Chapter Summaries

Abner prepared a dream labyrinth for his friends’ birthday visit, but Klein intervened after Xio sensed something was wrong. The chapter ended with Xio realizing she was in a dream and preparing to punish Abner.

• Abner used the Wheel of Fortune Unique to simulate possible outcomes, then created a dream labyrinth and avatars before welcoming his friends.
• Jane smacked a cake into Abner’s face, while Emma gave him a mechanical watch and Xio presented her gift.
• Xio sensed that something was amiss and prayed to Mr. Fool for help identifying the cause.
• Klein discovered Abner’s dream trick and sent a blessing that let Xio remain lucid in the dream.
• Xio realized she was dreaming, looked at Abner with a dangerous glint, and prepared to punish him.

Klein and Sharron attended a Moon Mass, where Sharron successfully impersonated Daly and Klein spotted a church internal guard who might help him reach the Chanis Gate. Later, Klein received the Hanged Man’s warning about an imminent attack on Sonia Island and agreed to help steal the Feysac-held Sea Monster, while Abner woke up reflecting on the fallout from his Calamity Seal.

• Klein donated three hundred pounds at the Moon Mass and, with Sharron posing as Daly, convinced Bishop Elektra of their identities.
• Elektra mentioned that Leonard Mitchell had been looking for them, and Klein noticed an old internal guard who knew Daly.
• After they returned home, Sharron told Klein he had given her hope by helping her find her teacher and introducing her to Mr. Fool.
• The Hanged Man informed Klein that the Church of Storms’ fleet could attack Sonia Island by Sunday evening and asked Mr. World to steal the Feysac-held Obninsk Sea Monster.
• Klein confirmed the danger had not increased and promised through Mr. World to help steal the Sea Monster.
• Abner woke after a night spent examining possible fates with the Wheel of Fortune and noted that Xio had finished digesting her Disciplinary Paladin Potion.

Abner explained the hidden motives behind the Church of Storms’ planned raid on Feysac’s naval port and warned Klein that a third party was manipulating both sides. The Sea Monster was likely doomed unless they intervened, and Klein was left asking what Adam intended.

• Abner accepted Klein’s invitation to meet Above the Gray Fog after deciding to steer Klein toward a plan for settling their accounts.
• Klein told Abner that the Hanged Man had asked him to steal an Obninsk Sea Monster during a Church of Storms raid on Feysac’s naval port on Sonia Island.
• Abner reasoned that the Church’s public gathering of privateer fleets was meant to draw out Feysac forces while the elite team aboard the Trident attacked from the deep sea.
• Abner and Klein concluded that Feysac had likely seen through the bait and intended to destroy the Church-aligned forces, while the Church’s apparent charge would draw the enemy’s attention.
• Abner revealed that moles inside both Feysac and the Church were likely involved, and that the Twilight Hermit Order was manipulating events to weaken the Church of Storms at sea.
• Klein recognized Adam’s likely role in the scheme and asked what he was trying to accomplish.

Klein learned that the Twilight Hermit Order’s Sea Monster scheme could weaken the Church of Storms and help provoke a war, and considered intervening despite the danger. Abner agreed to help if Klein funded Beldan’s urban construction, then reported the matter to three goddesses and gods without receiving a reply.

• Klein and Abner discussed how the Twilight Hermit Order’s plot could weaken the Church of Storms at sea and advance its goal of steering history toward war.
• Abner explained that stealing the Sea Monster and giving it to the Church of Storms could preserve its strength and delay war, though the mission might face three or four Saints and possibly Angels.
• Klein decided he wanted to intervene and asked Abner to join the commission; Abner demanded that Dwayne Dantès donate thirty thousand pounds to Beldan, payable in installments.
• Klein withheld his agreement and planned to consult divination, Arrodes, and Will before deciding whether to proceed.
• Back at his villa, Abner wondered whether Adam had anticipated their interference, then prayed to the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, the Evernight Goddess, and the Earth Mother Goddess; none responded after half an hour.

Leonard’s attempt to investigate Sherlock Moriarty was interrupted by a force that controlled his mind and left him publicly behaving like an idiot in his dream. The next morning, Fors discussed using the strange dream in her writing, while Klein learned that Sharron’s teacher wanted 5,000 gold coins for Yesterday Reenactment.

• Leonard investigated people connected to Sherlock Moriarty and approached Sheriff Fasin’s dream, but a force made him forget his purpose and wander away.
• Pallez realized Leonard had entered the territory of a former Abomination, and Leonard later woke from his dream with no memory of what he had done.
• Fors told Xio and Abner about her dream of a strange man running beneath a crimson moon, and Abner approved her idea to include a clown in her story.
• Xio showed guilt over hurting Abner, and he reassured her that he had willingly helped her with her Acting and mental state.
• Sharron told Klein that her teacher wanted Yesterday Reenactment and 5,000 gold coins, payable in installments.

Klein asked Arrodes about the dangers of stealing the Obninsk Sea Monster and learned that the Feysac Military had hidden a second one beneath an undersea volcano. Arrodes revealed a powerful group guarding the operation, including several demigods and angels, before asking Klein whether Sharron’s Gothic outfit was his favorite style.

• Klein summoned Arrodes and asked where the Feysac Military was keeping the Obninsk Sea Monster.
• Arrodes showed Klein that two Sea Monsters were in an undersea cave, with one bound by a ritual overseen by Boris Vassika, the Glorious One.
• Sharron told Klein that Boris could use the God of Combat’s Twilight Authority and was a Sequence 2 angel of the Warrior Pathway.
• Klein asked what forces he would face, and Arrodes identified the Feysac Sunia Sea First Fleet, Admiral Yegor Einhorn, Vice Admiral Dusk’s fleet, and several powerful Church of Combat and Feysac figures.
• Arrodes identified Natalia as a Sequence 2 Demoness of Catastrophe supervising the Sea Monster Contract and revealed that Boris was a member of the Twilight Hermit Order.
• Arrodes asked Klein whether Sharron’s Gothic court dress was his favorite way for a lady to dress.

Klein consulted Arrodes about Demigods and the Trident, then discussed the coming battle with Sharron and decided he needed Mr. The Tower’s help. Abner reflected on the Twilight Hermit Order’s plans and questioned why a Glorious One used a ritual to draw Twilight Authority from Himself.

• Klein admitted his clothing preferences to Arrodes, which warned him not to corner a Demigod unless he could ensure the kill.
• Klein learned that the Trident would be near the underwater ruins Nina had explored and memorized Arrodes’s summoning rune.
• Sharron said she could not stop a Demon Hunter but would try to hold back an Iron-blooded Knight.
• Klein concluded that Sharron and his allies would need additional help, and he resolved to ask Mr. The Tower.
• Abner considered Klein’s plan to seize the Sea Monster early and questioned the Glorious One’s ritual for wielding the Authority of Twilight.

Abner met with Tolzna to discuss Adam’s possible intentions in the Sonia Island Sea Monster Battle, and Tolzna agreed to accompany him. Abner recruited Daphne for the operation and arrived at Bravehearts Bar, where he met Klein and the others.

• Emlyn told Abner that Hazel was investigating Sherlock with her student, while asking about the Snow Queen doll release.
• Abner met Tolzna in the Mirror World and asked what Adam intended; Tolzna thought Adam probably bore no ill intent and offered to accompany Abner.
• Tolzna asked Abner to get her a Snow Queen doll, and Abner promised to find one.
• Abner traveled to Trier, collected a doll, and summoned Daphne, leaving Flora behind because he feared drawing Amon’s attention and considered his team strong enough.
• Abner and Daphne arrived at Bravehearts Bar, where Klein, disguised as Gehrman, asked whether they were ready.

Stewart and the Deep Divers aboard the Trident came under attack as a disease spread through the ship and Drake transformed into a Dragon. Abner and Klein’s plan to quietly take control of the Trident was disrupted when its Manipulator broke free, leaving three Demonesses exposed as the attackers.

• Stewart and Welbourne discussed the dangerous mission and Drake’s ritual while the Trident lay anchored beside ancient ruins.
• A mystical disease struck Welbourne and Stewart, and Stewart tried to treat himself as it spread through the ship.
• Drake transformed into a Dragon, and his wind suppressed the disease while Stewart used a Paper Figurine Substitute to shield himself from the Dragon’s corruption.
• Stewart saw three Demonesses standing in midair and realized they were attacking the Trident.
• Abner and Klein’s plan to seize the Trident quietly failed when its Manipulator escaped Abner’s Suggestion and transformed.

Abner and Klein trapped Eric Drake’s Dragon avatar in a Secrecy space, but Drake killed himself before they could act. The group rescued the ship’s prisoners and sailed toward the Sea Monster’s cave, while the recovered elites learned they were stranded on an island.

• Eric Drake discovered that the three Demonesses were controlled by someone else, then the Trident struck him and Abner trapped him in a Secrecy space.
• Abner told Klein that Drake was a Church of Storms commander with many identities and likely belonged to an unnamed organization.
• Abner realized Drake had killed his avatar, so Klein sent the rescued squad members to a nearby island before the group sailed toward the Sea Monster’s cave.
• Stewart treated Welbourne and their companions on an unnamed island in the Sunia Sea, and Welbourne learned Drake was a traitor who had probably died.
• Stewart told Welbourne that Drake’s killers had taken the Trident and abandoned them on a deserted island far from shipping routes.

Abner and Klein planned a raid on the Sea Monster’s cave while drawing the Feysac Demigods away from the harbor. Their deception began with a fake fleet attack, and Belyak learned that the Professor was holding Vice Admiral Dusk’s fleet at bay.

• Klein assessed the defenses around the harbor, and Abner proposed assignments to hold off the supporting Demigods while they entered the cave.
• Klein worried that they lacked enough ships to create a convincing attack, and Abner hinted at a plan involving straw boats and borrowed arrows.
• Yegor considered leaving the harbor before the expected attack, but abnormal weather and a fog-shrouded fleet appeared sooner than expected.
• Belyak ordered Yegor to hold position and sent Vice Admiral Dusk’s fleet to probe the fog.
• Belyak received word that an unfamiliar Demigod had stopped Vice Admiral Dusk’s fleet, then recognized the Professor in the transmitted portrait.
• Daphne was astonished that the Oracle’s Historical Projection could hold back an entire fleet even without any items.

Abner’s Historical Projection fought Demon Hunter Peter Ivan and forced his fleet onto the defensive, while Owen Avatar faced the Church of Combat’s Silver Knight Archbishop, Ivan Sharik. Abner wounded Peter and held back rather than risk pushing the Demigod further.

• Daphne summoned Abner’s Historical Projection, and Abner took control of it to battle Peter Ivan and his fleet.
• Peter Ivan used a charm to launch a Fatal Attack, then tried to strike Abner with a concealed longsword as Abner dodged.
• Abner used Protection to shatter Peter Ivan’s longsword and countered with a flaming spear.
• Peter Ivan’s Protection failed to stop the spear, which destroyed his armor and sword, crippled one arm, and killed or injured many people in his fleet.
• Abner chose not to attack the wounded Peter Ivan again, while Owen Avatar faced Ivan Sharik, the Church of Combat’s Silver Knight Archbishop.

Abner and Klein stole the Obninsk Sea Monster’s blood while Reinette Tinekerr fought Natalia, but a catastrophic eruption scattered them and forced their escape through the lower cavern. After regrouping aboard the Trident, Abner entered Groselle’s Travels to retrieve the Sea Monster and found Boris Vassika waiting for him.

• Ivan Sharik attacked Abner, while Miss Sharron fought Yegor Einhorn and Daphne intercepted Belyak Einhorn.
• Abner and Klein entered the Sea Monster’s cavern, where Reinette Tinekerr confronted Natalia and Klein collected the Sea Monster’s blood.
• Abner used the blood on Groselle’s Travels to make the Sea Monster vanish, but Natalia’s catastrophe triggered a volcanic eruption that destroyed Yaluolan’s avatar and swept Abner away.
• Abner followed a Passive Prophecy into the lower cavern, found its contents missing, and ordered Daphne to retreat with Owen and Miss Sharron.
• The Trident escaped the Catastrophe’s range, and Abner entered Groselle’s Travels to retrieve the Sea Monster.
• Boris Vassika appeared in the frozen book world, trapping Abner with Twilight’s power.

Abner was trapped in a cage by Boris Vassika, who revealed that he had helped set Vincent Miranda up and intended to take the characteristics Abner possessed. As Boris prepared to attack, Abner transformed into Rhine Calendia of the Moon Pathway.

• Boris Vassika tossed aside the seemingly dead Ulyssan and told Abner he had come for him.
• Boris explained that he had informed Badheil about Abner, later learned from the Calamity Seal that Abner would return, and recognized him as Vincent Miranda.
• Abner realized Boris had caused Vincent's death and suspected Adam had arranged the chain of misfortunes that left him without Angel-level protection.
• Boris used his Twilight Domain to freeze time inside the cage, preventing Abner's prayers from reaching the Evernight Goddess while he filled the cage with vitality.
• Abner sent Flora an Oracle to visit the Harvest Church and used the Transformation Belt to become Rhine Calendia of the Moon Pathway.

Abner used the Transformation Belt to take on his past identity as Reinhardt Calendia and fought the Glorious One, Boris Vassika, inside a time cage. After turning Boris’s scepter against him and surviving a deadly sword strike, Abner sought to use the Pure White Eye to break the cage before his transformation ended.

• Abner transformed into Reinhardt Calendia, whose authority of Beauty diverted Boris’s invisible sword attacks.
• Abner made Boris’s Grade 0 scepter reproduce, stripping it of its Beyonder Characteristics, while Boris used Borrowed Light Concealment to approach him.
• Boris stabbed Abner with the Sword of Glory, but Beauty caused the blade to slide past him without harm.
• Abner used the scepter’s Evil Spirit to inflict Desolation on Boris, then turned Boris’s greatsword against its wielder and trapped him with his wings and the Fate Dice’s roll of one.
• Abner decided to use the All-Seeing Eye in the Pure White Eye to break the time cage before his transformation ended.

Abner discovered that Ulyssan’s death could open a passage out of Boris Vassika’s Space-Time Cage, then risked everything to kill the King of the North. After escaping Boris’s attack with the Snow Queen doll’s help, Abner fully digested his Prophet Potion and suspected Adam had another purpose.

• Abner realized Boris had kept Ulyssan alive because the King of the North’s death could trigger the final battle in Groselle’s Travels and open a passage out of the cage.
• Abner used the Preliminary Dissection Art to weaken Ulyssan’s Twilight Barrier, then struck the King of the North with a Blood Moon’s Arrow and killed him.
• Ulyssan’s corpse transformed into a towering pair of doors, but Abner’s transformation ended before he could reach them.
• The Snow Queen doll emerged from behind the doors and turned Boris into a goat, saving Abner from the Glorious One’s sword lights.
• Abner realized his desperate fight had fully digested his Prophet Potion, then suspected Adam had another reason for arranging the ordeal.

Abner and Tolzna drove off Boris Vassika, who had transformed into a giant goat, and considered his possible identity as Bradel or the resurrected Giant King Aurmir. After collecting their spoils, they noticed several figures waiting below the mountain.

• Boris Vassika grew into a gigantic goat and attacked Abner and Tolzna, but Tolzna froze and severed his hoof.
• Boris fled through the Spirit World, and Abner and Tolzna discussed his strength and the possibility that he was Bradel or Aurmir's vessel for resurrection.
• Tolzna shattered Boris's severed hoof and collected the Beyonder Characteristics released from it.
• Abner gathered the scepters Reinhardt had created, kept the surviving scepter with the Sequence 2 Lady of Desolation, and spotted figures waiting at the foot of the mountain.

Groselle’s party concluded that an Angel had killed Ulyssan and agreed to climb the ruined mountain to find the being and leave the book world. There they encountered Abner, who revealed his identity to Difo, Dorn, and Darcy.

• Mobet deduced that a clash between High Sequence beings had destroyed the mountain and that one had likely protected the party.
• Snowman suggested the final battle had brought them to the mountain to encounter the King of the North, and Mobet persuaded the party to seek the Angel and return home.
• Groselle, Longzel, Snowman, Shatas, and the three official team members agreed to climb the mountain together.
• The party encountered a flying doll that froze two Obninsk, and Abner greeted Difo, Dorn, and Darcy.
• Abner removed his Professor disguise and introduced himself to the party as Abner Brain.

Abner told the people trapped in Groselle's Travels that the way out was open, but most of them were too old to survive returning to reality. He offered a Miracle as a solution in exchange for ten years of work, then helped Darcy, Dorn, and Difo prepare to leave while facing a new demand from the hungry scepter.

• Abner revealed that he had killed Ulyssan and that the door to the outside world was open, but warned Groselle, Mobet, Shatas, Longzel, and Snowman that their bodies could not withstand their age.
• Abner offered to find a Miracle to save them in exchange for ten years of work managing his businesses, and Shatas accepted after he told her that Hosenam was trapped in the Elven Trial Temple.
• Mobet, Longzel, and Groselle agreed to Abner's offer, while Snowman remained unwilling to serve him; Darcy, Dorn, and Difo chose to leave first and scout the way for the others.
• Abner took Darcy, Dorn, and Difo to the King of the North's collapsed cave and used the scepter to give them vitality before they returned to reality.
• The scepter demanded milk after Abner used it to sustain the three official Beyonders.

Abner returned to the Trident with a living scepter that demanded milk, and Klein arranged for Frank to supply it through Cattleya. Abner explained the scepter’s origins and the condition of three rescued Beyonders, then showed Klein the transformed Obninsk Sea Monsters.

• Klein contacted Cattleya through the Fool and asked her to have Frank sacrifice all the milk he had produced.
• Cattleya woke, received Klein’s request, and summoned Frank to prepare the milk sacrifice.
• Klein delivered the milk to Abner, who satisfied the living scepter and explained that it had been designed with a human template.
• Abner told Klein that three official Beyonders rescued from Roselle’s Dream Mausoleum were still slowly dying, and reassured him that he had made arrangements for Groselle and the others.
• Abner showed Klein the two Obninsk Sea Monsters, frozen and transformed into fruit-like ice blocks for easier transport.