Chapter Summaries

Shade brought Leonard Albert’s memory before the benevolent god, where Albert learned that his daughter had already been healed and that he had been deceived into testing the god for another mortal. After Albert confessed and vanished, Shade learned the god had granted him a chance to continue onward, then destroyed his defiled skeleton.

• Shade led Mr. Albert and Lady Thorn into the god’s presence, and Mr. Albert pleaded for his newborn daughter’s healing.
• The god refused, revealing that Mr. Albert’s daughter had recovered before he set out and that her illness had been an illusion caused by poison.
• The god explained that an unnamed mortal had deceived Mr. Albert into exploring the place to test whether the god would appear.
• Mr. Albert remembered his bargain, apologized to the god, Lady Thorn, and Hamilton, then vanished and left behind his skeleton.
• The god told Shade that the deceiver had died and that Mr. Albert had earned a difficult chance to continue onward through his confession.
• Shade and Lady Thorn left the god’s dwelling, and Shade threw the blackened skeleton into a distant corner and destroyed it with a fireball.

Shade and Lady Thorn investigated the Temple, where Shade discovered that her Magic Eyes reflected a Red Ocean and might be connected to the Sea of Origin. As the mission neared its end, the God of Benevolence summoned Shade for one last meeting before he left.

• Shade confirmed that the two Old Witches were living people and studied the Temple’s religious texts and records.
• Shade reassured Lady Thorn that the Swamp was not a prison for blasphemers, then examined her Magic Eyes as she opened them for three seconds.
• Shade saw a Red Ocean reflected in Lady Thorn’s eyes and inferred that her forgotten injury happened near the coast, where people had disappeared.
• Lady Thorn agreed to share memories of her lost adventure, and Shade promised to bring her spiritual-stabilizing potions and memory secrets.
• Shade explored the Temple with Lady Thorn and recorded its books, but they found no further clues.
• With five minutes remaining, Shade heard the God of Benevolence summon him to meet alone and told Lady Thorn he would bring her requested supplies next time.

After returning from the key mission, Shade received Moon Aura from the God of Benevolence and told his companions about the sunlight he had gained. He visited Iluna and Luvia, where Iluna recognized the ancient power and Shade prepared to take it to Wei Ge.

• The God of Benevolence gave Shade Moon Aura, further sublimating his Moon Fire thaumaturgy, and promised to explain how to create the Seed of Life after the mission ended.
• Shade returned to Winnie, Dorothy, Leisha, and Little Mia, then described the mission and the sunlight he had received.
• Shade went to Iluna’s apartment and accompanied her to Luvia’s, where Iluna identified his sunlight as a power from the age of the Ancient Gods and demonstrated a similar ability.
• Shade, Iluna, and Luvia discussed Lady Thorn’s Magic Eyes, the Firstborn Son, the Burgundy Family, and Shade’s need to find Siris.
• Luvia urged Shade to take the sunlight to Wei Ge before its unusual presence attracted more strange beings.

Shade gave Wei Ge the sunlight in his blood, nourishing her damaged soul and greatly improving her health. After sleeping through the afternoon, she woke to find Shade still with her and learned she would need his blood far less often.

• Shade met Wei Ge and told her about his recent time adventure before letting her absorb the sunlight in his blood.
• Wei Ge absorbed the sunlight and moonlight fragments, then fell asleep and dreamed of a happy childhood and marrying Shade before Galina interrupted the dream.
• Galina's voice woke Wei Ge, who learned Shade had carried her to bed and waited for her to wake.
• Wei Ge found Shade, Eve, and Angelina in her study and said she felt extremely well.
• Shade explained that sunlight was nourishing Wei Ge's soul and life force, allowing her to reduce her Blood Brew and blood-drinking needs.

Shade and Wei Ge discussed the genuine Derainore Crown and Scepter, the Restorationists, and clues to Wei Ge’s family history before Shade returned home to help Iluna develop her golden eye’s power. The chapter left the treasures with Shade for now and Iluna set to study ways to use the Life Force stored in her eye.

• Professor Manning confirmed that Wei Ge’s Crown and Scepter were genuine, and Shade agreed to keep them until the danger had passed.
• Angelina suggested bringing the Delin Orr Restorationists under Wei Ge’s control, but Wei Ge refused to involve her family with them.
• Wei Ge and Angelina explained that the Restorationists had received support from old nobles, Military Intelligence Section Six, the Archipelago Kingdom, and New Continent interests.
• Shade told Wei Ge about Luvia’s plans to seek access to the Astrology Tower and investigate the Truth Society and the rumored Burgundy Royal Treasure.
• Shade asked Wei Ge to contact the Witch Council and arrange a future visit to Siris in Moon Bay City.
• Luvia and Iluna discussed Iluna’s golden eye, and Shade advised her to study Miss Feliana’s Fire Seed Source technique while he sought help from the Demon Eye Club.

Iluna planned to study life-restoring Sun and Ice powers, while Shade helped Daniste deal with the moon-reactive Egg and agreed to care for it at night. In Arcadia, Shade received his Gray Gloves assignment, which now included investigating the Royal Mint theft and the stolen item believed to be in the region.

• Iluna agreed to seek Claire's guidance and explore how to fuse the powers of the Sun and life before her Church sent her to Arcadia.
• Galina praised Wei Ge's good qualities, and Tifa pulled Shade onto the sofa and kissed him while Galina slept.
• Shade received an ordinary umbrella as God's Gift Box task, then learned from Ellie that Daniste wanted him at the Academy because her Egg shook under moonlight each night.
• Daniste asked Shade to calm the Egg and agreed to spend the next few nights at his home while he watched it with her.
• Angelina gave Shade an encrypted letter from the Gray Gloves, which ordered him to contact local agents and investigate the Royal Mint theft after the organization placed the stolen item in Arcadia.

Shade found the Gray Gloves rendezvous point ransacked and followed a wounded agent’s blood trail to a hiding place in the Outer City District. After saving the agent long enough to question him, Shade identified himself as Gray-headed Eagle and asked who had attacked them.

• Shade found the rendezvous apartment ransacked and used Echoes of the Past to learn that Gray Gloves agents had suffered heavy losses in a firefight.
• Shade followed the blood trail to a wounded Gray Gloves agent hiding in the Outer City District.
• Shade used Sunlight Healing to restore the unconscious agent’s ability to communicate, then gave him the rendezvous code.
• The agent questioned how Shade had found him and refused to reveal what had happened.
• Shade showed the agent Margaret’s royal ring, explained that he was in Arcadia City on a secret assignment, and identified himself as Gray-headed Eagle.

Shade learned that a Gray Gloves intelligence line had been destroyed after uncovering a connection between the Delin Orr Restorationists and the stolen Printing Plate Masters, and its dying leader warned him about compromised local agents and the Astley Family. After reporting the death and sharing the intelligence with Wei Ge and Angelina, Shade asked the Astley Family to investigate the stolen masters and find Big Mouth Sparrow.

• Night Owl told Shade that Delin Orr Restorationists were negotiating to buy the stolen Printing Plate Masters, warned him that local Gray Gloves agents might be compromised, and identified the Astley Family as a possible source of corruption.
• Night Owl refused Shade's offer to save him, revealed his codename, gave Shade a booklet listing three other intelligence lines, and died after asking whether the Old Continent would be unified.
• Shade left Night Owl's corpse for the police to find, then returned to Fragrant Residence and told Wei Ge, Angelina, and Eve what had happened.
• Angelina and Wei Ge discussed the damaged Gray Gloves network and suspected that the stolen masters had been brought to Arcadia City because of the Industrial Expo.
• Shade asked Wei Ge to inform Sylvia and Margaret, then tasked the Astley Family with contacting the three intelligence lines and locating the Printing Plate Masters and Big Mouth Sparrow.

Shade delegated an investigation into the stolen Printing Plate Masters to Angelina and the Astley Family while gathering intelligence from Mr. Finch and Mr. Bernhardt. He learned that the Sea of Origin was expected to appear in Arcadia City and that the Saint Alliance had become active again, then returned to find Angelina’s contact plan nearly complete.

• Wei Ge assigned Angelina to arrange for Astley Family members to pose as Gray Gloves agents and contact spies linked to the Northern Kingdom Princess.
• Shade asked Mr. Finch to arrange contact with the Demon Eye Club, and Finch agreed to seek a peaceful introduction rather than risk provoking the club’s Magic Eyes.
• Mr. Finch told Shade that an elderly woman in Arcadia City had dreamed of the Sea of Origin, confirming it would appear there.
• Shade and Finch discussed the stolen Printing Plate Masters as potential ritual materials, while Finch warned that the Saint Alliance had resumed operating locally.
• Mr. Bernhardt told Shade that Apna Library had allied with the Bloodkin and was searching for an ancient tomb beneath the Outer City District.
• Shade returned to Fragrant Residence as Wei Ge and Angelina finished planning their contact with the Gray Gloves, and Wei Ge considered asking Speaker to deal with the Saint Alliance.

Shade and Daniste discovered that the Night-Colored Dragon Egg containing Helena Carter became restless at night but calmed when Shade or Little Mia was near. They decided to keep it at 6 Saint Derain Square with Little Mia and Winnie until it hatched, and Shade dreamed of a cat-eared being emerging from an egg patterned like Little Mia.

• Shade confirmed that Helena Carter still remembered her name when the Night-Colored Dragon Egg rocked in response.
• The egg grew restless after nightfall, but Shade calmed it by stroking it and later Little Mia kept it quiet by lying on top of it.
• Daniste agreed to leave the egg at 6 Saint Derain Square during the day, with Winnie and Little Mia caring for it and Daniste visiting often.
• Winnie agreed to stay with the egg and Little Mia in the side bedroom, while Shade went to bed with Vanessa and Daniste.
• Shade dreamed of a dragon-winged, dragon-tailed Mrs. Carter beside an egg patterned like Little Mia, from which a cat-eared, tailed person emerged.

Angelina left with a mysterious woman she believed was her mother and was taken to an abandoned orphanage. There, she found herself among a group of children and accepted them as her younger siblings, though she sensed something was wrong.

• Shade woke from a nightmare, then left home to study and later hurried to Greyrock Pass Fortress after receiving Mr. Bernhardt's letter.
• Angelina waited for her mother to collect her, and a silent, hooded woman arrived in a black carriage and took her away.
• The woman led Angelina to an abandoned orphanage, where Angelina became dizzy and lost track of what happened.
• Angelina came to in a dark room with more than a dozen children and believed they were waiting for their mother to call them.
• Angelina noticed the children's different clothes and ages, then began asking about their circumstances.

Angelina realized that the children were trapped by a relic that made them believe a dangerous being called Mother would protect them. After saving Little Marika from being dragged into the darkness, Angelina led the children away, claiming she had come under Mother's orders.

• Angelina questioned Little Marika about the children who had disappeared and used a mental self-examination to recognize that Mother might be dangerous.
• When a shriveled hand reached out of the darkness to take Little Marika, Angelina stopped her and destroyed the arm with Turbulent Magic Gravel.
• Angelina resisted the relic's influence by focusing on Shade and Little Mia as her mental anchors.
• Angelina pulled Little Marika away from the doorway, quieted the frightened children, and persuaded most of them to follow her home.

Angelina led the children out of the Orphanage, but a powerful manifestation of “Mother” stopped them in the rainy courtyard. Facing it alone, she inscribed the Spirit Rune Protection and defeated the threat before collapsing into Dorothy’s arms, where she recognized her elder sister.

• Angelina used Eye of Truth to assess the darkness, then led thirteen children out of the Orphanage and into the Desolation yard.
• As the children crossed the courtyard, a towering woman in a black robe blocked their escape.
• Angelina’s Chaos Echo attack vanished, and “Mother” paralyzed her and the children.
• With the figure closing in, Angelina inscribed the Black Iron Whisper Spirit Rune Protection and gained the Thaumaturgy Rebellious Protection.
• Angelina’s new power turned “Mother’s” malice into a protective force that scattered the black-robed figure.
• Exhausted, Angelina fell into Dorothy’s embrace and recognized her elder sister within Miss Writer’s shell.

Angelina reunited with Leisha after defeating a shadow of the Keeper of Secrets relic 'Mother,' but the Infant-Holding Holy Mother appeared and attacked with a terrifying unborn entity. As Leisha and Dorothy fought her, Angelina glimpsed the entity’s true nature and became its target.

• Dorothy comforted Angelina at the abandoned Orphanage while Leisha explained that Angelina had defeated a shadow of the Keeper of Secrets relic 'Mother.'
• Leisha planned to take Angelina back to Fragrant Residence while Shade and the others confronted the relic’s main body.
• The Infant-Holding Holy Mother appeared with a swaddled infant, and Leisha recognized her as a member of the [Saint Alliance].
• Leisha and Dorothy joined forces to contain the Holy Mother’s spreading darkness as [Saint Alliance] Ring Arcanists fought the maids.
• Angelina sensed that the infant was only a puppet and glimpsed an unborn entity that was the inverse of divinity; it noticed her and began gnawing at her soul.

Angelina, Shade, and their allies fought the Infant-Holding Holy Mother and the relic called Mother, which had fused with the Fire Seed Source and an unborn being. Mother tried to draw Shade into its embrace, but an inexplicable power erased it and left its unabsorbed life force and the children’s souls behind.

• Angelina’s Dragon Scale Amulet and the Soul Gem protected her from Abomination long enough for Leisha and Dorothy’s fusion and Ellie to destroy the Infant-Holding Holy Mother’s manifestation.
• The Fire Seed Source escaped into the Orphanage, and Ellie pursued it while Angelina and the fused young ladies helped the wounded and the Witches' Followers.
• Shade and his companions battled Mother, whose transformations into Peggy Le May and the twins’ mother unsettled Wei Ge, Grace, and Helen.
• Ellie brought the Infant-Holding Holy Mother and the Fire Seed Source into the room, where they fused with Mother to form a stronger evil entity.
• Mother addressed Shade as its child and tried to embrace him, but an inexplicable power erased Mother, the Infant-Holding Holy Mother, and Abomination, leaving unabsorbed life force and weak souls behind.

Shade and his companions uncovered [Saint Alliance]'s failed ritual at the Orphanage, where the relic 'Mother' had been erased and many children had died. Back at Fragrant Residence, Grace and Helen warned that Leisha and Dorothy's Fusions were accelerating and could eventually leave them as two souls sharing one body.

• Shade opened a Gate of Death to guide the victims' souls onward, absorbed the remaining tainted Life Force, and reassured Ellie, Grace, Helen, and Wei Ge.
• Shade learned that the Infant-Holding Holy Mother and the Abomination had suffered severe damage, while [Saint Alliance]'s forces outside the Orphanage had vanished in golden light.
• Wei Ge arranged for the surviving trafficked children to be cared for, and Shade and Ellie discovered a destroyed ritual site beneath the Orphanage's sealed basement.
• Shade brought Ellie home, then returned to Fragrant Residence, where Leisha and Dorothy had separated after their latest Fusion.
• Grace and Helen warned Shade that Leisha and Dorothy should avoid merging and limit contact because the story of The Tenth Chosen One had restarted their Fusion trend.

Shade planned to investigate and strike the Saint Alliance while its leaders were weakened, as he and his allies discussed Angelina’s recovery and the damaged Soul Gem. The chapter ended with Dorothy and Leisha agreeing that only one of them would join the coming operation while they sought a way to stop their bodies from fusing.

• Grace and Helen told Shade that Dorothy and Leisha’s fusion could be suppressed by studying their bodies, though a risky method would have them devour each other’s flesh; Shade rejected that method and told them to avoid touching.
• Grace and Helen said Grandma Cassandra and Rita would soon visit Arcadia City for auctions during the Old Continent Industrial Expo.
• Angelina worried that she had caused trouble, and Shade promised to ask Ms. Handel to examine the cracked Soul Gem after Angelina said the soul inside had saved her.
• Shade proposed investigating the Saint Alliance and exploiting the injuries to the Infant-Holding Holy Mother and 'Abomination'; he planned to seek advice from the gods or Destiny about restraining 'Abomination.'
• Shade outlined an operation in Arcadia City involving Iluna, Ellie, Sister Devlin, and Emilia, with other allies in support, while warning them to avoid direct contact with the Holy Mother and 'Abomination.'
• Dorothy and Leisha agreed that only one of them would take part in the operation and that they would avoid close contact until Shade found a way to stop their fusion.

Shade encouraged Angelina to take on responsibilities while he and Wei Ge prepared for the Saint Alliance and other urgent matters. Ms. Handel and Joey Barton repaired Angelina’s Soul Gem with humanity and explained its nature and dangers, leaving Shade able to seek humanity from them later.

• Shade urged Angelina to keep investigating Big Mouth Sparrow and the stolen Printing Plate Masters, and Wei Ge and Leisha assigned her additional responsibilities.
• Leisha and Dorothy left after saying farewell to Shade and reminding him to speak privately with Angelina that evening.
• Shade sent a letter to Ms. Handel, who arrived at Fragrant Residence with Joey Barton to examine Angelina’s damaged Soul Gem.
• Ms. Handel used humanity to repair the Soul Gem, while she and Joey explained that humanity could heal certain deep injuries and that they could provide Shade with some on Sunday.
• The Soul Gem revealed the tragic story of two sisters, and Joey warned Angelina that emotional resonance with it could strengthen her but draw her toward despair.

Shade learned that the Sea of Origin was drawing closer to Arcadia, while Ms. Handel warned that linking it to the black sea could blur life and death again. Angelina recovered from the day's events, visited the rescued children, and organized paid intelligence work for them before they returned home.

• Joey Barton told Shade that a space filled with Life Energy was approaching Arcadia, and Ms. Handel warned him against connecting the Sea of Origin to the black sea.
• Angelina hugged and kissed Shade, then promised to study diligently under Wei Ge and asked for a reward if she reached the middle ring before summer ended.
• Wei Ge's Followers treated the rescued children and altered their memories so they would believe the Astley Family had rescued them, while Angelina remained in their memories as a distant relative.
• Angelina visited the children, learned about their difficult lives, and hired them to record observations around the city in exchange for payment.
• Angelina explained to Shade and Eve that the children would earn income through their work and might notice useful information adults overlooked.

After Angelina's rescue, Shade and his companions planned an attack on the Saint Alliance, whose unnatural power could threaten the world. Luvia's divination suggested that the Dragon Egg might hatch within half a month, but she warned that this depended on Shade finding suitable soil for its seed.

• Shade returned home after telling Wei Ge to strengthen Fragrant Residence's defenses, and Luvia divined that Angelina had most likely been caught up in the incident rather than deliberately targeted.
• Luvia agreed to investigate the Saint Alliance and join the coming operation, while Daniste explained that the group's golden power was neither a Miracle nor Blasphemy and might be especially vulnerable to the Sun's power.
• Shade planned to act against the Saint Alliance within the week, with Luvia and Bella conducting the initial investigation and Iluna, Claire, and other allies potentially joining the attack.
• Daniste was relieved that Little Mia's company had kept the Dragon Egg calm, and Luvia's divination suggested Daniste's teacher might hatch within half a month.
• Luvia cautioned that the egg's hatching was only one possible future and asked whether Shade could find suitable soil for planting its seed in Arcadia City within two weeks.