Chapter Summaries

Sister Lynn considered leaving her dull routine in the Candlelight Society after learning that the new church school could prepare people to join the Steel Gospel Society. Meanwhile, Lina and Little Gwen toured the school, and Lina reflected on how overwhelmingly powerful Little Gwen was.

• Lynn told Benister that Little Gwen had asked about the church school and the Steel Gospel Society, and he explained that the society would take over factory work and weapons production.
• Benister suggested Lynn could join the Steel Gospel Society through the church school, and Lynn began to feel drawn toward a broader life beyond the Candlelight Society.
• Lina urged Little Gwen to go straight to Jules, but Little Gwen insisted on touring the church school after seeing the horrifying truth behind Moon Candle materials.
• Lina recalled testing Little Gwen's strength and being defeated in a single exchange, then judged that Little Gwen might be able to face an army head-on.

Little Gwen explained that Castel’s rapid weapons production made it a greater threat than its individual artillery suggested, while most of its capacity remained devoted to construction. She and Lina met Lynn to visit the Steel Gospel Society, carrying relics and Little Gwen’s friend in coffins.

• Little Gwen told Lina that Castel had rapidly mass-produced self-propelled artillery after Steam Tanks appeared on the battlefield.
• Little Gwen revealed that Castel’s weapons production was spare capacity and that its main effort remained focused on construction.
• Lina grew curious about visiting Castel, and Little Gwen said the Steel Gospel Society and church schools were important purposes of their journey.
• Lynn waited nervously by the church entrance until Lina and Little Gwen arrived carrying coffins.
• Little Gwen explained that Lina’s coffin held Mechanical Cathedral relics and her own coffin held her friend, not a corpse.

Little Gwen and Lina visited the Steel Gospel Society’s new factory with Lynn and discovered that its layout matched the factories in Blood Port. They learned that mechanical priests had built it and that the Society was an independent organization, while the remaining priests had gone to the battlefield.

• Lynn panicked when Little Gwen said she carried her friend, and Lina reassured her that Gwen meant it figuratively.
• Lynn took Little Gwen and Lina to the Steel Gospel Society’s base, where Gwen recognized the factory’s familiar design from Blood Port.
• Lynn said the factory had no local manager and had been built by mechanical priests from the Mechanical Cathedral.
• Lina explained that the mechanical priests followed procedures with exceptional precision, and Lynn praised the quality of their Steam Tanks.
• Lynn said some mechanical priests had joined the Steel Gospel Society while others had gone to the battlefield, and Lina and Little Gwen suspected the remaining priests had been sent as cannon fodder.

Little Gwen inspected the Steel Gospel Society’s factory and school, judged their industrial and educational efforts sound, and headed with Lina for Rhine. Meanwhile, Theus broadened Castel’s development plans to industrialize the Northern Territory and Tis, but lacked another Sea God to fuel the effort.

• Little Gwen calculated the factory’s production capacity and examined the Church school’s curriculum and teachers, finding the Empire’s efforts sound but far behind Castel.
• Little Gwen challenged Lina’s confidence in the Empire’s ability to crush Castel by pointing out that industrialized Old Rhine still could not defeat it.
• Lina and Little Gwen left for Rhine after Lynn caught up to ask Lina whether she knew Nini, and Little Gwen cracked after losing several treasured novels.
• Theus expanded Castel’s industrialization plans to the Northern Territory and Tis because future enemies might include more than the Empire.
• Theus faced a shortage of fuel for the enlarged plans and wondered where he could find another Sea God.

Gaia explained that Castel lacked suitable fuel for a third Stellar Furnace in the Northern Territory, and the meeting considered burning extraordinary beings to power it. She proposed several candidates, including Jules, Lina, Gwen, Little Gwen, and Nini, but the group had not chosen anyone by the chapter's end.

• Gaia reported that the Stellar Furnace relied on the Pirate King and Blood Port's energy core burned Bazel, while Castel had no fuel for a third furnace.
• Gaia described the drawbacks of using coal or wood and the dangers and logistical problems of producing and transporting pollution.
• The meeting turned to Beatrice as a possible pollution source, and Gaia suggested enlarging her mouth after noting her output would not meet the Northern Territory's needs.
• Theus asked Gaia for other targets, and she named Jules, Lina, Gwen, Little Gwen, and Nini as potential furnace fuel.
• Theus questioned why Nini belonged on the list alongside the others.

Theus and the others discussed who should fuel the Stellar Furnace, after learning Nini had accidentally created Pollution through a novel that shattered Banshees’ worldviews. The meeting ended with Theus proposing they capture evil gods to burn as fuel instead of sacrificing people.

• Gaia explained that Nini’s wildly written unofficial history had caused Pollution to emerge in Banshees, whose minds had been overwhelmed by it.
• Theus warned Nini not to write such material again, and Nini said the effect only worked on Banshees because of their unusually active minds and Mind Link.
• Gaia identified Jules as the current best candidate to burn in the Stellar Furnace, and Chloe asked what would fuel the Empire’s furnace after Jules was captured.
• Chloe objected to burning the [Pupa] because her soul was inside it, while Monica and Beatrice teased her about becoming an offering.
• Theus remembered that he had purified the Moth Lord and proposed capturing evil gods to use as fuel, leaving the meeting stunned by the possibility.

Theus learned that Castel had few cultists and considered using evil gods and other sources as fuel, but Richard announced a breakthrough that could let Chloe use a body. Chloe raced to the testing grounds, leaving Castel buzzing with excitement as she prepared to be resurrected.

• Chloe explained that cultists avoided Castel because its Moth Chasing Flame and Mystic Society were more frightening than ordinary cults.
• Theus joked about importing cultists from the Empire, while considering whether Worker Theus's shell or Isabella's power could serve as fuel.
• Richard announced that biological research had produced a shell Chloe could use, and Chloe's coffin crashed into the ceiling in excitement.
• Chloe dragged Richard out of the meeting room and raced her coffin toward the testing grounds as Theus and the others followed.
• Nora rejoiced for Chloe while reflecting on her own body and Big Nora, and Castel's residents celebrated Chloe's coming resurrection.

Richard proposed controlling shells directly like machines and demonstrated that Chloe could hot-swap between vessels. The ritual moved Chloe from her diary into a pendant, which Richard placed on the blue-haired girl's body.

• Richard proposed having Chloe control a shell like a machine and suggested that she and Nora could share one body, though Nora objected to the idea.
• Monica suggested that one of them could fight while the other recited Nini's novels, and Theus raised concerns about the two sharing a body.
• Richard revealed that Chloe could hot-swap between vessels and brought out the blue-haired girl's body and Lina's body for the test.
• Theus discovered that he could control the blue-haired girl's body, but Richard ruled out using Lina's body for Chloe.
• Chloe moved from her diary into a sapphire pendant, and Richard hung it around the blue-haired girl's neck.

Chloe awakened in a new shell and reunited with Gaia and Monica, then learned from Richard that her soul lived in the pendant controlling her body. She understood that she had to protect the vulnerable gem, though her shell gave her unusual durability and combat advantages.

• Chloe woke up and embraced Theus before turning to Gaia and asking whether she still hated her.
• Monica rushed in and hugged Chloe and Gaia, and Gaia stroked Chloe’s blue hair as they began bickering.
• Nini tried to turn the reunion into a novel until Ash threw her out of the room.
• Richard removed Chloe’s pendant, causing her shell to collapse, then explained that her soul resided in the gem.
• Richard told Chloe that her shell could keep moving despite severe damage, but she had to protect the ordinary soul gem.
• Chloe removed the pendant and considered where to hide it while keeping it secure and close at hand.

Chloe swallowed her Soul Gem to keep it safe, while Richard explained why the diary could not serve as her true body. The group then fitted a mechanical connector so Nora could attach to Chloe and share control of her body.

• Chloe swallowed the Soul Gem, and Monica warned that she might not be able to get it back out.
• Richard explained that the diary could not serve as a vessel for Chloe’s soul and that keeping the gem inside her body was a workable solution.
• Big Gwen persuaded Chloe to try fusion mode with Nora, and Richard brought out two mechanical connection devices.
• Chloe chose to attach Nora’s head to her shoulder, and Richard connected Nora to her with a soft pop.

Chloe and Nora tested their new connection, which let Nora briefly stand and feel alive again in Chloe’s body. After they separated, Chloe offered to help Nora use Lina’s shell or spend time together, leaving Nora with the hope of having a body again.

• Chloe and Nora struggled to control their joined bodies before Nora managed to stand and take a few steps.
• Nora reflected on how much she valued being alive and having a body after becoming a [Burier].
• Big Gwen tried to hug Nora, but Gaia objected because Nora was using Chloe’s body.
• Theus suggested developing mechanical prosthetics as a longer-term way for Nora to regain bodily sensations.
• Chloe removed Nora from her neck, and Nora felt dejected after losing the body she had briefly experienced.
• Chloe quietly offered to ask Richard about using Lina’s shell or to take Nora out together.

Lina and Little Gwen entered Rhine to learn about the Empire’s sweeping industrial and religious reforms, which Little Gwen suspected Jules had orchestrated. They met Jules for negotiations, and he ended the chapter by asking whether Little Gwen was a newly born [Named One] or the next [God].

• Lina and Little Gwen observed Rhine’s factories and crowded schools, and Little Gwen recognized the Empire’s transformation into an industrial power.
• Little Gwen connected the Empire’s successive purges, changes of leadership, and reforms, and suspected Jules had shaped them into a single plan.
• Lina asked whether Castel could defeat the Empire, and Little Gwen said Castel was powerful but might fall behind if the Empire kept developing.
• Lina worried that Jules might prevent them from leaving Rhine and considered the danger posed by him, the Banshees, the [Choirs], and Isaac.
• Jules asked Little Gwen whether she was a newly born [Named One] or the next [God].

Jules tested Little Gwen and concluded she was not a God, then urged her to learn more about the Sea God in Castel’s Stellar Furnace. Little Gwen and Lina prepared a ritual to contact Theus, while Little Gwen worried Jules was already planning against the Lord.

• Jules cut Little Gwen’s cheek with a sudden attack and said that Gods did not bleed, so she was not a God.
• Jules asked whether Little Gwen knew how the Sea God had been defeated and put into Castel’s Stellar Furnace, then left when he learned she did not.
• Little Gwen and Lina decided to contact Theus, and the Candlelight Society supplied materials and space for Lina to set up a Transcendence ritual.
• Lina wondered whether Jules intended to assassinate Theus and recalled that her earlier ritual had caused him to dream.
• Little Gwen called Lina a genius for realizing the ritual might make Theus dream again, and they prepared to contact him.

Isabella urged Theus to launch an all-out war against the Empire before its industrialization erased Castel’s advantage. After confronting his hesitation and recalling how she seized the crown, she left him to decide, and Theus resolved to protect what he cherished, though he still felt regret.

• Isabella warned Theus that the Empire was building factories quickly and urged him to crush its industrialization with a war.
• Theus reflected that the Empire had broken free from the Church and argued that Isabella believed he had begun to waver and sympathize with Jules.
• Isabella recounted how she had taken the crown as a child and warned Theus that a monarch’s weakness could determine the fate of countless people.
• Isabella left Theus to make his decision and said she would seize power herself if she could not wait any longer.
• Theus recalled the head of Nora and concluded that he could not leave what he cherished in other people’s hands.
• Theus told Ash to turn away visitors, then said he would go to Little Gwen’s place.

Theus met Jules in Rhine after Little Gwen contacted him, and Jules revealed knowledge of Theus’s past as Worker Theus. Theus recognized Jules’s strange powers and asked whether he was a transmigrator.

• Little Gwen contacted Theus through the ritual and asked him to come to Rhine because Jules wanted to speak with him.
• Theus switched into Worker Theus’s body, causing Lina’s ritual to fail, and Jules arrived before Lina could summon anyone.
• Jules recognized Worker Theus and described how he had watched him at Galahad’s factory before he met Isabella.
• Jules summoned the Gear Sage and used his power to make Lina sit down, leaving her visibly shocked.
• Theus connected Jules’s powers and actions to the people on the Golden Throne and asked whether Jules was a transmigrator.

Prometheus discovered that Jules knew Lina’s [father] and used their soul pact to purify Lina’s severe Pollution before confronting Jules. Jules claimed that [Named Ones] were created to fight within Pollution, leaving Lina questioning how he knew their secrets and Prometheus wary of his story.

• Prometheus asked Jules why he called himself Lina’s Uncle Jules, and Jules admitted that he knew Lina’s [father].
• Lina erupted in anger at Jules, and Little Gwen restrained her as the Sea of Unconsciousness began eroding reality around them.
• Prometheus used his soul pact with Lina to purify her Pollution and restore her sanity.
• Jules explained that [Named Ones] could suppress Pollution during battle and return to be purified afterward.
• Lina suspected Jules knew more about her origins, while Theus pointed out that Jules’s age made his claim of knowing her [father] suspicious.

Theus investigated Jules’s past and questioned whether Jules had taken over his body, leading him to doubt whether he had truly transmigrated. Little Gwen grounded him by insisting that their shared lives and friends were real, though her own memories and village might have been fabricated.

• Theus learned that Jules had been a Joan Family prodigy, survived an anomaly with Isaac, and later helped purge both the nobles and the Church while pursuing his own plans.
• Lina revealed that she had once tutored Jules and taught him his Transcendent abilities, but Jules questioned how she knew he had returned from the anomaly.
• Jules asked Theus when he had last seen his father and claimed that no one could take over another person’s body, making Theus wonder whether his memories of transmigrating were merely a Thought Brand.
• Little Gwen told Theus that her remembered village had been in ruins for decades except for her intact home, suggesting her past had been fabricated.
• Little Gwen urged Theus not to believe Jules and affirmed that their friends and the time they had shared were real.

Little Gwen and Theus fought their way through Jules’s palace as the Candlelight Society attacked and Rhine’s Steam Tanks took aim. The Bone Colossus hurled them out of the palace, leaving their escape under fire.

• Little Gwen summoned her imagined friends and her true form, the Bone Colossus, then chose to leave Rhine with Theus.
• The Candlelight Society’s guards attacked, while the Gear Sage charged at them; Theus halted it by trying to take control, then collapsed.
• Jules revealed that he was Bruno, claimed Lina had seen only his shell burn, and said he had died long before Lina was born.
• Steam Tanks across Rhine City aimed at the palace and fired, prompting Little Gwen to raise the Bone Colossus and prepare to escape.
• Little Gwen had the Bone Colossus grab its skull, where she, Theus, and Lina stood, and hurl it into the distance.

Theus ordered an emergency extraction after the Bone Colossus struck Jules and Little Gwen saw that he was not a [God]. Nora led a force into the Empire to retrieve Little Gwen, Jules, and Lina, while she made Chloe face the seriousness of their mission; the assault team prepared to break through the enemy line.

• The Bone Colossus hit Jules despite the battle fortress's attempt to shield him, scattering his parts across the ground, and Little Gwen realized he was not a [God].
• Theus alerted the front line, and Isabella mobilized self-propelled artillery while Galahad led feint attacks to support Little Gwen's extraction.
• Ignati assigned Nora to lead five combat teams and fifteen self-propelled artillery vehicles, and Nora allowed Chloe to join her.
• Nora's force slipped through the battlefield as the feint attacks suppressed the enemy, and Chloe learned that the extraction targets included Little Gwen, Jules, and Lina.
• Nora told Chloe to carry out the mission despite her feelings, and the team prepared to break through the enemy line.

Chloe experienced the mortal battlefield through the self-propelled artillery and tried to protect Nora when a giant cannon shot down Castel's Hell-III Type armored airship. The resulting explosion and shockwave devastated the battlefield, leaving Nora unsure whether Chloe had survived.

• Chloe resonated with the self-propelled artillery's Machine Soul and experienced its advance and gunfire through her senses.
• Castel's Hell-III Type armored airship bombed the Empire's lines before Church forces brought a giant cannon to the front.
• The giant cannon pierced the airship, which fell onto the Steam Tanks and cannon below and triggered a massive explosion.
• Chloe shielded Nora as the shockwave hurled the self-propelled artillery through the air, and she prayed for their survival.
• Nora regained consciousness coughing and called out to Chloe, fearing that Chloe might have died protecting her.