Recaps

Elliot and Vanessa each used [Analysis] during their meeting and received different clues: Elliot learned that [Knowledge] was the only path to the Third Era, while Vanessa saw a warning about love and Great Beings. Elliot stopped Vanessa from attacking him, escaped safely, and completed his Ascension mission through her sacrifice.

• Elliot used [Analysis] while looking at Vanessa and learned that [Knowledge] was the only way to reach the Third Era.
• Elliot realized Vanessa might be the key to reaching the Third Era and wondered whether she had received the same information.
• Vanessa used [Analysis] and saw a message linking love to the tragedies of the Furnace and the Blood Lord, ending with the claim that He loved no one.
• Vanessa grew suspicious of Elliot and began gathering Spirituality, so Elliot used the Difference Engine to control her and stopped her from acting.
• Elliot escaped the Hearthfire District, pondered Vanessa's message, and decided that love must be a powerful authority.
• Elliot had Vanessa perform a sacrifice, selected Ascension, and saw a blood-red light confirming that the mission had succeeded.

Elliot completed the task to reach the seventh rank through Vanessa and considered whether spirituality tied people to fate, which might explain his refusal to make sacrifices. He opened the Difference Engine’s Ascension interface and began examining Vanessa’s three choices.

• Elliot completed [Gaze Upon Fate] and became a seventh-rank Supernatural person, then reflected on how spirituality could reveal and bind someone to fate.
• Elliot wondered whether his past self had refused sacrifices to avoid fate and erased clues about the past to protect himself.
• Elliot steadied himself and opened Vanessa’s second Ascension interface, where three Cards appeared.
• Elliot examined the first Card, which showed Vanessa at a banquet holding a wine bottle and a coupe filled with thick amber liquid.

Elliot chose knowledge ascension after interpreting Vanessa’s dreamlike card as a vision connected to the Overflowing Garden. Upon reaching the seventh rank, he gained the chance to choose a dream form and discovered an ability that could turn knowledge into Secret History, potentially erasing it from the world.

• Elliot examined three cards depicting Vanessa amid honey and blood, enthroned on bones made from Elsa’s remains, and lying in red-rippled water.
• Elliot connected Vanessa in water to the Overflowing Garden and chose the third card, selecting knowledge ascension.
• The Difference Engine advanced Elliot to the seventh rank, restored his condition, and offered him a choice of dream form.
• Elliot read the three dream-form talents: Honey Wine, Philosopher’s Stone; II, and Knowledge Pollution.
• Elliot realized Knowledge Pollution could conceal knowledge as Secret History and considered its power to undo civilization’s technologies.

Elliot weighed the Difference Engine’s three talent options and tried to understand how [Philosopher's Stone; the Second] might build on Vanessa’s creation ability. He found no guidance from [Analysis] and ended the chapter wondering whether the talent could give machines souls.

• Elliot considered how [Knowledge Pollution] could turn knowledge into [Secret History] and block mortals from accessing the supernatural.
• He judged [Honey Wine] redundant while the Courtyard had plenty of [Honey], but worried that refusing [Philosopher's Stone; the Second] might cut off a powerful talent series.
• Elliot used [Analysis] on the three options but received no information, then suspected it only helped when he lacked crucial knowledge.
• Elliot recalled that Vanessa could create ordinary materials and machines but not life, gold, or supernatural materials.
• Elliot wondered whether [Philosopher's Stone; the Second] could make creations respond to him by giving machines souls.

Elliot made Vanessa's talent permanent with [Philosopher's Stone; Part Two], then chose [Rationality] and realized the artifact might be bringing machines to life. He used multiple Elsas to rapidly turn believers into Supernatural people, ending with Dorothea urgently requesting an endless supply of recruits.

• Elliot inserted Vanessa's card into [Philosopher's Stone; Part Two] and made her talent permanent.
• Elliot discovered that advancing Vanessa to higher ranks required enormous numbers of sacrifice offerings, so he chose [Rationality] instead of raising her rank further.
• Elliot controlled three Elsas at the Difference Engine and had one insert a card into the [Sacrifice] slot.
• An Elsa corpse at the Communion Headquarters awakened and ordered the emergency response duty room to bring as many believers as possible for sacrifice.
• Dorothea brought a line of believers to the altar, where Elsa rapidly transformed them into Supernatural people.
• More Elsas emerged from coffins and began preparing altars, so Dorothea called for more believers and told the duty room to keep them coming.

Elliot used Rationality Mode to speed up the allocation of believers’ abilities, clearing the way for the Communion to expand beyond the Hearthfire District. He tested his seventh-rank strength and his ability to create objects with the Philosopher’s Stone, ending with a newly made pistol that jammed when he fired it.

• Elliot refined Rationality Elsa’s instructions to prioritize synergistic abilities and stop when Analysis found relevant information.
• Elliot decided the Communion would expand beyond the Hearthfire District, since the growing supply of believers had outpaced his ability to allocate their points.
• Elliot tested his strength by firing a revolver at his head, catching the bullet, and charging into a Courtyard building, but he failed to break through its wall.
• Elliot removed the damaged building and created a revolver from scratch with the Philosopher’s Stone, realizing his limited mechanical knowledge constrained what he could make.
• Elliot aimed the newly created revolver at his head and pulled the trigger, but the bullet jammed.

Elliot discovered that his revolver and the Communion’s warships had developed wills of their own, with the gun guiding his shots and the ships influencing their repairs. He ordered compulsory mechanical education and certification for the ships, while planning to advance the Communion’s core believers and strengthen the Hearthfire District.

• Elliot confirmed that his revolver refused to fire at him until he sensed its will, then followed its guidance to hit a distant warship with an unaimed shot.
• Simon told Elliot that he had found the clue for his first ascension, and Elliot arranged for him, Elsa, Maeve, and the others to advance together later.
• Simon reported that the Communion’s engineers were struggling to repair the warships because the ships were guiding their own repairs and Sia’s parts had strange traits.
• Simon described how the Dawn, the Radiance, and the Silver's Right Hand had tricked engineers into installing modifications that suited them, leaving the Silver's Right Hand sunk in the shipyard.
• Elliot ordered compulsory mechanical classes, exams, and graduation certificates for the ships, and demanded a crackdown on illegal modifications.

Elliot learned that the Dawn had been repaired and planned to use it to explore the Deep Sea in search of Holly. In the Hearthfire District, Elsa showed him the completed first phase of an underground seawater dock and explained plans for connecting it to the sea and fortifying it.

• Elliot learned that the Dawn was repaired using spare parts and decided its powerful engines made it suitable for a mission to explore the Deep Sea.
• Elliot asked Simon about preparations for opening the passage between the Dream and the Present World through the Sea of the Moon.
• Elsa greeted Elliot with an improvised tableware gesture, and Elliot suggested she use a crow gesture instead.
• Elsa showed Elliot an amber model of the Hearthfire District and revealed that seawater lay beneath the Royal Canal and the Imperial Capital.
• Elsa explained plans to build an underground dock, connect it to the canal, and reinforce the facility with sea valves.

Elsa showed Elliot the Holy Communion Plate, a steel plate inscribed with a sacrificial ritual that removed dirt when fueled by blood. Elliot approved of the invention and saw it as a way for the Hearthfire District to excavate the planned shipyard with far fewer workers.

• Elliot questioned whether the Hearthfire District could manage Elsa's enormous shipyard project and asked about its new digging technology.
• Elsa revealed that she had awakened mechanical talent and led Elliot underground to demonstrate her invention.
• Elsa poured her blood into the grooves of a steel plate and pressed it against a wall, sacrificing a large mass of dirt.
• Elsa called the device the Holy Communion Plate and explained that it let Believers perform sacrifices while moving.
• Elliot praised Elsa's invention and recognized that its premade ritual could make excavating the shipyard much easier.

Elliot and his allies brought the warship Dawn through a passage into the Underground Shipyard and prepared to build a fleet. As Crawford’s coronation approached, Elliot investigated the nobles’ plans while Crawford secretly consulted the Holy Scripture about sacrificing them.

• Elliot coordinated with Simon to open a passage from the Sea of the Moon, and Maeve crossed it to the Underground Shipyard.
• Elsa directed believers to fill the shipyard with seawater, and the Dawn sailed through the passage as the crowd cheered.
• Elsa estimated that the Dawn could reach the sea within a week and that the full shipyard would be ready in about a month.
• Elliot learned that Crawford’s coronation would take place at a new Imperial Palace beside the Nobles’ House, and he asked Conrad for the ceremony’s detailed schedule.
• Crawford dressed for his coronation, dismissed the nobles’ attempt to control him, and asked the Holy Scripture whether a sacrifice could kill them.

On his way to the New Emperor’s enthronement ceremony, Elliot discovered that the blank book in his carriage was the [Holy Scripture], which explained how intense emotions could serve as offerings and change the world. The [Holy Scripture] invited him to witness a demonstration as his carriage arrived at the Nobles' House.

• Elliot found a blank book in his carriage, recognized it as the [Holy Scripture], and began communicating with it by writing on its page.
• Elliot asked about the missing Fog Horn Fraternity, and the [Holy Scripture] said it had sent its core members away from the Imperial Capital because it foresaw future chaos.
• The [Holy Scripture] explained that Spirituality and intense emotion were both foundations of the Supernatural and paths to the supreme.
• Elliot recalled that an orphan’s beloved wooden club had worked as an offering, and questioned why emotions were not used more often.
• The [Holy Scripture] offered to demonstrate the power of fervent emotion, but Elliot’s carriage arrived at the Nobles' House before he could respond.

Elliot entered the Nobles' House, branded its steel door with the name of a Hearthfire District factory, and challenged Tobias's authority over the Council Chamber. He forced Alvin to leave by invoking the chamber's noble-rank rules, while the door opened on its own.

• The [Holy Scripture] burst into gentle flames and vanished, and Elliot wondered whether the [Casting Forge] had protected him.
• Elliot carved [Manufactured by Hearthfire District No. 2 Steel Factory] into the Nobles' House's new steel door, and the nobles accepted it rather than risk a confrontation.
• Elliot entered the Council Chamber and learned that Tobias had excluded Crawford because he was the affair of state under discussion.
• Elliot told Alvin to give up his seat, arguing that Alvin had no inherited noble rank and therefore had no right to attend the deliberations.
• Daphne Fitzgerald confirmed that Elliot's duke status had been recognized by the Third Era, while Alvin had not been formally invested, and the chamber door opened on its own.

Elliot joined the nobles on their way to the newly built Imperial Palace for the coronation, while Isaac warned him that his interference was disrupting the relationship between history and the future. As the nobles showed signs of division under Tobias, Elliot considered using that fracture to his advantage and arrived at the palace expecting the day to bring trouble.

• Tobias ended Elliot’s confrontation with Alvin by leading the nobles toward the Imperial Palace to watch the coronation.
• Elliot wondered why Daphne had helped him, while Isaac asked whether he expected to fight and explained that prophecies about Elliot could make history and the future fall out of step or become inverted.
• Isaac suggested that these changes might allow the Third Era to arrive, and Elliot said he would fight back if anyone challenged him.
• Elliot noticed that the nobles were divided and considered winning over some families to weaken Tobias’s alliance.
• Tobias showed the nobles the newly built Imperial Palace, whose lavish appearance left Elliot momentarily dazed.

During Crawford’s coronation, Elliot noticed that [Analysis] described the crown as sealing a contract between the New Emperor and his subjects. The clue led him to reconsider the Royal Family’s obligation to [Justice], leaving him questioning why they had to obey it.

• Tobias hurriedly began the coronation, and the nobles gathered while Crawford waited before the Throne.
• Royal knights presented the scepter, and an attendant carried the crown around the court for the nobles to inspect.
• Elliot used [Spirit Vision] on the crown, then stopped the attendant when [Analysis] revealed that the New Emperor’s coronation would seal a contract.
• Elliot connected the crown’s contract to the Empire’s laws and the Royal Family’s adherence to [Justice].
• Elliot questioned why the Royal Family had to obey [Justice] if power gained through sacrifice could not be taken back.

Elliot realized that the Crown’s contract bound the nobles as well as the emperor, and suspected the gathered family heads knew nothing about its terms. He let the blood ritual proceed, and Crawford shocked the ceremony by placing the blood-soaked Crown on his own head.

• Elliot inferred that the nobles had secret obligations under a contract with the emperor, possibly tied to the Empire’s hidden Throne.
• Crawford silently signaled Elliot, who connected the revelation to the [Holy Scripture] that had appeared in his carriage.
• The Master of Ceremonies called for the Seven Holy Bloodlines to contribute blood to the Crown, and Elliot chose not to interrupt the ritual.
• The nobles gave their blood, which the Master of Ceremonies poured over the Crown.
• Crawford cut his hand on his sword, seized the blood-covered Crown, and placed it on his head, leaving the Master of Ceremonies staring toward Tobias in alarm.

Crawford used the Contract’s power to seize the Throne and slaughter nobles at his coronation, leaving Elliot to suspect that Xi and Crawford had worked together to turn the Throne’s constraints into a weapon. Elliot concluded that the [Holy Scripture] may have hidden Crawford’s actions from the Prophecy and decided the Tyrant’s conflict with the nobles could buy him valuable time.

• Crawford sat on the Throne with the Scepter and Longsword as bloodshed brought the coronation Ritual to a hasty end.
• Elliot fled the Imperial Palace with the nobles and returned to the Mansion, reasoning that Crawford lacked the strength to kill every noble and that their struggle would continue.
• Elliot suspected the Throne had once pinned emperors in place, while Xi’s suppression of it had let Crawford use the Contract to slaughter nobles; he also wondered how Crawford had evaded the Prophecy.
• Elliot examined the paper he had found in the Imperial Palace and asked whether the [Holy Scripture] could block the Prophecy, but it did not respond.
• Elliot decided that Crawford’s campaign could delay the nobles, making the Tyrant a useful ally, though he remained uncertain about the Contract’s restrictions.

Elliot took Allen, Dorothea, and Vanessa into the Sea of the Moon to advance Allen using the manhole-cover sacrifice method. After Allen reached fifth rank, Elliot chose [Damage Immunity], which briefly made Allen immune to attacks after using [Breakthrough] and [Flash Blade].

• Elliot chose Allen, Dorothea, and Vanessa for the Deep Sea expedition because Elsa was busy in the Hearthfire District.
• Dorothea confirmed that she could use Maeve's location to open a mirror gate at this distance, though her spirituality limited how far she could reach.
• Allen held up a manhole cover and used it to bore into [Primordial Blood], with Vanessa's [Philosopher's Stone] creating a waterproof shield so he could complete the sacrifice.
• Allen's sacrifice filled the progress bar and raised him to fifth rank, revealing that dream power could prevent dream erosion during Dream Entry.
• Elliot considered how heart and spirit developed through Ascension and Advancement, then chose Allen's fifth- and sixth-rank talent, [Damage Immunity].

Elliot raised Dorothea to the fifth rank and chose the new talent [Radiance Inscription], which let her stack invisible marks on a target. Dorothea and Vanessa discovered that her crow doubles could apply many marks at once, then tried using a mirror to reach the Cult Leader’s office.

• Elliot reviewed Dorothea’s three new talents and chose [Radiance Inscription] after considering how it could be used.
• Dorothea tested the talent in crow form and found she could stack inscriptions while transformed.
• Vanessa suggested that Dorothea create more crows, and the flock stacked dozens of inscriptions on [Primordial Blood] at once.
• Vanessa prompted Dorothea to try using a mirror, and a mirror appeared in the Cult Leader’s office, startling Elsa.

Elliot advanced Dorothea to the sixth rank and weighed her new talents, favoring the ability to resurrect instantly at no cost. Before choosing, he used Spirit Vision on the seemingly useless Beachcomber Crow and discovered that history had a physical existence of its own.

• Elliot spent two points on Dorothea's rationality and advanced her to the sixth rank.
• Elliot considered Dorothea's three new talents and was drawn to Concentration, which boosted her attributes and allowed her single crow to resurrect immediately at no cost.
• Elliot used the Difference Engine to transfer Dorothea's belongings, including her Chef badge and Monocle, into Vanessa's pocket.
• Elliot activated Spirit Vision and saw an additional description for Beachcomber Crow: theft could not affect concepts, but history had a physical existence of its own.

Dorothea demonstrated that [Beachcombing Crow] could steal body parts and belongings without harming their owners, and the Communion hurriedly sent its first fleet to sea to investigate Holly. Twenty-five minutes after the ships departed, Elsa learned that contact with the fleet had been lost.

• Dorothea used [Beachcombing Crow] to take and restore Vanessa’s appendix, fingernail, and wisdom tooth without leaving injuries.
• Dorothea discovered Vanessa had stolen her belongings during the sacrifice and angrily confronted her.
• Elliot arranged for Dorothea and Vanessa to join the fleet, with Vanessa serving as his high-rank body and searching for clues about the Overflowing Garden.
• Elsa held a launching ceremony, and the Communion’s first fleet set sail despite incomplete preparations.
• An engineer reported to Elsa that the fleet had lost contact just twenty-five minutes after departure.

Elsa and the crew of the Dawn discovered that crows were dying whenever people used Formless Arts and abilities, and Vanessa ordered everyone to stop. Back at the Hearthfire District, Elsa had Dorothea sealed in amber while Simon searched for a way to tell whether she was still alive, and Clara arrived.

• Elsa tried to contact Dorothea through her crow, but the crow froze and began bleeding from its eyes and mouth.
• Aboard the Dawn, Dorothea used the Mirror Secret Art, then froze and died as Vanessa watched.
• A sailor reported that crows across the ship were dying, and Vanessa broadcast an order for everyone to stop using Formless Arts and abilities.
• Crows across the Hearthfire District fell dead, and Elsa used her Amber ability to solidify Dorothea as her vitality faded.
• Simon told Elsa he did not know whether Dorothea was alive but had a way to check, just as Clara appeared at the door.

Elliot and the believers investigated Dorothea’s condition and the Dawn’s mysterious crisis, using Clara’s possession ability to confirm Dorothea was alive. After Elsa’s corpses failed to find the warship, Elliot concluded the Dawn had vanished.

• Clara possessed Dorothea inside the amber, confirming that Dorothea was alive.
• Elliot sent several of Elsa’s corpses into the sea to search for the Dawn and investigate what had happened to it.
• On the Dawn, the believers found that the Dorothea crows had died simultaneously, while Vanessa reassured them that Dorothea in the Hearthfire District was still alive.
• Flora offered to explore outside, but Vanessa refused, and Elliot rejected Allen’s suggestion to surface after realizing Holly was now above them.
• Elliot asked the Dawn about its condition and learned that the ship and its equipment seemed normal, despite the crew’s predicament.
• Hours later, Elsa’s corpses lost contact in the Deep Sea, and Elsa found no warship at the Dawn’s location.

Elliot guided the Dawn through the disorienting Misty Sea and ordered it to keep diving despite the rising pressure. The ship unexpectedly surfaced near the Imperial Capital, and Elliot revealed that he had been prepared to save the believers by drawing them into a dream.

• Elliot asked Elsa about Misty Sea legends, including ships that emerged far away or returned after years and people who vanished after falling into the sea.
• Elliot took control of Vanessa and directed the Dawn downward, while Flora realized they could use the Dawn to judge their direction through water pressure.
• After the Dawn confirmed they were diving, Elliot refused to turn back and ordered the crew to continue despite the ship nearing its limits.
• The Dawn burst through the water and surfaced beneath morning sunlight, with the Imperial Capital visible nearby.
• Elliot revealed he had held the believers’ Cards by the [Dream Entry] slot, ready to pull them into a dream if the ship failed.

Elliot realized that the Misty Ocean’s seawater distorted perception and made people mistake the surface for the deep sea, while the Difference Engine could still guide the Dawn. After examining the rescued Believers and considering Dorothea’s fate, he ordered the ship to dive again to find Holly.

• Elliot used the Difference Engine to direct Elsa’s corpses toward the surface, but they lost contact, confirming that the Misty Ocean confused their sense of direction and prevented them from reaching it.
• The Dawn surfaced, and Elliot concluded that the seawater caused the distortions; he also suspected that Saint Clair protected nearby waters and wondered why the Empire kept the danger secret.
• The Doctor and the Path of Radiance Supernatural people examined the rescued Believers and found them healthy, while Elliot learned that Dorothea’s confused crows had torn her existence apart when she opened a passage.
• Elliot decided to continue searching for Holly and ordered the Believers to prepare the Dawn to dive again.
• The crew and the Dawn became disoriented as soon as they submerged, but they followed the Difference Engine’s guidance without hesitation.

After retrieving Holly in an egg, Elliot brought her back to the Harbor District and focused on how to save Dorothea, Victoria, and Xi from the amber that held them at the instant of death. He realized Clara might be able to affect them from inside the amber, so Elsa brought Clara to perform a sacrifice in hopes of gaining a healing ability.

• Elliot used an empty [Vessel] as a beacon to guide the Dawn back to the Hearthfire District with Holly's egg.
• The Difference Engine showed Holly's hatching countdown, and Elliot told the believers to wait for her to emerge naturally.
• Elsa explained that healing could not reach Flora through [Amber], and that releasing someone frozen at the instant of death meant they died immediately.
• Elliot ruled out advancing Dorothea through sacrifice because she was sixth rank and her Ascension mission was incomplete.
• Elliot realized Clara's [Possession] could affect people inside [Amber] and proposed that she gain a healing or resurrection ability.
• Elsa brought Clara to the Courtyard, where Vanessa prepared the sacrificial ritual and Clara stepped onto the altar.