Rin wakes bound in a covered wagon with Altan as Federation soldiers move quickly through a devastated Nikara countryside. Through the tarp she sees belongings abandoned by fleeing villagers and a man selling two young girls, confirming the scale of collapse and deepening her fear for Tikany and the people she left behind.

Altan tries to burn through his ropes, but the smoke alerts the soldiers. The guards douse Altan, drug Rin, and transport both prisoners to a medical facility filled with preserved Nikara body parts. Altan recognizes it as the research camp where he was tortured as a child, close to Speer and the sea.

Dr. Shiro, the camp’s chief medical officer, greets Altan with delighted familiarity and injects him with heroin to exploit his addiction and pain. Shiro demands that Rin explain how to reach the gods, threatening to keep torturing Altan if she refuses. Rin resists because the Pantheon is the last power Mugen has not taken from Nikan.

In the cell, Rin realizes Altan uses opium not for strength but to escape constant agony from the Phoenix and his trauma. Shiro later returns with plague canisters and reveals that the Federation plans to weaponize disease. When Rin claims loyalty to the Empress, Shiro tells her the Empress betrayed the Cike and gave the Federation their location at Chuluu Korikh, shattering Rin and Altan’s faith in their mission.

After guards inject both Speerlies, Rin is forced into the spirit realm and finds Altan there. She rouses his anger by invoking Speer’s betrayal and the danger to the remaining shamans. Altan leads Rin into Speer’s ancestral memory, where the ghosts of Speer bless her with their collective rage and instruct her to go to the island temple, call the Phoenix, and wake Speer’s ancient fault lines.

Rin and Altan return to their bodies in Shiro’s lab and burn their way free. Altan kills Shiro, and they flee through the vast facility toward the sea, fighting Federation patrols in perfect synchronization. At the docks, surrounded by soldiers and ships, Altan tells Rin to swim to Speer while he completes his duty. He sacrifices himself by calling the Phoenix and immolating, unleashing a massive column of fire that devastates the Federation force and throws Rin into the water.