Chapter Summaries

Vanessa asked Victoria how to help a friend who had become a Mirror Person, and Victoria explained that the condition came from excessive use of Rationality Mode. Meanwhile, Elsa's corpse emerged from its sealed cabinet at the Factory and headed toward home, leaving Allen worried.

• Vanessa woke Victoria and told her about Dorothea, Flora, and the others, prompting Victoria to identify the affected friend as a Mirror Person.
• Victoria explained that prolonged Rationality Mode could trap someone in reflective surfaces and suggested that advancing through a sacrifice might help.
• Vanessa went back to bed and fell asleep, leaving Victoria frustrated and discovering that her hair had knotted again.
• Allen watched as Elsa's corpse emerged from its cabinet and walked out of the Factory into the night.
• Allen saw Elsa heading toward their home and watched with concern.

Elliot advanced Dorothea through a sacrifice and chose a mirror-travel talent, but she could not emerge from the mirror Elsa prepared. Meanwhile, Sia explored the Dream World and marveled at the Washroom.

• Elliot had Elsa perform a sacrifice for Dorothea using ritual paint and her clothing as a symbolic link.
• Elliot advanced Dorothea to the Second Rank and chose [Mirror Secret Art] from her new talents.
• Elsa prepared a mirror, but Dorothea was unable to step out of it.
• Sia explored the Dream World after Maeve introduced her to the supernatural world and admired the golden fixtures in the Washroom.

Sia became entranced by a beautiful version of herself in the mirror and believed the transformation would erase her existence. After writing her name on the glass, she saw the name Dorothea appear instead, leaving her uncertain about who she had become.

• Sia used the golden fountain to wet her hair and saw her reflection transform into a beautiful woman in a long black dress.
• Sia realized the mirror reflected a different appearance and became captivated by the beauty it showed her.
• Sia played in the Washroom, then noticed her clothes and hands had changed and feared she had lost herself.
• Sia thanked the mirror and wrote “Sia (Thea)” on it, expecting it to be her last trace.
• Sia watched new letters appear before her name, forming “Dorothea.”

Sia discovered that she had gained knowledge and an altered body in the Dream World, then woke in the Present World determined to save Flora and Maeve. After the Factory Guard stopped her, she saw that she had returned to her original appearance and heard a voice call her “Sia.”

• Sia found that Xiao and Maeve were missing and that the Dream World’s residential rooms had no beds.
• Sia learned that vanished beds meant their owners had returned to the Present World, and she chose to sleep rather than heed a warning against killing herself.
• Sia woke in a Factory building and rushed out, calling for Flora, Maeve, and Allen and saying she was Dorothea.
• The Factory Guard stopped Sia, who looked down at her original, frail body before a voice in her heart called her “Sia.”

Dorothea explained to Allen how her Mirror Secret Art carried her physical body into the Dream World, where her Spirit fused with Sia, and learned that she had attacked Flora and Maeve while out of control. At the Difference Engine, Elliot connected Dorothea’s Mirror Person episode to Vanessa’s Spiritification and worried that someone was losing control each day.

• Dorothea told Allen that her body entered the Dream World through Mirror Secret Art and fused with Sia, though she was unsure how her body had changed.
• Allen told Dorothea that Flora and Maeve were safe and that Dorothea had attacked them while she was out of control as a Mirror Person.
• Dorothea and Allen recalled the Third Law, that there are no coincidences in the Supernatural, and considered whether she and Sia had a deeper connection that allowed them to fuse.
• Dorothea explained her situation to Flora and Maeve, saying she could faintly hear and communicate with Sia.
• Elliot linked Dorothea’s loss of control to Vanessa’s Spiritification and questioned whether someone was losing control every day.

Vanessa reassured Victoria of their friendship before asking about the losses of control she and Dorothea had experienced. Victoria linked both incidents to the Dream World and took Vanessa to Beneath the Surface to reveal an unrecordable secret about what had happened there.

• Vanessa woke in Victoria's Library and appeased Victoria's jealousy by insisting that she trusted and valued her.
• Under the Lord's gaze, Vanessa told Victoria about the losses of control she and Dorothea had experienced a day apart.
• Victoria judged the timing abnormal and prompted Vanessa to identify the Dream World as the connection between her [Spiritification] and Dorothea's [Mirror Person].
• Victoria took Vanessa to a place in Beneath the Surface where their conversation would leave no record in the Present World.
• Victoria announced that something had happened to the Dream World and prepared to share a secret history that could not be recorded.

Victoria told Vanessa that turmoil in the Dream World was affecting reality and warned her to avoid dreams while the boundary between the Surface Zone and Deep Zone blurred. Elliot realized the crisis explained Vanessa and Dorothea’s loss of control, then began planning restrictions for his believers and feared Elsa Ramsey might be next.

• Victoria told Vanessa that the Festival’s insufficient tribute had forced His Majesty to cut advancement sacrifices and nearly caused a disaster.
• Victoria warned Vanessa that Dream Creatures could cross into the Surface Zone and trap anyone they killed in a dream, and advised her not to enter dreams.
• Victoria asked Vanessa to stay with her while she monitored Vanessa’s unstable condition.
• Elliot read Victoria’s conversation on the Difference Engine and concluded that Dream World turmoil had caused Vanessa’s and Dorothea’s abilities to distort.
• Elliot planned to limit his believers’ use of their abilities and looked at Elsa Ramsey’s corpse, suspecting she might lose control next.

Elliot discovered that Elsa’s resurrection might be affected by the Dream World’s instability and sent her corpse into her dream to investigate. Elsa found that her resurrection materials were not being absorbed and confronted an unusually active Lord of Dreams, whose arrival left her in immediate danger.

• Elliot worried that the unstable Dream World had disrupted Elsa’s resurrection and sent two of her corpse Cards into her dream.
• Elsa woke inside the cabinet that her dream treated as her bed, beside a box containing most of her remains.
• Elsa placed supernatural materials in the box but found that they were not being absorbed, confirming that something had gone wrong.
• A Lord of Dreams tore a rift open and began forcing its way into Elsa’s dream.
• Elsa attacked the Lord of Dreams with [Spirituality Pressure], but the power had no effect.

Elsa discovered that the Lord of Dreams had been killed when its rift closed after she left the dream, and she noticed its power flowing into her box. Vanessa then asked Victoria to let her friend Elsa come over, and a maid brought Elsa’s box to the library.

• Elliot had Elsa leave the dream by suicide after her abilities failed to stop the Lord of Dreams, then learned that the creature had died.
• Elliot sent Elsa back into the dream, where she found the Lord of Dreams’ corpse split in two by the vanished rift.
• Elsa noticed white lights rising from the Lord of Dreams’ corpse and falling into her box, suggesting it was absorbing the creature’s power.
• Vanessa asked Victoria for permission to bring a friend to the library, and Victoria reluctantly agreed.
• A maid brought Elsa’s box to Victoria and Vanessa.

Victoria examined Elsa’s corpse and found no spirituality, then put Vanessa to sleep for psychoanalysis. Meanwhile, Elliot learned that Sidney had rejected his visit and that his father was away on an expedition, leaving him without either source of answers about the festival.

• Victoria opened Elsa’s box to check for spirituality, and Vanessa warned her not to eat the corpse.
• Victoria found Elsa’s remains ordinary, tied Vanessa up with her hair, and conducted another psychoanalysis session.
• Vanessa let Victoria hypnotize her, and Victoria found no abnormalities before Vanessa fell asleep.
• Victoria reexamined Elsa’s corpse and wondered why Vanessa had brought it and where she had learned about eating corpses.
• The Old Butler told Elliot that Sidney had returned his visiting card and refused to receive him while confined.
• Elliot decided to ask his father about the festival, but the Old Butler said the Old Duke had gone on an expedition.

Elliot learned that the Old Duke had left on an expedition amid problems involving the Royal Family and the emperor’s health, while Conrad confirmed that Lady Camilla had gone with him. After considering whether to approach Victoria, Elliot returned to the Difference Engine and faced the Communion’s growing problem with believers losing control.

• Elliot learned from Conrad that he could not be told certain secrets until he reached Middle Rank, but the Old Duke could perform a protective ritual for him after returning.
• Conrad explained that the Theresia Festival had gone wrong because there were fewer sacrificial offerings, and said the Royal Family’s problems seemed connected to the emperor’s health.
• Elliot connected the emperor’s condition to the Third Prince’s defiance, the Old Duke’s actions, and the loosened control of the Night Watch Bureau and Dome Institute.
• Elliot asked about Lady Camilla and learned that she had gone on the expedition with the Old Duke.
• Elliot considered approaching Victoria, then decided not to rush into it after learning they might have had a conflict before his amnesia.
• Elliot returned to the Difference Engine and saw that Vanessa, Dorothea, and Elsa had each begun losing control on successive days.

Flora felt isolated as her companions became distant, then dreamed they all abandoned her. She woke to find a black hole where her heart had been.

• Flora returned to the mansion and found Dorothea talking to herself while Maeve stayed in her room.
• Flora cooked dinner, but Maeve said she was busy, leaving Flora alone at the table.
• Flora dreamed that Vanessa, Dorothea, Allen, and the others left her one by one.
• Flora woke from the nightmare and discovered that her heart was gone, replaced by a black hole in her chest.

Flora discovered that her heart was missing but felt no fear or distress, and her companions noticed that she had become emotionally vacant. Elliot advanced her to the second rank, but the ritual changed nothing, leaving him without a solution.

• Flora found a hole where her heart should have been and decided it did not matter because the [Thing of Immortality] replaced its function.
• At the dining table, Flora's companions noticed her strange detachment and realized that the food she had cooked tasted wrong.
• Elliot compared Flora's state to Dorothea's earlier rational state and recognized that Flora seemed like an empty shell.
• Elsa's corpse performed the sacrifice ritual, and Elliot advanced Flora to the second rank, but her condition remained unchanged.
• As Elliot prepared to switch to Vanessa, Flora stared blankly at Elsa's corpse.

Elliot discovered that he could control Flora and began planning a supernatural squad to help believers who lost control. Meanwhile, Victoria overheard Vanessa performing psychoanalysis on the box containing Elsa's corpse.

• Elliot controlled Flora's body, and Flora felt little resistance as the experience filled the emptiness within her.
• Elliot considered how the changes to Dorothea, Sia, Flora, Elsa, and Vanessa could be useful.
• Elliot decided to form a supernatural squad to handle believers who lost control and summoned the Old Butler to ask about the Hearthfire District's budget.
• Victoria watched Vanessa and listened as she spoke to Elsa's corpse inside a box, realizing Vanessa was performing psychoanalysis on it.

Victoria checked on Vanessa, who was chatting with Elsa’s corpse, and reassured her that the Night Watch Bureau would ignore her secret society. Elliot learned that the Emperor was ill and an important expedition was underway, then entered Elsa’s Dream again, where the Lord of Dreams appeared.

• Victoria asked Vanessa if she was all right, and Vanessa said she would chat with Victoria after she died.
• Vanessa told Victoria she had joined a secret society and feared the Night Watch Bureau would target it; Victoria said the Bureau was pulling back and revealed that the Emperor was unwell and several princes were making moves.
• Victoria hinted that something going wrong with the expedition could have serious consequences, then left Vanessa to read.
• Elliot listened to the recorded conversation and concluded that the Night Watch Bureau’s retreat would help the Hearthfire District, while the expedition warranted investigation.
• Elliot entered Elsa’s Dream with both Corpse Cards, sensed Spirituality pulsing inside the box, and saw the Lord of Dreams reach through a crack in the air.

Elliot killed a steady stream of Lords of Dreams whose remains fed the power gathering in Elsa’s box. When Elsa finally began to reform, she emerged as an enormous mass of flesh and blood with countless limbs, leaving Elliot stunned and retreating.

• Elliot wondered why Lords of Dreams kept entering Elsa’s dream after he arrived and suspected the Difference Engine gave him unusual control over dreams.
• Elliot killed a Lord of Dreams as it squeezed through a rift, and its white motes of light flowed into Elsa’s box and strengthened her.
• More Lords of Dreams appeared in rapid succession, and Elliot repeatedly killed them while Elsa absorbed the light from their corpses.
• Elliot watched Elsa’s status for signs of danger as her absorption accelerated, but nothing seemed wrong.
• Elsa’s box began to glow and her body reformed as a huge mass of flesh and blood with countless limbs, so Elliot backed away.

Elsa returned from her rebirth with immense power after consuming the Lords of Dreams, though using it quickly weakened her. Elliot saw the Lords’ white motes rise toward the Abodes of Great Beings before Dream Entry ended, leaving him wondering what Middle Rank Supernatural people encountered in the Deep Zone and whether the motes could be used.

• Elliot watched Elsa’s enormous body shrink back to its original size and wrapped her in a blanket.
• Elsa awoke among the Lords of Dreams’ corpses and mistook Elliot for a Great Being or his agent.
• Elliot explained that the corpses had been consumed for Elsa’s Resurrection, and Elsa discovered she could wield the Lords’ power at the cost of rapidly weakening herself.
• Elliot urged Elsa to return to the Present World as cracks formed in the Dream, then used [Spirit Vision] to follow white motes rising toward the heavens.
• Dream Entry ended, and Elliot wondered whether Middle Rank Supernatural people could contend with Lords of Dreams and whether the white motes’ power could be put to use.

Elsa woke after her resurrection and reunited with Clara and Dorothea, who had fused with Sia. After Allen told her that the people they saved had forgotten them and credited Theresia with the peace, Sia reminded them that their actions had mattered to the refugees who survived.

• Elliot considered whether greater supernatural power made Extraordinary Ones less human and wondered what held the Empire’s order together.
• Elsa woke in the Mansion in the Hearthfire District after her resurrection and was greeted by Clara, Allen, Maeve, Simon, and Dorothea, who explained her fusion with Sia.
• Elsa asked whether they had won and saved the Hearthfire District, and Allen said they had defeated the monsters but could not change what followed.
• Allen explained that the refugees had been forgotten by history while the people thanked Theresia for peace, leaving him unsure whether their efforts had any meaning.
• Sia told Elsa that she was one of the refugees they had saved, said she would never forget, and bowed to Elsa as Cult Leader.

Elsa began taking charge of the Communion after learning that the former Canteen had grown to several thousand Believers, while the Hearthfire District rapidly developed into a self-contained industrial community. When Vanessa returned from the Imperial Palace, she learned Elsa had gone off to do something unexpected.

• Elsa comforted Sia, then asked about the Canteen and learned it had become the Communion with several thousand Believers.
• Allen gave Elsa a list to sort and check, and Maeve agreed to show her how to handle it.
• Elsa completed Allen's list that night and returned to the Communion, where her calm manner eased the Believers' doubts about her leadership.
• Elsa diligently took on the Communion's work and gradually established herself as its Cult Leader.
• The Hearthfire District developed worker housing, hospitals, schools, shops, clubs, and Communion venues as the factories and workers' lives became integrated.
• Vanessa returned from the Imperial Palace, found the Hearthfire District unfamiliar, and asked Allen what Elsa had gone off to do.

After returning from the Grand Library, Vanessa discovered that Elsa had become the Communion’s acting Cult Leader and led a squad against Believers who lost control. Elliot sent Vanessa into his dream to investigate, found that Lords of Dreams could not enter it, and discovered that Elsa’s kills had earned him a [Dream Memory] card for the Blood Moon Scene.

• Vanessa returned to the Hearthfire District and learned that Elsa was leading a squad with Maeve, Simon, and Flora to handle Believers who lost control.
• Allen explained that Vanessa remained the Cult Leader, though Elsa managed the Communion while Vanessa was away.
• Elliot used the Difference Engine to send Vanessa into his dream, where she explored the empty palace called the Abode.
• Elliot tested Maeve’s dream and confirmed that Lords of Dreams tried to enter it, while none appeared in his own dream.
• Elliot decided to resume training and begin construction in his dream, then found the Blood Moon Scene among the [Dream Memory] cards awarded for Elsa’s kills.