Chapter Summaries

Shade accompanied Galina to an afternoon tea gathering hosted by Queen Diana at the Tobesk Grand Opera House, where he sensed an abnormal elemental reaction resembling Pink Magic and left to investigate. While he was gone, the noblewomen congratulated Galina on spending the Year-End Festival at Shade’s home and began probing her about their relationship.

• Shade asked Galina about studying sword combat magic, and she advised him to consult Megan, Audrey, and Sister Devlin instead of taking the course.
• Galina brought Shade to Queen Diana’s afternoon tea gathering at the Tobesk Grand Opera House, where the guests watched a comic play and discussed society and the approaching war.
• Shade sensed a faint elemental reaction resembling Pink Magic behind him and left the gathering under the pretext of using the washroom to investigate.
• After Shade left, Queen Diana told the noblewomen that Galina had spent the Year-End Festival at Shade’s home, and they congratulated her.
• The noblewomen steered their conversation toward Galina’s relationship with Shade and asked whether she had been sleeping well lately.

At an afternoon gathering, Galina joked with noblewomen about her relationship with Shade, helping dispel the Church’s suspicions that she was a Witch Council witch. Meanwhile, Shade tracked a man wearing a charm-enhancing ring into an ambush at the opera house and captured the Fourth Ring Arcanist behind it, who warned him not to touch the ring.

• Galina joined the noblewomen’s intimate conversation and openly joked about how well she and Shade got along.
• Queen Diana cautioned the women when their teasing crossed a line, and the gathering ended with Galina no longer suspected by the Church of being a Witch Council witch.
• Shade noticed Pink Magic coming from a ruby ring worn by a black-haired man speaking with a Blonde Young Lady and decided to investigate.
• After an actor-dressed stranger led the ring’s wearer away, Shade followed them to a storage room and entered after the door concealed itself in black fog.
• A Fourth Ring Arcanist attacked Shade from the darkness, but Shade restrained him with the Heaton Seal, Great Sin Chains, and Yellow Moonlight Ring.
• Shade found the ring’s wearer unconscious beneath costumes and moved to remove the alchemical ring, but the captured Arcanist warned him not to touch it.

Shade encountered a Clown Troupe Arcanist tracking a cursed ring linked to the Mermaid and destroyed it before sending the corrupted man to The Church. He returned to the VIP hall, where the women at his table reacted strangely to him.

• Shade questioned the bound Clown Troupe Arcanist, who explained that the ring corrupted anyone who touched it and was tied to an ancient evil entity.
• Shade learned the entity’s followers were the Apostles of Desire and told the Arcanist that they had not appeared in Tobesk.
• Shade took the ring from the unconscious black-haired man, crushed it, and erased the Mermaid’s remaining power from it.
• Shade agreed that The Church should examine the corrupted man, and the Arcanist carried him away after giving Shade a Clown Card.
• Shade returned to the VIP hall, where Tifa and the other women reacted strangely while Duchess Galina avoided his gaze.

Shade visited Grace and Helen with Dorothy, learned more about the Clown Troupe and its ties to the ancient Fate Order from Daniste, and brought Emilia to Fatu. On Snow Mountain Peak, he sensed that one of the three remaining First Fire Flames was on the island but could not locate it precisely.

• Galina sent Shade home before he could ask about the Clown Troupe, and Leisha concluded that Galina had done something wrong and planned to confront her that night.
• Shade and Dorothy visited Grace and Helen in Miburg, and Shade arranged for the sisters to visit him the following night.
• Daniste explained that the Clown Troupe was a surviving branch of the ancient Fate Order and might follow a script guided by a powerful divine artifact or fate-type Relic.
• Emilia joined Shade for a trip to Fatu after finishing class, with Daniste allowing Shade to bring her back after his banquet.
• Shade used a secret technique on Snow Mountain Peak and sensed a First Fire Flame nearby, but he could not identify its exact location.

Shade and Miss Reinhart attended the Grand Duke of Laggson’s welcome banquet for representatives of Delarion and Kasonlik, where Shade impressed the Marquise of Chomondley with his polished manners and worldly connections. The gathering remained cordial, while Miss Reinhart saw an unfamiliar side of Shade.

• Shade and Miss Reinhart traveled from Snow Mountain Hall to the Grand Duke of Laggson’s estate for the banquet.
• At the estate, Shade thought he spotted Director Anlos, and Miss Reinhart asked whether he had seen another woman.
• Miss Reinhart reunited with her former classmate, the Marquise of Chomondley, and introduced Shade as John Watson.
• Shade described his business interests and acquaintances, impressing the marquise and surprising Miss Reinhart with his aristocratic poise.
• The representatives of Delarion and Kasonlik mingled amicably at the banquet.

At the Laggson banquet, Shade reunited with Major Rades, who was now serving in the navy and assisting Military Intelligence Section Six. They discussed the danger around the Snow Mountain and their shared history before deciding to continue catching up over Rhodes Cards.

• Grand Duke of Laggson welcomed the guests and expressed his hope that the gathering would help ease tensions between the two nations.
• Shade left Miss Reinhart with the Marquise of Chomondley and went to the terrace, where he recognized Major Rades.
• Major Rades told Shade about his promotion, his naval service, and the fleet's arrival in Starfall Bay; Shade warned him to avoid the Snow Mountain and anything strange involving snakes.
• Major Rades mentioned that sailors had seen Mermaids and that a Steam Engine aboard his ship had stopped working, while Shade reassured him about the Mermaids.
• Shade and Major Rades discussed their past experiences, the threat of war, and Rhodes Cards, then agreed to find a place to play together.

At a banquet, Shade heard a gunshot and found Baron Jensen dead from a revolver that witnesses said had been emptied. The police sealed off the floor, but no one could explain how the ordinary gun had fired, leaving the apparent suicide an unsolved mystery.

• Shade left his card game with Major Rades after hearing a scream and gunshot from upstairs.
• Shade found Claire Reinhart among frightened women beside Baron Jensen's body and saw that the baron had been shot in the temple.
• Duke Ragson's guards sealed off the 2nd Floor, and the police identified the deceased as Baron Jensen of the Laggson Duchy.
• Miss Hanna Schmidt and the other women explained that Jensen had emptied his revolver before declaring his love and pulling the trigger.
• Shade questioned whether the revolver had truly been empty, but witnesses confirmed that Jensen had removed all its bullets.
• The police reconstructed the incident as an apparent suicide, but no one could explain how the revolver fired without ammunition.

After Baron Jensen’s murder, Shade followed Countess Waldeck because her pink earrings seemed to hold the power of an Unknown Level relic. At a rocky beach, he discovered that the Clown Troupe had confronted her, but she unleashed pink mist and began transforming the carriage horse.

• The police failed to find a second revolver and continued investigating while the banquet carried on; later, the suspected weapon vanished from the scene.
• Shade recognized Countess Waldeck’s pink earrings as resembling a familiar evil relic and decided to follow her with Miss Reinhart.
• Countess Waldeck left the banquet alone, and Shade and Miss Reinhart tracked her carriage to a rocky beach outside the city.
• The coachman joined three Clown-masked Ring Arcanists, including Mr. Mortis, who confronted Countess Waldeck and demanded to know where her earrings came from.
• Countess Waldeck released pink mist that forced the Clown Troupe to retreat, then threw something toward the horse, whose upper body began transforming into a human shape.

Countess Waldeck’s gun transformed into a growing Black Snake that absorbed attacks and copied their powers, while the Dawn Church and the Clown Troupe fought the Horse-Human. The Snake overwhelmed the Church’s defenses and raced toward the bound Horse-Human as everyone else retreated.

• Countess Waldeck sent the Horse-Human to attack the Clown Troupe, and Dawn Church Ring Arcanists emerged to help subdue it.
• Countess Waldeck fired the seemingly ordinary black revolver and spoke a truth that caused it to transform into a Black Snake.
• The Snake bit Countess Waldeck, who collapsed and stopped breathing as it grew larger.
• The Snake swallowed a Fireball and a stone spear, absorbing their properties and growing stronger.
• The Snake absorbed the light from the Church’s Sword of Light Sealing and struck Ring Arcanists with Dangerous Radiance.
• The Dawn Church captain ordered everyone to retreat, and the Black Snake rushed toward the bound Horse-Human.

Shade and the others fought the evolving Infinite Snake, whose transformations let it absorb powers and overwhelm the Church’s Arcanists. Claire and Mr. Mortis’s Serpent’s Sheddings exposed its weakness, but after it split into thousands of snakes, Shade stopped time to halt their escape.

• Shade restrained the giant snake and used the Destiny rune shared by Long-Haired Luvia to stop it from growing stronger, but it severed its head and merged with the mass of flesh.
• The snake emerged as a beautiful snake-bodied woman, charmed the group, killed a Seventh Ring Arcanist, and attacked the others; Shade’s Thunderclap Wave repelled it without letting it absorb lightning.
• Claire discovered that her Serpent’s Shedding identified the monster as the Infinite Snake, and the glowing Sheddings held by her and Mr. Mortis let their attacks hurt it without being absorbed.
• As Claire and Mr. Mortis prepared finishing attacks, the Infinite Snake exploded into thousands of tiny red snakes that scattered toward the sea and across the reefs.
• Shade shouted “Time Stop,” freezing the red snakes along the shore.

Emilia sensed Shade and the others were in danger and raced to the western beach with Miss Larson, where she used her powers over Time and Destiny to defeat the snake creature. After destroying its transformed weapon, she left the battle’s immediate threat ended, though the group still faced the aftermath.

• Emilia glimpsed Shade and a witch fighting a strange snake on a beach, then hurried with Miss Larson and Ellie to help them.
• Emilia accelerated Ellie with Time Acceleration, and they reached the coastal battle just as the snake person burst into a swarm of red snakes.
• The Serpent's Shedding appeared beside Emilia, and she froze the snakes with Time Stop.
• Emilia used Divine Art: Return to Origin to reverse the snake person's transformations until it became a black revolver.
• Emilia reversed the revolver one final time, causing it to explode into fragments and lose all function.

After Emilia helped destroy the Infinite Snake, Shade and his companions pieced together how the Calamity of Fate had emerged and discussed the serpent sheddings. Emilia’s shedding promised her a gift at the end of a story that was not hers, while the group anticipated more impossibilities on Snow Mountain Island.

• Emilia returned to Snow Mountain Hall with Miss Larson, and Shade praised her for using the Power of Time to destroy the snake and shatter the gun.
• Shade explained that Countess Waldeck had accidentally triggered the Calamity of Fate by firing a gun that should have been unloaded, creating the Infinite Snake.
• Miss Reinhart reported that the snake had bitten and killed Countess Waldeck, and that the bite resembled the mark of Ouroboros.
• Shade shared the recovered gun fragments with Miss Reinhart for the Council and planned to send the others to Luvia and Daniste for research.
• Miss Reinhart wondered whether Emilia was a Chosen One, but Emilia denied it and pointed out that she was only a Major Supporting Character.
• Emilia’s serpent shedding revealed that she would receive a gift at the end of a story that did not belong to her, and that she would bring unexpected turns of Destiny to it.

After Emilia gained a Gift of Fate during the events on Fatumonst Island, Shade and his companions were targeted by a stronger attempt to interfere with their destinies. Back in the city, Daniste reassured Emilia about her status as a Chosen One, while Luvia and the others discussed the Calamity of Fate as a knot in Destiny that gave rise to impossibilities and snakes.

• Emilia said resolving Infinite Snakes had improved her role and her control of time, and Shade guessed she had received help because of her luck, role, strength, or timing.
• Shade and Emilia sensed another attack on Destiny, and the Dice of Destiny protected the linked fates of Shade, Emilia, Miss Reinhart, and the Sun's Great Witch.
• Shade comforted Miss Reinhart after the banquet, and she kissed his cheek before he left with Emilia.
• At 6 Saint Derain Square, Emilia gave the Serpent's Shedding to Luvia, who had come after it vanished from beside her.
• Daniste told Emilia that, as the New Tree, Elf Queen, and inheritor of time, she did not need to fear being questioned about visiting Fatumonst Island, then kept her behind to hear what had happened.
• Shade recounted the night's events to Galina, Leisha, and Luvia, and Luvia said the Calamity of Fate arose from Destiny tangling into a dead knot that produced impossibilities and snakes.

After the Infinite Snake’s defeat, Luvia explained what the Association knew about the creature and Shade wondered whether his own existence made him an impossibility. Galina apologized for sharing private details about her relationship with Shade, while Angelina arranged a private midnight visit and left the chapter eagerly awaiting time alone with him.

• Luvia explained that the Association had records of the Infinite Snake but no solution available to her, and she believed Serpent’s Sheddings helped people resist its power.
• Shade wondered whether his origin made him an impossibility, and “She” joked that he might gain the snake’s power; he then reflected that the Calamity of Fate had begun its central struggle.
• Leisha pressed Galina about what she had told other women at a tea party, and Galina admitted she had described her relationship with Shade before apologizing for sharing too much.
• Angelina overheard Shade and the women during the night, had nightmares, and went to him in the washroom the next morning to ask for a private midnight visit.
• Shade agreed to Angelina’s request and kissed her, leaving her cheerful and eager for Leisha to visit him again.

Luvia proposed changing the Serpent's Sheddings to influence their holders' destinies, while Shade prepared to search for the Demon with Emilia the next day. The Doctor gave Shade a Sure Hit Handgun and a tracking method, and Daniste questioned whether their group could defeat the Demon.

• Luvia told Shade she believed the Serpent's Sheddings could be altered to change destiny and planned to test Dorothy's pen-type Relics and seek special ink from the Fatu People's tribe.
• Luvia divined Clock, Ice, and Unexpected Reunion for Shade's planned operation, then went to work.
• Shade visited the Doctor, who lent him the Sure Hit Handgun and gave him a rune-marking paper roll that would let the Doctor track a Demon struck by a bullet.
• The Doctor said he would stay behind to carry out a plan that would be difficult if the Demon saw him.
• Shade told Daniste he planned to search for the Demon with Emilia, and Daniste warned that it would be hard to repeat their previous success.

Shade and Emilia learned how the Infinite Snake emerged from impossible events and prepared to search for it on Fatumonst Island, while Daniste offered hidden support. In Snow Mountain Hall, the Fatu elders gave Shade a newly discovered Fate Serpent Shedding found at a remote altar.

• Daniste explained that past Infinite Snake incidents began when impossible events were recognized, and warned that unnoticed Errors of Fate could spread and damage the world's order.
• Shade and Emilia reviewed the academy's records, including the egg-laying rooster incident, and Daniste advised them to contain any object left behind when a snake reverted.
• Emilia brought special potions for Unicorn Ellie before she and Shade traveled to Kael-Todd Town, where they met the recovering Mr. Sargent and Shade asked him to arrange a meeting with Mr. Mortis.
• Elder Vilda told Shade that The Church had asked about local snake worship and ancient Serpent's Shedding, then Elder Harald gave him a piece they had found at an altar near a village on Snow Mountain's eastern foothills.

Shade explained his goals and Emilia’s royal connection to the Fatu Elders, then arranged the group’s departure to search for the Demon. The Elders supplied the expedition and gave Emilia a powerful defensive relic before the search began.

• Shade told the Elders he sought a chance to change fate for others and revealed that Emilia was closely related to the future Elf King.
• Shade asked the Elders not to draw attention to Emilia and proposed inviting the Church to follow the expedition from a distance.
• Shade said that Miss Reinhart, Emilia, and possibly Miss Larson and other high-ring companions would search for the Demon without Fatu People joining them.
• The Elders supplied Snow Mountain Water, rune stones, talismans, and Harald’s ancient staff for the operation.
• The Elders gave Emilia Lana's Star Ring Guardian, and she accepted the bracelet after Shade encouraged her.

Shade investigated how to recreate the ink used on ancient Serpent's Sheddings and learned its ingredients from Mr. Sargent. He left with a list of materials and the advice to consult a Diviner about the unknown preparation method.

• Shade asked Professor Reinhart about the ancient ink, and he identified Snake Scale Stone from the Snow Mountain as its main pigment.
• Mr. Sargent gave Shade a piece of Snake Scale Stone and agreed to analyze an ancient Serpent's Shedding text.
• Mr. Sargent found eighteen ink components, including human blood, Snow Mountain Water, Tear Gland Fern extract, and genuine Philosopher's Stone fragments.
• Mr. Sargent could not determine how the ink was made and advised Shade to seek help from a Diviner.
• Shade declined Mr. Sargent's offer to introduce him to local Diviners because he wanted to avoid getting involved with them.

Shade prepared with the Church for an operation against the Demon and its Angel Level Relic, scheduled for the following afternoon. He returned home with Emilia, then told Grace and Helen he would keep them out of the island’s unfolding Fated Story until he understood the ritual’s play.

• The Church agreed to join Shade’s operation with twenty-seven official members and reserve teams, and Emilia accepted the plan to begin in the afternoon after her classes.
• Shade revealed his name to Claire Reinhart, who agreed he could call her Claire after the operation was over.
• Shade returned home with Emilia and the Serpent’s Shedding, then sent Emilia back to the Academy after she greeted Grace and Helen.
• Shade reunited with Helen and Grace, and Helen said Emilia was fortunate to be protected rather than forced to grow through hardship.
• Shade told the sisters he would keep them out of the Fated Story until he and Luvia understood the Chosen One Ritual, while promising to call on them if danger arose.

Shade and his companions prepared to confront a powerful Demon on Fatumonst Island, while Grace and Helen advised him not to let destiny change who he was. Before the group departed, Shade gave Stella Larson the Serpent's Shedding, which revealed her role as an important supporting character and left her questioning her place in the story.

• Grace and Helen told Shade that fate could bring both good and bad outcomes, and urged him to trust his companions' advice without changing himself for destiny.
• Shade found Galina, Vanessa, Sylvia, Megan, Luvia, Dorothy, and Tifa gathered at his home to help prepare for the Demon hunt; the group agreed to support him from Sylvia's High Tower while Vanessa accompanied him.
• Shade and the others traveled through Snow Mountain High Tower to meet Miss Reinhart's group on Victoria Avenue before departing for Fatumonst Island.
• Shade gave Stella Larson the new Serpent's Shedding, and she used it to reveal a story identifying her as an important supporting character.
• Stella questioned why her story made her seem like a background figure or guide despite her local knowledge and power.