Chapter Summaries

Shade and Miss Belinder fought their way through the cave and found an ancient sealing stone slab tied to the tree’s strange powers. Shade used Fiona’s glove to break the slab, revealing a glittering scale.

• Miss Belinder’s Death Finger weakened the werewolf, but it escaped its shackles by biting off its bound leg before Shade restrained it with his chains.
• The werewolf transformed into a rapidly regenerating middle-aged woman, whom the maids subdued and covered with clothing.
• Shade, Miss Belinder, and the maids burned away the vines and insects and destroyed the vengeful spirit guarding the cave’s inner passage.
• Miss Belinder found an ancient sealing slab that required a passphrase or dragon power, and Shade recognized its Ancient Language inscription.
• Shade put on the right-hand glove Fiona had given him and shattered the slab, exposing a bright, glittering scale.

Shade and Miss Belinder recovered a Poem Chapter Fragment and a Golden Dragon scale, then faced three ambushers after leaving the cave. Shade fought an invisible Nine-Ring Arcanist in the forest and wounded him with the Star Mark, while the battle near the hill continued.

• Miss Belinder removed a Golden Dragon scale and Shade discovered a Poem Chapter Fragment on the reverse of the shattered tablet.
• Shade restored the tablet and let Miss Belinder take it, asking her to share credit with Miss Benanis.
• Shade and the others left the cave with the captured middle-aged woman, only to be attacked by three hidden enemies.
• Shade used the Heaton Seal to block a wind arrow, then pursued its Nine-Ring Arcanist shooter into the forest.
• Shade lured the invisible archer into attacking and used Adele's Time Stop and the Star Mark to strike off nearly half his arm.

Shade helped Miss Belinder and her companions drive off the Seekers of Light Research Society, but the enemy’s strange white light left Miss Belinder badly injured. Shade contained the corruption with Darkness Art, and the group fled the Whisper Hills with him carrying her on horseback while they sought a safe place.

• Shade redirected a wind arrow and shot a wounded Eighth Ring Arcanist with his Silver Moon arrow, helping Miss Matilda and the others force the attackers to retreat.
• A Tenth Ring Arcanist unleashed a white light that assimilated living beings, and Miss Belinder entered it to protect Miss Matilda.
• Shade used Calamity Cards of the Deep Sea to cast Darkness Art and extinguish the radiance, then caught the unconscious Miss Belinder and Miss Matilda as they fell.
• Miss Matilda explained that Miss Belinder had used the Witch Secret Art—Domain of Revelation to resist the light, but the corruption had made part of her body transparent.
• Shade’s Darkness Art stopped the corruption from spreading, and Miss Belinder asked him to stay beside her while they contacted the Council for help.
• The group left on horseback and stopped after fifteen minutes, with Shade carrying Miss Belinder in his arms.

Shade traveled to the ruined past to ask Adele Isabella how to save Bella Belinder from being assimilated by abnormal light. Isabella confirmed there was a Council treatment and began teaching Shade a new Time Thaumaturgy, explaining the three roots of time magic.

• Shade promised Bella Belinder he would return quickly, then entered the past through the Yggdrasil Key and carried the Perfume Bottle of Desire with him.
• Shade summoned Adele Isabella in the ruined Saint Derain Square and asked how to save a young woman being enveloped by abnormal light.
• Adele Isabella said the Council could treat the condition if two-thirds of its members gathered, though the process would take at least a week and be painful.
• Adele Isabella agreed to teach Shade a new Time Thaumaturgy and explained that time magic influenced the past, present, and future.

Miss Isabella taught Shade about Adele's Regression Principle before he faced an earth-powered enemy in the desolate plaza. Shade recognized the creature as Professor Drake and gained the upper hand in their brutal fight, shattering its arm and cracking its body.

• Miss Isabella explained Adele's Regression Principle and promised to demonstrate it while Shade fought the enemy.
• Shade confronted a creature that burrowed through the ground and neutralized his Thunder Spear.
• Shade recognized the creature as Professor Drake, whom he had met during the Goddess in the Lake story.
• Shade used the Great Sin Chains to keep the creature from dragging him underground, then fought it at close range.
• Shade drew strength from the earth and the Filth of the Earth's Origin, then shattered the creature's right arm and cracked its body with a punch.

Shade defeated a Filthy Earth Worm in Saint Derain Square, and Miss Isabella explained its weaknesses while helping him recover. After Shade described why he had chosen to save Siris La Ses, Miss Isabella knelt before him and praised how hard he had worked.

• Professor Drake's body burst into worms, which formed a colossal Filthy Earth Worm that launched Shade into the air and swallowed him.
• Shade's Moonlight Wheel Second Form cut the worm in half from within, and he crawled out badly injured while it began to regenerate.
• Miss Isabella stopped Shade from attacking the worm again, tried unsuccessfully to heal him, and shared a sip of his Perfume Bottle.
• Miss Isabella carried Shade to the edge of the plaza and explained that Filthy Earth Worms were weakest away from the ground and vulnerable to water.
• Shade restored his clothes by reversing time and told Miss Isabella that he had chosen to take in the Filth of the Earth's Origin to save people, including Siris La Ses.
• Miss Isabella knelt before Shade, touched his forehead, and told him he had worked hard.

Shade learned Miss Isabella’s Adele's Regression Principle and helped defeat the worm that had consumed Professor Drake. Afterward, they discussed how to deal with the strange radiance infecting Bella Belinder, and Miss Isabella suggested that light might resist it.

• Miss Isabella taught Shade how to strengthen Moonlight Wheel and passed the ritual information for Adele's Regression Principle through their souls’ resonance.
• Miss Isabella used Adele's Regression Principle to return the worm’s energy attack, destroying its body and exposing Professor Drake.
• Shade struck Professor Drake with Thunder Spear, and the dying professor briefly regained his sanity before scattering into sand.
• Miss Isabella explained Adele's Regression Principle’s limits and its ritual requirements as she helped the injured Shade return to No. 6.
• Miss Isabella said ordinary darkness could not dispel the strange radiance infecting Bella Belinder and suggested that light might resist it.

Shade learned how to treat Miss Belinder’s injuries with moonlight, Moonlight Water, and the Pearl of the Yellow Moon, then finished telling Miss Isabella the stories of the present age before returning home. There, the Gravel Worm card showed him how Professor Drake became a monster and revealed that even the Guardian of the Earth was corrupted by the apocalypse.

• Miss Isabella explained that Shade could heal Miss Belinder by using moonlight and burying the Pearl of the Yellow Moon in her injured shoulder, and Shade agreed to the month-long treatment.
• Shade shared more of the Sixth Epoch’s stories with Miss Isabella and promised to bring her books when he returned next month.
• Shade drew the Gravel Worm card, which showed Professor Drake’s corpse buried and later mutated by the filthy earth.
• Shade saw a memory of Professor Drake transforming into a Gravel Worm as the Sun turned black and the Guardian of the Earth stood above a fountain of filthy mud.
• Shade concluded that the worsening distortion corrupted the Guardian despite Siris’s sacrifice, then returned to ruined Tobesk City as white fog appeared.

Shade returned from Professor Drake's memory with a treatment for Bella Belinder and used Source of Chaos and Silver Moon to heal her. The ritual succeeded, and Bella fell asleep in Shade's arms.

• Shade hugged Adele Isabella before returning to the present, where only half a minute had passed.
• Shade told Miss Belinder that he could treat her with Source of Chaos and Silver Moon, and she chose his plan over seeking help from the Council.
• Shade and the maids prepared a Light Swallowing Potion and a ritual to contain the treatment's light.
• Shade used Silver Moon to disperse the alien white light inside Miss Belinder while she endured the pain and bit his neck.
• Miss Belinder gradually recovered, relaxed in Shade's embrace, and fell asleep.

Bella Belinder recovered after Shade treated her and returned to Belinder Manor, where she wondered whether John Watson might be a God Summoner and whether fate had brought them together. Shade returned to Leisha and Angelina in Tobesk, and Leisha made clear she wanted to spend the night with him.

• Bella Belinder woke in Shade's arms on the way back to the city, discovered her shoulder and face had healed, and fell asleep again.
• At Belinder Manor, Miss Matilda told Bella Belinder that Shade had left the potion formula and planned to return with the rare ingredients and relic the next morning.
• Bella Belinder drew The Moon card, questioned whether John Watson could be a God Summoner, and wondered if their meeting had been chosen by fate.
• Shade returned to 6 Saint Derain Square and told Leisha and Angelina about the werewolf, the strange light, and the injured witch who had recovered.
• Leisha found a golden hair on Shade's collar, then sent Angelina and the maids away so she could spend the night with him.

Shade received a delayed letter from Miss Goode describing the plague and unsettling discoveries in her family’s town, then traveled to Belinder Manor to implant a relic in Miss Belinder. The procedure succeeded, leaving the witch recovering with the yellow pearl hidden beneath her skin.

• Leisha and Angelina said goodbye to Shade after breakfast, and the postman delivered Miss Goode’s delayed letter from the plague zone.
• Miss Goode reported that Astra City and the surrounding East Coast region were under plague controls, while investigators had found clues about vampires and other secrets near her family’s town; she warned Shade not to visit with Little Mia.
• Shade wrote a reply, arranged to buy materials for Adele’s Regression Principle, and considered how he might use the Calamity Cards Worm’s Earth Magic Spell.
• Shade arrived at Belinder Manor with the Source of Chaos and Moonlight Water, then examined Miss Belinder and prepared for her treatment.
• Shade spent the morning implanting the relic beneath Miss Belinder’s shoulder, and the procedure succeeded without leaving a visible mark.

After treating Miss Belinder, Shade discussed the dragon scale and the rescued werewolf with her, then agreed to join a card game that could help him investigate the Wood Family. Before leaving, he also promised Mr. Ptolemy Albert to warn three of his fellow Same Race members about the Church’s investigation.

• Miss Belinder thanked Shade for curing her and explained that the Source of Chaos would remain in her shoulder for one or two months.
• Miss Belinder told Shade that the Golden Dragon scale and the Poem Chapter Fragment were under investigation, while Marika Frost remained chained in the manor basement pending an inquiry into her identity.
• Shade advised Miss Belinder to observe Marika Frost and consider keeping her if she proved kind, since she had been controlled by the vengeful spirit and might be useful.
• Miss Belinder invited Shade to a Rhodes Cards game on Friday with Earl Martin Eddington, Baron Harry Wood, and Herman Wood, and Shade accepted to pursue his investigation of the Wood Family.
• Mr. Ptolemy Albert asked Shade to warn three Same Race members because the Church had begun investigating their kind, and Shade agreed.

Shade investigated Freeman Hawthorne’s movements, warned a local Bloodkin about the Church’s inquiries, and encountered members of Eternal Light again. He prepared to visit the docks at dusk and invited Luvia to his home to discuss a Poem Chapter Fragment that might be connected to dragons.

• Mr. Cooper told Shade that Freeman Hawthorne would be at the Parsifal Club and gave him an address where Hawthorne planned to receive illegal narcotics at the docks that evening.
• Shade visited magician Xiao En at the Rhine Theater and warned him that the Church was investigating Bloodkin after a woman’s body was found drained of blood.
• Police questioned Xiao En about a theater theft, and Shade reassured his human fiancée, Nina, about their relationship.
• A recruiter handed Shade a flyer for Eternal Light, then fled from patrolling police before Shade could question him further.
• Shade returned to Tobesk, left Mia with Luvia, and invited her to his home to discuss a Poem Chapter Fragment that might concern dragons.

Shade investigated a ship smuggling prohibited herbs and discovered three Dragon Egg fossils, but a Sixth Ring Arcanist from the New Continent Mutual Aid Society arrived to seize the contraband. After Shade defeated him in a brief sword fight, they agreed they had no real conflict and discussed the fossils and the man's mission.

• Shade entered the cargo ship and found illegal herbs hidden beneath grain, along with a safe containing three fossilized eggs.
• Freeman Hawthorne came to inspect the cargo, but an invisible Sixth Ring Arcanist ambushed and bound him before revealing himself.
• The Sixth Ring Arcanist detected Shade hiding nearby, and the two men argued over who had reached Hawthorne first.
• Shade and the Arcanist clashed with their swords, and Shade knocked him into a pile of grain sacks.
• The Arcanist conceded defeat and explained that he belonged to the Pioneer Legion, also known as the New Continent Mutual Aid Society, which sought to return dangerous New Continent items there.

Shade investigated Freeman Hawthorne’s memories and concluded that a Dragon Devouring Order Arcanist had altered them to conceal the truth about the unidentified woman’s death. After discussing the dragon-related clues with Luvia, Shade entered his recurring dream and learned that the Long-haired Girl knew he had met Adele of the Past and urged him to trust her.

• Shade interrogated Freeman Hawthorne, confirmed he remembered nothing incriminating about the night the woman died, and had John Flynn erase the past two hours from his memory.
• Shade returned home and told Luvia about the Dragon Devouring Order, the Seekers of Light Research Society, and the fragment called “Hatched Dragon, Seven-Colored Dragon Scales.”
• Luvia advised Shade to spend time with Miss Belinder and helped him perform a ritual to study time-related Thaumaturgy.
• Shade entered his recurring dream, where the Long-haired Girl asked whether he had met Adele Isabella of the Past.
• The Long-haired Girl admitted Adele was right about some things and told Shade to trust her, use her as an ally, and keep their knowledge of each other secret.

Shade told Luvia about Adele Isabella and the Hope Diamond, then learned more about the ancient war between the Dragon Devouring Demon and the Ocean Gods. After Luvia advised him to wait for Radiance Miss before using the Time Key, Emilia arrived at Shade’s home for breakfast and became captivated by the Mermaid Oil Painting.

• Shade told Luvia about Adele Isabella, the Hope Diamond, and the Regression Principle, and Luvia advised him to use Adele’s ideas as a basis for developing his own techniques.
• Shade asked Luvia about the ancient divine war in Moon Bay, and she explained that the Ocean Gods had answered the migrating Dragons while the Dragon Devouring Demon’s followers tried to stop them.
• On Thursday morning, Luvia suggested Shade wait to see Radiance Miss before using the Time Key, and Shade agreed to wait unless she did not appear before the week ended.
• Emilia arrived at Shade’s home early, greeted Luvia, and was invited to stay for breakfast after Luvia left for work.
• While waiting for Shade to prepare breakfast, Emilia inspected his living room and became captivated by the Mermaid Oil Painting.

Shade helped Emilia investigate a mysterious letter that Old John identified as the Keeper of Secrets Level Relic Malicious Chain Curse Letter, whose curse could be broken by having Emilia kill the sender. After selling the letter’s stamp, Shade asked Old John to examine the Anchor Silver Ornament given to him by Illustrious Miss.

• Emilia brought Shade a letter that had appeared in her room after she experienced strange dreams, and Shade detected traces of Whisper Element in it.
• Shade agreed to help Emilia investigate the letter instead of immediately reporting it to the Academy, and they went to Old John’s pawnshop.
• Old John identified the letter as the Malicious Chain Curse Letter and explained that Emilia had to find and kill its sender to break the curse.
• Old John said the curse could spread through mailed copies and that defeating the curse’s source could end other active curses in the area.
• Emilia agreed to sell the letter’s Relic Derivative stamp to Old John, and Shade then asked him to examine the Anchor Silver Ornament.

Shade and Emilia traced the cursed letter to a servant at Duchess Galina Cavendish’s estate, where Shade recovered the burned letter and found a way to continue the investigation. They left with the curse still unresolved, but with evidence to pursue the sender.

• Shade and Emilia found the estate at 19 Dinier Street, but Duchess Galina arrived and invited them inside.
• Shade explained Emilia’s letter curse to Galina, and Galina agreed to have Tifa investigate the sender and to ask Miss Benanis about Siris’s help with Hawthorne.
• Tifa’s maids discovered that the servant who had sent the letter had drowned himself in the Oser River three days earlier.
• Shade restored the burned cursed letter with Breath of Time, recovering it except for its stamp.
• Galina offered to send Emilia an apology gift through Shade, and Shade and Emilia left the estate together.

Shade and Emilia traced the Cursed Letter to a room inside the Sete Duchy Embassy, with help from Leisha and Iluna. They found the room covered in curse phrases and a gaunt, apparently human figure curled on a sofa.

• Shade and Emilia visited Hyde Club, where Leisha introduced Emilia to Angelina and helped them become friends.
• Leisha took Shade to Room 19 and learned its owner was a military attaché from the Sete Duchy Embassy.
• Shade and Emilia encountered Iluna near the embassy, where she was investigating powerful curse reactions for the Sun Church.
• Shade, Emilia, and Iluna used Shade’s illusion to enter the embassy and followed Iluna’s compass to a second-floor room.
• The trio opened the room and found malicious curse phrases covering its interior and a thin, blackened figure curled on a sofa.

Shade, Iluna, and Emilia confronted a curse source born from a human and fought the enormous shadow monster connected to his soul. Shade’s first attempt to cast Return to Original Nature failed, but Iluna unleashed a devastating attack before Shade stopped her from destroying the soul.

• Iluna’s light revealed that the curse source was a transformed human, and darkness shifted the group into a space where they met a dead man who blamed himself for his brother’s death.
• The dead man cursed the living, and the giant shadow monster swallowed Shade, Iluna, and Emilia before Shade used Space Jump to escape with them.
• Shade and Iluna attacked the monster with Moonlight Slash, chains, and Sunlight Guns, but it swallowed Iluna’s second attack and spat its corrupted energy at her.
• Shade tried Return to Original Nature to block the Shadow Ball, but the spell failed and the explosion left him injured.
• Iluna lost control in anger, destroyed the monster with a blazing lightning strike, and seized the soul until Shade reassured her that he was unharmed.
• Iluna released the soul and regained her composure, while Shade recovered with water and healing supplies.