Recaps

Fors learned where Mr. X’s Beyonder gathering would be held, but Xio warned that he had been acting suspiciously. Meanwhile, Leonard and the Nighthawks identified a ritual murder scene as the work of the Primordial Moon’s followers and Luther decided to involve the Vampires.

• Fors understood how Loen’s authorities were directing public anger toward Feysac, then struggled to begin writing her new story.
• Xio told Fors that Mr. X’s gathering had moved to Number 11, Third Avenue, Cherwood Borough, and explained how to learn when the next one would be held.
• Xio warned Fors that Mr. X had seemed distracted and watchful at recent gatherings, leaving Fors wondering what he was guarding against.
• Leonard examined three mutilated victims with Luther and identified the scene as a Rose School of Thought ritual.
• Luther determined that the victims had been sacrificed to the Primordial Moon and said the team should ask the Vampires about the followers’ presence in Backlund.

At Baron Cosmi’s ball for the Sanguine of Backlund, Emlyn White struggled to conceal that he had made no progress hunting the followers of the Primordial Moon. When Rus Báthory mocked his doll-making, Emlyn’s attempt to defend the craft only made the others laugh.

• Emlyn attended Baron Cosmi’s blood-wine ball, where an attendant limited him to one glass because of his rank.
• Baron Cosmi asked the young Sanguine about their hunt for five followers of the Primordial Moon who had appeared in Backlund.
• Rus Báthory reported killing one target, while another Sanguine had also killed one and two had found traces.
• Emlyn admitted no progress, and Rus mocked him for making dolls.
• Emlyn angrily defended doll-making, prompting the other Sanguine to burst out laughing.

Emlyn returned home after deciding to postpone searching for a doll target, while Luther investigated Senior Deacon Silvestre’s suspicious death and considered a Spectator as the killer. After reviewing a list of Backlund Vampires, Luther recognized Emlyn and suspected he was the Tarot Club member Moon.

• Emlyn left Baron Cosmi’s residence angry, considered borrowing Leymano's Travels, then decided to focus on finding targets first.
• Emlyn sensed that someone might be watching him outside his home, but found no one and went inside.
• Luther reviewed Senior Deacon Silvestre’s final movements and death scene, suspecting a Spectator might have manipulated him into suicide.
• Leonard told Luther that the Sanguine had refused to help, then gave him a list of Vampires in Backlund.
• Luther recognized Emlyn White on the list and connected him to the Tarot Club member Moon.

Temperance enlisted Emlyn to help find the Primordial Moon’s followers by tracking the other Sanguine contestants, and Emlyn agreed in exchange for a share of the reward. Rus Báthory appeared to win the contest by killing two targets, but the scene shattered and he woke outside his home surrounded by scarlet-gloved people.

• Temperance asked Emlyn whether he had found any leads on the Primordial Moon’s followers, and Emlyn admitted he had not.
• Temperance learned about the Sanguine contest and offered to help Emlyn win by investigating the other contestants’ movements.
• Emlyn agreed to give Temperance the contestants’ identities and addresses in exchange for thirty percent of what Temperance gained.
• Rus Báthory used a marionette as bait at a Beyonder gathering and believed he had killed two followers of the Primordial Moon.
• Rus Báthory imagined returning in triumph to Baron Cosmi’s residence, but the illusion shattered and he found himself outside his home surrounded by people in scarlet gloves.

The Red Gloves confronted Rus Báthory over his suspected involvement in a Beyonder case, but he resisted arrest and escaped using a charm. Ahab Ishmael brought him down with a strange power, and the Nighthawks prepared to take him for interrogation.

• Soest ordered Rus Báthory to come with the Red Gloves, but Rus attacked them with black mist and escaped their encirclement.
• Soest sent a spirit into Rus Báthory to stiffen his body, but Rus used a charm to vanish in a burst of moonlight and red scales.
• Ahab Ishmael spoke the word "Chaos," revealing Rus Báthory in midair and causing him to fall helplessly to the ground.
• Leonard Mitchell joined the squad in restraining Rus Báthory, while Ahab ordered them to take him to the church and claimed the evidence box for examination.
• Luther held the box that had contained Rus Báthory's strange marionette and reflected on the advantages of authority.

Emlyn delivered the head and Beyonder characteristic of a Primordial Moon believer to Cosmi Odora, then learned that the Church of Evernight had arrested two Sanguine after Emlyn supplied information about them. After receiving a new lead from [Temperance] through Mr. Fool, Emlyn prepared to accept a dangerous item, while Luther warned him to be careful and Leonard arrived at the bar looking for him.

• Emlyn showed Cosmi Odora the head and Beyonder characteristic of a Primordial Moon believer he had killed, and Cosmi recorded his achievement.
• Cosmi told Emlyn that the Church of Evernight had arrested Gulard Dov and Rus Báthory after the Sanguine refused to provide leads on Primordial Moon believers.
• Emlyn realized that [Temperance] had used the Church of Evernight to target his competitors, then returned home and prayed to receive a new lead.
• [Temperance] asked Mr. Fool to tell [The Moon] that a Sanguine had revealed a ritual that could provide an item to attract Primordial Moon believers.
• Luther sacrificed a strange doll and warned Emlyn that the item was dangerous, then saw Leonard enter the bar and beckoned him over.

Luther ordered the Church to hold the captured Vampires and pressure the Sanguine, then tried to send intelligence about Primordial Moon followers to Councilor Ricciardo. At sea, Anderson pursued the remnants of the King of Immortality and recognized Gehrman Sparrow attacking their ship.

• Leonard reported that the Church had captured three Vampires, and Luther ordered that they be held while priests preached to them and the Sanguine were pressed to cooperate.
• Luther sent a letter to Councilor Ricciardo warning that Primordial Moon followers in Backlund might be connected to traitors from the Life School of Thought and the Rose School of Thought.
• Antiya appeared to deliver the letter, confronted Luther for thinking about someone else, and was reassured when he explained he wanted to help stabilize her condition.
• Anderson led his Sailors in pursuit of the King of Immortality's remnants and encouraged them to attack the fleeing pirate ship.
• A Devil captain and his crew came under attack from a cold, gaunt figure aboard their ship, and Anderson recognized the attacker as Gehrman Sparrow.

Luther received the Sanguine’s help locating Primordial Moon believers and was ordered to meet Archbishop Saint Anthony, leaving Soest’s team to pursue them. Emlyn tracked Garlis Kevin to Argos’s home and prepared to attack, but a sudden burst of growth erupted from inside the room.

• Luther read Ince Zangwill’s dossier, found no clear lead on his whereabouts, and considered how to pursue him.
• A Red Gloves member told Luther that the Sanguine had revealed the cultists’ location, and Luther sent for Soest’s team.
• Luther learned Archbishop Saint Anthony wanted to see him and left without leading the pursuit team.
• Emlyn followed Garlis Kevin to Argos’s apartment and realized the two Primordial Moon believers were together.
• Emlyn prepared his notebook and potions while waiting for Garlis to leave, but screams and a sudden eruption of grass and flowers burst from Argos’s room.

Emlyn killed Garris and Argos after their monstrous transformation threatened the residents of an apartment building, but another set of heavy footsteps sounded behind him. Meanwhile, Luther learned that a Demigod belonged to the Life School of Thought’s Primordial Moon faction.

• Garris and Argos merged into a giant plant-covered Monster that attacked the apartment’s residents, and Emlyn rescued a mother and daughter from its vines.
• Emlyn struck the Monster with lightning, weakened it with herbicide, and beheaded both believers of the Primordial Moon.
• As Emlyn prepared to hypnotize the witnesses and collect the bodies, heavy footsteps sounded from Argos’s room behind him.
• At Saint Samuel Cathedral, Archbishop Anthony advised Luther to maintain friendly relations with the Sanguine because they supported the Church financially.
• Antiya delivered Luther a warning that a Demigod was among the Life School of Thought members who believed in the Primordial Moon.

Emlyn escaped a room containing a powerful being who seemed to be merging with plants, only to be captured by the Nighthawks. When Red Gloves entered the room despite Emlyn's warning, the being erupted in violence, leaving Soest and the others facing a sudden attack.

• Emlyn found a plant-covered figure with overwhelming power in Argos's room, but it did not attack him as he quietly retreated with two severed heads.
• Nighthawks led by Soest confronted Emlyn and captured him with sealed iron handcuffs using their ability to pull him into a dream.
• Emlyn recognized Leonard Mitchell and warned him that a Sequence 4 was on the verge of losing control in the room.
• Several Red Gloves entered the room and panicked at what they saw, firing their revolvers.
• The enraged figure emerged amid surging plants and used blood blades to cut the Red Gloves in half as Soest ordered the others to retreat.

An out-of-control Demigod attacked the Red Gloves, but Emlyn wounded it with Temperance’s greatsword and escaped its bat swarm after praying to The Fool. Luther arrived and rescued the survivors, while the Demigod re-formed beneath the descended Crimson Moon.

• Soest led the Red Gloves away from the out-of-control Demigod and sent Jimmy to seek help from the Church of Waves.
• The Demigod pursued the group, destroyed Soest’s spirit bodies, shattered his dream, and trapped the team with its Dark Gaze.
• Emlyn used Temperance’s greatsword to stab the Demigod, breaking its hold over the Red Gloves.
• The Demigod transformed into bats and swarmed Emlyn, who fought back with Lightning Strike and prayed to The Fool.
• Luther burned away the bats with azure flames, ordered the wounded to leave, and faced the Demigod as it re-formed beneath the Crimson Moon.

Luther fought an out-of-control Demigod whose power grew beneath the blood-red moon and whose corruption invoked the Mother of Depravity. He used a grazed Sequence 3 soul to drive the Demigod into an ecstatic frenzy, destroying him and leaving behind a peculiar cane.

• Luther heard the voices naming the Mother of Depravity and resisted the corruption as the moonlight spread across the world.
• The Demigod attacked Luther with enhanced powers, while Medici stayed silent inside him.
• Luther used Grazing to bring out the Death Announcer and used contaminated Word-Eating and Desire Control to intensify the Demigod's madness.
• Luther urged the Demigod to praise the Moon until he expended his Spirituality and collapsed in a storm of life and death.
• Luther found a peculiar cane with a face-shaped handle and growing grass lying at the center of the explosion.

Luther defeated an out-of-control Demigod whose body became a strange cane, then healed two badly injured Red Gloves and arranged for the cane to be sacrificed to the Goddess. Emlyn was sent to be imprisoned in an Evernight cathedral, while Luther ordered the detained Sanguine released after paying bail.

• Luther defeated the Demigod, whose corpse and Beyonder Characteristic transformed into a cane, and sealed the item in a box.
• Soest reported that two Red Gloves were mortally wounded, but Luther restored their bodies and warned the team to check them for mental contamination.
• Luther ordered Emlyn taken back and imprisoned with the other Sanguine until the investigation was complete.
• Luther presented the tainted cane to Archbishop Anthony, who advised sacrificing it to the Goddess, and Luther performed the ritual.
• Soest told Luther the Sanguine could be released, and Luther ordered each of them to pay a 2,000-pound bail bond to the Church.

At Saint Samuel Cathedral, Daly questioned Leonard about his trip to Tingen, but Luther interrupted and asked Leonard and Daly to recount the old case. After hearing their account and their impressions of Silvestre, Luther left them hoping he would let them join any force sent after Ince Zangwill.

• Daly asked Leonard whether he had discovered something during his recent trip to Tingen, and Leonard hesitated to reveal what he had learned.
• Luther arrived and asked Leonard to discuss the Tingen incident with him; Leonard agreed, and Daly asked to join them.
• At a coffeehouse, Leonard withheld his discovery, while Daly and Leonard described Silvestre as a capable, well-connected deacon.
• Daly and Leonard asked Luther to include them in any future operation against Ince Zangwill, and Luther said he would consider it.

Luther suspected Leonard was hiding something he had discovered in Tingen, while the Tarot Club gathered and Cattleya asked Mr. Fool why Roselle had gone mad in his later years. Mr. Fool gave an ambiguous answer, saying unknown influences had turned Roselle’s attention toward Sequence 0.

• Luther told M that Leonard was hiding something, but said he did not believe Leonard was a Church mole and suspected he had uncovered something in Tingen.
• Audrey arrived at the Tarot Club gathering and observed the members’ moods as they exchanged greetings.
• Cattleya presented three pages of Roselle’s diary and asked Mr. Fool why Roselle had gone mad in his later years.
• Klein recalled that the diary showed Roselle had become a Sequence 2 Angel, considered switching pathways to pursue the Primordial Moon, and later wrote in a distressed state about the world’s destruction.
• Mr. Fool answered that unknown stimulation or influence had turned Roselle’s attention toward Sequence 0.

At the Tarot Club gathering, Mr. Fool revealed that Sequence 0 existed above Sequence 1, prompting Luther to connect the Black Emperor with Roselle and George III. During trading, Fors reported that she had found Mr. X’s whereabouts, and Luther suspected the gathering might be a trap aimed at him.

• Mr. Fool told the Tarot Club members that Sequence 0 existed above Sequence 1, and Luther connected the Black Emperor to Roselle and George III.
• The World offered the Notary Potion formula and the Ocean Songster formula and main ingredient, while Derrick and Alger arranged to pay him later with money and information.
• Cattleya offered Audrey the Black Hunting Lizard spinal fluid and Fors the Meteorite Crystal, leaving Fors worried about the cost.
• Fors told Luther that she had found Mr. X’s whereabouts and gave him the instructions for attending Mr. X’s gathering.
• Luther learned that Mr. X could Travel and had seemed uneasy at his gathering, then suspected Mr. X might be trying to lure him into a trap.

Luther told Fors to report information about the Aurora Order’s trap to the Church of Evernight, while promising to bring back Mr. X’s head himself. At the Tarot Club, he asked about the Primordial Moon and told Emlyn that he would be released once the Sanguine paid his bail.

• Luther judged Mr. X to be a lure backed by a more powerful hidden enemy and asked Fors to report the information to the Church of Evernight.
• Fors agreed to deliver Luther’s report, while Audrey wondered whether he had official connections and Klein planned to question him later.
• Luther asked the Tarot Club for information about the Primordial Moon, and Emlyn described the transformation of a Sanguine who prayed to her.
• Cattleya said the Primordial Moon might be a false name for a true evil god, and Luther resolved to ask the Snake of Mercury about her.
• Emlyn privately asked Luther when he could leave, and Luther said the Sanguine could secure his release by collectively paying his bail.

Leonard asked the Old Man about the mysterious Senior Deacon Ahab Ishmael, who had secretly probed him but found nothing. Above the Gray Fog, the Tarot Club discussed Gehrman Sparrow’s exploits and the City of Silver’s exploration before Audrey noticed a change in Backlund’s noble circles, leaving Luther to suspect a link to the deceased Senior Deacon’s connections.

• Leonard questioned the Old Man about Ahab Ishmael, and the Old Man said the Senior Deacon had spiritually probed Leonard and was dangerous.
• The Old Man advised Leonard to keep his distance from Ahab Ishmael, then avoided answering Leonard’s further questions.
• Alger and Hermit reported Gehrman Sparrow’s recent exploits, including his killing of Admiral of Blood Senor and his hunt for remnants of King of Immortality near Oravi Island.
• Derrick told the Tarot Club that the City of Silver was exploring Afternoon Town and capturing monsters for Lovia’s Advancement Ritual, but he could not access confidential records about her.
• Temperance told Derrick to offer the City of Silver’s chief a High Sequence Warrior formula as payment for information.
• Audrey described a subtle change in Backlund’s noble circles, and Luther wondered whether it was connected to the deceased Senior Deacon’s dealings with nobles.

Luther told Klein that he had become a senior deacon of the Church of the Evernight Goddess, and Klein realized Luther might help him access a Sequence 4 Seer potion formula. Klein then warned Luther that an Angel of the Zoroast Family was parasitizing Leonard, leaving Luther stunned.

• Audrey described growing hostility toward Feysac, and Luther asked her to keep watch on it.
• After the Tarot Club ended, Luther and Klein began their Transmigrators' Gathering and discussed their current situations.
• Luther revealed that he had joined the Church of the Evernight Goddess as a senior deacon under the identity Ahab Ishmael.
• Klein asked Luther to help him access the Sequence 4 Seer potion formula stored beyond Chanis Gate in Backlund, and Luther agreed to discuss it when Klein returned.
• Klein warned Luther that an Angel of the Zoroast Family was parasitizing Leonard, startling Luther.

Klein and Luther discussed Leonard’s parasite, his possible discovery that they were alive, and whether to cooperate with him, then exchanged information about the Aurora Order and Arrodes. Back in Luther’s home, he learned the latest news through his Virtual Personality and prepared to summon Arrodes.

• Klein told Luther that Leonard’s parasite was an Angel from the Zoroast Family, and they discussed how closely to involve Leonard in their future plans.
• Klein inferred that Leonard had returned to Tingen to dig up their graves and verify whether they were alive, but he and Luther agreed it was unlikely to threaten them directly.
• Klein offered to help Luther deal with the Aurora Order and explained how Arrodes had found him and how to summon the mirror.
• Klein and Luther discussed George III, Roselle, and Queen Mystic, then set aside what they knew about Roselle’s fate.
• Luther absorbed his Virtual Personality’s information, learned that Leonard might have dug up his grave, and hurried to summon Arrodes from a mirror.

Luther summoned Arrodes to ask about the Primordial Moon, Ince Zangwill, and the strange nature of his own existence. Arrodes shattered when asked about the Primordial Moon, then answered the other questions only partially, leaving Luther wary of the danger surrounding that entity.

• Luther summoned Arrodes in front of M, but the Mirror abruptly shattered when he asked for the true identity of the Primordial Moon.
• Luther summoned Arrodes again, and it said it could not discuss matters related to the Primordial Moon.
• Arrodes told Luther that Ince Zangwill had left Backlund, though it could not determine his exact location.
• Luther asked what Arrodes had seen on him, and the Mirror replied that it had seen the beginning and end of everything upon him.

Luther questioned Arrodes about advancing to Sequence 3, then went to St. Samuel Cathedral to handle the Sanguine’s release paperwork. After learning their confiscated Beyonder Items were being retrieved from behind Chanis Gate, he considered using the opportunity to inspect the Antigonus Family notebook.

• Luther asked Arrodes how to advance to Sequence 3 and learned that the Aurora Order or certain Orthodox Churches might provide the formula and Potion.
• Arrodes asked how Luther had summoned it and what his relationship was with the person who told him; Luther said they were friends, and then let the mirror leave.
• Luther went to St. Samuel Cathedral and signed a release order after learning the four Sanguine had paid 8,000 pounds in bail.
• A Nighthawk explained that the Sanguine’s confiscated Beyonder Items were stored behind Chanis Gate, and Luther recognized Leymano's Travels among them.
• Luther considered using the retrieval process as a chance to inspect the Antigonus Family notebook.

Luther entered the area behind Chanis Gate at St. Samuel Cathedral to retrieve the Sanguine’s belongings and inspect the sealed storage rooms. After finding their items intact, he ventured deeper and reached stairs descending into darkness.

• Luther kept the application form and told a Nighthawk to release the Vampires while he retrieved their belongings.
• Leonard checked Luther’s paperwork, obtained his signature, and brought him to Chanis Gate.
• Luther protected his psyche from the black threads and entered after the internal guard approved his documents.
• Luther collected the Sanguine’s fang-shaped dagger, crescent-shaped pendant, and Leymano’s Travels, then continued through the first level.
• Luther reached a staircase leading down into darkness that his gas lamp could not illuminate.

Luther searched the Church’s underground vault for the Antigonus Family’s notebook and encountered a dangerous, sleeping woman. Archbishop Anthony warned him away and explained the limits of his authority over the vault’s Sealed Artifacts, leaving Luther to seek the notebook’s location through the Church’s records.

• Luther descended to the second floor and searched among the Sealed Artifacts for the Antigonus Family’s notebook.
• Luther saw a beautiful, sleeping woman in a large room and recognized her from the Great Smog and his encounter with Ouroboros.
• Archbishop Anthony warned Luther that anyone who came too close to the woman vanished, and said the danger had claimed more than seventy researchers.
• Luther told Anthony he had come to retrieve the Sanguine’s confiscated artifacts and inspect the vault for work.
• Anthony explained that Luther’s authority covered most Sealed Artifacts but not the woman, whose information was restricted even from Anthony after transfers.
• Luther left the second floor to retrieve the Sanguine’s belongings and use his authority to find the notebook’s location, while Anthony remained watching the woman.

Klein realized he could pursue the Apprentice pathway through Fors and the Abraham Family, while Fors prepared a report about Mr. X for the Church of the Evernight Goddess. The chapter ended with Fors asking Xio to deliver the report, explaining that Mr. X was her teacher’s enemy.

• Klein received Leymano's Travels for the third time and considered switching to the Apprentice pathway to obtain formulas and materials from the Abraham Family.
• Fors reclaimed Leymano's Travels and its rent, then checked the notebook's newly recorded Vampire abilities.
• Fors completed a report about Mr. X and used an Astrologer's ability to interfere with divination tracking the letter.
• Xio surprised Fors at her desk and asked what she was doing.
• Fors asked Xio to deliver the report to the Church of the Evernight Goddess and told her that Mr. X was her teacher's enemy.