Chapter Summaries

Klein spoke with Allen and Starling at the club, then rescued Fors and heard how she became a Beyonder. On Monday, he found a note saying the plan had worked and prepared for the next Tarot Club gathering.

• Klein asked Allen whether he had seen Will Auceptin again, and Allen said he had not.
• Klein met Mary and Starling at the club, where Starling invited him to a dinner party intended to introduce him to unmarried women.
• Klein answered Fors's plea for help by bringing her above the gray fog and asked how she had become a Beyonder.
• Fors told Klein that an elderly patient had given her the Apprentice formula, a glowing potion ingredient, and a bracelet that worsened her full-moon ravings when she used it.
• On Monday, Klein found a note on the coffee table saying, "It worked," and entered the space above the gray fog to prepare for the Tarot Club gathering.

Audrey privately told Mr. Fool that suspected Psychology Alchemists were trying to recruit her, shared two pages of Roselle’s diary, and learned that the Card of Blasphemy contained the Black Emperor pathway. The Tarot Club then discussed Fors’s deal with The World, Alger’s investigation into mass abductions and escaped slaves, and Derrick’s upcoming mission to a temple of the Fallen Creator.

• Audrey asked Mr. Fool for advice about joining the Psychology Alchemists, and he warned her to conceal her identity because the organization had informants from the Churches.
• Audrey gave Mr. Fool two pages of Roselle’s Diary and asked which pathway the Card of Blasphemy contained; he identified it as the Black Emperor pathway, whose Sequence 9 was Lawyer.
• Fors told the Tarot Club that The World had found her the Trickmaster formula, and The World asked her to send him information about a Sun-domain item before choosing his payment.
• Alger asked the members for leads about native tribes being abducted and slaves escaping across the Southern Continent, then asked them to gather information on the Wind-blessed formula.
• Derrick said he had been assigned to explore a half-destroyed temple belonging to the Fallen Creator under Elder Lovia’s leadership, and asked the Tarot Club for advice.

At the Tarot Club, Derrick asked for advice about an expedition into a temple linked to the Fallen Creator, and Alger urged him to avoid the mission by feigning early signs of losing control. After Derrick agreed, The World privately asked him about removing mental corruption from a Beyonder characteristic, learning that only high-ranking members of the City of Silver could access the method.

• Derrick described the ancient temple, its murals about the apocalypse and the Fallen Creator, and the words “Rose Redemption.”
• Derrick explained that his mandatory mission was to explore the temple’s underground section, and Alger warned him not to go because the Fallen Creator was a genuine evil god and Shepherd Lovia controlled the relevant pathway.
• Alger advised Derrick to deplete his spirituality and appear close to losing control so the City of Silver would keep him from the expedition; he persuaded Derrick that avoiding the mission could help protect the city from Lovia.
• The World requested a private conversation with Derrick and asked whether the City of Silver could remove an evil god’s mental corruption from a Beyonder characteristic.
• Derrick said the City of Silver only knew how to separate the mental corruption of someone who had lost control, and that only people of Sequence 7 or higher could access the method.

At Mr. A’s gathering, Fors learned that a Sun-domain ring cost 9,000 pounds, so Klein offered cash for the Trickmaster formula instead. The chapter also showed Mr. A’s disturbing transformation, Derrick preparing for the City of Silver mission, Audrey arranging psychology lessons, and Klein confirming that Eye of Wisdom’s gathering would take place the following evening.

• Fors attended Mr. A’s gathering and asked for a mystical item or weapon from the Sun domain.
• Fors received an offer for the Light Ring at 9,000 pounds, and Klein replied through The World that he would pay 450 pounds for the Trickmaster formula instead.
• Mr. A collapsed on the stairs, shed a monstrous skinless form, then recovered and confessed in the basement.
• Derrick decided to prepare for the mission and practiced his Light Suppliant abilities until his spirituality was nearly depleted.
• Audrey agreed to let her mother invite the psychiatrist Islante to give her two lessons a week.
• Klein confirmed that Eye of Wisdom’s gathering would take place the following evening and planned to relax at the Cragg Club.

Klein traded the Briber formula for 900 pounds and bought The Sun Brooch for 2,000 pounds at Eye of Wisdom’s gathering. He left the gathering’s members watching him with greed as Eye of Wisdom returned with the brooch.

• Klein heard Talym Dumont ask about powerful people with strange abilities, then learned Mike Joseph wanted to hire him as a bodyguard for an interview assignment.
• Fors paid 450 pounds through a sacrificial ritual and received the Sequence 8 Trickmaster formula, then decided to write a new book to earn money for its ingredients.
• Klein attended Eye of Wisdom’s gathering carrying his savings and negotiated with a woman offering a Sun Bird feather whip for the Briber formula.
• Klein learned that The Sun Brooch was comparable to a weak Grade 2 Sealed Artifact and agreed to sell the Briber formula for 900 pounds.
• Klein paid 2,000 pounds for The Sun Brooch, drawing covetous looks from the gathering’s Beyonders, and Eye of Wisdom returned with it.

Klein bought the Sun Brooch, a powerful but heat-inducing mystical item, and arranged preparations with Sharron for an ambush. The next morning, after a reporter asked him to work as a bodyguard, Klein received Sharron's note setting their meeting for that night.

• Eye of Wisdom sold Klein the Sun Brooch for 2,000 pounds, and Klein learned its Sun-domain spells and troublesome heat side effect.
• Klein left the gathering with Eye of Wisdom's attendant and met Sharron, agreeing that she would choose the ambush time and place while he arranged for explosives to be buried as fireworks.
• Klein returned home carrying the brooch and later met Mike Joseph, who asked him to protect him during an investigative report in East Borough, Dock Borough, and Factory Borough.
• Klein told Mike to return the next morning so he could confirm whether he was available, then found Sharron's note telling him to meet her at the back door of the Bravehearts Bar at ten that night.

Klein prepared an ambush at the abandoned West Balam Dock, setting explosives and readying his weapons while Sharron and Maric went to lure their enemies there. Hidden in a warehouse and using a paper figurine as a decoy, he watched three figures approach the clearing.

• Klein boarded Maric's carriage and discussed their enemies' abilities, the effects of purification and exorcism, and how Maric could use the sedatives.
• Sharron and Maric brought Klein to the abandoned West Balam Dock and explained their plan: he would wait until Sharron weakened and the Crimson Moon Corona appeared, then use it to locate Steve and attack him by surprise.
• After Sharron and Maric left to lure the enemies, Klein buried a Cage of Spirituality and planted dynamite around the clearing and nearby warehouses.
• Klein prepared his revolver, pinned the Sun Brooch to his chest, and used a paper figurine as a decoy before hiding on a warehouse roof.
• Klein watched three figures approach the clearing, with one leading, one in the middle, and one behind.

Maric and Sharron fought Jason and Werewolf Tyre as the Crimson Moon Corona weakened them and Sharron used the Door of Mystery to seize Jason. Klein detected Wraith Steve preparing to possess Maric, then revealed himself with an explosion and fired a Purification Bullet at Steve.

• Maric fled Jason into the clearing, where he summoned corpses and specters to slow his pursuer.
• Werewolf Tyre revealed the Crimson Moon Corona, weakening Sharron and intensifying Jason’s bloodlust.
• Sharron opened the Door of Mystery and its creatures dragged Jason toward the gate while Maric recovered with sedatives.
• Klein sensed Wraith Steve near Maric and realized Steve was about to possess him.
• Klein set off an explosion to draw attention, then fired a Purification Bullet toward Steve.

Klein and his allies fought Wraith Steve while trying to rescue Living Corpse Jason from a mysterious bronze door. Jason was dragged through the door before Klein could stop it, and Steve's furious attack left Klein, Tyre, and Maric badly hurt.

• Steve's possession nearly controlled Klein, but Klein resisted with his Sun Brooch and escaped his grasping specters.
• Tyre discovered that the Crimson Moon Corona granted him powerful spells as well as speed, then threw it toward Steve to restore Steve's strength.
• Klein used bombs to divert the Corona, but Steve caught it and regained his Sequence 5 power.
• Klein used the Eye of All-Black to locate Steve and attacked Jason with an exorcism bullet and a bomb blast.
• Jason was dragged through the bronze door, which shut behind him, and Steve screamed in fury.
• Steve's scream struck Klein, Tyre, and Maric with a devastating shock that left them bleeding and disoriented.

Klein and Sharron used the chaos caused by Steve’s toxin and the undead to turn the fight against him. Sharron trapped Steve with her bronze door while Klein attacked with holy light and bullets, leaving Steve engulfed in flames and being dragged toward the door.

• Steve released toxins from the Biotoxin Bottle, weakening Klein, Sharron, Maric, and Tyre.
• Klein used a Purification Bullet to draw the Living Corpses and Specters toward the buried Azik Copper Whistle and Master Key, then escaped through explosions while Steve pursued the items.
• Steve grabbed the whistle and key, triggering an eerie sound that made him collapse and mutate; Klein redirected the Crimson Moon Corona to Sharron, restoring her strength.
• Klein used the Sun Brooch’s holy light to destroy the Living Corpses and Specters, while Sharron crossed to Steve and summoned the mysterious bronze door to seize him.
• Klein shot Steve with holy bullets and summoned another pillar of holy light as Sharron’s door dragged Steve closer; Klein then loaded Purification and Exorcism Bullets and fired six shots at Steve.

Klein and Sharron killed Steve the Wraith and gathered the spoils before escaping the clearing ahead of the authorities. Klein hid in Leverage Church as the Machinery Hivemind began investigating the scene.

• Klein shot Steve repeatedly while Sharron closed the mysterious bronze door and stopped him from entering it.
• Sharron destroyed Steve’s phantom, and Klein’s explosive flames tore apart his body.
• Sharron made Tyre the Werewolf kill himself and retrieved the Beyonder Characteristic released from his body.
• Klein collected the Biotoxin Bottle, the fang, the Azik Copper Whistle, and the Master Key, while Sharron extinguished the Crimson Moon Corona’s influence.
• Klein used fireworks and matches to escape the clearing, removed his disguise, and entered Leverage Church to hide from the coming searches.
• A Machinery Hivemind team arrived at the clearing and began searching for clues.

After escaping the authorities’ cordon, Klein hid his belongings above the gray fog and rested before examining his gains. He learned the Werewolf characteristic’s dangers and the Biotoxin Bottle’s effects, then opened the Book of Secrets and found its first line.

• Klein returned to Minsk Street, found the Book of Secrets, and stored it and his other items above the gray fog before going to sleep.
• In Klein’s dream, Ikanser used Arrodes to identify the people involved in the incident, and the mirror asked him about his sexual orientation.
• Klein examined the Werewolf Beyonder characteristic through divination and discovered its regenerative powers, combat abilities, and lingering mental imprint.
• Klein divined the Biotoxin Bottle’s effects and learned it could spread random poisons while gradually sickening its holder.
• Klein opened the Book of Secrets and read its first statement: “What we worship is the moon, not the Evernight Goddess.”

Klein examined the Book of Secrets and realized the Biotoxin Bottle had made him sick, then met Daily Observer reporter Mike Joseph for an East Borough investigation. There, Klein and Mike encountered the poor man Klein had helped before, who described his struggle to find work and shelter.

• Klein studied the Book of Secrets, noted its rituals’ links to primordial moon worship, and confirmed the book was authentic.
• Klein realized the Biotoxin Bottle had weakened him until he caught a cold, then reviewed his recent gains and losses over breakfast.
• Mike Joseph hired Klein for an investigation, and Klein advised him to change into less conspicuous clothes before they went to the East Borough.
• Klein and Mike entered a café, where Klein recognized the man he had previously helped and introduced Mike as a colleague conducting a follow-up interview.
• The man told Klein that he had found exhausting dock work, rented a place to sleep, and failed to get picked for a shift that morning.

Klein and Mike interviewed an elderly homeless woman in an East Borough café, where she recounted losing her family and then died while resting. After witnessing the indifference of the police, Mike revised his investigation plan with Klein and Old Kohler.

• Mike asked Old Kohler to invite an elderly homeless woman into the café for an interview, and she described how her husband and son died after the family went bankrupt.
• The woman ate, asked to sleep in the warmth, and died in her chair before she could continue the interview.
• Klein sent Old Kohler to fetch a police officer, who treated the death as routine and searched Klein for an illegal firearm without finding one.
• Klein revealed that he had hidden his revolver beneath the table, and Mike asked him to review his East Borough interview plan.
• Klein advised Mike to organize interviews by location and working hours, so Mike revised the plan and chose to begin at a nearby apartment building.

Klein, Mike, and Old Kohler explored the East Borough, learning about its gangs and the hardship faced by its residents as Mike sought interview subjects. Meanwhile, Derrick Berg underwent examination in the City of Silver and heard a desperate scream from a sealed room.

• Old Kohler warned Klein and Mike that gangs controlled homeless children and that the Zmanger Gang ruled the route ahead, so they entered territory watched by the Whyos Gang instead.
• Klein, Mike, and Old Kohler visited an apartment building where clockmakers shared expensive tools, and Old Kohler recalled his own lost family.
• Mike tried to interview a washerwoman and her daughters in their damp, overcrowded home, but the older girl refused because they had too much work.
• Derrick Berg was examined and taken to the City of Silver's chambers for residents at risk of losing control.
• Derrick heard someone cry for help from a sealed room, and the voice abruptly fell silent.

Derrick Berg was confined in the City of Silver’s tower, where an elderly prisoner recounted how his exploration team had encountered a man named Amon before its members lost control. In the Factory Borough, Mike’s investigation of the East Borough’s poverty left him increasingly silent.

• Derrick heard a prisoner calling for help, but a Dawn Paladin told him it was a sign of losing control and led him to a sealed room.
• After the prisoner next door lost control and was killed by the tower’s sealing item, Derrick spoke through the wall with an elderly man who said he had been imprisoned for forty-two years.
• The elderly man recalled finding a ruined city and meeting a living outsider who agreed to visit the City of Silver but vanished before they arrived.
• The elderly man said his team members all lost control after returning, and he was confined because the Council of Six suspected the outsider had corrupted them.
• The elderly man remembered the outsider’s name as Amon.
• In the Factory Borough, Klein and Mike toured the East Borough with Old Kohler, and Mike recorded its overcrowded, filthy conditions and the desperation of its residents.

Klein and Mike Joseph investigated the Factory Borough, where they saw dangerous working conditions and workers threatened by new machinery, while Klein arranged for Old Kohler to gather information about the East Borough. In Queens, Audrey probed her teacher Islante about mystical psychology and discussed her sincerity with Susie.

• Klein and Mike Joseph visited a white lead factory and saw women working amid toxic dust without protective equipment.
• Klein, Mike, and Old Kohler learned that textile workers were trying to smash new machines after being told a third of them would lose their jobs.
• Klein warned Mike that closing factories and introducing machinery could leave many workers hungry and unemployed.
• Klein hired Old Kohler to monitor conditions in the East Borough, offering him fifteen soli per meeting and a possible five-soli bonus.
• Audrey asked Islante about mystical psychology and whether she could join the discussion group Islante mentioned.
• Audrey asked Susie what she thought of Islante, and Susie said Islante was insincere but found the lesson interesting.

Klein attended Starling Summer’s matchmaking dinner, where he avoided the introductions by entertaining the children with a detective story. At a luncheon hosted by Hibbert Hall, Starling met a beautiful young noblewoman and learned that her dog Susie had cost 450 pounds.

• Klein went to the Summers’ dinner and found Jurgen among the guests, then Starling introduced them to several young women while openly discussing their incomes.
• Starling defended her matchmaking approach by arguing that a family needed an annual income of more than 200 pounds, and Klein joked that a dinner like theirs required more than 400 pounds.
• Klein entertained the Summers’ children with an improvised treasure story, then heard that Mary had invited Starling and Luke to a luncheon at Hibbert Hall’s mansion.
• Starling attended the luncheon with Luke and Mary, admired the mansion and its food, and met a striking young woman with a golden-haired dog named Susie.
• Starling asked the young woman how much a hunting dog like Susie cost, and she replied that Susie had cost 450 pounds.

Luke discussed Coim Company's plans to advance anti-pollution laws while Starling remained troubled by a noble girl's remark. At the Tarot Club, Derrick worried that a sealed mystical item might detect his attendance, then revealed an exploration team's encounter with Amon, a name Alger linked to a feared family from the Fourth Epoch.

• Luke discussed lobbying, public opinion, and pollution legislation with Mrs. Mary, while Starling silently recalled the claim that a trained hunting dog cost 450 pounds or more.
• Derrick recovered in isolation at the bottom of the City of Silver's round tower, received The Fool's summons, and worried that the tower's mystical item might detect him.
• Audrey used Susie to learn that Earl Hall had received reports on living conditions and dangers in East Borough, Dock Borough, and Factory Borough, apparently commissioned by the Church of the Goddess.
• At the Tarot Club, Derrick asked whether the mystical item could discover his attendance, and The Fool reassured him that it normally could not.
• Derrick described how an exploration team encountered someone named Amon forty-two years earlier and later went mad, leaving one survivor confined next door to him.
• Alger said Amon was the surname of a taboo family from the Tudor Dynasty, whose members wielded bizarre powers even in the Fourth Epoch.

The Tarot Club discussed the mysterious Amon and the danger posed by the lone survivor of the City of Silver expedition, while Audrey privately traded three pages of Roselle’s Diary for an explanation of the Cards of Blasphemy. The diary revealed Roselle’s early thoughts after transmigrating and left Klein wondering why he and Roselle had arrived nearly two centuries apart despite transmigrating less than a year apart.

• Alger told Derrick that the Amon Family had been one of the five great families behind the Tudor Dynasty, were reputed blasphemers, and claimed descent from the Ancient The Sun God.
• Derrick admitted he did not know why Amon had appeared near the City of Silver, and Alger warned him that the former exploration-team captain was extremely dangerous.
• Audrey privately asked The Fool to keep her new diary pages from Miss Magician and offered three pages in exchange for an answer about the Cards of Blasphemy.
• The Fool answered Audrey’s question by naming Sequence 0, Black Emperor, and Audrey gave him the diary pages.
• Klein read Roselle’s account of his transmigration as Huang Tao and realized that Roselle had arrived in the world less than a year before him, despite their lives being nearly two centuries apart.