Chapter Summaries

Matilda brought Iver, Sherlock, and Lily to their new residence and explained how to navigate the Theocracy and its rules. As she demonstrated the house’s tree-made storage cabinets, a fresh elven corpse fell out of one, leaving the group with an unexpected mystery.

• Matilda escorted Iver and the others down to the Fifth Ring, explaining the lifts, districts, safety rules, and where they could shop and travel.
• Matilda discussed free Elven-language Passage Manuals and the Theocracy’s approach to fraud and commerce with Sherlock and Iver.
• Matilda led them to a newly built two-story residence and explained its door mechanism and furnishings.
• Matilda opened a storage cabinet to demonstrate its use, and a fresh elven corpse fell out.

Iver and Sherlock investigated the corpse of Bishop Mercedes, Grey’s only remaining friend, and found no clear cause of death. Cardinal Matilda explained Mercedes and Grey’s shared inheritance and described how Yanis’s departure and Betina Tia’s Amberization had shaped Grey’s isolation, leaving Iver worried the murder might worsen Grey’s Amberization.

• Cardinal Matilda, Iver, and Sherlock discovered an elf’s corpse inside the newly built house, and Sherlock identified her as an elven bishop named Mercedes.
• Sherlock examined Mercedes and found an abdominal wound with too little blood loss to explain her death, while Cardinal Matilda confirmed she was a Third Level Inheritor.
• Cardinal Matilda told Iver that Mercedes had been Grey’s only remaining friend and that the Saintess would have encountered the corpse if she had come with him.
• Cardinal Matilda explained that Yanis had been Betina Tia’s student before Betina’s Amberization, and that Yanis left the Theocracy rather than accept another mentor.
• Cardinal Matilda said Mercedes had stayed on the Twenty-First Layer to keep Grey company, and expressed relief that Grey had not come to the house.

Iver connected the attempt to endanger Saintess Grey with her Amberization Disease and learned that she was due to inherit the papacy next month. As Sherlock and Iver examined how the Controlled Fire movement’s beliefs threatened Grey’s succession, they suspected Cardinal Loki but rejected the theory as too neat.

• Iver asked whether someone was trying to induce Saintess Grey’s Amberization Disease, and Matilda confirmed Grey’s condition was a closely guarded secret.
• Matilda revealed that Grey would inherit the papacy next month and explained that disclosure of her disease could provoke major controversy.
• Iver explained that Controlled Fire promoted replacing dangerous flames with safer ones, while Matilda said the movement also urged elves to become Professionals to reduce Amberization Disease.
• Matilda described how Cardinal Loki founded Controlled Fire after a report showed most recorded cases among Inheritors, and explained that the movement opposed choosing the Pope from among Saintesses.
• Sherlock proposed that Loki had tried to trigger Grey’s disease to undermine her succession, but Iver and Sherlock dismissed the theory because its logic seemed too complete.
• Iver recalled that Cardinal Loki would be the first Cardinal Bishop to die during the Disaster of Tree and Amber, and realized Sherlock’s presence might be changing events.

After Cardinal Matilda took Bishop Mercedes’s body, Sherlock concluded that her nonfatal wound suggested a sacrificial ritual, and Iver ruled out a demon as its target. Iver planned to tell Saintess Ningpo the truth and use the remaining time before the Pope Inauguration Ceremony to gather information, while preparing to buy Sherlock a Grimoire and equipment.

• Cardinal Matilda took Bishop Mercedes’s body to the Thirteenth Ring for safekeeping and further investigation.
• Sherlock examined the wound and reasoned that Bishop Mercedes had likely been sacrificed while exhausted or unconscious.
• Iver explained that demon sacrifices only take half, so a sacrifice that killed Bishop Mercedes must have targeted a Pillar God or a Celestial.
• Iver agreed to tell Saintess Ningpo the truth, then planned to rest before visiting the First Ring with Sherlock and Lily to buy supplies and gather information.
• Lily put away the group’s luggage and prepared to leave with their money chest.
• Iver dragged the sleepy Sherlock along and told him he planned to buy him a Grimoire and equipment.

Iver brought Lily and Sherlock through the crowded First Ring of the Eternal Theocracy, where they discussed the elves’ shrinking share of the population. He then led them to a hidden bookstore-café called Lie of Reynard the Fox, where Hypatia welcomed them and Iver sought Grimoires.

• Iver explained to Lily and Sherlock that the elves’ low birth rate and continued immigration meant they might make up less than a third of the Theocracy’s population within fifty years.
• Iver guided Lily and Sherlock through the Theocracy with unexpected familiarity, while Sherlock suspected his knowledge came from memories of another era.
• Iver led the others to Lie of Reynard the Fox, a bookstore-café hidden in an alley, and entered without waiting for an invitation.
• Hypatia, the elf girl running the shop, greeted Iver and asked who had introduced him.
• Iver said the Pure White Saintess had told him Hypatia kept Grimoires, and Hypatia invited the group to settle in and offered coffee.

Iver, Sherlock, and Lily visited Hypatia’s shop to use coffee that let customers perceive hidden mystical texts. Iver paid for three grimoires and negotiated rewards, then drank the coffee to begin his own search.

• Hypatia explained that her coffee opened an hour-long vision of mystical texts, and Sherlock and Lily drank their cups before heading to the shelves.
• Iver asked about buying physical books, and Hypatia quoted fifty thousand Stibium Gold Coins each while offering a quest instead.
• Iver showed Hypatia his money and paid for three books, refusing her quest because he valued his time more than the reward.
• Hypatia agreed to sell the books and offered a mystical text and equipment as spending rewards; Iver chose a weapon for Lily and reserved the book selection for himself.
• Iver drank the coffee and entered the vision.

Iver chose grimoires and occult books for Sherlock, Lily, and Isabel during a hallucinogenic visit to Hypatia’s transformed café. Hypatia revealed that Sherlock’s chosen grimoire suggested an affinity for the rebellious Path of Transcendence, leaving him stunned and suspicious of Iver’s earlier praise.

• After drinking the coffee, Iver saw the café transform into a vast, dark palace and Hypatia appear as a mature woman before she vanished.
• Iver found Hell Transformation · Deduction and the disguised Puppet Mask Grimoire, which combined into Hell Transformation · Puppet Show and revealed a technique that let Isabel control another person through a mask or create a double.
• Sherlock woke first and worried about the cost of the books, then showed Iver that he had chosen the Fool's Eulogy Grimoire.
• Lily showed Iver her Ovum Moon Grimoire, and Iver told her to trust her instincts rather than exchange it.
• Hypatia inspected the selections and told Sherlock that the Fool's Eulogy Grimoire indicated an affinity for the Path of Transcendence, startling him and making him realize what Iver's thumbs-up had meant.

Hypatia explained the history of the Fool Dionysus and revealed that she had personally known him and helped write the Fool’s Eulogy Grimoire. She also told Lily that her grimoire preserved a severed part of Constant Self’s inheritance, leaving Lily unsettled about what studying it would do.

• Hypatia described how the Fool Dionysus criticized rulers and gods, refused several chances to ascend, and was killed by the Beast Lord.
• Hypatia explained that Banquetor stole and ate Dionysus’s heart, allowing the God of Wine to be resurrected within him as a second soul.
• Sherlock realized Hypatia had lived in the same era as Constant Self, and Hypatia confirmed she had helped write the Fool’s Eulogy Grimoire.
• Hypatia revealed that she had also written Lily’s grimoire, which preserved the Child of the Moon—the madness Constant Self cut away when she became a Pillar God.
• Hypatia explained that studying Lily’s grimoire would split the inheritor’s self from their Path, prompting Sherlock to compare it to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Lily accepted Hypatia’s plan to use the Ovum Moon Grimoire to split her into two selves, with the Path of Adaptation keeping the name Lily and the Path of Love becoming Selene. Hypatia then asked Iver and Sherlock to enter the Dream Realm and bring back her biological daughter, promising to provide a potion that would let them travel there alive.

• Iver explained that the Ovum Moon Grimoire had chosen Lily because she was already at risk of splitting, and Hypatia described the abilities each of Lily’s two selves would gain.
• Lily chose to remain Lily as the Path of Adaptation self, and Hypatia suggested Selene as the name for her Path of Love self.
• Lily accepted the split after Iver nodded, and Iver recalled that the grimoire’s real-world power exceeded the weakened version known to players.
• Sherlock questioned Hypatia’s unusual generosity, and she showed Iver a staff once used by Constant Self before asking for help with a task in the Theocracy.
• Hypatia revealed that she wanted Iver and Sherlock to enter the Dream Realm using a potion formula and bring back her biological daughter.

Iver avoided entering the dangerous Dream Realm until he could deal with Bear Angel and obtain a navigator, then went shopping with Sherlock and his companions in the Theocracy. He left a goblin shop tempted by the prospect of buying an even better scepter than the one he had first considered.

• Iver considered Hypatia's final Anniversary Event Quest too dangerous while Bear Angel was hunting him, so Hypatia agreed to prepare the Prototype Drunken Dream Tincture and Dream Realm Navigator herself.
• Iver explained that Morgan's base would let him enter the Dream Realm with Isabel, but without a navigator he risked getting lost and never finding his way back.
• After leaving Hypatia, Iver took Sherlock and the others to the goblins' settlement and bought daily necessities from a goblin merchant.
• The merchant offered Iver a discounted Consecration Scepter, and Iver began considering it as an essential purchase.
• Iver asked whether the shop had an even better scepter, while Sherlock covered his forehead helplessly.

Iver bought the Corona Scepter and other goods before a trio of trolls approached him with a warning that someone had posted a bounty for information about him. Their hunter appeared to have tracked him by scent, and Iver suspected Bear Angel was involved.

• Iver bought the purple-grade Corona Scepter, daggers for Lily, and other goods, reaching 10,000 White Crown Coins to receive a discount.
• Iver examined Corona's attributes and chose it for its strong Fire Attribute damage and its grand appearance.
• After Lily and Sherlock left with the purchases, Iver stayed behind to shop and planned to visit Master Agnes the next day.
• A brown-black-skinned troll told Iver that someone was buying information about him on the black market and asked him for help in exchange for compensation.
• A green-skinned troll showed Iver a claw-marked rune and demonstrated that he had tracked Iver by scent, leading Iver to suspect Bear Angel was behind the pursuit.

Iver questioned three troll priests who had come to the Theocracy seeking help rescuing their captured grandfather. He learned that a human had supplied them with Iver's Blood and ordered them to curse him, leaving Iver wondering whether the human served Bear Angel.

• Iver brought the three trolls to a private room in a Stibnite People restaurant and fed them roast pork while considering what their arrival implied.
• The trolls told Iver that a human had captured their grandfather and promised to return him if they cursed Iver with the bloodstained pursuit mark.
• The brown-skinned troll explained that he had secretly traveled to the Theocracy with two others, hoping Iver could lead them to the human who captured his grandfather.
• Iver suspected that the human might be a remnant of Noble Red who served Bear Angel.

Iver learned that a mysterious red-haired wizard had tried to curse him with his blood, but his golden trait had made him immune, and he prepared to report the threat to Matilda. Elsewhere, the wizard confronted Cardinal Loki, accusing him of betraying Supreme Heaven and calling him Utgarda-Loki.

• Iver questioned the young troll and learned that the red-haired wizard had abducted his father and left for the Theocracy the previous afternoon.
• Iver realized the wizard's curse had failed because Dissolving Soul made him immune, and concluded the wizard was likely a hostile Fifth Level being rather than Ares.
• Iver gave the trolls a membership card for an inn and asked them to rest, then went to report the matter to Matilda.
• At Crescent Moon Inn, the red-haired young man defended his troll slave's curse work and accused Cardinal Loki of being the traitor Utgarda-Loki.

Bram Stoker confronted Cardinal Loki with his past as a giant and delivered Bear Angel’s orders. He told Loki to find Iver Moriarty and mark his soul so their Lord could devour him in the Dream Realm, then demanded a bite of Loki’s sealed giant blood.

• Bram Stoker taunted Cardinal Loki about fleeing Supreme Heaven and hiding his giant identity, while Loki defended his choice to join the Theocracy.
• Bram told Loki that Serpent Father planned to abdicate as a Pillar God, allowing Bear Angel to seek Ring Angel’s fragments and claim the vacant position.
• Bram relayed Bear Angel’s order for Loki to find Iver Moriarty and mark his soul with a ritual or curse, leaving him alive for their Lord to devour in the Dream Realm.
• Bram revealed he wanted Loki’s giant blood sealed by the Candle Holder and threatened him as gray spider silk spread through the room.

Iver received Cardinal Matilda’s introduction to Cardinal Loki at the Eleventh Ring’s Central Observatory so he could investigate Red Wine Mister and the Bear Angel matter. After returning home, he used a prayer to send books to Isabel through Winged Flame and planned to tell her where to collect them.

• Cardinal Matilda gave Iver a letter of introduction to Cardinal Loki and explained that the Eleventh Ring’s Central Observatory could help him investigate.
• Iver returned to his residence, organized his altar, and performed a dedication prayer to the Candle Holder’s Buck.
• Winged Flame appeared, accepted Iver’s blood, and carried the two books into the Dream Realm for delivery to Bishop Mathers at the Candle Holder Cathedral on Glass Island.
• Winged Flame healed Iver’s palm before vanishing, and Iver realized his ritual vision had let him see the apostle’s projected form.
• Iver planned to visit Morgan’s Funhouse and tell Isabel to collect the books at the Candle Holder Cathedral the next morning.

Iver learned from Sherlock that the suspected troll trafficker, Red Wine Mister, was Bram Stoker, a disgraced former Bureau of Supervision employee and now a famous author. Iver, Sherlock, and Lily planned to consult Cardinal Loki, while Iver also considered asking Master Agnes about Bram’s abilities.

• Iver told Sherlock and Lily about the three trolls, and Sherlock recognized the description of Red Wine Mister.
• Sherlock explained that Red Wine Mister was Bram Assad, who had secretly written novels and been dismissed after the Bureau of Supervision discovered his identity and an illegal Grimoire.
• Sherlock said Bram changed his surname to Stoker, settled in Iris, and later traveled to the Southern Continent and the Parthian Ancient Kingdom, possibly under the cover of researching for his books.
• Iver concluded Bram might still be in the Theocracy and suspected he was trafficking trolls while traveling between regions.
• Iver decided to consult Cardinal Loki, and Sherlock and Lily agreed to go with him.

Iver brought Sherlock and the trolls to the Central Observatory, where Cardinal Loki warned that a persistent curse showed someone was trying to kill Iver. The Pure White Saintess arrived, challenged Loki over Bishop Mercedes's murder, and their long-standing hostility surfaced.

• Iver met the trolls at their inn, learned that the young ritualist was Rabbihe of the Beast Song Tribe, and heard the names of Zumai Di and Babu Lu.
• Iver and his companions reached the Central Observatory in the Eleventh Ring and were led through its mirror-lined corridors to Cardinal Loki.
• Lily reacted to Loki, while Loki recognized Iver's name and warned him that someone was pursuing him with a lethal curse.
• The Pure White Saintess entered and insisted the Theocracy was safe and that she would protect Iver.
• The Saintess accused Loki of involvement in Bishop Mercedes's murder, and Loki denied responsibility while arguing that Controlled Fire was not under his control.

Iver learned that Cardinal Loki knew about the Pure White Saintess’s Amberization Disease and warned that the Theocracy would soon descend into chaos. Loki revealed that Gloria Blue Rose had killed Bishop Mercedes and then died by suicide, challenging the Saintess to consider whether Controlled Fire offered elves salvation from amberization.

• Iver realized Loki and the other Cardinal Bishops likely knew about the Pure White Saintess’s Amberization Disease, while she had also kept secrets about Loki.
• Loki warned Iver to leave the Theocracy and said his own past was pursuing him, while the Pure White Saintess insisted she would protect Iver.
• Loki identified Gloria Blue Rose as the person from Controlled Fire responsible for Mercedes’s death and showed the Saintess footage of Gloria sending out confession letters before falling to her death.
• Loki showed the Saintess Gloria’s shattered remains and explained that her late-stage Amberization Disease had made her choose a brief, brilliant death.
• Loki questioned whether the Saintess could call Gloria’s actions murder when Mercedes had not resisted, and asked whether Controlled Fire was truly wrong to seek change and release from amberization.

At the Central Observatory, Pure White explained Gloria Blue Rose’s long crystallization and her possible role in Bishop Mercedes’s death, while Iver questioned the circumstances of the killing. When a troll was struck by the Filthy Blood Curse, Pure White saved him and took Iver to trace the assassin.

• Pure White told Iver and Sherlock that Gloria had been crystallized for over two hundred years and that she and Mercedes had cared for her.
• Iver questioned whether Gloria had sacrificed Mercedes rather than killed her in a moment of distress, but the group had no evidence to resolve the mystery.
• Zumai Di suddenly suffered a Filthy Blood Curse, and Rabbihe recognized it and called for help.
• Pure White used divine power to expel the curse and heal Zumai Di before Iver finished chanting.
• Pure White explained Advanced Divine Arts to Iver, then took him and the trolls to trace the curse and find the would-be assassin.

Iver’s group tracked the Curse Master to the Fifth Ring, where Pure White prepared them with powerful protective blessings before they approached the suspected trap. Her strength made Iver reconsider the pain behind her efforts to save Gloria, and he realized that the man called “Premature Death” was in the Theocracy.

• Sherlock questioned how Pure White had tracked the Curse Master and warned that the stationary target might be bait.
• Iver and the Pope Guards decided to continue without reinforcements, while Iver considered why the Curse Master had killed Zumai Di.
• Pure White bestowed holy blessings, wings, shields, and healing protection on the group.
• Iver recognized Pure White as an extraordinary support and reflected on how her attempts to keep Gloria alive may have tormented both Pure White and Mercedes.
• Iver murmured that “Premature Death” was a Necessary Evil and realized the man was in the Theocracy.