Chapter Summaries

Klein met with Sharron and Maric to assess a job involving Tutankhamun II’s mummy, then summoned Alice to divine the danger. After learning the mummy was a military trap backed by a possible Angel or Grade 0 Sealed Artifact, Klein sought a safer way to proceed and asked about Maric’s Mirror Flash range.

• Sharron explained that she feared the Rose School had set a trap and offered information or payment for help retrieving the mummy.
• Alice delivered Leonard’s reply to Klein: he could receive messages at Pinstreet No. 7, and she taught him how to summon Klein’s messenger.
• Klein met Sharron and Maric at Bravehearts Bar and asked what they knew about Tutankhamun II’s mummy and the possible traps surrounding it.
• Klein summoned Alice, who divined that the mummy was a military trap filled with curses and might draw an Angel or Grade 0 Sealed Artifact.
• Sharron wanted to abandon the job, but Klein asked Maric to explain how the Ancient Highland Kingdom prepared pharaoh mummies and then asked about the range of his Mirror Flash.

Alice watched Klein and his allies lure away Tutanssess II’s mummy, then recognized Klein’s elaborate theft as a successful magic performance. As Klein prepared to use Roselle’s Travels, Alice overheard military Demigods praising the thief’s deception and remembered Amon’s stolen Donation Box.

• Klein told Alice, Sharron, and Maric that Alice’s help had carried a price, and Sharron said her gold coin had paid for both her and Maric.
• Alice watched Klein, Sharron, and Maric prepare to draw Tutanssess II’s mummy into a battle between the Loen Military and the Rose School.
• Alice considered whether Amon could help her seize her Deification Ritual and become a god while the Key of Light was distracted.
• Alice saw Klein steal ritual material from Tutanssess II’s coffin and disappear, then praised his performance when he returned with Sharron and Maric.
• Klein began a ritual with Roselle’s Travels, while Alice overheard military Demigods call the thief exceptionally cunning and recalled Amon stealing the Church of Storms’ Donation Box.

Klein discussed his Trickmaster advancement ritual with Alice and settled on Ince Zangwill as its target, while Alice offered to help with luck. Elsewhere, Audrey began treating Hazel at the Loen Charitable Education Fund and suspected Hazel might be pregnant, as Amon questioned Will Auceptin about how to earn his trust.

• Klein told Alice that his Potion was fully digested and considered using a high-status Spectator, possibly Adam, for his advancement performance.
• Alice offered herself as a possible sacrifice, then agreed to provide Klein with luck if he called on her before acting against Ince Zangwill.
• Audrey befriended Hazel during a tour of the Loen Charitable Education Fund and noticed Hazel felt nauseated at the smell of coffee.
• Audrey recalled Alice's warning and wondered whether Hazel's symptoms indicated pregnancy, despite believing Amon had stolen the child.
• Amon asked Will Auceptin what would prove his sincerity, and Will suggested defeating his greatest enemy or giving him a long-desired gift.
• Amon proposed killing Ouroboros or handing Will the Mercury Serpent Beyonder Characteristics, leaving Will unsure whether he was serious.

Alice investigated whether a prophecy had come true, while Selwyn lured children to her with an advertisement and killed them. At the Tarot Club, Alger reported delays with a commissioned Mystical Item, and Klein assigned Fors to seek intelligence about the City of Calderón.

• Alice failed to divine the prophecy’s location, then tossed a coin to ask whether the prophecy had already failed and decided to repeat the divination daily.
• Selwyn attracted children with her wish-granting advertisement, captured four of them, and killed all five after the last boy said he had no wish.
• The police received reports that five children had gone missing, but the officer on duty treated the case as an unprofitable missing-person inquiry.
• Alger told Gehrman Sparrow that the Artisan making his Mystical Item had fallen ill and promised to resolve the problem and deliver it within two weeks.
• Cattleya, Alice, and Gehrman Sparrow each offered to help Alger with the Artisan, and Alger agreed to contact them if necessary.
• Gehrman Sparrow commissioned Fors to obtain Abraham Family intelligence about the City of Calderón, while Emlyn offered Fors leads on an ancient Vengeful Spirit.

The Tarot Club discussed the World’s search for Ince Zangwill, the dangerous Grade 0 Sealed Artifact he possessed, and several growing threats in Loen and the City of Silver. The meeting ended with the members agreeing to watch for key figures and report changes around the former Chief’s mausoleum.

• The World commissioned the Tarot Club to find Ince Zangwill, offering 1,000 pounds for his location, and Alice said she would not intervene in his hunt.
• Alice warned the Tarot Club that Ince Zangwill’s Grade 0 Sealed Artifact had once caused an Angel’s death and advised them to flee if coincidences began piling up around them.
• The World reported that Royal Advisor Hervin Lambeth was likely behind the Caron suicide case and may belong to the Psychology Alchemists’ Council, prompting Alice to suspect a link to Adam and plans for war.
• The World asked the Tarot Club to watch Cunhas Colger, who posed as a Sequence 5 but was secretly a Black Emperor pathway Demigod with keen spiritual perception.
• Derrick reported strange hair-like plants growing from the former Chief’s mausoleum, and Alger told him to maintain contact and monitor the site.

Alice asked Klein to let her pull someone into the next Tarot Club gathering so she could investigate the past relationship between the Lord of Mysteries and the Key of Light, while Klein traveled to Dixi and brought her local food. Meanwhile, Alger discovered that the Artisan Sharpe was being drawn into a dangerous situation, and Selwyn relocated before resuming her search for victims through Wish Witch flyers.

• Alice asked Klein to let her try pulling someone up at the next Tarot Club gathering, and Klein said he was leaving for Dixi that night.
• Police officers linked a missing mother to the disappearance of her child and suspected the people behind a Wish Witch flyer; Selwyn learned the police were watching her and agreed to move.
• Klein bought Dixi pie and sweet iced tea and sent them to Alice above the gray fog.
• Alger visited Sharpe, noticed rare Southern Continent ingredients, and overheard Sharpe agreeing to abandon his commissions and move in with others.
• Alger decided to ask Cattleya for help and asked Alice to witness the matter; Alice said she might come watch.
• Selwyn moved to another city with Cassandra and began printing Wish Witch flyers again.

Klein discovered that Ince Zangwill was aboard his ship and warned Leonard through Alice, who observed how a ghost handled Leonard’s mail. Pallez urged Leonard to cooperate with Klein and contact The Fool, then hinted that The Fool and the Goddess of the Night might have a child.

• Klein divined that the suspicious passenger was Ince Zangwill and asked Alice to tell Leonard that Dwayne Dantès had found traces of him on Mid-Journey Island.
• Alice delivered Klein’s message to Leonard’s mailbox and watched a ghost sort, open, and destroy the mail inside his home.
• Pallez told Leonard not to alert the Church to Ince Zangwill’s location yet, since 0-08 could learn of the pursuit and prepare for it.
• Leonard wrote a warning for Klein that learning about the threat would let it learn about them, and considered asking Alice whether she could block it.
• Pallez advised Leonard to use The Fool’s Honorific Name to contact Alice, then suggested that The Fool and the Goddess of the Night might already have a child, leaving Leonard pale.

Leonard prayed to the Fool after learning that Dwayne Dantès had found traces of Ince Zangwill, and Klein brought him above the Gray Fog. Leonard met the Fool and Alice, but their reunion left him confused as he began to ask about his friend Klein Moretti.

• Leonard hesitated over how to contact the Fool, then decided to pray directly to him.
• Klein recognized Leonard’s new crimson star and questioned Alice about what she had told him; Alice repeated the message about Ince Zangwill on Mid-Journey Island.
• Alice tried to reach Leonard through the prayer and accidentally touched the concealed Pallez, then withdrew and let Klein handle the meeting.
• Klein summoned Leonard above the Gray Fog, where Leonard recognized Alice and addressed Klein as Mr. Fool.
• After Alice’s laughter disrupted the meeting, Leonard began asking whether the Fool knew his friend Klein Moretti.

Leonard met Mr. Fool above the Gray Fog, learned he could join the regular gatherings, and reported what he knew about Ince Zangwill. Meanwhile, the official Beyonder organizations found an Honorific Name at the Wish Witch’s abandoned address, Selwyn lured a visitor inside, and Klein began planning how to handle Ince before spotting a figure onshore as his ship left Port Harman.

• Leonard asked Mr. Fool about the regular gatherings, learned that Klein’s Tarot card was The World, and was invited to join the meetings held every Monday.
• Leonard told Mr. Fool what he knew about Ince Zangwill, and Alice said Ince probably knew even more before sending Leonard back.
• Leonard wondered whether the Fool’s pathway was connected to fate, and Pallez suggested that Alice was the child of Evernight and the Fool.
• The Machinery Hivemind, Mandated Punishers, and Nighthawks searched the Wish Witch’s address, found she had escaped, and discovered a three-part Honorific Name.
• Selwyn welcomed a frightened man who had come seeking help from the Wish Witch, then led him inside under the guise of granting his wish.
• Klein decided to find the person hunting Ince Zangwill and acquire Marionettes, then saw a figure appear onshore as his passenger ship departed Port Harman.

Klein reached Gurain after Ince Zangwill evaded an Intisian Demigod aboard the passenger ship. Alice arrived in the city, saved a girl from an attacker, and arranged to ride in a coffin with the girl's help.

• Klein watched an Intisian Demigod board the passenger ship, question a man disguised as Ince Zangwill, and leave without finding Ince.
• Klein reached Gurain and noticed locals using coffins as transportation, so he sent Alice a message showing her the custom.
• Alice arrived in Gurain and killed a man who was attacking a Little Girl by causing a falling brick to strike him.
• Alice entered the Little Girl's dream and asked her to help arrange a coffin ride in exchange for payment.
• The Little Girl led Alice to an empty coffin, and Alice handed her a gold coin as the coffin bearers approached.

Klein showed Alice the scene she saw around him Above the Gray Fog, and they realized his Mythical Creature Form would be a mass of Worms. The next day, Alice took Klein and Mr. Azik to Ludwig, whose ring and Death pathway made him submit to Azik and surrender the ring.

• Klein asked Alice what she saw around him, and Alice materialized the Gray Fog, the Door of Light, and the Worms while concealing the symbols and patterns.
• Alice and Klein concluded that Klein's Mythical Creature Form would be a pile of transparent Worms, then discussed locating Ludwig, the Admiral of Hell.
• Klein met Mr. Azik and summoned Alice, who confirmed that Ludwig's location was safe and transported them to the Black Tulip.
• Ludwig prostrated himself before Azik, explained the progress of the Artificial Death Project, and handed over his square black ring.
• Alice asked why Ludwig submitted to Azik but not to her, and Azik explained that higher-sequence members of the God of Death pathway strongly suppressed lower-sequence members.

Azik made Ludwig serve as Klein’s marionette for a year, while Alice glimpsed a terrifying woman and fled to pray to the Goddess. Later, Alice joined Alger and Cattleya’s operation in Bayam, where they captured Artisan Sharpe after poisonous mushrooms attacked his hosts, and Alice asked whether gouging out his eyes would hinder his work.

• Azik put on the ring, commanded Ludwig to serve as Klein’s marionette for a year, and opened a Bronze Gate that entered the Admiral of Hell’s forehead.
• Alice saw a mysterious woman emerge from darkness, said goodbye to Klein and Azik, and went to St. Samuel Church to pray and promise the Goddess not to pinch her face without permission.
• Azik told Klein they were going to the Berserk Sea and asked for his Copper Whistle.
• In Bayam, Heath Doyle reported that Sharpe’s guests had eaten Frank Lee’s mushrooms, and Cattleya and Alger entered the house with Alice.
• Cattleya bound the mushroom-infected Primordial Moon believers and burned them, while Sharpe surrendered without resisting.
• Alice asked Alger whether gouging out Sharpe’s eyes would affect his ability to make Mystical Items, and Alger said it would.

Alice and Cattleya interrogated Sharpe, an Artisan who had been coerced into serving believers of the Primordial Moon, and divided up his Mystical Items. The chapter ended with Cattleya deciding that taking Sharpe with them would bring her no benefit because he was already a believer.

• Alice told Alger to handle Sharpe and said she would ask Klein about crafting Mystical Items after he became a Demigod.
• Sharpe recognized Alice as Miss Fortune and tried to gouge out his eyes; Alice repeatedly restored him, then stopped the punishment and said to wait for The World to become a Demigod.
• Cattleya asked why Sharpe had stayed with the Primordial Moon believers, and Sharpe explained that they had weakened him with a strange illness before persuading him to believe in the Primordial Moon.
• Sharpe revealed that he had dreamed of a bloody moon and asked Alice for help, but she refused and said she was angry about the way he had looked at her.
• Cattleya and Alger inspected Sharpe's Mystical Items; Alger took the Gargoyle Glasses and the Scepter of the Sea's Whisper, which Alice tested and sent to The World.
• Sharpe said the Primordial Moon believers needed an Artisan for an unfinished plan, and Cattleya concluded that taking him away would bring her no benefit.

Alice secured Sharpe as bait for a future deal while Klein asked her to help prepare for his exploration of the City of Calderón. They also discussed whether a strange story about Klein and Leonard might be a prophecy, and Alice suggested that a prophecy could come true through an unexpected or deliberately staged event.

• Alice agreed to give Sharpe to The World once he reached Sequence 4, and Cattleya took a few drops of his blood to track him for a lasting partnership.
• Alice learned that Frank had stopped making the mushrooms after beginning a new experiment, then asked Cattleya to have him tell her about it.
• Klein told Alice about the City of Calderón, and she offered him a Restart charm, good luck, and the suggestion that his messenger Reinette Tinekerr might know why higher beings could not enter.
• Alice teased Klein about attending the captain and Madam Daly's wedding with her or Leonard, then warned him that the book predicting his relationship with Leonard might be a prophecy.
• Alice explained that a prophecy could come true through an unusual means, including a staged death, and agreed to seal the Scepter of the Sea's Whisper before Klein explored Calderón's outskirts.

Selwyn learned that drawing official Beyonders’ attention could help her, while “Cassandra” urged her to flee before she was captured. Klein used the Wheel of Fortune card to reach the outskirts of the City of Calderón and began exploring, but his spirituality warned him of danger after he entered the City of the Dead.

• “Cassandra” explained that the coded message was meant to attract official Beyonders and promised Selwyn that her destined helper would arrive, then warned her to leave.
• Klein prepared to scout the City of Calderón, borrowed the Wheel of Fortune card from Alice for eight ice creams, and noticed its influence pushing him to rely on intuition and travel light.
• Klein reached the city through the Spirit World and saw its rings of strange buildings descending into a dark underground abyss.
• Klein tested abilities with Enzo the Winner and Ludwig the Admiral of Hell, discovering that Ludwig’s Bronze Gate led to the City of Calderón’s deepest region instead of the Underworld.
• Klein led the Marionettes into Calderón, the City of the Dead, where his spirituality warned him of an abnormal presence, so he hid in the shadows and had them guard him.

Klein escaped Ouroboros in Calderón City but left Enzo behind, prompting Alice to propose that he ask Ouroboros for a Spirit World Plunderer’s true soul body. While Klein planned to recover his marionette and warn Dunn, Dunn suddenly asked Anderson about painting murals.

• Klein explored a blacksmith’s workshop in Calderón City, but Ouroboros appeared and controlled his Spirituality Thread; Klein escaped with Ludwig, leaving Enzo behind.
• Above the Gray Fog, Alice suggested Klein pray to Ouroboros for a Spirit World Plunderer’s true soul body and offer mural-painting tools, while reassuring him that Ouroboros was not his enemy.
• Klein ordered lunch, invited Alice to share it, and summoned Reinette Tinekerr to send Anderson Hood a letter asking about mural materials.
• Klein decided to warn Dunn about Ouroboros and planned to have Dunn ask Anderson about mural supplies to avoid paying for a messenger.
• In Cookawa City, Dunn stopped eating and asked Anderson whether he knew how to paint murals.

Dunn asked Anderson for advice on a gift related to mural painting before asking whether he had heard of the Aurora Order. At the Tarot Club, Leonard joined as The Star, sought a powerful offensive Mystical Item, and learned he could use Mr. Fool’s rituals to arrange its delivery; The World ended by warning Cattleya about investigations by the Aurora Order and the Spirit Lodge.

• Dunn asked Anderson what gift to give someone who liked painting murals, and Anderson advised him on painting materials before Dunn asked about the Aurora Order.
• Leonard appeared at the Tarot Club as The Star, searched for The World, and exchanged an awkward greeting with Alice.
• The Sun told The Moon that he had obtained the Vampire Beyonder Characteristic, and The World and The Sun completed their transaction for the Priest of Light potion formula.
• Leonard asked the Tarot Club to help him find a powerful, discreet offensive Mystical Item with mild negative effects, and Alger agreed to watch for one.
• Alice suggested that Mr. Fool deliver the item, and Audrey explained that Leonard could use the Sacrifice Ritual and the Ritual of Bestowal to arrange payment and delivery.
• The World warned Cattleya to be careful of investigations by the Aurora Order and the Spirit Lodge.

Klein received Leonard’s warning that Ince Zangwill had contacted the Spirit Lodge and learned through divination that Ince was possessed by an evil spirit and needed exorcism. Alice took charge of investigating the Wish Witch incidents, while Klein obtained a Spirit World Plunderer’s True Soul Body from Ouroboros.

• At the Tarot Club, Alice explained that Derrick came from the Land Abandoned by God and teased Leonard about writing a poem for Mr. Fool before Klein ended the gathering.
• Klein received Leonard’s letter reporting that Ince Zangwill had appeared in East Balam and possibly met with Palenque. Tassib of the Spirit Lodge’s Artificial Death Faction.
• Klein prayed to the Artificial Death for the purpose behind Ince’s contact with the Spirit Lodge, and the response said, “Possessed by an evil spirit. Exorcism required.”
• Anthony told Alice that the Church had assigned her to investigate the Wish Witch incidents, and she agreed to collect the files from St. Samuel Cathedral the next day.
• Ouroboros delivered a Spirit World Plunderer’s True Soul Body to Klein in exchange for mural materials, and Klein celebrated the prospect of finding marionettes.

Amon and Will Auceptin discussed their failure to find a woman in the City of Calderón, while Klein and Leonard exchanged information about Evil Spirits. At the investigation site, Alice confronted the deranged Selwyn, who claimed she had burned Cassandra to death before leaping from a window.

• Amon surveyed the empty City of Calderón, and Will Auceptin explained that the woman's accumulated luck kept them from finding or catching her.
• Leonard burned Klein's letter, then sought advice about Evil Spirits from Madam Daly and other Nighthawks; Klein later read Leonard's reply.
• Alice reviewed the case files at St. Samuel Church and learned that Selwyn had lured people to her as a supposed wish-granting witch, after which they disappeared.
• Anthony told Alice that the Machinery Hivemind had consulted Arrodes and withdrawn, while the Mandated Punishers had favored more direct methods; Alice arranged to visit Selwyn's last known site.
• Alice found Selwyn at the cordoned building, where Selwyn accused Cassandra and other Soothsayers of lying and said she had burned Cassandra to death.
• Selwyn threatened to kill Alice and jumped from the window; Alice teleported away and ensured Selwyn struck the ground headfirst.

Alice questioned the intelligent Book of Answers about Selwyn and learned that it had manipulated Selwyn with dangerous omissions and may be a sacrificial offering for Alice’s advancement to Soothsayer. The book hinted that its mysterious honorific name held the key to its purpose, leaving Alice waiting for its explanation.

• Alice told the Nighthawks that the Book of Answers was a highly active, intelligent Sequence 2 artifact with prophetic abilities, then took it away.
• The Book of Answers admitted that it had withheld potion digestion and loss-of-control information from Selwyn and falsely told her that reaching Sequence 4 would make her male again.
• Alice learned Selwyn had been destined to die before her and questioned the book’s claim that it knew her past selves.
• The Book of Answers proposed that Alice kill it and use it as the potion ingredient for advancing to Soothsayer, becoming the new intersection point where Fate converged.
• Alice asked what the book’s mysterious honorific name meant, and the Book of Answers said she had finally asked the right question.