Chapter Summaries

Shade treated Adele’s curse wound and learned more about Wei Ge’s mother and the Perfect Child, then chose to face a powerful enemy in Saint Derain Square to complete the Black Time Key. The two entered the square together to begin the challenge.

• Shade treated Adele’s chest wound with Moon Fire while she explained that a prison Watcher had injured her beneath Yodel Palace Castle.
• Shade told Adele about Wei Ge, the Skin Object, and the clues he had found, and Adele said she had never encountered Wei Ge’s mother in earlier stories.
• Adele explained that the Perfect Child was connected to the [Emerald Record] and could fulfill a key requirement for the Chosen One of Creation.
• Adele offered Shade a choice between fighting for Calamity Beast cards and exploring a new area for Inheritance of the Strong cards.
• Shade chose to fight a powerful enemy, and he and Adele descended into Saint Derain Square.

Shade faced Professor Reinhart, the Snake of Possibility, whose countless forms grew stronger with each defeat. After fighting the Falling Star Beast form with Adele’s help, Shade used Blood Seed Parasitism to force its infinite possibilities to collapse into a single mutation, though he was left severely weakened.

• Shade killed Professor Reinhart’s first form, but another appeared in its place, and Adele explained that the Snake of Possibility returned in new forms with the combat experience of its previous ones.
• Shade fought a succession of increasingly powerful Professor Reinharts, conserving his strength by killing them in close combat until the twelfth appeared as a Falling Star Beast.
• The Falling Star Beast opened a rift to a deathly Star Sea and summoned decaying stars, while Adele intercepted the falling fragments with her Return to Original Nature Principle.
• Shade wounded the Falling Star Beast in close combat and used Blood Seed Parasitism to transform it into a writhing black-red creature.
• Shade explained that he had tried to make the infinite possibilities collapse into one, and Adele sensed that he had been left with dangerously weak Life Force.

Shade defeated Professor Reinhart by using Blood Seed Parasitism to control him, then buried the corrupted Ring of Fate beside Claire's Mother's grave with Adele. Before Shade returned to 6 Saint Derain Square, Adele explained the Fire Seed Source and warned him about the dangers of Life Energy, then began teaching him a Thaumaturgy to restore it safely.

• Shade used a Thunder Spear to kill Professor Reinhart, and no new Professor appeared after the body turned to Ashes.
• Shade found the Ring of Fate representing Myriad Phenomena and agreed with Adele to seal and bury it beside Claire's Mother's grave at Snow Mountain Hall.
• After returning to 6 Saint Derain Square, Shade rested with Adele, who explained the importance of the Fire Seed Source and confirmed what he had learned about the Chosen One of Creation.
• Adele warned Shade that the desire for Life Energy could draw people toward Life Fire Seeds and taught him to guard against Greed for life.
• Adele began teaching Shade a Thaumaturgy that restored clean Life Energy by having them share blood and sense its rhythm.

Shade learned the Life Backfire thaumaturgy from Adele and decided to spend ten task uses to meet her again, despite her objections. After parting from her, he revealed the Snake of Possibility Calamity Card and entered a memory of Professor Reinhart mourning Claire's funeral.

• Adele showed Shade how to use Life Backfire to draw energy from the world and warned him that overuse could turn him into a stone statue.
• Shade told Adele he wanted to spend ten task uses to meet her again, and she asked him to wait until after their meeting next month.
• Shade said goodbye to Adele and turned over the ninth Calamity Card, revealing the Snake of Possibility and clues connecting its disaster to Fatumonst Island.
• Shade entered the card's memory and witnessed Claire Reinhart's sea burial in Kael-Todd Town.
• Professor Reinhart stayed behind after the funeral, went into the forest, and wept over the choices he wished he had made.

Shade witnessed the Past memory of Luvia defeating the Snake of Possibility and sealing it beneath the Myriad Phenomena Tower, then returned to the present and reunited with Luvia. They discussed Lady Peggy Nicola Le May’s secrets, Iluna’s restored eye in other Sixth Epochs, and Shade’s possible experiments with Life Energy.

• Shade watched Luvia defeat the colossal Snake of Possibility, capture it, and suppress it beneath the Myriad Phenomena Tower.
• After the memory ended, Shade said goodbye to Adele and returned to the present, planning to bring flowers and red wine when he next visited her.
• Shade joined Luvia in bed, and she told him that Dorothy planned to visit with Leisha on Saturday.
• In a dream, Long-Haired Luvia discussed Lady Peggy Nicola Le May’s unexplained role in the Past with Shade.
• Luvia explained that Iluna had restored her sacrificed eye in other Sixth Epochs through events involving the [Creation] Chosen One.
• Shade reflected on using divine power to create an eye and considered experimenting with ordinary Life Energy to shape physical matter.

Shade spent Friday night with Luvia and the Long-haired Girl, then returned to the Fifth Epoch’s Foul Blood Factory on Saturday to help the One-armed Prince bring new life into the world. He found the three Witches in a different room, where they had completed a second Furnace and begun exploring anew.

• Luvia discussed Life Backfire and Life Ray with Shade, then spent the night with him in the dream world.
• Shade woke beside Luvia on Saturday and decided to remain in Tobesk City while Adele, Megan, and Bella were with Wei Ge.
• Shade left Little Mia behind and traveled through the Time Corridor to the Foul Blood Factory, accepting Father of Infinite Tree’s trial to assist the One-armed Prince.
• Shade sensed Life Force in the factory’s iron door and destroyed its flesh disguise with Chaos Remnants.
• Shade escaped into a new room and found the three Witches sheltered there, having finished forging their second Furnace and begun a new exploration.

Shade reunited with the Witches in the Foul Blood Factory, treated their Flesh Aberrations, and learned that they had not found the third furnace. Their discussion of Life Fire Seeds revealed that Life Withering could suppress an abnormal seed, though the power was dangerous and considered heretical.

• Shade proved his identity to Madam Gustav and joined the Witches in their sanctuary beneath a table.
• Shade treated the Witches’ Flesh Aberrations while Gina explained that bubbles she hid in materials for the second furnace had survived and traveled deeper into the factory.
• Madam Gustav said the group had passed through many rooms but still had not found the source of the crying or reached the third furnace.
• Gina and Madam Gustav described ancient records of Life Fire Seeds, while Miss Bladewei recalled that Life Withering could suppress an Abnormal Life Fire Seed.
• Madam Gustav warned Shade that Life Withering was a perilous, heretical power and that creatures wielding it were more troublesome than the undead.

Shade and the Witches discussed the dangers of the Flesh Factory and how its organs could reveal the secrets of flesh creation, then confronted Miss Bladewei about her knowledge of Magic Eyes. Miss Bladewei admitted that her Elder Sister, a Witch of the Church of [Lord of Furnace Fire], had secretly taught her, and the group accepted that she had meant no harm as they prepared to seek the third Furnace.

• Madam Gustav warned Shade against dabbling in the power of Wither, and suggested that each activated Furnace changed the factory and increased its dangers.
• Madam Gustav explained that Flesh Organs could be studied by letting them assemble into a human shape, but Shade and the Witches agreed to wait until they found the third Furnace before deciding whether to try it.
• Miss Bladewei fused [Active Metal] into her shield and explained that it could restrain Magic Eyes and let them exceed their limits safely.
• Shade, Gina, and Madam Gustav questioned Miss Bladewei about her knowledge of Magic Eyes, and Madam Gustav connected the Halfling God [Lord of Furnace Fire] to the ancient Creator.
• Miss Bladewei cried and confessed that her Elder Sister had secretly given her the knowledge and told her to conceal its source; Shade explained his suspicions, and the group accepted her explanation as they prepared to continue.

Shade and the three Witches entered a Bone Forging Workshop, where he revealed his Life Fire Seed and the group fought animated skeletons. They then found a supposedly safe Prayer Room filled with shrines to gods connected to Creation, though Madam Gustav feared the sudden appearance of two Rest Rooms.

• Shade and Madam Gustav reasoned that Gina and Miss Bladewei had been invited because of their connections to the ancient Creator, and Miss Bladewei worried that they might be sacrifices.
• Madam Gustav led the group into a Bone Forging Workshop, where Shade used Life Fire Seed to reveal the immense Life Force contained in the bones.
• Gina restrained an animated skeleton with Imprisoning Halo and knocked it down, while Shade and Gina dealt with more skeletons as the group crossed the workshop.
• Madam Gustav opened the next door and found a Prayer Room, which Miss Bladewei identified as a highly safe place where visitors could receive blessings by praying.
• Shade used a combination of Gina’s Bubble Spell and Dragon Roar, while Madam Gustav worried about the appearance of two Rest Rooms in quick succession.

Shade prayed to the Old God Lord of the Blood Feast and received powerful upgrades to his abilities without paying a price. Afterward, Miss Bladewei apologized for hiding her reason for entering the factory and gave him the Sharp Eye Technique as an apology gift.

• Madam Gustav sent the group to pray at separate holy emblems before they faced the expected enemy, and Shade recommended that Gina pray to the Innocent Creator.
• Unable to find the Lord of Flesh Aberration’s emblem, Shade prayed to the Lord of the Blood Feast and endured a supernatural hunger that activated Life Backfire.
• The Lord of the Blood Feast sublimated Life Backfire into a thaumaturgy, enhanced Dragon Feast and Great Sin Chains, and granted Shade the Bestowal of the Blood Feast.
• Shade considered the upgrades and decided to wait until the mission ended before eating, while the witches continued praying.
• Miss Bladewei apologized to Shade for lying about her reason for entering the factory and gave him instructions for the Sharp Eye Technique, asking him not to reveal where he learned it.

After the group received blessings and prepared for danger, Shade and the three Witches entered a room filled with Blood Mist and Blood Water. The companions were replaced by blood clumps, leaving Shade alone as a huge crawling creature approached through the fog.

• Shade put away the Sharp Eye Technique paper and decided to repay the Halfling Young Lady for giving it to him.
• Gina gained the Eggshell Shield Bubble Spell, the Halfling Young Lady received Divine Art: Warm Fire and revealed her Demon Eye Technique, and the Old Witch received a divine blessing.
• The four prepared ways to find and recognize one another, then entered the Blood Mist room, where their senses and movement were restricted.
• Shade recognized the crying from his dreams and stopped, only to watch Madam Gustav, Gina, and Miss Bladewei burst into clumps of blood.
• Shade sensed his three companions still alive in different directions and waited for the enormous crawling creature to approach, preparing his bow and sword while the red Blood Moon appeared in his eyes.

Gina Rosa discovered that Shade and her companions were false, then received instructions from Fiona to summon a Teacher using a dangerous ritual. After escaping a Flesh Aberration and defeating it temporarily, Gina completed the ritual and summoned a tiny doll-like Mana Falianna.

• Gina Rosa realized that Shade was a phantom and suspected that the Halfling Young Lady and Madam Gustav were also false.
• Fiona contacted Gina through voice-transmitting bubbles, confirmed her identity with a secret memory, and taught her a ritual to summon a Teacher using Mutated Flesh and a destroyed artifact.
• Gina threw the false Halfling Young Lady at the false Old Witch, severed the grotesque umbilical cord with exploding bubbles, and fled as their fused body pursued her.
• Gina struck the Flesh Aberration with Gemstone Spray, but it reactivated and attacked her with corrosive crimson liquid.
• Gina invoked a demigod Ancient Dragon shadow, which swallowed the aberration and produced pure Flesh essence for the ritual.
• Gina combined the essence with her Academy crest, a piece of fabric, and a scale, summoning a tiny doll-like Mana Falianna.

Gina found Miss Feliana in puppet form, and the two hurried through the Blood Mist to reach Shade. As Shade struggled against a colossal creature identified as [Life], Miss Feliana arrived and began advising him on how to attack its soul.

• Miss Feliana appeared as an exquisite puppet, shielded Gina from the Blood Mist, and told her to find Shade.
• Shade fought the rapidly healing Giant Baby with flesh-damaging powers and used Adele's Time Stop, but the creature quickly broke free.
• Shade prepared to let the Giant Baby swallow him so he could use [Blood Seed Parasitism], but Gina struck him aside and drew the monster's attention.
• Miss Feliana's puppet form arrived, greeted Shade, and offered to help him deal with the creature.
• Shade told Miss Feliana that the creature was made of pure Life Force and that [Soul Whiplash] had failed; she suggested he use [God of Love's Thorn] to attack its soul.

Shade and Miss Feliana crystallized the Giant Baby in a hidden, previously used furnace room, then found a melted-down Life Furnace and a door leading onward. The group prepared to continue toward the true target while Shade examined the ruined furnace.

• Shade lent Miss Feliana the Pink Crystal power, and she sealed the Giant Baby with five crystal pillars until it began to crystallize.
• Miss Feliana reunited with Shade, while Madam Gustav and Miss Bladewei recognized her and joined the group as the Blood Mist cleared.
• Miss Bladewei noticed the room had Furnace Room tiles, and the group found a Blood Pool and traces of a dodecahedral furnace at its center.
• Shade used Great Sin Chains to draw Kindling from the dying Giant Baby, replenishing himself and hastening its collapse.
• The Giant Baby broke apart, leaving [Blood Essence of All Things] and a palm-sized, rusted furnace that Gina identified as a used Life Furnace.
• Madam Gustav confirmed the crying still came from beyond a different door, and Shade examined the melted-down furnace as the group considered that the Giant Baby had been created by it.

Shade and the witches transformed a metal eye filled with life force into a stable, normal Fire Seed Source, then continued their search for the next furnace. They entered a safe organ exhibition room, where Madam Gustav urged them not to touch the specimens.

• Shade identified the metal eye as concentrated life force and explained that his Life Fire Seed could transform it into a Fire Seed Source, preventing the monster organ from being reborn.
• Madam Gustav, Miss Bladewei, and Gina agreed to the irreversible transformation, and Shade used Life Fire Seed to turn the metal eye into a burning Flame Eyes.
• The Halfling Young Lady recognized the new Fire Seed Source as a possible Magic Eye, while Shade said it could replenish or increase others’ life force.
• The group rested, Shade recovered using the Fire Seed Source, and Miss Feliana divined that the Furnace Room was at most five rooms away.
• Madam Gustav led the group into a safe organ Exhibition Room and warned everyone to leave without touching its specimens.

Shade and the Witches took a fused Philosopher’s Stone and Blood Essence of All Things from the specimen room, provoking a shadow that wielded the power of Wither. They fled through the Factory’s rooms, but the pursuer kept coming as they entered the Blood Purification Workshop.

• Shade and the Witches voted to take the dead snake specimen, which contained a Philosopher’s Stone fused with Blood Essence of All Things.
• Shade used his chains to pull the specimen bottle from the room, and a red-cloaked shadow pursued the group into the Blood Collection Workshop.
• Madam Gustav and Miss Puppet recognized the pursuer’s power as Wither, while Shade and Gina used their abilities to hold it back as they fled.
• The shadow’s Wither ray struck Shade’s forearm, and Miss Puppet’s shield gave Gina time to bring him through the next door.
• The group entered the Blood Purification Workshop, where Gina’s bubbles and Miss Bladewei’s metal plate shielded them from foul blood as Madam Gustav’s Destruction Ray failed to stop the pursuing shadow.

Shade and the witches entered the Vascular Mother Nest, where they faced the pursuing Shadow of Withering and a swarm of Vascular Spiders. Using the Life Fire Seed, Shade forged a Moonbeam Greatsword and destroyed the shadow’s body, but it re-formed, leaving him to continue the fight.

• Madam Gustav and Miss Bladewei slowed the Shadow of Withering with a holy-symbol metal wall and an explosion, allowing the group to escape into the Vascular Mother Nest.
• Shade fired the Life Fire Seed at the shadow, then infused its power into Moonbeam Thorns to keep it from immediately breaking through the door.
• The group crossed the blood-vessel web toward the far wall as the Shadow of Withering broke through and a Vascular Spider confronted them.
• Madam Gustav, Miss Bladewei, and Gina moved to fight the spiders while Shade used the Life Fire Seed to form a flaming Moonbeam Greatsword.
• Shade changed the greatsword into a whip and split the Shadow of Withering apart, but it gathered itself back together and resumed attacking.

Shade and the three Witches escaped the blood-red spider web after Shade defeated the Wither pursuer with the Fire Seed Source, Red Moon, and Miss Feliana’s help. They reached the third Life Furnace, but the Fire Seed Source had embedded itself in Shade’s palm and caused him intense pain.

• Miss Feliana blessed Shade and helped him resist the Wither pursuer while the three Witches cleared a path to the door.
• Gina threw Shade a wounded giant spider, and Shade drained its Life Energy to replenish the Fire Seed Source as the group advanced.
• The black shadow used Space Movement to appear before Gina, but Shade pulled her back with Blood Moon Return and confronted it.
• Shade’s Moonbeam Greatsword shattered against the pursuer, so he used Adele’s Time Stop and struck with Red Moon—Moon Fire, strengthened by Miss Feliana’s chaotic light, to defeat it.
• Gina carried the injured Shade to the doorway while Madam Gustav and Miss Bladewei fought off the spiders; the group shut the door behind them.
• The group found the third Life Furnace, and Shade discovered that the Fire Seed Source had embedded itself in his palm and formed a painful one-way connection with his body.

Shade gained a Fire Seed Source Mark after the Fire Seed Source embedded in his hand, leaving him immune to Wither and granting several life-related abilities. After the group secured a Withering Crystal and Shade separated the red snake’s Philosopher’s Stone from its Blood Essence of All Things, they rested together in the Sanctuaries and planned to study Flesh Creation.

• Shade removed the Fire Seed Source from his palm and discovered the mark it left, which granted him immunity to Wither and other abilities.
• Shade learned that the mark let him sense nearby Fire Seed Sources and contain them, but could not return one to the Sixth Epoch.
• The group named the black shadow’s crystal a Withering Crystal and decided Miss Feliana would seal it until Shade found a way to suppress its power.
• Shade dissected the red snake and separated its Philosopher’s Stone from its Blood Essence of All Things.
• The Witches gathered in the Sanctuaries to rest, and Shade said they had time to combine their Flesh Organs and study Flesh Creation.

Shade discussed the Moon Egg’s slow development and the dangers surrounding the Life Furnace with Miss Feliana and the others. Before they continued their adventure, Miss Feliana advised Shade to study the Red Moon’s Flesh Aberration after returning to the Sixth Epoch, and their group shared stories while waiting.

• Miss Feliana and Gina suggested that the Moon Egg might simply need centuries or millennia to hatch, and Miss Feliana warned Shade not to accelerate its time.
• Gina described the Life Furnace’s activation, and Miss Bladewei explained her plan to use altered Active Metal to sabotage its next forging.
• Miss Feliana proposed using puppet avatars made from the Fire Seed Source to help the group escape if a more terrifying enemy appeared.
• Miss Feliana privately told Shade to study and master the Red Moon’s power of Flesh Aberration after returning to the Sixth Epoch.
• The group pieced together a humanoid figure from stored Flesh Organs, held a tea party, and shared stories about their pasts and Little Mia.