Chapter Summaries

Angel, a Templar Knight who had been a man, awoke in a strange basement and discovered that he had become a woman. After climbing upstairs and seeing a crimson moon over an unfamiliar street, Angel collapsed as fragments of memory surfaced.

• Angel awoke on the basement floor amid bloodstains and alchemical tools, confused about where she was and why her voice had changed.
• Angel found the candle had gone out but could still see, then climbed the stairs and cautiously escaped through the trapdoor.
• Angel surveyed the room above and saw a deserted street bathed in red light beneath a crimson moon.
• Angel collapsed beside the desk and realized her body had changed, while memories surfaced of her mission and advancement to Sequence 7, Witch.
• Angel's last thought questioned what Loen Kingdom and Tingen City were.

Angel, a former Templar Knight, awoke in the body of Cole Granger after Cole died during an attempt to advance to Witch, leaving her with a changed female form and uncertain Beyonder abilities. She secured the dangerous Beyonder Characteristic Cole left behind and was examining a photograph of Cole and his sister Lily when someone knocked at the door.

• Angel recognized that she had awakened in Tingen City in Cole Granger's transformed female body after his failed Witch advancement.
• Angel inspected the house and discovered she had retained the Assassin ability of Dark Vision.
• Angel found Cole's Witch Beyonder Characteristic in the basement and stored it in a metal box hidden beneath a study floorboard.
• Angel examined Lily Granger's bedroom, changed into Cole's clothes, and identified Lily and Cole in an old photograph.
• Someone knocked at the front door while Angel was studying the photograph.

Angel kept Mrs. Sharon from entering after her advancement into a Witch, then received a badge and women’s clothes from her. She cleaned up Cole Granger’s basement ritual traces, planned a new identity and residence, and left home to find food.

• Angel armed herself and used Spirit Vision to confirm that Mrs. Sharon was waiting outside her door.
• Angel refused to let Mrs. Sharon in, and Mrs. Sharon left a package containing women’s clothes and a badge she said could earn a two-hundred-pound reward.
• Angel decided she needed a legal identity and a new residence, then scrubbed away the ritual traces in the basement.
• Angel changed into the clothes Mrs. Sharon had brought and discovered that the kitchen supplies were spoiled.
• Angel took small denominations of Cole Granger’s money, concealed her revolver under her skirt, and left 6 Daffodil Street to find food.

Angel searched Tingen for a way to obtain false identification papers, then touched a brass badge and was transported into the Gray Fog with two strangers. There she offered a wealthy-seeming girl an Assassin Potion formula in exchange for a legal identity and payment, just as the short-haired man revealed he also had Potion formulas.

• Angel ate an expensive breakfast at the Silver Crown Restaurant, then searched nearby gray-market businesses for a source of false identification papers but rejected a broker's costly offer.
• Angel returned home, secured her rooms, and reached for the dangerous brass badge after her spiritual intuition warned her about it; crimson light transported her and two others into the Gray Fog.
• The mysterious person called the gathering a simple attempt, promised the three strangers they could return, and formed a grand hall around them with a long bronze table.
• Angel and the short-haired man explained ways to become a Beyonder, while the long-haired girl said she wanted supernatural abilities without surrendering her freedom.
• Angel offered the girl an Assassin Potion formula and proposed exchanging further Potion information for a legal identity in Loen and another hundred pounds.
• The short-haired man announced that he also had two Sequence 9 Potion formulas.

Angel, Audrey, and Alger completed their first gathering with Fool, establishing the Tarot Club and agreeing to meet regularly. After returning to their bodies, Klein accepted that he could not return to his former world and declared himself Klein Moretti.

• Captain offered Angel a channel for obtaining a legal identity and negotiated a Spectator formula for Ghost Shark Blood with the girl, with Fool witnessing their agreement.
• Angel, Captain, and the girl asked Fool to hold regular gatherings, and he agreed to meet them every Monday at three in the afternoon.
• The girl chose Justice, Angel chose Empress, and Captain chose Hanged Man as their Tarot Club codenames.
• Alger, Audrey, and Angel returned to their bodies as their items used to connect to the gathering crumbled, and Angel remembered that her badge had been worth two hundred pounds.
• Klein returned to the apartment, concluded that he could not go back to his former world, and declared, "From now on, I am Klein Moretti."

Angel prepared for a nighttime operation and went to Wild Heart Bar to obtain a verifiable identity document through Captain’s contact. Hagg agreed to produce it that night for forty pounds, and Angel waited at the bar.

• Angel cooked her first proper meal, then inspected and prepared Cole Granger’s revolver and dagger for the operation.
• Angel walked through Iron Cross Lower Street and examined Wild Heart Bar, noting its hidden guards, back-door carriage, and blocked drains.
• Angel entered the bar, gave the bartender Captain’s code, and ordered a Half and Half while waiting for Hagg.
• Angel negotiated with Hagg for an identity document, offering forty pounds in exchange for it that night.
• Hagg accepted Angel’s written identity details and told her to wait two hours, while Angel declined to drink or watch Dog Catches Mouse.

Angel received a temporary identification as Angel Granger and returned to Daffodil Street after dealing with a drunken man who tried to rob her. With her identity secured and her home checked, she began planning how to establish herself in Tingen.

• Hagg gave Angel identification papers under the name Angel Granger and warned that they would fail verification until her forged records reached Backlund.
• Angel left Wild Heart and noticed a man following her through the streets, but a passing police carriage briefly drove him off.
• The man approached Angel with a pistol, and she disarmed him, learned he had found the gun at the docks, and took it from him.
• Angel dismantled the pistol and discarded its parts and bullets before returning to Cole's house on Daffodil Street.
• Angel checked the house, changed clothes, and began writing out her plans for settling in Tingen.

Angel established herself as Cole Granger’s cousin and spread word of his disappearance, but a letter from Sharon Khoy forced her to abandon her plans and flee Tingen City. She reported Cole’s crimes to the police and prepared to travel to Backlund, leaving her next move uncertain.

• Angel destroyed her notes, introduced herself to maid Tromi as Cole’s distant cousin, and told her that Cole had disappeared.
• Over the next two days, Angel visited places Cole frequented and told people he had been missing, making them remember her as his worried relative.
• Angel found an unsigned letter from Sharon Khoy inviting Cole to meet the following evening and, fearing Sharon’s power, decided to run.
• Angel left Cole’s diaries and letters with the Tingen City Police Headquarters to prompt an investigation into Cole’s crimes and Sharon’s connections.
• Angel planned to travel by boat to Backlund, warn Lily Granger, and then leave the region, but the bells of Saint Selena Cathedral drew her attention.

Angel visited Saint Selena Cathedral while fleeing Tingen and sought guidance in confession about whether to confront the danger surrounding her. After an eerie interruption and a struggle with her doubts, she chose to alert the Beyonders and left the cathedral resolved to act.

• Angel entered Saint Selena Cathedral, donated five pounds, and accepted a pastor’s invitation to confession.
• Angel described her conflict over retreating from evil, and an uncanny voice told her that those who bravely faced fear would be rewarded.
• Angel weighed the risks of leaving Madam Sharon to the authorities against confronting the danger herself, then decided to seek help for the case.
• Angel told the bishop that Cole Granger’s crimes and the murders and disappearances were tied to higher-level Beyonders, and asked him to alert the Nighthawks or other Beyonders.
• Angel left the Confessional and departed the cathedral feeling a deep tranquility around her.

Angel rushed to the Docklands to buy materials and returned to 6 Daffodil Street to prepare special ammunition for her imminent confrontation with Mrs. Sharon. After her prayer to the Goddess of Light failed, her prayer to the Evernight Goddess empowered a Storm Convergence bullet, leaving her with a way to make the rest more effective.

• Angel hired a carriage to the Evil Dragon Bar and bought reagents, Luminous Lizard scales, Screaming Grass, and Star Crystal at the underground market.
• Angel stopped at Iron Cross Street to retrieve a handgun, then returned to 6 Daffodil Street and set up in the basement to make ammunition.
• Angel crafted a Storm Convergence bullet using the materials and techniques she remembered from her original world.
• Angel's prayer to the Goddess of Light had no effect, so she replaced the divine engraving with the holy emblem of the Evernight Goddess.
• Angel prayed to the Evernight Goddess, and crimson electrical arcs appeared in the bullet casing, confirming that the prayer had empowered it.

Angel finished crafting ammunition and met Dunn Smith, a Nighthawk investigating Cole Granger and Mrs. Sharon. After learning Sharon might belong to the Demoness Sect, Dunn agreed to pursue her that night, but Angel suddenly woke on a stone table in darkness.

• Angel made twenty Storm Convergence bullets and three Phantom Phosphor Eruption rounds, then put them away as dawn arrived.
• Angel found Dunn Smith in her home, where he explained that the police and Bishop Romulus had reported Cole Granger's suspected Beyonder crimes.
• Angel told Dunn that Mrs. Sharon had supplied Cole with Potions, controlled him, and invited Angel to meet her that night.
• Angel said Mrs. Sharon might belong to the Demoness Sect, prompting Dunn to seek approval for an operation against her that night.
• Angel refused Nighthawk protection and insisted on joining the battle, but the scene shattered and she found herself lying on a stone table in darkness.

Angel woke to find Nighthawk Dunn Smith in her home, having questioned her through a dream about Cole Granger and Mrs. Sharon. Dunn brought Daly Simone and Leonard Mitchell to investigate, then ordered Angel taken to Blackthorn Security Company while the Nighthawks prepared an operation against Mrs. Sharon.

• Angel packed away the bullets she had made and planned to report Mrs. Sharon to the Church of the Evernight Goddess or the Church of the Lord of Storms.
• Angel found Dunn Smith waiting in her living room and learned that he belonged to the Sleepless Sequence and had guided her dream to question her.
• Dunn said the Nighthawks had linked Cole Granger to eleven murders and seven deaths or disappearances, with Sharon Hoy, Mrs. Sharon, as the mastermind.
• Daly Simone and Leonard Mitchell joined Dunn, reported finding no useful evidence upstairs, and described the strange absence of spirits from the house.
• Dunn ordered the Nighthawks to take Angel to Blackthorn Security Company for protection and to prevent information leaks before their operation against Mrs. Sharon.

Angel left her home under Nighthawk protection and met Klein Moretti outside, where Dunn Smith clarified that she was a witness in Cole Granger’s disappearance. During the carriage ride, Angel explained that her bullets had gained the Evernight Goddess’s power, leaving Leonard Mitchell and Daly Simone puzzled when she revealed she had been a believer for less than twenty-four hours.

• Angel packed her weapons and cash, then left the Granger residence under escort, with Leonard Mitchell keeping her guns.
• Angel saw Klein Moretti outside 2 Daffodil Street as he inspected a nearby house, and Dunn Smith introduced her as a witness in Cole Granger’s disappearance.
• Leonard showed Angel a Demon Hunter Bullet and asked about the engraved bullets she had made; Angel said they came from a religion that no longer existed.
• Angel demonstrated that the Evernight Goddess’s power had blessed her bullets and explained that she had prayed to her former god before receiving the blessing.
• Angel admitted she had believed in the Evernight Goddess for less than twenty-four hours, prompting Leonard and Daly Simone to exchange puzzled looks.

Angel accompanied Dunn Smith to the Nighthawks’ Blackthorn Security Company, where she described Madam Sharon’s known abilities and warned that she might be as powerful as a Sequence 6 Beyonder. Dunn prepared to capture her with four Nighthawks and appropriate Sealed Artifacts, while Angel remained at the base awaiting the operation.

• Dunn Smith brought Angel to the Nighthawks’ base at Blackthorn Security Company and told Leonard Mitchell to notify the other team members about that night’s operation.
• Daly went to rest, while Dunn instructed Angel to stay at the base for her safety and arranged for a female Nighthawk to keep her company.
• Dunn asked Angel to recount Madam Sharon’s abilities, and Angel explained her Assassin, Instigator, and Witch powers based on what Cole Granger had witnessed.
• Angel warned that Madam Sharon might have advanced or nearly advanced to Sequence 6 and urged Dunn to bring more people.
• Dunn said four Nighthawks would use measures suited to a Sequence 6 Beyonder, leaving Angel uneasy about the planned capture.

Angel spent the afternoon at Blackthorn Security Company talking with Seeka Tron about the Nighthawks and Tingen’s other Beyonder forces. Leonard Mitchell later asked whether she would consider joining the Nighthawks, leaving Angel worried about what would happen after Mrs. Sharon was caught.

• Seeka Tron brought Angel lunch and explained that the Nighthawks had six combat personnel and shared Tingen’s territory with other church Beyonder teams.
• Angel and Seeka Tron chatted until Leonard Mitchell arrived to summon Seeka to a meeting about that night’s operation.
• After Seeka left, Angel read sensational newspapers and found an article speculating about missing Tingen University students.
• Leonard asked Angel about her impression of the Nighthawks, and she criticized their nighttime intrusion while acknowledging their efficiency.
• Leonard asked whether Angel might join the Nighthawks and said the captain would discuss her placement after Mrs. Sharon was arrested.
• Angel worried that exposing her identity and Beyonder powers could put her in danger, then returned to reading the newspaper.

The Tingen City Nighthawks prepared to arrest Madam Sharon while Angel Granger remained at Blackthorn Security Company under Leonard Mitchell and Daly Simone’s protection. As Leonard questioned Angel about the strange writing on her special bullets, Daly sensed that nearby Spirit Bodies were uneasy, leaving the group on alert.

• Seeka Tron told Angel that Daly Simone was a Nighthawk from Enmat Harbor who had come to Tingen for a Beyonder Item incident.
• Dunn Smith assigned Frye, Royale, and Seeka Tron to arrest Madam Sharon, while Leonard Mitchell and Daly stayed behind to protect Angel.
• Dunn explained Madam Sharon’s known abilities and the plan to use his dream powers and Sealed Artifact 2-105 against her.
• The operation team departed for Madam Sharon’s home, and Leonard told Angel about the Nighthawks’ clerical staff and staffing shortages.
• Leonard returned Angel’s weapons and asked what the unfamiliar writing on her Storm Convergence bullets meant.
• Daly sensed that nearby Spirit Bodies were uneasy and stood up to warn Angel and Leonard.

Angel and the Nighthawks were attacked at Blackthorn Security Company by the stronger Beyonder Madam Sharon, who immobilized them with invisible threads. They broke free and struck her apparent position, but after she escaped a mirror substitution, Angel spotted her closing in on Daly.

• Daly sensed a hostile, powerful Beyonder nearby, and Leonard identified Madam Sharon as the likely attacker and urged everyone to flee to Chanis Gate.
• Madam Sharon trapped Angel, Daly, and Leonard with invisible threads, but Angel fired a Phantom Phosphor Eruption bullet at Daly to reveal the attacker and weaken the threads.
• The powder exposed Madam Sharon's invisible position, and Leonard's chant put her under a drowsy influence while Daly used blue flames to burn away the threads.
• Angel fired a Storm Convergence round at Madam Sharon, but it struck a mirror that shattered as she escaped with Mirror Substitution.
• Angel spread Phantom Phosphor Powder through the room again and saw Madam Sharon rushing toward Daly from behind.

Angel, Leonard, and Daly fought Mrs. Sharon, whose invisibility, mirror substitutions, and varied attacks made her difficult to defeat. The chapter ended with Daly once again immobilizing Mrs. Sharon just as she was about to strike.

• Angel used phantom phosphor to reveal Mrs. Sharon and fought her at close range while Leonard and Daly recovered from the invisible threads.
• Mrs. Sharon attacked with black flames and an ice spike, but Leonard and Daly helped Angel keep her at bay until Daly immobilized her with a spirit body.
• Angel shot Mrs. Sharon, but the apparent kill was a mirror substitution, and the real Mrs. Sharon reappeared behind Angel.
• Daly began another seance while Angel and Leonard tried to protect her, but Mrs. Sharon used invisible threads to entangle Leonard and a mirror substitution to reach Daly.
• Angel ran out of bullets as Mrs. Sharon raised her black-flame dagger over Daly, but Daly opened her eyes and immobilized Mrs. Sharon again.

Angel, Daly, and Leonard killed Mrs. Sharon after stopping her attempt to remove Daly’s curse. With Daly unconscious and police gathering outside, Leonard went to keep them from reaching the reception room until the captain could handle the news.

• Daly revealed that she had lied about the time needed to bind Mrs. Sharon, and Leonard smashed the room’s mirrors to prevent further Mirror Substitution.
• Mrs. Sharon encased herself in ice and threads while trying to remove Daly’s curse, so Daly identified her hidden head and Angel shot through the cocoon, killing her.
• Daly collapsed from depleted spirituality, and Leonard explained that she could perform spirit mediumship on the dead but was too exhausted to question Mrs. Sharon.
• Leonard told Angel that Dunn Smith and Daly appeared to have feelings for each other, then covered Mrs. Sharon’s body and went downstairs to keep the police away.
• The sounds of the police outside abruptly stopped, and Leonard returned to look out the window.

The Nighthawks went to capture Mrs. Sharon, but Dunn Smith discovered she had left before their arrival. They searched her residence and found signs of Magic Mirror Divination, suggesting she had learned of their plans and escaped, leaving the team to gather evidence and report the failed raid.

• Dunn Smith led Frye, Royale Leiting, and Seeka Tron to Olsner Street with the Blood Vessel Thief, intending to put Mrs. Sharon to sleep and attack her.
• Dunn used Nightmare and learned from the sleeping maids that Mrs. Sharon had left half an hour earlier.
• After considering their options, the Nighthawks entered Mrs. Sharon's residence and searched her bedroom.
• Frye identified a blood-smeared mirror and other objects as signs of Magic Mirror Divination, but found no spiritual radiance indicating Mrs. Sharon was still there.
• Seeka suggested Mrs. Sharon had divined Angel Granger's betrayal and their location, and Dunn realized his conspicuous visit to the Granger residence may have exposed the operation.