Chapter Summaries

Angel experimented with entering the Mirror World during her train journey to Backlund, escaped after accidentally falling into the Spirit World, and discovered she could store objects in a private mirror space. In Backlund, a hooded woman appeared behind Sherman and revealed herself as Miss Irene.

• Angel traveled toward Backlund under a false identity while planning to mislead the Church of Storms and the military about her and Klein's location.
• Angel entered the Mirror World from the train, explored its passages, and learned to move between reflective surfaces and observe the Physical World.
• Angel accidentally passed into the Spirit World, then used her Magic Mirror to escape back to her compartment.
• Angel discovered that her Magic Mirror opened a private space and sent her revolver into it as a test.
• Sherman returned to his East Borough room and maintained his weapons before Miss Irene appeared behind him.
• Sherman recognized Miss Irene, lowered his tension, and addressed her.

Angel returned to Backlund, met Sherman and Lola, and learned how the city had changed since the Great Smog. Her conversations revealed new leads about a Demigod tied to human trafficking and ended with Lola hinting that Katarina might share their allegiance.

• Angel met Sherman, who had advanced to Instigator and taken control of the Black Claw Gang while trying to keep its members from doing evil.
• Angel confirmed that the Demoness Sect had caused the Great Smog, but told Sherman that she and Lola opposed that faction’s methods.
• Angel asked Sherman whether he could truly resolve to take the Witch Potion before leaving through the Mirror World.
• Angel met Lola in Backlund and learned that the Churches and military had driven most hidden organizations from the city, while the Aurora Order had recently returned to East Borough.
• Angel told Lola about the suspected Demigod involved in human trafficking, and Lola promised to ask Vincent about the figure.
• Lola revealed that she knew Angel had advanced to Despair, then suggested that Katarina might be on their side.

Angel questioned Lola about Katerina’s ties to the Witch Family, then asked for help finding affordable housing in Backlund. After returning to her hotel through the Mirror World, Angel attended her first Tarot Club meeting as a Demigod.

• Angel asked Lola why Katerina had hunted her, and Lola explained that she had left her family over differences in belief before reaching a tentative compromise with her mother three months earlier.
• Angel wondered whether Katerina’s changed attitude toward her was connected to the Calamity Charm or to an interest in her unusual qualities.
• Lola offered Angel expensive homes and noblemen to pursue, but Angel said she could afford rent below five hundred pounds a year and accepted an introduction to an unemployed butler.
• Angel used Mirror Traversal to return to her hotel, protected by a blessing from Mr. Fool’s angel.
• Angel ate lunch and waited until three o’clock, when the crimson light brought her to her first Tarot Club meeting as a Demigod.

At the Tarot Club, Angel and Cattleya submitted pages of Emperor Roselle’s diary, and Klein privately discussed Angel’s return to Backlund and a dangerous scale tied to Ouroboros. Angel then offered a Sequence 4 Beyonder Characteristic, but the members’ wary reaction left its Pathway and prospects for a sale unresolved.

• Angel and Cattleya submitted diary pages, and Klein told Cattleya that the other figure mentioned on her page was Mr. Door.
• Klein privately asked Angel whether she had reached Backlund, explained his plan to investigate Saint Samuel Cathedral, and warned her that the scale linked to Ouroboros could bring misfortune.
• Audrey asked about the two new Cards of Blasphemy, and Klein said members could view them for three diary pages or equivalent historical knowledge.
• Angel offered a Sequence 4 Beyonder Characteristic for sale, but the Tarot Club members hesitated until Cattleya asked which Pathway it belonged to.

Angel revealed that she had become a demigod after killing a Rose School demigod, shocking the Tarot Club and linking her to the recent fighting in Bayam. The meeting continued with several trades, ending with the World offering a Mystical Item that Angel recognized as Senior’s former pendant.

• Angel told the Tarot Club that the Puppet Beyonder Characteristic came from a Rose School demigod and might be tracked.
• Audrey and the other members realized Angel had killed a demigod herself, and Angel confirmed she had become a demigod.
• Alger reported that a Rose School demigod had died during an attack on Bayam and that Senior, the Admiral of Blood, had disappeared; Angel acknowledged the connection.
• Audrey bought a Calamity Priest characteristic, and the Moon posted an assassination commission targeting Primordial Moon believers.
• The World offered the Lucky Scale, a Mystical Item formed from a Sequence 5 Winner characteristic, and Angel recognized it as Senior’s former pendant.

Audrey connected the Empress and the World through their shared need for gold coins, while Angel paid Reinette Tinekerr the first installment of her debt and learned the Marionette Beyonder Characteristic could attract the Rose School and the Mother Tree of Desire. Angel offered to sell the characteristic to Reinette, and the chapter ended with a man named Ribak applying to be her butler.

• Audrey concluded that the Empress and the World were privately connected and prepared gold coins for the Empress, while Susie's attempt to soothe her only embarrassed her further.
• Angel received 3,000 gold coins from Audrey and gave them to Reinette Tinekerr as the first payment for her help in the battle.
• Reinette warned Angel to beware the Rose School and the Mother Tree of Desire, saying the Marionette Beyonder Characteristic should be turned into a Mystical Item or sold to her.
• Angel offered to sell Reinette the Marionette Beyonder Characteristic for 30,000 gold coins.
• A hotel waiter told Angel that Ribak had asked to see her, and Ribak introduced himself as an applicant for the butler position referred by Lola Swann.

Angel hired Ribak as her butler and chose to rent a villa at 8 Burningham Road to establish herself in Backlund. As she left the house, she noticed a strange quality about the carriage carrying Allen and his pregnant wife, Wilma.

• Angel interviewed Ribak, confirmed that his faith in the Lord of Storms would not interfere with her faith in the Goddess, and hired him for an annual salary of one hundred and twenty pounds.
• Ribak recommended several residences, and Angel chose to inspect the villa at 8 Burningham Road in Hillston Borough.
• Ribak explained that the villa’s location would help Angel build a social circle, and Angel agreed to rent it under the sublease terms.
• Allen prepared to attend dinner with Baron Cinderas, while Wilma noted that their unborn child had been unusually restless.
• Angel left the villa with Ribak, watched Allen and Wilma’s carriage depart, and sensed something unusual about it.

Angel arranged to staff and equip her new villa, then wrote to Gehrman Sparrow about her finances and the Puppet Beyonder Characteristic. The chapter ended with Reinette demanding a gold coin from Klein for delivering Angel’s letter, explaining that Angel was broke.

• Ribak advised Angel to hire a large household staff, buy two carriages, and arrange guards, leaving her alarmed by the expense of living in Backlund.
• Angel agreed with Ribak on a preliminary hiring list and budget, then returned to her hotel and wrote to Gehrman Sparrow about her debts and her plan to sell the Puppet Beyonder Characteristic to Messenger Miss.
• Angel summoned Reinette Tinekerr to deliver the letter but forgot to pay her in gold coins, so Reinette nearly refused to carry it until Angel said Gehrman would pay.
• Klein received Angel’s letter at his mansion, but Reinette stayed to demand a gold coin and told him Angel was broke.

Angel settled into her new mansion and struggled with the expenses of preparing for Backlund's Social Season. After praying at Saint Samuel Cathedral, she encountered a blue-eyed gentleman whose gesture reminded her of a dead man.

• Angel toured her new home with Ribak, Keira, and Aisha, then gave Keira another 1,000 pounds for clothes and jewelry ahead of the Social Season.
• Angel went to Saint Samuel Cathedral in disguise to pray and begin laying groundwork for contacting the Church about the Antigonus Family Notebook.
• Angel noticed the growing number of bicycles in Backlund and wondered how much Klein would earn from his investment.
• After donating twenty pounds, Angel saw a tall, black-haired gentleman with deep blue eyes approaching the donation box.
• As the gentleman passed Angel, he pinched his coat's right lapel with three fingers, and the gesture caught her attention.

Angel learned that Klein was using the name Dwayne Dantès, while Leonard received a warning from him and marked the name as questionable on his investigation board. Back at home, Angel prepared to receive Doctor Aaron, his pregnant wife Vilma, and Baronet Best.

• Angel asked Aisha to learn the name of the generous donor at the cathedral and discovered he was Dwayne Dantès.
• Leonard followed Dwayne Dantès out of the cathedral, but a pigeon delivered him a note identifying him as a Parasite and a Zoroaster.
• Leonard burned the note, marked Dwayne Dantès with a question mark on his board, and focused his attention on Doctor Aaron Ceres.
• Angel returned home after her gown fitting and learned that Doctor Aaron, Vilma, and Baronet Best had arrived to visit.
• Angel asked Ribak about etiquette and learned that Vilma enjoyed discussing her unborn child and eating ice cream.

Angel hosted Baronet Best, Aaron Ceres, and Wilma Gladys, while hiding her unease over the angelic being in Wilma’s womb and presenting her invented history in Intis. After the guests left, Reinette Tinekerr delivered a letter from Klein, who had already paid her fee in advance.

• Angel met Baronet Best, Aaron Ceres, and Wilma Gladys and recognized the couple from the battle with Ms. D.
• Angel learned that Wilma was more than seven months pregnant and realized that the child was Will Auceptin, the Snake of Fate.
• Angel served Wilma ice cream and told the visitors her fabricated story about growing up poor and living in Trier.
• Wilma felt discomfort from the baby’s activity, and Aaron took her home with Best after inviting Angel to his ball.
• Angel returned to her sitting room, where Reinette Tinekerr delivered a letter from Klein and said he had paid the fee in advance.

Angel sold Reinette Tinekerr the Puppet Beyonder Characteristic for thirty thousand gold coins and went to the Moon Mass at Saint Samuel Cathedral to meet Dwayne Dantès. There, she recognized Pierce Turner, a senior deacon who had died on Para Island, among the hooded attendees.

• Angel agreed to sell Reinette Tinekerr the Puppet Beyonder Characteristic for thirty thousand gold coins, and Reinette paid ten thousand immediately with the rest due within a month.
• Alger Wilson completed his annual report while hiding his Tarot Club membership and advancement, then received an assignment to investigate the Admiral of Stars, Angelica Zaki, and Gehrman Sparrow.
• Alger met his former partner Sainz, who mentioned strange events on Para Island and Sona Island, and arranged to meet him later.
• Angel attended the Moon Mass at Saint Samuel Cathedral with Aisha and noticed Dwayne Dantès among the believers.
• Angel recognized a hooded attendee as Pierce Turner, the senior deacon who had died on Para Island.

Angel saw Senior Deacon Pierce Turner at the Evernight Church’s Moon Mass, despite having watched Pierce die on Para Island, and later told Klein about the apparent contradiction. She and Klein concluded that the two Pierces might both be genuine, with one of them a Mirror Person.

• Angel attended the Moon Mass and saw Pierce Turner, whom she believed had died on Para Island, behaving like an accepted member of the Church.
• During the Mass, Angel saw visions of Old Neil and Pierce bidding her farewell, then donated 100 pounds before leaving the cathedral.
• Angel arranged visits with her neighbors, including Lola Swann, and later prayed to Mr. Fool for a private conversation with Mr. World.
• Angel told Klein what she had seen, and they considered whether the Pierce in the Church or the one on Para Island was an impostor.
• Mr. Fool confirmed that the Nightwatcher Beyonder Characteristic Angel had recovered was real, leading Angel to suggest that one of the two Pierces was a Mirror Person.

Klein and Angel considered whether Pierce Turner was a Mirror Person and planned a cautious investigation, while learning that Leonard was being parasitized by an Angel. After Angel left the gray palace, Klein received her gold offering, and Leonard’s attempt to pursue Irene Watson ended when an unknown force disrupted his dream.

• Klein and Angel discussed whether the Pierce Turner in the Church was an evil Mirror Person and decided to seek evidence before approaching Arianna or confronting him.
• Angel planned to contact Arianna, hire Reinette Tinekerr for ten thousand gold coins, and give Klein five thousand coins from the sale of a Marionette Beyonder Characteristic.
• Klein warned Angel that Leonard was parasitized by an Angel of the Zoroast Family and cautioned her against contacting him.
• Angel left the gray palace, and Klein accepted her offering before recognizing the coins as ones he had previously received from Cattleya.
• Leonard learned in Aaron Ceres's dream that Irene Watson was connected to the killings and Tarot Card incidents, but an unknown force made him fall out of his dream near 8 Burningham Road.
• Angel's attempt to contact Arianna through the Hidden Holy Emblem failed, and she went to bed hoping the Mirror Person and the Angel inside Leonard would not threaten them.

Angel received news of a sacrifice on Sona Island and met with Lola, who offered to help her enter Backlund’s social circles. Angel asked Lola about Mirror Persons and explained her encounter with Pierce, while Xio and Sherman arrived at a secret gathering.

• Angel heard from Alger that a sacrifice on Sona Island had involved more than a hundred people and resembled the events at Bansy Harbor, then wondered whether it was connected to the Berserk Sea and Pierce Turner’s failed advancement.
• Lola visited Angel and invited her to a ball hosted by Councilor Macht, which Angel accepted as a chance to meet people with military and aristocratic connections.
• Angel asked Lola about the Mirror World and Mirror Persons, then told her about seeing Pierce die and encountering another Pierce at Saint Samuel Cathedral.
• Xio followed Sherman to a secret gathering and learned that newcomers could be recruited after attending more than two gatherings and completing a transaction.

Xio entered Mr. X’s East Borough gathering to investigate whether it was linked to the Aurora Order, while Angel learned more about Mirror People and suspected their appearances were connected to a wider power. Angel then attended Mori Macht’s ball in Backlund, where she used her beauty and social skills to make a memorable entrance.

• Xio recalled the Aurora Order’s connection to Mr. A and decided to inspect Mr. X’s gathering before reporting it, then followed Sherman inside.
• Angel showed Lola the mirror shard left by her Mirror Person, and Lola explained how Mirror People behaved and why Pierce might be one.
• Angel connected Pierce’s Mirror Person, the Sona Island sacrifice, Bansy Harbor, and the Mirror People in Trier to a possible shared power.
• Angel arrived at Mori Macht’s lavish ball with Aisha and Ribak, presented him with an expensive bottle of Intis wine, and praised his work on air-pollution legislation.
• Angel entered the ballroom as guests watched her, thinking that her first battle after returning to Backlund was taking place at a ball.

Angel attended Councilor Macht’s ball, where she drew attention and danced with Klein as Dwayne Dantès. After meeting several influential guests and enjoying the food, she greeted Klein again, leaving the gathering poised for further introductions.

• Hazel Macht assessed Angel’s appearance and felt inferior, while Angel noticed Hazel’s unusual interest in her.
• Mori Macht announced the ball’s start, and Klein arrived as Dwayne Dantès.
• Klein invited Angel to dance, and they became the focus of the ballroom while Hazel watched them.
• Angel encouraged Klein to dance with Hazel, then spoke with Lola and Vincent while eating.
• Hibbert Hall introduced Mary Short to Angel, who recognized their names and wondered about Vincent’s rank and affiliations.
• Klein returned from dancing with Hazel, and Angel eagerly began introducing him to Hibbert, Mary, Lola, and Vincent.

Angel attended a ball to expand her social circle and attract Dwayne Dantès’s attention, but her Spirituality warned her that someone was watching her. She tracked the watcher through the Mirror World, defeated her, and recognized her as Trissy.

• Hazel left the ball early as the negative effects of her Mystical Item made her irritable.
• Angel danced with Vincent and Klein, then exchanged cards and invitations with guests while making her interest in Dwayne Dantès clear.
• On the ride home, Angel sensed a watcher and used Divination to locate her through the Mirror World.
• Angel reached the watcher’s room and overcame her Frost, Black Flame, and other abilities, realizing the woman was a higher-Sequence Demoness.
• Angel restrained the woman and identified her as Trissy.

Angel captured Trissy and learned that she intended to investigate Prince Edessak’s suspicious death by questioning his former steward, William Sykes. Angel agreed to share information with Trissy, then returned to her carriage, while Trissy wondered whether she recognized Angel from Tingen.

• Angel suppressed Trissy’s Mirror Substitution and questioned her about watching the ball at No. 39 Böklund Street.
• Trissy said she planned to abduct William Sykes for information about his former employer, Prince Edessak Augustus, whom she believed had been forced to die.
• Angel offered to help Trissy in exchange for all the leads she found, and Trissy agreed while asking whether Angel’s faction could cooperate with Edessak’s killers.
• Angel gave Trissy a communication potion and warned her not to use revenge as an excuse for her past crimes in Tingen.
• Angel returned through the Mirror World to her carriage and resumed her discussion with Ribak about her social schedule.
• Trissy wondered whether Angel belonged to a faction dating back to the Fourth Epoch and whether she had encountered her in Tingen.

Angel learned that the Demoness Sect was not watching Trissy because its Backlund members had been arrested and Clarice could not intervene. Azik gave Angel the purified Nightwatcher Beyonder Characteristic before leaving to search the ancient Balam Empire for the truth about his past.

• Wensa told Angel that the Demoness Sect intended to use Trissy as a vessel for the Primordial Demoness’s descent, but Clarice lacked the means to capture her.
• Angel asked Wensa about hiring her for a fight involving a Demigod, but Wensa refused and left.
• At Winster’s manor, Angel sensed someone approaching through the Spirit World, excused herself, and met Azik in private.
• Azik gave Angel the purified Nightwatcher Beyonder Characteristic and said he had destroyed the corrupted holy emblem and dealt with its trace of Death’s aura.
• Azik told Angel he was going to the ancient Balam Empire to confront the truth about his past, and Angel wished him a safe journey before he departed.