Chapter Summaries

Kronos contained the corruption on the Hand of Order Beyonder characteristic and returned to Backlund, where he joined Isengard's investigation of the Devil Dog. While searching Jason's House for the reason the dog kept returning, Kronos found evidence connecting Jason to the Twilight Hermit Order and a booklet that might still link him to someone else.

• Kronos contained the corruption on the Hand of Order Beyonder characteristic, and Olmer removed the seal after Kronos had it under control.
• Kronos returned to Backlund with the Sanguine's potions and learned from Isengard that the Devil Dog was suspected of committing serial murders to advance.
• Kronos warned Isengard about the Devil Dog's advancement ritual and offered to help stop it.
• Kronos compared Isengard's map with Backlund and concluded that the Devil Dog was likely searching for something at Jason's House.
• Kronos searched Jason's House and found a dangerous Beyonder pocket watch, a notebook of potion formulas that he burned, and a hidden booklet marked "Twilight."
• Kronos read the booklet's conversation between Jason and an unknown recruiter, whose final message asked whether Jason was dead, and realized the booklet might still connect to the other person.

Kronos brought the Twilight booklet to Saint Samuel Cathedral, where it merged into the Church of Evernight’s giant tome. He left the cathedral with the Devil Dog still at large, waiting for Marquis Nibais to return, and chose not to use the dangerous pocket watch he had obtained.

• Kronos placed his Eyes of Mystery Prying above Jason’s house to watch for the Devil Dog, then delivered the booklet to Saint Samuel Cathedral.
• Archbishop Anthony led Kronos through the Chanis Gate, where Kronos saw the giant tome bearing the word “Twilight.”
• Kronos removed the Time Barrier from the booklet, and it flew into and merged with the giant tome.
• Anthony explained that the tome transmitted information for the Twilight Hermit Order and that the Goddess had ordered confiscated booklets to be merged into it.
• Kronos told Anthony that the Sanguine’s problems had been resolved, while Anthony said their plans to join the Nighthawks awaited Marquis Nibais’s return.
• Back at his lodgings, Kronos decided against using the Gate of the Abyss pocket watch because its aura might corrupt him.

Kronos dreamed of Backlund in ruins and learned that Will Auceptin had drawn him into the dream to warn him about the Apocalypse and his possible death. Will tried to persuade him to stop advancing, but left without explaining Kronos’s fate, and Kronos woke drenched in sweat.

• Kronos dreamed of a ruined Backlund and saw the world’s barrier cracking under an attack by the Outer Deities.
• Will Auceptin appeared and showed Kronos the True Gods and archangels preparing to defend the barrier, including a future version of Will who had become a god.
• Will claimed Kronos would die in the first invasion and urged him to stop advancing until it had passed, promising that he could then resume his progress.
• Kronos questioned Will’s motives, and Will admitted he had already let Kronos go twice and threatened to haunt his dreams rather than kill him and help Ouroboros.
• Kronos asked whether the Angel of Fate would kill him and what his own fate was, but Will vanished without answering.
• Kronos woke drenched in sweat and realized Will’s influence had caused his unusual desire to sleep.

After resisting Will Auceptin’s attempt to stop his advancement, Kronos continued his research and answered an urgent call from the Iron Anchor. He agreed to rescue Roel’s failing teacher and arranged for Todd to pursue demigod advancement, while considering whether Hal could safely advance as well.

• Kronos concluded that Will wanted to halt his advancement because it could affect Will’s chance of becoming a god, but he decided to keep progressing despite the risk.
• Kronos used Hal to answer Todd, Gner, and Roel’s urgent contact, and Roel asked him to help his teacher, whose Mechanical Puppet was close to failing.
• Kronos agreed to meet Roel’s teacher after handling business in Backlund and told the Iron Anchor to move closer so he could pick Roel up.
• Kronos learned that Todd had mastered his Sequence 5 potion and promised to bring him the Iron-Blooded Knight formula, telling him to gather ingredients for the Cataclysmic Interrer potion first.
• Gner questioned whether Kronos could withstand Hal’s advancement, and Kronos said he expected to manage it while reflecting on how the Time Stone or the Nine Secrets might strengthen his consciousness.

Kronos stayed silent through most of the Tarot Club meeting, then traded information about Flegrea for a favor from Klein. He later went to the Royal Museum to wait for Bernadette, watching Klein and Audrey arrive as preparations for their plans began.

• Kronos continued monitoring Jason's home for the Devil Dog and joined the October 15 Tarot Club gathering, where he declined to answer most questions.
• Derrick asked about the Seven Gods, and Kronos refused to trade details, telling him the other members could provide a general overview.
• Kronos offered to trade information about Flegrea for a favor from Klein and described the ancient demon wolf and his surviving daughter, the Mother of Heaven.
• Kronos retrieved his Eyes of Mystery Prying and went to the Royal Museum, where he concealed himself and waited near Roselle's Plagiarized Manuscript for Bernadette.
• Klein visited the exhibition and inspected the manuscript, while Kronos later watched Audrey perform reverence toward Roselle's belongings and noticed Susie becoming wary.

Kronos watched Klein steal several bookmarks from the Royal Museum, but Bernadette never appeared, disrupting Kronos's expectations. After Klein encountered the Devil Dog, Kronos tracked it to the sewers, killed it, and discovered its murders had been driven by an addictive urge to kill.

• Audrey examined Roselle's plagiarized manuscript and tested its bookmark with Susie's help during the museum tour.
• Klein set a fire to distract museum staff, stole several bookmarks, and escaped when Captain Max confronted him, while Bernadette failed to appear.
• Kronos followed Klein, who encountered a Devil Dog at a murder scene and escaped by shouting for help; Kronos secretly took one of the dog's hairs.
• Kronos tracked the Devil Dog to its sewer base, trapped it, and fatally struck it with the Spear of Longinus.
• Kronos searched the Devil Dog's memories and learned it had stayed in Backlund to seek potion ingredients through Jason's booklet, while its murders had been fueled by its killing addiction.

After Will Auceptin warned Kronos that he would use fate to obstruct his advancement, Kronos resolved to keep pursuing his goals and traveled with Roel to Roel’s hometown. There, they uncovered suspicious census workers searching for something stolen from the military, and Kronos revealed that Roel had been followed.

• Kronos received a message from Will Auceptin, who said he would disrupt Kronos’s fate and block his opportunities but would help him fulfill a wish if he reached Sequence One.
• Kronos returned to the Iron Anchor, left Todd and Hal the Iron-Blooded Knight potion formula and advancement ritual, and departed with Roel.
• Kronos and Roel traveled through Midseashire to the Republic of Intis, then continued to Roel’s hometown near Delis.
• Kronos detected a Sequence 6 Beyonder in Roel’s village and overheard two census workers discussing their search for something stolen from the military.
• After Roel met with villagers, he followed Kronos’s note to the mountain entrance, where Kronos told him that someone had been following him.

Kronos and Roel found Roel’s teacher, Fan Aistin, trapped inside a damaged puppet and removed its energy core to preserve his life. Fan Aistin revealed his connection to Emperor Roselle and explained how a suspected student’s betrayal had left him gravely injured.

• A Sequence 6 Beyonder attacked Kronos and Roel, but Kronos restrained him and hurried with Roel into the mountains to rescue his teacher.
• Kronos and Roel entered a hidden chamber, where Roel found Fan Aistin housed inside a failing Mechanical Puppet.
• Fan Aistin explained that Kronos needed to destroy the puppet carefully and remove its Sequence 4 energy core intact, so Kronos cut open the puppet’s chest.
• While examining the machinery, Kronos learned that Fan Aistin had worked with Emperor Roselle and had helped the Church of Steam and Machinery bring Roselle’s son under its control.
• Fan Aistin recounted how an unknown student had likely leaked his location before his attempted advancement to Sequence 3, leaving him wounded and stranded in the puppet.

Kronos recovered Fan Aistin’s energy core and sent Roel to escape while he drew their pursuer away. After being framed for stealing General Adri’s Defense Map, Kronos fought the general and James Rhodes’s father, ending the chapter after striking the latter with Mind Breath.

• Kronos removed Fan Aistin’s energy core, then gave it to Roel and urged him to flee to Midseashire while Kronos drew their pursuer away.
• Kronos lured the pursuer into the mountains, where a Wheel of Fortune Pathway attack and a widening fissure and unnatural flames struck at him.
• A middle-aged man framed Kronos for stealing General Adri’s Defense Map, and General Adri demanded that Kronos surrender and pledge allegiance to the republic.
• Kronos attacked General Adri with Tyrant’s Roar and trapped him in Playing Cards Castle, then recognized the other man as James Rhodes’s father, a Misfortune Mage seeking revenge.
• Kronos’s Wonderful Horn and Spear of Longinus wounded James Rhodes’s father, but the man redirected the spear’s injury back onto Kronos; Kronos healed with a potion and struck him with Mind Breath.

Kronos fought a Misfortune Mage while General Adri battled the forces inside the Playing Cards Castle. After defeating both enemies, Kronos faced a meteor shower summoned by the dying Misfortune Mage.

• Kronos struck the Misfortune Mage with Mind Breath, but the mage used misfortune to disrupt Kronos’s spells and started an earthquake at the cost of his own life force.
• Kronos used Time God Domain to withstand the earthquake and took control of the battle against General Adri inside the Playing Cards Castle.
• The Secrets Sorcerer broke General Adri’s steel transformation, and the Justice Mentor killed him with Holy Light.
• Kronos escaped the earthquake fissure and charged the Misfortune Mage, whose stronger curse was stopped by Kronos’s Time Barrier.
• The Misfortune Mage died, and a cluster of meteors fell from the sky toward Kronos.

Kronos escaped the meteor shower and hid until the lingering misfortune faded, while investigators failed to understand the battle that killed General Adri. Back in Conston City, he reunited with Roel and Fan Aistin, then decided how to use the Demigod characteristics and Beyonder Items he had recovered.

• Kronos used his Time Godbody to wait out the meteor shower, then took the Misfortune Mage’s and General Adri’s corpses to Fan Aistin’s secret room and concealed himself with ritual magic.
• Investigators concluded that two Demigods had killed General Adri, but later learned that the three Demigods had not been allies; by then, Roel was already nearing Midseashire.
• After three days, Kronos recovered from the misfortune and returned to Conston City, where he found Roel and agreed to let Fan Aistin remain with him in hopes of making a new Puppet.
• Roel turned Fan Aistin’s Energy Core into a ring, and Kronos left the Iron-Blooded Knight characteristic with Roel before deciding to help Todd advance to Demigod.
• Kronos kept the Misfortune Mage characteristic for later and examined the recovered Beyonder Items, including Winner’s Protection and the Demigod-level Curse of the Marionette.

Kronos resolved his feud with the Misfortune Mage family, attended the Tarot Club, and agreed to help Cattleya earn the Clairvoyant potion formula. Because he expected to advance within months rather than years, he asked Cattleya to contact Queen Mystic for another way to obtain it.

• The elderly Misfortune Mage accepted peace with Kronos, then advanced to Sequence 3 as a Chaoswalker after fate acknowledged the resolution.
• At the Tarot Club, Kronos warned Alger to abandon the Church of Storms' investigation into missing slaves and explained three ways to remove an evil god's corruption from a Beyonder Characteristic.
• Kronos agreed to shatter Klein's corrupted All-Black Eye when needed, while Klein postponed the decision to protect his World identity.
• Todd prepared the Iron-Blooded Knight advancement ritual with the Iron Anchor crew, and Kronos left the ship two days later.
• Kronos visited Cattleya aboard the Future to seek the Sequence 3 Clairvoyant potion formula, and she offered to pool their contributions through the Moses Ascetic Order.
• Because Cattleya estimated that earning enough contributions would take years, Kronos asked her to contact Queen Mystic.

Kronos tried to obtain the Clairvoyant potion formula through Cattleya and Queen Mystic, but Will blocked their attempt to contact Bernadette. After Cattleya warned him about the Hidden Sage, Kronos abandoned the idea of raiding the Moses Ascetic Order and was left searching for another way to get the formula.

• Kronos revealed that he knew Cattleya’s connection to Queen Mystic and asked her to arrange a trade for the Clairvoyant potion formula.
• Cattleya said she had no way to contact the Dawn of Elements, so Kronos recited Bernadette’s honorific name instead.
• Bernadette did not respond to either Kronos or Cattleya, and Will sent a letter saying she was absorbed in the mysteries of fate.
• Kronos told Cattleya that Bernadette was occupied, and she warned him that the Hidden Sage could easily kill him if he entered the Moses Ascetic Order.
• Kronos decided against raiding the Moses Ascetic Order and asked Cattleya for another way to obtain the formula, but she had no suggestions.

Kronos sought the Duke of Entropy potion formula from Nast Solomon, who had intercepted him aboard The Black Emperor to forbid Hal and Todd from becoming demigods. Learning that Nast lacked the formula himself, Kronos offered to request it from the Evernight Goddess in exchange for a trade, and Nast promised to protect Hal and Todd’s advancement and offer him a Beyonder Item.

• Kronos asked Cattleya about the Moses Ascetic Order, then decided to seek Leonard and investigate whether his grandfather could help with the Hermit Pathway.
• While traveling through the Spirit World, Kronos encountered The Black Emperor and boarded after Nast Solomon called him Mr. Klein and invited him to talk.
• Nast demanded that Kronos stop Hal and Todd from advancing, but Kronos asked what terms would let them become demigods; Nast said he would allow no changes to his control of the seas.
• Kronos realized Nast was pursuing the Duke of Entropy advancement and asked whether he lacked the Sequence Two potion formula; Nast admitted he had searched for it unsuccessfully for over a century.
• Nast offered to protect Hal and Todd’s advancement and grant Kronos a Beyonder Item if he could provide information about the formula.
• Kronos said he could request Emperor Roselle’s Black Emperor Card formula from the Evernight Goddess for a trade, and Nast accepted the proposal and repeated his offer.

Kronos traded the Duke of Entropy potion formula to Nast for a demigod-level Beyonder item and chose the dangerous Corruption Bracelet. After returning to Backlund, he sought permission to visit the Church of Serenity’s Cathedral to investigate Clairvoyant potion formula leads, and his visit was scheduled for next Tuesday.

• Kronos gave Nast the Duke of Entropy potion formula, and Nast took him through disorder to Solomon’s hidden Spirit World treasury.
• Nast offered Kronos five Beyonder items, and Kronos chose the Corruption Bracelet after learning that it could make its wearer a servant of the True Creator.
• Kronos told Nast he would test the bracelet on someone else and might trade it to the Aurora Order if it proved unusable, and Nast let him take it.
• Nast brought Kronos to the waters outside Pritz Harbor, but he had no useful leads on the Clairvoyant potion formula beyond Bernadette, the Moses Ascetic Order, and the Church of Evernight.
• Kronos reached Backlund and asked Archbishop Anthony to arrange a visit to the Church of Serenity’s Cathedral, which was approved for next Tuesday.

Kronos visited Old Negan to obtain Beyonder prisoners and tested the corruption bracelet, using a time barrier to block the True Creator’s influence. After the bracelet overwhelmed three prisoners, Kronos put it on himself to test whether his Sequence 4 strength and will could resist its corruption.

• Kronos expanded the time barrier protecting Old Negan’s secret room and asked him to obtain three mid-sequence Beyonder prisoners for experiments.
• Old Negan arranged for Lockhart to bring three prisoners from MI9: a Sequence 7 Weapon Master, a Sequence 7 Pyromaniac, and a Sequence 6 Conspirer.
• Kronos tested the corruption bracelet on the Conspirer and discovered that his time barrier blocked the True Creator’s influence but not the bracelet’s lingering corruption.
• Kronos put the bracelet on the Pyromaniac and Weapon Master, and both were quickly incapacitated by its corruption.
• Kronos put the bracelet on his own wrist and felt its power begin to erode his will.

Kronos tested the Corruption Bracelet, warned the Tarot Club about Amon, and helped Klein protect Derrick from a Worm of Time. He then visited the Church of Serenity to meet Leonard Mitchell and revealed that he was seeking the person inside him, Pallez Zoroast.

• Kronos used the Corruption Bracelet to turn three prisoners into Fallen Servants, tested its effects, and expelled the corruption from himself.
• At the Tarot Club, Alger explained what he knew about the Amon Family, and Kronos warned Derrick that Amon could parasitize and replace him.
• Klein spotted a Worm of Time parasitizing Derrick and used a twelve-winged angel to kill it before Amon could learn the Fool's honorific name.
• Kronos traveled to the Church of Serenity and asked Bishop Lance to bring him Leonard Mitchell.
• Kronos examined Leonard and told him that he was looking for Pallez Zoroast, the person inside him.

Kronos questioned Pallez Zoroast at the Church of Serenity about the Hermit Pathway and learned that Will had blocked access to its potion formulas. The Evernight Goddess explained that fate could still offer Kronos another opportunity, leaving him calmer and resolved to prepare for it.

• Kronos met Pallez Zoroast through Leonard and asked about the Hermit Pathway's potion formulas and the mysterious Constantine, but Pallez knew no way to obtain them.
• After Leonard left, Kronos considered robbing the Moses Ascetic Order or approaching Adam, but the Evernight Goddess summoned him before he chose a path.
• Amanises told Kronos that Will had persuaded Adam to seal off the Hermit Pathway's potion formulas for ten years in exchange for facing Ouroboros directly.
• Kronos asked whether he could ever advance, and Amanises told him that Will could not control fate completely and that another opportunity might appear.
• Kronos calmed down and decided to keep researching spells and digesting his potion while waiting for fate's next opening.

Kronos answered Amyrius’s summons to investigate strange fluctuations around the Tudor Ruins, and the two planned a diversion to draw MI9 away while Kronos entered. At the Tarot Club, Derrick recounted Amon’s failed possession, and Kronos identified the Worm of Time that had been removed from him.

• Kronos received Amyrius’s letter about strange fluctuations near the Tudor Ruins and traveled to Bayam, where he evaded Amyrius’s sudden confinement spell.
• Amyrius explained that MI9 guarded the ruins and agreed to create a disturbance outside them using Tyrant’s Roar to disguise himself as a Sailor-pathway demigod.
• Kronos stayed at Sharf’s home while Amyrius prepared a Sonia Fleet operation against Agalito to provide cover for his actions.
• At the Tarot Club, Derrick told the members that Amon’s avatar had possessed him before the Fool’s angel purified it.
• Kronos identified the translucent, twelve-ringed worm removed from Derrick as a Worm of Time that could let Amon gradually replace its host.

Kronos traded with Fors for Travels in the Spirit World, studied it while waiting for Amyrius, and then infiltrated the Tudor Ruins during Amyrius’s diversion. He entered the ruins undetected as the chapter ended.

• Kronos warned Derrick about the risks of using Amon’s dead Worm of Time, while Alger advised Derrick on clearing himself of suspicion among the City of Silver’s explorers.
• Fors traded Travels in the Spirit World to Kronos for information about the Apprentice Pathway, the Abraham Family, and Mr. Door’s ravings.
• After the Tarot Club gathering, Klein delivered the book to Kronos, who studied and copied it over the next three days before returning it.
• Lü Er’an delivered Amyrius’s message that all preparations were complete, and Kronos met Amyrius to discuss their plan.
• Kronos scouted the Tudor Ruins and found nearly a hundred Beyonders and workers inside, then waited while Amyrius launched an attack on the entrance.
• Amyrius struck the gatekeepers with lightning and drew away the guards, allowing Kronos to enter the Tudor Ruins under concealment.