Chapter Summaries

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The True Creator advanced in Laxia while the Aurora Order staged false descent rituals to distract the gods, but Edward used the curse on him to trap him in memories of the Betrayal Banquet. The True Creator repeatedly experienced the catastrophe and his helpless deaths, leaving him still caught in the illusion as the world collapsed again.

• Aurora Order members received the command to begin and prepared ten staged descent rituals to distract the gods during the True Creator’s advancement.
• The True Creator drew power from his original body and began advancing while Medici monitored Laxia and Edward watched nearby.
• Edward revealed that the True Creator was still under his curse, restrained Medici, and used curse conversion and memory retrieval to send the True Creator into an illusion.
• The True Creator found himself stripped of his Beyonder abilities and experienced a peaceful grassland destroyed by the catastrophe, dying alongside a lamb.
• The True Creator relived the Betrayal Banquet in different settings and repeatedly died while trying to flee, warn people, or save them.
• After countless deaths, the True Creator remained beneath a tree as the world collapsed again, lamenting that the experience was awful.

The Monarch of Decay made the True Creator relive the Eastern Continent’s catastrophe and question whether the millions sacrificed during the Betrayal Banquet had been necessary. The True Creator acknowledged his responsibility and accepted the dead’s memories and prayers, then began an ascent toward the altar as the chapter left his transformation underway.

• The Monarch of Decay showed the True Creator the deaths of the Eastern Continent’s people and asked how he regarded the sacrifices made during the Betrayal Banquet.
• The True Creator defended his past choice as necessary for his survival and the continuation of his civilization, but admitted that he had taken the victims’ deaths for granted and owed them remembrance and gratitude.
• The True Creator repeatedly tried to lead survivors to safety, and on his twelfth attempt a group of nine escaped the burning town before he collapsed and received their prayers and farewell.
• The Monarch of Decay gave the True Creator a bloodstained book containing the dead’s memories, and the True Creator took it as a burden he would no longer abandon.
• The True Creator climbed the altar with the souls’ help, then fell into its flames as shadows and chains gathered around the inverted cross.
• The book recorded the sacrifice as righteous, and the souls hailed the black-sun halo that appeared above the Inverted Cross.

Medici struggled to hold back the rising sea and the spreading flames around Laxia as a vast darkness descended across the world. In the Forsaken Land of the Gods, the True Creator appeared before the City of Silver, confessed responsibility for its people’s suffering, and promised that their salvation was coming.

• Medici waited for the sea to rise enough to use Reboot, but the sun vanished and a colossal, winged figure appeared in the darkness.
• Across the Southern Continent, lights and sound disappeared, while Edward finished a book about the Creator and anticipated the coming war.
• Uno raised a small area of dawn light around Mrs. Skold, and Derrick gathered survivors of the City of Silver within the light of purification.
• Stiffer arrived and bowed before the True Creator, who declared himself the Lord and told the people of the City of Silver that the sun had long since fallen.
• The True Creator confessed that the people’s suffering and deaths were his sins, released them from the need to believe in him, and promised that their redeemer was on the way.
• Stiffer mourned the dead who had sacrificed themselves for the Lord, and the long-delayed Requiem ritual carried away their sorrow.

Klein watched a Death Church agent pressure Richardson, then used the intruder to destroy the Black Skull Gang’s base. At the Tarot Club, Derrick described the True Creator’s changes to the Forsaken Land of the Gods, while Klein wondered whether the Creator intended him to rescue the City of Silver and become its people’s anchor; meanwhile, Aurora Order members began preparing for mandatory weekly confessions.

• Klein observed a Balamian intruder urge Richardson to serve the people of Death, then learned the man belonged to the Black Skull Gang, an organization subordinate to the Church of Death.
• Hazel knocked the intruder unconscious, and Klein turned him into a marionette that destroyed the Black Skull Gang’s base before Klein returned to bed.
• At the Tarot Club, Derrick told the members that the True Creator had removed the dangerous shadows that made people disappear in the Forsaken Land of the Gods, and that the City of Silver planned to expand its explorations.
• Klein recalled Roselle’s diary about anchors stabilizing angels and gods, then suspected the True Creator wanted him to rescue the City of Silver and have its people believe in him.
• In the Aurora Order, Mr. Z explained that the True Creator had ordered weekly confessions and reform of conduct, while Lewis Wien questioned whether he needed to repent for betraying the Abraham Family and decided to ask Botis.

Klein considered accepting Mr. X’s assassination task, while Edward and the True Creator discussed the Southern Continent war and the True Creator’s offer to send Medici to help. The chapter ended with Edward showing wanted notices linking Medici to the massive explosion in Backlund’s sewers.

• Fors told Xio that Mr. X’s gathering would take place Friday and that he was paying for information about people with abnormal luck.
• Klein divined the danger of assassinating Mr. X, then prayed to the Fool to negotiate payment and support if he took the task.
• A gas explosion shook southern Backlund, leaving Klein awake until morning and worried briefly about Hazel.
• Edward praised the True Creator’s recent advancement and asked him not to oppose Edward becoming a god.
• Edward described how the war and disrupted trade were worsening poverty and unrest in the Northern Continent, while the Aurora Order gained recruits.
• The True Creator agreed to send Medici to help the Balam Empire, and Edward showed wanted notices depicting Medici near the Backlund sewer explosion.

Medici wandered through Backlund after returning from the sewers, where he had caused an explosion, and learned that the True Creator planned to restore him while erasing the other two Conquerors. Meanwhile, Klein followed Walter into the sewers and discovered that Trissy had survived and was helping investigate Prince Edessak’s death.

• Medici recalled how the True Creator planned to reshape his body and restore his Sequence One power while weakening Einhorn and Sauron’s existence.
• Medici disguised himself, visited a cake shop, and returned with afternoon tea for the True Creator, who confronted him about the previous night’s sewer explosion.
• Klein used Seniol to follow Walter into the sewers after noticing that his butler had climbed out of the manor at night.
• Walter met a hidden woman and discussed their investigation into Prince Edessak’s death and their attempt to avenge him.
• Klein recognized the woman as Trissy, who had survived and was still working with Walter.

Mr. A joined the battle in East Balam as a newly advanced Black Knight and helped the Church of Death overwhelm the Loen army’s flank. Meanwhile, Klein infiltrated Mr. X’s gathering as Xio and arranged his assassination, but the Saint Tenebrous pursued him and drew the Church of Storms into the conflict.

• Trissy told the Admiral of Blood that she had sold her soul to the Primordial Demoness.
• Mr. A advanced to Black Knight, received the War Angel’s blessing, and went to East Balam to support the Church of Death.
• Mr. A used shadows and flesh magic to kill an Intis priest, allowing undead to attack the Loen army’s flank.
• Klein disguised himself as Xio, infiltrated Mr. X’s gathering, and took control of Mr. X’s Spirit Body Threads.
• Mr. X moved beside the short assassin as a tornado wrecked the gathering house, and the assassin shot him dead.
• The Saint Tenebrous attacked the fleeing assassin, who escaped through a door after summoning lightning; Redar Valentin then turned his attack on the Saint Tenebrous.

The True Creator arranged a possible meeting with Klein through the Outer Deity, while a Loen garrison escaped a doomed retreat using a mysterious oil lamp. On Primitive Island, Klein discovered a painting that suggested the Kings of Angels had betrayed and devoured the Ancient Sun God.

• Saint Tenebrous reported that the Aurora Order had failed to find the person who killed Lewis Wien, and the True Creator inspected the ruined crime scene with his gaze.
• The True Creator inferred that Klein might be connected to the murder and considered using it as a pretext to meet him; the Monarch of Decay offered to arrange an invitation to Dwayne Dantès’s dinner party through the Devil Family.
• As the Loen garrison retreated, the major general forced Johnson to cover the army’s escape and picked up a black oil lamp from his command tent.
• The oil lamp transported the major general and nearby soldiers from the plateau to the seaside, and the major general realized it might be a wish-granting Beyonder item.
• Klein and Alger reached a Burial Chamber on Primitive Island, where Klein saw a painting of three sinister figures dismembering the Ancient Sun God and a dark infant sitting in his opened torso.
• Klein identified the three figures as the Eternal Blazing Sun, the Lord of Storms, and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, and suspected that the Kings of Angels had betrayed and devoured the Ancient Sun God.

Klein hosted a banquet for Backlund’s wealthy and influential guests, including Milan Nois, while discovering that Will Auceptin was trying to keep him away from the washroom. The evening ended when a terrifying figure emerged from the shadows, only to be restrained by a familiar young man who revealed that this was their first true meeting.

• Klein reviewed the banquet guest list and learned about Baron Brem Muller and Milan Norafitus from Walter.
• At the Nois Family villa, Milan told the other devils he would attend Dwayne Dantès’s dinner alone, while the family’s factory owners discussed exploiting workers to advance their potions.
• Klein welcomed Aaron Ceres and his pregnant wife, Velma Gladys, whose unborn child was Will Auceptin, along with Bishop Elektra, Madam Mary, and other guests.
• Klein greeted Milan Nois at the banquet and noticed that Milan’s two carriages had left after he entered.
• When Velma touched her belly, several gentlemen hurried toward the washroom; Klein realized Will was preventing him from approaching it and changed direction.
• A shadowy figure nearly touched Klein before a young man with black streaks in his blond hair restrained it and told Klein they were meeting for the first time in the true sense.

The True Creator asked Klein to take Mr. X’s place in work concerning the Eastern Continent, and Klein agreed. Audrey investigated the history of the Southern Continent and confronted the moral questions raised by colonial violence, leaving resolved to gain enough strength to protect her family.

• Fors sneezed repeatedly while Xio warned her to rest and said she suspected the Aurora Order was secretly following her.
• The True Creator told Klein that his fate and Sefirah Castle were linked, then asked him to replace Mr. X in work concerning the Eastern Continent; Klein agreed.
• Hibbert found Audrey studying old books for the Loen Antiquities Collection and Preservation Foundation and recounted a massacre attributed to the Highlands Resistance Army.
• Audrey questioned Hibbert’s account and concluded that powerful members of the Indulgence Faction may have carried out the massacre using Beyonder abilities.
• Audrey prayed, considered how invasion and retaliation might force her to confront violence, and resolved to become strong enough to protect her family.
• Richard and Galan De prepared to travel through the Spirit World after arranging accommodations for the children.