Chapter Summaries

Klein taught Audrey and Alger a ritual incantation for contacting him, then examined the strange symbols and mysteries surrounding the gray fog. After the gathering, Audrey and Alger returned to their lives, while Klein recorded Roselle’s diary entries and prepared to continue practicing as a Seer.

• Klein taught Audrey and Alger an incantation for a ritual that could let them request his assistance, and asked them to try it before Wednesday.
• Audrey reported that her suggestions about parliamentary examinations and separating administrative and political affairs had gained support, while Alger mentioned the rise of secret organizations; Klein cryptically replied that ancient powers were awakening.
• After Audrey and Alger left the gathering, Klein examined the chair’s unfamiliar constellation symbol and searched the area around the temple above the gray fog, finding nothing unusual.
• Audrey returned to her bedroom, reflected on the gathering, and found Susie watching her from a dark corner.
• Alger awoke in his guarded cabin aboard the Sonia Sea and wondered whether the Fool was an ancient existence.
• Klein wrote down remembered details from Roselle’s diary, burned his notes, and prepared to go to the Divination Club to continue practicing as a Seer.

Klein returned to the Divination Club, where Angelica thanked him for helping her feel better and Glacis asked him to divine an investment opportunity. Klein warned Glacis that the venture would end badly, then learned an unknown visitor had come to seek a divination from him.

• Klein visited the Divination Club and saw that Angelica’s spirits had improved after his advice.
• Klein learned that Hynas Vincent was away lecturing in Enmat Port, then reunited with Glacis, who had recovered from his illness after taking medicine from Rosen Darkwill.
• Glacis asked Klein to divine whether he should invest in Lanarvus’s proposed steel company, which was based on an iron deposit in the Hornacis Mountain Range.
• Klein’s astrological divination warned that the investment would go badly, and Glacis said he would consider the advice.
• Angelica told Klein that a visitor had come to request a divination without a recommendation or looking through the club’s album.

Klein interpreted Joyce Meyer's recurring dream and concluded it pointed to Mr. Tris, the survivor who had saved Joyce aboard the Clover, as a suspicious figure. Joyce left to visit the police station, while Audrey prepared to perform a ritual with Susie guarding the door.

• Joyce asked Klein to interpret his identical recurring dream about falling from the Clover into a blood-red sea while Yunis King fell to his death.
• Klein explained that the repeated dream was a spiritual warning and guided Joyce to consider what he might have overlooked aboard the ship.
• Joyce recalled that the Clover's violence had erupted abnormally and realized he had wanted to question Yunis King about what had driven him to act.
• Klein concluded that Joyce's dream pointed to the companion who caught him and later let go, and Joyce identified that person as Mr. Tris.
• Joyce thanked Klein, paid him one soli, and said he might visit the police station.
• In Queens Borough, Audrey told Susie to guard the door while she performed a ritual.

Audrey performed the ritualistic magic she had learned from The Fool and prayed for a good dream, while Klein sensed the ritual’s effects and realized its descriptions could reach him through the gray fog. At the Blackthorn Security Company, Dunn warned Klein about Tris, a suspected Instigator Beyonder connected to the Clover tragedy, and prepared to teach him about Beyonders and secret organizations.

• Audrey prepared her ritual, accidentally fell asleep in the bath, then arranged an altar and prayed to The Fool for a good dream.
• Alger considered testing The Fool’s abilities but avoided performing unknown ritualistic magic aboard the Blue Avenger, then announced that the ship would stop at the Rorsted Archipelago for a day.
• Klein heard brief, painful whispers and saw the four black dots from the Luck Enhancement Ritual appear on his hand before fading away.
• Klein inferred that Audrey or Alger had tried the ritual he taught them and resolved to check whether the gray fog had retained their messages.
• Dunn showed Klein an internal wanted notice identifying Tris as a suspected Sequence 8 Instigator and perpetrator of the Clover tragedy, then said it was time Klein learned about Beyonders and secret organizations.

Klein studied the Nighthawks’ internal documents on Beyonders and secret organizations, learning about several Sequence Pathways and their abilities. He found links between the Seer pathway, Zaratul, and the Secret Order, then discovered Tris’s Sequence potion was Instigator.

• Klein went to the armory with Dunn’s signed document, and Old Neil agreed to show him information on Beyonders before taking him to the underground market the next night.
• Old Neil brought documents from behind Chanis Gate, and Klein learned that the Seer pathway’s Sequence 8 and Sequence 7 potion names were unknown, though their abilities were recorded.
• Klein read that the Seer pathway originated with the Zaratul Family and might be connected to the Secret Order, recalling Zaratul’s appearance in Roselle’s diary and the notebook tied to his transmigration.
• Klein reviewed the Sailor and Spectator pathways, learning about Raging Folk, Navigators, Mind Readers, and Psychiatrists as he considered The Hanged Man’s likely Sequence.
• Klein read about the God of Steam and Machinery’s Reader pathway and other records, including the Corpse Collector, Mystery Pryer, Apprentice, and Marauder pathways.
• Klein found that Tris, the perpetrator of the Clover massacre, had the Sequence potion name Instigator.

Klein learned about Gnosis, the Demoness Sect, and the world’s many secret organizations while continuing his studies and spending time with Benson and Melissa. Meanwhile, Tris met a Demoness Sect member who gave him a Sequence 7 formula and revealed that his next potion was Witch.

• Klein read that Gnosis had ties to the Abraham and Tamara families and the Demoness Sect, then asked Old Neil about the sect and learned that it worshipped the Primordial Demoness and spread disaster.
• Klein sorted the secret organizations into three historical groups, decided against divining Tris’s whereabouts, and spent the day studying instead of joining the hunt for him.
• Klein bought Benson beer and Melissa lemon cake with his extra allowance, then shared dinner with his siblings and planned to test his ritual above the gray fog after they went to sleep.
• Tris met a hooded woman at a dockside hiding place and said he had completed his task and was ready to advance.
• The woman gave Tris a book containing a Sequence 7 formula and three main ingredients, and Tris discovered that the potion was called Witch.

Klein tested whether his ritual could connect him to the gray fog and send answers to those who prayed to him. He reached Audrey and Alger with the words “I am aware,” then returned to his room and planned to visit an underground market with Old Neil.

• Klein performed his ritual and confirmed that Audrey’s prayers had reached the crimson star representing her.
• Klein sent Audrey the response “I am aware,” and she woke from a dream of The Fool, then planned to digest her Spectator potion and seek the Psychology Alchemists.
• Klein concluded that he could transmit information through the connection but could not use it to draw on the gray fog’s power.
• Klein answered The Hanged Man’s prayer with “I am aware,” and Alger heard the words after finishing his ritual in the City of Generosity.
• Klein returned to his bedroom, removed the Wall of Spirituality, and prepared to visit the underground market with Old Neil the next day.

Klein and Old Neil visited the Evil Dragon Bar’s underground market after hearing that Tris had escaped a gunfight there. Klein encountered Admisol, a young man whose unusual Spirit Intuition made him known as “Monster,” then noticed someone asking about an ingredient for the Spectator potion.

• Klein and Old Neil arrived at the Evil Dragon Bar and learned that Tris had fled after being recognized and chased by armed men.
• Old Neil led Klein through the bar and its hidden entrance into the underground market, explaining its owner Swain’s background and the market’s business.
• Admisol approached Klein, screamed in pain, and collapsed after sensing something about him; Old Neil explained that Admisol’s high Spirit Intuition suited the Monster Sequence, whose potion was held by the School of Life.
• Klein browsed the market’s ingredients and charms while Old Neil went to settle his bill.
• Klein overheard someone ask whether a powder was ground from Ox Teeth Peony and recognized it as a supplementary ingredient for the Spectator potion.

Klein visited an underground market with Old Neil, bought unfinished silver charms, and advised a girl on choosing a protective charm. After returning to Daffodil Street, he noticed a trembling young woman boarding the carriage and used Spirit Vision to check on her.

• Klein inspected the market’s protective charms and bought two unfinished silver ornaments after bargaining with the stallholder.
• Klein explained how charm materials related to deities and helped a girl select a gold charm for her friend’s health.
• Klein found no genuine Beyonder materials and left the underground market with Old Neil, who explained where such materials were traded.
• Klein noticed the gold-rimmed gentleman buying Elven Flowers but chose not to investigate him.
• Klein saw a trembling young woman board the carriage on Daffodil Street and activated Spirit Vision to examine her aura.

Klein returned home and learned that Tris had escaped a police and Beyonder operation, then heard more about the failed pursuit from Dunn Smith. Dunn took Klein to Chanis Gate because Sealed Artifact 2-049 had arrived and Klein’s ability to sense the notebook might be needed.

• Klein returned home and spoke with Melissa about her new dress, while Benson teased him for forgetting to compliment her.
• Bic Mountbatten asked the family whether they had seen a wanted young man, and Klein realized the police were searching for the escaped Instigator Tris.
• Rozanne told Klein that Tris had escaped the dock district operation, and Dunn explained that the Beyonders had lost his trail in Iron Cross Street.
• Klein offered to help track Tris through divination, but Dunn said the Machinery Hivemind had an experienced Mystery Pryer.
• Dunn told Klein that Sealed Artifact 2-049 had arrived and led him toward Chanis Gate, instructing him to keep bending and extending his arm without stopping.

Klein joined Dunn and the Backlund Nighthawks as they transported Sealed Artifact 2-049 to Riel Bieber’s home. The artifact’s influence intensified near the Antigonus descendant, and when the team opened its chest, a strange clown puppet emerged and stared at Klein.

• Dunn introduced Klein to Lolota, Al Hasson, and Borgia, who were helping transport 2-049 while keeping their arms moving to resist its sluggishness effect.
• Al Hasson carried the iron-black chest containing 2-049, which pounded violently and caused Dunn and others to become sluggish as the team left the Blackthorn Security Company.
• Lolota explained that 2-049 usually affected one person at a time within five meters, and the group traveled to Riel Bieber’s home while monitoring one another.
• At Riel Bieber’s apartment, 2-049 entered a berserk state and affected two people at once; Al Hasson confirmed that Riel was an Antigonus Family descendant.
• Al Hasson released the chest’s spiritual restraints, and a small, cloth-wrapped clown puppet emerged and fixed its pupil-less eyes on Klein.

Klein and the Nighthawks followed Sealed Artifact 2-049 to a warehouse where Riel Bieber might be hiding, while the puppet repeatedly tried to control them. Klein divined that danger awaited inside and that someone was nearby; an attacker launched a fireball, and the group moved to keep the artifact away from the unfolding fight.

• 2-049’s influence intensified, but Dunn woke Klein before the puppet could fully control him.
• Al Hasson used 2-049 as a compass, and Leonard drove the group to a warehouse in the docks.
• The Nighthawks sealed 2-049 in its chest and approached the warehouse, where Dunn asked Klein to divine the danger.
• Klein’s pendulum indicated great danger inside and danger nearby, prompting the group to prepare for an ambush.
• An orange fireball flew toward them, and the Nighthawks dodged while Al threw the chest away from the attacker and ordered Leonard and Borgia to guard it.
• Klein realized the group could stay beyond 2-049’s range during the fight, then drew his revolver and rose to his feet.

Klein and the Nighthawks fought a tailcoated Clown while another painted attacker slipped into the warehouse where Riel Bieber was hiding. A scream from inside and the sudden frenzy of 2-049 left the confrontation in turmoil.

• Al Hasson recited a poem that calmed the tailcoated Clown, but Lolota’s punch exposed his first appearance as an illusion.
• The tailcoated Clown dodged gunfire, used deceptive finger snaps and flames, and fought Dunn, Al Hasson, and Lolota among the crates.
• Klein shot a second painted attacker running across the warehouse roofs, then deliberately fired into the sky as the attacker reached the warehouse where Riel Bieber was hiding.
• Lolota restrained the tailcoated Clown while Dunn’s poem weakened him, and Al Hasson shot him after a scream rang out from the innermost warehouse.
• The scream stopped, strange breathing sounded from the warehouse, and 2-049 went berserk inside its iron-black chest.

The Nighthawks fought the out-of-control Riel Bieber and defeated him by extracting an ancient notebook from his body, but the explosion sent Sealed Artifact 2-049 near Klein. As the artifact’s arm reached from its cracked box, Klein’s thoughts began to slow.

• The tuxedoed Clown escaped after using a strip of paper to break free of his restraints, while the team turned toward the panting inside the warehouse.
• Riel Bieber emerged as a grotesque monster, and his scream injured Klein, Al Hasson, Leonard Mitchell, Borgia, Dunn, and Lolota.
• Dunn held Riel Bieber in place with a sleep-inducing power while Lolota struck him and pulled an ancient notebook from his intestines.
• Riel Bieber exploded, leaving the Nighthawks injured and unconscious as the blast hurled Sealed Artifact 2-049 beside Klein.
• A thin arm reached from the cracked box, and Klein’s thoughts suddenly slowed.

Klein escaped Sealed Artifact 2-049’s control by using the gray fog, then tricked the returning Secret Order clown into the puppet’s range. He left the clown immobilized and aimed his revolver at him.

• Klein recited the incantation to reach the gray fog and break 2-049’s control over him.
• Klein used spirit pendulum divination to confirm that returning to the real world was safe, then returned to his body.
• A tailcoated clown offered to awaken Klein in exchange for help retrieving the Antigonus Family’s notebook and promised to teach him the Sequence 8 name, Clown.
• Klein pretended to remain controlled and nodded, then seized the clown’s paper stick and pulled him toward 2-049.
• Klein fired past the clown to make him dodge into the puppet’s five-meter range, where 2-049 immobilized him.
• Klein aimed his revolver at the trapped clown and fired.

Klein and the Nighthawks defeated the tuxedo clown, treated their injuries, and secured Sealed Artifact 2-049 and the Antigonus Family Notebook. As they prepared to return with Riel Bieber’s remains, Dunn left Leonard behind to keep ordinary people away.

• Klein killed the tuxedo clown with two shots and helped Al Hasson and Borgia take Goddess’s Gaze.
• Leonard revealed he had recovered and hinted that he and Klein both had unusual abilities.
• Dunn checked the Antigonus Family Notebook and ordered it kept behind Tingen City’s Chanis Gate with Sealed Artifact 2-049.
• The Nighthawks searched the clown’s corpse and warehouse, finding no useful clues and mangled remains attributed to Riel Bieber’s dangerous ritual.
• Dunn explained that Riel Bieber had lost control and told Leonard to guard the site while the others gathered the remains and returned with the sealed items.

After Riel Bieber's defeat, the Nighthawks recovered a strange Beyonder material and Dunn offered Klein official membership, which Klein accepted. On the carriage ride back, Klein explained how he had killed the Secret Order's clown, while concealing that Sealed Artifact 2-049 had controlled him.

• Borgia found a fist-sized mass of grayish-white matter at the site of Bieber's destruction, and Dunn stored it in a metal box.
• Dunn told Klein that he would apply to the Holy Cathedral for permission to let him read the Antigonus Family's notebook and offered him a place on Tingen City's Nighthawks team.
• Klein accepted Dunn's offer after considering the benefits, restrictions, and his goals of learning mysticism and safely increasing his power.
• Al Hasson asked Klein how he had killed the Secret Order's clown, and Klein claimed the clown had mistaken him for someone under 2-049's control.
• Klein said he had lured the clown into 2-049's area of effect by grabbing a strip of paper and pulling him closer, then used gunfire to finish him.
• Dunn remarked that the Seer pathway leading to Clown was strange.

After the Nighthawks returned to Blackthorn Security Company with Sealed Artifact 2-049 and the dead Beyonder, Klein struggled with the memory of killing the tailcoat clown and tried to confront his fear by examining the corpse. The corpse suddenly grabbed Klein’s wrist, leaving him in danger.

• Klein joked that Seers and Clowns both appeared in circuses, lightening the Nighthawks’ mood as they returned to Zouteland Street.
• Dunn sent Frye and Loyao to help Leonard at Tilley Warehouse, then directed Klein to fetch Old Neil for healing ritual magic.
• Klein recalled the tailcoat clown’s death, became unsettled, and tried to distract himself by cleaning his clothes.
• Frye showed Klein the clown’s corpse and sketched its face, explaining that he had once wanted to become a painter before joining the Nighthawks.
• After Frye left Klein to guard the room, Klein noticed a strange brand on the corpse’s wrist and reached to inspect it.
• The corpse’s lifeless hand suddenly seized Klein’s wrist.

Klein was frightened when the tuxedo clown’s corpse briefly revived, gripped his wrist, and repeated “Hornacis,” then he reported the incident to Dunn and went home to rest. He woke hungry and learned that his mentor had sent him a letter about Hornacis.

• The tuxedo clown’s corpse grabbed Klein’s wrist, murmured “Hornacis” three times, and released him before going still again.
• Klein discovered that the corpse’s brand had become a floating ball of blue-tinged blood, then told Frye what had happened.
• Klein reported the corpse’s words to Dunn, who said he would notify the Holy Cathedral and sent Klein home to rest.
• Klein worried that the Secret Order might seek revenge, but decided they were unlikely to identify him as the killer.
• Klein slept until evening, and Melissa told him that his mentor had sent him a letter.

Klein read his mentor’s recommendations for research on the ancient ruins of Hornacis, then learned that the Antigonus Family Notebook and Sealed Artifact 2-049 were being transferred to Backlund. As he awaited approval to become a full Nighthawk member, Old Neil told him that membership required completing an independent mission.

• Klein read his mentor’s letter about the Hornacis ruins and wrote back to thank him, asking Melissa to mail it.
• Melissa told Klein and Benson that Selena had invited their family to her birthday dinner, and they agreed to attend and pay for her present.
• Dunn told Klein that Nighthawks were taking Sealed Artifact 2-049 and the Antigonus Family Notebook to Backlund, and that the Secret Order investigation had identified a coachman and a temporary residence.
• Dunn said the Holy Cathedral might take two or three days to decide on Klein’s full membership application, while Rozanne lamented the staff shortage and joked that Klein should marry to recruit another civilian worker.
• Old Neil told Klein that becoming a full Nighthawk required him to complete a mission independently.