Mische regains consciousness at the bottom of the stairs with Asar holding her hand, both of them battered but alive. Chandra helps Mische up while Luce checks on Asar, and Asar quickly releases Mische and avoids her gaze. Before Mische can process the shadow-woman they escaped, an inhuman voice accuses the group of reeking of the living.

The party finds itself in a vast black chamber with a crimson pool, an ivory altar, and a golden skeletal panther guardian. More panthers emerge from the darkness, ancient and damaged by their long vigil. The lead guardian speaks of Atroxus as a traitor, of the realm’s spreading decay, and of the guardians’ weakening protection over their charge.

Mische tries to explain that the group has come to right an ancient wrong, but the guardian sees into her soul and calls her words both truth and lie. Asar steps forward instead, lays down his sword, kneels before the altar, and appeals honestly to the guardians. Asar says he has served their master’s realm for 154 years, sees its suffering, and asks to be trusted with Alarus’s relic so he can restore the realm.

The guardian warns that no mortal can survive the journey and asks whether Asar still wishes to cure the incurable. Asar answers yes without hesitation. The panthers surround Asar, mist fills the chamber, and the group is shown a memory from Alarus’s perspective: Alarus lies with Nyaxia among poppies, recognizes her hunger and ambition, knows loving her is a mistake, and kisses her anyway.

When the vision ends, the darkness parts to reveal another golden door beyond the altar. Asar kneels with red poppy petals in his hands, apparently receiving Alarus’s relic from the Sanctum of Breath. The guardian reflects that Alarus’s hunger for Nyaxia helped devour the world, then allows the party to pass while warning them to beware deadly cravings. As Mische leaves, the guardian tells her it smells both fate and hunger upon her.