Chapter Summaries

Aaron used Dawnbreak’s radiance to advance to the Fourth Primordial of the Yao pathway, becoming a Furnace and gaining a Furnace Heart. As military forces moved to detain him in Speech Square, he turned into a Shadowless One and escaped through Spirit Realm Teleportation.

• Aaron drove the Sun King's Broken Spear into his chest and used Dawnbreak’s radiance to ignite his Furnace Heart.
• Aaron’s seven spiritualities transformed into Yao, his loss of control subsided, and he advanced to the Fourth Primordial as a Furnace.
• Aaron sensed Dawnbreak noticing his advancement in the Spirit Realm, but the Age Controller could not descend while fighting another Age Controller.
• Arthur VI and his advisors identified Aaron as a Sothoth descendant connected to Auclair and the Count of Green Forest, then military forces surrounded him.
• Aaron shed his inhuman Furnace appearance, turned his Yao spirituality into shadow, and escaped by Spirit Realm Teleportation.

Aaron tested the abilities he gained after advancing, including Furnace Fire and the conversion of other pathways’ spirituality into Yao. He discovered that he could consume spiritual materials to rapidly accumulate power and concluded that obtaining the material needed to unlock Adam should be straightforward.

• Sylvia mistook Aaron for a familiar young master near the Sothoth Family cemetery, but he vanished before she could reach him.
• Aaron tested his converted Shadow and Crimson abilities and judged that he possessed roughly half the power of a Shadowless One and a Crimson Noble.
• Aaron demonstrated Furnace Fire by burning a rock and learned that it could incinerate food, dirt, and stone inside his body.
• Aaron ate spiritual materials and a special bullet, discovering that Furnace could burn them and convert their spirituality into Yao.
• Aaron realized that consuming spiritual materials could accelerate his advancement and make the materials needed to unlock Adam easier to obtain.

After defeating the God of Suffering, Aaron secured the God’s spiritual remnant and the damaged Sun King’s Spear fragment, taking care to hide their dangerous traces. As he reviewed the disaster, he realized his conspicuous actions may have revealed the Spirit of Void to the Age Controllers, leaving him wary of their attention.

• Aaron recalled that defeating a Crown-Bearer was difficult and considered the depth of the Invis Kingdom’s hidden power.
• Aaron inspected the God of Suffering’s spiritual remnant and judged it valuable enough to reserve for opening the Sixth Essence.
• Aaron examined the broken Sun King’s Spear, purified the Age Controllers’ blood from it, and renewed the seal concealing the fragment.
• Aaron reviewed how the God of Suffering’s plot had caused mass deaths in Plymouth and considered the consequences for the Desire Spirit Sect and public discussion of mysticism.
• Aaron concluded that the Mother of Night may have used the confrontation to confirm the Spirit of Void’s existence, because his own feats had exceeded what an Immortal could accomplish.

After Plymouth’s attack, Metana Jacques returned home with her mother but was intercepted by Military Intelligence for questioning. Meanwhile, the Lord of Corpse Collection issued the Lotus Eaters an order to investigate several people and hidden powers, while Flander pressured the Blood of Decay to uncover information about the Sothoth Family.

• Metana and her mother returned to the Jacques residence, where Baron Jacques welcomed them and Metana reassured them that the attacker was dead.
• Two Military Intelligence agents asked Metana and her parents to accompany them for questioning, and Metana agreed after requesting time to wash and change.
• The Blood Cup Archbishop told the Lotus Eaters to lie low, but the Lord of Corpse Collection’s altar devoured two executives and forced the Archbishop to confess his doubts.
• The Lord of Corpse Collection ordered the Lotus Eaters to investigate Auclair Sothos, Aaron Yugus, the Sothoth Family, hidden beings with honorific names, the Spirit of Void, and the Ethereal Sect.
• Flander warned Bokin Soren to find information about the Sothoth Family for the Mother of Night, and Bokin pledged that the Blood of Decay would spare no cost.

After the Plymouth massacre, Nicholas Inam learned that the Holy Spirit Church was facing a threat from the kingdom’s plan to recognize true gods and promote rival churches. He traveled to Plymouth for his new post and suspected that the haggard Investigation Bureau agent Percy Anias was the Invisible Cult member Crow, while Percy headed to Plymouth seeking a fresh start.

• Nicholas received orders to travel to Plymouth and become a Cardinal Archbishop after the Holy Spirit Church’s leadership was devastated by the massacre.
• Nicholas learned that the kingdom planned to acknowledge true gods and gradually relax restrictions on the mystical, threatening the Holy Spirit Church’s survival.
• Nicholas boarded a train for Plymouth and recognized Percy Anias as a possible member of the Invisible Cult based on his voice and appearance.
• Percy recalled being branded untrustworthy and isolated after the gathering, then decided to join the Investigation Bureau’s rebuilding effort in Plymouth.

Aaron discovered that, as the Furnace, he could hear believers’ prayers across most of Green Forest City and answered Nicholas Inam as he departed for Plymouth. He then considered forging the God of Suffering’s remnants into a mystical relay network to let the Spirit of Unknown Void communicate over a much greater distance.

• Aaron sensed Nicholas Inam praying aboard a train as he left Green Forest City for Plymouth.
• Aaron sent Nicholas the words “I know,” prompting Nicholas to weep with joy and vow to reform the Church of the Holy Spirit.
• Aaron realized his prayer-receiving range was limited and considered using a mystical item to relay communications for the Invisible Cult.
• Aaron weighed forging the God of Suffering’s remnants into a signal tower but worried that beings in the Spirit Realm might find and seize it.
• Aaron devised a plan to place the tower in the mortal world and build disposable relay stations and decoys in the Spirit Realm.
• Aaron transformed his spirituality from Yao to Tower and cast a Thought Storm on himself to accelerate his ideas.

Aaron visited Lilliat and used his Sage abilities to ease the spiritual contamination caused by her Truth Balance. He discovered that she was nearing advancement, revealed that he had become a Non-Human Existence, and entered the Doran residence as Lilliat’s friend.

• Lilliat suffered a painful flare-up from the Truth Balance while considering its lingering effects.
• Aaron revealed himself to Lilliat as Rapier and used a talisman of balancing thoughts to ease her symptoms.
• Aaron recognized that Lilliat’s spirituality had reached the limit of a Medium and said she could advance to a Near-Death One.
• Aaron told Lilliat he had opened the Four Primordials and become a Non-Human Existence, then advised her to seek her Lord’s purification.
• Lilliat invited Aaron into the residence and introduced him to Vernon as a friend from her association.

Aaron visited Lilliat to warn her about the dangers of revealing her ties to the Invisible Cult and to share occult knowledge about a safer path for her advancement. He left her with manuscripts and a plan to pursue a path combining Crimson and Underworld, though its later stages still needed to be developed.

• Lilliat thanked Aaron for Sylvia’s management of the museum and described its recent affairs.
• Aaron told Lilliat that the Invisible Cult had helped stop the cult leader’s advancement during the Lecture Hall Massacre and warned her to keep her affiliation secret.
• Aaron offered to take Lilliat on a journey to South Innis, but she declined because her sudden disappearance would cause trouble.
• Aaron explained that the Evil Spirit path was dangerous and recommended combining Crimson and Underworld rather than following the Balancer path.
• Aaron gave Lilliat manuscripts and advised her to use her body as a cursed object, supported by Crimson spirituality, when she advanced beyond Near-Death One.

Aaron advised Lilliat to prepare for the dangers of advancing along the Shadow path, but news of a Blood of Decay attack forced her and Vernon to flee Green Forest City. As they boarded a train, Vernon asked Aaron to recognize how dangerous the hunters were, while Lilliat struggled with leaving the city she had called home.

• Aaron warned Lilliat that she should change paths before unlocking the Seventh Primordial if she wanted to avoid control by powerful beings.
• Hyde delivered a letter from the Green Banyan Council, and Vernon learned that the Blood of Decay had attacked a stronghold and threatened the safety of Sothos descendants.
• Lilliat told Aaron that her family would have to relocate, and Aaron offered to help while recalling another surviving Sothos descendant named William Charles.
• Vernon and Lilliat rapidly arranged their departure, planning to use a voyage to the New Continent as a cover before leaving the country by another route.
• On the train, Lilliat wondered whether her strength could protect her family, but Vernon insisted that they flee and asked Aaron to understand the danger posed by the Blood of Decay hunters.

Aaron, Lilliat, and Vernon were pursued by Blood Hunters aboard a train, where Lilliat and Aaron defeated the attackers and rescued a hostage. Aaron left the remaining young hunter trapped in a Thought Maze as the train continued toward Shadorn.

• Vernon woke from a dream and warned that Blood Hunters of the Blood of Decay were on the train.
• Several Blood Hunters attacked, and Aaron took Vernon's revolver and shot one of them.
• Lilliat released a swarm of black beetles that devoured the pursuing attackers.
• A young Blood Hunter seized a little girl and threatened her and the passengers to force Lilliat to let him escape.
• Aaron trapped the young man in a Thought Maze, allowing Lilliat to rescue the girl without triggering his curses.

Aaron escaped the railway police with Lilliat and Vernon by teleporting to Shadorn, where they sensed a powerful omen as a silent ghost ship approached the harbor. Elsewhere, William learned that his White Tower Raven, Bran, had found nearby Spiritual Crystals and urged him to travel.

• Aaron killed the blood hunter after he failed to solve the Thought Maze, then teleported himself, Lilliat, and Vernon away from the train.
• Aaron brought Lilliat and Vernon to Shadorn, where all three sensed an ominous presence rising from the deep sea.
• A silent, ancient ship approached Shadorn, and navigator Flam boarded it after recognizing it as a ghost ship.
• William read that the Desire Spirit Sect had been destroyed after the Podium Massacre and reflected that his revenge was complete.
• Bran emerged from William's hat, revealed that it had detected Spiritual Crystals nearby, and suggested they travel to Romani.

Psychologist Tristan investigated a patient's recurring nightmare of drowning and was pulled into the same deep-sea nightmare, where he glimpsed a sunken ship and a monstrous creature. In Shadorn, Aaron, Lilliat, and Vernon learned that a contagious nightmare outbreak had struck the Docklands, which Vernon feared was the power of a Law.

• Tristan reviewed Dani's case file and read her account of recurring nightmares about sinking into a dark sea and witnessing pilot Flam drown in his bed.
• Tristan fell asleep at his desk and found himself sinking through a deep sea, unable to wake despite recognizing that he was dreaming.
• Tristan saw a black, algae-covered sunken ship and an immense creature with eyeballs covering its tentacles before he screamed.
• Lilliat returned to the rented apartment and complained to Aaron about Shadorn's unbroken overcast weather.
• Vernon wondered whether the ships they had seen entering the harbor were ghost ships, and Aaron showed him and Lilliat a report about a Docklands outbreak called Nightmare Disease.
• Vernon suggested fleeing Shadorn, while Aaron identified the outbreak as a possible Nightmare Law and noted that April was nearly over.

Aaron went to the sealed Church Hospital to investigate the Nightmare Law and found its curse had overtaken the empty building. He escaped after discovering an invitation to the Shipwreck Auction House, while local investigators struggled to contain the outbreak.

• Vernon warned Lilliat and Aaron that May and June were dangerous months, but Aaron and Lilliat chose to stay in the city.
• Aaron hired a carriage to the Church Hospital, then used Shadow Leap to bypass the blockade and enter.
• Aaron found sleeping patients and unconscious staff, and realized the Nightmare Law’s curse had contaminated him.
• Aaron took a strange invitation to the Shipwreck Auction House from a nurse’s hand and returned to the apartment through the Spirit Realm.
• Investigator agents entered the hospital and found the situation worsening, with several branch agents asleep and headquarters unable to send quick support.

As the sleeping sickness spread through Shadorn, Madam Garde arrived to investigate the Nightmare Law while Aaron entered the citywide dreamscape through an invitation. Aaron reached the dreamscape safely and headed toward the Place of Sunken Ships auction house, where other visitors were also arriving.

• Madam Garde arrived in Shadorn, learned from Stephen that a spreading Law of slumber was behind the nightmare, and prepared to use an Angel-grade Strange Object against it.
• Aaron told Lilliat he would enter the nightmare voluntarily, then used the black invitation to open a doorway into the dreamscape.
• Aaron’s Spirit of Void status nearly broke the invitation’s doorway, so he restrained it and used Auclair’s appearance to enter safely.
• Aaron found himself in a dreamscape resembling Shadorn, saw the coachman and Raya, and realized their real selves were likely asleep under the Nightmare Law.
• Aaron boarded the coachman’s carriage and asked to be taken to the Place of Sunken Ships auction house as other visitors entered the city’s dreamscape.

Aaron attended the Sunken Ship Haven auction in Shadorn Harbor’s dream and learned that the Rancher was behind the deep-sea anomaly. The auction began with a ship figurehead fragment, and a pirate-like man made the first bid.

• Aaron entered the Sunken Ship Haven auction house and learned that its final lot was a statue of Damo, a deep-sea Dominator and the Rancher’s beloved creation.
• Aaron realized the Rancher was behind Shadorn’s anomaly and feared it could grow into a catastrophe by June.
• A woman in mechanical-punk attire and agents from military intelligence arrived alongside other Beyonders.
• A black-robed auctioneer began the sale as the cabin transformed into an underwater setting, and the attendants presented a Fabri-era ship figurehead fragment.
• A one-eyed pirate-like man with a wooden leg stood and bid 10 Turners for the fragment.

Aaron watched Sunken Ship Haven’s auction, where bidders paid in Turner and the Kingdom, Lady Garde, and Aaron competed over a document called the Sunfall Chapter. The auction ended with the Great Demon Statue revealed as the final item, while Aaron grew wary after the Sunset School members were swallowed by the dream.

• A Military Intelligence Bureau agent warned the bidders not to raise prices because the Kingdom needed to acquire the auction’s terrifying objects to prevent a disaster.
• Lady Garde outbid a pirate for the unknown captain’s navigational log, paying 500 Turner.
• Lady Garde and Aaron bid against each other for the Sunfall Chapter, and Aaron stopped just short of 1,900 Turner before the Kingdom agent joined the contest.
• The Kingdom and Lady Garde drove the Sunfall Chapter’s price to 3,000 Turner, and Lady Garde won it as Sunset School members were swallowed by the dream.
• A maid unveiled the Great Demon Statue and announced its starting bid of 10,000 Turner.

Aaron won the Great Demon Statue at the Sunken Ship Haven auction after learning the kingdom would abandon the people afflicted by Shadorn’s nightmare sickness. He broke the auction’s contract, collapsed the city’s dream, and left the deep-sea creature behind it roaring in fury.

• Aaron asked whether removing the statue would cure the nightmare sickness, and Madam Garde said only destroying it or intervention by another Exalted could help.
• When Aaron pressed the Invis agent about the patients, another attendee revealed that the kingdom lacked the manpower to save them.
• Aaron bid 20,000 Turner for the statue, and the auctioneer declared it sold.
• Aaron used the Spirit of Void’s Power of Secret Source to cleanse the contract that would have harvested his spirituality.
• Sunken Ship Haven awakened to punish Aaron for breaking the agreement, but he released the Spirit of Void’s status and cracked the city’s dream apart.
• A black wind erased the dreamscape as a furious roar sounded from the deep sea.

Aaron destroyed the Angel-level Strange Object, freeing Shadorn Port’s residents from the dream, then pursued the Sunset School members who had tried to divine him. He overwhelmed the group, but Miss Garde prepared to use the School’s Angel-level Strange Object.

• Aaron shattered the statue, sealed away its contamination and traits, and sensed people in the city attempting to divine him.
• Raya and the sleeping residents of Shadorn Port awoke as sunlight broke through the harbor clouds.
• Garde’s attempt to divine Aaron backfired, so she led the surviving Sunset School members out of the city.
• Aaron killed the last Special Investigation Bureau agent, transformed his spirituality into Shadow, and followed the Sunset School group to the outskirts.
• Aaron emerged among the group and used a Thought Maze that incapacitated several Beyonders, while Garde attacked him with missiles and revealed her Non-Human form.
• Garde, driven into despair, decided to use the Angel-level Strange Object she had brought with her.

Aaron fought Lady Garde, whose Sundering Broken Sword could sever even shadows and curses, and overcame her with the Sun King's Spear before pursuing her into the Spirit Realm. He killed her and took her Mechanical Core, but the Alchemist retrieved the Broken Sword, and Aaron escaped the steel fortress with the bucket.

• Lady Garde used the Sundering Broken Sword to cut Aaron's shadow and attack him, severing his bullets' flames, curse, pollution, and sound waves.
• Lady Garde cut the distance between herself and Aaron, but he blocked her thrust with the Sun King's Spear and struck her with his empowered fist.
• An Alchemist opened a Spirit Realm gate and rescued Lady Garde from Aaron's assault.
• Aaron used Spirit Realm Teleportation to pursue Lady Garde, seized her by the throat, and burned her to death with Furnace Fire.
• Aaron caught Lady Garde's fallen Mechanical Core, but the Alchemist drew the Sundering Broken Sword into its fortress; Aaron escaped with the bucket as the fortress's weapons struck empty space.

Aaron consumed the remains of a Yao Non-Human Existence and examined Lady Garde’s belongings, including the Sunfall Chapter. The book revealed clues about the Sun’s fall and the Shadow Fate-Ruling God, while its influence left Lilliat dizzy; Aaron then noticed that Vernon had received a message.

• Lilliat returned to the apartment and saw Aaron eating a scarlet core, which advanced his spirituality and transformed his appearance.
• Aaron sorted through Lady Garde’s storage item, named it Garde’s Treasure Casket, and lamented losing the Great Demon Statue.
• Aaron read the Sunfall Chapter and learned that the Sun’s Shadow had existed in the future before the Sun died and was behind its fall.
• Aaron inferred that Shadow’s Fate-Ruling God was the Twisted Bubble and reconsidered how powerful the Age Controllers might be.
• Lilliat became dizzy after looking at the Secret Lore, and Aaron warned her against reading texts beyond her essence.
• Aaron put the book away and sensed that Vernon’s Spirit Realm owl messenger had delivered a message.