem Technology for storing and activating magic.
• The witches realized Claire had lied about her whereabouts and background, and Sylvia suggested Shade would uncover the truth by spending time with her.
• Shade asked to stop hiding his identity from other Great Witches, but Galina, Vanessa, and Sylvia insisted he keep it secret and investigate Claire undercover.
• Galina left after dinner, and Shade planned to visit Sister Devlin before going to Fatumonst Island; Sylvia offered to take him there the following afternoon.
• Sylvia stayed with Shade by the fireplace and whispered that he could treat her as another kind of tool.

Shade, Sylvia, and Vanessa were urgently summoned after Speaker lost Claire’s signal, then learned that Claire and other searchers had gone missing on Fatumonst Snow Mountain. Sylvia used her tower to locate a spatial anomaly, and the group found battle traces leading to a cave sealed by a huge block of ice.

• Sylvia and Vanessa interrupted their night with Shade to attend Speaker’s summons, where they learned Claire could no longer be sensed and might be trapped somewhere.
• The witches returned to Shade and set out for Fatumonst Island after learning that Claire had disappeared on Snow Mountain during a search for strange explosions.
• A Witch Follower told Shade that Miss Reinhart and her team had not returned from the mountain, and Shade promised to help find them.
• Sylvia searched the Snow Mountain from her tower and marked a suspicious spatial anomaly for Shade and Vanessa.
• Shade, Sylvia, and Vanessa followed signs of a battle to a hidden mountain hollow and discovered a cave blocked by a massive ice block.

Shade, Vanessa, and Sylvia investigated a contaminated cave and found four of Claire’s unconscious Followers. After discovering a relic had teleported Claire elsewhere on Fatumonst Island, Shade passed through the wall to search for her and found signs of a battle along the northern coast.

• Shade purified the cave’s black contamination, then he and the Witches found four frozen Followers and used magic to stabilize them.
• Shade heard the Sun’s Great Witch say that a living Ice Block had attacked her and the others before the recording was disrupted.
• Sylvia identified the cave wall as the Keeper of Secrets Level Relic, the Wall of Disorder, which had randomly teleported Claire and affected her with Chaos.
• Sylvia used the Ancient Witch’s Golden Ring to send Shade through the wall to Claire’s location, and Vanessa gave him her Gold Ring so she could track him.
• Shade emerged on the northern coast of Fatumonst Island, sensed that Vanessa and Sylvia could find him, and followed signs of battle and Sun flames along the shore.

Shade followed the trail of Claire Reinhart’s battle to the sea cliff and rescued her from a fatal fall, taking an ice spear through the chest. After recovering from the wound, he faced the fully restored Ice Sculpture as his soul-fire blazed around him.

• Shade found Claire Reinhart’s shattered amethyst pendant and followed gemstones she had dropped toward the ongoing battle.
• Claire, cornered by the Ice Sculpture and stripped of her gemstones, fell from the collapsing sea cliff as the creature pursued her with an ice spear.
• Shade appeared above Claire, blocked the spear with his body, blasted away much of the Ice Sculpture with moonlight, and carried Claire back to the cliff.
• Claire discovered the wound in Shade’s chest was healing, while Shade explained that her student had sent someone to find him and ask for help.
• Shade stood to face the Ice Sculpture as his soul-fire spread across his cracked skin and clothes, and Claire recognized its primal nature.

Shade and several witches defeated the Heartless Worm threatening Claire Reinhart on Frostbound Sea Cliff. After Shade helped Claire recover, Vanessa and Sylvia arrived and teased her about secretly keeping a man outside the Council.

• Shade used the Eye of Edwardz to locate the Heartless Worm inside the ice sculpture and attacked it with Chaos Remnants.
• Sylvia trapped the fleeing frost with the Boundaryless Bottle, while Shade and the Great Witches forced the creature back into human form.
• Sister Devlin pierced the ice sculpture with the Ashes Greatsword, and the Heartless Worm fell out and was burned as kindling for the First Fire.
• Shade treated Claire Reinhart's weakened spirit and helped her sit up as Sister Devlin approached.
• Claire was startled to see Sister Devlin and tried to explain that Shade was her friend who had saved her.
• Vanessa and Sylvia appeared, teased Claire about keeping Shade a secret, and watched her insist that he was a good person.

Shade and Sister Devlin rescued Claire Reinhart on Fatumonst Island, and the Great Witches kept Shade’s identity secret. After Sister Devlin permitted him to accept power from Claire, the two were left alone, and Claire began to welcome the possibility of growing closer to him.

• Vanessa and Sylvia explained that Shade had asked them to find Claire and urged her to keep his identity secret.
• Sister Devlin questioned Shade about accepting power and, after he promised to consult her, permitted him to receive power from Claire.
• Sister Devlin told Claire that her injuries needed only a night's rest, then left to report the rescue to Adele Isabella.
• Vanessa and Sylvia embraced Shade and departed with a reminder that their relationship with him was a shared secret.
• Claire apologized for not recognizing Shade's affiliation with the Order of Spiritual Cultivation and admitted she could stand only with his support.
• Claire reflected on her attraction to Shade and felt more hopeful about returning home.

Shade rescued Claire Reinhart from the Snow Mountain and learned that three powerful Fate-manipulating Relics had caused her misfortune. After reuniting Claire with her followers, Shade left, while she prepared to return to the mountain and retrieve the other girls and a spatial Relic.

• Shade used the Dice of Destiny to deflect three simultaneous attacks from Fate-manipulating Relics.
• Claire Reinhart told Shade how misfortune had led her through the contaminated cave, where she had encountered a Heartless Demon Person and nearly lost control.
• Shade told Claire that the four girls in the cave were safe, returned her recovered gems, and gave her two of Luvia's Good Luck talismans.
• Stella Larson and the others arrived, and Claire reunited with them after Shade quietly departed.
• Claire told Stella to prepare for a return to the mountain to retrieve the girls and deal with the spatial Relic.

After recounting Claire Reinhart’s rescue, Shade learned that the Council was preparing protections against attacks of fate and went to Sister Devlin to discuss his Fifth Epoch experiences. Sister Devlin identified the Bone King as an ancient deity who existed before the Ancient Gods departed.

• Shade told Vanessa, Sylvia, Galina, and Luvia that Claire Reinhart’s ordeal had been caused by an Attack of Fate and involved a Heartless Worm.
• Luvia recommended that Shade seek Sister Devlin’s help and promised to prepare a protective charm with Sylvia, Vanessa, and Galina.
• Shade visited the Sacrificial Ground, where he learned that Adele Isabella had met with Sister Devlin, then waited for her in the library.
• Shade told Sister Devlin about the Gravestone Wasteland, Sister Belen’s Ashes Return Thaumaturgy, and his escape as a Silver Wolf.
• Sister Devlin explained that the Bone King, guardian of graves, had been among the deities who existed before the Ancient Gods departed.