Recaps

Shade and the Thirteenth Ring Warlocks defeated the golem’s attack, but Shade returned to his body with dangerous life force in his chest and had to cut it out. After recovering, he and Wei Ge shared their first kiss, which the returning maids interrupted.

• Shade shielded Iluna and the Thirteenth Ring Warlocks, then used Chaos Remnants to destroy the golem’s body and level the eastern wing of the Creation Church.
• Shade woke with an eye-like lump in his chest, dug it out, and extracted its Distorted Life Fire Seed into the Fire Seed Source beneath Little Mia’s paw.
• Wei Ge embraced Shade and apologized for his injuries, while Miss MacDonald ordered the maids to bring healing potions.
• Shade and Wei Ge kissed as the life force affected them, but Shade stopped things from going further because he sensed Wei Ge’s condition was abnormal.
• The maids returned with the potions and interrupted them, leaving Miss Lorraine to see Wei Ge’s furious reaction.

After Shade rescued Wei Ge during the Church battle, she recovered and treated his wound while they discussed the Fire Seed Source and her loss of consciousness. Shade shared information for the Witch Council and stayed at Wei Ge’s home to await news, while Wei Ge was pleased by their growing intimacy.

• Wei Ge recovered by drinking Shade’s blood, then used medicine and a thaumaturgy from her mother’s notes to heal his chest wound.
• Shade and Wei Ge discussed the Church battle, the strange Fire Seed Source, and Wei Ge’s consciousness being drawn toward it.
• Shade had Miss MacDonald record what he knew about containing and extinguishing Life Fire Seeds, and asked Wei Ge to bring the information to the Witch Council.
• Wei Ge kissed Shade and asked whether he would wait at her home for news from his friends; Shade went to change his bloodstained clothes.
• After Shade left with Little Mia, Wei Ge smiled over their kiss while Miss Lorraine apologized for the trouble she had caused.

After sharing a passionate kiss with Wei Ge, Shade waited with her for news of the battle at the Creation Church. Daniste’s report revealed that the Construct Master had escaped with many followers, while the Church retained a weakened Fire Seed Source, leaving Shade and Wei Ge questioning how the betrayal had been organized.

• Wei Ge recalled her kiss with Shade, then prepared to meet him in the study while Miss MacDonald advised her to plan how she would report the information he had provided.
• Shade considered the Fire Seed Source and the possibilities of combining it with flesh or machinery as he waited with Wei Ge.
• Shade and Wei Ge sat together while they waited for Daniste’s message, and Wei Ge grew more affectionate toward him.
• Daniste’s Dove delivered a letter reporting that the Construct Master and his supporters had escaped after threatening to detonate the Fire Seed Source, taking researchers, senior clergy, and at least thirty High-Ring Arcanists with them.
• Shade told Wei Ge that the Church had retained the Fire Seed Source, but he suspected it was only a fragment of the original and that most of its power had been hidden.
• Shade reported that Miguel Conti had been ambushed and Sister Sophia Lopez badly wounded, then questioned how Gerald Delong had organized the apostasy so quickly despite his recent return to Church headquarters.

Shade discussed the Creation Church’s crisis with Wei Ge, then returned home to find a huge new bed and several Witches ready to celebrate its arrival with him. Their plans were interrupted when all four received summons to a meeting, leaving Tifa in charge of keeping Shade home.

• Shade told Wei Ge that the Fire Seed Source was incomplete and that the Demon Eye Club might be searching for a container, and he asked her to alert the Council and The Church.
• Shade left Wei Ge’s home after agreeing to visit again the next day, while Wei Ge wondered when she might get another chance to be with him.
• Shade returned to find Galina, Megan, Sivie, and Vanessa gathered around the enormous new bed Leisha had delivered.
• Galina noticed Wei Ge’s kiss on Shade, and Shade recounted the recent events at the Creation Church over dinner as the maids prepared the bedroom.
• The four Witches were summoned to a meeting before they could test the new bed, and Galina told Tifa not to let Shade leave the house.

At the Witch Council, Wei Ge reported Shade’s intelligence about the Church and the Arcadia Region, then accidentally prompted Adele to assign Galina’s grandniece Angelina to help her. Wei Ge regretted her words and resolved to make the most of the week before Angelina arrived.

• Tifa tested the new bedroom furniture with Shade while insisting that he remain seated.
• Wei Ge briefed the Great Witches on the Church’s account of the Flame Giant and the dangers in Arcadia.
• Adele praised Wei Ge, promised her a reward, and arranged a meeting with Audrey and her sisters.
• Wei Ge mentioned how well she got along with a busy young woman, and Adele interpreted it as a need for more help in Arcadia.
• Adele assigned Galina’s grandniece Angelina to assist Wei Ge, and Galina arranged for her to depart Tobesk the following week.
• Wei Ge reluctantly agreed to take care of Angelina and decided to pursue her relationship with Shade more quickly before she arrived.

Shade told the Witches that Wei Ge had injured him while rescuing her, and they decided to let him rest while continuing their furniture trial. The next morning, Emilia revealed that she had made Bubble Pod candy and named it Bean Pod Candy.

• Shade explained how Wei Ge had injured him, and the Witches decided he would not need to move during their continued furniture trial.
• Galina discussed whether to tell Wei Ge the truth when Angelina arrived in Arcadia City, and Shade said he would join the conversation.
• Emilia returned from Arcadia City and showed Shade the Bubble Pod candies she had made with help from Ellie's blessing of Luck.
• Shade tasted the candy, suggested Emilia register a patent and promote it, and Emilia named it Bean Pod Candy.

Daniste briefed Shade and the others on the Fire Seed Source, the Church’s aftermath, and clues about the Tenth Chosen One. Shade then shared a troubling record suggesting Wei Ge’s mother had been married before, comforted Wei Ge, and finally obtained the original Mark I Steam Engine design manuscript.

• Daniste explained that the Fire Seed Source would be studied in Arcadia, the Construct Master remained at large, and traitors might possess other Fire Seed Sources.
• Daniste shared three clues about the Tenth Chosen One, including that creation could involve both living flesh and dead objects and that reproduction was necessary.
• Shade found Margaret’s letter at the Witch’s Tower and brought Wei Ge new information from Gray Gloves records about her mother’s past.
• Shade told Wei Ge that her mother had an officially registered marriage before marrying her father, and he promised to stay by her side while she struggled with the news.
• Wei Ge secretly acquired Baron Ramsay’s original Mark I Steam Engine design manuscript, and Shade took it along with the other manuscripts to old Mr. Laibury’s home.

Shade returned the ancestral manuscripts to Old Mr. Laibury, then exchanged intelligence with Mr. Finch about the growing dangers in Arcadia City. At Wei Ge’s mansion, he learned that several witches had arrived and promised to see her again on Sunday.

• Shade gave Old Mr. Laibury the three recovered manuscripts, arranged to buy the Blue Ink Library, and warned him to keep the Steam Engine design manuscript secret.
• Shade discussed the Creation Church’s betrayal with Mr. Finch, shared his suspicions about the traitors and the Fire Seed Source, and learned that the Saint Alliance had seized an unknown relic.
• Mr. Finch gave Shade a Runestone and warned him about the dangers surrounding the Fire Seed and the Chosen Ones.
• Shade found his Witches Detection Badge heating at Wei Ge’s mansion and waited while a visiting witch remained upstairs.
• Wei Ge told Shade that two more witches would arrive and stay until the following afternoon, then asked him to return on Sunday.
• Wei Ge kissed Shade on the cheek and was about to give him a goodbye kiss when someone knocked on the door.

Wei Ge hid Shade from Bella when the Great Witch of Fate visited, then reunited with him after Bella left the room. Shade later met Bella privately in the washroom, where they shared a tender farewell before he returned home, while Bella resolved to pursue him as his other companions had.

• Wei Ge hid Shade in the Changing Room when Bella arrived and searched the room, but Bella pretended she had found nothing.
• Wei Ge told Shade that Bella had come with the Speaker and Megan, and promised that the visitors would leave Saturday night.
• Shade appeared in the washroom after Bella, and she wiped Wei Ge's lipstick mark from his cheek before kissing him.
• Bella confirmed that Vanessa had gone to Shade's home and guessed that Galina and others had been with him, but she did not blame him.
• Shade kissed Bella goodbye and returned home, while Bella splashed water on her face and decided that she could pursue him too.

Shade visited Mr. Corps to examine a Skin Object and question it about Wei Ge’s mother, Peggy Le May. The skin revealed that her apparent marriage was a disguise, then began disclosing a strange doctrine about creation before the excerpt ended.

• Shade exchanged money with Mr. Corps for Active Metal and asked him to examine the Skin Object.
• Mr. Corps determined that the skin was a Poet Level Relic Derivative and used an Ask Skin Ritual to question it.
• Shade learned that Peggy Le May had obtained the skin in 1821 while she belonged to The Truth Society, and that she had posed as her own husband to appear as a complete family.
• The skin’s attempt to describe its most memorable use triggered a dangerous surge of Whisper Element, which the Black Crown of Thorns and Mr. Corps’ talisman suppressed.
• The skin spoke of the union of male and female as a path toward creation and perfection, then continued its revelation as the chapter ended.

Shade learned that Peggy Le May may have created the Perfect Child by conceiving with her own fleshly avatar, and suspected that Wei Ge was the result. He told Wei Ge and the witches at Fragrant Residence, and they prepared to investigate the Astley Family cemetery.

• The scarecrow’s account revealed how Peggy Le May and her avatar conceived the Perfect Child, and Mr. Corps explained the possible family relationship such a child would have to its mother.
• Shade hurried home, told Luvia and Winnie that Peggy Le May’s only known descendant was Wei Ge, then went to Fragrant Residence to share the discovery with Megan and Bella.
• Megan and Bella agreed to pretend they knew nothing and arranged to visit the Astley Family cemetery that night with Wei Ge and the other Great Witches.
• Shade found Wei Ge with Miss MacDonald and explained that checking for a blood relation to the Astley Family could identify her father.
• Wei Ge broke down crying, then asked Shade whether he would go with them to the cemetery.

Wei Ge investigated her parents’ graves to verify her bloodline and learned that she was their natural child, though her mother’s body in the coffin was a cultivated shell. The discovery of a hidden symbol beneath her mother’s coffin left Wei Ge with a new clue about her mother’s fate.

• Shade turned into a Silver Cat and hid in Miss MacDonald’s arms while Wei Ge told Adele, Megan, and Bella about her nightmare.
• Wei Ge had Megan excavate her parents’ shared grave, and Bella confirmed that her father’s corpse was her direct ancestor.
• Megan and Bella determined that Wei Ge’s mother’s body was a cultivated shell rather than a true corpse, though Bella thought Peggy Lemay had probably died.
• Wei Ge kept tissue from the shell so Flora and Bella could try to locate her mother’s real corpse, then began reburying her parents.
• Wei Ge sensed a mark beneath her mother’s coffin, and the group recognized it as the symbol found on rings connected to The Truth Society and Wei Ge’s mother.

The Witches uncovered a stone slab revealing that Wei Ge’s mother had pursued the Perfect Child and a way to cure her descendants. On the walk back, the group encountered a battle between the Saint Alliance and the Demon Eye Club, and Adele stopped a fleeing safe-deposit-box creature before it reached them.

• The ring activated the coffin’s ritual, which transformed the coffin and its false corpse into a black stone slab while leaving the ring intact.
• The Witches read the slab’s five inscriptions, learning that the Philosopher’s Stone could not be synthesized in the Sixth Epoch and that the Perfect Child had been divided into four.
• Wei Ge and the others left the cemetery and walked back toward Fragrant Residence, with Wei Ge quiet after the revelations about her mother.
• A silvery creature assembled from bank safe-deposit boxes burst from the Kasonlik Royal Bank as two Saint Alliance arcanists fought three members of the Demon Eye Club nearby.
• The creature absorbed the electric arcs restraining it and fled toward the Witches, so Adele revealed the group and froze it with her spell.

Adele confronted the Infant-Holding Holy Mother and destroyed her manifestation with Chaos Light, while Iluna arrived afterward and learned the Holy Mother would return unless her container was destroyed. Back at Fragrant Residence, the witches discovered both factions had fought over the Kindling, and Shade comforted an exhausted Wei Ge.

• Adele drove off the Demon Eye Club members and immobilized the Saint Alliance fighters before confronting the approaching Infant-Holding Holy Mother.
• The Holy Mother provoked Adele, who unleashed her Thirteenth Order power and destroyed the Holy Mother and her Marble Sculpture Infant with Chaos Light.
• Iluna arrived and Adele explained that the Holy Mother’s manifestation had been defeated, but the Holy Mother could not die while her container remained intact.
• Adele returned to Fragrant Residence, where Bella divined that the Saint Alliance and Demon Eye Club had both sought the Kindling, and the Safe Deposit Box Aggregate was sealed in the Underground Palace.
• Shade visited Wei Ge in her bedroom and held her as she asked him for comfort.

Shade comforted Wei Ge after she learned that her mother may have created a Perfect Child and that she may have an elder sister, then returned home and discussed the mysteries surrounding the research and Kindling with Luvia. He used the Yggdrasil Key to visit Adele in the past and found her injured in their ruined home.

• Shade held Wei Ge as she cried over her mother's experiments and promised to help uncover the truth about her possible elder sister.
• Wei Ge asked Shade to return on Sunday, kissed him, and then called for Miss Lorraine to prepare a bath.
• Shade returned home, told Luvia what had happened, and discussed Lady Le May, the Perfect Child, and the groups seeking Kindling.
• Shade used the Yggdrasil Key to travel to the Doomsday Era, bringing the Perfume Bottle as his extra relic.
• Shade arrived at Adele's ruined home and found her lying on the sofa with a bloodied bandage around her chest.

Shade treated Adele’s curse wound and learned more about Wei Ge’s mother and the Perfect Child, then chose to face a powerful enemy in Saint Derain Square to complete the Black Time Key. The two entered the square together to begin the challenge.

• Shade treated Adele’s chest wound with Moon Fire while she explained that a prison Watcher had injured her beneath Yodel Palace Castle.
• Shade told Adele about Wei Ge, the Skin Object, and the clues he had found, and Adele said she had never encountered Wei Ge’s mother in earlier stories.
• Adele explained that the Perfect Child was connected to the [Emerald Record] and could fulfill a key requirement for the Chosen One of Creation.
• Adele offered Shade a choice between fighting for Calamity Beast cards and exploring a new area for Inheritance of the Strong cards.
• Shade chose to fight a powerful enemy, and he and Adele descended into Saint Derain Square.

Shade faced Professor Reinhart, the Snake of Possibility, whose countless forms grew stronger with each defeat. After fighting the Falling Star Beast form with Adele’s help, Shade used Blood Seed Parasitism to force its infinite possibilities to collapse into a single mutation, though he was left severely weakened.

• Shade killed Professor Reinhart’s first form, but another appeared in its place, and Adele explained that the Snake of Possibility returned in new forms with the combat experience of its previous ones.
• Shade fought a succession of increasingly powerful Professor Reinharts, conserving his strength by killing them in close combat until the twelfth appeared as a Falling Star Beast.
• The Falling Star Beast opened a rift to a deathly Star Sea and summoned decaying stars, while Adele intercepted the falling fragments with her Return to Original Nature Principle.
• Shade wounded the Falling Star Beast in close combat and used Blood Seed Parasitism to transform it into a writhing black-red creature.
• Shade explained that he had tried to make the infinite possibilities collapse into one, and Adele sensed that he had been left with dangerously weak Life Force.

Shade defeated Professor Reinhart by using Blood Seed Parasitism to control him, then buried the corrupted Ring of Fate beside Claire's Mother's grave with Adele. Before Shade returned to 6 Saint Derain Square, Adele explained the Fire Seed Source and warned him about the dangers of Life Energy, then began teaching him a Thaumaturgy to restore it safely.

• Shade used a Thunder Spear to kill Professor Reinhart, and no new Professor appeared after the body turned to Ashes.
• Shade found the Ring of Fate representing Myriad Phenomena and agreed with Adele to seal and bury it beside Claire's Mother's grave at Snow Mountain Hall.
• After returning to 6 Saint Derain Square, Shade rested with Adele, who explained the importance of the Fire Seed Source and confirmed what he had learned about the Chosen One of Creation.
• Adele warned Shade that the desire for Life Energy could draw people toward Life Fire Seeds and taught him to guard against Greed for life.
• Adele began teaching Shade a Thaumaturgy that restored clean Life Energy by having them share blood and sense its rhythm.

Shade learned the Life Backfire thaumaturgy from Adele and decided to spend ten task uses to meet her again, despite her objections. After parting from her, he revealed the Snake of Possibility Calamity Card and entered a memory of Professor Reinhart mourning Claire's funeral.

• Adele showed Shade how to use Life Backfire to draw energy from the world and warned him that overuse could turn him into a stone statue.
• Shade told Adele he wanted to spend ten task uses to meet her again, and she asked him to wait until after their meeting next month.
• Shade said goodbye to Adele and turned over the ninth Calamity Card, revealing the Snake of Possibility and clues connecting its disaster to Fatumonst Island.
• Shade entered the card's memory and witnessed Claire Reinhart's sea burial in Kael-Todd Town.
• Professor Reinhart stayed behind after the funeral, went into the forest, and wept over the choices he wished he had made.

Shade witnessed the Past memory of Luvia defeating the Snake of Possibility and sealing it beneath the Myriad Phenomena Tower, then returned to the present and reunited with Luvia. They discussed Lady Peggy Nicola Le May’s secrets, Iluna’s restored eye in other Sixth Epochs, and Shade’s possible experiments with Life Energy.

• Shade watched Luvia defeat the colossal Snake of Possibility, capture it, and suppress it beneath the Myriad Phenomena Tower.
• After the memory ended, Shade said goodbye to Adele and returned to the present, planning to bring flowers and red wine when he next visited her.
• Shade joined Luvia in bed, and she told him that Dorothy planned to visit with Leisha on Saturday.
• In a dream, Long-Haired Luvia discussed Lady Peggy Nicola Le May’s unexplained role in the Past with Shade.
• Luvia explained that Iluna had restored her sacrificed eye in other Sixth Epochs through events involving the [Creation] Chosen One.
• Shade reflected on using divine power to create an eye and considered experimenting with ordinary Life Energy to shape physical matter.

Shade spent Friday night with Luvia and the Long-haired Girl, then returned to the Fifth Epoch’s Foul Blood Factory on Saturday to help the One-armed Prince bring new life into the world. He found the three Witches in a different room, where they had completed a second Furnace and begun exploring anew.

• Luvia discussed Life Backfire and Life Ray with Shade, then spent the night with him in the dream world.
• Shade woke beside Luvia on Saturday and decided to remain in Tobesk City while Adele, Megan, and Bella were with Wei Ge.
• Shade left Little Mia behind and traveled through the Time Corridor to the Foul Blood Factory, accepting Father of Infinite Tree’s trial to assist the One-armed Prince.
• Shade sensed Life Force in the factory’s iron door and destroyed its flesh disguise with Chaos Remnants.
• Shade escaped into a new room and found the three Witches sheltered there, having finished forging their second Furnace and begun a new exploration.

Shade reunited with the Witches in the Foul Blood Factory, treated their Flesh Aberrations, and learned that they had not found the third furnace. Their discussion of Life Fire Seeds revealed that Life Withering could suppress an abnormal seed, though the power was dangerous and considered heretical.

• Shade proved his identity to Madam Gustav and joined the Witches in their sanctuary beneath a table.
• Shade treated the Witches’ Flesh Aberrations while Gina explained that bubbles she hid in materials for the second furnace had survived and traveled deeper into the factory.
• Madam Gustav said the group had passed through many rooms but still had not found the source of the crying or reached the third furnace.
• Gina and Madam Gustav described ancient records of Life Fire Seeds, while Miss Bladewei recalled that Life Withering could suppress an Abnormal Life Fire Seed.
• Madam Gustav warned Shade that Life Withering was a perilous, heretical power and that creatures wielding it were more troublesome than the undead.

Shade and the Witches discussed the dangers of the Flesh Factory and how its organs could reveal the secrets of flesh creation, then confronted Miss Bladewei about her knowledge of Magic Eyes. Miss Bladewei admitted that her Elder Sister, a Witch of the Church of [Lord of Furnace Fire], had secretly taught her, and the group accepted that she had meant no harm as they prepared to seek the third Furnace.

• Madam Gustav warned Shade against dabbling in the power of Wither, and suggested that each activated Furnace changed the factory and increased its dangers.
• Madam Gustav explained that Flesh Organs could be studied by letting them assemble into a human shape, but Shade and the Witches agreed to wait until they found the third Furnace before deciding whether to try it.
• Miss Bladewei fused [Active Metal] into her shield and explained that it could restrain Magic Eyes and let them exceed their limits safely.
• Shade, Gina, and Madam Gustav questioned Miss Bladewei about her knowledge of Magic Eyes, and Madam Gustav connected the Halfling God [Lord of Furnace Fire] to the ancient Creator.
• Miss Bladewei cried and confessed that her Elder Sister had secretly given her the knowledge and told her to conceal its source; Shade explained his suspicions, and the group accepted her explanation as they prepared to continue.

Shade and the three Witches entered a Bone Forging Workshop, where he revealed his Life Fire Seed and the group fought animated skeletons. They then found a supposedly safe Prayer Room filled with shrines to gods connected to Creation, though Madam Gustav feared the sudden appearance of two Rest Rooms.

• Shade and Madam Gustav reasoned that Gina and Miss Bladewei had been invited because of their connections to the ancient Creator, and Miss Bladewei worried that they might be sacrifices.
• Madam Gustav led the group into a Bone Forging Workshop, where Shade used Life Fire Seed to reveal the immense Life Force contained in the bones.
• Gina restrained an animated skeleton with Imprisoning Halo and knocked it down, while Shade and Gina dealt with more skeletons as the group crossed the workshop.
• Madam Gustav opened the next door and found a Prayer Room, which Miss Bladewei identified as a highly safe place where visitors could receive blessings by praying.
• Shade used a combination of Gina’s Bubble Spell and Dragon Roar, while Madam Gustav worried about the appearance of two Rest Rooms in quick succession.

Shade prayed to the Old God Lord of the Blood Feast and received powerful upgrades to his abilities without paying a price. Afterward, Miss Bladewei apologized for hiding her reason for entering the factory and gave him the Sharp Eye Technique as an apology gift.

• Madam Gustav sent the group to pray at separate holy emblems before they faced the expected enemy, and Shade recommended that Gina pray to the Innocent Creator.
• Unable to find the Lord of Flesh Aberration’s emblem, Shade prayed to the Lord of the Blood Feast and endured a supernatural hunger that activated Life Backfire.
• The Lord of the Blood Feast sublimated Life Backfire into a thaumaturgy, enhanced Dragon Feast and Great Sin Chains, and granted Shade the Bestowal of the Blood Feast.
• Shade considered the upgrades and decided to wait until the mission ended before eating, while the witches continued praying.
• Miss Bladewei apologized to Shade for lying about her reason for entering the factory and gave him instructions for the Sharp Eye Technique, asking him not to reveal where he learned it.