Chapter Summaries

Suren watched his disciples compete in Lington’s National Puppeteer Competition while investigating Augustus, a powerful Sixth Tier professional wearing a Vampire Ring. Aberk took third place for a prized energy-core diagram, while Karma and Elsa Bach shared first place after a fierce final that ended in a draw.

• Suren recognized Augustus’s Great Eater talent and Vampire Ring as a dangerous combination, judged him a likely enemy, and decided not to confront him at the competition.
• Aberk advanced to the semifinals, then deliberately won third place with a swift victory to claim Van Helmont’s annotated energy-core diagram.
• Karma advanced to the finals and battled Elsa Bach evenly until the rules changed to allow stronger puppets; Karma then deployed her family’s Mechanism War Demon.
• Elsa brought out a Cursed Object, but the organizers intervened and declared the final a draw, awarding Karma and Elsa shared first place.
• Suren left the arena with Aberk and warned him to stay cautious in Lington and contact him if trouble arose.

Suren tracked Elsa Bach’s vehicle to an upscale club, where he uncovered a secret chamber and learned that Augustus was using kidnapped virgins to sustain the curse on his Vampire Ring. As Suren prepared to intervene when Emilia returned to the club, the chapter ended with her heading back toward the basement, unaware that its captives were dead.

• Suren marked Elsa Bach’s vehicle and followed it to the Gustav Music House, where he sensed Professionals imprisoned in a hidden chamber beneath the club.
• Emilia disguised herself as a club server, infiltrated the basement, and rescued a captive blonde woman while Jerome watched over her.
• Lawrence Shelby discovered a captive was missing, then concealed the breach rather than alert anyone or pursue Emilia.
• Augustus went to the basement and killed the remaining captives, revealing to Suren that he used their blood to lessen the Vampire Ring’s curse.
• Augustus ordered Lawrence to find more girls and warned him to eliminate anyone investigating the kidnappings.
• Emilia returned to the club to attempt another rescue, and Suren went to meet her before she reached the basement.

Suren helped Emilia avoid detection while she tried to rescue trafficked girls, and Old Cowboy explained that Suren was far more powerful and discerning than he appeared. After a mysterious assassin called the Cold Demon killed Count Bronny with freezing energy, Suren confronted Old Cowboy and Emilia, who realized he was the greasy man from the club.

• Suren disguised himself as a drunken guest, used Scent Interference Potion to conceal Emilia's scent, and kept her from being caught by Lawrence in the wine cellar.
• Emilia met Old Cowboy outside the club, and he explained that Suren had protected her and was vastly more dangerous than Lawrence, though his Sin Judgment found Suren's heart good.
• Suren gave coins and half a blanket to two young beggars while Emilia and Old Cowboy watched, and Old Cowboy said the assassin had arrived.
• A freezing entity killed Count Bronny and his bodyguards in the street, and Suren recognized it as possibly connected to Raphael's Cold Demon Phantom Project.
• Old Cowboy identified the attacker as the famed Cold Demon and admitted that he had spread information about the assassin, then Suren appeared behind him and Emilia.

Suren questioned Old Cowboy and Emilia about the kidnapping, Count Bronny’s assassination, and the mysterious Cold Demon, then hired the detective to investigate the Red Death. The chapter ended with Ekaterina discussing her approaching wedding with Anna Phillips and admitting that she had fallen for Fick.

• Old Cowboy explained that he and Emilia had rescued a kidnapped girl, and Emilia defended the assassination of Count Bronny as punishment for his role in human trafficking.
• Old Cowboy described a pattern of missing young female Official Professionals and shared what he had heard about the Cold Demon, while Suren questioned him about the killings.
• Suren hired Old Cowboy to investigate the origin of the Red Death and left when police and Military Intelligence agents sealed off the nightclub district.
• Suren learned that the Cold Demon was connected to Grand Duke Raphael’s Neuro-Mechanical Project and that Old Cowboy was a renowned detective who avoided dangerous cases.
• Ekaterina dismissed concerns about the Regadi Family, William, and her absent fiancé Fick, then told Anna Phillips that she had fallen for Fick.
• Anna reacted in disbelief and insisted that she wanted to see what Fick looked like.

Suren attended the Royal Academy celebration to support Jick’s plan to steal Isaac’s Alchemy Manuscript, while Sabina briefed him on Raphael’s political rise and the worsening Red Death crisis. Jick decided to study ordnance in the Mafa Empire, and Sabina encouraged him to ask Phibi to dance before he left.

• Sabina told Suren that Raphael had gained control of Lu Ying’s arms trade with support from the Lance Family and the Roberts Family, while the Red Death spread and potion merchants stockpiled the Scarlet Potion.
• Suren and Sabina arrived at the Royal Academy, where Jick greeted them and showed off his restored hand and new Mechanical Arm.
• Jick told Suren he had decided to go to the Mafa Empire to study mechanical engineering and ordnance.
• Sabina urged Jick to invite Phibi to dance, and Jick reluctantly agreed.

At the Royal Academy’s anniversary ball, Suren watched Jick and Phibi grow closer and encountered detective Emilia, who revealed that the Red Death outbreak had been deliberately spread by someone connected to the academy. Suren identified the suspected culprit as the Curator, realizing that the underworld figure was part of the Royal Academy.

• Suren attended the costume banquet with Sabina and Jick, observed Ekaterina and William, and considered how William might try to attack him.
• Jick gathered his courage, invited Phibi to dance, and accepted her agreement to a dinner and a future together before telling her he planned to study ordnance engineering in the Mafa Empire.
• Suren noticed Emilia investigating the banquet and danced with her to keep the Lu Ying Military Intelligence Department from noticing her.
• Emilia told Suren that her investigation traced the Red Death to deliberate interference and a major figure within the Royal Academy who knew Black Magic.
• Emilia revealed that the culprit had used a Necromancy Spell to control a corpse-like puppet, and Suren recognized the Curator as the likely suspect.

Suren identified Heidman Elpso as the likely Curator and learned that the Scarlet Potion could not be used on people. While Kit’s raid on the Royal Academy caused a diversion, Kit discovered the lost Mirror Library, a hidden collection of copied books and the Lu Ying Royal Family’s Divine Sealed Items.

• Suren paid Emilia an additional one million Liso for her investigation and warned her that the Red Death case was too dangerous to pursue, but she insisted on continuing because of her convictions.
• Suren detected Heidman Elpso’s abnormal soul, scattered a scent near her, and saw her sneeze, confirming that she was probably the Curator.
• Anna danced with Suren, revealed that she was Ekaterina’s friend, and failed to persuade him to dance another song with her.
• Sabina told Suren that Augustus had been seriously wounded in an attack, and Suren suspected that the concealed incident might be part of a political conspiracy.
• Explosions at the Royal Academy distracted the guests while Kit broke into the Royal Library’s treasure vault, then discovered a Folded Space containing the Mirror Library.
• Mr. Black explained that the Mirror Library held copies of Royal Library books, including lost works, and the Royal Family’s Divine Sealed Items, leaving Suren eager to explore it.

Suren recovered Isaac's Alchemy Manuscript from Kit and entered the Mirror Library, a hidden Folded Space inside the Royal Library. He discovered its vast collection of copied books and sealed treasures, including a Sky Fortress blueprint and its energy core, and considered whether they could become a base for the Dawn Organization.

• Suren watched the Royal Academy investigate the breach after Kit escaped with Isaac's Alchemy Manuscript, then confirmed that the Mirror Library had disappeared from view again.
• Suren teleported to Kit's hiding place, took the manuscript and the other stolen relics, and learned that Kit planned to leave Lington to avoid questions about the Mirror Library.
• Suren traveled to a secret hideout in South City, assembled a spatial array, and used the Shattered Plane Crystal Source Body to enter the Mirror Library.
• Suren found hundreds of thousands of floating bookshelves containing more than a hundred million books copied from the Royal Academy's library.
• Suren discovered six remaining treasures on an altar, including the Mirror Library's copying core, a sealed black iron coffin, a Battle Angel's golden wings, a Goblin Sky Fortress energy core, and a Sky Fortress blueprint.
• Suren recognized that the blueprint and energy core might allow the Dawn Organization to build a mobile base beyond the control of the two great empires.

Suren incorporated the Mirror Gallery and its vast library into his Small Void Realm, learning that its Myriad Forms substance could help Mr. Mirror reach the Ninth Tier. After Karma was kidnapped in a scheme apparently aimed at him, Suren traced her ring to a Viper Gang pawnshop and headed for the gang’s territory to find her.

• Suren consulted Mr. Black and Mr. Mirror, who explained that the Plane Fragment would merge the Mirror Gallery into his Small Void Realm and that Myriad Forms was Mr. Mirror’s opportunity to advance to the Ninth Tier.
• Suren began an Alchemy Array to absorb the Mirror Gallery, while Winfred and the Imperial Family discovered the hidden barrier and found the space empty after breaking through it.
• Suren surveyed the newly merged library and its ancient texts, then read a newspaper report about Kit’s theft and an assassination in Lington.
• Aberk told Suren that Karma had gone missing after accepting an invitation from Alex Roberts, and Suren used her marked ring to locate a pawnshop in the Franklin District.
• Suren killed the pawnshop keeper, identified him as Kahn of the Viper Gang, and suspected that information Caroline had learned about Karma had reached the kidnappers.
• Suren asked Sabina where the Viper Gang operated and set out for its territory to search for Karma.

Suren tracked Karma Boyle’s kidnapping through the Viper Gang and killed the men involved, then confronted Elsa Bach in Lington. When Elsa claimed Karma was dead and produced severed hands, Suren attacked her despite the intervention of her teacher, Grandmaster Aubrey Hernandez, and vowed Aubrey could not protect her.

• Suren killed Kahn and three armed Viper Gang members, then followed the Gray Mist’s clues to middleman Rig Chapman and the Bach Family.
• Suren killed Chapman and learned that Elsa Bach had arranged the kidnapping, but suspected someone had engineered the clues to draw him into a trap.
• Caroline confronted Elsa at an art exhibition and urged her to reveal Karma’s whereabouts, but Elsa dismissed the danger and refused to answer.
• Suren appeared at the exhibition, seized Elsa, and demanded to know where Karma was; Grandmaster Aubrey saved Elsa with a Substitute Life Puppet.
• Elsa admitted arranging the kidnapping and claimed she had Karma killed, then displayed two severed hands that Suren recognized as Karma’s.
• Suren summoned the Black Scythe and attacked Elsa, but Aubrey blocked the strike; Suren declared that Aubrey could not protect the person he wanted to kill.

Suren fought Puppet Grandmaster Aubrey in Lington after Elsa was kidnapped, while William and a cloaked woman watched and relied on the battle to advance their trap. Ekaterina recognized the plot and agreed to go with Bartolo to the scene, believing Suren intended to expose the conspirators.

• Suren challenged Aubrey after recognizing that the Grandmaster had hidden Elsa inside his Stealth Assassin Puppet.
• Suren and Aubrey clashed with their threads and puppets, destroying the exhibition hall as Suren countered Aubrey's attacks with his Gargoyle and Spatial Displacement.
• William and a cloaked woman watched from a carriage, discussed their plan to have Suren kill Elsa and be drawn into a trap, and arranged to keep High-Tier Professionals from intervening.
• Ekaterina concluded that Grand Duke Raphael and William were likely behind the plot, while Bartolo urged her to help Suren.
• Ekaterina agreed to accompany Bartolo to the battle, predicting that Suren planned to kill his target and draw the conspirators into the open.

Suren defeated Aubrey’s attempt to stop him, killed Elsa, and uncovered a conspiracy involving Karma’s kidnapping and the wounded Augustus. He learned Karma had been taken to Parrot Street and rushed there to try to save her, while political conflict loomed in Lington.

• Suren freed himself from Aubrey’s threads with the Black Crow, used Spatial Law to pull Elsa out of the Shadow Puppet, and killed her before taking the puppet as spoils.
• Suren killed Elsa’s guard captain and learned from her memories that Karma was alive and had been sent to Parrot Street for Augustus.
• Suren deduced that the kidnapping was a plot to lure him into killing Augustus and destabilize Lu Ying, implicating Grand Duke Raphael and Young Master William.
• Suren decided to rescue Karma despite the danger and teleported toward Parrot Street after learning the Shadow Duke would intervene.
• Bartolo and Ekaterina discussed the battle’s aftermath, suspected William had watched the fight, and anticipated bloodshed among the Great Councilors’ factions.

Suren tracked the gang leaders kidnapping young women to the Martin Arms Company, found Augustus hiding inside a sentient spatial door, and entered his mutated Flesh Space. He rescued Karma, Emilia, and other surviving captives, but Augustus remained a threat.

• Suren overheard gang leaders discussing orders to kidnap hundreds of young women and Professionals, then found Lawrence at the Martin Arms Company.
• Suren killed Lawrence, learned Augustus was hiding in the building, and teamed up with Jerome to locate the sentient Any Door of Different Space Dimensions.
• Suren seized the door and entered the Flesh Space, where he discovered Karma and Emilia among hundreds of captive women being drained of blood.
• Suren cut down Karma and dozens of other survivors, then fought Augustus, whose body repeatedly regenerated inside the Flesh Space.
• Suren used threads and the Small Void Realm to free the surviving captives and bring them to Dr. Banks's medical team.

Suren fought Augustus Rodriguez inside the extradimensional space, where Augustus’s energy-devouring power and Sigurd’s Dragon Slayer Dagger made him difficult to defeat. Suren overloaded Augustus with Dark Spiritual Energy until he mutated and exploded, then harvested his soul and began searching the remains for valuable items.

• Suren took the young women and their blood supplies into the Small Void Realm, provoking Augustus to attack him.
• Augustus used the space’s energy-draining power and Sigurd’s Dragon Slayer Dagger to wound Suren, but Suren’s Alchemical Heart kept his energy reserves replenished.
• Suren noticed the space’s flesh turning black and realized Augustus could not absorb unlimited energy, so he released Dark Spiritual Energy in overwhelming amounts.
• After nearly half an hour, Augustus mutated from the energy overload, and the resulting clash of forces caused him to explode.
• Suren survived inside the Mechanical Killing Stealth Puppet, harvested Augustus’s soul, learned secrets about the Rodriguez Family, and searched the remains for Lilith’s Vampire Ring and other spoils.

After killing Augustus, Suren left the Martin Arms Company and discovered that the authorities had been held back while the Rodriguez Family sent its elite Golden Holy Shield Heavy Cavalry Legion against him. Suren deployed a secret Mafah weapon to meet their charge, and the battle’s outcome remained uncertain.

• Suren recovered Lilith's Vampire Ring and Sigurd's Dragon Slayer Dagger from Augustus's dimensional space, then escaped through a Dimensional Gate with Black Crow.
• Suren reunited with Old Cowboy, learned that a Prism Barrier restricted Spatial Techniques, and realized that the Shadow Duke had kept the police and Military Intelligence Department from intervening.
• Suren walked out of the Martin Arms Company and fought through the armed gangs gathered on Parrot Street, while Megan Charlize, the Military Intelligence chief, Bartolo, and Ekaterina watched from nearby.
• The Golden Holy Shield Heavy Cavalry Legion arrived with three hundred knights and charged Suren with a combined attack.
• Suren summoned several Thirty-Six Barrel Storm War Hammers and unleashed a torrent of Alchemical Bullets against the charging legion.

Suren used the Thirty-Six Barrel Storm War Hammers to destroy the Golden Holy Shield Heavy Cavalry Legion, then fought Aimor E. Claire, the Punishment Lawyer, and wounded her with Sigurd's Dragon Slayer Dagger. Old Cowboy appeared to interrupt her attack and revealed that Aimor knew him as the Chief Justice, leaving Suren stunned by his companion's past.

• Suren's Storm War Hammers broke through the Golden Knights' defenses and devastated their legion, while police, military officials, and other observers reacted to the weapon.
• Suren fought off the remaining knights, harvested their souls, and continued through Lington until Aimor E. Claire blocked his teleportation with her Judgment Domain.
• Aimor restricted Suren's elemental control and attacked him with time-stopping spells, but his Two-Way Crow Cloak absorbed her arrows and he discovered that Sigurd's Dragon Slayer Dagger could pierce her invincibility.
• Suren wounded Aimor with the dagger, forcing her to retreat and heal as he prepared to escape using a Plane Crystal core.
• Old Cowboy interrupted Aimor's next incantation and told Suren to leave, but Aimor recognized him as the Chief Justice, surprising Suren.

Suren escaped a trap involving Aimor E. Claire and the Four-Element Wax Figures, while the Old Cowboy revealed his undying power as the Hell Judge. After learning William had arranged the plot, Suren found him waiting on Solomon Street but chose to leave, warning that William would have no chances after today.

• The Old Cowboy confronted Aimor E. Claire, was beheaded by her Punishment Law, then revived as the Hell Judge and fought her with power granted by a Grim Reaper.
• Suren escaped their battle, fled the Prism Barrier, and evaded the Ghost Bride and Sleeping Beauty before using Spatial Displacement to get away.
• William learned that Aimor had failed to capture Suren and that authorities had blocked his allies, while the cloaked woman said Suren's fortune had grown stronger.
• Suren met Tommy on Solomon Street and learned that William was waiting inside the building containing the Prism Barrier's core.
• Suren identified William as the mastermind but declined to attack, told Tommy's group to withdraw, and rode away, saying William would have no chance after today.

Suren hid after the battle, examined the Dragon Slayer Dagger, absorbed the knowledge he had gained, and began advancing with Lilith's Vampire Ring. Meanwhile, Ekaterina visited Pierre, accepted his offer to become his disciple, and set Lu Ying's balance of power on a new course.

• Suren hid in a rental house, treated his wound from Sigurd's Dragon Slayer Dagger, and considered raiding Grand Duke Raphael's secret War Workshop.
• Suren studied the dagger's demonic properties and the Divine Blood that might restore its power, then spent the night recovering and digesting knowledge taken from Augustus and the Golden Knights.
• Suren read reports of Old Cowboy's massacres and news exposing Augustus's crimes, then laid out an Alchemy Array and began advancing to the Sixth Tier with Lilith's Vampire Ring.
• Ekaterina visited Pierre and played chess with him while they recalled old friends and discussed her ambitions to become a great emperor.
• Pierre offered to take Ekaterina as his disciple, and she accepted with a formal bow.

Suren advanced to the Sixth Tier, tested his new Blood Devouring ability, and discovered he could safely absorb the Thousand-Person Blood Refinement Crystal Core. After Amelia learned what had happened and left to find her teacher, Suren surveyed Lington’s political tensions and planned to retrieve Augustus’s banked treasures before pursuing the Curator.

• Ekaterina left Pierre’s house after receiving guidance that clarified the Lance Family’s political predicament.
• Suren advanced to the Sixth Tier, gained Blood Devouring, and used it with Void Techniques to absorb a Titan Octopus and a piece of the Thousand-Person Blood Refinement Crystal Core.
• Suren brought Amelia out of the Small Void Realm, explained the Parrot Street Incident, and learned her Angel of Justice talent had awakened after Dr. Banks treated her with X Serum.
• Suren gave Amelia clothes, weapons, and a communicator before she left to seek Old Cowboy.
• Suren learned that Lington’s nobles were maneuvering amid the Red Death outbreak, planned to target the Curator after Mr. Mirror arrived, and prepared to retrieve Augustus’s treasures from Lingdun Royal Bank.

Suren opened Augustus's secret safe-deposit box and took its wealth, securities, and an Ouroboros Fragment before asking Mr. Black about an ancient sealed chest. Mr. Black identified its script as Dragon Language Magic, and Mr. Mirror arrived in Lington after Suren contacted her for help.

• Suren entered the Lu Ying Royal Savings Bank's private vault using Augustus's memories and emptied safe-deposit box No. 1062 of its gems, magic cores, securities, and other valuables.
• Suren found an Ouroboros Fragment that fit the piece he had obtained earlier, leaving roughly one-quarter of the object still missing.
• Mr. Black told Suren that the One-Eyed Hanged Man Card showed a treasure map to Mímir's Well near an uncharted area around Horseshoe Island, but the route remained unknown.
• Suren showed Mr. Black the sealed chest, and Mr. Black identified its script as likely Dragon Language Magic, which he could not decipher.
• Suren contacted Mr. Mirror, who knew some Dragon Language, then stayed at the Congressional Library to exchange insights with Mr. Black after advancing to the Sixth Tier.
• Mr. Mirror contacted Suren two days later and told him she had arrived in Lington by ship.