Chapter Summaries

Shade reunited with Xiao En Asmon at the Traveler Camp, where the Demon Scholar described his search for a fire-related Demon and told a tale about a wish-granting Demon. A traveling poet, William Shelley, joined them for Rhodes Cards, and Shade won their first round as Asmon continued his story.

• Shade met Xiao En Asmon, who said he had traveled to Sikar Mountain to investigate rumors of a fire-related Demon.
• Shade told Asmon about the Mechanical College murders while they waited for Captain Rades, and Asmon explained how the Bronze Jar resembled demon-summoning rituals.
• William Shelley approached Shade and Asmon, offered a rare Bard Fletcher card as a wager, and invited them to play Rhodes Cards.
• Shade agreed to play Shelley while Asmon continued a tale about a Demon that granted wishes but brought calamity and malice.
• Shade stood at nineteen, Shelley drew until he reached twenty-four, and Shade won the first round.

Shade heard Mr. Asmon tell a story about a man who spent his life containing a Demon, only for the Demon to devour him and return to his hometown in his likeness. After winning a Heroic Legends card from Mr. Shelley, Shade met Captain Rades, who revealed that Red Water Camp’s commander owned another card from the series.

• Mr. Asmon told Shade and Mr. Shelley the story of a wishless man who traveled with a Demon and refused to trade his clothes for more years of life.
• Shade stood with eighteen in Rhodes Cards, while Mr. Shelley busted; Shade won and kept the Flower 9, Heroic Legends Fletcher.
• Mr. Asmon revealed that the Demon had devoured the man’s soul and taken his likeness, prompting Shade and Mr. Shelley to discuss Demons.
• Shade told Mr. Asmon that people should cherish their souls and stay away from Demons, then left to greet Captain Rades.
• Captain Rades identified Brigadier General Carter, commander of Red Water Camp, as the owner of Heroic Legends · Swordsman Sebaron.

Shade learned the location of Brigadier General Carter’s quarters at Red Water Camp, then secretly climbed inside to study a map of Sikar Mountain. Before leaving, he helped Captain Rades hit eight sparrows with eight shots, giving the camp a new story about the “Eight-Gun Captain.”

• Captain Rades gave Shade ninety pounds of the reward for solving the serial Murder Case and described Red Water Camp and Brigadier General Carter’s quarters.
• After Captain Rades was called back to camp, Shade entered the mountain forest and scaled the cliff behind the quarters.
• Shade searched the second-floor room, memorized the Sikar Mountain map, and hid in a Mirror when an officer entered.
• Shade watched Captain Rades shoot at sparrows and used Mind Blast to make the birds easier targets.
• Shade helped Captain Rades hit eight sparrows with eight bullets, then left Red Water Camp.

Shade searched Sikar Mountain for the sword hidden by an ancient High-Ring Arcanist, but the Moon nearly drew him into a dangerous trance before Sister Devlin stopped him. She warned him about the growing presence of Bloodkin in the mountains and revealed that they possessed three Sage Level relics, prompting Shade to recognize a familiar activation incantation.

• Shade followed the old directions through Sikar Mountain, killed an attacking one-eyed bear, and found the Blackwood Forest and the cliff where the sword was hidden.
• As Shade gazed at the Silver Moon, he lost track of more than an hour and reached toward it until Sister Devlin grabbed his arm and brought him back to himself.
• Sister Devlin explained that she had found Shade by sensing unusual moonlight and invited him to join the Blind Sisters at the summit lake, but he declined.
• Sister Devlin warned Shade that Bloodkin had been appearing in the mountains and possessed the Sage Level Blood Crown, Bloodkin Ring, and Blood Thorns Scepter.
• Shade recognized the Bloodkin Ring's possible activation incantation and asked Sister Devlin if it was “Transmutation of Blood and Flesh, Ascension of Flesh and Soul.”

Shade found the Demon-Slaying Sword in a hidden cavern beneath Sikar Mountain, where it was embedded in a bonfire sealing a demon. The demon attacked when Shade approached, and he realized the sword had been used to imprison it eight hundred years earlier.

• Sister Devlin explained the Bloodkin Ring's history and its risks, and Shade decided not to use it on Mia.
• Shade found the hidden cave entrance and descended into the mountain using the parchment to avoid its traps.
• Shade reached a vast hollow with a ruined rope bridge and found the Demon-Slaying Sword embedded in a burning bonfire.
• The bonfire flared and a demon-shaped giant hand attacked Shade, but he struck it with the Moonbeam Greatsword and forced it back into the flames.
• Shade recognized that an ancient High-Ring Arcanist had used the sword to seal a demon in the cavern.

Shade told Doctor Schneider about the sealed Flame Demon he encountered at Sikar Mountain, and the doctor identified it as the Evil Spirit Demon Incinerator Sokphis. Doctor Schneider planned to borrow a spatial-transfer relic so he could reach Middlesburg and attempt to devour the demon, while Shade prepared to visit Priest Augustus on Sunday.

• Shade visited Doctor Schneider with Mia and explained how he had obtained the Demon Hunting Seal and encountered a demon inside Sikar Mountain.
• Doctor Schneider identified the creature as Incinerator Sokphis, an Evil Spirit Demon imitating an alien Flame Demon, and warned that even a normal Flame Demon required a High-Ring Arcanist and specialized weapons to handle.
• Shade suggested leaving the demon sealed rather than risking its escape, but Doctor Schneider said devouring a weakened, sealed demon was his specialty.
• Doctor Schneider proposed borrowing a relic from the Correspondence Group to make a brief trip to Middlesburg and said he would tell Shade the result at their meeting the next day.
• Shade said he planned to visit Priest Augustus on Sunday, and Doctor Schneider asked him to tell the priest to stay safe.

Shade saw Iluna off as she left Tobesk for Middlesburg, then learned from Luvia that the Order of Spiritual Cultivation descended from the ancient Death Church. Their discovery suggested that Orthodox Churches had inherited some of the Ancient Gods’ power, and Luvia urged Shade to pursue the Order’s connection to Sister Devlin.

• Shade and Luvia said goodbye to Iluna, and Shade gave her a Youthful Immortality Leaf for her journey to Middlesburg.
• Shade replied to Miss Mia Goode’s letter, describing Little Mia and hinting that he might want to adopt the cat.
• Luvia returned with classified records showing that the Order of Spiritual Cultivation branched off from the ancient Death Church.
• Luvia told Shade that the Churches of Creation and Destruction and of Nature had also absorbed branches of the Ancient Death Church.
• Shade and Luvia concluded that the Orthodox Gods had inherited part of the Ancient Gods’ power, and Luvia urged Shade to investigate Sister Devlin’s possible connection to the Order.

Shade learned to use the Traveler's Travel Door, a Relic that briefly connected two spaces, and asked Doctor Schneider to arrange a trade so he could acquire it. He planned to retrieve the door's key the next afternoon before traveling to Middlesburg to confront a Demon.

• After the Study Group, Shade stayed behind with Doctor Schneider, who demonstrated the Traveler's Travel Door and explained its limits and dangers.
• Shade used the Relic to open a temporary passage, and Doctor Schneider showed him that only one person could pass through before the door closed after three minutes and twelve seconds.
• Shade arranged with Doctor Schneider to borrow the key the next afternoon so he could use the door during his trip to Middlesburg.
• Shade asked Doctor Schneider to contact the door's owners about trading for it, offering either his Youthful Immortality Leaf with additional money or his Corpse-Hiding Mirror.

Leisha’s fairy-tale magic grew stronger after Dorothy advanced, while her search for the Twins God offered Shade clues about the twins he had encountered in the past. After a restful night, Shade entered a new Time Corridor mission in the Central Continent, where he had to help the Gray-Robed Sage document the ruined Gaddis Library.

• Leisha summoned the Sleeping Princess and the Match Girl at once, explaining that Dorothy’s rise to the Fifth Ring had strengthened her own abilities.
• Leisha told Shade that Old Dad John’s Red Butterflies had not solved their problem, and that records described the Twins God blessing two women near Sikar Mountain to defeat a creature sealed in subspace.
• Shade realized Helen and Grace had sought the Cult of the Twins God’s help and broken the Destiny binding twins.
• Leisha used the Sleeping Princess’s spindle to give Shade a dreamless, restorative sleep, then stayed to talk with Luvia.
• Before dawn, Shade used Grandma Cassandra’s key and entered a Time Corridor set in Year 3024 of the Fifth Epoch.
• Shade arrived at Silent Valley during a snowstorm and received a trial to help the Gray-Robed Sage document the texts of the ruined Gaddis Library.

Shade traveled through the freezing Silent Valley to the library ruins, where he encountered three Witches. He recognized the yellow-haired Witch as Blaine Olanode, and she recognized him as Shade Suellen Hamilton.

• Shade trudged through the snow toward the library ruins and found a frozen corpse beneath it.
• Shade entered the ruined library, where three Witches were sheltering around a bonfire.
• The red-haired Witch heard Shade approaching, and the three Witches watched him reach the entrance.
• Blaine Olanode pulled Shade through the protective ritual and welcomed him inside.
• Shade greeted Blaine Olanode, and the Moon Witch recognized him by name.

Shade reunited with Miss Olanord in the snowbound ruins of Gaddis Library, where she and her companions were trapped by the valley’s deadly weather. He learned that a nearby shrine might belong to the Gray-Robed Sage and began planning to help the Witches escape and gather knowledge.

• Shade recognized Miss Olanord, who introduced her student Fiona Drago and their companion Peggy Samuel.
• Peggy used a spell to let the Witches understand Shade, and Miss Olanord recalled meeting him twenty-two years earlier.
• Peggy explained that the group had come to Gaddis Library to collect ancient texts, and Shade asked whether their expedition involved the Gray-Robed Sage.
• Fiona revealed that a shrine lay nearby, while Miss Olanord described Silent Valley’s dangerous snow stages and how a two-week blizzard had trapped them.
• Shade cast Silent Moonbeam to halt the Witches’ loss of strength and offered to bring supplies and investigate the shrine.

Shade and the Witches discovered an ancient ritual in a moon-marked shrine and offered it three books to summon Gadis. The ritual appeared to do nothing, but the Witches saw something frightening behind Shade.

• Miss Olanord sent Fiona to retrieve a shrine from the library while Shade asked about the people from the God of Vampires' wine party; he learned that the twins were missing, an old man had died, and their Witch mentor remained gravely injured.
• Shade showed the Witches his Ring Arcanist Thaumaturgy, and Fiona returned with the dusty stone shrine.
• Shade opened the shrine and found an ancient poem describing Gadis's Termination and calling for the Book of the Past, Book of the Present, and Book of the Future.
• Shade and the Witches chose three books and placed them inside the shrine as an attempted summoning ritual.
• When nothing seemed to happen, Shade turned toward the Witches and saw them terrified as they pointed behind him and gestured at his hand.

Shade and the Witches encountered the Guardian of the Library, who asked them to recover three forbidden books in exchange for wishes. After handing over the Spiral Text, Shade received the Ancient Voice Thaumaturgy and the group chose to use their wish to give Miss Olanord his Silent Moonbeam.

• Shade met the Guardian of the Library, who asked him and the Witches to retrieve the Nameless Sacrifice Book, the Yegge Scroll, and the Spiral Text for three wishes.
• The witch from Zalas revealed that she already had the Spiral Text, and Shade handed the sealed stone slab to the Guardian.
• By touching the Spiral Text, Shade gained the Ancient Voice Thaumaturgy and learned that the First Epoch lasted a long time after the Beginning Epoch, when the Thirteen Old Gods had not gone far.
• Shade and the Witches agreed to use their first wish to give Miss Olanord his Silent Moonbeam so she could help them endure the blizzard.
• The Guardian explained that he could transfer Silent Moonbeam from Shade to Miss Olanord, and Miss Olanord asked whether the transfer could be reversed.

Shade exchanged Silent Moonbeam for Miss Olanord’s Confusion and gained the Golden Miracle Ling Rune—Yellow Moon. After their embrace triggered his disappearance, Miss Olanord and the other witches wondered about his identity and his connection to witches.

• Shade asked Miss Olanord to exchange her Confusion spell for his Silent Moonbeam, and she agreed.
• The exchange gave Shade Confusion and exposed him to Yellow Moon’s power, but his Destiny Ring lacked enough power to inscribe a new Spirit Rune.
• Miss Olanord embraced Shade, helping him inscribe the Golden Miracle Ling Rune—Yellow Moon before he vanished in a burst of wind and snow.
• Miss Peggy Samuel teased Miss Olanord about embracing Shade, and the witches discussed who he was.
• Miss Olanord said Teacher Feilianna believed Shade was the only man witches could touch.

Shade gained the Yellow Moon Spirit Rune, then prepared to visit a boy who could Predict Death with Sister Devlin. He and the nun arrived at the Raven Club in Middlesburg, where their meeting was about to begin.

• Shade obtained the Yellow Moon Spirit Rune and discovered he could use it to cast an ochre-yellow Light Spell.
• Shade told Miss Galina about his journey through the Fifth Epoch and gave her a list of supplies to procure for the Witches; she agreed to help and offered to teach him to ride.
• Miss Galina invited Shade to the racetrack, but he declined because he had arranged to visit a boy who could Predict Death with a nun in Middlesburg.
• Shade received Miss White's final seven-pound payment, confirming that his commission to find Helen Black was complete.
• Shade met Sister Devlin at the House of the Blind, and they traveled to the Raven Club posing as John and Mary Watson.
• Shade pushed Sister Devlin's wheelchair into the Raven Club at Number 8 Roof Alley.

Shade and Sister Devlin visited Joey Barton at the Raven Club to learn their futures, and Barton divined their deaths. The reading ended with Barton telling Shade that he had died ten months earlier.

• Shade and Sister Devlin met Joey Barton in his dim study, where Shade introduced them as John and Mary Watson.
• Shade paid Barton to divine their deaths, and Shade drew the Death card while Sister Devlin drew the flame card.
• Barton said Sister Devlin would die in twelve years, apparently turning into ashes.
• Barton saw Shade dying beneath a collapsing giant tower, then revealed that Shade had died at the beginning of Common Calendar 1853, ten months earlier.

Shade learned that Joey Barton’s divination showed him dead at the beginning of 1853, while Sister Devlin found the boy’s soul and body were an unusually perfect fit. At lunch, Priest Augustus revealed his own limited abilities related to spirits, death, and souls, while Shade heard more about the troubled airship carrying Iluna Bayes.

• Joey Barton’s divination showed Shade had died at the beginning of 1853, but Barton confirmed Shade was alive and said something might have happened to him that he did not know about.
• Sister Devlin told Shade that Joey Barton’s body was thirteen years old, his soul seemed over forty, and his eyes likely had an innate power enhanced by the ordinary Rhodes Card.
• Shade met Priest Augustus for lunch, where he learned that Dorothy had advanced to the Fifth Ring and that the Five Gods Church planned a ritual to suppress the Interstice.
• Priest Augustus told Shade that Iluna Bayes had killed a young Green Dragon with a Sunlight Gun during the airship journey, which was delayed by the encounter.
• Priest Augustus reported that a Sage Level humanoid Relic had entered the airship and committed murders before being driven away.
• Priest Augustus told Shade that he could see spirit bodies, vaguely sense signs of approaching death, and slowly perceive a soul’s thoughts.

Shade learned more about the Death Gap and received a First Epoch revelation about the First Angel, then asked Luvia to divine whether he had encountered a Chosen One Candidate. The divination failed, but Luvia concluded that at least one Candidate was likely among Priest Augustus, Sister Devlin, and the boy, leaving Shade to warn Iluna and prepare to meet Doctor Schneider.

• Priest Augustus invited Shade to a charity banquet and told him that Bloodkin in Middlesburg possessed three Sage Level Relics and were planning something major.
• Priest Augustus gave Shade new information about the Death Gap, and Shade's Ancient Voice revealed that the First Angel had been the gods' first creation and had diminished its power after the Ancient Gods departed.
• Shade delivered the materials to the House of the Blind, met Luvia, and told her about Iluna, the Steam Airship, the boy, Sister Devlin, and Priest Augustus.
• Luvia's divination with four coins failed, and she determined that at least one Candidate was probably among Priest Augustus, Sister Devlin, and the boy.
• Shade decided to find a way to inform Iluna when she reached Middlesburg, then went to Doctor Schneider's clinic to retrieve the key to the Traveler's Travel Door.

Shade traveled to Sikar Mountain to help Doctor Schneider contain the Demon Incinerator Sokphis and prepare a ritual to weaken it. The Demon-Slaying Sword attacked the Doctor when he tried to consume the bonfire, leaving Shade as the only one who could pull the sword out.

• Shade arranged for Dorothy to look after Mia, then traveled to the mountain hollow and set up the Doctor's Demon-expelling ritual.
• At seven o'clock, Shade opened Traveler's Travel Door and let Doctor Schneider enter the hollow from his bedroom.
• Doctor Schneider identified the Evil Spirit as Incinerator Sokphis and used the Demon Mouth of Pus of Man to try to swallow the bonfire's ashes.
• The Clear Heart, Demon-Slaying Sword lit up and sent silver sword light at the Doctor, who fled behind Shade while its hard shell protected him.
• Doctor Schneider told Shade that they had to pull out the sword before he could swallow the Flame Demon, and Shade realized the Doctor expected him to do it.

Shade freed the Demon-Slaying Sword and escaped as the sealed Flame Demon emerged, leaving Doctor Schneider to confront it. The Doctor began absorbing the weakened demon’s power while Shade helped block its attack.

• Shade used the Demon Hunting Seal to pull the longsword from the bonfire, seeing visions that revealed its history and its connection to the Interstice.
• As the Flame Demon began to break free, Shade fully drew the sword and used Laguerre's Leap to retreat to the tunnel entrance.
• The Flame Demon emerged on the central platform, and Doctor Schneider caught its flaming whip with his enlarged right arm.
• Doctor Schneider recounted the evil spirits he had devoured and absorbed the Flame Demon's flames as it attacked him.
• Shade used Silver Moon Slash to shatter the demon’s flaming sword, while Doctor Schneider drained the demon until its flames dimmed and its form shrank.