Recaps

Mr. A preached to his followers and ordered a search for believers in the Fool, alarming Fors and Xio at a Beyonder Gathering. A masked visitor then revealed that they had found traces of Lanevus, not information about the Fool.

• Mr. A preached that the Seven Gods had stolen the Lord’s authority and promised that the Lord would return.
• Mr. A convened a Beyonder Gathering and asked its members to find believers in the Fool, offering a great reward.
• Fors recognized the Fool’s Honorific Name and resolved to report Mr. A’s search, while she and Xio agreed to conceal their connection to the Fool.
• An attendant summoned Mr. A to meet a masked visitor who claimed to have found traces of Lanevus.
• Mr. A realized the visitor had come to report on Lanevus rather than the Fool and was stunned.

Luther attempted to pray to the Fool but was struck by a violent reaction from the Phantom Tide protecting him. He stopped the prayer and was left wondering about the contradictory connection between the Fool and the tide.

• Luther asked Emily to leave and formed a Wall of Spirituality before attempting to contact the Fool.
• Luther began chanting the Fool's honorific name in Hermes while the Phantom Tide protected his sanity.
• When Luther started the final line, the Phantom Tide surged violently, causing him intense pain and bleeding from his eyes.
• Luther realized the Phantom Tide was resisting and reaching toward the Fool at the same time, so he stopped chanting and calmed it.
• Cecilia rushed toward the Wall of Spirituality with a dagger, and Luther reassured her before wondering what linked the Fool to the Phantom Tide.

Luther failed to contact the Fool because the Phantom Tide in his mind blocked his prayer, then questioned Ms. M about the tide and sea. After she stayed silent and vanished under his Pain Whip, Luther suspected she was hiding among the souls inside him.

• Luther repeatedly tried to pray to the Fool, but the Phantom Tide surged and prevented him from making contact.
• Luther asked Cecilia about her future plans and privately decided to surprise her with a kitten.
• Luther summoned Ms. M and demanded that she explain the tide in his mind and the sea.
• When Ms. M refused to speak, Luther struck her with Pain Whip until her phantom vanished.
• Luther sensed the souls residing within him and called on the unreachable soul he suspected was Ms. M to come out.

Luther was interrupted while trying to interrogate the remnant of Ms. M’s soul when Klein arrived with a lead on Lanevus. Earlier, Klein had accepted Aaron’s commission to find his missing colleague Thomas, but discovered that Thomas was an obstetrician.

• Luther tried to force the soul remnant inside him to answer, but urgent knocking interrupted him.
• Klein visited Luther and said he had found a lead on Lanevus through a case he was investigating.
• Earlier, Klein reflected on passing the test of the Little Sun, recovering the All-Black Eye, and obtaining Roselle’s Card of Blasphemy.
• Aaron asked Klein to find his missing colleague Thomas after other detectives failed to uncover useful leads.
• Klein accepted Aaron’s commission, then reacted with alarm when Aaron described Thomas as an obstetrician.

Klein used Divination to locate the missing obstetrician, Rian Thomas, and discovered that Lanevus had likely abducted him. He and Luther concluded that Lanevus’s prostitute-like servants were controlled corpses, but the chapter left their rescue plan undecided.

• Klein examined Rian Thomas’s home with Aaron, found no mystical traces, and borrowed Rian’s stethoscope and photograph for Divination.
• Klein used the stethoscope to track Rian to Backlund Bridge Borough, where he noticed an unusual number of prostitutes on the street.
• At the inn, Klein divined Rian’s condition and saw puppet-like prostitutes overpower and drag him into a dark place.
• Klein told Luther what he had seen and said that Divination had failed to reveal anything about Lanevus.
• Luther reasoned that Lanevus’s aura was interfering with Divination and that he had likely abducted Rian to help deliver the Evil God’s Offspring.
• Luther identified the prostitutes as probable Flesh Servants controlled by Lanevus, and Klein asked what they should do next.

Luther and Klein reported Lanevus and the imminent birth of the Evil God's Offspring to the Church of the Evernight Goddess, hoping the authorities would stop the disaster. As they waited for the Church to respond, Mr. A arrived in Backlund Bridge Borough to search for the Offspring.

• Luther and Klein agreed that Lanevus had to be stopped, and Luther persuaded Cecilia to stay behind.
• Luther and Klein went to Backlund Bridge Borough and sensed the Evil God's Offspring corrupting the district.
• Luther sent a prepared flesh message to Saint Samuel Cathedral, warning the Church that Lanevus carried the Offspring and its birth was imminent.
• Luther confirmed that a priest had read the message and gone to alert others, while Klein warned that they still had to wait until Lanevus was dead.
• Mr. A reached Backlund Bridge Borough and began searching for the pregnant man, eager to find the Lord's offspring.

Lanevus prepared for an emergency cesarean to deliver the Divine Scion, but fled when he sensed his pursuers approaching. Nearby, Luther and Klein watched the Nighthawks’ Red Gloves arrive on Ralastville Street, including Leonard and Daly.

• Lanevus forced Rian Thomas to begin a cesarean, threatening him when the doctor tried to delay.
• Lanevus told the child that they needed to escape its father’s God Descent and their ordained fate by bringing it into the world early.
• Before Rian could cut into Lanevus, Lanevus heard something, rushed to the window, and cried that his pursuers had come to kill his child.
• Luther and Klein watched the street from a clock tower as a concealed airship hovered overhead.
• The Red Gloves arrived, led by a tall woman, and Leonard and Daly joined the operation against Lanevus.

The Red Gloves confronted Lanevus, whose unborn child carried dangerous Divinity, but Isabella used her concealed arm to make him disappear. As Klein and Luther watched from a tower, Luther sensed a powerful Shepherd nearby, and an airship suddenly attacked the Nighthawks.

• The Red Gloves fought through Lanevus's Flesh Servants and found him outside the building, swollen with the child inside him.
• Lanevus attacked the Red Gloves with a wall of flesh and blood, then exposed his belly and tried to corrupt them with the child's Divinity.
• Isabella used her sanctified arm to conceal Lanevus before his Divinity could spread, and the Red Gloves began to take control of him.
• Klein and Luther watched from a distant tower, where Luther sensed a powerful Shepherd of the same Pathway and Sequence as himself.
• Luther realized the Shepherd was aboard the airship overhead, which fired its cannon at the Nighthawks as a bloated figure fled.

Isabella destroyed the Airship that attacked her group, while Lanevus escaped and fled into the sewers. Luther intercepted him there, and after wounding Lanevus, closed in as Lanevus made another sudden move.

• The Airship fired on Isabella and her companions, but Isabella shielded them and shot it down into the Tussock River.
• Lanevus re-formed after the blast and fled while Mr. A blocked Isabella and Daly from pursuing him.
• Lanevus escaped through a manhole into the sewer, where Luther confronted him.
• Lanevus charged at Luther with bone spurs, then feigned an attack to slip past and run deeper into the sewer.
• Luther caught up, wounded Lanevus's thigh with Pain, and approached as Lanevus pleaded for his life.
• Lanevus suddenly thrust his belly toward Luther when they were close.

Luther resisted Lanevus’s attempt to control his body, transformed into a Devil, and pierced Lanevus with a Sword of Lava, but Lanevus moved the Divine Scion out of the way. Lanevus invoked the True Creator and struck Luther with a corrupting aura that ended his transformation and prevented him from Grazing the souls stored within him.

• Lanevus used the hand beneath his skin to try to seize control of Luther’s body, but Luther’s Phantom Tide kept control of his flesh and blood.
• Luther shot Lanevus, but Lanevus’s mutated body resisted the bullet and he identified Luther as a Shepherd who did not believe in the True Creator.
• Luther transformed into a giant Devil and used Mental Piercing to incapacitate Lanevus before stabbing him with a Sword of Lava.
• Lanevus shifted the Divine Scion away from the sword, then crushed one of his eyeballs and used the infant’s cry to disrupt Luther.
• Lanevus recited an incantation to the True Creator and threw the crushed matter at Luther, whose Devil Transformation ended and whose lambs’ souls became inaccessible.

The True Creator suppressed Luther’s Grazing ability while Lanevus attacked him in the sewers. Luther used his Beyonder items and Pain Aura to injure Lanevus, then prepared a risky shot as Lanevus lay pinned beneath his foot.

• The True Creator’s curse cut Luther off from the lamb souls he had Grazed, and his black iron glove failed to neutralize the curse.
• Lanevus decided to stop fleeing and attacked Luther with an exploding tumor and a cloud of corrosive Blood Fog.
• Luther protected himself with Flesh Cloak, shot out Lanevus’s remaining eye, and activated Pain Aura with his blood-red dagger.
• Luther stabbed his own leg and abdomen, causing Lanevus to suffer matching injuries, but the child within Lanevus dodged the abdominal attack.
• Luther kicked Lanevus down, pinned his head beneath his foot, spun the revolver with one ordinary bullet left, and pointed it at his own temple.

Luther used Lucky Roulette to shoot Lanevus, but Lanevus survived by shedding his headless body and emerging as a gigantic, twisted monster protecting the suspected Evil God's Offspring. Lanevus's transformation gave him immense strength, leaving Luther facing the creature amid a collapsing sewer.

• Luther used Lucky Roulette on himself to build up luck, while the shared effects of Pain Aura caused Lanevus to convulse.
• Luther loaded a Beyonder bullet and used the revolver's accumulated power to blast Lanevus's head apart.
• Lanevus's headless corpse split open, and a huge flesh worm covered in human faces crawled out with Lanevus and a lump of flesh inside it.
• Lanevus's transformed body attacked Luther and smashed through the sewer wall, exposing the night sky.
• Luther wondered how he could defeat the powerful monster.

Luther fought Lanevus in the sewers, but Lanevus’s divine offspring overwhelmed him until Ms. M intervened and lured the offspring away. After Ms. M destroyed it, Luther was left with a trace of pure Divinity that began merging into his body.

• A tiny black cat watched Luther from above the sewer opening before Lanevus attacked him again.
• Luther entered the Shadow World and tried to stab Lanevus’s shadow, but Lanevus revealed the divine offspring and drove Luther out with its corruption.
• Lanevus bit into Luther and overwhelmed him, while Luther’s attempts to wound him failed to stop the attack.
• Ms. M called the Evil God's Offspring to her, and it abandoned Lanevus as his body rotted and collapsed.
• Ms. M seized and destroyed the offspring beneath the Tide, leaving Luther with a trace of pure Divinity that fused into his body.

Leonard pursued Lanevus and found him disintegrating in the sewers beside the badly injured Luther, who was struggling to withstand the Divinity he had devoured and the True Creator’s calls. As Leonard reached the wreckage, someone attacked him with tarot cards.

• Isabella blocked Mr. A’s attack and sent Leonard after Lanevus while the Red Gloves opened a path for him.
• Luther struggled as his body repeatedly collapsed and healed while the Phantom Tide resisted the True Creator’s mutterings and Lanevus’s curse began to dissolve.
• Lanevus’s body disintegrated into blood that flowed into the sewers, and Luther noticed something Spirituality-rich emerging from it.
• Leonard reached the wreckage, saw Lanevus rotting away and a strange man writhing nearby, then dodged tarot cards hurled at him from behind.

Klein intervened after Luther killed Lanevus, recovered a strange white rib from the corpse, and helped Luther escape while Leonard tried to stop them. Leonard was left behind with Lanevus’s corpse as the wounded Mr. A arrived and swore revenge on Luther.

• Klein watched Luther defeat Lanevus, then attacked Leonard with tarot cards to keep him away.
• Klein used burning matches to reach Luther and urged him to control his overflowing spirituality.
• Luther told Klein that Lanevus carried one of his Beyonder items, and Klein retrieved a painful white rib from the corpse.
• Leonard pulled Klein and Luther into a dream, but Luther shattered it with a surge of power.
• Klein wrapped the rib, scattered tarot cards over the scene, and escaped with Luther using crimson flames.
• Leonard watched them vanish, while Mr. A saw Lanevus’s corpse and vowed to kill Luther.

Klein brought Luther back to Cecilia after a battle left Luther mentally unstable, and Cecilia used a cracked Mirror to restore his clarity at the cost of destroying the Beyonder item. Luther remained affected by the lambs’ souls and began losing control again, then asked Klein about his Beyonder item.

• Klein carried the crazed Luther to his apartment and reunited him with Cecilia.
• Cecilia fed Luther raw meat and a potion, then forced a cracked Mirror to treat his mental condition using his blood.
• The Mirror shattered after Luther accepted its suggestion, and its Beyonder Characteristic emerged.
• Luther regained clarity but mocked Klein and nearly transformed into a Devil before restraining himself.
• Luther explained that the lambs’ souls were affecting his mind and asked Klein for his Beyonder item.
• Klein showed Luther a snow-white rib, and Luther asked where his Pain was.

After killing Lanevus, Luther examined a strange new Beyonder item formed from his Pain dagger and a rib, while reflecting on his digested potions and worsening split personality. He asked Fors to contact Audrey and find out whether she had joined the Psychology Alchemists, hoping they could treat his mental condition.

• Luther examined the rib that had formed from his Pain dagger and his own rib, but he could not figure out how to use it.
• Luther sensed that killing Lanevus had fully digested his Shadow Ascetic and Rose Bishop potions, while the divinity he had absorbed worsened his split personality.
• Luther's younger sister announced Fors's arrival, and Luther's shifting mental state made him order Fors to stand straight before he apologized.
• Luther asked Fors to visit Miss Audrey and find out whether she had joined the Psychology Alchemists so he could seek their help.
• Fors agreed to contact Audrey despite being frightened by Luther's unstable behavior.

Fors gave Luther a copy of Spirit World Insights, warning that its knowledge could destabilize his emotions. Reading it, Luther learned that the strange realm he had traversed was the Spirit World and discovered that its seven Pure Lights might be potential sources of knowledge.

• Fors said she would visit Miss Audrey after the streets became safer, then told Luther that the teleportation stone she had given him was her last one and had come from an elderly patient.
• Fors explained that the patient had also left her a notebook called Spirit World Insights, and she gave Luther a copy in exchange for fifty pounds.
• After Fors left, Luther read the notebook and felt its knowledge make his already unstable emotions more agitated, so he paused to rest.
• Luther concluded that the realm reached through the stone and the Yellow Brick Road was the Spirit World, where traversal could connect distant places in reality.
• Luther learned that the seven Pure Lights represented different fields of knowledge and considered praying to them.

Luther performed a Spirit Descent Ritual to contact Aiur Moria, the Red Light, hoping for a safer source of mystical guidance. Aiur Moria could not advise him about the root of his unstable mental state, so Luther showed him a white rib bone and asked how to use it.

• Luther chose a Spirit Descent Ritual to contact one of the Seven Lights after his prayers to the True Creator failed and his attempts to reach the Fool were blocked.
• Luther summoned Aiur Moria, the Red Light, through a paper figure and greeted him while keeping the Phantom Tide ready as a precaution.
• Luther accidentally provoked Aiur Moria by comparing his redness to a Curly-Haired Baboon, then apologized and asked about his unstable mind.
• Aiur Moria said Luther's problem lay at its root and that he could offer no constructive advice.
• Luther set aside the question and showed Aiur Moria a white rib bone, asking how to use the Beyonder Item.

Luther asked Red Light Aiur Moria how to use the fused rib, and learned that he would have to return it to his body. At Saint Samuel Cathedral, Leonard questioned the ancient being parasitizing him about two people they had encountered before Isabella summoned him to a meeting.

• Luther showed the fused rib to Red Light Aiur Moria and learned that stabbing it into his body would let him use it.
• Red Light Aiur Moria warned Luther that he would discover the rib’s negative effects only after using it.
• After the ritual ended, Leonard asked the ancient being inside him what it had noticed about two people they had encountered.
• The ancient being admitted to having suspicions but refused to explain, saying Leonard was safer not knowing.
• Isabella summoned Leonard to a meeting, and he followed her through Saint Samuel Cathedral.

Leonard attended a joint Nighthawk and MI9 investigation into Lanevus’s death and described the two strangers who opposed the Aurora Order. The investigators suspected a Secrets Suppliant was responsible, while Leonard remembered the tarot cards covering Lanevus’s corpse.

• Isabella told Leonard the hunt for the Aurora Order had mostly ended, then brought him to a conference with Nighthawks and MI9 officials.
• A Nighthawk recounted how the Aurora Order interfered with the investigation before Lanevus was found dead.
• Leonard described two intruders as enemies of the Aurora Order and said Mr. A had been furious after they killed Lanevus.
• The MI9 demigod linked the incident to the Kaping Case and suspected a Sequence 6 Rose Bishop, but Isabella questioned whether the perpetrator could truly serve the True Creator.
• Leonard remembered his dead colleague Luther and his promise to find Cecilia, then told the investigators that tarot cards had covered Lanevus’s body.

Luther confronted hallucinations caused by the Evil God's Offspring's Divinity and encountered Ms. M in the mysterious Tide. After Ms. M used the Offspring's flesh and blood to stir the sea, Luther saw the True Creator suspended from an inverted cross beyond the mist.

• Luther's hallucinations intensified until Ms. M tore Lanevus and the lump of flesh apart, revealing the Tide.
• Luther questioned Ms. M about her intentions and rejected the possibility of her taking his body.
• Ms. M crushed the lump of flesh, and its blood spread through the Tide, making the sea surge and driving back the mist.
• Luther saw the True Creator hanging from an inverted cross at the edge of the sea.

After seeing the True Creator on the far side of the Phantom Tide, Luther woke from a devastating vision and struggled to understand his connection to the sea. He concluded that he might have shared it with the True Creator from the beginning and decided to preserve his access while investigating its nature.

• Luther saw the True Creator hanging upside down beyond the Phantom Tide, and the god's gaze made his body explode.
• Luther woke in agony as conflicting voices urged him to react in different ways, then stabbed himself with a ritual dagger to silence them.
• Luther reasoned that his vision of the True Creator and the Tide had been real, but that the god did not seem to have invaded the sea recently.
• Luther suspected that the True Creator had occupied the Phantom Tide before his transmigration and that Luther had been the latecomer competing for control.
• Luther decided to maintain the status quo, protect his right to use the Tide, and investigate its true nature.

Luther accepted that he was locked in conflict with the True Creator and vowed to destroy the Illusory Sea rather than surrender it if driven to a dead end. Later, he found comfort with his sister Cecilia and promised to take her to meet a stray black cat once he felt better.

• Luther decided to keep investigating the Illusory Sea and resist the True Creator, even though he feared its attacks on his mind.
• Luther vowed that if he reached a dead end, he would pray to the Fool and destroy the sea in a collision between the deity and the Tide.
• Luther worried about his worsening mental state and Mr. A, the Aurora Order Oracle who hated him.
• Luther went downstairs and found Cecilia warming herself by the fireplace in their cold East Borough home.
• Cecilia asked Luther to tie up her hair, and he promised to take her to find a stray black cat and ask Darkwill to treat it.

Luther considered his enemies and mental instability, then decided to seek help from the Psychology Alchemists and secretly gather believers in the East Borough to digest his Shepherd Potion. Meanwhile, Mr. A prayed in an abandoned building until a mysterious woman in white appeared behind him.

• Luther learned from Cecilia that Miss Audrey had joined the Psychology Alchemists and was trying to arrange treatment for him.
• Luther weighed the threats posed by Ince Zangwill, the True Creator, and Mr. A, while hoping the Psychology Alchemists could help with his mental state.
• Luther concluded that acting as a Shepherd meant gathering and guiding human believers, and planned to begin preaching in the East Borough after meeting the Psychology Alchemists.
• Mr. A repented and repeatedly struck his head against the floor before a beautiful woman in white robes appeared behind him.