Chapter Summaries

Xio monitored a Backlund square for the Blood Bishop while King George III delivered a speech. After Amon took control of Klein, Klein urged Luther to continue the plan against George III, and Luther reached Memorial Square and alerted the other participants and the Evernight Goddess.

• Xio reported that no suspicious people or disturbances had appeared at the square, while MI9 waited for the Blood Bishop.
• Klein stopped Luther from reciting the Fool's Honorific Name and told him to pursue their plan against George III rather than rescue him first.
• Luther left Klein with Amon and continued toward George III, resolving to avenge the innocent victims.
• Amon told Klein he understood Chinese and led him away, while Klein repeatedly answered, "Just kill me."
• Luther notified Trissy and Bernadette Gustav that the plan had begun, then prayed to the Evernight Goddess for help for Klein.
• Luther arrived at Memorial Square in the West Borough, where George III was addressing a crowd.

Luther confronted a false-shell George III during the king’s speech at Anniversary Square, while the crowd unknowingly joined a sacrificial rite. Luther revealed himself as the Blood Bishop and challenged the king, and Loen soldiers advanced as an unseen force suppressed his abilities.

• Luther questioned Arrodes and learned that the real George III had left the perceptible world and was attempting to reach a higher step.
• George III’s speech stirred the crowd into collective grief and led citizens across the country to pray in his name.
• Luther appeared at Anniversary Square as the Blood Bishop and accused George III of being a false shell.
• George III called Luther a thug and claimed his soldiers would subdue him.
• An invisible force suppressed Luther’s abilities as Loen soldiers charged toward him with High-Pressure Steam Rifles.

Luther exposed George III as the culprit behind the Great Smog and the war during the king’s speech in Memorial Square, but the broadcast center intercepted his words. Luther then appeared outside the center, where Amyrius emerged to confront him.

• Luther hurled his head onto the platform and regenerated beside the microphone, accusing George III of causing the Great Smog and starting the war.
• Earl Hall sent Hibbert to fetch the guards and evacuate his mother and sister, while Audrey celebrated Luther’s public accusation.
• At Backlund’s broadcasting center, a technician told an MI9 liaison that the nationwide audience was hearing a prepared recording instead of Luther’s words.
• The MI9 staff spotted Luther outside the broadcasting center and raised an alarm as he considered using the broadcast equipment against George III.
• Amyrius appeared before Luther and shouted, “Great Nation Builder!”

Bernadette entered one of George III’s secret mausoleums and used the Magic Wishing Lamp to gain Sequence 1 strength so she could confront William Augustus I. At the broadcasting station, Luther told Amyrius that the Nation Builder was occupied protecting a mausoleum, and Amyrius’s confusion showed he knew nothing of George III’s plan.

• The Nation Builder’s gaze descended over the broadcasting station but withdrew without helping Amyrius, leaving him to face the Blood Bishop alone.
• Bernadette opened a doorway into a secret mausoleum and threw a Spear of Longinus toward the tomb.
• William Augustus I appeared above the mausoleum, and Bernadette used the Magic Wishing Lamp to wish for the strength of a Knowledge Emperor for one day.
• The Genie’s wish raised Bernadette’s power to match William Augustus I as she prepared to protect Roselle.
• Luther told Amyrius that the Nation Builder was protecting a mausoleum, and Amyrius revealed that he did not understand what Luther meant.

Luther destroyed the broadcast station’s antennas, but mystical technology kept King George III’s speech transmitting, so he moved on to attack the mausoleums. Trissy encountered Celt at another mausoleum, while Luther’s attempt to reach a different one brought him face-to-face with Zaratul, who was searching for Gehrman Sparrow.

• Luther silenced and struck down Amyrius, then destroyed the broadcast station’s transmission antennas.
• Dr. Torina discovered that the king’s speech continued playing despite the antennas’ destruction, and Luther learned that mystical technology was sustaining the broadcast.
• Trissy entered a mausoleum near Awwa County, where Celt used Sealed Artifact 0-36 to reveal her.
• Luther traveled to another mausoleum but was diverted to a black church, where he recognized Zaratul and learned that he was seeking Gehrman Sparrow.
• Luther challenged Zaratul to divine Gehrman’s location, and the corpse marionettes fell silent as Luther’s body and surroundings became sluggish.

Luther resisted Zaratul’s instant Marionettization, used the Box of the Great Old Ones to escape his sealed space, and entered Ruin No. 1 to destroy George III’s mausoleum. There he encountered the Red Angel Evil Spirit, Medici-Sauron-Einhorn, who greeted him with a taunt.

• Zaratul instantly attempted to Marionettize Luther, but an angry tide surged through their connection and destroyed the church and its hanging corpses.
• Zaratul recognized the dangerous Sefirah within Luther and questioned him about Klein, while Luther confronted him with the Box of the Great Old Ones.
• Luther tore open Zaratul’s isolated space with the box and used Travel to escape to the real mausoleum.
• Luther chose Ruin No. 1 near Backlund and opened its concealed entrance using mixed Beyonder blood and the symbols provided by Mr. Door.
• Purple flames appeared around the mausoleum, and Medici-Sauron-Einhorn emerged and taunted Luther.

George III began transforming into the Black Emperor while awaiting the ritual’s completion, unaware that Luther had arrived to stop him. Medici and Dlink confronted Luther outside the mausoleum, and Luther split into three avatars to fight them.

• George III consumed the potion and reflected on his allies and plans as he began ascending toward godhood.
• Medici appeared outside the mausoleum, where Dlink prohibited teleportation and sealed the space around the battle.
• Medici attacked Luther with the Spear of Destruction, while Dlink isolated the clash from George III’s mausoleum.
• Luther blocked the spear with the Box of the Great Old Ones and taunted Medici before deciding to face both opponents.
• Luther split into three avatars, produced the Devil and Twilight Giant cards, and empowered his avatars with Cards of Blasphemy.

Luther and his Avatars fought Medici, Dlink, and George III’s royal guards inside the Mausoleum, using shared agony and their powers to break through the army. He then invoked justice as a Sun Pathway Justice Mentor and hurled a Spear of Light toward George III’s tomb.

• Medici summoned the Disciplinary Paladin Order and empowered the guards to defend George III.
• Luther stabbed himself with a rib and inflicted his shattered hands’ pain on the knights, while his Avatars attacked them.
• Dlink issued an Edict that weakened Luther’s degeneration powers and let the knights overwhelm him and his Avatars.
• Luther erupted in pure golden light, nullifying the Edict’s effect on him and routing the knights.
• Luther pronounced George III guilty of injustice and threw a blazing Spear of Light toward the tomb.

Luther was struck down by Medici’s combined attack, but Antiya raised the Black Throne from a sea of blood and amplified Luther’s Grazed allies. Luther and his Avatars returned to face Medici and Dlink as a second battle began.

• Luther’s Spear of Light missed the mausoleum after Dlink used the authority of balance to redirect it and separate Luther from the knights.
• Medici gathered the knights’ power into a sword of judgement and used it to destroy Luther and his Avatars.
• A sea of blood rose from the abyss, carrying the Black Throne and Antiya onto the battlefield.
• Antiya sat upon Solomon’s throne, summoned Luther’s Grazed lambs from the sea, and amplified their spiritual power.
• Luther and his two Avatars reappeared on the tide, ready to begin the second round of battle.

Luther and his allies battled Medici and other angels to stop George III’s advancement, but their assault was repeatedly obstructed. With time running out, Luther used the Black Throne to amplify himself and prepared to summon Ankewelt, the Dragon of Imagination.

• The Black Throne opened fire on the Mausoleum, and Luther’s barrage met Medici’s Spear of Destruction and wall of flame.
• Suah attacked Luther and cursed the lambs, but Luther struck Suah through the curse’s connection and drove him back.
• Zaratul arrived and summoned a Historical Projection of Roselle Gustav, whose knowledge attack Luther washed away.
• Luther absorbed M, ordered Antiya to concentrate the amplification effects on him, and drew out Groselle’s Travels to summon Ankewelt.

Luther used Groselle's Travels and the Quill of Alzuhod to summon a Giant whose strike broke the defenses around George III's Mausoleum, allowing Luther's sea of blood to destroy it. Medici then revealed that the Mausoleum had never been one of George III's ritual sites, leaving Luther's attack in doubt.

• Luther used the Quill of Alzuhod with Groselle's Travels to summon a Dragon projection and a Giant.
• The Giant shattered Dlink's barrier and Medici's wall of fire before disappearing.
• Luther's sea of blood surged through the breach and destroyed George III's Mausoleum.
• Luther found no trace of George III inside the ruined tomb.
• Medici applauded and revealed that George III had never intended to use the Mausoleum for his ritual.

Luther discovered that Medici had tricked him with a fake tomb, while Trissy and Bernadette also failed to destroy their assigned Mausoleums and George III neared his apotheosis. After apparently killing himself, Luther reappeared at Roselle’s hidden Mausoleum and demanded that Roselle become his lamb so the former Black Emperor could stop George III.

• Luther realized Medici had deceived him with a false tomb, and Medici taunted him as Antiya and the Black Throne vanished and his combat strength dwindled.
• Hermes kept Trissy trapped in a dream after her charm failed, while Bernadette remained unable to overcome the Nation Builder at George III’s Mausoleum.
• Medici told Luther that the other attempts had failed and that George III was about to become the Black Emperor; Luther challenged Medici over abandoning the Ancient Sun God.
• Luther cut off his own head and vanished, confusing Medici and Dlink, then re-formed from blood near the primitive island that concealed Roselle’s final Mausoleum.
• Luther endured the island’s destructive powers and entered Roselle’s tomb, where he found Roselle lucid but still corrupted by the Primordial Moon.
• Luther told Roselle to become his lamb so the former Black Emperor could replace George III.

Luther persuaded Roselle to let himself be grazed so the Phantom Tide could fight the Primordial Moon’s corruption, while George III threatened to become the new Black Emperor. Luther began the struggle to drive the corruption from Roselle, but it regenerated inside him.

• Luther told Roselle that George III was about to become the Black Emperor and urged him to become his lamb.
• Roselle initially refused, warning that the Primordial Moon’s corruption could overwhelm Luther, but changed his mind after Luther showed him Bernadette’s image and argued George III would threaten her.
• Roselle willingly entered Luther’s palm, and Luther enveloped him in the Phantom Tide to keep him from directly touching his body.
• The clash between the Tide and Roselle’s corruption destroyed Luther’s body, but the Tide began corroding the Primordial Moon’s aura.
• As Luther nearly cleared the corruption, it appeared anew inside Roselle and spread through his body again.

Luther forced the Mother Goddess of Depravity to withdraw her corruption from Roselle by threatening to entangle it with the Fool’s gray fog. Roselle was freed, and the returning emperor appeared in the Astral World as nine mausoleums collapsed across Loen.

• Luther repeatedly used the tide to attack the Primordial Moon’s endlessly rebirthing corruption, but it spread and began to overwhelm him.
• Luther learned that the power behind the corruption belonged to the Mother Goddess of Depravity, while Roselle urged him to let him go.
• A red-haired woman in white appeared beside Luther as his tide barrier neared collapse.
• Luther invoked the Fool and the Mysterious Ruler above the Gray Fog, threatening to make their powers collide with the Mother Goddess’s corruption.
• The Mother Goddess withdrew the corruption from Roselle, and Luther expelled Roselle’s shadow from his body.
• Roselle appeared in the Astral World and announced, “Intis, your emperor has returned!” as nine mausoleums collapsed across Loen.

Luther witnessed Roselle stop George III’s advancement and claim the Black Emperor’s Uniqueness and Characteristics. Luther then grazed the defeated George III as his nine secret Mausoleums collapsed, before M woke him from his prayer.

• Roselle used the Black Emperor’s power of order to halt George III’s advancement and draw the Uniqueness and three Sequence 1 Characteristics into himself, forming a Divine Kingdom.
• George III tried to flee the Astral World, but Luther caught up with him and prepared to graze his damaged Spirit Body.
• George III begged the other gods to save him, but none of their Divine Kingdoms responded as Luther prayed.
• Luther grazed George III, and the nine secret Mausoleums collapsed as the failed emperor’s remains were drawn into him.
• M spoke to Luther and told him to wake up, and his consciousness fell back into his body.

George III’s Black Emperor advancement failed, and he exploded during his speech as Roselle’s resurrection was announced to his followers. Exhausted Luther fled the Fog Sea, only to be immobilized by Silent Angel Heliodorus, who offered his body and sent a blood-red cross through Luther’s heart.

• Medici took the rusted, bloodstained crown from George III’s ruined mausoleum after confirming that his advancement had failed.
• Hermes confirmed George III’s failure, then sent a Fluffy Big Rabbit to carry the dreaming Trissy away.
• Bernadette heard the Black Emperor’s authority announce Roselle’s resurrection and escaped her confrontation with William I.
• George III exploded during his speech in Backlund, plunging Anniversary Square into chaos as Audrey wondered what the others had done.
• Luther escaped Roselle’s hidden mausoleum in the Fog Sea and landed on an island, where he encountered Silent Angel Heliodorus holding the Hanged Man Card of Blasphemy.
• Heliodorus immobilized Luther, merged himself into a blood-red cross, and drove it through Luther’s heart while declaring, “Lord, I offer You my body.”

Emlyn White emerged from imprisonment and learned that George III had died, suspecting Temperance’s involvement in the king’s death. At the royal funeral, Audrey watched the ceremony and thought of the Great Smog’s victims as the king was laid to rest.

• Emlyn left the underground prison after the Sanguine secured his release, then encountered a solemn funeral procession outside St. Samuel Cathedral.
• Emlyn read that George III had been killed by the Blood Bishop and suspected Temperance had played a role, then hurried home.
• Fors asked Xio whether MI9 had learned anything, and Xio said the department was in disarray after the king’s death and had warned her not to get involved.
• Audrey followed the funeral procession to the Royal Mausoleum, where George III’s coffin was buried after a priest’s prayer.
• Audrey watched the royal family pretend to grieve and thought of the Great Smog victims buried in a communal cemetery.

Luther was trapped by the blood-red cross and its corrupting influence, then found himself in Adam’s bone cathedral. Adam asked whether he could accept the upheaval caused by his choices, and Luther angrily rejected him.

• The blood-red cross pierced Luther’s heart and flooded his mind with the Aurora Order’s prayers, while his exhausted spirituality left him unable to summon the Phantom Tide.
• Luther tried to pull out the cross and dissolve his body, but it remained bound to his spirituality and returned to his chest.
• Luther decided to seek help from Queen Mystic Bernadette and picked up the [Hanged Man] card before leaving the island.
• Luther stepped into Adam’s bone cathedral in the Psychology Alchemists’ Garden of Eden and saw the Twilight Hermit Order’s president praying before a giant cross.
• Adam described the coming upheaval in Loen and Intis and asked whether Luther could accept the ending; Luther cursed and rejected him.

Adam stabilized the cross embedded in Luther and prevented him from summoning the Phantom Tide while Luther recovered in the Corpse Cathedral. Adam revealed that he had been watching Luther and judged his actions too dangerous, then said the Hanged Man wanted to see him.

• Luther insulted Adam and accused him of seeking revenge because George III failed to become the Black Emperor.
• Adam soothed Luther and restrained the cross’s corrosion, then identified the attacker as Heliodorus, the Silent Angel of the Aurora Order.
• Luther realized Heliodorus’s words had transformed him into the cross fused to Luther’s heart and soul, and that Adam was preventing him from summoning the Phantom Tide.
• Adam made Luther sit and meditate, then listed Luther’s dangerous actions and admitted he had been watching him.
• Luther asked whether Adam planned to seal or kill him, and Adam said the Hanged Man wanted to see him.

Adam took Luther from the Garden of Eden to the God War Ruins at the eastern end of the Sonia Sea, confirming that he was heading for the Forsaken Land of the Gods. As night fell, Adam warned Luther to close his eyes.

• Adam subdued Luther and led him through the Garden of Eden while Luther asked about Amon and his companion.
• Adam and Luther left the Garden of Eden and arrived on Toscarter Island, where Luther saw the islanders living under his protection.
• Adam warned Luther that an unavoidable torrent of fate would force him to make a choice about the island’s future.
• Adam used Dream Traversal to take Luther through a fish’s dream to a beach in the God War Ruins.
• Adam told Luther to close his eyes as darkness fell over the God War Ruins.