Chapter Summaries

Cyril escaped with Haven after killing Isaacs, learned more about Beyonder Characteristics, and went to Emlyn for medicine to treat Haven’s damaged vision. The Fool warned Cyril that the True Creator had noticed him and told him to avoid the Aurora Order.

• Mr. A and a brown-haired Saint discussed Isaacs’s death, and the Saint said he would remain in Backlund to pursue the killer.
• Cyril brought Haven home, explained the value of the Scribe Beyonder Characteristic, and offered to teach him about Beyonder Characteristics and the Acting Method.
• Cyril visited the Harvest Cathedral and persuaded Emlyn to prepare medicine for Haven’s damaged eyes.
• Cyril received Sherlock Moriarty’s request to meet and agreed to see him within the hour.
• The Fool showed Cyril a vision of the True Creator watching him, then warned him to avoid the Aurora Order.

After surviving the True Creator’s gaze, Klein learned much of the Shepherd pathway and offered Cyril a Sequence 4 formula in exchange for help pursuing an old enemy. Adam explained how the Black Knight advancement ritual worked and revealed that Amon had found ways to exploit it.

• Klein recovered above the gray fog after seeing the True Creator’s gaze and memorized potion formulas from the Shepherd pathway through part of Sequence 3.
• Cyril visited Klein, who borrowed the Peacemaker and Interrogator Ring and asked him to help with a dangerous hunt in exchange for the Black Knight formula.
• Klein and Cyril agreed to meet outside the Dockworkers' Union at four the following afternoon.
• Adam explained that the Black Knight ritual required inducing third-stage Corruption in more than ten thousand people, with stronger Beyonders making the ritual more effective.
• Adam said Amon had exploited the ritual by using Spectators to draw out negative personalities or stealing thoughts and deceiving minds.

Cyril learned from Adam about the Third Epoch and the unusual disturbance in Fate, then discovered True Creator’s presence near the Dockworkers Association. He warned Klein as Klein went undercover to investigate, but Klein encountered the Saint of Secrets, Botis.

• Adam showed Cyril memories of the flourishing Third Epoch and asked him to provide Painting Scrolls in exchange for further memories.
• Adam told Cyril that Ouroboros had conspicuously interfered with Fate and that True Creator had noticed, then vanished.
• Cyril returned home and told Havin that Father Utravsky had gone out and that Harvest Cathedral had genuine Apothecaries.
• Cyril sensed True Creator’s aura near the Dockworkers Association and warned Klein, who entered the building disguised as a reporter.
• Klein went to interview Rand at the Workers’ Association and felt an overwhelming presence; Cyril identified the black-robed man as the Saint of Secrets, Botis.

Klein entered the Dock District Workers' Association under the guise of a reporter to find Lanevus, but discovered that Lanevus was with the Aurora Order's Saint of Secrets, Botis. After Klein escaped the association, Cyril concluded that Botis was investigating the death of a Scribe and urged Klein to alert the Church of Evernight.

• Klein claimed to be a Backlund Daily reporter, and Rand agreed to let him interview workers at the association.
• Klein recognized Lanevus beside Botis, whose presence made him tremble, and excused himself to hide in the washroom.
• Cyril warned Klein that Botis was a Demigod-level Astrologer who could detect malice, then divined that Botis was investigating the Scribe's death.
• Klein resumed his interviews, left the association, and agreed with Cyril that Botis's presence in Backlund was dangerous.
• Klein went to Saint Samuel Cathedral, where Cyril sent a paper airplane carrying a message to the Church of Evernight.

Klein and Cyril watched the Church of Evernight raid the Dock District Workers' Association, where Saint Anthony confronted Botis, the Saint of Secrets. Botis escaped Saint Anthony’s attacks through a succession of illusory doors.

• Klein and Cyril met in the Dock District and took cover atop the East Balam Docks clock tower to watch the raid.
• Cyril spotted Saint Anthony’s arrival and explained that the Church had prepared a ritual spell around the Workers’ Association.
• Saint Anthony’s darkness put the Aurora Order Beyonders to sleep, but Botis made Klein’s rescuers appear to be destroyed in a false vision.
• Saint Anthony’s gaze drove Botis into an out-of-control state, and he swallowed the creature with his Dark Sword.
• Botis avoided Saint Anthony’s next strike by retreating behind layers of illusory doors.

Cyril’s interference scattered Botis and Lanevus during their escape, and Klein went Above the Gray Fog to divine Lanevus’s location. Botis was attacked by Horamick and Cyril in Flower Square, used Restart of Fate to undo the assault, then fled Backlund still burdened by calamity.

• Botis banished the Nighthawks and workers, then Teleported away with Lanevus as Saint Anthony cursed them with calamity.
• Cyril stirred a Spirit World storm that separated Botis and Lanevus, then told Klein the pair would face further calamities and went after Botis.
• Klein entered Above the Gray Fog and divined Lanevus’s current location.
• Botis appeared in Flower Square, failed to divine Lanevus’s location, and was attacked by Horamick Haydn and Cyril.
• Botis used Restart of Fate to rewind the attack and restore the scene, then fled Backlund while the calamity remained upon him.

Klein fought Lanevus in the sewer and discovered that Lanevus was a vessel for the True Creator, whose descent was stopped by an unknown being. Cyril rescued Klein and explained that the being had arranged Lanevus’s death, leaving Klein worried that his connection to Cyril had drawn him into the being’s notice.

• Klein attacked Lanevus with the Peacemaker and Interrogator Ring, but Lanevus’s mind weakened and the True Creator began to manifest through him.
• A sudden, peaceful darkness put the True Creator’s aura to sleep, and Klein found Lanevus’s Spirituality lying still.
• Klein shot Lanevus until he was dead, then Cyril arrived and took Klein away through an Illusory Door.
• Evernight Church investigators found Lanevus’s remains and concluded that he had been the True Creator’s intended vessel, while someone else had dealt with him first.
• At Cyril’s home, Klein described the sewer encounter and learned that the being who stopped Lanevus was Cyril’s mysterious benefactor and enemy of the True Creator.
• Cyril warned that the being would know anyone who learned about Him, and Klein asked Cyril to explain more since their connection had already exposed him.

Cyril warned Klein about Adam, then reported Saint of Secrets Botis’s departure and slept after requesting a chance to view the Blasphemy Slate. At the Tarot Club meeting, Derrick discussed obtaining Mist Treant materials, while Alger offered a lead on other ingredients at an upcoming pirate gathering.

• Cyril explained Adam’s identity and the danger of remembering secret knowledge, then left Klein and wished him pleasant dreams.
• Cyril confirmed that Saint of Secrets Botis had left Backlund, asked Adam to exchange his reward for a chance to view the Blasphemy Slate, and fell asleep.
• The next day, Cyril noticed his Astrologer Potion had digested further and joined the Tarot Club meeting Above the Gray Fog.
• Derrick told the gathering he had advanced to Sequence 8 but could afford helpers to hunt only one Mist Treant for its root and sap, and Cyril told him to give the materials to the World.
• Alger said an upcoming Sonia Sea pirate gathering might provide Evil-Patterned Black Panther spinal fluid and Marrow Crystal of the Elf Spring, but he lacked funds to attend.

Alger offered to procure materials for the Tarot Club at pirate gatherings, while Cyril sold Audrey the Psychiatrist Potion formula and Klein arranged to sell Sun Pathway formulas. The meeting ended with Derrick eager to learn that the World possessed every Sun Pathway formula below the Demigod level.

• Cyril suggested that Alger offer a procurement service for a five percent commission, and Alger agreed.
• Audrey asked Alger to find several materials but said she needed time to secure the money; the World also said he needed time, while Cyril withdrew his earlier request and declined to make a new one.
• Cyril offered the complete Psychiatrist and Wind-blessed Potion formulas, and Audrey bought the Psychiatrist formula for 400 pounds.
• The World asked Alger to sell an incomplete Sequence 4 Sun Pathway formula in exchange for the Sailor Pathway's Unshadowed formula, and Alger agreed to try.
• The World also offered the Notary and Priest of Light formulas, then confirmed to Derrick that he had every Sun Pathway formula below the Demigod level.

At the Tarot Club, the members discussed the True Creator’s failed descent in Backlund, the city’s desperate working conditions, and the rise of Vice Admiral of Ailment. Alger then described the Pirate Kings, while Cyril identified the King of the Black Throne as a Demigod of the Spectator Pathway.

• The World reported that Botis and Lanevus had been involved in the True Creator’s attempted descent at the Workers' Association, and that Lanevus was dead while Botis had fled Backlund.
• The World described how poverty and harsh labor conditions in Backlund’s East, Dock, and Factory Districts created fertile ground for evil gods, and Cyril discussed the costs of social change.
• Alger announced that Tracy had taken over Qilingus’s fleet and become Vice Admiral of Ailment, and Cyril identified her abilities with the Demoness Pathway’s Sequence 5, Affliction.
• Alger introduced King of the Five Seas Nast and the other Pirate Kings, and Cyril explained that the Black Emperor belonged to the Lawyer Pathway.
• Cyril revealed that the King of the Black Throne was a Demigod of the Spectator Pathway who could influence minds and conceal himself from people’s awareness.

At a Tarot Club meeting, Cyril and Alger described powerful pirates and their Pathways, while Audrey and Derrick shared news of a Devil’s ritual in Backlund and a discovery in the darkness near the City of Silver. Derrick learned that the True Creator was worshipped in a temple there, and the Fool reassured him that the deity would not interfere unless the City of Silver sought him out.

• Cyril described the King of the Black Throne as a Sequence 3 Dream Weaver who could create near-real dream figures and separate identities, and Alger introduced King of Immortality Agalito and his Demigod-level ghost ship, the Death Announcer.
• Cyril explained that the Scribe and Traveler Sequences required recording abilities and places, and Audrey said she envied the freedom of his Pathway.
• Audrey reported that a serial murderer in Backlund was likely a Devil performing an advancement ritual, and Derrick explained that it required killing between thirteen and forty-nine people.
• Derrick said an exploration team from the City of Silver had found a half-ruined temple with a figure hanging on a cross, and Cyril identified it as the True Creator.
• Derrick became afraid when he realized the True Creator was in the Forsaken Land of the Gods, and the Fool reassured him that the deity would not affect the City of Silver unless its people sought him out.

At the Tarot Club, Cyril explained that neighboring Pathways could be accommodated together and that a level existed above Sequence 0, then revealed the origins of the Blasphemy Slates. After the gathering, Cyril encouraged Haven about his research and left to seek a divination enthusiasts' club.

• The World asked Cyril why the True Deities representing neighboring Pathways were hostile, and Cyril traded the answer for a future favor.
• Cyril explained that neighboring Pathways could be exchanged and accommodated, and that mastering them was among the requirements for advancing beyond Sequence 0.
• Cyril said the Twilight Hermit Order possessed the second Blasphemy Slate, while the first had appeared with the Ancient Sun God and later vanished.
• The Fool ended the gathering, and the members departed after discussing mystical knowledge.
• Cyril divined that the day was favorable for digesting his potion and decided to look for a divination enthusiasts' club.
• Haven told Cyril that a memorial exhibition for Emperor Roselle was coming; Cyril encouraged Haven's research and gave him a gold coin that vanished from his hand.

Cyril met Melina Lawson at the Divination Enthusiasts Club, then answered Klein’s summons and met him in Cherwood Borough. Klein revealed he needed money to buy Beyonder materials, and Cyril agreed to lend him some but refused to sell him Potion formulas.

• Cyril met Owen at the Divination Enthusiasts Club and learned that Owen marketed himself as a master diviner despite being a Seer.
• Melina Lawson introduced herself to Cyril as a famous master diviner and mysticism specialist, saying fate had brought them together.
• Cyril received a message from Sherlock Moriarty asking him to pass a request to Mr. Fate, then agreed to visit after dark.
• Owen took Cyril to the club cafeteria, where Cyril found the oddly shaped food strange-looking but admitted it tasted good.
• Cyril visited Klein at 15 Minsk Street, returned the Peacemaker and Interrogator Ring, and agreed to lend Klein money for Beyonder materials.
• Cyril refused Klein’s suggestion that he sell him Potion formulas.

Cyril arranged a £1,500 loan and invited Klein to consider investing in a bicycle, then bought a mysterious record from Melina at the Four-Leaf Clover Club. When Owen suffered a violent crisis under an unexpected Blood Moon, Cyril used his power to pull him into a dark room, where Owen began praying to Cyril’s unknown identity.

• Klein agreed to borrow £1,500 from Cyril at five percent interest and accepted an invitation to visit the bicycle laboratory the next morning, with someone else accompanying him.
• Cyril spent several days at the Four-Leaf Clover Club without attracting fortune-telling clients, where Melina offered him a record she called “Symphony of Fate” for thirteen gold pounds.
• Cyril bought Melina’s record after his Spirituality stirred at the sight of it, but he could not determine what her claim to hear Fate meant.
• At Owen’s home, Owen asked Cyril to shoot him if he lost control during the Full Moon, but crimson moonlight revealed that a Blood Moon had arrived instead.
• As Owen convulsed and bled, Cyril entered the dimension above reality and spread a lightless curtain over the room, rescuing Owen from his agony.
• Owen found himself in a dark room and prayed to “The Sublime from the Unknown” as a black record began to play faintly.

Cyril tried to contain a supernatural record that breached his Black Curtain and began transforming Owen, while an unknown force also pursued Trissy. After Trissy called Adam’s name as Cyril instructed, she was returned to Red Rose Manor and told she had paid a price for her life.

• Cyril burned and shot the black record, but its music continued and crimson moonlight broke through his Black Curtain.
• The moonlight caused Owen’s body to split and leak crimson starlight, so Cyril turned him into a figure in a portrait and concealed him.
• A copy of Owen transformed into a crimson, illusory starry gate that Cyril could neither pull into the portrait nor destroy.
• Cyril heard Trissy’s prayer and saw a Devil Dog and a hidden Desire Apostle attack her with explosive fireballs, which failed to harm her starry figure.
• Cyril told Trissy to call Adam’s name, but after she did so, she was transported to Red Rose Manor and heard that her survival had a price.

Cyril and Adam investigated Melina’s connection to the echoes of Fate and discovered her music had manifested Fate and drawn the attention of the Goddess of Fate. Adam warned Cyril that his fate had become unpredictable and dangerous, and suggested seeking help from the True Creator or Ouroboros.

• Adam restored Owen from the painting and told Cyril to find the hidden problem through Melina and the records containing echoes of Fate.
• Cyril used Dream Divination to locate Melina’s villa near the Tussock River, and Adam pulled his mind back into his body so they could go there.
• Adam used an imagined Worm of Time ability to replay what had happened in Melina’s room.
• The replay showed Melina praising the Goddess of Fate and playing music that touched Fate, while an armless figure appeared behind her.
• The Goddess of Fate noticed Cyril, and Adam warned him that his future had become unpredictable and dangerous.

Cyril learned why the Goddess of Fate and other forces viewed him as an outsider, while Klein welcomed Miss Magician to the Tarot Club and investigated the symbols on Cyril’s chair. The next day, Cyril and Haven met Klein and inventor Leppard to discuss investing in his bicycle, and Cyril raised an additional condition.

• Adam told Cyril that the Circle of Inevitability and the Weaver of Fate saw him as an outsider to the world's Fate, while Fate's uncertainty made him a fitting embodiment of it.
• Cyril told Owen that he had destroyed Owen's black record, which had been made under an evil god's influence, and Owen realized Melina's sale had affected his judgment.
• Above the Gray Fog, the brown-haired woman drew the Magician card and became Miss Magician; after she departed, Klein examined the symbols on her chair and Cyril's chair.
• Cyril read that the serial killer had suffered its first failure and concluded that the Devil Dog's ritual had only two days remaining.
• Cyril and Haven offered Leppard an initial investment of about 5,000 pounds and help with production and sales, and Cyril asked what additional condition Leppard would accept.

Cyril and Klein helped Leppard secure a patent partnership with Haven and Cyril, then Cyril summoned Arrodes to learn about Melina Lawson and the previous night. Arrodes revealed that Melina was a Sequence 7 Warlock with a power related to Fate and that terrifying gazes had watched Backlund, before learning that the person it wished to follow had already arrived in the city.

• Haven asked for a license to modify Leppard's bicycle and develop related products, and Jurgen helped the parties agree to a ten-percent share of net profits.
• Leppard, Haven, Cyril, and Klein signed the contract, giving Leppard funding and sales channels while Haven and Cyril obtained the patent license.
• Cyril summoned Arrodes through his bedroom mirror, and the mirror described its delight by quoting poetry from Intis's Cuckoo Press.
• Arrodes identified Melina Lawson as a Sequence 7 Warlock and former Moses Ascetic Order member who had gained a power related to Fate outside the twenty-two Beyonder Pathways.
• Arrodes said it could not safely reveal what happened the previous night, but reported that the Seven Deities seemed occupied and multiple terrifying gazes had lingered over Backlund during the blood moon.
• Arrodes asked when the person it wanted to follow would reach Backlund, and Cyril told it that he had already arrived and they would meet soon.

Cyril visited Harvest Cathedral after Emlyn told him Father Utravsky needed his help with a dangerous problem. Father Utravsky explained that the Mother Goddess had given him an oracle, but the chapter ended before he revealed what he needed Cyril to do.

• Emlyn told Cyril that Father Utravsky wanted him to visit Harvest Cathedral soon, warning that the priest had become dangerous.
• Trissy thanked Cyril for saving her, and he told her she could keep pursuing freedom rather than remain quietly in one place.
• Cyril went to Harvest Cathedral, where Father Utravsky explained that an old problem had worsened after the Devil Dog encounter and that the Blood Moon had made his evil thoughts difficult to suppress.
• Emlyn recounted how Father Utravsky had attacked him with the Sword of Dawn and nearly used Storm of Light, then questioned whether the church would surrender a Potions Professor Beyonder Characteristic.

Cyril agreed to help Father Utravsky destroy the cruel version of himself using the Candle of Inner Demons. Inside the candle’s mental realm, Cyril faced the younger Father Utravsky and began fighting him aboard a ship.

• Father Utravsky asked Cyril to kill his bloodthirsty, evil counterpart, and explained that the Candle of Inner Demons could bring him into the depths of his mind.
• Cyril agreed to use the candle and asked Father Utravsky to explain his combat abilities; Emlyn stayed with them after Father Utravsky said he trusted him.
• Cyril prepared spiritually charged paints and entered the mental realm while holding the candle.
• Cyril appeared aboard an old sailing ship and narrowly avoided attacks from the younger, more dangerous Father Utravsky by using an illusory portrait.
• Young Father Utravsky charged at Cyril again, but Cyril snapped his fingers to summon dazzling light and wind while making the deck slick beneath his opponent.