Chapter Summaries

Cyril killed a member of the Andariel Family and learned through Spirit Channeling that the family sought scattered clues to an ancestral treasure and hoped to kill Bonebreaker Roller. Meanwhile, Emlyn tried to pray to the Fool under Marquis Nibis’s supervision but received no answer; Cyril then prepared to leave White Whale Island.

• Cyril killed Nicodemus Bronson Andariel, took his Beyonder Characteristic, and questioned Nicodemus’s lingering Spirit Body about the Andariel Family’s treasure and Bonebreaker Roller.
• Nicodemus told Cyril that the treasure hunt concerned clues left by the Archduke of Blood, that he had found one clue—a ship—and that Bonebreaker Roller might have left the area.
• Emlyn agreed to try contacting the Fool while Nibis summoned a Full Moon, but Klein received the prayer and chose not to respond.
• Klein examined the Red Priest card above the Gray Fog and recognized that information about the Calamity of Destruction and Origins of Disaster concerned the Above the Sequence.
• Angelina questioned Cyril about the Devil he had killed and confirmed that the Church of the God of Combat would not interfere, then told him a warmer passenger ship would arrive that afternoon.
• Cyril told Angelina he was leaving that day, packed his belongings, and summoned a golden carriage with the Crystal Ball containing a single eye.

Cyril tracked down and killed Bonebreaker Roller, then escaped the arrival of the Church of Combat by traveling to a ship north of the Gargas Archipelago. There, he introduced himself to first mate Bru Walls as Randolph Carter and asked for a lift.

• A tricorne-wearing pirate recognized that something was wrong at the base in Nas and left before entering, while Randolph Carter’s portrait watched him go.
• Cyril used the Crystal Ball to uncover Bonebreaker Roller’s movements and location, then prayed to the Fool to pinpoint him near the Dawn Church.
• Cyril ambushed Bonebreaker Roller and killed him with the Spear of Longinus and holy light before Archbishop Igrov and the Church of Combat’s Beyonders arrived.
• Cyril used sunlight to travel with the Devil’s corpse to a ship north of the Gargas Archipelago and asked its crew for a lift.
• Bru Walls introduced himself as the ship’s first mate, and Cyril told him to call him Randolph Carter and advised him to replace his Monocle.

Cyril boarded Edwina Edwards’s Golden Dream to recover his Spirituality, offering a Devil’s corpse as payment. Edwina accepted him and shared a prophetic message directing him to the Temple of Knowledge in Aisara before he advanced to Secrets Sorcerer, while Cyril received a packet of occult knowledge from Bernadette.

• Cyril explained why he had boarded the Golden Dream, offered the Devil’s corpse, and told Edwina he planned to leave the next day for Sonia Island.
• Edwina accepted Cyril aboard, assigned Bru to move the corpse, and gave Cyril a tour and a prepared room.
• Edwina told Cyril that her prophetic dream had directed him to visit the Temple of Knowledge in Aisara alone before advancing to Secrets Sorcerer.
• Joderson delivered Cyril’s necessities and introduced himself as the Golden Dream’s third mate before chatting with him.
• Cyril found Bernadette’s letter and occult notes, then visited Edwina and saw her preparing to dissect the Devil’s corpse.

Cyril investigated Bonebreaker Roller's knowledge of Vice Admiral Deep Sea's secret arms deal and asked Adam and his allies for help tracking down the people involved. The chapter ended with Cyril noticing that Klein had returned the Red Priest card to the table above the Gray Fog and wondering whether Klein had overcome a hidden danger.

• Cyril borrowed books from Edwina and confirmed that the Golden Dream's lightning rod would protect the ship from ordinary lightning caused by his Mystical Item.
• Cyril used a Spirit Channeling ritual to question Roller's Spirit Body, learning that the weapons were meant for unassimilated natives on Sonia Island and that Vice Admiral Deep Sea had secret backers there.
• Cyril destroyed Roller's remaining Spirit Body and asked Adam to help locate Vice Admiral Deep Sea or someone on Sonia Island who knew his contacts.
• Cheryl Long introduced herself as leader of an underground resistance on southern Sonia Island and sent Cyril to Golden Fishing Port to investigate a Feysac officer, while Baros Hopkins offered to search for Vice Admiral Deep Sea at sea.
• Derrick woke in the Forsaken Land of the Gods and heard Colin order the group to set off after fifty lightning strikes.
• Cyril returned to the palace above the Gray Fog and saw that Klein had placed the Red Priest card back on the table.

Derrick told the Tarot Club that the City of Silver’s expeditions had repeated five times in a Fate Loop, and Cyril explained that the loop likely came from the power of Ouroboros. The group examined Derrick’s memories for a way to break it and identify its sustaining node, but the chapter ended with Klein studying a mural of the True Creator and six unknown Evil Gods.

• Derrick recovered memories of five repeated expeditions to the half-collapsed temple and told the Tarot Club that each loop restarted after the Chief killed Jack.
• Cyril identified the phenomenon as a Fate Loop, explained that a Snake of Mercury could create one, and described ways the group might break it.
• Alger suggested that Jack might be the child of a Listener he had pursued, and told Derrick to ask Jack about the Sonia Sea, the Loen Kingdom, and port cities.
• Derrick showed the club images of the ruined city, temple, murals, and Jack so they could search for the loop’s sustaining node.
• Alger asked the others to identify six Evil Gods in a mural, but no one recognized them, while World remained silent and Klein studied the images.

At the Tarot Club, Cyril identified the distorted figures in the Forsaken Land’s murals as representations of six of the Seven Deities and recognized Ouroboros as the Angel of Fate connected to Derrick’s Fate Loop. The meeting turned to Rose Redemption and trading, where Alger asked Cyril for help finding an Ocean Songster potion formula.

• Cyril explained that six of the Seven Deities had once taken human forms, and Klein materialized statues that matched the figures in Derrick’s murals.
• Derrick showed a mural of Ouroboros, and Cyril said the Angel of Fate was likely connected to the Fate Loop but admitted he did not know its maintaining node.
• Klein introduced Rose Redemption, and Cyril said the organization was closely connected to the birth of the True Creator.
• Audrey and Fors presented newly collected pages of Roselle’s Diary, then Fors sold Audrey Mirror Dragon eyes for 1,000 pounds.
• Derrick requested the fruit of a Radiant Spirit Tree, and Cyril agreed to look for it.
• Alger asked Cyril for a way to obtain the Ocean Songster potion formula and said he expected to digest his Wind-blessed potion within half a year.

At the Tarot Club, Cyril warned that a prophesied disaster would soon engulf Backlund, and Fool Klein linked it to Prince Edessak Augustus and the True Creator. Cyril revealed that Queen Mystic hoped to use the crisis for her advancement ritual and planned to return to Backlund to help; afterward, Klein answered Emlyn White’s prayer and learned it concerned a divine revelation from the Progenitor.

• Cyril told the Tarot Club that a major crisis was brewing in Backlund and named the East District, Dock District, Factory District, and Backlund Bridge area as places in danger.
• Fool Klein identified Edessak Augustus and the True Creator as connected to the looming threat, and Cyril said the disaster could erupt within the week.
• Cyril told Klein that Queen Mystic’s Sequence 2 advancement ritual required preventing a disaster involving high-level powers, and that she might only be able to stop its worst part.
• Cyril decided to return to Backlund the next day and do what he could to protect its residents, while Klein offered to help with Paper Angels.
• Klein contacted Emlyn White after remembering his prayer, and Emlyn recognized the Fool before explaining that the Progenitor had given him a divine revelation.

Cyril helped Derrick and Colin break free of the Fate Loop, then arranged for Edwina to find a publisher for his illustrated drawings and teach him about spells. He returned from the Golden Dream to Backlund and met Tobias, bringing an iron box as they discussed the Hunter Pathway materials.

• Cyril prayed to the Fool and received a card, then drew scenes from the Forsaken Land of the Gods for an illustrated book.
• Derrick identified the mural of Ouroboros as a clue to the Fate Loop, and Colin destroyed the face on Jack's chest, breaking the loop.
• Edwina dissected the Devil's corpse, agreed to help Cyril find a publisher, and explained her methods for creating secret arts.
• Cyril bid farewell to Edwina and used an illusory door to travel from the Golden Dream to Backlund.
• Cyril met Lawrence and Owen at Owen's home, then showed Tobias an iron box while asking about the missing materials for Pyromaniac.

Cyril prepared Tobias for a planned transaction, then learned the Catastrophe had begun and rushed to rescue Klein from a meteor attack. He brought Klein into the Spirit World, where Klein met Yellow Light Venithan.

• Cyril created a Pyromaniac potion for Tobias, who drank it and received the Red Priest card; Cyril arranged for Edefana to help seize a Conqueror Characteristic.
• Bernadette foresaw that the Catastrophe had begun and used a ball of yarn to lead Cyril toward the Aurora Order's altar for summoning the True Creator.
• Klein met Trissy in his carriage, where she said someone was manipulating her life and that she wanted to escape it.
• After receiving Klein's urgent warning that 0-08 had targeted him, Cyril asked Red Light Aiur Moria to carry him through the Spirit World and deliver letters to two cathedrals.
• Cyril arrived as meteors threatened Klein and asked Yellow Light Venithan to pull them into the Spirit World, where they escaped the impact and Venithan introduced himself to Klein.

Cyril, Klein, and Azik were scattered after a disturbance in the Spirit World, leaving Klein to flee Ince Zangwill and a masked figure underground. Meanwhile, a Demoness unleashed a deadly iron-black smog across Backlund, and several residents recognized the danger and began to respond.

• Cyril fell out of the Spirit World near the meteorite site, then summoned an illusory door with brilliant starlight.
• Klein found himself underground with Azik, encountered Ince Zangwill and a masked figure who forbade teleportation, and fled upward as Azik stayed behind.
• Saint Anthony received a message from Red Light, while Horamick sent Ikanser to use Arrodes to locate Trissy Cheek and the Demoness preparing a disaster.
• A veiled woman walked through the East District and spread iron-black, pale-yellow smog that caused people to cough, collapse, and flee across Backlund.
• Fors shut the windows and warned Xio to stay inside after noticing the abnormal smog, while Audrey and Susie watched it thicken near the Hall villa.
• Emlyn noticed the unusual fog outside Harvest Cathedral, and Father Utravsky prepared herbs to treat the people it would make sick.

Klein’s attack on Mr. A’s ritual failed until Bernadette arrived, while Cyril returned to Backlund and fought a Demoness of Despair. A mysterious black-robed woman killed the Demoness before Cyril could finish her, and Cyril recognized her as the one who had stolen his kill.

• Klein fired his bullets and other attacks at Mr. A’s altar, but the ritual’s barrier absorbed them.
• Bernadette arrived by pumpkin carriage, told Klein to leave, and summoned a blood-red flaming spear.
• Cyril returned to Backlund and used wind to clear the smog, while Randall Valentinus took control of the wind and brought rain.
• Cyril found a Demoness of Despair and used his abilities and Beyonder items to attack her, but she survived by using Mirror Substitution.
• A black-robed woman appeared and erased the Demoness of Despair, then turned to Cyril and nodded.

Klein escaped as Queen Mystic destroyed the altar where the True Creator’s will descended, while Mr. A survived and vowed to find the Red Angel. Cyrill rescued Trissy from Finkel, killed the butler, and left Trissy to collect the spoils as he headed elsewhere.

• Klein fled when Queen Mystic blew the Horn of Destruction, collapsing the altar and briefly revealing the True Creator’s blood-red eye.
• Mr. A recovered under the True Creator’s protection and vowed to find the Red Angel, while a middle-aged gentleman carrying a picture frame claimed his Lord had noticed him.
• Trissy returned toward Backlund and prayed to a great Being, but Finkel found her before she could receive an answer.
• Cyrill appeared between Trissy and Finkel, told her the Lord knew, watched, and heard, then attacked Finkel with spells and a Flame Spear.
• A woman in a classical robe appeared, shattered Trissy’s sapphire ring, and vanished; Cyrill identified her as Sealed Artifact 0-17.
• Cyrill asked Trissy to collect Finkel’s spoils while he continued to another destination.

Bernadette drank the Sage potion while Tobias began forcibly drawing the destroyed Conqueror Characteristics into himself, bringing powerful figures into conflict in Backlund. Cyril summoned Bernadette to help, but William Augustus I divided the battlefield so that Cyril faced William and the Primordial Demoness’s two allies alone.

• Bernadette assembled and drank the Sage potion, then disintegrated into torrents of illusory information as she advanced.
• Clarice was trapped in a sealed Mirror World by an illusory black sea, and the Mirror World shattered along with her and the Conqueror Characteristic.
• Edefana revealed that he had saved the Discerner Characteristic and persuaded Tobias to use his Red Priest card to draw the shattered Characteristics toward himself.
• Cyril arrived, summoned Bernadette by her Honorific Name, and asked her to hold off anyone trying to stop Tobias’s convergence.
• William Augustus I intervened and divided the combatants into separate battlefields, leaving Cyril facing William and two women while Bernadette, Tobias, and Edefana faced Drink Augustus.

Cyril escaped the divided battlefield and became caught between the Angel Ouroboros and the Abomination Suah in the Spirit World, while Ince Zangwill was seized by the Red Angel evil spirit. Klein was attacked in the woods but Cyril rescued him and offered him a potion.

• William Augustus I shattered the Demoness's mirror substitutes, while 0-17 erased the Mirror Worlds around the battlefield.
• Cyril teleported away as Bernadette, Edefana, and Tobias also withdrew from the conflict.
• Cyril encountered Yellow Light Venithan carrying Ince Zangwill, then came upon Ouroboros confronting Suah and retreated from their standoff.
• Ince escaped Venithan, but the Red Angel evil spirit seized his body and entered the Underworld inside him.
• Klein appeared in the woods and was struck by an ice spear while weakened by sudden illness, but his Bone Messenger blocked the attack.
• Cyril pulled Klein to the edge of the woods and offered him a test tube of pale green liquid.

Cyril escaped Mr. A with Klein, then received a Conqueror Characteristic from Amon in exchange for a future Sequence 1 Characteristic. Bernadette later concluded that Cyril’s apparent power in the divided battlefield suggested he had once approached or reached the level of a True Deity.

• Cyril gave Klein a healing potion, and they escaped Mr. A using Cyril’s Flash ability.
• 0-17 appeared and made Mr. A vanish, then left; Azik arrived, and Cyril departed from Klein and Azik.
• Amon gave Cyril the Conqueror Characteristic and asked for a Sequence 1 Characteristic in return, while warning him about an Ancient Dragon and Cheek.
• Cyril returned home, confirmed Haven was safe, and sent his Beyonder Characteristics above the dimension for safekeeping.
• Bernadette questioned Cyril about the battlefield’s divisions and concluded that he may once have approached or reached the level of a True Deity.

Bernadette learned the truth about the world and glimpsed the immense being connected to Cyrin. Cyrin then visited Trissy, explained the royal family’s role in the Great Smog, and gave her a possible future beyond the Demoness Pathway, leaving her to decide what she would become.

• Bernadette warned Cyrin that a terrifying being might descend through him if events became impossible to salvage, then agreed to seek the Seven Lights.
• Yellow Light Venithan told Bernadette the truth about the Apocalypse and the Great Master Above the Spirit World, and she glimpsed Cyrin’s powerful presence.
• Cyrin visited Trissy after hearing Trissy’s prayer and told her a story about his Lord, whose name he said was the Silver Key.
• Cyrin explained that the royal family had offered a Conqueror characteristic to secure the Demoness Sect’s help and that the Great Smog concealed their activities in Backlund.
• Cyrin gave Trissy the Sequence 4 Iron-Blooded Knight formula and explained her possible advancement paths, prompting her to laugh and thank him.

Cyril reflected on the Great Smog’s aftermath, met Klein above the Gray Fog, and revealed that he had obtained the Conqueror Characteristic. After waking from a disturbing dream, he learned that Edefana already knew Adam had discovered him.

• Cyril explained the Silver Key to Trissy, then Tobias told Owen and Lawrence that he had regained Sequence 3 and demonstrated his fire abilities for Cyril.
• Cyril comforted Haven after the Great Smog and went to sleep, where he experienced a frightening dream of being trapped and unable to move.
• Cyril met Klein above the Gray Fog, heard that Klein planned to leave Backlund under a new identity, and described the Great Smog’s events and the loss of Prince Edessak.
• Cyril told Klein that the stolen Conqueror Characteristic was now in his hands, then returned to his bedroom and read about the Great Smog’s death toll.
• Cyril summoned Edefana and warned him that Adam had discovered he was nearby; Edefana replied that he had known since the previous day.

Cyril obtained information from Cheryl about Colonel Raoul and infiltrated the colonel’s guarded office to assassinate him. Their fight escalated as Cyril used a mystical glove to suppress Raoul’s fire abilities, leaving the outcome unresolved.

• Cheryl gave Cyril intelligence about the newly arrived Feysac colonel and offered to record powerful Demigod-level Beyonder Abilities for him.
• Cyril visited Twilight Church, sensed further digestion of his Scribe potion, and wondered whether the God of Combat had noticed him.
• Colonel Raoul prepared for a banquet at the City Lord’s Mansion while discussing the limits of his military career with his secretary.
• Cyril isolated Raoul’s office and revealed himself after using Psychological Invisibility, then fought off Raoul’s flame attacks with his abilities.
• Cyril put on Finkel’s black-and-silver glove and decreed that burning and igniting flames were prohibited, disrupting Raoul’s fire powers.

Cyril assassinated Feysac colonel Raoul, then met Cheryl disguised as Randolph Carter at a bar to report the job and discuss the Ocean Songster Potion formula. He unexpectedly crossed paths with Alger on Sonia Island, and Alger sensed a powerful High Sequence presence in the disguised Cheryl.

• Cyril used his abilities to kill Raoul, who revived once before Cyril struck him down again; Raoul's secretary discovered the body and reported the assassination.
• Cyril met Cheryl, disguised as Randolph Carter, at a bar and asked whether she would sell him the Ocean Songster Potion formula for four thousand pounds.
• Cyril recognized Alger, the Hanged Man, as the blue-haired man he had just passed, realized Cheryl might encounter him, and returned to the bar.
• Alger spoke with Cheryl, mistook her for the real Randolph Carter, and sensed the natural presence of a High Sequence Beyonder.
• Cyril rejoined them, asked for another Sonia Blood Wine, and discussed its recipe and Emperor Roselle before leaving the bar.

Cyril attended a Tarot Club gathering as the group discussed the great smog and plague in Backlund, learning how several members helped thwart the plots behind it. The meeting ended with Cyril asking Mr. Fool about the blessed who had been attacked by a meteor.

• Feysac investigators questioned Colonel Raoul’s secretary and examined Raoul’s body, finding signs of a blade, lightning, and Decree-like power.
• Cyril joined the Tarot Club gathering, where the members noticed him and Mr. Fool introduced him as Mr. Fate.
• Audrey and the World thanked Cyril for helping save lives during Backlund’s great smog, and Cyril explained that a Church of Storms archbishop had sustained and redirected the hurricane he started.
• Audrey explained that a Demoness of Despair had spread the plague to aid the Aurora Order’s ritual for the True Creator and the Primordial Demoness’s awakening.
• Audrey credited Mr. Fool’s blessed with uncovering Trissy Cheek’s secret, and Mr. Fool praised Audrey and Cyril for alerting the Churches.
• Cyril asked Mr. Fool how his blessed was doing after Ince Zangwill attacked him with a meteor, surprising Fors and Emlyn.