Chapter Summaries

A Blood Bat carrying Auben descended on Harold Manor, where Titon prepared to sacrifice himself to protect the frail Baron Harold. Harold recognized Auben and revealed that the Harold Family had prepared contingencies, as snow began falling across the manor.

• A fierce wind disturbed Harold Manor, and Titon rushed outside with Baron Harold to confront an apparent intruder.
• Titon spotted a Blood Bat overhead and urged Baron Harold to flee to the secret room while he prepared to fight it.
• Baron Harold stopped Titon and spoke clearly for the first time in two years.
• Baron Harold recognized Auben, who appeared atop the Blood Bat and said the Harold Family had prepared contingencies.
• Auben unleashed a supernatural chill over Harold Manor, and snow began to fall.
• Baron Harold raised his hand and waved as Titon watched in shock.

Baron Harold revealed formidable weather-changing power while denying the Harold Family’s involvement in the Blood Clan’s extermination, but using that power weakened and transformed him. As he prepared for a final clash with the Blood Scion, Glaster stepped forward to confirm the family’s innocence.

• Baron Harold dispelled the snow and told the Blood Scion that the Harold Family had not participated in the Blood Clan’s extermination, directing him to the Golden Lion Family for answers.
• The Blood Scion unleashed frost, and Baron Harold repeatedly changed the weather to counter him, transforming from an old man into a middle-aged man as his strength dwindled.
• Baron Harold revealed that he had gained his one-use power by sacrificing the servants, Guards, and private troops loyal to his family.
• Baron Harold stopped himself from draining Titon, warned him not to trust others too readily, and resolved to fight for the Harold Family’s glory.
• As Baron Harold and the Blood Scion prepared to clash, Glaster stepped forward and assured the Blood Scion that the Harold Family had taken no part and knew little about the extermination.

Shawei Harold sacrificed himself to stop the Blood Scion and entrusted his daughter Cosette to Titon, while Glaster confronted the Blood Scion and was left badly wounded. After the survivors fled, Glaster and Titon reached the manor’s secret room, where Glaster revealed her injuries and identified Arthur Credos as a terrifying Medium.

• Shawei Harold accepted his death, named his daughter Cosette Harold, and entrusted her to Titon before sacrificing himself in a devastating attack on the Blood Scion.
• The Blood Scion escaped the attack on his Blood Bat, refused to fight Glaster until she recovered, and attacked the hidden onlookers as they fled.
• Eli, the Bandaged Swordsman, Walsh, and Linst escaped and abandoned their plan to use Harold Manor as a temporary refuge.
• Glaster and Titon entered the manor, and Glaster stopped Titon from rushing into the secret room before collapsing and revealing her pale, injured face.
• Glaster called South Los's Medium Arthur Credos a terrifying man.

Arthur witnessed Baron Harold’s youth-restoring transformation and the personality Distortion that came with it, strengthening his resolve to resist anyone trying to change who he was. At Harold Manor, Glaster warned Titon that powerful nobles would target the family now that Baron Harold was dead, and they went to inspect what he had left behind.

• Arthur realized Baron Harold’s transformation had Distorted his personality and resolved to master the process rather than risk being changed by someone else.
• Arthur reassured Pendragon that it was all right to lose one or two of his nine lives, then returned his attention to Harold Manor.
• Titon asked whether Glaster was all right, and she rose to inspect what Baron Harold had left behind.
• Glaster warned Titon that the Peeping Ones were not the real threat and that South Los’s nobles would covet the Harold Family’s possessions and might harm the young master.
• Titon worried that the Count of South Los might not truly help the Harold Family and prayed that Baron Harold had left them trump cards.

Glaster and Titon found Cosette Harold, the Harold Family’s unborn heir, preserved in a cultivation vessel beneath Harold Manor. Glaster said they had to secure her safety by pledging the Harold Family’s allegiance to Arthur Credos and making him Cosette’s godfather.

• Titon led Glaster through the study’s secret entrance and down into the hidden chambers beneath Harold Manor.
• Titon explained that the family had sold its Gargoyle guard to Baron Kemail because it could no longer afford to maintain it.
• Glaster spotted a Fire Lizard Sac among Baron Harold’s carefully stored materials.
• Titon swore a spiritual oath to protect Cosette, who was floating in a vessel and about seven months along.
• Glaster warned that Cosette was not yet safe to move and ordered Titon to pledge the Harold Family’s allegiance to Arthur Credos and make him Cosette’s godfather.

Arthur arranged for the Harold Family to come under his protection and planned to use Harold Manor to house his growing forces. Glaster found a hidden room beneath the mill, where its contents left Arthur stunned.

• Arthur decided Harold Manor would serve as a base for his people, and Glaster persuaded Titon that the Creados family was the safest protector for the Harold Family.
• Titon agreed to leave and entrusted Miss Cosette to Glaster, who urged Cosette to shelter under Arthur's protection and learn from him.
• Cosette sensed that Glaster meant her no harm, wondered whether her original fate had been bad, and soon fell asleep.
• Arthur directed Glaster to search the mill he had seen during [Bone Divination], suspecting it had been her former base.
• Glaster found a hidden passage beneath the millstone and entered a large secret room, whose contents astonished Arthur.

Arthur arranged a formal escort for Titon, who traveled from Harold Manor to South Los after being summoned. The welcome honored Titon’s loyalty to the Harold Family and left him riding proudly at the head of the procession to 2 Kirk Street.

• Arthur asked Lady Anna to prepare for Titon’s arrival, and she flew outside.
• Titon rode toward South Los on Harold Manor’s old horse and encountered twenty-five cavalrymen led by Edwin.
• Edwin welcomed Titon on behalf of House Creados as Miss Cosette’s foster parent and a loyal retainer of the Harold Family.
• The cavalrymen honored Titon with a noble’s greeting, and Edwin offered him a horse to ride.
• Titon declined the offered horse, mounted his own old horse, and led the procession toward 2 Kirk Street.

Titon visited Arthur Credos’s residence and, impressed by Lady Anna and the [Death Snake Banyan], concluded that the Creados were an ancient and powerful family. Believing Arthur intended to become Cosette’s godfather, Titon offered the Harold Family’s allegiance and Harold Manor as a pledge.

• Edwin and his cavalrymen exchanged Knight’s Salutes with Titon and departed from Kirk Street.
• Lady Anna greeted Titon, who was startled by her lifelike doll form and the [Death Snake Banyan] that offered a hitching post for his horse.
• After seeing the tree, Titon assumed the Creados were a thousand-year-old noble house, as Arthur watched through Fuginn’s vision.
• Titon entered the Medium’s Hall, knelt before Arthur Credos, and offered the Harold Family’s allegiance and Harold Manor as a pledge.

Arthur accepted the Harold Family’s allegiance while giving steward Titon five hundred gold coins as a twenty-year rental payment for Harold Manor and support for his goddaughter, Cosette. As Arthur accompanied Titon to meet her, he walked through the air, drawing attention and prompting one observer to recall a prophecy about the new king.

• Titon offered Harold Manor to Arthur, worried that the impoverished family’s tribute would be taken as an insult.
• Arthur gave Titon five hundred gold coins, calling the arrangement a twenty-year rental and explaining that the money would support Cosette.
• Titon gratefully accepted Arthur’s kindness and agreed to take him to meet Cosette at Harold Manor.
• Arthur followed Titon without a horse, walking through the air with his practiced abilities.
• A watcher saw Arthur in the sky and murmured that the lion growing wings meant the new king would ascend the throne.

Arthur returned to Harold Manor and met Cosette in the underground Secret Room, where he offered to accept her despite her taboo birth. He invited her to make the world fear a monster, leaving her quietly studying him.

• Kili overheard a Golden Lion Family scout mutter a prophecy about a lion growing wings and a new king ascending the throne, while Muninn pursued the scout with Erha.
• Arthur reasoned that the South Los Count would support his takeover of the Harold Family if he ended the ambitions of five rival houses.
• Titon hurried back to Harold Manor with Arthur, and Arthur told Lady Glaster to leave the scouts alone unless they entered the manor.
• Titon led Arthur through the Hidden Passage to the underground Secret Room, where Arthur saw Cosette inside a Culture Vessel.
• Arthur told Cosette that others feared her arrival and asked whether she wanted to make them feel the terror of a monster.

Arthur comforted Cosette as she slept in the Culture Vessel, then arranged for Titon to recruit guards and maids to restore Harold Manor. After Titon left, Arthur returned to the Secret Room beneath the Mill and discovered how the Ritual site worked.

• Arthur reassured Cosette that she was safe, and she trusted him enough to fall asleep in the Culture Vessel.
• Arthur asked Titon to borrow ten guards from Young Lissop and recruit maids to clean and rebuild Harold Manor.
• Arthur took the Fire Lizard Sac after Titon offered it, planning to use its fire to expand his attacks.
• Titon set out for South Town while Arthur stayed behind to watch over Cosette.
• Arthur entered the Secret Room beneath the Mill, examined the text appearing around the Ritual site, and understood how it worked.

Arthur discovered that Glaster had modified the damaged Guide of Distortion for a Golden Lion bloodline seal and may have pursued a goal tied to ascension rank. While collecting Glaster’s books, he uncovered a Mystic Art called Distortion that required both the powers of death and life, and he wondered if it was connected to his own inheritance.

• Arthur identified the enormous scale-like device as the damaged Guide of Distortion, a mystic item altered by Glaster to create a bloodline seal using Aislan’s bloodline and soul-linked object.
• Arthur connected Glaster’s identities as Jiljike and Witch Kleibel to her schemes involving the Golden Lion Family, Aislan, and the Seven-Year War.
• Arthur concluded that Glaster’s plan was likely aimed at something related to ascension rank and considered claiming it for himself.
• Arthur stored nearly a hundred of Glaster’s mystical books in Carmen’s Wristband as he searched for knowledge.
• Arthur found a book that revealed the Mystic Art Distortion, learned that he had the power of death but lacked the power of life, and wondered if the art was what he suspected.

Arthur studied the Mystic Art Distortion and concluded that the Theophat Psychic Order might have been founded by White Robe after discovering Theophat’s Radiance. He suspected White Robe had manipulated Glaster and possibly instigated the Seven-Year War, then opened the book to learn more.

• Arthur used the prompts showing that Distortion required the powers of both life and death to question rumors about White Robe and the Theophat Psychic Order.
• Arthur recalled that the Guide to Distortion had been unearthed near the Empire’s end and reasoned that White Robe may have created the Mystic Art and renamed Theophat’s Radiance.
• Arthur speculated that studying the Guide to Distortion had altered White Robe’s personality and damaged the relic.
• Arthur considered whether White Robe had used Glaster as a pawn and instigated the Seven-Year War to pursue advancement beyond Ascension Rank.
• Arthur looked at Glaster’s corpse, took him as a cautionary lesson, and opened the book about Distortion.

Arthur studied Mystic Art [Distortion] and considered how he might use it to change Malinda, but the spell’s demands led him to ponder the elusive Fountain of Youth and the secrets of the Last Scion of the Bloodline. He used the [Guide to Distortion] to process [Aislan's Leap], which vanished as a red glow appeared in its place.

• Arthur memorized much of Mystic Art [Distortion] and learned that it could alter perception, personality, strength, and even sex.
• Arthur concluded that using [Breath of Death] as an anchor might require the Fountain of Youth as its corresponding point, and considered seeking it through both ruins and an ocean-going fleet.
• When Arthur thought about the Last Scion of the Bloodline, [Death Intuition] warned him with a vision of a scarlet figure killing him, so he stopped probing the secret.
• Arthur wondered whether gold could substitute for the Fountain of Youth in repairing the Human Puppet.
• Arthur placed [Aislan's Leap] in the [Guide to Distortion] with [Death Hound: Brow Bone] and [Water of Life], then fed deathly aura into the device.
• The [Guide to Distortion] consumed [Aislan's Leap] and left a red glow atop its hooked claw, delighting Arthur.

Arthur placed the Bloodline Seal on his chest, gained its powers, and discovered that charging its Lionheart King ability would cost far more gold than he expected. After collecting books and the Distortion Catalyst’s fragments, he connected to Muninn’s vision and saw something that surprised him.

• Arthur placed the Bloodline Seal over his heart and subdued the golden lion apparition with his deathly aura.
• Arthur fed gold coins to the seal, learning that one hundred coins charged Lionheart King by only one point.
• Arthur had Glaster collect the broken Distortion Catalyst fragments for transport to 2 Kirk Street in separate batches.
• Arthur collected 162 unfamiliar books on the Mystical Side after setting aside duplicates.
• Arthur connected to Muninn’s vision and reacted with surprise at what he saw.

Dill Buck reported that Arthur Credos had walked through the air, believing him to be the key to the Golden Lion Family’s succession. Greisa Hamlet suspected Uncle Barro of plotting against his father, then received an encrypted message that enraged him.

• Dill Buck abandoned his long-prepared assassination mission to investigate Arthur Credos and sent the Old Lion a report after seeing Arthur walk through the air.
• Dill Buck connected Arthur’s apparent ability to fly with Witch Kleibel’s curse and concluded Arthur could become the Golden Lion Family’s king.
• Greisa Hamlet reviewed his father’s document about the Inner Bay Swordsmanship Tournament and suspected Uncle Barro had fabricated the story of a lost family member to advance his ambitions.
• Greisa Hamlet learned that Alvis had boarded a ship for the Inner Bay and remarked that rough seas could sink ships.
• Greisa Hamlet answered an encrypted Communication Stone, then snarled, “Unforgivable!”

Greisa turned the plot against Arthur into an opportunity to target his younger brothers and stir suspicion within the Golden Lion Family. In the Western Sea, Drake learned of Arthur’s many accomplishments, realized his nephew had been acting, and secretly sent confidants to the Inner Bay.

• Greisa suspected Diodone or Pistrie Hamlet had helped Uncle Barro exploit the family prophecy and decided to use the situation against them.
• Greisa ordered Dill Buck to protect Arthur while impersonating the Old Lion.
• Greisa ordered Fask’s death classified as an inside job and crushed the Communication Stone.
• Drake read a report listing Arthur Credos’s titles and realized his nephew had concealed his true abilities.
• Drake ordered his subordinates to question two prisoners again, announced a feast, and secretly signaled his confidants to go to the Inner Bay.

Jane and Jennifer prepared false identities to enroll at St. Joan's Girls' Academy and avoid the Secret Police searching the Inner Bay. They arrived at the academy, where a falcon landed on the security office.

• Jane praised Lord Credos for winning the South Los Swordsmanship Tournament as she and Jennifer discussed their friendship.
• Jennifer recalled how she had protected Jane from trouble on their journey and helped her practice with weapons.
• Jane recited her invented family background, while Jennifer explained their cover as cousins and her plan to apply as a history teacher.
• Jennifer reassured Jane that the academy would help them stay out of the Secret Police's sight.
• Jane followed Jennifer toward St. Joan's Girls' Academy, and a falcon landed on the security office.

Anna remained at St. Joan's Girls' Academy while reflecting on Arthur Credos and Malinda's pregnancy, then encountered Jennifer and Jane arriving to apply for a teaching position. A mysterious letter signed by Cassandra Credos appeared in the security office, telling Anna that she had passed a test.

• Anna recalled that Cassandra Credos had used a hired stand-in to register at the academy and that the Secret Police were watching the school.
• Anna learned that Arthur Credos had achieved step-entry and become the master of Caesar Manor, and she privately reacted to news that Malinda was pregnant.
• Jennifer introduced herself to Anna and asked to apply for the academy's history teacher position, then led Jane toward the teaching building.
• Jennifer sensed that the guard, cleaner Amy, and cook were dangerous, while Amy wondered whether she should leave the academy with Sarah.
• Anna found a letter that had appeared in the security office unnoticed and read its message, "You passed the test!", signed by Cassandra Credos.

Cassandra Credos used mysterious letters to summon Anna, Amy and Sarah, Jennifer, and Jane to the grove behind St. Joan's Girls' Academy. After deciding to recruit people and build her own organization, she named it The Invisible.

• Anna recognized Cassandra Credos's letter, saw its hidden meeting time appear in the flames, and decided to attend out of curiosity.
• Amy and Sarah received Cassandra's invitation and prepared weapons, with Sarah fearing that Cassandra shared Arthur's Medium bloodline.
• Jennifer and Jane passed their interviews and found Cassandra's letter summoning them to the grove; Jennifer prepared to face her with Jane's support.
• Cassandra praised her falcon Icarus, resolved to catch up with Arthur by finding people she could use, and named her organization The Invisible.