Chapter Summaries

Aaron used a talisman bearing Damo’s aura to drive away most of the sea monsters threatening the St. Margaret, then killed the remaining Son of Damo before it could become a vessel for Damo’s descent. That night, while survivors celebrated their escape, Aaron watched over the injured Kent from the banquet hall.

• Aaron tossed a talisman into the sea, causing most of the deep-sea monsters to flee and giving the passengers hope of survival.
• Egger urged the ship’s crew to restore order after the danger passed.
• Aaron sensed that the Son of Damo remained nearby, then plunged into the ocean wearing the Fool’s Crown.
• Aaron trapped the Son of Damo in a dream and killed it with a broken spear that unleashed destructive white flames.
• At the survivors’ banquet, Aaron told Paul he had no appetite while secretly keeping watch over Kent in the infirmary.

Aaron and the passengers arrived in South Innis, where he reflected on the continent’s conflicts and on the limits of fate’s backlash. He planned to travel inland to investigate the Keeper of Secrets and complete his ritual, then parted ways with the St. Margaret’s passengers at Gladstone Fort.

• Aaron and Kane discussed South Innis’s fractured states, rebel armies, and ongoing wars as the St. Margaret approached Gladstone Fort.
• Kent thanked Aaron for saving him and vowed not to give up on Helen, while Aaron considered Kent’s fate and the danger of violating contracts under the Law of Accident.
• Aaron concluded that fate’s backlash depended on the strength of the person who violated a contract and decided Mother Nature could not yet be trusted.
• Aaron reaffirmed his plan to investigate the Keeper of Secrets while traveling through South Innis and to help Motula advance so he could complete his Sixth Primordial ritual.
• The St. Margaret docked at Gladstone Fort, and Aig gave Aaron his calling card and offered to help him if he encountered trouble.

Aaron arrived in Glaston and explored the colonial city, seeking information about its mystical traditions and a place to stay. After learning about local shamans and markets, he had Ani lead him to Moonlight Inn.

• Aaron observed Glaston’s colonial contrasts and decided to find a place to settle and gather information.
• At a bar, Aaron spoke with Old Martin, who described the dangers and privileges of life within the colony.
• Old Martin told Aaron about mystical shops on Lucy Street and warned him about the shamans’ witchcraft.
• Aaron asked for safe, quiet lodging and paid Old Martin to arrange it.
• Old Martin sent Ani to guide Aaron to Moonlight Inn.

Aaron settled into Moonlight Inn in Gladstone Fort and explored the night market before paying an information broker for news about South Innis. He learned that the Kumar Faction was infiltrating the fort to steal an unknown treasure from the Governor's Office.

• Aaron rented a room at Moonlight Inn using Jack's identification papers and stored his suitcase in the wardrobe.
• Aaron visited Lucy Street's night market, used Spiritual Vision to inspect a gem-studded scimitar, and recognized that its spirituality was fading.
• Aaron entered an unmarked general store and paid the information broker Old Martin for recent news from South Innis.
• The broker told Aaron that the Abdullah Ruins had been exposed as an evil spirit's scheme, a rebellion had changed the ruler of the Herinik Princely State, and rebels were active near Gladstone Fort.
• The broker revealed that the Kumar Faction was sending infiltrators into Gladstone Fort to steal an unknown treasure from the Governor's Office.

Aaron waited in Greenston for a contact from Motula’s Society for Historical Studies, then witnessed rebels blow open the Governor’s Mansion and flee with a crucial item. He sheltered one of the attackers in a carriage and demanded the young native repay him for saving his life.

• Aaron spent half a month at the Moonlight Inn and became familiar with Greenston’s streets and clandestine gatherings.
• Aaron decoded a message on the Governor’s Mansion wall and learned the time and address of his contact.
• An explosion tore through the Governor’s Mansion, and several attackers escaped through the breach.
• Aaron hid from the blast, then took a carriage back to the Moonlight Inn and used Fallacy to silence it.
• Aaron revealed a disguised native young man in the carriage and asked why he had attacked the Governor’s Mansion.
• The young man refused to answer, so Aaron demanded his most precious possession as repayment for saving him.

Aaron helped Amira escape a checkpoint in exchange for a promised treasure, unaware that the resistance member was actually Tony and intended to betray him. Bernard’s agents watched the resistance stronghold and let the rebels leave with an incomplete treasure map, while Aaron returned to the Moonlight Inn as the city began a broad security crackdown.

• Amira swore to give Aaron a treasure if he helped him escape, and Aaron used the Law of Accident to establish their contract.
• Aaron hid Amira with cognitive alteration and got him through a guard checkpoint; after leaving the carriage, Amira used extraordinary methods to evade pursuit.
• Amira reached a resistance stronghold, where the disguised Tony denounced Aaron and revealed information about him to the rebels.
• Military Intelligence Bureau agents observed the resistance members leave through a tunnel and followed Bernard’s plan to track them to other strongholds, despite the rebels taking an incomplete treasure map.
• Aaron returned safely to the Moonlight Inn and reflected on the Law of Accident’s contract power while authorities searched the city.
• The next day, Aaron saw patrol officers confiscating prohibited goods and books as public security inspections disrupted secret gatherings.

Aaron met Marcel Quinn, a member of the Society for Historical Studies, and proved he was Motula’s Divine Envoy. Marcel described the society’s forces and warned that the Gates of Multiple Histories were about to reopen.

• Aaron read that Governor McCall had destroyed several strongholds belonging to the Kumar Faction of the resistance.
• Aaron visited Marcel Quinn, who verified his identity using a test tube containing cobalt-blue mist and pledged the society’s support.
• Marcel told Aaron that the society had thirty-seven members, including one at the Fourth Primordial and eight at the Third Primordial.
• Marcel explained that the Gates of Multiple Histories were about to reopen and described All Histories as branching versions of history.

Mase explained to Aaron how the Gate of Multiple Histories connected distinct histories and why their world was considered the main history. He revealed that the Society for Historical Studies was pursuing the fragmented History Stele Inscription, and Aaron agreed to help seize it.

• Mase told Aaron that powerful beings could rarely cross between histories, while objects and ordinary people could pass through the Gate of Multiple Histories and serve as coordinates.
• Mase explained that histories began after the sun fell in the Dream Realm and described their world as the main channel from which other histories branched.
• Mase said the History Stele Inscription had been broken into fragments, and a treasure map connected to one fragment had been stolen from the Governor's Mansion.
• Mase concluded that the Gate of Multiple Histories was about to reappear and planned to use his adviser position to locate the treasure before the Society seized the inscription.
• Aaron agreed to help Mase and resolved to visit another layer of history.

After the Kumar Faction’s stronghold was destroyed, Jamal rallied the survivors around a plan to recover treasure at Kukulkan. Bernard arranged a private expedition to exploit the resistance and claim useful artifacts, while Aaron reached a separate camp occupied by Yeni Faction rebels.

• Jamal became the Kumar Faction’s new leader and told the wounded survivors that the treasure map pointed to Kukulkan.
• Tony suspected that Jamal’s treasure-stealing squad had led the enemy to their headquarters but stayed silent when Jamal gave him an icy look.
• Bernard decided to preserve the Kumar Faction as a counterweight to the Yeni Faction and assigned Linda to retrieve useful items from the treasure expedition.
• Bernard introduced Linda to archaeologist Marcel Quinn, who would advise her expedition of twenty soldiers, adventurers, and experts.
• Aaron arrived near a separate temporary camp where Yeni Faction rebels were gathered with native allies.

Aaron infiltrated a rebel camp and discovered that Connie’s fate differed from the surrounding history. By using the perspective of an All-History Expert and Gatekeeper, he realized Connie had come from another history.

• Shahrukh repaired a captured Mini rifle with Connie’s help and explained his plan to unite South Innis and claim Kukulkan’s treasure.
• Shahrukh asked Connie where she came from, and she said she had no home before he promised to treat her as his little sister.
• Connie kicked Shahrukh in the shin after he patted her head, while the rebels watched them joke around.
• Aaron used cognitive alteration to move unnoticed through the rebel camp and noticed the discordant ripples in Connie’s fate.
• Aaron viewed Connie through the Mist of History and saw her in different possible lives, including a soldier in a trench and a princess onstage.
• Aaron saw the histories gather into an Invisible Door and concluded that Connie had come from a different history.

Aaron watched Connie from a distance and decided to follow the Yeni Faction camp toward the treasure. Half a month later, Jamal’s group opened the entrance to Kukulkan’s treasure, where an island of gold and part of a historical stele lay guarded by corpses rising from a black pool.

• Aaron chose to keep observing Connie rather than abducting her or communing with her spirit body, and blended into the Yeni Faction camp using cognitive tampering.
• Jamal’s group reached a corpse-strewn depression, and Jamal strangled a native with his spirit body after the man spoke of Kukulkan’s taboo.
• Linda and Mase identified the depression’s shape as a Feathered Serpent and warned that the remains of a Feathered Serpent could bring death.
• Jamal used the restored treasure map as a key, opened a cavern at the Feathered Serpent’s eye, and forced Tony and the others to descend with him.
• Jamal found a gold-covered island bearing half a black stone stele, but when he stepped into the pool, mutilated corpses awakened and approached the group.

Linda, Mase, Aaron, Shahrukh, and Connie watched Kukulkan begin to revive while the cursed natives escaped with the Historical Inscription. Linda and her soldiers attacked the natives as Shahrukh sent warriors into the fight, and Tony fled with the tablet before collapsing near a familiar white man.

• Linda and Mase realized that Kukulkan, a mythical feathered serpent, was reviving and might regain the strength of the Sixth Primordial.
• Linda spotted cursed natives emerging from the treasure cave with the Historical Inscription, and Mase told her to seize it before they left.
• Linda used Shadow Erosion to bind one native, who passed the stone tablet to Tony as he escaped.
• Shahrukh ordered his warriors to support the attack on the natives and harass the expedition team.
• Tony used a sorcery item to travel through the shadows, then asked a familiar white man to deliver the treasure to his tribe.

Aaron killed Tony and took the History Stele Inscription, whose fragments revealed visions of other histories. Meanwhile, Mase attacked Shahrukh and Connie’s group, but Connie confronted him with alchemical bombs and declared her opposition to repeating Invis’s tragedy.

• Aaron struck Tony with an entrenching shovel, took the History Stele Inscription, and watched Tony die from his curse and injuries.
• Aaron examined the inscription and glimpsed fragments of histories where darkness dominated the sky and the dead rose again.
• Mase used Blood Manipulation to drain the blood of Shahrukh’s warriors, killing several and forcing Shahrukh and Connie to defend themselves.
• Mase used Shadow Leap to approach Connie, who threatened him with alchemical bombs.
• Connie told Mase she was helping the living people because Invis’s tragedy must not happen again, and Mase saw history’s overlapping shadow on her.

Aaron intervened when Mase tried to capture Connie, but a Feathered Serpent that had fallen from the Seventh Primordial revived and unleashed lethal pollution. Aaron returned to face the creature, intending to destroy it and roast its flesh.

• Mase threatened to kill Shahrukh unless Connie surrendered, but Aaron revealed himself and used a Thought Maze to stop them before taking Connie’s bombs.
• Mase recognized Connie as a person from another era and became fascinated with her, while Aaron criticized his handling of the situation.
• A colossal, decayed Feathered Serpent burst from the ground, and its pollution overwhelmed Linda and terrified the Transcendents nearby.
• Aaron teleported Connie, Shahrukh, and Mase away from the Feathered Serpent, then returned alone to confront it.
• Aaron recognized the Feathered Serpent as a creature fallen from the Seventh Primordial and said he would destroy it and try roasted snake meat.

Linda woke after Aaron defeated the Feathered Serpent and was treated by Professor Mase, while Aaron arranged a hidden farm to hold Shahrukh and Connie as captives. The chapter ended with Aaron assigning them false roles and warning them that their bodies were cages for their souls.

• Linda woke beside Professor Mase, who claimed he had rescued and treated her after the mysterious person appeared.
• Linda learned that the expedition team had scattered after a rebel attack and agreed to accept only her advance payment for the failed mission.
• Aaron told Mase that the Feathered Serpent had escaped and ordered him to find a concealed place for the captives and prepare new identification papers.
• Aaron brought Shahrukh and Connie through the Spirit Realm gate to a secluded farm near Gladstone Fort.
• Aaron declared that Connie would pose as his maid and Shahrukh as his male slave, then warned them that their bodies were cages for their souls.

Mase traced Connie’s origins to the Third History, where the Sun King Arthur’s choice had led to an oppressive Invis Empire. Aaron then prepared to use Connie in a ritual opening the Gate of Multiple Histories, while Shahrukh volunteered to accompany her back.

• Mase confirmed that Connie came from the Third History, where Arthur had embraced Dawnbreak and Invis had become a powerful empire.
• Mase explained that the Sun Church persecuted other faiths and that Connie had fled to the New Continent after her parents were executed for alleged cult worship.
• Aaron learned that Connie knew nothing about the empire’s upper ranks or Spirit Realm secrets, then summoned her and Shahrukh.
• Aaron told Connie he planned to use her as a sacrifice and signpost to open the Gate of Multiple Histories, and Connie refused to return to her world.
• Shahrukh volunteered to go with Connie, promising to return after making sure she was safe.

Aaron and Mase prepared a large ritual to open the Gate of Multiple Histories, with Aaron planning to enter the histories and seek a different path to ascension. On October 16, they began the ritual on the Red Earth Plateau, with Connie serving as the Beacon and the History Stele Inscription as the Sacrifice.

• Aaron confirmed he would enter the histories, but refused Mase's request to join him and told him to prepare the ritual materials.
• Aaron and Mase chose October, summoned Motula, recruited Society for Historical Studies members as assistants, and gathered costly ritual materials.
• Aaron and Mase set up the ritual array on the Red Earth Plateau with help from the Society for Historical Studies.
• Aaron teleported Shahrukh and Connie to the ritual site, where Mase began leading the believers in a hymn to Motula.
• Connie took the Beacon position while Aaron and Shahrukh stood as Assistants, and the History Stele Inscription served as the Sacrifice.

Aaron helped the Society for Historical Studies manifest the Gate of Multiple Histories, then opened it with a declaration linking history’s secrets to the Outer Gods. In Glaston, Bernard detected a large-scale ritual disturbing history and ordered an investigation into every secret society.

• Mase and the Society for Historical Studies performed a ritual that made Connie a beacon and revealed the Gate of Multiple Histories.
• Aaron, acting as the Gatekeeper, opened a crack in the Gate and declared that the secrets of history and the Gate were connected to the Outer Gods.
• Bernard visited the injured Linda in the hospital and reflected on Jack’s disappearance and the failed expedition that had released a Feathered Serpent.
• Bernard’s bronze pocket watch detected a secret society’s large-scale ritual disturbing history, so he hurried to the Governor’s Mansion strategy room to investigate.

Aaron led Connie and Shahrukh through the Gate of Multiple Histories, escaping a Worm of All Histories and arriving in the Third History. They reached the outskirts of Green Forest City, where Aaron began digging up a grave.

• Aaron opened the Gate of Multiple Histories, and he, Connie, and Shahrukh entered while Mase and the believers fought off Spirit Realm monsters.
• Aaron and his companions crossed the layers of history and encountered the Worm of All Histories, which attacked them.
• Aaron used his Gatekeeper ability to open a passage to the Third History, and the three escaped the worm.
• Aaron, Connie, and Shahrukh surfaced in the Dark Sea, and Aaron teleported them to the outskirts of Green Forest City.
• Aaron turned over the earth, intending to dig up a grave.

Aaron found no trace of his former tomb and wondered whether his unique existence had replaced his projection in this history. He entered modern Green Forest City with Connie and Shahrukh, where the newspapers revealed Invis's imperial rule over South Innis and hinted that time flowed equally in both worlds.

• Aaron found no trace of his tomb outside Green Forest City and speculated that his arrival had replaced his counterpart in this history.
• Aaron, Connie, and Shahrukh headed into the city, where Connie explained that it belonged to the Invis Empire rather than her former home.
• Aaron and his companions rode a tram through Green Forest City and went to a café, where Connie warned Shahrukh that South Innis natives were treated as slaves in Invis.
• Aaron read a newspaper dated Sun Calendar Year 330 and wondered whether time flowed at the same rate in both worlds.
• Aaron saw reports of the Sun Church Inquisition, the Imperial Navy's capture of Sululu Island, and new mines discovered in South Innis.