Chapter Summaries

Derrick's team defeated the starving boy Jack, while Klein confirmed the evil spirit's hostility and decided to leave Backlund normally despite suspecting that Sealed Artifact 0-08 was shaping events. The Fool summoned Derrick to a gathering, and Amon left Backlund for East Chester County after failing to detect Sefirah Castle.

• Colin killed Jack when the boy lunged at Joshua, and Derrick's team prepared to continue toward the city-state and the temple of the Fallen Creator.
• Klein divined that the evil spirit harbored intense malice toward him and Sharron, then went home to rest.
• Prince Edessak's maid told Klein that he had missed the lady again, prompting him to suspect that 0-08 was creating coincidences; his attempts to divine the matter failed.
• Klein decided to visit Red Rose Manor and hand over his assignment as planned before leaving Backlund without drawing attention.
• The Fool told Derrick to prepare for a gathering, while Amon left Backlund for East Chester County after failing to sense Sefirah Castle.

Derrick recalled five repeated explorations of the Fallen Creator’s temple and sought the Tarot Club’s help identifying the loop’s cause. In a separate story, Wen Xia gained ghostly powers after dying, freed kidnapped people, learned that her brother Shayi had died at sea, and descended into madness.

• Derrick told the Tarot Club that each temple exploration ended with Colin killing Jack and restarted at the camp, and Alger suggested a time loop or an illusion.
• Audrey proposed that Jack might be the key, and Alger connected him to the child of a Listener he had pursued while searching for the True Creator’s Sanctuary.
• Wen Xia was attacked by a slave trader, died, and accepted power through a blue flame that restored her to life as a ghost.
• Wen Xia used her powers to kill the traffickers and free the captives held in a warehouse.
• Wen Xia divined Shayi’s location and saw that he had died after being thrown from a ship, then broke down laughing and sobbing.

Ince Zangwill and Panatiya prepared to carry out their plan in Backlund after driving the Temperance Angel away, while Klein connected clues about his resurrection and the gray fog to the Seer pathway and planned to investigate Ince. Edward sensed that a catastrophe would strike Backlund the next day at noon and arranged to be there when it happened.

• Ince Zangwill reviewed 0-08’s failed attempts to control its target, and Panatiya assured him the repeated breaches would cause no problems.
• The Royal Family used newspaper coverage of Southern Continent conflicts to push the Temperance Angel out of Backlund, and Ince and Panatiya set their plan for the following day.
• Klein reviewed the Tarot Club’s revelations, considered the gray fog’s connection to the Seer pathway and his resurrection, and planned to return to Backlund in disguise to contact the Machinery Hivemind and investigate Ince.
• Edward overheard indistinct voices from Sefirah Castle, recognized the Ancient Jotun word for “loop,” and sensed a catastrophe would strike Backlund the next day at noon.
• Edward ordered a stand-in to remain in place while he prepared to travel secretly to Backlund, and he urged two newly empowered Southern Continent followers to stir up trouble and survive.

During the seventh exploration, Derrick and Colin connected Amon to the Angel of Time and the mural’s angel to Ouroboros, the Angel of Fate. Meanwhile, Klein set out for Red Rose Manor as Edward approached Backlund, where he intercepted Azik and Klein during their Spirit World journey and asked where they were going.

• Derrick told Colin that the face on Jack’s chest resembled the angel in the Rose Redemption mural, prompting Colin to identify the figure as possibly Ouroboros, the Angel of Fate, and Amon as the Angel of Time.
• Colin asked Wisen about his unborn child, and Wisen said he and his wife had chosen the names Uno or Una.
• Klein paid Old Kohler in advance, warned him to avoid danger, and asked him to protect Liv and her daughters before deciding to visit Red Rose Manor.
• Edward left a Faceless in his place, traveled to Backlund in a body from the Nois Family, and sensed a vast change in the fates of East Borough residents.
• Edward traced the disturbance to Ince Zangwill and 0-08, then followed the altered fates and caught up with Azik and Klein in the Spirit World passage.
• Edward tore into the passage as Azik shielded Klein from his appearance, then greeted them and asked where they were going.

Azik helped Klein escape Edward Vaughan through the Underworld, then stayed behind to fight the Devil while Klein fled with a powerful skeletal spirit. Edward halted his attack after recognizing Azik and tried to turn him against Klein by describing Sefirah Castle and hinting at a story involving Klein, Zhou Mingrui, and a god’s schemes; meanwhile, Ince Zangwill encountered Sherlock Moriarty.

• Azik took Klein into the Underworld, where Klein learned Edward Vaughan was stronger than Azik and apologized for drawing him into the conflict.
• Klein confessed that he had established the Fool’s gathering by pretending to be a god, and Azik gave his Copper Whistle the power to summon a Demigod-level Pale General.
• Azik and Klein lured Edward into an ambush, and Klein escaped on the Pale General while Azik remained behind to hold Edward off.
• Edward overwhelmed Azik, but withdrew when he recognized Azik’s golden forehead ornament and began questioning him about Klein’s connection to Sefirah Castle.
• Edward told Azik that Klein had used a Sefirah to establish a gathering and suggested he would explain a story about Klein, Zhou Mingrui, and a god’s schemes.
• 0-08 wrote that Klein and a demigod-level spirit had appeared near Ince Zangwill, who went outside and found Sherlock Moriarty.

Trissy learned that Prince Edessak’s love for her had been engineered, but Edessak let her escape and chose to remain behind. Klein fled Ince Zangwill through an ancient underground ruin while Azik’s Demigod spirit fought Ince and a Royal Family Demigod; meanwhile, Lady Despair unleashed the Backlund Great Smog, and Maria and Azik tried to respond as casualties mounted.

• Trissy told Edessak that their meeting and his love for her had been arranged, and that she was a disposable hostage in the Royal Family’s cooperation with the Demoness Sect.
• Edessak allowed Trissy to leave through a hidden door and said he would stop Finkel, choosing to face his own ending.
• Klein encountered Ince Zangwill underground and fled while Azik’s Demigod spirit battled Ince and a golden-masked Justiciar Demigod.
• Klein disguised himself as Ince Zangwill and deceived four guards while escaping through the underground complex.
• Lady Despair spread toxic black-and-yellow smog across Backlund, beginning the Backlund Great Smog Incident.
• Maria evacuated the children and staff at her charity school while Sean maintained fresh air in their shelter, and Azik entered the East Borough as the casualty count rose.

The Backlund Great Smog spread through the East Borough, killing residents and overwhelming attempts to rescue them as Maria was trapped by Lady Despair. The Monarch of Decay cursed humanity and the gods, but halted the curse when he sensed fate changing.

• Old Kohler collapsed in the poisonous fog, but Maria and Doctor Blake rescued him and organized medical aid with Gavin Reed's Zombies and Ademisaul.
• Lady Despair restrained Maria, took the Sealed Artifact from her pocket, and threw it aside.
• Liv and Freya both collapsed from the fog, while Daisy was forced toward the church as she tried to return home to them.
• The smog killed residents across the East Borough, Harbor Borough, and Factory District, becoming known as the Backlund Great Smog.
• The Monarch of Decay refused to save a dying girl, then cursed humanity and the gods with the Death Sign judgment.
• The Monarch of Decay stopped his curse when he sensed that the course of fate had changed.

Maria recovered the black box and helped expose the Demoness of Despair, while Richard Ernst cured East Borough’s poisoned residents before being seized by the Monarch of Decay. In the divine kingdom, Richard refused the god’s offer and persuaded him to delay his judgment of humanity, though Richard’s own fate became bound to the planet’s eventual destruction.

• Maria distracted Panatiya with an insult, and the Zombie and the spirits attacked the Demoness of Despair while Maria searched for the black box.
• Maria opened the box just before Panatiya dragged her away, turning the Demoness into a wooden puppet; Richard Ernst then removed the poison from East Borough’s survivors by bearing their illnesses himself.
• A young, purple-haired man took the puppets and displaced Richard from his body, while Maria found Freya and Mrs. Liv dead and Daisy missing.
• The Church of Storms’ hurricane and rain dispersed the poisonous fog, but the Monarch of Decay revealed to Richard that he had engineered the catastrophe to create a pretext for destroying the world.
• Richard refused to die in exchange for the Monarch’s promised protection of the Southern Continent and declared his intention to kill the gods and eliminate the supernatural.
• Richard offered to draw lots rather than choose between his loved ones and East Borough’s residents, and the Monarch granted him the burden of bearing others’ fates while delaying his judgment of humanity.

The chapter laid out the Decay and Withering Pathways’ Sequences and imagined Decay as the Chained God, with both Indulgence and Temperance serving as valid acting methods. It also noted that the Great Smog section would end in the next chapter and that the author planned to address remaining foreshadowing and questions later.

• The chapter explained that Decay’s lower Sequences inflicted curses that became blessings at Sequence 3, then listed the Decay Pathway’s Sequences from Thug to Death Sign.
• The chapter gave possible Sequence names for the Withering Pathway, from Memory to Stele of Civilization.
• Decay told Suah that the Indulgence Faction could indulge abroad but must not make a mess in his diocese.
• Reinette reported that Suah had massacred a city in Intis, and Decay encouraged him to do more because they were at war.
• After Suah and Reinette fought to a draw, Decay carried them back and scolded both of them.
• The author said the Great Smog section would finish in the next chapter and promised to address unresolved questions later.

Klein escaped the underground ruins and told Azik the truth about Sefirah Castle, but Azik confronted him with the revelation that he was Zhou Mingrui inhabiting Klein’s identity. As the Evernight Goddess watched them reconcile, Prince Edessak took his own life, ending the Great Smog Arc.

• Trissy escaped the public carriage but was immobilized by a hooded figure until her Sapphire Ring shattered, while Finkel was erased by the same figure.
• Klein used the Copper Whistle to escape the underground structure with a spirit Demigod, then asked to be taken to Azik because he feared Ince Zangwill would target Melissa and Benson.
• Azik confronted Klein about his lies, and Klein admitted that he had entered Sefirah Castle through the Fourth Epoch notebook and used it to establish the Tarot Club gathering.
• Azik revealed that Edward Vaughan had told him Klein was actually Zhou Mingrui, a soul from an ancient era who had taken over Klein’s identity.
• Klein rejected the claim that he came from an ancient era, and Azik saw how deeply the possibility of being unable to return to his former life distressed him.
• The Evernight Goddess watched Klein and Azik talk beneath the café eaves, while Prince Edessak shot himself at Red Rose Manor.

Audrey learned that the poisonous fog had killed more than ten thousand people, while Maria and the clinic staff struggled to treat survivors and count their losses. Klein confided in Azik about his past and their possible connection to Sefirah Castle before preparing to leave Backlund.

• Earl Hall told Audrey that the crisis had been resolved but that more than ten thousand people had died and the plague was still spreading.
• Daisy watched her mother Liv and sister Freya being taken away beneath a sheet, then chased the carriage and collapsed in grief.
• Doctor Blake and Ademisaul treated victims with an accidentally discovered antidote, while Maria planned bereavement payments and began counting the Foundation's casualties.
• Ademisaul learned that Mr. Kohler would not survive the winter and urged Maria to hire Tyler and help Daisy.
• Klein told Azik about his life as Zhou Mingrui, and they considered whether his connection to Sefirah Castle had been arranged by a great being.
• Azik warned Klein not to place his family under the Evernight Goddess's gaze and urged him to prepare carefully before leaving Backlund.

Traynor learned that his father had taken part in a massacre and arranged to flee Intis before the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun could interrogate him. In Backlund, the Monarch of Decay woke the True Creator and proposed a wager over whether Richard Ernst would survive, leaving the True Creator to choose whether to renew their covenant.

• Traynor's father, speaking through an owl, took Traynor's Faceless Puppet and warned him to leave Trier before the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun questioned him.
• Traynor learned that his father had added twenty thousand victims to a massacre blamed on the Loen Royal Family and planned to brief the Archbishop before escaping Intis through the Private Port.
• The Monarch of Decay entered Medici's manor unseen and reached the True Creator's hidden chamber.
• The Monarch of Decay broke the True Creator's curse-induced confusion, then proposed renewing their covenant and wagering on whether his student, Richard Ernst, would die.
• The True Creator questioned the Outer Deity's terms, and the Monarch of Decay threatened to kill him if he refused; the True Creator's reaching hand froze.

The True Creator and the Monarch of Decay discussed gods, humanity, and madness while reviewing an eccentric experiment involving roast-chicken-flavored apples. In Tingen, Leonard returned to protect Klein Moretti’s family as they prepared to travel to Backlund.

• The Monarch of Decay explained that Outer Deities resisted madness differently, while the True Creator discussed how humans and gods defined humanity and selfhood.
• The True Creator and the Monarch of Decay questioned why Earth’s gods had not pursued adjacent pathways, and the True Creator blamed their betrayal on their ambition and his misjudgment.
• The Monarch of Decay approved a researcher’s plan to develop roast-chicken-flavored apples and offered the True Creator a finished red wine fish.
• Benson told Melissa that he had booked second-class train tickets to Backlund for January 3 and described the promised work opportunities there.
• Iliya and Soest reported that Ince Zangwill’s spirits had been eliminated, while Daly warned that further attacks were likely and urged the Moretti family’s relocation.
• Leonard returned to Tingen and agreed to escort and protect Klein Moretti’s family on their journey to Backlund.

On New Year’s Day, Melissa met Leonard, who arranged to travel beside the Moretti siblings as the Church prepared for a possible attack by Ince Zangwill. In the Southern Continent, Traynor and members of the Aurora Order received Frank Lee’s strange fish and were ordered to review it.

• Melissa borrowed books and ran into Leonard, who told her he was leaving for Backlund on the same train as the Morettis.
• Leonard learned that 0-08 had arranged for him to sit near Melissa and Benson, while Daly planned to pursue Ince Zangwill from another carriage.
• Leonard considered whether Ince’s threat against him might conceal a danger to Iliya or the ordinary passengers, and resolved to protect the Morettis and the carriage.
• Traynor prepared a rabbit after killing his pursuers, then received Frank Lee’s genetically modified fish and was required to write a review.
• Mr. Z, Mr. X, and Mr. A debated how to prepare the fish, then learned their reviews would count toward merit and began competing to write them.

The Pilgrimage Church’s Foundation counted its losses from the Great Smog and debated death benefits and recruitment while the kingdom concealed the disaster’s cause. Meanwhile, Frank received feedback on his experimental fish, including an offering-like review from a Secrets Suppliant, and treasured it without realizing how the diners had experienced the meal.

• Sean, Gavin, Ademisaul, and Maria discussed the Foundation’s staffing crisis, workers’ families, and death benefits after the Great Smog killed nearly a third of its employees.
• Ademisaul observed that the disaster might help factories replenish their workforce and return to business as usual, while East Borough’s survivors bore the losses.
• Frank served his improved fish to Cattleya and the crew, who secretly disposed of it while preventing Heath Doyle from tasting it.
• Frank prayed to the Mentor after his spiritual intuition warned him, and a set of written reviews appeared on his desk.
• Frank read the diners’ feedback, burned the section praising the True Creator, and kept the remaining pages as valuable product advice.
• The Mentor told three diners that A’s review earned the highest score because his gratitude after eating Holy Communion gave it more feeling than their feedback.

Leonard Mitchell protected Benson and Melissa Moretti from Ince Zangwill’s attacks during their train journey to Backlund, while Soest and the Red Gloves prepared for a confrontation. The journey ended safely, and Klein passed the siblings in opposite directions as they entered their new lives.

• Benson and Melissa boarded the early train to Backlund and met Leonard, who shared advice about the city during the journey.
• Ince Zangwill trapped the passengers in a nightmare, but Leonard used a hot charm to break free, wake the living passengers, and alert Soest to the deaths.
• As the train continued, a luggage rack nearly fell on Melissa, and a disguised fugitive attacked Benson; Leonard stopped him with his insulated flask while Ilya tracked Ince Zangwill.
• Soest and Leonard led the passengers into a protective dream while Demigods fought Ince Zangwill, and the passengers later awoke refreshed.
• The train arrived in Backlund, where Benson and Melissa left the station with Leonard as Klein passed them heading the other way.
• Leonard requested leave to rest, and Soest told him that the mission had succeeded, though Ince Zangwill had not been utterly defeated.

The Monarch of Decay told the True Creator how a militaristic civilization destroyed itself after creating an artificial-intelligence weapon, and why he ultimately decided to destroy its survivors. At the Tarot Club, Fors realized the Great Smog matched the disaster Mr. Fool had warned about, while Justice thanked him for saving Backlund.

• The Monarch of Decay described Tofadal’s arms race and how he met an ambitious young man whose homeland had been used as a weapons-testing ground.
• The young man helped create an intelligent peacekeeping weapon, but its delivery led to the deaths of him and the other researchers.
• Centuries later, a war over the weapon led to its reactivation, and it slaughtered most of the population before the Monarch of Decay stopped it.
• The Monarch of Decay found that the survivors felt no regret and decided to destroy them completely.
• Fors attended the Tarot Club gathering and connected Prince Edessak’s death and the Great Smog to Mr. Fool’s earlier warning.
• Justice thanked Mr. Fool for saving Backlund, leaving Emlyn confused about what had happened.

At the Tarot Club, Derrick thanked Mr. Fool for helping the City of Silver break the cycle, then struggled with whether to reveal his suspicions about the unborn child of Wisen Skold and the Angel of Fate. Meanwhile, Traynor visited an underground factory and reunited with Cosette, whose reckless first attempt at driving a tram sent them hurtling down the tracks.

• Audrey questioned Derrick about escaping the loop, and Derrick credited Mr. Fool’s guidance in finding the Angel of Fate clue that helped Colin Iliad break the cycle.
• During the City of Silver’s observation period, Derrick worried that Wisen Skold’s unborn child might be connected to Ouroboros and considered asking Mr. Fool for guidance.
• Colin Iliad noticed Derrick watching Wisen Skold and exchanged a knowing look with him.
• Traynor arrived at his factory in the Balam Empire and was taken to an underground tram station by a young Knowledge-pathway Beyonder.
• Cosette told Traynor that the Pilgrimage Church’s danger rating had risen and that she had returned voluntarily to avoid suspicion.
• Cosette admitted she had only just learned to drive the tram, then accelerated it violently down the tracks.

Edward planned to escape his confinement by taking a new identity, sailing the seas, and entering the Forsaken Land of the Gods. After informing the True Creator of his departure, he prepared to hunt Agalito and take control of the Death Announcer.

• Edward learned that the Saint of Darkness and the other pilgrims had gone missing, then considered how to reach the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
• Edward followed the prayers of Miss Lunatic and Mr. Serial Killer as they fled south, rejected the Indulgence Faction's offer, and left their allegiance uncertain.
• Edward decided to sail around the Forsaken Land of the Gods under a pirate identity and chose the Death Announcer as his ship.
• Edward and the True Creator discussed his plans, agreed that he would fight back if the Seven Gods threatened him, and spoke about how Amon maintained his identity.
• Edward prepared to hunt the King of Immortality, Agalito, and the Death Announcer; meanwhile, Gehrman finished a late-night murloc snack.

The True Creator assigned Medici to lead the Iron and Blood Cross Order’s Human Resources Department instead of granting his request to expand the army. In Backlund, the Outer Deity met Fors as “Mr. Wente,” manipulated her into revealing Tarot Club information, and left after Xio arrived; meanwhile, Gehrman and Danitz fought monsters in Bansy Harbor.

• Medici reported that the Iron and Blood Cross Order had submitted to the True Creator and urged him to restore his Sequence One strength and expand their forces.
• The True Creator explained that Medici’s Beyonder characteristic still contained Sauron and Alista’s mental imprints, then appointed Medici head of the Iron and Blood Cross Order’s Human Resources Department.
• Fors went out for dinner and encountered the Outer Deity, who appeared as Edward Vaughan and used his powers to make her believe he was her old acquaintance, Mr. Wente.
• At dinner, Fors told the Outer Deity about the Tarot Club’s members, discussions, and recent transactions, allowing him to assess the gathering’s strength.
• The Outer Deity said goodbye to Fors when Xio arrived, and Fors returned home with her friend without remembering anything unusual about Mr. Wente.
• Gehrman took Danitz around Bansy Harbor, where they beat up Zombies, Flying Heads, and a Storm Bishop who had lost control.