Chapter Summaries

Elliot saw through Phoenix’s attempt to probe his identity, seized Phoenix’s pocket watch, and forced him to answer questions. Phoenix revealed that he could return to the present world, but could take only the Expedition Army’s crew, leaving Elliot to consider bringing them back while keeping the fleet in his Abode.

• Elliot realized Phoenix had deliberately revealed historical information to test him and used the Difference Engine to take Phoenix’s pocket watch.
• Elliot pressured Phoenix into explaining that he had come to the Sea of the Moon from ruins near the Imperial Capital.
• Elliot transformed into Elsa and then Lillian, confusing Phoenix and demonstrating that he had been following him.
• Elliot asked Phoenix to return the Expedition Army’s fleet to the present world, but Phoenix said the passage could carry only the crew.
• Elliot decided that bringing the crew back while storing the fleet in his Abode would serve his interests, then feigned disappointment at Phoenix’s answer.

Elliot secured Phoenix’s cooperation and transferred him to the Abode, where he planned to use Phoenix to open a passage back to the Present World. He then discovered that Lillian was undergoing ascension and released Phoenix inside the Abode, confident he could not escape.

• Phoenix offered Elliot control of the ruins, and Elliot sent Holly to escort him to the Abode.
• Holly asked about Evan, and Elliot explained that Lady Camilla was training him; he reassured her that they would soon be able to leave the Sea of the Moon.
• Sidney woke and helped move Phoenix, still imprisoned in a mirror, into the Courtyard while the fleet’s weapons guarded him.
• Elliot searched the Difference Engine and found that Lillian was undergoing ascension.
• Elliot released Phoenix in a secluded part of the Abode, where he believed the Difference Engine would prevent Phoenix from escaping.

Elliot trapped Phoenix in the Abode and Phoenix tried to pledge himself to Elliot’s Lord, hoping for ascension. When Elliot asked Phoenix to open a passage to the Present World, Phoenix revealed he could not create a permanent passage between different worlds.

• Phoenix tried to flee in multiple directions, but Elliot imprisoned each of his doubles in towering stone castles.
• Phoenix saw the Abode and learned that Lillian had opened a Rift and was sent off for ascension.
• Phoenix asked to work for Elliot’s Lord and offered the Hollow Cathedral’s Sacred Relic, the [Realizer].
• Elliot told Phoenix to open a passage to the Present World, but Phoenix said permanent passages between different worlds were beyond his power.
• Phoenix explained that even the [Primordial Sun] had failed to open such a passage.

Elliot agreed to let Phoenix build a passage from the Sea of the Moon to the Present World within a week and brought him into the Difference Engine as a believer. As preparations advanced and the Great Beings continued fighting, Elliot discovered that Xixi was attacking the Primordial Blood.

• Phoenix told Elliot he could open a passage from the Sea of the Moon to the Present World, but needed at least a week to prepare the ritual, and asked to serve the Great Being.
• Elliot added Phoenix to the Difference Engine as a believer and spoke with him about the Great Being, leaving Phoenix bewildered and eager to begin the ritual.
• Elliot informed Sidney about the plan to release Phoenix, and Sidney assigned warships to help despite his distrust of him.
• Elliot ordered the Machine Priests to move production lines and train Communion believers, who quickly learned the machinery with help from Allen and the others.
• Elliot noticed a Difference Engine message reporting that Xixi was attacking the Primordial Blood.

Elliot prepared the Expedition Army and the Communion for the danger of [Worms] escaping Moonheart before Phoenix completed his Ritual. He summoned the Communion's Believers and led a vast procession of Dream Creatures and Nightmares through the Abode.

• Elliot saw that [Retainer Xixi] had attacked [Primordial Blood] but found no message that Xixi had died.
• Elliot comforted the newly resurrected Elsa and warned Sidney that [Worms] might appear in the Sea of the Moon.
• Elliot explained that the Expedition Army had to escape the Dream before they were assimilated, making Phoenix's Ritual crucial.
• Elliot ordered the Machine Priests to prepare and told Sidney that [Honey] might also emerge from Moonheart.
• Elliot transformed into Elsa's appearance, climbed atop the Nightmare, and summoned the Communion's Believers.
• Elliot led the Believers as enormous Nightmares and Dream Creatures emerged and advanced through the Abode, drawing the attention of the Expedition Army.

Elliot gathered the Believers and Dream Creatures and warned Sidney and Michel that the Sea of the Moon would soon change, before the ritual was complete. As the Fleet prepared to return, Vanessa took Elliot’s place in the role of Great Nobility, while Elsa learned that it was time to end everything.

• Victoria left Vanessa bound in a spider-silk cocoon in the Library and hurried after Elliot’s procession.
• Elliot told Sidney and Michel to prepare for an imminent change in the Sea of the Moon, and Sidney resolved to assemble the Fleet.
• The Dream Creatures and the Communion’s Believers returned through the passage to the Sea of the Moon, while Sidney and Michel organized the Soldiers’ return.
• Vanessa appeared in a red robe with a genuine ring and Cast-Iron Scepter, ready to pose as Elliot and command the Fleet.
• At Moonheart, Elsa heard the other figure say it was time to end everything.

Elsa’s repeated resurrection in Moonheart caused [Honey] to merge with her corpses and build immense pressure against the surrounding rock. The pressure burst through the moon and hurled the [Primordial Blood] upward, giving the [Casting Forge] a chance to attack it.

• Elsa died again and began another, slower resurrection as [Honey] filled Moonheart.
• [Honey] saturated Elsa’s corpses, then repaired the cracked rock around Moonheart as pressure continued to build.
• Vanessa ordered the fleet to overload its defenses, while Sidney gathered the Expedition Army behind the War Fortress and Elliot warned that the impact was coming from the entire seabed.
• Moonheart’s restraints broke, and [Honey] mixed with corpses erupted through fissures across the moon.
• The blast lifted the [Primordial Blood] from the seabed, and the [Casting Forge] charged in and smashed it back down with her hammer.

The [Casting Forge] sacrificed himself to pin the [Primordial Blood] beneath his hammer, forcing the [Honey] pouring from the cracked egg through a vortex that stole it away. At the rift, Phoenix nearly fled as the impact drove the War Fortress toward him, but the damaged Judgment Angel and the rest of the fleet charged in to hold it back.

• The [Casting Forge] struck the [Primordial Blood], disintegrating Elsa's corpse and driving the creature and his hammer down to the seabed.
• The blow smashed a hole in the egg, releasing [Honey] that the vortex drew out of the [Primordial Blood] as it writhed beneath the hammer.
• Michel told Sidney that all seven [Vessels], including himself, had completed the ritual.
• The impact swept the Judgment Angel backward and pushed one War Fortress away, while the other began advancing toward Phoenix and the Dream Creatures holding it.
• Phoenix nearly used his pocket watch to flee, but stopped when he saw the damaged Judgment Angel still advancing.
• The Judgment Angel and the other warships rammed the War Fortress and held it against the retreating surge as the Soul of the Warship and the Expedition Army roared.

As the War Fortress struggled against the moon’s impact, [Nameless Justice] intervened once to reshape its armor and redirect the seawater, allowing the fortress and Fleet to advance. Phoenix watched the miracle unfold and realized the Great Being had brought in a True God to help.

• Phoenix watched the Ships charge toward the battle and decided to stay and see the scene through, bowing to the Great Being and humanity’s last Expedition Army.
• Sidney saw the Warship continue pushing the War Fortress despite catastrophic damage, then urged his crew to repair flooded compartments.
• [Nameless Justice] appeared behind the War Fortress and altered its damaged armor, redirecting the seawater’s force and letting the fortress advance.
• [Nameless Justice] disintegrated after the intervention, and Michel explained that a [Vessel] could support only one act by a Great Being.
• Phoenix realized that the Great Being had brought in a True God, recognized Their subordinate as the eighth of the Seven True Gods, and returned to work.

Elliot and the Expedition Army prepared for another wave after Phoenix began the ritual to open a passage to the Present World. Instead of a tide, a torrent of honey-preserved corpses struck the War Fortress and blasted it over.

• Phoenix recognized [Nameless Justice] and, frightened by the Lord’s power, obediently began drawing the ritual.
• Elliot noticed the renamed corpse Cards and warned that a second, more dangerous wave was coming.
• Sidney ordered Lady Camilla to alert the Fleet, while Victoria and the Dream Creatures braced themselves against the War Fortress.
• A corpse hurtled out of the Rift and smashed into the War Fortress, where its flesh began gathering into a human shape.
• Sidney saw the seawater packed with countless corpses as they shot toward the War Fortress and blasted it over.

As the Expedition Army struggled against a barrage of corpses, Elsa stopped the attacks and drew the bodies toward her. The corpses looked like Elsa and were made of [Honey], and their growing pile left Sidney wondering what she planned to do.

• The War Fortress staggered under the corpses’ attacks, and Sidney feared the Expedition Army could not hold out.
• Victoria prayed to Elsa as the spider silk holding the line snapped.
• Elsa stopped the incoming corpses, which revealed faces identical to hers, and Nightmare gathered them beside her.
• Victoria recognized the bodies as [Honey], tasted one, and watched its damaged form regenerate.
• Sidney asked Elliot about the bodies’ resemblance to the [Vessel] used by the [Casting Forge], and Elliot said he had picked one up in the sea.
• Sidney concluded Elsa was carrying out a plan as more [Honey] corpses gathered around the War Fortress.

Elliot struggled to control the endless Elsas pouring from Moonheart while the Fleet, Dream Creatures, and Believers worked to move them into the Courtyard. When the lake filled and threatened to flood the Abode, the Believers’ prayers reached Elliot, who expanded it into a vast, bizarre pool and fountain.

• Elliot tried to collect and control the Cards streaming out of Moonheart, but their numbers overwhelmed him.
• The Dream Creatures, Fleet, Machine Priests, Sidney, Michel, Dorothea, and the Believers helped transport the Elsas into the Courtyard.
• Dorothea secretly kept one of Elsa’s corpses in the Mirror before organizing the Believers to move the rest through the river.
• The lake filled with corpses, and Dorothea organized the Believers to pray for its expansion while Victoria prepared to report the problem.
• Elliot saw the mass of prayers and used [Dream Memory] Cards to expand the lake into an enormous pool with a fountain that launched Elsa’s corpses into the air.

After surviving her apparent death, Maeve discovered that she had activated [Shadow of the Lunar Eclipse] and could control parts of [Primordial Blood]. She left [Primordial Blood] trapped between the erupting Seabed and a burning hammer, repeatedly forcing it to suffer both hazards.

• Maeve regained consciousness after [Shadow of the Lunar Eclipse] gathered her dissipating awareness back together.
• Maeve realized she was using [Shadow of the Lunar Eclipse] to sense and control the enormous body of [Primordial Blood].
• Maeve found that [Primordial Blood] was pinned beneath a hammer and made its flesh touch the hammer, causing it to roar as crimson flames burned it.
• Maeve discovered a massive cavity in the Seabed spewing blasts of pressure and decided to use it for fun.
• Maeve repeatedly drove [Primordial Blood] between the Seabed's eruptions and the hammer, making it suffer damage from both sides.

Maeve used [Shadow of the Lunar Eclipse] to control [Primordial Blood] and discovered that she could drink through his body, then became consumed by the sweetness of the seawater and Elsa's corpses. As Maeve lost herself in the feast, Elsa opened her eyes and produced a drop of honey water that stopped [Primordial Blood].

• Maeve discovered that [Shadow of the Lunar Eclipse] let her taste and absorb what [Primordial Blood] drank while he suffered the scalding.
• Maeve gulped down the sweet seawater, forcing [Primordial Blood] to hold the opening shut as he wailed in hunger.
• Maeve smelled Elsa's corpse in the seawater and tried to devour it, overwhelmed by its sweetness.
• More of Elsa's bodies emerged from the rift, and [Primordial Blood] swallowed them before delivering them to Maeve.
• Maeve sank deeper into the feast and began to lose her reason until one Elsa opened her eyes and called her name.
• Elsa reached toward [Primordial Blood] and formed a drop of honey water, abruptly stopping him.

Elsa revived inside the Honey Maeve had swallowed, and they discovered she could resurrect within her own corpses. Elsa tested the ability as a possible way to travel, while Dorothea unknowingly held one of the corpses that was about to revive.

• Elsa’s Honey Water helped Maeve regain her Rationality, and Maeve realized Elsa could hear her because Elsa had revived inside the Honey within Primordial Blood.
• Elsa and Maeve reasoned that Elsa might be able to revive inside her own corpses, and Maeve had Primordial Blood kill one to test the idea.
• Elsa successfully revived inside the corpse, though the body exploded as she formed a new vessel.
• Elsa proposed using her corpses to travel by dying in one place and reviving in another, and Maeve agreed to help her try.
• Dorothea returned home exhausted and embraced the corpse of her younger sister Elsa, unaware that it was about to revive and explode.

Dorothea woke to find Elsa had exploded in her arms, only to discover that Elsa was alive and the blood came from the many Elsa corpses flooding the Abode’s waters. After learning that Elsa’s remains had sweetened the water and food, the sisters planned to find the Great Being, with Dorothea asking Elsa for honey to restore her spirituality.

• Dorothea woke covered in blood and screamed while holding what she thought was Elsa’s mangled corpse.
• Elsa stirred and asked Dorothea whether she had killed someone, then learned Dorothea had only wanted to sleep while holding her.
• Elsa tasted the golden water in the washroom and discovered it was sweet because the Abode’s waters were filled with her corpses.
• Dorothea explained that the moon had exploded and the Expedition Army and Dream Creatures had gathered Elsa’s corpses, sweetening the water and the Canteen’s food.
• Elsa protested being used as a flavoring and dumped cold water over Dorothea’s head.
• The sisters decided to enter the sea to find the Great Being, and Dorothea asked Elsa for honey to replenish her spirituality so she could open a door outside the Abode.

Dorothea tested Elsa’s ability and discovered that its sweetness could overwhelm even strong-willed people, strengthening the suspicion that Elsa possessed the Honey Authority. Dorothea then demonstrated her new [Radiance] talent, becoming light and leaving Elsa unable to give her honey while she was incorporeal.

• Dorothea knelt before Elsa, whose sweetness drew her into a warm embrace and briefly made her lose control.
• Elsa warned Dorothea that she had nearly lost herself, and Dorothea suspected Elsa’s ability might be the Honey Authority.
• Elsa told Dorothea how she had brought Maeve back from temptation, and Dorothea concluded that Elsa’s power was exceptionally strong.
• Dorothea opened a glowing mirror and used her [Radiance] talent to enter the Enlightenment State, becoming immune to physical damage.
• Elsa tried to give Dorothea honey when she ran out of spirituality, but her finger passed through Dorothea because she had become light.

Elsa escaped Moonheart and reached the Sea of the Moon with Dorothea, where she met the Great Being and asked about her changed nature and the Honey Authority. The Great Being asked whether she could control her other bodies and sense whether any Honey remained below.

• Elsa fed Dorothea Honey to help her open a temporary passage from the Abode to the Sea of the Moon, and they crossed just before the mirror collapsed.
• Elsa and Dorothea appeared atop Nightmare's head and bowed to the Great Being while Victoria, Sidney, and Michel looked on.
• Sidney and Michel praised Elsa as the public Cult Leader of the Esoteric Cult, while Vanessa, disguised as Elliot, reflected that she preferred staying in the Library.
• Elsa thanked the Great Being for helping her escape Moonheart, but he responded slowly and said he was busy gathering the many Elsas.
• Elsa asked whether the Honey Authority had changed her and what she should do; the Great Being asked if she could control her other bodies and whether she sensed any Honey below.

Elliot and Elsa realized that Elsa’s corpses might be manifestations of [Honey], making them potentially connected to the Honey Authority, while Elliot gathered as many as he could. Elsa then sensed that the [Worms] had never left Moonheart and were hiding beneath the Rift.

• Elsa noticed that corpses kept emerging from the Rift and that the number of bodies seemed far greater than she had produced.
• Elliot theorized that [Honey] had fused with Elsa’s corpses and that the bodies might now be manifestations of [Honey].
• Elsa wondered whether whoever possessed more of her corpses could gain the Honey Authority, while Elliot cautiously continued collecting them.
• Elliot asked Elsa about the [Worms], and she realized that her growing sense of danger had made her ignore their presence.
• Elsa used her Spirituality to locate the [Worms] beneath the Rift and confirmed they were still in Moonheart.

Elliot left Elsa in charge while he focused on gathering Cards, and sent Dorothea to find her Ascension opportunity. Dorothea sought Victoria’s advice but was confronted by Phoenix Everhart, whose questions suggested Dorothea had somehow survived without taking her father’s medicine.

• Elliot decided not to provoke the Worms in Moonheart and told Elsa to take his place while he collected Cards.
• Elliot ordered Dorothea to seek an opportunity for Ascension, and she left Elsa with the Nightmare before going to find Victoria.
• Dorothea met Victoria in the Sea of the Moon and hinted that Elsa had only arrived that day.
• Phoenix Everhart introduced himself to Dorothea and asked why she was known as Miss Crow.
• Phoenix learned Dorothea was Third Rank but could not turn into a crow, then asked how she had survived without taking the medicine her father left her.