Chapter Summaries

Cyril negotiated entry to the City of Silver so he could observe it and finish digesting his potion, while presenting himself as the representative of the Silver Key. After the elders admitted him under a contract, he offered to help an old man who was showing signs of losing control.

• Cyril met Waite Chirmont at the City of Silver's wall and explained that visiting the city would help him digest his Traveler potion.
• Cyril visited Leomaster nearby, who mistook him for an oracle and declared his faith in the True Creator.
• Colin, Waite Chirmont, and Lovia agreed to let Cyril enter the City of Silver under restrictions, and they signed a contract in the presence of the sacred artifact.
• Lovia sensed something holy and lofty about Cyril, so he identified himself as a representative of the Silver Key and described his Lord to the elders.
• Cyril encountered a sedated old man on the verge of losing control and asked to try helping him, so Colin led them to Waite Chirmont's office.

Cyril helped Randy regain clarity, but Randy chose to die rather than become an evil spirit, and his purified Beyonder characteristics became a crystal. Cyril then brought Colin and Lovia to see the sea and sunlight, prophesying that the City of Silver would escape the darkness with help from its destined savior.

• Cyril soothed Randy's loss of control and explained that fully purifying his Beyonder characteristics would be harmful, but Randy asked Colin to extract them anyway.
• Randy died by suicide and used the Pure White Vision's light to cleanse the evil spirit he became; the process produced a silvery-white crystal and helped Cyril digest the last traces of his Traveler potion.
• Cyril told Colin, Lovia, and Waite that the gateway out lay in the Giant King's Court, and said the key was outside the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
• Cyril invited Colin and Lovia to cross the gateway temporarily, and they followed him through a Phantasmal Double Door to a sunlit sea formed from the God War Ruins.
• Cyril told Colin and Lovia they would open a route through the Giant King's Court and meet their destined savior, then opened a door to take them back.

Cyril returned Lovia and Colin to the City of Silver, then investigated the Golden Carriage and reunited with his book-reading avatar. After receiving access to Heraberg’s library and a cryptic prophecy, Cyril met Adam, who sent him to Trier to advance and gave him information about Krismona.

• Cyril told Lovia about the Silver Key after she asked to hear of its glory.
• Cyril investigated the Golden Carriage, but its golden flames destroyed his paper decoy, so he abandoned the inquiry.
• Cyril reunited with his avatar in Aisara and absorbed the knowledge it had gathered.
• Heraberg let Cyril explore his library, gave him a Knowledge Emblem, and prophesied that fate rested in his own hands.
• Cyril used the emblem’s coordinates to enter the Corpse Cathedral, where Adam told him to go to Trier and gave him a portrait and details about Krismona.

Adam explained that Cyril needed to balance the High-Dimensional Overseer's corruption with the Oldest One in the Mirror and the Die of Probability to survive his advancement. Cyril accepted a mission from the Evernight Goddess and obtained a Dark Sacred Emblem before setting out to find Krismona.

• Adam explained that the Key of Light's gift, the Die of Probability, and the Oldest One in the Mirror could counter the High-Dimensional Overseer's influence and stabilize Cyril's advancement.
• Adam revealed that the Oldest One in the Mirror was a personality born from the Primordial Demoness and said his Garden of Eden would anchor Cyril during the ritual.
• Adam gave Cyril a Key of Stars and instructed him to visit the churches of Evernight and Steam before finding Krismona in the Fourth Epoch ruins beneath Trier.
• Cyril traveled to Saint Samuel Cathedral, where the Evernight Goddess offered him a Dark Sacred Emblem in exchange for river water from the Western Continent in his future.
• Cyril agreed to the contract, woke from the vision, and took the Dark Sacred Emblem from the cathedral's Donation Box.

Cyril obtained an old map of Fourth Epoch Trier from Horamick, then found Medici and helped the True Creator suppress the darkness and the other consciousnesses within him. Medici agreed to assist Cyril, while Klein sent him Paper Angels to help with his attempt to complete the Secrets Sorcerer ritual.

• Horamick gave Cyril a Fourth Epoch map of Trier and warned him that the ruins were dangerous.
• Cyril used the connection from his prayer to the God of War to locate and teleport to Medici.
• The True Creator’s corruption spread through Medici’s room, and Medici transformed into a Flame Giant to defeat the two-headed manifestation of the Shadow World.
• Medici explained that the darkness had suppressed Sauron and Einhorn, then agreed to assist Cyril at the True Creator’s request.
• Cyril told Klein he planned to attempt the Secrets Sorcerer ritual and would miss the Tarot Club gathering.
• Klein sent Cyril Paper Angels enhanced with the gray fog’s power and various effects.

Cyril and Medici entered Trier’s Underground Catacombs, where Cyril investigated a misty ossuary and discovered a pool resembling a tributary of the Underworld. After the Red Priest card reacted, Cyril followed his spiritual intuition into a powerful Fog of War, while Medici used the card to complete a sacrifice and triggered a crimson phenomenon.

• Cyril and Medici traveled to the Underground Catacombs, where Medici warned that corruption limited how deeply high-level beings could enter and shared his power with Cyril through their team connection.
• Cyril used the Die of Probability to enter a mist-filled ossuary, where he found a pool that Medici identified as a tiny spring connected to the Underworld.
• Cyril burned the spirits rising from the pool with Solar Flare, but the mist swallowed the light and the Red Priest card reacted.
• Cyril followed his spiritual intuition toward the card’s reaction, but a thick Fog of War suppressed his senses and disrupted Medici’s voice.
• Medici told Cyril that he had used the Red Priest card to complete a sacrifice, and a crimson star overlapped with Cyril’s viewpoint as the air began to tremble.

Cyril found Krismona’s corpse beneath Trier and began stealing her identities, memories, and fate with Amon’s help. As the Primordial Demoness broke through the seals, Cyril touched her chaotic form and merged with her.

• Cyril escaped the charred Terror Giant, and Medici explained that the creature was a Sauron descendant whose presence stirred his dormant Sauron consciousness.
• Cyril followed his spiritual intuition to the Black Pillar and encountered Krismona, then used Replication to summon the Corpse Cathedral and prepare a Secrets Sorcerer potion.
• Amon emerged from Cyril’s shadow, stole the potion, and began transferring Krismona’s memories, emotions, and fate to Cyril.
• Cyril saw memories of Cheek, Alista Tudor, Krismona’s blood relative, and Amon before Amon vanished with the replicated cathedral.
• The Primordial Demoness shattered the surrounding seals and appeared as a chaotic figure, and Cyril reached out to merge with her.

Cyril’s advancement ritual encountered trouble as the Primordial Demoness blockaded an entrance to underground Fourth Epoch Trier and Amon, Medici, and Adam awaited a signal. At the Tarot Club, Klein intervened when Cyril’s star dimmed, then revealed an image of what was happening to him.

• Amon’s form collapsed into starlight and Illusory Doors as fate began to flow within the darkness.
• A transformed Unshadowed Domain illuminated the catacombs and revealed the Primordial Demoness blocking an entrance to underground Fourth Epoch Trier.
• Amon, Medici, and Adam waited at Adam’s Corpse Cathedral for a signal from the Western Continent.
• Klein announced that Fate was absent to prepare his advancement ritual and introduced Anderson as the new member, Mr. Chariot.
• Klein saw Cyril’s star dim and sent a Paper Angel to stabilize it, astonishing the Tarot Club members.
• Klein told Audrey that problems had arisen with Mr. Fate’s advancement, then tapped the table and formed an illusory image from Cyril’s star.

Cyril’s dangerous advancement triggered his Mythical Creature Form and revealed three immense powers sealed within him. Amon and Adam intervened according to a hidden plan, leaving Cyril to accept the High-Dimensional Overseer’s help while the Die of Probability and the Oldest One in the Mirror protected him from losing himself.

• Audrey and the Tarot Club saw Cyril’s Mythical Creature Form, and Cattleya identified the three clashing powers sealed behind its illusory doors.
• Klein told the Tarot Club that Cyril had asked him for several blessings before advancing, while a second figure appeared beside Cyril in the obscured vision.
• Adam told Amon that the corruption had receded, and Amon went to Cyril as Medici prepared to confront Cheek.
• Amon stole part of Cyril’s shadow, helping Cyril’s scattered consciousness gather, and used a book containing part of the God of Steam and Machinery’s power to counter Cheek’s attacks.
• Adam awakened Cyril’s sealed memories and reminded him of their plan: the High-Dimensional Overseer would seal the Oldest One in the Mirror, while the Die of Probability would help keep Cyril stable.

Cyril accepted the High-Dimensional Overseer’s power to become the Creator of the Painting World, while Adam revealed that a prepared duplicate had survived the assimilation. Cyril joined the duplicate and returned to face his transformed self as the High-Dimensional Overseer and other powers converged on the Painting World.

• Cyril became the Creator of the Painting World as the High-Dimensional Overseer transferred its symbol to him, and the Oldest One in the Mirror’s seal began moving from the Mirror World into the Painting World.
• Amon told Adam that Cyril had been assimilated, but Adam released a prepared painting-scroll duplicate and restored its copied memories and awareness.
• Cyril explained that he had sacrificed himself to gain a hope, then left the Corpse Cathedral to find his other self.
• Klein sent a Paper Angel to bless Cyril, who acknowledged the gesture and merged with the Star Worm figure in the Painting World.
• The brass dragon in the Kingdom of Knowledge and a stern voice in another realm discussed stopping the High-Dimensional Overseer’s power from crossing the barrier, while a transparent figure took hold of a milky-white die in the Painting World.

Cyril advanced to Secrets Sorcerer and used the Die of Probability and the symbol of return to regain control of his body, but the High-Dimensional Overseer and the Oldest One in the Mirror remained locked in a struggle inside a sealed Painting World. He explained the temporary solution to Adam and Amon, then joked about adding the Celestial Worthy to the consciousnesses trapped inside.

• Cyril used the Die of Probability to select a future, solidify his Star Worms, and make the Painting World increasingly governed by probability.
• The High-Dimensional Overseer halted the Painting World’s transformation and reclaimed the Creator symbol, so Cyril invoked the symbol of return and resisted being absorbed by the Oldest One in the Mirror.
• Cyril separated and destroyed a corrupted shadow formed from the influence of the High-Dimensional Overseer, the Oldest One in the Mirror, and his own thoughts.
• Cyril emerged in the Corpse Cathedral and told Adam that he had advanced to Secrets Sorcerer, while the Die of Probability’s cycle temporarily sealed the hostile forces inside the Painting World.
• Amon suggested that Cyril could resolve the conflict by betting on the next Lord of the Mysteries, and Cyril teased him about volunteering before joking about adding the Celestial Worthy to the Painting World.

After becoming a Secrets Sorcerer, Cyril learned about the struggle between the Oldest One in the Mirror and the High-Dimensional Overseer, then examined his new powers and their costs. He realized the Inn would eventually rise into Infinite Heights, where he would face the High-Dimensional Overseer, and found that star worms could not solve the strain of processing the thoughts and prayers reaching him.

• Adam explained that the Oldest One in the Mirror was trying to become the Oldest One within the Painting World, while the High-Dimensional Overseer’s influence could bring that world closer to Pillar status.
• Amon dismissed Cyril as no threat yet, and Adam told him not to miss the next Twilight Hermit Order gathering before both figures and the Corpse Cathedral vanished.
• Medici asked Cyril to help reach a mad Conqueror in the Underground Fourth Epoch Ruins so they could banish him, and Cyril agreed to respond when summoned by burning his portrait.
• Cyril concealed himself away from Trier and examined his Secrets Sorcerer abilities, including the constant information and prayers he perceived as ‘every thought finds an echo.’
• Cyril understood that the Inn was a derivative of Infinite Heights and foresaw that it would rise into Infinite Heights when the barrier left by the Oldest One disappeared, bringing him face to face with the High-Dimensional Overseer.
• Cyril tested whether star worms could carry his awareness outside his body in a Brilliant Spark, but found they could not maintain a clear sense of self.

Cyril tested ways to create an independent avatar, met Klein Above the Gray Fog, and visited Edefana to arrange recording a Dream Weaver’s abilities. Meanwhile, Orange Light Hilarion warned Klein that the Mother Tree of Desire had noticed him, then left to die in the Spirit World, while Anderson revealed he had overheard the encounter.

• Cyril failed to make an independent avatar from his Star Worms and planned to record a Dream Weaver’s abilities for a permanent one.
• Cyril met Klein Above the Gray Fog, explained why he needed anchors, and advised him to act as a wealthy tycoon in Backlund.
• Cyril found Edefana in a hidden dream and asked to record a Dream Weaver’s abilities.
• Orange Light Hilarion visited Klein in Bayam and warned him that the Mother Tree of Desire had noticed him.
• Hilarion left, and Klein discovered Anderson had been listening from the neighboring room.

Cyril attended a Twilight Hermit Order gathering, proposed using the Numinous Episcopate’s artificial God of Death to draw the God of Combat into the conflict, and viewed the Blasphemy Slate after advancing to demigod. Adam explained that advancement rituals could vary as long as they fulfilled their purpose, leaving Cyril to consider the difficult requirements of his pathways.

• After Orange Light Hilarion warned Gehrman Sparrow about the Mother Tree of Desire, Gehrman prepared for danger while Anderson inferred Hilarion’s identity.
• Cyril awakened at a Twilight Hermit Order gathering, where Hermes congratulated him on reaching demigod and reminded him that he could view the Blasphemy Slate.
• Cyril suggested that the Order use the Numinous Episcopate’s artificial God of Death to attract the God of Combat’s attention, and Baros Hopkins reported that Mirela had taken over Ludwell’s fleet.
• The Order discussed reports of supernatural events in Trier, while Cyril privately considered whether Hermes suspected his connection to them.
• Cyril viewed the Blasphemy Slate’s advancement requirements and found that the Blasphemy Slate was invisible to the other members.
• Adam explained that rituals could differ from those recorded on the Blasphemy Slate if they balanced a potion’s impact, and he described the difficulty of combining powers from five pathways.

Cyril left the Twilight Hermit Order gathering and returned to Backlund, where he sensed Klein in danger and teleported to rescue him from two Rose School of Thought demigods. He trapped the pursuers and Klein and Anderson in a Dream Labyrinth, where the dream’s corruption became real, then confronted the Silent Disciple’s attempt to summon help.

• Hermes questioned Cyril about the Secrets Sorcerer ritual and advised him to consider the Error or Fool pathways, while a Feysac attendee warned him that Amon hunted Error pathway Beyonders.
• After the gathering ended, Cyril returned to his bedroom through the Collective Unconscious Sea and went back to sleep.
• The next morning, Cyril sensed Klein’s plea for help and saw him bound by his own clothes, so he teleported to a forest near Bayam and freed Klein from a Silent Disciple’s restraints.
• Cyril drew Klein, Anderson, the Silent Disciple, and a Wraith into a Dream Labyrinth shaped like the City of Miracles, Liveseyd.
• Cyril’s distorted dream caused the Wraith to collapse and the Silent Disciple to release his curse, synchronizing their corruption with reality and breaking the labyrinth.
• The Silent Disciple gouged out his eye and threw it into the Spirit World, where a reflection of Cyril came to life and snapped its fingers.

Cyril, Klein, and Anderson fought the Silent Disciple and Suah as the True Creator’s corruption and a Sea King’s lightning strike overwhelmed the battlefield. Cyril escaped with Klein and Anderson to a bar in Bayam, where Klein cut Anderson’s remaining payment in half for fleeing.

• Cyril used the Eyeball Glass Orb to expose the Silent Disciple, who transformed into a grotesque doll and unleashed madness that forced Anderson and Klein to fight for their lives.
• Anderson fled toward Bayam while Klein used charms and a Replication charm to summon the True Creator’s corrupted power against the Silent Disciple and Suah.
• Suah trapped Cyril and Klein, but Cyril concealed them and explained that his Wanderer ability let them escape; the Sea King then struck the battlefield with lightning, devastating the corrupt ocean and its occupants.
• Cyril opened a Starlight Door and brought Klein to Anderson, whom they found hiding in a locked restroom at Bayam’s docks.
• Cyril moved the three to a bar and concealed the space, where Klein halved Anderson’s remaining payment for abandoning his employer.

Cyril returned to the battle site to retrieve a Wraith’s Beyonder characteristic, evaded Jahn Kottman, and warned him that the Rose School of Thought could obtain powers outside the twenty-two pathways. At Pritz Harbor, Cyril gave Klein the Bizarro Sorcerer formula and discussed selling Anderson the Iron-Blooded Knight formula, then received a letter from Bernadette.

• Cyril used an Illusory Door to reach the battle site, avoided Jahn Kottman’s attacks, and retrieved a transparent human-skin mask.
• Cyril told Jahn Kottman that the Rose School of Thought seemed to have a way to obtain powers outside the twenty-two Beyonder pathways, and Jahn ordered an investigation of the group in Bayam.
• Cyril sensed slight progress in digesting his Secrets Sorcerer potion and traveled to Pritz Harbor with Klein and Anderson.
• Cyril gave Klein the Bizarro Sorcerer potion formula, whose ritual required staging a grand drama to murder a demigod or equivalent creature.
• Anderson asked Cyril for the Iron-Blooded Knight formula, and Cyril named a price of one hundred thousand pounds.
• A letter from Bernadette arrived for Cyril.

Cyril collected the Mystical Item made from Kalvetua’s remains: a powerful, incomplete ghost ship built by Bernadette. After she gave him an important diary page left by the Emperor, Cyril read of the Emperor’s restless resolve to risk everything for a chance at survival.

• Cyril offered Anderson an interest-free loan of forty thousand pounds, gave him the Iron-Blooded Knight potion formula, and agreed to send him back to Lenburg after finishing his own business.
• Anderson planned to seek information and help from the Church of Knowledge, while Klein set out to return a Nightmare Beyonder characteristic to the Church of Evernight.
• Cyril traveled to Lasha Island, where Bernadette took him out to sea to reveal the ship made from Kalvetua’s remains.
• Bernadette explained the ship’s abilities and dangers, including its need for fresh flesh and blood and beautiful singing, and told Cyril he could name it.
• Bernadette gave Cyril a diary page she sensed was crucial, and he read the Emperor’s account of his fear and his determination to face certain death for a chance at life.

Cyril discussed the emperor’s failed Black Emperor resurrection with Bernadette, then agreed to help search the seas for the ninth secret mausoleum. While traveling through the Spirit World, he received information about the Rose School of Thought, as Klein’s divination revealed a dangerous ritual and knocked him unconscious.

• Cyril explained that the emperor’s resurrection had likely been interrupted and that the ninth secret mausoleum might be in the Fog Sea or the Berserk Sea.
• Bernadette commissioned Cyril to search for the mausoleum and gave him the Wheel of Fortune card; Cyril agreed to assemble a fleet of treasure hunters.
• Cyril carried his ship through the Spirit World and encountered Miss Tinicol, who gave him a book of information about the Rose School of Thought.
• Klein divined using a Wraith characteristic and saw a Rose School of Thought demigod praying to the Mother Tree over a distorted doll.
• A mass of sinister black liquid erupted from the doll and struck Klein, causing him to pass out.

Klein recovered after a terrifying backlash from divining the Mother Tree of Desire, while Anderson fought a gang in Pritz Harbor before Cyril transported him out to sea. Cyril hired Anderson to captain a treasure-hunting fleet searching for Emperor Roselle’s traces, and the chapter ended with their contract notarized and Anderson regretting how quickly he had agreed.

• Klein woke after the Mother Tree of Desire’s roar struck him during a divination and left the gray fog.
• Anderson defeated members of the Blackfish Gang in Pritz Harbor, collected their valuables and a Beyonder characteristic, then escaped through Cyril’s Illusory Door.
• Cyril explained how he had transported Anderson to the ship and offered him a captain’s position leading a treasure-hunting team in the Fog Sea and Berserk Sea.
• Anderson accepted after Cyril promised Hunter pathway formulas, access to the Red Priest card, and freedom to leave the fleet when needed; they agreed to search for Emperor Roselle’s traces and avoid plundering, killing innocents, worshipping evil gods, or admitting undercover agents.
• Cyril and Anderson signed a contract that Cyril notarized, and Anderson regretted agreeing so impulsively.