Chapter Summaries

George III began his Black Emperor Apotheosis Ritual while Klein and Medici prepared to stop him. As George III neared his transformation inside a Mausoleum, an unknown figure took control of his public illusion and crowned himself instead.

• Melissa and Benson watched George III address the crowds, while Audrey listened as he described the war and led the people in a prayer for the fallen.
• Klein used True Vision from Above the Gray Fog and discovered that George III had secretly replaced himself with an illusion while beginning the ritual in a Mausoleum.
• Klein summoned Medici, who revealed that Richard Ernst had joined their operation and ordered his forces to prepare a decapitation strike.
• George III consumed the Sequence 0 Potion and began merging with the Black Emperor Uniqueness as the public ceremony continued in Hillston District.
• An unknown figure took control of George III's illusion, took the Imperial Crown from Gade II, and placed it on his own head.

The false George III seized the coronation and stirred the people of Backlund toward war while preparing to complete his Apotheosis Ritual. As Klein entered a mausoleum to intervene, Medici warned him of the deception, and Klein encountered signs that Zaratul was nearby.

• The Magic Wishing Lamp took control of George III’s appearance, crowned himself, and delivered a speech that roused the Loen crowd to support war against Feysac and pray for a miracle.
• Medici recognized that the emperor on the platform was not the real George III, asked Richard to help Klein, and planned to delay the false emperor’s ritual.
• Trissy entered the secret mausoleum and found George III’s shadowy form calling for sacrifices, then mocked the emperor Edessak had respected.
• Klein brought Azik Eggers to attack the mausoleum, summoned a past version of himself, and entered another mausoleum with Qonas and Enuni.
• Medici warned Klein that the ritual and the George III outside had changed; Klein’s mind link was cut, and he saw a suspended crowd in a church as the name Zaratul arose in his thoughts.

Klein confronted Zaratul, who used Benson and Melissa’s safety to pressure him into surrendering Sefirah Castle. Klein discovered Zaratul’s true intentions, turned the tables with a Transformation Curse, and left the confrontation with Richard’s help while the struggle over George III’s apotheosis continued elsewhere.

• Zaratul trapped Klein in the Black-Spired Church, then manifested a home modeled on Benson and Melissa’s Backlund residence to unsettle him.
• At George III’s speech, Gade II seized the Magic Wishing Lamp as thunder and a dream created by Evernight’s Pope disrupted George III’s ritual; the crowd believed the Emperor had been assassinated.
• Klein accepted that he might give up Sefirah Castle to protect his siblings and divined that Zaratul did not intend to kill them.
• Klein tricked Zaratul into listening to the beginning of a control formula, then used a Transformation Curse to turn him into a puppet that sank into the Historical Void.
• Richard arrived as Klein’s curse bound him to his body, and Klein promised not to kill Zaratul if the Marionettes spared his family.
• Klein reflected that power demanded sacrifice but hoped to choose his sacrifice willingly, while Richard asked whether he was interested in the Rose School.

Klein escaped Zaratul with Richard, but George III’s apotheosis ritual reached its second stage despite the destruction of the ritual mausoleums and the king’s apparent death. As the Black Emperor’s return disrupted churches and seals, Trissy used Yesterday Once More to borrow the Primordial Demoness’s power and charged into the mausoleum to confront him.

• Richard rescued Klein from Zaratul, explained the New Rose School’s laws and rehabilitation of Beyonders, and revealed that Reinette had waited outside the Divine Kingdom Prototype.
• The God of Thunder destroyed the mausoleum Klein and Richard reached, and Klein learned through Medici’s informant that George III had been struck by lightning during his speech.
• Klein heard the Black Emperor proclaim his return and realized George III’s apotheosis ritual had reached its second stage; Leonard resisted the proclamation and rushed to contain the disordered Sealed Artifacts beneath Chanis Gate.
• The Black Emperor emerged at Ruin No. 1, defeated Trissy, and recognized her as a Divine Descent Vessel and his son’s lover.
• Trissy used Yesterday Once More to retrieve her sapphire ring, accepted the Primordial Demoness’s power, and turned George III to stone as catastrophes struck the mausoleum.
• Trissy, knowing the power would kill her, plunged toward the bottom of the mausoleum to confront George Augustus.

Trissy rejected George Augustus III’s offer and helped Leodero destroy and seal his mausoleums, though George III continued to influence the people of Lenburg. Edward passed through the Gods’ War Ruins and reached Roselle’s mausoleum, where Roselle freed himself from his bindings and dissolved into the red moonlight.

• Trissy refused to serve George Augustus III and struck his shadow as Leodero’s lightning destroyed the mausoleums and sealed the Black Emperor’s remains.
• George III’s surviving voice urged the people of Lenburg, Segar, and Masik to forget their faith and pledge loyalty to him, leaving Audrey stunned.
• Edward left the City of Silver, discussed the curse’s limits, and persuaded Leodero to let him pass through the concealed Gods’ War Ruins.
• Edward arrived at Roselle’s island and met Bernadette, who said Roselle was waiting for him.
• Bernadette asked Edward to wait, then Roselle’s mausoleum exploded and a shadow giant attacked him.
• Roselle rose from his throne, broke his bindings, and dissolved into the red moonlight.

Roselle chose death rather than return to the Mother Goddess of Depravity, and Edward witnessed Bernadette help him make that choice as the island collapsed into the sea. Afterward, George Augustus destroyed Roselle’s mental imprint, while Zaratul approached Klein and Richard with a request to change history and prevent George III’s usurpation.

• Edward explained that Roselle had chosen death because he could neither kill himself nor accept the Mother Goddess of Depravity, then asked Bernadette why she had helped him.
• Bernadette admitted she did not understand Roselle’s choice, and Edward revealed that Roselle had distorted her perception of her maternal ancestors.
• The Mother Goddess of Depravity’s influence faded, the island sank beneath the sea, and Edward preserved the mausoleum and part of the plain in a bottle.
• Roselle mocked George Augustus with a final praise of the Mother Goddess of Depravity, and George struck apart Roselle’s mental imprint as a red moon appeared.
• Klein and Richard tried to escape through the Spirit World, but Zaratul appeared and said a great existence wanted Klein to help change history and undo George III’s usurpation.
• Klein refused Zaratul’s request, and Zaratul withdrew while Klein wondered what other motive he had for pursuing the plan.

After George Augustus III was assassinated, Benson and Melissa feared for their safety and mourned the soldiers and families harmed by war and poverty. Elsewhere, Gade II investigated the royal palace, Edward encountered the Demon of Knowledge, and Richard captured Reinette to force the Temperance Faction into labor and reeducation.

• Benson comforted Melissa after they fled home, then told her he would buy extra bread and share some with Mr. Thomas after learning that young Thomas had died in action.
• Gade II found that the Augustus family had been killed and rejected Redar Valentin's suggestion that the Church of Storms choose the next emperor.
• Edward learned that the Demon of Knowledge had taken control of Intis and met the Demon, who asked what he thought of the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings' resurrection plans.
• Klein thanked Richard for helping him escape Zaratul and gave him a Yesterday Once More charm.
• Richard found Reinette Tinekerr in the Spirit World, bound her, and said he would bring her and the Temperance Faction into a labor and reeducation program.

Maric and Sharron were captured by Richard, while the Demon of Knowledge discussed plans to oppose the Omniscience and Omnipotence One with Edward. The Demon of Knowledge considered targeting Bethel Abraham and seeking an alliance with the Son of Chaos, while Edward planned to visit Klein and make his own moves.

• Richard caught Sharron and Maric, turned them into rag dolls, and took them to the Southern Continent.
• The Demon of Knowledge explained to Edward how the Son of Chaos could resurrect and discussed using the Son of Chaos to oppose the Omniscience One.
• Edward refused to help the Demon of Knowledge, who considered seizing Omniscience from the God of Thunder and dividing up Leodero's characteristics with the Son of Chaos.
• The Demon of Knowledge asked about Bethel Abraham and considered killing him to remove his corruption before reconstructing him from his memories.
• Edward said he would visit Klein and slaughter him, while the Demon of Knowledge agreed to speak with the Son of Chaos.

The Demon of Knowledge investigated Bethel Abraham and prepared a ritual to contact him, while Klein arranged to leave Loen and entrusted the Loen Charity Education Fund to Audrey. The chapter ended as the Demon of Knowledge began calling to Bethel Abraham during the full moon.

• Edward left the Demon of Knowledge to carry God Almighty's message toward Loen, while the Demon of Knowledge considered transferring most of his believers to the Church of the Creator.
• The Demon of Knowledge questioned Arrodes about Bethel Abraham and learned that Bethel had been corrupted by the Mother Goddess of Depravity, sealed outside the barrier, and could become a god upon returning.
• Klein asked Councilman Macht to help obtain weapons and food, then decided to leave Loen covertly to avoid Zaratul.
• Audrey told Klein she was sponsoring sixty impoverished children and helping arrange supplies, and Klein promised additional funding and food for the foundation.
• Klein gave Audrey authorization to manage Meager Manor's resources for the foundation while he was away, and Audrey noticed a crow fly past the building.
• The Demon of Knowledge altered the night into a full moon and began a ritual to contact Bethel Abraham.

The Demon of Knowledge contacted Bethel Abraham and learned that he could return to Earth through a ritual, but Bethel refused a plan that required his complete death. After Edward described a future in which humanity became divine beings’ livestock and playthings, Medici learned that Loen’s royal family had relinquished the throne and Edward declared that the world had no future.

• The Demon of Knowledge summoned Bethel Abraham, discovered his prison lay near the barrier, and asked whether he wanted to return and become the Lord of the Mysteries.
• Bethel refused the Demon of Knowledge’s proposal to kill and recreate him, while a hidden voice begged to be killed and warned against bringing catastrophe back to Earth.
• Klein noticed the abnormal blood moon and wondered whether someone had used it to contact Mr. Door, then ended his gathering with Fors after the moon faded.
• Edward told Medici that the Creator’s return would turn humanity into livestock and playthings, while Medici angrily insisted that his Lord had never treated humanity that way.
• Edward showed Medici a newspaper reporting that Loen’s royal family had relinquished the throne and that Pope Gade II would temporarily assume the imperial throne.
• Edward declared that humanity had no future under the Creator’s rule and said he would leave rather than watch the world die again.

Medici accepted that the True Creator had sacrificed himself and considered what to do with the people left in Trier. Edward visited his son Traynor, offered him a chance to leave Earth, and then vanished to meet Klein.

• Medici discussed the True Creator’s fate with Edward and weighed whether to trade the million people’s anchors for help from other gods.
• Medici asked where the Hidden Sage wanted to go, but Edward demanded Klein’s exact location in exchange and Medici had him shown out.
• Edward surprised Traynor while he was fishing with Dunn and the other Hunters, causing Traynor to lose his hooked fish.
• Traynor told Edward that the Sauron Family had contacted him but that he preferred his current life working for the Red Angel.
• Edward offered to take Traynor away from Earth, but Traynor said he wanted to keep living there, so Edward left to meet Klein.

Klein planned to flee Zaratul and Amon by going to the Eastern Continent, then received a cryptic rejection when he tried to contact the God of Thunder. The chapter left him with the message “Leave” etched into silver.

• Klein considered using a substitute to escape Zaratul, then chose the Eastern Continent as a possible refuge and a way to reach the City of Silver and Moon City.
• Klein realized that his duties as the Fool and an Aurora Order Saint made it difficult to abandon the Northern Continent as war approached, and he conceived a bold plan to evade Amon.
• Danitz asked Alger to gather high-quality Storm Domain materials for Gehrman, and Alger collected them from nearby reefs.
• Klein received the materials, performed a ritual to contact the God of Thunder and Truth, and got no response until the silver etched the word “Leave.”

Klein sought Richard Ernst’s help to obtain a substitute that could deceive a Sequence One, but an attack struck his home before he could prepare. The chapter left Klein exposed in his roofless bedroom as the Devil taunted him for missing his target.

• Edward asked the lightning barrier in the Spirit World to let him enter Loen and speak with Klein, but the Tyrant did not answer.
• After the God of Thunder told Klein to leave and then wrote “Scram,” Klein prepared a ritual to contact Richard Ernst for help escaping danger.
• Baranka proposed a human-powered plowing machine that consumed people, but Richard rejected the design and urged him to find a safer power source.
• Richard agreed to make Klein a substitute with transferred mystical connections in exchange for fifteen thousand pounds, blood, and body parts.
• As Klein prepared to provide a bone, an attack destroyed the roof of his villa, and the Devil taunted him for missing.

Klein fled Edward Vaughan’s pursuit through storm-lashed Backlund and dragged Zaratul into the chase, hoping to use him as a refuge. Zaratul escaped to Hornacis Mountain, but Edward followed and killed him while continuing to hunt Klein.

• Klein recognized Edward Vaughan’s voice, abandoned his villa, and fled with Qonas while using Will’s burning Origami Crane for luck.
• Klein dodged Edward’s attacks and escaped a deadly trap by switching places with Qonas, who was crushed by the stones.
• Klein reached Zaratul’s hiding place, drawing Edward and the God of Thunder into a clash nearby, then grabbed Zaratul and followed him into the Historical Void.
• Zaratul rejected Klein’s plea for help and fled to a forest near Hornacis Mountain, believing the danger of leaving Klein was acceptable.
• Edward tracked Zaratul down and shot him, killing him and taking his Beyonder Characteristic before resuming his pursuit of Klein.

Antigonus sensed something mysterious near Hornacis Mountain, but the Mother of Heaven helped him find nothing. Meanwhile, Klein escaped his attacker, realized he could not keep fleeing while carrying Sefirah Castle, and went to the snowy border mountains to call for Amon.

• Antigonus sensed an unseen presence among the wildflowers below the cliff, but he found nothing and went with the Mother of Heaven to visit the Nation of the Evernight.
• Klein escaped into the real world and sent a severed finger and other materials to Richard Ernst, who enlisted Baranka to make a lifelike substitute.
• Klein realized he had fled near the Amanda Mountains and considered whether Amon would follow him beyond Loen into Feysac.
• Klein suspected Edward Vaughan might be a true god of the Prisoner and Criminal pathways, but set aside his unanswered questions to focus on surviving.
• Klein decided that he had to confront the danger of carrying Sefirah Castle, left the Historical Void, and shouted for Amon in the uninhabited snowy border mountains.

Klein prepared Sefirah Castle and his allies for a possible final confrontation, then used dream divination to lure Amon into the gray fog. Amon appeared and thanked Klein for the meal, and Klein asked him directly whether he wanted Sefirah Castle.

• Klein moved his belongings to Danitz and sent dangerous Sealed Artifacts to Derrick for safekeeping in the City of Silver.
• Klein erased the Tarot Club members’ symbols and concealed their identities before severing his connections with them.
• Alger noticed the gray fog receding, while Fors feared that Klein had been gravely injured and worried about her full moon curse.
• Leonard sensed the Fool’s aura disappearing and followed Klein’s instruction to go to the River and Sea Church.
• Klein used a Worm of Time and dream divination above Sefirah Castle, creating a gathering of familiar faces to draw Amon into the dream.
• Amon appeared in the World’s seat, and Klein asked whether he wanted Sefirah Castle.

Klein offered Sefirah Castle to Amon to escape the danger threatening him, but Amon hesitated and spoke with him about the Ancient Sun God, the Dark Angel Sasrir, and how he had tracked Klein. The chapter ended with Klein pressing Amon to explain what Sefirah Castle was and how he would take it.

• Klein dismissed the dream’s gray-fog figures and urged Amon to accept Sefirah Castle, saying he was willing to give it up to survive.
• Amon asked Klein whether he knew what Sefirah Castle was and revealed that the True Creator was connected to the Dark Angel Sasrir, whom the Ancient Sun God had created from his own characteristics and negative personality.
• Klein asked how Amon could locate him, and Amon explained that he could sense the ripples in fate caused by someone correctly imitating his monocle-wearing manner.
• Amon said he knew of fewer than ten surviving human settlements in the Forsaken Land of the Gods and that the City of Silver was fortunate to have a path toward dawn.
• Klein returned the conversation to Sefirah Castle and demanded that Amon explain what it was and how he planned to take it.

Derrick and Leonard found that the Fool had stopped responding as Klein struggled with Amon over Sefirah Castle. Amon seized partial control and appeared to win, but Klein’s fate changed after he was displaced into Feysac and killed by Edward Vaughan, who then pursued Amon.

• Derrick saw the gray fog recede and the seven lights appear, but told Colin Iliad that the Fool had answered and left him waiting for instructions.
• Leonard failed to summon Klein’s messenger, learned from Pallez Zoroast that Amon might have captured Klein, and entered the God of Thunder’s church to keep Amon from becoming a true god.
• Klein questioned Amon about sefirahs and learned about the Great Old Ones, the Chaos Sea, and the level Above the Sequence.
• Amon revealed that he had used the conversation to help Klein digest his potion and lower his guard, then stole partial control of Sefirah Castle and claimed it as his own.
• Klein woke beside the Loen-Feysac Border Stele, where Edward Vaughan shot him after noticing that his fate and Sefirah Castle had changed.
• Edward Vaughan sensed a new possibility emerging after Klein’s death and entered the Spirit World to search for Amon.

Edward watched Amon’s moves after Amon obtained Sefirah Castle, then witnessed Amon discover and kill an independent avatar who had secretly protected Klein. Medici still chose to protect Klein despite his loss of Sefirah Castle, while a closing note revealed that Klein had deceived Amon about his identity and fate.

• Edward went to Medici after considering Amon’s plans, and Medici answered a prayer from Amon, who was visiting a noodle shop in Feynapotter.
• Medici saw Amon’s main body appear behind the praying avatar and realized the avatar’s voice and thoughts had been stolen.
• Amon confronted the avatar over its independent preferences and its role in hiding Klein’s whereabouts, then crushed its monocle.
• The avatar put on a matching monocle and used Theft with Amon, causing Medici to lose some memories before the prayer ended.
• Edward told Medici the avatar had died and explained that it could have survived if it had not helped Klein; Medici vowed to keep protecting Klein despite his loss of Sefirah Castle.
• A closing note revealed that Klein believed Amon had accepted his deception about being a giant Seer and had taken only Sefirah Castle.

Antoine heard new whispers linked to Dilan, while Medici mourned Amon’s lost future and discussed Klein with Edward. Klein resurrected in the snow without Sefirah Castle, and Medici tried to take him away before Edward confronted him.

• Antoine heard the names Orville and Dilan whispered to him and considered reporting the matter to the Red of War if it proved dangerous.
• Medici told Edward that protecting Klein mattered more than protecting Sefirah Castle, then discussed his grief over Amon’s death and the future Amon might have chosen.
• Klein awoke in the snow at the Loen-Feysac border, remembered losing Sefirah Castle, and began planning to reach the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
• Medici found Klein alive, hauled him up, and insisted that the True Creator and Medici wanted Klein himself to live.
• Edward said he still had business with Klein, and Klein stepped out from behind Medici to face him directly.