Chapter Summaries

William entered the Abyssal Skin Factory disguised as the Skin Apostle Leslie Lovecod and discovered that the factory had largely shut down while its director and apostles hibernated in ancient blood. He recognized the blood therapist Enwei as the Seven Marquis, Envy, leaving him inside the Inner Sac with his identity still concealed.

• William used Leslie Lovecod’s identity to pass the skin-grease verification and descend into the factory.
• He saw the vast, mostly inactive production district and detected traces of blood in its waste and transported Skin Pouches.
• William traveled by Skin Rack into the Inner Factory, where a maid told him the factory’s staff were resting until the New Era.
• The maid led William into the Inner Sac, where Factory Director Pilvina and thirty-six apostles slept in cavities filled with ancient blood.
• Enwei introduced himself as the blood therapist and invited William to enter an empty cavity, and William recognized him as the Seven Marquis, Envy.

William infiltrated the Abyssal Skin Factory disguised as a returning apostle, discovered its residents were in deep hibernation, and escaped after Enwei tried to hypnotize him. He left Enwei searching for the identity of the vanished intruder and headed home to prepare the scene.

• William, disguised as Mr. Leslie, told Marquis Enwei that Art Kramer was hunting the Skin Apostles and asked to speak with the Factory Director.
• Enwei refused to wake the hibernating Factory Director and directed William to rest in a chamber filled with Ancients' Blood.
• William's Mad Brain blocked Enwei's hypnosis and reflected part of it, letting William escape through the Parasitic Abyss while leaving a Joint Performance VIP Ticket behind.
• William emerged outside the Abyssal Skin Factory, drained strange blood from his brain, and returned home to set up the scene.
• Marquis Enwei discovered William had vanished and found no trace of him, leaving him wondering who the intruder was.

Marquis Enwei reported an intruder at the Abyssal Skin Factory to the four surviving Marquises, who debated whether the visitor was connected to the circus or to humans. Emperor Pride ordered them to prepare for the circus and stand ready to defend the lord’s inner chamber.

• Enwei returned to the manor after failing to track down the intruder and called a meeting of the surviving Marquises.
• Naste questioned Enwei about how the intruder had bypassed the factory’s detection systems and his Blood Brain.
• Emperor Pride arrived and listened as Enwei described the incident and showed the ticket the intruder had left.
• Pride suspected the circus was behind the intrusion and said they should awaken the Factory Director if an Abyssal being threatened the lord’s inner chamber.
• Graton suggested the intruder might be connected to the humans and the person who had killed Glid, but Pride insisted they prepare for the circus.

After a month of preparation, Lorien awakened with chaos taking shape in his body, while he and Regan discussed William’s troubling changes. William then organized a performance against the bloodfolk, but Lorien declined to join and agreed to fetch Mr. Yi as William prepared to involve Ate and Catherine.

• Regan shut down the ten Brains in a Vat after detecting a signal from Lorien, and Lorien emerged from the exploding bathtub in a monstrous, chaotic form before restoring Regan with a touch.
• Lorien asked Regan whether William had changed; Regan said he trusted his friend and would support him unless William crossed his line.
• William told Lorien that the performance against the bloodfolk would begin outside the Skin Factory and that Ate would take part, but Lorien refused to join and offered illusionary support from the clinic.
• William asked Lorien to find Mr. Yi at the monastery and bring him over, and Lorien agreed.
• After leaving the clinic with Regan, William privately addressed Ate and planned to call Catherine to fill Lorien’s place in the performance.

A Bloodfolk Countess discovered a strange circus tent near the Skin Factory, alarming the nobles gathered at Emerald Manor. Meanwhile, Zede became the Acrobatic Troupe’s Fourth Troupe Leader, and word of the new circus prompted him and Jaen to react.

• The Countess spotted a red-and-black circus tent on a mountain near the Skin Factory and raised the alarm at Emerald Manor.
• Marquis Enwei, Marquis Gluttony, and Naste examined the tent, and Naste suggested sending nobles to investigate it.
• Mr. Rabbit appointed Hogney Zede as the Acrobatic Troupe’s Fourth Troupe Leader after Zede arrived in the Old World to evade the Monastery’s pursuit.
• An intelligence agent told the Natalie Sisters that the Theater and the Clown House had opened a circus near the Skin Factory, and Mr. Rabbit sent Zede to investigate.
• Jaen received the report about the circus and warned William not to do anything foolish.

The blood nobles tried to learn about the circus, but its balloon workers proved impossible to capture or interrogate. Baron Grot entered the tent and returned transformed, delivering his teacher’s invitation before exploding and leaving Enwei facing an unknown threat.

• A Count’s attempts to capture and probe the Balloon People failed because they exploded when touched and had no consciousness.
• Marquis Enwei and Naste sent Baron Grot into the circus tent under their shared control.
• Grot returned with his body and organs reversed, carrying circus tickets and announcing that his teacher invited the blood people to the performance.
• Enwei restrained Grot and discovered tickets covering his organs, including three VIP tickets.
• When Enwei tried to invade Grot’s mind, Grot’s head exploded into a vortex that absorbed nearby matter.

Marquis Enwei reported the circus’s strange tent to Emperor Pride, who decided its threat could not be ignored. After Emperor Pride sliced through the tent and nearby mountains, the tent reappeared elsewhere, still empty.

• Marquis Enwei collected the scattered tickets and discussed the circus with Naste and Graton, who urged him to stay at the manor.
• Marquis Enwei visited Emperor Pride in the tannery’s hidden church and described the tent’s strange tricks.
• Emperor Pride left the Blood Vat, reassured Marquis Enwei that the Sovereign remained stable, and inspected the tent with his twin pupils.
• Emperor Pride saw an abyss-related spiral vortex and slashed through the tent, splitting three mountain peaks and leaving the tent empty.
• A new tent appeared on another mountaintop, where Balloon People emerged and put up signs again.

Emperor Pride ordered his forces to observe the strange Circus Tent for a day rather than attack, while William and Ate prepared for their performance inside it. William revealed that another version of himself, Mr. Yi, might come to confront Emperor Pride, and sensed that his formidable teacher was approaching.

• Emperor Pride cut open the Circus Tent several times, but its contents vanished and a new tent appeared on another mountain peak.
• Marquis Enwei suspected the tent's contents were transferred into an unknown Abyssal space when the tent was damaged, while Graton described its unusual material.
• Emperor Pride ordered his forces to watch the tents for one day, avoid sending Bloodfolk inside, and attack only if the tents threatened the skin factory or New World colonization.
• Inside the theater, William and Ate discussed Emperor Pride's power, and William said another version of himself, Mr. Yi, might come to face him.
• Ate asked why William had not called for human allies, and William dismissed most humans as useless before sensing that his teacher was approaching.

William brought Zede to his theater to prepare for the Blood People’s attack and arrange Zede’s unfinished fight with Graton. Catherine warned Zede that William had been acting strangely, and the group went to meet Yate.

• Black earthworms pulled William through a hole in space, and he reunited with Zede, who asked who had taken his eye.
• William explained that he had accepted the risk of losing a concept and brought Zede to the theater using the Abyssal Structure in his abdomen.
• Zede remarked that William had changed and asked to meet his partner, so William agreed to introduce him to Yate.
• Catherine emerged from the passage, greeted Zede, and privately asked him to keep a closer eye on William.
• Catherine learned that the Blood People had not attacked yet and decided to join William and Zede in meeting Yate.

Yate met Zede in the theater and tested his strength, but Zede burst Yate’s swollen arm with a sudden force. After hearing William’s plan to draw in the blood people, Zede questioned whether they would come, and William insisted they eventually would.

• Yate renewed his body with Cancer Cells and waited in the theater until Zede arrived with an unfamiliar aura.
• Yate greeted Zede and shook his hand, discovering that his Cancer Cells could not feed on Zede’s barren corpse-like body.
• Yate enlarged his arm and struggled against Zede, while William and Catherine watched.
• Zede used a sudden burst of force to rupture Yate’s swollen arm, and Yate praised his technique as the flesh reassembled itself.
• Zede asked William what would happen if the blood people refused to attend the performance, and William said they would eventually come because the blood plague’s inferiority would persist.

Marquis Enwei discovered the circus was secretly raising the Connective Mountains, and Emperor Pride led the bloodfolk into the tent after it connected to the Emerald Manor. As the circus watched their arrival, Yate explained that Emperor Pride had refined the people he once cultivated differently into the powerful sword he carried.

• The Golden Gentleman Clown Sculpture taunted the bloodfolk and released balloons, which the Counts shot down until Marquis Enwei realized they were distracting them while the mountains rose.
• Balloon People carried cakes made from the blood shed by the Counts, and Enwei cut them down before noticing the Connective Mountains had risen about 8.7 meters.
• The circus made the mountain rise rapidly and spread a blood-red carpet to the Emerald Manor, prompting Emperor Pride to lead four Marquis and the other Counts into the tent while Enwei left a Perfect Blood Body to guard the Factory.
• William questioned why Emperor Pride’s followers looked like ordinary bloodfolk, and Yate explained that Pride had refined the people he once cultivated differently, including his consort.
• Yate warned William that Pride’s sword could injure Mr. Yi and said that Mr. Yi was his prey.

Emperor Pride led the Blood People into a forged abyss to confront the Fear Circus, after confirming that the First Abyss was not present. The two sides met in the arena as the Blood People prepared to fight, while the golden statue above the tent began to open.

• Marquis Enwei protected the Blood People from laughter that carried a powerful Mad Brain Invasion.
• Enwei identified the tent's central abyss as a forged abyss made from black slime and teleporting parasites, and Graton suspected that the special human who killed Greed Glid had created it.
• Pride confirmed that the First Abyss was absent and ordered the Blood People to descend into the abyss, whose entrance sealed behind them.
• Pride, Graton, Enwei, and Nast faced the Circus group led by a gentlemanly young man, alongside a crawling corpse, a woman with ring-shaped pupils, and Chief Clown Yat Kramer.
• At Emerald Manor, Enwei's Perfect Blood Body organized the Counts to secure the area and block Balloon People from emerging from the tent.
• The golden statue atop the Circus Tent split open, revealing strange tentacles and a fetus.

Five months earlier, William recruited At to help him target the Blood People and reach the Blood Sovereign’s hidden remains, proposing they create a child combining At’s control of Malignant Tumor with William’s Abyssal vitality. As the Blood People entered the circus, their plan produced a rapidly grown clone of At, who used its inverted body to conceal its aura and infiltrate the Skin Factory.

• William met At privately and offered to share the Blood People’s ancient treasury and pursue the qualification connected to the coffin carrying the Blood Sovereign’s remains.
• At questioned how they would reach the Blood Sovereign’s guarded remains, and William demonstrated his ability to make a diseased lamb emerge from a pregnant sheep.
• William proposed creating a child with At, using the Birth Gate and Abyss alongside At’s control of Malignant Tumor, and At agreed to cooperate.
• After the Blood People entered the circus, Marquis Enwei’s Perfect Blood Body went to guard the Blood Vat while flesh-colored mist obscured the tent.
• A smiling infant emerged from the golden statue, rapidly grew into an adult, and became a Perfect Clone through At’s collective consciousness and the Pope’s divinity.
• At used the clone’s counterclockwise-rotating vortex to invert its body and conceal its aura, then asked William if he could later kill him and fuse the ability into his main body.

William staged a theater beneath the abyss to negotiate with Emperor Pride and the blood nobles, offering to help seize the Skin Factory and later proposing a five-battle wager. The chapter ended as William laid out the stakes and prepared his team to face the blood people.

• Emperor Pride’s opening slash cut apart William, Catherine, Zede, and Art, but they were replicants created by William to buy time and warn the Emperor not to destroy the theater.
• William appeared before Emperor Pride and proposed entering the Skin Factory, sealing the sleeping Pilvina, and helping the blood people expand into the Human World.
• Marquis Enwei rejected William’s proposal, but William demonstrated his control of the Yellow Skin and argued that he could take over the Skin Factory.
• William proposed a best-three-out-of-five wager, offering his wealth and the Yellow Skin if his team lost.
• Candle Puppet Thirteen brought Art, Zede, Catherine, and Regan into the arena as William named them as his fighters.

Lorien reached the Monastery of Suffering and watched Yi Chen use the parasite Nash to absorb the heavenly iron chain. Yi Chen agreed to stay at the monastery as an executioner rather than leave Nash behind, then hurried off to investigate William and Yate’s new theater.

• Lorien flew to the Monastery of Suffering on a fake moon and saw an iron chain piercing the parasite wrapped around a familiar young man.
• Yi Chen descended to the plantation after Nash absorbed the iron chain and fell asleep.
• The warden pardoned Yi Chen but said Nash had to remain at the monastery; Yi Chen agreed to stay as an executioner.
• The warden told Yi Chen that William and Yate had opened a theater outside the tannery and asked him to help capture Yate with Princess Angelica.
• Yi Chen learned that the theater had opened just over a day earlier and rushed off to see what William was doing.

William negotiated a contest with the Blood Nobles, wagering their support in making him Factory Director if his side won. After the Soul Contract was signed, he assigned the first fighters, and Catherine and Regan entered the arena against two Blood People.

• Marquis Enwei shortened the competition to two wins out of three and threatened to destroy the tent if William refused.
• William proposed that a victory would earn him the Blood Nobles’ help in becoming Factory Director, and the parties signed a Soul Contract.
• William arranged for Zede and Art to team up, with Catherine and Regan as the other pair, despite Catherine’s protest.
• Catherine and Regan entered the arena against two Blood People, and Catherine recognized neither opponent.

William and the others faced an unknown Bloodkin prisoner, Count Baal Montoya, in the opening match against Lust Nast. Catherine hypnotized Nast with her Siren’s Song, but the match took an unexpected turn when Nast’s sleeping body awakened Catherine’s desire and the flower platform enclosed them both.

• Marquis Enwei explained that Count Baal Montoya was a Blood Plague-stricken prisoner kept in the Blood Prison, and warned the contestants not to damage his restraint armor.
• Marquis Gluttony threw Baal a massive executioner’s cleaver, which Baal took without moving.
• William privately urged Regan to be cautious, while Catherine chose to face Lust Nast and Regan prepared to fight Baal.
• Catherine used her Siren’s Song to hypnotize Nast, and a Nightmare Shadow carried the sleeping Marquis toward her flower platform.
• Catherine’s desire surged as she looked at Nast, and the flower platform closed around them as Catherine kissed her.

Catherine and Lust disappeared into Lust’s domain, leaving Regan to face Count Baal Montoya alone. Regan revealed his hidden defenses and Miss Fei, then defeated Baal with a piercing strike and a massive electrical discharge.

• Catherine fell into Lust’s embrace, and their flower seat closed around them before sinking into seawater and leaving Regan alone against Count Baal Montoya.
• Count Baal advanced and unleashed a series of increasingly powerful attacks, while Regan blocked him with an octagonal force field.
• Count Baal broke the force field with a savage bite and attacked Regan, but his blows sparked against Regan’s metallic body beneath his clothes.
• Miss Fei emerged from Regan’s spine and thrust her arm through Count Baal’s head, lifting him off the ground.
• Miss Fei discharged electricity through Count Baal until his body was charred and his blood had evaporated.

The chapter explained the Neisseria Ones’ history and their Mechanical Ascension project, which centered on Regan as their first candidate. When Regan’s Synchronization Statue was damaged and his location became difficult to trace, the Neisseria Ones sent a group toward the tannery.

• The Neisseria Ones survived in secrecy after their ancestors were nearly wiped out and developed the Theory of Ascension.
• The Neisseria Ones chose Regan for their Ascension Project, and he shared his research with them while seeking a way to ascend his brain safely.
• Regan returned to Zion to continue his research after attempts to mechanize his head endangered his consciousness.
• The Neisseria Brainers gathered at Regan’s Synchronization Statue when a powerful index fluctuation appeared and a wound split its metal body.
• The Neisseria Brainers found that the statue could provide only blurry coordinates for Regan, so a cloaked group headed toward the tannery.

Regan faced the Blood Prisoner, whose restraints broke and revealed Count Baal Montoya's true form, Blood Boil. As Baal's rage made him faster and stronger, Regan's psychic attack failed to stop him, and Baal sliced away half of Regan's head.

• Yate studied Regan's metallic body while warning William that Baal might unleash a massacre.
• Regan stopped Fei from attacking the Blood Prisoner and ordered her to execute Protocol Q as the prisoner's restraints began breaking.
• Fei withdrew into Regan's back, and Baal's blood-and-metal body emerged from the giant blade as Blood Boil.
• Baal relentlessly attacked Regan, shattered his force field, and cut his metal body while growing stronger with rage.
• Regan exposed his inflamed brain and fired a psychic cannon that killed spectators but only enraged Baal further.
• Baal crossed Regan's force field and sliced away half of his head, while the blood plague invaded and devoured the Nesser Mycelia.