Chapter Summaries

At a Tarot Club gathering, Klein read Roselle’s final diary pages and learned his warnings about transmigrators, pathways, and the moon. Perrdax’s diary began with a bizarre account of a mechanical double, then suggested Roselle had chosen death to escape something.

• Klein summoned the Tarot Club and was surprised by the spirituality required to bring Mr. Devil to the gathering.
• Madam Hermit and Mr. Devil submitted three pages of Roselle’s Diary, and Klein read Roselle’s statement that his mausoleums were complete and there was no turning back.
• Klein read Queen Mystic’s note and Roselle’s final message warning a fellow transmigrator to choose a pathway carefully and beware of the moon.
• Klein read Perrdax’s account of using Spirit Pile-up Spirit Channeling on a mechanical double after a demigod of the All-Knowing Pathway brushed him off.
• Klein saw Perrdax’s conclusion that Roselle had chosen death himself and wondered whether Roselle had used the Black Emperor’s resurrection ability to escape corruption or madness.

Klein read Senior Perrdax's account of Roselle's dangerous mausoleum and heard Cattleya ask whether the Emperor could be revived. At the Tarot Club meeting, Miss Magician offered to rent Lemann's Travel Notes, and Sno revealed he had obtained a Sequence Two Life-Giver characteristic and invited Mr. Moon's elders to negotiate.

• Klein read Senior Perrdax's warning that Roselle's mausoleum was on a dangerous island and that only someone who had become an Angel should attempt to revive him.
• Cattleya asked whether Emperor Roselle might still be alive, and Klein answered that he was dead but could perhaps be revived.
• Miss Magician offered to rent Lemann's Travel Notes for three hundred pounds per use, with added fees for longer rentals and a requirement to record more Beyonder Abilities.
• Sno announced that he had acquired a Sequence Two Life-Giver characteristic and invited Mr. Moon's elders to offer a reasonable price for it.
• Emlyn asked about the Sanguine and the Ghost Empire's inheritance, and Sno said the matter had been resolved before the Sanguine could act while MI9 suffered heavy losses.
• Sno told Emlyn that interested elders could send a meeting address to 72 Williams Street, Backlund.

Emlyn won the Sanguine’s hunting competition and told Nabeus that Sno was offering to trade a Life-Giver Characteristic. Meanwhile, Sno arranged to make three charms for Bernadette, then suddenly lifted her veil to collect his payment.

• Emlyn killed two Artificial Vampires who believed in the Moon, then went with Emily to the Audra Family villa.
• Cosmi announced that Emlyn had won the hunting competition, earning a place on the Viscount advancement list, ritual assistance, and a ring, along with three thousand pounds for the two Beyonder Characteristics.
• Emlyn told Nabeus that someone had a Life-Giver Characteristic to trade and gave him Sno’s contact address.
• Sno accepted a Worm of Time-like material from Bernadette and promised to deliver three charms the following night.
• Sno appeared in front of Bernadette, lifted her veil, and lowered his head to collect his payment.

Sno performed a careful ritual to create three Ship of Theseus charms using Paradox’s power. He then considered how his unstable sense of existence could endanger his future Sequence Two advancement, which required him to appear to die before a huge crowd.

• After Bernadette vanished from the restaurant, Sno returned home and began preparing a complex ritual.
• Sno invoked Paradox and used mercury and Bornova’s Spirituality Material to create three charms engraved with an eye and a sailboat.
• Sno finished the ritual and meditated to strengthen his awareness that his own existence was real.
• Sno recognized that the Sequence Two ritual required him to die under the gaze of many spectators, and that their belief could make his apparent death real.
• Sno concluded that he would need his own perception of being alive to overcome the beliefs of at least one hundred thousand ordinary spectators.

Sno negotiated with Nabeus for Sanguine support if Lenburg’s war against Intis led to Trier’s fall, hoping to restrain the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun while he pursued a Sequence One opportunity. Nabeus agreed to a personal arrangement involving his descendants, and Sno offered the Sequence Two characteristic under the Evernight Goddess’s witness.

• Sno met Nabeus in a coffee shop and rejected the Sanguine’s offer of a Sequence Two Sealed Artifact because he already had the characteristic.
• Sno explained that he wanted Nabeus’s descendants to tie down the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun if Lenburg defeated Intis and reached Trier, in exchange for a Sequence Three characteristic or Sealed Artifact.
• Nabeus questioned how Lenburg could defeat Intis, and Sno cited Intis’s republican system and the Iron and Blood Cross Order.
• Nabeus agreed to a personal promise that would involve only his descendants, not the entire Sanguine race.
• Sno revealed a Sequence Two characteristic and an emblem of the Evernight Goddess, requiring Nabeus to sign a contract under a true God’s witness before taking it.

Sno assessed how Intis’s arrogance and political divisions would lead to defeat, then arranged with Nabeus to draw the Sanguine into the conflict. He wrote Mr. A instructions to shape public opinion against the ruling class and sent an Unshadowed formula, while considering Nabeus’s strength and readiness to advance.

• Sno reasoned that Intis’s republican rulers would distrust the Solen Family and that its churches and hidden allies would not give it decisive support against Lenburg.
• Sno concluded that a war and the resulting unrest would create an opening for the Worker’s Movement, and that involving Nabeus and the Sanguine was worth the cost of a Sequence Two characteristic.
• Sno wrote Mr. A that they should spread the impression that powerful countries were hollowed out by their elites, and included an Unshadowed formula.
• Sno summoned Duoduo and sent the letter to Mr. A, asking whether it remembered the crazy beauty from Intis.
• Sno considered Nabeus’s standing among the Sanguine and concluded that the veteran High Summoner was likely prepared to advance as soon as he obtained the characteristic.

Klein asked Arrodes how to disguise himself as one of the corrupted guards behind the Chanis Gate and learned he would need to sacrifice a marionette to the Sealed Core’s corruption. Meanwhile, Earl Hall moved Audrey’s return to Backlund forward, and Emlyn won the Sanguine Hunting Competition.

• Klein summoned Arrodes, which advised him to corrupt a marionette until it matched the internal guards and then contain it within his body.
• Arrodes showed Klein images of Bernadette and Mr. Devil as possible sources of help, explaining that it used a sketch of Mr. Devil because he could detect its observation and retaliate.
• Klein considered Senior Perrdax’s message and Mr. Devil’s abilities, then decided to ask Mr. Devil for help after Mr. Hanged Man explored the primitive island.
• Earl Hall told Audrey that the changed situation on the continent meant they had to return to Backlund immediately, and Audrey guessed the tensions involving Feynapotter, Intis, Lenburg, and Feysac were connected.
• Baron Cosmi announced that Emlyn White had won the Hunting Competition after hunting three targets, while Emlyn silently celebrated his victory.

Klein arranged for Alger to meet him and Sno in Bayram, then the three traveled through a portal to a primitive island. The chapter ended with a discussion of the political and military realities of the Fifth Epoch.

• Klein received Alger’s message from Bayram and arranged a midnight meeting at the cemetery.
• Alger found that Gehrman Sparrow’s earlier destruction had changed the terrain outside Bayram before Sno introduced himself as the Devil.
• Gehrman and Sno traded barbs, leaving Alger feeling out of place among their powerful, familiar partnership.
• Sno opened a portal to the primitive island, and the three traveled through it to the edge of a forest.
• The narration challenged claims about national alliances and explained that ordinary armies remained the main force in Fifth Epoch wars.

Sno separated from Alger and Klein in the Black Forest, then sought out Adam to request Divine Child Adam’s blood. When Adam did not answer, Sno explored alone and killed a demigod-level Lady Spider, planning to search for a Lamia’s heart next.

• Sno gave Alger his honorific name and told him and Klein to call for help if they encountered danger, then vanished to take another route.
• Alger recognized that Sno had likely advanced to Saint, while Klein considered what Sno’s honorific name revealed about his identities and its risks.
• Sno called out to Adam and asked for Divine Child Adam’s blood, but received no response and began exploring the Black Forest.
• Fist-sized spiders attacked Sno and spread a disease, which he countered with Sun Domain power before disrupting the surrounding spiritual structure with his Chaos Aura.
• A demigod-level Lady Spider attacked Sno, but he appeared behind her, pierced her heart, and killed her with a curse.
• Sno noted that Lady Spider’s egg sac could serve as a main material for Demoness of Despair and set out to look for a Lamia’s heart.

Sno killed a Medusa and found that his potion acting still limited his advancement, while Klein and Alger discovered a painting depicting Kings of Angels devouring the Ancient Sun God. Their discussion was interrupted when three corpses rose from their coffins.

• Sno secretly transformed Medusa into a sheep, killed her, and collected the Beyonder Characteristic she precipitated.
• Sno reflected that his Silent Disciple potion required more acting and searched the ruins for a demigod-level Feathered Serpent.
• Klein and Alger entered the Underground Burial Hall and saw a painting of three Kings of Angels devouring the Ancient Sun God.
• Klein told Alger that the Eternal Blazing Sun had close ties with the White Angel, leading Alger to treat the painting as proof that the figures were Kings of Angels.
• Three twisted corpses burst from their coffins and rose before Klein and Alger.

After escaping the vanished island with the spoils, Klein asked Sno for help infiltrating Chanis Gate. Sno offered two ways to fake corruption by the Night Pathway, leaving Klein to consider sacrificing one of his marionettes.

• Klein and Alger fled the cathedral after a mysterious sigh, while Sno stayed behind to collect corpses from the hall and its coffins.
• Sno reappeared at the cemetery carrying six corpses, and the three divided the spoils.
• Sno gave Klein a wanted pirate to feed to Creeping Hunger and asked him to arrange a meeting with Reinette Tinekerr about the High Sequence of the Alien Species Pathway.
• Klein asked Sno how to appear corrupted by the Sealed Core behind Chanis Gate, and Sno described two methods involving the Night Pathway.
• Sno said the more reliable method would corrupt Klein's Vengeful Spirit Pathway marionette within two months, while privately taking pleasure in Klein's reaction.

Klein accepted Sno’s proposed method but postponed acting until after the next Tarot Club gathering. Bernadette told Sno that Ship of Theseus had left Bornova with the intelligence of a young child, and Sno agreed to prepare another charm for him.

• Klein accepted Sno’s second option but decided to wait until after the next Tarot Club gathering before acting.
• Bernadette summoned Sno and explained that Bornova had regressed to having the intelligence of a five- or six-year-old.
• Bernadette revealed that her first charm had restored Bornova to his eighteen- or nineteen-year-old self, and he had spent two days at White Little Flower.
• Bernadette admitted that she had used Ship of Theseus on Bornova again, leaving him in his current state.
• Sno took the prepared Spirituality Materials and promised to deliver another charm to Bernadette the following night.

After returning to Backlund and being released from MI9’s custody, Cons attended Viscount Grellint’s salon to recover from his isolation. He mistook Audrey for Madam Integra, leaving Audrey curious about the woman he feared.

• Cons returned home after a week of confinement and interrogation by MI9.
• Cons went to Viscount Grellint’s salon, seeking the bustle of other people.
• Cons dropped his wineglass and called Audrey “Madam Integra” when he saw her from behind.
• Audrey turned around, and Cons realized he had mistaken her for someone else.
• Audrey noticed Cons’s lingering fear and wondered who Madam Integra was and why Cons had confused them.

Cons told Audrey about meeting Integra, a woman who resembled her, while Audrey concealed her suspicions about his mission. Sno then summoned Reinette Tingenicol and paid her for the acting method for Silent Disciple.

• Cons asked Audrey whether she had recently prayed at church after realizing Integra resembled her in bearing.
• Audrey learned that Cons had encountered Integra during a mission on the Sunia Sea and heard that Captain Novat suspected Integra was from a hidden family named Belmont.
• Audrey inferred that Cons's mission involved secret events but concealed her thoughts and changed the subject.
• Sno received a message from Kidd Robin that Reinette Tingenicol had agreed to meet with him.
• Sno summoned Reinette and asked for the acting method for Silent Disciple.
• Reinette asked for one thousand Rune Gold Coins that had circulated for a long time, and Sno paid her.

Sno learned that a Silent Disciple bore curses as part of the Alien Species Pathway’s preparation for advancement, then asked True Creator to place a curse near the limit of what he could endure. The curse transformed and distorted Sno’s body, though he remained in control.

• Miss Coconut Egg Tree explained that the Temperance Faction bore curses, and that Silent Disciples imprisoned curses within themselves.
• Sno realized that enduring curses could prepare Alien Species for advancement and explain why Silent Disciple suited his needs.
• Sno offered Reinette Tinekerr a silver charm to aid her recovery, but she declined it and returned through the candle flame.
• Sno prayed to True Creator for a curse close to the limit of what he could bear.
• True Creator’s curse made Sno’s skin peel and his body collapse into black mist before he rebuilt himself in a visibly distorted state.

Xio worried that she was being watched and kept watch over Fors, whose recent advancement and involvement in a gathering concerned her. After Fors discovered Xio outside her window, Xio asked to join the circle Fors belonged to, and Fors said she could ask about it.

• Xio visited a bar and discovered that Sherman had become Shermane, a woman through a Stand ability.
• Xio returned to watch Fors and worried that Fors's new Beyonder Characteristic might provoke Mr. Sno's hostility.
• Fors sensed Xio outside her window and confronted her, revealing that her Astrologer's Spiritual Intuition had detected Xio's gaze.
• Xio claimed she had been followed by the Aurora Society, and Fors said she would ask about it later.
• Xio questioned Fors about her advancement and asked to join her circle, and Fors said she could ask for her.

At the Tarot Club meeting, Klein read Perrdax’s diary about an elf woman whose memories suggested the elves might descend from multiple transmigrators. Perrdax confirmed the Western Continent existed, and Klein resolved to sell Frank Lee the Druid potion to advance the search for it.

• Miss Justice and Mr. Devil gave Mr. Fool four pages of Roselle’s Diary, while Madam Hermit offered none.
• Klein read that Mental Stitch Monsters could leave high-sequence mental imprints and reflected on Mr. Devil’s ability to purify potion residue.
• Klein read Perrdax’s account of meeting Sonia Wilson and seeing traces of an ancient elf civilization that resembled his homeland.
• Perrdax wondered whether the elves descended from a group of transmigrators and confirmed that the Western Continent existed beyond the Fog Sea.
• Klein concluded that finding the Western Continent required liberating the Eastern Continent and decided to sell Frank Lee the Druid potion.

At the Tarot Club, Sno requested an Angel’s blessing for an upcoming battle, while Mr. World offered Beyonder characteristics for sale and commissioned an Extraordinary Item. The meeting ended with several trades arranged and Emlyn learning that the Artificial Vampire characteristic he wanted carried severe Mental Corruption.

• Sno asked Mr. Fool to bless a Holy Relic with an Angel’s power, and Mr. Fool agreed; Audrey asked about the new Card of Blasphemy, and Mr. Fool revealed it was the Tyrant.
• Mr. World offered to sell a Mentor of Disorder characteristic and have Sno turn it into a Mysterious Item; Audrey asked for a week to consider buying it.
• Mr. World asked Sno to process an Ocean Songster characteristic for naval and aerial combat, rejecting Sno’s suggestion to make a costume-type item.
• Mr. World offered Cattleya a Druid characteristic for 8,000 pounds, and she agreed to buy it within a week.
• Justice and Hanged Man exchanged Hallucinatory Wind Chime Tree fruits, while Mr. World discussed Mythical Creature blood with Hermit and Magician asked about the Curse of the Ancient Wraith and Residual Spirituality.
• Emlyn asked Derrick about an Artificial Vampire Sequence V characteristic, and Derrick warned that it had severe Mental Corruption; Mr. Devil offered a paid method to remove the corruption.

Sno explained how he deceived the Night Emperor to obtain a Sequence Two characteristic, while Klein used Audrey’s discovery of a Mind Dragon to introduce the Tarot Club to anchors and the role of faith. Alger then shared a mural of the Kings of Angels devouring the Creator of Silver City, leaving the members to consider its connection to the Ancient Sun God and the True Creator.

• Audrey asked Sno how he had obtained the Sequence Two characteristic, and Sno explained that he had deceived the Night Emperor Trensost during the resurrection scheme involving Ghost Empire.
• Sno described how powerful Beyonders used descendants and other means as anchors for resurrection, then recounted how he posed as an Angel's avatar and persuaded the Night Emperor to give him the Life-Giver's characteristic.
• Audrey told the Tarot Club about the Mind Dragon, and Klein used The World to suggest that dragon-worship customs helped stabilize it and that changes in those customs could signal its activity elsewhere.
• Klein prompted the Tarot Club to consider why the gods spread their faith, and Alger shared a mural depicting the Kings of Angels devouring the Creator of Silver City.
• The Tarot Club discussed whether the mural distorted the legend of the Three Gods, and Sno identified the baby in it as the True Creator before connecting the image to the Ancient Sun God’s rise and reclaimed authority.

The Tarot Club discussed the City of Silver Creator and the Three Gods, then Fors asked Mr. Fool to consider admitting her friend. After the gathering, Klein visited Sno to prepare for his move against the Church of Evernight, only to witness Sno transform into Kamen Rider Soul Requiem Master.

• Mr. Star and Cattleya speculated that the Three Gods had devoured the City of Silver Creator’s separated Beyonder Characteristics, while Fors wondered about Mr. Devil’s plans.
• The Little Sun admitted he had not investigated the former Chief’s mausoleum, and Alger advised him to make more friends.
• Fors asked Mr. Fool to let her recommend a friend for the Tarot Club, and Klein said the friend would need to pass a test before ending the gathering.
• Sno stabilized his curse-strained mental state with anchors from his believers, while The Little Sun, Huang Jiajia, and Sno went their separate ways after the meeting.
• Klein visited Sno and said he planned to make his move soon; Sno agreed to preserve Klein’s Admiral of Blood marionette for up to two months.
• Sno put on a transformation belt and used a Crimson Moon disc to transform into Kamen Rider Soul Requiem Master, shocking Klein.