Chapter Summaries

Edward learned that his death curse might be connected to the River of Eternal Darkness and prepared to enter a deep sleep to resist it. As his condition worsened, he chose to endure death a few more times first so he could gather more imagination and prepare for what came next.

• Edward told the Evernight Goddess that he had seen the River of Eternal Darkness and a mass of golden light in the Chaos Sea.
• The Evernight Goddess explained that creation and destruction had to remain balanced and warned Edward to focus on his condition, which seemed branded by death.
• Edward asked the Evernight Goddess to conceal something while he slept and said he wanted to prepare for his eventual awakening.
• After returning home, Edward's vitality rapidly drained, and he collapsed as he could no longer hold death back.
• Edward told Lilith that deep sleep was his way to resist death, but said he would first experience death again to gather imagination and complete preparations that would require her help.

After dying again, Edward was pulled into Adam’s Corpse Cathedral and agreed to retrieve a golden object from the Chaos Sea in exchange for help advancing to [Door]. Adam then tried to make Edward resurrect through his memories and take control of him, but Edward resisted and attacked Adam.

• Edward died in front of Lilith, who vowed to grow stronger so she could protect him.
• As Edward attempted to resurrect through Lilith’s memories, Adam pulled him into the Corpse Cathedral and asked what he had seen in the Chaos Sea.
• Adam offered to help Edward advance to [Door] if he retrieved the golden object, and Edward agreed to try once he recovered.
• Adam forced Edward to resurrect through his memories, but Edward realized Adam intended to alter his identity and take control of him.
• Edward resisted Adam’s memory manipulation, invoked [Lunatic on the Right], and used [Deconstruction] to weaken Adam’s authority before flattening him into two dimensions.

Edward escaped Adam by using Sefirah Castle’s projection to scatter Adam’s memories, then resurrected through Rallard’s memories in Feynapotter City. Weakened and facing another death, Edward restored Rallard’s shape-changing ability as Akasha urged him to take her away.

• Edward briefly gained Sequence 1 strength, summoned projections of three gods to attack Adam, and fled through Lilith’s river of memories.
• Adam reshaped the memory space to trap Edward, but Edward invoked Sefirah Castle, whose projection shattered Adam’s memories and gave him time to resurrect.
• After Edward escaped, Adam decided it was time to talk to Grisha.
• In Feynapotter City, Rallard and Akasha discussed their confinement and the loss of Rallard’s shape-changing ability before Edward appeared.
• Edward realized his resurrection had left him dangerously weak and that Rallard’s memories of him were already fading.
• At Rallard’s request, Edward restored his ability to change forms and turned to address Akasha.

Edward returned home after Adam attacked him in the Memory Space, then prepared to sleep for a century or more to resist the death clinging to him. Before sleeping, he asked Lilith and Will to keep one another safe, and Will left him a request to wake up alive.

• Edward visited Akasha and Rallard, told Marquis Ponk that Lilith knew about the revelation to sacrifice the Sanguine’s Sealed Artifacts, and left before Marquis Ponk could ask more.
• Edward returned home and told Lilith that Adam had ambushed him and tried to take his place; Lilith promised not to confront Adam before reaching Sequence 0.
• Edward went to Sefirah Castle and wrapped the Attendant of Mysteries Beyonder Characteristic into a cocoon, then returned home weakened by the death clinging to him.
• Edward told Lilith that his sleep might last a hundred years or more and said he wanted to say goodbye to friends first.
• Edward and Lilith visited Will, who agreed to help watch over Lilith and wrote “Wake up alive” as the first thing Edward owed him.

Edward brought Lilith to meet Medici and Pallez before entering a slumber to fight death. He asked them to help Lilith while he was gone, then set off to handle his own private business.

• Edward and Lilith visited Medici beneath Williams Street, where Medici was astonished to find Lilith alive.
• Edward told Medici he would soon sleep for about a century and a half, and Medici agreed to compete with Lilith for the Red Priest position.
• Edward promised Medici he would oppose Lilith's advancement to Red Priest, then said goodbye and left with her.
• Edward met Pallez, thanked him for his earlier help, and asked him to watch over Lilith while Edward slept.
• Edward told Pallez to seek out Leonard in Tingen City in about a hundred and eighty years as a potential host.
• Lilith asked where they would go next, and Edward said he was going to take care of private business.

Edward revealed to Roselle that he was the President and a fellow transmigrator, explaining that Roselle's future was being guided by a powerful figure's Tide of the Times. Before entering a slumber because of severe injuries, Edward told Roselle he could return to his homeland, then demonstrated that their conversation had taken place in an illusion.

• Roselle debated whether to seek out Klein Sparrow's daughter when a police siren sounded outside his villa.
• Edward appeared as a Time-Space Investigation Team officer, revealed his identity as the President, and took Roselle through an illusion of Chunxi Road.
• Edward admitted he had concealed his identity to avoid changing history and explained that Roselle was central to a powerful being's Tide of the Times.
• Roselle asked whether he could return to his homeland, and Edward confirmed that he could before saying he needed to enter a slumber.
• Edward returned Roselle to the villa and revealed a Zanpakuto, confirming that their apparent journey through the city had been an illusion.

Edward prepared to leave by creating a Fantasist copy to gather imagination, help Roselle, and watch over Lilith. Before departing, he took Bernadette to see the Beautiful Merpeople and said goodbye to Lilith, who agreed to wait for him to awaken when Klein reopened Sefirah Castle's deepest gate.

• Edward used [Lunatic on the Right] to discover how to gather imagination and created a Star Worm copy to act as a Fantasist, assist Roselle, and obey Lilith.
• Edward's copy received the Evernight Goddess's Secrecy Authority in her Divine Kingdom.
• Bernadette tried to sneak out to visit Mr. Sparrow, but Edward appeared as Roselle and then revealed himself, inviting her to see the Beautiful Merpeople.
• Edward took Bernadette aboard the Fairy-Tale and watched her approach the Beautiful Merpeople, then quietly said goodbye.
• The real Edward told Lilith that he might awaken after Klein reached Sequence 4 and reopened the deepest gate in Sefirah Castle, and Lilith promised to wait for him.

Bernadette learned more about Edward’s departure and realized Loen had allowed Feysac to bomb Backlund, possibly to help George III advance to Black Emperor. Meanwhile, Klein negotiated with Mr. A to enter the church together, where Zaratul gave him a temporary Door Opening symbol and the Bizarro Sorcerer potion formula.

• Bernadette woke in Trier, learned that the Mr. Sparrow who had raised her was Edward’s avatar, and asked Lilith where Roselle was.
• Lilith said she did not know Roselle’s whereabouts and suggested Bernadette investigate the war as a chance to advance to Sequence 2.
• Bernadette learned that Feysac had bombed Backlund and concluded Loen had deliberately allowed the attack, possibly as part of George III’s Black Emperor plan.
• Klein persuaded Mr. A to enter his marionette’s stomach and accompany him to the church, where they hoped to find a way out of Foggy Small Town.
• Klein invoked Edward’s friendship with Mr. A, who agreed not to act against him while they were in the church.
• Zaratul gave Klein a parchment containing the Door Opening symbol and the Bizarro Sorcerer potion formula, both of which would last only forty-five minutes and could not leave the town.

Klein discovered that Zaratul’s door-opening symbol was dangerous, then risked entering the Seer Pathway’s mythical creature domain to seize the Fool Card. He recovered the card and his marionette, and the card began revealing the Sequence 0 pathway as he noticed his Marionettist potion had been digested.

• Klein recognized that Zaratul’s door-opening symbol differed from the one he had seen in Tingen, and found the Chinese words “Hello, Zhou Mingrui” carved on a statue.
• Klein used Zaratul’s symbol to open the door, but Mr. A turned Ludwell’s marionette into a bomb and destroyed it.
• Klein sent an Apprentice Pathway marionette into the church, where it became drawn toward a High Sequence Seer’s mythical creature form and the Fool Card.
• Klein regained control of the marionette, seized the Fool Card, and threw it through the closing light gate before the tentacles could catch it.
• Klein entered the church after divining that it was safe, recovered the Fool Card and the surviving marionette, and discovered that controlling the marionette had digested much of his Marionettist potion.
• Klein activated the Fool Card, which transformed into an illusory book and began displaying Sequence 4: Bizarro Sorcerer and Sequence 3: Scholar of Yore.

Klein discovered the Seer Pathway's Sequence 0 was Fool and suspected Zaratul had caused his marionette to lose control. In Backlund, war began, Fors invited Xio to join the organization devoted to the Fool, and Audrey was asked to cast the deciding vote on whether the Psychology Alchemists would help George III.

• Klein found Zaratul's urn missing and suspected Zaratul had taken it through the marionette, then prepared to leave the church.
• Fors and Xio moved near Holy Wind Church for protection, and Xio told Fors that Feysac had launched an air raid and Loen had declared war.
• Fors told Xio she worshipped an ancient god and had recommended Xio to join him, leaving Xio alarmed.
• Audrey used magic to rescue bombing victims in North Borough until Edessak and Helena urged her to help find the source of the war.
• Alday explained that the Psychology Alchemists would vote on whether to assist George III, and asked Audrey to cast the deciding vote.

Edessak revealed that George I, II, and III were the same king, who had spent generations pursuing the Black Emperor ritual and engineered a continent-wide war. Audrey abstained from the siblings’ vote, while Alday briefly revealed a monocle and erased Audrey’s memory; elsewhere, Leonard followed Daly because he suspected she was hiding something.

• Edessak told Audrey that George I had secretly continued ruling as George II and George III to advance toward becoming the Black Emperor, and that he had helped bring about the war.
• Audrey abstained from voting on whether to help or overthrow George, saying four people could not decide matters involving a nation, war, and gods.
• Alday put on a monocle, causing Audrey to lose her memory of what had happened, then remarked that the struggle over the Primordial Demoness position was nearing its end.
• Leonard followed Daly through Backlund’s North Borough, telling Pallez he suspected her sudden trip home after the bombing news concealed a secret.
• Pallez told Leonard that Daly’s carriage was slowing down again.

Leonard learned that Dunn and Klein had faked their deaths and that Ince Zangwill still threatened Dunn, so Pallez urged him to grow stronger and join the tarot-card organization. In Backlund, Priscilla tried to leave the Aurora Order, but Lilith appeared and surprised Medici.

• Leonard discovered that Daly had led him to Dunn, who was alive and recovering, and Pallez confirmed the Captain had survived.
• Pallez explained that Dunn and Klein had staged their deaths to survive, warned Leonard about Ince Zangwill, and said Daly needed the Church's protection for Dunn.
• Leonard offered to help protect Dunn, but Pallez mocked his weakness and suggested he join the organization devoted to the Fool; Leonard agreed after learning Klein and Edward belonged to it.
• At an Aurora Order stronghold, Priscilla insisted she was righteous and tried to quit, while Medici warned that the authorities would arrest anyone the Order sent to help.
• Lilith appeared before Medici, and Priscilla excitedly recognized her.

Lilith and Medici compared suspicions about the war and agreed to investigate who was manipulating it. Medici identified Adam as a possible enemy of their Red Priest ambitions, and Lilith revealed that she knew the truth about his supposed death but warned Medici it could hurt to hear.

• Priscilla reunited with Lilith, while Lilith and Medici discovered that neither of them had arranged the war and discussed a proposal from Badheil's agent.
• Lilith told Priscilla that wars could be fought for necessary causes and said the Red of War should fight for an ideal, not merely for a ritual.
• Lilith proposed that Medici feign cooperation with Badheil's agent to investigate the war, but Medici worried about being bound by a contract.
• Lilith and Medici reasoned that Adam might be behind the plot to stop either of them from becoming Red Priest.
• Medici asked Lilith about Adam's reported death, and she confirmed she knew the truth before warning him that it might be painful.

Lilith told Medici that Adam had merged with the True Creator, prompting Medici to reconsider his past and his ties to both of them. Audrey learned that Edward was preparing to advance to Sequence 1 and that George III’s war had the Seven Deities’ tacit approval, though the wider conflict behind it remained unclear.

• Lilith told Medici that Adam had merged with the True Creator, and Medici realized how Adam and the True Creator were connected to his past.
• Medici said he would accept either outcome of the merger and might visit the True Creator in the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
• Audrey arrived and learned from Lilith that Edward was preparing to advance to Sequence 1 and could not be disturbed.
• Audrey reported that nearly a hundred people had died and close to a thousand had been injured in the attack, then identified George III as the planner of the war.
• Lilith explained that George III’s plan to become the Black Emperor had the Seven Deities’ tacit approval, leaving Audrey wondering about the purpose of the recent vote.

Klein escaped the Foggy Small Town and learned that Feysac had bombed Backlund and Loen had declared war. After Audrey reported that the war served George III’s plan to become a Black Emperor, Bernadette told Mr. Fool she intended to stop him to preserve Roselle’s chance of resurrection.

• Audrey suspected the Psychology Alchemists’ vote might have been connected to their knowledge of the Tarot Club and prayed to Mr. Fool to report what she had learned about the war.
• Klein traced the Dark Sacred Emblem, opened a gate out of the Foggy Small Town, and returned to the real world after hearing someone pray to him.
• Klein returned to Backlund and discovered that Feysac’s air raid had killed 262 people and that Loen had declared war on Feysac.
• Audrey told Mr. Fool that George III was George I, had spent centuries preparing to become a Black Emperor, and planned to use the war to complete his advancement ritual.
• Bernadette told Mr. Fool she intended to stop George III because his becoming a Black Emperor would end Roselle’s chance of resurrecting.

Klein responded to Bernadette and Audrey about George III’s scheme, then discovered that Leonard had prayed to him and brought him to the gray fog. Leonard learned that Klein and Edward belonged to the Fool’s gathering and prepared to choose a tarot code name so he could meet them.

• Klein told Bernadette to proceed with her plan and promised to help when the time was right, then told Audrey that Miss Strength’s actions would represent his stance.
• Klein considered how to obtain the Bizarro Sorcerer ingredients and fulfill the advancement ritual before noticing that Leonard and Xio had prayed to him.
• Leonard prayed to the Fool at Pallez’s suggestion, and Klein summoned him to the palace above the gray fog.
• Klein questioned Leonard about his prayer and confirmed that he knew of Pallez Zoroaster, an angel from the Fourth Epoch.
• Leonard asked to join the regular gathering so he could see Klein and Edward, and Klein offered him a tarot card as a code name.

Klein inducted Leonard and Xio into the Tarot Club, while Audrey learned that Mr. Fool opposed George III’s advancement to Black Emperor. In Backlund, Lilith’s connection to Medici and the Mother Goddess of Depravity became increasingly apparent, and the chapter ended with Lilith meeting Christine beneath the Crimson Moon.

• Klein gave Leonard the Star card and summoned Xio to the Tarot Club, where she panicked after realizing she had tried to reach for her weapon.
• Lilith told Audrey that Roselle might still be alive and that Queen Mystic’s actions against George III would reveal Mr. Fool’s opposition to his advancement.
• Lilith, Priscilla, and Audrey spied on Medici meeting Ince Zangwill, who sought Medici’s help in hunting a saint of the Church of Evernight.
• Medici said he had agreed to cooperate with Ince, prompting Audrey to suspect that Lilith and the angelic evil spirit shared a hidden understanding.
• Lilith took Audrey home, then slipped out through a mirror after Audrey and Susie fell asleep.
• Lilith met Christine, an avatar of the Mother Goddess of Depravity, outside the villa beneath the Crimson Moon.

Christine persuaded Lilith to cooperate in a plan involving Mr. Door and the Brood Hive, setting their meeting for the next full moon. Klein thanked the Evernight Goddess, then hosted a Tarot Club gathering where new members Leonard and Xio joined; the other members began sizing them up.

• Christine offered to help Lilith reach Mr. Door in exchange for Lilith considering her request for the Brood Hive, and Lilith agreed to meet her on the night of the full moon.
• Lilith reflected that the war on the Southern Continent needed to expand further.
• Klein performed a ritual at Saint Samuel Church to thank the Evernight Goddess for the Bizarro Sorcerer formula, and She replied, "I understand."
• Klein went Above the Gray Fog and saw that The Star and Judgement had joined the Tarot Club.
• Leonard searched the gathering for Klein or Edward, while Xio observed the other members and the group began forming impressions of the newcomers.

Klein read diary pages from a fellow transmigrator who had discovered that Klein was destined to resist the apocalypse and left secrets and gifts in the depths of the space above the gray fog. The pages revealed that the Evernight Goddess was also from the transmigrator’s hometown and left Klein facing the prospect of reaching Sequence 4 to uncover what the senior had hidden.

• Emlyn gave Klein two diary pages, and Klein learned that their writer had divined a future transmigrator named Zhou Mingrui as the hope against the apocalypse.
• The diary recounted how the senior’s revolution failed, an angel of the Evernight Church sent him to a foggy town, and he carved “Hello, Zhou Mingrui” at the base of a statue.
• Klein realized the diary implied that the Evernight Goddess was a fellow transmigrator and that he himself was the savior the senior had foreseen.
• The diary revealed that the senior had placed secrets and accumulated gains in the deepest reaches of the space above the gray fog for a later visitor to find.
• Klein recalled that he would likely need to reach Sequence 4 to climb the light stairs and enter the gray-white fog where the gifts were hidden.

Edward investigated the Psychology Alchemists’ reasons for recruiting Audrey and learned that Amon was using the encounter to threaten Klein’s hidden main body. Meanwhile, the Tarot Club resumed its trading segment, where Derrick sought a potion formula and redirected Alger’s questions back to the meeting’s purpose.

• Edward questioned Alday, Lady of Sloth, about Audrey, Edessak, and the Psychology Alchemists, then ordered her to keep Audrey safe.
• Alday revealed herself as Amon, who warned Edward that he could turn the people Klein cared about into avatars to force Klein out of hiding.
• Edward divined Edessak and his sister’s location, glimpsed their disguised faces, and returned to the inn, where he photographed Klein above the Gray Fog before becoming a marionette again.
• At the Tarot Club, Derrick asked Bernadette for the Notary potion formula and offered to search the City of Silver’s records for information about the Hidden Sage.
• Alger asked Derrick about the City of Silver’s movements, and Derrick reminded him that the gathering was still in its trading segment.