Chapter Summaries

At the Tarot Gathering, Gehrman Sparrow recruited allies for a mission to hunt Botis, the Saint of Secrets, and offered rewards for their help. The meeting ended with several other exchanges, while Leonard sought Pallez's advice about Klein's predicament.

• Cattleya agreed to lead the hunt for Botis with support from the Mystery Queen and other collaborators, and Fors joined as bait in exchange for a share of the spoils and help recording Beyonder powers.
• Audrey agreed to cooperate in exchange for Herabergen Rambis's Beyonder Characteristic if she finished digesting her potion before the operation, while Xio offered to gather intelligence and Leonard agreed to help if official forces were needed.
• Alger and Derrick arranged to rent the Unshadowed Crucifix, and Klein told Emlyn he would likely leave protective custody within the week.
• Gehrman suggested that Alger search for elven ruins on Sonia Island, and the Tarot Club members ended the gathering.
• After returning to his body, Leonard told Pallez about Klein's predicament and asked for advice, and Pallez recommended seeking The Fool's help.

Leonard relayed Pallez Zoroast’s idea that Klein might use a Deceit charm, empowered by Sefirah Castle, to trick the rule governing Amon’s resurrection. Meanwhile, Klein blessed Colin Iliad as he began his advancement ritual, and the story left Colin wrapped in the light of the blessing.

• Pallez told Leonard that a Deceit charm might deceive the rule restricting where Amon could resurrect, though the chance was very low, and urged Klein to ask The Fool for help.
• Klein considered how to use the Deceit Bullet as a medium for Sefirah Castle’s Marauder powers and devised a plan involving a false resurrection point.
• Klein observed Amon and his many avatars in the Forsaken Land of the Gods, but withdrew his gaze when they noticed him.
• Derrick told Colin Iliad that he had received a promise of a blessing, and Colin began preparing his advancement ritual.
• As Colin prayed to The Fool, Klein confirmed there were no nearby hosts parasitized by Amon and sent a blessing that appeared as a holy Angel of light.

Colin Iliad completed his advancement to Silver Knight while Klein used Sefirah Castle and a Deceit Bullet to resurrect in the City of Silver. After escaping the city, Klein realized Amon would pursue him with His true body and avatars.

• Colin Iliad consumed the Silver Knight potion and used the memories of his hunts as anchors to maintain his identity through the transformation.
• Colin Iliad completed his advancement to Silver Knight and split a hill outside the City of Silver with silver light.
• Klein fired a Deceit Bullet from above the gray fog and used Derrick Berg’s bestowment tube of preserved blood to resurrect in the City of Silver.
• Klein told Derrick Berg he could not stay without leading Amon to the city, then left using Flame Jump.
• Klein traveled north from the City of Silver and reflected that his resurrection had succeeded, but Amon’s true body and avatars would now pursue him.

Klein evaded Amon’s attempts to locate him, reconsidered his route to the ruins of North, and tested whether prayers could reach the deities in the Forsaken Land of the Gods. After his attempt to contact Will failed, he asked Audrey to consult the Snake of Fate about Miracle Invoker ingredients, and the Snake began explaining the limits on the pathway’s Sequence 2 positions.

• Amon’s summons using Gehrman Sparrow’s honorific name alerted Klein, who disabled automatic responses from his Worms of Spirit.
• Klein decided to seek other sources for Miracle Invoker ingredients before approaching the ruins of North, where Amon might have laid a trap.
• Klein used his marionettes to pray to several deities, but received no response and decided not to test their true names directly.
• Klein tried to contact Will Auceptin Ceres with a paper crane, failed to dream of him, and went above the gray fog to ask Mr. Fool to relay a request to Audrey.
• Audrey received Klein’s request and met a giant silver-white snake in a dream, then asked where he could obtain Miracle Invoker ingredients.
• The Snake of Fate told Audrey that only six Miracle Invokers could exist when all Attendant of Mysteries positions were filled.

Audrey learned about the scattered Miracle Invoker characteristics and agreed to help Will Auceptin obtain ice cream for his Blessed. Klein weighed the dangers of seeking the potion ingredients in the Forsaken Land of the Gods, then learned from Arrodes that the Abraham Family and Aurora Order might offer another path.

• The enormous silver-white snake told Audrey where several Miracle Invoker characteristics were and explained that a third Attendant of Mysteries characteristic had been missing since Flegrea's time.
• Audrey agreed to sacrifice ice cream to Will Auceptin's Blessed, and Klein had The World Gehrman Sparrow tell her the favor was worth considerable merit.
• Klein assessed the risks of pursuing the characteristics, concluded that he might need to search the North ruins, and resolved to investigate cautiously.
• Klein asked Fors to consult the Magic Mirror Arrodes about the Miracle Invoker potion ingredients.
• Arrodes told Fors that the Abraham Family and Aurora Order possessed the Planeswalker potion formula and powerful Sealed Artifacts, prompting Klein to consider a new possibility.
• Arrodes asked Fors who else appeared in her erotic dreams, and she blushed.

Fors and Xio escaped the Magic Mirror’s embarrassing game, while Klein decided to prepare for both the Miracle Invoker and Planeswalker paths to avoid Amon’s expectations. Danitz relayed Klein’s message, received the Iron-Blooded Knight potion formula, and learned that Anderson planned to return to his war-torn hometown.

• Fors accepted the Magic Mirror’s punishment, but Klein stopped its lightning, and Xio pressed her about the erotic dreams Fors had refused to describe.
• Klein reasoned that Amon might anticipate his plans for the City of Silver and decided to prepare for both the Miracle Invoker and Planeswalker paths before choosing.
• Klein sent Danitz word through Reinette Tinekerr that he was safe in the Forsaken Land of the Gods, and Danitz was startled by the news.
• Klein gave Danitz the Iron-Blooded Knight potion formula and ordered him to prepare local delicacies to sacrifice to Kavithua, the Sea God.
• Anderson read the potion formula, burned it, and said he would return to his hometown to train a team amid the war with Feynapotter before teasing Danitz with supposed intelligence questions.

Klein tested whether invoking divine names had effects in the Forsaken Land of the Gods, while Audrey explored dreams in Backlund and Leonard discussed a Jacob Family treasure with Pallez. The chapter ended with Archbishop Anthony Stevenson telling Leonard to release the Vampire behind the Chanis Gate.

• Klein tested invoking Amanises, Leodero, and other names in the Forsaken Land of the Gods, finding that Leodero’s name summoned lightning while another name began to burn him; the other names produced no unusual effects.
• Audrey entered the dreams of a noblewoman and her Viscount husband, then saw that their waking relationship differed from the fantasies in their dreams.
• Audrey discovered an old lady dreaming of a happy family despite the deaths of her relatives and the destruction outside, and she watched without interfering.
• Leonard and Pallez discussed whether to use the Hermits of Fate Society to explore the Jacob Family treasure and how Leonard might advance toward becoming a Demigod.
• Anthony Stevenson told Leonard to release the Vampire behind the Chanis Gate.

Leonard released Emlyn White from Chanis Gate while Father Utravsky remained imprisoned, and Klein reached the Ancient City of North to investigate its abandoned ruins. After finding a statue of the Dark Demonic Wolf, Klein encountered a mysterious elderly clergyman approaching through the mist.

• Leonard escorted Emlyn White out of Chanis Gate and advised him to recover with sunlight and a Sun-domain potion.
• Emlyn asked about Father Utravsky and then left for a nearby hospital to obtain a blood transfusion.
• Klein examined North from above the gray fog, confirmed the historical gaps were safe, and hid his true body in a prehistoric fragment.
• Klein entered the ruins as Gehrman Sparrow and found decayed people and monsters frozen in ordinary activities throughout the city.
• Klein discovered a church containing a statue of the Dark Demonic Wolf, then heard footsteps and saw an elderly clergyman emerge from the mist.

Klein encountered Stiyr, an Angel of Holy Word who twisted answers into attacks, and escaped after invoking Leodero’s name unleashed a storm of lightning. When Klein returned to investigate the ruins, a charred corpse wearing Amon’s monocle confronted him.

• Stiyr isolated Klein inside the church and revealed himself as an angel searching for the blasphemer.
• Stiyr used Klein’s answers to create a sinister version of Gehrman Sparrow and steal Klein’s intended words.
• Klein shouted Leodero’s name, summoning lightning that destroyed the church and wounded Stiyr as Klein escaped.
• Klein returned to the ruins to examine fragments of the Demonic Wolf statue for clues to its former hiding places.
• A charred corpse blocked Klein from taking a statue fragment, put on a crystal monocle, and corrected its placement from the left eye to the right.

Klein escaped Amon’s attempt to manipulate him and devised a plan to use his own weakness to lure the Dark Demonic Wolf. He continued tracking the Wolf while Fors received a reply from Dorian Gray Abraham in Backlund.

• Amon proposed a contest for the Miracle Invoker Beyonder Characteristic and Sefirah Castle, but Klein refused and questioned him about the corruption connected to Sefirah Castle.
• Amon revealed that the Dark Demonic Wolf had fled after sensing both him and The Hanged Man, and hinted that Chernobyl held clues about the source of the corruption.
• Klein realized Amon might be preparing a ritual for his true body to descend, ended his Historical Void projection, and fled the Ancient City of North with help from a Paper Angel.
• Klein assessed the dangers of the Forsaken Land of the Gods and decided his weakness could let him serve as prey, potentially drawing the Dark Demonic Wolf toward him.
• Klein retrieved a fragment of the Demonic Wolf statue from the Historical Void and set out to trace the Wolf’s former hiding place.
• Fors received a reply from her teacher, Dorian Gray Abraham, in Backlund’s Hillston Borough.

Fors prepared for the planned hunt for Botis and encouraged Xio to join Military Intelligence Section 9. In Sefirah Castle, Klein helped Fors digest her Scribe potion by training her to record powerful abilities, then Alger entered an elven ruin on Sonia Island.

• Fors received her teacher’s reply about Worms of Star and worried about the danger of hunting Botis, while Xio told her that Military Intelligence Section 9 had invited her to join.
• Fors urged Xio to accept the offer, explaining that official work could help her digest her potion and restore her father’s reputation; Xio agreed to try.
• Fors prayed to Mr. Fool to pass her message about delaying the hunt to Gehrman Sparrow, then Klein summoned her to Sefirah Castle and said he was not in a hurry.
• Klein demonstrated a Saint-level Lightning Storm with a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact, and Fors eventually recorded it after repeated attempts.
• Klein made Fors practice recording his powers, and she eventually recorded Historical Void Image Summoning; he told her to return the next day and record the ability again with Lemano’s Travel Notes.
• Alger Wilson led several subordinates into a rarely visited elven ruin in the primeval forest on Sonia Island.

Alger explored elven ruins in a vivid dream where Cohinem, the Queen of Calamity, offered him a path to become a Demigod in exchange for retrieving something from the Book of Calamity for the Western Continent. After waking, he prayed to Mr. Fool and reported that he had met someone who might have been Cohinem.

• Alger led his sailors through elven ruins, where his Spirit Intuition noticed recently disturbed soil.
• In a dream, Alger heard sorrowful singing and nearly lost control before Cohinem appeared and stopped the attack, citing his elven blood.
• Cohinem offered to help Alger become a Demigod if he retrieved an unnoticed item from the Book of Calamity and arranged for it to reach the Western Continent.
• Cohinem warned Alger that the Western Continent would reappear at the Apocalypse and said Mr. Fool might know how to enter it.
• Alger woke in his tent, recognized that the exploration and encounter had been a dream, and prayed to Mr. Fool.
• Alger told The Fool that he had met Cohinem but could not be certain she was the Elf Queen.

Alger received Mr. Fool’s warning and encouragement before meeting the Queen of Calamity Cohinem in the elf ruins, where she gave him a cup that would lead him to a characteristic. Klein continued investigating the past while planning to travel east, and the Future later docked on Loen’s coast as Cattleya announced she would stay there.

• Mr. Fool told Alger that Cohinem’s offer was dangerous but also an opportunity, and Alger pledged his faith to Mr. Fool.
• Alger considered how he could explain becoming a demigod to the Church of Storms, then led his sailors into the elf ruins as witnesses.
• Cohinem gave Alger a cup of illusory wine and told him to drink it, find the coral palace near Simim Island, and consume the characteristic inside.
• Alger drank the wine, returned to the ruins, and told his unaware sailors to continue exploring.
• Klein observed Alger’s encounter and continued through the Historical Void, planning to investigate east toward Chernobyl before pursuing the Miracle Invoker Beyonder Characteristic.
• About a week later, Cattleya told Nina and the crew that she would stay in Loen and ordered them to watch Frank and stop his strange experiments.

Cattleya prepared to travel to Backlund on a mission while Audrey finished digesting her Dreamwalker potion and planned her advancement to Sequence 4. Fors told Xio she had finished digesting her Scribe potion and would prepare for her Traveler advancement ritual with help from a messenger.

• Cattleya instructed Nina to watch Frank, Heath, and Ottolov aboard the Future, then drew the Hermit card while thinking of her mission in Backlund and her hoped-for meeting with the Mystery Queen.
• Audrey realized that unusual dreams had helped her fully digest the Dreamwalker potion and formed a rule to guide dreamers discreetly when intervention was necessary.
• Audrey considered how to obtain the remaining ingredient for the Manipulator potion and planned to use a large memorial Mass to fulfill its advancement ritual.
• Audrey turned over a tarot card depicting the goddess of justice as she reflected on the war and her plans.
• Fors told Xio that she had finished digesting her Scribe potion, and Xio said her potion digestion had accelerated since joining the Court of Abnormal Affairs.
• Fors said she would prepare for the Traveler advancement ritual by summoning the messenger of the person who had instructed her.

Fors successfully summoned Gehrman Sparrow’s Historical Void projection, which called Reinette Tinekerr to help Fors place coordinates in the Spirit World. Klein used the method to return indirectly to Backlund, prayed to the Evernight Goddess for information about Kotar, and then sent a Marionette into Saint Samuel Cathedral to pray to the Lord of Storms.

• Fors used an illusory book to summon Gehrman Sparrow’s projection, and Xio watched warily as it came alive.
• Gehrman Sparrow summoned Reinette Tinekerr and asked her to help Fors set four special coordinates deep in the Spirit World.
• Reinette Tinekerr agreed to help Fors for eight hundred gold coins, then carried her into the Spirit World.
• Klein used the projection to return to Backlund, prayed to the Evernight Goddess about the Dark Demonic Wolf Kotar, and received information in response.
• Klein traveled to Saint Samuel Cathedral in Cherwood Borough and sent a Marionette disguised as himself inside to pray to the Lord of Storms.
• A dark cloud appeared over Backlund, and silvery-white lightning passed through Saint Samuel Cathedral.

Fors advanced to Sequence 5 and became a Traveler after using four Spirit World coordinates to preserve her sense of self. On Winter's Gift Day, Audrey attended a mass in Backlund while concealing the ingredients for her planned advancement, as Saint Anthony Stevenson began the service with words of comfort for those suffering from the war.

• Klein's projection vanished after his marionette was struck down, and Leonard told Pallez that his former colleague was pursuing the truth about the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
• Xio told Fors about a murderous Psychiatrist whose defense lawyer had arranged for him to become a Sealed Artifact researcher, then stood guard while Fors rested.
• Fors drank the Traveler potion, navigated back from the depths of the Spirit World using four special coordinates, and emerged as a Traveler.
• Audrey attended the Winter's Gift Day mass with Susie carrying the ingredients for the Manipulator potion, intending to conceal her preparations from the Psychology Alchemists.
• Saint Anthony Stevenson addressed the crowd at Memorial Day Square and said the Goddess pitied those enduring loss and pain.

During the Repose Mass, Audrey advanced to Sequence 4 and became a Manipulator, using the crowd’s grief to resist the Sea of Collective Subconscious and discovering her new powers. At the Tarot Club gathering, the members began preparing for the hunt, while Gehrman Sparrow asked how he could show goodwill to the Abraham Family.

• Anthony Stevenson’s verses led the people at the Repose Mass to grieve for those lost in the war and pray for peace.
• Audrey drank her potion and resisted being assimilated into the Sea of Collective Subconscious by resonating with the crowd’s sorrow.
• Audrey explored people’s minds, learned the causes of their grief, and succeeded in becoming a Manipulator.
• Audrey examined her new abilities at home, including Dragonification, Manipulation, Virtual Persona, and Consciousness Traversal.
• At the Tarot Club gathering, Fors asked about the power of a Manipulator, and Audrey said Mr. World understood it well.
• Gehrman Sparrow said powerful help had enabled him to kill Herabergen Rambis, then asked how he could make the Abraham Family feel his goodwill.

Justice Audrey advised Fors on how to use letters to build trust between Dorian Gray Abraham and Gehrman Sparrow, who offered a possible future exchange involving the Abraham Family’s curse. The Tarot Club then discussed how to find Botis and ended with Klein warning that an attack on the Aurora Order might alert the True Creator.

• Justice Audrey advised Fors to tell Dorian Gray Abraham about her advancement and Mr. Door, using their correspondence to convey Gehrman Sparrow’s goodwill.
• Gehrman Sparrow said he might offer Dorian a way to ease the Abraham Family’s curse in exchange for valuable items, while promising not to harm or coerce him.
• Cattleya, Fors, and Leonard discussed luring Botis to Backlund, including using a powerful Apprentice pathway Sealed Artifact or creating incidents involving the Aurora Order.
• Gehrman Sparrow warned that the True Creator might foresee an operation targeting the Aurora Order and alert its members, then recommended a gentler way to lure Botis.

Cattleya organized a plan to use Fors’s connection to the Abraham Family to lure Botis into an ambush, assigning Justice, The Star, and Judgement supporting roles. The meeting ended with Gehrman promising protection from Mr. Fool and advancing Cattleya part of her payment.

• Cattleya proposed having Fors reveal her Abraham Family connection at Backlund Beyonder gatherings, with Justice helping make the exposure seem natural and secretly assessing participants’ thoughts.
• Cattleya placed an Eye of Mystery Prying on Fors so she could monitor what it saw and protect Fors from surprise attacks.
• Leonard warned that the Dark Saint might investigate the Abraham Family lead, so Cattleya asked him to increase pressure on the Aurora Order and make Botis more likely to be sent.
• Cattleya assigned Xio to watch gathering areas and use her Judge abilities to impose supporting prohibitions if needed.
• Cattleya outlined ways to detect or counter a possible Grade 0 Sealed Artifact, while Gehrman offered to seek protection and revelations from Mr. Fool.
• Gehrman said the operation would not finish before the new year and gave Cattleya part of her payment as mystical knowledge.

Klein continued tracking Dark Demonic Wolf Kotar’s past and, after concluding that Kotar had migrated from the east, headed toward the east. Meanwhile, Fors sent Dorian Gray Abraham a letter about the Abraham Family, and his shocked reaction ended with him turning back to retrieve it.

• Cattleya thanked Gehrman Sparrow for the mystical knowledge that would help her digest her potion, and he warned that the gift came at a price.
• After the gathering, Klein saw Amon at a cave where Kotar had once hidden, then left to continue tracking the Dark Demonic Wolf.
• Klein determined that Kotar remained lucid, suspicious of his own marionettes, and had migrated from the east, so he changed direction and headed east.
• Audrey considered how to release bait near a Beyonder gathering and realized she needed a faster way to travel discreetly.
• Fors hesitated over a letter to her teacher, but Xio reminded her that their fate might already be unavoidable, and Fors began writing.
• Dorian Gray Abraham read Fors’s letter, recoiled in horror, and prepared to flee, but then turned back and slowly approached it.