Recaps

Klein completed his advancement to Bizarro Sorcerer by holding on to his identity through the ritual's spiritual fragmentation, then left Leonard and Daly behind and explored the gray fog's highest stairway. He found a door of light suspending cocoons that contained people from Earth, including three that had already opened.

• Klein endured the potion's division of his spirit and used memories of his experiences, along with Adam's attention, to reassemble his identity and complete the advancement ritual.
• Klein restored Daly to her human form and laid her body before Leonard, telling him she had returned to the Goddess's kingdom.
• Klein asked Leonard to take Daly back to East Balam and explain that she died during Ince Zangwill's attack, then told Leonard he could no longer return to the Church.
• A black-haired woman from the Church of Evernight arrived at Resurrection Square and looked down at Ince Zangwill's remains beneath The Star card.
• Above the gray fog, Klein reviewed his new Bizarro Sorcerer abilities and climbed the six steps to the clouds.
• Klein saw a brilliant door of light with transparent cocoons hanging from black threads, containing people from Earth; three cocoons were empty and broken open.

The author reviewed Part Four’s themes, pacing, and creative choices, then announced a three-day break before Part Five, “Red Priest,” began. The chapter ended with book recommendations and a request for monthly votes.

• The author described Part Four’s central theme of undying as both blessing and curse, highlighting the image of modern Earthlings trapped in cocoons.
• The author assessed the part’s weaknesses, including slow pacing, a lack of change, and rushed sections such as Calderon.
• The author explained choices made to balance revenge, advancement, urgency, and the emotional impact of the ending.
• The author discussed Daly’s character and explained their experimental approach to word choice and imagery.
• The author announced a three-day break and said updates would resume next Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. with Part Five, “Red Priest.”
• The author recommended two books and asked readers to send monthly votes.

Inspector Calis and the police investigated a ritualistic murder in East Borough while Audrey read about it before returning to the gray fog to treat Gehrman Sparrow. Gehrman revealed that he had awakened after centuries to find his family gone, and Audrey asked whether they had left him any words about how he should live.

• Inspector Calis and the police found a man drained of blood and bound to a bed in an East Borough apartment, then ordered reporters away from the crime scene.
• Audrey read a report of the murder in the Backlund Evening News and later entered the gray fog to meet Gehrman Sparrow for a requested treatment.
• Audrey sensed Gehrman's gloom, used Placate, and invited him to talk as a friend; he asked what she hoped for in the future.
• Audrey spoke about her family, charitable work, and disappointment in romance, which eased Gehrman enough to ask how she would react if her loved ones were only imagined.
• Gehrman explained that he had awakened from a deep sleep after at least three hundred years, perhaps a thousand or more, and discovered his family and former life were irretrievable.
• Audrey recognized the grief behind Gehrman's story and asked whether his family had left him any words about what they hoped he would do after waking.

After Audrey counseled Gehrman Sparrow through his despair, Klein reconsidered the transmigrators sealed in cocoons above the gray fog and the possibility that he could never return to his original home. He began seeking new questions to pursue, but remained uncertain about the purpose of the cocoons and who the third broken one had represented.

• Audrey asked Gehrman Sparrow whether he had searched for his family or investigated why he had fallen asleep, and he admitted he had not yet done so.
• Audrey used Placate and encouraged Gehrman Sparrow to seek meaning in life, keep an open mind, and avoid hiding behind a thick mask.
• Gehrman Sparrow thanked Audrey for her treatment, and she recommended medicine, sweets, and another consultation the following week.
• Klein returned to the seat of The Fool, examined the cards and Creeping Hunger, and lamented the ten thousand gold coins he owed Miss Reinette Tinekerr.
• Klein theorized that transmigrators had been sealed in cocoons and sent into different eras, and that he and Emperor Roselle might have transmigrated at the same time.
• Klein resolved to seek clues and consider reaching Sequence 2, then wondered who the third broken cocoon had represented.

Klein considered whether the Elf King Soniathrym and the Ancient The Sun God had been transmigrators, and identified ways to investigate their pasts through figures in Groselle's Travels. He studied the Red Priest pathway and set his next goal as uncovering who had planned the Great Smog of Backlund, while Emlyn learned that an important Sanguine figure wanted to meet him.

• Klein suspected Soniathrym might have been a transmigrator and considered asking Miss Justice to help explore Siatas's subconscious, but judged the investigation too dangerous for now.
• Klein grew more suspicious of the Ancient The Sun God and identified Snowman, who had served him, as another possible source of clues.
• Klein studied the Red Priest pathway on the Card of Blasphemy and decided to resume his arms deal before returning to Backlund to investigate Viscount Stratford and Major General Qonas Kilgor.
• Klein asked Emlyn to prepare a week's supply of psychological medicine, and Emlyn accepted the small order despite having little cash left.
• Emlyn told Kasimi that he had obtained a Sequence 5 Scarlet Scholar Beyonder Characteristic and asked about becoming a viscount; Kasimi said the ritual could begin at the next full moon.
• Kasimi told Emlyn that an important figure would soon come to Backlund and wished to meet him.

Emlyn prepared to fulfill The World’s potion request while Fors and Xio set out for Delaire Forest, where they encountered a senior Nighthawk. In Backlund, Crestet Cesimir learned the details of Ince Zangwill’s death and began organizing a search for an underground ruin, while Leonard was unexpectedly summoned by crimson light.

• Emlyn learned that an unnamed figure would contact him, then left the Odora family villa and planned to prepare the potions The World had requested.
• Fors read that Gehrman Sparrow had killed Admiral of Hell Ludwell, then learned Xio had accepted Military Intelligence Section 9’s mission to investigate his origins.
• Fors and Xio left for Delaire Forest and saw Crestet Cesimir at a subway station, but kept their eyes down.
• Cesimir told Saint Anthony Stevenson that Madam Arianna had learned Ince Zangwill’s history from his remnant spirit and that Cesimir had been tasked with finding an underground ruin near the Tussock River.
• Cesimir revealed that Klein Moretti had killed Ince Zangwill and that the Church had ordered its leaders not to investigate Klein; Saint Anthony assigned Soest’s returning team to assist Cesimir.
• After Soest told Leonard the team would return to Backlund, crimson light suddenly engulfed Leonard.

Leonard met Mr. Fool above the gray fog and joined the regular gathering under the code name The Star, while Klein used the Tarot Club to help him grow beyond Pallez Zoroast’s influence. Klein also sent Danitz a Conspirer potion formula and told him to return to the Golden Dream, where Danitz found Anderson preparing to stab himself.

• Mr. Fool told Leonard that joining the gathering would require him to inform Pallez Zoroast, explaining that deterrence could be more useful than combat.
• Leonard joined the regular gathering, learned that Klein’s code name was The World, and drew The Star as his own card.
• Klein revealed that he had pulled only Leonard’s Astral Body above the gray fog to avoid bringing Pallez Zoroast into the mysterious space.
• Klein sent Danitz the Hunter Sequence 6 Conspirer potion formula and instructed him to leave the Southern Continent for the Golden Dream.
• Danitz went to say goodbye to Anderson and found him holding a short blade over his own belly.

Danitz learned that Anderson had a strange cocoon inside him and agreed to take him to the captain for help. Klein then collected Danitz’s token and visited General Mesangyes’s residence, where he met Haggis and discovered a connection to Alfred Hall.

• Anderson told Danitz that a cocoon formed inside him after he was soaked in peculiar blood plasma, and that it attracted High-Sequence Hunters.
• Anderson asked Danitz to contact Gehrman Sparrow, but Danitz instead offered to seek the captain’s help, and Anderson eagerly agreed to leave with him.
• Danitz packed his belongings and left the golden-veined leaf behind as Gehrman Sparrow had instructed.
• Klein, disguised as Dawn Dantès, retrieved the leaf and traveled to General Mesangyes’s residence in Kukwa City.
• Klein met Haggis and learned that Haggis’s friend Colonel Alfred Hall was the second son of Earl Hall.
• As Klein entered the residence, he noticed that the colored glass above the side entrance seemed to glitter like shifting gazes.

Klein negotiated an arms deal with Mesangyes, while Luca’s prophecy and dream revealed that Dantès was tied to a powerful demigod. Elsewhere, Fors and Xio were caught by another blood moon, and Fors realized Xio had witnessed her reaction.

• Klein discussed West Balam’s customs with Haggis and met General Mesangyes at his residence.
• Klein agreed to sell Mesangyes enough weapons for three or four thousand men, with Haggis to bring the payment and a team the next day.
• After Klein left, Luca told Mesangyes that his prophecy had pointed to a person who could resolve his future predicament, then entered a dream to learn more about Dantès.
• In Luca’s dream, Dantès and everyone around him transformed into Dantès, prompting Luca to declare that he needed to meet Dantès and the demigod behind him.
• Fors woke in an inn near Delaire Forest during a blood moon and saw that Xio was awake and watching her.

Fors and Xio explored an ancient, vine-covered castle in Delaire Forest and discovered a strange underground hall with a sealed bronze door. As they approached it, the water on the floor turned to blood, and Fors saw Xio transformed into a horrifying figure.

• Fors and Xio reached the castle after a difficult seven-hour trek and wondered why it had been built in a remote forest and abandoned.
• Xio identified the castle's architecture as unusually defensive and possibly older than the late Fourth Epoch, and Fors used Lemano's Travel Notes to enter through an intact wall.
• Fors and Xio descended a narrow spiral staircase, following cold drafts to a large underground hall containing a bronze double door covered in mysterious symbols.
• Xio and Fors found no murals to explain the castle, but noticed discarded silver-black longswords and increasing moisture near the door.
• As Xio approached the door, Fors saw the water between the floor tiles turn into blood and noticed Xio's face had become pale and distorted.

Fors and Xio discovered two ancient evil spirits haunting the underground hall and defeated them using Xio’s attacks and Fors’s Lemano's Travel Notes. As the hall fell silent, banging began behind the bronze doors.

• Fors used Lemano's Travel Notes to escape a hallucination near the bronze doors, then she and Xio extinguished the light and spotted two spirits.
• Fors spoke with the spirits and learned that the woman was searching for her husband, a knight guarding the doors, though the pair could not see each other.
• When the spirits noticed Fors and Xio, they attacked, but Xio broke free of their freezing influence and struck the woman with Spirit Lash.
• Fors restrained the knight with Abyss Shackles and struck him with lightning and sacred light, while Xio kept the woman occupied.
• Fors and Xio defeated both spirits, then heard banging from behind the bronze doors.

Fors and Xio escaped the abandoned castle after defeating two Ancient Evil Spirits, but the power behind the bronze doors corrupted them. Fors reached Mr. Fool for help, and Xio joined his gathering as a new member, drawing the Judgement card.

• Fors and Xio collected the Ancient Evil Spirits’ remains, and Fors buried one cursed object and a pile of dust with an epitaph for the spirits.
• Fors and Xio fled the castle when the pounding behind the bronze doors grew louder, and they discovered black patches spreading across their bodies and blood running from their noses.
• Fors recited Mr. Fool’s honorific name and was purified, then returned to Delaire Forest and instructed Xio to do the same.
• Xio entered the gathering above the gray fog, met Mr. Fool, and asked to join the gathering.
• Mr. Fool accepted Xio, who drew the Judgement card as her code name.

Xio learned the rules of the Tarot Club gathering and was warned by the Fool to avoid the ancient castle until Sequence 4. Meanwhile, Klein arranged an arms deal with Haggis, met Luca Brewster as Gehrman Sparrow, and then continued toward his destination with Haggis.

• The Fool explained the Tarot Club’s meeting schedule and warned Xio not to return to the castle before Sequence 4.
• Xio returned to the real world with the corruption fading, and she and Fors headed back to town.
• Klein considered the Pitch-Black Door’s possible connection to the Abyss, divined that the castle posed no immediate urgency, and decided to have Emlyn investigate its history.
• Haggis delivered a deposit of ten thousand pounds to Dawn Dantès and arranged to leave with him the next morning.
• Luca Brewster visited Dawn Dantès, recognized Gehrman Sparrow as a likely Bizarro Sorcerer, and heard Gehrman say that Zaratul had returned.
• Dawn Dantès and Haggis stopped at an inn to rest before continuing their journey.

Leonard and Xio joined the Tarot Club, where the members introduced themselves and began trading. The gathering revealed that the Rose School of Thought had taken control of the Artisan, and Alger had left the matter with Cattleya.

• Audrey noticed that the new male member was watching Gehrman Sparrow, while she recognized the new woman as Xio.
• Klein introduced Leonard as The Star and Xio as Judgement, and the newcomers assessed the other Tarot Club members.
• Cattleya told the gathering that she had received no pages of Roselle's Diary, and Klein began the trading.
• Fors asked Alger about having the Artisan turn a material into a mystical item, and Alger said the Rose School of Thought had taken control of the Artisan and that he had handed the follow-up to Cattleya.

At the Tarot Gathering, Cattleya and the other members offered help as Leonard sought an offensive mystical item, while Derrick shared news about the City of Silver’s coming exploration of the Giant King’s Court. The gathering ended with Xio warning Gehrman Sparrow that Military Intelligence Section 9 was investigating his origins.

• Cattleya suggested waiting a week or two for someone to make Fors a mystical item, and Gehrman Sparrow offered to help if needed.
• Leonard asked the gathering to find him a discreet, low-impact offensive mystical item around Sequence 6 or Sequence 5, and Alger agreed to look for one.
• Derrick announced that the City of Silver planned to explore the Giant King’s Court and confirmed that he had obtained the materials for advancing to Light Priest.
• Emlyn explained that the Giant King’s Court was in the Forsaken Land of the Gods, and Derrick recounted what he had encountered in the Ancient City of North.
• Xio told Gehrman Sparrow that Military Intelligence Section 9 had been investigating his origins.

The Tarot Club discussed Gehrman Sparrow’s identity, his plans in Backlund, and Ince Zangwill’s death. The Fool revealed that Adam’s advance toward godhood had changed the times.

• Judgement Xio reported that Military Intelligence Section 9 had traced Gehrman Sparrow’s fabricated identity to Backlund, and The World dismissed the investigation.
• Justice Audrey asked whether The World would return to Backlund as Dawn Dantès, startling The Star Leonard and Judgement Xio with the connection between those identities.
• Justice Audrey explained that Dawn Dantès was a shared identity used by Mr. World and another of Mr. Fool’s Blessed, and The World said he might need the members’ help in Backlund.
• The Hanged Man Alger reported that Ince Zangwill had become a demigod before he was killed in West Balam, while the whereabouts of Sealed Artifact 0-08 remained unknown.
• The Fool warned the Tarot Club that the times had changed because Adam was closer to godhood.

The Tarot Club learned that Adam had drawn closer to godhood and that Gehrman Sparrow had become a Sequence 4 demigod after helping kill Ince Zangwill. The chapter left Alger wondering what benefit Mr. Fool had gained from Adam’s successful plan.

• The Tarot Club members reacted with alarm, curiosity, and hope when Mr. Fool announced that Adam had drawn closer to godhood.
• The World Gehrman Sparrow identified Adam as the son of the Ancient Sun God, Amon’s brother, and the Angel of Imagination, and explained that Adam had obtained 0-08 to advance toward godhood.
• The World revealed that he and his companions had killed Ince Zangwill, then implied that he had become a Sequence 4 demigod.
• Cattleya, Audrey, Derrick, and Alger reflected on Gehrman Sparrow’s rapid advancement and what it meant for the club.
• Alger wondered whether Mr. Fool and Adam had planned the affair together and what Mr. Fool had gained from it.

The Tarot Club members realized that Mr. Fool had cooperated with Adam in the affair involving Ince Zangwill, and learned that Adam could discover people who spoke or thought about him. The warning left Fors worried about what she had told Xio, while the gathering ended with members considering Adam’s organization and the Abraham Family.

• Alger, Audrey, and Leonard connected Mr. Fool’s involvement to Ince Zangwill’s death, Gehrman Sparrow’s advancement, and the new Card of Blasphemy.
• The World warned that Adam had founded a secretive organization and could learn about people who spoke or thought about him.
• Audrey identified Adam as the likely leader of the Hermits of Fate, while Alger suspected the organization was connected to the primitive island and Qilangos.
• Fors admitted that she had mentioned Adam to Xio, and Cattleya reassured her that Adam was unlikely to investigate unless her Abraham Family ties drew his attention.
• Emlyn viewed Adam’s organization as a possible model for the Tarot Club, and Leonard recalled the Abraham Family’s former importance.

At the Tarot Club, The World shared intelligence about the Red Angel Medici and The Hanged Man advised The Moon on meeting a Sanguine elder. After the gathering, Leonard questioned Pallez about whether Dawn Dantès could have been Azik Eggers in disguise, and Pallez recalled that Azik owned a mask that let him become anyone.

• The World told the Tarot Club that Medici’s spirit had become an Evil Spirit and had been involved in Ince Zangwill’s death, prompting Alger to reconsider the danger around Bansy Harbor.
• The Moon asked how to handle an important Sanguine figure who wanted to meet him, and The Hanged Man advised him to act normally and expect a test or tasks.
• The Magician warned The Moon that a sealed door and corrupting force lay beneath the abandoned castle, and The Moon promised to investigate the faulty intelligence.
• Leonard returned to the real world and asked Pallez whether Dawn Dantès could have been Azik Eggers in disguise.
• Pallez remembered that Azik had a mask that allowed him to turn into anyone.

Leonard learned from Pallez that Adam had sensed a parasite but had not identified Pallez, and that Medici died at the ruins where Alista Tudor became the Blood Emperor. Pallez confirmed the Church had reached a tacit understanding with Mr. Fool, while the chapter ended with Dawn Dantès collecting goods at a border warehouse under the watch of two observers.

• Pallez explained that Adam had noticed Leonard’s parasite but could not identify Pallez because he was sealed and asleep.
• Leonard told Pallez that Mr. Fool had answered his prayer and invited him to join an organization that met every Monday; Pallez guessed at Mr. Fool’s origins but refused to explain further.
• Pallez identified Medici as the Red Angel, said He had died at the underground ruins in Backlund, and explained that He had been captured after confronting the Sauron Family ancestor amid Alista Tudor’s sudden madness.
• Pallez agreed that the Church and Mr. Fool had reached a tacit understanding and outlined possible assignments for Leonard after he digested his potion.
• Dawn Dantès exchanged countersigns at a border warehouse, prepared to inspect and move the goods, and two figures watched him from a nearby building.

Klein, disguised as Dawn Dantès, completed an arms deal with Mesangyes’s representative while Alfred Hall questioned him about his activities and a recent thunderstorm. Meanwhile, Ludwell’s body reappeared in the jungle with Red Angel Medici and the fused Sauron and Einhorn within it, and the group set out through the Spirit World as Klein’s unexplained sense of danger faded.

• Pagny and Alfred Hall watched Dawn Dantès’s arms deal, and Alfred explained why he had let Klein take the risky job.
• Alfred met Klein and Haggis at the warehouse, exchanged pleasantries with Klein, and asked what had happened at Resurrection Square in Kukwa City.
• Ludwell reappeared in the jungle with Medici, Sauron, and Einhorn, and Medici persuaded the others to pursue Klein before they searched for a Gatekeeper.
• Ludwell entered the Spirit World to travel toward Klein, while Klein felt a brief alarm outside the warehouse but saw no vision.
• Klein handed over the suitcase, asked Haggis for the remaining payment, and surprised Haggis and Alfred by abruptly leaving the planned celebration.

Klein concluded his arms deal, paid Reinette Tinekerr for her help, and prepared to return to Backlund. Meanwhile, Audrey helped students enroll at Backlund University of Technology, and a train journey ended without incident despite the crew’s secret plans for a sacrificial ritual.

• Klein sensed danger after meeting Alfred and left the arms deal, while Alfred returned to Pagny and reported his warning.
• Klein counted 30,000 pounds in valuables, paid Reinette Tinekerr, and calculated that his remaining assets exceeded 40,000 pounds.
• Klein stored the remaining gold bars above the gray fog and decided to return to Backlund.
• Audrey helped new students enroll at Backlund University of Technology and observed the differences between their hopeful outlook and the hardship of poorer students.
• A conductor and a passenger discussed replacing the train attendants and holding a sacrificial ritual at a bridge, but the train reached its port without incident.
• The little girl and her parents left the train as the attendants and several men watched her with smiles showing eight teeth.

Police discovered that the train’s staff had died with identical smiles, while Klein questioned the cultists behind the attempted sacrifice and learned they had followed revelations from a rag doll. He and Enzo disguised themselves among the cultists to watch the doll, which eventually stood up under the crimson moonlight.

• The inspector and his officers found the train staff dead in their seats, then noticed their mouths had mysteriously closed.
• The railway company's duty manager reported that the conductor and a driver were missing, and the inspector ordered searches and an investigation.
• Klein questioned the captured cultists and learned that a sacred object had instructed them to sacrifice many lives in exchange for eternal life.
• The man with the small red swelling produced a rag doll he had bought at a general goods market, and Klein found no obvious sign of anything unusual about it.
• Klein and Enzo transformed themselves into train staff and waited with the cultists as the rag doll slowly stood up on the desk.

Klein disrupted a Moon Primordial ritual and confronted the Demigod who descended through a rag doll, but the enemy escaped after being contaminated by his Death paper figurine. He learned the Saint’s name was Calamity, while the Mandated Punishers later discovered the cultists and suspected a Demigod had led them to the scene.

• Klein controlled the rag doll’s Spirituality Threads, triggering an attack by the room’s objects, then used a mutated Death paper figurine to take the descending Demigod’s possession.
• The Demigod’s power briefly affected the city before the crimson moon brightened and the enemy vanished; Klein concluded the opponent was below Angel level but had powerful Wraith abilities and access to the moon’s power.
• Klein disguised himself as a divine envoy and asked the Moon Primordial believers who had met with them; they named the Saint as “Warlock King” Calamity.
• Calamity appeared aboard a sailboat, endured a strange bodily transformation, and wondered aloud whether he had encountered a Blessed of Death despite Death no longer existing.
• The Church of Storms’ Mandated Punishers found the missing train staff hanging outside a house and arrested the Moon Primordial believers inside.
• The Mandated Punishers captain suspected a Demigod from another church had arranged the corpses to direct them to the house.

Emlyn met Duke Omer, who explained the danger of the abandoned castle in Delaire Forest and assigned him to find important Rose School of Thought members in Backlund. After leaving the Sanguine residence, Emlyn followed Viscount Ernes Boyar, still unsure how to confront him over the withheld warning.

• Emlyn questioned Viscount Ernes Boyar about the castle information, and Ernes admitted Lord Nibes had told him the site was dangerous for anyone below the rank of earl.
• Kasimi Odora brought Emlyn to Duke Omer, who personally offered to purify Emlyn's contaminated artificial Vampire Beyonder Characteristic.
• Duke Omer assigned Emlyn to investigate important Rose School of Thought members in Backlund and retrieve a Sanguine sacred relic left by the Ancestor.
• Duke Omer told Emlyn that the castle was ancient, held something sealed beneath it, and corrupted creatures with the power of depravity.
• Emlyn left the Odora residence and followed Ernes through Backlund, but remained undecided about how to deal with him.