Chapter Summaries

Shade used Luvia's Time Key to meet Adele Isabella's projection in the ruined City of the End, where she offered to teach him and help him stop Luvia. Isabella watched as Shade went to face his next powerful enemy, an undead figure whose first encounter with Shade's Thunder Spear appeared to have no effect.

• Shade opened the door onto the sand-buried Saint Derain Square and used the pocket watch to summon Adele Isabella's projection.
• Isabella explained that Shade could meet her in the collapsed spacetime but could not leave the stabilized square, and Shade described his challenge missions and search for information about the Past.
• Isabella refused to reveal details from her own time but offered to meet Shade monthly and teach him; Shade told her about his teachers, abilities, and rapid advancement as a Ring Arcanist.
• Isabella agreed to judge Shade's strength and provide knowledge and power based on his performance, while Shade walked to the square's center to face his enemy.
• Shade spotted a pale-faced man in an upstairs window of Saint Derain Square Number 3 and threw a Thunder Spear at him, but the attack seemed to have no effect.

Shade encountered the ghost of Armand Bernhardt in Saint Derain Square and discovered that ordinary attacks barely affected the death-bound spirit. He escaped into the surrounding ruins as a swarm of Red Butterflies, drawing Bernhardt’s pursuing duplicates after him.

• Shade recognized the pale-faced ghost as Armand Bernhardt, who tried to enter his body and later seized his staff.
• Shade found that moonlight and most other attacks were ineffective, while thunder and Sunlight Ray could damage the ghost.
• Shade blasted Bernhardt’s duplicates with Sunlight Ray, but the ghost returned and proved immune to the Great Sin Chains.
• Shade used Moonlight Rings to slow Bernhardt and repeatedly tried to counterattack with thunder and sunlight.
• Shade transformed into Red Butterflies and led the ghost’s swarm of transparent bats from the square into nearby ruins.

Shade defeated Armand Bernhardt by using moonlight and the power of True Death to help his soul reach peace. He then formally joined forces with Adele Isabella, promising to return, share stories from the Sixth Epoch, and help her face the end.

• Shade used a Silver Light Orb and his Destiny Ring to ask Armand Bernhardt if he wanted to continue, and the ghost bowed before dissolving into light.
• Shade received a card and a slight increase in soul strength after Armand found eternal peace.
• Adele Isabella introduced herself as the Witch Council’s final Speaker and asked Shade to accept her guidance and help stop Luvia Annette.
• Shade agreed to help Adele, accepted her offer to teach him the Power of Time, and told her about the Chosen Ones of the Sixth Epoch.
• As Shade’s condition worsened, Adele urged him to leave and promised to prepare knowledge for his next visit; Shade promised to return and keep her company.

Shade obtained the Undead Wraith card and learned how Mr. Bernhardt died and how death changed during the Doomsday Era. After Adele Isabella gave him a time-stopping thaumaturgy and became his eighth Witch Echo, Shade returned to the present, spent the evening with Luvia, and fell asleep dreaming of 6 Saint Derain Square.

• Shade read the Undead Wraith card and saw memories of Mr. Bernhardt dying in a burst of light and later wandering through the yellow-sand ruins after death itself had ceased to exist.
• Adele Isabella pressed her bloodied finger to Shade's forehead before the White Fog took him, promising to wait for his return.
• Back in the present, Shade received Adele's Time Stop thaumaturgy and gained Witch Echo Speaker—Isabella.
• Shade tested the Wraith card's ability to make him temporarily resemble a corpse, alarming Little Mia, then put the card away.
• Luvia came home, and Shade chose to rest beside her rather than pursue intimacy; they fell asleep together with Mia nearby.
• Shade returned in his dream to the ruined house at 6 Saint Derain Square.

Shade prepared for his journey to the Moon Bay Area, where he intended to find a relic, and learned that dragons might be useful there. Before leaving, he agreed to help Leisha investigate a detained shipment of Kasonlik Special Steel while using her contacts in Moon Bay.

• In a dream, the Long-haired Girl wished Shade a happy birthday, reassured him of her feelings, and warned him that dragons would be useful in the Moon Bay Area.
• Shade decided to bring Fiona's dragon-scale glove on his trip and told Luvia and Dorothy that he was going to Moon Bay.
• Dorothy urged Shade to ask Leisha for information and mentioned that Leisha had run into trouble there.
• Leisha and Angelina warned Shade that Moon Bay was politically tense and crowded with competing factions and Ring Arcanists.
• Shade pressed Leisha to explain her trouble, and she revealed that a shipment had been held up after being reported to authorities.
• Shade offered to check the shipment at the docks and work with Leisha's contacts; she agreed, and he learned the goods were Kasonlik Special Steel barred from export to Delarion.

Shade tested Adele’s Time Stop with Leisha and Angelina, then checked on Priest Augustus before entering the Space Labyrinth to search for a new spatial landmark. He emerged in an unfamiliar hidden space and opened a passage whose destination remained unknown.

• Shade used Adele’s Time Stop on Leisha and Angelina, learning that it froze living targets without their awareness and could also stop objects at a lower cost.
• Shade visited Dawn Church and asked Bishop Owen about Priest Augustus, whose recent pessimism and low spirits still concerned the bishop.
• Shade borrowed Sudden Fate from Old John, struck himself with it, and entered the Space Labyrinth with the White Stone Crystal.
• Shade sacrificed the crystal and chose the southwest direction, revealing a new spatial landmark.
• Shade reached the new hidden space, opened a passage with his Spacetime Spirit Rune, and stepped through without knowing where it led.

Shade emerged from the Hidden Passage into an ancient Dragon Nest in Moon Bay and discovered a Dragon Altar that recognized him as one of its own. After activating it and receiving a coin, he set off to find a way out of the nest.

• Shade explored the lifeless cavern and found signs of an abandoned Dragon Nest, including Dragon Saliva Grass, Dragon Blood Moss, and ancient Draconic Runes.
• Shade identified lingering Dragon Might and gained insight into "Dragon" while sensing the memory of a Silver Dragon sleeping amid treasure.
• Shade followed "her" guidance and found a clay Dragon Altar bearing the inscription "Dragon is born great."
• Shade used the Higgs Dragon Head Stone and Fiona's glove to activate the altar, which recognized him as one of its Same Race and offered several once-daily effects.
• Shade chose to gain wealth, and the altar produced a coin bearing Draconic Runes before returning to its inactive state as he went to search for an exit.

Shade escaped the Dragon Nest through its Draconic seal using Fiona’s glove and entered Moon Bay City. After taking in the prosperous city and its new bridge under construction, he spoke with an unfamiliar man who described the project.

• Shade found the Dragon Nest’s Draconic seal and used Fiona’s glove to open it without damaging the ritual matrix.
• Shade emerged from a natural cave near Saint George Stone Bridge and crossed into Moon Bay City.
• Shade explored the city and followed Miss Benanis’s clues to Herring Street on the eastern bank of the Tatton River.
• Shade admired the city and the Moon Bay Bridge under construction when an unfamiliar man approached him.
• The unfamiliar man explained the bridge’s design, construction, and greatly increased cost to Shade.

Shade explored Moon Bay and encountered a man recruiting for the underground group Eternal Light, but the police warned him that the organization was illegal. He continued touring the city and ended the day at the docks, with no sign of the missing diviner or any trouble from his pendant.

• A brown-robed stranger introduced Shade to Eternal Light and argued that the organization opposed the city’s wealthy families on behalf of ordinary people.
• A police patrol chased the stranger away, and an officer told Shade that Eternal Light was an illegal extremist group rather than a group worshiping an evil god.
• Shade considered the unclear lead about a missing diviner possibly living near Herring Street and prepared to search Moon Bay’s crowded Lower District.
• Shade toured Moon Bay, bought crescent-shaped shells, and noticed a father wearing Gold Rings outside Peace Church.
• Shade reached the docks at twilight, enjoyed the view, and headed home after confirming that his pendant had not reacted.

Duchess Bella Belinder received a troubling Tarot reading about a dragon-blooded being who would influence her life, while Shade discussed his Dragon Nest discoveries and Moon Bay plans with the Cavendish women. Dinner took a strange turn when Angelina insisted that an ordinary family lived beside Yodel Palace, prompting Shade and the witches to investigate.

• Duchess Bella Belinder drew Tarot cards predicting that a nonhuman being from an ancient Dragon Nest would soon influence her life, and she ordered Matilda to investigate Dragonborn Ring Arcanists and summer fieldwork in Moon Bay.
• Shade attended dinner with Miss Galina, Leisha, and Angelina, where Miss Galina explained the dragon altar and the ancient gold coin Shade had found.
• Leisha gave Shade a letter and token so he could call upon her trusted contacts in Moon Bay, and Angelina warned him that the city’s political situation was complicated.
• Angelina claimed that the Goodman family had lived beside Yodel Palace for as long as she could remember, despite Shade, Miss Galina, and Leisha knowing the palace had no neighbors.
• Shade checked Angelina for Whisper Element influence, then joined Miss Galina and Leisha in taking her to visit the supposed neighbors.

Shade, Miss Galina, and the others confronted the Sage Level event-type relic Friendly Neighbor, which had distorted Angelina’s memories and made a house appear beside Yodel Palace. They drove it away from the palace, but Miss Galina warned that it would remain in the city and target another settlement; Angelina ended the night feeling protected and wishing she had the power to protect her family.

• Leisha recognized that a relic was rewriting and contaminating cognition after Angelina identified the nonexistent Goodman Family house on a map.
• Miss Galina led Shade, Leisha, Angelina, Tifa, and two maids to the apartment building, where the faceless Goodmans invited Angelina and Shade inside.
• Miss Galina named the relic Friendly Neighbor and, with the others, denied that Yodel Palace had any neighbors, forcing the Goodmans to retreat and the house to vanish.
• Angelina’s memories returned to normal, and Leisha comforted her as she realized they had never had neighbors.
• Miss Galina explained that Friendly Neighbor would remain in the city for at least two months and change targets, prompting Shade to call for greater vigilance.
• Angelina followed her family toward Yodel Palace, grateful for their care and silently wishing she had the power to protect them.

Director Anlos briefed Shade on Moon Bay’s powerful families, his intelligence contact, and the controversial Eternal Light organization before Shade began a new Time Key adventure. Shade entered the late Fifth Epoch and received a trial to help the Old God Dream Giver complete four fishing attempts.

• Shade inspected the neighboring house and returned home with Little Mia after the Cavendish girls decided not to stay the night.
• Director Anlos visited Shade and warned him about the tangled power of Moon Bay’s seven families and the region’s political tensions.
• Director Anlos identified the Wood Family as Military Intelligence Section Six’s trusted contact and gave Shade a new identity and the code name Boatman for assistance.
• Shade asked about Eternal Light, and Director Anlos described its rise, increasingly radical doctrines, and ban by the Moon Bay City Police Department.
• Shade used his Time Key and entered the Time Corridor, arriving at the Outer Sea in Fifth Epoch 5180 aboard the Radiance Messenger cruise ship disaster.
• Father of Infinite Tree assigned Shade a trial to help Dream Giver complete four fishing attempts, with Dragon Roar and Corrupt Blood Mist as rewards.

Shade entered the lightless sea in Fifth Epoch 5180, where a hidden monster attacked him before he reached a floating plank with four unconscious women. He recognized one of them as Schultz Theresa, and the other survivors began waking as he tried to revive them.

• Shade identified the Old God as the God of Wishes and entered the Sea of No Light after activating Water Surface Walking.
• Shade plunged beneath the surface when the sea blocked Water Surface Walking, then escaped a rising monster by transforming into Red Butterflies.
• Shade flew toward a distant flame on a floating plank, losing many butterflies to the creature before reaching his companions.
• Shade found four unconscious women beside the fire and used Holy Water No. 3 to revive them.
• Shade recognized the oldest woman as a powerful Twelfth Order witch and another as a Tenth Order witch, who urged him to help the remaining young woman.
• Shade recognized the Eleventh Rank witch as Schultz Theresa, whom he had met three years earlier at Lost Lake.

Shade woke the shipwreck survivors on a floating plank in a lightless sea and learned that an allegedly unsinkable cruise ship had vanished after entering a strange region. The survivors had no way to explain where they were, and Shade realized the fire that had drawn them together had not been lit by any of them.

• Shade revived Miss Teresa and the other survivors with holy water, then gathered with them around a fire to recover from the freezing sea.
• Miss Teresa, Miss Maxim, Professor Sarah Evans, and Maggie Malone introduced themselves and explained that they had survived the Radiance Messenger’s sinking.
• The survivors described how the ship had disappeared within minutes, while the dark water drained their strength and prevented them from using Water Surface Walking.
• Professor Sarah Evans suggested that an unstable spatial storm had swallowed the ship in an abnormal sea region, and reassured Maggie that rescuers might come.
• Shade learned that Sarah had arrived last and asked who had lit the fire.

Shade and four women searched for a way out of a lightless, freezing sea where ordinary fire and magic failed. They discovered an inscription describing how four childhood treasures could summon the Giver of Dreams, and Miss Teresa began by offering the glasses tied to her wish to become a witch.

• Shade and the women confirmed that the fire basin was the only source of warmth and light, while their attempts to create fire and open a Teleportation Gate failed.
• Shade and Miss Teresa found strange writing on the floating board and brought its markings back to Professor Evans.
• Shade translated the Mithril Language inscription as instructions to summon the Giver of Dreams using four childhood treasures.
• Shade asked the women for objects connected to their childhood wishes, and Miss Teresa offered the glasses her aunt had given her when she was a child.

Shade met the Dream Giver at Lost Lake and began fishing with Teresa’s glasses to explore her childhood memories. He recovered a glass ball tied to a childhood game and then caught a piece of chalk, whose memory began to appear.

• Miss Maxim, Professor Sarah Evans, and Miss Maggie Maron offered personal keepsakes or blood and hair as gifts beside the bonfire.
• The Dream Giver appeared on the floating platform, and Shade approached with the four gifts.
• The deity gave Shade its Fishing Rod and told him to fish for the first dream using Teresa’s round-framed glasses as bait.
• Shade caught a glass ball and helped the girl in Teresa’s memory finish an unfinished childhood game.
• The Dream Giver urged Shade to continue fishing, and he caught a piece of white chalk that began to reveal another memory.

Shade corrected Miss Teresa’s ritual matrix in an illusion and learned about a deep-sea creature near the Radiance Messenger’s route. He fished the real Miss Schultz Theresa from the sea, and her false-bodied counterpart attacked her.

• Shade corrected three runes in Miss Teresa’s ritual matrix, gaining more knowledge of ritual studies.
• Shade caught a ribbon showing Miss Teresa speaking with Miss Violet, who warned her about strange music and signs of the Seven-Tailed Player near the Radiance Messenger’s route.
• Shade identified the Seven-Tailed Player and wondered whether it was connected to an accident aboard the Radiance Messenger.
• Shade’s next catch was the nearly drowned Miss Schultz Theresa, whom he carried back to the Fire Basin.
• The false-bodied Miss Teresa lunged at the rescued Miss Schultz Theresa.

Shade helped Miss Schultz Teresa reunite with her soul and learned that she and the other three women had drowned when the Radiance Messenger sank. He left them to seek the truth behind the shipwreck, then glimpsed the countless corpses beneath the Sea of No Light before returning to the Sixth Epoch.

• Shade embraced the frost-covered young woman, and her soul reunited with Miss Schultz Teresa’s body.
• Shade told Professor Evans, Miss Maxim, and Miss Maron that the fishing god would help them if they uncovered the truth behind the Radiance Messenger’s sinking.
• Shade collected the women’s past wishes and asked the god why it was helping them, but the god only smiled.
• Shade left food and supplies for the women, said goodbye to Miss Schultz Teresa, and departed through the White Fog.
• Before Shade vanished, he saw countless corpses and pieces of wreckage beneath the sea, and the corpses surged toward him.

Shade investigated the Lower District of Moon Bay City while searching for a rumored fortune-teller and the Hope Diamond. His visits uncovered a hidden corpse, a suspicious tenant, and a Bloodkin mark on a coroner’s door, leaving him poised to investigate the coroner’s connection to the Bloodkin.

• Shade returned from the Side Bedroom and planned to fulfill the drowned passengers’ wishes and investigate the Radiance Messenger.
• Shade questioned three boys on Herring Street, who told him about an elderly woman, a reclusive tenant, and a coroner living nearby.
• Shade found a week-old corpse in Grandma Martha’s bedroom while investigating her house as a cat.
• Shade searched the tenant’s room above 37 Herring Street Shop and found a disassembled handgun and two sets of identification bearing different names but the same photograph.
• Shade spotted a Bloodkin symbol on the coroner’s door at 13 Elm Street.

Shade went to the Lower District morgue to ask Bloodkin coroner Ptolemy Albert about reclusive diviners and the local black market. He discovered his old friend Viscount Armand Bernhardt was inside, and the three agreed to continue their conversation at the Spider Inn.

• Shade found Ptolemy Albert’s hidden morgue at the end of Spider Alley and politely asked to speak with him.
• Ptolemy said he specialized in alchemy and potions, not divination, and declined to reveal information about local diviners or the black market to a stranger.
• Shade noticed someone behind an iron door react to his mention of Huntington City and guessed that the person was from Middlesburg.
• Viscount Armand Bernhardt opened the door and recognized Shade, and the two old friends greeted each other warmly.
• Armand introduced Shade and Ptolemy, then suggested they talk over a drink at the Spider Inn while Ptolemy locked up the morgue.