Chapter Summaries

Angel and Helene traveled aboard Queen Anne's Revenge to attend the Pirate Conference after receiving an invitation from King of the Five Seas Nast. Anne brought the Ghost Ship out of the Spirit World near an island dominated by a massive mountain.

• Angel pulled Helene into the Mirror World and brought her from the Red Haired Woman to Queen Anne's Revenge.
• Anne appeared on the Ghost Ship and explained how it entered the Spirit World before setting course for the Pirate Conference.
• Helene gave Angel Nast's invitation, which named the conference location and vanished after Angel memorized it.
• Helene told Angel that the navy's ironclad Pritz and rumors of the Ghost Empire could affect attendance, and predicted Vice Admiral of Ailment Tracy would come.
• Anne brought Queen Anne's Revenge out of the Spirit World beside an island with a huge cloud-wreathed peak.

Angel and Helene arrived at the island hosting the Pirate Conference, where pirate admirals gathered with their ships. Tracy passed by without confronting them, and Angel watched Vice Admiral Deep Sea Hall Constantine’s submarine-like flagship surface and transform into a sailing warship.

• Helene explained the Pirate Conference’s rules as Angel surveyed the gathered fleets, including Cattleya’s Future and Edwina’s Golden Dream.
• Tracy appeared aboard the Black Death, and Angel embraced Helene provocatively as Tracy watched before sailing past without attacking.
• Angel released the embarrassed Helene, and Anne gave Angel a disapproving look.
• Vice Admiral Deep Sea Hall Constantine’s Newins surfaced near the island, unfolded its deck and sails, and joined the other admirals offshore.

Angel and Anne sailed around the island to the secluded gathering of the Five Kings, where Angel learned the truth about Agalito and the Death Announcer. Anne revealed the hidden arrival of Baros Hopkins and the Black Throne, leaving Angel mindful of the warning to beware the Spectator.

• A commanding presence surged from the volcano, and Anne guided the Queen Anne's Revenge toward the far side of the island where the Pirate Kings were meeting.
• Anne told Angel that the Death Announcer was a Sequence 3 Blatherer and the true King of Immortality, while Agalito was its slave.
• Angel and Anne passed the Dawn, Queen Mystic Bernadette's flagship, and the ancient Ghost Ship The Black Emperor, Nast's flagship.
• Anne pointed out Baros Hopkins and the Black Throne, whom Angel had failed to notice or remember until Anne named them.
• Angel recalled the warning to beware the Spectator as she stared at the Black Throne.

Angel received an invitation from Nast to board The Black Emperor for the Pirate Kings’ meeting, while the other ships waited nearby. As she considered whether to go aboard, Bernadette warned her that someone was plotting against her.

• Angel watched the King of the Black Throne and the Death Announcer sail toward The Black Emperor as the Pirate Kings gathered.
• Anne pulled Nast’s Wraith messenger out of the Mirror World, and Angel took the formal invitation to board The Black Emperor.
• Pirates gathered on the island and discussed the Loen Navy’s ironclad while Blue Walls watched the Black Building where Edwina and the other Pirate Admirals met.
• A scream came from a wooden house near the dock, and Blue Walls saw it explode after a deep-red flash.
• After waiting for the other Pirate Kings to board, Angel received a note from Bernadette warning her of a plot.

Angel accepted Bernadette’s warning and went with Anne to meet Nast aboard The Black Emperor. Nast recognized Anne from 150 years earlier and declared his ambition to establish a new order at sea and become the Black Emperor.

• Angel asked Anne about Bernadette’s warning, and Anne said she would accompany Angel to the meeting.
• Anne transported Angel from the Queen Anne’s Revenge to The Black Emperor through the Spirit World.
• Nast welcomed Angel as the Golden Queen and invited her to wait for the other attendees.
• Nast recognized Anne as Princess Anne and recalled seeing her at White Maple Palace with his father and Roselle.
• Nast said he would establish a new kingdom at sea and become the Black Emperor, while Anne responded without enthusiasm.

Angel attended the Sea Kings Conference, where she discovered that the unnoticed King of the Black Throne, Barros Hopkins, was present as Nast warned that Loen’s ironclads threatened the Pirate Kings. Elsewhere, Cattleya’s Pirate Conference was interrupted when Yorg reported that the pirates gathered outside had gone mad.

• Bernadette and Kleeberg arrived at Nast’s meeting in place of Agalito, and Nast sealed the cabin and opened the Sea Kings Conference.
• Angel realized that Barros Hopkins, the King of the Black Throne, was present and that most attendees had failed to notice him.
• Nast warned that Loen’s ironclads could soon overwhelm the Pirate Kings, and Barros joined the discussion.
• At the Pirate Conference, Yorg rushed in and told Cattleya that the pirates gathered outside had gone mad.

Cattleya and the other Pirate Admirals fled a dockside outbreak of madness and slaughter, while Nast proposed confronting the navy and hunting the Ghost Empire. The meeting was interrupted by the terrifying presence of Suah, the Abomination, at the docks.

• Cattleya saw pirates killing one another and collapsing at the docks, and Tracy determined the outbreak was neither disease nor poison.
• Cattleya opened a Star Bridge toward the Future, but Dusk intervened when a wolf-like pirate attacked the group.
• Nast proposed that the Five Kings destroy the Pritz or retreat from the Rorsted Archipelago, but the other rulers did not respond.
• Nast revealed that the Ghost Empire existed and had become active, then suggested the rulers work together to capture it.
• A Wraith warned Nast of strange events at the docks, and Angel and the others sensed Suah, the Abomination.

Angel and Anne faced Abomination Suah’s attack on the Pirate Conference and chose to fight rather than flee, while Klein received Angel’s prayer from Backlund. The chapter left Klein witnessing the danger through the Gray Fog and Angel’s attack on the vortex beginning.

• Angel and Anne escaped The Black Emperor aboard Queen Anne’s Revenge, but Suah’s power disrupted their Spirit World route and trapped them near the island.
• Angel saw the docks consumed by slaughter and black rain, while Cattleya, Vice Admiral Dusk, and Edwina fled toward the Future on the Star Bridge.
• Anne invoked order to suppress the chaos, and Constantine and Tracy helped the Pirate Admirals reach the Future as its starlight shield formed.
• Angel and Anne decided to stay and attack Suah’s forming vortex, and Angel prayed to The Fool as Queen Anne’s Revenge’s cannons fired golden light into the sky.
• In Backlund, Klein received Angel’s prayer while preparing to open the letter from Reinette, then entered the Gray Fog Palace and saw the threat facing her.

Klein and the pirates disrupted the Rose School’s ritual summoning Suah, but the Abomination still manifested two giant hands and targeted Angel. As Anne restrained one hand, Angel realized the other was silently praying to the Chained God.

• Klein used the Sea God’s Scepter to strike the corrupted pirates with lightning, but black rain and mist weakened his attacks.
• Corrupted pirates abruptly went mad and killed themselves, slowing Suah’s descent and disrupting the ritual.
• Angel summoned the Reaper Legion and recognized that the pirates’ premature deaths had helped hinder the summoning.
• Nast and Barros Hopkins spread Mental Plague among the sacrifices, accelerating their madness and deaths.
• Suah roared across the battlefield, but Anne deprived him of Shriek and imprisoned one giant hand as it attacked Angel.
• Angel realized the other giant hand was silently praying to the Chained God.

Angel and the Queen Anne’s Revenge fought Suah as his prayer to the Chained God threatened to unleash a crimson power over the sea. Bernadette interrupted the prayer, but Suah’s hidden attack trapped Angel before an unknown force petrified his arms and left her missing from the Physical World.

• Angel used the Reaper Legion’s strength to strike Suah’s praying hand with Black Flame, but the attack failed to stop the prayer.
• Bernadette appeared aboard a sailing ship and used the Pale Death to age Suah’s hand, disrupting his prayer and fading the crimson sky.
• Anne fired a full cannon volley at Suah’s wounded hands, but a third hand emerged from underwater and joined their attack on Angel.
• Angel used Mirror Substitution to escape the deck, but Suah’s restraint kept her within reach as three hands closed around her.
• A hazy gray fog appeared before Angel, and an unknown destructive power petrified Suah’s three hands before they sank into the sea.
• Anne sensed that Angel was alive but no longer in the Physical World.

After surviving Suah’s attack by escaping into The Travels of Grosell, Angel realized the Rose School’s assault might have been designed to send her back to Klein. She prayed to The Fool for help and saw an image of herself surrounded by a wisp of crimson aura.

• The surviving pirates emerged from hiding after the black clouds and Abomination’s aura faded, while Cattleya and Tracy wondered whether Angel had died.
• Angel confirmed she had escaped into the world of The Travels of Grosell using the Petrification Charm and Klein’s plan, and concluded that Suah had likely fled after being wounded.
• Angel reflected on the knowledge she had gained about the Prisoner Pathway and the progress she had made digesting her Despair Potion.
• Before leaving the Book World through its hidden Double Door, Angel suspected the Rose School’s attack had been meant to make her return to Klein.
• Angel stepped away from the exit and prayed to The Fool, then saw an image of herself surrounded by crimson aura.

Angel discovered that the Mother Tree of Desire had attached a trace of its power to her spirit body after the battle with Abomination Suah. Mr. Fool purified it, warned her to stay alert to the Rose School and seek help from the orthodox churches, and Klein welcomed her back to the physical world.

• Angel recognized the Mother Tree of Desire's aura in Mr. Fool's vision and realized it had contaminated her spirit body during her battle with Abomination Suah.
• Mr. Fool drew Angel into the Tarot Club and used the gray fog to strip away the invading power.
• Angel told Mr. Fool about the Pirate Conference, the contaminated pirates, and Abomination Suah's escape plan.
• Mr. Fool reasoned that Suah had relayed the Mother Tree of Desire's power and advised Angel to watch for Rose School attacks and inform the orthodox churches.
• Klein returned to his bedroom and welcomed Angel after she reappeared in the physical world.

Melissa finished her entrance examination at Backlund University of Industry and Technology and visited the Loen Charity Student Aid Fund booth, where Angel recognized her resemblance to Angelica Zaki. Later, Baron Cinderas visited Angel and offered her ownership of a winery as an apology.

• Melissa told Benson and Lily that she expected to pass the university entrance examination after answering the essay question about Radio Communication.
• Benson explained that he had applied to join the Ministry of Finance team overseeing the Loen Charity Student Aid Fund.
• Audrey thanked Angel for advising her to dress appropriately when working with students from impoverished districts.
• Lily approached the fund booth to ask about donating, and Audrey gave her a pamphlet instead of accepting private donations.
• Angel recognized Lily and Melissa as figures from her past and watched them leave with Benson.
• Baron Cinderas presented Angel with a property certificate and transfer contract for a winery as an apology.

Angelica accepted Iris Flower Winery, valued at 35,000 pounds, from Baron Cinderas after learning that the Church of Storms had cleared and protected him. That night, Leonard questioned her in a dream about the incident and asked whether she had heard of Angelica Zaki.

• Angelica examined the winery deed and transfer contract, then asked Baron Cinderas to explain his offer.
• Baron Cinderas told Angelica that the Church of Storms had cleared him of suspicion and thanked her for helping him avoid a deeper police investigation.
• Angelica concluded that the Spectator demigod's plan had pushed Cinderas toward the Church of Storms, then signed Iris Flower Winery over to Christine Teresa.
• Ribak warned Angelica that the winery would cost at least 1,500 pounds to maintain that year and likely twice as much the next.
• Leonard entered Angelica's dream and questioned her about Cinderas before asking whether she had heard the name Angelica Zaki.

Angel kept her identity hidden from Leonard, handled letters about Trissy, the pirates, and Suah, and attended the Tarot Club. The gathering ended with Cattleya asking Mr. Fool where Emperor Roselle's mausoleum was.

• Angel convinced Leonard that her knowledge of the Golden Queen came from the pirate’s fame and returned to bed without revealing her identity.
• Klein told Angel he planned to leave Backlund for the Southern Continent, while Trissy asked to borrow a Mystical Item to approach Viscount Stratford; Angel refused and suggested Shermane assist her.
• Angel received Anne’s report that Suah’s attack had devastated the pirates, though Helene, Tracy, and their other acquaintances had survived.
• Bernadette offered to connect Angel with an Artisan, and Reinette warned that her power remained incomplete before asking for greater payment to help fight Suah.
• At the Tarot Club, Cattleya submitted three diary pages and asked Mr. Fool where Emperor Roselle’s mausoleum was.

Cattleya asked the Fool about Emperor Roselle’s mausoleum, prompting him to explain the Black Emperor’s Apotheosis Ritual and the mystery of Roselle’s failed return. The Tarot Club then discussed delayed Mystical Items and the disastrous Pirate Conference, where Angel revealed that the Rose School leader Suah was a Sequence 1 Abomination.

• Cattleya asked the Fool about Roselle’s mausoleum, and he said its location was unknown before explaining the Black Emperor’s ritual and its nine mausoleums.
• The Tarot Club traded information, and the World asked the Magician to find Karlonnd City’s coordinates while the Hanged Man explained that the Artisan’s illness had delayed his work.
• Alger recounted how the Rose School poisoned the Pirate Conference and summoned a terrifying monster, while the Empress and the Queen Mystic helped fight it.
• Audrey reacted with surprise at the Empress’s strength, and Angel identified the summoned Black Giant Hands as belonging to Suah, a Sequence 1 Abomination.

At the Tarot Club, Angel described the battle with Abomination Suah, while Klein redirected the discussion to a Spectator demigod’s schemes in Backlund. Fors arranged a meeting between Angel and her Abraham Family teacher, and Angel later emerged from Klein’s mirror to visit him.

• Angel explained that the King of the Five Seas, Barros Hopkins, and Queen Mystic had helped stop Suah’s true body from descending, easing the Tarot Club members’ fear of her.
• Audrey asked about the obscure King of the Black Throne, and Angel suggested he was a Spectator demigod with an ability or item that made people overlook him.
• Klein revealed that Hvin Rambis had manipulated Baron Cinderas and warned that the resulting political divisions could plunge Loen into chaos.
• Fors requested a private conversation with Angel and arranged a Wednesday meeting with her Abraham Family teacher to discuss Fourth Epoch history.
• Angel promised not to attack an Abraham Family member first, with Mr. Fool as witness, and later emerged from a mirror into Klein’s bedroom.

Klein prepared to leave Backlund for the Southern Continent to avoid Amon and asked Angel to join him later on a trip to Calderon City. In Bayam, Alger visited Artisan Sharff and secretly listened in as Sharff discussed him with people hiding in the basement.

• Klein explained to Angel that Amon’s arrival in Backlund could expose what made him special, and said he planned to leave that night on a military airship.
• Klein declined Angel’s offer to accompany him to the Southern Continent but asked her to help him reach Calderon City after Miss Magician obtained information from the Abraham Family; Angel agreed.
• Alger learned that the Pirate Conference had suffered heavy losses and that Angelica Zaki had attracted the Church of Storms’ attention.
• Alger visited Sharff, confirmed that the Artisan was recovering and finishing the Ocean Songster commission, and asked whether he could make a mystical item from a Sequence 4 Puppet characteristic.
• After Alger left, Sharff spoke with people in his basement about keeping Alger unsuspecting, finishing the commission, and leaving with them.
• Alger sat in a nearby garden and listened to the conversation from afar.

Alger deduced that the Rose School had recruited Sharff while investigating the Puppet Beyonder Characteristic, and asked Mr. Fool to alert the Empress. Klein prepared to fly to Desi Bay, where he spotted Ms. Daly and Leonard boarding the same airship, while Audrey received a confidential letter listing three names.

• Alger connected Sharff’s recruitment to the Rose School’s interest in Werewolf and Puppet characteristics, then asked Mr. Fool to inform the Empress about the Rose School’s activity in Bayam.
• Klein boarded an airship bound for Desi Bay and saw Ms. Daly and Leonard Mitchell board it as well.
• Leonard reflected on military resentment toward the churches’ growing influence and regretted joining the mission to the Southern Continent.
• Audrey received a confidential letter from Mr. Howard and read the names Benson Moretti, Melissa Moretti, and Lily Granger.

Audrey investigated the Moretti siblings and Lily Granger, connecting their unexplained deposits to Miss Empress and events in Tingen. Angel considered Hanged Man’s request to intervene against the Rose School and, after checking the danger, agreed to go to Bayam; the chapter ended with her meeting Dorian Gray Abraham in Backlund.

• Audrey learned that Benson Moretti, Melissa Moretti, and Lily Granger had received large anonymous transfers and traced their origins to Tingen City, linking the clue to Miss Empress’s absence from the Tarot Club.
• Angel received Hanged Man’s report that the Rose School was tracking the Puppet characteristic she had sold and weighed the risk of rescuing the Artisan.
• Angel consulted Reinette Tinekerr, learned that no Rose School angels would leave the Southern Continent, and decided to ask Hanged Man for more information before traveling to Bayam.
• Angel used the Mirror World to reach the meeting place provided by Fors and met Dorian Gray Abraham, who thanked her for helping his student.