On the night before her trial, Sciona asks Thomil to activate the final spell they built together, but Thomil refuses. Thomil argues that using the same life-draining magic that destroyed the Kwen would make Thomil a murderer, leave Carra alone, and give Tiran another excuse to punish the Kwen. Sciona first tries to frame the act as justice, then realizes Thomil is right about the danger to his people. Instead of pressing harder, Sciona tells Thomil that Thomil's soul matters more to her than her legacy and says Thomil should choose freely.

Sciona then asks to stay with Thomil rather than leave for the station, wanting to spend what may be the last night of their world together. Thomil distrusts her motives at first, but when Sciona turns to go, Thomil stops her and kisses her. Sciona returns the kiss, and they share a brief, desperate intimacy while both understand it has no future beyond that moment. Thomil decides that, whatever happens, Thomil wants to remember Sciona as she is in that instant: hopeful, alive, and defiant.

Later, after Sciona leaves, Thomil explains the spellgraph and its stakes to Carra. Thomil asks what kind of future Carra wants, because Carra is the one who would have to live in whatever world survives. Carra answers immediately that she wants the mages dead and would rather the tribe die than live forever under their rule. When Carra says that Sciona wants to die striking back at the men who condemned her, Carra's certainty helps push Thomil toward a decision.

Before riots fully break out, Thomil and Carra return to their old apartment building in the Kwen Quarter and carry the spellgraph to the roof, where Thomil has a clear view of the Main Magistry and a radio signal. On the morning of Sciona's trial, guards lock down the area while Thomil finishes the setup and listens to a report that the archmages, highmages, and city officials have entered the building. After praying like a hunter before a kill, Thomil activates the spell. The barrier expansion ignites the building, siphons the life from everyone inside and nearby, and swells the barrier westward as it feeds on the dead; Thomil and Carra watch in horror as the Magistry's own system becomes a vast slaughter.

The narrative then shifts to Sciona inside the chamber. As the spell takes hold, the powerful men of Tiran abandon dignity and claw over one another in panic, confirming for Sciona the selfishness she always saw in them and in herself. Numb from the poison she already drank, Sciona watches officials around her stripped to bone and sees the eruption of blood that will stain Tiran's history. In Sciona's final moments, Sciona stops thinking about vengeance and legacy and instead hopes Thomil, Carra, Winny, and Alba can reach something better; Sciona dies with love, not ambition, as her last thought.