Chapter Summaries

Klein established a detective agency in Backlund with Dunn, Leonard, and Daly as cover while they searched for Ince Zangwill, then hosted the Tarot Club meeting that introduced Derrick as Sun. Nimrod revealed that the Aurora Order expected a catastrophe caused by King George III, and offered Mr. A’s help with Alger’s hunt for Qilingus.

• Klein, Dunn, Leonard, and Daly finished setting up their detective agency in Cherwood Borough as cover for their search for Ince Zangwill.
• Klein brought Derrick, titled Sun, into the Tarot Club and introduced him to the other members.
• Alger agreed to trade Beyonder materials for the Bard formula to help Derrick obtain the first Sequence of the Sun Pathway.
• Nimrod confirmed that Audrey had met Mr. A and said the Aurora Order intended to save Backlund from an impending catastrophe.
• Nimrod told Audrey that King George III was responsible for the catastrophe, leaving her shocked and deeply worried.
• Alger asked the Tarot Club for information about Qilingus, and Nimrod offered Mr. A’s assassination services.

Lumian contacted Nimrod in Trier and asked about the psychiatrists Madam Magician had arranged, then Nimrod left to bait the city's thieves and gangsters. After tracking his stolen belongings to the Stinger Gang, Nimrod confronted the gang member overseeing the thieves.

• Lumian summoned Nimrod with the ritual he had taught him and asked whether Madam Magician's psychiatrists could be trusted.
• Nimrod reassured Lumian, left before he summoned Madam Magician's messenger, and reminded him to clean away the ritual traces.
• Nimrod wandered Trier posing as an easy target, letting pickpockets steal his valuables to draw them into his plan and help digest his potion.
• Nimrod followed the stolen goods to a Stinger Gang member who was extorting a young thief and threatening him with the gang's protection.
• Nimrod entered the gang's hideout and told the gang member he had come to retrieve his belongings.

Nimrod used the Smiling Face mask to kill a Stinger Gang member, spare a coerced thief, and impersonate the dead man to approach Provoker Margot. The chapter left Margot trapped in Nimrod’s illusion as the mask began devouring him.

• Nimrod used an illusion and the Smiling Face mask to kill a gang member and take his appearance.
• Nimrod learned from the mask’s memories that the thief had been forced into stealing, so he let the thief leave with the other stolen goods after warning him to keep silent.
• Nimrod disposed of the gang member’s corpse and went to the Mill Ballroom, where he found Margot, the Stinger Gang boss.
• Nimrod posed as the dead subordinate and asked Margot to lend him his life, then overwhelmed him with illusions that blocked his powers and escape.
• Nimrod revealed that Margot had been under an illusion all along as the Smiling Face mask descended over him.

Nimrod assumed Margot’s identity and infiltrated the Stinger Gang, where he confirmed Roger was a Sequence 7 Warlock and investigated the gang’s ties to the Mother Goddess of Depravity. After Nimrod left, Madam Moon detected deception in Roger’s fate and warned him to beware of the “Unique” dance hall.

• Nimrod killed Margot, took his face and memories, and arranged for Margot’s subordinates to dispose of the corpse.
• Nimrod visited Roger and reported that Margot’s subordinate had betrayed him to the Sava Party, while covertly confirming Roger was a Sequence 7 Warlock.
• Roger assured Nimrod that the Stinger Gang would confront the Sava Party and hinted that Margot would benefit from the outcome.
• Nimrod learned that someone had tried to divine him, and the Celestial Worthy had intercepted the attempt in Sefirah Castle.
• Madam Moon questioned Roger about his day, detected traces of deception in his fate, and warned him that they might be connected to the “Unique” dance hall.

Nimrod proposed using Lumian to publicly stage a conflict with the Stinger Gang, kill its leader Black Scorpion Roger, and secretly take control of the gang while building the illusion of a new organization in Trier. After Nimrod promised to help Lumian pursue revenge without becoming the sort of person Aurore would reject, Lumian drank the Assassin potion, choosing power as a step toward resurrecting his sister.

• Lumian told Nimrod that Madam Magician had tasked him with gaining the trust of the swindler Austar Trul and had arranged psychiatric therapy for the weekend.
• Nimrod explained that he planned to use Lumian to stage a public defeat of Margot, then approach and kill Black Scorpion Roger and impersonate him to control the Stinger Gang.
• Lumian embraced Nimrod's plan to create rumors of a mysterious new gang, while Nimrod insisted he would not allow the gang's dirtiest activities and urged Lumian to remember Aurore's hopes for him.
• Nimrod said he would help Lumian stay composed during therapy and prepared the Assassin potion from ingredients he had gathered.
• Nimrod assured Lumian that drinking the potion would contribute to Aurore's resurrection, and Lumian drained it to gain power.

After taking the Assassin potion, Lumian discovered he could use Spirit Vision and learned Nimrod’s plan to target the Stinger Gang. Nimrod then resumed his work as Mr. Dionysus and recruited Mr. A to help kill Qilingus, an enemy of the Lord.

• Lumian woke after the Assassin potion and discovered its gains, including darkvision, an explosive burst of strength, and the ability to perceive mystical traces.
• Nimrod explained that they would stage an encounter in two days, kill Black Scorpion Roger, and present their new organization as Passion.
• Nimrod planned to take over the Stinger Gang’s influence and use it to establish a chamber of commerce that helped ordinary people.
• Nimrod woke from the timeline jump, traveled to Mr. A’s residence, and asked him to help kill Vice Admiral Hurricane Qilingus in Backlund.
• Mr. A agreed to act after Nimrod revealed that the person behind Qilingus was an enemy of the Lord.

Nimrod established the Fried Company as a cultural business and arranged for it to pursue a newspaper serial by Fors Wall. He then visited the detective agency to discuss cooperating with the Tingen Squad against Amon, but Klein was away on a case.

• Nimrod reflected that Adam was arranging Duke Negan's assassination to advance his apotheosis ritual and decided that the True Creator was the better choice to become the Visionary.
• Nimrod addressed the Fried Company's editors and writers, outlined his plans, and promised promotions and compensation based on their contributions.
• Nimrod tasked an editor with contacting writers and asked him to persuade Fors Wall to publish her work as a newspaper serial.
• Nimrod went to the detective agency, where Leonard recognized him and revealed that Klein had taken a client case to help digest his potion.
• Nimrod asked Leonard to fetch Dunn so they could discuss cooperating against Amon.

Nimrod visited Dunn’s detective agency to propose cooperation against Ince Zangwill, revealing his suspected alliance with the Demoness Sect and plans to attack Tingen’s survivors. Dunn agreed to work with Nimrod in a personal capacity, and the team prepared to investigate the Demoness Sect connection.

• Leonard informed Dunn that Nimrod had arrived, and Dunn met him at the agency.
• Nimrod explained that the Aurora Order wanted Ince Zangwill eliminated and shared information about his suspected cooperation with the Demoness Sect.
• Dunn agreed to investigate Nimrod’s lead and continue contact, while clarifying that the detectives would cooperate with Mr. L personally rather than with the Aurora Order as an organization.
• After Nimrod left, Dunn explained to Leonard that the Church considered Mr. L a temporary ally and that their cooperation had to remain unofficial.
• Dunn decided to review the team’s collected materials for clues about the Demoness Sect, and Leonard offered to help.

Nimrod received a newly crafted Beyonder item and reviewed the Aurora Order’s work, directing its efforts to gain believers and cooperate with the Demoness Sect without harming people. He then visited the Tingen team, where he and Klein discussed sensitive evidence that left Dunn struggling to accept the team’s conclusions about their allies and enemies.

• Mr. A delivered the Provoker’s Confusion, a living monocle whose powerful Provocation ability came with uncontrollable rage and disorientation.
• Mr. A reported that the Aurora Order was winning believers through miracles, preparing an altar with the Demoness Sect, and still searching for Qilingus; Nimrod told him to avoid harming people and to remain hidden.
• Nimrod outlined a plan to use the Fried Company’s newspaper to build support among workers and the poor, while preparing for the Lord’s descent with sinful souls provided by someone else.
• Nimrod visited the Tingen detective agency, where Dunn presented investigation documents about the Demoness Sect and Ince Zangwill.
• Klein took Nimrod aside to discuss the sensitive findings, while Dunn told Daly that Leonard’s evidence suggested the Aurora Order had become their ally and the royal family had ties to the Demoness Sect and Ince Zangwill.

Klein and Nimrod discussed the royal family’s suspected cooperation with the Demoness Sect, then Nimrod revealed his plan to use the Fried Company to organize ordinary people and challenge the Steam Age. The story left Nimrod pursuing his plans in Backlund while, in the Circle of Inevitability timeline, he pressured the Celestial Worthy into helping him.

• Klein and Nimrod reviewed Leonard’s evidence and agreed that Klein would investigate missing people, illnesses, and kidnappings in the East Borough.
• Nimrod told Klein he planned to use the Fried Company to help ordinary people fight for better conditions, even if that brought him into conflict with the authorities and the churches.
• Klein promised to help Nimrod if he ever found himself in danger, and Nimrod left after discussing their Tarot Club intelligence about Qilingus.
• In the Circle of Inevitability timeline, Lumian returned to the Golden Rooster Hotel bruised after fighting Nimrod, while Nimrod prepared to use the wound to approach Black Scorpion Roger.
• Nimrod threatened the Celestial Worthy with the prospect of the Mother Goddess capturing him, and the Celestial Worthy acknowledged that he had to cooperate.

Nimrod used concealed rituals and Sefirah Castle’s powers to kill Roger and take his place as the Stinger Gang’s leader, Black Scorpion. He planned to build the Passion organization from behind the scenes, then told Lumian to kill the person he would send to take over the Golden Rooster Tavern.

• Nimrod let Roger perform the Mother Goddess of Depravity ritual on him, then returned to the study and prepared concealed mystical traps.
• Roger entered the study, triggered Nimrod’s rituals, and found himself trapped behind Walls of Spirituality.
• Nimrod stole Roger’s Land of the Undying ability, provoked him, and killed him with a Purification Slash and revolver shots.
• Nimrod captured Roger’s Gift, put on his face, and assumed his identity as Black Scorpion, leader of the Stinger Gang.
• Nimrod entered Sefirah Castle and contacted Lumian, telling him to kill the person Nimrod would send to take over the Golden Rooster Tavern.

Lumian used the name Ciel of Passion to seize control of the Golden Rooster Hotel from the Stinger Gang, killing Wilson and his men. The police let Lumian leave but arrested Charlie as a murder suspect.

• Lumian disguised himself as Ciel and waited near the Golden Rooster Hotel while planning to find Austar Trul and attend Mr. K's Beyonder Gathering.
• Lumian learned that Charlie planned to visit Miss Ethans and borrowed Charlie's black hat as Wilson and three Stinger Gang thugs arrived to take over Margot's place.
• Lumian shot the three thugs and wounded Wilson, then threatened him and declared that Passion was taking control of the area.
• Lumian forced Wilson to walk through the hotel before shooting him dead in front of three police officers.
• Lumian bribed and dismissed the officers, then left the hotel, while they arrested Charlie as a murder suspect.

Lumian tried to contact his godfather, recruited Austar Trul into Passion, and received instructions and startup funds to expand the organization in Trier. Nimrod then used the gang’s fear of Passion to make the Black Scorpion Gang pressure the Sava Party instead of confronting Ciel.

• Lumian failed to complete a ritual with four small portions of food, then heard his godfather explain that he could leave messages after performing rituals.
• Lumian told Nimrod that Mr. K had offered a Sequence 5 Error Pathway material and that he had recruited Austar Trul into Passion.
• Nimrod sent Lumian startup funds and instructed him to bring merchants into Passion’s territory, promising a guide for building a new order.
• Lumian asked whether Hela’s messenger would be dangerous and whether Nimrod had a messenger; Nimrod said he would teach him a sacrifice and bestowment ritual and denied any connection to the Curly-Haired Baboon Research Society.
• A Black Scorpion Gang leader reported that Ciel had taken over the Golden Rooster Hotel and claimed to belong to Passion.
• Nimrod warned the subordinate that Passion might have a wide reach and ordered him to pressure the Sava Party by claiming it had sent Ciel.

Nimrod fought off an Aurora Order Shepherd sent to investigate him, then found a business card from a future timeline and questioned the Celestial Worthy about the change. The Celestial Worthy explained that Sefirah Castle was reconnecting timelines, allowing Nimrod’s actions to create small errors in the future and ultimately devour another world.

• A black-robed attacker ambushed Nimrod while he posed as Black Scorpion Roger, but Nimrod evaded the attacks and identified him as a Shepherd.
• Nimrod fought the Shepherd with copied Beyonder abilities and Demon-Hunting Bullets, but the attacker escaped by teleporting away.
• Nimrod found a business card for Mr. Trier in the Shepherd’s clothing, then changed back into Dionysus and compared it with a card he had made for Mr. A.
• Nimrod confronted the Celestial Worthy, who explained that Sefirah Castle had reconnected the two timelines and that their influence was causing errors in the future.
• The Celestial Worthy said the Error created by Nimrod and himself was devouring a world.

Nimrod accepted the Celestial Worthy’s plan to pursue the Wheel of Fortune pathway, prepared to erode the Key of Light’s imprint, and secretly advanced his own plans. After drinking a Monster potion and setting out to investigate a flash of light, he encountered Fors and Xio while they were hiding from Qilingus.

• Nimrod questioned the Celestial Worthy about the origins of the Great Old Dominators and learned that pursuing destiny’s authority would also benefit Sefirah Castle.
• Nimrod planned to collect Wheel of Fortune characteristics discreetly, then spent two weeks gathering materials and arranging his next steps.
• Nimrod disguised himself, mixed and drank a Monster potion, and found that it was almost completely digested while granting him a faint perception of destiny.
• Nimrod followed a distant flash of light with Mr. A, while Fors and Xio discussed alerting Audrey and the police about Qilingus.
• Nimrod approached Fors and Xio, recognized Fors as a writer contracted by the Fried Company, and Mr. A asked whether she was a Beyonder.

Nimrod encountered Fors and Xio after Fors used her bracelet to open a Traveler's Door, then prepared to use Qilingus’s planned attack on Duke Negan to secure money and Creeping Hunger. He told Mr. A to intercept Qilingus at the banquet and later revealed to Klein that he had found Qilingus, but the information would cost money.

• Fors and Xio encountered Nimrod and Mr. A, and Xio declined their offer of a ride before she and Fors decided to tell Audrey and report the incident to the police.
• Nimrod returned to his villa and received an invitation to Duke Negan’s banquet while considering his plans to regain a noble title and acquire land.
• Nimrod told Mr. A that Qilingus would try to assassinate Duke Negan at the September fifth banquet and assigned Mr. A to intercept him along his escape route.
• Klein read Azik’s letter, entered the gray fog, and heard Nimrod say he had found Qilingus.
• Nimrod told Klein that information about Qilingus came at a price and that Klein could prepare the money.

At the Tarot Club gathering, Nimrod arranged for the Aurora Order to kill Qilingus and preserve his Beyonder characteristic for Alger. He then revealed to Derrick that the City of Silver lay in the Forsaken Land of the Gods and asked him to carry an item that could help the True Creator recover, leaving Klein surprised by the plan.

• Nimrod told Alger that the Aurora Order had located Qilingus and offered to kill him while preserving his Wind-blessed Beyonder characteristic for an added fee.
• Alger agreed to the arrangement after Klein promised to bear witness, and Alger said he would soon obtain a large batch of Roselle's Diary entries.
• Nimrod asked Derrick whether the City of Silver still worshiped a god, and Derrick said its people worshiped the Lord that Created Everything, The Almighty.
• Nimrod identified himself as a Saint of the Creator and told Derrick that the True Creator had once been the Ancient Sun God, who had been betrayed and killed by the kings before being reborn.
• Nimrod asked Derrick to keep an item connected to the True Creator so it could help the god recover, while Klein wondered what Nimrod planned to give him.

After the Tarot Club meeting, Nimrod prepared a trap to keep Amon from reaching the club through Sun and advised Lumian on his plans in Trier. As Lumian neared advancement, Nimrod set out for Duke Negan’s banquet to lead an ambush on Qilingus.

• Klein questioned Nimrod about what he planned to give Sun, and Nimrod explained that it was bait meant to trap Amon using a fragment containing his will and the Celestial Worthy’s.
• Lumian expanded Passion’s influence in Trier, turned back assassins sent by the Stinger Gang and Sava Party, and planned to digest his Provoker and Assassin potions by targeting gang leaders.
• Nimrod told Lumian to watch for people seeking information about Passion’s boss as a possible route to contacting the Curly-Haired Baboon Research Society, and advised him to seek Mr. K’s protection from Suzanne.
• Lumian reported that his potions were nearly digested, and Nimrod promised to bring him a Pyromaniac characteristic and remove his sealed Sequence 8 gift before his advancement.
• Before Duke Negan’s banquet, Nimrod ordered the Shadow Ascetic to teleport Qilingus into their new Underground Church so their brethren could kill him quickly and avoid exposing the Lord’s condition.

Nimrod used Audrey to help set an ambush for Qilingus, who had infiltrated Duke Negan’s ball disguised as Baron Gramir. As Qilingus fought the gathered Beyonders, Nimrod subtly guided events into place and completed the merger of two Sequence 9 Beyonder Characteristics within himself.

• Nimrod met Audrey at Duke Negan’s ball and hinted that he needed her help with an undertaking involving Qilingus.
• Nimrod revealed that Baron Gramir was likely Qilingus in disguise and asked Audrey to alert Earl Hall in fifteen minutes so the Beyonders could prepare an ambush.
• Qilingus’s attack plunged the ball into chaos as Duke Negan and other Beyonders confronted him.
• Nimrod used Thought Misguidance, Mental Interference, and Illusion to guide Qilingus into the encirclement while Mr. A took his position.
• Nimrod watched the fighting and felt the two Sequence 9 Beyonder Characteristics within him merge completely into his body.

Nimrod arranged Qilingus’s death through the Aurora Order, and Qilingus was killed by Saint Tenebrous after being lured into a trap. Days later, Audrey met Mr. L at Mr. A’s gathering while Fors and Xio discussed a potion formula with Mr. A.

• Qilingus fled Duke Negan’s mansion but was captured by an Aurora Order Shepherd and taken through a door to Saint Tenebrous, who killed him.
• Nimrod used his new insights into destiny and Qilingus’s death to discreetly offer Aurora Order security contacts to nobles at the ball.
• Audrey learned Qilingus was dead and planned to share the bounty with Mr. The Lovers.
• Ace Snake and Aguesid Negan confirmed Qilingus’s death but could not identify the group responsible for the ambush.
• Audrey, Fors, and Xio attended Mr. A’s gathering, where Audrey went to meet Mr. L and Xio asked for the Sheriff potion formula.
• Mr. A asked Fors what she needed.