Chapter Summaries

Leonard suspected that someone was using supernatural means to bring forward the deaths of people already likely to die, harvesting their life for a ritual. Klein divined the altar’s location and saw a gloomy house beside a river, but could not yet identify where it was in Tingen City.

• Leonard told Klein he suspected Mrs. Louwise’s and Sols’s deaths had been brought forward to provide life for a summoning or large-scale curse.
• Leonard and Klein acknowledged that they were both unusual, secretive Beyonders and agreed to judge each other by their actions rather than pry into their secrets.
• Leonard described the signs around the ritual altar, and Klein said he could divine its approximate location using the deceased’s personal belongings.
• Frye borrowed Sols’s and Mrs. Louwise’s belongings, and the three Nighthawks went to Klein’s home.
• Klein sealed his bedroom, prepared an altar, and used divination to seek the ritual’s location.
• Klein saw a two-story grayish-blue house beside a river, but could not determine which part of Tingen City it was in.

Klein, Leonard, and Frye found the grayish-blue house where the evil altar stood, and Dunn joined them as they prepared to investigate. As the Nighthawks cautiously approached, Trissy noticed a bloody mark appearing on her mirror.

• Leonard reasoned that the ritualist would have chosen an area where deaths had risen recently, and Frye identified West Borough.
• Klein, Leonard, and Frye searched the southwestern corner of West Borough and found the house from Klein’s divination beside the river.
• Leonard and Frye stayed behind to watch the house while Klein returned to fetch Dunn, after divining that events would have a good outcome.
• Dunn ordered Klein to remain at least fifty meters away from the house and brought him along to observe and assist with Ritualistic Magic if needed.
• Dunn, Leonard, and Frye cautiously approached the house as Klein watched from a distance, while Trissy saw a bloody mark appear on her silver mirror.

Trissy attempted to complete a ritual and escape, but Dunn Smith, Leonard Mitchell, and Frye ambushed her. She escaped after disrupting the ritual, while the Nighthawks concluded she was at least a Sequence 7 Beyonder and called for Klein.

• Trissy disguised herself, became invisible, and approached Frye, but Dunn Smith’s dream ability revealed that her attack was only an illusion.
• Trissy reached the altar, snuffed out the candles, and took the statue, unleashing an icy wind that hindered Frye, Dunn Smith, and Leonard Mitchell.
• Frye shot an invisible phantom, Dunn Smith tore free from an animated curtain, and Leonard fought off vines and a bloodied flower.
• Trissy used the chaos to escape the Nighthawks, carrying Leonard’s bloodied flower toward the Tussock River and burning it before sinking beneath the water.
• Leonard destroyed a nail and hair linked to the flower, then joined Dunn Smith and Frye as they destroyed the altar.
• Dunn Smith said Trissy was likely at least a Sequence 7 Beyonder and told the others to signal Klein.

Klein joined Dunn Smith, Leonard Mitchell, and Frye at the disrupted curse ritual site, where they identified Joyce Meyer among the intended victims and suspected a woman connected to Gnosis had conducted it. After Spirit Channeling yielded no useful clues, Klein restored a broken mirror and saw a blurry young woman who seemed familiar to him.

• Klein verified that Leonard Mitchell’s singing was real, then entered the frost-covered building and escaped the attacking shadows by reaching the others.
• Dunn Smith explained that they had disrupted a curse ritual targeting Clover massacre survivors in Tingen City, and Klein reasoned that it was connected to Tris and Gnosis.
• Dunn identified Joyce Meyer as one of the victims and said a woman, rather than Tris, had conducted the ritual.
• Klein soothed the lingering spirits and attempted Spirit Channeling, but the ritual’s backlash had erased the owner’s lingering images and yielded no useful clues.
• While searching upstairs, Klein restored a broken mirror with a ritual, and it showed him a blurry young woman he found inexplicably familiar.

Klein traced the familiar woman from the ritual to Tris the Instigator, now apparently transformed into Trissy, and the Nighthawks failed to locate her. He returned home intent on divining her location, but first found that Melissa and Benson had saved him dinner.

• Klein divined the source of the familiar image and recognized the woman as someone he had seen near Daffodil Street.
• Leonard proposed that the woman was Tris transformed into a woman, and Klein’s divination of Trissy’s whereabouts met with interference.
• Dunn ordered the team to investigate the house, dresses, train station, and docks, while Klein suggested using artillery after checking the altar’s risks.
• Dunn praised Klein’s decisive plan and reflected that the Nighthawks relied too much on themselves and their usual methods.
• Klein returned home planning to divine Trissy’s location above the gray fog, then learned Melissa had saved him a lamb chop, soup, and bread.

Klein realized his divination had shown a future departure, not Trissy’s actions the previous night, and sent the Nighthawks to intercept her. While Trissy boarded a train at VEnya and planned to change routes, Klein fully digested the Seer potion.

• Klein divined that Trissy was leaving Tingen by steam train but could not identify her train or destination.
• Klein recognized that steam trains did not run at night and realized his vision showed Trissy’s future departure.
• Klein told Leonard what he had divined, and Leonard alerted Dunn Smith, who led the Nighthawks toward the station.
• Old Neil warned Klein that divination was not all-powerful, and Klein’s Seer potion fully digested.
• Trissy boarded a first-class train at VEnya and planned to get off after three stops before continuing to Backlund by another means.

After digesting the Seer potion, Klein planned how to explain his rapid progress and hinted to Dunn Smith that acting might help Beyonders master their potions. He left the captain’s office wondering how to act as a Clown.

• Klein discreetly changed how he activated Spirit Vision and decided to give Dunn Smith hints about his potion progress over the next two weeks.
• Old Neil told Klein he could begin making charms, but Klein had used up his material quota and planned to visit the underground market.
• Klein learned that Trissy had escaped capture after leaving the train before it reached Tingen.
• Klein told Dunn that visits to the Divination Club and following his Seer Code seemed to help him master the potion and avoid hearing or seeing strange things.
• Dunn considered Klein’s conjecture, while Klein left the office wondering whether acting as a Clown meant joining a circus.

Klein trained with Gawain, visited the underground market to buy charm-making supplies, and learned that Admisol was behaving strangely. The chapter ended when Swain asked Klein and Old Neil to help stop a Mandated Punisher who had lost control.

• Klein finished digesting the Seer potion and argued to Gawain that combat and traditional weapons could still complement firearms, so Gawain ordered him to repeat his exercises ten times.
• Klein went to the Evil Dragon Bar to check Beyonder-material prices, but the materials he wanted were far beyond his budget.
• Klein learned that Admisol had been trembling and shouting about death and corpses, and planned to use divination to find him later.
• Klein bought supplies for making charms, spending one pound and fifteen soli and leaving himself with little private savings.
• Swain told Klein and Old Neil that a nearby member of a Mandated Punishers squad had lost control and needed to be stopped before harming ordinary people.

Klein and Old Neil helped Swain stop a Mandated Punisher who had lost control from escaping into the Tussock River. The monster was killed, and Old Neil revealed that it had served alongside Swain for decades.

• Swain asked Old Neil and Klein to help restrain the out-of-control Mandated Punisher aboard a river freighter.
• Old Neil gave Klein a Sleeping Charm and explained how to activate it while they hurried to the ship.
• Klein shot the fishman-like monster as it charged for the river, but the bullet barely wounded it.
• Old Neil and Klein threw Sleeping Charms, briefly slowing the monster and giving Swain an opening to attack.
• Swain leapt onto the dock and crushed the monster's head with a powerful blow.
• Old Neil told Klein that the monster had served with Swain for twenty or thirty years, protecting Tingen City before it lost control.

Klein and Old Neil left the docks after the Mandated Punishers dealt with a monster, and Klein returned home to discuss hiring a maid with Melissa and Benson. Meanwhile, Audrey disguised herself to attend a secret gathering with Glaint, Fors, and Xio, where she met its organizer, Mr. A.

• Klein and Old Neil left the docks after Old Neil explained that Nighthawks had to trust their teammates and told Klein he would ask Swain to replace the Sleeping Charm.
• Klein returned to Daffodil Street, found Melissa home and Benson cooking, and agreed with Benson to look for a maid-of-all-work despite Melissa's reluctance.
• Audrey changed into a hooded disguise, left Viscount Glaint's residence with him, and met Fors Wall and Xio Derecha at a nearby house.
• Xio Derecha dropped a three-edged spike and explained that it helped persuade unreasonable people to talk calmly.
• Audrey entered the gathering and observed the hooded organizer, Mr. A, whom Fors identified as a powerful Beyonder.

Audrey attended Mr. A’s Beyonder gathering with Fors, Xio Derecha, and Viscount Glaint, where she bought three pages of Emperor Roselle’s notes and requested Spectator and Mind Reader formulas. She left without finding a formula seller, and back home she noticed Susie giving her a meaningful look.

• Audrey and her companions entered Mr. A’s gathering, where she read the anonymous requests and was surprised by the low prices of the listed Beyonder items.
• Audrey bought three pages of Emperor Roselle’s notes from a young man and confirmed that their writing matched the pages she had obtained before.
• Audrey requested Spectator and Mind Reader formulas, while Viscount Glaint requested the Apothecary formula; Xio Derecha eyed the Sheriff formula on the blackboard.
• Mr. A privately asked Audrey whether she wanted other Sequence 9 formulas, but she replied that she only wanted Spectator.
• During the break, the young man claimed that tattooing Roselle’s symbols had made him stronger and healthier, but Audrey declined his offer.
• Audrey left the gathering with Fors, Xio Derecha, and Glaint, then returned home and saw Susie give her a meaningful look.

Audrey learned that the king and prime minister had shifted their attention to reforms, while Klein investigated Admisol’s frightening visions and found that Elizabeth was plagued by recurring dreams of a black-armored knight. The chapter ended with Klein suspecting that Elizabeth’s visit to an abandoned castle and the blood she left there had caused the dreams.

• Audrey questioned Susie, who reported that the king and prime minister had postponed plans to retaliate against the Feynapotter Empire and were pursuing administrative reforms.
• Klein found Admisol trembling at the Evil Dragon Bar, but the young man panicked and could only describe a dream filled with corpses.
• Klein decided to report Admisol’s condition to his captain and planned to consult Mr. Azik after his return.
• Klein went to the Divination Club, where Elizabeth asked him for help with recurring nightmares about a black-armored knight with glowing red eyes.
• Elizabeth told Klein that the dreams began after she visited an abandoned castle near Ramde Town and was pricked by thorns, leaving blood behind.

Klein used a Dream Charm to investigate Elizabeth’s nightmares and found a wraith’s thought in her dream. He reported the danger to Dunn, who prepared to take Klein and Frye to Ramde Town, then asked whether Klein had noticed any changes in himself.

• Elizabeth asked Klein to divine the cause of her nightmares, and he had her sleep in the Red Agate divination room.
• Klein activated his Dream Charm and entered Elizabeth’s dream, where she revealed she had suspected he worked at the Divination Club and had tried to find him.
• A black-armored knight with a wraith’s thought appeared in the dream, and Klein stepped between it and Elizabeth before shattering the dream.
• Klein told Elizabeth the nightmares would end within a week, then privately resolved to report the wraith to Dunn; Elizabeth left with numb arms from sleeping on the table.
• Klein told Dunn about Admisol’s frightening dream and Elizabeth’s encounter with the wraith, and Dunn decided to go to Ramde Town with Klein and Frye, bringing Sealed Artifact 3-0782.
• Dunn asked Klein whether he had felt any changes over the past two days.

Klein, Dunn, and Frye traveled to Ramde to confront the wraith in an abandoned castle, carrying the Mutated Holy Emblem of the Sun. Dunn kept the wraith within the emblem’s range for over a minute until it vanished, but Klein then sensed something disturbing near the castle’s dining room.

• Klein told Dunn that acting according to his Seer Code had made his potion experience feel easier, and Dunn arranged for him to join the trip to Ramde.
• Dunn retrieved Sealed Artifact 3-0782, and he and Klein left with Frye, who drove the carriage to Ramde by way of Daffodil Street.
• The three Nighthawks found the wraith in the ruined castle, where it knocked Dunn aside and kicked the holy emblem out of its range.
• Klein and Frye fought the wraith, but Klein was caught in a dream created by Dunn and watched a false version of the fight unfold.
• Dunn revealed that he had been buying time, and the wraith dissolved after remaining near the Mutated Holy Emblem of the Sun for over a minute.
• A black iron gauntlet fell from the wraith, and Klein sensed illusory pain and filth calling to him from the steps near the dining room.

Klein, Dunn, and Frye investigated the hidden basement beneath the castle and concluded that someone had recently disturbed a corpse, releasing its resentment as a wraith. While questioning Ramde Town residents, Klein found a portrait of the first Baron Lamud that looked strikingly like Azik.

• Klein divined that exploring the castle's hidden location would go smoothly, and Dunn opened the concealed trapdoor beneath the living room step.
• Klein and Dunn found a headless skeleton in a coffin; Dunn theorized that someone had recently opened it and taken the deceased's head, releasing the resentment that became the wraith.
• Frye's examination confirmed that the man had died of poisoning and that the marks on his neck were less than three months old.
• The Nighthawks returned to Ramde Town and questioned longtime residents; Klein found that two people remembered being injured at the castle as children.
• A yellow-haired man offered Klein an oil portrait of the first Baron Lamud, and Klein noticed that the baron resembled Azik and had a mole in the same spot near his right earlobe.

Klein investigated a portrait said to depict the first Baron Ramde and found that it closely resembled Azik, prompting him to wonder whether Azik had lived through multiple lives. After divining whether to tell Dunn, Klein decided to share only the portrait's resemblance and then responded to a renewed signal from a mysterious youth whose plea suggested a link to the Forsaken Land of the Gods.

• Klein threatened Rogue Gray with his revolver and learned that the portrait was a copy of a badly damaged painting found in the old castle, with no proof it depicted the first Baron Ramde.
• Klein considered whether Azik was an ancient Beyonder who had lost his memories or had been reincarnated, and decided not to report his full suspicions to Dunn.
• Above the gray fog, Klein's spirit pendulum advised him not to tell Dunn, while his dream showed Azik rescuing him from a sea of blood and standing beside him in a mausoleum.
• Klein decided to tell Dunn only that a townsman had shown him a supposed portrait of the first Baron Ramde that resembled Azik.
• Klein noticed the crimson star contracting and expanding, heard a youth plead in Jotun for a great god to free the people of darkness from a curse, and suspected a connection to the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
• Klein touched the illusory crimson star to respond to the youth's signal.

Derrick killed his parents to prevent them from becoming evil spirits, then prayed to a deity for the City of Silver and was brought before Klein. Klein offered him a chance to grow stronger through equivalent exchange, and Derrick began recounting the city’s history.

• Derrick reluctantly stabbed his dying parents with a silver sword after an old man explained that only a blood relative could prevent them from becoming evil spirits.
• Derrick returned home, prayed to a deity using an ancient crystal ball, and was transported to the palace above the gray fog.
• Klein introduced himself as the Fool and offered Derrick an opportunity to obtain what he wanted through equivalent exchange.
• Derrick asked for the initial Sequence potion formula to become a Sun, and Klein told him to avoid going out or sharing a room with anyone for the next two days.
• Klein asked Derrick to exchange the opportunity for the history of the City of Silver, and Derrick began by explaining that it had once been called the Nation of Silver.

Klein listened as Derrick described the City of Silver’s history, its people, and the dangers of the Forsaken Land of the Gods. Derrick chose The Sun as his code name before Klein ended the connection, with plans to summon him again within two days.

• Derrick recounted how the City of Silver survived the Deep Dark Age and endured for 2,582 years in a land without a sun.
• Derrick explained that the City of Silver followed the Giant pathway and named its known Sequences, including Sequence 4 Demon Hunter.
• Derrick described the Council of Six and revealed that Elder Lovia followed the Shepherd pathway, which began with Sequence 9 Mystery Pryer.
• Derrick told Klein that the City of Silver’s people became evil spirits after death unless someone of the same bloodline ended their lives.
• Klein told Derrick he might summon him again within two days and asked him to choose a tarot card code name.
• Derrick chose The Sun, and Klein severed their connection.

After recruiting Derrick Berg, Klein joined Dunn and Frye’s investigation in Ramde Town and took the first shift guarding Sealed Artifact 3-0782 outside town. Using the gray fog to bypass interference, he discovered that the artifact had absorbed a mysterious golden liquid and began divining the liquid’s origin.

• Derrick Berg woke from his vision in the City of Silver, saw the crystal ball shattered, and found a strange symbol had appeared and vanished on his hand.
• Klein returned from the gray fog and met Dunn and Frye, who confirmed the Wraith had only appeared within the past two or three months.
• Dunn assigned Klein to carry Sealed Artifact 3-0782 outside Ramde Town, and Frye accompanied him to establish a handover point.
• Klein settled beside a deserted grove, prepared a protective ritual, and divined the Mutated Holy Emblem of the Sun’s origin.
• Klein entered the space above the gray fog and saw the emblem absorb a drop of golden liquid from an altar.
• Klein separated the golden liquid from the materialized emblem and began divining the liquid’s origin.

Klein’s divination of the golden liquid exposed him to a godlike presence and nearly killed him, though the gray fog protected him. He recovered with new Sun pathway formulas and knowledge, then returned to the woods with Sealed Artifact 3-0782 intact.

• Klein divined the source of the golden liquid and saw a blazing sun, which burned him and damaged the palace and bronze table above the gray fog.
• Klein restored the palace and table, resolved to avoid divining matters involving higher beings, and concluded he needed to reach an angelic level to fully control the gray fog’s power.
• Klein recalled and recorded knowledge gained during the divination, including Sun pathway potion formulas, a Solar Flare Charm technique, and warnings about looking directly at gods.
• Klein identified the golden liquid as divine blood from the Mutated Holy Emblem of the Sun and considered the implications of the Unshadowed formula and the artifact’s power.
• Klein returned to the woods and confirmed that Sealed Artifact 3-0782 was intact.