Chapter Summaries

Iluna left for the Creation Church, while Shade and his companions discussed the growing crisis in the Arcadia Region and the need to investigate its other dangers. In foggy Arcadia City, Shade visited the exhausted Wei Ge, who asked him to stay and tell her a bedtime story.

• Iluna said goodbye to Shade and left for the Creation Church, while Luvia fell asleep in Shade's arms.
• Daniste warned the household that the academies and Orthodox Churches would question the Creator God’s believers in the Arcadia Region, and Luvia advised Shade to focus on threats within the city.
• Shade said he wanted to use the Active Metal to open the key the following night, and Sylvia mentioned that Margaret would leave for the front next month.
• Shade arrived in foggy Arcadia City and visited Wei Ge, who said she had stayed awake thinking about her mother and wanted him to hold her and talk to her.
• Wei Ge agreed to hear a story after Shade declined to get into bed with her, and she made him promise to stay until she fell asleep.

Shade visited Wei Ge and left her asleep while he went to Finch Gear Workshop, where he met Mr. Bernhardt and discussed the Blood Spirit School’s experiments and the missing refugees. Mr. Bernhardt described a monstrous Sewer Killer in the Outer City District and suspected it was connected to the Bloodkin abductions.

• Shade told Wei Ge a detective story until she fell asleep, then asked Miss MacDonald to keep her Followers cautious and pass his warning to Wei Ge if he did not return by noon.
• Shade traveled to Finch Gear Workshop and met Mr. Bernhardt, who explained that his family elders had directed him to trust Mr. Finch.
• Shade identified the attackers from Friday night as likely members of the Blood Spirit School, and Mr. Bernhardt described their enhanced but possibly life-shortening New Humanity.
• Shade told Mr. Bernhardt that the Three Great Academies and four Churches planned to approach the Creation Church after the explosion, and Mr. Bernhardt shared his suspicions about a traitor among his group.
• Mr. Bernhardt recounted rescuing a family of three from an amorphous Sewer Killer that emerged from the sewers, drained Life Force at a distance, and carried a Bloodkin aura.

Shade joined Mr. Bernhardt and Mr. Finch to investigate disappearances in the Outer City District, which appeared to be linked to the [Blood Spirit School]. After finding a refugee’s unrelated murder, the three entered the unmapped sewers to follow the trail, with Mr. Bernhardt leading them by scent.

• Shade questioned whether the sudden clues were a trap, and Mr. Bernhardt explained that refugees and other residents had genuinely been disappearing.
• Shade, Mr. Bernhardt, and Mr. Finch compared information and agreed to investigate the disappearances, which had increased during the Refugee Tide.
• Mr. Finch described the Outer City District’s ancient, unmapped sewer network and said he and Mr. Bernhardt had planned to search it using the scent Mr. Bernhardt had tracked.
• The three visited Garbage Alley, where Mr. Bernhardt found a refugee’s corpse and determined that the man had been killed for his savings by someone from his hometown.
• Mr. Finch climbed into the sewer first, followed by Mr. Bernhardt and Shade, and Mr. Bernhardt led the way using his sense of smell.

Shade, Mr. Bernhardt, and Mr. Finch tracked the sewer disturbances to a Life Aberration, subdued it, and discovered it contained a Twisted Life Fire Seed. Shade concluded that the Blood Spirit School was likely connected to the creatures’ creation, and the group left with evidence that there were more aberrations.

• Shade treated a refugee family living in the sewers with diluted No. 5 Holy Water, and they told him about nighttime roars, bloody traces, and people who had gone missing.
• Mr. Bernhardt led Shade and Mr. Finch to a deep reservoir, where they found a sleeping humanoid identified by Shade as a Life Aberration.
• Shade attacked the creature with Bubble Spell - Dragon Breath, and Mr. Finch blocked its counterattack with a shield created through Alchemy of All Things.
• The Life Aberration transformed into a fleshy mass and tried to swallow Shade, but Shade stopped time and prevented it from reaching him.
• Shade extracted a Twisted Life Fire Seed from the creature and determined that it had acquired its powers through a corrupted seed and Advanced Bloodkin abilities.
• Shade estimated that the aberration contained less Life Force than its victims’ missing-person count suggested, leading him to conclude there were multiple aberrations and that the Blood Spirit School was probably involved.

Shade and Mr. Bernhardt and Mr. Finch investigated a sewer nest, destroyed a Life Aberration, and learned that the Twisted Life Fire Seed could revive drained corpses and fuel a growing cycle of monsters. After the investigation, Shade returned to the Fragrant Residence with Little Mia to have lunch with Wei Ge.

• Shade absorbed the Twisted Life Fire Seeds, and Mr. Finch collected the Life Aberration's remains for analysis.
• Shade, Mr. Bernhardt, and Mr. Finch searched the reservoir, found twenty-four corpses, and used Spirit Communication to question their souls.
• A lingering soul told the three that a corpse had risen as an Active Corpse and that the Life Aberration had drained red points of light from it.
• Mr. Finch and Mr. Bernhardt concluded that fire-seed-tainted corpses could perpetuate a cycle of revived monsters, and Mr. Bernhardt agreed to lead the hunt for more creatures.
• The three left the sewers, and Shade returned home before taking Little Mia to the Fragrant Residence for lunch with Wei Ge.
• Wei Ge woke at noon and entered the dining room to find Shade and Eve MacDonald absorbed in a discussion over a paper.

Shade spent the afternoon with Wei Ge, who was recovering at home, and learned from a letter that the Emerald Alchemy Association had exchanged knowledge and supplies with outsiders suspected of belonging to the Saint Alliance. The letter left the outsiders’ true purpose unclear, while Wei Ge suspected they had used their golden power to track her.

• Wei Ge met Little Mia and delighted when the cat touched her hand, though Little Mia pushed aside her attempt to pet her.
• At lunch, Shade told Wei Ge and Miss MacDonald about the sewer monsters, then said Mr. Bernhardt’s group would handle the hunt while he stayed with Wei Ge.
• Miss Lorraine brought Wei Ge several household and business matters, including a reply from the Emerald Alchemy Association to Wei Ge’s inquiry about the Saint Alliance.
• Shade read the letter, which admitted that outsiders had contacted local organizations and traded unusual supplies and knowledge with the Alchemists for about half a month.
• Wei Ge said the Alchemists had likely concealed what technology they shared and suspected the Saint Alliance’s golden power had helped track her, but the letter did not reveal why the outsiders had come.

Shade learned from Daniste’s letter that the Creation Church had experimented with animated machines after deciphering a Poem Chapter Fragment tied to the Tenth Chosen One, while denying the existence of a dangerous Fire Seed Source. He returned home to discuss the threat with Luvia and Galina, concluding that the tenth story was about to begin again.

• Wei Ge said the Alchemists had pressured her mother for research after her team’s accident and planned to investigate the Emerald Alchemy Association and her mother’s relics.
• Shade waited at Wei Ge’s home for news about the Creation Church, then received a letter from Daniste at seven in the evening.
• Daniste reported that the Creation Church had admitted to researching Mechanical Animation and the Life Fire Seed, and that a Poem Chapter Fragment had led it to pursue the Tenth Chosen One’s creation condition.
• Shade warned Wei Ge that the missing Fire Seed Source could threaten the world’s order, while she encouraged him not to assume the worst before the investigation continued.
• Shade returned home and told Luvia and Galina that the tenth story was about to begin again.

Shade and his companions weighed the Creation Church’s hidden Fire Seed Source and planned to investigate two illegal organizations for clues about the Tenth Chosen One. On Wednesday morning, Doctor Schneider brought Shade a lead on Active Metal and said he would soon uncover the Demon of Weapons’ memories about a mysterious person.

• Luvia advised Shade to stay out of the Fire Seed Source investigation for now and focus on the Blood Spirit School and Saint Alliance.
• Shade and Luvia discussed searching for the Tenth Chosen One’s identity, while Galina wondered whether the candidate might be someone they knew.
• Doctor Schneider visited Shade and told him that Mr. Corps had Active Metal available at his nighttime black market.
• Doctor Schneider told Shade he had nearly digested the Demon of Weapons’ power and would soon reveal its memories about a person only he and Shade were qualified to know.
• Shade told Luvia and Galina about the lead, and Luvia recalled that Doctor Schneider had introduced her to the obscure but reliable Mr. Corps.

Shade learned that Baron Ramsay had likely staged the theft of his collection to commit insurance fraud and secretly sell the items, including the [Mark I Steam Engine] manuscript. Wei Ge arranged to help Shade attend the afternoon auction, and invited him to search through her mother's belongings while they waited.

• Mr. Laibury told Shade that the stolen [Mark I Steam Engine] manuscript would be offered at a secret auction and promised him the Blue Ink Library in exchange for all three manuscripts.
• Shade went to Fragrant Residence seeking Wei Ge's help, but Miss Lorraine directed him to the Astley Family's old residence, where Wei Ge was sorting through her mother's belongings.
• Wei Ge told Shade that Baron Ramsay had reported far more stolen items than the thieves had actually taken, apparently to collect insurance money and sell his own possessions through the black market.
• Wei Ge suspected Baron Ramsay had arranged the theft and leaked news of the auction to encourage bidding on the manuscript.
• Shade declined Wei Ge's offer to negotiate with the Baron and decided to attend the auction himself, while Wei Ge invited him to search her mother's belongings before it began.

Shade helped Wei Ge inspect the relics left by her mother, Lady Le May, and learned about her past as an Eleventh Ring Alchemist known as Red Stone. Their search revealed that Lady Le May had once pursued the Philosopher's Stone before abruptly switching her research to the Emerald Record, leaving the reason unknown.

• Wei Ge explained that Lady Le May had been a powerful Alchemist and Ring Arcanist, and that she sometimes used the name Nicola Le May while appearing as a man.
• Wei Ge showed Shade her father's portrait and asked whether he would share a final portrait with her if she reached the end of her life; Shade agreed, and she took his hand.
• Wei Ge introduced Shade to her relatives at the Astley ancestral residence and explained that she planned to choose one of three younger relatives as the family heir, though they had inherited the family's blood disease.
• Wei Ge showed Shade a photograph of Lady Le May, then returned with him to Fragrant Residence, where they prepared to examine her mother's relics.
• Wei Ge told Shade that Lady Le May had researched the Philosopher's Stone extensively before turning to the Emerald Record, but her notes did not explain why she changed direction.

Shade and Wei Ge discovered that Lady Le May had hidden a brass box behind a ritual linking a fairy-tale book and a sapphire Pendant. They identified the box’s three keys and began opening it, but the [Philosopher's Stone] had not yet been used.

• Shade found a vertical-pupil symbol in Lady Le May’s copy of 100 Bedtime Stories and noticed a faint trace of elements in it.
• Wei Ge’s sapphire Pendant resonated with the symbol, and the two objects combined through an alchemical ritual to produce a sealed brass box.
• Shade translated the box’s three key runes as [Philosopher's Stone], [Emerald Language], and [Blood of Descendants], which he connected to Lady Le May’s achievements and Wei Ge.
• After Shade left to retrieve a [Philosopher's Stone], Wei Ge used material conversion to activate the middle groove, and her own blood proved necessary for the third key.
• Shade returned with a test tube of [Philosopher's Stone], and Wei Ge warned that she could not quickly replace it if opening the box consumed it.

Shade and Wei Ge opened the box left by Wei Ge’s mother and found several alchemical items, including the Relic Derivative [Skin Object]. After Miss MacDonald explained its danger and revealed her traumatic history with the [Skin Object Hall], Shade inspected the skin and wondered why Wei Ge’s mother had kept it.

• Shade used a small amount of the [Philosopher's Stone], the [Emerald Record], and Wei Ge's blood to open the alchemical box.
• Wei Ge found her mother's [Eye of True Knowledge], an occult book, a jade dagger, an ordinary ring, and a folded piece of human skin.
• Miss MacDonald identified the skin as a Relic Derivative from the [Skin Object Hall] and explained that wearing one could eventually transform the wearer into its original owner.
• Wei Ge fled to wash her hands, and Miss MacDonald told Shade that an illegal Ring Arcanist carrying a Peeling Knife had once targeted her before her Teacher rescued her.
• Shade examined the skin and confirmed that it belonged to an unknown man, while Miss MacDonald became distressed and then rushed from the study.
• Alone with the skin, Shade wondered why Wei Ge's mother had left it behind and considered its connection to the [House of False Men] and other notorious Relics.

Shade left Wei Ge to examine her mother’s chest alone and attended a stolen-goods auction at the Nightingale Club, where he found the Mark I Steam Engine manuscript and an Ancient Alchemy Rhodes Card. He planned to bid on the card and the manuscript, while Lady Connaught and her lover also showed interest in the card.

• Wei Ge asked Shade to leave her alone with the chest so she could think about her mother, and Shade agreed to attend the auction.
• Shade arrived at the Nightingale Club and examined the auction lots, including the Mark I Steam Engine design manuscript he had come to buy.
• Shade found three Rhodes Cards, including the Special Rule Card [Ancient Alchemy Solvent], and decided he might bid on it before the manuscript.
• Lady Connaught told her young lover she would buy the Ancient Alchemy card for him.

Shade noticed Lady Connaught carried a faint power of Desire, then encountered Miss Pawo at an auction where two notorious thieves exposed Baron Ramsay’s scheme and fled. He followed Miss Pawo as she pursued them to an abandoned farmstead, where a battle between Ring Arcanists was already underway.

• Shade sensed that Lady Connaught had been tainted by a weak power of Desire and planned to have her reported to The Church.
• Miss Pawo sat beside Shade at the auction, but neither recognized or addressed the other.
• Two armed thieves interrupted the auction, accused Baron Ramsay of framing them, stole portable valuables, and escaped through a window.
• Shade turned into a silver cat and followed Miss Pawo, discovering she was tracking the thieves.
• Miss Pawo followed the thieves to an abandoned farmstead outside Arcadia City, where a battle between Ring Arcanists had begun.

Shade watched Miss Pawo defeat two members of the [Demon Eye Club], but the Thousand-Eyed Arcanist, Allen Oge, arrived, incapacitated her, and took an antique monocle. After Allen fled from Shade, Miss Pawo explained that she had come to the Arcadia Region to find a former [Truth Society] member who had vanished while investigating the [Emerald Record].

• Shade saw Miss Pawo suppress two Ring Arcanists, who revealed themselves as members of the [Demon Eye Club] with their Demon Eye Technique.
• Allen Oge appeared through Space Movement and used the Angel Level Magic Eye [Soul Vortex] to knock Miss Pawo down.
• Allen retrieved an antique gold-rimmed monocle from a thief's satchel and fled with his two wounded companions after Shade attacked him.
• Shade found the [Mark I Steam Engine] manuscript and Rhodes Cards in the satchel but left them there, then questioned the recovering Miss Pawo.
• Miss Pawo identified Allen as the [Demon Eye Club]'s leader and said the Club was likely a white glove for the [Creation Church].
• Miss Pawo told Shade she had come to find a former [Truth Society] member who had gone missing after joining the [Emerald Alchemy Association] to investigate the [Emerald Record].

Shade learned that Wei Ge’s mother, Lady Le May, had been a Truth Society defector known as “Baroness,” and that several factions sought to exploit the coming Chosen Ones War. He returned to Fragrant Residence and began telling Wei Ge what he had uncovered about her mother, leaving her to hear the uncertain details.

• Miss Pawo identified Lady Le May as a former Professor-level Truth Society member codenamed “Baroness” and offered a reward for information about her ring, friends, or laboratory.
• Miss Pawo said the Blood Spirit School and Saint Alliance sought to use the Chosen Ones War for their projects, and Shade suspected the Truth Society had its own creation-related goal.
• Miss Pawo vanished after asking Shade what he had come to create, and Shade left the thieves’ belongings untouched before anonymously reporting the deaths at Greyrock Pass Fortress.
• Shade returned to Fragrant Residence, where Wei Ge told him the vial remained sealed and that no one recognized the face depicted by the piece of Pi.
• Shade told Wei Ge that his old enemy from the Truth Society had given him information possibly connected to Lady Le May, then began describing the thieves and the Thousand-Eyed Arcanist.

Shade learned that Wei Ge’s mother, Lady Le May, might have been a Truth Society defector known as the Baroness, and promised to help uncover her past. Meanwhile, Daniste reported that the Creation Church’s missing Fire Seed Source might be hidden in Arcadia City, with developments expected before Friday.

• Shade told Wei Ge that her mother might have been the Truth Society defector called the Baroness, and Wei Ge feared he would judge her for it.
• Shade urged Wei Ge to investigate what her mother had intended and suggested seeking help from the Great Witch of Fate; he also told her about the gathering organizations and the possible arrival of the Tenth Chosen One.
• Daniste’s letter said investigators suspected the Creation Church’s Fire Seed Source had been moved to Arcadia City and expected results within two days.
• Shade promised Wei Ge he would protect her from the city’s troubles, and she offered to teach him Witch thaumaturgical secrets.
• Shade returned home and told the others about the day’s events; Luvia joked about a possible link between Lady Le May and Big Mouth Sparrow, while Shade planned to ask Old Mr. Finch about the face matching the skin.

Shade and Leisha visited Mr. Corps to buy Active Metal, but a Twisted Life Fire Seed outbreak at his cabin revealed that he had been studying the living corpses it created. Shade removed the Kindling from five corpses, while the Active Metal pickup was delayed until Friday.

• Galina proposed sending Angelina to Arcadia City to train and assist Wei Ge, and Shade agreed after Angelina accepted.
• Shade and Leisha visited Mr. Corps to buy Active Metal, but he postponed the sale until Sunday because he could not leave his cabin.
• A corpse animated by a Twisted Life Fire Seed burst from Mr. Corps's cabin and attacked Shade and Leisha, and Shade restrained it with Imprisoning Halos.
• Mr. Corps explained that he had captured the living corpses after they threatened the village and said they could only be destroyed by pure death or Destruction power.
• Shade used Life Fire Seed to draw the Kindling from five corpses, and Mr. Corps moved the Active Metal pickup to Friday.

Shade learned that Mr. Corps knew about Life Fire Seeds and ancient containers, and arranged for him to examine the ownerless Skin Object on Friday. After returning home, Shade discussed the relic and the coming Church matter with the women, then agreed to replace his bed.

• Mr. Corps explained that ancient Death God worshippers had researched Life Fire Seeds and offered to use [Ask Skin Technique] on the Skin Object for five pounds on Friday.
• Shade poured the Kindling from five corpses into his Fire Seed Source, then asked Leisha what she knew about Mr. Corps and the Old Gods.
• Galina theorized that someone might have worn the defector's Skin Object and assumed her identity, while Angelina grew frightened and asked to sleep near Leisha.
• Luvia reminded Shade that Daniste expected a result concerning The Church within two days and that he might need to appear in person.
• Leisha, Galina, and Luvia teased Shade about replacing his bed, and he agreed to get a new one that week.

Angelina gained the Heart Sound of Chaos Thaumaturgy after hearing the household upstairs, while Shade learned from Priest Augustus how ancient orders contained and extinguished twisted Life Fire Seeds. The chapter ended with Shade suspecting that a neutral organization linked to the Creation Church was collecting Fire Seed Containers.

• Angelina heard the household upstairs and gained the Heart Sound of Chaos Thaumaturgy, which let her sense and influence vague thoughts.
• On Thursday morning, Shade visited Priest Augustus to ask about the Ancient God of Death Order's research into Life Fire Seeds.
• Priest Augustus explained that the Creator God first gave life the form of Kindling and that ancient orders developed containers for abnormal Fire Seeds.
• Priest Augustus said the Death Order used Water of the Styx to safely extinguish twisted Kindling and contrasted the stable, limited-capacity death containers with creation-lineage containers.
• Shade showed Priest Augustus his Fire Seed Source and asked how to identify death-order containers.
• Shade told Priest Augustus that a neutral organization connected to the Creation Church might be collecting Containers.