Chapter Summaries

Sherlock stopped the group from attacking the Hallick Family after realizing their suspicions had been planted by a power that altered fate. Iver explained the Void Box’s limits, and Sherlock proposed using logic to resist its illusions.

• Sherlock refused to let the group attack the Hallick Family, noting that their reasons for suspecting the family were not evidence.
• Sherlock and Iver realized that someone had twisted their perceptions so they would target the Hallick Family if they discovered the deception.
• Iver explained that the Void Box could influence thoughts and memories and create coincidences, but could not reverse time or cause someone to die instantly.
• Iver linked the Void Box’s power to the Swan King and said its user was a Child of the Moon.
• Sherlock argued that they could defeat coincidence and illusion by staying lucid and applying logic.

Iver revealed that he and Isabel were getting married on the twenty-second, leaving him only until the evening of the twenty-first to return to Avalon. He promised to resolve the Void Box crisis within twenty-four hours, and the Old Duke agreed to support him while asking him to return to Avalon if he failed.

• Iver told the Old Duke, Annie, and Arsene that he had to return to Avalon for his wedding to Isabel on the twenty-second.
• The Old Duke urged Iver to prioritize his wedding, but Iver insisted that Sherlock’s investigation into the Void Box had to be resolved first.
• Iver recognized that Annie hoped to attend his wedding, and he promised to return to the Vendome estate and invited the Old Duke to attend as his elder.
• Iver promised to resolve every problem surrounding the Void Box within twenty-four hours.
• The Old Duke pledged the Vendome Family’s support and told Iver to return to Avalon if he could not solve the crisis in time.

Iver and Sherlock examined intelligence on the eight Child of the Moon Earls to identify the holder of the Void Box before the twenty-four-hour deadline. Sherlock suspected Earl Gould, but Iver pointed to Earl of Orleans as the one who consumed the most imported blood, leaving their investigation focused on a new suspect.

• Iver ordered the Old Duke to gather intelligence on the Child of the Moon Earls so they could eliminate suspects one by one.
• Arsene relayed the order, and the Iris administration delivered an initial eighteen-page intelligence file in under an hour, with a larger second batch promised three hours later.
• Iver and Sherlock reviewed the files in the records room while Annie kept servants away to prevent information from leaking.
• Sherlock narrowed his suspects to Earl Gould and Earl Dodeburg, reasoning that Dodeburg's frequent banquets made him an unlikely holder of the Void Box.
• Iver said neither Earl Gould nor Earl Dodeburg was the culprit and identified Earl of Orleans as the earl who consumed the most blood.

Iver explained to Sherlock how Iris’s Health Party secured blood for the Children of the Moon and why hospital blood bags were cheap, preserved rations rather than aristocratic fare. He pointed to the Earl of Orleans’s unusually consistent purchases as direct evidence.

• Sherlock questioned why the Children of the Moon requisitioned so little blood, and Iver explained they needed only 200 milliliters every fifteen days to maintain their rationality.
• Iver described how the Health Party encouraged bloodletting as health maintenance, then used potions and Illumination Spells to help people recover and supply hospitals with blood.
• Iver explained that hospitals preserved blood for transfusions and sold the unpleasant-tasting supply to lower-status Children of the Moon, while aristocrats preferred living humans.
• Iver said the Earl of Orleans’s blood-bag purchases stayed between one hundred and one hundred forty despite changes in dependents and Blood Slaves, making the pattern the clearest evidence.

Iver and Sherlock used records of political appointments and rebellions to identify the Earl of Orleans as the likely holder of the Void Box. Iver revealed a violent contingency plan for finding it within twenty-four hours, and Aleister appeared to endorse it.

• Iver explained that the Void Box could alter unreasoned conclusions, so he and Sherlock worked through the evidence step by step.
• Sherlock corrected Iver's mistaken reference to Earl Hallick and showed that the Orleans family's promotions and demotions followed a pattern around rebellions.
• Sherlock concluded that the Earl of Orleans had likely manipulated events while keeping his forces unharmed and in decline.
• Iver told Sherlock he had another method for locating the Void Box: kill every suspect until the right one was found.
• Iver threw a card into a corner, where Aleister's voice agreed that one of the suspects would be the right one.

Iver, Sherlock, and Aleister set out by carriage to deal with the Children of the Moon, while Sherlock learned that Aleister was Iver’s other half. Arsene joined them carrying the Vendome Sword, and he regarded Iver as a future god whose favor might win him eternal life.

• Sherlock recognized Iver’s resolve to kill the wrong target rather than let anyone escape, then left with Iver before the second batch of intelligence arrived.
• Iver and Sherlock rode through the deserted streets in a carriage protected by the Duke’s crest.
• Sherlock learned that Aleister was Iver’s other half and recognized her familiar teasing manner.
• Aleister and Iver sensed someone on the carriage roof, and Arsene slipped inside.
• Arsene showed the group the Vendome Sword, Sarastro, and hoped that currying favor with Iver might earn him a place as an apostle.

Iver and his companions confirmed Earl Hallick as the target after their attempts to reach the Earl of Orleans were repeatedly diverted. Iver entered Hallick’s castle with Aleister and ordered her to begin killing.

• Iver explained that Sarastro was a divine artifact for the Pied Piper profession and promised Arsene he would advance to the Fifth Level within three months.
• Arsene described how his supernatural growth had stalled and how his work designing stages had deepened his appreciation of beauty.
• Iver and Sherlock reviewed the evidence and realized Earl Hallick, not the Earl of Orleans, was their target again.
• Iver said he wanted to see what would happen if Earl Hallick ceased to exist, then arrived at Hallick’s castle with Aleister.
• Iver entered the castle and ordered Aleister to go on a killing spree.

Iver and Aleister attacked a Child of the Moon banquet, and Iver tested his Upright Summoning · Holy Blood Manipulator ability against the mansion’s defenders. The first attackers were sliced apart by invisible holy-blood threads, revealing a killing trap as the higher-generation Children of the Moon prepared to respond.

• Aleister killed two Children of the Moon outside the mansion, draining their blood and blasting their bodies through three walls.
• Iver and Aleister entered the banquet hall and discussed whether to kill everyone there after Void Box’s misleading directions.
• At Aleister’s suggestion, Iver activated Upright Summoning · Holy Blood Manipulator and sacrificed half his blood to create controllable holy blood.
• The Earl’s dependents formed up, raised blood shields, and charged Iver with the Blood Angel’s divine techniques.
• Iver’s invisible frozen holy-blood threads sliced apart the six charging Children of the Moon and exposed the trap to the mansion’s other defenders.

Iver and Aleister tested blood-based attacks while fighting through a Childs of the Moon banquet. After seeing the humans tortured for the King's Blood Wine ritual, Iver changed their destination, and Aleister set out to destroy the household before they met at the Earl of Orleans's Estate.

• Iver tested blood walls, bouncing blood orbs, and blood blades against the Childs of the Moon, while Aleister demonstrated her skill at cutting them vertically.
• Iver and Aleister reached the Banquet Hall and found humans being tortured to produce King's Blood Wine from the crowned young ruler on the Golden Throne.
• Iver grew furious at the scene and changed their destination to another Child of the Moon's residence.
• Aleister revealed that she could travel separately from the Holy Blood Angel and agreed to kill those Iver was not suited to kill.
• Aleister drained every Child of the Moon in the building, then flew away and arranged to meet Iver at the entrance of the Earl of Orleans's Estate.

Iver, Sherlock, and Arsene arrived at the Earl of Orleans's Estate before dawn, where Gaston de Orleans fled after recognizing Iver as the former Eternal Pope. Iver fired a blood-made magic bullet after Gaston, and the chapter ended with it tracing a prayer to Mist Angel through the air.

• Iver reassured Arsene that Aleister was safe and decided the group would enter the estate rather than wait for her.
• The estate's servants recognized Arsene and escorted him, Sherlock, and Iver inside.
• Gaston de Orleans greeted the visitors and led them into the mansion.
• Iver introduced himself as the former Eternal Pope, causing Gaston to transform into bats and flee deeper into the estate.
• Iver formed a magic bullet from his blood and sent it through the bats as it inscribed a prayer to Mist Angel.

Iver revealed that the Orleans Family’s Void Box had altered Sherlock and Arsene’s memories, then used its stage rules and Sarastro’s powers to help them fight back. With their enemies exposed, Sherlock unleashed the Fool’s Eulogy Grimoire, leaving the group ready to continue their assault.

• Iver explained that the Void Box had made Sherlock and Arsene forget their hostility toward the Orleans Family, and both men regained their memories.
• Iver told Arsene to sing, and Sarastro controlled Arsene’s body to perform an opera that activated bard abilities and revealed hostile targets through the White Mist.
• Iver urged Sherlock to vent his anger, and Sherlock used the Fool’s Eulogy Grimoire to cast Chain Lightning instantly, destroying the enemies visible in the mist.

Sherlock used Arsene’s Spell Anchoring to devastate the Blood Servants, while Iver promised to protect and heal any innocents caught in the attack. Louis de Orleans then appeared, canceled their protections by declaring the corridor a Place of Purity, and demanded to know who Iver’s father was.

• Sherlock’s Spell Anchoring made his Chain Lightning strike enemies across the corridor, killing or burning most of the Blood Servants.
• Sherlock realized that innocent captives might also have been hit, and Iver promised he could heal anyone Sherlock wanted to save, even if they were dead.
• Iver led the group forward and told Sherlock and Arsene to attack freely while he took responsibility for healing the wounded.
• Louis de Orleans declared the corridor a Place of Purity, dispelling the group’s protections and revealing himself amid the candlelight.
• Iver identified Louis as the Earl of Orleans, and Louis asked Iver who his father was.

Iver confronted the Earl of Orleans over the Earl’s killings and accepted that their clash meant war with the Child of the Moon Tribe. Iver summoned the Winter Demon’s Companion Scythe, and the Earl recognized it as a natural enemy of the Child of the Moon, leaving them poised to fight.

• The Earl of Orleans accused Iver of killing his kin and servants, destroying his property, and killing his youngest son, then asked whether the Duke of Vendome was declaring war on the Child of the Moon Tribe.
• Arsene silently chose to stand by Iver, and Iver confirmed the Earl’s accusation with a firm “Of course.”
• The Earl of Orleans challenged Iver, Sherlock, and Arsene to attack him together, relying on the Void Box’s stage rules and aura.
• Iver summoned the scythe Withered Silence, and the Earl of Orleans recognized it as the Winter Demon’s Companion Scythe, a natural enemy of the Child of the Moon.
• Iver told the Earl to stop boasting and asked whether he would strike first or let Iver begin.

Arsene fought the Earl of Orleans with Sarastro and the Queen of the Night Fire, but the Earl overcame him and severed his sword arm. As the Earl taunted Arsene and recalled the Blood Slaves who had suffered after Arsene escaped, Iver appeared behind him and said the dream should end.

• Arsene stepped forward to fight the Earl of Orleans and used Sarastro to plunge them into an illusion of a deep-blue palace.
• Arsene sang the Queen of the Night Aria and summoned black flames that drained the Earl's strength, but the Earl used the Void Box to control the fire and regain his advantage.
• The Earl defeated Arsene, severed his right arm with an Invisible Blade, and let the black flames fade from Sarastro.
• The Earl taunted Arsene about his ideals, his escape, and the sixty-eight Blood Slaves who had been punished after following his example.
• Iver appeared silently behind the Earl and said that the dream should end.

The Earl of Orleans relied on the Mad King's Skull to twist events in his favor and believed Arsene’s allies could no longer threaten him. Iver appeared without his scythe and warned the earl that he was already dead.

• The Earl of Orleans used the Mad King's Skull’s influence to predict and block a hidden strike from the Child of the Moon.
• The Earl of Orleans recognized the attacker’s stealth as a technique used by Hawkeye assassins and taunted the unseen foe into attacking again.
• The Earl of Orleans recalled how Arsene had once escaped his Kiss of Enchantment after receiving an impossible enhancement from the Mad King's Skull, and why he had kept that secret hidden.
• The Earl of Orleans concluded that Arsene’s defeat left no one able to stop him.
• Iver emerged before the Earl of Orleans without his scythe and said the earl was already dead.

Iver defeated the Earl of Orleans by trapping him in an illusion and freezing him into an ice sculpture. The Earl remained caught in an endless nightmare, unable to accept that he was already dead.

• The Earl of Orleans imagined being cut in half, then realized he was still standing and dismissed the scene as an illusion.
• The Child of the Moon warned the Earl that he had not escaped, and the Earl became trapped in a succession of illusions and deaths.
• Outside the illusion, Iver read the Child of the Moon’s illusion while Arsene recovered his fallen sword and discovered its scabbard had been damaged.
• Iver explained to Sherlock that the Earl was dead but preserved by the Void Box, which forced him to relive nightmares as he approached that truth.

Iver killed the Earl of Orleans by exploiting the Void Box’s rules and gained a large amount of experience. He and Sherlock then prepared to clear out the remaining Children of the Moon, while Sherlock asked what they would do afterward.

• Iver used Withered Silence and an illusion-enhanced Star Ice attack to overcome the Earl of Orleans’s Void Box protection and kill him.
• The Earl of Orleans petrified completely, and Iver gained 1,650 Free Experience for defeating him.
• Iver told Sherlock to deal with the remaining Children of the Moon while he treated the innocents, and Sherlock agreed.
• Sherlock realized the Void Box had subconsciously influenced Arsene and the others, but believed Iver had kept the situation under control.
• Sherlock asked Iver what they would do after clearing out the others.

After the Earl of Orleans was killed, Iver sent Sherlock to deal with the Void Box and urged Arsene to face his past by helping the Blood Slaves. Iver left to pursue the Void Box while Arsene headed for the prison.

• Iver explained that they could take the Void Box to the Dream Realm and suggested sending the Swan King there, though Sherlock worried about the danger of the sleeping god's resistance.
• Sherlock left to handle his assigned work, while Arsene struggled to process the Earl of Orleans' sudden death.
• Iver told Arsene to laugh until his old pain grew lighter and then to check whether the imprisoned Blood Slaves could still be saved.
• Arsene followed his memories toward the prison, resolved to help the Blood Slaves escape and tell them what he had once said.
• Iver kept Arsene's history private from Sherlock and recalled the Earl's cruelty toward Blood Slaves before leaving.

Iver revived and healed everyone in the Earl of Orleans’s mansion, including blood slaves and captives tortured by the Children of the Moon. He comforted the survivors, who remained terrified and broken, while reflecting that Avalon had seemed peaceful compared with the horrors he had seen elsewhere.

• Iver revived every person in the mansion, even those Sherlock had killed with lightning, while Sherlock had already killed the Children of the Moon there.
• Iver transformed into the Sin Beast to heal the blood slaves and learned how the Blood Angel had suppressed their instincts, leaving them warped and obedient.
• Iver compared the abused blood slaves in Iris with those in Antimony and Narcissus, then concluded that Avalon was relatively peaceful.
• Iver healed the captives who had resisted the Children of the Moon, restoring their severed limbs and damaged bodies.
• Iver found the survivors too traumatized to speak or walk and gently comforted them.

Iver used a Fifth-Level prayer to sacrifice his flesh and create Moon Dew, restoring the minds, memories, and souls of more than one hundred forty Blood Slaves. He told them to save others and make amends, then declared that they need not pray to any god.

• Arsene asked whether the Blood Slaves could recover, and Iver explained that ordinary treatments could not restore their destroyed personalities.
• Iver prayed to Constant Self and used Brewing Moon Dew, sacrificing his flesh to heal the Blood Slaves throughout the Earl's Mansion.
• The healed Blood Slaves regained their memories and senses, knelt before Iver, and treated him as their savior.
• Iver restored his body, reflected on the limits of his power, and told the former Blood Slaves to save others and repay their past harms with good deeds.
• When a girl asked which god they should pray to, Iver told them they need not pray to any god and said that one day even the gods would sing of his deeds.