After two weeks refining his risky strategy, Vis asks Emissa to help execute a plan that could both elevate him to Class Three and recover what Belli holds over Callidus. Emissa agrees, understanding Vis’s motive to protect his friend. They decide to act at dinner the next day.

Before dinner, Vis and Emissa bring the Class Three Foundation board to the Fourths’ table and begin a visibly uneven game to attract attention. When Belli arrives, Vis provokes her into a public challenge, drawing a crowd. Iro summons Praeceptors Scitus and Nequias to ensure the wager will be witnessed. Belli offers Vis a handicap, but he removes one of his own stones, intensifying the stakes. Vis then proposes terms: if he loses, he pledges to Governance; if he wins, he takes Belli’s Class Three seat. Under pressure and confident in her skill, Belli accepts.

As the game unfolds, Belli plays aggressively from an early advantage, but Vis deliberately channels exchanges to reset the board and then orchestrates controlled skirmishes to expose her pyramid. With the Praeceptors watching, Vis turns the position and seizes the initiative. When Belli realizes she is trapped, Vis quietly offers a draw if she returns what she took from Callidus immediately. She agrees, retrieves the items, and Callidus confirms recovery, then secures them and displays charred remnants to undercut any future claim.

Vis resumes play, rejects Belli’s attempt to offer an out, and decisively breaks her defenses, emphasizing the consequences of betrayal. Overwhelmed, Belli concedes in tears and flees. Scitus promptly validates the result, and even the reluctant Nequias acknowledges the outcome.

The crowd parts for Vis as he leaves. Callidus, relieved and jubilant, thanks Vis, recognizing that both his family and future are safer. Vis has achieved his goal: promotion to Class Three and the neutralization of Belli’s blackmail.