Chapter Summaries

Shade learned that the Demon Hunter who once visited Gregory Village had left him a new power and a clue linking the local demon to Opter Herbal Company. Sister Devlin taught Shade the Spell Chaos Remnants, then revealed her own power as she watched him and Flora depart; Flora began to confess her feelings to Shade.

• Flora warned Shade against becoming a Demon Hunter, and Shade reflected on the hunter's legacy and the clue connecting the demon to the local herb trade.
• Flora explained that Opter Herbal Company controlled the herb business and suggested its employees might have visited the Desolate Village ruins, prompting Shade and Flora to investigate its warehouse.
• Sister Devlin asked Shade about the nun from the past and the Inner Fire technique, then shared her First Fire power with him.
• Shade learned the destructive Spell Chaos Remnants and promised to notify Sister Devlin when he faced the demon's splinter in Gregory Village.
• After Shade and Flora left, Sister Devlin drew a black scythe from the water and combined its chill with the First Fire.
• Flora speculated about Sister Devlin's feelings for Shade, then blushed as Shade asked about her own feelings.

Shade and Flora investigated the antiques linked to the Demon, then returned to the Academy Library with Miss Danist to meet Emilia and her elder, Grandma Qishala. The old elf recognized something extraordinary in Shade, leaving the reason for her recognition unexplained.

• Shade reassured Flora about her chances of advancing, and Flora kissed him while they rowed back through Within Death.
• Shade and Flora reported that antiques from the Desolate Village had passed through the herb company into Director Kant’s hands, suggesting the Demon was influencing Wilundell’s nobles.
• Flora planned to ask Miss Sylvia to investigate nobles connected to Director Kant, while Shade prepared to return to the Academy Library to speak with Emilia.
• Shade and Miss Danist arrived at the Academy Library, where Grandma Qishala had come to accompany Emilia during the Chosen Ones War investigation.
• Grandma Qishala recognized Shade’s verdant light and unusual soul, saying she had seen something similar only once before, during a ritual in her youth.

Shade introduced Emilia to Grandma Qishala at Saint Byron's before taking Emilia between the bookshelves, where he gave her the crown of Elven Royal Authority. When Emilia wore it, her six-ring Brass Destiny Ring began transforming into jade and green strands appeared in her hair.

• Miss Danist introduced Shade Hamilton to Grandma Qishala and explained that he was helping her with confidential matters in Vesta City.
• Grandma Qishala discussed Emilia's selection as the Chosen One of Time, urged her to accept her responsibility, and agreed that the Academy and Shade would help train her.
• Emilia led Shade away between the bookshelves, where she eagerly talked about seeing him and their friends in Vesta Woodland and asked whether Angelina had kissed him.
• Emilia leaned in to kiss Shade, but he stopped her and then presented her with a gift wrapped in cloth.
• Emilia recognized the gift as Elven Royal Authority after its ancient inscription glowed, and Shade placed the crown on her head.
• The crown activated Emilia's Destiny Ring, which changed from brass to jade as green strands appeared in her hair.

Shade gave Emilia the silver crown of Elven Royal Authority and encouraged her to pursue the unity of the elves. Emilia accepted it temporarily, and Grandma Qishala pledged the Moon Stream Elves' support for the mission to Vesta Woodland; she also offered to help Miss Danist with her Time Curse afterward.

• Shade gave Emilia the silver crown and told her he hoped she could unite the elves as their queen.
• Emilia accepted the crown temporarily and told Shade she wanted to grow into the person she believed she could become.
• Grandma Qishala agreed that the Moon Stream Elves would send people to aid the Academy's mission in Vesta Woodland.
• Grandma Qishala offered to help resolve Miss Danist's Time Curse after the mission if it remained unresolved.
• Miss Danist explained that the Moon Creek Clan's Holy Tree Contract gave it freedom and authority within the Academy.

Miss Danist gave Shade the Blade of No Edge, a scabbard that concealed Night Watchman’s Whisper Element and harmed demons. After Shade returned home and told Luvia about the day’s events, she offered to divine the demon’s remaining incarnations beneath the stars.

• Miss Danist explained that the Academy’s Demon Hunter artifacts might help Shade and had the Taya Sisters deliver a wooden case.
• Shade opened the case and found the Blade of No Edge, which could conceal blades and grant them special effects against demons.
• Miss Danist gave Shade the scabbard as a gift, and they spent the evening together in Saint Byron’s library.
• Shade returned home, showed Luvia the scabbard, and recounted his encounters and investigations from the day.
• Luvia urged Shade to resolve the demon matter quickly so they could focus on the Chosen Ones War, then offered to divine the locations of the demon’s remaining incarnations using the starry sky.

Shade told Flora and Miss Danist that Luvia’s divination had located the demon’s remaining fragments, including one hidden among the Delin Orr Restorationists and a powerful forest-fire avatar possibly strengthened by the World Tree’s remains. He brought Vanessa Benanis to sense the earth and confirm the forest threat, leaving the group poised to investigate it.

• Shade explained that the demon had placed fragments in the Kant Family, among the Delin Orr Restorationists, deep in Vesta Woodland, and in the Desolate Village.
• Shade shared Luvia’s suspicion that the World Tree’s scattered remains had granted power to the demon’s forest-fire avatar.
• Shade said Margaret and Gray Gloves’ files could help identify the demon among the Delin Orr Restorationists, but he wanted to avoid approaching the forest avatar himself.
• Vanessa Benanis arrived after completing the Time Proof ritual and agreed to survey the earth before noon.
• Vanessa prepared to use her authority as the Thirteenth Order Earth Witch to sense whether a powerful fire-related entity was in Vesta Woodland.

Shade and the witches investigated a demon in Vesta Woodland and identified two Delin Orr Restorationists who might be hiding its remaining incarnation. Director Anlos confirmed Military Intelligence Section Six knew both suspects and asked Shade about his woodland investigation.

• Vanessa and Flora traced the woodland’s Burning Tree Ritual to a powerful, moving beast in the southeast, leaving the demon’s hidden incarnation among the Delin Orr Restorationists as their remaining target.
• Flora brought top-secret Gray Gloves files identifying nine core Restorationists, and Shade focused on Mrs. Shatara and Sir Wayne as likely suspects.
• Shade asked Miss Bell to seek a social invitation for Flora to meet Mrs. Shatara and planned to consult Military Intelligence Section Six about Sir Wayne.
• Director Anlos confirmed that his agency knew Mrs. Shatara and Rick Wayne, who supplied the Restorationists through his business, and asked Shade whether he knew what they were doing in Vesta Woodland.

Shade received intelligence about the Delin Orr Restorationists and Moon Bay, then prepared to use a Time Key for a new journey. In the 3733 Fifth Epoch, Father of Infinite Tree tasked him with helping the Lord of the Black Robe complete Strange Tree Academy’s final lesson and offered the prospect of an additional Core Ling Rune.

• Director Anlos gave Shade files on Mrs. Shatara and Baron Wayne, reported that Ring Arcanists were among the Delin Orr Restorationists, and provided Shade with an identity to approach Sir Wayne.
• Director Anlos discussed Moon Bay’s plans to serve as a trade route during the coming war, while Shade reflected on Miss Belinder’s decision to remain neutral.
• Galina teased Shade about his interest in the new Time Key, then left for the night with kiss marks she intended to show Leisha.
• On Wednesday morning, Shade activated the Time Key after bidding Mia to stay home.
• Shade arrived in the Ashes River Valley in the winter of 3733 and received a trial from Father of Infinite Tree: help the Lord of the Black Robe complete Strange Tree Academy’s final lesson for a possible additional Core Ling Rune.

Shade entered a flooded castle in a dark river valley and found Iluna and three young witches sheltering in a damaged academy building. Iluna recognized him but asked a test question to make sure he was not a mimic.

• Shade entered the black river valley, where a massive creature attacked his boat as he rowed upstream toward a waterfall and castle.
• Shade climbed to the castle, discovered it was the flooded Strange Tree Academy, and followed a fire to a damaged upper floor.
• Shade flew into the room and found Iluna with three exhausted witches, startling both himself and Iluna.
• Iluna's companions restrained her and warned her not to trust Shade until he proved his identity.
• Iluna asked Shade what he would do at a three-way crossroads guarded by terrifying spirits, a man-eating giant, and an Announcing Death Bird.

Shade found Iluna at the ruined Strange Tree Academy, where she had been stranded after an Angel Level Relic transported her into the past. He joined Iluna and the three Witches sheltering with her, and learned they planned to recreate classes in hopes of completing their studies and escaping.

• Shade answered the Announcing Death Bird’s riddle by praising the moon, then reunited with Iluna.
• Iluna explained that the Sun Church’s Ancient Academy Uniform had brought her to Strange Tree Academy, where three Witches had rescued and cared for her.
• Iluna introduced Shade to Los Metz, Elfina Wilde, and Shibel Bister, who questioned what he was before allowing him to join them by the fire.
• Shade shared food and supplies, improving the Witches’ opinion of him as they discussed their failed search for a way out.
• Los Metz and the others told Shade they planned to create their own lessons because they lacked teachers and a classroom environment.

Shade reunited with Iluna and the three other academy girls in the submerged castle, where they discovered four stone tablets that opened into textbooks linked to the girls. After discussing how the books might help them complete the academy’s course, Shade set out with Miss Bister, Iluna, and the Green Dragon girl to investigate a passage leading to the castle’s first floor and search for the missing Teacher.

• Shade examined the four stone tablets and learned that the Ashes represented the collapse of time and could hasten the castle’s decay.
• Shade read the tablets’ titles aloud, turning them into scrolls: “Ancestral Spirit Wolf,” “Radiant Sun,” “Blessing of Books,” and “Delicious Red Tea and Pastry Making.”
• Shade and the girls matched the four textbooks to Miss Bister, Iluna, Miss Maze, and the Green Dragon girl, then agreed that they might need a Teacher and a classroom to finish the course.
• Miss Bister explained that a narrow submerged passage on the second floor led to the first floor, but only she could squeeze through it in wolf form.
• Shade volunteered to transform into a cat and explore the passage with Miss Bister, while Iluna and the Green Dragon girl joined them and Miss Maze stayed behind with the supplies.

Shade and Miss Bister followed the Ancestral Spirit Wolf’s guidance to a submerged classroom on the 1st Floor, where they encountered the Lord of the Black Robe. The god welcomed Shade and said that Tree Father had sent him to help complete Her final lesson before She departed.

• Shade, Iluna, Miss Bister, and Miss Elfina Wilde left the campfire and descended through the ruins toward the underwater levels.
• Miss Bister led the group through the dark water, and Shade transformed into a cat to squeeze through a crack with her to the 1st Floor.
• The Ancestral Spirit Wolf guided Shade and Miss Bister toward a submerged classroom, where Miss Bister used moonlight slashes to calm churning water.
• Shade and Miss Bister found the Lord of the Black Robe standing by the classroom podium, and Her divine presence pushed Shade backward.
• The Lord of the Black Robe welcomed Shade and explained that Tree Father had sent him to help complete Her final lesson before She departed.

Shade and Miss Bister met the Black-Haired Lady, who explained how the four students’ lessons would complete a ritual and preserve the ancient Academy’s remaining power. After they swam back, they found that Iluna and the Green Dragon Girl were no longer waiting at the crevice.

• The Black-Haired Lady asked Shade and the four girls to teach one another lessons from their Academy books, promising to appear for each lesson and grant the participants gifts when the ritual was complete.
• The god marked Shade’s stone slab with the holy emblem of the Lord of the Black Robe and encouraged him to explore the Academy’s books and treasures.
• After the Black-Haired Lady vanished, Shade carried Miss Bister back through the underwater ruins while she admired his moonlight and described her solitary travels and pursuit of the Way of the Wild.
• Miss Bister resumed swimming beside Shade as a petite gray wolf, and they returned without encountering danger.
• Shade and Miss Bister passed through the crack in the second-floor ceiling but found that Iluna and the Green Dragon Girl were missing.

Shade and the others returned from the underwater expedition and learned that Miss Maze had come to the Academy seeking traces of her god, the Lord of the Black Robe. They began testing whether Miss Bister could teach the knowledge in her werewolf book, while Shade found that he could not yet send Iluna back to her own time.

• Shade, Iluna, Miss Wilde, and Miss Bister returned safely from underwater, dried off, and changed into fresh clothes.
• Shade and Miss Bister told the group about encountering the Lord of the Black Robe, and Miss Maze revealed that she was a believer who had come to seek traces of her god.
• Shade tried to use Return of Time on Iluna's clothes but could not overcome the relic and spacetime's restrictions.
• Miss Bister explained that her book, Ancestral Spirit Wolf, contained werewolf secret arts and chose a simple lesson to teach the others.
• Miss Bister gave everyone tufts of her fur to hold beneath their tongues and asked Shade to create a silver Moonlight Orb above the bonfire.

Shade learned the Wolf Transformation Spell through Gray Wolf Girl’s meditation method and transformed into a supernatural Silver Wolf. He then told the others he had to leave with Iluna, but a black-robed Lady appeared and warned that using Iluna’s inherited powers could affect the Great Prophecy of Murmuring Chapters.

• Gray Wolf Girl guided Shade, Iluna, Miss Wilde, and Miss Maze through a meditation on the moon and the wild.
• Shade transformed into a silver-furred supernatural wolf, surprising the others and earning Gray Wolf Girl’s praise.
• Shade told the group he could not stay and asked what supplies they needed before he spoke privately with Iluna.
• Iluna worried that leaving would prevent her from returning and disrupt the ritual, while Shade asked whether she had used her Chosen Ones’ powers.
• The black-robed Lady appeared and said that using Iluna’s powers could have hidden consequences for the Great Prophecy of Murmuring Chapters.

Shade learned that he could return to his proper time with Iluna, though she would arrive there at a different moment. After Iluna rejoined him in 1854, she explained her return and discussed the Church’s preparations to send reinforcements to Vesta Woodland.

• The Black-Haired Lady told Shade that he could take Iluna back with him, but Iluna would return one second after they left while Shade would have to endure the intervening time.
• Shade left the three witches by the fire with Iluna, and Iluna reappeared there shortly afterward, surprising her friends.
• Iluna asked Miss Wilde about her academy, and Miss Wilde revealed that Saint Byron’s Witch Academy had admitted her partly for her maid skills; the Green Dragon girl secretly belonged to another Spacetime.
• In 1854, Iluna arrived at Shade’s home and explained that she had returned to Tobesk on Sunday but had waited to see him to avoid a Time Paradox.
• Iluna told Shade that the Church’s first reinforcements would reach Vesta Woodland that week, while its main force would arrive later after preparing substitutes for scarce Youthful Immortality Leaves.
• Iluna explained that the Orthodox God, Mister Dawn, had authority over time and could help create Time Cicada Divine Art Items, surprising Shade.

Shade used Remaining Advice on the Doctor and learned that the ancient warnings identified him as the Demon King. The Doctor denied that his powers came from the Demon and hinted that he guarded something the Demon had nearly taken, leaving Shade to draw a conclusion about the past catastrophe.

• The Doctor visited Shade to coordinate a simultaneous midnight attack on the Demon fragments and asked him to identify which Delin Orr Restorationist was the Demon.
• Shade told the Doctor about the woodland fragment's apparent allegiance to a more terrifying enemy and shared what he had learned about the Demon Hunters' legacy.
• Shade tested Remaining Advice on the Doctor, and the Thaumaturgy displayed warnings about an invincible enemy, a divided Demon, and the Demon King.
• Shade told the Doctor that Remaining Advice had named him the Demon King, startling him.
• The Doctor said his power did not come from the Demon and explained that Mr. Tim and Miss Shana Aya had sacrificed themselves to protect him and the world during a past catastrophe.
• The Doctor said he was responsible for guarding something the Demon had almost taken, and Shade began to offer a deduction.

Shade deduced that the Doctor had sealed part of the Primal Demon inside himself and agreed to act as a safeguard if the Doctor lost control. At the Accordion Hotel, Shade showed Flora and Miss Danist his new wolf transformation and prepared for the demon hunt, which would begin after they identified the demon’s host among the Delin Orr Restorationists.

• Shade explained his deduction about the Doctor’s sealed power, and the Doctor confirmed that Shade might need to kill him if he became controlled by it.
• Shade asked about the Primal Demon’s origins, but the Doctor refused to reveal more and warned him not to investigate ancient secrets.
• Shade gave Flora a list of herbs needed by the Ancient Witches and demonstrated his silver wolf transformation, which Little Mia recognized and affectionately approached.
• Shade discussed Miss Bister’s transformation with Flora and Miss Danist, then arranged for Aisha Eisberg and Sister Devlin to meet him at eleven that night.
• Shade said he and the others needed to identify which Delin Orr Restorationist was the demon’s divided body before the hunt.

Shade and Flora attended Mayor Ronan’s afternoon tea party in disguise to investigate Mrs. Shatara and Sir Wayne, while protesters outside accused the train station expansion of preparing Vesta City for war. Shade mingled with merchants as he waited for a chance to approach the pair, and the chapter left him discussing his business collaboration with Sylvia with Flora.

• Miss Bell told Shade that Mrs. Shatara and Sir Wayne would attend Mayor Ronan’s tea party, and Shade chose Flora as his companion.
• Shade and Flora arrived at city hall in disguise and saw citizens protesting the train station expansion as a military project.
• Flora suspected that someone had deliberately leaked the tea party’s purpose to provoke conflict.
• Mayor Ronan opened the reception beside a detailed sand table of Vesta Woodland, while Shade and Flora waited for Mrs. Shatara and Sir Wayne to become available.
• Shade impressed local merchants with his knowledge of Sylvia’s products and southern Delarion’s business environment, then admitted to Flora that he had helped Sylvia develop her inventions.

Shade negotiated with Sir Wayne to use his eastern Kasonlik freight routes for a scheme that would bring scarce stockings into the domestic market while appearing to honor his export contract. Sir Wayne showed interest and offered antiques as collateral, leaving Shade with a promising contact for travel between regions.

• Flora teased Shade about his knowledge of stockings before he introduced himself to Sir Wayne.
• Shade proposed selling scarce goods through southern Delarion and letting customers move them back into eastern Kasonlik, claiming the arrangement could fit loopholes in his contract.
• Shade asked Sir Wayne to provide 300,000 Gold Pounds for the first batch and showed him a high-end pair of stockings as proof of the goods.
• Sir Wayne said he could not provide the cash but offered gold antiques and signed paintings as assets, subject to appraisal, and asked to inspect Shade's contract.
• After Sir Wayne left, Shade told Flora that the meeting had gone smoothly and that they had found someone able to travel back and forth.