Chapter Summaries

Klein learned that Arrodes and possibly the gray fog were connected to the sealed underground, then reported the ancient bronze door to the Evernight Church and received no revelation. Meanwhile, Fors received a delayed letter saying her teacher was in Backlund and hurried to meet him.

• Klein questioned Arrodes, who said it came from underground, felt drawn to the gray fog's pillar and dominion, and knew legends describing the underground as a source of evil.
• Arrodes warned Klein not to investigate the underground seals before returning to his divine throne and confirmed that the Dragon of Wisdom had supplied information about Groselle's Travels.
• Klein visited Saint Samuel Cathedral and reported the corrupting force sealed behind a bronze door in an ancient castle, but received no revelation or visit from Arianna.
• Fors received her teacher's letter from Pritz Harbor and learned he was waiting for her in Backlund.
• Fors hurried to get ready, expecting to learn more about the Abraham Family and obtain the Traveler potion formula and Beyonder ingredients.

Fors received the Traveler potion materials from Dorian and learned about the dangers and responsibilities of advancing along the Apprentice pathway. In the City of Silver, Derrick revealed a possible secret route into the Giant King's Court and was offered a choice of rewards, including a Saint-level Sealed Artifact.

• Dorian asked Fors to seek answers about the Abraham Family's curse if she became a demigod, and Fors promised to do her best.
• Dorian gave Fors a Traveler Beyonder Characteristic, potion formula, and supplementary ingredients, and explained the ritual and risks of entering the Spirit World.
• Dorian warned Fors about the attraction between Beyonder Characteristics and named Botis as a dangerous Apprentice pathway demigod.
• Derrick told Colin Iliad about a mural showing a secret passage into the Giant King's Court, and Colin offered him additional reward choices.
• Colin asked Derrick what Saint-level Sealed Artifact he wanted to choose.

Derrick considered four Saint-level Sealed Artifacts offered by Colin Iliad and delayed choosing one until before the expedition to Afternoon Town. In Backlund, Xio exchanged her merits for money while secretly keeping her plan to obtain the Judge potion formula, and Fors met her teacher Dorian Gray before encountering Botis.

• Colin Iliad described four Saint-level Sealed Artifacts to Derrick, who asked for time to decide before the group left for Afternoon Town in three days.
• Xio told the golden-masked Military Intelligence Section 9 member she no longer wanted the Judge formula and exchanged her merits for gold pounds, while privately retaining her plan to get the formula from The World Gehrman Sparrow.
• Dorian Gray gave Fors Spirit World exploration precautions and a portrait of Botis, then left Backlund for Pritz Harbor.
• Fors burned Botis's portrait and used Door Opening to leave the inn, where she encountered a man matching the portrait's description.

Fors spotted Botis, the Saint of Secrets, in Backlund and considered seeking Gehrman Sparrow’s help later. At the Tarot gathering, Klein chose the Staff of Life for Derrick’s exchange and agreed to accept Planter pathway formulas, while Alger suspected the City of Silver concealed a secret about its former worship of Omebella.

• Fors passed Botis without revealing that she recognized him, then decided to save up before commissioning The World to deal with him.
• Klein rejected the Twilight Mask and Fallen Flute, then chose the Staff of Life because its bizarre abilities could help him digest the Bizarro Sorcerer potion.
• Derrick asked whether The World needed higher Sequence Planter formulas, and Klein agreed to accept Sequence 5 formulas or even higher ones.
• Alger inferred that the City of Silver Chief was probing whether its environment could change and that the city had concealed its former worship of Omebella.
• Derrick returned to the City of Silver and began preparing to exchange the Sealed Artifact.

Derrick received the Unshadowed Crucifix from Mr. Fool and showed it to Colin Iliad, who recognized it as an item belonging to the Lord and planned to present it to the City of Silver elders. In Backlund, Klein stored Enuni above the gray fog and discovered that the Staff of Life had turned his garden into an overgrown forest, which hidden marionettes began clearing overnight.

• Klein separated the Unshadowed Crucifix from the Judge button and prepared it for Derrick's Sacrifice and Bestowal Ritual.
• Derrick received the Unshadowed Crucifix in exchange for the Staff of Life and showed it to Colin Iliad.
• Colin Iliad confirmed the crucifix belonged to the Lord, kept it temporarily for the elders to inspect, and reminded Derrick to accept responsibility for his decisions.
• Klein stored Enuni above the gray fog and hid the Staff of Life inside a hollow cane.
• The Staff of Life caused the garden around Klein's residence to grow into a dense forest, and marionettes cleared the excess plants during the night.
• Walter praised the garden the next morning, mistook a glimpse of Enuni's neck for a strange eye, and asked Klein for a day of leave.

Klein recognized that the Staff of Life could subtly affect people nearby and developed a horror-film approach to acting as a Bizarro Sorcerer. After receiving Patrick Bryan’s request to conduct a ritual for Heitel, Klein granted permission, and Patrick began the ritual that night.

• Klein noticed signs that the Staff of Life had affected the servants and decided to limit how long he brought it into the real world.
• Klein concluded that acting as a Bizarro Sorcerer meant creating frightening scenes and planned to use pirates and selected demigods as targets for his horror stories.
• Klein considered asking Dr. Allen Kreis about the whereabouts of Will Auceptin’s Life Council members.
• Reinette Tinekerr delivered a letter from Patrick Bryan requesting permission to perform a ritual intended to help Heitel recover, and Klein approved it with a warning to be cautious.
• Patrick Bryan began the Spirit Dance ritual in an abandoned garment-factory workshop, invoking the King in the depths of Hell.

Klein intervened in Patrick Bryan’s interrogation by Heitel, but the arrival of a Spirit Guide carrying the Red Angel Evil Spirit Sauron Einhorn Medici forced him to withdraw to avoid exposing the Artificial Death faction’s situation. Patrick investigated a strange clay doll and later found the Spirit Guide again, who said he had visited familiar places and met a friend.

• Klein used the Red Priest card and the Gray Fog’s power to shield Patrick from Heitel’s control, while Patrick answered Heitel’s questions about awakening God.
• Heitel sent Patrick a Sequence 5 Spirit Guide, and the young man emerged from the Underworld portal.
• Klein recognized Sauron Einhorn Medici within the Spirit Guide and fled with his Marionette rather than risk revealing the problem with Artificial Death.
• Patrick found a crude clay doll watching the ritual site, but it cracked apart when it reached toward him.
• After the ritual, Patrick searched for the missing Spirit Guide and later confronted him at the garment factory.
• The Spirit Guide said he had visited familiar places and met a friend.

Klein sought the Evernight Goddess’s guidance about the Red Angel spirit and received a cryptic warning that war would rise across the land. The chapter ended as Feysac airships approached Backlund, revealing that Loen might not be the one to start the war.

• Klein prayed to the Evernight Goddess for help with the Red Angel spirit, and the Goddess’s ashes formed the words, “He comes here, and war shall rise across the land.”
• Klein waited for Arianna but saw no further response, then decided to focus on digesting his Bizarro Sorcerer potion.
• On the Sonia Sea, a stick-like shadow terrorized pirates with grotesque transformations while leaving the passengers unharmed.
• Bishop Electra told Klein that the Church and government would hold an air raid drill, then left before Klein could meet him.
• Klein saw Feysac airships approaching Backlund and realized that another country might start the war.

Alger saw Feysac's Sonia Sea Fleet heading toward Sonia Island as Feysac airships attacked Backlund, turning the city into a battlefield. Melissa fled the university and reached Benson near the bombed Ministry of Finance, where the siblings survived an airburst bomb.

• Alger spotted Feysac's fleet in the mist and feared war was about to break out over Sonia Island.
• Feysac airships entered Backlund and fought off attacks from Saint Samuel Cathedral before bombing the city and heading toward the West Borough.
• A bomb destroyed the steam locomotive at Backlund University of Technology, killing and injuring students; Melissa fled toward the subway.
• Melissa traveled to King's Avenue and tried to reach the Ministry of Finance, where she found Benson and learned he was safe.
• A bomb fell toward Melissa and Benson, but it abruptly veered away and exploded in midair.

Feysac airships bombed Backlund, and residents sought shelter as the kingdom declared war on Feysac. Audrey, Klein, Fors, and others began preparing for the danger and possible shortages.

• Luke returned home and told Starling that Feysac airships were bombing Backlund, then led his household toward a church.
• Daisy and her classmates were sent from their school to shelter in a nearby church.
• Audrey saw Feysac airships attack North Borough, took the foundation’s staff and servants to Saint Samuel Cathedral, and learned that the attackers had moved toward West Borough.
• Klein brought his household to Saint Samuel Cathedral and planned to move them to Megro Manor, stock supplies, and obtain weapons.
• Fors learned from Xio that Feysac had bombed North and West Borough, then heard a newsboy announce that the kingdom had declared war on Feysac.

After Loen declared war on Feysac, Klein assessed the widening conflict and considered how to protect his family and himself. Suspecting that Zaratul might be in Backlund, he tried to reach Saint Samuel Cathedral but was intercepted by Sauron Einhorn Medici.

• Klein heard that Loen had declared war on Feysac and considered the political and religious forces that might draw the continent into a wider conflict.
• Klein reflected on the air raid, confirmed Melissa was safe with Benson, and considered food shortages, Ma'am Arianna's possible departure, and the threat posed by the Red Angel Evil Spirit.
• Klein suspected Zaratul might be in Backlund and connected him to the Rose School of Thought's failed operation against Sharron and the Sanguine.
• Klein ordered his carriage to stop and used Flame Jump with Enuni to head for Saint Samuel Cathedral.
• Sauron Einhorn Medici appeared in a living room, stopped Klein's Flame Jump, and remarked that Klein had noticed him earlier than expected.

Klein met with the Red Angel evil spirit, who offered an uneasy alliance against Amon and asked Klein to report on the Demoness Katarina. The Red Angel then explained that the Loen royal family’s actions pointed to a Black Emperor apotheosis plan, leaving Klein to connect the scheme with Roselle and Amon’s brother.

• Klein met the Red Angel evil spirit in Dawn Dantès’s guise and learned that Zaratul had come to Backlund, but the Red Angel had not revealed Klein’s identity to him.
• The Red Angel said he wanted Klein to grow strong enough to trouble Amon and revealed that his divided personalities prevented him from sharing some information with Zaratul.
• The Red Angel asked Klein to inform him about Katarina before taking action against her, offering his honorific name as a way to contact him.
• Klein asked about Blood Emperor Alista Tudor’s secret ruins, and the Red Angel deduced that they were tied to Alista’s attempt to become the Black Emperor.
• The Red Angel connected the current Loen king’s political reforms to the Black Emperor pathway, and Klein realized the royal family might be pursuing its apotheosis ritual.

Klein learned from the Red Angel Evil Spirit that George III might be an angel pursuing the Black Emperor’s throne, with the Seven Gods allowing the attempt to proceed ambiguously. After escaping, Klein avoided returning to Megro Manor and prepared to support people in Backlund during the war.

• Klein questioned whether George III could become the Black Emperor while still at Sequence 5, and the Red Angel Evil Spirit suggested the king might secretly be an angel and a member of an ancient organization.
• The Red Angel Evil Spirit explained that the Seven Gods would prefer a Black Emperor they supported and therefore gave their churches no specific revelations, allowing George III’s plans to advance unless discovered.
• Klein declined the Red Angel Evil Spirit’s offer to explain the Seven Gods’ motives, then escaped with crimson flames while concealing his backup plan involving Will Auceptin.
• Klein returned to Backlund and met Member of Parliament Macht, asking him to help obtain weapons and food for the manor.
• Klein decided not to return to Megro Manor after learning Zaratul was in Backlund and the Red Angel Evil Spirit knew his identity, and he planned to leave the manor’s affairs to Miss Audrey’s arrangements.

Klein arranged for Audrey to manage the Loen Charity Bursary Foundation while he went into hiding as war with Feysac began. After learning that Zaratul was in Backlund, he warned Sharron and Maric and took refuge in an East Borough rental with his marionettes.

• Klein authorized Audrey to use Dawn Dantès’s resources to help the foundation’s injured beneficiaries and provide food and medical supplies while he was away.
• Audrey told Klein that Feysac had attacked Backlund and Pritz Harbor, and Klein read King George III’s declaration of war.
• Klein told Archbishop Anthony Stevenson that Zaratul was likely in Backlund and learned that the Church wanted him to hide while it dealt with the war.
• Klein changed his appearance and used Reinette Tinekerr to warn Sharron and Maric that Zaratul was in Backlund and might be connected to the Rose School of Thought.
• Klein settled in an East Borough rental with his marionettes Qonas and Enuni.

Klein warned Danitz and Cattleya about the Secret Order and asked Cattleya to arrange a meeting with Bernadette while offering two Planter pathway potion formulas. As war erupted and Cattleya helped Frank buy the Druid formula, Eudora’s despair over her injured leg turned to stunned hope after a mysterious figure healed it.

• Klein sent Danitz a warning about the Secret Order and told Cattleya to contact Bernadette and offer the Druid and Ancient Alchemist formulas.
• Danitz and Anderson learned that Feysac had attacked Backlund and Pritz Harbor and that Loen had declared war.
• Cattleya asked Frank about his ambitions, then agreed to lend him two thousand pounds to buy the Druid formula from Gehrman Sparrow.
• Eudora, hospitalized after the air raid and facing amputation, received a visit from a dark figure who touched her with a cane and healed her leg.

Klein attacked the Feynapotter Empire's Sonia Sea Fleet with bizarre supernatural tricks to frighten Admiral Yegor Einhorn and further digest his potion, but withdrew after Yegor summoned help. Yegor abandoned the fleet's haunted ship and departed, while a seabird later sensed a Seer demigod nearby.

• Klein visited Pritz Harbor's cemetery after healing the wounded and reflected on the civilian losses and his conflicting motives for attacking the fleet.
• Klein identified Yegor Einhorn as the fleet's Sequence 4 Iron-Blooded Knight commander and approached the Nipos with Qonas and Enuni.
• Klein staged a series of uncanny attacks aboard the Nipos, including faceless intruders and seabirds, while Yegor used his Iron-Blooded Knight abilities to fight back.
• Yegor saw the cannons on another ship turn and fire by themselves, then recited the honorific name of Ahomatova Einhorn for help.
• Klein retrieved Qonas and Enuni through Teleportation, and Yegor left the waters after abandoning the ship that had become a bizarre legend.
• A seabird landed on the abandoned ship and said it smelled the presence of a Seer demigod.

Klein questioned whether he could accept King George III’s potential rise to godhood at the cost of countless lives, then resolved to prepare and wait for an opportunity to stop him. After investigating the Demoness Sect’s motives, Klein arranged to meet Mystery Queen Bernadette in Backlund.

• Klein considered the suffering caused by the Great Smog and the coming war, rejected the outcome of George III ascending to godhood, and decided that some things still had to be done.
• Klein tried to contact Trissy but received no response, then reasoned that the Demoness Sect might be helping George III in exchange for Red Priest pathway resources.
• Klein chose White Witch Katarina as his next target and decided to first learn about Mystery Queen Bernadette’s prophecy and plans for Backlund.
• The Hermit Cattleya relayed Bernadette’s meeting details, and Klein arrived at Serenzo Restaurant with Qonas and Enuni positioned nearby.
• Klein entered the Golden Theater private room and found Bernadette seated at the dining table.

Klein told Bernadette that King George III was trying to become the Black Emperor and asked her to help stop him. Bernadette agreed, and the two exchanged instructions for summoning their messengers.

• Bernadette explained that she had failed to prevent the Great Smog and the war, which had thwarted her plans to advance to Sage.
• Klein told Bernadette that the war involved the Creator's son, Angel Kings, and true gods, and that future disasters could provide her with opportunities to complete her advancement ritual.
• Bernadette spoke about her former anger toward Roselle and recalled his remark about traveling across the sea of stars, leading Klein to suspect that the starry sky's corruption had affected him.
• Klein explained that George III had discovered the Blood Emperor Tudor's nine mausoleums and planned to switch to the Black Emperor pathway, and that a new Black Emperor would permanently destroy the original one.
• Klein asked Bernadette to help stop George III, and she agreed; Klein offered to give her his messenger-summoning method, while Bernadette wrote down hers.

Klein and Bernadette discussed ways to stop George III from becoming the Black Emperor, while Bernadette considered whether Roselle might already have resurrected. In the City of Silver, Derrick’s team set out for Afternoon Town, and Lovia showed an unsettling interest in the Unshadowed Crucifix.

• Klein and Bernadette discussed assassination, disrupting George III’s ritual, and finding Roselle’s arrangements, while agreeing to gather intelligence and stay in touch by letter.
• Bernadette said she would give Cattleya the diary entries she had selected and wondered whether Roselle had already undergone an initial resurrection.
• Klein left the Golden Theater after hearing Bernadette play a sad melody.
• Derrick joined the team departing the City of Silver for Afternoon Town with the Unshadowed Crucifix.
• Lovia told Derrick that the Unshadowed Crucifix was an item of the Lord, and Colin Iliad ordered the team to move out.

Xio received 2,500 pounds and planned to buy the Judge potion ingredients, while Fors decided to ask The World for help traveling and recording powers. Klein considered how to find George III’s other mausoleums and target the White Witch Katarina, then waited for Anderson and Danitz to locate the pirate admiral.

• Xio accepted 2,500 pounds from the Military Intelligence Section 9 operative and said she would remain in Backlund and take future commissions.
• Fors agreed to lend Xio the money she still needed for a Judge Beyonder characteristic, leaving Fors with 780 pounds in savings.
• Xio suggested Fors pay The World to take her to unfamiliar places and lend her mystical items, and Fors decided to raise the request at the next Tarot Gathering.
• Klein reviewed reports of the spreading war and reasoned that George III’s remaining mausoleums might offer a chance to disrupt his Black Emperor ritual.
• Klein chose White Witch Katarina as a more accessible target and hoped Anderson and Danitz would find the pirate admiral soon.
• On Seros Island, Danitz told Anderson he had learned of a secluded island southwest of them, away from the regular shipping routes.