At Black Veil, Matthias, Jesper, and Kuwei come under fire inside the tomb. Matthias sees that they are surrounded not by the stadwatch but by Dime Lions led by Doughty. When the gang throws gas canisters through the broken stained-glass windows, Matthias blocks one with a horse blanket, but the assault forces the three into the catacomb behind the tomb.

Inside the dark passage, Matthias quickly assesses their resources: Jesper has Wylan’s violet bombs and flash bombs, Kuwei has his notebooks, and Wylan’s leftover powders remain nearby. The Dime Lions begin trying to blast the tomb door, intending to take Kuwei alive, so Matthias devises a military-style escape plan. He uses one bomb to make the Dime Lions think the group is blowing out the back of the catacomb, then sends Kuwei and Jesper toward a mausoleum with a broken mast while Matthias provides cover with rifle fire and flash bombs.

Pinned down near the mausoleum, Matthias orders Jesper and Kuwei to use their hidden Grisha abilities. Jesper manipulates Wylan’s powders into the air, and Kuwei ignites and shapes the colored flames, making the Dime Lions believe Black Veil’s ghosts have appeared. The illusion disrupts the attackers only briefly, but it gives the three fugitives enough time to break for the shore.

At the canal, Matthias smashes violet bombs against the wrecked boats, and Kuwei drives the strange flames into the water. The heat raises steam and exposes a muddy path across the shallow canal, allowing Matthias, Jesper, and Kuwei to run over the canal bed to the opposite shore. They escape into the streets and head toward Sweet Reef, where Nina and Inej may be in danger.

As they flee, Jesper points out that Matthias has effectively commanded a small Grisha army. Matthias is unsettled but realizes he does not feel corrupted by using Grisha power; instead, he begins to wonder whether Djel might work through Grisha gifts. This thought quiets the inner conflict created by Matthias’s drüskelle training and strengthens his resolve to find Nina, survive the night, leave Ketterdam, and help change the world.