Recaps

Ronan received the unsolved massacre of Levi Bauer’s family as his first case at the Fourth Precinct and examined the crime scene with Detective Kash. The clues suggested the killer may have been a Transcendent, while Levi Bauer’s past as a seafarer became a lead for Ronan to investigate.

• Ford Hamilton assigned Ronan the Levi Bauer family massacre and ordered Detective Kash to assist him.
• Ronan told Kash to take him to the crime scene, and they rode bicycles to the sealed apartment.
• Ronan examined the apartment and learned the killer had stabbed Levi Bauer more than a hundred times while killing the rest of the family with a single stab each.
• Kash said the killer might have been a Transcendent and reported that Levi Bauer had no known enemies or business rivals in Ceres.
• Kash revealed that Levi Bauer had spent a long time aboard seagoing ships, and Ronan asked to examine his body.

Ronan used Little Black to track the killer of Levi Ball's family to a tailor shop and identified the old tailor as Walkerley. When Walkerley attacked and tried to flee, Detective Kash shot both his knees, leaving him down in the shop.

• Ronan inspected Levi Ball's family's bodies and returned to the crime scene with Little Black.
• Little Black picked up the killer's scent and tracked it through the streets to Walkerley's tailor shop.
• Ronan confronted Walkerley and accused him of murdering Levi Ball's family.
• Walkerley drew a tailor's knife and stabbed at Ronan's throat, but Ronan caught the blade barehanded.
• Walkerley tried to escape, and Detective Kash shot both his knees.

Ronan captured Walkerley, the tailor who murdered Levi Bauer and his family, and helped uncover evidence linking him to several other unsolved cases. After the case was transferred to the General Police Bureau, Ronan returned to the Fourth Precinct, where an officer from the bureau came to find him.

• Ronan shot Walkerley's hands, knocked him unconscious, and warned Detective Kash that the murderer had a poison tooth.
• Detective Kash secured Walkerley and the murder weapon, then Chief Ford Hamilton arrived and challenged Ronan's account of how he solved the case.
• Officers searched Walkerley's clothing store and found an underground room containing stolen jewelry, including rings belonging to Levi Bauer and his wife.
• Ford Hamilton reported the broader case to the district and General Police Bureaus, and Walkerley was taken to the General Police Bureau for interrogation.
• Ronan returned to the Fourth Precinct the next morning to find the officers' opinion of him had changed, then a General Police Bureau officer came to see him that afternoon.

Police Superintendent Simpson tried to requisition Ronan’s beast pet, Little Black, but Ronan refused and claimed it had run away. Simpson returned to the General Police Bureau, where Tina ordered him to obtain Little Black within a week and promised him three Life Potions.

• Police Superintendent Simpson told Ronan that the General Police Bureau needed Little Black’s ability for another major case and offered a subsidy for its temporary use.
• Ronan said Little Black had run away and refused Simpson’s demand, warning that he could not complete an impossible task.
• Simpson threatened Ronan over his probationary status, but Ronan pointed out that Simpson could not dismiss him without proper grounds.
• Simpson returned to the General Police Bureau and told Tina that Ronan claimed the beast pet was lost.
• Tina slapped Simpson, ordered him to obtain Little Black within a week, and promised him three Life Potions if he succeeded.

Ronan protected Dolores and Janice from the danger of being followed, then received an early promotion and a difficult assignment to capture the escaped murderer Balder Eady. He recognized the assignment as another attempt to target him and decided to pursue it rather than back down.

• Ronan noticed two trackers following him, evaded them, and warned Dolores to keep Janice home while he secured their East District villa.
• Ronan spent three days strengthening the villa's defenses and turning its underground wine cellar into a safe room as the trackers continued to pursue him.
• The General Police Bureau ended Ronan's probation early, made him an official Deputy Chief of the Old Port District Fourth Precinct, and awarded him another major merit.
• Ford Hamilton gave Ronan a one-week assignment to capture Balder Eady, the escaped murderer known as Poison Wolf.
• Ronan suspected Police Superintendent Simpson or his allies had arranged the assignment and told Ford Hamilton he would catch Balder Eady.

Ronan investigated Bald Eddie after receiving an incomplete case file and discovered the fugitive was a powerful poison-using criminal likely hiding in Ceres's sewers. He decided to approach Bald Eddie through Morpheus Mendt, the leader of the Razor Gang, and set out for the Edelman Shipyard.

• Ronan suspected that the General Police Bureau had concealed information in Bald Eddie's case file and went to investigate independently.
• Ronan asked Rose Sinclair to gather intelligence on Bald Eddie within three days.
• Ronan completed his alchemy orders while waiting for Rose Sinclair's report.
• Rose Sinclair's documents revealed Bald Eddie's crimes, strength, poison skills, royal capital accomplices, and likely hiding place in Ceres's sewer system.
• Ronan learned that Bald Eddie was close to Morpheus Mendt, leader of the Razor Gang, and that Morpheus could be found at the Edelman Shipyard.

Ronan went to Edelman Shipyard to confront the Razor Gang leader, Mephis Mendert, and used his guns and psionic powers to force the gang to take him to their boss. The chapter ended with the gang leader agreeing to lead Ronan inside.

• Ronan arrived at Edelman Shipyard and told the guards he was Deputy Chief of the Fourth Precinct and wanted to speak with Mephis Mendert.
• When a guard drew a revolver, Ronan shot the weapon from his hand, then wounded another gangster who tried to ambush him with a shotgun.
• Ronan used Psionic Spike to knock out the first guard after he threatened him, and more Razor Gang members gathered at the gate.
• Ronan used a spell to pull a shotgun from a gangster’s hands, revealing himself as a spellcaster.
• The Razor Gang leader agreed to take Ronan to Mephis Mendert after realizing he could not safely dismiss him.

Ronan confronted Morpheus Mendt at the Razor Gang’s shipyard and fought off a mass attack with his Psionic Power and revolver. After Morpheus’s charge struck a steel shield Ronan had raised, the gang leader entered a half-frenzied state and leaped into the air.

• Ronan entered the dry dock and faced Morpheus Mendt, asking about someone’s whereabouts.
• Morpheus ordered his gang to kill Ronan after demanding that he leave an arm behind.
• Ronan stopped the gangsters’ bullets in midair and sent them flying back, killing or wounding many of them.
• Ronan used his revolver to shoot down gangsters who continued attacking him.
• Morpheus leaped at Ronan with an enchanted battle axe, but Ronan slid away and raised a thick steel plate as a shield.
• Morpheus’s charge dented the steel shield, and he then leaped into the air in a half-frenzied state.

Ronan defeated Murphys Mendte and the Razor Gang, then forced the gang leader to reveal how to contact Bald Eady. The chapter ended with Ronan taking the whistle and wishing Murphys a good journey.

• Murphys Mendte leaped at Ronan, but Ronan shot him six times with the alchemical revolver and crippled him.
• Ronan shot down the remaining Razor Gang members, and the knight absorbed their bloodshed as it moved toward transforming into a Death Knight.
• Ronan confronted Murphys Mendte and threatened his family to make him answer questions.
• Ronan asked for Bald Eady's whereabouts, and Murphys Mendte revealed the exact method of contacting him and handed over a whistle.
• Ronan took the whistle and told Murphys Mendte to have a good journey.

Ronan watched the Razor Gang’s shipyard collapse in flames, wiping out Mephis Mendert and nearly two hundred gang members. The next morning, he returned to the Fourth Precinct, where Ford Hamilton questioned him about the fire and reminded him to capture Balde Edi before the deadline.

• Ronan watched Edelman Shipyard burn and collapse, burying Mephis Mendert and nearly two hundred Razor Gang members.
• The next morning, Fourth Precinct officers discussed the Razor Gang’s destruction and speculated about Ronan’s chances of catching Balde Edi.
• Ronan went to Ford Hamilton’s office and refused to wait when Ford initially ignored him.
• Ford asked Ronan where he had been during the fire, and Ronan said he had been at home and had seen it.
• Ronan told Ford he would catch Balde Edi within the deadline unless Balde was dead, then left the office.
• Ford, worried that he was losing control of Ronan, picked up the magnetic telephone receiver and cranked its handle.

Ronan followed Morpheus Mendt’s coded directions through Ceres’s sewers to find the wanted criminal Balder Eady. He revealed that he had come to arrest Balder and admitted killing Morpheus, leaving Balder stunned by the news of his friend’s death.

• Ronan entered the sewers, followed the triangular markers, and used Morpheus Mendt’s bone whistle and code phrases to summon a guide.
• A thin boy carrying a Horse Lantern led Ronan through the sewers to an underground settlement where rats gathered around him.
• The boy brought Ronan to Balder Eady’s tent, and Ronan introduced himself as a deputy chief who had come to arrest him.
• Ronan told Balder that Morpheus was dead and that he had killed him along with nearly two hundred others.
• Balder’s smile faded as he absorbed the news, then he acknowledged that Ronan was very strong.

Ronan confronted Bald. Eady, who surrendered and revealed that his murder of Baron Franklin Norton had exposed a vampire operation that refined Life Potions from human sacrifices. Ronan chose to investigate the conspiracy and let Bald. Eady go, despite the danger, while Bald. Eady stayed to protect the people relying on him.

• Bald. Eady admitted he did not want to fight Ronan and agreed to surrender, while knocking the scrawny youth unconscious.
• Bald. Eady explained that he had founded a settlement for persecuted poor people and used stolen wealth, traded through Morpheus Mendet's Razor Gang, to provide for them.
• Bald. Eady revealed that he had killed Baron Franklin Norton after discovering the baron's human trafficking and vampire-backed scheme to make Life Potions from human lives.
• Bald. Eady warned Ronan that powerful people colluding with vampires would kill them both to keep the secret hidden.
• Ronan decided to investigate the matter and let Bald. Eady go, but Bald. Eady refused to leave Ceres because the settlement's people depended on him.

As the Blood Moon approached, Ronan prepared to protect Dolores and Janice while avoiding early exposure of the Life Potion secret. After resigning from the police force rather than submit to Ford Hamilton, he was confronted by Internal Affairs investigators who accused him of involvement in a major murder case.

• Ronan returned to the villa and told Dolores she and Janice would have to remain in Ceres, then built a hidden passage and safe house for their escape.
• Ronan returned to the Fourth Precinct, where Ford Hamilton demanded to know where Balder Eddy was and threatened him over the failed mission.
• Ronan resigned, surrendering his police equipment, and left the precinct despite Ford Hamilton's attempt to stop him.
• After Ronan completed his resignation procedures, Investigator Jenkins and five other Internal Affairs officers surrounded him and ordered him to assist in a murder investigation.

Ronan faced Jenkins in the Internal Affairs Department’s interrogation room and admitted to killing the Razor Gang and burning Edelman Shipyard, while revealing his knowledge of nobles colluding with vampires to make Life Potions. Jenkins realized the revelation threatened powerful interests and lunged at Ronan with a supernatural Skinning Knife, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Jenkins threatened to break Ronan’s bones and warned that no one could protect him from the Internal Affairs Department.
• Ronan admitted that he had killed Morpheus Mendert and the rest of the Razor Gang and set fire to Edelman Shipyard.
• Ronan said he had found Balder Idy and knew nobles were working with vampires to refine Life Potions from innocent people.
• Jenkins recognized that Ronan’s claims could expose a kingdom-shaking secret, and that the department’s higher-ups were listening from the next room.
• Jenkins drew his Skinning Knife and attacked Ronan, aiming for his throat.

Ronan broke free from his restraints and fought his way out of the Internal Affairs Department, killing the investigators and guards who tried to stop him. He recovered his weapons and ended a wizard’s attack, leaving the corridor strewn with his enemies.

• Ronan blocked Jenkins’s knife with Psionic Power, shattered his restraints, and killed him with the Skinning Knife.
• Ronan broke through the wall into a secret room, killed two men, and incapacitated a third before taking his crimson runestone containing a trace of the Origin of the World.
• Ronan left the room and redirected a barrage of bullets into the Internal Affairs Department guards, killing many of them.
• Ronan recovered Knight and Ranger from the evidence room.
• Ronan used Knight to shoot through a fire dragon, stopped the spell with a Psionic Wall, and killed the white-robed wizard with a bullet through the forehead.

Ronan fought his way through the Internal Affairs Department to reach its Curio Vault, killing an elite squad and a Crimson Giant Lizard along the way. As he began scanning the vault’s massive alloy door, an elderly vampire appeared behind him, and Ronan challenged him about whether the Yara Church knew he was there.

• Ronan shot the white-robed wizard who had attacked him and hurried toward the Curio Vault.
• Internal Affairs Department steel warriors attacked Ronan with poison gas and gunfire, but he charged through their defenses and killed all twenty with Jenkins's skinning knife.
• A Crimson Giant Lizard burst into the corridor, and Ronan killed it with three alchemical bullets to its forehead and eyes.
• Ronan reached the Curio Vault and used his Psionic Power to scan the locking mechanism of its massive alloy door.
• An elderly bald man with a black flame insignia appeared behind Ronan, and Ronan identified him as a vampire and asked whether the Yara Church knew he was hiding in the Internal Affairs Department.

Ronan fought Magnus Conn, a high-level Blood Clan member, and overcame his Dark Sky Curtain with alchemical bullets and the Skinning Knife. He trapped Magnus with Psionic Storm and stopped his clawed strike, leaving Magnus unable to escape and facing Ronan’s overwhelming strength.

• Magnus Conn revealed his identity and attacked Ronan, but Ronan’s shots missed when Magnus turned into black smoke.
• Magnus unleashed Dark Sky Curtain, but Ronan used alchemical bullets to wound him and then cut him down with the Skinning Knife.
• Magnus healed his wounds, questioned Ronan’s identity, and warned that the Internal Affairs Department headquarters was surrounded by the army.
• Ronan unleashed Psionic Storm, preventing Magnus from entering his smoke-like state and pressing him with crushing force.
• Magnus lunged at Ronan with a black claw, but Ronan caught it and stopped it in midair, frightening Magnus.

Ronan killed Magnus Conn by suppressing his bloodline power, harvesting his Blood Core, and entering the Internal Affairs Curio Vault. Inside, he began examining the sealed Curios and found a beast hide that transformed his arm.

• Ronan trapped Magnus Conn with Psionic Power and suppressed his bloodline, leaving the high-level Blood Clan unable to fight back.
• Ronan skinned Magnus Conn with the Skinning Knife until Magnus’s will broke, then seized his Blood Core as the corpse turned to ash.
• Ronan unlocked the vault, forced open its massive alloy door, and slipped inside before it locked behind him.
• Ronan surveyed the Curio Vault and opened a box containing a blackish-brown beast hide.
• The beast hide wrapped around Ronan’s arm, transforming it into a scaled, clawed limb as violent intent seeped into his body.

Ronan subdued a strange beast-hide Curio and searched the Curio Vault for items containing the Origin of the World while the Internal Affairs Department pursued him. He found thirty-seven valuable Curios before hearing the people outside begin breaking through the door.

• Ronan forced the strange beast-hide Curio to retreat into its box and continued opening the sealed boxes in the vault.
• Koslin Doughton led a group to the Curio Vault, where Irene sensed Ronan inside and demanded that the door be opened.
• The workers failed to unlock the door, and Irene killed one of them before ordering the vault door smashed open.
• Ronan searched the vault and found thirty-seven Curios containing the Origin of the World.
• Ronan heard the door being smashed from outside.

Ronan refined the Origin of the World into the Blood Moon Ring, raising his Psionic Power to the peak of Seven Rings, then emptied the Curio Vault. When the Internal Affairs Department’s forces broke in, Ronan turned their gunfire against them, killing Koslin Dalton and driving Irene to flee.

• Ronan combined the Origins extracted from the curios and refined them into the Blood Moon Ring, reaching the peak of Seven Rings.
• Ronan put on the Blood Moon Ring and stored the Curio Vault’s entire collection inside it.
• The steel warriors opened the vault door and fired alchemical bullets at Ronan.
• Ronan sent the bullets back through the attackers, killing many steel warriors and Koslin Dalton.
• Irene sensed Ronan’s terrifying aura and ran away.

Ronan left the Curio Vault after refining the Blood Moon Ring, killed Irene when she attacked him with the Soul Annihilator Crossbow, and made his way through the Internal Affairs Department headquarters. He emerged to find the Royal Capital Garrison Army and Night Watchmen surrounding the building, and rejected an officer’s demand that he surrender.

• Irene fled the Curio Vault but Ronan used his Psionic Power to drag her back and suppress her.
• After Ronan released her and turned away, Irene aimed the Soul Annihilator Crossbow at him, but he seized it with his Psionic Power.
• Ronan fired the crossbow at Irene, killing her, and discovered that the weapon had lost its Extraordinary attributes.
• Ronan stored the crossbow in the Blood Moon Ring and passed through the headquarters as alarms sounded and its weakened defenses offered little resistance.
• Ronan reached the lobby and found the building deserted while tens of thousands of Royal Capital Garrison Army soldiers and Night Watchmen surrounded it.
• An officer called on Ronan Raymond to surrender, but Ronan refused to negotiate with him and demanded someone more important.

Ronan Raymond stopped the Garrison Army’s gunfire with his Psionic Power and gave the kingdom two hours to send an official negotiator. As Ronan waited inside the Internal Affairs Department, Prime Minister Charles Thornton’s cabinet debated how to respond to his overwhelming strength.

• The officer delivering the Garrison Army’s message ordered the soldiers to open fire, but Ronan stopped every bullet in midair and crushed them into a copper sphere.
• Ronan warned the soldiers to send someone authorized to negotiate within two hours, then returned to the Internal Affairs Department lobby.
• Ronan asked a frightened receptionist to make him coffee and reassured her that he would not hurt her.
• At an emergency cabinet meeting, General Andre urged the kingdom to attack Ronan, while other officials questioned whether the military could stop him.
• A cabinet official estimated that Ronan had reached at least the fifth tier, with the possibility that his strength was even greater.

After Ronan Raymond's destructive power alarmed the Cabinet, Invia sent Gustav Rhine to negotiate with him. The kingdom accepted Ronan's demands for access to the Wang Family's Secret Vault and a new Alchemy Tower in Ceres's East District in exchange for three non-mandatory offers of aid.

• Charles Taunton persuaded the Cabinet to negotiate with Ronan Raymond and recruit him if possible.
• Gustav Rhine met Ronan at the Internal Affairs Department and asked what terms he wanted.
• Ronan demanded permission to visit the Wang Family's Secret Vault and a ten-story Alchemy Tower in Ceres's East District, offering to make three non-mandatory moves for the kingdom.
• Gustav Rhine reported the terms, and the Cabinet and royal family argued over them before agreeing.
• Gustav Rhine returned to tell Ronan that the kingdom would open the secret vault and build him a fourth Alchemy Tower in the East District.

Ronan secured a secret agreement with the royal family and cabinet, ending the immediate danger to Dolores and Janice. After returning to the precinct, he announced that he would resign and hinted that he had a parting gift for Chief Ford Hamilton.

• Ronan signed the confidential agreement allowing him to visit the secret vault, and Gustav Rhine offered him a larger share of Golden Sail Trading Company profits and Rose Sinclair's permanent service.
• Ronan rewarded receptionist Linda with a valuable ruby before leaving the Internal Affairs Department, where the authorities began clearing away evidence of the battle and preparing a purge.
• Ronan returned to his villa and told Dolores and Janice that the crisis was over, then assured Janice she could return to school.
• The next day, Ronan took Janice to school and visited the Old Port District Fourth Precinct, where Ford Hamilton offered to resign and hand over control.
• Ronan told Ford that he had come to resign himself and planned to give the chief a parting gift.

Ronan entered the Kingdom's Secret Vault beneath Nidre Tower to draw the Origin of the World from its treasures. A red dragon named Gregory emerged from a pile of gold, revealing the royal family had concealed a dangerous surprise in the vault.

• Ronan showed the King's authorization to the white-robed guard, who opened the golden gate to the Secret Vault.
• Ronan entered the vault and used the Blood Moon Ring to draw the Origin of the World from its many treasures.
• Gregory, a red dragon hidden beneath a mountain of gold, woke and challenged Ronan.
• Ronan realized the King of Invya had concealed the dragon from him, making it a trap prepared by the royal family.