Chapter Summaries

Shade returned from the past and led Wei Ge and Ellie through the Skin Object Hall, using Miss Feliana's sealing light and his Moon Library to weaken its powerful guardians. The group confronted the Scroll Elder, whose strength came from the ancient contracts and stories recorded on the hall's human-skin scrolls, and Shade prepared to tear out its heart.

• Shade and Miss Feliana sealed the Skin Crafters that appeared in the banquet hall, while Shade reunited with Wei Ge and Ellie.
• Ellie led Shade and Wei Ge through the hall, breaking through obstacles as they fought Skin Objects with Miss Feliana's violet sealing power.
• Ellie broke into a study where Mr. Gerald Delong and a Twelve-Ring Arcanist were fighting the Scroll Elder, one of the hall's active core derivatives.
• Miss Feliana told Shade to use his Moon Library to cut the Scroll Elder off from the human-skin scrolls that empowered it.
• Shade unfolded the Moon Library, weakening the Scroll Elder, and prepared to use his chains to tear out its heart.

Shade contained the Scroll Elder’s catalog and joined forces with others to reach the core of [Skin Object Hall] as it merged with the House of False Men. With the Witches and girls entering the relic, Shade’s group reached the final barrier, but Ellie could not break through it.

• Shade tore the Scroll Elder’s catalog from its body, sealed it in the Coffin of the Underworld, and burned the scroll bearing his true name.
• Shade kept the ancient contract scroll containing the Mermaid’s power and asked Mr. Delong and the Dawn Church’s Twelve-Ring Arcanist to help contain [Skin Object Hall].
• Mr. Delong left to search for what he sought and told Shade he had seen a Demon Man fighting a Skin Crafter; Shade continued onward with Wei Ge, Ellie, and the Church Arcanist.
• Shade’s group met a Truth Society professor and a Demon Eye Club Ring Arcanist, who reported that the unknown seventh intruder was a woman concealed beneath a Skin Object.
• The House of False Men descended as the relics collided, allowing the Butterfly Wings Girl to bring the Witches and girls into [Skin Object Hall]; Shade gave Wei Ge the bottle containing one-eighth of Aurora.
• Shade chose to enter the core area rather than wait, but Ellie could not break through the wall empowered by both relics.

Shade transformed into a Unicorn and joined Ellie in opening a passage into the core of the [Skin Object Hall]. As the forces fighting their way inside converged on the core, Miss Feliana directed Iluna to find an exhibit she had left there during the Fifth Epoch.

• Shade used Ellie's [Connection] rune to transform into a Unicorn, then the two Unicorns broke through the wall together.
• Iluna's team advanced through the [Skin Object Hall], joined forces with the Church team, and followed the passage Ellie had opened.
• Iluna entered the core area and saw Shade fighting two humanoid Relic Derivatives while the others battled Doppelgangers and Skin Objects.
• A Violet Flower carrying Miss Feliana's power led Iluna away from the battle and told her to find an exhibit left behind in the Fifth Epoch.

Iluna found the Crystal Ball hidden in the hall as the battle against its powerful guardians spilled into the Material World. Shade pursued the Hall Master beneath the lake, where the Demon Man’s death freed it and Shade confronted it.

• Iluna followed the purple flower through the hall’s shifting spaces and opened a locked suitcase to retrieve a faintly glowing Crystal Ball.
• As the overlapping spaces collapsed, the Hall Master escaped through a rift into the Material World, with Shade and Miss Eden in pursuit.
• The Hall Master fell into the lake after a black beam struck it, and Shade warned Miss Eden not to follow it into a possible demonic trap.
• Shade entered the lake with Night Watchman and found the Demon Man draining the Hall Master with Wither power and black chains.
• A woman’s laughter decapitated the Demon Man, and a colorful mass of hair tangled with the escaping shadow that had empowered him.
• The Hall Master broke free, but Shade stabilized the space around it and approached its familiar, shifting face.

Shade defeated and contained the ancient Skin Object Hall entity, absorbing Pi’s sin and gaining the Vanity Spirit Rune and a new Thaumaturgy. The invisible Mermaid revealed that the Great Sin Imprint could be pieced together by gathering sins, then said she had already recovered her own skin.

• Shade rejected the human skin’s offer of ancient secrets and attacked it with Moonlight Slash, seeing its origin as the first vain human and the creation of the Skin Object Hall.
• The skin began fusing with Shade, but Miss Puppet reminded him of his identity, and Shade used Life Fire Form to burn it while the Fire Seed Source drained its power.
• Shade gained the Black Iron Whisper Spirit Rune Vanity, the Thaumaturgy Humility of the Vessel, and enhancements from devouring Pi’s sin, while Miss Feliana sealed the surviving skin.
• An unseen voice explained that the Great Sin Imprint had shattered and that its power passed through original sin, suggesting Shade might gather fragments from others.
• Shade asked whether the Mermaid had recovered her Skin Object, and she replied that she had retrieved it while he fought the skin.

Shade encountered Desire’s beautiful Mermaid form beneath the lake and received a kiss, a surge of spirit, and the divine Scissors of the Ancient God Twilight Creator. With Daniste and Principal Pigman’s help, he prepared to seal [Skin Object Hall] inside a container while the others evacuated.

• Desire appeared as a Mermaid, praised Shade for completing the task, gave him the Scissors, and kissed him before disappearing into the lake.
• Shade examined the Scissors and learned through [Ancient Voice] that the Ancient God Twilight Creator had used them to create and destroy life.
• Shade returned to the deck, where Daniste and Principal Pigman asked how he planned to contain [Skin Object Hall].
• Miss Feliana explained that she had hidden a container in the Hall and instructed Shade and Principal Pigman to seal the Hall away from the Material World before using the God Summoner’s power to contain it.
• Shade and Principal Pigman began preparing the sealing while Daniste and Miss Eden organized the evacuation; Sister Devlin destroyed the Skin Object Leader, and the Church’s Ring Arcanists and young ladies withdrew.

Shade, Miss Feliana, and Professor Pigman completed the containment of the [Skin Object Hall] by sealing it inside a Silver Dome and the Crystal Ball. The hall was secured for later stabilization, leaving the ordinary people trapped within frozen in time and potentially rescuable in the future.

• Shade asked Miss Feliana whether ordinary people remained inside the [Skin Object Hall], and she explained that they could be rescued after the sealed relic stabilized, though that would take years.
• Shade used Mystic Lock—Tree's Kiss to draw the [Skin Object Hall] into Lake Heart Island, where fire and the giant tree began binding and burning the building.
• Iluna raised her Dark Gold Scales to end the hall's resistance, and Miss Feliana used the Crystal Ball as Professor Pigman prepared a second seal.
• Professor Pigman invoked the Words of Sublimation to create Silver Gates that closed around the hall, extinguished its dark phantoms, and enclosed Lake Heart Island in a Silver Dome.
• Miss Feliana burned the Hall Master's skin and had Professor Pigman seal the Scroll Elder's scroll; Shade caught the Crystal Ball containing the sealed hall.
• Professor Pigman accepted responsibility for the relic, while Shade stood with Miss Puppet on the deck and wanted only to rest.

After the Crystal Ball was contained, Shade recounted the expedition to his companions during a picnic in Oakham Park and discussed sending Daniste’s teacher back to the past. Miss Feliana’s puppet then fell empty as her fragment of thought returned to her original self, leaving Shade with a final memento and the group with a practical request.

• Shade and the young ladies withdrew from the lake after the Church and Academy Arcanists began investigating the remaining traces of the Crystal Ball.
• At a picnic in Oakham Park, Shade told his companions about the Skin Object Hall and the Foul Blood Factory.
• Shade and Miss Feliana suggested that Daniste send her teacher to the past, and Daniste said she would agree if Shade helped her find the Moon Egg again afterward.
• Miss Feliana explained that she was a fragment of thought and kissed Shade’s forehead before her puppet went empty as her fragment returned to her main body.
• Luvia asked Shade not to keep Miss Feliana’s puppet beside his bed because it would unsettle her, Dorothy, and Leisha.

After the [Skin Object Hall] was contained, Shade rested through a spring picnic with the Witches and their companions. He returned to Fragrant Residence, where Sivie reported that the relic was stable and explained how Miss Feliana’s Crystal Ball had made its complete containment possible.

• Luvia suggested Shade keep Miss Feliana’s doll in his study, and Leisha teased him about covering it with a handkerchief.
• Bella, Flora, Siris, and Angelina joined the picnic, where everyone celebrated the successful containment of the [Skin Object Hall] and Shade’s new Unicorn form.
• Shade fell asleep with his head on Leisha’s lap, declined Ellie’s offer to take her place, and rested until half past three.
• Shade woke, praised Leisha’s scent, and decided to return to Fragrant Residence with Ellie and Angelina.
• Wei Ge stayed behind to assess the two portions of solution intended to restore her sister Aurora Le May, while Shade returned to Fragrant Residence with the others.
• Sivie told Shade that Daniste had confirmed the [Skin Object Hall] was stable and that Miss Feliana’s Crystal Ball had enabled its complete containment.

After the Skin Object Hall was sealed, Shade examined the materials Miss Feliana had left behind and received protective amulets from the Priest. He and his companions discussed the Hall’s relics and the Doppelgangers, who were expected to keep their oath and reveal hidden information.

• The Crystal Ball sealing the Skin Object Hall was placed at a nearby Creation Church headquarters for study by the Three Great Academies and Five Gods Church.
• Sivie told Shade that the rescued black-haired girl claimed to be a princess of the Delinore Kingdom, and Leisha speculated about why she had been mistreated.
• Shade opened the chest Iluna had taken from the Hall and found a Church notebook containing a Fourth Epoch art for turning souls and Flesh into liquid and restoring them.
• Shade sent the notebook to the Underground Palace for Wei Ge, then reviewed Miss Feliana’s research and other surviving materials.
• Dorothy gave Shade nine amulets from the Priest that could protect their wearers from Twisted Kindling.
• Shade told Luvia and Dorothy that the House of False Men’s Doppelgangers had sworn an oath to cooperate with him and would likely reveal hidden information after the Hall’s sealing.

After returning from the Fifth Epoch, Shade sorted through his gains and discussed the Sea of Origin and the Mad Firstborn Son with Luvia and Dorothy. The chapter left the group wondering whether the Sea of Origin was connected to the Chosen One Ritual and warning that its inhabitants might be beyond the power of anyone in the Material World.

• Shade postponed the Night Lesson and gave Luvia and Dorothy the Fire Seed Source Secret Technique so they could learn False Life Skin and resist Flesh Aberration.
• Shade found Miss Feliana’s potion made from black placenta, tasted it, and planned to give it to Wei Ge to improve her physical condition.
• Shade tested his new abilities, summoning healing red moonlight and turning the Life Fire Seed into physical matter.
• Shade told Luvia and Dorothy about the Third Form of life, the Sea of Origin, the Mad Firstborn Son, and the connection between Blood of Mercury and Active Metal.
• Luvia speculated that the Sea of Origin might be tied to the Chosen One Ritual, while Shade said the Mad Firstborn Son would have been impossible to defeat in its own sea and that more than one might exist.

Shade tested the vanity rune’s concealment thaumaturgy, revealed his Unicorn form, and used moonlight to purify Wei Ge’s contaminated Life Solution. He then examined the ancient scissors recovered from the park lake and learned they could create Skin Objects, while resolving not to use them for that purpose.

• Shade wrapped Night Watchman and Blade of No Edge in sheepskin, and Luvia and Dorothy found that the covering concealed most of their elemental presence.
• Shade transformed into a Unicorn in the study, where Dorothy embraced him and Bella recognized him by instinct.
• Wei Ge told Shade that her Younger Sister’s Life Solution had been contaminated, and Shade used Silver and Red Moonlight to begin purifying it over the coming week.
• Bella stopped Wei Ge from kissing Shade before she had washed, then kissed Shade herself before leaving for Moon Bay.
• Vanessa and Siris brought Shade the ancient scissors Desire had given him, and Shade identified them as an artifact capable of creating Skin Objects and usable in the Chosen One Ritual.
• Shade promised not to make Skin Objects and guessed that the scissors had once served as the core of the seal containing the Skin Object Hall Master.

Shade and the Witches discussed the Mermaid’s recovered power and prepared Wei Ge to take medicine sent from the Fifth Epoch. Before dinner, Angelina secretly delivered Shade forbidden books, Ellie gave him an apple, and Daniste reported that the seventh person from the hall remained unidentified and unaccounted for.

• Shade explained that the scissors from the [Skin Object Hall] could cut through the skin defenses of living beings, and he and the Witches discussed the Mermaid and their cautious cooperation with it.
• Shade encouraged Wei Ge to take Miss Feliana’s unpleasant medicine, and she had Lorraine divide it into equal portions.
• Angelina brought Shade the promised forbidden books and told him she was enjoying her studies and life in Arcadia City.
• Emilia and Iluna interrupted Shade and Angelina, while Ellie gave Shade an apple before shyly leaving the room.
• Daniste told Shade that two Ring Arcanists had left the hall, but the Church and the Witches had not discovered the identity or whereabouts of the seventh person.

After the victory at [Skin Object Hall], Shade and Daniste discussed the unidentified powerful woman who may have been Peggy Le May, while the group celebrated at a banquet. Shade and Luvia later recruited Ms. Handel and Joey Barton to search for Peggy in Arcadia City, leaving Shade home at the end of the long Saturday.

• Shade and Daniste discussed the unidentified woman beneath a Skin Object and considered whether she was Peggy Le May, while Daniste reported that the two rescued girls were living at [Dawn Church] as Hall Visitors.
• At the banquet, Wei Ge suggested Shade learn [Bipolar Severing], but Shade entrusted the Scissors to Wei Ge for protection while he studied Flesh and the Red Moon.
• After the guests departed, Shade and Luvia traveled to Greyrock Pass Fortress and met Ms. Handel and Joey Barton at George Inn.
• Luvia asked Ms. Handel and Joey Barton to find Peggy Nicola Le May and bring her to Shade, and Shade also asked them to investigate reports of hauntings and attend to the dead near the coming hospital.
• Shade and Luvia exchanged contact details and returned home using the Crystal Shoes.

After returning home, Shade used the Youthful Immortality Leaves to learn the Veil of Night thaumaturgy and the requirements for a Dragon Maid contract, then discussed the Moon Egg and his plans for rest with Luvia, Dorothy, and Leisha. As he fell asleep, he found himself walking along a pink beach beside an endless Blood Sea.

• Shade revealed that the first leaf had granted him the Veil of Night thaumaturgy and demonstrated how it brought night over the house.
• Shade learned that the second leaf contained knowledge for writing a World Tree contract with a female Time-Space Dragon or Dragonborn, and said he would ask Emilia to help write it.
• Shade explained that the Moon Egg lacked spacetime power and might be swept into an unknown time if he contracted with it; he planned to persuade Daniste to let it go into the past.
• Dorothy and Luvia speculated about the identities of the five Dragon Maids, while Shade said he hoped to spend part of the next week reading and resting at home.
• After sharing the night with Luvia, Dorothy, and Leisha, Shade fell asleep and dreamed he was walking across a pink beach strewn with bones beside a turbulent Blood Sea.

After a nightmare about the Blood Sea, Shade discussed preparing to send the Moon Egg through time and found a way to anchor the contract to Mrs. Carter without using her blood. He and Daniste sought permission to perform the ritual at the Unicorn Habitat, where the gathered Unicorns began discussing the request.

• Shade woke from a nightmare about a monstrous creature and asked the voice beside him to sing him back to sleep.
• The next morning, Shade went to Saint Byron's and asked Daniste how Mrs. Carter could sign the time-based contract without providing blood.
• Emilia suggested writing the contract on the Moon Egg's eggshell, and Daniste agreed to prepare the ritual for Monday with Ellie present.
• Shade chose Lake Heart Island in the Unicorn Habitat as the ritual site, and Emilia gathered the Unicorns to seek their consent.
• After Daniste assured the Unicorns the ritual would not affect their habitat, they discussed the request while Little Liana sniffed Shade's hand and told Ellie his scent had not changed.

Shade visited the unicorns, who welcomed him and agreed to let him use Lake Heart Island for his ritual, then returned to the city to investigate the Withering Demon. He reached the Bloodkin stronghold to compare intelligence with Mr. Bernhardt.

• The unicorns agreed to let Shade use Lake Heart Island for the ritual and asked to see his unicorn form, which he revealed before the young unicorns crowded around him.
• Emilia asked Shade to bring her on his next adventure, and Shade told her that Elphina had sent her regards.
• Shade left the Academy with fruit, considered using his unicorn form to produce valuable materials, and went to Arcadia City.
• A follower of Desire's Followers delivered Shade a suitcase from the lady from Moon Bay, and Shade asked her to investigate unexplained disappearances that might be connected to the Withering Demon.
• Shade traveled to Greyrock Pass Fortress and entered the Bloodkin's secret stronghold to seek out Mr. Bernhardt and compare intelligence.

Shade and Mr. Bernhardt compared their investigations into the missing Bloodkin and discussed a local elder’s claim that ancient Bloodkin had awakened and were working with the [Blood Spirit School]. The chapter left them considering whether the Derainore Royal Family had once received power from Bloodkin, with Shade agreeing to ask the Church what it knew.

• Shade asked Mr. Bernhardt about the Bloodkin investigation, and Mr. Bernhardt said the oracle had ordered them to find every missing member of their Same Race and warned of a threat to the Bloodkin as a whole.
• Mr. Bernhardt recounted how he and his companions attended the Blood Feast, avoided drinking human blood, and earned the trust of an ancient local Bloodkin by showing him the Cult’s holy relic.
• The local Bloodkin elder claimed that ancient Bloodkin who faked their deaths during the Arcadia Siege War had awakened and were attacking their descendants, possibly in cooperation with the [Blood Spirit School].
• Mr. Bernhardt told Shade that the elder’s documents claimed the Derainore Royal Family had Bloodkin blood and had received secret powers from Bloodkin.
• Shade suggested testing the Astley Family’s bloodline and that of a rescued royal Princess, then agreed to make inquiries within the Church about whether it had known of the ancient Bloodkin’s influence.

Shade visited Wei Ge, discussed the Skin Object Hall aftermath, and opened the suitcase Desire had given him, finding an occult book about a mysterious Ocean that resembled the Sea of Origin. He and Wei Ge considered whether the Sea Burial ritual might have originated from an ancient encounter with that Ocean, but Shade still needed evidence from the Scarlet Order.

• Shade arrived at Fragrant Residence, purified Wei Ge’s Curved Neck Bottle, and persuaded her to stop keeping the bottles on her pillow.
• At lunch, Wei Ge discussed the possible connection between the Derainore Royal Family and the Bloodkin, and proposed having The Church investigate the girl Shade had rescued from the Skin Object Hall.
• Shade opened Desire’s suitcase and found Call of the Sea, a book describing a mysterious Ocean that could draw people in and transform them into higher life forms.
• Shade connected the book’s account to the Sea of Origin and told Wei Ge that the Sea Burial ritual might have been inspired by an ancient sighting of that Ocean.
• Wei Ge agreed Shade’s theory was plausible but said he would need to find cultists and question them to verify it.

Shade learned from the Doppelgangers that the Chosen One Ritual would take place in the Sea of Origin, and received their knowledge about the Birthing Room of Creation and its door. He suspected he had found the door’s opening incantation, but still lacked the key or qualification to open it.

• Shade decided to ask Sivie’s family fleet for help finding the Scarlet Order, then left Fragrant Residence after Wei Ge sent him away from Angelina’s lesson.
• Shade met the Doppelgangers beside the Thornir River, where they confirmed that the Chosen One Ritual was tied to the Sea of Origin and explained how mortals could reach it.
• Shade asked about reopening the door to the Birthing Room, but the Doppelgangers refused to let him enter their core room again.
• Shade accepted knowledge about doors and the refinement of Mother Liquid as the final payment for their transaction.
• The Doppelgangers revealed that only Shade and Ellie had ever affected the door, and Shade identified [Creation], [Life], and a prayer as likely parts of the procedure for opening it.