Chapter Summaries

Shade and Danist returned to the sealed Accordion Hotel, where they spent time together before inspecting the Curse-Eroded Great Tree. The chapter ended with the Nature Church asking Danist to contact the God Summoner about an Evil Spirit Demon trace found in Professor Yuke Wood’s office.

• Shade and Danist entered the Accordion Hotel and visited Danist’s room, while Flora secretly watched them from a wardrobe.
• Shade and Danist shared lunch in the city, then went to inspect the sealed Curse-Eroded Great Tree outside the city.
• Gaiana Lis Brown asked Danist whether Saint Byrens Comprehensive College could contact the God Summoner.
• Lis Brown explained that an investigation of Professor Yuke Wood had uncovered traces of an Evil Spirit Demon in his office, which The Church had sealed off.
• After receiving Shade’s Mind Reading, Danist agreed to contact the God Summoner and said Shade could help on Wednesday or Thursday.

Shade returned with Miss Danist and Emilia to the Academy Library, where he sensed that the entrance to the Space Labyrinth lay in its underground Restricted Books Area. Miss Danist prepared to open the hidden entrance so they could investigate.

• Shade decided to visit Yuk Wood's office because he believed the Ancient One had deliberately left traces of a demon behind.
• Miss Danist and Emilia prepared to leave for Saint Byron's, and Flora gave Shade an apology letter for Daniste to deliver at their farewell.
• Shade, Emilia, Miss Danist, and Little Mia used the Letters of Broken Promises to teleport to the Academy Library.
• Shade sensed the underground Restricted Books Area nearby, and Miss Danist explained its dangers and the strict rules governing access.
• Miss Danist said she would formally open the underground entrance and promised Shade authorization slips for later visits.

Shade, Miss Danist, and Emilia entered the library’s underground levels and found the hidden passage to the Space Labyrinth. They discovered Fifth Epoch witch manuscripts inside, then Shade and Emilia prepared to return home to deal with the Time Corridor door while Miss Danist waited.

• Miss Danist led Shade and Emilia through the library’s first underground level and into Level 2, where Shade sensed the hidden entrance nearby.
• Shade rearranged books on a Level 2 bookshelf and used his Spacetime Spirit Rune to reveal the hidden passage.
• Shade, Miss Danist, and Emilia entered the circular space and found two chests containing Fifth Epoch manuscripts for a novel titled “The Harem Life of Saint Byron’s.”
• Miss Danist decided to seal the manuscripts for professors to examine, while Shade and Emilia prepared to return home and deal with the Time Corridor door.

Shade and Emilia returned home through the Space Labyrinth, where Emilia used her Destiny Ring to awaken a Fossil Seed and bind it to a bedroom door as an entrance to the Time Corridor. Shade opened the new door with his Time Key and entered the corridor with Emilia and Little Mia, but learned that only the key’s holder could pass through its archway into another time and space.

• Shade and Emilia found the signpost to Saint Derain Square and returned home with Little Mia.
• Shade chose the bedroom door in Room Two for the Fossil Seed, and Emilia accelerated the seed with her Destiny Ring until it became a green light that fused with the door.
• Emilia explained that Shade could open the new Time Corridor door with the Time Key, the proper incantation, and a time-related Spirit Rune.
• Shade entered the Time Corridor with Emilia and Little Mia, declined to learn the key’s assigned task, and saw a tree-and-vine archway appear.
• Emilia told Shade that only the person who opened the door with the Time Key could pass through the archway into another time and space.

Shade and Emilia explored the Time Corridor, where Shade learned that completed time tasks could summon people from the past to a transfer station. After returning to the library basement, they shared a farewell kiss, and Miss Danist gave Shade a permit for easier future visits.

• Emilia learned that the Time Corridor’s door could help her undertake time adventures, and Shade discovered its additional function as a transfer station.
• Shade learned that summoning Blaine required three completed time tasks and summoning Adele required ten; he counted twenty-one eligible tasks.
• Shade learned that meetings caused varying amounts of spacetime disturbance, resisted the urge to summon someone immediately, and left the corridor with Emilia.
• Emilia and Shade kissed goodbye in the library basement, where Miss Danist gave Shade a special permit for future visits.

Shade reunited with Daniste at the Academy Library before returning to Vesta Woodland, where the witches discussed their plans to leave. He invited everyone to celebrate the Year-End Festival at his home, though not everyone accepted.

• Daniste sent Emilia back to her dormitory, then changed into her eighteen-year-old form and shared an intimate farewell with Shade, giving him an Eternal Fire Mark.
• After Shade left, Daniste opened Flora's letter and reacted with an angry roar.
• Shade returned to Vesta Woodland, where Flora reported that Anthony Winslet had awakened and the rescued Time Travelers were undergoing identity checks.
• The witches discussed their departure plans: Grandma Cassandra would leave the next day, Bella and Sylvia would leave later, and Megan would travel south to help contain an Unknown Level Relic.
• Shade invited the witches to celebrate the Year-End Festival at his home, and Galina said their group had made progress on expanding 6 Saint Derain Square.

Shade arranged the Year-End Festival plans with the witches, then received Galina’s invitation to meet at the Moon Sanctuary after she learned how Miss Blaine Olanode had ascended to demigodhood. He left the ship and reached the witches’ hot spring, where Galina and the others were waiting.

• Sylvia, Grandma Cassandra, Grace, Helen, and Vanessa said they would not join Shade for the Year-End Festival, while Megan, Audrey, Bella, Flora, and Sivie planned to visit him.
• Shade considered his remaining work in Vesta Woodland, including sealing Tree Hollows, meeting the Crescent Moon Secret Society’s sorceresses, and investigating Professor Yuke Wood’s office with Doctor.
• Tifa led Shade to her cabin, teased him about a secret affair, and gave him Galina’s letter inviting him to the Moon Sanctuary.
• Shade told Luvia he was leaving for the night, and she warned him that the witches would be eager to see him and told him to leave Little Mia aboard the ship.
• Shade traveled through the winter woodland and reached the warm, brightly lit hot spring.

Shade reunited with the Witches after their night at the hot spring, and their experiment did not trigger Witch's Delight or affect Blaney's advancement. The group returned to the Radiance Messenger, where they prepared to seal the Tree Hollow and meet the Elves, while Grandma Cassandra planned to inspect her auction house branches.

• Galina, Vanessa, Megan, and Audrey welcomed Shade to the hot spring and spent the night with him, testing whether the experience could trigger Witch's Delight.
• Luvia and Dorothy greeted Shade and the three Witches the next morning, and Vanessa confirmed the experiment had not worked.
• Shade agreed to help The Church seal the Tree Hollow before meeting the Elves, who wanted to discuss him becoming Elf King.
• Shade, Luvia, Dorothy, and the Witches headed to breakfast, where they would bid farewell to Grandma Cassandra and her companions.
• Grandma Cassandra planned to travel through central and western Kasonlik with Miss Swift to inspect Cassandra Auction House branches, while Grace and Helen planned to return to Sikar Mountain.

Shade sealed the Church’s collected Distorted Tree Hollows in Vesta Woodland and rejected the elves’ offer to become their king. He left the meeting with Grandma Qishala having pledged friendship and formed an alliance with the Elf Race.

• Shade and Vanessa arrived at Throne Land, where Miss Maria Ingram explained the Church’s plans to maintain the crystal seal and contain the Tree Hollows.
• Shade crystallized the Church’s twenty-one Distorted Tree Hollows, finding that Throne Land reduced the cost of his spell.
• Grandma Qishala thanked Shade for protecting Emilia and asked him to become the Elf King, but Shade refused and said Emilia Sinode was better suited to lead the elves.
• Shade promised to help Emilia if she became Elf Queen and agreed to ally with the elves, while Grandma Qishala vowed that the Nine Great Elf Clans would not betray his trust.

Shade declined to marry Emilia for now but left open the possibility, then traveled with Flora to meet the Crescent Moon Secret Society. On the way, Flora told him about her mother's death and her resentment toward her father, and Shade offered to visit her mother's grave before the Year-End Festival; they arrived at the Hermits' camp to find the Sorceresses already waiting.

• Shade told Grandma Qishala he would not marry Emilia for the time being, though it might happen in the future.
• Flora accompanied Shade to the Hermits of the Forest camp for a meeting with the Crescent Moon Secret Society and discussed her family's inheritance struggle.
• Flora explained that she resented her father because he had been away on business when her mother died and had failed to return before her death.
• Flora said she wanted to stop her father from inheriting the family title, though family matters had become less important after Vesta Woodland.
• Shade offered to visit Wilundell before the Year-End Festival and place flowers on Flora's mother's grave, and Flora agreed.
• Shade and Flora arrived at the camp, where the Crescent Moon Secret Society's Sorceresses were already waiting.

Shade met the Crescent Moon Secret Society and learned about Miss Bister, a Fifth Epoch werewolf who pursued the Moon. A stone slab bearing a message addressed to Shade convinced him that Miss Bister might still be alive, and he left with the slab while arranging future exchanges with the society.

• Steve Davis welcomed Shade and the Witch Council's party to the Hermits of the Forest camp and thanked them for saving Vesta Woodland.
• Joanna Lavalle told Shade that the Fifth Epoch werewolf Moon Chaser had the surname Bister and gave him information about Bister's Moon Gazing Art.
• Joanna showed Shade a stone slab with a message asking whether he had found his Original Moon, and Shade concluded that Miss Bister was still alive.
• Shade connected Miss Bister's identity as a Moon Chaser to a component needed for his third Core Ling Rune and asked to take the stone slab.
• Shade and Joanna agreed to exchange knowledge through the Witch Council, and she explained what the Crescent Moon meant to the society.

Shade met with the Crescent Moon Secret Society and discovered Miss Bister was still alive after her stone slab turned to dust. As the group prepared to leave Vesta Woodland, the young ladies departed for a hot spring outing while Shade stayed aboard the ship and resolved to spend his free time reading.

• Shade learned that the Hermits had sealed eight Tree Hollows and took Miss Bister's stone slab back to the ship.
• Shade touched the slab, which crumbled to dust as his Wolf Transformation Spell was enhanced and Miss Bister promised they would meet again.
• Shade received Doctor Schneider's letter and announced that he planned to return to Tobesk on Friday.
• Galina told Shade she would go to Saladir County with Tifa before traveling with Bella to Moon Bay, then return to Tobesk within a month.
• Flora organized a hot spring outing at the Moon Sanctuary, and Shade refused to join the young ladies.
• Shade considered visiting Danist or Blaney but decided to read and study instead.

Shade studied for his exams before spending the evening with Tifa, then reunited with the returning women and welcomed Luvia to his bed. In a dreamlike meeting, the Long-haired Girl showed him the Yggdrasil Staff after its enhancement was complete.

• Shade reviewed his coursework until Tifa returned from the Moon Sanctuary and joined him for tea.
• Tifa kissed Shade and invited him to learn more about her before she traveled to Saladir County.
• Galina, Tifa, Bella, Matilda, and Flora returned from the hot springs after midnight and joked with Shade.
• Luvia visited Shade that night, and they slept together after she told him Dorothy was busy with Flora.
• Shade met the Long-haired Girl in the dilapidated home, where she had placed the apparently unchanged Yggdrasil Staff beside her.

Luvia finished the seventh enhancement of the Yggdrasil Staff and asked Shade to choose its new trait before the Year-End Festival. After Vesta City University was evacuated, Shade and Doctor Schneider entered Professor Yuke Wood’s sealed office to investigate what remained inside.

• Luvia explained the Yggdrasil Staff’s expanded powers and asked Shade to choose a time- or tree-related trait for its seventh enhancement.
• Shade and Luvia shared a tender moment in the dream world after discussing the staff.
• On Thursday evening, Shade and Doctor Schneider waited outside Professor Yuke Wood’s sealed office as The Church’s Ring Arcanists withdrew and a protective shield went up.
• Shade and Doctor Schneider put on their Demon Hunting Seals, prepared their weapons, and entered the office.
• Doctor Schneider lit the gas lamp, and Shade saw the office’s old desk, books, and armchair much as he remembered them from 1821.

Shade and the Doctor found a dangerous book containing information about the Great Demon in Professor Yuke Wood’s office, then discussed their fears and promises about the future. Shade wrote a vow to remain with his loved ones beyond the End of Time, and the Moonlight revealed that he had gained new power.

• Shade searched Professor Yuke Wood’s desk while the Doctor found a book called Collection of Soul Stories and a warning letter about its dangers.
• The Doctor explained that the book contained information about the Great Demon and decided to take it away for investigation.
• Shade and the Doctor discussed their fears about keeping their promises until the End of Time, and the Doctor reminded Shade that his loved ones shared the oath with him.
• Shade wrote a poem promising to walk with his companions beyond the End of Time, and a dark gold giant tree briefly appeared behind him.
• The Moonlight affirmed its lasting promise to Shade and told him that he had gained new power.

Emilia spent a day balancing classes, a picnic with the Dragon Maids, and her weekly lesson with Miss Feliana. At the lesson, a visiting Demigod Witch named Chloe asked to meet Emilia, and the chapter ended as Chloe began introducing herself.

• Emilia attended Professor Tinalis's difficult Aether Theory of Everything class and worried that she was too stupid to understand it.
• At a picnic with Miss Wilde, Gina, and Fiona, Emilia declined Fiona's invitation to explore the Underground World because she was assigned to care for the Little Unicorns.
• Emilia went to Miss Feliana's demiplane for her weekly lesson and learned that a guest wanted to speak with her.
• Fiona led Emilia into the garden, where she greeted Miss Feliana and met the visiting Demigod Witch Chloe.

Shade returned to Tobesk with Dorothy and Luvia after completing his woodland tasks, and settled back into home life while his companions resumed their busy work. He discussed the newly recovered Founding card with the Seer Association and ended the day by telling Luvia that a new doorway at home let him visit Blaney.

• Shade said goodbye to the witches and other companions before returning to Tobesk with Dorothy, Luvia, and the cat.
• Back at home, Shade bathed the cat and learned that Luvia and Dorothy had returned to demanding work schedules.
• Shade asked Vice President Mark to appraise Founding, and Mark invited him to appear as a guest at the Year-End Festival Rhodes Cards Tournament.
• Shade visited Priest Augustus and Old John, then waited for Luvia and dined with her at a restaurant.
• Shade told Luvia that the new doorway created by their pointy-eared friend allowed him to visit Blaney.

Shade used a Time Mission attempt to create a transfer station in the mirrored bedroom where Miss Feliana had once lived, then reunited with Blaine three days after her return to the Fifth Epoch. The chapter left them resting together as Shade explained the station’s rules and Blaine asked whether their meeting could last only three hours.

• Shade told Luvia about exchanging Time Mission attempts for chances to meet, then gave her a love poem before leaving for home.
• Shade entered the Time Corridor and spent an attempt to create a temporary transfer station in the mirrored version of Room Two.
• Shade summoned Blaine three days after her return, and she recognized him after their Moon Marks resonated.
• Blaine embraced and kissed Shade, then shared an intimate reunion with him in the transfer station.
• Afterward, Shade explained the station’s rules and his remaining attempts, and Blaine noted that about half an hour remained in their three-hour meeting.

Shade used the transfer station to reunite with Blaney, who told him about returning to Saint Byron's and her teacher's reaction to her advancement. After their farewell, Shade chose not to use the Time Key again soon and settled in for a quiet night at home with Little Mia.

• Shade and Blaney discussed what had happened since their last meeting, including her return to Saint Byron's and Miss Feliana's reaction to her becoming a Demigod.
• Blaney told Shade that Miss Feliana had guessed the summoned Demigod Time Great Witch did not simply come from the future, and Shade said he could not reveal her true origin.
• Shade and Blaney declined to set a date for their next meeting, shared a formal goodbye, and parted when the transfer station closed.
• Shade refused the offer to reopen the transfer station and decided to focus on finding a real way to bring the people he missed to his time.
• Shade returned home, comforted Little Mia, and spent the winter night reading by the fireplace with tea and biscuits.

Shade spent Saturday visiting friends and discussing a new ability for the Yggdrasil Staff, then went to Saint Byron's Library to meet Miss Daniste. He left the staff's choice undecided and waited in her office for her return.

• Shade exchanged gifts with Smith Old Gentleman, visited Professor Manning, and found Dorothy asleep before she invited him to The Club.
• At lunch, Leisha suggested making the Yggdrasil Staff grow into a Tree House, while Angelina proposed splitting off a subsidiary staff to help restore Emilia's power.
• Shade postponed choosing between their ideas until he could consult the Long-haired Girl in his dreams.
• Shade finished his course papers, visited Luvia, and then went alone to Saint Byron's Library to find Miss Daniste.
• Shade used Daniste's note and the Sorceress's ring to reach her office and waited for her to return.