Sora hears Mikail’s name shouted in the warehouse and sees why: a surviving gang member has stayed hidden behind crates and now stands behind Mikail with a drawn sword, waiting to strike while Mikail’s back is turned.

Sora screams a warning but fears she is too late. Ty throws a sword across the room to stop the attacker, but the weapon will not reach in time.

Sora forces herself to keep her eyes open, refusing to be a “coward” again after Mikail risked himself to save her and after past failures to witness deaths that mattered to her.

Before the strike lands, the attacker abruptly drops his blade, collapses to one knee, and clutches the back of his leg, crying out. Mikail whirls around and drives his sword through the man’s chest, killing him as Ty’s thrown blade skitters to a stop nearby.

Everyone stares, confused, because no one was close enough to intervene. Sora cannot explain what stopped the attacker—perhaps a stroke of luck or the gods—but she believes any divine mercy toward killers comes with a price.