Chapter Summaries

Kaspars brought Sno the strange remains left by a dead Beyonder and joined the Lord of Benevolence’s organization as a core member. After Kaspars departed for the Sunia Sea, Audrey worried about her mental state and decided to seek help from Viscount Grellint.

• Kaspars brought Sno a tin box containing the strange remains, and Sno confirmed that they were what the existence wanted.
• Sno offered Kaspars a choice between becoming an agent and joining as an outer member, and Kaspars read the booklet of benefits, obligations, and risks.
• Kaspars chose to become a core member, accepted the Ring of Benevolence, and learned that his task was to use an arrow to create more Decoy Users.
• After receiving basic mystical instruction, Kaspars said goodbye to Sno and boarded a passenger ship bound for the Sunia Sea.
• Audrey asked Susie whether her mental state was troubled, then asked Annie to find out when Viscount Grellint’s next ball would be.

Audrey met Sno at Viscount Grellint’s ball to discuss her invitation to join the Psychology Alchemists and a subtle change in her mental state. Sno helped her identify the suggestion affecting her and showed her his Stand, leaving Audrey eager to learn how to use one.

• Audrey told Annie she was not impatient to come of age, while Annie mistakenly worried that Audrey might become pregnant.
• At Viscount Grellint’s ball, Audrey explained that she and Mr. Sno were only friends and that she hoped to ask him about Apothecary potion ingredients for Grelint.
• Audrey told Sno that her tutor had invited her to join the Psychology Alchemists and that she had noticed a slight deviation in her mental state.
• Sno used a talisman to let Audrey inspect her mind and realize that psychological suggestion had made her overlook the problem.
• Sno warned Audrey to pray to Mr. Fool for protection before joining the Psychology Alchemists, then showed her Medz and explained how she could learn to use a Stand.

Sno gave Audrey an ancient arrowhead that awakened her Stand, a powerful, dragon-featured woman resembling Audrey. Audrey examined her new abilities and learned that her Stand’s revealing outfit might be changed through psychological suggestion.

• Sno gave Audrey the arrowhead called Gentle and explained that it could awaken a Stand.
• Audrey touched the arrowhead, endured its strange sensations, and used meditation to steady herself.
• Audrey summoned her Stand, a woman resembling her with dragon horns, wings, scales, and claws.
• Sno explained that the Stand reflected Audrey’s spirituality and could have close-combat abilities.
• Sno suggested Audrey might alter her Stand’s clothing with psychological suggestion, and Audrey insisted she had never wanted to wear such revealing clothes.

Audrey secured Grelint an Apothecary Beyonder Characteristic and had Mr. Fool remove the Psychological Suggestion on her. Klein then used the Black Emperor card to attack Capim Villa, where Harras was killed and the rest of the assault proceeded.

• Audrey told Grelint that Mr. Sno had provided an Apothecary Beyonder Characteristic as payment for the venue and promised him another surprise in two months.
• Audrey prayed to Mr. Fool, who removed the Psychological Suggestion and offered her protection before she joined the Psychology Alchemists.
• Klein summoned himself, used the Black Emperor card to strengthen his spirit body, and headed for Capim Villa with the Biological Toxin Bottle.
• Klein released poison in the villa's sealed dining room, and the resulting explosion set the villa ablaze.
• A man wearing an Intis-style suit and his team confronted Harras outside the villa, and the man's six-winged Angel killed Harras with a blast from its horn.
• The team packed Harras's body into a bag and followed the man toward Capim Villa.

Klein interrupted the rescue at Capim Villa, then let Jana and his gang take the abducted girls to safety while he waited for the Church to arrive. At St. Samuel's Cathedral, Leonard began questioning Jana about why an East Borough gang leader had rescued the girls.

• Klein stunned Berris, then met Jana, who gave his codename as Gabriel and agreed to hurry the rescue.
• Jana's men evacuated the girls, taking those from the East Borough with them and sending the others to the Church of Evernight.
• Klein confirmed through divination that Daisy could return home safely and watched over the rescued girls before leaving Capim Villa.
• Jana hid his ring, followed the girls to St. Samuel's Cathedral, and agreed to speak with a clergyman who approached him.
• Leonard was assigned to question Jana and asked why a gang leader had become the girls' protector.

Leonard used his Nightmare abilities to question Jana about Enthusiasm’s role in rescuing the girls from Capim’s villa and learned that the gang had acted as a supplement to failed authorities. The dream left Leonard wondering whether a familiar, indistinct passerby was connected to the Wraith who had rescued the girls.

• Jana argued that Enthusiasm protected poor people ignored by the law and explained that his gang had tried and failed to infiltrate Capim’s villa.
• Leonard entered Jana’s memories and saw Jana’s group move to rescue the girls after Capim’s villa exploded, while a Wraith led them out of the cages.
• Jana explained that he sent the girls to the Church of Evernight because Capim had ties to officials and he feared the nearby Storm Church might treat them harshly.
• Leonard watched Jana investigate missing girls and noticed a blurry passerby who gave him a strong sense of familiarity, but Jana did not recognize the person.
• Leonard ended the dream, praised Jana’s courage, and left after saying that he might return with questions.

Leonard reported Jana’s testimony to Cecimir and learned the Church of Evernight might investigate the attack at Capim Villa. Meanwhile, Klein saw the newspapers credit him as the Thief Black Emperor, while the rescued girls returned home and the Passion Organization expanded across the East Borough.

• Leonard told Cecimir that Jana’s account matched his dreams and that he had glimpsed a possible mastermind, and Cecimir asked him to write a report for the Storm Church.
• Cecimir explained that the Church of Evernight might investigate the attack on Capim Villa if the Storm Church agreed, and Leonard praised the Goddess.
• Newspapers credited the Thief Black Emperor with breaking into Capim’s safe and rescuing the girls, while Klein suspected investigators had taken the valuables and felt his potion digesting from the publicity.
• Klein went to Broken Axe Alley to pretend to search for Daisy, while priests at the Church of Evernight served breakfast and arranged to return the rescued girls home.
• The Church of Evernight’s reputation rose as the girls went home, and the Passion Organization expanded across the East Borough with tacit approval from powerful figures.

Sno met Bernadette, who questioned him about the Black Emperor, while Klein continued interviewing rescued girls with Mike in the East Borough. The chapter ended with Klein spotting Leonard among the Red Gloves and resuming the interviews after they passed.

• Bernadette gave Sno the Winner-pathway Mysterious Item and asked when he wanted several Beyonder characteristics.
• Bernadette asked who held the Black Emperor card, and Sno said the holder was to the Fool what Sno was to Paradox and was also a Blessed of Evernight.
• Sno warned Bernadette not to interfere with the Black Emperor's growth, and she left in her pumpkin carriage.
• Klein interviewed rescued girls with Mike, then followed his spiritual intuition toward Daisy's home and hid to watch the street.
• Klein recognized Leonard among a Red Gloves team and watched Mike exchange a few words with them before the team moved on.
• Klein returned to Mike, and they continued interviewing girls in the East Borough.

At the Tarot Club, Klein read Roselle’s forged and genuine diary pages, including Perrdax’s account of transforming a devil into a rational succubus. The entry led Klein to question how potions, madness, and consciousness were connected, while he also considered how the Destiny Path sensed powerful beings.

• Mr. Hangman and Klein gave Mr. Fool new pages of Roselle’s Diary and asked to save their rewards for later.
• Klein read about Roselle encountering an elf and noticed that one of the diary entries was fake.
• Klein read Perrdax’s account of using a Joy Potion on a devil and transforming it into a succubus named Lilim.
• Perrdax wondered whether Beyonders who seemed mad had instead become new consciousnesses through mixing with something in their potions.
• Klein connected Perrdax’s questions to the Acting Method and the remnants of spirit in potions, then considered how the Destiny Path could sense great existences.

The Tarot Club discussed The Little Sun’s account of Ammon’s avatar and the City of Silver expedition, while Sno raised the possibility that Elder Lovia had not betrayed the city. The meeting turned to Apprentice Pathway information, and the chapter ended with an author’s note clarifying the story’s secondary setting about potion imprints and anchors.

• The Little Sun manifested a dead Worm of Time, and Sno explained that it could make demigod-level Thief charms and serve as auxiliary material for Sequence Two Apprentice and Seer potions.
• The Little Sun described the City of Silver expedition, and Alger warned that its members might have sincerely come to believe in The Creator.
• Sno told The Little Sun to watch whether suspected expedition members sang and to report any melodies that became popular in the City of Silver.
• Sno suggested Elder Lovia might not have betrayed the City of Silver, prompting The Little Sun to reconsider his assumptions while remaining cautious.
• Miss Magician asked about the Apprentice Pathway, and The World answered before Sno could add anything.

Klein visited Sno, who warned him that the True Creator had ordered a search for the Fool’s believers and asked him to relay precautions to the Tarot Club. Sno then abruptly asked whether Klein was the chivalrous thief, “Black Emperor.”

• Klein received Sno’s urgent message and went to his home before nine in the morning.
• Sno told Klein that the True Creator had provided the Fool’s complete honorific name and that he planned to seek the Fool’s believers at a Beyonder gathering.
• Sno explained that the official churches might connect the Fool to the Tarot Club and asked Klein to warn the members to pray behind a Wall of Spirituality, away from churches and holy emblems.
• Klein agreed to pass Sno’s warning to Mr. Fool.
• Sno asked Klein whether he was the chivalrous thief, “Black Emperor.”

Sno tried to corrupt Klein with the promise of a share of Capim’s confiscated wealth, but Klein refused to admit he was the Black Emperor. Meanwhile, Sno prepared for the coming Catastrophe, and Grelint recovered from receiving a potion formula before asking Xio to accompany him to a Beyonder gathering.

• Sno tempted Klein with a share of Capim Mansion’s wealth, but Klein maintained his disguise and refused to claim it.
• Sno treated Klein to an extravagant breakfast, then played music for Heavenly Punishment at Mr. A’s house.
• Sno urged Jana to keep Passion low-profile ahead of an expected official purge and prepared for a Beyonder gathering.
• Grelint awoke after receiving a potion formula, and Xio warned him to keep meditating and watch for unusual voices.
• Grelint lent Xio four hundred pounds and asked her to accompany him to a Beyonder gathering.

At Sno’s Beyonder gathering, Grelint attended with Xio to sell potions and earn money, while Sno issued a mission to find believers in the Fool. Xio realized Grelint might be reacting to the descriptions, leaving her worried that he could be connected to the people Sno sought.

• Xio disguised her height and entered the gathering with Grelint, who was eager to sell three potions he had prepared.
• Sno opened the gathering, and the participants watched him while forgetting his appearance after leaving.
• Sno asked the attendees to find people who believed in the Fool and warned them not to read the displayed descriptions using languages that could invoke mysterious powers.
• Xio recognized the Fool’s titles and noticed Grelint staring blankly at Sno, making her suspect that he might know something about the believers.

Grelint attended a large Beyonder gathering and was unsettled by how much he had misjudged Audrey, while Xio became suspicious of his knowledge of Mr. Fool. Audrey underwent a hypnotic examination by the Psychology Alchemists, resisted it with her safeguards, and was accepted as a member after revealing that she was already a Spectator.

• Grelint realized the gathering was unusually large and high-end, and worried about the surprise Audrey had promised him in two months.
• Grelint pretended to be unfamiliar with the honorific name under discussion, and Xio noticed his act but chose not to expose him.
• Audrey arrived at Miss Islan's home with Susie and met Hilbert Alucard and Stephen Humphreys for her examination.
• Hilbert used candlelight to hypnotize Audrey and questioned her about joining and potentially harming the Psychology Alchemists.
• Audrey resisted the hypnosis, admitted she had obtained the Spectator Potion formula and become a Spectator, and gave incomplete truths about her sources.
• Hilbert accepted Audrey as an official member of the Psychology Alchemists, and Audrey realized that none of her protective safeguards had been breached.

Sno explained his Acting Principles for the Baron of Corruption and reflected on the dangers of his Zeno's Turtle potion, whose divided soul fragments threatened to erode his consciousness. He had preserved his primary consciousness in a stand-in, but still needed a way to unite his countless branch consciousnesses, and the chapter left him struggling to find a survivable brush with death.

• Sno wrote down his Acting Principles for the Baron of Corruption and noted that his acting was progressing smoothly, though he had not prepared for Sequence V.
• Sno reasoned that his Zeno's Turtle side effects came from splitting his soul so finely that his primary consciousness could be worn away or lose its sense of self.
• Sno explained that he had deposited his primary consciousness in a stand-in to preserve it, while recognizing that the measure could eventually separate him from his body.
• Sno considered using the fear of death to make his branch consciousnesses act in unison, but found that some of his souls enjoyed the True Creator's whispers.
• Sno dismissed the idea of provoking the Storm Church by shouting Leodoro's name, since his Origin Quality and the presence of powerful Beyonders made a genuine brush with death difficult to arrange.

Sno entered an ancient Fourth Epoch tomb to find a way to integrate the fragments of his consciousness, avoiding a suspicious ghost picture frame and collecting items from corpses along the way. He reached the main burial chamber and prepared to act on the stubborn soul fragments despite their protests.

• Sno decided to enter the tomb after a month of failed attempts to integrate his consciousness fragments.
• Sno bypassed the monsters in the passage and avoided a ghost picture frame that he suspected could be an Ammon trap.
• Sno opened the main burial chamber, found no Beyonder Characteristic in the coffin, and collected Extraordinary Items and characteristics from nearby corpses.
• Sno set up a Wall of Spirituality around the defiant soul fragments and put Scholar Glasses over his right eye.

Sno searched Ammon’s tomb, found no avatar inside, and discovered that Ammon’s portrait had been stealing time and vigilance. He sealed and took the portrait, left a taunting note and graffiti, while Ammon later noticed that someone had stolen time from him.

• Sno found the coffin empty and confirmed that the golden cushion held nothing unusual.
• Sno picked up Ammon’s portrait, froze time in the room with White Horse is Not a Horse, and sealed the frame in a temporal loop.
• Sno wrapped the portrait, left Ammon a note, and closed the coffin.
• Sno carved “Third Uncle was here” into the mural of Ammon’s birth and left the burial chamber.
• Ammon adjusted his monocle in the wilderness and realized someone had stolen time from him.

Jason Belia tried to board a riverboat in Backlund but was intercepted by a burly man wearing an emerald ring and an Angel’s power. A young man in a black suit appeared after the fight, while the author’s note clarified why Ammon had found someone wearing a monocle interesting.

• Jason Belia attempted to pass a burly dockworker who recognized him as a wanted criminal and asked him to wait.
• Jason attacked with spider threads and a disease aura, but the dockworker resisted both while an Angel emerged from his emerald ring and healed nearby passersby.
• Jason shattered the dockworker’s Ice Wall with Black Fire, but the man endured the attack and his burned arm began regenerating.
• A young man in a black suit appeared beside the dockworker and said that holding off a Sequence V had exceeded his expectations.
• The author explained that Ammon’s avatars had to synchronize memories, and that Ammon sensed someone near Backlund wearing a monocle but had not identified or parasitized them.

Sno confronted the Demoness impersonating Jason Belia and trapped her behind a reinforced Wall of Spirituality. Despite the Demoness’s attacks, Sno’s controlled body countered her, leaving her unable to escape.

• Sno recognized that the figure calling herself Jason was a Demoness, while Mister Victory left with the sack after his burned arm was healed.
• Jason tore away her damaged disguise and revealed her true form, then tried to flee using invisibility and a mirror-image clone.
• Sno’s Wall of Spirituality blocked Jason’s escape, and she tried to subdue him with spider silk and the Demoness of Pleasure’s abilities.
• Jason’s attacks struck Sno’s paper effigy, but his shadow’s Demonic Marks took control of his body and let him counterattack.
• Jason remained trapped behind the barrier and was forced to fight Sno, whose Innate Divine Strength gave him the advantage.

Sno killed a Demoness of Affliction, destroyed her Evil God statue, and sent clues that drew Leonard and the Machinery Hivemind into the investigation. After feeding the Beyonder Characteristic to Heavenly Punishment, Sno received a warning and hurried off to handle an unexpected development.

• Sno searched Jason's suitcase, destroyed the white-bone statue with a King of Swords, and left Tarot Cards on the corpse before answering Lily's prayer and departing.
• A Night Watcher reported the Demoness's corpse and the Tarot Cards to the Red Gloves, prompting Soest to assign Leonard and Cindy to investigate the scene.
• Carlson questioned Arrodes about the Desire Apostle's collaborators, and the silver mirror showed the corpse surrounded by Red Gloves.
• Sno fed the Demoness of Affliction's characteristic to Heavenly Punishment and stored it beside the piano.
• White Horse is Not a Horse issued a first-tier warning, and Sno left to deal with the unexpected situation.