Recaps

Edward sent Bernadette into Roselle’s mausoleum, where her death awakened her father and unleashed a horrifying transformation. Roselle remained trapped in the throne as Edward prepared to seek a Beyonder Characteristic elsewhere.

• Edward told Bernadette that Roselle was inside the mausoleum and answered her questions about the Chinese characters meaning “homeland.”
• Bernadette used Snow White to prophesy the mausoleum’s opening, then entered after Edward urged her onward.
• Inside, Bernadette’s body parts mutated and spoke as she approached Roselle, who repeated the word “homeland.”
• Bernadette’s body and organs came alive and left her, while Roselle raged helplessly from his throne and the creatures were destroyed.
• Edward observed that the Mother Goddess of Depravity had withheld the Beyonder Characteristic and decided to rob the Dawn of Elements for it.

Edward searched for Bernadette’s hidden island, then used the Monarch of Decay’s power and a homesick song to quiet the enraged Black Emperor. Aboard the Future, Klein entered a shared dream in the Gods’ War Sea and encountered an Ascetic hunting the Saint of Darkness.

• Edward traced Bernadette’s chestnut hair to the City of Emerald on Laxia and learned how to reach the hidden island.
• The island’s creatures attacked Edward, who transformed into the Monarch of Decay and rotted them with a breath.
• Edward sang a song about homesickness, calming the Black Emperor until the mausoleum doors shut, then left through the Spirit World.
• Aboard the Future, Cattleya warned the crew to sleep as the ship entered dangerous waters, and Klein woke lucid inside a shared dream.
• Klein explored the dream’s monasteries and found a black-armored knight fleeing from an Ascetic, who asked whether Klein had seen the Saint of Darkness.

Klein encountered Leomaster, an ascetic of the Aurora Order, in a dreamlike prison and fought a sinister mirror copy of himself. When Leomaster remembered that he had entered the mirror as part of a trial, the prison vanished and Klein woke up.

• Klein met Leomaster, who said he was searching the prison for the Saint of Darkness and claimed his companions were safe elsewhere.
• Klein found a hidden storage room with a full-length mirror, and a sinister copy of Gehrman Sparrow emerged from it.
• Klein used the Sea God Scepter to destroy the copy, then learned that Leomaster belonged to the Aurora Order.
• Klein and Leomaster noticed that neither of them appeared in the mirror, and Leomaster recalled opening the door and looking into it.
• Leomaster said the other believers had passed the Lord's trial and that his own trial remained unfinished before the prison filled with white light and Klein woke up.

Edward used the True Creator’s Door Pathway Sealed Artifact to reach Laxia and broke into the Dawn of Elements’ hidden City of Emerald, destroying its defenses and killing its inhabitants. He reached Bernadette’s treasury and found several powerful Sealed Artifacts, with a golden lamp waiting in a concealed chamber.

• Bernadette’s shell emerged in the mausoleum and again asked the motionless shadow on the throne for a bedtime story.
• Edward summoned the True Creator, obtained a Door Pathway Sealed Artifact, and agreed to provide the base’s coordinates in exchange for checking its concealment.
• Edward reached Laxia, opened the hidden route into the City of Emerald, and destroyed the island’s defenses with mystical re-enactment.
• Edward entered the City of Emerald, killed its inhabitants and guardian, and broke through the sealed door to the treasury.
• Edward corrupted the Spirit World Creature, which gave him the Sage Diadem and Pale Death before revealing a hidden chamber containing a golden lamp.

Edward took the Magic Wishing Lamp from the Genie and used fairy-tale magic to kill the survivors fleeing Laxia. He then warned the Genie that Roselle was nearing death and the king of Loen planned to become the Black Emperor, demanding that the Genie offer him more than clues about the Sefirah.

• Edward summoned the Genie from the Magic Wishing Lamp, mocked him, and ordered him to visit his garden.
• Edward surveyed the ruined island of Laxia and used a Sequence 4 Mystery Pryer artifact to cast the fairy tale The Red Shoes on the fleeing survivors.
• A female demigod recognized the curse and severed her feet to escape it, but the other survivors, including a child, were killed dancing; a pumpkin carriage carried the demigod away as the red shoes followed.
• Edward told the Genie that Bernadette was dead, Roselle would soon die, and the king of Loen planned an apotheosis ritual to become the new Black Emperor.
• Edward demanded that the Genie consider what else he could offer besides clues about the Sefirah.

Edward arranged for the Genie to become George III and explained that he intended to draw the Mother Goddess of Depravity’s resentment toward it. Meanwhile, Klein encountered Leomaster in a dream and learned that the True Creator wanted to summon him in the real world.

• Edward discovered that the Red Shoes curse had spread beyond Laxia, then sent the True Creator the island’s coordinates.
• Edward told the Genie that George III had nearly completed the Black Emperor ritual and that it would become the Mother Goddess of Depravity’s main target if Roselle died.
• Klein’s ship continued through the sea of ruins, and Anderson pointed out a route that might lead them to mermaids.
• Klein entered a dream room containing a Bible, where he met Leomaster, who called him the Lord’s messenger.
• Leomaster told Klein that the True Creator wanted to summon him in the real world, and Klein reluctantly agreed to prepare.

Klein found a route into the Forsaken Land of the Gods in his dream of the True Creator’s sanctuary, then used mermaids’ singing to complete his advancement to Sequence 5, Marionettist. Elsewhere, the Red Shoes escaped a fleeing female demigod, and Edward weighed his gains and plans while considering what Shea Eggs might offer for Pale Death.

• Klein learned from Leomaster that the Aurora Order’s route through the Black Monastery led into the Forsaken Land of the Gods, and memorized the Saint of Darkness’s account of an expedition there.
• Klein heard mermaids singing near the Future, prepared the Marionettist potion, and used a charm to approach them safely enough to begin advancing.
• Klein drank the potion and endured its effects while the mermaids’ song helped him regain control, becoming a Sequence 5 Marionettist.
• A footless female demigod discovered that the Red Shoes had vanished during her flight and feared the cursed shoes would kill more people.
• Edward reviewed his spoils from the Dawn of Elements, discussed prices with the True Creator, and planned to remain in the Southern Continent with the Magic Wishing Lamp.

After advancing, Klein confirmed that his path to the gray fog had gained a fifth step, while Derrick’s exploration of Afternoon Town brought him into a supernatural trap with the infant Ouroboros. Klein intervened when Derrick prayed to him, and the group reunited, but Ouroboros was left crying bloody tears.

• Klein returned to the Future, confirmed that his advancement had added a fifth step to the luminous stairway, and climbed until he stood one step from the gray fog.
• Colin led the City of Silver team into Afternoon Town and assigned Derrick, Joshua, and Haim to explore together while Derrick carried Uno, the infant incarnation of Ouroboros.
• Derrick discovered an altar inscribed with the names Ouroboros, Medici, and Sasrir, then realized that Joshua and Haim had vanished and that he was trapped in darkness.
• Derrick prayed to the Fool, and Ouroboros awakened as Klein tried to pull Derrick above the gray fog; a ring of silver light drove away the darkness and shattered the false scene.
• Colin, Haim, and Joshua entered the basement as Derrick reappeared, while Ouroboros struggled and cried bloody tears into his swaddling.

Derrick recounted his encounter in Afternoon Town, where a clergyman warned that the kings had betrayed the Lord and a catastrophe was coming. Meanwhile, Klein learned that the waters carried the True Creator’s ravings, and his attempt to lure Agalito into a fight ended with Agalito retreating.

• Derrick told Colin Iliad that he had found an altar naming the Red Angel and Dark Angel Sasrir before a silver ring returned him to the basement.
• Colin tested the altar, then led Derrick, Haim, and Joshua away when shadows gathered at the basement entrance.
• Klein learned from Leomaster that the waters carried the True Creator’s ravings and that Leomaster had helped Heath Doyle withstand them; Leomaster said the kings had betrayed the Ancient Sun God.
• In Afternoon Town, a clergyman confessed that the kings had conspired against the Lord and warned that a great catastrophe would begin there.
• Klein tried to draw Agalito into a fight by revealing the nearby Saint of Darkness, but Agalito judged the fight unwinnable and ordered the Death Announcer to retreat.

Cattleya learned that Queen Mystic Bernadette had been reported dead and chose to investigate the King of Immortality while grieving. Klein planned his return to Backlund under a new identity, Amon observed ordinary life in Desi County, and Shea Eggs prepared to restore the Balam Empire and declare war.

• Cattleya received reports that the flagship Dawn had been wrecked and Queen Mystic Bernadette was presumed dead, then told Otolov to gather intelligence about the King of Immortality.
• Edward explained that Klein had been aboard Agalito’s ship earlier but was absent near the Gods’ War Ruins, and sent Agalito away with the Death Announcer.
• Klein decided to make Backlund his long-term base while seeking the Antigonus Family Notebook, and planned to travel through Desi Bay under a new identity.
• Amon queued for Desi Pie in Desi County, quietly observing the people and crows around him.
• Shea Eggs rejected reconciliation with the Artificial God of Death faction, instructed Mirella to prepare the restoration of the Balam Empire, and ordered him to draft a declaration of war.

Traynor escaped a dangerous vision of his father, then learned that Bernadette had been killed and that Roselle’s resurrection had been stopped. At the Tarot Club, Klein punished Cattleya for exposing the gathering to Bernadette, spared her after she endured the ordeal, and Fors proposed a mission against an Aurora Order Oracle.

• Medici interrupted Traynor’s nightmare by knocking over the table and shutting the Music Box, then told him to resume the Iron and Blood Cross Order’s accounts.
• Traynor received a passbook containing 350,000 Gold Louis from his father and learned from a newspaper that Bernadette and the Dawn Pirate Group had been killed.
• Klein revealed Bernadette’s identities to the Tarot Club and confronted Cattleya for disclosing information about the gathering to her.
• Klein subjected Cattleya to the True Creator’s ravings, then stopped her mutation and forgave her after she endured the torment and vowed to seek Bernadette’s murderer.
• Fors asked the Tarot Club members to take a killing mission against Lewis Wien, an Aurora Order Oracle and traitor to the Abraham Family.

At the Tarot Club, Fors considered how to deal with an Aurora Order Oracle, while Derrick learned that the Aurora Order had a route into the Forsaken Land of the Gods. Edward then negotiated with Sia Palenque Eggers over Death pathway items left behind by Bernadette and agreed to use the Magic Wishing Lamp to secure their exchange.

• Klein considered Fors’s commission to kill Lewis Wien and agreed to consider acting at least two months later; Alger suggested reporting the Oracle to the Church if Fors found his location, and she accepted that plan.
• Derrick asked whether the exit from the Forsaken Land of the Gods lay in the Giant King’s Court, and the Fool revealed that the Aurora Order also had a distant route into the land.
• Cattleya discussed the twilight buildings in the collective dream of the Gods’ War Ruins with the Tarot Club members.
• Edward visited Sia Palenque Eggers at the empress’s temporary palace, where she read news of Bernadette’s death and spoke of her anger over her homeland’s plundered heritage.
• Edward showed Sia a model of Pale Death and agreed to trade the Death pathway items for a Prisoner or Criminal Sequence One characteristic, with the Magic Wishing Lamp serving as their intermediary.

Edward used the Magic Wishing Lamp to arrange a plan against Katami, while Klein learned why powerful beings noticed him and was attacked by the Rose School near Bayam. The chapter left Klein fighting for his life as Admiral of Blood Seniol prepared to join the assault.

• Edward explained the Magic Wishing Lamp's three-wish limit to Shia and agreed to target Katami while sparing General Mesangyes.
• Shia ordered Mirella to arrange a Sequence 3 advancement ritual in Katami's city and prepare to expose his treason and take over the city.
• Edward and the Genie planned to manipulate Katami's memories so he would reveal the lamp's power to a visitor from Loen.
• Hilarion told Klein that special Spirit World creatures and certain deities could detect his connection to the gray fog, and warned that the Mother Tree of Desire sought to seize control of him.
• Klein arranged to summon Reinette Tinekerr for ten thousand gold pounds, then received a telegraph message saying, "I see you."
• Klein was attacked in the woods by Shanks using the Rose School's control over nearby objects, and Admiral of Blood Seniol prepared to kill him while warning against summoning Lord Suah.

The True Creator prepared for his advancement with Medici’s help while discussing the danger of madness and the Rose School’s possible interference. Meanwhile, Klein’s battle against Shanks and Seniol escalated when Suah’s power descended, forcing Klein to unleash several dangers and flee toward the cliff.

• The True Creator told Medici that Laxia was secure and explained that he needed Medici to use Good Luck and Reboot to protect him from the ravings triggered by his advancement.
• The True Creator gave Medici three drops of Ouroboros’s umbilical cord blood and warned that the Church of Storms might have noticed his connection to his original body.
• Reinette Tinekerr drove Shanks into using a strange branch to transform himself, while Klein fought off Seniol and shot away half his neck.
• Shanks called on Suah, whose enormous bandaged arm devastated the forest and forced Klein, Reinette, and Shanks to retreat or transform.
• Klein used his corrupted Fire Seed Glove to draw danger toward Suah, summoned a messenger with the Numinous Episcopate copper whistle, and fled toward the cliff.

Klein escaped the battle with the help of Groselle's Travels and Reinette Tinekerr, while Shea Eggs decided to confront the Artificial God of Death for a chance to claim its Uniqueness. Azik arrived to escort Klein to safety, but he suddenly saw something that filled him with fear.

• Klein fled through the woods, used a Priest of Light Beyonder Characteristic to resist the Copper Whistle creature's effects, and cleansed the blackish-green gas from his spirit body above the gray fog.
• Reinette Tinekerr's curse and the Copper Whistle creature disrupted Suah, but Suah drove Reinette away, seized Shanks, and fled with the summoned being pursuing him.
• After the Sea King Jahn Kottman arrived too late to stop the battle, he blamed Gehrman Sparrow for the destruction.
• Shea Eggs recognized Suah and the Artificial God of Death, told Mirella to transfer authority to High Priest Haiter, and set out to intercept the being in the southern Hagati Grassland.
• Shea Eggs persuaded Suah to lure the Artificial God of Death toward her, while Mirella ordered a sacrificial ritual to support her departure.
• Reinette Tinekerr moved Klein to a reef, but Azik soon arrived and took him to a deserted island, where Azik saw something that made him look frightened.

Shea Eggs and Suah trapped the Artificial God of Death in Peach Blossom Spring and fought to defeat him, but the Evernight Goddess and God of Combat intervened. Shea Eggs devoured the Artificial God of Death, then Suah killed her with a spear; waves later heralded Death’s return.

• The Pale Empress Shea Eggs and Suah trapped the Artificial God of Death inside Peach Blossom Spring, where she fought him while Suah maintained the isolation.
• Shea Eggs used the white lantern to unleash the red moon and its monsters, while Suah’s laughter imprisoned the Artificial God of Death and her laws drove back his forces.
• The Evernight Goddess extinguished the red moon, and the God of Combat broke Peach Blossom Spring with a sword strike, leaving Shea Eggs and the Artificial God of Death to fight in reality.
• Shea Eggs transformed into a Feathered Serpent and ate the Artificial God of Death, attempting to accommodate his Uniqueness as the other gods watched.
• Suah formed a spear that pierced the Underworld and killed Shea Eggs; she thanked him before dying, and Suah stayed behind as waves announced Death’s return.

Azik told Klein that memories of his past as the Death Consul were returning, and Klein suggested that his later lives had anchored him against madness. Meanwhile, Shea Eggs died in the Underworld and was reborn after devouring the Artificial God of Death, becoming Balam’s first and last emperor and ruler of the dead.

• Azik described his cold, destructive memories as the Death Consul, and Klein urged him to see his kind later lives as his true self and anchors against madness.
• Edward recognized that Shea Eggs had reached the fate-changing moment and said his blessings would help Death resurrect as her.
• Shea Eggs reviewed her many lives and deaths as her soul walked upstream through the Underworld toward her origin.
• Shea Eggs declared herself Sia Palenque Eggers and Balam’s last emperor, then devoured the Artificial God of Death and awakened as ruler of the dead.
• Shea Eggs saw memories of her childhood and family in Balam’s palace before disappearing into a dreamlike vision.

Death returned to the Southern Continent and unleashed his judgment on the colonies, while Azik learned that his father had resurrected without using his body. Azik parted from Klein, who planned to investigate Groselle's Travels and considered returning to Backlund.

• Haiter awoke after Death returned and urged the Artificial God of Death faction to kneel and pray.
• Mirella and another Numinous Episcopate Demigod led the sacrificial ceremony in Aldra, where offerings died as the ceremony honored the Pale Empress.
• Death manifested over the Southern Continent, destroyed cities and churches, and forced survivors to submit as his believers and anchors grew.
• Death sent a white feather to the altar at Aldra, where the Numinous Episcopate and the people welcomed his return.
• Azik told Klein that his father had returned but abandoned his attempt to resurrect through Azik, leaving Azik free to continue his life.
• Azik took Klein to the Northern Continent's east coast, and Klein entered a secluded cave to check whether the Admiral of Blood had entered Groselle's Travels.

Daly Simone’s visions led Leonard and the True Creator to conclude that Death had resurrected as a powerful King of Angel, while the True Creator investigated clues linking Azik Eggers, Ince Zangwill, and 0-08. Klein secured Seniol’s belongings and changed identities as he traveled, while Edward met the resurrected Death and sent him toward the River of Eternal Darkness. Death reached the river and began to control it.

• Daly Simone described hearing prayers and a command to kneel, and Leonard suspected the Numinous Episcopate had affected her before Pallez revealed that something major had happened.
• The True Creator deduced that Death had resurrected in the Pale Empress with two Sequence One characteristics and the Uniqueness, then ordered the Aurora Order to track 0-08 and Ince Zangwill.
• Klein studied Seniol’s abilities, secured the Winner’s necklace, and traveled from near Pritz Harbor toward Connaught in Desi Bay under a changed appearance.
• Death confronted Edward, who explained that his blessing on Sia Palenque Eggers had helped Death resurrect, and Edward then headed toward Katami’s Territory.
• Death entered the ruins of Calderón, descended to the River of Eternal Darkness, and merged with its tributary until the river’s whirlpool calmed around him.

Klein visited Nilu Raymond in Connaught City, then unexpectedly met Amon, who returned Klein’s stolen cigarette case and warned him about the dangers tied to Sefirah Castle. After leaving, Klein created a new identity and returned to Backlund, where he laid Longzel to rest.

• Klein visited Nilu Raymond and introduced himself as a friend of her father, David Raymond.
• Amon wandered through Connaught City and discussed his thoughts with Medici before heading toward a seafood shop.
• Klein and Amon ran into each other, and Amon stole Klein’s cigarette case before offering to return it in exchange for an answer.
• Amon returned the case, revealed that the Amon Family members were avatars, and warned Klein that taking Sefirah Castle meant accepting responsibility and that he should beware of adjacent pathways.
• Klein escaped, devised a new identity, and traveled back to Backlund.
• Klein placed Longzel’s urn in a Church of Storms cemetery and inscribed his name and the words, “Every journey has an end.”

Fors and Xio witnessed growing unrest as news of the Balam Empire and the Church of Death made war seem imminent. Klein reunited with Sharron and learned that the Rose School leader Suah had led the attack on him, while Edward advised Balam’s leaders on economic and propaganda warfare and Richard considered joining the Rose School.

• Fors and Xio discussed Fitus Food Factory’s rapid growth and its dangerous working conditions before detouring around a violent march in Hillston District.
• Reports about the Church of Death and colonial independence stirred Northern Continent hostility and fears that war was near.
• Klein told Sharron he had killed Seniol and offered to sell the Wraith Beyonder Characteristic to Maric after finding a replacement.
• Sharron identified Shanks and Zatwen, then said Klein’s attacker might have been Suah, the Rose School’s leader and an Abomination claiming to be the Chained God’s child.
• Sharron confirmed the Rose School planned an impromptu revelry ritual and acknowledged that she and Maric were being considered as sacrifices.
• Edward advised the Church of Death’s leaders to restrict exports and spread atrocity reports to weaken Loen and Intis, while Richard considered joining Suah’s forces as a member of the Resistance Army.

Klein learned from Roselle’s diary that Alista Tudor became the Red Priest by switching from a nonadjacent pathway, and he wondered whether Roselle had attempted something similar. In Balam, Edward and Richard discussed Suah’s approach to temperance and the coming war, which Edward said Balam would declare against Loen the next day.

• Klein opened the Tarot Club meeting and received a diary page from Cattleya describing the Black Emperor’s resurrection and Alista Tudor’s rise as a mad true god.
• Klein connected Alista Tudor’s ritual to the Fourth Epoch ruins and wondered whether Roselle had pursued a similar path to godhood before going mad.
• Edward and Richard discussed Suah’s method of balancing indulgence and restraint, as well as Richard’s convictions and anchors.
• Edward told Richard that Balam had chosen Loen as its target and that Feysac had uncovered evidence linking the Loen Royal Family to the Great Smog and the Demoness Sect.
• Edward said he had advised Death to declare war immediately, and that Balam would make its declaration the next day.

The Church of Death captured Cantrela for the Balam Empire, prompting the empire to declare war on Loen and publish a proclamation of independence. In Backlund, Klein read the proclamation, considered its possible author, and then went above the gray fog to investigate the moon puppets Emlyn White had sacrificed.

• Galan De Pell-Sat used the undead to destroy Cantrela’s defenses and lead an assault that wiped out the city’s garrison.
• The Balam Emperor declared war on the Loen Kingdom after Cantrela fell, and the proclamation of independence spread through newspapers across the Northern Continent.
• Medici welcomed the outbreak of war and urged the True Creator to advance so they could join the conflict; the True Creator said he would advance next week.
• Klein read the proclamation of independence in the Backlund Daily and wondered whether Roselle, the True Creator, or Edward Vaughan had written it.
• Klein kept Richardson employed despite the tensions surrounding the war, then went above the gray fog to investigate Emlyn White’s moon puppets.

Leonard investigated Sherlock Moriarty’s past and discovered that Third Prince Edessak’s butler had visited him shortly before the Backlund Great Smog. Meanwhile, Uno glimpsed visions of war, Traynor observed the effects of Southern Continent trade disruptions, and Audrey received a warning from her brother not to travel there.

• Leonard entered Stalin Sammer’s dream and learned that Sherlock Moriarty had been a respected detective who attracted private investigators and other visitors.
• Leonard recognized the image of Finkel, Edessak Augustus’s butler, and learned that Finkel had visited Stalin shortly before the great smog.
• Leonard linked Sherlock Moriarty to the Third Prince, the Demoness Sect, and the great smog in his investigation notes, while continuing to wonder why Sherlock’s beard seemed familiar.
• Uno watched lightning from his mother’s arms and saw visions of war, blood, and a friend with iron-black eyes.
• Traynor followed the bicycle-share bidding, then saw demonstrators protesting lost jobs after Southern Continent exports fell.
• Audrey read a letter in which her brother described the violence in the Southern Continent and urged her not to go there.

Audrey worried over Alfred’s troubling letter and planned aid for colonial soldiers, while questioning why the Southern Continent supported resistance. On Laxia, the True Creator began preparations for his advancement ritual with help from Edward, Suah, and Death, leaving the island sealed off for the coming confrontation.

• Audrey noticed bloodlike marks on Alfred’s plain letter and feared his situation was dire, so she planned to organize supplies for soldiers in the colonies.
• Audrey wondered why people in the Southern Continent supported resistance movements despite the Northern Continent’s claimed benefits and the Churches’ teachings.
• Katami told a Loen garrison officer that Balam forces were reclaiming territory, then gave him a black relic lamp that the officer believed was auspicious.
• The True Creator and Medici checked the preparations for the True Creator’s advancement ritual and traveled to Laxia through a prepared Spirit World route.
• Edward arrived as a malice avatar, explained that Suah’s memories had been altered so he believed himself to be Edward, and assigned Suah to assist.
• Edward sealed Laxia with Death’s help, isolating the island in preparation for the True Creator’s ritual.