Chapter Summaries

Hunter showed Alvarez around Blood Port, where its lively workers and bustling shops contrasted with the Northern Territory. At the docks, Alvarez and Hunter discovered that the lighthouse stood directly in the sea, leaving Hunter aware of how little he understood about Castel.

• Hunter paid Alvarez's bail and took him to explore Blood Port.
• Alvarez watched workers heading to the factories and was struck by their energy and happiness.
• Hunter and Alvarez bought fried fish at Bettis's shop, where Josh was helping serve customers.
• Alvarez admired the harbor before noticing that its lighthouse rose directly from the water.
• Hunter wondered how Castel's building materials could support an underwater lighthouse and realized he knew little about the island.

Hunter explained concrete’s strength to Alvarez by recalling how aerial bombs had destroyed stone walls, then showed him the reinforced gas pipes running through Blood Port. Alvarez was left wondering how much steel the city had used in its dense network of pipelines.

• Alvarez recalled watching an aerial bomb destroy a stone city wall and force its defenders to surrender.
• Alvarez asked whether a concrete fortress could withstand aerial bombs, and Hunter said one had survived blasts that landed nearby.
• Alvarez questioned why Blood Port had built such a sturdy lighthouse, and Hunter pointed out the gas pipelines overhead.
• Hunter explained that gas could explode when mixed with air and ignited, then showed Alvarez a thick steel flange joining two pipes.
• Alvarez learned the exposed pipes could withstand musket fire and marveled at how much steel Blood Port’s network required.

Hunter showed Duke Alvaray how Blood Port’s vast infrastructure and cleanliness were built through ordinary people’s work, leaving the duke overwhelmed and fleeing into the sea. Nini rescued him and demanded an interview from Hunter in exchange for waiving a littering fine.

• Hunter explained to Duke Alvaray how Blood Port’s extensive steel pipes, sewers, and cleaning rules kept the city functioning.
• Hunter pointed out that ordinary workers built and maintained the industrial city, and Duke Alvaray became more frightened by mortals than by gods.
• Duke Alvaray threw down his cane and ran toward the docks, then plunged into the sea despite Hunter’s attempts to stop him.
• Nini emerged from the water holding Duke Alvaray and threatened Hunter with a fine for littering.
• Hunter agreed to Nini’s interview, while the dazed Duke Alvaray was identified as a rich man.

After being rescued from the sea, Alvarez decided he wanted to stay in Blood Port, drawn to its prosperity and the hope he believed was absent from the Northern Territory. After touring the city and meeting with the prince, he nervously entered the Tribunal for his trial.

• Nini threatened to throw Alvarez back into the sea, but Hunter stopped her by claiming Alvarez could make excellent fried fish.
• Alvarez asked to stay in Blood Port and offered to give up his money and land, explaining that he admired the hope and prosperity he saw there.
• Nini and Hunter agreed that Hunter would encourage Alvarez to visit Castel after his trial, in exchange for writing off his fifty-thousand-Leo debt.
• Nini told Monica she hoped to follow Alvarez and write a report about his experiences in Castel.
• Over the next three days, Hunter showed Alvarez around Blood Port, and Alvarez met privately with the prince before leaving with a suitcase full of soap.
• Alvarez took a deep breath and entered the Tribunal for his trial.

Theus and Chloe discussed Alvarez’s unusual case before Chloe sentenced him for his actions in the Northern Territory. Theus’s plan to spare Alvarez prison and use his wealth to fund reconstruction backfired when Alvarez demanded to be sent to Castel.

• Theus visited Chloe and asked how she planned to sentence Alvarez, whose crimes had caused limited harm and whose help during the expedition had been valuable.
• Alvarez appeared before the Tribunal and was impressed by how clearly the charges, laws, and sentencing factors were explained.
• Chloe ordered Alvarez’s Northern Territory lands confiscated except for his residence, while allowing him to keep his property subject to designated uses.
• Theus had recommended the sentence so Alvarez could use his influence and money to support development in the Northern Territory.
• Alvarez objected to the judgment and demanded imprisonment in Castel.

Alvarez avoided a sentence and secured Theus’s recommendation to go to Castel, while Hunter prepared to attend the Watts Family’s trial. Theus returned to the Throne Room and awoke in another body, asking Gwen how things were.

• Alvarez demanded a sentence that would let him go to Castel, and Theus explained that he could apply or accept a recommendation for work there.
• Alvarez accepted Theus’s recommendation and celebrated his chance to go to Castel, while Hunter warned him that people often went mad there.
• Hunter said he would miss going to Castel with Alvarez because he had to attend the Watts Family’s trial, where an important criminal was also expected.
• Theus asked Ash to guard the Throne Room, returned there, and then awakened in another body far away.
• Theus asked Gwen how things were.

Theus spoke with Gwen, who agreed to return to Castel to work and pay the mortgage on the shop she shared with Yami. He then left Blood Port for the Northern Territory, where he found Count Bazel had been thrown from the mist in a grotesquely altered skeletal form.

• Gwen told Theus she was still piecing together knowledge from the White Calamity and asked him not to disturb her until she succeeded.
• Theus reminded Gwen that Bettis had put her and Yami's names on a shop deed with a monthly mortgage, and Gwen agreed to return to Castel.
• Theus left Nini in charge of the banshees and boarded a train from Blood Port to the Northern Territory with Ash.
• Alexei and Gwen met Theus at the station and told him that the mist had thrown out something strange.
• Theus found a huge, warped skeleton restrained by Banshees and learned that it had been Count Bazel before the mist transformed him.

Theus captured Count Bazel, whose bones had been arranged to spell his identity before they reformed into a skeleton, and ordered him taken to face the Tribunal. In Blood Port, Bettis learned Bazel was being brought back and went to see him arrive, while Grandma carried her through the crowd toward the station.

• Finier explained that Bazel’s bones had been thrown from the mist in the shape of the words “This is Bazel” before reassembling into a skeletal giant.
• Theus greeted Bazel and ordered him taken to Blood Port and brought before the Tribunal, while a steel giant shattered his skeleton and had the bones loaded onto a truck.
• Bettis learned from Expeditionary Force soldiers that Bazel had been caught and would arrive by train, then hurried to the station to see him.
• Captain Kyle confronted the soldiers after hearing they were bullying Bettis, and Grandma led Bettis through the crowd before lifting her up.

Bazel arrived in Blood Port as a prisoner and was stunned by the city’s factories, ships, and heavily armed Banshees. Ash explained that Castel would put him to work as a boiler operator.

• Granny lifted Bettis above the crowd so she could watch the train arrive.
• Armed Expeditionary Force soldiers and Banshees secured the platform as Ash carried Bazel, a struggling half-skeleton, off the train.
• Bazel stared in shock at Blood Port’s industry and the Banshees, whose presence inspired respect rather than fear.
• Ash explained how the factories and Steam Engines worked, then told Bazel he would work as a boiler.

Ash paraded Bazel through Blood Port and brought him before the Tribunal for judgment. Bazel questioned whether Castel could be defeated, then Ash slammed him into the chair at the center of the packed courtroom.

• Ash led Bazel and the Banshees through Blood Port as the crowd cheered and prisoners of war trembled at the sight of Castel's Skyveil Behemoth.
• Ash brought Bazel to the harbor, where ironclad warships fired their Dragon Breath Cannons, and told him he would be sentenced in Blood Port before being sent to Castel.
• Bazel doubted whether he could defeat Castel's forces but clenched his teeth against his growing fear.
• Ash brought Bazel to the Tribunal, where Chief Judge Chloe, Josh, Zoe, Tata, Gaia, Richard, Theus, the prince, Galahad, Ewan, and civil officials had gathered.
• Ash crossed the Tribunal and slammed Bazel into the chair in its central recess, scattering bones.

In the Tribunal, Bazel’s memories revealed how Isabella’s defiance captivated him, how he accepted the White Bone Sanctuary’s help to seize the continent, and how his hatred of Nora drove him to order her death. Pinned before the court, he faced Lina’s accusation and the prince’s indifferent gaze.

• Bazel remembered being praised for his talent but scorned as a bastard, and how he sought approval among the nobles.
• Bazel recalled seeing Isabella face the nobles in court, kill Duke Sigmund and his allies, and name him Border Count.
• After hearing that Isabella had been assassinated, Bazel agreed to a deal with the White Bone Sanctuary to help him seize the continent.
• Bazel ordered his soldiers to kill Nora, whom he blamed for surviving while Isabella had died.
• Lina asked Bazel whether he pleaded guilty, and Bazel met the prince’s cold, indifferent gaze from his chair in the Tribunal.

During Bazel’s trial, his memories returned and he attempted to assassinate Theus, but the attack vanished against Theus’s hand. The trial was postponed, and Richard later discovered that Theus’s body appeared as complete darkness under examination, a sign usually associated with total corruption.

• Bazel remembered Lina and attacked Theus with shards of bone, but Ash crushed Bazel’s head before she could stop the attack.
• The bone reached Theus’s hand and vaporized without injuring him, leaving the Tribunal stunned.
• The prince credited Nini with stopping the assassination, and the trial was postponed so Theus could be examined.
• Rumors spread about a cult worshipping Castel as the Mystic Society gained followers, while Nini’s newspaper stopped publishing.
• Richard examined Theus with [Self-Binding] and saw only complete darkness, which he said usually indicated thorough corruption by Pollution.

After Theus blocked an impossibly fast assassination attack, Richard and the Prince considered whether he might be a [Named One]. The Prince decided that even if Theus were one, industry mattered more than his secrets, while Theus raised his security and scolded a Banshee for praying to him.

• Theus told Richard that he felt no ill effects, and Richard agreed to report that he had purified Pollution despite doubting the explanation.
• The Prince asked Galahad about the assassination attack, and Galahad said its speed exceeded the limits of ordinary Transcendents.
• The Prince considered whether Theus could be a [Named One], then argued that Castel's industrial strength could outweigh even a Named One's power.
• The Prince said a disaster caused by a Named One might be welcome because the world lacked one.
• Theus reviewed documents under a Banshee's guard and reprimanded the Banshee for praying to him through the Mind Link group.

Theus learned that the Banshees and factory workers continued to trust him despite rumors that he was a god. Worried that such belief would undermine science, he ordered more education for workers, and Gaia resolved to support him.

• Theus asked Una how the Banshees viewed him, and she said they cared more about his will than whether he was a god.
• Gaia brought reports showing that workers had eagerly discussed changing their faith, though many still treated Theus as a Machine Soul.
• Gaia said the workers' belief in Theus had improved stability and factory organization.
• Theus warned that being regarded as a god could weaken the authority of science and ordered more scientific education and collective study.
• Gaia accepted Theus's decision and reaffirmed her loyalty to him and Castel.

Theus expanded Castel’s education system with new textbooks and senior classes, drawing on research from Moth Chasing Flame’s testing grounds in Gem Bay. In the Northern Territory, Gwen received Theus’s letter inviting her to Castel and learned that the priests of the Silent Temple still had not awakened.

• Theus ordered new textbooks distributed, opened senior classes in Castel, and sent several crates of books to Alexei in the Northern Territory.
• Zoe organized Castel’s senior courses while continuing to promote universal education in Blood Port.
• Gwen reflected on the Resistance Army’s survival and the end of the war as she sat atop Calamity Prison Court.
• Grisha brought Gwen a letter from Theus, and she opened it expecting an invitation to Castel.
• Gwen read that the priests of the Silent Temple still had not awakened.

Gwen received Theus's letter asking her to visit and examine the Silent Temple priests, then agreed to travel to Castel despite her worries. Alexei approved her application, and she set off by train toward Blood Port.

• Gwen struggled to read Theus's letter while Grisha revealed he had learned to read quickly in Castel.
• Grisha showed Gwen the box sent with the letter, and Gwen found Nora's head inside, provoking Nora's furious scolding.
• Alexei reflected on the Expeditionary Force's crackdown on Northern Territory nobles and their arrival as prisoners at the Calamity Prison Court.
• Gwen brought Alexei her application to go to Castel, and he signed it and directed her to catch the southbound train.

Gwen boarded a train bound for Castel with Nora, her armor, longsword, and Gatling Gun, relying on special permits to bring them aboard. As she explored the train and tried to communicate with its steam engine, she learned its Machine Soul had told her to go away.

• Gwen used her document to get a place on the train ahead of two nobles being sent to trial.
• Gwen passed inspection with special authorization for her armor and longsword, and showed a permit from the lord for her Gatling Gun.
• Gwen explained that she brought the Gatling Gun because it had separation anxiety, leaving Nora and the inspector speechless.
• Gwen boarded the train and excitedly explored the carriages as it left the Northern Territory.
• Gwen visited the steam engine and said its Machine Soul had told her to fuck off.

Chloe dreamed that she led the Tribunal’s rebels to overthrow Theus, then became trapped on the Golden Throne for millennia. She woke on her desk and returned to her work, while the Tribunal stayed lit through the night.

• Chloe led the Tribunal’s forces into Castel Cathedral and struck down Theus as the rebels stormed Castel Island.
• Chloe claimed she would rule the continent and kicked Nora out of the cathedral.
• Chloe sat on the Golden Throne, discovered she could not rise from it, and spent millennia working without rest in her nightmare.
• Chloe woke on a Tribunal desk, realized it had been a dream, and resumed her duties.

Gwen and Nora rode toward Blood Port, where Gwen saw refugees receiving hot porridge and learned how the city gave them work, food, and hope. The sight reminded Gwen of the starvation she had endured in the Northern Territory and the grain the Resistance Army had found in captured towns.

• The Steam Engine showed interest in Gwen by scolding her and spitting coal, while Nora got no attention until Gwen tried to stuff her into the boiler.
• Nora bit Gwen after Gwen teased her, and the train continued its journey in silence.
• As the train neared Blood Port, Nora explained that the shantytown outside the city was orderly and that many residents stayed there because they could find work and hope.
• Gwen saw hooded figures distributing thick grain porridge to refugees and learned that workers worshipped Theus because a bowl of hot food mattered more to them than Empire Truth's explanations.
• Gwen recalled surviving on hard cakes and snow in the Northern Territory and realized that the Resistance Army could have fed refugees with grain from captured towns.

On the train to Blood Port, a stoker told Gwen how Castel had transformed the city and given him a chance to learn, work, and join the Expeditionary Force. Gwen saw the rebuilt city’s orderly concrete buildings, but the train had only reached its central district, leaving her first impression incomplete.

• The stoker told Gwen about Blood Port’s past famines, the Mother Goddess Church rebellion, and the changes that came after William returned from Rhine.
• He described how Castel built schools, factories, and railways, giving him an education and factory work before he volunteered for the Expeditionary Force.
• Gwen thought of her fallen and departed companions as she listened to the stoker proudly describe his skill at firing boilers.
• Nora asked why the stoker was not firing the boiler, and he admitted that the steam engine had kicked him out.
• The train passed the outskirts of Blood Port and entered streets lined with newly built, unpainted concrete houses.