Chapter Summaries

Klein, posing as Dawn Dantès, visited the Coim Company with Mrs. Mary and met its manager and several old acquaintances at her buffet. After learning Baron Sindras was competing with Mary for control of the company, Klein left to investigate the unexplained disturbance at Saint Samuel Cathedral.

• Klein accompanied Mrs. Mary to the Coim Company, where Luke Summer explained the business and its fuel supplies.
• At Mary's buffet, Klein was introduced to Mike Joseph and Allen Kreis and naturally renewed his acquaintance with them.
• Mary told Klein that Baron Sindras and his allies wanted to take the Coim Company public, while Mr. Hall had refused to get involved.
• Klein said he would wait for the investigation report and left after the buffet ended.
• Klein redirected his carriage toward Saint Samuel Cathedral, intending to observe the internal keepers who prayed there.

Klein investigated an internal keeper at Saint Samuel Cathedral and was pulled into a frightening dream after examining the man’s Spirit Body Threads. He woke without being confronted, but an uncontrolled voice in his mind warned that his contact with a sacred relic had left traces.

• Klein spotted the elderly internal keeper and used Spirit Body Threads vision, discovering that the man’s body was unnaturally dark and unlike that of a normal Beyonder.
• The internal keeper turned toward Klein, pulled him into a dream, and transformed into a many-limbed monster as a horrifying presence emerged from the altar.
• Klein pretended to flee in fear until darkness overwhelmed the dream and he awoke in the cathedral, where the keeper had resumed praying.
• Klein waited for signs that the keeper remembered what had happened and prepared to escape with Creeping Hunger if necessary.
• Bishop Electra sat beside Klein, reassured him about his nightmare, and advised him to pray and confess his fears.
• As Klein resumed praying, a voice in his mind accused him of failing to stay discreet because he had touched a sacred relic of the Evernight Goddess.

After hearing a voice in his mind argue with him about his identity and plans, Klein suspected that contamination had created a second personality. He returned home, confirmed his spirit body was disordered above the gray fog, and asked The Moon to lend him a Nightmare Candle.

• Klein debated whether the voice came from the Antigonus Family Notebook, the Goddess, or a split personality, before the voice called itself Klein and Zhou Mingrui.
• Klein told Bishop Electra he felt calm, drank holy water, donated fifty pounds at Saint Samuel Cathedral, and returned to Böklund Street with Richardson.
• Klein dismissed the household staff, went above the gray fog, and found disorder in his spirit body and mottling in his aura.
• Klein used The World to ask The Moon to lend him the Nightmare Candle for half a day.
• Emlyn White heard The World's request in Harvest Church and wondered how Klein knew he could obtain the candle.

Emlyn arranged to lend Klein the Nightmare Candle, which Klein used above the gray fog to confront and destroy the emerging secondary personality claiming to be the original Klein Moretti. Klein returned from the mental world lucid, having chosen to erase the other personality to avoid losing control.

• Emlyn asked Mr. Fool to speak with The World and agreed to lend him the Nightmare Candle for 300 pounds and five pages of Beyonder powers in Lemano's Travel Notes.
• Emlyn borrowed the candle from Bishop Utravsky, who agreed without hesitation, and sent it to Klein through a sacrificial ritual.
• Klein lit the Nightmare Candle above the gray fog, and the apartment where Klein Moretti had once lived appeared around him.
• The secondary Klein accused Klein of taking his body and pleaded for mercy, offering to remain inside and help him.
• Klein struck the secondary Klein with lightning from the Sea God Scepter, erased him, and left the mental world lucid.

Klein resolved the threat of his secondary personality and asked Arrodes how to disguise a marionette as one of the Church of Evernight’s eroded internal caretakers. Meanwhile, Emlyn White won the Sanguine hunting competition, surprising the gathered Barons.

• Klein extinguished the Nightmare Candle, cleared his remaining negative emotions, and realized the struggle had strengthened his sense of identity and fully digested his extra Faceless potion.
• Klein reviewed the danger posed by Beyonders who could spread mental corruption and wondered how to imitate the internal caretakers’ erosion by the sealing core.
• Klein summoned Arrodes, which advised him to sacrifice a marionette to the sealing core’s power and seek help from Bernadette.
• Emlyn White attended the Sanguine gathering at the Odel Family villa as Kasimi Odora announced the hunting competition’s winner.
• Kasimi declared that Emlyn had hunted three targets and won the competition, astonishing the assembled Sanguine.

Emlyn won the Sanguine hunting competition and received Lilith’s Ring, while Klein examined its powers and returned the borrowed mystical items. That night, an Evernight Church Beyonder entered Klein’s dream to soothe the trauma of Dawn Dantès.

• Kasimi announced that Emlyn had become a Baron after gathering the necessary characteristic legacy, and the Sanguine reacted with astonishment.
• Kasimi awarded Emlyn Lilith’s Ring and explained its powers, risks, and blood-thirst effect; he promised the Sanguine would supply the blood.
• Klein received Lemano’s Travel Notes from Emlyn, examined its recorded abilities, and added Lightning Strikes, Summon Holy Light, and Create Holy Water.
• Klein returned the Nightmare Candle to Emlyn and Lemano’s Travel Notes to Fors after testing the candle’s limits.
• An Evernight Church Beyonder entered Klein’s dream to comfort him, and Klein realized the treatment would make it harder for him to sleep.

Klein enjoyed a peaceful morning walk and asked Richardson about his impressions of the Southern Continent, hearing a grim account of hunger and suffering. At an antiquities collection, Audrey learned that an archaeological team investigating Dragon worship in Hedrak had gone mad and died, and suspected the team members were Psychology Alchemists.

• Klein slept soundly, woke early, and went for a walk through Backlund after deciding his mood had recovered.
• Klein spotted Hibbert in the garden at 39 Böklund Street as he passed the Macht residence.
• Klein asked Richardson about the Southern Continent, and Richardson described it as a place of hunger, exhaustion, pain, and longing for the afterlife.
• Audrey visited the Loen Antiquities Collection and Preservation Foundation with Associate Professor Michelle Deut, who showed her an emblem found in Hedrak.
• Michelle told Audrey that an archaeological team studying Dragon worship in Hedrak had gone mad and killed or harmed one another until none survived.
• Audrey connected the team's deaths to the Psychology Alchemists.

Audrey connected the deaths of an archaeological team to the Mind Dragon near Hedrak village and decided to seek information at the next Tarot Club gathering rather than investigate herself. The Hanged Man reached Bayam and met Gehrman Sparrow, who appeared to him near the cemetery after Alger discovered signs of a mountain’s collapse.

• Audrey recalled that the Psychology Alchemists had obtained Lindrila’s notebook from her and suspected they had followed its clues to Hedrak village, where a Mind Dragon had driven the archaeological team members to madness and suicide.
• Audrey reasoned that official Beyonders had likely handled the danger and resolved to ask the Tarot Club about the Mind Dragon and its connection to local Dragon worship.
• The Hanged Man prayed to the Fool that he had reached Bayam and could soon travel to the primitive island, offering to take The World aboard the Blue Avenger.
• Klein replied as The World that Alger should meet him at the cemetery outside Bayam at midnight, and Alger replenished his supplies before leaving the city.
• Alger noticed that a nearby mountain peak had vanished and suspected Gehrman Sparrow had caused its collapse during a demigod-level battle.
• Gehrman Sparrow emerged from the shadows beneath a tree as Alger approached the cemetery.

Gehrman Sparrow and Alger traveled to a primitive island to explore its ancient ruins, agreeing to hunt only creatures they could handle and share their spoils. In the forest, they found corpses building a palace near a cave, and the ground began to tremble as they considered avoiding the area.

• Alger met Gehrman Sparrow at Bayam and agreed to travel with him to the primitive island.
• Gehrman Sparrow used Creeping Hunger and Travel to carry Alger through the Spirit World to the island.
• Alger outlined their route, hunting rules, and plan to leave after exploring the ancient ruins.
• Gehrman Sparrow and Alger entered the black forest and found corpses building a palace near a dark cave.
• Alger suggested they go around the site, but Gehrman Sparrow called that impolite, and the ground suddenly trembled.

Klein and Alger escaped a demigod-level Feathered Serpent and continued through the forest toward a Hallucinatory Wind Chime Tree. As the tree’s chimes began to weaken their vigilance, Alger prepared to handle it alone, but the rat he intended to use as bait had died from its earlier exposure to the Feathered Serpent.

• Alger led Klein away from the Feathered Serpent, and they escaped its influence by running deeper into the forest.
• Alger explained that the Feathered Serpent was unlikely to leave its territory, and Klein warned him not to assume they would avoid further danger.
• Alger told Klein he would handle the Hallucinatory Wind Chime Tree while Klein dealt with the next Beyonder creature they encountered.
• Klein and Alger heard the chimes and felt their vigilance and composure fade as they approached the tree.
• Alger tried to use a gray rat as bait, discovered it had died, and then warned Klein to plug his ears and rein in his spirituality.

Alger and Gehrman Sparrow overcame the Hallucinatory Wind Chime Tree and continued toward the ancient ruins, where they encountered a strange black baboon. Gehrman used his glove’s power to appear behind it and aimed his revolver at its head.

• Alger distracted the Hallucinatory Wind Chime Tree with his singing and lightning while Gehrman endured the song’s effects.
• Alger cut down the tree’s fruit and stored it, then continued deeper into the forest with Gehrman.
• Alger warned Gehrman that demigod-level creatures had been found near the ancient ruins, though the ruins’ edge showed no signs of Beyonder creature activity.
• Klein and Alger encountered a crowned black baboon whose presence made them feel compelled to bow; Alger’s wind blades missed when the baboon redirected them.
• Gehrman turned invisible, appeared behind the baboon, and aimed his revolver at its head as the creature struggled to control its body.

Klein killed a mutated curly-haired baboon and collected its Beyonder Characteristic, but a hidden danger petrified him and Alger as they approached the ancient ruins. They escaped into the ruins’ protected area, where Alger identified the buildings as a complex of churches.

• Klein used Travel, a Wraith, and Death Knell’s Fatal Strike to kill the mutated curly-haired baboon before it could use its powers.
• Alger watched Klein’s rapid victory, while Klein collected the creature’s Mentor of Disorder Beyonder Characteristic and chose not to Graze it.
• Klein sensed danger and teleported to Alger, but an unseen force began turning them to stone as they traveled through the Spirit World.
• Klein brought Alger back to reality, but his fear of fire prevented him from escaping the petrifying area with his power.
• A supernatural gale carried Klein and Alger across the boundary of the ancient ruins, where the petrification stopped.
• Klein asked what the ruins had been, and Alger said they were a complex of churches.

Klein and Alger explored an ancient church whose murals linked it to the Ancient The Sun God and the Blasphemy Slate. They descended toward its underground depths, passing petrified figures and leaving the church’s secrets unresolved.

• Klein asked Alger what he had explored before, and Alger identified the church as an early Fourth Epoch structure where Qilangos had sensed a precious secret.
• Klein examined the entrance murals and recognized the Ancient The Sun God holding what appeared to be the Blasphemy Slate, while bloody marks on the floor suggested believers had crawled forward in worship.
• Alger explained that Qilangos was once his fellow servant in a small church before he ran away to become a pirate.
• Klein and Alger found two anguished stone statues beside the underground doorway and suspected they had once been people affected by the petrifying power.
• Alger explained why he carried a lantern despite having night vision, and Klein entered the underground passage with him.

Klein and Alger explored an underground passage beneath ancient murals and entered a burial hall after avoiding a Six-Winged Gargoyle. The chapter ended as they discovered a disturbing floor painting depicting a figure with a radiant cross being consumed by three sinister people and a black infant.

• Klein and Alger passed pain-stricken stone statues and murals showing the Ancient The Sun God in scenes of salvation.
• Klein sensed a Six-Winged Gargoyle approaching, and he and Alger dimmed the lantern and let it pass without a fight.
• Klein and Alger reached carved stone doors, and Alger quietly widened the gap so they could enter the underground burial hall.
• Klein sent Wraith Senor to inspect the hall’s central painting while he and Alger prepared for danger.
• Wraith Senor revealed a painting of three shadowy figures consuming a cross-bearing figure as a black infant sat inside his split chest, and all four stared upward at the viewer.

Klein and Alger discovered an image depicting the Ancient The Sun God being devoured by figures resembling the Eternal Blazing Sun, the Lord of Storms, and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, and both were shaken by its implications. When three corrupted dead rose from their coffins and a Six-Winged Gargoyle attacked, Klein drew the dead away with Azik’s Copper Whistle and unleashed Lightning Storm while Alger fought the gargoyle.

• Klein recognized the image’s figures as the Ancient The Sun God and the three orthodox gods, and considered whether they had once been Angel Kings who betrayed him.
• Alger examined the image, recognized the Lord of Storms, the Eternal Blazing Sun, and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, and asked Klein whether they had been Angel Kings.
• Three mutated dead emerged from their stone coffins, and heavy footsteps announced the approach of a Six-Winged Gargoyle.
• Klein tossed Azik’s Copper Whistle across the hall, drawing the three dead away, while Alger charged toward the entrance to intercept the gargoyle.
• The Six-Winged Gargoyle broke through the stone doors, and Alger struck it with his lightning-wreathed blade before being knocked back.
• Klein used Lemano’s Travel Notes to unleash Lightning Storm on the three dead fighting over the whistle, while Alger rose and charged the gargoyle again.

Klein and Alger defeated the Six-Winged Gargoyle and subdued an unusually resilient dead man, recovering the Azik Copper Whistle and a Card of Blasphemy bearing the Tyrant sequence. As they collected the creatures’ remains, a mysterious sigh sounded from deep within the church.

• Alger’s attack on the Six-Winged Gargoyle failed when its gaze paralyzed him, but Klein pulled him clear and told him to attack its chest.
• Alger struck a hole in the gargoyle’s chest, and Klein shot through it with Death Knell, killing the monster.
• Klein restrained the damaged dead man with Abyss Shackles and destroyed it with a Purification Bullet, then retrieved the Azik Copper Whistle.
• Senor found a Card of Blasphemy depicting Emperor Roselle as a pope and identifying Sequence 0 as Tyrant, while Alger urged them to hurry.
• Klein and Alger collected the gargoyle’s remains and the dead men’s Beyonder Characteristics until a sigh sounded from deep within the church.

Klein and Alger escaped the primitive island after a sigh preceded its sudden disappearance, then divided the spoils from their dangerous expedition. They parted near Bayam, with Klein setting out to find a pirate and Alger considering how to use the Card of Blasphemy’s potion formula to advance within the Church of Storms.

• Klein and Alger teleported away as the primitive island vanished beneath the fog, then fled again when the fog began to spread back across the sea.
• Klein shared the burial hall’s spoils with Alger, taking the Tyrant card and the likely Ocean Songster characteristic while agreeing to give Alger the Sequence 4 potion formula.
• Alger chose the brown soil-like Beyonder characteristic and the Six-Winged Gargoyle’s eyes, and the two sealed their separate shares.
• Klein and Alger returned to a coastal peak outside Bayam, where Alger offered to cover the cost of making mystical items and said it had been a pleasure working together.
• Klein changed his appearance and headed into Bayam to find a pirate, while Alger reflected on the adventure and walked down the mountain.

Klein returned to 160 Böklund Street, learned that Daly Simone had watched his house, and struggled to perform a candle ritual while carrying the Tyrant card. Above the Gray Fog, he studied the Storm pathway and the spoils from the island, then pieced together clues about the Ancient The Sun God and the Hermits of Fate.

• Klein learned from Arrodes that Daly Simone had glanced at his house while passing by in a carriage.
• Klein feared the Tyrant card’s pull toward the Storm pathway, used Senor to extinguish a candle, and completed a sacrificial ritual without passing through a flame.
• Above the Gray Fog, Klein studied the Tyrant card, recorded the Catastrophe Interrer formula, and warned The Hanged Man not to recall the island mural casually.
• Klein identified his three Beyonder Characteristics as belonging to the Black Emperor, Storm, and Planter pathways, then considered how the Ancient The Sun God might have held the Sun authority.
• Klein wrote down clues linking Qilangos, the primitive island, the Tyrant card, and the Hermits of Fate, whose members appeared to favor the Sailor, Reader, and Sun pathways.

Klein sorted the spoils from the primitive island while Fors completed her transaction for the Interrogator Beyonder Characteristic and received Lemano's Travel Notes back. That evening, Klein welcomed guests to his ball and noticed Allen Kreis arriving with his pregnant wife.

• Klein suspected that the being in the abandoned church was connected to the Hermits of Fate, then put the Tyrant card away and sorted the remaining spoils for sale or possible use.
• Klein decided to sell the Druid Beyonder Characteristic through The Hermit Cattleya, while considering a mystical item made from the Ocean Songster characteristic and selling the Mentor of Disorder characteristic.
• Fors paid 5,200 pounds and 600 gold coins to complete the assassination commission and received the Interrogator Beyonder Characteristic along with Lemano's Travel Notes.
• Fors discovered that two pages in Lemano's Travel Notes now contained demigod-level Beyonder abilities and decided to return the book when The World rented it again.
• Klein welcomed guests to his ball with Walter and Richardson, then greeted Allen Kreis and his heavily pregnant wife.

Klein hosted a ball as Dawn Dantès, welcoming guests including Allen and his pregnant wife Wilma, Bishop Electra and his wife, Mary, and Member of Parliament Macht’s family. After opening the gathering with a speech, he danced with Olori, who teased him with suggestive remarks, while Wilma headed toward the ice cream.

• Klein welcomed Allen and Wilma Greattis, learned their baby was due in early July, and accepted an invitation to the birth celebration, knowing the unborn child was Will Auceptin.
• Klein greeted Bishop Electra and his wife Shauna Johnson, then discussed a possible business partnership with Mary.
• Klein welcomed Member of Parliament Macht and his family, and spoke with Liana about finding a boarding school for Hibbert.
• Klein gave a brief speech to the guests and began the ball with a dance alongside Olori.
• Olori flirted with Klein during their dance and teased him about his stiffness; afterward, Klein saw Wilma heading for the ice cream.