Chapter Summaries

Angel and Klein prepared applications to advance to Sequence 8, while Angel hinted to Rozanne that their rapid progress came from a method of mastering Potions. Leonard revealed his familiarity with Potion digestion and, after the pair went to submit their applications, wondered whether he should advance too.

• Angel told Rozanne that she and Klein had learned a way to master Potions quickly and were preparing to advance.
• Rozanne and Angel discussed how the method might help the other Nighthawks, though Old Neil's age and health made advancement risky.
• Rozanne complained about Tingen's mayoral election turmoil and the muddy road caused by the renovation of Street Park.
• Leonard arrived, reacted with surprise to Angel and Klein's planned advancement, and let slip that he understood Potion digestion.
• Klein handed Angel the prepared applications, and she approved hers before going with him to submit it to the captain.
• After Angel and Klein left, Leonard wondered whether he should advance as well.

Angel revealed the Acting Method to her fellow Nighthawks by describing how she and others mastered their Potions, while Klein informed Kenley. Angel and Klein then connected the Church’s secrecy about the method to the Law of Conservation of Extraordinary Characteristics and the danger of Beyonders killing one another for advancement materials.

• Leonard introduced Angel to Seeka, Frye, and Royale as someone who had mastered her Sequence 9 Potion in less than two months.
• Angel shared examples and her own Assassin Rule, indirectly teaching the Nighthawks the Acting Method without naming it outright.
• Angel told Klein that Seeka, Royale, Frye, and possibly Leonard had gained insight, while Klein reported that Kenley had also understood the method.
• Angel told Klein that Beyonder Characteristics left by the dead could serve as Potion materials, and Klein concluded that the Church might hide the Acting Method to prevent demand for those materials from driving Beyonders to kill.
• Angel recalled that Captain Dunn had taken a Sequence 6 Beyonder Characteristic from Mrs. Sharon.

Angel and Klein learned that a Holy Cathedral assessor had arrived to evaluate their advancement applications. The assessor, high-sequence deacon Crestet Cesimir, waited in the underground Alchemy Room with the formulas and materials for their next Potions, leaving Angel alarmed by Daly’s hint that she had submitted the application for her.

• Leonard told the Nighthawks that he had gained new insights into acting and might apply to advance from Midnight Poet.
• Dunn Smith summoned Angel and Klein and told them that someone from the Holy Cathedral had arrived.
• Angel recognized Daly in the reception hall, and Dunn identified Crestet Cesimir as the assessor waiting underground.
• Daly said Crestet had brought the formulas and materials for clown and Instigator Potions so Angel and Klein could advance if they passed.
• Angel realized Daly had arranged the application for her when Daly winked at her.

Angel feared that the Church would make her drink another Instigator Potion, but she realized Daly was warning her not to conceal that she had already advanced. She underwent Crestet Cesimir’s assessment and passed, though the test left her irritated with him.

• Angel worried that Daly’s mention of the Instigator Potion meant the Church might force her to drink it again, then understood that Daly was signaling Crestet Cesimir already knew she had advanced.
• Daly told Angel to go downstairs for the assessment, and Klein also understood the hidden meaning while Dunn remained confused.
• Angel entered the Alchemy Room and met Crestet Cesimir, who gave her three minutes to prepare for an assessment of her Potion mastery and mental state.
• During the assessment, Crestet’s disorienting darkness and chaotic singing provoked Angel’s urge to attack him, but she restrained herself.
• Crestet declared that Angel had passed without signs of losing control or hidden dangers, and Angel thanked him while privately wanting to beat him up.

Crestet questioned Angel about her insights into the Assassin Potion, then had her swear an oath on a Holy Artifact. The oath bound her to answer three questions truthfully, and Crestet began by asking when she became an Instigator.

• Angel explained how battles with Mrs. Sharon and an assassin helped her understand and digest the Assassin Potion.
• Angel said she shared her insights with all her Beyonder teammates and had submitted a special application with Klein.
• Crestet revealed a glowing white short sword and instructed Angel to swear an oath on it.
• Angel swore never to reveal details of the Acting Method to those who did not know it and to answer three questions truthfully.
• Crestet began his questioning by asking Angel when she became an Instigator.

Angel passed Crestet Cesimar’s special examination and was confirmed as a Sequence 8 Instigator, learning that the Church’s Acting Method was the same approach she had already used. She left the Alchemy Room and was told to send Klein Moretti to meet Crestet.

• Angel told Crestet that she had become an Instigator in Enmat Harbor and explained that Cole Granger had given her the Potion formula while she bought the Main Materials at the Underground Market.
• Crestet asked whether Angel had harmed any innocents while mastering the Assassin Potion, and she answered no.
• Crestet used the Bone Sword and an improvised mixture to confirm Angel’s successful examination and congratulate her on advancing to Sequence 8.
• Crestet explained that the three questions were specific to Angel because her application had faced opposition over her place in the Demoness pathway.
• Angel asked about the Acting Method, and Crestet explained how acting helped Beyonders master Potions while reducing the risk of losing control.
• Crestet sent Angel upstairs to tell her teammates she had passed and to ask Klein Moretti to come down.

Angel passed Crestet Cesimir’s assessment, advanced to Sequence 8, and received the Agate Peacock’s Egg from Daly. Klein also passed his assessment and advanced to Clown, but Angel immediately tested his newly enhanced reflexes and found he still needed training.

• Angel returned from the basement and told Klein she had passed the assessment and taken the Potion, becoming a Sequence 8 Beyonder.
• Daly gave Angel a wooden box containing the Agate Peacock’s Egg, asking her to send weekly reports on Dunn’s movements in return.
• Klein returned from his assessment, and Angel surprised him with a dagger attack to test his Clown-enhanced reflexes.
• Angel told Klein his reaction was better but still needed training, while Daly laughed at their exchange.

Klein and Angel advanced to Sequence 8 and shared the Acting Method with their fellow Nighthawks, while Dunn appeared poised to advance to Sequence 6. The assessment ended in disaster when Angel and Daly entered the Alchemy Room and found that Old Neil had lost control.

• Klein described the Clown Potion's abilities to Angel and the others after his advancement to Sequence 8.
• Dunn arranged for the Nighthawks to complete their assessments and swear an oath, while Daly hinted that Dunn was preparing to advance to Sequence 6.
• The Nighthawks thanked Angel and Klein for sharing the Acting Method as the assessments neared completion.
• Crestet summoned Dunn and Daly to the Alchemy Room, and Angel went to fetch Daly.
• Angel and Daly entered the blood-covered Alchemy Room, where Crestet stood beside Old Neil's body and Dunn looked exhausted and stricken.

Old Neil lost control after being contaminated by the Hidden Sage, and Dunn killed him rather than let him become a monster. Angel returned to the Nighthawks and told them of Old Neil’s death.

• Crestet explained that Old Neil had been contaminated and lost control when he used Dream Invasion to examine him.
• Crestet warned that Old Neil could not be saved, and Dunn stopped Daly from attempting Spirit Channeling.
• Dunn covered Old Neil with his trench coat and snapped his neck while Crestet maintained the Holy Artifact’s effect.
• Angel returned upstairs and told the Nighthawks that Old Neil was dead, shocking the team.

After Old Neil’s death, Angel struggled with her grief and sought a way to obtain the ingredients she needed without revealing her whereabouts. At the Tarot Club, the Fool proposed testing a sacrifice-and-bestowal method to transfer Justice’s Black Abyss Demon Fish’s Blood to Angel safely.

• Angel returned home after Old Neil’s funeral and recalled how his attempts to resurrect Shariste had led to his corruption and death.
• Justice exchanged the Telepathist formula with Sun for a page from Emperor Roselle’s Diary.
• Justice offered to sell Angel Black Abyss Demon Fish’s Blood for 350 pounds, but they had no safe way to deliver it.
• The Fool proposed that Justice sacrifice a designated item to Him so He could bestow it upon Angel.

Mr. Fool taught Justice and Empress how to conduct rituals for transactions and bestowals, and Hanged Man shared intelligence about Vice Admiral Hurricane’s Backlund mission. After Justice’s attempt succeeded, Angel performed the bestowal ritual and received Black Abyss Demon Fish’s Blood.

• Mr. Fool explained the ritual for Justice to request a sacrifice and gave Empress a modified prayer for receiving a bestowal.
• Justice reported that Qilangos had discovered her detectives tracking him, killed their informant, and nearly caught them before they escaped and alerted the police.
• Hanged Man said Qilangos sought an item that could make him powerful enough to rival the Four Kings, and Mr. Fool agreed that Hanged Man could contact Him with further intelligence.
• After the gathering, Angel prepared an altar at 6 Daffodil Street and used a Star Crystal as the spiritually infused material for her ritual.
• Mr. Fool told Angel that Justice’s attempt had succeeded, and Angel’s ritual opened a door that delivered Black Abyss Demon Fish’s Blood onto the altar.

Angel prepared and drank the Witch Potion, endured its visions and painful bodily transformation, and successfully advanced to Sequence 7 without losing control. She remained female and began testing her new abilities, summoning a black flame from her palm.

• Angel prepared the Witch Potion from the Agate Peacock's Egg, Black Abyss Demon Fish's Blood, and the auxiliary materials.
• Angel drank the purple Potion and experienced murmurs, strange visions, and a painful transformation.
• Angel regained consciousness and confirmed that she had successfully advanced to Sequence 7, Witch, without losing control.
• Angel discovered that her body remained female and used meditation to gather her scattered spirituality.
• Angel returned to the study and summoned a black flame from her palm.

After advancing to Sequence 7, Angel tested the Witch abilities implanted in her memories and gauged how much spirituality she could expend. She ended the night exhausted, considering future uses for her increased spirituality as she went upstairs to sleep.

• Angel summoned Black Flame and confirmed that it harmed mystical targets rather than ordinary objects, while also hindering divination.
• Angel tested Frost by shaping a spear into a shield, then reviewed the restrictions and uses of Mirror Substitution and Magic Mirror Divination.
• Angel considered Staff Substitution, Invisibility, and the Witch’s methods of cursing before testing how long she could sustain her spells.
• Angel stopped when her spirituality ran low and concluded that her greater reserves could support more uses of Mystical Items such as Flame Leap and Paper Figurine Substitute.
• Angel thought about creating Shattered Light Ray ammunition but dismissed the idea because she lacked the materials and did not want to approach the Church of the Evernight Goddess.
• Angel went upstairs, exhausted, to sleep.

Angel returned to Blackthorn Security Company after drinking the Witch Potion and found her appearance had become more feminine and beautiful. Dunn sent Leonard, Klein, and Angel to investigate suspected hauntings in Morse Town, and the team prepared to take the Mutated Sun Holy Emblem.

• Rozanne and the Nighthawks noticed Angel's changed appearance, and Angel blamed it on makeup she had learned about in a newspaper.
• Dunn told Leonard that residents of Morse Town had reported strange cries, unexplained footsteps, and sightings of the dead.
• Klein persuaded Dunn to let him accompany Leonard and proposed taking Sealed Artifact 3-0782 for protection against ghosts.
• Angel volunteered as the third Nighthawk so the team could use the Grade 3 Sealed Artifact.
• Dunn approved the team and told Leonard to collect the application and retrieve the Mutated Sun Holy Emblem from Chanis Gate.

Klein, Leonard, and Angel traveled to Morse Town to investigate a suspected haunting and used the Mutated Sun Holy Emblem to clear ghostly traces from a resident’s home. Klein’s divination revealed an inverted pyramid associated with Death and the Balam Empire, and the team set out to investigate the town’s other haunted locations.

• Leonard drove Klein and Angel to Morse Town, where Priest Siel asked them to handle the suspected haunting.
• The Nighthawks visited an elderly man’s home, and Angel sensed a cold presence while Leonard confirmed that weak traces of unclean creatures lingered there.
• Klein performed a theatrical exorcism to distract the townspeople while the Sun Holy Emblem purified the house.
• Klein divined an inverted black pyramid, and Leonard identified it as a symbol of Death associated with Balam Empire mausoleums.
• Klein proposed that Leonard handle the next exorcism while he wore the Sun Holy Emblem, and the team headed for the other haunted sites.

Angel, Klein, and Leonard finished investigating Morse Town and returned to the church to take turns guarding the Mutated Sun Holy Emblem. After Klein secretly used his shift to make a charm, he gave Angel a Flaring Sun Charm before leaving her to guard the artifact.

• Klein, Angel, and Leonard cleared the haunted locations in Morse Town and returned to the Church of the Evernight Goddess to rest and guard the Mutated Sun Holy Emblem.
• Angel persuaded Leonard to accept solo shifts, allowing Klein to guard the emblem alone first.
• Leonard suspected Angel and Klein of investigating his secret, but agreed not to pry into Klein's actions.
• Angel found Klein overheated and asleep in the church, cooled the room with her Witch's Frost, and took over the guard shift.
• Klein gave Angel a Flaring Sun Charm he had made during his shift, then left the church to rest.

Angel returned to Tingen after the Sun Holy Emblem mission and made plans with Klein to continue searching for the Red Chimney. She met the Moretti siblings at home, helped arrange a shared maid, and accepted Melissa’s invitation to a park celebration on Sunday.

• Angel and Klein agreed to resume searching for the Red Chimney in the afternoons while Klein and Leonard investigated Lanevus in the mornings.
• Angel bought ammunition-making materials in the Docklands and met Benson outside the Moretti Family home on Daffodil Street.
• Angel suggested that the Moretti Family share Tromi as a maid, and Benson asked for Tromi to visit the next evening to try the work.
• Klein arrived home and told Angel that Mr. Azik planned to leave Tingen for Backlund the next day.
• Melissa invited Angel to the Street Park celebration on Sunday, and Angel accepted.

Angel replenished her weapons at Blackthorn Security Company while concealing her advancement to Sequence 7, then learned that Qilangos had been reported shot dead after attempting to assassinate Duke Negan in Backlund. The brief newspaper report left the circumstances of the pirate’s death unclear.

• Angel collected a new revolver and ordinary bullets from a newly transferred clerical worker in the armory.
• Angel overheard Dunn and Leonard discussing how to resume the search for Lanevus after Hood Eugen’s death.
• Rozanne asked Angel about her improved complexion, and Angel tried to pass off a folk remedy before Rozanne pointed out that Roselle’s advice had been debunked.
• Angel read a newspaper report claiming Qilangos had tried to assassinate Duke Negan, fled, and been shot dead by the Duke’s bodyguard.
• Angel found the report brief and vague, with further details promised in a special report the next day.

Angel learned of Qilangos's reported death, continued searching Tingen for the hidden location, and crafted a Witch's wand before attempting to turn a Flaring Sun Charm into special ammunition. The chapter ended as she began the perilous ritual to make Shattered Light Ray bullets.

• Angel doubted the newspaper account of Qilangos's death and planned to ask Mr. Hanged Man and Miss Justice about it at the next Tarot Club gathering.
• Angel and Klein searched more dark-red-chimney buildings around Tingen but found nothing.
• Angel inspected the renovated North Borough park and noted that Councilor Maynard was using its opening celebration to promote his mayoral campaign.
• Angel retrieved the wand she had brewed from medicinal liquid containing her blood and tied it to her dagger sheath.
• Angel practiced engraving charms on pistol casings, then used the Flaring Sun Charm as the core material for Shattered Light Ray ammunition.
• Angel prayed to the Evernight Goddess and stabbed the Flaring Sun Charm with her ritual knife to begin the ammunition-making process.

Angel used a Flaring Sun Charm to craft a powerful one-shot bullet, the Shattered Light Ray, while Klein prepared to join Angel and Melissa at a celebration the next day. Angel completed the bullet and planned to recover before accompanying Melissa on Sunday.

• Klein discussed his clothes for the celebration with Melissa and Benson, then felt the two Flaring Sun Charms in his pocket grow hot.
• Angel endured the charm's scorching power as she carved incantations into a bullet casing, nearly losing control when she reached the final emblem.
• Angel realized the last emblem needed to represent the Eternal Blazing Sun and carved it, completing the Shattered Light Ray.
• Angel assembled the bullet and loaded it into a revolver, knowing its heat would destroy the weapon and make it a last-resort attack.
• Angel planned to bathe, rest, and regain her spirituality before joining Melissa at the celebration the next day.