Chapter Summaries

Nimrod and Klein arranged the former throne room, discussed Fors Wall’s full-moon curse, and agreed to help her and bring her into the Tarot Club. Klein then accepted a chance to investigate a serial murder case as bait for Ince Zangwill, with Nimrod joining him.

• Nimrod sealed the rooms containing statues of the six gods and invited Klein to sit on one of the former emperors’ thrones.
• Nimrod shared food stored above the gray fog and told Klein that Fors Wall risked losing control because of full-moon whispers linked to the Abraham Family and Mr. Door.
• Klein agreed to bring Fors into the Tarot Club, and Nimrod decided to meet her in person to help protect her from the whispers.
• Klein and Nimrod discussed the Church’s support for Klein and his plan to draw out Ince Zangwill through the Detective Agency.
• Dunn offered Klein the police bounty case involving serial murders, and Klein accepted, planning to investigate with Detective-Holmes as bait for Ince Zangwill.

Nimrod frightened Fors by planting mysterious revelations in her thoughts, while Xio confessed she had recited the Fool’s honorific name; Audrey later received their worried letters and attended George III’s investiture ceremony. After proposing a charitable foundation to Earl Hall and discovering his motives were partly political, Audrey considered acting independently to help the poor.

• Nimrod used his Dream Stealer abilities to make Fors hear revelations about the Fool, Mr. Door, and future events, leaving her afraid she had encountered a dangerous Beyonder influence.
• Xio rushed to Fors and admitted she had mistakenly recited the Fool’s honorific name, and the two decided to warn Audrey and seek purification.
• Audrey received Fors and Xio’s letters, wondered why Fors had heard the Fool’s honorific name, then went with Earl Hall to George III’s ceremony honoring new nobles, including Dionysus Fried.
• Audrey watched George III with suspicion because of Mr. Lovers’s accusation that the king was slaughtering his subjects.
• Audrey asked Earl Hall to help establish a foundation that would find work for people in the East Borough, and he agreed while framing it as a way for her to build a reputation.
• Audrey realized her father’s support was partly self-serving and considered becoming independent so she could help people through her own efforts.

Nimrod met with Archbishop Anthony Stevenson, who recognized his ancient and inhuman nature, and agreed to help Klein with the hunt for Ince Zangwill. Later, Nimrod lent Klein Creeping Hunger for the serial murder investigation, and Klein revealed that he had found a bookmark he suspected was a Card of Blasphemy at Emperor Roselle’s exhibition.

• Nimrod visited the Church of Evernight, where Bishop Elektra introduced him to Archbishop Anthony Stevenson.
• Anthony recognized that Nimrod concealed an ancient, inhuman existence and asked about Ince Zangwill; Nimrod said he hoped Zangwill would die and hinted that Klein was his friend.
• Anthony asked Nimrod to assist Klein’s mission and promised the Church would help conceal Nimrod’s identity in Backlund.
• Nimrod lent Klein the Sealed Artifact Creeping Hunger for his serial killer investigation and asked him to discreetly seek the Sequence 8 Robot formula and later Monster pathway formulas.
• Klein told Nimrod that he had seen Emperor Roselle’s diary and found a bookmark he suspected was a Card of Blasphemy.

Nimrod and Klein arranged to steal a suspected Card of Blasphemy from Roselle’s exhibition, and Nimrod infiltrated the Royal Museum after Audrey confirmed the bookmark’s supernatural nature. He stole the manuscript and nearby books but was confronted by Bernadette, whom he frightened off by disguising himself as Amon and mentioning her father.

• Nimrod agreed to steal the suspected Card of Blasphemy with Klein’s help, and Klein commissioned Audrey to verify the bookmark at the Royal Museum.
• Audrey examined the bookmark during a museum tour and confirmed that it reacted supernaturally, while Nimrod secretly identified it as the target.
• Nimrod infiltrated the museum at night and remotely stole the manuscript, bookmark, and nearby books, then sent them to Sefirah Castle.
• Bernadette confronted Nimrod, but he used a Smiling Face and a Monocle to impersonate Amon and claimed he could help with her father.
• Bernadette fled after Nimrod warned that her father was going to die, unwilling to trust the Deceiver.

Nimrod recognized that Ince Zangwill’s arranged coincidences were steering Klein toward danger, so he joined Klein to expose the scheme. The chapter ended as they found a Devil Dog attacking a woman in a house.

• Nimrod reasoned that Ince Zangwill or Adam might be arranging the serial murders to target Klein, then contacted Klein through the gray fog and warned him.
• Nimrod met Klein in Backlund and used a fabricated explanation to persuade him to continue investigating the terraced houses.
• Ince Zangwill wrote that Klein would be led into a fight with the Devil Dog, while a hidden presence noted that Zangwill had overlooked something important.
• Nimrod and Klein followed a scream to a house, where Nimrod disabled the lock and they discovered a black dog attacking a woman.

Klein and Nimrod killed the Devil Dog and rescued its victim, while Ince Zangwill escaped with 0-08. After the operation, Klein planned to focus on digesting his potion, and Dunn and Daly prepared to keep fighting the spiritual threat in Backlund.

• Nimrod stole the Devil Dog's transformation ability and froze it while Klein trapped it with flames and fired Demon-Hunting Bullets, killing it.
• Klein saved the wounded woman by transferring her abdominal injury to her forearm, and Nimrod kept the Devil characteristic.
• Ince Zangwill seized 0-08 and escaped Backlund before Adam's illusory personality could capture him; the Evernight Goddess concealed Adam's tracks from the Celestial Worthy.
• Dunn told Klein that Ince Zangwill might retaliate but was unlikely to act soon, and urged him to digest his Magician potion while waiting for an opportunity.
• Dunn and Daly set out to soothe the vengeful spirits accumulating in Backlund's East Borough and outskirts, while Nimrod returned to his secured safe house.

Nimrod used the Cards of Blasphemy to advance his plans for digesting Dream Stealer and targeted the Demoness Sect as a source of dreams to plunder. He summoned Trissy Cheek and arranged to implant a trace of Sefirah Castle’s aura in her, setting a trap for God Almighty.

• Nimrod revealed the Black Emperor Sequence 0 on a Card of Blasphemy and concluded that deliberately shattering victims’ dreams could help digest Dream Stealer.
• Nimrod decided to target Despair Nightingale and the Demoness Sect, then summoned Trissy Cheek in Black Iron Hall.
• Trissy told Nimrod that the Demoness Sect had deceived her about the Assassin pathway and that she wanted freedom from them.
• Nimrod introduced himself to Trissy as the Angel of Time and offered her a way to oppose the Primordial Demoness.
• Trissy accepted Nimrod’s offer, and he gave her his five-part honorific name so he could connect her to Sefirah Castle and implant a trace of its aura as a trap for God Almighty.

Nimrod made Trissy a hidden Chosen of Sefirah Castle and received reports on the Aurora Order’s missionary work and a new charity foundation. He agreed to help the foundation launch, arranged a pathway change for his butler, and planned to use its support for impoverished young people and his own advancement.

• Nimrod sent Trissy back to her body, gave her a talisman bearing Sefirah Castle’s aura, and made her appear to be its Chosen.
• Mr. A reported that Mr. Z had traveled to the Southern Continent with Shadow Ascetics and was spreading the True Sun God’s teachings among merchants and servants.
• Nimrod learned that the True Creator’s growing number of believers was helping restore his will and might eventually let him manifest on earth.
• Mr. A presented the butler’s report and application to advance to Sequence 6, and Nimrod offered to help him switch to the Spectator pathway instead.
• The butler told Nimrod that the charity foundation would officially launch on Monday evening, and Nimrod considered how it could aid impoverished young people and help him act as a Dream Stealer.

Nimrod completed Utravsky’s commission by killing his former self and claimed the Master Key as his reward. At the Tarot Club, he offered Beyonder formulas, advised Derrick against exploring the True Creator’s temple, and advanced to Sequence 8 by drinking the Robot potion.

• Nimrod visited Utravsky and used the skin-covered candle to enter the dream where Utravsky’s former self appeared.
• Nimrod killed Utravsky’s former self with a surprise strike, and Utravsky awakened with joy and emotion.
• Klein introduced Fors as the Tarot Club’s newest member, while Alger offered Nimrod the Robot formula and materials in exchange for his investigation work.
• Nimrod offered formulas from several pathways for sale, and Klein permitted him to manifest the list for the club.
• Derrick revealed that he would soon explore a True Creator temple under Lovia’s leadership, and Nimrod advised him to tell Lovia about the outside world and dissuade her from going.
• Nimrod consumed the Robot potion at Sefirah Castle and advanced to Sequence 8 of the Monster pathway.

After acquiring the Robot abilities, Nimrod met Anthony Reed through a ritual and made him an executive of Passion. Anthony accepted Nimrod’s protection and was assigned half the Market District, while Nimrod urged him to overcome his trauma and advance.

• Nimrod gained the Sequence 8 Robot’s computational, physical, divination, and anti-divination abilities.
• Lumian led Anthony to Nimrod and explained that Passion had assessed him as a potential executive because they shared a desire for revenge.
• Nimrod revealed that he knew Anthony had survived Hugues Artois’s betrayal during the war and offered him a place in Passion.
• Anthony accepted Nimrod’s offer and learned his honorific name from Lumian, briefly seeing three figures above the gray fog as he recited it.
• Nimrod assigned Anthony half the Market District, told him Lumian would provide further instructions, and promised him a defensive Beyonder ability.

Nimrod granted Anthony Beyonder powers and assigned Lumian to explain his new role in Passion and its mission to help Hugues Artois win a parliamentary seat. Anthony accepted the plan as a chance to take revenge, while Lumian anticipated the Godfather’s coming move against the Stinger Gang and hoped to learn more about Cordu.

• Nimrod gave Anthony a Beyonder power and tasked Lumian with guiding him as he took over half of the Market District.
• Lumian told Anthony that the Godfather wanted someone in Parliament and had chosen Hugues Artois, whose campaign Anthony would join while posing as an Evil God Follower.
• Lumian revealed that the Godfather was the real Black Scorpion Roger and explained that Artois would become the Godfather’s next identity if elected.
• Anthony accepted the mission and learned that Artois’s supporters, including the late General Philip, were Evil God Followers; Lumian urged him to hunt such followers, except those of the Aurora Order.
• Lumian ordered Anthony to learn Passion’s rules and prepare for the mission in three days, while he planned to create a situation that would force Artois to seek their help.
• Lumian learned that Louis Lund had contacted Roger and anticipated the Godfather’s move against the Stinger Gang, hoping it would help him uncover Cordu’s truth and find his enemies.

Nimrod used a Warlock talisman to turn Roger's residence into a deadly territory, while Lumian killed Stinger Gang members and infiltrated the house. After Nimrod escaped and framed the massacre as the work of Amon, Lumian confronted Madam Pualis and asked what she had done during the attack on the castle.

• Nimrod promised the Stinger Gang leaders that Hugh Artois's election would help them drive out Passion, then secretly prepared a ritual in Roger's residence.
• Lumian, disguised in a black robe, killed patrolling gang members as Nimrod completed the Land of the Undying with a Warlock talisman.
• Nimrod's territory drained the vitality of the gang leaders; he killed Harman, captured two Gardener gifts, and let Louis Lund see him appear as Amon before vanishing.
• Lumian encountered Louis Lund, denied targeting the Stinger Gang, and saw Madam Pualis appear.
• Lumian told Madam Pualis he wanted the truth and revenge for Aurore, then asked what she had been doing when the Father of the Parish attacked the castle.

Lumian rejected Madam Pualis's offer to worship the Great Mother, learned more about Aurore's possession and the April Fools' Day organization, and advanced by drinking the Witch potion. He survived the transformation with Nimrod's help and became Lumian-na, planning to return to Passion as Ciel's younger sister.

• Madam Pualis pressured Lumian to support Hugues Artois and revealed that Aurore had attacked her in Cordu Village.
• Lumian accused the Fate Believers of helping an evil spirit possess Aurore and told Pualis that the April Fools' Day organization had deceived his sister.
• Nimrod moved Lumian to the Market District and prepared a Witch potion, warning him that his death or madness would worsen Aurore's condition.
• Lumian drank the potion and endured a dangerous transformation while Nimrod used the Fool's abilities to thwart Amon's interference.
• Lumian emerged as a young woman, whom Nimrod named Lumian-na and assigned the identity of Ciel's younger sister, Triuna Ciel.
• Lumian headed to find Franca and ask for advice about his transformation, and Franca reacted with shock when she saw him.

Nimrod designed a welfare program for the East Borough and agreed to help Earl Hall investigate disappearances linked to the spread of the True Creator’s belief. In a later meeting with Audrey, he suggested she work as a psychiatrist for the Fried Foundation to gain acting opportunities and digest her Telepathist potion.

• Nimrod proposed building dormitories beside welfare-oriented factories, providing food and medicine, and arranging work and education support for East Borough residents.
• Earl Hall praised Nimrod’s plans, promised to involve the Church of Evernight in supervising the foundation, and asked him to help investigate disappearances in the East Borough.
• Nimrod agreed to employ reporters and detectives, and suggested the foundation could also seek information from the people it supported.
• Klein contacted Nimrod on Audrey’s behalf, and Audrey met him in the gray fog to ask about her father’s request and how to advance her potion digestion.
• Nimrod advised Audrey against joining the Psychology Alchemists and offered her a chance to counsel poor residents as a psychiatrist for the Fried Foundation.

Mike sought a reliable detective to accompany him on an East Borough reporting assignment, and Klein secured the commission by demonstrating his abilities and offering practical advice. As Klein escorted Mike from the Detective Agency, a tall, thin visitor asked whether he had taken on a new assignment.

• Mike struggled to find an available detective because reporters were competing to hire protection for trips to the East Borough.
• Klein approached Mike as a street magician and offered his services as a private detective and bodyguard.
• Klein demonstrated his agility by leaping onto a building and persuaded Mike to hire him.
• At the Detective Agency, Klein agreed to Mike’s confidentiality requirements and explained how to prepare for interviews in the East Borough.
• Mike and Klein agreed to set out the next day, and a tall, thin figure arrived and asked Klein about his new assignment.

Nimrod gave Dunn Smith intelligence linking Prince Edessak, the Demoness Sect, and 0-08 to possible cooperation between the Royal Family and Ince Zangwill. The next day, Klein accompanied Mike to report on the Fried Foundation’s East Borough poorhouse, where Klein recognized one of the masked doctors.

• Nimrod told Dunn that the Demoness Sect had Prince Edessak under its control and that 0-08 was interfering with him, offering an informant’s testimony as a lead on the Royal Family’s cooperation with Ince Zangwill.
• Klein accompanied Mike to the East Borough to report on the Fried Foundation’s newly established poorhouse.
• Klein and Mike walked through the district after their carriage driver refused to enter, then reached the poorhouse, where Aurora Order believers guarded the premises.
• A staff member showed Mike the dormitories and infirmary, explaining that doctors were treating vagrants brought in near death from hunger.
• Klein spotted a masked doctor in the infirmary and recognized him from the details around his eyes and eyebrows.

Klein and Mike interviewed Old Kohler at the Fried Foundation’s poorhouse, where the homeless man described being rescued and offered work. Meanwhile, Nimrod confronted the True Creator about the suffering in the East Borough and began preaching to the gathered vagrants.

• Klein recognized that Miss Justice was likely providing psychological treatment as part of digesting her potion.
• Mike interviewed Old Kohler, who recounted losing his family, nearly dying of hunger, and being taken to the poorhouse, where he was offered shoemaking work.
• Klein explained that the Fried Foundation might circumvent the New Poor Law by arranging work through its other businesses, then advised Mike to investigate the East Borough by location and compare multiple poorhouses.
• Klein resolved to use the Church’s influence to challenge the harsh laws once he could become a demigod.
• Nimrod told the True Creator that the East Borough was an abyss and called for change, then revealed a radiant scythe and invited nearby vagrants to learn about the Almighty.

Klein and Mike investigated the Dockworkers' Trade Union, where Klein discovered Mr. A meeting with its publicity committee member. Meanwhile, Nimrod used reporters' accounts to uncover signs of a Demoness Sect base and sent evidence to Anthony Stevenson, before Mr. A brought him an assassination commission targeting a Rose School Wraith.

• Klein and Mike visited the Dockworkers' Trade Union, and Klein persuaded the wary guard to let them speak with Mr. Rand.
• Klein recognized Mr. A in Mr. Rand's office and wondered why the Aurora Order's attendant was there.
• Nimrod reviewed the reporters' accounts, spotted signs of Demoness Sect activity, and sent a report to Anthony Stevenson.
• Nimrod considered how his arrangements with the Church of Evernight and the Aurora Order would help pressure wealthy collaborators of the Demoness Sect.
• Mr. A told Nimrod that his subordinates had received an assassination commission to kill a Sequence 5 Rose School Wraith and his followers.

Nimrod recruited Klein to support Mr. A’s hunt for Rose School members, with the Saint of Secrets standing by to protect the team. Klein took the alias World and joined the operation, which began with plans to use two clients as bait.

• Nimrod accepted Mr. A’s mission to hunt Rose School members and arranged for Klein to assist, warning that a demigod might be involved.
• Klein read Nimrod’s letter, agreed to the operation after divining its outcome, and prepared for the hunt as a Magician.
• Klein changed his appearance, adopted the alias Gehrman, and set out for the abandoned West Balam Docks.
• Leonard spotted Klein vaulting from a window and chose to go digest his potion instead of returning home.
• Klein met Mr. A, Nimrod, and Botis at an abandoned warehouse, where Mr. A explained that two clients would lure the targets into an ambush.
• Botis went into hiding to provide support, and Klein introduced himself to Mr. A as World.

Klein, Mr. A, and Nimrod prepared an ambush for Rose School pursuers, while Mr. A explained the True Creator’s tolerance of other faiths. As the enemy arrived, Sharron and Maric drew them into the trap, and Steve the Wraith attacked after the Scarlet Lunar Corona weakened them.

• Klein learned that Gehrman Sparrow was his chosen alias and prepared matchboxes for a quick escape.
• Mr. A and Klein met Sharron at the abandoned house and learned that Maric was luring their pursuers there.
• Mr. A questioned Klein about his faith and explained that the True Creator permitted believers to worship other gods alongside him.
• Nimrod, Mr. A, and Klein readied themselves as Maric arrived with Jason the Zombie and Tiel the Werewolf pursuing him.
• Sharron possessed Jason and attacked Tiel, but the Scarlet Lunar Corona weakened Sharron and Maric.
• Steve the Wraith struck from hiding as a voice announced, “I came, I saw, I recorded.”