Chapter Summaries

Lumian told Franca and Jenna about the Dream Festival and its encounter with Underworld Daoist, then discussed the dangers of capturing Moran Avigny. He planned to advance to Fate Hunter in the Night Kingdom, where he and Franca arrived to meet Hella.

• Lumian recounted the Dream Festival and Madam Magician’s explanations, prompting Franca to hope she could attend next year and meet Underworld Daoist.
• Jenna asked why Hisoka’s dream projection remained, and Lumian suggested Hisoka had to return to Tizamo Town regularly to preserve it.
• Franca shared intelligence suggesting Moran Avigny was connected to the Tamara Family and warned that capturing him alive would be dangerous because of his protectors and possible ties to the People in the Mirror.
• Lumian postponed planning the capture until after he advanced to Fate Hunter, and decided to do so in the Night Kingdom to limit outside interference.
• Franca helped Lumian prepare a letter, then Lumian and Franca arrived at the Ancient Dilapidated Palace, where Hella was waiting.

Lumian performed the ritual to obtain the power of a Fate Hunter, enduring visions in which he repeatedly failed to prevent Aurora from becoming a monster. He emerged with the new power and saw illusory rivers representing Franca’s and Hella’s fates, including a faintly black tributary for each.

• Franca and Lumian told Hella what they had learned about the illusory river and the Black Ancient Tomb, and Hella warned them to approach the Underworld Daoist cautiously.
• Lumian prepared a ritual at the stone chair, gave Franca a Metal Vial to use if his condition became dangerous, and provoked Termiboros before beginning.
• During the ritual, Lumian saw repeated visions of Aurora becoming a three-headed, six-armed monster despite his attempts to change her fate.
• Franca and Hella broke through the Spirit Wall and helped Lumian recover his reason, and he successfully gained the power of a Fate Hunter.
• Lumian examined Franca’s and Hella’s illusory rivers and noticed that each had a tributary tinged with faint black.

After becoming a Fate Hunter, Lumian discovered that his new powers had fused with his Reaper abilities, allowing him to see deadly tributaries in other people’s destinies. He left to observe Moran Avigny before choosing a plan, then waited among reporters outside the Champs Grand Hotel for the minister to emerge.

• Lumian observed Franca’s and Hella’s Rivers of Destiny and realized his abilities let him see hidden destiny fragments and black-marked death calamities.
• Franca explained that a death calamity could be survived, and Lumian named his new power Eye of Calamity.
• Lumian reviewed his Fate Hunter abilities, including hunting, exchanging, and pushing destiny, and assessed how his other powers had improved.
• Lumian returned to the real world with Franca, told her and Jenna about his abilities, and planned to observe Moran Avigny before acting.
• Lumian asked Franca and Jenna to seek a Harvest Sacrifice Priest potion formula and ingredients, then left without his usual jokes.
• Lumian posed as a reporter outside the Champs Grand Hotel, waiting for Moran Avigny to emerge after negotiations with the Kingdom of Loen delegation.

Lumian examined Moran Avigny’s fate and confirmed that the minister was a powerful Person in the Mirror, but found no useful way to make him die. He met Franca at a hotel restaurant, where a waiter’s story about an unusual fish from Trier’s Underground River caught his attention.

• Lumian used Eye of Calamity to inspect Moran Avigny’s recent fate, spotting evidence that he could send objects through mirrors and an unusual, mist-shrouded encounter in Xilongye Forest.
• Lumian saw one possible future in which Moran Avigny entered a mirror and faced a deadly calamity, but decided not to force that fate because the minister’s death would prevent them from accessing his corpse.
• Lumian disguised himself as Charles Dubois and joined Franca at a restaurant, where he recognized the courtesan Perle having coffee with a man who used coffee grounds for divination.
• Franca asked the waiter about Fielt Fish, which supposedly survived being half-fried and came from Trier’s Underground River; Lumian wondered whether Hunter power had caused its unusual traits, and they ordered a serving each.

Lumian told Franca about Moran Avigny’s connection to shifting white mist, and they planned to use 007 to investigate the People in the Mirror. Over lunch, Franca explained divination while Lumian clarified the distinctions between curses, rituals, and Push Destiny; they left with leftover Fielt Fish for further study.

• Lumian described Moran Avigny’s destiny fragments, and Franca linked the shifting white mist to the Carbonari and possible cooperation with an Evil God Cult.
• Lumian and Franca discussed investigating Moran Avigny and involving 007 to learn more about the People in the Mirror.
• Lumian recounted seeing the courtesan Perle, then asked Franca how Coffee-Ground Divination could reveal information and receive accurate interpretations.
• Franca explained how people’s astral bodies interact with the Spirit World and why Coffee-Ground Divination could be undermined by mistaken interpretations.
• While they ate Fielt Fish, Lumian explained that curses amplify likely events, rituals broadly redirect destiny, and Push Destiny is stronger and more precise; his curse caused Franca to spit out a fish bone.
• Lumian asked the waiter to pack the remaining Fielt Fish so he could investigate its unusual properties.

Lumian learned that Fielter Firefish could be cooked into a dish that increased resistance to fire, so he went with Franca and Jenna to catch one for Franca’s advancement ritual. Afterward, Franca proposed using a corrupted area of Underground Trier to enter the Mirror World and ambush Moran Avigny, and Lumian suggested testing the idea with the statue of the Primordial Witch.

• Ludwig explained the properties of Fielter Firefish and the fire resistance granted by Icy Lemon Fish Fillet, prompting Lumian to seek the fish for Franca’s ritual.
• Lumian, Franca, and Jenna slipped past guards along the Madar River and reached the riverbank.
• Lumian used his blood as bait, seized a large Fielter Firefish, and Jenna burned away the blood in the water.
• Franca recalled a nearby Mirror World entrance and suggested they might use it to ambush Moran Avigny.
• Franca proposed that lingering corruption from Fourth Epoch Trier might let them enter the Mirror World without becoming demigod Witches, and Lumian told her to take out the statue of the Primordial Witch.

Franca, Lumian, and Jenna searched the tunnels for a reaction from the Primordial Witch’s Bone Statue, and Lumian pushed Franca’s destiny toward a successful ritual. Franca’s prayer created a Fixed Entrance to the Mirror World, and she and Lumian entered a vast web of illusory paths.

• Franca’s Bone Statue reacted in a dark quarry cavern, and Lumian used Push Destiny to make a rare future in which Franca succeeded more likely.
• Franca set up a ritual to the Primordial Witch while Lumian took Jenna away from the cavern.
• Franca prayed for a Fixed Entrance to the Mirror World, and the mirror vanished into the rock as the entrance formed.
• Lumian returned and joined Franca at the entrance, and they pressed their palms to the rock and disappeared into the Mirror World.
• Lumian and Franca found themselves on a dark, illusory path surrounded by a vast web of similar tunnels.

Lumian and Franca explored the dangerous Mirror World, then returned to the quarry cavern with a plan to gain Mirror World travel through Contract Abilities. That evening, they prepared blood-infused Fielter Firefish for the group, while Ludwig claimed most of the leftovers for himself.

• Lumian and Franca found that approaching the Mirror World's illusory paths could pull them toward unknown mirrors, making travel without specialized abilities too dangerous.
• Franca described the lingering effects of praying to the Primordial One, and Lumian took her back to the quarry cavern before the influence stirred again.
• Lumian said he would seek a supernatural creature that could travel through the Mirror World and contract for that ability.
• At dinner, Ludwig prepared Fielter Firefish with blood from Gardner Martin and Lumian, while Franca and Jenna chilled the fish with frost.
• Ludwig served everyone a small portion of iced lemon fish, then hugged the remaining pot and declared it was his.

Ludwig’s Icy Lemon Fish Fillets gave Lumian and his companions mild bodily benefits alongside irritability and pain, prompting Franca to consider how Cook-made dishes might grant Beyonder effects. Later, Lumian summoned Bloody Jack to seek a mirror-related contract ability, but the creature asked to be pulled out of the mirror, and a cold hand seized Lumian’s wrist.

• Ludwig explained that the Icy Lemon Fish Fillets would take effect after digestion, and Lumian and the others ate them.
• Lumian felt only slight heat, while Franca, Jenna, Anthony, and Lugano experienced burning sensations and mild irritability; Franca found that the dish reduced the damage from a small burn but did not lessen pain.
• Franca suggested that Cook-made dishes might offer weaker, mostly passive Beyonder effects, and Lumian agreed that their risks could depend on the person.
• Lumian summoned Bloody Jack and learned about its three mirror-related abilities and its demand for ninety-nine living sacrifices.
• Lumian chose Mirror Image Mark as the ability he most needed and used Amplifying Destiny after asking whether Bloody Jack could change its demand.
• Bloody Jack asked Lumian to pull it out of the mirror, and its cold, sticky hand grabbed his wrist when he reached inside.

Lumian negotiated with Bloody Jack and gained the Mirror Image Mark contract ability, then began searching for a second ability to strengthen his defenses. He rejected a slow-moving Flesh Mountain and considered his messenger Bainfel as a backup candidate.

• Lumian dragged Bloody Jack out of the mirror, struck the creature's hidden weak point, and forced it back into the mirror before ending the ritual.
• Lumian explained to Franca and Jenna that he had bargained with Bloody Jack to obtain Mirror Image Mark and that killing a contract partner could end the contract.
• Lumian said he wanted one more ability for defense or substitution and another to deal with undead, while Franca suggested possible contract candidates.
• Lumian summoned a Flesh Mountain whose body was extremely tough but whose movement was nearly as slow as a turtle, so he rejected it.
• Lumian considered his messenger, Penitent Bainfel, whose shadow could animate and swap places with him.

Lumian signed a contract with Bainfel, gaining the ability to animate shadows at the cost of seeing forbidden truths in situations tied to Bainfel’s past. He and his companions prepared to move against Moran Avigny, and days later Lumian appeared near the government-provided villa while Moran attended a ministers’ meeting.

• Lumian summoned Bainfel and chose to sacrifice the Eye of Truth, learning that the contract’s negative effect would make him see truths he should not see in situations connected to Bainfel’s past.
• Lumian bound the contract and gained Shadow Activation, which could animate a shadow to switch places with him or hinder a target.
• Lumian assigned Franca, Jenna, and Anthony tasks to prepare for an operation against Moran Avigny and guard against hidden allies.
• Franca told Lumian that Jenna was progressing quickly with her Witch potion by acting as a late-night witch who punished abusive and criminal drunks.
• Franca asked Lumian to keep her past behavior in the Mirror World and near the altar secret, and he pretended not to remember it.
• A few days later, Lumian appeared near Moran Avigny’s villa while Moran attended a meeting between ministers.

Lumian infiltrated Moran Avigny's villa to place a Mirror Image Mark on the study mirror, but a hidden bodyguard pulled him into the Mirror World and attacked him. After surviving the bodyguard's accusation of blasphemy and defeating his next attack with Franca's Mirror Substitute, Lumian nearly let him go before Termiboros warned him not to.

• Lumian and Franca infiltrated Moran Avigny's villa while he and his wife were away, with Franca waiting outside as Lumian entered the study.
• Lumian placed a blood-colored handprint on the full-length mirror, but a hidden bodyguard seized his wrist and dragged him into the Mirror World.
• The bodyguard accused Lumian of guilt and blasphemy, freezing the Mirror World and invoking a terrifying force that caused strange growths and patterns to erupt across Lumian's body.
• Lumian recovered and used his shadow to trigger Franca's Mirror Substitute, evading the bodyguard's starlit bullet before knocking him unconscious.
• Lumian accepted the bodyguard's offer to surrender his revolver and let him leave, but Termiboros warned him not to let the man go, making Lumian realize something was wrong.

Lumian captured and interrogated Moran Avigny's mirror-world ambusher, Yebus Rata, with Anthony's hypnosis. Yebus revealed the School of Truth's ambitions and three things it sought, including Roselle's final mausoleum and the Sealed Artifact 0-05, the Wishing Lamp.

• Lumian used the ambusher's terror to stop him, transformed him into a sheep, and escaped the mirror with him to rejoin Franca.
• Franca, Jenna, Anthony, and Lumian brought the sheep to an abandoned tunnel, where Anthony hypnotized him into cooperating.
• After Lumian restored him to human form, Yebus Rata identified himself as a member of the School of Truth and said Moran Avigny was a Tamara Family member replaced by a Person in the Mirror.
• Yebus explained that the School of Truth wanted to gain influence over the Intis government and use government power to seek clues to Fallen Heaven, Roselle's final mausoleum, and the Wishing Lamp.
• Yebus revealed that the Wishing Lamp was a Sealed Artifact numbered 0-05.

Lumian, Franca, and Jenna questioned Yebus about the School of Truth, the People in the Mirror, and the divided Tamara Family. Yebus identified the Wishing Lamp as Sealed Artifact 0-05 and revealed that Bernadette led the Dawn of the Elements before Lumian pressed him for details about the Broker pathway.

• Yebus revealed that the Wishing Lamp was Sealed Artifact 0-05, had once belonged to Roselle Gustav, and was likely held by Bernadette, leader of the Dawn of the Elements.
• Yebus explained that the School of Truth cooperated with the People in the Mirror to gain power and aimed to break the seal on an ancient underground city.
• Yebus said Moran Avigny was a Sequence 5 Person in the Mirror from the Judgement Pathway, and that some members of the Tamara Family had founded the School of Truth.
• Lumian learned that the Tamara Family's Judgement branch had split between the School of Truth, People in the Mirror, and traditionalists, while Moran's mirror-travel cufflink had five uses left.
• Yebus identified the School of Truth's Sequence 9 as Broker, and Lumian asked him to describe its specific abilities.

Yebus explained the abilities of the Broker pathway from Sequence 9 through Sequence 5, revealing how Shadow Merchants traded with dangerous beings and used shadows to protect themselves and manipulate contracts. After learning about Yebus's Dark Box Sequence, Lumian asked what connection he had to the Carbonari.

• Yebus described Brokers' ability to sense gray-area needs and use eloquence to facilitate deals.
• Yebus explained that Shadow Merchants could approach hidden dangerous beings, use shadows defensively, and bind parties with soul-linked contracts they could secretly alter.
• Yebus described Public Prosecutors' ability to identify crimes and pronounce punishments, though he was unsure what ultimately defined a crime.
• Yebus explained that Ambitious Men had enhanced physical and spiritual abilities and could resist forced sleep or unconsciousness.
• Yebus revealed that Sequence 5 was Dark Box, prompting Lumian to ask about his relationship with the Carbonari.

Yebus explained the School of Truth’s efforts to influence the Carbonari and described the two uses and risks of his Dark Box ability. After Lumian’s group took Yebus’s potions and bullets and pressed him for the School’s headquarters and his Supervisor, Yebus exploded, while the group escaped by teleporting away.

• Yebus said the School of Truth was working to control the Carbonari and had helped General Philip unite secret organizations before he disappeared in Fourth Epoch Trier.
• Yebus explained how Dark Box transactions worked, and Jenna suspected her Power Broker’s Black Box was a corrupted version with a fixed, sinister cost.
• Yebus showed the group his potions and six bullets, including a Pregnancy Bullet and a Deprivation Bullet, then handed the items to Franca.
• Lumian asked for the School of Truth’s headquarters and Yebus’s direct Supervisor, but Yebus’s expression contorted before he could answer.
• Lumian ordered Franca to throw the Primordial Witch’s Bone Statue, and Franca, Jenna, and Anthony grabbed Lumian and teleported away as Yebus exploded into blood fog.
• The group teleported back several seconds later.

After Yebus died while answering Lumian’s questions, Lumian’s group suspected a Supervisor’s ability had triggered a hidden taboo and revised their plans. Franca reported to Clarisse while Lumian and Anthony waited outside the Palace of Brotherhood to observe Moran Avigny.

• Yebus exploded as he began answering questions about the School of Truth’s headquarters and his Supervisor, leading Lumian’s group to suspect a Supervisor had secretly monitored him and triggered a taboo.
• Lumian sent Franca to report to the Black Witch and instructed Jenna to inform Madam Judgement, while he and Anthony prepared to watch Moran Avigny outside the Palace of Brotherhood.
• Franca used a charm and makeup mirror to summon Clarisse, then told her about the Mirror World entrance, Yebus’s capture and death, and the information they had obtained.
• Clarisse praised Franca’s intuition but said Lumian and Franca should have stopped questioning Yebus sooner and ambushed Moran Avigny before the Supervisor could react.
• Lumian and Anthony blended into the crowd of reporters outside the Palace of Brotherhood to observe Moran Avigny.

Lumian and his companions abandoned their plan to lure Moran Avigny into a mirror after the School of Truth warned him and withdrew its People in the Mirror. Termiboros then prompted Lumian to realize the Supervisor could protect Moran through a high-level Dark Box Transaction.

• Lumian and Anthony observed Moran Avigny at the Palace of Brotherhood and saw him grow afraid after checking a makeup mirror, while his destiny branch leading into his study mirror disappeared.
• Lumian concluded that the Supervisor had warned Moran about Yebus's death and could no longer be contacted through the other People in the Mirror; Anthony reasoned that Moran felt abandoned but had resolved to protect them by drawing danger onto himself.
• The Black Witch Clarisse told Franca that no Beyonders were hiding behind the relevant mirrors and that the group needed another way to capture Moran under official protection.
• Madam Judgement ordered Jenna and the others to take no further action while she discussed Yebus's information with the other Major Arcana.
• After the group met in the quarry cavern and agreed to give up for now, Termiboros prompted Lumian to consider how the Supervisor might help Moran, and Lumian identified a high-level Dark Box Transaction as the answer.

After suspecting that a Dark Box Transaction had influenced the Witch Sect’s abandonment of Moran Avigny, Lumian’s group received Madam Judgement’s permission to continue their plan. They entered the Mirror World and completed their own transaction to make Moran consider entering the full-length mirror in his study, leaving them to wait and see how it would unfold.

• Franca, Anthony, Jenna, and Lumian discussed whether a Dark Box Transaction had affected the Black Witch and Madam Judgement, and Lumian asked Termiboros why it had remained unaffected.
• Lumian informed the group that Madam Judgement had replied, “You may continue taking action,” and proposed hiding behind the full-length mirror in Moran Avigny’s study.
• Lumian reasoned that the Supervisor would leave the mirror unguarded and proposed using the Power Broker’s Black Box to make Moran think of entering it.
• After confirming the risk through Magic Mirror Divination, Lumian led Franca, Jenna, and Anthony through the Mirror World to the mirror in Moran’s study.
• Franca’s money failed to satisfy the black box, so Lumian’s group offered the Bloodgold ring, completing a transaction to make Moran consider entering the mirror.

Lumian’s Push Destiny sent Moran Avigny toward the mirror, where Franca, Jenna, and Anthony ambushed him as Mr. K attacked from outside. Moran remained trapped in the Mirror World, and Franca’s Beatrice’s Necklace overwhelmed him with desire.

• Lumian observed Moran Avigny’s River of Destiny and used Push Destiny to direct him toward a dark branch leading into the full-length mirror.
• Moran sensed danger but stayed in his study; when his valet attacked him with a mass of bloody flesh, Moran used Mirror Substitute and fled through the mirror.
• The Purifiers attacked Mr. K, who used Teleportation to escape while Moran tried to travel through the Mirror World.
• Jenna shot Moran, but he used Mirror Substitute again; Franca and Jenna then revealed themselves, and Anthony used Frenzy to disrupt his escape.
• Franca activated Beatrice’s Necklace, drawing Moran’s gaze and leaving him overwhelmed by desire.