Chapter Summaries

Angel visited Trissy in Backlund and reviewed her investigation into Viscount Stratford, who Trissy suspected was involved in Prince Edessak’s death. Angel arranged to help Trissy approach him under another identity, while Trissy revealed that Panacea had planned to send her to Trier and that she suspected the Primordial Demoness was involved there.

• Walter and Richardson waited to greet Dwayne Dantès, who emerged from his bedroom looking exhausted and disheveled.
• Angel discreetly accepted Mr. Sander’s terms, prepared for the Dantès residence ball, and traveled through the Mirror World to Trissy’s South District home.
• Trissy recognized Angel as the “Golden Queen” and explained that she had been researching Viscount Stratford, whom she suspected served the faction responsible for Edessak’s death.
• Angel told Trissy to continue tracking Stratford and promised to find a way for her to approach him under another identity.
• Angel gave Trissy the incantation to summon Black Cat Wensa and warned that she might soon leave Backlund for Trier.
• Trissy said Panacea had previously planned to send her to Trier and suspected the Demoness Sect’s activities there were connected to the Primordial Demoness.

Xio received an assignment to monitor Viscount Stratford, linking the work to painful memories of her family’s destruction seven years earlier. At Dwayne Dantès’s dance, Klein partnered with Angel while Hazel watched them, and Klein resolved to keep Angel dancing through his first three dances.

• Xio handed her report to her MI9 contact, who ended the East Borough investigation and offered her full membership in MI9.
• The golden-masked man assigned Xio to track everyone Viscount Stratford met, prompting her to remember that he had been her father’s deputy before the night her family was destroyed.
• Klein welcomed his guests to a dance at his residence and greeted Angel, who arrived as Miss Theresa.
• Klein invited Angel to the opening dance before Major Stuart could, while Hazel refused Stuart’s invitation and watched the couple.
• Klein and Angel teased each other as they danced, and after Angel stepped on his foot, Klein decided to keep her as his partner for the first three dances.

At Klein’s ball, Angel asked Wilma’s unborn child for a blessing before her planned trip to Trier, and the baby kicked in response. After returning home, Angel dreamed of a barren plain and a black tower, where she found a carriage holding a silver-wrapped infant.

• Wilma attended Klein’s ball with Aaron and met Angel, Klein, Lord Macht, Stuart, and Professor Momont.
• Angel told Aaron and Wilma she planned to travel to Intis and asked the unborn child to bless her journey; the baby kicked, giving Angel the reassurance she wanted.
• Angel spoke with Bishop Electra about Klein, then declined to dance and tried to enjoy the food before Klein directed her toward the dining area.
• Angel stayed home that night, expecting Will Auceptin to visit her in a dream.
• Angel entered a black tower in her dream and found a baby carriage containing a tiny infant wrapped in silver silk.

Angel received Will Auceptin’s warning about Trier and learned that Ouroboros had taken an interest in her. The next morning, she followed Will’s advice to seek help at Saint Samuel Cathedral and was brought to Archbishop Anthony Stevenson.

• Angel asked Will Auceptin for advice, and he warned her to avoid Trier’s deep contamination and to seek help at Saint Samuel Cathedral.
• Will Auceptin told Angel to discard Ouroboros’s scale and said that others would explain why she was attracting investments once she became an angel.
• Xio Derecha declined Fors Wall’s invitation to travel to Trier because she had an assignment to watch Viscount Stratford.
• Angel visited Saint Samuel Cathedral in disguise and showed a Duty Bishop her Hidden Holy Emblem, asking to see Saint Anthony.
• Angel followed the hidden passage beneath the Great Prayer Hall and met Archbishop Anthony Stevenson beside an open iron door.

Angel received a silver mirror and a Trier contact from Archbishop Anthony before leaving to investigate the Mirror Person's power. After learning what the mirror might do and arranging for Wensa to watch Trissy, Angel joined the Tarot Club meeting.

• Archbishop Anthony gave Angel a silver mirror left behind when Sherick Madan disappeared, along with a Trier informant's address and code phrase.
• A power sealed beneath Saint Samuel Cathedral overwhelmed Angel until Anthony warned her not to use unfamiliar abilities inside the cathedral.
• Angel asked Wensa about the Demoness Sect in Trier, and Wensa identified its leader as Black Saintess Clarice and warned Angel to avoid Fourth Epoch Trier.
• Wensa said the mirror could open a fixed Mirror World in certain special places and agreed to watch Trissy while Angel was away.
• The Tarot Club members took their seats, and Justice Audrey opened the new week's meeting.

At the Tarot Club, the members traded Beyonder Characteristics and examined a painting from Nameless Island that revealed the Ancient Sun God’s fate. The chapter ended with Derrick identifying the three figures who devoured the Creator as the Eternal Blazing Sun, the Lord of Storms, and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom.

• Audrey requested to see the new Card of Blasphemy, which revealed Sequence 0, Tyrant, and she observed that several members already knew it had appeared.
• The World offered an Ocean Songster Characteristic for an Artisan to process and sold Sequence 5 Druid and Astronomer Characteristics to Cattleya and Audrey for 8,000 pounds each.
• Angel showed the Tarot Club an ancient painting from Nameless Island and explained Adam’s role in creating the island and testing promising Beyonders.
• The Fool warned the members not to mention or think about the Twilight Hermits Society outside the gathering and said Adam’s target had not been Angel.
• Cattleya recognized the figures in the painting as the last three Kings of Angel, and Derrick identified them as the Eternal Blazing Sun, the Lord of Storms, and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, who had devoured the Almighty.

At the Tarot Club, Angel suggested that deities relied on faith as anchors to stabilize themselves, and several members requested a week off, leading Klein to cancel the next gathering. Klein then sent Gehrman Sparrow to contact Queen Mystic and infiltrate the Chanis Gate for the Antigonus Family Notebook, while Angel prepared to travel to Trier.

• Angel proposed that deities needed believers as anchors, and Mr. Fool’s reply tacitly confirmed her theory.
• Audrey shared news of an exploration team driven mad near a dragon-worshipping region, and the Tarot Club members linked the worship to an angelic dragon seeking anchors.
• Fors, the World, and Empress requested a week off, so Klein cancelled the next Tarot Gathering.
• Klein ordered Gehrman Sparrow to contact Queen Mystic, disguise himself as the Wraith Senior, and enter the Chanis Gate.
• Angel warned Klein that the Chanis Gate’s sealing core had sensed her Beyonder abilities, while Klein said he planned to use clever methods to infiltrate it.
• Angel wished Klein well before pouncing on him, and Dwayne Dantès later ordered a nutritious midnight snack.

Angel prepared to leave Backlund for Trier, where she hoped to help with Klein’s operation, and learned that her special mirror could connect her to Arrodes for brief assistance. As Angel and Fors departed by train, Xio met Shermane and headed back to East Borough to deal with gang matters.

• Angel instructed Ribak to maintain her social connections and asked Keira to prepare the house for the Social Season while delaying invitations.
• Angel summoned Arrodes, learned that her silver mirror opened a door to the sealed Trier of the Fourth Epoch, and was warned to avoid it until she became an Angel.
• Arrodes said Angel could use the special mirror to contact it briefly every three days and predicted that Klein’s operation would go smoothly.
• Angel left Backlund by train for Trier after declining Ribak’s offer of a guard, and she spotted a familiar figure from her compartment.
• Fors boarded a train for Intis alone after Xio offered to find her a guard.
• Xio met Shermane near the station and agreed to return with her to East Borough to handle gang matters.

Xue Man told Xio she would advance to gain the power to protect those she cared about, while they planned to put the Black Claw Gang under Xio’s management. Leonard questioned Chuck Hopper about Irene Watson and enlisted Daly’s help recovering his memories; meanwhile, Fors encountered Irene on a train bound for Feynapotter.

• Xue Man showed Xio her Cursed Black Flame and explained that she wanted strength to protect Freyja, Daisy, and Liv.
• Xue Man and Xio headed to the East Borough to reorganize the Black Claw Gang under Xio’s management while Xue Man stayed hidden and sought an Acting Method.
• Leonard asked Chuck Hopper about Irene Watson, and Hopper recalled that he had questioned her during an investigation but could not remember her appearance clearly.
• Daly offered to use spirit mediumship to help Hopper recover his memories of Irene.
• Fors opened her compartment door on the train to Feynapotter and found Irene standing outside.

Angel discovered that Fors helped publish novels secretly written by William Jones, including bestselling series featuring Angel and Klein, and learned that William served under Helene. Meanwhile, Helene prepared the Red Haired Woman to sail toward Toscart Island, planning ahead for an arms deal and hoping to see Tracy.

• Angel visited Fors aboard a train and learned that Fors was traveling to Trier to negotiate publishing rights.
• Fors showed Angel the manuscript for The Great Pirate Angelica series and explained that her pen pal Mr. M wrote it and The Great Adventurer Gehrman series.
• Angel learned that Mr. M was William Jones and divined that he was the Sailor Chief serving under Helene.
• Helene considered her progress toward repaying Angelica and advancing, while worrying about the Hunter pathway’s effects.
• William reported that the Red Haired Woman had finished loading its cargo, and Helene ordered the ship to sail for Toscart Island before returning to Bayam.

Klein met Queen Mystic Bernadette in Backlund to ask for help sneaking the Wraith Senior into the Church of Evernight’s Chanis Gate, while Angel and Fors arrived in Trier. The chapter left Angel heading to her contact and Fors carrying the complete edition of her pirate novel to an underground publisher.

• Klein read Angel’s letter about meeting Fors and considered seeking royalties for the novels featuring Gehrman Sparrow and Angelica.
• Klein used Teleportation to reach Queen Mystic Bernadette and learned that Roselle had tried and apparently failed to resolve Trier’s Mirror Person problem.
• Klein asked Bernadette to make the Wraith Senior appear eroded by the Chanis Gate seal so he could enter unnoticed.
• Angel and Fors arrived in Trier, discussed where they would stay, and parted ways in District 13.
• Fors traveled toward an underground publishing house with the complete manuscript of The Great Pirate Angelica series: Ghost Empire.

Angel arrived in Trier under a false identity to investigate the Mirror Person and the corruption beneath the city, then met the Church of Evernight’s informant, Danio Brown. She left with his notebook and a plan to investigate women who had recently married into Trier’s elite.

• Angel checked into the Riverside Hotel and considered how to establish her arms-smuggling cover while investigating the Mirror Person and Trier’s corruption.
• Angel traveled to Honey Badger Street, incapacitated several drunken men with a mild disease, and used the Church of Evernight’s code phrase to meet Danio Brown.
• Angel learned that Danio was a Sequence 9 Hunter working at the District 12 Police Station and reviewed his records on unusual cases, underground gatherings, and the Demoness Sect.
• Angel asked Danio to investigate more than twenty women with unclear backgrounds who had recently married prominent men, suspecting Sevillea Landon might be among them.
• Angel took Danio’s notebook and arranged to return in three days, while Danio watched her leave.

Angel arrived in Trier and used Arrodes to learn that the informant she had met held an important clue, that Mirror People were being investigated by the Church of Steam and Machinery, and that a black mirror shard could detect them. Arrodes also pointed her toward Shayo Town as a place to find the Demoness Sect, while Wensa appeared with a letter and vanished into the Spirit World.

• Angel surveyed the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun as a potential refuge and noticed an abandoned building with a mysterious history that stirred her spirituality.
• Angel summoned Arrodes, which warned her that multiple people were watching the informant and advised her to investigate him and use a concealed black mirror shard to detect Mirror People.
• Arrodes showed Angel a location in Shayo Town where she could find members of the Demoness Sect before the communication ended.
• Angel prepared the black mirror shard with her blood and concealment symbols, then considered searching near churches and important institutions for Mirror People.
• Wensa appeared with a letter, dropped it for Angel, and vanished into the Spirit World when Angel realized she might know Trier well.

Angel met the smuggler Baron Nicola in Trier and arranged to ship sensitive goods to Toscarter Island. After evading a follower, she felt the mirror shard that detected Mirror People vibrate as her carriage sped away.

• Angel read Helene’s letter, learned a smuggler’s location and password, and heard that the Pirate Conference would likely take place in early June.
• Angel visited the Nicola Import and Export Company and negotiated with Baron Nicola to ship goods from Dilis Port to Toscart Port for sixteen thousand Verl D'Or per shipload.
• Angel paid Baron Nicola a two-thousand-Verl-D'Or deposit and considered consulting Sander about moving arms from Loen to Dilis Port.
• Angel noticed someone following her, turned invisible to evade them, and returned to Shady Avenue.
• Angel boarded a carriage, and the mirror shard against her chest began to vibrate.

Angel tracked a Mirror Person to an annex beside Philanthropy Palace, then let a Hunter sent by Baron Nicola follow her to avoid raising suspicion. Meanwhile, Fors attended a Beyonder gathering in Trier and recognized its host’s name as Mr. K.

• Angel used a vibrating mirror shard and the Mirror World to identify a silver-haired man in a carriage as a Mirror Person, then decided to ask Danio Brown to investigate him.
• Angel sensed a Hunter tailing her on Baron Nicola’s orders and chose to let him follow her to her hotel and a Beyonder gathering.
• Fors entered a Friday-night Beyonder gathering with the deputy editor of Spirit Channeling magazine and prepared an escape plan in case of an ambush.
• An attendant explained the gathering’s rules to Fors and recommended that she submit her requests in writing unless she wanted to risk being followed.
• Fors recognized the name Mr. K when the attendant mentioned the gathering’s host.

Fors attended an Aurora Order gathering and noticed Roselle’s notes for sale. Angel visited the Red House Cafe while searching for the Demoness Sect and recognized a black-haired woman there as a High Sequence Demoness.

• Fors resisted the urge to escape Mr. K’s gathering and decided to look over the items for sale.
• Angel traveled to Shayo Town after her apparent surveillance ended and searched for the red-roofed house from Arrodes’s vision.
• Angel found the Red House Cafe and suspected it served as a meeting place for female-loving-female groups that might attract Demonesses.
• A black-haired woman arrived with a short-haired girl, and Angel recognized the woman as a High Sequence Demoness.

Angel encountered Clarice, the Black Saintess and leader of the Demoness Sect in Trier, at a cafe in Shayo Town, then took precautions to avoid being followed. She decided to delay investigating the sect until she could gather more information, but a warning that an angel would descend left her startled.

• Angel recognized Clarice as the Black Saintess after seeing her enter the Red House Cafe with an orange-red-haired girl.
• Angel acted like the other cafe customers, then left town slowly and spent the day behaving like an ordinary traveler to avoid arousing Clarice’s suspicion.
• Angel considered Clarice’s possible role in the Demoness Sect and regretted entering the cafe without first consulting Arrodes or contacting official Beyonders.
• Angel decided to wait for more information and begin her search with Sevillea rather than approach Clarice’s stronghold.
• Angel heard a warning that an angel would descend in five minutes at most.

Angel learned that angels from the Orthodox Churches were stationed in Trier, then collected Danio Brown’s information on suspicious people and asked him to investigate a Foreign Affairs Committee secretary who might be a Mirror Person. After Angel left, Danio secretly contacted someone through his mirror.

• Reinette told Angel that angels were stationed in Trier, and Angel arranged to summon her for help in an emergency.
• Angel spent Sunday exploring Trier, then went to Danio Brown’s home to collect his files on twenty-five suspicious people.
• Angel found Sevillea’s file and gave Danio a portrait of a suspected Mirror Person for further investigation.
• Danio recognized the man as a secretary of the Foreign Affairs Committee and agreed to gather detailed information on him within two days.
• After Angel left, Danio crushed a glass cufflink, sent a note through his mirror, and let a slender hand seize his arm.

Angel exposed Danio Brown as a Mirror Person and interrogated him about the replacement plot. Danio revealed how he was recruited and identified a Mirror Person secretary, but the nature of the Mirror World’s second layer remained unexplained.

• Danio tried to flee and destroy his mirror-opening cufflink, but Angel infected him with a controlled mystical disease and emerged from a mirror.
• Angel showed Danio the vibrating mirror shard and the warning note, then used Corrosion and promises of protection to make him talk.
• Danio revealed that he had replaced the real Danio Brown in February 1347 after underground corruption created his Mirror Person.
• Danio explained that Mirror People could replace their originals by dragging them into the Mirror World and killing them, and said he had helped a team protecting an important person.
• Danio identified the protected secretary as Sheval Dumar, who had been replaced more than ten years earlier.
• Danio described two layers of the Mirror World: a dark reflection of Trier and a version of Trier from the Fourth Epoch.

Angel interrogated Mirror Person Danio, foiled his attempt to escape, and killed him when his disease returned. She used Spirit Channeling to learn about the Mirror People operating in Trier and discovered a connection to the Witch Family.

• Angel demanded that Danio list the Mirror People he knew, and he tried to escape using a cufflink that opened the Mirror World.
• Angel's invisible threads stopped Danio's Mirror Substitution, and he died when his disease violently resurfaced.
• Angel searched Danio and used Magic Mirror Spirit Channeling to question his spirit.
• Danio named Sheval Dumar and four other Mirror People in his group, and revealed that 13 Market Avenue was an active site where victims were corrupted and replaced.
• Danio explained that some Mirror People were born alongside their originals and came from special families, including the Tamara Family and the Witch Family.
• Danio told Angel that the Witch Family woman who had rescued him was named Clarice.