Chapter Summaries

Grey proposed that Iver become a temporary Pope while she recovered from crystallization, then outlined a deadline for a second election if she did not recover. Iver realized Grey had planned the arrangement in advance as she argued that her proxy participation would prevent disputes over the election.

• Iver tried to refuse Grey’s proposal, but she held down his hand while the Cardinals voted; eleven supported advancing the proposal to discussion.
• Grey said Iver could serve as Acting Pope while she recovered and promised a second election by the Day of Extremes if she had not recovered within six months.
• Cyril Cardinal objected that Iver might rule for decades if Grey failed to recover, and Grey set deadlines for transferring the crown or holding another election.
• Belisarius Cardinal questioned how the Cardinals could ensure Iver would return the Most Holy Crown, and Grey argued that choosing Iver was the least risky option.
• Grey said she would participate in the election as a proxy to prevent disputes and a possible split in the Theocracy, and Iver realized she had arranged the plan in advance.

Iver realized the Cardinals had arranged for him to become a temporary Pope to keep the Theocracy united while the aether-rotted Saintess remained a candidate. The election began with Iver, Fafna, and Galatea nominated, leaving Iver to face the prospect of ruling the Eternal Theocracy.

• Iver deduced that Cardinal Loki had given Tears of Time to the Hawkeye Organization and that the Cardinals had staged the attack to protect the Saintess’s candidacy.
• Iver concluded that the Cardinals had agreed to make him temporary Pope rather than let their factions divide over another candidate, and he stopped resisting the plan.
• The Pure White Saintess held the second vote, raised Iver’s hand, and every Cardinal Bishop voted in favor of his candidacy.
• At nine in the morning, the Papal Election ceremony began, and the Saintess openly showed her aether-rotted eye.
• The Saintess announced Iver Moriarty, Fafna, and Galatea as the three candidates, and Iver realized he was likely to become Pope.

Iver Moriarty secured an absolute majority in the third round of the Papal Election and was chosen as the nineteen-year-old human Acting Pope. The Theocracy’s citizens welcomed the result, while Pure-Blood Elves debated why Fafna’s policies would have been dangerous.

• Iver received six votes in the first round and thirteen in the second, then gained seventeen votes in the third after Matilda canvassed for him.
• Fafna and Galatea voted for each other, while Iver voted for Cardinal Fafner, and the other Cardinals voted for Iver.
• The elves spread news of Iver’s election and many considered the result fair because all three candidates were non-elves.
• A dwarf and a Lizardman in a Second Ring tavern agreed that Iver’s election was preferable to the other candidates and discussed the Saintess’s poisoning.
• Elderly elves at the Decomposition Institute criticized Fafna’s support for helping humans, arguing that excessive aid would prevent them from becoming independent.

Jacob visited Bram Stoker in the Theocracy prison, where a fragment of Cardinal Loki’s consciousness spoke through the vampire writer. Jacob revealed that Iver was made partly from his grandson’s soul remnants and claimed Loki would worship him as lord, while news spread that Jacob’s grandson had become Pope.

• Elven wardens and prisoners discussed Pope Election Day and the human candidates, including Jacob’s grandson from Avalon.
• Jacob secretly visited the imprisoned Bram Stoker, who described the prison’s food as better than what ordinary people in Avalon received.
• Bram threatened to eat Jacob’s flesh and drink his blood, prompting Iver to appear and intimidate him.
• Cardinal Loki’s consciousness surfaced through Bram and mocked Jacob for becoming an Apostle and activating Iver.
• Jacob explained that Iver was made from only part of the materials provided to him, and that the remaining scraps belonged to him.
• Jacob told Loki that his grandson had become Pope, then declared that Loki would worship him as lord and offered him his blood as sacrament.

After Iver was appointed Acting Pope, Grey explained that his main duty would be to sleep beneath the Most Holy Crown and gain power while sustaining the Giant Tree. Iver planned to split himself so one version could serve in the Theocracy while another went to Astyn, and the chapter ended with Isabel proposing to be crowned queen at their wedding in the Theocracy.

• Grey kept Iver and his companions for a banquet of dream-fiend dishes summoned through the Banquet Host.
• The Cardinals revealed that Iver's appointment as Acting Pope had been part of Grey's plan to strengthen his authority and thanked him for their date.
• Grey explained that the Pope entered a dream to become one with the Giant Tree, and that Iver could gain power in the Dedication Path while serving.
• Iver realized he could split himself, leave a devoted version to gain experience in the Theocracy, and send his other version to Astyn to save Lily and rescue others.
• Iver proposed ending the war with Astyn, and Isabel agreed that he could represent her position on Avalon and the Theocracy.
• When Grey asked about Isabel attending Iver's wedding, Isabel proposed holding the wedding and her coronation in the Theocracy.

Iver and the others went to the Eighteenth Circle, where the Pope Guard had captured the alleged assassin, and Cardinal Dominic explained the Judgment Center’s belief in reforming society and regulating Extraordinary Professionals. The chapter leaves them approaching the detained man for questioning, while outlining why the Judgment Center’s Holy Knights travel abroad to protect the weak and judge criminals.

• Iver and the others arrived at the Eighteenth Circle after learning that the Pope Guard had captured the alleged assassin there.
• Iver corrected Cardinal Dominic, saying Grey remained the true Pope and he was only the Acting Pope.
• Cardinal Dominic explained that she supported the Professional system and believed elves should use fair systems to reform society.
• Cardinal Dominic argued that making inheritances widely available could create a new nobility, while Professional paths could give people access to abilities that suited their affinities.
• Lily noted that the Herasul Empire had been destroyed despite its lack of discrimination against Paths, and Cardinal Dominic agreed that Extraordinary Professionals needed to be managed.
• Cardinal Dominic described how the Judgment Center sent Holy Knights abroad to judge criminals and protect ordinary people, despite the controversy their interference caused.

Cardinal Dominic described how Cardinal Belisarius quietly protected the Parthians while waiting for them to resist their slave-owning society. Iver realized he might be able to summon Angels before the world grew stronger, giving him a possible way to kill the Ring Angel, and planned to visit Parthia after dealing with the Fallen Angel.

• Cardinal Dominic explained that the Parthian Ancient Kingdom's water-dependent slave system was accepted by its people, making outside intervention difficult.
• Cardinal Dominic recounted how Belisarius rescued Parthians who sought justice, knowledge, or a way out, while waiting for them to awaken and choose resistance.
• Iver connected Parthia's future Fourth Water Source War to the Abyss Angel, whose arrival could both end the desert's water shortage and drown the world.
• Iver reasoned that summoning Angels at a lower world level might make them easier to defeat, and identified the Ring Angel as a possible target.
• Iver decided to deal with the Fallen Angel first, then visit Parthia and investigate summoning the Abyss Angel early.

Iver and the others entered the Theocracy’s prison-temple, where Cardinal Dominic explained why she personally bore responsibility for its most extreme punishments. She interrogated the captured assassin Honey Badger, who asked her to spare Alice de Harcourt and warned that the Hawkeye Organization could not withstand Duke Harcourt’s anger.

• Cardinal Dominic led Iver and the others through the prison-temple and explained how the Theocracy made criminals contribute value, while she accepted responsibility for those sentenced to decomposition.
• Cardinal Dominic identified the captive as Cote Ludwig, codename Honey Badger, and recounted her history, identities, family, and role in the Hawkeye Organization.
• Cardinal Dominic asked Honey Badger for her final wish, and Honey Badger requested that Alice de Harcourt be spared.
• Honey Badger explained that the Hawkeye Organization had exploited Alice’s identity and risked provoking Duke Harcourt, which could drive nobles away from the organization and help the Children of the Moon seize power.

Iver spared Honey Badger and discussed putting her and the Hawkeye Organization to use, while Cardinal Dominic recognized Iver as Pope. The former Eternal Pope suddenly appeared and warned Fox to stand behind her.

• Honey Badger realized Iver was the Pope and learned she would be spared and made to work off her debt.
• Iver let Alice go and told Cardinal Dominic to develop Honey Badger’s value and settle the remaining payment for Cardinal Loki’s assassination commission.
• Cardinal Dominic considered using Honey Badger and the Hawkeye Organization as informants and paying them to prevent future crises.
• The former Eternal Pope appeared in midair, gathered power, and ordered Fox to stand behind her.

Iver recognized the Eternal Pope and hid with Isabel and Lily when Bram Stoker appeared in a transformed state resembling the impossible Perfect Man. The Pope explained how a Perfect Man could represent the paradoxical completion of Constant Self’s effort to defeat the Beast Lord.

• Iver realized Grey was the Eternal Pope and took Isabel and Lily behind her as an overwhelming presence approached.
• Bram Stoker appeared naked and transformed, with a hairless, sexless body and silver-white eyes marked by black crosses.
• Madam Honey Badger identified Bram’s appearance as that of a Perfect Man, and Cardinal Dominic said such a being should be impossible.
• The Eternal Pope explained that a Perfect Man would be a Child of the Moon who transcended its beastly nature, a hypothetical result tied to Constant Self defeating the Beast Lord.
• Isabel recognized the paradox: Constant Self could not defeat the Beast Lord without a Perfect Man, yet no Perfect Man could exist until the Beast Lord was defeated.

Iver realized the Perfected One Bram’s power was connected to him through a phantom demon’s Shepherding Method, and Bram transformed into a winged figure bearing Iver’s Great Sin Imprint. The Eternal Pope empowered everyone as Bram attacked the temple and declared he would fight for Iver, hurling a spear of light toward him.

• Bram claimed that Loki’s love and a divine being’s devotion had helped him reach the true path to becoming a Perfected One.
• Bram revealed that Iver had granted him a fourth life, and Iver felt an unexplained connection to Bram’s power.
• Iver suspected that a phantom demon had used the Shepherding Method of flesh and blood on Bram, and Bram called Iver his sacred vessel.
• Bram transformed with white wings and a crown bearing the Great Sin Imprint of Arrogance, while the Eternal Pope empowered Iver and the others with layers of light and buffs.
• Bram shattered the temple ceiling, defied its freezing counterattack, and threw a spear of light toward Iver while declaring that he would fight for him.

The Eternal Pope’s incarnation gained the upper hand against Perfected Man Bram, but Iver sent Lia to exploit Bram’s weakness to fire. Bram was badly burned and, urged by his Holy Lord, prepared to try his other abilities rather than let Loki act.

• The Eternal Pope’s pillar of balanced light overwhelmed Bram’s Heavenly Light Spear, though Bram’s Moon Ring Light Blades weakened the pillar and forced her to shield the surrounding area.
• Iver recognized Bram from the dungeon CG and realized that the Perfected Man was vulnerable to fire.
• Iver summoned Lia and directed her to use Guiding Flame Stream against Bram.
• Bram failed to dodge the attack, and Lia’s flames set his white wings alight and caused him intense pain.
• Bram asked his Holy Lord what to do, then refused to let Loki take over and resolved to use his own abilities.

The Eternal Pope left Iver and Cardinal Dominic to fight Bram, while she cast an Illumination Spell over the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Circles. With Honey Badger and Cardinal Dominic attacking together, Bram was shattered by Iver’s Doomsday Ray, and Iver prepared to use Ritual Material Exemption.

• Bram drained blood from the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Circles and used it to hold back the Paradox Flame Butterfly’s fire.
• The Eternal Pope vanished and cast an Illumination Spell across both circles, while Cardinal Dominic freed Honey Badger and marked her before joining the fight.
• Cardinal Dominic battered Bram at close range as Honey Badger struck him with invisible attacks that pierced his defenses.
• Cardinal Dominic used Punishment Dragon Breath to weaken Bram, and Loki revealed that Bram had completed the task of sealing away part of him in the Dream Realm.
• Iver used Doomsday Ray to destroy Bram’s scattered body, exposing its crystal-filled shell, then raised a card and prepared to use Ritual Material Exemption.

Iver tried to seal the defeated Perfect Being, Bram, and prayed to the Silver Crowned Dragon so the King card could govern his power. The blood and flesh fragments froze and were absorbed into a golden-red King card.

• Iver reasoned that the Perfect Being’s Light Spear drew on the Dawn Angel and chose the King card to claim that power.
• Iver concluded that Bram’s claim to kingship mocked his childishness and invoked the Silver Crowned Dragon to control him.
• Freezing currents encased Bram’s resisting fragments in ice after Iver’s prayer.
• The fragments flew into the light card and formed a golden-red King card.

Iver obtained the Land of Paradise Light spell card, gaining a powerful ranged attack and a domain that could aid him and his allies. After registering it in the Book of Law, he confronted the Honey Badger about what she had learned and hinted that he might let her live.

• Iver examined the Land of Paradise Light card and learned its escalating attacks and domain effects.
• Iver registered the card in the Book of Law and considered testing its range before traveling to Antimony.
• The Honey Badger marveled that Iver could seal a Perfect Being, and he asked whether she still believed he was a Child of the Moon.
• The Honey Badger offered to write to her organization to correct its misjudgment, while privately speculating about Iver and Isabel’s powers.
• Iver suggested that the Honey Badger might not have to die, leaving her startled.

Ruan Eternal appeared after the battle and explained why the Theocracy would not intervene directly against the Child of the Moon. Iver argued that the Theocracy served the Church and the Nine Pillar Gods, leaving Honey Badger to confront the limits of its protection.

• Ruan Eternal appeared and told Iver to call her Ruan, explaining that she had left to rescue the people who had been attacked and tortured.
• Ruan revealed that she had trusted Iver because she recognized the Creation Art and believed he could defeat its foolish caster.
• Ruan introduced Iver to Honey Badger as the Acting Pope who had helped bring about Bear Angel's fall, and said the Theocracy would spare Honey Badger because her knowledge of the Child of the Moon was valuable.
• Honey Badger asked whether the Theocracy would act against the Child of the Moon, but Ruan explained that it upheld voluntary protection and viewed nobles who chose transformation as responsible for the consequences.
• Iver told Honey Badger that the Theocracy represented the Church's interests, and the Church represented the interests of the Nine Pillar Gods.

Iver proposed recruiting Honey Badger and selected members of Hawkeye as an unofficial force backed by the Theocracy, giving the Church a way to act against the Children of the Moon without violating its restrictions. Honey Badger agreed to serve, and Joan entrusted the decision to Iver while reminding him to protect the Theocracy’s reputation.

• Joan explained that the Church could not judge the Children of the Moon or attack them on behalf of another group, and she suggested Honey Badger might have the potential to join the Dedication Path.
• Iver asked whether Hawkeye’s other members shared Honey Badger’s willingness to sacrifice their lives, then proposed absorbing part of the organization.
• Iver suggested publicly blaming the Perfect Being for the temple’s destruction and his attacks, while presenting Honey Badger as someone who had hunted him and accidentally injured the Eternal Saintess.
• Iver proposed that Hawkeye remain unaffiliated with the Theocracy in name while receiving its resources and sponsorship as an agent; Honey Badger agreed to join but warned that some Hawkeye members were unsuitable.
• Joan let Iver decide which members to recruit and reminded him to preserve the Theocracy’s reputation before telling him she believed in him.

Pengbo Naqi learned that the Perfect Being had been defeated in the Theocracy in less than three minutes, but could not understand how it had lost so quickly. He blamed his Children for their failed missions and ordered them to remain in Antimony, while Prince Heinrich stayed behind.

• Prince Heinrich confirmed that the Perfect Being had appeared in the Theocracy and been defeated, then gave Pengbo Naqi the intelligence reports.
• Pengbo Naqi read that the battle lasted no more than two minutes and ten seconds and left no casualties, and wondered why the Perfect Being’s power of creation had not saved it.
• Pengbo Naqi accused his Children of failing to capture Yulia, find Bayard, kill Iver, and keep their infiltration mission secret.
• Pengbo Naqi rejected his son’s suggestion to trick Yulia into returning and warned that another attempt could provoke the Pope Guard and the Pope.
• Pengbo Naqi ordered his Children not to leave their residences or Antimony, then dismissed them as Prince Heinrich remained behind.

Pengbo Naqi and Prince Heinrich discussed replacing Earl Leo Karl as a sacrifice and how to handle the ritual’s secrets. To obtain the Heracles Blood, Pengbo Naqi devised a scheme to lure Yulia and her teacher Nobel to Leipzig by provoking Nobel over his reputation.

• Pengbo Naqi learned that Earl Leo Karl had become a warrior and ordered Prince Heinrich to choose another sacrifice, settling on Earl Dawn.
• Prince Heinrich asked whether Earl Karl should be silenced, but decided against killing him, and Pengbo Naqi left Earl Karl’s fate to him.
• Pengbo Naqi and Prince Heinrich discussed obtaining the Heracles Blood without confronting the Theocracy or Avalon directly.
• Pengbo Naqi proposed sending Nobel a misleading letter claiming that his new student Yulia’s work might infringe on another researcher’s achievements.
• Pengbo Naqi planned to spread news that Nobel had returned to Stibnite with Yulia, expecting the threat to Nobel’s reputation to draw them to Leipzig.

Sherlock said farewell to Iver and left for Iris to help his friend Arsene, who might be in danger. Iver prepared to serve as Pope for six months so Joan could keep the remaining time she had left, then turned to his ritual of self-splitting.

• Sherlock checked his belongings and confirmed that Iver no longer needed his help before explaining that he planned to travel to Iris.
• Sherlock told Iver that his friend Arsene de Vendome, formerly known as Arsene Lupin, might be facing trouble involving the Hawkeye Organization.
• Iver offered to help Sherlock contact Edward or Isabel if he encountered danger, and Sherlock promised to return in time for Iver's wedding.
• Sherlock bid farewell to Iver and left with his suitcase for Iris.
• Iver watched Sherlock depart, then began preparing the ritual of self-splitting.