Chapter Summaries

Luther discovered that Arianna had taken Klein away for a test set by the Evernight Goddess, but neither the Fool nor Arrodes could locate Klein. After waiting for hours, Luther saw Klein appear above the Gray Fog and ask Mr. Fool to summon Temperance.

• Luther found Arianna in the library, where she revealed that Klein was safe and warned that the Antigonus Family notebook was a trap.
• Arianna told Luther that the Evernight Goddess had another test for Klein, and Luther returned the notebook to the underground vault.
• Luther prayed to Mr. Fool to contact Klein, but received no response, so he asked Arrodes to find Klein instead.
• Arrodes reported that it could no longer sense Klein, and Luther waited anxiously on a bench while resolving to leave the Church after obtaining the Sequence 3 formula and materials.
• Klein appeared in the depths of the Gray Fog and asked Mr. Fool to inform Temperance that he was waiting above the Gray Fog.

Klein obtained the Sequence 4 Bizarro Sorcerer Potion formula after surviving a strange town created through the Evernight Goddess’s authority, and he and Luther realized they had both become her blessed. Luther then turned his attention to investigating Framis’s death, deciding to act as the Blood Bishop after official channels stalled.

• Klein told Luther that Arianna had sent him into a mist-shrouded town, where he met a ghost calling himself Zaratul and received the Bizarro Sorcerer Potion formula.
• Klein explained that the Evernight Goddess’s emblem had opened the town’s exit, leading him and Luther to conclude that they had both become the Goddess’s blessed.
• Klein described his difficult Advancement Ritual, and Luther offered to help by killing Ince Zangwill in Saint Millon.
• Klein declined to abandon his Dwayne Dantès identity and told Luther that he and The Hanged Man planned to explore the Primitive Island; Luther refused to join them.
• Luther reviewed the stalled investigation into Framis’s death and decided to investigate as the Blood Bishop.

Public uproar over Duke Negan’s murder case intensified as rival factions spread conflicting claims, prompting the king to assign the investigation to the supposedly neutral Church of Evernight. Luther was appointed to lead a Special Investigation Team and accepted the task while intending to uncover the truth.

• Newspapers and student protests drew Backlund’s attention to Duke Negan’s murder, while competing factions spread conflicting accounts of Framis Cage and the case.
• Leonard speculated that the Church of Steam had helped shape public opinion, and Soest explained how pressure could force the Church of Storms and Duke Negan to respond.
• Luther passed the Red Gloves lounge and went to the Archbishop’s office, where Saint Anthony assigned him to investigate the duke’s murder as a neutral third party.
• Anthony told Luther that impartiality and evidence mattered most, while Luther privately resolved that finding the truth remained essential.
• Anthony authorized Luther to allocate personnel for the investigation, and Luther accepted the assignment.

Luther and the Red Gloves arrived at Earl Hall’s villa to investigate the murder and met the archbishops of the Churches of Storms and Steam. Their indifference led Luther to suspect that the churches had already reached an agreement and that the investigation was only meant to satisfy the public.

• Luther and the Red Gloves arrived at Earl Hall’s villa, where police guarded the murder scene and representatives of the Churches of Storms and Steam waited.
• Luther met Archbishops Randall Valentinus and Horamick Haydn, recognizing that Horamick was a mechanical substitute.
• Randall and Horamick handed the investigation to Luther, then left soon after their brief greetings.
• Leonard questioned the archbishops’ lack of concern, and Luther asked whether church leaders would act so casually if the case truly mattered.
• Luther ordered the representatives brought in for questioning while suspecting the churches had settled on an answer already.

Luther investigated the scene where Framis was killed and concluded that Duke Sival Negan might have delivered the fatal blow. He went to question the duke, accompanied by Admiral Amyrius Levitt, and the chapter ended as Luther cut off Amyrius’s lecture and pushed to begin.

• Luther inspected the dance floor while the Red Gloves and other investigators searched for clues, and he asked to examine Framis’s body.
• Ikanser said Framis had been killed by a single blow from an Arbiter pathway ability, leading Luther to suspect Sival Negan.
• Luther instructed Soest to continue examining the scene and asked Bishop McMillan to arrange an interview with the duke, with Amyrius present.
• Luther and his team traveled to Duke Negan’s residence and met Sival Negan and Amyrius Levitt in a reception room.
• Amyrius lectured the investigators about respecting the nobility, and Luther interrupted him and demanded that the investigation begin.

Luther investigated Framis Cage’s death and heard Sival Negan admit to killing him, though he claimed a faulty Mystical Item had caused the death by accident. The evidence supported Sival’s account, but Luther remained suspicious and left to gather witness testimony, where he spotted Viscount Stratford’s carriage.

• Luther confronted Amyrius, who agreed to wait while the Church of Evernight investigated.
• Sival Negan admitted that he had killed Framis Cage, but said his Arbiter Pathway wristwatch had mistakenly retaliated during their quarrel.
• Luther had the Church of Steam and members of his team examine the wristwatch, and their findings supported Sival’s explanation.
• Luther arranged for groups to interview the ball’s guests and submit the evidence to the two Churches’ Archbishops.
• As Luther left the residence, he recognized Viscount Stratford’s carriage at the stables.

Luther secretly stayed at Duke Negan’s residence while a duplicate led the official investigation elsewhere, allowing him to uncover the royal family’s role in the case. He learned that Viscount Stratford and the king were helping Sival Negan evade blame by using an identical double.

• Luther recognized Viscount Stratford’s carriage and created a duplicate to lead the Red Gloves away while he remained behind to investigate the royal family’s involvement.
• Luther’s duplicate sent the investigative team to question the guests, following procedures that were expected to confirm that the duke’s Mystical Item had caused the tragedy.
• Bishop Grandi told Vice Admiral Amyrius that the Church of Evernight’s investigation was proceeding as planned.
• Viscount Stratford emerged from a concealed room with the real Sival Negan and discussed removing the identical double once the case was closed.
• Viscount Stratford said that the king had instructed him to help clear Sival Negan of blame, and Luther listened from the reception room.

Luther learned that the Royal Family had secretly engineered a compromise between the Conservative Party and the Church of Storms, but his attempt to interrogate Viscount Stratford was exposed when Sival Negan’s stand-in detected him. Luther revealed himself as the Blood Bishop and repelled Amyrius’s attempt to banish him, then incapacitated the duke’s guards.

• Luther learned that the Royal Family had arranged Sival Negan’s stand-in and testimony to force a secret political and religious compromise.
• Sival Negan admitted that he had argued with Syndras after Syndras supported the New Party, then lost his temper.
• Sival’s stand-in sensed Luther’s concealed presence, burned to ashes, and warned that someone was there.
• Amyrius invoked an Edict that revealed Luther as the Blood Bishop, terrifying Sival, Stratford, and the others.
• Amyrius imprisoned and banished Luther, but Luther returned through an invisible door and confronted the room.
• The duke’s guards stormed in, but Luther’s shadow spread across the room and bound them all.

Amyrius tried to restrain Luther with his Edict, but Luther transformed into a pure, radiant figure and rendered the restrictions useless. Luther blasted Amyrius through Duke Negan’s villa, then spared him and pursued Viscount Stratford.

• Amyrius used his Edict to weaken Luther and strengthen his own powers.
• Amyrius declared Luther guilty of several crimes and sentenced him to lose his abilities.
• Luther transformed into a pure, golden figure, making Amyrius’s Edict ineffective.
• Luther struck Amyrius with a powerful golden blast that tore through the villa and left him gravely wounded in the street.
• Luther spared Amyrius and pursued the fleeing Viscount Stratford, hoping Amyrius would help preserve the Conservative Party and hinder George III.

Luther pursued Viscount Stratford after defeating Amyrius, but a mirror rescued the viscount and carried him to Katarina Pele. When Luther tracked them down, the White Saint fled in terror, leaving Stratford behind.

• Amyrius tried to rise and fight, but Luther ignored him and left him injured on the road.
• Viscount Stratford fled and used a black-coated mirror to escape Luther’s wind blades, which cut a lock of his hair before the mirror shattered.
• Luther had Luna divine the hair’s owner and followed the trail through a mysterious door.
• Katarina Pele pulled Viscount Stratford through the mirror to her location outside Backlund.
• Luther arrived, and Katarina saw the hands behind him and fled through the Mirror World, leaving Viscount Stratford terrified.

Luther tried to kill Viscount Stratford after Katarina Pelle fled, but a strange cross in the viscount’s pocket overwhelmed him with visions of a primordial feast of light and devouring beings. He called upon the Phantom Tide to sweep the visions away as they began to erode his mind.

• Katarina Pelle sensed Luther’s danger and escaped through a mirror, leaving Viscount Stratford in despair.
• Luther used his command to draw Viscount Stratford toward him and prepared to kill him so he could question his soul above the Tide.
• Luther sensed an unusual presence in the viscount’s pocket as a spiked, verdigris-covered cross pierced Stratford and began absorbing his blood.
• The cross revealed a radiant form and flooded Luther’s mind with visions of light’s arrival and powerful beings devouring one another.
• Luther felt his consciousness split and his mind erode, then shouted for the Phantom Tide to sweep away the visions.

Luther recovered after the blast, took the mysterious cross, and discovered that the Loen Royal Family was excavating the Blood Emperor's ruins using slaves. As he prepared to break the barrier concealing the ruins, someone warned him to stop.

• Luther woke in the scorched mountain range, found that Viscount Stratford had been reduced to ashes, and cautiously approached the cross.
• Luther discovered he had become a swamp of flesh and blood, then repelled the soldiers who fired on him and took the cross.
• Luther pursued the retreating reinforcements through the shadows and reached the cave entrance, where he saw the ancient ruins and the crowds excavating them.
• Luther recognized the site as the Blood Emperor's ruins and realized the barrier around it had hidden the Royal Family's actions from the three major Churches.
• Luther formed the Blade of Flesh and Spirit to strike the barrier, but a calm voice behind him advised him not to do so.

Luther and Antiya encountered an ancient Spectator Angel who trapped them in a realistic dream, but Luther resisted and identified him as Hermes. After Luther and Antiya attacked, Hermes revealed himself as a dragon and warned them that the Royal Family’s Angels might arrive.

• An old man appeared behind Luther and secretly trapped him in a lifelike dream while Antiya guarded him.
• Luther realized he was dreaming and tried to use Bernadette’s charm, but the dream vanished before it could activate.
• The old man told Luther not to use Ancient Hermes in front of him, leading Luther to suspect he was Hermes.
• Luther used the Phantom Tide’s aura to wake Antiya, and they attacked the old man with an amplified spear of fire.
• The old man remained unharmed in dragon form and warned Luther and Antiya that the Royal Family’s Angels might arrive.

After escaping the mountain with Antiya, Luther suspected Hermes had warned him that the Church of Evernight was vulnerable while its Nighthawks were away. He hurried to Saint Samuel Cathedral to check, but it appeared peaceful and its priest reported nothing unusual.

• Hermes let Luther and Antiya escape, then told Dlink Augustus that he had failed to catch Luther.
• Luther reached a safe house in Backlund and prayed to the Evernight Goddess, reporting the night's events but concealing the Bronze Cross and its vision.
• Luther interpreted Hermes's cryptic remark as a possible warning that the Church of Evernight was exposed to an attack.
• Luther went to Saint Samuel Cathedral and asked about unusual activity, but a priest said nothing had happened.

Luther investigated Saint Samuel Cathedral after sensing something was wrong and uncovered evidence pointing to Archbishop Anthony as the traitor. He confronted Anthony behind Chanis Gate, where golden light flickered in the archbishop’s eyes.

• Luther checked the cathedral and found no apparent abnormalities, then went underground to ask whether the members working outside had returned.
• Behind Chanis Gate, Anthony struggled against an unseen influence and raised a sealed box containing a golden speck of light toward the sleeping female.
• Luther arrived, spoke with Anthony, and left, but returned to question him about the missing guard and his repeated presence near the sleeping female.
• Luther connected Anthony’s absence from the dance, the church’s reduced security, and Silvestre’s suicide to the investigation, then accused Anthony of being the traitor.
• Golden light flickered in Anthony’s eyes as he faced Luther’s accusation.

Luther trapped Saint Anthony in the Box of the Old One after the bishop attacked him, and Arianna took Anthony away to investigate. With Anthony unable to lead the Backlund Diocese during the investigation, Arianna left Luther in charge of Saint Samuel Cathedral and the diocese.

• Anthony used his Fear Aura and bone sword to attack Luther in the dark corridor.
• Luther opened the Box of the Old One and turned Anthony and the surrounding corridor into a miniature scene, trapping him as a doll.
• Arianna arrived, and Luther released Anthony from the box; Anthony tried to warn them before Arianna concealed him.
• Arianna said Anthony was acting strangely and that the Church would investigate him before deciding whether he could return as bishop.
• Arianna assigned Luther to manage Saint Samuel Cathedral and the Backlund Diocese until a new archbishop arrived.

Luther concealed his actions behind the attack on Duke Negan and the disturbances at Saint Samuel Cathedral while leading the Nighthawks’ search. As he ordered the duke’s murder case closed, Leonard and Miss Daly suspected a deeper connection, but Luther insisted the decision was political.

• Leonard confronted Luther at Chanis Gate and asked him to recite the Goddess’s prayer; Luther did so, reassuring the Nighthawks that he was not the intruder.
• Leonard and Miss Daly told Luther that Alexander Gascoigne had attacked Duke Negan’s villa and severely wounded Admiral Amyrius, while an explosion had destroyed a mountain outside Backlund.
• Luther concealed what had happened behind Chanis Gate, ordered the Nighthawks to continue searching, and learned that the internal guard had fallen asleep without realizing it.
• The Nighthawks searched Saint Samuel Cathedral throughout the night and received reports of the attack, the mountain explosion, and rumors about Framis funding the King of Blood’s fleet.
• At daybreak, Luther ordered the duke’s murder case wrapped up, but Leonard and Miss Daly urged further investigation; Luther refused, citing political agreement, and Leonard resolved not to accept the decision.

After returning home, Luther examined the bronze-rusted cross and questioned Medici about the Creator of City of Silver. Touching the cross’s hidden blood greatly expanded Luther’s control over the Phantom Tide, leaving him to wonder whether the tide was connected to the Creator.

• Luther returned home after handling the night’s battles and aftermath, then entered the Phantom Tide to study the cross.
• Luther asked Medici whether the Creator of City of Silver had died and been devoured, and Medici confirmed his suspicions only through mocking, vague replies.
• Luther fed his blood to the cross, revealing a pure core that contained a drop of the Creator’s blood.
• Luther touched the cross and found that his control over the Phantom Tide had expanded, while a cold, cruel second self surfaced within him.
• The True Creator roared in anger from beyond the mist, and Luther wondered whether the Phantom Tide was connected to the Creator of City of Silver.

Fors learned that the bounty on the King of Blood had risen and worried about keeping her serialized story good while meeting publishers’ demands. Xio, grieving the sudden death of Viscount Stratford, went to the Evernight Goddess’s Grand Mass, where an imposing young man presided in place of Archbishop Anthony.

• Fors read that the King of Blood’s bounty had reached 600,000 pounds and fretted over the pressure to write quickly without disappointing a powerful reader.
• Xio told Fors that Viscount Stratford had died, ending her chance to uncover whether he had framed her father.
• Xio went to Saint Samuel Cathedral to pray and found the church crowded for the Full Moon Grand Mass.
• A young man in a blood-red shirt and black suit stepped onto the altar instead of Archbishop Anthony and began reading Night’s Revelation.
• The young man’s voice silenced the congregation and filled the believers with serenity.

Luther led the Grand Mass as the newly appointed acting head of the Backlund Diocese, then became trapped under a flood of Church duties. On a remote island, Klein and Alger discovered a painting depicting the ancient Sun God being devoured, and Klein fled with Alger after an ominous sigh sounded.

• Luther delivered a stirring sermon at the Grand Mass, and the believers chanted that peace was their only destination.
• Bishop Elektra thanked Luther, who explained that he had been appointed acting head of the Backlund Diocese and told the clergy to continue the service.
• Church clergy stopped Luther from resting and pressed him to handle budgets, baptism requests, a protest from the Church of Steam, and reports of Beyonder cases.
• Klein and Alger explored ruins on a remote island and found a painting showing three figures and the True Creator devouring the ancient Sun God.
• Alger trembled at the painting, and Klein used Travel to take them away after they heard a long, ancient-sounding sigh.