Chapter Summaries

Theus deduced that vessels could force him to return if they lost control after witnessing something in the sea, then learned that monsters were emerging along the entire coastline. Meanwhile, Jeremiah returned to Blood Port to prepare to salvage the corpse that had sunk near Castel, where he discovered that the seawater had dropped dramatically.

• Theus realized he had been forcibly returned after losing control of Worker Theus's vessel and found that his white-robed priest vessel was also motionless.
• Theus descended into Lord Theus's vessel and heard Nini report that Fishmen and sea urchin monsters were pouring out all along the coastline.
• Jeremiah ordered the Black Pearl back to Blood Port so he could obtain equipment to retrieve the corpse that had sunk near Castel.
• Jeremiah reached the harbor and heard people discussing how far the seawater had dropped.

Beatrice accepted the Joan Family’s Cardinal Scepter and attended the Empress’s investiture ceremony as the western war’s end was announced. During the ceremony, the newly invested “Prince” attacked and killed the Empress, leaving Beatrice to witness the Empire’s sudden upheaval.

• Beatrice reluctantly accepted the Cardinal Scepter after learning that Jules and the Empress had approved her appointment.
• Jeremiah ignored Ken’s pleas, boarded the Black Pearl, and ordered his crew to sail as the sea receded.
• Beatrice arrived at the palace and observed the Empress and the nobles amid rumors of a coming purge.
• The Empress invested Duke Tis’s son, the “Prince,” for exposing a traitor.
• As Beatrice’s vision blurred, the Prince stabbed the Empress in the throat, and she died.

After the Empress was assassinated, Beatrice was blamed and fled the palace, but the Holy See’s Holy Army was waiting outside. A veiled nun placed the triple crown on Beatrice and addressed her as the Pope.

• The Prince assassinated the Empress, and the nobles erupted into chaos.
• A court councilor accused Beatrice of helping the assassin, and the nobles turned against her.
• Beatrice suffered hallucinations, followed her intuition, and used her Transcendence ability to escape the palace.
• Beatrice reached the palace gates and found the Holy See’s Holy Army waiting outside.
• A veiled nun placed the triple crown on Beatrice’s head and called her Your Holiness, the Pope.

Theus learned that Castel’s defensive lines had collapsed under the monsters’ overwhelming assault, forcing the defenders to retreat toward the city’s industrial districts and cathedral. The Eastern Test Site remained relatively secure, but the southern force had withdrawn to the cathedral and the mines were lost.

• Ash reported that the coastal defenses had fallen and that she had withdrawn through the webway and sealed its gates.
• Theus questioned the Banshee groups and learned that Group One was fighting near the former nitroglycerin factory district after losing the northern docks and residential areas.
• Group Two reported that the eastern caverns had fallen but that its defensive line at the Eastern Test Site was holding with plentiful supplies and help from Moth Chasing Flame.
• Nini reported that Group Five had retreated from the southern battle line to the cathedral.
• Theus learned that the mining district and all of Castel’s mines had fallen.

Theus reviewed Castel’s defenses and growing war effort before returning to Worker Theus’s shell to investigate the sea’s changes. He discovered the shell was stranded in deep water, leaving him with no way to explore or escape.

• Theus and Ash assessed Castel’s losses and planned to hold the cathedral core district while rebuilding its strength.
• Theus returned to the palace and found that Worker Theus’s shell now responded to his gaze, allowing him to descend into it.
• Theus discovered Worker Theus was submerged in dark seawater several hundred meters deep.
• Theus realized the shell could not swim upward or explore the depths, then remembered it could hear the prayers of believers.

Theus discovered that the sea had strengthened his ability to connect with followers and people linked to him, but his voice frightened them into severing contact. Suspecting a sea-borne evil god was behind Castel Island’s attacks, he sought a way to alert the Candlelight Society and ended by realizing he could connect other people’s threads instead of speaking himself.

• Theus contacted a follower of Moth Chasing Flame, but the frightened follower mistook him for an evil god and severed the connection.
• Theus reached Josh, an ordinary man who knew Ken and Jeremiah, but Josh also panicked at Theus’s voice and cut off contact.
• Theus suspected the polluted sea had amplified his powers and that an evil god might be targeting Castel Island.
• Theus considered contacting the Candlelight Society, but could find no thread to Beatrice or its upper ranks.
• After listening to hours of prayers with little useful information, Theus realized he could connect different threads so their owners could speak to each other.

Theus linked Ken and Jeremiah so he could listen to their conversation, but discovered that Jeremiah was already silently testing their mind-to-mind communication. He made the connection clearer, leaving the two men amazed to realize they could hear each other’s thoughts.

• Theus chose Ken and Jeremiah as ordinary people aboard the Black Pearl and linked their threads to listen in.
• Ken taught Jeremiah about mechanical knowledge while Theus heard them discuss their journey to find Castel Island.
• Theus realized Jeremiah had discovered the mental connection and was deliberately staying silent to listen to Ken.
• Theus vibrated their threads, making Ken and Jeremiah sense the connection between them.
• Jeremiah and Ken confirmed that they could hear each other speaking in their minds and reacted with amazement.

Theus learned that Jeremiah and another crew member could hear a strange connection and had mentioned the sea drying up, then returned to the church and joined Chloe at the Eastern Test Site. Chloe revealed that the prototype airship had succeeded, though its hand-cranked propeller and planned test flight raised concerns.

• Theus overheard Jeremiah and another crew member discuss their strange connection and whether it was related to the sea drying up, then severed their connection and returned to the island.
• Theus returned to his office, learned from Connor that Chloe had come looking for him, and went to meet her.
• Chloe told Theus the prototype airship had succeeded and brought him to the Eastern Test Site.
• Theus inspected the small airship and questioned how its hand-cranked propeller would be powered and who would fly it.
• Nini used two sea snakes to turn the propeller, and Chloe said she could direct them remotely and proposed using a two-hundred-kilogram iron bomb as the passenger.

Chloe tested a hydrogen-powered airship designed to drop bombs while Theus watched its first flight. When Ash reported that the main cathedral was under heavy attack, Theus saw the Faithguard Army nearing its limit and considered redirecting the airship.

• Chloe explained that she had built a bomb-dropping system for the airship, and Theus learned the device was intended to return after the test.
• The Banshees filled the wooden-framed airship's gas bags with hydrogen and prepared it at the Eastern Test Site.
• Chloe and Nini guided the airship into the sky, while the Banshees watched through Chloe's perspective.
• Chloe steered the airship toward an arm-monster gathering point between the Eastern Test Site and the main cathedral.
• Ash told Theus that the main cathedral was under attack by a large number of arm-like monsters, and Theus saw the Faithguard Army struggling to hold the battlefield.

Theus and the Faithguard Army defended the fortress against a massive monster assault, while Alexei coordinated machine-gun fire from the main cathedral. Chloe and Nini dropped a huge bomb onto the arm monsters, and its explosion engulfed the battlefield in a blinding fireball.

• Theus watched Ash and the Faithguard Army hold back the swarming Fishmen with coordinated rifle fire and machine guns.
• Arm monsters advanced through the bullets, forcing the battle line back as the Banshees hurried to reinforce the fortress.
• Alexei directed the main cathedral's machine guns to fire at pre-calibrated positions, slowing the arm monsters' advance.
• Theus called on Chloe, and she brought the airship over the battlefield and ordered Nini to lower it by venting hydrogen.
• Chloe and Nini dropped a two-hundred-kilogram bomb onto the gathered arm monsters, and Nini triggered its fuse.
• The bomb exploded in a massive fireball that illuminated and engulfed the battlefield.

A 200-kilogram bomb obliterated the Fishmen assaulting the fortress, leaving supernatural beings and mortals alike stunned by the power of industrial weapons. Chloe became eager to pursue explosive research, while Gaia and the factory workers returned to producing weapons for Castel.

• The bomb’s shockwave swept across the battlefield, vaporizing nearby Fishmen and hurling the rest into the fortress.
• The Faithguard soldiers, Banshees, Chloe, Nini, and Moth Chasing Flame watched the destruction and realized that industrial weapons could kill supernatural beings as readily as mortals.
• The Banshees found the battlefield empty after the blast, and the Faithguard Army struggled to make sense of a victory that had left them confused.
• Chloe withdrew her power after the explosion wrecked the airship, then grew excited about researching more powerful explosives.
• Gaia felt the factory tremble from the blast, encouraged the workers to keep making weapons, and returned to inspecting the production line.

Gwen, a starving ten-year-old girl, prepared to die in her village, but Theus accidentally connected her to Jeremiah and Ken. As Gwen described the wild grass she had gathered, Jeremiah reacted sharply to her mention of heart-shaped leaves.

• Gwen put on the yellow dress her mother had made and lay down, believing she was about to die.
• Theus accidentally brought Gwen into a strange connection with Jeremiah and Ken while attempting to contact someone from Isaac's intelligence organization.
• Gwen told Jeremiah and Ken that she had no food, was sick, and expected to die after her parents and the villagers disappeared.
• Gwen described her pretend feast of carefully chosen wild grass, and Jeremiah urgently asked whether some leaves were heart-shaped.

Theus tried to help Gwen after learning she might be starving, but she fell unconscious before he could reach her. He returned and found Chloe had completed a larger, steam-powered airship for exploring the sea, though its ability to withstand storms remained uncertain.

• Jeremiah told Gwen to eat wild grass and suspected hunger, rather than illness, was causing her weakness.
• Gwen ate the grass, then fell unconscious; Theus sensed she was still alive but feared she would die without further help.
• Theus severed his connections and returned, then went to the Eastern Test Site to ask Chloe about wild vegetables.
• Theus found Chloe and Nini with a larger airship powered by a steam engine, built to carry supplies and stay aloft for long periods.
• Chloe said she could quickly repair damage to the airship's envelope and offered to accompany Theus on the sea investigation.

After becoming Pope, Beatrice remained trapped in the Candlelight Society’s cathedral, unable to use her Investigator powers or learn what happened to Castel. She joined a mysterious telepathic group as “Scepter” and identified Gwen’s likely location, then revealed that she knew the others were near Castel.

• Beatrice signed Church documents while Hela said the Church could not yet investigate Castel in the Storm Ocean.
• Beatrice realized that her Investigator abilities could not work inside the cathedral room and that she was trapped as the Pope.
• A mysterious voice reached Beatrice, and a group chat connected her with French Fries, the Captain, and Gwen.
• Beatrice explained that daylight arrived later in the Northern Territory and that Gwen might simply not have woken up yet.
• Beatrice told the Captain that she knew Gwen’s location and that the Captain and Jeremiah were at sea near Castel.

Beatrice, speaking as Scepter, warned Gwen not to seek food from a church, then began to suspect that the Candlelight Society’s actions—and her own role as Pope—were tied to an evil god. Gwen was too weak to leave her home, and the chapter ended with Scepter proposing a plan that might involve Transcendence.

• Beatrice revealed that she had become obsessed with learning what happened in Castel and still cared somewhat about Count Theus.
• Gwen woke up hungry and told French Fries and Captain that she could only find wild vegetables because soldiers had taken the potatoes from the abandoned fields.
• French Fries suggested that Gwen ask a church for food, but Scepter warned that the real Candlelight Society did not help ordinary people and that the church might be false.
• Beatrice inferred that Ken and Jeremiah might have been at sea and began questioning the Candlelight Society’s cooperation with the Mechanical Cathedral and her own appointment as Pope.
• Gwen said she was too weak to sit up or search for food, and Scepter said she had an idea that might involve Transcendence.

After Beatrice and Theus grew closer through their efforts to save Gwen, Theus sent Chloe and Nini to test an airship and survey Castel. As the airship rose, Ash warned that monsters were gathering to attack, leaving Theus wondering whether the timing was a coincidence.

• Beatrice reflected on how helping Gwen had warmed her heart and made her feel less powerless, while Theus noted that working together had eased her and Fries's defenses.
• Theus wondered why Beatrice was the only person in Rhine connected to his Mind Link and expected her to contact the Candlelight Society.
• Connor told Theus that Chloe wanted him at the Eastern Test Site, where she and other Transcendents had prepared three airships.
• Theus approved a cautious test flight, and Chloe and Nini took an airship up to circle the island and observe its condition.
• Ash warned Theus through the Mind Link that monsters had begun gathering to attack just as the airship rose.

Theus and the researchers used the Clamorer airship to bomb the monsters and discovered that they were gathering for a massive attack. After the test flight, Theus planned to weaken the monsters with more air raids before exploring Gem Bay.

• Theus ordered the researchers to design downward-facing machine-gun mounts for the airships.
• Nini and Chloe redirected the Clamorer over the battlefield and dropped bombs, forcing the monsters to retreat and cheering the soldiers below.
• Chloe and Nini spotted nearly a thousand arm monsters and countless Fishmen gathering across the island for a large-scale attack.
• Chloe climbed above the gathering monsters, and Nini detonated several bombs in midair, killing many of them.
• Chloe returned the Clamorer to Theus, who scheduled further bombing flights and planned to explore Gem Bay once the remaining airships were ready.

Gwen used Scepter’s meditation method to keep her weakened body nourished, while Beatrice learned that Castel and the Masha Archipelago had vanished. Beatrice proposed that Castel had traveled a thousand years into the past, to the time of the sea’s Pollution outbreak.

• Gwen meditated using Scepter’s method, drawing nourishment from beyond a barrier and gaining a few more days before the method stopped working.
• Scepter asked the Captain what had happened near Castel, and the Captain revealed that the island had vanished from the sea.
• Beatrice panicked at the news, while Theus realized Castel’s disappearance could explain the strange attacks and lack of response from the Empire and Church.
• The Captain revealed that the entire Masha Archipelago had also disappeared, leaving Theus and the others in despair.
• Beatrice broke the silence by proposing that Castel had traveled back a thousand years to the time when Pollution erupted in the sea.

In the Forbidden Library, Beatrice found a thousand-year-old record about Pollution in the Sea and used her strange connection to tell Ken and Jeremiah what she learned. Her account linked the ancient catastrophe to Castel’s disappearance, and the captain identified the resulting crater as Storm Eye.

• Beatrice entered the Forbidden Library under the Pope’s authority and searched its sealed records.
• Beatrice found a record titled “Pollution in the Sea” and endured hallucinations and a severe headache as she read it.
• Beatrice tested her connection to Ken and Jeremiah from inside the library and confirmed that it could cross the library’s seals.
• Beatrice explained that a thousand years earlier, Pollution flooded the sea, monsters appeared, and the Sea God Church vanished amid widespread anomalies.
• Beatrice said an island had been gouged from the sea, leaving a bottomless crater, and the captain identified it as Storm Eye.

Theus learned that the Storm Eye might be draining the sea into Castel, and he sent Chloe and Nini to check the coastline. Their report confirmed that the sea was rising over Castel, leaving Theus to face the threat of the island sinking before he could prepare.

• Scepter said the Sea God Church had tried to return to the time before the Sea God died, though she doubted time travel was possible.
• Theus ended the Link and returned from the seafloor, then hurried to the Eastern Test Site to ask Nini about Chloe’s explorations.
• Theus sent Chloe and Nini by airship to inspect the coastline and determine whether the sea level had risen.
• Nini reported that the original docks were submerged and seawater had reached Castel’s residential area.
• Theus concluded that seawater was flowing through the Storm Eye’s Bottomless Sea Abyss into Castel and realized the island could sink before he could stop it.