With his force shattered and time gone, Darrow sends Ragnar and the remaining Obsidians to open a gate for his reserves. He gives Ragnar a razor and the choice of destiny; Ragnar chooses to follow and lead the Obsidians. Darrow and Sevro distribute more razors, provoking Thistle’s outrage and Sevro’s defense, as Darrow reasserts that he does not rule slaves.

Short on equipment, the team has only Sevro’s failing gravBoots. To gain speed, Darrow orders armor shed down to scarabSkin, arguing the Sovereign must be captured before she escapes and regroups the Society. They sprint fifteen kilometers through parks and lowDistricts as Sevro scouts them around patrols. Shuttles redeploy toward the north; soon Sevro reports Ragnar opened the gates, slew the Wind Knight, and nearly cut down Cassius, igniting Obsidian fervor.

The Howlers reach the Citadel’s grounds. Darrow aims to force the Sovereign from the bunkers when the shield drops. Sevro barely lifts Darrow onto the wall before his boots die. A chain of detonations follows—Mustang collapses the shield nexuses and rain floods the city. Seeing the Sovereign will be extracted toward distant pads, Darrow refuses to risk his friends, drops alone into the gardens, and sprints for the escape point as Sevro begs him to stop.

Darrow tears across the grounds to a landing zone with four black shuttles, one thicker and reinforced—the Sovereign’s—flanked by decoys. Gray lurchers and Obsidian guards surge, but Darrow drives on. He glimpses Octavia boarding amid Aja, Karnus, and Fitchner. Slashing through a Bellona Gold and dodging fire, he reaches the ramp as it retracts, leaps, and, despite his injured arm, hauls himself inside.

The hatch seals and engines fade to a rumble. Alone in the shuttle’s bay after a desperate pursuit, Darrow catches his breath and looks up, having placed himself aboard the Sovereign’s escaping craft.