Chapter Summaries

Derrick discovered that his exploration of the divine palace had repeated five times, each cycle ending when Colin killed Little Jack. At the Tarot gathering, he asked for help understanding the loop, and Alice recognized something familiar when Alger described a repeating space or state.

• Derrick and Colin defeated Little Jack with the Axe of Hurricane and a radiant sword attack, then Colin told Derrick to set out after fifty flashes of lightning.
• While escaping the underground palace, Derrick was nearly crushed by a falling stone slab, but Colin pulled him to safety.
• Evelyn and Alice made a flour-covered mess while trying to make dumplings, then realized they had also dirtied the living room.
• During a rest, Derrick dreamed of Mr. Fool and joined the Tarot gathering, where he remembered that he had completed the exploration five times in a repeating cycle.
• Alger proposed that Derrick was trapped by a powerful Nightmare-like ability or a peculiar repeating space, and Alice interrupted when his description felt familiar.

Alice identified Ouroboros, the Angel of Fate, as a possible source of the repeating time cycle in the temple of the Fallen Creator and explained his connection to her. She advised Derrick to find the medium behind the influence, likely a mural, after he hesitated to summon Amon for help.

• Alger described the temple's repeating time cycle, and Alice recalled an Angel with a river circling beneath his feet.
• Alice named Ouroboros as the Angel of Fate, a King of Angels who could create cycles of Fate, and explained that he was hunting the Fate Angel who was hunting her.
• The Tarot Club members reacted with alarm to Alice's entanglements with powerful Angels, while Klein privately worried about Adam and the True Creator.
• Derrick asked Alice how to deal with the temple, and she suggested summoning Amon through a Ritual of Bestowal.
• Alice advised Derrick to locate the medium causing the influence, which she guessed was probably a mural, and warned that if Ouroboros had personally acted, he should stay put and accept his fate.

The Tarot Club discussed Ouroboros, Jack’s possible connection to the outside world, and Derrick’s exploration of the loop and its mural. The World revealed he had seen similar statues in Fourth Epoch ruins, and Alice immediately asked why he had never told her.

• Alice said Ouroboros was the suspect and showed Derrick his appearance after asking Mr. Fool for help.
• Alger recalled pursuing an Aurora Order Listener whose young child might resemble Jack, then advised Derrick to mention the Sonia Sea, the Loen Kingdom, and port cities to Jack.
• Derrick used Mr. Fool’s power to present scenes from his exploration, and Alger reviewed the details and highlighted key points.
• Alger asked Alice to identify the Evil Gods on the mural, but she instead wondered why one figure wore an octopus on his head and described takoyaki.
• The World said he had seen similar statues during an exploration of Fourth Epoch ruins, and Alice asked why he had not told her.

At the Tarot Club, Alice identified the mural’s figures as distorted images of the Six Gods and discovered that the God of Steam and Machinery was absent. Derrick learned that the mural was called the Redemption Rose, but Alice did not recognize the name, leaving its meaning unresolved.

• Klein manifested the Six Gods and their holy emblems, allowing Alice to identify the gods depicted in the mural.
• Alice asked whether the Lord of Storms really had an octopus sitting on his head, shocking the Tarot Club members.
• Alice pointed out that the God of Steam and Machinery was missing, and Alger explained that the deity had likely appeared in the middle or late Fourth Epoch.
• Alger advised Derrick to investigate the mural without arousing the Chief’s suspicion and warned him not to recite the Lord of Storms’ True Name.
• Alice told Derrick to ask Mr. Fool for her gift to Amon after escaping the City of Silver, and suggested he mention her return gift if he failed to escape in time.
• Klein revealed that the mural was called the Redemption Rose, and Alice admitted she had never heard the name.

At the Tarot Club, Alice reacted strangely to the name “Amanises” and the phrase “Rose Redemption,” while Alger investigated their connection to ancient history. The meeting ended with Alice warning that witches would unleash a plague in Backlund’s East District and suggesting that stopping it could draw the King of Angels’ pursuit.

• Alice heard the name “Amanises,” became briefly overcome with sadness, and said she missed her mother or a place where she felt safe.
• Alger compared the phrase “Rose Redemption” in Ancient Feysac with Derrick’s account of the script found on a mural, and Derrick agreed to investigate its contents.
• Alice explained that High-Sequence individuals could learn languages through supernatural means, then wondered why she had ever needed to take classes.
• The World warned the Tarot Club that a catastrophe was brewing in Backlund, and Alice identified it as a witch-caused plague spreading from the East District.
• Alice asked whether anyone wanted to experience being hunted by the King of Angels as she considered whether the plague could be stopped.

At the Tarot Club, Alice revealed that the King of Angels behind the growing danger led Rose Redemption, while Klein named Prince Edsack Augustus as someone his Blessed in Backlund had noticed. After the meeting, Alice confided in Klein about her missing memories, and his attempt to comfort her with an impression of her high school math teacher unexpectedly cheered her up.

• Alice warned that the King of Angels behind the events led Rose Redemption, then asked Klein to explain what had been noticed in Backlund.
• Klein named Edsack Augustus, and Alice startled the Tarot Club by mentioning a Potion that could turn a man into a woman.
• Klein ended the Tarot Club meeting and kept Alice behind to ask whether she had remembered anything.
• Alice described her fear and confusion over her lost memories and wondered whether her past self had truly been her.
• Klein changed his face to resemble Alice's high school math teacher, making her feel better; Alice decided to have her high school uniform custom-made, and Klein cut their connection before laughing Above the Gray Fog.

Alice read more of Roselle's Diary, copied a provocative passage, and had a custom high school uniform designed in Backlund. She asked Klein what to do with the design, while Klein was interrupted from trying to teach her to make dumplings by Emlyn White's visit.

• Alice read Roselle's notes about the Alchemist ritual and his scandalous encounter with Madame Karen and the Earl of Champagne, then wondered whether other transmigrators existed.
• Alice copied the diary passage about the taste of a Witch and considered selling copies at Beyonder gatherings.
• Klein struggled to recreate dumplings and teach Alice how to make them before Emlyn White knocked on his door.
• Alice described a practical high school uniform to a tailor, who asked whether she would sell the design.
• Alice asked Klein for advice about the uniform design, and he noted that others could easily imitate it.

Alice attended Viscount Glaint’s ball, where she met Susie and later spoke privately with Audrey about Prince Edsack. She left Audrey unsettled by revealing that she had once gossiped with the entities she now called Them, before she died.

• Alice asked Klein about selling her design drawings, and Klein advised her to remove the school emblem, but she refused.
• Alice attended Viscount Glaint’s ball, found Susie, and tried to tempt the dog with chocolate before petting her.
• Glaint spoke with Alice and, remembering Audrey’s warning about her, left after Alice asked whether he was waiting for her to silence him.
• Audrey found Alice eating ice cream beside Susie and led her to a small art studio to talk.
• Alice asked Audrey whether she knew Prince Edsack and told her she had once gossiped with Them before she died.

Audrey questioned Alice about Prince Edsack’s affair and learned that his supposed commoner lover was likely a Witch. Their conversation turned to the Witch Sect’s motives, while Alice was left wondering why ice cream felt so important to her.

• Audrey cautiously asked Alice what she meant by “before death,” and Alice explained that recent encounters with angels had made resurrection seem ordinary to her.
• Alice confirmed that Prince Edsack’s romance was real and suggested his lover was probably a Witch, perhaps even someone originally male.
• Audrey asked why the Witch Sect turned men into Witches, and Alice warned that the answer might be shocking before hesitating to explain.
• Audrey noticed Alice had finished another serving of ice cream, prompting Alice to recall an ice cream cone falling and strange ripples swallowing her.

Alice decided that she liked ice cream regardless of the connection to her past self, then accidentally got caught up in a Beyonder pursuit. Above the Gray Fog, Klein told her that the Witch he had met was Trissy, whose new name was Trissy Chick.

• Alice thanked Audrey for reminding her about her past self and ordered another serving of ice cream.
• Susie told Audrey that Alice had asked whether she could eat chocolate, and Audrey advised her not to try it.
• Trissy tried to seduce Klein in exchange for his help, but he revealed that he had already notified the Machine Heart.
• Alice left the ball, dodged a Mental Storm, and was detained by the Machine Heart before the Nighthawks vouched for her.
• Klein summoned Alice Above the Gray Fog and explained that Trissy was a Witch whose name had been changed to Trissy Chick.
• Alice reacted to Trissy's new name by declaring that the taste of the Primordial Witch was quite good.

Klein questioned Alice about the angels who wanted to kill her, then discussed her plan to visit the East District. Audrey learned that Trissy was a Witch and warned Mr. Fool’s followers indirectly, while Alice prepared to disguise herself for the trip.

• Klein asked Alice to warn him before making alarming remarks, and Alice wondered whether Amon had wanted to play with her rather than kill her.
• Alice told Klein she might have seen Trissy and asked what preparations she needed to visit the East District.
• Audrey received confirmation from Mr. Fool that Trissy was a Joyful Witch called Trissy Chick, then rushed off after realizing she needed to warn her father.
• Klein reflected that he had exposed Prince Edsack’s possible connection to a Witch so that silencing him would become pointless.
• Alice followed Klein’s advice to disguise herself, removed Matilda, and noticed how much she had grown.

Alice prepared a disguise and went alone to the East District, following an unexplained feeling toward an alley. She claimed a spot at the alley entrance from a vagrant and waited there, unsure what Fate was leading her toward.

• Alice reflected on her adjustment to life in Backlund, disguised herself with Klein's guidance, and set out wearing Amon's monocle.
• A self-writing Quill Pen recorded how Trissy Chick escaped the Machine Heart team after meeting Briel Rose, then faltered as it tried to describe Briel's actions.
• Alice entered the East District alone, despite Klein's attempts to stop her, and followed her intuition through its streets.
• Alice returned a stone to a timid boy and felt sadness at the thought that East District residents might soon die.
• Alice found an ominous alley, paid a vagrant one sol for his spot, and settled near the entrance to wait.

Alice completed her advancement ritual just as she encountered Lady Despair, a Demoness Sect demigod, and was attacked. After Alice swallowed the Winner Beyonder Characteristic, a mysterious woman appeared, erased Lady Despair, and vanished, leaving Alice’s fate unclear.

• Alice noticed the mist thickening and revealed Lady Despair, the demigod she had seen in a dream.
• Alice realized her advancement ritual was complete and asked Lady Despair to let her say her last words, but Lady Despair attacked.
• Lady Despair’s first ice spear struck Alice’s abdomen and broke the barrier containing the Winner Beyonder Characteristic.
• Alice swallowed the dust-covered gold coin, which melted into a gel and slid down her throat, before she lost consciousness.
• Lady Despair struck Alice with a second ice spear, but a mysterious woman appeared and made Alice vanish.
• The mysterious woman erased Lady Despair, then disappeared from the alley.

As the abnormal fog began to clear, Klein worried about Alice while Aaron learned of a mysterious woman's past. In a hospital, Huanhuan's parents saw signs that she might be waking from her coma and waited for her to speak.

• Klein tried to divine Alice's condition, but both attempts gave him no answer as the wind began dispersing the fog.
• Aaron questioned the voice in the mirror about the fog, and it described a woman as the world's destroyer and the creator of miracles.
• Derrick and the City of Silver's Exploration Team broke free of the loop and prepared to return, while Derrick worried about Amon and the items for Miss Fate.
• During Huanhuan's birthday celebration, her parents saw her finger move and later learned from the doctor that she might have a chance of waking.
• Half a month later, Huanhuan moved her lips, and her mother leaned close and asked her to repeat what she had said.

After waking from a long coma as Shen Yinghuan, Alice recovered memories of her past and realized she was not entirely the girl whose body she occupied. She discovered she had reached Sequence 5, then awakened from a dream after Amanises asked how much she remembered.

• Shen Yinghuan woke after more than two months unconscious and refused her parents’ suggestion that she recover at home.
• While reading a picture book, Huanhuan found the name Alice Kingsley and recalled people and events from her past.
• Alice recognized that Shen Yinghuan’s memories had blended with hers, but that she was not Shen Yinghuan entirely.
• Alice steadied herself in the River of Rippling Light and caused a small splash, realizing she had become a Sequence 5.
• Alice recognized Amanises in the dream and said she remembered basically nothing before the dream shattered and she awakened.

After being trapped in a Hidden World for several days, Alice prayed to the Evernight Goddess and was released, then Klein pulled her above the Gray Fog. Alice explained her chaotic Sequence 5 advancement and hinted that recovering her memories had revealed important information about the Fool, which she planned to share at the next Tarot Club.

• Klein spent two anxious days searching for Alice before hearing her prayer on Friday evening.
• Alice woke alone in the Hidden World, prayed to the Evernight Goddess, and was released from Concealment.
• Klein pulled Alice above the Gray Fog and asked about her advancement ritual.
• Alice recounted advancing while in terrible condition and swore at Fate for calling her lucky.
• Alice explained her theory about the Fate pathway ritual and said she had been recovering her memories.
• Alice told Klein she had important information about the Gray Fog and how he used it to defeat Amon, and promised to present it at the next Tarot Club.

Alice visited Evelyn and Mrs. Greenland after Klein left for Pritz Harbor, where a bowl of jiaozi brought back memories of her lost home. Afterward, she realized she still needed an Acting Method to digest her Winner potion.

• Klein told Alice he planned to go to sea to find a mermaid, and Alice eagerly wanted to see one and take a photo with it.
• After Alice questioned whether Creeping Hunger could starve and described how it might digest people, Klein stopped her and she later went to visit Evelyn.
• Mrs. Greenland served Alice jiaozi and revealed that her husband, Eli, had helped her make chopsticks; Alice became emotional while eating the familiar food.
• Alice discovered that Mrs. Greenland had hidden a penny in every jiaozi, thanked her, and gave Evelyn an oil portrait as a New Year gift.
• After leaving the Greenland home, Alice realized she needed to find her own Acting Method to digest the Winner potion.

After advancing to Sequence 5, Alice considered how to act as a Winner and decided to rest before testing her luck at a casino. At the Tarot Club, she gave Mr. Fool an embarrassing story about Amon and Klein, then presented him with another manuscript.

• Alice reflected on the Winner's abilities and resolved to use luck sparingly while saving a casino visit for after she rested.
• Klein convened the Tarot Club, where Audrey thanked Mr. Fool and Alice for helping Backlund and greeted the new member, Emlyn White.
• Emlyn asked whether Audrey was afraid of Alice, and Alice joked that Audrey liked being afraid of her.
• Alice gave Mr. Fool a story titled "The Domineering Angel of Time and His Hundred Disguises' Delicate Little Fool."
• Klein read the story's account of Amon becoming Klein's Punisher Angel, tore up the pages, and found Alice's next manuscript, "Marrying into Sefirah Castle: Celestial Worthy, Be Gentle."

After Alice’s new novel revealed a story in which Amon married Klein and gave birth to 108 children, Klein read the synopsis and an excerpt before tearing the article to shreds. The Tarot Club members watched as he reacted to the story.

• The witnesses to Mr. Fool’s destruction of the previous pages turned to look at Alice.
• Klein read Alice’s new story, in which Amon sought entry to the Castle of Origin and eventually married Fool, Klein Moretti.
• The story described Amon becoming pregnant, giving birth to 108 children, and living happily with Klein in the Castle of Origin.
• Klein read an excerpt about pregnant Amon and the couple kissing, then expressionlessly tore the article to shreds.

Klein privately confronted Alice after she gave him a bizarre fanfiction about himself and Amon, while the Tarot Club members watched in alarm. Alice explained the story came from Song Shu’s book and jokingly impersonated Amon, leaving Klein to wonder whether any of it was reliable.

• Klein shielded the Tarot Club members from sight and hearing, then let Alice laugh at the fanfiction she had shown him.
• Klein questioned Alice about the story, and she said Song Shu had described it as fanfiction based on a book about Klein and Amon’s bond.
• Alice told Klein that Song Shu had claimed she cried over Klein and Amon’s entangled feelings, prompting Klein to deny having a preference for men.
• Klein learned that Alice had shown Amon illustrations from the fanfiction and wondered how she had survived his reaction.
• Alice put on a monocle and pretended to be Amon greeting Mr. Fool as his fated lover, then admitted Song Shu’s advice and claims were probably nonsense.