Marco Alisdair crashes to the ground in a cloud of black ash beside the Wunschtraum clock at the closed Le Cirque des Rêves. Tsukiko greets him and explains that Isobel’s ash trick brought him here; while an “inclement-weather party” gathers elsewhere, Tsukiko leads Marco into the darkened circus courtyard where the bonfire burns white.

As they walk, Tsukiko reveals she is also a former student of Alexander and speaks bluntly about the instructors’ cruelty in binding opponents together. She recounts her own past contest: she loved her opponent, Hinata, and on the day the game ended Hinata set herself on fire, leaving Tsukiko the “victor” by survival. Tsukiko tells Marco that Celia Bowen is planning the same sacrifice for him—letting Marco win.

Tsukiko then frames her plan through the story of the wizard imprisoned in a tree: rather than killing Marco, she intends to trap him in the bonfire so he cannot continue the game. Celia appears, soaked by rain, and Tsukiko admits she lied about love being fleeting to make Celia doubt Marco and to buy Celia time to find a way for the circus to survive without her. Tsukiko declares Celia has failed, insists Celia carries the circus within herself, and refuses to grant more time.

Marco, unable to accept a future without Celia, urges Tsukiko to proceed, even if it means he is trapped rather than dead. As Tsukiko flicks her still-burning cigarette toward the bonfire, Celia runs to Marco, leaps into his arms, and whispers, “Trust me.” Marco stops resisting as a tearing sensation pulls them apart.

In a blinding flare just before the explosion, Celia and Marco dissolve into air and vanish. The circus erupts into flame for a moment, but the fire quickly dies to nothing, leaving the bonfire cage empty. Unharmed as flames swirl past her, Tsukiko lights another cigarette and watches the bonfire’s cauldron fill with rainwater while she waits.