Chapter Summaries

Audrey received the Dreamwalker potion formula from Herabergen Rambis and was tasked with gauging prominent Loen figures’ attitudes toward a major war. The next day, she and Klein visited scholarship recipients at Backlund University of Technology, where they encountered Melissa Moretti, prompting Klein’s interest.

• Herabergen Rambis gave Audrey the Dreamwalker potion formula and explained its ingredients and ritual.
• Herabergen asked Audrey to find out how Earl Hall, Duke Negan, Admiral Amyrius, and other nobles felt about a large war.
• Klein considered the likelihood of Loen going to war and worried that the conflict could grow beyond control amid rising mystical dangers.
• Audrey invited Klein to join her foundation visit to check on students receiving bursaries, and he agreed.
• Audrey and Klein met university president Portland Moment, who introduced Melissa Moretti as a young woman with talent for machinery.
• Klein looked intently at Melissa, and Audrey noticed his reaction as they left the office.

Klein investigated an order from the Spirituality Religion that could test Patrick Bryan through an angel-directed ritual, while Xio followed a woman from Viscount Stratford’s house and lost her after encountering a mysterious fragrance. Trissy revealed that Shermane’s relationship with the Viscount was part of her final task, leaving Shermane torn after he promised to marry her.

• Klein received Patrick Bryan’s report that the Artificial Death Faction had ordered a ritual to help Heitel recover, and suspected it was a test of Patrick.
• Klein told Patrick to follow his teacher’s instructions only after reporting to him for permission, then sent the reply through Reinette Tinekerr.
• Xio watched a cloaked woman enter Viscount Stratford’s house and later followed her carriage from Queens Borough to the Backlund Bridge Area.
• Xio lost the woman after a sweet, ethereal fragrance left her dazed and unable to track her target.
• Viscount Stratford promised Shermane that he would marry her and raise her social status, while Shermane reacted with uncertainty.
• Trissy told Shermane that the Viscount’s promise might be false and that she could choose to pursue him, then left the rented room reflecting on love.

Klein hosted guests at Megro Manor ahead of a hunting gathering, paying particular attention to Major General Qonas Kilgor as he assessed the man’s habits and defenses. Meanwhile, Xio decided to keep watching Viscount Stratford, and Fors’s divination warned that their plan carried some danger.

• Klein welcomed Member of Parliament Macht and his family to Megro Manor and discussed the estate’s wines with Macht.
• Klein greeted Major General Qonas Kilgor and Franky Cagg, then invited them to the smoking room and offered Qonas his preferred cigars while continuing to study him.
• Fors asked Xio why she was debating whether to report Viscount Stratford’s connection to an unfamiliar woman, and Xio admitted she was hesitating because the situation might give her a chance to act.
• Fors offered to help Xio, but Xio chose to continue monitoring Stratford with her, and Fors’s crystal-ball divination indicated a certain degree of danger.

Fors and Xio used Psychological Invisibility to identify the woman leaving Viscount Stratford’s residence, discovering that she was Xio’s old friend Shermane. After Xio left, Trissy appeared and continued protecting Shermane, who revealed she might be pregnant and then felt the baby kick.

• Fors stopped Xio from openly following the cloaked woman and proposed using Psychological Invisibility from Lemano's Travel Notes to learn her appearance without alerting her.
• Xio used Psychological Invisibility and Door Opening to enter the moving carriage, where she recognized the woman as Shermane despite her changed appearance.
• Shermane considered killing Xio to sever ties with her past, but Xio asked about her welfare and then left when Shermane pleaded to be left alone.
• Trissy appeared in the carriage and said she was protecting Shermane, then asked about Shermane's good mood.
• Shermane said she might become a mother, felt a kick in her belly, and reacted in shock at how soon it happened.

Xio and Fors discovered that Shermane had become a Witch, but arrived too late to stop Trissy from using her as bait for Viscount Stratford. Stratford and Katarina Pelle captured Trissy, while Klein woke to find Qonas Kilgor secretly traveling toward the southern bank of the Tussock River.

• Xio recognized Shermane and learned she had become a Witch, then hurried with Fors to warn her but lost her carriage.
• Xio and Fors suspected their surveillance had been discovered and returned to Viscount Stratford's residence to watch for an attempt that night.
• Trissy bound Shermane in a warehouse and placed a curse inside her, waiting for Viscount Stratford to come for her.
• Viscount Stratford arrived, but reversed the curse and trapped Trissy in a cocoon as Katarina Pelle appeared; he revealed he and his allies had patiently waited to catch her.
• Klein woke and used a cockroach marionette to observe Qonas Kilgor secretly leave Megro Manor and travel toward the southern bank of the Tussock River.

Klein covertly pursued Qonas Kilgor and used the Sea God Scepter to observe the dangerous area the demigod had marked out. Elsewhere, Trissy escaped Katarina Pelle’s attack through an illusory mirror, while Xio and Fors received a mysterious message announcing their opportunity.

• Klein followed Qonas Kilgor upstream using marionettes, then retreated when the demigod began surveying his surroundings.
• Klein used divination and the Sea God Scepter to confirm that Qonas Kilgor had created a perilous area where pursuers could be exposed.
• Trissy projected herself through an illusory mirror to escape Katarina Pelle’s petrifying attack, while Katarina’s figure appeared inside the mirror’s ruined room.
• Viscount Stratford questioned Shermane about Trissy’s plan, and Shermane asked how much of his promises had been true.
• Xio and Fors watched the warehouse from hiding and saw black flames form the message, “The opportunity you desire has arrived.”

Xio and Fors entered the warehouse to look for a chance to save Shermane, whom Viscount Stratford was purifying with a Radiant Cross. Fors struck Stratford with a tornado, disarming him and giving Xio an opening to attack.

• Xio and Fors decided to split up and draw the official Beyonders to the docks, but Xio turned back toward the warehouse, and Fors followed her.
• Fors and Xio agreed to observe first and retreat if they had no chance to help Shermane, then entered the warehouse through a Door Opening.
• They saw Viscount Stratford use a bloodied, verdigris-covered cross to reveal a Radiant Cross that erased the dark and sinister forces surrounding Shermane.
• Fors used Lemano's Travel Notes to unleash a tornado that hurled Stratford into the roof and knocked the Radiant Cross from his hand.
• As the Radiant Cross's light vanished, Xio rushed from hiding and prepared to use Spirit Piercing on Stratford.

Xio and Fors defeated Viscount Stratford, but Shermane lost control and asked Xio to kill her. After they escaped with Stratford and the bronze-green cross, they questioned him and learned Shermane had wanted to find out whom he truly served.

• Fors bound Viscount Stratford with Abyss Shackles, and Xio stabbed him with the Blade of Coldness and knocked him unconscious.
• Xio found Shermane losing control and, at Shermane’s request, shot and killed her.
• Fors discovered she could not touch the bronze-green cross, so Xio picked it up while Fors prayed to Mr. Fool for help.
• Fors used the Angel’s protection and a copied Travel power to take herself, Xio, Stratford, and Shermane’s corpse to the outskirts of St. George Borough.
• Xio used Lemano's Travel Notes to question Stratford, who said Shermane had investigated whom he was truly loyal to and that he served His Majesty the King.

Xio learned that her father, Mason Diel, had discovered a secret of the king and was executed after trying to inform the Churches, but Viscount Stratford died before revealing what the secret was. Fors teleported herself, Xio, and Shermane’s corpse to safety, while Klein concluded that George III was likely behind the Great Smog of Backlund.

• Xio questioned Viscount Stratford about Mason Diel, and he identified him as the former captain of the royal guards.
• Fors picked up the bronze-green cross, reflected on her growing strength as a Scribe, and listened as Xio asked how Mason Diel had died.
• Stratford revealed that Mason had discovered the king’s secret, tried to inform the three Churches, and was executed.
• Before Stratford could disclose the secret, he disintegrated in a burst of blood-colored fireworks.
• Fors teleported herself, Xio, and Shermane’s corpse to Bridge South Borough.
• Klein observed the encounter and suspected that George III was the true culprit behind the Great Smog of Backlund.

After tracing Qonas Kilgor to a secret teleportation point, Klein concluded that the king’s plans were likely hidden in underground ruins and asked the Evernight Church for help. Arianna arranged for Klein to ambush Qonas at Megro Manor, and Klein began preparing by asking Arrodes about Qonas’s abilities and Sealed Artifact.

• Klein watched Qonas use an object to teleport from a concealed location and inferred that the king’s secret was likely hidden in underground ruins.
• Klein decided to report Viscount Stratford’s confession and Qonas’s movements to the Church of Evernight, hoping to earn merit toward the Scholar of Yore potion formula.
• Arianna arrived and proposed that Klein capture Qonas when he returned, while she created a concealed world and provided assistance.
• Klein agreed to ambush Qonas inside Megro Manor, where Qonas would likely be relaxed after completing his secret mission.
• Klein changed into Gehrman Sparrow’s clothes and summoned Arrodes, which identified Qonas as an Earl of the Fallen who wielded the Sealed Artifact Concerto of Light and Shadow.

Klein learned the powers and dangers of Qonas Kilgor’s Sealed Artifact, Concerto of Light and Shadow, and planned to counter its random mutations by having Arianna inflict Misfortune on Qonas. As Qonas returned to his room at Megro Manor, a concealed world surrounded him and Gehrman Sparrow emerged from the crimson moon to attack.

• Arrodes explained Concerto of Light and Shadow’s abilities and Qonas Kilgor’s powers as an Earl of the Fallen, including the artifact’s random mutations in combat.
• Klein asked how to avoid the mutations, and Arrodes advised making Qonas unlucky; Klein considered using Enuni and Arianna’s help.
• Klein asked Arianna whether she could inflict Misfortune on Qonas before the battle, and she agreed.
• Qonas returned to his room at Megro Manor and began pouring wine, but his Spirit Intuition warned him as the surroundings turned into a strange world of black shadows and crimson light.
• Qonas drew Riveir’s Desperate Scream and Concerto of Light and Shadow as Gehrman Sparrow emerged from the crimson moon and rushed toward him.

Qonas Kilgor fought Gehrman Sparrow inside a concealed version of Megro Manor, using the Concerto of Light and Shadow to prohibit Teleportation and substitutes. After identifying the crimson moon as the likely exit, Qonas tried to escape, but Gehrman’s many forms appeared around the manor, revealing him as a Bizarro Sorcerer.

• Qonas Kilgor avoided immediately using a Prohibition, then fired at Gehrman Sparrow as Gehrman dodged and countered with a shot distorted off course.
• Qonas prohibited Teleportation, forcing Gehrman to merge into the shadows while Qonas searched the silent manor and realized escape was more important than defeating him.
• Qonas exploited the rules to leap into the air and used Disorder to reveal the crimson moon as the concealed world's exit.
• Gehrman pursued Qonas and fired a storm of bullets, but Qonas evaded it, dragged him close, and blasted him into scraps of paper.
• Qonas prohibited the use of substitutes, but multiple Gehrman Sparrows appeared around the manor, leading Qonas to recognize a Bizarro Sorcerer.

Gehrman Sparrow and Qonas Kilgor fought amid the Concerto of Light and Shadow’s random mutations, which repeatedly altered their attacks. Klein’s Deceit Bullet finally let Winner Enuni approach unnoticed and begin manipulating Qonas Kilgor’s Spirit Body Threads.

• Qonas Kilgor tried to use Distortion to limit which Marionettes Gehrman Sparrow could switch with, but the Concerto of Light and Shadow mutated the effect into summoning a flower.
• Klein, disguised as Winner Enuni, fired a Deprivation Bullet and a concealed Deceit Bullet while Gehrman Sparrow’s Marionettes attacked; another mutation turned the shots into fireworks.
• Qonas Kilgor’s Distortion took effect, restricting Gehrman Sparrow’s switching to two Marionettes, and Qonas Kilgor destroyed both with the flower.
• Qonas Kilgor prepared to attack Gehrman Sparrow, but his thoughts grew sluggish as Marionettization began.
• Qonas Kilgor realized that Winner Enuni had deceived him, entered Spirit Body Thread manipulation range, and established initial control over him.

Qonas Kilgor struggled to escape Gehrman Sparrow’s control over his Spirit Body Threads, using Riveir’s Desperate Scream and the Earl of the Fallen’s powers to fight back. After Qonas was wounded and briefly regained control, Klein used a Parasitize Bullet to take control of him again, leaving Qonas immobilized beneath the red moon.

• Qonas Kilgor amplified the effects of Riveir’s Desperate Scream, but the Concerto of Light and Shadow caused the screams to vanish.
• Qonas used Disorder to counter Gehrman Sparrow’s wind and fired Riveir’s Desperate Scream, but the wounded Gehrman Sparrow survived through the Flower of Blood ring and released luck.
• Qonas dropped the Concerto of Light and Shadow, then amplified the winds around Gehrman Sparrow into a tornado to try to widen their distance.
• The tornado caught Qonas as well, but he terminated his flight, fell away from Gehrman Sparrow, and used Distortion to block the pursuit.
• The Gehrman Sparrows below shot Qonas, breaking his Marionettization; he disordered the later shots and distorted his wounds, but landed gravely injured and was controlled again.
• Klein revealed himself on Megro Manor’s balcony and used a Parasitize Bullet made from a Worm of Time to seize control of Qonas Kilgor.

Klein captured Qonas Kilgor and, with Arianna, learned that the demigod had been transporting people and materials to underground ruins once owned by Blood Emperor Alista Tudor. Arianna planned to coordinate an assault on the ruins while Klein kept Qonas under control and concealed that anything was wrong.

• Klein completed Qonas Kilgor’s marionettization beneath the red moon, but Arianna appeared and separated Qonas’s soul from his body to question him.
• Qonas revealed that Number 1 Ruins lay deep beneath the Sterling section of the Tussock River and that he had delivered assorted materials there.
• Qonas said King George III had ordered his involvement and that Prince Grove and Duchess Georgina could also enter the ruins’ depths.
• Qonas identified representatives of the Demoness Sect and the Psychology Alchemists at the ruins, including Katarina and Herabergen Rambis, but could not say whether they had entered the depths.
• Arianna concluded that George III’s actions were suspicious and told Klein to keep Qonas under control while she sought help from the Churches of Storms and Steam to open the ruins that night.
• Arianna took the iron-sheet pocket watch, then ended the concealed world, leaving Klein and Qonas back in the manor with appearances unchanged.

Arianna and three Church archbishops investigated the royal family’s Blood Emperor ruins after uncovering Qonas Kilgor’s involvement in disappearances. They found Prince Grove and discovered the excavation was peaceful, while Klein made Qonas his servant and waited until dawn before studying his spoils.

• Anthony showed Leodero and Horamick Arianna’s account of her encounter with Qonas, revealing that Qonas was a demigod tied to a secret ruin.
• Arianna and the three archbishops entered the underground ruins, where Prince Grove met them and explained that the royal family had been excavating the site with help from the Demoness Sect.
• Grove denied responsibility for the Great Smog Incident and said the Demonesses had caused it after their plan involving Edessak was exposed.
• Arianna, Horamick, Leodero, and Anthony explored the ruins and found only orderly excavation work, rituals, and sealed areas.
• Klein turned Qonas Kilgor into a servant at his manor and waited until dawn instead of immediately sending his recovered items above the gray fog.

Klein concealed Qonas Kilgor’s disappearance while maintaining his bizarre performance at Megro Manor, and Xio and Fors planned to draw the woman watching Shermane toward the king’s secrets. After Arianna reported that the underground ruins held nothing special, Klein suspected that Adam had shown the Churches an illusion and that a high-ranking Church member had leaked their plans.

• Klein instructed Walter and Richardson to investigate Qonas Kilgor’s disappearance while telling the guests to continue their vacation; Enuni was revealed to have impersonated Qonas and was now following Klein.
• Xio confessed to Fors that she saw little hope of restoring her father’s reputation or taking revenge on the king, and Fors suggested using Shermane’s watcher to investigate George III.
• Fors and Xio agreed to plant a note claiming Viscount Stratford served George III, and Fors proposed sacrificing the greenish-bronze cross to Mr. Fool.
• Klein hosted a barbecue at Megro Manor while Enuni’s duplicate watched from the main building, and Arianna reported that the underground ruins contained nothing special.
• Klein questioned how the king’s faction learned of the Churches’ operation and suspected that a Hermit of Fate had leaked the secret or that Adam had created the ruins they saw.

Klein discussed the possibly envisioned underground ruins and the king’s faction with Arianna, who agreed to investigate while he pursued Katarina and Herabergen Rambis. After checking Megro Manor for Adam, Klein examined a verdigris cross and discovered its powerful purification ability and its danger to Beyonders.

• Klein asked Arianna whether the underground ruins had been envisioned, and she suspected the Psychology Alchemists’ involvement and agreed to verify the ruins.
• Klein told Arianna about traces of Katarina near Viscount Stratford and said he would search for her, while Arianna also agreed to pursue the lead.
• Arianna told Klein that Herabergen Rambis had disappeared and suggested he could pray to the Goddess for a bestowal once the matter was over.
• After Arianna left, Klein considered the risks of being watched, inspected Megro Manor from above the Gray Fog, and found nothing unusual.
• Klein divined the verdigris cross’s properties and learned that it could purify corruption but would gradually strip Beyonders of their characteristics and powers.

Klein examined the bronze-green crucifix, confirmed it was the Unshadowed Crucifix, and divined its origins despite fearing the attention of powerful beings. The vision revealed a man who brought light to a dark valley and a being whose gaze reached Klein above the Gray Fog, ending with Klein's thoughts exploding.

• Klein assessed the crucifix's powers and negative effects, then considered whether Adam or the Ancient The Sun God might be connected to it.
• Klein reviewed the mystical items taken from Qonas Kilgor and returned to the bonfire dinner, where Macht, Hibbert, and Portland Moment were gathered.
• After returning to Böklund Street, Klein confirmed the crucifix corresponded to Sequence 4, Unshadowed, and named it the Unshadowed Crucifix.
• Klein divined the crucifix's origins and saw a black-robed man retrieve it from a grayish-white building in darkness.
• The man declared, “Let there be light!”, illuminating a deep valley, before a vision of golden blood and a figure looking toward Klein ended with Klein's thoughts exploding.

Klein investigated the Unshadowed Crucifix and learned the City of Silver's Creator's Sequence 4 recipe, while suspecting Adam had arranged for the artifact to reach the Tarot Club. Audrey learned that King George III had colluded with the Demoness Sect and the Psychology Alchemists to bring about the Great Smog of Backlund, and was left shaken by the revelation.

• Klein recovered from the Creator's attack on the gray fog, reflected on the vision, and recorded the Sequence 4 Unshadowed recipe and other potion information.
• Klein placed the Unshadowed Crucifix in the junk pile and suppressed it with the gray fog's power.
• A postman delivered a letter addressed to Xio, but black flames rose from the mailbox and consumed it.
• Audrey learned from Earl Hall that Herabergen Rambis had disappeared and was wanted as a cultist, then reported the news to The Fool.
• The Fool showed Audrey a report linking King George III, the Demoness Sect, and the Psychology Alchemists to the Great Smog of Backlund and warned her to beware of Herabergen Rambis.
• Audrey thanked The Fool and Mr. World, then sat silently as she absorbed the revelation about the king.