Chapter Summaries

After receiving the Rose Necklace, Helene learned of its dangerous effects and prepared to exploit Gusin’s planned riot while investigating the Underground Mausoleum. She fell asleep studying its secrets and dreamed of entering the mausoleum, where an unseen sight triggered a violent shock.

• Helene sealed the Rose Necklace after its flesh cravings and the True Creator’s whispers overwhelmed her, then explained its powers and dangers to William and Tia.
• Helene told William and Tia that Gusin planned a citywide riot and that Lisa had been investigating their progress, then assigned them to cooperate with Gusin and prepare mirrors near the church cemetery.
• Helene ordered William to assemble a precise map of the Underground Mausoleum from construction diagrams and began studying the books that might help her enter it safely.
• While reading, Helene realized that forgotten exile groups had explored the mausoleum, that some explorers may have been replaced by Mirror Persons, and that an accurate map was essential.
• Helene dreamed of walking through the dark mausoleum to a plaza with a mountain of corpses, then felt an explosion and woke on her bedroom floor.

Helene studied the Underground Mausoleum and realized that her recurring dreams were signs of contamination from Salinger's Blood Banner. As Gusin’s planned riot broke out ahead of schedule, Hella Berg told her the uprising was the opportunity she needed.

• Helene and her companions completed a map of the Underground Mausoleum and used hidden Ice Mirror charms and volunteer teams to establish ways to navigate and escape it.
• Helene’s dreams grew more vivid and reverent as she memorized the mausoleum, and she feared the Sealed Artifact’s contamination would turn her into a puppet.
• William told Helene that Gusin’s people planned to attack the Knowledge Church at noon, and Helene ordered her forces to join them while acting reluctant.
• Helene went to warn Archbishop Hella Berg, who explained that she needed to approach the item without fully submitting to it.
• A puppet Pastor reported that riots had erupted across Molora and exiles were heading for the church, and Hella Berg told Helene this was her opportunity.

As riots engulfed Molora, Helene sent William and Tia to the Knowledge Church and entered the Underground Mausoleum, while Gusin and Lisa separately prepared to pursue their targets. The chapter left Helene descending into the mausoleum as Medici compelled Gusin to kneel and Lisa entered the Mirror World.

• Helene learned that Gusin’s followers had launched a massive riot against the Knowledge Church, then sent William and Tia there for shelter.
• Helene suspected the riot was a smokescreen for Gusin’s intrusion into the Underground Mausoleum and decided to pursue the Sealed Artifact herself.
• After William and Tia reached the church, Helene used the Mirror World to reach the cemetery, invoked Angelica Zaki, and descended into the mausoleum blindfolded.
• At a ruined basement outside Molora, Iris summoned Medici, who ordered Gusin to kneel.
• Lisa retrieved a sapphire ring from a gold jewelry box, put it on, and entered the Mirror World through a mirror.

Helene ventured into the Underground Mausoleum, where she survived an attack by a headless exile and continued toward its depths. Aboveground, William and Tia watched the exile riot threaten the Knowledge Church as Hella Berg revealed that two others were also pursuing the mausoleum’s objective; Helene then heard a steel puppet approaching.

• Helene crossed into the Underground Mausoleum, used the darkness holy emblem to resist its chilling influence, and navigated by her map despite the suppression of her senses.
• Helene entered the Soldier Puppet Storage Room, where a headless exile attacked her and she killed him with a Flame Spear.
• Helene identified the attacker as one of William’s missing exiles, realized he might have been corrupted by Salinger’s Blood Banner, and continued deeper into the mausoleum.
• William told Tia that nearly ten thousand exiles had gathered outside the Knowledge Church and that the vastly outnumbered enforcers were fighting them.
• Hella Berg told William that Helene had entered the mausoleum and that two others were pursuing the same goal, while he watched the riot without concern.
• Helene followed a familiar route through the mausoleum and stopped when she heard the footsteps of a steel puppet ahead.

Helene fought Gusin in the Underground Mausoleum after discovering he used soldier puppets to borrow sight and power, then continued deeper after defeating his puppets. She neared the hall where countless corpses were piled like a mountain, while Gusin escaped to gather more soldiers.

• Helene realized Gusin was using a speaking soldier puppet to distract her while he hid nearby, and she found his true position with Malice Perception.
• Gusin attacked Helene with a Flame Spear and sent a soldier puppet charging at her, but Helene blocked the spear, slowed the puppet, and destroyed it with a flaming kick.
• Gusin sent two more soldier puppets after Helene and tried to retreat, but his cough and weakness revealed that Helene had afflicted him with a disease.
• Helene destroyed the two puppets with Black Flame and precise kicks, then chose not to pursue Gusin as he fled to find more soldiers.
• Helene used her map to continue deeper into the mausoleum and approached the hall filled with piled corpses.

Helene approached Corpse Mountain in the Underground Mausoleum and resisted its attempt to control her, then discovered that Lisa had drawn her and Gusin into a special Mirror World. The three rivals stood trapped together in the hall as the chapter ended.

• Helene reached the corpse-filled hall and realized the mountain was trying to control her and turn her into part of itself.
• Helene sensed Lisa observing her through hidden mirrors, then used fire crows to reveal and shatter them.
• The hall began to tremble as Gusin approached, and Helene tried to leave while warning him that Lisa was nearby.
• The tremors and Gusin’s footsteps abruptly stopped, and Helene removed her blindfold after the Ice Mirror Charm reacted.
• Helene saw Gusin and Lisa in the hall, with the surrounding puppets, bones, and walls beyond reach, and concluded that Lisa’s Sapphire Ring had pulled them into a Special Mirror World.

Hella Berg halted the blood-soaked riot in Molora as heads began to tear free from their bodies, while Helene and Gusin faced Lisa’s overwhelming power inside the Special Mirror World. Helene’s attempt to deprive Lisa of control shattered the Mirror World and revealed Salinger’s Blood Banner, the Red Priest pathway’s Uniqueness.

• Tia warned Hella Berg that the riot threatened Molora, but Hella remained confident as more than thirty thousand rioters gathered at Church Square.
• William began bleeding as his head was pulled upward, and Hella pressed it back into place before spreading a sleep-inducing aura over the square.
• Gusin recognized Lisa’s Sapphire Ring as the Primordial Demoness’s Divine Descent Vessel, and Lisa summoned a meteor that Helene and Gusin barely survived.
• Gusin’s appeal to the God of War went unanswered, and Lisa summoned five more meteors while Helene searched for a way to escape the Mirror World.
• Helene deprived Lisa of control over the Mirror World, causing it to collapse and expose Salinger’s Blood Banner atop the corpse-covered mountain.

Helene and Gusin fought Lisa atop Corpse Mountain while Salinger's Blood Banner struggled against the power sealing it. As Lisa tried to claim the banner and nearly became its puppet, the Primordial Demoness descended through her.

• Helene, Gusin, and Lisa landed atop Corpse Mountain and struggled against the banner's power until a force of Darkness temporarily suppressed it.
• Gusin summoned five soldier puppets, and he and Helene allied against Lisa, who used Mirror Substitution and curses to fight them.
• Helene prohibited Lisa from cursing, while she and Gusin attacked her and realized Lisa was maneuvering toward Salinger's Blood Banner.
• Gusin tried to stop Lisa, but she used invisible threads to smear her blood on the banner; the attempt had no effect, and the banner broke free of its seal.
• The banner's power overwhelmed Lisa, but her Sapphire Ring melted into her body and released the Primordial Demoness, leaving Helene and Gusin immobilized in terror.

Lisa’s Divine Descent in the Underground Mausoleum ended when Helene used the Magic Mirror and the Silver Rapier to kill her, while Gusin fell under the power of death. The uprising in Molora subsided, and a figure carrying a lantern and a withered-heart Beyonder Characteristic emerged from the mausoleum.

• Archbishop Hella Berg told William and Tia that the city’s fate depended on the battle underground, then asked whether they would risk their lives to help their captain; William answered that he would judge the chances of success.
• The power of Salinger’s Blood Banner awakened the rioters and raised the dead in the cathedral cemetery and the Underground Mausoleum.
• Lisa’s power petrified Helene, Gusin, and the rising corpses, but Gusin broke free of the stone and became 0-01’s Executor.
• Ilian Sauron appeared, and Helene used her Magic Mirror to bring the powers of twilight and death into the mausoleum, allowing her to evade Lisa’s attack and stop Gusin.
• Helene pressed the Magic Mirror against Lisa and used the Silver Rapier to destroy her; Gusin’s flames went out, and he died again.
• The resurrected corpses collapsed and the rioters regained their senses; Archbishop Hella Berg watched a figure emerge from underground carrying a lantern and a withered-heart Beyonder Characteristic.

Helene returned from the Underground Mausoleum as Executor of 0-01, then advanced to Despair Demoness by spreading a plague through Molora’s exiles. After leaving the City of Exile with William and Tia, she entered the deeper Mirror World and met Angelica.

• Helene escaped the Underground Mausoleum with Lisa’s Affliction Demoness characteristic, a Judge Mystical Item, and Gusin’s Reaper characteristic, then reported her success to Hella Berg.
• Hella Berg explained that Helene needed to advance to stabilize her body and spirituality, and gave her the materials for Despair and Iron-Blooded Knight potions.
• Helene used 0-01 to spread a deadly plague through the exiles gathered in Church Square and drank the Despair potion amid their despair, advancing to Despair Demoness.
• Helene returned to the church, learned that 0-01’s seal would remain secure, and left Molora with William and Tia.
• Helene entered the true Mirror World and found Angelica waiting in a blood-red and iron-black region.

Helene learned that she had become a normal Demoness of Despair and would no longer be affected by 0-01 outside Molora, while Angel explained the artifact’s connections to the Red Priest Uniqueness. After Helene handed over the recovered Beyonder characteristics and received a promised reward, Angel questioned whether the Unaging Demoness promotion ritual on a Card of Blasphemy was wrong.

• Angel explained that Helene had become 0-01’s Executor because its awakening was limited and she shared the source of its corruption, but its influence could not reach beyond Molora now that it was sealed.
• Angel told Helene that her Unaging Demoness boon had been withdrawn after she advanced, leaving her a Demoness of Despair with fused abilities from her former Reaper pathway.
• Angel said Lisa had resisted 0-01 with her Sapphire Ring, while Gusin might have received help from the Red Angel Medici, and explained that Salinger’s Blood Banner was the Red Priest Uniqueness.
• Angel refused to explain why the Demoness Sect sought the Red Priest Uniqueness, saying Helene could safely learn the crucial information only after becoming an angel.
• Helene gave Angel Gusin and Lisa’s corrupted Beyonder characteristics and the Rose Necklace, and Angel gave her an Affliction characteristic intended for Tia and promised a future Winner characteristic and War Bishop formula.
• After Helene left the depths of the Mirror World, Angel examined a Card of Blasphemy depicting Roselle and wondered whether its Unaging Demoness promotion ritual was incorrect.

Angel examined the Demoness advancement rituals on Roselle’s Card of Blasphemy and questioned whether they were authentic or had been arranged for her. She then borrowed the power of Salinger’s Blood Banner through the Mirror World, before the Tarot Club gathered above the Gray Fog.

• Angel compared the card’s Demoness rituals with Helene’s advancement and recalled how the Mirror Person had helped her survive the Unaging potion’s mental imprint.
• Angel wondered whether Adam had arranged the circumstances of her Catastrophe advancement and found that the Apocalypse ritual’s conditions were nearly fulfilled.
• Angel questioned the card’s Sequence 0 ritual and decided to verify the Demoness and Red Priest rituals with Katarina, Wensa, and Sauron.
• Angel used her connection to Helene and the City of Calamity to draw a mirror projection of Salinger’s Blood Banner from Molora’s Special Mirror World.
• On the last Monday of June, the Tarot Club members gathered above the Gray Fog for their regular meeting.

The Tarot Club members discussed their growing strength and arranged transactions as several prepared to advance. Angel bought a Winner Mystical Item from Cattleya, while Audrey asked the Fool for a private conversation with Angel.

• Audrey greeted the Tarot Club, and Klein noticed changes in her appearance and bearing.
• Emlyn arranged to buy Angel's Shaman King characteristic for 45,000 pounds after borrowing money from the Sanguine.
• Klein reflected on the members' progress, including his own search for the Miracle Invoker characteristic and his discovery of Moon City.
• Angel asked Cattleya about her Winner characteristics, and Cattleya offered a Mystical Item for 8,000 pounds; Angel agreed.
• Audrey asked the Fool to speak privately with Angel.

Audrey asked Angel to supply grain for Backlund, where wartime shortages and nobles’ hoarding had left relief funds unable to feed the poor. At the Tarot Club, Angel offered Cattleya help against powerful enemies, then returned to Tingen and received confirmation that the Red Priest formulas were correct.

• Audrey asked Angel to buy a vast quantity of grain from Partis for Backlund, and Angel agreed to send a shipment while warning that it would only ease shortages temporarily.
• Audrey explained that nobles were hoarding grain and that official Beyonders had made it difficult for her to influence them; Angel suggested she try a lower-level approach.
• Cattleya asked the Tarot Club what they knew about the Hidden Sage, and Angel offered to help if Cattleya faced combat, saying she could contend with a Sequence 1 Archangel with preparation.
• The Tarot Club members reacted with surprise at Angel’s claimed strength and considered whether she had gained control of the Red Priest Uniqueness.
• Angel returned to Saint Selena Cathedral in Tingen and received a prayer from the Sauron Family ancestor, who confirmed the Red Priest formulas on her two cards were correct.

Angel investigated discrepancies in the Demoness promotion rituals recorded on the Cards of Blasphemy and discussed them with her Mirror Person in the City of Calamity. They concluded the rituals had been tailored to Angel, pointing toward Adam or Amon as the likely creator of the cards.

• Angel questioned the evil spirit Sauron about the Red Priest promotion rituals and considered whether the Hidden Sage could have made counterfeit Cards of Blasphemy.
• Angel compared the Demoness card's rituals with information from Wensa and Katarina, then recalled that her Mirror Person had helped her advance to Unaging.
• Angel entered the Mirror World and confronted her Mirror Person, who confirmed she knew about Angel's investigations and questioned who had made the cards.
• Angel and her Mirror Person reasoned that the incorrect rituals were optimized for Angel, allowing her to advance without harming tens of thousands and fulfilling the Unaging ritual through their reconciliation.
• Angel and her Mirror Person concluded the cards' creator must have known Angel was a transmigrator, narrowing the likely candidates to Adam and Amon.

Angel and her Mirror Person considered whether the Evernight Goddess was a transmigrator and discussed the corruption preventing Angel from fully controlling Salinger’s Blood Banner. Meanwhile, Audrey failed to persuade her family to release more food for relief efforts and went to East Borough after curfew, arriving outside a cannery.

• Angel and her Mirror Person judged it likely that the Evernight Goddess was a transmigrator, but decided Angel should discuss the possibility with Klein before praying to confirm it.
• Angel summoned a mirror image of Salinger’s Blood Banner and asked why she could not fully control the Red Priest’s Uniqueness.
• The Mirror Person explained that the River of Eternal Darkness’s corruption opposed the City of Calamity’s power and that Angel would need to balance it to master the banner.
• Audrey asked Earl Hall and Hibbert to sell food from the family warehouses for poverty relief, but they refused to go beyond what other nobles were willing to do.
• Audrey left home with her Mystical Items, traveled through the collective unconscious, and emerged on a quiet street in East Borough outside Black Bear Cannery.

Leonard and Shermane discussed wartime shortages, their advancing potions, and the possibility that Leonard would soon leave for the front before Pallez warned them of a nearby Beyonder. In the Forsaken Land of the Gods, Angel and Klein failed to break the Mist Wall and discussed the Primordial Yellow Celestial Worthy, the Fool, and Angel's suspicion that the Evernight Goddess was a transmigrator.

• Shermane told Leonard that shipping attacks and rising prices were threatening her factories, and Leonard said he might leave Backlund after becoming a demigod.
• Shermane said her Pleasure potion was nearly digested, and Pallez explained that her progress might be aided by his higher Sequence and status.
• Pallez warned Leonard that a Beyonder was preparing to invade their subconscious minds.
• Angel joined Klein in the Forsaken Land of the Gods, where they tested the Mist Wall with lightning and the power of the Red Priest Uniqueness but failed to breach it.
• Klein told Angel about Moon City, his hunt for a Demonic Wolf, and the phrase “Blessing of the Primordial Yellow Celestial Worthy” that he had heard from the Mist Wall.
• Angel suggested the Celestial Worthy might refer to the Fool and said she suspected the Evernight Goddess was a transmigrator from the Old Era.

Angel and Klein discussed whether the Evernight Goddess was a fellow transmigrator, then planned to hunt the Demonic Wolf before Cottar advanced to Sequence 1. Back in Backlund, Angel found Audrey with Leonard and Shermane after Audrey’s attempt to influence their subconscious led to a misunderstanding.

• Angel told Klein why she suspected the Evernight Goddess was a transmigrator, and Klein shared that he had seen a woman among the figures in his light cocoon.
• Klein explained that the Demonic Wolf had taken a likely Sequence 1 Seer characteristic, and he planned to organize a hunt for the Miracle Invoker characteristic before Cottar advanced.
• Angel agreed to help hunt the Demonic Wolf, citing the advantage that 0-01 gave her against Seer and Marauder abilities.
• Angel returned to Backlund and responded to Shermane’s prayers by going to the Black Bear Cannery, where she found Audrey with Shermane and Leonard.
• Leonard explained that he had caught Audrey trying to invade their subconscious, and Audrey said the misunderstanding began with Angel’s suggestion that she use a lower-class approach.

Audrey sought Angel’s advice on addressing Backlund’s food shortage, and learned to mobilize workers and Church support to pressure grain-hoarding nobles and merchants. As Audrey prepared to meet the Black Bear Cannery’s workers, Fors summoned Gehrman Sparrow, who left her stunned with a grim joke about becoming a tool after death.

• Audrey visited Angel at the Black Bear Cannery after failing to persuade her family to release its grain reserves.
• Angel explained that hypnotizing factory owners or nobles would not solve the shortage and could provoke the Churches, then advised Audrey to rally ordinary believers and workers to pressure the wealthy.
• Leonard said he would not stop hungry crowds unless nobles donated grain, and Angel suggested Audrey also approach King Edessak Augustus and use her Charity Fund to influence soldiers.
• Audrey asked Shermane to introduce her to respected factory workers the next day, intending to act without revealing her visit.
• Fors summoned a historical image of Gehrman Sparrow, who told her she was a tool person and would become a tool only after her death; Fors stood motionless after he vanished.

Klein set his hunt for the Demonic Wolf Cottar in motion while a massive, disciplined bread march surged through Empress Borough. Earl Hall and Duke Negan chose to offer grain and cooperate with the marchers, as Klein used Cottar’s ancient honorific name to draw its attention in the Forsaken Land of the Gods.

• Klein traveled through the Spirit World to arrange help from several angels for his hunt for the Demonic Wolf.
• Earl Hall told Hibbert that Loen was nearing defeat and that the family might need to preserve its assets by changing churches, then they saw thousands of marchers demanding bread enter Empress Borough.
• Earl Hall urged nearby nobles to donate grain and avoid confronting the marchers, while Audrey watched his response in silence.
• Anthony Stevenson ordered Leonard to protect nobles during the march and forbade him from harming marchers unless a direct confrontation occurred.
• Tirio Negan learned that the military would only protect his residence, then agreed to donate grain and secretly share the list of merchants hoarding it.
• Klein entered an abandoned town in the Forsaken Land of the Gods and recited Cottar’s honorific name, then began reciting the Eternal Blazing Sun’s name.