Chapter Summaries

Arthur Credos killed Greta with a single sword strike, leaving Rat Street’s leaders newly impressed and ready to unite under him. Through Muninn, Arthur learned the Death Poetry Society member had sent Greta out of personal resentment, and he asked Malinda to investigate 6 Whitebird Street.

• Arthur’s sword energy split Greta in two, while Freeman and Amuel praised him and Freeman considered asking him about Blood Clan mystic arts.
• Bob examined the deep, smooth sword scar, and Maltz reminded him that Arthur’s strength benefited their group.
• Haywood, Cook, and Wiggins admired Arthur’s power, and Golden Fingers used Greta’s death to urge Rat Street to unite under Creados.
• Scott began recording the events for a biography of Arthur, while Arthur watched through Muninn’s eyes and learned Greta’s appearance had involved personal resentment.
• Arthur asked Malinda to check who was missing from 6 Whitebird Street.

Arthur told Malinda that the Death Poetry Society had attacked his people and sent Greta to back them, prompting Malinda to hire his backup to protect the Harbor District. Their deal left Arthur hoping Muninn would uncover a fortune, while Fuginn’s perspective revealed an unexpected opportunity in South Town.

• Arthur told Malinda that a member of the Death Poetry Society had rallied forces on Rat Street to attack his general store and had sent Greta, the Scorching Wind, as backup.
• Malinda worried that Greta’s appearance could mean the Old Lion had gathered other notorious bandits, and she asked Arthur whether he could still use his backup.
• Arthur confirmed that Muninn and Fuginn’s enchanted feathers could serve as backup, and Malinda offered him a new Cork Sailing Ship for their help, plus two more for information about Bloody John.
• Arthur and Malinda agreed to work together, while Malinda wondered whether Arthur already knew about the Tower of Mist ruins in the Harbor District.
• Arthur decided to have Muninn watch for anything valuable, then borrowed Fuginn’s perspective and was surprised by what he saw in South Town.

Young Lissop blamed the Death Poetry Society for his father’s assassination and discovered that the loving father’s guidance had made him able to use the Lissop Family’s mystical equipment. After arming himself and summoning Gold and Leshid, he told them his father was dead, and Gold suddenly thrust his sword at him.

• Young Lissop blamed the Death Poetry Society for the assassination and found that reaffirming this belief relieved his headache and strengthened his resolve.
• Young Lissop entered the Lissop Family’s hidden reserves and discovered he could use scrolls and items meant for the Gifted.
• Young Lissop packed 273 scrolls, protective coins, two enchanted rings, and two longswords before praying for the loving father’s guidance.
• Gold and Leshid arrived, and Young Lissop told them the Death Poetry Society had bribed Tell Father and Son to assassinate his father.
• Gold and Leshid grieved when Young Lissop revealed that his father was dead, then Gold drew his sword and thrust it toward Young Lissop.

Gold attacked Young Lissop, but Leshid intervened and challenged him over taking his past injustices out on others. Gold hesitated as Leshid warned that killing Young Lissop would torment him, while Young Lissop knelt in prayer to the Loving Father.

• Gold tried to kill Young Lissop, whose Protective Copper Coin shielded him, and the two crossed swords.
• Gold explained his actions by saying he liked doing them, then struck Young Lissop and attacked again.
• Leshid shot at Gold to protect Young Lissop, then charged Gold and urged the young master to escape.
• Leshid accused Gold of spreading his own injustice to people who had treated him fairly, and Gold knocked him down without killing him.
• Leshid warned Gold that his conscience would torment him if he killed Young Lissop, who knelt and prayed to the Loving Father.

Young Lissop used the Loving Father’s warmth to calm Gold and Leshid, who both reconciled their conflicting feelings and pledged themselves to him. He led them to confront the Death Poetry Society’s wider plot, while a cloaked conspirator waited for Gold to attack the Manor.

• Young Lissop sensed Gold’s pain and Leshid’s anguish, then shared the Loving Father’s warmth with them.
• Gold regretted his actions and offered to atone, while Leshid revealed his despair and asked for Young Lissop’s blessing to marry Bess.
• Young Lissop promised to help them and said he would take them to meet the Loving Father after they dealt with the gunfire and unrest outside the Manor.
• A cloaked conspirator expected Gold to attack the Manor and South Town, but Gold remained still even after the Lissop Family’s guards assembled.
• The cloaked conspirator decided Gold’s inaction was part of a plan and approved of his choice.

A Death Poetry Society member’s plan to use Gold and the rioters against Young Lissop failed when the Lissop cavalry defeated the mob and protected the young heir. The society member headed toward South Los to intercept Malinda Julius Caesar, whose carriage faced a powerful Human Puppet, while Arthur was nowhere to be seen.

• A Death Poetry Society member decided to make Gold his attendant and wondered why Lissop had not appeared.
• Gold led the Lissop cavalry in a Thunder Gun charge that subdued the rioters and kept Young Lissop safe.
• An explosion erupted in South Town, and Gold sent mounted scouts to investigate as the Death Poetry Society member left to confront people coming from South Los.
• The Death Poetry Society member summoned a powerful Human Puppet called his General, which unleashed a storm that caught Malinda Julius Caesar’s carriage.
• Malinda recognized the puppet’s Step-Entry power and prepared to fight, then noticed Arthur was missing.

Malinda fought a storm-wielding Step-Entry while Arthur tracked a Step-Entry Human Puppet through the woods. Arthur concluded the enemy was buying time for a likely malice ritual and decided to claim both Human Puppets.

• Malinda used smoke, undead summons, and a hidden fire trap to delay the Step-Entry, who countered her with storms.
• Arthur pursued his target with help from Fuginn and confirmed that the Step-Entry he was following was a Human Puppet.
• Arthur recognized the puppet as an [Exquisite Puppet] and reflected on the possibility that Robin's alchemical path had produced stronger Human Puppets.
• Arthur inferred that the Death Poetry Society member at 6 Whitebird Street was trying to complete a malice ritual.
• Arthur resolved to take both Human Puppets for himself.

Arthur recognized that the Death Poetry Society member was using the [Exquisite Puppet] to draw pursuers into a trap and mask the malice ritual’s commotion. The member revealed himself to Arthur and began the second round of his scheme.

• Arthur realized the enemy planned to use the [Exquisite Puppet] to stage a fake ritual and conceal the real malice ritual.
• Arthur followed the speeding [Exquisite Puppet] while pretending to fall for the enemy’s plan.
• The Death Poetry Society member recalled how Arthur had thwarted his plots, including the schemes involving the Axe Murderer, the Baby-Theft Case, and the Lady of the Long Night's Salon Murder Case.
• The member decided to begin the second round and made the [Exquisite Puppet] stop and wait for Arthur.
• The member removed the puppet’s hood, and Arthur recognized the face beneath it.

Arthur recognized Horton as the Death Poetry Society member who had concealed himself among the staff at 6 Whitebird Street. Horton revealed a bone platform and a deathly-aura ritual, then proposed a contest as Arthur’s allies searched the area for his true preparations.

• Arthur recognized Horton and recalled how Horton had defended Elena after Brody’s poisoning.
• Horton explained that he had used the Elena incident to cover flaws in the Axe Murderer’s operation, while Arthur had unknowingly disrupted his schemes.
• Horton revealed that the Death Poetry Society suspected Arthur was a Child of Death and claimed the Axe Murderer had acted independently.
• Horton raised a huge bone platform from beneath the forest, filling the area with deadly aura as Arthur sent Fuginn into the clouds and rats underground to investigate.
• Horton proposed a contest, offering to surrender if he lost and asking Arthur to do three things for him if he won, then produced a deck of cards.

Arthur accepted a poker challenge from the Death Poetry Society member controlling the Exquisite Puppet, who believed his professional card skills would give him an easy win. The game’s terms were set, including a binding question after each round, and the chapter left the cards and Contract in Arthur’s Hands of the Void.

• The Death Poetry Society member demonstrated his one-handed shuffle and challenged Arthur to play poker, claiming his family had once run a casino.
• Arthur agreed and requested to inspect the deck, then used two Hands of the Void to hold and examine the cards.
• An explosion sounded in South Town, and the opponent claimed that a group he had stirred up was trying to reclaim what they believed belonged to them.
• Arthur resumed inspecting the cards, but the opponent imposed the one-minute limit and Arthur hurried through the remaining deck.
• The opponent proposed a best-of-three card-drawing game with an automatic loss for drawing a joker and one honest question for each round’s winner; Arthur accepted.
• The opponent produced a Contract for the new terms, and Arthur caught it with one Hand of the Void while the other held the deck.

Arthur and the Death Poetry Society member played a card game under Contract, with the loser required to answer questions. Arthur learned that the man had used the Byrne brothers as Hidden Pawns, then exposed his cheating and declared that he had found him.

• Arthur signed the Contract and won the first round by drawing the ace of spades, then asked the Death Poetry Society member to explain his objective.
• The man revealed that he was preparing a Ritual, had coordinated with pirates in South Los, and had used the Byrne brothers and unrest in South Town to distract Arthur.
• Arthur said the Byrne brothers had considerable value, prompting the man to begin another round and shuffle the deck.
• The man secretly switched cards and drew what he believed was the ace of clubs, while planning to ask Arthur who his mother was.
• Arthur revealed the ace of spades, and the man found a joker in his hand and accused Arthur of cheating.
• Arthur calmly said, "Found you!"

Arthur used a rigged card game and a bluff to expose Horton’s plans and locate his hidden defenses. Horton unleashed a wave of deathly aura, but Arthur erased it before a forty-meter Pale Sword Aura struck toward the ground.

• Arthur noticed a disturbance underground and bluffed Horton into revealing that he planned to fake his death and plunge South Los into chaos.
• Arthur claimed he had used Mind Reading and Mediumship to win their card game, though he had actually manipulated the cards with his own abilities.
• Horton left the Exquisite Puppet, believing Arthur could read his thoughts, then prepared to unleash his hidden attack.
• Arthur used Song of Death: Flash to make the deathly aura vanish.
• Arthur sent a forty-meter Pale Sword Aura cleaving into the earth toward Horton.

Arthur killed Horton with a sword slash, but Horton’s ghost activated the Malice Ritual, which stirred Arthur’s bloodline hunger. Arthur traded an answer to a question for two human puppets and obtained a Mask of Concealment, then considered how to secure another puppet fighting Malinda.

• Arthur’s Deathly Aura Slash cut through the six defenses and bisected Horton, while leaving the ritual circle intact.
• Horton’s ghost appeared and seemed to make the Malice Ritual operate, awakening Arthur’s hunger for it.
• Arthur demanded control of Horton’s two human puppets in exchange for answering one question, and Horton agreed.
• Horton handed Arthur an Exquisite Puppet and a Mask of Concealment that had fallen from it.
• Arthur welcomed the extra puppet and considered arranging the safe debut of another puppet currently fighting Malinda.

Malinda drove off the uniformed man and joined Arthur in targeting Lord Byrne’s sons, while Arthur examined the Legendary General Puppet he had obtained from Horton. Arthur questioned how Horton had come by the puppet and what the Death Poetry Society had done for him.

• Malinda’s traps failed to harm the uniformed man, but he abruptly abandoned the fight after a mysterious failure.
• Arthur told Malinda that Lord Byrne’s three sons were colluding with pirates, and they agreed to split the spoils if she helped capture them with evidence.
• Arthur asked Malinda to find two more talented ravens, then left on Fuginn as Malinda set out to pursue the sons.
• Arthur inspected the Legendary General Puppet, a Step-Entry puppet with combat and military abilities, and considered its charging costs and secrecy.
• Arthur turned to Horton in his wraith state and asked how the Death Poetry Society had treated him.

Arthur questioned Horton about how he had obtained the Exquisite Puppet and General Puppet, then convinced him he was only an imitator of the Death Saint. After killing Horton, Arthur drew on Malinda’s name to perform for anyone who might be watching and leaped down without absorbing the ritual’s newly released deathly aura.

• Horton explained that he had found the Exquisite Puppet and General Puppet through a treasure map of Robin, the Puppet King, sold by Damato.
• Arthur told Horton that the Right Patriarch had mistaken him for the Death Saint and that Horton’s rivalry with Arthur stemmed from being an imitator.
• Arthur falsely claimed his grandfather had concealed his fate, leaving only two paths to survival, and that meeting Malinda had forced him onto the difficult one.
• Arthur killed Horton with spectral blue Deathfire, releasing a dense, pure deathly aura from the ritual.
• Arthur declared that everything was worth it for Malinda and leaped down without absorbing the aura.

Lord Byrne's sons tried to attack Malinda's fleet to earn knighthoods, but Malinda stopped them and planned to claim the Byrne fleet. Meanwhile, Gale Sword De'erqiao followed a ring toward the Tower of Mist ruins, only to discover someone had arrived first.

• The three Byrne sons aimed their ship's cannons at Malinda's fleet, hoping to stage a battle and win knighthoods.
• Malinda knocked out the youngest Byrne son after finding his brothers down, and considered taking the Byrne fleet as well as Byrne Manor.
• Malinda wondered whether Arthur had uncovered her secret plans and recalled that she had cleared ghosts and undead from a place where they had met.
• Gale Sword De'erqiao entered the Harbor District with his men, following a ring that could lead them to the Tower of Mist ruins.
• The ring began to tremble, and De'erqiao realized someone had reached the ruins before him.

Gale Sword De'erqiao’s team discovered that someone was excavating ruins on a privately owned beach in South Los and decided to seek a powerful ally. After South Los’s maritime defense field vanished, a towering archer attacked intruders in the Harbor District and noticed Arthur’s raven.

• Gale Sword De'erqiao and his team watched the guarded beach, then withdrew after Adi judged the site’s owners too powerful to confront directly.
• Adi concluded that the Count of South Los was not behind the excavation and urged the team to gather information and find a reliable, powerful ally.
• Gale Sword De'erqiao agreed to the plan, but the team heard the maritime defense field tear apart and sprinted away to avoid becoming suspects.
• Through Muninn, Arthur watched a two-meter-tall woman at the lighthouse shoot an air-made arrow that obliterated a hidden man’s upper body.
• The woman kept firing at the fleeing intruders and turned her gaze toward Arthur’s raven.

Arthur concealed Muninn while Valerie, the Countess's Chief Hunter, confronted Potteriman and used the Sun Arrow to destroy the pirates attacking South Los. The guards reported the Old Lion's infiltrators eliminated, while Muninn slipped away unseen after Valerie searched for Potteriman.

• Arthur hid Muninn in a recess as Valerie searched for whoever had been watching her.
• Valerie identified Potteriman, the Death Poetry Society's Left Cantor, who asked her to persuade the Countess to spare Horton.
• Valerie used the Sun Arrow to blast Potteriman's pirate fleet, killing hundreds and driving Bloody John to flee.
• Potteriman escaped and left Valerie a token of sincerity, but she rejected his appeal and put away the Sun Arrow.
• A guard reported that the Old Lion's infiltrating Shadow Guard team had been wiped out, and Valerie ordered a search for any remaining Hidden Pawns.
• Valerie searched twice for Potteriman, then left to report damage to the sea barrier; more than ten minutes later, Muninn emerged as a cream-colored Labrador and trotted away.

Arthur absorbed the Malice Ritual’s deathly aura and advanced his bloodline to Death Serpent, Remnant, gaining powerful new abilities and defenses. After learning that the Death Poetry Society’s Left Cantor was coming to South Los, he considered how to use the group’s interest in Horton to his advantage.

• Arthur found miners and other victims in Horton’s abandoned mine shaft and used the Malice Ritual’s accumulated resentment as he devoured its deathly aura.
• Arthur’s Death Serpent bloodline advanced, awakening new abilities and strengthening his physique, defenses, concealment, and control over serpent shadows.
• Arthur reflected that the stronger bloodline could help him complete it and advance his talent, while he kept his swordsmanship plans for later.
• Arthur stroked Kuliqi and learned that the Death Poetry Society’s Left Cantor was coming to South Los.
• Arthur decided to prepare more bargaining chips because the society cared about Horton more than he had expected.

Arthur returned to 2 Kirk Street, enjoyed a playful reunion with Pendragon and Kuliqi, and gained 800 XP from the fame surrounding his Swordsmanship Tournament performance and the rumors about his identity. He decided to spend the points on Swiftbird Swordsmanship and Illusory True Shadow Art as he prepared for his trip to the Inner Bay.

• Arthur greeted neighborhood children on his way home while their parents kept their distance because of rumors about his bad luck.
• Pendragon welcomed Arthur, then attacked Kuliqi after seeing the dog poke its head out of Arthur's shadow.
• Arthur received 800 XP for his tournament fame and for growing acceptance of the rumor that he was the Black Cat of the Black Cat Faction.
• Arthur chose Swiftbird Swordsmanship to test whether it could complete his Death Serpent bloodline and Illusory True Shadow Art for its shadow-traveling abilities.
• Fearing the Old Lion of the Inner Bay might overturn the coming confrontation, Arthur ordered the XP allocated.