Chapter Summaries

After Shade learned that the Time Transfer Station was connected to the Bennett family and Paradox Worms, he sought the Elf Girl’s help understanding the Tree Hole Spell. The chapter ended with the Elf Girl preparing to teach Shade the spell in the snowy woods.

• Wise Great Witch Megan theorized that the Time Transfer Station overlapped in space with the Accordion Hotel and was kept separate from the normal world on Saturday nights.
• Leisha warned Shade that Megan and Audrey Edwardz wanted to confront him about their missing Moon Marks and try Hamster Gnawing Sugar Cane.
• Shade woke on Sunday to Vesta Woodland’s first snow of the winter of 1854 and later visited the Elf Girl with Little Mia.
• The Elf Girl gave Shade a bottle of Paradox Worm Potion and said an eight-ring human was unlikely to create independent time with the Tree Hole Spell.
• Shade and the Elf Girl discussed Bennett’s connection to the Ancient Tree and concluded that past traders had probably given him the antiques found at Bennett Old House.
• The Elf Girl offered to teach Shade the Tree Hole Spell, and they went outside into the snow to begin learning it.

Shade learned the Tree Hole Spell from Emilia, who kissed him in the snow and explained the Chosen One Ritual’s requirements. Their conversation left unresolved whether Emilia would have to become the Tree of Time, while a new crisis arose when the Church asked the group for a Witch’s help.

• Emilia used a ritual in a tree hollow to teach Shade the Tree Hole Spell, and Shade gave her a rose before she kissed him.
• Emilia explained that the Chosen One Ritual required a victor, primordial World Tree materials, enough Power of Time, and a time-distorted site; Shade told her he did not want her to become a tree.
• Shade and Emilia disagreed over whether she might have to accept that responsibility, then returned to the ship with Little Liana for lunch.
• Miss Bell reported that the Church needed a Witch’s help with an unknown problem, and Megan agreed to go after Flora and Shade could not take part.
• Another message arrived from the woods in a letter from Galina.

Shade and Vanessa investigated a strange disaster in Vesta Woodland after the Crescent Moon Secret Society asked the Witch Council to search for an ancient relic. At White Ape Canyon, they found the land dying in a way even Vanessa had never seen, and all Five Gods Churches had joined the effort to confront it.

• Shade and Vanessa learned that the Crescent Moon Secret Society had given Galina a Poem Chapter Fragment and asked the Witch Council to find an ancient leader’s hidden legacy in Vesta Woodland; the Council agreed to help with first purchase rights to any significant mementos.
• Vanessa said Sister Devlin and the Speaker would arrive the next day, while Shade wondered whether Destiny had kept Adele Isabella away from Vesta Woodland in the past.
• Megan sent for Shade after a serious incident occurred, and Vanessa joined him with the Owl and a group of young Sorceresses.
• The group traveled to White Ape Canyon and discovered that the trees and soil were suffering a true death that Vanessa said even the Guardian of the Earth could not reverse.
• Shade’s party reached a Church outpost and learned that all Five Gods Churches, the Academy, and the Hermits of the Forest had sent people to deal with the unprecedented threat inside the canyon.

Shade investigated a black structure in White Ape Canyon and discovered a rift leading to the Present World's Doomsday. Unable to leave as the rift destabilized, he used the Ancient Elven Stability Principle to slow it and decided to conduct his long-postponed Thaumaturgy experiment there.

• Shade entered White Ape Canyon alone after learning that two Ring Arcanists had died and a Twelfth Ring professor had been injured investigating it.
• Shade found a massive black structure with shattered warning-sealed doors and discovered a glowing rift inside.
• Shade realized the rift led to the Present World's Doomsday, not the already-destroyed Past, and concluded that it needed to be sealed.
• When the rift began to grow and destabilize, Shade used the Ancient Elven Stability Principle to slow its Shattering.
• Shade found that ordinary objects decayed near the rift and could not send a letter, then remembered he had postponed his Thaumaturgy experiment and decided to perform it there.

Shade used a Rhodes Card to report the growing rift to the Church, then pinned six Calamity Cards over it to weaken the Doomsday pressure. Iluna Bayes arrived with the Unknown Level Relic Tear Drop of Parting, leaving Shade ready to try mending the rift.

• Shade wrote his hometown's true name and a message on a Rhodes Card, then sent it out to contact the Church and Academy.
• A suit of armor delivered Vanessa's reply, and Shade learned the Church was preparing an Unknown Level Relic to support him.
• When the rift widened and the pressure worsened, Shade signed six Calamity Cards and stuck them over it, easing the strain.
• Shade received a message that the relic was ready, and Iluna Bayes struggled through the Doomsday pressure to reach him.
• Iluna gave Shade the Tear Drop of Parting and explained that he should splash it onto the cracked rift, though neither knew whether it would work.

Shade and Iluna tried to contain the Time Rift, but a flayed monster escaped and the rift was only temporarily bound by enormous roots. Shade pursued the monster through a strange flooded space and returned to find it attacking The Church’s camp with Doomsday water.

• Shade used the Tear Drop of Parting to shrink the rift, but a black Nail-like object pierced his hand and a flayed monster crawled out.
• Iluna went after the monster while Shade used the Ancient Elven Stability Principle; enormous roots then wrapped around the rift and temporarily contained it.
• Shade chased Iluna into the canyon, where a towering wave swept him into a strange expanse of muddy water beneath a dim yellow sky.
• Shade used Return of Time to escape the flooded space and returned to the snowy canyon, where the monster had grown into a giant of black liquid.
• The monster flooded the canyon with muddy yellow water, and Megan and Audrey used their power to divert the torrent away from The Church’s camp.

Shade and the Thirteenth Ring Warlocks fought a liquid monster empowered by the Doomsday Era near the canyon rift. After Blaine Olanode destroyed it with an arrow, Shade reunited with her on the snowy mountaintop.

• Iluna attacked the monster with a Sunlight Gun and Earth Energy Cannon, but its yellow liquid repelled her strikes.
• Gerald Delong, Mr. Clark Carville, and Vanessa joined Shade, who coordinated their attacks as they restrained the monster with machinery, annihilation, and petrification.
• Shade used Moon Fire to burn the monster and force it out of its liquefied state, then tried to attack with Corrupt Blood Mist.
• The monster froze time with its right eye, but Vanessa broke free as Shade's Moonlight Slash was stopped in midair.
• Blaine Olanode fired an Arrow of Night into the monster's eye, creating a black hole that swallowed it and vanished.
• Shade flew to the eastern mountaintop and embraced Blaine Olanode in the snow.

Emilia returned from two years at the Academy in the Fifth Epoch and reunited with Shade, Vanessa, and Miss Olanord. Using Elven Royal Authority, she revealed a temporary Thirteenth Ring form that would let her keep moving forward with Shade as they faced the unresolved Time Rift.

• Shade finally noticed Emilia beside him and greeted her after embracing Miss Olanord.
• Vanessa and Miss Olanord welcomed Emilia, and Shade explained that the Time Rift remained a threat despite Miss Olanord defeating the monster that emerged from it.
• Miss Olanord encouraged Emilia to help address the crisis, while Emilia explained that she had advanced to the eighth ring during her two years at the Academy.
• Emilia placed Elven Royal Authority on her head and transformed her Destiny Ring into a Thirteenth Ring form with the Core Ling Rune Miracle Elf.
• Emilia explained that her Thirteenth Ring form granted resistance and physical qualities but vanished as soon as she cast a spell, then told Shade she could finally keep moving forward with him.

Emilia drew on the ancient Elf Kings’ power to close the Doomsday Rift temporarily, though Shade warned that it could reopen and remained beyond his ability to control. After Emilia returned safely as an Eighth Ring Arcanist with Blaine Olanode, the group began preparing a welcome dinner aboard the ship.

• Vanessa returned to the Church camp with Miss Olanord and Emilia, and Shade explained that the monster may have been a time traveler who had wandered into Doomsday spacetime.
• Shade used the Ancient Elven Stability Principle to protect Emilia and Miss Olanord as they approached the mausoleum and its Rift.
• Emilia summoned the power of the ancient Elf Kings, and she and Shade helped shrink the Rift to a narrow, temporarily controlled opening.
• Shade said the Rift could expand again and that he could neither permanently freeze nor fully control it.
• Vanessa, Megan, and Flora reported that Emilia had returned safely as an Eighth Ring Arcanist, accompanied by Blaine Olanode.
• Luvia learned that Miss Feliana had not returned, while Flora teased Daniste about her feelings for Shade as preparations began for a welcome dinner.

The ladies prepared a banquet aboard the Radiance Messenger to welcome Emilia and the returned Ancient Witch, Blaine Olanode. Angelina saw how much Emilia had changed, while Shade reunited privately with Blaine and offered her a red rose.

• Flora pressed Daniste about her feelings for Shade, and Daniste admitted she had been considering them but feared Shade might not need her.
• Angelina learned Emilia had returned and eagerly awaited her, but initially mistook Blaine Olanode for Emilia when the party entered the banquet hall.
• Shade introduced Blaine Olanode to the assembled guests, and Grandma Qishala arrived to check on Emilia.
• Emilia happily told Angelina about her travels before Grandma Qishala's arrival startled her.
• Shade and Blaine recalled their earlier meetings, and Shade gave her a red rose as they stood together by the porthole.

Shade attended the banquet, then traveled to the Time Transfer Station after delivering Sand of Time to the Masked Man. The Masked Man told him how Anthony Winslet planned to rescue his childhood playmate without changing history, and Shade prepared to travel to 1819.

• Miss Olanord reunited with Shade at the banquet and encouraged him to attend to his business while she spoke with the others.
• Luvia, Flora, and Illustrious Miss saw Shade off as he left the ship and traveled through the snowy city to the Time Transfer Station.
• Shade recognized that the Station’s black doorway was likely created by the Tree Hole Spell and found a woman there planning to kill her grandfather as a child.
• The Masked Man warned that the woman’s attempt would fail and might instead bring her grandparents together, then accepted Shade’s Sand of Time.
• The Masked Man explained that Anthony Winslet wanted to abduct his missing childhood playmate in 1819 and raise the child until their reappearance in 1844, completing a time loop.
• Shade understood that Winslet meant to fulfill history rather than change it, and the Masked Man asked if he was ready to depart for 1819.

Shade wagered with the Masked Man for an earlier visit to the Time Transfer Station, hoping to investigate Bennett’s truth and learn how its time travel worked. He won the first round of Rhodes Cards and could return on Tuesday if he won the match.

• Shade refused to travel to 1819 before preparing and asked the Masked Man to open the station earlier than next Saturday.
• Shade wagered two portions of Sand of Time against an exception, and the Masked Man agreed to play if Shade named an exact date.
• While inspecting the Masked Man’s deck, Shade found Founding, Moon 2, a card given to the Masked Man by his father.
• Shade proposed a best-of-five Rhodes Cards match as they discussed the risks of repeated time travel.
• Shade won the first round after the Masked Man’s Great Steam Age-Night Gas Street Lamps card had no effect on scoring.

Shade and Bennett played another round of cards while Shade questioned him about the Time Transfer Station and time travel. Bennett repeatedly drew Founding and discarded his hand to restart, leaving the deck nearly empty and the round close to ending.

• Shade asked Bennett about the Invitation Letter, people traveling from the past, and whether anyone had taken modern technology into an earlier era; Bennett said that would threaten the Process of Civilization.
• The Masked Man’s Ancient Penalty Cutting card forced Shade to discard Sun 3, but they both later stood at twenty points and tied the round.
• Shade asked whether Bennett had ever traveled through time, and Bennett said he had not because he revered time and saw time travel as a one-way road.
• The Masked Man’s Firearm Double-Barreled Shotgun card adjusted his hand, but he busted while Shade stood at seventeen points and won the round.
• In the final round, the Masked Man repeatedly drew Founding and discarded his hand to redraw it, while Shade reshuffled and changed his own hand several times.
• With only three cards left in the deck, including Founding, the Masked Man could not discard again, and Shade was poised to win if he avoided busting.

Shade won his Rhodes Cards game against the Masked Man, who had repeatedly used the Time Loop, and received a special card as a memento. Back aboard the Radiance Messenger, Shade found that Luvia and Flora had saved him a dessert, then checked in on Miss Olanord and Emilia before ending the night.

• Shade revealed that he had 21, and the Masked Man drew the king and Founding, giving Shade the win.
• The Masked Man let Shade choose a special card, and Shade took Firearm Double-Barreled Shotgun, Stars 2.
• Shade returned to the Radiance Messenger, where Little Mia guarded a cake that Luvia and Flora had saved for him.
• Shade visited Miss Olanord and found her talking with Miss Danist, then left them to their academic discussion.
• Shade went to greet Emilia and found her with Angelina, hiding a robe beside Emilia's open suitcase of clothes from the Fifth Epoch.

Emilia reunited with Shade, pledged to become the Chosen One of Time, and asked to make him a wish once their current struggle ended. Shade then returned to the ship and explained to Sylvia why he was delaying a relationship with Adele Isabella, leaving the question of how to reconcile his feelings for Adele and Isabella unresolved.

• Emilia told Shade she had missed him, promised to help finish the story of Vesta Woodland, and embraced him after he welcomed her back.
• Emilia asked Shade to grant her a wish after everything was over, but kept the wish secret.
• Shade returned through the Teleportation Gate to the ship, where Sylvia said they had decided not to sever it and that Miss Isabella would probably arrive the next afternoon.
• Sylvia questioned Shade about why he was avoiding Adele Isabella, and Shade explained that he wanted to meet the other Witches first so the Speaker could consider her own affairs without compromising her duties.
• Shade privately acknowledged that he still did not know how to handle his feelings for Adele of the Past and Isabella of the Present World.

Shade met Sylvia and later gave Megan and Audrey Fire Seals, while testing revealed that his Eternal Fire Mark could grant resistance to time magic. He discovered that Adele’s Time Stop had a new form that encased frozen targets in a real, thin crystalline membrane.

• Shade kissed Sylvia after she asked why they could not meet when they were in the same city.
• Megan and Audrey confronted Shade about giving Moon Marks to others, then received Fire Seals and experienced his Body of Courage.
• Vanessa told Shade that her Eternal Fire Mark had protected her from a monster’s Time Stop, prompting him to test the mark and his own Thaumaturgy on Megan and Audrey.
• Shade’s Adele’s Time Stop froze Megan and Audrey beneath a crystalline shell, but their marks did not protect them from his spell.
• Emilia’s Time Stop was resisted by the Moon Marks on Vanessa, Dorothy, and Luvia, confirming that the marks could protect them from other users’ time magic.
• Shade tested Adele’s Time Stop further and found that its new Time Stop Form created a real, thin, soft membrane over frozen targets.

Shade and the others learned how Emilia and Miss Olanord had changed during their time in the Fifth Epoch, and discussed Emilia’s strength and the remaining Time War candidates. The chapter ended with Shade opening Miss Feliana’s letter and finding only her lipstick print.

• Shade learned that the Creation Church planned to restore the black building containing the ancient tomb after the Vesta Woodland incident.
• Emilia explained that she had reached the eighth ring and could wield power approaching that of an Eleventh-Order Witch while wearing the Elven Royal Authority.
• Emilia described her adventures with the Dragon Maids during her two years in the Fifth Epoch, including journeys through forests, mountains, deserts, and the deep sea.
• Miss Olanord revealed that she had set foot on the Demigod Road but had been suppressed to the level of an ordinary Thirteenth Order Witch by the Time War.
• Shade said he would seek Professor Yuke Wood’s help in identifying the first-ranked candidate.
• Shade opened Miss Feliana’s letter and found a clear lipstick print instead of any written message.

Shade read letters from Miss Feliana, Fiona, Miss Wilde, and Miss Goode, then visited Leisha and the Elf Girl as the crisis in Vesta Woodland drew near. He found an unfamiliar coin in the God's Gift Box, and its appearance suggested his Good Luck had returned.

• Shade carefully stored Miss Feliana's and Fiona's letters, which also included a note from Miss Wilde.
• Leisha visited Shade, said she was ready to help in Vesta Woodland, and asked him to spend time with her after the crisis ended.
• Shade read Miss Goode's letter about her family's inheritance, a possible Secret Passage beneath her ancestral home, and her planned visit to Tobesk for the Year-End Festival.
• Shade visited the Elf Girl, who was practicing archery, and told her that Emilia and the tree roots had temporarily halted the Doomsday Rift's expansion.
• Shade found an unfamiliar coin at the bottom of the God's Gift Box and recognized that his Good Luck had returned.

Shade received the Relic coin Erotic Dream Without Trace and learned that Adele Isabella had been diverted to investigate a dangerous structure in the south. With the Speaker’s visit postponed, Shade returned to the ship, where Luvia’s divination confirmed the Masked Man was not the first candidate and revealed a clue about Flora’s Uncle.

• Shade identified the pink-and-gold coin as Erotic Dream Without Trace, contained it in mercury, and learned his task was to make his bed twice within a week.
• Shade checked Yulun Lake, then returned to the ship, where Vanessa told him Adele Isabella would not be coming because a structure like the tomb at White Ape Canyon had been found in the south.
• Sivie explained that Adele, Chaos, and Moon had gone to investigate the intact but abnormal structure, while the Church requested help from the Council.
• Galina arranged for Shade’s bedroom to be moved back aboard the ship, and the group shared lunch while discussing Adele Isabella.
• Luvia’s divination confirmed that the Masked Man was a Bennett Family candidate but not the first candidate, then revealed that Flora’s Uncle was closely connected to the story of Vesta Woodland.

Shade and Miss Olanord searched the place where Flora’s uncle’s childhood friend Sheldon Fuller disappeared, following Luvia’s divination while Little Mia accompanied them. They found no clues before the chapter ended, though they learned that Academy Ring Arcanists were investigating a nearby shrine to the Hunting Lady.

• Luvia told Shade that Anthony Winslet had not completely died and directed him to investigate Sheldon Fuller’s disappearance in the forest with Miss Olanord.
• Miss Olanord walked with Shade through the snowy woods, spoke about her feelings for him, and asked what he thought of Danist Gustav; Shade admitted that he liked her.
• Shade and Miss Olanord reviewed the story of how Sheldon Fuller disappeared in 1819, while Anthony Winslet was found nearly frozen in the snow.
• Shade and Miss Olanord found footprints showing that Academy Ring Arcanists were investigating a nearby Temple of the Old God Hunting Lady and chose to avoid them.
• Miss Olanord explained the Hunting Lady’s connections to the Moon, the Tree Father, and the Sage, then erased their tracks as they searched the area.
• Shade and Miss Olanord found no valuable traces of Sheldon Fuller’s disappearance.