Chapter Summaries

Flora Winslet decided she wanted to stay by Shade’s side, while Shade and the lady in the black dress waited for Iluna and the others to recover the black leather ball. When Shade tried to take it, Hide and Seek Boy intervened and sent the ball into the past, forcing the game to continue.

• Flora Winslet watched Shade dance with Iluna and resolved to remain close to him so she could witness more of his life.
• Iluna told Shade that Miss Danist and the others had found the leather ball in the future, and Shade went with the lady in the black dress to wait in the past.
• Under an apple tree, the lady in the black dress asked Shade about his relationship with Miss Danist and said she did not want to meet the older version of her former student.
• Shade returned to the future, where Iluna handed him the ball after Miss Danist and the others recovered it from the woodland.
• When Shade touched the ball, Frozen Time halted the women as the hand of No-Eyed Boy appeared, so Shade and Iluna threw the ball into the sky.
• Hide and Seek Boy kicked the ball into 1821 and told Shade he still had to find it in the past, challenging him to prove that He was right to choose him.

Shade confronted the out-of-control Death Apostle, Benn Bronte, and fought it in the orchard while the Thirteenth Ring Sorceress watched. He destroyed its body, but its black heart escaped, and Shade concluded that Benn would survive under a new identity after being frightened away from Creekwood Town.

• Witches told Shade that someone would bring him the ball from the past, and Miss Bell gave him the Elven Antique Arrow found at Collins Manor.
• Miss Bell said Benn Bronte had died of a cold in the summer of 1829 and Theodore Bronte had died of illness in 1800.
• Shade left Iluna and the others waiting and found Benn transformed into a giant Death Apostle in the orchard.
• Shade fought Benn with his Moonbeam Greatsword, Thaumaturgies, and Great Sin Chains, while the lady in the black dress concealed the battle.
• Shade immobilized Benn with silver lightning and burned the remains, but Benn's black heart escaped into the woods.
• Shade told the lady that Benn would take a new identity and likely leave Creekwood Town because the fight had frightened him.

Shade defeated the Death Apostle Benn Bronte with guidance from Helena Carter, then outwitted the Hide and Seek Boy by trapping the ball in God's Gift Box. The boy vanished after granting everyone new abilities, and Emilia kissed Shade before Iluna confronted her.

• Helena Carter taught Shade techniques for changing the Moonbeam Greatsword's size and creating multiple blades, then parted from him until their next meeting.
• Shade returned to 1854 with the leather ball and explained that he had defeated Benn Bronte, a Death Apostle weakened by the Whisper Element.
• The Hide and Seek Boy proposed another game for his power, and Shade hid the ball inside God's Gift Box, which the boy could not touch.
• The boy conceded defeat, vanished, and sent Whisper power to the group, granting Miss Bell and Iluna new runes and enhancing Shade's Toy Making thaumaturgy.
• Emilia gave Shade instructions for restricting the tree hollow and kissed his cheek, prompting Iluna to grab her arm and demand an explanation.

At Collins Manor’s wedding banquet, Shade danced with Iluna, Flora Winslet, and Danist Gustav, while uncovering a possible link between Lady Helena Carter, a cursed great tree, and the Moon Tower of Kalas Mountain. Shade and Iluna returned home in the rain, where Priest Augustus arrived at 6 Saint Derain Square.

• Iluna recognized Emilia despite her disguise, and Shade explained that she was his current elf partner.
• Shade danced with Iluna, who asked about Emilia’s time travel and learned that Emilia was three years older than the version she remembered.
• Flora Winslet questioned Shade about Iluna and declared that she intended to pursue him.
• Danist Gustav asked Shade about meeting her teacher in 1821, and Shade urged her to investigate a possible cursed great tree near the ruins of Kalas Mountain.
• Shade danced with Miss Bell and played Rhodes Cards with her before he and Iluna returned home, where Luvia suggested Iluna stay overnight because of the rain.
• Priest Augustus arrived at Shade’s house on Friday morning and left his coachman waiting outside.

Shade received Bone Rods to hunt the Death Apostle and visited the Elf Girl, who explained how destroying a Distorted Tree Hole could yield useful leaves. In Vesta City, Shade found Miss Danist distraught after a search for her missing teacher’s cursed great Tree came up empty.

• The priest gave Shade three Bone Rods and explained that driving one into a Death Apostle’s heart would stop it absorbing Life Force.
• Shade visited the Elf Girl, who showed him the Luku Birds she had adopted from the forest.
• The Elf Girl explained that destroying a Distorted Tree Hole could produce leaves that strengthen other Tree Holes and grant additional time travel uses.
• Shade arrived at Room 321 and learned from Miss Bell that Miss Danist and Miss Winslet had stayed up waiting for news.
• Miss Danist told Shade that the Academy had found no cursed great Tree on Kalas Mountain or nearby, and wondered whether her teacher’s body had been taken away.

Shade and Flora examined the Witch’s new painting of Shade dancing with Iluna and discussed postponing the destruction of their Tree Hollows. Shade and Flora then searched the place where York Bronte had appeared and found a coffin beneath a clearing, from which a heavy deathly aura and two familiar powers emerged.

• Miss Danist cried over her failed divination, and Shade reassured her that they could search the Silver Moon Library again in two months.
• Shade admired Flora Winslet’s painting of the ball, which showed him dancing with Iluna beneath a clock containing a mysterious lady’s outline.
• Shade decided not to destroy any of their Tree Hollows yet and planned to investigate York Bronte’s situation first.
• Flora accompanied Shade to the forest west of Vesta Woodland, where they followed an unusually strong deathly aura to a clearing.
• Shade dug up a wooden coffin and sensed two extremely familiar powers when he touched its lid.

Shade and the Great Witch of Death opened the fourth Distorted Tree Hole and traveled to 1787, where it led to an Edge of Life and Death in the Bronte Family cemetery. They began investigating the cemetery’s ruined auditorium to uncover York Bronte’s past, with the passage allowing them only forty minutes before they had to return.

• Shade identified the coffin lid as a Distorted Tree Hole leading to an Edge of Life and Death connected to 1787, where York Bronte had emerged.
• Shade and the Great Witch of Death decided to investigate the past before confronting York Bronte, and Shade used the Time Key to open the passage.
• Shade and the witch arrived in the Bronte Family cemetery, where the witch took cat form to endure the deathly atmosphere.
• Shade found the coffin buried in a grave marked with the name Jack Bronte and explained that they could not reach the Reality World without Sister Devlin’s ability.
• Shade and the witch opened the cemetery’s locked Small Auditorium and saw its ruined interior.

Shade purified the insane spirit guarding the Bronte family history and restored her sanity, learning that Theodore Bronte evaded a death curse by skipping over 1787 through time travel. The spirit explained how Theodore became a time traveler across generations, and Shade then asked why she remained at the Edge of Life and Death.

• An undead woman attacked Shade with Soul Flame, but Shade used a Light Spell to purge her flames and weaken her.
• Miss Kitty cast Charlotte's Mercy, restoring the spirit's sanity and allowing Shade to speak with her.
• The spirit identified her son as Theodore Bronte and explained that he had sought a long life after his family died.
• She said a being cursed Theodore to die in 1787, so he used a Tree Hollow to skip that year and evade death.
• The spirit explained that Theodore was periodically drawn back to different eras under different identities, and Shade asked why she was at the Edge of Life and Death.

Shade questioned the Bronte family’s spirits to uncover how Theodore became a Death Apostle and what his time curse might be. Anna Bronte revealed clues about Theodore’s transformation and frequent visits to the Edge of Life and Death, leaving Shade convinced that the timing of the rift’s opening was significant.

• The noblewoman told Shade that Theodore had trapped his family’s souls in the cemetery and had likely learned to travel through time through the Tree Hollow.
• Shade and the cat suspected Theodore’s time curse limited his power, since he had remained a Third Ring Arcanist for decades despite becoming a Death Apostle.
• Shade destroyed the old baron’s mutated ghoul form, but the witch said the baron’s soul had become too lost to question.
• Shade subdued Anna Bronte, who said Theodore became a Ring Arcanist after hearing a voice, later claimed immortality, and began eating raw meat.
• Anna said Theodore often visited the Edge of Life and Death after their mother died, and Shade concluded that the rift into that world had opened after her death.

Shade and Miss Winslet investigated the Bronte Family’s past and found its current cemetery empty, while learning that the Church could prepare a ritual to seal the Tree Hollow and the Ocarina of Time would arrive the next day. The witch proposed using a strand of hair from a direct Bronte relative to locate the family’s real graves, and Shade asked whether his own remains could be traced across the Old Continent.

• Shade and Miss Winslet made an oath with Mrs. Bronte to return in the future for answers and to free the family’s souls, and Mrs. Bronte asked them to stop her son.
• Shade and Miss Winslet returned to 1854, discussed York Bronte’s time curse and the unknown bearer of the Paradox Worm, and decided to search the Bronte Family cemetery.
• Shade and Miss Winslet found that the cemetery north of the city contained no human skeletons and concluded that it was fake or that the family’s graves had been moved.
• Miss Danist and Miss Bell told Shade that the Dawn Church could prepare a Tree Hollow-sealing ritual in about a week and that the Ocarina of Time would be available the next afternoon.
• The witch proposed using a Bronte relative’s hair for a Bone Seeking Spell, and Shade asked whether his own remains could reveal the location of his relatives’ bones.

Shade and Miss Winslet obtained York Bronte’s hair while investigating the Death Apostle’s family, then witnessed an assassin shoot Prince William Anjou at a salon. At dinner, Galina revealed that William’s public mission concealed an investigation into a secret meeting of the Delin Orr Restorationists in Vesta City.

• Shade asked Miss Winslet to use the Bone Seeking Spell to find his family, but she explained that his advanced body made the spell ineffective and offered to count their circle of friends as his family.
• Shade and Miss Winslet went to the Golden Music Hall, where Shade Cat cut a strand of York Bronte’s hair while York spoke with Linda Bennett.
• A disguised waiter shot Prince William Anjou in the left arm, and the guards and Gray Gloves agents captured the attacker.
• Shade told Luvia, Galina, Leisha, and Angelina that the shooter was avenging his brother, a Kasonlik soldier killed in the border conflict, and that Military Intelligence Section Six had indirectly supplied information about William.
• Galina explained that William’s stated investigation into Colonel Dupont concealed his real purpose: investigating a secret meeting of the Delin Orr Restorationists in Vesta City.

At dinner, Galina revealed that William Anjou was searching for a child fathered by the former prince Lion Laine, while Shade and the women discussed the possibility that James Kaming was that child. Galina maneuvered Shade into marking Leisha with his Moon Mark, but Leisha revealed she had moved it to her chest and planned a matching mark for Dorothy before the next Fusion; later, Margaret arrived in Vesta City and reunited passionately with Shade.

• Galina told Leisha, Luvia, Angelina, and Shade that William Anjou was secretly searching for the possible child of Lion Laine Anjou and a local woman.
• Shade and the women noted that James Kaming's age fit the timeline, raising the possibility that he was Lion Laine's grandson.
• Galina persuaded Shade to place his Moon Mark on Leisha's arm, and Leisha later moved it to her chest using her spatial ability.
• Leisha told Shade she had arranged for Dorothy to receive a matching mark and planned for them to form a symmetrical pattern during their Fusion.
• Shade reached the Accordion Hotel late and found Margaret waiting in Room 321 after her father summoned her to Vesta City.
• Margaret embraced and kissed Shade, explaining that she had hurried there by high-speed steam train because of her brother's actions.

Shade and Margaret’s secret romance was exposed when Flora Winslet and the others walked in, prompting a tense but mostly playful interrogation about Shade’s relationships with witches and princesses. Margaret left after giving everyone gifts and arranged to meet Shade at the Accordion Hotel before departing, while Flora reminded him that Margaret might become the United Kingdom’s next queen.

• Flora Winslet, Miss Danist, Miss Bell, and the others caught Shade and Margaret kissing, and Flora demanded an explanation.
• Shade revealed that Margaret had met him in Tobesk and that Sylvia and Vanessa also knew him, leaving Flora shocked by the witches’ shared secrets.
• Margaret defended her relationship by pointing out that Leisha Cavendish was already Shade’s lover, and Miss Danist urged Flora not to make too much of it.
• Margaret gave gifts to the group, left Shade a handkerchief with a note arranging a meeting at Room 401 of the Accordion Hotel at seven thirty the next morning, and departed.
• Flora remarked that Margaret was different from Leisha because she could become the next Queen of the United Kingdom.

Shade and Miss Winslet investigated the Bronte family cemetery, uncovering York Bronte’s hidden human-experiment chamber and evidence that he had murdered victims to feed on them. They planned to confront Bronte, and Shade proposed using a nearby river to try to reach the Edge of Life and Death.

• Shade told Miss Winslet that he would help Margaret pursue the throne, then learned that she and Danist had located the Bronte cemetery and identified a dangerous monster called the Mourner in the nearby woodland.
• Shade and Miss Winslet went to the cemetery, where they found no trace of the coffin from the Edge of Life and Death but discovered a hidden chamber behind a wall in the underground tomb.
• Shade found records showing that York Bronte had experimented on people in an attempt to create beings like himself and help his family achieve immortality.
• Miss Winslet sensed that Bronte had fed on his victims and urged Shade to enter the Edge of Life and Death so they could punish him.
• Shade stopped Miss Winslet from deepening her curse and suggested that they use a nearby river to try to cross into the Edge of Life and Death.

Shade and Flora Winslet used the Small Wooden Boat to reach the Edge of Life and Death, where they found the undead unusually active. They fought Theodore Bronte’s mother in the Auditorium, and their battle was still underway.

• Shade summoned the Small Wooden Boat and, with Flora’s help, fashioned an oar to guide it upstream through a strange mist.
• Shade successfully ferried himself and Flora into the Edge of Life and Death, gaining insight into Ferrying and Boats.
• Shade and Flora reached the cemetery and noticed that the undead and the deathly power beneath it seemed unusually dangerous.
• The noblewoman wraith attacked Shade and Flora in the Auditorium with sickly green flames.
• Shade struck the wraith with Soul Whiplash, and Flora used Thunder of Sorrow to weaken it while Shade trapped it with Imprisoning Halos.

Shade and the Witch learned that Theodore Bronte had traded away part of his soul and used the coffin to travel through time, then returned to the Reality World to investigate it. Opening the coffin released a rapidly regenerating mass of Flesh, and York Bronte emerged from the Crimson Moon mist.

• The Bronte noblewoman told Shade that Theodore had split off part of his soul after 1787 and had turned to cruel soul experiments, especially after 1821.
• The noblewoman explained that Theodore had used Jack Bronte’s coffin to travel through time, and Shade realized they had opened the door to the earlier place without opening the coffin itself.
• Shade and the Witch left the noblewoman behind to restrain the undead below, then returned to the Reality World and dug up the coffin.
• Shade and the Witch surrounded the coffin with water and Holy Water No. 3, and Shade identified a coffin Nail as an ancient elven artifact.
• Dark-red Flesh crawled out of the coffin and rapidly regenerated despite Shade’s attacks, while the Witch sent the coffin away.
• York Bronte emerged from the Crimson Moon mist with half-melted skin after Shade cleaved the Flesh into four pieces.

Shade and Flora Winslet fought York Bronte’s flesh puppet, expelled his soul, and sealed the coffin, but the coffin broke free and began pulling them toward it. The chapter ended with both of them facing the coffin’s powerful suction.

• Flora Winslet identified York Bronte’s body as a flesh puppet and advised Shade to attack his soul and consciousness.
• Shade overpowered York Bronte’s puppet with Red Dragon Force, then cut it apart with the Moonbeam Greatsword and a second greatsword.
• Flora Winslet banished York Bronte’s soul from the puppet, and Shade’s Soul Whiplash struck it, forcing it back to York Bronte’s original body in Vesta City.
• Shade burned the abandoned puppet, encased the coffin in Moonbeam Thorns and ice, and planned to contact the Church for help.
• The coffin cracked through its icy seal, blasted off its lid, and unleashed a suction force that began pulling Shade and Flora Winslet inside.

Shade and Miss Owl were pulled into a tomb-filled subspace inside the coffin, where they fought the giant Mourner. After discovering its power source was in its right eye, Shade teamed up with Miss Winslet in unicorn form to charge toward it.

• Shade and the owl were swallowed by the coffin and emerged in a vast, closed-loop Tombstone Plain, where Shade searched for the missing Miss Owl.
• Shade's shout awakened the colossal Mourner, which attacked him with masses of vengeful soul fragments.
• Shade struck the Mourner with Adele's Regression Principle, then attacked with Moonlight Wheel: Fourth form, but the Mourner's shield shattered the wheels.
• Miss Owl rejoined Shade, and he gave her the Umbilical Cord Jar as she raised the Wall of Sighs to hold back the Mourner.
• Shade identified the Mourner's right eye as its power source and asked Miss Winslet to carry him into the sky.
• Miss Winslet transformed into a white unicorn, let Shade ride on her back, and flew through the Mourner's Soul Crystal lance barrage while Shade covered her in Moon Fire.

Shade and Flora Winslet pierced the colossal creature’s right eye, seized its core, and escaped as the coffin’s world collapsed. Back in Vesta Woodland, Flora kissed Shade and reflected on how close she had come to touching the power of The End.

• The silver Unicorn carried Shade through the creature’s defenses, and Shade’s golden radiance protected him from its instant-death beam.
• Flora Winslet’s soul was ejected near the creature, where she saw Shade’s eyes turn golden and felt him grasp her hand.
• The Unicorn pierced the creature’s right eye as Shade seized its core and subdued it with a wooden stake.
• Shade and the Witch raced across Tombstone Plain and escaped through the Rift as the pocket world collapsed around them.
• Back in Vesta Woodland, Flora kissed Shade and said she had felt the edge of the Twelfth Order and understood that The End, not death, was the meaning of her seat.
• Flora kissed Shade again, eager to continue.

Shade and Miss Winslet defeated the Mourner and learned more about the sealed coffin, an Ancient Witch’s spatial Alchemy Item that still contained dangerous souls and a Tree Hollow. After temporarily leaving it with the Elf Girl, Shade returned to the city and found that the Church’s detection barrier was active and dark clouds were gathering outside.

• Miss Winslet’s Time Curse deepened, and Shade collected the Mourner’s shriveled eyeball and explained what he had learned from its memories.
• Shade and Miss Winslet discovered that the coffin’s subspace had collapsed, leaving Theodore Bronte’s soul and a suspected Paradox Worm trapped inside amid spatial turbulence.
• Shade took the coffin to the Elf Girl, who agreed to store it temporarily and advised him to reveal the incident to the Academy elves and borrow the Ocarina of Time.
• The Elf Girl flew the coffin to her Tree House while Miss Winslet learned that a young Emilia Sinode had fought at Moon Bay with the Ocarina of Time.
• Shade returned to the city as the Church’s detection barrier activated and dark clouds gathered to the southeast, northwest, and west.