Chapter Summaries

After the Blood Moon triggered a terrifying reaction to her potion, Angel sought help from Mr. Fool and learned she had not lost control. She returned to reality safely as a Sequence 6 Demoness of Pleasure, while Klein wondered about her new abilities.

• Angel explained her Blood Moon crisis to Mr. Fool and asked whether her physical body had lost control.
• Mr. Fool told Angel that the Blood Moon had affected her advancement and that her unharmed Spirit Body meant she had not lost control.
• Angel recounted her revenge against Lanevus and asked for information about Ince Zangwill, but Mr. Fool said one of his Blessed was investigating the matter.
• Klein confirmed through Angel's prayer connection that she was safe, then reflected on her advancement and appearance.
• Angel returned to her living room, found her body restored, and tested her enhanced Invisible Spider Silk and Cursed Flames.

After advancing to Sequence 6, Angel tested her new Demoness of Pleasure abilities and considered how to combine them while keeping her advancement secret. She resolved to prepare a mystical substitute to guard against Sevillea’s curses and conceal that she had advanced.

• Angel discovered that her spirituality had nearly doubled, strengthening her Mirror Substitution, curses, and other abilities while granting her Invisible Spider Silk.
• Angel tested ways to combine spider silk with Black Flame and ice, and concluded that an ice coffin could be dangerous against multiple enemies.
• Angel recalled how blood and hair could serve as curse mediums, and recognized that Sevillea had wanted to keep hers to control her.
• Angel reflected on new ability combinations she might investigate and decided her hidden advancement gave her an opportunity while Lola and Sevillea still believed she was Sequence 7.
• Angel saw her newly alluring appearance in the mirror and realized she could control her own desires only temporarily.
• Angel cleaned the scattered basement equipment and planned to make a mystical substitute to protect herself from Sevillea’s curses.

Angel visited Harvest Church to investigate the Master Key and learned its history from the imprisoned Vampire, Emlyn White. After discovering he had lied about where the key came from, she tricked him into giving the correct address and left while he remained imprisoned.

• Angel asked Father Utravsky about the Master Key, and he revealed that it had belonged to a Vampire locked in the church basement.
• Angel spoke with Emlyn White, who explained that the key had passed from a thief to him after the thief used it to break into homes around Backlund.
• Angel suspected the key endangered its owners and used divination to discover that Emlyn had lied about the thief's address.
• Angel and Father Utravsky tricked Emlyn into correcting his lie, and he revealed that the thief had found the key at No. 32 Verdi Street in the Bridge South District.
• Father Utravsky invited Angel to attend a sermon and urged Emlyn to convert to the Earth Mother, while Angel identified herself as a Goddess believer and left the church.

Angel investigated the house on Verdi Street where the Master Key had been found, overcame a Spirit Body that trapped her in a staircase maze, and discovered an Abraham descendant’s notebook in the basement. The notebook revealed the family’s curse and three Potion formulas, leaving Angel to suspect that the curse also affected the Master Key and Miss Magician.

• Angel entered the abandoned house on Verdi Street and found a dead burglar whose corpse had been held upright by a supernatural force.
• Angel became trapped in a staircase loop, then burned away the Spirit Body behind the maze with Black Flame.
• Angel reached the basement and found the Abraham descendant’s remains and a notebook documenting the family’s history and curse.
• Angel copied the notebook’s Potion formulas for Apprentice, Trickmaster, and Astrologer.
• Angel connected the Abraham curse to the Master Key and wondered whether Miss Magician was also an Abraham descendant.

Angel explored a haunted house, burned a Wraith, and found evidence that it had possessed a thief before killing itself. The next morning, she visited Detective Sherlock Moriarty and learned that another client had hired a detective to search for Emlyn White.

• Angel burned Abraham's remains in the basement and discovered that the dead thief had strangled himself, likely while possessed by the Wraith.
• Angel left No. 32 Verdi Street after performing Anti-Divination, then considered investigating the false address Emlyn White had given her.
• Angel arrived at Sherlock Moriarty's home and met the detective Isengard Stanton, who said Moriarty would receive a reward for helping solve the serial murder case.
• Moriarty explained that his investigation had helped earn him more than a hundred pounds from the Devil Dog case.
• Angel told Moriarty about Emlyn White, and Moriarty revealed that a colleague had been hired by someone likely of Emlyn's kind to find him.
• Moriarty asked Angel why she was investigating Emlyn.

Angel hired Moriarty to investigate River Bay Avenue 48 and Emlyn White, then returned to the Tarot Club after two months away. The gathering began with the familiar members, but Angel noticed an unexpected new member seated opposite Mr. Fool.

• Angel told Moriarty that her Master Key had led her into dangerous alleys, and Moriarty suggested its curse could help track dangerous people.
• Moriarty accepted Angel’s commission to investigate River Bay Avenue 48 and Emlyn White for 40 pounds, with half paid in advance.
• Angel and Moriarty discussed poverty in Backlund, and Angel urged him to protect the journalist he was escorting to the East Borough.
• Angel spent Monday morning making Extraordinary Bullets and Charms before returning to the Tarot Club gathering at three o’clock.
• Angel joined the Hanged Man, the Sun, Justice, and Magician at the long table and saw a hooded, black-robed member seated opposite Mr. Fool.

Angel returned to the Tarot Club, surprising Hanged Man, who believed she had died in Tingen. After Audrey discussed infiltrating the Psychology Alchemists with Mr. Fool, Angel used the new private communication method to ask Magician whether she had ties to the Abraham Family.

• Angel reappeared in Empress's seat, and the Tarot Club members welcomed her back while Hanged Man wondered how she had survived her reported death.
• Audrey told Mr. Fool that suspected Psychology Alchemists had approached her and received permission and safety advice to infiltrate them.
• Audrey presented two pages of Roselle's Diary to Mr. Fool.
• Angel learned that members could request private communication through Mr. Fool and chose to speak with Magician.
• Angel asked Magician whether she was related to the Abraham Family or had been in close contact with them.

Angel offered Magician the Abraham Family notebook’s Apprentice formulas, and Magician agreed to buy the Trickmaster formula. At the Tarot Club, Sun reported his release from confinement and the mysterious Amon, while the members discussed unrest in Backlund and Hanged Man’s search for Baelen; Angel realized the Fool’s blessed had been involved in Capim’s death.

• Angel offered Magician the notebook’s formulas and agreed to sell her the Trickmaster formula for 450 pounds, with a discount if she later bought Astrologer as well.
• Sun told the Tarot Club that he had been removed from the Expedition Team and described a former captain’s account of encountering a mysterious outsider named Amon.
• Hanged Man warned Sun that Amon might be dangerous and urged him to investigate cautiously and seek help from his elders if needed.
• Justice reported that the kingdom and major Churches were focusing on poverty and cult beliefs in Backlund’s East Borough, Docklands, and Factory District.
• Hanged Man asked the members to watch for Baelen, a suspected link to missing colonial slaves, and offered a reward of at least 100 pounds.
• Angel mentioned Capim’s murder and realized that the Fool’s blessed had contributed to it after Hanged Man said the blessed had played an indispensable role.

After the Tarot Club meeting, Angel suspected that Sherlock Moriarty was connected to the Fool and went to question him in person. She paid him for his investigation of Emlyn White, then asked whether he knew the Fool, leaving Moriarty's answer unresolved.

• Klein prepared to conceal the investigation report from divination and considered how Sherlock Moriarty would explain himself to Angel.
• Angel reasoned that Moriarty might believe in the Fool without belonging to the Tarot Club and decided to visit him for the overdue report on Emlyn White.
• Angel arrived at 15 Minsk Street, where Moriarty gave her the investigation report describing Emlyn's family as law-abiding Vampires and his room full of ordinary dolls.
• Angel paid Moriarty the remaining 20 pounds and asked if he knew the Fool, causing his hand to freeze.

Angel discovered that Sherlock Moriarty was a believer of the Fool and learned he had placed Tarot Cards on Lanevus as part of the effort to stop the True Creator’s descent. After leaving, she divined that Sherlock had told her mostly the truth.

• Angel confronted Moriarty about the Tarot Cards at Capim Mansion, and he admitted he was a believer of the Fool who had recognized her through Mr. Fool.
• Moriarty told Angel about journalist Mike Joseph’s investigation into poverty in the East Borough, and they discussed the need for change.
• Angel asked about the Tarot Cards on Lanevus’s body, and Moriarty admitted he had placed them there as part of Mr. Fool’s operation against the True Creator.
• Angel and Moriarty parted on friendly terms, while Klein watched her leave and burned a World Card.
• Angel performed Pendulum Divination in the carriage, and the clockwise swing indicated that Sherlock had told her mostly the truth.

Angel received news from Sevillea about an invitation and a new Demoness Sect subordinate, while Fors used the Tarot Club to obtain the Trickmaster formula. The chapter left Fors celebrating the club’s power as Xio continued her investigation.

• Angel felt Sevillea’s nonlethal curse through her mystical substitute and went to Baron Landon’s Residence.
• Sevillea told Angel that Audrey had invited her to Viscount Glaint’s gathering and that she would receive a Sequence 9 subordinate.
• Xio prepared to investigate Capim’s associates and search Beyonder gatherings for potion ingredients.
• Fors told Xio she had found someone selling the Trickmaster formula, then prepared a sacrifice ritual to trade with Miss Empress.
• Fors received the Trickmaster formula through the Tarot Club and praised the club’s effectiveness.

Angel considered buying a 3,500-pound Beyonder weapon, found a possible chance to sell Potion formulas, and heard Lola’s proposal to strike at the Demoness Sect over its human trafficking. Later, she joined a gathering at Glaint’s home, where the viscount revealed that he had become an Apothecary.

• Angel deposited most of her cash, then spotted an advertisement for Mr. A’s gathering and considered selling Potion formulas to replenish her savings.
• Lola asked Angel about the Demoness Sect, and Angel told her about a human trafficker linked to slave disappearances in the Southern Continent.
• Lola said the Demoness Sect was unusually vulnerable in Backlund and asked Angel whether she would help damage it, but Angel withheld her answer.
• Angel arrived at Glaint’s home for a mysticism gathering and congratulated him on becoming a true Apothecary.
• Glaint proudly displayed bottles of medicine and confirmed that he had become a Beyonder.

At Viscount Glaint’s gathering, Audrey asked Angel and Fors to accompany her to a seminar hosted by the Psychology Alchemists, hoping to secure a Spectator Potion formula without her father’s interference. Angel agreed, but afterward wondered whether Audrey had uncovered her true identity; her attempt to divine the answer failed.

• Glaint showed the group three potions he had made and proudly announced that he had become a Beyonder.
• Angel offered Fors a lead on the Trickmaster formula, but Fors said she had already bought it elsewhere.
• Audrey explained that the Psychology Alchemists had assessed her and invited her to a seminar, then asked Angel and Fors to protect her.
• Angel and Glaint advised Audrey to involve her family and bring guards, but Audrey insisted she wanted to keep the meeting from her father.
• Angel agreed to accompany Audrey, while Fors declined and suggested that Audrey ask Xio instead.
• After leaving Glaint’s home, Angel suspected Audrey knew she had combat abilities and used her Magic Mirror to ask whether Audrey knew her true identity, but the divination failed.

Angel learned that the damaged whip required an expensive Lightning Viper skin to repair, then negotiated to buy Kavi’s powerful Lucky Revolver. At Mr. A’s gathering, she noticed someone seeking materials for the Sheriff or Interrogator potion.

• Angel brought Katie’s broken soft whip to Kavi, who said it could be repaired with a Lightning Viper skin costing around 300 pounds.
• Kavi explained that her 3,500-pound revolver enhanced accuracy, could unleash attacks up to sixteen times stronger, and could cause a Mental Storm, while bringing its bearer bad luck.
• Angel negotiated for twenty Demon Hunter Bullets to be included with the revolver and arranged to collect it on Saturday.
• Angel attended Mr. A’s gathering and submitted trade requests for potion formulas and Storm Convergence Bullets.
• Angel noticed a request for the main materials for Sheriff or Interrogator, or items that could substitute for them.

Angel avoided a buyer seeking the Black Emperor, purchased the Mystical Item Good Luck, and met the Demoness Sect’s new Assassin in the East Borough. She introduced herself as his superior and began assessing Sherman.

• Angel sold twenty Storm Convergence rounds to the masked buyer but refused to become his long-term supplier.
• Mr. A met Ms. D beneath the True Creator’s statue and warned her not to ruin their plans in Backlund.
• Angel spent most of her savings on the revolver Good Luck and discovered its negative effect could cause intermittent mishaps.
• Angel reached the East Borough and entered Sherman’s apartment through a window to meet the new Assassin.
• Angel showed Sherman Sevillea’s token, claimed him as her subordinate, and told him to introduce himself.

Angel learned how Sherman had been manipulated into becoming an Assassin and taught him basic Beyonder skills. She sent him to search for Baelen, then met Sherlock Moriarty and went inside to discuss her previous commission.

• Sherman told Angel how Joels trained him to kill his abusive foreman and introduced him to Sevillea, who gave him the Assassin Potion.
• The landlord notified Sherman that the building's gas pipes had malfunctioned, and Angel stayed hidden until he left.
• Angel taught Sherman meditation and Spirit Vision, warned him to stop when he became exhausted, and assigned him to look for Baelen in the East Borough.
• Angel gave Sherman 10 pounds for expenses and left his apartment.
• Angel found Sherlock Moriarty outside Number 17 and went inside with him to discuss her previous commission.

Angel asked Sherlock to help free Emlyn White from Harvest Church, and Sherlock agreed to visit Father Utravsky. Audrey then traveled with Irene Watson to Escalante’s Psychology Seminar, arriving at the villa with Irene’s divination suggesting the evening might involve danger.

• Angel told Sherlock that Emlyn had done no evil and asked him to secure his release from Father Utravsky; Sherlock agreed to visit Harvest Church the next day.
• Angel warned Sherlock that buyers were seeking Sheriff and Interrogator Beyonder Characteristics, but Sherlock said he had expected the search for clues after Capim’s death.
• Sherlock offered to lend Angel a Secret Book on rituals, Divination, and mysticism after he had finished studying it.
• Audrey left for the Psychology Seminar with Irene Watson, two guards, her maid Anne, and Susie after Earl Hall approved the trip.
• Irene told Audrey that the seminar journey might face twists and turns but should go smoothly, and the group arrived at the villa where Islant Osileska was waiting.

Angel detected a suspicious Beyonder at Audrey’s psychology seminar and realized the gathering was dangerous. She urged Audrey to flee, then confronted Escalante as she transformed into the Aurora Order’s Oracle, Ms. D.

• Angel used the Scarlet Eye to scan the villa and noticed a scarlet-colored Beyonder in the sitting room.
• Angel grew suspicious because Audrey was the seminar’s only guest and used their agreed medicine code to bring her out.
• Angel told Audrey that something was wrong and urged her to leave without alerting Escalante or Hampres.
• Angel saw through the Scarlet Eye that one Beyonder lay motionless and another was approaching, then drew her revolver.
• Audrey trusted Angel, told Susie to follow, and hurried toward the living room to escape.
• Escalante transformed into a different woman, whom Angel recognized as the Aurora Order’s Oracle, Ms. D.

Angel fought Ms. D, an Aurora Order Oracle disguised as Escalante, while Audrey escaped the villa and sought help from the Church of the Evernight Goddess. The chapter ended with another explosion at the villa and a figure crashing out of an upper-floor room.

• Angel realized that Ms. D had lured Audrey to the villa and challenged her in the corridor.
• Ms. D summoned Dawn Armor and attacked, but Angel used her abilities and a powered-up Good Luck shot to pierce the armor and wound her.
• Ms. D healed herself with flesh and blood, identified herself as an Aurora Order Oracle, and faced Angel’s renewed attack.
• Audrey, Anne, Susie, and two guards fled the villa, and Audrey ordered the coachman to take them to Saint Samuel Cathedral.
• Audrey recited Mr. Fool’s Honorific Name to report the attack as another explosion sent a figure flying from the villa’s second floor.

Angel fought Ms. D after helping Audrey escape Earl Hall's villa, using Madness, her dagger, and Good Luck to survive the Shepherd's attacks. She left the Arbiter's prohibition range but turned back to shield a civilian couple, then shot Ms. D with her last Demon Hunter Bullet and saw her fall, though the Shepherd still appeared capable of rising.

• Angel recognized Earl Hall's departing carriages and faced Ms. D, who had prohibited flash movement and blocked Angel's escape abilities.
• Angel confused Ms. D with Madness, shot her with Mental Storm, and attacked with Black Flame, but Ms. D countered her and inflicted matching wounds through an Arbiter decree.
• Angel crossed the villa fence and ran beyond the prohibition's range while evading Ms. D's attempted Imprisonment.
• Ms. D switched Grazed souls and hurled a Flame Spear at Angel, who conjured an ice shield to protect the married couple behind her.
• Angel fired her last Demon Hunter Bullet into Ms. D's unarmored chest, dropping her, then told the couple to flee and began reloading as Ms. D trembled on the ground.