Chapter Summaries

Angel and Klein discussed Sia Palenque Eggers's strength with Azik, who urged them to slow down and hold on to their humanity. The chapter then followed Alger's secret network in Bayam and ended with the Fool summoning him for a private conversation requested by the Empress.

• Azik told Angel and Klein that Sia Palenque Eggers was likely a Sequence 2 Death Consul and explained why no one had advanced to Pale Emperor.
• Angel and Klein updated Azik on the past eight months, and he advised them to control their power and remember why they had sought it.
• Angel and Klein walked through dream Tingen with Azik until nightfall, then disappeared while he rested on a park bench.
• Alger returned to Bayam's Wave Church after a secret gathering with his loyal Beyonder followers and continued planning his hidden organization.
• The Fool told Alger that the Empress had requested a private conversation in ten minutes.

Angel explored the Blue Avenger after Miss Empress told Alger that the ghost ship was Alistar Tudor’s legacy and offered him anything she found outside the Demoness and Hunter pathways. Using the Hidden Holy Emblem to reveal a hidden space below the ship, Angel discovered a hall that appeared to be a corridor in the mirror, where another Angel watched her.

• Miss Empress told Alger that the Blue Avenger was a ghost ship carrying Alistar Tudor’s treasures, and Alger agreed to clear its sailors so she could explore it.
• Angel traveled to Bayam and boarded the Blue Avenger after its sailors went ashore to attend Mass.
• Angel searched the ship and its Mirror World counterpart but found nothing unusual until she used the Hidden Holy Emblem.
• Angel discovered that a dark stairway beneath the ship led to a vast hall with an iron throne and five stone chairs.
• Angel realized the hall was an illusory mirror image of a corridor and saw another Angel watching her from an antique silver mirror.

Angel entered a hidden space aboard the Blue Avenger and discovered that Blood Emperor Tudor’s phantom was baiting her into being reflected by a mirror that could make her his resurrection vessel. She used a Mirror Labyrinth and the Underworld Daoist’s seal to suppress the threat, then began exploring the treasure vault, where a blazing sword struck at her.

• Angel saw Blood Emperor Tudor’s phantom in the hidden space, and his authority briefly compelled her to walk toward him.
• Angel noticed her reflection transforming into Tudor and hid herself from the mirror with a Mirror Labyrinth.
• Angel hung the Underworld Daoist’s seal on the full-length mirror, silencing the force attempting to possess her.
• Angel realized the vault held Tudor’s resurrection contingency and that the Underworld Daoist had left the seal to help destroy it.
• Angel explored the Starlight Gates in search of treasures and opened one, where a sword of white and azure flames swung at her.

Angel explored Blood Emperor Tudor’s treasury aboard the ghost ship, collecting several powerful Demoness and Hunter-related items but finding no Sequence 2 characteristic. The chapter ended when the young woman’s remarkably preserved corpse in the final coffin moved and placed a hand on its edge.

• Angel defeated an animated suit of armor and took its Iron-Blooded Knight Straight Sword and a ritual candle made from corpse oil.
• Angel found a Demoness of Despair potion formula written on human skin and stored it with the sword in the Mirror World.
• Angel destroyed another living piece of human skin and recovered an Unaging Demoness Beyonder characteristic.
• Angel explored the remaining rooms, gathering several characteristics and Sealed Artifacts, including another Unaging Demoness characteristic.
• Angel opened the final Starlight Gate, found a coffin containing a beautifully dressed young woman, and watched the corpse place a hand on the coffin’s edge.

Angel subdued a resurrecting corpse in the Blue Avenger’s treasury and theorized that Tudor had used the City of Calamity and the River of Eternal Darkness to empower it. After containing the corpse, she returned to the sealed mirror, while Alger learned of her successful operation and his reward.

• The female corpse began causing drought and extreme heat around the Blue Avenger, but Angel pushed it back into its coffin and countered the catastrophe.
• Angel used the Wings of Death to immobilize the corpse and deduced that it possessed boons of Catastrophe and Undying, possibly granted through the City of Calamity and the River of Eternal Darkness.
• Angel put the coffin into the Mirror World, then removed the Hidden Holy Emblem from the antique silver mirror and saw a city, an ancient well, and a huge dragon in its reflections.
• Alger dismissed the Church of Storms’ pirate captains after receiving the Empress’s warning to stay in Bayam, then learned he would receive a Sequence 4 Demoness Beyonder Characteristic, its potion formula, and a promotion-ritual method.
• Angel followed a passage into the reflection of the City of Calamity, where her Mirror Person examined the coffin.

Angel and the Mirror Person investigated the bridal-clad Catastrophe Demoness and connected Tudor’s experiments to Salinger’s attempt to become a half-Great Old One. Angel used a Corpse Oil Candle to reach the sealed City of Calamity in the Western Continent, where she awoke on an unfamiliar street as a wired train rushed toward her.

• Angel showed the Mirror Person the corpse and discussed its wedding clothes, mixed pathway powers, and possible connection to Tudor’s experiments.
• The Mirror Person explained that the City of Calamity had an independent consciousness and that its true power lay within the sealed streets of the Western Continent.
• Angel connected clues about Tudor, Salinger, and the Pale Calamity, while the Mirror Person advised her to obtain a Pale Emperor’s Beyonder characteristic.
• The Mirror Person proposed using the Corpse Oil Candle to contact the City of Calamity’s consciousness, and Angel agreed to attempt the ritual.
• Angel lit the candle beside the gray fog and entered a meditative state, then found herself on an unfamiliar street facing an oncoming metal train.

Angel explored a sealed Special Mirror World in the Western Continent and discovered a blood sea, a city-sized dragon, and an antique mirror connected to the ruins of Fourth Epoch Trier. As she reached toward the mirror, an armored hand emerged from its reflection and grabbed her.

• Angel saw corrupted figures and flying-head passengers in the Mirror City, then flew above the silent city and found a dark tower surrounded by fog.
• Angel entered the tower and discovered an ancient well whose blood and chains formed the seal around the Mirror World.
• Angel jumped through the blood in the well and followed a river of corpses to a city-sized Eastern dragon and a vast plaza protected by an invisible dome.
• Angel found an antique silver mirror in the plaza and saw the ruined palace where Blood Emperor Alistar Tudor had fallen reflected in its surface.
• Angel reached toward the mirror, and a black-armored hand reached through and seized hers.

Angel battled a Mirror Tudor in the Special Mirror World, cursed him, and drove him away before exploring the sealed wooden tower in reality. She learned that the Fifth Generation Celestial Master had bound a Malevolent Dragon there, then encountered a mysterious old man who called her a fellow Daoist.

• Angel recognized the Blood Emperor Alistar Tudor in the silver mirror, resisted being pulled through it, and fought him while using a mirror substitute to attack his source.
• Tudor’s Mirror Person destroyed Angel’s substitute and grievously wounded her, but Angel revealed that she had cursed Tudor when he used Mirror Substitution.
• A strange shadow descended over the plaza, and Tudor vanished after telling Angel that she would be a Conqueror the next time they met.
• Angel left the Mirror World, found an inscription saying the Fifth Generation Celestial Master and his allies had bound the Malevolent Dragon, and suspected the City of Calamity had corrupted the Western Continent.
• A translucent old man in blue robes appeared behind Angel and asked her to wait, addressing her as a fellow Daoist.

Angel met the current Celestial Master and learned how the Western Continent’s Sefirahs granted power through boons, with Dao Integrators merging into and influencing them. She reported the knowledge to Klein, including the threat posed by the Malevolent Dragon and the Celestial Master’s proposal that she become the City of Calamity’s Dao Integrator.

• Angel spoke with the current Celestial Master, explained that she sought control of the City of Calamity, and learned that he considered her pursuit a quest for the Heavenly Dao.
• The Celestial Master showed Angel the Heavenly Dao and imparted knowledge about Dao Integrators, who merged with Sefirahs and influenced their consciousness.
• Angel returned to her Mirror Person and later told Klein that Dao Integrators could wield power comparable to that of Great Old Ones.
• Angel explained that Penglai, a faction devoted to the Blessing of the Primordial Yellow Celestial Worthy, had disappeared, possibly because its followers opposed the Celestial Worthy.
• Angel told Klein that Dao Integrators from several Sefirahs worked together to contain the awakened City of Calamity and that the current Celestial Master had urged her to become its Dao Integrator.

Angel and Klein analyzed the Celestial Master's advice on accommodating the City of Calamity and concluded that switching between the Hunter and Demoness pathways might be required, though the Conqueror route could be a trap. Angel also learned that the Hidden Sage had been corrupted by the Brood Hive and that the Celestial Master wanted her to investigate the True Gods' preparations for accommodating Sefirahs; the chapter ended with Angel contacting Trissy from her bath.

• Klein and Angel considered several interpretations of Yin-Yang Harmony, eventually suspecting that a Hunter or Demoness must switch pathways at high sequences to accommodate the City of Calamity.
• Angel revealed that Mirror Tudor expected her to become a Conqueror and might rely on that change for his resurrection, so she viewed the route as a trap set by the Two Gods.
• Angel proposed using Mirror Person as a decoy Conqueror to draw out the Primordial Demoness and Mirror Tudor while preventing the Blood Emperor from resurrecting through her.
• Angel told Klein that the Hidden Sage had been corrupted by the Brood Hive and that eliminating it was necessary to accommodate the Knowledge Moor; the Celestial Master also asked her to investigate the True Gods' preparations.
• Angel returned to her winery in Backlund, relaxed in a bath, and used a bubble as a mirror to contact her Archbishop about Trissy.

Angel’s attempt to divine Trissy’s location was blocked by Arianna, who later told Angel she could establish a church in Backlund. After reporting her plans and concerns, Angel’s story shifted to Trissy visiting Edessak II, who revealed he wanted to marry her.

• Angel tried to divine Trissy’s location in Sodela Palace, but an unknown angelic presence blocked the image and burst her divination bubble.
• Arianna appeared in Angel’s bathroom, then told her Trissy was speaking with Edessak II and suggested the Witch Church could preach in Backlund.
• Angel reported her Southern Continent operations and considered repairing Azik’s soul, contacting the Western Continent, and obtaining a Sequence 1 characteristic from the Pale Empress.
• Trissy spent the evening confiding in Edessak II, who told her that he wanted to marry someone and asked her to guess who.
• Trissy sensed someone watching them, called the observer a kind, gentle angel, and the room’s lights went out.

Fors and Xio visited Partis, where Fors discovered that Archbishop Trissy had left and encountered Tracy and Helene while delivering her latest Angelica manuscript. After Tracy read a risqué passage featuring herself and Gehrman Sparrow, Fors left shaken and suggested that she and Xio explore the island’s new cities.

• Xio complained that Fors had used their days off to bring her to Partis, and Fors said she wanted to show her the law-revering city.
• Fors took Xio sightseeing before entering Saint Angelica Church to deliver Solomon's Inheritance, her latest manuscript about Angelica.
• Fors found Tracy serving as Archbishop and learned from Helene that Trissy had left for Backlund three months earlier.
• Fors handed the manuscript to Helene, who recognized her as the author of William's series, and Tracy read a passage depicting Gehrman Sparrow threatening her.
• Fors emerged from the church and told Xio she would never write anything risqué again, then suggested they visit the New City of Silver and Yanan.

Audrey reunited with Alfred, who warned her about the dangers of Beyonder powers and the Southern Continent before advising her to avoid the young king. The Psychology Alchemists’ chairman contacted Audrey, while Fors and Xio discovered that Yarnam City had a Church of the Fool and decided to stay overnight.

• Alfred told Audrey about his ship’s unexpected stop in Yarnam City and warned her not to risk herself or her companions out of curiosity.
• Audrey revealed she was a Sequence 7 Psychiatrist and subtly used Placate to ease Alfred’s distress as he recounted wartime horrors.
• Alfred advised Audrey to remain cautious about advancement and to keep her distance from the young king at upcoming royal balls.
• Susie spoke in Eric Drake’s voice, inviting Audrey to meet with him about joining the Psychology Alchemists’ council.
• Fors and Xio recognized the Church of the Fool in Yarnam City, then chose a restaurant and planned to spend the night there.

Fors and Xio shared a restaurant table with Merlin, a wandering magician whose silver mirror revealed a warning and asked Fors an embarrassing question before Vivian interrupted. As Fors reluctantly welcomed two more diners, she recognized the man as Mr. Fool and the young woman beside him as Miss Justice.

• Fors and Xio met Merlin at a crowded restaurant in Yarnam City, where he introduced himself as a wandering magician traveling with an assistant.
• Merlin used an antique silver mirror to answer Fors’s question about her career, warning her to remain loyal and avoid an evil being’s temptations.
• The mirror asked Fors whether Xio featured in her erotic dreams, leaving her flustered as Xio watched her reaction.
• Vivian arrived with an enormous revolver, and Merlin ended the performance and said they would leave the next day.
• A man and a young woman asked to share the table, and Fors recognized them as Mr. Fool and Miss Justice before inviting them to sit.

Fors and Xio visited Yarnam City, where Fors investigated a chilling rumor about locals freezing in place and smiling at visitors. Klein revealed that the city was a Marionette Town he had created to test his advancement ritual, and the chapter ended with Fors and Xio still separated and facing Merlin’s magic show.

• Fors and Xio recognized Dwayne Dantès and Miss Christine Teresa in City Hall Square but continued with their plans to explore Yarnam City.
• At a bar, Fors met the aspiring writer Alesu and traded writing advice for stories about the city’s nighttime rumors.
• Alesu revealed that Yarnam’s residents sometimes fell into a blank, motionless state, then the bar’s customers turned toward Fors with matching smiles; Fors discovered that the Xio beside her was a marionette.
• Klein and Angel watched Fors’s reactions in a mirror as Klein explained that he had separated Fors and Xio upon their arrival and placed them in his Marionette Town to test his advancement ritual.
• Fors stunned the surrounding marionettes, escaped with the false Xio, and prayed to Mr. Fool while Klein prepared to answer her; elsewhere, the real Fors and Xio approached Merlin’s magic show.

Klein sent Fors and Xio guidance to escape the marionette-filled Yarnam City, then reviewed the threats surrounding his coming advancement to Sequence 1. Fors reunited with the real Xio, while Angel returned to East Balam and met Antigonus, whom she hoped to question about the Blood Emperor Alistar Tudor.

• Klein recognized that residual Beyonder influence had distorted his thoughts, then told Fors and Xio to find each other and leave Yarnam City.
• Fors realized her companion was a marionette, destroyed it, and teleported away from the city.
• Klein considered the unexplained absences of Zarathus and Amon, Mr. Door's possible return, and Adam's arrangements as he prepared for his promotion ritual.
• Fors and the real Xio reunited at the steam train station and left together.
• Angel returned to East Balam and encountered Antigonus at the Church of Night in Grahame, intending to ask him about Alistar Tudor.

Angel questioned Antigonus about the Blood Emperor’s alliance with Cheek and the hidden Mirror World they created. Antigonus traced the alliance to a secret plot that helped spark the Four Emperors War, but he had not yet explained what the Mirror World contained.

• Angel asked Antigonus when Tudor began cooperating with Cheek and what their alliance involved.
• Antigonus explained that Tudor and Trunsoest sought ways to avoid sacrificing themselves when Solomon’s resurrection became unavoidable, and that Adam, Amon, and Antigonus helped Tudor defeat the three Conquerors.
• Antigonus said Cheek later targeted Medici because his characteristics and uniqueness could help her advance, and that Adam likely arranged for her to become Tudor’s close ally.
• Antigonus revealed that Bethel created a concealed Mirror World for Tudor and Cheek, where they had two children, Krismona and Yuris, and that an angel of the Jacob Family was executed for trying to enter it.
• Antigonus said Adam’s plans were likely disrupted by Tudor and Cheek’s relationship and the Mirror World’s changes, leading to the Four Emperors War.
• Angel asked Antigonus what was inside the Mirror World that had frightened Adam and the other gods.

Angel questioned Antigonus about Tudor and Cheek’s experiments with Sefirahs and the nature of the Pillars. Antigonus explained that the Lord of Mysteries and God Almighty had likely accommodated additional Sefirahs, but he had not yet named the two attributed to the Lord of Mysteries.

• Antigonus told Angel that Tudor and Cheek had researched how to fuse the feminine and masculine aspects of the City of Calamity’s Pathways, and that their attempt had partly succeeded while worsening their conditions.
• Antigonus said Cheek had hidden secrets tied to the Mirror World and suggested that important Demoness Sect members might know more about her concealed honorific-name lines.
• Antigonus explained that Pillar-level Great Old Ones were the highest stable level, and that accommodating more Sefirahs could overwhelm their will with the Original Creator’s instinct to converge.
• Antigonus said the Lord of Mysteries ruled the Spirit World and God Almighty ruled the Astral World, and that both had likely accommodated extra Sefirahs.
• Antigonus revealed that their research group had concluded the Lord of Mysteries accommodated at least two additional Sefirahs, and Angel asked which ones.

Angel learned from Antigonus about the sefirot accommodated by ancient Pillars and the dangers their lingering consciousness posed to Beyonders. After comforting Antigonus, she traveled to Pylos Port to seek contact with the Pale Empress and unexpectedly encountered Azik.

• Antigonus told Angel that the Lord of Mysteries had accommodated the River of Eternal Darkness and the Nation of Disorder, while God Almighty's additional sefirot remained uncertain.
• Antigonus warned Angel that Klein would face the Lord of Mysteries' consciousness when advancing, especially if he sought to become the Fool, and recalled how accommodating another Mystic Seer characteristic had driven him mad.
• Angel reassured and embraced Antigonus as he remembered his sister and the Evernight Goddess sealing him.
• Angel reached Pylos Port and went to a hotel before traveling to Tizamo Town, hoping to contact the Pale Empress through ordinary channels.
• Angel spotted Azik sitting in the hotel's lounge and approached him with a smile.

Angel met the newly awakened Azik in Pylos Port, where they discussed his recovery, the Pale Empress, and the dangers surrounding Death’s legacy. Their conversation ended when Sia Palenque Eggers arrived to confront them.

• Azik told Angel that he had awakened three days earlier and recovered his memories after reading her and Klein’s letters.
• Azik explained that he had come to East Balam partly to help Angel find the Pale Empress, and Angel showed him the hidden emblem containing the Blood Emperor’s aura.
• Azik described why Sia had not advanced to Sequence 1 and warned Angel that Death might have left means of resurrection beyond the mausoleum in the Berserk Sea.
• Angel told Azik that she planned to visit Tizamo Town to help Reinette recover her hidden body parts, and Azik suggested summoning her there.
• A powerful Beyonder entered from the Spirit World, and Azik greeted the woman as Sia Palenque Eggers, the Pale Empress.