Chapter Summaries

Sizhu explained that the Lord of Scales and Feathers’ reshaping of the Path of Adaptation had turned the elves’ dispute over inheritance into a crisis that could ignite civil war. The Pillar Gods’ reactions remained divided, and Serpent Father ended the discussion by declaring his intent to surpass the Twilight Wall and the Cage of Error.

• Sizhu told Iver that changing how people understood professions could alter the definitions of Paths and that the Lord of Scales and Feathers had absorbed power from other Pillar Gods.
• Sizhu explained that many conservative elves might become Professionals, threatening their ancient inheritances and pushing the Theocracy toward civil war.
• Iver learned that the conflict was unlikely to become a Path War because the Silver Crowned Dragon had agreed to the Lord of Scales and Feathers’ plan, while several other Pillar Gods did not intervene.
• Serpent Father accused the Lord of Scales and Feathers of stealing power again, and the Lord mocked him for challenging the Twilight Wall and the Cage of Error.
• Serpent Father vowed to surpass the wall even if he found only void beyond it, and the Lord of Scales and Feathers sneered at his talk of destiny.

The Serpent Father revealed that he would attempt his final transcendence on August 1 and leave the River of Change, after which a new Pillar God would ascend. The Lord of Scales and Feathers explained how the Serpent Father's powers shaped the Path of Adaptation, then told Iver that he shared a fateful connection with the Serpent Father.

• The Serpent Father confirmed that he would cross the Twilight Wall on August 1, leaving the River of Change without Transcendence for eight days before a new Pillar God ascended.
• Iver realized Ring Angel's ascension and his own coming battle with Ring Angel might be linked to the Serpent Father's departure.
• The Lord of Scales and Feathers urged the Serpent Father to change the narrative of his Path, but the Serpent Father refused to abandon Transcendence.
• The Lord of Scales and Feathers told Iver that he had stolen the Serpent Father's powers of foresight and evolution, which had influenced the Path of Adaptation.
• The Lord of Scales and Feathers said Iver shared a fateful connection with the Serpent Father and asked why unlikely events always happened around him.

Lord of Scales and Feathers explained that Iver’s encounters and repeated coincidences stemmed from the world’s accumulated histories and Iver’s role as the heaviest “stone” across possible realities. He revealed that Iver was Ring Angel’s substitute for bearing the Price of Infinite Reincarnation, then proposed that Iver kill Fallen Angel in exchange for cooperation.

• Iver wondered whether the improbable importance of people and events around him resulted from the Law of Aggregation or a hidden design.
• Lord of Scales and Feathers showed Iver the fractured skies of possible Timelines and described how the Nine Pillar Gods once reset a malleable future.
• Iver saw a boy holding a Golden Apple inside the top hat, and Lord of Scales and Feathers asked whether the destroyed vision still existed in Iver’s memory.
• Lord of Scales and Feathers explained that abandoned histories left traces that drew events and important characters together across repeated world resets.
• Lord of Scales and Feathers revealed that Iver was Ring Angel’s substitute for bearing the Price of Infinite Reincarnation and that his presence caused events to grow chaotic.
• Lord of Scales and Feathers proposed a mutually beneficial deal: Iver would kill Fallen Angel.

Iver learned that Ring Angel had designed the Ouroboros Ring Ritual to exploit the Demon Scholars’ greed and distrust, drawing them into a trap that could bring down Fallen Angel. Lord of Scales and Feathers wanted Iver to deal with the aftermath, but Iver questioned why Ring Angel’s plan depended on him and what the Pillar God stood to gain.

• Iver realized that his unpredictable nature could make him useful for preventing the worst possible future, but told Lord of Scales and Feathers that Ring Angel already had a plan.
• Lord of Scales and Feathers explained how the Ouroboros Ring Ritual’s apparent promise and costly sacrifice encouraged Demon Scholars to join, deceive one another, and prevent anyone from leaving.
• Iver recognized that Ring Angel had turned the participants into accomplices who would trap one another, leaving them too consumed by factional conflict to question the ritual.
• Lord of Scales and Feathers confirmed that Iver was expected to kill Fallen Angel after the ritual drew him down.
• Iver asked why Ring Angel would need his help and what Lord of Scales and Feathers would gain from Fallen Angel’s death.

Iver spoke with Lord of Scales and Feathers about the Ring Angel’s plans before being told he had already guessed the answer. After Cyril Cardinal explained the worldwide upheaval surrounding the Serpent Father’s impending ascension, Iver realized the Ouroboros Ring Ritual had helped balance the Dream Realm and Material Realm by causing a surge in new Ring Angels.

• Lord of Scales and Feathers told Iver that the Ring Angel’s plan was something he had already guessed, then ended their conversation.
• Iver woke on a metal lotus platform and learned from Cyril Cardinal that the other Cardinals had left and that he had advanced, passed his assessment, and become Lord of Scales and Feathers’ agent.
• Cyril Cardinal told Iver that Lord of Scales and Feathers had asked the church to care for him and would seek no other agents.
• Cyril Cardinal explained that the Serpent Father’s approach to the summit was stirring transcendence, rebellion, transmutation, and corruption throughout the world.
• Iver realized that the Ouroboros Ring Ritual had caused Ring Angels to emerge in large numbers, balancing the Dream Realm and Material Realm, and understood why the ritual could be considered the Ring Angel’s Great Achievement.

Iver realized Hourglass may have secretly supported the Ouroboros Ring and discussed the coming Angel ascensions with Cyril. Cyril identified likely candidates and explained that Selene carried an inheritance from Constant Self’s former self, leaving Iver to understand her as a powerful phantasm.

• Iver concluded Hourglass’s neutrality likely meant it had supported the Ouroboros Ring as a ritual to restore balance.
• Iver asked Cyril about the disturbance in the Source River and which figures might ascend as new Angels.
• Cyril speculated that the Banquet Master, Lanmalok, Merlin, and former Cardinal Loki could become Angels, and said Loki was already dead.
• Cyril explained that Selene’s name came from Constant Self’s discarded inheritance as the Moon Witch, and that Selene was a monster-like phantasm.

Iver decided to investigate two Water Attribute Great Beast candidates before asking Selene whether she wanted to be sealed. Cyril confirmed that Lily’s origins involved both the Beast Lord and the Gray Angel, then revealed that humans were the Beast Lord’s unfinished creation.

• Iver considered whether to seal Selene and decided to investigate the Water Elemental Lord in the Stibium Kingdom and the Foul Blood Angel in Narcissus Territory first.
• Iver told Cyril Cardinal his theory about Lily, and Cyril confirmed that both the Beast Lord and the Gray Angel were involved.
• Cyril explained that the Gray Angel had both died and continued to live, and that the Beast Lord prepared Children of the Beast when it awakened within Constant Self.
• Cyril revealed that humans were the Beast Lord’s unfinished work, which gave them an instinctive Beastly Desire.

Cyril Cardinal explained that humans were the Beast Lord’s unfinished imitation of elves and that Lily was a Child of the Beast suppressing her instincts. He revealed that the Silken Grimoire was part of Gray Angel and could use Lily as a vessel, leaving Iver to seek help from Antimony’s Spirit Tower.

• Cyril Cardinal told Iver that humans inherited traits from the Beast Lord’s other creations and that Lily’s violent instincts marked her as an awakened Child of the Beast.
• Iver realized Lily had used loyalty, reason, and adaptability to suppress her growing desires along the Path of Love.
• Cyril Cardinal explained that the Silken Grimoire was part of Gray Angel and had chosen Lily as a successor, putting her at risk of becoming Gray Angel’s vessel.
• Iver said he wanted to take Gray Angel’s power and make it entirely Lily’s, rather than help Gray Angel find another successor.
• Cyril Cardinal said he could not solve the problem but offered Iver a letter of introduction to Antimony’s First Black Prime Minister and the Spirit Tower.

Iver told Lily the truth about her identity as the Child of the Beast and the danger Gray Angel posed, then explained his plan to help her in Astin. Lily chose to keep fighting for control of her fate and agreed to cooperate with him, leaving them as companions rather than master and servant.

• Iver completed his morning prayers and learned from the Lord of Scales and Feathers that using the Gap of Dualities required advance notice and recovery time.
• Iver decided to tell Lily everything about her identity, her bestial instincts, and Gray Angel’s threat.
• Lily revealed that she had already suspected the truth and had developed a way to suppress her instincts through the Path of Adaptation.
• Lily chose to resist Gray Angel and retain her Extraordinary Ability, while Iver planned to help her resolve the danger in Astin.
• Iver felt relieved by Lily’s resolve and accepted her as his companion rather than merely his maid.

Isabel visited Iver in the Theocracy using Selene's body and showed him how confidently she had embraced her authority over the masks. She ended by suggesting that either of them could use the other's mask to become the other.

• Lily told Iver that the Cardinal Bishop's clothes had arrived, and Isabel greeted him at the door while inhabiting Selene's body.
• Lily explained that Selene had eaten and spoiled much of the food in the kitchen, so she had made Selene stay quiet.
• Iver recalled reuniting with Isabel in a dream, learning of her progress with the Puppet Mask Grimoire, and inviting her to the Pope Inauguration Ceremony.
• Isabel insisted that whoever controlled a mask was herself, whether she used her own body or someone else's.
• Isabel told Iver that either of them could use the other's mask to pretend to be the other.

On the eve of the Papal Election, Iver traveled to the ceremony with Isabel and Lily as crowds gathered to watch the unprecedented live broadcast. His new Cardinal robe drew everyone’s attention, and the chapter ended when a woman asked to photograph him.

• The chapter explained that the election ceremony was scheduled for March 3, despite the Eternal Pope’s term not reaching its auspicious three-hundredth year until 1900.
• Iver changed into his new Cardinal robe and took Isabel and Lily upward by elevator toward the ceremony.
• Crowds and elven crews prepared to broadcast the election across the Rings, with cameramen granted access to the venue for the first time.
• Iver noticed a mysterious message in the robe’s equipment description, then decided to wear it for its useful traits.
• Passengers debated whether Iver was really a human Cardinal Bishop, while Isabel went unnoticed in the crowd.
• A woman approached Iver and tentatively asked if she could take his picture.

Iver publicly acknowledged that he was a Cardinal Bishop, making him the first Cardinal Bishop from the short-lived races in history. As people took photos with him in the lift, he revealed that he was Iver Moriarty of Avalon and introduced Isabel as Avalon's new Queen and his fiancée.

• Iver confirmed to a reporter from the Iris Flower Kingdom that he was a Cardinal Bishop, astonishing everyone in the lift.
• Iver patiently took group photos with the reporter and the people gathered around him.
• The reporter asked whether Iver was from the Theocracy, and he introduced himself as Iver Moriarty from Avalon.
• Iver confirmed that he was Avalon's new Minister of Everything and introduced Isabel as Avalon's new Queen and his fiancée.
• Iver agreed to take a group photo with Isabel and the reporter.

Iver met Iris reporter Alice de Harcourt and suspected her photographer was a powerful Adaptant, while Lily and Isabel were escorted toward the Saintess Candidate proceedings. Elsewhere, the photographer revealed herself as a Society operative and concluded that Lily was either Chloe or connected to Chloe, and that Iver had likely devoured Chloe.

• Alice de Harcourt introduced herself to Iver as chief reporter for the Iris Flower Gazette, and Lily warned him that Alice was an Adaptant.
• Iver noticed Alice’s unremarkable photographer react to Lily’s approach and suspected he was a high-level Adaptant, possibly an assassin from Eagle Eye.
• Pope Guards verified Lily and Isabel’s identities, recorded their blood and soul fluctuations, pinned recording brooches to them, and escorted them with Iver through the Holy Church.
• On the Eighteenth Circle, Alice celebrated her exclusive photographs until the photographer advised her to abandon the mission.
• The photographer revealed herself as a woman in archbishop’s robes and explained the Society’s suspicions linking Chloe’s disappearance, Iver, and Lily.
• The woman concluded that Lily was either Chloe or connected to her, and that Iver might have devoured Chloe completely.

Honey Badger accused Iver of being a Child of the Moon who had charmed Queen Isabel and manipulated Avalon, while Alice struggled to believe her. Honey Badger said the Hawkeye Organization would kill Iver, but Alice chose to keep her photographs of him.

• Honey Badger tested Alice for signs of being charmed by Iver, then warned her to report any changes in her thoughts.
• Honey Badger said she had smelled the scent of a Child of the Moon on Iver and argued that this explained his abilities and rapid rise.
• Honey Badger claimed the real Iver had died in a ritual and that the current Iver had charmed Isabel and possibly Yulia.
• Honey Badger said the Queen Guard could not detect Isabel's past enchantment and revealed that her mission was to assassinate the Saintess and kill Iver.
• Honey Badger told Alice that the Isabel they had seen was an illusion and advised her to destroy her photographs, but Alice decided to keep them.

Iver examined the official sacred images of the Nine Pillar Gods and learned that Amber had the form of a young Harpy girl. He joined the gathering with Isabel, where he recognized Cardinal Bishop Siegfried before Cardinal Fafner arrived.

• Iver studied the Nine Pillar Gods' sacred images and was surprised to see Amber depicted as a young, winged Harpy sealed in twilight-colored crystal.
• The Pure White Saintess invited Iver to sit with her, and he led Isabel to the seat before Lord of Scales and Feathers.
• Iver identified the wine as Holy Tree Number One and told Isabel that the young maid serving it was a candidate Saintess.
• Siegfried arrived with Kriemhild and his brother, recognized Iver, and met Isabel.
• Siegfried began explaining that spouses did not always attend the gathering, but Cardinal Fafner walked over.

Iver met Rhine, the timid child of Fafna and Hellerchein, and learned that Fafna was raising him under demanding warrior training. The chapter left Iver surprised to hear that Fafna believed Rhine could strengthen his dragon power of adaptation by taking hits.

• Cardinal Fafner said she was proud of Hellerchein and introduced Rhine, her child with Hellerchein, to Iver.
• Iver praised Hellerchein as a hero and gently welcomed the frightened Rhine, who greeted him.
• Fafna brought Rhine to pray to the Lord of Scales and Feathers, explaining that dragons were children of that deity.
• Fafna described Rhine's extensive combat and scholarly training and said she had begun teaching him three hundred years earlier.
• Iver noticed Rhine was afraid of Fafna and pulled him back when he tried to edge away.
• Fafna said Rhine could increase his power of adaptation by taking hits, leaving Isabel stunned.

Fafna explained how dragons adapted through near-death experiences and why their race let weaker members face extinction, then reaffirmed her plan to train Rhine into the world’s strongest warrior. The chapter also revealed a threat to Grey at the Pope Inauguration Ceremony, while Iver resolved to find a way to make Hellerchein address Rhine’s future himself.

• Fafna told Iver that dragons grew stronger by surviving deadly injuries and adapted as a race by allowing those unable to survive their environment to perish.
• Fafna revealed that dragons had become more intelligent and fertile, and that at least a hundred pure-blooded dragons still lived in Avalon in hiding.
• Fafna insisted that Rhine would become the strongest warrior and thanked Iver for helping make Hellerchein’s promise possible.
• Fafna warned Siegfried and the other elves not to drink anything because Loki’s Controlled Fire might use the stolen Tears of Time to assassinate Grey.
• Iver drank his wine and decided he might need to capture Hellerchein, now the Wild Hunt King, so he could explain his wishes for Rhine to Fafna himself.

At the Cardinal Bishops’ silent ritual banquet, Iver drank Holy Tree Number One and discovered that its potent power of Dedication could raise his level. He was left treating the rare three-hundred-year feast as an all-you-can-drink Experience Potion event.

• Iver passed the long wait by holding Isabel’s hand and discussing Avalon while the Cardinal Bishops remained solemn and avoided the wine.
• The reporters speculated about the bishops’ silence but kept their suspicions to themselves.
• After Isabel finished explaining Avalon’s recent developments, Iver became tipsy after drinking four bottles of Holy Tree Number One.
• Iver realized that Minister Drost’s Curse Poison had weakened the wine he had tried before, while the unaltered Divine Wine contained exceptionally potent Dedication power.
• Iver discovered that the wine slowly raised his Fourth Level strength and decided that anyone who failed to drink their fill at the once-in-three-hundred-years feast was an idiot.

Alice attended the Papal Election as a reporter while secretly serving as a decoy for Hawkeye’s assassination mission. When the Eternal Saintess suddenly showed symptoms of the poison, Alice assumed Honey Badger had succeeded, but Honey Badger had not even begun the attack.

• Alice nervously prepared her report while worrying about Hawkeye’s mission and her own likely death as its scapegoat.
• The Eternal Saintess drank from her wineglass, cried out in pain, and Yanis rushed to her side.
• Yanis removed the Saintess’s blindfold, revealing a black, crystallized right eye that indicated the elves’ terminal illness.
• Alice recognized the symptoms as the effect of Tears of Time and believed Honey Badger had poisoned the Saintess.
• Honey Badger watched the broadcast from the Eighteenth Circle and realized the Saintess had collapsed before she used her unfinished assassination tool.

After Grey collapsed from apparent poisoning at the Papal Election, the Theocracy blamed Controlled Fire remnants and launched an investigation. Grey recovered enough to appoint Iver to preside over the election as Acting Pope while she recovered.

• Reporters spread the news that Grey had been attacked, triggering panic and accusations against former Controlled Fire members throughout the Theocracy.
• Jacob and Iver identified the imprisoned vampire author as a remaining remnant of Loki and decided to inform Lord Loki about the incident.
• The Cardinals stabilized Grey, identified Tears of Time in her wine, and ordered martial law; the Pope Guards discovered that Miss Alice’s photographer was a Shadow Shell using a technique from Hawkeye.
• Iver noticed that the Cardinals seemed unusually prepared, while Grey’s petrification marks shrank and she said she had mostly recovered.
• Grey proposed that Iver temporarily preside over the Papal Election as Acting Pope and asked the reporters to raise their hands if they disagreed.