Chapter Summaries

Aleister, Honey Badger, and Selene explored Leipzig’s alchemical innovations and watched the Magician Nimble-Handed Harry perform before heading to the White Dove Opera House. Aleister entered seeking the manager, accompanied by a Bunny Girl who admired her.

• Aleister and Honey Badger discussed how Stibium used recycled alchemical waste to power Leipzig and debated the technology’s reliability.
• The group saw rune-powered cargo equipment, electric screens, and Nimble-Handed Harry perform magic for a crowd; Honey Badger revealed he was an Iris Person who had chosen to remain mortal.
• Aleister predicted that Nimble-Handed Harry would achieve great things, and he bowed to the group before disguising himself and slipping away with his earnings.
• Aleister noticed a frightened woman lead her child toward the White Dove Opera House, which was their destination.
• At the opera house, Bunny Girls welcomed the group, and Aleister asked one of them to take her to the manager.

Aleister discovered that the White Dove Opera House was a gathering place where Children of the Moon bought and sold Blood Slaves as wine. After Gregg Val tried to connect her with the Earl Leipzig, a man behind Aleister unexpectedly claimed to have the singer’s contact information.

• A Bunny Girl led Aleister into the opera house while Honey Badger, disguised as a middle-aged man, entered with another Bunny Girl.
• Aleister recognized the Cherry Wine scent on the girl as blood and realized the opera house’s Bunny Girls were Blood Slaves who had sensed a Child of the Moon.
• Gregg Val greeted Aleister and asked whether she was looking for someone.
• Aleister asked to meet the male singer who had performed the previous month, following the code phrase Injunction had given her.
• Val said they had no contact information, but a calm male voice behind Aleister said that he did, freezing Val’s expression.

Aleister left Earl Leipzig’s invitation to speak with Prince Siya Erduo Valentine after learning that he was Lucian’s brother. Honey Badger stayed behind at the White Dove Opera House and arranged to take a young Blood Slave girl as her companion, while Manager Val promised that every service was free.

• Prince Siya Erduo Valentine interrupted Manager Val and told Aleister that Alanis Pulgar would perform at the palace instead of appearing in Leipzig.
• Aleister asked Siya Erduo whether he was Lucian’s brother, then accepted his invitation and left with him.
• Aleister called Honey Badger “Ezio” and asked her to wait at the opera house while they went out.
• Honey Badger asked Manager Val to change companions and chose the unhappy young girl who had been with Aleister.
• Manager Val told Honey Badger that everything at the White Dove Opera House was free and that Earl Leipzig would pay any price.

Aleister, Selene, and Prince Siya Erduo rode in his red automobile, which he called the Philosopher's Stone. After Aleister felt an inexplicable urge to harm the prince, she recognized it as a possible Wrath Brand and wondered how it had taken hold of her.

• Prince Siya Erduo took Aleister and Selene home in his red sports car, while Selene struggled with its speed.
• At Aleister's request, Siya Erduo told the driver to slow down and raise the windows.
• Siya Erduo explained that he had participated in designing the car, which was named the Philosopher's Stone.
• Aleister felt a sudden urge to hurt Siya Erduo and held a sharp nail against his neck before withdrawing it.
• Aleister identified her violent impulse as a possible Wrath Brand and wondered whether the Fallen Angel or her state as a Child of the Moon had caused it.

Aleister accompanied Prince Siya Erduo to his manor outside Leipzig, where he revealed that a citywide affliction was causing people to feel hunger and murderous urges. Siya Erduo’s astrologist Fenrir had prophesied that Aleister would be key to resolving it, and Siya Erduo’s concern for the young girl reflected in her mirror disguise left him openly hostile toward the Child of the Moon.

• Aleister and Selene traveled with Prince Siya Erduo to his manor outside Leipzig, where he asked whether Aleister still felt unusual hunger and urges to tear and devour.
• Aleister realized her hunger and murderous impulses were part of a problem affecting Leipzig, and Siya Erduo said his investigation had ruled out the White Dove Opera House as its source.
• Fenrir revealed that a prophecy had directed Siya Erduo to bring back the person who had spoken with Manager Val, whom Fenrir believed would help break through the predicament.
• Siya Erduo explained that he volunteered to treat the White Dove Opera House’s Blood Servants and that his Stibium glasses could see through falsehoods, including Aleister’s apparent age.
• Aleister used her mirror to reveal her younger appearance, and Siya Erduo said his concern was for the minor girl who had become her.

Aleister questioned Prince Siya Erduo about his mother, Queen Louise, and learned how he understood her transformation into a Child of the Moon. Siya Erduo explained why he trusted Aleister, leaving her to ask whether he feared the ritual would make her kill.

• Aleister deduced that Siya Erduo remembered Queen Louise as two related selves within one person, and he called Aleister a tombstone for her former self.
• Siya Erduo told Aleister that his actions reflected his own wishes, not a desire for praise.
• Siya Erduo revealed that Valentine I had made glasses blessed by the Twin Mirrors to reveal souls and the slaughter people had caused.
• Siya Erduo said Aleister's soul was unusually pure, leading him to believe she had only recently become a Child of the Moon.
• Aleister asked whether Siya Erduo believed the ritual would influence her to commit murder.

Miss Aleister and Prince Siya Erduo discussed a spreading ritual that made people in Leipzig erupt into murderous rage, and Siya Erduo swore to fulfill one reasonable promise in exchange for her help. The chapter ended with them noting that the daily incidents had begun affecting groups, and that the day's chaos had not yet occurred.

• Prince Siya Erduo explained that he wanted to protect the purity of the Child of the Moon, who had once been Blood Slave No. 14.
• Miss Aleister agreed to help resolve Leipzig's crisis in exchange for one reasonable promise, and Siya Erduo swore the oath.
• Siya Erduo described a complex ritual centered on the White Dove Opera House that caused people to lose control and attack others.
• Miss Aleister and Siya Erduo discussed how Leipzig's funding had prevented the conflicts between alchemists and Demon Scholars seen elsewhere in Antimone.
• Siya Erduo said the fury incidents had increased from one person a day to groups, and that the day's chaos had not yet begun.

At the White Dove Opera House, Honey Badger watched the VIPs’ secretive displays and learned that the Bunny Girls had volunteered to work there to escape family debts, though the Children of the Moon’s blood-drinking marks bound them to that life. A scream and shattered remains in the three o’clock VIP room interrupted her conversation, leaving the cause of the disturbance unknown.

• Honey Badger observed the VIP rooms reveal their unruly performances and turned on her own room’s visibility, frightening the Bunny Girls with a bloody handprint on the glass.
• Honey Badger examined the female guests who invited her and recognized the crimson glow in the eyes of the Children of the Moon.
• Honey Badger warned that Miss Aleister should not come to the opera house, then asked the Bunny Girls how long they had worked there.
• The younger Bunny Girl showed Honey Badger the hidden kiss mark that made her dependent on blood, and said she hoped a Child of the Moon would adopt her.
• The older Bunny Girl explained that they had volunteered to work for Earl Leipzig to pay their families’ debts and maintain a safe life.
• Honey Badger heard a scream and saw shattered remains and blood in the three o’clock VIP room.

Aleister persuaded Prince Siya Erduo to stop trying to decipher the suspected conspiracy and take direct action in Leipzig. They headed for the White Dove Opera House, where Aleister planned to confront the Demon Scholars first and pursue other suspects if necessary.

• Aleister argued that the Rage might be a ritual concealing a larger conspiracy, and Prince Siya Erduo ordered a carriage back to the White Dove Opera House.
• Aleister transformed into Ms. Bayard and urged Prince Siya Erduo to act directly instead of relying on logic and astrology.
• Aleister told Prince Siya Erduo to target the Demon Scholars and then other factions in order of suspicion, regardless of whether the first suspects were guilty.
• Aleister persuaded Prince Siya Erduo that his position as a prince gave him latitude to use extreme methods to protect Leipzig.
• Aleister and Prince Siya Erduo agreed to check whether trouble had broken out at the Opera House and confront the Demon Scholars there.

Aleister and Prince Siya Erduo arrived at the White Dove Opera House, where Viscount Conlay had murdered four attendants, and learned that the case might be connected to the recent incident. Inspector Vena asked Siya Erduo to join the interrogation, but Viscount Conlay had already been allowed to go home and clean himself up.

• Aleister admired the Sixth Bureau’s Guard Line, and Siya Erduo promised to give her one after the case was resolved.
• Siya Erduo introduced Aleister and Selene to Inspector Vena, who explained that a murder had taken place inside the opera house.
• Vena identified Viscount Conlay as the killer and said the four victims were private-box attendants whose bodies had been mutilated.
• Vena explained that Conlay had exposed the scene to the crowd and that, under the opera house’s rules, the victims’ deaths might otherwise have been concealed.
• Siya Erduo asked whether Conlay had been arrested, and Vena revealed that he had gone home to clean himself up before being interrogated.
• Vena asked Siya Erduo to take part in the interrogation.

Honey Badger and Aleister compared their observations about a series of sudden violent incidents and concluded that the latest killing was driven by supernatural influence. Aleister revealed that the incidents were part of a large-scale ritual and ruled out the Children of the Moon.

• Honey Badger explained how she expected the authorities to question witnesses and described the killer’s use of overwhelming physical strength to tear apart the victims.
• Aleister arrived in a police coat, joined Honey Badger on the sofa, and questioned her and the two Bunny Girls about what they had seen.
• Honey Badger and Aleister inferred that the killer had acted out of pent-up anger and insecurity after supernatural influence prompted him to act on a suppressed impulse.
• Aleister explained that similar incidents had occurred once a day for five days, with victims realizing almost immediately what they had done.
• Honey Badger argued that the incidents did not fit the methods of the Path of Love, and Aleister said the Children of the Moon were not responsible because the events formed a large-scale ritual.

Aleister investigated the ritual behind the White Dove Opera House murders and concluded that a nearby powerful Transcender was preparing to absorb its accumulated power. With three days left before the ritual completed, she ordered Honey Badger to help her hunt down and kill every Transcender who fit the suspect profile.

• Aleister examined the White Dove Opera House and found blood-written curses forming a ritual that had gathered madness and depravity for more than a month.
• Aleister used Little Crow to detect that eight souls had been burned for the ritual, and the Bunny Girl explained that the eighth was Ellie, who had died in the previous day's incident.
• Aleister told Honey Badger that the ritual had been accumulating power and would transfer it to its ritualist in three days.
• Aleister reasoned that the ritualist was likely a nearby Fourth Level Transcender who was either a Demon Avatar or a Grand Wizard.
• Aleister decided to kill every Transcender matching those requirements and left with Mr. Ezio, while the two girls she had left behind listened in terror.

Christina Weber regretted refusing Earl Dawn’s offer to become his secretary after learning that Zoe Ravens had taken the position. As Christina prepared to leave his banquet, Earl Dawn began to say something that rekindled her hopes.

• Christina asked Earl Dawn whether his offer to hire her as a secretary still stood.
• Earl Dawn told Christina that he had already hired Zoe Ravens, a successful alchemist from Helsing University.
• Christina reflected on her financial troubles, her stalled alchemy studies, and her desperation to find a way to support herself.
• Christina remembered refusing Earl Dawn’s likely offer to become his lover, despite the wealth and connections his offer could have brought her.
• Earl Dawn began to say, “However—,” and Christina eagerly asked what he had said.

Christina accepted Earl Dawn’s offer to recruit dancers, then became his Doll as he prepared a ritual using fallen souls. Viscount Conlay confronted Earl Dawn over murders in Leipzig, but Earl Dawn trapped and repeatedly destroyed him before an emissary arrived with a strange gift from Earl Leipzig.

• Earl Dawn revealed that he was a Fifth Level transcendent and offered Christina work recruiting dancers for his guests.
• Christina agreed to bring dancers and stayed behind, where Earl Dawn took her to his bedroom.
• A woman appeared in the mirror and told Earl Dawn that Viscount Conlay had murdered Blood Servants at the White Dove Opera House.
• Viscount Conlay confronted Earl Dawn, who sealed him inside a mirror and repeatedly tore him apart.
• Earl Dawn revealed that Christina had become a Doll and that he was preparing a ritual with fallen souls.
• An emissary arrived with a glowing, rainbow-radiant ice sculpture from Earl Leipzig, and Earl Dawn ordered it brought in.

Aleister used the Star Ice Spell Card to trap Earl Dawn in an illusion and freeze him, while her raven incapacitated Viscount Conlay. Earl Dawn’s apparent victory over the illusion was itself part of the trap, and Aleister revealed that her spell had silently frozen a Fifth Level Transcender.

• Earl Dawn welcomed the butler-like Honey Badger and examined the girl sealed inside a rainbow ice sculpture, suspecting it was a warning from the Earl Leipzig.
• Earl Dawn attacked Honey Badger, then realized the scene was an illusion and shattered the ice sculpture to break free.
• Earl Dawn believed he had defeated the illusion and threatened his Mirror Demon, but in reality he had been frozen inside Star Ice.
• Aleister emerged from the melting ice sculpture, and her raven’s power caused Viscount Conlay to lose consciousness inside the mirror.
• Aleister identified Star Ice as a Spell Card made from the Sea Bride and demonstrated that it had frozen Earl Dawn.

Aleister used amplified Star Ice to freeze Earl Dawn and suppress the Winter Demon, then confronted the Mirror Demon and ordered it to kill Viscount Conlay. She turned her attention to the bound girls’ souls and considered how to seal the Winter Demon before dealing with Earl Dawn.

• Honey Badger recalled Earl Dawn’s reputation and feared that killing him might unleash the Winter Demon across Leipzig.
• Aleister used Yin-Yang Harmonization to amplify her Star Ice and silently froze Earl Dawn, putting him and the Winter Demon into a hibernation-like state.
• Aleister spoke with the Mirror Demon, which mistook her for Iver and feared the Night Demon crow on her shoulder.
• Aleister declined to contract the Mirror Demon for now and ordered it to kill Viscount Conlay.
• The Mirror Demon shattered its mirror, and Aleister considered sealing the Winter Demon while looking at the girls’ bound souls.

Aleister prepared to seal Winter Demon into a Great Sin Card and ordered Mirror Demon to find the ritual materials. Mirror Demon gathered everything quickly and offered lavish assistance, leaving Aleister and her companions stunned by its eagerness to serve.

• Aleister decided that Winter Demon could be sealed into the dual-attribute Death card and summoned Mirror Demon to find the ritual materials.
• Mirror Demon eagerly agreed to help Aleister kill Earl Dawn, revealing how completely it had served him for more than eighty years.
• Aleister listed the unusual materials needed for the sealing ritual and asked how long they would take to collect.
• Mirror Demon displayed all the required materials in the mirrors and said it would gather them within half an hour.
• Mirror Demon put the mansion's servants to sleep, opened its rooms and defenses, and offered Aleister beds, food, and further service.
• Aleister declined Mirror Demon's continued presence and asked for peace and quiet, leaving Night Demon and Honey Badger silent.

Honey Badger realized that Aleister was Iver’s avatar, and Aleister confirmed it while warning her not to investigate Bayard further. Aleister then completed a ritual that turned the Winter Demon’s power into the Equipment Card Withered Silence.

• Honey Badger pieced together clues about Aleister and asked whether she was Iver.
• Aleister confirmed that Honey Badger was right and warned her not to investigate Bayard further.
• The Mirror Demon returned with the ritual materials, and Aleister began the ritual without a ritual array.
• Aleister invoked Amber and the Silver Crowned Dragon to extract and freeze the Winter Demon’s power.
• Aleister obtained the Phantom Demon Card named Equipment Card: Withered Silence.

Aleister registered Withered Silence in Iver's Book of Law and learned that Earthbound Spirit Alice wanted to inhabit a soulless but living body. She considered asking the body's original owner first, while Mirror Demon's account revealed the earl's scheme to use the woman as a scapegoat.

• Aleister examined Withered Silence, a scythe that reduced targets' maximum life and turned those it killed or dismembered into shattered ice sculptures.
• Aleister replaced Earthbound Spirit's card with Withered Silence in Iver's Book of Law.
• Earthbound Spirit Alice told Aleister that she wanted the soulless university student's living body.
• Aleister explained that the student's soul would eventually leave her body again, even if it was forced back inside.
• Aleister recalled Mirror Demon's report that the earl planned to use the student to lure classmates, then kill her and use her empty body for a demon.
• Aleister considered having Mirror Demon possess the student and take the blame, balancing the books.

Aleister questioned the Mirror Demon about Earl Dawn’s informant, then prepared to restore a trapped soul while reflecting on her contract with the Silver Crowned Dragon and her fear that Iver would sacrifice himself. She concluded that she and Iver were the same person.

• Aleister learned from the Mirror Demon that Lady Anna Kingsford had warned Earl Dawn that Earl Leipzig and the others were watching him.
• Aleister asked the Mirror Demon for Harmonizing Spirit Medicine Paste and prepared to touch a trapped soul without harming it.
• Aleister recalled Iver’s oath not to use the lives or corpses of his kind in rituals and recognized that his Survivor Syndrome could drive him to sacrifice himself.
• Aleister remembered summoning the Silver Crowned Dragon to judge whether she had broken her oath, only to discover that the oath remained intact.
• Aleister realized she saw herself as a Doll or discarded afterimage of Iver, then accepted that they were the same person.