Chapter Summaries

Klein visited Dunn and reported that he had encountered Mr. L, an Oracle of the Aurora Order, at the Divination Club. Dunn verified that Klein had not been corrupted by the True Creator and prepared to report the encounter to the Cathedral headquarters.

• Klein noticed Rozanne's concealed sorrow and found Dunn exhausted and distracted in his smoke-filled office.
• Dunn told Klein that another Nighthawk would teach him mysticism and asked whether he had anything else to report.
• Klein told Dunn he had encountered the Aurora Order's Oracle, Mr. L, at the Divination Club.
• Dunn asked Klein to recite the Evernight Goddess's honorific name, and Klein did so, assuring Dunn he had not been corrupted by the True Creator.
• Klein began recounting how he joined the Divination Club and recognized Mr. L while listening to Hanass Vincent.
• Dunn suspected Hanass Vincent might also belong to the Aurora Order and said he would report the matter to the Cathedral headquarters.

Klein told Dunn about Nimrod and the Aurora Order, prompting Dunn to arrange secret protection and warn that the Cathedral might test him. Meanwhile, Nimrod prepared for danger at the Order’s base before answering the gray fog’s call and meeting the Celestial Worthy, who greeted him as a compatriot.

• Klein recounted his encounters with Nimrod to Dunn while concealing that he was a transmigrator.
• Dunn judged Nimrod dangerous, ordered Nighthawks to secretly protect Klein, and requested reinforcements for Tingen City.
• Dunn warned Klein that the Cathedral might test him and urged him not to become another Old Neil.
• Nimrod packed Beyonder materials and weapons into his specially made garment and considered advancing to Fire Thief.
• Gray fog tried to pull at Nimrod’s spirit body, and he recognized Klein’s presence before turning his attention to the fog again.
• Nimrod entered the gray fog and met the Celestial Worthy, saying he wanted to experience Klein’s Tarot Club.

Nimrod watched the Tarot Club meeting with the Celestial Worthy, who tried twice to persuade him to cooperate. As Klein read Roselle’s diary and Alger explained the Antigonus family, the Celestial Worthy revealed his role in choosing Huang Tao and complained about God Almighty.

• The Celestial Worthy invited Nimrod to work with him, but Nimrod refused and watched the Tarot Club meeting instead.
• Klein congratulated Audrey on becoming a Beyonder, while Nimrod noted that Alger had advanced to Sequence 7.
• Klein read three pages of Roselle’s diary, and the Celestial Worthy revealed that Huang Tao had been a sales professional whom he chose for his arrogance and cruelty.
• Nimrod said he neither liked nor hated Huang Tao, and ignored the Celestial Worthy’s renewed offer to make their world orderly.
• Alger explained the Antigonus family’s history and its connection to the second Blasphemy Slate, prompting the Celestial Worthy to complain about God Almighty and ask Nimrod to stomp on the first slate.

Nimrod and the Celestial Worthy watched Klein lead the Tarot Club meeting, while Nimrod considered testing his connection to Sefirah Castle. The Celestial Worthy warned that Nimrod could not enter now that Sefirah Castle had an owner, but Nimrod distrusted his half-truths and remained wary of betrayal.

• The Celestial Worthy and Nimrod discussed the dog that had drunk a potion, and the Celestial Worthy joked that she might become a dog of Imagination.
• At the Tarot Club meeting, Klein told someone to perform a ritual using his three-part honorific name, and the Celestial Worthy objected to its translation of “Xuanhuang” as “Yellow and Black.”
• Nimrod suggested that he could recite the Celestial Worthy’s four-part honorific name in the real world to test whether Sefirah Castle would respond.
• The Celestial Worthy said Nimrod could not enter Sefirah Castle because it already had an owner, but Nimrod suspected he was concealing information about Nimrod’s growing access.
• The Celestial Worthy accused Nimrod of thinking badly of him, and Nimrod denied it before the two traded barbs about each other’s character.

After the Tarot Club meeting, Nimrod prepared to rest before entering Cordu Village, but Botis arrived to deliver Kisma’s rewards. Nimrod received a dangerous scythe and the Fire Thief potion formula, then stored the weapon above Sefirah Castle.

• Nimrod decided to rest and replenish his strength before crossing into the Circle of Inevitability timeline.
• Botis appeared in Nimrod’s room, asked if the Lord had summoned him, and accepted Nimrod’s claim that it was a trial and blessing.
• Botis gave Nimrod a scythe formed from a Sequence 5 Beyonder characteristic and explained its powers and negative effects.
• Botis handed Nimrod the Fire Thief potion formula and warned that support from Oracles in other cities would be difficult to obtain.
• Nimrod heard the scythe’s praise of the True Creator, put it in a box, and sent it above Sefirah Castle.

Nimrod obtained a combat-focused scythe and reviewed his plans to advance to Fire Thief before returning to the present. He saved Lumian from the Shotgun Monster, and Lumian recognized him as his rescuer and called him Godfather.

• Nimrod assessed the scythe’s combat abilities and side effects, and considered using the Church of Evernight’s Blood Vessel Thief to obtain a Fire Thief Beyonder characteristic.
• Nimrod suspected Adam had prevented Amon from encountering him in Tingen, but thought that might not apply in Backlund.
• When the countdown ended, Nimrod returned and used his power to restrain the Shotgun Monster as it threatened Lumian.
• Lumian seized the opening and hacked the Shotgun Monster to death with his axe.
• Lumian thanked Nimrod for saving him and called him Godfather.

Nimrod helped Lumian obtain a Hunter Beyonder characteristic and prepared the Hunter potion for him. Lumian drank it, beginning his path as a Beyonder.

• Nimrod used the lingering power of Sefirah Castle to steal the Hunter characteristic from the dead Shotgun Monster.
• Nimrod explained that Lumian could become a Sequence 9 Hunter by consuming the characteristic and Lumian chose that path to protect his sister.
• Nimrod explained how potions were made and told Lumian he knew the Hunter formula and had gathered its supplementary ingredients.
• Nimrod mixed the Hunter characteristic with red chestnut flower essential oil, poplar leaf powder, basil, and red wine to make the potion.
• Lumian drank the Hunter potion in one gulp.

After Lumian survived drinking the Hunter potion, Nimrod ended their dream meeting and later returned to Lumian’s dream to assess Cordu Village’s danger. Nimrod warned that their plan to send a telegram could expose their intention to leave, but advised Lumian to continue it and seek help from potential allies.

• Lumian survived the potion’s dangerous reaction and asked Nimrod whether he was helping because of the seal inside him; Nimrod said he valued Lumian’s fate and sympathized with his situation.
• Nimrod ended the dream, and Lumian returned home determined to gain power like his godfather’s.
• Nimrod entered Lumian’s dream again and learned that the strange owl had not reappeared after Nimrod killed it.
• Nimrod warned Lumian that the people behind Cordu Village’s abnormalities would watch prominent figures and might notice Lumian and Aurore trying to leave.
• Nimrod told Lumian to follow through with the telegram plan and seek help from the Church Beyonders and the mysterious woman from the old tavern.

Nimrod questioned the Celestial Worthy about how his actions across two timelines affected the present, then defended his decision to remain in Lumian Lee’s dream. He left the Celestial Worthy to fade from the room while continuing to pursue his own plans atop Sefirah Castle.

• Nimrod asked the Celestial Worthy whether changing the past would immediately alter the present.
• The Celestial Worthy explained how reality and history could be made to overlap, and suggested that Nimrod’s actions on his other timeline would affect the future as his vessel advanced.
• The Celestial Worthy asked why Nimrod had not ended Lumian Lee’s dream, but Nimrod said he could safely digest his potions in Sefirah Castle and had no reason to leave early.
• Nimrod accused the Celestial Worthy of growing impatient because Nimrod was destroying the mental imprints in digested Beyonder Characteristics.
• Nimrod said he treated Lumian Lee as an independent person, and the Celestial Worthy withdrew into the sunlight after calling Nimrod paranoid.

Lumian became a Hunter after consuming a Beyonder Characteristic and hid the truth about Nimrod from Fors. Nimrod warned him that the seal on him came from the Fool and that revealing the name to Aurore would corrupt her.

• Lumian told Fors he had eaten a monster's Beyonder Characteristic raw, and she explained that he had become a Hunter.
• After exploring the dream and noticing his improved abilities, Lumian prepared breakfast for Aurore and Nimrod.
• Nimrod arrived, and Lumian planned to present their battle plan to Aurore while keeping Nimrod's involvement secret from Fors.
• Lumian asked Nimrod about the seal after Fors had said it came from a great existence whose name he could not know.
• Nimrod said the seal came from the Fool and warned Lumian that hearing the name would corrupt him and Aurore.

Lumian told Aurore that Cordu Village was trapped in a ritual and that Lent might offer their best chance to escape. He also confessed that he had become a Beyonder, and Aurore accepted his decision before asking whether they should flee or sabotage the celebration.

• Lumian and Nimrod warned Aurore that an unknown force was looming over Cordu Village and that they could not escape by normal means.
• Nimrod explained that the village was caught in a ritual and that Lent would be the crucial moment for the offerings and their chance to act.
• Lumian revealed to Aurore that he was already a Beyonder.
• Nimrod explained that Lumian’s powers came from his special dream and that he had helped him.
• Aurore accepted Lumian’s choice to become a Beyonder and asked whether they would escape during Lent or sabotage the celebration.

Nimrod, Aurore, and Lumian decided to attack the Father of the Parish and the other cultists to stop the ritual during Lent. Nimrod sent Lumian to contact the official Beyonders and identify the Spring Elf, while they planned to set traps that night.

• Nimrod argued that they should kill the ritual’s organizers, beginning with the Father of the Parish, rather than merely disrupt Lent or flee.
• Aurore agreed to attack the Father of the Parish the next day, but Lumian noticed she seemed distracted and asked if she was hearing the Hidden Sage’s ravings again.
• Nimrod told Aurore to rest while he and Lumian prepared traps and searched for the official Beyonders who had come to investigate.
• Nimrod reflected that he had displaced the Celestial Worthy’s will and trapped it within his spirit body, while fate continued to force the Celestial Worthy’s assimilation with Klein back into place.
• Nimrod asked Lumian to inform the three official Beyonders about Lent, find out who would be the Spring Elf and where the celebration would take place, and meet him at midnight to set traps.

Nimrod and Lumian prepared to disrupt the Lent ritual by setting traps and occult explosives around the village, while Nimrod warned Lumian that the ritual might hold hidden dangers. After Lumian fell asleep, Nimrod spoke with the Celestial Worthy in Sefirah Castle, who suspected Nimrod had glimpsed the future.

• Nimrod watched the Governor's Mansion and reviewed the stages of the Lent celebration, which would end with the Spring Elf being killed.
• Lumian reported that he had set traps in the mountains and by the river, avoiding the church to keep their plans hidden.
• Nimrod and Lumian placed concealed occult explosives beside the church, using gray mist to hide the arrays from the priest in the dream.
• Nimrod told Lumian to rest and prepare to act during the next day's celebration, while admitting he could not yet understand the ritual's full secrets.
• After Lumian fell asleep, Nimrod entered Sefirah Castle and discussed the dream with the Celestial Worthy, who asked whether Nimrod had seen something belonging to the future.

Nimrod struck a bargain with the Celestial Worthy to help him become a Pillar, then coordinated with Lumian and Aurore to attack the Father of the Parish during Lent. After Lumian left for the church, Nimrod used dream power to clear Aurore’s mind, and she began to recognize that something was wrong.

• Nimrod proposed an alliance with the Celestial Worthy, who agreed to help him ascend to a Pillar in exchange for excluding God Almighty from the new world.
• Nimrod and Lumian prepared to attack the Father of the Parish and his followers during Lent, with Lumian assigned to hold off the other enemies.
• Nimrod explained that the Demoness pathway was adjacent to Hunter, and Lumian silently regretted considering a switch.
• Lumian left to attend Lent as usual while Nimrod planned to enter the church and detonate the traps once Guillaume Bénet emerged.
• Nimrod spread gray fog through the Cordu Village Dream, clearing Aurore’s dazed state and asking her to voice her suspicions.

Nimrod met Aurore inside a hidden layer of Lumian’s dream and offered to repair her soul fragment and restore her past self in exchange for Lumian’s future help. After Aurore accepted and asked Nimrod not to hurt her brother, she forgot their conversation and joined the blessing procession with Lumian.

• Nimrod used Sefirah Castle’s power to speak with Aurore in a dream layer that Lumian could not detect.
• Nimrod offered to restore Aurore’s past self if she agreed that Lumian would call him Godfather and perform tasks for him in the future.
• Aurore accepted Nimrod’s offer and asked him to do his best not to hurt Lumian.
• The dream conversation faded from Aurore’s memory, and she returned to her usual role in the Lent festivities.
• Aurore joined Ava and Lumian in the blessing procession, joking with Lumian as they went.

Lumian’s traps disrupted the Blessing Pilgrimage, but the procession reached the church, where Guillaume Bénet arrived and ordered the Spring Elf sent away. As Pierre Berry attacked Ava, Nimrod emerged from her body and unleashed the power of the Fool’s seal.

• Raymond stumbled near Lumian’s trap, uncovered it, and accidentally revealed that it lay ahead of him and Ava.
• Lumian covered up his traps by claiming a hunter had failed to clear them, and the procession continued to the riverside ritual and then the church.
• Guillaume Bénet entered the church with Pierre Berry and ordered the Spring Elf sent away.
• Lumian attacked Pierre Berry, but Pierre dodged and swung his axe at Ava.
• Nimrod emerged from Ava’s body, blocked Pierre’s axe with his scythe, and restored his unfinished legs and feet.
• Nimrod put on a monocle, took on the gray mist of the Fool’s seal, traced an inverted cross, and filled the church with points of light.

Nimrod and Lumian defeated Pierre Berry and Guillaume Bénet, but Lumian found Aurore with blood-red eyes before Nimrod sent him back in time. Lumian awoke on March 29, 1358, the day before everything began, and discovered that Aurore did not know who Nimrod was.

• Nimrod shattered the Sun Holy Emblem and killed Pierre Berry while healing Ava's wounds.
• Nimrod restrained Guillaume Bénet, and Lumian killed him with a punch despite the agony in his mind.
• Lumian saw Aurore with blood-red eyes, and Nimrod told him there was still a chance to turn things around.
• Nimrod pressed a hand to Aurore's head and spoke strange phrases, causing Lumian to black out.
• Lumian awoke in his room on March 29, 1358, and found that Aurore was alive but did not know who Nimrod was.

Lumian learned from Nimrod that powerful beings had deliberately created his twelve-day loop and that Aurore's death might not be inevitable, then resolved to investigate the dream's secrets. Back in his room, Nimrod reflected on his actions and the progress he had made as a Mystery Pryer before Mr. Z arrived to treat his injuries.

• Lumian asked Nimrod whether his experience had been a dream and whether the loop could be resolved, and Nimrod offered him a dream to live out the rest of his life.
• Nimrod told Lumian that powerful beings had deliberately brought about the loop to shape him into a tool, and Lumian asked how they could break it.
• Nimrod urged Lumian to explore the dream's secrets, while Lumian acknowledged that Nimrod was the only one who had explained what was happening.
• Nimrod returned to his room and noted that injuries from the dream had carried over, with the burns from Little Scythe remaining unrepaired.
• Nimrod reviewed how he had disrupted the loop and concluded that discovering and solving mysteries had advanced his Mystery Pryer digestion.
• Mr. Z knocked on Nimrod's door and offered to treat his injuries.

Nimrod learned that the True Creator had mistakenly blessed him after Adam’s intervention, then recovered and reorganized the Aurora Order’s plans. The chapter ended with Nimrod assigning Mr. Z to watch Lanevus because he was connected to the Lord’s descent.

• Mr. Z praised the True Creator and used shadows and Flesh Magic to heal Nimrod’s burns.
• The Celestial Worthy told Nimrod that the True Creator had spoken to Sefirah Castle and said, “Well done.”
• Nimrod questioned Mr. Z’s decisions and redirected the Aurora Order toward finding specific recruits who could provide operating funds.
• Nimrod ordered Mr. Z to personally watch Lanevus, explaining that Lanevus was connected to the Lord’s descent.

Nimrod used the True Creator’s descent to burden Ince Zangwill with a difficult choice, then wrote to Saint Tenebrous Kisma with proposals for reforming the Aurora Order. He began a ritual to summon a messenger, and the candle flames surged as the ritual took effect.

• Nimrod arranged for Mr. Z to handle the matter involving Lanevus, hoping to complicate Ince Zangwill’s plans through the connection to the True Creator’s descent.
• Nimrod wrote Saint Tenebrous Kisma a letter proposing changes to the Aurora Order and praising the True Creator.
• The Celestial Worthy proposed using the True Creator’s ravings and Sefirah Castle to contact and awaken the True Creator, but Nimrod refused to let him control Sefirah Castle.
• Nimrod prepared a messenger-summoning ritual and recited its incantation.
• Grayish-white mist rose around Nimrod, and the candle flames surged into a funnel as the ritual began.