Chapter Summaries

Wei Ge, Winnie, and Miss Lorraine confronted Cursed Object [Life], which emerged from the remains of the mechanical giant and attacked with its stolen powers. Shade arrived to join the battle, but the monster survived their combined assault, leaving the fight unresolved.

• Wei Ge recognized the crying inside the exploding mechanical giant as a sign that Cursed Object [Life] had been born from its Life Energy.
• A giant pink monster emerged from a fallen sound pipe, and Wei Ge identified it as a cursed object that devoured life and grew.
• The monster attacked Wei Ge and the others with Chaos energy and sound waves, while Winnie revealed a twelve-ring Destiny Ring and froze it with an Ice Storm.
• The monster unleashed twisted Life Fire across the forest, and Wei Ge and Winnie combined their powers to force back its attack.
• Shade arrived, struck the monster with a Life Ray, and charged with his Moonbeam Greatsword, but its cry blasted him back and the monster reattached its severed head.

Shade used Winnie's extreme-cold power to defeat and drain the Life evildoer, then left the Church to contain the remaining Kindling. After returning to their Opera House box, Shade turned to Wei Ge and asked about her true identity.

• Shade and Winnie froze the Life evildoer, and Shade used Falling Star Strike to drive it into a crater.
• Wei Ge identified the enemy as an evildoer named Life, while Shade drained its Kindling and destroyed its frozen remains.
• Shade told the Sun Church Ring Arcanists that the evildoer was defeated and that they could ask Iluna Bayes for information.
• The Church reported casualties at the Opera House and said the Truth Society had taken metal from the shattered Giant Accordion.
• Shade, Wei Ge, Winnie, and Miss Lorraine returned to their Opera House box, where Shade asked Wei Ge about her true identity.

Shade returned from the Opera House and briefed Luvia, Galina, and Sivie on the evening’s discoveries before Luvia used Galina’s coin to divine Wei Ge’s mother’s fate. The divination revealed that Peggy Nicola Le May had died shortly after Wei Ge Astley was born.

• Wei Ge guessed that Shade was Daniste’s illegitimate son, but Shade denied it and said he would explain the truth when a girl arrived the next day.
• Shade declined Wei Ge’s invitation to stay, saying he needed to report the Skin Object Hall’s return to Luvia, and promised to visit Wei Ge in the morning.
• Shade told Luvia, Galina, and Sivie about the relics, the Emerald Alchemy Association, and the events at the Opera House; Galina announced that she and Sivie would travel with Angelina to Arcadia City aboard the Radiance Messenger.
• Shade chose to use Galina’s coin to divine whether Wei Ge’s mother was alive, and Luvia revealed that Peggy Nicola Le May died shortly after Wei Ge Astley was born.

Luvia explained that Lemay’s resurrection scheme depended on Wei Ge’s descendants and the birth of the Perfect Child, but Wei Ge’s inability to bear children had likely ruined Lemay’s original plan. Shade and Luvia prepared for Lemay’s soul to awaken, then Shade discussed Iluna’s eyes and reassured Galina, Sivie, and Luvia before they spent the night together.

• Luvia told Shade that Lemay had planted suggestions in Wei Ge and the Astley family, intending to return as a descendant who discovered clues to the Perfect Child.
• Luvia warned Shade that Lemay’s soul could awaken and act despite lacking a body, and that the Perfect Child plan likely threatened Wei Ge.
• Luvia decided to summon Joey Barton and Lady Marylin Handel to Arcadia, while Shade agreed to tell Iluna about using her eyes to gather normal Kindling.
• Shade shared Luvia’s findings with the young ladies at home, and Winnie agreed that Destiny could thwart even a flawless plan.
• Shade asked Galina, Sivie, and Luvia whether they were intimate with him for pleasure or to have children, then reassured them before they began the night’s activities.

Shade received an ancient Elven Water of Life from Miss Sabelle, then went to Fragrant Residence to find Wei Ge away at city hall. He learned the Holborn Opera Troupe had relocated after the Opera House explosion and set out to investigate its new venue.

• Galina returned to Yodel Palace, while Sivie planned to visit Vanessa and Bella, and Luvia advised Shade to be tactful when discussing Lemay with Wei Ge.
• Miss Sabelle met Shade at the Blue Ink Library, gave him an ancient Elven Water of Life to help with his need for Life Energy, and departed for her train.
• Shade went to Fragrant Residence and learned that Wei Ge had gone to city hall amid inspections and plans to postpone the Old Continent Exposition.
• Miss Lorraine told Shade that the Holborn Opera Troupe had moved to Hohenheim Opera House after the Queen Annie Opera House explosion, and Shade decided to investigate there with the sealed Skin Object.

Shade investigated the Holborn Opera Troupe and the dead Third Female Lead’s apartment, uncovering evidence of the Skin Object Hall’s recruitment and a masked ball invitation. As he prepared to leave, a strange visitor resembling the dead woman arrived, and Shade concealed himself as a statue.

• Shade visited the Holborn Opera Troupe, donated money, and questioned Mr. Holborn about the missing Third Female Lead and the Mermaid rumors.
• Shade learned that the Third Female Lead had introduced Lady Connaught to the troupe and that talk of Mermaid accessories had begun the previous summer.
• Shade searched the Third Female Lead’s apartment and found two Skin Objects, a notebook cataloguing attractive young girls, and an invitation to the Charming Lady Club’s Friday masked ball.
• Shade decided to attend the ball to meet the Skin Crafter and investigate the Skin Object Hall.
• When a visitor resembling the dead Third Female Lead entered the apartment building, Shade hid the suitcase and used Thaumaturgy: Calm Stance to disguise himself as a statue.
• Shade saw that the visitor had six eyes and a gray horn protruding from her left temple.

Shade learned that the [House of False Men] had arrived in Arcadia City and planned to use Skin Objects to find the Skin Crafter and devour the [Skin Object Hall]. He went to meet Wei Ge about investigating the Skin Crafter, but Wei Ge remained absent after city hall and the Hohenheim Opera House were surrounded by The Church.

• A low-level doppelganger mistook Shade for a High-Level False Man and revealed the [House of False Men]'s plan to recover its strength by targeting the [Skin Object Hall].
• Shade let the doppelganger leave with the Skin Objects and gained the ability to sense doppelgangers from a distance.
• Shade decided to investigate the Charming Lady Club and asked Miss Lorraine whether Wei Ge would attend its Friday gathering with him.
• Shade arrived at the Fragrant Residence with Little Mia, but Wei Ge had not returned from a closed-door meeting.
• Miss Lorraine learned that The Church had surrounded city hall, while Miss MacDonald reported that the Hohenheim Opera House had also been surrounded.

Shade investigated the blood-red rain and traced the Mystic Lock [Flesh City] to a disguised [House of False Men] near Grey Rock Pass, with Ellie guiding him there. He struck the Relic’s outer wall with Moonlight Slash, revealing the Doppelgangers’ writhing flesh and a familiar man emerging from the crack.

• Shade and Miss MacDonald saw blood-red rain and an upside-down city appear over Grey Rock Pass, and Shade identified the phenomenon as [Flesh City].
• Shade returned home, recruited Ellie and Winnie, and left for Arcadia as the city was engulfed in crimson rain.
• Ellie sensed [House of False Men]'s location and led Shade and Winnie to an abandoned Black Stone Tower south of Grey Rock Pass Fortress.
• Shade refused to enter the Relic and instead attacked its exterior with Moonlight Slash, opening a crack in the tower.
• Crimson Flesh began repairing the crack, and a familiar man's face and upper body emerged from the tower wall.

Shade negotiated with the Doppelgangers to help drive Hermons and the Saint Alliance from [House of False Men] in exchange for ancient knowledge and a promise to limit their influence. As the scarlet city prepared to overlap with the Material World, Shade gathered his allies for the coming battle.

• The High-Level False Man offered Shade a deal and showed him Hermons and the Infant-Holding Holy Mother fighting the Doppelgangers alongside the Giant God Soldier.
• Shade learned that the Doppelgangers held secrets of the Birthing Room of Creation and ancient stone tablets, then agreed to help expel the invading humans in exchange for partial knowledge and a fifty-year promise not to expand their influence.
• The Doppelgangers gave Shade a large piece of [Blood Essence of All Things] as a down payment and said he could enter Flesh City when it overlapped with the Material World.
• Shade explained that the Blood Essence could provide enough spirit to open a Mystic Lock, but he decided to wait until the battle was over.
• Shade summoned Grace and Helen with the [Butterfly Summoning Flute] as Winnie and Ellie prepared for the fight.

Shade entered the Doppelgangers’ Mystic Lock alone, while Wei Ge rushed to Grey Rock Pass as the Relic’s power engulfed the surrounding area. Sivie Aurora arrived and went after Shade, revealing that he had been waiting for her.

• Shade sent the Red Butterfly Young Ladies to find out when the Radiance Messenger would arrive, then entered the Mystic Lock while Winnie and Ellie stayed outside.
• Wei Ge drank Blood Brew and hurried toward Grey Rock Pass with Miss MacDonald after learning that Shade had left ahead of them.
• The Mystic Lock descended into the Material World, creating a Blood Sea where the Thousand-Eyed Demon Statue fought a flesh giant as factions watched from the edge.
• Wei Ge spotted Shade poling a boat alone toward the Flesh City and was startled when Sivie Aurora appeared beside her.
• Sivie said Shade was waiting for her, then rode Ellie into the Mystic Lock to help him as her Thirteenth Ring and Golden Stairway appeared.

Shade merged with Sivie’s power, transformed into a Thirteenth Order Witch, and attacked the Blood-red City while Hermons and the Infant-Holding Holy Mother defended it. As Vanessa and others joined the battle, Wei Ge learned that several Witches had long known Shade and realized Bella was among them; Flora then arrived and asked whether anyone had been talking about her.

• Sivie joined Shade at the bell tower, and their union filled the Mystic Lock with seven-colored Mind’s Light as Shade gained Thirteenth Order power.
• Shade struck the Blood-red City with Moonlight Slash and seven Sin Spirit Runes while Hermons and the Infant-Holding Holy Mother fought back from the Giant God Soldier.
• Winnie explained to Wei Ge that Sivie had joined with Shade, and Vanessa arrived with Grace and Helen to reinforce him.
• Vanessa, Thunder’s Wrath, and Hand of Radiance entered the Mystic Lock, while Winnie revealed that more than one Council Witch had known Shade for years.
• Bella told Wei Ge that she had met Shade and teased her about kissing him, prompting Wei Ge to accuse Bella, Sivie, and Vanessa of keeping secrets from her.
• Flora landed beside the group and asked whether someone had been talking about her.

Flora and Bella revealed to Wei Ge that most of the Council had secretly known Shade, while the battle inside the Mystic Lock reached a dangerous turning point. Bella and Flora went to support Megan and Claire, and the chapter ended as Ellie rose to confront the Giant God Soldier.

• Flora told Bella that Megan and Claire had gone to the Blood Spirit School and Saint Alliance encampments, and Wei Ge demanded to join them.
• Flora revealed that nine Council members had known Shade before Wei Ge, including Grandma Cassandra, leaving Wei Ge stunned by how few loyalists remained.
• Bella and Flora began explaining that Grandma Cassandra was not the first Witch to meet Shade, but the Giant God Soldier's attack interrupted them.
• Hermons tried to break out of the Mystic Lock as the Fire Seed Source clashed with Shade's combined moonlight, Life Ray, and Withering power.
• Bella sent Flora to support Megan and Claire while she arranged for the others to wait for those escaping the Mystic Lock.
• The Infant-Holding Holy Mother's golden radiance forced Shade backward, and Ellie flew up with her Ninth Ring of Fate to face the enemy.

Shade, aided by Ellie and Sivie, unleashed the Witch Secret Art Light of Annihilation against the Giant God Soldier and Hermons in the collapsing Mystic Lock. Hermons revealed a second Fire Seed Source, but Vanessa and the other Thirteenth Rings trapped him and struck the source as Shade’s attack swallowed the city around them.

• Ellie merged her Innocence power with Shade and the Red Moon, helping him hold the Giant God Soldier at bay.
• Wei Ge realized Shade was the God Summoner, then left with Winnie while the others waited in the Blood Sea.
• Hermons revealed a Fire Seed Source in his chest and transformed into a flaming giant, sending a crimson torrent at Vanessa and the other Thirteenth Rings before attacking Shade from behind.
• Sivie guided Shade in using the Thirteenth Order Witch Secret Art Light of Annihilation, whose white radiance consumed the opposing Life Energy and cracked the Mystic Lock.
• Vanessa and the other two Thirteenth Rings restrained Hermons and struck the Fire Seed Source in his chest with Gureshiel's Sunlight Gun.

Shade used the Corrupt Moon Flower to weaken Hermons’s attempt to fuse with [House of False Men], turning the Flesh City into rotting sludge as the Mystic Lock destabilized. The flower completed its bloom, leaving Vanessa and Sivie frightened by the power Shade wielded alone.

• Shade destroyed the Infant-Holding Holy Mother with the Moonbeam Greatsword and flew to help fight Hermons.
• Adele traced the Infant-Holding Holy Mother’s rebirth and pursued her outside the Mystic Lock.
• Hermons burrowed into the Blood-red City and used his Fire Seed Source to fuse himself with [House of False Men], transforming the city into living flesh.
• Shade sent Vanessa, Hand of Radiance, Thunder's Wrath, and Ellie out of the Mystic Lock, then summoned the Corrupt Moon Flower.
• The Corrupt Moon Flower’s decay and corruption dissolved the Flesh City, while Vanessa and Sivie watched from beyond the Blood Sea.

Shade defeated Hermons’s Mystic Lock with Corrupt Moon Flower, but their clash ended with both of them drawn through a door in Hermons’s soul into the Birthing Room of Creation. Shade recovered in its life-giving liquid and emerged into a fog-shrouded place, with Hermons’s whereabouts unknown.

• Shade’s Corrupt Moon Flower destroyed the Mystic Lock and badly wounded Hermons as the Weeper of Blood charged through the falling petals.
• Hermons detonated his Fire Seed Source and collided with Shade, who struck Hermons’s soul with the Moonbeam Greatsword while his chains bound them together.
• As the Mystic Lock collapsed, Shade and Hermons were pulled through a blood-red door hidden in Hermons’s soul into the Birthing Room of Creation.
• Shade healed and regained his strength in the pale-red liquid, but could not locate Hermons or draw stored Life Energy from the place.
• Shade recalled his fall on Kalas Mountain, used the feeling to find a sense of direction, and rose from the liquid beneath a White Fog-covered sky.

Shade encountered the reborn Weeper of Blood Hermons inside the [Birthing Room of Creation], where Hermons revealed that the Fire Seed Source let him return to life and that he had fused with tissue from the Firstborn Son. After they fought to a draw with swords, Hermons flooded the chamber and attacked Shade underwater, leaving Shade trapped in Hermons's domain.

• Shade found a coffin-like stone bed in the birthing room, but Hermons appeared and explained that the place was where life waited before birth.
• Hermons said he had fused part of himself with the Fire Seed Source in the birthing room, allowing him to be reborn after death, and offered Shade an alliance that Shade rejected.
• Hermons revealed that he had fused with suspected Firstborn Son tissue to pursue power beyond the Thirteenth Ring, then challenged Shade to a sword fight.
• Shade and Hermons fought with swords until both weapons broke, and Shade admitted that Hermons had surpassed him in physical ability.
• Hermons invited Shade to study creation and bloodline evolution with him, but Shade refused, so Hermons flooded the birthing room and attacked him beneath the blood water.

Shade escaped Hermons and the Birthing Room by casting Gate of Death, then returned to a lake in the Desolate Zone with his body temporarily weakened and a new luck-enhancing state. When Wei Ge found him, a beautiful woman emerged from the lake, bearing a striking resemblance to her.

• Hermons trapped Shade in the Mother Liquid and tried to dissolve him with Life Fire, but Shade used Gate of Death to force the Birthing Room to expel him.
• Hermons tried to stop Shade from leaving, but touching him caused Hermons to disintegrate; Shade escaped and regained consciousness in a lake.
• Shade learned that he had received the temporary blessed state Newborn Star, which greatly improved his luck until the next sunrise.
• A powerful presence beneath the lake threatened the helpless Shade, but Wei Ge rushed in, carried him to shore, and began treating him.
• Shade warned Wei Ge to leave, and she saw a beautiful woman rise from the lake whose face resembled her own.

Shade and Wei Ge encountered Desire at the lakeshore, where it tried to tempt Wei Ge and then offered Shade a bargain involving the [Skin Object Hall]. Desire wanted him to retrieve an ancient Skin Object containing part of its power, and explained that the Hall had once used a divine artifact to gain leverage over it.

• Desire appeared in the lake and tempted Wei Ge with promises of beauty and health, but Shade recognized its power and pulled her away.
• Desire revealed that it had come to find the [Skin Object Hall] after its plans were disrupted by the Doppelgangers.
• Desire offered information about the Hall and a possible treatment for Wei Ge in exchange for Shade retrieving an ancient Skin Object.
• Shade demanded the truth, and Desire admitted the Skin Object was part of its former skin and held some of its power.
• Desire explained that the Skin Crafters had kept its skin and that the Hall had possessed a divine artifact when it tried to devour them.

Desire offered Shade information about the Skin Object Hall, a cure for the witches, and a divine artifact in exchange for a Skin Object, then used her power to inflame Wei Ge’s desires. Shade brought Wei Ge back to Fragrant Residence, and the witches gathered there, leaving Galina eager to surprise Wei Ge with the truth about her and Sylvia.

• Desire told Shade the Peeling Knife’s history and offered him a deal: retrieve a Skin Object for her in exchange for information, a way to treat the witches, and the divine artifact.
• Desire gave Shade a mask that would hide his identity from the Skin Object Hall, then awakened Wei Ge’s desire before leaving the lake.
• Winnie found Wei Ge attacking Shade and helped him restrain her; Shade ordered Winnie to alert the others and returned to Fragrant Residence with Wei Ge.
• After hearing that Shade was safe, Galina rejoiced that Wei Ge still did not know she and Sylvia had met Shade, and the witches traveled to Fragrant Residence.
• Galina learned Shade and Wei Ge were in the master bedroom and led the group upstairs, telling everyone to stay quiet while she spoke to Wei Ge.

Angelina arrived at Fragrant Residence and witnessed the Great Witches interrupt Wei Ge’s uncontrolled advances toward Shade. After the Witch Council restored Wei Ge, Shade left to consult Luvia, and the gathered Witches were startled when a mysterious newcomer entered during the storm.

• Angelina arrived at Fragrant Residence, introduced herself to Miss MacDonald, and said Shade was her brother-in-law.
• Galina and the Great Witches entered Wei Ge’s bedroom and found Wei Ge pressing herself against Shade while under the influence of Desire.
• Galina and Sivie helped subdue Wei Ge, and the Witches took her to the Witch Council, where the Ancient God’s cleansing power restored her.
• Shade returned to Tobesk to discuss Desire and the Birthing Room of Creation with Luvia, while the Witches waited for him at Fragrant Residence.
• A mysterious figure entered the study through the terrace door, and Galina and Wei Ge recognized the newcomer as the Speaker.