Chapter Summaries

Shade joined a five-player Rhodes Cards game at Queen Diana’s birthday banquet, where the players wagered Gold Stars and were eliminated if they ran out. His special card let him identify Count Talancon’s hidden Queen, leaving the count unable to win the opening round.

• Marquis Grasley challenged Shade to a multiplayer card game for a chance to win Origin, and the Seer Association arranged the rules and selected four opponents.
• Queen Diana watched as Shade, Marquis Grasley, Count Talancon, Viscount Fordelman, and Mr. Speers began playing for Gold Stars.
• Count Talancon wagered two stars and stood while Viscount Fordelman, Mr. Speers, and Shade drew more cards.
• Viscount Fordelman revealed nineteen points, while Marquis Grasley and Mr. Speers revealed hands worth thirteen and seventeen.
• Shade revealed Flower 8, Old Continent Eastern Scenery · Tiss Lake, and used its effect to guess that Count Talancon’s hidden card was a Queen.
• Count Talancon revealed the Queen, which Shade’s card would increase and make him bust, and the onlookers laughed at the count’s predicament.

Shade won the card game at Yodel Palace, using a Special Rule Card to reveal that he held three cards from the Founding Series. He then danced with Miss Galina, who questioned his extraordinary luck and promised to send him the Darkness Box.

• Shade used Flower Seven, Origin · Balance, to recover from busting and then won the second round with 20 points.
• Shade won the third round with Royal Decree, exchanged his score with Mr. Speers's hidden card, and finished with 21 Gold Stars.
• During their dance, Miss Galina told Shade his card-game luck had been unusually conspicuous and asked whether he had used Thaumaturgy.
• Shade denied cheating, and Miss Galina said Tifa would deliver the Darkness Box tomorrow or the day after.

Shade danced with Galina, Leisha, and several other guests at Queen Diana’s birthday banquet, while learning that the queen’s gift was meant to show goodwill toward Galina. After stepping outside to watch the fireworks, he encountered Dawn Church clergy and helped them speak with foreign guests.

• Galina explained that Queen Diana’s valuable gift was a gesture of goodwill toward her, and warned Shade that the world would grow more dangerous as he urged him to become stronger.
• Shade danced with Leisha, who explained that Little Dimock was hostile because Shade had exposed Sachs Cavendish’s lover, and warned Shade to stay safe if he was planning another dangerous adventure.
• Shade danced with Angelina, Dorothy, Luvia, and several unfamiliar guests before leaving the banquet to get some fresh air and watch the fireworks.
• Shade found Bishop Owen and Priest Augustus speaking with Kartherian visitors, and Augustus asked Shade to interpret for them.
• Shade used his understanding of Kartherian Language to help the clergy and visitors hold a basic conversation.

At the Queen’s birthday banquet, Shade met Sari Pirot, a Creation Church warlock, and tried to ask him about steam machinery before an alarm drew Pirot away. Shade reflected on how he could introduce a Difference Engine to this world, then encountered Earl Dimock’s youngest son, whom he had frightened earlier.

• Shade interpreted a conversation between Bishop Owen and Kassenric diplomats until King Larus III summoned the envoys.
• Shade learned that Priest Augustus would be sent to La Te and met Sari Pirot, the Creation Church’s security chief in the diocese.
• Shade asked Pirot about advanced steam machinery and began describing a machine that could store numbers and calculate.
• A whistle from Yodel Palace interrupted them, and Pirot went to investigate the alarm.
• Shade considered how a Difference Engine could advance the world and decided to return to the banquet before Earl Dimock’s youngest son approached him.

Shade met Ivan Daknis at Yodel Palace, where the fugitive took Little Dimock hostage while negotiating with Mr. Sari Pirot. Pirot let Daknis leave to avoid a fight at the palace, and Shade stayed behind to sign confidentiality documents.

• Little Dimock apologized to Shade for taking his anger out on him over Prince Sax, whom he greatly admired.
• Ivan Daknis emerged from the Blue Rose bushes, struck Little Dimock, and held him and Shade at gunpoint.
• Mr. Sari Pirot confronted Daknis and demanded the ritual materials he had stolen from Yodel Palace.
• Pirot offered to let Daknis leave, and Daknis chose Little Dimock as a hostage while Shade moved to Pirot's side.
• Daknis explained why he had chosen Little Dimock, and Pirot told Shade he would need to sign confidentiality documents.

Shade secretly ambushed Daknis during his fight with Mr. Pilot, using prepared attacks to wound him and collect a drop of his blood before escaping. Mr. Pilot survived, but the attack prompted the palace to end the banquet early and impose a curfew.

• Mr. Pilot identified Daknis and Little Dimock as cultists connected to the Shadow over Coldwater Port incident, then went after them while Shade followed toward the Glass Flowerhouse.
• Shade found Mr. Pilot and Daknis fighting inside the flowerhouse, where Daknis infected Mr. Pilot with Pus of Man and then tried to escape.
• Shade ambushed Daknis with Mind Blast and the Demon Hunting Seal, then drove a Moonbeam Greatsword through Daknis's right hand as Daknis tried to pull him into a Darkness Vortex.
• Daknis escaped through a series of Darkness Vortices, while Shade collected a drop of his blood and slipped away.
• Mr. Pilot emerged from the flowerhouse and signaled for help with golden fireworks; King Larus III ended the banquet early, and Silver Cross Avenue was sealed under a temporary curfew.

Shade and Luvia used Daknis’s blood to track his trail through Tobesk after he escaped Yodel Palace. They followed him upstream along the Terrarell River, but the search was still underway as the chapter ended.

• Shade told Luvia that Daknis had likely obtained materials for the Chosen One Ritual at Yodel Palace and might have entered the Darkness Domain.
• Shade removed the Pus of Man from Daknis’s blood with Silver Moon, and Luvia used the remaining blood to activate Blood Echo in Shade’s eyes.
• Shade and Luvia tracked Daknis’s image from Yodel Palace to the Terrarell River, where the trail vanished at the water’s edge.
• Shade reasoned that Daknis had entered the river through a black vortex, and Luvia divined where he had surfaced.
• Shade and Luvia followed Daknis’s trail upstream toward the streets between the West District and North District.

Shade and Luvia tracked Daknis to the Three Cats Inn and waited to confirm whether he was still inside. As Shade spoke with the innkeeper, a High-Ring Arcanist entered and approached the counter, leaving Shade and Luvia watching him.

• Shade and Luvia followed Daknis's blood-red traces from the Lower District to the Three Cats Inn at Saint Song Square.
• Luvia used divination while Shade watched the stairs, and they concluded Daknis was probably still upstairs but could not be certain.
• Shade and Luvia waited downstairs until his Blood Echo faded, but Daknis did not appear.
• Shade approached Mrs. Sangmei to ask about Mary, then changed the subject after being warned that a High-Ring Arcanist had entered the inn.
• A sickly-looking man in a heavy dark red coat approached the counter, asked to speak with Mrs. Sangmei first, and gave Shade a coin.

Shade and Luvia discovered that the powerful stranger searching the Three Cats Inn was Weeper of Blood Hermons, a wounded Thirteenth Ring Warlock hunting Daknis. After Hermons left, they used Luvia’s divination to narrow Daknis’s likely room to Room 1 and entered it to search.

• A stranger questioned Mrs. Sangmei about the inn’s guests, then used an identification document to persuade her to show him the guest ledger.
• After the stranger left, Luvia sensed that Mrs. Sangmei’s consciousness had been influenced, and Shade copied the ledger entries before helping her wake.
• Shade and Luvia identified the stranger as Weeper of Blood Hermons, a Thirteenth Ring Warlock and Blood Spirit School ruler who had returned to the Old Continent after thirty years away.
• Shade and Luvia waited for Hermons and his companion to leave, then asked Luvia to divine which room Daknis had occupied.
• Luvia and Shade narrowed the possibilities to a fifth-floor room, chose Room 1, and entered it to search.

Shade used Thaumaturgy to uncover Daknis's plans and his reconciliation with Weeper of Blood Hermons. After learning they intended to prepare for a ritual in the Darkness Domain, Shade and Luvia split up to warn the Church and an ally.

• Shade heard Daknis talking to his demon about stealing the hilt of the Darkness Sword from Yodel Palace for a ritual involving the Darkness Domain.
• Shade overcame interference with his listening and heard Hermons offer to make Daknis a Chosen One in exchange for returning to the Blood Spirit School and helping it pursue the Golden Human.
• Daknis agreed and told Hermons that he needed to enter the Darkness Domain, claiming that Murderer's Steel Needle was his only remaining Relic.
• Shade learned that Daknis and Hermons planned to head toward a small town swallowed by darkness, while Luvia divined that they would prepare before entering the dangerous Relic.
• Luvia told Shade to warn an ally as she went to the black market to inform the Church, and they separated.

Shade prepared to enter the Darkness Domain when Daknis appeared, while Luvia and the Church searched for signs of the Thirteenth Ring Warlock. He waited for news and the Darkness Box, and the chapter left him with Dorothy at his door, unaware of the danger he was preparing to face.

• Shade and Luvia agreed to prepare for the Darkness Domain and notify their allies if Daknis made a move.
• Shade found Miss Galina and Tifa absent, left a letter requesting the Darkness Box, and returned home to pack Relics, Spellcasting Materials, and the Time Key.
• Luvia reported that Daknis and the Weeper of Blood had not entered the Darkness Domain, but the Church could not locate them; she planned to gather intelligence through the Seer Association.
• Shade stayed awake waiting for news, but no one came with the Darkness Box or further word from Luvia.
• Dorothy visited to borrow Detective Sparrow's case records, gave Shade a Youthful Immortality Leaf and an ancient text on Tree's Kiss, and asked him to tell her about his adventure afterward.

Shade learned that the Darkness Domain had expanded to Tobesk’s southern outskirts and set out to rescue Luvia, who was likely inside it. Priest Augustus blessed Shade against the relic’s influence before Shade departed.

• Priest Augustus forgot Luvia but remembered Annette when Shade questioned him about the group, and he recalled helping her contain the Unknown Level Relic Time Reversal.
• Shade and Priest Augustus compared maps and found that the Darkness Domain had expanded to include Miss Galina’s manor, likely after Daknis approached it.
• Shade told Priest Augustus he intended to enter the Darkness Domain to save Luvia, and the Priest warned him not to go.
• Priest Augustus used his power to bless Shade so he would resist the Darkness Domain, then weakened and stayed behind.
• Shade learned that Schneider had canceled the Study Group, left his house keys with Priest Augustus, and departed for the Darkness Domain.

Shade traveled south from Tobesk to enter the Darkness Domain, where he discovered that the relic’s effects were draining his strength despite Priest Augustus’s protection. He set out toward Forrester Town to meet Luvia before deciding how to proceed against Ivan Daknis.

• Shade questioned Bode Village’s constable, who said no strangers had passed that morning and reported seeing a Peace Church convoy.
• Shade evaded Royal Army patrols and reached the Darkness Domain’s edge, where he used Space Stabilization Aura to cross into it.
• Shade landed in the dark, resisted its cold and mental pressure with Priest Augustus’s power, and used the Doctor’s potion to improve his sight.
• Shade confirmed that the glowing metal box remained with him and decided to head to Forrester Town to meet Luvia.

Shade entered the darkness-shrouded Forrester Town and found Luvia unconscious, then awakened her with a light ritual. Luvia revealed that Chairman Stan was fighting Ring Arcanists from The Truth Society, including a Nine-Ring Arcanist and a Fifth-Ring Arcanist.

• Shade fought off Servants of Secrets as he made his way into Forrester Town.
• Shade found unconscious townspeople and Seer Association diviners, including Luvia, and used a ritual to wake her.
• Shade explained the situation to Luvia, who said the Church’s amulets had eventually failed as the darkness grew stronger.
• Shade gathered amulets so Luvia could move through the darkness, and she told him that Chairman Stan was fighting Ring Arcanists rather than demons.
• Luvia identified The Truth Society as the enemy and said its force included a Nine-Ring Arcanist and a Fifth-Ring Arcanist.

Shade and Luvia followed a divination toward a cornfield near Millwood Forest, where a demon ritual was strengthening the darkness. With Luvia too exhausted to continue, Shade went alone into the field while she rested in the light of God's Gift Box.

• Luvia explained that Chairman Stan was poor at direct combat, then helped Shade gather sleeping diviners and leave them protected in roadside shops.
• Luvia divined that Shade and she should travel to a nearby patch of farmland before heading toward Millwood Forest, where Iluna might have gone with the Church's team.
• As the darkness drained Luvia's strength, she gave Shade the materials for sealing Daknis and held the Youthful Immortality Leaf he lent her.
• At the black cornfield, Shade and Luvia heard a shrill ritual song, and Luvia's protective talismans cracked as the darkness grew stronger.
• Shade gave Luvia God's Gift Box and the Weak Angel Potion, promised to return within twenty minutes, and entered the cornfield alone.
• Luvia fell into a brief Slumber as a mature-looking white figure embraced her and hummed; a faint cat's cry came from inside the metal box.

Shade discovered a ritual of Servants of Secrets around a black bonfire and was exposed before he could return to Luvia. A powerful demon recognized the moonlight on him, overwhelmed his attacks, and was about to tear him apart as Shade summoned his Destiny Ring.

• Shade found Servants of Secrets performing a ritual around a bonfire of human bones beside a spatial fracture, then crawled back when the ritual expanded and exposed him.
• Shade attacked the demon formed from several Servants of Secrets, but its black shockwave shattered his Moonbeam Greatsword and nearly killed him.
• The demon revealed that it remembered the Silver Moon Sage and recognized the moonlight on Shade, while Shade tried to learn what the demon could tell about him.
• The demon used darkness to evade Shade's attacks, seized him, and began pulling his arms apart.
• Shade summoned the Destiny Ring of the Second Ring Warlock and challenged the demon's claim that he could not use moonlight.

Shade used a newly altered moonlight attack to injure the Demon, then escaped into the Time Corridor to continue the Life Gamble in Terror Castle. He reunited with Mister Riddell and began the next round with a Myriad Aspects of Impermanence card, but the deity gave no answer.

• Shade formed and kicked a crossed beam of moonlight into the Demon's arm, forcing it to release him before its darkness-fueled healing began.
• Shade used the Time Key to enter the Time Corridor, leaving his relics behind as the Demon hurled the Black Fire Human Bone at his fading phantom.
• Shade hurried through Terror Castle and reached Mister Riddell, then explained his plan to use three Myriad Aspects of Impermanence cards.
• Shade and Mister Riddell sat at the Stone Table as the black-robed deity appeared, and Shade placed the three cards beside Riddell.
• Mister Riddell asked the deity for permission to use the Balance card, but received no response.

Shade and Mister Riddell used Myriad Aspects cards to gain tools for the life gamble against the Black-Robed God, and Riddell spent part of his lifespan to turn the battle in their favor. The ninth card brought a Silver Moon tool, and Riddell asked Shade if he had another card for the final slot.

• Mister Riddell placed Myriad Aspects of Impermanence · Balance in the seventh slot, causing Dark Gold Scales to appear as the battle shifted against his side.
• Shade realized Riddell could grab the scales and learn their use, and Riddell discovered they could strengthen allies or weaken enemies at a cost of three months of lifespan per use.
• Mister Riddell used the scales despite Shade's concern, spending three months of lifespan to weaken the Witches and strengthen the Demon, Dragon, and sea monster.
• Mister Riddell placed Myriad Aspects of Impermanence · Darkness in the eighth slot and learned its robe could create vortices for movement and healing, but he chose not to use it yet.
• Mister Riddell placed Origin · Silver Moon in the ninth slot, learned it could summon moonlight to heal his side at a cost of three years of lifespan, and asked Shade for another card.

Shade and Mister Riddell completed the life gamble by creating the Man of the Future card, which let Shade’s phantom seize the Silver Moon and end the battle. Mister Riddell won his wish to leave Terror Castle, though he had to choose between leaving and keeping his memories.

• Shade suggested that Mister Riddell use his encounter with Shade as the experience for the final card, and Man of the Future appeared.
• Shade’s phantom joined the card battle but took the Silver Moon instead of fighting, then unleashed its light across the table.
• The moonlight ended the battle, leaving Man of the Future intact and shattering the other cards; the Black-Robed God confirmed Mister Riddell had won.
• Mister Riddell chose to leave Terror Castle rather than retain his memories and thanked Shade for helping him.
• Mister Riddell promised to study the Myriad Aspects of Impermanence Cards, and Shade reassured him that he had accomplished what he set out to do.

Shade and Mister Riddell finished their life gamble against the God of Gambling, and Shade received two blessings and a metal card souvenir. As the White Fog pulled Shade back toward his own era, he and Mister Riddell parted ways, and Shade rushed into the corridor to face the terror guarding Terror Castle.

• Shade questioned the silent god about the Myriad Aspects of Impermanence, but learned only that collecting all thirteen could offer comfort at the ultimate end.
• The God of Gambling made Shade guess which of three cards was the Man of the Future, and Shade chose correctly, receiving blessings that granted extraordinary luck in gambling.
• The god revealed that he would have made Shade one of his God-Favored Ones and urged him to collect all thirteen Myriad Aspects of Impermanence Cards.
• Slaichi Riddle won the gamble and received the pure Spirit from the shattered cards, while Shade received the metal Man of the Future card as a souvenir.
• Shade and Mister Riddell said farewell and entered separate doors; Mister Riddell returned to a field of white light, while Shade ran into the ancient corridor to face the creature guarding Terror Castle.