Chapter Summaries

Kronos obtained the Sun Card and prepared to intervene in Qilingus’s assassination attempt on Duke Negan. At Duke Negan’s ball, Kronos revealed the threats surrounding him and persuaded him to follow a plan to fake his death.

• Kronos tracked down the Sun Card’s collector in Tingen and bought the card.
• At the Tarot Club, Kronos withheld the truth about the Creator from Derrick and listened as Derrick explained the City of Silver’s sacrificial ritual.
• Kronos experimented with mystical reenactment, failed to manifest powerful Huaxia myths, and decided to develop fairy-tale magic instead.
• Kronos attended Duke Negan’s ball in disguise, watched Audrey notice Baron Gramir, and prepared a lookalike corpse.
• Kronos summoned Duke Negan to a washroom, placed him inside a time barrier, and used the Manipulation Gloves as he revealed the plots involving George III and Adam.
• Duke Negan accepted Kronos’s plan after hearing about the threats against him.

Kronos foiled Qilingus’s assassination of Duke Negan by trapping the banquet guests in an illusion, then helped Negan hide and assumed the identity of his nephew, Mills Negan. After Qilingus was reported dead, Kronos learned that a High Sequence powerhouse had likely intervened, while the Church of Storms investigated the apparent assassination.

• Kronos suppressed Audrey as Qilingus approached Duke Negan, while Lockhart stepped aside and allowed the attack to proceed.
• Kronos used Fairy Tale Magic: The Little Match Girl to make Qilingus and the guests see an illusory assassination, then helped Duke Negan avoid the false attack and leave behind a prepared corpse.
• Duke Negan asked Kronos to pose as his nephew and oversee Backlund affairs until Philip returned, and Kronos accepted the Negan family badge and took the name Mills Negan.
• Cardinal Snake told Kronos that Qilingus was dead and that a High Sequence powerhouse, possibly from the Numinous Episcopate, had killed him.
• Kronos saw Alger among the Church of Storms delegation and realized that Mr. Azik had likely acted, meaning Creeping Hunger could still end up with Klein.

After Duke Negan’s assassination, Kronos kept the Negan family stable while waiting for Philip to return. Philip came back to Backlund, investigated Mills and Lockhart, then met Kronos privately and asked what he wanted.

• Kronos avoided discussing Cardinal Snake’s indirect warning and asked about the Church of Storms’ response to the assassination; Cardinal Snake promised Pallas would be held accountable.
• Kronos told Lockhart and the butler to avoid outside contact until Philip returned, while the Church of Storms mobilized to search Backlund and the Tarot Club gathering was postponed.
• Philip secretly returned to the Negan Residence and questioned Lockhart and the butler about Mills; the butler supported Philip, while Lockhart tried to keep the two from clashing.
• Philip and Lockhart pretended to cooperate, but Philip sensed something was wrong with his father’s secretary and learned that the butler controlled all the residence guards.
• Philip and the butler went to meet Mills without mobilizing the guards, and Kronos dismissed the butler before revealing his true appearance to Philip.

Kronos revealed to Philip that Duke Negan had faked his death to evade assassination, then reunited father and son. Philip thanked Kronos by giving him the demigod-level Sealed Artifact Tyrant's Roar, whose lightning attacks also inflicted a powerful backlash on its user.

• Kronos told Philip that Duke Negan was alive and explained that the apparent death was a plan to protect him from repeated assassination attempts.
• Philip embraced Duke Negan in the secret room, then thanked Kronos for saving his father and the Negan family.
• Kronos admitted to Philip that he had advanced to Sequence 4 and followed him to the Negan Residence's guarded storeroom.
• Philip opened the storeroom with Duke Negan's badge and offered Kronos the blue walking stick Tyrant's Roar as a thank-you gift.
• Kronos used his Appraiser's glasses to learn that Tyrant's Roar controlled lightning but struck its user with a backlash equal to seventy percent of its power.

Kronos left Philip to manage the Negan family and went to Tingen to prepare for the coming incident at the Blackthorn Security Company. After being briefly corrupted by the True Creator’s divinity, he recovered and watched as Megose’s condition worsened, leaving Leonard unable to delay her any longer.

• Kronos gave Duke Negan’s badge to Philip and used Spirit World Traversal to reach Tingen.
• Kronos spent the day avoiding attention, then staked out the Blackthorn Security Company while waiting for Ince Zangwill and Megose.
• Kronos looked at the True Creator’s divinity within Megose, was affected by its corruption, and escaped into the timeline until the power dissipated.
• Kronos returned, concealed himself near the company, and watched Megose enter and begin to lose control of her body.
• Leonard tried to distract Megose, but when she tore flesh from her face, he said he was going to the washroom.

Kronos secretly stole the corrupt divinity empowering Megose, allowing the Nighthawks to destroy her and survive the battle. He tried to spare Dunn, but Ince Zangwill ambushed Klein and tore out his heart while taking Saint Selena’s Ashes.

• Dunn, Klein, and Leonard fought Megose, using Saint Selena’s Ashes, the Blood Vessel Thief, and the Flaring Sun Charm to restrain and burn her.
• Lady Arianna appeared to Kronos in a dream and spoke cryptically about punishment, rewards, and Klein’s path.
• Kronos stole the corrupt divinity from Megose, stopping the infant’s cries and leaving her unable to resist.
• Kronos strengthened Klein’s Flaring Sun Charm with his own light, and Megose disintegrated beneath its attack.
• Kronos knocked Dunn unconscious and passed the urn to Klein, who found Dunn alive and said they had saved Tingen.
• Ince Zangwill stabbed Klein through the chest, seized the urn, and revealed his one-eyed face as Klein fell.

After Klein's apparent death in Tingen, Kronos let Ince Zangwill escape and returned to Backlund, where he prepared for the coming dangers and attended another Tarot Club gathering. At the gathering, Mr. Fate declined a trade for Secret Order information, and Audrey asked Alger to identify the powerful stranger who appeared during Qilingus's assassination attempt.

• Kronos watched Ince Zangwill stab Klein, restrained himself from intervening, and left Tingen after Leonard found Klein's body and Dunn survived.
• Leonard asked to join the Red Gloves to avenge Klein, and Dunn agreed to join him once Tingen had stabilized.
• Kronos met Arianna at Saint Samuel Cathedral, learned that Ince should be left alive for now, and returned to his experiments in Backlund.
• At the Tarot Club, Alger offered nineteen pages of Roselle's Diary as payment for help against Qilingus, and Mr. Fool shared knowledge about Beyonder characteristics.
• Kronos declined to trade Secret Order information for knowledge of neighboring pathways and joked that a true god was watching him.
• Audrey asked Alger about the powerful person who appeared during Qilingus's attempt to assassinate Duke Negan, and Alger said he had never known Qilingus to have such an associate.

Kronos explored the Tudor ruins beneath 8 Williams Street, hoping to find the Red Priest Blasphemy Card and confront the Red Angel evil spirit, Sauron Einhorn Medici. After examining the statues of the Fourth Epoch's True Gods, he found a room filled with rubble and suspected the True Creator's statue had been removed.

• At the Tarot Club, Hanged Man told Justice he had no information about Duke Negan's assassin, while Kronos decided to avoid contact unless necessary.
• Kronos assessed his abilities and entered the underground ruins beneath 8 Williams Street to seek the Red Priest Card and Sauron Einhorn Medici.
• Kronos opened the ruins and killed the snakes that attacked him at the entrance to the hall.
• Kronos examined statues of the Evernight Goddess and other Fourth Epoch True Gods, noting that the God of Steam and Machinery had not yet existed when the ruins were built.
• Kronos entered a passage and found a room filled with earth and rubble, leading him to suspect that it had once held a statue of the True Creator.

Kronos opened the sealed door and met the Red Angel evil spirit, who offered him the Red Priest Blasphemy Card in exchange for nothing. After recognizing the danger in both the spirit and the weakened ritual imprisoning him, Kronos offered to break the ritual for the card, leaving their bargain unresolved.

• Kronos opened the stone door and found the Red Angel evil spirit imprisoned with the remains of Medici, Sauron, and Einhorn seated nearby.
• Kronos asked about the Red Priest Blasphemy Card, and the Red Angel claimed a member of the Pound Family had given it to him.
• The Red Angel offered Kronos the card, but Kronos refused to take it after his Desire Pocket Watch warned him and he noticed the spirit’s suspicious behavior.
• Kronos examined the ritual beneath the platform and realized that blood from Tudor’s descendants had weakened it almost to the point of breaking.
• Kronos offered to break the ritual in exchange for the card, while the Red Angel urged him to take it without making a bargain.

Kronos broke the ritual imprisoning the Red Angel evil spirit and trapped him with his time-based abilities. After thwarting the spirit’s attacks, Kronos struck from behind with the Spear of Longinus, leaving Sauron Einhorn Medici pierced through.

• Kronos found a flaw in Tudor’s weakened ritual and broke it, then trapped the Red Angel evil spirit inside barriers controlled by his Time God Domain.
• Sauron Einhorn Medici used the Red Priest Card to attack Kronos with a Blazing White Spear concealing a Reaper’s Fatal Attack, but Kronos stopped it with his control over time.
• Sauron Einhorn Medici turned into flames and tried to engulf Kronos with the power of a Sequence 4 Iron-Blooded Knight, but Kronos escaped through the timeline.
• Sauron Einhorn Medici conceded and began considering another approach, but Kronos appeared behind him and pierced his spirit body with the Spear of Longinus.

Kronos used the Red Priest Card and the power of light to weaken and threaten the Red Angel evil spirit, but the three souls distracted him and possessed his body. Kronos began resisting the possession by visualizing the character "Zhe" through his Nine Secrets Meditation, turning the battle of consciousness in his favor.

• Kronos picked up the Red Priest Card after pinning the Red Angel evil spirit with the Spear of Longinus, then purified the card with the power of light.
• Kronos imbued the Spear of Longinus with the power of light and threatened the Red Angel evil spirit into answering his questions.
• Sauron, Einhorn, and Medici argued and fought among themselves to distract Kronos, then the Red Angel evil spirit seized the opening to possess him.
• The Red Angel evil spirit took control of Kronos's body, while Kronos failed to drive him out with the power of light.
• Kronos visualized the character "Zhe" through his Nine Secrets Meditation and began pushing back against the Red Angel evil spirit's control.

Kronos defeated the Red Angel evil spirit’s attempt to possess him and forced it to yield, but learned it did not know the Hermit Pathway formulas. Arianna intervened to take custody of the spirit, and Kronos left the chamber after noticing the Evernight Goddess’s statue was gone.

• Kronos used the Zhe incantation and Death God Mask to regain control of his body and force the Red Angel evil spirit to emerge.
• Kronos questioned Medici, Sauron, and Einhorn about Clairvoyant formulas, but they could not remember them; Medici said Stiano might know.
• Medici deliberately spoke Stiano’s true name to provoke the God of Steam and Machinery, so Kronos punished the Red Angel evil spirit with Tyrant’s Roar.
• Kronos followed a spiritual prompting outside the Time Barrier, where Arianna told him to spare the evil spirit and took it into custody after it tried to flee.
• Kronos returned to the hall and saw that the statue of the Evernight Goddess had disappeared.

Kronos studied the Blasphemy Cards while Duke Negan’s death reshaped Loen’s political balance, then accepted the Tarot Club’s mission to assassinate Ambassador Beckland Jean Madan. He planned to delay the killing so Klein could still face the events that would advance his growth.

• Kronos returned home and tried to activate the Justiciar and Door Blasphemy Cards, but they showed no reaction.
• Philip inherited the dukedom and took control of the navy, while Earl Levett replaced Duke Negan as leader of the Conservative Party.
• Kronos continued studying the cards until the Tarot Club gathered, where Klein issued a mission to assassinate Ambassador Beckland Jean Madan.
• Alger described the ambassador’s actions, and Kronos revealed that Beckland was a Sequence 6 Conspirer with a Sequence 5 bodyguard.
• Kronos accepted the mission in exchange for a future favor of similar difficulty and warned Klein to protect his Blessed.
• Kronos chose to postpone the assassination so Klein could encounter Rosago and continue advancing along his path.

Kronos discovered that knowledge could activate the Blasphemy Cards and tested how much power several cards could provide, while also seeking a way to wield that power more conveniently. On the afternoon of the third day, he put away his research and set out to kill Beckland before the planned attack on Klein.

• After the Tarot Club meeting, Kronos relaxed at Backlund University and realized that knowledge could activate the Blasphemy Cards.
• Kronos used the Justiciar Card to reproduce abilities through Sequence 4, but they remained attached to the card and could not be wielded directly.
• Kronos failed to activate Sequence 3 Chaos Hunter abilities, but the Sun Card provided a Justice Mentor's power for a single strike.
• Kronos tested the Door, Darkness, and Red Priest Cards, then began developing a mysticism spell to borrow the cards' powers more conveniently.
• On the afternoon of the third day, Kronos dismissed his attendant and used Spirit World Traversal to set out for the Five-Pound Ambassador-Killing Incident.

Kronos assassinated Ambassador Beckland and framed the Aurora Order, then contacted Mr. Fool to offer Beckland's body. He kept the valuable Beyonder Characteristic for himself, leaving Klein with only the corpse.

• Kronos checked on Klein near 15 Minsk Street and saw Rosago and Miss Sharron following him.
• Kronos infiltrated the Intis Embassy under an Invisibility Hat, killed Beckland with the Spear of Longinus, and took his body.
• Kronos immobilized the embassy guards with a match and escaped, while Admiral Selt and Lieutenant General Pantek investigated and blamed the Aurora Order.
• Kronos prayed to Mr. Fool and offered Beckland's body, but purified and kept the Conspirer Beyonder Characteristic before performing the sacrifice.
• Klein watched the ritual from Sefirah Castle and received only Beckland's corpse, realizing Kronos had kept the valuable characteristic.

After the Tarot Club questioned Kronos about the Aurora Order, he returned to his magical research and received a request to meet Marquis Nibais about the Sanguine. When Olnia revealed that she had lost contact with Duke Olmer, Lady Arianna relayed the Evernight Goddess’s oracle that the Sanguine needed Kronos’s help, so he agreed to go.

• After Ambassador Beckland’s assassination, Mr. A claimed that the Aurora Order was responsible, and Audrey, Alger, and Klein learned of the claim.
• At the Tarot Club meeting, Miss Justice asked whether Kronos was a Saint of the Aurora Order, and Kronos denied it while saying that even Gade II could make limited use of the True Creator.
• Kronos stayed silent during trading and returned to studying fairy-tale spells and developing his Playing Cards Magic.
• Archbishop Anthony wrote to Kronos, asking him to meet Marquis Nibais Audra about the Sanguine’s plan to join the Nighthawks.
• Kronos asked Olnia about the Sanguine, and Olnia told him she had lost contact with Duke Olmer three days earlier.
• Lady Arianna conveyed the Evernight Goddess’s oracle that the Sanguine needed Kronos’s help, and Kronos decided to meet Nibais and go to the Sanguine.

Kronos traveled with Marquis Nibais to the Sanguine settlement in the Amanda Mountains after Duke Olmer requested his presence. There, he discovered that all three Sanguine Dukes were unconscious and sealing an unknown object, just as someone emerged from a Spirit World passage.

• Kronos met Archbishop Anthony and Marquis Nibais, who asked him to visit the Sanguine settlement because a message from Duke Olmer had requested him.
• Marquis Nibais flew Kronos to the Amanda Mountains and escorted him through the Sanguine settlement to the Ancestral Hall.
• Nibais and Kronos learned that the three Sanguine Dukes were absent from the upper ranks' meeting, then followed five dignitaries beneath the Ancestral Hall.
• The dignitaries revealed that Olmer, Cecil, and Colin had been unconscious for days, sealing an unknown object, and that Olmer had asked them to bring Kronos.
• As Kronos and the others studied the Dukes and the object, a Spirit World passage opened and a figure emerged.

Olnia identified the danger in the Sanguine Ancestral Hall as corruption from the Nation of Disorder, and the Evernight Goddess summoned Kronos to test whether his Power of Time could contain it. After the test succeeded, Amanises asked Kronos to repay her favor by helping with a future task.

• Olnia told the Sanguine leaders that the three Dukes had sealed corruption from the Ghost Empire with their power of creation, but she could not save them.
• Olnia suggested that the Evernight Goddess had sent Kronos because he might have a way to help, and Amanises transported him to Darkened Heaven.
• Amanises asked Kronos to test whether his special ability could limit the spread of corruption, and he agreed.
• Kronos used a Time Barrier to contain and shrink the Nation of Disorder’s corruption until it formed a marble-sized clump.
• Amanises warned Kronos against using the contained corruption recklessly and asked him to help with a future task in exchange for repaying her favor.

Kronos returned from meeting the Evernight Goddess and stayed in the Sanguine settlement while the marquises worked to awaken one of their sealed dukes. At the Tarot Club, he learned that Lanevus had been killed, heard news about the pirates and his own reputation as Starship Ranger Klein, and suspected a Devil Dog was behind a series of Backlund murders.

• Kronos explained that his time barrier could restrain the corruption but could not penetrate the dukes’ power of creation, so Nibais proposed that the six marquises help the dukes until one awakened; Kronos agreed to stay for several days.
• Olnia left without speaking, and Nibais inferred that Duke Olmer had invited Kronos in hopes of drawing her out; Kronos then settled in the Sanguine village and researched his magic.
• At the Tarot Club gathering, Kronos confirmed that Klein’s revenge plan had killed Lanevus, and Alger reported that Vice Admiral Hurricane Qilingus’s fleet had been taken over and Vice Admiral of Ailment Tracy had emerged.
• Kronos warned the Tarot Club members to avoid Tracy because her mother was a ruthless Sequence 3, while Alger introduced the Four Kings, Seven Generals, and Starship Ranger Klein, revealing that he had met Klein and shared a meal with him.
• Audrey reported a series of murders in Backlund targeting women who had left street work, and Kronos suspected the Devil Dog he had overlooked after dealing with Jason Beria was responsible.

Kronos helped the Sanguine contain the corruption threatening their seal by enclosing it in a Time Barrier. Once the gray corruption vanished, a silvery-white substance appeared, and Kronos recognized its aura from the Justiciar Card.

• Kronos warned the Tarot Club members that a Devil could sense and trace malice directed at him.
• After three days, Kronos entered the Ancestral Hall and learned that the Sanguine Marquises had joined the Dukes in sustaining the seal.
• Duke Olmer awoke, scolded the Marquises for weakening the seal, and agreed to let Kronos deal with the corruption.
• Kronos opened a gap in the seal, placed a Time Barrier over it, and expanded the barrier inward while the corruption battered it.
• Olmer supplied Kronos with potions that restored his spirituality, allowing Kronos to contain the corruption and shrink the barrier.
• The corruption vanished, revealing a silvery-white substance whose aura Kronos recognized from the Justiciar Card.