Recaps

Beatrice reestablished her connection with the others and discovered that an ancient, incomprehensible presence anchored her sanity. Feeling more open after her ritual approached success, she told them she was trying to become a [Named One] and began explaining what they were.

• Beatrice felt the connection return and found that the vast presence it led her toward anchored her sanity as her soul reached the others.
• French Fries, Captain, and Writer welcomed Scepter back, and Beatrice explained that her earlier strange whispers had been commands during a ritual.
• Zoe asked about the ritual, and Beatrice revealed that she was trying to advance into a [Named One].
• French Fries asked what a [Named One] was, and Beatrice explained that the title described fighters far stronger than ordinary Transcendents, with special authorities.
• Zoe eagerly waited as Beatrice hinted there were further reasons the others had never heard of [Named Ones].

Scepter explained that Named Ones had caused disasters throughout history and revealed that Bruno the Great Sage was one of them, executed by the Churches for founding the Mechanical Society. Zoe suspected Bruno had hidden the means to become a Named One within the Mechanical Cathedral, while the chapter ended with Theus reacting to news that Beatrice wanted to become one.

• Scepter told Captain and the others that Named Ones had repeatedly brought destruction and that the Holy See concealed their existence from the public.
• French Fries asked whether Beatrice would bring destruction if she became a Named One, leaving Beatrice worried about what might happen to her.
• Scepter revealed that Bruno the Great Sage was a Named One who founded the Mechanical Society, which later became the Mechanical Cathedral.
• Scepter said the Churches had secretly joined the Candlelight Society in burning Bruno to death, after which Named Ones stopped revealing themselves openly.
• Zoe realized Bruno's legacy might contain the secret of becoming a Named One, and the group discussed Gwen's absence before leaving the connection.
• Theus reacted with shock after learning that Beatrice wanted to become a Named One.

Theus learned that Gwen was a [Named One] and that she had secretly relayed his connections through the white mist. Gwen revealed Lina’s warning that [Named Ones] could not advance through rituals, putting Beatrice’s imminent ritual in doubt.

• Theus connected with Beatrice and planned to investigate her claims about becoming a [Named One] and Bruno through the Silent Temple.
• Gwen told Theus that Lina had found her in the Northern Territory and knew she was a [Named One].
• Theus reassured Gwen that he did not blame her for any calamity and asked how she knew what Beatrice had said.
• Gwen revealed that she controlled the white mist near Theus and served as a relay for his connections, which let her hear them.
• Gwen explained that Lina had blamed her for failing to save Bruno, who had died centuries before Gwen was born.
• Gwen said she might soon gain access to the Temple of the Forgotten’s knowledge, then warned that Lina had said [Named Ones] could not advance through rituals and Beatrice’s ritual might have a serious problem.

Frey lived in Lower Rhine under an identity arranged by the Ashen Alliance and investigated the impoverished Untouchables who inhabited the layer beneath it. He gave Little Bu a bag of cloth, and she eagerly clutched the precious material.

• Frey moved through Lower Rhine, reflecting on the divide between its grimy streets and the privileged Upper Rhine above.
• He returned to an underground settlement where the Untouchables asked about the Church’s meal distributions.
• Little Bu told Frey she had checked the passages he had asked her to investigate and asked for her promised reward.
• Frey offered the Untouchables a bag of cloth and urged them not to fear the curse associated with touching him.
• Little Bu waited until Frey stepped away, then took the cloth and held it to her chest.

Frey led the Untouchables through their underground settlement and challenged their belief that they were cursed and could only hope to live in the Rhine. He began telling them about the surface, recalling how he entered the city and saw believers being whipped without envy.

• Little Bu showed Frey the scrap metal she treasured and explained how she had been attacked after leaving the bottom level to retrieve a broken mechanical doll.
• Frey followed the Untouchables to their settlement, where they moved Big Guy away from him out of fear it would bring him a curse.
• Frey asked why the Untouchables stayed underground despite having powerful machinery, and Little Bu wondered whether they could go to the surface.
• Frey challenged the crowd's belief that they were cursed and asked why they needed to become believers of the Holy See.
• Frey began describing the world above and recalled entering the Rhine, where he saw believers being whipped while the priest tried to hide the machine from him.

Frey described the Candlelight Society’s relief efforts in Lower Rhine, where starving believers prayed with fanatical devotion even as they suffered and died. After warning the Untouchables, he urged Little Bu to take Big Guy to the surface and stand up to those who had hurt her.

• Frey investigated Lower Rhine and found no gangs, only orderly crowds of starving people devoted to the Candlelight Society.
• Frey joined a relief line and watched believers pause after every few bites to pray, sometimes injuring themselves or dying while they worshipped.
• Frey finished recounting what he had seen to the Untouchables, then ate roasted rats rather than accept the Church’s relief.
• The Untouchables argued over whether Frey’s account of the Church was true, while Little Bu asked him if the outside was really as he described.
• Frey suggested that Little Bu could take Big Guy to the surface, protect herself, and use it to make the people of Upper Rhine suffer.

Frey urged the Untouchables to fight back against those who oppressed them and promised that Big Guy could protect them. After seeing its explosive weapon and learning more Big Guys could be built from junk, he inspired the people to start making more.

• Frey told the gathered Untouchables to stop accepting oppression and fight the people of the surface.
• Little Bu asked whether Big Guy could keep her from being bullied, and Frey said no armed force in the Lower Rhine could stand against it.
• Little Bu explained that Big Guy could be repaired and rebuilt from trash, and Frey asked about its weapons.
• Little Bu demonstrated Big Guy's explosive attack, which blasted the cavern wall and drew the Untouchables to inspect and repair the machine.
• Frey said several Big Guys could stand against Castel's Expeditionary Force, and Little Bu rallied the Untouchables to gather junk and build more.

Gaia suspected the Mechanical Cathedral was delaying negotiations while preparations for Beatrice to receive the visitors continued. Beatrice revealed that she was using Hela as a controlled [Shell] and believed an upcoming ritual would make her a [Named One].

• Gaia told Zoe that the Mechanical Cathedral had agreed to trade technology but kept dragging negotiations out with arguments over minor details.
• Gaia and Zoe considered whether the Cathedral was stalling, and Zoe said Erwin had gathered information linking the preparations to Beatrice.
• Zoe mentioned a newspaper rumor that Beatrice had a secret crush on their lord, and Gaia dismissed it before deciding to tolerate the slow negotiations.
• Zoe went to the Gear Sage's lecture while Gaia stayed behind and wondered if the rumor about Beatrice might be true.
• Beatrice struggled with dizziness from controlling other [Shells], then said the banquet preparations would soon lead to a ritual that could make her a [Named One].
• Beatrice patted Hela's cheek and said controlling her had expanded the area of the church where she could move.

Zoe and Gaia concluded that the Mechanical Cathedral's banquet was likely connected to tensions with the Candlelight Society, while Erwin reported that Isaac's disappearance might be tied to new events in Dream City. The chapter left them realizing that Isaac and Jules were the only Transcendents known to have survived the anomaly decades earlier.

• Zoe told Gaia that the Mechanical Cathedral had not pressed them to unload their holy relics, suggesting the banquet was not a trap but might involve a conflict between the churches.
• Zoe and Gaia reasoned that the Mechanical Cathedral and Candlelight Society were likely divided, and that the banquet would reveal who controlled the Rhine.
• Erwin returned and said he had found no trace of Frey, though his restricted movements meant Frey might still be safe.
• Erwin told Zoe and Gaia that something had happened again in Samora Sem, also known as Dream City, which might explain Isaac's disappearance.
• Zoe and Gaia recalled Dream City's catastrophic history and learned that Isaac and Jules were the only Transcendents who had survived it.

Gaia, Zoe, and Erwin realized the Mechanical Cathedral might use the banquet to strike the Candlelight Society while its [Investigators] were away. Castel’s delegation decided to wait and see, but Erwin quietly prepared the airship to escape as the banquet began.

• Gaia connected the [Investigators'] rotation and the banquet’s timing, and the three feared the Mechanical Cathedral planned a coup against the Candlelight Society.
• Erwin said the Ashen Alliance had learned of the rotation through its undercover agent, and he argued that a Mechanical Cathedral takeover could plunge the Empire into war.
• Gaia and Zoe agreed to conceal their knowledge and attend the banquet, while Erwin prepared to avoid the danger as an ordinary person.
• Castel’s delegation accepted the invitation and offered lavish gifts, which Erwin directed the Faithguard Army to unload throughout the day.
• Erwin ordered the stokers to keep the airship ready for immediate takeoff and prepared to dump cargo for a quick ascent as the banquet began.

Zoe and Gaia attended a banquet at the Mechanical Cathedral, where they learned that technical materials would be presented to them in a ceremony. As the guests gathered and the doors shut, Hela warned that Gaia might not get to see the Pope.

• Zoe and Gaia entered the Mechanical Cathedral banquet hall and greeted Hela, who said the Pope planned to bestow technical materials on them during a ceremony.
• Zoe and Gaia surveyed the hall for signs of an ambush but found nothing, and a noise from below turned out to be mechanical clerics repairing pipes.
• Candlelight Society leaders arrived, including a grotesque Skinwearer from the Sleepless Sanctuary of the South Continent.
• Gaia asked Hela whether she would get to see the Pope, and Hela said she might not before walking away and leaving her black veil behind.
• The cathedral doors slammed shut as the gathered guests turned to look.

Hela sealed the banquet hall and led the Mechanical Cathedral in an attack on the Candlelight Society, while a massive cannon powered up behind a curtain. Zoe and Gaia watched from beneath a table as the battle turned chaotic, and Gaia suspected the attackers were buying time for the cannon to fire.

• Hela ordered the doors sealed as Mechanical Cathedral followers emerged and surrounded the banquet guests.
• Hela revealed a wall-sized cannon and ordered the Cathedral's warriors to attack the Candlelight Society's enemies.
• A Candlelight priest was shot, triggering a battle in which Transcendents blocked gunfire and charged the Mechanical Cathedral's forces.
• A tremor disrupted the Mechanical Cathedral's firing line, but one charging [Investigator] stumbled and was killed when his power failed.
• Other [Investigators] tore through the mechanical priests as both sides fired into the chaos.
• Zoe and Gaia hid beneath a table, and Gaia warned that the Mechanical Cathedral might be stalling until its cannon was ready to fire.

Zoe and Gaia tried to escape the charging cannon as it shattered reality and unleashed the polluted waters of the Sea of Unconsciousness. A Skinwearer walked through the breach unharmed, revealed herself as Beatrice Perennis Rhine Ruo An, and claimed to be the new [Named One].

• Zoe and Gaia planned to blast through a pipe and escape while the Candlelight Society [Investigators] were trapped by the Mechanical Cathedral’s priests.
• The cannon reached full charge, then tore open reality and let the seawater of the Sea of Unconsciousness flood into the church.
• The [Investigators] near the breach lost control and transformed into monsters, while the ordinary people stood stunned.
• Gaia and Zoe saw the Skinwearer walk through the polluted seawater toward the cannon without being harmed.
• The Skinwearer absorbed the pollution, tore off her mask, and revealed herself as Beatrice Perennis Rhine Ruo An, who declared herself the new [Named One].

Beatrice absorbed the Sea of Unconsciousness while the Candlelight Society’s [Investigators] ambushed the Mechanical Cathedral and revealed they had returned early from Dream City. They told Beatrice her ritual could not make her a [Named One], and as corruption overwhelmed her, she saw the night the Empress was assassinated.

• Hela began to speak, but a shot tore through her chest as a hidden wall shattered and the [Investigators] appeared.
• The [Investigators] and the Mechanical Cathedral’s monks exchanged fire, and the monks fell until Beatrice was the only one left standing.
• A young priest told Beatrice that the [Investigators] had returned early and had let the Mechanical Cathedral’s attack play out.
• The priest revealed that the Candlelight Society had no path to become a [Named One] and that Beatrice’s seawater was saturated with corruption.
• Beatrice’s resolve failed, and she saw the rainy night of the Empress’s assassination, ending with Holy See troops waiting outside the palace.

Beatrice chose to keep struggling for freedom as the Candlelight Society’s [Investigators] closed in, but a colossal machine burst through the church floor and disrupted the confrontation. Frey and Little Bu attacked the [Investigators], and the Gear Sage appeared to protect Little Bu under its Supreme Protocol.

• Beatrice remembered that she had always wanted freedom and staggered toward the gap in the pipe despite her pain and the surrounding [Investigators].
• A series of impacts shook the church, and a huge hole opened in the floor as Big Guy burst through.
• Frey and Little Bu emerged atop Big Guy, recognized the Candlelight Society’s [Investigators] as enemies, and charged into the crowd.
• Michel rushed toward Little Bu in the cockpit, but a mechanical arm seized his wrist.
• The Gear Sage confronted Michel and asked Little Bu whether she wanted it to eliminate the threats.

The Untouchables and their machines battled the Candlelight Society’s [Investigators] inside the Mechanical Cathedral, while Frey found Gaia and Zoe amid the chaos. When Gaia could not take everyone with them, Frey chose to stay behind with the Untouchables, despite fearing the Holy See’s retaliation.

• Little Bu summoned the Gear Sage, which knocked Michel down, and more Untouchable war machines emerged to join the fight.
• The [Investigators] organized a defense against the Untouchables’ machines, while Frey found Gaia and Zoe hiding in a pipe.
• An Untouchable driver overloaded his disabled machine, causing it to charge into the crowd and explode, shaking the Mechanical Cathedral.
• Gaia tried to flee with Zoe and Frey, but Frey asked what would happen to the Untouchables and whether they could all come along.
• Gaia explained that her airship could not carry everyone, so Frey let go of her hand and decided to stay with the Untouchables.

Frey and the Untouchables withdrew underground while Gaia and Zoe tried to escape the Investigators with Beatrice and the technical materials she had delivered. An airship arrived, and Gaia chose to take the dying Beatrice aboard as the Investigators closed in.

• Frey ordered the Untouchables to make one last charge and then retreat underground before the Candlelight Society's reinforcements arrived.
• Gaia threw Frey the Holy Scripture of Empire Truth, and Frey realized too late that he could not read it as Big Guy carried him into the pit.
• Gaia and Zoe found Beatrice badly corroded and near death, and she handed them the technical materials they had requested.
• Beatrice opened the church dome and summoned an airship, where Erwin lowered a rope for them as the Investigators recovered.
• Gaia grabbed Beatrice's hand and ordered Zoe to take her aboard with them.

After Michel led the Investigators and auxiliary troops to the Secret Keeper Sanctuary, he stopped in shock at its entrance. The chapter then revealed Jules, a mechanical cardinal, burning a book Beatrice had read and confronting the seven hooded Secret Keepers.

• Gaia was shot down as the airship escaped the Investigators’ musket fire.
• Michel persuaded the Investigators and auxiliary troops to follow him to the Secret Keeper Sanctuary and claim authority over the Church.
• Michel began to speak at the Sanctuary entrance, then trembled and fell silent.
• Jules found and burned a book marked with Beatrice’s notes, saying he would correct her misunderstanding of what counted as human.
• Jules entered a room where the seven Secret Keepers sat, and they asked what he was doing there.

Jules completed the ascension ritual and used his new power to kill the Secret Keepers, declaring that people should worship him instead of gods. He freed Isaac from captivity and offered him a place as a cardinal in the Candlelight Society.

• Jules told the Secret Keepers that his niece had completed the ascension ritual, then claimed he had ascended and killed them.
• Michel entered and found Jules maintaining himself beside the dead Secret Keepers, and Jules urged the Investigators to worship him.
• Jules visited Isaac in his cell and struck him with the Cardinal Scepter, breaking the chains that cut him off from the Sea of Unconsciousness.
• Jules explained that he no longer needed to draw power from the Sea of Unconsciousness and criticized Isaac for relying on others.
• Jules told Isaac that he had already killed the people who persecuted them, then left him free with the scepter and offered him a cardinal's position.

Beatrice fled Rhine aboard the airship, but the seawater of the Sea of Unconsciousness inside her body left her close to death. Gaia proposed an unconventional way to suppress the Pollution and ordered Stoker to put Beatrice in the boiler with an ill-tempered Machine Soul.

• Beatrice refused medical treatment as her body continued to bleed and the Pollution threatened to erode her completely.
• Zoe asked Erwin about the airship, and he explained that its armor had let it withstand the gunfire.
• Gaia examined Beatrice and concluded that she would not survive much longer unless they suppressed the Pollution.
• Beatrice asked to be thrown somewhere outside Rhine, but Gaia said there was another way.
• Gaia ordered Stoker to put Beatrice in an unlit boiler with the most ill-tempered Machine Soul, and Stoker carried out the order.

Beatrice vomited Pollution from her body after the Steam Engine’s Machine Soul suppressed it, but her condition remained critical. Zoe and Gaia considered how to save her and realized the Mechanical Cathedral’s technology might help.

• The Steam Engine’s Machine Soul cursed at the Pollution inside Beatrice, suppressing it and allowing her to stabilize briefly.
• Beatrice crawled to the furnace viewing port and vomited Pollution across the floor, prompting the Steam Engine to spray Zoe with water after Zoe mistook it for spitting fuel.
• The Faithguard Army members whispered about Beatrice as a source of fuel for industry and the Stellar Furnace, leaving her horrified.
• Zoe and Gaia watched Beatrice and concluded that the Steam Engine could only delay her collapse, while sending her to the Stellar Furnace might leave her impossible to retrieve.
• Zoe remembered that Beatrice had provided the Mechanical Cathedral’s technology and wondered whether it could help save her.

Zoe and the Empire Truth priests discovered that the Mechanical Cathedral’s advanced modifications relied on bizarre rituals and a hallucinogenic surgical state. They tried a machinery-pleasing ritual to strengthen the steam engine supporting Beatrice, and the engine fell silent as the ceremony continued.

• Zoe examined the Mechanical Cathedral documents and found that their rituals filled volumes while the modification surgery took only one page.
• A Faithguard Army technical priest explained that rituals blessed parts for use and that a high-ranking Sage operated while in a sacred, drug-induced state.
• Zoe and the priest decided to try a ritual that might enhance the steam engine and help Beatrice, who was suppressing her pollution with it.
• Zoe, Gaia, and the mechanics painted machinery symbols on their faces and sang and danced around Beatrice and the steam engine.
• Beatrice continued spitting pollution into fuel barrels while watching the ritual, and the steam engine fell silent.

Gaia and the mechanical priests discovered that dancing and singing to amuse the Steam Engine increased Beatrice’s pollution output, and they turned her spray rate into a measure of the machine’s efficiency. Beatrice’s condition remained critical, and Gaia said the Steam Engine could purge pollution but could not repair her failing body.

• The Steam Engine laughed at Zoe’s ritual, and its efficiency doubled, while Beatrice began vomiting pollution at a much higher rate.
• Gaia agreed to continue the ritual and bring more fuel barrels, despite Beatrice begging to be killed.
• The stokers lined up fuel barrels and measured Beatrice’s output as the Steam Engine responded to the dancing, recording a peak of 5.5 Beatrices.
• The dancers slowed when Beatrice nearly passed out, and she protested Castel’s treatment methods.
• Gaia explained that Beatrice’s injuries were close to causing her body to collapse and that they needed to find a way to restore her.

Gaia learned that the Mechanical Cathedral could treat Beatrice only by replacing her body, a risky option given how badly the Pollution had swollen her. Zoe tried to contact the Writer through the connection, but little Gwen, unknowingly serving as its server, avoided answering until she secretly connected to Beatrice—and discovered the thread had turned black.

• Gaia asked Beatrice whether she knew a way to treat herself, and Beatrice explained that the Mechanical Cathedral could help through mechanical modification.
• Zoe retreated to her cabin and called out to the Writer through the connection, but no one answered.
• Little Gwen realized she was relaying the connection and hesitated to contact Zoe because Zoe was with the unfamiliar Scepter.
• Little Gwen used the connection to examine Zoe's thread, then set it aside and secretly connected to Beatrice.
• Beatrice's thread turned black, and the skeletal beast rose as little Gwen realized the server was under attack.

Little Gwen discovered that she could use the skeletal behemoth’s regeneration to digest Pollution and help purify Sister Scepter, while Zoe mistakenly believed that shouting through the connection was healing Beatrice. The chapter left Zoe exhausted but convinced she had secretly saved Beatrice’s life.

• Little Gwen connected to Sister Scepter, endured a surge of pure Pollution, and realized the skeletal behemoth’s regenerating bones could help her digest Pollution and consume the white mist’s power.
• Beatrice’s Pollution flow briefly dropped and her condition improved, leading the stoker and others to investigate the change.
• Zoe suspected that calling out through the connection had helped Beatrice, tested her theory, and saw Beatrice’s flow rate drop again while she shouted.
• A day later, Little Gwen complained that Zoe’s constant yelling through the connection was exhausting her as she treated Sister Scepter.
• Zoe brushed off questions about her dark circles and secretly congratulated herself for saving Beatrice.