Chapter Summaries

Sera used Dahak's Blessed Necklace to shield herself and Marco from the patron's gaze, then heard Marco explain how a forbidden book had bound him to the patron and forced him to hunt his kindred. As Sera prepared to kill him and take his power, Xia Lin interrupted to demand answers about Anlin, the dragon, and Marco's belongings.

• Sera killed one fleeing subordinate with Abyssal Grasp, while Madam Martha shot the other two escapees.
• Sera activated Dahak's Blessed Necklace, briefly freeing herself and Marco from the patron's attention and restoring Marco's body to normal.
• Marco told Sera that he had become a warlock after reading a forbidden book and that the patron ordered him to devour other kindred.
• Sera said she would seek the truth about the patron with Xia Lin and Kade at her side, and Marco admired her resolve.
• Sera asked Marco to become her nourishment, but Xia Lin interrupted to ask about Anlin's plan, the dragon she intended to resurrect, her accomplices, and Marco's Space Bag.

Xia Lin offered Marco a chance to save his soul in exchange for information about Madam Anlin, but Marco refused to betray his professional ethics and died without revealing her secrets. Kade guided Marco’s soul to the Bone Garden, Sera absorbed his energy and reached LV6, and the group prepared to leave the rest to Xia Lin.

• Xia Lin asked Marco for information about Madam Anlin, but Marco warned them not to oppose her and refused to disclose her secrets.
• Felicity revealed that her father was Sword Duke Edwin Odolai, prompting Marco to recognize her as Moonshadow Mask and mock her family conflict.
• Xia Lin offered Marco a chance to escape his Abyssal contract through Kade’s final rites, and Marco hinted that his information could be recovered after his death.
• Marco died during Kade’s prayer, and Sera absorbed the energy from his remains, reaching LV6.
• Kade severed the Abyss’s grasp on Marco’s soul and guided it to the Bone Garden, while Sera’s Dragon Scale Necklace lost its magic.
• Sera felt Madam Anlin watching again, tossed the defunct necklace to Xia Lin, and told him the rest was up to him.

After Marco’s death, Xia Lin read his diary and discovered that Anlin was an ancient red dragon planning to resurrect an evil dragon using the Sword Duke’s family heirloom. The group split up to prepare, while Xia Lin and his companions stayed behind to sort through Marco’s remaining possessions.

• Xia Lin opened Marco’s Space Bag and read his diary, which revealed Anlin’s identity, resurrection ritual, and plan to marry the Sword Duke to obtain the Star Moon Chain.
• The diary also exposed Anlin’s control of the Sword Duke’s guards and recorded compromising secrets about much of New Stefan’s nobility.
• Felicity, Martha, and the others realized Anlin’s plans explained her marriage and Carlson’s attack, while Xia Lin remembered a mysterious blonde woman from Carlson’s mansion.
• Xia Lin warned that Anlin would learn of Marco’s death by morning and ordered Felicity and Martha to return to the castle and watch Anlin and the Sword Duke.
• Felicity and Martha left with the auction compass, while Xia Lin, Kade, and Sera prepared to organize the evidence and search Marco’s remaining loot.

After defeating Marco’s team, Xia Lin and his companions divided their valuable loot, unaware that Veronica de Nocturna had watched them. Veronica reported the battle and Xia Lin’s involvement to Anlin, who recognized him as the man from her past and ordered Veronica to carry out another task.

• Xia Lin, Sera, and Kade inspected the enchanted gear and fifteen thousand gold coins taken from Marco’s team, and Kade joked with Xia Lin about abandoning their mission for the money.
• Veronica de Nocturna watched the group from hiding and contacted Anlin through a Crystal Mirror.
• Veronica told Anlin that the Shadow had been destroyed, its power devoured by the Tiefling warlock, and its notes revealed the altar and ritual; she also identified Felicity Odolai and exposed Anlin’s plan to resurrect Dahak’s offspring.
• Veronica revealed that Xia Lin had devised the trap, and Anlin recognized him as the man from her night at Carlson’s mansion.
• Anlin stopped Veronica from discussing Xia Lin, ordered her to prove her loyalty by carrying out another task, and told her to speak normally.

Felicity and Martha returned to the Sword Duke’s Floating Castle with evidence against Anlin, but a disguised attacker ambushed them. The attacker drugged Felicity and stabbed Martha, leaving both women at his mercy.

• Felicity and Martha noticed the unusually heavy patrols and Martha distracted the guards so Felicity could take another route.
• A man disguised as Xia Lin approached Felicity and handed her the diary and documents, claiming they were safer with her.
• Felicity realized the supposed Xia Lin’s behavior was suspicious after he offered her an expensive drink, but he choked her and forced her to drink a potion.
• Martha returned to the alley and found Felicity unconscious in the impostor’s arms.
• As Martha checked on Felicity, the impostor stabbed Martha through the chest and told her she should not trust people so easily.

After Felicity Odolai’s murder, the Sword Duke launched a brutal citywide purge while Anlin manipulated his grief and planned their wedding. Thirty days later, Xia Lin returned in disguise to the hidden base where Sera, Kade, Marcus, and the others were waiting.

• New Stefan’s citizens learned that Felicity Odolai had been murdered and that Martha Winters had identified Xia Lin, Sera, and Kade as the culprits.
• The Sword Duke imposed a fifteen-day lockdown and violently purged the city’s underworld while wanted posters for Xia Lin and his companions spread across Brevor.
• Anlin persuaded the grieving Sword Duke to pursue Felicity’s resurrection in the Tsaros Empire and agreed to marry him in two months.
• Anlin confronted Veronica for letting Xia Lin escape, took the recovered diary and documents, and ordered Veronica to stay with her at the altar beneath the theater.
• Thirty days later, Xia Lin disguised himself as a blond young man, gathered supplies, and entered the hidden underground base where Sera, Kade, Marcus, and the others were waiting.

Thirty days after Felicity's murder, Xia Lin gathered his allies in a hidden basement and planned a rebellion against Madam Anlin while she focused on her wedding to Edwin Odolai. He divided the group into three missions and sent Laila to seek help from the Elves, leaving them less than a month to build their strength.

• Xia Lin, Kade, Sera, Marcus, and Laila discussed Felicity's death and the opening created by Madam Anlin's wedding preparations and Avril's brutal rule.
• Xia Lin identified the Temple of Iomedae, the Floating Castle, and the Pleasure District as three fronts for recruiting allies and gathering intelligence.
• Kade agreed to contact the Temple of Iomedae, Sera took responsibility for reaching Shadow Marcus's spy in the castle, and Xia Lin planned to approach the displaced noblewomen in the Pleasure District.
• Xia Lin gave Laila the Call of the Wild and sent her to find the Elves outside the city and ask them to join the fight against Anlin's dragons.
• Xia Lin's group committed to gathering allies before Anlin's wedding, while Marcus's people agreed to monitor Avril.

Kade, Sera, and Laila began their parts of a three-pronged plan against the dragon while Xia Lin infiltrated New Stefan’s pleasure house in disguise. There, he found the disgraced Madam Rosalind and asked whether she wanted revenge on the woman who had ruined her.

• Kade disguised himself as a pilgrim and entered the Temple District to persuade hesitant clergy.
• Sera used an alchemical potion to disguise herself as a maid and entered the Floating Castle with a work permit.
• Laila left the hideout, saying the stars promised an entertaining night, and vanished into an alley.
• Xia Lin disguised himself as a wealthy merchant and bribed his way into the Red Velvet Cage.
• Xia Lin selected Madam Rosalind from the catalog of ruined noblewomen and went to meet her in a private suite.
• Xia Lin interrupted Rosalind’s practiced greeting and asked whether she wanted to destroy the woman who had made her suffer.

Xia Lin revealed Madam Anlin’s hidden plan to seize the estates of noblewomen bound by magical contracts, convincing Madam Rosalind that waiting out her sentence would destroy her family’s lands. He asked whether she could rally her family and other nobles against Anlin, and Rosalind realized he might have a way to help.

• Xia Lin dropped his disguise and revealed himself to Madam Rosalind, then persuaded her to admit that she wanted to oppose Madam Anlin.
• Rosalind showed Xia Lin the magical contract that bound the women for ten years and threatened their families’ souls if they tried to escape or seek help.
• Xia Lin found a clause allowing Anlin to appoint managers over the nobles’ estates, and explained that Anlin was already replacing their rulers with puppets.
• Rosalind recognized that the newspaper’s report about a power transfer concerned Alice’s family and broke down as she understood Anlin meant to take their lands permanently.
• Xia Lin asked whether Rosalind could rally her family against Anlin’s puppets, and she said the nobles would side with them if they could be contacted.

Xia Lin sought a way to find loopholes in Madam Anlin’s infernal contract and used Rosalind’s lullaby to enter his mind and consult Seratalia. Seratalia advised him to summon a devil with an imp’s horn from his Space Bag, leaving Xia Lin with detailed instructions for the summoning.

• Xia Lin appraised the contract but found no clear loophole, and Rosalind suggested consulting a Priest from Abada Temple.
• Xia Lin decided to sleep so he could meet Seratalia in his mind, and Rosalind soothed him to sleep with a lullaby.
• Xia Lin met Seratalia in a familiar living room and explained that he needed a lawyer to review the contract.
• Seratalia admitted she was not a legal expert and suggested summoning a devil with the horn in Xia Lin’s Space Bag.
• Seratalia taught Xia Lin how to summon and restrain an imp, then joked that he had called for Mommy in his sleep.

Xia Lin summoned the battered devil Claw to find a loophole in Madam Anlin’s soul contract. Claw uncovered a way to use an authorized agent to redirect the souls and proposed a scheme, but they still needed Madam Anlin to grant him authority.

• Xia Lin and Madam Rosalind assembled improvised ritual materials and summoned Claw into a binding circle.
• Claw blamed Xia Lin for his failed mission, lost promotion, debts, and threat of being reforged into a mindless larva.
• Xia Lin persuaded Claw to review Madam Anlin’s contract by promising him a chance to earn souls and restore his standing.
• Claw found a clause allowing an agent designated by Madam Anlin to handle contract matters when she was unavailable.
• Xia Lin proposed adding a clause that would let Claw release the signatories in exchange for souls of equal value, including souls from Madam Anlin’s lackeys.
• Claw agreed the scheme could rescue him, but asked how they would get Madam Anlin to authorize him.

Xia Lin, Rosalind, and Claw staged a dispute to make Madam Eve stamp a contract with the Anlin Commercial Seal, legally appointing Claw as Rosalind’s agent. With the appointment secured, Xia Lin planned to audit the debts owed to Rosalind.

• Xia Lin explained that Claw needed an appointment authorized by Madam Anlin and devised a scheme to obtain it through the Anlin Commercial Seal.
• Claw drafted a long, fussy service contract with a hidden clause appointing himself as Rosalind’s temporary agent, while Xia Lin and Rosalind prepared to stage a public quarrel.
• Xia Lin and Rosalind acted out a dispute, and Rosalind slapped Xia Lin rather than submit to Madam Eve’s magical intimidation.
• Xia Lin demanded an exclusive month-long contract and argued over its clauses until Madam Eve agreed to sign and stamp it with the Anlin Commercial Seal.
• The seal activated the hidden appointment clause, making Claw Rosalind’s legal agent, and Xia Lin announced plans for a debt audit meeting.

Xia Lin and Claw tricked Madam Eve and the Red Velvet Cage’s managers into signing devil contracts, then rallied the noblewomen to join a plan against Madam Anlin. The chapter ended with the conspirators preparing their next moves, twenty days before the Sword Duke’s wedding and Xia Lin’s expected explosion.

• Xia Lin revealed to Rosalind and Claw that Madam Anlin was an adult red dragon named Paralia, then prepared a contract to ensnare the management team.
• Xia Lin convinced Madam Eve that he was an auditor with knowledge of Anlin’s secrets, and she signed Claw’s contract, surrendering her soul.
• Eve recruited all twelve managers and forty trusted associates to sign, and Xia Lin then persuaded thirty-seven noblewomen to sign a Soul Liberation Agreement.
• Xia Lin organized the noblewomen’s resources and contacts into a force against Anlin, while promising that their contracts would be voided if they helped bring her down.
• Rosalind questioned Xia Lin’s motives, and Claw sensed that Xia Lin wanted more than to defeat Anlin as the Sword Duke’s wedding approached.

Xia Lin expanded his information network and recruited allies in New Stefan while Sera, disguised as a maid in the Floating Castle, searched for the imprisoned Madam Martha. After learning about the castle’s secret passages, Sera enlisted Snowball to help uncover the route used to deliver Martha’s meals.

• Xia Lin reviewed noble families’ secrets as Claw reported that the Grey Wolf Mercenary Group and three pleasure houses had joined their growing network.
• Xia Lin worried about Kade in the Temple District and Sera inside the heavily guarded Floating Castle.
• Sera, disguised as Sally, endured Shilana’s strict orders while working as a maid and secretly searching for Madam Martha.
• Old Tom told Sera about the castle’s forgotten secret passages and the late Sword Duchess’s abandoned glass conservatory.
• Sera learned that Snowball knew the castle well, bribed the cat with catnip, and planned to follow it in search of Martha’s hidden location.

Sera used Snowball’s information to locate Madam Martha in the Star Language Tower and exploited Shilana’s allergy to Moon Shadow Lotus as a potential weakness. After Old Tom helped create a library fire to distract the guards, Sera entered the tower and found Martha, who threatened her at knifepoint.

• Sera bribed Snowball with dried fish and learned that the gunpowder-smelling woman was imprisoned in the Star Language Tower and that Shilana reacted violently to Moon Shadow Lotus pollen.
• Sera told Old Tom what she had learned, and he agreed to obtain Moon Shadow Lotus pollen.
• Sera arranged to clean the astrology wing, watched the meal delivery to the tower, and identified the route and its warding runes.
• Old Tom set off a false library fire before Madam Anlin arrived, drawing guards away from the tower.
• Sera slipped past the tower’s ward with Snowball and climbed to the room where Martha was imprisoned.
• Martha recognized Snowball, then pointed a sharpened bedpost at Sera’s throat and demanded a reason not to kill her.

Sera revealed herself to Martha, who had realized Anlin had manipulated events and agreed to help bring her down. Sera left Martha with a plan, then used Shilana’s dependence on Martha and the castle’s disarray to set up their next move.

• Sera dropped her disguise and reunited with Martha, who said she had come to suspect Anlin’s role in framing Xia Lin.
• Sera told Martha about their month in hiding and asked her to recount the events surrounding her arrest and house arrest.
• Sera explained a plan to Martha, who agreed to play along, and Sera escaped through an iron-barred window using a [Gaseous Form] scroll.
• Sera watched Anlin parade with the grief-stricken Edwin Odolai as Shilana struggled to manage the castle’s library.
• Old Tom deliberately worsened the library’s disorder until Shilana reluctantly decided to visit Martha for help.
• Sera, disguised as Sally, prepared Shilana’s dinner and secretly added white powder to the cheesecake.

Sera and Martha ambushed Head Maid Shilana in her room, defeating her golem and knocking her unconscious. They discovered Shilana was a drow disguised as a High Elf and planned to use her disguise mirror to help Martha impersonate her.

• Shilana entered Madam Martha's room with her silent bodyguard and questioned Martha about the library.
• Martha distracted Shilana with a detailed explanation of the library while she ate allergenic cake, and Sera slipped into the room and silenced her with magic.
• The bodyguard attacked Sera, but Sera discovered it was a golem and destroyed its magical core with a Spellbreaking Eldritch Blast.
• Martha fought the weakened Shilana with a sharpened wooden post, and Snowball scratched Shilana's face, allowing Sera to knock her unconscious.
• Sera discovered Shilana was a drow using a magical disguise mirror and told Martha to take her place, while Martha worried about maintaining several layers of deception.

Sera returned from the Floating Castle with a guide stone after Martha infiltrated the enemy stronghold disguised as Shilana. Kade recounted how the Goddess confirmed his warning and identified the short-haired girl as the second starlight, leaving the group poised to act with new allies.

• Martha interrogated the real Shilana and imitated her cruel manner while secretly arranging Sera's dismissal and passing her a guide stone to the castle wards.
• Sera returned to the hideout and joined Xia Lin, Kade, Madam Rosalind Summers, the old priest, and an unfamiliar short-haired girl.
• Kade recounted how Bishop Saren heard his account, accepted his blood oath, and received a divine oracle confirming Kade's mission.
• The Bishop pledged that temple followers would aid Kade privately, while Xia Lin revealed that a complaint had prompted an investigation of the Abada Temple bishop.
• Kade repeated the oracle and identified the short-haired girl as the second starlight who would help them face the darkness.

After receiving cryptic divine revelations, Kade searched New Stefan for clues and found himself in Gouwa District, where he recovered his stolen family keepsakes from a gang of children. As he negotiated with their leader, a gang arrived to confront them all.

• Kade recalled Iomedae's revelation and heard the old Priest of the God of Imagination offer a second riddle about a hidden star and forging a new sword.
• Kade wandered New Stefan for days and entered Gouwa District, a neighborhood filled with displaced poor people and gangs.
• Kade tripped a gang member pursuing a child, then realized the child had stolen his wallet containing his mother's portrait and family crest button.
• Kade found the thief, subdued the children without seriously injuring them, and demanded his wallet back.
• The short-haired girl leading the children agreed to exchange the wallet for the thief, and Kade released him after she returned it.
• The gang member Kade had tripped returned with more than a dozen accomplices and blocked the alley, threatening Kade and the children.

Kade rescued Sara and the slum children from the Grey Wolf Gang, then discovered Sara was Valeria Roderick, the general’s daughter who had survived William’s attempt to kill her. After learning about her past and her work caring for the orphans, Kade persuaded Valeria to join his effort to bring down Anlin for the children’s sake.

• Kade defeated the Grey Wolf Gang members who threatened Sara and the children, then followed them to their orderly hideout.
• Kade learned that Sara cared for the orphaned children and suspected she was a noblewoman hiding her identity.
• Kade revealed himself as the wanted paladin Kade Felimp, and Sara confessed that she was Valeria Roderick, General Roderick’s second daughter.
• Valeria told Kade that William had tried to kill her after she discovered him casting a spell on her comatose father, and that an amulet had revived her after she was dumped in a mass grave.
• Valeria said she wanted to atone by helping the children, and Kade urged her to use her influence and the Roderick name to help bring down Anlin.
• The children encouraged Valeria to stand with them, and she agreed to join Kade for their sake.