As the Asteri’s crystal palace begins to collapse, Ruhn hears a deafening crack and sees the towers sway and topple. A massive pull—like a whirlpool—tugs at everything near the palace as light ruptures from below. Ruhn grabs the twins’ hands and runs for the city gates while Tharion, newly awake and unsteady, struggles to keep pace.

Nearby, Hunt faces a split-second choice when the explosion and collapse erupt: keep pursuing Bryce or save Ithan Holstrom. Knowing Bryce would never forgive him for abandoning Ithan, Hunt grabs the wolf and launches into the air through falling debris, landing on the rim of a newly formed crater.

At the crater’s center, Hunt sees a gaping void opening to the stars, pulling everything toward it. Realizing Bryce has opened a portal to a black hole, Hunt orders Holstrom to get people out of the area while he watches glowing figures—Asteri—being dragged into the darkness. Among them, Hunt recognizes Bryce’s starlight being pulled toward the same fate.

In space, Bryce clings to life without air, believing the Horn’s Made power is keeping her alive just long enough. She reveals her plan: after seeing the Starsword and Truth-Teller create a void that could trap an Asteri, Bryce opened a larger black hole to consume the Asteri’s kill-switch black hole tied to the firstlight core. She kept the portal back to Midgard as a narrow sliver—wide enough to take only those near the core—because she refused to let Midgard be destroyed.

Bryce watches the firstlight core and its growing darkness stretch and bend as they are swallowed by the larger black hole, leaving no trace—ending the kill switch and freeing Midgard. One by one the Asteri are pulled past the event horizon: Hesperus and Eosphoros vanish first, then Austrus after Rigelus kicks free of his frantic grip. Finally Rigelus collides with Bryce; when his presence makes the Horn’s protection falter, Bryce forces a small separation to breathe, then wraps herself around him, determined to drag Rigelus into the black hole even if it kills her, too.