Chapter Summaries

Kallen returned to the Ankara Hotel as Order’s war against the Reincarnation Church advanced, while the church leadership prepared to formally announce its declaration of war. The Reincarnation Church surrendered before High Priest Norton issued the Divine Edict declaring war on it.

• Kallen arrived at the Ankara Hotel, where Richard thanked him for saving his parents and reported that Order had captured three Reincarnation sacred sites while two others had surrendered.
• Kallen told Leon and Laure that the war would probably end soon, and they suspected the leaders were waiting for fresh news from the front.
• Order officials removed suspected spies from the Conference Hall, while Kallen, Peige, and Fanny received tea and discussed the coming security crackdown.
• High Priest Norton announced that the Reincarnation Church had declared defeat and wanted to negotiate its surrender, stunning the assembled delegations.
• Norton formally proclaimed Order’s Divine Edict declaring war on the Reincarnation Church.

Kallen finished his security assignment after the Order God Church defeated Reincarnation and negotiated an alliance with the Pamireth Church. He visited Old Saman at Green Vine Cemetery, where the arrival of Derius as Pamireth’s Divine Son exposed a shocking connection to Old Saman’s past.

• Order announced Reincarnation’s surrender, then completed its negotiations with the Pamireth Church, granting it autonomy and forming an alliance.
• Kallen’s security assignment ended, and he joined his squad for a farewell meal before Neo left to cash out his earnings.
• Kallen went to Green Vine Cemetery and told Old Saman that the Pamireth Church had avoided annexation, ending the need for Old Saman’s funeral.
• Derius arrived with Gengdi and asked Old Saman to return to the church to oversee a new Sacred Artifact’s development.
• Old Saman recognized that Derius resembled a man from his past, realized Derius was that man’s son, and spat in his face.
• When Gengdi tried to intervene, Old Saman’s Blue Barrier sent him flying, and Old Saman wondered aloud why he had not died long ago.

Kallen watched Old Saman confront Derius after learning that the Pamireth Church had already lost the independence he hoped to preserve. Old Saman decided to hold his funeral the next day, leaving Kallen to prepare for the old man's chosen end.

• Old Saman seized Derius and the Gengdi Squad with his cemetery powers, then struck Derius down after Derius professed his faith in Pamireth.
• Kallen admitted he had known the truth and argued with Old Saman, who relented and walked into his house.
• Old Saman kicked Derius again when he insisted on kneeling, and Gengdi's squad carried the unconscious Divine Son away.
• Old Saman showed Kallen the wound Bishop Byrne had left him and said he had decided to die for the Pamireth Church.
• Old Saman asked Kallen to hold his funeral the next day and reflected on his life and faith with Kallen and Alfred.

Kallen prepared for Old Saman’s funeral while Puer and Kevin completed a way to summon the Sword of Arius from the refrigerator. Old Saman offered Kallen plans for Spiritual Power-preserving coffins, and Kallen requested twelve.

• Kallen shared a final dinner with Old Saman, then Alfred arranged the funeral and sent money home to help pay off the house loan.
• Puer and Kevin showed Kallen twelve Formation Beads that could summon the Sword of Arius, and Kallen tested one successfully in the courtyard.
• Puer asked Kallen to get humanoid puppets made for her and Kevin, and he agreed to ask at the Pottery Gallery after the funeral.
• Old Saman came to the Funeral Society dressed and made up for his funeral, ate noodles with Kallen, and inspected the working refrigerator.
• Old Saman gave Kallen the plans and Inlay Formation for Spatial Coffins that could preserve Spiritual Power, and Kallen asked him to design twelve.

Kallen arranged Old Saman’s funeral while Old Saman completed plans for twelve coffins and formations. As the funeral procession headed to Green Vine Cemetery, Alfred hinted that God had already determined Old Saman’s fate, and his notebook showed the mark [2/12].

• Kallen asked Old Saman to design twelve coffins and formations, and Old Saman finished ten drawings before noon.
• Kallen met Daishan, read the ending of I Left You Forgotten in Spring, and prepared an elaborate lunch for the household.
• Alfred and Kevin reviewed Old Saman’s plans, and Alfred connected Kallen’s words about Order to the Order God Church’s declaration of war on the Reincarnation Church.
• Old Saman ate with Kallen and Alfred, then hinted that Kallen’s captain had secrets but could be trusted.
• Kallen held Old Saman’s mourning ceremony, and the captain visited before leaving without collecting Kallen’s treatment fee.
• After the ceremony, Kallen drove Old Saman’s coffin toward Green Vine Cemetery while Alfred wrote [2/12] in his notebook and told Old Saman that God had already decided his fate.

Kallen brought Old Saman to Green Vine Cemetery for his funeral, where Old Saman rejected the Pamireth Church’s attempts to reconnect and demanded to be left in peace. After delivering his own eulogy, Old Saman used Spatial Exile to send his body and coffin into an unknown spatial counterflow, while his hidden teachings revealed themselves to church scholars.

• Kallen drove Old Saman’s hearse past the Pamireth Church clerics and Derius, then pushed through the gates of Green Vine Cemetery.
• Old Saman met Bishop Byrne and Derius outside the cemetery, rejected Derius’s request to pass on his teachings, and warned them not to disturb his peaceful death.
• Derius opened the church venerable’s decree, which projected the venerable saying only, “Farewell.”
• Old Saman returned to his grave, performed a ritual, delivered his eulogy, and used Spatial Exile to send his coffin and body away.
• Pamireth Church elders and scholars in Messenger Space saw Old Saman’s notes rearrange to reveal lost Spatial Spell Arts and Forging Spell Arts.
• In the Pavarro Funeral Society’s backyard, the golden retriever played with an exquisite compass and complained that Old Saman had treated him like a dog.

Puer and Kevin accidentally teleported Old Saman’s coffin into Kallen’s bedroom, and Kallen later awakened him after returning from the funeral. The chapter ended with Kallen offering Old Saman egg fried rice for a late-night snack.

• Puer discovered that Kevin had used the compass to teleport Old Saman’s coffin beneath the master bedroom bed, but it crashed down and broke the bed.
• At Old Saman’s funeral, Kallen praised his unusual spatial exile, and Alfred agreed to study the formation for the Funeral Society’s services.
• Kallen and Alfred left Green Vine Cemetery, where Alfred wrestled with whether Old Saman had been meant to join the chosen, while Kallen reflected on fate and a second chance.
• Kallen returned to the Funeral Society and found Old Saman’s coffin in his bedroom; Puer explained that Kevin had redirected the compass after Old Saman used it as a dog’s toy.
• Kallen prepared egg fried rice, then invoked Order to awaken Old Saman and invited him to have a late-night snack.

Kallen awakened Old Saman after his funeral and offered him the chance to remain awake longer by building specially designed coffins. As Old Saman began working with Alfred and the others, Borg brought Kallen two letters, and Puer was shocked to see that one was from Bernard.

• Old Saman woke beside his coffin, ate with Kallen, and learned that Kallen had awakened him and could eventually extend his time awake.
• Puer revealed that Kevin was the evil god Raniedal, whose compass adjustment had brought Old Saman and his coffin to Kallen’s bedroom.
• Old Saman agreed to build specially designed coffins, and Alfred led him to the warehouse to start work with Pike and Dinkum.
• The next morning, Kallen found Old Saman and the others still working, then met Borg, who delivered documents and letters from Ophelia and Bernard.
• Puer saw Bernard’s letter and exclaimed in surprise that he was still alive.

Kallen read an old love letter addressed to Paul and a work-report-like letter from Ophelia, then visited Richard’s family for dinner. The visit ended when Richard’s grandmother recognized something about Kallen and tearfully told Kaixi that she had suffered.

• Kallen opened an old letter from Bernard to Paul and read Ophelia’s letter, which ended with her saying she missed him.
• Kallen drove to Richard’s house and met Dark, Lucy, Old Master Delong, and Lucia.
• Richard and Kaixi thanked Kallen for saving her, and the family mistakenly took his words about being like cousins as a pledge of closeness to the Guman Family.
• Old Master Delong advised Kallen to plan his career and encouraged him to aim to become a Whip of Order captain.
• Richard’s grandmother saw Kallen, shuddered, and tearfully told Kaixi that she had suffered.

Kallen visited the Guman Family and grew suspicious that the old woman recognized his hidden identity. While hypnotizing Mr. Eisen, he uncovered a memory of Eisen’s dying sister pleading to be killed, and Eisen revealed that he had granted her request.

• The old woman warmly welcomed Kallen, called him her grandson, and urged the family to support him.
• Kallen told the family he had studied psychology and offered to speak with Mr. Eisen.
• Kallen hypnotized Mr. Eisen and guided him through memories of his past.
• Mr. Eisen described seeing his sister suffering and pleading with him to kill her.
• Mr. Eisen broke from the hypnosis, stared at Kallen, and declared, “I... killed her!”

Kallen recognized that Eisen’s guilt over his sister’s death had caused his psychological illness and proposed that he use a secret alternate identity to vent his emotions as a member of the Hound Dogs Squad. After Kallen left, Kaixi concluded that Kallen was Eisen’s illegitimate son, while Eisen’s gesture of giving her his allowance card only made her more certain.

• Kallen realized Eisen had already killed his sister in the past and that his unresolved pain, rather than confusion about the event, was behind his illness.
• Kallen proposed that Eisen occasionally wear a mask and take on another identity, arranging for him to join the Hound Dogs Squad in secret.
• Eisen agreed to the plan, offered to pay for the mask, and gave Kallen his allowance card to return to Kaixi.
• The old lady openly welcomed Kallen into the family, prompting Kaixi to suspect that the old lady had recognized his bloodline and was deliberately provoking her.
• Kaixi told Lucy that Eisen had lied about a deceased former girlfriend, then Eisen silently placed his allowance card in Kaixi’s hand.
• Kaixi took the card as proof that Eisen was making amends and cried that Kallen really was his illegitimate son.

Kallen learned that his grandmother may have recognized him and that the Alt Family’s inherited blessing creates a powerful bond between relatives. After discovering the bloodline could bring torment as well as empathy, he wondered whether the withdrawn version of himself had been suffering from it.

• Old Saman entered the coffin Alfred and Old Saman had built, and Kallen promised to replace it with one matching the other eleven.
• Alfred proposed giving Dinkum and Pike Divine Revelation, but Kallen said he would let them choose before he granted it.
• Kallen told Puer that his grandmother seemed to recognize him and asked about her beliefs and the Alt Family.
• Puer and Kevin explained that the Alt Family carried a blessing from the God of Eternity that heightened kinship between relatives and had once been exploited by powerful people.
• Kallen realized the bloodline could explain Mr. Eisen’s anguish over his sister and suggested the withdrawn “Kallen” might have suffered similarly.

Kallen dreamed of the childhood trauma he had witnessed through young Kallen’s eyes, then arranged a mask and invited Mr. Eisen to join the Whip of Order as an auxiliary member. Mr. Eisen accepted Kallen’s call and joined the team for a cleanup mission, where Richard welcomed him as the newest newcomer.

• Kallen dreamed of young Kallen seeing Dis kill his son and daughter-in-law, then woke and began his day at the Immerlis Family home.
• Kallen visited the Lemaire Pottery Gallery, commissioned Lemar to make a mask for Mr. Eisen, and slept there until Neo arrived with news of a cleanup mission in Binhai.
• Kallen told Neo about Mr. Eisen, and Neo agreed to bring him into the squad as an auxiliary member and invite him to the operation that night.
• Kallen called Mr. Eisen, who quickly left home after speaking with him; Richard celebrated that his father had asked to borrow Point Vouchers and later announced he would wield the whip for Order again.
• At Platform 3 of the Eastern District Train Station, Richard met Zema and Kunxi, then approached Mr. Eisen and joked that he would take the newcomer to a pastry shop next time.

Neo’s squad investigated the strange darkness surrounding Alaise Ancient Castle after two other Whip of Order Squads entered and vanished from view. The convoys later reappeared without their occupants, and Neo confronted the two captains, suspecting they were already dead when their watches showed different times.

• Richard welcomed newcomer Memphis and tried to befriend him before Kallen assigned him to Neo’s forward combat unit for the cleanup mission at Alaise Ancient Castle.
• Fanny explained that church investigators sent to question the Ales Family about defective iron-English sand had never returned, and Neo’s squad watched two convoys enter the manor before an unnatural darkness concealed it.
• After nearly an hour with no sign of activity, Neo ordered Fanny to report severe losses and request reinforcements; the darkness then lifted, and the two convoys appeared to leave the manor.
• Neo ordered Marlow’s second unit to intercept the convoys, but they found the cars abandoned; later, identical cars emerged from beneath a railway bridge, and Neo’s squad stopped them.
• Anthony and Kanse identified themselves as the captains of the other squads, but Neo told them he suspected they were already dead; Anthony checked his watch and reported that it showed one oh five, while Neo’s showed four oh five.

Neo's squad discovered that the strange effects around Ales Manor trapped them in a repeating route and distorted their sense of time. After failing to escape or contact anyone, they returned to their camp site, where Richard behaved as if he could no longer see Kallen and Memphis.

• Anthony, Kanse, and Neo compared their watches and found that their times differed by three hours, then agreed to follow Neo's plan to test whether his squad could reach York City.
• Marlow stayed behind with Anthony's and Kanse's squads while Neo's squad boarded a freight train, but the train returned to the junction and their walk on foot looped back as well.
• Kallen's squad noticed their clocks and star references shifting, and two members from the other squads disappeared; Memphis theorized that groups acted as moving coordinates while isolated people were sent back elsewhere.
• Neo led the squad back toward the hillside, where Anthony's squad, Kanse's squad, and Marlow had vanished, and ordered everyone to camp rather than enter Ales Manor.
• Richard searched for a boot-mark he had left earlier, then ran away from Kallen and Memphis while calling for Kallen to wait for him.

Kallen’s squad navigated a staged time-slicing test at Alaise Ancient Castle, while Neo led them toward an apparent escape route. Kallen recognized that the experience was a deception and shot Neo as the test’s hidden operators discussed the Raniedal Project.

• Richard vanished, returned, and later disappeared again along with Memphis, while Neo returned with Marlow and explained that the squads occupied different time periods.
• Neo led the squad toward Alaise Ancient Castle’s main gate, telling everyone to discard their watches and follow the flow of time to escape the time slicing.
• As the squad passed through the gate and followed the mist upstream, Kallen stayed near the rear and drew his Savage 7 Pistol.
• The test operators revealed that the time discontinuity was an engineered consciousness experiment and that they had isolated Neo and another squad member.
• Kallen turned and shot Neo in the forehead with his Savage 7 Pistol.

Kallen exposed a false captain during the team’s mission, then realized the team was trapped in an unreal world of consciousness and used his grandfather’s silver mask to escape its restraints. He joined Neo at Alaise Ancient Castle, where they found a statue and an inscription bearing the name Raniedal.

• Kallen shot the captain, whose body warped away, and wounded Marlow before black light transported the team to a Whip of Order interrogation room.
• Kallen inferred that the interrogation room was part of the unreal world and that the captain and Memphis were using their masks to break out.
• Kallen put on his grandfather’s silver mask and awoke on the hillside near Alaise Ancient Castle, where he suspected the mission had been a test involving a Divine Artifact.
• Kallen entered the castle grounds and encountered a team member wandering in a delusion about swimming through the river of time.
• Neo revealed himself to Kallen and said the castle was full of psychological suggestions, then led him to a hidden fountain behind it.
• Kallen read the fountain’s inscription, which said Raniedal would stop at nothing to return to the day someone entered the sea.

Kallen and Neo entered the innermost chamber of Raniedal’s consciousness space and viewed memories from his past. The final memory showed Raniedal helping the God of Order defeat the Sea God, who cursed him before his fall.

• Neo led Kallen to the red door on the Ancient Castle’s fifth floor, which Kallen could pass through because Raniedal had modified his body.
• Kallen opened the blue door beyond the stars, allowing Neo to enter a stone house that Kallen believed was Raniedal’s childhood home.
• Through the first window, Kallen and Neo watched young Raniedal follow the Mills Goddess along the shore without her knowing him.
• Through the second window, they witnessed the Mills Goddess become a god by entering the sea, while young Raniedal watched in fury.
• The third window showed the God of Order’s throne above the bound Sea God as Raniedal declared that he had fulfilled his vow to destroy the Sea God Church.
• The Sea God cursed Raniedal to lose his divinity, freedom, body, soul, and dignity and to live like a dog, but Raniedal dismissed the curses as childish.

Neo and Kallen traced a path into a hidden Order Church meeting space, where Kallen entered wearing the Mask left by Dis. The gathered members mistook his enormous golden light sphere for a Temple Elder and bowed to him.

• Neo and Kallen left the Ancient Castle and followed the smoke to a signpost, where Mr. Eisen appeared and offered to take them inside.
• Mr. Eisen explained that the hidden location held a confidential meeting of light spheres, so Neo refused to enter because his light-based nature might reveal him.
• Mr. Eisen activated a Formation and brought Kallen into a chain-filled space where hundreds of light spheres monitored marked people.
• Kallen realized his sphere was enormous and gilded with gold because he was wearing Dis's Mask.
• The gathered spheres addressed Kallen as a Temple Elder and bowed to him.

Kallen used his grandfather’s mask to pose as a Temple Elder in the Church’s testing space, where he redirected the project’s plans and refused to approve more dangerous experiments openly. After returning to the secret chamber, he worried that Mr. Eisen had recognized him, but redirected his uncle’s attention to Richard.

• Kallen realized he could not leave the testing space without raising suspicion, so he impersonated a Temple Elder and took the highest position in the gathering.
• Kallen questioned the test’s progress, criticized the researchers for excluding an effective squad, and advised them to continue exploring without relying on the same subjects.
• Kallen rejected a proposal to use captured sinners and otherworldly demons as test subjects, then told the researchers to act as though he had never visited.
• Kallen and Mr. Eisen returned to the secret chamber, where Captain Neo asked about their experience and Kallen decided to use his grandfather’s mask less often.
• After Kallen removed the mask, he saw Marlow angrily gesturing at him and noticed Mr. Eisen staring at him, so he pointed his uncle toward Richard.
• Richard reassured the newcomer Memphis with an elaborate series of gestures, and Mr. Eisen turned his attention to his son.