In warp, the course leads toward the Wurmwall and the old wreck of the Wurm Speaker where Sami and Tannuk first met. Tezzeret admits he selected a desperate crew because only people unlikely to succeed without the artifact could expose its intention. His own specialists vanished from history. The Endstone had pruned every recovery plan until Tezzeret himself became a route willing to deliver it.
A finished, mask-faced being steps into the Seriema and takes the stone. It recognises Alpharael as touched by the core, crushes Haliya's throat when she attacks and tests Tezzeret's aether-marked body. The figure calls itself the last thing and speaks of a serpent needing a hero, turning the completed delivery into an invitation or threat aimed beyond Sothera.
Tezzeret catches two severed fingers and receives his promised evidence of higher power. Sami turns immediately to saving Haliya; Tannuk tends the fallen; Mirri is home. That contrast defines the route's ending. One traveller collects proof that the universe can be mastered, while the crew measures success by which fragile lives can still be carried forward.