Chapter Summaries

Shade returned a ring to Haila Osenfott, met her suspicious husband, and won a horse race before deciding to investigate the family’s history. Later, he took Iluna to Old John’s pawnshop, where he sold recovered valuables and left a gold ore deposit for a later buyer.

• Shade spoke with Haila Osenfott and sensed that she was unusually subdued; before leaving, she warned him not to befriend her husband or return to the manor.
• Mr. Olsenford returned with several men, discussed Rhodes Cards with Shade, and challenged him to a horse race that ended in a close finish.
• Mr. Olsenford declared Shade the winner and gave him a shield-shaped medal, while Shade noticed a faint curse of Misfortune and suspected something was wrong at the manor.
• Shade asked Margaret to investigate the Osenfott Family from a distance, returned his borrowed horse, and met Iluna for dinner before taking her to Old John’s pawnshop.
• Old John appraised Shade’s recovered Kasonlik valuables and offered 1,463 pounds, while keeping the gold ore until a buyer could be found.

Shade and Iluna returned to the manor on Lake Heart Island to investigate its ghosts, but discovered that the land beneath it was affected by Mad Earth. The chapter left them aware that the hidden phenomenon had been masked by the Pantanal Evil’s lingering power.

• Old John identified Shade’s horse-race badge as a rare medal from the vanished Stoneville Kingdom and estimated it could sell for a hundred pounds.
• Iluna bought two Empty Bottle Fruits, and she and Shade filled them with sunlight and moonlight before setting out for Lake Heart Island.
• Shade and Iluna crossed through the Space Labyrinth to the island and found the manor’s rear wall intact despite the destruction caused by the battle.
• Iluna recognized the broken fountain as a statue of a Bountiful Angel and identified the Farmer Family as worshippers of the God of Sun and Earth.
• As Shade and Iluna approached the manor’s boarded entrance, Shade tasted the soil and sensed that the land was abnormal.
• Iluna confirmed that the earth beneath the manor was heading toward madness, revealing that Mad Earth had been concealed by the Pantanal Evil’s power.

Shade and Iluna entered the haunted Farmer manor to investigate its connection to Thomas Granger and discovered that the land trapped and fed on the souls of the dead. After the Baron Farmer attacked them, they subdued him and prepared to question the other souls.

• Shade's attempt to purify the manor grounds failed, and Iluna sensed that hundreds of souls waited on the third floor.
• Shade and Iluna exposed the illusory banquet with Iluna's Demonbane decree and met the soul of Baron Farmer.
• The Baron explained that his family had died in an epidemic after coming to the island to search for records for Thomas Granger, and said the land devoured the souls bound to it.
• The Baron ordered the souls to attack Shade and Iluna, but their Sun and Moon powers drove the spirits away.
• Shade restrained the Baron with silver halos and Great Sin Chains, then said they could question someone else in the manor.

Shade and Iluna uncovered the source of Mad Earth beneath the manor and fought the black mud serpent while Shade cast a purification spell. After Iluna destroyed the infant corpse and the earth was cleansed, Shade used Guiding Death on the baron's remaining soul to reveal its memories.

• The baron revealed that Thomas Granjay's letters were hidden in a basement wall, and Shade and Iluna found them alongside a dried infant corpse.
• Black mud seized the infant corpse and the baron, who escaped into the soil after his silver halos shattered.
• Shade began purifying the manor grounds with the Clay Holy Grail while Iluna defended him from a giant serpent formed of black mud and trapped souls.
• Iluna froze the serpent with Decree—Stillness, struck it with Sage's Light and Sunlight Gun, then found and destroyed the infant corpse at the center of the mud.
• The Clay Holy Grail's power dissolved the black mud and exposed the baron's petrified soul, which Shade touched with Guiding Death to access its memories.

Shade and Iluna freed the souls trapped at the Farmer manor and treated Iluna after she touched Mad Earth. Back home, Shade confirmed Thomas Granger had understood the land’s danger and prepared to use the Soul Cemetery to discover where and how he died.

• Shade explained that Baron Farmer’s occult experiments and attempted resurrection had trapped his family and caused a plague, then opened the Gate of Death for the manor’s souls.
• Shade and Iluna sent Baron Farmer and the infant’s corpse through the rift, where the baron’s wife helped him and told them Thomas had left on a greater mission to protect the land.
• Shade noticed Mad Earth on Iluna’s hand and made her drink an elixir that removed the stain and its curse.
• Shade tested the Holy Grail of Sweetness and found it could enhance food and water, restoring some stamina and spirit and providing a slight healing effect.
• Shade and Iluna reviewed Thomas Granger’s letters, then entered the Soul Cemetery so Shade could seek the cause and location of Thomas’s death.

Shade discovered that Thomas Granger had died from the Mad Earth's curse beside the Old Gods Statue at White River Valley Vineyard, and brought his remains to the Forgotten Church for Luvia to divine. The divinations failed to reveal much, leaving Thomas's soul and the secrets surrounding his death unresolved.

• Shade correctly identified Thomas Granger's cause of death and learned that he had died beside the Old God-Original Crack beneath White River Valley Vineyard.
• Shade returned to Huntington City, confirmed that Thomas's skeleton remained beside the Old Gods Statue, and arranged to bring the remains to Randall River Valley City.
• Shade told Luvia about the discovery and suggested that Thomas might have been trying to reach the Pantanal Great Swamp before his curse overwhelmed him.
• Luvia took leave from the Seer Association and joined Shade in bringing Thomas's coffin to the Forgotten Church.
• Luvia tried card, crystal ball, and water divination, but the Miracle Element and Thomas's unusual soul left the results unclear.

Shade and Luvia used a Spirit Board to learn that Thomas Granger would appear where the land went mad, but they could not locate such a place in Randall River Valley. Shade then decided to investigate a lifelike stone statue through the local Stone Masons Association, and bought a camera from the Steam Bird Daily to photograph it.

• Luvia used a Spirit Board with Shade controlling Thomas Granger's skeleton, and learned that he would appear where the land went mad.
• Luvia stopped the questioning before the skeleton became undead, and explained why earlier Mad Earth sites had not brought Granger forth.
• Shade asked Luvia about the lifelike seated statue, and she advised him to investigate it through the Stone Masons Association as a possible sculpture.
• Shade took Mia back to Tobesk and arranged to meet Luvia again at two in the afternoon.
• Shade visited the Steam Bird Daily with Dorothy and bought an old York II Camera, film, and replacement Magnesium Light bulbs.

Shade took Dorothy’s photograph at home, then spent the afternoon on a date with Luvia in Randall River Valley while investigating a statue. Their plans to return to the city were interrupted when the Unicorn appeared, and they camped together in the snowy woods.

• Shade photographed Dorothy holding Mia on the steps of his home, then developed a plan to photograph a stone statue with Luvia.
• Shade and Luvia met at the Forgotten Church, where he photographed the statue against a darkened background.
• Shade invited Luvia to explore Randall River Valley, and they visited the museum and Wilde Opera House before walking through the snowy countryside.
• As they watched the sunset from a tree, Shade and Luvia kissed, but a Unicorn arrived and greeted Shade.
• Shade and Luvia decided to camp in the woods until the Unicorn’s caretaker found it, and Luvia prepared dinner beside the campfire.

Shade and Luvia met Emilia Sinode, the Elf student responsible for the runaway Unicorn, and learned that she secretly visited Randall River Valley from Saint Byron’s Academy. After agreeing to help her obtain smuggled materials, they asked her to search the Academy Library for local history and information about the Mad Earth curse.

• Shade and Luvia shared dinner by the campfire with the Unicorn before Emilia arrived to retrieve it.
• Emilia recognized Shade’s Feliana Medal, and Shade and Luvia introduced themselves as Fifth Ring Arcanists from the Tobesk Correspondence Group.
• Emilia revealed that she was a fourth-year Saint Byron’s student from the Moon Creek Clan and cared for the Unicorn, while Luvia and Shade warned her about the dangers in Randall River Valley.
• Emilia asked Shade about buying New Continent specialties, and Shade agreed to deliver the materials she listed the following Tuesday.
• Luvia asked Emilia to search the Academy Library for Randall River Valley’s history and information about the Mad Earth curse.

Shade asked Emilia Sinode to search Saint Byron’s underground walls for hidden spaces in exchange for Ancient Elf Runes, and she left him a tuft of Unicorn tail hair as a gift. The next morning, Director Anlos told Shade that the Randall River Valley Stone Masons Association’s long-running dispute with House Anjou stemmed from a fatal Colossus collapse and unpaid wages.

• Shade gave Emilia Sinode a book of Ancient Elf poems to copy and asked her to use Spirit Runes to look for hidden spaces beneath Saint Byron’s buildings.
• The Unicorn gave Shade its tail hair as a sign of friendship, and Shade offered the hair to Luvia, who decided to make it into a ribbon.
• Shade saw an incomplete figure of Luvia disappear after kissing him, leaving him confused as he held Luvia beside the campfire.
• Shade met Director Anlos at the Ronaldo Club and asked about the Randall River Valley Stone Masons Association and the collapsed Colossus.
• Director Anlos explained that the Anjou Royal Family had forced the stone masons to work in the rain, causing the Colossus to collapse and kill or disable many workers, while leaving their wages unpaid.

Shade prepared for the Academy’s upcoming identity investigation and discussed his past with the Doctor, then used the Sorrowful Nurse Statue to test his bloodline. The statue identified Shade as human, and Mia’s test showed that she was not a purebred cat.

• Director Anlos told Shade to continue speaking with Princess Margaret about the Stone Masons Association and seek the shipyard opening date while investigating the group’s history.
• The Doctor explained that the Academy’s identity investigation would reach Tobesk around March and advised the group to prepare and avoid misunderstandings.
• Shade told Leisha about his night with Luvia, and Leisha arranged for a lesson and an intimate evening together.
• Grace and Helen used the Sorrowful Nurse Statue to test Shade’s blood, and it identified him as human.
• Shade asked Grace to test Mia’s blood, and the statue found that Mia was not a purebred cat.

Shade learned that Little Mia had a tiny trace of Sun Child ancestry, then received Stone Osenfott’s invitation to discuss clues about Founding. He met Osenfott beside a burning warehouse, where Osenfott confronted him about the Black Gem Ring Shade had returned to his wife.

• Grace explained that the relic reading showed Little Mia was 99.7% ordinary house cat and 0.3% Sun Child, and Shade declined further bloodline tests.
• Shade learned that Osenfott had invited him to Middles Warehouse with clues about Founding, while Luvia planned to help the Church search for Mad Earth.
• Shade spent the afternoon with Luvia discussing the Correspondence Student investigation and left to meet Osenfott.
• Miss Lathers warned Shade that Osenfott was a dangerous man, then lent him a horse to ride to the warehouse.
• Shade found Osenfott’s men burning a warehouse and heard that they were destroying goods at Prince William’s order.
• Osenfott showed Shade the Black Gem Ring and asked whether he had returned it to Osenfott’s wife; Shade admitted that he had found it in a fish’s belly and given it back.

Shade accepted Mr. Olsenford’s offer to find two missing heirlooms in exchange for information about Genesis · Earth, then investigated a stone statue with Miss Benanis. Her comment about Miss Lathers’s father prompted Shade to realize that he had repeatedly overlooked an important question about her cult.

• Mr. Olsenford told Shade he could reveal who possessed Genesis · Earth if Shade found Haila’s missing combat hero badge and sapphire earring, and Shade accepted the deal.
• Shade returned to the city, wondered what was unusual about Mr. Olsenford, and went to the Wilde Opera House to ask about Miss Lathers.
• Miss Benanis said the statue in Shade’s photograph resembled Weilon Lathers, Miss Lathers’s missing father, but the image was too blurry to identify him with certainty.
• Shade asked which Old God Miss Lathers worshipped and suddenly recognized that he had been influenced to forget and overlook the question.

Shade and Vanessa Benanis confirmed that the statue in the hidden Forgotten Church was the petrified body of Miss Lathers's father, who could not be revived. Vanessa asked Shade to tell Miss Lathers the news, and he went to Earl Johnson's banquet, where Margaret directed him toward the garden.

• Shade told Vanessa Benanis about the hidden Forgotten Church and showed her photographs of its statue.
• Shade and Vanessa entered the church, where Vanessa determined that the stone statue had once been a living person and that its soul was gone.
• Vanessa asked Shade to tell Miss Lathers that her father was dead, and Shade agreed in exchange for a favor.
• Shade took Vanessa's invitation to Earl Johnson's banquet and asked Margaret where Miss Lathers was.
• Margaret told Shade that she had seen Miss Lathers take several people to the garden behind the house.

Margaret told Shade that William was linked to a rumored gold mine and that Military Intelligence Section Six had stirred up the stonemasons, then an abnormal earthquake struck Countess Manor. Shade found black mud erupting from a fountain and joined a battle against Blood Spirit School allies and a Stone Heart Demon follower, trapping the unstable giant as his enemies tried to retreat.

• Margaret told Shade that Stone Osenfott's men were rumored to have found a gold mine while working with William, and she shared intelligence connecting Military Intelligence Section Six to unrest among the stonemasons.
• An earthquake shook the manor for thirteen seconds, and Shade urged Margaret to evacuate everyone while he went to investigate the abnormal disturbance.
• Shade found black mist spreading from a fountain that spewed black mud, where Miss Lathers, Orthodox Church priests, and other Ring Arcanists were fighting Blood Spirit School enemies.
• A nearly three-meter gray stone giant named Elsen emerged from the fountain, and a priest identified him as a follower of the Stone Heart Demon.
• Shade used Red Butterflies and Silver Moon's illusion to confuse and surround Elsen while the Nine-Ring Arcanist's companion called for him to retreat.

Shade fought the Gray Stone Giant amid the black mud, then sensed divinity beneath the eruption and plunged into its source. There, he resisted the Shadow of Randall River Valley’s invitation to join the earth and received a new spell and the valley’s blessing.

• Shade used illusions, chains, and Red Dragon Force against the Gray Stone Giant, but the giant escaped into the manor’s darkness.
• The Church and Miss Lathers’s group retreated after their attackers turned into stone statues, while Shade noticed the black mud growing more violent.
• Sensing divinity beneath the mud, Shade told the others to fall back, protected his belongings from petrification, and plunged into the source.
• Inside the earth, Shade encountered the Shadow of Randall River Valley, rejected her invitation to return to the earth, and received the enhanced spell Turn Stone to Mud.
• Randall River Valley granted Shade protection from plague and hunger, and he gained insight into Earth Shadow.

Shade left the black mud after realizing he lacked the Earth Power needed to reach its source, then used the Time Key to return to the Butterfly Festival in the Wormhole Cave. He rejoined the banquet and presented Dorothy and Leisha’s poem, while the Butterfly God continued its test.

• Shade learned that he needed to strengthen Earth Power - Healing Aura to survive deeper in the black mud and decided to seek another way to obtain the divinity.
• Shade opened the stone Door Pendant with the Time Key and entered the Time Corridor’s Fifth Epoch event in autumn of 4791.
• Shade returned to the Wormhole Cave, where the Butterfly Festival guests welcomed him and the butterflies healed his arm.
• Shade greeted the Butterfly God and joined Blanchett, Nun Perry, and Mr. Lehmann in presenting poetry at the banquet.
• Shade recited Dorothy and Leisha’s poem, Crimson Butterfly, and the Butterfly God praised its story and emotion while criticizing Shade’s recitation.

Shade and the other guests completed the banquet’s final butterfly-choosing challenge, and the Butterfly God awarded its last petals to Blanchett and Nun Perry. As the banquet’s music swelled, the god questioned why Shade had remained so wary throughout.

• After the poem judging, the Butterfly God announced that each guest had to choose the most beautiful butterfly among the 178753 circling overhead.
• Shade summoned Grace White and Helen Black as red-butterfly figures, praised them as his own most beautiful butterflies, and asked the Butterfly God to help them.
• Shade gave his final petal to Nun Perry, while Blanchett and Perry chose butterflies for themselves and Mr. Lehmann chose none, giving his petal to Blanchett.
• The guests stated their wishes, and the Butterfly God awarded its final two petals to Blanchett and Nun Perry, leaving Shade with six petals, Blanchett and Perry with five each, and Lehmann with four.
• The Butterfly God asked Shade why he had been wary of it from the start as music and light filled the cavern.

Shade and his companions received the Butterfly God’s rewards, then shared a farewell feast before he returned through the White Fog. The god warned him that a dangerous person planned to use the coming Feast of the Earth Mother God to enter the Material World, while his companions made promises to preserve their memories and help his future descendants.

• Shade declined the wish despite having won the most petals, honoring his promise to yield it to the others.
• The Butterfly God granted Miss Blanchett and Nun Perry new powers, and offered Mr. Lehmann a chance to win one of the butterfly ladies’ hearts.
• Shade asked Miss Blanchett to pass Earth Power to the Order of the Forgotten and asked Mr. Lehmann to leave clues for his descendants; Mr. Lehmann promised to make the butterfly his family crest.
• Shade and his companions toasted their meeting, and his Earth Power - Healing Aura gained enhanced effects when cast with soil and petals.
• Shade entered the White Fog after the Butterfly God warned him that a dangerous person planned to enter the Material World through the upcoming feast.
• After Shade left, Nun Perry and Miss Blanchett promised to remember him, while Mr. Lehmann offered to pay a price to preserve his memories and leave clues for Shade’s future search.

Shade returned from the past with two Youthful Immortality Leaves and used Father of Infinite Tree’s power to escape the black mud and cast Earth Power - Healing Aura. Mr. Lathers appeared as Randall River Valley’s second Guardian, helped purify the spreading mire, and sent Shade to safety, leaving him wondering whether the Guardians were all dead souls.

• Shade received two Youthful Immortality Leaves and returned to the present, where Father of Infinite Tree’s power protected him from the black mud.
• Shade cast Earth Power - Healing Aura, rose from the black-mud spring, and briefly healed the land and those nearby.
• As Shade prepared to retreat, Mr. Lathers appeared and used Earth Power - Spring Arrival and Healing Aura to strengthen him and purify the mire.
• Mr. Lathers asked whether Shade wanted to avoid the Orthodox Church, then pushed him through space to a safe path near the manor.
• Shade sensed Mr. Lathers’s immense power and wondered whether all the Guardians of Randall River Valley were dead souls.