Chapter Summaries

Shade, Luvia, and Iluna planned how their allies would reach Another Island and stop Laplace Klein Howard’s ritual to separate Green Lake Central Island from the Material World. Shade then returned to the banquet hall, where he invited Miss Aurora to dance and she accepted.

• Shade proposed entering Life and Death Limbo to open an exit to Another Island, but Luvia and Iluna rejected the risky plan and chose to protect their allies at Green Lake Inn first.
• Shade outlined a landing plan in which he and Luvia, the Doctor, and the Priest would reach the island by boat, while Iluna and other allies joined a second group.
• Shade said he would try to stop the Edwards Apotheosis Art, speak with Laplace Klein Howard, recover the First Fire with Sister Devlin, and seal Green Lake Central Island.
• Luvia explained that Laplace Klein Howard hoped to flee the coming apocalypse by separating Green Lake Central Island from the Material World and taking willing people with him.
• Shade returned to the banquet hall and found Megan speaking with Miss Aurora and Hailey Aurora.
• Shade invited Miss Aurora to dance, and she accepted.

At the banquet, Shade reunited with the Great Witches and helped Miss Galina navigate conversations with visiting nobles. The chapter ended with Galina and Shade sharing a hopeful moment as they watched the crowd.

• Grandma Cassandra raised a glass with the six Great Witches and reminisced about their last gathering more than thirty years earlier.
• Megan brought Shade to meet Miss Galina, the Duchess of Simier, and Angelina, while Megan discussed business with the Duchess.
• Miss Galina spoke privately with Shade and arranged for him to distract Prince Samuel Anjou in exchange for a dance with Tifa.
• Shade used Puppet Manipulation when he shook hands with Prince Samuel, causing the prince to spill his champagne and leave.
• Miss Galina wished that life could remain as peaceful as the banquet, and Shade assured her that such a day would come.

Shade learned that the organization expected him to secretly guard the Duchess and Margaret during the staged assassination at City Hall the next morning, when real attackers might exploit the chaos. He enjoyed the banquet’s dances and ended the night amid teasing conversations, while the coming confrontation remained ahead.

• Miss Galina told Shade she had delayed passing on Director Anlos’s request because she knew it would draw him into trouble, then accepted that he would take risks despite her concerns.
• Director Anlos explained that the next day’s staged shooting would end the Green Lake Negotiations and asked Shade to watch for real assassins identified by silver fountain pens.
• Shade agreed to guard the event and later attended the banquet, dancing with Megan, Aurora, Audrey, Miss Benanis, Miss Sylvia, and Siris.
• Miss Galina teased Audrey about Shade staying the night, and Audrey pointed out that she had known him for only two months.
• Miss Aurora joined Miss Galina and Audrey, who gave the excuse that they had been discussing postpartum care for Luku Birds.

Shade monitored a procession carrying Miss Galina and Princess Margaret to city hall to sign the 1854 Peace Agreement, while he tracked an assassin controlled by a Relic. He suspected The Tyranny Club planned to exploit the attack to inflame tensions, and decided to intervene.

• At the banquet, Miss Galina told Audrey and Miss Aurora that she had abandoned her earlier ambitions and now expected to gain far more.
• Shade danced through the banquet, and Luvia reminded him that Iluna's birthday was the following Thursday.
• On Sunday, Miss Galina and Princess Margaret departed Rose Manor for the public signing of the 1854 Peace Agreement.
• Shade joined the crowd in disguise and spotted the haggard man with a silver fountain pen whom Director Anlos had identified as an assassin.
• After touching the man, Shade sensed that a Relic controlled him and learned that his Puppet Manipulation could override its influence.
• Shade suspected The Tyranny Club intended to use the assassination to spread rumors against Unity, so he decided to intervene.

Shade helped stage an assassination attempt on Galina and Margaret to prevent the Green Lake negotiations from ending in direct war, then recovered after taking a bullet. As news of the Green Lake Incident spread and border fighting erupted, Shade learned that the Dragon Devouring Order wanted to meet the God Summoner.

• Shade used Puppet Manipulation and a Steam Bomb to redirect the assassination attempt, but Margaret shot him in the chest while he posed as the attacker.
• Captain Rades led his patrol across the Green Lake border, where a firefight between Delarion and Kasonlik forces escalated into a battle as he returned to Little Flynn Village.
• News that Galina and Margaret had been assassinated spread across Green Lake Region, and the city imposed martial law amid rumors of border clashes.
• At Green Lake Inn, Megan removed the bullet from Shade's heart, while Dorothy and Megan criticized him for taking the risk himself.
• Megan received a dry letter revealing that the Dragon Devouring Order wanted to contact the God Summoner through the Orthodox Church for a private meeting.

Shade agreed to meet the Dragon Devouring Order after its letter reached the Witch Council, while a spatial anomaly projected Mikella Blast Furnace City into Green Lake City. As rain and martial law deepened the political crisis, the Church and other factions moved against the Tyranny Club and competed for advantage in the battle of the Space Chosen One.

• Shade agreed to meet the Dragon Devouring Order, and Megan left to contact the Church and arrange the meeting.
• Shade and Dorothy saw the Glass Blast Furnace of Mikella Blast Furnace City projected into Green Lake City by a spatial anomaly.
• Shade learned that Duke Galina and Princess Margaret had survived an assassination attempt, while Angelina helped manage its aftermath.
• A border clash between Kasonlik and Delarion escalated tensions as both nations blamed the other.
• The Peace Church located the Tyranny Club's base and clashed with its cultists, while other factions continued moving through the rain.

Shade learned that the Dragon Devouring Order had arranged a meeting with him that night, where he hoped Nadia Furen would help him reach the island. Luvia gave him the Relic The Rift to pass to Dorothy for the coming dangers.

• Iluna told Shade that Nadia Furen had arranged a meeting for that night and that the Dragon Devouring Order likely wanted an understanding with the Orthodox Church.
• Shade explained that he planned to use the Philosopher’s Stone to strengthen a spell, possibly to seal the island with Mystic Lock, Tree’s Kiss.
• Luvia gave Shade the Poet Level Relic The Rift, whose lens revealed tiny cracks but could cause eyes to grow on its user.
• Luvia explained that The Rift had once belonged to a statue of the Ancient God of Space, the Primal Rift, and Shade agreed to give it to Dorothy with the Angel Feather.
• Shade told Iluna that his weekly gift was a bouquet of white flowers, and the three shared breakfast before preparing for the challenges ahead.

Shade and the Witches prepared for the coming Battle of Green Lake while the city remained under heavy rain and rising political tension. Audrey tested the Council’s Hide and Seek Wardrobe on Shade, revealing a relic that could conceal someone inside it but carried a dangerous urge to hide.

• Luvia divined that the rain would continue through the weekend, so Shade decided to meet the Dragon Devouring Order alone that night.
• Miss Galina told Shade that the negotiating delegations would leave Green Lake City the next morning, while she and the others would secretly stay for the Battle of Green Lake.
• The Council opened its collection to the Witches and sent useful relics to the Green Lake Inn.
• Audrey brought Shade to the basement and tested whether he could detect Miss Galina hiding inside a wardrobe.
• Audrey explained that the Hide and Seek Wardrobe concealed its occupant but prevented them from acting outside and tempted them to remain hidden.

As Shade and the Witches prepared for Wednesday’s operation, they learned that the Truth Society had rescued Jarvis Edwardz and that strange spatial disturbances were affecting Green Lake. Shade, Luvia, and the Witches reached Megan’s cruise ship to test whether his Small Wooden Boat could cross spatial barriers, but the test was only beginning.

• The Five Gods Church destroyed The Tyranny Club’s last local stronghold, while Jarvis Edwardz escaped with help from the Truth Society.
• Siris explained that rumors of treasure in the Duin River had drawn crowds, and Shade learned that John had gone out again to search through trash.
• Shade, Miss Sylvia, and Luvia were diverted when a Space Connection transported their carriage into Mikella Blast Furnace City, so they turned back toward Green Lake.
• Shade summoned the Small Wooden Boat beside Megan’s cruise ship, and the group began testing whether it could exist and move without him aboard.

Shade confirmed that his summoned boat resisted spatial restrictions, then met Nadia Furen in a slum tavern to discuss the Edwards family’s plans. Nadia warned that the Ancestor’s Alchemy Card deck could resurrect him and had to be destroyed if Shade tried to kill him.

• Shade tested the boat’s resistance to spatial lockdowns, then left it with the Witches and Luvia for further testing.
• Shade killed two men who tried to rob him in an alley and learned through one attacker’s soul that they were unemployed dock laborers.
• Shade arrived at the Dog Bark Tavern and met Nadia Furen, proving his identity by showing her five keys belonging to the Edwards Descendants.
• Nadia told Shade that her Ancestor’s Alchemy Card deck could let him rise from the dead once and warned Shade to destroy it if he had a chance to kill him.
• Nadia said she would prepare to resist the Ancestor’s plans and would not submit to the family’s Destiny.

Shade learned that defeating Nadia Furen’s Ancestor would require a powerful Relic that interfered with Destiny, and that the Truth Society sought the Ancestor’s research into souls. While waiting for his boat in the rain, Shade unexpectedly reunited with Demon Scholar Xiao En Asmon.

• Nadia Furen warned Shade that her Ancestor could foresee attacks and that their chance of defeating him was at most twenty percent without a suitable Fate Relic.
• Nadia Furen revealed that the Truth Society wanted the Ancestor’s research on souls, spirituality, and the birth of Wisdom, and Shade admitted he was lovers with one of the Edwards family’s young ladies.
• Shade considered finding another Relic to disrupt divination and containing or destroying the cards that served as Laplace Klein Howard’s means of resurrection.
• Shade waited for his boat near the Duin River, took shelter beneath the terrace of Jenny Flower Shop, and planned for Wednesday’s Night Banquet.
• Demon Scholar Xiao En Asmon arrived at the flower shop, recognized Shade, and greeted him; Shade checked for traces of elements before relaxing.

Shade met Xiao En Asmon in the rain, traded Rhodes Cards, and continued telling him the story of a youth who had vowed to seal a demon. As the youth grew into a powerful man and rescued a noblewoman, Shade foresaw another tragic attachment while the card game continued.

• Shade met Xiao En Asmon outside a flower shop, where Asmon investigated demon legends surrounding Devil's Island and the fallen Edwards Family.
• Asmon offered the Sad Opera Lehman Manor's Wedding card as the stake in a Rhodes Cards game, and Shade agreed to buy it for a price depending on who won.
• Shade recounted how a boy vowed to seal a demon, then killed the girl he loved to keep the demon from claiming her soul after his death.
• Shade won the first round after standing at nineteen points while Asmon busted.
• Asmon continued the story: the grown youth rescued a noblewoman from bandits in a burning village, and Shade predicted that forming a bond with her would lead to tragedy.

Shade and Mr. Xiao En Asmon finished a Demon story about a traveler who avenged a noblewoman and continued his journey with her cat and dog. After their card game, Asmon warned Shade that rumors of river treasure were drawing people into chaos before departing into the rain.

• Mr. Xiao En Asmon revealed that the noblewoman had been burned as an offering, and the traveler used the cat and dog's help to kill the lord's family and reclaim her soul.
• Shade lost the card game and paid Asmon forty pounds for the Tragedy Opera Manor's Wedding card.
• Shade told Asmon that political tensions made travel to Devil's Island unlikely, and Asmon said he preferred to avoid direct involvement with ancient evil gods.
• Asmon warned Shade that river treasure rumors were luring rival groups into conflict and that Demons were using the treasure to provoke chaos.
• Asmon said he had sold a jeweled mirror to fund his next journey, then left the flower shop beneath his umbrella, whistling an eerie tune.

Shade woke to Iluna's news that spatial anomalies were spreading across the Old Continent and that a street in Green Lake City had overlapped with Mikella Blast Furnace City. He gave Iluna his damaged Angel Halo, then strengthened it in the Heart of the Earth Furnace so she could use it to help stabilize the crisis.

• Shade heard Fiona calling his name in a dream before Iluna woke him at home and explained that a street in Green Lake City had overlapped with Mikella Blast Furnace City.
• Iluna told Shade that spatial anomalies were spreading worldwide and that the Church needed help preventing the overlap from triggering a wider spatial collapse.
• Shade said his Space Stabilization Aura might not solve a completed fusion, but he knew another way to help and invited Iluna to come with him.
• Shade took Iluna to the basement and gave her the damaged Angel Halo, explaining that it could temporarily grant its wearer an angel's false status and nearly limitless spirit.
• Shade and Iluna used the Heart of the Earth Furnace and Orichalcum to strengthen the Angel Halo, making it more complete.

Shade gave Iluna the Night Watchman to help her resolve the spatial fusion, then spent a rainy morning preparing for the dangers ahead. After learning that the city’s crisis had been addressed, he discussed Wednesday’s island plan and set out to visit Miss Danist before the Edwardz Night Banquet.

• Shade lent Iluna the Night Watchman and told her to claim the Witch Council had borrowed it from the God Summoner, then kissed her forehead as she left to handle the crisis.
• Shade organized his relics, collected the goat milk and newspaper, and reflected on his home, the rainy spring morning, and the dangers Mister Euclid had noticed.
• Shade spoke with Smith Old Gentleman, who said Miss Galina had sent word that she was safe and would return soon.
• At the Green Lake Inn, Shade learned from Doctor Schneider that multicolored dawn light had appeared over the northwest during the night, and he discussed Wednesday’s island plan with Priest Augustus and Doctor Schneider.
• After greeting the Witches at the inn, Shade told Miss Galina he was going to see Miss Danist.

Shade visited Miss Danist to ask her to protect Megan and Audrey during the coming Battle of Green Lake. She agreed to help if they carried his ruby ring, and Shade left to prepare for Wednesday night.

• Grandma Cassandra sent Shade to visit Miss Danist, accompanied by the Red Butterfly Sisters in butterfly form.
• Shade told Miss Danist that he loved two young ladies from the Edwardz Family and asked her to help them escape if the battle became dangerous.
• Miss Danist asked who held the qualification of the Chosen One of Knowledge and Wisdom, and Shade said that no such Chosen One existed at present.
• Miss Danist promised to help Megan and Audrey if Shade gave one of them her ruby ring and they acted together on Wednesday night.
• Miss Danist reminded Shade to investigate the Sun, Moon, and Stars symbol at Green Lake and to seek her help if he was in danger.
• Shade left to retrieve the ring, while Miss Danist watched him depart and reflected that he had not called her Teacher.

Shade and the Witches finalized their preparations for Wednesday’s Battle of Green Lake, arranging defenses and possible routes to the island while deciding who would stay at the inn and who would join the cruise ship. The Red Butterfly Twins secretly summoned Miss Danist, and the chapter ended with Angelina assigned to remain at the inn with Leisha and Dorothy.

• The Red Butterfly Twins appeared before Miss Danist, left her a note telling her to follow the red butterflies on Wednesday night, and vanished before explaining their purpose.
• Shade gave Miss Danist’s ring to Megan and Audrey, then traveled to Randall River Valley and secured the Guardians’ help for the battle.
• Iluna told the group that she had separated the fused space but could not restore the people and objects lost in the disaster.
• Shade, the Witches, and their allies finalized who would remain at the inn and who would go to the cruise ship, while preparing boats and backup plans to reach the island.
• Shade questioned whether Angelina should stay near the battlefield, but agreed that she could remain on the inn’s third floor with Leisha and Dorothy.

As the group prepared for the battle over the island, Shade learned how the stolen Poems Card could summon an ancient hero and received a Return Charm from Miss Sylvia. Miss Aurora then brought him two relics for the journey to the island with Megan, including a cloak that could evade death and a sword that joined two pierced objects into one.

• Sister Devlin said she would leave the church and head for the cruise ship, while the others discussed their preparations for the island battle.
• Shade asked Luvia how the Poems Card worked, and she explained that it required knowledge of the hero, a related object, and an incantation.
• Miss Sylvia gave Shade and Luvia Return Charms that could send women back to the hotel's first floor over a short distance.
• Miss Aurora brought Shade the Invisibility Cloak of Escaping Death and the Concentric Sword for the journey to the island with Megan.
• Luvia explained that the Concentric Sword was a ritual relic that treated two objects pierced by it as one whole.

Shade and the Witches prepared to follow Megan and Audrey despite the danger posed by a diviner beyond the Thirteenth Ring, while the Green Lake Region braced for the coming battle. The chapter ended with Grandma Cassandra raising a toast to the Council's future and declaring that they would win the Battle of Green Lake.

• Miss Aurora and Luvia explained the risks and uses of three relics that Shade could use to follow Megan and Audrey.
• Sister Devlin and the Blind Sisters checked into the inn, and the little girl's soul described Sister Devlin as warmly reassuring.
• Green Lake City and Mikella Blast Furnace City banned navigation and announced a regional lockdown ahead of the expected battle.
• Shade reviewed plans with the Witches, Luvia, and his other allies while considering how to prevent the Edwards Family from becoming United as One.
• Grandma Cassandra led a dinner toast, and the six Great Witches pledged themselves to victory in the Battle of Green Lake.

Before the Battle of Green Lake, Shade prepared his supplies and promised Audrey he would accompany her to meet her Ancestor. Sister Devlin then took him to a quiet apartment for a task from the Witches' Task List, where she kindled a small fire in the foyer.

• At dinner, Shade promised to bring Megan and Audrey back safely, and Aurora asked him to resume dating the young ladies after the battle.
• Audrey privately arranged to visit Shade after ten that night and reminded him that he had promised to accompany her to the island.
• Shade spoke with Priest Augustus and Doctor Schneider, then gathered weapons, relics, rings, and Calamity Cards for the battle.
• Back at Green Lake Inn, Shade learned that Sister Devlin wanted to see him and took the old lantern from Sin Mansion before leaving with her.
• Sister Devlin led Shade to an unlit apartment building, where he found no heartbeats and entered the dark foyer.
• Sister Devlin knelt and touched a small flame to the floorboards, creating a reassuring campfire in the foyer.