Chapter Summaries

Klein encountered a long-dead Seer named Zaratul, whose preserved image explained how to escape the cathedral and offered help. Zaratul summoned Senor as a temporary marionette and revealed his name, leaving Klein to seek the obsidian piece held by Panatiya.

• Klein saw a hooded old man whose Spirit Body Threads looped back into himself, and the man opened his eyes and recognized Klein as another Seer.
• The old man explained that he was an image preserved in a gap in history and fate, and that he would vanish once Klein opened the escape door; he asked that his ashes be scattered in the River Srenzo near Trier.
• The old man told Klein to place a piece of obsidian in a recess behind the statue and use a special symbol to open the Door of Escape; Klein recognized the symbol from the Antigonus Family Notebook.
• The old man said earlier Seers had been trapped or eaten, warned of the danger when the crimson moon became clear, and revealed that Panatiya held the obsidian.
• The old man summoned Senor from history for half an hour, strengthened Klein's control and connection to the marionette, and transferred Klein's illness into a paper figurine.
• When Klein asked his name, the old man identified himself as Zaratul.

Klein met a man calling himself Zaratul in Foggy Town and learned more about the Seer pathway and the Antigonus Family’s connection to the Nation of Evernight. When the red moonlight cleared, he fled the church after its suspended corpses turned toward a candle.

• Klein suspected the old man was the Secret Order’s leader Zaratul, though he considered that he might be another member of the family.
• Zaratul summoned minced fish from the hidden world’s history and offered Klein the Bizarro Sorcerer formula and a Door Opening symbol in exchange for an obsidian piece and scattering his ashes.
• Zaratul told Klein that Sequence 3 was Scholar of Yore and identified the stone statue as a descendant of an ancient god who was Antigonus’s sister.
• Klein linked Antigonus and the Nation of Evernight to Flegrea and the Hornacis Mountain Range.
• When the red moonlight became clear, Klein escaped the church and extinguished his candle after seeing the corpses turn toward its light.

Klein prepared Wraith Senor to impersonate Gehrman Sparrow and decided to negotiate with the Witch of Despair Panatiya rather than fight her. Their tentative plan was to cooperate to open a door out of Foggy Town, but Panatiya remained uneasy.

• Klein confirmed that the food in the town had Spirit Body Threads leading toward the cathedral and suspected it drew people there.
• Klein exchanged clothes and Creeping Hunger with Wraith Senor, making the marionette a convincing Gehrman Sparrow.
• Klein realized Panatiya wanted to escape Foggy Town and decided to offer cooperation instead of attacking her.
• Klein sent Senor toward the cathedral, where the marionette became infected with a disease, and had him announce that he had found a way to escape.
• Panatiya appeared with the obsidian piece needed to open the door, and Gehrman Sparrow explained the plan and promised to help her avoid the cathedral's danger.
• Panatiya demanded Gehrman Sparrow's hair and flesh as assurance, and he agreed to their terms, but she still felt uneasy.

Klein used Wraith Senor to negotiate with Panatiya and Mr. A over how they would escape the cathedral, then brought them to Zaratul for the Door Opening symbol. Zaratul also provided the Bizarro Sorcerer potion formula, but Klein noticed that the symbol differed slightly from the one in the Antigonus Family Notebook.

• Klein had Wraith Senor negotiate with Panatiya over who would leave the cathedral first and how they would prevent each other from betraying them.
• Mr. A offered to witness their agreement by hiding inside Senor, and Klein accepted after confirming that Mr. A was not lying.
• Panatiya agreed to the plan, and Mr. A entered Senor’s body before they approached the cathedral.
• Klein had Senor give Panatiya his hair and flesh so she could prepare a cursed puppet, then controlled their Spirit Body Threads as they entered the cathedral.
• Zaratul gave Senor a parchment containing the Door Opening symbol and the Bizarro Sorcerer potion formula, both of which would vanish after forty-five minutes.
• Klein noticed that the Door Opening symbol differed from the one in the Antigonus Family Notebook because two of its details had exchanged positions.

The author recapped May’s writing, acknowledged abrupt transitions in the notebook-theft setup, and discussed managing the Tarot Club’s growing cast. He announced a June trip to Italy and a reduced update schedule from June 3 to 16, then asked readers to cast their guaranteed monthly votes.

• The author explained that the notebook-theft preparations had been introduced too abruptly and described the challenge of balancing Dawn Dantès’s daily life with other characters’ storylines.
• The author said readers had mistaken the notebook theft for the volume’s final climax, though he considered it a normal stage in the plot.
• The author noted that the growing Tarot Club cast was difficult to manage and said he was limiting how many members would join.
• The author announced that he would travel to Italy with his wife from June 3 to 16 to visit churches and historic sites for research.
• The author said updates would be posted once daily at 12:30 p.m. during the trip, with the normal schedule resuming afterward.
• The author thanked readers for their tips and votes, then asked them to cast their guaranteed monthly votes for June.

Klein used Gehrman Sparrow to open the Door of Escape with Zaratul’s symbol, but the doorway revealed a horrifying hall controlled by a mass of transparent tentacles. Panatiya was trapped and killed, while Klein severed his connection to the marionette after seeing a tarot card naming Sequence 0: The Fool.

• Zaratul told Klein that the conditions had been met, then vanished and left behind an urn of ashes.
• Klein had Gehrman Sparrow show Panatiya and Mr. A the opening symbol and asked Panatiya to fit the obsidian slate into the wall.
• Klein chose Zaratul’s symbol over the Antigonus Family symbol, and the Door of Escape opened onto the stone hall.
• Panatiya used a mirror illusion to pass through first, but a curse trapped and killed her near the doorway.
• Black flames consumed Gehrman Sparrow, and Mr. A began vomiting mushrooms as Klein saw corpses suspended among tentacles reaching toward an ancient stone chair.
• Klein severed his connection to the marionette after seeing a tarot card depicting Roselle labeled Sequence 0: The Fool.

Klein interpreted the tarot card The Fool and the monstrous vision above the gray fog, then entered the church in Foggy Town and discovered a mutated mushroom monster made from Mr. A and Senor. After surviving its attacks until its temporary components disappeared, Klein watched it collapse and picked up the human-skin glove it left behind.

• Klein reasoned that his connection to the gray fog and his own choices could explain why The Fool card appeared, and he suspected the transparent worms were a Sequence 1 angel who had lost control.
• Klein entered the church and found a giant mushroom monster bearing Mr. A’s face, which he suspected had formed when Mr. A witnessed the Mythical Creature and merged with Senor and Creeping Hunger.
• The mushroom monster dragged Klein into a dream, attacked with a Magma Sword, and distorted his direction, so Klein fled the church using Flame Jump.
• Klein realized the monster would lose Senor’s summoned body and the fish meat sustaining it, then used the town’s streets and houses to evade it until it stopped moving.
• The monster collapsed into a thin human-skin glove, and Klein carefully picked it up.

Klein tried to escape the foggy town through the cathedral’s door, but the symbols from the Antigonus Family Notebook and The Fool’s symbol led nowhere useful. He finally opened a way out with the Sacred Emblem of Darkness and confirmed that he could enter the Spirit World.

• Klein inspected Creeping Hunger’s upgrades, retrieved his belongings and the obsidian slate, and discovered that Zaratul’s urn was empty.
• Klein drew the symbol from the Antigonus Family Notebook, but it led to the palace with the out-of-control angel, so he escaped the cathedral using Flame Jump.
• Klein concluded that the notebook’s symbol activated a trap and tried The Fool’s symbol, which failed to open the door.
• Klein drew a simplified Sacred Emblem of Darkness, opening the door onto a mountaintop outside the cathedral.
• Klein divined that the mountaintop was safe, stepped through the door, and successfully used Creeping Hunger’s Travel ability to enter the Spirit World.

Klein escaped Foggy Town and returned to 160 Böklund Street, where he secured his identity as Dawn Dantès and confirmed the Bizarro Sorcerer potion formula. After examining Creeping Hunger’s mutations and releasing one of its souls, he resumed his ordinary routine with Richardson.

• Klein divined that returning to 160 Böklund Street was dangerous, but traveled there and found that Dawn Dantès’s home had not yet been searched.
• Klein spoke with Arrodes, confirmed no one had come looking for him, and prepared a ritual to send Creeping Hunger and his other mysticism items above the gray fog.
• Klein verified that Zaratul’s Bizarro Sorcerer potion formula was correct and learned the advancement ritual required staging a grand drama to kill a demigod or equivalent creature.
• Klein examined Creeping Hunger’s changed souls and powers, then released the mutated Spirit Warlock soul to relieve the crowding.
• Klein returned to the real world, ended the ritual, refreshed his appearance, and asked Richardson to prepare home clothes.

Saint Anthony investigated the unexplained infiltration of Chanis Gate, while Leonard suspected Dawn Dantès and learned that the Parasite connected him to the Fool That Doesn't Belong to This Era. At 160 Böklund Street, Klein struggled with lingering mental contamination from the ancient cathedral.

• Saint Anthony confirmed that nothing had been taken from Chanis Gate and found its Sealed Artifacts and core seal intact.
• Saint Anthony ordered an investigation into possible accomplices, focusing on cathedral staff, bishops, frequent believers, and a missing servant.
• Leonard learned that the internal guardian had been possessed by a Wraith and noticed Dawn Dantès on the investigation list.
• Leonard added Dawn Dantès to his targets and questioned the Parasite, which linked him to the Fool That Doesn't Belong to This Era.
• Klein experienced lingering mental contamination from the ancient cathedral and used meditation to calm himself.

Leonard investigated Dawn Dantès and searched old cases for a link between him and the secret organization that worshiped The Fool. The search led him to suspect Sherlock Moriarty was connected too, while Klein’s recurring nightmare left him seeking psychotherapy from Miss Justice.

• Leonard argued that Dawn Dantès could not be cleared of suspicion because he had no alibi during the Chanis Gate infiltration, and Cindy and Bob agreed to investigate him further.
• Leonard assigned Cindy to monitor Dawn Dantès, Bob to review the sewer explosion, and himself to search files for other neighborhood and Aurora Order incidents.
• Leonard traced connections between the Aurora Order, the Black Emperor cases, and Sherlock Moriarty, finding that Sherlock had been attacked in the Jason Beria case and had reported the Intis ambassador case.
• Leonard concluded that Sherlock Moriarty might have appeared on the fringes of the Great Smog incident and wondered whether Sherlock and Dawn belonged to the organization worshiping The Fool.
• Klein woke from another nightmare of Foggy Town and Panatiya, then asked Gehrman Sparrow to contact Miss Justice about arranging psychotherapy.

Audrey agreed to meet with World above the gray fog to treat his psychological distress, while Hibbert learned that the Nighthawks were investigating her neighborhood and that her dreams might expose her. After attending Audrey’s birthday ball, Hibbert returned home, and Audrey began her first treatment session with World.

• Audrey accepted World’s request to meet that night above the gray fog after arranging for Mr. Fool to conceal their appearances and remove restrictions.
• A gray rat warned Hibbert that Church of Evernight Beyonders were investigating the neighborhood and might discover her problem through her dreams.
• Hibbert attended Audrey’s birthday ball with her parents and was struck by Audrey’s beauty, leaving the gathering eager to pursue more powerful abilities.
• After the ball, Audrey entered a confessional above the gray fog and began treating World with her Psychiatrist ability.
• Audrey used Placate on World and asked whether he had experienced any nightmares lately.

Klein received treatment from Audrey for his nightmares, recognized his fear of powerful and uncertain enemies, and regained his composure. After Audrey wished him happiness and Klein noticed progress digesting his Marionettist potion, the Nighthawks discovered that Gehrman Sparrow was linked to the missing servant and received a telegram casting doubt on Dawn Dantès’s identity.

• Audrey guided Klein through his fears, and he identified the beings behind his nightmares as unknown, overwhelming forces, including the Goddess, Zaratul, and the transparent maggots.
• Klein asked how to face powerful enemies and uncertain allies, and Audrey advised him to evade danger, find helpers, pray to a deity, and keep resisting.
• Audrey used Placate to restore Klein’s mental state, then asked him to wish her happiness as her consultation fee; Klein did so, and she wished him happiness in return.
• After leaving the gray fog, Klein realized he had digested much more of his Marionettist potion and considered how manipulating enemies through marionettes might fit its acting principles.
• Soest told Leonard and the Nighthawks that the missing servant had been found and that clothes belonging to Gehrman Sparrow had been discovered in the room where the servant was held.
• A telegram from the Desi County Nighthawks reported that Dawn Dantès’s identity was false and that he had spent the previous ten years on the Southern Continent.

The Nighthawks concluded that Gehrman Sparrow could have infiltrated Saint Samuel Cathedral using Wraith possession, teleportation, and disguises, while Klein planned his next steps as Dawn Dantès. Leonard found links among Sherlock Moriarty, Gehrman Sparrow, and the Great Smog investigation, then began to suspect they were the same person.

• Soest explained how Gehrman Sparrow could have reached Backlund and infiltrated the cathedral, leading the Red Gloves to focus their investigation on him.
• Klein planned to find a new marionette, pursue potion materials, and investigate the Great Smog while avoiding direct danger from 0-08.
• Walter told Klein that attending an East Balam Veterans Officers Club event with Macht would signal his political leanings, and Klein decided to go and donate five hundred pounds.
• Leonard discovered that Sherlock Moriarty had investigated Talym Dumont's death and connected Sherlock, Gehrman, and Dawn to the organization that worshiped The Fool.
• Leonard noticed that Sherlock left Backlund in late December and Gehrman first appeared in early January, then began comparing Sherlock's portrait with possible disguises.

Leonard Mitchell suspected that Sherlock Moriarty was his former teammate Klein Moretti and set out to investigate. In Backlund, Dawn Dantès joined the East Balam Veteran Officers Club and was offered a dangerous arms-selling deal, while Leonard ended the chapter standing before a grave in Tingen.

• Leonard compared Sherlock Moriarty’s records with his memories of Klein Moretti, and the Parasite agreed that the two men resembled each other.
• Leonard left Saint Samuel Cathedral to investigate whether Sherlock Moriarty was impersonating Klein or had been hiding his true identity.
• Dawn Dantès joined the East Balam Veteran Officers Club as an associate member and donated five hundred pounds.
• Colonel Calvin offered Dawn Dantès retired guns and cannons to sell to tribes and resistance forces in West Balam, and Dawn agreed to consider the proposal.
• Leonard stood silently before a grave in Raphael Cemetery in Tingen City.

Klein interpreted a dream as a warning that Leonard had uncovered his connection to Gehrman Sparrow and investigated his grave, while also weighing a proposed arms-smuggling deal and ways to learn about West Balam. Leonard entered Klein’s dream to question him about the infiltration, and Klein admitted Gehrman Sparrow had acted alone while leaving his motive unexplained.

• Klein dreamed of a crimson-lit gravestone and concluded Leonard might have dug up his grave in Tingen after tracing his identities.
• Klein decided Leonard could not easily share his suspicions with the Nighthawks and planned to warn him again if needed.
• Klein suspected the arms-smuggling proposal from the East Balam Veteran Officers Club was a test and planned to seek information from Danitz and Ma'am Hermit.
• Soest briefed the Red Gloves that Gehrman Sparrow was alive but not in this world, and Leonard withheld his lead about Dawn Dantès.
• Leonard entered Dawn Dantès's dream to question him about the infiltration, and Klein denied that his group was responsible, saying Gehrman Sparrow acted alone.
• When Leonard asked what Gehrman Sparrow had wanted, Klein touched his temple and asked what Leonard thought.

Leonard confronted Dawn Dantès in a dream about Klein Moretti’s past, and Dawn admitted that Klein sought revenge on Lanarvus and Ince Zangwill. After Leonard woke, he told Pallez Zoroast what he had learned but chose not to expose Dawn or Klein for now.

• Leonard deduced that Klein had twice entered the Nighthawks’ and Church’s restricted areas while searching for an item, and Dawn challenged his theories about the Antigonus Family Notebook.
• Dawn explained that Klein had returned from the dead because of the Notebook’s curse and was seeking revenge on Lanarvus and Ince Zangwill.
• Dawn asked Leonard to tell Pallez Zoroast that someone from their organization had encountered Amon in the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
• Leonard woke and reported Dawn’s claims to Pallez, who wondered whether The Fool might be an old friend of his.
• Leonard decided not to reveal what he knew about Dawn and Klein, and murmured that Klein had left him behind.

Klein asked Danitz to gather information on West Balam and warn him about the Church of Evernight, then used a confession at Saint Samuel Grand Cathedral to reveal his planned arms dealings to the Church. Afterward, Leonard learned of the plan and wondered what Klein was trying to do.

• Klein sent Danitz a request for information on West Balam and warned him to be careful of the Church of Evernight.
• Danitz sought advice about West Balam and worried that several churches and the military were targeting him.
• On the way to Saint Samuel Grand Cathedral, Klein asked Richardson about East and West Balam and heard about their poverty, religious conversions, and renewed worship of Death.
• Klein confessed to a bishop that he intended to help sell weapons to West Balam, and the bishop urged him to follow his heart without harming innocents.
• Klein saw Daly at the cathedral, then left as the white doves in the square took flight.
• Leonard heard that Dawn Dantès planned to enter the arms trade with the authorities and wondered what Klein was trying to do.

Klein received Baron Sindras, who tried to buy his three-percent stake in the Coim Company, but Klein refused because he had promised Ma'am Mary. After Sindras left, Klein arranged discreet protection and prepared to contact Member of Parliament Macht about a small arms deal; Xio then accepted Walter’s commission to covertly guard Klein.

• Walter told Klein that Baron Sindras wanted to visit, and Klein agreed to meet him in the sunlit sitting room.
• Baron Sindras praised Klein’s Southern Continent experience and offered to buy his Coim Company stake, but Klein refused to break his word to Ma'am Mary.
• After Sindras departed, Walter suggested hiring bodyguards, and Klein agreed to have two protect him covertly.
• Klein asked Walter to invite Member of Parliament Macht and his family to dinner so he could discuss accepting the military’s test and arranging a small-scale arms deal.
• Xio watched Viscount Stratford’s carriage, then returned to the tavern and accepted Walter’s commission to protect Klein covertly.

Xio recruited Fors to help protect Dawn Dantès, while Klein dealt with Creeping Hunger and wrote to Azik and Frank. The chapter ended when police told Klein that Caron had committed suicide and accused him in a note of forcing Caron to sell his shares and tormenting him.

• Xio invited Fors to join her commission protecting Dawn Dantès, and Fors agreed.
• Klein found that Creeping Hunger's negative effects remained unchanged and wrote to Azik asking how to reseal it.
• Klein wrote to Frank requesting more mushrooms, and Reinette Tinekerr agreed to deliver the letter after revealing she had marked Frank.
• Xio and Fors arrived at Dawn Dantès's house and planned how to guard him covertly.
• Police officers told Klein that Caron had died by suicide and left a note accusing Klein of coercing and tormenting him.