Chapter Summaries

Nora agreed to reunite with her separated body despite the risk that the result might become a monster or a different Nora. When the reunion began, her body seized her head and attached it to its neck.

• Nini explained that combining the two Noras might produce unpredictable and dangerous results, then asked Nora whether she had made up her mind.
• Nora said she was willing to try, and Gwen and Monica voiced their concern before Nora reaffirmed her choice.
• Nini ordered everyone to fall back and put on the Banshee armor while Granny led Nora's body toward her head.
• Nora called to her body, which suddenly grabbed her head, held her close, and then slapped it onto its neck.

After Nora’s head reconnected to her body, she found she could no longer control it, and the body revealed a mysterious connection to White Bone Sanctuary. Monica proposed that Theus might help, and he approached Nora’s restrained body to test the idea.

• Nora’s body reattached her head, but Nora still could not feel or control it, while the body could not communicate except by drawing “White Bone Sanctuary.”
• Nini concluded that the mystery of Nora and her body might be connected to White Bone Sanctuary, but the body did not respond to Nora’s questions.
• Monica suggested that Theus’s touch or blood might affect Nora because he had once purified Pollution from Monica.
• Theus went to the testing grounds, where Richard confirmed Nora’s condition was inexplicable and the Banshees agreed to restrain her body during a test.
• Theus reached toward the severed end of Nora’s neck.

Theus used his blood to connect Nora’s severed head and body, allowing the two Noras to communicate and letting Nora control her body. The connection revealed that Theus acted as a relay, and he demonstrated that he could control Nora’s body himself.

• Theus and Monica found that touching Nora’s severed neck did nothing until Theus put his blood on it.
• Theus’s blood connected Nora’s head, Nora’s body, and Theus through a Mind Link-like bond.
• Nora learned to control her body while Theus maintained contact, though her head fell off when she turned it.
• Theus tossed Nora’s head to Monica but kept touching the body, which then followed his commands.
• Theus told Nora that he now considered her body his and offered to rent it to her.

Nora learned that Theus's blood could briefly let her control Big Nora, and Richard offered to build her a mechanical body so she could fight again. Theus arranged for Nora and Monica to join research in Castel, while Grisha began registration and learned he was the most qualified candidate in the group.

• Theus used his blood to connect Nora's head to Big Nora, and Nora briefly controlled her body before the connection failed.
• Richard explained that he could create a mechanical body for Nora, but she chose to keep her own body for now and agreed to cooperate with research.
• Theus asked Richard and the researchers to help Nora extend the connection and allowed Monica to join official research.
• A girl registering Grisha asked about his schooling, literacy, and religious knowledge, and told him he was the most qualified person in the group.

Grisha agreed to join a trial studying Castel Syndrome among wounded Resistance Army soldiers and traveled to Castel with Zoe. On the voyage, he saw Nini and learned how the Banshees had earned the Resistance Army’s trust by treating its wounded.

• Zoe explained Castel Syndrome and asked Grisha to join a trial to help prepare wounded soldiers for relocation to Castel.
• Grisha agreed, and the next day he boarded a ship bound for Castel with Zoe.
• Grisha saw Nini and other Banshees tossing sharks in the sea, and Zoe identified Nini as a powerful Banshee returning from the Northern Territory.
• Grisha explained that the Banshees had aided the Resistance Army when others rejected them.
• The Resistance Army’s wounded came to trust and defend the Banshees after receiving their medical care.

Grisha wrote Gwen a letter about his new life in Castel and his grief for the friends he had lost, then explained that he was returning to the Northern Territory to avenge them. After preparing his dormitory and leaving the letter beneath his pillow, he set out toward Blood Port and the train.

• Grisha wrote to Gwen about settling into Castel, making friends, enjoying the sea, and receiving a new steel prosthetic leg.
• Grisha remembered his fallen companions and described how the White Crow people had lost their home and many of their friends.
• Grisha wrote that he and his companions planned to return to the Northern Territory and fight for their people.
• Grisha folded the letter, left it beneath his pillow, put his dormitory key on the table, and walked into the darkness toward Blood Port.

Gwen discussed the Expeditionary Force’s swift victories across the Northern Territory and Octavia’s escape with Hodge. She planned to help find Bazel and finish the final battle before visiting Castel.

• Hodge told Gwen that most people had been transported away, but some stayed to fight Bazel in the final battle.
• Gwen recalled that Dragonfang and his army had been wiped out, while Duke Alvaray surrendered before the Expeditionary Force reached his castle.
• Gwen explained that Octavia’s forces surrendered after a day of bombardment, while Octavia escaped with trusted retainers.
• Gwen reflected on Castel’s overwhelming power and told Hodge she wanted to see it after the final battle.
• Gwen and Hodge agreed to look for Bazel, who had recently been the subject of several leads.

At the Northern Territory camp, Gwen and Hodge discovered a cryptic warning and sounded the highest-level alarm. Soldiers rushed to assemble, but the warning gave no reason or destination.

• Hodge discussed the unused fortification and the search for Count Bazel with Gwen.
• Gwen sensed something was wrong, drew her sword, and rushed toward the camp wall as Hodge took cover.
• Gwen found the word “Run” written on the ground, and Hodge recognized it as a possible warning.
• Hodge ordered an emergency assembly, and soldiers poured from the barracks as whistles spread through the camp.

After a warning was found scrawled at the Canary forward camp, Hodge and Ash ordered the Expeditionary Force to evacuate despite seeing no enemies nearby. The troops abandoned most of their weapons and supplies, destroyed the camp, and marched south along the railway.

• Hodge sounded the emergency assembly bugle after Gwen discovered the warning, and he ordered the soldiers to search for threats and prepare to relocate.
• Ash arrived at the camp, and sentries reported that they had spotted no enemies in any direction.
• Hodge proposed evacuating immediately, and Ash agreed that the warning warranted an emergency relocation.
• Hodge ordered the troops to carry only light weapons, one standard ammunition load, and half a day's food, while Gwen and Ash took on heavy weapons and ammunition.
• The Expeditionary Force left the camp and detonated explosives to destroy the supplies they had abandoned.
• Hodge led the troops south along the railway tracks as an orange-red mushroom cloud rose behind them.

The White Calamity engulfed the military camp, and Ash, Hodge, and Gwen discovered that the fog was moving far faster than expected. They continued south in hopes of escaping by train, but Ash spotted a mass of writhing white bones following them through the fog.

• The explosion at the military camp vanished beneath a white fog, which Gwen identified as the White Calamity.
• Ash estimated that the fog was moving as fast as the Expeditionary Force, so Hodge ordered the soldiers to discard nonessential burdens and continue south.
• Hodge told Ash and Gwen that a train should arrive within a few hours and carry them away from the fog.
• Ash spotted something moving inside the fog, and Gwen described it as a dense mass of white things writhing like maggots.
• Ash said the mass looked like writhing white bones and realized the fog seemed to be following them.

Hodge and the Expeditionary Force fled the White Calamity as a mass of fast-moving white bones dragged the fog after them. Ash’s order to fire briefly stopped the pursuing skeletons, but they caught up again, leaving the force still on the run.

• Hodge, Gwen, and Ash realized the white bones were moving faster than the fog and pursuing the Expeditionary Force.
• Hodge saw that the bones had passed their marker and concluded the force would have to confront them before reaching the train.
• The soldiers recognized the White Calamity behind them and obeyed orders to raise their rifle sights while marching.
• Ash ordered the soldiers to turn and fire five rounds into the fog, then resume marching.
• Ash reported that the bullets had stopped the leading bones and slowed the fog, so he put away his heavy machine gun.
• Ash warned Hodge that the skeletons had caught up again, and Hodge reasoned that the force could keep firing because their numbers were only slightly greater than the soldiers’.

The Expeditionary Force learned that the white bones could revive in the white mist, forcing Ash to hold them off while the exhausted soldiers rested and advanced. Hodge then discovered another group of skeletons approaching from the left, and Gwen’s limited ability to operate a Gatling Gun left their defense uncertain.

• Hodge ordered repeated volleys of gunfire as the white bones caught up again, and Ash discovered that the mist revived shattered skeletons and drove them forward.
• Hodge asked Ash to delay the skeletons, and she headed toward the white mist while the Expeditionary Force slowed down to eat and drink without stopping.
• Hodge and Gwen heard the gunfire behind them grow more frequent as the skeletons revived faster, while they waited for the train to arrive.
• A scout reported white mist approaching from the left, and Gwen confirmed that it contained more skeletons than the group behind them.
• Hodge taught Gwen the basics of operating a Gatling Gun, then realized she could wield only one weapon and might not have enough firepower to hold off the left-side skeletons.

The Expeditionary Force escaped the pursuing bones when an armored train arrived, and Hodge took command of it and ordered a retreat. After the soldiers reached safety aboard, Hodge asked Gwen how she had fired the Gatling Gun so continuously, and she revealed she had not realized it needed reloading.

• Gwen used the Gatling Gun to mow down the pursuing skeletons, increasing her firing speed by cranking it faster.
• Hodge prepared the exhausted Expeditionary Force to keep marching, but a whistle announced the train had arrived.
• Hodge signaled the train to stop and prepare for battle, and the train's crew opened fire as the soldiers boarded.
• Hodge took command of the train and ordered it to turn around and head for the military camp to the south.
• The train's weapons held the bones back as it pulled away, and the exhausted soldiers collapsed in relief.
• Hodge asked Gwen how she had kept firing without reloading, and Gwen asked whether the gun needed reloading.

Gwen effortlessly awakened a Machine Soul in a heavy machine gun, astonishing the Expeditionary Force. As White Calamity’s bones and fog approached the armored train, Hodge used livestock to draw the pursuing bones away, and the train’s crew watched the bones dismantle the animals.

• Gwen fired the heavy machine gun with ease, but Hodge could not turn its crank until Gwen operated it again.
• Hodge learned that Gwen had befriended the gun by talking to it, and he gave it to her to keep.
• A sentry spotted white fog and writhing bones near the train, so Hodge asked the conductor about the train’s supplies.
• Hodge ordered livestock driven from a carriage, and the bones abandoned their pursuit of the train to rush toward the animals.
• Hodge and the others watched as the bones covered the livestock and appeared to dismantle them rather than eat them.

Ash discovered that the white bones could distort perception as they dismantled livestock and reassembled them into skeletal creatures. Hodge ordered the train to race south toward Castel and the Northern Territory camp for help, but bone hordes surrounded the train and one appeared directly on the tracks.

• Ash warned the Expeditionary Force that staring at the white bones could warp their perception, after he briefly saw his companions as ugly and wanted them dismantled.
• Gwen spotted the bones reassembling the livestock into a skeletal cow, which recovered in the mist after the soldiers shot it apart.
• Hodge realized the White Calamity could spread toward Castel, so he ordered the train to race at full speed and get word to Lord Alexei in the Northern Territory.
• Hodge found bone hordes gathering around the train as a towering wall of mist pursued it from the north, and he ordered the machine-gun crews to prepare to fire.
• A sentry reported that a bone horde had appeared directly ahead on the tracks.

Gwen used her heavy machine gun to destroy the white bones blocking the tracks, slowing the approaching mist and saving the Expeditionary Force from an immediate collision. The train then made an emergency stop, revealing that vast skeletal hordes and white fog had surrounded it on every side.

• Hodge spotted white bones on the tracks and ordered the machine gunners to fire, but their bullets could not reach them.
• Gwen rushed back with her heavy machine gun and blasted the white bones apart, slowing the white mist.
• The soldiers cheered Gwen, and Hodge promised to recommend her for a medal.
• The train abruptly emergency-braked, throwing the soldiers around the carriages.
• Hodge saw that the destroyed bones had concealed an immense skeletal horde ahead, while more hordes and white fog had closed in from both sides.

Gwen’s defiant attack inspired Hodge and the Expeditionary Force to unleash the armored train’s full firepower against the skeleton horde as the White Calamity closed in. Trapped with no hope of escape, Hodge sent a warning to friendly forces and planned to enter the white mist to report what he saw.

• Gwen climbed onto the train and fired her Gatling Gun at the approaching skeletons, inspiring the Expeditionary Force to fight.
• Hodge ordered the soldiers to defend the train, and they used its guns and Dragon Breath Cannons to drive back the skeleton horde.
• Hodge learned that sealing the carriages would not protect them from the White Calamity, so the conductor used the whistle to send a warning outside.
• Friendly forces replied and asked about their situation, but Hodge told them the train could not return and urged them to leave.
• Hodge said he would enter the white mist and call out everything he saw so the conductor could relay the information.

Hodge led a squad toward the White Calamity to gather information, but a whistle warned them that reinforcements were coming. Three Castel airships arrived and began evacuating the Expeditionary Force, while Gwen stayed behind to hold off the skeletal horde.

• Hodge organized a squad to enter the white fog and report what they saw, with Ash assigned to cover them.
• A whistle signal told Hodge not to enter the fog because reinforcements were arriving soon.
• Castel's three airships appeared above the fog, bombed the skeletal monsters, and lowered rope ladders to evacuate the soldiers.
• Ash covered Hodge and his squad as they fought their way back toward the train, while the skeletal horde launched a stronger attack.
• Gwen refused to leave her machine gun post, and Hodge proposed detonating explosives around the train to create a chance to board the airship.

Ash, Hodge, Gwen, and the surviving soldiers escaped the skeletal horde aboard an airship, but a giant skeleton and the closing white mist threatened to overwhelm them. A falling white-haired girl destroyed the skeleton and saved the group, leaving Gwen alive and weeping as she wondered who the girl was.

• Ash used the recoil of six Dragon Breath Cannons to catch up with the rising airship and seize a rope ladder.
• A gigantic skeleton assembled from countless bones and reached for the airship as the white mist rapidly closed in.
• Ash feared she had failed to protect her lord, while Gwen continued fighting and resolved to face death beside her friend.
• A white-haired little girl fell past Gwen and plunged into the giant skeleton's hand.
• The skeleton shattered into dust, and a gust lifted the airship and its passengers above the encroaching mist.
• Gwen survived but cried as she wondered who the girl was and how she had wielded such power.

Gwen realized the airship crew had forgotten the little girl who defeated the giant skeleton, and she connected the Silent Temple to its former name, the Forgotten Temple. The chapter then shifted to Hunter sharing a meal with Grisha, who recalled Sister Gwen and discussed life after the war.

• Gwen asked the airship crew about the white-haired girl and the giant skeleton, but they remembered neither.
• Hodge tried to calm Gwen and suggested that her account could not have happened as she described it.
• Gwen read an inscription about the temple and remembered that the Silent Temple had once been called the Forgotten Temple.
• Hunter shared food with Grisha, who recalled surviving in the forest and eating Sister Gwen's roasted potatoes.
• Hunter told Grisha that he had helped Alexei capture his former family's fortress and had received its fine belongings.