Chapter Summaries

Nimrod held a recruitment fair for spirit-world messengers and secured the angel-level Animated Void as his messenger. The Animated Void delivered his letter to Saint Tenebrous Kisma, interrupting Kisma and Botis as they discussed the being preventing their return to Tingen.

• Nimrod watched spirit-world creatures gather to compete for the chance to become his messenger, but the weaker creatures fled under the pressure.
• Nimrod asked the Animated Void to become his messenger, and it agreed without requesting payment.
• Nimrod signed a contract with the Animated Void and gave it a revised summoning incantation.
• Nimrod told the Animated Void to deliver a letter to Saint Tenebrous Kisma, and it disappeared with the letter.
• Kisma and Botis discussed the being preventing them from returning to Tingen and speculated about the Lord's emissary.
• The Animated Void emerged through their secrecy, handed Kisma the letter, and left Kisma to conclude that the being simply could not be bothered with them.

Nimrod visited the Evil Dragon Bar to find the underground trading market and pursue Tris, an Aurora Order Beyonder wanted in Tingen City. After using Thought Disruption to persuade the bartender to help him, Nimrod followed the directions to the market.

• Nimrod entered the Evil Dragon Bar and asked the bartender about the underground trading market.
• Nimrod used Thought Disruption and praised Swain and the Lord of Storms to win the bartender's trust.
• The bartender told Nimrod how to reach the underground trading market through the billiard room behind the boxing ring.
• Nimrod took the bartender's wallet, left two banknotes in it, and followed the directions.
• The bartender counted the money and wondered why his wallet and cash seemed different.

Nimrod met Ademisaul at a hidden occult market and used a glimpse of his monstrous form to gain the half-Monster’s trust. He offered to teach Ademisaul to control his Beyonder powers and left him with a deadline to seek help before Nimrod departed that night.

• Nimrod entered the hidden market and recognized Ademisaul, a half-Monster of the Wheel of Fortune Pathway.
• Nimrod asked the Celestial Worthy how Ademisaul could sense Sefirah Castle and learned that the Key of Light was a fragment of the Original Creator.
• Nimrod shook Ademisaul awake and used Thought Interference and illusions to keep nearby people from noticing them.
• Nimrod briefly revealed a grotesque shadow to Ademisaul, terrifying him with a glimpse of the kind of horrors he had seen in visions.
• Nimrod offered to teach Ademisaul to control his Beyonder powers and told him to come find him before he left that night.

Nimrod recruited the troubled Ademisaul for the Aurora Order while pursuing Tris and finishing his potion digestion. He left Ademisaul questioning the Church of Storms’ claim that it lacked a suitable Fate pathway potion.

• Nimrod finished digesting the Marauder beyonder characteristic and went looking for Tris.
• The Celestial Worthy identified a young man as a possible resurrection contingency connected to the Primordial Demoness and God Almighty.
• Nimrod stole Tris’s wallet and replaced it with a message as Tris fled the underground trading venue.
• Nimrod summoned his messenger and brought himself and Ademisaul to the Aurora Order.
• Nimrod introduced himself as Mr. L and recruited Ademisaul, arguing that the Church of Storms had Fate pathway potion formulas but had concealed them.

Nimrod persuaded Ademisaul to join the Aurora Order and arranged for Mr. Z to guide him. Meanwhile, Klein asked Dunn to consider seeking information about Tris from Mr. L, but Dunn warned him about trusting an Aurora Order Oracle.

• Nimrod told Ademisaul that the Aurora Order would protect him and invited him to stay, and Ademisaul agreed despite his fears.
• Nimrod told Mr. Z that Ademisaul had high spiritual perception and should not yet listen to the Lord's grace, so Mr. Z took him to read the doctrine and eat.
• Klein learned from Dunn that the attempt to capture Tris had failed after Tris vanished on Iron Cross Street.
• Klein suggested asking Mr. L for information about Tris, but Dunn warned him that the Aurora Order was a violent evil-god cult.
• Klein swore that he wanted Tris captured quickly to protect his family in Tingen.

Klein joined the Nighthawks’ mission to seize the Antigonus Family Notebook, but Sealed Artifact 2-049 controlled him during the battle. He escaped the puppet’s control by reaching the gray fog, then returned to find Nimrod had intervened and vanished.

• Dunn told Klein that Crestet Cesimir would review him and Daly Simone would help investigate the True Creator’s Descent of God incident, then assigned Klein to the mission involving 2-049.
• Klein accompanied the Nighthawks to Ray Bieber’s hideout, where the Tuxedo Clown fled and the team extracted the Antigonus Family Notebook from Ray’s monstrous body.
• The cracked box released 2-049’s influence, and Klein began reciting the incantation to reach the gray fog and free himself from its control.
• Nimrod heard the Celestial Worthy mock Klein for being controlled by a Marionettist and decided to help him.
• Klein returned to his body and saw Nimrod knock him aside, leaving Dunn, Al Hassen, and the other Nighthawks down while the Tuxedo Clown confronted Nimrod.
• The Tuxedo Clown identified Nimrod as Mr. L of the Aurora Order, but Nimrod ignored him and vanished.

Nimrod killed the Tuxedo Clown with 2-049, then took the artifact and confronted Leonard about the presence of Pallez Zoroast. He warned Leonard that the events in Tingen City involved Amon’s brother before disappearing.

• Nimrod used 2-049 to kill the Tuxedo Clown, whose thoughts and movements had been suppressed.
• Nimrod pulled 2-049 into a patch of gray fog and told Klein they would discuss his secrets another time.
• Klein woke Dunn and explained that Nimrod had taken 2-049; Dunn chose to observe rather than intervene.
• Nimrod identified Leonard as Pallez Zoroast and warned him that the events in Tingen City were connected to Amon’s brother.
• After Nimrod disappeared, Pallez told Leonard to shut up while their colleagues watched.

After Nimrod escaped with '2-049,' Dunn reassured the injured Nighthawks, while Nimrod reflected on how his intervention had disrupted Ince Zangwill’s plans and prepared him for the remaining loops of the fated timeline. Back at the Aurora Order’s base, Nimrod questioned the Celestial Worthy about his connection to Sefirah Castle and considered using his apparent status as a Great Old One to influence the Evernight Goddess.

• Dunn retrieved the Antigonus Family's notebook, accepted responsibility for explaining the loss of '2-049,' and told Klein he had done nothing wrong.
• Leonard began to report something to Dunn, but Dunn postponed the conversation until they returned.
• Nimrod assessed the gains from his encounter with the Nighthawks and planned to digest his Mystery Pryer potion before preparing to advance to Fire Thief.
• The Celestial Worthy told Nimrod that Sefirah Castle gave him Great Old One-like status but that his low Sequence limited his access to its power.
• Nimrod argued that the Evernight Goddess might approach him cautiously if she mistook him for a pillar, and he resolved to determine the depth of his connection to Sefirah Castle.
• Nimrod used the Animated Void to retrieve a letter while the Celestial Worthy mocked him for not collecting it himself.

At Blackthorn Security Company, Crestet Cesimir reviewed Klein Moretti’s condition and approved him as a full Nighthawk, recognizing his role in the Antigonus Family Notebook incident. The Cathedral also ordered Klein to deepen his contact with the Aurora Order and report on Mr. L’s plans, then Crestet prepared to have him swear an oath before the Goddess’s holy relic.

• Crestet told Klein that the Aurora Order possessed formidable strength and that Mr. L held a high position within it.
• Crestet used Beyonder methods to test Klein, found no signs of corruption, and praised his control over his potion.
• Klein explained that Miss Daly’s experiences and a maxim from Mr. Neil had inspired his approach to potion mastery.
• Crestet recorded Klein’s performance and said he could apply to the Cathedral for the next Sequence potion when the time came.
• Crestet appointed Klein a full member of the Nighthawks in recognition of his contribution to the Antigonus Family Notebook incident.
• Crestet assigned Klein to deepen his contact with Mr. L and investigate the Aurora Order, then drew the Goddess’s Sword and prepared him to swear an oath.

Klein passed his review and swore an oath to the Evernight Goddess, then learned that Daly Simone had been transferred back to Tingen and that Dunn’s team had been assigned to stop the True Creator’s descent. The chapter ended with Daly offering to teach Klein mysticism.

• Klein swore an oath to the Evernight Goddess and passed Crestet’s review.
• Crestet transferred Daly Simone from Enmat Harbor back to the Tingen City Nighthawks team.
• Crestet assigned Dunn Smith to use Klein’s contact with the Aurora Order to prevent the True Creator’s descent, while warning the team to monitor Klein after every exchange with Mr. L.
• Daly returned with Dunn and Klein to Dunn’s office, where Dunn praised Klein’s progress mastering his potion.
• Daly offered to guide Klein into the mystical world, and Klein agreed.

Klein received instructions to be cautious when writing to Nimrod and asked him about their next meeting and the wanted Instigator Tris. Nimrod and the Celestial Worthy discussed the Evernight Goddess’s suspicions, and Nimrod resolved not to trust the mercy of gods.

• Daly and Dunn warned Klein not to trust Nimrod too readily and told him to undergo an examination after communicating with him.
• Dunn told Klein to attend a lesson with Daly the following morning to catch up on Beyonder knowledge.
• Klein weighed what to disclose, then wrote Nimrod asking about their next gathering and the Instigator on a Church wanted notice.
• Nimrod considered Klein’s letter while the Celestial Worthy discussed the Evernight Goddess’s uncertainty about Nimrod’s identity.
• Nimrod agreed that he should make the Evernight Goddess recognize him as the Lord of the Mysteries and declared that he did not trust the mercy of gods.

Nimrod investigated Lanevus’s involvement in the ritual to bring the True Creator’s incarnation into the world and enlisted the Celestial Worthy to help him contact Ouroboros. Ouroboros sensed Nimrod’s call from Tingen City and saw the gray fog around him.

• Nimrod arranged a Saturday meeting with Klein and asked Mr. Z to book a private restaurant.
• Mr. Z reported that Sirius Arapis had told Lanevus about the ritual to summon the True Creator and had arranged for an uninformed lamb to conceive the Lord’s incarnation.
• Nimrod ordered Mr. Z to keep gathering Aurora Order members and watching Lanevus while he sought help from the Angels.
• Nimrod asked the Celestial Worthy to assist him in praying to Ouroboros, hoping to gain the Wheel of Fortune pathway’s support.
• Nimrod performed a ritual and called on Ouroboros to discuss a matter concerning the True Creator.
• Ouroboros sensed Nimrod’s call while tallying fate and saw the gray fog surrounding him.

Nimrod summoned Ouroboros and asked him to help the True Creator gain the advantage in his struggle with God Almighty. With Ouroboros’s charm in hand, Nimrod prepared to deal with Ince Zangwill and Lanevus.

• Ouroboros recognized that the figure praying to him had Amon’s appearance but was an alien presence steeped in Sefirah Castle’s aura.
• Nimrod asked Ouroboros to help the True Creator’s will prevail against God Almighty, and Ouroboros agreed.
• Ouroboros promised misfortune for Ince Zangwill and Lanevus and gave Nimrod a charm to extract the Lord’s divinity intact.
• Ouroboros explained that the Lord was consumed by madness and could not be awakened, then vanished.
• Nimrod warned Ouroboros not to answer prayers for love, collected the charm, and called Mr. Z.
• Nimrod told Mr. Z that Ouroboros had helped and set out to dispose of the blasphemous opportunist.

Lanevus tried to escape with the money he had swindled, but Nimrod and the Aurora Order captured him. The group planned to take Lanevus into custody and then search for Megose, while avoiding the Storm heretics.

• Lanevus left his lodgings with the money he had swindled, but Aurora Order members surrounded him outside.
• Nimrod ordered the group to attack Lanevus and struck him with his Walking Stick before Lanevus could finish speaking.
• Lanevus used illusions to interfere with his attackers, but Nimrod revealed he was a Mystery Pryer and dispelled the tricks.
• Mr. Z knocked Lanevus unconscious, and Nimrod ordered the Aurora Order to take him back and keep him confined.
• Mr. Z asked Nimrod whether they should go find the Lamb named Megose.

Nimrod refused to bring Megose to the group yet, while ordering Mr. Z to protect her and arranging for Lanevus to be beaten in a mock trial. After falling asleep, Nimrod unexpectedly became lucid in the gray fog and discovered that his will had taken root in his digested Beyonder characteristics, though he could not tell what had brought him there.

• Nimrod rejected Mr. Z's proposal to bring Megose in, saying they should wait until she sought their help, but ordered him to protect her from their enemies.
• Nimrod considered seeking the True Creator's support and helping him regain his sanity to oppose God Almighty.
• Mr. Z locked Lanevus in the dungeon and assigned four devout Listeners to put him on trial for Nimrod's amusement.
• Nimrod fell asleep exhausted, then became lucid in a dream surrounded by gray fog, cocoons, and the bluish-black door of light.
• Nimrod realized his will had split across his three fully digested Beyonder characteristics and could awaken through them even after his death.
• Nimrod concluded that finishing his Mystery Pryer potion had not caused his sudden arrival in the gray fog and wondered what had.

Nimrod used Sefirah Castle to take on an imitation of the Celestial Worthy and spy on Ince Zangwill as he wrote a script to kill Mr. L. The script was transformed by the gray fog, leaving Ince bleeding and sprouting pale yellow feathers as Nimrod returned to rest.

• Nimrod instinctively wielded Sefirah Castle's power and fashioned an intimidating imitation of the Celestial Worthy above the gray fog.
• Nimrod opened a screen in the mist and watched Ince Zangwill write a script targeting Mr. L.
• Ince recalled how Mr. L had disrupted his plans by helping expose and capture Lanevus, and he prepared wide-ranging disasters to kill him.
• Ince completed his script, but its words began to change and twist under the influence of the gray fog.
• Ince saw a god above the gray fog, bled from his eye, and sprouted pale yellow feathers as Nimrod returned to rest.

Nimrod oversaw efforts to improve the Aurora Order’s image and recruit workers at its Tingen City branch, while worrying about the cost of feeding its growing membership. He planned to establish a front company and began making food, thinking of Frank and Klein.

• A Secrets Suppliant accepted a delivery in the Aurora Order’s new matching clothes and explained the improved work conditions to the driver.
• The Secrets Suppliant urged the driver, a believer in the Lord of Storms, to consider finding work and learning about the god worshipped by Mr. Z.
• Nimrod visited the kitchen, where believers prepared fish and wheat cakes for the order’s members.
• Nimrod considered the branch’s rising food expenses and planned to use the Aurora Order’s workforce to establish a front company.
• Nimrod kneaded dough and thought about asking Frank to make affordable, good-quality food and about winning Klein’s affection with food.

Nimrod met Klein for dinner, and the two discussed their shared transmigration and the gray fog. Nimrod then surprised Klein with familiar Chinese dishes, leaving Klein excited to taste a reminder of home.

• Nimrod prepared Xiaolongbao, Zongzi, and pan-fried dumplings and kept them warm above Sefirah Castle.
• Klein met Nimrod at a lavish restaurant, where Nimrod raised a wall of spirituality resembling the gray fog.
• Klein shared his theory that transmigrators on the Seer, Apprentice, or Marauder pathways could access the gray fog's power.
• Nimrod brought out a wooden box of familiar foods he had cooked for the Dragon Boat Festival and handed Klein a pair of chopsticks.