Chapter Summaries

Klein hosted a hunt while preparing to capture Qonas Kilgor, and Alice joined Xio and Fors as they followed Viscount Stratford to a warehouse. There, Stratford revealed a radiant cross and Alice demanded it from him.

• Klein recognized Qonas Kilgor as a demigod and a target, then sent his marionette after him when Qonas slipped out of his room.
• Alice told Klein that Xio and Fors were following Viscount Stratford, who had joined forces with a demoness to hunt Trissy after she abducted Shermane.
• Alice met Xio and Fors outside a warehouse and led them inside, where they found Shermane sitting lifelessly before Stratford.
• Stratford used a spiked, verdigris-covered cross that became a Radiant Cross and burned away Trissy's spider threads around Shermane.
• Alice resisted the cross's attack, revealed her powerful aura, and demanded that Stratford give it to her.

Alice stopped Viscount Stratford from revealing the King's secret, learned why Mason Dere had been executed, and offered Shermane a chance to abandon her Beyonder life. The chapter ended with Shermane killing Viscount Stratford, while Alice reconsidered whether Shermane needed a Psychiatrist.

• Alice asked Fors to hypnotize Viscount Stratford and used the Cross to purge the dangerous forces within Shermane.
• Alice discovered that a prohibition prevented Viscount Stratford from revealing the King's secret, but learned that Hvin Rambis was a Sequence 4 Spectator serving as the King's adviser.
• At Xio's request, Viscount Stratford revealed that Mason Dere had been executed after discovering the King's secret and trying to notify the Three Churches.
• Alice offered Shermane a new life if she killed Viscount Stratford, and Shermane accepted.
• Shermane stabbed Viscount Stratford and continued attacking him until he died, prompting Alice to applaud and suggest that Shermane needed a Psychiatrist.

The author discussed how Circle of Inevitability’s ending and settings affected their emotions and plans for Circle of Retribution. They remained unsure how to handle the Fate Weaver and said the story would continue on an unstable schedule while they recuperated.

• The author recalled becoming furious at Lumian and objecting to Adam dying after the war by Lumian’s hand.
• The author said Cuttlefish’s ending had softened their attitude toward Amon but had not changed their plans for his intended death.
• The author noted that Circle of Retribution’s Fate Pathway settings largely matched Circle of Inevitability’s, especially the Soothsayer ability and the Key of Light’s lack of consciousness.
• The author declared that Alice and the Fate Weaver would be sworn enemies but admitted they did not know how to handle their conflict and might leave it unwritten.
• The author said updates would continue despite an unstable schedule and urged readers not to project Circle of Inevitability’s characterizations onto Circle of Retribution’s characters.

Alice used the verdigris cross and the Wheel of Fortune’s power to turn Sherman into an ordinary person, then reported Viscount Stratford’s dangerous confession to Klein. Klein sent the cross Above the Gray Fog and relayed the intelligence to the Goddess, who appeared before him.

• Alice explained that Viscount Stratford had a safeguard that would kill him if he revealed certain secrets, then gave Sherman the verdigris cross.
• Alice pushed Sherman’s fate forward with the Wheel of Fortune’s power, expelling her Beyonder Characteristics and leaving her an ordinary person.
• Xio and Fors told Sherman that Alice was an Earth Angel known as Miss Fortune, and Xio recited Alice’s Honorific Name.
• Alice returned to Meager Manor, sent Klein the information about the King’s secret and Viscount Stratford, and asked him to place the cross Above the Gray Fog.
• Klein entered Alice’s room, took the cross Above the Gray Fog, and reported Alice’s intelligence and the matter of Cunhas Colger to the Goddess.
• A woman in a patched linen robe appeared before Klein, and her presence calmed him.

Klein met Arianna, who arranged an ambush for Qonas Kilgor at Meager Manor, while Alice later joined the guests who discovered Qonas was missing. The manor guests continued their hunt as Alice worried about food during the coming war.

• Klein met Arianna, who told him to capture Qonas Kilgor at Meager Manor and promised to create a hidden world for the battle.
• Alice woke and found the manor guests gathered outside Qonas Kilgor's empty room, where she recognized the rug as a marionette made from human skin.
• Klein instructed Walter and Richardson to question the servants and contact Qonas's family if nobody had seen him, then persuaded the guests to continue the hunt.
• Klein told the guests that Alice was sixteen and an official saint of the Church of Evernight, ending their speculation about her relationship to him.
• Alice ate a full meal and worried that the coming war might leave her without food, wondering whether Justice would take her in.

At Meager Manor's feast, Alice, Klein, and Arianna connected George III's plans to become the Black Emperor with the Psychology Alchemists and discussed investigating the conspiracy. Later, Klein divined the Verdigris Cross's origin in Sefirah Castle, saw a vision of the Ancient Sun God, and suffered a violent reaction after the figure addressed the Lord of Mysteries.

• Alice left the children's games to join Klein and Arianna, who reported that Qonas Kilgor's underground ruin contained nothing and that she had questioned him using the Goddess's authority over Concealment.
• Alice and Klein proposed that the ruin might be an illusion created by the upper ranks of the Psychology Alchemists, and Arianna agreed to investigate whether the Three Churches' open access to it signaled that their plan was nearing completion.
• Alice revealed that Fate had shown her a new god might be born, and Klein identified the ruin as belonging to the Blood Emperor, Alista Tudor; they concluded George III might be trying to become the Black Emperor.
• Alice offered to investigate George III's Sequence and told Arianna that Katarina had appeared beside Viscount Stratford and that Hvin Rambis was a Psychology Alchemists Demigod; Arianna said Hvin had disappeared.
• Alice asked Arianna to apologize to the Goddess for Alice pretending to be Her child, then told Klein the Cross was a relic of the Ancient Sun God; after the feast, Klein examined it in Sefirah Castle.
• Klein's divination showed a man finding the Cross and declaring, "Let There Be Light!", followed by a vision of golden blood and a figure of pure light addressing the Lord of Mysteries, which caused Klein's head to explode before Sefirah Castle restored him.

After Klein’s dangerous divination, Alice explained how accommodating a Sefirah and the neighboring pathways could make a True God an existence Above the Sequence, then helped Justice Audrey hypnotize Klein into forgetting the knowledge. Alice also warned Audrey about Hvin Rambis and declared her intention to pursue George III for causing the Great Smog, while Audrey chose to remain in the Extraordinary World.

• Klein reflected on his visions of the Ancient Sun God and the silver Cross, then woke Alice to confirm his theory about Castle of Origin and beings Above the Sequence.
• Alice explained that a True God could become an existence Above the Sequence by accommodating a Sefirah and the Sequence 1 Characteristics and Uniquenesses of adjacent pathways, and warned Klein that he should seal the dangerous knowledge.
• Alice contacted Justice Audrey, who hypnotized Klein to make him forget the memory; Alice kept four Sun and Hanged Man pathway Potion Formulas from Klein’s account of the divination.
• Alice warned Audrey that Hvin Rambis might target her, and Klein explained that Hvin Rambis and the Witch Sect had helped King George III cause the Backlund Great Smog.
• Alice said she would pursue George III, offered Audrey a chance to leave the Extraordinary World, and Audrey refused and asked to learn the King’s motive after the matter was resolved.
• Klein asked Alice about the cost of his resurrections, and Alice teased him about repaying her help and opening the Western Continent’s seal to deal with the Key of Light.

Klein and Alice discussed the price of her gifts and the danger of using Fate to borrow power from the future. At the Tarot Club, Alice revealed that the Verdigris Cross held the Creator’s blood, offered it to Derrick, and put two Beyonder Characteristics up for sale.

• Alice told Klein that gods and mortals could not be friends, and Klein concluded that the Evernight Goddess had good reason to avoid her.
• Klein placed the Verdigris Cross Above the Gray Fog and found that its sun-praising paper figurines could purify through Angel’s Embrace.
• Alice warned Klein that borrowing an Angel’s future power could trap him on a dead-end Fate, then explained that prophecy could make an anchored outcome come true.
• At the Tarot Club, Alice revealed the Cross contained a drop of the Creator’s blood and offered it to Derrick, who was moved by its potential to help the City of Silver.
• Cattleya asked the Fool to revive Roselle on Bernadette’s behalf, and Klein agreed after Alice reminded him of her promise.
• Alger asked to rent the Cross, and Alice agreed until Derrick offered suitable terms; she then offered Xio the Beyonder Characteristics of a Disciplinary Paladin and a Witch at market value.

At the Tarot Club, Alice offered Beyonder items for sale and rent, then revealed that George III was secretly pursuing the Blood Emperor’s ruins with help from the Witch Sect and Psychology Alchemists. The members agreed to assist one another and watch for signs of the King’s plot, while the World warned them to report suspicious coincidences.

• Alice offered Xio a Disciplinary Paladin Beyonder Characteristic and its formula for 5,000 pounds, while no one wanted the Witch Beyonder Characteristic.
• Audrey asked Derrick about Mind Dragon ingredients, and Alice offered to lend the Cross to help cleanse Mental Pollution; Cattleya agreed to pay 2,000 pounds for its first day of rental.
• Emlyn asked Fors to rent her travel notebook and announced that the Sanguine planned an operation against important Rose School members, which the World offered to help advise on.
• Alice revealed that George III had sent people to excavate the Blood Emperor’s ruins and had colluded with the Witch Sect and Psychology Alchemists, but the secret had leaked through traitors among the Churches.
• Xio told the Club about Shermane and Viscount Stratford, Audrey offered to track Hvin Rambis, and the World warned the members to report suspicious coincidences.

Alice helped the Tarot Club members prepare for threats from Adam and the Psychology Alchemists, while agreeing to resolve Darkwill’s problem after retrieving her cross. After Hvin Rambis targeted Audrey, Xio, and Fors, the Tarot Club discussed how to eliminate him without exposing Audrey, and Alice warned them about the dangers of fighting demigods.

• Derrick announced that he would join an exploration of the Afternoon Town camp and possibly enter the Giant King's Court, and Alice and Klein read an original Roselle diary sent by Bernadette.
• Alice obtained Arbiter pathway formulas, then agreed to help Roy King and Darkwill after learning that Primordial Moon believers were hunting the School of Life and seeing Darkwill's condition.
• Klein and Alice discussed why Hvin Rambis had targeted Audrey, Xio, and Fors, and Alice urged Klein to kill the demigod rather than let the threat stand.
• Audrey told the Tarot Club that Hvin Rambis had hypnotized her and ordered her to arrange a meeting with Xio and Fors so he could discover their backer and drive them from Backlund.
• Alice warned the Tarot Club that demigods could lose control under pressure and might use incomplete Mythical Creature Forms as a dangerous combat ability.

The Tarot Club planned to disguise its operation against Hvin Rambis as the work of the Church of Evernight, then Klein captured him and Arianna questioned his soul. Hvin revealed that George III was preparing to ascend through a scheme tied to the coming war, but he could not recall what the king sought in the Blood Emperor ruin.

• The World warned the Tarot Club to conceal its involvement from the Twilight Hermit Order, and Alger proposed making the attack on Hvin Rambis appear to be the Church of Evernight’s work.
• Alice offered the blessing of an Evernight angel, while the group finalized the plan and chose the combat personnel; Alice later agreed to give Audrey good luck in exchange for ice cream.
• After Hvin Rambis encountered Audrey, Klein turned him into a marionette, and Alice arrived to take a scale before Arianna appeared and questioned his soul.
• Hvin Rambis said the coming era would bring a world-spanning war and revealed that the Psychology Alchemists had helped George III bypass the Three Great Contracts and prepare to ascend.
• Hvin Rambis named several identities of the Psychology Alchemists’ president and said George III wanted a crucial item from the Blood Emperor ruin, but he could not remember what it was.

Klein and Alice learned that George III might be preparing the Black Emperor’s ascension ritual, then discovered Klein’s Sequence 3 ritual required him to become history for three hundred years. Alice offered to investigate the River of Fate when Klein was ready to advance, while Klein asked her to help explore Groselle’s Travels later.

• Klein questioned Hvin Rambis and learned that George III had used him to investigate Xio Derecha and Fors Wall and to keep Audrey from obstructing the Three Churches’ division.
• Alice suspected George III was pursuing the Black Emperor Uniqueness, and Lady Arianna warned that his preparations might be nearly complete.
• Lady Arianna erased Hvin Rambis’s spiritual imprints, then advised Klein to sacrifice the metal cylinder from the cosmos to the Goddess.
• Klein obtained the Sequence 3 Scholar of Yore formula and learned its ritual required becoming history and detaching from reality for at least three hundred years.
• Alice said she would investigate the River of Fate when Klein had gathered what he needed to advance, and Klein asked her to join a future exploration of Groselle’s Travels.

Alice cleared the Cross’s contamination and joined Klein in preparing to explore the dreams of people preserved inside Groselle’s Travels. Klein, Alice, Audrey, and Leonard entered the book’s world as the chapter ended.

• Alice returned the Cross to Castle of Origin and considered how the Fate pathway could turn ordinary people into figures shaped by prophecy.
• Audrey advanced to Dreamwalker, and Klein recruited Leonard to help investigate dreams connected to Groselle’s Travels.
• Klein explained that the book held a world or dream created by the Dragon of Imagination Angeweid, and he arranged for the group to explore it.
• On Sunday night, Klein prepared the ritual with blood from Leonard, the Cross, and the silver-white mask, then summoned Audrey and Leonard.
• Audrey put on the mask to enter the book, while Alice and Klein prepared to follow and Leonard remained unmasked.

Klein led Alice, Leonard, and Audrey into Groselle's Travels to question the ascetic Snoman about the King of Angels. Snoman's dream revealed the Creator's eight attendants and an oracle about hidden Evernight heretics, while Alice's claims about Amon and the Goddess left the group with more questions.

• Klein used blood to open Groselle's Travels, and Alice, Leonard, and Audrey entered the snowy world with him.
• The group reached a church, where Leonard used his powers to make Snoman fall asleep and brought them into his dream.
• Alice approached Snoman in the dream, but Klein asked Audrey to guide the dream and uncover information about the King of Angels.
• Audrey revealed Snoman's vision of the Creator surrounded by the eight Kings of Angels, and Snoman recited their roles, including Amon as the Angel of Time and the Light of Doomsday.
• Snoman said the Kings had issued an oracle that Evernight heretics were hiding in the diocese, prompting Alice to identify the group as heretics and disclose that she had once impersonated the Goddess's child.

Klein, Leonard, Audrey, and Alice explored the dreams of Mobert and Shatass to uncover ancient history and ask about figures from the Solomon Empire. Shatass's dream ended with a vision of Elf King Soniathorem and Elf Queen Ghosinham presiding over a submerged coral palace.

• Klein concluded that the Church of Evernight had existed as a secret organization before the Cataclysm, and Alice said she had been with the Goddess before She became a True God.
• The group entered Mobert's dream, where Alice startled him by impersonating Amon and then claimed to be Ouroboros's friend.
• Leonard questioned Mobert about Pallez, the Solomon Empire, and ancient high-ranking figures while Alice added questions about other families and the Six Deities.
• In Shatass's dream, she asked Mobert to transfer her unborn child into his body, and he admitted he could not nurture it.
• Audrey guided Shatass's dream through Second Epoch history until it showed Elf King Soniathorem and Elf Queen Ghosinham seated in a submerged coral palace.

Klein, Alice, Leonard, and Audrey explored the Sea of Collective Subconsciousness through dreams and discovered what might be Leveheed, the City of Miracles imagined by the Dragon of Imagination. They entered the ancient city's depths as Klein reflected on how imagined things could become real.

• Audrey guided the group through Shatass's dream, revealing Second Epoch history and elven customs before they left Mobet and Shatass together.
• The group entered Longzel's dream and realized that the people described in the book were probably no longer alive.
• They descended through Groselle's dream into the Sea of Collective Subconsciousness, where Alice, Leonard, Audrey, and Klein subdued a demigod-level giant.
• Klein asked Alice to choose their route, and her aimless wandering led them to a vast city in a Deep Sea Giant Pit.
• Klein identified the city as possibly Leveheed, the City of Miracles of the Dragon of Imagination, Angeweid.
• Audrey explained that imagined people's emotions could still be real, and Klein said the Creator's imagined creations, nation, and future would inevitably become reality.

Klein, Alice, Audrey, and Leonard entered the Dragon of Imagination’s Divine Kingdom, where the palace broadcast their inner thoughts and exposed secrets about Klein’s identity. After Audrey made Leonard and herself forget what they heard, Klein confronted Alice Above the Gray Fog for allowing the embarrassing revelations to happen.

• Alice led Klein, Audrey, and Leonard into the Divine Kingdom, where Leonard questioned her claim that there was no danger.
• Inside the palace, the hall broadcast everyone’s thoughts, revealing Audrey’s imagined Dragon of Imagination, Leonard’s poetry, and Alice’s teasing thoughts about Klein and Leonard.
• Klein’s identity as the Fool was exposed, and Alice explained to Leonard that the original Klein had died and the Fool had fused with one of His personalities to become him.
• Audrey agreed to hypnotize herself and Leonard to erase their memories, and Klein ended the summoning before Alice followed them Above the Gray Fog.
• Klein ordered Audrey and Leonard to forget everything, then accused Alice of letting the hall broadcast their thoughts because resisting it would have taken effort.

Alice chose the Staff of Life from four Sealed Artifacts offered by the City of Silver, while Klein and Alice discussed the Planter pathway formulas. Alice connected the City of Silver’s unusual conditions to remnants of the Goddess of Harvest’s Divine Power, possibly left behind when She was gravely wounded.

• Alice reminded Klein to consider what he would do if his identity were exposed, and he planned to visit the hall again to use the Manipulator Beyonder Characteristic.
• Klein sent Fors a message at four in the morning urging her to work on her manuscript, waking both Fors and Xio.
• At the Tarot Club, Xio purchased the Judge Beyonder Characteristic and Potion Formula, and the gathering ended quickly.
• Derrick presented four Sealed Artifacts for Alice to choose from, and she selected the Staff of Life despite its risk of causing bodily mutations.
• Alger suspected the City of Silver’s Chief was testing whether its environment could be changed by offering Planter pathway formulas.
• Alice linked the Staff of Life’s inability to accelerate growth in the City of Silver with other local conditions and suspected remnants of the Goddess of Harvest’s Divine Power remained there.

Klein tested the Staff of Life, then learned from Alice and the Artificial Death that Medici’s arrival heralded an approaching war. Alice foresaw Feynak’s attack on Backlund the next morning and agreed to protect Melissa and Benson, while asking Klein whether they should learn that he was alive.

• Alice lent Klein the Staff of Life in exchange for his help spreading a crop-growing prophecy, and he tested the staff in the real world.
• The Staff of Life caused plants to overgrow Klein’s manor, and Alice sealed the effect after restoring the plants to normal.
• Klein told Alice that Medici was in Backlund working with the High Priest Haiter, and the Artificial Death warned that his arrival would bring war.
• Alice urged Klein to tell Bernadette about George III and asked him to consider sending The World to help if Bernadette tried to stop him.
• Alice foresaw Feynak’s airships attacking Backlund the next morning and agreed to get Melissa and Benson safely reunited and out of danger.
• Alice asked Klein whether Melissa and Benson should know he was still alive before she decided how to handle them during the attack.

Alice warned the Church of Evernight, Audrey, and her believers that Feysac would raid Backlund, then redirected the airships away from the North Borough and urged residents to find shelter. As the attack shifted to the West Borough, Alice wondered who was meant to die in the conflict between Feysac and Loen.

• Klein declined to reveal that he was alive to his relatives, and Alice went to St. Samuel's Church to warn Bishop Electra about the coming air raid.
• Alice questioned Audrey in a dream about the Church of Evernight favoring important believers, then warned her about the raid and secretly alerted her own believers.
• Feysac's airships attacked Backlund at dawn, but Alice disrupted one aircraft and drove the fleet away from the North Borough toward the West Borough.
• Alice shouted for nearby residents to take shelter, checked on the Tarot Club members, and entered a church as the bombing continued.
• Alice wondered who was dying in the conflict between Feysac and Loen.