Chapter Summaries

Shade and his companions reviewed their Academy reward and prepared for the next day’s operation, then Shade gathered the Great Witches at the Council to discuss the plan. He warned that confronting the Speaker there could be impossible because later Speakers may have prepared for another Witch rebellion.

• The Doctor gave Shade the blank Serpent's Shedding, and Shade decided to save it for Leisha.
• The group received generous Academy rewards for its investigation report, and Priest Augustus was assigned the Keeper of Secrets Level relic.
• Shade and Dorothy contacted the Great Witches about the next day’s operation, while Shade arranged for them to meet at the Council that evening.
• Flora kissed Shade while claiming she was checking his soul to confirm he was not the Speaker, prompting protests from the other Witches.
• Shade warned the gathered Witches that the Speaker might be prepared to defend against a rebellion and could be impossible to defeat inside the Council.

Shade joined the Great Witches to plan the next night’s operation and learned how the Witch Council’s voting system and hidden spaces worked. After the meeting, Galina left for her manor, while Dorothy teased her from the stairs.

• Shade took a seat at the Witch Council and discussed tomorrow’s operation with the Great Witches, while watching for Isabella’s possible arrival.
• Megan, Flora, and Sivie explained the Council’s votes, the Speaker’s special authority, and how its power depended on support.
• Claire described the Supreme Hall, where the Council kept Divine Art Items that could be consumed to grant blessings and related enhancements.
• Shade returned home with Galina, who kissed him goodbye and said Sylvia would collect her the following afternoon.
• Dorothy called down from the stairs and sarcastically invited Galina to stay with Shade, irritating Galina with her egg-related metaphor.

Shade, Dorothy, and Leisha explored a dangerous relic that told different versions of “Snow White Princess,” deliberately summoning its Dark Fairy Tale. The dark version began with a grotesque kingdom and portrayed every character as twisted or abnormal.

• Shade settled Leisha and Galina’s disagreement, sent Galina home, and began the evening’s lesson with Leisha and Dorothy.
• Dorothy showed Shade the Poet Level relic “Fletcher’s Bedtime Stories,” which told fairy tales in four voices and could produce a dangerous fifth voice, the Hoarse Whisper.
• Dorothy poured prepared blood and Liquid Pain over the book to summon its Dark Fairy Tale version of “Snow White Princess.”
• Shade caught Little Mia as she tried to pounce on the book while the Hoarse Whisper began telling the dark story.
• The dark tale described a grotesque kingdom and followed the familiar plot, but Shade realized the king, Queen, dwarves, Princess, and Prince were all abnormal or driven by their own motives.

Shade entered the apocalyptic Time Corridor to reunite with Adele, but found her away from Saint Derain Square. After summoning her projection and learning she would return soon, he went to confront the Curse-Eroded Great Tree.

• Dorothy and Shade discussed the twisted fairy tale before the month ended and February began.
• Shade left Dorothy and Little Mia sleeping, then used the Yggdrasil Key to enter the Time Corridor with the Night Watchman and Perfume Bottle.
• Shade found Adele absent from their ruined home and summoned her with her pocket watch.
• Adele appeared as a glowing projection, said she had gone nearby to search for something, and promised to return.
• Shade walked into Saint Derain Square, where the Curse-Eroded Great Tree burst from underground and filled the square with its branches and wailing Corpses.

Shade destroyed the Curse-Eroded Great Tree at Saint Derain Square with Moon Fire, then defeated the curse-formed figure wearing Helena Carter’s face. He returned home knowing Helena could not be restored in this era and resolved to save her soul when he faced the tree again in his own time.

• Shade transformed into a giant and tried to uproot the Curse-Eroded Great Tree, then dodged its corpses’ curse rays and attacked its canopy with Dragon Breath and Moon Fire.
• Shade used the Ancient Elven Stability Principle and the Yggdrasil Staff to spread Moon Fire, then tore the burning tree from the square and watched it collapse into ash.
• A figure resembling Helena Carter rose from the ash, but Shade recognized it as a curse aggregate rather than Helena’s surviving soul.
• Shade fought the figure with the Moonbeam Greatsword and pinned it with the Yggdrasil Staff carrying Thunder Spear.
• The figure asked whether Shade was the Moon, and Shade asked if it remembered Danist Gustav before it dispersed and left a card behind.
• Shade decided he would face the tree again in his own era and make it bear a fruit containing the soul he and Danist longed for, then returned home to await Adele.

Shade reunited with Adele in the ruined Saint Derain Square, and they shared time together as he recounted his recent adventures. Adele described the dangers and treasures of Yodel Palace and confessed that Shade was her only anchor in a world where she believed no other normal people remained.

• Adele returned to Saint Derain Square and embraced and kissed Shade, who confirmed that his visit was real.
• Shade told Adele about his adventures after the Battle of Vesta Woodland and explained that he could spend mission attempts to visit her.
• Adele described Yodel Palace, where the insane Twin Princes guarded the palace and its secrets, and said she hoped to find its Great Library for Shade.
• Adele told Shade that the world’s collapse let her grow without limit, but she was careful with her power because she feared using it recklessly in his era.
• Adele recalled meeting one traveler long ago and said she had found no other normal survivors, making Shade the anchor that convinced her she was still alive.

Shade learned about the Moon Ash ritual from Adele and received memories revealing the Curse-Eroded Great Tree’s origins and fate on Kalas Mountain. After returning to 1855, he hurried to meet the Elders.

• Adele hinted that Shade should investigate concerts and similar events on Fatumonst Island, then advised him to gather energy before releasing Moonlight Ray.
• Adele taught Shade the Moon Ash ritual, which used the Divine Art Item Moon Phase Whisper to create materials that aided time-stopping, acceleration, and reversal.
• Adele told Shade that the Moon Phase Whisper belonged to Aurora and suggested that Claire could ask her to give it to him.
• Shade read the Curse-Eroded Great Tree Calamity Card and saw Helena Carter’s memories of dying beneath the Silver Moon at the Ancient Moon Tower and of the tree becoming a site of sacrifice after the apocalypse.
• Shade said goodbye to Adele and returned to 1855, where he left Sylvia’s High Tower before dawn to meet the Elders.

Shade waited at the summit of Fatumonst Snow Mountain for the Fatu People’s Ten Thousand Spirits Festival ritual, but the Elders and climbers were delayed by attacks and disasters across the island. Claire and Elder Ursa arrived and reported that the island faced Water Ghosts, Demons, a tsunami, and worsening elemental disorder.

• Shade tested the Curse-Eroded Great Tree card and discovered that its Wither-Bloom Curse could make plants grow rapidly or return to seed form.
• Shade reached the summit before dawn, waited for the Elders, and wondered whether the mountain might conceal a Temple of Fate.
• When the ritual did not begin, the Four Elements grew increasingly unstable around the summit, threatening to spread disorder across the island.
• Claire and Elder Ursa arrived and told Shade that Water Ghosts had attacked the docks, foreign Demons had invaded town, and a tsunami had struck.
• Claire explained that Elder Ule was searching the mountain routes for the missing climbers while she and Elder Ursa had hurried to the summit.

Shade and Claire helped the elders prepare for the Ten Thousand Spirits Festival ritual, but a Stage Four Imposter disguised as the last climber tried to sabotage it. After Shade and the others defeated it, they relit the bonfire with Shade’s Primordial Fire, and the gathered elements responded more favorably.

• Elder Ule reported that young Shay had reached the bottom of the mountain and would arrive soon, while Claire told Shade that Bella’s maids had helped protect the town the previous night.
• Shay reached the summit carrying the kindling, but Shade recognized him as a Stage Four Imposter and struck him down before he could light the bonfire.
• The Imposter reassembled and attacked the group, but Shade, Claire, and the elders fought back and destroyed it after Claire froze its flesh-made lamp.
• The Doppelganger’s Crimson Moon flames ignited the firewood, overwhelming the Whisper Element and worsening the elemental disorder at the summit.
• Elder Ursa ordered the group to relight the bonfire with a mild flame, and Shade used Primordial Fire, causing the elements to gather toward it.

Shade and Claire sealed the unstable elements on Snow Mountain, then discovered that Doppelgangers had abducted Little Liana and left Shade an invitation to House of False Men. Shade arrived at the house with Ellie just as the invitation's deadline passed and demanded proof that Little Liana was safe.

• Shade used Mystic Lock—Tree's Kiss to suppress the unstable elements on Snow Mountain for up to eight hours, then flew with Claire toward town.
• Shade and Claire found the injured Ellie and discovered that Little Liana had been captured and a crimson Invitation Letter had been left in the ruined Unicorn Nest.
• Shade sent Claire to gather help while he took Ellie to House of False Men, asking her to contact the Council and the Clown Troupe.
• Shade rode the disguised Ellie to House of False Men in City of Time Wheels and arrived at eight o'clock.
• A Doppelganger servant welcomed Shade at the entrance, and Shade demanded to know where Little Liana was and whether she had been harmed.

Shade and Ellie entered the House of False Men to find the captive Little Liana, with the doppelgangers betting that Shade could no longer call on the distant Old God’s power. Ellie’s horn and Shade’s Moon Fire let them smash through the relic’s defenses, but a flood of Blood Water surged toward them as they reached a familiar corridor.

• The butler-like doppelganger refused to release Little Liana and challenged Shade to find her inside the House of False Men.
• Shade and Ellie entered the relic, and Ellie began breaking through its walls while Shade used Moon Fire to keep their passages open.
• Shade confirmed that Ellie’s horn suppressed the relic’s living walls, and the pair charged deeper, destroying doppelgangers along the way.
• Ellie resisted the relic’s blood-red influence with her Witch power, then followed a scent into a familiar corridor.
• A towering flood of Blood Water rushed toward Shade and Ellie, and Shade cast Flash Freeze Ray.

Shade, Ellie, and Winnie fought their way deeper into the House of False Men as Ellie awakened her Battle Unicorn abilities and pursued Little Liana. The chapter left them traveling through the relic’s shifting rooms and corridors, with Ellie apparently following a direction away from its core.

• Ellie froze the blood-water tide and shattered the ice, but more blood water kept pouring into the corridor.
• Winnie joined Shade and Ellie, explained Ellie’s Battle Unicorn training, and urged her to take responsibility for protecting her kin.
• Ellie transformed into an ice unicorn and carried Shade and Winnie through the frozen blood water and a wall, while Shade glimpsed a red-lit room before its door shut.
• Winnie froze two Doppelgangers, and Ellie resumed charging through the House of False Men as her power protected Shade from the relic’s influence.
• Shade noticed the surroundings growing less crimson and realized Ellie was pursuing Little Liana rather than heading toward the House of False Men’s core.

Shade and his companions found Little Liana imprisoned in the House of False Men and used Moon Fire to purge the Doppelganger Flesh from her, leaving Shade severely drained. As they tried to escape, the route Ellie chose began leading them back into increasingly blood-red surroundings.

• Ellie led Shade to a blood-red door, where the Stage Four Imposter questioned how the Unicorn could navigate the House’s spatial Confusion and warned Shade that he would not escape the core room again.
• Shade and Winnie broke through the door and found Little Liana asleep in a flesh-covered Unicorn Nest.
• Shade burned the Doppelganger Flesh out of Little Liana with Moon Fire, exhausting his spirit, and Little Liana awoke restored.
• Shade mounted Little Liana while Ellie led the group through the House, but the blood-red hue around them grew denser again, so Ellie stopped and tried another direction.

Shade and his companions pushed deeper into the House of False Men, where they discovered the Doppelgangers’ growing Mystic Lock: a vast, blood-red city born from their collective consciousness. After retreating from the city and pressing on toward the relic’s core, they reached a corridor blocked by living flesh ropes, and Shade’s Moonlight Slash triggered the passage to contract around them.

• Shade used his moonlight to protect Ellie as the Unicorn weakened, then told her to go straight ahead while Winnie promised to protect the group if needed.
• After breaking through the thirty-third room, Shade and his companions emerged into a blood-red city inside the House of False Men.
• Winnie identified the city as a Mystic Lock created by the Doppelgangers’ collective consciousness and warned that the House of False Men might eventually become an Unknown Level Relic.
• Shade and the others retreated into the building, then continued through its increasingly dangerous passages as Ellie grew exhausted and Shade used more Pink Essence.
• Ellie led the group to a solitary blood-red door surrounded by overwhelming Whisper Element, but flesh ropes blocked the corridor.
• Shade used Moonlight Slash to sever a flesh rope, causing the corridor to contract, so the group retreated into a room.

Shade received the Golden Lion Armor from Mr. Mortis and the Clowns, who cleared the flesh corridor but could not pass the red door. With the Unicorns protected by Winnie, Shade approached the core room alone, where the Doppelgangers had prepared something familiar to him.

• Three Clowns arrived beside Shade, explained that they had entered the unfolding story through Mr. Mortis's ability, and delivered the Golden Lion Armor.
• The Clowns used their stage-like performance to sever the flesh ropes and defeat the third-stage Doppelgangers blocking the corridor.
• An invisible force repelled the Clowns from the red door, so they left through a floating curtain after warning Shade about what lay beyond it.
• Shade fitted the Golden Lion Armor onto Little Liana, improving her condition, while Winnie used her ice-blue power to protect her and Ellie.
• Shade asked Winnie to stay with the Unicorns, confirmed Snake Fang was at his waist, and walked toward the core room alone.

Shade confronted the Doppelganger about the servant whose ambition helped create the House of False Men, rejecting its defense that harming others was necessary to transcend destiny. The Doppelganger then revealed that Black Hand-Tifron had come seeking its help, leaving Shade facing a dangerous new opponent.

• The butler-like Doppelganger told Shade that it had emerged from the servant's resentment of Baron Muller's inherited status and argued that ordinary people needed extraordinary means to escape destiny.
• Shade condemned the servant and the Doppelgangers for using other people's lives as the price of their own ambitions, while the Doppelganger challenged his understanding of ordinary people's weakness.
• Shade said he had already been asked whether he was truly human and admitted he had long expected to pay a price for what he had gained.
• The Doppelganger refused to identify whether it was merely a Stage Four Imposter or the House of False Men's incarnation, then introduced a hooded figure Shade recognized as Black Hand-Tifron.
• The Doppelganger revealed that Black Hand-Tifron had sought its help and could push relics' powers to their limits or beyond in exchange for permissions.

Shade discovered that the Demon had taken The Puppeteer's Script and was transforming into a stronger being inside House of False Men, while a vast inverted city of Flesh appeared above Fatumonst Island. As reinforcements entered the relic, Stella, Rita, and Matilda set out with three Unicorns to carry out a remedial ritual on Snow Mountain.

• Shade questioned the Demon about the bloodstained pages, and the Demon began transforming as it welcomed him to its Flesh City.
• An inverted city made of writhing Flesh appeared above Fatumonst Island, alarming Elder Harald and the others at the docks.
• Illustrious Miss and the Elders arranged a remedial Snow Mountain ritual, assigning Rita, Matilda, and Stella to bring Kindling and Snake Skin sacrifices to the summit.
• Stella reported that Miss Sianode, Miss Danist, the Unicorns, Miss Sylvia, and Miss Edwardz had entered House of False Men as reinforcements before the anomaly began.
• Three adult Unicorns returned with Stella, and they accompanied the three women as they prepared to climb Snow Mountain and ease the pressure on Shade.

Shade and Sister Devlin fought the Stage Four Imposter above the Crimson Moon Blood Lake while First Fire and death magic battled the House of False Men’s power. The fight continued as the Blood Lake expanded and the phantom Flesh City reappeared.

• Sister Devlin arrived, halted the Flesh City’s advance with her First Fire scythe, and returned the Night Watchman Shade’s sword to him.
• The Doppelganger expanded the Blood Pool into a Crimson Moon Blood Lake and challenged Shade to fight for access to the far shore.
• Shade and Sister Devlin flew above the Blood Lake and attacked the Doppelganger, whose shield and spells drew power from the water.
• Shade and Sister Devlin’s fire began boiling away the Blood Lake as both sides fought to outlast the other.
• Winnie, Little Liana, and Ellie watched from the shore while Winnie’s ice helped suppress the Blood Lake’s power.
• The Blood Lake continued to widen, flesh Doppelgangers emerged to attack, and the phantom Flesh City appeared beside the enemy again.

Shade used a concentrated Moonlight Ray to destroy the Doppelganger, but the creature was reborn as House of False Men consumed Ellie and Shade plunged into Blood Lake after her. As Shade rapidly drained the lake, a powerful force outside blasted through the core room’s wall.

• Sister Devlin ignited Blood Lake and struck House of False Men, creating an opening for Shade to unleash Moonlight Ray: Second Form and erase the Doppelganger.
• Blood Lake surged into a giant maw and swallowed Ellie after she knocked Shade out of its path.
• Shade entered Blood Lake, where his body absorbed the blood water and created a vortex that rapidly consumed the lake.
• The Doppelganger was reborn and prepared to investigate the draining Blood Lake while Winnie and Little Liana faced it.
• A dazzling Holy White Light accompanied a powerful impact that blasted through the core room’s wall from outside.

Emilia and the Unicorn Legion rescued Little Liana and regrouped with Shade, who emerged from the Blood Lake carrying the frozen Ellie and gained new powers from absorbing its blood. With the Flesh City blocking the way to the far shore, Shade prepared to enter its Mystic Lock with Daniste, while the Great Witches continued fighting the Doppelgangers outside the House of False Men.

• Emilia led hundreds of Unicorns into the core room, but their charge passed through the Flesh City’s phantom as the Doppelganger withdrew inside it.
• Shade rose from the Blood Sea vortex holding Ellie frozen in Ice, and Emilia verified his identity with Little Mia in God's Gift Box.
• Shade explained that Ellie had frozen herself to survive the Blood Water, then handed her Ice block to Sylvia for protection.
• Shade revealed that absorbing the Blood Lake’s power had granted him Blood Seed Parasitism, the ability to sense Doppelgangers from afar, and enough spirit to use one Mystic Lock.
• Shade found the Flesh City had become a barrier and asked Daniste to join him in the Clock Tower Lovers Mystic Lock so they could confront the Doppelganger inside.
• Outside the House of False Men, Galina, Claire, and Sivie led the Witch Followers in repeatedly driving back the Doppelgangers.