Lidia leads Bryce, Hunt, and Ruhn into the Asteri’s palace through service doors and the garbage dock, and the ease of entry makes them uneasy. In a foul closet on a sublevel, the group splits: Bryce and Hunt head for the throne room and the Gate, while Ruhn and Lidia go to find Lidia’s abducted sons. Before leaving, Bryce and Ruhn share a tender farewell, and Ruhn kisses Lidia and admits, for the first time aloud, that he loves her.

Bryce and Hunt move through the palace with near misses, counting on Declan to hack the alert system so workers can evacuate once chaos begins. Hunt recognizes the familiar hallway leading to the throne room and steels himself for the risky plan: destroy the firstlight core, then get close enough for Bryce to use the sword and knife together, despite warnings about the danger of the resulting portal.

Inside the throne room, Hunt finds his Umbra Mortis helmet and suit mounted like a trophy and reclaims them, suiting up without argument from Bryce. Bryce then puts on the Mask; it adheres to her skin and alters her perception of life and death as her star flares in recognition. Through the Mask’s vision, she sees sparks of lingering souls in the Fallen’s pinned wings—proof the Asteri denied them Sailings—and she commands those souls to answer her.

The souls rise, the wings begin to beat, and Hunt’s wind and power help rip the pinned trophies free. Only two sets remain pinned—Hunt’s and Isaiah’s—until Hunt strikes them with lightning, burning them to ash and freeing them from the Asteri’s display. The windows shatter, and the resurrected host of wings surges out into the open sky, drawing screams from the city streets.

Rigelus appears in the doorway and confronts Bryce over the Mask, warning it will curse her, but Bryce forces the Mask to obey and refuses to be intimidated. She points Rigelus to the hill outside, where the wings have landed—and where the armies of Hel rise into view, led by three princes, as Bryce reveals the invasion has arrived on schedule. Rigelus, unfazed, admits he sensed the Northern Rift opening and has been preparing; a horn sounds, and the Asterian Guard floods into the streets of the Eternal City.