Recaps

Iver found Yulia absorbed in building a machine and learned she wanted strength to protect herself and help him. Yulia revealed she was pursuing the Trailblazer class through a world-changing invention: an improved Difference Engine.

• Isabel told Iver that Yulia had secluded herself for half a month to work on an experiment, so he went to check on her.
• Iver found Yulia in an expanded room beside a large brass machine, and he comforted her and restored some of her energy.
• Yulia asked Iver to give her Lily's ability and explained that the war over Antimony had convinced her she needed strength of her own.
• Yulia said she wanted to advance as a Trailblazer so she could genuinely help Iver, despite the difficulty of the path.
• Yulia showed Iver a Difference Engine built from Mr. Babbage's discarded manuscripts and said she planned to modify and optimize it.

Iver learned that Yulia had rebuilt Charles Babbage’s abandoned Difference Engine and was optimizing it into a more powerful machine. Yulia described plans to use electricity and binary input, while Iver realized her invention could make her a Trailblazer and wondered whether his grandfather Jacob had been involved in Babbage’s death.

• Iver recalled how Avalon’s first alchemist, Charles Babbage, had developed a mechanical Difference Engine before dying under mysterious circumstances and leaving his work unfinished.
• Yulia explained that she had discovered Stibnite’s Automatic Tabulating Machines relied on magic, unlike Babbage’s purely mechanical blueprints, and had taken it upon herself to complete his work.
• Yulia demonstrated her metal-transmutation skills and said she had used Babbage’s Analytical Engine principles to improve the machine.
• Iver suspected that the Ring Angel had controlled alchemical development and considered that Jacob might have killed Babbage as a member of the Scaleless Hand.
• Yulia described using electricity and binary signals to improve the machine’s input and said she hoped it could eventually calculate answers to all problems through the Equilibrium Path.

Yulia’s calculating machine led Iver to explain why humans alone could invent a demystified device that might transform civilization, and he predicted that Yulia could become a Trailblazer and even an angel. As Yulia embraced the possibilities inspired by his vision, Iver questioned whether he was merely a tool, and she challenged his fixation on what was real.

• Iver told Yulia that her Analytical Engine could become a quantum leap for the era because only humans, with their balanced adaptability and lack of racial Extraordinary Abilities, could conceive of a calculating device without magic.
• Iver predicted that Yulia’s invention could lead to cheap, portable computing and enable automation, wireless communication, remote shopping, and delivery.
• Yulia embraced Iver, called him a genius, and began considering ways to apply magic and banking systems to make some of his ideas possible sooner.
• Iver dismissed his insight as knowledge borrowed from another world and wondered whether he was a tool whose apparent resistance had already been planned.
• Yulia told Iver that his words were real and meaningful to her regardless of their source, then asked why he seemed to pursue reality so intensely.

Iver asked Yulia how she would regard him if memories from another world had shaped who he was. Her reassurance helped him accept that he was Iver through the bonds he shared with others, and Yulia embraced him.

• Iver realized that his fear of revealing his otherworldly memories came from worrying that Yulia and Isabel might no longer see him as themselves.
• Iver asked Yulia how she would see him if he had memories from another world that let him foresee the future.
• Yulia said she had recognized his powers came from those memories and reassured him that she would always know him as her Big Brother.
• Yulia revealed that she also hid parts of herself, and Iver understood that he would not mistake her for someone else when she showed them.
• Iver accepted that he was the Iver known and loved by Yulia, Isabel, Edward, Sherlock, Lily, and others.
• Yulia hugged Iver and told him she loved him as always.

Iver spoke with Yulia and Lia about their separate identities and Lia’s wish to use her sacrificial power. Yulia and Lia accepted each other as sisters, and Iver left to prepare a ritual while they talked.

• Iver considered Lia the only possible obstacle to Yulia moving forward, but Lia explained that she no longer saw herself as Yulia’s enemy.
• Lia told Iver she wanted him to use her Dedication Path power rather than keep her protected from sacrifice.
• Yulia said she understood Lia’s desire to be able to act, and the two touched wings and felt an unexpected closeness.
• Yulia asked Lia if she could call her by that name, and Lia agreed.
• Iver went to prepare the ritual and asked Yulia and Lia to talk about their experiences.

Iver performed the Essence Shepherding ritual for the Paradox Flame Butterfly, making Yulia its new shepherd and forging a powerful bond between them. After the ritual, Iver summoned the Shadow Demon and realized the Paradox Flame Butterfly had not disappeared from Yulia’s head.

• Iver prepared the ritual array and brewed blood-red sherry infused with ingredients suited to the Fire Attribute.
• Iver consumed the Paradox Flame Butterfly and endured its flames while Yulia acted as his believer and received his name written on her forehead.
• Yulia drank the flames and the white flower, and the Paradox Flame Butterfly emerged from a cocoon and settled in her hair.
• The ritual succeeded, connecting Iver and Yulia directly as god and believer, while Iver’s body regenerated with the Rebirth Flame.
• Iver asked Yulia about her new powers, then summoned the Shadow Demon and noticed the Paradox Flame Butterfly remained atop Yulia’s head.

Iver discovered that Paradox Flame Butterfly could manifest through Yulia while Night Demon was summoned, allowing both Great Sin Beasts to exist at once, though Lia’s durability and range were limited. He then fused Lia and Night Demon with the Gospel White Wings using Great Sin Redemption, greatly enhancing Lost Paradise and leaving him with a power resembling the Fallen Angel’s.

• Paradox Flame Butterfly manifested beside Yulia while Night Demon remained summoned, and Lia explained that her manifested form had reduced durability and could not stray far from Yulia.
• Yulia discovered she could shape her own flames into butterflies and other creatures, and Lia explained that the power had originally belonged to her.
• Iver called on Lia and Viennes to test Great Sin Redemption, and his white wings absorbed both Night Demon and the Paradox Flame Butterfly attached to Yulia.
• Great Sin Redemption enhanced Lost Paradise with a threefold increase to its power and range, and gave it the ability to reduce all-attribute resistance and dispel up to eight buffs.
• Iver realized his new ability could rival the Fallen Angel’s Lost Paradise, and wondered if he was becoming more like a boss.

Iver tested the Wind Attribute enhancement to Lost Paradise and devised a plan to defeat the Fallen Angel by wearing him down, luring him out of his Taurus armor, and striking decisively. He began considering allies for the battle, but was left wondering how to mobilize a legion of Children of the Moon.

• Iver discovered that the Wind Attribute enhancement granted Judgement Light, whose marks boosted damage and prevented targets from teleporting.
• Iver concluded that his traits and Gospel Wings could give him a chance to penetrate the Fallen Angel’s defenses while he was still at the Fifth Level.
• Iver planned to weaken the Fallen Angel and provoke him into removing his Taurus armor before using enhanced Lost Paradise for a decisive attack.
• Iver considered recruiting Ligeia, the Insect Amber Master, the First Black Prime Minister, Master Agnes, Zhu Tang, Mu, and available Cardinal Bishops, while noting the dangers and limits of the mission.
• Iver considered using the Land of Paradise Light to make an ideal battlefield for the Children of the Moon, but could not see how to mobilize enough of them.

Iver planned to rally the Children of the Moon against the Fallen Angel by promising them the benefits of a Perfect Being’s Land of Paradise, while overseeing military preparations and Yulia’s research in Avalon. After performing another Shepherding Ritual on Lily, Iver received a visit from Bishop Mathers.

• Iver decided not to enter Antimony to retrieve the item needed to resurrect Aleister because doing so could alert the Fallen Angel or prevent his return.
• Iver planned to send Pope Guards to Iris and the Narcissus Principality with news that the Theocracy could create a Perfect Being’s Land of Paradise for the Children of the Moon.
• Iver stayed in Avalon to supervise the Holy Griffin Armor fitting as Yulia moved her research team to the Royal Alchemy Factory.
• Iver performed another Shepherding Ritual on Lily, synchronizing the power bound by her shadow demon contract with her night demon contract and strengthening her abilities.
• Bishop Mathers visited Iver, who greeted him in surprise.

Iver reunited with Bishop Mathers, thanked him for his help, and offered him a role spreading the Lightbringer inheritance in Avalon. Mathers gave Iver the key to St. Genevieve Chapel, and Iver accepted it as a way to obtain the sealed Red Hilt Sword fragment and prepare for future battles beyond the war against the Fallen Angel.

• Bishop Mathers knelt before Iver and called him the Child of Candle Holder, but Iver helped him up and asked him to use his name.
• Iver offered Mathers the chance to study Advanced Divine Arts in the Theocracy and entrusted him with spreading the Lightbringer inheritance in Avalon.
• Mathers declined to leave Avalon, choosing to keep guarding the royal family's Holy Sepulcher and suggesting that his younger sister take the opportunity instead.
• Mathers handed Iver the key to St. Genevieve Chapel, hoping it could help in the coming war against the demons, and Iver accepted it.
• Iver recognized that the key held the sealed soul of a Nameless Round Table Knight and planned to summon Merlin to remove the seal and explain how to repair the sword.
• Iver resolved to gather more power because he expected the war against the Fallen Angel to be followed by further battles against descending Angels.

Iver summoned Merlin to remove the seal on the Red Hilt Sword, which he hoped to repair for the fight against the Fallen Angel. Merlin explained the sword’s power came from a fragment of the Beast Lord and warned that only pure love could restrain its beast nature.

• Iver used Merlin’s prayer and a ritual to summon Merlin, who appeared among the flowers.
• Merlin teased Iver about their relationship and mentioned he had been on his way to a date with a shepherdess.
• Iver asked Merlin to remove the seal on the Red Hilt Sword, and Merlin recognized the key and its purpose.
• Merlin warned Iver that the sword’s power could magnify evil desires and drive its wielder mad.
• Merlin explained that the sword’s ruby hilt held primordial power from the Beast Lord and that he had broken and imprisoned the weapon rather than simply sealing it.

Merlin revealed the Red Hilt Sword’s history and explained that the Sun Knight’s remnant soul had been moved into another holy sword. Iver learned that the soul was in Mordred’s former Clarent Sword and asked Merlin to undo the Red Hilt Sword’s seal.

• Iver asked Merlin about the holy knight’s remnant soul, and Merlin recounted how Balin drew the cursed sword and later fell to its curse.
• Merlin explained that he sealed the Red Hilt Sword, later used by Galahad, and that its power formed a balance with the Sun Knight.
• Iver connected the sword’s powers of light and fire to the shattered sun Tai Yi and asked how to awaken the Sun Knight.
• Merlin said the Red Hilt Sword could be unsealed but was broken, and revealed that he had placed the Sun Knight’s soul inside Mordred’s former Clarent Sword.
• Iver recognized the Clarent Sword’s location from Lord Red Moon’s information and told Merlin to undo the seal first.

Iver considered using Arondight to complete the incomplete Holy Sword, but chose not to destroy Hai Na’s treasured dagger and recalled that Clarent was the only Holy Sword that belonged entirely to him. Merlin unsealed the Red Hilt Sword, transforming it into a ruby weapon that revealed new powers and a cryptic message about sunset.

• Iver rejected using Hai Na’s Arondight as material because it was her precious childhood keepsake.
• Iver recalled how the Bayard Family had built its fortune through curses, deception, potions, and other extraordinary powers.
• Iver remembered that Clarent had been given to the Bayard Family in connection with a curse that made accomplished Moriartys forgotten by their living relatives until the seventh generation.
• Iver thought he should ask the Night Demon where the Bayard Family’s treasury was.
• At Iver’s request, Merlin unsealed the Red Hilt Sword, revealing a ruby weapon with Holy Sword modules and a message suggesting it could be heard at sunset.

Iver tested the transformed Short Spear as a powerful Light Sword and discussed the Bayard Family’s collateral with Viennes. After recalling Landon Viennes von Bayard, he decided to summon him to pay his respects the next morning.

• Iver channeled Light Attribute mana into the Short Spear, transformed it into a Light Sword, and tested its cutting power in the garden.
• Iver combined the weapon with an ice-forged blade and considered using it as a flexible greatsword despite its Curse Vulnerability.
• Iver asked Viennes about the Moriarty Family’s collateral, and Viennes explained how Curse Masters used collateral to maintain and monitor long-term curses.
• Viennes suggested that Landon Viennes von Bayard might know where the Bayard Family’s treasures were hidden.
• Iver remembered Landon and decided to summon him to pay his respects the next morning.

Landon Viennes von Bayard recalled surviving the demon attack on Asty, losing his family and home, and being rescued to Avalon by the Church. After the Pope summoned him, Landon feared it was because he had once tried to chat up Aleister Crowley, whom he had heard was the Pope’s lover.

• Landon remembered demons attacking Leipzig City while he was in a tavern, where he survived alongside Supernatural Beings who held the doors.
• Landon returned to his family home and found his father, a Fourth Level Curse Master, and nearly all the servants dead, while the house’s defenses and contents had been destroyed.
• Landon tried to care for the surviving maid and rebuild the defenses, but she fled, leaving him to hide alone beneath a bed for three days.
• The Church rescued Landon and other refugees from Asty and brought them safely to Avalon.
• Landon recalled Janet Platinumman telling him that Aleister Crowley seemed to be the lover of Eternal Pope Iver, who had ordered the Paladin Legion to rescue refugees.
• After the Pope summoned him, Landon worried that he would be punished for his past behavior and decided to kneel immediately when they met.

Landon Viennes von Bayard met Iver Moriarty, thanked him for saving him, and accepted his offer to remain in Avalon after Antimony’s calamity was purged. He learned that his Bayard blood could help recover a pledged sword and end a curse, and that Viennes Émile Zola Bayard was the source of his baptismal name.

• Landon entered Iver Moriarty’s quarters, knelt, and praised him before Iver put him at ease and asked him to pass his good fortune on by helping others.
• Landon accepted Iver’s offer of work in Avalon and learned that Iver recognized his Curse Master abilities and believed he could soon reach the Third Level.
• Iver explained that he wanted a Bayard to retrieve a pledged sword from Landon’s territory in Antimony and end the curse bound to it.
• A crow revealed that she was Viennes Émile Zola Bayard, explained Landon’s connection to her bloodline, and told him to sign the contract because the Bayard Family must keep its word.

Iver considered using Yulia Heracles and the Herasul Secret Treasure to create a new Herasul Empire from the ruins of Stibium. He left the idea poised as a way to unite the region and bring peace.

• Iver praised Landon for his empathy and caution, while Viennes questioned whether those qualities proved he could be relied on in other matters.
• Viennes explained that the Herasul Secret Treasure was likely protected by a curse that only powerful purification could break, and that doing so would destroy what it guarded.
• Iver reasoned that a Swamp Person created with Herasul imperial blood might still count as a true Heracles.
• Iver remembered that Yulia's birth name had been Yulia Heracles and considered making her ruler of a revived Herasul Empire.
• Iver imagined a New Herasul that joined Stibium and Avalon, reopened the Secret Treasure, and could draw the surrounding principalities into a peaceful union.

Iver told the Children of the Moon he planned to rebuild the Herasul Empire, prompting them to send far more troops than he had requested to help defeat the Fallen Angel and secure positions in the new empire. As the legions gathered in Avalon, a new Angel ascended, and Iver sensed that he had met the Angel before.

• Iver decided to reveal his plan to rebuild the Herasul Empire to the Children of the Moon, who saw the project as a chance to gain influence and military positions.
• The Children of the Moon promised support and dispatched legions from their countries, intending to defeat the Fallen Angel and earn status in the new empire.
• On April 30, Iver reviewed the forces assembling in Avalon, including large contingents from the Iris Flower Kingdom and Black Eagle Principality, mages from the Narcissus Principality, and Theocracy troops.
• Iver concluded that the allied forces were strong enough to fight the demons with fewer casualties than in the original history.
• On the night of his ascension, Iver felt an unfamiliar power as liquids across the area evaporated into mist, signaling that a new Angel had ascended.
• Iver sensed that he had encountered the new Angel before, though he did not know who it was.

Iver learned that Sister Sasha had ascended as the Path of Love’s Mist Angel, an outcome made possible by recent changes he had set in motion. Lord of Scales and Feathers explained the political purpose of the Ouroboros Ring Ritual and revealed that the Mist Angel could transform Children of the Moon into Mist Demons.

• Iver prepared to ask the Nine Pillar Gods about the new Angel, but Lord of Scales and Feathers told him Sister Sasha had ascended.
• Lord of Scales and Feathers explained that the coming surge of Angels and Apostles stemmed from the power of transcendence and that the Ouroboros Ring Ritual was a compromise accepted by the Pillar Gods.
• Iver realized the Ring Angel had selected unpopular Angels for descent so he could carry out the ritual without facing retaliation from their allies.
• Iver traced Sister Sasha’s ascension back to changes he had made, including Aleister’s actions, the Banquet Lord’s completion, and Sasha becoming his Apostle.
• Lord of Scales and Feathers revealed that the Mist Angel could transform Children of the Moon into Mist Demons, and explained that Constant Self would not be troubled if this undermined her plan to create Perfect Humans.
• Lord of Scales and Feathers described Pillar Gods as prisoners and spokespeople for their Paths, then called himself the one exception.

Iver contacted the newly appointed Mist Angel to learn about the class she was preparing for Moon Children, hoping to give them a good-aligned path. He approved the Mist Walker advancement and left with the possibility of teaching its principles to other Magicians.

• Iver prayed to the Banquet Angel and obtained the Mist Angel's contact information after declining an invitation to the Eternal Banquet.
• Iver contacted the Mist Angel, who appeared through the surrounding mist and explained that she wanted to give Moon Children another possibility.
• The Mist Angel shared the new Magician advancement, Mist Walker, whose abilities included moving through mist, creating clones, and shaping illusions.
• Iver approved the Mist Walker class and learned that its advancement required treating deception as a trick or stratagem rather than a means to steal or kill.
• Iver considered testing the new class on a Third-Level Magician, but could not use Ye Zhi because the Werewolf had already reached the Fifth Level.

As many Transcendents joined the Promotion Ritual amid the rising threat of war, Iver worried about Isabel, who chose to advance while pregnant rather than rely on his help. He trusted her growing abilities and waited in the courtyard for news of the ritual.

• Iver saw off the Mist Angel, helped the others enter the Promotion Ritual, and returned to the courtyard as Transcendents across Avalon prepared to advance.
• Iver worried that Isabel had begun her Promotion Ritual only days after reaching the threshold, despite being pregnant and having safer options available.
• Isabel told Iver she wanted to advance through her own strength, arguing that power gained through shortcuts would not truly belong to her.
• Iver accepted Isabel's reasoning and recognized that her determination and talent had grown since she discovered acting was her true path.
• Iver reflected on Isabel's Puppet Mask Grimoire, which let her imitate the appearance and some abilities of Lily, Ligeia, Aleister, and himself.
• Iver chose to trust Isabel and waited in the courtyard for news instead of standing by her bed to intervene.

Iver assembled allies to confront the Fallen Angel in Stibnite, accepting that victory was the only option and recruiting Grunewald despite the lich’s doubts about the team’s strength. The healer shortage was resolved when Saint Ruan Eternal arrived and offered to protect the group, though her rapidly advancing age revealed that she had little time left.

• Iver told Grunewald that he had to defeat the Fallen Angel, and Grunewald agreed to bring the Spirit Tower and help in the battle.
• Iver listed his expected allies and explained that the Fallen Angel’s test would punish those burdened by great sins.
• Iver worried that the team lacked a reliable healer and had too little mana to sustain healing without sacrificing damage.
• Grunewald said Iver would learn the answer the next day and revealed that a distinguished guest had arrived.
• Saint Ruan Eternal emerged from the mist, explained that she had burned through her life and was aging quickly, and offered to serve as the team’s healer.

Iver treated the many ascenders injured during Avalon’s unusually high-survival Promotion Ritual, while learning which people had succeeded or failed. Isabel awakened after clearing her ritual with no deaths and gained a powerful illusion trait; as Iver slept, she reflected on the burden of his struggle against the coming doomsday.

• Iver treated injured ascenders as the Inspectorate counted those who had completed their ascensions in Avalon; Lily and Yulia succeeded, and Yulia became the Hourglass’s Trailblazer apostle.
• Yulia learned that Babbage’s soul had been shattered and that the Hourglass expected her to turn his research into practical results.
• Selene and David failed their rituals and suffered soul injuries, while Zhu Tang failed after refusing to kill the young girl who became a Fifth Level.
• Iver learned that most participants had spared their defeated opponents, making the largest high-level Promotion Ritual in Avalon’s history unusually survivable, and he considered how such cooperation might shape the future.
• Isabel awakened after clearing the New Moon Ritual with three ascensions, nine survivors, and no deaths, then told Iver about her five-year dream and received the Twin Mirrors Image trait.
• Iver fell asleep while embracing Isabel, and Isabel quietly recognized the weight of his efforts to avert the Twilight Wall and the Doomsday Clock.

As resentment threatened to turn the Allied Army against itself, Iver arrived and used a holy ritual to address the troops. He framed the war against the Fallen Angel as a historic trial that could let humanity surpass its limits, leaving the soldiers inspired to fight together.

• Resentment between soldiers who had and had not undergone the Promotion Ritual pushed the Allied Army toward civil conflict.
• Louis Victor and other commanders hurried to the Nine Pillar Gods Holy Temple when Iver arrived there instead of visiting the barracks.
• Iver performed the Hourglass's Sacred Rite, spreading the god's power of equilibrium across Midsummer County.
• Iver challenged the soldiers to see humanity's failure to fight gods as cowardice rather than weakness.
• Iver revealed that the Herasul Empire had previously summoned the Fallen Angel and declared that defeating it could open the paths to higher levels of power.
• Iver told the Allied Army that the Fallen Angel feared their unity and urged them to make history by defeating it.

Iver’s mobilization speech united the allied army, and he organized a staged invasion of Stibium to establish a Mage Tower, reclaim churches, and force the Fallen Angel into battle. The first troops set out for Leipzig Harbor as the wider plan prepared to converge on the Fallen Angel.

• Iver’s soldiers accepted his explanation that the Fallen Angel had manipulated their emotions, ending the army’s internal conflicts and raising morale.
• Iver arranged for the allied forces to sail in separate waves, with Children of the Moon distributed among the ships for protection.
• The first wave, led by four Theocracy warships, carried the Narcissus Principality’s mages, the Holy Griffin Knight Order, and high-level Children of the Moon toward Leipzig Harbor.
• The mages planned to convert the Spirit Tower into a Mage Tower, while the second wave’s Iris Legion would seize Leipzig City and the Theocracy’s clergy would reclaim churches.
• Iver planned to use synchronized prayers to the Hourglass to weaken the Fallen Angel’s control, then confront him as the Griffin Legion and Mage Tower supported the battle.