Chapter Summaries

Leonard called on the Fool to protect him and Daly from the undead while Luther fought Ince Zangwill in Calderón City. Luther defeated Ince Zangwill’s Mythical Creature form and beheaded him.

• Leonard struggled to hold back the undead as Ince Zangwill’s power awakened the city, and Daly weakened under the Mythical Creature’s pressure.
• Leonard recited the Fool’s honorific name, and a thunderbolt destroyed the undead army.
• In Calderón City, Luther endured ancient prayers and faced Ince Zangwill, whose transformed body was driven mad by the city’s accumulated resentment.
• Luther impaled the giant bird with his spear, then hacked apart its wings and split its belly with the Blade of Flesh and Spirit.
• Luther climbed off the fallen creature and severed Ince Zangwill’s head.

Luther killed Ince Zangwill in Calderón, survived an ancient presence emerging from the corpse, and found a mysterious claw left behind. He returned with Ince’s head and told Leonard and Daly that someone might have been manipulating events, while the Quill of Alzuhod celebrated his victory.

• Ince Zangwill’s head rolled away from his body, and Luther found that his soul had been destroyed by repeated bouts of madness.
• Ince’s corpse attacked Luther, but the Phantom Tide drove off the ancient presence that tried to possess him.
• A giant undead bird’s remains decayed, leaving behind a spiritual claw that Luther collected before escaping Calderón with Ince’s head.
• Leonard and Daly saw Ince’s head, and Luther explained that Ince’s soul was gone but that he had suffered greatly before dying.
• Luther told Daly that someone might have been manipulating Ince, giving her a possible reason to keep searching for answers.
• The Quill of Alzuhod wrote a boastful account of Ince’s defeat.

Luther captured the Quill of Alzuhod, reunited with Klein after the Crazy Adventurer retrieved a Spirit World Plunderer’s true soul body, and led Leonard and Daly out of the collapsing Calderón. Above the Tide, he examined the Mystical Item formed from Ince Zangwill’s body and named it Pale Hand.

• Leonard asked Luther how to handle the Quill of Alzuhod, and Luther calmly took control of it with his hand.
• Klein returned carrying a Spirit World Plunderer’s true soul body, greeted Luther, Leonard, and Daly from a distance, and left with his spoils.
• Luther had Leonard put away Ince Zangwill’s head and used Travel to take Leonard and Daly away from Calderón as the grayish-white torrent submerged the city.
• At the inn in Saint Millon, Luther told Leonard and Daly to rest and postponed deciding when they would return to Loen.
• Luther brought Ince Zangwill’s head to Cecilia, then examined the dried claw left by Ince’s death and learned its powers and dangers.
• Luther classified the claw as a useful Grade 1 Sealed Artifact and named it Pale Hand.

Luther questioned the Quill of Alzuhod and recognized it as a possible resurrection contingency for the ancient Nightmare Dragon, Ankewelt. After threatening it with Adam or the sea, he secured its submission and left it poised to serve him.

• Luther examined the Quill of Alzuhod and found that the tide suppressed its powers.
• The quill explained through a story that it could write only stories and could not communicate directly.
• Luther connected the quill’s abilities to the ancient god Alzuhod and asked whether it was Ankewelt’s resurrection contingency.
• The quill praised Luther and implied that it wanted Ankewelt resurrected.
• Luther threatened to let Adam devour the quill or drown it in seawater, and it submitted to him.

After killing Ince Zangwill, Luther kept the Quill of Alzuhod while Klein prepared to return to the Southern Continent to look for Mr. Azik. Luther then discovered that Ince had recently written that the Feysac Emperor would die that night and First Prince Nicholas Einhorn would inherit the throne.

• Luther showed Klein Ince Zangwill's severed head and confirmed that Ince was dead for good.
• Klein said he would not return to the Church and planned to go back to the Southern Continent because he was worried about Mr. Azik.
• After Klein left, Luther read Ince's notebook and found its pages recorded events influenced by the Quill of Alzuhod.
• Luther discovered Ince's fresh prediction that the Feysac Emperor would die at dusk on the twelfth and Nicholas Einhorn would become emperor.
• Luther realized the predicted date was that night, looked toward the Imperial Palace, and heard distant church bells.

After the emperor’s death was announced, Luther discovered Ince Zangwill’s warning that Ivanova would lose control, while Sophia entered the palace and found the royal gathering behaving unnaturally. Nicholas began transforming as he announced the celebration of a new emperor.

• The palace bell tolled thirty-three times, confirming the emperor’s death, and Luther read Ince Zangwill’s warning that Ivanova would degenerate into a monster.
• Sophia hurried to the palace and entered the emperor’s bedroom, where nobles, officials, and royal family members had gathered around his body.
• Sophia mourned her father, then noticed that everyone in the room wore stiff, fanatically joyful expressions instead of grief.
• Nicholas told Sophia that they were celebrating the imminent rise of a new emperor as grayish-white scales emerged from his breaking skin.

Nicholas transformed into a monster after Greed lost control, and Sophia fled into a strange beast-filled city while he pursued her. Luther appeared to save her from Nicholas’s Dragon Breath and prepared to fight the creature.

• Nicholas mutated into a dragon-shaped monster, while the people in the room transformed and praised him as the new emperor.
• Sophia escaped the bedroom, shoved the corrupted Ivan Reis aside, and found herself in an unfamiliar city inhabited by beast-shaped citizens.
• Nicholas pursued Sophia through the city and attacked her with Dragon Breath as she called for Captain to save her.
• Luther rose from Sophia’s shadow, blocked the Dragon Breath, and told her to hide while he faced Nicholas.
• Luther recognized that Greed had likely fused with Nicholas after Ince Zangwill’s final curse caused her to lose control.

Luther fought Nicholas and Ivanova’s Dragon procession in the Garden of Eden, resisting Ivanova’s dream and mental attacks as he struggled against two Sequence 3 opponents. An unseen surge of water expelled the influence from his mind, leaving Ivanova terrified and wanting to flee.

• Luther escorted Sophia to safety, armored up, and charged into the procession, cutting down the Dragon’s attendants.
• Ivanova used her power to make the severed attendants revive and merge with the Dragon, while Luther’s sword shattered and his armor broke.
• Luther recognized that Ivanova had trapped him in a True Dream and let his attackers strike until he broke free of the illusion.
• Nicholas and Ivanova attacked Luther together, using psychological misdirection, Dragon Breath, and Plague Storm to drive him toward losing control.
• An illusory surge of water swept through Luther’s mind and expelled the mental influence, terrifying Ivanova.

Luther defeated the distorted Dragon’s attempt to control him and pursued him out of the Garden of Eden, where Larion, the Grand Patriarch of the Church of the God of Combat, killed the Dragon. Sophia returned safely to the Imperial Palace as news spread that both Prince Nicholas and Prince Ivan Reis were dead, leaving Luther to wonder whether she could become the next emperor of Feysac.

• Greed’s attempt to invade Luther’s mind backfired, and Luther recovered before striking the Dragon with his greatsword.
• The wounded Dragon fled, but Luther pursued him until an illusory figure resembling Adam revealed that they were inside a woven dream.
• Sophia returned to the Imperial Palace, where guards surrounded her while Luther hid nearby and watched the Dragon attack.
• Larion seized the Dragon and caused his body to disintegrate, then descended into the palace square.
• Luther heard that Prince Nicholas and Prince Ivan Reis were dead and wondered whether Sophia might inherit the throne of Feysac.

After the emperor’s death, Luther drove off a Numinous Episcopate demigod and sent Leonard and Daly back to Backlund while remaining in Saint Millon. Klein then warned him that the Artificial God of Death would descend that night, prompting Luther to travel to the Berserk Sea as Colin Iliad led an expedition into a mausoleum in the City of Silver.

• Luther shielded Leonard and Daly when a Numinous Episcopate demigod appeared, but a strange tentacle interrupted the confrontation and the demigod departed.
• Luther gave Ince Zangwill’s head to Leonard and Daly, sent them back to Backlund, and stayed in Saint Millon to seek a chance to speak with Sophia.
• News spread that the two rival princes had killed each other, leaving Sophia as the sole surviving royal heir and improving her public reputation.
• Klein’s messenger delivered a letter saying Mr. Azik had reported that the Artificial God of Death would descend that night.
• Luther summoned Antiya and traveled through the Spirit World to the skies above the Berserk Sea.
• Colin Iliad led Lovia and the others into the previous chief’s mausoleum in the City of Silver.

Luther, Klein, and Azik confronted Vice Admiral Hell Ludwell to learn about the Artificial God of Death, then followed Azik toward its location. The chapter ended with the City of Silver team encountering a ferryman and a black river in the Former Chief's Tomb.

• Luther joined Klein and Azik, and Azik used his power to calm Creeping Hunger before they disguised themselves and traveled to the Black Tulip.
• Azik's presence forced Ludwell and the ship's undead crew to submit, and Ludwell revealed that the Artificial God of Death could influence out-of-control High Sequence Beyonders but could not respond to prayers or rituals.
• Ludwell gave Azik a black square ring connected to the Artificial God of Death, and Azik used its power to turn Ludwell into Klein's marionette.
• Azik led Luther and Klein into the Spirit World to find the Artificial God of Death and recounted his endless cycle of death and revival.
• The three traveled above the Berserk Sea and entered a vast inverted mausoleum, while Colin Iliad's team saw a black river and a small boat in the Former Chief's Tomb.

Luther realized the mausoleum’s Feathered Serpent held Azik’s other half-soul and that merging with it could let the Death Emperor Salinger resurrect through Azik. As Azik fought the force drawing him toward the serpent, Luther tried to stop him, but a hooded woman appeared behind them.

• Luther endured overlapping visions of the mausoleum, the Land of the Dead, and Lovia’s surroundings as he descended with Azik and Klein.
• A gigantic Feathered Serpent with Azik’s face emerged from the mausoleum’s depths, and Azik and Luther cried out in pain.
• Luther saw that Salinger had split Azik’s soul, leaving one half as the Feathered Serpent and the other in Azik’s body.
• Luther warned Azik that joining with the serpent would make him Salinger’s resurrection vessel, while Klein asked what was happening.
• Luther tried to summon Antiya and shadows to stop Azik, but Antiya hid within him as a hooded woman appeared on the stairs behind them.

The Evernight Goddess offered Azik a choice about his divided soul, and he chose to preserve his memories and humanity at the cost of losing half his soul and remaining unable to advance. After Azik left to recover, Luther sensed the Spirit World calm as Colin Iliad killed the Former Chief.

• The Evernight Goddess severed Azik’s connection to the Feathered Serpent and offered him three choices for dealing with the other half of his soul.
• Azik chose to give up half his soul and his ability to advance so he could keep his memories and humanity.
• The Evernight Goddess removed the Golden Bird Ornament, freeing Azik from the Feathered Serpent’s pull, and Azik thanked her before climbing away.
• Azik told Klein he would need to sleep for a long time, then left with Klein and Luther.
• Colin Iliad exploited the Former Chief’s sudden loss of control and killed him with a sword strike.
• Luther sensed that the Spirit World in the Berserk Sea had suddenly become calm.

Luther and Klein considered why the Evernight Goddess had interfered with the artificial God of Death and what that could mean for relations between Feysac and Loen. Luther then used 0-08 to slip into Sophia’s palace, where she told him she expected to inherit the throne.

• Luther told Klein that the hooded woman who intervened was likely the Evernight Goddess, and they wondered whether she intended to control the artificial God of Death and claim the Feathered Serpent.
• Luther warned that the Goddess’s actions could anger the God of Combat and affect the Church of the God of Combat’s attitude toward Loen.
• Klein told Luther that the Tarot Club would meet the next day, while Luther said he still had measures to handle in Feysac.
• Luther learned that the City of Silver’s elder team had killed the Former Chief and might soon be able to help find the Trickster Abomination.
• Luther used 0-08 to create an opening in the Imperial Palace’s defenses and entered Sophia’s palace.
• Sophia greeted Luther and admitted that she expected to inherit the throne.

After the previous emperor’s funeral, Luther offered to help Sophia resist becoming a political puppet and ease tensions between Feysac and Loen. At the Tarot Club gathering, Klein received the final main ingredient for his advancement, while Xio and Leonard appeared as new members.

• Sophia told Luther that Feysac’s leaders had chosen her as emperor because she was easier to control, and Luther offered to support her in exchange for helping prevent war with Loen.
• Sophia invited Luther to her coronation, but he said his attendance depended on the circumstances and left the Imperial Palace.
• Colin Iliad sacrificed the Principal Eye of a Trickster Abomination to Mr. Fool, giving Klein the last main ingredient he needed for the Bizarro Sorcerer potion.
• Klein began the Tarot Club gathering and noticed that two more members had joined.
• Audrey recognized the petite blonde newcomer as likely Miss Xio, while Leonard searched the gathering and confirmed that Luther and Klein were present.

Leonard and Xio joined the Tarot Club as [The Star] and [Judgement], where Leonard recognized Luther as [Temperance]. Klein read Roselle’s diary pages, including an account of a mysterious blond priest whose identity he suspected might be Adam, and considered warning Luther about him.

• Klein introduced Leonard and Xio to the Tarot Club as its newest members, [The Star] and [Judgement].
• Leonard recognized Luther as [Temperance] and noticed his blood-red clothes and unsettling presence, while Luther silently urged him not to reveal their connection.
• Cattleya presented Klein with three new diary pages from Roselle, which described a Twilight Hermit Order gathering and Roselle’s corruption after exploring the Abyss.
• Klein read Roselle’s account of visiting a chapel in Beimang, where a blond priest shared a creation story resembling the legends of the City of Silver.
• Klein suspected the priest might have been Adam and resolved to find a way to warn Luther before asking Cattleya what she wanted to know.

Cattleya asked Mr. Fool where Emperor Roselle's heart and spirit had gone, and he answered that it was neither the island nor the depths of the starry sky. During the gathering, Luther offered Xio the Sequence 6 Arbiter potion formula and ingredients, and Fors helped her accept the deal.

• Cattleya asked Mr. Fool, on Bernadette's behalf, where Roselle's heart and spirit had found their home, and he answered, "Neither."
• Luther watched Leonard react to the exchange and wondered whether he was remembering Old Neil and the Tingen team.
• Xio asked the gathering to look for the Sequence 6 Arbiter potion formula, and Luther offered her the formula and main ingredients for 5,000 pounds.
• Fors urged Xio to accept Luther's offer, and Xio agreed despite not having the money.
• Leonard asked for a Mystical Item.

At the gathering, Leonard sought a powerful mystical item, and Luther offered two items taken from MI9 members. Leonard chose Rivell's Desperate Scream, while Audrey bought the Black Iron Glove; the free discussion began with Fors raising a problem with Mr. Moon's information.

• Audrey asked Leonard what mystical item he wanted, and he said he was looking for something around Sequence 5 power with mild negative effects.
• Alger quoted the likely price, and Leonard revealed his familiarity with official Sealed Artifact classifications.
• Luther offered the Black Iron Glove and Rivell's Desperate Scream, warning that both had come from MI9 members and could cause trouble with the military or the Loen Royal Family.
• Leonard chose Rivell's Desperate Scream, and Audrey bought the Black Iron Glove for 11,000 pounds.
• After the trading segment ended, Fors told Mr. Moon that there was a major problem with the information he had provided.

At the Tarot gathering, Fors recounted how an Ancient Castle’s corruption had endangered her and Xio, prompting Emlyn to promise an investigation. After the meeting ended, Klein kept Leonard behind with Luther so the three former Tingen companions could speak, and Leonard learned that Captain was dead.

• Fors described how she and Xio had been contaminated by corruption at an Ancient Castle, and Emlyn apologized for the Sanguine’s information and promised to investigate and refund her fee.
• Luther asked for the castle’s location, and Fors obtained a note with the address from Mr. Fool.
• Audrey asked Derrick about the City of Silver’s expedition, and Derrick reported that the city planned to resume investigating the Giant King’s Court.
• Klein ended the gathering, but Leonard remained behind while the other members departed.
• Klein told Leonard that he had arranged for Luther and himself to stay so the three former Tingen companions could talk.
• Leonard asked whether Captain had come back to life, and Luther bluntly told him that Captain was dead.

Luther, Klein, and Leonard discussed Pallez’s silence and warned Leonard to beware of Adam and a blond priest. Back in Feysac, Luther decided to return to Backlund, but M appeared and offered to let him see [Gluttony] again.

• Leonard told Luther and Klein that Pallez had stopped responding and might still be hiding from someone watching him.
• Luther warned Leonard to be cautious around Adam, and Klein added a warning about a blond, bearded priest possibly connected to Adam.
• The three men ended their uneasy gathering, and Luther’s Virtual Personality returned to his body in Saint Millon.
• Luther watched Feysac celebrate Sophia’s coronation and hoped she would be a good emperor.
• M appeared and told Luther that [Gluttony]’s personality had mostly been restored, then asked whether he wanted to see him again.