Chapter LXXIV

Summary

• The protagonist wakes in the infirmary, haunted by visions of friends and his deceased father. He has a heartbreaking conversation with the spectre of his father who advises him to keep fighting before disappearing.
• It is revealed when he wakes that five days have passed and that he's lost his left arm due to a rot condition.
• Veridius, a physician, reveals that the protagonist's blood has been tainted, indicating he ran the Labyrinth in the ruins, and someone is likely to kill him if they found out.
• His friend Emissa, who had previously stabbed him thinking he was beyond help, wants to see him. The protagonist declines.
• Veridius advises the protagonist to join the Religion committee and become an Imperator under Magnus Tertius Pileus, stressing this isn't political but a bid to avoid another Cataclysm.
• Troubled by Veridius's claims, the protagonist nonetheless decides to choose a new path. His application to work for the Censor is greeted with silence and disbelief, but eventually confirmed and witnessed.
• Despite Veridius's protest, the protagonist attributes his friend Belli's death to him and vows they will never work together.
• Alone in his room, the protagonist discovers a toy ship he made for his father as a boy, reminding him that despite his ordeals and losses, he has to keep fighting.