Chapter Summaries

Klein became a Scholar of Yore and formed a deeper connection with Sefirah Castle, but the Hidden Sage’s knowledge overwhelmed him before Medici could lead him away to rest. The chapter left Klein and the Hidden Sage recognizing that they both came from the Western Continent, then showed the Mystery Pryer and Artisan recovering after the Sage taught them airship modifications.

• Klein traced historical fragments through the gray fog, found his original Zhou Mingrui self as a point of reference, and advanced to Scholar of Yore.
• Klein saw Sefirah Castle above the gray fog, and figures including Amon, Zaratul, and Leonard Mitchell sensed its presence.
• The Hidden Sage appeared outside the Cathedral of Light and flooded Klein with knowledge, so Medici used Mind Link to protect him and tried to move him away.
• The Hidden Sage questioned Klein and concluded that he was the Celestial Worthy’s successor; Klein instinctively answered the Sage in Chinese, and the Sage guessed he came from the Western Continent.
• The next morning, the Mystery Pryer and Artisan discussed how the Hidden Sage’s lessons had affected them, and the Mystery Pryer used the Artisan’s tools to begin modifying iron plates.

Amon traveled toward Trier after his original body ordered him to investigate the aura of Sefirah Castle, while Klein recovered from his advancement and examined how to act as a Scholar of Yore. The Hidden Sage sought answers from Klein about his origins and the Western Continent, and the chapter ended when someone knocked on Klein’s ward door.

• Amon helped a disaster worker set up a tent, learned that the man’s daughter had died in the tsunami, and disappeared on his way to Trier.
• The Hidden Sage questioned Klein about Ancient Chinese, Roselle Gustav, and the Western Continent, while Medici warned him not to press Klein for answers.
• Klein grew overwhelmed and asked to rest, so Medici knocked him unconscious and carried him into the Church of the Creator’s cathedral.
• Klein woke in a hospital ward, reflected on his potion digestion and the challenges of acting as a Scholar of Yore, then began exploring his new abilities.
• Someone knocked on the ward door as Klein continued his investigation.

Klein and Medici deceived an Amon avatar with fabricated information to conceal Klein’s plans and keep Sefirah Castle from Amon’s main body. The chapter ended with Medici revealing the Sequence Two ritual, which left both of them unsettled.

• Medici told Klein that Amon had sent a Sequence 3 avatar to the Grand Cathedral to investigate him and Sefirah Castle.
• Medici explained that this Amon did not want his main body to become a god or obtain Sefirah Castle, and asked Klein to invent false information for him to deliver.
• Klein and Medici fed Amon a note full of fabricated details about Klein’s identity, beliefs, abilities, and plans, including the claim that Zaratul was hiding in Backlund.
• After Amon left, Klein asked Medici about the Sequence Two ritual, and Medici said it required bringing a lost piece of history back to the present era.

Klein understood that the True Creator had arranged for him to lead the City of Silver out of the Forsaken Land of the Gods, a step toward advancing to Sequence 2. After examining his new powers and returning to Backlund, he left behind an elaborate false account of his identity for Amon to investigate.

• Klein realized that the City of Silver’s faith in the Fool and its exploration of the Eastern Continent were part of the True Creator’s plan for his Sequence 2 ritual.
• Medici told Klein that the Hidden Sage wanted to meet him, then advised him to study history books to digest the Scholar of Yore potion.
• Klein left the hospital in Trier, saw survivors rebuilding the city, and recognized Ikanser Bernard among the workers.
• Klein examined his Scholar of Yore abilities and used Sefirah Castle’s power to form a temporary Sequence 2 angel before returning to Backlund through a door opened by Medici.
• On the Western Continent, the avatar of Heavenly Mechanism and a Daoist discussed Klein, while Amon drafted an account of the holder of Sefirah Castle.
• Amon accepted the misleading intelligence prepared with Medici and planned to report it to his main body.

Klein tested and refined a new honorific name so prayers could reach him without disrupting his activities. Meanwhile, Edward entered the Forsaken Land of the Gods, returned Stiffer to a phantom of his lost hometown, and reached the City of Silver, where he confronted the young Ouroboros about the True Creator.

• Klein wrote and tested an honorific name, adding Backlund as a restriction so his Spirit Worms could receive prayers addressed to him.
• Amon finished processing intelligence about Klein and sacrificed it to his main body.
• Edward encountered Stiffer in the Eastern Continent and learned about the City of Silver and Ouroboros.
• Edward used his power to show Stiffer a phantom of the ancient City of Emeralds, his destroyed hometown.
• Edward reached the City of Silver and observed its mushroom-based food and healing efforts, which he associated with Frank Lee.
• Edward addressed the child Ouroboros and said that his Lord was gone, but Ouroboros replied that the Lord had returned to his original appearance.

Edward questioned Ouroboros about fate and examined the City of Silver’s cursed staple before the story shifted to Klein preparing a hunt at Meager Manor and Leonard learning about Sefirah Castle and the Hidden Sage. The chapter left Klein’s planned hunt pending and Leonard considering how the Hidden Sage’s rise would affect the Moses Ascetic Order.

• Edward asked Ouroboros whether Adam and the True Creator shared the Ancient Sun God’s fate, and Ouroboros said fate had only one outcome and that his efforts to save Medici had failed.
• Edward visited the City of Silver, tasted its cursed blackface grass bread, and asked Ouroboros what pathway had created the crop.
• Klein arrived at Meager Manor and confirmed that Richardson had prepared the rooms and arrangements for his guests and the hunt targeting Qonas Kilgor.
• Leonard asked Pallez Zoroast about Sefirah Castle and learned that it might be one of nine things left by the original Creator and could be connected to the sefirot.
• Pallez told Leonard that the God of Steam and Machinery was gone and only the Hidden Sage remained, prompting Leonard to wonder whether the Moses Ascetic Order had become a church.

Medici and the Iron and Blood Cross Order discussed plans for the new city, while Klein secretly followed Qonas Kilgor to the Tussock River. Cattleya arrived in Intis with the Moses Ascetic Order and watched the group discover a flying cargo ship whose crew promptly saw them as a source of workers.

• Medici, Dunn, Traynor, and Raymond debated river safety, naval training, and defensive placements in the proposed city layout.
• Klein used animal marionettes to follow Qonas Kilgor from Meager Manor to the southern bank of the Tussock River.
• Cattleya and the Mystery Pryers aboard a ship approaching Feyren's port examined fish mutated by the tsunami's spiritual effects.
• An Artisan crash-landed a huge experimental flying cargo ship near shore, drenching the Moses Ascetic Order's ship with a wave.
• The Artisan and his Mystery Pryer partner discussed flaws in the flying ship and decided the arriving Mystery Pryers could help with the redesign.

The Moses Ascetic Order helped revive Feyren while its members and the Artisan discovered that practical work could advance their potions. In Backlund, Xio learned that Mason Dere had discovered George III’s secret before Viscount Stratford was killed, and Klein summoned Azik’s historical projection as he prepared to investigate Qonas Kilgor.

• The Mystery Pryers built a temporary port and communal research dormitory in Feyren, then brought business and activity back to the damaged town.
• The Artisan and a Mystery Pryer discussed their Sequence 6 potions and concluded that completing the Sky Transport Ship and helping Feyren might improve their control.
• Xio asked Viscount Stratford what had caused Mason Dere’s death, and he revealed that Mason had discovered the King’s secret and been executed after trying to alert the Three Great Churches.
• Viscount Stratford regained his senses and disintegrated before he could reveal the secret, while Klein inferred that it concerned George III’s plan to become a god.
• Klein observed Qonas Kilgor preparing to teleport toward a likely underground ruin and considered the danger of investigating it.
• Klein summoned Azik’s projection from history, and Azik greeted him after their long separation.

Klein summoned Azik to help ambush Qonas Kilgor, while the Church of the Storms received an oracle warning that someone planned to sabotage the king’s mourning ritual. The chapter ended with Klein confronting Qonas and Redar Valentin ordering an investigation into the Fool’s hidden organization.

• Azik arrived through the Spirit World after Klein summoned him, and agreed to help kill Qonas Kilgor while keeping his identity secret.
• Klein and Azik decided to lure Qonas into an isolated Spirit World ambush, and Klein returned to Meager Manor to prepare.
• Qonas returned to his room and found the world transformed by spiritual forces before Gehrman Sparrow emerged to attack him.
• Redar Valentin told the Mandated Punishers that an oracle warned of a plot against the king’s collective mourning ritual.
• Redar ordered intensified investigations into hidden organizations and the Fool’s followers, and warned his subordinates to cooperate with the Readers.

Klein used his upgraded Spirit Body Threads to defeat and capture Qonas Kilgor in the Underworld, then learned that Qonas had been to Ruin No. 1. In the Southern Continent, Richard and Baranka agreed to help the Balam Empire stop George III’s ritual, while Klein’s interrogation ended and Azik departed.

• Klein probed Qonas Kilgor’s abilities with a Historical Projection, discovered that Qonas’s Sealed Artifacts could distort attacks and prohibit movement, and lured him into a trap.
• Klein used Spirit Body Threads from a distance to seize control of Qonas, then summoned Azik and told him the battle was over.
• Azik released Qonas’s soul so Klein could question him, and Qonas said he had gone to Ruin No. 1.
• Richard complained about a strange hallucination and learned that his subordinates had died, been buried, or been relocated; he threatened to attack Loen over the bodies.
• Tolzna told Baranka and Richard that the Balam Empire wanted their help stopping George III’s ritual, and both agreed to assist.
• Azik returned Qonas’s soul to his body and left Meager Manor, where Qonas resumed drinking his wine.

Klein reflected on the suffering caused by the gods’ wars and resolved to stop George III’s apotheosis, while Xio and Fors planned to draw a watcher toward the king’s secrets. In the Southern Continent, Richard traded wheat for scarce goods and helped a starving town, leaving its people hopeful and the shopkeeper refusing to help a man plot robbery.

• Klein considered how war and divine power endangered ordinary people, remembered tragedies he had witnessed, and identified his empathy as the anchor of his humanity.
• Klein resolved to disrupt George III’s apotheosis and keep pursuing power to protect the people he could reach.
• Fors encouraged Xio to investigate King George III through the woman who had monitored Shermane, and Xio agreed to leave her a message; Fors then proposed sacrificing the bronze-green cross to Mr. Fool.
• Richard emerged after half a month in isolation and assessed how the War of the Gods had devastated fishing and trade in the Southern Continent.
• Richard offered wheat to the townspeople in exchange for fish and other goods, using his powers to provide useful containers and improve their belongings.
• The shopkeeper spread word of Richard’s offer, and the townspeople brought goods to the port; when a fisherman suggested robbing Richard, the shopkeeper angrily rejected the plan and condemned him.

Richard handled food shortages and criminal leniency in the Rose School’s territory, then headed out to buy Frank’s food inventions and promised to check on a Sequence 5 Spectator. In the City of Silver, Edward composed a hymn about God Almighty while Derrick preached about the Fool and elevated Frank to angelic status in the congregation’s eyes.

• Richard arrived with scavenged seafood, and he and Baranka discussed the territory’s food shortages and plans to make Beyonders work the fields.
• Richard decided to travel to buy Frank’s food inventions before they became tied to Intis, while Baranka agreed to prepare residents to accept them.
• Richard uncovered criminal cases Baranka had set aside, ordered the offenders’ powers sealed and assigned them to labor, and learned that the Spectator he had been watching had reached Sequence 5.
• Baranka told Richard that the Spectator’s family was having difficulties, and Richard promised to check on her.
• Edward composed and revised two stanzas of a narrative poem outside the Church of the Creator, then listened to Derrick preach in the Church of the Fool.
• Derrick described Frank as the Abundance Angel, and Klein suddenly sneezed thousands of miles away on the Northern Continent.

Klein watched Audrey successfully advance to Sequence 5 and investigated the Darkless Cross, while George III’s ritual moved closer to fruition. A newspaper revealed that George III would address Backlund’s citizens in three days, leaving Klein with little time to respond.

• Klein listened to prayers from Moon City and the City of Silver, then considered how they could search the Forsaken Land of the Gods for survivors and a way out.
• Audrey drank the Dreamwalker potion with Klein’s help and successfully advanced to Sequence 5, witnessing an idealized future for the world in her dream.
• Cattleya prayed to the Hidden Sage for knowledge, and Klein heard her scream as the Sage began transmitting knowledge to her, though she showed no signs of losing control.
• Klein examined the Darkless Cross, learned that it could purify corruption but gradually strip a bearer of Beyonder characteristics, and hid it inside an ordinary marionette.
• Dwayne Dantès read a newspaper announcing that George III would deliver an important address at Central City Square on October 4, three days after the newspaper’s October 1 date.

Klein weighed his options for stopping George III’s ritual while waiting for Trissy to contact him. Audrey began working as a disguised Sequence 5 doctor in the Southern Continent, and the chapter ended with Klein receiving a letter from Trissy.

• Klein considered recruiting Azik, Medici, Miss Messenger, and Trissy to disrupt George III’s ritual, but he remained wary of Trissy.
• At breakfast, Dwayne listened as his guests celebrated George III’s coming announcement, while Klein privately doubted its benefits.
• Richard made Audrey a disguised rag-doll vessel, and she traveled to the Southern Continent to begin treating patients as Letty Orr.
• Taufik welcomed Audrey and explained that offenders would receive treatment, lose their Beyonder abilities, and serve labor sentences before execution.
• A day later, Klein returned to Böklund Street and received a letter from Trissy delivered by Reinette Tinekerr.

Klein learned that Trissy had sent information about the White Saintess, Katarina, and prepared to oppose George III’s suspected apotheosis ritual, due in less than sixty hours. As Backlund grew feverishly devoted to the king, Klein spotted Zaratul watching him from the street.

• Reinette Tinekerr told Klein that Trissy had feared her and agreed to help with the operation in exchange for three Yesterday Once More charms; Klein warned her to alert Sharron and Maric about Zaratul in Backlund.
• Klein read Trissy’s letter about the White Saintess, Katarina, but failed to contact Trissy afterward and prepared to send the information to the War Angel.
• Azik confirmed to Richard that Death had permitted him to go north and stop the king’s ritual, while Richard pressed him about the source of the plan.
• Zaratul met George III in Sodela Palace, suspected that the Magic Wishing Lamp was influencing the king, and concealed his doubts.
• Klein noticed that Backlund’s people and even his servants were becoming excited about George III, then spotted a white-bearded Zaratul beneath a streetlamp surrounded by crows.

Zaratul followed a mysterious attraction through Backlund while Klein tried to evade him and sought Will's help. Klein secured Will's promise of future assistance, but Zaratul eventually spotted Klein's carriage and Klein put on a monocle.

• Zaratul used a pendulum to follow the attraction toward Klein, while Klein reasoned that Zaratul might not know he was still in Backlund.
• Klein diverted his carriage to Doctor Aaron Ceres's home to avoid the Charity Hospital, where Zaratul was waiting.
• Klein used Will's influence over fate to hide from Zaratul and agreed to pay three charms in exchange for Will's future help and Historical Projection.
• Klein left for Saint Samuel Church, but his carriage slowed near Zaratul's fortune-telling stall, where Zaratul spotted him.
• Klein noticed Zaratul's gaze, took out a crystal monocle, and put it over his right eye; Zaratul lowered his head without reacting.

Klein fought to escape Zaratul’s Historical Void with help from Azik and Medici, but Zaratul’s next move brought Roselle Gustav before him. Roselle’s appearance also awakened Sia Palenque Eggers, who searched the spirit world for him.

• Klein used a charm and the abilities of a Fifth Epoch Azik projection to resist Zaratul’s attempt to turn him into a marionette.
• Medici’s historical projection struck at Zaratul, destroying part of the Secret Order’s historical fragment and giving Klein a chance to flee.
• Forgan Hounds guided Klein through the Historical Void until Zaratul’s footsteps approached behind him.
• Klein recognized Zaratul’s summoned historical projection as the former Intis emperor, Roselle Gustav.
• Sia Palenque Eggers awoke in the Underworld, transformed into human form, and cried out for Roselle.

Azik was pulled into a historical fragment by Death, where he reunited briefly with his dead wife and child before leaving to help Klein. Klein survived Roselle’s assault by summoning Sia Palenque Eggers, while Zaratul divined looming failures and passed Klein’s carriage; Klein returned to his body shaken as Zaratul walked away.

• Death questioned Azik about his appearance through a Historical Projection, then pulled him behind the curtains and left his Material World body lifeless.
• Azik’s Historical Projection reunited with his wife and child in Ramud Castle, told them he loved them, and left the fragment to help Klein.
• Zaratul divined an unfavorable outcome for a merchant and sensed trouble ahead for George III’s ritual and his own plan to capture Sefirah Castle’s owner.
• Roselle’s Historical Projection overwhelmed Klein with knowledge, but Azik arrived, shared the burden through Mind Link, and urged Klein to summon Sia Palenque Eggers.
• Klein summoned Sia, who appeared as the Pale Empress and destroyed Roselle’s Historical Projection while Klein escaped the Historical Void.
• Klein returned to his body and watched Zaratul pass his carriage with a faint smile before disappearing down the street.

Klein escaped Zaratul and continued laying low, while Edward investigated Derrick and waited for Storm to attack George III. Zaratul, searching for a turning point in his fate, met Melissa Moretti and drew the Fool card, leaving him stunned.

• Klein confirmed that Zaratul had stopped pursuing him, then went to Saint Samuel Cathedral to meet Bishop Elektra.
• Edward discussed Derrick Berg's unusual role in the City of Silver with Uno and explained that he was staying until Storm attacked George III.
• Zaratul reflected on his setbacks and his connection to Roselle, then decided that finding a turning point in his fate remained his priority.
• Zaratul staged a fall to meet a university student, learned that her name was Melissa Moretti, and secretly divined that both her brothers were alive.
• Zaratul shuffled his cards after hearing Melissa's name, and the Fool card slipped out.

Zaratul met Melissa, divined that her brother Benson’s love life was changing, and used her draw of the Hermit card to reconsider his own choices. Audrey soothed Pula in a dream before learning the consequences of his crimes, while Klein joined the silent crowds gathering for George III’s speech.

• Zaratul saw the Fool card appear while divining Melissa and suspected she had a connection to Sefirah Castle’s holder.
• Zaratul read the High Priestess and Lovers cards for Melissa, revealing that Benson was making progress at work and had a romantic interest.
• Melissa drew the upright Hermit card for Zaratul, who said her divination had helped him find direction, then sent her toward Third Street.
• Melissa found Benson walking a colleague home and teased him about his budding relationship with Ruth, also called Miss Brooke.
• Audrey soothed Pula in his dream and learned from Taufik that Pula would lose his powers and rights and be sent to labor for eating people.
• Klein walked with Enuni and the hidden Qonas Kilgor toward Hillston Square, where a silent crowd gathered for George III’s speech.