Recaps

After the Moon Bay Incident, Shade returned home and learned that the Dragon Devouring Order had stolen two relics from the Dawn Church. Miss Galina revealed that one was the Scales of the Time-Space Dragon, a powerful but dangerous shield relic.

• Mr. Albert told Shade that several recent heart attack deaths were suspicious, then reported that someone at the Spider Inn had spontaneously combusted.
• Shade and Emilia flew back to Belinder Manor, where Miss Aurora greeted Shade and Miss Belinder showed jealousy over their embrace.
• Shade returned home, reassured Dorothy, Luvia, and Miss Galina, and explained that the incident began with the Dragon Devouring Order stealing something from the Church.
• On Monday morning, Miss Galina said Iluna had confirmed that two relics had been stolen from the Moon Bay Dawn Church.
• Miss Galina explained that the Scales of the Time-Space Dragon could shield its user from any known attack for three minutes and fifty-eight seconds, but its flesh growth could transform it into a Dragonborn monster.

Shade and the others discussed the Dragon Devouring Order’s stolen relics and made plans to support the situation in Moon Bay. Shade then used the gods’ Gift Box, and Mia pulled out a glowing ancient scroll bearing a crude red-ink map.

• Luvia and Shade explained that the Dragon Devouring Order might use the stolen dragon scale at an Ancient God's Sacrificial Ground to absorb a dragon’s power.
• The group discussed the Sharpe Farm Incubator, including its ability to regrow creatures and the rare, dangerous Egg Effect.
• Shade planned to visit Moon Bay before attending the Saint Prayer Festival, while Luvia planned to travel there in the coming days using a relic capable of Space Movement.
• The Duchess decided to stay temporarily at Shade’s home, and Dorothy and Luvia supported the arrangement.
• Shade let Mia reach into the gods’ Gift Box, and a golden Miracle emerged in the form of an ancient parchment map.

Shade received a copy of Maria Thorn's Treasure Map, which had been drawn by the God of Wishes, and learned more about the Oasis Heart while preparing for his journey to the Gravel Gold Sand Sea. The chapter ended with Shade packing the armor as toys and reassuring Little Mia that he would take it along.

• Shade and the others recognized the gift parchment as Maria Thorn's Treasure Map and recalled the treasure and relics associated with it.
• Shade identified the God of Wishes, Dream Giver, as the god who had drawn the map, then gave it to Dorothy so she and Leisha could use it to make Red Butterfly Cards.
• Shade prepared to travel to the Gravel Gold Sand Sea with Little Mia, several suits of armor, and supplies for the Mermaid Girls.
• Leisha told Shade that Zaras Academy of Literature had a protected Fifth Epoch ruin called the Green Heart, where she had once seen a pale green, glass-like object embedded in a temple wall.
• Shade turned the armor into toys, including the Golden Lion Armor, and Little Mia meowed when Shade prepared to leave without it.

Shade returned to the desert Temple, where he reunited with the women and learned that the Compass Fragment could point toward other fragments. He brought Little Mia along to test her reaction to the desert sunlight, but the brief exposure revealed nothing.

• Shade entered the Time Corridor and reached the desert Temple, where Grandma Sianode and the others pulled him out of the scorching sun.
• Grandma Sianode gave Shade a heatstroke-prevention potion and explained that she and Ms. Meister had explored nearby ruins during another Descent of Black Night.
• Grandma Sianode showed Shade how the Compass Fragment resonated with the locations of two other fragments and gave it back to him to guide their search.
• Shade brought Little Mia out of her toy form, and the women admired her before she threatened Ms. Sandel with a meow.
• Shade briefly exposed Little Mia to sunlight to test her Sun Child blood, but she showed no obvious reaction.

Shade tested how sunlight affected Little Mia and received blessings that enhanced her sun-related abilities, then prepared to return to the knight's mausoleum ruins with Ms. Meister and Ms. Knight. The group set out across the Gravel Gold Sand Sea, with Ms. Knight relying on protective preparations to endure the heat.

• Shade exposed Little Mia to the sunlight, and she gained Sun's Blessing, an enhanced Sun Child bloodline, and the ability to breathe a small flame.
• Shade received the temporary blessing of Desert Scorching Sun, while Little Mia's tail stayed aflame after she left the sunlight.
• Grandma Sianode chose Ms. Meister and Ms. Knight to accompany Shade, while Ms. Sandel stayed behind to receive them later.
• Grandma Sianode and the others prepared Ms. Knight's armor and lent her a Youthful Immortality Leaf so she could withstand the desert for fifteen to twenty minutes.
• Shade, Ms. Meister, and Ms. Knight left the temple and began crossing the sun-scorched sand sea with Little Mia riding on Shade's shoulder.

Shade, Ms. Knight, and Ms. Meister crossed the desert to reach an ancient church mausoleum, where Shade translated the warning on a stone coffin. The inscription revealed that the Hero it commemorated was not buried inside but was the knight statue outside.

• Ms. Meister explained that the desert punished haste, so the group continued on foot while Shade talked with Ms. Knight about her life and her bond with the Queen.
• The group reached the mausoleum, and Shade donned the Golden Armor before approaching it with Ms. Knight and Ms. Meister.
• Shade used the Door Key to break the mausoleum's ritual Rune Lock, then forced open its sand-buried doors.
• Inside the church, Shade found that the Compass Fragment pointed to a stone coffin and translated its ancient warning.
• Shade realized the coffin's heroic story described the knight statue standing outside the church, not someone buried in the coffin.

Shade discovered that the coffin held the sealed Demon and the Compass Fragment, while an inscription explained how to use the Earth Mother God’s divine art, “Earth Power All Things.” He opened the coffin, releasing black smoke that swallowed him, Ms. Knight, Ms. Meister, and the cat, leaving Shade alone with only a familiar meow in the darkness.

• Shade read how an ancient knight had turned himself into a stone statue to seal a Demon beneath the church.
• Shade found instructions for “Earth Power All Things,” which could turn a believer’s flesh and soul into a statue to create a Miracle.
• Ms. Knight offered to sacrifice herself to reseal the Demon if it escaped, but Shade warned her against it and taught her the incantation.
• Shade prepared to open the coffin while Ms. Knight held the cat and Ms. Meister watched from her seat.
• Shade opened the coffin, and black smoke spread through the mausoleum, making Ms. Knight, Ms. Meister, and the cat disappear.
• Shade summoned his Silver Moonbeam Greatsword and waited in the darkness until he heard a familiar meow.

Shade and Little Mia entered an illusion where Knight Shelly Knight sacrificed people at a series of obstacles to carry the Oasis Heart to her Queen. The Queen confronted Shelly about the innocents she had killed, but Shelly remained determined to save the kingdom at any cost.

• Little Mia found Shade in the black fog, and her tail flames helped him reach an illusion of a palace corridor where he stood among Shelly Knight’s escort.
• Shelly chose to sacrifice a rapist rather than a murderer, then gave two souls accused of robbery to a demon in exchange for passage.
• At a magma rift, Shelly killed three citizens and threw their bodies into the lava to save the other four and clear the way.
• Shelly killed four of her six companions to open a golden door, while Shade shielded Little Mia’s eyes.
• Shelly presented the Oasis Heart to the sick Queen, who questioned her choices and accused her of abandoning her knightly oath.
• Shelly admitted she had killed innocents because she had promised to bring back the Oasis Heart and declared she would sacrifice anything to save the kingdom.

Shade fought the ancient Demon that emerged when the illusion and seal collapsed, using the desert sunlight to weaken it. Little Mia helped turn the battle in Shade’s favor, and the Demon burned after its head was cut off.

• In the illusion, Shelly followed her conviction, killed the other kneeling person, and offered both hearts to the Queen before fainting.
• Shade attacked the ancient Demon as the illusion shattered, but it broke his Moonbeam Greatsword and threw him and Ms. Knight from the platform.
• Shade destroyed the church roof to expose the Demon to sunlight, then bound it with the Great Sin Chains.
• The Demon attacked the petrified knight’s statue, and Shade deflected its black beam before the Demon struck him into the sand.
• Little Mia’s cries made the scattered Golden Armor glow, distracting the Demon as Shade’s Moonlight Wheel severed its head.
• Little Mia ran to Shade as he crawled out of the sand, while the Demon and its severed head burned in the sunlight.

Shade and his companions survived the desert mausoleum, sealed the Evil Spirit Demon, and recovered the Compass Fragment. As they returned to the Sun God Temple, Shade received an ancient thaumaturgy he could pass on to one person, though he could not use it himself.

• Ms. Meister sealed the burning Evil Spirit Demon inside a glass bead after Shade asked for her help, and Shade decided to give it to Grandma Sianode.
• Ms. Knight emerged from the church ruins with her petrified heart, and Shade found the Compass Fragment inside the coffin.
• Shade opened the Gate of Death and sent the knight statue through the rift, where its soul departed; the knight passed him a petrified sword that taught him Earth Power All Things.
• Shade learned that he could not use Earth Power All Things but could pass it on to one person, then gathered the glowing armor and headed back with the others.
• Shade and his companions returned safely to the Sun God Temple, where Shade rested and saw that Ms. Knight had brought the petrified heart back from the illusion.

Shade returned with the second Compass Fragment, bringing the group closer to locating the Oasis Heart, while Ms. Sandel described a dangerous site where the final fragment might be found. Before his time in the desert ran out, Shade left the recovered treasures and sealed Demon with Grandma Sianode, then asked why his Golden Armor was glowing.

• Shade restored his Golden Armor, and Ms. Sandel retrieved the second Compass Fragment from the coffin so Grandma Sianode could join it to the first.
• The Compass revealed the next fragment’s location, and Ms. Sandel recalled seeing a rotting human head joined to a sandworm’s corpse, with a gate in its mouth.
• Grandma Sianode told the group to prepare to search for the final fragment together, and Shade left the ancient Stone Sword and sealed Demon with her.
• Shade observed that his Golden Armor glowed brightly, and Grandma Sianode suggested that the desert’s light might have made it glow.

Shade left the armor box beneath sunlight in the Sixth Epoch, where its glow began to draw Ms. Sandel toward it, then returned to the present with Little Mia and recounted the adventure. His companions agreed to investigate the pattern Ms. Sandel had found on the gate.

• Shade placed the closed armor box on the sunlit altar and said goodbye to Grandma Sianode, Ms. Sandel, Ms. Meister, and Ms. Knight before leaving with Little Mia.
• Ms. Sandel felt compelled to approach the glowing box, but Ms. Meister pulled her back, and Grandma Sianode warned everyone not to investigate it.
• Shade returned to the present with Little Mia, whose tail was still burning, and Galina Cavendish helped cool his overheated body.
• Shade told Luvia, Dorothy, and Galina about his adventure, Little Mia's evolution, and leaving the armor behind in the past.
• Shade drew the pattern from the Human-Head Mouth Gate, and his companions agreed to seek clues through the Witch Council, Zaras Academy of Literature, the Seer Association, and Tobesk.

Shade asked Director Anlos to trace a bank account connected to Baron Chandler’s dates, and learned that a missing Military Intelligence Section Six agent had disappeared while trying to sell one of the three rare Rhodes Cards. Shade then returned to Moon Bay and saw the destruction left by the previous night’s fires and violence as he traveled toward Belinder Manor.

• Shade gave Director Anlos the dates of the account’s large remittances, and Anlos promised to investigate before the end of the week.
• Director Anlos told Shade that the missing agent had likely acquired one of the three collector-grade cards and vanished while planning to sell it.
• Shade offered to follow up on a lead from Mrs. Frey about one of the cards.
• Shade returned to Moon Bay, saw the burned streets and the children he had rescued, and learned that the Mayor had blamed the unrest on pirates and gangs.
• Shade traveled toward Belinder Manor and bluffed his way past police checking suspicious passersby.

Shade visited Belinder Manor, examined newly resonating Dragon Scales, and walked by the sea with Miss Aurora, who recounted her dangerous search for the First Fire in the New Continent. The Nun had uncovered information in the ruins and was expected to bring Shade a strengthened power of the First Fire when she came to Moon Bay.

• Shade found Tifa, Illustrious Miss, and Miss Aurora at Belinder Manor while the others helped with recovery efforts and official duties.
• Shade examined three resonating Dragon Scales and found that their runes had increased but remained too incomplete to decipher.
• Miss Aurora told Shade that Illustrious Miss was stronger than her because Illustrious Miss was a blessed elf born from the ocean.
• Shade walked along the beach with Miss Aurora as she described hunting a three-story beast corrupted by the First Fire in the New Continent.
• Miss Aurora said the Nun had found information in the ruin and would bring Shade new power from the strengthened First Fire when she came to Moon Bay.

Shade spent time with Miss Aurora at Moon Bay before returning to Tobesk for the Saint Prayer Festival. The Church then tightened its investigation in Moon Bay, and Iluna outlined its plans to investigate the Holy Sword Series, the Seven Great Families, and dangerous Radiance phenomena.

• Shade walked along the beach hand in hand with Miss Aurora, who told him about John Flynn and her investigations on the New Continent.
• The Countess saw Shade and Miss Aurora return to Belinder Manor together and worried they had behaved improperly; at lunch, Shade said Luvia would soon stay at the manor.
• Shade attended the Saint Prayer Festival in Tobesk, gave a speech, made a donation, and helped Priest Augustus distribute Communion before wishing him a pleasant journey.
• Iluna told Shade and Miss Aurora that the Dawn Church had suspended most activities in Moon Bay and was isolating and investigating local Ring Arcanists, while warning that Bloodkin were under suspicion.
• Iluna said the Church was investigating the Holy Sword Series and the Seven Great Families for clues about the Seventh Chosen One, then left to investigate Dragon Series legends and attend a seminar on Dangerous Radiance.

Shade accompanied Mr. Bernhardt to seek help from Miss Angerei Rice, who revealed that she had evidence of Blood of Sorrow’s use and offered it in exchange for Shade’s help. The chapter left her condition unstated as she prepared to explain what she needed.

• Iluna told Shade and Miss Aurora that the Sunday night attacks were likely caused by pirate Ring Arcanists, while city authorities handled the gangs and pirates, and Moon Bay’s leaders planned for possible destruction.
• Shade visited Spider Alley, where Mr. Bernhardt reported that the Church was investigating some of their Same Race and that few had responded to their letters; Alber also reported an abnormal number of unexplained heart-attack deaths.
• Alber gave Shade his report suggesting someone could cause heart attacks, and Shade agreed to accompany Mr. Bernhardt to ask Miss Angerei Rice for help.
• Miss Rice said she wanted to identify Bloodkin cooperating with cultists, knew nothing about Blood of Sorrow’s location, but had a clue about the sword’s use.
• Miss Rice showed Shade and Mr. Bernhardt photographs of wounds inflicted by Blood of Sorrow and said the victim had died six years earlier after being found in Garbage Alley.
• Miss Rice offered to help investigate local Bloodkin aiding the cultists, but asked Shade to help her in return for information about the sword.

Shade and Mr. Bernhardt agreed to help Mrs. Jude investigate threatening letters while Miss Rice offered to gather Bloodkin if they resolved the case. Shade then asked Mr. Bernhardt for a way to contact his god, the Devouring Dragon, and learned that a dangerous method might exist, one that could implicate Mr. Bernhardt.

• Miss Rice showed Shade and Mr. Bernhardt two untraceable threatening letters and asked them to investigate whoever sent them.
• Mr. Bernhardt required Mrs. Jude to stop her hobby until the danger around Moon Bay had passed, and Miss Rice agreed to help investigate local Bloodkin.
• Shade asked Miss Rice to gather Bloodkin for future unrest, and she offered greater support if he resolved Mrs. Jude's problem.
• Shade and Mr. Bernhardt split up their efforts, with Shade planning to consult diviners and Mr. Bernhardt investigating Mrs. Jude and Miss Rice.
• Shade asked Mr. Bernhardt whether he had an item that could communicate with the Devouring Dragon, and Mr. Bernhardt said a dangerous method might allow Shade to face the god directly.

Shade arranged a ritual with Mr. Bernhardt to dream of the Red Moon, while divinations of the mysterious letters by Miss Belinder and Luvia both came up blank. As the group prepared to investigate Moon Bay, Miss Belinder warned Shade that her visions showed the city facing a worse fire than the one last week.

• Mr. Bernhardt explained how Shade could use a bracelet, a Ritual Matrix, and a sleeping potion to try to see the Red Moon in a dream, and arranged to meet him again Thursday.
• Miss Belinder and Miss Aurora tried to divine the letters, but Miss Belinder saw nothing and promised to try again the next day.
• Miss Belinder told Shade that her Dreams showed Moon Bay burning in a disaster worse than last week’s, and Shade helped her organize documents about the Seven Great Families and the remaining dragon scales.
• Luvia also failed to divine the letters and suspected their sender was protected by a powerful Destiny-related relic or ritual.
• Luvia decided to travel to Moon Bay the next morning with the Sure-Kill Handgun, and asked Dorothy to arrange an invitation to Yodel Palace as cover for her trip.

Luvia arranged for Shade to travel to Moon Bay and take precautions before she left Tobesk. That night, Shade’s ritual led him to meet Mr. Bernhardt in a dream, where the Bloodkin asked him not to interfere if one of his kind had the chance to become the Chosen One of Light.

• Luvia told Shade to go to Moon Bay as the target of the Sure-Kill Handgun and have the Witches temporarily stop the ritual at Belinder Manor.
• Shade went to sleep with a ritual and the three Key Stone Tablets beneath his bed, while the red crescent ornament lay under his pillow.
• Shade entered a Withered Forest beneath a Red Moon in his dream and found Mr. Bernhardt waiting at a Stone Table.
• Shade offered to discuss what Mr. Bernhardt wanted in exchange for his help, while warning that he could not have Grace and Helen.
• Mr. Bernhardt asked Shade not to stop a Bloodkin who might become the Chosen One of Light.

Shade considered Mr. Bernhardt’s terms for helping the Bloodkin become a Chosen One, then returned to Moon Bay to prepare for Luvia’s early arrival. Luvia arrived safely, and the Countess greeted her with baffling nervousness as they began preparing for the divination.

• Shade learned that Mr. Bernhardt would help if he did not obstruct the Bloodkin’s path to becoming a Chosen One, and Mr. Bernhardt hinted that the Red Moon could help create a God Descended Body.
• Shade took Little Mia to Moon Bay ahead of Luvia and told the Countess she would arrive a day early.
• The Countess discreetly asked the others about Luvia, who praised her while the Countess grew increasingly nervous.
• Luvia arrived through a gunshot at the stables, and Shade caught the bullet before welcoming her to Moon Bay.
• Luvia greeted the gathered women and offered to assist the Countess with the divination, while the Countess struggled to hide her unease around her.

Shade learned that the letters threatening Mrs. Jude came from a powerful fate-related relic, and he received three clues to investigate. Vanessa Benanis warned him that the door in the Gravel Gold Sand Sea led beyond an ancient sealed contamination and gave him a key to help open it.

• Luvia and Miss Belinder divined that a Sage Level fate relic sent the letters and revealed an omen that a blood-drinking monster would kill Mrs. Jude at night.
• Luvia and Miss Belinder shared clues of a blood-drinking monster's coming death, a barn beneath darkened skies, and the fate that the unrighteous would die.
• Shade connected the relic's apparent pursuit of justice to his task for Desire and planned to investigate after meeting Mr. Bernhardt.
• Vanessa warned Shade that the pattern on the door marked a region sealed by an ancient Earth Witch and said opening it required the Sun, light, the Moon, and the earth.
• Vanessa gave Shade a clay Cat figurine representing the earth, and Shade kissed her in thanks.

Shade and Luvia searched Moon Bay for a symbolic object connected to the Moon and found a Flawless Moonstone in the local black market. With symbolic objects for Earth, Moon, and Sun secured, Shade returned home planning to deal with Mrs. Jude’s threatening letter the next day, while Luvia stayed behind to discuss the Chosen One with the others.

• Luvia told Shade that the dragon scales and other symbolic objects were needed for the coming Chosen One, and she advised him to search Moon Bay for something representing the Moon.
• Shade and Luvia spent the afternoon strolling through the city and found a Flawless Moonstone in the local black market, trading a Universal Key for it.
• At dinner, Shade explained that Vanessa had given him an important clue and that he now had symbolic objects for Earth, Moon, and Sun, leaving only Light to find.
• Shade returned home after dinner, intending to spend the next day helping Mr. Bernhardt address Mrs. Jude’s threatening letter.
• Luvia gathered the other Witches to talk and privately asked Emilia to speak with her later about the Chosen One.

Emilia reconsidered whether she might accept the responsibility of becoming a Chosen One, while Shade learned that six Holy Swords had gathered in Moon Bay and continued investigating mysterious letters linked to Bloodkin deaths. The chapter ended with Shade, Mr. Bernhardt, and Mr. Albert heading north to question Marquis Morrison amid a citywide crackdown on gangs.

• Emilia told Luvia that she might consider becoming a Chosen One if she was needed to fight, and Luvia promised to protect her.
• Shade visited Belinder Manor, where Luvia and Illustrious Miss reported seven new Light Melting incidents and said the Church wanted his help driving away the strange light.
• Luvia revealed that Emilia’s clan possessed the Ocarina of Time, a sixth Holy Sword, but Shade said Emilia should not be drawn into the conflict yet.
• Shade met Mr. Bernhardt and Mr. Albert, who connected threatening letters sent to Mrs. Jude, Captain Rudolf, and Marquis Morrison with Bloodkin deaths from heart disease.
• Shade, Mr. Bernhardt, and Mr. Albert set out to question Marquis Morrison at a racetrack in the Northern Suburbs before visiting Captain Rudolf.

Shade, Mr. Bernhardt, and Mr. Albert visited Marquis Morrison at the Silvery Family’s horse farm to warn him about threatening letters connected to a Relic. Morrison dismissed their warning and challenged them to race him in horse form, leaving the group preparing to compete before discussing the danger.

• Mr. Bernhardt, Shade, and Mr. Albert rode to the Silvery Family’s horse farm, where they learned local nobles were gathering and Morrison was not in the stands.
• The three found Morrison cutting meat from a still-living injured horse, and he explained that he intended to use its blood and meat rather than risk using his powers to heal it.
• Shade warned Morrison that threatening letters sent to several people appeared connected to a Relic, but Morrison questioned their divination and asked for time to finish preparing his lunch.
• Morrison proposed a wager: if any one of the three beat him in a race, he would give them the horse and discuss the letters; if they lost, they would join him for lunch and stop bothering him.
• Morrison transformed into a horse and froze the injured horse, while Shade, Mr. Bernhardt, and Mr. Albert selected mounts and prepared to race him.

Shade, Mr. Bernhardt, and Mr. Albert raced against Marquis Morrison, who had transformed into a horse, until Morrison suffered a heart attack near the finish. The others saved him by replacing his dead heart with the heart of the horse he had eaten for lunch, leaving Morrison horrified as he learned what had happened.

• Margaret waved to Shade from the VIP section, and Shade acknowledged her before the four riders began the race.
• Marquis Morrison took the lead, while Shade and Mr. Bernhardt subtly used magic against him and Mr. Bernhardt’s horse fell after Morrison’s stallion frightened it.
• Shade controlled his horse and used Mind Blast against Morrison near the finish, allowing Mr. Albert to catch up as the three riders crossed nearly together.
• Morrison collapsed after the race, and Shade and Mr. Albert rushed to save him when they realized he had suffered a heart attack.
• Mr. Albert operated on Morrison in horse form and replaced his dead heart with a horse’s heart.
• Shade and Mr. Bernhardt told Morrison that the replacement heart came from the horse he had eaten for lunch, leaving him convinced they were playing a prank on him.