Recaps

Gwen received Theus's letter asking her to visit and examine the Silent Temple priests, then agreed to travel to Castel despite her worries. Alexei approved her application, and she set off by train toward Blood Port.

• Gwen struggled to read Theus's letter while Grisha revealed he had learned to read quickly in Castel.
• Grisha showed Gwen the box sent with the letter, and Gwen found Nora's head inside, provoking Nora's furious scolding.
• Alexei reflected on the Expeditionary Force's crackdown on Northern Territory nobles and their arrival as prisoners at the Calamity Prison Court.
• Gwen brought Alexei her application to go to Castel, and he signed it and directed her to catch the southbound train.

Gwen boarded a train bound for Castel with Nora, her armor, longsword, and Gatling Gun, relying on special permits to bring them aboard. As she explored the train and tried to communicate with its steam engine, she learned its Machine Soul had told her to go away.

• Gwen used her document to get a place on the train ahead of two nobles being sent to trial.
• Gwen passed inspection with special authorization for her armor and longsword, and showed a permit from the lord for her Gatling Gun.
• Gwen explained that she brought the Gatling Gun because it had separation anxiety, leaving Nora and the inspector speechless.
• Gwen boarded the train and excitedly explored the carriages as it left the Northern Territory.
• Gwen visited the steam engine and said its Machine Soul had told her to fuck off.

Chloe dreamed that she led the Tribunal’s rebels to overthrow Theus, then became trapped on the Golden Throne for millennia. She woke on her desk and returned to her work, while the Tribunal stayed lit through the night.

• Chloe led the Tribunal’s forces into Castel Cathedral and struck down Theus as the rebels stormed Castel Island.
• Chloe claimed she would rule the continent and kicked Nora out of the cathedral.
• Chloe sat on the Golden Throne, discovered she could not rise from it, and spent millennia working without rest in her nightmare.
• Chloe woke on a Tribunal desk, realized it had been a dream, and resumed her duties.

Gwen and Nora rode toward Blood Port, where Gwen saw refugees receiving hot porridge and learned how the city gave them work, food, and hope. The sight reminded Gwen of the starvation she had endured in the Northern Territory and the grain the Resistance Army had found in captured towns.

• The Steam Engine showed interest in Gwen by scolding her and spitting coal, while Nora got no attention until Gwen tried to stuff her into the boiler.
• Nora bit Gwen after Gwen teased her, and the train continued its journey in silence.
• As the train neared Blood Port, Nora explained that the shantytown outside the city was orderly and that many residents stayed there because they could find work and hope.
• Gwen saw hooded figures distributing thick grain porridge to refugees and learned that workers worshipped Theus because a bowl of hot food mattered more to them than Empire Truth's explanations.
• Gwen recalled surviving on hard cakes and snow in the Northern Territory and realized that the Resistance Army could have fed refugees with grain from captured towns.

On the train to Blood Port, a stoker told Gwen how Castel had transformed the city and given him a chance to learn, work, and join the Expeditionary Force. Gwen saw the rebuilt city’s orderly concrete buildings, but the train had only reached its central district, leaving her first impression incomplete.

• The stoker told Gwen about Blood Port’s past famines, the Mother Goddess Church rebellion, and the changes that came after William returned from Rhine.
• He described how Castel built schools, factories, and railways, giving him an education and factory work before he volunteered for the Expeditionary Force.
• Gwen thought of her fallen and departed companions as she listened to the stoker proudly describe his skill at firing boilers.
• Nora asked why the stoker was not firing the boiler, and he admitted that the steam engine had kicked him out.
• The train passed the outskirts of Blood Port and entered streets lined with newly built, unpainted concrete houses.

Gwen entered Blood Port and was awed by the city’s immense industry, while Nora explained that Castel people tested beliefs by their practical value. The train’s arrival turned Gwen’s attempt to retrieve Nora from outside the window into a spectacle, leaving the gathered crowd watching Nora chase her in anger.

• Gwen marveled at Blood Port’s towering buildings and smokestacks, and asked Nora why the Expeditionary Force treated the city as ordinary.
• Nora told Gwen that Theus had invited her to test whether worship aided scientific progress, and said Castel people abandoned even sacred practices if they proved useless.
• Gwen tried to see the tops of the buildings through the train window and held Nora outside so she could look for her.
• The train stopped at the station, where Theus, Banshees, Expeditionary Force members, and townspeople saw Gwen struggling to pull Nora back through the window.
• Gwen yanked Nora into the carriage, and Nora charged after her as the Banshees debated which of them had gone crazy.

Gwen arrived in Blood Port, where Nora agreed to show her around despite their earlier clash. As evening fell, Gwen learned how the city’s gas lamps were lit and heard Nora say that Blood Port had no night.

• Gwen apologized to Nora, who headbutted her before returning to Nini’s arms.
• Theus offered to arrange Gwen’s stay and told her to visit his office whenever she wanted to go to Castel.
• Nora agreed to show Gwen around Blood Port and said they would visit the priests at the Silent Temple the next day to ask whether they could treat her.
• Gwen asked Nora about the Mystic Society and learned that it helped Castel manage Blood Port and shared its defense with the Prince’s Harbor Guard.
• Gwen watched workers light the gas lamps and learned from Nora that Blood Port had no night.

Gwen and Nora experienced Blood Port’s peaceful streets before preparing to travel to Castel, where they stopped at Yami Fried Fish & French Fries. Gwen felt an unexplained familiarity with the tiny proprietress, Bettis, and the chapter ended with Gwen suggesting they eat before boarding the ship.

• Gwen and Nora admired Blood Port’s brightly lit streets, and Gwen wondered whether she could make a life there without fighting.
• Nora decided Gwen had a suitable occupation, and the next morning Gwen woke her and set off with her for Castel.
• Gwen carried Nora and their luggage through Blood Port toward the ship, stopping when Nora asked to buy fried fish for Gaia.
• Gwen met Bettis, the tiny proprietress of Yami Fried Fish & French Fries, and both felt they might have met before.
• Bettis fried a large serving of French Fries, and Gwen suggested that she and Nora eat before boarding the ship.

Gwen and Nora ate fried food at Bettis’s stall, then headed to the docks with a delivery for Gaia while wondering about the strange workings of supernatural beings. Gwen was left stunned by the enormous steel freighter awaiting them.

• Gwen and Nora ate French fries and fried fish at Bettis’s stall, where workers recognized Nora and described Blood Port’s busy harbor.
• Nora remembered she had promised Gaia some food, and Bettis gave them a sealed lunchbox to deliver.
• Gwen wondered where Nora’s food went, prompting Nora to question how she could eat, speak, and jump without a body.
• Gwen and Nora speculated that supernatural power might let the Sea of Unconsciousness project more than abilities into the world.
• At the docks, Gwen saw a colossal steel freighter and wondered if it was really a ship rather than a floating steel island.

Gwen was awestruck by Castel’s steel cargo ships, then realized she and Nora had missed their ride. Gwen hurled her suitcase onto the departing ship and leaped aboard with Nora, while the watching Banshees shared the spectacle in their Mind Link group.

• Gwen marveled at the huge steel cargo ships in Blood Port and wondered whether Castel itself was a steel ark.
• Nora explained that Castel was an ordinary island, but Gwen grew more excited as she imagined its other inventions.
• Gwen spotted ship Number 005 departing and realized she and Nora had missed their scheduled ride.
• Gwen threw her suitcase onto the cargo ship, then flung herself and Nora aboard, frightening Nora with the leap.
• The Banshees watching from the sea shared an image of Gwen and Nora in the Mind Link group and joked about Nora’s expression.

Gwen changed her trajectory in midair to catch Nora, prompting Theus to consider whether she was a [Named One] and to arrange tests of her abilities. He then went with Ash to question Bazel, whose interrogation had produced no new information.

• Gwen twisted in midair, changed direction, and caught Nora by the hair before she could fall into the sea.
• Theus blocked the noisy Mind Link and reflected on Gwen’s unusual strength and apparent ability to defy the laws of physics.
• Theus asked Ash about Bazel’s interrogation, and Ash said she believed Bazel had been telling the truth.
• Theus asked Ash to take him to Bazel in the dungeon beneath Blood Port.
• Ash led Theus through the Banshees’ duty room and opened a heavy steel door in the underground detention area.

Theus visited the underground prison to question Bazel, who claimed Lina had impaired his judgment and manipulated him into seeking the White Bone Sanctuary. Theus remained wary after Bazel explained that his attempted assassination during the trial had been involuntary.

• Theus and Ash reached Blood Port’s heavily guarded underground prison, where Chloe reported Bazel’s claims about Lina and her unusually deep connection to Moth Chasing Flame.
• Theus ordered Ash to open Bazel’s cell, where Chloe explained that a ceiling machine periodically crushed him to prevent him from using his abilities.
• Bazel’s bones reassembled, and he begged Theus to kill him, insisting Lina had controlled him and that he remained loyal to the Empress.
• Theus pointed out that the former Empire no longer existed and reminded Bazel that he had tried to assassinate him during the trial.
• Bazel denied responsibility, saying he had broken free of Lina’s control when he looked into Theus’s eyes and then unleashed an attack he could not control.

Theus questioned Bazel about Lina and learned she had manipulated him into pursuing the White Bone Sanctuary and seeking to rule the continent. He warned Gwen that Lina had entered the white mist, where a colossal bone beast later approached his shell without polluting him.

• Theus questioned Bazel, who said Lina had offered to revive the Empress but had gradually influenced him to seek dominion over the continent.
• Bazel told Theus that Lina had become bones and entered the white mist, though he could not sense her there.
• Theus warned Chloe that Bazel's danger rating could be lowered, then returned to his office and contacted Gwen through his shell in the mist.
• Theus told Gwen that Lina was the real mastermind behind Bazel's actions and warned her about Lina's presence in the white mist.
• Gwen said she was strong, explained how she had become a Transcendent, and told Theus she had found a way to avoid erosion from the mist's knowledge.
• A towering white-boned beast emerged from the mist, approached Theus, and lay beside him without polluting him.

Gwen discovered that the sunken ships near Castel could speak to her and rise from the sea, while Nora tried to make sense of the strange event. The chapter left them standing on a platform of wreckage as steel beams curled around Gwen's arm.

• Theus learned that Gwen had found a way to avoid Pollution and considered asking her about it for Castel's benefit.
• Nora explained the Shipwreck Zone to Gwen as their ship approached Castel, repeating a rumor that the wrecks might attack ships.
• Gwen jumped into the sea to escort the ship, and the sunken ships rose to form a steel platform beneath her.
• Nora jumped down after Gwen, who said the ships had spoken to her and complained about the sea, their neglected condition, and Tata.
• Nora recalled a newspaper report about soothing the ship souls' resentment as steel beams curled around Gwen's arm.

Nora guided Gwen through a procedure to awaken the sunken warships, while Jeremiah and the Black Pearl rushed to rescue them after the steel wrecks stirred. Gwen completed the procedure and called the ships to the surface as the sea began to boil and the Banshees arrived.

• Nora told Gwen to soothe the resentment of the sunken ships and try to bring them back to the surface.
• Gwen reached out to the steel beneath the sea, and the wrecks gathered around her without attacking.
• Captain Evans's cargo ship sent a distress signal, and Jeremiah brought the Black Pearl to help.
• Jeremiah fired the Dragon Breath Cannon at the steel humanoids surrounding Gwen, and Gwen warned him that something was about to surface.
• Gwen completed the procedure and called the sunken warships to rise as the sea churned and receded.
• Nini led a group of Banshees toward Gwen and claimed that her written procedure had worked exactly as expected.

Gwen gathered the wreckage and ship souls beneath the sea into a colossal vessel called the Steel Ark, stunning Nora and everyone watching through the Mind Link. As Castel’s forces rushed to the scene, Gwen wondered whether she had caused trouble, while Nora assured her she would not be short of work.

• The Banshees watching through the Mind Link reacted with disbelief when Nini’s reports appeared to be true and Gwen’s surroundings began to tremble.
• Theus explained that Gwen seemed to be guiding the will of the ship souls gathered among the sunken wrecks rather than using her own power.
• The wreckage rose from the sea and assembled into the enormous Steel Ark, with Gwen standing at its bow and Nora stunned in her arms.
• Gwen asked Nora whether she had done something incredible and worried that she had gotten herself into trouble, while Nora said she would not have trouble finding work in Castel.
• Jeremiah’s Black Pearl, the Banshee squad, and a patrol airship arrived, as Castel’s Coast Guard, navy, and Transcendents rushed toward the Steel Ark.

Castel went on high alert when a gigantic steel ark appeared offshore, and its bizarre movement left the islanders baffled. Gwen remained an exception to the madness as the ark advanced toward the island.

• The cathedral bell sounded an alarm, and Castel sealed its entrances, mobilized the Faithguard Army, and launched airships for reconnaissance.
• Tata marveled at the ark’s enormous size, while Nini regretted not trying her own summoning process.
• The Banshees debated whether Gwen could control the ark and joked about Nini’s suspicions before spotting the vessel moving.
• The steel ark advanced using sails, paddle wheels, and propellers that appeared to move impossibly, leaving Castel’s observers stunned.
• A reconnaissance airship turned back toward the cathedral, while the people of Castel struggled to comprehend the ark and Gwen remained unaffected.

Gwen discovered that the Steel Ark responded to her will, prompting Nora to warn that her Cognitive Interference could bring down Pollution. As Castel prepared for disaster, Theus suspected Gwen’s influence might prevent the Pollution from descending.

• Gwen excitedly explored the Steel Ark, whose steel parts reshaped themselves to imitate a moving ship, and Nora concluded that Gwen’s will was overriding reality.
• Nora warned Gwen that Cognitive Interference would likely cause Pollution to descend around the ship, but Gwen reluctantly stayed aboard rather than abandon her new friends.
• Castel’s islanders evacuated to underground shelters, ships fled, and Faithguard soldiers recited Theus’s name while Banshees waited safely outside the danger zone.
• After an entire day and night passed without Pollution descending, Theus and Erwin watched Castel from an airship as rescue forces stood by.
• Theus told Erwin that Cognitive Interference had occurred but wondered whether Gwen’s influence had stopped the Pollution, then asked what a [Named One] was.

Aboard the Black Pearl, Jeremiah told Gwen that she seemed unlike a true Transcendent because she had not found a purpose she was willing to pursue. Gwen confronted her confusion and declared that she craved battle, and her longsword flew from its case into her hand.

• Nini had Gwen brought down from the Steel Ark and kept her aboard the Black Pearl near Castel.
• Jeremiah told Gwen that Transcendents were like born captains, but she seemed like someone who had taken the wheel without knowing where she wanted to sail.
• Gwen recalled how she had led the Resistance Army after Nora vanished, then felt lost after arriving in Castel and putting away her weapons.
• Jeremiah asked Gwen what kind of ship she wanted to board, and Gwen said she wanted to fight and see blood spill, whether hers or her enemy's.
• Gwen's longsword burst from its case and flew into her hand, shining as it answered her will.

Gwen embraced her desire for battle and challenged Nini, while Theus realized that the older Gwen had not yet become a Transcendent. The fleet withdrew after Gwen and Theus proved able to communicate with the Steel Ark, which they set sailing, though its speed disappointed Theus.

• Gwen confronted Nini and attacked her, but Nini sent her flying with a flick of her tail.
• Gwen kept charging Nini, energized by the fight, while Theus watched through Mind Link and reconsidered what made Gwen special.
• Theus ordered the fleet to retreat and asked his people to see whether they could control the Steel Ark; only he and Gwen could communicate with it.
• Gwen told Theus she could give the Steel Ark simple commands, and he had her sail it while she admitted she could not defeat Nini.
• The Steel Ark reached about five knots, and Theus judged it far slower than Castel's steam-powered ships.

Theus explained to Richard why Castel must pursue scientific development rather than rely on Transcendent power, and urged him to trust humanity. His resolve spread through Mind Synchronization from the Banshees to the people aboard the Steel Ark and in Castel.

• Theus summoned Richard and asked him to involve Gwen in his research.
• Richard realized Theus wanted Gwen’s Transcendent power to help with research without causing Cognitive Interference.
• Theus argued that the Steel Ark showed how Transcendence could produce immense but inefficient creations, and insisted that Castel must build its own scientific system.
• Theus told Richard that humanity had built Castel and could be trusted to shape the world without relying on Transcendent shortcuts.
• The Banshees entered Mind Synchronization under Theus’s lead, and the shared will spread to the people aboard the ship and across Castel.

Everyone in Castel joined in a vast synchronization of wills, and Theus realized the event may have created a new collective being that had not disappeared. He traced the connection to his own role in spreading the synchronization, but the chapter ended before he could determine what happened next.

• All the people and Machine Souls in Castel felt a vast will and briefly shared the same thoughts.
• The Banshees excitedly discussed the unprecedented synchronization, while Nini noticed that Theus seemed worried.
• Theus told Nini he sensed the shared will had remained and suspected that Castel's combined wills had created a new existence.
• Nini feared they had made an evil god and proposed attacking it, but Theus argued that it might not be an enemy.
• Theus realized his speech had started the synchronization and that his Mind Link and Symbiotic Pact had helped connect the Banshees and himself.
• Theus began considering how the synchronization had drawn all of Castel into it.

Theus realized that the Steel Ark’s will had helped him and the banshees pull all of Castel into Mind Synchronization, creating a new presence within the ship. Gwen confirmed that the ark had come alive, and Theus named it the Soul of Myriad Machines.

• Theus and Nini deduced that the Steel Ark’s will had joined Mind Synchronization and helped expand it across Castel.
• Theus called Gwen over and discovered that she had not entered Mind Synchronization, though she had sensed something awaken inside the ark.
• Theus felt a familiar, joyful will through the Steel Ark, and Gwen confirmed that the ship seemed alive.
• Steam engines across Castel whistled together as Theus named the ark’s new presence the Soul of Myriad Machines.

The naming of the Soul of Myriad Machines united Castel’s people, who sensed it as a child born from their collective will. As islanders gathered to admire Gwen’s Steel Ark, Josh began to wonder whether the Holy Scripture he had invented about Theus was true.

• Theus named the newborn god the Soul of Myriad Machines, and Castel’s machinery rang out as its people sensed its presence.
• Theus arranged for Gwen to work with Richard and told her to take Nora to the Silent Temple hospital first.
• Castel’s factories mostly paused work as islanders crowded the shore and airships to see the Steel Ark.
• The prince admired the Steel Ark, and Galahad wondered whether he could summon one as Gwen had.
• Josh felt the Soul of Myriad Machines and questioned whether the Holy Scripture he had written about Theus might be true.

Gwen arrived in Castel and was overwhelmed by the islanders’ enthusiastic welcome, then felt the warmth and happiness of a place unlike the Northern Territory. She and Nini reached the Hospital Knights, where the account turned to the hospital’s difficulty treating the Silent Temple’s priests.

• Josh questioned whether Theus was a god or prophet, then instinctively prayed to him for guidance.
• Gwen emerged from the cabin to find Castel’s people cheering because they had learned she summoned the Steel Ark and the Soul of Myriad Machines.
• At Nini’s suggestion, Gwen used Nora to cover her face and hurried through the crowd to escape the dock.
• Nini jokingly named the islanders’ enthusiasm “Gwen Syndrome,” while Gwen reflected on how different Castel felt from the sorrowful Northern Territory.
• Nini led Gwen to the Hospital Knights, whose doctors had improved their medical methods, but struggled with the Silent Temple priests’ Transcendence-related illness.