Chapter Summaries

Klein fled to the Blackthorn Security Company with the transformed Megose close behind, and Dunn's team tried to stop her with Death's Door and Saint Selena's Ashes. Nimrod's intervention slowed her mutation, but as Megose continued changing, Dunn prepared to sacrifice himself.

• Leonard joined Dunn, Daly, and Nimrod to guard the Blackthorn Security Company, wearing the Blood Vessel Thief.
• Klein ran into the building with Megose, whose body showed the powers of a Trinity Templar and a Profane Presbyter.
• Daly sent Death's Door into Megose's path, but Megose smashed through it and destroyed the artifact.
• Dunn opened Saint Selena's Ashes, but Megose's Language of Foulness repelled the Beyonder characteristic and caused severe backlash to Dunn, Daly, and Leonard.
• Nimrod exposed the Inverted Cross brand on his body, slowing Megose's mutation, but her transformation continued.
• Dunn apologized to Daly and plunged his hand toward his chest.

Dunn used Saint Selena's Ashes to stop Megose's mutation, with Leonard and the mysterious Mr. L helping, but Ince Zangwill ambushed Klein just as the captain warned him to stay back. The chapter ended as a silver-black blade struck from the shadows at Ince.

• Dunn sacrificed his heart to activate Saint Selena's Ashes while Leonard, aided by Pallez Zoroast, stole Megose's Language of Foulness and forced her to submit.
• Dunn called on Mr. L, whose occult materials and black flames stripped the divine presence from Megose and returned her body to normal.
• Klein moved toward Dunn, but the captain warned him to stay back as Ince Zangwill appeared and shattered Klein's shoulder.
• Ince threatened the Nighthawks and swung at Klein's neck, but a silver-black blade emerged from the shadows and thrust at Ince's back.

Nimrod used his fate-exchanging power to transfer Dunn Smith’s fatal heart wound to Ince Zangwill, then prepared for the gods’ intervention as the True Creator’s aura drew a lightning strike. He ended up in the Evernight Goddess’s Divine Kingdom, but she promptly expelled him.

• Nimrod stabbed Ince Zangwill with the Silver-Black Dagger and exchanged Dunn Smith’s fate with Ince’s, restoring Dunn while leaving Ince with an open heart.
• Nimrod picked up the Fate-Hunting Blade and watched 0-08 fall away from Ince as a dark aura gathered around them.
• The Lord of Storms sent lightning toward the Blackthorn Security Company to strike at the True Creator before his descent.
• Nimrod told the Celestial Worthy that Amanises was watching Leodero and asked how to act more like him.
• Nimrod found himself in the Evernight Goddess’s Divine Kingdom, but the scenery faded and she expelled him.

After the Evernight Goddess intervened, Dunn survived and Tingen was saved, but the Church was expected to investigate the Nighthawks. As reinforcements arrived, Dunn went alone to deal with the increasingly dangerous Sealed Artifacts behind the Chanis Gate, while Nimrod consumed a blazing fire seed.

• The Evernight Goddess drove away Ince Zangwill, restored Dunn, and Nimrod took the Blood Vessel Thief and disappeared with Megose.
• Dunn told Klein that the Church would investigate the incident and prepare to confront Ince Zangwill, who had taken the Saint Selena's Ashes.
• Dunn reassured Klein that bringing Megose to the Nighthawks had prevented greater harm, then went alone to the Underground Passage to guard the Sealed Artifacts.
• Klein stayed aboveground with Daly and called on the arriving Church reinforcements to help Dunn behind the Chanis Gate.
• Nimrod set down the Shadow Lantern containing the True Creator's consciousness and swallowed a blazing fire seed.

Nimrod advanced to Sequence 6 as a Fire Thief, reflected on the aftermath of Tingen’s crisis, and headed back to the Aurora Order’s base. Klein remained at the rebuilt Blackthorn Security Company under investigation and worried about explaining his identity as a Nighthawk to Benson and Melissa.

• Nimrod awakened as a Fire Thief and gained the ability to steal Beyonder abilities, though some enhancements remained unavailable until he digested the potion.
• Nimrod decided to travel to Backlund, while considering the True Creator’s recovery and his plans for the Circle of Inevitability Timeline.
• Nimrod returned to the Aurora Order’s base with the Animated Void and learned that Klein had tried to contact it but was hidden by the Evernight Goddess’s gaze.
• Nimrod looked toward Klein among the ruins and said he was satisfied with the ending.
• Klein stayed at the rebuilt Blackthorn Security Company awaiting investigation and worried about telling Benson and Melissa that he was a Nighthawk.

Klein underwent an examination led by Anthony Stevenson and was pulled into a dream of the tragedy in Tingen and his deepest fears. Anthony cleared him, but saw a mysterious gray shadow behind Klein, while the Celestial Worthy wondered why his imprint had reacted to Klein’s dream.

• Anthony Stevenson, Crestet Cesimir, and Arianna entered to examine Klein, and Anthony drew him into a dream.
• Klein dreamed of Ince Zangwill killing Dunn Smith and Miss Daly, stealing Saint Selena’s Ashes, and threatening Benson, Melissa, and Klein himself.
• The dream shattered, and Anthony released Klein, telling Crestet to announce the examination results.
• Arianna asked Anthony what he had seen, and he described the Goddess watching Klein, draped in crimson with a gray shadow behind him.
• Nimrod heard the Celestial Worthy explain that Klein’s dream and Amanises’s power may have triggered a change in the imprint he bore.

Nimrod considered turning the Aurora Order into an orthodox church in the Southern Continent while preparing to enter Backlund. Arianna then arrived on behalf of the Evernight Goddess to offer him a gift and seek his support, prompting Nimrod to question whether she could trust him.

• After the Blackthorn Security Company disaster, Tingen's government and the Church of Evernight sealed the site and began reconstruction, while the Nighthawks' families learned their identities.
• Nimrod received replies from two Aurora Order Saints and prepared to forge an identity to enter Backlund.
• The True Creator's mind was cleansed, and the Aurora Order's believers in Tingen began changing as their faith connected to his stable divinity.
• Nimrod considered establishing the Aurora Order in the Southern Continent, where he hoped to challenge the influence of the Lord of Storms and the Eternal Blazing Sun.
• Arianna appeared in Nimrod's room at night and conveyed that the Evernight Goddess wished to offer him a gift in exchange for his support.
• Nimrod questioned whether Amanises could trust a Great Old One who embodied deceit.

Nimrod negotiated with Arianna, then crossed back to Cordu Village and gave Lumian the Provoker characteristic and a Beyonder weapon. Returning to Sefirah Castle, he discovered that his connection to it had strengthened and that he could temporarily draw on higher-sequence abilities at the cost of his remaining time in this world.

• Arianna accepted Nimrod's message for the Evernight Goddess and left after Nimrod said he would not reclaim the River of Eternal Darkness and wanted the Goddess to address God Almighty.
• Nimrod waited for the crossing, intending to help Lumian wake from the dream and escape Cordu Village through Sefirah Castle as the dream shattered.
• After crossing back to Cordu Village, Nimrod handed Lumian the Provoker characteristic and a Beyonder weapon, and Lumian began concocting the potion.
• Nimrod returned to Sefirah Castle and found that his compatibility with it had improved enough for him to enter with a thought.
• Nimrod learned that borrowing abilities above his sequence outside places infused with Sefirah Castle's power cost him time in this world, and he considered how leaving the world could give him time to recover between uses.

Lumian and Nimrod pushed the villagers away from the Father of the Parish’s influence as the Lent Festival began, but the villagers’ abnormal behavior worsened. Lumian found a transparent lizard crawling out of Aurore’s mouth, while Nimrod prepared to intervene by using the captive Father of the Parish in an altar ritual.

• After Lumian advanced to Sequence 8, he and Nimrod returned to Cordu, where Lumian spread the claim that a priest from the Central Church would bring a miracle during Lent.
• The villagers’ outings brought greater rewards, and rumors turned them against the Father of the Parish as the Lent Festival began.
• At the church, Lumian, Valentine, Leah, and Ryan noticed the villagers in the Lent ritual staring eerily toward them, and Leah argued that they should not stop the ritual yet.
• Lumian realized Aurore could not retain memories through the loop, so he and Ryan hurried to check on her.
• Lumian found Aurore sitting rigidly on her bed as a transparent lizard crawled out of her mouth.
• Nimrod blamed Adam for accelerating Lumian’s dream and pushed the limbless Father of the Parish into an altar as he prepared to help Lumian.

Nimrod exposed the Father of the Parish as a dream figure and used the Circle of Inevitability’s ritual to tear apart Lumian’s dream. Lumian began to awaken, while Nimrod provocatively prayed for the Circle’s sefirah and Uniqueness.

• Nimrod told Guillaume that he was a dream figure created by Lumian and that the rituals had never truly succeeded.
• Lumian suffered intense pain after hearing Nimrod’s words, and Leah prepared an escape route by scattering matches.
• Nimrod spent nine hours to draw on the power of Sefirah Castle, invoked the Circle of Inevitability, and placed the bound believers on the altar.
• Nimrod revealed that the real Father of the Parish was still alive and that he wanted to shatter Lumian’s dream to wake him.
• Lumian saw his robed self and the dream’s ruins reflected in a mirror, and the scene around him shattered.
• Nimrod prayed to the trace of the Circle of Inevitability’s spirit for its sefirah and Uniqueness as dramatic changes began around them.

Nimrod revealed that Aurore had died in the real world, but her surviving soul fragments could still be restored if Lumian became a god. He urged Lumian to pursue the Hunter pathway and promised to help resurrect his real sister, Lee Xi, before departing and arranging a way for Lumian to contact him in Trier.

• Cordu Village and its villagers converged on the church, where Aurore's body joined the other flesh to form a three-headed, six-armed giant.
• Nimrod told Lumian that Aurore was dead in the real world, but the gray fog had protected her soul fragments and resurrection remained possible.
• Nimrod urged Lumian to accept reality, seek revenge on the gods who had used him, and become Sequence 0 of the Hunter pathway.
• Nimrod promised that, if he ascended to a divine throne, he could bring Lee Xi out of the past and truly resurrect her.
• Lumian asked whether Nimrod was the being worshipped by a lady, and Nimrod denied it while warning Lumian not to reveal his identity.
• Nimrod left for Trier and taught Lumian a ritual for summoning him, then argued with the Celestial Worthy over honorific names.

Nimrod hid in Sefirah Castle to evade Salted Fish, then planned his next moves in the Mysteries and Circle of Inevitability timelines. As he returned to the Mysteries timeline, God Almighty spoke to him, but the Celestial Worthy answered first.

• Nimrod reasoned that Sefirah Castle and Adam's protection would keep Salted Fish and the other gods from finding him.
• Nimrod planned to adopt the identity of Dionysus Fried in Backlund, work with the Aurora Order, and help accelerate the True Creator's revival.
• Nimrod planned to guide Lumian through Trier and obtain Assassin Pathway potions to strengthen him.
• When the countdown ended, Nimrod watched the world shift and heard God Almighty call to Mystery, proposing that they cooperate to escape.
• Nimrod let the Celestial Worthy's phantom answer God Almighty, and the Celestial Worthy told Him to fuck off.

Klein struggled to explain his secrecy to Melissa while Dunn offered Benson and Melissa Church protection and jobs with the Nighthawks. Leonard revealed that their unusually generous treatment came because Klein was a hero who had helped save Tingen.

• Klein told Melissa that a confidentiality agreement prevented him from discussing his work and that knowing more could endanger her.
• Leonard argued inwardly with Pallez, who said he had helped Leonard survive and warned him against trying to shoulder everything alone.
• Benson asked Dunn what the family should do after being caught up in a supernatural incident.
• Dunn offered Benson and Melissa the choice to join the Church of Evernight as civilian Nighthawk staff, with protection, training, and schooling for Melissa.
• Leonard admitted the offer was not normal and said the family deserved it because Klein was a hero of Tingen City.

Klein reassured Melissa and Benson that he had to leave Tingen to protect them and continue advancing as a Beyonder. At the Blackthorn Security Company, Crestet Cesimir announced the Church’s transfers and promotions, leaving Klein and the others preparing to join a pursuit mission in Backlund.

• Dunn told Benson that the Church would help end his old work contract and warned the family to stay under Nighthawk protection.
• Dunn informed Klein that the Church had issued his transfer orders, and Melissa voiced her fear that her brother would leave again.
• Klein explained to Melissa and Benson that leaving Tingen would keep them safer and give him a chance to grow stronger.
• Klein met Dunn, Daly Simone, and Leonard at the damaged Blackthorn Security Company, where Crestet Cesimir announced the Church’s decisions.
• Crestet said the Church would move Tingen’s Sealed Artifacts and reduce its Nighthawk garrison after the loss of Saint Selena’s Ashes.
• Crestet granted advancement opportunities to Dunn, Leonard, and Klein, then ordered the four Nighthawks to prepare for a pursuit mission in Backlund.

Klein accepted his transfer to the Red Gloves and learned that his team would pursue Ince Zangwill in Backlund. He shared the news and a theater invitation with Melissa, leaving for Backlund scheduled in seven days.

• Klein accepted the Church’s assignment and asked Crestet whether the team would hunt Ince Zangwill.
• Crestet explained that Ince was in Backlund and that Klein, Dunn, Daly, and Leonard would serve as bait and a blade in the dangerous pursuit.
• The team agreed to the mission, and Crestet set their departure for seven days later while Dunn prepared to hand over his duties.
• Klein went home with Sevia Chrysanthemums and told Melissa he was transferring to Backlund and had a week off.
• Klein gave Melissa tickets for “The Return of the Earl” and invited her and Benson to see the play.

Klein told Azik that his past was tied to Ince Zangwill and helped him revisit the abandoned castle, where Azik recovered memories of his child and vowed to find the killer. Klein left Tingen for Backlund with Leonard, Dunn, Daly, and Deacon Crestet, while Nimrod appeared aboard the train disguised as publisher Dionysus Fried.

• Klein told Azik that the mastermind behind the discordance in his fate was connected to Azik's origins and that the headless skeleton in Lamud Town was likely Azik's child.
• Azik revisited the abandoned castle with Klein and recovered some memories, then saw Klein fighting the killer who had taken his child's skull.
• Azik and Klein agreed that they shared a goal of finding the killer, and Azik gave Klein a copper whistle so they could contact each other in Backlund.
• Klein told Azik he was leaving Tingen to pursue the mastermind in Backlund, then boarded a steam train with Leonard, Dunn, Daly, and Deacon Crestet.
• Nimrod joined Klein and Leonard aboard the train in disguise as publisher Dionysus Fried, and Klein recognized him.

Yue Hu reflected on writing the first volume, explained its themes and Nimrod’s role as a “Fire Thief,” and previewed the story’s direction in volume two. The chapter ended with the volume two title and epigraph, alongside a note that updates would temporarily remain at two per day.

• Yue Hu said the first volume had finished before the book went premium and reflected on struggles with writing and pacing.
• Yue Hu explained that “Fire Thief” referred both to Nimrod digesting his Beyonder Characteristics and to stealing hope from the wicked while giving it to others.
• Yue Hu described the story’s bleak setting, where humanity depended on gods and madness for salvation.
• Yue Hu said volume two would use the Backlund and Trier settings, feature Nimrod and the Celestial Worthy, and include Amon and Demoness Braised Noodles.
• Yue Hu announced that next week would have only two updates per day and gave volume two’s title, “Ambitious One,” and its epigraph.

Audrey attended an Aurora Order gathering with Fors and Xio, where she suspected the mysterious man being served was Mr. Lovers in disguise and received Beyonder formulas from him. After the gathering, Nimrod explained his plans to Mr. A and spoke with the True Creator’s divinity before receiving a letter signed Sherlock Moriarty.

• Audrey followed Fors and Xio to a secret gathering and recognized its organizer, Mr. A, as an Aurora Order member.
• Audrey considered buying three pages of Emperor Roselle’s Diary but declined because she did not want to deceive Mr. Fool.
• Mr. A gave Audrey the Spectator and Telepathist formulas from Mr. L, charging her only for the Telepathist formula and promising to keep her secret.
• After the gathering, Nimrod told Mr. A to continue cooperating with the Demoness Sect so they would not suspect the Aurora Order had discovered their objective.
• Nimrod spoke with the True Creator’s divinity, agreed to let the Aurora Order’s believers fight Outer Deities, and received a letter signed Sherlock Moriarty.

Nimrod read Klein’s letter about his Red Gloves mission to hunt Ince Zangwill, then met with Trissy to receive Beyonder materials and discuss her attempts to escape the Demoness Sect. Trissy rejected his invitation to worship the True Creator, while Nimrod considered how to obtain a Sequence 5 characteristic and planned to use Lumian in the Circle of Inevitability Timeline.

• Nimrod read Klein’s letter, learning that Klein and Dunn’s team were hunting the Darkness Demigod Ince Zangwill in Backlund.
• Nimrod inferred that Klein had written in an unusual format to protect the letter’s secrets and expected the team to operate under detective identities.
• Trissy visited Nimrod with Beyonder materials and intelligence, but Nimrod dismissed her offer to trade information about the Demoness Sect.
• Trissy asked Nimrod how to escape the Demoness Sect, and he demanded payment while warning her not to offer him the Sapphire Ring.
• Nimrod offered Trissy a Cross Pendant and urged her to choose the True Creator’s faith, but she refused.
• Nimrod sent Trissy’s Beyonder materials to Lumian through Sefirah Castle and considered searching for a Sequence 5 characteristic in the Circle of Inevitability Timeline.

Nimrod recruited Ademisaul to help him prepare for a coming disaster in Backlund and sought demigod support from Saint Tenebrous. He planned to use the crisis to gather believers and complete the True Creator’s descent ritual, while hinting at a connection to Medici’s murder.

• Nimrod found Ademisaul, who warned that he had foreseen a disaster in Backlund, and persuaded him to stay at his side as an attendant.
• Nimrod took Ademisaul to the Aurora Order’s newly established Fried Cultural Industry Publishing Company and contacted Saint Tenebrous through a ritual.
• Nimrod told Saint Tenebrous that Ince Zangwill was in Backlund and requested demigod-level support, while warning that Amon might be drawn there.
• Nimrod proposed using the Demoness Sect’s planned disaster to save people, attract believers, and bring down the True Creator’s power.
• Nimrod suggested that Backlund’s history of Alista Tudor murdering Medici, the War Angel, was relevant to the revelations he had received.