Chapter Summaries

Kallen met Xinyali Blue Newton, who proposed that they become partners through the Principle God Church and briefed him on the dangers surrounding the Conjes Family tomb. She warned that the tomb might be bait and advised him to arrange backup and have his team undergo a physical, then admitted she would have reported Kallen if he had refused her partnership.

• Kallen left the captain’s ward and met Xinyali Blue Newton, who declared him her partner and offered him her research on the Conjes Family.
• Xinyali explained that the Conjes Family’s enchantment-based faith and bloodline had declined, possibly because of a curse concentrated in their ancestral tomb.
• Xinyali warned that the tomb’s construction by Maliv and its ties to the Voss Family could leave it filled with dangerous implements and combat puppets.
• Xinyali suspected the tomb information was bait and advised Kallen to arrange private backup for his squad in case someone betrayed them for the spoils.
• Kallen agreed to partner with Xinyali and gave her his identification, which she said was accurate but potentially padded; she recommended a physical to establish his identity record.
• Xinyali told Kallen that she would have reported him if he had declined to become her partner.

Kallen prepared his squad for an expedition to the Conjes Family tomb, arranging puppet-countermeasures and reviewing the available information. Puer revealed that the Conjes bloodline was believed to be cursed after an ancestor enchanted the Moon Goddess’s Divine Artifact, Goddess’s Mercy, with an effect she described as transparency.

• Kallen reported Neo’s arrangements to his squad, collected expedition documents, and asked Lemar to make devices that could disrupt combat puppets.
• Kallen watched Dead Silence with Muli and recognized that its villain was based on Piston Conjers, a historical Conjes heir.
• Kallen studied the tomb information and told Puer about his new female partner from the Principle God Church.
• Puer recognized the Conjes name and recalled that Piston Conjers had once asked to join her exploration squad and proposed excavating his family’s tomb.
• Puer explained that the Conjes Family believed Artemis had cursed their bloodline after an ancestor enchanted Goddess’s Mercy, and revealed that the ancestor gave the artifact the effect of transparency.

Kallen’s squad completed its preparations and traveled from York City to the coast near Sangpu City to begin the expedition to Conjers’s tomb. There, Puer summoned Aselos and ordered him to serve Kallen as his new master.

• Puer and Kallen discussed how the Moon Goddess’s sleepwear had been used by the wounded God of Order, and considered whether the Moon Goddess Church might be connected to Conjers’s tomb.
• Kallen spent the next day reviewing the squad’s reports, equipment, and preparations, then led everyone in a meal before they departed the following morning.
• Kallen, Puer, and the squad traveled to Sangpu City, where Kallen met Sensi and thanked him for carrying out Boss Neo’s instructions.
• The squad left its vehicles at a police station and traveled on foot to the coast, where its members rested before the expedition.
• At midnight, Puer summoned Aselos and ordered him to answer Kallen’s summons and recognize Kallen as his new master.

Kallen and his team reached an ancient undersea castle, overcame its traps, and found a letter left by Piston Conjers. The letter revealed that the site held a greater secret than the Conjers family tomb, and Alfred’s head count showed that an extra person had joined them.

• Aselos pledged loyalty to Kallen, who linked their auras and ordered him to carry the team to the underwater site.
• Aselos found a fissure, and Philomina scouted it, discovering an isolated air-filled space with an ancient castle protected by a Defensive Formation.
• Kallen led the team through the castle’s Lost Formation, gates, puppet-filled passage, and statue-lined bridge by using their preparations to bypass each trap.
• Bart found a doll containing Piston Conjers’s letter, which Kallen opened and read; it said the castle was not the Conjers family tomb and hinted at a greater secret.
• Kallen ordered Alfred to count the group after reading the letter, and Alfred counted twelve people instead of eleven.

Kallen and his squad discovered that their count included an unseen twelfth person, and Kallen suspected it could kill them through a hidden form of existence. As he waited for Puer to contact Kevin, Alfred suddenly pierced Kallen’s chest, and the extra presence revealed it had noticed Kallen might be able to catch it.

• Kallen and the squad repeatedly counted twelve people despite having only eleven members, while their written position lists each showed eleven names.
• Kallen recalled Mr. Hoffen’s account of a lethal extra person and compared its existence to Raniedal’s hidden state.
• Kallen ordered a defensive formation, then used their symbiosis contract to ask Puer to contact Kevin through Aselos’s communication equipment.
• Richard suggested locating the extra person by comparing the squad’s positions, but Memphis explained that it did not exist among them like an ordinary invisible person.
• Alfred reported that his investigations had failed, then pierced Kallen’s chest as a sinister voice said Kallen might find a way to catch it.

Kallen discovered that the hidden 12th Person could attack by imitating members of the squad, then used coded orders and Richard’s blood-powered spell to expose him. The squad’s Order Flames struck the revealed figure, but the chapter ended before his fate was clear.

• The 12th Person attacked Kallen, but Thousand Enchantments and Chains of Order trapped him long enough for him to sever part of his own existence and escape.
• Kallen realized the attacker could imitate the squad and might be listening, so he ordered everyone to stay apart while he awaited word from Kevin.
• Puer relayed Kevin’s advice: blood could draw the low-level being out of its hidden state, and flames could destroy it.
• Kallen used coded remarks to tell Richard to spread a blood-powered spell across the area while the squad prepared Order Flames.
• Richard cast the spell with his blood, revealing the distorted black figure, and the squad hurled Order Flames at it.

Kallen’s team explored the tomb after killing the black figure, found empty coffins and a letter from Piston, and reached a vast entrance guarded by statues. After reading a warning to move slowly, Kallen discovered that one of the smiling statues had appeared directly in front of him.

• The team incinerated the black figure, and Kallen confirmed its ashes were free of pollution before finding a strange fountain pen among them.
• After resting, Kallen ordered the team to open coffins, and they found three empty coffins that had once held bodies.
• Kallen and Muli scouted across the floating coffins and found another platform with a huge entrance flanked by statues of two girls.
• Kallen explained his darker interpretation of the statues, then found a broken puppet doll containing a letter from Piston.
• Kallen read Piston’s warning to move more slowly and looked up to find a smiling statue standing right in front of him.

Kallen endured the two sculptures’ attacks, which dragged him through visions of the Moon Goddess’s past and then tested his loyalty to the God of Order. He rejected the test alongside Dis, and the sculptures began to crumble.

• Kallen resisted the sculptures’ spatial distortions until they seized him and pulled his consciousness into a vision of the past.
• Kallen experienced the suffering of two women and realized that one was likely the Dark Moon Goddess’s mother and that the golden leeches were part of a sacrificial ritual tied to Artemis’s transformation.
• Kallen survived the vision’s ending, triggering a second trial centered on loyalty to the God of Order.
• Kallen saw his loved ones held hostage and Dis bound to a cross, then laughed with Dis at the test.
• Kallen and Dis cursed the God of Order together, and the two sculptures cracked and crumbled.

Kallen and his team explored the Conjes Family tomb, where he uncovered a vision connecting the future Dark Moon Goddess to the Moon God Artemis. After they survived the tomb’s fiery purification passage and found a crystal chamber filled with seated corpses, the corpses rose and applauded when music sounded from the coffin.

• Kallen examined the guardian sculptures, recalled his vision of the Dark Moon Goddess’s childhood, and told his team what he had experienced.
• Blanche treated Kallen’s bleeding eyes and advised him to get a thorough medical examination after the mission.
• Muli and Ventura shielded the team from the flames of a Maliv purification passage while Mars and Memphis redirected part of the fire through a formation.
• The team entered a vast crystal chamber and found the Conjes Family’s ancestors seated around a crystal coffin, each corpse pinned in place by a crystal spike.
• Mars activated a detection formation near the coffin, causing music and a woman’s singing to sound from inside it; when the formation stopped, the corpses stood and applauded.

Kallen and his team encountered a powerful woman awakened from the crystal coffin, who overwhelmed them in battle and demanded to keep one person as her new shadow. After several teammates volunteered, she revealed that she wanted the person with the most privileged family background and pointed to Kallen, declaring his background surpassed them all.

• A woman rose from the crystal coffin, controlled the corpse audience, and questioned Kallen about the Conjes Family and the Order God Church.
• The woman fought off Muli, Ventura, Bart, Philomina, and Alfred with ease, then said she would keep one team member as her new shadow.
• Ventura, Alfred, and Muli volunteered to stay, while Philomina also offered herself because of her family name.
• The woman explained that she wanted the teammate with the most privileged family background and told Kallen that none of the others could compare to his.

A woman revealed herself as an Order cleric and sent Kallen’s squad away while keeping him behind, but Kallen recognized that she was lying and intended to escape by taking another person’s body. Bound in crystal vines, he challenged her devotion to Order by pointing out that she had praised Order but not God.

• Kallen refused to choose a squad member for the woman’s proposed sacrifice, and his squad prepared to fight until she revealed her Order powers and promised they could leave if they followed her conditions.
• Kallen agreed to stay behind while Alfred led the squad out, ordering them to seek descendants of the Conjes Family and bring one back in exchange for him.
• After the squad left, the woman attacked Kallen with her crystal whip, and he endured her blows while trying to talk to her.
• Kallen told the woman he knew she was not an Order cleric and had never intended to let his squad leave safely; she admitted she planned to kill or drive them mad and transfer her memories into someone’s brain to escape.
• The woman bound Kallen in crystal vines and revealed that she knew his ring contained a Temple Elder’s mental imprint, but Kallen remained calm and pointed out that she had praised Order without praising God.

Kallen talked with Mrs. Gandiro and explained how her husband’s crystal formation sustained her Awakening. He concluded that her husband had left while dying to give her the chance to live, and Mrs. Gandiro learned that she was his greatest work.

• Kallen persuaded Mrs. Gandiro to release him so they could talk, then introduced himself as an apostate descendant of the Immoreles Inquisitor family.
• Kallen deduced that the crystal formation converted spiritual power to sustain the Conjes Family audience members’ Awakening and that Mrs. Gandiro’s husband had designed it.
• Kallen learned that Mrs. Gandiro’s husband had left with Piston Conjers more than a hundred years earlier and that Mrs. Gandiro had been waiting for his return.
• Kallen realized that Mrs. Gandiro had died long ago and that her husband had awakened her before leaving the tomb.
• Kallen told Mrs. Gandiro that her husband had likely left because he was dying and wanted her to keep living, calling her his greatest work.

Kallen persuaded Mrs. Gandiro to cooperate with him on her husband’s research and promised to find a way to free her from the crystal coffin. After she agreed and gave him valuable magic stones, he left to rejoin his team, while Mrs. Gandiro stayed behind to await his return.

• Kallen told Mrs. Gandiro that her husband, Piston, was dead and offered to trace his movements after he left, while she admitted she wanted to learn how he had lived.
• Kallen examined the unusual forged Chain of Order and showed Mrs. Gandiro his own chain, persuading her that he could continue her husband’s research and eventually free her.
• Kallen and Mrs. Gandiro agreed to become partners, and she accepted his promise to prepare a way to take her out of the crystal coffin.
• Mrs. Gandiro gave Kallen formation magic stones to fund his expedition, and he promised to return after dealing with the people outside.
• As Kallen left, Mrs. Gandiro chose to remain and hold more farewell concerts while waiting for him.

Kallen returned to his squad after negotiating with the woman in the tomb, then led them through a dangerous passage and out toward a possible ambush. As the squad prepared to face whoever was waiting outside, Kallen promised they could fight if the enemy was within their strength.

• Richard objected to leaving Kallen behind, but Alfred insisted they follow the captain's orders and wait slowly for him.
• Kallen rejoined the squad with Formation Magic Stones and revealed that the woman had agreed to become their partner, making the tomb their secret base.
• Kallen warned the squad about a deadly platform and reflected on the tomb's hidden connection to Mr. Gandiro and Order.
• Aselos discovered that Puer was asleep, so he took the distress scroll intended for her and prepared to answer a summons for Prince Kallen.
• Sains led two Moon God Guard squads into the tomb's domain and ordered them to prepare a net while they waited for their bait to emerge.
• Kallen had the squad salvage puppet parts, then warned them that an enemy might be waiting outside and said they could fight if the angler was within their reach.

Kallen’s masked squad was ambushed by Moon Order God Church forces after leaving the gate, but their formations and counterattack turned the assault into a bloody battle. Kallen fought off Nierman and wounded her with an enhanced Thunder of Order; Sains sacrificed her, then demanded the crystal from the Tomb as the confrontation continued.

• Aisili summoned Mongbas with Kallen supplying most of the power, and Thousand Enchantments cowed the Storm Wolf before it could attack her.
• Kallen’s squad left the gate wearing skull masks, and more than twenty Moon Order God Church Clerics ambushed them with four Moon Wheels.
• Muli, Ventura, Bart, and Philomina countered the Moon Wheels while Mongbas’s hurricanes swept through the attackers; Memphis and Mars established formations to coordinate and protect the squad.
• Kallen and Alfred charged east, killed several Clerics, and fought off Nierman’s ambush; Thousand Enchantments opened a path through her purifying power so Kallen could strike her with lightning before retreating.
• Sains caught the injured Nierman, sacrificed her to empower a black crescent moon, and demanded that Kallen’s squad hand over the crystal from the Tomb.

Sains sacrificed Anpang and the Clerics to summon the Moon Guardian Beast-Kulisha, and Kallen’s team fought it while facing Sains. After the team discovered the first Kulisha was only sloughed skin and the real beast ambushed them, Philomina put it to sleep, but Sains tried to wake it with flames that Xianty absorbed as she burned.

• Sains awakened the moths inside Anpang, the Clerics, and the dead, draining their life force to form a golden Kulisha.
• Sains and Kulisha attacked Kallen’s team, and the group slowed the beast with defensive formations while Philomina harried Sains.
• The real silver Kulisha ambushed Memphis, Richard, and Mars, gravely injuring them and leaving the team’s formations disabled.
• Kallen bound the silver Kulisha with Chains of Order, and Philomina used Dream Awakening to put it to sleep.
• Sains set the sleeping Kulisha alight to wake it, but Aisili ordered Xianty to absorb the flames, causing Xianty to burn.

Kallen trapped Kulisha inside [Black Prison Castle] and helped Philomina, Muli, Bart, and Ventura defeat Sains. Afterward, the story revealed that Sains’s doppelganger had failed and that a woman planned to visit York City to pursue negotiations and investigate the Princess of Dark Moon Island; Kallen then called for a roll call.

• Xianty endured flames to keep Kulisha asleep while Kallen supported Aisili, and Sains kept Muli, Bart, and Ventura at bay with his defenses and evasive tactics.
• Kallen summoned [Black Prison Castle], hurled Philomina and Aisili clear, and threw Xianty into Kulisha before sealing the beast inside and linking the castle to [War Scythe].
• Philomina joined Muli, Bart, and Ventura in trapping Sains, then broke through his defenses with her bare-boned hand and killed him with her dagger.
• A purple-haired Sains learned that his doppelganger had died without sending its memories, but the woman with him decided to hasten her visit to York City and requested a meeting with the Princess of Dark Moon Island.
• Kulisha dissolved after Sains’s death, and Kallen landed among the wounded and asked everyone to raise a hand if they were dead.

Kallen’s squad recovered from the tomb mission at a Church Hospital, where Kallen arranged for their injuries and spoils to be handled in secret. Neo then revealed that the Divine Son of the Moon Order God Church was coming to York City and had specifically requested Kallen’s squad as his close protection detail.

• Richard used his threads to draw toxins from Memphis, Mars, and Alfred, while Blanche and Kallen treated the other injured squad members.
• Ventura looted Sains’s belongings, and Kallen recognized Sains as a puppet duplicate; Kallen then moved the squad to safety inside Aselos.
• Sensi arranged for the wounded to be admitted to the Church Hospital in Sangpu City under his squad’s name, and Kallen told Neo that the Moon Order God Church members who attacked them had all been killed.
• Kallen and the squad visited Philomina in the hospital, and Kallen ordered the mission’s proceeds distributed while insisting that everyone keep the incident secret.
• Neo visited Kallen at the hospital and told him that the Divine Son of the Moon Order God Church would lead a delegation to York City and had named Kallen’s squad as his close protection detail.

After returning from the mission, Kallen discussed a possible Light Remnants attack with Neo and learned that the vanished Zach Aikodier might have returned from the God-Burial Land. Kallen then prepared to take his recovering squad to Allen Manor, where he unexpectedly found Ophelia answering the phone.

• Kallen pushed Neo outside the hospital, recounted the mission, and heard Neo warn that Zach Aikodier was leading a suspiciously smooth Light Remnants operation targeting the Ankara Grand Hotel.
• Fanny reported that Gengdi's squad needed support investigating missing Order God Church Divine Servants in York City, so Neo sent Gerui and his people to help.
• Kallen spoke with Richard about developing the insect Jerry, warned him not to involve Aisili's parents, and promised to look for a safe way to help.
• Kallen read about Mr. Luther organizing purple-haired laborers, then slept and woke to find Puer bathing in the sink.
• Kallen decided to bring his recovering subordinates to Allen Manor and called ahead, but Ophelia answered instead of Old Anderson.

Kallen returned to the Manor, reunited with Eunice and met Ophelia, who was assigned to help receive the Moon Order God Church’s delegation. He told Ophelia the Dark Moon Goddess’s history and warned that the delegation might be looking for him, leaving Ophelia sworn to keep the revelation secret and follow his security instructions.

• Kallen and Puer discussed Ophelia’s arrival and the possibility that the Moon Order God Church was seeking Kallen because he had the Eyes of the Dark Moon.
• Kallen returned to the Manor, greeted Old Anderson, and found Ophelia in Eunice’s room instead of Eunice.
• Kallen and Ophelia discussed her assignment to accompany and protect the Moon Order God Church’s delegation, and he warned her that the church might be interested in Dark Moon Island and its bloodline.
• Kallen revealed to Ophelia that the Dark Moon Goddess had been a goddess whose inheritance was damaged and lost, and speculated that her faith had once been a family system.
• Ophelia swore to keep Kallen’s revelations secret, and Kallen warned her that the delegation might be seeking him and instructed her to follow his orders as captain.