Chapter Summaries

Hobart and Alger explored the ruins of an Elven Race temple and studied murals recounting the elves’ wars, persecution, and retreat to the island. The final mural showed an Elven Saint protecting the island from a raging sea before hearing a voice from the void.

• Hobart explained to Alger how higher and lower dimensions worked, and they skirted the two-dimensional spaces while avoiding the mist.
• Hobart and Alger reached the mountain at the island’s center, found a stream and Elven ruins, and explored a well-preserved temple.
• Hobart examined a strange crystalline statue and murals depicting the Elven King fighting dragons and the Ancient Sun God.
• Hobart and Alger saw murals showing humans hunting the elves, the elves cursing the Ancient Sun God, and the Church of Storms fighting the Elven Race.
• Hobart and Alger viewed a mural of an Elven Saint containing the sea’s fury around the island before hearing a voice from the void.

Hobart and Alger explored a hidden cavern beneath an Elven temple and discovered a headless elf who revealed that an Astral World power had cursed his people. The elf asked them to kill him and stop the power’s descent, but Hobart refused.

• Hobart and Alger examined murals showing the Elven Race changing its faith and performing a bloody sacrifice, then opened a Stone Door beneath the temple.
• Hobart and Alger found ranks of mummified elves gathered around an altar marked with the symbol of the Lord of Storms.
• Hobart and Alger entered a deeper cavern filled with skeletons bearing Extraordinary Characteristics and Mystical Items, then found a headless corpse surrounded by its severed organs.
• The headless elf explained that the elves had prayed to a voice from the distorted Spirit World, which had cursed their tribe and begun descending through him.
• The elf asked Hobart and Alger to kill him to stop the Astral World power, but Hobart refused.

Hobart deduced that the sealed corpse was an evil god and refused to help it descend, then tried to escape with Alger. They fled the corpse’s lightning attack, but a hurricane trapped them in the outer cave as Hobart considered using the Cursed Jade.

• Hobart identified the corpse as an evil god’s vessel and accused the Lord of Storms of sealing it inside the cave.
• Hobart and Alger tried to escape, but the evil god stopped Hobart’s Travel and attacked them with lightning.
• Hobart and Alger dodged the lightning and reached the outer cave, where the corpse could not follow.
• A hurricane blew Hobart and Alger back toward the corpse, and Hobart thought of the Cursed Jade he had taken from the Country of Disorder.

Hobart and Alger escaped the sealed cave after the Cursed Jade awakened the elven saint’s will, then entered a mist where the real world and Spirit World overlapped. As they pressed onward, an unexplained knocking sound approached them from behind.

• Hobart had Alger throw the Cursed Jade behind them, stopping the hurricane and awakening the elven saint’s will to suppress the evil god.
• Hobart and Alger escaped the cave, bowed respectfully to the dead elves, and continued fleeing through the temple.
• They discovered thick fog covering the ruins, and Hobart explained that the evil god’s spatial authority prevented him from using travel.
• Hobart and Alger entered a barren region where their compass could not find north, and Hobart urged them to keep moving.
• A knocking sound came from the mist behind them, growing closer as Hobart dimmed his cane’s light.

Hobart and Alger encountered a ghostly ship in the fog and learned from its Sailor that it was pursuing the legendary Trensoost Empire Ship. As a terrifying force awakened aboard the wreck, Hobart claimed they were messengers from the nearby seas and explained that a storm had opened a gap in the Underworld.

• Hobart and Alger followed the mysterious pounding through the fog and found a wrecked ship and a Sailor repairing its hull.
• The Sailor told Hobart and Alger that his ship was pursuing the Trensoost Empire Ship, which appeared amid lightning and clouds beyond the fog.
• Hobart recalled that the incident matched records about a trap intended for the Nether Emperor and the Night Emperor's fall.
• As a frightening presence awakened aboard the wreck, Hobart used the Spirituality Connection Wine Cup to appear undead and told the Sailor that a storm had opened a gap in the Underworld.

Hobart and Alger escaped the fog-bound island and divided their exploration spoils. They sacrificed one material to Mr. Fool to check for contamination, and transparent crystals emerged from both of them Above the Gray Fog.

• Hobart and Alger escaped the fog and returned from the Elven Race ruins to the beach, then traveled through the Spirit World to Olavie Island.
• Hobart and Alger divided the spoils, with Hobart taking the Mystical Item, Sequence 5 Extraordinary Characteristic, and ring, while Alger chose other materials.
• Hobart persuaded Alger to sacrifice the last material to Mr. Fool so He could examine their spirit bodies for contamination from the sealed evil god.
• Mr. Fool accepted the offering and pulled Hobart and Alger Above the Gray Fog, where a transparent crystal fell from each of their bodies.
• Alger recognized that the crystals resembled idols from the Elven Race temples.

Alger and Hobart returned from their encounter with an evil god’s avatar, and Mr. Fool destroyed the crystals that had recognized Him as “Mysteries.” The two agreed to share ownership of the island but avoid its cave and fog until they could safely deal with the threat; Hobart then returned to his fief and disinfected the items he had brought back.

• Mr. Fool’s Gray Fog crushed the two crystals as Hobart and Alger praised Him.
• Hobart told Alger that the Lord of Storms had sealed the evil god’s avatar in a cave, and Mr. Fool sent them back to the forest.
• Hobart and Alger agreed to share the island’s resources and stay away from its cave and fog until they could seal the evil god.
• Hobart traveled to Feneport City to buy clothes and bathe, then returned to his fief and arranged for Helen to stay at the Lord’s Manor under restrictions.
• Hobart activated the Oil Painting and sacrificed the pendant, Extraordinary Characteristic, and ring to the Country of Disorder for disinfection.

Hobart examined and named the spoils from his expedition, then concluded that the being behind the island’s two-dimensional spaces was likely the High-Dimensional Overseer. He suspected it had used the Spirit World to contaminate the Saint of the Elven Race.

• Hobart purified the Extraordinary Characteristics and planned to divide it into five portions, with Alger as a potential buyer for the Ocean Singer portion.
• Hobart identified the pendant’s powers and drawbacks, resealed it to reduce its negative effects, and named it the Ocean Pendant.
• Hobart named the other ring the Light Priest Ring and examined a golden ring bearing an image resembling Xuan Ming, which he set aside for possible future use.
• Hobart reviewed the expedition and reasoned that the island’s two-dimensional spaces pointed to the High-Dimensional Overseer’s authority over space and lower dimensions.
• Hobart speculated that the High-Dimensional Overseer had used the Spirit World to contaminate the Saint of the Elven Race.

Hobart considered how the High-Dimensional Overseer had corrupted the elves and speculated that the Trensoost Empire Ship lay somewhere in an unexplored part of the Stormy Sea. After Christine warned him that nobles were seeking marriage alliances with him, Hobart decided he needed a shield rather than a wife, but Philip reminded him that a baron was still missing a Baroness.

• Hobart reasoned that the High-Dimensional Overseer had used the Spirit World to corrupt the Elven Race's Saint and cause the island's spatial chaos.
• Hobart guessed that the Trensoost Empire Ship had been swept into an unexplored region where reality and the Spirit World merged.
• Helen flirted with Hobart over dinner, and he told her to ask the chef for whatever food she wanted.
• Hobart visited Christine, who offered to help with the secret organizations and warned that nobles wanted to marry their daughters to him for political advantage.
• Hobart returned to his fief and decided he needed a trustworthy shield and partner, not a wife.
• Philip told Hobart that, as a baron, he was still missing a Baroness.

Hobart organized his workers to mass-produce forms and considered asking Fors to become his cooperative Baroness. At the Tarot Club, Alger explained that Silver City’s leaders had deliberately allowed people to contact the exploration captain who later suffered Loss of Control.

• Hobart divided eighteen workers into two groups and nine tasks to produce three thousand forms, promising them double wages if they finished within two days.
• Hobart considered Audrey, Fors, and Xue as possible Baronesses, ruled Audrey out, and decided Fors seemed the most suitable candidate.
• Hobart attended the Tarot Club, where Alger exchanged three diary pages with The Fool and appeared excited afterward.
• Derrick told the Tarot Club that the former exploration captain had died after suffering Loss of Control.
• Alger reasoned that Silver City’s leaders had intentionally let people contact the captain and had monitored the resulting changes near the Round Tower.

Derrick recounted how Mr. Fool’s angel destroyed Amon’s avatar, and Hobart identified the worm Derrick coughed up as a Time Worm. The gathering ended with Hobart explaining its uses and warning against praying to Mr. Fool for power too soon.

• Alger warned Derrick that Silver City’s Chief might secretly monitor him after his encounter with Amon, and Derrick admitted that Amon had parasitized him.
• Derrick manifested the scenes of Amon’s parasitism and Mr. Fool’s angel destroying the avatar, shocking the Tarot Club members.
• Hobart identified Derrick’s translucent worm as a Time Worm and explained that demigods could use them to create avatars.
• Hobart said a dead Time Worm could serve as a Ritual or high-level charm ingredient, and cautioned against praying to Mr. Fool for power for the time being.

Hobart explained why Mr. Fool could not yet answer requests, while Alger helped Derrick devise a plan to expose corruption in Silver City and clear himself of suspicion. After Derrick prepared to repay part of his debt, The World asked Hobart for information about Mr. Door.

• Hobart told the Tarot Club that Mr. Fool could not respond to requests yet because He had more important matters to attend to, and Audrey inferred that His influence over reality was still growing.
• Derrick reported that Elder Loviya’s exploration team had returned from the Fallen Creator’s temple and that several members had changed; Alger identified them as corrupted by the True Creator.
• Alger advised Derrick to provoke an abnormal reaction from an exploration-team member, then explain the Time Worm as the remnant of a clash between Amon’s avatar and the True Creator’s corruption.
• The World offered Derrick a valuable item tainted by the Fallen Creator’s mental corruption, and Alger helped him finalize the plan; Derrick also planned to sacrifice seven Sequence 8 Main Ingredients to repay Hobart.
• The World asked Hobart what payment he wanted for his information about Mr. Door, and Hobart said he had gathered relatively comprehensive intelligence.

Hobart traded intelligence about Mr. Door, revealing that he was the Abraham Family’s ancestor and had been banished by the Goddess of the Night and the Lord of Storms. The trade continued with information about Mr. Door’s current state, leaving the members to learn that he had been sealed and banished after suffering contamination in the starry sky.

• Hobart offered three pieces of intelligence about Mr. Door, and Alger, Audrey, Fors, and Little Sun joined the trade alongside Klein.
• Hobart revealed that Mr. Door was the Abraham Family’s ancestor and had supported the Blood Emperor and the Tudor Empire during the Fourth Epoch.
• Hobart said the Goddess of the Night and the Lord of Storms had banished Mr. Door because they supported the Night Emperor’s Trensoost Empire.
• Audrey asked why the Night Emperor had not won, and Hobart said the answer was worth at least 5000 Pounds.
• Hobart began sharing Mr. Door’s current state, explaining that he had suffered contamination while roaming the starry sky and was sealed and banished after becoming a King of Angels.

Hobart explained that a Sequence 1 Beyonder who accommodated a Uniqueness or another Sequence 1 characteristic became a King of Angels, and warned the Tarot Club about a corrupted angel named Spike Antigonus. He also revealed that Mr. Door contacted the Abraham Family during the full moon, leaving Fors uneasy about the danger of his calls for help.

• Hobart explained that a Sequence 1 Beyonder who accommodated a Uniqueness or another Sequence 1 characteristic became a King of Angels.
• Hobart warned that learning detailed information about the being who corrupted Mr. Door could corrupt them, even though Mr. Fool protected them in the Giant Hall.
• Hobart recounted a document about Spike Antigonus, a Saint who advanced to Sequence 2 through Mr. Door's influence, was corrupted in the Astral World, and later returned to the real world.
• Audrey called Spike an emissary of an evil god, while Klein wondered whether Mr. Door had played a role in Rosell's fate.
• Hobart told Fors that Mr. Door became lucid during the full moon and tried to communicate with members of the Abraham Family.

At the Tarot Club, Hobart bought a Werewolf Extraordinary Characteristic from World and explained how those characteristics formed. The gathering ended with World seeking rare ingredients for advancement and Audrey reporting on a strange case in Backlund.

• World offered a Werewolf Extraordinary Characteristic, and Hobart agreed to buy it for 1,100 pounds.
• Hobart identified the Werewolf pathway as Prisoner and explained that Extraordinary Characteristics followed a law of conservation after Fors traded with Audrey for the information.
• World asked the members to look for a Thousand-Faced Hunter Mutated Pituitary Gland and Deep Sea Naga hair, and Klein bought five strands from Alger.
• Audrey said that two tarot cards, God of Death and Judgement, had appeared at a Backlund crime scene linked to a figure called the Emissary of Death.

At a Tarot Club gathering, Audrey reported that a suspected emissary of death had killed the human trafficker Kapin, and Klein revealed that his Blessed had obtained two valuable Beyonder characteristics for sale. Hobart bought them and recounted his dangerous exploration with Alger, leaving the Club curious about the mysterious stranded ship they encountered.

• Audrey reported Kapin's death and the witnesses' account of a pale, deathly gentleman, and Klein confirmed that his Blessed had contributed to the incident.
• Klein offered Sheriff and Interrogator Beyonder characteristics for 600 and 1,200 pounds, and Hobart bought both.
• Audrey asked Hobart and Alger about their exploration, and Hobart described their hunts and their dangerous encounters.
• Hobart explained that he had learned about two-dimensional space from a physics professor he befriended at Backlund University.
• Hobart recounted how he and Alger had escaped an evil god's scheme and how he had deceived a ghost in the fog.
• Audrey asked whether their stranded ship was the legendary Ghost Ship, and Hobart replied that it was more than a ship with a mystical reputation.

At the Tarot Club, Hobart explained the strange ghost ship and its possible connection to the Spirit World, then arranged a secret meeting with Fors and Xue in Backlund. Derrick used a contaminated item to defeat a suspicious exploration-team member and convince the Chief that his own strange behavior came from hearing the True Creator.

• Hobart described different kinds of ghost ships and theorized that the stranded ship and its crew had been caught between the Spirit World and reality.
• After the Tarot Club ended, Hobart wrote to Fors that he would visit her and Xue in Backlund that night, then summoned a messenger after tasting the cooks’ donuts.
• Derrick let a suspicious exploration-team member touch an item contaminated by the True Creator, defeated him when he lost control, and returned the item to The Fool.
• Derrick claimed he had heard the True Creator and handed over the Time Worm, causing the Chief to clear him of most suspicions.
• Fors received Hobart’s letter and hurried to discuss his planned visit with Xue.
• After making his sacrifice to The Fool, Hobart prepared to meet Fors and Xue.

Hobart asked Fors to pose as his Baroness to help him handle a woman sent to monitor him, offering her an annual salary and a contract marriage. Fors agreed, and the chapter ended as Hobart arrived to take his fiancée to his Fief.

• After attending the Tarot Club, Hobart realized he still owed Klein 860 pounds, then prepared the materials he had received and used Travel to reach Backlund.
• Hobart told Fors and Xue that he had become a Baron in the Feneport Kingdom and needed a trusted friend to help with a problem.
• Hobart asked Fors to become his Baroness so she could help him deal with a woman sent to monitor him, proposing a contract marriage and 2,000 pounds a year.
• Fors agreed to help, and Hobart said he would take her to his Fief the next morning; Xue offered to pose as her maid.
• The next morning, Hobart arrived dressed as a Feneport noble and invited the dressed-up Fors to come with him as his fiancée.

Hobart introduced Fors as his fiancée and the future Baroness, then assigned Philip and Shier tasks for the estate and a territory-wide household registration. Fors prepared for her first lunch with Helen while Hobart organized a grave for the Wright Viscount family and grain distribution for residents.

• Hobart brought Fors to the manor and announced her as his fiancée and the lady of the territory.
• Philip showed Fors her prepared room, and Hobart gave her the promised deposit and told her to rest before lunch with Helen.
• Hobart told Philip to recruit thirty workers to build a grave for the Wright Viscount family and have Roy help.
• Hobart ordered Shier to arrange household registration for the town and nearby villages, offering ten nega of grain to each resident who registered in person.
• Hobart instructed Philip to prepare registration tables, organize order and grain distribution, and find two Female Servants to assist Fors.

Hobart brought Fors to meet his adoptive father, Christine, who welcomed her and gave her a Traveler’s Gate connecting the Lord’s Manor to Backlund. After arranging plans to develop his territory, Hobart installed the gate and Fors successfully used it to return to Backlund.

• Hobart told Christine that Fors had agreed to marry him, and Christine invited her to lunch so he could meet her.
• Hobart brought a nervous Fors to Christine’s estate, where she made a good impression during their meal.
• Christine gave Fors a Traveler’s Gate that could connect to a door in Backlund, and Hobart accepted the gift on her behalf.
• Hobart asked Doffis to hire engineers to survey and design a railway and a mountain resort, and he left 1000 pounds for expenses.
• Hobart installed the Traveler’s Gate between Fors’s room and the Study, and Fors activated it with the incantation “Backlund!”
• Fors stepped through the gate and saw her friend Xue waiting in Backlund.