Chapter Summaries

Iver, Sherlock, and Lily questioned Hai Na about Eagle Cape Village’s unnatural stillness and her childhood in its forest. Iver realized that the village’s trees had remained unchanged despite a nearby explosion, and asked Hai Na what she had used to carve her mark.

• Iver asked Hai Na whether the village had hunters, and she explained that villagers usually got meat from herders or traders.
• Sherlock questioned Hai Na about playing in the forest as a child, and she realized her parents had never seemed worried about dangers there.
• Iver reassured Hai Na that he would continue calling her Senior and reminded her she was the Grand Arbitrator’s last disciple.
• Hai Na described carving a mark into a tree as a middle-school student and finding the tree and mark unchanged years later.
• Sherlock and Lily pointed out that the tree should have grown, while Hai Na struggled to reconcile that with her memory of the village.
• Iver noted that a nearby explosion had left the forest trees unharmed and asked Hai Na what she had used to make the mark.

Iver and Sherlock deduced that Hai Na had been given one half of the Holy Sword Arondight, which carried Lancelot’s soul shard, and used to smuggle it out of Eagle Cape Village. Iver suspected the village’s Fairy Hole hid Merlin’s Shadow of Avalon ritual and that Hai Na was a transformed vessel for Lancelot’s soul, but he began to question how her role related to his own memories.

• Sherlock challenged Hai Na’s memory of her father giving her an elven dagger, pointing out that a dwarf smith would be unlikely to give her one and that her father never asked about its disappearance.
• Iver identified Hai Na’s dagger as one half of the Holy Sword Arondight and explained that its counterpart could draw Lancelot’s soul into the shard through the Shadow of Avalon ritual.
• Iver proposed that someone disguised as Hai Na’s father had given her the dagger to smuggle it out of Eagle Cape Village, and Sherlock suspected the village was the ritual’s foundation.
• Iver theorized that Merlin’s ritual was hidden in the Fairy Hole and that Hai Na was a clone with an altered soul containing Lancelot’s shard.
• Iver wondered why Jacob had not treated Hai Na as more important, then fell silent as he connected the possibility of a soul experiment to his own memories from another world.

After the Night Parade Knights left, Iver reflected on the mysteries surrounding his memories and Jacob before falling asleep. He awoke to find the priest recovered and the damaged house restored, and concluded that the village’s frozen inhabitants could alter it only by rebuilding voluntarily.

• Iver checked that the Night Parade Knights had left, then worried over whether the Punishment Demon had survived.
• As he went to sleep, Iver considered whether Hai Na contained a Lancelot's Soul Shard and resolved to pursue the new questions about his memories and Jacob.
• Hai Na woke Iver after the house had been restored and the old priest had awakened, though she could not explain when it happened.
• Iver learned the priest had thanked him and used the Illumination Spell to soothe his headache, while Hai Na admitted she had spaced out through the night.
• Iver reasoned that the villagers were frozen in their repeated routines and could not die except through the passage of time.
• Iver realized that Jacob had rebuilt the villagers’ houses because only their voluntary participation could change the village’s layout.

Iver learned that the Haunted Inn near Alder Town housed an Earthbound Spirit sealed away by the local priest. He prepared a Death Card and headed there with Sherlock to deal with it.

• The old priest explained that the Haunted Inn was sealed off because its Earthbound Spirit could not be defeated safely and would eventually dissipate if isolated from the living.
• Iver asked for the inn’s location and decided to investigate with Sherlock while Hai Na and Lily prepared ritual materials.
• Iver prepared a Death Card with benzoin resin and grave soil, gathering other materials needed to seal the spirit.
• Iver collected muddy water from the marsh for the ritual and flew south toward Alder Town with Sherlock on Liz the griffin.

Iver, Sherlock, and Liz traveled from Eagle Cape Village toward the Haunted Inn, discovering that the Earthbound Spirit could create illusions over a considerable distance. They reached the dilapidated inn in a storm and Iver greeted its translucent clerk as an old acquaintance.

• Sherlock looked back and saw that Eagle Cape Village remained visible, while Iver considered how its barrier worked and wondered whether Alice was still at the inn.
• The group found a misleading road sign, and Iver used Purification Fire to reveal that an illusion had reversed its directions.
• Sherlock warned that Alice might have grown powerful by eating travelers, while Iver withheld his unproven theory about her.
• As the griffin carried them toward the inn, dark clouds gathered and torrential rain began, which Iver could not dispel.
• Iver entered the empty, dilapidated inn and greeted its translucent front-desk clerk as an old acquaintance.

Iver revealed that Alice had entered the Promotion Ritual to ask for help, then used a ritual to free her from being bound to the hotel. Alice chose to become his level 40 Follower Card, Earthbound Spirit, and the storm vanished.

• Iver told Sherlock that the Alice from the ritual had been the real Alice, who had sought help rather than their souls.
• Alice appeared and gave Iver Agni's corrupted revolver, which she had kept and damaged over the past sixty years.
• Iver explained that Alice could either become a temporary summoned follower or dissipate, and prepared a ritual to let her choose.
• Alice touched the Death Card, transforming its image as Iver poured the Water of the Yellow Springs over it.
• Alice vanished as the ritual ended, and the storm disappeared; the finished card appeared in Iver's hand as Follower: Earthbound Spirit (Death).

Iver sealed the Earthbound Spirit Alice into a Tarot card and revealed to Sherlock that his Path of Transcendence career was Great Sin Scholar, gaining Sherlock’s offer of help. Back in Eagle Cape Village, Iver and Sherlock prepared a New Moon Ritual that Hai Na would face alone, as Ligeia’s assessment required her to survive and kill without relying on companions.

• Sherlock questioned how Iver had sealed Alice, and Iver claimed the Great Sin Scholar career and explained that he had made the Tarot card himself.
• Sherlock concluded that Iver’s career seemed cleaner than Demon Scholar and offered to help him capture beings or investigate information; Iver accepted and asked him not to spread the secret carelessly.
• Iver took Sherlock back to Eagle Cape Village on Liz, and they reasoned that being accepted by a villager had let them return before dusk.
• Iver and Sherlock began preparing the New Moon Ritual while Lily and Hai Na went to Bagpipe Town to buy a sheep and catch mice.
• Iver reflected that Ligeia expected Hai Na to undergo the ritual alone and kill without mercy as part of her growth into a future Grand Arbitrator.

Prince Wolfram joined forces with the Punishment Demon to pursue the Book of Law, while Queen Sofia discussed Avalon’s political crisis and the need to appoint Iver as Minister of Naught. The chapter ended with Ligeia insisting that Iver could handle the burden because he was no easy mark.

• The Punishment Demon told Prince Wolfram that Jacob’s grandson had obtained the Book of Law and that a powerful Wild Hunt King guarded the way.
• The Punishment Demon proposed that he and Wolfram seize the Book of Law together, intending to draw the Wild Hunt King’s attention toward Wolfram.
• Queen Sofia told Ligeia that George had reported Noble Red’s core members captured, but Wolfram and Cassiem remained at large.
• Sofia explained that Stibium was preparing for war while Avalon’s leaders resisted wartime preparations and Iver’s appointment as Minister of Naught.
• Sofia said she had to trust Iver to hold Avalon together, and Ligeia replied that he would likely welcome the chance to act.

Iver and his companions prepared for the Punishment Demon's return, then began a Promotion Ritual beneath the new moon. The ritual array ignited in scarlet flames as the chapter ended.

• Iver waited with Hai Na, Lily, and Sherlock through nightfall, but the Punishment Demon did not appear.
• Iver reasoned that the Punishment Demon would return after preparing a countermeasure against fire, and he resolved to seal him.
• Iver told Hai Na and Lily to prepare the Promotion Ritual while Sherlock guarded them inside the house.
• Iver, Hai Na, and Lily performed the ritual, and black-red flames filled the room as the Ritual Array lit up.

Iver and Lily entered a New Moon Promotion Ritual in disguise, joined by six other participants and a goblin-like substitute. After Muse of Twin Mirrors announced the ritual’s rules and victory conditions, she began recounting the story behind the dreamscape.

• Iver and Lily appeared in the ritual disguised as Miss Aleister and Mr. Gray, while a short, hunched old woman arrived as the ninth participant.
• Prohibition, Sage, Stranger, Furnace, Janet, and Wraith introduced themselves, followed by Iver as Alai, Lily as Gray, and the old woman as Hatmaker.
• Iver assessed the participants and tested his cards, discovering that he could not summon Paradox Flame Butterfly.
• Terpsichore introduced herself as Muse of Twin Mirrors and announced the ritual’s rules, including its time limit, three regular winners, and Secret Reflection and Twin Victory conditions.
• Terpsichore began telling the story of the Herasul Empire in 1580.

Iver woke as a frail young woman and learned she was Blood Slave No. 14 at Crescent Moon Manor, where nine captives planned to escape and she was secretly an informant. She considered how to hide her identity and recognize Lily, then was summoned to dinner by a masked servant.

• Iver woke in a cramped room, discovered her weakness and heavy collar, and learned she had been sold to Crescent Moon Manor as a Blood Slave.
• The host explained that nine captives planned to escape, while Iver had been assigned the role of informant and received tasks involving escape, deception, and betrayal.
• Iver realized that the tasks did not require her to report the jailbreak and that the captives could choose whether to inform or sabotage the plan.
• Iver reasoned that she could identify Lily through their reversed appearances and concluded that she was now Gray.
• Iver opened the window, assessed her frail body and the remote mountain setting, then answered when a servant in a Rabbit Mask summoned No. 14 to dinner.

Iver was taken with the other Blood Slaves to a basement banquet and learned that No. 7 was an Ascender investigating their captors. After deciding to kill her once she was alone, he followed the others toward the changing room while No. 7 sensed that something was watching her.

• A masked guard chained Iver and led him from his cell with the other Blood Slaves to a warm basement lounge.
• Iver pretended to be timid, joined No. 7 and a blond girl for wine, and recognized No. 7 as an Ascender.
• No. 7 questioned the girls about what their captors did to them, while Iver learned that Miss Bayard had requested No. 14 for three days in a row.
• An owl-masked guard called No. 7, No. 12, No. 14, and No. 15 to change, then unlocked Iver's collar with a Little Key.
• Iver considered the mission and decided to kill No. 7 after her shift, when her absence would be less suspicious.
• No. 7 headed toward the changing room and felt as if a demon were watching her from the shadows.

The Philosopher and Iver endured the Children of the Moon’s banquet while trapped under their enchantment. Iver understood that the Ascenders had to provoke a life-threatening crisis or unbearable loss to break free and act.

• The Philosopher assessed the restricted New Moon Ritual and relied on her implanted spellcasting tools and her team’s alchemist for an advantage.
• Earl Alonso enchanted Miss Number 7, fed her blood, and bit her neck while she struggled to hide her hatred.
• Miss Bayard held Iver and began enchanting him with the Children of the Moon’s Kiss of Enchantment.
• Iver recognized the enchantment’s effects and recalled that a bottom-line-crossing order involving life or property would awaken its victim.

Iver used her Flesh Dedication trait to make her blood irresistible to Bayard, then stopped the effect before Bayard could drain her. Bayard healed Iver with Blood Therapy and carried her to a lounge, while the Shadow Fiend revealed that it had lived and died in this era.

• Sir Linde offered Bayard No. 15 in exchange for No. 14, but Bayard refused and insisted No. 14 was hers until death.
• Iver learned that Cody was a Third-Level Blood Sniffing Beast and that Linde needed Bayard's help with Raging Mine Spirits threatening his Mining Company.
• Iver asked Bayard to take her away, then used Flesh Dedication to make her blood so enticing that Bayard lost control and drank from her.
• Iver dispelled the Shepherding Method before Bayard could kill her, and Bayard healed her with Blood Therapy by placing her own bloodied finger in Iver's mouth.
• Bayard carried the recovering Iver to Room 1, where the Shadow Fiend admitted that it had once lived and died in this era.

Stranger met the young Bashir Valentine and bonded with him over alchemy, impressing him enough that he asked Pengbo Naqi to let her join the Twelve Keys. She chose not to ask for her companion to be brought along and looked forward to discussing alchemy with Valentine.

• Stranger and Bashir Valentine discussed the Philosopher’s Stone, the Equilibrium Path, and whether alchemy should be technicalized.
• Valentine told Pengbo Naqi that Stranger understood his ideas and asked how he could take her away to join the Twelve Keys.
• Pengbo Naqi sensed Stranger’s thoughts and offered to buy her for Valentine as a birthday present.
• Stranger remembered that her mission required two people but decided not to ask Pengbo Naqi to buy her companion too.
• Stranger looked forward to sharing modern alchemical knowledge with Valentine and seeking his help with her Armored Gargoyles’ weaknesses.

The Prohibition bewitched a Child of the Moon into swearing she would take her away, while hiding her identity as an informant. Elsewhere, Miss Shadow Demon reached Lily in the waiting hall and discovered that the Children of the Moon had captured her.

• The Prohibition used Blood Wine, seduction, and her Path of Authority to make a Child of the Moon swear to take her away.
• After securing the oath, the Prohibition avoided reporting anyone, reasoning that revealing herself as an informant would put her at a disadvantage.
• The bewitched woman gave in to her instincts and kissed the Prohibition's neck.
• Lily waited bored in the hall, eating and drinking while other captives were taken away.
• Miss Shadow Demon appeared in Lily's shadow and told her to stay quiet because she had kidnapped her.
• Lily said the Children of the Moon had captured her, and Miss Shadow Demon called them a horde of fallen monsters.

Lily used his knowledge of Shadow Demons to gain the newly reborn Shadow Demon’s trust and persuade her to reveal her former identity. She named herself Viennes Emil Zola Bayard and vowed to kill the impostor who had stolen her name, wealth, and connections.

• Lily recognized that the Shadow Demon was Iver’s contracted demon from an earlier era and pretended to know about her past.
• Lily convinced the Shadow Demon that he was Alai, a servant of someone who could help her complete her revenge.
• Lily urged the Shadow Demon to reclaim her former name rather than discard it.
• The Shadow Demon revealed that she had been Viennes Emil Zola Bayard of the Bayard Group.
• The Shadow Demon said the current Bayard was an impostor who had stolen her identity and that she had returned from Hell to kill her.

Iver was taken to the No. 1 Suite by Miss Bayard, who grew suspicious of Iver’s effect on her and tried to question her. Iver revealed that she and the Shadow Demon had trapped Bayard, leaving her captured in the suite.

• Miss Bayard carried Iver to the No. 1 Suite while Iver wondered whether the Shadow Demon was connected to Bayard or No. 14.
• Bayard used a ritual to block the voices from the next room, then woke Iver and demanded to know what she had done to her.
• Bayard suspected Iver might be a trap designed to make her lose control, but Iver’s innocent manner weakened her resolve.
• Bayard pinned Iver down and threatened her as her eyes turned Vermillion and her fangs sharpened.
• A third voice explained that Iver was trying to force it out, and Shadow Threads trapped Bayard as she tried to turn into bats.
• Iver smiled at Bayard and declared that she had been kidnapped by them.

Miss Shadow Demon confronted Miss Bayard and explained why she had chosen Iver as her master, while Iver pieced together how the demon had gained Miss Bayard’s form. Miss Shadow Demon left Miss Bayard alive, saying that neither of them was the real Miss Bayard and that demons no longer dreamed.

• Miss Shadow Demon emerged from Iver’s shadow, repaired Iver’s clothes, and used the Shadow Threads to destroy the bats and restrain Miss Bayard.
• Miss Shadow Demon mocked Miss Bayard and asked whether she had ever considered that the person who died with hatred might become a demon.
• Miss Bayard asked whether Miss Shadow Demon had acknowledged Iver as a master and disparaged Iver’s weakness.
• Miss Shadow Demon praised Iver’s ambition and courage, explaining that Iver had dared to challenge a Celestial while seeking power from her.
• Iver realized Miss Shadow Demon had devoured Miss Bayard, the Child of the Moon, and had gained her appearance and memories.
• Miss Shadow Demon refused to kill Miss Bayard, saying neither of them was the real Miss Bayard and that demons no longer dreamed.

Iver asked Bayard to help prepare Crescent Moon Manor for a planned massacre at dawn, and Bayard agreed after warning him about the manor’s powerful residents. Iver then persuaded her to find and seal the manor’s Secret Passage, leaving Bayard baffled by his shifting intentions.

• Bayard recovered her composure and advised Iver to wait until most guests had left Crescent Moon Manor before attacking.
• Iver declared that he wanted to kill everyone in the manor at dawn, and Bayard asked what she would receive for helping him.
• Iver tempted Bayard by asking her to become his master, then licked the blood from her palm and left her flustered.
• Iver asked Bayard to show him the Secret Passage so they could confirm it was passable and seal it before dawn.
• Bayard agreed to take Iver to the passage but remained confused about his motives and whether his offer had been sincere.