Recaps

Xio received the Interrogator Potion Formula and a new mission to investigate the Passion Organization, then panicked after unknowingly reciting the Fool’s complete honorific name and experiencing the Black Emperor card’s influence. Meanwhile, Sno forged a symbolic gold coin as a Holy Relic and announced that he would make a whole set.

• A golden-masked man rewarded Xio with the Interrogator Potion Formula and tasked her with confirming the Passion Organization’s target.
• While buying Dixie Pie and Sweet Iced Tea for Fors, Xio felt a sudden surge of power and heard a voice remark on her change.
• Xio realized she had recited the Fool’s complete honorific name and feared the sensation had been a warning, so she decided to ask Fors for help.
• Above the Gray Fog, Klein recognized that the Black Emperor card had caused Xio’s experience and considered how to respond to Fors’s questions.
• On an unnamed island in the Northern Sea, Sno forged a gold coin bearing a symbolic emblem and a Devil holding chains, then said he would make a whole set.

Helene finished making gold coins and began meditating while Lily reported that the Beyonders had found the Town Chief. Sno explained that Netip Town could be navigated by asking the townspeople questions, but he wanted the group to explore beyond the town and uncover the island’s real challenge. The Town Chief told the survivors how they could leave temporarily, setting a three-month deadline to return with recruits.

• Helene exhausted her spirituality while making gold coins, and Lily arrived to report that the Beyonders had found the Town Chief.
• Sno explained that Netip Town’s rules could be understood by asking its residents what they were able to say, and that leaving the island was only a step toward its greater challenge.
• The Town Chief told the thirteen surviving Beyonders that they could temporarily leave by defeating the Monster in the tower and swearing to return with more people.
• The Town Chief warned that each survivor had to bring back at least two people within three months or return as a corpse, and Bruce was whipped for asking an unsafe question.

Klein used the Black Emperor card to lend Sno power, allowing him to place subtle new rules around the island’s existing order. Sno succeeded before the power ran out, while Klein returned to reality and planned his next search for mermaids.

• Sno watched twelve Beyonders enter the tower, then waited for Klein to contact him.
• Klein touched Mr. Devil’s Crimson Star and saw a clear image of Sno on the island, surrounded by a vast net of lightning and blood.
• Klein channeled the Black Emperor card’s power into Sno’s gold coin, temporarily giving it the status of an Angel-level Sealed Artifact.
• Sno poured spirituality into the coin and used its power to analyze the island’s rules and embed subtle new rules around their edges.
• Sno stopped before the coin’s power ran out and bowed toward the heavens, while Klein realized the plan had succeeded and returned to reality.
• Klein planned to contact Madam Hermit the next day and search for traces of mermaids.

Novat and the surviving Beyonders reached the tower room where Integra waited beside scales that could let them leave the island temporarily. They discovered the island was the uppermost layer of the Ghost Empire, and Integra revealed that becoming its master was the only way to leave permanently.

• After defeating the Bizarre Golem, Novat's group used potions and materials to continue climbing while First Law remained active.
• Russ scouted ahead with his rats and reported seeing the scales on the next floor.
• Novat's group found Integra and her maids waiting in a tower room, and his attempt to expose an illusion confirmed they were real.
• Integra urged them to look through the windows, where they realized the island was shaped like a ship and formed the uppermost layer of the Ghost Empire.
• Integra explained that swearing before the scales would let each person leave for three months if they brought back at least two people, but would bind their soul and body to the Ghost Empire.
• Integra told Bruce and the others that permanent escape required becoming the Ghost Empire's master, which would take plenty of cannon fodder.

Integra identified the island’s forests as the likely entrances to the Ghost Empire’s hidden compartments, then used Ammon’s avatar to decipher a ghost ship within it. She began transforming the ship with Heavenly Punishment, and it started singing as Beyonders appeared on the observation platform.

• Integra asked David where a sailing ship’s treasure and entrance would be, and he pointed to the forests and the ship’s hidden compartments.
• Integra, Helene, and Lily swore to return with more people and vanished from the hall.
• Integra reached the Ghost Empire’s giant ship and used Ammon’s avatar to discover it was a projection and offshoot of the Ghost Empire crewed by ghosts.
• Integra took out a piano and Heavenly Punishment, explaining that she was adding to the Stone Tablet’s rules rather than modifying them.
• Integra played a melody that stirred the ghosts, and the ship began singing as nine figures appeared on its masts and Beyonders arrived on the observation platform.

David and the others escaped the dangerous island aboard the Ghost Empire token, but learned they had to bring back at least twenty-four people or break their oath. After reaching the Sunia Sea, they planned to approach the Gargas Archipelago, and David asked Integra for her opinion.

• The ghosts aboard the Ghost Empire token danced to Integra's piano music while the Beyonders learned they had only one chance to disembark and had to return within three months.
• David heard the anchor being raised, and the token sailed away as the grotesque sirens sang from the fog.
• Half a day later, David determined that the group had reached the Sunia Sea, and he said they needed to bring back twenty-four people to honor their oath.
• Earnest ordered David to steer toward the Gargas Archipelago, while Bruce explained that the Sanguines had Blood Servants aboard the Scylla and Jones said MI9 and the Machinery Hivemind could stay aboard.
• Bruce signaled David to consult Integra, and David asked her what she thought of the plan.

Klein and the Future encountered the Death Announcer and the Ghost Empire amid a storm, where the ships’ supernatural songs and laughter drove their crews toward madness. The Future escaped, and Klein was left wondering why the Ghost Empire’s song sounded familiar.

• Klein and Frank spotted the Death Announcer approaching the Future, and the ship sounded its horn as its crew prepared for battle.
• A dense fog appeared despite the storm, and Cattleya used starlight to thin it enough for Klein to spot an even larger ship inside.
• The Ghost Empire emerged, and its crew’s cheerful song clashed with the Death Announcer’s maddening laughter.
• David ordered the Ghost Empire to dive to escape the two pirate ships, but Integra, her maid, and her piano vanished afterward.
• The Future fled at supernatural speed, and Klein told Frank that the Ghost Empire’s song sounded familiar.

Sno sent Lily and Helene through a hidden door to Black Swan Castle, then waited for the chaos surrounding the Ghost Empire to provide the ritual conditions for advancing. Bernadette confronted him about the ship and his motives, and he ended by warning her that her younger brother’s descendants might become monsters.

• Sno gave Lily money and instructions before Helene took her through the door to Black Swan Castle.
• Sno determined that his First Cause was already settled and waited for a chaotic storm of adventurers and pirates to complete the Infinite Fruit ritual.
• Bernadette appeared behind Sno and questioned him about whether the ship was the Ghost Empire and why he had boarded it.
• Sno told Bernadette that news of the Ghost Empire would spread among the Loen royal family and the Sanguine, and claimed fate’s gravity had drawn him aboard.
• Bernadette recognized Sno as the Detective who had held the Black Emperor card and wondered whether he was linked to the Fool or Paradox.
• Sno warned Bernadette that her younger brother’s descendants might become monsters that only knew how to reproduce.

Sno warned Bernadette that the Rose School had targeted Sharpe Gustav, and she agreed to watch over Sno’s small sect in Bayram. Aboard the Future, Klein and Cattleya encountered a perilous sea left behind by the war of the gods, where they learned that its dangers could drive even demigods mad.

• Sno told Bernadette that the Rose School was interested in Sharpe Gustav, a descendant of her brother Ciel, and asked her to keep an eye on a small sect in Bayram.
• Bernadette accepted Sno’s request and questioned him about his concern for Gehrman Sparrow before leaving his cabin.
• The Future plunged over a sudden break in the sea, then was hurled back onto the other side by a surge of water.
• Klein examined the golden-lit sea and nearby ruins while Cattleya explained that the region contained dangerous ruins, mutated creatures, and unpredictable hazards.
• Cattleya told Klein that higher-Sequence Beyonders could hear dangerous voices there and that demigods who explored the sea often went mad or suffered Loss of Control.

As the Future passed ruins containing a corpse, Sno was nearly overwhelmed by its breathing but survived through the corruption of Heavenly Punishment. He learned the corpse was connected to the True Creator and left with the intention of returning to the ruins someday.

• The Future approached the ruins, and Heath Doyle warned that a corpse lay among the rocks and pillars.
• Sno endured the corpse’s corrupting breath by using A Foot of Rod and Heavenly Punishment to hold himself at the edge of losing control.
• After the Future passed the ruins, Sno heard the True Creator’s mutterings and realized whose corpse he had encountered.
• Sno memorized the terrain and told Bernadette he had gained valuable information, though the corpse exceeded his expectations.
• Sno stopped Bernadette from speculating about the corpse’s power and shared breakfast with her.

As the Future crossed the Ruins of the Divine War, Sno learned more about the ruins from Bernadette and asked for her help salvaging the corpse in exchange for aiding Old Huang’s resurrection. After the ship entered a dream, Sno explored a monastery and studied its murals in search of traces of fate and Ouroboros’s power.

• The Future encountered a floating island carried by four diamond pillars, and Sno identified the golden chariot that emerged from it as a projection of the Ancient Sun God’s chariot and the Sun Pathway’s uniqueness.
• Sno told Bernadette that he wanted to salvage the corpse and promised to help resurrect Old Huang with all his strength if he succeeded; Bernadette agreed.
• When darkness abruptly covered the sea, Cattleya ordered everyone to sleep, and Sno soon awoke in a dream beside a monastery.
• Sno recognized Cattleya waiting as Huang Jiajia for her mother, then entered the monastery and found Anderson near a deep passage.
• Sno chose not to explore the passage without Heavenly Punishment and instead studied the murals, hoping to glimpse the power of fate and Ouroboros.

In a dream, Klein found himself trapped in a cell and evaded a powerful black-armored knight searching for a prisoner. He hid in a room with a mysterious man, who warned him that the knight was a Devil.

• Klein awoke in a dark cell in the dream and used Creeping Hunger to examine his surroundings.
• A black-armored knight entered the cells while humming Katyusha, and Klein divined that the knight was very powerful.
• Klein slipped past the knight and entered a cluttered hall, where he found a hidden wooden door and a man inside.
• The man recoiled when Klein entered, and Klein identified himself as an adventurer.
• The man warned Klein to close the door so the Devil would not catch them, and Klein shut it.

Klein discovered that Leomaster belonged to the Aurora Society and learned that the Saint of Darkness was tied to the hymn’s creator, Movement of God. As the Saint’s hostile side confronted Sno, Klein watched from hiding and saw Sno meet its Spirit-Flesh Blade with one of his own.

• Leomaster told Klein that the Saint of Darkness had captured his pilgrimage party and that a mirror was keeping him alive; Klein destroyed his own mirror duplicate with the Sea God Scepter.
• Leomaster identified the song as a hymn composed by Movement of God and revealed that his organization was the Aurora Society, prompting Klein to recognize her from the Grey Amber.
• The Saint of Darkness crashed through the iron doors as Klein prepared to confront him, but Sno appeared and challenged the black-armored knight.
• Klein recognized that the knight’s scarred face matched Leomaster’s and suspected he was the Saint of Darkness’s evil side.
• Sno summoned an Inverse Cross and a shadowy sword, then clashed with the knight’s Spirit-Flesh Blade.

In the dream, Sno defeated the Black Knight and encountered the gentle Leomaster, while Klein protected himself from the Black Knight’s final attack. After waking and returning to sleep under the Ruins of the Divine War’s night rules, Klein wondered whether Sno had deliberately guided the Saint of Darkness’s transformation.

• Sno used Firm White Same Different to hinder the Black Knight, then evaded his attack with a paper figurine substitute.
• Sno bound and distracted the Black Knight before piercing him with the Spirit-Flesh Blade.
• The Black Knight unleashed a Storm of Light, and Klein used the Sea God Scepter to shield himself as the dream began to collapse.
• Leomaster recognized the Inverse Cross, tapped his chest four times, and bowed to Sno before Sno returned to reality.
• Klein woke, considered whether Mr. Devil had deliberately transformed the Saint of Darkness, and fell asleep again.

Sno used Ammon's identity to steal and stabilize a coin infused with the Mother Goddess of the Earth's divine power in the Ruins of the Divine War. Meanwhile, Klein attacked Admiral of Hell Ludwell aboard the Black Tulip, redirecting a supernatural door's suction toward the undead before summoning a golden-armored figure to purify it.

• Sno put on a monocle and used Ammon's status and Paradox abilities to draw divine power into a gold coin.
• Sno cut off the Chain Reaction before Lilith's power could leave traces on his fate, then appraised and sealed the coin.
• Bernadette disappeared from the Future while Sno examined the coin's Earth-domain effects.
• Gehrman Sparrow threw Azk's Copper Whistle and matches toward the Black Tulip's aft deck, then fired two enchanted bullets at Ludwell.
• Ludwell opened a Bronze Door that swallowed the bullets and pulled Klein toward it, but Klein twisted the suction to drag the undead into the door.
• Klein summoned a golden-armored figure, whose sunlight weakened the Bronze Door as Klein ordered it to purify.

Klein fought Ludwell as the Admiral of Hell used the Ring of the Death God and the Bronze Door to overwhelm him. Klein escaped the deathly pull and flew away from the Black Tulip with Anderson, leaving Ludwell and the ship behind the expanding door.

• The Sun Avatar’s light weakened the Bronze Door, while Ludwell transformed into a spirit body and seized Klein, who escaped with a Paper Figurine Substitute.
• Ludwell reflected Klein’s Mental Pierce with the Ring of the Death God and used words of death to pull at Klein’s soul.
• Klein’s stiff smile broke the soul restraints, letting him reload his revolver and fire enchanted supernatural bullets at Ludwell.
• Ludwell enlarged the Bronze Door and attacked with his rapier, but Klein used the Sun Avatar and a Priest of Light’s ability to weaken the door before escaping its pull.
• The Bronze Door swallowed the Black Tulip, and Klein flew away, used Flaming Jumps to retrieve Mr. Azk’s copper whistle, and met Anderson in the air.

Bernadette questioned Sno about Roselle’s resurrection and agreed to stay near Bayram to help stop a Rose School Abomination. Meanwhile, Colin Iliyaat led Derrick into the decaying ruins of Afternoon Town, and Sno sensed fate’s currents spreading across the seas.

• Bernadette asked Sno whether Roselle could be resurrected, and Sno said he could and warned her about the corruption surrounding his final mausoleum.
• Sno asked Bernadette to help stop a Rose School Abomination when it appeared, and she agreed to remain near Bayram and recite her honorific name upon finding the target.
• Bernadette returned to her room and wondered whether Sno and German were fellow countrymen or connected to the Fool, while resolving not to speculate further about the Gods.
• Sno examined the Oracle Beyonder Characteristic and sensed turbulent currents of fate spreading from the Northern Sea toward the major sea regions.
• Colin Iliyaat identified the ruined Afternoon Town to Derrick, who entered beside him and strengthened his resolve to become the City of Silver’s sun.

Sno hosted Bernadette at a hometown-style banquet, serving tea, dim sum, and unusual appetizers while she tried to infer the culture and location behind the cuisine. The meal left Bernadette puzzling over the empire’s cooking traditions and the strange knowledge she associated with the Hidden Sage.

• Sno welcomed Bernadette with incense, tea, dried fruits, and candied fruits, then explained the banquet’s opening rites.
• Spirit maids emerged through the Gate of Light and served Crystal Shrimp Dumplings, Crab Roe Soup Dumplings, Sea Urchin Siu Mai, and Hot and Sour Wontons.
• Bernadette tasted the dim sum and reasoned that her unknown homeland had a sophisticated food culture and likely a coastline.
• Sno presented braised abalone, Spicy Tripe Shreds, Braised Deer Tendon, and tangerine peel rabbit meat as appetizers.
• Bernadette analyzed the preparation of the deer tendon and associated its sticky texture with a passionate kiss, then blamed the strange knowledge on the Hidden Sage.

Sno served Bernadette a feast of dishes from his homeland, prompting her to reason about the empire’s history and technology while she ate. When Sno explained the wine’s connection to daughters’ weddings, Bernadette froze, and Sno discovered that the Hidden Sage had appeared behind her.

• Bernadette tasted the tomato egg soup and used the Sage’s power to trace its unusual sesame oil back to its source.
• Sno presented rice and eight dishes from different culinary traditions, and Bernadette analyzed their techniques and ingredients as she ate.
• Sno explained that the homeland’s cuisines had developed independently and later fused, leading Bernadette to speculate that the empire predated the Third Epoch and might have been linked to the Eastern Continent.
• Klein watched Sno and Bernadette’s meal from above the Gray Fog, recognized the Chinese dishes, and resolved to visit Mr. Devil’s old house for a meal.
• Sno described the wine as Daughter Red Wine, and Bernadette froze before Sno saw the Hidden Sage behind her.

Bernadette and Sno shared a banquet of hometown dishes, and the Hidden Sage briefly appeared after being drawn to hidden knowledge. Meanwhile, Klein envied their food from the Future and resolved to seek a chance to eat with them after completing Senior Perrdax’s trial ground.

• The Hidden Sage’s eyes appeared above Sno and flooded his mind with strange knowledge before vanishing, and Bernadette warned him that rare hidden knowledge attracted its attention.
• Bernadette cautioned Sno against using the True Creator’s Holy Relic, and Sno had Lily bring out barbecue.
• Bernadette ate both platters of skewers, then watched as the maids prepared a hot pot for the next course.
• Klein ate dinner aboard the Future and longed for the hometown dishes Bernadette and Sno were enjoying.
• Klein reminded himself to endure until he returned to Loen and cleared Senior Perrdax’s trial ground, after which he hoped to mooch a few meals.

Klein read a page of Roselle’s Diary that warned about Ammon, described Pallez, and mentioned a mysterious item capable of interfering with fate. After Klein opened the discussion, Fors proposed a mission to kill an important member of a cult.

• Klein wondered whether he needed to travel to the Hornacis Mountain Range to find the Seer Pathway’s High Sequence formulas and considered asking Mr. Devil and Arrodes for help.
• Sno provided a page of Roselle’s Diary, and Klein read the entry about Ammon’s avatars and the danger of confronting him.
• The diary described Pallez as a kind old man pursued by Ammon and said the writer had sought protection and examinations at the Church of the Night.
• Klein speculated that the diary’s mysterious item was the white cloud horse associated with Mr. Devil and wondered how Senior Perrdax had created it.
• Fors proposed that The Tarot Club take a killing mission targeting an important member of a cult organization.

Fors sought help dealing with Lewis Wien, an Aurora Society Oracle who had been appearing near her, and Mr. World agreed to consider an assassination two months later. Mr. Devil explained that the Churches were unlikely to act on a report and offered to keep Lewis occupied; Fors then asked about materials for her advancement.

• Fors explained that Lewis Wien, an Aurora Society Oracle possibly at Sequence V, had frequently appeared near her home and might have discovered her connection to Dorian Gray.
• Mr. World asked about Lewis's location and abilities, then said he could consider the commission but would not be available for at least two months.
• Alger suggested reporting Lewis to the authorities, but Mr. Devil said the Aurora Society had a tacit understanding with several Churches and the royal family, making a report unlikely to help.
• Mr. Devil said Lewis had come to Backlund partly because of him and offered to keep Lewis occupied until Mr. World could act.
• Fors agreed to discuss the commission price with Mr. World later and asked whether anyone had meteorite crystals, Lava Octopus blood crystals, or information about them.

The Tarot Club members traded for information and discussed their requests, while Mr. World considered a route to obtain the Seer Pathway’s Sequence IV formula. Derrick then recounted the exploration of Afternoon Town and asked about the forbidden fourth name, which Mr. Fool answered was a secret.

• Madam Hermit quickly agreed to several purchase requests, and Mr. World asked about the Seer Pathway’s Sequence IV formula.
• Mr. Devil suggested stealing the formula from Chanis Gate and offered help in exchange for Mr. World opening his family’s treasure; Mr. World agreed to help.
• Madam Hermit requested Mythical Creature blood, and Moon listed the potion formulas Derrick and Mr. Hanged Man sought.
• Derrick described the exploration team’s visit to Afternoon Town, including the altar, the town’s other side, and the names Sarsiriel, Ouroboros, and Medici.
• Derrick asked Mr. Fool who the fourth name represented, and Mr. Fool replied that it was a secret.

The Tarot Club debated the True Creator’s connection to the betrayal of the ancient Creator, while The Star recognized that “secrecy” might refer to an existence rather than an undisclosed fact. Mr. Fool then revealed that Bernadette knew how to enter the Forsaken Land of the Gods, prompting Cattleya to recount her experience with its projection.

• Mr. Hangman suggested that the forbidden names might belong to two gods, and Mr. Fool reconsidered whether Sarsiriel had truly been the True Creator.
• Mr. Devil corrected the club’s theory, saying the True Creator’s birth resulted from the Kings of Angels’ betrayal of the Creator.
• Mr. Devil answered Miss Justice’s question about who tempted Sarsiriel by invoking “secrecy,” and The Star realized it could refer to an existence.
• The Sun asked whether the key to leaving the Forsaken Land of the Gods lay in the Giant King’s Court, and Mr. Fool said Bernadette already knew how to enter the land.
• Cattleya accidentally looked toward Mr. Fool with her Eyes of Mystery Prying, put on glasses to seal them, and began recounting her experience with the projection.

After the Tarot Club gathering, Klein divined his prospects of advancing to Sequence IV and saw a clearer vision of the ruined palace atop the Hornacis Mountain Range. Sno answered Adwina’s prayer and arrived at Grossel’s camp, where she revealed her codename was Lady Raziel and Grossel asked whether he had come to deal with Ulyssan.

• Sno gave the Tarot Club members gold coins that could help them seek Mr. Fool’s assistance, and Audrey agreed to remove his earlier psychological intervention after two days.
• Klein’s divination showed a ruined palace on a mountain peak, with transparent maggots writhing on a damaged stone throne, and he recognized the vision as connected to the Hornacis Mountain Range.
• Sno sacrificed the gold coins to Mr. Fool, continued preparing his Seer-only treasure, and received a direct prayer from Adwina.
• Sno took Heavenly Punishment and used a Sacrifice Gate to reach the snowy world where Adwina and Grossel were staying.
• Adwina identified herself as Lady Raziel, and Grossel asked Sno whether he had come to deal with Ulyssan.