Chapter Summaries

Sno entered Emlyn White’s abandoned home and took his doll collection into safekeeping, leaving a newly made doll and a letter promising to return everything. Back at his residence, he appeased the True Creator’s evil spirit and prepared to continue making spirit-bound objects.

• Sno slipped into Emlyn White’s empty residence and found his carefully maintained dolls abandoned among the dusty furniture.
• Sno collected the dolls through a Gate of Light, then fashioned a Gothic-dressed doll and placed it in a protected display case.
• Sno left Emlyn White a letter explaining that he had taken the collection temporarily and would return it, with his own doll as collateral.
• Sno returned home, gave Lily dried fish, and arranged the dolls he had brought back.
• Sno calmed the agitated True Creator’s evil spirit and told it to switch to Spirit Guide so they could gather more spirits for their remaining work.

Xio discovered that Sno had sent Fors a signed first-edition copy of Phantom Blood and urged Fors to write a book to promote his work. Meanwhile, Sno finished a valiant, armored doll for Lily and promised to make another doll before changing the subject to playing the piano.

• Fors told Xio that Sno had asked her to promote his book for twenty pounds, which would require writing a new book.
• Xio praised Sno’s writing and argued that Fors should write instead of idling, then defended Joestar while criticizing Joseph.
• Sno dressed a golden-haired doll in armor and a battle skirt, while the True Creator reacted to his plans for future dolls.
• Sno explained that Lily had used a sacrifice ritual and the Gate of Light to send the doll materials and Sno to him.

Fors suffered a painful guilty conscience whenever she avoided writing, so Xio urged her to work and then went to seek Sno. Sno mistook Xio’s concern for an emergency, but she explained that Fors seemed afflicted by a disease that would kill her if she did not write.

• Xio found Fors writhing on the floor with a painful conscience and urged her to see Mr. Panredax.
• Fors admitted that an inner voice was urging her to write, and the pain vanished when she began outlining her story.
• Xio left the apartment and visited Sno, who was holding a doll that resembled her.
• Xio told Sno that Fors seemed to have caught a disease where she would die if she did not write.
• The chapter ended with an author’s note arguing about advertising rates, book promotions, and literary salons.

Sno explained that Xio felt guilty because of his contract, then offered her a long-term task involving a doll in exchange for credit toward her debt. Xio began carrying it around Backlund and returned home to find Fors abandoning her writing after finishing in about an hour.

• Sno told Xio that Fors could refuse her assigned task without punishment, but stubbornly refused despite finding it easy.
• Sno offered Xio a doll-related task that would offset one hundred commissions: hide the doll near a different upscale venue each day and retrieve it at night.
• Sno explained that the doll was not dangerous if left intact and could make people overlook it, and Xio agreed to take the task after confirming it was safe.
• Xio carried the doll through Backlund without attracting attention and returned to her home in Hillston District.
• Xio found Fors typing rapidly, but Fors soon declared herself finished, left the pages unproofread, and hurried to the sofa.

Fors asked Mr. Fool to appraise the doll Xio had been hired to take around Backlund, and Klein investigated the request. Mr. Fool told Fors he would send a Blessed to handle it.

• Xio returned with a doll and told Fors that she had accepted a long-term commission to take it to Backlund entertainment venues each day.
• Fors examined the doll, warned that the commission seemed suspicious, and offered to seek help appraising it through her own circle.
• Klein heard Fors's prayer while protecting a jeweler's child, then went Above the Gray Fog to investigate the doll.
• After divining about the doll, Klein sent Fors a message saying he would send a Blessed to handle it.

Klein visited Fors in Hillston District to investigate a mysterious doll she had reported, and discovered that it resembled a character from his memories and could thwart divination. After Fors refused to let him take it because of her friend’s contract, Klein asked to examine it alone using his Lord’s power.

• Klein traveled to Fors’s residence after deciding to investigate the doll before visiting Harvest Church.
• Fors greeted Klein, who introduced himself as Sherlock Moriarty and asked to see the doll.
• Klein recognized the doll’s familiar appearance and realized he had failed to notice it when surveying the room.
• Klein’s attempted divination failed, and he identified the doll’s counter-divination ability.
• Fors refused to let Klein take the doll because her friend Xio could suffer consequences under their contract, so Klein asked to be left alone with it for an appraisal.

Klein divined the doll’s origin, safety, and purpose, discovering that Mr. Devil was using it to collect diners’ emotions. He confirmed the doll was harmless for now, but could not determine what Mr. Devil planned to do with the emotions.

• Klein examined the doll Above the Gray Fog and sensed a faint, formless spirit inside it.
• Klein’s divination showed the doll had been made by someone whose hands and workshop were hidden by white mist, linking its origin to Mr. Devil.
• Klein used a pendulum to confirm that the doll was not dangerous.
• Klein’s dream showed a girl leaving the doll outside a restaurant, where it gathered diners’ feelings about food.
• Klein concluded that Mr. Devil was collecting those emotions, but his attempts to divine their purpose failed.
• Klein returned to reality and called Miss Magician to report his findings.

Sno arranged for Dawn of Wisdom to supply Beyonder Characteristics and collect two dolls, while Bernadette examined the dolls and approved the deal. Back at the True Creator’s Mutterings, Sno cared for another doll and looked forward to the next Tarot Club gathering.

• Sno asked Dawn of Wisdom to send a Wind-blessed Characteristic and arrange for two emotion-infused dolls to be taken to the sea.
• The young man agreed to collect the dolls, which were meant to absorb greed and envy.
• Bernadette inspected the dolls, found parts of their nature beyond her analysis, and took them into a spatial item.
• Bernadette ordered that Sno receive the Beyonder Characteristics in two days and dismissed objections to supporting him.
• Sno combed a mature-looking doll’s hair, calmed the True Creator’s evil spirit, and anticipated the next Tarot Club gathering.

At the Tarot Club meeting, Sno offered Alger a complete Wind-blessed formula in exchange for taking a half-finished emotion-absorbing Mysterious Item to sea. Mr. Devil explained that the item collected anger to purify contamination in Beyonder Characteristics, while Klein learned from the diary about Decoy Earrings and Arrows.

• Klein read Sno's diary entry about three Arrows that forced Decoy consolidation and twenty-two earrings that granted Sequence Seven Decoys.
• Sno offered Alger the complete Wind-blessed formula in exchange for carrying a half-finished Mysterious Item to places where people became angry.
• Audrey asked why the item collected anger, and Sno explained that emotions could purify contamination in Beyonder Characteristics.
• Klein realized that Sno's task prevented Fors or Mr. World from probing him about emotion-absorbing dolls.

At the Tarot Club, Alger accepted Sno's commission to act as a Wind-blessed puppet, and Derrick traded information about the Seven Gods for questions from the other members. He recounted the City of Silver's Creation Myth, leaving the group with the account of a nameless, chaotic existence whose awakening was believed to have caused the Dark Age.

• Audrey connected the commission's acting method to the weakening of a potion's Mental Imprint, and Alger accepted Sno's terms for handling the puppet.
• Derrick offered each member one answerable question in exchange for information about the Seven Gods, and Klein translated their answers into Jotun for him.
• Audrey, Fors, and Sno asked Derrick questions about the Devil, City of Silver customs, and Elder Lovia, respectively.
• Alger asked Derrick for the Creation Myth of the City of Silver, and Derrick described the Omniscient and Omnipotent God, the ancient rulers, and their conflicts.
• Derrick explained that a nameless, irrational existence had no fixed form and that the City of Silver believed its awakening brought the Dark Age.

After the Tarot Club gathering, Klein summoned a strange horned puppet for Mr. Devil and sent it to Mr. Hangman. Fors recorded what she had learned about the City of Silver, then received a summons from Mr. Sno, who gave her a revealing puppet to keep by her side.

• Klein divined the Master Key's origins while waiting for the Tarot Club members to complete their transactions.
• Klein summoned Mr. Devil's unfamiliar white-haired, horned puppet and told Mr. Hangman to receive it.
• Fors wrote down the City of Silver's customs and received an unsigned letter summoning her to Mr. Sno's house.
• Fors told Xio about the summons and went to Mr. Sno's house alone.
• Mr. Sno showed Fors a lavish puppet and told her to take it home and keep it by her side.

Fors brought home the doll Mr. Sno had asked her to keep, while Sno learned that Wrath could still be sensed after being sent through Origin Castle. Trissy prayed to Sno for help after suspecting the Sorceress Cult had maneuvered her into danger in Backlund, and Sno prepared to intervene.

• Fors returned to Xio with a doll and couch, explaining that Mr. Sno had told her to keep the doll at home and live with her.
• Sno learned from Heavenly Punishment that Wrath could be sensed again, easing his concern about sending Wrath's doll through sacrifice.
• Trissy prayed to Sno, and Sno responded through Heavenly Punishment, complaining that she only sought help when she needed something.
• Trissy told Sno that the Sorceress Cult had come to Backlund and might have arranged for her to be sent to an estate and placed before a man.
• Sno prepared Beyonder Characteristics and fed the All-Black Eye to Heavenly Punishment as he readied himself to help Trissy.

Trissy struggled against a force manipulating her thoughts and called for Sno to save her. Sno made her join his Lord’s faith, gave her a ring that linked her to a great existence, and prepared to confront the trouble at the royal manor.

• Trissy resisted the influence urging her to submit to the man who had imprisoned her and prayed for help.
• Sno appeared with Lily and rebuked Trissy for treating him as a tool instead of a friend or believer.
• Trissy kissed Sno’s ring and called him “Father,” accepting his offer of help.
• Sno gave Trissy a ring engraved with symbolic patterns, and she felt a spiritual connection form with a great existence.
• Sno said he would resolve Trissy’s trouble, but the bathrobe-clad owner of the manor entered and called for the guards.

Sno revealed that Prince Edsac’s sudden passion for Trissy was likely part of a scheme involving the Sorceress Cult, meant to make the prince take the blame for a catastrophe. After Edsac questioned Sno’s motives, Sno offered him a chance to pay for his survival.

• Prince Edsac tried to summon guards, but Sno warned him that calling for help was forbidden.
• Sno told Edsac that Trissy was a man and urged him to question the unnatural intensity of his sudden feelings.
• Edsac regained his clarity and listened as Sno described a deal between a kingdom leader and the Sorceress Cult.
• Sno said Edsac and Trissy were intended to become scapegoats, with Edsac blamed for aiding the cult and triggering a catastrophe across Loen.
• Edsac asked who Sno was and why he had intervened, and Sno said he had come for Trissy but had changed his mind.
• Sno brought out an Iron Cigarette Case, a furball-like object, and a jewelry box, then asked Edsac what price he would pay to stay alive.

Sno brought Bernadette to the Royal Museum, where Roselle’s old toys stirred questions about her father and his revival. He clarified that he was not a contingency plan for Roselle’s return and had not lost his memories.

• Sno discussed with Heavenly Punishment the prince and Demoness joining the faith, then prepared to make a final hidden arrow.
• Klein visited Roselle’s memorial exhibition at the Royal Museum and noticed Sno beside a veiled woman, but chose not to interrupt them.
• Bernadette told Sno she wanted to understand what Roselle had been thinking when he made his famous statements.
• Bernadette asked Sno whether Roselle could really revive, and Sno said he was not a contingency plan for her father’s revival and had not lost his memories.

Sno gave Bernadette a box of spirit-summoning earrings and received a fragment of her information in return. Meanwhile, Klein stole two bookmarks from Roselle’s exhibition before Bernadette caught him, and she confronted Sno afterward, suspecting Klein knew him.

• Sno asked Bernadette to distribute twenty-two earrings that could summon Sequence Seven-level spirits, and she accepted the box despite suspecting his plans.
• Bernadette gave Sno a small scroll containing part of her information, which he carefully stored.
• Klein used a self-summoning ritual to enter Roselle’s Restoration Study and take two bookmarks from the display case.
• Bernadette stopped Klein with an infant’s cries and questioned him, but he escaped by ending the summoning ritual.
• Bernadette appeared in Sno’s bedroom and asked what had been hidden in the bookmarks, saying she recognized Klein’s gaze and knew he knew Sno.

Sno revealed to Bernadette that the bookmark likely held a Card of Blasphemy, while she privately questioned whether he was connected to someone from her past. The next morning, Sno discovered that his Zhuang Zhou's Fish potion had been digested and prepared to pray to Mr. Fool.

• Bernadette confronted Sno about a ghost's familiar gaze, and Sno explained that the bookmark likely contained a Card of Blasphemy other than Mother or Moon.
• Bernadette left after Sno refused to say more, and she wondered whether he was the man she remembered or someone connected to a third figure called Paradox.
• Sno woke to find that his Zhuang Zhou's Fish potion had been fully digested, which he attributed to acting before Bernadette as both an Angel and a Mystery Pryer.
• Sno realized he could advance to Sequence Six and gain Concept Swap, then lit a candle and began praying to Mr. Fool.

Sno drank the Baron of Corruption's potion and survived a difficult advancement that shattered his soul into fragments, becoming Zeno's Turtle at Sequence Six. After recovering every fragment, he confirmed his new abilities and considered why the potion had been easier to digest than expected.

• Sno prepared the Baron of Corruption's characteristic, protected his basement, and drank the potion.
• The potion caused Sno's body to mutate and his soul to split into countless fragments, which he gathered back through shallow meditation.
• After six hours, Sno recovered the final soul particle and received the complete potion inheritance, confirming his advancement to Sequence Six, Zeno's Turtle.
• Sno examined his strengthened body and learned the four abilities of Zeno's Turtle: Turtle is Longer than Snake, Flying Arrow Motionless, Rabbit Cannot Catch Turtle, and Firm White Same Different.
• Sno concluded that his new abilities gave him strong combat power against Beyonders below demigod level.

Sno discovered that Sequence Six had turned his subdivided spiritual bodies into a parliament of consciousnesses, making decisions lag while he worried about his potion digestion. Meanwhile, Klein investigated the Brave Man Bar after learning Kaspars’s business had been taken over, and his coin toss guided him toward a back door after he found the new boss dead.

• Sno realized that his many spiritual bodies now held simple, conflicting consciousnesses that voted on his actions and caused him to lag.
• Sno connected his earlier Sequence side effects to preparation for later abilities and worried that imperfect digestion could endanger his Sequence Six acting and Sequence V.
• Klein read Isengard Stanton’s notice that the Devil Dog had been brought to justice and considered contacting Mr. Devil, but postponed it because it was late.
• Klein went to the Brave Man Bar to find Kaspars, but the bartender told him that someone had taken over Kaspars’s business.
• A swaggering man led Klein to meet his boss, whom Klein found dead; suspecting a possible script, Klein tossed a coin and followed his intuition toward the back door.
• The chapter explained that Zeno’s Turtle’s Sequence Six abilities could affect reality, while Firm White Same Different could only emphasize or weaken traits that already existed.

Klein found the remains of the Beyonder who had killed a gang boss, then reunited with Sharron and Marich in a carriage with Sno. Sno visited Kaspars afterward, revealed his connection to Queen Mystic, and offered Kaspars another way to gain power.

• Klein found the dismembered remains of the Beyonder who had killed a black gang boss and suspected the faction that had laid the trap had killed him.
• Klein boarded a carriage with Sharron, Marich, and Sno, then asked Sharron about books on mysticism.
• Sno left the carriage to meet Kaspars, while Sharron and Marich remained with Klein.
• Kaspars stayed in the safehouse, realizing that someone might be using him as bait to target Marich and the others.
• Sno reassured Kaspars by revealing his connection to Queen Mystic and offered him an alternative to taking Beyonder potions.