Chapter Summaries

After becoming a Demigod, Hobart explored his expanded powers in the Country of Disorder, learned the history of the Tamara Family from Curtis, and discovered a possible clue to advancing to Sequence 2. He returned to the real world, where Grove told him he had killed Teuton's sons and asked what to do with the women.

• Hobart tested his new Demigod abilities and found that the Country of Disorder had expanded its reach and could show him the prayers of people at Full Moon Lake.
• Hobart examined the sealed spiritual imprint and recognized the man as Trensoost, then planned to use a hypnotized enemy to bring the imprint into the real world.
• Hobart discovered that the Country of Disorder could create charms, strengthen and seal certain artifacts, and let him extract Curtis Tamara from 1-107 for questioning.
• Curtis told Hobart that the Tamara Family's civil war began over belief in the Mist of Uncertainty and that Peidi and his faction ultimately lost.
• Hobart realized the Tamara Family might possess a Duke of Entropy characteristic that could help him advance to Sequence 2, then returned to the real world.
• Grove told Hobart that he had killed all of Teuton's sons and asked how to deal with Teuton's women.

After taking over Viscount Teuton's estate, Hobart appointed Grove to help build an intelligence organization and resumed the Justice League gathering in Backlund. He arranged several trades and recruitment plans, then went to Connat City as the Balk Family members completed their studies.

• Hobart allowed Teuton's women to choose whether to return home or go to the Lord's Manor, then offered Grove a town-chief position or a role establishing an intelligence organization; Grove chose the latter.
• Hobart celebrated with Fors, who told him she had fully digested her Trick Master Potion and planned to advance soon.
• At the Justice League gathering, Hobart offered Glaint a Beast Tamer recipe and ingredient in exchange for finding overlooked noble children to train as business managers, and Xue agreed to assess workers he planned to recruit in the thousands.
• Hobart traded Beyonder materials and recipes with Carl, Colatti, and Jessica, while Xue bought an enchanted revolver and received Interrogator Extraordinary Characteristics.
• Carl offered to obtain documents about Longtail Island, and Hobart recounted part of his failed mission in Feneport City before distributing the promised materials and seeing the members off.
• Xue prepared her advancement potion at the manor, and Hobart traveled to Connat City as the Balk Family members finished their studies, giving each student twelve pounds for souvenirs.

Hobart visited his father’s old comrades, arranged new business and military supplies, then tracked Twilight Lieutenant General Bratov Ivan’s ship with Archibald. After defeating the ship’s Second Mate and exposing a layered ambush, Hobart realized Bratov had used the trap to cover his escape.

• Hobart sent the Balk Family trainees back to the Southern Continent, where Lawrence reported that the family’s factories were nearly ready and paid Hobart for training and language charms.
• Fors met Dorian in Backlund, received an Astrologer material, a Scribe potion recipe, and Leimanno’s Magic Book, and learned that Louis Wien had betrayed the Abraham Family and joined the Aurora Society.
• Hobart promised to help Fors deal with Louis Wien, then visited Barton Great Lawyer, Dikeus, and Ulysses, securing a legal partnership, Todd as an assistant, weapons, and a place for Elizabeth in his mansion.
• Hobart and Archibald used a wooden block from the Blood Admiral to locate Twilight Lieutenant General Bratov Ivan’s fleet, then traveled to its flagship and turned the Second Mate into a marionette.
• Hobart followed the trail of Bratov and his companions into the forest, disrupted their trap, and killed two pirates, while the real enemy escaped during the diversion.

Hobart used his new demigod abilities to defeat the Twilight Lieutenant General Bratov and his crew, then escaped before reinforcements could engage him. He returned to Jeffrey Territory with Archibald and their spoils, while Fosac demigods began investigating the attack.

• Hobart pursued the fleeing pirates to Bratov's flagship, fought his way aboard, and killed Bratov's crew while Bratov's Corrosion caused the ship to crash into the dock.
• Hobart discovered that Bratov could transfer fatal injuries to objects aboard his ship, dragged him ashore to sever the connection, and killed him after rejecting his offers of wealth and the Fountain of Youth.
• A fireball-wielding demigod arrived but fled after sensing danger, so Hobart and Archibald gathered their spoils and transported them to Jeffrey Territory.
• Grisha and Olezheka arrived at the harbor and suspected that the Loen military had uncovered Bratov's location and arranged the ambush.
• Hobart returned Archibald to the military camp with two new adjutants and continued using the Creator's apparent interventions to build Archibald's trust.

Hobart dealt with the aftermath of his battle against Bratov, gave Bratov’s head to the Nighthawks, and reflected on his powers and spoils. In Backlund, Audrey took him to order formal clothes for the coming social season, while Cattleya received a page of the Emperor’s diary asking why he went mad in his later years.

• Hobart tried to force Trensoost’s phantom through the Gate of Grace but failed, then sealed it back in the pool.
• Hobart gave Alger the bodies of Agitator Olifov and Water Cannon Monkodo to claim their bounties, and reviewed his battle, powers, and spoils.
• Hobart brought Bratov’s head to the Blackthorn Security Company, where LuoLuota recognized it and learned that her revenge was complete.
• Hobart met Audrey outside Serenity Church, and she invited him to buy formal outfits for the social season.
• Cattleya received the Emperor’s diary pages and read the question about why he went mad in his later years.
• Audrey took Hobart to Laufde Tailor Shop, where he tried on formalwear and began discussing changes to the outfit.

Hobart developed a theory about status and the Acting Method, studied strange reports about Longtail Island, and began organizing a factory and employee training. At the Tarot Club, Cattleya asked why Rosell had chosen madness, while Alger offered an undiscovered island in exchange for help with his advancement ritual.

• Hobart and Audrey shopped and discussed how social status depended on mutual recognition, leading Hobart to suggest that some pathways' Potions were digested through recognition from others.
• Hobart examined Longtail Island's geography, resources, and reports of supernatural incidents, then planned to investigate its indigenous deity and ask Alger and Cattleya about the island.
• Vincent urged Carl to attend Glaint's gathering and learn what Hobart intended, while Hobart hired Todd to find professors, a factory, and a management team.
• At the Tarot Club, Cattleya asked why Rosell had driven himself mad, and Klein explained that Rosell had feared all things would be destroyed and that the Seven Gods could not be relied upon.
• World gave Derrick the Notary Potion Recipe and sold Alger the Ocean Singer Potion Recipe and main ingredient, then agreed to seek Mr. Fool's help with Alger's advancement ritual in exchange for an undiscovered island's location.
• Alger described the island's demigod-level creatures and ancient ruin, and World said Emperor would need to join the exploration to ensure their safety.

The Tarot Club members made several private deals, including plans to explore an uncharted island and exchanges of money and intelligence. Hobart learned about Longtail Island’s Mountain God faith, while Klein privately asked whether the God Above the Gods was sealed within the Crimson Moon and was quoted 600 pounds for an answer.

• Alger described an uncharted island near the edge of the Rost Sea Area, and Klein agreed to explore it with him after Alger advanced.
• Klein reserved Hobart’s Traveler-characteristic Mystical Item, and Hobart agreed to join the expedition in exchange for priority selection of spoils.
• Cattleya confirmed the Black Hunt Giant Lizard spinal fluid for Audrey and asked Hobart about suspected Six-legged Sprite marrow; Hobart said he had already hunted one.
• Cattleya and Alger sold Hobart intelligence about Longtail Island, including the Mountain God Church, its practices, and the island’s history of uprisings and colonial repression.
• Klein asked Hobart whether the God Above the Gods was sealed within the Crimson Moon, and Hobart offered a yes-or-no answer for 600 pounds.

At the Tarot Club, Hobart explained how gods influenced Beyonders and how Believers served as Anchors, while the members discussed his hunt of the Twilight Lieutenant General. After the gathering, Klein received Frank Lee’s letter announcing a new mushroom bred from a Rose Bishop’s flesh and blood.

• Klein asked whether a True God influenced Beyonders of the same pathway, and Hobart explained divine influence through authority, prayers, and petitions, along with ways to resist it.
• Hobart described Believers as Anchors who helped gods stabilize their states, and he conjectured that Believers shared in divine madness and Distortion.
• Hobart revealed that he and a companion had killed the Twilight Lieutenant General, Bratov, and discussed the pirate’s powerful flagship and 36,000-pound bounty.
• The Tarot Club members discussed Little Sun’s exploration in Afternoon Town and a Mad Captain connected to the Royal Family’s slave-trading scheme.
• After the gathering, Klein opened a letter from Frank Lee announcing a new mushroom cultivated from a Rose Bishop’s flesh and blood.

Hobart used the bounty money from the Twilight Lieutenant General Bratov hunt to pursue the Blood Admiral, Senior, aboard the Flesh and Blood Tree Ship. After fighting through the ship’s living flesh and killing Cesar, Olied, and Gena, he confronted Senior and a Rose School demigod, whose call for Lord Jakes left the hunt escalating.

• Hobart collected 72,000 pounds for Bratov and decided to hunt the Blood Admiral, using the spirituality he had taken from Senior to find the Flesh and Blood Tree Ship.
• Senior escaped Hobart’s first attack, and the ship’s living flesh trapped Hobart with two captive girls until he used Chaos and Distortion to make it let them go.
• Hobart defeated Cesar, killed him, and cut off the heads of Cesar, Olied, and Gena before continuing his search for Senior.
• Hobart found Senior with a Rose School Marionettist, stole the Marionettist’s ability to curse, and injured Senior while the demigod escaped into a bottle.
• The Marionettist attacked Hobart and ordered Senior to summon Lord Jakes, a Sequence 3 Silent Apostle.

Hobart killed Senior and escaped the Flesh and Blood Tree Ship as a Rose School angel arrived, while Klein received a warning from Orange Light Hilarion and then intercepted a threatening telegram. Back in Backlund, Hobart counted his new wealth and sensed Klein praying to him.

• Hobart used the Bull Demon King and Overturning Sea Great Saint to fight the Marionettist and Jakes, then found Senior aboard the ship and killed him before freeing the captives.
• Hobart escaped the Rose School angel, but 1-101 caused Senior's head to disappear from his backpack; he later claimed bounties for the other three pirate crew members in Backlund.
• Kleist arrived at the ruined ship with Senior's head and ordered Jakes and the Marionettist to find Orange Light Hilarion.
• Klein deciphered a Rose School telegram revealing Helmholtz's hiding place and broadcast it to the military and Storm Church; Hilarion later visited Klein, warned him about the Desire Mother Tree, and left before Klein received the message, "I see you!"
• Hobart returned to his residence, admired the money in his new safe, and entered the Country of Disorder after sensing a prayer from Klein.

Hobart answered Klein’s prayer by completing their trade for a travel-capable Mystical Item, while Alice’s plea for vengeance brought her a painful warning from the Creator. After Jakes and a Wraith ambushed Klein near Bayam, Klein called on several powers for help, and Hobart saw a chaotic confrontation involving Sua, Kleist, and a strange mass of fog.

• Hobart gave Alice’s prayer a thread of Chaos Power, causing her to suffer a brief loss of control, then traded Klein the travel-capable Mystical Item for 12,000 Pounds.
• Jakes and Barrit prepared a tracking doll to pursue the person who had stolen intelligence from them, while Hobart began interviewing noble children for village-management positions.
• Klein traveled into the forest outside Bayam, where Jakes and a Wraith ambushed him and his Messenger Reneette Tinekerr attacked Jakes.
• Klein wounded the Wraith and tried to escape as Sea King Yarn Cottonman arrived, but Sua extended a monstrous arm into the forest and intensified the danger.
• Klein used Grosell's Travels, the True Creator's Whisper, a copper whistle, and a feather, then prayed to the Creator for help.
• Hobart responded to Klein’s prayer and saw Sua, the angel Kleist, and a strange mass of fog amid the chaotic battle.

Hobart intervened in the battle near Bayam as the Creator, rescued Klein, and helped defeat Jakes before obtaining a new Sealed Artifact. He then expanded his plans for Jeffrey Territory and ended the chapter as Captain Dunn urged him to establish a branch on the West Bank.

• Hobart projected the Creator's imposing form onto the battlefield, rescued Klein from Sua, and fought the Godspawn while concealing Klein's escape.
• Hobart used the Bull Demon King and the Overturning Sea Great Saint to defeat Jakes, who suffered Loss of Control and died; Hobart sacrificed Jakes's resulting marionette to the Country of Disorder as Sealed Artifact 1-108.
• Klein escaped beneath the Stormy Sea, realized that the Creator had rescued him, and entered Grosell's Travels to search for the Wraith after finding blood on the book.
• Hobart rented a factory, told Dennis that his father had returned, and brought Dennis and thirty-five noble children to Jeffrey Territory for an assessment and administrative training.
• At the Knight Conference, Hobart planned to recruit people from Backlund to address the territory's population shortage and ordered development to continue, including construction of an industrial district.
• Captain Dunn told Hobart that they needed to establish a branch on the West Bank.

Hobart expanded his plans for training and deploying Official Extraordinary while preparing for a coming attack on the Aurora Society, and he spent time with Audrey at an art exhibition. Audrey recognized that she held a special place in Hobart’s heart, and they left together to inspect his royal manor.

• Dunn advised Hobart to strengthen Extraordinary security in reclaimed regions and said he planned to settle in Jeffrey City, so Hobart decided to establish an Official Extraordinary Training Center.
• Hobart told Angus to prepare for an attack on the Aurora Society and establish a branch in Felix Town, then urged Helen to earn merit in the battle and offered her a chance to obtain a potion ingredient.
• Hobart invited Witches and Pain Witches to work at his new entertainment center, with rules limiting their clients to nobles and tycoons.
• Hobart cooked pumpkin baozi for Donna and Fors, then returned to Backlund and welcomed Audrey to his townhouse.
• Audrey admired the painting she had given Hobart and realized she might matter more to him than his other friends, then invited him to an art exhibition.
• Hobart and Audrey saw Princess Alice at the exhibition and left together to inspect the manor awarded to Hobart by the king.

Hobart inspected his estate with Audrey and outlined plans to turn it into an industrial and agricultural hub, recruit and train workers, and resettle forty thousand vagrants. The next day, he met Principal Portland at Backlund Technical University and demonstrated a generator as he began discussing large-scale electric power.

• Hobart toured the estate with Audrey, examined its mills, fields, warehouses, and other resources, and ordered its flax facilities converted into workshops and laboratories for researching glass, rubber, and electric wire.
• Hobart told Todd to recruit and train workers, including vagrants, and explained his plan to settle forty thousand people on his fief through paid work and access to land and housing.
• Hobart and Audrey debated poverty, land ownership, and food shortages on their return journey, and Audrey agreed to visit the university with him the next day.
• Audrey told Earl Hall and his family about Hobart's resettlement plan, and Earl Hall encouraged Hibbert to build a relationship with Hobart.
• Hobart met Audrey at Backlund Technical University, donated five thousand pounds for student living conditions, and discussed scientific research with Principal Portland.
• Hobart demonstrated a hand-cranked generator to Portland and asked whether steam engines could drive large generators to produce substantial electrical power.

Hobart recruited scientists and funded research into long-lasting light bulbs, tungsten, and natural rubber while preparing to build an electrical industry. That night, an Aurora Society Black Knight attacked him and coordinated assaults on Jeffrey City and its military camp, leaving Hobart confronting the Black Knight with his Chaos ability.

• Hobart told Portland he planned to bring electric lighting into homes and arranged to interview a recovered student skilled in electrical science and mechanics.
• Hobart pledged 3,000 Pounds to Professor Isaac’s research and recruited materials-science and natural-rubber specialists to help develop tungsten filaments and electrical wiring.
• Hobart and Audrey discussed his investment plans, and Hobart decided to brand his bulbs as Earl’s Light; later, he quoted the Balk Family a price for twenty-one Steam Engines.
• Hobart traveled to Jeffrey Territory, where a Black Knight from the Aurora Society revealed his plan to kill Hobart and Fors and control South Colson Region, then attacked using shadows and Degeneration.
• Fors remained in Backlund while Hobart fought the Black Knight; Angus, Helen, and Dunn defended Jeffrey City, while Archibald’s group confronted a Shepherd and his allies near the military camp.
• Hobart drew the Black Knight into revealing his location, used Arrogance to meet his attack, and declared Chaos as the fight reached its next stage.

Hobart defeated the Black Knight after a prolonged battle, then led his forces across the river to destroy Aurora Society strongholds and reclaim the West Bank of Full Moon Lake. At a ruined church, he shattered the True Creator’s statue and converted the gathered believers, discovering that many had already been corrupted into monsters.

• Hobart exploited the Black Knight’s loss of control, overcame his shadow and escape attempts, and killed him after Maximilian caught the fleeing monster form.
• Hobart subdued the Black Knight’s remaining out-of-control flesh and the Law Enforcer evil spirit, recovered their Extraordinary Characteristics, and obtained a Sealed Artifact.
• Archibald and Angus reported repelling Aurora Society attacks, and Hobart rewarded Archibald with a Shepherd marionette before ordering his forces to reclaim the West Bank.
• Hobart, Fors, and the Special Operations Department crossed the river, defeated Aurora Society forces, and raided their church and other strongholds.
• Hobart collapsed the church, destroyed the True Creator’s statue with Chaos Power, and preached to the gathered believers, converting most of them.
• Some believers attacked Hobart and transformed into mindless monsters, revealing the severe corruption Aurora Society had inflicted on the local population.

After driving the Aurora Society from the west bank of Full Moon Lake, Hobart organized the cleanup, rewarded his allies, and inspected the spoils while extending his influence over South Colson. At an auction in Jeffrey City, several demigods competed for a Sealed Artifact, and the next morning the mysterious demigod from the auction approached Hobart and asked to see his blade.

• Hobart assigned Archibald, Shier, and the Defense Force to clear monsters, spread the Creator’s name, and secure the west bank, while Angus and Helen reported their teams’ losses and spoils.
• Hobart rewarded Angus with a Punishment Knight Extraordinary Characteristic, offered Tudor Family relatives a path into government work, and gave Helen a Sequence 5 main ingredient; he realized that establishing rule over the west bank was digesting his Potion.
• Hobart relocated Fors to Green Manor, protected her advancement to Astrologer, and arranged for the Earth Mother Church to help increase Longtail Island’s rubber yield in exchange for the chance to preach there.
• Hobart inspected the battle’s Sealed Artifacts and Extraordinary Characteristics in the Country of Disorder, then hosted a major auction where a mysterious woman bought a Grade 2 Sealed Artifact for 23,000 Gold Lire after several demigods bid against one another.
• Hobart and Fors counted 47,000 Gold Lire in auction income and discussed aid for the newly acquired territory; Hobart also asked Fors to pray to the Creator during the next Blood Moon as an experiment.
• The next morning, Hobart reassured Jeffrey City’s residents, and an elderly hooded demigod approached him and asked to see his blade.

Hobart met the demigod Artisan Wen Shidun and arranged for him to forge weapons and Mystical Items, then sold a large stock of Extraordinary Characteristics to Bishop Simpson and organized recruitment for his territory. He visited Leonard, discussed clues about Sherlock Moriarty and the Creator, and Leonard ended the evening reflecting on the friends he believed he had lost.

• Hobart met Wen Shidun, offered him a villa and servants, and delivered materials and Extraordinary Characteristics for him to forge.
• Hobart sold Bishop Simpson Extraordinary Characteristics worth 82,720 Gold Lire and arranged recruitment for impoverished people in Backlund.
• Hobart received bounty checks totaling 58,700 pounds and used an address from LuoLuota to visit Leonard at No. 7 Pinster Street.
• Leonard told Hobart that Sherlock Moriarty was linked to several major cases and speculated that Sherlock and Gehrman Sparrow served the Creator.
• After Hobart left, Leonard spoke with the aged voice about Hobart's demigod status and said that Captain Dunn and Klein would live forever in his heart.

Hobart met Klein by the Tasok River, then hired four researchers to develop electrical technologies before joining the Tarot Club. There, he explained that Mr. Door had been contaminated in the starry sky and that Emperor Rosell had also suffered hidden contamination, while Klein arranged sales of two items and the chapter ended with Audrey and Fors planning to share a mystical book.

• Hobart met Klein by the Tasok River, offered to help him investigate the Night Goddess Church, and heard that Klein planned to return to Backlund under another identity.
• Klein visited Dunn Smith's and Old Neil's graves in Tingen, while Hobart reflected on Klein's growing withdrawal and prepared to hire researchers.
• Hobart hired Feiqi and three other students to research power stations, tungsten electric lights, rubber applications, and electrical sound conversion.
• At the Tarot Club, Hobart told Cattleya, Fors, and the others that Mr. Door was contaminated while wandering the starry sky, warned that Emperor Rosell had also suffered contamination, and explained why Mr. Door's full-moon whispers cautioned his descendants against rescuing him.
• World sold the Biotoxin Bottle to Fors and offered the Book of Mysteries, which Audrey and Fors agreed to share through Mr. Fool's ability.

At the Tarot Club gathering, Hobart arranged several transactions and described the Creator’s recent strikes against the Rose School, while The World revealed that Gehrman Sparrow had been involved in a battle at Bayam. Fors then recounted the campaign against the Aurora Society in South Colson and the Creator’s destruction of a True Creator statue, leaving Derrick with the Creator’s Honorific Name and the members weighing the growing alliance between the Creator and Mr. Fool.

• Fors bought an Interrogator Extraordinary Characteristic from The World, and Hobart arranged a three-way payment for Emlyn’s materials from Derrick.
• Hobart offered Emlyn a Crimson Scholar Extraordinary Characteristic in exchange for missions in Backlund, then privately offered Audrey a discounted appearance-changing Mystical Item.
• Alger reported that Gehrman Sparrow had been wanted by the Storm Church, and Hobart and The World described the battle in Bayam that killed Blood Admiral and a Silent Apostle and defeated Sua.
• Fors told the gathering that she and Hobart had helped defeat the Aurora Society in South Colson, where the Creator destroyed a statue of the True Creator.
• Hobart gave Derrick the Creator’s Honorific Name after assuring him that the Creator had no current plans to recruit believers in Silver City, and the gathering ended.