Chapter Summaries

Sherlock confronted the Stranger after Shafiya questioned Master Nobel about possible ties to Stibnite and the assassination attempt. Before they continued the Promotion Ritual, Sherlock warned him that Bishop Mathers was likely Fox and shared intelligence about Avalon’s royal family and a ritual that might revive Lancelot I.

• The Stranger convinced Shafiya that Master Nobel had not betrayed Queen Sophia or helped Stibnite.
• Sherlock recovered, took Master Nobel aside, and scolded the Stranger for nearly worsening the interrogation by trying to act more like Nobel.
• Sherlock told the Stranger that Bishop Mathers was probably Fox and advised against bringing him along on their mission.
• Sherlock instructed the Stranger to memorize and record their Promotion Ritual discoveries, including that Iver and Isabel were politically divided and that Iver could be a potential ally.
• Sherlock shared information about the Shadow of Avalon Ritual, which could revive Lancelot I under special conditions, and the Stranger memorized the key points.

Iver arranged for Isabel and their companions to travel safely to the Theocracy while he stayed on Glass Island to complete the Shadow of Avalon Ritual and protect Sherlock. As the ritual approached, Enyo appeared in the Dream Realm, and Akropolis warned her to stop.

• Iver rejected Bishop Mathers's proposal to detain Master Nobel, reclaimed the Red Hilt Sword, and organized Isabel's departure with Shafiya, his father, Oswald, Diomedes, Bishop Mathers, and Master Nobel.
• Iver told Isabel he planned to kill the Consultant through the Shadow of Avalon Ritual so the man could not retain or reveal their secrets.
• Iver explained that he would complete the ritual tomorrow at dusk and wanted Isabel to reach the Theocracy before dawn on the third day, while he waited for Olive, who was Master Ibn.
• Isabel urged Iver to protect himself and reminded him of their date; Iver promised he would survive and said the Paradox Flame Butterfly was with him.
• Akropolis watched nine souls in a dream within a dream when Enyo, the Bear Angel's apostle, appeared and walked toward Iver's spirit; Akropolis ordered her to stop.

Akropolis confronted Enyo in the Trial Grounds as she attacked the Promotion Ritual participants on Bear Angel’s orders. After his aged incarnation stalled her and poisoned her, Akropolis revealed his youthful true body and began transforming through the power of the Supreme Three Medicines.

• Akropolis faced Enyo, who recognized him from past wars and threatened to destroy everyone in the Promotion Ritual.
• Akropolis judged that Enyo might be vulnerable because Bear Angel had only recently regained his power, while she unleashed a storm of blood and beasts.
• Akropolis revealed that he had poisoned Enyo while they spoke, but she continued attacking because her Lord’s objective mattered more than her own survival.
• Akropolis’s aged incarnation held back Enyo’s attack and turned to stone as his true body appeared.
• The youthful Akropolis began transforming from a scaled Lizardman into a dragon, revealing the effects of the Rejuvenation Pill and the medicine of Immortality.

Akropolis and Enyo fought fiercely inside the unstable artificial world, while Iver woke from a disrupted Promotion Ritual to find the Stibnite Person attacking Avalon. The Stranger also awoke amid an explosion in a village, leaving the others’ situations uncertain.

• Akropolis revealed how he used three potions made from the Lord of Scales and Feathers’ blood to become an immortal dragon.
• Akropolis and Enyo’s battle shattered the artificial world, and Enyo weakened as poison accumulated in her body.
• Iver woke in burning Moriarty Manor and learned from Lia that the Promotion Ritual had become unstable and skipped ahead to the fourth day.
• Iver realized he had lost contact with Isabel and warned Sherlock that the Stibnite Person had invaded Avalon.
• The Stranger awoke in a village as an Alchemy Bomb exploded nearby, killing an old man and leaving him stunned.

Stranger witnessed an Alchemy Bomb destroy a village and realized that the Stibnite attackers were using gargoyles he had designed. The chapter left him hiding amid the massacre as memories of his own weapon designs surfaced.

• Stranger fled from the blast that crushed an old man and took shelter in a nearby home.
• An old woman called him Master Nobel and told him that Stibnite forces had invaded and that people were dying everywhere.
• Stranger struggled to understand how Stibnite could be attacking civilians and why he seemed to have lost some of his memories.
• The old woman pulled Stranger to the ground as two armed gargoyles attacked the house and killed her.
• A middle-aged man shot at the gargoyles with a shotgun, but they tore him apart with continuous gunfire.
• Stranger recognized the gargoyles’ firing method as a design he had created and felt violently sick.

The Stranger learned that Stibnite’s Armored Gargoyles were being powered by slaughtering civilians, and that Albert Lore had developed them using the Stranger’s research. As the soldiers prepared to escort him to the port, he passed out, resolved never to create another weapon designed to make killing more efficient.

• A Stibnite captain found the Stranger and said the Association had ordered his safe return home.
• The Stranger demanded to know why Stibnite was bombing villages, and the captain explained that the gargoyles consumed civilians’ souls and flesh to replenish their mana.
• The captain revealed that Albert Lore had developed the Armored Gargoyles and said Stibnite needed the Stranger’s skills for future work.
• The Stranger realized his research had helped enable the slaughter and feared that others would continue developing the weapons even if he stopped.
• The Stranger watched the gargoyles feed on corpses, felt nauseated, and passed out after vowing never to invent another weapon made to kill more efficiently.

Isabel awoke aboard a ship after a strange, frightening lapse in her memories and pretended to be distraught over Iver so Shafiya would not suspect anything was wrong. Seeing Isabel express a clear desire for the first time reminded Shafiya of her own rebellion against her family, and she resolved to pass that experience on to her granddaughter.

• Isabel woke from a strange dreamlike episode and realized that the room was swaying because she was aboard a ship.
• Shafiya came to check on Isabel, who pretended to grieve for Iver and insisted that she wanted to see him.
• Shafiya felt relieved to see Isabel express strong feelings and comforted her by saying that Sherlock was with Iver.
• Shafiya recalled how her family had raised her as a dutiful Morgan and how she had ultimately rebelled by marrying an ordinary human and severing ties with them.
• Shafiya recognized Isabel's awakening will as resembling her own past and resolved to return the former queen's lesson to her granddaughter.

Isabel admitted to Shafiya that she had loved Iver since their first Promotion Ritual and reasoned through how they could communicate despite being separated. As Iver prepared for the Shadow of Avalon Ritual, both trusted the other to infer their intentions from the ritual’s death signals.

• Isabel told Shafiya she had loved Iver since he first saved her during the Promotion Ritual, and Shafiya promised to help her find him after delivering her to the Theocracy.
• Isabel learned that only two days had passed and realized Iver might already be beginning the Shadow of Avalon Ritual, leaving her to infer his plans without any way to contact him.
• After hearing a burst of laughter that signaled a challenger’s identity had been exposed, Isabel considered how Iver might use Sherlock’s death to send her information.
• Iver told Sherlock that the laughter meant enough challengers remained and hoped Isabel would understand the signal.
• Iver considered killing Sherlock to warn Isabel, then chose to trust that she could understand his intentions; Isabel independently concluded that Iver would trust her.

The consultant pieced together the plan to perform the Shadow of Avalon Ritual, while Iver, Ibn, and Ms. Grape joined forces to reach the Silver and Tin Palace. The group concealed themselves with Iver’s prayer and set out, but Iver worried about what the ritual would summon without the missing Arondight.

• The consultant inferred that Isabel had left Iver and Sherlock behind to complete the Shadow of Avalon Ritual, and Iver confirmed they needed to prepare before the Stibium Army seized Glass Island.
• Iver and the consultant met John Osborn, whom Iver suspected was the ascender Olive, and Olive recognized Sherlock as a fellow ritualist.
• A strangely polite Mycroft joined them, and Sherlock pulled him aside before returning with the consultant and Ms. Grape.
• Iver explained the ritual’s requirements to Ibn, then agreed to pray to the Lord of Scales and Feathers after the consultant suggested it.
• Iver used emerald dust to grant the group concealment for three hours and instructed them to meet at the entrance before heading to the Silver and Tin Palace and St. Genevieve Chapel.
• Iver realized the elven dagger and Arondight were missing and feared that performing the ritual might summon the wrong being or endanger Hai Na.

Iver, the Advisor, Grape, and Olive returned to the transformed Silver and Tin Palace to search for the missing dagger. Iver confirmed it was not in the Queen’s bedroom, and the group prepared to search for it through prayer despite the risk of attracting the Flame Demon.

• Iver, the Advisor, Grape, and Olive reached the heat-scorched Silver and Tin Palace under the Lord of Scales and Feathers' protection.
• The Advisor struggled to endure the heat and reasoned that staying close to Iver would keep them within the Promotion Ritual’s main plot.
• Iver led the group into the ruined Queen’s bedroom, where the Flame Demon had hatched and General Karl had made his final stand.
• Iver searched the room and concluded that the dagger had not been destroyed by the Flame Demon.
• Olive suggested the dagger might have been destroyed in the battle, but Iver rejected the idea and prepared to search for it with prayer.
• Iver warned the others that the prayer might disturb the Flame Demon, and they prepared for battle.

Olive used a ritual to locate the hidden dagger, and Iver summoned a Flame Tail Beast to guide the group through the palace to retrieve it. They became trapped in the Underground Ritual Room as their pursuers attacked the door, leaving Iver to summon Lia and prepare a way out.

• Olive asked Gray Angel whether Iver’s target was nearby, interpreted its answer as yes, and helped Iver identify the dagger’s location.
• Iver summoned a Flame Tail Beast, which followed the flames to lead the group through the palace while knights and servants pursued them.
• Sherlock recognized the Underground Ritual Room and unlocked its door so the group could enter.
• The Flame Tail Beast led them to a cabinet, and the Advisor used Exposure Projection to scatter its contents so Iver could seize the dagger.
• Grape reinforced the door with Preservation Spell as their pursuers attacked, trapping the group inside.
• Iver summoned Lia and called for Guiding Flame Stream as the Advisor anticipated their escape.

Iver summoned the Paradox Flame Butterfly, whose powerful flame stream melted through the sealed gate and the Fire-infused Knights, then collapsed back into a butterfly. The Advisor deduced that Iver’s summoning was a costly blessing from the Twin Mirrors, while Sherlock froze the lava to make a passage forward.

• Iver summoned the Paradox Flame Butterfly and unleashed a flame stream that melted Grape’s sealed gate and burned through the Fire-infused Knights.
• After firing for ten seconds, the Paradox Flame Butterfly shattered into a flame butterfly and returned to Iver, who showed signs of pain.
• Grape noticed Iver’s pain and inferred that using his powerful ability came with a cost.
• The Advisor used Super Intelligence to conclude that Iver could temporarily summon powerful phantom demons through a blessing from the Twin Mirrors.
• Sherlock blew a blizzard over the molten ground, freezing the lava and clearing a passable road.

Xiao Fernando concealed the destruction at the Silver and Tin Palace and decided to focus on protecting the Queen and Prince while the invasion of Avalon spiraled out of control. Meanwhile, Iver’s group fought through the Red Queen District and reached St. Genevieve Chapel, where Iver used the key Bishop Mathers had given him to open the doors.

• Xiao Fernando found the Silver and Tin Palace empty after the Flame Demon Knights had been wiped out, sensed traces of the Dedication Path and divinity, and chose not to pursue the intruders.
• Xiao Fernando assessed how Karl’s death and the loss of the fake Princess Isabel had derailed Stibium’s invasion, while Avalonian resistance and fighting in Lloyd District intensified.
• Xiao Fernando covered the damaged palace grounds with earth and Preservation, deciding to protect the Queen and Prince and leave the other problems to others.
• Iver and his companions crossed the Red Queen District, where Consultant and Grape defeated scattered soldiers and three waves of enemies.
• Iver reached St. Genevieve Chapel and used the key from Bishop Mathers, infused with Light and Fire mana, to open its doors.

Iver led Olive and the others into St. Genevieve Chapel to perform the Shadow of Avalon Ritual for Lancelot I. After Olive completed the ritual’s substitution and stabbed Lancelot I’s heart, the chapter ended with the coffin’s shadows churning around them.

• Iver explained why the chapel used electric lights, then spoke the secret phrase that calmed its Pioneer statues.
• Iver opened the coffin by writing three secret phrases with the flames from his mitre, and Guinevere’s statue came alive to move aside.
• Olive used Queen’s Blood and a lily to substitute a lion’s heart for the royal descendant’s heart required by the ritual.
• Olive recited the ritual words, pulled the dagger from the lion’s heart, and plunged it into Lancelot I’s heart.

Lancelot I was resurrected and rejuvenated as Shadow Power engulfed Avalon, but the Ouroboros Ring ritual activated through his chest. When Iver tried to alter the ritual, his Art of Shepherding transformed it, leaving him and Lancelot I enclosed in a scarlet array while Lia confronted the Advisor.

• Shadow Power erupted from the Small Chapel, spread across Avalon, and forced the fighting to stop as darkness swallowed every light.
• In Shadow Land, Lancelot heard the call to return, said farewell to a warrior, and vanished from the Dream Realm.
• Lancelot I pulled the dagger from his chest, rejuvenated, and rose from the coffin as the shadows receded.
• A tiny snake formed an Ouroboros Ring around Lancelot I's wound, and Iver realized the resurrected king was being used as a ritual sacrifice.
• Iver pressed his hand to Lancelot I's chest and tried to redirect the ritual, but the Art of Shepherding activated and turned its purple radiance into a scarlet ring around them.
• Lia returned to human form, confronted the Advisor, and raised her hand toward him.

The Advisor realized Lia intended to kill him and used his final moments to warn the grapes that Iver could copy another person’s Path and abilities before the Paradox Flame Butterfly burned him. The Stranger awoke to the horror of his wartime inventions and his failed advancement, then faced the Grand Guardian of Avalon, who asked whether he was returning to Stibium.

• The Advisor inferred that Lia meant to kill him, told the grapes that Iver was blessed by the Twin Mirrors, and was consumed by the Paradox Flame Butterfly’s fire.
• The Stranger woke amid the battle and recognized that Stibium would seize Master Nobel rather than let its valuable researcher remain elsewhere.
• The Stranger recalled how his inventions had brought him fame and acclaim, but seeing the old woman killed made him condemn his work as a means of killing people.
• The Stranger concluded that Stibium had won, that he was being escorted back as a prisoner, and that his advancement had failed.
• The Grand Guardian of Avalon lifted the carriage curtain and asked Master Nobel whether he was returning to Stibium.

Stranger told the Grand Guardian how to defeat the Armored Gargoyles and joined him in a charge to support Princess Isabel. Aboard a boat, Isabel ordered Shafiya to fight through the Stibium forces and reach the Theocracy, and Shafiya accepted her as queen.

• The Grand Guardian said he would protect Stranger as a civilian and planned to remain at the front despite believing Avalon’s royal family had fallen.
• Stranger revealed that Princess Isabel was alive and traveling toward the Theocracy with Bishop Moriarty, then explained that lightning could destroy the Armored Gargoyles’ resistance to magic.
• Stranger gave the Grand Guardian a healing potion and asked to fight alongside him, and the Grand Guardian took him aboard Philip to confront the gargoyles in a thunderstorm.
• Isabel heard the Death Knell aboard the boat and ordered Shafiya to make for the Theocracy at full speed rather than evade the Stibium Army.
• Isabel commanded Shafiya to fight for Avalon and for her, and Shafiya knelt and pledged to win in her name.

Iver modified the Ouroboros Ring Ritual and realized the Shepherding Method might let him enter the body of the apostle it summoned. Choosing to risk his life rather than let Lancelot’s body be used against Avalon, he began his own sacrifice as the ritual reached its end.

• Iver changed the crystal serpent in the ritual from an Angel pointing toward the Path of Love into an apostle pointing toward the Path of Authority, but the Ring Angel’s voice tempted him and left violet scales on his arm.
• Iver awoke to find Lancelot I enduring the power flooding his body, and Lancelot offered his body to Iver rather than let the apostle of the Bear Angel use it.
• Iver reconsidered how the Shepherd had dragged down the Fallen Angel and realized the Shepherding Method might let him enter an Angel’s body during the ritual.
• Iver recognized Lancelot’s willingness to sacrifice himself and renewed his own commitment to the Path of Dedication.
• Iver aimed Arondight’s dagger at his heart as Lancelot’s pupils turned scarlet, then recited, “I am the holy communion; this is mercy.”

Lancelot emerged under Enyo’s influence and attacked Grape, the Paradox Flame Butterfly, and Xiao Fernando as Iver struggled to restrain him. Meanwhile, Lia’s Dawnfire helped Iver regain control, and Isabel reached the designated location, advancing the ritual as dawn broke.

• The deep-crimson egg split open, revealing Lancelot transformed and wielding the Holy Sword Arondight and Enyo’s Formless One.
• Lancelot’s Fear Aura paralyzed Grape, but he flung her out of the Small Chapel before attacking the Paradox Flame Butterfly.
• The Paradox Flame Butterfly blasted Lancelot with beams of flame, while he charged at Xiao Fernando and smashed him apart.
• The Paradox Flame Butterfly Lia used Dawnfire to trap Lancelot in flames, giving Iver an opportunity to resist his control.
• The Grand Guardian broke through the storm as Shafiya sent Isabel’s boat toward the Eternal Theocracy, and Isabel reached the designated location.
• The Stranger announced that the necessary task was completed and the ritual settlement had advanced as dawn appeared over Avalon.

After the Shadow of Avalon Ritual ended, Isabel said goodbye to Shafiya and revealed the truth about her world. The ritual’s final explosion destroyed the Silver and Tin Palace and killed the City Breaker, while Iver watched the blast replay in the ritual’s closing visions.

• Isabel reassured herself that the Death Knell had not rung again, then explained to Shafiya that she came from a different world and apologized for deceiving her.
• Shafiya accepted Isabel’s explanation, wished her happiness with Bishop Moriarty, and Isabel promised she would be happy.
• The Paradox Flame Butterfly unleashed her Self-Destruct, destroying her body and freeing Iver’s soul from Lancelot’s control.
• The City Breaker realized the ritual had been a trap arranged by the Lord of Scales and Feathers, but the ritual continued after the other ascenders left.
• Dawn Fire exploded near the Silver and Tin Palace, destroying the palace and lake, splitting Griffin Bridge, and devastating the Red White Queen District; the City Breaker died inside the fabricated world.
• As the ritual world collapsed, the participants saw scenes from the ritual, ending with a black mushroom cloud that left Iver wondering if it had just happened.