Chapter Summaries

Zoe and Gaia attended a banquet at the Mechanical Cathedral, where they learned that technical materials would be presented to them in a ceremony. As the guests gathered and the doors shut, Hela warned that Gaia might not get to see the Pope.

• Zoe and Gaia entered the Mechanical Cathedral banquet hall and greeted Hela, who said the Pope planned to bestow technical materials on them during a ceremony.
• Zoe and Gaia surveyed the hall for signs of an ambush but found nothing, and a noise from below turned out to be mechanical clerics repairing pipes.
• Candlelight Society leaders arrived, including a grotesque Skinwearer from the Sleepless Sanctuary of the South Continent.
• Gaia asked Hela whether she would get to see the Pope, and Hela said she might not before walking away and leaving her black veil behind.
• The cathedral doors slammed shut as the gathered guests turned to look.

Hela sealed the banquet hall and led the Mechanical Cathedral in an attack on the Candlelight Society, while a massive cannon powered up behind a curtain. Zoe and Gaia watched from beneath a table as the battle turned chaotic, and Gaia suspected the attackers were buying time for the cannon to fire.

• Hela ordered the doors sealed as Mechanical Cathedral followers emerged and surrounded the banquet guests.
• Hela revealed a wall-sized cannon and ordered the Cathedral's warriors to attack the Candlelight Society's enemies.
• A Candlelight priest was shot, triggering a battle in which Transcendents blocked gunfire and charged the Mechanical Cathedral's forces.
• A tremor disrupted the Mechanical Cathedral's firing line, but one charging [Investigator] stumbled and was killed when his power failed.
• Other [Investigators] tore through the mechanical priests as both sides fired into the chaos.
• Zoe and Gaia hid beneath a table, and Gaia warned that the Mechanical Cathedral might be stalling until its cannon was ready to fire.

Zoe and Gaia tried to escape the charging cannon as it shattered reality and unleashed the polluted waters of the Sea of Unconsciousness. A Skinwearer walked through the breach unharmed, revealed herself as Beatrice Perennis Rhine Ruo An, and claimed to be the new [Named One].

• Zoe and Gaia planned to blast through a pipe and escape while the Candlelight Society [Investigators] were trapped by the Mechanical Cathedral’s priests.
• The cannon reached full charge, then tore open reality and let the seawater of the Sea of Unconsciousness flood into the church.
• The [Investigators] near the breach lost control and transformed into monsters, while the ordinary people stood stunned.
• Gaia and Zoe saw the Skinwearer walk through the polluted seawater toward the cannon without being harmed.
• The Skinwearer absorbed the pollution, tore off her mask, and revealed herself as Beatrice Perennis Rhine Ruo An, who declared herself the new [Named One].

Beatrice absorbed the Sea of Unconsciousness while the Candlelight Society’s [Investigators] ambushed the Mechanical Cathedral and revealed they had returned early from Dream City. They told Beatrice her ritual could not make her a [Named One], and as corruption overwhelmed her, she saw the night the Empress was assassinated.

• Hela began to speak, but a shot tore through her chest as a hidden wall shattered and the [Investigators] appeared.
• The [Investigators] and the Mechanical Cathedral’s monks exchanged fire, and the monks fell until Beatrice was the only one left standing.
• A young priest told Beatrice that the [Investigators] had returned early and had let the Mechanical Cathedral’s attack play out.
• The priest revealed that the Candlelight Society had no path to become a [Named One] and that Beatrice’s seawater was saturated with corruption.
• Beatrice’s resolve failed, and she saw the rainy night of the Empress’s assassination, ending with Holy See troops waiting outside the palace.

Beatrice chose to keep struggling for freedom as the Candlelight Society’s [Investigators] closed in, but a colossal machine burst through the church floor and disrupted the confrontation. Frey and Little Bu attacked the [Investigators], and the Gear Sage appeared to protect Little Bu under its Supreme Protocol.

• Beatrice remembered that she had always wanted freedom and staggered toward the gap in the pipe despite her pain and the surrounding [Investigators].
• A series of impacts shook the church, and a huge hole opened in the floor as Big Guy burst through.
• Frey and Little Bu emerged atop Big Guy, recognized the Candlelight Society’s [Investigators] as enemies, and charged into the crowd.
• Michel rushed toward Little Bu in the cockpit, but a mechanical arm seized his wrist.
• The Gear Sage confronted Michel and asked Little Bu whether she wanted it to eliminate the threats.

The Untouchables and their machines battled the Candlelight Society’s [Investigators] inside the Mechanical Cathedral, while Frey found Gaia and Zoe amid the chaos. When Gaia could not take everyone with them, Frey chose to stay behind with the Untouchables, despite fearing the Holy See’s retaliation.

• Little Bu summoned the Gear Sage, which knocked Michel down, and more Untouchable war machines emerged to join the fight.
• The [Investigators] organized a defense against the Untouchables’ machines, while Frey found Gaia and Zoe hiding in a pipe.
• An Untouchable driver overloaded his disabled machine, causing it to charge into the crowd and explode, shaking the Mechanical Cathedral.
• Gaia tried to flee with Zoe and Frey, but Frey asked what would happen to the Untouchables and whether they could all come along.
• Gaia explained that her airship could not carry everyone, so Frey let go of her hand and decided to stay with the Untouchables.

Frey and the Untouchables withdrew underground while Gaia and Zoe tried to escape the Investigators with Beatrice and the technical materials she had delivered. An airship arrived, and Gaia chose to take the dying Beatrice aboard as the Investigators closed in.

• Frey ordered the Untouchables to make one last charge and then retreat underground before the Candlelight Society's reinforcements arrived.
• Gaia threw Frey the Holy Scripture of Empire Truth, and Frey realized too late that he could not read it as Big Guy carried him into the pit.
• Gaia and Zoe found Beatrice badly corroded and near death, and she handed them the technical materials they had requested.
• Beatrice opened the church dome and summoned an airship, where Erwin lowered a rope for them as the Investigators recovered.
• Gaia grabbed Beatrice's hand and ordered Zoe to take her aboard with them.

After Michel led the Investigators and auxiliary troops to the Secret Keeper Sanctuary, he stopped in shock at its entrance. The chapter then revealed Jules, a mechanical cardinal, burning a book Beatrice had read and confronting the seven hooded Secret Keepers.

• Gaia was shot down as the airship escaped the Investigators’ musket fire.
• Michel persuaded the Investigators and auxiliary troops to follow him to the Secret Keeper Sanctuary and claim authority over the Church.
• Michel began to speak at the Sanctuary entrance, then trembled and fell silent.
• Jules found and burned a book marked with Beatrice’s notes, saying he would correct her misunderstanding of what counted as human.
• Jules entered a room where the seven Secret Keepers sat, and they asked what he was doing there.

Jules completed the ascension ritual and used his new power to kill the Secret Keepers, declaring that people should worship him instead of gods. He freed Isaac from captivity and offered him a place as a cardinal in the Candlelight Society.

• Jules told the Secret Keepers that his niece had completed the ascension ritual, then claimed he had ascended and killed them.
• Michel entered and found Jules maintaining himself beside the dead Secret Keepers, and Jules urged the Investigators to worship him.
• Jules visited Isaac in his cell and struck him with the Cardinal Scepter, breaking the chains that cut him off from the Sea of Unconsciousness.
• Jules explained that he no longer needed to draw power from the Sea of Unconsciousness and criticized Isaac for relying on others.
• Jules told Isaac that he had already killed the people who persecuted them, then left him free with the scepter and offered him a cardinal's position.

Beatrice fled Rhine aboard the airship, but the seawater of the Sea of Unconsciousness inside her body left her close to death. Gaia proposed an unconventional way to suppress the Pollution and ordered Stoker to put Beatrice in the boiler with an ill-tempered Machine Soul.

• Beatrice refused medical treatment as her body continued to bleed and the Pollution threatened to erode her completely.
• Zoe asked Erwin about the airship, and he explained that its armor had let it withstand the gunfire.
• Gaia examined Beatrice and concluded that she would not survive much longer unless they suppressed the Pollution.
• Beatrice asked to be thrown somewhere outside Rhine, but Gaia said there was another way.
• Gaia ordered Stoker to put Beatrice in an unlit boiler with the most ill-tempered Machine Soul, and Stoker carried out the order.

Beatrice vomited Pollution from her body after the Steam Engine’s Machine Soul suppressed it, but her condition remained critical. Zoe and Gaia considered how to save her and realized the Mechanical Cathedral’s technology might help.

• The Steam Engine’s Machine Soul cursed at the Pollution inside Beatrice, suppressing it and allowing her to stabilize briefly.
• Beatrice crawled to the furnace viewing port and vomited Pollution across the floor, prompting the Steam Engine to spray Zoe with water after Zoe mistook it for spitting fuel.
• The Faithguard Army members whispered about Beatrice as a source of fuel for industry and the Stellar Furnace, leaving her horrified.
• Zoe and Gaia watched Beatrice and concluded that the Steam Engine could only delay her collapse, while sending her to the Stellar Furnace might leave her impossible to retrieve.
• Zoe remembered that Beatrice had provided the Mechanical Cathedral’s technology and wondered whether it could help save her.

Zoe and the Empire Truth priests discovered that the Mechanical Cathedral’s advanced modifications relied on bizarre rituals and a hallucinogenic surgical state. They tried a machinery-pleasing ritual to strengthen the steam engine supporting Beatrice, and the engine fell silent as the ceremony continued.

• Zoe examined the Mechanical Cathedral documents and found that their rituals filled volumes while the modification surgery took only one page.
• A Faithguard Army technical priest explained that rituals blessed parts for use and that a high-ranking Sage operated while in a sacred, drug-induced state.
• Zoe and the priest decided to try a ritual that might enhance the steam engine and help Beatrice, who was suppressing her pollution with it.
• Zoe, Gaia, and the mechanics painted machinery symbols on their faces and sang and danced around Beatrice and the steam engine.
• Beatrice continued spitting pollution into fuel barrels while watching the ritual, and the steam engine fell silent.

Gaia and the mechanical priests discovered that dancing and singing to amuse the Steam Engine increased Beatrice’s pollution output, and they turned her spray rate into a measure of the machine’s efficiency. Beatrice’s condition remained critical, and Gaia said the Steam Engine could purge pollution but could not repair her failing body.

• The Steam Engine laughed at Zoe’s ritual, and its efficiency doubled, while Beatrice began vomiting pollution at a much higher rate.
• Gaia agreed to continue the ritual and bring more fuel barrels, despite Beatrice begging to be killed.
• The stokers lined up fuel barrels and measured Beatrice’s output as the Steam Engine responded to the dancing, recording a peak of 5.5 Beatrices.
• The dancers slowed when Beatrice nearly passed out, and she protested Castel’s treatment methods.
• Gaia explained that Beatrice’s injuries were close to causing her body to collapse and that they needed to find a way to restore her.

Gaia learned that the Mechanical Cathedral could treat Beatrice only by replacing her body, a risky option given how badly the Pollution had swollen her. Zoe tried to contact the Writer through the connection, but little Gwen, unknowingly serving as its server, avoided answering until she secretly connected to Beatrice—and discovered the thread had turned black.

• Gaia asked Beatrice whether she knew a way to treat herself, and Beatrice explained that the Mechanical Cathedral could help through mechanical modification.
• Zoe retreated to her cabin and called out to the Writer through the connection, but no one answered.
• Little Gwen realized she was relaying the connection and hesitated to contact Zoe because Zoe was with the unfamiliar Scepter.
• Little Gwen used the connection to examine Zoe's thread, then set it aside and secretly connected to Beatrice.
• Beatrice's thread turned black, and the skeletal beast rose as little Gwen realized the server was under attack.

Little Gwen discovered that she could use the skeletal behemoth’s regeneration to digest Pollution and help purify Sister Scepter, while Zoe mistakenly believed that shouting through the connection was healing Beatrice. The chapter left Zoe exhausted but convinced she had secretly saved Beatrice’s life.

• Little Gwen connected to Sister Scepter, endured a surge of pure Pollution, and realized the skeletal behemoth’s regenerating bones could help her digest Pollution and consume the white mist’s power.
• Beatrice’s Pollution flow briefly dropped and her condition improved, leading the stoker and others to investigate the change.
• Zoe suspected that calling out through the connection had helped Beatrice, tested her theory, and saw Beatrice’s flow rate drop again while she shouted.
• A day later, Little Gwen complained that Zoe’s constant yelling through the connection was exhausting her as she treated Sister Scepter.
• Zoe brushed off questions about her dark circles and secretly congratulated herself for saving Beatrice.

Theus enjoyed an ordinary morning in Blood Port, where the growing industrial city and its lively residents made him happy. After hearing that the Prince wanted news from the delegation to the Mechanical Cathedral, Theus logged into Worker Theus's account in the Northern Territory to check for updates.

• Theus admired Blood Port's factories, railways, and busy residents before reading about explosions in Gem Bay, crowded hospitals in Castel, and a strike attempt by Blood Port's Tribunal.
• Theus visited the banshees' duty room and advised Monica to attack Nini after seeing Nini cheat at cards.
• Theus ate in the cafeteria beside the Prince, who asked about the delegation to the Mechanical Cathedral and said he wanted a result before starting a war.
• Theus declined Monica's stargazy pie, returned to his office, and asked Ash to hold off visitors while he rested.
• Theus logged in as Worker Theus and opened his eyes in the Northern Territory.

Theus reunited with Gwen, helped suppress the pollution inside Beatrice, and learned that Gaia and Zoe’s delegation had traded for technology, destroyed the Mechanical Cathedral, rescued the Pope, and organized rebels against Rhine. Gwen wondered whether Zoe’s constant muttering through connections had helped her succeed and suggested that she and Theus try it too.

• Theus woke on the icy plain and saw Gwen arrive carrying a mass of white fog.
• Gwen complained that Zoe’s constant talking and singing through the link had kept her awake, and Theus wondered if Zoe was mentally ill.
• Gwen connected Theus to Beatrice, and Theus used life force to suppress the pollution inside her.
• Theus contacted Castel and learned that Gaia and Zoe’s delegation had acquired technology, defeated the Mechanical Cathedral, brought back the Pope, and organized rebels to attack Rhine.
• Gwen speculated that Zoe’s muttering through connections had helped her achieve so much and asked whether she and Theus should try it too.

Beatrice remained trapped in the furnace, suffering from relentless pain and Pollution eruptions until strange whispers seemed to soothe her and restore her awareness. She told Gaia and the Faithguard Army what she had heard, leaving them disturbed by the bizarre story and debating whether its scientific claims were true.

• Beatrice’s consciousness began to sink as her pain and hallucinations overwhelmed her, but she heard strange whispers teaching about forces and universal gravitation.
• Beatrice’s condition briefly improved, and she recognized Zoe before another eruption of Pollution sprayed over her.
• Gaia observed that Beatrice erupted whenever she focused on it, so the stokers hung a bucket around her neck to protect those nearby.
• Gaia asked what had changed, and Beatrice excitedly recounted the warped story she had heard, forgetting to spit while she spoke.
• The Faithguard Army called the story blasphemous and attributed the knowledge to an evil god, while Zoe said its basic physics concepts were correct.

Theus’s whispers spread knowledge through stories, drawing Beatrice and others into unfamiliar lines of thought. The chapter ends with several people hearing the whispers, including a seemingly mad Skinwearer who may still be listening.

• Castel’s group debated whether Theus was an evil god, while Beatrice reflected on how the whispers had taught her new ways of thinking and subtly shifted her [Anchor].
• Little Bu woke after falling asleep over the Holy Scripture and recalled a whispered explanation of steam engines, prompting her to recognize the illustration in the book.
• At a church food distribution point in Lower Rhine, a believer heard a whisper about gravity and wondered whether Upper Rhine might fall from the dome.
• A group prepared to shoot a Skinwearer who had fallen into madness, but someone stopped them after noticing that he seemed to be listening.

Theus told stories through Gwen’s threads, and the whispers helped stabilize Gwen and suppress the mist’s erosion and Pollution. Gwen discovered that Theus was her [Anchor], while Lina, having heard his whispers, decided to follow them to find him.

• Theus and little Gwen discussed broadcasting his stories through the threads, and Theus agreed to keep telling them while avoiding a direct link that might spread Pollution.
• After Theus returned to Castel, Gwen confirmed that his stories had stabilized her and suppressed the effects of the mist and Pollution.
• Gwen entered the Sea of Unconsciousness and realized her [Anchor] pointed to Theus, whom she recognized as her [Anchor].
• Gwen repeatedly ordered the skeletal beast to strike the ice encasing Worker Theus, but the beast’s claws shattered against it.
• Lina heard Theus’s whisper, grabbed a thread, and resolved to follow it until she found him, calling him her father.