Recaps

Shade learned that the Burgundy Family may once have possessed a Rhodes Card from the [Founding] series, possibly [Creation], and vowed to uncover the family’s secrets. During a Night Lesson aboard a river cruise, Leisha and Dorothy began teaching him about Greed through the story [The Blood-Red Deception] and introduced a dangerous Relic Derivative.

• Professor Manning said an ancient Rhodes Card was rumored to have belonged to the Burgundy Family, and Shade realized it could be one of the [Myriad Aspects of Impermanence Cards].
• At dinner, Shade told Dorothy and Leisha that he had ten [Founding] series cards and still sought Creation, Chaos, and the Sun; he said he would search for the Burgundy Family’s rumored treasure vault to uncover its secrets.
• Leisha arranged a Night Lesson on a cruise ship, where Shade explained how his thoughts about the [Transformation] Spirit Rune had developed after fighting [Rain Man].
• Leisha and Dorothy discussed the factions and meanings of [The Blood-Red Deception], and Shade chose to study the story from the bandits’ perspective of Greed.
• Dorothy showed Shade [Golden Seeds of Greed], Relic Derivatives from [Marani's Golden Box] that amplified the Greed of anyone who held them.

Shade learned about Greed through a Gold Bean game with Leisha and Dorothy, then dreamed of someone praising him after everything ended. The next morning, Leisha and Dorothy kept him home with Winnie, delaying his use of the Time Key until nine.

• Dorothy and Leisha challenged Shade to a Gold Bean game, with sleeping alone as the stake and the beans' influence testing his desire to win.
• Shade won with twenty-four beans, but learned Leisha had deliberately chosen a losing number so the lesson would neither leave him frustrated nor make it meaningless.
• Leisha insisted Shade keep the Gold Beans so he could learn to treat them as toys, and Shade later discussed the unresolved changes to Leisha and Dorothy's bodies before falling asleep.
• In a Chaos Dream, Shade wished that after everything ended, someone would tell him he had done very well, while Iluna prayed.
• On Sunday morning, Leisha and Dorothy asked Winnie to help keep Shade home, and their activities delayed breakfast and Shade's Time Key until nine.

Shade entered the Swamp of Oblivion on a Time Key mission to assist the God of Benevolence in treating patients. After repeatedly losing his memories in the fog, he reached an ancient Temple whose torchlight helped him resist oblivion.

• Shade said farewell to Leisha, Dorothy, and Winnie, then used the Mermaid's key to enter the Time Corridor.
• The mission sent Shade to the Underground Nether Realm in spring 2780 to assist the God of Benevolence, with Charm Life promised as his reward.
• Shade arrived in the Swamp of Oblivion and discovered that the fog repeatedly made him forget his purpose and surroundings.
• Shade pushed onward despite several episodes of confusion and noticed that the firelight ahead strengthened his resistance to oblivion.
• Shade reached an ancient Temple with two torches burning beside its entrance.

Shade entered a fog-shrouded temple and met Isolde Thorne, a Twelfth Order Witch who had sheltered the others there. He learned that everyone had forgotten the illness they came to have healed, and that the God of Benevolence waited upstairs; Isolde asked whether Shade was ready to meet Him.

• Shade entered the temple and met Isolde Thorne, two weakened twin witches, and an ordinary man who had lost most of his memories in the fog.
• Isolde explained that the fog erased memories and that the temple fire helped protect those who reached the sanctuary.
• Shade introduced himself and said he had come to seek a cure for his witch lover's congenital illness.
• Isolde revealed that everyone had forgotten which illness they wanted healed and could make only one request of the God of Benevolence.
• Isolde told Shade that the god was waiting on the temple's second floor and asked whether he was ready to meet Him.

Shade visited the God of Benevolence to seek help for Wei Ge’s congenital illness, which the god could not cure because it was tied to Destiny. The god gave Shade a ray of sunlight that strengthened him and permanently enhanced his Sunlight Healing spell, while offering to suppress Wei Ge’s illness and give her more time.

• Lady Thorn led Shade from the bonfire hall to the Golden Gates and explained how to approach the god.
• Shade opened the doors and entered the springlike chamber where the God of Benevolence awaited him.
• Shade described Wei Ge’s illness and the treatments he had tried, including the Emerald Record.
• The God of Benevolence said the illness could not be cured because it was tied to Destiny, but offered to suppress it further.
• The god gave Shade a ray of sunlight with several powerful effects and permanently enhanced his Sunlight Healing spell.

Shade received the Sun god’s blessing and was asked to help four people at the Temple recover the purposes they had forgotten, with the promise of a method for turning a Life Fire Seed into a Seed of Life. After learning about the Temple and sharing a meal with its residents, Shade discovered the identities of three of the four people he was meant to help.

• The god blessed Shade, asked him to help four people remember why they had come to the Temple, and promised him knowledge about creating a Seed of Life if he succeeded.
• Shade agreed to help, and Ms. Thorn wondered whether he was an Angel’s incarnation or another god’s chosen one.
• Shade shared his supplies with Ms. Thorn, who explained the Temple’s rooms, phantoms, and underground cemetery while they prepared food.
• After the meal, Shade learned that the young man was Leonard Albert, the youngest son of an East Continent baronial family.
• Shade learned that the two elderly women were the North Continent twins Maggie Victor and Dort Victor, intermediate-rank Witches with powerful combined Mind Reading abilities.

Shade learned more about the god’s temple and agreed to help Leonard Albert search the fog for his lost luggage, accompanied by Lady Thorn. As they entered the fog, Shade saw figures from his memories, including Sparrow Hamilton and Luvia, while Lady Thorn led them onward.

• Lady Thorn told Shade about past visitors whose wishes had been fulfilled and explained how some people had left or vanished in the fog.
• Lady Thorn suggested that Shade search for Leonard Albert’s lost luggage and explained that a flame from the temple could protect them from the fog’s forgetting effect.
• Shade prepared to leave and felt the sunlight granted by the god strengthening him, while deciding that its power belonged to Wei Ge.
• Shade and Lady Thorn entered the fog with a lantern and candle, and Lady Thorn warned him not to follow familiar figures or voices.
• Shade saw Sparrow Hamilton and later Luvia and heard familiar voices, while Lady Thorn continued guiding him toward the place Leonard Albert had come from.

Shade spoke with Lady Thorn about their lost memories and learned that her covered eyes caused pregnancy or tumor growth in anyone who saw them. As they returned from searching the swamp, they encountered Painful Memories, and Shade’s Sunlight helped him pass through the fog with less suffering than Lady Thorn.

• Lady Thorn explained that lost memories could be recovered by finding their physical forms in the fog or investigating traces in the mind, and Shade considered asking Siris for help.
• Lady Thorn revealed that her Magic Eye, which she called the Eye of Procreation, caused pregnancy or humanoid tumors in those who saw it, and described how she had gained it after a near-fatal attack.
• Shade and Lady Thorn found nothing during their search, then turned back toward the Temple Entrance as their lights dimmed.
• They encountered Painful Memories in the fog, which Lady Thorn said could not be avoided and could only be resisted through memories, secret arts, or Humanity.
• Shade followed Lady Thorn through the painful fog, and his Sunlight and happy memories helped him emerge with less suffering than she experienced.

Shade and Lady Thorn found and defeated a group of memory-draining Corpse Ghouls, then searched their nest for lost belongings. As they prepared to burn the skeletons there, Lady Thorn sensed Leonard Albert in one of the corpses, though Shade saw only old bones.

• Lady Thorn explained that Amnesiac Ghouls were dead people who had lost their memories, and warned Shade that they could drain his memories.
• Shade tested his sunlight power and unleashed a Light Cannon that destroyed most of the approaching Corpse Ghouls, gaining insight into the Sun.
• Shade and Lady Thorn followed the fleeing ghouls to their nest, where they found scattered belongings and several skeletons.
• Shade and Lady Thorn gathered the objects from the nest and prepared to burn the skeletons to prevent another nest from forming.
• Lady Thorn sensed Leonard Albert before them, but Shade saw only a skeleton that appeared to have been dead for a long time.

Shade and Lady Thorn discovered that Leonard Albert was a memory fragment and used Thaumaturgy to help him recover his purpose. They hurried to take him before the god on the 2nd Floor as his form began to fade.

• Shade and Lady Thorn found an ordinary skeleton in the fog, then lost their flames and Shade restrained the confused Lady Thorn with Great Sin Chains until they reached the Temple.
• Shade sensed that Leonard Albert was a real memory fragment rather than a living person, while “she” confirmed that Isolde Thorne was real.
• Shade used Lingquan Enlightenment and Confusion to restore Leonard Albert’s memories, and Albert remembered why he had come.
• Shade and Lady Thorn rushed Albert to the elevator and up to the god’s room as his body grew transparent.
• Shade pressed the card containing Albert’s skeleton against his fading body, slowing the visible transparency before they entered.

Shade brought Leonard Albert’s memory before the benevolent god, where Albert learned that his daughter had already been healed and that he had been deceived into testing the god for another mortal. After Albert confessed and vanished, Shade learned the god had granted him a chance to continue onward, then destroyed his defiled skeleton.

• Shade led Mr. Albert and Lady Thorn into the god’s presence, and Mr. Albert pleaded for his newborn daughter’s healing.
• The god refused, revealing that Mr. Albert’s daughter had recovered before he set out and that her illness had been an illusion caused by poison.
• The god explained that an unnamed mortal had deceived Mr. Albert into exploring the place to test whether the god would appear.
• Mr. Albert remembered his bargain, apologized to the god, Lady Thorn, and Hamilton, then vanished and left behind his skeleton.
• The god told Shade that the deceiver had died and that Mr. Albert had earned a difficult chance to continue onward through his confession.
• Shade and Lady Thorn left the god’s dwelling, and Shade threw the blackened skeleton into a distant corner and destroyed it with a fireball.

Shade and Lady Thorn investigated the Temple, where Shade discovered that her Magic Eyes reflected a Red Ocean and might be connected to the Sea of Origin. As the mission neared its end, the God of Benevolence summoned Shade for one last meeting before he left.

• Shade confirmed that the two Old Witches were living people and studied the Temple’s religious texts and records.
• Shade reassured Lady Thorn that the Swamp was not a prison for blasphemers, then examined her Magic Eyes as she opened them for three seconds.
• Shade saw a Red Ocean reflected in Lady Thorn’s eyes and inferred that her forgotten injury happened near the coast, where people had disappeared.
• Lady Thorn agreed to share memories of her lost adventure, and Shade promised to bring her spiritual-stabilizing potions and memory secrets.
• Shade explored the Temple with Lady Thorn and recorded its books, but they found no further clues.
• With five minutes remaining, Shade heard the God of Benevolence summon him to meet alone and told Lady Thorn he would bring her requested supplies next time.

After returning from the key mission, Shade received Moon Aura from the God of Benevolence and told his companions about the sunlight he had gained. He visited Iluna and Luvia, where Iluna recognized the ancient power and Shade prepared to take it to Wei Ge.

• The God of Benevolence gave Shade Moon Aura, further sublimating his Moon Fire thaumaturgy, and promised to explain how to create the Seed of Life after the mission ended.
• Shade returned to Winnie, Dorothy, Leisha, and Little Mia, then described the mission and the sunlight he had received.
• Shade went to Iluna’s apartment and accompanied her to Luvia’s, where Iluna identified his sunlight as a power from the age of the Ancient Gods and demonstrated a similar ability.
• Shade, Iluna, and Luvia discussed Lady Thorn’s Magic Eyes, the Firstborn Son, the Burgundy Family, and Shade’s need to find Siris.
• Luvia urged Shade to take the sunlight to Wei Ge before its unusual presence attracted more strange beings.

Shade gave Wei Ge the sunlight in his blood, nourishing her damaged soul and greatly improving her health. After sleeping through the afternoon, she woke to find Shade still with her and learned she would need his blood far less often.

• Shade met Wei Ge and told her about his recent time adventure before letting her absorb the sunlight in his blood.
• Wei Ge absorbed the sunlight and moonlight fragments, then fell asleep and dreamed of a happy childhood and marrying Shade before Galina interrupted the dream.
• Galina's voice woke Wei Ge, who learned Shade had carried her to bed and waited for her to wake.
• Wei Ge found Shade, Eve, and Angelina in her study and said she felt extremely well.
• Shade explained that sunlight was nourishing Wei Ge's soul and life force, allowing her to reduce her Blood Brew and blood-drinking needs.

Shade and Wei Ge discussed the genuine Derainore Crown and Scepter, the Restorationists, and clues to Wei Ge’s family history before Shade returned home to help Iluna develop her golden eye’s power. The chapter left the treasures with Shade for now and Iluna set to study ways to use the Life Force stored in her eye.

• Professor Manning confirmed that Wei Ge’s Crown and Scepter were genuine, and Shade agreed to keep them until the danger had passed.
• Angelina suggested bringing the Delin Orr Restorationists under Wei Ge’s control, but Wei Ge refused to involve her family with them.
• Wei Ge and Angelina explained that the Restorationists had received support from old nobles, Military Intelligence Section Six, the Archipelago Kingdom, and New Continent interests.
• Shade told Wei Ge about Luvia’s plans to seek access to the Astrology Tower and investigate the Truth Society and the rumored Burgundy Royal Treasure.
• Shade asked Wei Ge to contact the Witch Council and arrange a future visit to Siris in Moon Bay City.
• Luvia and Iluna discussed Iluna’s golden eye, and Shade advised her to study Miss Feliana’s Fire Seed Source technique while he sought help from the Demon Eye Club.

Iluna planned to study life-restoring Sun and Ice powers, while Shade helped Daniste deal with the moon-reactive Egg and agreed to care for it at night. In Arcadia, Shade received his Gray Gloves assignment, which now included investigating the Royal Mint theft and the stolen item believed to be in the region.

• Iluna agreed to seek Claire's guidance and explore how to fuse the powers of the Sun and life before her Church sent her to Arcadia.
• Galina praised Wei Ge's good qualities, and Tifa pulled Shade onto the sofa and kissed him while Galina slept.
• Shade received an ordinary umbrella as God's Gift Box task, then learned from Ellie that Daniste wanted him at the Academy because her Egg shook under moonlight each night.
• Daniste asked Shade to calm the Egg and agreed to spend the next few nights at his home while he watched it with her.
• Angelina gave Shade an encrypted letter from the Gray Gloves, which ordered him to contact local agents and investigate the Royal Mint theft after the organization placed the stolen item in Arcadia.

Shade found the Gray Gloves rendezvous point ransacked and followed a wounded agent’s blood trail to a hiding place in the Outer City District. After saving the agent long enough to question him, Shade identified himself as Gray-headed Eagle and asked who had attacked them.

• Shade found the rendezvous apartment ransacked and used Echoes of the Past to learn that Gray Gloves agents had suffered heavy losses in a firefight.
• Shade followed the blood trail to a wounded Gray Gloves agent hiding in the Outer City District.
• Shade used Sunlight Healing to restore the unconscious agent’s ability to communicate, then gave him the rendezvous code.
• The agent questioned how Shade had found him and refused to reveal what had happened.
• Shade showed the agent Margaret’s royal ring, explained that he was in Arcadia City on a secret assignment, and identified himself as Gray-headed Eagle.

Shade learned that a Gray Gloves intelligence line had been destroyed after uncovering a connection between the Delin Orr Restorationists and the stolen Printing Plate Masters, and its dying leader warned him about compromised local agents and the Astley Family. After reporting the death and sharing the intelligence with Wei Ge and Angelina, Shade asked the Astley Family to investigate the stolen masters and find Big Mouth Sparrow.

• Night Owl told Shade that Delin Orr Restorationists were negotiating to buy the stolen Printing Plate Masters, warned him that local Gray Gloves agents might be compromised, and identified the Astley Family as a possible source of corruption.
• Night Owl refused Shade's offer to save him, revealed his codename, gave Shade a booklet listing three other intelligence lines, and died after asking whether the Old Continent would be unified.
• Shade left Night Owl's corpse for the police to find, then returned to Fragrant Residence and told Wei Ge, Angelina, and Eve what had happened.
• Angelina and Wei Ge discussed the damaged Gray Gloves network and suspected that the stolen masters had been brought to Arcadia City because of the Industrial Expo.
• Shade asked Wei Ge to inform Sylvia and Margaret, then tasked the Astley Family with contacting the three intelligence lines and locating the Printing Plate Masters and Big Mouth Sparrow.

Shade delegated an investigation into the stolen Printing Plate Masters to Angelina and the Astley Family while gathering intelligence from Mr. Finch and Mr. Bernhardt. He learned that the Sea of Origin was expected to appear in Arcadia City and that the Saint Alliance had become active again, then returned to find Angelina’s contact plan nearly complete.

• Wei Ge assigned Angelina to arrange for Astley Family members to pose as Gray Gloves agents and contact spies linked to the Northern Kingdom Princess.
• Shade asked Mr. Finch to arrange contact with the Demon Eye Club, and Finch agreed to seek a peaceful introduction rather than risk provoking the club’s Magic Eyes.
• Mr. Finch told Shade that an elderly woman in Arcadia City had dreamed of the Sea of Origin, confirming it would appear there.
• Shade and Finch discussed the stolen Printing Plate Masters as potential ritual materials, while Finch warned that the Saint Alliance had resumed operating locally.
• Mr. Bernhardt told Shade that Apna Library had allied with the Bloodkin and was searching for an ancient tomb beneath the Outer City District.
• Shade returned to Fragrant Residence as Wei Ge and Angelina finished planning their contact with the Gray Gloves, and Wei Ge considered asking Speaker to deal with the Saint Alliance.

Shade and Daniste discovered that the Night-Colored Dragon Egg containing Helena Carter became restless at night but calmed when Shade or Little Mia was near. They decided to keep it at 6 Saint Derain Square with Little Mia and Winnie until it hatched, and Shade dreamed of a cat-eared being emerging from an egg patterned like Little Mia.

• Shade confirmed that Helena Carter still remembered her name when the Night-Colored Dragon Egg rocked in response.
• The egg grew restless after nightfall, but Shade calmed it by stroking it and later Little Mia kept it quiet by lying on top of it.
• Daniste agreed to leave the egg at 6 Saint Derain Square during the day, with Winnie and Little Mia caring for it and Daniste visiting often.
• Winnie agreed to stay with the egg and Little Mia in the side bedroom, while Shade went to bed with Vanessa and Daniste.
• Shade dreamed of a dragon-winged, dragon-tailed Mrs. Carter beside an egg patterned like Little Mia, from which a cat-eared, tailed person emerged.

Angelina left with a mysterious woman she believed was her mother and was taken to an abandoned orphanage. There, she found herself among a group of children and accepted them as her younger siblings, though she sensed something was wrong.

• Shade woke from a nightmare, then left home to study and later hurried to Greyrock Pass Fortress after receiving Mr. Bernhardt's letter.
• Angelina waited for her mother to collect her, and a silent, hooded woman arrived in a black carriage and took her away.
• The woman led Angelina to an abandoned orphanage, where Angelina became dizzy and lost track of what happened.
• Angelina came to in a dark room with more than a dozen children and believed they were waiting for their mother to call them.
• Angelina noticed the children's different clothes and ages, then began asking about their circumstances.

Angelina realized that the children were trapped by a relic that made them believe a dangerous being called Mother would protect them. After saving Little Marika from being dragged into the darkness, Angelina led the children away, claiming she had come under Mother's orders.

• Angelina questioned Little Marika about the children who had disappeared and used a mental self-examination to recognize that Mother might be dangerous.
• When a shriveled hand reached out of the darkness to take Little Marika, Angelina stopped her and destroyed the arm with Turbulent Magic Gravel.
• Angelina resisted the relic's influence by focusing on Shade and Little Mia as her mental anchors.
• Angelina pulled Little Marika away from the doorway, quieted the frightened children, and persuaded most of them to follow her home.

Angelina led the children out of the Orphanage, but a powerful manifestation of “Mother” stopped them in the rainy courtyard. Facing it alone, she inscribed the Spirit Rune Protection and defeated the threat before collapsing into Dorothy’s arms, where she recognized her elder sister.

• Angelina used Eye of Truth to assess the darkness, then led thirteen children out of the Orphanage and into the Desolation yard.
• As the children crossed the courtyard, a towering woman in a black robe blocked their escape.
• Angelina’s Chaos Echo attack vanished, and “Mother” paralyzed her and the children.
• With the figure closing in, Angelina inscribed the Black Iron Whisper Spirit Rune Protection and gained the Thaumaturgy Rebellious Protection.
• Angelina’s new power turned “Mother’s” malice into a protective force that scattered the black-robed figure.
• Exhausted, Angelina fell into Dorothy’s embrace and recognized her elder sister within Miss Writer’s shell.

Angelina reunited with Leisha after defeating a shadow of the Keeper of Secrets relic 'Mother,' but the Infant-Holding Holy Mother appeared and attacked with a terrifying unborn entity. As Leisha and Dorothy fought her, Angelina glimpsed the entity’s true nature and became its target.

• Dorothy comforted Angelina at the abandoned Orphanage while Leisha explained that Angelina had defeated a shadow of the Keeper of Secrets relic 'Mother.'
• Leisha planned to take Angelina back to Fragrant Residence while Shade and the others confronted the relic’s main body.
• The Infant-Holding Holy Mother appeared with a swaddled infant, and Leisha recognized her as a member of the [Saint Alliance].
• Leisha and Dorothy joined forces to contain the Holy Mother’s spreading darkness as [Saint Alliance] Ring Arcanists fought the maids.
• Angelina sensed that the infant was only a puppet and glimpsed an unborn entity that was the inverse of divinity; it noticed her and began gnawing at her soul.

Angelina, Shade, and their allies fought the Infant-Holding Holy Mother and the relic called Mother, which had fused with the Fire Seed Source and an unborn being. Mother tried to draw Shade into its embrace, but an inexplicable power erased it and left its unabsorbed life force and the children’s souls behind.

• Angelina’s Dragon Scale Amulet and the Soul Gem protected her from Abomination long enough for Leisha and Dorothy’s fusion and Ellie to destroy the Infant-Holding Holy Mother’s manifestation.
• The Fire Seed Source escaped into the Orphanage, and Ellie pursued it while Angelina and the fused young ladies helped the wounded and the Witches' Followers.
• Shade and his companions battled Mother, whose transformations into Peggy Le May and the twins’ mother unsettled Wei Ge, Grace, and Helen.
• Ellie brought the Infant-Holding Holy Mother and the Fire Seed Source into the room, where they fused with Mother to form a stronger evil entity.
• Mother addressed Shade as its child and tried to embrace him, but an inexplicable power erased Mother, the Infant-Holding Holy Mother, and Abomination, leaving unabsorbed life force and weak souls behind.