Chapter Summaries

Wei Ge told the Council that a beautiful travel writer was treating her, while the Great Witches recognized that the woman was Shade and quietly watched Wei Ge’s misunderstanding. Galina visited Shade afterward, learned how close he and Wei Ge had become, and grew increasingly dissatisfied that Wei Ge had drunk and kept Shade’s blood.

• Wei Ge told the Council that her trusted travel writer would stay in Arcadia City through spring to treat her, and the Great Witches realized she meant Shade.
• Flora advised Wei Ge to build a good relationship with her healer, while Artist Miss suggested inviting the woman to Fragrant Residence; Wei Ge said she had her own residence.
• After Adele and Wei Ge left, Galina, Megan, Flora, and Sivie discussed Wei Ge’s meeting with Shade, and Galina decided to visit him.
• Galina arrived at Shade’s home and embraced him after Luvia confirmed he had just been telling them about meeting Wei Ge.
• Shade recounted how Wei Ge had drunk his blood and kept some of it, making Galina increasingly unhappy, while Luvia argued that it could secure Wei Ge’s support and Chaos Bestowal.

Shade spent the night with Galina and Luvia, then asked Luvia in a dream whether Wei Ge Astley could be cured. Luvia said she had no cure to offer yet, and the chapter ended with Shade kissing Luvia after she pointed to herself the next morning.

• Galina and Luvia teased Shade about Wei Ge, and Galina asked whether he thought Wei Ge was the most beautiful among them.
• Shade told Galina that Wei Ge was exceptionally beautiful, then praised Galina's figure, which pleased her.
• In his dream, Shade asked Luvia whether Wei Ge could be cured, and Luvia said Shade's blood and existing treatments could keep her alive for now.
• Luvia warned Shade that the coming challenges would grow more dangerous and said the world's final child was about to be born.
• Luvia woke the next morning with a vague memory of a dream, and Shade kissed her after she pointed to herself.

Shade visited Finch Gear Workshop in Arcadia City to meet inventor Mr. Finch and examine his unusual machines. Mr. Finch explained that even inventions that seemed useless might find a purpose someday.

• Shade comforted Galina about Wei Ge, and Galina decided to let Wei Ge remain unaware of their connection for now.
• Shade checked the Witch's Tower for Margaret's reply, but she still had not answered.
• Shade traveled to the smoke-shrouded Outer City District and visited Finch Gear Workshop.
• Shade examined Mr. Finch's odd inventions, including a dog-head device that moistened stamps.
• Mr. Finch told Shade that the local post office had tried the stamp device, but discarded it after frequent breakdowns.

Shade accompanied Mr. Finch to the Tower of Marvels to negotiate for [Active Metal] and learned that the Magic Eye Club had ancient ties to Creator worship and the ability to embed Magic Eyes in machinery. Those revelations made Shade suspect that the Halfling Witch’s presence in the Foul Blood Factory was not a coincidence, and he arrived at the Tower with that concern unresolved.

• Mr. Finch told Shade that a friend from the Apna Library had [Active Metal] and invited him to negotiate for it at the Tower of Marvels.
• Mr. Finch explained that the Magic Eye Club’s core members descended from ancient Creator believers and could safely embed Magic Eyes in mechanical creations.
• Shade recalled that Miss Linolbredy had used a similar technique and wondered whether her presence in the Foul Blood Factory, and Madam Gustav’s response to her, had been more than coincidence.
• Shade discussed automated factories with Mr. Finch during their carriage ride, and Mr. Finch objected to machinery operating without human involvement.
• Shade and Mr. Finch reached the Tower of Marvels near Scholar Square, where Shade was to negotiate for the [Active Metal].

Shade, Mr. Finch, and Mr. Munoz investigated two machines that had mysteriously come alive in the Tower of Marvels. Shade destroyed them, revealing crimson specks of life that vanished before they could be examined.

• Mr. Finch brought Shade to the Fourth Floor, where Mr. Munoz was struggling to restrain a flame-spewing Automatic Cremation Coffin.
• Mr. Finch used Machine Stop to disable the coffin, and Shade sensed an extremely low concentration of Life Fire within it.
• A pocket watch in Mr. Munoz’s pocket underwent Mechanical Animation and fired metal components at the group, which Shade froze with Chloe’s Time-Space Freeze.
• Mr. Finch and Mr. Munoz found no cause for the animations and decided to destroy both machines to prevent further incidents.
• Shade used Black Moon Rune to turn the coffin and pocket watch into Ashes, revealing crimson specks of life that flared and disappeared.

Shade helped contain an animated coffin at the Tower of Marvels, where the three men discovered an Abnormal Life Fire Seed and learned that similar incidents had occurred in the past. He agreed to buy Active Metal from Mr. Munoz, then returned home and heard Winnie explain the history and nature of the seeds.

• Shade, Mr. Finch, and Old Mr. Munoz found a Life Fire Seed among the ashes after Shade destroyed the animated coffin, and Mr. Finch recalled similar incidents from the Old Continent.
• Mr. Finch and Old Mr. Munoz checked the Tower of Marvels for further abnormalities before discussing the danger and the unknown origin of the seeds.
• Old Mr. Munoz agreed to sell Shade the Active Metal for 280 Crowns and arranged to exchange it for payment on Sunday.
• Shade returned home, where Winnie told him that Abnormal Life Fire Seeds could give life to nonliving creations and that past outbreaks were called the Mechanical Plague or Inventor Plague.

Shade visited the Tower of Marvels and unexpectedly reunited with Viscount Armand Bernhardt, who had come to Arcadia City to investigate missing Bloodkin. Bernhardt revealed that earlier investigators had vanished too, leaving his group cautious as they prepared to search for a possible local traitor.

• Shade told old Mr. Laibury that he had obtained two of the three manuscripts, and Laibury promised to transfer Blue Ink Library to him once he found the last one.
• Shade explored the Tower of Marvels and encountered Viscount Armand Bernhardt among the machinery demonstrations.
• Shade and Bernhardt went to Madame Bovary Tea House, where Bernhardt explained that his clan had sent him to investigate Bloodkin who had disappeared around Arcadia City.
• Bernhardt said the first investigators had lost contact two weeks earlier, so he had arrived with five or six Advanced Bloodkin and support from the clan's local businesses.
• Bernhardt told Shade that his group suspected a local traitor and had avoided contacting local Bloodkin-connected forces while they assessed the situation.

Shade met Mr. Bernhardt in Arcadia City and compared their investigations into missing Advanced Bloodkin and outsiders. A Poem Chapter Fragment revealed a possible connection to Creation, leaving Shade and Bernhardt alert to a potentially larger threat.

• Mr. Bernhardt gave Shade the address of Fabius Mansion, and Shade shared the address of Fragrant Residence where letters could reach him.
• Shade and Mr. Bernhardt exchanged local intelligence, including reports that most missing Bloodkin were Advanced Bloodkin and that Construct Master Gerald Delong had returned to the Creation Church headquarters.
• Shade described Miss Lorraine’s back injury and asked about Blood Essence of All Things, but Bernhardt said the Bloodkin’s reserves had been spent supporting Alber.
• Bernhardt suspected Bloodkin Hunters might be targeting his race, while Shade offered to watch for them and help if necessary.
• Bernhardt revealed that the Elders had shown him a stone slab bearing a Poem Chapter Fragment: “At the Time of The End, It Is Also the beginning of Birth.”
• Shade linked the fragment to the Chosen One of Creation and agreed to keep an eye on the mystery before he and Bernhardt left to attend to their evening affairs.

Shade learned more about the Astley Family’s possible ties to the old Derainore royal line before preparing to attend a charity banquet with Wei Ge. While she got ready, he helped Miss MacDonald plan a response to a journal reviewer.

• Shade asked Mr. Bernhardt whether he would attend the charity banquet, and they confirmed they had both been invited.
• Mr. Bernhardt told Shade that the Astley Family descended from Duke Astley and might be connected to the last Delinore emperor’s bloodline, which made Kasonlik wary of them.
• Shade returned home to check on Little Mia, changed clothes, and left for Fragrant Residence to meet Wei Ge.
• While Wei Ge prepared for the banquet, Miss MacDonald told Shade about her paper revisions and a reviewer’s objection to her research approach.
• Shade suggested wording for Miss MacDonald’s response, and she wrote it down as a possible way to revise her paper.

Wei Ge welcomed Shade to Arcadia City and brought him to a charity banquet at Oakham Park, where she hoped to grow closer to him. As they walked toward the exhibition hall, Shade learned more about the event and Wei Ge offered to investigate the missing Bloodkin.

• Wei Ge hurried to greet Shade, then found him discussing mechanical inventions and academic printing with Miss MacDonald.
• Wei Ge and Shade exchanged compliments before her maids drove them to the Oakham Park Exhibition Hall for a charity banquet.
• On the carriage ride, Wei Ge explained the banquet and Shade’s cover identity, while Shade told her about Mr. Bernhardt and the missing Bloodkin; Wei Ge offered to look into it.
• Wei Ge asked about Shade’s plans for the next two days, and he explained that he had other obligations on Saturday and a relic appointment on Sunday.
• At the park entrance, Wei Ge declined the Duchess’s offer of special carriage access and walked with Shade toward the exhibition hall.

Wei Ge brought Shade to a charity banquet in Arcadia City, where they mingled with local nobles and learned more about the war and the city’s social circle. The evening ended with the Mayor’s wife urging Wei Ge to marry and have children, leaving her blushing.

• Wei Ge and Shade walked through the park to the banquet, where Duchess Russell welcomed them and accepted Wei Ge’s donation.
• Shade and Wei Ge toured the charity exhibition and spoke with representatives of local aid organizations, while Shade listened for news about the Civil War.
• Wei Ge told Shade she would help him find Baron Ramsay after dinner, then pointed out Lady Connaught and her lover as notorious figures in local society.
• Shade and Wei Ge spoke with the Mayor’s wife, who praised their apparent closeness and advised Wei Ge to marry and have children soon.
• Wei Ge blushed as the Mayor’s wife discussed her poor health and the difficulty of having children later.

At the Charity Banquet, Shade failed to persuade Baron Ramsay to sell the Mark I Steam Engine manuscript, then learned from Mr. Bernhardt that Lady Connaught had recently consumed Advanced Bloodkin blood. Shade and Mr. Bernhardt followed her to the park’s lake, where they found her with her young lover in a boat.

• At the banquet, Shade asked Baron Ramsay for the original Mark I Steam Engine design manuscript, but Ramsay firmly refused and offered to show him other designs instead.
• Shade helped Wei Ge recover with Blood Brew after her coughing worsened, and she apologized for the failed meeting with the baron.
• Lady Connaught shoved her young companion to the floor during an argument and stormed out of the banquet hall.
• Mr. Bernhardt told Shade that he had detected the scent of Advanced Bloodkin blood on Lady Connaught, and Shade agreed to investigate.
• Mr. Bernhardt tracked Lady Connaught with a Hunting Mark, and he and Shade found her with her young lover in a boat on the park’s lake.

Shade confronted Alistair Wispski and an unknown group of Arcanists at the lake, where they had captured Mr. Bernhardt. He defeated their first attack and rescued Mr. Bernhardt, while the remaining enemies regrouped on the shore.

• Mr. Bernhardt transformed into a bat and went to investigate the boat, but he fell into the lake after reaching it.
• Alistair Wispski appeared and warned Shade not to interfere, but Shade vanished and struck him with Moonlight Slash, severely injuring him.
• Five more opponents joined Alistair, and Shade used Decay Time Fog as they attacked him over the lake.
• Shade dragged four Mid-Ring Arcanists into the water, defeated Alistair with Moonbeam Greatsword and Thunderclap Wave, and faced the Tenth Ring Arcanist's Magic Eye.
• Shade countered the Magic Eye with Blood Moon Return, then rescued the unconscious Mr. Bernhardt from the lakebed as the surviving enemies regrouped on shore.

Shade rescued Mr. Bernhardt from two attackers, but they summoned a Sage-level metal golem resembling the Thousand-Eyed Gargoyle No. 3765. Shade fought back with a powerful moonlit strike, and after the Church sealed off the lake, he returned safely to Wei Ge.

• The wounded Bloodkin and the Tenth Ring Arcanist activated a ritual that raised a hundred-meter, thousand-eyed golem from the lake.
• Shade recognized the creature as a transformed version of the Thousand-Eyed Gargoyle No. 3765, now called the Giant God Soldier, while Mr. Bernhardt warned he could not yet help.
• The Giant God Soldier attacked Shade with crimson beams and elemental fists as the disturbance shook the exhibition hall where Wei Ge watched the auction.
• Shade evaded the golem and used Adele's Regression Principle to unleash a scarlet thunderbolt that destroyed two of its heads and pierced its shoulder.
• Silver white fog obscured the lake as Church Ring Arcanists arrived and sealed the area, and Shade returned to Wei Ge, who clung to his arm.

Shade recounted his battle against a group of outsiders and a summoned relic to Wei Ge and Miss MacDonald, then returned to Tobesk to consult Luvia. The mysterious summoning ritual and the outsiders’ identities remained unresolved as Shade prepared to investigate further.

• After the Church questioned the banquet guests, Wei Ge brought Shade and Miss MacDonald back to Fragrant Residence and asked Shade what had happened.
• Shade explained that he and Mr. Bernhardt had fought six attackers and damaged the Thousand-Eyed Gargoyle No. 3765, while one captured Mid-Ring Arcanist had died before he could be questioned.
• Wei Ge warned Shade to keep a low profile and offered to help him investigate the outsiders, while Miss MacDonald suggested the gargoyle might have been a duplicate summoned by a ritual.
• Shade showed Wei Ge the summoning matrix and said he would investigate the strangers, then left Fragrant Residence using the Crystal Shoes.
• Back in Tobesk, Shade met Galina and Sivie, then had Tifa call Luvia downstairs so he could tell her about the relic and the day's events.

Shade and the witches connected the Giant God Soldier to the Blood Spirit School and the Blood of Mercury, suspecting that the Weeper of Blood was involved in the disappearances of Arcadia’s Bloodkin. They planned to investigate further in Arcadia City, while Shade left the evening with Galina and Sivie as Luvia rested.

• Shade told Galina, Sivie, and Luvia about the Animated Machine, the Bloodkin disappearances, the new Poem Chapter Fragment, and the Charity Banquet.
• Sivie identified the Ritual Matrix as a copy made with [Master Shall's Alchemy Manuscript], and explained how the relic could reproduce objects and relics as vulnerable derivatives.
• Luvia reasoned that the Giant God Soldier was likely copied during the summer of Year 1853, when the [Blood of Mercury] had access to [Thousand-Eyed Gargoyle No. 3765].
• Luvia divined that the people behind the Giant God Soldier were connected to the [Blood Spirit School], and Shade linked them to Hermons, the Weeper of Blood.
• Galina and Sivie proposed that the kidnappers might be harvesting Bloodkin for potions or trying to mass-produce them, while Shade planned to return to Arcadia City and bring back a corpse for divination.
• Luvia went upstairs to observe the stars, and Galina urged Sivie to stay as the two witches prepared to spend the night with Shade.

Shade received Daniste’s materials for learning the Red Moon Thaumaturgy Blood Moon Arc Light, a crimson bow suited to his urban adventures. After breakfast, he tried combining Bubble Spell with Dragon Breath.

• Shade recounted his encounter with the Blood Spirit School, and Daniste warned him that Hermons, the Weeper of Blood, might appear in Arcadia City.
• Daniste gave Shade study materials for Flesh Withering, Flesh Corruption, and the summoning Thaumaturgy Blood Moon Arc Light, then demonstrated the crimson bow’s effects.
• Ellie and Emilia visited Vesta Woodland while Shade prepared to learn Blood Moon Arc Light with Daniste.
• Shade chewed a Bubble Pod and tried casting Dragon Breath together with Bubble Spell.

Shade combined Dragon Breath with Bubble Spell and learned [Blood Moon Arc Light] with Daniste before sharing his recent Arcadia City troubles at the group meeting. The meeting ended with a rumble and ripples in a glass, signaling a sudden disturbance.

• Shade successfully combined Dragon Breath with Bubble Spell, creating a controllable silver bubble that released Dragon Breath when it burst.
• Shade learned [Blood Moon Arc Light] with Daniste in the [Eternal Night Dark Room] and combined it with his [Star Mark] longbow.
• Shade asked about the Moon Egg experiment, and Daniste said it had shown no response after two days of watering with Moonlight Water.
• At the group meeting, Shade recounted his encounters in Arcadia City, including a mechanical uprising and a fight with someone suspected of belonging to the [Blood Spirit School].
• Shade and the others discussed Academy credits and summer practicum students before the cat stirred, the water in a glass rippled, and a rumble sounded.

A series of explosions at a Delarion Royal Academy of Sciences research institute revealed a possible Mechanical Plague linked to the Life Fire Seed, though Princess Leisha was unharmed. After Dorothy reported the aftermath, she surprised Shade by demonstrating her new Transformation Spell.

• Dorothy identified the first explosion as an out-of-control experimental machine at the Academy of Sciences, where Princess Leisha and her brother were visiting.
• Further explosions and reports of active machines led Shade and the others to suspect the Mechanical Plague had appeared in the city.
• The meeting broke up, and Shade returned home while Priest Augustus and Luvia went to investigate the situation.
• Dorothy told Shade that Leisha had returned safely to Yodel Palace and that the machine had been destroyed, though more active machines had appeared nearby.
• After dinner, Dorothy resumed Shade's Night Lesson and transformed into a gray rabbit, explaining that she and Leisha had studied Transformation Spells.

Shade studied The Blood-Red Deception with Dorothy and discussed the changes in Dorothy and Leisha’s shared abilities and their souls’ possible Fusion. That night, Dorothy used Space Cutting and Space Merging to connect her bedroom with Leisha’s, leaving Shade to join both women.

• Dorothy demonstrated her Transformation Spell and discussed how the animal and human parts of The Blood-Red Deception could be studied as a source of power.
• Shade asked whether Dorothy and Leisha could use each other’s Transformation Spells, and Dorothy explained that their abilities had become shared after their souls connected on Red Butterfly Day.
• Shade worried that Dorothy and Leisha’s souls might merge into one person, but Dorothy reassured him that they would keep one body and leave the other as an empty shell.
• Dorothy formed a Dark Gold Cube and merged part of Leisha’s bedroom with her own, connecting their rooms through Space Cutting and Space Merging.
• Dorothy and Leisha invited Shade into Leisha’s candlelit bedroom, and he crossed the newly created boundary to join them.