Chapter Summaries

The Churches reviewed Blood Bishop’s investigation history and used Arrodes to reveal that he had killed the Sequence 4 Demoness of Despair behind the Great Smog. Above the Gray Fog, Luther corrected Justice Audrey’s account of the conspiracy’s beginning, saying Trissy Cheek had been arranged for Prince Edessak through an agreement between the Demoness Sect and the Royal Family.

• Ikanser reported that Blood Bishop had rescued girls from Capim’s residence, killed its guests and guards, and was likely a Sequence 5 Shepherd.
• Ikanser linked Blood Bishop to Lanevus’s death and said he opposed the Aurora Order, while Leonard recalled the Fool card left at the scene.
• Horamick ordered Ikanser to ask Arrodes whether anyone had supplied Blood Bishop with information, and the mirror showed Blood Bishop killing the Demoness of Despair.
• Arrodes asked Ikanser whether he knew the feeling of being ignored by someone he cared about, and Ikanser answered correctly.
• Above the Gray Fog, Justice Audrey asked Luther to explain the Great Smog, and Luther corrected her by saying Trissy Cheek had been arranged for Prince Edessak by the Demoness Sect and the Royal Family.

Luther revealed to the Tarot Club that King George III had masterminded the Great Smog, and Justice recounted Blood Bishop’s assault on the royal palace. Luther openly admitted that he was Blood Bishop, while an official Beyonder meeting watched a magical recording of the attack.

• Luther said that a Sequence 4 Demoness of Despair had been responsible for the Great Smog and named King George III as its mastermind.
• Luther explained that a woman in a black robe had disrupted his Spirit Channeling of the Demoness, preventing him from learning more.
• Justice described how Blood Bishop seized the Pritz, attacked Sodela Palace, and died after throwing his head into the king’s residence.
• Sun Derrick asked why everyone was looking at Mr. Temperance, and Luther calmly admitted that he was Blood Bishop.
• Official Beyonders watched a Silver Mirror recording of the warship’s attack on the royal palace, though the figure it revealed had a blurred face.

The Tarot Club discussed the Magic Mirror’s account of [Blood Bishop] attacking the royal palace and the Royal Family’s response. After the other members departed, Luther asked [World] whether he was Klein.

• Ikanser showed the Tarot Club the Silver Mirror’s embellished account of [Blood Bishop] fighting Royal Family Beyonders and throwing his severed head into the palace.
• The assembled church representatives debated [Blood Bishop]’s strength and questioned the Royal Family’s explanation for the attack.
• Above the Gray Fog, Audrey told Alger that the Royal Family had accepted inspections but that investigators had found little, while the three churches continued to distrust it.
• [World] told [Hanged Man] that the human trafficker Baelen was in Backlund and had met with people from MI9.
• Luther requested a private conversation with [World], and Klein sent the other Tarot Club members away.
• Luther asked [World], “you're Klein, right?”

Luther and Klein discovered each other’s identities as Temperance and the World above the Gray Fog, then compared their recent ordeals and plans. Luther had reached Toscarter Island while seeking ingredients to advance and control the Red Angel Evil Spirit, and Klein asked him to look for Mermaids to help with his own advancement ritual.

• Luther confronted the World, and Klein confirmed that he was Klein; they agreed to keep their acquaintance secret from the other members.
• Klein told Luther about his involvement with Prince Edessak, Demoness Trissy, and Ince Zangwill, whom Luther also blamed for his losses.
• Luther explained that all his Lambs had died, that the emperor had masterminded the tragedy, and that he had Grazed the Red Angel Evil Spirit to attack the royal palace.
• Klein learned that the Evil Spirit was trying to take over Luther’s body and offered to ask Mr. Azik for help, while Luther said he planned to advance to Sequence 4 to gain control.
• Luther told Klein he had already reached Toscarter Island in the Sonia Sea, and agreed to look for Mermaids needed for Klein’s advancement ritual.

After gaining Medici’s fused evil spirit and the Red Priest Card of Blasphemy, Luther completed the Tarot Club exchange and returned to Queen Mystic’s ship. He asked Bernadette for a Black Fluid and information about Mermaids as the Dawn sailed toward dangerous waters.

• Luther examined the Red Priest Card and the fused Medici spirit, recognizing that the spirit’s power came with severe mental erosion.
• Luther blocked Medici’s senses, performed a ritual to exchange the Wind-blessed Beyonder Characteristic for the Hanged Man’s gold pounds, and sent most of the money and the Red Priest card away.
• Luther left Storcatt Island the next day and boarded Queen Mystic’s Dawn after Bernadette asked whether he was ready.
• Luther asked Bernadette for Shadow Knight Black Fluid and information about where Mermaids could be found, and she said she had the fluid for five hundred gold pounds.

Luther and the Dawn entered the God War Ruins, where he witnessed an illusion of ancient gods battling a white-robed figure. He awoke to find that a terrifying gasping sound from the ruins had reached the ship.

• Queen Mystic sold Luther the Shadow Knight's Black Fluid for 500 pounds.
• The Dawn crossed a vast rift in the sea on a bridge of water and entered the God War Ruins.
• Luther saw the ruins' strange golden sunlight and then found himself witnessing an ancient battle between gods and a white-robed figure.
• The white-robed figure looked toward Luther, and its shadow swallowed the light as terrifying gasps shattered his illusion.
• Luther woke on the deck beside Luna and Queen Mystic, sensing a massive corpse in the ruins that was still gasping.

Luther and Bernadette entered a dangerous sea to find the Black Knight Beyonder Characteristic, learning that it belonged to the stranded Aurora Order Saint Leomaster. Their search was interrupted when the King of the Black Throne appeared beside Dawn and demanded an item from Bernadette.

• Luther was overwhelmed by the True Creator’s ravings near a ruined island, then used the Phantom Tide to drive the corruption from his mind.
• Bernadette warned Luther that the sea held dangerous divine traces, and Dawn followed charted safe routes away from the island.
• During lunch, Bernadette revealed that Saint Leomaster was trapped in the sea and that Luther could obtain the Black Knight Beyonder Characteristic by killing him.
• A colossal black ship appeared beside Dawn without warning, and its elderly occupant asked Bernadette to return an item.
• Bernadette identified the man as Barros Hopkins, also known as the King of the Black Throne.

Luther discovered that the Phantom Tide protected him from Barros Hopkins's power to make people overlook him, while Bernadette confronted the King of the Black Throne over an item belonging to her father, Roselle. Barros pursued Bernadette and Luther, and the chapter ended as their ships prepared to fight in the God War Ruins.

• Luther realized the Phantom Tide had expelled a hidden influence from Barros Hopkins that would otherwise make him overlook the King of the Black Throne.
• Bernadette accused Barros of stealing an item that belonged to Roselle, while Barros claimed he had obtained it legitimately and demanded its return.
• Bernadette used transparent bubbles to transport the Dawn and its crew to another part of the God War Ruins, saying she would send Luther somewhere safe and contact him later.
• Barros and his colossal ship appeared before the Dawn again, and an invisible ripple turned people from across the sea into his pirate crew.
• Bernadette summoned invisible servants and toy soldiers to prepare the Dawn for battle, and Barros's flagship fired a cannonball that the Dawn's barrier blocked.

Luther watched the Queen attack Barros with the Spear of Longinus, but the apparent victory proved to be an illusion when Barros appeared beside him alive. Luther attacked Barros, who remained smiling even after being cut in half.

• King of the Black Throne's flagship bombarded the Dawn, and the invisible servants returned fire with enchanted cannonballs that passed through the enemy ship.
• The Dawn's barrier shattered, pirates boarded, and the toy soldiers fought them while the Queen prepared to attack Barros.
• The Queen hurled the Spear of Longinus at Barros and used a prophecy to restrain him, apparently piercing him through the chest and killing him.
• Barros appeared alive beside Luther, and Luther saw that the spear had pierced the Queen instead.
• Luther transformed into a devil and cleaved Barros and his wheelchair in two, but Barros continued smiling at him.

Barros and M appeared to strip Luther of the Phantom Tide, leaving him exposed to the True Creator and on the brink of madness. Luther recognized the suffering as an illusion and shattered it, awakening on the golden sea with Queen Mystic safe and Barros still aboard his warship.

• Barros drew the illusory seawater out of Luther, revealing M, who claimed she had taken control of his sea.
• M revealed she had never been Luther’s split personality and had served Barros while infiltrating the Aurora Order.
• M pulled the Tide from Luther, causing Cecilia’s spirit to dissipate and leaving Luther vulnerable to the True Creator’s corruption.
• Luther realized his pain was too mild to be real and roared for the sea, unleashing the Phantom Tide to shatter the illusion.
• Luther woke to find Queen Mystic unharmed at the prow of the Dawn, facing Barros’s warship across the golden sea.

Luther broke free of Barros’s nightmare and helped Bernadette fend off the pirates, but Barros used the dragon cannon’s breath to turn the Queen’s invisible servants against her. Bernadette fought Barros and the servants on deck while Luther rushed below to stop them, where he heard Luna hiss.

• Luther awakened from Barros’s nightmare and saw the pirates attack Dawn while King of the Black Throne watched from his ship.
• Bernadette summoned a dark horn and destroyed the charging pirates with its sound waves.
• Bernadette’s horn and Barros’s dragon cannon clashed, but the Dragon Breath fused with the Queen’s invisible servants and made them betray her.
• Barros held Bernadette on deck with the transformed servants, and she asked Luther to stop the ones entering the cabins.
• Luther resisted Barros’s mental influence, flew into the cabins, and heard Luna hissing as he pursued the servants below.

Luther recovered Roselle's black key from a dragon formed by the King of the Black Throne's servants and defeated it, but a storm driven by residual divine power engulfed the sea. He caught Luna as she was thrown from the ship, then faced a colossal hurricane sweeping toward them.

• Luther found Luna confronting two invisible servants beside Roselle's black key and destroyed them with a curse.
• The servants merged into a dragon, stole the key, and flew toward the King of the Black Throne's vessel.
• Luther pursued the dragon, used Medici's power to destroy it with a Flame Spear, and caught the falling key.
• Residual divine power unleashed a storm, and Queen Mystic warned Luther not to challenge it.
• Luther caught Luna as the storm threw her from the Dawn, then saw a massive hurricane approach.

Luther was swept into a deadly storm, escaped Barros's dragon illusion by setting it ablaze, and fell into a strange ruin. He woke in the Spirit World, where the red light among the Seven Lights began approaching him.

• Luther used the Phantom Tide to steady himself in the storm, then tried to escape with Mr. A's recorded Travel ability, but lightning destroyed his Paper Figurine Substitute and the attempt failed.
• A ball of yarn seemed to offer Luther a way out, but the Queen warned him that it was actually a dragon's tail; Luther charged Barros's dragon form and engulfed it in blue-white flames.
• The growing storm hurled Luther into the nearby ruins, where time and color distorted as he fell into a strange world.
• Luther regained consciousness in the Spirit World with Luna unharmed, recognized the Seven Lights, and wondered how to return.
• The red light among the Seven Lights rapidly approached Luther.

Luther returned from the Spirit World to an unfamiliar island in the God War Ruins, separated from the Queen Mystic and the King of the Black Throne. He encountered a treasure hunter named Anderson, who said a mural had made him terribly unlucky.

• Luther met Red Light Aiur Moria in the Spirit World and asked how to return to reality.
• Aiur Moria said Luther carried an aura more abstract and conceptual than the Spirit World, then departed.
• Luther used Mr. A's Recorded Travel ability and arrived on a peaceful island in the God War Ruins, with no sign of the Queen Mystic or the King of the Black Throne.
• Luther drew his revolver and fired into the sand to stop a young man running toward him.
• The young man introduced himself as the unlucky Anderson and said he was a treasure hunter whose misfortune began after he looked at a mural.

Luther met Anderson on the island and attacked him after Anderson falsely claimed to share his faith, then heard how Anderson’s expedition had been destroyed by a mysterious mural. As Anderson urged Luther to sleep when daylight abruptly turned to night, the island’s danger became immediate.

• Luther asked Anderson about a mural showing an Angel with long silver hair leading pilgrims through a parted sea, and recognized the figure as Ouroboros, the Tail Devourer.
• Anderson claimed he belonged to the Iron and Blood Cross Order and shared Luther’s faith to persuade him to help build a ship, but Luther attacked him and accused him of believing in the True Creator.
• Anderson denied believing in the True Creator and explained that his treasure-hunting expedition had fallen apart after its members saw the mural and suffered misfortune.
• Anderson said the survivors of the expedition had explored a dream in the darkness of night, then realized Luther had not experienced nighttime on the island.
• The surroundings plunged from noon into complete darkness, and Anderson urgently told Luther to lie down and go to sleep.

Luther fell asleep on the beach and entered a shared dream, where he encountered Medici, Luna, and Anderson in the Black Monastery. After Anderson warned him that exploring deeper could be dangerous, Luther was suddenly transported to a room and saw Queen Mystic on a spiral staircase.

• Anderson told Luther to sleep before nightfall, and Luther followed the sea's rules and fell into a deep dream with Luna.
• Luther encountered Medici on a cliff overlooking a vast royal city, and Medici explained that the dream was shared by every living creature in the sea.
• Luther passed through the Black Monastery's gate in spiritual form and found Luna waiting in its plaza.
• Luther met Anderson making a canoe, refused to help, and heard that Hunters who ventured deeper into the dream had vanished and become Monsters in reality.
• The dream scenery blurred and transported Luther to a room, where he saw Queen Mystic on a spiral staircase.

Luther met Bernadette in a dream, but Barros interrupted their discussion about the black key. After waking, Luther discovered a message from Emperor Roselle on the key, which then flew into his chest and told him to find a vessel at sea.

• Bernadette told Luther to keep the black key because Barros was searching for him, and Luther proposed leaving it with someone trustworthy.
• Barros entered the dream library and offered to exchange for the key, but Luther rejected his attempt to reconcile.
• The dream ended, and Luther woke on the beach as Anderson insisted he had seen Luther vanish in the dream.
• Luther found the Chinese words “Black Throne” on the key and read them aloud.
• The key played music, delivered Emperor Roselle’s message about a vessel at sea, and burrowed into Luther’s chest.

Luther discovered that Roselle’s black key had bound itself to him and pointed toward the Black Throne, but he could neither remove it permanently nor learn more about it. Needing a ship to continue exploring the God War Ruins, he decided to recruit Anderson into a plan to obtain one by praying to the Fool.

• Luther found that the black key had entered his body, could be summoned into his hand, and returned whenever he threw it away and walked off.
• The key continually pointed in one direction, but Luther could not use Spirituality to learn more about the Black Throne or contact it.
• Luther concluded that he needed a ship to leave the island and continue exploring the God War Ruins, while his remaining uses of Travel were too precious to spend bringing one there.
• Luther realized he could ask the Tarot Club to send a ship through a sacrifice to the Fool, but Anderson’s presence meant he would need to involve him in the ritual.
• Luther told Anderson that they could obtain a ship by praying to the Fool and urged him to believe in the deity.

Luther pressured Anderson to pray to the Fool, then helped him survive a near-fatal choking episode caused by his worsening Misfortune. After Anderson agreed to pray, Luther contacted the Fool to ask for help finding a ship, and Klein relayed the request to Justice and Hanged Man.

• Luther gave Anderson ten minutes to pray to the Fool or remain stranded on the island, and Anderson nearly choked to death on coconut flesh.
• Luther explained that Anderson's curse would worsen, and Anderson agreed to pray to the Fool in exchange for help.
• Anderson introduced himself as Anderson Hood, the Strongest Hunter, and Luther gave the false name Alexander Gascoigne.
• Klein received Luther's prayer above the Gray Fog and heard that he needed a ship to leave the island.
• Klein passed Luther's request to Justice and Hanged Man.

Alger agreed to buy a ship for Luther in exchange for a 300-pound commission. Luther then used a blood-marked holy emblem to contact another Snake of Mercury and asked how to remove the curse of bad luck caused by the Ouroboros Mural.

• Alger sensed Temperance's prayer to Mr. Fool and learned that Luther needed a ship and sailing manuals.
• Alger offered to arrange the purchase through his Bayam connections for a commission of 300 pounds.
• Luther accepted Alger's terms and told Anderson that a ship would arrive for the ritual.
• Luther carved the holy emblem into his arm and used it in a Mystical Pact Ritual to enter a dream.
• Luther found a giant silver-white serpent inside a black tower and asked how to remove the Ouroboros Mural's Bad Luck Curse.