Recaps

After the Hunter Clan hunted the escaped beasts, Lin Jin reassured Gron that the Ashen Clan remained irreplaceable. He granted the Ashen Clan a stable form of Soulfire, giving its warriors a new path to grow.

• The Hunter Clan hunted the remaining beasts across the grasslands while the Ashen Clan guarded the camp and awaited supplies.
• Lin Jin visited Gron, recognized his fear of being replaced by the mantises, and promised a gift for the Ashen Clan.
• The Ashen Clan gathered on the training grounds, anxious that the Sunfire God had assigned the Hunter Clan the hunt.
• Lin Jin praised his first believers and gave every Ashen Clan warrior a stable form of Soulfire.
• The Ashen Clan celebrated its new power as Lin Jin declared that its path of development stretched far into the future.

After the Black Shell Plains fell, Gron and Mortas argued over the next direction of the expedition while Lin Jin considered the clans’ roles. In the Sacrificial Grounds, a surviving Snail Shaman discovered Ashen City, attracted Lin Jin’s attention, and barely escaped his divine power.

• Gron proposed splitting the forces to attack separate regions, but Mortas questioned the intelligence behind the plan and showed him an ancient map.
• Gron and Mortas disagreed over whether to advance from the Black Shell Plains or the Fungal Forest, each wanting his clan to lead the next campaign.
• A Snail Shaman awakened among the ruins of the Sacrificial Grounds and used a spell to view the civilization’s other regions.
• The Snail Shaman saw Ashen City thriving around Lin Jin’s temple and tried to investigate more closely.
• Lin Jin noticed the Snail Shaman and reached toward him, burning his body and damaging his prayer beads before the Snail Shaman severed their connection.

Lin Jin encountered a Snail Shaman spying on him, then chose to seek peace and recruit the dangerous researchers rather than provoke them. He sent Gron instructions to prioritize communication, and Gron ordered the Expedition to advance toward the Sacrificial Grounds.

• Lin Jin spotted a Snail Shaman watching him, but their contact ended abruptly when he tried to touch it.
• Lin Jin recalled the Snail Shamans’ dangerous research and decided to win them over instead of making enemies of them.
• Lin Jin messaged Gron to respond to the Snail Shaman by seeking communication and avoiding hostilities.
• At Bastion City, Gron and Mortas debated the Expedition’s route while preparing to resume their advance.
• After receiving Lin Jin’s message, Gron ordered the troops to assemble and advance toward the Sacrificial Grounds.

The Snail Shaman performed a ritual using gathered offerings and souls to reach the newly arrived Sunfire God, hoping to wield power approaching a god’s. Gron and an Ashen Clan squad stopped him before the ritual could finish and took him into custody, but the shaman believed he had succeeded in attracting the god’s attention.

• The Snail Shaman arranged offerings and stockpiled souls in a magic circle, producing four hovering orbs.
• The Snail Shaman began a sacrifice to the Sunfire God, chanting and tracing fiery marks as red clouds gathered overhead.
• Gron arrived with a rapid-response squad and ordered the ritual to end.
• Two Ashen Clan insects pinned the Snail Shaman down while the strange sky phenomena faded.
• The Snail Shaman claimed the ritual had succeeded and that the god knew of him, and Gron ordered his squad to take him away for their Lord to judge.

Pontiff Isara confronted a black speck of foreign faith that appeared in the Sunfire Temple and feared that outsiders might threaten the purity of the Ashen Clan’s worship. After preaching to calm the faithful, she faced the captured Snail Shaman, who appeared delighted by the stain he had caused, and prepared to judge him.

• Isara sealed the Temple and ordered the City Guard to bring her the heretic captured by the Expedition Army.
• Alone, Isara feared that the Sunfire God might abandon her and resolved not to trust untested outsiders.
• Isara preached the Sunfire God’s history, calming the faithful as Essence gathered around the statue despite the black speck.
• Four armored Walkers escorted the chained, shell-less Snail Shaman into the Temple, where he eagerly admired the stain he had caused.
• Isara dismissed the Walkers and declared that the judgment of the heretic would begin.

The Snail Shaman challenged the Sunfire Temple’s rigid approach to faith, prompting Lin Jin to recognize the dangers of neglecting his worshippers’ spiritual needs. When Lin Jin appeared before the congregation, the Snail Shaman asked to become his Priest and offered knowledge of the past in exchange.

• The Snail Shaman questioned the worshippers’ prayer customs and accused them of fearing change, while Isara lost control of her god-given power.
• Isara and the worshippers fell silent as they considered the Snail Shaman’s criticism of their attachment to tradition.
• Lin Jin watched the debate and realized that neglecting his worshippers’ spiritual needs could cause divisions and unrest.
• Lin Jin appeared as the Sunfire God, and the congregation knelt while the Snail Shaman remained standing.
• The Snail Shaman asked to become Lin Jin’s Priest and offered secret teachings and histories from the past.
• Lin Jin gave the Snail Shaman one chance to share something useful.

Isara reconsidered how to use the Sunfire God’s power and set out to help Ashen City’s workers directly. Meanwhile, Gron and Mortas’s forces fought a massive swarm in the Upper Layer, and two hidden observers watched from the rocky ceiling.

• Isara learned the expedition had found another passage upward and worried that its growing resource needs would strain Ashen City.
• Isara realized her power could be used for practical work, changed into ordinary work clothes, and ran out to find where Ashen City needed help most.
• In the Upper Layer, Gron and Mortas held defensive lines against swarms of primitive bugs emerging from pitch-black caves.
• The expeditionary army suffered casualties as the relentless attacks threatened to break its defenses, while Gron wondered why the outbreak had occurred.
• Two figures hidden on the rocky ceiling watched the battle below.

A yellow ladybug and a white insect observed the Ashen Clan fighting off the Black Nest’s invasion, defying the white insect’s expectations and the Gear Council’s doctrine. After the white insect left to report, the yellow ladybug abandoned her post and headed for Bastion City to investigate.

• The yellow insect and the white insect watched the Ashen Clan fight the invading beasts, while the Black Shell beasts disappeared.
• The white insect objected that ordinary insects were resisting the invasion through physical strength rather than machinery and contacted his superiors.
• The yellow insect saw the Ashen Clan’s discipline and cooperation as evidence that they might have reclaimed the ancient kingdom’s lower territories.
• The white insect received instructions to return to the territory and report, leaving the yellow insect behind to continue observing.
• After confirming the white insect had gone, the yellow ladybug jumped from the cliff, slowed her fall with her wings, and ran toward Bastion City.

Raily, an observer from the Black River Plains, disguised herself to enter Bastion City and explored its bustling districts. After the radiance atop the central tower drew her toward it and frightened her, she became determined to uncover what lay there.

• Bastion City received its final supply convoy as its bugs repaired the fortress and decorated it with flames in honor of the Sunfire God.
• Raily stole a black robe and slipped into the city, where she admired its grand construction and investigated its coin-based market.
• Raily reached the central tower and was drawn toward its radiance until two soldiers stopped her.
• Raily fled in fear, then became consumed by curiosity about the tower's summit and the changes it might bring to the world.

Lin Jin worried that his growing power could not protect the Flame Capital from the gods and other disasters, then visited Aemon's Chamber to inspect the Snail Shaman's history of Ironkeep. The book revealed the ancient civilization's rise and technological achievements before its decline began.

• Lin Jin failed to see beyond the haze above the wilderness and reflected on how vulnerable the Flame Capital would be to a hostile god.
• Lin Jin went to Aemon's Chamber, where the Snail Shaman presented the history he had written about the past civilization.
• Lin Jin read the Ironhold Chronicles and learned that Ironkeep had been founded by a king who united the tribes, with the snail tribe among his first followers.
• Lin Jin read how Ironkeep expanded across the mountain, built the Torch Crown, and developed technologies including airships.
• Lin Jin continued reading as Ironkeep entered a golden age and then began to decline.

Lin Jin read the Snail Shaman’s account of Ironkeep’s fall, when its king’s pursuit of immortality led him to unleash the Void. He made the Snail Shaman his priest and shared his Soulfire Arts research, bringing Lin Jin closer to Godhood and kindling his Divine Flame.

• The king of Ironkeep pursued immortality, enslaved conquered people, and ordered excavations that eventually uncovered ancient ruins and a sealed gate.
• A miner opened the gate, releasing the Void, which devoured Ironkeep before receding and leaving scattered survivors.
• Lin Jin finished reading the Snail Shaman’s book and concluded that the account gave him enough knowledge of the past to face the Void.
• Lin Jin named the Snail Shaman his priest and placed his Soulfire Arts research in the shaman’s mind.
• The Snail Shaman compared Soulfire Arts with his Path of Sacrifice and eagerly prepared to experiment, while Lin Jin sensed his bottleneck loosening toward Godhood.

Raily infiltrated the tower in Bastion City and stole a piece of the mysterious light hidden above its upper room. Lin Jin watched from the jar and planned to use Raily, whom he recognized as a descendant of the Ancient Civilization, to bring her people into his faith.

• Raily climbed the tower, reflecting on her prosthetic hands, her refusal of further modifications, and her life as an outcast observer.
• Raily entered the empty room at the summit, found an ancient orange-red book, and put it in her backpack.
• Raily discovered a concealed hatch in the ceiling and took a small piece from the blazing object hidden above it, sealing it in her jar.
• Raily left Bastion City unnoticed and hurried back to her post, believing her theft had gone flawlessly.
• Lin Jin revealed that he had secretly helped Raily evade capture and considered her a chance to win the Ancient Civilization's descendants over to his faith.

Raily brought the Essence home and fell asleep, after which it entered her forehead and revealed Lin Jin's plan to spread his faith. In a dream, Raily found herself on an endless grassland, met a black-robed old man by a campfire, and listened as he began a story about light, heat, and flame.

• Raily hurried home with the light source, locked herself inside, and examined the Essence in her jar.
• Raily fell asleep, and the Essence seeped through the glass and entered the spot between her eyebrows.
• Raily awoke in a dream on an endless grassland and ran toward a distant campfire as night fell.
• Raily met a silent black-robed old man beside the fire and told him she was an ordinary insect with no important role.
• The old man gave Raily a bowl of soup, then began telling her a story about light, heat, and flame.

Gron’s army struggled to break through the enormous gate barring the way to the Royal City, and Gron refused to risk his elite Walkers on another assault. The Snail Shaman returned bearing Soulfire and offered to open the gate, leaving Gron to let him try.

• After capturing the Snail Shaman, Gron led the Ashen Clan through a hidden passage to the desolate Royal Station and found a massive gate blocking the route to the Royal City.
• Gron’s scouting teams found only dust and silence, while his probing attacks on the gate failed against its defenses and the beasts around it.
• Gron decided against committing the Walkers and considered searching for another way through.
• The Snail Shaman appeared with his tools restored and new equipment, offering Gron a variable that could open the gate.
• Gron sensed the Snail Shaman’s Soulfire and allowed him to try opening the gate.

Lin Jin used a dream full of stories to persuade Raily to accept the Sunfire God’s Essence and become the Flame Saintess. Raily woke in the Royal Airfield transformed, with her prosthetic limbs replaced by newly grown hands, and realized the dream had been real.

• Lin Jin captivated Raily with tales of ancient heroes and convinced her to carry on their will.
• Lin Jin presented the Sunfire God’s Essence and asked Raily to gather faith to help the sleeping deity recover.
• Raily agreed, and the flame entered her body, painfully reshaping her as Lin Jin called her the Flame Saintess.
• Raily woke in her home at the Royal Airfield, late for the daily roll call, and discovered her body had changed.
• Raily found that her hands had grown back and recognized the glowing Essence in the jar as proof her dream was real.
• Lin Jin watched from inside the jar as Raily realized she had been chosen by the Sunfire God.

Raily disguised herself as an ordinary worker to reach the Observation Station, where she tested her newly strengthened body and wondered how to use her power as the Flame Saintess. Lin Jin watched her and decided to nudge her toward spreading his faith among the bugs of the Royal Airfield.

• Raily passed the clock-in checkpoint in disguise, and the Overseer felt an inexplicable pressure from her before she left.
• At the Observation Station, Raily removed her disguise and tested her enhanced, unmodified body.
• Raily realized she had become the Flame Saintess but struggled to understand how to gather faith.
• Lin Jin observed the Royal Airfield and considered how to bring its exploited population into his faith.
• Lin Jin used Psychokinesis to drop a pebble onto Raily's head to prompt her into action.

After realizing her new power had made her arrogant, Raily followed a sensed direction to Medel Mine, where she rescued miners from a swarm of Stone-Eroding Bugs. She vanished after leaving behind three mysterious objects, and the miners concealed the truth from the overseers.

• Raily recognized that gaining power had made her feel superior and sensed faint lights pointing toward an ore vein near Medel Mine.
• At Medel Mine, Tolkien and Abel struggled through dangerous labor as Stone-Eroding Bugs broke into the tunnels and attacked the miners.
• Raily arrived and destroyed the swarm with orange-red flames, then disappeared after leaving a flame-engraved badge, a warm crystal, and a scroll titled "Blazing Sun's Protection."
• The miners told the late-arriving overseers that explosives had killed the Stone-Eroding Bugs, and one miner secretly clutched the three glowing objects.

Raily secretly helped the miners understand the scroll and spread belief in the Sunfire God after leaving them three miraculous items. As the overseer grew suspicious, the miners built a hidden altar and began praying in Medel Mine.

• The miners discovered that the copper amulet strengthened its wearer and the orange-red crystal restored their health, while Raily taught them to read the scroll.
• Raily revealed that she had been the mysterious lady who saved the miners and had left the items to inspire them to spread faith in the Sunfire God.
• The overseer noticed the miners’ sudden diligence and study group, became suspicious, and resolved to investigate them.
• The miners learned the scroll’s legend of the merciful Sunfire God and debated whether their rescuer was his emissary or incarnation.
• The miners built a hidden stone altar in Medel Mine, placed an imitation Sun Emblem upon it, and began praying before their shifts.

The Gear Council decided to keep observing the unknown faction in the lower layer, while a mine supervisor grew alarmed by changes among his workers. A bug who rejected the supervisor’s authority joined a secret Sunfire gathering, where a woman began preaching.

• A silver-white bug reported the ecological upheaval and new faction to the Gear Council, whose Grand Arbiters ordered continued observation.
• The mine supervisor worried that his urgent letters had gone unanswered and that the miners had become unusually cheerful.
• The supervisor ordered a passing bug to deliver another letter, but the bug tore it up and burned it.
• The bug changed into a homemade red robe, followed hidden directions through an alley, and entered a secret religious gathering.
• A woman carrying a copy of the Book of Sunfire began her sermon, and the gathered bugs repeated the group’s refrain.

Raily’s Sunfire Church spread rapidly among the Royal Airfield’s poorest bugs, while Lin Jin’s faith and divinity grew. When the Gear Council’s forces raided a secret gathering and arrested Raily, she calmly offered herself in exchange for her followers’ safety, as sparks began appearing among the believers.

• Raily preached the Book of Sunfire as the church’s followers and influence grew among the Royal Airfield’s lower classes.
• Lin Jin saw his panel rise to 647 believers and 1,580 faith points, and estimated that his divinity could reach its limit in thirteen days.
• Armed guards broke into the secret gathering, and the Silver-White Bug accused Raily of running a cult against the Gear Council.
• Raily called the raid a trial, then urged her followers to stay calm and offered herself to the Silver-White Bug in exchange for their release.
• As Raily walked away under escort, sparks kindled beneath the robes of the believers behind the Silver-White Bug.

The Snail Shaman destroyed the Expedition Army’s first gate with his new Point-Detonation Rune and joined the march as a magic instructor. Inside the ancient Royal City, Gron encountered its tireless Iron Army and ordered his soldiers to attack.

• The Snail Shaman used a runic array and Soulfire to destroy the gate, revealing his Point-Detonation Rune.
• Gron invited the Snail Shaman to join the Expedition Army as its magic instructor, and the army passed through the gate.
• Gron and the soldiers entered the vast, preserved Royal City built inside a mountain and saw its grand walls, buildings, and waterfalls.
• The Snail Shaman identified approaching rusted machines as the Iron Army, ancient defenders sustained by soul infusion who would stop only when completely destroyed.
• Gron ordered his troops to attack the Iron Army in the name of the Sunfire God.

The Expedition Army fought through the Royal City’s streets against the slow but heavily armored machines, and Gron joined Mortas to destroy a powerful war machine. The battle continued as they returned to supporting their clans, while the Snail Shaman watched from a distant platform.

• The Ashen Clan adapted its formation to surround the slow-moving machines, but its Nail-Spears barely pierced their armor.
• Gron charged a much larger machine and wounded its eye, then realized that the damage had barely weakened it.
• Mortas joined Gron, and the two coordinated to make the machine crash into a wall.
• Mortas pierced the machine’s chest armor, and Gron hurled his spear through the opening to destroy it in an explosion.
• Gron and Mortas returned to support their clans as the battle continued, while the Snail Shaman watched from a raised platform.

The Royal City's ancient ruler awakened seven war machines and sent them into the outer city as the Sunrise Expedition advanced. Mortas and Gron each faced a specialized machine built to counter them, leaving both clan leaders in peril.

• The ancient ruler awoke and dispatched seven preserved war machines to different parts of the outer city.
• Gron led the Ashen Clan forward with disciplined tactics and his balanced ashen-way Emblem System, while Mortas directed the Hunter Clan using the speed-focused hunter's way.
• A four-armed machine marked with the number four ambushed Mortas's hunters, killed several mantises, and forced Mortas to face it.
• A heavily armored machine marked with the number seven battered Gron until he coughed blood and fell to one knee.
• Gron rose and attacked again, making his Soulfire burn with unprecedented ferocity.

Gron fought Number Seven, whose strength and armor overwhelmed him, until the Snail Shaman supplied a newly forged spear that resonated with Soulfire. Gron named it Fireflow Cloud and used it to sever Number Seven’s right fist, then prepared to continue the battle.

• Gron’s strongest attack barely marked Number Seven’s armor and broke his spear, but he resolved to keep fighting for the Ashen Clan, his lord, and the Sunfire God.
• Number Seven uncrossed its arms and prepared to attack as Gron charged a final strike.
• The Snail Shaman called down a newly forged, engraved spear, explaining that it could resonate with its wielder’s Soulfire and increase its killing power.
• Number Seven moved behind Gron and unleashed a steam-powered punch, but Gron’s new spear sliced through its right fist and severed the pipes and cables inside.
• Gron named the spear Fireflow Cloud, pointed it at Number Seven, and challenged the steel monster to continue the fight.

Mortas fought Number Four while badly wounded and used his father’s Twelve Methods of Life-Severing Hunt to destroy her power core. He later awoke among his recovering clansmen, believing the Sunfire God had saved them, and prepared to continue his duties.

• Number Four repeatedly wounded Mortas with blades that kept his blood from clotting, while both sides’ allies fought across the square.
• Mortas recalled his father’s lessons and resolved to give his people the freedom to choose their own fate.
• Mortas trapped Number Four’s arms with his Nail-Spear and struck her with the Twelve Methods of Life-Severing Hunt.
• Mortas pierced Number Four’s power core, destroying her, then collapsed from his wounds as his clansmen treated him.
• Mortas saw a flame that told him he had duties left to fulfill, then woke to find himself and other near-dead mantises recovering.
• Quyin greeted Mortas, and Mortas thanked the Sunfire God for saving his people.