Recaps

Elliot and the allied forces watched the remaining Blood Vampires form Blood Cocoons as the [Ebb Tide] countdown accelerated. When spirituality warnings spread through the fleet, Elliot ordered an immediate retreat, but Sidney could not identify where the danger was coming from or which way they should flee.

• The Blood Vampires retreated under fire and gathered together, leaving their dead behind.
• The surviving Blood Vampires formed countless Blood Cocoons, alarming Elliot, Sidney, and Michel.
• Elliot noticed the [Ebb Tide] countdown was speeding up and suspected it was connected to the Blood Vampires’ cocooning.
• Sidney, Michel, Holly, and others reported that their spirituality warned of an approaching calamity, and Sidney urged the fleet to withdraw.
• Elliot agreed to retreat and asked Sidney where the danger was coming from, but Sidney could not tell and asked whether the Furnace had offered guidance.

Elliot realized the Ebb Tide threatened him rather than the fleet and ordered Allen to bring him back to the cabin. As Allen vanished with him, Sidney took command and ordered the Expedition Army to keep diving.

• Elliot ordered the fleet to dive because a Nightmare’s behavior suggested danger was approaching from above.
• Elliot recognized that his Spirituality Intuition pointed toward danger above the entire Sea of the Moon and saw the Ebb Tide countdown.
• Elliot ordered Sidney to take command and Allen to bring him back, then cut power to the Difference Engine.
• Allen realized Elliot’s concealed form was changing, activated [Rampage], and Blinked away with him.
• Michel reached for his sword, but Sidney stopped him and ordered the Expedition Army to keep diving.

Elliot fled the Dock with the Difference Engine Core as Blood Vampires emerged from their cocoons and pursued him. He fought through the monsters and forced his way down the corridor, with more still closing in behind him.

• Elliot tore the Difference Engine Core from the machine and ran, sensing danger approaching.
• Elliot found the Dock strewn with corpses and realized that Blood Vampires had cocooned themselves in response to [Ebb Tide].
• Elliot tried to control a Blood Cocoon with [Compliance], but a half-transformed, eyeless Blood Vampire burst out and chased him.
• The Blood Vampire's howl awakened other cocoons, and the monsters pursued Elliot as his [Spirituality Pressure] failed against the eyeless one.
• Elliot used [Secret Art: Trigger] to knock aside a Blood Vampire blocking the corridor and charged past it with the Difference Engine Core.

Elliot escaped the Blood Vampires by destroying the dock and diving into the Sea of the Moon with the Difference Engine Core. He pressed deeper into the lonely waters, guided by the Ascent Curse, until he spotted an enormous dark shape.

• Elliot used [Secret Art · Overdraw] to restore his strength and regrow his finger, then blasted through the Blood Vampires with [Secret Art · Trigger] and [Spirituality Pressure].
• Elliot reached the dock's sea exit, abandoned the escape boats, and jumped into the water with the Difference Engine Core bound to his chest.
• Elliot immobilized the Blood Vampires at the cabin doorway and shot the escape boats' fuel tanks, causing explosions that engulfed the monsters and destroyed the dock.
• Elliot activated [Mother of Concealment] and dived away from the burning dock, enduring the disorienting loneliness of the deep sea.
• The Ascent Curse guided Elliot downward, and he spotted an enormous dark shape in the water.

Elliot discovered that an enormous sphere of joined mines held blood cocoons, leading him to suspect the Sea of the Moon was part of a living creature and that blood vampires were parasites. When the ebb tide exposed the deep sea to a vacuum, he dove desperately toward the Seabed passage, where the Difference Engine was waiting.

• Elliot found a gigantic sphere assembled from mines and saw dense masses of blood cocoons inside it.
• Elliot connected the mines, the Seabed’s flesh chunks, and the enormous hands, and suspected the Seabed—and perhaps the moon—was alive.
• Elliot saw the sea surface above him and realized the ebb tide was draining the Deep Sea.
• The receding water exposed the sphere to a vacuum, causing the blood cocoons and mine to shrivel as the sea fell silent.
• Elliot swam downward toward the Seabed passage and the Difference Engine, then froze when he saw a recently dead blood vampire with eyes and tentacles growing from its body.

Elliot suspected that the Sea of the Moon was a power separate from humans, Dream Creatures, and Blood Vampires, and that the Ebb Tide might be trying to kill everything in the sea. As he plunged toward the Seabed for a chance to survive, Victoria and Lillian concluded that the Great Being wanted them to explore the area.

• Elliot saw a Blood Vampire develop limbs resembling those of a Dream Creature and wondered whether it had contracted Deep Diving Sickness.
• Elliot theorized that miners who became Human Ore might have suffered both Deep Diving Sickness and Ore Sickness, then considered whether the Sea of the Moon itself was a fourth power.
• Elliot suspected the Ebb Tide was the moon trying to kill everything in the sea and dove frantically toward the Seabed while clutching the Difference Engine Core.
• Victoria and Lillian found that the Seabed was now far below the passage, while Maeve said she had only noticed the attacks on her weakening.
• Victoria pointed out that the group showed no signs of Deep Diving Sickness and interpreted this as a clue that the Great Being wanted them to stay near the Seabed.
• Victoria proposed that the group search around the Seabed for anything unusual instead of fighting.

Victoria and Lillian interpreted the clues as instructions from the Great Being to explore the seabed near the Rift, prompting Dorothea to organize the believers to search as well. Meanwhile, Sidney kept the Expedition Army’s fleet descending into danger on Elliot’s orders, insisting that he trusted him.

• Victoria linked the scattered clues and persuaded Lillian that they should explore the seabed near the Rift.
• Vanessa secretly overheard them and told Dorothea and Maeve that the Lord had directed the search.
• Dorothea agreed to send believers to explore while Vanessa stayed ready for instructions and Maeve handled the food.
• Sidney ordered the fleet to keep descending because their spirituality intuition still warned of approaching danger.
• Sidney reminded the crew that Elliot had ordered the descent and said he believed him.

After Elliot collapsed, Sidney tried to steady the Expedition Army while Holly went to check on him. Allen kept everyone away from Elliot’s cabin, where he discovered that the figure on the bed was Elsa’s corpse, leaving him wondering what had happened to the real Elliot and whether the Lord had caused the miracles.

• A Machine Priest pledged the Reforging Flame’s support to Sidney, who urged the anxious crew to be patient and sent Holly to check on Duke Sterling.
• Sidney stopped Michel from leaving the cabin, and Michel stayed to help keep everyone calm.
• Holly reached Elliot’s guarded cabin and learned that Allen made all decisions about who could enter.
• Allen told Holly that Elliot was in no serious danger but was not receiving visitors, while keeping his condition secret from the guards.
• Alone in the cabin, Allen found Elsa’s corpse on the bed and wondered when Elliot had been replaced, where the real Elliot had gone, and whether the Lord had caused the miracles.

Elliot died after the falling seawater of [Ebb Tide] caught and froze him, despite using [Secret Art · Overdraft] and searching for Dream Creatures. As his body was consumed by crimson flame, Lillian sensed a firelight above the Seabed and found a strange crystal-like object.

• Elliot used [Secret Art · Overdraft] for the third time, but the sea surface caught up with him before he could reach the bottom.
• Elliot searched for Dream Creatures and tried to reach the Difference Engine Core, but neither attempt saved him.
• The receding seawater froze Elliot, and the Difference Engine Core slipped from his arms toward the Seabed.
• Elliot died, and crimson flames appeared around him, consuming his body beneath the ice.
• Lillian sensed a firelight above the Seabed and led Victoria to investigate, while Victoria prepared threads as an escape route.
• A faceted crystal-like object fell from above; Lillian touched it, shed an old husk of skin, and cautiously picked it up.

Lillian and Victoria found a Difference Engine Core beneath the sea and concluded that the Great Being had guided them to install it in the Difference Engine at the Palace Hall. The machine started running, but it printed warm, blank cards, leaving them unsure what it was meant to do.

• Lillian revealed a strange crystal, and Victoria identified it as a Difference Engine Core.
• Victoria recalled that a Difference Engine had been brought through the passage and deduced that the Great Being wanted them to install the core in it.
• Lillian and Victoria returned to the Palace Hall, where Vanessa let them enter and Victoria located the assembled Difference Engine.
• Victoria inserted the core and pulled a lever, starting the Difference Engine.
• Victoria examined the cards the machine printed and found them blank, and Lillian confirmed that they had no images.

Victoria and Lillian left the Difference Engine after finding only blank Cards, while Flora discovered that the Cards matched one Elliot had given her and that the Engine Core seemed to fit her chest hollow. Aboard the Judgment Angel, Sidney’s expedition had dived too deep to return to the Present World, and the crew accepted that they had to continue downward.

• Lillian agreed with Victoria that the blank Cards might be a sign to stop searching the room, and the two left together.
• After Lillian was gone, Victoria secretly took a blank Card with Spider Silk before leaving.
• Vanessa examined the Difference Engine and a blank Card, then decided to wait until the search ended before asking Dorothea for help.
• Flora sensed that her chest hollow healed faster near the Difference Engine, and found that one of its blank Cards matched the Card Elliot had given her.
• Flora opened the Engine’s side and saw its Core, which she suspected would fit into the hollow in her chest.
• On the Judgment Angel, the crew realized they had dived too deep to return to the Present World and accepted that they had to keep going downward.

Sidney led the Expedition Army deeper as Blood Vampires devoured one another and transformed into enormous, bloated creatures. The fleet reached what seemed to be the seabed, where black hair covered a vast, squirming mass that began to rise.

• Sidney saw the Blood Vampires frenzying against their own kind and ordered the fleet to keep diving while preparing for combat.
• Sidney and the others passed a grinning, oversized Blood Vampire that watched them without attacking.
• Holly and Sidney spotted a Blood Vampire as large as a warship, and Sidney ordered everyone to activate [Rationality] when the creatures stirred strange thoughts in them.
• The ordinary Blood Vampires became scarce as increasingly giant ones appeared, leading the Expedition Army to fear they had all been eaten.
• Sidney looked down at a seemingly endless expanse of black-haired flesh, and the mass slowly rose as if a sleeping being were lifting its head.

Sidney and the fleet encountered an immense being beneath them, which overwhelmed the crew with its presence. After Holly began to recall its connection to Primordial Blood, Sidney stopped her, and the chapter ended as the being started moving.

• Sidney and the fleet froze before the colossal being, which made them feel insignificant and blocked their route.
• Holly began to explain that Blood Vampires were dispersed Primordial Blood, but Sidney stopped her when she began bleeding from her eyes and nose.
• Sidney told Holly she had touched a taboo and revealed that many people had gone mad, while he had helped calm them.
• Sidney said the being was likely an incarnation or an Immortal's true body, and that the threat remained.
• The being began to move, shaking the Command Room and sending objects crashing to the floor.

Sidney led the Expedition Army fleet deeper into the Sea of the Moon after an immense being vanished below them, while Lady Camilla reported that the Furnace had restored and strengthened the fleet’s machinery. As Dream Creatures gathered around the ships in growing numbers, the being appeared again beneath the fleet, apparently devouring something.

• Sidney called for the fleet’s status after an immense force churned the seawater, and Lady Camilla took control of the ships’ engines.
• Lady Camilla said the Furnace had blessed the Expedition Army, restoring damaged machinery and greatly increasing engine power.
• Sidney ordered the fleet to dive, and the ships continued downward while the crew recovered from Mental Shock.
• Holly noticed some Dream Creatures rising, but Sidney and Lady Camilla could not communicate with them as their numbers rapidly multiplied around the fleet.
• Sidney saw Dream Creatures packed and tangled together as if forming a single entity.
• A lookout reported that the immense being had appeared below the fleet again, where its hair-covered form seemed to be devouring something.

Sidney and Michel realized the enormous being beneath the fleet was likely gnawing on the seabed of the Sea of the Moon, meaning they had reached its bottom. As Sidney searched for a way over the being, the Dream Creatures suddenly swam off in the same direction.

• Michel and Sidney concluded that the enormous being’s influence made them perceive it as eating, and that it was probably a Great Being’s incarnation.
• Sidney reasoned that the being was gnawing on the seabed, revealing that the fleet had reached the bottom of the Sea of the Moon.
• Sidney searched the surrounding waters for a route over the being, but the fleet could not see its boundaries.
• Sidney suggested that Lady Camilla pray to the Furnace for guidance, and she agreed to try.
• The navigator reported that the Dream Creatures had suddenly swum away in the same direction, and Sidney was asked whether the fleet should follow.

The fleet followed the Dream Creatures while Sidney searched for the identity of the Great Being beneath the moon. Michel recalled a Blood Moon Sect fairy tale about a fallen tree’s fruit, leaving Sidney with a clue that the moon had once been called a sweet fruit.

• Sidney ordered the fleet to follow the Dream Creatures after Lady Camilla stopped responding.
• Sidney asked Pascal and Holly whether they knew which Great Being lay below, but neither provided an answer.
• Sidney and Michel considered which Great Being’s authority might involve devouring or desire.
• Michel remembered that accounts from the previous era described the moon as a “sweet fruit” and began recounting a Blood Moon Sect fairy tale.
• Michel told Sidney that a tree’s lone fruit remained in the sky after the tree fell and eventually became known as the Sun.

Michel told Sidney a fairy tale claiming the True Gods gained their powers by eating the Primordial Sun, whose remains became the sun and moon. As the Great Being beneath them threatened to devour the moon, [Casting Forge] responded to prayers from both the Reforging Flame and the priests, asking them to prepare a [Vessel].

• Michel explained that the Primordial Sun had been betrayed, killed, and divided among beings who became the True Gods, while others became Evil Gods.
• Sidney and Michel concluded that the Great Being beneath them intended to literally devour the moon and considered calling the True Gods for help.
• Sidney and Michel began preparing a ritual and asked the Machine Priests and the Reforging Flame to try contacting [Casting Forge].
• Holly told Sidney that [Casting Forge] had responded to the Reforging Flame and requested a [Vessel].
• Michel rushed in to report that the priests had also received a response from the Great Being requesting a [Vessel].

Victoria and Lillian followed the gap in the Dream Creatures’ arrivals, suspecting it was a hint from the Great Being, while Victoria’s instincts warned her against going that way. Lillian explained that histories could restart without repeating the same events and asked Victoria to imagine a world where the Great Beings remembered every past mistake and outcome.

• Victoria suggested the Dream Creatures’ appearance was a hint from the Great Being, and she and Lillian noticed none had arrived from one direction.
• Lillian started toward that direction, but Victoria felt fear in her body and followed despite her unease.
• Victoria asked about the moon and the being beneath the Seabed, and Lillian said nothing had happened to the moon in previous Histories.
• Lillian explained that a restarted History did not have to repeat the past and asked what a world would be like if everyone knew the ending and their regrets.

Lillian explained to Victoria that history was repeatedly rejected and revised until the world found a path into the Third Era, comparing history to a play performed for an unknown spectator. When a towering being appeared, Victoria was overwhelmed by its influence, and Lillian pulled out Victoria’s heart.

• Lillian told Victoria that past histories had been subjected to [Veto] because each one ended in the Second Era.
• Lillian proposed that history was a play, with beings who transcended history as actors and the world as replaceable scenery, while an unknown spectator judged the performance.
• Lillian said she did not know who the spectator was, since she was still trapped in repeated historical failures.
• Lillian pointed out that an actor had taken the stage, and Victoria saw a towering wall-like being that overwhelmed her senses and reason.
• Victoria’s pain restored her awareness, and she discovered Lillian had plunged a wrist into her chest and pulled out her beating heart.
• Lillian scattered Victoria’s gathered Spiri­tuality, leaving Victoria unable to resist as she closed her eyes and awaited death.

Victoria and Lillian discovered that a vast mass of [Primordial Blood] was consuming the moon, and Lillian revealed that the [Blood Lord] had been orchestrating the Blood Vampires’ presence there for ages to claim the moon’s authority. Lillian suspected the attack had begun early because the [Blood Lord] had encountered an unexpected setback.

• Lillian revived Victoria after she nearly succumbed to permanent madness and warned her not to look directly at Great Beings.
• Victoria viewed the enormous [Primordial Blood] through mirrors, and Lillian identified it as part of [Primordial Blood], which had given birth to many Great Beings.
• Victoria and Lillian realized that [Primordial Blood] appeared to be consuming the moon, and Lillian suspected the [Blood Lord] was directing it.
• Lillian explained that the moon was a fragment of the Primordial Sun and held His authority, which the [Blood Lord] hoped to claim by draining the Sea of the Moon.
• Lillian revealed that the Blood Vampires’ retreat to the moon had been part of the [Blood Lord]’s plan since the First Era, and she wondered what setback had forced Him to act before the Empire’s expedition ended.

Lillian explained to Victoria that authorities underlay the Paths and enabled Great Beings to ascend beyond the world’s limits. They discussed the Blood Lord’s plan to devour the moon and claim the [honey] authority, but Victoria’s question about why Great Beings shared their authorities left Lillian stumped.

• Victoria asked Lillian what an authority was, admitting she knew little about Great Beings’ essence.
• Lillian explained that ascension raised a Supernatural person’s level of life and granted access to more of the world’s secrets.
• Lillian told Victoria that Great Beings stood at the pinnacles of Paths and that possessing authorities was what made a Great Being.
• Victoria connected the Blood Lord’s plan to drink the Sea of the Moon and swallow the moon with obtaining the [honey] authority.
• Victoria asked why Great Beings shared their authorities with those who walked their Paths, and Lillian had no answer.

Victoria convinced Lillian that the Great Being had been preparing them to assimilate [Primordial Blood] by feeding them Maeve’s flesh. The chapter ended with Lillian realizing they were protected from [Primordial Blood]’s urge to devour.

• Victoria questioned why Great Beings allowed believers to gain authority through sacrifice, then suggested Lillian could seek authority over honey.
• A crash revealed Maeve clinging to [Primordial Blood] after charging into Him, and Victoria corrected Lillian that the flesh they ate was Maeve’s.
• Lillian warned that eating Maeve’s flesh meant being assimilated by [Primordial Blood], but Victoria argued that assimilation worked both ways.
• Victoria claimed the Great Being had guided them there to turn [Blood Lord] and [Primordial Blood] from hunters into prey.
• Lillian checked herself and found that, despite eating Maeve’s flesh, she was not controlled by an urge to devour, confirming the Great Being had protected them.

After the [primordial blood] appeared, Maeve went mad and charged toward the Rift, ignoring Vanessa’s [Spirituality Pressure]. The nightmare atop the tower let Maeve get stuck in the passage again, then began whipping her backside and pushing her toward the other side as Vanessa tried to stop it.

• Maeve became crazed when the Blood Vampires began slaughtering one another, and the [primordial blood] later drove her to charge at the Rift.
• Vanessa tried to restrain Maeve with [Spirituality Pressure], but Maeve’s madness made her bodily instincts ignore it.
• Vanessa called for the nightmare atop the tower to stop Maeve, but it let her climb up and leap into the passage, where she got stuck again.
• The nightmare repeatedly lashed Maeve’s backside, pushing her inch by inch toward the other side of the passage.
• Vanessa realized the nightmare was helping Maeve through and blasted it with [Spirituality Pressure].

Maeve went berserk under the influence of [Primordial Blood] and began devouring [Blood Lord]'s original body, rapidly growing stronger as she tore herself apart and healed with each bite. Lillian realized the attack might draw [Blood Lord]'s attention, and then sensed the Great Being descend in person.

• The Nightmare bundled its tentacles together and struck Maeve out of the passage, while Vanessa ordered the believers to find her.
• Vanessa concluded that Maeve's flight was part of the Lord's plan and told the believers to contact Dorothea.
• Maeve corrected her course toward [Primordial Blood] and began devouring its flesh, repeatedly injuring herself and healing as [Song of Flesh] made her stronger.
• Maeve rapidly swelled into a huge mass of flesh as Lillian and Victoria watched in shock.
• Lillian feared that Maeve's attack would draw [Blood Lord]'s attention, then sensed that [Blood Lord] had descended into [Primordial Blood].

The Blood Lord descended into the Primordial Blood, and Lillian and Victoria tried to save Maeve from his attack. Lillian’s old form briefly stopped Maeve’s mindless eating, but the Blood Lord struck as she remained unaware.

• The Blood Lord’s arrival sent a Mental Shock through the sea, and Lillian fed Victoria her shed old form to restore her senses.
• Victoria and Lillian realized Maeve’s eating had likely drawn the Blood Lord, who appeared intent on crushing her.
• Victoria asked Lillian how she had awakened her, and Lillian explained that the bitterness of her old form could revive reason.
• Lillian sent another lump of her old form to Maeve, who swallowed it with a strip of Primordial Blood and suddenly stopped moving.
• The Blood Lord’s flesh bulged out of the Primordial Blood and began crashing down toward the oblivious Maeve.