Chapter Summaries

Angel questioned Arrodes about Amon and the Fountain of Youth, then left Backlund for Bayam to prepare for a voyage into the Fog Sea. She met Dominic and Sonia, learned about unrest and shipping costs in the archipelago, and ended by teasing Sonia with a Mirror Substitution.

• Angel found that Arrodes was terrified of Amon, learned Amon had tortured the mirror for information about Klein, and calmed it by assuring it that Amon's avatars were gone from Backlund.
• Arrodes said the Fountain of Youth was an island in the Fog Sea protected by anti-divination, then begged Angel to rescue it from the Church of Steam; Angel persuaded it to stay and act dangerous enough to be upgraded to a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact.
• Angel traveled through the Mirror World to Bayam, visited Lucky Nick's room, and reunited with Dominic and Sonia, who recognized her from a wanted poster offering a 450,000-pound bounty.
• Dominic told Angel that the rebels had become more organized and that the Bayam garrison was focusing on pirates, while higher shipping costs had lowered the prices of local goods; Angel arranged to buy supplies for her canned food factory.
• Sonia mentioned adventurers searching for the Fountain of Youth east of the Sonia Sea, and Angel warned that the King of Immortality used the rumor as a trap before a Mirror Substitution patted Sonia's head.

Angel arrived at the Red Haired Woman and learned that William had gone missing while buying medicine. She found him fleeing the Mandated Punishers with Tia, a Witch hunted by the Demoness Sect, who revealed she had defected to the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom and carried valuable secrets.

• Angel visited the Red Haired Woman, gave Helene the codename Queen of Wands, and learned William had gone to buy medicine.
• When William failed to return, Angel used Magic Mirror Divination and took Helene through the Mirror World to find him.
• William fled the Mandated Punishers with Tia, but he and Tia fell into Angel's mirror trap and were brought aboard the Red Haired Woman.
• Angel questioned William and Tia, learning that William had once used the name Carl and that Tia was a Witch pursued by the Demoness Sect.
• Tia revealed she had defected from the Demoness Sect to the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, taking information about the sect and the true location of the Fountain of Youth.

Angel questioned Tia, a Demoness Sect defector, about the sect’s leadership and learned the location of the legendary Fountain of Youth. After Tia proved the location matched their intended destination, Angel welcomed her aboard the Red Haired Woman as the ship left Bayam for the Fog Sea.

• Tia explained that she had fled the Demoness Sect and sought protection from the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, and Angel used divination to verify that she believed her account.
• Tia told Angel that thirteen color-coded Demonesses managed regional affairs under a leader codenamed Gray, and that the sect was interested in Molora, the City of Exile.
• Tia revealed that she had memorized the location of the Fountain of Youth from an internal Demoness Sect document and offered it in exchange for protection.
• Angel agreed to take Tia away from Bayam for the voyage and considered sending her to Backlund afterward, while Tia asked to remain aboard the ship.
• Tia marked the Fountain of Youth’s location on the nautical chart, and Angel confirmed it matched Wensa’s map.
• The Red Haired Woman departed Bayam at night, and Angel welcomed Tia aboard.

At the Tarot Club, Angel arranged to buy blood from living centenarians and offered to make powerful charms, while members discussed preparations and supplies. Alger warned that Loen’s unusually aggressive campaign against pirates might signal a localized war later that year.

• Angel asked Emlyn to obtain blood from nine living ordinary people aged at least one hundred, and he agreed to provide it by the next gathering for five hundred pounds.
• Angel offered to make charms capable of killing demigods for three thousand pounds each if members supplied Worms of Time or equivalent materials; Sun and the Hermit showed interest.
• Alger asked Leonard whether he still wanted to buy Mystical Items, and Leonard declined because World had already sold him a cane.
• Alger reported that pirates had returned to major shipping lanes and that Loen’s navy had driven them back with heavy losses.
• Cattleya explained that pirates often served as proxies for countries, and Alger inferred that Loen might be preparing for a localized war before the year ended.

At the Tarot Club, Audrey confirmed that Loen might start a limited war within six months, and Angel proposed recruiting subordinate members called the Minor Arcana. After Hanged Man objected over the risk of exposure, Fool supported Angel’s plan, and Hanged Man withdrew his objection.

• Audrey shared information suggesting Loen had the motive and preparations to launch a localized war within six months, alarming the members who lived in Backlund.
• Angel proposed that Tarot Club members recruit Minor Arcana as subordinate agents who would have no direct contact with the club.
• Hanged Man opposed the proposal, warning that the additional connections could expose the Tarot Club and endanger its members.
• Angel argued that Minor Arcana would isolate the risk by making each member appear to be the leader of a separate organization, which she called the Church of the Fool.
• Fool backed Angel’s proposal and said the new layer would help protect the club as members’ unusual positions became harder to conceal.
• Hanged Man interpreted Fool’s words as a hint about preparing to join his camp, then withdrew his objection and agreed to the proposal.

The Tarot Club approved the Empress’s proposal to create Minor Arcana teams, with Mr. Fool limiting each member to three recruits who would need assessment and his authorization. After the gathering, Angel investigated Tia’s encounter with the Gnostic Society and prepared to travel to Backlund, while Leonard asked Pales whether he would join the Fool’s organization.

• Leonard and Emlyn supported the Empress’s proposal, and Audrey judged that she could recruit Susie as her Minor Arcana.
• The Tarot Club members backed the proposal, and Mr. Fool approved it with a limit of three recruits per member and an assessment requirement before they could seek his help.
• After the meeting, Klein considered which Minor Arcana card to give Danitz and whether to introduce Sharron to the Fool after her advancement.
• Angel questioned Sailor Chief William about Tia’s encounter with the Gnostic Society, concluded Tia likely did not know of any hidden arrangements, and ordered him to watch her.
• Angel entrusted Helene with a blood-linked Magic Mirror and traveled through the Mirror World toward Backlund.
• Leonard told Pales Zoroaster that the kingdom’s leaders might start a localized war within six months, then asked whether Pales would join the Fool’s organization.

Leonard tried to recruit Pallez into the Fool’s Minor Arcana but was warned against expanding the group, then investigated a Witch’s murders in the East Borough. Aboard the Future, Cattleya asked Frank whether he would accept a blessing from a mysterious existence, while his mushroom experiments left Sharff desperate to escape.

• Leonard told Pallez about the Tarot Club’s Minor Arcana plan, but Pallez refused recruitment and warned him not to approach other candidates.
• Leonard reviewed the East Borough murder clues and connected the suspected Witch’s possible plan to the public spectacle around the Capim Case and Angel’s past actions.
• Cattleya visited Frank’s mushroom laboratory aboard the Future and saw Sharff exhausted and being offered a mushroom to eat.
• Cattleya asked Frank if he would accept a blessing and become a believer, and Frank agreed immediately if it would help his experiments.
• Sharff tried to flee, but the giant mushroom’s fungal threads dragged him back, leaving Cattleya to reconsider recruiting Frank into the Fool’s Minor Arcana.

Angel and Klein tested each other’s tricks while discussing their Tarot Club plans and their progress toward advancing. After Angel resumed her voyage aboard the Red Haired Woman, the crew caught a mermaid whose tail was splitting into legs.

• Angel presented the Minor Arcana cards for Shermane and Helene and described her plans for them to build influence and command a fleet.
• Klein demonstrated how he and his marionettes could swap identities, but Angel tricked him with mirror substitutes and revealed she had guessed his real position.
• Angel explained that her mirror substitutes could imitate a person’s appearance and touch, while the real Angel could hide in the Mirror World.
• Angel told Klein that the Red Haired Woman had left Midway Island and was sailing west toward the Fog Sea in search of the Fountain of Youth.
• Angel used Helene’s Magic Mirror to find the Red Haired Woman and discovered the crew gathered around a caught mermaid whose tail was beginning to split into legs.

Angel discovered that the Siren caught in the Red Haired Woman’s net belonged to a group raised by the Church of the Evernight Goddess, and she investigated the mermaid’s past. In the Siren’s dream, Angel witnessed an unknown underwater creature dragging away members of her kin.

• The sailors hauled in a Siren with their trawl net, and Helene ordered William to place her in a barrel of seawater while the crew celebrated with extra liquor.
• Angel used the Magic Mirror to divine the Siren’s origins and saw her praying with a group at Cathedral of Serenity on Dainos Island before they left for the open sea.
• Angel entered the sleeping Siren’s dream and watched her feast on raw fish before reliving a stormy encounter with her kin.
• A thick cloud of blood spread through the water, and an enormous force dragged a young Siren beneath the surface.
• Angel saw a second Siren lurking underwater seize a red-haired Siren and pull her down as the others fled.

Angel explored the Siren’s nightmare, learning that red-eyed members of her tribe had attacked her and driven her away. The Siren woke aboard the Red Haired Woman, revealed her song and ability to speak some Loenese, and ended the chapter introducing herself as YuYu.

• Angel watched the dream-Siren flee her red-eyed kin before leaving the collapsing nightmare and returning to the deck.
• Helene told Angel that the crew felt reassured by the ship’s Beyonders and Angel’s reputation.
• The awakened Siren sang to enthrall the crew, but Angel stopped her with Black Flame and offered her food.
• Angel showed the Siren her Evernight emblem, and the Siren agreed to speak Loenese after eating.
• Angel considered releasing the Siren, returning her to the Church, or keeping her aboard as a crew member.
• Angel asked the Siren her name, and she answered, “YuYu.”

Shermane killed Malcolm publicly to complete digesting her Witch potion, but a red-gloved man caught her as she tried to escape. Meanwhile, the Red Haired Woman reached a dense sea fog near the suspected Fountain of Youth.

• Shermane displayed the bound Malcolm outside an attic and burned him with Cursed Black Flame before killing him with an Ice Spike as witnesses watched.
• Shermane finished digesting her Witch potion, escaped the scene, and tried to disappear into the sewers.
• A dream trap sent Shermane back inside Malcolm's house, where a gale exposed her and a handsome man in red gloves confronted her.
• Angel checked the Red Haired Woman's position on a chart while YuYu's navigation brought the ship near the Fountain of Youth ahead of schedule.
• Helene told Angel that a thick bank of sea fog lay ahead and that the ship might have found the Fountain of Youth.

Angel found the fog-covered waters where the Fountain of Youth was believed to lie and cautiously prepared to explore them the next day. Meanwhile, Leonard captured a Witch in a sewer, but she exploded before he could take her into custody.

• Angel ordered Helene to stop the Red Haired Woman five nautical miles from the fog and sent YuYu across its boundary to scout, but the Siren found only silent, empty waters.
• Angel decided to keep the ship outside the fog overnight and explore the next day, hoping to find a withered branch from the Fountain of Youth for her Sequence 3 potion.
• Leonard used the Word of the Sea and his sleep-inducing ability to corner a Witch by a sewer entrance after she used Mirror Substitution to evade his first attack.
• Leonard reached for the unconscious Witch, sensed heat beneath her cloak, and barely protected himself with a ball of water as she exploded in flames.

Leonard pursued the exhausted Shermane through the sewers, but a triggered negative effect from his cane gave Triss time to rescue her. Aboard the Red Haired Woman, Angel and the crew celebrated on the eve of reaching the real Fountain of Youth.

• Leonard tracked Shermane through the sewers, while she tried to escape using Mirror Substitution and deception.
• Leonard caught up with Shermane, but his cane struck him after its negative effect triggered, and Triss appeared to help Shermane escape.
• Patrol officers secured Iron Carbon Street, where Malcolm's corpse remained pinned beneath the watching gaze of a hooded man.
• Ariel ate grilled fish and sang with the sailors aboard the Red Haired Woman as Helene asked William to teach her human habits and Loenese.
• Angel watched the crew's celebration, thought about seeing the real Fountain of Youth the next day, and joined them to eat grilled fish.

Angel learned that the mist-shrouded sea held the Fountain of Youth and that reaching it required the right time, place, and a demoness’s techniques. She led the Red Haired Woman into the mist, then discovered an island underwater as she began exploring the seabed.

• Wensa delivered a joint letter from Trissy and Shermane, who reported that Shermane had finished digesting her potion and planned to advance to Pleasure before targeting Viscount Stratford.
• Angel recognized that Leonard Mitchell had nearly caught Shermane and planned to warn him about her identity at the next Tarot Club gathering.
• Angel ordered the Red Haired Woman to enter the mist, and she used the Rose Necklace to drive the ship through the windless waters.
• Once the ship was deep in the mist, Angel gave the necklace to Helene and jumped into the sea to search the seabed.
• Angel saw the outline of an island shrouded in mist beneath the water.

Angel discovered how to enter the Special Mirror World containing the Fountain of Youth and brought the Red Haired Woman through to an island. In Backlund, Trissy told Shermane that Angel was away and recalled her past connection to Angel and the Red Glove.

• Angel realized that the windless sea concealed a Special Mirror World and deduced that sunlight and a Demoness's mirror technique were needed to enter it.
• Angel froze and smoothed the sea around the Red Haired Woman, creating an ice mirror that drew the ship into the Special Mirror World.
• The Red Haired Woman emerged in a clear, sunlit sea surrounded by fog, and Helene spotted an enormous island nearby.
• In a café, Trissy told Shermane that Angel was seeking the Fountain of Youth and warned her that the Red Glove might have seen her face.
• Trissy said Angel knew the Red Glove from their time as Nighthawks in Tingen and admitted that she had once stabbed Angel's man.

Angel explored the island in the Special Mirror World where the Fountain of Youth was rumored to be, while warning Helene and the sailors about Mirror People. After entering the island alone and finding she could not contact the Fool or the Evernight Goddess, she was ambushed in the woods by a shadow that transformed into an armored knight.

• Angel decided Helene and the sailors should remain aboard the Red Haired Woman while she explored the island alone.
• Angel warned Helene that Mirror People could imitate people they knew and instructed the sailors to attack any familiar face other than hers.
• Angel entered the Special Mirror World, reached the island, and failed to receive a response when she prayed to the Fool and the Evernight Goddess.
• Angel traveled inland across the island and noticed a light-devouring shadow approaching through the woods.
• Angel drew Angelica's Edge and charged the shadow, which transformed into a black-armored knight and pleaded for her to stop.

Angel pretended to be a Demoness seeking the Fountain of Youth and accompanied the Black Knight across the island, trading news with him. At the Fountain, he saw through her disguise and attacked, binding her shadow as he prepared to strike.

• Angel recognized the armored guard as a Black Knight of the Secrets Suppliant Pathway and claimed that the Gray Witch had sent her to advance.
• The Black Knight agreed to lead Angel to the Fountain of Youth and warned her to leave immediately after advancing.
• As they walked, Angel shared news from the outside world, while the Black Knight asked about recent events and avoided explaining why he remained on the island.
• Angel and the Black Knight reached the Fountain of Youth, a small pool surrounded by withered grass and dead trees.
• The Black Knight attacked Angel without warning; she cut through his Greatsword and hurled Black Flame at him.
• The Black Knight explained that Angel had exposed herself by getting Judith’s title wrong and acting wary, then bound her with her own shadow as he swung his new Greatsword at her.

Angel fought a Black Knight and discovered that he was one of several marionettes controlled by a Trick Sorcerer working with the Demoness Sect. After escaping the Trick Sorcerer’s control and a lethal attack, she counterattacked the Black Knight and Demoness of Despair with destructive flames.

• Angel burned through the Black Knight’s shadow and armor, then wounded him with black flames and Angelica’s Edge.
• The Black Knight shattered into fragments, but Angel’s diseases failed to find him, and a Demoness of Despair appeared in his place.
• The Demoness summoned the Black Knight and a blond young man, and Angel recognized them as marionettes controlled by a Trick Sorcerer.
• The marionettes offered to let Angel leave, but the hidden Trick Sorcerer seized control of her Spirit Body Threads.
• The Black Knight struck down a substitute, while the marionettes located Angel in the Mirror World and attacked her.
• Angel deflected Spirit Flesh Blade and unleashed blue-violet flames that pierced the Black Knight and burned through the Demoness’s robe.

Angel fought the Black Knight, the Demoness of Despair, and the Winner while the hidden Trick Sorcerer manipulated them from the Fountain of Youth. After discovering the Trick Sorcerer could not leave the island's central area, Angel escaped and planned to return with a strategy to defeat her.

• Angel used Angelica's Edge against the Black Knight and the Demoness of Despair, but their Paper Figurine and Mirror Substitutions prevented her from killing them.
• The Demoness of Despair cursed Angel, while the hidden Trick Sorcerer tried to control her Spirit Body Threads and the Winner's misfortune attacks failed to affect her.
• The Trick Sorcerer sent a released soul to forbid entry to the Mirror World, revealing a fourth demigod guarding the Fountain of Youth.
• Angel used Staff Substitution to escape the Black Knight and grievously wounded the Imperative Mage, breaking the prohibition and restoring her access to the Mirror World.
• Angel escaped beyond the marionettes' thousand-meter range and concluded that the Trick Sorcerer could not leave the island's center.
• Angel left the beach, resolved to plan a return and defeat the Trick Sorcerer, and put Angelica's Edge away to resist its negative effect.

Angel returned to the island and used the Trick Sorcerer’s dependence on the Fountain of Youth to defeat her marionettes and expose her true body. Angel killed the Trick Sorcerer, but the chapter left her own fate uncertain after her neck suddenly broke and her head fell into the spring.

• Angel ordered the Red Haired Woman to sail away from the island, then returned alone wearing the Parasite glove to confront the Trick Sorcerer.
• Angel fought the Black Knight and the Demoness of Despair, summoned the Reaper Legion, and located the Trick Sorcerer hidden beneath the boulder in the Fountain of Youth.
• Angel used the Parasite glove to seize the Imperative Mage’s Deprivation ability, stripped the Demoness of Despair of disease control, and infected the Trick Sorcerer with a deadly disease.
• The Trick Sorcerer swapped the Demoness of Despair with the Winner to avoid Angel’s Betrayal charm, but Angel used Klein’s Luck Stealer charm to make the marionettes’ betrayal take effect.
• Angel’s attacks severed the marionettes’ connection to the Trick Sorcerer, forcing the disease-stricken woman to emerge from the Fountain of Youth; Angel then pierced her heart with Angelica’s Edge.
• The Trick Sorcerer’s head fell into the Fountain of Youth after her neck broke, while Angel stood over her with her own fate unresolved.