Chapter Summaries

Prince William dismissed Ewan’s fears that Castel was taking control of Blood Port, arguing that power belonged to whoever people recognized as powerful. He said he was using Castel’s knowledge and military support to build strength for future conquests.

• Prince William praised the Dragon Breath Cannon and showed Ewan the weapons, books, and newspapers he had received from Castel.
• Ewan warned Prince William that the Mystic Society’s armed patrols and Castel’s growing influence threatened Blood Port.
• Prince William agreed that Blood Port would eventually fall under Count Theus’s control, then asked Ewan what they should do.
• Prince William argued that the Mystic Society held power in the lower district because residents recognized its authority, while his own decrees reached only the upper district.
• Prince William explained that Castel’s military strength gave it practical control of Blood Port and said he was seeking knowledge and power to conquer other cities.

The prince, Galahad, and Ewan studied the Theus Code, a dot-and-dash alphabet printed on coins, and the prince realized it could transmit messages by sound. As the prince prepared to visit Theus, a whistle sounded across Blood Port, and they decoded its greeting: “Good evening... Blood Port.”

• Galahad showed the prince coins bearing the Theus Code and explained that Castel had distributed them with an instruction booklet.
• The prince recognized that the code's dot-and-dash symbols could be used to send messages, possibly through sound.
• The prince decided to ride to Theus for answers but stopped when a whistle rang across Blood Port.
• The prince wrote down the whistle's pattern while Galahad and Ewan used their coins to decode it.
• The prince, Galahad, and Ewan deciphered the message: “Good evening... Blood Port.”

Theus introduced the prince to communication technologies, from Theus Code and telegraphs to telephones, while preparing radio equipment for testing. The prince then revealed that the Church forbade electrical research because evil entities accumulated in electric currents, leaving Theus stunned.

• The prince and Galahad discussed using Theus Code to transmit signals through solids, and the prince hurried to visit Theus.
• Theus explained Morse code, telegraph technology, and plans for a spark-gap radio transmitter to the prince.
• Theus demonstrated a cup phone and described how telephones converted sound into electrical signals and back.
• The prince told Theus that evil entities inhabited electricity and that the Church banned electrical research, surprising him.

Theus explained to the prince that electricity was not inherently evil and that a conductive Faraday cage could protect someone from lightning. The prince left to investigate electricity, but revealed that people killed by electrocution became evil creatures, leaving Theus alarmed about the danger of further experiments.

• The prince told Theus that Moth Chasing Flame’s attempt to make lightning-proof insulating armor had failed and caused an accident.
• Theus explained that the armor failed because insulation could break down under high voltage, and described how a conductive Faraday cage protected its interior.
• Theus discussed how scientific understanding could move beyond the limits of familiar physics, and the prince became enthusiastic about studying electricity.
• The prince said he would return to study electricity and surround the testing grounds with the Harbor Guard.
• The prince explained that everyone who had been electrocuted turned into an evil creature, and Theus realized he might have overlooked the danger.

Theus discovered that electricity mutated living creatures into aberrations, with larger animals requiring more energy, and ordered strict safety precautions for future electrical experiments. As Nini prepared to lead Banshees to support the Northern Territory, Theus warned the group about the danger while planning to continue investigating electricity.

• Theus learned that the animals Nini had tested, including coyotes, rabbits, sharks, snakes, and horse-faced fish, had all mutated after being electrocuted.
• Theus compared the aberrations with Ash's pet wolf and found that mutation took longer for larger animals and slowed when the battery's current weakened.
• Theus suspected that electricity might behave like radiation in causing mutations and considered whether aberrations could someday help power Castel.
• Theus ordered all electrical experiments to receive his approval and require protective measures, noting the danger to future communications soldiers.
• Nini prepared to lead rotating groups of Banshees to support the Northern Territory, and Theus posted a warning to the main Mind Link group before their departure.

After capturing Grey Bear Town, Gwen rallied the Resistance Army and weighed whether they could defend it against the remaining Wolves of Winter. She decided their best chance was to break into nearby Slading Fortress, whose defenses were weak.

• More Resistance Army members reached Grey Bear Town, giving Gwen the strength to confront the Wolves of Winter.
• Isaac recalled how two mysterious threads had pulled him from the Sea of Unconsciousness, and he felt dejected that Gwen and the Resistance Army had rescued themselves and him.
• Gwen recognized that Winter Wolf cavalry from the other towns could trap the Resistance Army if they stayed in Grey Bear Town or tried to flee across the plains.
• The Resistance Army took the Winter Wolves' firearms and supplies, increasing its combat strength.
• Gwen set her sights on Slading Fortress as the Resistance Army's next target.

Isaac and Gwen planned to capture Slading Fortress, whose small, poorly trained garrison made it a promising target for the Resistance Army. As the Resistance Army marched toward it, Count Bazel arrived with his Frostland Guard and a red-haired maid.

• Isaac told Gwen that Slading Fortress had about 150 guards, including fewer than 50 full-time soldiers, and that its defenses had been neglected.
• Gwen worried that the fortress gates might be shut and the Resistance Army could be trapped outside by the Winter Wolves, but Isaac promised to help open them and said Alliance members inside could assist.
• Isaac reflected on Lina’s strength and resolved to draw her away if they met again, so his forces could take the fortress.
• Before dawn, the Resistance Army received orders to travel light and march toward Slading Fortress.
• Count Bazel arrived at Slading Fortress with several dozen guards and a red-haired maid, while townspeople marvelled at the guards’ heavy Tower Shields, Solid Ice.

The Resistance Army marched from Grey Bear Town toward Slading Fortress, where Gwen prepared to lead a rapid assault. Grisha declared he would stay to protect his friends in the Northern Territory, and the chapter ended as Gwen ordered the attack.

• The Resistance Army left Grey Bear Town and advanced toward Slading Fortress under Gwen's command.
• Grisha asked Gwen whether they would save the Northern Territory, then said he would remain to protect his friends.
• Gwen and the army prepared for a swift assault, knowing that allowing the defenders to retreat into the fortress could make the battle much harder.
• Gwen drew her sword, ordered the troops to charge, and the Resistance Army began its assault.

Gwen led the Resistance Army’s mounted vanguard into Slading Fortress while Isaac remained missing. She reached the fortress gates, where Bazel’s defenders awaited, and realized the coming assault would decide whether the Resistance Army could enter.

• Gwen charged the city gate with her riders before the guards could raise the drawbridge, then ordered Castro and Lian to secure the winch.
• Gwen led the remaining riders through the streets toward the castle, worried that Isaac had not returned.
• A squad of city guards scattered into nearby alleys when Gwen’s riders confronted them, then regrouped to pretend they had driven the Resistance Army back.
• Gwen heard gunfire behind her as the Resistance Army engaged the city guards and hurried toward the fortress gates.
• Gwen reached the fortress and saw its gates, causing her heart to sink.

Gwen led the Resistance Army into Slading Fortress after an enemy noble’s panic disrupted the defenders, while Count Bazel’s shielded guards fought their way out. Bazel revealed he wanted the Northern Territory destabilized and planned to visit the Resistance Army’s camp in the Canary Mountains to investigate rumors about Lady Nora.

• Gwen saw the heavily shielded soldiers blocking the castle gate and prepared to charge before a noble’s shouted orders threw their formation into disarray.
• Gwen led the Resistance Army through the gap and seized the castle, whose few guards surrendered while the servants’ resistance was quickly crushed.
• Count Bazel ordered his Frostland Guards to use overlapping Tower Shields and firearms to break through the Resistance Army’s encirclement and escape through the city gate.
• Bazel told his deputy to seek aid from Octavia and falsely report that the Resistance Army had routed his forces.
• Bazel decided to visit the Resistance Army’s camp in the Canary Mountains and see whether the rumors about Lady Nora were true.

After the Resistance Army captured Slading Fortress, Gwen searched for Isaac and learned he had left with the red-haired woman she had fought in Grey Bear Town. Meanwhile, Nini and two other Banshees arrived in the Northern Territory and tried to use an unreliable map to find the Resistance Army’s camp.

• Gwen learned that the Resistance Army’s main force had arrived safely at Slading Fortress after encountering a small group of Winter Wolves.
• Grisha told Gwen that Isaac had climbed over the fortress wall and left with a red-haired woman, and Gwen recognized her as the woman she had injured in Grey Bear Town.
• Nini assigned Una to find the Resistance Army’s trail and Finier to gather intelligence, while she took responsibility for drawing a map.
• Nini and the other Banshees reached the Northern Territory by water and studied the prince’s unreliable map to locate the Resistance Army’s camp.

Nini found the Resistance Army’s abandoned camp and confronted Count Bazel’s soldiers. When Bazel called for Lina, Nini raised the cannons hidden in her armor and unleashed a barrage of fire.

• After searching along the Koller River, Nini found a frequently used trail and followed it through the forest.
• Nini reached the Resistance Army’s evacuated camp, where Bazel’s soldiers were searching for anything unusual.
• Nini charged into the camp, towering over Bazel’s Frostland Guard and alarming the soldiers.
• Bazel ordered Nini to identify herself and surrender, then spotted Lina in the woods and called for her.
• Nini revealed cannon muzzles beneath her six armored hands and fired, engulfing the camp in flames.

Nini annihilated Count Bazel's soldiers with the Dragon Breath Cannons, leaving the Resistance Army's camp destroyed and its members apparently gone. The Banshees found the unconscious Isaac and decided that Finier would take him back to Castel while Nini and Una searched the area longer.

• Nini's Dragon Breath Cannons wiped out the soldiers surrounding her, and Lina escaped with Bazel into the flames.
• Finier and Una arrived and learned from Nini that Count Bazel's men had been at the camp and that the Resistance Army might have been wiped out.
• The Banshees searched the ruined camp but found no survivors or useful clues.
• Finier and Una discovered the unconscious Isaac and recognized him from Theus's portrait.
• Nini asked Finier to take Isaac back to Castel while she and Una continued searching for a few more days.

Isaac awoke in a strange church after Lina subdued him and concluded the Resistance Army was doomed. He explored the apparently divine structure and entered a greenhouse, where unfamiliar plants left him uneasy.

• Isaac woke in an unfamiliar room and recalled Lina had captured him at Slading Fortress, where Frostland Guards had overwhelmed the Resistance Army.
• Isaac used [Self-Binding] and saw an enormous evil god imprisoned beneath the church, nearly losing consciousness from the sight.
• Isaac examined the room and found its walls were made from a single seamless mass of exceptionally hard stone, leading him to suspect he was in a divine kingdom.
• Isaac left his room and discovered a pipe in the corridor that carried gas toward the furnace beneath the church and connected to nearby rooms.
• Isaac entered a greenhouse filled with towering, unfamiliar trees whose appearance made him feel deeply unsettled.

Isaac discovered that the greenhouse’s enormous crops were ordinary plants grown with tangible Pollution, then fled through the church and found Chloe’s diary hanging from a monument. Believing Chloe was dead and Moth Chasing Flame might be near its end, he took the diary and resolved to preserve the organization’s legacy.

• Isaac recognized the greenhouse’s gigantic plants as enlarged rye, turnips, beets, hawk grass, and corn, and pocketed a corn kernel to bring back to Castel.
• Isaac narrowly avoided falling into tangible Pollution and realized the crops were being nourished by it, possibly extracted from an evil god.
• When an alarm sounded and someone raced after him, Isaac fled toward the light and saw the church’s furnace smelting tangible Pollution and evil gods.
• Isaac spotted Chloe’s diary on a monument and sensed energy coming from it, leading him to believe Chloe had died and preserved her soul through [Pupa].
• Isaac worried that Castel and Moth Chasing Flame might have fallen, then grabbed Chloe’s diary to preserve the organization’s legacy.

Isaac fled the church with Chloe’s diary and tried to escape through a strange city full of Pollution and enormous steel structures. After a steel serpent knocked him apart and he hid from his pursuer, he promised Chloe he would return her to Castel, but she told him not to.

• Isaac shut Chloe’s diary, grabbed it, and ran from the church while Monica chased after him to recover her medical assessment patient.
• Isaac found giant Pollution crops growing along the streets and sensed flowing Pollution beneath the ridges.
• Isaac followed iron tram tracks, ignored people calling to him, and was struck apart by a speeding steel serpent before reappearing farther down the tracks.
• Isaac hid in a corner, apologized to Chloe for failing to get her out, and asked how she had died.
• Isaac vowed to return Chloe to Castel and the Lord’s side, but Chloe wrote, “Don’t send me.”

Theus heard Isaac’s account of the Resistance Army’s defeat at Slading Fortress and sent the Banshees to search the Northern Territory’s forests for survivors. Bazel mistook the weapon that devastated his troops for a Church plot, while Gwen mourned Isaac and the factions settled into an uneasy peace.

• Isaac explained that Monica had attacked him with a Dragon Breath Cannon and a machine gun, and Theus said the Tribunal would handle the matter and Isaac might owe compensation.
• Isaac recounted how he had helped the Resistance Army win earlier battles before Lina captured him during their failed assault on Slading Fortress.
• Isaac told Theus that the Resistance Army had no chance of defeating Bazel’s forces at the fortress, and Theus ordered the Banshees to search nearby forests for the scattered survivors.
• Bazel and Lina survived Nini’s attack, and Bazel concluded that the Resistance Army and the Church had conspired against him.
• Gwen left flowers at Isaac’s gravestone, while the Resistance Army and Bazel’s forces avoided major battles and the Northern Territory remained in a fragile balance.

Beatrice grew frustrated with the Church’s restrictions and considered becoming a [Named One] as a way out. In Blood Port, Theus watched Castel’s armored train enter the Northern Territory, bringing the Resistance Army’s fate back into reach and marking the start of Castel’s advance.

• Beatrice learned of conflicts on the eastern front, the spreading White Calamity, and the ongoing failure to locate the [Named One], then asked Hela when she could return to the Forbidden Library.
• After Hela left, Beatrice reflected on losing her strange connection and realized she might have to risk becoming a [Named One].
• Theus climbed a lighthouse in Blood Port to watch the expeditionary army’s railway reach the Northern Territory.
• Theus and Nora discussed the missing Resistance Army, the Holy See’s growing presence, and the chaos among the Northern Territory’s rulers.
• Nora told Theus that he had fulfilled his promise to the Resistance Army and pledged her loyalty to him.
• The expeditionary army’s armored train arrived in the Northern Territory, as Blood Port’s factories sounded their whistles and Castel began its advance.

At Blood Port, Theus and the prince celebrated their alliance as Castel’s Expeditionary Force prepared to enter the Northern Territory. Theus accepted soil from the Northern Territory, gave Nora’s head a place aboard the armored train, and ordered the force to capture Count Bazel and hang his head atop the Holy See.

• Erwin presented Theus with soil he had dug in the Northern Territory that morning, and the prince marveled at how quickly Castel’s new transport could reach it.
• Galahad reflected on Castel’s industrial power and accepted that its weapons and production had changed the balance of power.
• Theus and the prince reaffirmed their alliance, which joined Castel’s industrial support with the prince’s administration, population, and help for the Expeditionary Force.
• Theus looked over the Expeditionary Force and Blood Port’s citizens as Castel prepared for its first war beyond its borders.
• Theus accepted the Northern Territory soil, handed Nora’s head to the Expeditionary Force, and promised that the soldiers would avenge her.
• Theus ordered the Expeditionary Force to capture Count Bazel, escort him to the island, and hang his head atop the Holy See.

After another costly defense of Slading Fortress, Gwen struggled with the Resistance Army’s isolation and her people’s sacrifices, but their determination restored her resolve. The allied army suddenly began retreating, and Gwen was called to the wall to see it.

• Gwen surveyed the damage after the three grand dukes' allied army retreated and spoke with Grisha, who had lost part of his body defending the fortress.
• Gwen reflected on how the allied army had trapped the Resistance Army at Slading Fortress while focusing on conflicts elsewhere in the Northern Territory.
• A little girl and an old woman encouraged Gwen to hold on to hope, reminding her that miracles could happen.
• Seeing the townsfolk repair the walls, tend the wounded, and enlist, Gwen regained her confidence and stood ready to continue resisting.
• People shouted for Gwen to come to the city wall because the allied army was retreating.