Chapter Summaries

Shade and the others returned to their safe camp after Miss Wilde and Shade drove off a Heartless Demon Person. Miss Wilde then taught the group the Tea Extraction Method, a technique for recovering aether by chewing specially prepared tea leaves, and they began practicing it together.

• Shade steered the boat carrying the group back through the floating ice to the castle, where Miss Maze asked what they had encountered.
• Iluna and Gray Wolf Girl described the enemy, and Miss Maze identified it as a Heartless Demon Person created by parasitic Heartless Worms.
• Shade asked Miss Wilde to teach the group, and she prepared specially enchanted tea leaves for the Tea Extraction Method.
• Miss Wilde instructed everyone to chew the leaves without swallowing and meditate on a moment of happiness to restore aether.
• Shade and the young ladies chewed the bitter tea leaves together and began practicing the technique beside the campfire.

Shade learned the Thaumaturgy "Tea Extraction Method" by turning bitter tea leaves into candy and recalling a lost sweetness from childhood. As the group prepared to leave, Miss Maze revealed that chewing the leaves had brought back vivid memories of studying at an unknown Academy, and Shade asked Miss Bister to watch over her.

• Shade used his Toy Maker Spirit Rune to turn chewed tea leaves into candy, and a childhood memory of tasting flower nectar helped him learn the "Tea Extraction Method."
• Miss Wilde congratulated Shade, while Iluna and Miss Bister accidentally swallowed their tea leaves and asked for more.
• Miss Maze said she had recalled studying at a vast Academy and revised her teaching materials using knowledge from those memories.
• Iluna warned that strange memories and unexplained knowledge could signal an abnormal incident, but Miss Maze insisted her memories felt real and were not mental contamination.
• Shade asked Miss Bister to keep an eye on Miss Maze as their time together ended.

Shade left the witches, then traveled to Huntington City to ask Intellect Angel Cherub about Vesta Woodland and the ancient remnant. Cherub agreed to tell him the story without a trial, leaving Shade poised to hear more details.

• After Shade left, Miss Wilde proposed giving him a Dragon scale, and Iluna warned her not to kiss Shade without his consent before turning the witches’ attention to studying the Sun.
• Shade told Luvia he would visit Huntington City and asked Miss Danist to contact Zaras Academy of Literature about Los Metz and the book Blessing of Books.
• Shade rode from White River Valley Vineyard to the Lake of Cherub and met Intellect Angel Cherub on Heart Lake Island.
• Shade asked Cherub about the ancient remnant’s fall in Vesta Woodland and the sealing war; Cherub said she would tell him the story without requiring a trial.

Shade learned how the World Tree’s collapse created a dangerous evil entity and how the First People suppressed it with the power of the elements. The Angel gave Shade the Lingquan Enlightenment thaumaturgy and warned him that the Time Chosen One ritual could force difficult choices as the end of the world approached; Shade returned home before heading to Vesta Woodland.

• The Angel told Shade that World Tree fragments had spawned evil entities and explained that Strange Tree Academy had once been built upon and empowered by a fragment.
• The Angel explained that the First People used Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire—the power of the world—to suppress the entity, and said the Nun could burn it away at the cost of her life.
• The Angel bestowed Lingquan Enlightenment on Shade, allowing him to calm a humanoid creature and enlighten its wisdom with a drop of water on its brow.
• The Angel warned Shade that the world might need a World Tree, that the end was approaching, and that he should make choices according to his own wishes.
• Shade feared Emilia might become a new World Tree, calmed himself with his new thaumaturgy, and left the Angel with a warning not to live with regrets.
• Shade returned to his home in rainy Tobesk instead of going straight to Vesta Woodland.

Shade asked Priest Augustus whether the Chosen One of Time was destined to become a World Tree, and the priest reassured him that the future still allowed choices. The priest gave Shade a batch of Angel Elixir, and Shade returned to the inn to find that Angelina had tried to enter his room unseen and had been caught by Louisa.

• Shade asked Priest Augustus about the World Tree, and the priest argued that the Ancient Gods did not dictate mortals' destinies.
• Priest Augustus advised Shade to tell the Chosen One of Time about his concerns so she could choose for herself.
• Priest Augustus gave Shade ten Angel Elixirs that restored Spirit, including a powerful one capable of supporting much of Shade's Mystic Lock.
• Shade donated most of his share of the Hoy Family treasure to the church and returned to the inn before lunch.
• Miss Bell told Shade that Angelina had tried to enter his room unseen, but Louisa had found her.

Shade tested his new Thaumaturgy and told Emilia not to turn into a tree before recounting his travels. As the factions in Vesta Woodland prepared for the Distorted Tree Hole and pursued their own plans, Vanessa explained that the Mist Crow Brotherhood was a Demon-worshipping organization that sought escape from the world’s destruction in Purgatory.

• Shade helped Angelina reconcile with Dorothy, then gave Galina Angel Elixir to have Grandma Cassandra inspect.
• Luvia took Flora to the Golden Music Hall while Shade stayed behind to tell Emilia stories, first warning her not to turn into a tree.
• Shade tested Lingquan Enlightenment on Emilia, Miss Danist, and Angelina, finding that it calmed the mind and could spark inspiration.
• Witches, Church members, the Three Great Academies, and other factions continued investigating Vesta Woodland and preparing for the threat of the Distorted Tree Hole.
• The Clockmaker and a senior Tree Hole Association member went to the clearing with five seats, where a waiting figure awaited mortals offering themselves.
• Vanessa explained to Shade that the Mist Crow Brotherhood believed the world was doomed and urged people to enter Purgatory among the Demons.

Emilia and Luvia fought so Emilia could fulfill the requirement for a time-travel ritual, and Emilia won after using the Elven Royal Authority to ambush Luvia. But seeing Luvia’s hair as long-haired triggered an overwhelming, unexplained terror in Emilia, leaving her frozen as Shade approached.

• Miss Danist explained that the Mist Crow Brotherhood had shifted its attention to the Chosen Ones after learning the suspected demon was an Ancient Evil Spirit.
• The elf in the forest told Emilia that she had to defeat Luvia before the ritual could locate the point in time for Emilia’s return to the past.
• Emilia tried spells and time-altering powers against Luvia, but they failed until Miss Danist reminded her to put on the crown.
• Emilia used the Elven Royal Authority to hide herself in nature, then disarmed Luvia in close combat and pointed the Ocarina of Time at her throat.
• Emilia mistook Luvia’s swaying hair for long hair and was overcome by terror, remaining frozen even as Shade approached.

Shade traveled from 1854 to 1821 so Luvia and Emilia could complete the Time War qualification ritual without using Sianode's power. He arrived at the Tree Hollow in heavy rain and settled into a magically sheltered campsite to wait for Mrs. Carter.

• Emilia and Luvia's duel ended without counting as an official Time War battle because neither had used a qualification.
• The Forest Elf prepared a ritual using a thread and leaves so Shade and Luvia could form a contract across time, and Shade chose to travel to 1821.
• Flora teased Shade about his feelings for Daniste, then kissed him before he left through the Tree Hollow.
• Shade arrived in 1821 in heavy rain and created a dry campsite with a bonfire.
• Shade summoned tea and pastries, read the Dragon-language note accompanying them, and wondered who was connected to the emerald.

Shade visited Helena Carter in 1821, promised not to interfere with her fate, and received her Thaumaturgy research notes. Back in the present, Emilia prepared to travel through time on Friday, while Luvia privately worried over impossible visions of Destiny.

• Shade told Helena Carter about the Fate Casino and asked for her help, but she warned him against manipulating time and made him promise not to change what happened to her.
• Helena gave Shade her Thaumaturgy research notes and declined to interfere in the investigation into the dragon beast and the underground Watcher.
• Shade returned to the present, where Flora teased him about Helena's perfume, and he joined the others after the ritual had ended.
• Shade and Luvia agreed that Emilia would begin her journey through time on Friday, with the elf preparing a ritual site in the woods.
• Luvia joined Shade in bed, saying she had missed him, but privately recalled seeing impossible things in Destiny after her duel with Emilia.

In a dream, Long-Haired Luvia urged Shade to absorb part of her soul so he would be better prepared for an unavoidable choice in Vesta Woodland, but he refused. After waking, Luvia shared an affectionate morning with Shade, and he later welcomed Emma Sylvia to Vesta City ahead of Princess Margaret’s public visit.

• Long-Haired Luvia asked Shade to eat part of her soul to gain her power and memories, warning that a difficult choice awaited in Vesta Woodland.
• Shade refused, and Luvia explained that greater power could help the coming battle but could not change the forced choice she anticipated.
• Luvia and Shade shared an intimate dream, and after waking she teased him about it and asked him to hold her.
• Princess Margaret arrived in Vesta City publicly to address the royal family’s response to William Anjou’s shooting of the “Illegitimate Son.”
• Emma Sylvia arrived at the Accordion Hotel and greeted Shade enthusiastically, embracing him and spinning around with him.

As Shade and the others prepared for Emilia’s departure and discussed the Church’s plans, Luvia divined that Angelina’s problem was tied to a nightmare memory. That night, emerald miasma spread from Vesta Woodland into the city, putting its people into uncanny dreams.

• Miss Sylvia teased Shade and Flora, then offered to build Teleportation Gates while Flora helped Shade recount the events in Vesta City to Emilia.
• Angelina helped the hotel staff, and Luvia performed a Tarot divination for her that revealed a reversed Memory card and a possible nightmare memory.
• Dorothy worked through the night with Miss Sylvia to build a Teleportation Gate, while the Witches discussed whether to cooperate with The Church in the forest next week.
• Angelina imagined becoming a Chosen One but wished most for her loved ones to remain safe, then went to sleep alone.
• Vines in Vesta Woodland spread emerald miasma toward the city, reviving plants and sending the people of Vesta City into strange dreams.

Shade awoke in a dream of a peaceful future, but Luvia explained that a relic had put the city to sleep and drawn most people into dreams. As they began waking others, Angelina's dream shifted into a sorrowful scene with Leisha.

• Shade dreamed that Galina was preparing him to attend Leisha's coronation in a world where he had saved the Seventh Epoch and would become a god.
• Luvia arrived and told Shade that green miasma from a tree-related relic had made the city sleep and enter dreams.
• Shade rejected the dream's vision of the future and joined Luvia in visiting the dreams of the sleepers.
• Dorothy found that Angelina had entered a dream in which Shade pushed her on a swing while Iluna and Emilia watched nearby.
• Angelina's dream shifted, and she met a haggard Leisha, whose words made Angelina weep with unexplained sorrow.

Angelina delivered Leisha’s box to the apartment on Quill Street, unaware that her sister’s farewell belonged to a dream of a past that Shade had changed. Shade and Leisha followed Angelina through the dream, determined to let her witness its ending and become stronger.

• Leisha comforted Angelina, asked her to deliver a mahogany box and a letter to the apartment on Quill Street, and sent her to fetch black tea.
• Angelina returned to find Leisha gone and discovered a note telling her to deliver the box without opening it.
• Angelina traveled to 221 Quill Street, where Shade stopped time and explained that the scene was Leisha’s dream of what might have happened if he had never existed.
• Leisha told Shade that she wanted Angelina to see the dream’s ending so she would become strong, and Shade agreed to accompany her.
• Time resumed, and Angelina entered the apartment while Leisha and Shade followed her invisibly up the stairs.

Shade helped Angelina confront a terrifying dream of losing her sister, allowing her to accept her fear and choose to hold on to her present and future. Angelina awakened as a Ring Arcanist, gained two Spirit Runes and a new Thaumaturgy, and revealed a special talent.

• Angelina read the letter and opened the box in the dream, triggering a vision that left her weeping beside Leisha.
• Shade fought and restrained the giant shadow formed from Angelina’s despair until Leisha’s lullaby calmed them and the dream returned to normal.
• Angelina asked Leisha not to leave her, and Leisha reassured her that she and Shade were by her side.
• Angelina faced her fear and chose not to disappear, then Shade used Thaumaturgy—Lingquan Enlightenment on her.
• Angelina awakened a Second Ring of Fate and engraved the Enlightenment Ling Rune Mind’s Light and the Whisper Spirit Rune Self.
• Angelina gained the Thaumaturgy Invisible Man and awakened the special talent Heart Lock.

Angelina emerged from a dream in which she reunited with Leisha, and Shade and the others explained that the Sage Level Relic Illusion Dream Tree had trapped Vesta City in dangerous dreams. With the relic’s main body still hidden in the forest, the group faced a choice between defending themselves and taking action.

• In Angelina’s dream, Shade recognized her new Spirit Rune as Mind’s Light, and Angelina advanced to the third ring while gaining a mysterious power associated with chaos.
• Angelina asked Leisha and Shade for affection and promised to help her sister; Leisha agreed to let her help in the future.
• Angelina woke in Shade’s room at the Accordion Hotel, where the group had been awakening dreamers and blocking the green miasma with ritual protections.
• Leisha explained that the Sage Level Relic Illusion Dream Tree spread miasma that forced people into dreams and could turn those overwhelmed by the Whisper Element into plants.
• Shade reported that all of Vesta City was affected, while Flora said the Council and their allies had been contacted and Vanessa and Sivie were searching the forest for the relic’s main body.
• After learning Emilia was safe, Angelina went to help seal the windows, and Luvia asked Shade whether the group should defend their position or take action.

Shade and Miss Danist joined the Church’s investigation into the green miasma surrounding Vesta City, where the Sage Level Relic’s effects had divided the area into three different spacetimes. The Church suspected the oldest tree in the forest was involved, but Shade and the others remained inside the city as the Nature and Sun Churches prepared to search for the relic’s main body.

• Shade asked Luvia to divine whether the relic’s main body was in the forest or the city, then went with Miss Danist to the Nature Church.
• Maria received Shade and Miss Danist and explained that Church forces outside the city had passed through the miasma into Creekwood Town instead of reaching Vesta City.
• Shade met Iluna, Gareth Sander, and Sky Blade as the churches discussed the incident.
• A Church Arcanist reported that Creekwood Town in summer, present-day Vesta City, and the snowy forest belonged to three different spacetimes.
• The Church and Shade concluded that the oldest tree in the forest was likely connected to the disturbance, and the Nature and Sun Churches prepared to search the city for the relic’s main body.

Shade joined the effort to search Vesta City for the Pink Tree Man, spoke with the legendary Holy Knight Astrea about the Great Prophecy, and went to wake Margaret as green miasma spread through the city. Margaret woke from a nightmare, and Shade left her safely in the manor while the search continued.

• Miss Danist and Shade joined the Church's meeting, where the teams divided Vesta City into search districts and Miss Danist chose the east.
• Shade spoke with Astrea, who urged cooperation against the coming apocalypse and asked about the Great Prophecy, but neither had answers.
• The Duchess sent Sylvia to search with her while Shade went to check on Margaret, and Flora and Miss Danist stayed behind for Luvia's Divination.
• Shade crossed the thickening miasma to Green Shade Manor and found Margaret and her attendants asleep.
• Shade woke Margaret from a nightmare about the Kassenric United Kingdom, told her to stay in the manor, and left after she wished him success.

Shade and the Witches discovered that the Illusion Dream Tree had hidden in a dream, and The Church forced it into reality before Thirteenth Ring forces destroyed it. A gigantic Paradox Worm then emerged beneath Clover Petals Square, and Iluna stabilized spacetime so the assembled forces could attack it.

• Luvia divined that the tree was inside a dream near the city's center, and soon afterward it appeared above the Golden Music Hall under The Church's attacks.
• Shade, Galina, Sylvia, and the others saw sleeping Paradox Worms clinging to the Illusion Dream Tree and supplying it with power.
• Mr. Gareth Sander, Iluna, and the Holy Knight attacked the tree, while a ritual bound its legs and the Sky Sword destroyed it.
• The tree's worm-filled sacs sank underground, and a gigantic Paradox Worm erupted from Clover Petals Square, shattering nearby glass with its buzzing.
• The Church began its contingency ritual as Thaumaturgy struck the worm, but its White Fog weakened the attacks.
• Iluna raised the Dark Gold Scales and stabilized spacetime, making the Paradox Worm vulnerable to another assault.

Shade and Galina joined through a Mystic Lock to confront an ancient Paradox Worm that could cast spells and manipulate time. With Galina’s Chaos power and Iluna’s balance, Shade stabilized the worm and the city’s unstable time, leaving the creature falling from the sky.

• The Church’s Warlocks and Maria destroyed the first Paradox Worm, but a stronger, ancient worm emerged from underground and reflected the attacks against it.
• Shade asked Galina to help him open a Mystic Lock, then drank the perfume and Angel Elixir while Iluna and the others fought the worm.
• Iluna shattered the worm’s shield, and Sky Blade split it in two, but the creature immediately restored itself.
• Shade and Galina opened the God Summoner Mystic Lock, merged their powers, and Shade used Galina’s Chaos power to make the worm solid.
• Shade and Iluna invoked Stabilize, dispelling the city’s miasma and causing the Paradox Worm to fall from the sky.

Shade and Iluna defeated a Paradox Worm in Vesta City, but another emerged from a dormant egg and escaped. Shade brought the injured Galina and the unconscious Angelina aboard the Radiance Messenger, where the Witches prepared to treat them.

• Shade used the Ancient Elven Stability Principle to resist the Paradox Worm’s Time Stop, then trapped it with chains as Iluna struck it with her Sunlight Gun.
• Shade destroyed the worm’s remains and scattered them into Ashes, but another adult Paradox Worm emerged from an egg and burrowed underground.
• Angelina recognized in a dream that Shade was Su Lun, then laughed uncontrollably and fainted while Emilia tried to help her.
• Shade carried Galina aboard the Radiance Messenger, where Vanessa and Sivie examined Galina and Angelina.
• Shade admitted that merging with Galina through Mystic Lock had affected her soul, and Sivie led him inside to let the Witches treat her.