Chapter Summaries

During Queen Sophia’s funeral, Avalonians learned that Stibnite had attacked Queen Isabel, and public anger surged. The chapter traced Avalon’s recovery under Sophia and ended with war against Stibnite appearing inevitable.

• Isabel led Queen Sophia’s funeral procession alongside Ligeia and Iver, whose role in saving the Queen was publicized in the newspapers.
• Avalonians learned that Stibnite diplomats had tried to assassinate Isabel and blamed Stibnite for the Royal Family’s cursed deaths.
• The chapter recounted how Tudor III’s brutal executions restored order before Sophia rebuilt Avalon and modernized the country.
• Avalon’s rapid growth weakened the old knightly class while merchants and foreign influence gained power.
• The attack on Isabel during the mourning period enraged the people, making war with Stibnite seem inevitable.

After Queen Sophia’s funeral, Iver learned that the Theocracy would protect Avalon and support its retaliation against Stibnite, while Valentine VII’s apology failed to avert war. At the Round Table Conference, Iver broke tradition by taking his seat beside Isabel without armor and opened the meeting.

• Minister Hermes broke his staff and Minister Carter tore his sash, each relinquishing his office at Queen Sophia’s coffin.
• Bishop Mathers told Iver and Isabel that the Theocracy supported Avalon’s limited war of retaliation and had sent nine elite guards to protect Isabel.
• Valentine VII apologized over the phone and offered compensation, but Iver rejected his appeal to avoid war.
• Iver arrived at the Round Table Conference in clerical clothes and sat beside Isabel without wearing armor.
• Iver struck the bell and opened the meeting, telling the knights to take their seats accordingly.

Iver used the Drunken Dream Tincture to reach the end of his recurring nightmare, where Bear Angel marked him for a future killing blow. After the mark resisted Lily’s healing, Iver concluded that Bear Angel could not kill him directly and would send her apostles to hunt him.

• Iver reached a blood-soaked island in his dream and saw a black Two-Handed Sword before a flaming bear approached and warned him that all who wielded a blade would perish by the blade.
• Iver awoke with three fresh claw-like wounds on his chest and called Lily to examine them.
• Lily tried to heal Iver with the Sacred Flame, but the wound only stopped bleeding and scabbed over.
• Iver received the trait Authority - Mark One, which made his chest a weak point and ensured Bear Angel and her apostles would hunt him and treat their fights as duels.
• Iver recognized the wound as Bear Angel’s hunting mark and reasoned that she could not kill him directly, so she would rely on her apostles.

Iver explained how the Bear Angel’s dream attacks were limited by divine protection and the Hourglass’s rules, then considered turning its brand into an opportunity to hunt it. As Stibnite’s war effort faltered and its territories rebelled, Iver expected the Ouroboros Ring Ritual to happen early and concluded that Stibnite might fall within three months.

• Iver told Lily that the Bear Angel could not enter his dreams directly, though it could brand him repeatedly to weaken his protection and eventually reach his soul.
• Iver recalled his plan to become a Great Beast Master by commanding all six Great Sin Beasts, and considered the Bear Angel a potential source of an Angel Shard.
• Iver touched a Flame Butterfly and treated the scar left by the Bear Angel as a mark of their mutual hunt, warning that he could begin the Ouroboros Ring Ritual if the Bear Angel learned too much about his soul.
• Avalon’s war with Stibnite and support for the Narcissus Principality’s independence left Stibnite unable to stop the secession, while the Black Eagle Principality’s soldiers grew resentful of being sent to fight.
• Iver judged that Stibnite could not hold out until summer and that the Ouroboros Ring Ritual would likely be brought forward, leaving him at most three months before Stibnite’s defeat.

Iver visited Isabel at dawn and reflected on how much she had grown in confidence and skill under his guidance. With the Full Moon Ritual approaching and his diplomatic trip to the Theocracy looming, he proposed that he, Isabel, and Sherlock advance together before he left Avalon.

• After waking from the Bear Angel's nightmare, Iver followed piano music to Isabel's room and joined her as she practiced.
• Isabel read Iver's mood from the rhythm of his knock and correctly sensed that he was seeking reassurance.
• Iver recalled how Mycroft handled much of the government work while he coached Isabel and trained her All-rounder abilities.
• Iver noted that the Full Moon Ritual was only days away and that he would soon visit the Theocracy as Avalon's Minister of Everything.
• Iver decided to bring Isabel and Sherlock along to advance before his departure, saying that since they were already late, they might as well skip class altogether.

Iver received Sherlock’s investigation into his forgotten sister, Freya, and tried to arrange a date with Isabel before leaving for the Theocracy. Isabel explained that she preferred making memories with him at home and told him to come to her room on the night before his departure.

• Isabel gave Iver the document about Freya Molly Moriarty, whose existence only people connected to Moriarty Manor had forgotten.
• Iver invited Isabel to go out and look for Sherlock, but she preferred to stay in and spend time with him.
• Iver asked Isabel why she avoided going out, and she explained that their time together at home already felt like dates.
• Isabel told Iver she would move his departure to the seventeenth and commanded him to come to her room on the night of the sixteenth.
• Iver agreed, and the two embraced on the sofa.

Little Sherlock visited the Silver and Tin Palace to confront Iver about missing their appointment, while also preparing for Iver’s upcoming trip to the Theocracy. Iver admitted he had stayed with Isabel instead, leaving Sherlock startled by how readily he accepted the accusation that he was clinging to the queen.

• Sherlock left Hermes Manor and arrived at the Silver and Tin Palace, where the Queen Guard escorted him to Iver.
• Sherlock greeted the Griffin Minister before finding Iver practicing horseback riding in the garden and riding with him to Isabel.
• Sherlock confronted Iver for missing their Saturday appointment, and Isabel apologized for keeping Iver with her.
• Iver admitted Sherlock was right that he had stayed with Isabel, leaving Sherlock alarmed that Iver did not deny the accusation.

Iver and Sherlock accepted Yunus’s commission to investigate the mystery of Anastasia, whose death and supposed meeting with Yunus seemed to resemble the Swamp People paradox. Isabel revealed that May twenty-second would be her coronation, birthday, and possible engagement day, and hoped her father would return, though she had resolved to let him go if he refused.

• Sherlock realized Isabel had feelings for Iver, and Iver persuaded him to travel to the Theocracy while Edward went to Iris on a diplomatic mission.
• Iver and Sherlock read Yunus’s letter, which asked Sherlock to investigate Anastasia and included a ribbon bearing her name.
• Iver recognized Yunus as Prince Albert, Isabel’s father, and recalled the history behind his assumed identity and the mystery of Anastasia.
• Sherlock compared Anastasia’s case to the Swamp People paradox, prompting Iver to suspect the mystery held more than the explanation he remembered.
• Isabel told Iver and Sherlock that May twenty-second was her birthday and coronation date, and that it might also be her engagement day.
• Isabel hoped Prince Albert would return for the occasion, but said that if he did not want to come back, he should stay away.

Sherlock and Iver investigated Freya’s work on the Elixir of Life and the mystery of her family’s missing memories, while considering why she had gone to the Fifth Ring. The chapter ended with Sherlock and Isabel promising to help Iver uncover the truth about James and Professor Moriarty.

• Sherlock explained that Freya had rediscovered Moly, the lost herb used to make the Elixir of Life, and discussed its connection to the witch Echidna and the Giant King.
• Iver and Sherlock considered why Freya had traveled to the Fifth Ring, including the possibility that she sought help refining the Elixir or meeting elves who had lived through the Giant Era.
• Sherlock pointed out that Freya’s unstable Resurrection Potion had no experimental records, though it had been listed as one of her achievements at Old Moriarty’s command.
• Sherlock outlined three possible explanations for the potion and Iver’s family’s lost memories, then warned Iver not to favor a hypothesis before finding evidence.
• Sherlock recognized that Iver was wary of his adoptive father, James, and promised to help, while Isabel insisted that she would help too.

On February 15, Iver and Ibn prepared to undergo Promotion Rituals, and Iver urged his teacher to pursue advancement and return to the Parthian Ancient Kingdom to confront Aziz Ben Abdul. The chapter ended with Iver beginning the Full Moon Ritual while Ibn prepared to perform his own ritual separately.

• Iver thanked Ibn for preparing his Promotion Ritual and learned that Ibn had bought Drunken Dream Tincture after hearing about Aziz Ben Abdul.
• Iver refused Ibn's tincture, saying he had another from Lord Hermes, and encouraged Ibn to seek revenge himself by advancing and returning to the Parthian Ancient Kingdom.
• Ibn agreed to attempt advancement alongside Iver, while planning to perform his ritual alone and avoid matching Iver's Path of Rejection.
• Iver poured his Drunken Dream Tincture into red wine, called upon the six ritual symbols, and declared that he followed the Path of the Candle Holder.

Isabel entered the Promotion Ritual with Iver and analyzed the identities and motives of their unfamiliar teammates. She suspected that Olive was Ibn and Pirate was Director Kent, while Iver kept Pirate from learning their identities.

• Isabel awoke in the Promotion Ritual’s third seat and saw Iver, but noticed that Sherlock was absent.
• Isabel questioned the Parthian-dressed newcomer, who introduced himself as Olive and said he promoted the Path of Transcendence.
• The man between Iver and Isabel introduced himself as Pirate, a Third Level Inspector, and offered to protect the group in combat.
• Iver questioned Pirate about his origins and recognized that his claim to come from Midsummer County concealed his actual location.
• Isabel inferred that Pirate was likely Director Kent and that Olive was Ibn, then followed Iver’s silent signal not to reveal their identities.
• Isabel briefly imagined Avalon ceasing to exist, then rejected the disturbing thought and wondered why it had come to her.

At the Full Moon Promotion Ritual, Iver and Isabel met the other candidates, including the Moon Princess Lucia Tepes, and watched tensions rise between Pirate and the Necromancy Academy trio. The ritual’s hidden host, Akropolis, finally introduced himself as an apostle of Lord of Scales and Feathers and the teacher of Hippocrates.

• Stranger, Grape, and Consultant arrived together, followed by Physician and Cheese, whom Iver recognized as Lucia Tepes, the Moon Princess of Iris.
• The candidates introduced themselves, with Isabel posing as Lu Lu, a bard, while Iver presented himself as Fox, a priest skilled in healing and dispelling.
• Pirate refused to protect the candidates from Stibnite, and Consultant challenged him while warning that the trio would defend themselves.
• Iver tried to ease the conflict, and Physician explained that he would treat the wounded without taking sides in a fight.
• Akropolis appeared as the ritual’s host and revealed that he was an apostle of Lord of Scales and Feathers and the teacher of Hippocrates.

Iver recognized the distorted ritual setting as the Silver and Tin Palace banquet hall, where the main quest “Cruel Autumn” began. Akropolis explained the ritual’s rules and hinted at the Fallen Angel’s fate before the examination opened with the announcement of Avalon’s destruction in 1899.

• Akropolis showed the Advancers a distorted vision of the Silver and Tin Palace banquet hall, and Iver recognized it as the setting of “Cruel Autumn.”
• Akropolis explained that Advancers could postpone choosing an advanced class and warned Demon Scholars to be cautious.
• Iver inferred that Akropolis expected the Fallen Angel to perish and the Ring Angel to take over, making the Demon Avatar an unsuitable path.
• Akropolis set out the ritual’s six-day time limit, cooperation penalties, scoring, elimination, and risks to participants’ real bodies and souls.
• Akropolis declared the scene fictional, began the examination, and recited that the Cruel Autumn incident proclaimed Avalon’s destruction in 1899.

Iver witnessed a staged banquet where Queen Sofia and Princess Isabel met Queen Louise and Prince Lucian, only for Sofia to be poisoned and Isabel framed as an assassin. Shafiya rescued the real Isabel from the ensuing coup, while Louise and her allies remained in control of the ruined hall and Sofia lay dead.

• Queen Louise and Prince Lucian arrived at the Silver and Tin Palace to discuss the marriage alliance, and Minister Drost served wine to the royals and nobles.
• Queen Sofia collapsed after drinking the wine, and an injured double of Isabel appeared and accused the real Isabel of being an impostor.
• Shafiya recognized the distressed Isabel as the real princess, but Drost ordered her capture as Avalon’s knights turned on one another.
• Shafiya carried Isabel through the palace wall and escaped after using a triangular symbol to break the black-robed mage’s time-slowing spell.
• Louise stayed in the ruined banquet hall with her two Fifth Level attendants, while Lucian drank and Drost poured wine as Queen Sofia lay dead.

Iver entered a Promotion Ritual as a version of himself from a worldline untouched by the Ring Angel, and he analyzed how to rescue Isabel, save others, and stop Stibnite. After realizing that this Iver had lost Yulia, he found her remains in the form of a warm ruby necklace.

• Iver watched a storm descend on Avalon as a voice explained that Yulia had become a phantom demon and that Sherlock had not returned from reporting a conspiracy.
• Iver reviewed his tasks and planned to evacuate Isabel, rescue Sherlock, save as many people as possible, and kill Minister Drost.
• Iver reasoned that he might complete the Shadow of Avalon Ritual before Isabel escaped, but the plan risked his life and could endanger her.
• Iver realized his abilities and history belonged to a version of himself who had followed the pure Dedication Path and never been influenced by the Ring Angel.
• Iver understood that this baseline worldline had left Avalon and many of his acquaintances worse off, then discovered that the necklace in his hand was Yulia's remains.

Iver reunited with Oswald and James, then recognized that Minister Drost’s invitation to the Silver and Tin Palace was a trap meant to put him under control. James prevented Diomedes from taking Iver, but Diomedes’s relief suggested the danger surrounding the banquet remained unresolved.

• Oswald returned and brought Iver to meet his foster father, James, in the Reception Room.
• Diomedes, the Drost Family’s guardian elf, invited Iver to the Silver and Tin Palace to witness the banquet.
• Iver suspected Drost knew he had uncovered the scheme and refused to go, recognizing the invitation as a trap.
• James backed Iver’s refusal and warned Diomedes not to drag him away.
• Diomedes accepted James’s decision without protest, and Iver recognized his relieved expression from Lily’s account of an earlier assassination attempt.

Iver recalled his past-life knowledge of Professor Moriarty’s role in his future death and grew convinced that his adoptive father had long known something was different about him. He asked Moriarty for help, and Moriarty invited him to explain, leaving Iver facing his father’s unsettling awareness.

• Oswald warned Diomedes to stay cautious and avoid going out before leaving Moriarty Manor with him.
• James asked Iver when he had sensed trouble and why he had firmly refused the rebellion’s invitation, but Iver did not answer.
• Iver remembered the Version 6.0 battle in which he had died protecting the player from Edward’s instant-death spell and Moriarty’s attack.
• Iver realized Moriarty might have noticed his changed behavior and previous-life memories from the day he first asked for ritual materials.
• Iver finally asked Moriarty for help, and Moriarty called him “Mr. Iver Moriarty” and “my adorable Little Key.”

After witnessing a vision of Queen Sophia’s murder and Avalon’s coup, Isabel awoke overwhelmed by anger and grief while Shafiya comforted her. Shafiya struggled to choose between getting Isabel to safety and recovering Sophia’s blood to complete the ritual that might help reclaim Avalon.

• Isabel watched a vision in which Minister Drost poisoned Queen Sophia, framed Isabel for the murder, and the Round Table Hall knights slaughtered one another.
• Isabel awoke trembling and crying with anger, and Shafiya held her and promised to protect her.
• Shafiya considered taking Isabel to the Theocracy, where she could escape the Stibnite People and other threats.
• Shafiya realized that she also needed Queen Sophia’s blood to complete the Shadow of Avalon ritual and resurrect Lancelot.
• Shafiya agonized over leaving Isabel in danger while attempting to recover Sophia’s body, burdened by the fate of Avalon and her infant daughter.

Shafiya brought Isabel to Moriarty Manor after Isabel named Iver as the only person she trusted, while Iver questioned James about his identity and purpose. The chapter ended with Iver and Isabel recognizing each other as their true selves.

• Shafiya weighed the risks of rescuing Queen's Blood and hiding Isabel, then asked whether Isabel had a trustworthy friend who could shelter her.
• Isabel asked Shafiya to take her to the Moriarty Family and revealed that she and Iver had been pen pals for years and that he had read her diary.
• Shafiya agreed to bring Isabel to Moriarty Manor, while Isabel privately worried that this Iver might not be the person she remembered.
• James tested Iver with questions about the Little Key and his wariness of Father, then confirmed he wanted Iver to stay alive.
• Iver asked James to lend him Oswald, and James immediately agreed.
• Shafiya arrived at Moriarty Manor with Isabel, and Iver and Isabel recognized each other.

Isabel fled to Iver after learning she was expected to marry a Stibium Prince, and Professor Moriarty reasoned through the forces behind the Queen’s poisoning and the betrayal at Round Table Hall. Convinced that Moriarty would support Iver and Isabel, Shafiya began revealing the secret of the Shadow of Avalon Ritual.

• Isabel clung to Iver and begged him to save her from marrying a Stibnite Person.
• Shafiya told Isabel that Minister Drost had poisoned the Queen and that a double had been prepared to replace Isabel and marry the Stibium Prince.
• Professor Moriarty questioned Shafiya about the two Fifth Levels accompanying the Stibnite People and analyzed how the Red and Black Factions were positioned against each other.
• Professor Moriarty explained that Stibium had likely bought support from Minister Drost and other leaders, and revealed that Diomedes had tried to lure Iver out to kill him.
• Professor Moriarty declared that he and the Moriarty Family would support Iver and Isabel, prompting Shafiya to reveal the secret of the Shadow of Avalon Ritual.