Chapter Summaries

Zed and Ikanser drove the Devil away from the fleeing Werewolf, while Raphael encountered Jonathan and an Indulgence Faction Zombie in the forest. Raphael attacked the Zombie with the Wolf Fang Art and continued evading him as they fought.

• Zed used a Gold Medal to stop the Wraith from possessing Boruk, then signaled Ikanser to help fight the Devil.
• Ikanser shattered the Devil’s Greatsword with a Flintlock shot, and gunfire forced the Devil to abandon his pursuit of the Werewolf.
• Raphael fled into the mountains and recognized the injured Werewolf Jonathan as the man being pursued by an Indulgence Faction Zombie.
• Raphael ambushed the Zombie, pierced his tough skin with the Wolf Fang Claw, and used the Nine Wolf Shadow Steps to evade his counterattacks.

Raphael defeated a weakened Zombie and brought Jonathan back to the Sickly Lady, collecting a ring that granted him medical expertise. He refused her offer to travel together and boarded a train to Backlund, exhausted after the night’s events.

• Raphael used the Nine Wolf Shadow Steps and Wolf Fang Art to injure the Zombie until it fled.
• Raphael encountered Jonathan, chased him through the woods, and brought him back to the Sickly Lady.
• The Sickly Lady gave Raphael a green ring that made him proficient in medicine, then asked him to travel with her.
• Raphael refused and left the Sickly Lady and Jonathan in the forest.
• The next morning, Raphael boarded a train to Backlund and planned to go home and sleep.

After the battle in the Balchis Mountains, the Sickly Lady sought information about a rational Werewolf, while the Machinery Hivemind and the Rose School’s Wraith independently tried to track him. The wounded Devil returned toward Backlund, killing the omnibus passengers, as the Wraith ordered the Zombie to find the Werewolf and Jonathan.

• The Sickly Lady wrote to her father that the Indulgence Faction had hunted her and Jonathan, and that she had encountered a rational Werewolf in the forest.
• Zed and Ikanser used Arrodes to divine the Werewolf’s location, but the gray fog revealed only that he was in Backlund.
• The wounded Devil worried about his uncle’s punishment and killed everyone aboard the omnibus traveling toward Backlund.
• The Wraith appeared through a lantern and ordered the Zombie to search for the rational Werewolf and follow Jonathan’s trail.

Raphael cultivated the Demon Source Scripture in the Western Continent and was invited to meet Demon Lord Xuanyin at the Dark Hut Headquarters. In Backlund, Raphael led a raid on the Stinger Gang, where he discovered a Sequence 6 beside its boss.

• Raphael in the Dark Hut secret chamber strengthened his body, spirit, and mastery through shared cultivation with his counterpart in Backlund.
• Chen Qingzhi told Raphael that Demon Lord Xuanyin had invited him to the Dark Hut Headquarters, and Raphael agreed to travel there the day after tomorrow.
• Raphael in Backlund ordered an operation against the Stinger Gang after Carter reported on its members and decided to kill its boss, Kent, himself.
• Wagner and Raphael joined the Mafia's assembled forces as they launched coordinated raids on the Stinger Gang's headquarters and members' homes.
• Raphael's group broke into Kent's home, where Raphael detected a mysterious man beside the gang boss and realized the man was a Sequence 6.

Raphael’s attempt to assassinate Kent went awry when he encountered Petrov, a Sequence 6 Conspirer from the Feysac Embassy. Raphael drew Petrov into a close-quarters fight in an alley, where the Werewolf’s agility began to give him an advantage.

• The Mafia attacked the Stinger Gang, eliminated several key members, and withdrew while Raphael sent a letter to two spared Sequence 9 members.
• Raphael found Petrov visiting Kent and ordered his men to leave, keeping Wagner behind to help him fight.
• Raphael recognized Petrov as an employee of the Feysac Embassy after knocking off his hat, while Kent and Wagner clashed nearby.
• Petrov drove Raphael through a window with Fire Crows and burned his hands when Raphael tried to ambush him outside.
• Raphael shouted that a Feysac Embassy member was present, then turned to attack Petrov in a cramped alley and closed in despite the Fire Crows.

Raphael used the Wolf Fang Art to wound Petrov, but their fight reached a stalemate as both suffered injuries. When Raphael sought cover by an omnibus, Xio Derecha emerged and imprisoned him, leaving the battle interrupted by Xio’s arrival.

• Raphael used the Nine Wolf Shadow Steps to close in on Petrov, slash him repeatedly, and poison him with Wolf Poison.
• Petrov forced Raphael back with flames and a Fire Wall, then chased him out of the alley as Raphael pretended to flee.
• Raphael dodged Petrov’s Fire Crows and threw a claw into Petrov’s chest over his heart, but took a Fire Crow hit himself.
• As Raphael charged toward an omnibus for cover, someone inside cast Imprisonment and trapped him in thickened air.
• Xio Derecha jumped out of the carriage, revealing himself to Raphael.

Raphael and Xio joined forces to kill the Feysac Conspirer Petrov, then agreed to split the spoils. Raphael returned to Kent's hideout, helped Wagner kill Kent, and learned the Hunter pathway potion formulas before escaping with Kent's Beyonder characteristic.

• Raphael warned Xio that Petrov was a Feysac conspirator, so Xio attacked Petrov as he tried to flee.
• Xio immobilized Petrov, allowing Raphael to wound him with wolf claws and poison until he died.
• Raphael and Xio agreed to sell Petrov's Beyonder characteristic and divide the proceeds, then left in different directions as police approached.
• Raphael returned to Kent's sitting room and helped Wagner kill the injured gang boss.
• Raphael learned the Hunter pathway potion formulas through spirit channeling, and he and Wagner took Kent's Beyonder characteristic and withdrew.

After the Stinger Gang was destroyed, Raphael recruited two of its Beyonders into the Mafia and asked Audrey to help sell a Werewolf characteristic and find him a restraining mystical item. That night, Wagner brought Raphael to an oil-pressing workshop, where Mr. C awaited him for his Aurora Order initiation.

• Audrey learned from Hibbert that the police had killed the suspected Feysac military attaché and the Stinger Gang boss, and Earl Hall warned Hibbert not to trust the newspaper's account too quickly.
• Raphael persuaded two Sequence 9 Stinger Gang members to join the Mafia in exchange for testimony linking Kent to Feysac embassy staff, then gave them territory and assigned deputies to oversee them.
• Raphael wrote to Audrey asking her to sell his Werewolf Beyonder characteristic and help him obtain a mystical item that could restrain enemies.
• Wagner met Raphael at the Mafia headquarters and took him to an oil-pressing workshop outside the city.
• A suspicious man examined Raphael and led him into the basement, where Mr. C waited to initiate him into the Aurora Order.

Raphael joined the Aurora Order and learned the True Creator’s history and doctrine. After reciting the True Creator’s honorific name, he endured the god’s gaze and impressed Mr. C, who suggested Raphael might become an Oracle and promised to introduce him to the Order’s members after he completed a task.

• Raphael recognized the man who had scrutinized him as a likely Sequence 7 Shadow Ascetic and followed him and Wagner to meet Mr. C.
• Mr. C explained the True Creator’s teachings, and Raphael recalled how the Great Cataclysm stemmed from the Ancient Sun God’s failed attempt to save Himself and His betrayal by three Kings of Angels.
• Raphael recited the True Creator’s honorific name and felt the god’s oppressive gaze, maddening whispers, and depraved thoughts.
• Raphael said the experience made him feel better and suggested he could use his new insane ideas to digest his Werewolf potion further.
• Mr. C declared Raphael favored by the Lord and suggested he could fill one of the two vacant Oracle positions.
• Mr. C told Raphael that a member would soon seek his help and that completing a task could earn him an introduction to the Aurora Order’s members and its high-level gathering.

Chen Qingzhi completed a ritual that brought Zheng Yunhai to the Ji Province branch, where he prepared to escort the Otherworldly Demon Lord to Headquarters. Meanwhile, in Backlund, Raphael received Caven Thomas’s request to persuade a villa owner to rent him a property for a brothel and learned that Caven’s family was close to losing its title.

• Chen Qingzhi used a ritual and the blood pool to summon Zheng Yunhai, who recovered before planning to leave for Headquarters with Raphael.
• Dark Hut disciples escorted Raphael by automobile from the underground chamber toward Headquarters, and he saw sunlight and a distant city for the first time.
• Caven Thomas arrived at the Backlund Mafia headquarters and asked Raphael to persuade a villa owner to rent him a property for a brothel.
• Raphael agreed to visit the villa owner, then sent Carter to investigate Caven and the property owner.
• Raphael learned that the Thomas Family was impoverished, selling its land, and at risk of losing its viscountcy.

At the Tarot Club meeting, Audrey and Xio sold Beyonder characteristics and discussed ways to obtain information from Raphael, who had infiltrated the Aurora Order. Xio then revealed that the Feysac Spy Case differed from the newspaper reports.

• Raphael considered handling the Thomas Family's villa problem himself after a member of parliament's cousin refused to rent it to Kaven Thomas.
• Xio joined the Tarot Club meeting and watched Audrey sell a Werewolf Beyonder characteristic for 1,200 pounds to Miss Sharron.
• Audrey asked the members to help find a Mystical Item that could control a target, and Cattleya agreed to look for one.
• Xio offered a Conspirer Beyonder characteristic, and Cattleya bought it for 2,500 pounds.
• Audrey said Raphael had joined the Aurora Order and could earn rewards for valuable information, while Alger asked him to investigate Lady D.
• Xio said the Feysac Spy Case had not happened as the newspapers described.

At the Tarot Club, Xio described Raphael’s battle with the Feysac Embassy’s military attaché, prompting the members to discuss Raphael’s strength and how Xio could contact him. Raphael secured Councilor Booker’s approval for Caven Thomas to rent a villa for a brothel, then received an invitation to Caven’s engagement ceremony.

• Xio told the Tarot Club that Raphael had killed the Feysac military attaché, and Audrey recognized the man’s Beyonder characteristic as the one she had sold.
• Alger suggested that Xio establish contact with Raphael, and Audrey agreed that Xio and she should exchange updates about him at future Tarot Club gatherings.
• Xio recalled that Raphael had wounded the Sequence 6 attaché before their fight and had used unusually precise footwork and claw attacks without relying on mystical items.
• Raphael pressured Councilor Booker with knowledge of a fatal incident involving a prostitute, and Booker agreed to rent his villa to Caven Thomas for a brothel.
• Booker abandoned his plans for revenge after learning what had happened to Wood and Holm, while Caven thanked Raphael and invited him to his engagement ceremony.

Raphael traveled with Zheng Yunhai and the Dark Hut when the Luo Sect’s Saintess, Yan Ruobing, ambushed them and demanded that they hand over Raphael. As the battle began under a red moon, Raphael calmly watched from the convoy.

• Raphael noticed that his new body resembled his counterpart from another world, then returned to the dining hall as Zheng Yunhai ordered the group to leave.
• Zheng Yunhai changed the convoy’s route after sensing danger near the airport, but Yan Ruobing of the Luo Sect soon confronted them on the road.
• Yan Ruobing revealed that the Unborn Venerable Mother had ordered her to take Raphael, and Zheng Yunhai prepared to fight rather than surrender him.
• Yan Ruobing summoned the red moon, causing vegetation to grow wildly, while Zheng Yunhai transformed and fought off the vines with blue fire.
• The Luo Sect’s Ironclad Army emerged from the vegetation, and Yan Ruobing appeared above the trees to attack.

Yan Ruobing defeated Zheng Yunhai with her talismans and supernatural abilities, then invited Raphael to the Luo Sect’s Main Altar on the Holy Mother’s command. Raphael accepted and found himself attracted to the holy maiden.

• Zheng Yunhai attacked Yan Ruobing with flaming arrows, but she dodged and used a talisman to make him give birth to a four-armed monster.
• Yan Ruobing struck Zheng Yunhai with rosy light, while his Seduction Technique briefly affected her before she vanished and his chest was badly damaged.
• Yan Ruobing’s chanting empowered the monster, which trapped Zheng Yunhai beneath red moonlight and drained him until he became a dried, plant-covered corpse.
• Yan Ruobing approached Raphael’s carriage and invited him to the Main Altar for a conversation by the Holy Mother’s command.
• Raphael accepted Yan Ruobing’s invitation and asked her to raise her head.

Yan Ruobing tried to take Raphael away, but Divine Monk Huiyuan intercepted them and used the Flower-Picking Finger to thwart her attacks. Yan Ruobing fled, leaving Raphael with Huiyuan, who called their meeting a fortuitous opportunity.

• Yan Ruobing carried Raphael away from the poisoned battlefield and explained that holy maidens were chosen for their connection to the secret realm.
• Divine Monk Huiyuan appeared and asked Yan Ruobing to hand Raphael over.
• Yan Ruobing threw Raphael toward Huiyuan and attacked, but the attack missed and Raphael landed safely behind the monk.
• Huiyuan used the Flower-Picking Finger to strip away Yan Ruobing’s good luck, forcing her to retreat after a talisman let her escape its effects.
• Raphael asked whether Huiyuan intended to take him to the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple, and Huiyuan described their meeting as a fortunate opportunity.

After escaping the Luo Sect, Raphael reached Backlund and attended Caven Thomas and Estella’s engagement banquet, where he uncovered the couple’s affairs and Caven’s disturbing request. He left his subordinates to seek a doctor and began preparing to digest the Werewolf potion, while a werewolf appeared before a police officer in Backlund.

• Huiyuan freed Raphael and told him that he would find the middle way upon encountering water, and Raphael fled the woods while evading the Luo Sect and Dark Hut.
• Raphael arrived in Backlund and attended Caven Thomas and Estella’s engagement banquet, where he observed the impoverished nobles’ pretenses and the couple’s apparent infidelities.
• Viscount Thomas announced that Caven and Estella would marry in a week, and Caven privately asked Raphael to find a doctor for a twelve-year-old girl with a venereal disease.
• After the banquet, Raphael delegated the search for a doctor to his subordinates and began preparing to digest the Werewolf potion.
• Morne drove homeless people from the streets of Backlund and saw a fur-covered, wolf-headed figure emerge from the fog.

Raphael used werewolf appearances in Backlund to digest his potion, frightening people while avoiding killing or stealing. After two incidents drew the Mandated Punishers’ attention, he planned his next act carefully and accompanied Kaven Thomas to a doctor.

• Raphael frightened Morne and the homeless people by appearing as a werewolf in the fog, then vanished.
• At Perrick’s banquet, Raphael terrified the guests, ate pudding offered by Harrison, and escaped through a window.
• Mande and Simeon investigated the incident with another Mandated Punisher and decided to report the repeated werewolf appearances and seek help.
• Raphael sensed that his acting had digested about a third of his potion and considered staging an act in front of official Beyonders.
• The next day, Raphael rode with Kaven Thomas to visit Doctor White, who treated venereal diseases.

Raphael accompanied Caven Thomas to Doctor White’s home, hoping to learn about the Aurora Order, but discovered Caven wanted him to join a scheme trafficking vagrants. There he met Emlyn White, a Sequence 5 who recognized Caven’s illness and offered medicine for the infected girl, and Raphael seized the chance to befriend him.

• Raphael learned from Caven that Aurora Order members in Backlund were expected to know one another, then heard Caven propose that they capture vagrants to sell.
• Raphael rejected Caven’s proposal and secretly began planning to send him to his death.
• At Doctor White’s home, Raphael recognized Emlyn White as a Sequence 5 and Emlyn warned Caven to stop abusing the infected girl.
• Emlyn offered to prescribe medicine for the girl, and Raphael accepted the offer to make an acquaintance of him.

Raphael visited Emlyn White to buy medicine for a frightened girl, clashed with Caven, and accepted Caven’s wedding invitation. At a salon, Glaint recounted a werewolf’s strange appearance at Perrick’s villa, and Audrey suspected Raphael was behind it.

• Raphael paid Emlyn White for the medicine and told Caven to stop threatening the girl.
• Raphael and Caven returned to the Mafia headquarters, where Caven invited Raphael to his wedding and Raphael said he would attend.
• At Glaint’s salon, Glaint told Audrey and the other young nobles that a werewolf had visited Perrick’s villa, eaten two puddings, and escaped.
• Audrey suspected Raphael had been the werewolf and wondered whether to write to him for an explanation.

Raphael accepted an assignment from Xio to investigate the Three Brothers Society, while Xio learned that the official Beyonders were also searching for a Werewolf. Charliwen arrived at the villa where the Werewolf had appeared, and Raphael later met Mr. C to be introduced to important members of the Aurora Order.

• Raphael met Xio, collected 1,600 pounds from the sale of the Beyonder characteristic, and agreed to work for her on assignments while keeping the right to refuse them.
• Xio assigned Raphael to investigate the Three Brothers Society in the Bridge District and arranged regular meetings and a telegram contact.
• Xio met a member of MI9, who tasked her with finding a Werewolf or determining what he wanted.
• Charliwen searched Perrick's villa for traces of the Werewolf and poisoned a servant who discovered him.
• After night fell, Raphael met Mr. C, who planned to introduce him to important members of the Aurora Order in Backlund.