Chapter Summaries

Wei Ge brought Shade to the Astley Trading House’s hidden treasure rooms, hoping the family’s heirlooms might shed light on her mother and the pendant. There, Shade recognized the style of some gold bars from a cache connected to Randall River Valley, leaving Wei Ge wondering whether her ancestors had secretly supported the region’s old nobles.

• Shade and Wei Ge discussed the threat of an assassination attempt against Margaret and Wei Ge offered to protect her in Arcadia City.
• Wei Ge took Shade and Miss Lorraine to the Astley Trading House at Greyrock Pass Fortress and led them through hidden rooms to the family’s treasure vault.
• Wei Ge showed Shade the family treasures and explained that her father had forbidden the family from selling them except in a crisis.
• Wei Ge gave the pendant to Miss Lorraine to inspect while she introduced Shade to the treasures, hoping to find clues about her mother.
• Shade recognized the gold bars as resembling those found with Iluna in Randall River Valley, prompting Wei Ge to suspect her ancestors may have aided its resistance forces.

Shade and Wei Ge discovered a hidden crown and Scepter in the Astley family’s secret rooms, then found the ruby Heart of Sera among Peggy Le May’s clues. Wei Ge began investigating the lost royal palace of Derainore as a possible link to her mother’s alchemical trail.

• Shade spotted a concealed compartment in the ceiling, where he found a rosewood box and case hidden behind an ancient Bloodkin illusion.
• Shade, Wei Ge, and Miss Lorraine uncovered a crown and Scepter bearing Derainore’s coat of arms, which Wei Ge planned to have Grandma Cassandra appraise.
• Wei Ge dismissed the idea of restoring Derainore and let Shade store the crown and Scepter while they searched for clues about her younger sister.
• Wei Ge found a teardrop ruby called the Heart of Sera, and Shade sensed faint traces of alchemy in its jewelry box.
• After the ruby and Princess’s pendant showed no reaction, Wei Ge wondered where Derainore’s old royal palace had gone.

Shade and Wei Ge traced a possible clue about Wei Ge’s Younger Sister to the Seer Association’s Star-Gazing Tower, but decided to wait for evidence from the Charming Lady Club. A Steam Bomb explosion at Greyrock Pass drew Wei Ge to the Security Bureau, where she learned Gray Gloves agents had been searching for something under orders from Wilundell.

• Shade and Wei Ge identified the Seer Association’s Star-Gazing Tower as a likely location connected to the Heart of Sera, but Wei Ge refused to risk exposing her Younger Sister’s secret.
• Wei Ge finished inspecting the family treasure vault and planned to leave Grandma Cassandra a message about the crown and Scepter.
• Shade heard gunfire and a Steam Bomb explosion while waiting at the trading house, and Wei Ge rushed with him to the Security Bureau.
• Baron Brez and the Security Bureau director reported that the blast killed a Gray Gloves agent and two unidentified guests near the Wounded Soldiers Hospital construction site.
• Wei Ge rejected their account and learned that Gray Gloves agents had arrived from Wilundell looking for something, possibly the item Wilundell had recently lost.

Wei Ge explained her influence among the Astley Family’s loyalists and discussed the dangers gathering in Arcadia City with Shade. They planned to search for the Demon during Margaret’s welcome banquet, and Wei Ge later received a coin-type relic for Shade.

• Wei Ge ordered the Greyrock Pass officers to monitor the Gray Gloves agents and help identify whom they were investigating.
• Wei Ge told Shade that loyalists still followed her because of her abilities and the success of the family business, though she had no intention of challenging the Anjou Royal Family.
• Shade, Wei Ge, Eve, and Angelina reviewed their immediate, medium-term, and long-term problems and planned to use Margaret’s welcome banquet to draw out the Demon.
• Wei Ge told Shade that the Witch Council would likely wait until the Old Continent Exposition before sending more Witches to Arcadia City.
• Wei Ge received word that an old friend had found a coin-type relic for Shade and arranged for Miss Lorraine to collect it.

Shade and Wei Ge attended an auction at the Charming Lady Club, where Butterfly Lady tried to persuade Wei Ge to remain a member despite rumors that the club had sold its membership list. Wei Ge bought the Silver Cube she had come for and left with several other lots.

• Shade discussed Griffith's Rhapsody, a coin that traded its user's memories for artistic inspiration, with Wei Ge and Dorothy over dinner.
• Shade and Wei Ge went to the Charming Lady Club, where Butterfly Lady denied leaking the membership list and promoted the club's activities.
• Wei Ge declined Butterfly Lady's offer of stimulating drugs and waited with Shade for the auction while they cuddled on a sofa.
• Shade and Wei Ge inspected the auction booklet and found that its lots included a Silver Cube, suspected supernatural objects, drugs, books, and paintings.
• Wei Ge won the Silver Cube and also bought a banned book's original manuscript and an ancient Spirit Board.

After Wei Ge combined her mother's three objects, they transformed into an astrological lens that pointed her toward the Seer Association's towers for answers among the stars. Shade and Luvia planned how to use the association's equipment and investigate Peggy Lemay's connection to it, while Luvia began studying the lens.

• Butterfly Lady told Wei Ge and Shade that the Charming Lady Club's true owner was a powerful figure in Weilun Dai'er City, then assured them the club's events would continue.
• Wei Ge combined the Princess's Pendant, teardrop-shaped ruby, and Silver Cube, and their ritual produced an eye-shaped lens for stargazing equipment.
• Luvia identified the lens as a Seer Association model and concluded that Wei Ge would need to use it from one of the association's towers to observe the stars.
• Luvia offered to operate the equipment with Bella and Matilda's help, while Shade proposed borrowing the tower in the Witch Council's name.
• Shade and Luvia suspected Peggy Lemay had dealings with the Seer Association, and Shade suggested asking Miss Pawo and The Truth Society to investigate.
• Luvia said she would study the lens for half a week, while Wei Ge prepared to find another bottle of Life Solution.

Shade met Desire beneath Moon Bay, returned her mask, and asked for help preparing for the inevitable apocalypse. Desire declined to cooperate until he understood his goal, but offered to answer one question about creation, leaving Shade asking whether the Firstborn Sons truly had emotions like humans and elves.

• Shade met Desire beneath the sea cliff and told her he felt less afraid of her while bearing Chaos Bestowal.
• Shade returned Desire's mask, and she gave him a Time Key she had found at the bottom of the great lake.
• Shade asked Desire to cooperate against the coming apocalypse, but she refused until he understood what he wanted to accomplish.
• Desire offered to answer one question concerning creation, and Shade asked how he could defeat the Firstborn Son he had dreamed of in the Red Ocean.
• Desire described the Firstborn Sons as powerful, dutiful creations of the Creator, and Shade asked whether they truly possessed emotions like humans and elves.

Shade learned that the Firstborn Sons had gone mad and that the Chosen One Ritual might require purifying them, though he still did not know how the Children of the End could succeed. He then visited Wei Ge to purify her Younger Sister and began investigating whether a disputed crown was genuine.

• Shade spoke with Desire, who said the mad Firstborn Sons dwelled in the Sea of Origin and that Shade would have to face the Sea itself; Shade concluded that the true test was to purify the Firstborn Sons.
• Shade returned home and told Luvia and Dorothy what he had learned, then decided to seek guidance from Long-Haired Luvia and Adele of the Past when he could.
• Shade went to Arcadia City and purified Wei Ge’s Life Solution while Wei Ge told him that Cassandra’s appraisers believed the Scepter was likely genuine but questioned the crown.
• Angelina sensed Kingship Destiny on both artifacts, and Wei Ge suggested asking historians in Tobesk to verify the crown; Shade recognized Professor Manning’s name on Cassandra’s list.
• Shade took the crown and Scepter home, where Dorothy, Luvia, and Leisha examined them, and Leisha asked to keep the crown overnight.

Shade and Dorothy visited Professor Manning to have the Delinore Crown and Scepter appraised and learned that both were genuine, with evidence that Delinore had two crowns. Professor Manning shared what he knew about the Burgundy Family and the mysterious customs of Delinore’s royal court, leaving Shade with more questions about the ancient kingdom.

• At the Study Group, the Doctor announced that Tobesk would not host this year’s Summer Off-Campus Practice and proposed a future group mission to earn Practical Credit.
• Shade and Dorothy visited Professor Manning, where Durut Giles and Lust Edwardz were also present, and Shade shared what he had discovered about the Astley Family’s connection to the Burgundy Family.
• Durut Giles recounted rumors that Duke Astley and the king had secretly saved Delinore’s royal treasures and preserved the Burgundy Family’s legitimate line.
• Professor Manning appraised Shade’s Scepter as genuine and said the Crown was almost certainly genuine, adding that Delinore may have had two crowns for different occasions.
• Professor Manning explained that little could be verified about the Burgundy Family’s origins, then described Delinore’s mysterious royal court and its rumored secret faith.

Shade learned that the Burgundy Family may once have possessed a Rhodes Card from the [Founding] series, possibly [Creation], and vowed to uncover the family’s secrets. During a Night Lesson aboard a river cruise, Leisha and Dorothy began teaching him about Greed through the story [The Blood-Red Deception] and introduced a dangerous Relic Derivative.

• Professor Manning said an ancient Rhodes Card was rumored to have belonged to the Burgundy Family, and Shade realized it could be one of the [Myriad Aspects of Impermanence Cards].
• At dinner, Shade told Dorothy and Leisha that he had ten [Founding] series cards and still sought Creation, Chaos, and the Sun; he said he would search for the Burgundy Family’s rumored treasure vault to uncover its secrets.
• Leisha arranged a Night Lesson on a cruise ship, where Shade explained how his thoughts about the [Transformation] Spirit Rune had developed after fighting [Rain Man].
• Leisha and Dorothy discussed the factions and meanings of [The Blood-Red Deception], and Shade chose to study the story from the bandits’ perspective of Greed.
• Dorothy showed Shade [Golden Seeds of Greed], Relic Derivatives from [Marani's Golden Box] that amplified the Greed of anyone who held them.

Shade learned about Greed through a Gold Bean game with Leisha and Dorothy, then dreamed of someone praising him after everything ended. The next morning, Leisha and Dorothy kept him home with Winnie, delaying his use of the Time Key until nine.

• Dorothy and Leisha challenged Shade to a Gold Bean game, with sleeping alone as the stake and the beans' influence testing his desire to win.
• Shade won with twenty-four beans, but learned Leisha had deliberately chosen a losing number so the lesson would neither leave him frustrated nor make it meaningless.
• Leisha insisted Shade keep the Gold Beans so he could learn to treat them as toys, and Shade later discussed the unresolved changes to Leisha and Dorothy's bodies before falling asleep.
• In a Chaos Dream, Shade wished that after everything ended, someone would tell him he had done very well, while Iluna prayed.
• On Sunday morning, Leisha and Dorothy asked Winnie to help keep Shade home, and their activities delayed breakfast and Shade's Time Key until nine.

Shade entered the Swamp of Oblivion on a Time Key mission to assist the God of Benevolence in treating patients. After repeatedly losing his memories in the fog, he reached an ancient Temple whose torchlight helped him resist oblivion.

• Shade said farewell to Leisha, Dorothy, and Winnie, then used the Mermaid's key to enter the Time Corridor.
• The mission sent Shade to the Underground Nether Realm in spring 2780 to assist the God of Benevolence, with Charm Life promised as his reward.
• Shade arrived in the Swamp of Oblivion and discovered that the fog repeatedly made him forget his purpose and surroundings.
• Shade pushed onward despite several episodes of confusion and noticed that the firelight ahead strengthened his resistance to oblivion.
• Shade reached an ancient Temple with two torches burning beside its entrance.

Shade entered a fog-shrouded temple and met Isolde Thorne, a Twelfth Order Witch who had sheltered the others there. He learned that everyone had forgotten the illness they came to have healed, and that the God of Benevolence waited upstairs; Isolde asked whether Shade was ready to meet Him.

• Shade entered the temple and met Isolde Thorne, two weakened twin witches, and an ordinary man who had lost most of his memories in the fog.
• Isolde explained that the fog erased memories and that the temple fire helped protect those who reached the sanctuary.
• Shade introduced himself and said he had come to seek a cure for his witch lover's congenital illness.
• Isolde revealed that everyone had forgotten which illness they wanted healed and could make only one request of the God of Benevolence.
• Isolde told Shade that the god was waiting on the temple's second floor and asked whether he was ready to meet Him.

Shade visited the God of Benevolence to seek help for Wei Ge’s congenital illness, which the god could not cure because it was tied to Destiny. The god gave Shade a ray of sunlight that strengthened him and permanently enhanced his Sunlight Healing spell, while offering to suppress Wei Ge’s illness and give her more time.

• Lady Thorn led Shade from the bonfire hall to the Golden Gates and explained how to approach the god.
• Shade opened the doors and entered the springlike chamber where the God of Benevolence awaited him.
• Shade described Wei Ge’s illness and the treatments he had tried, including the Emerald Record.
• The God of Benevolence said the illness could not be cured because it was tied to Destiny, but offered to suppress it further.
• The god gave Shade a ray of sunlight with several powerful effects and permanently enhanced his Sunlight Healing spell.

Shade received the Sun god’s blessing and was asked to help four people at the Temple recover the purposes they had forgotten, with the promise of a method for turning a Life Fire Seed into a Seed of Life. After learning about the Temple and sharing a meal with its residents, Shade discovered the identities of three of the four people he was meant to help.

• The god blessed Shade, asked him to help four people remember why they had come to the Temple, and promised him knowledge about creating a Seed of Life if he succeeded.
• Shade agreed to help, and Ms. Thorn wondered whether he was an Angel’s incarnation or another god’s chosen one.
• Shade shared his supplies with Ms. Thorn, who explained the Temple’s rooms, phantoms, and underground cemetery while they prepared food.
• After the meal, Shade learned that the young man was Leonard Albert, the youngest son of an East Continent baronial family.
• Shade learned that the two elderly women were the North Continent twins Maggie Victor and Dort Victor, intermediate-rank Witches with powerful combined Mind Reading abilities.

Shade learned more about the god’s temple and agreed to help Leonard Albert search the fog for his lost luggage, accompanied by Lady Thorn. As they entered the fog, Shade saw figures from his memories, including Sparrow Hamilton and Luvia, while Lady Thorn led them onward.

• Lady Thorn told Shade about past visitors whose wishes had been fulfilled and explained how some people had left or vanished in the fog.
• Lady Thorn suggested that Shade search for Leonard Albert’s lost luggage and explained that a flame from the temple could protect them from the fog’s forgetting effect.
• Shade prepared to leave and felt the sunlight granted by the god strengthening him, while deciding that its power belonged to Wei Ge.
• Shade and Lady Thorn entered the fog with a lantern and candle, and Lady Thorn warned him not to follow familiar figures or voices.
• Shade saw Sparrow Hamilton and later Luvia and heard familiar voices, while Lady Thorn continued guiding him toward the place Leonard Albert had come from.

Shade spoke with Lady Thorn about their lost memories and learned that her covered eyes caused pregnancy or tumor growth in anyone who saw them. As they returned from searching the swamp, they encountered Painful Memories, and Shade’s Sunlight helped him pass through the fog with less suffering than Lady Thorn.

• Lady Thorn explained that lost memories could be recovered by finding their physical forms in the fog or investigating traces in the mind, and Shade considered asking Siris for help.
• Lady Thorn revealed that her Magic Eye, which she called the Eye of Procreation, caused pregnancy or humanoid tumors in those who saw it, and described how she had gained it after a near-fatal attack.
• Shade and Lady Thorn found nothing during their search, then turned back toward the Temple Entrance as their lights dimmed.
• They encountered Painful Memories in the fog, which Lady Thorn said could not be avoided and could only be resisted through memories, secret arts, or Humanity.
• Shade followed Lady Thorn through the painful fog, and his Sunlight and happy memories helped him emerge with less suffering than she experienced.

Shade and Lady Thorn found and defeated a group of memory-draining Corpse Ghouls, then searched their nest for lost belongings. As they prepared to burn the skeletons there, Lady Thorn sensed Leonard Albert in one of the corpses, though Shade saw only old bones.

• Lady Thorn explained that Amnesiac Ghouls were dead people who had lost their memories, and warned Shade that they could drain his memories.
• Shade tested his sunlight power and unleashed a Light Cannon that destroyed most of the approaching Corpse Ghouls, gaining insight into the Sun.
• Shade and Lady Thorn followed the fleeing ghouls to their nest, where they found scattered belongings and several skeletons.
• Shade and Lady Thorn gathered the objects from the nest and prepared to burn the skeletons to prevent another nest from forming.
• Lady Thorn sensed Leonard Albert before them, but Shade saw only a skeleton that appeared to have been dead for a long time.

Shade and Lady Thorn discovered that Leonard Albert was a memory fragment and used Thaumaturgy to help him recover his purpose. They hurried to take him before the god on the 2nd Floor as his form began to fade.

• Shade and Lady Thorn found an ordinary skeleton in the fog, then lost their flames and Shade restrained the confused Lady Thorn with Great Sin Chains until they reached the Temple.
• Shade sensed that Leonard Albert was a real memory fragment rather than a living person, while “she” confirmed that Isolde Thorne was real.
• Shade used Lingquan Enlightenment and Confusion to restore Leonard Albert’s memories, and Albert remembered why he had come.
• Shade and Lady Thorn rushed Albert to the elevator and up to the god’s room as his body grew transparent.
• Shade pressed the card containing Albert’s skeleton against his fading body, slowing the visible transparency before they entered.

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.