Chapter Summaries

Audrey reconsidered how to hold on to her principles while using the world’s rules, and Susie helped her regain her confidence. After recovering, Raphael handed control of the Mafia to Carter, sold seized Beyonder characteristics to Xio, and began preparing new Zombies, while wondering why the Aurora Order had gone quiet.

• Audrey told Susie that Raphael’s view of the world had left her unsure how to solve problems, and Susie advised her to keep her principles while using the world’s rules to reach her goals.
• Audrey realized that using her status at the education fund had helped more students, then went outside with Susie to play ball.
• After recovering from his injuries, Raphael named Carter the Mafia’s new boss and gave him his backing.
• Raphael sold several Beyonder characteristics to Xio for 2,700 pounds, then agreed to search for two missing MI9 members despite planning not to pursue the task.
• Raphael went to his factory to prepare new Zombies from the corpses he had obtained and wondered whether something had happened to the Aurora Order.

Raphael took inspiration from the “Clown Angel” and began acting as a Living Corpse by making dead people rise. At Keller Hospital, a deceased burn victim walked to the bombing rubble, dug up another dead person, and then sat silently beside him.

• Raphael read about the “Clown Angel” healing injured patients and realized someone was acting as a Beyonder.
• Raphael decided that bombing victims near death would make suitable targets for his Living Corpse acting.
• Raphael argued with his Puppets about avoiding serial murders until it was time to act as a Serial Killer.
• At Keller Hospital, Doctor Vincent confirmed that Mr. Miguel had died of organ failure after suffering severe burns.
• Mr. Miguel rose from the bed, walked to the bombing rubble, and dug up a person whose head had been crushed.
• Vincent examined both figures and found that Mr. Miguel was cold and the person he had rescued had been dead for several days.

Ryan and the other Nighthawks investigated two corpses that had left their boxes, only to find them bathing in the Formalin Pool and then returning to rest. Raphael used the commotion to hypnotize the witnesses and leave, and Leonard later heard Ryan’s report at headquarters.

• Ryan questioned Vincent about whether he had encountered supernatural phenomena, but concealed the truth from him.
• Fitz warned Ryan and his colleague that two corpses in the morgue were trying to get out, and Vincent joined them to investigate.
• Ryan and his colleague found the corpses carefully washing themselves in the Formalin Pool and decided to wait rather than attack.
• The clean corpses bowed to the group, climbed back into their boxes, and covered themselves with the lids.
• Raphael sat up in another box, hypnotized the Nighthawks and Vincent, and walked away.
• Ryan reported the incident to Leonard Mitchell, who said the corpses had only been playing around.

Leonard investigated the hospital incident and received a new Red Gloves case concerning disappearances in Backlund’s western outskirts. Raphael met with Mr. C, learned that the Aurora Order’s mission had changed, and was assigned to recover a Beyonder characteristic from ruins where Miss S had vanished.

• Leonard concluded Raphael had been acting as a Zombie, checked the hospital morgue, and confirmed that Raphael had left.
• A Red Gloves colleague gave Leonard a case file about a Beyonder incident and a missing colleague in the western outskirts of Backlund.
• Raphael found Mr. C’s letter, followed its address and knock pattern, and met Mr. C and other Aurora Order members.
• Mr. C told the gathering that Mandated Punishers had killed two mid-Sequence Aurora Order members and their subordinates.
• Mr. C told Raphael that a rescue mission at western outskirts ruins had become a mission to recover a Beyonder characteristic after Miss S disappeared there.

Raphael accepted Mr. C’s assignment to investigate Fourth Epoch ruins and determine the fate of Miss S. He entered the ruins beneath an abandoned castle and found Leonard Mitchell studying a mural.

• Mr. C told Raphael that Miss S had become trapped in the ruins and tasked him with checking whether she was alive or retrieving proof of her identity if she was dead.
• Raphael secured Mr. C’s promise that he could choose three low-sequence subordinates after the assignment, then reviewed the information about the ruins.
• Raphael prepared three iron corpses, disguised himself and his group, and traveled to the castle ruins in Backlund’s western suburbs.
• Raphael entered the basement passage beneath the castle and followed the corridor into the ancient ruins.
• Raphael came across Leonard Mitchell, who was studying a mural.

Leonard Mitchell, an official Beyonder, encountered Raphael and his undead group while investigating sealed ruins. They agreed to explore together, and Raphael opened a gap in the seal at the altar.

• Leonard explained that a Red Gloves member had discovered the ruins and vanished while hunting evil spirits, prompting Leonard to investigate.
• Raphael tried to leave after Leonard attempted to mark him, but stopped when Leonard revealed the ruins might contain a potion formula or characteristic.
• Raphael and Leonard agreed to explore together before deciding whether to fight over the spoils.
• Raphael studied murals depicting the Northern Continent's war against undead, Demonesses, and Werewolves, and inferred the ruins had once been a fortress sealed by a Prisoner pathway angel.
• At the altar, Raphael lit the candles and used a method from the documents to open a gap in the seal.

Raphael and Leonard entered the sealed fortress through a gap Raphael opened using Miss S's method. Inside, Raphael accused Leonard of being an enemy spy, drawing the fortress's ghosts' attention to him.

• Raphael used his spirituality to open a passage from the real world into the fortress, and Leonard followed him through.
• Leonard explained that they should stay together and that he should give the orders, but Raphael refused to accept his authority.
• Raphael and Leonard passed through a door into a corridor filled with ghosts reliving the fortress's final battle.
• When a noble ghost demanded to know why they were standing around, Raphael claimed he had been sent to retrieve a Sealed Artifact and accused Leonard of being an enemy spy.
• The ghosts stopped and turned their eerie green eyes toward Leonard as the temperature in the fortress dropped.

Raphael and Leonard searched a Fourth Epoch fortress and encountered a bishop’s spirit turning into an evil spirit inside a church of the Evernight Goddess. The spirit attacked them, drawing them into a dream where the Goddess’s statue appeared sinister.

• Leonard used his Spirit Warlock abilities to pass through the ghost-filled corridors with Raphael, and they searched the barracks for traces of their colleagues.
• Leonard heard a voice urging him to rest in the barracks, but he and Raphael continued until the voice stopped.
• Raphael and Leonard descended to a living area and entered the Church of the Evernight Goddess, where Leonard saw the Goddess depicted as a woman for the first time.
• Raphael spotted a white bishop’s spirit praying beside his remains, and the bishop turned on them after Leonard recognized that he was blaming the Goddess.
• The bishop’s evil spirit struck Raphael and Leonard with invisible ripples, pulling them into a dream where black mist rose from the Goddess’s statue and its face formed an icy smile.

Raphael and Leonard escaped the bishop’s dream after Raphael fought the bishop’s evil spirit, which revealed the tragedy of the people trapped in the stronghold. They collected the dead’s Beyonder characteristics and continued onward to search for Miss S.

• Raphael fought the bishop’s evil spirit while the darkened image of the Evernight Goddess prepared to leave the altar.
• The evil spirit recognized Leonard as the Goddess’s Blessed and asked him why the Goddess had ignored the people’s prayers before fading away.
• The dream vanished, revealing the church filled with people who had died while trapped in the sealed stronghold.
• Raphael deduced that despair had driven the bishop to help the survivors dream of their loved ones, and that the bishop had become an evil spirit after his faith collapsed.
• Leonard performed a requiem for his colleague and took the bishop’s Nightmare characteristic, while Raphael collected the other Beyonder characteristics.
• Raphael and Leonard prepared to continue their search for Miss S.

Raphael and Leonard explored the fortress ruins and encountered Miss S, who had lost control and become a monster made of skin. Raphael defeated her with his Living Corpses, while Leonard was briefly pulled into a dream as Raphael collected the Beyonder Characteristic.

• Raphael and Leonard searched the fortress quarters for Sealed Artifacts and Beyonder Characteristics but found none.
• They discovered Miss S transformed into a hungry piece of skin, and Raphael used a poisoned Copper Corpse to attack her.
• Raphael coordinated his Living Corpses to keep Miss S from vomiting out the poisoned flesh until the Corpse Poison killed her.
• Leonard noticed Raphael's unusual command of the Living Corpses and discussed it with Pallez Zoroast.
• Leonard realized that someone had drawn him into a dream after Raphael collected Miss S's Beyonder Characteristic.

Raphael and Leonard encountered a hostile presence beneath the fortress after Raphael defeated Miss S and found a notebook and Beyonder characteristic. An unseen force attacked them, and a humanoid figure appeared at the stairwell.

• Raphael found a Beyonder characteristic and an old notebook among the remains of Miss S, while Leonard warned that a powerful Sleepless-pathway evil spirit might be nearby.
• Leonard tried to entice Raphael deeper by mentioning more Sealed Artifacts, but Raphael hesitated until his Killer Personality warned that someone was coming.
• A Copper Corpse attacked Raphael after the footsteps sounded, while a second consciousness tried to seize Leonard's mind; Raphael recovered and destroyed the corpse.
• Raphael spoke to the presence in the stairwell and offered to leave, but an invisible force began crushing his and Leonard's throats.
• Footsteps sounded again, and a humanoid thing appeared at the stairwell.

Raphael and Leonard survived an attack in the fortress by a monster that manipulated their shadows. They realized Leonard held a dangerous secret, and the chapter ended with Leonard insisting they continue the exploration and fight back.

• A flesh-and-blood figure emerged in the stairwell and imitated Raphael and Leonard as their shadows strangled them.
• Raphael noticed Leonard's shadow and his own attacking them, then saw a shadowy hand reach from Leonard's shadow and disrupt it.
• Raphael hypnotized himself into making his shadow release him, then retreated behind Leonard.
• Raphael's three Iron Corpses attacked Leonard as bloody mist obscured the corridor, and Leonard knocked one away while Raphael regained control of the corpses.
• The flesh-and-blood monster vanished, and Leonard identified its powers as corruption and shadows before deciding to keep exploring.

Leonard and Raphael descended to the fortress’s lowest floor and found evidence that Miss S had released a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact from its chamber. Their investigation suggested the artifact had escaped inside the flesh-and-blood monster they had encountered.

• Raphael agreed to continue exploring with Leonard, and they sent the Zombies upstairs before descending together.
• Raphael examined the remains and scraps of Miss S’s clothing, then reconstructed how she had opened the sealed chamber and been blasted apart by the monster within.
• Leonard and Raphael opened the chamber and found a glowing skeleton missing its skull and left hand, surrounded by the remains of Beyonders who had apparently sealed it with their lives.
• Leonard identified one set of remains as a bishop of the Church of the Evernight Goddess and noticed that his Beyonder characteristic was missing.
• Raphael suspected the Grade 1 Sealed Artifact had Grazed the missing characteristics and might now be hiding inside the flesh-and-blood monster.

Raphael and Leonard realized a sentient Grade 1 Sealed Artifact had escaped the fortress after Grazing nearby Beyonder characteristics, and they left before it could target them again. They agreed to arrange a Church purchase of the recovered characteristics, parted ways, and Raphael began reading the notebook on his return journey.

• Raphael and Leonard concluded that the Grade 1 Sealed Artifact had Grazed Beyonder characteristics and was no longer in the stone chamber.
• Raphael and Leonard collected the remaining Beyonder characteristics and discovered that the artifact had taken Raphael's Iron Corpse made from Wilbert.
• Leonard guessed that the artifact might need a corpse to carry it, and Raphael suspected a sudden supply of fresh flesh and blood had triggered its loss of control.
• Raphael and Leonard returned through the mural corridor, exchanged names, and arranged for Leonard to contact Raphael at the Blue Parrot Bar about buying the characteristics for the Church.
• Raphael and Leonard went their separate ways, and Raphael rode back toward the city with two zombies and opened the notebook.

Raphael read Venn Lopez's notebook, learning how the Grade 1 Sealed Artifact Pain's Hand was obtained, contained, and possibly taught itself to imitate a person. The notebook also revealed that the Lopez family had discovered dangerous Fourth Epoch ruins containing more Sealed Artifacts and Beyonder characteristics, leaving Raphael eager to find them.

• Raphael read Venn Lopez's account of the Pale Disaster, his family's losses, and Backlund's fall to the Undead Army.
• Venn's notes explained how the Trunsoest Empire captured a corrupted Trinity Templar and sealed it as Pain's Hand, a living artifact that repeatedly broke free amid wartime casualties.
• Raphael learned that Venn had conversed with Pain's Hand and found that surrounding it with fish could calm it.
• Venn warned that Pain's Hand might escape the fortress and become a normal person after learning his expressions and movements.
• Raphael read that the Lopez family had explored Fourth Epoch ruins on their fief, finding two Grade 2 Sealed Artifacts and several Mid-Sequence Beyonder characteristics, with more possibly left inside.

Raphael found notes about a dangerous ruin that might contain a Wraith Beyonder characteristic, but decided to wait before exploring it. After completing a mission for Mr. C and choosing three Aurora Order subordinates, he began setting up an assassin company under the cover of a mechanic business.

• Raphael considered asking Dwayne Dantès and Miss Sharron to help explore the ruin, but worried they might turn against him or want the Wraith characteristic.
• Raphael gave Mr. C Miss S's Beyonder characteristic, learned that Oracle positions would soon be filled, and was told to return to choose subordinates.
• Raphael visited Dwayne Dantès's villa to discuss investing around the Sonia Sea, but learned Dwayne was away traveling.
• Raphael chose Wagner, Moor, and Keiko as his three subordinates, and Mr. C hypnotized the two candidates who were not selected.
• Raphael assigned his new subordinates tasks to establish the Mechanic Company as a front for a high-end assassin company.

Raphael organized an assassination company behind the front of a mechanic business and planned new performances to advance his Living Corpse potion acting. At a crowded subway platform, he began a disturbing public stunt while Postman Amon watched.

• Raphael instructed Wagner, Moor, and Keiko to establish the Mechanic Company and find wealthy clients for its covert assassination business.
• Raphael considered how rumors of his corpse-related exploits had helped his acting and planned to spread another story about the haunted morgue.
• Raphael took a newly converted zombie to a subway station to perform before a crowd, where he spotted Postman Amon but did not recognize him.
• Postman Amon followed Raphael into the station after sensing something unusual about him, but avoided using his Beyonder abilities on the Living Corpse.
• Raphael made the zombie enter the evening crowd, complain that it was hot, remove its shirt, and threaten to cut off its skin with a scalpel.

Raphael staged a gruesome subway prank with a Zombie, drawing the attention of the monocled Postman Amon. Amon suggested replacing Raphael for a few days, but his spirituality warned him that stealing Raphael’s fate would bring trouble.

• Raphael controlled a Zombie as it peeled off its skin at Conn Avenue subway station, causing panic among passengers.
• Postman Amon applauded Raphael’s prank and discussed how it could have been made more spectacular.
• Raphael and Postman Amon left the station together, trading ideas about pranks and how people responded to them.
• Postman Amon asked to live Raphael’s life for a few days, and Raphael calmly suggested there were plenty of other open-minded people in Backlund.
• Postman Amon remarked that Raphael was interesting, while his spirituality warned him that stealing Raphael’s fate would bring trouble.

Raphael met the dangerous but intriguing Amon, whose presence confirmed their shared loneliness, and performed an act that began digesting his Zombie Potion. After Mandated Punishers investigated the staged corpse, Raphael received a meeting invitation from Dwayne Dantès and arrived at the appointed intersection.

• Raphael spoke with Postman Amon, agreed to let him attend a future performance, and learned his name was Amon.
• Raphael left the subway scene and sensed that his acting had begun to digest his Zombie Potion.
• Simeon, Mande, and Balls examined the skinned corpse and suspected the incident was more complicated than a provocation.
• Raphael found a letter from Dwayne Dantès inviting him to meet at the intersection of Birmingham Road and Townsend Street at 9:10.
• Raphael arrived at the intersection, where Dwayne Dantès's carriage stopped in front of him.

Klein met Raphael in a carriage and agreed to help him retrieve a Wraith Characteristic from Fourth Epoch ruins in exchange for two or three tasks. He assigned Raphael to attack Miss Sovia without killing her, hoping to draw out whoever was behind her, and left contact arrangements to his messenger.

• Klein met Raphael, who offered him an investment opportunity, and hinted that he was leaving Backlund soon.
• Raphael admitted he needed help obtaining a Wraith Characteristic buried in dangerous Fourth Epoch ruins, and Klein agreed to arrange assistance later.
• Klein told Raphael to complete two or three tasks as payment, with their difficulty capped at Sequence 6.
• Klein suspected Miss Sovia belonged to the Demoness Sect and ordered Raphael to attack her but let her escape.
• Klein taught Raphael how to summon his messenger and told him to prepare one gold coin for the delivery fee.
• After Raphael left the carriage near his apartment, he suspected Klein had deliberately shown that he knew where he lived.