Chapter Summaries

Edward agreed to help Mirella’s faction provoke a mutiny in Aldra in exchange for information about Suah, then sent the Pale Empress a tempting offer. Meanwhile, a prophetic priest recorded events that could bring war to the Northern Continent, and the True Creator suppressed a sudden advance to Sequence 2 while planning to leave Backlund before advancing further.

• Mirella explained the plan to stir a mutiny in Aldra by exploiting tensions between General Javier Rena and the new governor, Negan.
• Edward agreed to help create chaos in Aldra in exchange for the likely location of Suah during the Rose School’s grand sacrifice.
• Mirella conveyed the Pale Empress’s question about the return of distorted order, and Edward offered her a city inhabited only by Southern Continent natives if she ignited war.
• A golden-haired priest recorded that the devil’s offer could sway the Pale Empress and that a Feysac intelligence chief’s discovery might cause war to break out first in the Northern Continent.
• The True Creator suppressed an uncontrolled advance to Sequence 2, realized he would need to leave Backlund before advancing again, and saw a report that the target had been intercepted by the Feysac Empire.

Edward investigated the fighting around Aldra and secretly set a deadly plan in motion, while Klein continued posing as Admiral Amyrius and was warned by an unknown figure to stay out of Auston and the others’ affairs.

• Edward crossed out the governor and two generals on a newspaper, then traveled to the outskirts of Aldra to investigate the city’s situation.
• Edward found a massacre carried out by the Rose School and observed that Loen’s forces had retreated into Aldra while the Numinous Episcopate and Restoration Society pressed the conflict.
• Edward identified the Storm demigod as the Southern Continent’s general and spotted a Justiciar demigod in the governor’s residence before declaring that sin would consume the city.
• Javier Rena learned that Amyrius Rieveldt would arrive to oversee peace negotiations and planned to persuade him to oppose General Negan’s position.
• Klein signed routine documents as Amyrius and prepared to sleep, but an unknown figure entered his dream and warned him not to interfere in Auston and the others’ affairs.

Klein considered the Twilight Hermit Order’s warning and the True Creator inferred that Adam’s plans for a war between Feysac and Loen might be disrupted by an older injury. In Aldra, Javiel left the Governor’s residence and voiced his fears about the Numinous Episcopate’s negotiations to a seemingly ordinary stranger.

• Klein left the dream, suspected the visitor had influenced his mental body through the Sea of Collective Subconscious, and concluded that Amyrius had earned the Ninth Law charm by hiring him.
• The True Creator examined the failed Aurora Order operation and deduced that Adam was arranging for the Feysac Empire to declare war on the Loen Kingdom.
• The True Creator suspected Adam had lost power to control the tide of the times and connected his possible injury to the era of Roselle Gustav and the Outer Deities.
• Javiel declined to hear the latest news, removed his officer’s uniform, and secretly left the Governor’s residence to walk through ruined Aldra.
• A brown-haired man sat beside Javiel and asked about his mood; Javiel then warned him that the Numinous Episcopate’s negotiations might be a trap and asked whether General Reyna had abandoned Aldra.

Javiel rallied Aldra’s residents against the proposed peace settlement, then failed to persuade the governor and General Negan to reconsider it. Humiliated and enraged, he stood alone in the governor’s residence, knowing what he should do next.

• Javiel spoke publicly as General Reyna, revealed the peace terms, and urged Aldra’s residents to reject the settlement and drive out the Restoration Society.
• Edward encouraged Javiel, who decided to unite the people and make the governor heed their will.
• Javiel waited for the governor and confronted him, General Negan, and General Amyrius Rieveldt about the residents’ opposition to the talks.
• Negan accused Javiel of obstructing Loen’s orders and hinted that he was colluding with the enemy; the governor deferred to Negan and left Javiel isolated.
• Javiel remembered the people and soldiers harmed in the conflict, clenched his fists until they bled, and resolved to act.

Edward traced a prayer to the Mother Tree of Desire to Oravi Island and sent a meteoroid toward Earth, while unrest erupted across the colony and the Numinous Episcopate advanced. Klein maintained his impersonation of Amyrius, and the chapter ended with two demigods clashing in the governor's garden as a servant watched.

• Edward met the little wooden figure, learned that Admiral Amyrius had arrived and the former governor planned to flee, then instructed the figure to provoke the old leader during the upheaval.
• Klein inspected the naval base, attended an officers' meeting, and performed Amyrius's role at a supplier's dinner before rejecting Cynthia again.
• Cynthia drank powder from her pendant after praying to the Tree of Desire and dreamed of a brilliant star responding to her gaze.
• Edward identified the Mother Tree of Desire's response, traced its source to Oravi Island, and sent a meteoroid toward Earth after briefly connecting with his true body.
• Soldiers and civilians in Oravi turned on one another as the Numinous Episcopate crossed the defensive line and the dead rose beneath the blood-red moon.
• A servant killed the former governor and watched lightning and waves from two demigods collide in the garden while a corpse appeared beside him.

Alfred Hall escorted a governor toward a port while Pagney stayed behind to mislead the Numinous Episcopate, but Alfred discovered the carriage held a corpse instead. Edward learned where Suah might appear and heard that Azik Eggers was still alive; meanwhile, a meteorite brought a deadly presence to Olavi naval base.

• Alfred Hall and Pagney led a squad escorting the governor through darkness caused by a pursuer from the Numinous Episcopate.
• Pagney split off with some cavalrymen, revealed himself as a Faceless Puppet, and handed the governor over to the Numinous Episcopate before escaping as a tiny puppet.
• Alfred reached the port and found that the governor in the carriage had been replaced by a corpse.
• Edward spoke with a corpse that identified Kukwa as a likely place for Suah to appear and revealed that Azik Eggers was still alive and Death remained asleep.
• Two soldiers at Olavi naval base found a meteorite, but one vanished and the other was killed by a shadow that left more rotting bones behind.

While posing as Admiral Amyrius, Klein learned that a deadly wasteland was spreading through the Olavi naval base and went to investigate. He ordered Lü'er'an and the soldiers to retreat, but a figure only he could see turned to look at him.

• Klein spent the morning in the naval base office while soldiers quietly sealed off a dormitory after an unexplained incident.
• A wasteland spread through the base, erasing buildings and killing personnel as it searched for someone connected to the Mother Tree of Desire.
• Mirella watched the former governor pray to his deity and learned that the Empress would oversee a declaration concerning the next offensive.
• Lü'er'an told Klein that the expanding wasteland had killed more than three hundred people, so Klein armed himself and went to investigate.
• Klein sensed danger outside the residence, ordered Lü'er'an and the soldiers to fall back, and pointed out a figure that only he could see.
• The figure turned toward Klein as Lü'er'an insisted that no one was there.

Klein confronted an incomprehensible figure whose passage caused rapid decay and whose presence overwhelmed his defenses. After the figure entered the residence and passed through its servants, Klein followed it to Cynthia, who had become a monstrous Tree of Flesh and Blood.

• Cynthia prayed to the Mother Tree of Desire and fell into a dream as the mysterious figure approached the residence.
• Klein tried to stop the figure with the Ninth Law, the All-Black Eye, and Azik's Copper Whistle, but it overpowered his defenses and began to decay him.
• Klein threw the Master Key at the figure, triggering Mr. Door's curse and a destructive explosion that briefly diverted it.
• The figure told Klein it was not there for him, then continued toward the residence while its presence warped the house and its inhabitants.
• Klein followed the figure past servants and Secretary Lü'er'an, who decayed into dust, and found Cynthia transformed into a towering Tree of Flesh and Blood.

Klein fought Cynthia after she mutated into a monstrous tree, using the Ninth Law charm to block the outside power influencing her. The Monarch of Decay intervened, ended Cynthia’s transformation, and left with a mysterious object, while Edward discovered a possible future connection to Klein.

• The Monarch of Decay learned that the Mother Tree of Desire had come for Klein and watched as Klein prepared to fight Cynthia.
• Klein used Dragon Might against Cynthia, but she resisted and attacked him with branches and man-eating flowers.
• Klein activated the Ninth Law charm and prohibited interaction with the outside world, blocking the influence but suffering severe backlash that burst his eyes.
• Cynthia’s monstrous body collapsed, and Klein changed into Gehrman Sparrow to loosen her grasp before the Monarch of Decay intervened and sent her to her mother.
• The Monarch of Decay collected a spiritual object from Cynthia’s remains, saw an image of the Chained God, and spared Klein before leaving.
• Edward used Klein’s blood to glimpse a possible future in which he could walk the earth in his true form.

Edward weighed attacking the Chained God against preserving Richard Ernst’s safety, then sent his avatar to confront Suah instead. After the avatar survived the Seven Gods’ attacks and killed Amyrius to fulfill his bargain with Cynthia, it merged with Suah as a divine pillar of light struck the city.

• Edward decided not to attack the Chained God yet and sent his avatar to confront Suah, reasoning that the Seven Gods had already noticed him.
• The Seven Gods attacked the avatar on Oravi Island, but it used residual corruption from the Mother Goddess of Depravity and the Mother Tree of Desire to survive and escape their assaults.
• The avatar crossed the Spirit World and returned to the real world, where it followed the Mother Tree of Desire’s spirituality to Amyrius Rieveldt and killed him through Cynthia’s lingering spirituality.
• Edward sensed that he had fulfilled his bargain with Cynthia by sending Amyrius to her in exchange for her spirituality.
• The avatar reached Suah in the Southern Continent and merged into his body just as a pillar of light struck the city, while Edward felt the distant tremor and went to sleep.

The East Balam branch of the Rose School was destroyed as the Eternal Blazing Sun, the Evernight Goddess, and the Lord of Storms attacked Suah, who escaped but was left corrupted by another Outer Deity. At Olavi Naval Base, Klein investigated Cynthia’s disappearance, uncovered the Naturism Sect’s connection to the Rose School, and realized that his contract with Admiral Amyrius had ended.

• The Eternal Blazing Sun purified nearly everyone in the Rose School’s East Balam branch and erased the surrounding city, while a power from the Astral World prevented the Evernight Goddess from drawing Suah into a dream.
• Suah transformed into a gigantic tree, used his subordinates to absorb the Lord of Storms’ lightning, and then struggled against the Evernight Goddess’s dream attack.
• A cyan-eyed presence seized control of Suah, chose a possibility of survival, and transported him inside a wooden coffin to ruins far away, where corruption left him demanding sacrifices.
• Klein found Cynthia’s cracked pendant, ordered a guard to investigate the Naturism Sect, and considered whether the starry vision he had seen represented the Astral World and the Primordial Moon.
• Klein learned that the Naturism Sect’s leader was a Sequence 8 Lunatic, ordered the guards to bring him in, and discovered that his contract with Admiral Amyrius had ended.

Klein interrogated Folate Ken and uncovered the Naturism Sect’s plot to corrupt Admiral Amyrius, along with a Rose School plan targeting Temperance Faction remnants. Folate’s revelation that the Mother Tree of Desire had acted on February 4 left Klein suspecting that its true target was whoever possessed Sefirah Castle.

• Klein learned that the Naturism Sect had used Cynthia and a Reproduction Necklace to try to corrupt Admiral Amyrius into serving the Mother Tree of Desire.
• Folate Ken received a revelation from Suah demanding living sacrifices, then revealed that the Rose School had found traces of Temperance Faction remnants in the Northern Continent.
• Folate Ken said the Mother Tree of Desire had instructed the plot in a dream on February 4, and identified the Naturism Sect as a Rose School branch led by his mentor, the saint Zatwen.
• Klein connected the sect’s ritual and a vagrant’s hair to the murder of Admiral Amyrius’s original double, then realized February 4 was the day he arrived on Oravi Island.
• Klein suspected the Mother Tree of Desire’s true target was him—or someone who possessed Sefirah Castle.

Edward continued corrupting Suah while discussing the Southern Continent’s unrest and the coming war with the True Creator. In Olavi, Klein concluded he could not safely remain disguised as Amyrius and used Spirit World teleportation to escape, planning to return to Bayam and pursue a way to the Gods' War Ruins.

• Edward kept invading Suah’s consciousness, then answered the True Creator’s report that the Numinous Episcopate had stationed troops in a Loen colonial city.
• Edward and the True Creator discussed how the unrest might upset the balance between the Northern and Southern Continents, and the True Creator refused to help the Numinous Episcopate.
• Klein considered why the Mother Tree of Desire wanted Sefirah Castle and decided he needed to leave Olavi before his impersonation of Amyrius was discovered.
• Klein divined that Spirit World teleportation could help him escape, then summoned the damaged Snake-Tailed Demigod with Azik's Copper Whistle.
• Klein disguised himself as Gehrman Sparrow, left a paper figurine impersonating Amyrius in the hotel, and escaped to an alley in Olavi.
• Klein headed to the Sweet Lemon bar to inform Bilt Brando that the contract had ended, then planned to return to Bayam and seek the Gods' War Ruins.

Medici discussed the looming war and the Iron and Blood Cross Order’s plan to attack any nation while avoiding a fixed allegiance. In Bayam, Klein reunited with Azik, learned how Parasites could be removed, and discovered that the damaged Copper Whistle would eventually destroy the spirits bound to it.

• Medici told Traynor that the Iron and Blood Cross Order would attack nations opportunistically and avoid taking sides, while explaining the Hunter apotheosis ritual required starting a continent-spanning war and winning.
• Klein returned to Bayam, considered hunting pirates under the Gehrman Sparrow identity, and met Azik at his hotel.
• Azik explained the two forms of Marauder-pathway parasitism and described how prayer could reveal and remove a Parasite in the host’s spirit.
• Klein concluded that Leonard might be fully controlled by a Parasite but postponed investigating until he could find suitable help.
• Azik tried to repair Klein’s cracked Copper Whistle and explained that if its spirituality ran out, the Whistle and all the spirits dependent on it would perish.

Klein read Roselle’s diary at a Tarot Club meeting and learned about the Antigonus Family Notebook, Zaratul, and the Twilight Hermit Order’s hatred of the True Creator. Meanwhile, Amon investigated identity-scrambling incidents in Stoen and decided he had to find and merge with the escaped fragment of his psyche before the Church discovered it.

• Azik sealed Klein’s damaged copper whistle, and Klein prepared for the Tarot Club meeting and considered asking the pirates how to reach the Gods’ War Ruins.
• Audrey, the Hermit, and Derrick presented new pages of Roselle’s diary and legends from the City of Silver.
• Klein read Roselle’s account of the Antigonus Family Notebook and realized Roselle had helped Zaratul steal it from the Church of the Artisan.
• Klein learned from Roselle’s diary that the Twilight Hermit Order opposed the True Creator because the Shepherd pathway could potentially devour and graze other gods.
• Amon’s library colleague told him about temporary work at the Hall family estate, but Amon recognized that the colleague was an impostor using someone else’s identity.
• Amon concluded that the escaped psyche fragment of the Amon he had killed was scrambling identities around Stoen, and he decided to find and merge with it before the Church intervened.

Audrey and Susie discovered that an unknown Beyonder power had distorted how people were perceived inside Hall Castle. Meanwhile, Amon was trapped in the northern district as he tried to track down the other Amon, and the chapter ended with Audrey questioning whether she was still herself.

• Audrey gave Susie the Psychiatrist potion ingredients, then mixed the potion herself after Susie admitted she could not use her paws.
• Amon waited in Stoen’s Municipal Library for the other Amon, then followed clues through the strangely quiet northern district.
• Amon discovered that the figure at an apartment window was a corpse, which exploded and left him surrounded by people with confused identities.
• Amon concluded that the other Amon might be at Hall Castle, but hesitated as crowds blocked his way and he doubted whether the clue was genuine.
• Audrey and Susie noticed that a supposed maid wore a man’s trench coat and left leather-shoe prints, revealing that their perception had been altered.
• Audrey spoke with her parents and then realized that her mother’s hair seemed different; Susie confirmed the discrepancy, prompting Audrey to ask whether she was still herself.

Audrey discovered that an unknown force was switching people’s identities in the Hall family castle and sent Susie to seek help from the Church of Storms. Meanwhile, Amon was blocked from reaching the estate district and surrendered to a Storm Bishop, offering to help retrieve his out-of-control Beyonder item.

• Audrey and Susie concluded that the castle’s victims had their identities switched rather than their memories or perceptions altered.
• Audrey disguised herself as Alfred and found that a maid still recognized her as Audrey, confirming her theory.
• Audrey decided to seek help without immediately relying on Mr. Fool and asked Susie to carry a letter to a Church of Storms priest.
• Amon struggled to advance through residents whose identities were in disarray, while resistance grew stronger near the northern estate district.
• After steam-powered vehicles blocked the street and a dark cloud appeared overhead, Amon removed his monocle and surrendered to the Storm Bishop, claiming his Beyonder item had been stolen.

Susie discovered that a Sealed Artifact was causing identity confusion and threatening Hall Castle, while Audrey realized that a false Hibbert was leading her toward a castle rearranged with mirrors. Amon and Bishop Lurmi learned from Susie’s note that the artifact was likely in the manor district, and Lurmi set out to investigate while asking Amon to protect the city.

• Susie saw five doctors sewing piles of rotting meat together beside a mirror and suspected a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact was behind the city’s abnormalities.
• Audrey heard an impostor using Hibbert’s identity outside her room, then followed him toward the balcony while servants carried mirrors through Hall Castle.
• Audrey noticed the mirrors were being arranged around the castle despite no such instructions having been given.
• Amon discussed his lost Sealed Artifact with Bishop Lurmi, explaining that it could deceive people and was preventing him from approaching the manor district.
• Lurmi read Audrey’s note from Susie’s bag, decided to contact the Church of Evernight and investigate Hall Castle, and asked Amon to protect the northern district.

Amon uncovered the corpse’s deception and tracked it through Susie, but the faceless creature confronted him in the silent city and demanded its life and identity back. At Hall Castle, Audrey escaped the mirror threat with help from a Storm Bishop, who offered to take her to safety while the Church of Evernight prepared to act.

• Lurmi persuaded Amon to help find a safe place for Stoen’s residents, and Amon discovered that the Golden Retriever was a Beyonder creature named Susie.
• Amon found a memory of the stitched corpse near a mirror and realized it had faked its death, escaped its vessel, and likely set a trap at Hall Castle.
• Amon used Susie’s scent to search the crowd, where silent footsteps and a rotting presence appeared before the corpse demanded its life and identity back.
• At Hall Castle, Audrey noticed the gathering darkness and left “Hibbert” to investigate the mirrors and the castle’s corridors.
• A Storm Bishop found Audrey, exposed her disguised face, and told her the Church of Evernight was preparing to act before offering to take her out.

Audrey and Bishop Lurmi rescued the Hall estate’s people from a Sealed Artifact’s influence, but the artifact itself was missing. Amon absorbed the artifact’s lingering spirit through deception and fled East Chester County, while Hibbert awoke from a nightmare that deepened his hatred of the East Borough.

• Audrey told Lurmi how she and Susie discovered the anomaly, and he praised them for helping save people at the estate.
• A bishop of Evernight’s poem put the affected crowd to sleep, and Lurmi used lightning to destroy the mirrors and free them from the trap.
• Amon deceived the spirit in the mirror into merging with him, absorbed its spiritual characteristics, and lifted the false identities he had imposed on the crowd.
• After the people fell asleep under the poem’s influence, Amon fled East Chester County and wondered whether his successful acting had earned him spiritual feedback.
• Hibbert woke beside Audrey, recalled a nightmare of living as a starving child in a slum, and felt renewed anger toward the East Borough.