Chapter Summaries

Sno completed the Church of Light’s Holy Relic and joined the Tarot Club, where Roselle’s Diary revealed that The Fool’s apotheosis ritual involved guiding the era and suggested Adam was a transmigrator. The chapter ended with Klein confronting the implications of Adam’s origins and influence.

• Sno placed the Holy Relic on the altar, and the True Creator’s consciousness descended into it as the gathered believers prayed.
• Sno led the Church of Light’s mass before rushing to the Tarot Club meeting.
• Cattleya and Sno each offered a page of Roselle’s Diary, while Cattleya asked to save her question for next time.
• Klein read Roselle’s Diary and learned that guiding an era to meet one’s expectations was The Fool’s apotheosis ritual.
• Klein concluded that Adam had guided the era and wondered whether Adam was also a transmigrator.

Klein connected Senior Perrdax's diary to the dangers of Adam and George III pursuing godhood, and investigated the pollution that had affected Roselle. The diary also mentioned a mysterious God Paradox plan, while Klein prepared to hear the assembled Tarot Club members.

• Klein feared that Adam's plans and George III's advancement could bring about a devastating war and vowed not to let it happen.
• Klein inferred that Roselle had been polluted on a primitive island, possibly by the Original Moon or the Mother Tree of Desire, and noted the clues to use in a future bargain with Queen Mystic.
• Klein read that Senior Perrdax's first attempt to salvage Roselle had failed and that cleansing the pollution might require the God Paradox plan.
• Klein wondered whether Mr. Devil's actions in Intis and his joining MI9 were connected to the plan.
• Klein read Perrdax's warning that the Perrdax family might be polluted if it had become the royal family, then invited the others to begin.

At the Tarot Club, Sno explained that his doppelganger had given four members a protective mental-resistance ability disguised as a curse. Miss Justice then asked Mr. Fool about the cross, and Sno’s interest in its powers left Klein wondering what it meant to him.

• Miss Justice, Little Moon, Miss Magician, and Mr. Star asked Sno to remove their strange curses, describing the behaviors they had been forced to adopt.
• Sno explained that the ability made them resist mental interference and would disappear if they stopped resisting it for a day; he said a Spectator pathway powerhouse nearby might have prompted his doppelganger to protect them.
• Fors asked what would happen if she could not accept the ability, and Sno told her she would have to wait for him to return to Backlund.
• Miss Justice asked Mr. Fool about the cross, and Klein identified it as a relic of the ancient Sun God corresponding to Unshadowed, with powers related to Beyonder characteristics and mental corruption.
• Klein noticed Sno’s interest in the cross and wondered why he wanted it, then considered having the fake World question him.

At the Tarot Club, Klein and Sno revealed intelligence about George III’s hidden power and the first Blasphemy Slate, which Sno found in the Giant King’s Court but left untouched. The gathering ended with Derrick warned not to rush the City of Silver’s plans to escape the Forsaken Land of the Gods.

• Klein asked Mr. Star to find out whether his contact had seen the second Blasphemy Slate, and Mr. Star agreed.
• Klein told the Tarot Club that George III had secretly excavated the Blood Emperor’s ruins and colluded with the Sorceress Cult and Psychology Alchemists; Sno revealed that George III was an Archangel concealed by a Spectator.
• Audrey offered to watch for Hvin Rambis, while Xio offered help with the investigation through her Sorceress Cult defector contact.
• Derrick asked Sno about his discoveries in the Forsaken Land of the Gods, and Sno said the first Blasphemy Slate lay behind a door watched by the True Creator and three former King of Angels.
• Alger concluded that opening the door could break a stalemate and trigger another divine war, and he urged Derrick to follow his Chief’s plans, avoid unnecessary action, and pray to Mr. Fool.

Sno strengthened the Church of Light’s position in Intis and advised Mr. A to make its preaching gradual and accessible. As they discussed how to explain the True Creator’s honorific names, a sealed envelope appeared in Sno’s hand.

• Sno explored the transformed Trier and listened to a Church of Light sermon, noting passages that needed revision.
• He reflected that the Church of Light could now send its Oracles to preach across Intis because the Holy Light Cross could lend them the True Creator’s power.
• Sno visited Mr. A at Holy Light Cathedral and gave him notes urging the Church to avoid aggressive preaching.
• Sno proposed introducing the True Creator through explanations of the Lord’s honorific names, and Mr. A agreed to consider the approach.
• A grayish-green flash crossed the room, and a sealed envelope appeared in Sno’s hand.

Sno read Trissy’s warning about Katarina and decided her danger would push her toward advancing. In Backlund, Xio learned that the golden-masked man had once served her father and agreed to help her obtain a Judge formula, while warning her about the dangers of joining Sno’s faction.

• Sno read Trissy’s letter about her conflict with Katarina and recognized that Trissy was using it to signal her growing reputation and ambition.
• Sno chose not to reply, reasoning that Katarina’s pursuit would make Trissy more desperate to advance.
• In a Bridge District alley, Xio met the golden-masked man, who urged her to stop investigating Viscount Stratford and promised no one would trouble her family.
• The golden-masked man revealed that he had served Xio’s father, arranged for her to become an intelligence agent, and planned to help her obtain a Judge formula.
• Xio asked about her father, and the man described him as brave and just but also impulsive and hot-tempered.
• After Xio left, the golden-masked man told an unseen voice that she was beyond their reach and that he would not risk becoming a pawn in the factional struggle.

Audrey discovered that Hvin Rambis had hypnotized her and ordered her to investigate Xio and Fors and encourage princes’ advances, but Mr. Fool restored her memories. At the Tarot Club, she revealed what had happened, and Alger asked how they should deal with Hvin Rambis.

• Audrey noticed that Mr. Devil’s protection had vanished and realized Hvin Rambis had influenced her, so she went to her office and silently called on Mr. Fool.
• Mr. Fool restored Audrey’s memories, revealing that Hvin Rambis had entered her carriage and hypnotized her into carrying out his orders.
• Audrey thanked Mr. Fool for his protection, and he told her to go back and meet it.
• At the Tarot Club, Audrey told the members that Hvin Rambis had ordered her to arrange a meeting with Xio and Fors and hypnotize them to learn what Mr. Devil wanted.
• Xio clarified that she and Fors had received no instructions from Mr. Devil, though she had obtained an official position in MI9 with Trissy’s help.
• Alger redirected the discussion to how the Tarot Club should deal with Hvin Rambis.

The Tarot Club planned to hide its role in dealing with Hvin Rambis by making the Church of the Night Goddess appear responsible. When Hvin confronted Audrey during a staged interrogation of Xio and Fors, a mysterious castle broke his mental attack, and Sno struck him with a dragon-scaled fist.

• Audrey asked the Tarot Club how to deal with Hvin Rambis without alerting the Psychology Alchemists, and Mr. World warned that the Twilight Hermit Society might be watching them.
• Sno offered to draw Hvin's attention, while Alger suggested framing the Church of the Night Goddess for the attack; the Tarot Club refined its plan and arranged for Xio and Fors to give Audrey prepared answers.
• Audrey hypnotized Xio and Fors at Viscount Grellint's residence, then waited for Xio to visit a nearby church while Hvin secretly watched her.
• Hvin questioned Audrey and tested her with rapid questions, then invaded her mind and tried to force her to reveal her secrets.
• An ancient black castle shattered Hvin's mental blockade, and Sno appeared to punch him with a dragon-scaled fist, shouting, "Ola!"

Audrey fought Hvin Rambis while Sno von Pandax and Gehrman Sparrow waited to spring a trap. Klein turned Hvin into a marionette, and Audrey learned that Sno and Klein had been nearby all along, though Sno kept Mr. World’s whereabouts secret.

• Audrey used Fashion: Ilya and Mr. Fool’s protection to survive Hvin Rambis’s attacks, while her spirit avatar assaulted his spiritual island.
• Audrey realized Hvin wanted to control her, feigned fear, and lured him into lowering his defenses.
• Sno von Pandax and Gehrman Sparrow appeared in a black castle illusion, and Klein used Spirit Control Bullets to make Hvin his marionette.
• Audrey confronted Sno and Klein for staying hidden, and Sno said he wanted her to experience real combat.
• The group returned to Viscount Grellint’s study, where Sno picked up the fragments of Fashion: Ilya and refused to reveal where Mr. World had gone.

After sacrificing the decaying meteor, Klein worried about the mysteries surrounding the Starry Sky and the price of his advancement. He and Audrey learned why Hvin Rambis had targeted her, then Klein agreed to impersonate Sno for two days while Sno’s main body was away.

• Klein returned to Viscount Grellint’s study and gave Sno Hvin Rambis’s Beyonder Characteristic, keeping the formula and Mysterious Item as agreed.
• Klein explained that the Psychology Alchemists had hoped to exploit Audrey’s closeness to the princes, while Hvin Rambis had personally acted because he believed she would lower her guard around him.
• Sno warned Klein and Audrey not to discuss the king’s secret in the real world, fearing that Above the Gray Fog might leave a mark on them.
• Sno transformed into Hvin Rambis and explained that he had used the characteristic to simulate Hvin’s aura and fate so the disappearance would not implicate Viscount Grellint.
• Sno asked Klein to impersonate him for two days and gave him a schedule that included sending Audrey daily ball invitations; Audrey then offered to help choose other noble guests.

Klein took Audrey and Leonard into Groselle's Travels to investigate the dream remnants of its former companions and safely gather information about powerful beings and the past. After visiting several dreams, they reached Grossel's home, while Klein explained that the companions had survived and were now living outside the book.

• Klein returned home exhausted after hosting a ball as Kidd Robin while attending another as Mr. Devil.
• Klein summoned himself above the Gray Fog and confirmed he could use its power to leave Groselle's Travels.
• Klein brought Audrey and Leonard into the book to explore the dreams of its former companions and learn about the Kings of Angels, ancient history, and potion formulas.
• Klein explained that the companions were alive outside the book and working for Mr. Devil, and that he had secured their consent before exploring their dream remnants.
• Audrey gave Longzeel a beautiful dream, and the three of them arrived at Grossel's home.

Klein, Leonard, and Audrey reached the sunken Miracle City Luvid and entered the palace of Dragon of Fantasy Angwided. Inside, the hall projected their thoughts aloud and began materializing them, leaving the three struggling to control what they imagined.

• Klein identified the city as a possible Miracle City Luvid, the ancient Divine Kingdom of Dragon of Fantasy Angwided, and led Leonard and Audrey inside.
• The three flew into Angwided's enormous palace and saw the Dragon of Fantasy take shape atop a giant pillar.
• The hall projected Leonard's, Audrey's, and Klein's thoughts as voices, exposing their private reactions to one another.
• Leonard's thoughts caused an image of Klein dressed as a woman to appear on the pillar, and Audrey's thoughts revealed her curiosity about Mr. Devil.

Klein, Audrey, and Leonard examined murals in the Hall of Truth and discovered that they recorded the history of Groselle's Travels and its owners, including 0-08. They suspected the murals could shape reality, but left the hall without testing the theory.

• Klein recognized that the murals on one wall depicted the events of Groselle's Travels and the development of its book world.
• Klein, Audrey, and Leonard found murals showing the book's previous owners, its appearance above the sea, and its encounter with 0-08.
• Klein wondered what power made the murals affect reality and proposed painting a new one to test the idea.
• Leonard's thoughts wandered into teasing Klein, and Klein threatened to make him drink a Demoness of Despair potion.
• Klein called off the exploration of the murals for the moment and suggested they continue exploring elsewhere.

At the Tarot Club, Klein read Senior Perrdax’s diary and reconsidered the origins of the world, its religions, and its Beyonder pathways. His suspicions about the Creator of Silver City and the pathways connected to the underground left him with an ominous premonition.

• Klein privately fumed over Mr. Devil’s misunderstanding of his disguise while the Tarot Club members exchanged greetings and Madam Hermit reported having no new diaries.
• Mr. Devil manifested Senior Perrdax’s diary, in which Perrdax described Earth-like church prayers, wedding customs, and creation myths that seemed too ancient to have come from Roselle.
• Klein connected the diary’s claims to his knowledge of the Ancient Sun God and the Creator of Silver City, wondering whether the latter had been a transmigrator.
• Klein listed the ancient Gods and noticed that several pathways appeared to have emerged only after the Creator of Silver City appeared.
• Klein recalled the Creator of Silver City in a deep valley and sensed that the missing pathways were connected to something underground.

Klein led the Tarot Club as Xio bought two Beyonder formulas and a Judge-pathway Mysterious Item. Sno then warned the members that Feysac would launch a full-scale war against Loen within a week as part of George III’s plan.

• Klein reflected on the underground and the secrets surrounding the Gray Fog before beginning the Tarot Club meeting.
• Mr. World offered Xio the Judge and Disciplinary Paladin formulas for 2,000 pounds, and Xio agreed to buy them.
• Cattleya offered Xio a Judge-pathway Mysterious Item for 3,500 pounds, and Xio accepted.
• Sno offered a Sequence IV Assassin-pathway Characteristic and formula, prompting the members to look at Leonard and Leonard to refuse.
• Sno reported that Feysac would wage full-scale war against Loen within a week as part of George III’s plan, describing a conflict that would involve everything from commoners to gods.

After learning that war among the Gods was approaching, Klein resolved to finish acting and pursue the Scholar of Yore potion. Sno arranged for Medici to obtain a Conqueror characteristic and ordered Trissy and Adelina to distribute Sequence One Hunter Pathway dolls around Backlund, leaving them racing to build their networks.

• Klein considered warning Benson and Melissa to leave but decided they would be safer in the capital and resolved to pursue the Scholar of Yore potion.
• Sno met Medici in a warehouse, gave him information about someone he had found, and suggested Medici trade it for a Conqueror characteristic.
• Trissy and Adelina fought over their competing networks and their hopes of becoming men until Sno interrupted them.
• Sno gave Trissy and Adelina dolls bearing a Sequence One Hunter Pathway aura and ordered them distributed in sparsely populated parts of Backlund within three days.
• Trissy and Adelina promised to complete the task within two months and hurried to leave before the dolls caused trouble.

Klein discovered that the Red Angel Evil Spirit had returned to Backlund and received a cryptic warning from the God of Death before Feysac launched a major air raid on the city. As the attack began, Church forces organized evacuations, and Audrey saw a house bring down an enemy airship.

• Klein saw the Red Angel Evil Spirit beside Patrick Brane and fled before he could expose himself or endanger the Death Uniqueness’s digestion.
• Klein prayed to the God of Death, who replied, “He has come here. The land will rise with weapons,” prompting Klein to connect the warning to the Beacon of War and begin searching for the lucky pirate.
• Bishop Electra told Klein to go to St. Samuel's Cathedral for an air raid drill, but Klein soon saw Feysac airships approaching Backlund and realized the full-scale war had begun.
• Sno directed orders through the faith network as Feysac’s airships attacked Backlund, and Jana led fleeing civilians toward subway stations.
• Audrey saw a house strike a bomb, destroying the airship that had released it.

Abaddon used his accumulated training strength and immortality to attack Feysac airships over Backlund, while Duchess Georgina negotiated Sno’s support for the war. The chapter ended with Sno asking what task the kingdom truly wanted him to perform.

• Abaddon hurled sections of a tower at Feysac airships, bringing one down with the weight of the masonry.
• Abaddon’s body suffered catastrophic damage from releasing his accumulated training, but his immortality kept him alive and an Angel healed him.
• Georgina told Sno that Backlund’s defenses were active and asked him to help influence public sentiment during the war.
• Sno agreed that the Worker's Movement and Passion could help calm the public if the working class received better treatment.
• Georgina offered the Worker's Movement five seats in the House of Commons, a hereditary seat for the Perrdax family, and possible military positions for Passion.
• Sno accepted the written terms and asked Georgina to reveal the real task behind them.

Sno warned Medici that MI9 was watching him, gave him a talisman, and tested his reaction to a mysterious box. Meanwhile, Klein rejected the future George III sought through war, but Sno used The Story Written for Someone to redirect Klein toward visiting home before he left.

• Sno told Medici that he regarded the man Klein had met as a partner rather than a pawn, and Medici revealed he had sent him to find Katarina.
• Sno showed Medici a stone box that stirred his desire, then gave him an upgraded talisman and left after Medici ordered him out.
• Klein returned to Backlund, considered how George III and others would exploit the coming war, and decided he would not accept that ending.
• Sno set down his Feather Quill and wrote that Klein would meet Melissa while acting in 'Hospital Ghost Story' and agree to visit home.
• Sno explained that Abaddon's immortality depended on observation and repairs, then clarified why the airship had fallen under the weight of a house.

Sno and Lavish discussed building support in Feysac while Klein met with Bernadette in Backlund to discuss the war and stopping George III. Bernadette agreed to cooperate, and Klein suspected Adam had shaped George III’s personality to resemble Roselle’s.

• Sno told Lavish that Grossel was adapting well and could become a symbol after the God of Combat Church collapsed.
• Klein entered the Golden Theater at Serenzzo Restaurant while Chunuss and Enuni helped obscure his location outside.
• Bernadette explained how she had come to understand Roselle’s despair and suffering during his pursuit of the Black Emperor.
• Klein questioned Bernadette about Roselle’s madness and then admitted he wanted to stop George III from advancing to the Black Emperor.
• Bernadette agreed to cooperate with Klein, and he suspected Adam had adjusted George III to resemble Roselle.