Chapter Summaries

Arthur investigated whether the missing merchant caravan was connected to Ymir Manor by staging a supernatural disturbance in the Jia'er Mountain Town Police Station morgue. The terrified officers surrendered the dead man's belongings, and Arthur found three mystic-art items among them, though their unexpected appearance made him suspicious.

• Arthur entered the morgue with Simon, Hunter, and Newt after using supernatural sounds to frighten the police station members.
• Arthur found a naked corpse with a broken neck in an open mortuary drawer and reasoned that the coroner had taken its belongings.
• Arthur ordered the station members into the morgue and used [Hand of the Void] to make the corpse sit up while it sobbed.
• Chief Siblon and the other officers panicked, but Arthur calmly recited a chant demanding the corpse's belongings be returned.
• The officers eagerly handed over the belongings, and Arthur found three mystic-art items among them before wondering at the coincidence.

Arthur recognized that three Arcane Items matched the bizarre deaths of three Mediums at Ymir Manor and suspected someone had targeted them. At the police station, he confronted an unseen presence that seemed to be watching Chief Siblon and demanded to know why.

• Arthur noticed that the belt, seasoning jar, and brooch matched the ways three Mediums had died at Ymir Manor.
• Arthur wondered whether Ymir Manor's owner had targeted the Mediums and might target Old Charlie next.
• Lady Anna stirred in Arthur's arms and appeared to tell him about undead lingering in the Jia'er Mountain Town Police Station.
• Arthur abruptly stopped while describing a caravan, then warned Chief Siblon not to move or make a sound.
• Siblon squatted as Arthur grabbed at something unseen, producing a thunderous clang, and Arthur demanded to know why it had been watching him.

Arthur questioned the Jia'er Mountain Town police about a traveling merchant party that had vanished three years earlier, then used Fuginn to scout the dangerous, fortress-like Ymir Manor. Back in the morgue, Arthur set the three mediums’ cursed objects on fire, and the young medium realized something was wrong with what he had seen.

• Siblon, Walker, Creek, and the patrol officers told Arthur that they had arrived after the traveling merchant party had disappeared and found no evidence of a struggle.
• Arthur ordered salt, brick powder, kerosene, and an iron sword, then sent Simon, Hunter, and Newt to guard the basement entrance.
• Arthur directed Fuginn to survey Ymir Manor and discovered its defensible ravine approach, hidden watchposts, and dilapidated grounds.
• Fuginn spotted four young people returning from the mountains with rabbits, pheasants, wild fruit, and edible greens.
• Arthur returned to the basement and set the three mediums’ cursed objects alight, prompting the young medium to realize something was wrong.

Arthur discovered signs of mystical power at Ymir Manor and explained that the curse remained even after the undead departed. He ordered an investigation into the manor’s owners and curses, while the search for its former owner Lato led to an unexpected identification.

• Arthur recognized that the enormous banyan tree and other anomalies indicated mystical power at Ymir Manor, then concealed his belongings before leaving the Basement.
• Arthur told Siblon that destroying Ymir Manor with explosives might work but would kill whoever set them, and he requested records about the manor and its owners.
• Siblon described Lato as a charitable merchant who had bought the manor after its second owner met with trouble, and said he knew little about Baron.
• Arthur drew portraits of Lato and Baron and sent Muninn’s copies to Maltz, who dispatched Dico, Rooney, and Andy to ask around the Harbor District.
• Dico returned with Lato’s portrait and told the old Chief that the man’s identity would surprise him.

Dico identified William as the man who had robbed the White Wine Glass and helped destroy the Sunk Family, while Old Chief recruited Dico to assist him. At Jia'er Mountain Town, Arthur pieced together William’s history and suspected that he had invited Old Charlie and three other Mediums to Ymir Manor to address his mutations and test a new power.

• Dico told Old Chief that a neighborhood boss had identified the portrait as William, the man behind the White Wine Glass robbery and the Sunk Family massacre.
• Arthur appeared as a raven, and Old Chief explained the hidden dangers of their world before asking Dico to work with him; Dico agreed.
• Old Chief looked toward the docks, where the Mr. Five Exchange warehouse had opened, and considered his plans to be falling into place.
• Arthur reviewed Chief Siblon’s information on Lato and deduced that William had taken Ymir Manor, blamed deaths on a curse, and faked his death after an experiment caused mutations.
• Arthur suspected William had invited Old Charlie to recover information from a book and had summoned three other Mediums to treat his mutations or test a new power.

Rob reported Credos’s arrival to Baron at Ymir Manor, but Baron attacked and killed him before returning to the basement. William then sent his monsters into town to hunt Credos, only for an explosive-filled crate to crash through the manor roof and detonate.

• Rob went to Ymir Manor at night and told Baron that Credos had arrived in Jia'er Mountain Town under police escort.
• Baron gave Rob two money pouches, then lunged at him and tore him apart.
• Bound from feeding further, Baron ran to the basement, where William emerged from a stone coffin.
• William ordered more than forty cursed monsters to go into town, find Credos, and kill and feast without restraint.
• An enormous crate filled with explosives and poisoned iron nails smashed through the roof and exploded.

Arthur defeated William by destroying the banyan tree that empowered him, then reminded him of his original dream as William faced death. William wondered whether he still had a chance.

• An explosion killed dozens of William’s monsters and injured William, who regenerated by absorbing their flesh and blood.
• William trapped Fuginn with white tentacles, but Arthur cut off William’s head with Sectumsempra and tried to make him question his choices.
• William fled into the hollow beneath the banyan tree, which uprooted itself and attacked Arthur as a giant tree-man.
• Arthur ignited the lamp oil and explosives with a Fire Arrow, destroying the banyan tree while Simon, Hunter, Newt, and Siblon watched.
• Arthur asked the dying William whether he remembered his original dream, and William recalled wanting to own a restaurant before asking if he still had a chance.

Arthur’s bluff led William to pledge his soul to him, unleashing an immense mass of death aura and a gigantic skeleton. Arthur made the death aura and skeleton vanish, leaving everyone stunned and William’s fate unclear.

• Arthur used William’s suffering and his own staged gestures to make William believe he had one chance left.
• William asked Arthur’s name, then pledged his soul in allegiance to Arthur as he died.
• William’s pledge unleashed a vast cloud of death aura that overwhelmed Simon, Hunter, Newt, and Jia’er Mountain Town’s Chief Siblon and his companions.
• A gigantic black skeleton emerged from the aura and trapped William, then sent a torrent of death aura crashing toward the ground.
• Arthur stood unmoved as the death aura vanished, and the skeleton disappeared after striking at him.

Arthur dispelled William’s death aura, but William’s mutation deepened and he vowed to serve Arthur as his faith. William performed a lich rebirth ritual and awoke as a half-lich, while Arthur opened the iron box William had once obtained and found the incomplete Book of Death.

• Arthur erased the death aura and the black skeleton, freeing Simon, Hunter, Newt, and the others from its oppressive presence.
• William pledged lifelong devotion to Arthur, then ignited his soulfire to begin the lich rebirth ritual.
• William awoke in a bronze coffin in North County as a half-lich and decided to become a corpse lich so he could grow powerful enough to stand beside Arthur.
• William sent Arthur a message through their contract, and Arthur wondered what William had obtained from the Sunk Family.
• Arthur stored the Banyan Tree Giant’s core, sent Simon and the others to clear the battlefield, and opened William’s iron box to find an incomplete Book of Death.

Arthur examined the incomplete Book of Death and read a notebook recounting how its owner and two fellow Hunters used it to resurrect their friend, aided the Black Cat Faction, and eventually uncovered a devastating truth. The notebook ended with the owner’s death and a hurried transcription of the Book of Death, and Arthur was left wondering what he might find inside it.

• Arthur used a Watchlight Lamp to inspect the five-page Book of Death and concluded it was a hurried transcription rather than an original.
• The notebook’s owner recorded how he, Longfellow, and Gilbert used the Book of Death to summon their dead loved ones, joined the Witch Hunters to gather Death Aura, and resurrected Longfellow.
• The three Hunters sought help from the Black Cat Faction, and the notebook’s owner intervened when the current Black Cat was surrounded by attackers.
• After investigating why the Black Cat had been hunted, the Hunters lost faith: Longfellow chose death, Gilbert went to sea, and the notebook’s owner guarded the Book of Death.
• The owner died after Sunk attacked him to obtain a copy of the book, and Sunk transcribed five pages before the original disappeared.
• Arthur considered whether William had been Old Charlie’s first client after he resumed work as a Medium, then opened the copied Book of Death and suddenly grew uneasy.

Arthur realized that Old Charlie and much of his family likely understood [Ei a] but had hidden it from him, and he looked forward to surprising them with his newfound mystical abilities. Reading William’s incomplete Book of Death taught him four death techniques instantly, and he went below the main building to confirm something.

• Arthur concluded that Old Charlie, Drake, Cassandra, and possibly his late parents understood [Ei a] and had kept it from him.
• Arthur opened William’s incomplete Book of Death and learned Deathfire, Deathly Aura Slash, Corpse Control, and Minor Curse Art without spending XP.
• Arthur used Deathfire to reduce a ghoul-like monster to bones and absorb its deathly aura, then pulverized the bones with Deathly Aura Slash.
• Arthur made a humanoid corpse twitch with Corpse Control but stopped before raising it to avoid alarming Simon and the others.
• Arthur picked up the Watchlight Lamp and headed beneath the main building to confirm something.

Arthur discovered that Ymir Manor’s enormous banyan tree came from a mystical Banyan Heart and grew more suspicious of the manor’s first owner, Fritz. In a hidden chamber, he found a vast arsenal that revealed Fritz’s plan to raise an army, and he began considering what to do with the weapons.

• Arthur read the Banyan Heart’s properties and suspected Fritz had obtained the means to create the unnatural banyan tree.
• Arthur followed a passage beneath William’s stone coffin into Ymir Manor’s secret chamber and found a study and laboratory.
• Arthur opened a hidden storeroom and discovered twenty Little Emperor Cannons, more than a thousand Heavy Muskets, swords, and armor.
• Arthur concluded that Fritz had planned an uprising during the Seven-Year War and mocked him for disguising ambition as love for Ymir.
• Arthur rejected transporting or selling the weapons and announced that he had found another idea.

Malinda asked Arthur to help manage the growing threat from agents of the Marquis of West Berlin and the Marquis of Einhaas, while Arthur revealed his unexpected discovery of a weapons stockpile at Ymir Manor. Malinda realized the discovery was genuine and invited Arthur to try something thrilling.

• Malinda worried that the agents of the Marquis of West Berlin and the Marquis of Einhaas would cause trouble in South Los and disrupt her business and succession celebration.
• Malinda visited Arthur at 2 Kirk Street and asked him to help after he had made arrangements.
• Arthur told Malinda that he had found a large stockpile of weapons at Ymir Manor.
• Malinda theatrically accused Arthur of secretly hoarding weapons and threatened to have him turn himself in to the Count.
• Malinda realized Arthur's discovery was unexpected, then asked him whether he wanted to try something thrilling.

Arthur and Malinda discussed the origins of a weapons shipment and the history of Hilt Tower, leading Malinda to propose exploiting Fritz’s connection to the tower. The chapter ended as Arthur realized she meant to use the Athos Golden Box, and he suddenly remembered a crucial detail.

• Arthur told Malinda that the weapons were connected to Hilt Tower, and she explained how Hilt had founded it as a refuge in the Silver Era.
• Arthur and Malinda concluded that Fritz, the first owner of Ymir Manor, had ties to Hilt Tower and may have sought to profit from the Seven-Year War.
• Malinda asked Arthur whether he had heard of the Grand Alchemist Athos, and Arthur recognized that she intended to use the Athos Golden Box.
• Arthur was about to answer when a sudden jolt of realization made him think of a crucial point.

Arthur and Malinda negotiated payment for using his notes and rumors about the Athos Golden Box as bait, while Malinda probed his relationship with the Blood Scion. The bargain turned to a Glory Potion and the Church incident involving Adam, the Proud Serpent.

• Arthur suspected Malinda had the Athos Golden Box and agreed to use his notes and rumors as bait.
• Malinda offered the Blood Marquis's secret as payment, but Arthur refused and claimed he was not close to the Blood Scion.
• Arthur demanded a Glory Potion, and Malinda inferred that his Creados family had noble roots connected to the Black Cat Faction.
• Malinda said the Count would offer a Glory Potion if Arthur added something else to the bargain, then asked him to explain the Church incident involving Adam, the Proud Serpent.

Arthur persuaded Malinda to leave him alone at Ymir Manor, while she arranged to retrieve weapons and spread rumors that the manor hid a valuable relic. At the manor, Arthur prepared for the advisors Malinda might send and considered how their fate could advance his ambitions.

• Arthur told Malinda he needed no support to handle Ymir Manor alone, and she agreed that his claimed strength could merit a Glory Potion.
• Arthur warned Malinda not to send anyone to watch Ymir Manor, and she cautioned that his family in Creados could become his weakness.
• Malinda ordered Edwin to retrieve the weapons and asked him to have Mr. Garcia spread rumors linking Ymir Manor to Hilt Tower and the Athos Golden Box.
• Malinda decided against direct surveillance and began writing to arrange another screening of the Countess's Advisors.
• Arthur cooked at Ymir Manor and anticipated that Malinda would send Advisors, hoping the outcome would help secure the Swordsmanship Tournament's title of Knight as its prize.

Arthur recovered ten Death Aura Storage items and Old Sunk’s Hunter’s Sword, then ordered Chief Siblon to keep clearing the site and preserve the giant banyan tree. After Arthur burned the monster corpses with Deathfire, the flames flowed into nearby shadows.

• Arthur learned Death Hole and stored ten Death Aura Storage items in the Athos Box.
• Arthur examined Old Sunk’s Hunter’s Sword and placed it in the Athos Box.
• Chief Siblon asked Arthur how to report the night’s events, and Arthur told him to keep clearing the site and carefully work on the banyan tree.
• Arthur burned the monster corpses with Deathfire, which surged into the nearby shadows instead of vanishing.

Arthur killed a Death Poetry Society member and turned to potion-making while the Society’s leaders debated which of two people might be the Child of Prophecy. Two days later, after twenty-seven failed attempts, Arthur still blamed the potion formula rather than his own talent.

• Arthur burned a Death Poetry Society member with Deathfire, raising his death aura to 413.1 as Chief Siblon and the police officers pledged to handle the remaining matters.
• Arthur left for Ymir Manor’s main building to focus on learning potion-making, while expecting the Peeping Ones to return with more people for his and Malinda’s plans.
• The Right Patriarch questioned whether a newly emerged person was another Child of Prophecy and ordered a Death Follower to test them while reducing aid to the original Child of Prophecy.
• The Left Cantor urged the Right Patriarch to consider the Old Lion, but the Right Patriarch dismissed the suggestion and the Left Cantor left to seek other options.
• Two days later, Arthur had failed at potion-making twenty-seven times and insisted his exceptional talent could not be the problem.

Arthur discovered that moonlight and spiritual resonance were key to potion-making, mastered its basics, and brewed a Griffin Physique Potion for Pendragon. After the cat drank it and fell asleep beside Arthur, their breathing synchronized, Pendragon began changing, and Arthur's cheeks grew slightly rounder.

• Arthur successfully brewed a Mint Elixir and acquired Potion-Making Basics, then spent 100 XP to advance the skill to level two.
• Arthur used his improved knowledge to brew the Griffin Physique Potion, intending to make Pendragon safer as he had promised Pan.
• Arthur diluted the potion and fed the mixture to Pendragon with a syringe; the cat drank it and promptly fell asleep.
• Pendragon climbed onto Arthur as they slept, and their breathing gradually synchronized while the cat's body grew unusually warm.
• Pendragon began to change, and Arthur's cheeks had imperceptibly grown rounder.

Arthur woke after six hours of sleep, fed Pendragon’s recovery with plans for more potion, and prepared to meet the convoy Malinda had sent to Ymir Manor. The convoy arrived with hundreds of spies watching it, and Arthur entered a mountain ravine to carry out his next move.

• Arthur decided to order glutinous rice from farms near South Los and considered seeking the missing Griffin potion formulas through Malinda.
• Arthur learned Pendragon would remain drowsy while absorbing the [Griffin Physique Potion], then wake hungry and grow stronger.
• Simon served Arthur a lavish meal while Hunter and Newt questioned why Arthur enjoyed the food before the three left for Jia'er Mountain Town with Pendragon.
• Fuginn spotted Malinda's convoy approaching with about a hundred and fifty people and three hundred spies watching it.
• Arthur judged that his plan with Malinda had attracted attention but not the powerful observers, checked his equipment, took the [Athos Box], and disappeared into a mountain ravine.