Chapter 91

As the parade procession lines up to begin, Carl and the group encounter thousands of masked, ragged humanoid figures lining the yellow-brick road in eerie silence. Carl discovers these are Horrors—the remnants of the Eulogist's pre-physical form, memories of what once was before ascending to post-physical existence, leaving him deeply unsettled about the nature of these creatures and what they represent.

The parade route reveals a disturbing spectacle: a long yellow-brick road lined with thousands of silent, humanoid figures standing in knee-high fog on either side. All wear identical earthy-brown rags and oversized, colorful bobblehead-like masks depicting grotesque monsters—goblins, trolls, demons—reminiscent of Carnival masks but far more sinister. The crowd, which includes adults, children, and babies, stands motionless and unresponsive, extending as far as can be seen toward a distant arena. Carl's procession—featuring Mongo, Rend, Grigori on Gonk, Rosetta on Onikuma, and an unnamed looted Reaver airship hovering above—positions itself at the rear. Donut warns Mongo to ignore the crowd. When Carl examines one creature, a pale, long-armed child wearing a goblin mask, his examination reveals she is a Horrible—a non-combatant that doesn't truly exist in physical form. The system reveals these are Primals, and through an extended internal monologue attributed to the Eulogist itself, Carl understands that all these masked figures are fragments of memories from before the Eulogist's ascension to post-physical form—remnants of individuals who once existed but are now lost. The AI then signals the parade is about to begin.