Bryce wakes in the black-salt chamber to find the Autumn King and Morven holding Tharion, Baxian, Sathia, Flynn, and Declan prisoner inside an inextinguishable ring of flame, while the Murder Twins threaten their minds. The kings demand Bryce surrender Starsword and Truth-Teller; when the twins force Sathia to hold a knife to her own throat, Bryce drops the blades to save her.

Bryce stalls to give Hunt time to strike. She recalls the weapons with her power as Hunt attacks the Murder Twins with lightning, forcing them to drop their mental control. Bryce erupts into starfire and fights both kings; Hunt destroys six summoned ghouls, but the twins shield themselves long enough to rush Bryce. Bryce overwhelms the twins by flooding their minds with starfire, killing them.

Morven and the Autumn King counterattack together, battering Bryce with shadow and flame. As the Autumn King prepares to drive a flaming sword into Bryce’s heart, Ruhn arrives and runs him through from behind with the Starsword, with Lidia at Ruhn’s back guarding against Morven.

Ruhn executes the Autumn King, revealing mind-to-mind that he lied about the Oracle: the prophecy said the royal bloodline would end with him. Ruhn declares he will live, yield his crown and title to Bryce, and end the corrupt system—then beheads the Autumn King. With their father dead and the prisoners freed when Morven’s fire finally vanishes, Bryce forces Morven to yield, then kills him as well, claiming queenship over Valbara’s Fae and Avallen.

Sathia hails Bryce as Queen of the Midgardian Fae, and Flynn, Declan, and Ruhn kneel; Ruhn formally offers the Starsword to Bryce to right an old wrong. The group refocuses on Helena’s hidden “third” portion of Theia’s power, theorizing it is bound into Avallen’s depleted ley lines and the land itself. Bryce realizes the eight-pointed star on the floor is a lock; she inserts Truth-Teller and Starsword into matching slits, turning them like keys and releasing what is stored beneath.