Hidden in adaptive armor near Sungrave, Darrow and Sevro monitor the dead city when Cassius approaches with three signatures. Cassius has brought Aurae and a bound Diomedes, defying expectations. He argues Diomedes deserves to see the atrocity and could become an ally; Aurae warns Diomedes is dangerous, especially if he links Darrow to Io’s fall.

Despite disagreement about honor and orders, Darrow considers the failure of torture and entertains Cassius’s approach. Sevro brusquely claims Diomedes’s parole and, confident in his armor, pushes to move. Rather than use family tunnels, the team enters through a vast breach where war machines and collared defenders lie frozen, confirming Sungrave’s violent fall.

Inside, they traverse necropolis-like halls, past fallen soldiers and citizens of many Colors. At the Spine, they find Abraxes’s severed head mounted as a trophy. Darrow and Sevro infer Fá has revived old rites—consuming a foe to claim strength—echoed by reports he ate Sefi’s heart. The scale of ruin stirs Darrow’s guilt and a renewed, if impractical, urge to right wrongs.

At a junction, Darrow orders a split: Sevro, Cassius, and Aurae head to the market to light the omega torch; Darrow keeps Diomedes. After a brief thaw between Cassius and Sevro, Darrow removes Diomedes’s helmet and sees overwhelming grief. He asks for parole directly; Diomedes meets his gaze and grants it. Trusting that honor, Darrow unlocks his cuffs so they can search for Diomedes’s kin together.