The Seiikinese scholar finishes translating the carvings on the mulberry tree and shares the story of Neporo, a pearl-diver from Ampiki who ate the fruit of the mulberry tree on Komoridu and gained immortality. Over time, Neporo received two celestial jewels from a dragon and, together with Cleolind—the princess from the South—used them to seal the Nameless One in the Abyss for a thousand years. The story reveals that the founding legend of the House of Berethnet is false: it was the jewels, not a royal bloodline, that bound the Nameless One. The scholar also explains that a descendant of Neporo stitched the rising jewel into his own body, passing it down through generations, meaning the jewel lives inside a descendant of Neporo.

The Golden Empress learns that the tree is dead and its fruit could only ever grant immortality to the first person who ate it, rendering her quest futile. Furious, she turns on Niclays, who brought her to Komoridu. Laya seizes Niclays and they flee toward the beach, but the pirates catch them before they can escape by boat. The Golden Empress prepares to hand Niclays over to her crew as a scapegoat, threatening to frame Laya instead if he refuses. Niclays, reflecting on his past cowardice, refuses to let Laya suffer and accepts his fate.

Tané Miduchi appears, holding a sword to the Golden Empress's throat, and demands the iron key to Nayimathun's chains. When the pirates comply, Tané reveals the rising jewel, and the scholar identifies her as a descendant of Neporo. Niclays begs Tané to take Laya, but Tané refuses to help him. The Golden Empress goads Tané to kill her, but Tané vows to return and hunt her down instead. As Tané walks away, a pirate fires a pistol at her; she uses the rising jewel to summon a massive wave that scatters everyone on the beach. In the chaos, Niclays grabs a sword, but the Golden Empress severs his hand and slashes his throat, taking the hand as a trophy. Laya finds Niclays and tries to keep him alive as he loses consciousness.

Meanwhile, Loth waits in the hold of the Pursuit with the chained dragon Nayimathun. Tané returns soaked and exhausted with the key, and together they unchain the dragon. Nayimathun smashes through the hull of the ship, and Tané and Loth climb onto her back. The dragon bursts free into the sea, dodging pistol fire and cannon. As they escape, they see the Draconic Army attacking the pirate fleet: the High Western dragon Valeysa, the Flame of Despair, sets the Black Dove ablaze. Tané directs Nayimathun to dive toward the Rose Eternal, where Thim is rescued from the crow's nest. A pursuing wyvern is defeated when Nayimathun breathes a powerful wind that quenches its flame and sends it tumbling into the sea.

Tané collapses unconscious, and Loth catches her before she falls. Thim is awestruck at riding a dragon. Loth addresses Nayimathun directly, asking to be taken to the Unceasing Emperor in the Twelve Lakes. The dragon replies in Inysh, agreeing to take them to the City of the Thousand Flowers.