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Nomad and Rebeke accelerate after a Cinder King scout who flees into a broken lava tube. Dodging hairpin turns and collapsing skylights, Nomad pressures the scout by closing the gap, while trading barbs with the knight in his head and fielding radio objections from Contemplation, who insists he is needed to open the door.

Nomad argues that stopping the scout is essential to keep the Cinder King from finding Beacon. He sends Rebeke up and ahead while he continues to hound the scout, deliberately provoking panic. The pursuit exits into a crater plain where the scout can maximize speed, limiting Nomad’s options.

Without warning, magma geysers erupt across the crater, forcing Nomad to climb to safer altitude and briefly breaking his pursuit. As the scout nears escape, Rebeke—who took the high route—fires from above and blasts the scout off his cycle, stopping the warning.

They regroup in the sky amid continuing eruptions. Contemplation’s earlier plea also reveals her plan to become a sunheart, a realization that hits Nomad hard and underscores Beacon’s desperate ethics. He deflects analysis of the planet’s instability, focusing instead on the mission.

Rebeke, shaken, admits it is her first time actually hitting a person. Nomad normalizes her reaction by sharing his own first kill and briefly speaks in Alethi, which he claims are prayers. They descend to verify the kill, with Nomad teaching “always make sure,” closing the scene on pragmatic resolve.