Chapter Summaries

Green and the monks confronted a creature inhabiting a decayed suit of armor in the waterway, and the creature attacked them. After seeing how it consumed its victims, Green doused it with lamp oil.

• Green and the monks found a rust-covered suit of armor standing over a shriveled body in the waterway.
• Green attacked the armor, and the monks joined him after it rose and advanced on them.
• The armor’s malformed limb bit into one monk and dragged him down while the monks’ weapons barely harmed it.
• Green saw a formless substance inside the helmet break down and absorb whatever it touched.
• As the monks prepared to flee, Green poured spare lamp oil over the creature.

Green and the monks fought a creature inside an ancient suit of armor, then continued through the flooded tunnel and found a suspicious sword emblem on the armor. Green reunited with the other monks at a collapsed dead end, where they denied seeing the symbols he had mentioned.

• Green set the creature inside the suit of armor alight with lamp oil, and the flames consumed it as it tried to retreat into its shell.
• Green recovered enough to continue, noticed gaps in the tunnel's carvings, and found a sword emblem on the armor with its blade ending as if thrust into something.
• Green left the armor behind and followed the changing sounds of water and distant lights through the tunnel.
• Green reached several monks at a collapsed dead end and learned that some of their group were still missing.
• Green asked why the monks had not warned the others about the symbols, but they looked confused and said they had seen none.

Kraft examined the strange body recovered at Sigo Manor, discovering extreme physical changes and black, stone-like material in its veins that resembled the object embedded in his own hand. The chapter ended as he opened one of the veins and saw black liquid mixed with dark crystals seep out.

• After completing the operation, Kraft left his assistant to monitor the patient and went alone to examine the wrapped body.
• Kraft unwrapped the deceased and found sagging, deeply folded skin that suggested the body had rapidly lost a great deal of fat.
• Kraft examined the left arm and discovered extra joints, bones, and knuckles that had transformed it into an unusually flexible limb.
• Kraft compared the deceased's altered arm with the stone fragment embedded in his own hand and noticed dark veins running through the body.
• Kraft opened one of the dark veins and found black liquid mixed with salt-like crystals inside.

Kraft told Father Green about a heretic attack and an unnatural phenomenon, then discovered that Green had recovered a strange suit of armor bearing a pattern like the Sword in the Stone. They agreed that the discovery had to remain secret because it could draw the Royal Family into the matter.

• Kraft met Father Green at the camp and told him that heretics had ambushed him the previous night.
• Green mourned the dead monks and asked Kraft to describe the attack and its unnatural trick.
• Kraft said he had found something unusual that might win them support, and Green asked how many people knew about it.
• Green opened a coffin and showed Kraft a scorched humanoid figure inside a suit of armor, which he said had emerged with a strange stretch of waterway.
• Kraft recognized a golden pattern on the armor as resembling the Sword in the Stone, and Green warned him to keep the discovery secret because of its connection to the Royal Family.

Green told Kraft that a heterodox creature had attacked his team, killing some members, and that political concerns might limit how the Church responded. As Kraft examined the burned armor, he found it was made from human remains and recovered a small glowing prism resembling the light from the deep well.

• Green explained that the Church might hesitate to pursue the heterodox sect because the armor and casualties could unsettle powerful people.
• Green said a living creature had inhabited the armor and attacked his team in tunnels marked with heterodox symbols.
• Kraft examined the armor and identified several human teeth and fragments of bone inside it.
• Kraft said the creature was composed of people, using their bodies as building material rather than digesting them normally.
• Kraft opened the armor and extracted a gray-white glowing prism from among half-formed vertebrae, which Green recognized as resembling the light from the deep well.

Kraft explained the creature and its Prism to Green, then investigated a Heretic corpse and discovered a strange substance in its veins that could suppress vital activity. Green agreed to let Kraft study the corpse’s severed arm, while the danger beneath the well remained unresolved.

• Kraft told Green that the creature was a man-made organism and that the Prism served as its core.
• Green revealed that he had seen similar light and cracks beneath the well, and Kraft warned that something large might be below it.
• Kraft and Green examined a Heretic corpse in the upper catacombs and found evidence that the Heretics had mastered Unnatural Means.
• Kraft discovered a black substance crystallized inside the corpse’s veins and explained that, when diluted, it could suppress consciousness and vital activity.
• Green agreed to let Kraft keep the corpse’s right arm for study and planned to report the rest of the body to Church authorities.
• Kraft dismissed concerns about the armor’s insignia, saying it could have been scraped off during transport.

Kraft examined the armor’s damaged heraldry with Father Green, then arranged to work with the Sigo Family on producing medical instruments and glassware. He left the partnership agreed in principle and went to rest after an exhausting night and journey.

• Green and Kraft sketched the armor’s intricate coat of arms before grinding away its Sword Emblem, and Green began searching Church records for clues to the owner’s identity.
• Kraft decided to repay the Sigo Family’s hospitality by accepting its offer to cooperate on manufacturing instruments.
• Kraft returned to the clinic and met Mr. Barber, the Sigo Family Treasurer, who offered medicines and instruments for discussion.
• Kraft listed surgical instruments, tuberculosis-treatment supplies, and anesthesia glassware he wanted the Sigo Family to make.
• Kraft promised to recommend the family’s products to medical schools if their quality met his requirements, and Barber agreed to proceed.
• Kraft postponed finalizing the contract and asked not to be disturbed before dinner unless someone’s life was in danger.

After waking from a long sleep, Kraft considered the Black Fluid sample and its unexplained changes before joining his students and Villen for dinner. Villen praised Kraft’s operation and warned him about the risks of working with The Church, while Kraft introduced Kup and Yvonne to the lecturer.

• Kraft woke with a worsening headache and recalled that he needed to examine the Black Fluid sample and investigate what caused it to change between solid and liquid states.
• Kraft went to the expanded clinic dining room, where Villen had waited to speak with him over dinner.
• Villen praised Kraft’s operation and asked how he had diagnosed the patient’s hematoma; Kraft explained his reasoning and challenged Villen to consider the risks of operating versus doing nothing.
• Kraft introduced Kup and Yvonne to Villen and encouraged Kup to learn from the lecturer.
• Villen warned Kraft that appearing close to The Church could earn him resentment, and Kraft said the collaboration had been a temporary accident.
• Yvonne asked if she could help, and Villen reassured her that Kraft had a fine student.

Green met Kraft, who reported that he had examined the mutated hand and found that the Black Substance may suppress bodily changes. Kraft then connected a Scripture story about a legendary sword to the weapon and destruction they had encountered, and asked Green to investigate Church records from the kingdom’s early days.

• Green left his nap to meet Kraft, a Theology School visitor who revealed he had filtered black particles from the hand’s blood vessels and sealed away the stone for study.
• Kraft told Green the hand was mostly normal in structure and suggested the Black Substance might suppress mutation; he asked Green to help find a safe testing site and animals.
• Kraft asked Green whether Scripture stories were factual and pointed to a passage describing a sword that cut through bricks, steel, and dragon scales.
• Kraft argued that the legendary sword might have been a difficult sword-fighting technique rather than a specific weapon, and that the kingdom had sealed away traces of its destructive power.
• Kraft asked Green to search Church records from the period when the kingdom had first tried to seal off the destruction.

Kraft began preliminary experiments on Black Salt in a university laboratory, testing its response to heat, solvents, and rabbit blood. After seeing no immediate reaction, he discovered the crystal’s edges had rounded and it had become harder to grip.

• Kraft secured a deserted university laboratory and moved in equipment with Kup and Yvonne.
• Yvonne accidentally crushed two pieces of glassware, and Kraft reassured her while Kup suggested keeping her away from the equipment.
• Kraft heated a Black Salt crystal and tested it with water, acid, alkali, and oil, but observed no change.
• Kraft dripped rabbit blood onto the crystal, and the blood dried without an obvious reaction.
• Kraft noticed the crystal had become harder to grip and found that its sharp edges had rounded.

Kraft and Kup tested black crystals to discover how they melted, but every sample—including the untreated control—began changing regardless of what it was exposed to. Kraft suspected an ongoing influence in the laboratory and investigated whether the interference was confined to the experiment table.

• Kraft prepared samples in blood, acidic solution, alkaline solution, and an untreated control, then watched them with Kup over repeated hourglass intervals.
• Kraft told Kup that liquefied black crystal had contaminated wells across the Salt Tide District, making Kup fear what the stored material could do to Wenden Port.
• After more than twenty hourglass turns, Kraft and Kup noticed that the blood-treated sample’s edges had begun to dull.
• Kraft found that the acid-treated, alkaline-treated, and control crystals were also melting, ruling out the liquids and blood as the cause.
• Kraft concluded that something was interfering with the experiment and checked the isolated samples, which remained solid in their bottle.

Kraft observed the black crystals melting and concluded that they were activating, while Kup nearly touched the sample after its strange influence stirred his curiosity. Kraft promoted Kup to his assistant and said he would begin specialized training and experiments.

• Kraft watched the crystals soften and change under the lens, and Kup saw the particles take on strange, shifting forms.
• Kup became fixated on touching the sample and began to reach for it, but stopped to wash his hands and realized his thoughts had been affected.
• Kraft moved Kup and his chair away from the table, reassured him, and said the crystals were activating and that their properties depended on a particular condition.
• Kraft promoted Kup to his assistant, and Kup agreed to try the training despite expecting it to be difficult.

Green searched the Church library for information about noble family lineages and asked Marco about the Royal Family. Marco explained that its bloodline was vast and that many branches had never been clearly recorded.

• Green visited the Church library to find books about the kingdom's early history and noble families.
• A librarian directed Green to Marco, who researched prominent families and drew family trees for a living.
• Green made Marco swear to keep their conversation about the Royal Family confidential.
• Marco said the Royal Family's lineage was extensive, with many branches connecting to the crown never clearly recorded.

Green asked Brother Marco to explain how heraldry could trace a family lineage, hoping to identify the owner of a coat of arms. Marco explained that the Pendragon genealogy had a major gap obscured by the Holy Scripture, leaving Green to suspect that someone had deliberately erased part of its history.

• Green asked Brother Marco whether he could identify a coat-of-arms owner from its design, and Marco explained how heraldry revealed family branches and inheritance.
• Marco described the uncertainty surrounding Arthur Pendragon’s origins and noted that the Holy Scripture left his seven older brothers’ identities and heraldry unrecorded.
• Marco showed Green that the Pendragon succession after Arthur also contained unexplained coat-of-arms changes and missing records.
• Marco said the Holy Scripture had overshadowed evidence of royal divisions, unions, and marriages, leaving a discontinuity in the family history.
• Green concluded that the missing traces suggested someone had deliberately erased history, though remnants remained in distorted form.

Green consulted Brother Marco about a crude coat of arms and learned it belonged to an extinct Royal Family line whose members were likely buried on Knight Island. He then learned the Inquisition might soon receive permission to enter the Sewer and that well-dressed strangers had been loitering near the clinic.

• Green showed Brother Marco a crude coat of arms, and Marco identified its shield as a sword in a stone surrounded by Dragon scales and lion supporters.
• Brother Marco explained that the coat of arms belonged to an early Royal Family line that had vanished from records, and Green connected it to Knight Island and the First King Statue.
• Green asked for drawings of coats of arms that had not been passed down, and Marco gave him a draft before Green left the archives.
• Brother Wadin told Green that the Bishops were delaying a decision about the Inquisition's next move, but the Chief Inquisitor was arranging limited deployment into the Sewer.
• Brother Wadin reported that well-dressed people had been loitering near the clinic, and Green ordered two more Inquisition agents sent there and authorized action if needed.

Green prepared to resume searching the Sewers with a smaller, more reliable group while arranging to warn Kraft about suspicious watchers near the clinic. Across the street, Brother Robin spotted an oddly dressed man and continued watching for people who might be following Kraft.

• Green decided to use smaller teams and trusted monks to search the Heretics' lairs, since another major loss would cause trouble with the higher-ups.
• Green and Brother Wadin discussed telling Kraft that his requested experimental site was unavailable, supplying animals from the market, and warning him about people watching the clinic.
• Green ordered the brothers stationed near the clinic to watch more closely and see whether they could catch the suspicious people.
• Brother Robin spotted a man who avoided puddles and hurried into a side lane, then reported the sighting to Brother Wadin.
• Brother Robin told his companion that he had seen another long-sleeved man several times and kept watch over the clinic.

Robin and his partner watched the clinic through the night, waiting for trouble that seemed unlikely to come. After an injured monk sounded an alarm, Robin followed strange wet tracks to the clinic and discovered they led up to the second floor.

• Robin and his partner kept watch over the clinic while the professor and his assistant remained away.
• A low whistle woke Robin, and he realized it was coming from the alleys across the clinic.
• Robin rushed to the alley and found an injured monk who reported that at least three attackers had ambushed him.
• Robin followed the wet trails from beneath a lifted paving stone toward the clinic as the monk continued blowing the whistle.
• Robin spotted water marks climbing the brick wall and realized the trail led to the second floor.

Robin rushed to the clinic’s second floor to confront the intruders and discovered a powerful attacker after defeating one enemy. Left badly injured, he grabbed the attacker’s leg and urged a girl to run.

• Robin hurried through the clinic and climbed to the dark second floor, hoping to protect anyone still inside and stall until reinforcements arrived.
• Robin deliberately made noise to lure out the intruders, then kicked an attacker off balance and stabbed them with his short sword.
• A second attacker struck with a massive blunt weapon, and Robin barely dodged the first blow before the next shattered the floor beside him.
• Robin tried to block the follow-up strike, but the impact knocked his short sword from his hand and left him unable to resist.
• A girl appeared with a candleholder, and Robin grabbed the attacker’s leg and shouted for her to run.

Yvonne struggled with fatigue and self-doubt while studying alone, then dreamed of a boundless consciousness entering a vivid world. She awoke to a violent hallway fight, threw her candlestick at a grotesque attacker, and was struck by its force.

• Yvonne studied late into the night, frustrated that her exhaustion had cut her progress in half.
• Yvonne fell asleep and dreamed that her free-ranging consciousness crossed into a vibrant world and entered a solid body.
• Yvonne woke to strange noises and shouting outside her room, then lit a candle and went into the hallway.
• Yvonne saw a long-armed figure overpowering another person, its deformed face exposed.
• Yvonne threw her candlestick at the attacker, but its force struck her, crushing her rib cage and knocking her to the floor.

Yvonne killed two intruders in the dark corridor after discovering she could wield the strange power within her, then waited for help to arrive. When hurried footsteps finally climbed the stairs, she told them she had taken care of it.

• Yvonne pulled the copper candlestick from the first intruder's body, and he stopped moving.
• Yvonne sensed another intruder in the doorway and turned to face him as he charged.
• Yvonne unleashed her power and battered the second intruder until he was silenced.
• Yvonne set down the candlestick, lifted the limp monk, and waited for help to arrive.
• Yvonne told the people who came that she had taken care of it.