As the tank explodes below, Bryce realizes Lehabah is dead. The nøkk, exposed to air, thrashes and dies on the mezzanine, while Micah is blasted back into the bathroom. Red warning lights flood the gallery. Bryce, grief-stricken and fueled by synth, crawls to the front door and opens it to the afternoon light—but she does not flee. She understands that Lehabah did not sacrifice herself to buy Bryce an escape; she bought Bryce time to act.

Instead of running, Bryce sprints up the stairs to Jesiba's office, carrying Syrinx. She sets the chimera down and leaps over the desk to retrieve the disassembled Godslayer Rifle mounted on the wall above it. Meanwhile, Hunt and the others watch from the Summit feed. Ruhn realizes Bryce intends to kill Micah for murdering Danika and the Pack of Devils, spending her final moments of synth-fueled clarity on vengeance rather than survival.

Bryce unlocks Jesiba's safe, drinks an unknown potion, and retrieves a six-inch golden bullet engraved with a winged skull and the words "Memento Mori"—remember that you will die. She clamps the bullet between her teeth and begins assembling the rifle with astonishing speed. Using the telekinetic power granted by synth, she summons the rifle's pieces to her hands without breaking stride as she runs toward the shattered interior window overlooking the gallery floor.

Hunt recognizes that Bryce's flawless, instinctive assembly of the weapon is the product of years of training by her adoptive father, the legendary sharpshooter Randall Silago. Bryce drops into a slide, locks the final piece, loads the bullet, and braces the Godslayer Rifle against her shoulder at the open window. She has exactly two seconds—the precious seconds Lehabah's sacrifice purchased—to line up her shot before Micah bursts through the iron door below.

Bryce had left the front door open as a deliberate trap, drawing Micah's attention away from her position above. Micah explodes through the door and turns toward the open exit, never looking up. In that instant, Bryce pulls the trigger and sends the Memento Mori bullet straight through Micah's head.