Chapter Summaries

At the Tarot Club, Hobart traded for materials and recounted the hidden history of the United Empire, Tudor, and the Four Emperors. He left off describing the war’s opening, with Solomon and Tudor falling after Mr. Door was Banished.

• Hobart kept his identity as Emperor from Fors while observing which Tarot Club members had attended his wedding and advanced in their Sequences.
• Cattleya agreed to provide Hobart with Atlanta Flower powder and help locate Six-legged Sprite marrow, while World offered Little Sun the Notary Potion Recipe and bought ancient wraith spirituality from Cattleya.
• The members pooled 5,500 pounds and two Extraordinary Materials for Hobart’s account of the United Empire, learning that Tudor and Trensoost ruled together before becoming rivals.
• Hobart explained that Tudor planned to become the Black Emperor, then jumped to the Red Priest pathway and became the Blood Emperor after Tudor, Adam, and Amon killed Medici.
• Hobart recounted the start of the War of the Four Emperors, in which Mr. Door was Banished, Zaratul was killed, and Solomon and Tudor fell.

Hobart recounted the War of the Four Emperors, the fates of the Tudor and Solomon descendants, and the history of Medici, revealing that Medici’s spirit had survived as an evil spirit containing three consciousnesses. The gathering ended with Hobart’s account of Medici’s fall in a ruin in Backlund.

• Hobart explained his conjecture that the Night Emperor and Nether Emperor had joined forces to defeat the Blood Emperor and divide the spoils of war.
• Hobart described the Tudor and Solomon families’ surviving branches, including the King of the Five Seas as a descendant of Solomon.
• The World reported that the Church of Storms had dealt with Bansy Harbor, and Hobart speculated about why Medici’s descendants had hidden there.
• Cattleya paid Hobart for information about the Kings of Angels, and Audrey, Fors, and Little Sun joined the transaction.
• Hobart recounted Medici’s history and revealed that Medici had fallen in a ruin in Backlund, where His spirit merged with the remnants of Sauron and Einhorn into a three-consciousness evil spirit.

At a Tarot Club gathering, Hobart discussed Adam’s history and possible plans to revive the Ancient Sun God, then explained Amon’s past and dangerous abilities. He warned the members to forget what they had learned about Amon, while Klein wondered how he could protect his own memories.

• Hobart said the evil spirit formed from three angels’ remnants was connected to an operation arranged by the Creator and related to Adam.
• Hobart explained that Adam was the Ancient Sun God’s child, had supported Tudor in the Fourth Epoch, and had helped Antigonus attempt to become a god.
• Hobart told Derrick that gods and angels could prepare for resurrection, but a resurrected Ancient Sun God might not be the same being as the original.
• Hobart described Amon’s role in the War of the Four Emperors and said He had devoured Jacob, stolen his fate, and reclaimed Marauder characteristics.
• Hobart warned that Amon had high-level avatars across both continents and could trace people who knew about Him, so the members would need Justice to hypnotize them.
• Klein realized that the warning applied to the Tarot Club members but not to him, and considered renting Hobart’s Spectator-pathway Sealed Artifact to protect his memories.

Hobart explained how Amon’s avatars could be countered and how they traveled between the Land Abandoned by God and the outside world, while the Tarot Club discussed the Moon pathway and Audrey’s dream exploration. After the meeting, Klein met military contact Uss Kent in Bayam, who warned Gehrman Sparrow about the risks of provoking pirates.

• Hobart told the Tarot Club to pray to The Fool if they encountered Amon and explained that angels were needed to defeat powerful avatars.
• Hobart said Amon’s avatars used a mausoleum near Backlund and a projection of the Giant King’s Court to travel to the Land Abandoned by God.
• Cattleya explained the Moon pathway’s Sequences and their links to the domains of the Moon, while Emlyn insisted on calling his people the sanguine race.
• Audrey described entering the collective unconscious through her dreams and seeing a dragon, and The Fool told her she could recite his name in dreams if she faced danger.
• Klein ended the Tarot Club meeting, then met Uss Kent at the Fragrant Tree Leaf Bar, where Kent warned him that pirates might target his friends or ambush him.

Hobart negotiated with Sharon to sell the Temperance Faction a large stock of Prisoner-pathway Extraordinary Characteristics, then led Jeffrey Territory’s forces into battle against the Demons at Teuton Town. The chapter ended with Simpson’s troops setting fire to the Demons’ sacred tree and drawing their hidden forces into the open.

• Hobart collected the Tarot Club’s proceeds, oversaw Shier’s advancement to Provoker, and visited Bravehearts Bar to seek Maric.
• Sharon met Hobart in a carriage, agreed to buy his Marionettist Extraordinary Characteristic, and promised to answer about the other Characteristics three nights later.
• Hobart told Fors that war was imminent, and Fors joined the expedition despite his concerns for her safety.
• Hobart’s thirty-eight Beyonders crossed the lake and advanced through Teuton Town, overcoming the Demons’ curses and fireball ambushes while carrying their wounded.
• Simpson’s force reached the tree hung with corpses and set it ablaze, prompting the Demons to rush out and defend it.

Bishop Simpson’s force fought Yarlin’s demons while Hobart’s tactics and Sealed Artifacts helped the outnumbered team hold its formation. Hobart joined the battle and used Sealed Artifact 1-102 against arriving reinforcements, leaving Wozworth incapacitated before they reached the fight.

• Simpson held his team back as Yarlin and the demons attacked, then led the defense against their charge.
• Angus and other team members used their abilities and Sealed Artifacts to suppress Shandi, Weizi, and the demons’ other fighters.
• Fors, Helen, and Archibald’s marionettes helped the team kill demons, while Simpson wounded Yarlin and shifted the battle against the attackers.
• Hobart emerged from the Spirit World, weakened fleeing enemies, and urged his team to maintain formation when Shandi withdrew.
• Gloria and Wozworth arrived with more than thirty reinforcements, and Hobart used 1-102 to make Wozworth collapse before the reinforcements reached the battlefield.

Hobart used the Level 1 Sealed Artifact "1-102" and his abilities to hold off Gloria and the enemy reinforcements while waiting for Jonathan. Jonathan arrived to protect the Second Team, but the Devil's Ignorance began affecting his judgment as he fought a shadowy enemy.

• "1-102" summoned monsters and inflicted strange effects on Wozworth and the Demons, slowing the reinforcements while Hunt intercepted Gloria's attack for Hobart.
• Hobart fought Gloria and four Demons, using Holy Light, Chaos, Distortion, Healing Art, and Corrosion to weaken them and disrupt the enemy forces.
• Ten concealed enemies emerged near the Second Team, prompting Hobart to contact Jonathan as Helen led her team toward the First Team.
• Jonathan appeared through an illusory door, used Charm to stop the new Demons, and killed one Desire Apostle before a shadow of malice broke the others free.
• Jonathan battled the shadow with Holy Light and his Sealed Artifact, but the Devil's Ignorance made him choose a risky attack, allowing the shadow to wrap around him and call him out.

Jonathan fought Bowen while Hobart’s forces turned the battlefield in their favor, but Hobart’s attempt to help Jonathan led him into the Lisping Person’s trap. The Overturning Sea Great Saint battled the Lisping Person, who summoned a Blood Grand Duke as Hobart and Jonathan faced a new threat.

• Bowen’s emotional attacks disrupted the battlefield, but Jonathan used frost and his Sealed Artifact to wound him and force him to retreat.
• Hunt fused with his skeleton and gained enough strength to hold off Gloria and the other enemies while Hobart went to help Simpson’s forces.
• Hobart and Archibald subdued an Apostle of Desire, and Hobart’s reinforcements led by Elliot arrived, turning the battle against the enemy and sending them fleeing.
• Hobart answered Jonathan’s signal by summoning the Overturning Sea Great Saint, but discovered Jonathan was trapped in the Lisping Person’s valley of Degeneration slime.
• The Overturning Sea Great Saint fought the Lisping Person while Hobart escaped the valley after being struck by the Lisping Person’s Whisper and suffering severe injuries.
• The Lisping Person summoned the Blood Grand Duke, and Jonathan shouted for everyone to run.

Hobart released the uncontrollable Holy Infant King to fight Duke Leize while the Earth Mother Church learned that an Angel-level battle had erupted in South Colson. With help from the Bull Demon King and the Overturning Sea Great Saint, Hobart’s side defeated the Lisping Person and killed Bowen, but the battle between the Angels continued.

• Philip I sensed an evil force descending near South Colson but left the matter to the Earth Mother Church.
• The Pope contacted Gabriel, learned that a high-level battle was underway, and decided she would provide support if needed.
• As Duke Leize emerged from the blood-filled volcano, Hobart released the Holy Infant King and fled with Maximilian while the two Angels began fighting.
• Hobart sent the Bull Demon King to attack the Lisping Person, whose mind collapsed before the Overturning Sea Great Saint swallowed him.
• The Bull Demon King and the Overturning Sea Great Saint attacked Bowen; the Bull Demon King tore out his heart and killed him, while Jonathan escaped.
• Duke Leize sensed that the Lisping Person had died as his shadow joined the Holy Infant King in battle.

Hobart and his allies finished the battle against the Blood Worshipping Sect, divided the spoils, and dealt with the slime left by the angel-level fight. As blood rain caused by the Blood Grand Duke threatened the survivors, the Pope of the Earth Mother Church intervened and stopped it.

• Duke Leize escaped into the blood pit as Hobart ended the Holy Infant King's pursuit, and Hobart sacrificed the Lisping Person's Sealed Artifact to the Country of Disorder.
• Hobart gave Maximilian the Devil's Heart and Slime Ball, then met a hooded Aurora Society priestess before returning to the battlefield with Maximilian.
• Hobart exchanged Extraordinary Characteristics with Elliot's Balk Family and helped clean the Degeneration slime from Maximilian and himself.
• Bishop Simpson and the other pursuers returned after many enemies escaped, and Hobart divided the spoils among the participating teams.
• Blood rain began falling, and Hobart hurried everyone toward shelter after realizing it could drive people mad or cause Loss of Control.
• Red grass and moss sprouted as the rain stopped, and Bishop Simpson and the others praised the Pope of the Earth Mother Church for intervening.

After an Angel-level battle devastated Eugene Territory, Hobart used disaster relief to seize control of several territories and strengthen his influence. He won Angus’s loyalty, arranged compensation for the fallen, and stayed in Baron Felix’s manor to oversee the new territory.

• Hobart ordered the Earth Mother Church to collect the poisonous grass and sent officials, workers, and supplies to begin disaster relief and take over nearby territories.
• Grove invoked the royal decree granting Viscount Teuton authority over the area, but Hobart openly challenged him before withdrawing his men and the enemy corpses by ship.
• Hobart and his companions found Eugene Territory devastated and two worshippers burned to death, then he claimed he had summoned an Angel to repel the enemy Angel.
• Hobart persuaded Angus to leave the Tudor Family’s influence and serve him by promising opportunities for advancement and support for the fallen members’ families.
• Hobart set compensation for fallen Extraordinary individuals, ordered the First Team expanded, and remained at Baron Felix’s manor to oversee relief and governance.
• After dinner, Hobart returned to his room and went to the Country of Disorder to examine the day’s spoils.

Hobart secured and assessed the Sealed Artifact 1-105, managed the West Bank battle’s losses and spoils, and met Sharon to negotiate a bulk sale of Extraordinary Characteristics. The chapter ended with Hobart calculating the deal’s 154,400-pound value before offering the Temperance Faction a discount.

• Hobart named the Lisping Person’s short sword 1-105 and discovered that the Black Emperor Card let the Creator use it outside the Country of Disorder while suppressing its negative effects.
• Hobart told Baron Felix he wanted governing authority over the West Bank rather than a noble title, then arranged pensions for fallen Special Operations Department members with Helen.
• Members of both teams traded battle spoils for merit, and Hobart issued four Extraordinary Characteristics to members ready to advance.
• Hobart gave Elliot the nine promised Extraordinary Characteristics and sacrificed the remaining spoils, gaining many Abyss pathway characteristics and a Grade 2 Door pathway Sealed Artifact.
• After recovering at the West Bank, Hobart met Sharon in a carriage and heard her request to buy a specified bulk of Extraordinary Characteristics at a discount.
• Hobart calculated that Sharon’s requested characteristics totaled 154,400 pounds, preparing to negotiate the price.

Hobart negotiated a deal with Sharon, funded relief and construction in his territories, and met April, an Ancient Alchemist who offered to forge a body for a spirit and Spiritual Body. April questioned his offer, leaving Hobart to reconsider whether he should negotiate with her or approach Bishop Simpson.

• Hobart agreed to sell Extraordinary Characteristics to Sharon for 150,000 Pounds and arranged for the Temperance Faction to contribute strength to the next operation against the Rose School.
• Hobart funded disaster relief and territory renovations, then asked Skola to investigate a suitable site for a bridge across the South Colson River basin.
• Fors told Hobart that April had given her a Stone of Life, and Hobart invited April to lunch to learn why she had come.
• Hobart bought April's Extraordinary Material, Judge Extraordinary Characteristic, and Mystical Item after identifying the material as a main ingredient for the Cultivator Sequence 6 Biologist.
• Hobart asked April to forge a body for a spirit and Spiritual Body, and she suggested the Earth Mother Church had refused because his offered price was too low.

Hobart investigated April’s strange behavior and realized a troubling truth, but chose not to expose it. In a dream, Fauvety explained the history behind the Desire Mother Tree’s and Fallen Mother Goddess’s conflicts, then Hobart reclaimed and examined the changed ring.

• April explained the requirements for refining a puppet, and Hobart grew wary when her hand trembled and Christine warned that she had joined an evil Extraordinary Organization.
• Hobart recognized a clue in Fors’s dressing-table mirror, understood what he had missed, and decided not to confront April yet.
• Leonard paid Hobart 5,500 pounds for Extraordinary Characteristics, while Edwina identified the pathways and levels of several materials and offered another outlet for Hobart’s sales.
• Fauvety told Hobart that Torzna had sacrificed a Chained Sequence 1 Characteristic to the Fallen Mother Goddess and explained how Torzna’s betrayal drew Lilith, Kvasitun, and Fregera into their deaths.
• Hobart woke with Fauvety’s ring, removed and cleansed it through the Country of Disorder, and found that its abilities had changed while its only negative effect encouraged friendliness toward Fauvety.

Hobart investigated the West Bank residents’ trauma and learned that their worship of Demons had been shaped by years of brutal rule. After a riot erupted and the residents surrounded Baron Felix’s Lord’s Manor, Hobart arrived to negotiate while refusing to restore their worship of Demons.

• Hobart asked April to craft a puppet using Captain Dunn’s hair and blood, while ships and tourists began arriving in Jeffrey Territory and a shipping company sought a stop at Jeffrey Port.
• Bishop Simpson told Hobart that many West Bank residents had lasting Spiritual Body pollution from the Demons and recommended waiting before relocating those who did not recover.
• Freya explained that the residents had worshipped the Demons to survive their cruelty, and Hobart rewarded her insight by allowing her to choose a Beyonder pathway; she chose Arbiter and drank the Potion.
• Alchi reported that residents had rioted and surrounded the Lord’s Manor after Shier led government staff and helpers to safety without firing on the crowd.
• Hobart sent Alchi and Dennis for reinforcements and supplies, then traveled to the West Bank with Freya and Selena.
• Conrad told Hobart that the residents demanded Demon Stone Statues, symbols, and sacrifices be restored; Hobart ordered them to select representatives for negotiations and said their worship could not be restored.

At the Tarot Club, Fors described the campaign in which Hobart’s forces defeated six Apostles of Desire and killed a Demon demigod. At Jeffrey Territory, Hobart negotiated with rioting residents, set conditions for restoring their religious freedom, and reaffirmed his people-oriented rule; he then learned that Viscount Teuton was crushing a separate riot through mass killings.

• The Tarot Club members noticed Hobart’s empty seat, and Fors explained that she had joined a battle in which about fifty allies defeated more than ninety Demons, killing six Apostles of Desire and one demigod.
• Hobart met representatives of the West Bank residents, challenged their demands to restore their faith, and offered them religious freedom after the harvest if they met assigned crop targets and refrained from carving Demon-related symbols meanwhile.
• Hobart ordered special supervision for residents who insisted on restoring their faith immediately and required villages and towns to send young people for three months of unpaid labor as punishment for the riot.
• Hobart arranged village surveys, crop targets, and the transfer of immediate-faith supporters to Eugene Territory, while Shier stopped three children from heading into the wilderness and put them to work in the manor kitchen.
• A servant reported that Viscount Teuton was suppressing another riot through mass killings, and Hobart told Archibald that Fors would govern his territory whenever he was away.
• Hobart told Conrad and the others that good governance required respecting life and patiently building a prosperous, people-oriented society.

Hobart sought Audrey’s advice on treating the mental contamination left by the Demons, then summoned a powerful divine presence to punish the rioters and overwrite their mental imprints. He left the king’s envoy to deal with the dangerous population, while Angus witnessed the deity’s arrival and saw new possibilities in serving Hobart.

• Hobart told Audrey that nearly ten thousand people had suffered mental contamination, and Audrey suggested using a stronger, benign mental imprint to overwrite the Demon’s influence.
• Audrey encouraged Hobart not to doubt that he had acted rightly, and Hobart devised a plan to help the afflicted people.
• Over the next two days, Hobart supervised the resettlement and sent the king’s envoy to see the hostile residents of Eugene Territory; the envoy left without accepting responsibility for them.
• Hobart asked the envoy to request twenty thousand Gold Lire in disaster-relief funds and offered him a ten percent kickback, but the envoy hurried away to report to the king.
• Hobart gathered more than ten thousand rioters in Eugene Territory and summoned a majestic divine presence, causing the crowd and Angus to kneel.
• Angus recognized the arrival as a deity and believed that serving Hobart might help him rise in the world.

Hobart established the Creator’s faith among the laborers and laid plans for an industrial zone, then met with Grove to discuss Teuton Territory. After a Tamara Family assassin attacked him in his manor, Hobart tracked the wounded man into the Spirit World to pursue him.

• Hobart commanded the hillside crowd to abandon their Demon idols, follow the Creator’s teachings, and return to work under Quinna’s supervision.
• Hobart instructed Quinna to build factories and set wages for the laborers, then planned bridges and railways for his territory.
• Hobart gave Grove a Barbarian Potion and told him to secure Teuton’s tourist-area project, encourage Teuton to become a Judge, and give him a Sequence 5 Extraordinary Characteristic.
• Hobart discovered a new worshipper praying to him, then realized Fauvety’s Ring was burning because someone harbored intense malice toward him.
• Bennett attacked Hobart in his manor, but Hobart countered his abilities, wounded him, and identified him as a Tamara Family member.
• Hobart divined the danger of pursuing Bennett, prepared Mystical Items, and traveled into the Spirit World toward Bennett’s location.

Hobart killed Bennett and his elite squad in a fierce battle, then used Spirit Communication to learn that Bennett had targeted him for a reward. He tried to draw the Punishers to the scene and arrived there with them before the Patrol Officers.

• Hobart ambushed Bennett in the Tamara Family squad’s living room and used his abilities to disrupt Bennett’s attempts to escape.
• Hobart created a Lava Pit that swallowed Bennett and his subordinates, then killed the surviving members as they tried to flee or fight back.
• Hobart killed Bennett, recovered three Sealed Artifacts and eight portions of Extraordinary Characteristics, and found that Bennett had planned the assassination for a reward.
• Through Spirit Communication, Hobart learned that Bennett had written to his teacher about the planned assassination but had not sent the letter.
• Hobart burned Bennett’s plea-for-help letter and considered how to conceal the massacre, then traveled to a Church of Storms church and insulted the Punishers to draw them toward the scene.

After securing spoils, funds, and progress in his territory, Hobart returned to the Tarot Club and traded an Extraordinary Weapon while discussing Silver City, Sealed Artifacts, and Trensoost history. The gathering ended with Audrey and Emlyn paying to hear Hobart explain why Night Emperor won early victories in the War of the Four Emperors.

• Hobart identified the black glove as Level 1 Sealed Artifact 1-107, assessed the other spoils, and continued changing the west bank’s rule to digest his Potion.
• Hobart completed trades with Cattleya and Sharon, received 150,000 Pounds, and prepared to invest the money in developing his territory.
• At the Tarot Club, Derrick reported that Elder Loviya had been released, and Hobart and Alger reasoned that the Chief might protect Derrick as a counterbalance to the True Creator.
• Hobart offered Derrick an Extraordinary Weapon and asked the members to find Six-legged Sprite brain marrow, while Alger sought an Ocean Singer Potion Recipe and Cattleya requested clues about a powerful demigod-level Mystical Item.
• Emlyn shared information about the Trensoost Empire and Night Emperor’s Empress, and Hobart offered to explain the deeper reason for Night Emperor’s early victories.
• Audrey paid to join Hobart’s intelligence transaction, and Emlyn contributed 500 pounds to hear the explanation.