Chapter Summaries

Shade, Wei Ge, and Ellie fought their way through the Skin Object Hall as Ellie guided them toward what they needed most. They destroyed the hall’s roaming Skin Objects and a living corridor, while Shade grew concerned that someone was trying to make the hall lose control.

• Shade received word that Grace, Dorothy, Leisha, and the others needed five minutes to open a passage, but Ellie arrived through a spatial rift before they could wait.
• Shade asked Ellie to follow her instincts and lead them to what they needed most, then declared that they would try to destroy the Skin Object Hall.
• Ellie led Shade and Wei Ge through banquet halls, where they fought and destroyed a mass of floating human skins.
• Shade and Wei Ge burned a living corridor covered in Skin Objects to ashes after it tried to curse them and begged for mercy.
• Wei Ge tested Night Watchman and found she could wield it, though it showed less power in her hands than in Shade’s or Iluna’s.
• As Ellie guided them onward, Shade worried that an intruder might be trying to make the Skin Object Hall completely lose control, and he suspected Ellie’s luck explained why they had not encountered any Skin Crafters.

Shade found Blaine Olanode’s Witch Echo in the Skin Object Hall, received instructions to activate the Time Key and complete a time loop, then traveled to the Fifth Epoch to return to the Foul Blood Factory. He prepared to face the factory again and agreed to ask Miss Feliana how to protect Little Mia.

• Ellie led Shade and Wei Ge to a ruined hall, where they found a glowing sword mark that Shade identified as a trace left by the Moonbeam Greatsword.
• Shade touched the mark and received Blaine Olanode’s message to activate the key, find Teacher Fio, and complete the closed loop of time.
• Blaine’s echo briefly blessed Shade with Yellow Moon’s Blessing before fading, and Shade entrusted his relics to Wei Ge and left through the Door Pendant.
• Shade arrived in the Fifth Epoch’s Foul Blood Factory, where the Father of Infinite Tree tasked him with helping the One-armed Prince complete the birth of new life.
• Shade planned to speedrun the factory and agreed to ask Miss Feliana for a way to protect Little Mia, who had emerged from his clothes.

Shade returned to the Factory and helped Gina, Miss Bladewei, and Old Madam Gustav escape a room flooded with Blood Water and Blood Snakes. They reached the relatively safe Tool Room, where the Witches welcomed Shade and began setting up camp.

• Shade escaped the Blood Collection Workshop by using Feliana's Witch Light to burn through fleshy slimes and block their projectiles with the Heaton Seal.
• Shade found Gina, Miss Bladewei, and Old Madam Gustav fighting Blood Snakes in a room flooded by pipes pouring in Blood Water.
• Shade used Moonbeam Thorns to block the outlets, then caught the Fire Seed Source that Feliana tossed to him.
• Shade strengthened the Moonbeam Thorns with the Fire Seed Source, letting Gina and Old Madam Gustav destroy the Blood Snakes while Feliana evaporated the remaining water.
• Gina opened the submerged trapdoor, and Shade and the Witches descended into the Tool Room, where Old Madam Gustav explained that it was among the Factory's safest rooms.
• The Witches welcomed Shade and built a Metal Tent for their camp while Little Mia poked its head out from Shade's collar.

Shade reunited with Gina, Madam Gustav, and Miss Bladewei in the Foul Blood Factory, where Miss Feliana had developed Life Fire Seed techniques using the Fire Seed Source. The Witches prepared to pursue the fourth and final Life Furnace, while Shade turned to suppress the Withering Crystal.

• Miss Feliana protected Little Mia with a spell, and the Witches gathered inside the sealed Metal Tent around a campfire made from the Fire Seed Source.
• Madam Gustav and Gina explained that Miss Feliana had taught them to draw Life Fire Seeds from the source and use them in spells.
• Miss Feliana described False Life Skin, a technique that shields its caster from Flesh Aberration, and Shade recorded her Fire Seed Source Secret Methods in his library.
• The Witches told Shade that the Third Life Furnace had intensified the factory's dangers, but they had gathered enough materials to fuel the fourth Furnace.
• Miss Feliana predicted the fourth Furnace was nearby and urged everyone to rest before setting out, and Shade said he would suppress the Withering Crystal.

Shade and the Fifth Epoch Witches prepared for the final Furnace while discussing the dangers and mysteries facing him in the [Skin Object Hall]. Their theories about Aurora Le May and the Firstborn Sons gave Shade new leads, but the Hall’s conflict and the prophecy’s meaning remained unresolved.

• Shade told the Witches about his recent experiences, then used Chloe's Ice Echo and Winnie’s blessing to suppress the Withering Crystal’s power.
• Miss Feliana began making substitute dolls as the other Witches prepared supplies and food, while Shade treated their tumors and shared news of the [Skin Object Hall].
• Madam Gustav explained that the Fourth Epoch had studied alchemy that turned people into a solution, and Miss Feliana suggested the Perfect Child had been divided to pursue the Threefold Wisdom or complete a cycle of the Four Elements.
• Shade connected Feliana’s theory to the Miracle and Blasphemy Elements, while Madam Gustav offered to help him search The Church’s records for a way to restore Aurora Le May.
• Miss Bladewei recounted her elder sister’s prophecy that the Firstborn Sons would return as Twilight approached, confirming a legend Shade had heard in the Sixth Epoch.

Gina, Miss Feliana, and the Old Witch explained the Firstborn Sons’ possible connection to the Creator, Twilight, and Doomsday, leading Shade to speculate that they possessed a third form of life infused with Doomsday Power. Shade resolved to stop them if they tried to impose that power on all races, then turned to the group’s preparations for escaping the furnace.

• Gina described an ancient prophecy that the Great Terror would bring the world’s Final Death and said the Firstborn Sons might transform all races if they failed a test.
• Miss Feliana and the Old Witch explained that the Firstborn Sons may possess a unique Twilight Form, a third state of life created to survive the world’s end.
• Shade speculated that the Firstborn Sons carried Doomsday Power and might intend to grant it to every race, and he decided he would stop them.
• Shade set aside his theories and asked how the group could escape, and Miss Feliana said her puppet might need to self-destruct as a last resort.
• Miss Feliana told Shade he might need to help detonate the Fire Seed Source if the Final Furnace forced them into the worst-case scenario, and she assured him that the damage to her would be temporary.

Shade and the Witches prepared to continue through the Blood Mist, carrying enchanted puppets to misdirect the dangers ahead. They discovered a chamber containing four legendary relics, including Blood of Mercury, but learned that obtaining them required offerings tied to the origins of life.

• Shade told Miss Puppet he had learned Corrupt Moon Flower and defeated a Thirteenth Ring Warlock who possessed a Fire Seed Source.
• Miss Feliana prepared blank-faced puppets for Shade, Gina, Miss Bladewei, and Madam Gustav to use as decoys, and the group ate before setting out.
• The Halfling Young Lady revealed that she could hear crying, joining Gina as a guide, and the group entered a chamber with four Stone Pillars and basins.
• The Witches identified the basin contents as Blood Essence of All Things, Water of Life, the relic Distant Eye, and Blood of Mercury, which Miss Feliana recognized as a relic from the Firstborn Son.
• Shade and Miss Feliana translated the basin inscriptions as blood, milk, stems and leaves, and amniotic fluid, suggesting the items could be claimed through matching sacrifices.
• Shade offered to use a spell to produce milk, but the Halfling Young Lady insisted that Gina provide it because dragons could produce more.

Shade and the Witches exchanged blood for the [Distant Eye] Magic Eye, then explored a burial chamber containing the coffins of people who had died in the Factory. They found evidence that the Factory periodically restarted after someone activated all four Life Furnaces, and the latest Witch’s coffin contained a cryptic inscription that reminded Shade of the Birthing Room of Creation.

• The Witches offered blood to the Blood basin, and Gina retrieved [Distant Eye] after their Life Force was temporarily weakened.
• The group entered a burial chamber with 458 coffins and learned that they held the remains or records of outsiders who had died in the Factory.
• Shade noticed that the deceased had varied connections to the ancient Creator God, suggesting they belonged to a group drawn to the Factory by an unknown ritual.
• Miss Bladewei found the most recent coffin, which recorded that its owner had activated all four Life Furnaces alone before voluntarily dissolving into sleep.
• Miss Bladewei opened the empty coffin and found the inscription, “The cradle is also a coffin; born, one drifts toward death, and the reverse is true as well.”

Shade and the Witches discovered a room of ancient Bone and Blood Codices and used Shade’s Moon Library Thaumaturgy to choose knowledge suited to each of them. Shade’s chosen codex did not explain the Fire Seed Source but granted him a new Thaumaturgy instead.

• Miss Feliana asked Shade to shrink one coffin and take it with them, and he turned it into a card.
• The group climbed through the coffin room’s trapdoor into a Safe Room filled with jars containing Bone and Blood Codices.
• Miss Feliana explained how to access the codices and warned everyone to choose only one and avoid greed.
• Shade used Moon Library to find codices for himself, Madam Gustav, Miss Bladewei, and Gina.
• The group learned from their chosen codices, and Shade’s codex granted him a new Thaumaturgy rather than knowledge about the Fire Seed Source.

Shade and the three Witches learned the significance of the Sea of Origin and reached the final Life Furnace with all twelve required organs. Before activating it, Shade prepared them for whatever might happen and shared instructions and farewells, leaving their next move poised to begin.

• Shade gained the Life Fire Form thaumaturgy and learned that ancient priests used it to preserve their bodies as Life Energy after death.
• Madam Gustav told Shade that the Sea of Origin was where the Creator God created life, and said Destiny had shown her that he needed to know of it.
• The group found the final Life Furnace and confirmed they had collected all twelve required organs and the Blood Essence of All Things.
• Shade told the others to stay together, explained that he could escape when his time ran out, and asked Miss Feliana to care for the Moon Egg if he sent it to her.
• Shade asked Miss Feliana to help contain Skin Object Hall and suggested Madam Gustav leave a message for her possible descendant in the future.
• Madam Gustav blessed Shade and expressed hope that their connection would continue through her family.

Shade and the Witches activated the Life Furnace, but the burning dodecahedron vanished into the overflowing Blood Pool as a new life cried beneath it. They climbed into Shade’s coffin so Miss Feliana could guide it through the Blood Mist in pursuit.

• The Halfling Young Lady, Gina, and Miss Bladewei said goodbye to Shade, and Shade urged everyone to hope they would soon reach the Reality World.
• Shade extracted life force from the leftover flesh, and the group assembled the twelve Flesh Organs around the dodecahedron before Madam Gustav added the Blood Essence of All Things to the Blood Pool.
• Shade ignited the Furnace with Life Ray, and the dodecahedron burned as a figure appeared within it; his Life Ray sublimated, allowing him to briefly create matter from Life Energy.
• The Furnace sank into the Blood Pool and disappeared as Blood Mist filled the room, while the crying continued from somewhere beneath the pool.
• Gina found no bottom beneath the Blood Pool, and Madam Gustav decided they had to pursue the Furnace before the new life was born.
• Shade and the three Witches crowded into his coffin, sealed it with bubbles, and prepared for Miss Feliana to guide it through the Blood Mist.

Shade and his companions traveled through the Blood Sea to the core of the Foul Blood Factory, where they found the Cursed Object [Life] forming inside a Blood Cocoon. Its mental contamination made everyone except Shade unable to attack, and the chapter ended as Shade’s first attacks failed to break its shell.

• Shade and his companions rode a Metal Coffin through the Blood Sea until it broke apart as they emerged onto a vast, mist-covered plain.
• Gina found the trail of red flames, and the group followed it through the scattered remains of all four Life Furnaces.
• Shade and his companions discovered a shrinking Blood Cocoon containing the newborn Cursed Object [Life].
• Gina, Linor, and Miss Feliana admitted that the cocoon’s influence made them unable to attack it.
• Shade struck the Blood Cocoon with Moonlight Slash, a Thunder Spear, a Shadow Ball, and frost, but none of his attacks seriously damaged it.

Shade and the Witches fought the Giant Baby born from the Blood Cocoon, whose overwhelming Life Force made it a dangerous embodiment of the Life Fire Seed. They used the Withering Crystal to force it into old age, but continued attacking because it had not yet perished.

• Shade’s attacks failed to stop the Giant Baby from emerging, and he fought it as it attacked with childish movements backed by immense power.
• Gina transformed into her true Gem Dragon form and struck the Giant Baby with her breath while Shade attacked with Moonlight, Thunder Spears, and Chaos Remnants.
• Madam Gustav used Great Disintegration, and Miss Bladewei joined the assault with her shield and three Magic Eyes, helping pin the Giant Baby down.
• Shade’s Chaos Remnants heated the Withering Crystal buried in the Giant Baby until its power spread through the Life Fire Seeds and rapidly aged the creature.
• The Giant Baby lost its regenerative strength, but it remained alive, so Shade, Gina, Madam Gustav, and Miss Bladewei advanced and continued attacking to wear down its Life Force.

Shade and the witches defeated [Life], completing the factory’s ritual and gaining a strange black fleshly treasure. They learned that the factory may have been built to forge chaotic Life Energy into [Life] and send it through a full life and death, but they still did not know whether the participants could leave safely.

• [Life] escaped the witches’ attack, swallowed Shade, and fled through the mist before its body became covered in [Corrupt Moon Flower].
• Shade survived inside the monster by changing into a body of flame, then returned to flesh after [Life] died beneath the flowers.
• Shade picked up the black flesh left behind, which he identified as an essence of life that could heal physical defects and help life evolve.
• Miss Feliana proposed that the factory gathered chaotic Life Energy and forged it into [Life] so it could live and die, while Madam Gustav and Gina connected the ritual to the vanished Order of the Old Gods.
• Miss Feliana warned that participants might be kept in the factory because returning to the normal world with disorderly Life Force could endanger it.

Shade and the Witches encountered the Old God Lord of Flesh Aberration, who offered to let Shade leave alone. Shade insisted on leaving with his companions and approached the god, but its gaze began disrupting his Transformation Spell and warping his body.

• As the Blood Mist darkened, the group felt the god watching them, and Shade asked to leave with his companions.
• Lord of Flesh Aberration, the One-Armed Prince, appeared and explained that others had sacrificed themselves to preserve the world.
• Shade asked the god to let the group go, and the god agreed on the condition that Shade approach alone.
• Shade walked toward the god as his body aberrated, using the Fire Seed Source and Red Moon’s radiance to preserve his sanity and shift between forms.
• The god looked directly at Shade, disrupting his Transformation Spell and causing his body to transform toward the aberrant Flesh around him.

Shade resisted the Lord of Flesh Aberration by combining Life Fire with Red Moon power, restoring his body and offering the god a flower. The god spared the group and granted Shade new abilities, but Shade warned that they still needed to find a ship and escape before the Foul Blood Factory sealed itself.

• Shade used Life Fire Form and the Red Moon to control his aberration and restore his body.
• Shade gained the thaumaturgy Red Moon Nourishment and deepened his understanding of the Red Moon.
• Shade offered the Lord of Flesh Aberration a flower made from Life Fire and Red Moon light, and the god accepted it before leaving.
• The Lord of Flesh Aberration blessed Shade with maximum transformation resistance, immunity to external Flesh Aberration, and the ability to take a nearby creature's form for 48 hours.
• Miss Feliana explained that Shade had shown the god he understood the secret of Flesh Aberration, and the group gathered around him.
• Shade told the group the Trial was over and urged them to find the ship that could take them out before the Foul Blood Factory sealed itself.

Shade and his companions escaped the Blood Sea by sealing themselves inside a Stone Coffin and drifting through True Death. They reached a new sea that seemed to be the Sea of Origin, but Shade concluded that they would need to leave other lives behind before they could safely cross it.

• Gina led the group toward a Stone Coffin as the Blood Sea rushed in, and Shade transformed into a Silver Cat to fit inside before the coffin sealed.
• The group floated inside the coffin while the Blood Sea crashed over it, and Shade explained that the previous witch had left clues for others who might escape.
• Shade reasoned that they were crossing from death toward Rebirth, and everyone sensed the direction of the Sea of Origin.
• Shade summoned his Small Wooden Boat to carry the coffin onward, but the boat lost control and stopped in a new region where they heard waves outside.
• Shade proposed that crossing the Sea of Origin required trading death for death, so the group pulled out their four puppets.

Gina, the witches, and the cats opened the coffin onto the Sea of Origin and encountered the terrifying Mad Firstborn Son, but the coffin protected them until they returned to the forest. They emerged into sunlight beside a river, though the coffin was still drifting.

• Miss Feliana awakened four puppets, and Gina prepared to throw them outside while the others readied themselves to close the coffin.
• When the coffin opened, the Mad Firstborn Son appeared over the Red Sea and froze everyone with its terrifying presence.
• Little Mia and Shade Cat challenged the monster, giving Gina time to throw out the puppets as Madam Gustav and Miss Feliana struggled to shut the coffin.
• Miss Bladewei identified the creature as the Mad Firstborn Son, and Miss Feliana offered to erase her memories of what had happened after entering the coffin.
• The coffin shook and spun until its lid flew open, revealing the group back beneath the trees, drifting beside a river.

Shade reunited with Blaine and the others after escaping the Stone Coffin, and they returned to Saint Byron's Academy. Blaine and Shade shared a brief private reunion before Fiona led them to meet Miss Feliana.

• Blaine, Miss Feliana, and the Witches found Shade, Gina, and the others beside a river in a golden forest, where Shade changed back into human form and reunited with Blaine.
• Fiona and Miss Wilde welcomed Shade, while Gina helped Miss Bladewei out of the Stone Coffin and the Old Witch departed for The Church.
• Miss Feliana opened a Teleportation Gate, and Shade, Blaine, the Witches, the dragon girls, and a Luku Bird returned to Saint Byron's Academy.
• Miss Feliana sent Shade and Blaine to Blaine's room, where they shared an intimate reunion until Fiona announced that Miss Feliana wanted them within five minutes.
• Fiona opened another Teleportation Gate for Shade and Blaine, and a tail brushed against Shade as he was about to follow them.

Shade reunited with Elphina and met Miss Mana Falianna in her office, where she gave him a puppet carrying fragments of her thoughts, memories, and strength to take back to his spacetime. Before he left, Shade and Miss Mana Falianna confessed their feelings through a kiss.

• Shade greeted Elphina and learned she wanted him to use her name rather than call her Will.
• Miss Mana Falianna told Shade she would keep the damaged Life Furnace at the Academy for further study.
• Miss Mana Falianna gave Shade a puppet containing fragments of her thoughts, memories, and power, and the puppet agreed to accompany him.
• Shade and Miss Mana Falianna recalled her earlier farewell letter and discussed their feelings and his relationships with Blaney and Fiona.
• Shade kissed Miss Mana Falianna, and they remained together in the kiss for a long while.