Chapter Summaries

Audrey and Susie entered the Devil’s Door to face its trial and found a dark, real corridor that Audrey recognized as the Ancient Tower’s sewers. After repeatedly ending up back at the same three marked forks, Audrey decided the maze must be a mystical riddle, though Susie pointed out that the trial had begun when they entered.

• Audrey used pendulum divination to judge the Devil’s Door slightly dangerous, tested it with rabbits, and confirmed they remained alive nearby before entering with Susie.
• Audrey landed in darkness, activated Spirit Vision, and reunited with Susie, who had followed her through the door.
• Audrey saw the rabbits and identified the brick corridor as the Ancient Tower’s sewer system.
• Audrey and Susie explored the corridor but repeatedly returned to the same three marked forks despite trying each path.
• Audrey concluded that the forks formed a mystical riddle, while Susie reminded her that the trial had started at the entrance.

Audrey and Susie searched the occult maze for a way out, realizing that the missing rabbits might have found a route they had overlooked. After Audrey tried the passage they had entered from, they returned to the room and discovered that the pictures above its doors had changed.

• Audrey used a hand-cranked lamp to reveal pictures of a turtle, a horse, and a butterfly above the three passages.
• Audrey lit a candle, illuminating the room and sensing many unseen watchers as Susie warned that something was watching them.
• Audrey realized that the missing rabbits might have escaped and suspected the maze was using occult forces to mislead them.
• Audrey and Susie walked back through the entrance passage, but it led them to the same room again.
• Susie noticed that the door pictures had changed: the turtle was gone and a fish had appeared.

Audrey and Susie navigated a supernatural maze whose rooms and marks were synchronized, and Audrey used divination to find the correct route. After passing through nine passages, they reached a room containing an ancient book, whose contents shocked Audrey.

• Audrey discovered that the maze duplicated marks and objects across identical rooms, while leaving living creatures unaffected.
• Audrey identified eight animal patterns and realized that divination could help her choose the correct passages.
• Susie pointed out that one pattern was a donkey rather than a horse, and Audrey chose that passage.
• Audrey continued divining through nine passages until she and Susie reached a different room.
• Audrey divined that the ancient book on a pedestal was safe, then opened it and froze at what she saw.

Audrey and Susie completed the underground trial and reached the Perrdax family castle, where Audrey received a key and blueprint. Audrey entered the castle hoping to claim control of it and find clean clothes before dinner.

• Audrey read the trial notebook and learned that it described her progress through the maze, including an ambush by a fish-headed monster.
• Brilliant Diamond defeated the monster, and Audrey used the notebook to confirm that it was recording the trial.
• Audrey and Susie emerged from an underground river into a valley and saw the Perrdax castle.
• Audrey found a castle blueprint and a Black Key on the notebook’s final page, then took the key as a physical object.
• Despite Susie’s concerns about danger and time, Audrey unlocked the castle and was amazed by its interior.

Audrey and Susie entered the Perrdax family’s castle, where Audrey found Sno waiting in the study that served as its control hub. After he offered them the castle’s servants and a place to clean up, he embarrassed Audrey by teasing her about fighting the Tentacle Monster.

• Audrey followed the castle map to the third-floor study, explaining to Susie that she wanted to reach the castle’s control hub.
• Audrey entered the study and froze when she recognized Sno reading a familiar book in the control chair.
• Sno told Audrey that the valley and ancestral residence still belonged to the Perrdax family, not the Hall Family.
• Sno rang a bell to summon the castle’s tiny servants and offered Audrey a bathroom and clothing.
• Audrey hurried out of the study after Sno teased her about her clumsy method of dealing with the Tentacle Monster, while Susie stayed behind to hear his offer of cleaning services.

Audrey recovered from her embarrassing trial and explored Sno's castle before preparing to return home. Sno explained how she could visit again with the key, and Audrey reluctantly returned the notebook recording her embarrassing history.

• Audrey calmed herself in a guest bathroom, enjoyed the magical bathtub, and quickly bathed before returning to Sno's study.
• Sno saw Audrey in a casual suit and offered to take her back to the Hall Family after dinner, but she insisted on leaving before then.
• Sno told Audrey that the castle could teleport her to the Ancient Tower and that she could keep the key to visit again and summon servants.
• Sno asked Audrey to return the notebook so the trial hall could make another one, and Audrey reluctantly handed it back.

Audrey returned from the castle and hurried home, while Sno continued expanding the castle and explained how he had prepared it for Klein. The chapter ended with Sno’s defense of Audrey’s decision to explore the hidden rooms, arguing that her actions fit her upbringing and adventurous personality.

• Audrey returned to the Ancient Tower, noticed the little people’s care had left her fur smoother, and rode off with Susie to get home before it was too late.
• Sno inspected the manor near the castle and concluded that the Russian Priest could not have arranged the area’s history a century in advance.
• Sno summoned the little people, whose monkey-controlled workers continued farming and building around the castle.
• Sno explained that he had repurposed the World earring’s stand-ins and used True Creator authority to give the castle’s shadow the characteristics of life.
• Sno revealed that the unfinished castle and its illusory books had been prepared for Klein, but Audrey had discovered the hidden rooms first.
• Sno argued that Audrey’s belief in her family’s land rights and her love of adventure made her exploration understandable from her perspective.

Audrey returned to Black Swan Castle with Susie and met its butler, Sebastian, while Sno was away. Sebastian showed her to the observation deck and offered her tea and pastries.

• Audrey asked Mera to bring her yesterday’s outfit and hunting clothes, then reminded the manor servants that she had not asked them to wash a suit.
• Audrey rode to the Ancient Tower, found the book “Granting Registers (Part One)” on its shelf, and used the black key to activate the teleportation gate.
• Audrey and Susie arrived at Black Swan Castle, where Sebastian greeted Audrey as “Madam” and said Sno had gone out on business.
• Audrey asked to look around the castle, and Sebastian led her to the third-floor observation deck and offered tea and pastries.

Sno traveled to Bayram after a believer reported capturing a woman pursued by several factions. He paid the captors 1,500 pounds for her and told them to distribute the reward without causing disputes.

• Sno arrived in Bayram and asked Lonandi where the captured woman was.
• Lonandi explained that Kaspars, whose codename was Randell, was away because Sanguine had appeared at sea.
• Lonandi led Sno to a warehouse, where he found a red-haired woman weakened by a stand ability that had halved her muscular strength.
• Sno learned that Giant Strength Ozil had offered 1,000 pounds for the woman and that the Sea God Church had offered an Extraordinary Item.
• Sno gave the captors a 1,500-pound Backlund Bank check and instructed them to divide the reward without causing disputes.

Sno took Helene from her captors and brought her to an apartment, where he fed her while Klein noticed her beside him through the Gray Fog. The chapter then laid out the requirements for spreading Mental Corruption through a family badge.

• Sno ordered his men not to clash with the Sea God Church and took Helene with him.
• Sno carried Helene through Bayram unseen, brought her to an apartment, and summoned a meal through a Gate of Light.
• Klein heard Sno's prayer, saw Helene beside him Above the Gray Fog, and began considering how to ask Sno about her.
• The chapter explained that a corrupting badge would require an Angel-level endpoint, complex mystical design, and a continuous response from that endpoint.

As the Tarot Club assembled, Klein considered how to ask about Red-haired Eileen, while Leonard decided to take charge of the Fool investigation. Madam Hermit joined the meeting and learned the members’ codenames as they shared Roselle’s Diary pages and other information.

• Klein wondered whether Mr. Devil had come to Bayram specifically to find Red-haired Eileen and decided to ask about her through his Mr. World persona.
• Soest discussed a telegram reporting that the Fool had struck a swindler dead with lightning, and Leonard chose to handle the investigation himself.
• Audrey greeted the Tarot Club members in joining order, helping Madam Hermit learn their codenames.
• Madam Hermit examined the members and reacted with shock when she heard them exchange Roselle’s Diary pages.
• Klein read the new diary pages and found Roselle’s romantic conquests instead of the history he had expected.

Klein read Perrdax's diary and learned about his extravagant Black Swan Castle and his efforts to create a virtual community through the Sea of Collective Subconscious. The diary ended with Perrdax describing how he captured and “educated” a Dreamwalker into becoming a Sequence V Chambermaid, leaving Klein stunned.

• Klein realized Emperor Roselle had stolen the Antigonus Family Notebook and wondered where Trissy had taken it.
• Klein connected the Sunset Shut-in Group and the Creator to Sno's account of Transforming Deities and grew curious about what Senior Perrdax had left behind.
• Klein read that Perrdax built Black Swan Castle using more than a hundred Beyonder Characteristics, including five Sequence Six characteristics.
• Perrdax described trying to build a virtual community by modifying the Sea of Collective Subconscious after the Scholars' network proved unsuitable.
• Perrdax wrote that he found a Dreamwalker, spent half a month adjusting and educating her, and obtained a Sequence V Chambermaid, shocking Klein.

Klein read a diary entry about a Chambermaid seeking a Mind Dragon, then the Tarot Club members traded information and assessed Madam Hermit's place in the gathering. The meeting ended with Sno revealing that Yilian was in his hands, prompting Audrey to realize he was referring to her exploration of his home.

• Klein read Mr. Panredax's diary entry and noted that the Chambermaid had sought a Mind Dragon in the Sea of Collective Subconscious.
• Alger worried that Madam Hermit might displace him as the Tarot Club's source of information about the sea.
• Emlyn said he had obtained the cash for the Vampire Baron's inheritance and offered to send Sno his share through Mr. Fool.
• Cattleya identified the red-haired Yilian as a fallen noblewoman of Intis's Solen Family who had been captured by Sickness Maiden Tracy.
• Sno revealed that Yilian was currently in his hands and hinted that she had mistaken his home for an abandoned ancient castle to explore.
• Audrey blushed as she realized Sno was referring to her.

Audrey described her dream journey through the Sea of Collective Subconscious, where she encountered a powerful Mind Dragon, and asked whether the dragons’ Miracle City Luvid might be hidden there. The Tarot Club members warned her against exploring further, while Klein continued investigating what Sno knew about the dragon and arranged to question Red-haired Eileen.

• Audrey explained that she had followed traces of a Mind Dragon and recounted her dream journey to the dragon in the Sea of Collective Subconscious.
• Audrey asked whether Miracle City Luvid might be hidden in the Sea of Collective Subconscious, and Mr. Hangman and Madam Hermit warned her that exploring it was dangerous.
• Klein watched Sno’s expressions and concluded that he knew special information about the Mind Dragon, likely because of the Perrdax family’s connection to Spectators.
• Madam Hermit identified Omebella as the Goddess of Harvest and queen of the Giant King’s Court, leaving the Sun speechless and pleasing the Moon.
• The World asked Sno to help him question Red-haired Eileen, and Sno agreed to provide his current address before the Tarot Club ended.

Klein warned Audrey not to read a dangerous book and discovered she was staying at the Perrdax family’s ancestral home, a place that seemed able to resist mystical observation. Curious how Audrey had found it, he began a divination to learn the process.

• Klein entered Danitz’s dream, then returned Above the Gray Fog and contacted Miss Justice through her Crimson Star.
• At Black Swan Castle, Audrey asked a maid for more entertainment books and received Beware of Spectators, which she began to read.
• Klein appeared to Audrey through the Gray Fog, warned her not to proceed rashly, and told her she could recite his name if she encountered danger in a dream.
• Klein recognized that Audrey was at the Perrdax ancestral home and realized it might be the Devil’s ancestral residence.
• After the castle weakened his observation, Klein began divining how Audrey had found the Perrdax ancestral home.

Sno arranged to draw Klein toward an ancestral house while considering changes to his trials, and Klein arrived with Danitz at the address. The chapter left Danitz nervously knocking on the door as Klein reflected on the earrings Bernadette was collecting.

• Sno received Klein's letter, sent Dodo to deliver an address, and told Helene that someone was coming for her.
• Klein and Danitz walked through a neighborhood where decoy users watched them, and Klein's Sun decoy made the locals friendly.
• Danitz told Klein about a water-and-electricity-controlling earring engraved with Rochard Language and rumors that Queen Mystic was collecting such earrings.
• Klein suspected Bernadette was gathering the earrings because their inscriptions might reveal connections to Roselle and the twenty-two pathways.
• Klein urged a reluctant Danitz to knock on the door at the address.

Audrey read the detective novel Beware of Spectators and grew unsettled as she suspected a hidden Spectator was manipulating its cases. Susie’s grooming session interrupted her reading, and Audrey decided she should ask Mr. Devil before borrowing the book because it contained so much Beyonder knowledge.

• Danitz entered the house behind Gehrman Sparrow after the red-haired woman stepped aside respectfully for Gehrman.
• Audrey read Beware of Spectators and admired its clever use of Beyonder abilities and practical mystical knowledge.
• Audrey reread the cases, suspected every character of being a Spectator, and began to feel watched and manipulated by the novel.
• Audrey theorized that the nine cases might correspond to the Spectator pathway’s Sequences, but realized she did not know the higher Sequence names.
• Susie returned from the pet bath with freshly fluffed fur and told Audrey that Miss Maria said it would return to normal in the wind.
• Audrey chose not to borrow Beware of Spectators yet and decided to write to Mr. Devil for his opinion.

Klein left Sno’s residence with Danitz after arranging for Sno to keep Helene out of sight and receiving a talisman as a warning about Tracy’s powerful backing. Sno then offered Helene a long-term maid job, while Klein ordered Danitz to remember what he had asked Helene so he could convincingly impersonate her.

• Sno told Klein that he planned to retrain Helene as a maid, and Klein understood that she would remain hidden; Sno asked Klein to sell him Tracy’s Beyonder Characteristic if Klein killed her.
• As Klein and Danitz left, Sno tossed Klein a talisman and warned him that Tracy’s backing was dangerous.
• Sno offered Helene freedom in exchange for a Sequence Seven equivalent, then proposed a paid maid position with food and lodging included.
• Klein asked Danitz to recall his questions to Helene because they would help Danitz maintain a convincing disguise.
• Danitz panicked at the thought of dressing up as a Red Maid, and Klein stopped teasing him before secretly planning to use dream suggestion to keep him quiet.

Sno brought Helene to Black Swan Castle and ordered the ghost maids to train her as a Perrdax family maid. While Sebastian reported on the estate’s progress, Sno prepared forged scriptures and histories about the True Creator, and Helene began her unexpectedly extensive maid training.

• Sno introduced Helene to Sebastian and had three ghost maids drag her off for a bath and training.
• Sebastian reported on Audrey’s return, the pet facilities, the Insect Nest, and the dungeon’s construction schedule.
• Sno checked the Living Map and planned to use Chaos Aura and Sequence Three abilities to conceal the castle and dungeon from K’s divinations.
• Sno dictated and wrote forged scriptures, doctrines, and secret histories about the True Creator for the Aurora Society.
• Helene stopped resisting the maids’ bath and learned that her training would include everything from household skills to military tactics and assassination.

Sno returned to Backlund and gave Xio an arrow that could awaken Decoys, asking her to spread the ability as part of his advancement ritual. Xio accepted and asked him to find tasks for the idle Fors, while Fors waited at home for Xio to return.

• Sno returned to Backlund and met Xio carrying the Gluttony Marionette.
• Sno let Xio keep the arrow Viscount Grellint had given her and explained how it could awaken a Decoy.
• Sno asked Xio to spread the power of Decoys, counting each person she helped awaken as a task.
• Xio accepted the commission and asked Sno to give Fors tasks because Fors had been idle while waiting for a circus to arrive.
• Fors sneezed while reading at home and wondered why Xio had not returned yet.