After Count Radosav and Countess Jovanka leave together and the camps begin to disperse, Baptiste pushes Balthazar to use the standing stones to help track Alexia. Balthazar prepares a ritual with Jakob, Baptiste, and Baron Rikard watching, but his thoughts turn to his humiliation, the papal binding on his wrist, and the prospect of remaining enslaved even if the group succeeds. Bitter over losing his status, freedom, and future, Balthazar decides he has nothing left to lose.

Instead of performing a simple tracking spell, Balthazar uses the standing stones to summon Shaxep, Duke of Beneath. The door between worlds opens, daylight vanishes, and Shaxep arrives in terrifying splendor. Baptiste collapses in panic, Jakob freezes, and even Baron Rikard is horrified and begs Balthazar to send the demon back. Shaxep silences the protest and turns her attention to Balthazar.

Balthazar flatters Shaxep and asks to be freed from Pope Benedicta's binding. Shaxep makes clear that any help would come at the price of eternal debt, but then examines the binding and refuses: despite her vast power, she cannot break it. Shaxep says she could grant wealth or destroy enemies, but not undo those chains, because even infernal power has rules and limits. Before leaving, Shaxep expresses interest in Balthazar's soul and invites him to call again.

When sunlight returns and the demon is gone, the group is left among black feathers and golden dust. Balthazar refuses to accept what happened and tries to explain the failure as a trick or hidden bargain, but Baptiste rejects that idea. Jakob and Baron Rikard draw the opposite conclusion: if a Duke of Hell cannot break the binding, then Pope Benedicta's power may truly be divine. Balthazar mocks the idea that the young pope could be the Saviour returned, yet the others' silence leaves him shaken, and Jakob tells him he has finally understood.