Chapter Summaries

Kronos joined General Salandon’s naval operation against the Iron-Blooded Pirate Group and prepared to board a pirate ship to confront its captain, Yodsen. The navy’s ambush turned into a major assault, and Kronos set out with his squad as the boarding boats reached their targets.

• Kronos met the five-man squad assigned to him and learned that he was to kill Yodsen aboard the Iron-Blooded Pirate Group’s fifth warship.
• Kronos watched General Salandon position the fleet, order an ambush, and bombard the pirates until their ships were isolated and the supply vessels sank.
• Salandon’s messenger called Kronos to join the boarding assault, while Kronos recalled Lü Er'an’s order to defeat his target quickly.
• Kronos boarded a boat with his squad, and Salandon’s adjutant agreed to guide him to Yodsen and assess his performance.
• The boarding boats reached the pirate ships, with most of the assault force targeting Vice Admiral Iron Blood’s vessel and three squads heading for Carrot’s ship.

Kronos boarded Yodsen’s ship and defeated him by using the Disease Triangular Dagger to leave him too ill to resist becoming a marionette. After General Salandon’s adjutant recognized Kronos as the first boarding-party member to take down his target, Kronos fired a signal flare.

• Kronos climbed aboard the fifth ship and found Yodsen watching the fighting on deck.
• Kronos attacked Yodsen with Whip of Affliction and used the Ninth Law to forbid theft, limiting Yodsen’s abilities.
• Kronos tricked Yodsen into blocking a feint and cut his lower back with the Disease Triangular Dagger.
• As Yodsen succumbed to the resulting illness, Kronos used the Marionette Illustrated Compendium to make him his first marionette.
• General Salandon’s adjutant congratulated Kronos and gave him a signal flare, which Kronos fired to announce his victory.

Kronos helped the boarding party defeat the pirates, then accepted the adjutant’s offer to choose salvage from their wrecked ship. As Kronos and Sallandon’s adjutant built mutual goodwill, neither knew the other had a hidden reason for seeking the alliance.

• Kronos told the adjutant that Yodsen was his marionette, then suffered the Marionette Illustrated Compendium’s ten-minute immobilizing effect.
• After regaining control of his body, Kronos joined the fight and helped the boarding party finish off every pirate aboard.
• The adjutant offered Kronos the ship and its spoils, then let him choose salvage when Kronos saw the ship’s damage.
• Kronos searched the cabins, found nothing that interested him, and explained that he was trying to build friendly ties with General Sallandon.
• Sallandon sought Kronos’s goodwill because he hoped to escape the Twilight Hermit Order, while Kronos remained unaware of his reason.

Kronos returned to Bayam after the navy defeated Vice Admiral Iron Blood’s forces, then prepared to leave for Backlund. Before setting off, he said goodbye to Sallandon and Amyrius, who warned him about the danger of giving the old general false hope.

• Kronos collected the pirates’ Beyonder characteristics and let the logistics personnel divide the captured ship’s proceeds, while the navy seized the Iron Blood and destroyed the pirate group.
• News of the victory spread across the Sonia Sea as the Loen Kingdom launched a counteroffensive on the Southern Continent.
• After spending more than half a month studying spells and trading in Bayam, Kronos sold his Beyonder characteristics, bought a house, and decided to return to Backlund.
• Kronos told Sallandon he was going to Backlund, noticed the general’s pleased reaction, and then left to visit Amyrius.
• Kronos told Amyrius he planned to travel home by passenger liner, and Amyrius warned him not to give Sallandon hope if he could not help him.

Kronos left Amyrius with a Sequence 3 Chaos Hunter potion formula and an offer of a personal alliance, then returned to Backlund after more than four months at sea. His potion finished digesting as he entered the city, and he reunited with his family at their manor, where Marquis Argel had privately borne the worry over his dangerous voyage.

• Amyrius read Kronos's letter proposing a discreet alliance and gifting him the Sequence 3 Chaos Hunter potion formula, along with a warning about its political risks.
• Kronos left the Navy Base, collected his luggage, and sailed north, staying alert during an overnight stop at Bansy Harbor while studying the Justiciar Card.
• More than four months later, Kronos reached Pritz Harbor and hired a carriage to Backlund, where his potion finished digesting and he shouted that he was back.
• Kronos slept at the family's West Borough villa, then went to Argel Manor and surprised Marquis Argel, the Marquise, and little Annie.
• The Marquise and little Annie welcomed Kronos home, while Marquis Argel quietly carried the strain of knowing his son had faced shellfire at sea.

Kronos reunited with his family, told Marquis Argel about his rapid potion digestion and lent him a Blasphemy Card to study. He then drank the Scroll Professor potion in the family church and advanced to Sequence 6, leaving with plans to use the ability to make scrolls for the family.

• Marquis Argel was relieved to see Kronos safe, and Kronos visited his study to reassure him.
• Kronos showed Marquis Argel the Justiciar Blasphemy Card and explained that its teachings had helped him digest his potion faster.
• Kronos left the card with his father so he could study it and finish digesting his Sequence 6 potion.
• Kronos went to the little church, drank the Scroll Professor potion, and completed his advancement to Sequence 6.
• Kronos considered how to persuade Marquis Argel to fund the many spiritual scrolls he planned to make.

Kronos learned that the Argel Family limited his resources, though his investments had raised his net worth to three million pounds, and he tested his newly enhanced abilities, including the Curse of Time. Marquis Argel refused to let him read the family secret tome’s second part, hoping Kronos would advance without its restrictions, but gave him a handbook to help him make skill scrolls.

• The old butler told Kronos that the Argel Family capped his resources at five hundred thousand pounds, and Kronos ordered materials prepared for his return to the city.
• Kronos tested his enhanced Scroll Professor and Time Stone abilities, discovering that Curse of Time could briefly bring an opponent to the brink of death once a week.
• Marquis Argel teased Kronos about reading the second part of the family secret tome, then explained that he wanted Kronos to advance without its limiting effects.
• Marquis Argel gave Kronos a copied handbook of the family’s experience making scrolls.

Kronos learned about the Inscribing Pen and planned to pursue an associate professorship at Backlund Technical College while studying scroll-making. He successfully created his first Skill Scroll and began considering the Black Emperor Card as his next subject of study.

• Marquis Argel explained that the Inscribing Pen improved the success rate of solidification, and Kronos accepted it.
• Kronos told Marquis Argel he planned to return to Backlund and seek an associate professorship at Backlund Technical College with Professor Portland's help.
• Marquis Argel encouraged Kronos to pursue the position and reminded him to spend time with his worried mother and sister.
• Kronos studied the scroll-making handbook, then used the Inscribing Pen to solidify the Justiciar skill "Whipping" onto a scroll.
• Kronos's first Skill Scroll succeeded, accelerating the digestion of his Scroll Professor potion, and he considered borrowing the Black Emperor Card to study it.

Kronos returned to Backlund after spending weeks at his family estate, where he mastered his Whipping scroll and began learning Imprisonment. He asked Professor Portland to help him get an associate professor position at Backlund Technical College so he could act as a Sequence 6 Scroll Professor, and Portland asked how long he needed.

• Kronos judged that the two Blasphemy Cards he possessed would likely be enough to digest his Sequence 6 potion and spent nearly three weeks mastering Whipping and practicing Imprisonment.
• Marquis Argel left the Justiciar Card and a letter for Kronos, explaining that he and the family had returned to Midseashire for his advancement to Sequence 5.
• Kronos left the estate and went to Backlund University to speak with Professor Portland.
• Kronos told Portland how he had survived the war and the Republic of Intis's Redfire Fleet in the Southern Continent.
• Kronos asked Portland to help him obtain an associate professor position at Backlund Technical College, explaining that the role would support his acting as a Scroll Professor.
• Portland questioned how long Kronos would need the position, and Kronos said he expected to teach for only a year or two.

Kronos negotiated a teaching role at Backlund Technical College, and his appointment sped up his potion digestion. He established a materials research center and recruited professors and students, while Portland worried the college’s reorganization would mainly benefit Kronos.

• Kronos told Portland he prioritized gaining strength over pursuing an academic career, then agreed to teach practical skills to fourth-year students.
• Portland secured Kronos an associate professorship at Backlund Technical College, and Kronos felt his potion digest at least a third faster after receiving his appointment.
• Kronos funded construction of a materials research center beside the Walter Factory and became the subject of rumors at the college before reporting for duty.
• After Portland complained that Kronos was neglecting his teaching, Kronos moved to the Saint George District and began visiting Saint Hilarion Church regularly.
• Kronos recruited three quarters of the associate professors Portland recommended and signed employment contracts with promising students.
• Portland accused Kronos of benefiting more than the college from its reorganization, but Kronos argued that the research center benefited both sides.

Kronos returned to the Eye of Wisdom gathering to seek an Apothecary and reconnect with a mysterious Artisan, while his growing influence and an unseen Sanguine backer strengthened his position. He learned the Apothecary had left Backlund and approached the Artisan’s new representative about commissioning a Beyonder item.

• Kronos toured the new materials research center with Portland, whose interest in Kronos’s proposal to build more research centers grew.
• Kronos studied the Justiciar Card and Disciplinary Paladin abilities before heading to the Eye of Wisdom gathering in Bridge Borough.
• Kronos learned from Eye of Wisdom that the Apothecary had left Backlund two months earlier to travel with his teacher.
• Kronos remained unaware that Nibais Audra had been ordered to protect him and that Ernes Boyar was secretly watching over him.
• Kronos asked Eye of Wisdom about the Artisan he had missed before, then invited the Artisan’s new representative to discuss commissioning a Beyonder item.

Kronos attended Eye of Wisdom’s Trading Gathering, where he discovered Isengard was using Sealed Artifact 2-081 to assess his strength. Afterward, Kronos tried to arrange a meeting with the Artisan, and Isengard recognized his interest and offered to befriend him.

• Kronos spoke with the Artisan’s representative about commissioning a melee weapon from a Weapon Master Beyonder Characteristic, but asked to meet the Artisan in person before handing it over.
• Isengard used Sealed Artifact 2-081 to examine Kronos, who recognized the ring and reacted to the probing without confronting him.
• Isengard realized Kronos had reached Sequence 6 since their last meeting and judged him to be a valuable potential ally.
• After the gathering, Kronos and the representative discussed the commission, and the representative promised to return with an answer from the Artisan.
• Isengard warned Kronos that the Artisan was cautious, then openly said he wanted to get on good terms with him; Kronos kept his knowledge of Isengard’s ties to the Church of Knowledge to himself.

Kronos warned Isengard that his Sealed Artifact 2-081 could expose him and offered to trade for it, then left him to consider the deal. At the Grizzly Bear Bar, Kronos collected his Fence Association badge and resolved to use its next gathering to investigate the Hermits of Fate and seek Error Pathway items.

• Kronos offered Isengard a freely usable Beyonder Item in exchange for 2-081 and warned that carrying the ring could put him in danger.
• Isengard defended how he had acquired the ring but remained silent about Kronos's offer, and Kronos left him to think it over.
• Kronos visited the Grizzly Bear Bar and reminded Violent Bear about his Fence Association application.
• Violent Bear gave Kronos his badge, which bore symbols of fate and concealment but had no inscription on its back.
• Kronos decided to use Marionette Yodsen to explore the Fence Association's next gathering and hoped to find a way into the Hermits of Fate for Error Pathway items.

Kronos sought a way to repay Violent Bear and learned that his friend wanted to follow the Planter Pathway because of his faith in the Earth Mother. Kronos found Bishop Utravsky, who agreed to visit Violent Bear and gently help him work through his distress.

• Kronos learned that Violent Bear wanted to switch to the Planter Pathway because he believed in the Earth Mother.
• Kronos remembered Bishop Utravsky and traveled to the Harvest Church to ask for his help.
• Kronos listened to Utravsky explain the Earth Mother's doctrines before telling him about Violent Bear's struggle.
• Utravsky agreed to visit Violent Bear and guide him gradually, and Kronos gave him the Grizzly Bear Bar's address and Boris's name.

Kronos visited Saint Hilarion Church to cultivate ties and learn about the church’s leaders while hoping to borrow the Black Emperor Card from its Roselle collection. After returning to his Research Center, he learned that Professor Portland had arranged a chance for him to persuade the Higher Education Committee about his plans.

• Kronos spoke with Ikanser Bernard and learned that Horamick Haydn was a Sequence 3 Scholar of Yore nearing a possible advance, while Nosk was a rising candidate to succeed him.
• Kronos followed the Machinery Hivemind members into a meeting room, where Horamick kindly sent him to look around the church.
• Kronos left Saint Hilarion Church and returned to his Research Center, where staff told him Professor Portland had secured him an opportunity to address the Higher Education Committee.
• Kronos learned that he was to persuade the committee at its meeting at two in the afternoon the day after tomorrow, and told the students that the plans would take years to affect them.

Kronos continued researching the Justiciar Card to speed up his potion digestion, then went to a Higher Education Committee meeting about the research center. He arrived without knowing where to go, but a committee member’s secretary brought him into the meeting room, where more than twenty people awaited.

• Kronos explained that concealing his strength kept him from acting fully and slowed his potion digestion, so he focused on creating new scrolls, especially Sequence 5 abilities.
• After spending two days researching, Kronos had his butler and valet prepare him for his meeting at the Higher Education Committee.
• Kronos arrived at the committee building in his family carriage, and the staff recognized the Argel crest and let him enter without stopping him.
• A secretary sent by Committee Member Cask Wolf met Kronos in the lobby and escorted him to a meeting room on the third floor.
• Kronos entered the room and saw Professor Portland and Cask Wolf at the head of a long table as the attendees noticed him.

Kronos persuaded the Higher Education Committee to approve a joint Technology Research Base with Backlund Technical University. The base was established with Kronos holding seventy percent and the university holding thirty percent, and the parties signed a ten-year cooperation agreement.

• Cask asked Professor Portland to introduce Kronos to the committee, and Portland praised Kronos's abilities and explained the proposed partnership.
• Kronos described how his materials research center worked with Backlund Technical College and proposed building a larger research base with Backlund Technical University.
• When committee members questioned ownership, Kronos offered the university a thirty-percent share, with the option to acquire more through investment.
• Kronos argued that the research base would benefit the university, its staff, and its students, and reassured the committee about the Argel Family's reliability.
• The committee unanimously approved the proposal, establishing the base with Kronos holding seventy percent and the university holding thirty percent.
• Kronos and the university signed a ten-year cooperation agreement that gave the base priority in recruiting university talent and both parties priority renewal rights.

Kronos befriended Kask to gain access to a valuable mask in the Wolf family’s collection, then began expanding the Argel Family’s influence through land purchases and a Scientific Research Base. He left the business plan for Marquis Argel to develop when he returned.

• Kronos recognized Kask as Earl Wolf’s older brother and decided to pursue the mask from the Eggers Family’s mausoleum in Earl Wolf’s collection.
• Kronos impressed Kask with a fabricated connection to Duke Negan and the Prime Minister, then shared genuine predictions to build his trust.
• Kronos asked Portland to tell Kask that he admired the Underworld Emperor and the history of the Fourth Epoch, and explained that he wanted the sealed mask without harming Kask.
• At Kronos’s direction, the Ansel Company bought land around the Walter Factory, and construction began on a Scientific Research Base in Saint George District.
• Kronos planned to use the base to unite the Argel Family’s machinery businesses and build lasting economic influence, leaving the work to Marquis Argel.

Kronos returned to the Argel family manor to consult the Family Secret Manual for techniques to create Sequence 5 skill scrolls. He identified the Scroll Professor volume and began reading it from the back.

• Kronos approved funding for a research center, then left Backlund for the family manor.
• After receiving Marquis Argel's explanation that Sequence 5 scrolls required skill-specific transformation techniques, Kronos decided to consult the Family Secret Manual.
• Kronos used Eyes of Mystery Prying to open a hidden compartment in Marquis Argel's study and found three manuals and an empty wooden box.
• Kronos used his Eye of Time to distinguish the Scroll Professor manual from the Astronomer manual.
• Kronos opened the Scroll Professor manual and began leafing through it from back to front.

Kronos chose Armor of Guardianship from the Family Secret Manual and spent half a month trying to transform it into a Sequence 5 scroll, with little progress. After learning of Mr. A's gathering, he attended and posted a request for the Mysticologist potion formula, hoping to reach Mr. A.

• Kronos copied the manual's instructions for Armor of Guardianship and restored the hidden compartment in Marquis Argel's study.
• Kronos began experimenting with Armor of Guardianship scrolls, but his work did not significantly advance his potion digestion.
• After half a month, Kronos's manservant told him that Mr. A's gathering had been announced in the Tussock Newspaper.
• Kronos traveled in disguise to 37 Green Park Street and entered Mr. A's gathering, where he saw several Sequence 6 Beyonders.
• Kronos posted a request for the Mysticologist potion formula, offering to exchange a potion formula of the same level.