Chapter Summaries

Leonard learned that Adam had watched him in Saint Millon and hurried to the Tarot Club gathering to seek answers. Meanwhile, Klein finished his Southern Continent arms deal and encountered Colonel Alfred as he prepared to leave.

• Soest told the Red Gloves that Senior Deacon Ahab Ishmael had been transferred, and Leonard left the cathedral troubled by questions about Luther.
• Pallez revealed that Adam had watched Leonard in Saint Millon and might have continued watching until Luther killed the person who seemed to be the princess.
• Leonard waited until three o'clock and was engulfed by crimson light as he went above the gray fog.
• Klein completed the military arms deal, paid Lieutenant Colonel Rayman 2,000 pounds, and prepared to leave the Southern Continent.
• Colonel Alfred arrived with a cleric, and Lieutenant Colonel Rayman saluted him before Alfred asked Klein if he was Mr. Dantes.

Klein met Alfred Hall and Nelson Sharp before boarding an airship, then went Above the Gray Fog to hold the Tarot Club gathering. Luther scrutinized Klein as he suspected his identity, and the gathering ended its opening with Luther seeking a Sequence 2 Secrets Suppliant potion and formula.

• Klein met Alfred Hall and Nelson Sharp and exchanged farewells with them before boarding the airship.
• Near three o’clock, Klein went Above the Gray Fog and summoned the Tarot Club members.
• Luther watched the Fool closely as he tried to confirm his suspicion that the Fool was Klein.
• Cattleya said she had no diary pages to offer, and the Fool opened the gathering’s trading session.
• Luther asked to buy the Sequence 2 potion and formula of the Secrets Suppliant pathway, astonishing the other members.

At the Tarot Club, Luther asked the members to seek information about a Sequence 2 potion formula, while Klein sold mystical items. Elsewhere, Alfred and Sharp discussed their work on the Southern Continent and Audrey, and Audrey thanked the World for protecting her from Hvin Rambis.

• Luther asked the Tarot Club members to seek clues about a Sequence 2 potion formula and offered money, Beyonder characteristics, secret knowledge, or a favor in return.
• Alger agreed to look for information, while Fors, Emlyn, Leonard, and Klein considered possible sources.
• Klein used the World puppet to sell mystical items, then opened the gathering for free conversation.
• Nelson Sharp asked Alfred why he had mocked Colonel Rayman, and Alfred said he felt as if he had fled the front lines.
• Sharp urged Alfred to prove himself on the Southern Continent, then teased him about Dwayne Dantès and Audrey; Alfred dismissed his concern.
• Audrey thanked the World for offering help after Hvin Rambis assessed her and threatened to control her.

Luther warned Audrey to contact him if anything unusual happened, then explained to Leonard that he had killed a Feysac princess who was a Psychology Alchemist and left the Church. After the private conversation ended, the Fool restored the others’ senses, and Luther asked Fors why she had stopped updating her novel.

• Luther recalled that Hvin Rambis was the Psychology Alchemists’ Council member responsible for Backlund, and decided to take Sophia’s Sequence 2 characteristic to Bernadette.
• Luther urged Audrey to contact him if anything unusual happened, and Leonard asked to speak privately with Luther and the World.
• Luther told Leonard that he had killed a Psychology Alchemist who was a Feysac princess nearly crowned emperor, and denied that he was responsible for the war.
• Luther told Leonard that he had left the Church, then deliberately startled Klein by nearly saluting him before turning to salute the Fool.
• After Klein lifted the sensory barrier, Luther asked Fors why she had stopped updating her novel.

At the Tarot Club gathering, Luther pressured Fors to resume her stalled novel, and Klein asked her to write newspaper stories about him as well. After the gathering ended, Luther decided to leave Klein alone for a while and told Anderson to plan the expansion of the Blood God's missionary work.

• Luther urged Fors to update her novel, and Fors agreed to publish an installment within a few days.
• Klein asked Fors to write and publish newspaper stories to help him explore the Acting Method for Sequence 4.
• The Tarot Club members shared updates about Backlund, the Sonia Sea, the City of Silver, Emlyn's castle information, and Cattleya's concern for Queen Mystic.
• Klein ended the gathering, and Luther later reviewed his Virtual Personality's memories and resolved not to pressure Klein next time.
• Luther summoned Anderson and told him to arrange the expansion of the Blood God's missionary work.

Luther told Anderson to spread the Blood God's faith openly among the poor on the islands, then left the fleet to commune with his believers. He answered Katya's desperate plea for vengeance by transforming her into a monster, and she set off for the plantation.

• Luther ordered Anderson to preach openly on the islands, focusing on slums and captured islanders, and left him money for the work.
• Luther told Anderson he would be away for two or three days, then traveled to the sea and examined the prayers reaching the white tower.
• Luther discovered Katya's prayer and learned that a plantation owner had enslaved and abused her family before she was cast out to die.
• Luther answered Katya's plea by sending his spirituality through their connection, transforming her into a powerful, hideous monster.
• Katya charged toward the plantation to take revenge.

Luther prepared a Sequence 7 Magician potion for Luna and traveled to Emerald City to meet Queen Mystic Bernadette. He told her that George III wanted to advance to Black Emperor, and Bernadette reacted with a slight tremor.

• Luther brewed the Magician potion and let Luna drink it while Antiya complained about returning to the Fog Sea.
• Luna's new powers emerged when she appeared in a burst of flame, then hid in Luther's shadow from Antiya.
• Luther reached Lasha Island and entered the hidden path leading to Emerald City, where Bernadette received him.
• Luther told Bernadette that George III wanted to advance to Black Emperor, and her hand trembled at the news.

Luther told Bernadette that George III was pursuing the Black Emperor’s advancement ritual and asked her to help stop him, though she declined to coordinate with his actions. He then opened Roselle’s box aboard the Black Throne, revealing the [Hanged Man] card.

• Luther explained that George III’s actions followed the Black Emperor’s advancement ritual and said he intended to kill him, asking Bernadette for help.
• Bernadette said she wanted to stop George III but might not be able to coordinate with Luther.
• Bernadette recalled Roselle’s confident smile before his apparent death and said she believed he had not died easily.
• Luther asked Bernadette about the Secrets Suppliant Sequence 2 formula and the [Hanged Man] card, but she knew neither its location nor its formula.
• Luther invited Bernadette to witness the opening of Roselle’s box aboard the Black Throne, and she accepted.
• Luther used the Black Throne’s key to open the box and found the [Hanged Man] card inside.

Luther picked up the [Moon] card and began a catastrophic loss of control as a blood-red moon appeared in the sky. Bernadette and Antiya failed to stop his transformation, which paused only when a tide-like sound came from his body.

• Luther picked up the disguised [Moon] card, and it revealed a vision of a feminine Roselle beneath the words [Sequence 0: Moon].
• Luther cut off his right hand to release the card, but the card turned blood-red and an influence entered his body, triggering a violent mutation.
• Antiya attempted to use Distortion on Luther, but a strange influence made her accelerate his loss of control, shocking Bernadette.
• Luther saw a vast, beautiful being in his visions and heard the cry, "Praise you, great Mother!" as his body became scattered flesh and shadows.
• A blood-red half-moon appeared above the Black Throne, and Bernadette put on Pale Death but found its spirituality had withdrawn.
• A faint tide-like sound came from Luther's body as he lay on the cabin floor.

Luther survived a curse in Roselle’s box that he suspected came from the Primordial Moon, but the corruption severely damaged his mental state. After leaving Emerald City with Bernadette, he was warned that his spirituality might be slipping out of control.

• The [Moon] card’s corruption overwhelmed Luther, and he cut away the contaminated flesh from his body.
• Bernadette used Pale Death to wither the severed flesh, and Luther destroyed and cleansed what remained.
• Luther concluded that the box’s curse was linked to the Primordial Moon and asked Bernadette whether Roselle’s personality had changed in his later years.
• Bernadette confirmed that Roselle had changed, then fell silent as she considered whether her father had been corrupted.
• Luther and Bernadette left Emerald City aboard the Black Throne after agreeing to cooperate against George III.
• M warned Luther that the Primordial Moon’s corruption had shaken his Mental World and that his spirituality might be slipping out of control.

After the Sequence 3 potion’s effects made Luther’s body begin to collapse, he ordered Anderson to spread the Blood God’s name to stabilize his condition. He created self-preaching Human Skin Talismans for the Southern Continent, leaving Anderson to distribute them.

• Luther returned to the Blood Pirates’ feast badly injured, and Anderson stopped the crew from blaming Queen Mystic or attacking her fleet.
• Luther told Anderson that the Sequence 3 potion’s effects had flared up and ordered the fleet to begin preaching across the Sonia Sea and Southern Continent.
• When Anderson explained that the crew lacked the manpower to reach the Southern Continent, Luther tore off his arm and turned pieces of flesh into talismans.
• Luther demonstrated that a talisman could become a person resembling his previous incarnation, Li Ran, and preach the Blood God’s name on its own.
• Luther ordered Anderson to take a ship to the Southern Continent’s ports and distribute the self-preaching talismans.

Derrick Berg learned that he had been selected for the City of Silver’s expedition to the Giant King’s Court and was offered a choice of powerful Sealed Artifacts, which he planned to consult the Fool about. Lovia arrived, sensing her Lord’s approaching glory, while Luther dreamed of many people’s experiences and saw a young man from the Southern Continent dismissing him.

• Derrick Berg practiced his Priest of Light abilities and filled the training square with warm sunlight.
• Colin Iliad told Derrick he was on the expedition roster and urged him to digest his potion faster.
• Colin presented four dangerous saint-level Sealed Artifacts for Derrick to consider, and Derrick decided to seek the Fool’s guidance.
• Derrick encountered Lovia, who told Colin that she could feel her Lord’s gaze and expected His glory to spread across the world.
• Luther dreamed through numerous perspectives and saw a tall, thin young man from the Southern Continent tell him he had no time for nonsense.

Larry encountered a young man preaching the Blood God, while Alfred Hall arrived in Doyin City to take up a post in Amikash State and meet General Sanchez. Alfred left the meeting distrustful of Sanchez, whom he identified as the Butcher General.

• Larry asked the Blood God’s preacher to leave, and the young man said the Blood God would bring salvation when Larry fell into despair.
• Police officers cleared the street for Alfred Hall and Nelson Sharp’s carriage, beating a coffin coachman who failed to move aside in time.
• Nelson Sharp praised the Goddess’s guidance as the carriage passed through Doyin City, where a servant explained that General Sanchez admired Loen’s culture.
• Alfred and Sharp met General Sanchez, who welcomed them and gave Alfred a jeweled revolver and Sharp a lavish copy of Night’s Revelation.
• Alfred told Sharp that Sanchez had taken power in a coup and that Amikash State’s population had fallen by thirty thousand under his rule, earning him the name Butcher General.

Alfred and Nelson Sharp witnessed the brutality of Sanchez’s regime and the misery in the harbor district, while Luther considered why his potion had begun to digest. He suspected his Avatars’ preaching was involved because they were recognized as spreading one aspect of the deity’s Trinity.

• Alfred told Nelson Sharp that Sanchez had seized power in a coup, massacred his rivals and their families, and relied on Loen’s support to keep his regime stable.
• Alfred and Nelson Sharp disguised themselves and explored the city, seeing its squalid neighborhoods and dockworkers whipped as they carried goods bound for Loen.
• Nelson Sharp gave a one-pound note to an elderly woman soliciting customers, but the crowd knocked her down and fought over the money after he fled.
• Luther observed that the Blood God's Honorific Name was spreading through Anderson and the other missionaries, while his Avatars were beginning their work across the Southern Continent.
• Luther noticed that some of his potion characteristics had started to digest and wondered whether his Avatars’ preaching had earned recognition as spreading one member of the Trinity.

Luther recovered on an island and received Klein’s warning that Amon was nearby. He went to meet Klein and Will in Backlund, where Will reacted to Luther with a loud cry.

• Luther woke in a cave, accepted a letter from Klein’s messenger, and read that Amon was next door to Klein.
• Klein, disguised as Dwayne Dantès, visited Aaron Ceres’s family and gave the baby Will a gold amulet.
• Will knocked away the amulet, and Klein reminded him that Will had helped him suppress Larion in Feysac.
• Luther appeared beside Will, who wailed at the sight of him, and thanked Will for his past help.

Klein told Will and Luther that Amon had taken over a Marauder demigod living next door to his neighbor, and the three discussed a plan to confront him. Klein left with Luther to prepare to fight Amon in the open so Pallez could help eliminate his avatars across Backlund.

• Klein told Will that Amon had appeared in Councilman Macht's house by taking control of an injured Marauder demigod who had been Hazel's teacher.
• Klein explained that Amon had noticed him, though he did not know when Amon would locate him.
• Will warned that Amon could create countless avatars, but agreed the group could proceed because Pallez was in Backlund.
• Will prophesied that their fates would be disturbed on Tuesday, while cautioning that Amon could evade fate's influence.
• Klein told Luther that Pallez wanted him to fight Amon openly so Pallez could help clear out the avatars in Backlund.

Luther went alone to investigate an Ancient Castle and the strange Bronze Gate beneath it, which seemed connected to the Phantom Tide within him. After seeing visions of soldiers dissolving as they approached the gate, he heard something on the other side pounding against it.

• Luther told Klein he had returned to Backlund to explore an Ancient Castle whose Bronze Gate felt familiar to him.
• Klein said the Moon had gathered the Star, Justice, and Judgement to lure a Sanguine into the Harvest Church.
• Luther left Klein under Arianna's concealed protection and traveled alone to the Ancient Castle in Dreyer Forest.
• Luther found a staircase leading beneath the ruined castle and descended into a preserved underground hall.
• Luther saw the Bronze Gate and hallucinated soldiers being drawn toward it and dissolving into black liquid.
• Luther snapped out of the vision when something behind the Bronze Gate began pounding on it.

Luther discovered that the Bronze Gate’s pounding synchronized with the Phantom Tide in his mind, suggesting the tide was sealed behind it. M urged him to open the gate by promising it could restore Cecilia, but Luther recognized that the excited figure was not the real M and refused.

• Luther tested the connection between his Phantom Tide and the Bronze Gate, confirming that the gate’s knocks followed the surges in his mind.
• M appeared and claimed the sea behind the gate could provide the authorities needed to create a body for Cecilia and awaken her.
• Luther was tempted to open the gate, imagining that doing so could reunite him with Cecilia.
• Luther noticed that M’s excitement contradicted her usual calm demeanor and realized she was trying to manipulate him into opening the gate.
• The false M ordered Luther to open the gate, but he refused and formed silvery-white metal in his hand.

Luther escaped the illusion beneath the Ancient Castle and realized the Bronze Gate concealed a filthy, distorted version of his Golden Finger. After learning that cultists once gathered at the castle to worship the God of Blood and Shadows, he was left startled by the name.

• Luther broke the illusion, backed away from the Bronze Gate, and returned to the surface with M.
• Luther questioned whether M had appeared in the illusion as more than a mere illusion, but she gave him no answers.
• Luther considered the castle’s history and whether the Sanguine might know more about the Bronze Gate.
• Luther encountered a local hunter, who explained that a wealthy gentleman had bought the castle and that visitors had fallen ill and died there.
• Luther offered the hunter a gold coin for more information, and the hunter recalled that cultists once worshipped the God of Blood and Shadows at the castle.

Luther discovered an old portrait of Amon in the Ancient Castle and realized the Hunter had been Amon in disguise. Amon trapped Luther with the gold coin and began stealing the proof of his existence, but a strange knock from beneath the castle interrupted him.

• Luther hypnotized the Hunter, who said the Blood God's name had been known locally for generations and described a portrait on the castle's south wall.
• Luther uncovered the buried painting and found a portrait of Amon instead of himself.
• Amon revealed himself as the Hunter, explained how he had learned about Luther, and put on a monocle.
• Amon used the gold coin Luther had given him to evade Luther's Phantom Tide and begin stealing the proof of his existence.
• A muffled knock sounded from beneath the Ancient Castle, making Amon pause and lose some of his smile.