Recaps

Klein and Luther prepared to help Maric's group by attacking Loen military ships carrying mummies and artifacts before the fleet reached inland waters. Luther returned to his fleet and announced the attack, leaving the Sailors cheering and ready to follow him.

• Klein and Luther agreed to act early and discussed contacting Leonard about Amon and the dangers of the operation.
• Klein sent Leonard a letter warning that Amon had arrived and asking how to deal with Him.
• Luther asked Antiya whether anyone in his fleet had been parasitized, and she reported nothing unusual.
• Luther arrived at the fleet and found Anderson training the Sailors.
• Luther ordered the fleet to attack the Loen military ships transporting treasure and artifacts, and the Sailors cheered.

Luther reunited with his fleet and prepared to attack a Loen military transport carrying plundered treasures and artifacts. Leonard’s letter warned him about Amon, while Sharron and Klein revealed that the planned operation might involve a trap set for Demigods.

• Luther praised Anderson for maintaining the fleet and spreading the faith, then ordered preparations to attack the Loen transport.
• Luther summoned Antiya to notify Klein and Sharron, who arrived on deck with Gehrman Sparrow.
• Klein gave Luther Leonard’s letter, which relayed Pallez Zoroast’s warnings that Amon might be in Backlund and that his avatars were dangerous to attack.
• Luther burned Leonard’s letter and considered sharing intelligence about Ince Zangwill while keeping his Ishmael identity secret.
• Sharron identified Mahames as a Rose School of Thought Demigod likely to reclaim Tutanssess II’s mummy, and Klein warned that the military might have prepared multiple Demigods and powerful Sealed Artifacts.

Colonel Alfred Hall sailed toward Backlund with Nelson Sharp when he spotted Alexander Gascoigne standing on the sea ahead of their fleet. As the fleet raised the alarm and closed in, Alfred watched the Blood Bishop produce a jewelry box.

• Alfred Hall and Nelson Sharp discussed their return to Backlund, their work in the Southern Continent, and the gifts Alfred had prepared for his family.
• Alfred worried that Audrey Hall had become a Beyonder and resolved to talk to her about giving up further advancement.
• Alfred spotted a person on the sea ahead and identified him through his telescope as Alexander Gascoigne, the Blood Bishop.
• Alfred's Spirituality warned him, and the fleet sounded an alarm as its sailors rushed to their gun positions.
• Alexander Gascoigne moved and produced a jewelry box while Alfred watched through the telescope.

Luther tried to trap the Loen transport ship inside the Box of the Great Old Ones, but Grove Augustus used a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact to block the attempt and attack him. Luther appeared to be struck down, then revealed the Blood Pirates surrounding the fleet and ordered them to fire.

• Luther opened the Box of the Great Old Ones to capture the transport ship, but a voice forbade teleportation and forced him to put the box away.
• Grove Augustus flew from the ship wearing a thorn crown and accused Luther of crimes against Order.
• Grove used the Sword of Judgment to strike Luther, who burst into a rain of blood.
• Alfred Hall warned that Luther was unlikely to have been killed, and a black ocean spread around the Loen fleet.
• More than a dozen Blood Pirate ships emerged from the shadows as Alexander Gascoigne ordered them to fire at will.

The Blood Pirates ambushed the Kingdom Navy fleet, using close-range attacks to board the ironclads. Colonel Alfred fought back but encountered pirates who could recover from fatal wounds, and Anderson Hood confronted him as the battle continued.

• The Blood Pirates opened fire on the Kingdom Navy fleet and charged in to board its ironclads.
• Alfred ordered his ship to return fire, and its cannons destroyed an approaching pirate ship, but the pirates still boarded.
• Alfred pressed Sharp into the fight and led soldiers against the pirates on deck.
• Alfred's Pain Whip and the soldiers' gunfire felled a group of pirates, but they healed their wounds and rose again.
• Anderson Hood arrived, identified himself as King of Blood's first mate, and mocked Alfred's promotion.

A Loen naval counterattack began as military Beyonders confronted the pirates across the ships. Klein was trapped by a gold-masked Demigod until Qonas intervened, while Prince Grove’s Unshadowed Domain drove back the pirates’ shadows, leaving Luther exposed.

• A naval officer used Imprisonment to cage Alfred and the other pirates, then rallied the sailors to counterattack.
• Anderson’s fire crows failed to penetrate the officer’s barrier as other battles broke out across the fleet.
• A gold-masked Demigod restricted Klein’s Creeping Hunger and imprisoned him, but Klein escaped one attack with a Paper Figurine Substitute before being trapped again.
• Qonas arrived and attacked the gold-masked Demigod with Rivell’s Desperate Scream, while Luther’s Devils disrupted the military soldiers with their laughter.
• Prince Grove unleashed the Unshadowed Domain, driving away the shadows and forcing the Death Announcer to vanish; Luther remained in the light.

Luther and Prince Grove clashed with their empowered spears in a battle that unleashed a devastating explosion across the sea. When the waves settled, Alfred saw that the transport ship had been split in two.

• Grove judged Luther a sinner and formed the Spear of No Darkness with the Thorn Crown.
• Luther used the Red Priest card to create a Flame Spear, then called Antiya to amplify it to Sequence 2 strength.
• Grove and Luther hurled their spears at each other, triggering an enormous explosion that rocked the fleet.
• After the blast subsided, Alfred saw that the transport ship had been split in two.

Prince Grove and Luther fought to stop “Silent One” Mahames from taking Tutanssess II’s mummy after the transport ship was wrecked. Mahames transformed Luther into a giant lamb as the battle for the golden coffin continued.

• Prince Grove survived the Blood Bishop’s attack, while the transport ship carrying Southern Continent treasures split apart and exposed Tutanssess II’s golden coffin.
• A giant Cuttlefish seized the coffin and tried to flee, but Prince Grove’s prohibition broke its possession and revealed Mahames.
• Mahames cursed Prince Grove by gouging out his own eye and summoning hostile Spirit World creatures, forcing Grove to fight them off.
• Luther intercepted Mahames as he approached the coffin, but Mahames opened his mouth and transformed Luther into a giant lamb.

Luther’s curse transformed Mahames into a lamb, but the curse exposed Mahames to the lamb’s contamination and drove him into a screaming, mummy-like state. As Grove fought Luther over Tutanssess’s coffin, Luther called on Sea God Kalvetua for help, and a storm struck Grove.

• Luther transformed Mahames into a giant lamb with his Transformation Curse, but Mahames heard the lamb’s inner tide and was overwhelmed by corruption.
• Mahames’s curse backfired, turning him into a bandaged, mummy-like creature while the lamb reverted to a Blood Bishop.
• Luther turned toward Tutanssess’s coffin, but Grove attacked him with beams of light and refused to let him take it.
• Luther prayed to Sea God Kalvetua and asked for rescue from danger.
• Kalvetua sent lightning and a storm against Grove, forcing the exhausted Demigod to fear that he would be defeated.

Luther’s forces won the battle above the Sonia Sea after Grove fled, another Loen Demigod fell, and Suah retreated with Mahames. The exhausted Loen sailors surrendered, and Alfred became a prisoner.

• Grove used the Thorn Crown to escape the Sea God’s lightning, while Luther killed the golden-masked Loen Demigod with the Blade of Flesh and Spirit.
• Mahames cried out to the Abomination Suah, who pulled him through a rift and retreated rather than fight Luther.
• Luther declared the battle over and called on the Loen Army to surrender, promising that those who laid down their weapons would be spared.
• The Loen sailors surrendered, and Anderson stopped Alfred from shooting himself before pirates captured and bound him.

Klein returned from Acting as the Sea God to find the Blood Pirates celebrating their victory over the Loen Navy and helped Sharron and Maric leave with the transport ship’s coffin. Luther kept the captured officers while releasing ordinary soldiers, then planned to ransom the prisoners through their families.

• Klein saw the Blood Pirates celebrating after capturing Loen warships and searched the battlefield for the salvaged transport ship’s treasure.
• Klein joined Sharron, Maric, and Luther at the salvage operation, congratulated Sharron, and urged them to hurry before reinforcements arrived.
• Klein left with Sharron and Maric and Tutanssess’s golden coffin, while Luther stayed behind to finish clearing the battlefield.
• Luther ordered the pirates to release ordinary Loen soldiers on two sailing ships but keep the officers, including officers disguised as soldiers.
• The Blood Pirates sailed away with their spoils and prisoners, and Anderson asked Luther why he had kept the officers.
• Luther told the officers that their families could pay ransom to keep their capture from becoming known across Loen.

Luther organized the aftermath of his victory over the Loen military, arranging ransoms and celebrating with his crew. The chapter ended with him reviewing the spoils and considering how to handle a captured Church of Evernight missionary.

• Luther assigned Anderson to guard the captured officers and set ransom prices based on their families’ wealth.
• Luther rebuked a Loen officer by comparing the pirates’ seizure of ships with Loen’s plunder of the Southern Continent, then ordered a victory banquet.
• The morning after the celebration, Darkwill used Harry to intimidate hungover pirates, while Luna snatched the owl and sparked a chase.
• Luther and Anderson reviewed the captured warships, valuables, Sealed Artifacts, and a Sequence 4 Demigod Beyonder characteristic, and Luther planned how to distribute or sell the spoils.
• Anderson told Luther they had captured a Church of Evernight missionary and asked what to do with them.

Luther spoke with the Evernight missionary Nelson Sharp, then checked on his growing fleet and heard troubling reports about the Berserk Sea. He suspected the disturbances might be connected to Death and considered telling Klein, while Anderson reported that the Church of Knowledge had reached out.

• Nelson Sharp tried to preach the Evernight Goddess to Luther, who gave him letters from captured officers to deliver to their families.
• Luther inspected his fleet and urged Anderson to recruit carefully, while Anderson said he did not want Luther watching his Sequence 4 advancement.
• Anderson told Luther that storms and undead attacks had made the Berserk Sea increasingly dangerous.
• Luther suspected the changes in the Berserk Sea were tied to Death and considered informing Klein so he could consult Mr. Azik.
• Anderson reported that someone from the Church of Knowledge had contacted him and expressed goodwill.

Luther decided to keep the Church of Knowledge at a cautious distance before returning to Backlund for the Tarot Club meeting. Audrey learned that her brother Alfred had been captured when his fleet was attacked by the Blood Bishop, leaving her worried and unsettled.

• Anderson described the Church of Knowledge and its cautious offer of cooperation, and Luther chose to keep the relationship limited while affirming Anderson’s loyalty to his fleet.
• Luther left the island and returned to Backlund, where he resumed his role as a senior deacon at St. Samuel Cathedral.
• Susie told Audrey that she had overheard people saying Alfred was kidnapped by pirates, and Audrey struggled to control her worry without revealing Susie’s secret.
• Audrey calmed herself with her Psychiatrist’s Soothing ability and digested some of her potion.
• Nelson Sharp told Audrey that the fleet carrying Alfred had been attacked by the Blood Bishop and every officer had been captured.

Audrey learned that her brother Alfred was among the military captives held by Luther, the Blood Bishop, and watched her family arrange the ransom while keeping his capture secret. At the Tarot Club gathering, Luther recognized that Justice’s brother was his prisoner as Cattleya and Luther offered Roselle’s diary pages to the Fool.

• Nelson Sharp told the Hall family that the military had been defeated at sea and asked them to keep the capture of Alfred and the other officers secret.
• Earl Hall read Alfred’s letter demanding 100 pounds, decided to pay, and asked Sharp for the other captives’ names so he could help families unable to afford ransom.
• Earl Hall and Hibbert left to withdraw funds and contact the captives’ families, while Audrey soothed her mother to sleep and returned to her bedroom.
• Audrey joined the Tarot Club, where Luther realized that Justice was looking at him because he had captured her brother Alfred.
• Cattleya and Luther presented new pages of Roselle’s diary to the Fool.

Klein read Roselle’s final diary pages, learning that Roselle had planned to become a Black Emperor and had warned future transmigrators to choose their pathways carefully and beware of the moon. The Fool suggested Roselle might still be alive, and the Tarot Club began its trading session.

• Klein read Roselle’s final diary entry, which said the mausoleums were complete and there was no turning back.
• Klein read Roselle’s advice to future transmigrators to choose their pathways carefully and beware of the moon.
• Klein considered the dangers of Luther’s pathway and resolved to warn him about pursuing it.
• Cattleya asked whether Roselle could still be alive, and the Fool answered that it was possible.
• Luther realized Roselle might have advanced to the Black Emperor pathway and considered using the information to gain Queen Mystic’s support.
• Klein thanked Luther for his diary pages and opened the trading session.

At the Tarot Club meeting, Luther offered Southern Continent treasures for sale and arranged a large payout for Klein, Sharron, and Maric. Fors reported that Dorian had accepted the goodwill of Gehrman Sparrow and Mr. Fool and wanted to discuss matters further with Mr. World.

• Luther offered the Hanged Man, the Hermit, and the Moon a list of Southern Continent artifacts, explaining that he had obtained them by attacking a Loen transport fleet.
• Cattleya, Alger, and Emlyn agreed to help sell the treasures, while Audrey worried about Alfred's return.
• Luther told Klein that Mr. Fool would deliver ninety thousand pounds, including fifty thousand for Klein and forty thousand for Sharron and Maric.
• Fors asked the club for a cursed object from an ancient Wraith or clues to one, then shared the Abraham Family's information about Mr. Door and their full-moon ravings.
• Fors told Mr. World that her teacher, Dorian, had accepted the goodwill of Gehrman Sparrow and Mr. Fool and wanted to arrange a discussion.

At the Tarot Club meeting, Klein and the other members arranged several trades and discussed their needs. Alger then revealed a mural showing the Kings of Angel devouring the Creator, leaving Luther shocked because he had seen a similar scene before.

• Klein offered Fors an Interrogator Beyonder Characteristic for 1,000 pounds, and Fors accepted.
• Klein asked Derrick to look for a Trickster Abomination, while Emlyn asked about Sequence 5 Artificial Vampire characteristics in the City of Silver.
• Derrick warned Emlyn that the available characteristics were heavily contaminated, and Luther offered to cleanse them in exchange for Emlyn investigating why the Sanguine opposed the Primordial Moon.
• Alger sold Audrey the fruit of a Hallucinatory Wind Chime Tree for 2,000 pounds.
• Alger showed the Tarot Club a mural depicting the Kings of Angel devouring the Creator, and Luther recognized it as resembling a scene he had already witnessed.

The Tarot Club learned that the Kings of Angel had betrayed and devoured the Creator, and Luther shared a vision confirming the crime. The gathering ended with Luther agreeing to reduce Alfred’s ransom while Audrey asked him to keep her brother safe.

• Audrey connected the three figures in Alger’s painting to the Northern Continent’s three gods, and Derrick realized the Creator had been betrayed.
• Luther showed the Tarot Club a vision of the Creator being devoured, distressing Derrick, and suspected the pitch-black infant might be the hanging bastard.
• Alger described finding the mural on a vanished island and hearing a sigh, leading Luther to suspect Adam had been inside the ruined church.
• Audrey privately asked Luther about Alfred, and Luther confirmed he had captured him and offered to lower the ransom while promising he was safe.
• Klein warned the Tarot Club not to recall the painting, and the members returned to the real world.

Derrick struggled with despair over the City of Silver's future, then found hope in the improvements he had brought to its people. Elder Lovia visited him with a warning that strange growths around the former chief's tomb could force the expedition to the Giant King's Court to pause.

• Derrick watched City of Silver's children enjoy the newly introduced mushrooms and renewed his resolve to build a bright future for the city.
• Lovia appeared unexpectedly in Derrick's home, and he greeted her cautiously after recognizing her.
• Lovia told Derrick that the expedition to the Giant King's Court might be put on hold because of a more immediate danger.
• Lovia reported that human-hair-like plants had grown from gaps in the stones covering the former chief's tomb.
• Derrick wondered whether Lovia had informed the Blood God and thought that he should report the anomaly to Mr. Fool.

Above the Gray Fog, Klein and Luther questioned why the Evernight Goddess had failed to intervene in Saint Anthony’s case, then discussed their next plans. Luther intended to go to Feysac to find Ince Zangwill, while Klein planned to travel to the Southern Continent by air; afterward, Luther considered robbing an airship, and in reality he pondered a possible connection between Death and the Berserk Sea.

• Klein and Luther wondered why the Evernight Goddess had not noticed or stopped the Psychology Alchemists’ control of Saint Anthony, and they considered several possible explanations.
• Luther said he planned to hand over his work in the diocese and travel to Feysac to pursue Ince Zangwill, and Klein asked him to share any trace of Ince with Leonard as well.
• Klein told Luther that he planned to go to the Southern Continent by air to help the Loen Military sell arms, and Luther warned him about the Berserk Sea.
• Luther joked that he would bring a ship to rob an airship, and Klein asked him not to target the one he was traveling on.
• After the gathering ended, Luther received the Virtual Personality’s memories while listening to Lovia’s prayer and wondered whether Death was connected to the formation of the Berserk Sea.

Luther handled church affairs in Backlund while awaiting Bernadette’s reply about the Secrets Suppliant Pathway. At Saint Samuel Cathedral, Nelson Sharp underwent Ishmael’s new missionary review and received a Special Grade.

• Luther warned Klein that the Secrets Suppliant Pathway was dangerous and wrote to Bernadette asking which Pathways were adjacent to it.
• Luther settled into his duties at Saint Samuel Cathedral and released captured Loen officers as their ransoms arrived, beginning with Alfred after Earl Hall paid.
• Leonard brought Nelson Sharp to the cathedral and explained that Ishmael had introduced a new form and review process for returning missionaries.
• Sharp filled out the form, answering questions about his preaching and faith while waiting in line with the other missionaries.
• Ishmael questioned Sharp under a hazy influence, confirmed his honesty, conduct, and devotion, and stamped his form Special Grade.

Luther handled the Missionaries’ evaluations quickly, then received a letter from Queen Mystic describing the four Pathways adjacent to Secrets Suppliant. He considered the dangers of changing Pathways and wondered what the illusory sea was.

• Luther signed the Missionaries’ evaluations and left early to eat lunch.
• Luther shared pieces of steak with a creature hiding in his shadow as he waited for news from the Cathedral.
• Queen Mystic sent Luther a letter identifying Storm, Sun, Reader, and Spectator as the Pathways adjacent to Secrets Suppliant and offered to help him switch.
• Luther realized that the four alternatives were controlled by True Gods or threatened by Adam, leaving him wary of changing Pathways.
• Luther connected the adjacent Pathways to the ancient Creator of the City of Silver and wondered whether the illusory sea could grant him Reader abilities.

Luther examined the mysterious sea that had protected and empowered him, concluding that its authority might have originated with the Creator. He confronted Medici about the connection, and Medici’s reaction seemed to confirm his suspicion.

• Luther drew the sea’s water into his spirit body and discovered that it granted him immense power but pushed his body toward its limit.
• Luther recorded the sea’s unusual authority, corruptive properties, and ability to provide Beyonder Abilities from adjacent Pathways.
• Luther considered whether the sea was a separate space or a Divine Kingdom, but found flaws in both explanations.
• Luther asked Medici whether the sea was connected to the Creator Medici had served, and Medici fell silent.
• Luther reasoned that Sasrir had exercised authority on behalf of the Creator and that the sea’s power had come from the Creator, who had once stood above the True Gods.

Luther connected the illusory sea to the Creator of the City of Silver, resolved to treat the Tide cautiously, and moved Cecilia to a safer chamber. Meanwhile, Audrey joined her brothers on a family rabbit hunt, where Susie outsmarted the hunting dogs and helped Alfred make a clean shot.

• Luther concluded that the illusory sea was connected to the Creator of the City of Silver, though Medici refused to explain his reaction.
• Luther decided to guard against the Tide and its effects, moved Cecilia from the tower’s summit to a lower chamber, and planned to travel to Feysac.
• The Hall family went rabbit hunting at their country estate to celebrate Alfred’s return after being ransomed from the King of Blood.
• Susie found a hidden exit from the rabbit’s burrow and flushed it out, allowing Alfred to shoot it.