Chapter Summaries

Klein arrived at Sefirah Castle and heard Leonard report that his sister's memories appeared to have been tampered with. The narrative then shifted through separate incidents involving a prison camp, a fight, a promised release, and Ye Kai's confrontation with Chen Zhen's forces.

• Leonard told Klein that his sister knew he had become Gehrman Sparrow but had no memory of his death or funeral, and asked permission to tell her the truth.
• Qu Rong arrived at the Sky Pit Prison Camp with Zhuang Fu and became furious upon hearing that Earl Hu'an and his son had descended into the pit.
• Su Jun calculated Eriruikesi's attack and barely dodged the punch.
• Scarl told Shi that someone had vouched for him and that he could leave with his friend after completing a few formalities.
• Gu Xiaoran absorbed milky-white energy and felt his strength and magic flow together seamlessly.
• Ye Kai realized that Chen Zhen had split his forces to resist him and that he needed to deal with the enemies before him first.

Neph reminded the Evernight Goddess to prepare before the Door was opened, while Klein sought a way to travel quickly through the Forsaken Land of the Gods without entering the Spirit World. On the Golden Dream, Longzel chose to remain aboard, Shatas planned to find Mobet in Backlund, and Danitz delivered Klein’s request before asking Edwina a personal question.

• Neph prayed to the Evernight Goddess and reminded her to prepare before the Door was opened.
• Klein avoided using Travel in the Forsaken Land of the Gods and asked Danitz to seek a Lantern and a recordable way to move quickly without entering the Spirit World.
• Longzel told Edwina he wanted to stay aboard the Golden Dream, and she explained that obtaining ingredients for his Disciplinary Paladin Pathway would be difficult and costly.
• Shatas told Edwina she planned to go to Backlund to find Mobet, and Edwina advised her to learn the cost of the journey.
• Danitz delivered Klein’s request to Edwina, then asked whether a woman who liked women would be interested in a woman who used to be a man.

Klein tested whether Edwina’s Historical Projection could use her Mysticism techniques, while Davy questioned Nim about the identity and motives of the deity aiding Moon City. In the Sewer, Neph sent Ais to hunt Amon, only for the Angel of Time to appear and confront her about digging up his grave.

• Edwina told Danitz that romantic and sexual orientations could differ, but she could not say whether the woman he meant would accept a transformed partner.
• Klein summoned Edwina’s Historical Projection and tested a Lantern, finding that her technique only made someone run faster; he also discovered that a compass could not guide him through the land’s chaotic magnetic field.
• Davy warned Nim that Moon City still needed to escape the cursed land and questioned whether Neph’s claimed Lord was truly their awaited God.
• Nim admitted he had considered the possibility that the promised miracle was a scam, but argued that Moon City had no better hope and had survived because of the deity’s help.
• Neph placed Ais in the Sewer and ordered the Rat to find and defeat Amon, but the Angel of Time appeared behind her and confronted her about trying to dig up his grave.

Neph questioned Amon about his plans and learned that he had not abandoned becoming a god, while their conversation revealed his cautious approach and her knowledge of stories about him. Meanwhile, Klein encountered an Amon who had been disguised as a mushroom and offered to guide him.

• Neph asked Amon whether he intended to become a god, and he said he was considering another path while waiting for his father.
• Neph proposed a plan for Amon to exchange his Fate with the Lord of the Mysteries, but Amon questioned how it could work while he was only Sequence 1 and imprisoned.
• Amon said he would rather believe his main body had been forced into taking a risky path, and Neph realized others mistook his careful deception for a love of adventure.
• Neph told Amon that stories in her memories paired him with figures including his father, Medici, the Fool, and Pallez, prompting Amon to question how much she knew.
• Klein bit into a mushroom that transformed into a Worm and then into Amon, who offered to guide him and serve as transportation.

Klein met Amon in the Forsaken Land of the Gods, where Amon promised to make his search for the Demonic Wolf Kotar harder and pointed him toward the True Creator. Neph gave Klein a map and suggested he pray to the True Creator for guidance, leaving Klein wary that Amon had maneuvered him into making contact.

• Klein met Amon, who ate grilled mushrooms with him before revealing he intended to hide clues to the Demonic Wolf Kotar and pointing Klein toward his father, the True Creator.
• Neph discussed the many meanings of Amon's father and teased him about the relationships between the True Creator and the eight Kings of Angels.
• Klein prayed to Neph for a map, and Neph realized Amon's visit might have been intended to steer Klein toward the True Creator.
• Neph sent Klein a map and marked the True Creator's mountain, explaining that the True Creator's gaze could guide him through the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
• Klein suspected Amon wanted him to establish a connection with the True Creator, rejected the idea of visiting the mountain, and chose to pray instead.

Klein traveled toward the Ancient City of Nois while seeking a Worm of Star, as Fors checked whether the Abraham Family had one. Audrey completed her Dreamwalker Potion and planned her advancement to Manipulator, while Neph attended to Ais’s excavation and prepared to join Winter Offering Day; Ais ultimately fell into the Jacob Family’s Treasure.

• Klein used the gaze associated with an Honorific Name to navigate the Forsaken Land of the Gods, obtained water from Neph as ice, and set out for the Ancient City of Nois to look for traces of Kotar.
• Neph told Klein about Saint of Darkness Leomaster and Laila, potential allies against Saint of Secrets Botis, while Fors confirmed that the Abraham Family had no Worms of Star with residual Spirituality.
• Audrey fully digested the Dreamwalker Potion, considered how to obtain the remaining ingredient for her Manipulator Potion, and planned a large Winter Offering Day Mass to meet the advancement Ritual’s requirements.
• Neph asked Anthony Stevenson to attend Winter Offering Day on her birthday, and he agreed to welcome her.
• Neph teased Ais about his slow progress digging for the Jacob Family’s Treasure, then removed the obstacles and sent him tumbling into it.

Neph met an isolated Amon avatar in a crystal treasure vault and spun an elaborate false account of the original, the Fool, and her own identity. Amon exposed flaws in her story, while Neph realized he had used genuine anger to conceal that he had stolen her memory-reading ability; the avatar remained unaware of recent events and suggested the original had arranged their meeting to test her.

• Neph entered the treasure vault, retrieved Ais from Amon, and claimed Ais was his descendant.
• Neph bluffed that the original Amon had become the Lord of the Mysteries and that she was the true Pure White, but Amon challenged her story based on its timeline and his certainty that he would not surrender his uniqueness willingly.
• Amon invited Neph to join him, and Neph challenged whether he would dare accept her; Amon concluded that she was close to the original and likely belonged to the side he described.
• Neph recalled that Amon had stolen her ability to inspect memories earlier, using pain and anger to distract her, and recognized that his genuine feelings had also served as part of the deception.
• Amon said the original had likely kept him uninformed on purpose to see how Neph would act around an avatar who knew nothing about her.

Neph prepared for Ais’s advancement while attending Winter Offering Day in Backlund, where a grief-filled Mass brought the war’s suffering into focus. She later reunited with Klein and shared the pigeon feed she had bought for ten gold coins.

• Neph separated the Mentor of Deceit characteristic from the Trojan Horse of Destiny characteristic and explained that Ais still needed a ritual and supplementary ingredients, especially nine Spirit World Wraiths.
• Archbishop Anthony explained that the Evernight Church would hold a Mass for the war dead and distribute food vouchers, and Neph asked him to save her a good seat.
• Audrey brought her prepared potion to Memorial Square, where Neph secretly stole it from Susie’s bag and left Audrey calm and unaware.
• At the Mass, Neph sensed mourners’ grief, listened to prayers for peace, and persuaded Ais to imitate a dove.
• Neph bought pigeon feed from a vendor with ten gold coins and later gave some to Klein, who learned that Ais had turned from a rat into a dove.

Klein asked Neph about recruiting allies to hunt Botis, while Neph warned him about Olmster’s strict devotion and hinted that a change of era depended on the fall or birth of gods. Neph rescued Laila from North City, identified her dangerous doll as part of a Witchcraft Abomination, and introduced her to Olmster; elsewhere, Feynapotter herdsmen discussed a royal scholar’s expedition to the North Pole and worried about the war’s costs.

• Neph warned Klein that Olmster was a fanatical believer who might take offense at Klein’s disrespect, then hinted that a transition between eras involved the fall or birth of gods.
• Neph found Laila wandering after Witchcraft Abominations in North City repeatedly impersonated her and her teacher to deceive and abduct them.
• Neph identified Laila’s doll as the other half of a Witchcraft Abomination, and Laila gave it up after learning it had drawn the monsters to her.
• Neph returned Laila to Olmster and claimed that Klein was her Blessed, persuading Olmster to agree to meet him about hunting Botis.
• Two herdsmen in Feynapotter discussed a royal scholar’s expedition to the North Pole to test claims about cold-resistant rice and worried about tuition, conscription, and taxes.

Klein and Neph learned that the Box of the Great Old Ones contained corruption from Primordial Hunger, which had driven Botis to lose control and die. They discussed helping the Abraham Family, and Neph agreed to act as an oracle shared with the Fool while Klein prepared to become an angel.

• Leomaster told Klein and Laila about Botis's Box of the Great Old Ones and its three levels, including the unknown danger inside the third.
• Klein revealed that Botis had died after losing control while trying to open the box's third level, and Neph recognized that this was his original doomed ending.
• Neph eased the box's suppression in Sefirah Castle and identified the power within as belonging to Primordial Hunger, her mother's sibling.
• Klein told Neph he had contacted Miss Magician to offer the Abraham Family goodwill using Botis's head, and Neph offered to shield them from Mr. Door's full-moon ravings.
• Klein and Neph discussed whether believers could share faith among gods, and Neph realized she had become a shared oracle for the Fool and her former Lord.
• Neph asked whether she could improvise when speaking to the Abrahams about Klein, and he warned her against spreading absurd rumors about his love life.

Neph met Dorian Gray on behalf of Mr. Fool, explained that the Abraham Family could receive temporary protection from its curse but that Bethel Abraham could not safely be brought back, and persuaded Dorian to consider the exchange. Afterward, Neph watched Enlake struggle to use the Star of the Wand and wondered how to help people facing rising food prices without affecting religious faith.

• Fors brought Botis's eyeballs to Dorian Gray, who learned they were cursed and contaminated by the Box of the Great Old Ones.
• Neph appeared before Dorian and gave him medicine that prevented the curse he had placed on himself from killing him during their meeting.
• Neph told Dorian that Mr. Door had been contaminated by the cosmos and that Mr. Fool could shelter the Abraham Family from the full moon curse in exchange for their faith.
• Dorian agreed to try to trust Mr. Fool and authorize an exchange of Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts, while promising only to persuade the rest of the family.
• After the full moon, Enlake obtained the Star of the Wand but realized he needed to see a destination before teleporting there, so he began running again.
• Neph considered ways to ease rising food prices without disturbing the Seven Gods' faith, and concluded that even distributing food might affect it.

Klein met Moon City's Exploration Team and High Priest Nim, healed captain Adal, and asked Nim to guide him to the fog barrier where Kotar had appeared. At the barrier, Klein learned that Moon City had tried rituals to hear voices within the fog and asked Nim to perform one again so he could listen.

• Klein met the Moon City Exploration Team and introduced himself as Gehrman Sparrow, the miracle promised by Bitter Winter.
• Klein told the team he would take Moon City's people away after determining whether other cities remained in the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
• High Priest Nim arrived after verifying Klein's identity through prayer, and Klein healed Adal's tumors with the Scepter of New Life.
• Klein asked Nim to guide him to the gray-white fog barrier near the place where Kotar had appeared.
• Nim described Moon City's attempts to communicate with the fog through rituals, and Klein asked him to perform the ritual again so he could hear its voices.

Klein investigated the mist sealing the Western Continent and heard prayers in Chinese invoking the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings. He proved the seal could respond to the complete ritual incantation but could not open it, then told Moon City’s priests about Bitter Winter’s true identity and began recounting a myth about the Fool.

• Klein told High Priest Nim that he worshipped the Fool, then asked Nim to repeat the ritual until he could hear voices within the mist.
• Klein recognized the voices as prayers to the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings, and the name’s connection to his transmigration shook him.
• Klein recited the complete Luck Enhancement Ritual incantation, causing the mist to ripple and briefly form a door before it vanished.
• Klein told Nim that the seal would open only at the proper time, more than ten years later, and said Moon City’s people could leave through a gate in the Giant King’s Court.
• Klein explained to Davy and Nim that Bitter Winter was the true Pure White and had returned to the Creator, then sought Neph’s help to invent a legend about the Fool.
• Klein recounted Neph’s myth that the Fool and the Creator were two sides of one whole and had conceived Amon together; Neph insisted the story was not a rumor because of Amon’s pathway.

Klein investigated the pit where Kotar had stayed, discovered it held a lingering effect connected to his arrival, and divined how a strange fog had absorbed Kotar and a Beyonder characteristic. He began planning how to lure and trap Kotar, seeking confinement magic through Mystical Reenactment.

• Neph explained Amon’s origins to Klein and Nim, then discussed her plans to heal Moon City’s people and the debts owed by those she had saved.
• Klein sent Nim and Moon City’s team away, then used a heavily disguised Historical Projection to inspect Kotar’s pit and noticed his thoughts becoming sluggish there.
• Klein divined the pit’s past and saw a fog absorb a hill and a characteristic, while plants’ Spirit Body Threads connected to the resulting black curtain.
• Neph suggested Beyonder characteristic convergence as a possible explanation, and Klein decided he needed to trap Kotar before luring him with his honorific name.
• Klein prayed to himself as Gehrman Sparrow, asking Madam Hermit whether Mystical Reenactment could produce confinement spells.

Neph consulted Herabergen about techniques that could help Klein capture Kotar, learning a spell that could eliminate individual worms but not confine him. Klein and Neph settled on pursuing a Concealed Space based on The Peach Blossom Spring, while Neph warned him about Kotar’s strength and a dangerous last-resort use of Leodero’s name.

• Neph contacted Herabergen, who explained his Pest-Cleansing Technique for eliminating individual Spirit Worms, Worm of Stars, and Worms of Time, while warning that he had no technique to trap Kotar.
• Herabergen cautioned Neph that Klein’s apotheosis could expose him to the Lord of the Mysteries’ consciousness, and Neph argued that no better candidate existed to accommodate Sefirah Castle.
• Neph told Klein about the Pest-Cleansing Technique, but Klein judged it unsuitable and proposed using Lady Arianna to construct a Concealed Space for the fight with Kotar.
• Neph recognized that the space inside The Peach Blossom Spring might serve as a Concealed Space, and Klein planned to ask Bernadette to derive a spell from the story while retaining Lady Arianna’s Historical Projection as an option.
• Neph warned Klein that Kotar could fight rather than flee and described calling Leodero as a dangerous last resort that could kill both of them, though Kotar might abandon his body and leave behind his Beyonder Characteristic.
• Klein asked Neph to have the God of Winter recite and translate The Peach Blossom Spring because he no longer remembered the passage, and Neph suggested he retrieve a textbook and study guide from the historical fog.

Klein and Neph discussed using Peach Blossom Spring and the Staff of Stars to trap and kill Kotar, while Neph explained why the Scroll of God was too dangerous to alter. Neph then met Azik, who had come seeking Klein, and invited him to Salinger's mausoleum while warning that she could not promise it would relieve his suffering.

• Klein concluded that Peach Blossom Spring's fixed exit could leave him trapped with Kotar, and Neph recalled how Miss Magician had used the spell with other artifacts.
• Neph refused to let Klein alter the Scroll of God and explained that its figures came alive when no one watched it, a power linked to the High-Dimensional Overseer.
• Klein considered Recording Bernadette's Peach Blossom Spring spell and using lightning against Kotar, but worried that Kotar could resurrect elsewhere.
• Neph arrived to find Azik kneeling Palenque Tasibu, dismissed Palenque, and learned Azik had sought her after his messenger could not find Klein.
• Neph told Azik that Klein was hunting the Miracle Wolf and preparing for his advancement ritual, then invited him to Salinger's mausoleum using the three keys, one of which was Azik himself.
• Azik asked whether the mausoleum could end his suffering, and Neph said she could not promise that but might try to erase memories of his past lives.

Neph discussed Azik’s recovered Death Archon memories and learned that Klein was trapped in the Forsaken Land of the Gods, where he was pursuing Kotar. Azik and Neph traveled to a mausoleum in the Berserk Sea, where Azik questioned which of his lives defined him and Neph offered a possible way to guarantee he could forget the memories he rejected.

• Neph told Azik that Kotar was in the isolated Forsaken Land of the Gods and that Klein’s messenger could carry letters there; the True Creator warned her that Death authority could corrupt its wielder.
• Neph summoned Klein and hinted that she might help him deal with Kotar, then later inferred that the plan involved the Death God pathway’s Uniqueness.
• After receiving Azik’s letter, Klein and Neph discussed using the Uniqueness against Kotar and jokingly named their imagined tactic “Salinger’s Hair-Removal Technique.”
• Azik arrived with the Copper Whistle and explained that he sensed a call from deep within the Berserk Sea, which he believed led to the mausoleum; Neph gave him the ring, and they traveled there together.
• Inside the mausoleum, Azik asked Neph what kind of person he was and which of his lives was his true self; Neph explained how his memories had become anchors and offered a possible way to guarantee he could forget the past he disliked.
• Azik turned and walked deeper into the mausoleum without responding to Neph’s offer.

Neph separated the bird-shaped golden ornament and one half of Azik’s soul, freeing him from the forced fusion with the artificial god of death. Azik chose to reclaim his other half and left to recover, while Neph remained in the mausoleum with the dangerous Feathered Serpent book, which she named the Book of Life and Death.

• Neph removed the golden ornament from Azik, causing his soul to split and one half to enter the ornament while the other returned to his body.
• The artificial god of death released Azik’s other half-soul and an illusory Feathered Serpent book, which Neph stabilized and took.
• Neph told Azik that the Church of the Earth Mother could stitch his soul together and offered to erase the unfamiliar memories in its other half.
• Azik chose to reclaim his other half-soul, thanked Neph, and left the mausoleum to enter a long recovery sleep.
• Neph named the Feathered Serpent book the Book of Life and Death and decided she could not safely take it outside the mausoleum.

Neph showed Klein the sealed Book of Life and Death and warned him about its lethal corruption. She told him what happened to Azik and helped Klein form a plan to find a healer for his damaged soul, then asked him to visit Chernobyl and kick Amon back down if he appeared.

• Neph explained that the Book of Life and Death killed and enslaved everything nearby, and warned Klein to sever any connection to a corrupted marionette or Historical Projection and retreat to Sefirah Castle.
• Klein and Neph discussed resurrection and Unaging Demonesses before Neph recounted Salinger's actions toward Azik and showed Klein the bird-shaped gold ornament.
• Klein decided to find a sufficiently powerful Doctor to stitch Azik's soul together, and Neph assured him the Church of the Earth Mother would help once he left the Pure White Space.
• Neph returned Azik's copper whistle to Klein, who planned to write Azik a letter and told her he would notify her before pursuing Kotar.
• Neph asked Klein to visit Chernobyl and kick anyone climbing up from below back down, then identified that person as Amon.

Klein used a prayer to Amon to draw Kotar’s attention and locate him, then traced Kotar’s position through Sefirah Castle. The chapter left Klein aiming the Staff of Stars at Kotar’s fading point of light as he prepared to use an ability that manipulated time.

• Klein ignored Neph’s instructions to return the Book of Life and Death and devised a plan to lure out Kotar with a historical projection.
• Klein recited several divine honorific names and then prayed to Amon, prompting Kotar to investigate the prayer.
• Neph discovered that Amon’s automatic response to his true name was to parasitize people who prayed to him, and Amon joined her as a raven.
• Kotar recognized that Klein had used Amon to locate him and severed the connection, but Klein confirmed Kotar’s position through a passage in Sefirah Castle.
• Klein aimed the Staff of Stars at Kotar’s shrinking point of light and activated a time-manipulating ability.