Chapter Summaries

Hobart rejected Arnold’s settlement offer and demanded a public apology for Bob, then exposed the Defendant Lawyer’s attempt to use an Extraordinary Ability against him in Courtroom. The Judge ordered an investigation into the Defendant Lawyer and adjourned the case without a verdict.

• The Defendant Lawyer attacked Hobart and Bob’s motives, but Hobart argued that Bob’s life was worth more than 150 pounds and won the Judge’s sympathy.
• The Defendant Lawyer offered 500 pounds to settle, but Hobart demanded that Arnold publicly apologize to Bob.
• Arnold threatened Hobart with opposition from Backlund’s upper class, and Hobart welcomed the challenge, receiving clear feedback that his Potion had been digested.
• The Defendant Lawyer used his Extraordinary Ability to distort Hobart’s thoughts, but Hobart’s Psychological Suggestion forced him to confess his scheme and past misconduct.
• The Judge warned both Lawyers against using powers other than the law, ordered a special investigation into the Defendant Lawyer, praised Hobart’s defense, and adjourned Courtroom.

After winning praise for his courtroom defense, Hobart met Captain Ikanse, agreed to accompany Xue to Mr. A's gathering, and collected Bribor's Extraordinary Characteristics from Aputon at the Harvest Church. He left Aputon with advice for silencing the Whispers, while his meeting with Daly at the Obsidian Bar and the gathering still lay ahead.

• Audrey, Viscount Glynt, Bob's coworkers, Donna, and Tyrone praised Hobart after the court adjourned, and he sent Donna and Tyrone back to school.
• Daly introduced Hobart to Ikanse of the Leverage Church, who offered protection for the case; Hobart asked him for tickets to the Roselle Memorial Exhibition.
• Xue asked Hobart to accompany her to Mr. A's gathering to contact the seller of the Sheriff Potion Recipe, and Hobart agreed to go with her and Fors.
• Hobart arranged to meet Daly at the Obsidian Bar at three, then took Xue and Fors to the Harvest Church before the gathering.
• Aputon gave Hobart the wooden box containing Bribor's Extraordinary Characteristics and said the Whispers in his ears were worsening; Hobart suggested becoming a true Barbarian to eliminate them.

Hobart helped Xue meet the seller of the Sheriff potion ingredients, then hurried to Obsidian Bar to ask Daly about the investigation into Kate. The chapter ended with Hobart beginning to discuss the case before its trial the next day.

• Hobart and Aputon left Harvest Church, and Aputon planned to vacation in Dixi Bay.
• Hobart, Xue, and Fors attended a gathering, where Xue arranged to meet the seller of the Sheriff potion ingredients.
• Hobart recognized the Golden-Masked seller as the man who had taken a Secret Supplicant Extraordinary Characteristic, and Xue agreed to become his helper if she could refuse tasks.
• Hobart accompanied Xue and Fors out, then rushed to Obsidian Bar to meet Daly.
• Hobart asked Daly how her investigation into Kate, a suspected Secret Supplicant, was progressing before the case went to trial the next day.

Hobart traded information with Daly for spiritual-nourishing medicine, then prepared Bill’s defense in a drunk-driving lawsuit. Meanwhile, Elliot learned why the Balk Family kept fighting the Rose School, and the trial began with Hobart arguing that the law did not apply to small steamships.

• Hobart told Daly about an Aurora Society bishop hiding among farmers near Backlund and asked for three doses of medicine to nourish spirituality.
• Daly agreed to provide the medicine and valued Hobart’s information at roughly one-fifth of a Bribor Extraordinary Characteristic if it proved true.
• Hobart finished preparing Bill’s defense and found the case straightforward.
• Calvin confirmed to Elliot that the Balk Family’s Curse had nothing to do with the Rose School, explaining that the family needed an enemy to sustain its strength.
• At Bill’s trial, Hobart argued that the drunk-driving statute covered carriages and Steam Cars, not Small Steamships, so Bill’s case could not be treated as drunk driving.

Hobart won Bill’s case, helped Fors obtain a Spirituality Nourishing Potion, and worked on Bob’s defense before traveling to DakHorm’s place to find witnesses. There, he found Xue vomiting beside an alert Fors and a badly injured DakHorm, just as hostile malice surged toward him.

• Hobart exposed Kate’s inflated bills, and the Judge dismissed Kate’s claim while ordering Bill to pay a 1-pound fine and 30 pounds in compensation.
• Hobart gave Fors and Xue shares of a Spirituality Nourishing Potion, and Fors came to regard him as her friend.
• Hobart planned to find former coworkers from Arnold’s factory to testify in Bob’s case, then separated the Astrologer Extraordinary Characteristics and discovered he could only shatter Sequence 7 characteristics or lower.
• After receiving Bob’s new hearing date and lists of potential witnesses, Hobart went to DakHorm’s place to find them.
• Hobart found Xue vomiting, Fors standing alert beside her, and DakHorm badly injured before sensing malice rushing toward him.

Hobart protected Xue and Fors from Qilingesi’s attack by using the Order Wood to distort incoming assaults, forcing the Hurricane Lieutenant General to retreat. After the Psychological Spoon’s effect made Xue and Fors laugh uncontrollably, Hobart led them toward a Goddess of the Night Church through crowded streets.

• Hobart sensed an attack at DakHorm’s home and used the Order Wood to shield himself, Xue, and Fors.
• Qilingesi appeared and attacked them, but Hobart distorted the attacks and bluffed that the tree made him untouchable.
• Qilingesi used Frenzy on Xue and Fors, and Hobart held them back and used Hypnosis to restore their reason.
• Qilingesi sensed he could not quickly overcome the Order Wood and left the scene.
• The Psychological Spoon’s negative effect made Xue and Fors laugh, and Hobart distorted their urge to laugh before taking them toward a nearby Goddess of the Night Church.

After escaping Qilingesi, Hobart arranged for Xue and Fors to stay at his home while the Nighthawks investigated the encounter. He then persuaded Daly to wait for the crisis in Tingen City to unfold before intervening, hoping to save Dunn and thwart Ince Zangwill’s plan, and left for Tingen.

• Hobart reported his encounter with Qilingesi to Captain Thomas, who praised his actions and sent Daly to escort him, Xue, and Fors to safety.
• Hobart advised Xue and Fors to stay at his home and told them to avoid returning to their rental apartment while Qilingesi remained at large.
• Hobart asked Daly to delay the Nighthawks’ intervention in Tingen City until the enemy made its move, warning that Dunn and the other Nighthawks were in danger.
• Daly agreed to cooperate with Hobart and conceal his source if his warning proved true.
• Hobart mailed a letter to his mother and bought a train ticket to Tingen City.

Hobart traveled toward Tingen after hypnotizing himself to forget what he knew about 0-08, then joined the Tarot Club from the train. The gathering ended with Hobart asking whether Silver City’s records described the domain of the Omniscient and Almighty God.

• Daly wondered how Hobart knew about Evil God Descends and her feelings for Dunn.
• Hobart hypnotized himself to forget everything he knew about 0-08 until he encountered Megose and the Spawn of Evil God, then traveled by train from Backlund.
• At the Tarot Club, Audrey recounted how Hobart, Xue, and another companion survived their encounter with Qilingesi, and she arranged a new deal with Alger to find him.
• Hobart explained to Audrey that the Extraordinary Characteristic Conservation Law meant other materials could replace depleted ones.
• Derrick said Silver City’s people still believed in the Omniscient and Almighty God, and Hobart asked what their records said about that deity’s domain.

Hobart used Silver City’s descriptions of the lands ruled by the Omniscient and Almighty God to estimate the geography of the Land Abandoned by God. He left the group with an offer to explain why the Soniya Sea and Stormy Sea were dangerous for 20,000 Pounds.

• Derrick described the five lands where the Lord had believers, and Hobart questioned him about their directions from Silver City.
• Hobart compared Derrick’s answers with modern geography, placing the Land of Elves near the islands and Dixi Bay and the Land of Dragons around the Northern Continent.
• Alger said the eastern Soniya Sea was extremely dangerous, and that most explorers never returned while many survivors became mad.
• Hobart offered to explain the advanced secrets behind the Soniya Sea and the Stormy Sea for 20,000 Pounds, startling Audrey and Klein.
• Hobart told Derrick not to worry about the information yet and advised him to continue exploring with Mr. Fool’s protection.

At the Tarot Club, Hobart connected the Southern Continent to territories once ruled by Ancient Gods, while Klein questioned Derrick about Silver City's sacrifices. Hobart arrived in Tingen City, where Ince Zangwill saw 0-08 write about his arrival and Ulysses met him at the station.

• Hobart inferred that the Southern Continent might have belonged to territories ruled by three unmentioned Ancient Gods.
• Derrick said Silver City still sacrificed to the Omniscient and Almighty God and described the ritual at Klein's request.
• Hobart arrived in Tingen City and greeted it as the place where everything began.
• Ince Zangwill interrupted 0-08 after it wrote that Hobart had come to Tingen City and might save it.
• Ulysses met Hobart at the station and invited him into a carriage, where Hobart took out Christine's personal letter.

Hobart settled into Ulysses's villa in Tingen City, then took on Dominic's commercial dispute case while Klein received a letter from Ms. Daly about Spirit Communication. After meeting Dominic's daughter, Elizabeth, Hobart recognized her as Melissa's friend.

• Ulysses arranged a villa and carriage for Hobart after learning he had come to defend Dominic in a commercial dispute.
• Klein received Ms. Daly's letter through his Messenger and read her guidance on Spirit Communication, including a warning to seek help from Backlund if needed.
• Hobart met with Dominic, the plaintiff's lawyer, and Claude, but made little progress toward resolving the dispute.
• Dominic introduced his daughter Elizabeth to Hobart, who realized she was Melissa's friend.

Hobart learned that Elizabeth had disappeared and offered to help Dominic search for her. He took Elizabeth’s friends home and discovered they were Melissa Moretti and Selena Wood.

• Elizabeth left Dominic’s office and planned to accompany Selena to the cemetery the next morning.
• Hobart warned Dominic that Claude might act irrationally, but Dominic dismissed the concern because of Ulysses’s influence.
• Audrey showed her mother paintings inspired by the work injury compensation case and learned she would attend Duke Negan’s ball.
• Hobart visited Dominic and learned that Elizabeth had vanished after failing to meet her friends.
• Dominic chose to contact Ahovah Security Company rather than Blackthorn Security Company for help finding Elizabeth.
• Hobart offered to take Elizabeth’s two friends home and recognized them as Melissa Moretti and Selena Wood.

Hobart escorted Melissa and Selena back to school after Elizabeth disappeared, but the girls returned with a clue and insisted on helping search for her. They brought Hobart to the powerful mystic Mr. Achilles to divine Elizabeth’s whereabouts.

• Hobart persuaded Melissa and Selena to return to school while Elizabeth’s family continued searching for her.
• Selena mentioned Elizabeth had planned to meet them along the road, but Hobart could find no clues and planned to seek help from Blackthorn Security Company.
• Melissa and Selena came back out of school, saying they had a new clue and wanted to search for Elizabeth themselves.
• Melissa suggested the kidnapper might be hiding Elizabeth in an unoccupied or isolated place near the route, while Selena proposed consulting a Seer.
• Hobart agreed to visit Mr. Achilles, intending to report the Aurora Society member to the Nighthawks afterward.
• Hobart, Melissa, and Selena arrived at Achilles’s dark, herb-scented room, where Selena asked him to divine Elizabeth’s whereabouts.

Hobart, Selena, and Melissa followed Achilles’s divination to an abandoned villa where Selena’s missing friend might be held. On the way, Hobart warned Selena about Mysticism and Achilles, then prepared to investigate the villa alone.

• Achilles divined that Selena’s friend was in an abandoned villa in the east outskirts, and Hobart paid him five Sule before reclaiming Selena’s hair ornament.
• In the carriage, Hobart warned Selena that Mysticism services were never truly free and that personal items could be used to locate or curse people.
• Selena explained that her recurring dreams of Heinas Vincent’s grave began after she met Achilles, and Hobart told her to avoid the grave and cut contact with Achilles.
• Hobart suspected Achilles was an Aurora Society investigator and warned Selena not to seek Mysticism teachers without trustworthy guidance.
• When the coachman spotted an abandoned villa, Hobart told him to drive past and ordered Selena and Melissa to remain in the carriage while he investigated.

Hobart stormed the abandoned villa, defeated the kidnappers, and rescued Elizabeth, but Achilles revealed himself and attacked them with a shadow ability. The chapter ended with Hobart shielding Elizabeth as Achilles’s unseen grip began choking her.

• Hobart left the carriage and entered the villa alone, knocking out several kidnappers and killing one with a thrown axe.
• Hobart found Elizabeth tied up on the second floor and caught a swinging log before smashing her attacker through a wall.
• Hobart freed Elizabeth, but Achilles revealed that he had planned to ambush Hobart after learning about him from Hayman’s memories.
• Hobart used the Teleport Stone Statue to move Elizabeth outside, but Achilles reached her with a shadowy hand and began choking her.
• Hobart moved Elizabeth behind him as she appeared confused by suddenly being transported back into the room.

Hobart fought Achilles, whose shadow attacks and borrowed Divine Kingdom Creature power threatened both Hobart and Elizabeth. Hobart used the Teleport Stone Statue and Psychological Spoon to disrupt Achilles's transformation, but Achilles escaped into a shadow after being wounded.

• Hobart studied Achilles's shadow abilities and resisted his attempt to strangle him by strengthening his neck.
• Hobart deliberately wrestled with Achilles's shadow to tire him, then struck when Achilles emerged from the shadows.
• Achilles transformed into a black, bull-headed figure with golden antlers, and Elizabeth began growing horns as maddening Whispers filled the room.
• Hobart covered Elizabeth's eyes, used the Teleport Stone Statue to cut off Achilles's sight, and made the horns on Elizabeth's head disappear.
• Hobart used Frenzy and Distortion to break Achilles's mental control, causing Achilles to injure his own eye and revert to human form.
• Hobart used Frenzy again, and Achilles leaped into a corner's shadow to escape.

Hobart rescued Elizabeth from the Aurora Society member Achilles, who escaped while showing signs of Loss of Control. Hobart then reported Achilles to Dunn at Blackthorn Security Company and urged the Nighthawks to find and restrain him.

• Hobart used the Psychological Spoon to overcome his sorrow, rescued Elizabeth, and carried her out of the kidnappers' hideout.
• Hobart sent Elizabeth, Melissa, and Selena home with the coachman and asked him to notify the police that the kidnappers had been caught.
• Hobart hired a carriage to the Goddess of the Night Church and found Blackthorn Security Company.
• Rosanne led Hobart to Captain Dunn, who welcomed him after inspecting his External Staff identification.
• Hobart told Dunn about Achilles's Loss of Control and the clues he had left for divination, urging the team to find and restrain him.

Hobart joined Dunn, Klein, Leonard, and Fry to track down Achilles, who was losing control and serving as a vessel for Bull-headed Deer Antlers. The team found Achilles at a farmhouse, and Hobart spotted the black ribs gathering the creature’s power as he rushed in to attack.

• Hobart gave Klein a banknote fragment from Achilles to use for divination, and Klein guided the team to a farmhouse outside the city.
• The team sensed danger at the farmhouse, and Hobart warned them that Achilles could transform into a creature radiating madness and degeneration.
• Dunn began pulling Achilles into a dream, but Hobart used the Teleport Stone Statue to move him into the yard.
• The team shot Achilles, and Dunn realized Bull-headed Deer Antlers was descending through Achilles’s body.
• Dunn and Leonard slowed Achilles while Hobart found a patch of exposed flesh and shot it, revealing black ribs drawing in the black mist.
• Hobart recognized the ribs as the key to the descent and leaped into the yard, telling the others to cover him.

Hobart and the Nighthawks defeated the monster Achilles, which they discovered was Mr. Z of the Aurora Society, and recovered the Black Rib and Golden Antlers. On the ride back, Klein grew suspicious of Hobart after he hinted that he was a Barbarian.

• Klein stopped Achilles from using Verbal Abuse by throwing a stone into its mouth and pinning it shut.
• Hobart removed the Black Rib, resisted its vision of the Giants, and took the rib and Golden Antlers as spoils.
• Fry found two mangled corpses and a letter that identified the monster as Mr. Z of the Aurora Society.
• Dunn arranged a celebratory meal and said the battle participants would receive bonuses.
• Klein studied Hobart during their ride back, and Hobart hinted that he was a Barbarian before getting out of the moving carriage.

Hobart defended himself against Sergeant Jared’s arrest attempt after killing two kidnappers, then joined the Nighthawks for dinner. When Klein left for the restroom, Hobart recalled that Great Pirate Qilingesi was supposed to die that night.

• Hobart sent the Golden Antlers to the Country of Disorder, bathed, and went to Mr. Dominic’s company after lunch.
• Hobart argued that he had acted in self-defense, and Jared took his statement instead of arresting him.
• Hobart learned Old Neil had taken leave and worried that his dangerous ritual might not have been stopped.
• Hobart joined the Nighthawks for dinner and noticed Klein leave for the restroom.
• Hobart remembered that Great Pirate Qilingesi was meant to die that night.