Chapter Summaries

Klein read Roselle’s diary pages, which revealed Mr. Door’s claims about the vacant Moon pathway and the powerful angel families of the Fourth Epoch. The entries also described Bernadette, Florent’s strange change, and the Primordial Demoness’s name, Cheek.

• Audrey and Fors promised to repay Mr. Fool with diary pages for his help, and Derrick offered to study historical records for him.
• Klein read Roselle’s account of Mr. Door claiming that the Moon pathway’s Sequence 0 had no owner and that the Evernight Goddess corresponded to The Star.
• Roselle recorded Mr. Door’s list of Fourth Epoch angel families and wondered what had become of the Trunsoest imperial family.
• Klein connected the diary’s history to his questions about the Fourth Epoch and the underground ruin with two seats of honor.
• Roselle wrote that Bernadette cared for him, Florent had become a mental patchwork, and an ancient tome named the Primordial Demoness Cheek.

Klein considered Roselle's speculation that the Primordial Demoness might once have been male, then the Tarot Club exchanged leads on Beyonder ingredients and discussed Duke Negan's assassination. The meeting ended with Fors asking how to deal with accumulating too many Beyonder characteristics of the same level.

• Klein read Roselle's Diary and considered how the Primordial Demoness's possible male origin related to the Assassin pathway and Beyonder characteristics.
• The Hanged Man Alger reported selling The World's Werewolf characteristic for 1,200 pounds and finding Deep-sea Naga hair, while The World agreed to the transactions.
• Justice Audrey sought Mirror Dragon eyes, Mirror Dragon blood, and an Elder Tree's fruit, and Fors and The Sun offered to search for ingredients and formulas through their connections.
• The Hanged Man Alger asked about Duke Negan's assassination, and Justice Audrey explained that the Apostle of Desire had killed the duke before dying in the sewers while Black Emperor pursued the organization behind the attack.
• Mr. Fool warned Justice Audrey not to speak or write the name Hermits of Fate because whatever was spoken would be known, and the others considered the implications.
• Fors asked the Tarot Club how to resolve the problem of accumulating too many Beyonder characteristics of the same level.

At the Tarot Club, Alger explained how Beyonder characteristics could pass to descendants, while Derrick received advice for his next expedition into the Fallen Creator’s temple. After the gathering, Audrey and Fors pursued leads on Beyonder ingredients and formulas, Alger searched a trading market, and Klein worried about raising enough money to buy a Human-skinned Shadow characteristic.

• Alger told Fors and Audrey that Beyonder characteristics could pass to children and that having children could reduce the potion residue left in a Beyonder’s body.
• Derrick revealed he would join another exploration of the Fallen Creator’s half-destroyed temple, and Alger and Klein warned him to follow the Chief’s instructions and avoid the temple’s flesh and ravings.
• Audrey reviewed Backlund’s political disputes and later planned to ask Miss Islante about a buyer seeking a Human-skinned Shadow characteristic while continuing to pursue the Psychiatrist ingredients and Wind-blessed formula.
• Fors wrote to Dorian Gray about the Human-skinned Shadow characteristic, the Wind-blessed formula, and Roselle’s notes.
• Alger went to a secret underground market in the City of Generosity to look for Deep-sea Naga hair and a Human-skinned Shadow characteristic, while Klein considered another way to sell the Interrogator characteristic because he needed money.

Klein secretly divined the true cause of Talym Dumont’s death and discovered that Talym had been killed by a curse whose caster might be protected from the gray fog’s influence. At Talym’s funeral, Klein spotted a woman wearing a sapphire ring like the one in his vision.

• A postman delivered Talym’s belongings and records to Klein, who publicly acted puzzled and then staged failed attempts to investigate the death.
• Klein secretly took the bloodstained handkerchief above the gray fog and divined a vision of a hand with a sapphire ring casting a curse on a wooden puppet.
• Klein repeated the divination and saw only gray fog, leading him to suspect that the killer or something nearby could resist the gray fog’s power.
• Klein decided to delay Prince Edessak’s investigation and claim he could not uncover the truth.
• At Talym’s funeral, Klein saw a veiled woman whose left-hand sapphire ring matched the ring in his vision, and he felt alarmed.

After discovering that Talym’s death was tied to a powerful and mysterious woman, Klein recognized how deeply he had become entangled with demigods and dangerous artifacts. He accepted Prince Edessak’s investigation money, learned Audrey was beginning formal Beyonder training, and confessed his fear and intention to withdraw from the case at the Steam Church.

• Klein saw a woman in black lay flowers at Talym’s grave and suspected she had killed him with the power of a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact or an equivalent being.
• Klein realized that his recent life had brought him into contact with numerous demigods, powerful beings, and dangerous Sealed Artifacts.
• Prince Edessak asked Klein about his investigation, gave him a hundred pounds for expenses, and expressed regret that he could not attend Talym’s funeral openly.
• Audrey asked her teacher Islante about a Human-skinned Shadow characteristic and a Wind-blessed potion formula, and Islante began offering her formal Beyonder instruction.
• Klein found signs that a stranger had entered his home, then went to the Steam Church and confessed his suspicions and desire to avoid further involvement in Talym’s case.
• The bishop reassured Klein that God would not blame him for retreating, and Klein left determined to advance as quickly as possible.

Derrick joined Colin Iliad’s team as they ventured beyond the City of Silver into the darkness, while Klein investigated a lead about Azik Eggers and learned that unemployed East Borough workers had been disappearing from the area. That night, Klein dreamed of the Machinery Hivemind exploring the Amon family tomb and received a report from Arrodes.

• Derrick followed Colin Iliad and the exploration team into the black-grass fields, where they relied on candlelight to survive the darkness.
• Klein paid Old Kohler for information, learned that a suspected sighting of Azik Eggers had led bounty hunters to a room marked by a fight, and heard that unemployed workers had left the East Borough.
• Klein and Old Kohler inspected the hotel room on Goldcloak Street, where Klein spotted a diseased rat but found no valuable clues about Azik.
• Klein entered a lucid dream showing Ikanser Bernard and the Machinery Hivemind exploring an underground entrance near Seford River Bend.
• Arrodes appeared in the dream and told Klein that it was reporting on the exploration as his loyal servant.

Klein used Arrodes to observe the Machinery Hivemind’s expedition into the Amon Family’s mausoleum, learning how its members cleared dangers with powerful Beyonder weapons and charms. The team defeated a Human-skinned Shadow and collected its Beyonder Characteristic before continuing toward the main burial chamber, still puzzled by the absence of murals.

• Arrodes showed Klein the Machinery Hivemind’s expedition, led by Archbishop Horamick Haydn and Deacon Ikanser Bernard, as they descended into the mausoleum.
• The Machinery Hivemind cleared the dark passages with cannon-like Beyonder weapons, golden bullets, and purifying scrolls, then collected scattered Beyonder Characteristics.
• Horamick Haydn noticed that the mausoleum had no murals, so Ikanser sent members to search for traces.
• A Human-skinned Shadow disguised itself as Ikanser and attacked a Machinery Hivemind member, but the team drove it off with charms, weapons, and bullets.
• The Human-skinned Shadow’s Beyonder Characteristic formed into a many-faceted diamond, which Klein recognized as the last one he needed.
• The Machinery Hivemind found no murals and proceeded toward the main burial chamber.

The Machinery Hivemind entered the main burial chamber, where Horamick Haydn used a refined puppet to investigate signs of the Amon Family’s power over time. The coffin was empty, and the portrait Horamick uncovered showed Amon.

• Horamick explained the Ghost Picture Frame’s danger, then safely covered and removed it using a black cloth.
• Horamick opened the Amon Family’s stone door and found recent explorers’ bodies aged into corpses inside the burial chamber.
• Horamick ordered Ikanser and the others to stay back, then approached a facedown picture frame as his body shed gears, screws, wax, and bones.
• Klein realized Horamick was a refined puppet with no spirit body, explaining why the Ghost Picture Frame had not affected him.
• Horamick turned over the picture frame, opened the black coffin, and found it empty.
• Horamick showed the recovered portrait to the others, and Klein recognized the young man wearing a monocle as Amon.

Klein explored Amon's mausoleum with Horamick and discovered murals suggesting Amon and Adam were descendants of the ancient Creator, along with a passage connected to the Abyss. The exploration ended after Horamick destroyed the hidden door, and Klein looked forward to choosing an item from the Machinery Hivemind's haul.

• Horamick told Ikanser and the others to search the corpses while he and Klein examined the mausoleum.
• Klein and Horamick found a mural depicting Amon and Adam as infants before a godlike figure, and Horamick destroyed the damaged mural.
• They discovered a concealed stone door that showed a scene of the Abyss, which Horamick identified by name.
• Horamick revealed a mystical cannon embedded in his left arm and used it to destroy the stone door.
• Arrodes ended its report to Klein, who wondered about the mirror's intentions and anticipated choosing an item from the Machinery Hivemind's recovered goods.

Audrey negotiated with Islante over the Psychology Alchemists’ Human-skinned Shadow characteristic and Wind-blessed formula, while Alger offered a mystical mask for the formula. Klein chose to avoid the Machinery Hivemind’s characteristic and accepted 2,000 pounds instead, leaving him to pursue the Psychology Alchemists’ deal with a safer source of funds.

• Audrey met Islante in her studio, where Islante offered the Human-skinned Shadow characteristic for 2,500 pounds and the Wind-blessed formula for 3,000 pounds, or a mystical item of equivalent value.
• Klein relayed Islante’s offer to Alger, who offered a gold mask with powerful abilities and a humanity-eroding drawback in exchange for the Wind-blessed formula.
• Klein considered his mystical items and decided to accept the Psychology Alchemists’ price for the Human-skinned Shadow characteristic, giving himself two days to raise the money.
• Klein met Ikanser at the Backlund Machinery Research Society, declined the items on display, and accepted 2,000 pounds instead.

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.