Chapter Summaries

Kallen confronted Bishop Dorf and Chief Bishop Woforen to protect Richard after he fought Vicolai, negotiating a public apology while warning that Vicolai could become the target of a wider political struggle. After Richard apologized in the crowded lobby, Kallen revealed the team’s plan and arrested Vicolai under an Investigation Warrant.

• Kallen cited the Order Regulations and the Whip of Order’s authority to investigate its own members, while Dorf and Woforen pushed to let the Law Enforcement Department decide Richard’s punishment.
• Kallen warned that Vicolai’s alleged crimes and the evidence against him could make him a target if the Whip of Order needed to recover face, and Vic displayed a book he claimed bore the High Priest’s signature.
• Woforen ended the confrontation with a deal: Richard would kneel and apologize publicly, and Kallen would offer reasonable compensation; Richard agreed and went to the lobby.
• Richard knelt before Vicolai and apologized in front of the gathered crowd, while Dorf watched from the second floor.
• Kallen helped Richard up, then Vic handed him an Investigation Warrant and Muli restrained Vicolai with handcuffs.
• Kallen announced Vicolai’s investigation and warned that anyone who interfered would be deemed an apostate.

Madam Tang Li and Kaixi watched Richard kneel to apologize to Vicolai, only for Kallen to arrest Vicolai under an investigation order. Kallen took Vicolai toward Whip of Order Headquarters, while Richard hinted that Neo had instructed him to keep something from Kallen.

• Madam Tang Li recalled drinking liquor with old friends and vowed to defend Richard if negotiations failed to protect him.
• Kaixi and Madam Tang Li saw Richard kneel and apologize to Vicolai in the Church Administration Building, drawing a large crowd.
• Kallen arrived with an investigation order, had Vicolai handcuffed, and announced that he was suspected of serious disciplinary violations.
• Madam Tang Li, Kaixi, and Delong watched as Dorf and Woforen refrained from intervening, allowing Kallen to take Vicolai away.
• Kallen led the group out of the building and put Vicolai in a VIP Carriage bound for Whip of Order Headquarters.
• Richard told Kallen that Neo had instructed him to keep a secret from him.

Kallen’s team prepared a raid on the establishment connected to the Light Remnants while Neo and Mr. Eisen infiltrated the shared prison to investigate its warden. Neo forced the Prison Warden to hand over his secret prisoner log, leaving Mr. Eisen to confirm that the warden had resisted law enforcement.

• Kallen told Vic to stop injuring Vicolai after the team documented his condition, but Vic used the remaining time to slap him several times.
• Alfred questioned the captured woman, learned the establishment’s food preparation area, warehouse, and records location, then issued the order to begin the raid.
• Neo and Mr. Eisen drove to the gymnasium and entered the prison using Eisen’s genuine identification and a valid appointment.
• Neo found Prison Warden Diano with a woman in prison clothes, stabbed him while accusing him of resisting law enforcement, and presented an Investigation Warrant.
• Neo demanded the warden’s secret Prisoner Entry and Exit Log, and Diano agreed to hand it over.
• Mr. Eisen confirmed that Diano had resisted law enforcement.

Bernie and Harry rallied the York City District Whip of Order leaders behind a campaign against the Nadun Family, using Vicolai Naton’s arrest to draw other officials into cooperation. Meanwhile, Kallen’s team prepared the case against Vicolai, whose interrogation ended with a taunt suggesting he had threatened Inquisitor Pavaro’s family.

• Bernie told the district department heads that Harry and the Whip Bearer supported his effort to end their idleness, and Harry ordered them to take a clear stance.
• Bernie and Harry planned to use Vicolai’s public prosecution to recruit the district Law Enforcement chief and the church diplomat, then build evidence connecting their Naton deputies to the establishment and the prison.
• Kallen arranged compensation and medical care for the squad members injured in the raid, while Fanny reported that seized assets could improve the office’s finances.
• Richard retold his fight with Vicolai to keep the bored Philomina company, and Kallen later went to observe Alfred’s interrogation.
• Vicolai denied wrongdoing until Alfred raised Mr. Pavaro’s letter, then described a family in a kennel and told Kallen they would all have died if Kallen had not lived there.

During Vicolai’s interrogation, Kallen repeatedly suppressed opportunities to advance while weighing how to pursue justice against the Nadun Family. After deciding to act on what he knew, Kallen named Vicolai as the subject of his final test on the path to Arbiter.

• Kallen listened calmly as Vicolai mocked him and boasted that his family would protect him.
• Kallen began to advance, then dispersed the phantom Arbiter Clerical Robes, leaving Vicolai humiliated.
• Alfred presented Pavaro’s final letter and evidence linking Vicolai to Pavaro’s murder, but Vicolai denied the charges and threatened Kallen.
• Kallen weighed whether to implicate Vicolai and the Nadun Family despite the questionable procedures, while twice dispersing phantom Judgment Clerical Robes.
• Kallen decided the Nadun Family was complicit in Vicolai’s crimes and declared, “Adjudication: the destruction of the Nadun Family.”

Kallen broke Vicolai’s confidence during the interrogation, then told Alfred to correct him if he ever strayed from the Order he believed in. Meanwhile, Delong faced his wife’s disappointment over failing to protect Richard and admitted he still would not help her take revenge on the Nadun Family.

• Kallen told Vicolai that he would not leave alive, then left the interrogation room and handed the questioning over to Vic.
• Alfred asked Kallen how he should respond if Kallen made a mistake, and Kallen told him to remind him when he went wrong.
• Kallen shared Tyranus’s warning that a church could also restrain its god.
• Richard divided his boxed meals with Philomina, who accepted the food and ate.
• Delong returned home and heard Madam Tang Li explain that she had chosen and loved him despite his feelings of inferiority.
• Madam Tang Li asked whether Delong would help her seek revenge on the Nadun Family, and Delong answered no.

Trisen and Dorf planned to save Vicolai by influencing his trial and staging an attack that would implicate the Whip of Order, while Kallen and Neo uncovered a plot to attack their headquarters and prepared to turn it against the conspirators. The chapter ended with Kallen assembling Philomina and Richard for a nighttime operation connected to Law Enforcement Department head Enzo’s suspicious prison visit.

• Minister Moqi agreed that the district should resist the Whip of Order’s growing power, but privately worried the Nadun Family might displace him.
• Dorf and Trisen discussed Vicolai’s likely death sentence, planned to use church connections and Dorf’s presence at the trial, and proposed staging an attack that would frame the Nadun Family before redirecting blame toward the Whip of Order.
• Neo told Kallen the trial could conclude the next night and warned that someone in York City was secretly gathering people; they suspected the plot was meant to create an attack on the Whip of Order.
• Kallen and Neo prepared backdated investigations into headquarters officials and learned from Puer that Anita had received a commission to attack the Whip of Order.
• Old Kea reported that Enzo planned to interrogate a prisoner at Order Prison and requested security support, so Kallen and Neo decided to accompany the team and exploit the opportunity.
• Kallen asked Philomina and Richard to stand by for the operation, and Richard wished Philomina safety while mentioning he still expected to attend her grandmother’s funeral.

Kallen learned that Neo had gone undercover among the Light Remnants to take command of a staged attack on Minister Enzo’s convoy. During the ambush, Neo killed Enzo for real, leaving the operation’s next move uncertain.

• Peige gave Kallen a note saying Neo had gone undercover among the Light Remnants, and Kallen prepared to follow Minister Enzo’s convoy with Philomina and Muli.
• Neo took command of the hired attackers, arranged the ambush, and warned Anita to flip the first car rather than crush it.
• Neo spoke with Anita about the God-Burial Land and learned that Ruimoer had alerted him to the operation.
• Anita and the other attackers overturned Old Kea’s car, while Old Kea ordered the security personnel to stay inside and wait.
• Minister Enzo admitted to his secretary that he had arranged the attack, then killed him when he tried to send a message.
• Neo approached Enzo’s car and, despite being expected to stage injuries, pierced Enzo’s chest with a Sword of Light and confirmed his death.

Kallen and Neo staged a fierce fight and a pursuit to conceal their escape from the scene of Minister Enzo’s murder. They reached Dorf’s villa, where Neo attacked the house and accused Dorf of setting him up.

• Kallen arrived with Muli and Philomina, ordered them to summon reinforcements, and attacked Neo while Philomina fought the other assailants.
• Neo betrayed the black-robed men, and Kallen helped kill them before he and Neo fought in earnest.
• Philomina killed two attackers, then let Anita escape after Anita changed her appearance and fled.
• Kallen and Neo concealed their auras, staged a pursuit, and Kallen wounded and weakened himself to make the chase look real.
• Kallen followed Neo to Dorf’s villa, where Neo summoned a Tower of Light and accused Dorf of setting him up.

Neo attacked the Nadun Family and fought Deputy Minister Trisen, then used a devastating Spell Art to escape the approaching forces. Kallen caught him, helped disguise them both as injured victims, and they blamed the attack on a fleeing assailant.

• Neo conjured a Tower of Light over the Nadun Family villa, drawing Trisen out to defend it.
• Trisen fought Neo with his spear, but Neo used the Mad Pope’s phantom to disrupt Trisen’s control of Order and force him to retreat.
• As church forces closed in, Neo conjured an ancient, inverted Tower of Light and unleashed a Spell Art that plunged the area into darkness and disoriented everyone nearby.
• Kallen caught Neo as he fell, dressed him in Clerical Robes, and added severe-looking injuries to both of them.
• Kallen and Neo walked out among the Whip of Order Squad, and Neo shouted that the attacker was still hiding nearby and vowed to kill him.

After a Light Remnant killed Minister Enzo and attacked the Nadun Family villa, Kallen and Neo discussed the church’s advancement stages while the Whip of Order and local authorities gathered at the scene. Bernie took charge of the investigation, and Kallen suggested the Light Remnant’s unpredictable actions might stem from mental illness.

• Search teams and armed forces gathered at the Nadun Family villa, but their search found no trace of the Light Remnant.
• Kallen and Neo discussed the stages beyond Law Expounder and why Dis had refused to condense a godhead fragment.
• Trisen confronted Kallen and Neo after Neo accused the Nadun Family of involvement in Enzo’s assassination, and Harry backed the Whip of Order’s investigation.
• Bernie healed Kallen and Neo, then took over Enzo’s position while Harry attended an emergency bishops’ meeting.
• Kallen told Bernie that the Light Remnant’s mental illness might explain his erratic actions, and Bernie agreed.

After the attack that killed Minister Enzo, Bernie and Neo discussed how to handle the fallout and use the crisis to advance their plans. Kallen prepared to represent the Whip of Order at the Judgment Assembly, while Neo began to suspect Bernie was watching him.

• Bernie, Neo, and Kallen agreed that Kallen would attend the Judgment Assembly despite his injuries, and Bernie accepted Neo’s proposal to use Kallen as the Whip of Order’s public face.
• Kallen returned with Muli and Philomina, learned that Old Kea and the others had survived, and ordered reports written while insisting that details of the night remain secret.
• Bernie and Neo concluded that Minister Enzo’s killer likely knew about the mole and the Nadun Family, and Bernie tasked Neo with proposing an internal screening plan for Light Remnants.
• Bernie told Neo that the Church might shift toward suppressing and conciliating Light Remnants, and urged him to pursue the risky opportunity to support a controllable organization.
• After Bernie left for the Church Administration Building, Neo suspected Bernie was testing him and confirmed that Bernie had stopped to watch the car in the mirror.

Kallen recovered from his injuries, discussed the Church’s suspicions and the coming trial with Neo, and dreamed of Mr. Pavaro under the influence of the [War Scythe] mark. He then arrived at the long-awaited trial at Whip of Order Headquarters, where Vicolai stood accused and Gaspol opened the proceedings.

• Aisili and Blanche tended to Kallen, and Neo warned him that the Church suspected him while they discussed their plans and the afternoon’s trial.
• Kallen dreamed that the [War Scythe] cut off Mr. Pavaro’s face and placed it over his own, then realized the mark was distorting his dreams.
• Alfred brought Kallen new clerical robes, and Kallen learned that his maternal grandmother, Madam Tang Li, had been sending them.
• Kallen entered the courtroom with Vic and Alfred as reporters and Church officials gathered for the landmark trial.
• Gaspol presided over the trial, Woforen and the other bishops took their seats, and Vicolai was brought in shackled and placed in a cage.
• Gaspol cracked her Whip three times and declared that the trial had begun.

At Vicolai’s trial, Chief Bishop Woforen secured the appointment of a defender, while Bishop Byrne’s arrival prompted Kallen to revise the case materials. Delong Guman then set up a live broadcast of the trial, and at Church Headquarters High Priest Norton and Fudeng discussed the York City investigation.

• Chief Bishop Woforen asked Presiding Judge Gaspol to assign Vicolai a defender, and Gaspol adjourned the trial for an hour to review the application.
• Kallen reflected on the God of Order’s harsh judgments as Alfred guessed at his thoughts and recorded them in his notebook.
• Bishop Byrne arrived, and Kallen told Alfred and Vic to revise their case materials for scrutiny before the trial resumed.
• Delong Guman brought Formation Masters into the courtroom to install a broadcast magic formation, defying Bishop Dorf’s demand that he leave.
• High Priest Norton watched the courtroom footage with Fudeng, discussed the death of a Law Enforcement Department Minister in York City, and offered Fudeng another Whip Bearer if he grew tired.

The High Priest and Fudeng watched the televised trial as Kallen and his allies presented evidence against Vicolai. Bishop Byrne tried to recast the case as a political conspiracy, but Kallen’s final challenge questioned why strong evidence had led to a trial shaped by institutional power.

• Fudeng showed the High Priest the tribunal broadcast, where Kallen, Vic, and Alfred prepared to present their case against Vicolai.
• Alfred outlined Vicolai’s theft of Pavaro’s credit, his attacks on clerics, and Pavaro’s death, while Vic presented physical evidence and testimony.
• Bishop Byrne questioned Kallen about his relationship with Pavaro and suggested the Whip of Order had arranged the case, but Kallen said Pavaro had trusted him because he was good enough.
• Kallen said Pavaro had told him about investigating Vicolai, but that he had advised Pavaro to wait because the time was not right.
• Kallen challenged the courtroom to explain why the trial had turned out as it had despite the ample, solid evidence against Vicolai.

Kallen faced Bishop Byrne’s attack on the evidence linking Vicolai to Pavaro’s death and the Qi He Case, then revealed that he had a Divine Artifact that could prove his account. The courtroom froze as Kallen asked to submit the Lax Copper Coin as evidence.

• Richard defended Kallen’s approach to the trial, while Philomina questioned how Pavaro could have been silenced without Kallen noticing.
• Bishop Byrne challenged Kallen’s loyalty and argued that Pavaro had accepted Vicolai’s share of the Qi He Case credit, then used the case’s connections to Kallen to suggest a conspiracy.
• Byrne presented evidence implicating Minister Enzo and insinuated that Kallen had killed Pavaro, but Kallen defended Pavaro’s character and described his daughters’ suffering.
• Kallen questioned Vicolai about the Qi He Case and accused him of lying about being at the Sausage Factory, revealing that Kallen and Pavaro had both been there.
• When Byrne demanded proof, Kallen said his physical evidence could speak because it was a Divine Artifact, then requested permission to submit the Lax Copper Coin.

Kallen requested that the Lax Copper Coin’s artifact spirit testify at Vicolai’s trial, prompting the Order God Church to summon her to court. Loya appeared and recognized Kallen as the Order Follower who fought alongside Pavaro, leaving the trial poised for her testimony.

• Kallen shocked the court by naming the Lax Copper Coin as physical evidence and revealing that it had an artifact spirit; Bishop Byrne realized Kallen had investigated the Qi He Case with Pavaro.
• Philomina and Kallen’s squad recalled the Lax Copper Coin’s appearance during the Final Selection, while Bernie and Neo discussed Kallen’s apparent plan and District Chief Harry arranged to receive the artifact spirit.
• The Sealed Space first reported that Loya would not testify, but she then rallied other divine artifacts in a protest and agreed to appear through a magic formation.
• Delong, Eisen, Richard, and others helped prepare the summoning formation as officials and spectators crowded into the courtroom.
• Loya appeared above the courtroom as the Source of Sin, looked at Kallen, and identified him as the devout Order Follower who had fought Qi He beside Pavaro.

Kallen used Loya’s testimony to secure Vicolai’s conviction, then called for a deeper investigation into how Vicolai stole Pavaro’s credit and rose through the Church. As the High Priest ordered Fudeng to rein in the Whip of Order, Loya intensified Vicolai’s panic, and he screamed for his father to save him.

• Kallen had Loya testify that she knew neither Vicolai nor his account of the night Pavaro died, and Bishop Byrne accepted the evidence and stopped disputing the charges.
• Kallen asked the court to investigate how Vicolai had stolen Pavaro’s credit, denounced his family’s influence, and secured permission to pursue a new case against Trisen Naton.
• Bernie and Neo planned to use the verdict to reclaim authority from the District’s Law Enforcement Department, while Bishop Woforen realized the investigation threatened the Nadun Family.
• Richard teased Philomina about Kallen before calling her “Mom,” and Kallen asked the court to investigate Vicolai’s advancement and the Naton family’s role.
• The High Priest reprimanded Fudeng for letting the Whip of Order act too independently and ordered him to warn the person protecting the Nadun Family.
• Loya secretly stirred Vicolai’s fear, and he clutched the cage bars and screamed, “Save me, Dad!”

Vicolai was sentenced to Erasure after his desperate outburst exposed that Bishop Dorf was his biological father, and Kallen’s team then detained Deputy Minister Trisen. After discussing the political deal behind the arrests, Kallen visited Vicolai in the detention facility and prepared to punish him for threatening Pavaro’s loved ones.

• Vicolai called Bishop Dorf his father, and the court sentenced him to Erasure as Dorf left without saving him.
• Kallen led Whip of Order squads to detain Deputy Minister Trisen, while Minister Moqi handed over evidence of Trisen’s violations.
• Neo told Kallen that headquarters and the Regional Administration Office had agreed to form a Joint Law Enforcement Department, and Kallen said Leon would transfer to the Whip of Order.
• Kallen brought food to Vicolai’s cell, admitted he had framed him, and explained that he would punish him for threatening Mrs. Lake, Dora, and Doreen.
• Kallen touched the Silver Ring and told Vicolai to look up and see who he was.

Kallen revealed that he had been impersonating Pavaro and began torturing Vicolai for stealing Pavaro’s credit. As Kallen’s hunger and a reaction to Bernie’s treatment destabilized him, an enormous eye appeared in Vicolai’s mental space and repeatedly disintegrated and restored Vicolai’s soul.

• Kallen admitted to Vicolai that he had borrowed Pavaro’s identity and explained that Vicolai’s theft of Pavaro’s credit had made him vow to kill him.
• Kallen bound Vicolai with Chains of Order and used black order flames to torture his soul, entering Vicolai’s mental space to observe his suffering.
• Kallen’s hunger surged as he was exposed to Vicolai’s polluted mental space, and he realized Bernie’s earlier treatment might have triggered the reaction.
• Kallen’s consciousness began to break apart, and his order flames failed to suppress his hunger as his form started melting inside Vicolai’s mental space.
• An enormous eye appeared above Vicolai, compelling him to submit before repeatedly disintegrating and re-forming his soul.