Chapter Summaries

Audrey declined her father’s offer of properties while worrying about the hardship caused by the war, then attended the Tarot Club meeting. Cattleya brought the Fool a large batch of Roselle’s diary entries and asked to save most of their exchange value for later.

• Earl Hall offered Audrey ownership of twenty-three repossessed properties, but she refused and asked him to give the assets to her brothers instead.
• Susie helped Audrey secure privacy, and Audrey joined the Tarot Club before three o’clock.
• Audrey noticed that Cattleya seemed deeply worried during the meeting.
• Cattleya presented the Fool with a large batch of Roselle’s diary entries, which he valued at ten questions.
• Cattleya asked to use two questions and make one request now while saving the remaining exchange value for later.

At the Tarot Club, Luther sought intelligence for his imminent trip to the Fog Sea, while Cattleya realized he might be traveling with Queen Mystic and felt hurt that she had not been invited. The gathering continued with Audrey requesting ingredients for her advancement, and Luther began questioning her connection to Hvin Rambis.

• Cattleya asked the Fool about Roselle’s mausoleum and madness, then requested protection for someone, and the Fool agreed.
• Luther asked the Tarot Club for Fog Sea charts, routes, and other information, revealing that he would leave the next day.
• Cattleya questioned Luther about his destination and companions, then suspected he was sailing with Queen Mystic and felt bitter about being left behind.
• Alger offered to gather Fog Sea intelligence for Luther for fifty pounds, and Luther accepted.
• Audrey requested ingredients for her Sequence 5 advancement, and Luther asked whether Hvin Rambis had given her the Dreamwalker formula.

Audrey learned that the City of Silver had an adult Mind Dragon heart whose corruption had recently disappeared, while Luther and Klein considered using her to capture Hvin Rambis. In Doyin City, Alfred Hall failed to interrogate a man surnamed Li, who preached the Blood God before killing himself and vanishing.

• Luther and Klein considered using Audrey’s connection to Hvin Rambis to capture him and learn about the Loen Royal Family, but Luther planned to leave the matter to Klein.
• Derrick told Audrey that the City of Silver had an adult Mind Dragon heart, and that its mental corruption had recently been cleansed along with other corrupted characteristics.
• Alfred Hall interrogated a black-haired prisoner who claimed amnesia and said his surname was Li, but Pain Whip and other methods failed to affect him.
• Li said he planned to spread the Blood God’s faith across the Southern Continent, arguing that colonial oppression would drive people to seek salvation.
• Li pierced his own throat, then shrank into dried skin and burned away as Alfred watched.

At the Tarot Club meeting, Derrick explained that the City of Silver’s exploration had slowed because many expedition members were advancing with newly purified characteristics. Alger then revealed that the Blood Pirates were suspected of spreading the faith of the God of Blood and Shadows, leaving Fors to wonder whether Mr. Temperance worshipped the deity.

• Alger asked Derrick about the Giant King’s Court exploration, and Derrick said the team had finished clearing the perimeter but was short-handed while expedition members advanced.
• Derrick explained that Lovia’s miracle had purified the City of Silver’s corrupted characteristics, allowing Chief Colin to distribute them to applicants and strengthen the expedition.
• Alger warned Derrick to be wary of Lovia because she might contact the True Creator, and Derrick silently kept her conversion to the God of Blood and Shadows secret.
• Alger told the Tarot Club that a new faith honoring the God of Blood and Shadows had appeared in the Sonia Sea and Southern Continent.
• Alger said the faith’s spreaders were suspected to be Blood Pirates, and Fors froze as she considered whether Mr. Temperance served the Blood God.

At a Tarot Club meeting, Luther confirmed that he had ordered his followers to preach the Blood God's name, and Klein signaled that he would not oppose him. Klein then warned the members that Adam was nearing the divine throne and could fulfill the Visionary advancement ritual as the world’s events continued; the meeting ended before he explained further.

• Audrey asked Luther whether he knew his subordinates were preaching the Blood God's name, and Luther said he had ordered them to do so.
• Klein stated that the Blood God and the True Creator were opposed, and the Tarot Club members took this as a sign that he permitted Luther's faith.
• Luther asked about the Churches' response to the Blood God, and Alger and Xio reported that the Church of Storms was focused on the Feysac fleet while MI9 was investigating.
• Luther told Alger, Xio, and Leonard to watch for unusual activity and contact him.
• Klein told the Tarot Club that Adam was approaching the divine throne and that the world's course could fulfill the Visionary advancement ritual.
• Klein ended the meeting without answering Audrey's question about whether a continent-wide war would let Adam advance, and Audrey noticed that Mr. Moon had been silent.

Leonard questioned Pallez about the Blood God, then took his shift guarding Emlyn in Saint Samuel Cathedral’s underground prison. Leonard asked whether the Blood God was connected to the Sanguine, and Emlyn denied it before Leonard reminded him that he was imprisoned while serving the Earth Mother Goddess.

• Leonard asked Pallez whether he knew of the Blood God, and Pallez said flesh and shadows fell under the True Creator’s authority but that He had never used that name.
• A Red Gloves team member called Leonard to take his four-hour guard shift in Saint Samuel Cathedral’s underground prison.
• Leonard found Emlyn imprisoned for the third time after the Earth Mother Goddess church in Backlund closed during the war and Father Utravsky entered protective custody.
• Leonard asked Emlyn whether the Blood God had anything to do with the Sanguine, and Emlyn nearly revealed that they had discussed Him above the gray fog.
• Emlyn insisted the Sanguine believed only in their Ancestor, and Leonard pointed out that Emlyn was wearing Earth Mother Goddess priest robes because of his imprisonment.

Luther and Klein read Roselle’s diary and discovered that he became a Sequence 1 Knowledge Emperor before attempting to land on the Crimson Moon, where he was likely corrupted. They ended their gathering with Luther preparing to go to sea and Klein agreeing to investigate Hvin Rambis.

• Klein asked the Fool to materialize Roselle’s diary pages so he could share them with Luther.
• Luther and Klein read Roselle’s diary, first finding an entry about his romantic life and then learning he had advanced to Sequence 1, Knowledge Emperor.
• Luther realized Roselle had tried to land on the Crimson Moon and suspected the Primordial Moon had corrupted him; Klein suggested Mr. Door might have influenced his decision.
• Luther and Klein stopped reading to exchange information, and Luther said he would leave for sea the next day while Klein agreed to investigate Hvin Rambis through Spirit Channeling.
• Klein told Luther that the Goddess appeared to have gained control over part of Death’s Uniqueness, and the two ended the Tarot Club gathering.

Luther used the Wreath of Desolation to destroy a sea monster that attacked the Dawn and the Black Throne, then transformed its remains into a puppet. The artifact’s side effect began to alter his body as his chest swelled.

• A sea monster disguised as an island attacked the Dawn and the Black Throne with glowing tentacles.
• Luther appeared on the Black Throne wearing the Wreath of Desolation and used its power to drain the monster and everything around it of life.
• Luther recalled that Colin Iliad had offered him and Derrick lists of the City of Silver’s treasured items, and he had chosen the wreath.
• Luther used the wreath’s Life Alchemy ability to reshape the dead monster into an orca-like puppet.
• Luther noticed the wreath’s side effect as his chest began to swell.

Luther tested the Wreath of Desolation and overcame its curse after it transformed him and unleashed horrific visions. He and Bernadette continued searching for Roselle Gustav’s mausoleum, while Luther wondered whether the wreath’s curse was connected to the City of Silver.

• The Wreath of Desolation transformed Luther into a woman and flooded his mind with visions of a worshipped ruler whose subjects later devoured her.
• Luther’s flesh puppet became a cursed monster as the wreath’s visions began to intrude on reality, but he used a black greatsword to break free of its influence and stop the creatures.
• Luther destroyed the remaining flesh puppet, then confirmed with Bernadette that they had ruled out another island on their search for Roselle Gustav’s mausoleum.
• Luther examined the wreath aboard the Black Throne and wondered why the City of Silver’s residents became unkillable monsters when they wore it.
• Luther recalled visions suggesting the wreath’s previous owner had been devoured after the Great Cataclysm and questioned whether the people who ate her were connected to the City of Silver.

Luther investigated the Wreath of Desolation’s former owner and challenged the True Creator for control of the tide. In Doyin City, a cheerful young man named Li visited a poor old woman and her grandson and discovered the remains of the boy’s parents.

• Luther asked Mr. Fool to have [Sun] investigate which deities the City of Silver had worshipped before the Great Cataclysm, and decided to ask Elder Lovia to search as well.
• Luther sensed that prayers to him had improved and used his growing control of the sea to overwhelm the True Creator’s waves.
• A black-haired young man named Li walked through the slums of Doyin City, where the residents ignored him, and entered a dilapidated hut.
• Li recognized the old woman and her grandson, then opened a cabinet and found the carefully preserved skulls and bones of the boy’s parents.
• Li examined the remains and concluded that the boy’s parents had died in a mining accident after being crushed by falling rocks.

Li Chong and his identical selves spread the Blood God's name through the slums by planting it in residents' subconscious. At sea, Luther failed to create a body for Cecilia with the Wreath of Desolation and turned to reading Roselle's Diary while waiting for the voyage to continue.

• Li Chong saw a grandmother and her grandson struggling to survive under the slums' poverty and taxation.
• Li Chong introduced himself as a missionary and placed the Blood God's name in the pair's subconscious without their awareness.
• Li Chong met an identical version of himself, and their many doubles spread the Blood God's name throughout the district.
• Luther tried to create a body for Cecilia with the Wreath of Desolation, but lingering curses ruined it.
• Luther destroyed the failed body, put away the wreath, and began reading Roselle's Diary aboard the Black Throne.

Luther read Roselle Gustav's diary and learned more about corruption from underground and the cosmos, then discovered that Roselle had chosen the Nameless Island for his final mausoleum. He realized the island's cosmic corruption might never have been eliminated and that Roselle may have been manipulated.

• Luther read Roselle's account of Hermes explaining that underground corruption would recede over time, while the cosmos remained dangerous and poorly understood.
• Luther connected the underground corruption to the tide within him and wondered whether the cold will inside it would eventually fade.
• Luther learned that Roselle had chosen the Nameless Island as the location of his final mausoleum.
• Roselle's diary recounted how cosmic corruption had influenced the Beyonder creatures on the island, killing William and Peri before Roselle contained the danger and made the island his secret base.
• Luther suspected the island's corruption had never been removed and that something had manipulated Roselle into choosing it.

Stuart Burns survived a Feysac bombardment on Loen’s western front, then the arrival of a red-haired girl filled Loen’s soldiers with courage and drove them into a frenzied counterattack. As Stuart lay dying, he saw Intis forces arrive and learned that the Intis Republic had invaded Loen.

• Stuart Burns woke in a devastated trench and found the chaplain and many of his comrades dead.
• Stuart saw the Feysac army advancing and prepared to die as Loen’s defenses fell silent.
• A red-haired girl riding a white horse appeared and inspired Stuart and the surviving Loen soldiers to charge the Feysac army.
• Stuart and the Loen soldiers fought with supernatural courage, killing many Feysac soldiers before Stuart collapsed among the dead.
• The girl gave Stuart a cigarette and wondered whether to support Loen or Feysac next time.
• Stuart saw the Intis army approaching beneath a golden sphere as the Intis Republic invaded Loen from the western front.

Luther and Bernadette landed on the corrupted island, where supernatural rules punished anyone who approached. Luther identified the central mountain as the likeliest location of Roselle’s mausoleum and traced the island’s corruption to the cosmos.

• Luther saw the island’s corruption and warned Queen Mystic, who chose to remain aboard because Roselle might have left a trap for her.
• M advised Luther to put away the [Moon] card and the Wreath of Desolation, and he isolated the wreath at sea.
• Bernadette used a ball of yarn to travel through the Spirit World to the island’s edge, while Luther flew through its punishing rules and reattached himself after being cut in two.
• Bernadette asked Luther what he sensed, and he said the central mountain was likely Roselle’s mausoleum.
• Luther saw a thread of corruption rising from the mountain into the sky and concluded that the corruption came from the cosmos.

Bernadette and Luther discovered that corrupted creatures and dead people from Roselle’s era gathered to pray on the island. They reached the empty shrine at the clearing’s center, where Edwards recognized Bernadette and greeted her.

• Bernadette and Luther entered the silent forest under concealment and saw organs on the trees uttering prayers with crucial words obscured.
• Bernadette used an Invisible Servant and Eyes of Mystery Prying to inspect a clearing, revealing twisted creatures and dead people from Roselle’s time worshipping together.
• Bernadette recognized Green, William, Peri, and Edwards among the gathered dead, while Luther concluded that the Black Emperor needed subjects to support his resurrection.
• The creatures ended their prayers and dispersed, and Bernadette and Luther waited until they could enter the clearing.
• Bernadette and Luther found an empty shrine beside a boulder, where Edwards turned toward Bernadette and greeted her as Your Highness.

Luther and Bernadette reached Roselle’s secret mausoleum with Edwards, where they faced the island’s growing corruption and gathered monsters. Luther cut down the attackers, but the filthy aura restored them, leaving him to confront a threat that his blade should have destroyed.

• Bernadette found Edwards, who said he had returned to the island and guarded Roselle’s mausoleum, while warning that his corrupted former companions had become monsters.
• Edwards led Bernadette and Luther through the forest to the mausoleum, whose gates bore writings and designs left by Roselle.
• As the corruption’s influence intensified, Luther used a mysterious tide to shield himself from its pain, while Klein spotted monsters closing in and warned Bernadette.
• Luther formed a greatsword from shadows and cut through the surrounding trees and monsters.
• The filthy aura healed the fallen trees and monsters, despite Luther’s blade having attacked both flesh and soul.

Leonard and the Red Gloves raided the Aurora Order’s headquarters in Backlund, only to find Mr. R and his gathered believers dead by gruesome mass suicide. The message Mr. R left behind asked where the True Creator was and said he could no longer feel the Lord’s presence.

• Soest told the exhausted Nighthawks that the Aurora Order’s new Oracle, Mr. R, had gathered believers at his base, and Crestet Cesimir led a mission to stop a suspected ritual.
• Leonard traveled through impoverished Cherwood Borough with the Red Gloves and considered telling Luther about the Aurora Order through Mr. Fool.
• Crestet sent a spirit body into the villa, discovered there were no enemies left, and ordered the team to regroup.
• Leonard and the Red Gloves found the villa filled with believers who had killed themselves and written desperate pleas to the True Creator in blood.
• Leonard identified Mr. R’s mutilated corpse in the master bedroom and saw his final message: “Lord, where are you? I can't feel you anymore...”

Luther and Bernadette escaped the monsters on Roselle's hidden island by entering his mausoleum, after Klein used the power above the gray fog to open its door. Inside, Luther was bound by unseen rules, and both he and Bernadette discovered that parts of their bodies had been given life.

• Luther fought the endlessly reviving monsters while Klein watched from above the gray fog.
• Klein divined that Bernadette and Luther needed to enter Roselle's mausoleum, then used the Staff of Stars to open its doors.
• Bernadette told Luther that Mr. Fool had revealed the way out, and the two rushed through the blue doorway into the mausoleum.
• Luther and Bernadette found a bare chamber with a black throne, but invisible shackles stopped Luther from approaching it.
• Bernadette's wings sprouted limbs and eyes as laughter came from their feathers, while Luther saw his shadow staring back at him.

Luther and Bernadette survived the mausoleum’s force that animated their bodies, using their powers to suppress the transformations. While searching for Roselle, Luther realized an unseen figure had been moving around them and confronted it at close range.

• Luther swallowed the heads and living fragments growing from his body, then pursued and reabsorbed his escaping shadow in the Shadow World.
• Luther returned to find Bernadette using Pale Death to suppress her body’s animation, and they confirmed that both had controlled their mutations.
• Luther sensed a presence in the mausoleum and traced its movement from the Black Throne to a spot near him.
• Luther realized the figure was hiding in his blind spot, turned, and attacked the pitch-black figure with the Language of Foulness and two blades.

Luther and Bernadette struggled against a shadow whose Black Emperor authority distorted their attacks, while Klein failed to open an escape route. As Bernadette was nearly killed, Luther read aloud from Roselle’s diary, and the shadow showed a flicker of emotion.

• Luther and Bernadette attacked the shadow with their weapons, but distortion made their strikes miss.
• Klein used the Staff of Stars to freeze the mausoleum and open a Spirit World passage, but the shadow resisted and the gateway appeared outside.
• Bernadette used Pale Death to age the chamber and the shadow, but the effect reversed and the shadow seized her by the neck.
• Luther took out Roselle’s diary and read an entry about a Demoness, causing the shadow to react and loosen his grip on Bernadette.