Chapter Summaries

Lumian trapped Vazan Sanson in the Special Mirror World and killed him repeatedly, using the Sword of Courage and Witch’s diseases to overcome his attempts to escape. The chapter ended with Lumian impaling the weakened Vazan Sanson on an ice pillar and telling him to send his regards to his lord.

• Vazan Sanson tried to teleport away, but Lumian sealed him inside the Special Mirror World and forced him to fight.
• Lumian used mirror substitutions and the Sword of Courage to kill Vazan Sanson once, then taunted him by calling it the first time.
• Vazan Sanson created phantoms and tried to alter fate, but Lumian’s explosive sword attack destroyed the copies and triggered another death.
• Vazan Sanson placed Lumian in a Person of the Loop effect, but Lumian’s mystical pathogens infected Vazan Sanson and weakened him.
• Lumian bound the coughing Vazan Sanson in spider silk, dropped him onto an ice pillar, and told him to give his lord his regards.

Lumian killed Vazan Sanson and used his death to further digest the Despair potion, while Franca, Jenna, and Anthony regrouped with him. Elsewhere, the Tarot Club destroyed the oil painting sustaining the ritual, Amon prepared to act against Bernadette, and Bernadette summoned the Wishing Lamp and a mysterious stone tablet.

• Lumian put on the Lie ear clip, appeared as Aurora to Vazan Sanson, and watched him die before removing the clip and reflecting on his progress digesting the Despair potion.
• Lumian noticed yellowish-green lights blocked by the Special Mirror World barrier, then asked Franca to place her Cannon-Firing Gun among them and set Jenna’s silver bracelet above Vazan Sanson’s corpse.
• Madam Hermit covered the ring depicted in the oil painting with Mr. Fool’s iron Cigarette Case, weakening the power of fate and allowing the Tarot Club members to attack and burn the painting to ashes.
• Mr. Stars announced that Amon had returned to the strength of a true god and departed for the Church of Tranquility as Moon and Saint Viève entered the villa’s fog.
• Amon said he and Roselle were pursuing an audacious plan, then turned his attention to Bernadette, who was trapped inside the Black Emperor’s mausoleum.
• Bernadette opened a Mystical Door and commanded a man wrapped in white cloth to bring her the Wishing Lamp and a weathered gray stone tablet.

Bernadette’s transaction enabled Roselle to use the Wishing Lamp and his connection to the Mist of Uncertainty to bind the Genie, making him a mystical weak point through which the Mist could be harmed. Amon and the True Creator Adam began the next stage of their plan, with Adam restored to his peak and the second Blasphemy Slate rising before Amon.

• Bernadette handed Roselle the Wishing Lamp and gave Amon the second Blasphemy Slate.
• Roselle called on an imperial figure beyond the barrier, and azure light from that encounter began merging with the Mist of Uncertainty’s corruption in his body.
• Roselle summoned the Genie and bound him with the white mist and azure light, linking the Genie’s weakness to the Mist of Uncertainty.
• Roselle made himself an appendage of the Genie, allowing the Genie to serve as a mystical stand-in for the Mist of Uncertainty.
• Adam restored his peak form by merging imagined authorities and symbols into his body, then drew chaotic seawater from the second Blasphemy Slate.
• Amon let the Blasphemy Slate float before him and raised it while the Genie struggled in Roselle’s grasp.

Roselle sacrificed himself to destroy the Genie and severely wound the Mist of Uncertainty, leaving Bernadette with the Black Emperor’s Uniqueness and a promise that Roselle might resurrect in a hundred years. After the crisis ended, Lumian visited the True Creator’s first church and destroyed its cross and statue as he vowed to answer Him one day.

• Roselle held the Genie in place as Amon used the Blasphemy Slate and Chaos Sea to destroy the Genie, then engulfed Roselle as well.
• The Mist of Uncertainty withdrew into the starry sky, and Amon told Bernadette it would be unable to return for sixty years and that Roselle might resurrect in a hundred.
• Amon gave Bernadette the Black Emperor’s Uniqueness and the Wishing Lamp, then left with the Blasphemy Slate and other rays of light.
• Madam Magician told the Major Arcana cardholders that the evil god preaching in the name of Truth had been forced to sleep, but Roselle had perished.
• Lumian left Franca, Jenna, Anthony, Ludwig, and Lugano, then went to the Aurora Order’s first church and promised the True Creator he would answer Him one day.
• Lumian destroyed the church’s black cross and the statue hanging from it with blazing white fireballs.

Lumian recounted how Amon and the True Creator had shaped his path, leaving Franca and Jenna worried that he was suppressing his pain. After they urged him not to abandon himself, the group discussed the Lucky Gold Coins and examined Franca’s corrupted Cannon-Firing Gun.

• Lumian told Franca, Jenna, and Anthony how Amon had revealed the arrangements behind his experiences and his choice of pathway.
• Franca and Jenna told Lumian they cared about him and did not want him to give himself up for Aurora’s revival.
• The group speculated that collecting the Lucky Gold Coins might be a prerequisite for awakening Mr. Fool, and Anthony said the Knight of Swords had promised him one.
• Franca asked Lumian to place the room inside the Fictional Bottle, then used Magic Mirror Divination to learn the corrupted Cannon-Firing Gun’s effects and risks.
• Franca put the gun away and joked about firing a Pregnancy Bullet with the Certain Hit effect.

Franca helped Lumian use Magic Mirror Divination to learn the powers and risks of his fate-corrupted bracelet, which he named the Ring of Restraint. Lumian then reconsidered Amon’s arrangements and prepared to investigate Ombella’s remains in New Silver City, while Madam Magician explained that Lucky Gold Coins helped awaken Mr. Fool.

• Franca explained that Pregnancy Bullets caused rapid, dangerous pregnancies, then helped Lumian divine the bracelet’s abilities and risks.
• Lumian learned the bracelet could create repeated loops and named it the Ring of Restraint.
• Lumian reasoned that Amon might not have planned for the Great Mother’s invisible Divine Child to bear Ombella’s name, and considered investigating Ombella’s remains in New Silver City.
• Madam Magician arrived, took Franca’s Traveler’s Bag, and later walked with Lumian through fields outside New Silver City.
• Madam Magician told Lumian that Lucky Gold Coins were items for awakening Mr. Fool and that he would receive one after a waiting period.

Lumian learned that the five Lucky Gold Coins could let him and four others enter Mr. Fool’s dream and try to awaken him, while Madam Magician explained the risks and discussed his plans to study Ombella’s remains in New Silver City. She also clarified how Lumian’s Witch state might help Aurora’s soul fragments revive, and Lumian described the destructive flames produced by his mixed pathways.

• Madam Magician told Lumian that the Lucky Gold Coins were dream-entry mediums, that the group needed all five to enter Mr. Fool’s dream together, and that the Celestial Worthy’s psyche could expel or disable them.
• Lumian said he had met the conditions to study Ombella’s remains, and Madam Magician offered to notify Mr. Sun about access to New Silver City’s records and the remains, which Lumian could borrow only with approval.
• Lumian reported Amon’s reaction to the name Ombella, and Madam Magician agreed that it might connect to the bird egg in the Underworld and the missing Night Lady, Pualis.
• Madam Magician recounted the Whirlpool Plan, including Emperor Roselle’s resurrection as the Black Emperor and his choice to die again while severely wounding the great one preaching as Truth.
• Madam Magician reinforced the seal protecting Aurora’s and the other villagers’ soul fragments, then explained why Aurora’s fragments were best placed to revive and how Lumian’s Witch pathway could assist.
• Lumian described his hybrid flame abilities, including a fused black flame called the Flames of Destruction that harmed bodies and spirituality.

Lumian asked Madam Magician why he had been chosen to switch from the Hunter pathway to the Witch pathway, and learned that his role could help accelerate the struggle to produce a Red Priest. He then reviewed his new Witch of Despair abilities and asked whether Franca should continue her undercover work in the Witch Sect.

• Lumian questioned why the Witch Sect had not chosen another Hunter to switch pathways, and Madam Magician explained his unique access to the Samaritan Woman Spring and the need for competition in the Red Priest’s rise.
• Madam Magician identified Yalenna, the Witch of Blue, as a former Hunter and discussed the possibility that the Gray Witch had also begun as a Hunter.
• Madam Magician said inner distortion might not be the only reason the Primordial Witch hated purely female Witches, and suggested Lumian seek answers from Krismona’s remnant image after Seven of Cups advanced.
• Lumian described how his Witch of Despair powers had changed, including three plagues, advanced mirror magic, stronger spider silk, expanded weakness detection, and fused Hunter and Witch abilities.
• Madam Magician warned Lumian that physically fragile Half-Gods could still have ways to preserve their lives, and Lumian asked whether Franca should remain undercover in the Witch Sect.

Lumian received Madam Magician’s assessment of the Witch Sect and learned about its high-ranking members, the limits on Sequence advancement, and the Hunter pathway’s missing Sequence 1 characteristic. After Madam Magician left, Franca and Jenna found Lumian sitting silently atop The Fool’s church clock tower, watching the city.

• Madam Magician advised Lumian to let Two of Cups continue contacting the Black Witch while he stayed hidden to protect her and investigate the Witch Sect.
• Madam Magician placed Witch Sect matters under Lumian’s responsibility and explained the sect’s surviving high-level Beyonders and the requirements for reaching Sequence 1 and becoming an Angel King.
• Madam Magician said the Hunter pathway’s last Sequence 1 Beyonder Characteristic was rumored to be with the Primordial Witch, delivered there by the Black Witch, Clarisse.
• Lumian questioned why no Calamity Witch oversaw Trier and why the Black Witch had been entrusted with the Hunter characteristic, and Madam Magician noted both as suspicious details.
• Madam Magician told Lumian that Mr. Sun would arrange a visit to the Twin Towers to consult records about Ombella’s remains and encounter a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact.
• Franca and Jenna found Lumian sitting atop the church clock tower and quietly joined him as he watched the city below.

Lumian visited New Silver City’s Twin Towers and studied records about Ombella and the divine-grade Sealed Artifact Earth Gift. He learned that Earth Gift could turn the dead into evil spirits, and continued reading its records.

• A half-giant boy named Rugester escorted Lumian to the Twin Towers to meet Derrick Berg.
• Lumian noticed black plants near the Council of Six’s tower and sensed that they were connected to Ombella.
• Derrick Berg gave Lumian translated records about Earth Gift and watched over him as he read them.
• Lumian learned that the City of Silver had sacrificed half its people before its inhabitants slew Ombella, their goddess and mother.
• Lumian discovered that Earth Gift could make deceased humans within its range become evil spirits, even if they had not been Sequence 5 Beyonders.

Lumian learned the dangers and powers of Earth's Gift, then visited the sealed artifact to investigate its connection to Ombella. Touching it triggered a vision and activated the Contract Mark on his shoulder without teleporting him.

• Lumian read the account of Earth's Gift and considered why only women of Ombella's bloodline who had suffered betrayal could safely touch it.
• Lumian asked Mr. Sun what form Ombella had taken when she came to the City of Silver, but Mr. Sun said the records did not specify.
• Lumian followed Mr. Sun through the dungeon to Earth's Gift and felt his bloodline resonate with the withered tree.
• Lumian touched the tree and saw a vision of a vast figure of light, then heard a voice calling, "My child, Ombella."
• Lumian broke free of the vision as the Contract Mark from the Abscessed Severed Hand activated without producing its usual effect.

Lumian touched Earth Gift and witnessed visions tied to Ombella, then learned it could cause even divine Beyonders to conceive. After receiving a reply from Madam Magician and a gemstone that sealed some dangerous knowledge, he prepared to return to Trier with his companions.

• Lumian touched Earth Gift again, experienced visions of Ombella's deaths and rebirth, and heard a woman call out the name Giddas.
• Lumian asked Derrick Berg about Giddas, then suspected the name belonged to the Abscessed Severed Hand.
• Lumian uprooted Earth Gift and discovered that contact caused a gestating sensation and painful maternal emotions; he warned Derrick that the artifact could cause conception.
• Lumian sent Madam Magician a letter about his discoveries and received an emerald from her to seal away some knowledge related to the Great Ones.
• Lumian told Franca, Jenna, Ludwig, and the others that they were returning to Trier.

Lumian took Jenna and Franca to the Catacombs so Jenna could advance to Witch of Pain and question Krismona’s shadow. Jenna learned that pure female Witches face something terrifying in the Mirror World, and Krismona died after encountering it.

• Lumian changed into Jenna’s clothes but put away the Lie ear clip after Franca and Jenna warned him not to force Aurora’s manifestation.
• At the Sacrificial Plaza, Lumian concealed the group with a Mirror Image Maze and explained that he planned to use Vazan Sanson’s corpse to keep Ludwig invested in helping them.
• Lumian told Franca that Anthony had nearly finished digesting his Sequence 5 potion and was present to help Jenna if needed.
• Jenna drank the Pain potion while Lumian set her aflame, then Krismona’s shadow appeared as Jenna endured the advancement ritual.
• Jenna asked why the Primordial Witch feared pure female Witches, and Krismona said they encountered something terrifying in the Mirror World and that she herself had died from it.

After Jenna learned of a terrifying secret connected to female witches and the Special Mirror World, Lumian urged her to delay any decision until they could investigate Krismona’s warning. Lumian and Franca returned to their old apartment, where the Black Witch Clarisse ambushed Franca and Lumian struck back.

• Jenna explained that Krismona had warned her about a terrifying thing linked to the deepest secrets of the Special Mirror World, but she wanted to learn more before changing pathways.
• Lumian and Franca agreed Jenna should seek another chance to question Krismona’s shadow before deciding whether to remain a purely female witch.
• Lumian explained that he had already digested most of the Despair potion, though he still needed to re-digest Assassin and Witch.
• Lumian and Franca rode to their former apartment on Orosei Street to check for messages from the Black Witch.
• Clarisse emerged from a full-length mirror and sent enchanted hair toward Franca, who escaped using Mirror Substitute.
• Lumian attacked Clarisse with his flaming giant sword, but she watched him from within the mirror with an indifferent, gray-white gaze.

Lumian used a carefully laid trap to kill the Black Witch Clarisse inside the Mirror World, then returned with Franca to Room 702. There, another Black Witch appeared in the window and calmly asked Franca what had happened a few days earlier.

• The Black Witch petrified the room and the Fictional Bottle, but Lumian and Franca escaped through mirrors.
• Lumian used the Ring of Binding and Push Destiny to steer Clarisse into a mirror trap, where his Mirror Projection cursed her with black flames.
• Lumian finished the weakened Clarisse with the Sword of Courage, and Franca returned, surprised by how quickly the fight ended.
• Lumian and Franca returned to Room 702 as the petrified Fictional Bottle dissolved into gray powder; Lumian sensed danger and hid in the bedroom.
• Another Black Witch appeared in the window and gently asked Franca what had happened a few days earlier.

Franca gave the Black Witch an account of Lumian’s actions and refused her attempt to charm her, while hiding her suspicions about the encounter. Clarisse assigned Franca a task involving the Emperor Party, then disappeared; afterward, Lumian led Franca through the mirror, where the Black Witch’s remains were gone.

• Franca blamed Lumian for the events in Trier and explained his transformation into a Witch of Despair, while concealing some of Jenna’s and Anthony’s abilities.
• The Black Witch teased Franca about her lovers, and Franca said Lumian had seduced Jenna and helped her digest part of her Pain potion.
• The Black Witch advised Franca that endurance could help digest the potion, and Franca said she expected to finish digesting it within weeks.
• The Black Witch used Fascination to tempt Franca into becoming her lover, but Franca refused and cited abstinence as a way to digest her potion.
• Clarisse told Franca to contact the Emperor Party’s core members through Niseya and said Franca would need to contribute to the sect to obtain the Witch of Despair formula and ingredients.
• Clarisse vanished, and Lumian later took Franca through the living-room mirror, where the Black Witch’s dismembered remains had disappeared.

Lumian and Franca escaped the mirror world after confronting a Black Witch, then considered the Witch Sect’s secrets and the Emperor Party’s possible link to the People in the Mirror. Later, Anthony failed to contract a Man-Headed Bird Demon, and Lumian sought a way to help him stay lucid in dreams before they entered Mr. Fool’s dream.

• Lumian and Franca found no useful clues about the dead Black Witch, and they speculated that she might have been part of the real Black Witch or an unusual trait of the Black Witch herself.
• Franca admitted that thinking of Jenna and Lumian had helped her resist the Black Witch’s offer, and Lumian suggested that they might have become her anchors.
• Lumian connected the Emperor Party’s plans to the Special Mirror World because Emperor Roselle led the People in the Mirror, then said he could make Franca a new mirror-traversal charm.
• Franca compensated the landlord before she and Lumian left Apartment 702, and she noticed that Lumian seemed to be in a better mood.
• In an Underground Trier quarry cavern, Anthony failed to get a Man-Headed Bird Demon to approve a contract summoned in Mr. Fool’s name.
• Lumian asked Ludwig whether any ingredients could help Anthony remain lucid in a dream, since they expected to enter Mr. Fool’s dream soon.

Lumian planned to enter a patient’s dreams to investigate a possible Black Dream Tapir, while Franca recruited the newly transformed Witch Niseya and demanded intelligence on the Emperor Party. That night, Kaiwell’s nightmare turned horrifying before a sword-bearing figure descended beneath the Crimson Moon.

• Ludwig listed creatures and ingredients that could help people stay lucid in dreams, and Anthony suspected a Black Dream Tapir was causing one of his patient’s recurring nightmares.
• Lumian asked Anthony to use a Dream-Entry Charm so they could visit the patient’s dreams, and Ludwig shared his bad premonitions before Lumian reassured him.
• Franca surprised Niseya in her apartment, warned her about relying too much on Mirror Substitute, and ordered her to provide information on the Emperor Party’s core members.
• Kaiwell fell asleep and dreamed that he plunged from a cliff, broke apart, and watched a bear-like shadow lick up his spilled brains.
• A figure carrying a giant black sword descended through the Crimson Moon’s light into Kaiwell’s nightmare.

Lumian killed the Black Dream Tapir after it trapped Kaiwell in a cherished dream, and Anthony advanced to Sequence 5 as a Dreamwalker. As Lumian weighed his next move, Madam Magician appeared to take him to collect his payment.

• Lumian pursued the Black Dream Tapir through Kaiwell’s dream, burned it with the Flames of Destruction, and destroyed its body in the spirit world.
• Ludwig mixed the Tapir’s remains into a cocktail called Color of Dreams, which Anthony and Ludwig drank.
• Franca told Lumian and Jenna that Louis Gustav was secretly planning something, while Niseya prepared to approach one of his confidants.
• Anthony drank the Dreamwalker potion, successfully advanced, and described his new dream-related abilities.
• Kaiwell told Anthony that a beautiful girl had saved him from a nightmare, and Anthony advised him not to become obsessed with the dream.
• Madam Magician appeared before Lumian and said his payment was ready to collect, offering to take him somewhere.

Madam Magician and Lumian visited Azik in the abandoned castle to ask about the Primordial Witch and secrets of the Underworld. Azik shared what he knew and gave Lumian a Lucky Gold Coin as remuneration.

• Madam Magician introduced Lumian to Azik, who recognized the aura of the Underworld Daoist’s seal on him.
• Azik said the Primordial Witch had sought revenge for the Blood Emperor and that her influence may have contributed to the Death God’s decision to accommodate the Red Priest Uniqueness.
• Azik said he had noticed no clear problems with the Primordial Witch, though at times she seemed to restrain her charm.
• Azik explained that his father kept the Ancestor of the Phoenixes’ corpse for its potential use and said the Ancient Sun God had only gravely wounded the Ancestor, who escaped to the Southern Continent.
• Azik added that Olmuir, King of the Giants, had also escaped the Ancient Sun God and passed his power to Badheil before dying.
• Azik summoned a skeleton to bring him a Loen Pound and gave the Lucky Gold Coin to Lumian as remuneration.