Chapter Summaries

Daphne explained the Night Emperor’s seven virtue knights and the Book of Virtues, then revealed her family’s history with the Spectral Empire. She wanted to find the ship to advance beyond her current limits and investigate whether the Book could control it.

• Daphne told Abner that her Priestley ancestor was one of seven knights granted virtue-based titles by the Night Emperor, and that the Book of Virtues conferred those titles.
• Daphne explained that the Book of Virtues created trial spaces and once granted the Authority of Balance, but its trials could now kill those who failed; she had earned the title of Humility.
• Daphne said that after Olynnia’s mysterious death, the Primordial Demoness and imperial traitors ambushed Mollica and stole her Demoness of Apocalypse characteristic.
• Daphne explained that the Night Emperor used Mollica’s corpse and a Demoness of Catastrophe characteristic to build the Spectral Empire, but no one boarded the ship before the Trunsoest Empire fell.
• Daphne said her family later joined the Secret Order and that she sought the Spectral Empire for a possible pathway advancement and to learn whether the Book of Virtues could control it.

Abner borrowed Daphne’s Book of Virtues and learned about her past before asking her for more Spirit Worms. In Backlund, Melissa received a mysterious Beyonder item from Sherlock Moriarty, and Abner’s Acting progressed as a result of changing her fate.

• Abner examined Daphne’s Book of Virtues, borrowed it to investigate its connection to the Spectral Empire, and asked Daphne to recount her life.
• Daphne described becoming a Bizarro Sorcerer, joining the Secret Order, and advancing to Sequence 3 after spending three hundred years in isolation.
• Before leaving Daphne, Abner asked her to give him a few more Spirit Worms.
• Melissa received a birthday package from Sherlock Moriarty containing a Nightmare Badge and sought help from her teacher, Miss Hazel.
• After Melissa read the badge’s instructions, her Savant Potion fully digested, while Abner received Acting feedback that accelerated his Prophet Potion digestion.

Abner returned to the Delien family castle as Owen and learned that Prime Minister Charlie planned to sacrifice millions of people to drag western Intis into the Abyss. In Backlund, Melissa investigated the Nightmare Badge with Hazel and Emlyn, and Abner directed her to Leonard Mitchell for answers about Sherlock Moriarty.

• Abner returned to the Delien family castle, where its factions hoped he would help restrain Prime Minister Charlie, but he left without supporting them.
• Charlie discussed Owen with an Angel Evil Spirit and revealed plans to conceal a mass sacrifice within political upheaval and war.
• Abner learned from Selo that Charlie intended to sacrifice several million people and planned to help the Machinery Hivemind uncover the Prime Minister's crimes.
• Hazel and Emlyn examined the Nightmare Badge for Melissa and confirmed it had no obvious negative effects if used sparingly.
• Abner advised Hazel to investigate Sherlock's secret and told Melissa to seek help from Leonard Mitchell.

The Machinery Hivemind team searched Alice Kemp’s empty home and found documents implicating Russell in a conspiracy with the prime minister, but Russell caught them. Abner and Daphne’s staged events drew in a mysterious young man identified as Bornova Gustav.

• A Machinery Hivemind team broke into Alice Kemp’s home and discovered signs that its occupants had vanished suddenly.
• Lisa divined the location of a hidden room, where the captain found documents that appeared to expose Russell and the prime minister’s conspiracy.
• Russell seized the documents and immobilized the team, but their Sealed Artifact, 2-113, transported them outside the house.
• The team fled in separate directions, and a young man calling himself Professor drove off the Devil pursuing Pierre before the team regrouped.
• Daphne asked Abner how her performance had gone, and Abner spotted Bornova Gustav standing outside the balcony.

Abner met Bornova Gustav, who offered the God of Steam and Machinery’s support for Abner’s plans and businesses in Intis in exchange for a future promise and public recognition of the Mechanical Emperor as the God’s Subsidiary God. The chapter ended with Bornova’s two conditions on the table, awaiting Abner’s response.

• Daphne recognized Bornova as an Angel of the Church of Steam and prepared to protect Abner, but Abner ordered her to withdraw.
• Abner noticed Bornova’s three mechanical maid dolls, named Penglai and Shanghai among them, and learned they were weapons given to him by the Calamity Seal.
• Bornova identified Abner and said he had come on behalf of the God of Steam and Machinery to make a deal.
• Bornova offered support for Abner’s activities and enterprises in Intis, including help for a Sari Family girl seeking the prime minister’s position.
• Bornova demanded that Abner owe the God of Steam and Machinery a future promise and declare the Mechanical Emperor its Subsidiary God when the Floating City returned to reality.

Abner considered the God of Steam and Machinery’s proposed deal and asked for time to negotiate, then forged a mirror for Miss Temperance and a belt that let its wearer transform into his former powerful selves. The chapter ended with Abner naming the belt the “Transformation Belt.”

• Abner weighed the risks of accepting the God of Steam and Machinery’s terms and asked Bornova for time to consider them.
• Bornova set next Monday as Abner’s deadline and warned him that the treasure vault beneath the Delien Family ancestral residence was extremely dangerous.
• After Bornova left, Abner reassured Daphne and took her to his workshop to forge.
• Abner made the Shining Mirror, which stored faces and outfits but could harm and corrupt its user.
• Abner prepared cards depicting Rhine Calendia and Vincent Miranda and fitted them into a belt that activated Yesterday Reenactment.
• Abner named the finished item the Transformation Belt.

Abner and Klein observed Owen attend a Psychology Alchemists’ Supreme Council meeting through Sefirah Castle. The meeting left Owen facing questions from Delau, who had noticed that the Lust mask no longer corrupted him.

• Abner showed Klein the Transformation Belt and arranged a meeting above the Gray Fog to observe Owen’s council meeting.
• Abner and Klein discussed Klein’s plan to reveal the truth to Leonard and help Sharron pose as Lady Daly in Backlund.
• Owen traveled through the dream city to the church where the Psychology Alchemists’ Supreme Council met.
• Delau recognized Owen as Lust and asked whether his previous task with Pride, Sloth, and Greed had succeeded.
• Delau questioned Owen about why the Lust mask’s corruption had nearly disappeared, and Owen claimed he had surpassed Lust or devoted himself to an unnamed existence.

Abner attended the Psychological Alchemists' Supreme Council meeting in the guise of Lust while Klein watched from above the Gray Fog. The council discussed the missing Intis Great Lighthouse and Gluttony's request for help in Indo Port, leaving Greed poised to take the job with Sloth.

• Delau concluded that Lust had overcome the Persona Mask's effects through inner strength, while Abner privately warned that his method might not work for others.
• Gluttony arrived at the church, and Klein saw through his Virtual Personality disguise to reveal his enormous true body; Klein told Abner that Gluttony had met Ince Zangwill at Indo Port.
• Abner explained the council members' regions of responsibility as Pride, Wrath, Greed, Sloth, Envy, and Gluttony arrived for the meeting.
• Delau asked whether anyone had traced the Intis Great Lighthouse; only Envy hinted that he might have found clues.
• Gluttony reported that an unknown powerhouse had driven him from Midseashire and asked for help in Indo Port, then showed the council a portrait of Miss Cici.
• Greed offered to help Gluttony and bring Sloth along if he paid a tempting price, citing Lust's satisfaction with her previous commission.

At the Psychology Alchemists’ meeting, Gluttony recruited Greed, Sloth, and Lust for a visit to Indo Port, prompting Klein and Abner to suspect a plot involving 0-08. Klein returned to Backlund with Miss Sharron, while Leonard received an unexpected visit from Hazel and Miss Moretti.

• Gluttony offered information about the Silver-Eyed Earl’s ruins in exchange for Greed and Sloth going to Indo Port, and Owen joined the commission by offering his research.
• Klein and Abner recognized that Gluttony might be using 0-08 to manipulate events, while Greed and Sloth accepted the commission for one month later.
• Abner warned the council that the Delien Family’s prime minister was planning to drag Intis into the first layer of the Abyss, and the meeting ended after its academic exchange.
• Klein, disguised as Dwayne Dantès, arrived in Backlund with Miss Sharron disguised as his pregnant wife.
• Leonard received Hazel and Miss Moretti at his home and asked Miss Moretti why she had come.

Melissa confronted Leonard about Klein’s death and asked him to investigate Sherlock Moriarty, while Klein hired staff for his new villa and Walter’s mysterious employer planned a test for a young Assassin. The chapter left Leonard suspicious of Abner and Walter preparing to act on the woman’s orders.

• Melissa revealed that she knew Leonard and Klein had been Nighthawks, then asked how Klein had died; Leonard ended the dream ability Hazel had noticed but refused to disclose classified details.
• Melissa told Leonard that Abner Brain had rewarded her for inventing the Projector, and Leonard agreed to investigate Sherlock Moriarty more thoroughly.
• Leonard assured Melissa that Klein had died protecting Tingen and refused payment for his investigation; afterward, Pallez advised him to look for clues through Sherlock Moriarty.
• Klein went to the Metropolitan Family Servants Assistance Association to hire a butler and learned that Walter had taken a position with Viscount Beldan, Abner’s household.
• Walter told a woman in the sewers that he had become Abner’s butler to uncover the truth behind the prince’s murder, and she ordered him to list East Borough thugs for a test of a young Assassin.

At a Trier ball, Abner used Owen’s identity to investigate Margaret and discovered that she descended from Oliver Constantine, while also meeting Daphne Priestley in disguise. After asking whether Margaret would come to him willingly, Abner concluded he would have to take her blood by force to fulfill his promise to Hosenam.

• Abner invited Margaret to dance and secretly confirmed that she carried Oliver Constantine’s bloodline.
• Abner recognized Philo as Daphne Priestley, the Secret Order’s vice president, and brought her into a lounge under the pretense of Owen’s seduction.
• Abner revealed himself to Daphne after hypnotizing Harna and sealing the lounge in a Hidden Space.
• Daphne explained that Margaret had asked her to help her escape if Owen tried to control her.
• Abner asked Daphne whether Margaret would come to him, then decided he would have to take her blood by force.

Abner used the Book of Virtues to ambush Margaret in the Mirror World, but she invoked the Emperor’s Authority of Chaos and disrupted the trial space. She tried to escape, only to discover that another Authority could still affect her.

• Daphne told Owen that Margaret would not trust an invitation into his room and described her history with the Demoness Saintesses, including Marian’s sacrifice.
• After the ball, Margaret sensed unease, and Abner used Misfortune and Yaluolan’s Mystical Reenactment to guide her into an alley ambush.
• Margaret entered the Mirror World through a glass window and found herself trapped in the Book of Virtues’ trial space with Owen.
• The trial space repeatedly bound Margaret with ropes and burned her when she released a Disease, so Owen prepared to attack with batlike flesh wings.
• Margaret used a charm to invoke the Emperor’s Authority of Chaos, collapsing the trial space’s rules and opening an exit.
• Margaret rushed toward the exit but fell after an unknown force affected her, and she realized another Authority could work despite the Chaos.

Margaret escaped Owen’s control and agreed to help Daphne oppose him, while Abner considered how the Demoness Sect might aid his plans. Klein brought Sharron to their new home in Backlund, where she declared that they would sleep in separate bedrooms once she was pregnant.

• Margaret appeared in Trier, exhausted after escaping Owen, and Daphne took her to a prepared Safe House.
• After recovering, Margaret told Daphne a false account of her escape and planned to recruit the Demoness Sect and Selo Delien against Owen.
• Daphne agreed to join Margaret’s campaign while secretly pitying her for falling into Abner’s plans.
• At the Delien estate, Abner considered using Demoness Sect members to investigate the dangerous underground treasury and reflected on Margaret’s Constantine surname.
• Klein and Sharron arrived at their new house at Number 160 Böklund Street, and Sharron told him they should sleep separately once she was pregnant.

At the Tarot Club gathering, Cattleya presented a page of Roselle’s Diary revealing that Mr. Door had secretly worked with the Night Emperor to build a door and draw down a great power. The members learned that Mr. Door was the diary’s other protagonist, while Cattleya realized they already knew his identity.

• Klein noticed that Audrey was in low spirits and decided to have the World ask about her troubles during the gathering.
• Cattleya gave the Fool a page of Roselle’s Diary describing Mr. Door’s cooperation with the Night Emperor and their failed attempt to draw down a great power.
• Klein wondered about the door’s ruins in the Berserk Sea and what the Night Emperor and Mr. Door had intended to summon.
• Cattleya asked who else had appeared in the diary entry, and the Fool answered that it was Mr. Door.
• Cattleya noticed that the other Tarot Club members recognized Mr. Door and felt briefly left out.

At the Tarot Club meeting, Klein offered several Mystical Items and Beyonder Characteristics for sale to raise money for Mr. Tower’s Film City project. He traded the Bloodstained Astrological Instrument for Abner’s Book of Endless Teleportation, sold Roselle’s Grip to Cattleya, and arranged for Abner to help sell two Beyonder Characteristics.

• The World introduced the Bloodstained Astrological Instrument and explained that its Starlight Cage was powerful but that using it exposed the owner to dangerous murmurs and could undo Potion digestion.
• Cattleya recognized the instrument as Senor’s and learned from the World that Senor was dead; she then declined to buy it because of its negative effects.
• Abner offered to exchange his Book of Endless Teleportation for the Bloodstained Astrological Instrument, and the World accepted the deal.
• The World offered Roselle’s Grip for sale, and Cattleya bought the glove for 12,000 Gold Pounds.
• The World asked Abner and Alger to find an Artisan to turn two Beyonder Characteristics into items for sale; Alger declined, while Abner agreed to help for a twenty-percent commission.

At the Tarot Club, the members completed their transactions and discussed Mr. Door and Audrey’s questions about the Dream Labyrinth Tower. Abner accepted Maria’s request to assist with her advancement ritual, while Bernadette recognized the Triumphal Arch as the remaining wonder built by Mr. Door; the chapter ended with Arianna, Annie, and Dwyer visiting Abner in Trier.

• Emlyn sold the Elder Tree root crystal and supplementary materials to Abner, while Derrick provided the Potions Professor Beyonder Characteristic Abner needed.
• Audrey asked about the fruit of the Hallucinatory Wind Chime Tree and the detective Conan, and Abner warned her not to seek shortcuts in the Dream Labyrinth Tower.
• Klein told Abner that Maria would let him study her body’s special aspects if Klein was present, and that she wanted Abner’s help with her Demigod advancement ritual.
• Abner agreed to help Maria after Philena returned from Intis, then considered the Night Emperor’s cooperation with Mr. Door and the Delien Family’s underground treasury.
• Bernadette read a letter about Mr. Door and identified the Triumphal Arch as the only one of his wonders still remaining in reality.
• Arianna, Annie, and Dwyer introduced themselves to Abner in Trier.

Abner met with three Grounded Angels who negotiated with Bornova on behalf of their Gods and agreed to leave Trier, while Annie stayed behind. Bornova told Abner that a coming political crisis in the Western Military District could give Fanny a chance to build political capital, and Abner went to discuss it with her.

• Arianna, Annie, and Dwyer arrived at Abner’s home, where they told him he need not accept further conditions from the God of Steam and Machinery.
• Abner consulted the Angels about Beyonder knowledge while they waited for Bornova, and Annie demonstrated the Mother Pathway’s Mythical Creature Form.
• Bornova arrived and said the Gods had accepted the proposed arrangement, after which Annie stayed in Trier and Arianna and Dwyer prepared to leave.
• Bornova warned Abner that Charlie Delien would force through a Western Military District bill that would provoke a revolt and conceal a deadly Sacrifice.
• Bornova advised Abner to send Fanny west so she could gain political prestige amid the coming chaos, and Abner teleported to discuss the plan with her.

Audrey learned about Earl Hall’s proposed investment and influence plan for the film industry while Abner prepared films about the coming Intis Western Incident. Abner returned to Backlund to meet Xio, who was close to fully digesting her Disciplinary Paladin potion.

• Audrey reflected on her failure to identify a murderer, while Susie joked about wanting to become a lady rather than a dog.
• Earl Hall proposed that Audrey buy Bicycle Company shares and explained his interest in meeting Viscount Abner Braine.
• Earl Hall praised Abner’s Film Company and gave Audrey a proposal for a Film Arts and Sciences Academy and film awards to pass to Abner through Fors.
• Abner and Fanny planned how to profit from the coming Intis Western Incident, and Abner prepared new films with Helene at the Braine Film Company.
• Abner had Daphne impersonate Owen in Trier, then Teleported to Backlund because Xio had returned and was close to fully digesting her Sequence 5 potion.

Xio returned and told Abner that her investigation connected Shermane, Sherman, and Trissy to the murder of her father and Prince Edessak, leading her to suspect the Loen Royal Family and possibly the King. Abner cautioned her about what he could reveal, while Xio secretly prepared a birthday gift for him, unaware that others planned surprises too.

• Abner met Xio at the station and drove her away in a carriage with Cecia disguised as the driver.
• Xio explained that she wanted to take part in uncovering the truth about her father's case and recalled the unfinished novel about Shermane from the Dream Labyrinth Tower.
• Xio told Abner that Sherman was the transformed Shermane, that Trissy was connected to him, and that one of Abner's new stewards was linked to Trissy.
• Xio reasoned that the nobleman who became Shermane's lover was tied to her father's murder and that the same matter likely led to Prince Edessak's death, implicating much of the Loen Royal Family and possibly the King.
• Abner said Vera could be trusted and revealed that she was connected to the Tamara family, then changed the subject when Xio asked about Fors.
• Xio kept a gift hidden in her pouch for Abner's birthday the next day, while Abner remained unaware that she and others were planning surprises.

After returning to Backlund, Xio reunited with Fors and learned that Sherman was investigating Viscount Stratford, who might be connected to her father’s death. As Abner studied late at night, someone knocked on both his bedroom door and window.

• Xio visited Fors’s room and found her asleep beside a manuscript for an ordinary love story.
• Xio woke Fors, and they talked over food about Fors’s writing and Xio’s return.
• Fors gave Xio information that Sherman had been asking about Viscount Stratford’s preferences, and Xio warned Fors to stay out of the matter.
• Xio and Fors discovered that they had bought Abner identical cufflinks for his birthday.
• After midnight, Abner studied the Demoness Pathway’s Mythical Creature Form when someone knocked on his bedroom door and window.