Chapter Summaries

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.

Klein overheard Lady Despair and Mr. A plan to use the True Creator’s descent as cover while they ignited a larger catastrophe, then recognized Botis and connected him to a secret operation involving abducted people. Lady Despair began spreading the Great Smog across Backlund as Ince Zangwill was seized by bloody arms from the void.

• Klein overheard Lady Despair explain that she would start a fire while Mr. A used the chaos to create a vessel for the True Creator’s descent.
• A man matching The Hanged Man’s description of Botis entered the underground hall, leading Klein to connect Botis, the slave trade, and abducted young women to a hidden ritual.
• Lady Despair asked Mr. A to send her to the East Borough, and he used a recorded power to transport her there.
• Lady Despair spread iron-black, choking smog through Backlund’s East, Dock, and Factory Boroughs, causing residents to collapse and naming the calamity the Great Smog of Backlund Incident.
• As 0-08 continued writing, bloody-yellow arms reached from the void and dragged Ince Zangwill into the Spirit World.

As Ince Zangwill escaped into the real world weakened, a deadly fog spread through Backlund’s poor districts, killing residents and devastating families. Klein witnessed Mr. A begin a sacrifice and chose to attack him, leaving the confrontation poised to begin.

• Ince Zangwill escaped the Spirit World using the Evil God's Umbilical Cord, losing the item and much of his strength.
• Old Kohler collapsed and died in the fog while clutching the ham he had bought for the New Year.
• Liv and Freja fell ill in their home, and both collapsed as Freja tried to help her mother.
• Daisy tried to rush home from school after sensing danger, but teachers dragged her toward the church as the fog spread through the East Borough, Dock Borough, and Factory Borough.
• Klein heard Mr. A sacrifice his four attendants and felt the accumulated despair and resentment of the districts surge into the ritual.
• Klein decided against fleeing, charged from his hiding place, and aimed his revolver at the altar.

Klein tried to stop Mr. A’s ritual to bring down the True Creator, and the Master Key disrupted the altar by transmitting Mr. Door’s contaminated cries. The ritual collapsed, but Mr. A survived and began regenerating as Klein fled.

• Klein’s bullets and flames failed to penetrate the altar’s barrier while Mr. A began the descent ritual.
• Klein threw the Master Key into the altar, where its curse connected with Mr. Door and contaminated the ritual’s accumulated emotions.
• A storm dispersed the dangerous fog over Backlund, while a mysterious young woman appeared opposite Lady Despair in her carriage.
• Mr. Door’s cries corrupted the ritual’s forces, causing the altar’s layers of light to collapse and explode.
• Klein saw Mr. A badly wounded but regenerating, then ran from the ruined altar.

A hooded woman erased the Lady of Despair and confronted Trissy, whose shattered sapphire ring freed her from the woman’s immobilizing curse. Meanwhile, Klein escaped Mr. A’s hideout but was overwhelmed by the Shepherd’s powers, leaving him unable to resist as Mr. A prepared to record him.

• The Lady of Despair attacked a beautiful hooded woman, but the woman made her disappear without a trace.
• Trissy returned to Backlund, was transported from her carriage to a muddy road, and froze in terror before the hooded woman.
• Trissy’s sapphire ring shattered, releasing her from the woman’s curse; the hooded woman vanished.
• Klein fled the hideout and ran down a mountainside, but Mr. A caught up and attacked him with wind, flesh-and-blood magic, and a nightmare.
• Klein resisted Mr. A’s dream and several attacks, but disease and other powers left him unable to fight back as Mr. A summoned an ancient book and began to record him.

Klein survived Mr. A’s attack and escaped into the Tussock River, where a mysterious woman erased Mr. A and smiled at him before vanishing. Elsewhere, the man in the golden mask exiled Azik Eggers, Ince Zangwill seized “0-08,” and Prince Edessak shot himself.

• Finkel fled across the barren fields but was erased by a hooded figure.
• Klein used the Azik Copper Whistle and a Paper Figurine Substitute to survive Mr. A’s attack, then fled to the Tussock River.
• Mr. A pursued Klein underwater, but a mysterious woman appeared and erased him before smiling at Klein and disappearing.
• The man in the golden mask exiled Azik Eggers, and Ince Zangwill took hold of “0-08.”
• At Red Rose Manor, Prince Edessak picked up a revolver and shot himself.