Chapter Summaries

Shade encountered Sin Mansion’s hostile changes and refused to trade away his Gluttony, then fought a powerful injured creature on the 2nd Floor. After escaping its knife, he found refuge in a room with Armand Bernhardt.

• A black-water messenger tried to take Shade to the mansion’s master and offered to send him out in exchange for three measures of Gluttony, but Shade refused.
• Shade found the corridors and floors transformed, and two suits of armor let him pass after he named his greatest sin as wanting everything he desired without losing anything.
• On the 2nd Floor, Shade encountered a burned, one-eyed man who demanded five measures of Gluttony and attacked him with a space-locking kitchen knife.
• Shade’s sword and Crossed Moonlight failed to stop the man, but Space Stabilization Aura and Laguerre’s Leap helped him evade the knife and flee down a corridor.
• Armand Bernhardt opened a door and beckoned Shade inside, then shut it as the pursuer’s footsteps approached.

Shade and the poisoned Armand Bernhardt helped heal each other while hiding in a trader’s room inside Sin Mansion. After Bernhardt left, the trader told Shade that the Bloodkin had sought the Sage Level Relic known as the Blood Holy Grail, raising the possibility that they might soon control four such relics.

• Shade found that Armand Bernhardt was suffering from blood poison and offered him water treated with Satiety Feast.
• Shade and Bernhardt used their healing powers to treat each other’s injuries and poisoning.
• Bernhardt left the room without agreeing to travel with Shade.
• Shade questioned the room’s goblin-like trader, who said Bernhardt had come seeking the Blood Holy Grail.
• Shade realized the Bloodkin might acquire the Blood Holy Grail alongside three other Sage Level Relics.

Shade traded 1.1 moments of perfect Sloth for two Pirate's Blood Money coins and learned two ways to escape the Sin Mansion. As he headed for the underground Wine Cellar, the black-haired monster attacked again, and Shade restrained its arm with his Great Sin Chains.

• Shade learned that Armand Bernhardt had started the fight that made the mansion hostile to its guests, then traded 1.1 moments of perfect Sloth for two Blood Money coins and the mansion's escape routes.
• Shade chose the hidden passage through the underground Wine Cellar over confronting the mansion master on the third floor.
• Shade crossed the badly burned 1st Floor corridor and encountered the black-haired man, whose injuries had healed and whose body now bore signs of sin.
• Shade dodged the monster's black cleaver, summoned his Destiny Ring, and bound the enemy's arm with his Great Sin Chains.
• Shade called on Moonlight as the two struggled against the chains.

Shade fled the immortal black-haired creature through Sin Mansion and encountered Sister Devlin, who defeated it with her fire-wreathed weapons. After they exchanged greetings, Shade headed for the underground Wine Cellar while Sister Devlin continued searching for Kindling and the manor’s owner.

• Shade escaped the recovering black-haired creature and ran through a burning corridor, where he killed a badly injured flaming hound.
• Shade found Sister Devlin fighting the black-haired creature and watched her use her scythe and flaming greatsword to incapacitate it.
• Sister Devlin greeted Shade and said she was searching for Kindling and the manor’s owner.
• Shade told Sister Devlin where he had found traders and advised her to go to the second floor rather than the third.
• Shade and Sister Devlin agreed to meet outside the mansion, and Shade hurried toward the Wine Cellar exit.

Shade entered Sin Mansion’s wine cellar to search for a hidden passage and found Desire, the Level 0 Relic he had encountered beneath Afu Luola Mansion. The chapter ended with Shade confronting her from a cautious distance as she teased him about his growing maturity.

• Shade bargained with the enchanted cellar door, giving it a bottle of fruit wine in exchange for passage.
• Shade entered the two-level wine cellar and noticed a glowing pool beneath the lightwell while searching for the hidden passage.
• Shade sensed a powerful Whisper Element and recognized the laughter rising from the pool as belonging to an old acquaintance.
• Desire revealed herself in the pool and called Shade closer, stirring an overwhelming desire in him.
• Shade rode an elevator to the lower level and stood ten meters from the pool as Desire sang and spoke to him.

Shade encountered Desire in the underground pool and accepted her request to obtain Golden Pearl Earrings from the mansion's master. He joined Sister Devlin and Armand Bernhardt at the master's table, where they learned they must win their desired prizes through a card game wagered with sin.

• Desire gave Shade a Mark and told him to ask the mansion's master for Golden Pearl Earrings without revealing her request.
• Shade learned that Sister Devlin and Armand Bernhardt had gone to meet the mansion's master, then found them in the banquet hall.
• The mansion's master proposed a Rhodes Cards game in which the guests would wager their sins to obtain what they sought.
• Sister Devlin requested Sin Fire, Armand Bernhardt requested the Blood Holy Grail, and Shade requested Golden Pearl Earrings.
• The mansion's master set the guests' winning conditions and demanded that Shade win 3 moments of treasures-grade sin.

Shade won a card game against the mansion owner, claiming four drams of Sloth and permission to leave with the Golden Pearl Earrings. He arranged a fairer game for Mr. Bernhardt and Sister Devlin, then prepared to absorb the Sin from the Old God's statue and pendant.

• The mansion owner set the stakes and offered three drams of Sloth in an Old God statue, while Mr. Bernhardt and Sister Devlin placed their antes and stood.
• Shade wagered his Perfect Sloth and used the special rules of his cards to defeat the mansion owner's consecutive Steam Engine Vessel cards.
• Shade revealed his identity to Mr. Bernhardt, then drew Origin and won immediately under its rule for a first dark card.
• The mansion owner acknowledged Shade's victory but required him to absorb the Sloth before leaving with the Golden Pearl Earrings.
• Shade split his deck between Mr. Bernhardt and Sister Devlin so they could play more fairly, and Sister Devlin reminded him of her earlier advice before he approached the statue and pendant.

After falling into a slumber caused by the Old God's idol, Shade called upon the Phoenix and learned that Death threatened the city at the Foot of the Mountain. The Phoenix gave him power and ordered him to remove four people returned from death, leaving Shade to awaken with new abilities and knowledge of the Phoenix's bond with Sikar Mountain.

• Shade touched the Old God's statue and fell into a deep slumber while the manor's master began the second round of the game.
• In his Dream, Shade rejected Desire's offer and called for guidance from the Silver Moon while holding the red stone from Mr. Tyles.
• The Phoenix answered Shade's call, awakened him, and granted him power through its flames.
• The Phoenix warned Shade that Interstice was nearing collapse and tasked him with removing four people returned from death to delay disaster.
• The Phoenix told Shade that it had guarded the passage atop Interstice Mountain because it was the Child of Sikar Mountain, and Shade gained Flame Shaping and stronger regeneration.

During a tense Rhodes Cards game in Sin Mansion, Shade awakened after sensing the mansion master's growing malice and inscribed the silver Sloth Spirit Rune. The Blood Feast power awakened within him once more, leaving the banquet hall facing the force of his Gluttony.

• Armand Bernhardt and the Blind Sisters tied the mansion master in a round of Rhodes Cards, while Armand won no advantage despite drawing 21.
• The mansion master darkened the hall and threatened to demand higher antes, though he insisted he was following the rules.
• Shade awakened amid blood-red light and declared that the feast was far from enough.
• Shade encountered the power of the Old God Father of Slumber and inscribed the silver Spirit Rune Sloth.
• Shade's sins and the mansion's influence established a ritual, and the Lord of the Blood Feast awakened within him.

Shade used the Phoenix’s power to overpower the master of Sin Mansion, forcing him to admit to cheating and surrender the requested Relics. After returning the pearl earrings to Desire, Shade received a copied Pink Book and left the Wine Cellar, unaware that Desire watched him go.

• Shade invoked a Blood Feast with Phoenix Fire and asked the mansion’s master whether he had cheated at cards.
• The master confessed to deception and gave Shade the pearl earrings, Sister Devlin the Sin Fire, and Armand Bernhardt the blood cup.
• Pressed to admit his own great sin, Shade declared that he loved himself, prompting the master to call him Desire and release the group.
• Shade left Sister Devlin and Armand Bernhardt at the mansion entrance and returned to the Wine Cellar to give Desire the pearl earrings.
• Desire gave Shade her transcription of the Pink Book and asked whether sin remained power when all things entered Final Death.
• Shade left the Wine Cellar, while Desire silently rose from the wine pool and watched him depart.

After escaping Sin Mansion, Shade learned that the Interstice disaster could arrive before the Month of Withered Leaves ended unless four returning dead were found. Sister Devlin also revealed that Joey Barton was a Ring Arcanist who had aged in reverse, and Shade arranged to investigate him and ask the nun to inspect the passage in his home.

• Shade thanked Sister Devlin and Armand Bernhardt after leaving Sin Mansion, and Armand gave them his business card before departing.
• Sister Devlin explained that four dead souls would return as Nails binding the Interstice to reality, and the disaster could strike before the Month of Withered Leaves ended if they were not found.
• Sister Devlin told Shade that Joey Barton was a Reverse-Life Person who had aged from old age to childhood and had become a Ring Arcanist before joining the Raven Club.
• Sister Devlin arranged for Shade to meet Joey Barton the next afternoon, and Shade planned to bring Iluna to help investigate him.
• Shade asked Sister Devlin to inspect the Interstice passage on his home's third floor, and they agreed to meet in the Abandoned Tower basement that evening.

Shade told Luvia about his encounter with Desire at Sin Mansion, and she examined him before warning him about the relic’s influence and his unmastered Sloth power. They then planned to test Sister Devlin and Priest Augustus as possible candidates for the Chosen One of Death.

• Shade met Vice President Mark at the Seer Association and later told Luvia about his visit to Sin Mansion and his second encounter with Desire.
• Luvia took Shade home for a physical examination, which lasted all afternoon, and found his health normal but unusually improved.
• Luvia warned Shade to monitor his mental state when reading the Pink Book and to wait until the fourth ring before exploring Thaumaturgy related to Sloth.
• Shade and Luvia discussed the Chosen One of Death and decided Luvia would meet Sister Devlin that evening and look at Priest Augustus the next day.

Shade brought Sister Devlin to 6 Saint Derain Square, where she identified a small entrance to the Boundary of Life and Death and taught him how to seal it. Luvia then told Shade that she had seen a vision of Sister Devlin dying and inheriting the Primordial Flame, while the chapter ended with Luvia asking Shade to let her be the knight that night.

• Shade and Sister Devlin traveled through the mountains to the abandoned tower, where he showed her the Space Labyrinth and used Traveler's Travel Door to bring her to Tobesk.
• Sister Devlin and Luvia froze when they met, and Shade noticed Luvia briefly had two shadows and a phantom double behind her.
• Sister Devlin detected a small entrance to the Boundary of Life and Death in the third-floor corridor and explained how Shade could seal it, though she warned him that the house held many dangers.
• As they descended the mountain, Sister Devlin told Shade that Luvia's Another Me carried a terrifying Curse of Time that no mortal could solve without knowing its cause.
• Luvia told Shade that she had seen Sister Devlin burn to ashes and entrust her with a flame and the duty of watching over the Primordial Flame.
• Shade comforted Luvia, and she embraced and kissed him before asking to hold a Youthful Immortality Leaf and be the knight that night.

Shade investigated Priest Augustus and Joey Barton as possible candidates for the Chosen One of Death while preparing to help seal the Interstice. Joey Barton failed to divine Iluna’s death, but when he looked at Mia, his left eye began bleeding.

• Shade brought Luvia to observe Priest Augustus, who said the Blood Brew contained illegal hallucinogens and that the Church was preparing a large-scale ritual for the Interstice.
• Luvia told Shade that Priest Augustus, like Sister Devlin, could be a candidate for the Chosen One of Death, though he was not the first candidate.
• Grandma Cassandra and Miss Aurora told Shade they had found Violet Marshall’s ruins and a stone slab describing the Mountain Waist passage, then asked him to join them in reinforcing its seal next Wednesday.
• Shade borrowed the Identity Card of Unknown Name and took Iluna to meet Joey Barton, introducing her as Agatha Holmes and asking Barton to divine for her and Mia.
• Joey Barton drew the Hero card for Iluna and the Sun card for Mia, but he could not see Iluna’s time of death; when he looked at Mia, his left eye began bleeding.

Shade and Iluna visited Joey Barton for a divination, where Shade glimpsed the Founding card before Barton’s Gift of Fate caused his eyes to bleed. On their way back, they recognized the disguised man who had fought them at Mibao Mechanical College and planned to have the Church investigate him, while Iluna asked Shade to stay by her side.

• Joey Barton overused his eyes while using the Gift of Fate, and Iluna briefly revealed the Founding Rhodes Card to Shade.
• Shade reassured Barton about ordinary life and shared wine with him; Barton ended the visit early, charged half the fee, and invited Shade to return next Tuesday.
• Shade and Iluna recognized a disguised man from the Fire Worship Festival banquet entering the Raven Club, and Iluna decided the Church should investigate where he had boarded a carriage.
• Iluna asked Shade why he smelled of their diviner friend’s perfume, then said she understood the woman’s burdens and worries.
• Iluna asked Shade whether he would keep dancing with her, and Shade promised he would stay by her side.

Luvia’s divination identified Joey Barton, Sister Devlin, and Priest Latt Augustus as the top three candidates for the Death Chosen One, leaving Shade to decide how to handle Joey. As the immediate search seemed close to ending, an ominous whisper warned that the coming events in Miburg could bring catastrophe.

• Shade told Luvia about Joey Barton and the other information, and she divined that Joey was first among the candidates for the Death Chosen One.
• Luvia revealed that Sister Devlin ranked second and Priest Latt Augustus third, with an unnamed fourth candidate also in Miburg.
• Luvia advised Shade to meet Joey again next week and report him to the Church if he could not cooperate; Shade agreed to investigate him before deciding what to do.
• Shade reflected on his remaining work in Tobesk and saw a red butterfly outside the window, though it vanished when he looked again.
• A whisper warned Shade that primal Termination could engulf the Mountain City and asked whether he would try to change the coming calamity.
• Shade thought of Miss Olanord and Gaddis Library, then summoned a tiny phantom yellow moon in his palm.

Shade prepared for the Sealing Ritual and learned more about the Primordial Fire and the Hermit Order’s fears of the world’s Decay. At a group meeting, Doctor Schneider recounted a dangerous case involving an evil spirit, while Dorothy and Luvia connected him to recent crimes.

• Shade gathered materials for the Sealing Ritual, visited Mr. Edmund with Mia, and heard that the Hermit Order knew the third Chosen One was in Middlesburg.
• Mr. Edmund warned Shade that Middlesburg might vanish and claimed the world’s other four Fifth Epoch continents had collapsed.
• Mr. Edmund explained that the Primordial Fire was an ancient Unknown Level Relic guarded by generations of Watchers, and wondered whether it might appear again.
• Dorothy, Luvia, Shade, and Doctor Schneider discussed their plans for the Winter Exam and shared their recent activities.
• Doctor Schneider described how he fought the evil spirit of a patient’s stillborn twin, and Dorothy and Luvia questioned him about a burglary and cemetery damage he had caused.

Shade visited Dorothy after the study group, then used the Time Key to travel to the Fifth Epoch and assist the Gray-Robed Sage at Gaddis Library. He arrived during a deadly Black Snow and faced a sudden gale that swept the snow toward him.

• Shade visited Dorothy to review the first volume of the Detective Hamilton Story Collection, then learned Slumber from Leisha after she exchanged souls with Dorothy.
• Shade told Leisha about gaining the Profane Spirit Rune Sloth and continued copying the story of the Princess, the curse, Slumber, and the spindle.
• Shade spent Saturday night at Miss Galina's manor with Little Mia so he could bring supplies to the Witches in the Fifth Epoch.
• At dawn, Shade used the Time Key and entered the Time Corridor, where Father of Infinite Tree tasked him with helping the Gray-Robed Sage record Gaddis Library's documents.
• Shade arrived in Silent Valley amid Black Snow, which revived the dead and could kill the living if it touched bare skin.
• A gale suddenly swept the Black Snow sideways toward Shade.

Shade acquired the Thaumaturgy False Immortality after surviving the instant-death black snow, then fought through an undead horde until Miss Olanord rescued him. Back in the library, he discovered Fiona Drago in an ice coffin, and the witches told him she was only asleep.

• Black snow struck Shade, awakening the Thaumaturgy False Immortality and making him immune to instant-death effects.
• Shade battled the undead tide with his Moonbeam Greatsword, Silver Moon attacks, and Feliana's Witch Light.
• Miss Olanord used her Thirteenth Ring power to clear the undead and carry Shade back to the library.
• Shade found Fiona Drago asleep inside an ice coffin and feared she was dead.
• Miss Olanord and Miss Samuel told Shade that Fiona was only asleep.

Shade reunited with Miss Olanord and Miss Samuel in the library ruins, where they explained what had happened to his sleeping apprentice and why they were searching the books. After Shade helped stabilize Miss Samuel when she lost control from probing the future, Miss Olanord asked him to use Silent Moonbeam to help the expedition continue.

• Miss Olanord explained that Shade's apprentice had been exposed to Black Snow and sealed in a Sleeping Ice Coffin until they could leave the ruins.
• Miss Olanord and Miss Samuel told Shade that time flowed unevenly in the ruins and that they were searching its books for research into the Ancient Epoch.
• Miss Samuel began to lose control after she investigated the future, and Miss Olanord instructed Shade to use his Destiny Ring and time-related power to stabilize her.
• Shade and Miss Olanord helped Miss Samuel stabilize her Eleventh Rank Golden Staircase, and she recovered beside the bonfire.
• Miss Olanord told Shade that Silent Moonbeam could help them continue exploring Gaddis Library and that they had found, but not obtained, the book sought by the gray-robed sage.