Chapter Summaries

Angel prepared to use a Sacrificial Ritual and warned Gehrman Sparrow about the Rose School before the ritual transported her to an unknown, bloodstained place. As she explored, the Hidden Holy Emblem began to feel as if it were struggling to protect her, and lightning plunged everything into profound darkness.

• Angel summoned Reinette Tinekerr and sent Gehrman a warning about the Rose School and her plan to use a Sacrificial Ritual.
• Klein received Reinette's message and Angel's more detailed report through the Gray Fog, then heard Angel ask him to relay a message to Miss Empress.
• Angel awoke in a strange basement where the Flesh Mill had vanished and an altar with two half-burned candles stood in its place.
• Angel explored the unfamiliar, bloodstained building with her Good Luck revolver ready and invisible threads spread around her.
• The Hidden Holy Emblem on Angel's wrist turned cold and seemed to struggle to protect her as lightning flashed and darkness swallowed everything.

Angel realized she had reached the Forsaken Land of the Gods, then discovered through a prayer relayed by Mr. Fool that another version of herself had just returned to Sona Island. As Black-Striped Shadow Scorpions attacked, Angel used Anne’s blood and concentrated light to drive one into the open, then began poisoning it.

• Angel explored the ruined village and found a pit filled with the remains of unusually tall, headless skeletons, strengthening her suspicion that she was in the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
• Angel recalled Katarina’s information and Bernadette’s prophecy, then decided to return through the ritual and seek another way forward.
• Angel prayed to Mr. Fool and saw a message from the other Angel, who warned her that Black-Striped Shadow Scorpions were nearby and advised her to use Anne’s blood against them.
• Angel fired a Phantom Phosphor Eruption round, illuminating the street and burning the lesser shadow monsters while revealing a Black-Striped Shadow Scorpion charging at her.
• Angel used Anne’s blood to drive back the darkness and intensify the light, then fired again and began attacking the scorpion with a deadly poison.

Angel fought the Black-Striped Shadow Scorpion, overcoming its disease, shadow abilities, and corrupting Mythical Creature Form through a series of close calls. After defeating it, she recovered from her wounds and corruption, but was left with hunger and a craving for flesh.

• The Black-Striped Shadow Scorpion destroyed Angel's decoy, infected her with disease, and charged, but Angel replaced the lethal pathogens in her body and attacked with Phantom Phosphor Eruption.
• Angel blasted off the scorpion's right pincer with Storm Convergence, but its incomplete Mythical Creature Form overwhelmed her mind and let it seize her apparent body, which proved to be a Wooden Staff.
• Angel plunged into the scorpion's shadow and drove the Bone Sword through its shell while it crushed her waist and sprayed her with venom.
• Angel used Mirror Substitution to escape being torn apart, then unleashed Black Flame through the Sword of Dawn and killed the scorpion.
• Angel purged the venom and used the Rose Necklace to heal her wounds and contain the physical changes caused by corruption, but she was left hungry and craving flesh.

Angel killed the Black-Striped Shadow Scorpion and recovered a main ingredient for the Despair Potion, but became stranded in the Forsaken Land of the Gods after the village disappeared. Guided back by Bernadette’s golden hair, she found an altar bearing the names Medici, Ouroboros, and Rose Redemption before returning to Sona Island.

• Angel removed the scorpion’s poison sac and realized Shadow Lurking had carried her far from the village in the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
• Angel used the golden hair Bernadette had given her to find the abandoned village and retrieve her Good Luck revolver and Anne’s Blood.
• Angel returned to the underground altar and used her blood on its symbols, noticing the names Red Angel Medici and Ouroboros as she was transported away.
• The altar’s inscription revealed the name Rose Redemption after Angel vanished.
• A hunched man emerged from a shadow, swallowed the blood-soaked dirt near the scorpion, and disappeared back into the darkness.

After escaping the Forsaken Land of the Gods, Angel spoke with the Fool about Ouroboros, her time in the darkness, and the clues linking Sona Island to Rose Redemption. She left for Bayam with a key ingredient for her Sequence 4 potion, while rumors about her and Gehrman Sparrow followed her to the ship.

• Angel burned the chamber beneath the Flesh Mill to erase traces of her visit, then escaped to Sona Island and used the Fool to pass her survival strategy back to herself.
• At the Tarot Club palace, Angel recounted her discoveries, and the Fool assured her that Ouroboros had left no mark on her and pointed her toward information about Rose Redemption.
• Klein wondered whether he could verify Ouroboros’s influence by contacting Will Auceptin, while Angel left the palace and traveled to Sona Island’s port.
• Angel ate a full meal to satisfy the Rose Necklace’s side effect, reviewed her discoveries, and decided to return to Bayam to obtain materials for new bullets.
• While boarding a ship for Midway Island, Angel heard rumors about Gehrman Sparrow and tore down her own wanted poster, replacing it with Cattleya’s.

The crew of the Golden Dream discovered that Edwina had vanished from her locked cabin and called for Gehrman Sparrow’s help. At the Tarot Club, Azure confessed that Bernadette had learned of the Fool, and the Fool began punishing Cattleya for her role in the leak.

• The Golden Dream’s crew found Edwina’s cabin empty, and Yodsen’s divinations only confirmed that she was alive.
• Danitz called out Gehrman Sparrow after the crew debated how to find their missing captain.
• Azure told the Fool that Bernadette knew about him and had offered a complete volume of Roselle’s diaries in exchange for help interpreting them.
• The Fool told Azure that Bernadette could pay for answers but could not obtain the full interpretation method, then warned her not to reveal more.
• The Fool identified Bernadette as Roselle’s eldest daughter and owner of the Dawn, and Cattleya admitted her mistake and accepted whatever punishment he chose.
• The Fool’s punishment caused Cattleya to collapse into her chair and scream as the Tarot Club members watched.

The Tarot Club witnessed Mr. Fool punish Cattleya for prying, then traded for Potion materials and discussed killing an Aurora Order Oracle. Derrick began describing his visit to Afternoon Town as the gathering moved into its free exchange segment.

• Mr. Fool redirected the True Creator’s polluted ravings onto Cattleya, then stopped her suffering; the other Tarot Club members reacted with shock and fear.
• Audrey sought materials for her Hypnotist Potion, and Cattleya offered to obtain Black Hunting Giant Lizard spinal fluid; Fors also requested materials for her Astrologer Potion.
• Derrick confirmed he could exchange merit for Angel’s needed Poison Needle, and Klein said World could trade him the Notary formula the next day.
• Fors asked the Tarot Club to help kill Aurora Order Oracle Louis Wayne, and Alger suggested reporting him to the authorities.
• Derrick began recounting how he had arrived at Afternoon Town under the Chief’s leadership.

Derrick recounted the catastrophe that destroyed Afternoon Town, prompting the Tarot Club to debate the unnamed powers behind it while Angel considered links to the corruption on Sona Island. After Angel received a cryptic warning from Wensa and a letter saying the Iceberg Admiral had gone missing, Klein and Anderson waited inside a sea creature near Bayam and met Angelica Zaki.

• Derrick described clearing Afternoon Town, finding an altar inscribed with the names of three King of Angels and being transported to a dark version of the town after reading them aloud.
• Derrick recounted how a clergyman blamed an unspeakable existence for corrupting Sastiel and other King of Angels before a blazing flame killed him as he tried to name a fourth.
• Audrey asked who had tempted Sastiel and whom the fourth name represented, and Klein answered that the matter was secret while Hanged Man speculated about true Gods.
• Angel returned to her cabin, put away a Charm made with the new rune, and questioned Wensa about Katerina Pelle before opening Klein's letter and learning that the Iceberg Admiral had gone missing.
• Klein and Anderson waited inside a sea creature near Bayam until it opened its mouth and revealed Angelica Zaki.

Angel, Klein, and Anderson reached the Golden Dream to investigate Iceberg Admiral Edwina’s disappearance. Angel discovered that Edwina’s research may have involved The Travels of Grosell, while Klein prepared to seek help and Anderson stirred up the crew.

• Angel learned that Anderson had hired Klein to remove the Misfortune Ouroboros had placed on him.
• Angel, Klein, and Anderson boarded the Golden Dream, where Danitz recognized Anderson and revealed that he and Edwina had been classmates.
• First Mate Blue the Gourmet explained that Edwina had entered her cabin to research three days earlier and had not come out.
• Angel found that two more pages of The Travels of Grosell had become readable, describing a lost pirate woman who joined Grosell’s party.
• Klein asked Angel to prepare ritual supplies so he could seek help from a hidden existence, and Angel left the cabin with the other Sailors.
• While Angel changed clothes, Anderson suggested that the crew should be more wary of Gehrman Sparrow, prompting Danitz and the others to nod.

Klein confirmed that Edwina had been drawn into The Travels of Grosell and sent Danitz and Anderson inside to test the book. Angel and Klein then entered together to rescue Edwina, but Klein arrived in a frozen wilderness alone, with no sign of Angel or the others.

• Angel used her Instigation ability to turn the Golden Dream's sailors against Anderson, while Anderson tried to make them distrust Gehrman.
• Klein confirmed through divination that Edwina was inside The Travels of Grosell and sent Danitz into the book as an assistant.
• Klein announced that he would attempt to rescue Edwina, and Angel secured the captain's cabin while he prepared.
• Klein persuaded Anderson to enter the travelogue, then told Angel he would go in alone to rescue Edwina.
• Angel cut her palm and entered the travelogue with Klein, who followed her inside.
• Klein found himself alone in a boundless frozen wilderness, with no sign of Danitz, Anderson, or Angel.

Angel entered the frozen world of The Travels of Grosell and found Edwina with the team preparing to fight the King of the North, Ulyssan. The group believed the story was nearing its end and that they would either defeat Ulyssan and escape together or die.

• Angel crossed the snowy plain, discovered that her Calamity Charms had been left outside the book, and followed divination toward a gathering of people.
• Angel met Grosell and Longzeer outside a cave and said she had come to join their team and fight the King of the North.
• Edwina recognized Angel and introduced her to Grosell's companions, including Shatas, Mobet Soroyasde, and Snoman.
• Angel introduced herself as a Sequence 5 Affliction Demoness, and Mobet asked whether she had any connection to the Tamara family.
• Edwina told Angel that the story was about to end and that the team would either defeat Ulyssan and leave together or die.

Edwina explained that The Travels of Grosell’s story was approaching its end, and Gehrman, Danitz, and Anderson joined the group as they prepared for the eventual fight with Ulyssan. Angel learned that Adam was one of the Kings of Angel, just before Ulyssan attacked the cave with icy-blue flames.

• Edwina used the travelogue’s page count and sequence of events to conclude that the group’s story was nearing its end and Ulyssan would soon find them.
• Shatas brought Gehrman, Danitz, and Anderson to the cave, where the newcomers met Grosell’s companions and warmed themselves by the fire.
• Angel told Edwina how Danitz had alerted Gehrman and discussed the limits on her missing Advanced Charms, while Edwina warned that Ulyssan was powerful despite not being a High Sequence creature.
• Snoman and Shatas nearly fought over their faiths, but Grosell calmed them, allowing Klein to ask Snoman about the Kings of Angel who had surrounded the Ancient Sun God.
• Angel heard Snoman name Adam as the Angel of Imagination and recognized him as the mysterious man who had told her that her past was false.
• Longzeer announced that Ulyssan had arrived, and icy-blue flames surged through the cave entrance and engulfed the group.

Angel and the Grosell party fought Ulyssan, the King of the North, as he attacked their cave. They wounded him and grounded him, but the battle continued as he charged at Longzeer and Grosell.

• Angel used Frost to hold back Ulyssan’s ice flames while Grosell led the party out of the cave.
• Snoman strengthened Angel’s control of the frost, allowing Shatas to strike Ulyssan with a lightning-charged arrow.
• Mobet stole Ulyssan’s thought and interrupted his breath attack, but the dragon charged at the group and knocked Grosell away.
• Shatas and Angel struck Ulyssan’s shoulder, breaking his armor and drawing his blood.
• Longzeer and Angel’s Judge soul forbade Ulyssan from flying, and Angel pulled Longzeer out of the dragon’s path as Grosell met Ulyssan’s falling charge.

Klein and the other Beyonders battled Ulyssan, the King of the North, and struggled to hold him still long enough to strike his exposed wounds. Angel’s blood-drawn Charm made Ulyssan betray his own body, leaving the Frost Dragon frozen and lifeless.

• Grosell held Ulyssan in place while Shatas, Angel, Longzeer, and Klein attacked his wounds, but the dragon unleashed a ring of deadly Frost that froze Grosell and Longzeer.
• Angel and Snoman weakened the Frost ring, while Ulyssan knocked Anderson away and struck Angel and Shatas; Edwina then drove him into a madness that let Grosell restrain him again.
• Klein gained initial control of Ulyssan’s Spirit Body Threads as Mobet distracted the dragon, and the group opened a massive wound in Ulyssan’s chest with fire, lightning, and Grosell’s Sword of Dawn.
• After Ulyssan broke free and Klein lost his hold, Klein reclaimed the Spirit Body Threads through the black flames, while Angel climbed onto the dragon and drew a Charm on his neck with her blood.
• Angel commanded the Charm to make Ulyssan betray himself, causing his armor, scales, head, and spine to tear away from his body as icy flames froze him into a lifeless sculpture.

After defeating the King of the North, Angel and her companions escaped The Travels of Grosell through the magical door. Back aboard the Golden Dream, they discovered the book’s ending had triggered the rapid aging and imminent deaths of the people who had lived inside it.

• The King of the North’s remains became a Double Door, and Klein transferred Grosell’s fatal wound to himself, saving the giant.
• The group prepared to leave, and Klein traded a relic from Gohinham’s ruins with Shatas for the Ocean Songster formula.
• Angel worried about where the long-trapped companions could go, while Longzeer said he wanted to return to his home in Backlund.
• Grosell and the others opened the door and returned to the captain’s cabin of the Golden Dream, where The Travels of Grosell finished its story.
• After the book declared that Grosell had returned in triumph, Grosell and his companions rapidly aged and became frail.

After the story in The Travels of Grosell ended, Angel and the others watched its long-dead inhabitants rapidly age and die. The survivors arranged burials for their companions and divided the four Beyonder Characteristics, with Danitz accepting Grosell’s legacy.

• Shatas, Mobet, Longzeer, Snoman, and Grosell aged rapidly and died after returning to reality, and their remains and Beyonder Characteristics were left behind.
• Angel regretted bringing the companions out of the book, while Edwina explained that The Travels of Grosell had driven its story to an ending.
• Anderson proposed dividing the Characteristics and arranging burials; Angel took responsibility for Grosell and Snoman, Klein for Longzeer, and Edwina for Shatas and Mobet.
• Edwina included The Travels of Grosell in the division and offered Angel, Klein, and Anderson 1,000 pounds each.
• Anderson chose Mobet’s Dream Thief Characteristic, Angel chose Shatas’s Ocean Songster Characteristic, Edwina chose Snoman’s Priest of Light Characteristic, and Klein took the travelogue.
• Danitz initially refused Grosell’s Guardian Characteristic, but Edwina urged him to accept it, and he took it with newfound confidence.

Angel and Klein returned to the Golden Dream after escaping The Travels of Grosell, and Angel narrowly avoided triggering the Betrayal charm. As the ship sailed toward Bayam, Angel consulted Edwina about the charms and asked whether the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom knew how to seal an Advanced Charm’s power in a bullet.

• Angel recovered her charms, but touching Betrayal drained her spirituality, so she threw it into the sea before it could activate.
• Edwina welcomed the missing captain back, while the sailors celebrated Danitz and arranged for Grosell and the others' remains to be collected.
• The Golden Dream turned south for Bayam, and Angel and Klein were given a luxurious suite while Anderson was taken to a rowdy party.
• Klein persuaded Edwina to sell him the Key of Death, then left to investigate its possible connection to the Giant King's Court.
• Angel showed Edwina drawings of the Calamity and Betrayal charms, and Edwina offered to ask her contacts about their symbols.
• Angel asked Edwina whether the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom could seal an Advanced Charm's power inside a bullet.

Angel created a dangerous new bullet by combining Shattered Light Ray with a Calamity charm while Klein investigated the black iron key and grew wary of Admiral of Blood Senior. Senior’s ship approached Bayam, where he planned to target Angel and Gehrman Sparrow and prepare a sacrifice to receive a blessing.

• Edwina told Angel she could not disclose information about special bullets, indirectly confirming that the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom could make them.
• Angel attempted to craft a new bullet, which she named Dissolving Ray, while Klein borrowed tools and materials for her.
• Klein told Edwina the black iron key was likely connected to the Giant King’s Court, then hurried away after learning Admiral of Blood Senior was searching for the Key of Death.
• Klein found Angel asleep beside a completed bullet whose Calamity charm pattern had vanished into its casing, and carried her to bed.
• Admiral of Blood Senior sailed toward Bayam aboard Flesh and Blood Tree and ordered his people to prepare to deal with Angel and Gehrman Sparrow.
• Senior reported to Lord Shanks, who ordered offerings prepared for a sacrifice to obtain His blessing.

Angel returned to Bayam, learned that the Governor's Office was arming troops for a coming campaign against the resistance, and reported the danger to Mr. Fool. Back at the Azure Wind hotel, she caught Klein behaving strangely and realized he seemed afraid of her.

• The Golden Dream reached Blue Mountain Island, and Danitz stayed behind to serve as a liaison while Angel and Klein left the ship.
• Angel visited the Red Haired Woman and learned that Helene was transporting weapons for the Bayam Governor's Office, which planned to suppress the resistance.
• Helene asked Angel how she had dealt with the desires caused by wearing the Madness Ring.
• Angel returned to her room at the Azure Wind hotel and warned Mr. Fool's believers about the Governor's Office's planned campaign.
• Angel read a newspaper report about an adventurer's alleged links to pirate agents.
• Klein returned to the hotel trembling and tried to avoid Angel, but she took off his hat and asked whether he was afraid of her.

Klein explained that his new revolver, Death Knell, had made women a source of fear, while Angel teased him during its six-hour effect. At the Tarot Club, the members discussed Roselle’s pursuit of Sequence 0 and Derrick’s dealings with the City of Silver’s Chief, before Angel requested an investigation into a bloody sacrifice on Sona Island.

• Klein told Angel that Death Knell could reveal and exploit weaknesses, but using it caused a psychological weakness to appear for six hours; he had developed a fear of women.
• Angel tested Klein’s reaction and discovered that his fear had already faded after he had hidden away for nearly six hours.
• At the Tarot Club, Cattleya asked why Roselle went mad, and the Fool said Roselle had turned his attention toward Sequence 0 in his later years.
• Derrick reported that the City of Silver’s Chief had noticed him obtaining the Black-Striped Shadow Scorpion’s poison needle, and Alger advised him to use the Notary formula to seek support.
• Angel commissioned the Tarot Club to investigate a recent bloody sacrificial incident on Sona Island near Midway Island.