Chapter Summaries

Shade bought the antique arrow at Hoy Manor’s charity auction, then followed a burned spirit to a secret chamber containing valuables tainted by demonic power and linked to the Hoy Family. When he emerged from the well, Hoy Manor was suddenly on fire.

• Shade spotted the Elven Antique Arrow in the auction display and bought it for 80 crown after competing with George Kant.
• During the auction, Shade saw a burned resentful spirit pointing toward the banquet hall entrance, though Miss Danist could not see it.
• Shade and Miss Danist followed the spirit through the manor grounds to a well, where Shade discovered a secret chamber beneath it.
• Shade found gold, silver, and antique paintings bearing demonic power, including a portrait labeled Klein Hoy, and suspected the valuables belonged to the Hoy Family.
• Shade flew out of the well and discovered that Hoy Manor had erupted in flames as people screamed and fled.

Shade and Miss Danist pursued a Demon that had set Hoy Manor and the forest ablaze, and Shade defeated it using Chloe’s Ice Echo and a Moonbeam Greatsword. They contained the Demon’s self-destruction, but its tiny surviving Black Flame left its fate uncertain as the forest fire continued to spread.

• Miss Danist knocked the flaming figure from the sky with Moonlight Slash, and she and Shade followed it into the woods north of Hoy Manor.
• Shade and Miss Danist found a flame-bodied Demon, and Shade asked her to seal off the clearing while he fought it.
• Shade invoked Chloe’s Ice Echo, combined its ice power with the Demon Hunting Seal and Silver Moonlight, and struck the Demon with a Moonbeam Greatsword.
• When the Demon began to self-destruct, Shade retreated while Miss Danist contained the blast within the Red Moon.
• Shade captured a tiny remnant of Black Flames in an old lantern and said they needed to put out the spreading forest fire.

Shade and Miss Danist defeated a demon avatar at Hoy Manor, disrupting the auction, then Shade brought the demon’s remains to the Doctor. The Doctor identified the enemy’s split core and concluded that its main body had divided into four avatars, leaving the group with a clearer but still unresolved hunt.

• Shade used Chloe’s Ice Breath to extinguish the forest fire, and the interrupted auction guests left Hoy Manor.
• Shade and Miss Danist returned to the Accordion Hotel, where Flora and Miss Bell discussed the Kant Family’s suspicious wealth and ties to the Nature Church.
• Shade left for Tobesk after telling Flora that Dorothy was coming for their regular date night.
• Shade showed the Doctor a demon’s remains, and the Doctor identified it as part of Fire Demon - Disaster’s avatar.
• The Doctor determined that the demon’s core had split into four parts and explained that it had released an avatar to investigate the sin Shade had used in Vesta Woodland.

Shade and the doctor planned how to investigate the Fire Demon - Disaster, while Shade’s return home led to a warm conversation about Luvia staying with him until the Vesta Woodland matter was resolved. The chapter ended with Luvia and Dorothy testing Dorothy and Leisha’s spatial abilities together.

• The doctor asked Shade to search for the Hoy Family members’ burned corpses and said he would prepare to sense the demon at Vesta Woodland.
• Shade told the doctor he could not contact Sister Devlin, and the doctor advised him to investigate the demon’s possible whereabouts while preparations were made.
• Luvia said she planned to move back to her apartment, but Dorothy and Shade persuaded her to stay at Shade’s home until the Vesta Woodland matter was resolved.
• Luvia agreed to stay temporarily and joined Dorothy and Shade for the night, teasing Dorothy about a romantic scene in her story.
• Luvia praised Dorothy and Leisha’s refined spatial abilities as Dorothy demonstrated them, and the two women playfully continued testing the abilities together.

Shade and Flora investigated the Hoy Family’s auctioned antiques and discovered that a nail from one painting’s frame had come from the night of the 1546 Hoy Manor fire. They suspected a Tree Hollow connected the present to that night and chose not to report their findings to The Church yet.

• Flora questioned Shade about his scent, then reminded him to attend her Harvest Festival performance and discuss the Demon’s weakened state.
• Miss Bell explained that The Church’s records said the Hoy Family’s bodies had been exhumed, exorcised, and cremated after the fire.
• Shade collected the auctioned Creekwood Town, World Tree, and Elven Antique Arrow from Hoy Manor with Flora.
• Flora noticed that the antiques’ frames looked too new, and Shade used Return of Time on a nail from one frame.
• Shade learned that the nail had returned to 8:38 PM on the night of the 29th day of the Newborn Moon, 1546, when the Hoy Manor fire occurred.
• Shade and Flora suspected a Tree Hollow connected the present to 1546, but Shade decided not to tell The Church because the Doctor still needed the Demon’s power.

Shade kept the demon investigation quiet while accompanying Flora to her performance at the Golden Music Hall. There, he learned about an ancient Tree Hole Ritual and discovered that George Kant was the Fire Disaster Demon.

• Shade told Flora to have people watch the Kant Family from a distance and have Miss Bell exchange intelligence with The Church while they waited for the Doctor.
• Shade spent the afternoon with Flora and accompanied her to the Golden Music Hall for her performance.
• Professor Yuke Wood told Shade about the lost Tree Hole Ritual and said the World Tree still influenced the forest.
• Shade met George Kant and Mr. Bennett in the music hall corridor and sensed that George was the Fire Disaster Demon.

Flora performed her Third Forest Sonata at the Harvest Music Festival, but Shade detected no change in the music hall during the music. Afterward, Flora sensed that her performance had opened a hidden room beneath the hall, and Shade found its ancient stone door in the Steam Engine Room.

• Shade decided not to approach the Mermaid and continued to conceal that he knew George Kant was part of Fire Demon - Disaster.
• Flora dressed for the concert, and Shade praised her before she took the stage.
• Flora performed the Third Forest Sonata to thunderous applause while Shade searched for traces connected to the Time Temple.
• After the performance, Flora told Shade that a hidden room had opened and gave him its location.
• Shade found a blue-green stone door bearing the Tree Father Holy Emblem in the Steam Engine Room.
• Shade discovered that the clock hands on the emblem could move when he turned one.

Shade opened a hidden chamber in the Time Temple and found an ancient seed and the Golden Jewel Crown, a relic of Elven Royal Authority. As he approached the final chest, he sensed danger and drew back, and the chest began to tremble.

• Shade aligned the holy emblem’s hands, spoke its blessing, and opened a hidden staircase leading to a chamber with three chests.
• Shade found a fossilized seed containing Life Force and Miracle Element, and suspected it could grow into a genuine Time Tree Hole.
• Shade discovered a Mithril crown identified as the Golden Jewel Crown, one of the five ancient crowns of Elven Royal Authority.
• Shade fastened the crown around his arm and considered letting Emilia test its power, but concluded it was unlikely to relate to the Chosen One Ritual.
• Shade sensed danger before touching the last chest, retreated with Silver White Thunder Light in hand, and watched the chest begin to tremble.

Shade defeated a Treasure Chest Monster in the Time Temple and found a rare Greed Imprint and a ritual that could protect people from being displaced in time. After revealing a hidden compartment containing a dark Time Key, he was confronted by the Twelfth Ring Clockmaker, who took the key and used Time Regression.

• Shade enlarged himself to overpower the Treasure Chest Monster, seized its tongue, and destroyed it with a Thunder Spear.
• Shade found a rare Greed Imprint and a Youthful Immortality Leaf that revealed the Time Proof ritual for avoiding accidental travel to another time.
• Shade searched the chamber for more clues, then used the Destiny Ring and Spacetime Spirit Rune to reveal a hidden compartment containing a dark Time Key.
• The Twelfth Ring Clockmaker attacked Shade, seized the Time Key, and used Time Regression to return the chamber to how it had appeared ten minutes earlier.

Shade pursued the Clockmaker after she escaped the secret chamber, while the Church and Creation Church forces confronted her summoned dragon beast at the Golden Music Hall. The Clockmaker escaped by returning herself to a recorded past state, and Shade transformed into a Moonlight Dragon to fight the beast.

• The Clockmaker fled the secret chamber, but Shade caught up with her outside the Golden Music Hall and demanded the Time Key.
• The Clockmaker summoned a dragon beast from the past, while Miss Owl and Church officers joined Shade against her and her attendants.
• Shade struck the Clockmaker with the Black Moon Rune, and she recognized his resistance to time effects before escaping through Time Regression.
• Shade caught the time-immune Time Key as the Clockmaker vanished, while Mr. Gerald Delong and his Mechanical Dragon fought the summoned beast.
• The dragon beast grew stronger through the Clockmaker's Twelfth Ring of Fate and attacked Shade with black flames.
• Shade transformed into a silver Moonlight Dragon with Owl on his shoulder and met the dragon beast's flames with moonlight.

Shade fought alongside the Moonlight Dragon against a dragon beast before meeting the Time Guardians, who warned him that his newly reclaimed Time Key could collapse the timeline. They left him questioning whether the key led to the First or Second Epoch.

• Shade and Miss Owl battled the dragon beast with Mr. Gerald Delong, but the creature escaped after summoning copies of itself and breathing black flames.
• Shade told Mr. Delong that the dragon beast resisted his power to suppress Dragons and might not be a Dragon at all, then flew away with Miss Owl.
• Shade stopped time in the woodland and encountered three Time Guardians, including Envy Edwards.
• The Time Guardians said an item Shade carried could collapse the timeline, and Shade identified the Time Key he had reclaimed as the likely cause.
• Shade speculated that the key had been placed in its hidden compartment during the Second Epoch and asked whether it led to the First or Second Epoch.

Shade learned that using the First Epoch Time Key himself could endanger the timeline, and the Time Guardians announced that its reappearance had begun the Time War. The bells marked seven candidates, including Emilia, Luvia, the Clockmaker, and an unknown Ring Arcanist, as qualified to compete for the eighth Chosen One.

• The Time Guardians warned Shade not to use the First Epoch Time Key and revealed that Luvia had used it four times in vanished Sixth Epochs, Laplace once, and it had been destroyed before activation once.
• The tall elf explained that the seed from the secret chamber could grow a door to the Time Corridor and revealed that the chamber had been left by him, the former Elf King of the Second Epoch.
• The Time Guardians announced that the Time War had begun, explaining that seven candidates would travel to suitable past eras, gain power, and compete, with victory rather than killing usually eliminating opponents.
• The Guardians explained that Luvia Fiocchi Annette could win only by killing everyone because her unusual ranking did not count her as a victor, then vanished as time resumed.
• Thirteen bells rang from the Golden Music Hall, and the Elf Girl told Shade she had not received the green hand markings that signified Time War qualification.
• Green markings appeared on Emilia, an unknown Ring Arcanist, the Clockmaker, and Luvia, while the Twin Princes remained unqualified; the bells announced the start of the war for the eighth Chosen One.

Shade learned that the Time War had begun and discussed its rules with Luvia and Galina. Luvia chose to forfeit her qualification so they could focus on Emilia, whom Shade hoped to send to Saint Byron’s in the Fifth Epoch to retrieve Mana Falianna.

• The Elf Girl explained that Shade could not use the time-travel qualification, but that qualifications could be gathered onto one person to improve their time-travel ability and destination precision.
• Shade returned home and confirmed that Luvia and Emilia had received qualifications for the Time War, which involved traveling to a suitable era before competing for the right to perform the final ritual.
• Luvia decided not to participate, preferring to support Emilia and avoid becoming a Chosen One herself.
• Shade proposed transferring Luvia’s qualification and the Twin Princes’ qualification to Emilia, hoping she could travel to Saint Byron’s in the Fifth Epoch.
• Galina teased Shade about wanting Emilia to bring Mana Falianna back to the present, and Shade admitted that he had considered it.

Shade discussed the dangers in Vesta Woodland and the need for more allies, then met Long-Haired Luvia in a dream, where she took the First Epoch Time Key. On Monday morning, Shade joined the Elf Girl for breakfast and discussed sending Emilia Sinode to study in the Fifth Epoch.

• Shade and Luvia agreed that they needed more help against the Paradox Worms and the creature from the World Tree Remnants, while Emilia remained at Saint Byron's for safety preparations.
• Galina said the witches and Followers would prepare rituals with the Youthful Immortality Leaves and arrive at Vesta Woodland in roughly half a week to a week.
• Long-Haired Luvia met Shade in his dream and explained how the First Epoch Time Key had helped her understand time and create the Yggdrasil Staff.
• Luvia took the Time Key from reality through Shade's soul and kept it, then kissed him goodbye and sent him back to his Silver Moon Dream.
• On Monday morning, Shade met the Elf Girl in Vesta Woodland and said they planned to send Emilia Sinode to study with the Academy's founders in the middle of the Fifth Epoch.
• The Elf Girl objected when Shade put a jar containing an umbilical cord on the breakfast table.

Shade discussed Emilia’s qualification and the possibility of sending her to the Fifth Epoch to bring Miss Feliana back. He then saw Flora’s fourth oil painting and told Flora and Miss Danist about the plan, while they confirmed Miss Feliana and Miss Delago had visited Saint Byron’s and stayed at Shade’s home.

• Shade asked the Elf Girl whether he could transfer a candidate’s qualification and learned that costly methods existed, though a non-candidate winning would have no practical benefit.
• Shade collected his weekly gift, a bag of expensive cat food, but the Elf Girl refused to give it to the Luku Birds and told him to take it back to Little Mia.
• Shade arrived at the Accordion Hotel and saw Flora’s fourth oil painting, which depicted an owl flying beside a dragon beneath the night sky.
• Flora suggested Shade learn the Partial Transformation Spell to grow dragon wings and fly, and Shade touched the cat ears she produced.
• Shade told Flora and Miss Danist that Luvia had surrendered her qualification so Emilia could try to reach Saint Byron’s in the middle of the Fifth Epoch and bring Miss Feliana back.
• Miss Danist explained that Miss Mana Falianna was Shade’s teacher, and she confirmed that Miss Feliana and Miss Delago had visited Saint Byron’s and stayed at Shade’s home for more than a week.

Shade investigated a suspicious historical fire at Gregory Village, where an entire settlement had burned down on a rainy night in 1698. He and the witch found signs of recent activity and an entrance leading underground, leaving them poised to investigate what lay beneath the abandoned village.

• Miss Bell reported that records showed an entire village had burned down in 1698, and Shade decided to investigate Gregory Village.
• The witch accompanied Shade to the abandoned village, where neither of them sensed undead or lingering resentment from the fire's victims.
• Shade discovered that the village dock appeared to have been maintained and used recently.
• Following footprints from the dock, Shade found a concealed entrance underground behind a partially collapsed house.

Shade and Miss Owl investigated a deserted village and discovered that light summoned increasingly powerful flames while darkness concealed hostile forces. The chapter ended with Miss Owl using Thaumaturgy to disperse the Wrath, souls, and Ashes surrounding them.

• Shade used Echoes of the Past in an empty root cellar and heard men moving crates there within the last two days.
• Shade summoned a flame, triggering deep darkness and the smell of burning bodies, then flames erupted around him and Miss Owl.
• Shade and Miss Owl escaped the cellar with Laguerre's Leap and found the village restored and filled with signs of life before it ignited.
• Shade and Miss Owl fought back the spreading fire with ice, Primal Power, and the Wall of Sighs until the flames vanished in darkness.
• Miss Owl realized that light summoned the flames, while Shade sensed unseen creatures surrounding them and she cast Wrath Dissipation.

Shade and Flora confronted the Sage Level Relic Lingering Grudge, whose darkness and fire conjured Ashes monsters and curses. They used a snowball to escape into a burning vision of Gregory Village, where a crimson monster watched as Flora searched for a way out.

• Flora’s attempts to scatter the Ashes awakened a giant Ashes monster, which cursed Shade when they fought.
• Shade petrified the giant with Shadow Ball, then used silver light to erase surrounding monsters and trigger a blazing inferno.
• Flora identified the relic as Lingering Grudge and explained that they needed to escape the resentment rather than confront its core.
• Shade used Arrow of Night to create a dark domain, slowing the Ashes monsters and holding back the surrounding flames.
• After ordinary water evaporated, Shade summoned a Great Snowball, and he emerged in a burning vision of Gregory Village.
• Flora began sensing an escape route while Shade faced a five-meter-tall crimson monster crouched at the village’s center.

Shade and Flora escaped Gregory Village’s Lingering Grudge relic after fighting the Ghost of Grudge and rescuing an old woman’s soul. They suspected the relic contained part of Fire Demon - Disaster and discussed whether recent cellar smugglers were its worshippers.

• The Ghost of Grudge attacked Shade with Primordial Fire, and Shade destroyed it with the Black Moon Rune, but it reappeared while the village flames continued.
• The Cat found the exit at the dock, and Shade escaped the pursuing Ghost of Grudge by carrying the Cat and an old woman’s soul into the river channel.
• A Small Wooden Boat carried Shade, the Cat, and the old woman’s soul back into the rainy autumn world, where Flora helped treat Shade’s burns.
• Shade told Flora that the Ghost of Grudge contained part of Fire Demon - Disaster and suspected the Demon had caused Gregory Village’s massacre.
• Flora explained that the event-type relic kept the Demon trapped in the village and suggested that the people who recently moved goods from the cellar might be its worshippers.

Shade and Flora used the Ferry God’s oar to reach True Death, hoping to restore the old woman’s soul so they could question her about the demon. They encountered Sister Devlin on Nether Beach, where she healed Shade’s burns and removed his curses.

• Shade decided that the old woman’s soul should be taken to True Death because Flora feared outside interference would alert the demon.
• Flora supported Shade as he used the Ferry God’s oar to guide their boat through the fog toward the Underworld Moon.
• The boat reached Nether Beach, where Flora’s Destiny Ring and Golden Staircase appeared as she felt the power of death.
• Shade recognized Sister Devlin beside a bonfire and jumped from the boat to approach her.
• Sister Devlin treated Shade with Warm Fire and Healing Tears, removing his burns, Ashes Curse, and Demon Curse.