Chapter Summaries

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.

Holly explained that a breach in the Throne had leaked Evil Entities into the Deep Sea and revealed how Theresia’s cursed body had been divided. She then confronted Victoria with her forgotten identity and past, leaving Victoria to realize she had spent her life running away from the Empire and its decline.

• Holly said Evil Entities had poured into the Deep Sea through an unplugged breach and that she had merged with Theresia to survive there.
• Holly explained that Theresia’s curse had split her body, leaving her human flesh sealed inside a bronze statue and her mutated bloodline hidden in Lord Sidney’s Palace.
• Holly asked Victoria if she remembered Theresia as a close friend, and Victoria admitted she could not recall her age or many parts of her past.
• Holly told Victoria that she was the Spider Queen, one of the Empire’s three founders, Augustus the Great’s older sister, and the Empire’s eternal Eldest Princess.
• Victoria recognized that she had repeatedly fled from her responsibilities and the Empire’s decline until she had nowhere left to run.

Elliot realized Victoria was the Immortal Spider Queen as she transformed into a giant spider and feared the Communion would reject her. When Elliot arrived, he greeted her with excitement and admiration instead of disgust.

• Elliot recalled clues that Victoria was different from the other members of the Royal Family and realized the Sacred Blood Nobles may have wanted to drive her mad and make her act.
• Victoria saw her true spider form in a mirror and recoiled from her monstrous appearance as the Communion believers stepped away in fear.
• Theresia told Victoria that she had inherited a curse and would remain a monster until the era ended or was destroyed, urging her to seal herself away.
• Victoria panicked when she spotted Elliot and could not change back into a human, fearing he would be disgusted by her.
• Elliot told Victoria he had come to welcome her as an Immortal and praised her power and beauty.

Victoria revealed that she could no longer change back from her spider form, but the Communion welcomed her with overwhelming curiosity instead of rejection. After the believers frightened her and Theresia mistook the group for an evil cult, Elliot brought both of them to the Canteen’s ingredient room to talk.

• Elliot praised Victoria’s spider form, and Victoria admitted she could not change back.
• Maeve, Vanessa, Dorothea, Simon, and the other Communion believers crowded around Victoria, startling her until she fled with Maeve biting her leg.
• Elliot scolded the believers and gave them an extra meal of crow rice for frightening Victoria.
• Theresia called the Communion an evil cult, and Elliot tried to explain the group while stopping Vanessa from attacking her.
• Victoria and Theresia went with Elliot to Maeve’s room, the only space large enough for them to sit and talk.

Elliot learned that Theresia and Victoria had sacrificed their powers and memories after touching the taboo of the Era during a battle to defend the city. Theresia revealed the taboo that had cursed them, leaving Elliot with a clearer picture of their past and Victoria’s strength.

• Elsa served honey drinks to Victoria and Theresia, and Theresia recognized Elsa’s Spirituality as the Path of [Honey].
• Elliot introduced Vanessa as the Cult Leader of the Communion and welcomed Victoria and Theresia to the Hearthfire District.
• Theresia explained that she and Holly shared her body, while Victoria and the Spider Queen were the same person with some memories dormant.
• Theresia said she had split off her power to contain her curses, while Victoria had retained her power as an Immortal but lost many memories.
• Theresia revealed that she and Victoria had touched the taboo of the Era while defending the city.

Theresia explained that using powers from another era inflicted an inescapable Era Curse, revealing why her machinery and Maeve’s monster form violated the era boundaries. Maeve claimed the curse could not affect the Communion’s Believers because their Lord had not permitted it, and pointed to the Blood Moon as evidence of his authority.

• Theresia told Elliot, Maeve, Elsa, and Victoria that powers and technology were restricted to each era, and crossing those boundaries caused the Era Curse.
• Theresia revealed that she had stolen mechanical power from the Third Era and suffered curses for also taking power from the First Era.
• Theresia explained that Maeve’s spider form used the First Era’s monster power and therefore should have cursed her.
• Theresia said era curses could not be escaped within the current layer of history, even by reaching the limits of supernatural power.
• Maeve insisted the Lord’s authority protected the Communion’s Believers from curses he had not permitted, then pointed out the Blood Moon.