Determined to feed his growing force, Darrow targets House Ceres’s ovens. Trust from Mustang helps integrate Minerva recruits, while Diana remains enslaved pending proof of loyalty. Darrow trains new fighters with wolf hunts and cloaks, then rehearses a risky plan using a felled tree as a ramp. Overnight, the band buries itself in snow near Ceres, waiting for daylight and calmer wind.

At dawn, the twenty-four sprint through arrows to the walls. Pax and the strongest brace the beam at an angle while Darrow, Mustang, and Milia scramble up, breach the battlements, and open the gate. Pax storms in like a juggernaut, scattering defenders as the rest howl and rout Ceres. In minutes the citadel and ovens fall. Darrow frees aiding Diana slaves and pays individual compliments to bind loyalty, while Mustang enslaves captured Ceres under Minerva’s standard. Freed Mars and Juno slaves are reclaimed.

That night, Mustang reports Tactus tried to rape Nyla, a Ceres girl; Milia stopped him, stoking a House Diana-Ceres standoff. In council, Mustang frames the choice as a political trap, but Darrow seeks justice that preserves victory. Nyla, bruised and calm, asks for no punishment, saying nothing can make it right.

Before the assembled army, Tactus argues “might makes right.” Darrow forbids rape outright, then sentences Tactus to twenty lashes despite Diana’s anger. Afterward, Darrow gives Tactus the switch and, to own his army’s sins, kneels to receive twenty-five lashes himself, with Pax compelled to strike.

Bloodied but unbowed, Darrow declares leaders must protect the body of the army and that any vile act will be borne publicly by him. The spectacle reframes power, shames abusers, and forges cohesion. Darrow then embraces the stunned Tactus, claiming him as a blood brother, and solidifies a new ethic of leadership.