Chapter Summaries

Shade and Claire agreed to investigate the Demon Sword while the Fatu People prepared for the Ten Thousand Spirits Festival. After Claire arranged their next steps, she challenged Shade to a test of strength, and he summoned a sunset-colored greatsword.

• Elder Vilda explained that Claire would take over the High Priestess’s duties and urged her and Shade to investigate the Demon Sword.
• The Fatu People gave Shade Fatumonst Snow Mountain Water and a horn pendant as advance payment and a token of identity.
• After speaking privately with the elders, Claire agreed with Shade to investigate separately and exchange information the following evening.
• Claire asked to test Shade’s strength in the courtyard, and they concealed their sparring with magic.
• Shade cast the Sword of Light and summoned a greatsword blending sunset gold and red with silver-blue light, surprising Claire.

Shade tested his new combined Sun-and-Moon power in a spar with Claire Reinhart, then conceded and left Snow Mountain Hall. He returned home to find Galina, Sylvia, and Vanessa waiting, while Little Mia worried over his briefly numb hand.

• Shade attacked Claire with a twilight sword strike, but she countered with solar magic and a duplicate that met his punch with Sun Fist.
• Claire used Thunderclap Wave and a sacrificed duplicate to launch a powerful blast, while Shade defended himself with the Night Curtain Seal.
• Shade conceded the spar, and Claire praised his abilities while deciding to conceal his identity from the Witch Council until the Demon Sword and Ten Thousand Spirits Festival matters were settled.
• Shade returned to his home in Tobesk, where Little Mia rubbed his numb hand until it nearly recovered.
• Galina, Sylvia, and Vanessa welcomed Shade and asked what had happened, and he explained that he had traded blows with Claire's Sun Fist.

Shade learned that Claire Reinhart was Sun’s Great Witch and heard about her gem-based magic and mysterious past. The witches forbade him from revealing his connections to the Council, assigning him instead to investigate Claire while he planned a visit to Sister Devlin before traveling to Fatumonst Island.

• Shade showed the witches Claire’s image, and they confirmed she was Sun’s Eleventh-Rank Great Witch and held the Council’s sixth seat.
• Sylvia and Vanessa described Claire’s mineral exploration business, while Galina and Vanessa explained her unique Gem Technology for storing and activating magic.
• The witches realized Claire had lied about her whereabouts and background, and Sylvia suggested Shade would uncover the truth by spending time with her.
• Shade asked to stop hiding his identity from other Great Witches, but Galina, Vanessa, and Sylvia insisted he keep it secret and investigate Claire undercover.
• Galina left after dinner, and Shade planned to visit Sister Devlin before going to Fatumonst Island; Sylvia offered to take him there the following afternoon.
• Sylvia stayed with Shade by the fireplace and whispered that he could treat her as another kind of tool.

Shade, Sylvia, and Vanessa were urgently summoned after Speaker lost Claire’s signal, then learned that Claire and other searchers had gone missing on Fatumonst Snow Mountain. Sylvia used her tower to locate a spatial anomaly, and the group found battle traces leading to a cave sealed by a huge block of ice.

• Sylvia and Vanessa interrupted their night with Shade to attend Speaker’s summons, where they learned Claire could no longer be sensed and might be trapped somewhere.
• The witches returned to Shade and set out for Fatumonst Island after learning that Claire had disappeared on Snow Mountain during a search for strange explosions.
• A Witch Follower told Shade that Miss Reinhart and her team had not returned from the mountain, and Shade promised to help find them.
• Sylvia searched the Snow Mountain from her tower and marked a suspicious spatial anomaly for Shade and Vanessa.
• Shade, Sylvia, and Vanessa followed signs of a battle to a hidden mountain hollow and discovered a cave blocked by a massive ice block.

Shade, Vanessa, and Sylvia investigated a contaminated cave and found four of Claire’s unconscious Followers. After discovering a relic had teleported Claire elsewhere on Fatumonst Island, Shade passed through the wall to search for her and found signs of a battle along the northern coast.

• Shade purified the cave’s black contamination, then he and the Witches found four frozen Followers and used magic to stabilize them.
• Shade heard the Sun’s Great Witch say that a living Ice Block had attacked her and the others before the recording was disrupted.
• Sylvia identified the cave wall as the Keeper of Secrets Level Relic, the Wall of Disorder, which had randomly teleported Claire and affected her with Chaos.
• Sylvia used the Ancient Witch’s Golden Ring to send Shade through the wall to Claire’s location, and Vanessa gave him her Gold Ring so she could track him.
• Shade emerged on the northern coast of Fatumonst Island, sensed that Vanessa and Sylvia could find him, and followed signs of battle and Sun flames along the shore.

Shade followed the trail of Claire Reinhart’s battle to the sea cliff and rescued her from a fatal fall, taking an ice spear through the chest. After recovering from the wound, he faced the fully restored Ice Sculpture as his soul-fire blazed around him.

• Shade found Claire Reinhart’s shattered amethyst pendant and followed gemstones she had dropped toward the ongoing battle.
• Claire, cornered by the Ice Sculpture and stripped of her gemstones, fell from the collapsing sea cliff as the creature pursued her with an ice spear.
• Shade appeared above Claire, blocked the spear with his body, blasted away much of the Ice Sculpture with moonlight, and carried Claire back to the cliff.
• Claire discovered the wound in Shade’s chest was healing, while Shade explained that her student had sent someone to find him and ask for help.
• Shade stood to face the Ice Sculpture as his soul-fire spread across his cracked skin and clothes, and Claire recognized its primal nature.

Shade and several witches defeated the Heartless Worm threatening Claire Reinhart on Frostbound Sea Cliff. After Shade helped Claire recover, Vanessa and Sylvia arrived and teased her about secretly keeping a man outside the Council.

• Shade used the Eye of Edwardz to locate the Heartless Worm inside the ice sculpture and attacked it with Chaos Remnants.
• Sylvia trapped the fleeing frost with the Boundaryless Bottle, while Shade and the Great Witches forced the creature back into human form.
• Sister Devlin pierced the ice sculpture with the Ashes Greatsword, and the Heartless Worm fell out and was burned as kindling for the First Fire.
• Shade treated Claire Reinhart's weakened spirit and helped her sit up as Sister Devlin approached.
• Claire was startled to see Sister Devlin and tried to explain that Shade was her friend who had saved her.
• Vanessa and Sylvia appeared, teased Claire about keeping Shade a secret, and watched her insist that he was a good person.

Shade and Sister Devlin rescued Claire Reinhart on Fatumonst Island, and the Great Witches kept Shade’s identity secret. After Sister Devlin permitted him to accept power from Claire, the two were left alone, and Claire began to welcome the possibility of growing closer to him.

• Vanessa and Sylvia explained that Shade had asked them to find Claire and urged her to keep his identity secret.
• Sister Devlin questioned Shade about accepting power and, after he promised to consult her, permitted him to receive power from Claire.
• Sister Devlin told Claire that her injuries needed only a night's rest, then left to report the rescue to Adele Isabella.
• Vanessa and Sylvia embraced Shade and departed with a reminder that their relationship with him was a shared secret.
• Claire apologized for not recognizing Shade's affiliation with the Order of Spiritual Cultivation and admitted she could stand only with his support.
• Claire reflected on her attraction to Shade and felt more hopeful about returning home.

Shade rescued Claire Reinhart from the Snow Mountain and learned that three powerful Fate-manipulating Relics had caused her misfortune. After reuniting Claire with her followers, Shade left, while she prepared to return to the mountain and retrieve the other girls and a spatial Relic.

• Shade used the Dice of Destiny to deflect three simultaneous attacks from Fate-manipulating Relics.
• Claire Reinhart told Shade how misfortune had led her through the contaminated cave, where she had encountered a Heartless Demon Person and nearly lost control.
• Shade told Claire that the four girls in the cave were safe, returned her recovered gems, and gave her two of Luvia's Good Luck talismans.
• Stella Larson and the others arrived, and Claire reunited with them after Shade quietly departed.
• Claire told Stella to prepare for a return to the mountain to retrieve the girls and deal with the spatial Relic.

After recounting Claire Reinhart’s rescue, Shade learned that the Council was preparing protections against attacks of fate and went to Sister Devlin to discuss his Fifth Epoch experiences. Sister Devlin identified the Bone King as an ancient deity who existed before the Ancient Gods departed.

• Shade told Vanessa, Sylvia, Galina, and Luvia that Claire Reinhart’s ordeal had been caused by an Attack of Fate and involved a Heartless Worm.
• Luvia recommended that Shade seek Sister Devlin’s help and promised to prepare a protective charm with Sylvia, Vanessa, and Galina.
• Shade visited the Sacrificial Ground, where he learned that Adele Isabella had met with Sister Devlin, then waited for her in the library.
• Shade told Sister Devlin about the Gravestone Wasteland, Sister Belen’s Ashes Return Thaumaturgy, and his escape as a Silver Wolf.
• Sister Devlin explained that the Bone King, guardian of graves, had been among the deities who existed before the Ancient Gods departed.

Shade learned more from Sister Devlin about the God of Graves and the Gravestone Wasteland, then accepted the Heartless Worm’s ashes as power and gained a freezing spell. After training and preparing for his next journey, he traveled with Sylvia and Little Mia to Fatumonst City.

• Sister Devlin explained that the God of Graves had concealed the passage to True Death in the Gravestone Wasteland, and Shade promised to keep holding her hand as her Fire-Bearer.
• Shade chose to turn the Heartless Worm’s ashes into power, gained Flash Freeze Ray, and learned that further insight into cold and ice could grant him a Spirit Rune.
• Shade learned Thunderclap Wave and practiced it with Sister Devlin, who also taught him sword techniques for facing the Demon Sword.
• Luvia gave Shade a temporary silver moon protective charm that could record the source of future interference by Fate Power.
• Shade set out with Sylvia and Little Mia for the Snow Mountain, then used the Witch’s Tower gate to reach Fatumonst City.

Shade told Mr. Mortis that his friend had been rescued, then explored the Snow Mountain with Little Mia before meeting Claire Reinhart at Snow Mountain Hall. There, he met the recovering potion merchant, who identified himself as Sargent and thanked Shade for saving his life.

• Shade told Mr. Mortis that the Magic Potion Merchant had been rescued and received two Lucky Coins and a luck-bringing charm.
• Shade explored the South Slope of the Snow Mountain with Little Mia, who chased a snow leopard.
• Shade arrived at Snow Mountain Hall, where Little Mia exposed Shade’s illusion and spat a golden flame at Claire Reinhart, which Shade caught.
• Claire told Shade that the rescued man had awakened and brought him to meet Sargent, who thanked Shade and asked them to stop using his black-market alias.

Shade learned that the Demon Sword could transform its victims into swords, while the Sword Spawn Mother Nest’s danger remained unresolved. Elder Harald asked Shade to clear two serious pollution sites on Fatumonst Snow Mountain before the Ten Thousand Spirits Festival, and Claire volunteered to accompany him.

• Mr. Sargent described dreaming that he was becoming the Demon Sword, and Shade promised to kill him if his transformation became irreversible.
• Elder Harald and Shade discussed the sword’s victims, Mr. Mortis’s divination, and the Church’s efforts to contain the relic.
• Claire explained that the Sword Spawn Mother Nest was created in the Second Epoch by an Alchemist seeking to make a metal life form.
• Elder Harald identified the snow mountain’s spreading black contamination as the Scab of the Holy Mountain and said the Ten Thousand Spirits Festival was used to combat it.
• Shade agreed to purify the two severely contaminated sites, and Claire volunteered to guide him into the mountain the next day.

Shade accepted Miss Reinhart’s dinner invitation after leaving Kael-Todd Town and returned to the City of Time Wheels with Little Mia. Over dinner, Miss Reinhart questioned him about his ties to Sister Devlin, Vanessa, and Emma, and Shade prepared to answer her final question.

• Stella Larson asked Shade whether he was connected to the Winter Hymn Choir, and he explained that his Thaumaturgy was related to an ancient divine art.
• Shade took a donkey cart back to the City of Time Wheels with Little Mia and went to the Shining Deer Antler Restaurant for dinner with Miss Reinhart.
• Shade and Miss Reinhart discussed island legends, Little Mia, and Rhodes Cards while dining together.
• Miss Reinhart asked how Shade knew Sister Devlin, and Shade said they cooperated but that he did not belong to the Order of Spiritual Cultivation.
• Miss Reinhart asked about Shade’s relationships with Vanessa and Emma, and Shade prepared to use answers they had helped him devise.

Shade dined with Claire Reinhart and traded stories about how he had supposedly met Vanessa and Sylvia, then played a coin game that revealed why Claire had left home and how happy her family was. Claire offered to stay after the Ten Thousand Spirits Festival and help Shade search for someone dangerous, while the voice within him suggested his smile might be affecting her.

• Shade told Claire fabricated stories about his relationships with Vanessa and Sylvia, and she asked his age before they discussed politics.
• Claire spotted a childhood friend crossing the square in men's clothing but chose not to approach her.
• Shade and Claire played a three-round coin game, and Shade won the first two tosses.
• In response to Shade's questions, Claire explained that she had left home three years earlier after arguing with her grandfather because she wanted to explore the wider world.
• Claire revealed she had hidden her happy family life from the other Witches and said she would stay to help Shade find someone dangerous.
• Shade wondered whether Claire was all right, and the voice within him suggested he should stop smiling at her.

Shade and Claire Reinhart followed Claire’s childhood friend to a secondhand Clock shop, where they uncovered a robbery and confronted dangerous Arcanists. Shade stopped a Mr. Misfortune Cultist’s Time Stop and took his pocket watch, leaving the group with the cultists’ threat still unresolved.

• Claire spotted her childhood friend in men’s clothing, and she and Shade secretly followed her into the West District.
• The woman entered a secondhand Clock shop with two companions, and Shade and Claire hid nearby to watch.
• After a fight broke out, Claire melted a needle aimed at her injured childhood friend, while Shade knocked out the big-headed Sixth Ring Arcanist.
• A black-haired man summoned a dangerous bronze Relic and used it to absorb Shade’s Sunlight Gun before casting Time Stop.
• Shade resisted the spell, severed the cultist’s watch-holding hand with Silver Moonlight, took the pocket watch, and kicked the man to the ground.

Shade and Claire Reinhart faced a sinister figure summoned by the Bronze Wheel after its wielder crumbled into dust. As the figure approached the moonlit alley, Shade prepared to escape with Claire, but it took another step toward them.

• The one-armed man tried to use the Bronze Wheel to stop time again, but he disintegrated into smoke and dust.
• Shade sensed approaching danger and warned Claire Reinhart not to look into the deep darkness, but she saw a thin figure in a black top hat and monocle.
• Shade pulled Claire behind him and explained that the figure might be a false shadow capable of attracting the gaze of a real godlike being.
• Shade considered waiting for the relic's effect to fade or transporting them both to his special home, while Claire asked for the best option.
• The figure took another step toward the moonlight, and Shade and Claire watched as it neared the edge of the light.

Shade and Claire Reinhart escaped the alley by using the Twin Life Wheel of Fate, which teleported them into the sea, where they encountered friendly Mermaid Girls. The mermaids sent them to Fatumonst Island in Starfall Bay, leaving Shade, Claire, and Little Mia washed ashore on its southern beach.

• Shade used the Twin Life Wheel of Fate, and its crying face opened a Teleportation Gate beneath him and Miss Claire Reinhart.
• Shade and Claire fell into the sea, where he turned Little Mia into a toy and helped Claire swim to the surface.
• Shade and Claire encountered a mermaid-shaped shadow, then saw that dozens of Mermaid Girls had gathered beneath them.
• A tenth-ring Mermaid Girl pointed north when Shade asked for directions to Fatumonst Island in Starfall Bay, and the Mermaid Girls formed a Ritual Matrix to teleport Shade, Claire, and Little Mia.
• The Mermaid Girls swam away to tell Miss Aurora about Shade, while Shade, Claire, and Little Mia washed ashore on Fatumonst Island.

Shade and Claire Reinhart investigated a cultist attack in the City of Time Wheels, where they learned the stolen material was Fate Weaver Silk. After returning to Kael-Todd Town, Shade went home to Luvia, Galina, Leisha, and Angelina, while Claire reunited with her grandfather.

• Little Mia urged Shade and Claire Reinhart to leave the shore, and they returned to the alley where they found the cultists and the pocket-watch relic gone.
• Julia Meyer explained that cultists had stolen her group's Fate Weaver Silk, which had been intercepted from a Saint Byrens Comprehensive College mission and sold on the black market.
• Shade asked whether the Cult of Mr. Misfortune and its spinning wheel could signal the coming of the Chosen of Fate, but Claire knew nothing certain about it.
• Shade and Claire flew back to Kael-Todd Town, thanked each other, and parted at the village gate, where Claire encountered Elder Harald.
• Shade returned home and found Luvia, Galina, Leisha, and Angelina waiting; after changing, he told them about the cultist encounter.

Luvia connected the cultists’ theft of Fate Weaver Silk to the Prophecy Spinning Wheel and suspected a grand drama was unfolding on Fatumonst Island. Shade then learned from Mr. Albert the traits of the Angel Level Relic behind the Demon Swords, including its ability to create up to thirteen linked swords.

• Luvia explained that the cultists had obtained the Prophecy Spinning Wheel and wanted Fate Weaver Silk to strengthen its traits.
• Luvia linked the spinning wheel, the Puppeteer's Script, and an unknown Mirror to the Fate Chosen One prophecy, while Angelina suggested Fatumonst Island could become the setting for a grand drama.
• Luvia told Shade that they needed to find Fatumonst Island's Space Labyrinth within the week and that she would explore the island with him.
• Shade spent the night with Leisha and Galina, then reflected on whether Destiny might compensate Dorothy and Leisha before falling asleep.
• Shade arrived at the Moon Bay morgue early Thursday, where Mr. Albert showed him a Bloodkin message from Mr. Bernhardt describing the Sword Spawn Mother Nest and its Demon Sword traits.