Chapter Summaries

Raphael Collins, a transmigrated dual-pathway Beyonder, planned to kidnap Audrey Hall to digest his potion. Audrey, secretly a Sequence 5 Dreamwalker acting on Mr. Fool’s task, let the kidnapping proceed while Susie watched over them.

• Raphael waited on Townsend Street for Audrey’s carriage, believing she was an unprotected target who regularly passed there after visiting Saint Samuel Cathedral.
• An unseen woman asked Raphael why he intended to kidnap Audrey, and he admitted that the crime would help him digest his potion.
• Raphael revealed that he was a transmigrator who had become both a Lunatic and a Criminal with help from a White Jade Bead.
• Audrey disclosed that she was secretly a Sequence 5 Dreamwalker under Mr. Fool’s protection, while Susie was a Sequence 6 Hypnotist concealed by Psychological Invisibility.
• Audrey said Susie would stay with Raphael and stop him if he meant Audrey harm, as Audrey’s carriage approached.

Raphael kidnapped Audrey Hall using a charm that drove her coachman, maid, and horses to hunger, while Audrey secretly chose to go along so she could investigate his motives. As they rode away, Raphael explained his escape plan and admitted he would threaten Audrey if cornered.

• Raphael overcame his doubts about the kidnapping and asked Susie what she wanted for dinner before Miss Hall's carriage arrived.
• Raphael used a Desire charm, causing Audrey's horses, coachman, and maid Annie to become ravenous, but Audrey remained unaffected.
• Audrey decided to let Raphael abduct her and used Hypnosis so he would not notice her calmness or immunity.
• Raphael took Audrey to a hired carriage, where he told her he had strong anti-divination abilities and money ready for an escape.
• Raphael admitted he might threaten Audrey's life if official Beyonders cornered him, and Audrey called him a lunatic, which he accepted as praise.

Raphael kidnapped Audrey, but she remained calm and entered the Tarot Club’s space Above the Gray Fog while he changed their disguises. At a temporary gathering, the Tarot Club discussed Raphael’s strange history and the Fool’s interest in him, but his connection to the Gray Fog remained unexplained.

• Raphael removed his disguise, ordered Audrey to change clothes, and claimed that Susie was watching her as a spirit world creature.
• Raphael and Carter changed their disguises and left the area with Audrey, who entered the Tarot Club’s meeting place while Susie guarded her.
• The World explained that the Fool had called the gathering so the members could discuss Raphael, whose fate and memories had been affected by Fooling.
• Justice described the Fool’s instructions to observe Raphael and establish contact with him, while the World privately realized that the Gray Fog—not the Fool—had caused the Fooling.
• The World revealed that his divinations showed a Devil card and a Temperance card, which Cattleya interpreted as Raphael seeming evil while still having restraint.

At a Tarot Club gathering, the members analyzed Raphael Collins and advised Audrey on how to approach him. Audrey then followed Raphael to a Bridge District apartment, where she saw him interact with a disabled man who hosted them.

• Xio told the Tarot Club that Raphael had risen from a minor Skeleton Party leader to the boss of the Mafia and was respected by workers.
• Alger advised Audrey to observe Raphael, intimidate him with her abilities, and build a steady relationship with him.
• Alger reasoned that the Fool’s ongoing Fooling would make divination bypass Raphael, and Klein realized he had not considered that effect.
• Audrey returned to the real world and followed Raphael and his companions through several disguises to a Bridge District apartment.
• Raphael sent the disabled host to buy food, then teased Audrey about whether she felt sorry for him.

After Audrey was kidnapped, the Nighthawks investigated the crime while Earl Hall’s representative pushed to keep it secret. Divination failed to locate Audrey or the kidnappers, and she remained captive in Raphael’s apartment, where his cooking surprised her.

• Audrey suspected Markel was a willing accomplice after he went out to buy food without seeming afraid of the kidnappers.
• Noel asked Oliver to keep Audrey’s kidnapping confidential and offered him a recommendation for his child’s school, which Oliver accepted.
• Eugenia used the Sealed Artifact 1-46 to divine Audrey’s location and the criminals’ location, but both attempts revealed only churning gray fog.
• The Nighthawks concluded that a high-sequence member of a secret organization was involved in the case.
• Raphael cooked stir-fried noodles for Audrey, Carter, and Markel, and Audrey tasted them and was impressed by their flavor.

After a bloody ritual summoned Raphael into the body of a sacrificed man, he discovered he was in a realm where people spoke a language like Chinese. Mistaken for a Demon Lord, he questioned Chen Qingzhi about the conflict between the Blood Sect and the Qi Sect.

• Raphael arranged for Markel and Carter to guard Audrey, then went to rest and discovered his Lunatic and Criminal potions were nearly digested.
• A ritual pulled Raphael's spirit body away from his sleeping body and into a cavern where priests were sacrificing a man on an altar.
• Raphael's spirit entered the sacrificed man, and Chen Qingzhi hailed him as the Demon Lord.
• Raphael recognized that the priests spoke a language similar to Chinese and pretended to be a powerful entity to protect himself.
• Chen Qingzhi said the Qi Sect was secretly preparing to slaughter the Blood Sect's disciples, and Raphael asked him to explain the conflict.

Chen Qingzhi summoned Raphael and explained the conflict between the Shadow Cottage’s Blood Sect and Qi Sect, along with the looming purge of Blood Sect disciples. Raphael offered to restore the ailing founding master in exchange for an account of the world’s history and lore, then implied that only Void Refinement cultivators could understand his method.

• Chen Qingzhi explained how Blood Sect and Qi Sect cultivation worked and described the three realms to Raphael.
• Chen Qingzhi said the Qi Sect planned to slaughter the Shadow Cottage’s important Blood Sect figures because the founding master’s condition was deteriorating.
• Raphael questioned why the founding master’s lifespan was supposedly nearing its end after only a few hundred years.
• Raphael offered to restore the founding master’s condition and asked Chen Qingzhi to tell him everything he knew about the world in return.
• Raphael claimed his method’s benefits could only be understood by cultivators who had experienced the Void Refinement Realm, and Chen Qingzhi concluded that he was immensely powerful.

Raphael advised Chen Qingzhi on how his patriarch might approach Sequence 2, then returned from the successful summoning to Markel’s apartment. While Raphael rested, Audrey learned why Markel was so loyal to him: Raphael had helped him obtain justice after his family died in poverty.

• Raphael told Chen Qingzhi that the patriarch should model his behavior on either an Ancient Bane or an Archduke of Blood, depending on his abilities.
• Raphael lost strength and passed out as Chen Qingzhi realized the summoned body had run out of magical power.
• Raphael woke in Markel’s apartment, checked the street for danger, and reflected that Chen Qingzhi’s summoning had succeeded.
• Audrey questioned Markel about his willingness to take the blame for Raphael and learned that his wife and children had died after his workplace accident left them destitute.
• Markel told Audrey that Raphael had promised to solve his problem, and that the factory owner’s leg was severed, the owner’s son was hanged, and Markel’s compensation was finally paid.

Audrey learned how Raphael had helped Markel survive and recovered Markel’s compensation, while Raphael insisted he had acted only to secure a future favor. The next morning, as police canvassed the area for the kidnappers, Raphael sat Audrey down to play cards and warned her not to call for help.

• Markel told Audrey that Raphael’s promise of a future favor had stopped him from killing himself after his injury and financial ruin.
• Raphael sent Markel away to rest, then explained to Audrey that factory owners commonly withheld injury compensation and that ordinary believers could not expect the Church to help them as it helped nobles.
• Raphael revealed that he had tortured Wald, the factory owner who withheld Markel’s compensation, and denied that he had saved Markel out of kindness.
• Audrey went to rest with Susie keeping watch, but Susie fell asleep during the night.
• The next morning, Carter warned Raphael that police were canvassing the area, and Raphael said it meant they had found no leads on the kidnappers.
• Raphael brought Audrey to the sitting room to play cards and threatened to kill any policeman she called for help.

Audrey was caught up in Raphael Collins's escape from the police and was effectively recruited into his mafia despite refusing. Meanwhile, Chen Qingzhi contacted Demon Lord Xuanyin and reported that he had summoned a demon lord from another world.

• Audrey used her abilities and Susie's help to win money from Raphael and Carter while two police officers searched Markel's apartment for her.
• Raphael sent the officers away, then told Audrey she was joining the mafia, ignoring her repeated refusals.
• Raphael disguised Audrey with a beard and arranged for the group to travel to mafia headquarters by hired carriage.
• Raphael wondered why the official Beyonders had found no clues and realized his unusual constitution might have powerful anti-divination properties.
• Chen Qingzhi summoned Demon Lord Xuanyin through a jade tablet and reported that he had summoned a demon lord from another world.

Demon Lord Xuanyin understood Raphael’s advice to align his behavior with blood and asked Chen Qingzhi to seek better methods for consuming Inner Cores. In Backlund, Raphael received Audrey at the mafia headquarters, where grain merchant Duke asked him for help after losing a business dispute and court case.

• Demon Lord Xuanyin interpreted Raphael’s advice as a reason to stop suppressing his craving for blood and bodily fluids.
• Demon Lord Xuanyin instructed Chen Qingzhi to ask Raphael about better cultivation methods for consuming Inner Cores when they summoned him again.
• Raphael arrived at the mafia headquarters with Audrey in disguise, and the members greeted him as their boss.
• Raphael agreed to receive grain merchant Duke, who claimed Holm and Logan had conspired to freeze his investment and take a business deal from him.
• Audrey noticed that Duke’s account contained lies but could not tell exactly where he had lied.
• Duke told Raphael that he had turned to him after losing his case against Holm and Logan.

Raphael agreed to help grain merchant Duke intimidate his rival Holm, while making clear that the Gang was not doing it as hired assassins. After investigating Holm, Raphael led his men to seize him and began the operation himself.

• Duke asked Raphael to kill Holm and recover his investment, but Raphael demanded that Duke treat him as a friend and call him Godfather.
• Raphael agreed to help Duke vent his anger and use his reputation to intimidate competitors, in exchange for Duke's future assistance.
• Raphael told Audrey that he knew Duke was no law-abiding merchant and explained that both the Gang and the merchants were unscrupulous.
• Raphael sent his men to investigate Holm, then led them to Holm's grain company and had them drag him from his office.
• Raphael took the money from Holm's wallet as Carter punched him, and Raphael said he wanted to hear bones breaking.

Raphael tormented Holm until he fully digested the Lunatic potion, then collected a ransom from Audrey and asked her to write to Earl Hall. Audrey ended her hypnosis of Raphael, revealing that she was a Beyonder and that she had entered his carriage willingly.

• Raphael tortured Holm with a hammer until he broke his leg and sensed that the Lunatic potion had been fully digested.
• Raphael divided the money from Holm's wallet among his Mafia crew and gave Audrey five pounds.
• Raphael sent Holm's armband as a warning to Logan, who had set a trap for Duke.
• Raphael asked Audrey for a Werewolf characteristic as ransom and told her to write to Earl Hall.
• Audrey snapped her fingers to end her hypnosis of Raphael, startling him with the revelation that she was a Beyonder.

Audrey negotiated with Raphael after revealing that she had approached him for a purpose, and Raphael proposed helping her attack the Rose School's Indulgence Faction. The chapter ended with Audrey considering Raphael's plan to use his position as Bevin's contact to draw more faction members into a trap.

• Raphael questioned Audrey about why she had approached him, and she claimed she was assessing him as a potential subordinate.
• Raphael said he would work for Audrey on a paid basis but did not want to become her subordinate.
• Audrey offered a Werewolf Beyonder characteristic as payment for excellent work.
• Raphael explained that Bevin, a Werewolf and Indulgence Faction member, had forced him to support the Skeleton Party after Raphael killed its leader.
• Raphael proposed leading Audrey to Bevin and using himself as bait to draw other Indulgence Faction members into a strike.

Audrey reported her observations of Raphael to the Fool and learned that his unusual nature came from a struggle between hidden existences. After returning to the real world, she shared a lead about the Indulgence Faction with Gehrman Sparrow, while Raphael began seeking a repeating rifle.

• Raphael asked Audrey for a Werewolf characteristic in exchange for carrying out his plan, and she said she would consider it.
• Audrey returned to Earl Hall's mansion, reassured her parents, then prayed to the Fool and recounted Raphael's kidnapping and proposed cooperation.
• The Fool told Audrey to discuss Raphael's plan to strike the Indulgence Faction with the World and said Raphael's unusual nature stemmed from a struggle between hidden existences.
• Audrey asked Gehrman Sparrow to meet her after returning from the gray fog, and he asked whether she had obtained a lead on the Indulgence Faction.
• After receiving Audrey's letter, Raphael asked Carter to find out the price of a repeating rifle.

Raphael met Bevin at the abandoned factory with Susie’s help and killed him to obtain his Werewolf Beyonder Characteristic. He warned Susie that the Indulgence Faction might track him down soon, and she said Miss Sharron would meet him the next day.

• Raphael arrived at the abandoned factory carrying a new-model Submachine Gun and told Bevin he had found a lead on Maric.
• Bevin lowered his guard and accepted the gun, allowing Raphael to load it and prepare to fire.
• Susie hypnotized Bevin, and Raphael shot him repeatedly until he died.
• Raphael collected Bevin’s Werewolf Beyonder Characteristic and left the factory with Susie.
• Raphael asked Susie to warn Miss Audrey that the Indulgence Faction might find him in two or three days, and Susie said Miss Sharron would meet him tomorrow.

Raphael advanced to Sequence 7 by drinking the Werewolf Potion and regained control after briefly transforming into a murderous beast. The Jade Pearl then promised to provide the formulas for his future advancements, and Raphael asked whether it knew the entire Pathway’s formulas.

• Susie told Raphael that Miss Sharron and Maric from the Temperance Faction would join the operation, and Raphael decided to advance before the coming battle.
• Raphael returned home, prepared the Werewolf Potion with the characteristic he had obtained from Bevin, and drank it.
• Raphael transformed into a werewolf, fought off its murderous urges, and returned to human form after damaging his living room.
• The Jade Pearl told Raphael that, starting at Sequence 7, he would not need to worry about obtaining Potion formulas.
• Raphael asked whether the Jade Pearl had formulas for the entire Pathway.

Raphael learned that the White Jade Bead could provide potion formulas and let him split his spirit body between the real world and the Dark Hut. After studying his new Werewolf abilities and practicing his transformation, he waited at the Mafia headquarters and saw Miss Sharron briefly appear in the wall clock’s glass.

• The Jade Pearl revealed that it knew the potion formulas for every pathway, explained why it had chosen Raphael, and granted him the ability to split and synchronize his spirit body across two worlds.
• Raphael received the Sequence 6 Zombie and another potion formula, then experienced a brief pain as his spirit body began to split.
• Raphael examined the Werewolf transformation, its full-moon dangers, and its three forms of black magic, and resolved to digest the potion quickly.
• Raphael practiced voluntarily transforming, then arrived late at the Mafia headquarters the next day and delegated the usual requests to his subordinates.
• Raphael waited for Miss Sharron and saw her image appear briefly in the glass cover of the wall clock.

Raphael waited for the Indulgence Faction to find him, then encountered a Zombie who had come to investigate Bevin’s death. He demonstrated the submachine gun by firing it at the Zombie.

• Raphael considered how to obtain the ingredients for the Unwinged Angel potion and decided he might attack the Beyonder who had sold him the Criminal formula after the coming battle.
• Raphael waited in vain for the Indulgence Faction, returned to his apartment with Miss Sharron watching over him, and slept poorly.
• Raphael spent the next day at the Mafia headquarters, then noticed two suspicious homeless men approaching him through the fog that night.
• Raphael recognized the men as likely zombies and spoke with Bevin’s companion, who confirmed that he belonged to the Indulgence Faction.
• Raphael took a submachine gun from his backpack and explained how to use it before firing at the Zombie.

Raphael attacked Ackerman with gunfire and transformed into a Werewolf while Maric possessed the Zombie. Sharron revealed her demigod power by trapping Ackerman and Wolf, but Wolf summoned Mr. Howard, the Shaman King, as a vast crimson force approached.

• Raphael shot Ackerman, and Maric possessed him before Ackerman could attack.
• Maric forced Ackerman to stab himself while Raphael transformed into a Werewolf and fought the Zombies controlling him.
• Wolf appeared and accused Maric and Sharron of setting a trap, while Raphael kept firing at Ackerman.
• Sharron trapped Wolf and Ackerman with their own clothing, and Wolf realized she had advanced to Sequence 4.
• Wolf revealed that he had invited Mr. Howard, the Shaman King, and a vast crimson presence approached through the fog.