Chapter Summaries

Joey watched a black church appear at sunset and entered the strange, seemingly time-displaced streets surrounding it in hopes of finding Barbara. The church remained unreachable until the locals knelt before it, and after reaching its locked gates, Joey encountered a vagrant who warned him he could not leave and that the food there was unsafe.

• Joey waited on a rooftop until sunset, when a towering black church appeared in the distance and seemed to draw closer.
• Joey decided to investigate alone, but as he walked toward the church, the streets changed into an unfamiliar place filled with people dressed in old-fashioned clothes.
• Joey questioned a shopkeeper and a vagrant, then discovered that the locals feared the word "church"; when he pointed out the building, they all knelt and prayed.
• Joey reached the church and found its grounds abandoned and its gate locked, then spotted the vagrant watching him nearby.
• The vagrant ate the bread Joey offered, refused to explain the place until Joey promised more food, and warned him that he could not leave and that the food sold there was unsafe.

Joey followed Eunus to the Black Church and learned that its grounds were trapped in a space where survivors endured among lifeless puppets and feared the being that had consumed most of their companions. When the church doors opened under the full moon, Eunus tried to lead Joey inside, but Joey’s coin toss warned him against going.

• Eunus led Joey back to the Black Church, questioned him, and learned that Joey was an investigator from the Holy Hall searching for a missing relative.
• Eunus explained that the church grounds were ten years in the past and overlapped with reality briefly each night, allowing the trapped survivors to obtain food.
• Eunus told Joey that the other residents were dead puppets with implanted memories and that most of the people trapped there had been eaten.
• The church doors opened as the moon became full, and Eunus worshipped the moonlight before urging Joey to enter.
• Joey tossed a coin to predict his luck, got tails, and decided to come back another day.

Joey entered the Old Church and uncovered a hidden underground prison and library that suggested children had been raised as believers in a deity other than the Supreme Mother Goddess. The chapter left him facing a strange book on an altar as Nome and Duke hurried toward Levitt Street.

• Duke showed Nome an old newspaper linking nine picture books to heretics who had abducted people for ritual magic, and Nome revealed that Joey had disappeared near Levitt Street.
• Nome and Duke pieced together illustrations from the picture books, recognized the image as the Old Church, and set out for Levitt Street.
• Inside the church, Joey found that the entrance was unreachable and that the outside beyond its windows was an endless darkness, so he climbed to the second floor.
• Joey discovered traces of people burned alive, then entered a hidden stairway that led to a prison cell bearing a prophecy about the Great Old Ones and piles of unusual crosses.
• Joey found a concealed library of books about gods and other beings, inferred that children had been raised there as believers, and discovered an octopus-covered book resting on an altar.

Joey explored the church, destroyed a book filled with impossible knowledge, and found a crystal ball that nearly drove him out of control before the artifacts burned away. He uncovered a priest’s notebook linking Hiiragi Eunus to disappearances and a sinister ritual, escaped the burning church, and confronted Duke about his missing sister.

• Joey found and burned a strange book whose knowledge and rocket sketch seemed impossibly advanced.
• Joey uncovered a hidden stone table and crystal ball; viewing its visions nearly caused him to lose control before the table and its inscriptions burned away.
• Joey discovered a desiccated priest’s corpse and read notebook entries about missing women, people hidden beneath the church, and a summoning ritual.
• Joey found the name Hiiragi Eunus in the notebook and suspected that the priest’s missing Beyonder characteristic had been taken by Eunus.
• A fiery, red-eyed moon filled the sky as the church caught fire, and Joey escaped through the door into a room with Nome and Duke.
• Joey asked Duke to explain his connection to Hiiragi Eunus, whom Joey recognized as Duke’s missing younger sister.

Joey and Nome uncovered that Duke’s memories had been implanted and followed him to the Black Church on Levitt Street, where Harvey Jeffrey confronted them. Nome’s Demon-Hunting Bullets failed to harm Harvey, who descended from the church spire as the three faced an unknown threat.

• Joey pressed Nome for Freya Polly’s identity, and Nome revealed that her father had been his teammate before he died.
• Duke became distressed and could not remember his sister’s disappearance clearly, so Nome used Soothing Incense while Joey questioned him about his memories.
• Joey realized Duke’s detailed account sounded memorized, and Nome concluded that Duke had been given false memories; hearing Harvey Jeffrey’s name triggered a violent reaction in Duke.
• Duke insisted that he had to go to Levitt Street, and Joey led him and Nome into the Black Church at dusk.
• Harvey Jeffrey attacked the three from atop the church’s cross, but Nome’s shots appeared to have no effect on him.
• Nome pulled Joey back from the church grounds as Harvey floated down and taunted them beneath the moon.

Joey entered the Black Church, destroyed its cross, and encountered Hiiragi Eunus, whose words began corrupting him. Outside, Duke toppled the church’s rooftop cross, allowing Nome to wound Harvey, who then attacked Duke.

• Nome told Joey to find and destroy the source of Harvey’s corruption while he held Harvey off, and Joey ran into the Black Church.
• Joey escaped the church’s deceptive entrance by following the moon, then resisted the vision at the altar and shattered its cross.
• Joey found a crystal orb on a ritual altar, heard Hiiragi Eunus speak through it, and began bleeding as her words overwhelmed him.
• Nome fought Harvey outside the church but could not harm him, while Duke climbed onto the roof.
• Duke toppled the rooftop cross, allowing Nome to strike Harvey with lightning and tear off one of his arms.
• Harvey abandoned Nome and leaped toward Duke, furious that his secret had been exposed.

Joey and Nome followed Duke into an underground Red Church, where Duke began a ritual that revealed their enemies served the Sea God, not the Supreme Mother Goddess. As the ritual transformed the worshippers and trapped Nome, Joey recognized Eunus and remembered the Scripture he had found, but he remained in grave danger.

• Joey recovered from Harvey’s attack, and Duke used the crystal ball to restrain Nome and Harvey while leading them underground.
• Joey realized Harvey had implanted memories and had served as Duke’s decoy, then followed Duke into an upside-down Red Church beneath the Black Church.
• Duke prayed before the Red Crystal, and its heat began transforming him, Joey, Nome, and Harvey with fins and pointed ears.
• Nome recognized that Duke’s ritual served the Sea God rather than the Supreme Mother Goddess, while Harvey claimed he and Duke were the same person, Duke Kolmi.
• Residents from Levitt Street entered the church and joined Duke in worship, and Joey spotted Eunus among them and remembered the Scripture in his pocket.

Joey learned the competing accounts of Duke Kolmi’s corruption and Harvey’s role, then revealed that he planned to complete the ritual and summon the divided power so it could be destroyed. As Duke transformed and the ritual progressed, Harvey claimed Joey’s sister was dead, while Nome demanded to know what had happened to Freya.

• Joey read Duke Kolmi’s notebook and found conflicting accounts of how Hiiragi Eunus entered his body, along with a warning not to trust everything written there.
• Joey concluded that the consciousness in the red crystal had deceived him and reviewed how Harvey had joined the Mermaid Forest, abducted women, and tried to kill him.
• Joey urged Nome to fight for a chance to escape, while Harvey warned that the crystal could repeat the disaster from ten years earlier.
• Joey announced that he would finish the interrupted ritual and let the divided power descend so they could destroy the complete Duke.
• Duke finished transforming into a Deep One, and Harvey claimed Joey’s sister had been abducted and was probably dead.
• Nome anxiously asked Harvey what had happened to Freya.

Joey and Nome tried to stop Duke’s ritual, but Duke revealed that he had anticipated Joey’s betrayal and become the summoned creature’s vessel. As the space flooded and their escape passage was destroyed, Nome succumbed to the Cheerful Music Box’s influence.

• Harvey told Nome and Joey that Freya had died after jumping overboard to escape the heretics, and the Red Crystal activated the Stone Pillar’s ritual.
• Joey threw Nome’s box into the fissure, destroying the Stone Pillar and hurling everyone into the space beneath the inverted red church.
• Joey found Harvey dead and learned from Nome that the humanoid creature was Duke, who had planned to let the sea engulf Lia Harbor.
• Joey spotted Levitt Street forming as an escape passage, but Nome struck it with lightning to prevent the summoned creature from escaping.
• Duke played the Cheerful Music Box, causing Nome’s body to mutate and his spirituality to spiral out of control.

Nome summoned a black infant linked to the Supreme Mother Goddess, helping defeat Duke at the cost of his own life. Before dying, Nome asked Joey to kill Cain Ivanovich and offered him purified supernatural energy as payment, while the infant wailed beside them.

• Nome suppressed his mutation, then tore open his belly and gave birth to a pitch-black infant as Duke tried to escape.
• The infant's cries overwhelmed Duke and Joey; Joey used his Fortune Shifter ability to make Duke stumble, and Duke's body exploded after he lost control of his power.
• Joey found Nome dying and stayed beside him as Nome apologized for involving him and reflected on the choices he had made.
• Joey admitted that he had died on December 3, 1385, and Nome asked him to kill Cain Ivanovich in exchange for purified supernatural energy he had prepared for Freya.
• Nome gave Joey his final instructions and died, and the black infant raised its head and wailed.

Joey encountered Maimaiti, who captured Dagon and took the Grade 1 Sealed Artifact before leaving him a doll that opened a door to the real world. After burying Nome, Joey was confronted by his teacher Freya, who appeared surrounded by deathly energy and demanded to know where Nome was.

• Maimaiti appeared through a black door and ordered Joey to dig Dagon out of the ice, while a corrupted baby bit Joey before she turned it into a doll.
• Maimaiti took Dagon and the Grade 1 Sealed Artifact, then left Joey a doll that could open a door to Levitt Street.
• Joey buried Nome's remains and muttered that he would pass Nome's wishes along to Maimaiti.
• Freya arrived with a powerful deathly aura and asked Joey where Nome was.
• Joey told Freya that Nome was dead, but she used her power to confirm he was lying and threatened to smack him.
• Freya asked Joey again where Nome had gone, and Joey pointed to the mound where he had buried him.

Joey learned the truth about Nome’s death from Freya, then decided to keep searching for Barbara despite the danger. A newly written account in Father Duke’s notebook revealed the horrific ritual and monstrous presence behind Duke’s death, leaving Joey with a warning to give Clyde.

• Freya told Joey how Nome had died, buried him, and returned with Joey to the real world.
• Joey refused Freya’s advice to go home and said he would continue searching for Barbara; Freya left a crow in his left eye so he could contact her.
• Joey weighed the Dreamscape and a dangerous journey by sea as possible leads, while worrying about how to explain Barbara’s disappearance to Wilson.
• Joey found new writing in Father Duke’s notebook describing his fear of a presence inside him, and decided to warn Clyde about the Deep Dweller Pathway.
• The notebook recounted how, during Lia Harbor’s Harvest Festival in 1375, Father Duke watched clergy and townspeople perform a ritual that unleashed a monstrous creature above the church.

Joey investigated Duke Colmy’s death and Barbara’s disappearance, then trained his Fortune Shifter abilities in preparation for going to sea. He used Azrael to erase Wilson’s memories of having a younger brother and sister, and Wilson was left confused as he watched the last bus leave.

• Joey read Duke Colmy’s notes, questioned 0-013 about the ritual, and learned that Barbara’s disappearance was connected to both the sea and the Mother Goddess.
• Joey rescued Adela Graff in the Dreamscape and learned Barbara would be safe from further experiments for roughly six months.
• Joey trained his Fortune Shifter abilities with 0-013 and successfully endured a crushing gray-fog hand in the Round Table Hall.
• Joey went to the Mine to see Wilson, then had Azrael erase Wilson’s memories of his younger brother and sister.
• Wilson missed the last bus and wondered why his coworker had mistaken him for someone with siblings.

Joey Clive received a mysterious letter inviting him to a gathering aboard a ship with eight others who had entered the Dreamscape. As the group set sail to uncover the Dreamscape’s secrets, Joey realized they had been deliberately assembled for a voyage and wondered what Annie Bullock was planning.

• After dealing with Wilson, Joey returned home and found a letter directing him to meet at Berth No. 2 at Lia Harbor the next morning.
• Joey met Annie Bullock at the berth, where she said she had organized a gathering and that six others were still expected.
• Annie gathered nine people aboard a sailing ship and announced that they shared the objective of uncovering the secrets of the Dreamscape.
• The group shared how long they had spent in the Dreamscape, and Joey concealed that he entered every night and had never died there.
• Chris warned that the Dreamscape carried a curse, while Joey realized he knew less than the others and had been left without an ally.
• Oli Via predicted a storm, Annie told Gull Friedman to steer the ship, and the group rejected Joey’s suggestion to return to the harbor; Joey suspected Annie had deliberately assembled them for the voyage.

Joey sailed with Annie Bullock and a group of specialists, learned that Red Spider Silk could connect spirits in the Dreamscape, and discovered Annie planned to bind the group together for safety. As midnight approached, she began explaining the risks of the bond and made clear that she did not trust the others.

• Joey asked the seasick passengers about their skills and learned that the group included a cook, navigator, helmsman, doctor, boat repairer, fish seller, and retired occult professor, while Annie said she had money.
• After the storm passed, Gami Enriques served tea, and Annie revealed a ball of Red Spider Silk that could help the group meet in the Dreamscape.
• Remo Lewis recognized the silk as an item from an underground auction, and Margaret realized Annie had bought it there.
• Joey asked about the auction, but Annie watched the clock and announced that it was nearly time to enter the Dreamscape.
• Annie explained that Red Spider Silk linked two people's spirits so that harm to one could affect the other, and proposed binding the group to prevent anyone from harming their abandoned bodies.

Joey and the other eight people entered the Dreamscape together and found themselves in a locked, apparently safe mansion. As they waited there, Joey’s inexplicable familiarity with the house deepened, and Remo Lewis explained the Dreamscape’s deadly curse.

• Annie tied the nine people together with red cords and told them to find one another and avoid acting alone in the Dreamscape.
• Joey entered a grand mansion that felt familiar, followed his instincts to a bedroom, and recognized the clothes in its wardrobe as ones he had worn.
• Joey reunited with Annie, Margaret, Chris, and the others; Anderson pointed out that the undamaged mansion might be a Safe Zone, but its doors and windows were sealed.
• Remo Lewis explained that people afflicted by the Dreamscape curse could die suddenly or kill themselves, and that the curse was known in coastal cities such as Lia Harbor.

Joey and the others realized they were trapped in a Dreamscape past their usual waking time, and Joey unexpectedly named the Feldmanra Formula, a legendary puzzle tied to a powerful Angel. Their search uncovered a painting of the nine people in the house, where one figure turned gray, seemingly marking someone for death.

• Joey warned the group that it was already past the time they should have woken up, and they suspected the house was trapping them in a puzzle.
• Joey blurted out the name Feldmanra Formula, and Professor Remo explained its connection to Feldman, the strongest Angel beneath the true gods.
• The group split up to search the house for clues, and Chris found a painting depicting nine figures around a table.
• Anderson punched through the painting's glass despite Oli Via's warning, and the figure in the lower-right seat turned grayish-white.
• Oli Via said the gray figure would die, while Gami Enriques identified it as someone other than himself and Joey guessed it might resemble a woman.

Joey discovered that time passed ten times faster in the Dreamscape and that Anderson’s spirit had not returned to his real-world body after his apparent death. When Margaret also died and Anderson’s body vanished, Joey realized the deaths were connected to the painting, but the group was left without answers.

• The hall’s lights went out, and when Joey restored power, the group found Anderson dead from cardiac arrest.
• The group carried Anderson’s body upstairs, while Joey noticed Professor Remo remained behind studying the unchanged painting.
• Joey returned to the real world and calculated that the Dreamscape ran at ten times its speed, leaving the group only about ten days to escape; he also found no spirit in Anderson’s body.
• Joey returned to the Dreamscape, where the others told him Margaret had died, leaving seven survivors at the table.
• After Remo observed that only one figure in the painting remained grayish-white, Joey led the group to Anderson’s room and found his body had disappeared.

Joey and the others inferred that Anderson had faked his death and solved the code hidden beneath the hall rug. When the code opened the front door, a tentacle seized Gull Friedman, and Joey noticed the southwest room upstairs opening.

• Oli Via warned that the painting had made them suspect one another, and Annie ordered Chris to destroy it.
• Joey reasoned that Margaret might have been the first victim in the original script and that Anderson had used a secret clue to recruit her.
• Joey revealed that he knew they needed a code to escape and led Professor Remo in decoding the formulas beneath the rug.
• Joey, Professor Remo, and the others worked out the eight-digit code 42505991, and Gull Friedman used it to open the patterned door.
• A pitch-black tentacle dragged Gull Friedman outside, and the group forced the door shut, severing part of the tentacle.
• Joey saw the door to a room in the southwest corner of the second floor open.

Anderson revealed himself as Rugger Giles, and Joey recovered the memories of the occult gathering that had stranded its participants in the Dreamscape. After Rugger transformed into Black Slime, Joey opened the way out and told the others they had to die outside to return to reality.

• Anderson accused Joey of lying and tried to turn the group against him.
• Joey recognized Anderson as Rugger Giles, the organizer of the earlier occult gathering, and remembered how the survivors had become trapped in the Dreamscape.
• Rugger said he had consumed the other spiritual bodies to compete with Joey, then transformed into Black Slime.
• Joey told the group to let the Quadrupeds kill them outside, and Annie agreed that it was their only way back to reality.
• Joey opened the door, and the group rushed out as the Quadrupeds attacked and killed them one by one.