Chapter Summaries

Shade, Emilia, Miss Reinhart, Miss Larson, and Unicorn Ellie entered a hidden region of Fatumonst Snow Mountain in search of Ellie’s home. They found the Ice and Snow Castle, but the Witches Detection Badge stopped working near it, and frozen figures appeared in their path as they approached.

• Elder Harald, Elder Vilda, and Elder Solin saw the group off, and Elder Harald urged Shade to protect Ellie.
• Ellie led the group through a hidden passage in the Snow Mountain that she opened with her horn, bringing them to the mountain’s eastern foothills.
• Ellie guided everyone through the snowy mountains into a valley containing a vast ice canopy and the Ice and Snow Castle.
• Shade noticed that his Witches Detection Badge had lost its warmth, warned the group that their enemy might be nearby, and waited for reinforcements to catch up.
• The group advanced toward the castle, melting snow with summoned flames and discovering ice sculptures, including figures of people frozen inside.

Shade and his companions were frozen by the Ice and Snow Castle’s trial, and Shade awoke alone among the courtyard’s ice sculptures. The Ice Maid explained that his friends were imprisoned and invited him to face the castle’s trial, leaving Shade poised to enter.

• Shade and his companions were engulfed by a supernatural blizzard and frozen, while the First Fire Embers briefly revealed the castle’s power came from the Winter Maiden, a demigod-level Witch Emperor, and a powerful artifact.
• After about twenty minutes, Shade broke free of the ice and found himself in the castle courtyard among thousands of ice sculptures, with his companions nowhere in sight.
• An Ice Maid descended the castle steps, identified herself as its Head Maid and steward, and told Shade not to damage the courtyard decorations.
• The Ice Maid explained that powerful visitors faced a trial for the castle’s treasures, while those who failed became decorations; she also said a Demon was inside the castle seeking the master’s secret treasure.
• The Ice Maid revealed that Shade’s friends, Ellie, and the Church’s group had been confined in different places, and invited Shade to follow her and undertake the trial.

Shade freed Delia A. Sabelle from an ice sculpture and invited her to join him in the Ice and Snow Castle trial. They passed through the castle gate, where Shade warned Delia of the extreme cold beyond it.

• Shade used Hungry Kiss and flames to thaw a yellow-haired woman from an ice sculpture, discovering she was a powerful Ring Arcanist.
• The woman identified herself as Delia A. Sabelle but had lost her memories after being frozen in a blizzard.
• Shade explained the trial and offered to help restore Delia’s memories; she agreed to accompany him and asked to hold his hand.
• The Ice Maid led Shade and Delia to the castle gate and passed through its solid ice, after which Shade followed and warned Delia to prepare for the cold.

Shade and Miss Sabelle entered the frozen castle, where Shade used Soul’s Warmth to help her withstand the cold. After the maid led them to a dining room, Shade identified several emblems on the wall and explained what they revealed about the castle’s former owner.

• Miss Sabelle used thaumaturgy to adapt to the cold, but the castle’s freezing air left her struggling to breathe and stay alert.
• Shade held Miss Sabelle’s hand and supplied Soul’s Warmth, which she crystallized into a heat-giving crystal and enclosed in a silver ornament.
• Miss Sabelle wore the crystal beneath Shade’s scarf, and the pair examined the castle’s grand hall and its early Fifth Epoch defensive design.
• The maid escorted Shade and Miss Sabelle to a dining room, where they sat beside a wall covered in emblems.
• Miss Sabelle recognized the Winter Maiden’s holy emblem, and Shade explained the meanings of the Frozen Fortress, Zalas Society, and Friends of Unicorns emblems.

Shade and Miss Sabelle faced the first test in Chloe Marcus Marcus's castle, where drinking enchanted teas sent them into dreams. Shade entered Miss Sabelle's nightmare and urged her to wake, but learned that her fear came from doubting her own ability to meet her responsibilities.

• The Ice Maid explained that Shade and Miss Sabelle had to taste three teas to proceed, and Miss Sabelle and Shade chose the clear and ice-blue cups.
• Shade recognized the ice-blue drink, while Miss Sabelle fell asleep after drinking Nightmare Dew; the Ice Maid told Shade he could enter her dream by drinking the remaining tea and holding her hand.
• Shade drank the final cup and entered Miss Sabelle's dream, where he found her bound to a burning pyre and surrounded by accusing figures.
• Shade used Adele's Time Stop to freeze the figures, but his power could not extinguish the flames or free Miss Sabelle.
• Miss Sabelle told Shade that she feared being incompetent and failing to live up to the trust placed in her.

Shade freed Miss Sabelle from the dream by confronting the Black Robed Ladies’ doubts and embracing her, then she woke with him and chose to drink the final cup. After they evaluated the drinks, Miss Sabelle asked whether Shade’s Time Stop came from another Ring Arcanist or was his own creation.

• Shade answered the Black Robed Ladies’ objections to Miss Sabelle’s qualifications and embraced her, causing them to vanish and freeing her from the cross.
• Shade and Miss Sabelle awakened before the Ice Table, and she stopped him from drinking the final cup, which proved to be cold hot chocolate.
• Miss Sabelle drank the hot chocolate and evaluated the Nightmare Dew and the cold drink while Shade praised the Ice Crystal Butterfly tea’s refreshing mint flavor.
• The Ice Maid explained that the Ice Crystal Butterfly had been declared extinct in Fifth Epoch 3500 and that the castle’s ingredients had been specially preserved.
• Shade told Miss Sabelle he was a powerful time-based Ring Arcanist who had encountered remnants of past eras.
• Miss Sabelle, who also had a talent for time, asked whether Shade had learned his Time Stop from a famous Ring Arcanist or created it himself.

Shade and Miss Sabelle faced the second floor’s deadly cold and its test of elegant dancing. After rescuing Sabelle from freezing again, Shade refused the Ice Maid’s offer to dance with him instead and formally invited Sabelle to be his partner.

• Miss Sabelle froze upon entering the second floor after attempting to warm herself with magic, and Shade thawed her with his soul’s warmth.
• Shade promised to keep Sabelle with him despite the danger, and the pair continued through the second floor’s banquet hall and corridors.
• Maid explained that they had to dance elegantly for ten minutes to earn passage to the third floor.
• Maid offered to dance with Shade if he abandoned Sabelle, but Shade refused.
• Shade formally invited Miss Delia A. Sabelle to dance, and she accepted.

Shade and the amnesiac Miss Sabelle danced through the ice-filled banquet hall while sharing warmth and fending off attacks from Ice Sculptures. As the ten-minute trial neared its end, they kept weaving through the hall, and Miss Sabelle offered to teach Shade about the Power of Time.

• Shade and Miss Sabelle began dancing among the Ice Sculptures, and she recovered fragments of memories about her noble upbringing and dance lessons.
• Miss Sabelle rested her head on Shade's shoulder, then spotted an Ice Sculpture scattering glittering ice dust at them.
• Shade used Chloe's Time-Space Freeze to stop the ice dust, and Miss Sabelle praised his distinctive use of the Power of Time.
• Four pairs of Ice Sculptures attacked with ice blades, so Miss Sabelle deflected them while Shade lifted her clear of the blades and moved them elsewhere with Space Movement.
• After the ice numbed Miss Sabelle's legs, Shade continued leading her through the hall as she praised his temporal control and offered to teach him.
• Shade used Space Movement to weave among the closing Ice Sculptures as the dance entered its sixth minute.

Shade and Miss Sabelle passed the second-floor trial by surviving the Ice Sculptures’ final attack, and Maid led them to a room to rest before the third floor. As Shade recovered, he remembered something and had Miss Sabelle retrieve a pocket watch from his coat.

• The Ice Sculptures attacked Shade and Miss Sabelle with weapons and magic while they danced, then launched a powerful sphere of ice at them.
• Shade used the Return to Original Nature Principle to redirect the ice attack, and Maid ended the trial before his counterattack struck.
• Maid declared that Shade and Miss Sabelle had passed the second-floor trial and allowed them to rest for twenty minutes before proceeding to the third floor.
• Shade searched for a potion to restore his Spirit, but the potions froze; he instead chewed tea leaves while Miss Sabelle offered to help him recover.
• Shade suddenly remembered something and asked Miss Sabelle to search his coat, where she found a pocket watch.

Shade and Miss Sabelle shared a warm meal in the frozen castle while discussing the Demon of Weapons and the mysterious gifts Shade carried. They reached the third floor, where the maid announced a search for three hidden badges as the final trial.

• Shade used a gemstone to summon heated stoves and food, and the maid served him and Miss Sabelle.
• Miss Sabelle explained that a matching Spirit Rune and a powerful Spiritual Weapon might briefly resist the Demon of Weapons’ control.
• Shade discovered that the gemstone Miss Reinhart had given him was heating up as they climbed toward the third floor.
• The maid said the castle had five main floors, that the Demon occupied a corridor on the Fourth Floor, and that she had blocked its perception of Shade.
• On the third floor, the maid started the final trial: Shade and Miss Sabelle had to find three hidden badges before an ice hourglass ran out.

Shade began the badge hunt by reviving Claire Reinhart, and Miss Sabelle used her mysterious divination to lead the group through the castle’s labyrinth. They found the first badge, but the colorless liquid covering it resisted both Shade’s chains and Claire’s Thaumaturgy.

• Shade followed the yellow gemstone to an ice sculpture and revived Claire Reinhart with a kiss.
• Claire learned that Miss Sabelle was traveling with Shade and showed affection toward him, while Miss Sabelle privately concluded that Claire was a Council traitor.
• Miss Sabelle used her knowledge of divination to guide Shade and Claire through the third-floor labyrinth.
• The group found the first badge beneath colorless liquid in an ice soup bowl.
• Shade’s chains and Claire’s liquid-manipulating Thaumaturgy both failed to move the badge or disturb the liquid.

Shade, Miss Reinhart, and Miss Sabelle obtained the first badge by drinking the freezing liquids, with Shade thawing Miss Reinhart through kisses. Miss Sabelle used the badge to guide them through the third-floor corridors, while Miss Reinhart grew increasingly suspicious of her concealed identity.

• Miss Reinhart drank the first cup of freezing liquid and began freezing over, so Shade kissed her and used Thaumaturgy to thaw her.
• Shade drank the second cup, and Miss Reinhart drank the third, relying on Shade to thaw her again; Shade drank the final cup.
• The three obtained the ice badge, which Miss Sabelle used to divine their route through the third-floor corridors.
• Miss Reinhart thanked Miss Sabelle for helping Shade and offered to ask her grandfather to investigate her identity after they escaped.
• Miss Reinhart and Shade both suspected Miss Sabelle was hiding something as the three continued through the castle together.

Shade and the two Sorceresses found the second badge in a freezing pool, then learned the final badge was locked inside the Maid. Shade realized the lock required a kiss, but the chapter ended before he acted.

• Claire Reinhart offered to enter the freezing pool, but Shade transformed into a giant cat and retrieved the second badge with his tail.
• Miss Sabelle divined the final badge’s location, leading the group back to the stairwell where the Maid waited.
• The Maid revealed the final badge inside her body and said only the palace master’s key could unlock it.
• Shade recalled his past meeting with Chloe and concluded that a kiss was the key to the lock.

Shade obtained the third badge by kissing the Ice Maid, then met Emilia and Ellie on the Fourth Floor. The maid led the group to choose a book as their reward, while warning that the frozen people would only be released after they left the castle and the Demon would then pursue them.

• Shade kissed the Ice Maid, causing the third badge to emerge, and she declared that he had passed the trial.
• The Ice Maid guided Shade, Claire, and Miss Sabelle to the Fourth Floor, where they reunited with Emilia and Unicorn Ellie.
• Shade learned that the frozen people would remain frozen until the group left the castle, after which the Demon would seek them out.
• The Ice Maid brought the group to an ice-book library and offered Shade one book as his reward.
• Claire suggested choosing a book about Snow Mountain's history, Emilia proposed searching for clues about the Snake or the Chosen One Ritual, and Miss Sabelle recommended looking for the castle's master's research on Ice and Snow.

Shade used the Moon Library to find Chloe’s most precious treasure, which turned out to be the Ice Maid herself, and the trial ended just as the Demon arrived. After escaping the castle, Shade and his companions fought to survive for thirty seconds until the frozen Arcanists could recover and join them.

• Shade strengthened Moon Library—Library Retrieval until he found the Ice Maid, who explained that she was part of the castle and that the trial had ended.
• Shade led Emilia, Claire, Miss Sabelle, and the Unicorn toward the third-floor terrace while he stayed behind to confront the approaching Demon.
• Shade used Thunderclap Wave to slow the Demon, then retreated down the stairs as Claire, Emilia, and the Unicorn each delayed its pursuit.
• Miss Sabelle rewound the Demon by less than a second as the group jumped from the terrace, and Shade called for them to hold out for thirty seconds.
• Shade attacked the Demon with Moonlight Slash, but its arrow rain and sword strike overwhelmed the group’s shields.
• Emilia and Unicorn Ellie appeared before the Demon’s sword strike, and the three shields from Lana’s Star Ring Guardian blocked it for one second.

Emilia and the gathered allies confronted the Ancient Evil Spirit, but its Duel Domain allowed only Emilia to harm it. Shade exploited a loophole to fight the Demon while the others sealed away its Demon Swords, and the chapter ended with Shade and the Demon growing to the height of the castle as their duel intensified.

• Emilia deflected the Demon’s sword strike with Spell Reversal, and she, Shade, and Miss Sabelle used Time Stop to freeze its incoming swords as powerful allies arrived.
• The gathered Ring Arcanists bombarded the Demon until it raised a bronze bell, then formed its Duel Domain, whose one-on-one rule prevented anyone but Emilia from harming it.
• Shade intercepted the Demon’s attack on Emilia and injured it with an explosive Thunder Spear, proving he could affect it despite the Domain.
• Vanessa explained that the Demon Swords were separate living beings, allowing the allies to restrain and seal ten of them with gravity and the Sword of Light Sealing.
• Shade clashed with the Demon using his chains and growing strength, and both enlarged until they stood nearly as tall as Ice and Snow Castle.

Shade and Emilia fought the Demon of Weapons while the Witches and Arcanists worked to sever the ten Demon Swords. Shade’s allies empowered him, but the demon corrupted its sword and renewed the assault as the battle continued.

• Shade used his Thaumaturgies and strength to battle the demon while Emilia and Vanessa helped defend against Relics it controlled.
• Emilia summoned Treants with seeds and her Tree Staff to hold back the demon’s weapons as Shade struck it with Moon Fire.
• Vanessa, Daniste, and Camille Eden empowered Shade, allowing him to knock aside the Demon Sword and punch the demon.
• The demon corrupted its sword by stabbing it into itself, then shattered Shade’s chains and wounded his arms with a powerful blow.
• Megan cut apart the fifth Demon Sword with Night Watchman while Claire helped her and Audrey fend off the remaining swords.
• Megan told Claire that she and Audrey had come to help, and Claire asked whether Megan had known the giant man fighting the demon for a long time.

Shade and his allies destroyed the ten Demon Swords and tried to use Night Watchman to strike down the Demon, but the Demon countered their attack. The chapter ended as Unicorn Ellie used Emilia’s sword to clash with the Demon’s corrupted sword.

• Megan and Audrey copied the Demon Swords’ spirit-expelling technique, helping the Church’s team break the swords while Shade fought the Demon.
• Miss Sabelle used a Time Jump to help the allies destroy the final Demon Sword, leaving Shade’s plan ready to begin.
• Shade shrank to human size and used the Doctor’s bullet to weaken the Demon before taking Night Watchman from Sylvia and attacking.
• The Demon resisted Shade’s strike, regained its corrupted sword, and nearly struck Shade as a golden brick knocked Emilia from Ellie’s back.
• Ellie caught Emilia’s fallen sword and charged into the Demon’s blade, making the two remaining Demon Swords clash.

Shade used the clash between the two Demon Swords to destroy the Angel Level Relic, Sword Spawn Mother Nest, and was caught in the resulting Whisper Element eruption. He gained the Black Iron Whisper Spirit Rune—Sword and new sword abilities, helped defeat the Demon, and was left facing the still-expanding mass of Whisper Elements.

• Unicorn Ellie shattered both Demon Swords in a clash, triggering the Relic’s soul shriek and a spreading eruption of Whisper Elements.
• Shade sent Ellie to safety and wounded the fleeing Demon, but was swallowed by the black iron light as it engulfed the battlefield.
• Inside the Whisper Elements, Shade gained the Black Iron Whisper Spirit Rune—Sword, sublimated Steel Snake, and enhanced Moonbeam Greatsword.
• Shade attacked the weakened Demon with Flying Swords and Night Watchman, while Camille Eden, Daniste, and Vanessa destroyed the Demon’s escaping half.
• Shade finished off the Demon’s remaining body and marked its fleeing head with the Sure Hit Handgun before collapsing from exhaustion.
• The Demon escaped toward the Great Ice Cap, and Shade realized the expanding Whisper Element light was now the greatest danger.

After the battle at the Ice and Snow Castle, Ice Maid contained the Whisper Element while Shade and the others returned to Kael-Todd Town to recover. Shade asked about the missing Miss Sabelle, who secretly followed the group, and the chapter ended with Claire meeting Shade’s teacher, Danist Gustav.

• Vanessa caught the exhausted Shade as Ice Maid froze the black sun and told the gathered teams to leave while she handled the danger.
• Lady Eden and Danist divided the Demon Sword hilts and shards, and the Church escorted the strangers who had been frozen in the castle.
• Shade asked Ice Maid where Miss Sabelle had gone; she said he would have to find out, while Miss Sabelle secretly followed the group and noticed Galina nearby.
• Megan led the Witches out of the gorge, and the injured group returned to Kael-Todd Town, where Shade fell asleep at Snow Mountain Hall.
• Vanessa watched over Shade while Claire, Megan, Sylvia, and Emilia gathered; Claire met Danist Gustav and learned she was Shade’s teacher.