Chapter Summaries

Shade learned Miracle Technique Praise the Sun, arranged to see Iluna off, and bought an Emperor's Banquet Copper Coin from Old John. In Coldwater Port, Mr. Edmund told him that the Granger family had a powerful nonhuman bloodline and that the valley's Guardians seemed connected to the Chosen Ones, then showed him a Special Coin Shade had found before.

• Shade invited Iluna to lunch on Sunday before her departure, then went to Old John to arrange the preparation of Leisha's special pigments.
• Old John showed Shade an Emperor's Banquet Copper Coin, a Poet Level relic that summoned a lavish banquet, and Shade bought it despite its precise price of 27 pounds, 4 shillings, and 7 pence.
• Shade visited Mr. Edmund at the Old Lighthouse and asked about Randall River Valley's families and Guardians.
• Mr. Edmund said the Granger family likely descended from a powerful nonhuman bloodline and that the Guardians seemed connected to the Chosen Ones.
• Mr. Edmund showed Shade another Special Coin, one Shade had already obtained before.

Shade bought a Document Level Relic Wishing Coin, visited Luvia in Randall River Valley, and attended Margaret's banquet alone. There, he met Mr. Enriques, who confided that his marriage had left him disillusioned with love, and Shade suggested he see a doctor.

• Shade bought Mr. Edmund's Wishing Coin and traveled to Randall River Valley after briefly returning home.
• Shade met Luvia, learned that her secondment would keep her in Randall River Valley until spring, and heard that Iluna would arrive the following week.
• Luvia told Shade that the Omnipotent Earth Elixir could delay or treat petrification, while the Healing Grail's medicine had no effect.
• Shade attended Margaret's shipyard-completion banquet alone because Luvia had work at the Seer Association.
• Shade met Mr. Enriques at the banquet and listened as he described the difficulties of marriage and his troubled relationship with Maggie.
• Shade suggested that Mr. Enriques consult a doctor.

Shade advised Mr. Enriques to confront his feelings about his wife, then eavesdropped on Prince William and Earl Granger discussing delayed shipyard payments. He learned that Princess Margaret was seeking royal support and local funding while the Ministry of Finance faced an audit over suspected embezzlement.

• Shade suggested that Mr. Enriques seek a psychologist and use a coin toss to reveal what he truly wanted for his marriage.
• Mr. Enriques realized that he still loved his wife and intended to try to reconcile with her.
• Shade searched for Earl Granger, learned that he was meeting Prince William, and secretly listened from outside the reception room window.
• Earl Granger asked Prince William to ensure the shipyard's final construction payment arrived before the opening ceremony.
• Prince William and Earl Granger discussed Princess Margaret's plan to seek the king's help and arrange temporary funding from local nobles amid the Ministry of Finance audit.

At a banquet, Shade overheard Prince William soliciting Earl Granger for an investment before fleeing a Twelve-Ring Arcanist and escaping a minor earthquake. At the Invisible Church, Weilon Lathers told Shade that the Earth's madness was spreading and asked for help, while Shade shared what he knew about the Chosen Ones.

• Prince William offered to lend Earl Granger money and then tried to persuade him to invest ten thousand crown in a rumored precious-metal mine.
• A stranger spotted Shade outside the manor, and Shade recognized him as a Twelve-Ring Arcanist, escaped into the building, and blended into the banquet crowd.
• A minor earthquake struck downtown Randall River Valley City, ending the banquet, and Shade left after saying goodbye to Margaret.
• Shade found Luvia speaking with Miss Danist at the Bountiful Earth Inn, then went alone to the Forgotten Church and met Weilon Lathers's soul.
• Weilon Lathers told Shade that the Petrification Plague and earthquake signaled the Earth's spreading madness and that another black mud emergence zone would appear next Tuesday.
• Shade explained the Great Prophecy and the Thirteen Chosen Ones; Weilon Lathers said the Guardians would become companions if doing so could eliminate the Earth's pollution.

Shade learned more about the Guardians’ purpose and the Graveyard’s secret, then helped Mr. Lathers reunite with Siris Grande Lasers. The earthquake’s cause pointed to a worldwide catastrophe, and Shade laid out his plans for the days ahead.

• Shade learned that the Graveyard’s four gemstones and key could lead to the Heart of the Earth, but Mr. Lathers warned him not to enter before defeating the Demon.
• Mr. Lathers agreed to meet Shade on Tuesday and prepare for the contamination threatening the land.
• Siris Grande Lasers arrived at the Forgotten Church, and Mr. Lathers praised her before departing as she wept.
• Shade told Luvia that Siris had cried in his arms and kissed him, while Luvia explained that the earth’s corruption was advancing toward a worldwide disaster.
• Shade planned to visit Stone Osenfott on Sunday, the Granger Family’s Old Cemetery on Monday, and address the Guardians’ crisis on Tuesday.

Shade discussed Luvia’s situation and Stone Osenfott’s Demon contract before testing whether Cinderella could become a new Mystic Lock. Dorothy explained possible powers connected to the tale and revealed that Leisha had offered her childhood Crystal Shoes as a learning prop.

• Luvia told Shade that she had to remain in Randall River Valley until the contamination crisis ended, and Shade relayed the news to the group.
• Shade asked the Doctor about Stone Osenfott’s contract with Gothe, and the Doctor warned that its hidden conditions could make Osenfott’s death difficult to prevent.
• Shade used his Spirit Runes and the Ancient Fairy Tales card to evoke a snowy Cinderella scene, concluding that Cinderella might be a story he had brought to the Fifth Epoch.
• Dorothy described a time-stopping defensive power inspired by her Princess tale and urged Shade to seek the meaning behind Cinderella and Grey’s Crystal Shoes.
• Dorothy told Shade that Leisha had prepared her childhood Crystal Shoes for his upcoming lesson, and Shade protested that he would not wear them.

Shade visited Captain Allen Woody to retrieve letters and photographs for Stone Osenfott, but discovered that the captain also bore the mark of a demon. The captain led Shade away from his farm to discuss Stone, revealing that Stone had repeatedly tried and failed to recover the items.

• Dorothy told Shade about the Poet Level relic Princess's Crystal Shoes and said she hoped to find them; Shade also gave her materials for Professor Manning to publish.
• Shade traveled through an unusually oppressive Randall River Valley to find Captain Allen Woody at his farm outside the city.
• Shade told the captain that Stone Osenfott had sent him for letters and photographs, but the captain denied having Stone's belongings and reacted with disgust.
• Shade used Vision Demon and saw seaweed-like corruption and a black anchor symbol on Captain Woody, identifying him as someone bearing another demon's power.
• Captain Woody invited Shade to walk outside the farm, then said Stone had sent people every year to retrieve the photographs and letters, but all had failed.

Captain Woody told Shade how a demon ritual gave him long life and fortune, and explained how Stone Osenfott stole the ritual materials after earning his trust. As Woody and Shade walked toward the Ifo River, Woody recounted Osenfott’s romance with Haila and affirmed that the ritual demanded a price.

• Captain Woody described his illegal shipping career and said a storm stranded him on an island where he found manuscripts for a Summoning Demons ritual.
• Woody said he summoned a demon, gaining slow aging, good fortune, and the ability never to drown in exchange for his soul and the souls of his descendants.
• Woody explained that he destroyed his and his young son’s fertility to avoid harming others, then later told Osenfott about the ritual; Osenfott stole the manuscripts and eventually used them.
• Woody told Shade that Osenfott and Haila had loved each other deeply, and said Haila had not seemed emotionally detached.
• Shade asked whether the ritual had no cost, and Woody replied that gaining something always required offering something before asking if Shade considered himself upright.

Shade rescued a boy from the river and received Captain Woody’s letters and photographs about Stone Osenfott and Haila. After reading them, Shade met Iluna for lunch at Miss Galina’s manor, where Galina laid out plans for the Witch Council’s trip to Randall River Valley.

• Captain Woody offered Shade the letters and photographs if he rescued a boy he foresaw drowning, and Shade pulled the boy from the icy river.
• Captain Woody gave Shade the letters and photographs after explaining that Shade was only the third person to overturn one of his visions of death by water.
• Shade read the photographs and letters, learning that Haila had loved Stone and worried about his dangerous pursuit of wealth.
• Iluna arrived for lunch with Shade, but Tifa invited them to Miss Galina’s manor instead, saying Galina had something to give Iluna for her work in Randall River Valley.
• Miss Galina told Iluna that she needed her to handle tasks for the Witch Council before Galina traveled to Randall River Valley, where Sylvia and Benanice would open a Spatial Portal.

Miss Galina prepared Iluna for the Randall River Valley assignment, giving her study material and promising a reward if she proved her progress. After Iluna parted from Shade with a kiss, Shade wondered what power she would gain next.

• Miss Galina told Shade and Iluna that she, Benanice, Sylvia, and Sivie would take part in the Randall River Valley incident, and that Iluna would help open the spatial gate while keeping the Church from discovering the ritual.
• Miss Galina gave Iluna a handwritten copy of the Fifth Epoch's Morafate Code and asked about her thaumaturgy made with Empty Bottle Fruits.
• Miss Galina gave Iluna brown knee-high boots and promised her white stockings as a reward if she demonstrated her learning during the Randall River Valley event.
• Miss Galina said she would meet Shade at the Wilde Opera House and bring Tifa, while Shade asked her to invite Miss Rita Swift if Sylvia opened the gate again.
• Iluna kissed Shade on the cheek as they parted, and Shade wondered what Earth Power she would obtain.

Shade delivered Captain Woody’s letter and photographs to Haila Osenfott, then received the White Gem he had been seeking and prepared for another visit to Eternal Night City. There, he found Fiona asleep beneath a glow of Red Moon moonlight, with a pair of small wings emerging beneath her clothes.

• Shade brought Captain Woody’s letter and photographs to Haila Osenfott, who showed no reaction when he mentioned the ghosts at Wosente Manor.
• Shade read part of Mr. Lehmann’s memoir, then collected a package containing the White Gem at the Bountiful Earth Inn.
• Shade used the Time Key to enter Eternal Night City with Mia and found Fiona asleep in the Midnight Art Gallery.
• Shade noticed Red Moon light covering Fiona and discovered what looked like small wings on her back.

Shade discovered that Fiona’s dragon bloodline was awakening while she slept, leaving her unable to continue through Eternal Night City. He retrieved the golden needle from the art gallery and encountered a collected thief’s head containing a treasure-grade sin of Greed, which begged him for rescue.

• Shade realized Fiona’s wings had appeared because her dragon bloodline was growing stronger during her deep sleep, and he worried that waking her might interrupt the process.
• Shade went to the art gallery’s front desk and used Night Curtain Paint to purchase the Lost Goddess’s Golden Needle.
• Shade put Mia away for safety, protected Fiona with Moon’s Thorn, and followed the gallery’s rules through the corridors to exhibition area B.
• Shade found display case No. 154, took the golden needle, and gained an understanding of Labyrinth.
• A golden head in a nearby display case revealed that it held a treasure-grade original sin of Greed and pleaded with Shade to take it out of the gallery.

Shade tried to obtain the Dragon Book needed for his plans to awaken Fiona, discovering that its price was Dragon Blood Soaked in Black Night. He transformed Fiona’s blood by exposing it to the night and defeating a creature that emerged to steal it, leaving him with the required blackened blood.

• Shade used the Golden Needle to find the Dragon Book: Breeding and Growth in the art gallery catalog, which required Dragon Blood Soaked in Black Night.
• Shade collected two test tubes of blood from the sleeping Fiona and took them outside with Mia to expose them to Eternal Night City’s darkness.
• A black humanoid creature tried to steal the blood, but Shade and Mia attacked it until it melted into black gelatin.
• Shade discovered the gelatin was condensed power of black night, mixed it into Fiona’s blood, and watched the blood turn completely black.

Shade used an improvised ritual based on the Eggshell Fossil to help Fiona absorb the Sun’s fire and awaken from her growth sleep. Fiona emerged from the eggshell and reunited with Shade, but he had only twelve minutes left before he needed to leave.

• Shade retrieved the First Epoch Eggshell Fossil and learned that dragons could use a ritual to shorten sleep-based growth.
• Shade improvised the ritual materials, using celery, a goblet, Dragon-Blooded Time Sand, his own blood, and Night Curtain Paint.
• Shade painted ritual symbols on Fiona, and the ritual enclosed her in a translucent eggshell as the Sun’s fire burned through her body.
• Fiona absorbed the Sun’s fire, broke free of the eggshell, and pulled Shade into an embrace and kiss.
• Shade told Fiona they had to leave within twelve minutes, and she clung to him before they sat up together.

Shade learned that his ritual had awakened Fiona’s dragon bloodline and helped her recover power and memories, including her purpose of meeting the Monarch of Eternal Night. With little time left, they assembled a Compass that pointed toward their destination and entered the black curtain to reach the final stop.

• Fiona told Shade that the ritual had given him a dragon’s scent and that her Slumber had restored her Spiritual Power, raised her to Twelfth Order, and awakened new abilities.
• Fiona revealed that she sought a meeting with the Monarch of Eternal Night to secure part of the city for Miss Feliana’s Academy, though she had not remembered what price Feliana would offer.
• Shade and Fiona packed their camp, and Fiona combined the Compass, Golden Needle, teaspoon, clock gears, and her blood to create a device pointing southwest.
• Fiona set up Miss Feliana’s black curtain as a doorway, and Shade carried Mia and the stone slab while holding Fiona’s hand.
• Shade and Fiona charged through the curtain toward their final stop.

Shade and Fiona reached the Twilight Place, where they prepared to face the night-bound Old God after Fiona recovered her memories. Shade left her to rest, returned to Luvia, and later traveled to the ruined Granger family cemetery to investigate.

• Shade and Fiona found the Twilight Place terrace and concluded that opening the starry door would summon the Old God who ruled the city.
• Shade helped Fiona set up a protected camp, and she showed him her new ability to paint with moonlight before he vanished.
• Shade returned to Luvia at the Bountiful Earth Inn and learned from her where Miss Danist was staying, explaining that Fiona had forgotten the terms of the deal with the Old God.
• Shade sent Mia home, collected his weekly gift, gathered fish mint in Coldwater Port, and rode to the old Granger family cemetery.
• Shade entered the ruined cemetery and saw its crooked stone slabs and the remains of a chapel, while the Gravedigger's Cabin was nowhere to be found.

Shade discovered a hidden laboratory beneath an abandoned chapel in the Granger Family graveyard after following traces of blood. He defeated the undead guardian and found a Ring Arcanist’s preserved laboratory, leaving its secrets unexplored.

• Shade found bloodstains leading from the chapel door to a concealed button beneath the pulpit.
• Shade opened the secret passage and fought an undead guardian that resisted his Moonbeam Greatsword and drained his spirit’s recovery.
• Shade destroyed the guardian with a Thunder Spear and descended into the basement.
• Shade found two skeletons, preserved biological specimens, research equipment, and a faded Ritual Matrix in a Ring Arcanist’s laboratory.

Shade discovered that Ferrari Granger’s experiments had caused the 1498 Randall River Valley Earthquake, found the autumn gemstone, and learned more about the Butterfly bloodline’s connection to the valley. He returned Thomas Granger’s belongings and told Leisha and Angelina that Butterfly descendants might help stabilize the earth and resist the Petrification Plague.

• Shade read Thomas Granger’s letter and learned that Ferrari Granger’s Earth Power experiments had caused the 1498 earthquake.
• Shade used the Mithril Cube to reveal the earthquake’s story and received Thomas Granger’s pocket watch, a letter, and a piece of Mithril.
• Shade found the golden-yellow autumn gemstone in a jar on the experiment table, leaving only the green spring gemstone to find.
• Shade returned Thomas Granger’s pocket watch and letter to Granger Manor, completing the Earl’s commission.
• Shade finished reading Mr. Lehmann’s memoir and told Leisha and Angelina that many Randall River Valley residents descended from Mr. Lehmann’s Butterfly Girls.
• Shade explained that Butterfly blood could resist the Petrification Plague, and that most severely infected patients were not native to the valley.

Shade searched for Professor Danist in Randall River Valley and found her gone to help patients at the Sun Church. While visiting a makeshift hospital, he met a young girl whose right leg had gone numb from the Petrification Plague, and her story raised questions about her family.

• Leisha invited Shade to return with her to Yodel Palace, but Shade turned to Miss Lathers for advice about what to do next.
• Shade decided to visit Professor Danist, but the manor caretaker told him she had gone to the Sun Church with her group.
• Shade went to the crowded makeshift hospitals near the Sun Church to look for Professor Danist and observe the Petrification Plague.
• Shade entered a former tobacco shop being used as a hospital and spoke with a girl whose right leg had gone numb.
• The girl said her mother's maid, Miss Lina, was with her, and Shade questioned why she had been cleaning the living room before she became ill.

Shade met Miss Danist in Randall River Valley and accompanied her to the Sun Church, where he saw the Clay Holy Grail being used to produce a treatment for Petrification Plague. The chapter left him learning that the Grail’s liquid could cure petrification, but the church diluted it through a Divine Ritual to treat more people.

• Shade gave a hospitalized girl an apple and reassured her that she should judge a future rescuer by the Fairy Godmother’s kindness and honesty, not by a prince’s wealth and appearance.
• Shade found Miss Danist near the Sun Church and, after greeting her, accepted her invitation to visit the church under an added illusion.
• Miss Danist introduced Shade as her assistant to Pierre Granger, Professor Lemar, and Professor Mason as they entered the church.
• Pierre Granger led the group to a restricted tower room, where they saw the Clay Holy Grail floating above an altar and producing drops of liquid.
• Pierre Granger explained that the Grail’s liquid could cure any living petrified patient, but the church diluted it through a Divine Ritual so it could help more people.