Chapter Summaries

Klein traveled to Berens City through the Spirit World with Riel and met Traynor, who told him to enter from the east and pass along the Loen nobles’ ransom offer. As Klein crossed the city, he witnessed the brutal fighting and deaths of ordinary soldiers on both sides.

• Agalito entered Enmat Harbor and set out to follow the strange call drawing him onward.
• Riel recognized the Spirit World and high-sequence Prisoner auras around Klein, then carried Klein through the Spirit World to Traynor.
• Traynor examined the list of nobles willing to ransom captured relatives and directed Klein to enter Berens City from the east.
• Klein entered the city disguised as Dwayne Dantès and used his divination to find a safe route through the fighting.
• Klein passed through the battlefield, witnessing soldiers and Beyonders kill one another amid the fog and artillery.

Leonard’s team investigated the danger posed by Ince Zangwill and 0-08 while Dwayne Dantès used a staged delivery to learn that Loen soldiers could escape through Berens’s east. Klein delivered supplies to Alfred Hall, then received warnings that Ince Zangwill and the Devil-pathway King of Immortality were approaching Enmat Harbor, leaving him weighing how to respond.

• Soest ordered the Red Gloves to alert the Holy Cathedral, investigate Ince Zangwill, and report every coincidence, while Leonard wondered whether the dead could evade 0-08’s perception.
• Dwayne Dantès convinced Alfred Hall that he had brought supplies and discovered that Loen nobles were being offered a route through Berens’s east; Alfred ordered his subordinates to keep the information secret.
• Klein led Alfred to a warehouse of supplies, where Alfred found letters from his family, and then left with Leonard’s warning that Ince Zangwill might be near Enmat Harbor.
• Reinette Tinekerr told Klein she could not enter Calderón, and Klein considered the risks of investigating Ince Zangwill because 0-08 could notice him.
• Cattleya reported that Agalito, the Devil-pathway King of Immortality, was approaching Enmat Harbor, prompting Klein to suspect a Devil-related presence there and prepare to answer the Hanged Man’s deferred prayer.

Klein learned from Red Light how Calderón City had changed and chose the Tyrant Card of Blasphemy to prepare for hunting Spirit World Plunderers there. Meanwhile, Edward discussed death and the gods’ Kingdoms of God with the True Creator before a card’s convergence drew him toward the Southeastern Coastal Region.

• Klein summoned Red Light and learned that Calderón City had become a city-state of Spirit World Creatures and undead under the returning Underworld Emperor, making its outer layers more dangerous.
• Klein returned to Sefirah Castle, chose the Tyrant Card of Blasphemy, and merged it into his soul to strengthen himself for exploring Calderón City.
• Edward discussed Requiem Rituals, the fate of souls, and the gods’ Kingdoms of God with the True Creator.
• Edward sensed prayers and reports about a Card of Blasphemy in the Southeastern Coastal Region and realized that its connection to him was drawing him there.
• Edward entered the Spirit World to pursue the card, while the True Creator watched him and prepared to intervene if needed.

Edward encountered Leonard Mitchell in Enmat Harbor and challenged his anger over the Tingen deaths while tempting him to doubt the Evernight Church. Leonard rejected Edward’s claims but left shaken, and Pallez quietly mocked his insistence that he would avoid Devils.

• Edward entered Enmat Harbor, suspected Adam was using the Devil Card as bait, and considered waiting for its holder while looking for someone to eat.
• Leonard recognized Edward and confronted him about the 4,351 people killed in Tingen, but Edward questioned whether Leonard had cared about the victims before their deaths.
• Edward told Leonard that the Evernight Goddess had arranged for 0-08 to be released and claimed the Church’s pursuit of it had cost lives; Leonard angrily refused to believe him.
• Edward argued that the Seven Gods had also caused human suffering and suggested they feared the people of the previous epoch, leaving Leonard doubting his convictions before walking away.
• Leonard told Pallez that Edward’s rhetoric was terrifying and vowed to avoid Devils, while Pallez quietly sneered at his self-reassurance.

Klein hunted a Spirit World Plunderer in Calderón City, escaping a deadly encounter with Death and returning with its spiritual materials. After learning that Ince Zangwill and Edward Vaughan were both in Enmat Harbor, he prioritized revenge and traveled there to help Leonard.

• Dunn questioned Prince Grove’s weak resistance in Berens and warned Traynor that Grove might possess a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact.
• Ms. D received Klein’s requested items and offered him two charms that could temporarily borrow strength from his past self.
• Klein entered Calderón City, hunted the Spirit World Plunderer, and used the Sea God Scepter and Azik’s Copper Whistle to defeat it before Death appeared and seized the whistle.
• Klein escaped to Sefirah Castle, then received Leonard’s warning that Ince Zangwill and Edward Vaughan were both in Enmat Harbor.
• Klein confirmed a deal with Will, collected his plans to obtain two potion ingredients from Saint Tenebrous, and traveled to Enmat Harbor to help Leonard confront the danger.

Leonard and Daly discussed how 0-08 might anticipate their investigation while Klein entered Enmat Harbor searching for Edward Vaughan. Edward drew a crowd with a piano performance, but Ince Zangwill arrived and the Evernight Goddess intervened, leaving Edward cut apart as the True Creator confronted Adam over his attempt to kill him.

• Leonard told Daly that 0-08 might know the Red Gloves were pursuing Ince Zangwill and could use coincidences to evade them.
• Klein entered Enmat Harbor, avoided divining for Ince Zangwill, and followed the sound of a familiar song toward the city garden.
• Edward repaired a public piano and entertained a crowd, then played “Mass of the Gear” while recounting his musical past to the True Creator.
• Ince Zangwill approached the garden with 0-08, killing people nearby as the crowd continued listening to Edward play.
• The Evernight Goddess appeared through 0-17 and transformed the garden, prompting the True Creator to confront Adam over his claim that Edward was an Outer Deity’s follower.
• The True Creator saw invisible blades cut apart the piano and Edward Vaughan.

Klein’s plan to kill Ince Zangwill ended in a battle that claimed Ince and Edward Vaughan, while Daly sacrificed herself to save Leonard. The Monarch of Decay seized Adam and the Devil Card, revealed himself as the new Sequence 0 Abyss, and brought the sunken continent back to the surface.

• Klein alerted the Church of Evernight to Ince Zangwill and Edward Vaughan, then used the Calamity Domain Charm to strike Ince as Leonard and Daly rushed to the garden.
• Adam appeared, Edward Vaughan was destroyed, and the Mother of Heaven awakened and vanished after an Outer Deity spoke to her.
• Ince Zangwill tried to escape through the Spirit World, so Daly drank the Spirit Blossom and Leonard used the Fool’s power and a Fortune Thief charm to help kill him.
• Adam claimed 0-08 and began narrating the battle, but the Monarch of Decay interrupted, restored Daly, dragged Klein into the shadow world, and trapped Adam in his Kingdom of God.
• The Monarch of Decay summoned the sunken continent known as the Abyss and took the Devil Card and 0-08; the card showed Edward Vaughan as Sequence 0: Abyss.

The Abyss descended as the Outer Deity corrupted the world, drove people into violent madness, and began building a Kingdom of God. Klein advanced to Sequence 4 with the True Creator watching, who still urged him to claim a god’s seat and keep Sefirah Castle for now.

• The Outer Deity drowned coastal regions in a red tide, corrupted Farbauti, and invoked an ancient song that plunged the world into darkness and mass emotional riots.
• Prince Grove wished for his enemies in Berens City to die, while Audrey recognized the riots as a mass emotional outbreak and tried to restrain the Hall household’s servants.
• The Outer Deity declared that sin and malice would rule the Abyss, then challenged the fledgling gods to fight him as a Starry Sky Plunderer.
• Klein awoke beside the True Creator and drank the potion ingredients, enduring the fragmentation of his identity before reclaiming his sense of self as a Bizarro Sorcerer.
• The True Creator urged Klein to take a god’s seat and said he still needed Sefirah Castle until the plan to save the City of Silver was complete.

Leonard escaped the blood-red sea with Daly and confronted his hatred of the Church’s sacrifices, while the True Creator negotiated with the Monarch of Decay to help him regain control of the Chaos Sea and protect humanity. The Monarch of Decay rose as the Devil god and attacked the Eternal Blazing Sun, as chaos spread through Intis and Backlund and Traynor awoke from a disturbing dream.

• Leonard carried the unconscious Daly to an abandoned garden outside Backlund as blood-red seawater flooded the city, then broke down in tears over the Church’s tacitly permitted sacrifices.
• The True Creator secured the Eternal Blazing Sun’s Sequence One characteristics and Uniqueness from the Monarch of Decay, then asked him to assist in the return of God Almighty by witnessing his attempt to control the Chaos Sea.
• The True Creator bargained with the Monarch of Decay to spare Intis’s people and give him the Demoness of Despair, while declaring that he would protect Klein regardless of Sefirah Castle.
• The Monarch of Decay became the Devil god, unleashed hell’s fires, and turned the Eternal Blazing Sun, the God of Steam and Machinery, and the God of Combat against one another before attacking the Sun.
• Ms. D escaped the heat destroying her mansion and learned from Saint Tenebrous that the Lord was reclaiming His authority, while Audrey watched a mixed-race prisoner kill herself after a failed attempt to attack her.
• Traynor woke from a dream about an absurdly violent scheme to swindle and punish people, then went back to sleep.

The Devil and the True Creator defeated the Eternal Blazing Sun, ending the apocalypse as the Devil gave a curtain call before the gods. Afterward, the True Creator began restoring order in Intis and told Edward that he intended to break Beyonder secrecy, while Edward left to visit a cake shop.

• The Devil and the True Creator exploited the Eternal Blazing Sun’s isolation, and the Devil tore him apart and took the Uniqueness.
• The Devil’s Kingdom of God sank into the Spirit World, ending the spread of sin and the apocalypse.
• Edward Vaughan watched the Devil’s curtain call as sunlight returned and the gods looked on.
• The True Creator extinguished the flames in Trier and began receiving prayers in the Eternal Blazing Sun’s place.
• The True Creator told Edward that he intended to break Beyonder secrecy, and Edward left to visit a cake shop.

Leonard questioned whether Ince Zangwill had been a pawn and resolved to seek answers from Klein, while Klein discovered four empty cocoons above the gray fog. As war broke out between Feysac and Loen, Edward met with the True Creator and Medici to discuss the expected reactions of the gods and the Southern Continent.

• Daly sensed Leonard's confusion, and Leonard wondered if an unknown High-Sequence Beyonder had used Ince Zangwill to orchestrate the events around 0-08.
• Leonard puzzled over Klein Moretti's apparent resurrection, rapid advancement, and ties to the Aurora Order, then decided he had to ask Klein for the truth.
• Klein returned to the Aurora Order's base in Backlund, climbed the newly formed steps above the gray fog, and found four empty cocoons hanging from a luminous door.
• Cattleya learned from The World that Agalito was dead, then listened as Frank presented his improved mushrooms.
• Edward visited a cake shop in Intis, carried the desserts away, and met Bornova at the Cathedral of Light.
• Edward joined the True Creator and Medici, who discussed Feysac's declaration of war on Loen and asked about the Southern Continent's position; Edward said Death had asked whom they supported.

Traynor learned that the True Creator had become a god after the Eternal Blazing Sun died, with Traynor’s father helping kill him, while a wave of global violence and political upheaval spread. In Trier, the True Creator weighed possible divine allies and declared that Intis would support Loen unless the Evernight Goddess paid him for his help.

• Richard woke Traynor and explained that the True Creator had replaced the Eternal Blazing Sun as a god of Intis, making the Aurora Order legitimate and potentially changing the status of the Highlands Colony.
• Richard told Traynor that the Eternal Blazing Sun had died in a war between gods and that Traynor’s father had become the Devil Pathway’s True God and helped the True Creator kill him.
• Richard described a worldwide eruption of malice, sudden deaths and violence in Berens City, a possible assassination of a prince, and Feysac’s declaration of war on Loen.
• Police officers investigated a ritualistic murder in Backlund as reporters questioned them about a surge of riots, murders, cult activity, and mysterious incidents.
• Edward asked the True Creator to assess possible divine allies, and the True Creator judged the God of Combat, Death, and the Evernight Goddess as potential choices with different flaws and advantages.
• The True Creator said Intis would support Loen after the Evernight Goddess gave him a price for helping her, and warned that she would die if she refused.

The world’s darkness lifted as sunlight reached the City of Silver, while Klein reflected on the transmigrators and his connection to Sefirah Castle. The next day, he returned to Backlund with a new Aurora Order assignment and learned that Feysac had declared war on Loen, citing the Great Smog and the Augustus Family’s crimes.

• Sunlight swept across the world, and Derrick Berg and the Angel of the Holy Word reacted to the dawn while a black curtain concealed the enormous wolf.
• Edward Vaughan suggested that the True Creator stop backing a Great Old One and let Earth’s powers remain in their stalemate.
• Audrey struggled with her guilt and fear after the mixed-race maid’s death, questioning how she would respond if her family faced similar accusations again.
• Klein considered why the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings had selected transmigrators and how they might be connected to Sefirah Castle.
• Klein collected Ms. D’s papers and Frank Lee’s food-order instructions from the Aurora Order, then agreed to gather intelligence in Backlund.
• Klein read Feysac’s reports accusing the Loen royal family of causing the Great Smog and declaring war on Loen.

Klein quietly watched Melissa at university and learned that war had begun between Loen and Feysac, while Dunn recounted a devastating battle in Berens City. At the Tarot Club, the members learned that the True Creator had seized the Sun’s authority, and the Fool revealed that Adam had missed his chance at godhood as the Creator began reclaiming His radiance.

• Klein read news of clashes between Loen and Feysac, decided to warn people he knew to stock up on food, and visited Backlund Technical University to see Melissa from afar.
• In Berens City, Dunn told Traynor and Richard that George III had used strange decrees to force Loen and Feysac soldiers to obey and kill one another until Dunn threw a charm at Prince Grove.
• Klein began the Tarot Club gathering, where Leonard joined as the Star and Cattleya asked the World and Leonard for details about the events of June 30.
• The World and Leonard explained that the True Creator had defeated the Eternal Blazing Sun and taken the Sun’s authority, while Ince Zangwill’s death and the arrival of a Devil angel had led to the destruction of Enmat Harbor and nearby coastal cities.
• The Fool told the Tarot Club that Adam had missed his chance at godhood and that the Creator had taken the first step toward reclaiming His radiance, leaving Leonard troubled by the priest who had picked up 0-08.

At the Tarot Club, Klein revealed that Adam had failed to obtain 0-08 and confirmed that the Devil Pathway had produced a new god, Abyss, shifting the world’s balance. After the gathering, Klein found Pritz Harbor sealed off and observed the recovery of a wrecked ship whose crew had apparently gone mad and killed one another.

• Klein told the Tarot Club that Adam was the Ancient Sun God’s child, a King of Angels, and had failed to obtain 0-08; Leonard realized Adam had been waiting for the artifact.
• Leonard warned the members not to remember Edward Vaughan’s name or appearance, while Klein revealed that he had helped bring about Ince Zangwill’s death and advanced to Sequence 4.
• Klein announced that Abyss had descended upon the earth, and Audrey identified Abyss as Sequence 0 of the Devil Pathway; the Fool’s response confirmed that a new god had been born and the world’s balance had shifted.
• The Tarot Club members considered the consequences of the True Creator’s rise and the coming return of the gods before the gathering ended.
• Klein found Pritz Harbor cordoned off and used Sefirah Castle to observe a wrecked ship being unloaded, where soldiers recovered injured and dead people and sealed away a golden object.
• Klein detoured to another wharf and boarded a ship after the damaged vessel was destroyed and sunk.

Leonard questioned Pallez about 0-08, while Audrey learned from Alfred’s bloodstained letter that her brother had died after enduring a brutal military campaign. In a dream, Leonard asked Klein about faith and divine bargains, and Klein’s explanation of faith as an anchor left Leonard deeply unsettled.

• Leonard returned and asked Pallez whether Ince Zangwill had carried 0-08 to a particular customer and whether it had been meant for an unnamed angel.
• Audrey returned to the Hall family mansion, where her parents and Hibbert told her that Alfred had died after a battle and a pirate attack in Berens.
• Audrey read Alfred’s bloodstained letter, which described the army’s suffering, a failed chance to escape, and his inability to return home.
• Leonard visited Klein in a dream and asked whether he would continue believing in the Fool if the god’s actions caused catastrophe for believers.
• Klein told Leonard that gods spread faith because believers serve as anchors that stabilize them, leaving Leonard stunned and disturbed.

Leonard questioned Pallez about the Fool, anchors, and the gods’ motives, while Klein returned from Berens and gave Earl Hall his son’s badge. Meanwhile, the True Creator and Edward arranged Intis’s religious transition and public order before Edward departed for the war in Feysac.

• Leonard asked Pallez whether gods spread their faith to stabilize themselves and voiced doubts about the relationship between Klein and the Fool.
• Klein met Councilman Macht at the Retired Officers’ Club and acknowledged his responsibility for misjudging the danger in Berens.
• Klein gave Earl Hall his son’s officer’s badge and offered condolences for the young man’s death.
• Edward used 0-08 to record Intis’s political neutrality and transition to the True Creator’s church, while the True Creator assigned the Iron and Blood Cross Order to draft rules for Beyonder abilities.
• Edward rejected a role maintaining public order, agreed to help Intis within the bounds of his interests, and left for Feysac to pursue death and sin.

Ileana and Clovis planned how the Montemar Family could gain influence through the Church and military as Intis’s political order shifted. In Backlund, Klein faced grieving nobles after the Southern Continent campaign and recognized that Loen’s social divisions and economic troubles were worsening as the Great War expanded.

• Ileana met Clovis before her advancement ritual, and he warned her about the risks of becoming an assistant priest while discussing a duke’s marriage proposal.
• Ileana and Clovis agreed to preserve the appearance of conflict over her marriage while pursuing influence in the Church and parliament; Clovis planned to join the Iron and Blood Cross Order.
• Clovis told Ileana that Feysac’s conflict with Loen in the Amanda Mountains might expand through the Sonia Sea, and that Loen relatives were seeking refuge with the Montemar Family.
• At the Retired Officers’ Club, a grieving baron challenged Dwayne Dantès for failing to bring his son back from Berens, while other nobles mocked one another over their missing or dead children.
• Colonel Galvin thanked Klein for helping his second son survive as a prisoner and offered to preserve the connections of other families he had assisted.
• Klein concluded that the nobility’s cohesion and loyalty were weakening, observed signs of unemployment and rising prices, and recognized that the Great War was unfolding.

Derrick saw the City of Silver embracing sunlight and the Fool’s mushrooms as he brought a precious picture book to the Six-Member Council. In Trier, a new church notice about good and evil unsettled readers, while Meisi split from his companions and continued toward a life of hired violence.

• Derrick enjoyed the City of Silver’s new sunlight and carried Mr. World’s picture book toward the Round Tower to present it to the Six-Member Council.
• The Fool’s church distributed mushrooms that purified contaminated meat and treated corruption, drawing growing interest and support from the City of Silver’s residents.
• In Trier, people debated a church notice declaring that good deeds, not faith alone, determined whether the dead went to Heaven or the Abyss.
• Meisi advised the Savant girl to register with the church, then parted from her and Dido to seek work as a hired killer.
• Meisi recalled traveling with Hilda and witnessing her massacre the ship’s crew before she left as a Wraith.
• A gentleman with a blood-red ruby on his cane criticized the notice’s description of the Abyss and walked away.

Feysac forces broke through the defenses in the Amanda Mountains, while the Church of Evernight struggled to protect nearby towns and the City of Serenity. In Backlund, Klein attended the Macht household and then summoned Leonard to discuss new traces of Amon, with Pallez warning that confronting Amon required concealment.

• Arnold helped burn the shelter after Feysac soldiers slaughtered its occupants, then remembered hearing that the army planned to use airships to open a new route.
• The archbishop learned that Stars Town had fallen and that a Feysac vanguard was advancing; he decided to stop it before aid could arrive.
• The archbishop gave the orphaned infant to Vincent to adopt, and Vincent agreed to fight alongside him.
• Klein arrived at Councilman Macht's home and asked whether Hazel was there after exchanging greetings and discussing his gift.
• Leonard received Klein's prayer about Amon's new traces in Backlund, and Pallez warned that Amon could not be confronted without protection from concealment.
• Leonard prayed to Klein that he was ready to meet, and a crimson tide engulfed him.