Chapter Summaries

Shade asked Doctor Schneider to help obtain Mind Crystals for learning Mind Blast, agreeing to pay for materials and help the doctor acquire ritual supplies. He spent the rest of the day with Professor Manning at Delarion Royal Academy, where their discussion of ancient gods left Shade considering the origins of the Old Gods’ power.

• Shade asked Doctor Schneider for two Mind Crystals, and the doctor agreed to search mental sanatoriums and make them if Shade supplied thirty pounds for materials.
• Doctor Schneider lent Shade a notebook on mind-related abilities after Shade said he was learning Mind Blast.
• Shade spent Thursday with Professor Manning, sharing stories about Herkils Town and visiting the archaeology department at Delarion Royal Academy.
• Professor Manning discussed the Old God Earth-Shaking Worm, the World Serpent, and the Orthodox God Old Man with the Lantern, prompting Shade to consider whether their powers came from the Ancient God Earth Mother.
• Shade met Professor Manning’s students, exchanged business cards, and left the Academy to enjoy an unhurried evening with Mia.

Shade spent Friday with Captain Rades and learned about the dangers of the New Continent, then continued his Saturday studies with Dorothy. He ended the night escorting her home, where Dorothy kissed him on the cheek.

• Shade read that ten days had passed since Daknis left Coldwater Port and continued overseeing the renovations to his house.
• Captain Rades told Shade he would leave for the southern front next month and gave him an ordinary amber pendant he had found while packing.
• Captain Rades brought Shade to the Veterans' Club, where Colonel Dallas Hopus described strange and dangerous sights in the New Continent.
• Shade learned that Professor Garcia had praised his final paper and invited him to take an advanced Locked Space class in autumn.
• Dorothy told Shade that Leisha would return to Tobesk next Tuesday and explained that she and Leisha rarely switched bodies unless necessary.
• Shade escorted Dorothy home after their lesson, and Dorothy kissed him on the cheek.

Shade inspected his fully renovated house and found Detective Sparrow's old photographs, then met Luvia to review records for Slaichi Riddle. Luvia identified the supposed god-summoning relic as the Life Gambling Table, leaving Shade asking how its alleged power had vanished and where the table was now.

• Shade finished inspecting the renovated house with Mia and discovered Detective Sparrow's postcards and landscape photographs hidden in the attic.
• Shade visited Luvia, who gave him records about Slaichi Riddle containing roughly four useful life events.
• Shade told Luvia he would wait half a month for more records, then offer information about Daknis to the Association in exchange for them.
• Luvia showed Shade a photograph of the table and identified it as the Keeper of Secrets Level Relic, the Life Gambling Table, rather than a Level 0 relic that summoned a god.
• Luvia explained that the table let Ring Arcanists gamble for Spirit Runes or reveal an enemy's true appearance, and Shade asked what had happened to its supposed god-summoning power and where it was now.

Shade learned more about the relic and considered the unexplained history of his newly renovated house before entering the Time Corridor for another visit to Terror Castle. He reunited with Mister Riddell, who remembered nothing new and was near collapse from hunger.

• Luvia told Shade the relic was kept at the Lorima Main Branch and could only be used under a High-Ring Arcanist’s supervision, and Shade resolved to investigate the gambling deity behind it.
• Shade described the completed renovations at No. 6 Saint Derain Square, and Luvia warned him to investigate the house’s past deaths and disappearance for a possible pattern.
• Shade returned home, watched Mia explore Room Two, and wondered whether to invite Dorothy or Iluna to live with him before deciding he still needed to confirm the house was safe.
• Shade entered the Time Corridor and learned that he had to help a mortal win the Life Gamble to receive the Breath of Time Thaumaturgy and information about the Dark Dungeon.
• Shade ran through Terror Castle’s corridor and reached the room, where Mister Riddell remembered nothing new and eagerly ate the food Shade had brought.

Shade helped Mister Riddell recover memories of several dangerous adventures during their gamble against the god, giving his side powerful creatures but leaving him physically weakened. Before Shade returned to his own time, Mister Riddell promised to investigate Myriad Aspects of Impermanence, revealing a connection between his promise and the cards Shade knew five thousand years later.

• Mister Riddell drew the holy emblem of the God of Gambling, identified as an abstract representation of Ouroboros, and resumed the gamble with Shade.
• Shade helped Mister Riddell remember surviving an Eight-Legged Siren with a statue of the Lord of the Scarlet Spiral, and the table summoned the Deep Sea Giant Monster.
• Mister Riddell recalled escaping a Demon because a Witch's branded seal repelled it, and Shade recorded the mark's symbol for future study.
• Shade helped Mister Riddell remember the Cursed Sword and Man-Eating House, whose powers joined the battle as the god's five Witches fought his three monsters.
• As Mister Riddell weakened, Shade promised to help him win; Mister Riddell vowed to investigate Myriad Aspects of Impermanence if he survived, and Shade returned to his own time.
• Shade realized Slaichi Riddle's research into Myriad Aspects of Impermanence might have fulfilled a promise made across five thousand years, then collected a metal screwdriver from God's Gift Box.

Shade asked Priest Augustus about an Old God’s gambling emblem and collected a Weak Angel Potion to help fight Demons. He learned that his Demon Hunting Mark was the seal of the vanished Third Epoch Demon Hunters, while Priest Augustus warned him to keep the potion’s source secret.

• Shade showed Priest Augustus the holy emblem, and the priest identified it as belonging to the departed Raucous Black Hunter, the God of Gambling.
• Priest Augustus gave Shade the Weak Angel Potion and explained how it could harm Demons or reveal invisible evil beings.
• Priest Augustus warned Shade that the Church suspected the Ring Arcanist from The Truth Society had companions still operating in the diocese.
• Shade showed Priest Augustus the Demon Hunting Mark, and the priest identified it as the Mark of the Keeper of Secrets Level relic called the Demon Hunting Seal.
• Priest Augustus said the seals were gifts left by the vanished Third Epoch Demon Hunters and warned Shade not to reveal that he had received the potion from him.

Miss Galina told Shade that Ivan Daknis had been found in Veilwood City and might be heading toward Tobesk, then gave Shade a Wishing Coin Relic. The chapter ended with Shade accepting her invitation to dinner and an opera, while insisting he would repay her for the coin.

• Miss Galina told Shade that the Witch Council had tracked Ivan Daknis to Veilwood City, where he had escaped after being found.
• Shade, Miss Galina, and Tifa traced Daknis's likely route toward Tobesk and discussed the danger of other Ring Arcanist organizations joining the search.
• Miss Galina warned Shade that Daknis might seek revenge because Shade had wounded him with the Sunlight Gun.
• Miss Galina gave Shade a Wishing Coin and explained that it granted wishes in unpredictable ways, with greater wishes producing stranger results.
• Shade accepted Miss Galina's invitation to dinner and an opera, asked to bring Mia, and said he would repay her for the coin.

Shade spent Monday with Miss Galina, learned that Sivie Aurora had checked his body while he was unconscious, and accepted an invitation to play Rhodes Cards at Queen Diana’s birthday banquet. On Tuesday, he asked Luvia to divine how they could obtain the Demon Hunting Seal, leaving her to determine what specific question to ask the Wishing Coin.

• Miss Galina told Shade that Sivie Aurora had left Coldwater Port and apologized for examining his body while he was unconscious.
• Marquis Charles Grasley invited Shade to play Rhodes Cards at Queen Diana’s birthday banquet, and Shade agreed to bring Origin · Silver Moon.
• Shade visited Coldwater Port in secret to leave Doctor Schneider’s materials list at the Seven Broomsticks Tavern.
• Shade showed Luvia the Wishing Coin and asked her to divine how they could obtain the Demon Hunting Seal.
• Luvia examined Shade’s Weak Angel Potion and said the Human Pus Demon remained their greatest uncertainty; she asked Shade to define his divination request more precisely.

Shade learned that following his own plans would likely lead him to the Demon Hunting Seal, while Luvia revealed more about the demons and Ancient Gods. He then returned home and set out to investigate the eye Doctor Jacob Alfred by visiting the musician whose eyesight Alfred had restored.

• Luvia divined that Shade would probably encounter the Demon Hunting Seal if he continued along his own path.
• Luvia told Shade that a Servant of Secrets, a demon linked to the Darkness Domain, had been spreading darkness, and shared Iluna’s findings about the Ancient Gods’ powers.
• Shade learned that Leisha would arrive in Tobesk that day and worried about her and Dorothy being unable to stay near each other.
• Shade retrieved Detective Sparrow’s commission files and chose to investigate the Doctor who had treated Toma Mandis’s eyes.
• Shade planned to visit Frank Bundy, the musician whose eyesight Jacob Alfred had restored, before reporting back to Toma Mandis.

Shade went to investigate blind musician Frank Bundy for a client, only to learn that Bundy had died by suicide after his eyes were cured. The landlord’s account led Shade to the Norsan Opera Troupe, where he obtained Bundy’s suicide note and permission to question the people who knew him.

• Shade found Frank Bundy’s home in Rotten Fish Alley and learned from the landlord that Bundy had killed himself with prohibited drugs the previous month.
• Shade heard that Bundy had become afraid of darkness and sudden noises after his sight was restored, and learned that he had left a suicide note with the Norsan Opera Troupe.
• Shade returned home for lunch with Little Mia, then traveled across the city to the troupe’s headquarters.
• Shade met the troupe leader, who gave him Bundy’s suicide note and belongings and allowed him to speak with people who had known Bundy.

Shade investigated the suicide of musician Frank Bundy and found evidence that Bundy’s worsening mental state was connected to a strange liquid and his music. He brought the final score to Miss Galina’s estate, where Tifa Servit played it for him, and Shade became increasingly disturbed by the melody.

• Shade questioned members of the Norsan Opera Troupe and learned that Frank Bundy had grown fearful and gloomy after his eyes were cured.
• Shade compared Bundy’s suicide note with his musical scores and found that both showed increasingly frenzied handwriting despite the note’s orderly contents.
• Shade found a small bottle containing a faint trace of spirit and learned Bundy had dripped its liquid into his eyes as medicine.
• Shade took the scores and bottle, then visited Miss Galina’s estate to have a musician perform Bundy’s final compositions.
• Tifa Servit played the final score in the soundproof music room, and Shade grew increasingly restless as he listened.

Shade investigated the final piano score written by the deceased musician Mr. Bundy and concluded that Bundy had witnessed something mysterious. Miss Galina assigned Tifa Servit to assist Shade during the next day's investigation, while a letter from Dorothy said Leisha might visit Shade that weekend.

• Shade stopped Tifa Servit from playing Mr. Bundy's frantic score and used Cindyia's Moonbeam Gift to soothe her.
• Tifa said Bundy had likely witnessed something mysterious and praised his music as the work of an exceptional genius.
• Miss Galina ordered Tifa to assist Shade with his investigation the following day, and Tifa agreed to meet him at eight.
• Miss Galina told Shade that Leisha had returned to Tobesk, then declined his offer to visit her at Yodel Palace.
• Shade received a letter from Dorothy saying Leisha might visit him at Saint Derain Square over the weekend.
• Tifa arrived at Shade's home at eight on Wednesday morning to begin assisting him.

Shade and Miss Servit questioned the Three Cats Inn’s owner about the late musician Frank Bundy and learned that one of Bundy’s companions might know more. Mrs. Sangmei challenged Shade to a Rhodes Cards match over the information, and they began wagering rare special cards.

• Shade brought Miss Servit to the Three Cats Inn and asked Mrs. Sangmei about Frank Bundy’s behavior before his suicide.
• Mrs. Sangmei recalled that Bundy had recently become withdrawn and drank alone, and said a woman close to him might know more and possess some of his belongings.
• Mrs. Sangmei demanded a pound for the woman’s address, so Shade proposed a card wager instead.
• Mrs. Sangmei wagered her Royal Decree card, and Shade answered with his Demon Soul Stealer Bishop card.
• Mrs. Sangmei arranged a formal match at the inn, and Shade sat down to play while Miss Servit watched.

Shade played a dice-determined card match against Mrs. Sangmei at the Three Cats Inn, with Tifa Servit and Little James rolling for their respective sides. After Shade took the first round and tied the second, both rollers landed on sixes in the third round, making it the final round and setting up a six-card draw.

• Mrs. Sangmei proposed a best-of-match card game in which Tifa Servit and Little James rolled dice to determine each round’s draw and a six would end the match.
• Tifa deliberately rolled one against Little James’s three, and Shade won the first round with Sun 5 and Flower 10.
• Little James rolled five and Tifa rolled two, so both sides drew three cards and tied the round at sixteen points.
• Little James rolled a six in the third round, and Mrs. Sangmei said a win would force a deciding round.
• Tifa rolled a six as well, making the third round the final one and requiring both sides to draw six cards.

Shade won the Rhodes Cards game against Mrs. Sangmei and obtained the address of Mary, who had been close to the dead blind musician Frank Bundy. Mary revealed that Bundy had begun seeing shadows after a Doctor treated his eyes, and Shade recovered Bundy’s yellow eye medicine and hastily written music from her belongings.

• Tifa revealed Shade’s six cards, which formed the lowest-scoring possible hand, and Shade won the game against Mrs. Sangmei.
• Shade paid Mrs. Sangmei for information and received Mary’s address, then met Mary at a roadside restaurant with Tifa.
• Mary said Bundy had feared increasingly clear shadows he saw at night after his eyesight was treated, but had kept using his eye medicine because he did not want to go blind again.
• Shade learned Mary was hiding Bundy’s belongings and used a coin and revolver to persuade her to produce them.
• Shade took Bundy’s yellow eye medicine and sheets of music, completing his investigation of the Three Cats Inn clues.

Shade and Miss Servit investigated Mr. Bundy's potion and Shade decided to test it before visiting Doctor Alfred. The potion temporarily sharpened Shade's vision and greatly enhanced his Blood Echo curse, revealing its likely effect.

• Shade told Miss Servit that Miss Mary might have acted out of self-protection and that he cared more about discovering what the potion did.
• Shade rented a room at the Three Cats Hotel and asked Miss Servit to put a tiny drop of the potion in his right eye.
• The potion caused Shade's Blood Echo curse to activate automatically and work better than ever before.
• Shade discovered that the potion improved his vision and temporarily enhanced eye-related curses and thaumaturgy.
• Shade noticed the details of Miss Servit's skin through his enhanced sight and complimented her.

Shade and Miss Servit investigated Doctor Alfred about the potion that restored blind musician Frank Bundy’s sight and may have contributed to his death. Alfred revealed his experimental records and formula, which left Shade questioning the role of a mysterious substance called “Red Potion.”

• Shade and Miss Servit tested the potion’s effects and concluded that Doctor Alfred was probably not a Ring Arcanist.
• Shade and Miss Servit visited Alfred’s clinic and told him that Frank Bundy had died about twenty-five days earlier.
• Alfred said he had only tracked Bundy’s eyesight and had not known about his mental problems.
• Shade threatened to take the potion sample to Ridgewich Field and involve the police unless Alfred explained the formula.
• Alfred showed Shade his potion formula, Bundy’s case file, and three months of rehabilitation records, revealing that the treatment had been an unregistered experiment.
• Shade examined the formula and asked Alfred what the listed “Red Potion” was.

Shade uncovered the truth behind Doctor Alfred’s Red Potion and found a relic ring that summoned a Servant of Secrets. He and Tifa entered the darkness to hunt the demon, following an abnormal sound ahead.

• Shade exposed Doctor Alfred’s Red Potion as an unknown drug, and Alfred confessed that he had found it with an ancient parchment and an iron ring in his family basement.
• Shade recognized the ring as the Demon Hunting Seal, a relic that attracted demons, just as a darkness-swallowing presence appeared at the study door.
• Tifa identified the creature as a Servant of Secrets spawned by the Angel Level Relic Darkness Domain, Outside the City, and urged Shade to leave.
• Shade persuaded Tifa to accompany him, and they entered the darkness together as his Holy Silver light protected them from being devoured.
• Shade’s Silver Moon light failed to disperse the darkness, so he led Tifa deeper into it and heard an abnormal sound ahead.

Shade and Tifa fought and banished the Servant of Secrets after Shade touched the ring, then erased Doctor Alfred’s memory of his role in Frank Bundy’s death. Shade reported his findings to Mr. Mandis, who declined the medicine and terminated the commission.

• Shade used the Exorcism Symbol and Great Sin Chains to weaken the Servant of Secrets while Tifa prepared to banish it.
• Shade beat the demon until Tifa’s Thaumaturgy sent it away, and they took the ring, medicine, parchment, and Doctor Alfred’s research notes.
• Tifa erased Doctor Alfred’s memory after he confessed that he had caused Frank Bundy’s death by handling the old objects.
• Shade explained the investigation’s results to Mr. Mandis and offered him the bright yellow medicine, warning him of its risks.
• Mr. Mandis refused the medicine and terminated the commission, while Shade said he would take even a small chance to regain his sight.

Shade translated the parchment and learned about an ancient Ring Arcanist’s relics, then used the red liquid to evolve Blood Echo into a Thaumaturgy. The chapter left him testing his newly strengthened ability after accepting an invitation to Queen Diana’s birthday banquet.

• Shade received 13 shillings from Mr. Mandis for the terminated commission and invited Tifa to dinner as thanks for her help.
• A messenger from Yodel Palace delivered Queen Diana’s invitation to Shade, who agreed to attend her birthday banquet.
• Shade deciphered the parchment and learned that Doctor Alfred’s ancestor had hidden a relic longsword on Sikar Mountain and that the red liquid could strengthen eye-related abilities.
• Shade told Tifa about the potion’s effects and asked her to drip it into his eyes to evolve Blood Echo.
• Shade asked Tifa to add a drop of her blood, and Blood Echo connected with his Miracle Spirit Rune and became the Thaumaturgy Blood Echo.