Recaps

Audrey learned that the poisonous fog had killed more than ten thousand people, while Maria and the clinic staff struggled to treat survivors and count their losses. Klein confided in Azik about his past and their possible connection to Sefirah Castle before preparing to leave Backlund.

• Earl Hall told Audrey that the crisis had been resolved but that more than ten thousand people had died and the plague was still spreading.
• Daisy watched her mother Liv and sister Freya being taken away beneath a sheet, then chased the carriage and collapsed in grief.
• Doctor Blake and Ademisaul treated victims with an accidentally discovered antidote, while Maria planned bereavement payments and began counting the Foundation's casualties.
• Ademisaul learned that Mr. Kohler would not survive the winter and urged Maria to hire Tyler and help Daisy.
• Klein told Azik about his life as Zhou Mingrui, and they considered whether his connection to Sefirah Castle had been arranged by a great being.
• Azik warned Klein not to place his family under the Evernight Goddess's gaze and urged him to prepare carefully before leaving Backlund.

Traynor learned that his father had taken part in a massacre and arranged to flee Intis before the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun could interrogate him. In Backlund, the Monarch of Decay woke the True Creator and proposed a wager over whether Richard Ernst would survive, leaving the True Creator to choose whether to renew their covenant.

• Traynor's father, speaking through an owl, took Traynor's Faceless Puppet and warned him to leave Trier before the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun questioned him.
• Traynor learned that his father had added twenty thousand victims to a massacre blamed on the Loen Royal Family and planned to brief the Archbishop before escaping Intis through the Private Port.
• The Monarch of Decay entered Medici's manor unseen and reached the True Creator's hidden chamber.
• The Monarch of Decay broke the True Creator's curse-induced confusion, then proposed renewing their covenant and wagering on whether his student, Richard Ernst, would die.
• The True Creator questioned the Outer Deity's terms, and the Monarch of Decay threatened to kill him if he refused; the True Creator's reaching hand froze.

The True Creator and the Monarch of Decay discussed gods, humanity, and madness while reviewing an eccentric experiment involving roast-chicken-flavored apples. In Tingen, Leonard returned to protect Klein Moretti’s family as they prepared to travel to Backlund.

• The Monarch of Decay explained that Outer Deities resisted madness differently, while the True Creator discussed how humans and gods defined humanity and selfhood.
• The True Creator and the Monarch of Decay questioned why Earth’s gods had not pursued adjacent pathways, and the True Creator blamed their betrayal on their ambition and his misjudgment.
• The Monarch of Decay approved a researcher’s plan to develop roast-chicken-flavored apples and offered the True Creator a finished red wine fish.
• Benson told Melissa that he had booked second-class train tickets to Backlund for January 3 and described the promised work opportunities there.
• Iliya and Soest reported that Ince Zangwill’s spirits had been eliminated, while Daly warned that further attacks were likely and urged the Moretti family’s relocation.
• Leonard returned to Tingen and agreed to escort and protect Klein Moretti’s family on their journey to Backlund.

On New Year’s Day, Melissa met Leonard, who arranged to travel beside the Moretti siblings as the Church prepared for a possible attack by Ince Zangwill. In the Southern Continent, Traynor and members of the Aurora Order received Frank Lee’s strange fish and were ordered to review it.

• Melissa borrowed books and ran into Leonard, who told her he was leaving for Backlund on the same train as the Morettis.
• Leonard learned that 0-08 had arranged for him to sit near Melissa and Benson, while Daly planned to pursue Ince Zangwill from another carriage.
• Leonard considered whether Ince’s threat against him might conceal a danger to Iliya or the ordinary passengers, and resolved to protect the Morettis and the carriage.
• Traynor prepared a rabbit after killing his pursuers, then received Frank Lee’s genetically modified fish and was required to write a review.
• Mr. Z, Mr. X, and Mr. A debated how to prepare the fish, then learned their reviews would count toward merit and began competing to write them.

The Pilgrimage Church’s Foundation counted its losses from the Great Smog and debated death benefits and recruitment while the kingdom concealed the disaster’s cause. Meanwhile, Frank received feedback on his experimental fish, including an offering-like review from a Secrets Suppliant, and treasured it without realizing how the diners had experienced the meal.

• Sean, Gavin, Ademisaul, and Maria discussed the Foundation’s staffing crisis, workers’ families, and death benefits after the Great Smog killed nearly a third of its employees.
• Ademisaul observed that the disaster might help factories replenish their workforce and return to business as usual, while East Borough’s survivors bore the losses.
• Frank served his improved fish to Cattleya and the crew, who secretly disposed of it while preventing Heath Doyle from tasting it.
• Frank prayed to the Mentor after his spiritual intuition warned him, and a set of written reviews appeared on his desk.
• Frank read the diners’ feedback, burned the section praising the True Creator, and kept the remaining pages as valuable product advice.
• The Mentor told three diners that A’s review earned the highest score because his gratitude after eating Holy Communion gave it more feeling than their feedback.

Leonard Mitchell protected Benson and Melissa Moretti from Ince Zangwill’s attacks during their train journey to Backlund, while Soest and the Red Gloves prepared for a confrontation. The journey ended safely, and Klein passed the siblings in opposite directions as they entered their new lives.

• Benson and Melissa boarded the early train to Backlund and met Leonard, who shared advice about the city during the journey.
• Ince Zangwill trapped the passengers in a nightmare, but Leonard used a hot charm to break free, wake the living passengers, and alert Soest to the deaths.
• As the train continued, a luggage rack nearly fell on Melissa, and a disguised fugitive attacked Benson; Leonard stopped him with his insulated flask while Ilya tracked Ince Zangwill.
• Soest and Leonard led the passengers into a protective dream while Demigods fought Ince Zangwill, and the passengers later awoke refreshed.
• The train arrived in Backlund, where Benson and Melissa left the station with Leonard as Klein passed them heading the other way.
• Leonard requested leave to rest, and Soest told him that the mission had succeeded, though Ince Zangwill had not been utterly defeated.

The Monarch of Decay told the True Creator how a militaristic civilization destroyed itself after creating an artificial-intelligence weapon, and why he ultimately decided to destroy its survivors. At the Tarot Club, Fors realized the Great Smog matched the disaster Mr. Fool had warned about, while Justice thanked him for saving Backlund.

• The Monarch of Decay described Tofadal’s arms race and how he met an ambitious young man whose homeland had been used as a weapons-testing ground.
• The young man helped create an intelligent peacekeeping weapon, but its delivery led to the deaths of him and the other researchers.
• Centuries later, a war over the weapon led to its reactivation, and it slaughtered most of the population before the Monarch of Decay stopped it.
• The Monarch of Decay found that the survivors felt no regret and decided to destroy them completely.
• Fors attended the Tarot Club gathering and connected Prince Edessak’s death and the Great Smog to Mr. Fool’s earlier warning.
• Justice thanked Mr. Fool for saving Backlund, leaving Emlyn confused about what had happened.

At the Tarot Club, Derrick thanked Mr. Fool for helping the City of Silver break the cycle, then struggled with whether to reveal his suspicions about the unborn child of Wisen Skold and the Angel of Fate. Meanwhile, Traynor visited an underground factory and reunited with Cosette, whose reckless first attempt at driving a tram sent them hurtling down the tracks.

• Audrey questioned Derrick about escaping the loop, and Derrick credited Mr. Fool’s guidance in finding the Angel of Fate clue that helped Colin Iliad break the cycle.
• During the City of Silver’s observation period, Derrick worried that Wisen Skold’s unborn child might be connected to Ouroboros and considered asking Mr. Fool for guidance.
• Colin Iliad noticed Derrick watching Wisen Skold and exchanged a knowing look with him.
• Traynor arrived at his factory in the Balam Empire and was taken to an underground tram station by a young Knowledge-pathway Beyonder.
• Cosette told Traynor that the Pilgrimage Church’s danger rating had risen and that she had returned voluntarily to avoid suspicion.
• Cosette admitted she had only just learned to drive the tram, then accelerated it violently down the tracks.

Edward planned to escape his confinement by taking a new identity, sailing the seas, and entering the Forsaken Land of the Gods. After informing the True Creator of his departure, he prepared to hunt Agalito and take control of the Death Announcer.

• Edward learned that the Saint of Darkness and the other pilgrims had gone missing, then considered how to reach the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
• Edward followed the prayers of Miss Lunatic and Mr. Serial Killer as they fled south, rejected the Indulgence Faction's offer, and left their allegiance uncertain.
• Edward decided to sail around the Forsaken Land of the Gods under a pirate identity and chose the Death Announcer as his ship.
• Edward and the True Creator discussed his plans, agreed that he would fight back if the Seven Gods threatened him, and spoke about how Amon maintained his identity.
• Edward prepared to hunt the King of Immortality, Agalito, and the Death Announcer; meanwhile, Gehrman finished a late-night murloc snack.

The True Creator assigned Medici to lead the Iron and Blood Cross Order’s Human Resources Department instead of granting his request to expand the army. In Backlund, the Outer Deity met Fors as “Mr. Wente,” manipulated her into revealing Tarot Club information, and left after Xio arrived; meanwhile, Gehrman and Danitz fought monsters in Bansy Harbor.

• Medici reported that the Iron and Blood Cross Order had submitted to the True Creator and urged him to restore his Sequence One strength and expand their forces.
• The True Creator explained that Medici’s Beyonder characteristic still contained Sauron and Alista’s mental imprints, then appointed Medici head of the Iron and Blood Cross Order’s Human Resources Department.
• Fors went out for dinner and encountered the Outer Deity, who appeared as Edward Vaughan and used his powers to make her believe he was her old acquaintance, Mr. Wente.
• At dinner, Fors told the Outer Deity about the Tarot Club’s members, discussions, and recent transactions, allowing him to assess the gathering’s strength.
• The Outer Deity said goodbye to Fors when Xio arrived, and Fors returned home with her friend without remembering anything unusual about Mr. Wente.
• Gehrman took Danitz around Bansy Harbor, where they beat up Zombies, Flying Heads, and a Storm Bishop who had lost control.

Klein returned safely from Bansy Harbor after rescuing two families, then learned that the harbor’s old name was Binsy and suspected a dangerous secret remained hidden there. Meanwhile, the Monarch of Decay contacted Bernadette to bargain for information about Agalito and maneuvered her toward investigating catastrophes and secret organizations.

• Klein returned Bishop Miller’s Beyonder Characteristic to Elland, who offered to imply that Klein was connected to MI9, and Klein stayed on guard until Bansy Harbor’s storm and fog cleared.
• Elland explained that Bansy Harbor had once been called Binsy, prompting Klein to suspect its hidden dangers were tied to its ancient past; Klein then accepted his reward and went to sleep.
• The Monarch of Decay boarded a ship for the Rorsted Archipelago and prayed to Bernadette, asking her for recent information about Agalito, the King of Immortality.
• Bernadette traced the prayer to a faceless Seer and agreed to gather intelligence on Agalito within a week, then asked the Monarch of Decay to fulfill one of her requests.
• The Monarch of Decay offered to cause a mass-casualty catastrophe, but Bernadette rejected the proposal and they continued their deal on her terms.
• The Monarch of Decay decided to use Bernadette’s investigation into the Black Emperor Wraith and secret organizations to influence her advancement ritual, while ruling out capturing Klein because of Azik and the Evernight Goddess.

Alger collected a Faceless mask from Sharf and passed along intelligence about suspected human trafficking in the Southern Continent. Meanwhile, the Outer Deity used wooden puppets to turn two pirate crews against each other, then questioned the surviving spirit and learned that Danitz had killed one of the Admiral of Blood’s subordinates.

• Alger inspected the silver Faceless mask Sharf had made, agreed to bring the payment, and learned that Sharf might leave Bayam for a business trip.
• Alger told Sharf about disappearances and suspected trafficking linked to Baelen, then left a report for Galan De.
• The Outer Deity’s passenger ship was threatened by two pirate ships, and He used a wooden figure to infiltrate their crews and make them mistake one another for enemies.
• The Red Skull Pirates and Black Blood Pirates fought until both ships sank, while the passenger ship escaped unharmed.
• The Outer Deity questioned Captain Johnson’s spirit, who reported cultist activity in Bansy Harbor and Danitz Dubois’s killing of Steel Maveti and several other subordinates.

The Monarch of Decay gathered pirate intelligence while Fors struggled with how much to reveal in a letter to Mr. Wente. Traynor discussed technology and the War Angel with Cosette, then learned he would have to serve as the Red Angel’s liaison.

• The Monarch of Decay questioned Johnson about the Admiral of Blood and Death’s treasure, then fed nearly a hundred souls to the Faceless Puppet.
• Fors asked Xio whether she should tell Mr. Wente about the Tarot Club, and Xio advised her to disguise details and warn him about the Beyonder world.
• Fors wrote a letter describing Backlund, Tarot Club transactions, Bansy Harbor, and her own progress, then tucked it away to send later.
• Traynor and Cosette discussed the facility’s limited technology, the Church of Steam and Machinery’s inventions, and possible porcelain profits.
• Traynor explained the Red Angel’s history to Cosette and revealed that he had been assigned to liaise with the angel, leaving him reluctant to return to work.

The Monarch of Decay found the dying Sea God Kalvetua and urged it to raise a great tsunami in exchange for salvation. Bernadette foresaw the disaster and set out for Bayam to investigate and try to prevent the coming destruction.

• Bernadette learned that the King of Immortality had left his island and gathered information about his possible routes.
• The Monarch of Decay sensed Kalvetua's decay near Rorsted Island and saw that its madness threatened tens of thousands of people.
• The Monarch of Decay followed the Faceless Puppet's interest to a plaza, severed worshippers' mystical connection to Kalvetua, and demanded payment from the sea god.
• Kalvetua offered its treasures, priests, and believers, but the Monarch of Decay told it to raise the greatest tsunami to be saved.
• Karat and Edmonton saw their holy sword shatter and a sudden storm strike, then ordered their followers to stop holding rituals and prayers.
• Bernadette foresaw Kalvetua's tsunami through her crystal ball and decided to go to Bayam.

Alger connected the World’s presence in Bayam to the brewing crisis around the dying Sea God Kalvetua, while Klein’s ominous dream and failed divination suggested Bayam remained in danger despite the Sea King’s intervention. The Monarch of Decay captured Agalito, remade him as a Demon, and sent the new King of Immortality toward Bayam aboard the Death Announcer.

• Alger learned that Laticia Dorella had entered Symeem Island’s jungle and concluded that the World’s presence in the Rorsted Archipelago marked an impending crisis.
• Klein recalled a dream of Bayam drowning in a storm, and his divination about Jahn Kottman defeating Kalvetua failed as dark clouds and lightning returned over the city.
• Bernadette observed the Sea King and Kalvetua clashing over Bayam before the Monarch of Decay tracked her ship and located the Death Announcer and Agalito.
• The Monarch of Decay seized Agalito, extracted his soul, reshaped his body, and used a Demon characteristic to create a new Agalito.
• Agalito ordered Second Mate Kircheis to sail the Death Announcer to Bayam and declared that his will was now the ship’s will.

As Bayam’s storm and rising tides worsened, Klein joined the search for Kalvetua while Agalito’s pirates attacked ships near the harbor. The tsunami struck Bayam, leaving Klein, Elland, and the city facing immediate disaster.

• Jahn Kottman struggled to suppress Kalvetua’s influence on the sea, then learned that Agalito and Bernadette’s ships had arrived near Bayam.
• Klein sent a letter to Azik, declined the snake-tailed messenger’s offer to evacuate him, and agreed to help Elland search for the Beyonders hiding in the city.
• Agalito ordered his crew to attack departing ships, while Bernadette protected her injured sailors; Agalito’s power killed them and his pirates boarded a passenger liner.
• Klein and Elland learned that Laticia and her companions had been found dead, and Klein glimpsed a Book of Calamity in Laticia’s remains.
• A tsunami rose from the sea and smashed into Bayam, prompting Elland to order an evacuation.

Gehrman and Danitz fled toward higher ground as Bayam was struck by a tsunami, while Alger encountered the roaming Faceless Puppet. At sea, Bernadette and Agalito fought over Roselle’s diary until their ships collided just as a colossal lightning strike descended over Bayam.

• Elland boarded a military airship with Klein’s information, but lightning briefly disabled the vessel before it resumed its flight toward the Storm Church.
• Klein summoned Azik’s messenger to relay a message, then led Danitz and nearby evacuees toward higher ground as another wave surged into Bayam.
• Alger spotted the Faceless Puppet outside his inn, ignored it, and watched it transform into a copy of him before it left.
• Bernadette and Agalito exchanged cannon fire, and Agalito read passages from Roselle’s diary that distracted Bernadette and revealed details about her parents.
• Agalito’s ship damaged Bernadette’s vessel, then charged into close combat; as the ships collided, a massive bolt of lightning descended over Bayam.

Klein used a risky sacrifice to draw Kalvetua into a Spirit World opening and entered its lair with the Snake-Tailed Demigod, where they killed the Sea God. The storm over Bayam stopped, but Kalvetua’s death unleashed enormous waves, and Agalito taunted Bernadette as the naval battle was swept apart.

• Agalito watched Kalvetua fall under Jahn Kottman’s attack and continued fighting Bernadette, promising to reveal how to read Roselle’s script only after she was dead.
• Klein divined that the Resistance Army and Bayam faced destruction, then received methods for reaching Kalvetua from Azik Eggers through the Snake-Tailed Demigod.
• Klein used Kalvetua’s prayer and a Spirit World sacrifice to lure it toward an abandoned warehouse, then summoned the Snake-Tailed Demigod and charged into its mouth.
• Klein and the Snake-Tailed Demigod killed Kalvetua in its underwater lair, ending the storm and triggering a catastrophic sea surge.
• The Sea King suppressed the waves near Bayam, while the tsunami scattered the ships and ended the battle; Agalito blamed the catastrophe on Bernadette.

Agalito escaped into the Spirit World after provoking Bernadette to choose between pursuing him and helping victims of the tsunami, while Klein survived Kalvetua’s rampage and recovered its newly formed Sealed Artifact. The chapter ended with Klein safely back in Bayam after sacrificing the artifact to Sefirah Castle.

• Agalito taunted Bernadette with the tsunami and escaped aboard the Death Announcer as a faceless puppet secretly boarded his ship.
• Bernadette ordered her crew to turn back and provide disaster relief, then realized a Saint of the Seer Pathway might have replaced Agalito.
• Agalito monitored Bernadette’s fate and set a course toward the Forsaken Land of the Gods, but discovered his connection to Kalvetua’s remaining characteristic had vanished.
• Alger helped survivors in Bayam and, shaken by their helplessness, questioned whether Mr. Fool could grant him the power he sought.
• Klein explored Kalvetua’s ruins, found a mural of the Elf King Soniathrym confronting the Ancient Sun God, and uncovered a golden cup labeled “Calamity, Cohinem.”
• Kalvetua’s Beyonder characteristics formed a powerful short staff that Klein sacrificed to Sefirah Castle before the Snake-Tailed Demigod carried him back to Bayam.

Edward analyzed Agalito's intelligence, considered the rivalries among the gods and the dangers surrounding Klein, then decided it was time to leave his hiding place. Klein examined the Sea God Scepter and used its believers' prayers to appear before Karat as the returned Sea God.

• Edward concluded that Klein had likely taken the contaminated Sea God characteristic, considered awakening Antigonus, and planned to leave before Evernight grew suspicious.
• Danitz returned to the inn and startled Klein, who resumed his ritual and examined the Sea God Scepter above the gray fog.
• Klein learned that the scepter could command the sea and answer prayers, but its effects could irritate its wielder, drain nearby creatures, overwhelm the spirit, and destroy the user's body and spirit.
• Klein decided to offer limited guidance to the Sea God's believers, recognizing that answering their prayers could help him digest the Faceless potion.
• Karat found Kalvetua's shattered statue in a jungle cave and despaired when the Sea God did not answer his prayers.
• Karat saw a majestic figure surrounded by waves and lightning, heard it declare, "I have returned," and wept with joy.

Amon wrestled with his fear that he had been shaped by the Outer Deity and struggled to find a life of his own. Medici urged him to seek challenges beyond other Amons, while Traynor arrived to join Medici’s work.

• Amon sorted books at the Municipal Library, confronted a hostile reflection of the Amon he had killed, and wondered whether the True Creator might recognize him as a possible original.
• Amon told Medici that he had taken the library worker’s identity and restored fates that the previous Amon had cruelly swapped among colleagues and the director.
• Medici argued that Amon needed his own goals and urged him to challenge the strong, even suggesting that he might someday challenge his original.
• Traynor arrived at Medici’s inn to join him, and Medici teased him about his Sauron family ties and his father’s reputation.

Agalito pursued his cover while profiting from a captured slave ship and studying Fors’s Tarot Club reports. Klein buried a dead girl in Bayam, then looked out over the city’s rebuilding after the tsunami.

• Traynor recognized Medici as his ancestor, explained his weak attachment to the Sauron Family, and turned to organizing personnel transfers.
• Kircheis found five hundred slaves aboard a captured ship, and Agalito awarded the pirates twenty percent of the spoils while arranging buyers for the survivors.
• Agalito disguised himself and traveled to a neutral island, where he read Fors’s reports and considered what they revealed about Klein, Mr. Hanged Man, and Fors.
• Agalito heard sailors gossip about the tsunami, pirate bounties, and Danitz, then instructed his crew to claim a higher offer for the slaves from the Numinous Episcopate.
• Klein carried the dead girl from beneath a bridge to a cemetery reserved for local natives and buried her after seeing Bayam’s harbor and damaged districts being rebuilt.

Klein roamed the Spirit World with the Snake-Tailed Demigod to search for a suitable messenger, encountering several strange and powerful creatures before the demigod reacted fearfully to a headless woman in a Gothic castle. Meanwhile, Edward visited the True Creator to promote Frank’s new spiritual honey bread and revealed that Frank’s failed roast-chicken-flavored apple was actually a chicken.

• Klein declined Azik’s offer to make the Snake-Tailed Demigod his messenger and asked the demigod to guide him through the Spirit World to find a willing creature.
• Klein encountered hostile and friendly Spirit World Creatures, but passed them by because they were unsuitable or impossible for him to perceive clearly.
• Klein and the Snake-Tailed Demigod passed the giant jellyfish in the ancient Elven ruins and saw a headless woman holding four identical heads, which frightened the demigod.
• Edward warned the True Creator that war was approaching and discussed how Medici could regain a stronger connection to his identity as the Red Angel.
• Edward gave the True Creator Frank’s Praise Biscuit, which restored spirituality and praised the Lord when infused with spirituality.
• Edward revealed that Frank’s failed Roast Chicken-Flavored Apple was actually a chicken that cheeped and bounced in his hand.

The True Creator examined Frank’s living apple experiment and considered buying the life-force transfer technology for farming, while Klein joined a gathering where a woman named Helene was being sought. Traynor learned that Helene had cut ties with her Intis family and might know a secret about Vice Admiral of Ailment, but told Turing to make her wait.

• Edward showed the True Creator an apple given chicken-like flesh and life by Frank’s experiment, and explained that the short-lived creature had no soul.
• The True Creator considered buying the technology to make familiars, and Edward suggested he could use it for farming if that was truly his goal.
• Klein attended a Beyonder gathering with Danitz, bought Ancient Wraith dust, and heard Ozil offer a reward for finding Helene without harming her.
• Turing told Traynor that Helene had repeatedly prayed to him, cut ties with her Intis family, and moved her parents overseas after learning he had left.
• Turing revealed that Helene had learned Vice Admiral of Ailment had a Saint-level relative, but Traynor told him to ask Helene to wait.

Traynor briefed Medici on the Demoness Sect, and Medici decided to seek out the Saint Demoness himself. Frank refused to sell his flawed technology to the Aurora Order but prepared improved wheat seeds for Richard Ernst; meanwhile, Edward began a bloody march through Balam, turning massacred villages into corpse monsters.

• Traynor explained the Sauron Family’s debts and his plan to let relatives fight over the tainted factories he had left behind.
• Medici dismissed the Iron and Blood Cross Order’s intelligence efforts and set out to negotiate with the Saint Demoness, ordering Traynor to have Raymond return to work.
• Frank rejected the Aurora Order’s offer for his technology, agreed to sell his wheat seeds to Richard Ernst, and hurried to check on Cattleya after hearing a disturbance above his laboratory.
• Edward’s paper passed into Cattleya’s cabin, where her mutations and ravings subsided as her spirit body vanished; Agalito then considered the Tarot Club’s growth and finalized the Numinous Episcopate’s purchase of the remaining slaves.
• Mirella asked Agalito about The Sunken Laurel and proposed a continuing partnership to redeem slaves, but Agalito refused.
• Edward entered a ruined Balam village, questioned a dead girl’s spirit, and gathered the dead into a monster that followed him toward more massacres.