This is Part 2 of the canonical playthrough . Start it the moment The Serpent’s Lair in Phokis unlocks the Cultists menu. Finish it after the family dinner , not before Deimos is resolved.
How the board is built
The Cult of Kosmos in 431–422 BCE is 44 people:
- 42 regulars in seven branches (five adepts + one Sage each).
- Deimos, the Cult’s champion, sitting outside the seven. You cannot clue-hunt Deimos to death. The family story decides that fate on Mount Taygetos.
- The Ghost of Kosmos, the leader. Every Sage drops a clue toward the Ghost. You unmask them only after the seven Sages are gone and Deimos is resolved, then play A Fresh Start.
Killing the five adepts in a branch identifies the Sage. Killing a Sage yields a legendary set piece, a Ghost clue, and usually a fat XP spike. That is why this pillar should run in parallel with the chapters: many adepts live in regions the family story already sends you through.
The seven branches
Work bottom-up. The names below are the Sages — kill their five adepts first or the Sage stays hidden.
| Branch | Sage | What this branch is |
|---|---|---|
| Eyes of Kosmos | Nyx the Shadow | Spies and handlers. Elpenor is here; you already kill him in Chapter 3. Nyx walks the Agora in Attika. |
| The Silver Vein | Polemon | Money, mines, and smuggling. Ends in Achaia at a high level. Leave Polemon for the endgame. |
| Delian League | Kleon | Athenian war politics. Kleon is a main-story target in Chapters 8–9. Do not expect to “find” him as a random world boss. |
| Peloponnesian League | Pausanias | Spartan war politics. The Monger (Korinthia) and Lagos sit here. Pausanias is tied to the Sparta chapters. |
| Gods of the Aegean Sea | The Hydra | Ship Cultists. Upgrade the Adrestia before you clear this branch; several fights are naval. |
| Worshippers of the Bloodline | Iokaste | Ritualists tied to the bloodline myth. Chrysis in Argolis is an early adept you meet during the hunt for Myrrine. |
| Heroes of the Cult | Exekias the Legend | Champions and arena fighters. Exekias roams. Swordfish is in Messara; Belos is in the Arena. |
Two more faces sit above this table: Deimos, and the Ghost.
Suggested kill order (for the story, not for XP)
- Chapter 3 leftovers. Elpenor is already dead. Finish any Phokis/Malis names you can reach (Zoisme is an early Worshipper).
- Chapters 4–5 travellers. Sotera in Megaris, the Monger in Korinthia, Chrysis in Argolis, Harpalos on Keos. These are on the way to Myrrine.
- Attika cluster. Hermippos, The Master, Brison, Nyx. Clear Eyes of Kosmos while you still live in Athens.
- Silver Islands and the Aegean. Podarkes on Mykonos, the Silver Griffin, then the naval branch once the ship is upgraded.
- Story Sages. Pausanias and Kleon fall during the Sparta/Athens endgame. Do not skip main quests to “save” them for later; the chapters will force the confrontation.
- High-level leftovers. Polemon in Achaia, Kodros on Lesbos, Iobates on Lemnos/Thasos, Exekias, The Hydra. These wait until you are near the cap.
- Deimos. Family Chapter 9 only.
- The Ghost. A Fresh Start returns you under the Temple of Apollo in Phokis. The Ghost is Aspasia. That reveal is the Cult’s actual ending, and it lands only if the rest of the board is clean.
What not to do
- Do not murder every name the moment the silhouette appears if the chapter still needs that person alive. Kleon, Pausanias, and Deimos are story-gated.
- Do not wait until after Fate of Atlantis. The Cult is a human conspiracy in the 5th century BCE. Isu paradise is a different register.
- Do not confuse this board with the Order of the Ancients board from Legacy of the First Blade. That is a Persian operation, a different menu, and Part 5 of this series.
When the Ghost is dead, the Cult pillar is over. Next: seal Atlantis if the four artifacts are still out, then Legacy of the First Blade .
Watch
The hero video is The Midas Touch — a Cult Sage hunt. Olympics and other Lost Tales that brush the Cult sit on the full Odyssey playlist , not on this page.