Recaps

Klein divided the proceeds from selling information about the Amon Family’s mausoleum with Sharron, who warned him that a baronet was digging toward the Tudor ruins. Audrey arranged the exchange of the Human-skinned Shadow characteristic and Wind-blessed formula, and Klein verified both before preparing to concoct his Faceless potion.

• Klein gave Miss Justice £2,500 and the ancient golden mask, then paid Sharron her share of the £2,000 sale: £800 and two Deep-sea Naga hairs.
• Sharron told Klein that a baronet was digging a passage toward the Tudor Dynasty ruins, and Klein agreed to visit the man with her after he had prepared himself.
• Audrey exchanged the cash and mask for the Human-skinned Shadow characteristic and Wind-blessed formula, keeping the payment until the items could be verified.
• Klein divined that the Wind-blessed formula was authentic and sent it to The Hanged Man, who recorded it and recalled Blue Shadow Falcons on a primitive island.
• Klein confirmed the Human-skinned Shadow characteristic was genuine and decided to concoct the Faceless potion that night.

Klein carefully concocted and consumed the Faceless potion, surviving its dangerous transformation and advancing to Sequence 6. He tested his new ability to alter his appearance and returned to bed with renewed confidence.

• Klein combined the Thousand-faced Hunter ingredients and Human-skinned Shadow characteristic to successfully brew the Faceless potion.
• Klein drank the potion and endured his body melting and dissolving until he completed his advancement to Sequence 6.
• Klein saw pale fleshy sprouts covering his face and skin, then calmed himself until they receded.
• Klein tested his ability to imitate Emlyn White, Dunn Smith, and a woman, discovering limits to his transformations.
• Klein returned to Sherlock Moriarty’s appearance, planned to test his improved abilities at the Cragg Club, and went to bed.

Xio learned that the masked man wanted her to seek out special ingredients for Sheriff and Interrogator potions, then revealed to Fors that her father had been executed for treason and her family disgraced. In Tingen, Benson passed the government examination and planned to move to Backlund with Melissa, while Klein went to Red Rose Manor to investigate Talym’s connections.

• The masked man commissioned Xio to ask around for Sheriff and Interrogator potion ingredients, and she realized his target might be someone connected to the special ingredient Fors had obtained for her.
• Xio saw Viscount Stratford’s carriage and told Fors that her father, a former captain of the palace guards, had been executed for alleged rebellion seven years earlier.
• Benson told Melissa that he had passed the government employee examination with a high ranking and proposed that they move to Backlund after the New Year.
• Klein visited Red Rose Manor to investigate Talym’s past visits, and the butler allowed him to question everyone except a young lady.

Klein learned that the woman Prince Edessak loved had been present at Talym’s funeral, then hurried away before he could meet her. After advancing to Sequence 6, he entered the space above the gray fog, discovered a luminous stairway, and found he could not pass beyond it.

• Klein learned from a maid that the woman Prince Edessak loved had repeatedly tried to meet him and had been Talym’s friend.
• Klein recognized the maid as one who had accompanied the veiled woman with the sapphire ring at Talym’s funeral, then left Red Rose Manor early to avoid meeting her.
• On the carriage ride back, Klein considered whether the woman had cursed Talym and why someone so powerful wanted to meet him, then resolved to let the Machinery Hivemind investigate.
• Klein entered the space above the gray fog and divined that the fog had shielded him from the Hornacis and Flegrea murmurs after his advancement.
• Klein explored beyond the palace, found a stairway of light with four steps, and failed to rise past the fog above it when he jumped from the top.

Klein reflected on how to remain himself while acting as a Faceless and set plans for his advancement, then spent a quiet evening preparing for the new year. In the City of Silver, Derrick’s exploration team reached a ruined temple, where a sudden darkness and a child’s plea tested their vigilance.

• Klein realized that remembering himself as Zhou Mingrui was central to acting as a Faceless and planned to investigate the acting method, mermaids, and the Sun High Priest potion formula.
• Lawyer Jurgen told Klein he would leave Backlund with his grandmother and Brody, and gave him a colleague’s business card for legal help.
• Klein watched Jurgen leave and reflected on the approaching new year in the quiet house.
• Derrick Berg and the City of Silver exploration team reached the ruins’ central temple after clearing the surrounding areas.
• All four lanterns went out, and Derrick heard a child whisper, “Save me”; he recovered and spread clear light to drive back the darkness.
• Colin warned the team to remain at their highest alert as they faced the temple.

Derrick and the City of Silver exploration team searched the underground temple, where a statue and murals depicted the Fallen Creator amid images of evil gods. After the statue’s open eyes triggered a frightening reaction, the team found a crying child named Jack behind the altar, while Klein prepared to visit Miss Sharron.

• Derrick and the exploration team entered the temple’s underground passages after searching its ruined main hall.
• Derrick studied murals showing the Fallen Creator enduring darkness while six evil gods surrounded Him.
• Joshua used his crimson glove to destroy tempting mushroom-like growths that proved to be flesh and hair.
• Derrick saw that the underground statue’s eyes were open, and Colin’s thunderous attack broke the team free of their fear.
• Derrick and Joshua found a crying child behind the altar, and the child identified himself as Jack.
• Klein prepared to visit Miss Sharron to discuss a baronet’s tunnel and ask about mermaid clues.

Klein and Sharron tried to frighten Macht Pound away from the underground ruins, but an evil spirit possessed him and offered them a bargain. The spirit revealed a Card of Blasphemy showing the Red Priest, leaving Klein to recognize its significance.

• Klein asked Sharron about mermaids, and she said they were only reportedly heard near the Gargas Archipelago.
• Macht Pound dreamed of finding an emblem in an underground palace, then fled when he encountered Klein’s Faceless appearance in the tunnel.
• Klein and Sharron confronted Macht at the abandoned chapel, where he mistook Sharron for the evil spirit and claimed the Black Emperor’s appearance foretold the Blood Emperor’s return.
• The evil spirit possessed Macht, revealed that it had been trapped beneath the ruins for about two thousand years, and offered Sharron help with her next potion and Klein a valuable item.
• The spirit showed Klein a Card of Blasphemy depicting Roselle Gustav as a red-robed priest, and Klein recognized the inscription identifying Sequence 0 as Red Priest.

Klein questioned the Evil Spirit about the Red Priest pathway, Rose Redemption, and the Fourth Epoch before refusing to help free it; he and Sharron agreed to eliminate it later. In the City of Silver, Colin questioned a boy named Jack, who claimed to be seeking the Lord’s sanctuary with companions before suddenly saying he was hungry.

• The Evil Spirit offered Sharron a Sequence 4 Abyss potion formula and explained that its seal could be removed with blood from direct descendants of the Sauron, Einhorn, and Medici Families mixed with holy water.
• The Evil Spirit identified Rose Redemption as an organization founded by corrupted Angels, closely connected to the birth of the True Creator, and suggested Klein might find its trail in Bincy Town.
• The Evil Spirit confirmed that Alista Tudor was the Blood Emperor and warned Klein not to kill Macht Pound, whose Tudor bloodline could unlock Alista’s legacy; then Macht lost focus and collapsed.
• Klein and Sharron left the area, agreed not to remove the Evil Spirit’s seal, and discussed Sharron’s search for the Puppet potion formula and materials.
• In the City of Silver, Colin questioned Jack, a boy found in the darkness, who said he was searching for the Lord’s sanctuary with companions before clutching his throat and declaring that he was hungry.

Demon Hunter Colin destroyed the evil spirit that attacked Joshua and Derrick, while Klein confirmed through divination that the spirit had harbored intense malice toward him and Sharron. At a Sanguine gathering, Emlyn learned that the Ancestor had named him a key to surviving the approaching apocalypse and was ordered to pray to the Fool.

• Little boy Jack lunged at Joshua, but Demon Hunter Colin trapped him with a barrier and destroyed him with a radiant sword assault.
• Derrick woke from a daze at the camp, where Demon Hunter Colin said they would leave after fifty flashes of lightning.
• Klein divined that the evil spirit in the ruins had intense malice toward him and Sharron, then went to bed.
• Emlyn attended the Sanguine gathering at Kasimi Odora's villa and followed him to meet Nibes Odora.
• Nibes told Emlyn that the Ancestor had revealed the apocalypse was near and that Emlyn was one of the keys to the Sanguine's survival.
• Nibes ordered Emlyn to find an opportunity to pray to the Fool.

Emlyn White considered Nibes Odora’s proposal that he pray to The Fool, while Nibes revealed he had invented the claim that Emlyn was a key figure to persuade him. Klein missed another chance to meet a young woman when a stomachache delayed him, and a woman prepared to visit Mr. A of the Aurora Order as a blind man’s quill began writing by itself.

• Nibes Odora told Emlyn White that praying to The Fool might be safe and offered to protect him, and Emlyn asked for a few days to decide.
• Nibes Odora told Kasimi Odora that Emlyn was not in the Ancestor’s revelation and that he had chosen him because Emlyn wanted to pray to The Fool.
• Klein cleaned his house on 15 Minsk Street, then received a visit from Prince Edessak’s elderly butler requesting an update on his investigation.
• Klein’s stomachache delayed him, so Prince Edessak left before seeing him; the maid then revealed that a young lady had come along and suggested the visit.
• A blind middle-aged man reviewed notes about the young woman repeatedly missing Sherlock Moriarty, while she dressed and announced that she was going to visit Mr. A of the Aurora Order.
• The blind man’s quill began writing by itself as the woman prepared to leave.

Klein decided to hand in his assignment at Red Rose Manor as planned and leave Backlund without drawing attention. At the Tarot Gathering, Derrick revealed that his expedition had repeated the same stretch of time five times, and the others considered how he might break the loop.

• Klein failed to divine whether 0-08 was behind recent coincidences and decided to visit Red Rose Manor normally before leaving Backlund.
• Derrick recovered memories of five repeated explorations of the ruined city, each ending with Colin killing Jack before the group woke at camp again.
• Derrick told the Tarot Gathering about the time loop and asked the others how to end it.
• Alger proposed that the loop might be a confined, repeating state that could be broken by disrupting its balance or finding the point connecting its beginning and end.
• Audrey and Alger suggested Jack might be the key, and Alger noted that Jack's story resembled that of a Listener he had pursued at sea.
• Alger advised Derrick to mention the Sonia Sea, the Kingdom of Loen, and port cities to Jack, while also sharing details of the murals for the gathering to examine.

The Sun showed the Tarot Club scenes from the City of Silver’s temple, and the members identified the mural’s figures as distorted images of the six gods. The Fool then pointed Derrick toward Rose Redemption, leaving the group to consider whether the organization was connected to the City of Silver’s predicament.

• Derrick presented images of the City of Silver’s ruined streets, temple, murals, and strange altar to the Tarot Club.
• Alger asked about the six evil gods in the mural, and Klein recognized them as corrupted versions of statues he had seen in Fourth Epoch ruins.
• The World displayed the statues and sacred emblems of the six gods, prompting Alger to conclude that the mural depicted distorted images of them.
• Derrick asked whether the mural was the key, and Alger suggested he try destroying it without arousing the Chief’s suspicion.
• Klein reminded the group of the name Rose Redemption, and the members recalled seeing it in the temple mural.

At the Tarot Gathering, the members connected the phrase “Rose Redemption” to an ancient form of Feysac and discussed the mysterious boy Jack. Klein then read Roselle’s diary, which ended with Zaratul defining a miracle as resurrection from the dead.

• Alger recognized that the City of Silver’s “Rose Redemption” inscription resembled Ancient Feysac, and Derrick agreed to investigate the mural’s other contents.
• Audrey asked how Jack could communicate with the City of Silver members, and Alger explained that supernatural transformations could grant language quickly.
• Audrey and Fors promised more pages of Roselle’s Diary for the next gathering, while Derrick regretted not studying historical materials.
• Klein read Roselle’s entries about a royal ball, his plans to become an Alchemist, and his unusual encounters with Intis nobles.
• Klein read Roselle’s account of asking Zaratul what a miracle was, and Zaratul answered that resurrection from the dead was a miracle.

Klein suspected that the gray fog and his resurrection were connected to the Seer pathway, while the Tarot Club members traded ingredients and formulas. As the gathering ended, Klein warned them of a brewing danger in Backlund and identified Prince Edessak Augustus as its focus.

• Klein connected his apparent resurrection and the gray fog to the Seer pathway, considered its possible ties to the pathway's Uniqueness, and grew wary of Zaratul.
• Fors offered Audrey a pair of Mirror Dragon eyes for 1,000 pounds, and Audrey accepted the deal.
• Derrick offered to obtain a Spirit Eater's stomach pouch for Fors, while Alger offered him the Sun High Priest potion formula in exchange for materials from the City of Silver.
• Alger requested a pair of Dragon-eyed Sea Eagle eyeballs, and the World sought leads on mermaids during the exchange of information.
• The World warned the Tarot Club of a possible tragedy brewing in Backlund, and Klein named Edessak Augustus as the source of the danger.

At the Tarot Gathering, Klein warned Justice and Magician that Prince Edessak was tied to a dangerous matter, while Audrey prepared to investigate and Derrick confirmed his memories of repeated events were real. Later, Emlyn visited Klein for advice about a risky task connected to the Fool, leaving Klein startled.

• Klein warned the Tarot Club that Prince Edessak was involved in a dangerous matter, and Alger urged Justice, Magician, and World to investigate.
• Audrey worried about Edessak, resolved to ask her father about him, and Susie noticed that her piano playing showed she was troubled.
• Derrick confirmed that his memories of repeated events were real when Colin announced they would leave after fifty flashes of lightning.
• Emlyn visited Klein and asked whether he should accept a risky task from an important figure, then revealed that it involved the Fool.

Klein warned Emlyn that the dangerous ritual recommended by a powerful Sanguine figure might cost him his life, but left the choice to him. Meanwhile, Derrick examined a mural in the half-abandoned temple and struck its looping river with his Hurricane Axe, testing whether it held the key to escaping the City of Silver’s repeating predicament.

• Klein used invented statistics about prayers to hidden entities to warn Emlyn that his planned ritual could end disastrously.
• Emlyn insisted that he wanted to act for the Sanguine race and that choosing his own beliefs mattered to his pride, then left after thanking Klein and charging him with the containers from their previous meeting.
• Derrick prayed at the temple outskirts and reported hearing Jack call for help, but Colin found no clear sign that the sound was a way out of the loop.
• Derrick inspected the mural and noticed that a river beneath a silver-haired angel flowed in a loop, which he suspected was a clue from Mr. Fool.
• Derrick swung his Hurricane Axe at the painted river as lightning flashed and silvery light struck the axe.

Derrick’s repeated explorations led him and Colin to identify the figure in the Rose Redemption mural as Ouroboros, the Angel of Fate, while Jack’s grotesque appearance continued to trigger the deadly cycle. Elsewhere, Emlyn accepted the Ancestor’s mission from Nibes and agreed to begin immediately.

• Derrick broke the mural’s looping river, but Colin dismissed his claim of seeing a child as a nervous hallucination.
• Derrick asked Jack how to save him and learned that Jack’s home was Enmat Port; Colin inferred that Jack’s party had reached the City of Silver by way of the Giant King’s Court.
• Derrick saw real eyes, a nose, and a mouth embedded in Jack’s body and shouted “Rose Redemption,” but the attempt failed and he returned to the campfire.
• During the seventh exploration, Derrick told Colin that Jack’s face resembled the silver-haired angel in the mural, prompting Colin to connect the mural to the Angel of Fate.
• Colin named the Angel of Fate as Ouroboros, the Tail Devourer, and associated Amon with the Angel of Time.
• Emlyn told Nibes that he accepted the Ancestor’s mission and agreed to start at once.

Klein delayed answering Emlyn White’s prayer until the Sanguine threat had passed, while Derrick Berg’s team escaped a repeating time loop by defeating Jack. Audrey learned that Prince Edessak’s affair had led to a noble’s death, and Emlyn was finally summoned by The Fool the next morning.

• Klein watched Emlyn White pray through artificial somnambulism and chose to delay his response until he could assess the danger.
• Colin the Demon Hunter attacked Jack with his swords, breaking the repeating river and freeing Derrick Berg and the exploration team.
• Colin treated Jack’s wound and ordered Heim and Joshua to carry him, while Derrick silently thanked Mr. Fool for restoring his memories.
• Audrey learned from Earl Hall that Prince Edessak had fallen in love with a commoner and that a noble descendant had died, then hinted that the scandal might conceal more.
• Emlyn White spent the night at the Odora family’s villa, left for the Harvest Church the next morning, and was suddenly transported before The Fool.

Klein questioned Emlyn White about the revelation that led him to pray to The Fool, then offered him a chance to join a secret gathering and grow strong enough to protect the Sanguine. Emlyn agreed to keep Klein’s identity secret, trade Sanguine history for help removing a psychological suggestion, and chose The Moon as his code name.

• Emlyn told Klein that Lilith had revealed the apocalypse was coming and that praying to The Fool was his task.
• Klein considered what Lilith’s revelation might mean and asked Emlyn why he had prayed to him; Emlyn said he did not know.
• Klein suggested that Emlyn could become strong enough to save the Sanguine, and Emlyn accepted the opportunity.
• Klein required Emlyn to keep their dealings secret and invited him to join a secret gathering, which Emlyn eagerly accepted.
• Emlyn asked Klein to remove a psychological suggestion planted by a bishop of the Church of the Earth Mother, and Klein requested Sanguine history in exchange.
• Klein presented the unchosen Major Arcana cards, and Emlyn chose The Moon as his code name.

Emlyn recounted the Sanguine’s history to Klein, then used a ritual to ask The Fool to remove his psychological cue. After divination failed to clarify the danger surrounding Red Rose Manor, Klein decided to visit it that afternoon.

• Emlyn told Klein how Queen Olkina and the Sanguine rose to prominence under the Trunsoest Empire, then suffered losses in the War of the Four Emperors.
• Klein ended Emlyn’s account and sent him back with instructions for praying to The Fool for help.
• Klein paid Old Kohler in advance and warned him to avoid danger and protect Liv and her daughters if unrest broke out in the East Borough.
• Emlyn performed the Mysticism Ritual, and The Fool removed his psychological cue, causing him intense pain.
• Klein’s divinations about visiting Red Rose Manor gave no useful answer, so he left 15 Minsk Street and headed there.

Klein went to Red Rose Manor to report that Talym’s death appeared to be a natural one, then left believing he could proceed with his plans to leave Backlund. Trissy appeared in his carriage and revealed that she was being manipulated, but when she gave her name as Trissy Cheek, Klein connected it to the Primordial Demoness.

• Klein told Prince Edessak that his investigation found no evidence Talym had been murdered, handed over his report, and said he planned to travel south.
• Prince Edessak dismissed Klein and arranged for the butler Finkel to escort him out and provide a carriage.
• After Klein left Red Rose Manor, Trissy appeared inside his carriage wearing a sapphire ring and asked him to report her to the authorities.
• Trissy said she feared someone was manipulating her life, described killing Talym with a curse, and explained that she had deliberately created an opportunity to meet Klein.
• Trissy told Klein her name had been changed to Trissy Cheek, and Klein recalled Roselle’s diary identifying Cheek as the Primordial Demoness’s name.

Klein discovered that Trissy carried a terrifying connection to the Primordial Demoness and tried to escape after she vanished, but a contrived meteor shower threatened to kill him. Audrey learned Trissy’s identity through Mr. Fool and went to warn her mother about the danger to Backlund.

• Trissy offered to draw away the royal pursuers, then vanished from Klein’s carriage.
• Klein escaped into the woods using flames, summoned Azik’s messenger for help, and reported Trissy’s identity to Mr. Fool.
• Klein’s report reached Audrey, who recognized that Prince Edessak’s relationship with Trissy could bring a catastrophe to Backlund.
• A notebook attributed a premature meteor shower to coincidence and sent meteors toward the woodland where Klein hid.
• Audrey decided to warn her mother and knocked on the sitting-room door.

Audrey revealed her Beyonder status to Countess Caitlyn and warned her that Trissy Cheek might be connected to the Primordial Demoness, prompting Caitlyn to alert the Church of the Goddess. Meanwhile, Azik rescued Klein from a meteor attack, but a quill’s record suggested that Azik’s flawed attempt to travel had brought him and Klein near Ince Zangwill.

• Audrey told Countess Caitlyn that she was a Beyonder and had joined a secret organization, then warned her that Trissy Cheek was a Witch tied to the Primordial Demoness.
• Caitlyn agreed to pass the warning to the Church of the Goddess through the family’s hidden guard.
• Klein used Flame Jump to evade falling meteors, but the blast threatened to engulf him.
• A strange oil-painting-like state shielded Klein from the impact, and Azik appeared and pulled him away.
• A one-eyed man’s quill recorded that Azik’s weakened state had caused him and Klein to land near Ince Zangwill and his companion.

Klein and Mr. Azik arrived in an underground ruin, where Ince Zangwill confronted Azik and Klein fled through guarded corridors. Klein escaped through a deep blue door by impersonating Ince, then killed a guard and disguised himself to mislead the searchers.

• Klein and Mr. Azik reached an ancient underground road, where Ince Zangwill emerged from an illusory bronze door and confronted Azik.
• At Mr. Azik’s instruction, Klein ran while Azik stayed behind and revealed that he remembered being an Undying.
• Klein transformed himself into Ince Zangwill and deceived several guards, then used a notepaper greeting to pass through a deep blue door.
• Klein crossed into another guarded area disguised as Ince and ordered the guards to secure the passage, but a guard recognized the impostor and raised the alarm.
• Klein evaded a guard’s attack with a paper figurine, shot and killed him, took his armor and appearance, and fled while planning to warn the posts about Ince Zangwill.

Trissy revealed the Demoness Sect’s scheme to Edessak, who let her escape and chose to remain in the story arranged for him. Meanwhile, Saint Anthony prepared to awaken the Church’s terrifying Sealed Artifact 0-17, and Klein used the Master Key to reach a hall where a woman addressed Mr. A.

• Trissy told Edessak that she had once been a man, that their romance had been arranged, and that she was a hostage and cover for the royal family’s cooperation with the Demoness Sect.
• Edessak let Trissy leave through a concealed door and said he would stay to meet the story’s ending.
• Saint Anthony received an urgent telegram about Trissy and ordered Daly Simone to prepare to awaken Sealed Artifact 0-17.
• Klein used divination and the Master Key to pass through a wall at the exit, finding four hooded figures kneeling around an altar.
• A woman asked Mr. A whether he was ready.