Bryce hears Danika's voice from the Bone Quarter and, laughing and sobbing, slams her palm onto the Gate's bronze disk to begin her Drop. Soul to soul with Danika, Bryce plunges into her power in what is effectively an untethered, solo Drop—Danika's dead soul cannot truly serve as an Anchor, making the descent an act of utter free fall with no guaranteed return.

In the conference room, Declan Emmett monitors the Drop on the Eleusian system alongside the Autumn King, Sabine Fendyr, Queen Hypaxia, and Jesiba. Hypaxia realizes the bronze plaque on the Gate—"The power shall always belong to those who give their lives to the city"—is not a memorial but a blessing. Every person who ever touched the Gates and yielded a drop of magic over the centuries has contributed to a vast reservoir of power, and Bryce is now drawing on all of it during her Drop.

Bryce's power level rockets past expectations, surpassing Ruhn Danaan and approaching the Autumn King's own level. As she descends, the quartz Gates across the city ignite with firstlight, connecting along ley lines to form a six-pointed star of light that rings the entire city. Demons flee back through the shrinking portals, and the pure firstlight heals the city—shattered buildings reform, wounded people become whole. The Horn's power flows through Bryce, amplified by the firstlight she generates, sealing every portal between Midgard and Hel until the Gates stand empty.

Bryce's Drop finally halts at a power level just above the Autumn King's. Declan is quietly triumphant, but the Autumn King grimly points out the fatal problem: Bryce made the Drop alone without a true Anchor, meaning she has no way to make the Ascent back to life. Bryce's mortal body flatlines beside the Gate, and a six-minute countdown begins on the Eleusian system—the window in which she must complete the Search and Ascent or remain dead. The Autumn King declares that Bryce has no way back.