Chapter Summaries

After killing the Mad Killer, Mulan suffered a vivid nightmare in which he relived the killer’s madness and saw a terrifying monster, then decided to seek Good Head. The next day, newspapers celebrated his role in the killer’s death, and Mulan saw himself featured on the front page.

• Leo and Old Buck listened as Mulan recounted his fight with the Mad Killer, while the Valentine Police chief considered the killing a joint operation with the department.
• Mulan dreamed that he shared the Mad Killer’s madness, attacked a woman, was shot, and then saw a monstrous figure in a ruined attic before waking in terror.
• Mulan wondered whether he had seen the otherworld and decided to visit Good Head again.
• As the storm eased, newsboys sold papers reporting that Mulan had slain the Mad Killer.
• Mulan bought the last copy of the Valentine Daily, and the newsboy recognized him as Second Lieutenant Jonester.
• Mulan admired the prominent front-page photograph of himself leaving a building among the Valentine police officers.

After Mulan visited a Holy Temple, Sir Walton offered to guide him into a new world, and Mulan left with him despite Cleric Evan’s hopes of recruiting him. The chapter ended with Walton leading Mulan out of the temple.

• Mulan visited the southern district Holy Temple, where worshippers recognized him from the newspaper and thanked him for defeating the Mad Killer.
• Cleric Evan praised Mulan during the service and told him that God had arranged for him to intervene against the killer.
• Mulan asked what the Holy Temple would have done if he had not stopped the killer, and an unseen worshipper said the Holy Temple would have intervened before the killer went further.
• The worshipper revealed himself as Sir Walton, praised Mulan’s performance, and offered to guide him into another world.
• Walton argued with Evan over recruiting Mulan, and Mulan agreed to leave the temple with him.

Walton took Mulan to the Otherworld and explained its stages of awakening, then brought him to witness a fight connected to the Princess Niseriel. After defeating a Siren, Walton revealed that he was a Wraith Mage.

• Walton reassured Mulan that he would have intervened at the Military Tribunal and explained that the killer had reached bodily awakening.
• Walton took Mulan in a carriage that traveled through the Otherworld and described the stages of Awakening, Reality, and Abundance.
• Walton told Mulan that the matter he needed to resolve concerned the Princess Niseriel and brought him to an old watermill outside Valentine.
• Walton split open the watermill and fought a Siren, cutting through her attacks and taking something from within the water.
• The Siren dissolved into the river, the mill returned to its undamaged state, and Walton told Mulan he was a Wraith Mage.

Mulan returned to the city with Walton, who gave him the Heart of Deep Blue’s warning and entrusted him with seven dolls containing captured cultists. After Walton left, Mulan took the dolls home, eager and curious about the supernatural world and expecting someone to contact him.

• Walton warned Mulan not to look directly at the Heart of Deep Blue, then sealed the necklace in a metal box.
• Walton gave Mulan seven dolls and revealed that they were captured cultists who would only truly die if they gave up themselves.
• Walton accidentally tore off one doll’s arm, then stopped the bleeding with one of his hairs and asked Mulan to handle some personal matters for him.
• Walton left to catch his train, and the dolls began wriggling in Mulan’s hands.
• Mulan thought the cultists might have been among the people blamed on the serial killer, then took the dolls home and decided to handle Walton’s requests before anyone came looking for him.

Mulan carried out Walton’s assignment by delivering Mr. Wolfe’s romantic message to Miss Hémile, then accepted an invitation to a ball at Manor No. 6. He left with a chance to meet Valentine’s prominent residents, while Hémile remained upset that Wolfe had gone.

• Mulan dressed formally, packed the animated dolls in a bag, and jogged through the flooded streets toward Miss Hémile’s mansion.
• Mulan delivered Mr. Wolfe’s romantic declarations to Hémile, who took the message as a sign of Wolfe’s kindness.
• A second young woman recognized Mulan as the retired second lieutenant who had dueled the serial killer.
• The young woman invited Mulan to her ball at Manor No. 6, and he accepted after considering the opportunity to meet prominent people.
• Mulan gave her his address and left, while the young woman celebrated and Hémile remained preoccupied with Wolfe’s departure.

Mulan reflected on his hopes for the Jonester Family while carrying out Sir Walton’s messages to a long list of lovers. He returned home to find an invitation to Lily Blanclin’s birthday ball and tried to make amends with Leo, whose apparent disappointment turned out to be a trick.

• Mulan considered how difficult it would be to restore the Jonester Family’s fortunes, though he was willing to try.
• Mulan delivered Sir Walton’s messages to his many lovers around Valentine and retreated when some showed interest in him.
• Mulan returned home and received an invitation to Lily Blanclin’s birthday ball at No. 6 Manor in the Laurel District.
• Mulan told Leo that Lily had recognized him from a newspaper photograph and invited him, then teased Leo for missing the chance to attend.
• Mulan tried to comfort Leo over the invitation, but Leo grabbed his cheek and revealed he had been pretending to feel dejected, and the brothers tussled while Old Buck watched.

Mulan prepared for the ball and befriended a lively young woman named Dolly after sharing a tune with her. He later visited Evan at the Holy Temple, where their friendly teasing ended with Evan throwing wet laundry at him.

• Mulan stayed cautious while waiting for the person Sir Walton had said would seek him out, and he continued visiting the Holy Temples and getting to know Evan.
• Mulan dressed for the ball, brought a box of Old Buck's cookies as a gift, and set out carrying his cane and gun.
• Mulan met Dolly on the street, taught her the 'Second Lieutenant Jonester March,' and learned that she recognized him as Valentine's great hero.
• Mulan went to Evan's living quarters at the Holy Temple, where Evan pretended Sir Walton had arrived and then threw wet laundry at him.

Mulan and Evan spent the weekend cleaning the Holy Temple and talking about faith, justice, and how they would respond to evil. After Mulan left for a ball, Evan watched him go and silently wished the Holy Light upon his friend.

• Mulan and Evan wrung out a bedsheet together, then Evan persuaded Mulan to help clean the Holy Temple instead of leaving for his ball.
• As they cleaned, Evan recalled enjoying temple chores at the Holy Temple Orphanage because the children received sweets and cake afterward.
• After finishing the cleaning, Mulan asked Evan why the temple displayed a statue of the Holy Light rather than God, and Evan explained the Temple's beliefs.
• Mulan asked how Evan would respond to wickedness if he were alone and unrecognized, and Evan said he would cover his face and beat the culprit up.
• Mulan laughed, then left for the ball, while Evan smiled at the spotless benches and wished the Holy Light upon his friend.

Mulan attended an earl’s daughter’s birthday ball at No. 6 Manor, where he marveled at the luxury and focused on the food instead of dancing. After introducing himself to Vina, he fled her invitation to dance and headed back for more food.

• Mulan hired a carriage to reach No. 6 Manor and entered with his genuine invitation.
• Mulan explored the lavish ballroom, took wine, and piled his plate with roasted meat and other food.
• Mulan ate along the edge of the hall while observing the guests and their gifts.
• Musicians began playing as the ball was about to start.
• Vina approached Mulan, recognized him as Mulan Jonester, and asked him to be her dance partner.
• Mulan said he could not dance, then hurried away toward the food table.

At the Blanclin birthday ball, Mulan met Hathaway Blanclin, mistook her for her twin Lily, and witnessed several awkward mishaps before sensing something supernatural in the corridor. The chapter ended with Mulan realizing the dolls on his clothes had gone silent.

• Mulan watched a ravenous man at the buffet and felt uneasy at his bestial gaze.
• The count welcomed the guests to his daughter's birthday ball, and Mulan wandered away from the dancing to find more food.
• Mulan met Hathaway Blanclin and learned that Lily had invited him; Hathaway then went to her room to escape her uncomfortable corset.
• Hathaway kicked a bedpost in frustration, sending a shoe through the window, while a maid rushed downstairs and opened the doors on two embracing men.
• Mulan returned toward the hall, but the corridor seemed to stretch and darken, and he noticed that the dolls on his clothes had fallen silent.

Mulan sensed that the otherworld was encroaching on the Count’s Estate and searched for the person who had caused it. He singled out Sir Bess, provoked him into a public insult, and challenged him to a duel at the birthday ball.

• Mulan concealed the Ring of Light’s glow and entered the hall, reasoning that someone at the estate had drawn the otherworld close to reality.
• Mulan watched the guests as the count introduced his daughters, Hathaway and Lily, then noticed a man who kept eating through the celebration.
• Mulan confronted the man about ignoring the count’s daughters and noticed his unstable, sensitive reaction.
• Sir Bess insulted Mulan’s family and military service, so Mulan turned back, named him, and threw down his glove in challenge.

Mulan defeated Sir Bess in a sword duel at the Blanclin birthday ball, but sensed that a sinister danger still surrounded the Count's Estate. He left immediately to fetch reinforcements and rode bareback toward the Holy Temple.

• Bess accepted Mulan's challenge, and the old count explained that the Jonester Family belonged to the ancient Thirteen Knight Families.
• Mulan and Bess chose swords, and Mulan disarmed Bess before knocking him unconscious with a powerful strike.
• Though the guests applauded and the old count resumed the ball, Mulan sensed that the estate remained shrouded in darkness and grew cold and sinister.
• Mulan declined the guests' invitations to stay and hurried out of the Count's Estate to seek reinforcements.
• Mulan cut a horse free from a hired carriage and galloped toward the Holy Temple.

Mulan escaped the Count's Estate and fetched Evan, who brought holy water as they raced back to confront the growing Otherworld incursion. They charged into the estate's black mist, where Lily and Hathaway hid from the horrors, and Mulan burst into the mansion firing his gun.

• Mulan rode from the Count's Estate to Evan's temple and warned him that the Otherworld was rapidly encroaching on reality.
• Evan and Mulan collected cases of holy water and rode back to the Count's Estate while Mulan explained what had happened at the ball.
• Evan warned that the source point had to be controlled, and Mulan led them into the estate's swirling black mist.
• Mulan and Evan saw wrecked carriages, blood, and dismembered bodies as they rode toward the mansion.
• Lily and Hathaway hid beneath a food display table beside the unconscious old count while possessed nobles convulsed and screamed.
• Mulan kicked open the mansion doors on horseback and fired his gun as brilliant light flared beyond the entrance.

Mulan and Evan fought their way through the estate’s Otherworldly horrors, using holy water to cleanse a hall and protect Hathaway, Lily, and the old count. Mulan defeated the reanimated man who had sworn revenge, but the Silver Sword absorbed a cloud of gray mist from the corpse.

• Mulan shot four monstrous figures as he entered the estate, and Evan blasted the hall with holy water.
• Mulan and Evan found Hathaway, Lily, and the old count hiding beneath a table and blessed them with holy water.
• Monsters entered the hall, and Mulan fought them off with his gun and holy-water-coated Silver Sword.
• A reanimated man attacked Mulan and claimed he would make him a companion, but Mulan shot and beheaded him.
• Gray mist rose from the corpse and was sucked into Mulan’s Silver Sword as he heard a piercing scream.

Mulan and Evan drove the count’s daughters and unconscious old count to safety, then used holy water to draw out the Ancient Fiend and its vessel, Sir Bess. The chapter ended with Mulan cutting Sir Bess’s throat and Evan unleashing Purification against the exposed threat.

• Mulan and Evan sent Hathaway and Lily out of the estate with the unconscious old count, directing them to the Holy Temple.
• Mulan and Evan planned to lure the shadow into revealing itself by purifying the mansion as they moved through it.
• Mulan and Evan set off repeated bursts of Holy Light, drawing a roar from the Ancient Fiend as their holy water dwindled.
• Mulan dodged the Fiend’s claw with Evan, then found Sir Bess in the ruined corridor and shot him before striking his neck with his sword.
• Mulan poured holy water over Sir Bess’s body, and Evan cast Purification as the Ancient Fiend loomed behind the corpse.

Mulan and Evan were dragged into the Otherworld, where Mulan risked himself to lure the Ancient Fiend into Evan’s holy attack. They escaped back to reality and sealed the Crystal Brooch in holy water, but both were left exhausted beside Bess’s corpse.

• Evan grabbed the Crystal Brooch, and its shadows dragged him and Mulan into the Otherworld, where they escaped the Ancient Fiend’s grasp and fled through the ruins.
• Mulan and Evan found the Ancient Fiend and planned to use their remaining holy water against it, while Mulan approached the monster and feigned a desire for power.
• Mulan provoked the Ancient Fiend and drew it toward Evan, who unleashed Purification as Mulan charged through the holy light carrying him.
• The holy attack wounded the Ancient Fiend and erased the gray vortex around its claw, while Mulan and Evan returned to reality beside Bess’s corpse.
• Evan immersed the brooch in holy water and locked it in a box as Mulan and Evan lay exhausted, uncertain whether they had fully succeeded.

After surviving the attack on Count Blanclin's estate, Mulan learned that the cult behind the massacre had been blamed and was celebrated as Valentine's hero. He accepted an invitation to study in the Royal Capital, then learned that Queen Nisheriel planned to commend and ennoble him.

• Mulan and Evan escorted the surviving nobles and servants to a Holy Temple after the estate began returning to normal.
• Valentine's police chief arrived to find bodies throughout the estate, then learned that Count Blanclin's family and most of the nobles had survived.
• On the fifth day, Leo showed Mulan a newspaper praising him for defeating the cult at the Count's Estate.
• A man and Do-lly visited to collect the doll entrusted to Mulan by Walton, and Mulan accepted the man's invitation to study in the Royal Capital.
• An attendant from the Count's Estate and a messenger from the Royal Capital arrived to announce that Queen Nisheriel intended to commend and ennoble Mulan.

Mulan discovered that the Silver Sword, which he named Fang, carried a sinister urge to kill, then left for the Imperial Capital by train. During the journey, he learned about mystical power, the formative world, and the stages of advancement.

• At dinner, Mulan joked with Leo and Old Buck before examining the Silver Sword and trying to resonate with it.
• Mulan saw the sword name itself Fang and felt its urge to kill, which he suppressed by returning it to the cane.
• The next day, Mulan departed with Dolly and a man, while the boy and girl from the steamship joined them in their compartment.
• Mulan learned that Evan had gone to the Sacred Mountain with the Holy Relic and complained that Evan had left without saying goodbye.
• The man explained the material, archetypal, and formative worlds, the five elements involved in gaining power, and the physical awakening, reality, and abundance stages.

Mulan learned from Dolly that a new vortex had formed on the battlefield between Dierjia and Bassman after the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of soldiers. The train journey continued as Mulan considered the spreading danger and shared his family’s cookies with Dolly and the two youngsters.

• Owen finished explaining the basics of mysterious phenomena to Mulan and returned to his own compartment.
• After waking at night, Mulan shared cookies with Dolly and asked why she had risked herself at the Count's Estate.
• Dolly said Evan had been placed under the Holy Temple’s protection after facing an Ancient Fiend, while Mulan appeared unharmed.
• Dolly told Mulan that a new vortex had formed on the Dierjia-Bassman battlefield, apparently because holy relics had been used and hundreds of thousands of soldiers’ souls were sacrificed.
• Dolly explained that people also made sacrifices to produce sirens and for other purposes, despite the Holy Temple’s efforts to curb the growing danger.
• Mulan invited the two youngsters to eat cookies, then watched the nighttime scenery from the train window.

Mulan Jonester arrived in Digo and was summoned to the palace, where Nisheriel personally invested him as an Imperial Knight. She returned his sword and granted him permission to approach her armed, though Mulan noticed she had not returned his gun.

• Mulan learned that Owen had not boarded the train at their stop, but Owen later met the group in Digo and led them to the imperial palace.
• Owen escorted Mulan to the palace, where officials asked him to wait until Nisheriel summoned him.
• Nisheriel learned that Mulan had arrived and decided to meet him after recalling the legacy of the Empire's Thirteen Swords.
• Mulan handed over his revolver and cane before meeting Nisheriel, who examined the weapons and drew the hidden sword Fang.
• Nisheriel invested Mulan as an Imperial Knight, returned Fang to him, and granted him permission to approach her bearing arms.