In the tomb, Vesperus survives Nesta’s earlier strike, using the stolen cache of firstlight to heal through Ataraxia and taunt them. Azriel warns Nesta not to summon the Trove near Vesperus, fearing what the Asteri could seize, while Vesperus hints she intends to claim it anyway. Bryce realizes they need another approach and remembers how she used a single moment of advantage to kill Micah.

Bryce summons Truth-Teller from Azriel’s grip and advances with it in one hand and the Starsword in the other, their paired power making her body hum. As Nesta and Azriel split Vesperus’s attention with simultaneous attacks, Bryce drives both weapons into Vesperus’s chest and pours her light and will into them. Time seems to slow as the blades’ combined magic surges, suggesting the weapons can weaken an Asteri.

Azriel’s blue magic lashes Vesperus’s neck, but Vesperus absorbs it, turning it into a protective barrier that lets her grasp the Starsword’s hilt. Vesperus yanks the Starsword free, proving the near-kill wasn’t enough, and threatens to use Truth-Teller on Bryce. Seeing the opening, Nesta refuses to wait for Bryce to “figure it out” and swings Ataraxia.

Nesta decapitates Vesperus and repeatedly drives Ataraxia into the severed head, silver fire wreathing the blade as time slows again around the final strikes. When time snaps back, Vesperus remains dead—apparently the last Asteri on this world destroyed. The victory is decisive, but it comes with the unsettling lesson that Asteri can absorb magic and that the blades’ killing mechanism is volatile and not fully understood.

The scene shifts to Ionia’s docks before dawn, where Tharion’s group reaches a waiting boat to escape toward Pangera and eventually the Depth Charger. Tharion is sick with guilt and can’t meet Ithan’s eyes, while Dec, Flynn, the sprites, and the captain hurry them aboard to use darkness as cover. Even with the boat ready, everyone is tense about pursuit and being traced.

At the dock’s edge, Ithan—crushed by self-loathing over killing the wolf who could have changed their future—announces he has to go back to Crescent City “to make it right.” He shifts into wolf form and sprints away, vanishing into the marina’s buildings, leaving Tharion stunned and the others furious and confused. Tharion boards anyway as the boat pulls out, wondering if he’ll ever see Valbara again or deserves to.