Chapter Summaries

Angel rode a crowded Public Carriage to Daffodil Street, then copied Roselle's Diary into four pages to prepare for the Tarot Club. At the meeting, Justice revealed she had become a Beyonder and thanked Angel for advice that had influenced parliament members, before Mr. Fool asked whether anyone had found Roselle's Diary.

• Angel took a crowded Public Carriage from Zouteland Street to Daffodil Street and briefly wondered where she had seen a round-faced passenger before.
• After lunch and a cold shower, Angel recopied three pages of Roselle's Diary from memory, expanding them into four pages.
• Angel joined the third Tarot Club meeting and learned that Justice had become a Spectator within a week of receiving the Potion formula.
• Justice thanked Angel for advice on civil service examinations, saying several parliament members had approved of the proposal.
• Mr. Fool asked the Tarot Club members whether they had found Roselle's Diary.

At the Tarot Club, Angel and the others shared pages from Roselle's Diary, and the Fool promised to reveal safe information if they found more. Angel explained the Acting Method to Justice and received a lead on buying a Beyonder weapon, while Justice offered up to 500 pounds toward the purchase.

• Angel, Justice, and the Hanged Man presented their pages from Roselle's Diary, which the Fool read before asking them to find more.
• Justice asked what the Acting Method meant, and Angel explained how acting as the Potion's namesake helped digest its power and suppress the risk of losing control.
• Angel asked for a lead on purchasing a Beyonder weapon near Backlund, and the Hanged Man directed her to Kavi Clock Shop in Enmat Harbor.
• Justice offered to contribute up to 500 pounds if Angel faced financial difficulties buying a weapon.

At the Tarot Club gathering, Angel learned more about the Spectator pathway and heard the Hanged Man describe a mysterious slave-trading network. The Fool taught the members a ritual invoking Him and asked them to perform it by Wednesday, leaving Angel and the others newly wary of His power.

• The Hanged Man told Justice that the Spectator pathway's next potions were Telepathist and Psychiatrist, but said the Psychology Alchemists might know their formulas.
• The Hanged Man warned Justice that an ordinary animal would likely die or become a monster after drinking a potion, then described mass kidnappings and disappearing slaves across the Southern Continent.
• Angel connected the slave disappearances to the human trafficking investigated by the Labor Mutual Aid Society and suspected its chairman was only one part of a larger network.
• The Fool taught Angel, Justice, and the Hanged Man a ritual using candles, food, herbs, and an invocation to Him, and asked them to complete it by Wednesday.
• Angel returned to her study and wrote down the ritual and incantations, while Justice and the Hanged Man recorded them in their own locations.

Angel visited the Evil Dragon Bar’s Underground Trading Market to buy materials for the Fool’s Ritual Magic assignment, including essential oils and Sandalwood Candles. After noticing a strange, muttering orphan, she kept browsing and unexpectedly met the shy, round-faced man from the Public Carriage again.

• Angel went to the Evil Dragon Bar and bought several kinds of essential oil from a messy-haired youth, who used the money to purchase herbs from another stall.
• Angel bought a bundle of Sandalwood Candles from a middle-aged amulet seller, paying more than twice their likely value.
• Angel felt a disturbance in her spirituality and noticed a thin, strange young orphan muttering by the wall, but Spirit Vision revealed nothing more.
• Angel continued browsing the market and spotted the round-faced man from the Public Carriage bargaining for a ritual knife.
• The round-faced man recognized Angel, finished speaking with the stall owner, and approached her with a greeting.

Angel met Tris at the Underground Trading Market beneath Evil Dragon Bar, where he advised her about magic rituals and tried to lure her into performing one at his home. After she rejected him and left, Tris met a wanted Assassin and revealed that he worked for Mitis and was preparing to advance as an Instigator.

• Tris greeted Angel at the Underground Trading Market and explained the basics of magic rituals, warning her not to pray to gods of unknown origin.
• Angel compared Tris's advice with the Ritual Magic she knew and learned that he had never successfully completed a ritual.
• Tris invited Angel to his home to try a ritual with her Sandalwood Candles, but her instincts warned her and she refused before leaving the market.
• Tris slipped out of Evil Dragon Bar with a bag and met the wanted Assassin, who had been watching for him in a nearby alley.
• Tris warned the Assassin to leave Tingen after he finished a task for Mitis, then planned to return to the market alone the next day.

Angel learned that Tris, the young man she met at the Evil Dragon Bar, was a Sequence 8 Instigator suspected of causing the Alfalfa tragedy and belonging to the Gnostic Society. Dunn organized a capture operation in Tingen, linking Tris to the Church’s investigation of the Labor Mutual Aid Society case.

• Angel mixed essential oils for ritual magic and hid the bottle until she could buy the required foods.
• Dunn showed the Nighthawks a wanted circular for Tris, and Angel recognized him as the man she had met at the underground market.
• Dunn explained that Tris had used his Instigator abilities to provoke the deadly violence aboard the Alfalfa and warned the Nighthawks about his Assassin-pathway combat skills.
• Dunn sent himself and Leonard to the Evil Dragon Bar, assigned Angel and Seeka to recruit police support, and ordered Klein to guard the base.
• Dunn said Tris might belong to the Gnostic Society, which could also be connected to the Labor Mutual Aid Society case, and Angel suspected the organization was behind the mysterious assassin she had encountered.

Dunn Smith and Leonard Mitchell rushed to the Evil Dragon Bar to capture Tris, while Dunn explained his suspicions about the Holy Cathedral’s unusually swift approval of Angel Granger. They arrived to find the Underground Trading Market raided and Tris already gone, leaving Dunn to wonder whether Tris was preparing to advance.

• Leonard questioned Dunn about leaving Angel behind, and Dunn said he suspected the Holy Cathedral’s strange haste in approving her membership rather than suspecting her personally.
• Dunn told Leonard that the Holy Cathedral had approved Angel’s application in less than a day, while Klein Moretti still awaited further evidence for full membership.
• Dunn and Leonard reached the Evil Dragon Bar and found Machinery Hivemind forces screening the crowd after Tris escaped.
• Svein explained that a Machinery Hivemind informant had followed Tris instead of alerting the authorities, giving Tris time to flee.
• Dunn learned that Tris had been buying Shadow Lizard Scales and Golden Mandala Flowers and wondered whether he was preparing a ritual or a Sequence advancement.

Angel completed the Fool’s requested ritual, though he did not answer her prayer, and later crafted a Slumber Charm. Meanwhile, the Nighthawks’ attempt to capture Tris failed, and Angel began work on a Dream Charm.

• Angel prepared the food, oils, and candles in her basement and performed the ritual to the Fool, but received no response.
• Leonard Mitchell returned to Blackthorn Security Company and told Angel and Klein that Tris had escaped the Machinery Hivemind’s attempted capture.
• Leonard explained that divination attempts had failed and that Dunn Smith remained at the Evil Dragon Bar assisting with the investigation.
• Angel returned home, tidied the ritual site, and ate the Feneboote Noodles after deciding she had completed the Fool’s task.
• Angel practiced crafting charms and successfully made a Slumber Charm, then began preparing a Dream Charm.

Klein confirmed that the Tarot Club’s ritual magic could reach him through the gray fog, while Angel received approval to become a full Nighthawk. After collecting her new revolver, Angel encountered a strange sight near Chanis Gate.

• Klein entered the gray fog and heard Miss Empress’s prayer, confirming that her ritual magic had reached the Fool; he answered, “I know.”
• Angel recalled the Fool’s response as Dunn told her that the Holy Cathedral had approved her promotion to full Nighthawk.
• Angel accepted the promotion, learned about her Chanis Gate watch duties and independent joining task, and was advised to standardize her ammunition.
• Old Neil gave Angel a .38-caliber revolver, bullets, Demon Hunter Bullets, and a shoulder holster, while letting her keep her old gun during the transition.
• Angel left the armory and saw a ridiculous sight as uniform footsteps approached from Chanis Gate.

Angel joined Dunn Smith’s team for an operation involving Sealed Artifact “2-049,” which caused nearby people to become unnaturally sluggish and required a companion’s touch to break the effect. As the team set out for Ray Bieber’s home, the artifact affected Angel, and Klein freed her by pushing her shoulder.

• Dunn Smith led the Nighthawks, including Klein Moretti and Leonard Mitchell, to Angel and recruited her to replace a teammate who had left Tingen.
• Dunn explained that Borgia carried Sealed Artifact “2-049,” whose lag effect struck people nearby until a companion touched them.
• Angel joined the team’s synchronized arm-flexing routine, and Dunn sent Leonard ahead to clear the way and fetch the carriage.
• Dunn directed the group to Ray Bieber’s home to seek further clues, and they left the Blackthorn Security Company together.
• The artifact’s effect seized Angel as she walked behind Borgia, but Klein touched her shoulder and restored her movement.

Angel joined Dunn Smith’s team as they used the Antigonus Puppet to investigate Ray Bieber, whom the Sealed Artifact identified as an Antigonus descendant. After they brought the artifact to Ray’s home and released its restraints, the puppet emerged from its iron box in the carriage.

• Lorotta told Angel that the team was searching for the Antigonus Family’s notebook and explained that the Antigonus Puppet could locate people or objects connected to the family.
• The team rode to Ray Bieber’s home, where the Antigonus Puppet’s violent reaction affected Dunn and Leonard at the same time.
• Borgia concluded that Ray was an Antigonus descendant, and Lorotta explained that the artifact became agitated around the family’s descendants or their aura.
• After Borgia carried the artifact through Ray’s home, he released its spiritual restraints in the carriage, and the puppet climbed out of the box and grinned at the team.

Angel and the others followed 2-049 to the warehouse where Ray Bieber was hiding, but Klein's divination warned them of serious danger ahead. Dunn split the team to prepare for a possible attack, and gunfire erupted while Angel and Leonard climbed toward the rooftops.

• 2-049 guided the carriage through the Docklands to a secluded warehouse, and Borgia resealed the puppet in its iron box.
• Angel sensed they were being watched, and Klein divined that the warehouse ahead held significant danger.
• Dunn sent Angel and Leonard to the rooftops to provide long-range cover while he, Klein, Lorotta, and Borgia continued toward the warehouse.
• Angel and Leonard climbed onto the roof, where they heard gunshots and shouts from the direction of the warehouse.
• Angel told Leonard to return and help Dunn's group, then drew her revolver and ran across the rooftops toward the gunfire.

The Nighthawks fought the Tuxedo Clown, whose illusions and finger snaps produced fireballs and invisible bullets. Angel wounded a second clown who tried to shoot Dunn, but the attack broke Dunn’s control and the Tuxedo Clown resumed fighting, leaving the battle at a stalemate.

• Borgia threw the 2-049 "Antigonus Puppet" away from the group as the Nighthawks prepared to face the fireball attacker.
• Dunn Smith used "Nightmare" to reveal the Tuxedo Clown, who shattered into an illusion when Lorotta attacked and then struck back with fireballs and an invisible bullet.
• Klein fired a rapid barrage while Dunn used "Nightmare" again to slow the Tuxedo Clown.
• Angel spotted a greasepaint-wearing dockworker aiming at Dunn and shot him in the shoulder before he could land a fatal hit.
• The wounded ambusher disrupted Dunn’s control, allowing the Tuxedo Clown to counterattack with flames and invisible bullets as Lorotta and Borgia dodged him.

Angel fought the hooded Assassin Randy on a rooftop while the battle against the Tuxedo Clown continued below. She outmaneuvered Randy and killed him with a revolver shot, leaving the main fight unresolved.

• Angel wounded an ambusher, pursued him across the rooftops, and then spotted the hooded Assassin who had attacked her at the Labor Mutual Aid Society.
• Angel and Randy recognized each other, and she forced him to flee with gunfire and close-combat strikes.
• Randy used a Frost Charm to fill the rooftop with cold mist and tried to exhaust Angel’s ammunition with tossed coins.
• Randy lunged at Angel with Life-Stealing Attack, but she knocked aside his dagger and fired her revolver into his chin.

Angel joined the Nighthawks in fighting the Tuxedo Clown and Mutated Bieber, who targeted the Antigonus Family Notebook. Lorotta recovered the notebook, but the clown closed in, and Bieber exploded, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Angel killed the hooded assassin with her last bullet and went to the main battlefield.
• The dockworker was blasted from the warehouse, and Leonard identified the grotesque creature that emerged as Ray Bieber, who had lost control.
• Mutated Bieber pursued Sealed Artifact 2-049, while Angel warned the Nighthawks and Dunn shot the box out of its reach.
• The Tuxedo Clown attacked Leonard with a fireball, then vanished again as Bieber's howl injured the Nighthawks.
• Lorotta found Bieber's weakness and pulled the Antigonus Family Notebook from its groin while Dunn put the monster to sleep.
• The Tuxedo Clown dodged Angel's shots and approached Lorotta, but Bieber awoke and exploded.

Angel fought the Tuxedo Clown over the Antigonus Notebook while trying to save Klein from Sealed Artifact 2-049. Klein broke free of the artifact’s control, helped Angel shoot the clown, and the clown was then immobilized by 2-049.

• Ray Bieber exploded, scattering the Nighthawks and leaving Dunn, Lorotta, Borgia, and Leonard badly injured.
• Angel found Klein under 2-049’s control and confronted the invisible Tuxedo Clown as he tried to take the Antigonus Notebook.
• Angel and the clown traded shots while circling Klein, and the clown threatened to kill him unless Angel surrendered the notebook.
• Klein blinked to signal Angel, who threw the notebook toward 2-049 as Klein ducked the clown’s invisible bullet.
• Klein shot the clown in the chest, and 2-049’s effects immobilized the wounded clown beside the open iron box.

Angel and Klein killed the Tuxedo Clown after 2-049 took control of him, then regrouped with the surviving Nighthawks. They left the Antigonus Family Notebook inside 2-049’s range, planning to retrieve it together before the Secret Order could return.

• Angel shot the Tuxedo Clown twice in the head while 2-049 held him under its control, killing him.
• Angel realized that killing the clown had brought her Assassin Potion close to full digestion, then set aside her questions about Klein’s escape from 2-049’s control to help the others.
• Angel and Klein found Leonard, Dunn Smith, Borgia, and Lorotta alive, though several were injured or unconscious.
• Leonard explained that the clown belonged to the Secret Order and warned that the Mid Sequence Beyonder could return to seize the notebook.
• Angel told Leonard that Lorotta had retrieved the Antigonus Family Notebook from Ray Bieber, but it had fallen within 2-049’s range; she then confirmed that the clown was dead.

After Ray Bieber's explosion, Angel and Klein helped the Nighthawks secure the Antigonus Notebook and Sealed Artifact 2-049 while Dunn recovered from his injuries. The team searched the scene for Beyonder materials, and Angel remembered that she had left the Assassin's corpse on a rooftop.

• Angel explained that she and Klein had forced the Tuxedo Clown into 2-049's negative-effect range, where he died.
• Leonard brought Dunn Smith Goddess's Gaze, restoring Dunn's clarity after he had forgotten his potion and struck his head.
• Dunn ordered the Nighthawks to reseal 2-049, and Borgia returned the puppet to its iron box and reactivated the holy emblem.
• Dunn confirmed the Antigonus Family Notebook was authentic, and the Nighthawks found chewed human remains in the warehouse.
• Dunn found and collected the grayish-white Beyonder material left by Ray Bieber, then warned the team not to overlook such materials after a mission.
• Angel remembered that she had left the Assassin's corpse on a nearby rooftop.

After the Nighthawks searched the warehouse battlefield, they returned to Blackthorn Security Company with Sealed Artifact 2-049, the Antigonus Notebook, and recovered Beyonder materials. On the ride back, Angel and Klein concealed Klein’s ability to resist 2-049’s effects, while Angel explained how the notebook could protect its holder.

• Leonard and Borgia confirmed the dead Assassin matched the wanted notice and recovered his dagger and a spent frost charm from the rooftop.
• Dunn arranged for Lorotta to guard the battlefield while the other Nighthawks returned to Blackthorn Security Company with the sealed artifact, notebook, and Beyonder materials.
• Borgia asked how Angel and Klein had killed the Secret Order clown, and Angel began recounting the fight while hiding Klein’s independent resistance to 2-049.
• Angel explained that the Antigonus Notebook had awakened Klein and protected its holder from 2-049, and Klein continued her account in agreement.
• Dunn recognized that Angel had not relied on luck, then kept the notebook as the group endured the artifact’s effects on their journey back.

After returning from the battle, Angel reviewed the attacks and her uncertain ties to the Demoness Sect, then realized that countering planned attempts on her life could fulfill the Assassin’s acting requirements. Her Assassin Potion was completely digested, leaving her ready to pursue the Instigator sequence.

• Angel returned the Sealed Artifact and Antigonus Family Notebook to Blackthorn Security Company, where she learned Klein might become an official Nighthawks member and noticed he had resisted 2-049’s control alone.
• Angel returned home and considered the day’s battles, the Secret Order’s attack, and whether the dead Assassin had been working with the Demoness Sect.
• Angel recalled how she had killed Mrs. Sharon, the rooftop Assassin, and the Tuxedo Clown, and realized that foiling an attacker’s plot and killing them could count as Assassin acting.
• Angel understood that the best Assassin could appear as the target, and her Assassin Potion was completely digested.