Chapter Summaries

Shade joined Miss Liya Higgins, Mrs. Miles, and An DeEr Ade as they entered the market hidden in the black mist, where they had to keep their torches lit to stay safe. They reached Black Mist Camp and read its demand for fairness as Miss Liya led them toward a stall to begin her trade.

• Miss Liya Higgins explained that the group would have to wait for the Desert Witch Emperor and keep their torches lit inside the black mist.
• Shade learned that Mrs. Miles had come to seek answers about the lover she had waited for her entire life, while An DeEr Ade hoped to avert his country's destruction.
• Shade and the others followed Miss Liya into the freezing mist and noticed shadowy figures appearing along the path.
• The group arrived at Black Mist Camp, where motionless shadow vendors stood behind eerie stalls and a notice demanded fairness.
• Miss Liya led the group to a stall near the entrance to begin her planned trade.

Shade and Miss Higgins were forced to buy an item from a silent merchant whose stall was guarded by overwhelming Greed chains. After Miss Higgins traded four coins for a vial of blood and a set of black Scales, the group wondered whether the Scales could lead them to the next merchant.

• Miss Higgins tried to leave the stall, but the merchant attacked the group with Great Sin Chains until she agreed to make a purchase.
• Shade used his Great Sin Chain to suppress the Greed chains, while Miss Higgins and the others helped hold them back.
• The merchant revealed a severed finger, a coil of bloodstained rope, and a vial of congealed blood, but Miss Higgins's appraisal attempt drew an attack from the camp.
• Miss Higgins chose the vial of blood and paid four coins, causing the merchant to give her the vial and a pair of black Scales.
• Shade and Miss Higgins examined the Scales and wondered whether they were a clue to finding the next merchant.

Shade, Liya Higgins, Sarah Miles, and An DeEr Ade ventured deeper into Black Mist Camp, where a strange shadow gave Shade and the boy dangerous gifts. Shade gained an upgrade to Great Sin Chains, and the group continued onward with the dagger still in the boy’s possession.

• Shade used the black scales to guide the group deeper into Black Mist Camp, and they advanced in a single line with Liya Higgins leading and An DeEr Ade at the rear.
• A shadow performing a sword-swallowing trick stopped when Shade passed, pointed at Shade and An DeEr Ade, and offered them a bloodstained sack.
• Shade stepped away and drew the chains marked with “suicide,” then reached into the sack and pulled out a black cube that increased his sin of Greed and upgraded Great Sin Chains to manifest two chains at once.
• An DeEr Ade reached into the sack and received a frost-covered dagger decorated with black gemstones; Shade cast a spell to free the dagger from his skin.
• When Shade suggested that he or Liya Higgins hold the dagger, the chains clattered again, so the group let An DeEr Ade keep it as the shadow resumed its performance.

Shade and Miss Higgins searched the bizarre market for a way to contact Mrs. Miles’s missing beloved, eventually finding a Remembrance Conch that let Higgins briefly consult the Desert Witch Emperor. They learned the conch could contact only someone alive, but had not yet determined whether Mrs. Miles’s beloved was alive or found a way to summon his soul.

• Shade used Puppet Manipulation to help the exhausted Mrs. Miles keep walking through the market.
• Shade won a coin by identifying the correct teacup in a shadow’s gambling game, while the group avoided a dangerous sword-wielding shadow.
• The group reached a stall where Mrs. Miles asked to summon her beloved’s soul, and the displayed wares included a solidified soul, Water of the Styx, and a Remembrance Conch.
• Miss Higgins borrowed the Remembrance Conch for one coin and briefly spoke with the Desert Witch Emperor, who identified several items at the stall.
• Higgins learned that the Remembrance Conch could communicate with someone only if they were alive and that the Charm of the Undead would not help Mrs. Miles.

Shade and Miss Higgins bought a pink-and-white conch and a broken sword from the dangerous camp after Shade used the conch to contact people across time. They escaped with Mrs. Miles and the boy, but Shade remained uneasy about the adventure and the relics’ unknown functions.

• Shade used the Remembrance Conch and briefly contacted Fiona, Miss Schultz Teresa, and Short-Haired Luvia across time; Luvia identified the conch as a likely spirit-summoning relic.
• After consulting Granny Miles and hearing Luvia’s intuition, Miss Higgins bought both the conch and the broken sword, spending seventeen of her twenty-three coins.
• Shade and Miss Higgins hurried the exhausted Mrs. Miles and the boy out of the camp, reaching the bonfire just before their torches went out.
• Miss Higgins thanked Shade and said she would test the relics before the Witch Emperor arrived, while Shade continued to worry about the camp’s mysteries.

Shade left the past after helping Miss Higgins and Mrs. Miles test the conch, then learned that the Remembrance Conch had connected with Luvia in his own time. Back in Green Lake City, he went to Grandma Natalie to ask about two relics and a strange coin.

• Shade questioned the boy about his wish to reverse the destruction of his kingdom, but the boy claimed a meteorite had destroyed it.
• Miss Higgins and Mrs. Miles found that the broken sword carried stronger Whisper Element than the conch, but calling Richard Knight Jackman into the conch had no effect.
• Shade left the camp as his time ran out, warning Miss Higgins not to spend the black coins carelessly and promising to return with information.
• After Shade returned, Luvia confirmed she had spoken with him through the Remembrance Conch and said she might find a way for them to communicate across time again.
• Shade prepared Little Mia's lunch, then went to Kingfisher Tailor Shop and asked Grandma Natalie about two relics and a strange coin.

Shade learned more about the broken King's Sword of the Undead Souls, then reunited with Richard, Hope, and Upton to receive the oil painting and explain how the God of Love's holy emblem had changed his Spirit Rune. He obtained the thaumaturgy God of Love's Thorn, which could lend his strength to someone with whom he shared intense feelings.

• Grandma Natalie identified Shade's broken sword as the Keeper of Secrets Level relic King's Sword of the Undead Souls and warned him to keep a low profile after the events on Green Lake Central Island.
• Captain Rades renewed Shade's pass and escorted him through the military camp to the border.
• Richard, Hope, and Upton told Shade that Upton had been freed from the oil painting's influence, and Upton gave Shade the painting.
• Shade explained that the God of Love's holy emblem had transformed his Whisper Spirit Rune into Miracle Charm, prompting the believers to celebrate their faith.
• Shade asked Upton for the thaumaturgy God of Love's Thorn, which could temporarily lend his power to someone he deeply cared for.

Shade learned God of Love’s Thorn from Upton, Richard, and Hope, then visited Miss Galina at Rose Manor in Green Lake City. There, Galina prepared to involve him in her plan for the next night’s banquet, while questioning him about Megan and Audrey.

• Shade learned God of Love’s Thorn in a ritual with Upton, Richard, and Hope, and asked whether it could protect multiple people at once.
• Shade told the Follen Brothers that their ancestor’s Demon had appeared at Green Lake the previous night, then learned that the Kassenric Delegation had arrived.
• Shade slipped into Rose Manor as a Cat and reunited with Miss Galina, Tifa, and Angelina in the study.
• Shade told Miss Galina that the Night of the Moon Eclipse had permanently enhanced his Power of the Moon.
• Miss Galina said Shade would attend the next night’s banquet as Megan’s female companion and hinted that she had prepared a plan involving Audrey and Megan.

Shade demonstrated God of Love’s Thorn to Miss Galina, revealing pink crystal soul magic with several spell forms. Miss Galina then discussed the Council’s plans to investigate Green Lake Central Island and took Shade upstairs for a private afternoon together, leaving Angelina to wait anxiously.

• Shade summoned God of Love’s Thorn, and Miss Galina tested its crystal weapon, hail, and energy-cluster forms.
• Shade gave Tifa the spell, and she successfully used crystal shaping, though her other spells were weaker than Miss Galina’s.
• Miss Galina told Shade that Emma had reached Glass City and that other Great Witches would soon gather near Green Lake.
• Miss Galina explained that the Council had tasked her with investigating the Edwards Family and Green Lake Central Island, with Megan’s wishes taking priority.
• Miss Galina carried Shade off to her bedroom for the afternoon, while Angelina stayed behind reading documents and anxiously waiting.

Shade learned that the black coin was a relic representing existence and realized his companions might be trading away their own existence for Special Coins. He left Old John’s shop intending to protect them and bought a mechanical butterfly ornament and painting supplies.

• Shade considered using God of Love's Thorn on himself, but put it away and fell asleep with Dorothy.
• Shade visited Old John’s pawnshop with Mia and asked him to identify the black coin, broken sword, and seashell.
• Old John identified the black coin as the Poet Level relic Power of Existence, which could resist effects that erased existence but might cause its holder to be forgotten if it lost control.
• Shade realized his companions in the past might be trading away their existence for Special Coins and resolved to help protect them.
• Shade bought the glass-cylinder mechanical butterfly ornament and a set of frames and tools for mounting oil paintings from Old John.

Shade learned how the relic Undying Longing could let mourners hear or summon the dead, then accompanied Audrey to an important banquet in Green Lake City. The evening began with both of them anticipating the introductions and surprises awaiting them there.

• Shade framed the Mermaid painting with protective holy emblems, hung it in his living room, and covered it with a black cloth whenever he left home.
• Shade visited Mr. Edmund in Coldwater Port, who identified the gray fossil conch as Undying Longing and explained how seawater let it contact or summon a dead person at the risk of attracting something else.
• Shade asked whether the relic could summon any dead person, and Mr. Edmund explained that it required a soul that remained free after death.
• Audrey dressed for the banquet aboard the witches' boat, and Shade joined her in formal wear before they discussed attending as representatives of Paradise Island Pharmaceuticals.
• Audrey told Shade that she would introduce him to a close friend at the banquet, while Shade privately anticipated meeting Miss Galina.
• Shade and Audrey left by carriage for Rose Manor, carrying a bottle of 1823 Roman Winery red wine as their gift.

Shade attended Miss Galina’s lavish banquet in Green Lake City with Megan, where he met influential merchants and discussed trade between the Old Continent and the Archipelago Kingdom. Grand Duchess Galina Cavendish gave a speech and repeatedly looked toward Shade, reminding him to follow their plan.

• Shade and Megan arrived at Rose Manor and joined the banquet among local officials, nobles, and visiting delegates.
• Megan introduced Shade to prominent merchants, including representatives of Cuckoo Publishing House and Healthy Cigarette United Company.
• Mister House raised the sensitive topic of Kasonlik’s Sunday banquet, but a representative of the Kassenric United Kingdom Accounting Guild changed the subject to trade with the Archipelago Kingdom.
• Shade discussed a past Delarion proposal for subsidizing trade with the Archipelago Kingdom, impressing Mister House and prompting him to give Shade a business card.
• Grand Duchess Galina Cavendish arrived with her grandnephews and grandnieces, delivered a speech about peace and the future, and repeatedly looked at Shade to signal that he should follow their plan.

At Miss Galina’s banquet, Megan tried to prepare her for meeting a special person while Angelina searched for the mysterious gentleman she had met at city hall. The chapter ended with Megan and Galina discovering Angelina kissing a man behind the curtains, who fled when Galina coughed.

• After Miss Galina invited Megan to talk, she warmly welcomed her and Angelina at the sofa lounge.
• Angelina described a tall, blond gentleman she had met at city hall and went to look for him.
• Megan privately warned Miss Galina that she wanted her to meet someone special and asked her to listen before judging.
• Miss Galina revealed that Hamilton was a woman she loved and asked Megan to praise her when they met.
• Tifa led Megan and Miss Galina to Angelina, where they saw her kissing a man behind the curtains.
• After Miss Galina coughed, Angelina pushed the man away, and he ran down the corridor.

Megan brought Shade to meet Galina, intending to introduce him to the witch she had befriended, but Galina revealed that Shade was her lover. She also exposed that she had maneuvered Megan and Audrey into blessing their relationship, then hinted that she knew Megan was the witch Shade had been investigating.

• Galina reprimanded Angelina for kissing a man, while Megan defended her and promised to respect sincere love even if it conflicted with her interests.
• Megan found Shade in the banquet hall and brought him upstairs to meet Galina, while Tifa and the maids guarded the resting-room door.
• Megan became Audrey and argued with Galina, then drank wine and agreed to meet Galina's beloved and bless their relationship.
• Galina summoned Shade and introduced him as her lover, leaving Audrey and Megan stunned as they realized how their earlier conversation had been manipulated.
• Galina revealed that Shade had been investigating the witch hiding her identity in the Green Lake Region, then asked Audrey who she had wanted to introduce to her.

Megan confronted Galina over a prank involving Shade and Angelina, then learned that Galina and Shade had hidden his identity from her as a precaution. Galina revealed that six Witches, including herself, supported Shade, leaving the group prepared to face the Council if Speaker discovered him.

• Megan accused Galina of using Angelina to provoke her, and Shade ended their argument by revealing Audrey's spirit form.
• Megan and Audrey kissed Shade together, then joined Galina and Shade to discuss the prank and his concealed identity.
• Galina showed Megan the Witch Detection Pendant she and Shade had used to guard against discovery, and explained why she had kept Shade's identity from her.
• Shade named Sivie Aurora, Zina Cassandra, Emma Sylvia, and Vanessa Benanis as other Witches who knew of him, while Galina described their connections to him.
• Galina told Audrey and Megan that six Witches, more than half the Council, stood by Shade, though Speaker remained outside their support.

Miss Galina revealed Shade’s ties to the Chosen Ones and helped Audrey accept his hidden identity. Their reunion was interrupted by armed intruders at Rose Manor, and Audrey and Shade pursued them across the rooftops before the Church arrived.

• Miss Galina explained Shade’s connections to the Chosen Ones, and Shade confirmed his relationships with Iluna and the other figures Audrey asked about.
• Audrey agreed to keep Shade’s secrets and embraced him after learning that Miss Galina had concealed the truth.
• A masked intruder broke into the resting room, and Shade wounded him with a dinner knife as he escaped through the window.
• Shade and Audrey pursued the intruder to the rooftop, where they found a Ring Arcanist helping him flee.
• Shade killed the injured intruder with a Shadow Ball, and Audrey shattered the Ring Arcanist’s Destiny Ring and crushed him before the Church squad arrived.

After an attack at Rose Manor, Megan confronted Galina about her relationship with Shade and learned that Galina had tested an intimate connection with him. Back aboard the witches’ ship, Megan and Audrey restrained Shade and began an experiment that ended with Audrey’s soul kissing him.

• A Sun Church Sorceress inspected the traces at Rose Manor, and Megan identified the rooftop attackers as members of The Tyranny Club.
• The shooting wounded Baron Lubbock, but his heart was on the right side; Galina refused to leave Rose Manor despite the Church’s concerns.
• Megan confronted Galina privately, learned she had experimented intimately with Shade, and agreed to keep the secret while seeking more information.
• Megan asked Shade if they could still get along as before, then brought him to her room aboard the cruise ship.
• Megan and Audrey restrained Shade, and Audrey’s separated soul kissed him while her Birthmark Flesh Manifestation remained active.

Shade discussed his unsettling dreams and the recent events involving Dorothy and Leisha, then attended the group meeting where the Doctor shared warnings about growing spatial instability. After the meeting, Shade confirmed Maze Demon-Yaru’s identity to the Doctor and arranged to meet him at Green Lake after the Doctor traveled there on Monday.

• Dorothy asked Shade about his dreams, and he explained the events of the previous night and the nature of Fusion between Megan and Audrey compared with Leisha and Dorothy.
• At Doctor Schneider’s Saturday meeting, the Doctor relayed the Academy’s warning about spatial anomalies following Wednesday’s Night of the Moon Eclipse, including reports of random teleportation, shattered zones, and spatial weakness.
• Priest Augustus reported a small spatial disorder incident in Tobesk North District, and the Doctor warned Shade against frequently using spatial magic.
• After the meeting, Shade confirmed that the demon he encountered was Maze Demon-Yaru and described how it had appeared during the Night of the Moon Eclipse.
• The Doctor agreed to help lure and capture Maze Demon-Yaru through dreams, and said he would travel to Green Lake on Monday to meet Shade on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Shade discussed the damaged Thorn Ring with Priest Augustus and returned home to find Luvia and Iluna preparing for his coming expedition to Green Lake. The three began a powerful divination to discover who comprised the supposed Space Chosen One, but the ritual had only just begun.

• Shade told Priest Augustus that he had used the Thorn Ring and expected it to break the next time he used it; Augustus offered to travel to Green Lake if needed.
• Shade returned home, where Iluna admired his Mermaid Oil Painting before recalling the being depicted in it from Pantanal Lake.
• Iluna said the Church would send her to training before she traveled to Green Lake, and Shade and Luvia promised to celebrate her eighteenth birthday and prepare a gift.
• Luvia revealed three Homeland Coins and a Fanatic's Soul Coin from Priest Augustus, then enlisted Shade and Iluna to help investigate the Space Chosen One.
• Shade drew the Sun, Moon, and Stars Pattern while Iluna transformed her Destiny Ring into scales and handed them to Luvia for the divination ritual.

Luvia’s divination revealed that the Edwardz Family’s generations were connected to the first Space Chosen One and may have been shaped by a ritual to unite them on Green Lake Island. The later Chosen One positions were also tied to the Edwardz Family and the Twins God, putting the Red Butterfly Sisters in danger as Shade’s group planned to investigate Green Lake.

• Luvia performed a divination with the Dark Gold Scales and learned that the first Space Chosen One was connected to more than ten people, including members of the Edwardz Family.
• Shade, Luvia, and Iluna concluded that the Edwardz family tree might represent a centuries-long ritual, and that the remains of family members buried away from Green Lake might have been removed.
• The group planned to check the Green Siblings’ remains at Green Lake and agreed that Laplace Klein Howard must be stopped from becoming a Chosen One.
• Luvia revealed that later Chosen One positions involved Edwardz Family members and were connected to the Twins God.
• Shade realized the prophecy could draw Grace and Helen, the Red Butterfly Sisters, into the Chosen One events.