Recaps

Angel fought the Devil-Transformed Desire Apostle in a sewer and overcame his attacks and planted Desire Seed with help from holy attacks. She killed him and destroyed the shadow he had tried to use to escape.

• Angel attacked the Desire Apostle with Good Luck and her Bone Sword, but he used Mental Shock to create an opening and slash through her Paper Figurine Substitute.
• Angel reappeared and shot a hole through the Desire Apostle’s waist, then avoided his death curse with another substitute.
• The Desire Seed planted in Angel’s mind disrupted her attack, and the wounded Desire Apostle lunged at her.
• A Holy Light Bullet and the Sun Brooch’s holy light weakened the Desire Apostle, allowing Angel to stab through his head with the Bone Sword.
• The Desire Apostle’s body shrank back into a man, but Angel spotted his escaping shadow and pinned it with the Bone Sword, burning it with Cursed Flame.

Angel and Sherlock defeated the Desire Apostle, collected his wealth, and Angel Grazed his soul, but Sealed Artifact 1-42 suddenly attacked and shattered Angel’s body. Klein used Dream Divination to discover that Leonard Mitchell had wielded the artifact and that Angel was still alive, though motionless and covered in blood.

• Angel and Sherlock completed their plan, and Angel opened the Desire Apostle’s suitcase to find more than ten thousand pounds in notes and gold bars worth about thirteen thousand pounds total.
• Angel used the Rose Necklace to Graze the Desire Apostle’s soul and absorb his Beyonder Characteristic.
• Sealed Artifact 1-42 struck, leaving Angel’s body shattered and cutting Klein’s connection to the Black Emperor Spirit Body.
• Klein hurried toward the battlefield, then returned above the Gray Fog to divine Angel’s situation instead of confronting the artifact recklessly.
• Klein’s divination revealed that Leonard Mitchell had worn the silver-white armor of 1-42 and that Angel lay motionless in a sewer passage, covered in blood.

Klein found Angel unconscious in the sewers, brought her to his home, and discovered that her wounds had healed but her condition remained unstable. When Angel woke and tried to leave, she succumbed to madness and threw Klein onto the bed, leaving him to decide whether to use fire to stop her.

• Klein found Angel alive but unconscious amid blood and shattered ice in the sewers.
• Klein carried Angel home, saw that her injuries had healed, and concluded she had survived the attack using the Rose Necklace.
• Klein prepared healing potions and returned to the guest room, where Angel had woken and insisted on leaving.
• Klein noticed Angel's flushed face and signs of impending loss of control, then grabbed her arm as she passed.
• Angel's crazed gaze and sudden force knocked Klein onto the bed, and he lowered his hand instead of using fire to deter her.

The churches investigated Jason Beria’s death in the sewer, and Arrodes showed them a vision of his killers while hinting at the Tarot organization. The chapter ended with Angel waiting, armed and surrounded by safeguards, for someone emerging from the guest room.

• Ace Snake demanded answers about Jason Beria’s death, while Ikanser reported that a woman and a crowned ghost had been at the scene.
• Leonard identified the ghost as the Rogue Black Emperor and linked the killers to earlier incidents involving Tarot Cards.
• Arrodes showed Ace Snake a vision of the Black Emperor and a fair hand killing Jason Beria, followed by burning Tarot Cards bearing The Fool.
• Arrodes asked Ace Snake whether he had ever felt disloyal to his deity, unsettling him before he could answer.
• Angel waited beside the living room window with her revolver and protective artifacts as someone opened the guest-room door.

Angel and Sherlock recovered from the battle with the Desire Apostle and discussed his assassination of Duke Negan, the Rose Necklace’s new abilities, and the missing suitcase. Angel left, while Klein privately reflected on the amethyst pendant on his wrist.

• Angel held Sherlock at gunpoint, then lowered her weapon, and Sherlock made breakfast while she changed into a dress borrowed from Landlady Sommer.
• Angel and Sherlock reviewed the battle and learned that the Desire Apostle had targeted Duke Negan, using the assassination as part of a plan arranged by unnamed sponsors.
• Angel explained that Grazing the Desire Apostle had given the Rose Necklace the abilities Control Desire, Filthy Words, and Malice Induction.
• Angel and Sherlock realized they had not recovered the suitcase containing the assassination payment, and Sherlock planned to search for it in his Spirit Body that night.
• Angel left Sherlock’s home, and Klein hid the amethyst pendant on his wrist before clearing the dishes.

After returning home, Angel reviewed her recent battle, assessed her Pleasure potion acting, and tested the abilities she had gained from the Desire Apostle. Audrey contacted her to ask for protection at a Psychology Alchemists’ gathering, and Angel’s next mirror communication began just as their call ended.

• Angel returned to Red Rose Street, reflected on 0-08 and her connection with Sherlock, and reviewed the Desire Apostle’s death and her rapid potion digestion.
• Angel decided to sell the Madness Ring, then tested the Desire Apostle’s abilities and discovered that using Foul Language stirred violent desires in her.
• Audrey contacted Angel and asked her to accompany her to a Countess’s ball, where the Psychology Alchemists planned to evaluate her.
• As Audrey’s communication ended, another figure appeared in Angel’s mirror, and Audrey overheard a man’s voice before her own mirror went blank.
• Audrey wondered who had contacted Angel and decided to ask Miss Empress about it the next day.

Klein told Angel he had recovered the valuables from her damaged suitcase and discussed the hidden organization behind the Desire Apostle and his progress toward becoming a Faceless. The next afternoon, Angel rode with Audrey to a ball, where Audrey asked whether Angel’s persistent smile was because of the man she had seen the previous night.

• Klein contacted Angel through the mirror and explained that the suitcase’s banknotes were ruined but its gold, jewelry, and diamonds were worth about 3,000 pounds.
• Klein and Angel agreed that the organization behind the Desire Apostle could not be discussed because anything spoken of might be known.
• Klein told Angel he was close to digesting the Magician Potion and hoped to advance to Faceless, while Angel offered to help find ingredients.
• Angel boarded Audrey’s carriage outside Earl Hall’s residence, and Audrey revealed that her family had sent a Beyonder guard and eight armed guards with her.
• Audrey hinted that Duke Pallas Negan’s assassination showed the danger to her family, then asked Angel whether her smile was related to the man from the previous night.

Angel accompanied Audrey to Earl Wolf’s ball, where Audrey left to meet the Psychology Alchemists and Angel encountered Trissy. As commotion outside distracted Trissy’s watchers, Trissy disappeared from the ballroom.

• Angel entered Earl Wolf’s estate with Audrey, her maid, and Susie, and Audrey explained that Earl Wolf had sold land to fund his lavish lifestyle.
• Audrey left the ballroom with a woman who had contacted her, using their agreed signal that the Psychology Alchemists wanted to meet.
• Angel spotted Lola Swann dancing with Vincent and then encountered Trissy, who claimed they had an agreement and said she could handle her watchers herself.
• Angel inferred that Trissy intended to escape her control and chose not to interfere as Trissy slipped away through a side door.
• Sharp whistles and shouts outside distracted the guests and Trissy’s watchers, and Trissy vanished from the crowd.

Angel watched Trissy escape a search by royal spies, only for her to return changed and leave with Prince Edessak. After the ball, Audrey gave Angel three pages of Emperor Roselle’s Diary as part of her promised reward.

• Angel concealed her knowledge of Trissy’s invisibility and misled two royal spies searching the hall.
• Trissy returned with a changed appearance and left with Prince Edessak, who treated her with indulgent familiarity.
• Angel noticed that Lola Swann and her Hunter partner had sensed something unusual, then spoke with Susie before Audrey interrupted.
• In their carriage, Angel told Audrey about Edessak’s relationship with a common girl while withholding Trissy’s identity and the Demoness Sect’s involvement.
• Audrey gave Angel three manuscript pages containing Emperor Roselle’s Diary as part of her reward.

Angel calculated her prospective wealth and learned that the Aurora Order had claimed responsibility for Duke Negan’s assassination, while authorities had raided one of its strongholds. She met Sherman and his bounty hunter partner Xio Derecha at the Oak Bar to discuss their lead on Baelen and how to catch him.

• Angel calculated that her possible assets totaled 7,100 pounds, though most of the money and rewards were not yet available to her.
• Angel read that Duke Negan had been assassinated by Patrick Jason and that the Aurora Order had claimed responsibility, then saw that authorities had raided an Aurora Order stronghold in Empress Borough.
• Sherman contacted Angel to report a lead on Baelen and explained that he had hired a bounty hunter for fifty pounds plus half of anything valuable found.
• Angel met Sherman and Xio Derecha at the Oak Bar, recognized Xio from Audrey’s Mysticism Salon, and learned that Xio had been tracking Baelen in East Borough.
• Angel recognized that Xio was using a Beyonder ability, warned her against using it casually, and said her own employer was not in Loen before proposing they discuss catching Baelen and payment.

Angel hired Xio to capture Baelen, then negotiated a larger reward with the Hanged Man for capturing him and obtaining information about his human trafficking. At the Tarot Club, Audrey reported that Duke Pallas Negan’s assassin had been found dead in the sewers, covered in Tarot Cards, with his important items missing.

• Angel agreed to pay Xio 50 pounds and half of Baelen’s ordinary possessions, and they arranged to capture him that night.
• Sherman told Angel rumors that Xio had once been a noble, then a crash outside the tavern interrupted their conversation.
• At the Tarot Club, Angel told the Hanged Man she had located Baelen and negotiated a total reward of 500 pounds for capturing him and providing exclusive information about his trafficking.
• The Hanged Man accepted the World’s requests to sell a Werewolf Beyonder Characteristic and find Deep Sea Naga hair.
• Audrey told the Tarot Club that Duke Pallas Negan had been assassinated by a Desire Apostle who was later found dead in the sewers, covered in Tarot Cards and missing important items.

At the Tarot Club, Angel revealed that she and one of Mr. Fool’s Blessed had killed the Desire Apostle to target the Twilight Hermits Society, whose name could not safely be mentioned or recorded. The members discussed the political consequences of Duke Negan’s death and made unsuccessful attempts to trade Mystical Items before the gathering ended.

• Audrey announced that Tarot Cards had been found on the Desire Apostle’s corpse, and Angel admitted she and Mr. Fool’s Blessed had killed him and Grazed his Beyonder Characteristic and soul.
• Justice clarified that their target was the Twilight Hermits Society, and Mr. Fool warned the members never to mention, write down, or record its name outside the gathering.
• Justice described how Duke Negan’s death had weakened the Conservatives, prompted military personnel changes, and led to the expected transfer of the Church of Storms Archbishop; Hanged Man thanked her for the information.
• Angel offered a face-concealing Psychiatrist-derived ring for 2,000 pounds, but no one showed interest.
• Sun asked for a Mystical Item to strengthen him for an exploration of the True Creator’s ruins, but no one had one to offer, and the Tarot Club ended.

Angel, Xio Derecha, and Sherman captured Baelen and interrogated him about his role in Backlund’s human-trafficking network. Baelen revealed that he was continuing Capim’s operation and mentioned a mysterious Golden Mask before an armed man entered the attic and sealed it with Imprisonment.

• Angel used the Madness Ring and joined Xio Derecha and Sherman to capture Baelen at his home in the East Borough.
• Angel entered through a window and trapped Baelen with invisible spider silk while Xio knocked him unconscious and carried him to the attic.
• Xio questioned Baelen, but Angel’s unseen power frightened him into revealing that he had taken over Capim’s work transporting kidnapped poor people out of Backlund.
• Baelen said three other men handled separate routes and that a contact wearing a Golden Mask directed them, while others took the captives onward, likely overseas.
• As Baelen began to reveal that some captives were taken somewhere near Backlund, a middle-aged man entered the attic and cast Imprisonment, sealing the room from sound and spirituality.

Angel and Xio fought Harras after he sealed the attic, and Angel killed him. Baelen escaped the room but was struck down by a dagger as he tried to flee.

• Xio failed to break through the sealed window and questioned Harras, who revealed that he had trapped everyone in the attic.
• Harras exposed Angel’s invisibility and attacked her, but she fought back with spells, an Ice Spike, and her Good Luck pistol.
• Harras used Imprisonment and Mental Piercing against Angel, but she impaled him with a Bone Sword and killed him.
• Harras’s death lifted the attic’s seal, freeing Xio and opening the window.
• Baelen cut his bonds and tried to escape through the window, but a dagger struck his chest and sent him flying back into the attic.

Angel used Spirit Channeling to question the dead Harras and learned that a masked Sequence 4 Arbiter led a human-trafficking operation in Backlund. When Harras was prevented from revealing the handover location, Angel hurried to erase evidence and leave, while two hooded figures later discovered the burned bodies and Tarot cards.

• Xio and Sherman entered the attic, where Angel told them Baelen could not be saved and asked them to guard the door while she questioned Harras.
• Angel used the Magic Mirror to channel Harras, who revealed that his group kidnapped poor and homeless people and that a masked Judge, possibly a Sequence 4 Demigod, gave the orders.
• Harras began to name the slave handover location near Tasok, but his Spirit Body vanished before he could finish, leading Angel to suspect a powerful Prohibition.
• Angel Grazed Harras, burned traces in the attic, collected Baelen's Beyonder Characteristic, and left the scene with Xio and Sherman.
• Two hooded figures arrived half an hour later and found the charred corpses and Tarot cards, including Judgment.

Angel, Xio, and Sherman divided the spoils after killing Baelen and Harras, while Angel warned them to keep the operation secret. Back home, Xio asked Fors to help sell the Criminal Characteristic as she resolved to investigate the military and royal family’s connection to her father’s death.

• Xio chose Baelen’s Criminal Beyonder Characteristic as her reward, and Angel gave it to her after deducting the 25 pounds Xio owed.
• Angel praised Sherman’s role in the operation, warned him to relocate, and Xio took him to a safe house to lie low.
• Angel left to report the discoveries to Mr. Fool and the Hanged Man and consider informing the official Beyonders about the trafficking case.
• Fors explained to Xio that she was rushing her manuscript to earn money for the Trickmaster potion materials and described a powerful Beyonder who inspired her new protagonist.
• Xio showed Fors the Criminal Characteristic and asked her to help sell it, resolving to investigate the military and royal family’s role in her father’s death.

Angel received Mr. Hanged Man’s response to her report about Baelen’s human trafficking operation and learned that a fire had already destroyed the scene. She consulted Sherlock about how to proceed and learned they had earned a large reward for helping track the Desire Apostle.

• Mr. Hanged Man thanked Angel for finding Baelen, promised her 500 pounds, and warned her to be cautious before reporting the trafficking operation because powerful Loen figures might be involved.
• Angel read that a fire had broken out at the East Borough residence where she had interrogated Baelen and channeled Harras, and suspected the golden-mask group had destroyed evidence.
• Angel avoided meeting Machinery Hivemind deacon Ikanser outside Sherlock’s house, then went inside to speak with Sherlock.
• Sherlock told Angel that Ikanser had offered them 1,300 pounds for helping track the Desire Apostle, with 800 pounds going to Angel.
• Sherlock said he had found the Faceless potion formula and expected to obtain its ingredients, and that selling the gold bars could bring them about 2,800 pounds; Angel was surprised when he said a woman was handling the sale.

Angel told Sherlock about killing Harras and uncovered a connection between the human trafficking operation, Prince Edessak, and the Demoness Sect. They planned to report the matter through noble rivals, and the chapter ended with Sherlock awkwardly offering to help Angel continue her potion role-playing.

• Angel recounted tracking Baelen, killing Harras, and using Spirit Channeling, then explained why she suspected royal and military involvement in the trafficking.
• Angel revealed that Prince Edessak had fallen in love with Trissy, a former male Instigator who had become a Sequence 6 Demoness of Pleasure, and Sherlock suspected an item had manipulated their relationship.
• Sherlock advised reporting the affair through noble rivals to turn it into an internal royal struggle, and Angel decided to seek help through Audrey before notifying the Three Great Churches.
• Sherlock said his potion was nearly digested after role-playing and then awkwardly offered to help Angel continue hers that night.
• Angel left Sherlock's apartment in a hurry as Landlady Sommer saw her and remarked on the young people's energy.

Angel identified Kaliwa Dupont as the source of Lily Granger’s threatening letters, but her divination suggested someone was interfering to protect him. After escaping a dream attack in Kaliwa’s home, she vanished as Nighthawks broke in, only for their Phantom Phosphor Powder to reveal her hiding place.

• Detective Raymond told Angel that Kaliwa Dupont, a lecturer at Backlund Technical College, had been seen leaving a threatening letter at Lily’s home.
• Angel ended the detectives’ commission and searched Kaliwa’s house, where she found threatening letters matching those at Lily’s home.
• Angel used Magic Mirror Divination to ask why Kaliwa threatened Lily, but the visions showed misleading scenes from his ordinary life.
• Angel realized a skilled Beyonder might be interfering with divination and protecting Kaliwa, then felt herself pulled into a dream.
• Angel used the Hidden Holy Emblem to return to reality and vanished as Lorotta and Borgia stormed into the study.
• Borgia fired Phantom Phosphor Powder across the room, revealing Angel’s silhouette in a corner.

Angel escaped a Nighthawk attack at Kaliwa Dupont’s home, while Lorotta questioned Lily and revealed that Dupont had been sending her threatening letters. The chapter ended as Lily saw another version of herself approaching her home.

• Lorotta used a Slumber Charm against Angel and Borgia, but Angel escaped through the window and fled invisibly.
• Angel suspected the Nighthawks had been misled into following her to Kaliwa Dupont’s residence.
• Lorotta visited Lily and told her that Kaliwa Dupont was the sender of the threatening letters found at his home.
• Lily connected the threats to Sherick Madan and the box he had left behind, which she believed the police had taken.
• As Lorotta prepared to leave, Lily and Lorotta saw a golden-haired figure dressed differently from Lily approaching the house.

Angel stopped a Faceless from abducting Lily Granger and learned that the Secret Order was likely behind the attempt to obtain Xie Like Madan’s box. When Sevillea warned her to avoid the Order and revealed that Lady Despair wanted to meet her, she asked Angel for an update on the organization that worshipped the Fool.

• Angel, disguised as Lorotta, froze a Faceless posing as Lily, but the impostor escaped with Flame Leap before Angel could catch her.
• Angel concluded that the Faceless had lured away the Nighthawks to target Lily and the box left by Xie Like Madan, then watched the Nighthawks take Lily to safety.
• Angel visited Sevillea Landon, who identified the Faceless as a member of the Secret Order and warned that the organization had ties to Intis.
• Sevillea told Angel that Lady Despair would return to Backlund by the following week and wanted to meet her.
• Angel changed the subject to Trissy’s failed escape, and Sevillea said Trissy would soon be free along with the Demoness Sect.
• Sevillea asked Angel whether she had made progress investigating the organization that worshipped the Fool, leaving Angel startled.

Angel learned that the Demoness Sect was searching for Tarot-card clues and grew more determined to advance before facing Lady Despair. Meanwhile, Soest briefed the Nighthawks on a Faceless Beyonder’s attack near Lily Granger’s home and revealed the suspected organization behind the ability.

• Angel told Sevillea that the Aurora Order’s recent crimes might be connected to Ms. D’s death, but Sevillea said the order was innocent this time.
• Angel left Sevillea’s mansion worried that Lady Despair could expose her identity, then decided to visit Minsk Street in Cherwood Borough.
• Soest arrived at the Nighthawks’ records room and told Daly Simone and Leonard Mitchell about threats against Lily Granger and the disappearance of her teacher, Kaliwa Dupont.
• Soest explained that a female Beyonder had escaped the Nighthawks and that she was a Sequence 6 Faceless who could change her appearance.
• Soest linked the Faceless ability to the Secret Order and its successor, the Eighth Bureau of the Intis Republic.

Soest explained the Nighthawks’ investigation into the empty box that drew Bureau 8 and the Secret Order to Lily Granger. After breakfast, Sherlock told Angel that his friend Talim had died mysteriously and that the royal family had taken over the suspicious case.

• Soest said Lily Granger had been targeted because Sherick Madan gave her a box, and two Faceless Ones appeared at her home.
• Soest revealed that the box had been empty after its seal was opened, and explained that the Nighthawks had publicized their custody of it to protect Lily.
• Leonard questioned why Aier Hassen’s team had brought rare anti-invisibility ammunition, and Daly suggested they had originally been waiting for Cole Granger.
• Angel cooked breakfast with Sherlock, and he brought her more bread after she admitted she was still hungry.
• Sherlock told Angel that Talim Dumont had suddenly died at a club, with black aura around his heart visible through Spirit Vision.
• Sherlock said the royal family had claimed Talim’s case despite his Storms faith, and suspected his death was connected to them.

Angel and Sherlock discussed the mysterious curse that killed the riding instructor and their plans for the day, then Angel joined Sherlock’s team to confront a baronet trying to awaken an evil spirit in a Tudor-era ruin. The chapter ended as Barone Rafte Pound secretly entered the tunnel while three figures watched him.

• Angel and Sherlock considered whether a curse killed the riding instructor, but their divination attempts failed to identify the killer.
• Angel told Sherlock she might encounter Lady Despair in Backlund and could report the demigod Demoness to the Orthodox Church.
• Angel and Sherlock discussed their plans, including Sherlock’s attempt to stop a baronet from entering a dangerous ruin in the West Borough.
• Angel asked to join Sherlock’s team, and he agreed after warning her that the evil spirit inside the ruin was dangerous.
• At night, Barone Rafte Pound uncovered a hidden tunnel entrance and crawled inside as three figures watched him from the abandoned church.

Rafte Pound dug into an underground palace and encountered Klein, whom he mistook for an evil spirit, before a sealed presence took control of him. The entity used Rafte’s blood to break through the seal briefly and confronted Klein, mocking his disguise.

• Rafte Pound dug beneath an abandoned church, found a Tudor crest in an underground palace, and fled when he encountered a Faceless figure and a floating head.
• Klein appeared with Angel and Sharon, transformed into a red-haired evil spirit, and let Rafte believe he had found the spirit of the underground palace.
• Rafte urged the supposed spirit to cooperate with him, claiming the Rogue Black Emperor’s appearance foretold the Blood Emperor’s return.
• A presence took control of Rafte and made him repeatedly smash his head against a wall before he rose and tasted his blood.
• The presence said Rafte’s hatred had briefly broken the seal, then criticized Klein’s disguise and left the air around them growing colder.