Chapter Summaries

As a tsunami devastated Intis, Hilland sacrificed himself to power the Church of Steam and Machinery’s giant sacred body, which raised a barrier to hold back the waves. Meanwhile, the God of Steam and Machinery remained occupied suppressing Cheek until the Fool appeared in the mental battlefield, startling Medici and the Primordial Demoness.

• Hilland learned from Bornova Gustav that the tsunami had submerged the lands north of the Hornacis Mountain Range and chose to protect Intis and the Lord’s believers.
• Bornova stayed behind to repair the failing alchemical embankment while Hilland entered the giant’s furnace core and sacrificed his body to ignite it.
• Hilland struggled to control the god-sized body and raised its right arm, creating a powerful silver-white wall that blocked the waves.
• The God of Steam and Machinery held back from aiding Tylis because Cheek stirred within him, while Medici fought her in the mental world.
• Cheek taunted Medici about his strength and past achievements, but the Fool appeared through the gray fog and placed a Crystal-Ground Monocle over its right eye.

The Seven Lights questioned the Hidden Sage about Gregrace and the sealed Western Continent while sharing what they knew about the Spirit World. The divine battle ended when Cheek escaped, leaving Medici to help Steam protect Intis and Klein to realize his Bizarro Sorcerer potion had been digested.

• The Seven Lights told the Hidden Sage that Gregrace’s attempted resurrection involved the River of Eternal Darkness and that she had combined the Corpse Collector and Door pathways.
• The Hidden Sage described the Western Continent’s people, language, and organizations, prompting the Seven Lights to debate the origins of Ancient Elvish.
• Cheek broke free from the God of Steam and Machinery’s restraints and fled through the Astral World, ending the battle without a decisive victory.
• Medici told the God of Steam and Machinery to support the old snake while he stayed behind to protect Intis, which was flooded across a fifth of its territory.
• Klein sat above Sefirah Castle and realized he could drink another ten bottles of the Bizarro Sorcerer potion.

Amon watched the gods’ battles from the Northern Continent while Klein returned from Sefirah Castle to dinner in a shelter. Klein realized that impersonating Amon had frightened the Primordial Demoness and instantly digested his potion, then wondered whether the True Creator was guiding him toward becoming the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings.

• Amon watched Leodero’s battle and the continuing fight between Salinger and the God of Combat, while avoiding the dangerous territory controlled by Leodero.
• Amon sensed that someone had impersonated him and could not influence that person, then looked toward the Loen Kingdom before continuing his walk.
• The Primordial Demoness realized that someone had found Sefirah Castle and that the Lord of the Mysteries was nearing birth, so she considered finding and eliminating that person.
• Klein woke in the shelter, arranged a simple dinner, and reflected on his memories of home and his curiosity about the Republican Era world.
• Klein concluded that impersonating Amon had scared Cheek and fully digested his Bizarro Sorcerer potion, then wondered whether the True Creator intended him to become the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings.

Klein realized that Sefirah Castle might be the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings, and that he could be a vessel for its revival. After confronting the possibility that his fate was already arranged, he chose to pursue power so he could protect others and change the world.

• Klein connected the True Creator’s guidance, Amon’s fear of death, and Sefirah Castle to a plan for him to become or replace the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings.
• While eating dinner, Klein reasoned that Sefirah Castle might itself be the sleeping Celestial Worthy and that its souls could be His avatars or marionettes.
• Klein feared that his Seer pathway had made him the most suitable vessel for the Celestial Worthy, but rejected the idea of transferring that danger to someone else.
• Klein weighed his isolation and the eventual loss of his loved ones against the chance to protect people from injustice and suffering.
• Klein decided to pursue power and set foot on the path ahead, regardless of whether the Creator had anticipated his choice.

Klein planned to challenge Zaratul for a Sequence One characteristic and considered which angels might help him. He left the shelter to contact Saint Tenebrous, then discovered that a divine strike had flattened part of Empress Borough and sent out a desperate summons.

• Klein identified Zaratul as a future enemy and considered Will Auceptin, Ouroboros, and Medici as possible allies, deciding to investigate Medici and the Hunter pathway's Uniqueness and Sequence One characteristics.
• Klein left the shelter alone, refusing Richardson and Walter's offers to accompany him so he could contact Saint Tenebrous privately.
• Klein emerged onto Böklund Street and saw that much of Empress Borough had been flattened, realizing a god had struck the area directly.
• Klein used a charm to contact Saint Tenebrous, and pieces of flesh fell from his arm to form the message, "Is anyone there?! Come help!"

Klein learned that the Churches of Storms and Evernight had cornered Saint Tenebrous and prepared to rescue him without confronting the bishops directly. Leodero stabilized his dual-pathway power and resolved to stop waiting as Adam’s plan to become a god threatened the existing balance.

• Klein received Saint Tenebrous’s distressing report and learned that two archbishops were attacking the Aurora Order’s base.
• Klein decided to rescue Saint Tenebrous and considered how to evade the two archbishops, then summoned his messenger to help prepare.
• Leodero brought his uncontrolled Omniscience under control and realized that Adam was preparing a war across the Northern Continent.
• Leodero regretted delaying his pursuit of greater power and concluded that he might have to launch a War of the Gods before Adam broke the balance.
• Leodero observed the conflicts involving Death, the God of Combat, and the Hidden Sage, but chose not to interfere or unleash a tsunami on the Eastern Continent.

Bornova watched the God of Steam and Machinery save Intis from the tsunami, while Medici assessed the worsening divine war. In Backlund, Klein hired Reinette Tinekerr to rescue Saint Tenebrous, then encountered Traynor just as the messenger returned with a bloody arrival.

• Bornova prepared to sacrifice himself to protect Trier, but the God of Steam and Machinery raised immense walls around Intis and drained the floodwaters, leaving Bornova and the survivors to praise their god.
• Medici saw the walls shelter Intis, concluded that the divine war had become more dangerous, and rejected an attempt to turn him against an ally.
• Reinette Tinekerr told Klein that the God of Combat, Death, and the God of Steam and Machinery were fighting, then agreed to discreetly retrieve Saint Tenebrous for three thousand gold pounds.
• Klein gave Reinette the location of Saint Tenebrous, who was trapped in a Mythical Creature Form, and waited in hiding while she went to rescue him.
• Traynor encountered Klein and said the destruction of Empress Borough had resulted from corruption being cleared away; Reinette then returned and dropped a bloody lump into the street as Traynor turned to face her.

Klein rescued Saint Tenebrous from the captured Factory District stronghold, while Reinette Tinekerr warned him to be careful of Traynor. Traynor then confronted a hostile figure connected to Richard Ernst and invoked his status as the True Creator’s son to discourage an attack.

• Traynor recognized Reinette Tinekerr as a powerful, apparently incomplete Angel and left the scene after helping stabilize Saint Tenebrous with a Mind Link.
• Saint Tenebrous recovered his body and agreed to pay Klein three thousand pounds, though the enemy churches had seized the stronghold’s assets.
• Saint Tenebrous said the other people at the stronghold had died protecting him, then planned to retrieve scattered assets and head to the Safe House.
• Klein decided to return to the shelter, and Reinette Tinekerr warned him to be careful of the red-haired boy.
• Traynor sensed a hostile presence and confronted it, claiming his Aurora Order ties and warning that harming him would displease his father, the True Creator.

Traynor waited in Intis under shelter orders as attacks threatened the city, while learning that his father had traveled with the True Creator to the Forsaken Land of the Gods. At the Chaos Sea, Edward questioned God Almighty about the looming deaths of gods and the fate of Medici, and God Almighty considered baptizing Klein Moretti.

• Traynor identified Reinette Tinekerr as a weakened enemy of Richard and chose to stay on a bench rather than flee under the shelter decree.
• Saint Tenebrous asked how he could repent for failing the Lord’s command, but Traynor told him Intis was under attack and advised him to wait or act alone.
• Traynor learned that his father and the True Creator were traveling to the Sanctuary, which he recognized as the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
• Edward spoke to God Almighty through a stick figure in his notebook and discussed the coming deaths of Death and the God of Steam and Machinery, as well as the God of Combat’s plans.
• God Almighty stated that Medici would not die and considered whether to baptize Klein Moretti.

Edward questioned God Almighty about his plans for Klein, the Celestial Worthy's contingencies, and Intis, while Leodero’s assault devastated the country. The God of Steam and Machinery was struck down, and an unknown voice offered to take his place if he surrendered everything.

• Edward learned that God Almighty anticipated Klein rejecting his role as the Celestial Worthy's successor and becoming a believer, and that he expected the candidates to destroy one another.
• God Almighty explained that attacking the candidates could awaken the Celestial Worthy, then said he would not protect Intis and that Medici would be fine.
• Leodero unleashed his power over Intis, suppressing the Sun's angels, plunging the country into darkness, and attacking the God of Steam and Machinery.
• Ileana urged the Cathedral of Light's priests to flee and save the children, and the Chief Priest led them toward the orphanage and Foundling Home.
• Leodero's strike destroyed the God of Steam and Machinery's Core and left him disintegrating, until an unfamiliar voice offered to protect Intis in exchange for everything he had.

The God of Steam and Machinery willingly died and let the Hidden Sage absorb him in exchange for protection for Intis and his believers. The Hidden Sage became the Knowledge Moor, restored the flood’s victims and reshaped Intis, then confronted Leodero and asked him to end the conflict.

• Bornova and the Workshop’s artisans watched the God of Steam and Machinery die as meteors fell from the sky.
• Hilland ordered the Workshop sealed and prepared it to shelter residents and children from the flood.
• The God of Steam and Machinery discussed his beliefs and the future with the Hidden Sage, then accepted his death and clasped hands with him.
• A tsunami flooded Intis, but the Knowledge Moor turned the water and submerged people into data, restored the survivors, and reshaped the land into mountains and rivers.
• The Knowledge Moor asked Leodero to end the conflict, explaining that he had promised to protect the God of Steam and Machinery’s country and believers.

The Hidden Sage ascended as the Demon of Knowledge, ending the immediate threat of the War of the Gods and bringing sunlight back after Intis’s devastation. He proposed peace to the Lord of Storms, then departed for the great workshop outside Trier while Klein watched the barrier vanish in Backlund.

• The God of Combat hesitated to kill the weakened Death after the Hidden Sage’s ascension, and Salinger escaped into Calderón to recover.
• The Demon of Knowledge restored the Spirit World’s sky and surveyed the world, judging that mysticism had returned and that technology remained stunted and polluted.
• The Demon of Knowledge learned that the God of Steam and Machinery had left Roselle’s Creative Manuscript at a workshop outside Trier and set out to find it.
• The Demon of Knowledge told the Lord of Storms that they would eventually face a war of convergence, but proposed making peace for now.
• The clouds parted and sunlight returned as the Demon of Knowledge vanished toward Trier; Klein saw the barrier disappear over Backlund.

Klein wrote to Mr. Azik about Backlund’s recovery and his plans to advance to Sequence 3, while persuading Saint Tenebrous to help him obtain the formula and ingredients. At an afternoon tea gathering, Klein learned that George III would display miraculous power to repair Backlund, and he suspected Zaratul was involved.

• Klein gave Saint Tenebrous valuables for Miss Messenger and learned the Aurora Order had reestablished contact with its members in Intis.
• Klein persuaded Saint Tenebrous to let him remain in Backlund as an informant, then revealed that he had finished digesting his Sequence 4 potion and wanted to advance to Sequence 3.
• Klein wrote Mr. Azik about his life in Backlund, Meager Manor, Major General Qonas Kilgor, and his plans to become a Scholar of Yore, then sent the letter with Reinette Tinekerr.
• Saint Tenebrous gave Klein a Secrets Suppliant communication charm before leaving for another safe house.
• At the East Balam Veteran Officers Club, Councilman Macht told Klein that George III would demonstrate power to repair Backlund at the victims’ memorial ceremony.
• Klein wondered how such a feat could be done and suspected Zaratul was in Backlund.

Klein learned that George III planned to hold a public ceremony in ten days and resolved to stop his apotheosis, while preparing to advance and recruit allies. On the way back to Intis, Medici learned that Saint Tenebrous was seeking a Sequence 3 Seer potion formula and offered to help, suspecting the Seer was a Blessed of the Fool.

• Klein worried that Zaratul might be in Backlund and decided to avoid Loen when advancing to Sequence 3.
• Klein learned from Councilman Macht that George III’s public ceremony was tentatively scheduled for ten days later and renewed his resolve to stop the king.
• Medici and Traynor discussed the losses from the War of the Gods, including the deaths of the God of Steam and Machinery and many people in Intis.
• Saint Tenebrous contacted Traynor to ask for the Seer pathway’s Sequence 3 formula and ritual requirements.
• Medici concluded that the rapidly advancing Seer was likely a Blessed of the Fool and said he would help obtain the formula.

Danitz confirmed Alger Wilson’s identity with the Fool and received a divine revelation ordering them to rebuild the Sea God Church, with Alger in charge of its affairs. In Backlund, Earl Hall told his family he planned to send Hibbert to Intis while the rest stayed in Loen, dividing their assets and family prospects between the two countries.

• Danitz recognized Alger Wilson as a believer of the Fool, heard his account of escaping the Church of Storms, and went to pray for confirmation and instructions.
• The Fool ordered Danitz and Alger to help the Resistance Army rebuild the Sea God Church to the standards of an Orthodox Church, and placed Alger in charge of its affairs.
• Danitz and Alger discussed concealing Alger’s identity, establishing the church, and compiling a Holy Bible based on the Ten Commandments.
• Earl Hall told Audrey and his family that he intended to send Hibbert to Intis to inherit a noble title while the rest of them remained in Loen.

Audrey struggled with her family’s plan to send Hibbert to Intis and confided her feelings to Tolzna, who suggested her desires might be amplified by the Prisoner pathway. After learning of Miss Escalante’s death, Audrey suspected turmoil within the Psychology Alchemists and planned to accept Hvin Rambis’s Dreamwalker formula while pretending to remain hypnotized.

• Earl Hall told Audrey that Hibbert would go to Intis to inherit a title, while Audrey and her parents stayed in Loen.
• Audrey performed a ritual and spoke with Tolzna, admitting she wanted more from life than the safe future her family had planned for her.
• Tolzna suggested Richard’s influence and the Prisoner pathway might be amplifying Audrey’s desires.
• Annie told Audrey that Miss Escalante had died, and Audrey asked her to send gifts to the deceased woman’s family.
• Audrey told Susie she suspected Miss Escalante’s death reflected turmoil among the Psychology Alchemists and that Hvin Rambis was trying to recruit her.
• Audrey planned to accept the Dreamwalker formula, pretend Hvin’s hypnosis still controlled her, and watch for threats to her family or others.

Audrey received the Dreamwalker potion formula from Hvin Rambis and grew alarmed when he asked her to investigate nobles planning to flee, fearing the request was connected to George III and the Hall family. Meanwhile, Traynor and Medici traveled by train toward the Hornacis Mountain Range and discussed helping Klein advance to Sequence 3, leaving his honorific name and title still to be decided.

• Hvin Rambis gave Audrey the Dreamwalker potion formula and explained its ritual, then offered to provide the ingredients if she investigated nobles' views of the international situation and plans to flee.
• Audrey suspected Hvin's question served someone else's hidden purpose and worried that Hibbert's planned move to Intis could put the Hall family at risk.
• Traynor and Medici boarded a crowded train heading toward the Hornacis Mountain Range, where Traynor noticed several Beyonders among the passengers.
• Traynor caught a falling suitcase and helped stow it, prompting him and Medici to speculate about the armed young Beyonder's pathway.
• Medici said the Secret Order had a Sequence 3 Sealed Artifact and ritual but no potion formula, and offered to shatter a Beyonder characteristic for Klein if he would consume it directly.

Klein learned that the Sequence 3 Scholar of Yore ritual was already fulfilled by his centuries outside the current era, but recognized that this convenient advancement might be part of the Celestial Worthy’s design. He considered advancing away from Backlund and left the Red Angel’s offer of help unanswered, while Medici wondered who had been responding to his prayers.

• Richard confronted Suah and demanded the Abomination Beyonder characteristic, but Suah told him to take it by force.
• Klein considered Miss Justice’s report about nobles fleeing and suspected the Psychology Alchemists’ inquiry was connected to political or military plans.
• Saint Tenebrous told Klein that the Red Angel had found a Sequence 3 Sealed Artifact and shared the Scholar of Yore advancement ritual with him.
• Klein realized his time suspended above the gray fog had already fulfilled the ritual and suspected the Celestial Worthy had designed the easy path to advance.
• Klein told Saint Tenebrous he qualified for the ritual and said he would need to leave Backlund to advance; Saint Tenebrous relayed that the Red Angel wanted him to come to Intis.
• Medici questioned priests about the Lord’s silence and wondered who had been answering his prayers.

Medici considered the God of Steam and Machinery’s sacrifice and learned about the new Church of Truth while checking on his wounded Hunters. After reading Mr. Azik’s letter, Klein received word from Saint Tenebrous that the Red Angel wanted him to go to Intis, and he stepped through a Door to begin the journey.

• Medici spoke with Dunn, Traynor, and Raymond about their injuries, the new church, and Bornova Gustav’s punishment and work rebuilding Beimang.
• Klein received a letter from Mr. Azik congratulating him on his progress, describing Zaratul’s death at Bethel Abraham’s hands, and offering refuge in the Balam Empire if George III threatened him.
• Mr. Azik described the Balam Empire’s improved living conditions and rising suicide rate, leaving Klein to reflect on his friend’s concerns and advice.
• Saint Tenebrous arrived at Klein’s home and said the Red Angel wanted him to travel to Intis, so Klein entered the Door to the colorful world.

An Artisan and a Mystery Pryer proposed turning a damaged freighter into a civilian airship to help Feyren recover. In Trier, Klein met the Secret Order and learned the scale of Intis’s devastation before absorbing a Scholar of Yore Beyonder characteristic to advance.

• The Artisan and the Mystery Pryer decided to seek research funding and study how to build and magically improve civilian airships, then prayed to the Hidden Sage for knowledge.
• The Saint Tenebrous brought Klein to the Cathedral of Light and handed him a notebook containing the Backlund base’s belongings, membership list, and authorization for Beyonder gatherings.
• Ileana told Klein and the Saint Tenebrous that only Trier’s former population remained in all of Intis, and Klein saw the vast fires where the dead were being cremated beside the new river.
• Medici met Klein and the Saint Tenebrous, expelled the Saint Tenebrous from the cathedral, and gave Klein a Scholar of Yore Beyonder characteristic.
• Klein absorbed the characteristic and saw the gray fog reveal scenes from his past life as Klein and his former life as Zhou Mingrui.