Jinnie overtakes the escapees and insists on bringing Giada back to Jetmir. The young woman delays violence by invoking her guardian's authority; Elspeth and Vivien remain uneasy companions. An Obscura guide named Kamiz offers shelter, but the supposed refuge is soon attacked. Kamiz leads them through hidden passages toward Park Heights, their distrust growing with every turn. On the approach, Giada discards a tracking bracelet and warns Elspeth. Kamiz then reveals her betrayal as Obscura enforcers spring a trap. The group manages to break free of the Obscura ambush and flees through the gardens, reaching the cathedral on its own rather than being escorted there as prisoners.
Inside the cathedral, Giada hears a song no one else can fully follow. The place restores fragments of identity that the Cabaretti never understood: she belongs to the angels whose power became Halo, and the family she has been seeking is not a syndicate that owns her gift. For Elspeth, the same revelation changes home from recovered geography into chosen purpose. She belongs wherever her strength can keep another person free.
Ob Nixilis arrives to claim Giada and crush the resistance personally. Elspeth cannot match his speed and power with the oversized weapon she carries. Giada refuses to run. Her physical form becomes light, the outlines of angels gather around her and her Halo transforms Elspeth's sword into a balanced weapon capable of carrying the power of the city Ob Nixilis tried to steal.
Elspeth wounds Ob Nixilis, but he escapes alive by planeswalking away; Giada's gift defeats his attempt to seize the Font, not the demon's continued existence. Giada joins the angels rather than remaining anyone's resource. Her choice leaves grief, but not defeat. Xander's final instructions open the Maestro archives to Elspeth, where she and Vivien learn that ancient demons trapped angels and converted them into Halo after an alliance defeated the first Phyrexian invasion. Elspeth leaves with knowledge and a small supply that may help the coming war, while New Capenna must face the moral cost beneath its survival.