Chapter Summaries

Theus and his group discussed the Pollution Serpent’s rapid advance and Castel’s unfinished defenses, then heard Erwin recount his patrol’s encounter with a Fishman. The chapter ended as Erwin’s six-person patrol decided to prevent the Fishman from escaping into the sea.

• Ash reported that Sea Urchin Monsters had spread around Castel and that he could no longer scout far from the island.
• Chloe, Una, and Alexei reported on the church renovation, including the unfinished Central Furnace and the barely begun outer defenses.
• Theus ordered the Eastern Test Site prioritized for fortification and assigned the Banshees to help.
• Erwin explained that his patrol had found a lone Fishman hiding behind a reef near the island.
• Erwin and the other five patrol members decided to stop the Fishman from escaping into the water.

After a patrol killed a Fishman that had come ashore, Theus concluded that war had begun and organized Castel’s defenses. He assigned Alexei to expand military training and Chloe to prioritize battlefield research, while preparing to equip patrols with rifled muskets.

• Erwin described how his squad ambushed and killed a Fishman with arrows and an incendiary grenade, and Theus praised their teamwork.
• Theus warned that more Fishmen and Sea Urchin Monsters could be hiding nearby and declared that Castel would have to fight alone.
• Theus pointed out that Fishmen were clumsier on land, giving the defenders a possible advantage, and said the war had officially begun.
• Theus ordered Alexei to speed up soldier selection and training and asked Chloe to prioritize battlefield research.
• Theus explained that rifled muskets and smokeless powder could be produced in larger quantities, while Chloe offered to use Nymph to create a sensory network across half the island.

Theus prepared Castel for the approaching battle by prioritizing construction and reassuring the Banshees about living alongside the islanders. Chloe revealed she could escape the Sea of Unconsciousness with Theus at the cost of her body, but Theus focused on strengthening Castel and investigating the Fishmen.

• Theus told Una to prioritize construction so the Banshees could appear openly on the island after the underground section was finished.
• Theus sent everyone back to their duties as the battle began, while Chloe stayed behind and offered to take him away from Castel by sacrificing her body.
• Chloe explained that Moth Chasing Flame considered Theus vital to its survival, and Theus declined to treat escape as necessary while Castel still had room to grow.
• Chloe reflected on the steel mill's extraordinary output and efficiency, becoming more determined to keep Theus alive.
• Theus showed Chloe blueprints for a rifled musket and smokeless powder, then ordered her to arrange workers and have the Fishman corpses dissected.

Theus and Chloe realized the fishmen may have encountered humans before, possibly linking them to the pirates, while fishmen attacks along Castel’s shore rapidly escalated. With a sea urchin monster also sighted and the island’s defenses unfinished, Theus ordered the Banshees to help the engineers fortify the island’s core.

• Theus and Chloe examined a fishman’s corpse and concluded that the fishmen had likely encountered bows and arrows on land, possibly in the Masha Archipelago near Gem Bay.
• Fishmen appeared in successive patrol encounters, and a squad wounded Zoro before retreating from the patrol.
• Theus visited Zoro, and islanders quickly accepted the Banshees after learning they had rescued him and other patrol members.
• Someone spotted a sea urchin monster near the shore, prompting Theus to consider abandoning the beaches and concentrating defenses around the island’s core.
• Alexei estimated the bunkers would take five days to finish, but said the Banshees could speed construction by preparing the foundations.
• Theus told Una to bring the Banshees up to the surface to work with the engineering team, and Una nervously asked whether they would appear there directly.

Theus prepared to publicly introduce the Banshees to Castel at the Central Furnace’s ignition ceremony, where the islanders saw them arrive with fuel. As the ceremony began, Chloe detected something happening in the crowd.

• Theus told Una to begin making arrangements and said he would join the Banshees at the ceremony, then ordered Alexei to accompany them.
• Theus gave the workers half a day off and gathered them to watch the Central Furnace’s ignition ceremony.
• The stoker checked the enormous boiler while advanced-class students prepared to help with its operation.
• Una and Nini led the Banshees into the pit, carrying jars of solidified pollution to use as fuel, and the crowd reacted excitedly.
• Theus asked Chloe whether her people were in position, and Chloe confirmed that the Nymphs were monitoring the crowd through their senses.
• Chloe pointed into the crowd and told Theus that something seemed to be happening there.

Theus oversaw the Banshees’ first public appearance, which went smoothly despite a drunken worker briefly causing trouble and the risk of panic among the crowd. The chapter ended as Chloe ignited Castel’s largest [Clamorer], whose roar filled the pit.

• Chloe and the Banshees reported that a drunken worker had caused trouble, and Theus ordered him locked up until the event was over.
• Theus watched the Banshees join the spectators and kept the crowd calm as workers reacted with curiosity and goodwill.
• The trainees completed their inspections and withdrew from the pit as the ignition ceremony began.
• Chloe ordered the operators to ignite the central furnace after they confirmed the controls were ready.
• The furnace fired up, and Castel’s largest [Clamorer] began its thunderous song.

The Central Furnace ignited successfully, giving Castel a chance to defend itself and enabling Theus to fully integrate the Banshees into its war effort. As the Faithguard Army took shape, patrol teams reported that Fishmen were gathering along the coast.

• Theus and Chloe watched the Central Furnace ignite as Castel’s people celebrated its successful operation.
• Workers and Banshees grew closer after the ceremony, and most islanders accepted the Banshees’ identities with goodwill.
• Theus assigned Banshees to patrols and construction crews, where they helped speed up fortification work.
• Theus established Factory No. 2 in the new Church and supported Alexei’s recruitment of Castel’s soldiers into the Faithguard Army.
• Theus’s forces formed the Faithguard Army of Empire Truth and studied a scripture focused on tactics, science, and technology.
• A patrol team reported to Theus that Fishmen had gathered along the coast and appeared to be preparing an attack.

Theus learned that Fishmen had gathered near the northern docks and ordered the residents evacuated to Castel Cathedral. Ash led a Banshee strike against the Fishmen, then reported that the enemy had fled back into the sea.

• Theus received word that several dozen Fishmen had come ashore near the northern docks and ordered Alexei to evacuate the residents to Castel Cathedral.
• Ash took nine armed Banshees to attack the Fishmen while two others prepared explosives, and Theus and his companions began moving from the manor to the cathedral.
• Ash and the Banshees charged through the gathered Fishmen, killing many and scattering the rest toward the sea.
• Ash reported approximately forty Fishmen killed, no sea urchins encountered, and no resistance as the remaining Fishmen fled into the sea.

After the Banshees drove off a strangely unprepared group of fishmen, Theus investigated their weapons and worried that the attack concealed a larger threat. He refused Ash permission to enter the sea and went to examine the fishmen with Moth Chasing Flame, learning that Chloe was visiting the Forbidden Library to unseal forbidden technologies.

• Theus learned that most of the fishmen carried pickaxes or no weapons, and Ash reported that they had retreated into the sea without any further movement.
• Ash asked to investigate underwater, but Theus refused because the Sea Urchin Monsters made the waters too dangerous.
• Theus reassured Ash that Castel's growing industrial capacity gave them time to prepare, and she withdrew with the Banshees.
• After the islanders relocated to the church, Theus entered Chloe's restricted area and met Richard, who offered to take him to the dissection room.
• Richard told Theus that Chloe had gone to the Forbidden Library to unseal forbidden technologies inspired by Theus's smokeless gunpowder research.

Theus learned from Richard that Fishmen corpses turned into physical Pollution and that dissected Fishmen had wildly different internal structures. After Ash agreed to monitor the bodies left on the shore, Theus prepared to investigate more Fishmen arriving on the eastern shore.

• Richard showed Theus a bucket of maggots that had once been a Fishman corpse and said all Fishmen corpses became Pollution after death.
• Theus asked Ash whether the corpses she had encountered changed, and she admitted she had never noticed what happened to them.
• Theus ordered Ash to have the Fishman corpses watched from a safe distance so they could determine when they turned into Pollution.
• Richard showed Theus diagrams of Fishmen with disconnected organs or no internal organs at all, and said their anatomy seemed to vary.
• Theus told Richard to prepare to go to the eastern shore, where more Fishmen had come ashore, and suggested Richard might dissect a sea urchin.

Theus joined Richard in the eastern caves to observe the Banshees preparing to fight a group of Fishmen. After Richard shared his Nymph vision, Theus quickly mastered it and turned the ability into a group chat that could send images, leaving Richard stunned.

• Theus and Richard traveled to the eastern caves after learning that more than thirty Fishmen had gathered near the shore.
• Theus agreed to try sharing Richard’s Nymph vision, and Richard used [Self-Binding] to give him an aerial view of the battlefield.
• Theus quickly learned to control the viewpoint, surprising Richard with how easily he mastered the ability.
• Theus created the X-Ray Vision Script Testing Group and confirmed that Ash could communicate through it.
• Theus sent images of the Fishmen’s positions to the group chat, marking several hidden enemies for the Banshees.

Theus monitored Ash's battle against the Fishmen and discovered that they were returning to shore despite their apparent panic. A Sea Urchin Monster emerged from the sea, transformed into a grotesque creature covered in arms, and charged at Ash.

• Theus used Richard's vision to guide Ash and the Banshees as they charged through the Fishmen and captured three unconscious enemies.
• Theus noticed that some Fishmen had tried to fight back and spotted two returning to shore after fleeing into the sea.
• Theus warned Ash when a Sea Urchin Monster rose from the water.
• Theus watched the monster's spikes transform into grotesque arms with tooth-lined mouths in their palms.
• Ash stood on the shore as bait, and the transformed monster charged at him.

Theus and Ash examined the strange, weak sea urchin monster and discovered that its human-like arms were only partially formed. When Theus returned to the main church, Castel’s upper ranks had gathered to report what they said was good news.

• Ash lured the sea urchin monster into an ambush, where bombs weakened it before he finished it off.
• Theus inspected a severed hand and found that its fingerprints, palm lines, and internal structures were inconsistently formed.
• Theus ordered Richard to dissect the monster and interrogate the Fishmen while the Banshees cleaned up the battlefield.
• Theus returned to the main church and found Connor, Alexei, Chloe, Una, and other senior figures gathered in his office.
• The gathered officials told Theus that they had good news, leaving him bewildered.

Theus received a series of startling reports: Alexei found a saltpeter deposit, Chloe’s team successfully produced ammunition components and a working stamping press, and Connor uncovered a hidden room in the manor. The chapter ended with Theus learning that the room contained exactly 112 steam rifles and equipment, matching the number of soldiers Alexei had recruited.

• Alexei reported that workers had uncovered a vast, high-quality saltpeter mine while laying the foundation for the new factory district.
• Chloe told Theus that her team had successfully made mercury fulminate primers, diatomaceous earth, cartridge cases, bullets, and a working steam stamping press.
• Theus realized that the successful ammunition work had unlocked the possibility of producing artillery and other weapons.
• Connor reported finding a hidden secret room while packing up the manor.
• Alexei revealed that the army had 112 soldiers, then Connor said the secret room held exactly 112 steam rifles and complete equipment sets.
• Theus dropped his document, staggered back, and collapsed into an armchair.

Beatrice searched the Corridor of Truth for a way to reach Theus but found no trace of him, while Bishop Michel could not explain Castel’s vanished beacon. Aboard the Black Pearl, Jeremiah revealed that their position was supposedly Castel, though they were surrounded by open sea.

• Beatrice used items from Theus as clues to open doors in the Corridor of Truth, but none led to him.
• Beatrice recalled that Bishop Michel had searched the Candlelight Society’s records and suspected an earthquake had destroyed Castel’s church anchor point.
• The Black Pearl’s students urged Ken to ask Jeremiah why the ship had remained stopped for the morning.
• Jeremiah told Ken that they were already in Castel, despite the ship being surrounded by open water.

Theus ordered Castel’s residents to shelter in the cathedral after strange incidents suggested widespread Cognitive Interference, while Chloe explained why Pollution made such phenomena dangerous. The chapter ended with Theus learning that Pollution could assimilate humans into beings that only looked like people.

• The great bell rang, and clergy and Banshees guided Castel’s residents into the cathedral while the Central Furnace powered its protective inscriptions.
• Theus told Chloe that most factories had shut down and explained he had sealed away the suspicious minerals and weapons discovered across the island.
• Theus wondered whether Cognitive Interference could be used against enemies, but Chloe warned that people feared it because they could not control Pollution.
• Chloe explained that Pollution’s most dangerous property was Assimilation, which could turn a human into something that only resembled a person.

Chloe explained how pollution could distort reality and how anchors, including churches, Clamorers, and Machine Souls, stabilized it. Theus wondered whether Castel Island had already shifted, leaving the possibility unresolved.

• Chloe reassured Theus that his Clamorers and Machine Souls suppressed pollution and served as anchors.
• Chloe explained that Cognitive Interference could push the world to shift when a strong will had sufficient power, and that shared belief could potentially create a new world.
• Chloe told Theus that churches stabilized reality through shared faith, cognition, and protective inscriptions, which also made them safer places for experiments and dives into the Sea of Unconsciousness.
• Theus realized that factories full of Clamorers and Machine Souls might stabilize the world, and Chloe warned him that Castel Island was only relatively safe.
• Theus asked whether all of Castel Island might already have shifted.

Theus and Chloe discussed whether Cognitive Interference could explain Castel Island’s changes, but Chloe rejected the idea. As people settled into the newly built Castel Cathedral and its production lines began trial operation, Ash reported that Fishmen and sea urchins were approaching.

• Chloe explained to Theus that Cognitive Interference could not shift all of Castel or weaken their enemies because it required powerful individual wills and could not overcome opposing wills.
• Theus watched people gather beneath the enormous industrial Castel Cathedral, which he had designed as a fortress protecting the island’s core furnace.
• Rumors spread among Empire Truth’s followers that the cathedral was a gigantic stone creature that would rise and crush their enemies, despite Theus trying to suppress the claims.
• The next day, Alexei arranged for several steam-powered production lines inside the cathedral to begin trial operation.
• Ash told Theus that a large number of Fishmen and sea urchins were swarming toward the island.

Theus sent Alexei and the newly assembled Faithguard Army to confront Fishmen approaching Castel’s southern beach, giving the new soldiers their first chance to fight. As the Fishmen gathered on shore, Alexei prepared to test the rifled muskets’ accuracy at a distance that had once been considered safe.

• A scout reported two groups of enemies approaching from the south: more than thirty Fishmen and another group of fifty Fishmen accompanied by five arm monsters.
• Theus ordered Alexei to assemble the Faithguard Army and told Ash to let the new soldiers take part in the battle.
• Alexei led eighty Faithguard soldiers toward the southern beach while Theus and Chloe followed under the protection of two Banshees.
• Alexei recalled how the new smokeless powder had enabled rifled muskets to hit targets accurately at long range.
• The Faithguard Army formed a line over six hundred meters from the assembled Fishmen, and Alexei ordered the soldiers to aim directly.

Alexei and Theus tested rifled muskets with Minié balls against a Fishman force, defeating it from long range with almost no danger to their soldiers. Theus told Alexei to adapt to the weapons gap, then ordered him to rest before joining Ash to fight the arm monster.

• Theus equipped the soldiers with Minié balls, and Alexei ordered them to fire on the Fishmen from six hundred meters away.
• The soldiers fired repeated volleys, killing most of the Fishmen before the remaining attackers could reach them.
• Alexei’s troops killed the charging Fishmen and scattered half of those fleeing, while one soldier was injured when his gun barrel exploded after a misfire.
• The soldiers cleared the battlefield, and some vomited when they faced the corpses.
• Theus explained that their weapons gave them an overwhelming generational advantage and told Alexei to keep up with future advances.
• Theus told Alexei to rest before joining Ash to test the weapons against the arm monster.