Darrow confirms Fá’s spikes are poisoned and relies on Athena’s blood leech and anti-toxins to blunt their effects. Fá presses a brutal assault with his warsaw and spiked armor, but Darrow refuses baited openings, remembering Atlas’s influence. Shifting from the Willow Way, he centers his breath, senses the dome’s faint wind, and commits to a clean kill.

Adopting a hybrid style inspired by Lorn, Cassius, and his Helldiver instincts, Darrow moves laterally, forcing Fá to turn and exposing flaws. He methodically shears away spikes, then slips into a flow state—the “breath of stone”—laughing as he dismantles Fá’s defenses and wounds his shoulder and knee. When two Gorgons intrude, Darrow kills both mid-fight and resumes deconstruction.

As the dome falls, the crowd takes up his clang and “Confess” refrain while Darrow batters Fá’s eye slits, compelling Fá to unhelm. Darrow publicly accuses him of serving Atlas, stealing the Dustmaker, and mastering the Ascomanni through the Raa. Fá tries to order a shot, but Ascomanni shamans block it, and shame ripples through his guard. Skarde and conservative jarls hold the ring; Sevro hunts snipers.

Volga’s cold rejection enrages Fá. His armor injects stims and he sprints past Darrow toward Volga and Lyria. Sevro’s shot staggers him; Cassius tackles him; the warsaw mows jarls as Lyria tries and fails to heft it. Gorgons rally to Fá, carving a bloody buffer. Volga lifts Lyria to safety on gravBoots while Sevro and Cassius stabilize the field.

Darrow, dominant again, taunts for confession, but Fá instead flees on gravBoots toward the Pandora, his remaining Gorgons in tow. Abandoned loyalists are cut down as the Ascomanni watch, shaken by their king’s cowardice. Skarde warns Fá will nuke the island if he reaches the ship. Darrow orders Cassius to summon allies, grabs the heart-seeker, and launches with Sevro and Cassius in pursuit.