Chapter Summaries

After his failed assassination of Tracy, Klein learned that Sefirah Castle was a powerful symbol and that the documents he sought had been given to the Demoness Sect. He left Medici, reported the night’s events to Azik, and later heard that Bansy Harbor and the Black Death had been destroyed, while Danitz began thinking about visiting his family.

• Klein asked Medici about Sefirah Castle, and Medici warned that the knowledge was dangerous while describing it as an extraordinary symbol connected to the gray fog.
• Tracy said she had passed the documents from the Balam Empire’s imperial mausoleums to the Demoness Sect, and Medici and Traynor discussed the Eggers Family and Bansy Harbor.
• Klein left Medici, bought replacement clothes, and told the Snake-Tailed Demigod he wanted to meet Azik and relay the night’s events.
• Danitz paid Klein his share of the bounty, and Captain Elland reported that Bansy Harbor had been devastated and Tracy was missing after the Black Death was wrecked.
• Klein asked Danitz whether he missed his parents, prompting Danitz to consider returning home and writing to them.

Derrick advanced to Solar High Priest and learned that the unborn Skold child was unusually drawn to him, while Edward received a letter about the Numinous Episcopate. Traynor and Medici confronted Katarina Pelle, then used a sniper rifle and an Angel-level ability to kill Tracy, leaving Katarina terrified and Medici exhilarated.

• Derrick drank the Solar High Priest potion, registered his advancement, and discovered that Mrs. Skold's unborn child felt especially close to him.
• Colin Iliad praised Derrick's rapid growth while Mrs. Skold watched him train.
• Edward received a sealed letter and considered discussing Azik Eggers with the Numinous Episcopate.
• Traynor revealed Tracy's Demoness Sect background to Helene and asked her to kill Tracy, but Helene refused.
• Medici and Traynor met Katarina Pelle, learned that Panatiya had participated in the Backlund Great Smog, and returned Tracy to her mother.
• Traynor shot Tracy with a charm-equipped sniper rifle, and an Angel-level ability triggered by the bullet killed her.

Traynor and Medici planned to investigate the Great Smog and find Panatiya, while Edward negotiated with the Pale Empress over hunting Suah and interfering in the Southern Continent. Klein learned from Azik that Medici was the Red Angel, a King of Angel killed by the Blood Emperor, and decided to report his suspected plans for a war.

• Traynor received a Holy Communion wafer, spoke with Medici about his reluctance to live through another war, and agreed to investigate the Great Smog while Medici sought Panatiya.
• Edward offered to hunt Suah in exchange for the Pale Empress's Sequence One characteristic and information about Balam's crown, and they agreed to cooperate.
• The Pale Empress told Edward that war was brewing on the Northern Continent and discussed Loen's new governor and military commander for Aldra.
• Edward agreed to provide a demigod's assistance against the incoming governor for twenty thousand pounds, then asked Shea Eggs about Azik Eggers.
• Azik told Klein that the Hunter he had encountered was Medici, the Red Angel and a King of Angel killed by Alista Tudor.
• Klein connected Medici, the Great Smog, and the Demonesses to a possible larger catastrophe and resolved to report the secret activities at once.

Klein and Azik witnessed the battle for Bayam, then Azik recovered memories of his long-dead daughter and continued his journey. The True Creator reflected on Medici’s escape and concealed himself after Evernight began probing his condition.

• Traynor and Medici detected attacks from an Angel of Storm and a human-faced wolf from the Church of Evernight, then realized Bayam’s vanished population was part of a miracle.
• Klein and Azik watched the Angels’ battle engulf Bayam before the city vanished and reappeared beneath dark clouds.
• Azik found his daughter’s grave, remembered that she had died 926 years earlier, and told Klein he wanted to find himself before continuing his journey.
• The True Creator helped Medici escape Bayam, then concealed himself when Evernight’s investigation threatened to reveal his recovered rationality.
• The True Creator worried that the Outer Deity might exploit a genuine threat and wondered whether his restrictions could count as acting as the Bound One.

Klein told Azik he had learned that he came from Earth’s ancient past, and their conversation helped him consider building a life in this world. After Azik left, Klein reviewed the assassination attempt and prepared to contact Arrodes, while Traynor entered the Iron and Blood Cross Order’s headquarters and clashed with Tony Dawn.

• Klein confided in Azik that his family and friends from his original era were gone, and Azik encouraged him to take time to choose how he wanted to live.
• Klein described his growing attachments to Melissa, Benson, and the Tarot Club, and said he might someday open a bakery and live peacefully.
• Azik departed, and Klein reviewed his recent acting progress and identified Connors Victor as a lead in the missing-person cases.
• Klein ascended to Sefirah Castle, divined that communicating with Arrodes was safe, and tested whether he bore any marks, encountering resistance from a powerful presence.
• Traynor entered the Iron and Blood Cross Order’s headquarters to collect a Sealed Artifact, showed Medici to Tony Dawn, and sent Dawn flying outside with a strapped-on mechanical arm.

Traynor restored Medici’s spare vessel and learned why the Churches of the Seven Gods had sent Gade II to investigate the Red Angel. Agalito sent a Faceless Puppet to infiltrate Loen’s governor fleet, while Klein returned to Bayam, uncovered more about the School of Life, and settled in for a quiet afternoon above the gray fog.

• Traynor assembled Medici’s vessel, discussed its cost and the attack by Gade II, and agreed to seek information about the Great Smog and the Demoness of Despair.
• Medici explained that Storm had been checking the True Creator’s condition through him, and asked Traynor to question an Ancient Bane about powerful beings involved in the Great Smog.
• Agalito learned that Loen’s governor fleet was nearing Harman Port, then sent a Faceless Puppet to infiltrate one of its ships and announced that the Death Announcer was approaching the ruins of the divine battle.
• Klein encountered Darkwill in Bayam and used Arrodes to learn about the School of Life, Roy King’s arrest, and the origins of Groselle’s Travels.
• Klein checked into an inn on Autumn Street and planned to rest before going above the gray fog to review his believers’ prayers.

At the Tarot Club, Derrick revealed that an unborn child in the City of Silver was likely Ouroboros, and Mr. Fool confirmed that the True Creator was gradually recovering his sanity. Elsewhere, the True Creator negotiated with the Monarch of Decay over a Demoness of Despair, while Leonard watched Benson and Melissa after Benson's examination and continued investigating the Fool.

• Derrick told the Tarot Club that the unborn child in the City of Silver was likely the Angel of Fate Ouroboros, and Mr. Fool confirmed the identification.
• Mr. Fool told Derrick that the Fallen Creator was regaining his rationality and revealed that he had recently met the Creator.
• The Monarch of Decay demanded a high price from the True Creator for the Demoness of Despair, then negotiated permission to visit the Forsaken Land of the Gods and offered to help return Ouroboros.
• The True Creator refused to let the Monarch of Decay contact Ouroboros and answered Medici's prayer by warning that war was approaching.
• Leonard watched Melissa and Benson leave after Benson's examination, then discussed his stalled investigation into the Fool with Pallez.

Stiffer continued his search for Ouroboros near the City of Silver while Klein considered his ties to the True Creator and tried to contact Will Auceptin. Elsewhere, Wen Xia and the Serial Killer headed toward a Rose School ceremony, leaving a local town officer to fabricate a story after shooting two men.

• Stiffer inspected the ruins of a city destroyed by a great fissure, then continued west toward the City of Silver, hoping to find signs of Ouroboros.
• Klein paid Darkwill after reporting Roy King's capture and reflected on Vice Admiral of Ailment's death and the True Creator's apparent goodwill toward him.
• Klein brought Will Auceptin's Origami Crane back from Sefirah Castle and wrote that Roy King had been captured, hoping to draw Will's attention.
• Wen Xia retrieved a candle stub from the Serial Killer, and the two set out northwest for the Rose School's base and a sacrificial ceremony for Suah.
• A local reported Wen Xia to a corrupt officer, who took the young man's money and then shot both him and the local to make his lead seem credible.

Edward tortured Adam’s Virtual Personality while pursuing plans involving the Nois Family and the Prisoner Pathway, and Medici tried to keep Traynor working for the Iron and Blood Cross Order. In the Forsaken Land of the Gods, Stiffer discovered that a child with unusual birth signs was about to be born in the City of Silver and asked to meet its Chief.

• The Monarch of Decay tortured Adam’s Virtual Personality and declared that Adam would eventually fall into his hands.
• Edward directed the Nois Family to build ties with the Church of Steam and Machinery and guided two young people toward the Rose School’s ritual to help locate Suah.
• Medici rejected Traynor’s resignation and proposed that he compete for the Aurora Order’s Outstanding Employee award, but Traynor withdrew from the selection.
• Stiffer arrived near the City of Silver, used his silver cross to question a patrol, and learned that a child called a little angel was about to be born.
• Stiffer withdrew to wait five hundred meters away and asked to meet the City of Silver’s Chief.
• After the Oracles sent Traynor a letter praising him, he burned it and prepared another resignation letter.

Alfred and Pagney witnessed the vice admiral defeat a Sealed Artifact that had secretly replaced people aboard the fleet, but one disguised puppet survived and planned to reach Balam. In the City of Silver, Colin Iliad questioned Derrick about a mysterious visitor, then Lovia received a message from that visitor saying, “I mean no harm.”

• Pagney told Alfred that sailors had disappeared, and Alfred revealed that a Sealed Artifact had replaced people aboard the ships.
• The vice admiral issued a decree against disguises and replacements, causing the disguised impostors aboard the escort ship to collapse before he captured the artifact.
• Pagney left to change, and a surviving puppet revealed that it had killed people, impersonated a Sequence 7 Justiciar, and hoped to enter Balam with the fleet.
• Colin Iliad summoned Derrick and questioned him about his connection to Carlotta Skold’s unborn child.
• Lovia reported that something outside the City of Silver was calling to her, then spelled out a message in Jotun using pieces of her flesh: “I mean no harm.”

Derrick, Lovia, and Colin debated how to respond to a visitor from the City of Emerald, while Klein considered hunting pirates and Emlyn went to meet Leonard. Derrick left the decision to the Six-Member Council, and Leonard invited Emlyn inside after ending the dream he had trapped him in.

• Colin told Derrick and Lovia that a lone visitor from the City of Emerald was waiting five hundred meters from the City of Silver and wanted to negotiate.
• Lovia urged caution, while Derrick argued that the visitor’s decision to wait and send a peaceful message favored communication; Colin said he would convene the Six-Member Council.
• Klein decided to look for pirate-hunting commissions or promising targets in Bayam and left the inn.
• Emlyn traveled to Pinsters Street and asked Leonard to help him find a Mystical Item that could steal Beyonder abilities.
• Emlyn recognized that Leonard had drawn him into a dream, showed him the badge from the World, and was invited inside to talk.

Emlyn negotiated with Leonard Mitchell to buy a Mystical Item that could steal Beyonder abilities, while Agalito navigated the dangerous Sea of the Gods' War. Agalito’s ship encountered a treasure hunters’ vessel, which recognized the Death Announcer after he fired on it.

• Emlyn visited Leonard Mitchell, who offered his Mystical Item for 7,000 pounds, and Emlyn said he would consider the purchase.
• Emlyn reported the price to Klein, who decided he could afford it and prepared the money.
• Agalito sailed east through the Gods' War Ruins, where strange spirituality transformed his crew and the Death Announcer burned away the resulting growths and corpses.
• Agalito guided the Death Announcer around drifting mist and spotted a large ship that appeared to carry treasure hunters.
• The Death Announcer fired a cannonball at the other ship, and a blond hunter recognized it and warned his crew.

Edward stirred unrest in West Balam while managing his arrangements for Aldra, and the City of Silver’s council prepared for Colin Iliad’s meeting with Stiffer. Stiffer revealed that he had come to take the unborn Angel of Fate away, but received no revelation when he prayed for guidance.

• Agalito chose to bring captured treasure hunters aboard as building materials or guinea pigs after inspecting their sea chart and treasure map.
• Edward told Mirella that his subordinate was digesting the troops bound for Balam and proposed ways the Numinous Episcopate could handle the governor’s disappearance.
• Edward bought provisions and medical supplies, spread rumors of coming turmoil, and returned to the inn as fear and gunfire spread through the city.
• Colin Iliad accepted sole responsibility for meeting the visitor, ordered the City of Silver’s defenses prepared, and told Lovia to protect the city.
• Stiffer told Colin that he was the Lord’s messenger and intended to take the unborn Angel of Fate to the divine kingdom after the child’s birth.
• Stiffer prayed for a revelation about when to take the child, but no revelation came.

Stiffer waited outside the City of Silver for the Angel of Fate to be born, while Colin reported the visitor’s arrival to the elders. Elsewhere, Klein narrowly avoided Botis aboard a passenger ship, and the True Creator considered Ouroboros’s accelerated birth and Klein’s possible need for anchors.

• Stiffer received no revelation, learned that the Angel of Fate would be born within thirty cycles, and decided to wait outside the City of Silver.
• Colin returned through the city gate, confirmed his identity with Waite Chirmont, and asked Lovia whether Carlotta Skold had behaved unusually.
• Klein received Derrick’s report that a stranger had arrived in the City of Silver, then used the Dice of Probability to make Botis leave the passenger ship without finding him.
• Botis met Kisma at the estate and discussed his gemstone mine, the Lord’s aura, and the Abraham Family.
• The True Creator considered Ouroboros’s shortened development and wondered whether Klein would need anchors to complete the Scholar of Yore ritual.

The True Creator planned to test Klein Moretti’s character before offering him aid and potentially making the Fool a god worshiped in the Forsaken Land of the Gods. In Backlund, Ince Zangwill discovered he had killed a man while under 0-08’s influence, while Leonard Mitchell’s investigation led him to wonder who Sherlock Moriarty really was.

• The True Creator decided to test whether Klein Moretti would retain his morality after receiving benefits, and considered making the Fool an ally of the Creator in a new Holy Bible.
• Klein Moretti delivered Darkwill to a School of Life base and remained disgruntled about losing thirty pounds in a bet.
• Ince Zangwill found 0-08’s account of his strange behavior and discovered that a man had been murdered near his hiding place.
• Ince Zangwill recognized the victim’s wounds and the blood beneath his fingernails, then gathered his belongings and vanished.
• Leonard Mitchell questioned Daisy in a dream and learned that Sherlock Moriarty had appeared in both the Lanevus and Capim cases.
• Leonard read that Sherlock Moriarty had also helped resolve Emlyn White’s disappearance and grew serious about investigating him.

Agalito’s crew crossed dream-filled waters in the Sea of the Gods’ War, where Edward Vaughan explored a collective dream of the Giant King’s Court and discovered its connection to the entrance of the Forsaken Land of the Gods. After the dream ended, the Death Announcer reached the island they had been seeking.

• Roselle’s diary described his expedition into the Abyss, where he found dead devils, a strange corpse-grown plant, and signs that his protective objects were corroding, forcing him to order a retreat.
• Anderson Hood watched a Sailor die beneath the Death Announcer’s strange sunlight, collected his Wind-blessed characteristic, and warned Agalito that the crew needed to sleep to pass through the approaching dream waters.
• Agalito sent his observations to Edward Vaughan, then ordered the crew to sleep as darkness abruptly covered the sea.
• Edward Vaughan took over Agalito’s consciousness in the collective dream, recognized the Giant King’s Court, and used his blood to cross the cliff that separated it from the crew.
• Edward reached the Giant King’s Court’s outer wall and realized its enormous keyhole marked the true entrance to the Forsaken Land of the Gods, but the dream collapsed before he could go farther.
• Agalito and the crew awoke as the Death Announcer left the dream waters, and they spotted an island with a ruined harbor and a broken stone pillar ahead.

Agalito brought the Death Announcer to a rain-shrouded island along the Pilgrim’s Road, where the crew landed to rest and search the ruins. When unnatural darkness trapped them outside their shelter, Anderson and Kircheis led the crew toward the ship, unaware that a skin-like hand was following them.

• Agalito recognized the Giant Key’s connection to Edwina Edwards and Admiral of Blood Seniol, then guided the Death Announcer toward the island and spotted a broken stone pillar there.
• The Death Announcer told Agalito how it became a devil ship after its captain and crew sacrificed one another in the Abyss.
• Agalito let the crew disembark and camp in nearby ruins, where a hungry devil sailor nearly provoked a fight with the adventurers over food.
• Anderson noticed that four people were missing from the group, and Kircheis revealed that the captain had stayed aboard the ship.
• The crew discovered that the darkness outside stripped skin from anyone who touched it, so Anderson and Kircheis organized a lamp-lit return to the ship.
• Kircheis walked into the darkness while obsessing over power and becoming the King of Immortality, as a floating hand made of human skin followed the group.

Kircheis’s party followed divination into a cave, where a sudden darkness trapped them, while Agalito followed from behind and discovered murals explaining the sacrificial route through an ancient Pilgrimage Road. In Bayam, Klein sent Mr. Azik a letter and spent the evening watching the sunset, ending the day alone in his dark inn room.

• Kircheis’s group abandoned their unreliable compass and followed a Mysticologist’s divination toward a supposed safe area as their lamp oil ran low.
• Klein wrote to Mr. Azik about a parasitized person and Worms of Time, then decided to save the fragile Origami Crane for an urgent message to Will Auceptin.
• Klein climbed Saint Draco Mountain to watch the sunset over Bayam, then returned to the inn and stood silently in the darkness.
• Kircheis kicked an adventurer out of the light after discovering a matching wrist wound, and the group found shelter in a cave filled with livestock bones and a human skeleton.
• Agalito followed the group along an ancient Pilgrimage Road, found an outside-world zipper pull, and read murals showing livestock sacrifices opening a holy passage.
• The Mysticologist led the group into the left-hand Sacrificial Passage, while Agalito watched and expressed satisfaction at having brought more people.

Agalito found the end of the pilgrimage route and met Leomaster, the missing Saint of Darkness, at the Black Monastery. After learning the path toward the Sanctuary was blocked, Agalito continued on while Anderson stayed to ask for food—and the bread triggered a voice praising the True Creator in Anderson’s mind.

• Agalito examined the Bronze Gate and a mural depicting a silver-haired, winged leader guiding pilgrims through a sea of flames, then Anderson emerged and explained that the others had died in attacks by a Sealed Artifact and a Beyonder Creature.
• Anderson told Agalito how Kircheis had tripped others while fleeing, and the two continued through the gate toward the end of the corridor.
• Agalito and Anderson emerged into a ruined square and found Leomaster at the Black Monastery, where he said the monastery held a trial and the Sanctuary could not yet be entered.
• Leomaster explained that the route east crossed a dark Sea Abyss, but the bridge to the Sanctuary had been severed; Agalito turned to go around the monastery.
• Anderson claimed devotion to the True Creator to obtain food and water from Leomaster, then ate the offered flatbread and heard a voice in his mind praising the Lord.

Agalito found that the black fog blocked passage to the Eastern Continent and allowed Anderson aboard the Death Announcer after a strange mishap made him wary. Meanwhile, Klein noticed a Sun pathway Beyonder in the city, and Edward Vaughan’s plans helped spread chaos before Mirella delivered the Empress’s order to ignite the conflict in Aldra City.

• Agalito and Anderson reached the edge of the black fog, where Agalito concluded that crossing it was impossible without a special method.
• Anderson asked to join the Death Announcer as a handyman, and Agalito agreed after both men suffered unexplained falls.
• Klein spotted a woman with the golden spiritual radiance of a mid-sequence Sun pathway Beyonder, but she left before he could learn more.
• Edward Vaughan learned that a route had been found and praised his ally’s work while describing how the Faceless Puppet had fueled unrest in Aldra City and nearby cities.
• Edward spoke with his landlady about rising food prices and her plans to leave, then considered using refugees to approach the Rose School.
• Mirella brought the Empress’s message ordering Edward to act within the month and ignite the conflict in Aldra City.