It's the year 1930. Three years after the Phantom Father incident, Firo is about to get a promotion within the Martillo Family. But the intricate web of fate has other plans in store for him as the elixir of immortality nears its completion, setting off a chain of events that brings together gangsters, alchemists, and everything in between!
Lots of stuff happening in this book as we reach the mid point of the series. Firo has proven himself to be executive material and simply has to make it through the ritual to take his place among the elites but as he is preparing in his own way a dangerous man named Szilard Quates has come to town for the perfected elixir of immortality he has been working toward since the incident on the Advena Avis in the year of 1711. However due to some unusual circumstances things don't go the way anyone has been planning causing history to be told as a zany tale including my favorite pair of thieves Isaac Dian and Miria Harvent. :)
This installment in the three-part retelling provides tons of backstory on the alchemists, sets up the villain, and explores deeper ethical questions through the eyes of Ennis, a homunculus. While I missed Claire in this one, the story is just getting better.
The artwork is solid and the premise (or at least what I think the premise was) was promising but it really fell down in its execution. It was so chaotic and all over the place that I could not follow the story properly.
Three years have passed and we're finally introduced to the actual bad guy of the series and his... daughter? Secretary? Driver? I don't know what she is. All I know is they're after the secret alchemical formula for immortality and Maiza who is the only one who knows it, because demons...and...what the heck is going on?! And who are those two nut job thieves? Why are they relevant?
Also, Firo's getting promoted. Hurray! (But sadness cause Claire only got a small cameo).