Recaps

Klein, Danitz, and Neph learned how the Mandated Punishers had explained the Bansy Harbor incident, and Neph decided to leave aboard Elland’s ship. The chapter ended with Neph asking Elland to help them catch a live sea beast.

• Klein and Danitz spent the night in the servants’ room while Neph slept in the master bedroom.
• Neph teased Danitz about being the head maid, and the three of them met Captain Elland on deck the next morning.
• Elland explained that Bishop Miller had led the cultists, killed Jess, and fled after the Mandated Punishers attacked the Mountaintop Altar.
• Neph denied recognizing a picture from the Church of Storms, while Danitz denied being Flame and Neph called him Mr. Sparrow’s head maid.
• Neph agreed to leave Bansy Harbor aboard Elland’s ship and asked him to help catch a live sea beast.

Klein and Neph arranged for Creeping Hunger to feed on a fishman, while Neph offered Klein a way to contact Ouroboros. In Backlund, Randall Valentinus confronted Horamick with a painting of the Headless Man and asked whether an important figure had caused a prophecy.

• Neph suggested Klein pray to Ouroboros, and Klein agreed after asking about Will Auceptin and confirming the ritual was safe.
• Neph warned Danitz that she could read minds after he made assumptions about her and Gehrman Sparrow.
• Klein found a sleeping fishman aboard the ship, and Neph fed it to Creeping Hunger before taking the expelled fish for a possible Mystical Item.
• Randall Valentinus entered Horamick's office at Backlund University and asked whether a prophecy had been the work of Horamick's important figure.
• Horamick examined Randall's painting, which showed a Headless Man in a black cloak facing him.

Horamick challenged Radar’s accusation that Neph was behind the Bansy Harbor ritual, while Neph accepted money from Donna’s family and joined the Tarot Club as Mr. Moon. Her cryptic introduction to Emlyn left Klein scrambling to translate her joke about becoming old friends.

• Horamick told Radar he needed evidence before accusing Neph of involvement in the Bansy Harbor ritual, but Radar vowed to find proof.
• Donna gave Neph 150 pounds collected by her family and asked about Neph and Klein’s abilities; Neph avoided answering and disappeared.
• Klein introduced Neph as the Tarot Club’s new member, Mr. Moon, and she teased Emlyn about possibly becoming a lady.
• Neph revealed that she knew of Emlyn’s Ancestor, Lilith, and described herself and Lilith as old friends who had never met.
• Audrey, Fors, and Derrick presented Roselle’s diary pages and transcribed myths, and Klein began reading the diary.
• Neph used a Chinese saying to explain her old-friends remark, leaving Klein to translate it for Emlyn.

Neph revealed more about the Kings of Angels, identifying Aucuses as the former Sun God's successor and warning the Tarot Club about speaking a True God's name. The discussion ended with Emlyn realizing that Neph meant the God of Knowledge and Wisdom and that Alger worshipped Leodero, the Lord of Storms.

• Neph asked the others to watch for Ailment Maiden Tracy, and Derrick explained how he had escaped the loop and helped the Chief break it.
• Derrick relayed the Chief's suspicion that Amon was the Angel of Time and Ouroboros was the Angel of Fate among the Kings of Angels.
• When Audrey asked about the other Kings of Angels, Neph identified the White Angel and then named Aucuses as the one who became the new Sun God after devouring the former Sun God's flesh and blood.
• Derrick asked whether Aucuses had betrayed the Lord, and Neph confirmed it and warned him that speaking the name outside the gathering could draw the God's attention or cause disaster in the cursed land.
• Neph asked Alger whether she should continue, and he agreed; she then teased him about his devotion to Leodero and noted that no believer of Wisdom was present.
• Emlyn asked whether Neph meant the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, then realized Aucuses was the Eternal Blazing Sun and inferred that Alger worshipped the Lord of Storms.

The Tarot Club traded information and discussed the Backlund Great Smog Incident, Cattleya’s sealed ability, and Alger’s search for Baelen. The meeting ended with Alger agreeing to craft a wearable underwater Mystical Item for Neph.

• Derrick gave Fors the Spirit Eater’s stomach pouch, and Emlyn asked how Sanguine could grow stronger.
• Neph said Lilith had once been human, and Alger explained that Sanguine could advance by consuming the correct potions and offered a lead on a Sanguine Baron Beyonder Characteristic.
• Audrey asked the Fool about the Backlund Great Smog Incident, but he said it was not yet appropriate for her to investigate.
• At the Fool’s instruction, Cattleya manifested glasses that sealed her Eyes of Mystery Prying and thanked Neph for the help.
• The World told Alger that Baelen was in Backlund and had met a masked MI9 operative loyal to the Royal Family; Alger agreed to pay one hundred pounds for the information.
• Neph asked Alger to make a wearable underwater Mystical Item from something she had obtained from a Fishman, and he agreed to deliver it within a week for 150 pounds.

At the Tarot Club, Emlyn asked Alger how to keep receiving support from a powerful figure when he could not report his findings, and Alger advised him to act suspicious enough to prompt help and surveillance. The World then described the corruption at Bansy Harbor, and Neph warned the others away from the town and revealed its connection to Medici and his descendants.

• Fors warned that the Great Smog had put Backlund on high alert and advised against visiting, while Alger cautioned her about the danger behind her bounty notice.
• Neph asked Derrick whether his Chief had noticed his unusual behavior in the later loops, and Alger and Neph advised Derrick to act as usual while his Chief observed him.
• Emlyn asked how someone could keep receiving support from a powerful figure without reporting information, and Alger suggested displaying unusual behavior to invite help and surveillance.
• The World asked Justice and Fors to help him buy a Wireless Telegraph, then reported that cultists and a corrupted bishop had been involved in the Church of Storms incident at Bansy Harbor.
• Alger explained the harbor's sacrifices to the God of Weather, and Neph warned that Bansy Harbor hid an incredible secret and linked it to Medici, the War Angel, and his blood descendants in Binsy Town.

After the Tarot Club gathering, Klein questioned Neph about the ancient gods, the Sanguine progenitor, gender-changing pathways, and Emperor Roselle’s secret organization. Neph warned him about the Twilight Hermit Order and explained that Blasphemy Slates formed from the corpses of beings on the level of the True Fool.

• Klein asked Neph whether the three Kings of Angel had divided and devoured the Creator’s corpse before becoming the present-day True Gods, and Neph agreed.
• Neph suggested that Lilith was a transmigrator and explained how the Moon and Mother pathways could turn a man into a woman, while the Hunter pathway could turn a woman into a man.
• Neph told Klein that Emperor Roselle had joined the Twilight Hermit Order, whose members could perceive written information regardless of its language, and warned him to placate anyone who approached him on the organization’s behalf.
• Klein asked where the Blasphemy Slates came from, and Neph explained that they formed from the corpses of her Lord and the being who had left her Lord his legacy.
• Klein decided that collecting Cards of Blasphemy might be more practical than making a slate, while Neph privately lamented that corruption would frustrate collectors.

Neph learned that Medici had possessed Katarina Pelle, then encountered the Black Death approaching the White Agate. She suspected the Blank Canvas was drawing Beyonders from adjacent pathways and might even be connected to the Fourth Pillar.

• Neph warned Klein not to collect the Mother or Moon cards and learned that Medici had possessed Katarina Pelle, Tracy's mother and the Demoness Sect's White Saintess.
• Neph teased Danitz about his fear of storms and nearly beat him up before the ship's announcement ordered passengers back to their cabins.
• Klein led Neph and Danitz to their room, where they saw the Black Death approaching the White Agate.
• Danitz explained that Tracy's ability to make people mysteriously fall ill was especially feared at sea.
• Neph suspected that the Blank Canvas was attracting Beyonders from adjacent pathways and might be adjacent to the Fourth Pillar.

Neph, Klein, and Danitz reached the City of Generosity after the storm shortened their voyage, and Neph teased Danitz about becoming a woman to get closer to his Captain. When they disembarked, Enlake told Danitz he was free, leaving Danitz at a loss.

• Neph considered how to infiltrate the Black Death now that Medici had possessed Katarina and resolved to haunt the ship or impersonate Tracy's mother.
• The storm carried the White Agate toward the City of Generosity, and Klein asked Danitz to explain Bayam's pirate contact points.
• Neph suggested Danitz become a woman so he could grow closer to his Captain, and Danitz was too startled to answer.
• Neph reviewed Captain Elland's report about the Bansy Harbor incident and left the ship without luggage.
• Enlake told Danitz he was free, and Neph noticed his bewildered reaction.

Neph followed Danitz to a Golden Dream contact point, where she attacked the waiting bounty hunter "Steel" Maveti. Danitz escaped while Neph fought Maveti, whose powerful regeneration and defenses made him difficult to injure.

• Neph decided to follow Danitz after realizing he had concealed the Golden Dream's contact points.
• Neph tracked Danitz to a dockside house where he greeted "Steel" Maveti.
• Neph turned one of Maveti's zombies against him, giving Danitz a chance to flee.
• Neph stole Maveti's heart, but he began regenerating it, so she used Danitz's pilfered handgun to place bullets in Maveti's body.
• Danitz stopped running, realized someone else had been hunting Maveti, and smiled—then his smile froze as he looked up.

Neph killed “Steel” Maveti at the Golden Dream’s contact point, collected his Beyonder Characteristic, and left Old Lynn’s memories intact. She reunited with Klein and Danitz, then asked Danitz to let her stay in one of his houses while she waited for someone.

• Neph killed “Steel” Maveti by stuffing bullets into his brain, separated his Beyonder Characteristic, and froze his body.
• Neph told Old Lynn to guard the door and warned him not to tell anyone what had happened.
• Danitz told Klein that he had concealed most of the contact points and offered to take him to one.
• Neph met Klein and Danitz, returned Danitz’s pistol, and explained that she had stolen it and used its bullets.
• Neph asked Danitz to repay her by letting her stay in one of his houses, and Danitz hurriedly agreed.

Neph took Danitz to No. 12 Fragrant Tree Avenue and revealed she was waiting for Tracy, whom fate had directed her to find. Meanwhile, Scowl and Huntley decided to return to their ship after suspecting Maveti was in trouble, and Klein encountered Danitz in a Bayam tavern.

• Neph denied stealing Danitz's memories, explaining that her ability to steal things had been a gift.
• Neph told Danitz she was waiting for Tracy, and Danitz mistakenly assumed Neph liked women before asking why she sought the Ailment Maiden.
• Neph requested information about Tracy and sent Danitz away to get it, saying Gehrman Sparrow would contact him later.
• Scowl suspected something had happened to Maveti and told Huntley to gather the others and return to their ship.
• Klein went to a Bayam tavern to seek information and startled Danitz by greeting him from behind.

Klein and Neph discussed Death's Key, Neph's new ability to steal powers from memories, and the danger Danitz might face from the Admiral of Blood. Neph arranged for Alger to collect the bounty on Steel Maveti and asked Klein to find a Traveler for her to Graze.

• Neph told Klein that Death's Key was needed to open the gates of the Giant King's Court, and Klein agreed to warn Edwina not to sell it.
• Neph explained that she had gained a Worm of Time and could now extract Beyonder abilities from memories as a Sequence 5 Dream Stealer.
• Neph asked Klein to warn Danitz that the Admiral of Blood might still be a threat, and she requested that Klein find and Graze a Traveler for her.
• Alger received Steel Maveti's frozen corpse from Neph and wondered whether Tracy might be Neph's next target.
• Neph picked up her severed left hand, relying on her regenerative ability to recover from the injury.

Scowl planned to use Modo and a renewed attack on Flame to draw out rival groups after Maveti’s death. Meanwhile, Danitz’s bounty rose to 4,200 pounds, and Klein tried to persuade him to stay so he could meet Danitz’s captain and ask about Death’s Key.

• Scowl told Seniors he suspected a leak had led to Maveti’s death and proposed using Modo to lure rival groups into a fight over Flame.
• Neph overheard diners say Flame’s bounty had risen to 4,200 pounds, then prayed to Mr. Fool and mentioned Danitz’s increased bounty.
• Klein told Danitz that people believed he had killed Steel Maveti and offered him a place to stay until his captain contacted him.
• Danitz refused to stay, saying he had unfinished work from his captain, and Klein admitted he wanted to meet her and ask questions.
• Klein went to Sefirah Castle and asked whether Danitz’s agitation suggested a deeper connection to his captain.

Neph watched Vice Admiral of Ailment Tracy leave the Black Death and considered how to board it, while Klein told her what had happened to Danitz. Elland then warned Klein that the Church of Storms was investigating Neph and asked for his help with an official commission.

• Klein told Neph that Edwina had contacted Danitz, who regained his freedom before adventurers surrounded him, and that Hanged Man Alger had also been drawn into the affair.
• Neph watched Tracy disembark from the Black Death and considered stealing the distance to reach the ship.
• Elland told Klein that Archbishop Randall Valentinus had ordered an investigation into Neph after Elland registered her boarding information.
• Klein admitted that he knew Neph painted scenes of events before they happened but said he only vaguely understood why.
• Klein attributed Neph's abilities to an unknown pathway, and Danitz guessed that she was a Fire Thief.
• Elland promised to pay for the information and asked Gehrman Sparrow to take an official commission.

Neph explored Tracy’s ship, the Black Death, while considering whether to help Helene escape and examining the ship’s Beyonders. She warned Klein to keep her pathway secret, leaving its nature unexplained.

• Neph reasoned that the Church of Storms’ investigation could connect her to the Bansy Harbor incident and decided to focus on the Black Death.
• Neph found Helene locked in Tracy’s room and considered helping her escape, but chose to wait until Tracy returned.
• Neph discovered that Laila, a Sequence 6 Calamity Priest, had joined Tracy’s crew after surviving the destruction of several pirate fleets.
• Neph prayed to Klein, praised his response to the investigation, and warned him never to reveal her pathway.

Neph followed Tracy to her room and watched her spend the evening caring for the imprisoned Helene. After reading Helene’s romance novel about a captive woman and a ship’s captain, Neph recognized the story as Stockholm syndrome.

• Neph followed Tracy into the room where she had imprisoned Helene and watched them share dinner.
• Tracy told Helene about her day, then invited her to bathe together, but Helene refused and Tracy bathed alone.
• Helene read Tracy a story before they both fell asleep.
• Neph read the book, which told of a young woman abducted at sea who fell in love with the captain who kept her captive.
• Neph returned the book and murmured that the story was clearly Stockholm syndrome.

At a Tarot Club meeting, Neph explained her interest in Tracy and revealed that her Sequence 4 advancement ritual involved the former owner of the Blank Canvas and a revelation linking the ritual to Tracy. After the meeting, she told Klein she was aboard the Black Death and planned to help Helene escape so he could use Helene’s identity to get aboard.

• Neph startled awake at the Tarot Club meeting and explained that she had stayed up reading a romance novel about captivity and Stockholm syndrome.
• Neph asked the Tarot Club members to stop looking for leads on Tracy, while Cattleya warned her that Tracy helped the Demoness Sect traffic people.
• Cattleya asked permission to tell an acquaintance with Roselle’s Diary pages about the gathering, and Mr. Fool agreed on the condition that she reveal no meeting details or participant information.
• After the meeting, Neph told Klein that Ouroboros had revealed her advancement ritual was at sea and connected to Tracy, and that she was still searching for clues.
• Neph told Klein she planned to free Helene and suggested that he use Helene’s identity to sneak aboard the Black Death, then asked whether he would consider Grazing a Demoness.

Neph discussed Tracy, Kalvetua, and the dangers of mythical creature forms with Klein before settling aboard the Black Death, while Cattleya considered asking the Tarot Club for help advancing. Frank Lee showed Cattleya his experimental wheat grown inside a fish, and she suggested he consult Neph about improving it for the City of Silver.

• Neph told Klein that once she became a demigod, he could impersonate Helene to board the Black Death and assassinate Tracy, but they worried that Helene might be discovered missing.
• Neph explained that Kalvetua was a Sequence 3 Sea King drawn to Klein by Sefirah Castle's aura, and clarified that directly viewing a mythical creature form caused corruption.
• Neph asked Klein to buy her bedding, then returned it to Helene's room after spending the night aboard the Black Death.
• Cattleya sent Bernadette a letter about Mr. Fool and considered asking Neph for mythical creature blood to help her advance to Sequence 4.
• Frank showed Cattleya wheat grown from a fish's flesh and blood and described his plans to make it safe for food grown on monster corpses.
• Cattleya suggested that Frank ask Neph for advice and share his research results with her.

Neph handled Frank Lee’s prayer and received his letter and samples, then observed Tracy as she slept and witnessed memories of Tracy’s childhood. Tracy’s memories revealed her father’s transformation, her flight to sea, and her reunion with Katarina Pelle, who introduced her to the Assassin pathway.

• Neph answered Frank Lee’s prayer with research advice, warned him away from the Primordial Moon’s followers, and arranged for him to send his samples through Cattleya.
• Cattleya asked Klein whether she should tell Frank that Mr. Moon was the Sanguine she knew, and Klein offered to pass Neph Frank’s letter and samples along with her bedding.
• Neph paid Klein, froze Frank’s samples, and read his letter saying he had finished digesting his potion and wanted to advance.
• Neph noticed Laila repeatedly appearing near her aboard the Black Death, then found Tracy resting with Helene in the captain’s cabin.
• Tracy’s memories showed that her father became a woman when Tracy was eight, and that a disturbing night later drove Tracy to flee and end up at sea.
• Katarina Pelle reunited with Tracy, sympathized with her, introduced her to the Beyonder world, and guided her into drinking the Sequence 9 Assassin potion.

Neph searched Tracy’s memories but found no clues to her advancement ritual, then warned Klein that Kalvetua was about to die and asked him not to disturb her sleep. After Klein confirmed Kalvetua’s death, Neph met him in Sefirah Castle and explained the origins of the Book of Calamities and the Sea God Scepter, leaving Klein with a possible way to automate its prayer responses and news that Danitz’s price had risen again.

• Neph found no clues to her advancement ritual in Tracy’s memories and considered divining Tracy’s death after resting.
• Neph prayed to Klein to warn him that Kalvetua was about to die and asked him not to disturb her for ten hours.
• Klein confirmed through divination that Kalvetua was completely dead and found that exploring the hiding place carried manageable danger.
• Neph told Klein that the Book of Calamities and Kalvetua’s Sea God Scepter contained Beyonder characteristics split from Calamity Queen Cohinem.
• Neph suggested that Arrodes could answer prayers automatically, or Klein could become a Sequence 2 Angel, and told him Danitz’s price had gone up again.

Klein showed Neph a mural that led them to speculate about the identities and origins of the Ancient Sun God and Elf King, then Neph teased him by reciting commandments for his Sea God persona. After divining Tracy’s memories, Neph discovered a Memory Corridor ability and wondered why Tracy had encountered the mysterious labyrinth.

• Neph guessed that the mural’s white-robed figure resembled a combination of Amon and Adam, and speculated that his name might be Adamon.
• Neph recited ten commandments to tease Klein about acting as the Sea God, so Klein severed her connection to Sefirah Castle.
• Back in the real world, Neph wondered whether her Lord watched or had prophesied her, then entered a dream to divine Tracy’s death.
• Neph saw Tracy walking through a vast white labyrinth whose walls displayed her memories, and she awoke covered in real ice.
• Neph read that her Sequence 3 Memory Corridor ability could strip memories from anyone passing through it, then questioned where Tracy had encountered the labyrinth and whether another demoness was involved.

Neph secretly boarded Tracy’s ship, where Tracy’s strange experiences and vivid dream made her suspect an unseen intruder was targeting her, the Demoness Sect, or Medici. Arrodes helped Klein search for a Marauder-pathway Mystical Item, while Ouroboros warned Neph that Tracy had contacted Katarina and that Medici had wanted to visit her.

• Tracy told Helene that she felt someone had moved her belongings and described reliving her memories in a vivid dream, then teased Helene about escaping and proposed a new game.
• Klein questioned Arrodes through the Wireless Telegraph, and the mirror listed several possible sources for a Marauder-pathway Mystical Item, including Tingen’s Chanis Gate and Leonard Mitchell.
• Tracy contacted Katarina through a mirror and reported the signs of an invisible presence aboard her ship; Katarina suspected the intruder’s target might extend beyond Tracy to the organization or herself.
• Katarina said she would visit Tracy, while Ouroboros told Neph that Tracy had contacted Medici and that he had stopped Medici from going to see her.

Neph learned that Tracy could be killed and planned to have Klein impersonate her, while discussing the risks and preparations with him. She also directed Klein toward Leonard and Pallez as a possible source of a Marauder-pathway item, leaving Klein baffled by Neph’s plans to obtain a Traveler herself.

• Neph asked Ouroboros whether Tracy could be killed, and he warned that a replica had to resemble more than just its appearance.
• Neph told Klein they could kill Tracy and asked him to impersonate her, then considered using Helene to distract Tracy.
• Klein told Neph that Arrodes had become his Wireless Telegraph and asked why Danitz liked Edwina.
• Neph explained that Klein needed a Sequence 6 Marauder item that could steal abilities and cautioned him against traveling to the War of the Gods Ruins as Tracy.
• Neph identified Pallez as the Archangel attached to Leonard and suggested that Emlyn look for Leonard at 7 Pinsters Street.
• Neph considered asking her Lord to find a Traveler for her to kill, leaving Klein stunned when she insisted she should do the killing herself.

Neph spoke with Medici aboard the Black Death, then advised Klein on choosing a messenger before Cattleya prayed to the Fool for relief from the Hidden Sage. The chapter ended with Klein saving Cattleya and Neph reminding her that he had recently killed a fraudster with lightning.

• Neph encountered Medici in Tracy's cabin, and he said he had wanted to meet her because Amon had mentioned her.
• Neph refused to tell Medici what she had said to a paranoid figure, and Medici revealed that Ouroboros had kept him away because the Lord did not want Neph meeting too many high-level beings too soon.
• Klein told Neph that Mr. Azik had offered two ways to obtain a messenger, and Neph advised him to use the simpler summoning ritual.
• Klein struck Edshiran with the Sea God Scepter after learning that he had used the Fool's honorific name to swindle people.
• Cattleya prayed to the Fool while the Hidden Sage's knowledge threatened to overwhelm her, and Klein brought her to Sefirah Castle and relieved her pain.
• Neph warned Cattleya that the merciful Mr. Fool had just killed a fraudster with lightning for misusing his name.