Chapter Summaries

Luther woke to a crimson mist covering Saint Millon and discovered that Luna, Daly, Leonard, and Antiya were trapped in pleasant dreams. He went out alone to investigate, determined to find and punish whoever had used his most precious memories against him.

• Luther found the inn and the streets outside engulfed in strange crimson mist, then discovered that Luna could not be awakened.
• Luther entered Luna’s dream and saw the giant cat contentedly holding him, Antiya, m, and the others among piles of treats.
• Luther entered Daly Simone’s dream and saw her dancing happily with Dunn Smith, then checked Leonard and found him sleeping without waking him.
• Luther realized that Antiya was also caught in a dream and decided to investigate alone rather than wait or wake the others.
• Luther placed Luna in his shadow and walked into the mist, sensing dreams throughout the city and vowing to kill whoever had fashioned a dream from what mattered most to him.

Luther entered a shared dream in Saint Millon, where a crowd celebrated Feysac’s new emperor, and fought the dream’s multiplying warriors. He shattered the dream with a phantom tide, but as the carriage fled, he sensed a cold, ruthless will within the tide.

• Luther entered a shared dream portraying a bright Saint Millon and learned that the crowd was celebrating Feysac’s new emperor.
• Luther walked against the procession toward a golden carriage, but the crowd and giant warriors identified him as an attacker.
• Luther fought the multiplying warriors with the Blade of Flesh and Spirit, repairing it after their corrosive flesh damaged the blade.
• Luther unleashed a phantom tide that erased the warriors and restored Saint Millon’s streets, prompting the carriage to flee.
• Luther prepared to pursue the carriage, then sensed a cold, ruthless will emerging within the tide.

Luther was overwhelmed by a hostile will rising from the phantom tide and prayed to Mr. Fool for help. The clash between the will and the gray fog knocked Luther unconscious and left Klein battered before he recovered.

• A cruel will in the phantom tide tormented Luther and began to assimilate his mind, while m warned that he had little time to stop it.
• Luther rejected m’s offer to help and prayed to Mr. Fool to save him from the corruption.
• The will lunged at the gray fog, and their collision caused Luther’s body to burst apart and left him comatose.
• Above the gray fog, Klein was badly injured by the collision but restored his body after the fog settled.
• Klein confirmed through residual spirituality that Luther had escaped the hostile state and complained about the exhaustion of being a god.

Luther questioned Leonard and Daly about their shared dream and learned that a voice had tried to draw them into it. After sending them to investigate the people of Saint Millon, he reflected on the dangerous will in the tide, confronted M, and decided to investigate the spreading dream while limiting his use of the tide.

• Leonard and Daly recalled little of their dreams but both remembered hearing a voice calling them toward something better.
• Luther sent Leonard and Daly to check whether anything was wrong with the ordinary people in Saint Millon.
• Luther recalled that Mr. Fool had redirected the tide’s hostile will, and confirmed that his controlled seawater and his younger sister’s soul remained unharmed.
• Luther questioned M about the will, strangled her, and watched her reappear after her body vanished.
• Luther considered what the will might be, decided to investigate the citywide dream and limit his use of the tide, then heard Leonard and Daly report no abnormalities.
• Luther sent Leonard and Daly away as the Tarot Club gathering approached.

Audrey sought help from the Tarot Club after Lady Greed possessed her, and Mr. Fool revealed the intruder’s presence to the members. Luther recognized the figure as a possible lead to Ivanova Einhorn and rushed to intervene as his ship approached through the Spirit World.

• Audrey pretended to read until three, then entered the Tarot Club and told Mr. Fool that she had been possessed.
• Mr. Fool used a mirror to show the Tarot Club Lady Greed standing beside Audrey’s sleeping body.
• Luther recognized the red-haired, golden-eyed figure as possibly Ivanova Einhorn and asked Mr. Fool for permission to take part.
• Luther learned Audrey’s location, returned to reality, and called for his flagship before charging into the Spirit World.
• Lady Greed noticed that Audrey’s deeper consciousness had been drawn away, then saw Luther’s ship emerge through a Spirit World gateway.

Luther captured the phantom possessing Audrey after preventing her from sending a message, escaping through dreams, and merging with Audrey. Audrey then explained that the phantom was an avatar of Lady [Greed], a member of the Psychological Alchemists' Council, and Luther suspected a connection to Adam.

• The red-haired phantom tried to alert her main body, but Mr. [Temperance] blocked the message and trapped her attempted escape through dreams.
• The phantom rushed toward the sleeping Audrey to deepen her possession, but Klein's power knocked her back into Luther's grasp.
• Luther and Antiya stopped the phantom from self-destructing, and Luther's shadow swallowed her.
• Luther reported completing the task to Mr. Fool, while Audrey thanked him for saving her and her family.
• Audrey told the Tarot Club that Lady [Greed]'s avatar had possessed her after she encountered [Greed] and [Pride] while exploring the Sea of Collective Subconscious.
• Luther recognized Ivanova Einhorn's connection to the Psychological Alchemists and thought of Adam.

Audrey recounted how she escaped Greed’s control, and the Tarot Club discussed how to keep the Psychology Alchemists from suspecting her ties to them. Klein read Roselle’s diary pages and was struck by the word “Homeland,” leaving him lost in memories of his wish to return.

• Audrey thanked Mr. Fool for protecting her from Greed, while Cattleya warned that Greed’s main body might come after her again.
• Temperance Luther said he had prevented Greed’s avatar from sending information and suggested he would welcome another chance to confront her.
• Alger advised Audrey to visit an Orthodox Church so the Psychology Alchemists would believe the Church had protected her.
• Cattleya gave Klein three of Roselle’s diary pages, and Luther offered to provide cash for one of Klein’s blessed instead of diary pages.
• Klein read Roselle’s entries about Feysac and his daughter, then realized the repeated word “Homeland” had stirred Roselle’s longing for home.
• Klein remembered his own hope of returning after transmigrating and wondered how far fate had carried him from it.

At the Tarot gathering, Cattleya asked what the Rosellean characters for “Homeland” meant, and Mr. Fool explained them. The gathering continued with intelligence and trades, while Derrick learned that the former Chief’s mausoleum was gradually coming to life.

• Cattleya asked Mr. Fool to explain the two Rosellean characters, and he said they meant the place where one’s heart and spirit belonged.
• Luther, Cattleya, and Alger agreed to pass along intelligence about West Balam’s factions to the World.
• Emlyn announced that he had advanced to Sequence 5, then explained that the Sanguine believed the Primordial Moon was usurping their ancestor’s authority.
• Derrick asked Emlyn for compensation and requested the Sun Pathway’s Sequence 5 formula; the World offered it for 5,000 pounds, and Emlyn accepted.
• Emlyn gave Fors a lead on an ancient Wraith near Backlund, and Derrick reported that the former Chief’s mausoleum was gradually coming to life.

At the Tarot Club, Derrick reported that the former Chief of the City of Silver had failed his advancement to Sequence 3 of the Death pathway and become a monster, while Klein considered what this meant for Ince Zangwill and the recent Death pathway disturbances. After the meeting, Klein and Luther discussed their advancement leads, and Klein revealed that Mr. Azik had traced the abnormalities to the Numinous Episcopate.

• Derrick told the Tarot Club that the City of Silver’s former Chief had likely lost control while attempting to advance to Sequence 3 of the Death pathway.
• Klein realized that Ince Zangwill might switch from the Evernight pathway to the Warrior pathway and resolved to investigate that possibility.
• Derrick said the City of Silver planned to open the mausoleum and eliminate the former Chief, while he also told Klein about a powerful Shapeshifter in the city’s northern reaches.
• Klein considered trading Luther for the Warrior pathway’s Sequence 3 potion formula and identified Ince Zangwill as his target for his Sequence 4 advancement ritual.
• After the others left the gathering, Klein told Luther that Calderón City might contain Spirit World Plunderers and revealed that Mr. Azik had blamed the recent abnormalities on the Numinous Episcopate.

Klein and Luther discussed the Numinous Episcopate’s attempt to create a new god of death and exchanged plans and potion formulas. Back in Saint Millon, Luther brought [Greed]’s captured avatar to the Chaos World above the tide and prepared a Spectator pathway characteristic to question her.

• Klein told Luther that the Numinous Episcopate was creating a new god of death that could already respond to prayers.
• Luther described the realistic dream covering Saint Millon and asked Klein to investigate the Numinous Episcopate.
• Klein planned to join Mr. Azik in tracking Vice Admiral Hell Ludwell, while he and Luther exchanged Sequence 3 potion formulas.
• Luther said he would keep searching for his targets and had captured an avatar of [Greed].
• Luther entered the Chaos World above the tide with [Greed]’s damaged avatar and took out a Sequence 4 Spectator pathway Beyonder characteristic from [Gluttony].

Luther used Gluttony’s lingering psyche to inspect M’s memories and discovered that Greed, Ivanova Einhorn, had created the previous night’s large-scale dream. M proposed reconstructing Gluttony’s personality to learn more, but Luther refused to let her handle the characteristic and decided to learn the process himself.

• Luther used Gluttony’s beyonder characteristic to enter the avatar’s mind and retrieve its memories.
• Luther found a memory of the avatar trying to contact its original body and recognized the carriage in the vision from the previous night’s dream.
• Luther concluded that Greed, Ivanova Einhorn, had created the dream, though he wondered why she had done so and why the Church of the God of Combat had not intervened.
• M suggested using Gluttony’s lingering mental imprints to reconstruct a virtual personality that could reveal memories of Greed.
• Luther refused to let M handle the characteristic and told her to teach him how to create the virtual personality himself.

Leonard entered a tavern in Feysac and learned that the emperor’s failing health had intensified the contest to choose his successor. He heard that Princess Sophia was vulnerable and would visit Vary Ascension Church the next day, giving him a lead to follow.

• Luther left the [Gluttony] characteristic soaking in seawater so its mental imprints could separate before he created a simulated personality.
• Leonard encountered the exhausted maid Valika and quietly used his abilities to help her employer’s crying baby fall asleep.
• Leonard listened as tavern customers discussed Grand Duke Yusupov’s arrival and the rival claims of Prince Ivan Reis and the First Prince.
• The customers said Princess Sophia was in danger and would pray at Vary Ascension Church the next day, and Leonard took interest in the news.

Daly summoned the spirit of Viscount Kozlov Mikhail in a Feysac cemetery to learn how he died and identify his killer, but the ritual spiraled out of control. A figure emerged from an old grave, causing the Underworld’s grasping arms to recoil.

• Daly found Kozlov Mikhail’s lavish grave and noted that the cemetery’s graves faced west, marked with the God of Combat’s emblem.
• Daly opened a Bronze Double Door to the Underworld and summoned Kozlov Mikhail’s spirit.
• Kozlov’s spirit said he had choked on bread, and Daly asked where his murderer was.
• The summoning went out of control as Daly’s spirituality drained away and transparent arms reached through the door.
• White feathers emerged from an old grave, followed by a linen-wrapped figure whose presence drove the arms back.

Daly witnessed a deathly old man emerge from a grave in Saint Millon, and Luther investigated reports of the Numinous Episcopate and prepared to watch Sophia’s blessing ceremony. That night, he entered the shared dream again and met Ivanova Einhorn, who welcomed him into her carriage.

• Daly saw a corpse-like old man with enormous wings rise from a grave, crush a translucent mass, and walk away; she suspected he was a Numinous Episcopate higher-up.
• Daly and Leonard reported their findings to Luther, and Leonard suggested the demigod might be connected to Ince Zangwill.
• Luther dismissed Leonard’s theory and arranged for them to visit Vary Ascension Church the next day during Sophia’s blessing ceremony.
• Luther realized he was dreaming, left Cecilia behind, and entered the shared dream where a parade cleared a path for him.
• Luther boarded the royal carriage and met Ivanova Einhorn, who greeted him as the Blood Bishop.

Luther confronted Ivanova Einhorn over her connection to Miss M, whom he had killed. Ivanova claimed Miss M had been an avatar created to bear the True Creator’s corruption, but Luther demanded to inspect her Mind Island and attacked when she refused.

• Luther summoned a phantom of Miss M and asked Ivanova whether she knew her.
• Ivanova confirmed she knew Miss M and said she did not resent Luther for killing her.
• Ivanova explained that Miss M was an avatar separated from her mind to bear the True Creator’s corruption, and demonstrated her ability by creating a living girl from herself.
• Ivanova projected memories showing that Miss M had gone mad, escaped confinement, and become a follower of the True Creator.
• Luther refused to trust Ivanova’s account and demanded access to her Mind Island.
• Ivanova refused, and Luther spread shadows across the carriage to force her to comply.

Luther attacked Ivanova in the dream city and tried to stop her from escaping, but she fled into the mist as the dream collapsed. Cecilia’s sudden appearance halted Luther long enough for the carriage to get away.

• Luther accused Ivanova of belonging to the Twilight Hermit Order, burned the royal puppet, and fought the citizens after they transformed into dragons.
• Ivanova escaped Luther’s attack by using a black crystal skull to fill him with fear, then drove away in a restored carriage.
• Luther summoned the Death Announcer and caught up to the carriage, but citizens blocked his path.
• Cecilia appeared before Luther and called him “Brother,” causing him to stop as the dream collapsed and Ivanova’s carriage entered the mist.

Luther chased Ivanova through the Sea of Collective Subconscious, where he discovered traces of Ince Zangwill but failed to catch either target. He woke in Saint Millon with clues about Ivanova’s dream and the man she had been traveling with.

• Enraged after Cecilia disappeared, Luther pursued Ivanova’s carriage into the Sea of Collective Subconscious, then realized it was an illusion meant to lure him deeper.
• Luther detected disturbances in the mist and suspected they came from Ince Zangwill, whose hiding place Klein’s divination had placed in the city’s subconscious sea.
• Ince used the Quill of Alzuhod to write about escaping, then fled the Sea of Collective Subconscious as Luther approached.
• In a Saint Millon alley, Ince’s condition worsened, and he wrote that he would regain control before an expressionless old man appeared before him.
• Luther woke in his bed, recognizing that he had encountered Ivanova and Ince but failed to capture either, and wondered whether Ivanova’s dream pointed to Feysac’s royal succession and her carriage companion.

Luther suspected Ince Zangwill’s abnormal condition might be connected to 0-08 and asked Klein to lend him Groselle’s Travels. Klein investigated through divination, warned Luther that the Death pathway might be involved, and decided to join him in using the book to find Ince.

• Luther considered whether Ince Zangwill’s unstable spirituality came from the Artificial God of Death or 0-08, then sent Klein a letter through Reinette Tinekerr.
• Klein received Luther’s report that Ince had been found and his request to borrow Groselle’s Travels.
• Klein worried that using the book could resurrect Ankewelt and that Luther might lose control, so he performed two divinations above the gray fog.
• Klein’s divinations suggested a possible Death pathway influence on Ince but revealed nothing about lending the book.
• Klein agreed to lend Luther Groselle’s Travels on the condition that he be present, then sent his reply through Reinette Tinekerr.

Leonard, Daly, and Luther watched the Feysac royal family’s Blessing Ceremony procession in Saint Millon, and Luther suspected Ivanova was using shared dreams to influence support for First Prince Nicholas. After following Princess Sophia’s escort into the palace, Luther prepared to meet her privately.

• Leonard and Daly waited among the citizens as the royal procession emerged from the palace at dusk.
• Luther recognized First Prince Nicholas as the man from Ivanova’s dream and suspected she was manipulating the crowd to help him become emperor.
• The three royals entered Vary Ascension Church for the old emperor’s Blessing Ceremony while the crowd waited outside.
• After the ceremony, Luther transformed into a shadow and followed Sophia’s escort into the palace.
• The royal siblings returned separately to their quarters, and Luther followed Sophia into her residence.

Sophia learned that Marquis Fedorov had switched his support to Nicholas and decided to leave Feysac to escape her brothers' attempts on her life. When Sasha was exposed as having drugged her under threat, a Devil attacked Sophia, but a familiar figure intervened just as she recognized him as her Captain.

• Sophia heard that her father remained gravely ill and Marquis Fedorov had abandoned her to support Nicholas.
• Sophia told Sasha she planned to leave Feysac, possibly to become a pirate again.
• Sophia caught Sasha trying to drug her, and Sasha confessed that her parents had been threatened into forcing her betrayal.
• Sasha's body swelled and exploded, and the guards outside the palace did not answer Sophia's calls.
• A Devil attacked Sophia with overwhelming fear and desire, but someone behind her steadied her heart.
• Sophia turned and recognized the person who intervened as her Captain.