Chapter Summaries

Amon discovered that the people living in the City of Silver and Afternoon Town were reproductions of those he had killed, then continued east rather than attack them. In Backlund, Melissa worried that religious changes could force her out of university, while Benson heard unsettling rumors about strange incidents and devil worship.

• Amon reached the Eastern Continent and learned that the City of Silver's residents were simulated reproductions created after he had killed them.
• Amon decided not to kill the reproduced people because the Demon of Knowledge could replace them, and he continued east.
• Melissa told Benson that repeated disasters had left her unsure whether a better life could last, then worried that converting to the God of Thunder might cost her university place.
• Benson tried to reassure Melissa that the Church of the Earth Mother might let her continue studying, but neither sibling found comfort during their break at home.
• At work, Benson overheard colleagues discuss Miss Hall's sudden departure and rumors of people waking in an unfamiliar city and seeing the dead.
• Benson also heard Church Beyonders debate devil worship and whether to shut down a food factory that provided many jobs; a note said Leonard had entered Intis.

Audrey grew closer to Ileana while discussing faith and her upcoming baptism, and Klein struggled to stabilize Utopia without drawing the God of Thunder’s attention. The chapter left Klein surprised by a prayer from Medici, who was accompanied by Ouroboros and asked to visit Feysac.

• Audrey met Ileana for afternoon tea and found her relaxed manner at odds with her public reputation as a devout priest.
• Ileana explained the Church’s baptism options and offered to relay Audrey’s preference to the Church.
• Audrey and Ileana candidly discussed their doubts about faith and agreed that the gods must still be treated with awe.
• Klein considered how Utopia’s interactions with the outside world could support his ritual, while avoiding discovery and interference from the God of Thunder.
• Klein received a prayer from Medici, who appeared beside Ouroboros and asked the Fool for somewhere convenient to look around in Feysac.

Klein accepted Medici and Ouroboros’s help, agreeing to support Medici’s bid for the Einhorn Family’s Conqueror characteristic while allowing Ouroboros to improve his Marionette Town. As he planned to spread the Fool’s faith and bring the City of Silver out of the Forsaken Land of the Gods, he saw Amon enter a building on the Eastern Continent and leap into a bottomless pit.

• Klein decided Medici could help stabilize Feysac and Ouroboros could refine the fates in his Marionette Town.
• Klein promised to help Medici obtain the Einhorn Family’s Conqueror characteristic but warned Ouroboros that Will had helped him first; Ouroboros stayed, and Klein resolved to let the two Snakes of Fate compete fairly while favoring Will slightly.
• Medici set out to gather the Conqueror characteristic and troops, while Ouroboros began locating the Marionette City to repair it.
• Klein planned to spread faith in the Fool among the people of Feysac and bring the City of Silver out of the Forsaken Land of the Gods to help establish his church.
• Klein learned that Leonard had entered the Hornacis Mountain Range and that Audrey had joined the Creator’s Church, prompting him to consider the risks of her baptism.
• Klein saw Amon enter a building on the Eastern Continent and jump into a bottomless pit carrying three Marauder Sequence One Characteristics and a Uniqueness, then fell asleep from exhaustion.

Edward inspected the Nois Family’s failures in Backlund and pressed Milan to propose a new course for the devils. Milan suggested inflaming tensions between Feynapotter and Loen, and Edward ordered him to proceed, leaving Milan facing the risk of death if he failed.

• Milan Nois reported that the Nois Family had missed its chance to expand during the chaos, while Earth Mother Church’s success had weakened its business in Loen.
• Edward criticized the devils for clinging to their investments and ordered Milan to kneel, then reminded him that caution had cost him a chance to advance further.
• Edward questioned a Rose School member from the Southern Continent and a Beria Family member, then demanded to hear Milan’s proposed remedy.
• Milan proposed provoking Feynapotter merchants and displaced people into conflict with Loen, while acknowledging that the plan could draw the churches’ attention.
• Edward approved the plan, dropped his gold cuff link in front of Milan, and told him to act or die and let someone else take his place.

Edward planned to provoke the City of Calamity and River of Eternal Darkness into contact, considering disasters and a trip to Balam as ways to weaken their seals. In Backlund, he bought a starving farmer’s corn and scattered it for pigeons, while Audrey experienced a vision of God Almighty during her baptism.

• Edward resolved to intensify worldwide disasters, draw the River of Eternal Darkness toward the City of Calamity, and investigate whether Balam could help him reach the river.
• Edward considered using the people of Balam and Death’s Sequence One characteristics to draw the River of Eternal Darkness out of Calderón and into reality.
• Edward met an impoverished farmer selling corn in Backlund, bought the entire sack with a gold coin, and scattered the kernels for pigeons.
• During her baptism, Audrey felt submerged in water and heard a hymn that made her question her faith in the Goddess.
• Audrey received a revelation of peaceful scenes beneath a cross, recognized the presence of God Almighty, and came back to herself at the baptismal table.

Audrey experienced a second overwhelming Divine Revelation during her baptism, leaving her spiritually drained and wavering toward the Creator’s vision of a peaceful, equal world while fearing she might grow distant from her mentor, the Fool. Elsewhere, two Mandated Punishers found a Devil-related object on an old man in an East Borough market and moved to confiscate it.

• After Audrey’s baptism, Ileana noticed that Audrey was unsteady, and Audrey realized that a second Divine Revelation had consumed most of her spirituality.
• Audrey reflected on the Creator’s vision of a thousand years of peace and began to consider changing her faith, while worrying that she would drift apart from the Fool.
• Audrey explained her attachment to her mentor to Ileana, who comforted her; Audrey then went to learn what arrangements the Church had made for her.
• Two Mandated Punishers investigated suspected Devil activity at an East Borough market and used an identification charm to locate its source.
• The Mandated Punishers found a golden object in an old man’s coat pocket and told him they had to confiscate it.

Two Mandated Punishers seized a Devil-linked gold coin from a starving Feynapotter farmer and paid him only five pence for his remaining corn, driving him to attack them in despair. Audrey later met the Fool, who told her that joining the Church of God Almighty was her choice and corrected her name for the deity.

• The Mandated Punishers identified the gold coin as carrying the aura of a powerful Devil and questioned the old farmer who had received it.
• The Punishers decided to take the coin and compensate the farmer by buying his remaining corn, but they paid him only five pence at the Loen market price.
• The farmer realized the coin and corn had been his last hope, grew furious, and hurled his metal handcart at a Mandated Punisher, killing him.
• The lighter-haired Mandated Punisher killed the farmer with a wind blade, and the bloodied coin fell to the ground.
• Audrey left the Cathedral of Light and encountered the Fool in the gray fog, asking whether her interest in the Church of the Creator displeased him.
• The Fool told Audrey she had time to choose for herself and instructed her to call the deity God Almighty, not the Creator.

Audrey questioned Ileana about God Almighty's Church after Mr. Fool's warning made her uneasy about joining it. At a Trier banquet, Fors heard rumors about a new demigod Saint and realized the woman was her old friend Audrey.

• Audrey asked the household maids about their work and wages, then sent Susie back to her room before visiting Ileana.
• Audrey told Ileana that her senior had shown displeasure at her joining God Almighty's Church and asked what humanity should do if God Almighty turned against it.
• Ileana admitted she could not answer Audrey's question and reflected that even a single day of Heaven on earth would help the poor.
• Fors attended a banquet at the Abraham Family mansion in a gown and jewelry provided by Dorian.
• Fors overheard guests discussing a beautiful new demigod Saint from Loen who was likely a Spectator and connected the clues to Audrey, Justice.

Dorian announced Bethel Abraham’s return as an Angel and the Abraham Family’s freedom from its curse, while Klein prepared Utopia with Ouroboros. Elsewhere, Edward tried to stir Feynapotter resentment against the Church of the Storm, but growing support for the migrants complicated his efforts.

• Dorian told the Abraham Family that its curse had been lifted and introduced Bethel Abraham as its returning ancestor, the Great Gate of All Doors.
• Verdu asked Bethel whether they should reveal that he was already a God, but Bethel declined while he continued reading.
• Klein welcomed Ouroboros to Utopia and asked him to arrange natural identities and fates for its 29,647 Marionettes before guests arrived the next day.
• Klein built Utopia’s homes, infrastructure, and surrounding transportation, then left Ouroboros to look for problems while he rested.
• A young man complained that the Earth Mother’s Church had refused a deal and that higher wages and new jobs had weakened resistance among Feynapotter workers.
• Edward sympathized with Feynapotter diners and pressed them to question their losses, their treatment in Loen, and the fate that had brought them there.

At Harvest Church, Emlyn White gave free treatment and medicinal tea to people in need while planning for more patients to arrive. Meanwhile, Leonard chose to travel by water to Dilan, and Klein finished preparing Utopia’s residents and their fates, leaving Ouroboros to choose a role there.

• Emlyn and his assistant treated a sick child and gave her parents fever medicine, then offered free medicinal tea to everyone sheltering or praying at Harvest Church.
• Emlyn agreed that his assistant could grow medicinal herbs in the church’s backyard and hire two temporary workers as more people sought help.
• Pallez told Leonard that Madam Magician was in Trier and that another Tarot Club member was near a Creator’s church, so Leonard chose to travel by water to Dilan.
• Klein and Ouroboros assigned identities and fates to nearly thirty thousand Utopia residents while Klein’s avatars studied the knowledge needed for their roles.
• Klein asked Ouroboros what role he wanted in Utopia and said he would forbid symbols of God Almighty; Ouroboros proposed an inverted cross, and Klein accepted.

Will Ceres worried that his parents’ planned vacation might be diverted by fate, while the people from the Forsaken Land of the Gods considered how to support themselves in the outside world. The Tarot Club gathering began, and Hermes was warned when he tried to glimpse Sefirah Castle.

• Will Ceres watched Doctor Aaron win a family trip and used the Dice of Probability, sensing that fate might alter the journey to Desi Bay.
• Edward observed Loen’s grain market and the growing influence of the churches, noting how religious and political policies were reshaping the country.
• Derrick and Alger discussed the island community’s needs and considered having the people of the Forsaken Land of the Gods earn money by taking combat work.
• The gray mist appeared as Derrick and Alger prepared for the Tarot Club gathering.
• Hermes tried to spy on Sefirah Castle through the gray mist, but the red light caused him pain and forced him to stop.

Hermes wondered why Audrey had not joined the Twilight Hermit Order, while Klein convened an unexpected Tarot Club meeting and explained that the Moon and Planter pathways came from a Mother in the starry sky. The gathering ended with Emlyn realizing that the Ancestor and the Earth Mother might both be children of that entity, which was still calling to him.

• Hermes considered Audrey's hesitation and decided to wait for her return before approaching her again.
• Klein and Antigonus prepared Sefirah Castle for a Tarot Club meeting, and the members gathered unexpectedly.
• Emlyn told the Tarot Club that he had joined the Church of the Earth Mother and asked whether the Moon and Planter pathways had unusual origins.
• The Tarot Club discussed competing beliefs about where Beyonder characteristics came from, with most members tracing them to the Original Creator.
• Klein revealed that the Moon and Planter pathways came from the starry sky and belonged to a Mother who was still calling to Emlyn.

At a Tarot Club meeting, Emlyn learned that the Planter and Moon pathways were tied to a cosmic Mother, while Fors shared news that the Abraham Family’s curse had ended and Mr. Door had returned. The Fool announced that the City of Silver and Moon City would relocate to Feysac, where his followers would help spread his faith, and revealed that the Red Angel would be involved.

• Emlyn explained the dangers of the Primordial Moon and learned that the high-sequence potion names suggested the Planter and Moon pathways transformed their followers into women.
• Fors announced that the Abraham Family’s full moon curse had been lifted, Mr. Door had returned, and she would soon advance to Traveler.
• Xio reported strange incidents involving revived corpses and warned of suspicious unrest in Backlund’s East Borough; Emlyn said the violence began after a Feynapotter man killed a Church of the Storm Seafarer.
• The Fool told Derrick that the City of Silver and Moon City would evacuate to Feysac, revealing that the God of Combat was dead and the land would soon belong to him.
• The World warned that the newcomers would face small wars against remaining followers of the God of Combat, and the Fool revealed that the Red Angel would join them.

At the Tarot Club, the members discussed the relocation of the City of Silver and the Sea God Church to Feysac, where they would help spread the Fool’s faith. Audrey then questioned whether God Almighty could fulfill his promise of bringing Heaven to earth, and Klein answered that it would happen as long as God Almighty wished it.

• The World explained that the Red Angel would help the Fool take Feysac, and Derrick asked for advice on finding a home and work for the people of the City of Silver.
• The Tarot Club members advised Derrick on settling in Feysac, learning languages, finding employment, and investing in land and resources.
• Derrick thanked the members, while Alger reported that the Sea God Church had compiled its first Holy Bible and helped settle the Forsaken Land’s people.
• Klein told Alger that the Sea God Church would relocate to Feysac and tasked him and Derrick with establishing the Church, compiling the Holy Bible, and spreading the Fool’s name.
• Audrey told the Tarot Club she had converted to God Almighty and asked Klein whether God Almighty could bring Heaven to earth and how long the promise would last.
• Klein answered Audrey that God Almighty would fulfill the promise as long as he wished it.

Audrey chose to join God Almighty’s Church and work toward improving people’s lives, despite understanding that Heaven required surrendering everything beyond faith. Klein revealed that God Almighty was his enemy and barred those who followed him from returning to the Tarot Club, so Audrey said goodbye to the gathering.

• Audrey concluded that God Almighty could create the just and happy world she wanted and decided to join his Church while helping people through her own efforts.
• Leonard told the World that he had found the Fool Card in the Nation of the Evernight and was traveling through Intis toward Dilan; the World said he was in Feysac and would try to meet him.
• Derrick described the City of Silver’s preparations to establish the Fool’s Church in Feysac, and Alger advised the members to avoid attacking other Churches and to respect the current Oracle.
• Klein told the Tarot Club that God Almighty had killed the Creator and was his enemy, then said that anyone who chose to follow God Almighty could no longer come before him.
• Audrey thanked the Fool and the Tarot Club, said she would always remember them, and left without changing her decision.

Cattleya warned Klein that Frank Lee, a Planter pathway Druid, believed the Merciful Mother's will was present throughout nature, prompting Klein to consider whether Frank had been corrupted. Emlyn found injured people from a clash in the East Borough sheltering in the Harvest Church, while Doctor Aaron and Velma set off for Desi Bay with their crying son Will.

• Cattleya questioned Frank about his nonalcoholic beer and the Merciful Mother's revelations, then reported his beliefs to Klein through a prayer.
• Emlyn found wounded Feynapotter people and uneasy Loen worshippers in the Harvest Church after a large brawl in the East Borough, and he went out to investigate.
• Klein considered whether Frank had been influenced by the Mother Goddess of Depravity and told Cattleya to report any abnormalities to the Church of Mysteries.
• Doctor Aaron and Velma soothed Will after he began crying whenever they left home, then boarded a train to Desi Bay with five minutes to spare.

Leonard traveled north through Intis while Pallez puzzled over Klein’s apparent Sequence One ritual, and Audrey received a summons from Hermes and considered her future church assignment. Meanwhile, Aaron’s family’s holiday journey was delayed by a storm, and they stopped at Torne Station, where Will began sobbing after Aaron spoke with a Feysac conductor.

• Leonard boarded a steamship heading toward Trier, where he planned to visit his Tarot Club companions, and Pallez inferred that Klein was preparing a Marionette Town as his Sequence One advancement ritual.
• Ileana gave Audrey a letter from Hermes summoning her to the garden behind the Grand Cathedral and offered her a selection of church assignments.
• Audrey told Ileana that an elder had supported her decision to join God Almighty’s Church but no longer wished to associate with her.
• A storm forced Aaron’s train to stop overnight at Torne Station in Southville County, so he and Velma left to find lodging with Will.
• Aaron asked a conductor from a train bound for the Mirminsk Mountain Range about his journey, and Will began sobbing as the family left the station.

Aaron and Velma arrived in Southville County with baby Will, who recognized the city’s hidden marionettes and its connection to Utopia, while one of them invited Aaron to visit there. In Loen, Emlyn tried to calm a dispute between Feynapotter and Loen believers, but a stranger inflamed the Feynapotter man’s resentment and revealed the location of the Beyonder who killed his neighbor.

• Aaron and Velma took shelter from the rain in an inn near Municipal Square, while Will realized the town’s people were marionettes whose fates were concealed unless he used the Dice of Probability.
• At dinner, Will recognized a northbound thread from a Feysac-featured traveler, and the traveler gave Aaron a leaflet promoting Utopia and directions to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
• Emlyn separated a Feynapotter man and a Loen believer who had fought, then told the Feynapotter man that believers in the Mother Goddess were all fellow believers and warned him against joining protests.
• After leaving the church, the Feynapotter man told a gentleman that Emlyn had sided with the Loen people, and the gentleman intensified his resentment while revealing where the Beyonder who killed his neighbor lived.

Aaron dreamed that he and his family traveled to Utopia, while Will examined the city and its apparent lack of Beyonders. Audrey accompanied Hermes to a mysterious city representing human desires, and the Feynapotter man went to an address in Cherwood Borough.

• The Feynapotter man told Emlyn that a pastor of the Church of Lightning had killed his neighbor, but Emlyn said there was not enough evidence to pursue a lawsuit and directed him to other churches for help.
• Aaron dreamed that he, Velma, and Will boarded a strange train to Utopia, where Will observed a city of glass buildings containing no Beyonder presence.
• Aaron woke, noticed a corner missing from the poster on his table, and took his family to Torne Station, where the train bound for Utopia had already departed.
• Hermes took Audrey by carriage to a mysterious city and explained that it existed wherever people were and that its inhabitants represented animalistic desire.
• The Feynapotter man arrived at a terraced house on Second Street in Cherwood Borough.

Audrey was accepted into the Psychology Alchemists after promising to keep its secrets, but Hermes offered her a place in the Twilight Hermit Order and tasked her with helping God Almighty reclaim his authority. Meanwhile, Emlyn was arrested by the Church of the Storm after one of his people was linked to a deadly gas leak.

• Audrey told Hermes she had chosen God Almighty’s Church but would not betray her friends or reveal their private arrangements with Mr. Fool.
• Hermes accepted Audrey into the Psychology Alchemists after her promise to keep its secrets was mystically notarized.
• Hermes offered Audrey a position in the Twilight Hermit Order, then explained that God Almighty needed to reclaim authority held by unwilling avatars.
• Hermes warned Audrey that joining the order would require her to use her family, nationality, and identity as bargaining tools, and pointed to the God of Thunder’s tsunami and Intis’s need for rain.
• A Mandated Punisher accused Emlyn White’s associate of causing a fatal gas leak and took Emlyn away for questioning.
• Believers at the Harvest Church saw Emlyn being taken away and spread the claim that the Church of the Storm had arrested Bishop White.