Chapter Summaries

Neph and the Blanch family left the Green Lemon Restaurant despite Fox’s warning about the fog, and Gehrman Sparrow arrived after Neph purified a flying head. Klein forced his way back into the restaurant to find the Dimordo family, who joined the group before the door shut again.

• Fox warned Donna’s family not to go outside or answer knocks during Bansy’s thick fog, but Neph opened the door and led everyone out.
• A flying head attacked the group, and Neph purified it with clear, warm light.
• Gehrman Sparrow arrived with Danitz, and Neph greeted him as “Mr. Head Maid.”
• Neph explained that the creature was a flying head, while Donna and Danitz reacted with alarm and disbelief.
• After Klein kicked open the restaurant door and asked for the Dimordo family, they came downstairs and joined the group.

Klein led the group through the dark streets toward the telegraph office while Neph discussed how she could trick an animal into feeding Creeping Hunger. After they survived attacks from flying heads and a headless man, Neph unsettled Danitz by claiming his pathway might let him become a woman.

• Neph offered to fool Creeping Hunger with a living animal, and Klein led the group toward the telegraph office.
• Neph stole Danitz's gun, returned it, and demonstrated that she could use crimson flames.
• Klein destroyed three flying heads with Creeping Hunger's radiance while Neph realized Danitz's fire abilities were spell-like.
• Danitz blasted a headless attacker with a fireball, and Klein pinned it down with an ice spear before Creeping Hunger dissolved it.
• Danitz argued that he was not a head maid or servant, and Neph warned him that his pathway could let him become a woman.

Neph and Klein investigated the telegraph office and Church of Storms, where they discovered a mysterious, exceptionally beautiful woman. Neph recognized her as a powerful Demoness demigod, who noticed Neph's fear and asked why she was afraid.

• Neph stopped Klein from alerting the telegraph office, and the woman inside asked them to look for her missing colleague, Pavo Court.
• Klein led the group to the Church of Storms after realizing the telegraph office's response was suspicious.
• Captain Elland told them that Pastor Jess had been killed, Bishop Miller and the other pastors were missing, and a beautiful young woman had been found in the church.
• The woman appeared, and her charm stirred affection in Neph before an intense chill made Neph recognize her as a high-ranking Demoness.
• The woman approached Neph and asked why she was so afraid of her.

Neph remembered a hidden encounter with Medici that had been erased by a restart, while the others found the church’s dead priest and missing clergy. When Bishop Miller appeared with a story about cultists, Neph recognized his lie and accused him of killing Jess.

• Neph used Ouroboros’s gift, and time rewound, leaving only her memories of Medici’s encounter intact.
• Klein, Neph, Elland, Harris, and Danitz found Jess dead and discovered that Bishop Miller and the other priests were missing.
• Klein led the group toward the Telegraph Office to report the situation in Bansy Harbor.
• Neph deduced that the girl who had called out to Ouroboros was Medici possessing a Demoness Demigod.
• Bishop Miller claimed cultists had attacked the church and that he had been injured, but Neph said he was lying and had killed Jess.

Klein's group discovered that Bishop Miller had been killed by Neph, then found the Telegraph Office unnaturally occupied by Pavo Court and Melanie. They returned to the White Agate, where Klein let Neph stay the night and asked whether it was safe to hunt for prey.

• Neph revealed that she had stolen Bishop Miller's still-beating heart, and Klein sent Miller and his soul into Creeping Hunger.
• Neph's bloody actions and inverted-cross gesture frightened Cleves and Donna's family, who suspected she was an Evil God's believer.
• Elland sent a telegram reporting the deaths of Bishop Miller and Jess and the anomalies in Bansy Harbor after Pavo Court and Melanie refused to open the Telegraph Office.
• The group returned to the White Agate, and Klein offered Neph an empty room for the night.
• Klein brought Neph to Danitz's first-class cabin and asked whether it was safe to hunt for prey.

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.