Chapter Summaries

Michael and Toneri entered Duren Village, where Michael discovered that fairies imitated human customs without understanding them and that the village used barter instead of currency. After Michael robbed the village inn, he considered introducing a financial system to trade for valuable magecraft Curse Bodies.

• Michael noticed signs of a recent battle and saw that humans in Britain were treated as inferior tools by the fairies.
• Michael and Toneri entered Duren Village, where fairies outnumbered humans and Earth Clan fairies worked as builders and smiths.
• Michael found that the village inn was only an imitation, knocked out its owner, and searched the building for valuables.
• Toneri struck the innkeeper again when he seemed about to wake, then healed the swelling with the Staff of Selection.
• Michael learned from Toneri that fairies exchanged goods through barter and considered introducing currency to profit from trading with them.

Michael and Toneri faced a massive Mors attack on Duren Village as the horde breached its defenses and overwhelmed the fairies. Toneri rescued a fairy from two Mors, but when he saw her face, he suddenly felt rejection and disgust toward her.

• Michael sensed the fairies and humans fighting Mors around Duren Village, then withdrew his mental tendrils and fell asleep.
• A black sun of curses appeared in the north, and Michael realized the tremors shaking the inn were not an earthquake.
• Toneri and Michael escaped the collapsing inn as the village alarm warned that more than five hundred Mors were approaching.
• The Mors broke through the village fence, scattered the fairies, and began turning them into new Mors.
• Toneri destroyed two Mors that had cornered a fairy and urged him to flee to the shelter.
• The rescued fairy saw Toneri's face and felt sudden rejection and disgust, which Toneri noticed with her Fairy Eyes.

Toneri fought the Mors attacking Duren Village until her magical power ran low, while humans she had protected turned against her. Michael rescued her from a large Mors and prepared to teach her how to control her magical power more precisely.

• Toneri left the rescued fairies and continued fighting the Mors swarm attacking Duren Village.
• After burning dozens of Mors, Toneri rested with human soldiers, but one tried to stab her with an iron dagger.
• Toneri knocked the soldiers away without killing them, and they fled the village as the Mors ravaged Duren.
• Toneri ran out of magical power while fighting a large Mors, lost the Staff of Selection, and was sent flying toward a stone wall.
• Michael caught Toneri and carried her to safety, then said he would teach her precise magical power control as the large Mors charged again.

Michael used Displacement Magic to make the Beast-form Moss destroy the Mors horde, then helped Toneri recover her magical energy so she could return to the village’s defenses. Toneri headed toward the remaining Mors, determined to keep fighting.

• Michael repeatedly displaced the Beast-form Moss’s charges, causing it to wipe out the Mors gathered nearby.
• The exhausted Beast-form Moss tried to flee, but Michael killed it with threads of magical energy.
• Toneri offered to help the fairies defending the plaza, and Michael urged her to give up before teasing her about being hated.
• Michael restored Toneri’s strength and magical energy by rubbing her head.
• Toneri took up the Staff of Selection and set off to face the remaining Mors.

Duren Village’s defenders struggled against the overwhelming Moss swarm as Duren fought to hold the failing line. A swift, feline Moss finally tore through his prized armor and wounded him.

• A bedraggled fairy reported that more than half of the human defenders had been killed or wounded, and Duren went to the front line.
• Duren used his Fairy Mystery to raise earthen spikes that killed more than a dozen Moss, but the swarm continued attacking the shelter.
• A Moss broke through the human line and possessed a fairy, so Duren killed the fairy before the transformation could finish and killed the Moss.
• A small, feline Moss evaded the adjutant’s spear and slaughtered nearby human soldiers before attacking Duren.
• Duren’s silver armor initially resisted the feline Moss’s claws, but after they fought to a brief standstill, the creature slashed through the breastplate and wounded him.

Toneri arrived at the village and helped turn the battle against the Mors after Duren was transformed into one. She destroyed the remaining Mors, including a stealthy Beast-form Moss that nearly killed her, and the sunrise marked the battle’s end.

• Duren became a Mors, and the fairy adjutant tried to rally the fleeing fairies and humans.
• Toneri arrived and bombarded the Mors with fiery meteors, then used a Command Spell to replenish her magical energy and bolster the defenders’ courage.
• Toneri joined the fight while a Beast-form Moss stalked her, having previously tricked Duren and possessed him.
• Toneri bound the Beast-form Moss with stone shackles and aimed a powerful spell at it, but it became incorporeal and slipped free.
• The Beast-form Moss shattered Toneri’s defensive formula and attacked her from behind, but a Torrent of Light destroyed it before it could strike her.
• The rising sun helped wipe out the remaining Mors and ended the battle.

Toneri helped drive the Mors from Duren Village, but the fairies blamed and attacked her for the disaster. Michael rescued her, and she resolved to keep helping Britain until every fairy acknowledged her as its savior.

• Toneri used a spatial displacement spell to defeat Beast-form Moss as the Mors withdrew from Duren Village.
• Duren's assistant thanked Toneri for her help but demanded that she leave because she came from the Sea of Stars.
• The fairies called Toneri the Witch of Calamity, blamed her for the Mors attack, and threw pebbles at her.
• Toneri defended herself against the crowd, but a pillar of light descended and carried her away.
• Michael criticized the ungrateful fairies, while Toneri said she would still have chosen to help them and vowed to earn their acknowledgment.
• Toneri announced that her next destination was Darlington, and Michael encouraged her.

Exhausted from traveling, Toneri and Michael encountered five Fang Clan Fairies roasting rabbits in a clearing and accepted their invitation to rest. After discovering that the Fang Clan Fairies planned to drug and sell them, Michael prepared to let their scheme unfold, leaving Toneri curious about how he would deal with them.

• Toneri agreed to spend the night in the woods with Michael after their long journey.
• Michael and Toneri found five Fang Clan Fairies roasting rabbits beside a carriage and asked to rest with them.
• The Fang Clan Fairies welcomed the pair while secretly planning to drug them with Midsummer Night's Dream and sell them.
• Toneri read the Fang Clan Fairies' malicious thoughts with her Fairy Eyes and warned Michael of their plan.
• Michael told Toneri to stay calm and said he was prepared to handle the poison, while the pair waited to see what the Fang Clan Fairies would do.

Michael used an enchanted story to win over five Fang Clan fae, but Toneri’s theft of their roasted rabbits exposed their original plans. The brothers collapsed under Michael’s magic, and he identified himself as a traveler as they realized they had become the prey.

• Michael told the Fang Clan fae a moving tale while his enhanced charm spell stirred their emotions and won their trust.
• Fifth tried to remind his brothers that they had planned to attack two lone fae, but the eldest struggled to understand him.
• The eldest discovered that Toneri had eaten all their roasted rabbits and angrily confronted her.
• The eldest and his four brothers suddenly lost their strength and senses, realizing Michael had trapped them.
• The eldest asked Michael what kind of fae he was, and Michael replied that he was merely a traveler passing through.

Michael found Apocryphus, a lively Mirror Clan fairy imprisoned in an iron cage, after dealing with the Fang Clan fairies. Apocryphus correctly predicted which hand held the key, and Michael agreed to free him.

• Toneri watched the five Fang Clan fairies collapse and lamented that there had been too few roasted rabbits.
• Michael opened the carriage and found a gaunt fairy named Apocryphus locked in an iron cage.
• Apocryphus boasted that he was a great prophet, then realized Michael had not been captured by the Fang Clan fairies.
• Apocryphus begged Michael to save him and claimed his predictions were accurate.
• Michael challenged Apocryphus to identify which hand held the key, and Apocryphus correctly chose Michael's right hand.

Michael freed Apocryphus from the iron cage and brought him back to Toneri, who threatened him after he ate her saved rabbit leg. Apocryphus warned them not to go to Darlington because the place did not need a Savior.

• Michael revealed that his magic key was fake, then cut through Apocryphus's iron cage with a blade of magic.
• Michael knocked Apocryphus unconscious with enchanted scales and dragged him out of the carriage.
• Toneri offered Michael a roasted rabbit leg she had saved, but he teased her into eating it herself.
• Apocryphus woke up and ate the rabbit leg, prompting Toneri to threaten him as Michael explained that he was connected to their enemies.
• Apocryphus surrendered and warned Toneri not to go to Darlington because it did not need a Savior.

Toneri questioned Apocryphus about his prophecy and learned that Darlington’s lord had helped destroy the Rain Clan and would likely imprison her in a deadly arena if he discovered her. She remained determined to warn Darlington about the Mors, while Apocryphus wished her luck and said the prophecy could still be changed.

• Toneri asked Apocryphus how he knew they were going to Darlington, and he claimed to be Britain’s greatest prophet who refused to foresee his own future.
• Toneri used her Fairy Eyes to accuse Apocryphus of lying, and he explained that Fairy Eyes had different ranks and abilities.
• Apocryphus warned Toneri that Darlington’s lord had driven the Rain Clan’s extermination and would likely send a discovered wanted fairy to fight in his deadly arena.
• Toneri insisted that they had to reach Darlington to warn its people about the Mors and a terrifyingly large one among them.
• Apocryphus wished Toneri luck and said prophecy was not unchangeable, adding that Boss was far stronger than he was.

Michael and Toneri traveled toward Darlington, where a powerful fairy lord’s domain surrounded the city. They entered the Rhode Alliance after Toneri endured Michael’s punishing magecraft homework.

• Apocryphus left Michael and Toneri to continue his training, vowing to become Britain's Greatest Prophet.
• Toneri asked about the five fairies who had tried to harm them, and Michael concealed that he had burned them to ashes.
• Michael discovered that Toneri had not completed her magecraft homework and gave her a huge stack of test papers to finish.
• After two days of tutoring, Toneri and Michael reached Darlington and saw its fortified walls, guarded gates, and powerful fairy domain.
• Michael recognized that Darlington’s lord was a formidable fairy whose strength surpassed his own normal state, and they entered the Rhode Alliance.

Toneri and Michael entered Darlington and discovered a prosperous city where status depended on Fairy Marks and the domain monitored its inhabitants. When Fairy Guards showed them a wanted poster for the Witch from Paradise, Michael distracted them with a made-up explanation of what a witch could be, while Toneri secretly pinched him.

• Toneri saw that Darlington was clean and prosperous, and learned that red Fairy Marks determined residents’ status while outsiders received black marks.
• Michael explained that their marks might be a problem because Darlington’s domain could track people and guide the Fairy Guards.
• Fairy Guards approached Toneri and Michael, warned them to obey Lord Roderick’s laws, and displayed a crude portrait of the wanted Witch from Paradise.
• Michael questioned the portrait’s accuracy, then claimed that a witch could take many forms, even that of a caterpillar.
• Toneri pinched Michael’s waist as he continued his lie, making him wince.

Michael and Toneri deceived the Fairy Guards in Darlington, earned Coliseum tickets, and learned more about Roderick’s domain. They decided to explore the city and gather intelligence before sunset.

• Michael invented details about the calamity-bringing witch and advised the Fairy Guards to lure her with valuable treasures.
• Michael gave himself and Toneri the names Makabaka and Igbygby and claimed they belonged to the Mirror Clan.
• A Fairy Guard rewarded Michael and Toneri with first-class Coliseum tickets, but Toneri worried that Roderick would ignore her warning about the Mors.
• Michael appeased the Fairy Guard Captain by praising Roderick and explaining that they had come to Darlington to attend the Coliseum.
• Michael and Toneri chose to walk around Darlington and gather intelligence, while Toneri eyed shops where she could buy replacement clothes.

Toneri struggled to pay for the tailor shop’s goods in Darlington’s Mana Crystals, then discovered her Coliseum gold admission ticket was valuable enough to use instead. The tailor shop owner offered his prized sword Skadi in exchange, revealing that a defeat in the coliseum had damaged his spiritual foundation and ended his fighting career.

• The tailor shop owner asked Toneri to pay thirty-seven million eight hundred thousand Mana Crystals, and Toneri learned that they served as currency in Darlington.
• Toneri offered a Coliseum gold admission ticket, and the tailor shop owner eagerly accepted it as payment.
• The tailor shop owner explained that he had once won nine consecutive coliseum matches before losing his tenth duel.
• The tailor shop owner offered Toneri Skadi, the sword that had accompanied him through his victories.
• The tailor shop owner said his defeat damaged his spiritual foundation, leaving him unable to hold a sword or return to the coliseum.

Toneri was swindled into trading her Coliseum Admission Ticket for a sword, but Michael explained the tailor’s trick and showed her Skadi’s power. They escaped after Michael accidentally cut down a streetlamp, then reached the lavish house he had bought in Darlington, where Toneri discovered his immense hoard of Mana Crystals.

• Toneri traded a gold Coliseum Admission Ticket and some clothes to the tailor shop owner for Skadi, then overheard him laughing about the deal.
• Michael laughed at Toneri’s misfortune and explained that the tailor had not lied, but had led her to misunderstand the sword’s value.
• Michael tested Skadi’s frost-covered blade, accidentally severed a streetlamp, and fled with Toneri through the shadows to evade the Fairy Guards.
• Michael returned Skadi to Toneri and advised her to study swordsmanship as they made their way through Darlington.
• Toneri questioned whether Michael had borrowed their new lodging, and he said he had bought the three-story building for three hundred million Mana Crystals.
• Michael opened the building to reveal a vast store of Mana Crystals, and Toneri worried that other fairies might discover their wealth.

Michael gave Toneri a gold ticket and brought her upstairs to help with a project. Meanwhile, Owen learned that the Witch’s death was tied to an anomaly outside fate, and the prophet said Owen would need to separate that anomaly from the Witch to have a chance of killing her.

• Toneri admitted that she had spent her gold arena ticket for less than one hundred million Mana Crystals, and Michael gave her one of his tickets.
• Michael demonstrated that he could make a gold ticket become two, then invited Toneri upstairs to help with something he was working on.
• Owen watched a sword-wielding fairy defeat an axe-wielding fairy after the latter slipped, confirming the black-robed Mirror Clan fairy’s prophecy.
• Owen asked whether Lord Roderick was destined to die at the Witch’s hands, and the prophet said an anomaly outside fate was disrupting his sight.
• The prophet told Owen that he could kill the Witch only if he lured the anomaly away from her and separated them.

Michael invited Toneri to take a break from studying magecraft by visiting Darlington’s arena, where they watched eight fairies prepare for a chaotic gladiatorial battle. The fight began with the competitors entering the arena, and Michael noticed one trembling, frail fairy among them.

• Toneri grew distracted from her magecraft book while watching Michael work, and Michael suggested they visit the arena together.
• Michael and Toneri arrived at the arena and discovered their gold tickets led to the same seat, so Toneri sat in an empty seat beside him after rejecting his joke about sitting on his lap.
• Eight fairies entered the arena for a chaotic group battle in which only one was expected to survive.
• Michael noticed that one thin fairy was trembling so badly that he seemed likely to be eliminated first.

Apocryphus was cornered in the gladiator arena, and Toneri and Michael rescued him from the surviving fighter. As fairies rushed toward them, Michael blasted a hole through the arena wall to make an escape route.

• A gladiator attacked Apocryphus, but Apocryphus dodged and stabbed him before the other gladiators finished the wounded man off.
• Apocryphus recognized Michael and Toneri and begged them to save him, while they initially refused to get involved.
• After the melee left one bloodied gladiator alive, he charged at Apocryphus, and Toneri blinded the arena with a powerful light spell.
• Michael grabbed Apocryphus with Magi Hand, and the three fled as Apocryphus warned them that Roderick had Fairy Mystery set up at the main gate.
• Michael blasted through the arena's outer wall, creating an escape route as the fairies began recovering and closing in.