Chapter Summaries

Bernadette verified that Sharf was a descendant of Ciel and brought him aboard the Dawn, where she revealed their family connection and arranged strict training for him. As Bernadette gathered a team for the operation at Kronos's coordinates, Kronos secured his family's manor in Constant City for the Old Man.

• Bernadette agreed to meet Kronos at the coordinates in five days, then traveled alone to Bayam to investigate Sharf.
• Bernadette restrained Sharf, confirmed his bloodline, and took him to the Dawn, where she revealed that she was his ancestor's elder sister.
• Bernadette arranged a teacher to discipline and train Sharf, believing he had the talent to become a demigod.
• Bernadette gathered Beyonders from the Dawn of Elements and led them toward Kronos's coordinates on the fifth day.
• Kronos prepared the family manor in Constant City for the Old Man by placing Time Barriers around its buildings and the estate.

Kronos joined Bernadette and the Dawn of Elements in an attack on the Moses Ascetic Order’s jungle base, posing as a Sequence 4 Mysticologist. He began fighting the order’s demigod and concealed his true strength by acting as though Tyrant’s Roar’s backlash had weakened him.

• Kronos prepared to impersonate a Sequence 4 by limiting his power and avoiding Fairy Tale Magic that Bernadette could recognize.
• Kronos scouted the Moses Ascetic Order’s jungle base, then met Bernadette and the Dawn of Elements outside it.
• Bernadette’s forces eliminated the sentries, and Kronos found records of the Ancient Sun God before leading the group into the cave.
• Kronos claimed the Dawn of Elements had come to wipe out the Moses Ascetic Order, and the order’s demigod agreed to fight.
• The demigod’s opening gun spell failed against Kronos’s lightning barrier, and Kronos destroyed his Sun Descends into the World spell.
• Tyrant’s Roar’s backlash made Kronos visibly shudder, though he was only pretending to be hindered.

Kronos and Bernadette pursued a Moses Ascetic Order demigod to a ritual meant to soothe the lost control of an angel named Lord Teska. The ritual failed and freed the angel, who targeted Bernadette as a great battle loomed.

• Kronos fought the demigod through the Domain of Chaos while Bernadette rescued Dawn of Elements members and followed them into the cave’s depths.
• Bernadette recognized the ritual as a means of keeping Lord Teska, a lost-control angel, asleep and warned Kronos that awakening him would be dangerous.
• Kronos learned from Amanises that the God of Steam and Machinery was testing him and was told to maintain his disguise while Steam prepared to intervene.
• The demigod spilled his blood onto the ritual, causing it to fail and releasing streams of information that killed him and formed Lord Teska.
• Lord Teska focused on Bernadette, who readied her Beyonder Items to fight as Kronos prepared to survive the coming battle.

Bernadette fought the out-of-control Angel until Stiano intervened, rescued her, and claimed the Sage Beyonder characteristic before handing it over for her. Kronos passed Stiano’s test and collected the characteristic, but his mask reacted to it as the chapter ended.

• Bernadette used the Pale Death to weaken the out-of-control Angel, then fought him in her information-stream form while Kronos pretended to be incapacitated.
• Amanises warned Kronos not to intervene, and Stiano eventually rescued Bernadette by enveloping the battlefield in pale yellow light.
• Bernadette demanded the Sage Beyonder characteristic from Stiano, but she fainted before their dispute could continue.
• Stiano told Kronos he had passed his mission and that the conflict between the Argel Family and the Church of Steam and Machinery was settled; he left the characteristic for Bernadette and sent her a message about Roselle’s death.
• Kronos checked on Bernadette, picked up the characteristic, and felt his mask tremble as though it had noticed something.

Kronos extracted an angel’s residual spirit from the Beyonder characteristic and used the aftermath of the raid to turn Bernadette against the God of Steam and Machinery. After returning to Backlund, he received a spiritual alert that Klein was trying to contact him.

• Kronos sensed a blank residual spirit inside the Beyonder characteristic, extracted it for his Alchemy Puppet and possible memory research, and left it attached to the Death God Mask.
• Kronos helped Bernadette out of the cave, directed the Dawn of Elements as they cleared the stronghold, and returned with the group to the Dawn.
• After Bernadette woke, Kronos handed her the Sage Beyonder characteristic and told her the God of Steam and Machinery had denied responsibility for Emperor Roselle’s death.
• Kronos described the Argel Family’s grievances and the God of Steam and Machinery’s role in the mission, leading Bernadette to blame the god and Stiano for the trap.
• Kronos left Bernadette to pursue revenge against the Church of Steam and Machinery, then returned to Backlund and sensed that Klein was contacting him through Sefirah Castle.

Kronos shattered the All-Black Eye for Klein and kept most of the resulting Beyonder Characteristics before returning to Saint Hilleran Cathedral. He investigated a dead Angel’s residual spirit and learned that the Moses Ascetic Order’s hidden stone steles held the final Hermit Pathway information, but the Angel’s memories did not reveal it.

• Kronos left Saint Hilleran Cathedral and agreed to help Klein shatter the All-Black Eye.
• Kronos used a Lightseeker’s strike to destroy the All-Black Eye and remove the True Creator’s corruption, then kept all but the Marionettist characteristic.
• Kronos returned to Saint Hilleran Cathedral, apologized to Old Fan, and gave him a week off before taking charge himself.
• Kronos used the Manipulation Gloves to find and enter the dead Angel’s nearly collapsed Mind Stone Island.
• Kronos searched the Angel’s memories and found the Moses Ascetic Order’s old lair and the great hall containing Hermit Pathway formulas and rituals.
• Kronos learned that the Hidden Sage had concealed the final two stone steles, and that the Angel had never seen their contents.

Kronos reviewed an angel’s memories, destroyed the Mind Stone Island, and returned to Saint Hilleran Cathedral. With Loen’s parliamentary election approaching, he rallied the cathedral’s staff behind a plan to gain seats for the Church of Steam and Machinery, furthering both his church’s influence and the Argel Family’s prospects.

• Kronos learned from the Residual Spirit’s memories that the Hidden Sage had forcibly overwhelmed an angel with knowledge, and he considered seeking information at the Moses Ascetic Order’s headquarters after advancing.
• Kronos destroyed the collapsed Mind Stone Island, returned to the Real World, and placed the Residual Spirit in the Death God Mask for safekeeping until he could give it to Marquis Argel.
• Kronos emerged from his room at Saint Hilleran Cathedral and found that his small movement had drawn the newly transferred staff, so he reassured them in Horamick’s manner.
• Kronos told the staff to use the New Party’s growing influence in the coming House of Commons election to win forty or fifty seats for the Church of Steam and Machinery.
• Kronos inspired the staff to work toward the plan, hoping to earn church merits and help the Argel Family expand into politics.

Kronos backed Old Fan’s plan to bring factory owners into the New Party and used a public meeting with Laurien to make the Church of Steam and Machinery’s support impossible to ignore. After the news alarmed Earl Hall, he rushed to Saint Samuel Cathedral to explain the situation to Archbishop Anthony.

• Kronos supported Old Fan’s plan and returned to researching material structure while trying to hasten his potion digestion.
• The Church of Steam and Machinery sent people to recruit factory owners and New Party members, prompting New Party leaders to discuss the offer at Earl Hall’s residence.
• Earl Hall warned that the Church of Steam and Machinery’s involvement could provoke the other churches, so he decided to consult Archbishop Anthony before responding.
• Laurien met Kronos at Saint Hilleran Cathedral, agreed to unite New Party factory owners and support the Church’s recruits in exchange for help expanding his factory, and Kronos welcomed him publicly.
• After the public reception fueled rumors of the Church’s support for the New Party, Earl Hall hurried to Saint Samuel Cathedral and entered Archbishop Anthony’s room, where Anthony was speaking with a young man dressed in black.

Kronos secured the Evernight Church’s approval for the Church of Steam and Machinery to help the New Party, then helped set its political plan in motion. When Cattleya pursued Nosk with another demigod, Kronos avoided a risky rescue himself and persuaded Pope Ivan to arrange one instead.

• Kronos introduced himself to Earl Hall as Klein, and Archbishop Anthony approved the Church of Steam and Machinery’s involvement with the New Party.
• Earl Hall agreed to have New Party members approach the Church of Steam and Machinery, while Kronos later gained support from Duke Negan and Amyrius.
• Factory owners joined the New Party, and Old Fan returned to oversee the political plan as Kronos withdrew to study his potion.
• Gner informed Kronos that Cattleya and another demigod were hunting Nosk, forcing the Iron Anchor and the Flying to flee from the Future.
• Kronos withheld his suspicions about Bernadette and persuaded Pope Ivan and Greenton that saving Nosk should not interrupt his political plan.
• Pope Ivan decided to send someone to rescue Nosk while urging Kronos to continue his work.

Kronos confirmed that Bernadette had ambushed the ships pursuing Nosk and watched as Randolph arrived to support him. Bernadette and Randolph began fighting, and Randolph donned a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact as Bernadette prepared to attack again.

• Kronos teleported to the Iron Anchor, confirmed Bernadette was following the ships, and ordered the ship to submerge and abandon Nosk.
• Cattleya asked Hank whether the Future should pursue the Iron Anchor, and Hank told her to keep following Nosk's Flying.
• Randolph arrived to help Nosk, but Bernadette attacked him with a Spear of Longinus and the Horn of Destruction.
• Randolph shattered Bernadette's spear with decomposition power, but she trapped him in her Chessboard of Time and attacked with vines and another spear.
• Randolph tried to calm Bernadette by mentioning the Emperor's descendants, angering her, and put on the Blood Helmet to form Bloodfire Armor.

Bernadette fought Randolph after he used a Fate Medallion to throw his fate into chaos and evade Pale Death. She regained the advantage with the Sage Diadem and overwhelmed him with information streams, leaving Randolph near his limit.

• Bernadette attacked Randolph with Pale Death, but he concealed his fate with the Fate Medallion and escaped its lock-on.
• A tentacle burst from a wave and knocked Randolph back onto the battlefield, where Bernadette attacked him in her incomplete mythical form.
• A lightning bolt interrupted Bernadette's Ugly Duckling spell, allowing Randolph to flee while keeping his fate chaotic.
• Bernadette used the Sage Diadem to assume her complete mythical form and swept Randolph up in information streams.
• Randolph's decomposition power failed against the information streams, and he began bleeding from his seven orifices as he neared his limit.

Kronos pursued the weakened Randolph after Bernadette was forced to face the Hidden Sage, then killed him while disguising the death as Bernadette’s work. Bornova Gustav arrived afterward, found Randolph’s corpse, and suspected Bernadette had used Pale Death.

• Randolph used the Fate Medallion against Bernadette, but the Hidden Sage arrived and attacked them both.
• Bernadette fought the Hidden Sage while Randolph escaped by shattering his helmet; Kronos secretly pursued him underwater.
• Kronos told Randolph that the Princess had ordered his death, then restrained him and killed him with the Death God Mask’s Death Gaze.
• Kronos took Randolph’s spirit to conceal the evidence, leaving his death to appear connected to Bernadette and Pale Death.
• Bornova Gustav examined Randolph’s corpse, suspected Bernadette had killed him, and left without visiting her.

Kronos visited the Future after the battle at sea and discussed an alliance between the Argel Family and the Dawn of Elements with Cattleya and Hank. Bernadette rejected his requests for Hermit Pathway information, leaving Kronos to seek it elsewhere.

• Kronos landed on the Future and challenged Cattleya over the attack on the Iron Anchor, while Hank questioned whether Kronos had directed its dealings with the Flying.
• Cattleya relayed Bernadette’s proposal for an alliance, and Kronos demanded all potion formulas and advancement rituals for the Hermit Pathway in return.
• Cattleya told Kronos that Klein had been entrusted to Edwina after she accepted Bernadette’s assignment.
• Bernadette refused to provide Hermit Pathway information and offered Wheel of Fortune Pathway information instead; she also rejected Kronos’s offer to find her a Sequence 3 supporter in exchange for Knowledge Emperor information.
• Kronos continued exchanging news with Cattleya and Hank after the negotiations ended, while Cattleya repeatedly checked her pocket watch.

At the Tarot Club, Cattleya sought an answer about Emperor Roselle’s madness, but Kronos warned that the truth was too dangerous for anyone below angel level. Later, Audrey revealed the Church of Steam and Machinery’s election plan, prompting Kronos to disclose the Loen Royal Family’s involvement and expose his connection to the scheme.

• Cattleya waited for the Tarot Club gathering after Kronos and Hank left the Future.
• Cattleya presented three pages of Emperor Roselle’s Diary and asked why he had gone mad, and Kronos warned that even Bernadette should wait until she became an angel before investigating.
• Alger invited Kronos to explore a primitive island, but Kronos declined and advised him not to go alone, so Alger turned to Mr. World.
• Klein and Alger discussed the suspected Black Emperor demigod aboard Connors Victor’s ship, and Kronos suspected Lockhard Siakam was responsible.
• Audrey revealed that the Church of Steam and Machinery planned to support the New Party, and Kronos said the Loen Royal Family was jointly backing the plan to weaken the Conservative Party and the Church of Storms.

Kronos warned Old Fan that their plan might have leaked, then learned the Church of Steam and Machinery had declared the Dawn of Elements an evil organization after Randolph's death. While studying Randolph's memories to improve his decomposition power, Kronos was summoned by Klein, who asked for help escaping the Rose School in Bayam; Kronos recognized that events had diverged from their expected course and decided he needed to intervene.

• Alger relayed the leaked plan to the Church of Storms, and Kronos returned to Backlund to tell Old Fan what he had heard.
• Old Fan adjusted the plan after confirming Kronos's identity remained secret, and Kronos read Pope Ivan's order declaring the Dawn of Elements an evil organization.
• Kronos studied Randolph's memories for techniques with decomposition power, then destroyed Randolph's spirit to eliminate the loose end.
• Klein summoned Kronos to Sefirah Castle and asked him to help escape the Rose School's pursuit in Bayam.
• Kronos saw through Klein's account, recalled how the battle could unfold differently without the True Creator-corrupted glove, and decided to intervene.

Kronos agreed to help Klein in exchange for a future Blasphemy Card, then joined the confrontation with the Rose School in Bayam. After Suah descended and Kronos purified the manifested arm with the Sun Card, both Kronos and Aarn called for divine help as the battle escalated.

• Kronos asked Klein for a Blasphemy Card he might obtain in the future, and Klein agreed to the conditional payment.
• Kronos visited Amyrius in Bayam, where Amyrius reflected on Aarn’s superior combat strength and resolved to improve his own.
• Klein left Bayam, but Shanks attacked him; Reinette confronted Shanks while Klein fought Seniοr, with Kronos watching nearby.
• Suah began descending, and Kronos revealed himself and used the Sun Card to purify the giant arm Suah had sent down.
• Suah’s roar briefly stunned everyone, so Kronos activated the Evernight Goddess’s mark for help and told Klein to use the copper whistle.
• Aarn rushed toward Suah and contacted Gade II, intending to hold Suah off until help from the Lord of Storms arrived.

Kronos, Aarn, and a Numinous Episcopate angel fought to contain Suah while Klein escaped with Reinette. After Aarn warned them to flee, the Lord of Storms sent down a gigantic Lightning Hand that caught Suah, the angel, and Shanks while Aarn and Kronos escaped its reach.

• Kronos borrowed the Evernight Goddess's power to hold back Suah, while Klein summoned a Numinous Episcopate messenger and Reinette carried him to safety.
• Shanks tried to curse Kronos, but Aarn arrived and struck Shanks with lightning before guarding Kronos.
• Kronos and Aarn struggled against Suah and Shanks until a deathly Numinous Episcopate angel arrived and helped suppress Suah.
• Aarn received a warning and called for everyone to withdraw, so Kronos withdrew the Evernight Goddess's power and fled with Aarn.
• The Lord of Storms sent down a huge Lightning Hand that seized Suah, the Numinous Episcopate angel, and Shanks, while Kronos and Aarn escaped.

The Lord of Storms destroyed Suah’s manifestation and Shanks, then gave Kronos the Angel of the Numinous Episcopate and Shanks’s Beyonder Characteristic. Amanises took the angelic byproduct for her plans and warned Kronos not to advance to Angel before his betting match, while tasking him with monitoring the Church of Steam and Machinery.

• The Lord of Storms crushed Suah’s slime and killed Shanks, then trapped the Angel of the Numinous Episcopate and sent it to Kronos along with Shanks’s Beyonder Characteristic.
• Aarn thanked Kronos, assigned Church of Storms personnel to guard the site of divine descent, and flew to Bayam to speak with George Negan and Amyrius Rieveldt.
• The Evernight Goddess brought Kronos to Darkened Heaven, opened the Lightning Prison, and captured the angelic byproduct of the artificial god of death.
• Amanises explained that the byproduct could help her study the artificial god of death and refine her plan to subdue it with Mr. Azik’s cooperation.
• Amanises told Kronos not to advance to Angel before his betting match and ordered him to monitor changes within the Church of Steam and Machinery.

Kronos coordinated with Amanises on the Church of Steam and Machinery, learned that the Ghost Empire had changed, and discussed Nosk’s danger at sea with Old Fan. At a New Party banquet, he met Audrey and discovered a familiar figure among the party’s core members.

• Kronos told Amanises he would gather intelligence on the Church of Steam and Machinery and heard that he should revisit the Ghost Empire after becoming an angel.
• After returning to Saint Hilleran Cathedral, Kronos told Old Fan what had happened in Bayam and learned that the Dawn of Elements was hunting Nosk.
• Kronos and Old Fan concluded they could not safely protect Nosk, so Kronos suggested referring the matter to the Cathedral of Machinery.
• Old Fan told Kronos to attend the New Party’s banquet, and Kronos agreed to avoid handling Church work for seven days.
• At the banquet, Kronos met Audrey and recognized someone he had overlooked among the New Party’s core members.

Kronos recognized Hazel Macht as Flora Jacob’s student and used a banquet to frighten her into seeking out her teacher. He followed Hazel through the sewers to a hidden cavern, where she began excavating before a gray rat appeared.

• Bishop Elektra introduced Mori Macht and his family to Kronos and Archbishop Anthony, and Kronos recognized Hazel as Flora Jacob’s student.
• Kronos praised Hazel’s future, and Anthony’s approving reaction convinced her that the archbishops had discovered her secret.
• Hazel concealed her panic from her parents, then slipped away from home after the banquet to find Flora.
• Kronos followed Hazel through a manhole and a concealed door into a cavern, where she began excavating.
• A gray rat appeared in the cavern as Kronos watched from concealment.