Recaps

Kronos settled a fair room draw for the three church deacons, then discussed his family’s move back to Midseashire and the future of the Research Center with Kask and Portland. He arranged for the center to be named after his family and offered to help Kask, who said there was no hurry.

• Kronos suppressed Beyonder abilities with the Decree Scroll and held a random draw to assign rooms to Ikanser, Soest, and Roy.
• Soest drew the best room, Roy the worst, and Ikanser the middle one; all three accepted the results and went with assistant researchers to discuss their rooms’ decor.
• Kronos left the deacons with the assistant researchers, then told Kask and Portland about shifting blame onto them and treated them to a meal.
• Kronos said his family wanted to return to Midseashire and that Portland would take charge of the Research Center.
• Kronos asked for the center to be named the Argel Research Center after Backlund Technical University opened enrollment, explaining that his family wanted to keep a low profile until it was established.
• Kronos offered to ask Duke Negan to help Kask, but Kask said there was no hurry.

Kronos decided to send Yodsen, his marionette, to Mr. A’s gathering so he could attend with less risk. After settling Yodsen into a chair and finding little of interest among the trading offers or guests, Kronos was approached by an attendant.

• Kask explained that he would rely on his parliamentary support and future seat rather than ask Duke Negan for the weak Secretary-General position, and Kronos agreed.
• Kronos learned that Mr. A’s gathering was being held again and decided to attend through Yodsen, his marionette.
• Kronos released Yodsen near the villa and endured the Marionette Illustrated Compendium’s ten-minute stiffening effect before taking control of him.
• Kronos controlled Yodsen into the gathering and settled him in an armchair while conserving his spirituality through meditation.
• Kronos examined the trading board and guests, hoping to find a useful Beyonder to recruit, but gained no clear information.
• An attendant approached Yodsen and addressed him as “Sir,” catching Kronos’s attention.

Kronos met privately with Mr. A, who wanted to trade a rare Beyonder Item called Flesh Whisper. Kronos’s bluff about military restrictions and the Aurora Order’s alliance scared Mr. A away from negotiating, leaving Kronos regretting that he had refused the deal.

• Kronos went to Mr. A’s room and refused to sell him Beyonder Items, claiming his supplies were strictly controlled and trading with the Aurora Order risked exposure.
• Mr. A offered Flesh Whisper, which stored Beyonder flesh and blood and could refine five pounds into a Flesh Bomb at the cost of half a pound of the user’s own flesh and blood.
• Kronos warned that MI9 and the royal family could not cover up everything, making Mr. A fear that a military demigod might oppose the Aurora Order’s alliances.
• Mr. A asked for intelligence or potion formulas in exchange for Flesh Whisper, but Kronos demanded a Shepherd Beyonder Item as well, and Mr. A declined.
• Kronos and Mr. A fell silent without making a deal, while Kronos privately regretted refusing the trade.

Kronos completed a trade with Mr. A at the Trading Gathering, then noticed a newcomer seeking the Sequence 8 Trickmaster formula and suspected the person was Fors. He let events take their course and eventually returned his consciousness from the exhausting marionette to his real body.

• Mr. A bought Flesh Whisper from Kronos for five thousand pounds and arranged to have a war blade made to fit inside a walking stick.
• Kronos returned his marionette to his seat and rested while recovering his spirituality.
• A cloaked newcomer arrived late and posted a request to buy the Sequence 8 Trickmaster Potion formula.
• Kronos suspected the newcomer might be Fors but chose not to approach them.
• After the gathering ended, Kronos slowly guided the marionette out of the villa and returned his consciousness to his real body.

Kronos attended Philip’s dinner party and learned that the Negan family avoided pursuing demigod power because of the royal family’s control. He privately promised to help Philip after they both grew stronger, leaving them resolved to change their families’ situation in the future.

• Kronos gave up on using his marionette to join the Hermits of Fate and planned to turn its Beyonder characteristic into an Error Pathway item.
• Kronos attended Philip’s dinner party after Philip returned to Backlund for a military commendation ceremony.
• Philip explained that Duke Negan had advised him not to intervene in Kronos’s conflict with Saint Hilleran Cathedral, and Kronos warned Philip to avoid getting involved.
• Philip said the Negan family had no demigod potion formula and feared the royal family’s conditions for granting demigod power.
• Kronos privately told Philip to seek his help after digesting his Sequence 5 potion, and Philip agreed to wait until they were both in their prime.

Kronos discovered that Patrick Jason, a Sequence 5 Devil he wanted to hunt, was a shareholder in Kain Bank. After learning where Jason lived, Kronos moved to West Borough to investigate carefully while preparing to make scrolls.

• Marquis Argel's butler brought Kronos detailed files on Kain Bank and the Kain Club, including a preliminary relocation proposal.
• While reading the files, Kronos recognized shareholder Patrick Jason as Jason Beria, a Desire Apostle whose Malice Perception made him a dangerous target.
• Kronos realized his Concealment of Time could prevent Jason from sensing him and considered how to kill him after Kain's shares were brought under the family's control.
• Kronos recalled Jason's appearance, habits, and address at 6 Edward Street, deciding not to hire a detective who might alert him.
• Kronos moved to West Borough to observe Jason's surroundings for ten days to half a month and arranged for his scroll-making materials to be brought over.

Kronos prepared for a possible attack on Jason Beria, then attended a Navy Committee commendation ceremony where he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. The ceremony left off with Kronos asleep during the speeches, while Philip tried to wake him before the admirals called attention to him.

• Kronos surveyed the neighborhood around 6 Edward Street and planned to obtain Jason's building plans and learn his routine before acting.
• Kronos arrived at the Ministry of Defense for his promotion, where Philip joined him and led him to the Navy Committee.
• Philip told Kronos that his merits were genuine and asked whether he wanted a position in the Navy Committee, but Kronos declined.
• The commendation ceremony began, and Kronos fell asleep during the admirals' speeches.
• The admirals recognized Kronos as Marquis Argel's heir and signaled Philip to wake him, so Philip nudged Kronos.

After a military commendation ceremony, Kronos visited Philip’s estate to see his hunting animals and asked him to obtain house plans from Edward Street. Philip showed Kronos his enormous kennel of fierce hounds, while Kronos considered whether any would suit his needs.

• Kronos received the rank of lieutenant colonel at the Ministry of Defense ceremony, while Philip received the rank of colonel.
• Philip explained to Kronos that the ceremony’s fabricated military achievements were a customary favor to retiring men and would not diminish their genuine records.
• Philip invited Kronos to see his hunting pets, and Kronos asked him to obtain plans for the houses on Edward Street.
• Philip agreed to arrange for the plans and told Kronos to ask for help if he needed it, but Kronos said he could handle things himself.
• Philip took Kronos to his estate outside Backlund, where Kronos saw more than a dozen powerful hounds and learned the family bred and sold them as a business.

Kronos joined Philip on a hunting trip, where their banter led to Philip promising him an eagle. Watching Philip unwind in the mountains made Kronos resolve to grow strong enough to save Duke Negan and protect the people he cared about.

• Kronos and Philip argued over the Argel Family’s demigod-level Sealed Artifacts, which Kronos denied having.
• Philip explained that he had released his eagles into the mountains because training them required too much time, then offered to catch Kronos a beautiful one.
• Philip and Kronos stayed overnight at the manor and set out early with seasoned hunters to hunt in the mountains.
• Kronos watched Philip’s excitement and understood that the hunt helped him release the strain of his family responsibilities.
• Kronos resolved to become stronger so he could save Duke Negan and give his friends and family better futures.

Kronos and Philip hunted in the mountains, where Kronos spotted a Sea Eastern Green and captured it without injuring it. Philip watched Kronos use his Beyonder abilities and realized he had let his own abilities and advancement stagnate.

• Kronos found hunting dull but discovered that his enhanced eyesight made him an excellent archer.
• Philip described the mountain’s leopards, and Kronos recounted his dangerous encounter with one in Tiana.
• Kronos and Philip spotted a Sea Eastern Green, and Kronos stopped the hunters from shooting it.
• Kronos used Requiem to make the hawk drowsy, then used Rampant Growth to trap its talons in a branch.
• Kronos knocked the hawk unconscious with a blunt arrow and captured it alive.
• Philip reflected on Kronos’s progress and recognized that he had neglected his own Beyonder abilities and advancement.

Kronos brought the captured Sea Eastern Green to his manor and trained it, naming it Qing. After Qing quickly learned to obey him, Kronos brought it to Backlund and resumed his routine while considering whether it was safe to give the falcon a potion.

• Kronos and Philip brought the Sea Eastern Green to Philip's manor, where the falconer agreed to help train it.
• Kronos left for his manor outside Backlund and personally trained the falcon, naming it Qing; Qing submitted unusually quickly and completed the initial stages in five days.
• Philip visited Argel Manor, watched Qing hunt a rabbit on Kronos's signal, and regretted not keeping a falcon of his own.
• Kronos returned to Backlund with Qing and kept it at home, delaying a potion until he was sure its wildness had faded.
• Qing began visiting Kronos at the Research Center, where Portland came to see it and Kronos suggested that potions could make a trained falcon a Paranormal Creature.

Kronos investigated Jason’s house while Jason attended a banquet and discovered that its unusually thick exterior walls concealed a network of pipes. He learned that Jason could use his Desire Incarnation to escape through them, leaving Kronos to account for the hidden passageways in his plans.

• Portland agreed to consider a dog for protection, and Kronos arranged for him to receive an enormous one.
• Kronos watched Jason’s house until Jason left for a banquet, then drugged and hypnotized the Devil Dog guarding the yard.
• Kronos entered the house and found that its interior was much smaller than the floor plan indicated because its exterior walls were unusually thick.
• Kronos used the Eye of Time to watch the house being built and saw workers from the Beria Family install interconnected pipes inside the walls.
• Kronos learned that Jason could use his Desire Incarnation to pass through the pipes and move quickly through the house’s walls.

Kronos mapped Jason’s defenses and left without alerting him, then continued planning how to obtain Jason’s Beyonder Characteristic. On the Southern Continent, Gner agreed to accompany Alfred to the Northern Province and explained that he had chosen to serve Kronos of his own accord.

• Kronos used the Eye of Time to locate holes in Jason’s reception room and dining room, woke the Devil Dog, and escaped before Jason returned.
• Kronos watched Jason show no sign of noticing the intrusion, then resumed waiting for opportunities to investigate him while working to strengthen himself.
• At a postwar commendation ceremony in West Balam, Alfred received a promotion to lieutenant colonel and Gner was promoted to major for their squad’s service.
• Alfred invited Gner to join his transfer to the Northern Province, and Gner agreed while warning that he would leave if Kronos ever needed him.
• Gner told Alfred how his military career had been derailed after he injured a nobleman’s son and how Kronos helped him retire from the Royal Navy Base.
• Gner explained that Kronos had never demanded his loyalty, but he had decided to make Kronos’s will his own goal.

Kronos focused on creating Sequence 5 scrolls, completing Distortion and beginning the difficult work of designing Disorder. Meanwhile, Mr. Kask secured the Secretary-General position and was summoned by George III, who questioned him about Kronos.

• Gner told Alfred that Kronos had saved him from misery, then reassured him that they were still friends.
• Kronos secluded himself and completed a Sequence 5 Distortion scroll after four days of practice.
• Kronos began researching Disorder, and Marquis Argel’s butler watched him at work before leaving, convinced his talents mattered more than the family business.
• After five days, Kronos devised a preliminary Disorder scroll design, failed to inscribe it, and continued practicing to find its flaws.
• The royal family exposed and arrested Members of Parliament linked to the Church of Steam and Machinery, then secured Kask’s appointment as Secretary-General.
• George III summoned Kask to the palace and asked him questions about Kronos.

After questioning Kask about Kronos, George III sent Prince Grove to investigate the Argel Family’s strength and resources. Kask feared he was being watched, so he asked Portland to discreetly warn Kronos about the Royal Family’s interest.

• Kask carefully answered George III’s questions about Kronos without lying, and George III sent him home.
• George III consulted Prince Grove, who advised that Kronos was clever and that the Argel Family’s fighting strength needed to be assessed.
• George III tasked Prince Grove with investigating Argel Manor in Backlund and the Argel Family’s resources in Midseashire.
• Kask decided not to contact Kronos directly and waited until the next day to approach Portland at the Higher Education Committee.
• Portland used his bracelet to create an illusion barrier, and Kask told him about George III’s questions and asked him to warn Kronos discreetly.

Portland warned Kronos that George III had questioned Kask about him and the Argel Family, prompting Kronos to alert Marquis Argel to suspend the family's activities. The family went into hiding, unaware that Prince Grove had already finished observing them and the royal operation had ended.

• Portland reassured Kask, then hurried to Kronos's home to warn him about George III's questions.
• Portland told Kronos that George III had questioned Kask about him and the Argel Family, and Kronos decided the matter was not serious.
• Kronos wrote Marquis Argel a letter advising him to halt the family's activities and remain hidden.
• Marquis Argel and Old Man discussed the possibility that a powerful observer had watched them, then agreed to lie low.
• A telegram from Midseashire caused the Argel Family's associates across the Northern Continent to stop their activities.
• Prince Grove had already observed the Argel Family's Beyonders and reported to George III, though he failed to notice their arrangements or Kronos's Concealment of Time.

Kronos used the pause in the Argel Family’s operations to focus on his experiments and gradually learned to sense flaws in the Skill Scroll’s design. When his Fence Association badge summoned him to a gathering in White Cliff Town, he traveled there early and prepared his equipment before the evening meeting.

• Kronos told the butler to notify him before taking action against Jason, then devoted most of his time in the laboratory to developing materials and studying the Skill Scroll.
• Kronos sensed a Beyonder vibration from his Fence Association badge and learned that the gathering would take place on February 23, 1348, in White Cliff Town.
• Kronos recognized that White Cliff Town was near Amon’s mausoleum and decided to attend the gathering himself rather than risk using a Yodsen Marionette to infiltrate the Hermits of Fate.
• Kronos followed the badge’s guidance to a wood east of White Cliff Town, inspected the gathering site, and familiarized himself with the surroundings.
• Kronos checked into an Argel Family inn, laid out his scrolls and Beyonder items, and rested before the gathering.

Kronos attended the Fence Association gathering, where he uncovered the host’s attempt to steal from newcomers and accepted an invitation to a gathering for Mid- and High-Sequence Beyonders. As the host insisted he meant no harm, Kronos’s spirituality warned him that something was wrong.

• Kronos arrived at the woods and learned from the host that his badge needed fresh energy to remain usable.
• Kronos used a scroll’s whirlwind to take the replacement badge from the host, recognizing that the man’s ability was likely theft.
• Kronos found little of interest among the Low Sequence goods, and the host invited him to a more exclusive exchange gathering.
• Kronos suspected the host was leading him into a trap and secretly prepared his Beyonder Items and scrolls for a fight.
• Kronos reached a shelter where five or six Beyonders were gathered, but his spirituality trembled when the host again claimed he meant no harm.

Kronos attended a gathering where the host offered a bone containing the properties of a Demigod’s Marauder Pathway characteristic. Seeing its value and knowing his Artisan could use it, Kronos asked to buy it, while an organizer’s collaborator watched him as a target for a planned robbery.

• A man who had recognized Kronos’s badge recruited three Sequence 6 collaborators to rob him after the gathering, believing Kronos was only Sequence 7 and carrying valuable Beyonder items.
• Kronos entered the shelter, judged that no Demigods were present, and stayed quiet as the gathering began under a Sequence 5 host.
• The host brought out a Demigod’s bone containing an incomplete Marauder Pathway characteristic, explaining that an Artisan could turn it into a powerful Beyonder item.
• Kronos realized the bone was valuable to him because he had an Artisan at home, then asked the host about its price and offered to pay in pounds sterling.
• The collaborator observing Kronos was pleased that he appeared willing to spend heavily and anticipated a lucrative robbery.

Kronos bought a demigod’s bone for fifteen thousand pounds after signing a mystical contract, then returned to find the Trading Gathering continuing under a new host. The gathering resumed with a request for an adult Mind Dragon, an ingredient Kronos recognized as important to the Dreamwalker potion.

• Kronos negotiated the demigod’s bone down to fifteen thousand pounds and agreed to a contract verified by a golden cross.
• Kronos signed the contract as Klein, carefully inspected the bone for signs of tampering, and took it away.
• Kronos mocked the host’s temperament, prompting the host to abandon the gathering and his companion to take over.
• Kronos returned to the shelter as the new host resumed the gathering.
• A participant asked to buy an adult Mind Dragon or information about one, and Kronos recognized it as a Dreamwalker potion ingredient.

At a Fence Association gathering, Kronos traded for the Sequence 5 Lawyer Pathway potion formula and inspected a pair of Sealed Artifact boots. The boots offered powerful earth-based abilities but transformed their user into a giant bear after use.

• Kronos advised a man searching for an adult mind dragon to look in the Southern Continent, then bought a crate of potions from Ernes Boyar, who recognized him from his time guarding Kronos.
• Kronos offered a Mentor of Disorder potion formula, a Sequence 6 Beyonder item, and money in exchange for the Sequence 5 Lawyer Pathway potion formula.
• The seller agreed to the trade for the formula, a suitable Sequence 6 item, and two thousand pounds sterling.
• Kronos chose to trade away the Hat of Order, whose abilities suited the seller, and received the Earth War Boots for inspection.
• The seller explained that the Earth War Boots granted earth-based powers and stamina but caused their user to transform into a giant bear after use.

Kronos completed a trade for the Earth War Boots and left the Exchange Gathering, knowing someone was following him. On the road to town, he was ambushed by four masked Beyonders and fought back with a Decree scroll and his Bright Light War Blade.

• Kronos and the trader agreed to exchange the Earth War Boots for the Hat of Order, the Disciplinary Paladin potion formula, and a hundred pounds, then signed a contract after the Exchange Gathering.
• After completing the trade, Kronos used the Eyes of Mystery Prying to check his surroundings and put on the Earth War Boots before leaving the woods.
• A masked staff member secretly followed Kronos and crushed a badge as he headed toward town.
• Kronos encountered four masked people on the road, identified the thief, a lookout, and the Exchange Gathering host, and realized another Sequence 6 was following behind them.
• The host ordered the group to attack, and Kronos used a Sequence 5 Decree scroll to prohibit theft before unleashing Blade Light Storm.
• Kronos's blade lights cut down the three attackers behind the charging Soul Assurer, and the Dream Stealer and Hypnotist pretended to be unconscious.

Kronos used his scrolls and Distortion Gauntlet to defeat the Soul Assurer and turn the fight against the remaining attackers. As he charged the Dream Stealer, the Wind-blessed attacked Kronos from behind with three wind blades.

• Kronos distorted the Soul Assurer's Requiem so it struck the Wind-blessed, then used a scroll to keep the Wind-blessed drowsy.
• Kronos let the Soul Assurer steal a disposable scroll and slashed his arm before binding him with water and killing him.
• The two sneaks rose to fight, and the Hypnotist persuaded the Dream Stealer not to flee.
• The Dream Stealer stole Kronos's thought, but Kronos planted a thought that made the Dream Stealer strike the Hypnotist instead.
• Kronos charged the shocked Dream Stealer while the Wind-blessed fired three wind blades at Kronos's back.

Kronos defeated the Wind-blessed and his companions after turning their loyalty and anger against them. The chapter ended with the wounded Wind-blessed collapsing and asking Kronos to kill him.

• Kronos used the Dream Stealer to block the Wind-blessed's blades, then attacked the fallen Hypnotist while the Wind-blessed repeatedly intervened to protect his friend.
• Kronos provoked the Wind-blessed into charging him, then killed the Hypnotist and drew the enraged Wind-blessed into close combat.
• Kronos and the Wind-blessed fought with blades and fists as Ernes Boyar and a Vampire watched from a tree.
• Ernes stopped the Vampire from interfering and directed him to tie up the unconscious Fire Thief.
• Kronos's Vampire's Heart helped him recover from punches, while repeated slashes weakened the Wind-blessed until he collapsed and conceded defeat.

Kronos overcame the Distortion Gauntlet’s influence and joined forces with Ernes to question the captured Fire Thief about his attack and the Hermits of Fate. The prisoner revealed little before he suddenly aged and died, leaving the organization’s strength unknown.

• Kronos used a willpower charm to clear his mind, apologized to Ernes, and introduced himself as Klein while Ernes gave his real name.
• Ernes gave Kronos a potion that woke the injured Fire Thief through intense mental pain.
• Kronos tortured the Fire Thief until he revealed that he had targeted Kronos for seeming wealthy and that James Rhodes had joined the attackers after taking offense.
• The Fire Thief said James Rhodes’s grandfather might be a Demigod and confirmed that James had joined the Error Pathway despite his family’s anger.
• Kronos questioned the Fire Thief about the Hermits of Fate, but the prisoner aged rapidly and died just as he began describing an Angel in the organization.