Vis and his alupi Diago fight their way through Duat's burning harbor district while Will shells and Redivius's troops tear apart workers and defenders alike. Moving through alleys to avoid stronger enemy groups, Vis forces himself to ignore people he cannot save, kills isolated attackers when necessary, and presses toward the Will marker he placed on Eidhin's armband.

When Vis reaches Eidhin, he warns that Laurentius knows the harbor assault is a diversion and that Eidhin is walking into an ambush. Eidhin shocks him by revealing the opposite: his force is only the first wave, meant to clear shore defenses and hold off reinforcements until Redivius lands a much larger army, after which the Transvect will bombard the city with thousands of Will shells. Vis tries to convince Eidhin to escape with him and later rescue the Septimii Redivius is using as hostages, but Eidhin refuses to abandon his people or let others die in his place.

Realizing argument alone will not move him, Vis reveals the truth he has hidden for years. He tells Eidhin that his real name is Diago, son of Cristoval, a prince of Suus who survived the Hierarchy's invasion and then let the Anguis use and manipulate him out of fear. Vis admits that he told himself he had no choice, says Aequa is dead because Decimus killed her after Iro's death, and argues that obedience to monsters only helps them continue their evil. Eidhin is shaken, especially by the warning that his sacrifice would not save his people in the long term.

Before Eidhin can fully answer, his companion Siollan finds them, recognizes Vis as Catenicus, and attacks. Vis kills Siollan with his metal shards, but too late to stop the thrown spear; Diago leaps into its path and takes the spear in the throat. Vis and Eidhin desperately try to help the wounded alupi, and the shock of the attack pushes the conversation into a final decision point.

Vis tells Eidhin he cannot return to serve men like Decimus and proposes a desperate alternative: let the battle continue without them and seek out Ka, whom Vis now believes is a real person behind the Princeps' ceding and someone who opposed this war. Vis argues that Ka may need stability badly enough to bargain, and that Vis's lineage, political connections, and support could make him useful in ending the civil war and freeing Eidhin's people. Eidhin, horrified but convinced that the current path leads only to meaningless death, agrees to try. Vis forms his metal mask again and concludes that the only way to reach Ka is to stop hiding.