Chapter Summaries

Luther streamlined his duties as temporary head of the Backlund Diocese while Leonard investigated connections between recent attacks and Dwayne Dantès. Leonard suspected Dwayne, Luther, and Klein were tied to the incidents and decided to take a risk.

• Luther delegated routine religious work and postponed social engagements, focusing on Beyonder cases and the aftermath of Duke Negan's murder of Framis.
• Leonard questioned Earl Hall and Audrey Hall about Duke Negan's case, then told them he believed the Duke would receive justice.
• Earl Hall told Audrey that Ishmael had been temporarily promoted to head of the Backlund Diocese and asked what she thought of him; Audrey said he seemed to have no room in his heart for anyone else.
• Earl Hall told Audrey that Alfred would soon return from the Southern Continent, and the family planned a country outing.
• Leonard reviewed his investigation board, added Dwayne Dantès, and connected him to the Blood Bishop, the attack on Duke Negan's residence, and other recent incidents.
• Leonard recalled that Luther and Klein had faked their deaths, then told the Old Man he was going to take a risk.

Leonard visited Klein’s dream to question him about the Blood Bishop and the identities of Klein, Luther, and Gehrman Sparrow. Klein corrected Leonard’s theory about their motives, warned him about mentioning Luther’s sister, and left him with a hint about the Tarot Club and Amon; Leonard returned to reality determined to grow stronger.

• Klein recognized Leonard entering his dream and confronted him about his manners and Pallez Zoroast.
• Leonard accused Klein, Luther, and Gehrman Sparrow of sharing identities and belonging to an organization that worshipped a hidden existence.
• Klein challenged Leonard’s theory by pointing to their families, then warned him not to mention Luther’s sister in front of the Blood Bishop.
• Klein told Leonard that he and Luther had joined the organization after the Tingen incident to seek revenge against Ince Zangwill.
• Klein suggested that Leonard could pray to the hidden existence for strength and told him to inform Pallez that the organization had found traces of Amon in the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
• Leonard left the dream and resolved to work harder after realizing how far Klein and Luther had surpassed him.

Luther visited Cecilia in the Phantom Tide before meeting Sharron, Maric, and Klein at Bravehearts Bar. They asked for his help stealing the mummy of Tutanssess II from a ship arriving at Pritz Harbor, but feared the Rose School of Thought had set a trap.

• Luther confided in Cecilia beside the pool that nurtured her soul, then left the Phantom Tide when M watched from below.
• Luther went to Bravehearts Bar after receiving Sharron's message and met Sharron, Maric, and Klein, who was disguised as Sherlock Moriarty.
• Maric explained that a ship tied to the Loen Military would arrive at Pritz Harbor carrying treasures plundered from the Southern Continent, including Tutanssess II's mummy.
• Maric said the group wanted the mummy for a purpose beyond using it as spiritual material, and Luther suspected it was connected to Sharron's advancement.
• Sharron revealed that they wanted to steal the mummy but feared the Rose School of Thought had arranged a trap.

Luther agreed with Sharron and Maric to attack a Loen Military transport ship, with Klein’s divination suggesting the risky plan was feasible. Before leaving, Klein learned that someone had been asking about the Fool and the God of Blood and Shadows, and Ian’s sketch revealed the inquirer was Amon.

• Maric told Luther that the military ship would stop at Oak Island and that its escort could include frigates, Sequence 5 Beyonders, and Demigods.
• Klein used divination and signaled to Luther that the attack was difficult but doable.
• Sharron agreed to join the operation for payment, and Luther required Maric and Sharron to fight alongside his fleet and let him divide the spoils.
• Klein asked Ian for recent news and learned that a black-haired, black-eyed man had asked about the Fool and the God of Blood and Shadows.
• Sharron helped Ian draw the inquirer, and Klein recognized the man as Amon.

Luther and Klein discussed Amon’s arrival and realized he might be pursuing both Mr. Fool’s Tarot Club and Luther’s Blood God identity. Mr. Fool instructed them to inform Pallez Zoroast, while Klein revealed that Leonard had guessed they belonged to the same organization.

• Luther and Klein left the Bravehearts Bar without discussing Amon, then met above the Gray Fog after Klein summoned Luther.
• Luther and Klein considered why Amon had come to Backlund and realized the Blood God’s name might have reached Him through the City of Silver.
• Klein reminded Luther that he had also dug up Amon’s tomb, and Luther recalled Sharron and a mysterious expedition member had been involved.
• Luther and Klein pretended not to know about each other’s knowledge of the Blood God while discussing how to respond to Amon.
• Mr. Fool told them to inform Pallez Zoroast, and Klein said Leonard had recently entered his dream and guessed they were in the same organization.

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.