Recaps

Luther left Tingen with Klein and Leonard for a Nighthawks assignment in Enmat Harbor. Near the end of the train journey, Leonard revealed that Enmat Harbor’s captain disliked Dunn Smith because he liked Ms. Daly.

• Luther said goodbye to Cecilia and set out with Klein and Leonard for Enmat Harbor.
• The three Nighthawks boarded a second-class train at Tingen City Railway Station and traveled southeast.
• Luther learned that the trip would take them through Stoen to Enmat Harbor, a busy port in East Chester County.
• Leonard told Luther and Klein that Edward Crawford, the Enmat Harbor Nighthawks captain, disliked Dunn Smith because Edward liked Ms. Daly.

Luther, Klein, and Leonard traveled to Enmat Harbor and discussed the rivalry between its captain, Edward Crawford, and Dunn, along with Daly’s apparent affection for Dunn. Daly met them at the station and asked whether they knew about the Acting Method, leaving the conversation poised to turn serious.

• Leonard told Luther and Klein that Edward Crawford disliked Dunn because Daly seemed to favor Dunn, and warned that Edward would likely make things difficult for Luther.
• Luther declined to interfere in Dunn and Daly’s relationship but said he would stand up to Edward if Edward picked a fight.
• The three Nighthawks arrived at Enmat Harbor, where Daly greeted them after coming on her own initiative rather than at Edward’s request.
• During the carriage ride, Daly asked the three Nighthawks whether they all knew about the Acting Method.

Luther, Klein, and Leonard arrived at Enmat Harbor, where Daly asked them to explain the Acting Method to Dunn before the Church restricted its discussion. At the local Nighthawks headquarters, they sensed the influence of the True Creator and found Captain Edward absent, then settled into an inn amid the locals’ apparent hostility.

• Daly revealed that she knew Luther, Klein, and Leonard had grasped the Acting Method and asked them to explain it to Dunn as soon as possible.
• Klein agreed to explain the method to Dunn after returning from the assignment and before submitting his special application.
• Daly brought the three to the Enmat Harbor Nighthawks’ headquarters, disguised as the Enmat Harbor Fishing Club, where Luther sensed the aura of the True Creator.
• The receptionist said Captain Edward was away until the next day and arranged accommodations and meals for the visitors.
• Luther and the others settled into the neighboring inn, where Leonard observed that the Enmat Harbor Nighthawks seemed hostile toward them, especially Luther.

Luther clashed with Edward Crawford after the Tingen Nighthawks arrived in Enmat Harbor, then examined the lone surviving crewman from a slave ship. He proposed a ritual to extract clues from the monster, but Edward refused to allow it before the Goddess's Chanis Gate.

• Edward Crawford introduced himself as Enmat Harbor's Sequence 6 Nighthawks captain and questioned Dunn's decision to recruit Luther.
• Luther defended his deployment and reminded Edward that it had been ordered by Cecimir, so Edward led the group underground.
• The group encountered a grotesquely transformed crewman whose whispers polluted those nearby, and Edward explained that other attempts to investigate it had failed.
• Luther approached the caged creature without being affected and said he could trace the owner of the flesh implanted inside it.
• Edward rejected Luther's proposed ritual, calling it a Degeneration ritual of an evil god performed before the Goddess's sacred Chanis Gate.

Luther’s proposal to handle the cursed slave-ship monster was rejected by Captain Edward, who chose to bring in a Machinery Hivemind Beyonder instead. Luther agreed to stand aside and went to look for a market for Beyonder ingredients, leaving Edward’s plan to unfold without him.

• Edward rejected Luther’s ritual plan and revealed that a Sequence 7 Mystery Pryer from the Machinery Hivemind would investigate the monster.
• Luther accepted Edward’s decision and resolved to wait and see what happened.
• Daly explained that Edward wanted to protect his reputation and prospects for promotion amid a vacancy in the Church of the Evernight Goddess’s archbishop position.
• Klein told Luther and Leonard that Ince Zangwill had fled with the Grade 0 Sealed Artifact 0-08 after rebelling against the Church.
• Luther asked Daly for directions to Enmat Harbor’s Beyonder ingredient market, then set out alone after Klein and Leonard declined to join him.

At the Tarot Club, Derrick Berg identified Qilangos’s Creeping Hunger as a Shepherd’s extraordinary item, while Luther explored Enmat Harbor’s black market and approached a Church of Steam woman seeking help with Ritual Magic. Luther recognized the page of Roselle’s diary she was reading and hoped it contained a way to change Pathways.

• Derrick Berg joined the Tarot Club as the Sun, and Audrey and Alger found his origins and knowledge unusual.
• Alger asked Audrey to investigate Qilangos, and Derrick explained that a Shepherd could devour Beyonder souls and use their abilities.
• Luther bought ritual supplies at the Unrestrained’s black market and noticed a Church of Steam woman seeking someone skilled in Ritual Magic.
• Luther recognized the woman’s upside-down page as Roselle’s diary and read that she was considering changing Pathways.
• Luther offered to help the woman and showed her a Sleep Charm as proof of his Ritual Magic skills.

Luther met Grela, a Machinery Hivemind member seeking someone skilled in rituals to help her explore solidifying ritual magic into items, and arranged to meet her the next day. That night, he joined Edward, Leonard, Klein, and the Enmat Harbor Nighthawks to watch the Sequence 7 Warlock Niss attempt to subdue the Flesh Monster, but Luther sensed they should retreat.

• Grela recognized Luther's Evernight charm, explained her plan to solidify ritual magic into items, and asked to observe his rituals.
• Luther agreed to demonstrate rituals in exchange for Roselle's Diary pages and arranged to meet Grela near the inn the next day.
• Luther returned to the inn, met Leonard and Klein, and went with them to the Chanis Gate beneath the Fishing Club.
• Edward introduced Niss Brown, a Church of Steam Sequence 7 Warlock, who used powders and spells to weaken the imprisoned Monster.
• After the Nighthawks opened the cage, Niss pinned the Monster down and continued dissolving its Flesh, while Luther quietly told Leonard and Klein to move back.

At the Chanis Gate, the monster broke free of its apparent restraint and unleashed a Demoness’s curse, injuring Niss Brown and several others before Edward subdued it. With the case still unresolved, Edward asked Luther for help, and Luther questioned whether his Degeneration ritual was appropriate to perform there.

• Luther warned Klein, Leonard, and the others to step back as Niss stripped away the monster’s flesh and exposed a deeper darkness.
• The monster roared and spewed black flames, gravely burning Niss Brown and injuring several people.
• Luther redirected the flames away from his group and drew the remaining curse flames from the injured with his blood.
• Edward used an unseen power to put the monster to sleep and sealed it in a cage.
• Daly urged Edward to seek help from Luther, and Edward admitted his judgment was wrong and asked the Tingen team for help.
• Luther said he only knew the ritual of Degeneration and asked whether performing it before the sacred Chanis Gate would be appropriate.

Luther used a depraved prayer and his blood to subdue and decapitate the flesh-mutated monster, giving Edward a way to track the person behind the Flesh and Blood Magic. Afterward, Luther felt an overwhelming hunger, while a waiter reported to Ms. M that someone had discovered her and she ordered the trapped goods turned into sacrifices.

• Luther mocked Edward, then agreed to help after receiving an apology and travel money for the Tingen team.
• Luther fed the monster his blood and chanted a prayer to the True Creator, awakening it and making it praise the Lord.
• Luther asked the monster why it did not praise the Lord, then cut off its head with a silver dagger.
• Luther told Edward that the head would point toward the person who planted Flesh and Blood Magic inside the sailor, and Edward accepted it.
• Luther left with Leonard and Klein, then asked Daly for a nearby restaurant because he felt an intense hunger for fresh meat.
• A waiter told Ms. M that someone had discovered her and that transport routes were blocked, so she ordered the goods made into sacrifices.

Luther, Leonard, Klein, and Grela prepared to study ritual magic before leaving Enmat Harbor, but a spiritual disturbance interrupted them. A bombing at the Fishing Club left them injured and trapped amid the wreckage, with the attack’s consequences still unfolding.

• Edward organized the Nighthawks’ search for their target in Enmat Harbor while Luther, Leonard, and Klein prepared to return to Tingen.
• Luther arranged to meet Grela, and she asked to observe ritual magic from the Secrets Suppliant Pathway.
• Luther began a ritual to contact the True Creator but sensed a nearby spiritual resonance and stopped.
• Mark and the other Nighthawks returned to the Fishing Club, where Mark revealed himself as an attacker and invoked Ms. M.
• A carriage crashed into the Fishing Club and exploded, shaking Luther’s hotel and injuring Luther, Leonard, and Klein as they protected Grela.

After the Nighthawks headquarters was bombed, Luther and the others helped Captain Edward Crawford and Ms. Daly rescue survivors. Luther sensed a True Creator-related danger gathering in the Harbor District, and Edward prepared to lead a counterattack against the Aurora Order.

• Luther, Leonard, Klein, and Grela escaped the damaged hotel and found the Enmat Harbor Nighthawks headquarters destroyed.
• Luther and the others joined Edward Crawford and Ms. Daly in rescuing the wounded; the team reported seven dead, five seriously injured, and others missing.
• Daly explained that controlled Nighthawks had detonated themselves and a carriage full of explosives, and that they had said, “Ms. M sends her regards.”
• Luther connected Ms. M to Sirius's letter and sensed a dangerous True Creator presence gathering in the Harbor District.
• Luther warned that a Catastrophe could erupt unless they stopped the danger, and Edward agreed to go with him after retrieving something.

Edward led a team of Nighthawks to confront a Rose Bishop at a trading company in Enmat Harbor, bringing the dangerous Sealed Artifact 1-114, the Chaos Wand. His attempt to draw the enemy into a Dream Infiltration failed, and the company doors opened onto darkness and the stench of blood.

• Edward gave Klein, Leonard, and Grela the wounded to evacuate while he took Luther and the others to face the enemy.
• Edward explained that the Aurora Order likely had a Sequence 6 Oracle, a Rose Bishop, in Enmat Harbor, and the group shared their abilities.
• Edward revealed that the Chaos Wand could disrupt and distort attacks but risked turning its wielder into its slave if used too often.
• Luther guided the team toward a trading company near the red clouds as they sensed the growing abnormality and Degeneration.
• Edward's Dream Infiltration failed, and the trading company doors opened to reveal darkness and the stench of blood.

Luther and Edward’s team confronted Ms. M, a Rose Bishop of the Aurora Order, inside the blood-lit building. Edward weakened her with the Chaos Wand, and the Nighthawks opened fire, but Ms. M retaliated by hurling her severed arm at them as it began to swell.

• Edward warned the team about Ms. M’s flesh-and-blood attacks and the True Creator’s mental contamination before they entered the building.
• Luther and the Nighthawks found Ms. M seated in the hall, with a captured investigator fused into her chair.
• Edward shot the investigator to end his suffering after Ms. M forced him to begin praising the True Creator.
• Ms. M confirmed that she was Aurora Order member Ms. M and said her subordinates had returned to the Lord’s embrace.
• Edward used the Chaos Wand to weaken Ms. M, and the Nighthawks attacked her with Demon-Hunting Bullets while Leon blasted her arm with his revolver.
• Ms. M tore off her damaged arm and threw it toward the team as it began to swell, threatening to explode.

Edward, Daly, Leon, and Luther fought Ms. M, but discovered she was a Sequence 5 Shepherd rather than a Rose Bishop. As the team tried to resist her, Ms. M turned Leon against Daly and fired his gun at her.

• Edward used the Chaos Wand to redirect Ms. M's flesh bomb, and Daly forced Ms. M out of the shadows so Edward could strike her head.
• Leon, Daly, and Luther began coughing and developed fevers as Ms. M's apparent corpse turned into a damaged paper effigy and she reappeared unharmed.
• Edward identified Ms. M as a Sequence 5 Shepherd, and he told the team their best hope was to delay her until reinforcements arrived.
• Ms. M revealed that she had feigned weakness to torment the team, then Edward used Requiem to try to suppress her.
• As Luther reached for his Bone Flute and Daly and Leon prepared to attack, Ms. M's golden eyes changed, and Leon aimed his gun at Daly and fired.

Ms. M slaughtered the Enmat Harbor Nighthawks and revealed that she had been tracking Luther because his body carried the Lord’s aura. She took control of him and led him through a red-lit door, where he recognized a horrific ritual site as the Flesh Abyss.

• Leon, hypnotized by Ms. M, shot at her, and Daly’s spirit channeling bound her in black vines before Ms. M escaped and reappeared from flames.
• Ms. M shattered Edward’s arm, destroyed his attempt to draw her into a dream, and blew a hole through his chest with a flesh bomb.
• Ms. M struck Daly in the throat and made Leon turn his revolver on himself while she restrained Luther, leaving the Nighthawks defeated.
• Ms. M told Luther that she had arranged for Sirius and Hanass to find him in Tingen because his body carried the Lord’s aura.
• Ms. M took control of Luther and led him through a red-lit door, where he found a mass of fused human bodies praising an evil entity and identified the site as the Flesh Abyss.

Luther discovered that Ms. M was using a mass sacrifice to summon the True Creator and chose to fight her rather than flee. As she began to break free and attack him, the badly injured Captain Edward struck the ground with a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact.

• Luther saw that Ms. M had turned the trafficked slaves into a ritual sacrifice and began praying for the True Creator to descend.
• Luther broke free of Ms. M's control, then decided to stop her after seeing the victims and the bodies of the Nighthawks.
• Luther summoned two undead with Mr. Azik's bone flute, and they seized Ms. M and threw her into the flesh as the True Creator's will descended.
• Luther tried to alter the ritual array while Ms. M struggled free, shot him with an air bullet, and afflicted him with a disease.
• Captain Edward appeared at the storehouse door and struck the ground with a black gem-like cane, the Grade 1 Sealed Artifact 1-114.

Luther and Edward tried to stop Ms. M’s ritual by altering the array and unleashing the Chaos Wand, while Luther’s attempt to call on the True Creator failed. Their combined disruption finally destabilized the ritual, and Luther fled with the unconscious Ms. Daly as the mass of flesh exploded.

• Edward used the wreath to heal his chest wound and the Chaos Wand to redirect Ms. M’s illness onto her, giving Luther time to alter the ritual array.
• Luther changed the array to turn the mass of flesh into a bomb and prayed to the True Creator, but no power came because the God Descent ritual continued.
• Edward used the Chaos Wand a sixth time to disrupt the ritual, then handed it to Luther, who stabbed Ms. M and drove the wand into the flesh.
• The wand dissolved into pure chaos, causing the ritual, Ms. M, and the mass of flesh to twist together as the thing prepared to explode.
• Edward gave the wreath to Luther and asked him to carry Ms. Daly away; Luther healed himself with it, picked her up, and ran outside.
• An explosion struck Luther from behind and knocked him unconscious.

After surviving the explosion in Enmat Harbor, Luther explained how Ms. M had been defeated and digested his Secrets Suppliant Potion. He attended the funeral for the fallen Nighthawks, where Grela gave him several scorched pages.

• Luther told Leonard and Klein that Ms. M, Captain Edward, and Leon had disappeared in the explosion and that the Grade 1 Sealed Artifact had been destroyed.
• Luther recounted how Ms. M's ritual, mystical items, and his allies’ help had prevented the True Creator’s descent and allowed him to defeat her.
• As he reflected that the gods were not merciful, Luther fully digested his Potion and became a Secrets Suppliant.
• Daly invited Luther, Leonard, and Klein to the collective funeral for the Enmat Harbor Nighthawks.
• At the cemetery, Grela praised the Nighthawks and handed Luther several scorched yellow pages.

After returning to Tingen, Luther learned that his service had earned him a raise and the chance to temporarily carry a Level 3 Sealed Artifact, while the human-trafficking case remained unresolved. He passed Edward’s message to Dunn, then went to collect Cecilia from school.

• Luther read Roselle’s diary but found little useful information about switching Pathways at his current Sequence.
• Luther and the other Tingen team members returned from Enmat Harbor and prayed for Edward with Dunn.
• Dunn told Luther that his weekly salary would rise from 6 pounds to 8 pounds and offered to apply for his temporary custody of a Level 3 Sealed Artifact.
• Dunn explained that the military blamed temporary employees for the human-trafficking case, leaving the Church to suspend its investigation.
• Luther told Dunn that Edward had asked him not to be a coward, leaving Dunn visibly shaken.
• Luther waited outside St. Selena Girls’ School and reunited with Cecilia after her classes ended.

Luther reunited with Cecilia after returning from a business trip, took her to have two dresses tailored, and remembered that she wanted a cat. Back at Blackthorn Security Company, Dunn offered Luther a raise and permission to carry a Level 3 Sealed Artifact, and Luther chose the Clockwork Clown.

• Cecilia worried that new rumors would spread at school after Luther picked her up, and Luther reassured her while concealing the dangers of his trip.
• Luther took Cecilia to Barber Clothing Store, where she chose a casual dress and a formal dress to be tailored.
• Luther noticed Cecilia’s fondness for a customer’s cat and resolved to find one for her.
• Dunn told Luther that the Cathedral had raised his salary to eight pounds a week and allowed him to select a relatively safe Level 3 Sealed Artifact.
• Luther chose Sealed Artifact 3-169, the Clockwork Clown, whose laughter enhanced its user’s agility and strength but could also make them laugh uncontrollably.

Luther retrieved Sealed Artifact 3-169, the Clockwork Clown, and tested its effects, discovering that it gave him extraordinary agility but left him in an awkward, clownish pose. After Siga told him that Klein was sharing his successful advancement experience, Luther went to listen, as he and his friends hoped to share the Acting Method with the Tingen Nighthawks.

• Dunn approved Luther’s request to retrieve Sealed Artifact 3-169 and warned him to keep the matter quiet.
• Royale admitted Luther through the Chanis Gate, where an elderly guard retrieved the artifact after Luther glimpsed black threads filling the space behind the door.
• Luther wound and activated the Clockwork Clown, which made him unusually agile and eager to laugh before its effect ran out.
• Siga found Luther perched awkwardly on a chair, told him Klein was discussing his advancement with the team, and left him to join the others.
• Luther headed to hear Klein’s talk, part of a plan to share the Acting Method with the Tingen Nighthawks.

Luther and Frye investigated the undignified death of Viscount Dorset at the request of the Tingen police. Luther's joke about the viscount’s coffin sent him into uncontrollable laughter as Inspector Tolle and the Dorset family rushed into the room.

• Rozanne asked Luther why the Nighthawks had been acting strangely, and he told her it was a good thing he could not discuss.
• Luther showed Rozanne tickets he had bought to take his sister to the Tingen Theater.
• Dunn sent Luther and Frye to help Inspector Tolle investigate Viscount Dorset’s death, which did not initially appear supernatural.
• At the Dorset villa, Luther and Frye found the viscount’s body beneath a sheet with a conspicuous protrusion and identified mummy powder beside the bed.
• Luther joked that the viscount needed a deeper coffin, then broke into uncontrollable laughter as Inspector Tolle and several members of the Dorset family entered.

Luther investigated Viscount Dorset’s bizarre death and concluded that the viscount had accidentally strangled himself while seeking pleasure. A ritual revealed a streetwalker had been present before his death, leaving Luther suspicious of the circumstances and planning to report the matter to his captain.

• Luther laughed uncontrollably at the sight of Viscount Dorset’s corpse, but his handsome appearance softened Mrs. Dorset’s anger.
• Frye determined that the naked viscount had died of asphyxiation, and Luther found no mystical aura on the body.
• Luther noticed a recent aura of Degeneration on a chair and used ritual magic to draw a portrait of a woman who had been present.
• Inspector Tolle confirmed that the woman was a streetwalker who had fled after seeing the viscount alive, while the servants concealed his dangerous preferences to protect the family’s dignity.
• Luther doubted that the encounter was merely coincidental and decided to report his suspicions to his captain.

Luther learned that Azik had left Tingen to investigate his past and the mastermind behind the stolen skulls, then underwent a special review by Senior Deacon Crestet. The chapter ended with Luther swearing not to spread the Acting Method carelessly while Crestet praised him for his work in Enmat Harbor.

• Dunn told Luther that Daly had advanced to Sequence 6 and that he planned to digest his potions again from Sequence 9 before seeking advancement.
• Luther asked Klein to contact Azik, but Klein explained that Azik had left Tingen for Backlund after finding that his murdered descendants' remains had been disturbed and that Megose had carried half of their stolen skulls.
• Klein said Azik believed the mastermind behind the skull thefts was also responsible for the discordance between their fates, and Luther asked Klein about his search for a house with a red chimney.
• After two days, the Cathedral's special reviewer, Crestet Cecimir, arrived at Blackthorn Security Company, and Klein returned from his review having advanced.
• Luther underwent Crestet's review, swore not to spread the Acting Method carelessly, and heard Crestet praise his work in Enmat Harbor.

Luther took Cecilia to a theater performance, then encouraged her to attend university in Backlund and build a life of her own. When they returned home, Ms. M was waiting for them.

• Luther accompanied Cecilia to the Tingen City Grand Theater, where she drew attention with her beauty.
• Madam Sharon arrived at the theater in a veiled hat, and Luther teased Cecilia that she was hiding her face because she was less beautiful.
• Cecilia became absorbed in Roselle's comedy and praised the heroine on the ride home.
• Luther encouraged Cecilia to study law or literature at a university in Backlund, but she worried that leaving Tingen would mean leaving him.
• Luther and Cecilia arrived at No. 6 Daffodil Street, where Ms. M greeted them from the living room.