Chapter Summaries

Sno ignored the dice tower's other prompts, ate dinner, and received an unexpected prayer from Lily. Meanwhile, Leonard investigated Klein's connections and went to Sno's house seeking answers, where Lily let him in and he smelled grilled fish.

• Sno followed the dice tower's instruction to eat, thanked the Fool, and ordered extra fish dishes to take back to his room.
• Lily's prayer reached Sno, so he arranged for another serving of fish to bring home.
• Leonard connected Klein's identities as Sherlock Moriarty and the Black Emperor, then postponed reporting his findings while investigating further.
• Leonard traced the Moretti siblings' home to Sno von Pandax and discovered Sno's file was classified at Archbishop level or higher.
• Leonard went to Sno's house, where Lily opened the door and ushered him inside; he noticed the smell of grilled fish.

Leonard visited Sno to learn what Klein Moretti and Sherlock Moriarty wanted, paying for information and agreeing to take on missions. Sno revealed that Sherlock had been resurrected, leaving Leonard stunned.

• Leonard met Sno in a room where Lily ate fish and asked about Klein Moretti and Sherlock Moriarty.
• Sno explained that Klein and Sherlock were the same person but had different objectives, and Leonard paid ten pounds to learn Klein wanted his family to live well.
• Leonard negotiated to pay three hundred pounds in cash and cover the remaining seven hundred with seven missions, then carefully read and signed Sno's contract.
• Sno told Leonard that Sherlock's objectives after being resurrected were revenge and returning home.
• Leonard seized on Sno's mention of resurrection and asked what it meant.

Leonard questioned Sno about Klein’s resurrection and his connections to the Fool, but Sno’s answers left Leonard more confused about Klein’s role and the Church of Evernight. Sno gave Leonard a way to contact him and asked him to guide the Moretti siblings as they entered the Beyonder world.

• Sno told Leonard that Klein had genuinely died and been resurrected, possibly more than once, prompting Leonard to recall Klein’s survival during the Antigonus Family Notebook incident.
• Leonard asked whether Sherlock was the Black Emperor, belonged to an organization worshiping the Fool, and had a connection to the Antigonus Family Notebook; Sno answered, “This is a secret.”
• Sno revealed the Church of Evernight’s holy emblem, leading Leonard to suspect Klein might be an undercover agent before Sno advised him to pray to the Fool if he faced trouble.
• Sno gave Leonard a card with the method for summoning Dodo and said he would send him assignments through the messenger.
• Sno asked Leonard to guide the Moretti siblings as they encountered the Beyonder world and cautioned him that Miss Moretti was underage.

Leonard questioned Pallez about Sno, Klein, and the Gods, but Pallez offered few answers. Aboard the ship, Sno returned from a brief separation of his soul and used piano music to bribe listeners, while Sera wondered why no first-class passenger had brought cargo besides Sno’s piano.

• Leonard teased Pallez for being frightened by Sno, and Pallez said Sno carried the auras of at least three, possibly four, great existences.
• Leonard asked Pallez about Klein’s resurrection, Sno’s blessings, his monocle, and the relationship between the Fool and the Goddess, but Pallez only said it was a secret.
• Sno returned to his ship’s cabin through a Gate of Light after temporarily storing part of his split soul in a substitute.
• Sno played Heavenly Punishment on the piano and used the music to bribe listeners who enjoyed it, hoping to collect favors later.
• Heavenly Punishment scolded Sno for playing absentmindedly, and Sno focused on the performance.
• Sera listened from a nearby cabin and wondered why Sno was the only first-class passenger to have brought cargo, a piano.

Sno investigated a strange noise outside his cabin and collected a sample of the pale-red mucus left behind. He gave it to Sera to identify, while she warned that the creature’s tracks seemed to have been mystically erased.

• Sno rolled a four, then used Unlock to prepare an ambush at his cabin door.
• Sno shoved the door open when the wet slapping sound reached him, but the creature vanished and left only mucus and faint traces.
• Sno checked his traps and belongings in the morning, then collected the remaining mucus in a sealed test tube.
• Sera told Sno that the creature’s physical traces remained while its mystical imprint had been erased, suggesting outside help or control.
• Sno handed Sera the mucus, and she agreed to study it and report back that night.

Sno and Sera investigated the Black Pearl’s dwindling staff and examined mysterious mucus, concluding it came from a non-marine creature. Sera prepared to pray to the God of Knowledge for more information while Sno waited outside with Heavenly Punishment.

• Sno spotted a gray-haired man and four Storm Church believers at breakfast, then Sera noticed that the ship had unusually few waiters.
• Sno and Sera suspected the missing staff were connected to the captain and examined a sample of mucus in Sera’s room.
• Sera found that the mucus came from a non-marine creature with residual spirituality, but ordinary equipment could not identify it.
• Sera said the creature likely had not killed Barbosa, whose death appeared to result from blood loss.
• Sera prepared a ritual and asked Sno for an Extraordinary Item from the Sun or Storm Pathways; Sno left with Heavenly Punishment and waited outside.

At a Tarot Club meeting, Klein read Perrdax’s diary and learned that the Seer Sequence Three advancement ritual required three hundred years. The diary revealed Perrdax had abandoned advancing because he could not bear to lose his home and loved ones, leaving Klein to wonder what choice he would make when he faced the ritual.

• Justice and Magician each offered three pages of Roselle’s Diary, Sun offered legends about ancient gods and a list of local Monsters, and Devil provided one page of Perrdax’s diary.
• Klein read that Perrdax had obtained the Scholar of Yore potion formula but considered other advancement paths and censored the name of an existence he feared.
• Klein learned that the Seer Sequence Three ritual required three hundred years and considered how that obstacle might explain Perrdax’s disappearance.
• Klein read that Perrdax had given up advancing because he did not want to abandon his home and familiar people, though he considered advancing to Deceiver Tutor before returning to Miracle Invoker.
• Klein wondered how he would handle the ritual, then took comfort in the possibility that the Gray Fog staircase might offer a solution and turned to Roselle’s Diary.

Klein reviewed Roselle’s diary and the City of Silver’s legends about the ancient gods before overseeing Tarot Club members’ transactions. The meeting ended with the members exchanging little news, while Sno wondered whether the White Agate had reached Bansy Harbor.

• Klein found little useful information in Roselle’s diary and studied the ancient god legends from the City of Silver.
• Audrey bought Elder Tree Fruit and Mirror Dragon blood from Mr. Moon for 750 pounds, while the Hanged Man offered Mr. Moon a Vampire Baron’s inheritance for 4,500 pounds.
• Sno offered Audrey a processed Faceless characteristic for 6,000 pounds, and she agreed to pay after receiving it.
• Fors arranged to buy a Spirit Devourer stomach pouch for 300 pounds, while Mr. Sun and the Hanged Man exchanged a formula and a list of materials.
• Klein bought the remaining supplementary materials for the Marionettist and opened the free exchange, but the members had little news to share.
• Sno noticed that The World had not reported on Bansy and wondered whether the White Agate had reached Bansy Harbor.

Sno discovered that Sera’s rituals and prayers had been screened, then confirmed that his own prayers to the True Creator could no longer reach him. Sera feared Jack possessed a powerful Sealed Artifact and might be a demigod or Angel, leaving Sno to reconsider the threat they faced.

• Sno left Heavenly Punishment in the cabin and went to check on Sera, whom he found exhausted and alarmed.
• Sera told Sno that sixteen rituals had failed, including divine prayers, secret covenants, and attempts to borrow another Reader’s authority.
• Sno confirmed that he could still communicate through White Horse is Not a Horse but received no response when he recited the True Creator’s honorific name.
• Sera explained that prayer screening suggested Jack might possess a Grade 0 or Grade 1 Sealed Artifact, and Sno wondered whether Jack was a demigod or Angel.

Sno and Sera investigated the deserted ship and encountered Light Peter, who led them to the prayer hall, now covered in strange moss. After seeing the fungal growth, they decided to check the lifeboat deck.

• Sno rolled the die and took Sera to inspect the ship before dark.
• Sno and Sera found the third deck eerily deserted and noticed the smell of blood growing stronger.
• On the promenade deck, Sno and Sera met Light Peter, who said the ship's facilities were open but their staff were in a troubling condition.
• Light led Sno and Sera toward the prayer hall, where Sera collected a sample of the moss spreading along the walls.
• Sno, Sera, and Light found the prayer hall completely overrun by slick, gray moss, and Sera suggested checking the lifeboat deck.

Sno, Sera, and Light investigated the missing lifeboats and the strange moss spreading through the ship, which resisted fire and seemed connected to their suspicions about Jack. Their search suggested that almost everyone aboard had vanished or was no longer trustworthy, leaving them to decide whether to investigate the lower decks.

• Sno, Sera, and Light found the lifeboat deck empty and wondered whether the boats had been secretly lowered or destroyed.
• Sno inspected the moss-covered captain's cabin and found that his fireball could not burn the moss or nearby objects.
• Sno and Sera connected the moss's strange properties to their earlier suspicions about Jack, then Sno told Light to gather the other first-class passengers.
• Sera and Light reported that most first-class cabins were empty, with only a few showing signs of activity or moss growth.
• Light recalled seeing unnaturally normal staff and anxious gamblers earlier, while Sno learned that there might be few or no living people left above the third deck.
• Sera proposed searching the lower decks, but Sno questioned whether any survivors there could be trusted.

Sno, Sera, and Light investigated the ship’s blood-soaked second deck and found signs that a killer had drained and spiritually destroyed the victims. They left the cause uncertain, with Light wondering whether a vampire was responsible.

• Sno unlocked the hatch to the second deck and used a wind shield to disperse the stench of blood.
• Sno, Sera, and Light descended into the dark second deck and found a shriveled Sailor corpse.
• Sera used a talisman to try to rewind the corpse’s death, but its spirit body shattered before it could take shape.
• Sera determined that the Sailor had died within the past hour from blood loss, despite the lack of blood trails, and that his body had been unnaturally drained.
• Sno discovered more than a dozen similar corpses nearby, and Light suggested that a vampire might be responsible.

Sno, Sera, and Light investigated the massacre aboard the Black Pearl and found that the Sailors and teahouse attendants had been slaughtered. Light revealed that he was a Calamity Priest whose Destiny-guided omens led him to Sno and Sera, and they agreed to help him advance to Winner before exploring the ship’s lower decks.

• Sno and Sera found more than three hundred dead Sailors on the second deck, all suffering multiple wounds and severe blood loss.
• Light returned from the teahouse and reported that the women there had been disfigured and killed by blood loss.
• Sno noticed Light’s reaction to the moss and challenged him, prompting Light to reveal that he was a Calamity Priest seeking to advance to Winner.
• Light explained that Destiny had warned him about three dangers aboard the ship and told him he could survive by following Sno and Sera.
• Light revealed that he had accumulated enough luck to advance, and Sno and Sera agreed that he should become a Winner before they explored the lower decks.

After advancing to Sequence V, Light joined Sno and Sera as they explored the ship’s blood-soaked first deck and uncovered signs of a deadly outbreak. They reached a standoff between two Storm Church members and Barbosa, a man who should have been dead.

• Light’s advancement to Winner went smoothly, and he quickly adapted to his new abilities before setting out with Sno and Sera.
• The group opened the hatch to the first deck and found passengers’ bodies scattered among the cargo holds and crew quarters.
• Sera concluded that the passengers had killed one another, while the corpses’ missing spirit bodies and varied wounds deepened the group’s suspicions.
• Light spotted a moss-covered corpse bearing the Storm Church’s emblem, and Sno recognized it as a Mandated Punisher; they later found more moss-covered bodies, including several other Mandated Punishers.
• Three voices challenged the group near the stairs, and they found a Storm Church Mandated Punisher and Jack facing Barbosa, who should have been dead.

Sno, Light, and Sera confronted Barbosa, a newly advanced Demon, and Nomila, a Storm Church captain, aboard the blood-soaked Black Pearl. As the factions held their positions, the ship began making strange sounds from within its cabin.

• Nomila identified himself as a Storm Church captain and explained that he had boarded the ship to hunt Barbosa, who had sacrificed passengers to advance to Demon.
• Barbosa urged Jack to help kill Nomila, while Sera refused to make a deal with a Demon and Sno chose to wait rather than take sides.
• Jack admitted he was an Inquisitor who had killed Salazar, and Barbosa revealed that Salazar's death had caused the Ghost Ship to take revenge while Barbosa used the resulting deaths for his ritual.
• Barbosa claimed the voyage had been arranged as a blood sacrifice and that Nomila's interference had caused even the passengers who were meant to survive to die.
• Sno disrupted Barbosa's near-complete mental control with a coin, and the group watched as tension mounted and strange squirming sounds came from the cabin.

Sno and his companions faced Barbosa aboard a ghost ship while Nomila fought him with a dangerous Sun Pathway Sealed Artifact. Sno recognized that Jack wanted the two enemies to wear each other down, so he withdrew with Sera and Light, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Sno confirmed that the ritual to pray for a bestowal could be activated and used Firm White Same Different to shield Sera from Barbosa's words.
• Sera identified the ship's Crimson Moon Domain and said it corresponded to a Sanguine Viscount.
• Nomila used his golden short sword to dispel the crimson glow, and Barbosa taunted him over the artifact's limited uses.
• Light stiffened and made gestures, prompting Sno to question Jack about the ship's destination; Jack said the living ship's next course was unknown.
• Sno left with Sera and Light, and Light explained that Jack wanted Nomila and Barbosa to exhaust each other because either outcome would endanger Jack.

As gray moss and a growing danger spread through the ship, Sno continued playing piano in his bedroom, and Light realized the music was likely keeping a dangerous Sealed Artifact contained. A strange tapping drew closer, but Light warned Sera not to disturb Sno as the chapter ended.

• Sno soothed Heavenly Punishment after their piano music was interrupted, then admitted Light and Sera to his cabin while the gray moss spread through the corridor.
• Light told Sera that the piano music eased his sense of danger and suspected Sno was using it to seal a powerful artifact.
• Light explained that he and his disciples had left the School of Life before its branch defected to the Rose Sect, leaving them branded as traitors.
• Sera defended Sno as a fitting believer of the Church of Evernight, while Light said he had not expected Sno to belong to it.
• A strange tapping sounded closer, and Light warned Sera that disturbing Sno would be more dangerous than confronting whatever was outside.

Sno investigated the gray moss spreading through the Black Pearl and discovered that the ship was trying to come alive. He left Jack, Nomila, and Barbosa confronting one another as he examined the ship’s pulsing heart.

• Sno opened his cabin door and found the ship covered in living gray moss, then sent a thirty-six-winged Angel substitute to investigate while keeping Sera and Light inside.
• Sno tested the moss with Medz and learned that it did not affect spirit bodies.
• Sno observed that Barbosa’s polluted spirituality burned the moss, Nomila’s Sun-aligned power kept it away, and the moss seemed to avoid Jack.
• Sno suspected Jack had some control over the ship or its moss and wondered whether he had killed Salazar to claim the ship.
• Sno’s substitute reached the lowest cabin and found a beating heart where the boiler should have been, revealing that the Black Pearl was trying to come alive.

Sno discovered that the ship was coming alive and Sera connected it to the vanished Ghost Ship of the Trunsoest Empire. As the ship’s strange piano music separated Sno, Sera, and Light, Sno appeared before Light and asked about his faith.

• Sno noticed the ship’s heartlike boiler and living threads, then told Sera and Light that the ship was coming alive.
• Sera explained that Jack’s killings resembled the methods of a High Sequence Arbitrator and concluded that the ship was bound for the Ghost Empire.
• Light realized Sno had vanished, and then Sera disappeared as the piano music spread through the cabin.
• The music overwhelmed Light with corruption, but he showed no signs of losing control before Sno appeared before him.
• Sno asked Light whether he had a faith, and Light replied that fate had not yet arranged one for him.

Sera realized Light had received a ring associated with Mr. Sno’s organization, while she remained behind and wondered why she had not been invited. On the first-class deck, Mr. Sno’s music weakened the three men’s conditions as Nomila attacked Barbosa, who appeared to die but was suspected of escaping his body.

• Sera recognized Light’s black iron ring as a seal ring and recalled that Mr. Sno wore one marked “1” and “Crown.”
• Sera wondered why Mr. Sno had not invited her into the organization, while Light chose not to explain his new ring or power.
• Mr. Sno’s music intensified on the first-class deck, causing Jack to cough blood and Barbosa to begin transforming as Nomila’s condition improved.
• Nomila charged Barbosa with his short sword, but Barbosa’s body withered and shattered before the strike, leading Nomila to suspect he was not truly dead.
• Jack identified Nomila’s Sealed Artifact 2-031 and explained how it fixed Nomila’s mental state, while Nomila wrapped his sword in blessed cloth to seal it.