Dominick intercepts Arthur returning from the rooftop and takes him to the storage room for a direct confrontation: I am going to be the one, not you. He makes the case in three parts: Arthur's irreplaceable knowledge and Abigail's need for the cure; Dominick's superior physical capability; and...

Abigail's worst corruption episode. Separated from the team, she fights five demons in escalating intensity. The corruption takes control for seven seconds — up from four. During those seconds, she orients toward Haatim like a weapon finding its target.

Ren observes the dawn branding of fifty volunteers, contemplating the brands habituation effect. Nella hints she is considering a second brand for the eastern campaign while the branded processing makes the logic more compelling.

Gregory delivers the final tactical briefing: main force of 29,000, assault team of 550 under Tam protecting Lyria, and command reserves. Casualty projections are 8,000-16,000. He admits publicly to being terrified but committed.

Sera spends two days testing every alternative to replacing the anchor—mechanical regulation, distributed intelligence, hybrid systems, consciousness enhancement—and all simulations fail.

The accounting. 3,412 dead. Branded corps broken. Lethane aged by channelling walks among the wounded. Ren sits with Nella, Fossick, Callum, and Dael around a fire. Harsk's absence is a hole in the group. Fossick has no jokes. Callum asks: Was it worth it? No one answers.

Ren returns to camp after killing Tik, hollow and changed by the act. The found family gathers wordlessly around him in the dark tent--Nella holds his hand, Fossick brings food, Harsk builds with leather scraps, Callum prays, and Moth appears silently to place a boneglass shard that resonates...

Ren proves his value by advising on the broken wheel repair, stealing food and supplies, gathering military intelligence, and routing the group along a ridgeline to safely bypass a flooded river crossing. Nella formally accepts Ren as the group thief on probation.

Six weeks of grinding campaign compressed into a snapshot of attrition and adaptation. Ren kills his first demon on day nine, then seventeen more across six weeks, each kill easier than the last as combat hardens him. Nella rises from commanding 8 soldiers to 63, proving tactically brilliant.