Recaps

Gner stored the Evil-Patterned Black Panther materials and reached Saint Luo Village ahead of the exhausted Kronos. Kronos discovered that black Beyonder power covered almost the entire village, but after Gner helped him judge the danger calmly, he decided to enter and investigate as Lord Warlock.

• Gner sealed the Evil-Patterned Black Panther materials, stored them aboard the Lead Ship, and traveled to Saint Luo Village.
• Kronos emerged from the mountains after traveling through the night and collapsed when Gner greeted him.
• The next morning, Kronos used the Eyes of Mystery Prying from a watchtower and saw black power shrouding nearly the entire village, especially its western side.
• Gner reasoned that the limited harm to villagers suggested the threat was not as overwhelming as Kronos feared and advised him to balance vigilance with careful judgment.
• Kronos decided to enter Saint Luo Village as Lord Warlock and investigate, with relocation as a fallback if he could not resolve the danger.

Kronos investigated a mysterious illness in Saint Luo Village and suspected it came from a dangerous Beyonder ability. Before searching the village, he prepared his charms and tested whether he could safely use the Lucky One Cane’s luck check.

• Gner resolved to become Kronos’s right-hand man, and Kronos told him to prepare a carriage outside while he investigated alone.
• Kronos arrived in Saint Luo Village, where the Village Chief explained that residents recovered when they left but fell ill again after returning.
• Using his Eyes of Mystery Prying, Kronos found that the entire village had been affected and ordered everyone to evacuate with their animals.
• Kronos suspected the illness came from a Demoness of Affliction or a related supernatural source and entered the empty village cautiously.
• Kronos armed himself with the Lucky One Cane and the Elf Charm, then activated the Eye of Time to examine the cane after considering its luck check risks.

Kronos used the Lucky One Cane to secure a successful luck check, then searched the village’s western courtyards for the source of the black power. He discovered that the power came from a buried cat corpse contaminated by a Sequence 5 Demoness of Affliction Beyonder characteristic.

• Kronos foresaw a successful luck check, activated the Lucky One Cane, and completed an abbreviated Nine Secrets meditation before heading west.
• Kronos searched the five courtyards of villagers who had fallen ill but found no source during his first pass.
• After his luck period ended, Kronos searched again and found Beyonder power in a mound of earth behind the first courtyard.
• Kronos uncovered a cat’s corpse and used the Eye of Time to learn that it had eaten a Sequence 5 Demoness of Affliction Beyonder characteristic and died before reaching the child who cared for it.
• Kronos learned that the black power seeping from the corpse had caused the village’s illness.

Kronos resolved Saint Luo Village’s illness, treated the sick villagers, and returned to the ship with Gner. The fleet departed on schedule for Bayam, where Kronos planned to avoid disguising himself until they reached the Southern Continent.

• Kronos removed the Beyonder Characteristic from the cat, burned its corpse, and used a spell to dispel the lingering power around Saint Luo Village.
• Kronos told the villagers that no one else would fall ill and purified the patients, completing his acting and digesting his potion.
• Kronos and Gner returned to the harbor, where Kronos ate a large meal before hurrying back to the ship to sleep.
• Gner informed Benjamin that Kronos had returned safely and took charge of the Evil-Patterned Black Panther materials and the Demoness of Affliction Beyonder Characteristic.
• The fleet set sail at nine that night for Bayam, where it planned to stay for half a month before continuing to the Southern Continent.

Kronos arrived in Bayam with Gner and prepared to meet the city’s political and military leaders. Admiral Amyrius Rieveldt quickly invited him to a joint Conservative Party gathering with George Negan, and Kronos set out to send a telegram to his father before attending.

• Kronos warned Gner about the risks of eating Paranormal Creature meat while they shared the Evil-Patterned Black Panther's meat.
• Gner began training and building his strength during the voyage, while Kronos stayed in his room experimenting with materials.
• After a storm delayed the fleet, Kronos and Gner arrived in Bayam on the fourth day and checked into the city's best hotel.
• Admiral Amyrius Rieveldt's secretary, Lü Er'an, delivered Kronos an invitation to a gathering hosted by Amyrius and George Negan.
• Kronos read Gner's note saying he would investigate local Beyonders, then decided to attend the gathering and went to find a telegraph office to contact his father.

Kronos attended a Conservative Party banquet in Bayam as the Argel Family’s representative, carefully avoiding appearing aligned with either the Negan or Levett families. After speaking with Governor George, he met Admiral Amyrius, who approached him on a deserted terrace and asked whether Kronos wondered why he had sought him out.

• Kronos sent Marquis Argel a lengthy telegram, bought clothes and local food, and prepared for the banquet.
• Benjamin Bowen delivered Marquis Argel’s reply, which told Kronos not to worry about party disputes because Argyle would manage them in Backlund.
• Kronos arrived at the banquet in formal attire and exchanged pleasantries with Governor George Negan, who offered to help him.
• Kronos saw Amyrius at the banquet, but the admiral did not approach him until later, when they met on a deserted terrace.
• Amyrius approved of Kronos’s military bearing and asked whether he wondered why Amyrius had now come to speak with him.

At the banquet, Amyrius explained why he had no interest in courting the Argel Family and offered Kronos his support, while Kronos considered how to make him an ally. The next day, Kronos received two spice plantations from the Negan Family through George Negan, securing much of his fleet’s supply.

• Amyrius told Kronos that he valued personal strength over political power and believed the royal family had constrained both him and the Argel Family.
• Amyrius offered to help Kronos if needed, then left the banquet; Kronos considered whether obtaining a Sequence 3 potion formula could make Amyrius a staunch ally.
• Kronos sent Marquis Argel a report about the banquet and spent the next morning testing materials for time spells, but found none useful.
• Kronos visited George Negan, who arranged the transfer of two spice plantations given by Philip and Duke Negan.
• Kronos concluded that the plantations secured most of his fleet’s mid- to high-grade spice supplies, while the rarest spices remained under George’s control.

Kronos spent the night using the Time Stone’s power to refine a symbol for Time Magic, transforming his attempted Eye of Agamotto into a new Time Symbol. He woke exhausted and still unable to cast a spell without the right materials, while Gner and the inn staff had been watching over him.

• Kronos left Gner a note, then returned to his room to work on a symbol for Time Magic while under Concealment of Time.
• Gner returned to the inn, found Kronos’s note, and failed to get a response when he knocked on Kronos’s door.
• The Time Stone stirred as Kronos refined his symbol, drawing his attention into the green power transforming its lines.
• Gner returned the next day, found Kronos still unresponsive, and entered his room with the inn manager’s spare key to check on him.
• Gner saw Kronos surrounded by green light, left him a note, and reassured the manager that Kronos was safe.
• Kronos completed the circular, intricate Time Symbol before dawn, then woke, greeted the waiting attendant, and asked for a filling meal.

Kronos discussed Bayam’s Beyonder gatherings with Gner, then went sightseeing in his Warlock robe and made progress digesting his potion after accepting his identity. The chapter ended with Gner puzzled by Kronos’s thanks as they returned to the hotel.

• Gner told Kronos about two Beyonder gatherings in Bayam and offered to arrange an introduction to the higher-level one.
• Kronos showed Gner his wealth and agreed to attend the accessible gathering the next night.
• At Gner’s suggestion, Kronos changed his face, wore his Warlock robe, and toured Bayam with him.
• Kronos reflected on his embarrassment and realized he had not accepted his identity as a Warlock.
• Kronos felt his potion digestion advance, then thanked Gner for helping him before returning to his room.

Kronos and Gner attended Ozil the Giant’s Beyonder gathering in Bayam, where Kronos bought Gner a Radiant Flame War Blade and secured an introduction to another trading circle. After the gathering, Kronos stayed behind to search the underground market for materials connected to his time-based spells.

• Amyrius learned that Kronos was shopping in disguise and asked Lü Er'an to tell the Sea King not to trouble him.
• Kronos and Gner reached the gathering beneath Fragrant Tree Leaves Bar, hosted by Ozil the Giant.
• Kronos bought the Radiant Flame War Blade for seven hundred pounds and gave it to Gner.
• Ozil agreed to introduce Kronos to another trading circle and told him to meet at the bar three days later.
• Kronos asked Gner to wait upstairs, then used his Eyes of Mystery Prying to search the underground stalls for useful materials.

Kronos searched an underground marketplace for materials and discovered that the Heart of Life could resonate with the power of time, giving him a promising ingredient for Time Magic. After finishing his shopping, he left Gner at the bar and returned to the inn to experiment.

• Kronos bought a Darkness Pathway material for three soli and several other spellcasting materials while searching the marketplace.
• Kronos bought a mysterious black cloak for fifty pounds after his spirituality warned him not to pass it up, but he could not identify its properties.
• Kronos purchased a pale green crystal called the Heart of Life for five pounds and found that it had a weak resonance with the power of time.
• Kronos continued browsing the remaining stalls and collected more inexpensive materials before leaving the marketplace.
• Kronos found Gner among a crowd at the Fragrant Tree Leaves Bar, said goodbye, and returned to the inn alone.

Kronos used the Time Stone to develop a powerful new attack spell, Time Ray, but the Warlock Potion did not recognize it as his original creation. The next morning, he asked Benjamin to arrange a large supply of Hearts of Life before they left Bayam.

• Kronos ground the Heart of Life into powder while tracing the Time Stone in his mind, which became an inner image of temporal power and improved his meditation.
• Kronos found that visualizing the Time Stone was more effective than ordinary meditation and continued until the Heart of Life was ready.
• Kronos cast a spell using the Time Symbol and Heart of Life powder, creating a beam that rotted a hole through his table; he named the spell Time Ray, but the Warlock Potion did not react.
• Kronos left the inn alone the next morning because Gner was still asleep, then found Benjamin near the Harbor.
• Kronos asked Benjamin to buy and machine-grind more Hearts of Life, and Benjamin promised to obtain three to five hundred pounds before they left Bayam.

Kronos attended a Mid-Sequence Beyonder gathering with Ozil, where he bought stone monster powder for Gner. The meeting continued with a member offering Storm Church charms for sale.

• Kronos exhausted his potion-digestion acting method by wandering Bayam's busiest districts in a warlock's robe.
• Kronos met Ozil at the Fragrant Tree Leaves Bar, and Ozil led him by carriage to the gathering's fixed location.
• Ozil introduced Kronos as Klein, a Mid-Sequence Beyonder, at a brightly lit gathering of about twenty people.
• The gathering began with requests for potion formulas, and Ozil told Kronos to state his own needs first.
• Kronos bought a small bottle of stone monster powder from a masked man for 350 pounds, collecting it for Gner.
• A member on Kronos's left offered three Church of Storms charms, each usable only once or twice and roughly as powerful as Sequence 8.

At the Trading Gathering, Kronos bought a Spirit Guide Beyonder Characteristic to draw out a man who wanted it and shared information about Edwina Edwards with a reluctant informant. After the other attendees left, Kronos and the interested man were the only two people remaining.

• Kronos recognized that a token for sale had been corrupted by the Mother Tree of Desire and avoided bidding on it, though another attendee bought it.
• A seller offered a stolen Spirit Guide Beyonder Characteristic, and Kronos bid it up to 3,500 pounds to attract an excited buyer who might know an Artisan.
• Kronos bought the characteristic and mouthed to the interested man to come find him if he wanted it.
• When a man sought information on the Golden Dream for Vice Admiral Iron Blood, Kronos told him that Edwina Edwards was a Sequence 5 Mysticism Mentor interested in treasures and ruins, earning 300 pounds.
• The gathering ended, and after Ozil and the others departed, Kronos remained alone with the man who wanted the Spirit Guide Beyonder Characteristic.

Kronos met the Artisan Sharf in Bayam and arranged for him to craft Beyonder items from two characteristics. After leaving Sharf’s home, Kronos learned that Gner had attended a dangerous gathering held by local natives and asked what he had found there.

• Kronos left the restaurant with the man, learned he was an Artisan, and introduced himself as Klein while the man gave his name as Sharf.
• Sharf explained that he wanted to use the Spirit Guide characteristic to make an item that could sign contracts with Spirit World creatures and recruit a messenger, and Kronos agreed to the deal.
• Kronos asked Sharf to make a dagger from a Demoness of Affliction characteristic; Sharf said he would study the design before they settled on a price and abilities.
• Kronos left the Spirit Guide characteristic with Sharf and returned to his lodgings, where he found Gner back from a local native Beyonder gathering.
• Gner said he regretted attending the gathering but had seen several strange weapons for sale.

Kronos helped Gner find a place to brew his Weapon Master potion, then arranged for Sharf to craft Beyonder Items from two characteristics. After Gner advanced, Sharf advised him to prepare a greatsword and agreed to reforge his Radiant Flame War Blade.

• Kronos examined Gner for signs of corruption from Kalvetua and warned him to avoid the serpent’s followers.
• Kronos gave Gner Stone Monster Powder, then brought him to Sharf’s residence so he could brew the Weapon Master potion.
• Sharf examined the Spirit Guide and Demoness of Affliction characteristics, explained the risks and timelines for crafting them, and began preparing Kronos’s dagger.
• Kronos read that Vice Admiral Iron Blood and Vice Admiral Iceberg would fight in two months and suspected the Church of Knowledge had spread the news to benefit Edwina and Admiral Amyrius.
• Gner finished advancing to Sequence 7 Weapon Master, and Sharf advised him to choose a greatsword before advancing further.
• Gner asked Sharf to reforge his Radiant Flame War Blade into a two-handed greatsword, and Sharf agreed to finish it by the next day.

Kronos, restless in Bayam, seized on a Navy Base expedition to unexplored ruins and asked Admiral Amyrius about joining. Amyrius confirmed the Navy would lead the mission, but the ruins remained a mystery, and Kronos asked whether he could receive special treatment.

• After leaving Sharf's residence, Kronos felt aimless and returned to researching spells, considering the Marauder pathway and Yodsen aboard the Golden Dream as a possible target.
• Gner invited Kronos to guard archaeologists on Symeems Island, but Kronos refused because the island was Kalvetua's dangerous lair.
• Gner told Kronos about a Navy Base expedition to ruins, and Kronos decided to inquire about joining it.
• Kronos used Intimidation to persuade a guard to contact Secretary Lü Er'an, who welcomed Kronos into the base while arranging a guide for Gner.
• Amyrius told Kronos that MI9 had supplied information about intact, unexplored human ruins, but no one knew their age or what was inside.
• Amyrius confirmed that the Navy Base would lead the expedition, and Kronos asked whether he could receive special treatment.

Kronos secured Gner a Beyonder greatsword as a reward for joining the expedition to the ruins on Blue Mountain Island, then arranged to modify another weapon and stock up on Heart of Life powder. While waiting for the expedition, he learned that Gner had found a pirate-run Beyonder gathering, but attending would require earning a pirate’s recommendation during a crackdown.

• Amyrius told Kronos that the Navy Base planned to send a reconnaissance team to the ruins in five days, including ten recruited outsiders or death row inmates, and agreed to wait for Kronos’s offensive Beyonder item if needed.
• Kronos asked Amyrius for a Sequence 7 greatsword for Gner, and Lü Er'an brought Gner a Raging Fire Greatsword with a mild negative effect.
• Kronos took Gner to Sharf’s residence to have another weapon changed into a sacred-flame dagger, then visited Benjamin and asked him to deliver twenty pounds of Heart of Life powder.
• Kronos spent the next three days with no progress on his potion digestion or new spells, while Gner reported a pirate-organized Beyonder gathering that required a pirate’s recommendation.
• Kronos assigned Gner to find a pirate willing to recommend him, despite the navy’s crackdown making pirates difficult to approach in Bayam.

Kronos and Gner collected two newly crafted Beyonder Items from Sharf: a Purification Revolver for Gner and the powerful but dangerous Disease Triangular Dagger for Kronos. Kronos left hoping the Evil-Patterned Black Panther hide could provide more protective pouches, or the dagger might have to be stored away.

• Kronos and Gner visited Sharf to collect their newly crafted Beyonder Items, still locked in a silent standoff after a joke had offended Gner.
• Sharf showed Gner the Purification Revolver, which could use ordinary bullets to produce Holy Light Purification and would last ten months.
• Sharf presented Kronos with the Disease Triangular Dagger, whose abilities were Extreme Speed, disease, and Silk Entanglement.
• Sharf explained that carrying the dagger caused progressively worse illness, though its pouch could protect Kronos from the side effects for a day.
• Gner offered to bring Sharf the Evil-Patterned Black Panther hide for examination, while Kronos asked how distance and recovery affected the dagger's illness.
• Kronos considered getting more protective pouches for the dagger and otherwise sending it to an army storeroom or church basement.

Kronos prepared for the Navy’s expedition to the ruins while arranging a concealed identity and resolving his silent standoff with Gner. As the party entered the jungle, Kronos suspected Deputy Captain Chad was using Spectator Pathway abilities to influence them.

• Kronos imbued the Heart of Life powder and Lucky One Cane with his aura, then received orders to assemble at the Navy Base for the next morning’s mission.
• Kronos asked Lü Er'an to arrange a reliable false identity so he could join the mission without exposing himself.
• Gner delivered three leather pouches made by Sharf and Evil-Patterned Black Panther hide that could conceal Kronos’s triangular spike; Kronos agreed to end their standoff, then claimed a small victory by shutting the door on Gner.
• Kronos and Gner joined the expedition led by Baldwin Barrow, which included four adventurers and six death row inmates.
• As the party entered the jungle, Chad soothed the group’s resentment toward Baldwin, and Kronos suspected Chad was a Psychiatrist or Hypnotist who was influencing them.

Kronos used a series of rituals to search for the spiritually concentrated area where MI9’s underground ruins might be. After narrowing down the location, Baldwin and Chad decided the group would begin digging there.

• Chad explained the mission, and the group reached the clearing Amyrius had prepared after marching until night.
• Kronos slept through the night, then set up several rituals to search for the ruins, borrowing Baldwin’s power.
• Kronos’s first search found a spiritually concentrated area in a direction he indicated, and the group moved two kilometers that way.
• Kronos performed a second search and concluded the ruins were likely beneath their current position, within a one-kilometer area.
• Baldwin and Chad decided to start digging straight down, while the adventurers helped carry away the dirt.

Kronos helped Amyrius’s team uncover and enter ancient ruins after locating them through divination. The chapter ended with Kronos, Gner, and Amyrius descending into the ruins while the others remained outside.

• Kronos and the excavation team dug through packed earth for several days until they uncovered a huge stone door.
• Kronos used divination to guide the search, and Baldwin activated a charm that summoned Amyrius to the site.
• Amyrius opened the door with a charm supplied by MI9 and entered the ruins.
• Kronos and Gner followed Amyrius inside, while Baldwin and Chad stayed outside as the door closed behind them.
• Kronos sensed that the passage led farther underground and realized the stone they had excavated was only an entrance, not the ruins themselves.

Kronos, Amyrius, and Gner explored ruins in Bayam that Kronos recognized as one of Tudor’s hidden sites, finding only a mysterious platform. After Amyrius activated it, Prince Grove Augustus ordered them to leave and warned that anyone who might reveal what happened must not leave the ruins.

• Amyrius led Kronos and Gner deeper into the ruins after they concluded MI9 had probably sent them there knowing they would find nothing valuable.
• The three reached a hidden space between reality and the Spirit World, where a strange metal platform stood beside a cliff and a bottomless gorge.
• Amyrius tossed a charm onto the platform, triggering spatial fluctuations, and Kronos deduced that Botis had helped the alliance locate Tudor’s ruins and undo Mr. Door’s protections.
• Kronos suggested that they return, since the ruins held no apparent treasure or other discoveries.
• Grove Augustus identified himself through the platform, acknowledged Amyrius’s contribution, and ordered the group to leave while warning that anyone who might talk must not leave the ruins.

Kronos and Amyrius returned from the ruins, and Amyrius rewarded Kronos with a powerful charm for his help. At the Navy Base, Lü Er'an gave Kronos the false identity papers he had requested and revealed his resentment at being associated with MI9.

• Kronos relaxed after he and Amyrius left the ruins, and Amyrius used an Imperative Mage ability to open the sealed doors.
• Amyrius teleported Kronos back to the Navy Base and gave him a five-use Ninth Law charm as a reward.
• Kronos returned to Amyrius's office to ask for a carriage, and Amyrius told Lü Er'an to arrange one.
• Lü Er'an gave Kronos the false identity documents he had prepared through secret contacts.
• Lü Er'an explained that Amyrius had freed him from MI9 and that he served only the admiral, then left angrily after Kronos linked him to MI9.

Kronos adopted the detailed Carlson Norman identity prepared by Lü Er'an and visited Sharf to collect items made from the Evil-Patterned Black Panther hide and the Spirit Guide characteristic. Sharf gave him the Spirit Harmonica and explained its abilities and risks, then offered to add a function that could summon a messenger directly.

• Kronos read Carlson Norman's detailed life history, used the Vampire Mask to take his appearance, and decided to use Carlson as a lasting cover identity.
• Kronos returned to the inn, slept, and went to Sharf's residence the next morning after learning Gner had not yet returned.
• Sharf gave Kronos thirty leather sheaths for his Triangular Bayonets and returned some of the Evil-Patterned Black Panther hide.
• Sharf presented the Spirit Harmonica, which could intimidate undead and form up to five contracts with messengers, undead, or nature spirits, while repeated use increased Kronos's undead aura.
• Kronos asked whether the harmonica could summon a messenger directly, and Sharf offered to add that function in one night.