Vis watches the naumachia begin, disgusted by the choreographed slaughter as triremes and biremes crash, prisoners and volunteers alike dying for spectacle. The crowd’s initial frenzy fades to casual enjoyment even as fighters are flung to the Sappers. Amid the carnage, odd frothing lines appear in the water; then jagged stone spokes surge up, grounding ships and tilting a trireme. Moments later, crimson lanterns fall and extinguish, and the vessels drift as if power has failed.

Estevan appears, striding along a new stone path. In a voice that drowns the Arena, he announces himself as Arturus Melior Leos, leader of the Anguis, denounces the Republic’s pyramid of complicity, and declares a reckoning. No Praetorian attacks—Will use has been suppressed. Estevan offers the naumachiarii freedom, prompting some to flee along the stone while others and several Praetorians charge him, seeking glory.

A discordant thrum tears the air; those rushing Estevan vanish, and a distant section of the stands detonates. Another pulse follows, and thousands in a nearby section explode into a red mist. Panic engulfs the Arena. When crowds bunch toward an exit, Estevan clenches his fist, unleashing another rippling strike that obliterates an entire wing, killing untold numbers. Some spectators leap into the lake or over the back wall in terror.

Calculating Estevan’s pattern, Vis pulls Aequa toward the already devastated stands, reasoning they are unlikely to be targeted again. They wade through steaming gore and shredded remains to a tunnel, descend into the inner ring, and find the sewer stairwell amid distant, continuing thrums. The sewers are flooding; they fight the current in near-darkness, fearing the Arena’s damaged basin could give way.

At a side chamber near where Vis met Estevan earlier, Vis helps Aequa onto a stair that should lead out and urges her to escape. Torn between survival and duty, he recalls his father’s charge to protect beyond personal loyalties. Believing Sedotia’s blood-marked stone stylus may let him approach, Vis turns back alone into the rising water to try to stop Estevan.