Chapter Summaries

Lorry reported the newly founded Fantasy Society to Vera, who promised to alert MI9 and warned him not to investigate further. After returning to the Ceramics Factory, Lorry learned that Old Kohler had refused to work there, leaving him puzzled.

• Lorry told Vera about the Fantasy Society’s sermon, its recruitment methods, and the supernatural abilities of its Gray-Robed Mentor and White-Robed Deputy Archbishop.
• Vera said he would report the organization to MI9, warned Lorry to avoid its members, and promised an answer within seven days about a possible Sealed Artifact.
• Vera revealed that he had found a Sealed Artifact suited to Lorry, and Lorry left to return to the Ceramics Factory.
• Lorry spent Monday making anti-divination charms and studying languages before Qiao reported that Old Kohler had refused to work at the factory.
• Lorry asked Qiao why Old Kohler had refused.

Lorry accepted Old Kohler's decision to keep working for a detective rather than take a comfortable job. At the gathering above the Gray Fog, Klein discovered a forged diary page, and Fors followed up on her commissions before offering two Spectator pathway potion formulas.

• Qiao relayed Old Kohler's refusal of Lorry's job offer and his wish to keep helping others through his detective work.
• Lorry accepted Old Kohler's decision and found that his recent potion digestion had yielded only faint progress.
• Fors learned that Roselle's Diary pages could be exchanged for requests and planned to ask a possible Blessed of Mr. Fool for pages.
• Klein found that the third diary page submitted by the Hanged Man contained nonsense instead of the continuation about the Abyss.
• The Sun Derrick recounted his encounter with Amon and warned Fors that strict surveillance would delay her Beyonder Characteristic.
• The Hanged Man Alger quoted five hundred pounds for Fors's commissioned Sealed Artifact, and Fors offered the Psychiatrist and Hypnotist potion formulas to the gathering.

Fors sold the Hypnotist and Psychiatrist potion formulas to Derrick and Audrey on credit during a Tarot Club gathering. After the members finished their business, Audrey introduced an interesting case from Backlund involving the Gentleman Thief, Black Emperor.

• Klein praised Fors for collecting potion formulas while Fors privately worried about the members' attention.
• Derrick asked Fors for the Hypnotist formula on credit so he could earn contribution points and obtain materials for her faster.
• Fors gave Derrick the Hypnotist formula, then agreed to let Audrey buy the Hypnotist and Psychiatrist formulas on credit for 3,000 pounds.
• Klein helped Fors pass the formulas to Audrey, while Alger regretted not asking to buy on credit himself.
• Audrey began the free exchange session by introducing a Backlund case involving the Gentleman Thief, Black Emperor.

At the Tarot Club, Klein claimed credit for a blessed’s role in the Black Emperor affair and offered Beyonder characteristics for sale. Back in the real world, Fors found inspiration for her stories and prepared dinner with Xio and Lorry, who warned Xio that the detective novel she was reading ended on an unfinished case.

• Audrey described the clues linking the gentleman thief Black Emperor to the Tarot Club, and Klein said one of his blessed had made a few contributions.
• Klein offered to sell a Sequence 8 Sheriff characteristic and a Sequence 7 Interrogator characteristic for 600 pounds, and Fors agreed to sacrifice the money to him.
• Klein taught the Tarot Club members Chinese characters for numbers and dates, then ended the gathering.
• Fors struggled to write new stories until memories of Constant City gave her several ideas, and she decided to cook dinner for Xio and Lorry.
• Xio and Lorry bantered at Fors and Xio’s home, and Lorry revealed that the Sherlock novel Xio was reading left its case unfinished.

Fors agreed to lend Lorry Roselle’s diary notes in exchange for a sweet iced tea recipe, while Xio learned of a Sheriff Beyonder characteristic she might buy. After studying for several days, Lorry teleported to meet the lieutenant colonel and startled someone in the house with his sudden arrival.

• Fors asked Lorry to lend her his notes from Emperor Roselle, and he agreed to bring them before next Sunday.
• Fors told Xio that a Sheriff Beyonder characteristic was for sale for six hundred pounds and offered to lend Xio money to buy it.
• Fors agreed to attend Mr. A’s gathering the following night to buy the main ingredients she needed.
• Lorry spent several days studying languages before receiving a letter arranging a Wednesday-night meeting with the lieutenant colonel.
• Lorry teleported to the meeting in the West Borough, where a woman with pale green eyes shrieked at his sudden appearance.

Lorry arrived early at Vera’s home and surprised Beyoncé, who learned that Lorry was the author Raven and received his autograph. After Beyoncé left, Vera revealed that he had been approved to obtain the Sealed Artifact he had requested.

• Lorry teleported into Vera’s home early and startled Beyoncé, who mistook him for an intruder.
• Vera explained that Lorry was his friend and colleague, revealed his identity as Raven, and gave Beyoncé a special-edition book for Lorry to autograph.
• Beyoncé thanked them and left after inviting Vera to dinner the next evening.
• Vera rebuked Lorry for arriving early, then admitted he was serious about his feelings for Beyoncé.
• Vera told Lorry that his application to obtain the Sealed Artifact had been approved.

Vera explained the conditions for Lorry to earn a Sequence 5 Sealed Artifact by investigating the Fantasy Society, and Lorry agreed to take on the mission. Vera handed him the artifact Self, whose effects immediately made Lorry reject his advice.

• Vera told Lorry that the higher-ups would temporarily entrust him with a Sealed Artifact because of his discovery of the Fantasy Society.
• Vera laid out two ways Lorry could earn the artifact permanently: thwart the Society's plot in Backlund or identify its archbishop.
• Lorry said he would pursue the mission if he could help prevent a catastrophe and asked Vera to hand over the artifact.
• Vera presented Self, explained its ability and dangerous negative effects, and began to give Lorry instructions.
• Self affected Lorry, who glared at Vera and demanded, "Are you telling me what to do?"

Vera fought Lorry to break the White Bone Ring’s hold over him, then gave him advice on his combat skills. The chapter ended with Lorry wondering whether Vera’s recent fight against a Marionettist had been against Master Luo.

• Lorry resisted Vera’s instructions while the White Bone Ring’s influence made him arrogant and dismissive.
• Vera banned Sealed Artifacts and Beyonder Abilities in the house, then attacked Lorry and struck his spirit body with an illusory torture gauntlet.
• Lorry realized the attack had lifted the ring’s influence, but Vera continued the sparring session, claiming it would help them stretch their limbs.
• After ten minutes, Vera said Lorry’s fighting relied on street brawling and advised him to seize the initiative against evenly matched opponents.
• Lorry warned that attacking first could play into a Marionettist’s schemes, and Vera revealed that he had recently fought one on a mission.
• Lorry wondered whether Vera’s opponent had been Master Luo.

Vera explained the dangers and safeguards of Self, and Lorry experimented with the Sealed Artifact after returning to the Ceramics Factory. He discovered ways to use its effects alongside Thousand Illusions and considered testing a golden mask while under Self's influence.

• Vera warned Lorry that Self could suppress his Beyonder abilities, alter his behavior, and trap him in a false identity unless he set release conditions.
• Lorry returned to the Ceramics Factory and found that he could resist the questions from Philosophical Murmurs by ignoring them.
• Lorry identified Self's effects as overconfidence, disregard for others, and acceptance of himself, and he observed that Self assimilated the personalities created by Thousand Illusions.
• Lorry used Self to keep Thousand Illusions disguised as a thin layer of flesh-colored skin on his finger for an extended period.
• Lorry considered asking Fors to find an Artisan who could help mitigate Self's unwanted effects, then took out a golden mask whose use could make its wearer feel like a God.

Lorry tested the Calm Mask, found that it counteracted several effects of Self, and planned to finish digesting his Swindler potion while investigating the Fantasy Society. Meanwhile, Xio and Fors watched a street for believers of an evil god, and Arthur recognized Brother Bart on a public bench and hurried him away from the police.

• Lorry tested the Calm Mask's recovery, strength, speed, and six spells, then discovered that it also protected him from the Shadow Ring's instigation.
• Lorry put Self away and planned to complete his final Swindler act during his investigation of the Fantasy Society.
• Xio and Fors disguised themselves as vagrants while investigating believers of an evil god, and Fors felt an unexplained closeness to a worker across the street.
• Arthur recognized Brother Bart on a public bench and warned him as two police officers approached.
• Arthur dragged Brother Bart toward a café to get them away from the officers.

Arthur bought Bart bread and tea, then questioned him about his recent absence from Holy Communion. Bart agreed to help Arthur welcome fellow believers and seek baptism, while Fors and Xio investigated and a Deputy Bishop’s agent watched Arthur.

• Arthur spent his last coin on bread and tea for Bart, who noticed Arthur had no food and struggled to break the loaf.
• Fors and Xio watched the two vagrants before splitting up, while a Deputy Bishop ordered an agent to monitor Arthur and make sure he would not report them.
• Bart told Arthur he had been looking for work at the docks but had found none.
• At Avery Restaurant, Beyoncé used a dining voucher to treat MI9 Lieutenant Colonel Vera to dinner and champagne.
• Bart agreed to join Arthur in welcoming fellow believers and work toward meeting the Archbishop and receiving God’s baptism.

Bart followed Arthur into a growing religious group in the East Borough, where Arthur earned credit for baptism after Bart gave him the believers he had recruited. That evening, Arthur told Bart that he had been baptized, advanced to Gray-Robed Mentor, and gained power as a Shaman.

• Bart and Arthur attended prayers at the abandoned factory and hurried to the front for Holy Communion.
• Bart wondered whether the group had recruited too many people, but Arthur urged him to welcome the hungry believers.
• A distributor told Arthur that the Gray-Robed Mentor wanted to see him about baptism because Bart had put his recruits under Arthur's name.
• Arthur promised to help Bart get baptized in return, then went to meet the Mentor while Bart left the factory.
• After failing to find work and going hungry, Bart returned to the factory and found Arthur waiting for him.
• Arthur told Bart that his baptism had made him a Gray-Robed Mentor and a Shaman with power bestowed by God.

Arthur explained his Shaman abilities to Bart and urged him to join a plan to attack factories, while the archbishop warned his followers not to provoke Xio Derecha and Fors Wall. The chapter ended with Arthur revealing that the archbishop’s name was Miles.

• Arthur told Bart that a Shaman drew power from the spirituality of his territory and claimed he could defeat some Sequence 7 Beyonders there.
• The white-robed deputy archbishop reported that Xio Derecha and Fors Wall were Beyonders, and the archbishop ordered him not to provoke them because they might be blessed by another great being.
• Arthur told Bart to help storm factories and seize the bosses’ wealth, dismissing Bart’s concerns about workers and people who would not convert.
• Arthur reassured Bart that he would receive the archbishop’s baptism and instruction, then revealed that the archbishop was named Miles.

Lorry ended his Bart identity by calling his real name, then learned that his neighbor Miles might be the Fantasy Society’s Archbishop. He went to meet Vera and found Beyoncé leaving his residence, but his suspicion about Miles weighed on him as he entered.

• Bart heard a voice call “Lorry” three times, recovered his true identity, and returned to the Detached House.
• Lorry recalled Arthur’s revelation that the Fantasy Society’s Archbishop was named Miles, and the White Bone Ring confirmed that Lorry still owed it two exams.
• Lorry saw that the broken windows at his home remained unrepaired and found No. 63 dusty and long unoccupied, making him suspect his neighbor Miles was the Archbishop.
• Lorry arrived at Vera’s residence and found Beyoncé leaving after delivering theater tickets; he entered with his thoughts fixed on Miles.

Lorry reported that the Fantasy Society planned a gathering on Friday and that his former neighbor Miles was now its Archbishop. Vera reasoned that the plan was probably genuine and Miles could have been transformed by an evil god’s blessing, while Lorry decided to return to the cult to avoid arousing Arthur’s suspicion.

• Lorry told Vera he had completed both tasks and shared his suspicions that Friday’s gathering might be a false lead and that Miles’s identity as Archbishop seemed unlikely.
• Vera argued that Luck had offered Lorry an opportunity, but his own actions and Arthur’s trust had made the investigation succeed.
• Vera concluded that Arthur likely believed Lorry was a fellow cultist and that Friday’s operation was real, while explaining an evil god could raise an ordinary person to Demigod through a blessing.
• Vera warned that Miles might no longer be himself and that the Blessed were especially dangerous, then urged Lorry not to take further risks or witness his friend’s death.
• Lorry said he would return to the Fantasy Society so Arthur would not become suspicious and so they could learn the group’s specific arrangements.

Lorry told Vera he wanted to save Miles if the Archbishop of the Fantasy Society was really his friend, and Vera explained that a Sealed Artifact might strip Miles of his powers if he had been controlled by an evil god. After arranging to try to help him, Lorry warned Xio about the cultists, returned to his factory, and heard that its transition was going smoothly.

• Lorry admitted he would confront Miles if he was harming people, and Vera said a Sealed Artifact might free him if he had acted under an evil god’s control.
• Lorry agreed to find and restrain Miles on Friday, while Vera promised to seek permission and preserve Lorry’s chance to redeem Self.
• Lorry visited Fors and persuaded Xio to give up her commission, but he did not receive the Sealed Artifact because the contact with the Artisan was away.
• Lorry returned to the factory, spent the next morning searching the East Borough as Bart, and then went back to hear Qiao’s report.
• Qiao reported that the factory’s transition was going smoothly and that the newly hired repairman had shown good technical skills.

The Deputy Bishop used a divine revelation to incite believers to rise against those they blamed for their suffering, and groups surged toward their targets. At a glass factory, Arthur led an attack but was knocked unconscious by a man in a black trench coat; his colleague returned with news that the situation inside was already beyond control.

• The Deputy Bishop told believers that a Supreme Being would guide them to reclaim what was theirs, and the believers set out in groups.
• Arthur led believers to a glass factory, where he used a rolling ball of mud to smash through the gates and ordered them to destroy the machines and seize the Pounds.
• Two men in black trench coats confronted Arthur; one disrupted his powers with Spirit Piercing while the other fired at him.
• Arthur defended himself with an ice shield and wind blades, but repeated Spirit Piercing attacks left him unconscious.
• One man handcuffed Arthur and sent his colleague inside, but the colleague soon returned and reported that the situation was already beyond control.

Lorry helped MI9 members stop the Fantasy Society’s attacks, then used Flesh Echo to track Miles. The trail led to an East Borough apartment, where Lorry found his neighbor in a black robe.

• Lorry killed a Shaman and the frenzied cultists at a factory, then took a glowing object from a dead Sheriff.
• Lorry helped another MI9 member defeat an opponent but realized that searching attack sites would not reveal the Archbishop.
• Lorry decided to use Flesh Echo and teleported to 64 Iris Street to search for a strand of Miles’s blond hair.
• Lorry found a blond hair in the sofa, performed the Flesh Echo ritual, and sensed a direction in the East Borough.
• Lorry followed the trail to an apartment and found Miles sitting on a bed in a black hooded robe.

Lorry confronted Miles, who had been empowered by an evil god, and fought to subdue him without killing him. After Lorry destroyed Miles’s elemental creatures, Miles claimed he could summon them again because his power was inexhaustible in his territory.

• Miles recognized Lorry and accused him of betraying and abandoning him before declaring that he had become a Painter.
• Miles trapped Lorry with an air-lock spell and sent air blades at him, but Lorry used the White Bone Ring to break free and deflect the attack.
• Miles summoned air and water elemental creatures, which attacked Lorry with a heavy punch, air blades, water, and icicles.
• Lorry used a hurricane and Distortion to turn the water and icicles against the air elemental, then destroyed it with two shots from the Sure-Hit Revolver.
• Lorry used Enchantment to make Miles hesitate, then destroyed the water elemental with three more shots.
• Miles sneered that he could summon the elemental creatures again in his own territory and began drawing in air and moisture.

Lorry fought Miles, a Shaman and Painter, and used the White Bone Ring to teleport them away from Miles's territory. Miles summoned creatures from his drawings and attacked Lorry, who feigned being incapacitated as Miles closed in with a blade.

• Lorry used the Calm Mask's Shadow Servant to interrupt Miles's summoning, then invoked Fear and teleported them to a barren mountain.
• Miles revealed that he was also a Painter and brought giant flaming birds to life from a drawing; Lorry's Sure-Hit Revolver could not harm them.
• Lorry shattered one flaming bird with Wind Blades, but it reformed from fiery light, so he charged at Miles while using Distortion to evade the birds' fireballs.
• Miles sent a white specter to shriek at Lorry, who appeared stunned; Miles stopped fleeing, drew a blade from a painting, and rushed to attack.
• As Miles thrust the blade, Lorry's pained expression vanished and he looked triumphant.