The Soldier's Hymn

During a two-day army pause at a river crossing, Ren's group gathers at Harsk's fire as Fossick tells stories; Nella's branded memory loss becomes starkly visible when she forgets who first told Fossick about the wine.

Lethane summons Ren to her command pavilion at midnight, reveals she has known he was a thief since the first briefing, and exposes her thirty-seven brands and their devastating personal cost.

A forced branding petition signed by fourteen branded officers threatens Ren's unbranded command position. Ren processes Volsk's death in the casualty list and reflects on the cost of the branding system.

Ren leads an underground infiltration during the assault on the eastern cathedral, stealing pre-Immaculate documents from a buried archive before Lethane's channeling strike destroys it. Scout Holt dies to a fleeing wounded demon during extraction.

Ren discovers an underground pre-Immaculate shrine containing a green boneglass column during the eastern push, guided by his figurine. He brings Callum to assess it, and touching the column reveals a vast, patient divinity wholly distinct from Verada.

Nella announces her second brand over breakfast in the matter-of-fact tone of a decision already made. Ren attends the branding ceremony and watches her endure the iron without screaming, the first brand having taught her to manage pain as data.

The eastern campaign opens with three days of rain as scouts discover demons are now strategically hunting observation posts. Two scouts die: Doss killed when a Class Two demon uses adapted biomechanics to overcome the evasion technique, and Fenn killed by a sixth demon Ren missed in his count.

Thune summons Ren to his spartan tent for the eastern advance briefing, revealing that 37 brands have reduced him to near-mechanical precision. Ren probes for the human behind the weapon and receives the haunting admission: I was a farmer. I think.

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.