Chapter Summaries

Lya, Valentine, and Ryan fought the parish priest’s contracted allies while Lumian and Aurora faced an attack inside their room. The chapter ended with Aurora striking Lumian with lightning after he hesitated to attack her.

• Lya used her silver pistol to shoot Sybil Berry and dispel the infants attached to her, but Sybil’s contracted ability began taking over Lya’s body, so Lya fled to find Valentine.
• Guillaume Béné used his abilities to disorient Valentine and curse his senses, then tried to alter Valentine’s fate so the abyss demon flowers would paralyze him.
• Ryan fought off shadows and confronted Pierre Berri, but Pierre’s chameleon curse gave him a chance to drive Ryan backward.
• Lumian told Aurora to regroup with Ryan and the others, then attacked Assistant Parish Priest Michel Garigu when he appeared in the doorway and asked Lumian to pray.
• Aurora threw powdered material at Lumian, and silvery-white lightning struck him unconscious after he stopped himself from attacking her.

Ryan unleashed Storm of Light to break through the attack on Aurora’s house, then escaped with Lya and Valentine to the High Mountain Pasture as Pierre Berri and Guillaume Béné stayed behind. In the Dream Ruins, Lumian recovered from the attack, drank the Provocateur potion, and successfully advanced to Sequence 8.

• Ryan used Storm of Light to wound Pierre Berri and destroy the Abyss Demon Flowers, though the attack also damaged Aurora’s house and injured Valentine.
• Ryan carried Lya and the unconscious Valentine out of Cordou Village toward the High Mountain Pasture, while Pierre Berri and Guillaume Béné chose not to pursue them.
• Valentine used the Sun power to expel Sybil from Lya and purify her, preventing her from being reborn inside him.
• Lumian woke in the Dream Ruins, realized Aurora had been controlled by a monster, and resolved to save her and end the loop.
• Lumian prepared and drank the Provocateur potion, endured its effects, and became a Sequence 8 Provocateur.

After becoming a Provocateur, Lumian explored the Dream Ruins’ sleep-inducing region but collapsed and woke bound in the church. The Parish Priest revealed that he planned to perform the ritual that night with Aurora as its vessel, and that Lumian’s gifts—and his memories of the loop—were the reason he could move the ritual forward.

• Lumian assessed his new Provocateur abilities and used the Black Thorn Symbol to reach the Dream Ruins’ dark region, where overwhelming drowsiness made him collapse.
• Lumian woke bound in the church, where he saw that the altar had been altered to honor the Hidden Being and that the villagers had gathered around him.
• The Parish Priest told Lumian that Ryan and the other foreigners had escaped, then announced he would perform the ritual that night instead of waiting for April 9.
• The Parish Priest revealed Aurora as the ritual’s intended vessel and said Lumian could help bring the ritual forward because most of the gifts they had prayed for were inside him.
• The Parish Priest told Lumian that he and Pualis were not the only people who retained their memories in the loop.

Lumian discovered that Guillaume Béné seemed to remember the loops and feared the Parish Priest would perform the ritual early that night. Captured and beaten, Lumian provoked Pons Béné into trying to kill him so the loop would reset, while Ryan, Lya, and Valentine prepared to return to Cordou Village.

• Guillaume Béné told Pons Béné to keep watch over Lumian, and Lumian realized the Parish Priest might retain memories of the loops and know about his special nature.
• Pons Béné beat Lumian while Pierre Krag urged him to endure until the zodiac changed and their good fortune arrived.
• Lumian worried that Guillaume Béné would perform the ritual that night before Ryan, Lya, and Valentine could intervene, and he entered the state of a Sequence 8 Provocateur.
• Ryan decided to return to Cordou Village with Lya and Valentine after they recovered, both to investigate the ambush and retrieve an item from Lumian and Aurora's house.
• Lumian taunted Pons Béné about his lack of a mistress and the Parish Priest's affairs, then used Provocation to make Pons strangle him in hopes of triggering the loop.

Lumian was captured and brought to the church as the villagers prepared a ritual, while Ryan, Lya, and Valentine discovered that the village was empty and learned Aurora was at the church. A mysterious Man in Black arrived at the altar and revealed a face identical to Lumian’s.

• Pons Béné strangled Lumian until Shepherd Pierre Berri kicked Pons and checked Lumian’s condition.
• Ryan, Lya, and Valentine returned to Lumian and Aurora’s ruined home, where Ryan inspected the dangerous Tanago Scarecrow.
• Lya’s dream divination showed Aurora at the church amid villagers and an altar, so she warned Ryan and Valentine that a ritual was underway.
• At the church, Lumian provoked Pierre Berri, but Guillaume Béné stopped Pierre and had Lumian’s mouth stuffed with cloth.
• Lumian tried meditation to force himself into losing control, but the gazes and voice he had sensed before did not return.
• A hooded Man in Black entered the church, spoke to Lumian about meditation, and revealed a face identical to Lumian’s.

Lumian saw a black-robed man who looked like him direct Guillaume Béné to begin the ritual, while Ryan, Lya, and Valentine tried to break into the church and rescue Lumian and Aurora. The ritual began under the name of the Great Circle of Fate, and Lumian felt a powerful familiarity as something deep in his memories was pulled toward the scene.

• Lumian struggled toward the black-robed man, but Pierre Berri threw him onto the altar beside Aurora as the villagers gathered.
• Guillaume Béné lit three candles and prepared to begin the ritual while Ryan, Lya, and Valentine watched from outside the church.
• Ryan, Lya, and Valentine discovered that an invisible barrier blocked their attempts to enter the church and reach Lumian and Aurora.
• Ryan used the Tanago Scarecrow, 2-217, to make Pons Béné disappear, and part of Pons's body appeared on the scarecrow.
• Guillaume Béné invoked the Great Circle of Fate, darkening the church as Lumian felt his memories being drawn toward the ritual scene.

Lumian relived the ritual in Cordou Village, where Aurora pushed him off the altar before the villagers and the village were absorbed into a monstrous giant. He awoke beneath the blood-colored mountain in the ruins, remembered the truth about the dream and the past, and heard the mysterious lady confirm that Aurora could not be saved.

• Ryan attacked the church’s stained glass with the Dawn Sword while Lya used the Tanago Scarecrow to target Guillaume Béné, but the church’s protections held.
• Guillaume Béné continued the ritual, causing the constellations to shift and Ryan, Lya, and Valentine to collapse as Lumian and Aurora were lifted above the altar.
• Aurora pushed Lumian away from the altar, freeing him from the ritual’s restraints, and Lumian fought and killed the black-robed man who wore his face.
• The ritual consumed Cordou Village and its villagers, combining them with Aurora into a giant as Lumian remembered that the vision matched events buried in his past.
• Lumian awoke in the ruins beside the sleeping Ryan, Lya, and Valentine, realized the dream and reality were entangled, and asked whether Aurora could still be saved.
• The mysterious lady appeared and told Lumian that Aurora could not be saved, explaining his desperate behavior in the dream.

An investigation report detailed Cordou Village’s destruction, the dream that trapped investigators in its ruins, and their theories about the villagers’ deaths and Lumian Lee’s powers. The report concluded that five surviving evil-god worshippers should be hunted, while Lumian should be captured and sealed rather than killed.

• The Eighth Bureau, the Machinery Hivemind, and the Tribunal received a joint report on Cordou Village and its surviving inhabitants.
• The investigators reported that an evil-god ritual had destroyed the village, transformed its terrain, and killed or mutated most of its residents.
• The report explained that Lumian Lee’s dream trapped the investigators in a repeating ruin and blurred the boundary between real events and imagined details.
• The investigators connected the dream’s symbols to the murders of Ava Lizier, Raymond Klegg, Jean Mori, and Naroka, and concluded that Pualis de Roquefort and her household had left before the ritual.
• The report named Lumian Lee, Guillaume Béné, Pualis de Roquefort, Beaost, Louis Lund, and Cassie as the six survivors.
• The investigators recommended finding and eliminating the five evil-god believers while capturing and sealing Lumian Lee until the source of his powers was understood.

Lumian learned that Aurora and the other villagers survived as sealed soul fragments within him, though their resurrection was uncertain, and he left the ruins determined to pursue it. He set out for Trier after recovering Aurora’s notebooks, carrying her novel and memories with him.

• The mysterious lady explained that Aurora and the villagers’ soul fragments were sealed in Lumian’s chest, and she offered to arrange treatment to help him recover his memories.
• The lady gave Lumian the honorific name of The Fool and said he could seek resurrection through that being, though the chance was very small; she also told him to join a secret organization in Trier and investigate the survivors.
• Lumian learned that Madame Pualis, Beaost, Louis Lund, Cassie, and Guillaume Béné had survived, and he chose not to kill Ryan, Lya, and Valentine because their deaths would not bring Aurora back.
• After the mysterious lady vanished, Lumian found Aurora’s Witchcraft Notes in her bedroom and left Cordou Village with his suitcase.
• At the Dalege Region station, Lumian boarded a stagecoach toward Bigos, read Aurora Lee’s Eternal Love, and recalled its final passage as he began his journey.

Lumian entered Trier through its underground tunnels with Lamaye, who tried to rob him, but Lumian defeated him and took his money. Lumian left for the surface with three hundred and nineteen Felkine and found himself near Messy Street.

• Lumian met Lamaye at Trier’s gate and agreed to pay him three Felkine to guide him into the city underground.
• Lamaye led Lumian through abandoned quarries and underground streets, explaining how the tunnels beneath Trier were organized.
• Lamaye and a burly accomplice tried to extort nearly all of Lumian’s money, but Lumian beat them and took their banknotes.
• Lumian counted his money, said he now had three hundred and nineteen Felkine, and headed toward the surface near Messy Street.

Lumian arrived in Trier, rented a room at the filthy Golden Rooster Hotel, and summoned Madam Magician’s messenger to deliver a letter. Afterward, he prepared to investigate Aurora’s Witchcraft Notes and continued his search for treatment and leads on Guillaume Béné and Madame Pualis.

• Lumian rented Room 207 at the Golden Rooster Hotel from Fels and used sulfur to drive bedbugs from his room.
• Lumian wrote to Madam Magician asking about his next steps, psychological treatment, and new leads on Guillaume Béné and Madame Pualis.
• Lumian summoned Madam Magician’s messenger, who took the letter and complained that he should choose a cleaner place next time.
• Lumian noticed the messenger had killed the bedbugs in his room and decided to study Aurora’s Witchcraft Notes in reverse order.
• Lumian disguised himself with blond hair and formal clothes, then left his room as dusk fell.

Lumian visited a basement bar in Trier, where he heard Charlie tell how praying to Saint Viève had supposedly saved him from starvation. After discovering Charlie had actually prayed to a portrait of a famous prostitute, Lumian built a fake intelligence-measuring machine and tricked Charlie into using it, but Charlie began promoting it to the other customers.

• Charlie told the bar’s customers that praying to Saint Viève had helped him recover from starvation and find a new job.
• The bartender told Lumian that Charlie’s supposed image of Saint Viève was actually a portrait of prostitute Suzanne Mathis.
• Lumian ordered absinthe and Divar broth, then assembled a machine from discarded parts left by a former tenant.
• Lumian claimed his invention measured intelligence and persuaded Charlie to blow into its tube.
• Lumian revealed that using the machine proved Charlie was an idiot, but Charlie set aside his anger and went to promote it to the other customers.

Lumian settled into life at the Golden Rooster Inn, learned more about its lodgers, and received Madam Magician’s next instructions. The chapter left him preparing to seek out Aosta Trull and gain his trust while continuing to consider how to digest his Provocateur potion.

• Lumian escorted the drunken Charlie upstairs and heard him boast about his new trainee waiter job and future ambitions.
• Lumian met Laurent, Madame Lacazan’s son, and learned from Charlie about the troubled lodgers and Monsieur Eve, the innkeeper.
• Lumian reflected that provoking people had done little to advance his potion digestion and returned to Room 207.
• Lumian found and read Madam Magician’s letter, which arranged psychological treatment for Sunday and tasked him with finding Aosta Trull near the Observatory District catacombs.
• Lumian memorized the instructions, burned the letter, washed, and went to bed amid the Golden Rooster Inn’s noisy nighttime commotion.

Lumian explored the Honest Market District to learn its streets and look for work before heading to the catacombs to find Aosta Trull. He left the station area after questioning Roul and Michel about their tourist scam and the photos they sold.

• Lumian woke early and walked through Chaos Street with Charlie, who shared advice about finding restaurant work and keeping up a healthy appearance.
• Lumian parted from Charlie and spent the morning mapping the streets and neighboring districts around the Honest Market District.
• Near Susie Steam Train Station, Lumian encountered Roul and Michel selling packets to tourists and learned that the packets contained scenery photos rather than nude photographs.
• Lumian estimated that Roul and Michel earned only a modest amount from their scam, then headed northwest toward the Observatory District.

Lumian posed as a grieving visitor to investigate the fake Warlock Aosta Trull, who offered to sell him water from a legendary spring hidden in a Fourth Epoch tomb. After secretly marking Aosta with perfume, Lumian followed his trail as dusk fell.

• Lumian followed a tour group into the catacombs and learned about the dangers of wandering into uncharted burial areas.
• Lumian found Aosta Trull by a campfire and pretended he wanted help forgetting his pain.
• Aosta claimed a real Samaritan Woman Spring lay in a suspected Fourth Epoch tomb and offered to fetch some for 100 felkine.
• Lumian agreed to return with the money, then revealed that he had deliberately transferred perfume onto Aosta.
• Lumian waited until dusk, picked up Aosta's scent, and began following him from a distance.

Lumian followed Aosta Trull through Trier and discovered that the swindler was being threatened by a gang over his debts. He confronted Aosta in his apartment, demanding answers about the money he had lost.

• Lumian tailed Aosta through the Arcade and watched Trierians stroll with turtles as a display of leisure and elegance.
• Lumian followed Aosta on a Route 7 carriage to White Coat Street and saw him enter apartment 20.
• While waiting outside, Lumian read an advertisement proposing an interstellar bridge to the crimson moon and suspected it was a scam or prank.
• A gang led by a gentleman with a diamond ring confronted Aosta, burned his face with a pipe, and threatened to take a finger if he failed to repay his debt.
• Lumian entered Aosta's room and told him he wanted to avoid being swindled and mocked again.

Lumian forced Aosta to explain his debts and reveal that he was a Sequence 9 Secrets Supplicant. He paid Aosta to seek approval for Lumian to attend a Beyonder gathering, then took Aosta’s blood to make him fear betrayal.

• Lumian stopped Aosta from fleeing and learned that Baron Brignais of the Savoie Mob had bought Aosta’s debt.
• Aosta admitted that he had borrowed money to buy potion ingredients and become a Secrets Supplicant, but lacked the strength to fight the mob.
• Lumian suspected the Savoie Mob had a Beyonder and offered Aosta 100 felkine to arrange access to the gathering where he had bought the ingredients.
• Aosta accepted a Gold Louis as an advance and said he would get the organizer’s answer by next Wednesday.
• Lumian stabbed Aosta’s shoulder, collected his blood as a supposed blood oath, and told him to bandage the wound.
• Aosta said the advance and his savings should keep Baron Brignais’s men away for a week.

Lumian learned that Aosta’s spiritual perception warned him of hidden dangers, then sought information about finding his missing friends and tested his ability to summon creatures at the Golden Rooster Inn. The summoning brought a seductive, leaf-haired female spirit into his room.

• Aosta told Lumian that his Secret Supplicant abilities let him sense unseen creatures and that he feared the burned-out house near Honest Man’s Market.
• Lumian watched Aosta’s door to ensure he made no unusual moves, then bought croissants and fruit soda.
• At the Golden Rooster Inn, Lumian met bartender Pavar Nissen, learned about the prank machine, and asked how to find his missing friends.
• Pavar recommended that Lumian speak with information broker Anthony Reid in Room 5 the next day.
• Lumian performed a Summoning Dance in Room 207 and drew several strange figures into the room.
• A translucent, alluring woman with blue-green hair entwined with leaves emerged from the curtains and excited Lumian.

Lumian’s Summoning Dance attracted a powerful translucent creature that the corruption sealed inside him kept at bay, prompting him to question why he was able to summon such dangerous beings. The next morning, after chatting with Charlie and eating breakfast, Lumian visited information broker Anthony Reid and felt uneasy when he saw him.

• Lumian performed the Summoning Dance, and a powerful translucent female creature approached but vanished when the ritual ended.
• Lumian wondered how other Dancers survived summoning dangerous creatures, then struggled to study Aurora’s notes before going to sleep with Fallen Mercury beside him.
• Lumian woke without any unusual dreams and learned from Charlie that Laurent cleaned the second-floor washroom; Charlie also described a vivid dream and his hopes about a wealthy married hotel guest.
• Lumian ate breakfast on Messy Street, then went to Room 5 to meet Anthony Reid, whose appearance made him feel uneasy.

Lumian hired Anthony Reid to find Guillaume Béné and Pualis, then questioned the seemingly doomed madman in Room 310 about the Montsouris Ghosts. As Lumian left Messy Street for the Botanical Garden District, he sensed someone following him.

• Lumian commissioned Anthony Reid to find Guillaume Béné and Pualis, learned they were wanted by the authorities, and paid him an advance.
• A gunshot sent Anthony Reid diving under his desk, and he explained that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder from the war.
• Lumian encountered the madman in Room 310 and provoked him into revealing that the Montsouris Ghosts had appeared underground beneath the Market District.
• Lumian left Messy Street to visit the Botanical Garden District and the Underground Cemetery the next day, then sensed someone following him.