Darrow, Cassius, and Diomedes are marched into Athena’s war room as the Obsidian armada advances on Europa. Athena recounts her first bloody uprising and how Ares revealed it as Krypteia manipulation, then asks if Atlas is behind the current genocide. Diomedes confirms without proof, and the room goes dark as Ares’s iconic speech plays.

The light returns to reveal Sevro in the Twilight Helm, which projected the speech. Sevro delivers a blunt appeal: Ares chose broken people who could be reforged; Darrow can be both breaker and builder; and their cause is fading because they wait to live instead of fighting as their privilege. He urges unity—builders, shields, reluctant allies, and the Reaper—to break the enemy.

Athena demands a plan. Darrow argues the Obsidian horde hinges on Fá; kill the champion and the wheel breaks. He proposes an ashvar duel, counting on his reputation and Obsidian honor, and asks for chemists to treat the spines found in Diomedes. Swayed by Sevro, Athena commutes their sentences, opens the sealifts for refugees, and hands Darrow Pyrphoros on condition he return it and kneel for judgment afterward. Darrow swears by Pax. Sevro claims Cassius for his side; Aurae frees Cassius.

Athena then confronts Diomedes with a reform treatise demanding abolition of hierarchy and self-determined vocations. Aurae reveals she was embedded in House Raa to block tyrants, even by assassination if needed, and challenges Diomedes’s honor. He wrestles with conflicting oaths but signals readiness to fight Fá and Atlas; Athena promises that if he swears to pursue abolition, the people will have refuge and she will arm him.