Recaps

After the group received blessings and prepared for danger, Shade and the three Witches entered a room filled with Blood Mist and Blood Water. The companions were replaced by blood clumps, leaving Shade alone as a huge crawling creature approached through the fog.

• Shade put away the Sharp Eye Technique paper and decided to repay the Halfling Young Lady for giving it to him.
• Gina gained the Eggshell Shield Bubble Spell, the Halfling Young Lady received Divine Art: Warm Fire and revealed her Demon Eye Technique, and the Old Witch received a divine blessing.
• The four prepared ways to find and recognize one another, then entered the Blood Mist room, where their senses and movement were restricted.
• Shade recognized the crying from his dreams and stopped, only to watch Madam Gustav, Gina, and Miss Bladewei burst into clumps of blood.
• Shade sensed his three companions still alive in different directions and waited for the enormous crawling creature to approach, preparing his bow and sword while the red Blood Moon appeared in his eyes.

Gina Rosa discovered that Shade and her companions were false, then received instructions from Fiona to summon a Teacher using a dangerous ritual. After escaping a Flesh Aberration and defeating it temporarily, Gina completed the ritual and summoned a tiny doll-like Mana Falianna.

• Gina Rosa realized that Shade was a phantom and suspected that the Halfling Young Lady and Madam Gustav were also false.
• Fiona contacted Gina through voice-transmitting bubbles, confirmed her identity with a secret memory, and taught her a ritual to summon a Teacher using Mutated Flesh and a destroyed artifact.
• Gina threw the false Halfling Young Lady at the false Old Witch, severed the grotesque umbilical cord with exploding bubbles, and fled as their fused body pursued her.
• Gina struck the Flesh Aberration with Gemstone Spray, but it reactivated and attacked her with corrosive crimson liquid.
• Gina invoked a demigod Ancient Dragon shadow, which swallowed the aberration and produced pure Flesh essence for the ritual.
• Gina combined the essence with her Academy crest, a piece of fabric, and a scale, summoning a tiny doll-like Mana Falianna.

Gina found Miss Feliana in puppet form, and the two hurried through the Blood Mist to reach Shade. As Shade struggled against a colossal creature identified as [Life], Miss Feliana arrived and began advising him on how to attack its soul.

• Miss Feliana appeared as an exquisite puppet, shielded Gina from the Blood Mist, and told her to find Shade.
• Shade fought the rapidly healing Giant Baby with flesh-damaging powers and used Adele's Time Stop, but the creature quickly broke free.
• Shade prepared to let the Giant Baby swallow him so he could use [Blood Seed Parasitism], but Gina struck him aside and drew the monster's attention.
• Miss Feliana's puppet form arrived, greeted Shade, and offered to help him deal with the creature.
• Shade told Miss Feliana that the creature was made of pure Life Force and that [Soul Whiplash] had failed; she suggested he use [God of Love's Thorn] to attack its soul.

Shade and Miss Feliana crystallized the Giant Baby in a hidden, previously used furnace room, then found a melted-down Life Furnace and a door leading onward. The group prepared to continue toward the true target while Shade examined the ruined furnace.

• Shade lent Miss Feliana the Pink Crystal power, and she sealed the Giant Baby with five crystal pillars until it began to crystallize.
• Miss Feliana reunited with Shade, while Madam Gustav and Miss Bladewei recognized her and joined the group as the Blood Mist cleared.
• Miss Bladewei noticed the room had Furnace Room tiles, and the group found a Blood Pool and traces of a dodecahedral furnace at its center.
• Shade used Great Sin Chains to draw Kindling from the dying Giant Baby, replenishing himself and hastening its collapse.
• The Giant Baby broke apart, leaving [Blood Essence of All Things] and a palm-sized, rusted furnace that Gina identified as a used Life Furnace.
• Madam Gustav confirmed the crying still came from beyond a different door, and Shade examined the melted-down furnace as the group considered that the Giant Baby had been created by it.

Shade and the witches transformed a metal eye filled with life force into a stable, normal Fire Seed Source, then continued their search for the next furnace. They entered a safe organ exhibition room, where Madam Gustav urged them not to touch the specimens.

• Shade identified the metal eye as concentrated life force and explained that his Life Fire Seed could transform it into a Fire Seed Source, preventing the monster organ from being reborn.
• Madam Gustav, Miss Bladewei, and Gina agreed to the irreversible transformation, and Shade used Life Fire Seed to turn the metal eye into a burning Flame Eyes.
• The Halfling Young Lady recognized the new Fire Seed Source as a possible Magic Eye, while Shade said it could replenish or increase others’ life force.
• The group rested, Shade recovered using the Fire Seed Source, and Miss Feliana divined that the Furnace Room was at most five rooms away.
• Madam Gustav led the group into a safe organ Exhibition Room and warned everyone to leave without touching its specimens.

Shade and the Witches took a fused Philosopher’s Stone and Blood Essence of All Things from the specimen room, provoking a shadow that wielded the power of Wither. They fled through the Factory’s rooms, but the pursuer kept coming as they entered the Blood Purification Workshop.

• Shade and the Witches voted to take the dead snake specimen, which contained a Philosopher’s Stone fused with Blood Essence of All Things.
• Shade used his chains to pull the specimen bottle from the room, and a red-cloaked shadow pursued the group into the Blood Collection Workshop.
• Madam Gustav and Miss Puppet recognized the pursuer’s power as Wither, while Shade and Gina used their abilities to hold it back as they fled.
• The shadow’s Wither ray struck Shade’s forearm, and Miss Puppet’s shield gave Gina time to bring him through the next door.
• The group entered the Blood Purification Workshop, where Gina’s bubbles and Miss Bladewei’s metal plate shielded them from foul blood as Madam Gustav’s Destruction Ray failed to stop the pursuing shadow.

Shade and the witches entered the Vascular Mother Nest, where they faced the pursuing Shadow of Withering and a swarm of Vascular Spiders. Using the Life Fire Seed, Shade forged a Moonbeam Greatsword and destroyed the shadow’s body, but it re-formed, leaving him to continue the fight.

• Madam Gustav and Miss Bladewei slowed the Shadow of Withering with a holy-symbol metal wall and an explosion, allowing the group to escape into the Vascular Mother Nest.
• Shade fired the Life Fire Seed at the shadow, then infused its power into Moonbeam Thorns to keep it from immediately breaking through the door.
• The group crossed the blood-vessel web toward the far wall as the Shadow of Withering broke through and a Vascular Spider confronted them.
• Madam Gustav, Miss Bladewei, and Gina moved to fight the spiders while Shade used the Life Fire Seed to form a flaming Moonbeam Greatsword.
• Shade changed the greatsword into a whip and split the Shadow of Withering apart, but it gathered itself back together and resumed attacking.

Shade and the three Witches escaped the blood-red spider web after Shade defeated the Wither pursuer with the Fire Seed Source, Red Moon, and Miss Feliana’s help. They reached the third Life Furnace, but the Fire Seed Source had embedded itself in Shade’s palm and caused him intense pain.

• Miss Feliana blessed Shade and helped him resist the Wither pursuer while the three Witches cleared a path to the door.
• Gina threw Shade a wounded giant spider, and Shade drained its Life Energy to replenish the Fire Seed Source as the group advanced.
• The black shadow used Space Movement to appear before Gina, but Shade pulled her back with Blood Moon Return and confronted it.
• Shade’s Moonbeam Greatsword shattered against the pursuer, so he used Adele’s Time Stop and struck with Red Moon—Moon Fire, strengthened by Miss Feliana’s chaotic light, to defeat it.
• Gina carried the injured Shade to the doorway while Madam Gustav and Miss Bladewei fought off the spiders; the group shut the door behind them.
• The group found the third Life Furnace, and Shade discovered that the Fire Seed Source had embedded itself in his palm and formed a painful one-way connection with his body.

Shade gained a Fire Seed Source Mark after the Fire Seed Source embedded in his hand, leaving him immune to Wither and granting several life-related abilities. After the group secured a Withering Crystal and Shade separated the red snake’s Philosopher’s Stone from its Blood Essence of All Things, they rested together in the Sanctuaries and planned to study Flesh Creation.

• Shade removed the Fire Seed Source from his palm and discovered the mark it left, which granted him immunity to Wither and other abilities.
• Shade learned that the mark let him sense nearby Fire Seed Sources and contain them, but could not return one to the Sixth Epoch.
• The group named the black shadow’s crystal a Withering Crystal and decided Miss Feliana would seal it until Shade found a way to suppress its power.
• Shade dissected the red snake and separated its Philosopher’s Stone from its Blood Essence of All Things.
• The Witches gathered in the Sanctuaries to rest, and Shade said they had time to combine their Flesh Organs and study Flesh Creation.

Shade discussed the Moon Egg’s slow development and the dangers surrounding the Life Furnace with Miss Feliana and the others. Before they continued their adventure, Miss Feliana advised Shade to study the Red Moon’s Flesh Aberration after returning to the Sixth Epoch, and their group shared stories while waiting.

• Miss Feliana and Gina suggested that the Moon Egg might simply need centuries or millennia to hatch, and Miss Feliana warned Shade not to accelerate its time.
• Gina described the Life Furnace’s activation, and Miss Bladewei explained her plan to use altered Active Metal to sabotage its next forging.
• Miss Feliana proposed using puppet avatars made from the Fire Seed Source to help the group escape if a more terrifying enemy appeared.
• Miss Feliana privately told Shade to study and master the Red Moon’s power of Flesh Aberration after returning to the Sixth Epoch.
• The group pieced together a humanoid figure from stored Flesh Organs, held a tea party, and shared stories about their pasts and Little Mia.

Feliana explained the possible origin of Active Metal and the female Alchemist’s attempt to create a Perfect Child using the Philosopher’s Stone and Life Fire Seed. Before Shade left, she shared a sentence from the Emerald Record, while Feliana remained behind with the Fire Seed Source.

• Feliana taught Shade to combine light with other powers and asked him to bring basic materials for puppet bodies next time.
• Feliana said Active Metal might be part of the Firstborn Sons, ancient creations of the Twilight Creator.
• After hearing Shade’s account of the Emerald Record and the female Alchemist, Feliana and Madam Gustav concluded that she had tried to create and refine a Perfect Child through forbidden flesh creation.
• Feliana explained that the stone slab’s references to earth and fire likely meant body and spirit, and warned Shade to stay vigilant about Wei Ge and the Alchemist.
• Before Shade vanished, Feliana whispered an Emerald Record sentence about the Sun, Moon, wind, and earth, then gave its alchemical interpretation as the process for creating life.
• After Shade left, Feliana caught the Fire Seed Source and transformed it into an eye of flame.

Shade inscribed the Life Spirit Rune after hearing another line from the Emerald Record, greatly strengthening his life-related Thaumaturgies. At breakfast, he told Luvia and Winnie about his recent adventure and discovered that his Fire Seed Source Mark could store Kindling temporarily.

• Feliana examined the Fire Seed Source and asked Linolbredy to explain what she knew about it.
• Shade returned and inscribed the Life Spirit Rune, ascending several life-related spells and gaining insight into creating life.
• Shade told Luvia and Winnie what he had learned from Past World Adele and about the Foul Blood Factory, including Wei Ge's Mother's eligibility to become a Chosen One.
• Luvia suggested Shade ask Daniste whether the Academy still held a normal Fire Seed Source that might aid his life-creation ritual.
• Luvia and Winnie confirmed the Fire Seed Source Mark was harmless, and Shade tested it by storing Kindling that would decay after a few days.
• Shade tried using Life Ray to animate household objects, but his attempts failed.

Shade consulted Daniste about the Fire Seed Source and finding a way to suppress Wither, then chose the powerful Thaumaturgy [Corrupt Moon Flower] to learn. He and Daniste also tested whether her Life Force could awaken the buried Dragon Egg, leaving the result unknown.

• Winnie explained that her nature could resist Wither and offered to test whether her blessing could suppress it if Shade found a source of the power.
• Daniste said the Academy had no records of the Fire Seed Source and warned Shade that its Wither-related relic, [Score of Silent Aria], was too dangerous to use.
• Daniste agreed to help Shade search for Wither and recommended that he learn the Red Moon Thaumaturgy [Corrupt Moon Flower].
• Daniste and Shade discussed the Dragon Egg and went to her tower to try infusing it with Life Force.
• Daniste offered her own Life Force, and Shade cast the Miracle Technique: Life Fire Seed toward the buried Dragon Egg.

Shade tested whether Life Force could awaken Daniste’s dragon egg, then joined the group meeting, where Priest Augustus distributed protective amulets and the group discussed the Twisted Life Fire Seed and the power of Wither. The meeting ended with Doctor Schneider asking Shade to stay behind for a private conversation.

• Shade and Daniste injected Life Force into the Moon Egg, which briefly produced a heartbeat, and agreed to keep it safe while Shade pursued a stable Fire Seed Source.
• Shade learned the Sharp Eye Technique from Daniste and invited her to lunch with Luvia and Winnie before she returned to the Academy.
• Priest Augustus gave the group amulets that protected against invading Twisted Life Fire Seeds, and Shade ordered a month’s supply for Arcadia City.
• Shade described the monstrous creations and a Thirteenth Ring traitor in the Creation Church, while Doctor Schneider suspected other traitors had prepared to escape.
• Priest Augustus explained how Wither related to life and death and recommended that Shade search for relics connected to it.
• Doctor Schneider asked Shade to stay after the meeting so they could speak alone.

The Doctor told Shade that the Withering Demon Valesius may be hiding in the Arcadia Region and asked him to investigate the city's nobility and search for traces of withering. Later, Shade reunited with Dorothy and Leisha, while Angelina said her application to leave for Arcadia City was still under review.

• The Doctor explained that Black Hand-Tifron had taken blood from Valesius and learned that the Withering Demon possessed the Compass [Path of No Light].
• The Doctor suspected Valesius was in the Arcadia Region, drawn by its powerful Life Energy, and asked Shade to investigate disappearances among the upper nobility.
• The Doctor gave Shade a detector that reacted to corpses killed by withering and promised to act once they found a suspect.
• Shade returned home with Little Mia and found Dorothy examining the new bed Leisha had chosen for him.
• Angelina told Shade that her family planned to conceal her illness while she traveled to the Southern Kingdom, and that Zaras Academy of Literature was reviewing her application to leave.

As Angelina prepared to leave for Arcadia City, Shade warned her and Leisha about the dangers there and explained the situation to Angelina. During their evening study, Leisha and Dorothy discussed Red Moon magic with Shade, who demonstrated how he could combine Red Moon power and Life Energy.

• Leisha told Shade that Angelina planned to leave for Arcadia City the following Wednesday, and Angelina described her travel plans and future staff.
• Shade warned Leisha and Dorothy that an Evil Spirit Demon might be hiding in Arcadia City, and Leisha urged him and Angelina to stay safe.
• Shade briefed Angelina on the many enemies and dangers in Arcadia City, while Leisha and Dorothy discussed who should receive protective charms.
• Leisha demonstrated a curse that imitated Red Moon power, and Shade discussed how Red Moon magic related to Flesh Aberration and the bandits in The Blood-Red Deception.
• Leisha encouraged Shade to explore positive Red Moon powers, and Shade demonstrated a Life Fire Seed strengthened by Red Moon moonlight.

Shade tested whether Red Moon moonlight could form a Fire Seed Source, but the unstable attempt failed; he theorized that energy, Soul Power, and Spiritual Power might one day make it possible. After a peaceful Saturday night, he received a letter from Miss Goode on Sunday and then visited Saint Byron’s, where he encountered Emilia and Ellie with a group of young Unicorns.

• Shade fused compressed Red Moon moonlight with a Life Fire Seed, but the unstable light shattered after five minutes.
• Shade discussed how energy, Soul Power, and Spiritual Power might eventually let him create a Fire Seed Source, while he and Leisha considered possible candidates for the Chosen One of Creation.
• Leisha and Dorothy celebrated Saturday with Shade, who later wondered in a dream whether the moon was an eye watching him.
• Shade received Miss Goode’s letter, which described her town and reminded him that Little Mia might be entering heat.
• Shade visited Saint Byron’s and found Emilia, Ellie, and a group of young Unicorns studying in the library.

Shade returned to Arcadia City and met Wei Ge, who told him about Adele Isabella’s order to treat the [Saint Alliance] as an enemy and her own search for her divided elder sister. The chapter ended with Megan’s findings that living machines could consume many forms of energy and devastate the land if left unchecked.

• Emilia told Shade that Angelina would visit Arcadia City next week to apprentice under a local Witch.
• Shade met Wei Ge at Fragrant Residence, promised to reveal his identity next week, and gave her two amulets made by Priest Augustus.
• Wei Ge reported that Adele Isabella planned to make the [Saint Alliance] a hostile organization and target the [Infant-Holding Holy Mother] after her insult to the Witches.
• Wei Ge said a Great Witch of Fate had confirmed that her divided elder sister existed and that she needed an Alchemist’s help to find one of the four parts in one of her mother’s secret laboratories.
• Wei Ge told Shade that the Council would send another Witch to support her after Angelina arrived.
• Megan’s research report concluded that living machines could absorb many forms of energy, grow stronger, and leave scorched wastelands if their spread went unchecked.

Shade and Wei Ge discussed the aftermath of the battle, the Church’s response, and a possible Evil Spirit Demon in the Arcadia Region. Wei Ge arranged an investigation and showed Shade her new Creation Thaumaturgy, while her improved health and growing danger to others remained concerns.

• Wei Ge told Shade that the safe deposit boxes had contained valuables and that Megan had removed them for return to the bank.
• Wei Ge explained that the Demon Eye Club had given a vague account of its involvement, while the Church watched it amid suspicions about the traitors.
• Wei Ge described Adele’s successful negotiations with the Church, which granted the Witch Council freedom to act under the Secrecy Law.
• Shade told Wei Ge that an Evil Spirit Demon might be lurking nearby, and she assigned her Followers to investigate the city’s nobles and cemeteries.
• Wei Ge summoned her ninth-ring-and-higher Followers to Fragrant Residence and arranged lunch so she could introduce them to Shade.
• Shade examined Wei Ge’s improved condition and shared his new Life-related powers, while Wei Ge warned that her effect on others had become more severe and demonstrated Chaos Squirm.

Wei Ge demonstrated how she used the Emerald Record’s power of chaos and creation to forge weapons and shields, then formally welcomed Shade into her faction. Shade later learned more about the Bloodkin investigation and discovered that Nicola Le May had once bought a relic tied to a disastrous attempt to manipulate Life Force.

• Wei Ge forged a black longsword and a defensive shield from opposing forces, explaining that her [Chaos Squirm] Thaumaturgy could create powerful weapons and defenses.
• Wei Ge told Shade she hoped to advance by learning more sentences from the Emerald Record, and Shade comforted her as she spoke about her mother.
• At lunch, Wei Ge introduced Shade to her high-ringed Followers and named him the second master of her house.
• Shade learned that Mr. Bernhardt’s team had captured three Life Aberrations, identified a spy backed by a Bloodkin elder in Wilundell, and found a suspected [Blood Spirit School] laboratory.
• Mr. Munoz recognized Nicola Le May’s photograph and recalled that Le May had bought the [Eye of Mercy] and commissioned him to seek the [Philosopher’s Stone].
• Mr. Munoz explained that the [Eye of Mercy] healed its target by draining its holder’s Life Force and had once turned a girl into a Flesh Aberration while making her father undead.

Shade and Wei Ge traced a mysterious bearer bill to the Derainore Restorationists, then investigated a corpse marked by the power of "Wither." They confirmed the corpse carried an externally caused decay of Life Force, but its source remained unknown.

• Shade and Mr. Finch advised investigating Candle Fort Bank records to learn more about the mysterious man who had paid Mr. Munoz with a bearer bill.
• Wei Ge arranged for Laura to investigate her mother's possible bank accounts and the large bill redeemed in 1827; Miss Lorraine reported that the police had linked it to the Derainore Restorationists but never identified its holder.
• Wei Ge reflected on her mother's ties to the Restorationists and her marriage to Wei Ge's father.
• Wei Ge's Followers found that the black crystal reacted at an Outer City District morgue, so Shade and Wei Ge went there to investigate an unidentified corpse.
• Shade found that the corpse's aged appearance came from an external power that had withered its remaining Life Force, and the crystal glowed yellow.
• Shade extracted the corpse's Life Fire Seed, found that the Demon Hunting Seal did not react, and joined Wei Ge's Followers in examining the body's strange burn marks and signs of a struggle.

Shade investigated a woman killed by a power of Wither and used Spirit Communication to learn that she had been attacked by a blazing fireball. After helping her children and promising to find them support, he used Life Force to strengthen Blood Echo and tracked the killer’s blood toward Arcadia City’s Lower District.

• Shade summoned the dead woman’s soul, learned how she was attacked, and promised to check on her children.
• Shade and Wei Ge found the woman’s three children being cared for by neighbors and brought them food.
• Wei Ge agreed to arrange support and work for the children through her family’s factory.
• Shade enhanced Blood Echo with Life Force and found a trace leading away from the morgue.
• Shade led Wei Ge and her Followers by carriage from the Outer City District to the Lower District of Arcadia City.

Shade, Wei Ge, and a Tenth Ring woman tracked the Wither murderer to the Arcadia City Sewage Treatment Plant, where they found a Night Watchman wielding a ring that ignited his Life Force. As the man attacked a Church Arcanist, Construct Master Gerald Delong arrived, and Shade’s group watched from hiding.

• Shade, Wei Ge, and the two Followers followed the blood trail from the Lower District to the Arcadia City Sewage Treatment Plant, leaving the Ninth Ring woman outside while the others entered.
• Shade’s group found the target in the settling hall, but sensed other Ring Arcanists hiding nearby and waited rather than reveal themselves.
• Construct Master Gerald Delong arrived with two companions, and an Eleventh Ring Arcanist confronted the Night Watchman on a walkway over a settling pond.
• The Night Watchman explained that a ring found by the Thornir River had reignited his Life Fire and that he had killed others to keep its warmth.
• The Night Watchman ignited his body and attacked with Life Force Fireballs, but the Eleventh Ring Arcanist dodged them and prepared a counterattack with brass hoops.

Shade and the others confronted a Night Watchman who turned a hoard of Withering victims into a corpse giant and detonated it, drawing three factions to harvest the released Life Energy. After Shade recovered the Night Watchman’s ring, the Weeper of Blood Hermons arrived at the settling chamber, facing Construct Master Gerald Delong.

• The middle-aged Night Watchman transformed into fire, fought the Eleventh Ring Warlock, then plunged into the sewage pool and raised a giant made from victims he had kept near death.
• The Night Watchman ignited the corpse giant’s stored Life Force and caused it to explode, but Wei Ge’s Chaos Squirm and Shade’s Night Curtain Seal protected their group.
• The Church traitors, The Truth Society, and the Blood Spirit School gathered the released Life Energy while Shade found the burned Night Watchman alive and took his Wither ring after he died.
• Construct Master Gerald Delong demanded that the other factions leave their Containers behind, but they waited for the Weeper of Blood Hermons to appear at the entrance.
• Gerald Delong asked whether Hermons had recovered from his injuries as Shade sensed the immense Life Energy in the Weeper’s youthful body.

Shade intervened in the fight at the Sewage Treatment Plant, killed two Blood Spirit School pursuers, and recovered a Flesh Eyeball holding Life Force. He then joined Wei Ge and the others to watch Hermons and Gerald Delong clash in the sky, while learning about and putting on the Ring of Withering Fire.

• Hermons revealed the Fire Seed Source fused into his chest, and Gerald Delong formed mechanical armor around himself before the two Thirteenth Ring Arcanists began fighting.
• Shade blasted the combatants in the factory ruins with Chaos Remnants, then pursued the fleeing Blood Spirit School members and killed two of them.
• Shade found a Flesh Eyeball containing Life Force on one of the men he killed and transferred its contents into the Mark on his palm.
• Wei Ge told Shade that the relic ring was the Ring of Withering Fire, and Shade put it on despite its life-withering effect.
• Shade and Wei Ge moved to a riverside rooftop with the others to watch Hermons and Gerald Delong continue their battle in the night sky.