Recaps

Theus asked Una to assess a plan to dig a passage from Castel down to the polluted Abyssal Trench and extract its Pollution for fuel. Una judged the tunnel feasible, and she and Nini began considering ways to pump or lure the Pollution upward.

• Theus learned that Una had become the Banshees’ informal construction leader because of her talent and enthusiasm for digging.
• Theus sent Una Castel’s structural map, and she corrected a minor discrepancy in the volcano’s location.
• Theus proposed digging through the rock beneath southeastern Castel to reach the Abyssal Trench and extract its Pollution.
• Nini objected that the plan seemed impossible, but Una said the route through solid rock should be feasible.
• Theus suggested using a Type II Steam Engine or the Pollution’s living nature to bring it up, reminding Nini and Una of the wolf they had used to lure Pollution.

Theus explained his plan to use pollution from the abyss as fuel and discussed the Empire’s Border Count system with Chloe. He revealed that he needed her to investigate the Northern Territory as part of a broader intelligence-gathering effort.

• Theus planned to use living creatures to draw abyssal pollution into a pipeline, where it could be collected and transported to Castel as a steady fuel supply.
• Chloe asked to travel to the Northern Territory to investigate Nora, but Theus told her he already knew what had happened and showed her information about Count Bazel.
• Theus explained that Count Bazel had sided with the three northern grand dukes, who were secretly undermining the royal family.
• Chloe questioned why the Empress tolerated Border Counts who could defect, and Theus explained that the Empress used the system to expand the Empire’s territory regardless of their loyalty.
• Theus told Chloe that his real goal was to build a team capable of gathering intelligence throughout the Empire.

Theus asked Chloe to help build an intelligence network, and she recommended Isaac, a dual-path Transcendent who hated the Candlelight Society. Theus invited Isaac to discuss the work and planned a voyage that could send Beatrice back to the Empire, sell soap, recruit Isaac, and collect refugees.

• Theus told Chloe he needed a long-term intelligence network reaching from the Northern Territory to the Empire, and Chloe admitted she could not give up research to run it.
• Chloe recommended Isaac, explaining that he had joined Moth Chasing Flame after the Candlelight Society abandoned him and his brother, and that he had the [Nymph] and [Investigator] paths.
• Chloe described the Moth-Chasing Flame Oath that bound Isaac, and Theus asked her to find out whether Isaac would join his intelligence work.
• Chloe said Isaac would likely welcome a chance to oppose the Candlelight Society beyond the island.
• Theus planned to fund Josh's merchant caravan, send Beatrice back to the Empire, sell soap along the northern coast, leave Isaac in the Northern Territory, and collect refugees on the return voyage.

Jeremiah returned to Castel Island expecting smooth dealings with Theus, but discovered that Theus wanted to hire the Black Pearl and its captain for a cargo voyage. Jeremiah considered the offer and questioned why Theus needed him to train sailors instead of hiring experienced hands directly.

• Jeremiah returned to Castel Island with authorization letters and nitroglycerin, then went to Theus's manor.
• Theus told Jeremiah he wanted to rent the Black Pearl, and Jeremiah protested that he would not give up his ship.
• Jeremiah softened and agreed to help Theus as a friend.
• Theus explained that he wanted to hire the ship, offered Jeremiah either a share of profits or fixed income, and said he could withdraw or sail with it.
• Theus said Jeremiah would need to train sailors and protect the cargo, and Jeremiah asked why Theus did not hire experienced sailors instead.

Theus recruited Jeremiah for a future ship and offered him a literacy pass, leading Jeremiah to discover that a heavy silver cup could float when held upright. Meanwhile, Connor told Theus that Josh had gathered islanders and sailors for a proposed merchant guild, and explained that Castel’s security and hope were drawing people away from piracy.

• Theus explained that his future steel ships would require literate sailors and gave Jeremiah a contract and a pass to literacy classes.
• Jeremiah tested the silver cup at the shore, saw it float upright, and went to the school seeking an explanation.
• Theus asked Connor to call Beatrice to discuss returning to Rhine and said he expected Jeremiah to accept the ship offer.
• Connor reported that Josh had recruited about a dozen people, including sailors, to support his planned merchant guild.
• Connor explained that a former pirate had stayed in Castel after receiving wages and attending literacy classes, and said the island offered security, order, and hope.

Theus learned why Isaac wanted to join Castel and agreed to appoint him to build an intelligence network after he swore the Moth-Chasing Flame Oath. As the oath ceremony began without him, Theus descended into Worker Theus to hear his followers’ prayers and immediately sensed something was wrong.

• Theus asked Isaac about his conditions, and Isaac said he only required Theus not to side with the Candlelight Society.
• Isaac explained that Castel’s efficient systems could support an empire and offered to build an intelligence network as a means of serving Theus and taking revenge on the Candlelight Society.
• Theus agreed to appoint Isaac after he swore the Moth-Chasing Flame Oath, and Isaac accepted the oath as a necessary restraint.
• Chloe, Connor, Ash, and the others accompanied Isaac to the oath ceremony while Theus monitored from the eastern testing grounds and sent Banshee teams to patrol.
• Theus left Ash in charge of the ceremony, traveled to the Golden Throne, and descended into Worker Theus’s body, where he noticed something was wrong.

Theus sensed and watched Isaac’s Moth-Chasing Flame Oath through the imprisoned Worker Theus shell, discovering that the ritual created a lasting connection that could serve as a receiver. After confirming the oath was completed correctly, Theus accepted Isaac into Castel’s inner circle and turned to planning his work in the Empire and the ship contract.

• Worker Theus sensed a connection beneath the church and formed a blurry image of Chloe, Isaac, and Ash preparing the ritual.
• Isaac swore the Moth-Chasing Flame Oath, linking himself to Theus and giving Theus a clearer, Isaac-centered view that remained after the ritual ended.
• Theus contacted Ash, who confirmed Isaac had recited the finalized oath without changes.
• Theus declared Isaac trustworthy and told Ash to have the group return so he could discuss Isaac’s work.
• Theus planned to send Isaac to the Empire after settling a contract for Jeremiah’s ship, then noted that Josh’s situation needed attention.

After Josh apologized for his false claims, more people joined his plans to trade abroad, while the Ashen Alliance prepared to enter the Empire. Josh told Ken that Theus was organizing Storm Heavy Industries and suggested that the lord wanted mechanical engineers aboard ships, leaving Ken to consider whether steam engines could power vessels.

• Isaac established the Ashen Alliance with guards from the manor, while Josh apologized publicly and showed his employment contract with the Steel Federation.
• More people sought to join Josh's venture, while Isaac said the Ashen Alliance would focus on opening the Empire's market before recruiting anyone.
• Josh told Ken that Theus was planning Storm Heavy Industries as a collection of Castel's factories, with a merchant association to sell their goods abroad.
• Josh pointed out that Theus was subsidizing advanced-class mechanical students who went to sea and suggested the lord needed engineers aboard ships.
• Ken connected Theus's work on a compact steam engine to the possibility of installing one on a ship.

Ken agreed to join Josh’s venture as a shipboard mechanical engineer. Theus approved a subway project linking the manor to the Eastern Test Site as a trial for a future route to the Abyssal Trench, and planned to put the steel mill’s workers to work after Beatrice left.

• After weighing Josh’s proposal, Ken agreed to join him and prepare to set sail within the next few days.
• Una explained that the Banshees wanted an underground passage to the Eastern Test Site to test their construction methods and transport goods.
• Theus decided to draw up a blueprint for a larger subway project and test a steam locomotive underground.
• Theus noted that the steel mill was nearly finished and planned to send Beatrice away so the workers could begin working there.
• Theus thought about visiting the workers, who were enduring the Candlelight Society’s rituals and atonement process.

Beatrice wrote to Uncle Jules about her time in Castel, Lord Theus, and her doubts about the Joan Family’s fate. She planned to return to Rhine with soap to help Theus and her family, carrying the sealed letter and gift box as she went to discuss her journey home.

• Beatrice wrote that Castel was safe and described Theus, his soap, fireworks, and heart-disease medicine to Uncle Jules.
• She worried about the Silent Temple ointment found on the island, but concluded it might have come from Alexei’s sister by chance.
• Beatrice felt conflicted about being valued for her noble status and admitted that she disliked the Church and questioned whether her family was destined to become Transcendents.
• After her maid told her that Theus wanted to discuss her return journey, Beatrice hurried to finish her letter and said she would bring soap to Rhine to help Theus and the Joan Family.
• Beatrice sealed the letter, packed the soap gift box, and left to meet Theus.

Theus learned that Ash and Nini had encountered Fishmen near Castel, revealing that the Fishmen had returned in significant numbers. He ordered scouting teams to investigate their strength and movements, leaving the Banshees preparing to learn whether a larger threat was approaching.

• Ash told Theus that she and Nini had encountered a Fishman scout while returning from the Abyssal Trench and followed it to a camp east of Castel.
• Nini revealed that the Banshees had killed all seventeen Fishmen they encountered, while Ash admitted she had charged in before Nini could stop her.
• Theus questioned the Banshees about the Fishmen's numbers and learned that they had miners and warriors, with several hundred miners and unknown numbers of warriors.
• Theus ordered Ash and Nini to lead separate teams on reconnaissance, avoid detection, eliminate small groups if necessary, and retreat from larger forces.
• Theus instructed the teams to use Banshees as Mind Link relays if they traveled beyond its range.

Theus saw several merchant ships depart from Castel, entrusting their voyage to Jeremiah and sending familiar allies and traders with them. After the Black Pearl sailed, Theus turned back to face the dangers still threatening Castel.

• Theus told Jeremiah that Ken would teach him to read, while Jeremiah prepared to captain the leased Black Pearl and teach Ken ship-handling.
• Theus declined Beatrice’s offer to stay and help, asking her instead to promote his soap in Rhine; Beatrice departed for the ship.
• Josh introduced the young members of his merchant group, and Theus urged them to learn the sea route and prepare their own ships and crew.
• Ash reported that two teams of Banshees would escort the fleet from a distance, while Theus ordered them to avoid detection and report any trouble.
• The Black Pearl sailed from Castel carrying Ken, Jeremiah, Isaac, Josh, and Beatrice, and Theus’s smile faded as he turned away.

Theus and Chloe arrived to transfer the workers from the Candlelight Society’s penance house to factories on Castel Island, where Theus promised them wages, food, and lodging. Hodge asked the Border Count for an advance so he could help his sister Lina.

• The workers, including Kyle and Hodge, recited prayers after being seized from Rhine’s factories for their association with Theus.
• Kyle tried to reassure Hodge that Lina would be fine, though Hodge feared she could not repay the gangs without his factory wages.
• Chloe entered with Theus and told the workers their penance was suspended and they would be taken to the testing grounds.
• Theus introduced himself as the Border Count and offered the workers factory jobs with wages, food, and lodging.
• Hodge stepped forward and asked Theus for an advance on his wages.

Hodge asked Count Theus for an advance to save Lina from gangsters, but the island’s lack of ships made sending money to the mainland impossible for weeks. Chloe offered to help, then revealed that Lina was already on the island.

• Hodge stepped forward and explained that he needed money to keep Lina safe from gangsters.
• Theus told Hodge they were stranded on Castel Island and that no ship could return to the mainland for at least three weeks.
• Chloe asked Hodge to describe Lina and offered to contact her.
• Theus agreed to advance Hodge some wages and showed the workers the factory and their dormitories.
• After the workers were settled, Theus asked Chloe how she could help, and she revealed that Lina was on the island.

Theus followed Chloe to Moth Chasing Flame’s hidden rooms, where she showed him Lina, a former companion who had become an empty shell. Chloe explained how their rituals summoned evil gods, leaving Theus to wonder how his own descent into a vessel worked.

• Chloe told Theus she had investigated how he knew so much about Moth Chasing Flame and mentioned a vessel, alarming him into contacting Banshee for backup.
• Chloe led Theus through a hidden passage beneath the church to Moth Chasing Flame’s hideout.
• Chloe showed Theus Lina, who had become an empty shell after being caught eavesdropping while the group searched for traitors.
• Theus thought he saw life flicker in Lina’s eyes, but she remained motionless when he looked again.
• Chloe explained that their summoning rituals used a body to call an evil god’s soul, which left Theus questioning how he had descended into a vessel.

Theus learned from Chloe that evil gods were born within shells rather than summoned from elsewhere, and he tried to uncover their nature by guessing while she only rejected incorrect answers. Chloe’s silence at the end suggested that evil gods could speak to people but did not listen to them.

• Chloe explained that an evil god was produced within a shell, prompting Theus to compare them to Machine Souls born in steel.
• Chloe said the nature of evil gods was dangerous secret lore and promised to explain it after she completed a ritual.
• Theus proposed guessing the secret while Chloe only corrected wrong answers, and Chloe agreed the method might avoid pollution.
• Chloe rejected Theus’s guesses that evil gods embodied negative emotions, came from another world, or were fallen deities.
• Chloe struggled to answer whether evil gods could communicate, and Theus guessed that they spoke to people without listening.

Theus deduced that evil gods were created when individual will used Cognitive Interference to make them descend into the world. Chloe explained that Moth Chasing Flame pursued truth despite the danger, leaving Theus to reckon with the society’s careful but reckless devotion to knowledge.

• Theus learned from Chloe that evil gods could speak but could not hear, while summoning a Machine Soul did not cause Pollution to descend.
• After Chloe rejected his guesses about evil gods, Theus connected their creation to ordinary people’s Cognitive Interference and proposed that an individual’s will could summon one.
• Theus realized that cultists might create evil gods through worship and that the Church restricted knowledge to prevent Pollution and destruction.
• Theus worried that he might be insane and tried to stabilize himself by firmly believing that he was normal.
• Chloe reassured Theus that evil gods required stringent conditions, then explained that Moth Chasing Flame carefully pursued truth because it longed for it.

Theus offered Chloe his blood as a possible way to remove the corruption causing her headache. As Chloe drank from his wounded thumb, Theus noticed that the Symbiotic Pact had not healed him, leaving him puzzled.

• Chloe asked Theus how he purified corruption, and he said the ability came from a secret connected to the Banshees and could not be replicated.
• Theus suggested that his touch or blood might help Chloe with the corruption in her body, and she agreed to try drinking his blood.
• Chloe bit Theus's thumb and drank as blood flowed into her mouth.
• Theus checked the Symbiotic Pact and realized it had not healed the wound on his thumb.

Chloe proposed that Theus test whether his blood could dispel Pollution by placing his hand inside her body, revealing the Nymph ability of bodily reconstruction. She also explained that immortality was a curse that could bring endless torment, leaving Theus shocked by what it meant for Nora and the Silent Temple’s Transcendents.

• Theus learned that drinking his blood had not affected Chloe’s Pollution, and Chloe reasoned that the blood needed to enter her body by another method.
• Chloe asked Theus to put his hand inside her body, and he cautiously accepted after she explained she would not be harmed.
• Chloe revealed that a Nymph could reconstruct her body and let Theus push his finger through her pupil into her unusual internal structure.
• Theus asked Chloe about Nora’s immortality, and Chloe described the Silent Temple’s immortal Transcendents as pitiful and tormented.
• Chloe told Theus that the Silent Temple’s choir was filled with wailing heads and recounted a legend that immortality’s first second would pass only when a diamond mountain was worn flat.

Theus discovered that purifying Chloe's Pollution had caused her to attack him, and used the Symbiotic Pact to channel his vitality into her and cleanse her body. Afterward, he gained Chloe's exceptional sensory vision, realizing it was a [Nymph] ability.

• Theus reflected on the twisted costs of immortality and how the world's gifts could bring suffering.
• Chloe abruptly seized Theus's wrist and crushed it while remaining unresponsive.
• Theus realized that Chloe's Pollution may have fused with her body and spirit, and that purifying it was harming her.
• Theus wounded his own hand, allowing the Symbiotic Pact to treat them as one and send his purifying vitality into Chloe.
• The Pact's vitality healed Chloe as it cleared the Pollution throughout her body, and she went still.
• Theus's perception changed, letting him see around himself and through Chloe, and he recognized the ability as a [Nymph]'s sensory vision.

Theus unexpectedly purified all of Chloe’s Pollution, but the strange episode left both of them with missing memories and unanswered questions. Theus suspected something was wrong and decided to leave while Chloe proposed they go upstairs to handle the others.

• Theus realized he could see through Chloe’s eyes while his finger was inside her eye, then withdrew his hand and saw the word [Shell] flash through his mind.
• Chloe abruptly sat up, delighted that Theus had purified all the Pollution in her body, and said she remembered nothing about what had happened while she was unconscious.
• Chloe noticed that Theus’s blood covered her face and torn habit, and Theus explained that she had struggled while he healed her.
• Chloe used her Transcendent vision to check them both and found no abnormalities, but she could not explain her memory blackout.
• Theus told Chloe he would leave and urged her to investigate what had happened; Chloe apologized for nearly crushing his hand and suggested they go upstairs to deal with the others.

After Theus was injured during an experiment with Chloe, the Banshees surrounded Moth Chasing Flame’s church, suspecting Chloe had harmed him. Theus calmed them and left with his people, then asked Chloe whether she felt a connection between them.

• Chloe climbed out of the underground room and faced the Banshees, who had arrived after Theus’s health suddenly worsened.
• Theus told Finier that he was safe and that the incident was a misunderstanding, while Ash reported that she and Nini were returning.
• Theus explained that Chloe had taken the greater risk, and Finier released the detained Moth Chasing Flame believers before the Banshees left.
• Chloe apologized, and Theus suggested they conduct future experiments at the testing grounds.
• Theus asked Chloe whether her Transcendence pathway could cause sudden loss of control or memory, then asked if she felt a connection between them.

Theus and Chloe discussed the strange connection between them after Chloe’s loss of control, and Theus suspected it had formed when he purified the Moth Lord. He warned Chloe that Lina’s vessel might be dangerous, then learned Ash’s investigation in the outer seas had uncovered trouble beyond the Fishmen.

• Theus agreed with Chloe that a connection between them might explain her loss of control and memory, and later linked it to his purification of the Moth Lord.
• Chloe explained that she and the Nymphs had taken shelter in a Candlelight Society church because its defenses made it safe.
• Theus and Chloe agreed to investigate their connection and repeat the experiment more cautiously at the eastern testing ground.
• Theus warned Chloe that Lina’s vessel might have moved and urged her to relocate it to the Eastern Test Site; Chloe agreed to strengthen its restraints.
• Theus contacted Ash, who reported that the outer-seas investigation had gone badly and that the trouble might extend beyond the Fishmen.

Theus questioned the banshees' plans to attack the Fishmen after learning their reconnaissance had focused on eliminating small squads and locating the main force. Ash revealed that the Fishmen appeared to have tamed Pollution, leaving Theus to consider a threat the banshees had not accounted for.

• Theus returned to the cave and found the banshees arguing over whether to attack the Fishmen, while Monica backed a plan to let the factions fight each other before she struck.
• Nini threw Monica into a pit that led to the sea, then summoned Ash to explain the reconnaissance.
• Ash showed Theus a map locating the Fishmen's main force southeast of Castel, near the Masha Archipelago, but neither Ash nor Nini knew where the Fishmen had come from.
• Nini argued that the banshees could easily defeat the Fishmen, showing Theus drawings of their fights and describing the banshees' strength and defenses.
• Ash told Theus that the Fishmen seemed to have tamed Pollution.

Theus learned that the Fishmen had enormous Pollution-like creatures and questioned why their society revolved almost entirely around mining. He suspected the Fishmen were themselves enslaved or compelled to mine, and the chapter left him investigating the mysterious Blackstone they extracted.

• Ash and Nini told Theus about enormous, snake-like creatures with auras resembling Pollution at the center of the Fishmen settlement.
• Theus warned the Banshees not to rush into attacking and asked them to explain the Fishmen’s numbers, activities, and labor roles.
• Ash and Nini described a society made up mostly of miners and warriors, prompting Theus to question what the Fishmen did with the ore they mined.
• Theus proposed that the Fishmen might be slaves or compelled to mine and deliver ore elsewhere, but the Banshees said they had never seen where it went.
• Theus learned that the Banshees had mined only Blackstone but did not know what it was, and he suspected it was connected to Pollution and Transcendence.