Chapter Summaries

After the events in Stoen, Audrey reunited with Susie and learned what they had endured during the dream incident. In the City of Silver, Stiffer entered to protect the birth of the Angel of Fate, and the newborn’s arrival brought healing and renewed vitality to many residents.

• Audrey hid that she remembered her dream and used Psychological Analysis to realize Susie had hypnotized herself into becoming an ordinary dog.
• Audrey comforted Susie until she regained her ability to speak, and they exchanged accounts of the dangers they had faced.
• As the Skold child’s birth approached, Colin Iliad prepared to meet Stiffer, while Lovia asked him to remind the parents that any newborn deserved celebration.
• Stiffer came to the City of Silver’s wall and swore he would harm no resident and ensure the Angel of Fate’s safe birth; Colin allowed him to enter.
• After the birth, wounds healed and many adults regained youth and vitality, while Colin found the newborn resting peacefully in his father’s arms.

Stiffer collected some of Ouroboros’s umbilical cord blood and tried to take him from the City of Silver, but Ouroboros’s power made him leave the angel behind. The True Creator considered what Ouroboros might be waiting for, while Kisma met Richard Ernst to discuss high-yield wheat and strange unrest within the Rose School.

• Stiffer collected Ouroboros’s umbilical cord blood and used it to prevent the newborn’s spirituality from harming the City of Silver.
• After Ouroboros’s parents fell asleep, Stiffer tried to take him away, but Ouroboros’s power made Stiffer return him to the cradle twelve times.
• The True Creator accepted Ouroboros’s choice to stay and wondered whether an outer deity or another coming event explained it.
• Kisma visited Richard Ernst in the Southern Continent and learned that Richard’s improved wheat seeds had stabilized at a twenty-five percent yield increase.
• Richard warned Kisma that the Rose School was acting strangely, with conflicting factions making failed moves and Suah apparently withdrawing into seclusion.

Richard discussed Suah, Sharron, and the Great Smog with Saint Tenebrous, while Agalito finished mapping the Gods' War Ruins and encountered the Future. When Agalito recognized Klein aboard Cattleya's ship, he ordered his cannons to fire.

• Richard identified the blonde ghost reported in Backlund as Sharron and learned that the Churches might not have caused Suah's change.
• Richard told Saint Tenebrous he suspected the Augustus royal family had used civilians in the Great Smog, but said there was no decisive evidence to expose them.
• Agalito completed a map of the Eastern Continent's coastal Gods' War Ruins after dying seventeen or eighteen times, and the Death Announcer later encountered the Future.
• Klein and Frank Lee recognized the Death Announcer as Agalito's flagship, and both ships prepared for a possible fight as they passed each other.
• Agalito's gaze settled on Klein, who felt a sudden cardiac arrest, and Agalito ordered the Death Announcer's cannons to fire.

Agalito attacked Cattleya’s ship, the Future, while Bernadette secretly protected it and Klein fought off the Death Announcer’s assault. The ships collided, and Anderson joined the battle before Klein identified the Sealed Artifact controlling the puppets.

• Agalito ordered the Death Announcer to bombard the Future, but Bernadette secretly kept its starlight barrier standing.
• Agalito rammed the Future after his ravings incapacitated much of its crew, while Bernadette’s magic helped Cattleya reactivate the barrier just before impact.
• The Death Announcer’s crew boarded the Future and began fighting Cattleya’s crew as Agalito resisted a torrent of knowledge.
• Anderson escaped his odd jobs aboard the Death Announcer and joined the fight on the Future, then warned its crew that the attackers were puppets.
• Anderson pointed out the wooden Sealed Artifact, and Klein identified it as the center of the puppets’ Spirit Body Threads before introducing himself as Gehrman Sparrow.

Agalito and Edward manipulated Bernadette’s feelings about Roselle and took her to his final mausoleum on a hidden island in the Berserk Sea. There, Edward revealed Roselle was inside and played a song for him beneath the crimson moon.

• Agalito used Roselle’s infidelity and the demonesses to provoke Bernadette while the Future escaped into the Sea of the Gods' War.
• Edward revealed that he had planted the emotional seed in Bernadette and overlaid Agalito with his information, then seized her and took her toward Roselle’s last mausoleum.
• Edward led Bernadette through the Spirit World to a hidden island in the Berserk Sea, where she saw Roselle’s Four Horsemen and countless prostrate Beyonder Creatures.
• Bernadette followed a black road through forests of creatures and corpses until she reached Roselle’s enormous mausoleum.
• Edward played piano beside the mausoleum, said Roselle responded strongly to the piece, and pointed out the crimson full moon.

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.