Chapter Summaries

Audrey attended Madam Norma’s afternoon tea with mysticism experts Hilbert Alucard and Miss Islander Oseilka, then prayed to the Fool about their strange behavior. Klein answered her prayer and began divining the purpose of the unusual cloud-white horse hovering above her head.

• Audrey met Hilbert Alucard and Islander Oseilka at Madam Norma’s afternoon tea and sensed they were observing her.
• Madam Norma suggested Audrey study psychology and offered Escalante and Alucard as possible teachers; Audrey said she might ask Escalante to tutor her.
• Audrey returned home, asked Susie to guard her door, and prayed to the Fool about the afternoon’s events.
• Klein heard Audrey’s prayer while on duty, went Above the Gray Fog, and noticed a shifting image of clouds and a galloping horse above her.
• Klein wrote a divination statement about the anomaly above Audrey and entered a dreamlike state to investigate it.

Klein investigated the strange effect protecting Audrey and learned that Mr. Devil had placed it on her, with only a slight risk of discovery by powerful beings. He warned Audrey and left her to investigate Mr. Devil’s identity, leading her to question Grelint about the man at his literary salon.

• Klein used dream divination to discover that Mr. Devil’s power made people overlook Audrey’s less innocent traits and concluded that Mr. Devil had placed it on her.
• Klein used pendulum divination to find a very small risk that high-level existences could detect the anomaly, then sent Audrey his visions and warning.
• Audrey realized she could not remember the man from Grelint’s salon and decided to ask Grelint about him.
• Two days later, Audrey slipped away from a ball at Grelint’s home and met him in his study.
• Audrey described the man from the salon, and Grelint reacted strangely.

Audrey inferred that Sno von Pandax was Mr. Devil and decided to arrange any trade for the Spectator formula through the Tarot Club rather than meet him directly. In Tingen, Klein used the Mutated Sun Scepter to create five Flaring Sun Charms and wondered how to deliver them to Mr. Devil.

• Grelint identified Sno von Pandax as a veterinarian with an unsavory reputation and warned Audrey against contacting him.
• Audrey concluded Sno was Mr. Devil, chose not to meet him, and planned to have a trade arranged through a formal Tarot Club occasion.
• With Leonard's help, Klein got time alone with the Mutated Sun Scepter inside the church and performed a ritual to borrow the Eternal Blazing Sun's power.
• Klein completed five Flaring Sun Charms and considered selling three for 900 pounds, but could not decide how to get them to Mr. Devil.

Sno received Klein’s request for three Sun charms through Mr. Fool and sent his messenger Dodo to deliver them. Klein received sixty pounds in return, then realized one charm had been payment for the diary exchange and that he was still broke.

• Sno read Phantom Blood readers’ letters and began writing again, but paused when he received Klein’s prayer requesting charms for Mr. Devil.
• Klein went Above the Gray Fog, heard Sno’s messenger incantation, and divined that contacting the messenger was not dangerous.
• Klein summoned Sno von Pandax’s messenger and handed Dodo three Sun charms.
• Dodo returned with sixty pounds, and Klein realized one charm had been payment for the diary exchange.

Klein attended another Tarot Club gathering, where the Little Sun revealed that the Acting Method was taught in the City of Silver. Sno connected this practice to the city’s faith and population, then suggested that its god had been silent for a long time, prompting the Little Sun to beg for answers.

• Klein planned to advance to Clown during his days off and intended to buy Extraordinary Materials after the Tarot Club.
• Justice apologized for not obtaining any Emperor Roselle’s Diary entries and received the Telepathist Potion Formula from the Little Sun.
• Justice offered three hundred and fifty pounds in funding, and Klein provided an anonymous Backlund account for the payment.
• The Little Sun said he would save his compensation for a Sequence Eight formula or necessary materials and explained that the City of Silver taught the Acting Method in general education classes.
• Sno asked about the City of Silver’s faith and population, then suggested that its god had not answered it for a long time.
• The Little Sun asked Sno how he knew and offered to trade everything he could for more information.

Mr. Devil explained that the Acting Method let Beyonders bypass, rather than defeat, the Mental Remnants within potions, and suggested that the churches concealed it because its widespread use could affect even true Gods. Mr. Hangman began to infer that ordinary potion mastery might weaken Mental Remnants, but an author’s note clarified that the explanation was speculation rather than canon.

• Mr. Devil explained that the Seven Orthodox Churches made official Beyonders swear not to spread the Acting Method.
• Mr. Devil described Mental Remnants in Extraordinary Materials as a source of madness and explained that acting too deeply could let them overtake a Beyonder’s identity.
• Mr. Devil said Mental Remnants remained in the potion after a Beyonder died and could influence the next person who consumed it.
• Mr. Devil argued that practicing the Acting Method could leave Mental Remnants unchanged or even repair them, while Mr. Hangman realized that ordinary potion mastery might weaken them.
• The author noted that Mr. Devil’s explanation was a speculative interpretation, not canon.

At the Tarot Club, Mr. Devil explained how Beyonders overcame a potion’s Mental Remnant and warned The Little Sun that knowledge about the City of Silver could be dangerous. Klein read Perrdax’s Diary, then Audrey thanked Mr. Devil for protecting her and asked how long his protection would last.

• Mr. Devil explained that mastering a potion meant a dangerous struggle between a Beyonder’s spirit and the potion’s Mental Remnant.
• The Little Sun described the City of Silver’s sacrificial rituals, and Mr. Devil confirmed its location while warning that further knowledge could endanger him and his city.
• Klein read Perrdax’s Diary entries about Extraordinary Characteristics and a warning against Spectators.
• Audrey thanked Mr. Devil for protecting her but said she wished he had discussed his actions with her first.
• Mr. Devil assured Audrey that his protection would remain effective as long as she kept attending social events, and that only a Grounded Angel could notice it.

At the Tarot Club, Alger warned that Zilingus had come to Backlund for an item that could help him rise quickly in Sequence, and Klein decided to alert Mr. Azk. Meanwhile, Ince Zangwill’s plans advanced as the Churches prepared to draw people away from Iron Cross Street, and Klein was called to join the Night Watchers’ response to the Evil God Progeny.

• Alger told the Tarot Club that Zilingus was in Backlund seeking an item that could help him become a High Sequence powerhouse, and Audrey asked why he would risk Loss of Control.
• After the meeting, Klein wrote a letter to Mr. Azk about Zilingus and the Sacrifice Ritual.
• Ince Zangwill used 0-08 to set events in motion, including a charity event that would move the poor away from Iron Cross Street while the Churches’ forces were diverted.
• Klein was summoned to Blackthorn Security Company, where Dunn said the Three Great Churches had found the Evil God Progeny and assigned Klein, Leonard, and Royale to remain at headquarters.

Klein revived in a cemetery after the confrontation with Ince Zangwill and checked that his companions were safe. Meanwhile, Mr. A returned to Backlund, tasked Sno with finding Lanevus, and gave him a Listener Potion that let him hear a filtered fragment of the True Creator’s whisper.

• Klein crawled out of his grave, recovered from his burns, and searched the cemetery for familiar names.
• Klein found no sign that Leonard, Royale, or the others had died and left to learn whether his killer had survived the Flaring Sun Charms.
• Mr. A returned to Sno’s mansion and ordered him to find Lanevus without alerting him, since Lanevus carried the True Creator’s divinity and was intended as a living sacrifice.
• After learning Sno had digested his Secret Speaker Potion, Mr. A prepared a Listener Potion for him in the basement.
• Sno drank the potion, filtered the True Creator’s whisper, and heard the fragment “Suka Bulie!”

After drinking the Pavlov's Dog potion, Sno discovered its enhanced abilities, resistances, and dangerous conditioned reflexes. He left the laboratory wary of his unknown reflexes, while Mr. A planned to send him to develop lambs in the Eastern District in a few days.

• Sno assessed the Pavlov's Dog potion's enhancements, resistances, Divine Profanity, and side effect of involuntary conditioned reflexes.
• Sno's first reflex triggered when he saw a test tube lying sideways, making him leap onto the wall and hang from the ceiling.
• Mr. A tested Sno by knocking over another test tube, and Sno jumped to the ceiling again.
• Sno realized he instinctively jumped whenever he saw a long object lying horizontally, and Mr. A reassured him that the effect might fade as he digested the potion.
• Mr. A told Sno to meditate and prepare to develop lambs in the Eastern District in a few days, while Sno left the basement to avoid further triggers.

Mr. A recovered from the Aurora Society’s losses in Tingen and began instructing Sno on rebuilding their forces in Backlund. Their meeting was briefly derailed when Sno greeted him as “crazy beauty,” and the chapter ended with Sno asking about disguising the group’s teachings.

• Mr. A checked Sno’s Devil, prayed to the True Creator, and decided to use Sno to rebuild the Aurora Society’s strength in Backlund.
• Mr. A sent three letters and secretly watched Sno pray before emerging from the shadows to greet him.
• Sno instinctively called Mr. A “crazy beauty,” then realized it was a conditioned reflex and apologized.
• Sno paid for an expensive Intis breakfast, and Mr. A told him to recruit new members through Whispering and temptation in the Eastern District.
• Sno asked whether he could adopt any disguise, and Mr. A said he could promote ideas that did not conflict with the True Creator’s teachings.

Sno waited at an East Borough cemetery for Fors and Xio to arrive, then warned Fors that her Mysterious Item could cause Loss of Control. After he left, Xio pressed Fors about the danger, and the two decided to notify Audrey and call the police.

• Mr. A told Sno to stop buying lavish meals and focus on developing lambs and searching for Lanevus.
• Sno disguised himself, went to a remote East Borough cemetery, and spent three hours waiting while using Concept Swap.
• Fors and Xio teleported into the cemetery and encountered Sno, who greeted Xio as One-Fifty and recognized Fors.
• Sno warned Fors not to use her Mysterious Item unless necessary because it could cause Loss of Control, then disappeared into the cemetery.
• Fors dismissed Sno's warning as sales talk, but Xio remained suspicious and urged her to speak up if anything went wrong.
• Xio and Fors decided to notify Audrey and call the police, while Xio privately suspected Fors was hiding something from her.

Sno used his ability to approach a hungry young man in Backlund’s East Borough and offered him food in exchange for praying to an existence outside the Seven Orthodox Deities. After hearing that the young man was Penglir Manswell’s son, Sno asked if he wanted to become a Beyonder.

• Sno searched the East Borough for a suitable target while his ability made passersby overlook him.
• Sno offered a wary, injured young man a meal, and the young man followed him into a café after going three days without food.
• While they ate, Sno asked whether the young man would pray to an existence outside the Seven Orthodox Deities in return for daily meals.
• The young man said his father, Penglir Manswell, had led a gang until the Zimang Party killed him and seized the gang’s territory.
• Sno recognized the young man’s useful background and asked whether he was interested in becoming a Beyonder.

Sno recruited Jana Manswell and offered him a choice between potion advancement and power granted through faith in the Lord. Jana chose bestowal, and Sno healed his injured arm before teaching him the honorific name of a great existence.

• Jana told Sno he wanted to become a Beyonder and was willing to offer up his faith.
• Sno explained the potion and bestowal paths, warning that the Lord could reclaim power from anyone who betrayed his faith.
• Jana chose bestowal, and Sno used his ability to heal Jana's injured arm.
• Sno introduced himself as Crown Medz and renamed Jana as Foundation, Gabriel, then led him to a safehouse.
• Gabriel recited the words Sno gave him and learned they were the honorific name of a great existence.

Sno established the All Nature organization by granting three working-class representatives temporary Beyonder abilities through a prayer-based ritual. At the Tarot Club gathering, Miss Justice reported progress on finding Zilingus, Mr. Hangman sought information about him, and Sno provided another page of Roselle’s Diary before Klein continued toward Backlund.

• Sno appointed representatives named Victory and Glory in the Docks and Factory Districts and taught them the bestowal ritual, which let believers borrow his spirituality and Beyonder abilities through prayer.
• Klein left Daffodil Street without entering and waited at a cheap hotel near Tingen City Railway Station for the Tarot Club gathering.
• Miss Justice confirmed that Sno’s Blessed had likely received the three hundred and fifty pounds in compensation and reported new information about Zilingus.
• Mr. Hangman asked where Zilingus was, then said he expected to obtain a batch of Roselle’s Diary pages.
• Sno supplied a diary page describing his bestowal system, and Klein read it before resuming his journey toward Backlund.

Klein learned from Mr. Devil’s diary that a demigod potion formula had been obtained through an intimate encounter, and gleaned more about the Seer Pathway, Charon, and the Abraham family. At the Tarot Club, Audrey sought a Rainbow Lizard Dragon pituitary gland, and Alger offered to help obtain one if they found Zilingus.

• Klein read Mr. Devil’s diary entry about obtaining the Trick Master potion formula and ritual through a deep union of spirit and flesh.
• Klein learned that Charon had gone mad seeking a Sequence One formula and that the Abraham family had lost its demigods because of the Full Moon Whisper.
• Klein ended the diary discussion and gave the Tarot Club members permission to begin their free exchange.
• Audrey asked for a complete Rainbow Lizard Dragon pituitary gland, and Alger said he might obtain one in exchange for finding Zilingus.
• Alger explained that Rainbow Lizard Dragons were nearly extinct and offered to share the locations of islands where they could be found.
• Audrey said she had long dreamed of sailing the seas to explore primitive islands.

At the Tarot Club, Sno heard that Lanevus had arrived in Backlund carrying the Creator’s divinity and chose him as a temporary target while seeking direction and strength. He later bought a revolver from Kaspars Canlin, offered to heal his leg, and left him a warning to use in mortal danger.

• The Hanged Man told Audrey that substitute materials for the endangered Rainbow Lizard Dragon might exist, though he did not know what they were.
• Sno told the Tarot Club that Lanevus had arrived in Backlund with the Creator’s divinity and was resisting being replaced, while the weakened Aurora Society searched for him.
• Mr. Fool reflected on losing his family and recent companions, and decided to pursue Lanevus as a manageable goal while seeking a way home and greater strength.
• Sno visited Kaspars Canlin at the Brave Man Bar and bought a revolver and bullets, arranging for Kaspars to find him a combat instructor.
• Sno offered to heal Kaspars’s leg, but Kaspars refused because he had adapted to the injury and feared a sudden recovery would attract notice.
• Sno gave Kaspars a written phrase to memorize and recite only if he faced mortal danger, and Kaspars accepted it solemnly.

Foundation, Victory, and Glory used the powers granted through prayer to pursue different plans in Backlund, while Sno’s potion digestion accelerated and Mr. A headed to the East Borough. The chapter left Mr. A on his way to seek flesh and blood after noticing a disguised young woman.

• Foundation prayed for power, chose Arrowward and Body Strengthening spells, and set out to establish a gang in the East Borough.
• Victory chose Stamina Strengthening and Training Strengthening blessings and decided to grow stronger before acting in the Docklands.
• Glory used Eloquence Strengthening to argue that workers should unite around clear demands for fair wages and working hours.
• Sno told Mr. A that his Listener potion was digesting quickly after he developed followers, and he planned to learn firearms and hand-to-hand combat.
• Sno warned Mr. A that security in the West Borough would tighten because Duke Negan was holding a ball the next night.
• Mr. A left for the East Borough to seek flesh and blood, passing over a disguised young woman who appeared to be a noble.

Sno met Xio, who had tracked him down to ask about the Full Moon Whisper and its connection to Fors. After Sno invited her inside, he offered to explain the matter for a fee, and Xio agreed to name a price.

• After Mr. A left, Sno planned to write JoJo, but Lily alerted him to a visitor.
• Sno opened the door and greeted Xio with the nickname “One Meter Fifty,” prompting her to scold him and introduce herself.
• Xio explained that she had investigated Sno after worrying about Fors and the Full Moon Whisper, and had identified him as the author of Phantom Blood.
• Xio asked Sno about the Full Moon Whisper, and he invited her inside to talk.
• Sno brewed Xio high-quality black tea and said he would explain the Full Moon Whisper if she paid his fee.
• Xio, unwilling to show hesitation, told Sno to name his price.

Xio agreed to Sno's contract, accepting a debt of ten thousand favors in exchange for intelligence about Full Moon Whisper and her father. After sealing the room, Sno began by discussing her father.

• Sno offered Xio intelligence about Full Moon Whisper for ten thousand favors, explaining how commissions and other assets could repay the debt.
• Sno revealed that information about Xio's father could be included for free, and Xio resolved to accept the trade for both his sake and Fors's.
• Xio signed Sno's contract, which set terms for the intelligence trade and allowed her to dispute the value of the information.
• Sno sealed the room with Walls of Spirituality and began telling Xio about her father.