Vis and Aequa take front seats at the vast Catenan Arena, where Praetorians patrol and warships wait on an artificial lake. Aequa coolly outlines the rules: Conditional armor enforces Birthright, many will be injured, and Sappers will recover the fallen—mostly convicted criminals. Vis is repulsed by the system and the casual expectation of deaths, feeling exposed in the prominent seating yet compelled to give the Anguis a chance to contact him.

Breaking away, Vis is intercepted by Sedotia, now veiled and urgent. She guides him down hidden stairs into the sewers, having him change out of anything Ulciscor provided to avoid tracking. As they wade through the stench—passages that will soon flood when the Arena drains—Sedotia brings him to a dim, raised alcove lit by a dying torch.

There, “Melior” steps forward and reveals himself as Estevan, a trusted former advisor from Suus. After a brief, restrained reunion, Estevan outlines the Anguis request: Vis should become Domitor at the Academy and, on graduation, take a position in Caten with Religion or Governance—explicitly not Military. Vis refuses, explaining how an Anguis raid on a kind Tensian village convinced him their tactics harden hearts against them. A sharp debate follows; Estevan argues Octavii willingly uphold the Hierarchy and that “victims can still be enemies.”

Estevan rejects the idea that the Republic attacked Suus for money alone, claiming he knows the real reason and that Vis will learn it soon. Vis warns Estevan that the Senate expects to catch “Melior,” then Estevan departs. Sedotia, wan and unsteady from ceding to Estevan, insists on “protection,” drawing Vis’s blood on a stone stylus that hisses and steams, then gives it to him with strict instructions to keep it.

Pressed for time, Vis cleans up, redresses, and returns to Aequa, who remarks on his smell but suspects nothing. Announcers finish their introductions, thousands of lanterns blaze, horns sound from all sides, and the naumachia begins.