Chapter Summaries

Ernest warned Bruce and Fawcett that the Castro Family might summon Terror, a white four-armed demon, to save Julius, risking widespread chaos in Walkervis. Bruce accepted the task of breaking the soul-protection spell on Julius's Notes, but he still intended to join the coming fight while Fawcett planned to stay out of it.

• Ernest explained that the Castro Family might summon Terror and that the demon's arrival could awaken evil forces throughout Walkervis.
• Ernest asked Bruce to break the soul-protection spell on Julius's Notes and destroy Julius's soul, and Fawcett volunteered to help Bruce.
• Bruce agreed to study the notes, and Ernest left them with him as the Night Watchers prepared for the threat.
• At their lodgings, Fawcett explained he had secured Bruce the task to keep him away from the dangerous battle, but Bruce said he would still fight to protect people.
• Bruce and Fawcett disagreed about joining the operation, then Bruce began reading the documents about Terror.

Bruce studied the threat posed by Terror and wondered how to break the magic protecting Julius’s soul, while Ernest prepared for a possible battle. Jesus learned that the Castro Family’s Elder had approved their plan, and the gray-robed men prepared to release Terror the following night and track down the notes.

• Bruce read that Terror was stronger than Ernest and considered how the demon’s release might help the gray-robed men locate Julius’s Notes.
• Bruce asked Fawcett to explain the soul-protection magic, but Fawcett had fallen asleep, so Bruce went to bed without making progress.
• Ernest prepared for the coming fight, hoped Red Bishop Victor Marin would arrive, and trusted Bruce to attempt to break the spell on Julius’s soul.
• Jesus announced that the Elder had approved their plan for the next night and ordered Anthony to make a Tracking Paper Crane.
• Jesus explained that Terror’s reaction to its master’s soul would let the crane locate Julius’s Notes after the demon descended.

Dexter feared the danger of a Demon’s arrival and asked Grant to escort him out of Brightlight District. Meanwhile, Bruce and Fawcett tried to undo the soul-protecting magic on Julius’s Notes and discovered the cover resisted damage, so Bruce tested whether fire could destroy it.

• Dexter told Grant he wanted to leave Brightlight District because a Demon’s arrival could bring the Gray-Robed Man and put him in danger.
• Grant agreed to escort Dexter away, though he believed Dexter could not escape the dangers tied to being a Medium.
• Bruce and Fawcett studied Julius’s Notes but could neither understand nor sense the concealed soul-protecting magic.
• Fawcett proposed destroying the notes to break the magic, but the cover resisted tearing and Bruce’s sword.
• Bruce put the cover into a fire in a basin to test whether it could be destroyed.

Bruce used Divine Might on the indestructible cover and discovered that it could affect Julius's soul trapped within the spell. Meanwhile, the White Terror’s summoning began over Walkervis, and Ernest saw a gate appear in the sky with a demon behind it.

• Bruce and Fawcett tried fire, water, knives, and other methods to destroy the cover, but it remained unchanged.
• Bruce used Divine Might on the cover, and Fawcett recognized the divine quality of Bruce’s ability and saw the magic distort around Julius’s soul.
• Fawcett told Bruce that Divine Might had affected Julius’s soul, and Bruce realized he could use it to torment the soul inside the spell.
• Grant escorted Dexter out of Walkervis’s Brightlight District, while Ernest remained behind to watch for the demon’s arrival.
• Jesus and gray-robed men invoked Castro to unleash the White Terror, while another gray-robed man opened a gate in an ancient castle.
• A white gate appeared above Walkervis, and Ernest recognized that a demon lay behind it.

As a Demon’s gate opened over Walkervis, Julius Castro escaped his protective magic glyphs in soul form and tried to take over Bruce’s body. Bruce used Divine Might on himself to resist, and the chapter left him lying on scorched ground after a lightning strike.

• Night Watchers and other Extraordinaries spread through Brightlight District as the white gate appeared and the Demon’s influence began.
• Bruce abandoned his attempt to break the magic glyphs protecting Julius’s soul and prepared to join the fight, while Fawcett stayed behind.
• Julius emerged from the cover of his Notes, chose Bruce as a body, and hurled him through a fifth-floor window.
• Fawcett recognized that Bruce was losing control of his body, and Bruce realized Julius’s soul was trying to possess him.
• Bruce unleashed Divine Might against himself, bringing down a lightning bolt that struck him and caught Fawcett in its blast.
• Jesus sent the Tracking Paper Crane toward the blast’s location as Bruce lay on scorched ground.

Bruce was drawn through Julius's soul into the Castro Family Castle four hundred years in the past, where he witnessed the family prepare a ritual to seal a god. As the ritual summoned a human-shaped figure, golden light began spilling from a crack in Bruce's back.

• Bruce explored the Castro Family Castle and found an open book describing experiments to merge spiritual power with the Power of Magic.
• Madel learned that the three elders had completed the magic circle and declared that the Castro Family would seal a god.
• Bruce watched Elders Rodman, Haxvey, and McGlen begin the ritual as Castro Family members gathered around the circle.
• The attendants threw ritual offerings into the circle, and the family chanted for a god to descend.
• Bruce heard strange sounds and felt a nameless dread as a crack appeared in his back and golden light spread across his body.
• The flames went out, black smoke gathered in the magic circle, and a human-shaped figure appeared.

Bruce witnessed a god recognize him as “Wayne” during a vision of the past, then returned to Walkervis and discovered that his Spirituality had risen enough to unlock a new combat ability. With the White Terror still approaching, he prepared to test Golden Experience on a group heading toward him.

• A god trapped by the Castro Family’s magic circle called Bruce “Wayne,” cursed the family, and stopped resisting as Bruce’s body was enveloped in golden light.
• Bruce awoke in Walkervis, where Fawcett helped him recover from the lightning strike, and found his Spirituality had risen to 97.
• The Character Status Panel reported that Julius’s fate had become connected to Bruce’s and urged him to monitor the Castro Family.
• Bruce developed his Spirituality and gained Golden Experience, an ability that traded all his Spirituality Power for temporary Power of Magic.
• Bruce spotted a group approaching from the northeast and decided to use them to test his new ability.

Bruce used Golden Experience to become a powerful Wizard and charged the five Castro Family Wizards as the White Terror emerged in the Brightlight District. Ernest prepared to face the demon, while another battle-hungry figure asked whether the battle song was ready.

• Julius hid in the shadows after his attempt to possess Bruce failed, then sensed five Castro Family members approaching.
• Anthony and the other gray-robed Wizards attacked Bruce, and Fawcett urged him to retreat.
• Bruce invoked Golden Experience, gaining golden magic and heightened perception, and decided he could defeat the five Wizards.
• The White Terror emerged from the gate, intensifying the darkness in the Brightlight District and strengthening Bruce.
• Bruce charged the gray-robed men as Ernest prepared to confront the Terror, and another Extraordinary asked their teachers if the battle song was ready.

Ernest prepared to fight Terror as Albertus Magnus approached the demon with music-enhanced power, while Bruce battled five Gray-Robed Men. Julius’s hidden soul escaped into one of the Gray-Robed Men, allowing them to retreat with their mission complete.

• Ernest attacked Terror but was struck away, then prepared to join the fight after Albertus Magnus approached the demon.
• Albertus’s music formed blood-red armor and a spear as he declared he would slay Terror, though Ernest judged him too weak to defeat the demon alone.
• Bruce used Golden Experience to wield refined magic against the five Gray-Robed Men, while Julius watched from the shadows.
• Julius’s soul ambushed Bruce and hid inside a Gray-Robed Man after the scepter struck Bruce’s shoulder.
• The Gray-Robed Men retreated with Julius’s soul, and Bruce charged after them to try to stop them.

Albertus and Ernest fought Terror, with Albertus empowered by a new War Song and working with Ernest to force the demon to its knees. Meanwhile, Bruce failed to stop the Castro Family from escaping, and he returned with Fawcett while recovering from the strain of battle.

• Albertus struggled against Terror until Ernest intervened and urged him to retreat, but Albertus refused to leave the fight.
• Albertus asked his teacher to change the War Song, which strengthened and transformed him, and he charged Terror while Ernest restrained its arms with Spirituality Power.
• Albertus struck Terror and drove it to its knees, with Ernest helping hold the demon in place.
• Bruce tried to stop the Castro Family's Teleportation Magic with Divine Might, but his overexertion caused the power to fail.
• Bruce used Magic Touch to send golden tentacles after the five gray-robed men, but they vanished into the shadows before he could catch them.
• Bruce decided to return with Fawcett while Golden Experience remained active and his Spirituality Power was exhausted.

The Castro Family recovered Julius's soul and recalled Terror after the demon's attack drew the Bishop and other powerful figures to Walkervis. Bruce examined Julius's notebook at home, while Ernest arrived and found him transformed and surrounded by traces of a powerful magical battle.

• Jesus and the other gray-robed Wizards returned Julius's soul to Elder Rodman at the Castro Family's castle.
• Julius said he had been attacked, and Anthony reported that preparations for the Great Fog in Chelberly were ready.
• The Castro Family's Demon Gate dragged Terror away from Walkervis, and Ernest ran to Bruce's home, suspecting the Wizards had obtained Julius's Notes.
• Bruce destroyed the notebook's magical cover and asked Fawcett for a map to Julius's Forest Cottage.
• Ernest inspected the lightning-scorched site of Bruce's battle, then entered Bruce's home and froze at the sight of him.

Bruce reported to Ernest that the Castro Family had taken Julius's soul, then planned to travel to Chelberly to pursue Julius's manuscripts. He intended to leave within a day or two, while Fawcett stayed behind under Church supervision.

• Ernest recognized the golden figure as Bruce and asked him what had happened.
• Bruce told Ernest that the Castro Family had taken Julius's soul after the Gray-Robed Man fought him.
• Ernest accepted Bruce's account and asked him to submit a combat report the next day.
• Bruce's Golden Experience ended after nearly thirty minutes, leaving him without Spirituality Power and with a lingering headache.
• Bruce studied Fawcett's map to the Forest Cottage and invited Fawcett to travel with him to Chelberly, but Fawcett declined.
• Bruce decided to travel alone for Julius's manuscripts and began writing his report before setting off.

After the crisis in Brightlight District, Bruce reported his plans to investigate Julius in Chelberly and learned about the church’s Budani Gates. Ernest approved Bruce’s independent trip, leaving him ready to travel quickly to Chelberly.

• Ernest reviewed the reports from Brightlight District and prepared an account of Bruce’s abilities for the City Center.
• Bruce brought Fawcett to the church, submitted his report about the Castro Family’s Wizard, and told Ernest he planned to investigate in Chelberly.
• Ernest approved Bruce’s independent trip and kept Fawcett under the church’s supervision.
• Ernest offered Bruce a Budani Pass and directed him to the Church of the Night Handbook after learning Bruce had never heard of the Budani Gate.
• Bruce read that church members could travel between city centers through bronze gates and realized he could reach Chelberly quickly.

Bruce traveled through the Budani Gate to Chelberly and rode toward Bartos to find Julius's Forest Cottage. In Bartos, an imprisoned old man warned that Faust had appeared, while Bruce encountered three riders on the road.

• Bruce used his Budani pass to travel from Walkervis to Chelberly, where Budani sensed that Bruce's body was incomplete and connected to mysterious forces.
• Bruce studied a map, borrowed a horse, and set out across the barren land toward Bartos.
• At dusk, Bruce spotted three riders and hurried toward them for company.
• At the Bartos police station, Old Billy warned Nato to prepare for the Constable's return and the prisoner's execution the next day.
• The imprisoned old man insisted that danger had arrived and named Faust as the one who had appeared.

Julius discovered that someone had used his manuscripts to summon an avatar of the corrupted God of Dusk and Dawn, prompting Elder Rodman to send Jesus and four companions to destroy it. On the road to Bartos, Bruce Wayne introduced himself to Constable Ophelia Belunaru, who agreed to travel alongside him with her two captured prisoners.

• At the police station, the old man warned Old Billy that a god and demons would come as an unnatural light appeared in the window.
• Julius recognized the influence on his soul as the result of a corrupted god being summoned with his magic manuscripts.
• Julius told Elder Rodman that the ritual had summoned an avatar of the Fallen Demigod under the God of Light, the God of Dusk and Dawn.
• Elder Rodman sent Jesus and four companions to recover Julius's manuscripts and destroy the avatar.
• Ophelia Belunaru traveled toward Bartos with two captured men and met Bruce Wayne on the road.
• Bruce admitted he was a Nightwalker of the Nightfall Association and asked to accompany Ophelia to Bartos.

Constable Ophelia and Bruce arrived in Bartos to find the town shattered and all its people gone. Bruce’s warning linked the disappearance to magic and gods, and he discovered the streets were covered in bone ash.

• Ophelia explained that she was a Judge Extraordinary and had been serving as Constable in Bartos, where she had hoped to encounter a Mystery Incident.
• Bruce and Ophelia rode together, shared basic information about their backgrounds, and reached Bartos before sunset.
• Bruce and Ophelia found Bartos broken and deserted, though Ophelia remembered it as a bustling town of more than a thousand people.
• Bruce’s Character Status Panel warned that the town’s sudden disappearance was tied to magic and gods.
• Bruce searched the town with his spiritual power and found no traces of battle, magic, or hidden danger.
• Bruce examined the strange white granules covering the ground and identified them as bone ash.

Bruce and Ophelia searched the ash-covered ruins of Bartos Town, where everyone seemed to have turned to ashes. They found a lone old man who recognized Ophelia from a prophecy and reacted to Bruce with terror, claiming fate and the timeline had changed.

• Bruce concluded that Bartos Town's residents and livestock had turned to ashes and wondered why an evil god had targeted the town.
• Ophelia mourned the townspeople and confronted Bruce, accusing him of knowing what had happened; he said he had come to retrieve something and advised reporting the incident to the Church.
• Bruce showed Ophelia that the white residue was human ashes and insisted that everyone in town was dead.
• Ophelia heard movement beneath the police station rubble and rescued a bloodied old man who declared that she was destined to stand against Faust and spoke of finding the Vessel.
• Bruce questioned the old man, who recoiled in terror and shouted that Bruce should not be there because fate and the timeline had changed.

Dusk Dann revealed that he was the rational remnant of the God of Dusk and Dawn and explained that a ritual threatened to bring the god’s fallen half into the world. He told Ophelia that she could kill the descended god because she had been a Godslayer in a previous life.

• The old man recovered from his apparent death, introduced himself as Dusk Dann, and warned Bruce not to ask about his identity.
• Ophelia chose to investigate Bartos Town’s destruction, and Bruce agreed to stay with Dusk and help her.
• Dusk explained that a ritual would destroy another town at dawn and summon the fallen God of Dusk and Dawn.
• Dusk revealed that he was a remnant of the god inhabiting Philip’s body and was trying to stop his mad half from descending.
• Dusk told Ophelia that she could kill the descended god because she had been a Godslayer in her previous life.

Bruce, Ophelia, and Dusk learned that Ophelia could kill gods because she had been a godslayer in a previous life, and they set out to stop the God of Dusk and Dawn from descending into Faust in Fedoran. In Fedoran, Blaze Fast revealed his newfound speed to the men who had mocked him and called himself Speedster.

• Dusk explained that godslayers retained the ability to slay gods across their reincarnations, and Ophelia accepted the responsibility of confronting the God of Fall.
• Dusk revealed that Faust in Fedoran was the god’s next intended vessel, so he, Ophelia, and Bruce planned to reach him before dawn and kill the god after its descent.
• Bruce joined the journey to Fedoran, while Dusk rode with him because they had no spare horses.
• In a Fedoran bar, Blaze Fast told the men mocking him that he was fast, then used his ability to move while everyone and the clock seemed frozen.
• Blaze Fast announced that he was an Extraordinary and told the astonished men to call him Speedster or Speed.

Blaze showed off his new super speed in Fedoran and discussed his future with his brother Faust, who feared an impending disaster. Meanwhile, Bruce traveled with Dusk, learned that Dusk had a magic manuscript, and was told that his presence would turn fate in their favor as they searched for Faust.

• Blaze impressed the tavern patrons with his super speed, then returned home exhausted from using it.
• Blaze told Faust he wanted to test and master his ability in Fedoran before considering a move to Chelberly, and promised to protect him.
• Faust recalled that Blaze had gained super speed after finding a stone tablet in a nearby valley two days earlier, and warned that he sensed trouble ahead.
• Bruce asked Dusk about the magic manuscript, and Dusk said he would hand it over after they found Faust because its ciphers needed decoding.
• Dusk told Bruce that his existence was extraordinary and that, as long as Bruce accompanied him, fate would favor them.