Vis has only minutes to escape the Basilica after the slaughter in Military’s chamber. He tears through doors by stealing their Will, reaches the crowded entrance covered in blood, and barely stays ahead of pursuing guards before Ostius seizes him and pulls him between worlds. In the cold night outside Luceum, Ostius makes Vis wash off the blood, reform his arm and armor, and change clothes while Diago follows them quietly.

When Ostius starts leading him toward the docks and Domus Telimus, Vis refuses to leave because his friends are still in the Forum. Ostius argues that war is coming and that Vis cannot save everyone, but Vis realizes Ostius still needs something from him: witnesses who can place Vis away from the massacre. Vis proposes an alibi about escorting Relucia home and then hearing of trouble at the Military compound, so Ostius reluctantly agrees to return him. Before they go back, Ostius insists that Vis and Diago remove every trace of blood.

On the way, Ostius confirms that ceding still works despite the separation between worlds. He then makes his real offer: if Vis keeps acting as the masked, metal-armed figure, Ostius will hide Vis’s identity, protect his friends from guilt by association, and occasionally feed him information; if Vis refuses, Ostius can expose him and leave him powerless to help. Vis understands that Ostius wants the masked figure hunted for another reason and deduces that he is meant to be bait for Ka. Ostius gives Vis a medallion that will let him protect him, transports Vis and Diago near the Forum, and sends him on his way.

Vis runs through increasingly tense streets, realizing that Military will interpret the murders as a Senate attack and answer with immediate retaliation. He reaches the Forum just as runners begin spreading the news. He finds Emissa, Aequa, Indol, and Felix and warns them that something terrible has happened in the Military compound and that they need to get somewhere safe. Felix and Indol leave to find their parents, while the atmosphere in the Forum shifts from confusion to accusation as senators separate into hostile groups.

The crisis turns into open horror when senators from Religion and Governance suddenly collapse, and Vis and Emissa realize Military is already killing rival Magnus Octavii. Panic explodes into violence once a Religious senator tears up a stone bench and smashes a Military Sextus’s head, breaking the old limits of Catenan conflict. Soon senators are ripping stone from the Forum and bludgeoning one another as the whole place dissolves into chaos. Frozen by shock and memory, Vis is jolted back into motion by Emissa and Aequa; with Diago’s presence and teeth clearing a path, the three escape into a side alley and flee while Caten falls into civil war.