Chapter Summaries

Hobart explained the fate-stealing ability of a dangerous Pathway and advised Derrick to avoid relying on the sealed Mr. Fool. In a private exchange, Audrey recognized Hobart as The Emperor and questioned him about betraying his country and robbing Niccolo Shipyard.

• Hobart explained that a powerful Beyonder could steal another person's fate and take their place, causing the original person to fade from reality.
• Hobart and Political Commissar advised Derrick to act as if he knew nothing about the sealed figure and seek help from Silver City's leaders if danger arose.
• Derrick, Audrey, Alger, and Fors offered Hobart compensation or future assistance for the information he shared.
• Audrey requested a private exchange with Hobart and revealed that she had guessed he was in the Feneport Kingdom.
• Hobart admitted he did not know the specific reason he had betrayed his country, and Audrey suggested Brigadier General Christine had forced his hand.
• Audrey asked Hobart whether he had robbed Niccolo Shipyard the previous night.

Hobart explained his failed attempt to kill a Chaos Mentor from the Tamara Family and warned Audrey about the dangers of the Beyonder world. The conversation ended with Hobart reassuring her that he had avoided contacting her to protect her and her family.

• Klein considered why Hobart had not sought the Creator’s help with his Curse and decided he trusted him as a teammate.
• Audrey asked Hobart about a reported robbery, and Hobart explained that he had failed to kill a Chaos Mentor and forgotten to search the safe.
• Hobart identified the Tamara Family as a Beyonder family controlling the Lawyer, Arbiter, and Apprentice pathways and asked Audrey to share any news about them.
• Hobart warned Audrey that Beyonders of adjacent pathways were likely enemies and that Beyonders could regard one another as sources of Extraordinary Characteristics.
• Audrey thanked Hobart for the warning and said she felt fortunate to have trustworthy allies in the Tarot Club.
• Hobart explained that he had not contacted Audrey because he was under Royal Family surveillance and wanted to protect her and her family.

At the Tarot Club, Hobart explained why he left an Emperor card at a crime scene, while Alger wondered about Mr. Fool’s pathway and plans. In Silver City, Derrick destroyed a captain who had attacked him and learned that Colin Iliad had been watching the suspected Amon agent.

• Hobart told Audrey that he left the Emperor card because he was the Tarot Club’s Emperor, and Mr. Fool warned him to pray for instructions in the future.
• Fors brought up a report about a Backlund robbery, and Hobart admitted he had killed several Beyonders but denied robbing safes or harming ordinary people.
• Alger speculated that Mr. Fool belonged to either the Seer or Apprentice pathway and considered asking Hobart about it during their planned exploration.
• Derrick returned from the Tarot Club and found the exploration team captain behind him, then summoned a Sacred Light Beam that destroyed him.
• Colin Iliad appeared and told Derrick that Silver City had kept the suspected Amon agent alive to learn his purpose, then asked why Derrick had been singled out.

Derrick reported Amon’s appearance in his room to The Fool, who discovered that Amon had secretly attached himself to the Sun’s spirit body. Klein used the Gray Fog and the Death Card to destroy Amon’s illusory presence, but the chapter ended before he confirmed what would happen next.

• Colin questioned Derrick about Amon’s appearance, then allowed him to return to his room.
• Derrick reported what happened to The Fool and fell asleep, muttering about The Fool in his sleep.
• Klein learned from Derrick’s prayer that Amon had appeared in the Round Tower and found Amon’s illusory figure coiled around the Sun’s spirit body.
• Klein had Derrick perform a Mystical Contract Ritual and used the Blasphemy Slate to leverage the Gray Fog.
• Klein used the Death Card to summon a towering, twelve-winged figure that destroyed Amon’s illusory presence around the Sun.

Derrick learned that Mr. Fool had removed an Amon avatar that had parasitized him, while Hobart prepared to travel by steamship to his fief near Full Moon Lake. Hobart boarded the Hippopotamus with Captain Wayne Farnaud, still uncertain what awaited him in the mountains.

• Derrick received knowledge of Undead creatures and saw a vision of a deathly angel destroying the Amon avatar that had parasitized his spirit body.
• Derrick coughed up a translucent segmented worm and hid it to ask the Tarot Club members about it later.
• Klein confirmed that Little Sun was safe, then reflected on Amon's power and the Acting Rule.
• Hobart tried to cut paper dolls, learned about the dangerous southern mountains and rumors of monsters in Full Moon Lake, and paid Wayne Farnaud five Silver Suo for passage.
• Hobart followed Wayne to the harbor the next morning and boarded the Small Steamship Hippopotamus.

Hobart traveled downriver aboard the Hippopotamus toward the mountain region, where the Earth Mother Church’s Bishop Simpson met him and acknowledged the goodwill he had sent. Simpson explained that the Church had withdrawn from the region because it risked contamination.

• Wayne brought Hobart to a cramped cabin and warned him to claim he was a ship’s helper if anyone asked.
• The Hippopotamus set sail, and Wayne and Shier carried cargo downstream into the mountains.
• Wayne stopped the ship at a rudimentary port to pay taxes, where locals welcomed Bishop Simpson.
• Bishop Simpson recognized Hobart as a baron and invited him ashore to discuss the Church’s response to his goodwill.
• Hobart asked the Church to build a church near Full Moon Lake, and Simpson said the Church had withdrawn because the region could contaminate them.

Bishop Simpson explained to Hobart that a meteorite had contaminated Full Moon Lake, driving even powerful Beyonders into Loss of Control and forcing the Church and Royal Family to abandon Colson County. He then described the dangerous factions still active in the mountains and gave Hobart an address for future correspondence.

• Bishop Simpson told Hobart that the contamination from Full Moon Lake affected Earth Mother Church Beyonders, including an Archbishop, while ordinary people and Beyonders of other pathways were generally safe away from the lake’s center.
• Bishop Simpson recounted how a meteorite struck Full Moon Lake fifty-eight years earlier, after which Church Beyonders, Royal Family investigators, and even the Pope and Duke Oliver Latin failed to resolve the contamination.
• Bishop Simpson explained that the Church and Royal Family evacuated Colson County, leaving its ordinary residents behind because they were not contaminated by the lake.
• Bishop Simpson warned Hobart that the mountains held Gnostic Society, Blood Worshipping Sect, and Aurora Society strongholds, along with nobles of uncertain loyalties.
• Hobart asked whether he could contact Bishop Simpson with questions, and Simpson gave him a mailbox address and agreed to reply by messenger.

Hobart learned about the misery and corruption in the region around Full Moon Lake, then realized that the monsters and the lake’s blight likely came from the Fallen Mother Goddess. He suspected he could resolve the problem but chose to observe first, and the Hippopotamus reached Full Moon Lake on its way to Jeffrey Town.

• Wayne told Hobart that bandits ruled the region, villagers fought monsters at Full Moon Lake, and Shier's father had died from his injuries.
• Shier asked whether Hobart was an Attendant of God sent by the Earth Mother, and Hobart suggested his arrival might be divinely arranged.
• Hobart connected the unusually crimson Moon to the corruption in Full Moon Lake and concluded that a meteorite had likely carried the Fallen Mother Goddess's power through a flaw in the barrier.
• Hobart realized his status might let him seal the corruption, but decided to observe and seek a safer method before acting.
• As the Hippopotamus approached Jeffrey Town, Hobart gave Wayne three Silver Suo to find him a butler and asked him to send York to see him.
• Wayne pointed out Full Moon Lake, whose shores remained green despite the winter.

Hobart arrived at the abandoned Wright territory, where a lake monster fled after he used his power to distort its intentions, convincing Wayne and Shier that he was an Attendant of God. He established himself in the manor and hired Shier and York, but York secretly went to the dock that night and threatened Wayne into taking him to Bugas City.

• Wayne steered through the shallows of Full Moon Lake, and a monster charged at the boat before Hobart made it swim away.
• Wayne urged Hobart to accept Shier as a servant, and Hobart hired Shier on a two-month probation.
• Shier introduced Hobart to the townspeople as their new Lord and an Attendant of God, declaring that the territory would become Jeffrey Town.
• Hobart settled into the abandoned manor, hired York as his butler, and gave him 80 Silver Suo to manage expenses.
• After nightfall, York boarded Wayne's boat, threatened him with a dagger, and demanded to be taken to Bugas City.

Hobart punished Butler York for stealing public funds, then used the incident to establish his authority in Jeffrey Town. After the story of York’s punishment spread through town, Hobart discovered that his Potion had begun to digest.

• York tried to take the public funds and threatened Wayne, but Hobart emerged and confronted him.
• Hobart severed York’s dagger-wielding arm, fired him, and paid him ten Silver Suo in severance.
• Wayne stopped York’s bleeding with a branding iron, while he and Shier realized Hobart had spared York so his punishment would serve as a warning.
• Hobart returned to the Lord’s Manor and planned to strengthen his rule by renovating the estate, organizing local militias, and controlling land-use rights.
• Shier told Hobart that he and Wayne had spread the story of York’s punishment through town, and Hobart realized the growing respect for his martial authority was digesting his Potion.

Hobart hired Philip as his probationary butler and prepared to inspect his territory. In Backlund, Jessica helped reshape a workers’ compensation bill despite facing arrest, but agents from the Special Operations Department and two Churches intervened to protect her during questioning.

• Hobart rewarded Shier, asked him to arrange Philip’s interview, and hired Philip as his butler for a two-month probationary period.
• Hobart gave Philip 80 Silver Suo to manage the Lord’s Manor finances, then left with Shier to inspect the territory.
• At the Council Hall, Gusata and four chamber of commerce representatives challenged Jessica’s right to attend, but Law Professors supported her seat.
• Jessica explained the workers’ concerns, prompting the Law Professors to shorten the compensation period from three months to three weeks and revise the bill.
• After Gusata called the police, Borgia and a Church representative intervened, and Military Intelligence Section 9 questioned Jessica with them present.

Jessica received a warning that mercenary teams were hunting Hobart and used his messenger to send him a letter and doughnuts. In Feneport, Hobart toured his impoverished territory and forced Grover Duke to recognize his authority, taking the knight’s white horse as a fine.

• Auston warned Jessica that three Mercenary Teams had gone to Feneport Kingdom to claim the bounty on Hobart’s head, and Jessica decided to summon Hobart’s messenger.
• Jessica found a letter intended for Hobart, then told Kelly about her day and performed the summoning ritual, giving the messenger the letter and three doughnuts.
• Shier showed Hobart Jeffrey Town and nearby villages, where residents treated him respectfully but remained wary, and Hobart learned that many missed Wright Viscount’s rule.
• Hobart confronted Grover Duke, ordered him to dismount, and threw him to the ground when he refused to recognize the new lord.
• Hobart used his Corrosion ability to turn the squires against one another, fined Grover Duke one white horse, and rode away with Shier.

Hobart settled into his territory, prepared to visit the bandits at the old church, and began using the Oil Painting to guard his room. After receiving warnings about mercenaries and an assassination plot, he wrote replies and realized he needed to travel to Feneport City to obtain doughnuts for his messenger.

• Shier led Hobart around the territory and warned him that reaching the villages beyond the mountains required passing the old church, where bandits lived; Hobart planned to visit them the next day.
• Hobart returned to the manor, found Philip had hired workers to clean and repair it, and ordered the servants to keep away from his courtyard overnight.
• Hobart brought out the Oil Painting and Two-Handed Sword, intending to have the painting guard his room while he slept.
• Jessica's messenger delivered her letter, and Hobart learned that Jessica had been questioned by the police and Military Intelligence Section 9, joined Barton’s Mercenary Team as its senior Lawyer, and received a warning from Auston.
• Hobart read letters from Selena and Harvey Hayden; Harvey warned him about three powerful Mercenary Teams and a planned assassination by Military Intelligence Section 9.
• Hobart wrote replies to Jessica, Selena, and Harvey, then realized he had no doughnuts to pay the messenger and would have to go to Feneport City.

Hobart settled into his fief, arranged the manor’s renovation and staff, and inspected the territory. At the former Earth Mother church, he confronted the Great Lord and ordered him to leave so the building could become a church again.

• Hobart visited Doffis in Backlund, exchanged news about Christine, and asked him to trade 700 pounds for Lire.
• Hobart sent a letter from Jeffrey Town, then told Philip to hire kitchen staff, build a Fire Dragon heating system, recruit workers from every village, and invite former servants back.
• Hobart set out to inspect the territory with Shier and Philip’s son Roy, and saw the fertile fields and mist-covered Full Moon Lake.
• Seven Subordinates of the Great Lord led Hobart to the former Earth Mother church, where the Great Lord greeted him cautiously after learning he was an Extraordinary.
• Hobart ordered the Great Lord and his followers to leave the church so he could restore it.

Hobart ordered the Great Lord and his men to leave, then attacked them when they resisted and killed the leaders and more than twenty followers. He made Shier kill a wounded bandit as his first test, but wondered whether the act had helped digest his Potion.

• Hobart ordered the Great Lord and his men to move out, then accused them of killing Wright Viscount.
• Hobart attacked the Second Lord, killed him, and pursued the Great Lord after learning the Second Lord was likely an Assassin from the Gnostic Society.
• The Great Lord used Open Door to escape through a wall, but Hobart caught up with him and killed him.
• Hobart cut down more than twenty people as the bandits outside hesitated to enter the hall.
• Hobart gave Shier a Two-Handed Sword and ordered him to kill a wounded bandit, whom Shier eventually stabbed through the heart.
• Hobart saw fear and excitement in Shier but noticed no clear signs that his Potion had been digested.

Hobart took control of the bandit-held church, gathered its spoils, and began establishing his rule over the territory. After arranging a public burning of the bandits and a proper reburial for Wright Viscount’s family, he continued inspecting the land and was welcomed by Louis Knight.

• Hobart killed several bandits with stones, sent Roy to summon Philip, and ordered Shier to search the church.
• Hobart released the abducted women and found the bandits’ storehouse, which held large supplies of grain and dried fruit but few valuables.
• Philip arrived with several dozen men, and Hobart ordered them to move the spoils, build temporary warehouses, and burn the bandits’ corpses in a public pyre.
• Hobart promised to rebury Wright Viscount’s family, and Philip told him where they had been buried.
• Hobart continued his inspection of the territory, and Louis Knight greeted him respectfully and presented him with two donkeys for his servants.

Hobart began establishing his rule over the territory and realized that fear-driven loyalty helped digest his Corrupted Baron Potion. After a beautiful woman arrived seeking a meeting, he suspected she was connected to the Gnostic Society and let her in.

• Hobart saw the blaze from the mountaintop, considered his next steps against the Gnostic Society, and decided to conduct a household registration.
• Viscount Teuton learned that Hobart had killed the previous Lords and the bandits, then said Hobart would have to flee, die, or become the Gnostic Society's dog.
• A peerlessly elegant lady asked another woman to approach Hobart and seek cooperation, warning that killing him was not an option.
• Hobart woke to find that the blaze had digested nearly one-third of his Potion, then realized that fear and repeated acknowledgment of his authority produced the loyalty needed for Acting.
• Philip told Hobart that a beautiful lady had requested a meeting, and Hobart admitted her while Shier quickly looked away after staring at her.

Hobart negotiated a limited cooperation with Helen while insisting that he alone control dealings in his territory. He then began reopening the town school and organized residents to prepare for a household registration census.

• Hobart asked Shier to leave and told Helen to stop using her Extraordinary Ability so they could discuss practical matters.
• Hobart offered Helen the Instigator and Apprentice Extraordinary Characteristics as a sign of cooperation, while forbidding her from bypassing him or infiltrating his territory.
• Helen said she would return the next day with her answer after Hobart proposed mutually beneficial dealings on his terms.
• Hobart summoned the three remaining local teachers and promised to reopen the school, with their wages starting immediately.
• Hobart assigned the teachers to recruit fifteen literate residents and train them to fill out a household registration census form.

Hobart warned Helen away from his bedroom after his cursed oil painting attacked her, then traveled with Alger to investigate a ruin. They arrived on an island encircled by a violent storm, where Alger recognized several Extraordinary creatures.

• Hobart used the cursed oil painting to attack Helen when she entered his bedroom, and she escaped with a Mirror Substitute.
• Hobart warned Helen that the painting had marked her and told her to seek help, while she reported that her elders had approved their cooperation and assigned her as liaison.
• Hobart traveled to Oravia Port and met Alger in a forest near a private port, then took him through the Spirit World toward the ruin.
• Hobart and Alger emerged on an unfamiliar island surrounded by towering storm clouds, fierce winds, lightning, and thunder.
• Alger recognized Storm Green-Winged Eagles, Blue Shadow Falcons, Dragon Eye Sea Eagles, Agate Jellyfish, and Blue-Eyed Electric Eels around the island.

Hobart and Alger hunted extraordinary creatures and plants on the island before discovering a distorted area that flattened objects into two dimensions. Hobart explained his theory of two-dimensional space, while Alger remained unsure what the fourth dimension was.

• Hobart killed a Blue Shadow Falcon with Holy Light and lured a Dragon Eye Sea Eagle back with Distortion before cutting off its head.
• Alger collected the creatures’ Extraordinary Characteristics and main ingredients while Hobart watched for the island’s reaction.
• Hobart and Alger explored the island together, gathering Sequence 7 and Sequence 8 ingredients and other Spirit Materials.
• They found a mirror-like area where the light, colors, and entire scenery swayed like a curtain.
• Hobart tested the area with a stone and a branch, discovering that it flattened objects into two dimensions, then explained the idea to Alger.