Recaps

Elliot discovered Clara’s powerful Fourth Rank abilities and chose Domain Ascension for her. He then selected Sovereign Vision, which would let him observe a battlefield from above while possessing Clara and switch possession among nearby teammates.

• Elliot found that Clara had reached the Fourth Rank, with talents that combined Spirit Vision and Rationality to support teammates and hinder enemies.
• Elliot chose Domain Ascension for Clara, adding a powerful area ability.
• Elliot reviewed the Fourth Rank talents Steadfast Conviction, Rationality Domain, and Sovereign Vision, and wanted all three.
• Elliot selected Sovereign Vision, gaining the ability to oversee an area and switch possession between teammates within it.

Elliot advanced to Fifth and Sixth Rank, gaining [Deep Thought] and [Solidification] but finding no healing Talent for Dorothea. He realized Clara could use [Deep Thought] with the Rationality of the Communion’s Believers to seek a way to save Dorothea, and arranged a festival to gather them.

• Elliot chose [Deep Thought] as Clara’s Fifth Rank Talent after realizing nearby allies could supply Rationality to increase her thinking speed.
• Elliot reached Sixth Rank and chose [Radiance Breath], reluctantly passing up [Solidification], the only recovery ability he found.
• Elliot and Clara’s attempt to complete her Ascension task by staring at each other failed, and Elliot concluded that he did not count as Clara’s Fate.
• Elliot proposed having Clara use [Deep Thought] to figure out how to save Dorothea with the Believers’ Rationality.
• Elliot told Vanessa to gather the Believers under the pretext of a Communion festival, while Vanessa left to find Clara.

Clara used the rationality gathered from praying believers in the Hearthfire District to activate [Deep Thought] and find a way to save Dorothea. She concluded that Clara needed to gain a healing ability from Crow’s cooking, leaving Elliot to wonder whether Crow could still cook while dead.

• Elsa declared the Communion’s first Food Festival and led its believers in a Mass in the Hearthfire District square.
• Clara activated [Deep Thought], drawing in the believers’ rationality and rapidly considering thousands of ways to save Dorothea.
• The believers experienced a moment of immense rationality, mistook it for the Lord’s presence, and praised the Communion and its Food Festival.
• Clara told Elliot that the best plan was to obtain a temporary healing ability by eating Crow’s cooking.
• Elliot realized Crow was gone and wondered whether a dead person could still cook.

Zell learned that the Communion’s crow meals were chopped by a steam-powered machine containing Dorothea’s remains, while Elliot explained how he had used the Difference Engine to equip her with the Chef’s Knife. The chapter ended with Dorothea still spinning on the factory-built steam engine and the canteen serving crow meals again.

• Phoebe explained to the new believer Zell that Dorothea’s death had not ended the crow meals, which were now being served several times a day.
• Zell realized the vegetable chopper’s amber component contained Dorothea’s remains, and Phoebe confirmed that the machine used her body to make the meals.
• Phoebe reassured Zell that the Communion members would get used to eating crow meals and offered him Elsa-stir-fried Maeve.
• Elliot explained that he had placed the Chef’s Knife in Dorothea’s equipment slot so the Difference Engine could make her pick it up.
• Elliot had a steam engine built to keep Dorothea spinning, restoring crow meals to the canteen.

Phoebe obtained a healing ability from eating Crow rice and used it with Clara to try to heal Dorothea, who was trapped in amber. Clara fed the hair attached to Dorothea Simon’s healing honey, and the hair turned green as the attempt began.

• Phoebe announced that she had gained a healing ability, prompting the believers to carry her and the Crow rice chopper to Simon’s hospital.
• Simon exposed a disguised spy for the nobility after the man failed to recognize the fully automatic rotating Crow steam vegetable chopper.
• Clara arrived at the hospital and learned that Phoebe’s ability, [Hair Transplant], let her send hair onto another person and channel healing through it.
• Clara possessed Dorothea, and Phoebe’s transplanted hair passed through the amber and pierced Dorothea’s body.
• Simon fed Clara a spoonful of [Honey], and Phoebe’s and Clara’s hair turned green as the healing took effect.

Elsa and the others restored Dorothea with Phoebe’s healing, and the crow’s resurrection proved that the living dead sealed in [Amber] might be saved. Elliot discovered that the treatment had also cured Dorothea’s madness, leaving the Communion racing to use Phoebe’s temporary ability to save Victoria and Xi.

• Elsa kept Dorothea sealed in [Amber] while vitality flowed into her, until a green baby crow emerged and multiplied after falling into Phoebe’s honey.
• Vanessa gathered spirituality to quiet the chaotic room, and the crows settled enough for Dorothea to speak again, though they were left dizzy from their rapid multiplication.
• The Canteen held a grand ceremony welcoming Dorothea’s resurrection, which gave the Hearthfire District hope for saving Victoria and Xi.
• Elliot examined Dorothea’s Card and the Difference Engine’s records, discovering that her treatment had removed her madness status as well as her injuries.
• Elliot realized Phoebe’s temporary healing ability might cure Victoria, and the Communion’s core members began urgent preparations to act before it expired.

Elsa and her allies began a dangerous operation to cure Victoria’s madness while she remained sealed in [Amber]. The Dawn reached the Imperial Palace ruins, where Clara possessed Simon as the assault team prepared to move.

• Elsa decided to attempt the cure before Phoebe’s ability expired, setting a three-hour limit and ordering the team to abort if they ran out of time.
• Elsa and the believers boarded the Dawn, carrying the spinning fan and coordinating with Dorothea through Simon’s scouting bugs.
• Simon flew above the Imperial Capital with Dorothea attached to a rope, guiding the Dawn toward the Imperial Palace ruins.
• Simon saw the Dawn reach its position and watched the team prepare to move into the palace ruins.
• Clara used [Possession] on Simon as the operation began.

Clara and the Dawn crew used Phoebe’s vitality to restore Victoria while she remained trapped in [Amber], but the nobles discovered the operation. As the crew debated whether to retreat, Vanessa chose to go with Elsa and told her that the decision was her own, though the Lord agreed.

• Clara possessed Victoria and connected to her through strands of hair while Dorothea watched from above.
• Dorothea ordered the crew to feed Phoebe [Honey], sending Phoebe’s vitality through Clara’s hair and turning Victoria’s hair green as her madness faded.
• A noble scout approached Victoria, but Evan Sterling’s war machine blocked him and claimed it detected no abnormalities.
• The nobles’ agents gathered after an Illumination Flare exposed the operation, and the Dawn’s crew argued over whether Elsa should enter the ruins and dispel [Amber].
• Vanessa held Elsa’s hand and said they should prepare to go, telling Elsa, “This is my will,” and adding that the Lord agreed too.

Elliot arrived at the Imperial Palace and confronted the nobles as Elsa and Vanessa emerged from Dorothea’s mirror. Vanessa disguised herself as Lillian to intimidate the nobles, but Tobias saw through the disguise and rallied them to attack.

• Elsa accepted Vanessa’s resolve, and Dorothea opened a mirror through which they entered the palace gathering.
• Evan warned the nobles not to approach, but Elliot arrived and asserted his presence, causing them to retreat.
• Vanessa took on Lillian’s appearance and claimed to be the Lord’s Immortal, frightening the nobles who recognized the Hollow Cathedral figure.
• Vanessa faltered when asked to name her Lord, and Tobias realized she was disguised.
• Tobias drew his sabre and urged the nobles to stop retreating and attack the impostor, while Elsa worried about leaving Elliot behind.

Victoria recovered from Permanent Madness, strengthening Elliot’s position as the nobles considered attacking him. Phoenix and Lillian revealed they served an unknown Great Being, and Crawford arrived to invoke the Empire’s laws against the nobles, declaring Willa a rebel and striking with his sword.

• The [Amber] melted, and Victoria collapsed but appeared to have escaped Permanent Madness.
• As Tobias weighed whether to attack Elliot, Phoenix emerged through a rift and said that he and Lillian were both His Immortals.
• Tobias realized an unknown Great Being was shielding Elliot and hesitated to face the forces gathered around him.
• Crawford arrived and ruled that Elliot and his attendants were innocent under Xi’s special permit.
• When Willa fled after disputing the palace’s authority, Crawford declared him a rebel and slashed downward with his ceremonial sword.

Crawford killed Sir Willa and used his brutal rule to halt the confrontation between Elliot’s group and the nobles, while Elliot carried Victoria out of the ruined Imperial Palace. As war with the Sacred Blood Nobles loomed, Vanessa learned that Phoenix had been permitted to return to the Hollow Cathedral and that he and Lillian were endorsed as Immortals of the Lord.

• Crawford killed Sir Willa, and the nobles accepted the tyrant’s intervention as Elliot’s group and the Sacred Blood Nobles withdrew without fighting.
• Elliot carried a bewildered Victoria out of the ruined Imperial Palace as night fell.
• Elsa returned to the Hearthfire District and ordered it mobilized for the coming war, while Vanessa prepared to question Phoenix.
• Phoenix told Vanessa that [Old Shell] had allowed him to return to the Hollow Cathedral and endorsed him and Lillian as Immortals of the Lord.
• Phoenix said he would help Lillian with a remaining problem before going to the Courtyard, then vanished into his pocket watch, leaving his top hat behind.

Victoria awakened from [Amber] and learned that the Sacred Blood Nobles had rebelled, while Elliot arranged for her to recover and help the Communion's believers. The chapter left Victoria resolved to protect those she cared about, as Elliot learned that Michel had awakened and wanted to speak with him.

• Victoria asked Elliot about the rebellion and the deaths of Michel and Xi, then learned about the changes that had happened while she was suspended.
• Elliot explained Victoria's green hair treatment and arranged for her to visit the Hearthfire District for recovery and [Honey].
• Victoria told Elliot she wanted to prevent the people important to her from dying, and Elliot asked her to help the Communion's believers with their High Rank Ascension quests.
• After Elliot left, Victoria apologized to Theresia and resolved to break her promise to her.
• Conrad told Elliot that Holly's Egg was nearing its hatching, Maeve's [Shadow of the Lunar Eclipse] was nearing its end, and His Highness Michel had awakened and wanted to speak with him.

Clara unexpectedly saved Michel’s head while Elsa freed Victoria from [Amber], and the head arrived at Sterling Manor as a [Relic]. Elliot examined Michel’s strange state and prepared to explain what had happened to him.

• After freeing Victoria from her madness, Clara noticed Michel could be possessed and used her hair to heal his head inside [Amber].
• Elsa secretly touched Michel’s [Amber] with her toes and dispelled it, while Vanessa distracted the nobles.
• The group brought back Michel’s head, and the Old Butler carried it to Elliot in the Study at Sterling Manor.
• Elliot found Michel’s head listed as a [Relic] in the equipment section of the Difference Engine, while Michel’s body remained labeled [Corpse].
• Elliot placed Victoria’s green necklace on Michel’s head and began to tell him something important.

Elliot explained that Michel had become a Relic, and Michel revealed that he could eventually help suppress the Throne. Meanwhile, Maeve waited for Primordial Blood to die so she could return to human form, and the chapter ended with her transformation.

• Elliot explained that Michel had become a Relic, and Michel declared his will to purge the nobles and restore Justice.
• Michel told Elliot that his Relic ability could let them join his corpse, replace Sidney, and suppress the Throne.
• Michel said his strengthened spirituality might let him control war machines, and Elliot promised to find him some.
• The Communion continued operating factories and cutting up Primordial Blood in the Courtyard while Maeve waited for its death to end Shadow of the Lunar Eclipse.
• As Maeve prepared to cut another chunk of flesh, her body vanished and she reappeared as a young girl.

Maeve returned from her erosion and revealed that she could grow enormous and freely change her form through the [Primordial Blood]. Elliot confirmed that the [Primordial Blood] had hardened into ore, then began allocating Maeve’s points after discovering her progress was full and [Honey] had become available.

• Maeve cried in Elsa’s embrace after returning, and Elliot waited before arranging her Sacrifice.
• Elliot learned that the [Primordial Blood] was hardening into ore and realized the mineral deposits came from its lifeless fragments.
• Maeve used [Transformation] in the Sea of the Moon, grew dozens of meters tall, and demonstrated that she could change into other forms, including a chunk of flesh.
• Elliot failed to control the hardened [Primordial Blood] with [Compliance] and found that Maeve’s transformed state was not a [Vessel] he could control either.
• Elliot checked Maeve’s Tree of the Supernatural, found her progress full and a [Honey] branch available, and began allocating her points.

Elliot allocated Maeve’s fifth- and sixth-rank talents, choosing abilities that let her lure others, heal or decay targets through touch, resist hostility, and grow stronger while eating. Maeve’s new talents left Elliot imagining how unstoppable she could become on the battlefield.

• Elliot put two points into Maeve’s [Honey] Path and selected [Lure] and [Infusion] at fifth rank, rejecting [Acidic Bodily Fluids] because it would spoil her meat.
• Elliot opened Maeve’s sixth-rank choices and considered [Assimilation], which would make others less hostile toward her, and [Honey Gland Evolution], which would harden her skin.
• Elliot selected [Assimilation] and [Ravenous Eating], valuing the latter’s combat boosts and the guarantee that Maeve’s eating could not be forcibly interrupted.
• Elliot realized Maeve could gnaw on herself during battle to keep [Ravenous Eating] active even when no opponent was within reach.

Elliot advanced Maeve to seventh rank and discovered that her ascension had consumed all three available choices, transforming her into the Blood Moon. The Difference Engine finalized her Blood Moon Ascension, leaving the Tree of Ascension with no progress.

• Elliot chose [Assimilation] and [Ravenous Eating] for Maeve, then tapped the seventh-rank node.
• The Difference Engine revealed that Maeve had devoured and fused with over twelve million higher bloodlines, completing her advancement to seventh rank.
• Elliot examined Maeve’s three ascension cards, but the Difference Engine pushed all of them into the [Choice] slot at once.
• Elliot recognized the card’s crimson ocean as the moon-sized Sea of Blood that was Maeve herself, gazing toward the Present World.
• The Difference Engine finalized Maeve’s [Blood Moon Ascension], and the Tree of Ascension’s progress bar became completely empty.

Elliot chose Maeve’s Seventh Rank talents after her transformation into a powerful Blood Moon ascendant, and he realized her path was linked to Elsa’s Honey powers. He freed Maeve to test her new abilities, but she headed for the canteen, leaving Elliot suspicious about what she planned to do.

• Elliot chose Maeve’s Blood Moon Ascension after she absorbed too much Primordial Blood and wondered how her Blood path connected to Elsa’s Honey path.
• Maeve reached Seventh Rank, and Elliot considered her three new talents: Blood Moon, Honey Blood and Blood Flow Together, and Blood Moon Tide.
• Elliot selected Blood Moon and Blood Moon Tide, deciding to postpone Maeve’s remaining progress while he considered how to use future sacrifice offerings.
• Elliot removed Maeve’s Card from the Sacrifice slot so she could move freely and test her new abilities.
• Maeve thanked Elliot with a few prayers, then rushed toward the canteen, alarming him.

Maeve tested her [Lure] ability at Dorothea’s canteen and discovered it could make people crave food and bring their desires to the surface. The Believers became obsessed with Maeve despite her having transformed into a Flesh Chunk.

• Dorothea explained that she would not compromise her cooking to please customers, while Maeve grew too full and annoyed to keep eating Crow food.
• Maeve agreed to help Dorothea and activated [Lure], sensing that her vitality transformed into a substance that stirred and enticed people.
• The diners suddenly craved the Crow food, devoured it, and praised Dorothea’s cooking, leaving Dorothea moved to tears.
• Maeve comforted Dorothea, who admitted that she had wanted praise for her cooking and that Elsa always ate and praised her food.
• The Believers began professing their love for Maeve, and she froze in disbelief because she had transformed into a Flesh Chunk to avoid attracting that kind of attention.

Victoria's encounter with Primordial Maeve in the Hearthfire District spiraled into a violent disaster after Victoria fell into irregular madness. As Elliot discovered Holly had hatched and moved to investigate, the Mad Queen emerged and effortlessly cut Maeve in half.

• Maeve tried to flee the believers, but Dorothea drew the Chef's Knife and Victoria arrived at the canteen, becoming obsessed with Maeve.
• Victoria covered the canteen in spider silk and attacked Maeve, while Elliot saw that Holly had finished hatching.
• Elliot brought Vanessa, Maeve, and Phoenix to investigate Holly's hatching, then found them facing Victoria amid the canteen's ruins.
• Victoria struck with a strand of spider silk, and Phoenix pulled Vanessa aside as Maeve stood her ground.
• Victoria's attack split Maeve cleanly in two, and Phoenix identified her as the Mad Queen.

Victoria became the Mad Queen and attacked the believers, but Allen used his abilities to rescue mortals while enduring her strikes. As Vanessa prayed, she announced that the Lord had descended.

• Victoria killed Flora and Elsa with a casual strike, then evaded Vanessa’s attack by burrowing into Maeve’s flesh.
• Phoenix urged Vanessa to retreat, warning that Victoria’s Mad Queen form was an Immortal and that Elliot might already be dead.
• Elsa emerged from the canteen’s honey barrel and decided to stay and save people, despite Phoenix’s warning that mortals could not withstand Victoria.
• Allen activated [Rampage] and used [Flash Blade] and [Damage Immunity] to rescue mortals while blocking Victoria’s spider silk.
• Elsa joined Allen in rescuing people, while Vanessa prayed and told Phoenix that the Lord had descended.

Elliot confronted the Mad Queen Victoria and used hypnosis to help her recover from her madness. Victoria recognized him and began to regain her senses, leaving her status on the Difference Engine free of [Madness].

• Phoenix realized Elliot was a Great Being who had descended into the present world and began praying in terror.
• Elliot used [Spirit Vision] to see the spider-like truth beneath Victoria’s appearance and learned that she had sealed herself in copper after agreeing with a friend to awaken on the Day of Judgment.
• Elliot recognized the necklace around Victoria’s neck and calmly met her gaze until she began to regain clarity.
• Elliot used [Hypnosis] to draw Victoria’s madness out and told her that she was the Empire’s Eldest Princess.
• Victoria stopped resisting, and [Madness] disappeared from her status on the Difference Engine.

After Victoria calmed down from her monstrous transformation, Elliot brought her back to her senses and urged her to discuss the danger behind her madness. Victoria confronted Vanessa over her hidden identity as the Hollow Cathedral’s cult leader, then took her captive, while the battle’s aftermath left the canteen destroyed and a few people dead or injured.

• Elliot used Hypnosis to stabilize Victoria after she killed Maeve and returned to the Hearthfire District.
• Victoria reverted to human form and agreed to talk with Elliot about the being that emerged when she went mad.
• Victoria recognized Vanessa as the person Phoenix had called the cult leader, and Vanessa tried to deny it.
• Victoria subdued Vanessa with spider silk and asked Elliot to lend her the captive; Elliot agreed to charge her for the rental.
• The battle’s aftermath left Maeve and Flora dead, several people injured, and the canteen reduced to ruins.

Elliot joined Elsa, Victoria, and Vanessa as Holly’s egg began hatching in a guarded warehouse. Holly emerged as a mermaid, recognized Victoria, and eyed Elliot as a tasty meal.

• Elsa told Victoria that Holly’s egg had hatched, and they went together to inspect it.
• Elsa explained that she had built Holly a nest and stationed guards and weapons around the warehouse.
• Elliot emerged from a coffin, startling Victoria, who recognized him as the Great Being from the Abode.
• Holly broke through her shell while Dorothea’s flock prepared to defend the group with stacked [Radiance Inscriptions].
• Holly emerged as a mermaid, asked Victoria whether the world had already been destroyed, and licked her lips at Elliot.

Elliot recognized the mermaid who emerged from Holly’s egg as Theresia, but discovered Holly was sharing her body and chose to protect her. After Holly recovered enough to speak, she explained that she had been trapped underwater after encountering the Evil Entities that escaped through a hidden exit beneath the sea.

• Elliot saw the Difference Engine identify the mermaid as [Incomplete Theresia] and suspected she was the legendary Steam Angel.
• Holly took control of the mermaid’s body and stopped Theresia from eating Elliot, prompting him to realize they were sharing it.
• Victoria suffered when she saw Theresia, but Elliot’s hypnosis helped her believe she was facing Victoria instead.
• Holly collapsed, and Elliot, Elsa, Simon, and Maeve gave her honey and infused her with vitality until she recovered.
• Holly explained that she had gone into the sea to recuperate, become trapped, and drawn on Lady Theresia’s power.
• Holly revealed that Evil Entities had escaped into the sea through an undiscovered underwater exit.