Chapter Summaries

Shade joined Claire and the others as they took Stella to a high mountain Cold Pool for her talent-enhancing ritual. While the ritual preparations began, Shade and Aisha Eisberg talked by a bonfire about his relationship with Daniste and Aisha’s memories of Lady Helena Carter.

• Claire explained that the group would perform Stella’s ritual at a Cold Pool high on Fatumonst Snow Mountain, where the higher altitude would improve its effects.
• Stella told Shade that Friday’s battle had helped her understand her ice power as dancing snowflakes, shaped by warm feelings and beautiful memories.
• Claire showed Shade the ancient stone slab from the mausoleum, which remained unchanged and might be a Ring of Fate related to ice and snow.
• The group flew through the blizzard to the Cold Pool, and Shade tucked Miss Bell’s dove form and Flora’s owl form into his coat when the wind threatened to carry them away.
• As the others prepared Stella’s ritual, Shade tested his Veil of Misdirection Thaumaturgy and sat by a bonfire with Aisha Eisberg.
• Shade confirmed that his relationship with Daniste was emotional, then asked Aisha about Lady Helena Carter; Aisha agreed to tell him what she knew after he promised to keep it from Daniste.

Shade and his companions completed Stella’s Winter Pilgrimage ritual, awakening Ring of Fate and Snow and strengthening her powers. The new destiny drew attention from several distant observers, while Stella’s Serpent’s Shedding confirmed that the ring matched her.

• Miss Eisberg told Shade about Daniste’s close bond with Helena Carter and Daniste’s search for her.
• Stella entered the Cold Pool with the Stone Zither as the ritual began, while Shade and Elder Harald waited outside.
• After Elder Ursa completed the ritual, Stella played the zither, causing Frostmourne and the stone slab to resonate and reveal her Destiny Ring.
• Stella’s three relics granted her Whisper—Sorrow, Miracle—Winter, and Enlightenment—Destiny, while the Frozen Punishment Brand’s power merged into her.
• Shade identified the new destiny as Ring of Fate and Snow, and Stella took hold of it as her ice and snow powers strengthened.
• Winnie, President Lenormand, Luvia, and Snake Eye noticed the beam from the ring, while Stella’s Serpent’s Shedding declared that she had obtained a matching destiny.

Shade and Luvia discussed the Rings of Fate, the Serpent’s Shedding, and the remaining acts of the Seven-act story, while Shade planned to test whether Angelina could resonate with the Ring of War. At a diplomatic banquet, Shade received a letter for Galina and was then invited by a princess to view a promised manuscript.

• Miss Eisberg explained that Stella’s affinity with ice and snow let her receive the Ring of Fate’s enhancement, and Stella revealed that candidates with a resonant Ring could enter the Temple’s final act.
• Shade and Luvia tested how Rings of Fate and Bent Arcs could be stored in Serpent’s Sheddings, then divided the rings and snake relics among themselves for safekeeping and study.
• Luvia reviewed the remaining parts of the Seven-act story, and Shade said Fate’s Great Overture could take place the following week.
• At the diplomatic banquet, Hydra Belinder gave Shade a letter for Galina containing conditions Larus III had presented.
• A maid approached Shade and invited him to view the manuscript copy of Summer Night Collection with the princess.

Shade tested the Ring of War on Angelina and discovered that her Destiny Ring still resonated with War's Fate, while the King of the Covenant Scepter also contained Destiny linked to a future king. After spending time with Leisha and Angelina, Shade returned to Saint James Palace and wandered into its snowy garden.

• Shade went with Leisha to Angelina's study, where Angelina held the Ring of War and received the Miracle of War on her Destiny Ring.
• Shade noticed traces of Destiny inside the King of the Covenant Scepter and recalled that a Star Fragment had endowed it with the fate of a future king.
• Shade reclaimed the Ring of War, deciding not to let Angelina keep it or combine its Destiny with the Scepter's kingly fate.
• Leisha brought Shade and Angelina to Angelina's bedroom, where she said she would teach her Younger Sister while spending the evening with Shade.
• Shade returned to the banquet hall at nine-thirty, learned from Tifa that Galina was meeting with the King and an envoy, and went to walk in the palace garden.

Shade received an invitation from the Moon Bay Mermaid to investigate a matter tied to Fated Story, the Ring of Fate, and the snake beneath the Snow Mountain, but resolved to prepare before summoning her. On Monday, Galina apologized for neglecting him at the banquet and explained the coming war and Bella Belinder’s plan to keep Moon Bay neutral with Delarion’s support.

• A naked Apostle of Desire visited Shade in the Greenhouse, delivered the Mermaid’s invitation, and left a Desire Crystal behind.
• Shade purified the Greenhouse and decided to ask the Witches about obtaining Chaos’s blessing before contacting the Mermaid on Fatumonst Island.
• Galina sent a carriage to bring Shade home after the banquet, then came to apologize to him over breakfast on Monday.
• Galina told Shade and Dorothy that Delarion and Kasonlik were moving troops toward the border and that a major war might begin the following month.
• Galina explained that Bella Belinder planned to maintain Moon Bay’s nominal neutrality and rely on Delarion’s navy to hold off Kasonlik.
• Dorothy said Bella trusted Shade and believed Moon Bay would prosper as long as he remained, while Galina warned that the coming war would plunge the world into Chaos.

Shade visited Fatumonst Island amid a blizzard, where the Witches investigated the aftermath of the Falling Star Beast’s defeat and discussed how to forge its Star Fragment. The island was then locked down after a supernatural plague caused by Mr. Snake’s power and the Unknown Grade Relic [Desire] was found to give infected people the potential to become Infinite Snakes.

• Galina left after breakfast without giving Shade his weekly gift, which turned out to be ore from the undersea passage; Shade then traveled to Fatumonst Island through the blizzard.
• Claire told Shade that Grandma Cassandra and the others’ train had been delayed by the storm, and Megan and Vanessa showed him their sand table of the island and its underground river.
• Shade consulted the Witches about forging the Star Fragment into a weapon, and they advised him to wait for Grandma Cassandra’s alchemical expertise.
• Flora reported that a corpse linked to the Spiritual Power-draining woman had caused people who touched it to mutate into snake-people, and the Prophets suspected a supernatural plague.
• Elder Harald and Elder Vilda announced an island-wide lockdown, and Mr. Mortis told Shade that infected people could potentially transform into Infinite Snakes after Mr. Snake’s traits were fused with the relic’s power.

As Snake Human Disease spread across Fatumonst Island and cases appeared in Lomari City, Shade investigated the plague and learned it was irreversible and connected to Black Scale Snake Humans from the Dusk Era. He arranged to meet Desire with Iluna’s help and considered seeking insight from the dead Seer Association traitor, Laplace Howard.

• Mr. Mortis told Shade that Snake Human Disease might spread through intimate contact and left to help the Clown Troupe track the woman suspected of working with Mr. Snake.
• The Church reported cases in Lomari City, and Shade examined infected patients with Claire and Vanessa before learning that Moon Fire could not reverse their mutations.
• Shade asked the Witches to obtain two pieces of jewelry blessed with Chaos, intending to take one himself and have Iluna wear the other when they met Desire.
• Shade asked Winnie about Lady Gerd’s mother’s research and learned that Black Scale Snake Humans were mutated humans whose existence belonged to the Dusk Era.
• At dinner, Audrey recalled that Laplace Howard had studied forbidden knowledge and Human Transmutation, and Claire asked whether Shade would seek the dead traitor’s opinions.

Shade and Iluna summoned Desire off Fatumonst Island’s western coast to learn why she had contacted him. Desire appeared from beneath the ice and began speaking with Shade, while Iluna demanded to know her purpose.

• Shade wrote to Iluna asking her to retrieve a Heart of the Living Dead from the Church’s warehouse so he could seek Laplace Howard’s help.
• Iluna told Shade that more plague patients were showing signs of becoming snake people and that two people had died after their Spiritual Power was drained.
• Shade and Iluna traveled by boat through the blizzard to the island’s western coast, where he sank a bottle containing a liquefied Desire Crystal beneath the ice.
• A huge shadow passed under the ice, and Desire emerged from the sea after humming an ancient melody.
• Desire teased Shade about summoning her, and Iluna asked what she wanted from him.

Shade and Iluna met with Desire, who denied cooperating with the Fate of Destruction and explained that the Black Snake had misused her power to create the plague. Shade agreed to help capture the woman in exchange for Desire’s aid against Mr. Snake, leaving with a rose-patterned mask and warning that the final battle was near.

• Desire explained that the Black Snake had turned love into a weapon and desire into the source of the plague, and asked Shade to capture the woman responsible.
• Desire offered to empower the Destiny of breeding so it could protect someone from part of Mr. Snake’s destructive power, and Shade agreed to the deal.
• Desire gave Shade and Iluna an eerie metal mask and instructed them to cover the woman’s main body with it before bringing her back with Bent Arc.
• Desire warned Shade that Mr. Snake would try to remove him before the final Destiny arrived, then disappeared beneath the water.
• Iluna questioned whether they could find enough Destiny weapons to fight Mr. Snake, and she said her Sunlight Gun was her Destiny and that she was developing a new way to use it.

Shade visited Laplace Howard in Death to ask about the Ring of Fate and the threats on Snow Mountain. Laplace explained how a Bent Arc could become a complete Ring of Fate, while the Association prepared to explore the ruins near the Temple.

• Iluna visited Ellie and Little Liana at Snow Mountain Hall before returning to the ship, and Luvia later told Shade’s group that the Association planned to explore the ruins atop the mountain.
• Luvia shared that the Church had deciphered information from Legenes Presia suggesting candidates could obtain Rings of Fate by condensing their own Destiny.
• Shade escorted Luvia into the city, then took Megan through the Soul Cemetery’s gate and entered Death alone while she waited outside.
• Shade summoned Laplace Howard at the Underworld Moon and told him about the Fate story, Mr. Snake, and the Destiny sealed beneath Snow Mountain.
• Laplace told Shade that a Bent Arc embedded in someone whose Destiny matched it could become a complete Ring of Fate through Resonance of Destiny.

Shade learned from Laplace Howard that the Starfall Bay plague spread Mr. Snake’s fate and that three fate rings could bring someone close to becoming an angel of the God of Fate. After Howard warned him against letting the Seer Association’s candidates become Chosen Ones, Shade arranged to send the plague information to the Association and returned to Kael-Todd Town with Cassandra and her group.

• Laplace Howard explained the Association’s two rings, the legend of three fate rings, and how Mr. Snake’s fate empowered the plague; he advised killing the infected and warned Shade not to let the Association’s candidates become Chosen Ones.
• Shade told Megan about Howard’s findings and decided to send the plague information to the Seer Association while urging ordinary residents to leave Starfall Bay if possible.
• Megan and Vanessa discussed Megan’s time alone with Shade and her plan to retrieve the Poem Chapter Fragment on Green Lake Island.
• Shade had Claire send the plague information to the city with Rita and Miss Aurora, while Kael-Todd Town’s Elders considered relocating residents because of the worsening snow.
• The Radiance Messenger carried Cassandra and her group through the blizzard to Kael-Todd Town, where Rita warmly greeted her teacher.

Shade investigated Misfortune Order cultists spotted near Olin Village and discovered them fighting the Omen Wolf Pack. He attacked the cultists, then faced a Nine-Ring Arcanist wielding threads from the Prophecy Spinning Wheel, whose curse failed against him and destroyed her hand.

• Shade, Flora, and Claire tracked the cultists from Olin Village into the snowy woods using Echoes of the Past.
• Shade learned the cultists were fighting the Omen Wolf Pack, a Keeper of Secrets Level relic made up of Spirit Wolves.
• Shade launched a Falling Star Strike at the seven cultists and followed it with a moonlight attack on the Nine-Ring woman wielding threads from the Prophecy Spinning Wheel.
• Flora rang the Holy Bell to suppress the Misfortune from the woman's Thread of Destiny as she deflected Shade's attack with a woven thread shield.
• The woman cast Misfortune Descends and twisted a thread doll modeled on Shade, but his divinity made the curse fail, and the doll exploded, turning her right hand to ash.

Shade and his companions fought the Misfortune Order’s cultists, learned the group was searching the island for fate-related relics, and returned to town. The Church summoned Shade to the city, while Sivie admitted she wanted to become more intimate with him.

• Shade defeated the nine-ring woman’s avatar, then transformed into a wolf and received the Omen Wolf Pack’s thanks and information.
• Flora learned that the remaining spirit dust could be used to summon the dead wolves, while Claire reported that the Misfortune Order’s candidate had been acting through avatars.
• Claire revealed that the cultists sought Bent Arcs or the Ring of Fate by tracking the island’s Trajectory of Destiny.
• Shade and his companions returned to the ship, and Shade went home to Dorothy before waking refreshed the next morning.
• The Church invited Shade to the city, and he departed with Claire and Vanessa while Sivie stayed behind with the others.
• Sivie told Illustrious Miss that she wanted to become more intimate with Shade.

Shade and the church factions learned that the ruins on Snow Mountain held the Fatu People’s Upper Spring, a place connected to Rings of Fate and the Chosen One Ritual. Luvia began divining the ruins’ location and confirmed that the Temple was only one part of the complex, which contained the seal beneath the mountain.

• Ship Girl urged Sivie Aurora to pursue Shade instead of worrying about whether she was strong enough.
• At the Peace Church, Mr. Carville explained that the Upper Spring could reveal a person’s destiny and help them form a Ring of Fate, and described the ruins leading to Oracle Plaza and Saint’s Precipice.
• Shade said he had reached the cliff-like peak during the Ten Thousand Spirits Festival, and promised to discuss another survey with the Fatu People’s Great Elders.
• President Lenormand argued that Saint’s Precipice was likely connected to the gods, while the Temple, Sacrificial Ground, or Circular Hall were more likely sites for the Chosen One Ritual.
• Aboard the Radiance Messenger, Shade gave Luvia two Cold Heart relics and asked her to divine the location of the ruins.
• Luvia confirmed that the Temple was only part of the ruins and that it suppressed the seal beneath the mountain, limiting the Serpent’s influence to the Temple for now.

Shade learned how to reach the sealed ruins at Peak of Fate and planned to make the journey after arranging the required ritual. He postponed the trip to meet the visiting believers of the God of Music, whose bishop had come to speak with him.

• Luvia told Shade that reaching the ruins required an Arc of Fate, three completed story acts, Serpent's Shedding, and more than 150 points, and explained the ritual for finding the entrance beyond Peak of Fate.
• Shade chose to keep breeding and use War, then postponed his trip when Emilia delivered Professor Danist's letter inviting him to meet believers of the God of Music.
• Emilia left to try on dresses for the Coronation Ceremony, and Luvia told Shade that Grandma Cassandra was shaping ore from the Falling Star Beast into a ring for War's Fate.
• Shade brought Claire and Flora to Snow Mountain Hall to meet the visiting believers, led by their bishop, Laura Fisher.
• Laura Fisher introduced herself as the current bishop of The Sound of Music Order and began explaining the purpose of her visit to Shade.

Shade received an ancient Moon God hymn from Fisher and then used hallucinogenic materials to enter the temple ruins on Fatumonst Snow Mountain. He began searching the ruins for Upper Spring, First Fire, and other targets, but could no longer sense First Fire once inside.

• Fisher gave Shade an ancient sacrificial hymn said to require thirteen performers for the best result, and Flora recognized its theme as ominous in light of Moon Bay.
• Shade collected a dead snake corpse from Elder Harald and returned to the ship to prepare for entering the temple ruins.
• Shade went to Peak of Fate with Bella and Sivie, burned the snake corpse, drank Tear Gland Fern extract, and vanished at the cliff's edge when Bent Arc shattered.
• Shade regained consciousness on the Path of Atonement and climbed to the temple ruins, where the one-hour countdown began.
• Shade surveyed the snow-covered ruins and planned to search the Circular Hall, Oracle Plaza, Saint's Precipice, Upper Spring, and the tower.
• Shade found that he could no longer sense First Fire within the ruins, which convinced him that the Flame was likely there.

Shade explored the Mountain Top Ruins and discovered the Ring of Fate embedded in Oracle Plaza, but could not remove it without risking damage to the ruins. At the Myriad Phenomena Tower, he met the Unknown Level Relic If, who warned him not to enter and explained that the tower contained worlds shaped by countless possibilities.

• Shade examined the inscriptions at Oracle Plaza and confirmed that he could use low-rank Words of Sublimation there to summon the Fifth Epoch Witches.
• Shade uncovered the Ring of Fate at the plaza's center, learned that it granted luck, and found that it was fused with the ruins and could not safely be removed.
• Shade went to the Myriad Phenomena Tower and passed through its barrier using his qualification of Noble Fate.
• If, an Unknown Level Relic, appeared and warned Shade not to enter the tower.
• If explained that the tower represented the myriad forms of Destiny and held worlds born from other possibilities, where diviners sought their true Destiny.

Shade learned that the damaged Myriad Phenomena Tower could only be safely resolved by him after he gathered three Rings of Fate, and that the tower might release a dangerous power if left unchecked. After “If” gave Shade a Ring of Fate for Iluna Bayes and enhanced his Fate Manual, Shade explored the newly revealed records of people connected to him and reached the uncharted northern edge of the mountaintop.

• “If” explained that the Myriad Phenomena Tower had become chaotic and warned Shade to return with three Rings of Fate, reach its summit, and reclaim the lingering power of the God of Fate.
• “If” said Shade could not play the Game of If because he stood outside Destiny, then gave him the Ring of Fate: Hope to pass on to Iluna Bayes.
• “If” enhanced Shade’s Fate Manual so it would record the destinies of people deeply connected to him, then vanished.
• Shade discovered detailed entries for his friends and acquaintances in the Fate Manual, with less information for people from the Fifth Epoch.
• Shade put away the Fate Manual and headed north across the mountaintop toward the unexplored Highest Peak platform, where the path ended at a cliff.

Shade searched the ruins at Saint's Precipice and found evidence of earlier visitors, including the origin of the Founding card and a token left by Rod President. He left a Star Dew behind before continuing toward the imminent Chosen One Ritual.

• Shade searched the snow-covered ruins, found a Serpent's Shedding and a Lucky Coin, and discovered an intact Witch's message near the cemetery.
• Shade dug beneath the Witch's stone slab and found a note from Charnem Rhode, who had taken the Myriad Aspects of Impermanence Card Founding and left another gift.
• Shade reviewed the known origins of the Myriad Aspects of Impermanence cards and considered asking Stone Osenfott about the Earth card.
• Shade unearthed Rod President's gift, a token granting free divination at the Seer Association, and kept it as a keepsake.
• Shade left a Star Dew beneath the stone slab as his own gift to future visitors.

Shade searched the ruins, then confronted the snake inside the Temple and demanded information about the Chosen One Ritual. The snake traded details about its alliance with the Demon of Weapons for Shade’s account of the Doomsday, and Shade left without entering the Temple.

• Shade mapped the ruins and found nothing of value beyond a coin, a serpent’s shedding, and a stone slab before heading to the Temple.
• Shade stayed outside the Temple as the snake offered him power to survive the Doomsday, but he rejected the offer and demanded to hear about the Chosen One Ritual.
• The snake questioned the price of Shade’s powers, while Shade insisted that whatever price he paid was his own concern and declared that the snake was destined to be defeated.
• The snake revealed that the Demon of Weapons had worked with it to seek a powerful weapon left on Snow Mountain by a Fifth Epoch Witch Emperor, and that it knew of the Primordial Demon.
• Shade described his dream of the Doomsday Era, and the snake asked whether he had seen it beneath the yellow sky; Shade said he had not before leaving.