Chapter Summaries

After Klein killed the man from the sketch, Alice learned how a chain of coincidences had led him to the encounter and worried about the pattern surrounding him. She later apologized to Leonard for her harsh words, then left after he confidently argued that he was more like a story’s protagonist than Klein.

• After Alice left, Klein tried to divine clues about the Clown Potion, then soon found and shot the man in the sketch.
• Alice asked Cohenry why the Sleepless pathway lacked Ritual Magic, and he explained that it had few supportive abilities before Sequence 6.
• At the scene, Alice finished cleaning up after Klein, then asked Leonard how Klein had encountered the man; Leonard recounted how Klein traced him from the Underground Market to the library.
• Alice called Klein’s unlikely encounter something from a protagonist’s story, then challenged Leonard’s claim that he was the protagonist and apologized for speaking too harshly.
• The next day, Alice apologized to Leonard again, and he revealed he had not been bothered before insisting that he deserved the title of protagonist more than Klein.

Alice learned that Antigonus had been moved to St. Samuel Cathedral, then attended a Tarot Club gathering where Audrey asked about pets with Beyonder powers and traded intelligence with Alger. Afterward, Klein gave Alice a diary that revealed the world had no oil, prompting her to question its history and industrial development.

• Alice learned that Antigonus had been provisionally designated a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact and transferred to St. Samuel Cathedral, then visited the Divination Club.
• Audrey asked the Tarot Club what use a pet with Beyonder powers could have, and Alger explained how a Spectator pet might spy on others.
• Audrey traded intelligence with Alger, agreeing to investigate whether the King would launch a new war against Feysac in exchange for information about the Arbiter potion and Beyonders who could bypass locked doors.
• Audrey asked whether she could join another organization and recommend new Tarot Club members, while Klein insisted that she keep the club secret and not use his name without permission.
• Klein kept Alice behind after the gathering and gave her a diary that revealed the world had no oil, leading Alice to question why its technology had stopped advancing and how its history had developed.

Alice and Klein connected their encounters with Lanevus's pregnant girlfriend, Megose, to ominous warnings that kept them from seeing her directly. They alerted Dunn, who began coordinating with the Mandated Punishers and the Machinery Hivemind to investigate the child.

• A carriage nearly struck Alice, but crashed before reaching her, leaving her with a strange sense of familiarity about surviving dangerous accidents.
• At the Divination Club, Klein told Alice that Lanevus had swindled more than ten thousand pounds and that his victims had brought Megose, Lanevus's pregnant girlfriend, to seek help finding him.
• Alice recalled that Megose had stirred her Spiritual Perception, and she and Klein realized they had both been prevented from seeing her clearly.
• The next morning, Alice and Klein told Dunn about their suspicions that Lanevus's child was dangerous to look at.
• Dunn learned that Lanevus's company was in the South District and that Megose's family believed in the God of Steam and Machinery, then sent Alice and Klein away while he consulted other organizations.

After Mr. A briefly appeared in Tingen, Dunn warned Alice about the danger and required her to travel in a group. Alice then helped the Nighthawks and Punishers confront a rampager, whose defeat stirred a painful memory in her.

• The Nighthawks learned that Aurora Order Divine Emissary Mr. A had come to take Megose but left after encountering the Red Gloves.
• Dunn warned Alice that Mr. A was dangerous and ordered her to travel in groups of at least three.
• Swain brought Alice and Dunn to help deal with a Punisher who had lost control in the Docks District.
• Alice shot the rampager in its unprotected eye, drew its attack, and evaded it until the Punishers caught up.
• After the People of Wrath defeated their former companion, Alice felt sorrow and seemed to hear someone cry, "Huanhuan, run! Don't look back!"

Alice relived Shen Yinghuan’s memories of an earthquake in which people died saving her, and understood that Shen Yinghuan’s extraordinary luck had brought misfortune upon those she loved. After waking, Alice feared that luck might someday endanger Tingen City and realized that preparing to remain lucky mattered more than relying on luck, triggering digestion feedback from her Lucky One Beyonder Characteristic.

• In a dream, Alice experienced an earthquake in which her homeroom teacher died saving her and classmates repeatedly sacrificed themselves to protect her.
• Alice recalled Shen Yinghuan writing, “Use luck sparingly. Never squander it,” and understood that luck had demanded a price in misfortune.
• After waking in tears, Alice reasoned that Shen Yinghuan had avoided using luck to reduce the disasters she could not control.
• Wary of the Evil God's Offspring in Tingen City, Alice questioned how she could stay lucky if Fate took back its gift.
• Alice concluded that thorough preparations could ensure her continued luck, and her Lucky One Beyonder Characteristic showed clear digestion feedback.

Alice attended a Tarot Club gathering where Derrick, codenamed The Sun, joined and offered to obtain Audrey’s Mind Reader Potion Formula. After the gathering, Alice privately asked Klein where Derrick came from, and Klein guessed he was from the Land Abandoned by God.

• Alice saw Derrick introduced as the Tarot Club’s new member, The Sun.
• Audrey asked Mr. Fool for the Mind Reader Potion Formula in exchange for Roselle’s diary pages and additional compensation.
• Derrick offered to obtain the Mind Reader Potion Formula from City of Silver in exchange for the initial Sun Pathway formula.
• Klein arranged for Derrick to receive the Bard formula and for Audrey to provide the Mind Reader formula and diary pages in return.
• Alice asked Klein privately where Derrick came from, and Klein said he guessed Derrick was from the Land Abandoned by God.

At the Tarot Club, Alice warned Audrey that Mr. V might belong to the Aurora Order, while Alger offered to seek information about a Monster pathway Beyonder for Alice. Alger then asked Audrey to help locate the pirate general Qilingus, who had secretly entered Backlund, and requested aid from Mr. Fool’s Blessed.

• Audrey told the Tarot Club that the King and Prime Minister had approved open examinations for administrative officials, and Alger paid her for confirming the King would not retaliate against Feysac in Bayam soon.
• Audrey asked about Mr. V, and Alice said he might be an Aurora Order Divine Emissary like Mr. A and Mr. Z, warning Audrey to be careful.
• Alice asked Alger to find the address of a Monster pathway Beyonder so she could learn what such Beyonders could see in her Fate, and Alger agreed to search.
• Alger asked Audrey to help find Qilingus, the pirate general who had secretly entered Backlund, and explained that Qilingus was a dangerous Sequence 6 Beyonder with a Sealed Artifact.
• Alger asked Mr. Fool to have his Blessed assist at a critical moment in exchange for a price that would interest him.

At the Tarot Club, Alice explained that Qilingus’s Creeping Hunger likely let him use a Shepherd’s many stolen abilities, and Audrey accepted a commission to investigate him. Alice then warned the others that Mr. A might return to Backlund with a woman pregnant by the Fallen Creator.

• Alger described Qilingus’s Creeping Hunger and the many abilities Qilingus had gained, prompting Alice and Derrick to identify him as a possible Shepherd.
• Alice explained that Shepherds could devour and command souls to use their abilities, warned the others to flee if they met Qilingus, and requested information about the School of Life and Monster Pathway Beyonders as compensation.
• Audrey accepted Alger’s commission to investigate Qilingus, and Alger agreed to pay her whether or not she succeeded.
• With Klein’s help, Alger manifested a portrait of Qilingus, which Alice memorized.
• Alice told the Tarot Club that Mr. A might return to Backlund with a woman who was pregnant with the Fallen Creator’s child.

Alice warned the Tarot Club that the Fallen Creator's offspring might be brought to Backlund, but Mr. A's decision to stay in Tingen changed the official Beyonders' plans. While stuck at Blackthorn Security Company, Alice discovered that her lost memories included intimate drawings of Klein and a mysterious monocled man.

• Alice told Audrey and Alger that the Three Churches planned to let Mr. A bring Megose to Backlund, where they would set a trap despite the risk of the Fallen Creator's descent.
• The Quill Pen revealed that 0-08 had helped the official Beyonders agree to deal with Megose in Backlund, frustrating Ince Zangwill's plan.
• Mr. A suddenly chose to remain in Tingen City and protect Megose until she gave birth, leaving Alice bored after her vacation was canceled.
• Rosanne praised Alice's Q-version drawings of the Nighthawks, prompting Alice to wonder whether Shen Yinghuan had studied art.
• Alice used Dream Divination and saw repeated drawings of Klein and an unknown monocled man in intimate and sometimes explicit scenes.

Alice struggled with memories of drawings that made her suspect Klein had a lover, then avoided him without explaining why. At the Tarot Club, Alice warned that the Fallen Creator’s offspring was likely headed for Tingen, while Derrick revealed that the City of Silver taught the Acting Method and its central precaution.

• Alice recalled drawings of Klein and another man, suppressed her questions, and fled when Sica mentioned illustrations.
• Alice avoided Klein at Blackthorn Security Company, and her colleagues could not discover why.
• Alice told Audrey that Mr. A and the official Beyonders had changed their plans, making it unlikely that the Fallen Creator’s offspring would appear in Backlund soon.
• Audrey gave Klein a page of Emperor Roselle’s diary, and Derrick provided the Mind Reader potion formula in exchange for compensation toward future Sequence 8 needs.
• Audrey asked Derrick about the Acting Method, and Derrick explained that the City of Silver taught it with the warning, “Remember, you are only acting.”

At the Tarot Club, Alice and Derrick explained the risks of the Acting Method, while Alger shared intelligence about Hurricane Lieutenant General Qilingus’s mission in Backlund and his habits. The group agreed to continue investigating Qilingus, though Alger did not obtain Mr. Fool’s promise of help.

• Audrey and Alger thanked Derrick and Alice for explaining that acting too deeply could change a Beyonder’s personality and make them forget who they were.
• Alger reported that the Monster Pathway Beyonder on his ship had said Fate told him it was not yet time to leave.
• Alger revealed that Qilingus was in Backlund on a difficult commission involving an important item that could help him gain strength comparable to the pirate kings.
• Audrey and Alger discussed searching for Qilingus, while Alger emphasized that he would remain in Backlund for a long time and that the item was crucial.
• Alger described Qilingus’s preferences and habits, and he and Audrey agreed to cooperate in finding him.

Alice met the injured Lord Crescite Sesima at Blackthorn Security Company and learned that the Red Gloves had clashed with Mr. A. Sesima reassured her and promised to arrange a Team Entry Mission after the current matter was over, leaving Alice eager to prove herself.

• Alice encountered Lord Crescite Sesima at Blackthorn Security Company and learned he had been injured in a clash between the Red Gloves and Mr. A.
• Alice felt uneasy about Mr. A's sudden change in behavior, though her divinations had failed to reveal what was happening.
• Sesima told Alice that civilians would not be put on the front lines, making her resent being treated as someone who needed protection.
• Alice argued that she was already a Sequence 7 Nighthawk, but Sesima reminded her that she had not come of age.
• Sesima promised to discuss a Team Entry Mission with Dunn for Alice after the current matter was over, and Alice happily accepted the prospect.

As official Beyonders were stretched thin by Mr. A and the Aurora Order, Alice felt an unexplained spiritual warning she could not decipher. At the Tarot Club, Audrey reported progress on Qilingus, and Alger revealed that the Monster Pathway Beyonder was waiting in Pritz Harbor for a “Fated Encounter.”

• Sesima left Blackthorn Security Company as Mr. A began hunting official Beyonder squads, keeping them occupied while Alice sensed an approaching danger.
• Alice told the Tarot Club that her spirituality seemed to be warning her of something, but she could not understand it.
• Klein said Alice had likely received the three hundred pounds in compensation because she had made no further requests for help.
• Audrey reported that Qilingus had noticed the investigation into him and killed the people involved.
• Alger promised to tell Mr. Fool through a ritual if he learned Qilingus's purpose and the identity of the important item he sought.
• Alger told Alice that the Monster Pathway Beyonder was waiting in Pritz Harbor for a Fated Encounter, and Alice thanked him for the information.

The Tarot Club discussed Audrey’s need for a rare Spectator potion ingredient, and Alger offered to help her obtain it in exchange for assistance finding Qilingus. Klein questioned Derrick about the City of Silver’s faith, revealing Derrick’s origins and leaving Alice wondering about the Lord worshipped there and the True Creator.

• Audrey asked whether members could contact Mr. Fool through rituals with urgent intelligence, and Klein permitted it for her, Alice, and Derrick.
• Audrey sought an intact Seven-Colored Lizard Dragon pituitary gland, but Alice and Derrick had none; Alger offered to obtain one if they helped him find Qilingus.
• Audrey asked about substitute materials for the nearly extinct dragon, and Alice withheld the answer, warning that Audrey would not want to know it.
• Klein asked Derrick whether the City of Silver still believed in gods, and Derrick said its people worshipped the Lord of Everything Created, the Omniscient and Omnipotent God.
• Klein asked whether that God had abandoned the City of Silver, prompting Derrick to explain its people’s history and hope of regaining the Lord’s favor.
• Alice wondered how the City of Silver’s God related to the True Creator and decided to search for information about Him.

Alice’s foreboding came true when the missing Megose appeared at the Nighthawks Headquarters, carrying the True Creator’s offspring. The Nighthawks began evacuating and preparing, but Klein warned that the child would be born within three minutes.

• Klein asked Derrick to describe the sacrifices to the Omniscient and Omnipotent God, while Alice refused to reveal substitute materials because Klein lacked sufficient confidentiality clearance.
• Alice realized that Megose had vanished and that Anti-Divination measures prevented her from finding the woman.
• Megose arrived at Alice’s room, and Alice recognized her as the woman carrying the True Creator’s offspring.
• Alice alerted the Nighthawks that Megose was upstairs, prompting them to evacuate non-combat personnel, contact Sesima, and attend to Megose.
• Megose tore at her hair and face while Alice brought her warm water and tried to conceal her fear.
• Klein told the others that the child in Megose’s belly would be born in at most three minutes.

Alice, Klein, Leonard, and Dunn fought Megose, but her child’s birth overwhelmed them. Ince Zangwill arrived after a strange coincidence killed Megose and the child, then reached into Alice’s chest and tore out her heart.

• Klein gave Alice a charm, and she joined him and Leonard in attacking Megose with a blast of light.
• Megose survived the explosion and attacked the group; Leonard briefly controlled her, but her head exploded and she struck Leonard and Dunn unconscious.
• Megose gave birth, then cut Klein in half with her bone blade while Alice failed to stop her.
• Megose lunged at Alice, tripped, and accidentally cut herself and the child in half.
• Ince Zangwill entered, and Alice realized he had caused the coincidences; he pulled her beating heart from her chest.

Alice remembered Ince Zangwill killing her, then woke inside a coffin and climbed out of her grave beside Klein’s. She and Klein reunited with Azik and began considering how to live after their deaths, relieved to learn the other Nighthawks were alive.

• Alice recognized Ince Zangwill and learned from the Goddess that an unknown existence had erased the original owner of her body from Fate and put Alice’s fate in its place.
• Alice woke in a coffin, pushed open her grave, and climbed out in Raphael Cemetery in front of Azik.
• Klein crawled out of his nearby grave, and Alice, Klein, and Azik left the cemetery together to avoid discovery by the Nighthawks.
• Klein introduced Alice and Azik, and Azik asked what identities and faces they would use since the world believed them dead.
• Azik told Alice and Klein that the other Nighthawks were alive, easing their concern.

Alice warned Klein and Azik that Ince Zangwill was using 0-08 to target the Nighthawks Headquarters and Saint Selina’s Ashes, which he needed to advance. After Azik left, Alice told Klein about her resurrection, her blessing from the Goddess, and the bizarre deaths that had made her a Beyonder, leaving them both wary of her strange luck.

• Alice warned Klein and Azik about 0-08 and Ince Zangwill, and Klein deduced that Ince was after Saint Selina’s Ashes to advance to a demigod.
• Azik left after warning Alice and Klein to be careful, and Alice asked Klein whether he had seen the Goddess.
• Alice told Klein that the Goddess had said an unknown existence erased the traces of her body’s original owner from Fate, and she suspected she had awakened in Other Places before.
• Alice explained the Law of Conservation of Extraordinary Traits and revealed that a Sequence 7 Lucky One had fallen to his death in front of her, giving her a Beyonder Characteristic.
• Alice recounted how Megose tripped and was cut in half by a bone blade after killing Klein, and Klein said he suddenly understood what a Clown was.

Alice and Klein discussed Alice’s resurrection, their plans to leave, and Klein’s pursuit of Ince Zangwill. Their divination pointed them toward Backlund, and they decided to visit Klein’s family before departing.

• Alice said she suspected an unknown force had revived her and made her visible, and Klein understood her frustration at being unable to control her fate.
• Alice told Klein that she had no plan for hiding her appearance and wanted to go to Pritz Harbor, while she felt neither the Goddess nor Fate wanted her to return to the Nighthawks.
• Klein asked Alice about Ince Zangwill, and she warned him that Ince had reached Sequence 5 and might soon become a Demigod.
• Klein and Alice divined where to go next and saw Backlund, the City of Cities.
• Klein said he wanted to see his family, Benson and Melissa, once more, and Alice offered to help him put on Clown makeup before they visited.

After leaving Klein, Alice traveled to Pritz Harbor to find a Beyonder of the Monster pathway and met Charlie King of the School of Life. Charlie offered her the Calamity Priest Potion Formula in exchange for her future help sealing a Sealed Artifact, though the identity of the people behind the deal remained unknown.

• Alice withdrew the remaining 200 pounds in her bank account and traveled from Tingen City to Pritz Harbor.
• A young guide led Alice to a mysterious man who recognized her as the person he had been waiting for.
• The man introduced himself as Charlie King of the School of Life, and Alice used the alias Briel Rose.
• Charlie said Fate had directed him to reveal his location to a Bishop of Storms, while unknown people had arranged a deal with Alice.
• Charlie offered Alice the Monster pathway's Sequence 6 Calamity Priest Potion Formula in return for her future help sealing a Sealed Artifact.