Chapter Summaries

Hobart supported the Balk Family as the battle against the Rose School escalated into a contest of summoned angels and divine intervention. The Creator stopped Sua’s descent and empowered Lawrence and the Balk fighters, but Lawrence was still in danger as Hobart considered whether to send further help.

• Hobart watched the Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord battle Baranka, while Lawrence summoned the Holy Infant King to oppose Kleist and help hold back the Rose School’s forces.
• Mahames used himself as a Coordinate for Sua’s descent, but the Creator appeared and forbade divine descent, severing the connection and sending Sua’s arm away.
• Lawrence used the Order Wood and his crown to attack Mahames, Jakes, and Zawent, while Jonah and General Anthony witnessed the Creator’s arrival.
• Elliot prayed for the Creator’s protection, received healing, and was saved from a Wraith by Hobart’s Bull Demon King, which then helped Chester defeat Rose School demigods.
• The Balk Family regained the initiative as the Bull Demon King and Chester tied down the enemy demigods, while Hobart heard Lawrence call for help again and considered sending the Ancient Death God’s corpse.

The Balk Family defeated the Rose School with help from the “Creator,” then pledged their loyalty and prepared to return to the wider Beyonder World. Meanwhile, Hobart reviewed the battle’s costs and learned that the Nohal’s captain had been impressed by the order and development of Jeffrey Town.

• Lawrence and the Black Hound Spirit Beast killed Zatwin after Mahames and Jakes escaped through the Spirit World.
• Lawrence and the Black Hound Spirit Beast joined the Middle Sequence battlefield, turning the retreat into a massacre that left only three Rose School demigods and a little over thirty lower-ranking Beyonders alive.
• Elliot prayed for the seriously wounded Balk Family members, and the “Creator” healed them; Lawrence then declared that the family would serve the “Creator” and return to public life.
• Hobart returned from the Country of Disorder, reviewed the summoned creatures’ remaining uses, and asked Allen to summon Corwin so he could inquire about the Nohal.
• Dean explored Jeffrey Town, heard the hotel manager praise Lord Hobart’s achievements, and decided to stay overnight after learning about Hobart’s construction plans.

Hobart reviewed the spoils from the Balk Family’s victory, received intelligence about the Trensoost Empire Ship, and arranged meetings with Lafite and Elliot. The Silver City squad found a strange child in the abandoned temple, while Hobart prepared to travel to Backlund before meeting an investor.

• Hobart collected numerous Sealed Artifacts and Extraordinary Characteristics, deciding to keep most as strategic reserves and sell some Lawyer and Pharmacist characteristics.
• Lawrence asked Elliot to discuss the Balk Family’s plans with Hobart and inquire about purchasing Lawyer pathway characteristics.
• Hobart learned from the Tudor messenger that clues and blueprints related to the Trensoost Empire Ship were tied to the vanished City of Yadro and the Trensoost family’s flight after the Night Emperor fell.
• Derrick and the Silver City squad explored the abandoned temple, saw murals of the Fallen Creator and Redemption Rose, and found a crying child named Jack before Derrick suddenly returned to the city’s outskirts.
• Viscount Teuton and Grove learned that Hobart had dredged a shipping channel and planned to copy his work, while Hobart arranged to meet Captain Dean about investing in Jeffrey Territory.
• Hobart traveled to Lafite’s residence in Backlund after arranging meetings with Lafite and Elliot.

Hobart arranged Lafite’s departure and tried to raise funds for Jeffrey Town’s costly construction plans. At the Tarot Club, Derrick revealed that the Silver City team was trapped in a repeating exploration, and Hobart identified the angel in the temple mural as Uroboros, a true King of Angels of the Fate pathway.

• Hobart sent Lafite to Bayam on his way to the Rosed Islands and the Southern Continent, then offered Dean a chance to profit by importing tax-exempt building materials for Jeffrey Territory.
• Dean borrowed money to order two shiploads of building materials, while Hobart learned that Jeffrey Town’s five construction stages would cost an estimated 270,000 Gold Lire and that land and material shortages remained.
• Bishop Simpson’s letter reported that the seven crates of Ancient Azure Dragon Beast materials had sold for 16,000 Gold Lire, easing Hobart’s financial worries somewhat.
• At the Tarot Club, Derrick described how the Silver City team had relived the temple exploration five times, with each cycle ending when Jack mutated or Chief Colin killed him.
• Hobart asked Mr. Fool to manifest the pilgrimage mural and identified its angel as Uroboros, a true King of Angels of the Fate pathway and one of the origins of the King of Angels title.

Hobart helped Derrick connect Jack and the murals to Uroboros and Redemption Rose, while Mr. Fool revealed that Redemption Rose was crucial to the mysteries of the Great Cataclysm. The Tarot Club then traded materials and information, and Hobart disclosed that he was the Creator’s Blessed, leaving Alger with a reportable clue about the Creator’s recent battle.

• Hobart identified Uroboros as a King of Angels whose time-looping powers matched Derrick’s account, and he and Alger linked the boy Jack to an Aurora Society Listener who had taken a child toward the Land Abandoned by God.
• Derrick manifested the murals, and World showed similar images from the Tudor Ruins, leading the members to recognize distorted depictions of the Six Gods.
• Hobart named Redemption Rose as a key to the Great Cataclysm mystery after Mr. Fool gave the same hint, and Derrick offered him ten Sequence 8 Main Ingredients in total.
• Hobart offered Derrick a warhammer Beyonder Weapon for fifteen Sequence 8 Main Ingredients or seven Sequence 7 Main Ingredients, and Derrick accepted the terms.
• Fors sold Audrey a pair of Mirror Dragon eyes for 1,000 Pounds, and Alger asked the Tarot Club for information about the Creator after describing a battle between the Creator’s followers and the Rose School.
• Klein directed Alger to ask Hobart, who revealed that he was the Creator’s Blessed and said the Creator had prevented a Godspawn from descending during the battle.

At the Tarot Club, Hobart explained the Rose School and the Creator’s victory in a major battle, then admitted he needed £200,000 for a project. The gathering ended with a warning about Edessak Augustus, while Audrey wondered what danger awaited the Royal Family and Susie noticed her worry.

• Hobart told the Tarot Club that the Rose School was an evil organization led by the Sequence 1 Godspawn, and that the Creator had defeated it after both sides deployed Angels, Saints, and many other Beyonders.
• Hobart warned the members to beware of Rose School members and offered Alger one-tenth of the reward he received for reporting the battle to his church; Alger planned to wait before passing on the information.
• Audrey privately asked Hobart what troubled him, and he said he needed £200,000; she offered to lend him £10,000, and they discussed their recent advances to Sequence 8 and Sequence 5.
• The World warned that a destabilizing event was brewing in Backlund, and The Fool named Edessak Augustus.
• After the Tarot Club, Audrey worried about Hobart’s advancement and Edessak’s fate, then Susie noticed her troubled music and asked what was wrong.

Derrick used the Emperor’s intelligence to help Colin break the loop caused by Uroboros’s power in the Land Abandoned by God. Hobart then weighed the Great Smog of Backlund against his plans, guided the Balk Family’s development in the Southern Continent, and supplied them with a large stock of Lawyer pathway Extraordinary Characteristics.

• Derrick questioned Jack and discovered that the boy came from Enmat Port and bore a face resembling the angel in the mural, but Jack’s corruption caused the exploration to reset again.
• On the seventh exploration, Derrick warned Colin that Jack’s face resembled the angel; Colin identified Uroboros as the Fate Angel and used two swords to destroy the face, ending the repeated lives.
• Hobart visited Dunn Smith’s spirit body, admitted his concerns about the Great Smog of Backlund, and considered the rituals for advancing to Sequence 3 and Sequence 2.
• Hobart contacted Aputon, dismantled Jessica’s failed products to recover their Extraordinary Characteristics, and reviewed the Black Emperor Card’s advancement requirements.
• Hobart met Elliot and Lawrence in Crowlier City, taught them gestures and slogans for praising the Creator, and advised the Balk Family to invest in manufacturing and send young members to study in the Northern Continent.
• Hobart opened a wooden box containing a large assortment of Lawyer pathway Extraordinary Characteristics, surprising Lawrence and Elliot.

Hobart sold Beyonder characteristics to the Balk Family and assigned Aputon construction and factory-study tasks, while Emlyn joined The Fool’s gathering after praying to him. Klein then encountered Triss, who feared her identity was being changed to Triss Chick, and Hobart destroyed Backlund’s Clock of Order before asking Bishop Utravsky why he had become uncertain as he grew stronger.

• Hobart sold Beyonder characteristics to Lawrence, who arranged payment in Gold Pounds, Gold Lire, and gold, and Hobart warned him to avoid major conflicts with the Rose School while rebuilding the family’s strength.
• Hobart gave Aputon a materials-purchasing commission, a mask marking him as a Creator’s Blessed, and a task to arrange factory visits for Southern Continent Blessed.
• Emlyn prayed to The Fool, learned that Lilith’s revelation had led him there, and joined the gathering while agreeing to keep it secret.
• Klein met Triss in a carriage, heard that she feared someone was controlling her and had changed her name to Triss Chick, and sought help from Mr. Azik and the Creator after she vanished.
• Hobart rang the Clock of Order out of schedule, split its bell with his knife, and then asked Bishop Utravsky why he had become hesitant and lost as he grew stronger.

Hobart resolved to act during the Great Smog, rescued people in the East End, and sent his Saint-level allies against a Despair Witch. As 0-08 manipulated events, Ryan Solomon attacked Hobart’s group, but his life-altering power failed to affect the Black Hound Spirit Beast.

• Utravsky helped Hobart understand his fears, and Hobart received baptism at Harvest Church before donating money for medicine.
• Klein asked for help as meteors threatened him, and Azik arrived to carry him into the Spirit World; meanwhile, Edessak let Triss leave Red Rose Manor.
• Hobart found Old Kohler in the East End and summoned the Bull Demon King and Black Hound Spirit Beast to attack a Despair Witch while he helped people flee the smog.
• 0-08 manipulated Ince Zangwill into overlooking the quill and wrote that Ryan Solomon and Orseya Tamara would become interested in Hobart’s helpers.
• Ryan Solomon attacked Hobart’s group with an Angel-level bracelet that caused plants to grow wildly, but the Black Hound Spirit Beast remained unaffected and the new growth quickly withered.

Hobart fought to escape the Backlund Great Smog Incident and rescued Old Kohler and Freya, but he could not save Liv or the people who had died in the East End. After the Storm Church dispersed the smog, Hobart reunited with Old Kohler and Freya, though the Level 1 Sealed Artifact’s negative effects briefly left him confused.

• Hobart used the Error pathway glove to remove a creature draining his strength, while Ryan broke free of the Black Hound Spirit Beast’s Underworld Gate and Orseya arrived to stop Hobart from escaping.
• Orseya and the Bull Demon King battled as the Despair Witch digested her Potion and pursued Hobart; Hobart escaped with the Bull Demon King, then discovered the Black Hound Spirit Beast was missing from the Country of Disorder.
• A hooded woman appeared and erased the Despair Witch, Ryan, and the Black Hound Spirit Beast, while Hobart returned to the East End to rescue Old Kohler from the deadly fog.
• Hobart took Old Kohler to Liv’s home and healed Freya, but Liv had died; he then moved Freya and Old Kohler to a church and returned to search for Daisy.
• Hobart found no survivors on a fog-covered street, condemned the destruction, and watched the Storm Church disperse the smog before returning to Rose Street.
• Hobart briefly lost his memory from the glove’s negative effects, then found Old Kohler and Freya and asked Old Kohler to share his ham as thanks.

After saving Freya and arranging for her sister Daisy to be cared for, Hobart took Freya to his territory as his student. He discovered that the Black Hound Spirit Beast was trapped in Mist Town, then encountered Adam through Elliot’s prayer and was identified as Trensoost’s descendant.

• Hobart told Freya that the Great Smog had been deliberately caused and offered to train her; Freya accepted after arranging to say goodbye to Daisy.
• Hobart brought Old Kohler to Harvest Church for shelter and medical care, then took Freya to reunite with Daisy and bury their mother, Liv.
• Freya left Daisy behind and went with Hobart to Jeffrey Territory, where Hobart introduced himself and arranged her studies and lodging.
• Hobart discovered that the Black Hound Spirit Beast was trapped in Mist Town, then received a payment from a member of the Balk Family.
• Lawrence played with a Level 0 Sealed Artifact while Elliot prayed to the Creator, allowing Hobart to see Adam standing beside Elliot.
• Hobart projected himself to confront Adam, who recognized him as Trensoost’s descendant.

Hobart concealed his weakness from Adam, then warned Elliot and the other members of his meeting about Adam’s powers and identity. He returned to Jeffrey Territory, welcomed his mother and sister, and learned that Monlisa had set his wedding to Fors for January 28.

• Hobart told Adam that he would not interfere with the tide of the times, and Adam left after assessing him as an Angel-level opponent.
• Hobart revealed Adam’s presence and abilities to Elliot, Lawrence, and the others, explaining that Adam was a King of Angels who had come to see him.
• Hobart reasoned that Adam had suspected the Creator knew about George III’s plan, then decided to focus on developing his territory while keeping a low profile.
• Hobart told Fors about the Great Smog, introduced Freya at dinner, and asked Helen to invite Monica to meet with him.
• Hobart received Azik’s letter about sealing the Ancient Death God’s corpse and replied with thanks and an invitation to visit his territory.
• Hobart and Fors welcomed Monlisa and Donna to Jeffrey Territory, and Monlisa set Hobart and Fors’s wedding date for January 28.

Hobart arranged his wedding, assigned jobs to Donna and Angus, and launched land redistribution, tax reform, rural outreach, and the creation of an Official Extraordinary force in Jeffrey Territory. He invited Monica to join the force and help negotiate the Gnostic Society’s legitimacy, then tasked Angus with recruiting Tudor clansmen as the church’s arrival approached.

• Hobart agreed to hold his wedding in his territory, and Monlisa introduced Angus as his cousin and allowed Donna to stay and work for him.
• Monlisa explained that Angus belonged to the Tudor Family, which had sent him to assist Christine, and Hobart decided to appoint him captain of a new Official Extraordinary force.
• At the territory meeting, Hobart ordered Conrad to publicize land redistribution and the simplified regulations, assigned Shier to protect the Propaganda Group and organize an army, and tasked Donna with promoting the New Tax Law.
• Hobart told Monica that the Earth Mother Church would soon arrive and offered to grant Gnostic Society members official standing if they joined his Extraordinary force; Monica said she could not decide alone.
• Hobart appointed Angus to lead the new force and asked him to recruit Tudor clansmen, promising advancement opportunities for those who earned sufficient merit.

Hobart taught Freya, delivered a Bribor Extraordinary Characteristic to Aputon, and visited Klein after the Great Smog. As George III set a trap involving Alice and the Creator, Hobart made plans to use the Tudor Family and moved building materials into the Country of Disorder.

• Hobart corrected Freya’s Ruen pronunciation, assigned her words to copy and read, then gave Aputon a Bribor Extraordinary Characteristic and told him to pray for the remaining gold.
• Hobart found Klein through the Faceless Man Necklace, healed his cold, and learned that Klein planned to go to sea to seek Mermaids; Hobart advised him to search the Soniya Sea and find a reliable ship.
• Bernadette wondered how the shy Lawyer was doing, while Alice received Old Bernie’s note about the Creator and vowed to avenge Edessak; George III revealed that he was using Alice to test the Creator.
• Hobart consulted Christine about Donna and Angus, learned that the Tudor Family branch included a Saint and four demigods, and planned to use them against the Extraordinary factions near his territory.
• Hobart moved cement and steel reinforcement from Aputon’s Warehouse into the Country of Disorder, while Aputon prayed for the rest of his payment.

Hobart celebrated New Year in Jeffrey Town, secured deeper cooperation with the Gnostic Society, and sold it Apprentice pathway Extraordinary Characteristics. The chapter ended with Hobart summoning his people back to the construction site on January 1st, while Selena successfully summoned Hobart’s messenger and spent the evening with her friends.

• Old Borg witnessed construction materials appear at the site and reported them to Roy, who told the onlookers they had been unloaded from the docks by order of the Lord.
• Jonathan met Hobart and agreed to cooperate with him, dispatching Helen and nine other Gnostic Society members to Jeffrey Town under Hobart’s command.
• Hobart sold Jonathan six Apprentice, four Trick Master, three Astrologer, and one Scribe Extraordinary Characteristics for 16,000 Gold Lire, then celebrated New Year with the townspeople and Fors.
• Klein watched fireworks alone, Audrey exchanged New Year greetings with Susie, and Alger traveled through Hilm Port without joining the local celebrations.
• Selena used Hobart’s instructions to summon his messenger, then met Elizabeth and Melissa to watch fireworks and discuss their plans for the coming year.
• On January 1st, Hobart summoned Roy, Skola, and others to the construction site, where Donna joked about suing him for ending their holiday early.

Hobart prepared Jeffrey Town for his January 28 wedding to Fors, pushed ahead with construction, and used his powers to move railway materials and level a hillside. He then traveled to Viscount Teuton’s estate for a banquet and discovered open demon worship in Teuton Town.

• Hobart ordered Roy to turn houses into hotels, inns, and restaurants for the wedding, and told Skola to prepare the railway construction.
• Conrad redistributed village land under the protection of Shier and the guards, while Hobart inspected the railway route and discussed construction deadlines.
• Hobart taught Freya about finding her place in society and gave Fors Lava Octopus blood crystals as a New Year’s gift.
• Viscount Teuton invited Hobart to a banquet after Grove proposed exposing the Gnostic Society’s presence, and Hobart agreed to attend with Shier and Corwin.
• Hobart used the Country of Disorder to scatter railway materials along the route and flatten a hillside, leading Skola and Valk to believe the territory had been haunted.
• Hobart traveled with Helen, Shier, and Corwin to Teuton Town, where he saw residents worshipping demon statues and found a tree with corpses hanging from it.

Hobart discovered that the Abyss had sent him a mysterious ring and began investigating the Demon Family’s influence in Viscount Teuton’s territory. After killing Knight Keton and tracing the Blood Worshipping Sect’s members, Hobart attacked the Demon Atwood but found himself surrounded.

• Hobart saw the Sacrifice Tree and secretly took a strand of Knight Keton’s hair before attending Viscount Teuton’s banquet, where he clashed with Grove.
• At the dock, Yarlin offered Hobart a gift from the Abyss, but the wooden box followed Hobart home after he threw it into Full Moon Lake; Hobart found an ancient ring inside and locked it away.
• Hobart read Grove’s note about Viscount Teuton’s plans, asked Bishop Simpson for information on the Blood Worshipping Sect, and assigned Corwin to hire workers while he rewarded Wayne with the title of Shipping Knight.
• Hobart made Grove’s three sons his male servants, then learned that the Blood Worshipping Sect had forces across five territories, including at least three Sequence 5s and a possible demigod.
• Hobart traveled to Knight Keton’s residence, killed him, and used Spirit Communication to locate the sect members before pursuing the Sequence 6 Atwood.
• Hobart caught Atwood as he fled and demonified, then struck him with Chaos and Holy Light; as Hobart prepared to finish him, he realized he was surrounded.

Hobart fought Yarlin and the Demons, escaped Archbishop Bowen, and uncovered the Blood Worshipping Sect’s plans through Spirit Communication. After Demon Monarch Fauvety entered his dream and asked him to kill the Demons on the other shore, Hobart was left facing a direct request from the Abyss.

• Hobart used a Loss of Control Stone and the Sealed Artifact 1-103 against Yarlin and the surrounding Demons, but its bloodlust drove both him and Yarlin into a chaotic fight with animated objects.
• Hobart Corroded the Demons’ minds, then fled with a headless Demon corpse when Archbishop Bowen’s malice approached; Bowen removed a dangerous wound from Yarlin and called Hobart the Abyss’s chosen one.
• Hobart appeared in Knight Keton’s room because of 1-104’s greed, collected Keton’s Arbiter Extraordinary Characteristic, and used Spirit Communication to learn that the Abyss had directed the Demons to give him the Monarch Ring.
• Hobart learned about the Blood Worshipping Sect’s split over the Cosmic Dark Side and identified Bowen and the five Sequence 5 Demons in South Colson before the corpse’s spirit body dissipated.
• Hobart returned home, sacrificed his gains to the Country of Disorder, and went to sleep wearing his Order Crystal bracelet.
• Demon Monarch Fauvety appeared to Hobart in a dream, said he would help Hobart defeat Fauvety’s greatest enemy, and asked him to kill the Demons on the other shore.

Hobart met Fauvety in a dream and learned that the Demon Monarch had split off his corrupted self to battle the Desire Mother Tree. After waking, Hobart removed Fauvety’s ring, extracted its hidden corrupting blessing, and prepared to deal with the demons threatening his territory.

• Fauvety explained that demons’ sacrifices had exposed him to the Desire Mother Tree, so he separated his corrupted self, the Cosmic Dark Side, and fought Her for control of it.
• Fauvety offered Hobart the ring and enhanced Oil Painting abilities in exchange for killing demons, but Hobart refused to make a deal and questioned whether Fauvety should regain his freedom.
• The dream shattered, and Hobart discovered Fauvety’s ring had attached itself to his spirit body; he used Distortion and the Power of Order to remove it.
• Hobart found that the ring could conceal hostility and shield emotions, but also carried a hidden blessing that would turn its wearer into a demon and draw them toward the Abyss.
• Hobart extracted the blessing without damaging the ring, placed it in a stone he named Abyss’s Gift, and decided to wait for the Earth Mother Church, the Gnostic Society, and the Tudor Family before launching an all-out war against the demons.

Hobart began digesting the Chaos Mentor Potion after teaching Freya how to address the Village Tyrants by restoring civil-dispute authority at the local level. He then settled Dennis’s challenge with ease and agreed to teach him combat under strict conditions.

• Hobart returned from the Country of Disorder, while the Nohal arrived in Feneport Harbor and Captain Dean credited Hobart with reopening the Taidi Jie River route and protecting ships from bandits.
• Aishel learned that Hobart had sealed the pollution of Full Moon Lake and reopened the waterway, and Fernando II planned to reclaim governing authority in Colson County.
• Freya described her investigation into the villagers’ dependence on the Village Tyrants, and Hobart explained that local courts and patrols could reclaim the power to settle civil disputes.
• Hobart recognized that explaining a new way to address social chaos to Freya had begun digesting his Chaos Mentor Potion.
• Dennis argued with Allen over serving Hobart, challenged Hobart, and was defeated with a single finger; Hobart agreed to teach him combat if he cleaned the Study, obeyed Allen, and brought Hobart water for washing his feet.