Chapter Summaries

Hai Na described the apocalyptic future she experienced, and Iver concluded that it was a future in which he was absent. With a Punishment Demon expected to return with Noble Red reinforcements, the group prepared to fight while Iver planned to test whether Hai Na could wield a demon sealed as an equipment card.

• Hai Na recounted how scarce resources, corruption, illness, and hostile survivors forced her group to flee and suffer losses.
• Hai Na said she had not seen Iver, Sherlock, or Ligeia in the future, but Ms. Mina had sheltered and helped her group.
• Iver and Sherlock reasoned that Hai Na’s vision reflected a future without Iver, whose actions had changed Avalon’s fate.
• Hai Na identified Noble Red as Avalon’s traitors and planned to help the Grand Guardian destroy its remnants.
• Iver warned that the Punishment Demon would return with Noble Red reinforcements and said he had prepared tools to seal it.
• Iver planned to turn the Punishment Demon into a Thunderclap Halberd card and test whether Hai Na could wield it.

Merlin examined Jacob’s ritual and recognized it as an ancient Ring Angel ritual meant to reincarnate the Shadow Angel in a mortal body and seize her Angel Shard. He suspected that the Ring Angel was using Jacob to pursue further advancement and wondered how Iver fit into the plan.

• Merlin left the swamp and recalled that he had hidden the ritual chamber inside the Fairy Hole to protect its foundation.
• Merlin inspected Jacob’s ritual and discovered that it could bring the Shadow Angel into the Material Realm, bind her in a physical body, and take her Angel Shard.
• Merlin recognized the ritual as a Path of Transcendence rite connected to Ouroboros and the Ring Angel’s power of reincarnation and rebirth.
• Merlin recalled that the Ring Angel had once provided him with rituals that let him transform and return to the Material Realm as the Crowned Angel.
• Merlin concluded that the Ring Angel might be seeking to advance further and wondered whether Jacob was his Contractor and what role Iver played in the plan.

Iver gathered the materials to make the Wheel of Fortune card, with Hai Na securing both a lucky bullet and shackles by arranging Sherlock’s arrest. After preparing for Punishment Demon’s arrival, Iver sensed a hostile gaze and realized his enemies planned to curse him before entering Eagle Cape Village.

• Iver and his companions found the materials for the Wheel of Fortune card, including a bullet Hai Na bought from her former teacher as proof of his survival.
• Hai Na had Iver report Sherlock and arranged for him to be shackled, letting the shackles serve as those of the Wisdom Prisoner.
• Iver completed the card preparations, returned to Eagle Cape Village, and used Blessing Art and potions to prepare his companions for Punishment Demon.
• Iver waited to activate the Red Hilt Sword until sunset and felt the ominous curse targeting him grow stronger.
• Iver sensed that someone was watching him and warned the others that they planned to curse him before entering Eagle Cape Village.

Giant Prince Wolfram performed a curse against Iver, but the ritual’s backlash wounded him instead. As the curse faded, Iver realized Sherlock’s mirror might help him evade Wolfram’s next attempt.

• Wolfram invoked the Fallen Angel to punish Iver for three alleged sins, while the Punishment Demon watched and expected the curse to weaken Iver before their fight.
• The curse took effect, but Wolfram suffered a backlash that shattered his drum and left him missing half his heart.
• Wolfram sent the Punishment Demon toward the village and decided to try another curse against Iver.
• Iver felt the pressure lift, and Sherlock advised him not to assume he was safe from further curses.
• Iver took Sherlock’s makeup mirror and planned to use his undetectable disguise to make Wolfram lose his target.

Iver revealed that he had become a Child of the Moon, teased Hai Na about letting him bite her, and then set out to hunt after dark. His companions prepared to follow his command.

• Iver revealed his vampire-like transformation to Hai Na and explained that he was a Child of the Moon.
• Hai Na eagerly considered letting Iver bite her, but hesitated when he treated her as prey.
• Iver transformed into No. 14 and teased Hai Na before leaving the warehouse with Lily.
• Iver flew out as bats and called Chloe his hound, while Chloe, the Paradox Flame Butterfly, and Lily prepared for the hunt.

Wolfram exhausted himself trying several curses against Iver, but none could reach him, so he prepared a host of defensive spells and entered Eagle Cape Village. As a storm of lightning engulfed the village, Wolfram realized the Punishment Demon’s plan was underway and decided to attack everything around him.

• Wolfram’s Three Great Sins, Nightmare Art, and Scarlet Dancing Shoes all failed to curse Iver, costing Wolfram much of his mana and injuring him.
• Wolfram suspected Iver’s protection came from the Book of Law and decided he had to enter Eagle Cape Village before its dusk barrier closed.
• Wolfram prepared numerous protective spells against curses, physical attacks, and negative energy before entering the forest at the right moment.
• Wolfram crossed into Eagle Cape Village and saw the Punishment Demon flying beneath darkening thunderclouds as a pillar of lightning fed the storm.
• Wolfram understood that the Punishment Demon had drawn him into a dangerous plan and resolved to strike every target as lightning rained down across the village.

Punishment Demon unleashed a supernatural thunderstorm that devastated a village and drew the Wild Hunt Legion into battle. As Merlin prepared a ritual and Ye Zhi transformed to confront Wolfram, Punishment Demon believed the Wild Hunt King had been lured away and declared its intent to claim the Book of Law.

• Punishment Demon directed lightning across the village while Wolfram questioned the villagers’ strange calm and felt events slipping beyond his control.
• Ye Zhi was interrupted by a lightning strike at Sapphire Lake, recognized Wolfram’s troublemaking, and transformed into a powerful werewolf.
• Punishment Demon’s lightning targeted Merlin, who evaded it and created a ritual to redirect nearby teleportation, substitution, and resurrection attempts to his location.
• The Wild Hunt Legion emerged from black mist, its armor turning murky yellow as its forces charged through the storm.
• Punishment Demon stopped maintaining the thunderstorm when the Wild Hunt appeared and believed Wolfram had drawn away the Wild Hunt King.
• Punishment Demon celebrated its plan and declared that it alone would obtain the Book of Law.

Hai Na and her allies ambushed the Punishment Demon and overwhelmed it with coordinated attacks. The demon was left incapacitated and bound, bewildered by the unfamiliar group that had defeated it.

• The Punishment Demon lured the Wild Hunts away from the village and set out to find the butterfly-shaped demon.
• Hai Na attacked the Punishment Demon with Iver's Red Hilt Sword, but its disciplinary spell triggered her Guardian Will and left her free to counterattack.
• Hai Na wounded the Punishment Demon with Charge Slash while Aleister struck it from the shadows and inflicted Curse Poison with throwing knives.
• The butterfly-shaped phantom demon severed the Punishment Demon's lightning form, allowing Hai Na to cleave its halberd and send it crashing into a tree.
• A werewolf bound the incapacitated Punishment Demon, which demanded to know who its attackers were.

Iver revealed himself as a Child of the Moon, reunited with Lily in her werewolf form, and prepared to use ritual materials on the defeated Punishment Demon. Punishment Demon tried to turn Iver against Wolfram, but Iver revealed that he and Sherlock had already acted against him.

• Punishment Demon feared it would die but reassured itself that it could return to the Dream Realm and eventually hatch again.
• Iver arrived in Child of the Moon form, and Punishment Demon realized why its curse had failed against him.
• Iver recognized the gray wolf as Lily, who fought her hunger for his blood and was relieved that he accepted her.
• Iver praised Lily for controlling her werewolf instincts, then took ritual materials from Sherlock's satchel.
• Punishment Demon warned Iver that Wolfram was a powerful Grand Wizard who wanted the Book of Law, hoping to make Iver target him.
• Iver told Punishment Demon that Wolfram would die even faster and asked what it thought he and Sherlock had gone to do.

Sherlock and Iver helped the Wild Hunt King defeat Giant Prince Wolfram, while Iver used a ritual to turn the defeated Punishment Demon into an enhanced Thunder Strike Halberd card. The chapter left Iver contemplating the card’s changed Wheel of Fortune and the words, “All those called human... are stars.”

• Iver directed Sherlock to splash Petrification Removal Ointment on Wolfram and used a Tarot Card to strengthen the Wild Hunt King’s spear, allowing it to break Wolfram’s defense and defeat him.
• Iver left Sherlock to search Wolfram’s fallen body and returned to find Hai Na, Lily, the Paradox Flame Butterfly, and the Shadow Demon had subdued the Punishment Demon.
• Iver invoked the Wise Sage, and a bolt of lightning destroyed the Punishment Demon and drew its soul into a Tarot Card.
• Iver received the Equipment Card: Thunder Strike Halberd, which could be recast to increase its holder’s Lightning Affinity.
• Iver studied the card’s altered Wheel of Fortune and murmured, “All those called human... are stars.”

Iver and his companions endured a wave of Death Qi that swept over Eagle Cape Village and left the village sealed in amber-like stillness. After discovering that the ground had solidified, Iver decided to replenish his mana before investigating the swamp and the Giant Prince’s fate.

• The ground beneath Eagle Cape Village trembled, and a vast tide of Death Qi swept in from the horizon.
• Iver used Holy Radiance and Hai Na’s holy sword to shield himself, Hai Na, and Lily until the Death Qi faded.
• Hai Na discovered that a dusky yellow shell had frozen the village, and Iver found that suspended rain melted when touched.
• Iver had Hai Na punch the solidified ground, then healed her injured fingers with the Illumination Spell.
• Iver suspected the phenomenon might be connected to the Giant Prince or the amber’s power, so he took a candle to pray and recover his mana before investigating.

Iver learned that Wolfram sought the Book of Law and resolved to claim it himself. At the dried swamp, Merlin restrained Wolfram and confronted Ye Zhi, who revealed how Jacob had brought him into the Golden Dawn and how he had led Jacob to Eagle Cape Village.

• Iver reasoned that the Giant Prince had learned about the Book of Law from the Eye Demon and decided to take it, even if he had to confront the Grand Wizard.
• Wolfram remained bound by Merlin’s magic as he recognized the purple radiance beneath the dried swamp as the Book of Law.
• Merlin questioned Ye Zhi after binding him, and Ye Zhi said he had come on his master’s orders to keep people away from the swamp.
• Ye Zhi explained that Jacob had introduced him to the Golden Dawn, where he gained supernatural knowledge through Mathers’s Grimoire.
• Ye Zhi revealed that he had brought Jacob to Eagle Cape Village, a hidden village near Bagpipe Town.

Iver rescued Sherlock from a shelter built to escape the Twilight Wind and learned that the village-wide solidification was caused by a vast Fifth Level ritual connected to his grandfather, Jacob. The group met Merlin and Ye Zhi, whom Iver recognized as the elf werewolf Dark Cloud, while the strange purple Fairy Hole drew Iver’s attention.

• Iver found Sherlock trapped beneath an amber-crystal grate and freed him with the Red Hilt Sword, which absorbed the crystal’s power.
• Sherlock identified the solidification as a large-scale Fifth Level ritual rather than a curse from the Amber God, leading Iver to suspect it was connected to Jacob and decide to investigate.
• Merlin released the giant wolf, who transformed into Ye Zhi, and Iver, Sherlock, Lily, and Hai Na arrived to meet them.
• The swamp vanished and left a purple-lit Fairy Hole; Iver felt a familiar connection to it while Lily recognized Ye Zhi as a werewolf.
• Iver questioned Ye Zhi about his presence in Avalon and bluffed that Bishop Mathers had mentioned him, recognizing him as the distinctive elf werewolf known as Dark Cloud.

Iver recognized that Merlin was hiding knowledge about the older generation and the Sacred Entity, then learned that Merlin had identified him as one. The chapter ended with Merlin revealing that the glowing gem in the pit was the remains of a young Dream Demon named Daya.

• Iver pieced together clues linking Merlin, Ye Zhi, Vivian, Jacob, Mathers, and others to a shared past and future.
• Iver asked Merlin to let him kill the Giant Prince, and Merlin agreed, saying he had saved the giant for him as a gift and payment for his information.
• Merlin said Iver no longer needed to hide his secret because Jacob’s seal had opened for him, and explained that a Sacred Entity grew stronger by defeating powerful opponents.
• Iver, Merlin, and Sherlock looked into the purple-lit pit and saw a glowing gem that Merlin identified as the remains of a newly hatched Dream Demon: Daya.

Iver awakened the Book of Law through the Dream Demon crystal and received a vision of a mysterious Sacred Entity tied to Jacob. The Book of Law revealed itself as a growth-type weapon, while its pages contained only half of each ritual, leaving Iver with more questions about its missing card slot.

• Iver connected with the purple gem, saw a vision of Jacob worshipping a mysterious Sacred Entity, and heard its message about the Ouroboros Ring.
• Iver awoke with knowledge of the Ouroboros Ring ritual and realized the Dream Demon crystal had been consumed to create the vision.
• A book called the Book of Law appeared, and Iver recognized that Merlin and Sherlock were the people beside him as Ms. Mina had predicted.
• Iver touched the book and saw that it was a growth-type weapon whose Great Sin Grimoire module could log Phantom Demon Cards and improve his spell range.
• Iver questioned why the Grimoire had only twenty-one slots instead of twenty-two, then found that every ritual in the book was missing its crucial half.

Iver discovered that his grandfather’s Book of Law was a powerful grimoire that expanded his card abilities and contained ritual knowledge. After adding five cards, it completed part of an Undead Resurrection ritual, and Iver hoped to unlock the book’s remaining effects before traveling to the Theocracy.

• Iver identified the Book of Law’s first effect as card burning and found that it increased his casting range to sixty meters.
• Iver told Sherlock that the book was his exclusive weapon and summoned five cards into it.
• The Book of Law absorbed the cards, reached a count of 5/21, and gained one daily card burn from the Paradox Flame Butterfly.
• Iver discovered that the book had completed the second half of the Undead Resurrection ritual and supplied more than twenty ritual spells.
• Iver became curious about the book’s three locked affixes and expected to collect seven cards before heading to the Theocracy.

Merlin asked Iver whether he had seen the Sacred Entity, and Iver used the question to explain his mysterious knowledge as memories of a prophetic encounter. A fragment of the Entity’s words led Iver to realize that, in the original timeline, he had obtained the grimoire before discovering the Great Sin Scholar and Great Beast Master classes.

• Merlin examined the grimoire and asked Iver whether he had seen the Sacred Entity in the Dream Demon’s remains.
• Iver told Merlin that he had seen his grandfather receive rituals and future knowledge from a mysterious entity.
• Iver repeated the Entity’s words about the Great Beast’s Sacrificer and suddenly understood their meaning.
• Iver deduced that the original Iver had gained the grimoire before obtaining the Great Sin Scholar and Great Beast Master classes.
• Iver realized that the grimoire’s cause and effect had been reversed: he had obtained the book first, then gained the classes.

Iver connected his origins and powers to Jacob, the Sacred Entity, and the Ring Angel, concluding that he might be a fragment of the Ring Angel. He resolved to pursue the Pillar God position and reclaim the Path of Metamorphosis.

• Iver realized Jacob’s ritual could explain his ability to create cards and his early craving for demonic knowledge.
• Iver recalled that Jacob had summoned the Sacred Entity, which may have created Iver from one of its fragments.
• Iver reasoned that he and the player might be separate parts of the same entity, and guessed that the player was a fragment of the Ring Angel.
• Iver understood the Sacred Entity’s words about the numbers 9, 8, and 1 as references to Transcendence, the Ouroboros Ring, and desire.
• Iver accused the Ring Angel of intending to use him to disrupt the world’s balance and resolved to ascend as a Pillar God and reclaim the Path of Metamorphosis.

After realizing the Ring Angel’s plans, Iver secured Merlin’s support and prepared to use the Book of Law’s ritual on Giant Prince Wolfram. The chapter ended with Wolfram hanging upside down as Iver began a ritual meant to destroy his body and soul.

• Merlin inferred that Iver had uncovered a connection to the Ring Angel and offered him support, which Iver accepted.
• Merlin concluded that the Ring Angel sought to claim the position of a Pillar God, but chose not to side with either Him or the Serpent Father.
• Iver explained how Wolfram and Cassiem had missed their chances to gain the Book of Law’s recognition through their choices of advancement.
• Iver opened the Book of Law to the Hanged Man ritual and asked Merlin to suspend Wolfram upside down.
• Iver prepared to use the ritual to kill Wolfram’s body and soul, fearing he might otherwise return as Bear Angel’s apostle.

Iver used Odin’s Trial to force Wolfram to choose between death and a dangerous chance to gain wisdom, but Wolfram failed and was erased. Merlin confirmed that the Eagle Cape Village would recover by morning, then departed after hinting that he had witnessed the contract binding the people of Beheading Valley.

• Iver explained Odin’s Trial and offered Wolfram the chance to undergo it, with Merlin confirming that the ritual was real.
• Wolfram blinked to accept the trial, and Iver began the ritual using the Book of Law and Sherlock’s mana.
• The Great Sage’s power flooded Wolfram with knowledge, but he resisted the ritual and was erased after only two minutes.
• Iver gained Free Experience from Wolfram’s death and confirmed that Merlin could not see the motes of light.
• Merlin assured Iver that Eagle Cape Village would return to normal by morning, then told Hai Na he had witnessed the contract binding the people of Beheading Valley and vanished.