Chapter Summaries

At Councilor Macht’s ball, Klein used his Dwayne identity to arrange a potential investment in Coym Company with Madam Mary. He then spotted Amon near Haileur in the garden and left without revealing himself, while worrying about the danger Amon posed to their plans.

• Klein attended Councilor Macht’s ball as Dwayne and met Haileur and Madam Mary.
• Mary decided Dwayne could be a suitable partner and offered him the chance to buy shares in Coym Company.
• Dwayne agreed to consider buying the shares of a minor shareholder who wanted to sell, and Mary planned to persuade the shareholder.
• Klein saw Haileur searching the garden and noticed the gentleman who joined her adjusting a monocle.
• Klein recognized the figure as Amon, controlled his reaction, and avoided exposing himself.
• Klein considered Amon’s presence and feared that their allies might not be strong enough to oppose the forces backing George III.

Klein sought Leonard’s help after discovering that Amon had entered Backlund and was living next door to him. With Pallez and Medici agreeing that Amon’s clone could be dealt with, they planned to defeat it and leave no loose ends.

• Klein went to St. Samuel's Cathedral, met Leonard, and slipped him a note naming Amon and asking to speak privately.
• Klein told Leonard and Pallez that Amon had entered Backlund and lived next door to him.
• Pallez warned that attacking Amon’s clone could alert him, while Medici argued that a clone disappearing in Backlund would not seem unusual.
• Pallez agreed to target the clone and proposed defeating it before using Beyonder characteristic convergence to find Amon’s other clones in Backlund.
• Klein relaxed after securing Pallez’s help and said he would find a way to create an opportunity.

Klein and Xu Yue planned an ambush against Amon’s avatar, with Klein also arranging help from Azik and Will Auceptin. The ambush let Pallez absorb more than twenty of Amon’s smaller avatars, but Amon’s avatar controlling Dresden remained untouched.

• Xu Yue told Klein that Amon might be seeking a Sequence 1 characteristic in Loen rather than cooperating with Adam, and they decided to target the avatar cautiously.
• Klein wrote to Azik, enlisted Miss Messenger, and warned Dr. Allen before meeting Will Auceptin in a dream.
• Will Auceptin agreed to lend Klein the Wheel of Fortune’s power in exchange for ice cream.
• Haileur discovered that her family and servants had all put on monocles, and Klein rushed into the villa as Amon’s avatar revealed itself.
• Klein’s group destroyed the ordinary avatar, allowing Pallez to draw in and absorb more than twenty nearby avatars.
• Amon’s avatar controlling Dresden adjusted His monocle, revealing that He had escaped Pallez’s convergence.

After Leonard joined The Fool’s gathering, Klein learned that the Goddess of the Night was watching over him and tried to ask Her for the Sequence 4 formula and ritual. Her angel Ariana arrived with a message telling him to obtain what he wanted himself and beware of Amon, then vanished as Xu Yue came to visit.

• Leonard called upon The Fool and was invited to attend the gathering as The Star.
• Klein realized the Goddess of the Night had sent Leonard to him, then prayed to Her for the Sequence 4 potion formula and ritual but received no answer.
• Ariana visited Klein and told him that the Goddess expected him to obtain what he wanted himself as a test.
• Ariana warned Klein to be careful of Amon, then vanished without the servants noticing her departure.
• Xu Yue arrived and sat in the chair Ariana had just occupied.

Pallez survived Amon’s attack by surrendering his Sequence 1 characteristic, while Leonard joined the Tarot Club as The Star. The club discussed George III’s Black Emperor apotheosis ritual, and Audrey declared that she would help protect Loen’s citizens.

• Amon used Adam’s palace to escape with Pallez’s Sequence 1 characteristic before the Lord of Storms destroyed the palace.
• Pallez told Leonard that he was still alive, though he had fallen to Sequence 2 and lost his chance to advance.
• Leonard attended his first Tarot Club gathering as The Star after the Church explained the incident in Backlund as a demon invasion.
• Xu Yue provided five diary pages, including three from Miss Hermit, and Klein read them before opening the gathering to discussion.
• Audrey said she would take part in stopping George III’s apotheosis ritual to protect Loen’s innocent citizens, leaving Leonard stunned by the stakes.

The Tarot Club agreed to prepare against George III’s godhood ritual, with Klein accepting that Amon might benefit if they struck the tombs at the crucial moment. The chapter leaves the opposition gathering allies and resources as George III’s preparations continued.

• Alger hesitated to join the effort, but Admiral Star and Little Sun pledged their support, and The World explained Silver City’s ties to Duke Negan and the conservative nobles.
• Klein revealed that Amon was pursuing the Thief pathway’s godhood ritual, and Xu Yue explained how disrupting the tombs at the critical moment could also serve Amon’s interests.
• The Tarot Club tentatively agreed to rally the conservative nobles and potentially help Amon during the ritual, while Medici criticized Klein for letting personal principles influence his choices.
• Emlyn White sounded out the Sanguine about helping, while Magus asked her teacher for Sealed Artifacts and requested that Louis Wayne be killed.
• Xu Yue, acting as Instructor Franklin, approached Duke Negan and invoked the Goddess of the Night as the conservative nobles cautiously began organizing against George III.

Fors told Hugh that she was a Sequence 7 Astrologer and revealed that Hugh was already a reserve member of The Fool’s gathering, persuading her to approach The Fool and learn the truth. Meanwhile, the Loen nobles and the Sanguine mobilized their forces in Backlund as conflict over George III’s plans loomed.

• Hugh suspected Fors had obtained her money through gambling, but Fors explained that she had joined a Beyonder gathering and become a Sequence 7 Astrologer.
• Fors told Hugh that their planned operation might relate to the injustice Hugh’s father had suffered and revealed that Hugh was already a reserve member of her gathering.
• Hugh began reciting The Fool’s honorific name to obtain her identity as Judgment.
• Lilith issued a divine oracle allowing the Sanguine to act freely, and three Sanguine Dukes secretly arrived in Backlund.
• The Loen nobles brought Nast Solomon, Admiral Star, and the Mysterious Queen into Backlund and secured Silver City’s help by promising it privileges.
• The conservative nobles gathered loyal military demigods and became the strongest force available to lead the alliance.

Duke Negan took command of the Anti-George Alliance, while William Augustus I learned of the conservative nobles’ activity and ordered precautions to protect George’s ritual. Louis Wayne then redirected an Aurora Society assassination plot from Negan to Count Hall, leaving the plan set despite the expected retaliation.

• Duke Negan became satisfied with his position as leader of the Anti-George Alliance and the power gathered under his command.
• Delink reported the conservative nobles’ unusual activity to William Augustus I, who ordered demigods to guard against unrest and sought ways to distract the nobles.
• William Augustus I questioned Dresden about his monocle, and Dresden said he hoped to lure out Amon’s avatar in Backlund.
• Louis Wayne judged Duke Negan too difficult a target for assassination and proposed Count Hall instead.
• The royal family’s representative approved Louis Wayne’s choice and warned that Loen would retaliate, while Louis accepted the risk.

Louis Wayne prepared to assassinate Count Hall by targeting Audrey during her Bicycle Company share negotiations. Audrey and Alfred set out to meet Instructor Franklin, unaware that Louis Wayne saw the meeting as an opportunity to act.

• Louis Wayne gathered intelligence about Count Hall and devised five linked plans, beginning with kidnapping Audrey to confuse her father.
• Louis Wayne learned that Audrey and Alfred would leave the Queen's Area to negotiate for Bicycle Company shares with Instructor Franklin, whom he dismissed as weak.
• Audrey reflected on the nobles' involvement in the Black Emperor's godhood ritual and suspected Mr. The Lovers had more influence in Backlund than her father.
• Alfred told Audrey he had arranged a meeting with Instructor Franklin to discuss the sale of his Bicycle Company and Baron Sherlock shares.
• Audrey and Alfred prepared to leave, and Audrey praised Franklin's investments in the Bicycle Company and Coym Company.

Audrey and Alfred met with Xu Yue to buy Baron Sherlock’s shares in the Bicycle Company, but an Aurora Society team cut off the premises and confronted them. Klein confirmed that Xu Yue was Mr. The Lovers, leaving Audrey to realize that the intruders had unknowingly challenged a powerful Tarot Club member.

• Audrey and Alfred met Xu Yue at the Bicycle Company to sign a contract for Baron Sherlock’s shares.
• Audrey considered whether Franklin might be Mr. The Lovers after seeing Baron Sherlock’s authorization letter.
• Alfred and Audrey sensed that a Beyonder effect had isolated the company from the outside world.
• Louis Wayne entered with two Rose Bishop subordinates and invited everyone to come with him.
• Xu Yue identified the intruders as members of the Aurora Society and explained the likely Sealed Artifact effect.
• Klein assured Audrey that Mr. The Lovers was beside her, and Audrey realized Xu Yue’s identity.

Xu Yue exposed Louis Wayne’s plan to kill Audrey and Alfred’s father, Count Hall, to provoke chaos among the nobles. He trapped Louis and his subordinates by distorting the spirit world, then revealed his Black Knight power and attacked Louis.

• Xu Yue questioned why Louis Wayne had targeted Count Hall, leading Audrey to realize the Aurora Society intended to kill her father and create chaos.
• Alfred stood protectively in front of Audrey as Louis admitted his plan had been exposed and threatened to use their corpses to provoke Count Hall.
• Audrey asked whether her brother could be told the truth, and Xu Yue said Count Hall’s family could learn of the plan because they were devout believers of the Goddess.
• Louis signaled his two Sequence 6 subordinates to attack and tried to contact the spirit world, but found the area sealed off.
• Xu Yue revealed that he had taken control of the demigod-level Sealed Artifact and used his Black Knight power to make the Rose Bishops’ flesh turn against them.
• Xu Yue challenged Louis’s assumption that he represented the Aurora Society’s stance and swallowed him in shadow, leaving Alfred trembling.

Audrey and Alfred brought news of an Aurora Society threat to Count Hall to Xu Yue, then sought reassurance from the Church of the Evernight. Archbishop Anthony said the Goddess had ordered them to leave Xu Yue alone and promised to protect Count Hall, while Klein watched helplessly as Alfred raised Xu Yue’s fee by thirty percent.

• Xu Yue explained that he had skipped the Listener stage, and Alfred raised the transaction price by thirty percent after learning the Aurora Society’s members had been dealt with.
• Alfred took Audrey toward the Church of the Evernight to warn them about the threat to Count Hall.
• Leonard escorted Alfred and Audrey to Archbishop Anthony, who said the Goddess had ordered them not to interfere with Xu Yue.
• Anthony promised to visit Count Hall and protect him from being killed in darkness.
• Klein watched the events from above the Origin Castle and lamented that he would not receive any of the extra money.

Grove Augustus learned that an Aurora Society emissary had died while targeting Count Hall’s family, and he decided to meet Emissary S. Count Hall returned to Backlund, made plans to keep his children away from the growing conflict, and learned that the conservative nobles had united against George III’s Godhood Plan.

• Grove Augustus learned that the Mysterious Emissary had died after targeting Count Hall’s children while Instructor Franklin was present, and blamed the emissary’s poor judgment.
• Grove Augustus decided to cooperate with Emissary S and prepared to meet him in person.
• Count Hall heard from his youngest son what had happened and instructed Audrey to spend more time at the charity foundation and Alfred to take an assignment away from Backlund.
• Count Hall went to Duke Negan’s estate and found conservative nobles, demigods, and other powerful figures gathered there.
• Duke Negan explained that George III intended to become a god and that the nobles, joined by the Pirate King, the Sanguine, and the Tarot Club, were positioned to oppose him.

Xu Yue maneuvered between the nobles and the Royal Family as their conflict over George III’s godhood ritual became impossible to resolve. After revealing the Royal Family’s plan to eliminate the nobles, he left Duke Negan and the other nobles confronting the threat of a decisive fight.

• Count Hall urged the nobles to strike at the Royal Family, and Xu Yue argued that their allies would avoid fighting once George III’s godhood ritual failed.
• Xu Yue met Grove Augustus, revealed that the nobles knew about the Godhood Plan, and agreed to consider the Aurora Society’s offer to stir up chaos.
• Grove Augustus offered the Aurora Society greater rewards and promised it could deal with the nobles after the Royal Family reclaimed authority.
• Xu Yue showed Duke Negan and the nobles a recording of Prince of Sunia describing the Royal Family’s intent to wipe them out.
• Xu Yue warned that George III and the Royal Family were strongest while George prepared to become a god, leaving Duke Negan to consider whether the nobles could afford to wait.

Klein obtained the Mysterious Illusionist formula after escaping Hidden Town, but freeing Charon left him with a dangerous pursuer and little time to become a demigod. Xu Yue helped him consider a way to carry out his advancement ritual, until a letter from Danez revealed that Vice Admiral Iceberg had vanished.

• Klein returned home after escaping Hidden Town, used Arrodes to conceal his absence, and confirmed that Xu Yue had briefly visited his room.
• Klein checked the Mysterious Illusionist formula and ritual above Origin Castle, where Medici warned him that Charon's escape put him in danger.
• Klein discussed the difficulty of his advancement ritual with Xu Yue, who suggested that a high-Sequence Spectator could reduce the number of witnesses required.
• Xu Yue's comments led Klein to suspect that Adam wanted 0-08 and might cooperate with him if Klein began acting in a way Adam could observe.
• Lennon Tinikol delivered Danez's letter asking Klein for help after Vice Admiral Iceberg disappeared while preparing to advance to demigod.

After Edwina vanished into Roselle's Travelogue, Xu Yue and Klein traveled to the Golden Dream and entered the book to rescue her. Klein found Edwina and the others in its snowy world, and they set out to hunt the Frost Dragon, while Xu Yue hinted that the Dragon of Fantasy's will might appear.

• Xu Yue explained that Roselle's Travelogue could be a resurrection contingency for the Dragon of Fantasy and that Adam might exploit Klein's willingness to cooperate.
• Xu Yue took Klein through the spirit world to the Golden Dream, where Danez showed them Roselle's Travelogue and explained that Edwina had disappeared.
• Xu Yue identified the book's power to arrange people within its imagined world, then entered it by spilling his blood; Klein followed him into a vast snowfield.
• Klein searched the snowfield and found the main group, while Xu Yue waited outside before returning to join them.
• Xu Yue and Klein decided to hunt the Frost Dragon, the King of the North, and Xu Yue suggested that the Dragon of Fantasy's will might appear.

Klein defeated the Frost Dragon in the imagined world and advanced to Sequence 4 with Xu Yue’s help. After the adventuring party chose to have their souls preserved in Klein’s glove, Klein returned to the living world as a demigod, poised to discover the roommates hanging above Origin Castle.

• Xu Yue explained how the notebook could support Ankewelt’s resurrection and gave Klein two sets of potion ingredients as a loan.
• Xu Yue attached himself to Klein’s glove while Klein led the adventuring party through the planned performance and killed the Frost Dragon.
• Xu Yue warned that the imagined world’s other inhabitants might die after leaving, so the party chose to have their souls preserved in Crawling Hunger.
• Klein returned to the living world and advanced to Sequence 4, becoming a Mysterious Illusionist.
• As a demigod, Klein could now climb the stairs and see the roommates hanging above Origin Castle.

Klein discovered that Earth was the origin of the people brought to Origin Castle, and Xu Yue revealed he already knew they were on Earth. Meanwhile, Adam acknowledged a major error in his plans, Amon left without Adam's interference, and Ince Zangwill turned back toward Backlund under 0-08's influence.

• Klein brought the adventurers to Origin Castle and saw modern-clothed figures hanging beyond its mist, realizing he could not return because they were on Earth.
• Xu Yue told Klein he already knew their world was Earth, then said the Ancient Sun God was probably another transmigrator.
• Klein declined Xu Yue's offer to visit the Red Theater and wondered whether Adam would demand more after granting him a boon to become a demigod.
• Adam admitted to Amon that a major error had disrupted his arrangement and said he would not interfere with Amon, who then departed.
• Ince Zangwill considered returning to Backlund, and 0-08 wrote that his return was reasonable, prompting him to hurry back while fearing Adam.

Forsak Empire airships bombed Backlund as the Loen Royal Family and the nobles suspended their internal conflict, while the Tarot Club members prepared for advancement. The chapter ended with Huang Beibei seeking Xu Yue’s help to advance to Sequence 2.

• Forsak Empire airships bombed Backlund, devastating the Queen's Area and killing several nobles.
• The nobles gathered at Duke Negan's Mansion and, reassured by Xu Yue, halted their confrontation with the royal family as war threatened.
• The Hermit asked the Tarot Club for Mythical Creature blood so she could advance from Sequence 5.
• Klein offered Admiral Star a drop of blood in exchange for gold pounds, and Xu Yue suggested transferring some of Klein’s debt to her.
• Klein visited Xu Yue to ask about his remaining debt, and Xu Yue demanded the Sequence 3 potion formula and ritual.
• Cidalia brought Huang Beibei to Xu Yue, where Huang Beibei sought help preparing for her Sequence 2 advancement.

Xu Yue offered to help Bernadette overcome the Hidden Sage’s interference in exchange for gold pounds, while Klein, posing as Dwayne, was recruited by Georgina Augustus to contact Silver City. Georgina left believing Dwayne could help the royal family secure support for its plans.

• Xu Yue offered to eliminate the Hidden Sage’s interference with Bernadette’s advancement and asked her to pay him in gold pounds.
• Klein continued maintaining Dwayne’s identity and attended banquets after becoming a Mysterious Illusionist.
• Georgina Augustus visited Dwayne in secret and offered him the Augustus Family’s favor in exchange for completing an important task.
• Georgina asked Dwayne to arrange a discussion with influential Silver City leaders, and he named Derrick Berg as a contact.
• Georgina accepted Derrick as a promising connection and left satisfied that Dwayne could help the royal family.