Recaps

Philia saw how the Blood Pirates had transformed Toscarter Island, while Luther asked the Magic Mirror Arrodes about the Secrets Suppliant formula and George III’s apotheosis preparations. Arrodes revealed that the Aurora Order had become hidden from its sight and implied that George III’s ritual conditions were improving, leaving Luther determined to move faster.

• Philia walked through Toscarter Island and saw that the Blood Pirates had turned the Governor’s Mansion into a school and improved conditions for the islanders.
• Luther summoned Arrodes with a blood-drawn pattern, and Luna watched the mirror appear.
• Luther asked where he could obtain the Sequence 2 Secrets Suppliant formula and ritual, and Arrodes identified the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, the Demoness Sect, and the Aurora Order.
• Arrodes said it could no longer see inside the Aurora Order, and Luther decided he might ask the Tarot Club to investigate.
• Luther asked about George III’s apotheosis preparations, and Arrodes hinted that Loen’s crisis was making the ritual conditions more favorable.

Luther considered how to disrupt George III’s advancement ritual and weighed the forces that might defend the mausoleums. Luna asked Arrodes how she could make Luther happy, while Nelson Sharp arrived at MI9’s station in Doyin City seeking Alfred’s help.

• Luther questioned Arrodes about the Royal Family’s high-level fighters, but the mirror could not obtain a clear answer because someone interfered.
• Luther assessed the likely forces on both sides and concluded that destroying George III’s mausoleums during his advancement was more achievable than defeating the Royal Family outright.
• Luna asked Arrodes what she could do to make Luther happy, and the mirror explained that she worried because he seemed unhappy despite her bringing him fresh food.
• Luther dismissed Arrodes after hearing Luna’s concern.
• Nelson Sharp rode through Doyin City’s famine-stricken slums and then the wealthy district before entering MI9’s station.
• Nelson Sharp rushed into Alfred’s office and urgently asked him for help.

Nelson Sharp confronted Alfred Hall over the famine in Amikash State and persuaded him to authorize grain for starving children. As Sharp’s wagons left, he saw an old woman carrying her decomposing grandson as part of a funeral custom and could only give her money before leaving.

• Nelson Sharp told Alfred Hall that General Sanchez and the grain requisitions had worsened the famine, while Alfred admitted MI9’s orders prioritized the war against Feysac over the Southern Continent’s people.
• Sharp asked Alfred to save at least the children, and Alfred authorized several cartloads of grain and a squad of soldiers to escort them.
• Sharp collected the grain and left the barracks with the soldiers, feeling guilty that he could not save everyone.
• Sharp saw an old woman carrying her decomposing grandson and learned from a soldier that the custom was to keep the dead nearby until only bones remained.
• Unable to face the grieving woman, Sharp secretly gave her money and led the wagons away.

Fors finished two manuscripts after staying awake for nearly two days, only to be summoned by her teacher, Dorian, who feared she had advanced too quickly and was in danger. After learning she was merely exhausted from writing, Dorian told her to sleep before they talked further.

• Fors finished a Blood Bishop tale and a collection of eerie Backlund legends after staying awake to meet her deadline.
• Xio woke Fors and made her read an urgent letter from Dorian, who had arrived in Backlund and wanted to see her immediately.
• Fors met Dorian at the Hat Trick Inn, where he asked whether she had advanced to Sequence 6.
• Dorian mistook Fors's exhaustion for a dangerous potion-related condition and gave her medicine, but Fors explained that she had stayed up writing.
• Dorian told Fors to get a room next door and sleep before they continued their conversation.

Fors received the Traveler potion formula and ingredients from Dorian and promised to help him contact a hidden being once she reached Sequence 4. Meanwhile, Luther continued spreading the Blood God’s faith across the Sonia Sea and connected his consciousness to Lis on the Southern Continent to check on his flesh puppets.

• Dorian urged Fors to advance to Traveler and eventually become a Secrets Sorcerer so she could help him seek an answer from a hidden being.
• Dorian gave Fors the Traveler potion formula, Beyonder Characteristic, and supplementary ingredients, and advised her on acting as a Scribe.
• Fors left the inn after midnight, unaware that a crimson-eyed crow watched her from a streetlamp.
• Anderson told Luther that the Blood God’s faith had spread across several Sonia Sea islands while the Church of Storms focused on the Feysac fleet.
• Luther went to a cave, concealed his presence, and connected his consciousness to Lis on the Southern Continent.

From the Astral World, Luther connected with his Flesh Puppets across the Southern Continent and unleashed the Blood God’s power among people driven by suffering and resentment. In Doyin City, an old woman’s desperate prayer transformed her into a bone-covered monster, which attacked General Sanchez’s nephew as Alfred Hall and Nelson Sharp intervened.

• Luther reviewed his Flesh Puppets’ memories, saw the Southern Continent’s inhabitants suffering under colonizers and local rulers, and sent his power to those ready to pray to the Blood God.
• In Doyin City, Li witnessed an old woman use a potion to dissolve her murdered grandson’s corpse and gather his bones with those of her other dead relatives.
• Overcome by resentment, the old woman recalled her choice to pray and chanted, “Blood and rage, hatred and fire...” despite Li warning that it would cost her life.
• Alfred Hall told Nelson Sharp he was leaving the Southern Continent for the war in Loen rather than remain complicit in Sanchez’s oppression.
• A bone-covered monster attacked Sanchez’s nephew in the street, and Alfred and Nelson left their carriage to confront it.

Alfred and Nelson fought a monstrous old woman who killed a wealthy merchant, only to discover she was a human seeking revenge for her grandson. Nelson failed to persuade her to accept the Goddess’s salvation before she died, while Li claimed her polluted soul and explosions rang through Doyin City.

• Alfred ordered the crowd to flee and accused Li of causing the monster’s attack, but Li said it was Alfred’s doing.
• Alfred struck the monster with Mental Pierce while Nelson pulled the wounded merchant to safety, but the monster killed the merchant with a bone-spiked arm.
• Nelson used Dream Infiltration to put the monster to sleep, and Alfred shot it, causing its body to shrink into that of an old woman.
• Nelson recognized the old woman and begged her to repent before the Goddess, but she clutched her family’s skulls and died without accepting salvation.
• The old woman’s polluted soul flowed into Li’s shadow as he prayed that the despairing would behold heaven’s light, and explosions echoed through Doyin City.

Luther’s Blood God faith spread across the Southern Continent as desperate people gained power at the cost of their lives, and their prayers helped him digest the “Trinity Templar” potion. In Backlund, Leonard investigated the Aurora Order’s crisis and learned that his application to advance to Sequence 5 had been approved.

• Desperate people across the Southern Continent prayed to the Blood God, gaining power to kill their oppressors before turning into monsters and dying.
• The Blood God’s reputation and faith spread, while mysticism enthusiasts found that his blessings favored those driven by despair and revenge.
• Luther sensed his Flesh Puppets as facets of the same existence, and the prayers reaching him helped the “Trinity Templar” potion digest and merge into his body.
• Leonard told Soest that Aurora Order members across several locations had fallen into despair and killed themselves after losing contact with the True Creator.
• Soest told Leonard that his application to advance to Sequence 5, Spirit Warlock, had been approved.

Luther’s growing influence over the tide weakened the True Creator as faith in the Blood God spread, and he appointed Anderson to organize the Church in the Southern Continent. He hoped to replace Anderson with Lovia Tiffany, whose prayer reached him just as he was thinking of her.

• Luther received prayers meant for the True Creator and realized that his growing influence was eroding the True Creator’s divine status and anchors.
• Luther blocked out the True Creator’s furious ravings and returned to the real world, where Luna greeted him.
• Luther told Anderson Hood he would no longer be first mate and offered him the role of pope for the Blood God Church.
• Anderson hesitated to accept the permanent burden, so Luther asked him to establish the Church’s basic structure in the Southern Continent until a better candidate could replace him.
• Luther considered Lovia Tiffany as his future pope, then heard her prayer calling him the Great Lord.

Derrick and the City of Silver's exploration team failed to get past the Royal City's gates after the twilight light restored the giant they had nearly defeated. Back at camp, Derrick searched historical records for Mr. Temperance and wondered whether a scribe had concealed something in a copied chronicle.

• Derrick encouraged the exploration team with his light as they fought off waves of monsters outside the Royal City.
• Colin Iliad and Lovia attacked an armored giant, and Lovia began pulling its soul from its body.
• The Royal City's golden twilight restored the giant and healed its wound, so Colin ordered the team to retreat.
• At camp, Derrick read books about the City of Silver's history to answer Mr. Temperance's question about the deity it worshipped before the Great Cataclysm.
• Derrick found that the chronicle supported the familiar account of the City of Silver worshipping Giant King Aurmir before converting to the Creator, but wondered whether its scribe had omitted details.

Lovia questioned Colin about evidence that the City of Silver had erased the history of a deity, and he promised to reveal the truth after they explored the Giant King’s Court and found a way outside. She then revealed that a dead expedition member had never turned into an evil spirit, contradicting what Colin had told her.

• Colin summoned Derrick and Lovia to discuss how increasingly dangerous monsters were slowing the expedition through the Giant King’s Court.
• Lovia presented historical records and argued that missing originals and flawed rituals suggested the City of Silver had erased the existence of a deity.
• Colin dismissed Derrick, then told Lovia the question concerned the City of Silver’s greatest secret and promised to answer after the expedition succeeded in finding a way outside.
• Lovia told Colin that a team member who died during an expedition two months earlier had not become an evil spirit after she waited five days near his body.

Luther and Klein decided to enter Groselle’s Travels again to search the giant’s memories for a route into the Giant King’s Court and secrets about its past. They entered the book and reached Groselle’s dream, beginning their exploration.

• Lovia told Luther that the City of Silver’s expedition was blocked outside the Royal City and that its records had been altered.
• Klein summoned Luther to Dwayne Dantès’s manor and explained that the City of Silver needed a route into the Giant King’s Court.
• Klein proposed exploring Groselle’s Travels again to search Groselle’s memories, and Luther agreed to join him.
• Klein and Luther traveled above the Gray Fog, opened the book with blood, and entered its world.
• Luther used his Spectator powers to make Groselle leave the smithy and fall asleep, then took Klein into Groselle’s dream.

As the Aurora Order faced collapse from the Blood God’s growing faith, Heliodorus gave Stysa Ender an old nautical chart and signaled him to lead the faithful on a pilgrimage to the Giant King’s Court. Heliodorus stayed behind without explaining his plans.

• Stysa Ender warned Heliodorus that the Aurora Order’s believers were losing their connection to the True Creator and dying in despair.
• Heliodorus rose, retrieved an ancient nautical chart, and handed it to Stysa.
• Stysa examined the chart’s records of past pilgrimages, which showed that most expeditions to the Giant King’s Court had ended in death.
• Heliodorus traced Ouroboros’s symbol on the chart, and Stysa realized he wanted him to lead the Aurora Order’s people to the sacred continent.
• Stysa asked what Heliodorus planned to do, but Heliodorus only smiled and remained silent.

Luther and Klein explored the area behind the Giant King's Court and learned that Giants guarded the Decaying Forest, where Aurmir's parents were supposedly buried. They passed through the Barren Tunnel after Luther answered a stone stele's question, leaving them on their way back to the court.

• Luther and Klein found themselves near the Giant King's Court and spotted Giants guarding the Decaying Forest.
• Luther pretended to be Groselle's friend and learned that the Giants guarded the forest because Aurmir forbade outsiders from entering his parents' burial place.
• Luther noticed that the supposed ancestors had no altar or sacrificial ceremonies and suspected that Aurmir was hiding a secret.
• Groselle directed Luther and Klein to the Barren Tunnel, where a stone stele demanded that they answer a question before passing.
• Luther answered that his wife, daughter, and the woman he coveted should fight to determine who was most beautiful, and the stele let them through.

Luther and Klein explored a hidden giant stronghold, where murals suggested a possible connection between the God of Combat and Badheil, the God of Dawn. They also found a depiction of the Giant Queen Omebella, the Harvest Goddess.

• Klein explained that the Ancient God Alliance broke apart after Lilith perished alongside the Mutant King and the Annihilation Demonic Wolf, while Luther noted the cave murals predated the alliance's collapse.
• Luther and Klein entered a hall that rose like an elevator and carried them to a vast chamber furnished like a communal dormitory.
• Luther identified a mural of a silver-armored giant as likely depicting Badheil, the God of Dawn, rather than Giant King Aurmir.
• Klein observed that the masked figure resembled a statue of the God of Combat, leading him and Luther to suspect that Badheil might have become the current God of Combat, though they lacked proof.
• Luther found a mural depicting Omebella, the Giant Queen and Harvest Goddess, holding wheat, fruit, and other harvests.

Luther and Klein discovered that a shortcut in Groselle’s dream led to the edge of the Giant King’s Court, then separated so Luther could descend to Liveseyd and confront Ankewelt. Elsewhere, Heliodorus left his church after driving an inverted cross into his heart.

• Luther suggested the Earth Mother Goddess might be Omebella, the Harvest Goddess, and Klein cautioned that the idea was only a hypothesis.
• Luther and Klein opened a stone door and found gray fog at the edge of Groselle’s dream instead of the Giant King’s Court.
• Klein returned to reality while Luther asked to descend to the Dragon of Imagination’s City of Miracles, Liveseyd.
• Luther called out Ankewelt, and the Ancient God opened a stairway through the fog to the Hall of Truth.
• Luther entered the hall and saw Ankewelt coiled around a pillar, holding a white Classical Quill in one claw.
• Heliodorus extinguished the candles in his church, drove a wooden inverted cross into his heart, and walked out, closing the door behind him.

Luther confronted the Dragon of Imagination in Groselle's Travels and proposed that they cooperate against Adam. Ankewelt confirmed that the current God of Combat was Badheil, and Luther brought the news back to Klein at Meager Manor.

• Luther reasoned that Ankewelt had only partially awakened, then provoked him by mentioning Adam's apotheosis plans.
• Luther's presence stirred the tide within him, shaking the hall and nearly throwing Ankewelt from his perch.
• Luther proposed cooperating against Adam, warning that Adam might destroy Groselle's Travels and Ankewelt's remaining chance at revival.
• Ankewelt wrote that the God of Combat Luther had mentioned was indeed Badheil.
• Luther emerged from Groselle's Travels at Meager Manor and told Klein that Ankewelt had confirmed Badheil's identity.

Klein showed Luther the dangerous Mystical Item Rotten Meteor, then sacrificed it to the Evernight Goddess in exchange for ingredients for his Sequence 3 potion, Scholar of Yore. With the ingredients obtained, Klein prepared to advance while Luther advised him to get into the right condition first.

• Klein told Luther he planned to sacrifice Hvin Rambis's Mystical Item, Rotten Meteor, for the main ingredients of the Scholar of Yore potion.
• Luther asked to see Rotten Meteor's true form, and Klein opened the heavily sealed box for him.
• Luther glimpsed a vast, corrupting cosmos and a colossal tentacle, suffered a violent shock, then recovered.
• Klein sacrificed Rotten Meteor to the Evernight Goddess and received Hound of Forgan blood and a Mist Demon Wolf hoarfrost crystal.
• Luther warned Klein to prepare himself before drinking the potion because it could make him lose control.

Klein drank the Scholar of Yore potion and vanished into a mysterious place beyond the Spirit World as Sefirah Castle began to emerge. The event drew the attention of several figures, while George III outmaneuvered Zaratul in a chess game.

• Klein confirmed the potion was dangerous, then drank it as Spirit Worms emerged from his body and consumed it.
• Klein turned illusory and disappeared, while Luther sensed the gray fog and ancient palace of Sefirah Castle.
• A postman in Backlund, Leonard Mitchell, and a blood-eyed raven each spoke the words “Sefirah Castle.”
• Zaratul warned George III that he could not glimpse his future as they played chess and discussed their alliance against Gehrman Sparrow.
• George III used Distortion to make Zaratul place his piece incorrectly, then checkmated him.

After Klein advanced successfully, Luther took Hvin Rambis’s corrupted Spirit Body to try to cleanse it. In the Forsaken Land of the Gods, Derrick’s team found the graves of the Giant King’s parents and discovered that both had been human.

• Klein emerged after advancing, and he and Luther suppressed their hostility before returning to Meager Manor.
• Klein told Luther that most of his potion had been digested, and explained that Arianna had warned him Hvin Rambis’s Spirit Body was corrupted by the cosmos.
• Luther took Hvin Rambis’s Spirit Body from Klein to see whether he could remove the corruption.
• Derrick led the exploration team through the Decaying Forest toward the Barren Tunnel and the Giant King’s Court.
• Elder Lovia persuaded the team to investigate the guarded burial place, where they defeated an evil spirit formed from the Giant King’s lingering obsession.
• Derrick saw that the opened coffins held human skeletons, revealing that the Giant King’s parents had been human.

Leonard learned that Sefirah Castle was one of nine things left behind by the Original Creator and joined the Tarot Club to observe Mr. Fool. At the gathering, Audrey asked the World for a Dreamwalker Beyonder characteristic, but he said she could not buy one yet.

• Leonard asked Pallez about Sefirah Castle, and Pallez said it was one of nine things left behind by the Original Creator.
• Leonard speculated that Mr. Fool might be an incarnation of a Sefirah, then was summoned above the gray fog.
• Leonard observed the Tarot Club members, including the resentful Emlyn and the noticeably happier Cattleya.
• Cattleya reported that she had found no pages of Roselle's Diary, and Klein began the trading session.
• Audrey asked the World for the Dreamwalker Beyonder characteristic, but he said she could not buy it for the time being.

At the Tarot Club, Luther accepted Fors’s request to help her travel and demonstrate Beyonder abilities in exchange for monitoring large-scale national events. He warned the members that Backlund might soon become dangerous, and Audrey agreed to watch for signs of trouble.

• Klein told Audrey he would decide later whether to sell her Hvin Rambis’s Sequence 5 characteristic, since Luther might be able to cleanse its corruption.
• Fors asked Luther to take her to places around the world and regularly demonstrate Beyonder abilities so she could record them for her Scribe potion.
• Luther agreed to help Fors and asked her to alert him about any large-scale events involving the whole country.
• Luther asked the Tarot Club members, especially those in Backlund, to report such events and warned them that Backlund might soon become dangerous.
• Audrey agreed to watch for the coming events and decided to have Susie keep a closer eye on her father.

At the Tarot Club, Emlyn sought a way out of protective custody while Leonard and Cattleya reported mass sacrifices among True Creator worshippers and a powerful Aurora Order fleet sailing east. Luther suspected the fleet was heading for the Forsaken Land of the Gods and asked Derrick whether he had seen its members at the Giant King's Court.

• Emlyn asked Leonard how he could escape protective custody, and Leonard suggested that the Sanguine seek influence by offering medical assistance during the war.
• Leonard told the Tarot Club that Aurora Order members across Loen had begun sacrificing themselves in groups because they could no longer sense the True Creator.
• Cattleya reported that the Iron and Blood Cross Army in Intis had also experienced collective sacrifices.
• Alger described an Aurora Order fleet bearing blood-red emblems that had routed Loen and Feysac ships before sailing east toward dangerous waters.
• Luther suspected the fleet was heading to the True Creator's sanctuary in the Forsaken Land of the Gods and asked Derrick whether he had seen them at the Giant King's Court.
• Derrick said he had not seen them and told Luther that he was exploring the Decaying Forest with his companions.

At the Tarot Club, Sun reported that the City of Silver’s team had discovered the Giant King’s human ancestors and was preparing to explore the Royal City. Back on the Black Throne, Luna completed a spectacular performance, and Luther planned to watch the expedition while cleansing Pride Hvin Rambis’s spirit body.

• Sun told the Tarot Club that the City of Silver’s team had reached the Decaying Forest and found that the giants’ ancestors were ordinary humans.
• The members debated whether giants and other humanoid races had human ancestors, and Emlyn objected to Luther’s suggestion about the Sanguine.
• Derrick said the exploration team was resting before entering the Royal City and asked Mr. Fool for protection.
• Luna performed a series of tricks on the Black Throne, and Antiya praised her while Luther concluded that she had digested her Magician potion.
• Luther learned that the City of Silver was preparing to explore the Royal City and decided to follow Lovia’s progress at sea and cleanse Pride Hvin Rambis’s spirit body.

Luther tested whether he could cleanse the corruption within Hvin Rambis and discovered that his black tide could dissolve it, though it left Hvin's Spirit Body carrying the tide's aura. He then received Lovia's prayer as the City of Silver's team prepared to enter the Giant King's Court, where Colin led them onward.

• Luther tried to purify Hvin Rambis with the Bronze Cross, but its light began destroying Hvin's Spirit Body before it could remove the corruption.
• Luther submerged Hvin in his black tide, which dissolved the corruption and left Hvin's Spirit Body clean but frightened.
• Luther sealed Hvin in the box again and decided Klein should air him out in the Real World before using him as a Marionette.
• Luther received Lovia's prayer and used it to view the City of Silver's exploration team gathered before the Decaying Forest.
• Colin looked toward the sky, then told Lovia, Derrick, and the team to move out.