Recaps

The prince led Zoe, Erwin, Connor, and the Faithguard Army out of the upper district through a breach in its wall, then charged through cultists blocking their route. Zoe was shaken by the sight of the cultists’ human blood, and the group emerged near the Eastern Harbor Guard’s barracks instead of the docks.

• Zoe asked Erwin why the prince had offered to escort them, and Erwin said they should follow him because the upper district was likely being used as bait or had become more dangerous.
• The prince had his soldiers tear down part of the wall, then led the group through the breach as cultists charged at them.
• Galahad cut through the cultists with his greatsword, and the prince shot a wounded boy who tried to throw his organs at the knights.
• Zoe recognized that the cultists were people like her and became nauseated, so Connor held onto her as they rode through an alley.
• The group emerged near the Eastern Harbor Guard’s barracks rather than the docks, and the Faithguard Army raised their guns.

Zoe and her companions reached the barracks in Blood Port, where Prince William led a sudden attack against the Harbor Guard. William revealed that Commander Rad had betrayed them and challenged the soldiers to fire on their lord, leaving them doubtful of Rad’s accusation.

• Zoe recognized the cultists as impoverished people from the Lower District and accepted her responsibility as leader.
• Erwin and Connor guided the group toward the docks, but they found themselves near the barracks, where musketeers posed a serious threat.
• William rode toward the barracks, and Galahad smashed through its gate before the knights charged inside and killed the guards at the entrance.
• William identified himself as Grand Duke of Tis and accused Rad of betraying them.
• Rad called William an impostor and ordered the Harbor Guard to shoot, but William challenged the soldiers to fire at their lord, making them suspect Rad.

The prince led a swift assault on the Harbor Guard camp, killed the rebel Rad, and secured the soldiers’ submission. With the Harbor Guard assembled and morale high, he prepared to lead them toward the docks despite their lack of supplies.

• The prince and his knights charged into the camp, disrupted Rad’s forces with two volleys, and cut down the resisting guards.
• The prince killed Rad, and Galahad displayed Rad’s head as the soldiers surrendered.
• Erwin and Connor recognized how quickly the prince had taken control and Erwin considered Tis’s chances against the Saint Mir Empire.
• The prince instructed Galahad to organize the Harbor Guard, then told the Castel group they would soon head for the docks.
• Erwin and Connor noticed the Harbor Guard had little ammunition, no supplies, and poorly prepared armor, and Erwin questioned the prince’s aggressive tactics.

The prince led the Harbor Guard through the Lower District, where they uncovered a Mother Goddess cultist hideout and grotesque human experiments. As the group inspected the victims, a dying young man begged them to save someone.

• Zoe suggested that the prince knew the cultists and the Lower District well, and Connor and Erwin agreed.
• The prince led the Harbor Guard forward while Erwin followed with the Faithguard Army, and the cultists avoided confronting their forces.
• Grandma identified a cultist hideout ahead, and Zoe recognized it as a place Galahad had warned her away from.
• Galahad’s soldiers stormed the warehouse and found people grotesquely fused into monsters.
• Zoe and the others entered the warehouse, where a dying young man with three heads begged them to save her.

Zoe discovered that Tommy had been transformed into a monster so he and other starving believers could survive, while food rotted in the upper district. The prince forced Mira and the Life Mother Goddess Church to withdraw, but Mira promised they would meet again.

• Tommy's mother explained that Tommy had asked her to attach his dead mother's head to his body so their food could sustain them both.
• Mira condemned the upper district for letting food rot while starving people became monsters to survive.
• The Life Mother Goddess believers surrounded Mira and confronted the Harbor Guard, accusing them of driving Tommy into becoming a monster.
• The prince ordered Mira to withdraw, and Galahad fired a warning shot that grazed her cheek.
• Mira identified herself as the chief priestess of the Life Mother Goddess Church and led the believers away.

After the Prince helped drive off the Mother Goddess cultists, Castel’s delegation prepared to leave Blood Port, where the ceasefire had only paused the conflict. The Prince sent Galahad with them to Castel, hoping the city might offer a way to help tear down the conditions that kept producing starvation and violence.

• The Prince used Mira’s assumptions about his bolt-action rifle to make the Mother Goddess cultists retreat, leaving Castel’s people wary of his skill.
• At the docks, Erwin, Zoe, and Connor decided that Connor would return to Castel with part of the Faithguard Army while the others stayed in Blood Port.
• The Prince ordered Galahad to accompany the delegation to Castel, despite Galahad’s offer to remain and protect him.
• The Prince explained that killing cultists would not end the cycle of hunger and violence, and said he wanted to tear everything down and begin again.
• Connor assured the Prince that Count Theus would welcome him and Galahad to Castel.

Theus observed Castel’s lively chaos as Monica sold unauthorized newspapers and escaped the Faithguard Army by blasting herself into a pool of olive oil. Reports from Blood Port left Theus suspecting that its prince was pursuing a secret scheme, and he saw Galahad’s imminent arrival as an opportunity to learn more.

• Monica sold Nini’s unofficial Blood Port newspapers in the cathedral until Theus and the Faithguard Army confronted her.
• Monica used an explosive charge to escape, but fell into a pool of olive oil, and Theus charged the lost batch to her wages.
• Theus reflected on Castel’s energetic newspaper trade and the island’s growing interest in events at Blood Port.
• Theus questioned why Blood Port’s prince was detaining ships and sacrificing the city’s future despite claiming he would tear everything down and start anew.
• Theus suspected the prince was preparing a major scheme and viewed Galahad’s arrival as a chance to uncover it.

Jeremiah resisted Moth Chasing Flame’s request to refit the Black Pearl, but Ken persuaded him to inspect a propeller at the shipyard. Meanwhile, Theus continued developing Gem Bay and watched Connor and Galahad arrive at Castel, leaving the prince’s intentions uncertain.

• Jeremiah refused to let Moth Chasing Flame modify the Black Pearl with paddle wheels, then examined Ken’s propeller blueprint.
• Ken coaxed Jeremiah toward the shipyard to see a test propeller after Jeremiah threatened to expose the engineers in the newspapers with Nini’s help.
• Moth Chasing Flame’s engineers had built propellers but lacked a suitable ship to modify, while Castel used its existing vessels to carry goods between Castel and Gem Bay.
• Theus prioritized developing Gem Bay’s mines and advancing Castel’s industry as the foundation of its strength.
• Theus watched a paddle steamer bring Connor and Galahad to Castel and prepared to trade with the prince whether he proved friend or foe.

Galahad arrived at Castel and watched an experimental steel ship break apart and sink beside the dock. After realizing how much valuable steel the wreck contained, he was left trembling at Castel’s apparent waste of the resource.

• Galahad learned little about Castel from Connor and questioned Faithguard soldiers about the island’s industry and weapons.
• Galahad saw a strange, sail-less black ship approach the dock and watched it come apart and sink.
• Alexei introduced himself as chief secretary to Count Theus and welcomed Galahad to Castel.
• Galahad recognized the wreckage as steel and realized the failed ship had consumed enough material to equip several Harbor Guards.

Galahad toured Castel with Alexei and tried to dismiss its steel ship, cement roads, and airfield as impressive but impractical. His confidence faltered when he saw armored Banshees patrolling the island, then shattered as hundreds of Transcendent monsters ran past him.

• Galahad convinced himself that Count Theus had sunk the steel ship to intimidate him, and that Castel was merely wasting resources on its airfield and cement roads.
• Alexei told Galahad that the whole paved area served as the airship landing field and explained that the surface was cement.
• Galahad saw a towering armored Banshee patrol pass by and learned from Alexei what the steel giant was.
• Galahad struggled to steady his perception as islanders casually greeted the armored beings.
• Galahad saw dozens, then hundreds, of Transcendent monsters run past him.

Galahad arrived at Castel, where its strange sights overwhelmed his senses and led him to mistake a steam train for a monster and attack it. After he was taken to the hospital, Theus heard reports of other odd developments on the island, including Nini’s report, Jeremiah’s new steam engines, and machines being enhanced near Castel.

• Galahad saw the Black Pollution Serpent, and Alexei explained that it powered Castel’s Stellar Furnace with solidified pollution.
• Alexei led Galahad to the steam train, where its whistle startled Galahad into attacking the locomotive with his sword.
• The locomotive stopped Galahad’s charge, and patrolling Banshees carried him to Richard’s hospital.
• Theus questioned Alexei about the incident, ordered Nini’s report banned from publication, and heard that Jeremiah had persuaded two Machine Souls to accept him.
• Alexei told Theus that experiments showed mechanical creations were enhanced near Castel.

Theus and Alexei discussed evidence that belief might influence machinery and explosives near Castel, then examined inconsistencies in Galahad’s account of the prince’s past. Theus ordered caution around the phenomenon and asked Alexei to investigate Galahad.

• Theus learned that machinery worked better near Castel and Faithguard Army bombs performed beyond factory tests, suggesting belief might influence reality.
• Theus warned Alexei that the phenomenon could destabilize physical laws and ordered researchers to restrict, record, and review related experiments.
• Theus told Alexei that Galahad seemed suspicious because Ken and Jeremiah described the prince differently from how he acted now.
• Theus revealed that the prince had forgotten promising Jeremiah, Ken, and Josh that he would rescue Nora, despite the promise’s importance.
• Theus told Alexei that Connor had seen Ewan, the prince’s former butler, imprisoned in Blood Port, and questioned why Galahad had replaced him so mysteriously.

Isabella, occupying Prince William’s body, revealed that she had deliberately allowed the Life Mother Goddess Church to attack Blood Port so its cultists would kill the local nobles. She explained that she came to eliminate the nobles but could not reform the Empire without them because of the Holy See.

• The prince imprisoned Ewan, who recognized that the person wearing Prince William’s face was not his master.
• Isabella spoke with Prince William, whose voice came from within the body she had taken over.
• Prince William accused Isabella of withdrawing the Harbor Guard and delaying her return, allowing the church’s attack to kill many people.
• Isabella confirmed that 175 people had died and revealed that she had arranged for the cultists to wipe out every noble in Tis.
• Isabella explained that removing the nobles was necessary for the Empire’s future, but said the Empire still depended on them because of the Holy See.

Isabella explained to the prince that the Holy See suppressed technological progress and revealed how she had come to Blood Port to escape its control and destroy the nobility’s grip on the Empire. She spared the prince not for his failed assassination attempt, but because she wanted him to witness her victories.

• Isabella told the prince that the Holy See killed innovators and described how Jules of the Joan Family had murdered a gifted engineer in Galahad's factory.
• Isabella revealed that she had tried to free the Empire from the Holy See by sending Border Counts to its frontiers, but the Church had decided to eliminate her.
• Isabella explained that she had come to Blood Port to start over, and the prince realized his revenge and assassination attempt had been used as part of her plan.
• Isabella argued that opening her granaries would have let the nobles seize the food, and insisted that nobles had no greater right than commoners to her protection.
• The prince questioned why Isabella had spared him, and she said his value was to watch her rise to victory and applaud.

Josh asked Gwen to report any recent anomalies in Blood Port, where the prince’s government and the cults had restored order while commoners gained new roles. Gwen had secretly observed strange souls and threads around several people, but she told Josh that everything was normal and offered to handle the minor troubles herself.

• Josh asked Gwen whether her people had found anything unusual in Blood Port.
• The chapter described how the Life Mother Goddess Church’s rebellion and the nobles’ deaths had reshaped Blood Port, while the prince’s civil service system kept the city functioning and opened authority to commoners.
• Gwen secretly watched the city and noticed threads extending from Zoe, two souls in the prince, and four souls in Tommy before a monster inside Mira devoured him.
• Josh repeated his question after Gwen spaced out, and Gwen said there were no anomalies, only minor troubles she would handle.

Galahad wrote a letter to the prince describing Castel’s steel industry and the Stellar Furnace, which burned an evil god as fuel. He set aside the unfinished letter to watch the Skyveil Behemoth’s upcoming bombing exercise.

• Galahad wrote that Castel’s steam engines burned physical pollution and used rituals to bind summoned beings to control it.
• An engineer showed Galahad the Stellar Furnace beneath a church, where a living evil god was confined and used as fuel.
• Galahad described Castel as a vast industrial landscape of steel, concrete, factories, and railways.
• Galahad wrote that the Skyveil Behemoth would soon return for a bombing exercise and planned to discuss warfare with its engineers.
• Someone knocked at Galahad’s door, and he put down his pen to watch the exercise before finishing the letter.

Theus brought Galahad to watch a bombing exercise, assuring him that his earlier fainting had been an accident. As a colossal, engine-roaring beast tore through the clouds overhead, Galahad stood frozen in terror.

• Theus decided to bring Richard along after worrying that Galahad might react badly to the Skyveil Behemoth.
• Theus and Galahad watched from a distant viewing area as the Faithguard Army prepared for an exercise near the eastern shore.
• Galahad heard machinery rumbling overhead and realized the sound was coming from the cloudy sky.
• The clouds split open, revealing a colossal beast that blotted out the sunlight and made Galahad tremble with fear.

Galahad watched the Skyveil Behemoth pass overhead and mistook its immense presence for a monstrous threat, while Theus and the others welcomed it. When the airship began its bombing exercise, Galahad saw a bomb devastate the shore and realized Blood Port could do little but hope the airship ignored it.

• Galahad recovered from his terror as the Skyveil Behemoth moved out from overhead and revealed its full, shark-painted form.
• Theus admired the airship, while the Banshees and islanders excitedly discussed its appearance and destructive firepower.
• Theus announced the exercise and urged the crew to drop bombs, and Galahad assumed the airship would attack with stones.
• A bomb struck the shore and erupted in a massive blaze, leaving Galahad horrified by the airship's destructive power.
• Galahad feared for Blood Port as a voice announced that bombing calibration was complete and the exercise was commencing.

Galahad watched Castel’s bombardment drill and saw that his swordsmanship and armor could not withstand modern explosives, leaving him shaken. Theus considered how collective knowledge might affect the world and watched Galahad struggle to face Castel’s power.

• Steel bombs rained down on the drill ground, and Galahad realized that even his skill and equipment could not withstand a bombardment.
• The workers, Faithguard Army soldiers, and Banshees watched the explosions with excitement, seeing the weapons as the product of their own labor and knowledge.
• Theus reflected that shared knowledge might stabilize the laws of physics and wondered whether Castel’s collective will could bring about other changes.
• Theus worried that Nini’s widely read newspaper or the worship of Chloe might influence reality, then decided to investigate why Castel seemed special another time.
• Theus watched Galahad, whose usual calm and confidence had vanished after witnessing the bombardment.

After Galahad left for Blood Port, Theus considered the White Calamity and connected with the others. Their conversation turned to the Life Mother Goddess Church after Writer defended its efforts to feed and save the poor, and Scepter revealed its horrific practices.

• Theus sent Galahad back to Blood Port and watched him leave with new resolve after seeing a steel ship at sea.
• Theus considered the White Calamity, planned to seek information from Isaac, and thought about sending the Black Pearl to contact Nora.
• Theus connected Gwen, Ken, Jeremiah, and Ruo An through their threads, and Ken greeted the group.
• Gwen said she had escaped the Northern Territory and was safe with someone who gave her porridge.
• Writer asked whether all cultists were evil and described the Life Mother Goddess Church as a group that distributed food and saved lives.
• Scepter said the Church combined multiple people’s bodies and souls, then challenged Writer’s defense by pointing out that it devoured souls after death.

Scepter explained that the Life Mother Goddess Church had forcibly devoured believers’ souls and that twisting bodies also corrupted souls, while warning Writer to stay away from the cult. In Blood Port, Gwen silently decided to protect Writer, then left Josh behind after he awkwardly offered her an early meal.

• Scepter told Writer and French Fries that souls had vanished from destroyed Life Mother Goddess Church strongholds and explained how bodily transformations could twist souls.
• Scepter warned Writer that cultists were skilled at beguiling people, and Theus ended the connection to process what he had learned.
• Gwen remembered seeing the monster on Mira devour Tommy’s soul and decided to protect Writer without telling her.
• Gwen left her room and passed Josh, who offered her an early bowl of porridge, but she said she needed to use the bathroom.

Gwen watched over Zoe from afar, then decided to investigate the Mother Goddess Church for her. As she entered Blood Port’s poorer districts, she noticed the residents seemed spiritually incomplete and came face-to-face with chief priestess Mira.

• Gwen slipped past the Mystic Society believers’ patrols and followed Granny to the Castel manor, where she watched Zoe writing from the balcony.
• Gwen’s friends suggested ways to help Zoe, and Gwen decided to investigate the Mother Goddess Church and destroy it if it threatened her friends.
• Gwen left the Upper City and crossed into the Lower City, noticing residents praying fervently and seeming somehow incomplete.
• Gwen stopped when Mira, the Mother Goddess Church’s chief priestess, blocked her path and revealed her face.

Gwen met Mira, the Mother Goddess Church’s high priestess, who could see Gwen and her phantom friends. After Mira sent her away, Gwen encountered hooded men who claimed they could help her find her parents and followed them into an alley.

• Mira spotted Gwen and asked who she was, then learned she had wandered south after her parents died.
• Mira saw Gwen’s phantom friends, chatted with her, and took her to the building where followers were cooking porridge.
• Mira drank a bowl of porridge and told Gwen she could have some next time before waving her off.
• Gwen asked her friends what they thought of Mira; the unicorn warned that Mira was dangerous, while the armored girl said Mira was like Gwen’s mother.
• Several hooded men surrounded Gwen, offered to help her find her parents, and led her deeper into the alley.

Josh learned that Castel planned to build influence in Blood Port through an embassy and diplomatic personnel, and he eagerly agreed to help. Grandmother also asked whether he could contact the Life Mother Goddess Church.

• Josh recalled how the Life Mother Goddess Church's food distribution had eased the Mystic Society's shortages.
• Grandmother told Josh that Galahad was returning and Castel would send Faithguard Army personnel to Blood Port to discuss cooperation.
• Grandmother explained that Castel wanted an embassy in Blood Port and could seek approval from Josh, Mira, or Zoe.
• Josh decided to help Castel expand its influence, though Grandmother was unsure what he thought she had asked him to do.
• Grandmother asked Josh whether he could contact the Life Mother Goddess Church.

Zoe, Josh, and Granny met with Mira to negotiate between Castel and the Mother Goddess Church, offering food aid in exchange for welcoming Blood Port’s refugees. Mira showed interest but questioned why Castel had approached her instead of recruiting the Mystic Society first.

• Granny, Josh, and Zoe traveled to the Mother Goddess Church’s territory to meet Mira on behalf of Theus and Castel.
• Mira recognized Zoe from their previous encounter with the Harbor Guard, and Zoe explained that Castel had taken in the Esoteric Order and welcomed Northern Territory refugees.
• Zoe offered Blood Port food aid as proof that Castel could support the people it hoped to bring to the island.
• Mira reacted with interest to the food offer, then asked Josh why Castel had come to her instead of approaching the Mystic Society first.
• Josh recalled that Theus did not oppose his past actions and seemed faintly approving of them.