The war grows deadlier each day. One evening Quick calls Valkyrie, whispering that Lealtad has led the Fist of Talos on a raid on a suspected Seer sanctum. The place is heavily booby trapped and filled with zombies. People are getting hurt and they are in over their heads.
Valkyrie quickly gathers White Ash, Zelda, and Recon. She also calls on her cabal to help pull the Arrow’s bacon out of the fire. Colt drives over to join her while Adele and Mammon scry first.
Adele is the first on the scene, teleporting into the ruined tenement building in a Twilight state. In Shadow the structure resembles a church or mausoleum. Death and faith spirits wander about it. Outside the structure the building seems much more rundown than the rest of the neighborhood, a fact hidden until recently by Mind magics. Inside the place is a maze, with ghosts of accident victims set in Twilight as sentries and shattered corpses of zombies strewn about. Adele busies herself commanding the ghosts and zombies to follow her. She notes that the zombies seem to have been created via a Legacy attainment.
Mammon meanwhile chooses to mentally project to the combat site. He joins up with Adele and begins to scry each floor, checking for lingering dangers.
The others arrive just as an explosion rocks the 4th floor. As the Arrow members hurry upstairs, Colt climbs the opposite building looking for a sniping position. Mammon quickly sets up a mental network between the cabal members.
Upstairs Valkyrie finds the Arrow in disarray. Frost, Lug and One are wounded by shrapnel, bullets and zombie attacks. Freeflow is conspicuously absent. Meanwhile, Lealtad and Quick are loudly arguing about the need to retreat. Valkyrie takes charge, ordering her group to tend to the wounded and organize a retreat. Then she learns Freeflow was in the hallway where a landmine went off.
She relays this to Adele who sends Merlin to find a path to her body. Lealtad angrily tries to force the Arrow forward but Valkyrie disobeys her and directs the others to fall back. Faced with mutiny, the Adamant Sage fumes silently. Merlin quickly returns, warning her of booby traps in twilight and directing her how to get the body. Via Valkyrie this is relayed to Lug who makes his way to the corpse and retrieves the fallen soldier.
Once back at the Monastery, Lealtad challenges Valkyrie to a duel. The stakes are her obedience against Lealtad’s leadership of the Arrow. As the challenged Valkyrie chooses katanas as the weapons. The pair face off with the entirety of the Arrow and Ebon Cross in attendance. Despite her inhuman strength, Lealtad is slowly beaten. Valkyrie’s unparalleled skill leaves the Adamant Sage with nasty cuts on her arms, shoulders and back. Though she too is wounded, Valkyrie continues to give the hot headed mage a chance to yield. Ultimately Lealtad passes out from blood loss. After seeing that she is stabilized, the others proclaim Valkyrie the new leader of the Arrow. Colt however warns her Lealtad remains a threat and should be removed permanently.
Several days later, Mammon hears from Vincent. The Proximi has traced the payments to Gabrielle Zimmerman for the assassinations back to a French company believed to be a front for the Seers of the Throne. He also determines that they have a private chateau in the country, possibly used as a sanctum. Mammon decides with the others to leave that situation alone for now. However Adele decides to contact her father Midasvia Merlin. Merlin relays the details of the assassination attempt on Adele. He returns with word that her father seems tired and that he advises her to lay low.
Word comes in of the casualties on both sides. The Free Council suffers a number of attacks, most of which are easily repelled. However the Dreamcatchers see their finances destroyed by identity thieves and a drive-by shooting kills Ebon Galatea. Worse the Seed Corporation flees the city after their sanctum is compromised. The Guardians and Mysterium hold off the attacks on them but the Silver Ladder suffers more damage. Fakir is shot while buying groceries while Goes and Rave are attacked when dealing with the Cryptology, New Thought. Fakir and Goes survive but Rave dies.
The Seers do poorly as well according to Guardian espionage reports. The Ministry of Mammon suffers reversals requiring them to retreat from Chicago. Panopticon goes to ground. The Guardians discover that the popular weather girl Merika Seth is a Seer of the Throne. She is violently killed. Attacks by the Councilium-led forces root out and drive out a pylon called the False Refusal.
As the war continues the remaining councilors discuss the need to replace Babbage. To keep the balance of the Paths they need to nominate a Moros but Ezekiel steadfastly insists on a vote. The Councilors and Provosts weigh in on the decision and Colt offers his opinion. In the end they decide to postpone the election until after the war. In the interim it is decided Quick will be Councilor with Frost as his Provost. Once the war is over he will step down and an election will take place.
Winter drags on and the spirit world is torn apart by the conflict between Athaliah and Midas. Each unleashes hordes of potent spirits against the other. Realizing his error, Colt apologizes to Adele, explaining that another way is needed to stop the war. Adele decides to talk to her father personally. She sets up a secure location and invites him to meet with her. They discuss the growing damage to the spirit world. Midas slowly recognizes that victory, if even possible, will come at too high a price. He reluctantly backs down and agrees to leave the city, likely forever. He tells Adele to look into an issue for him, the mysterious realignment and growth of the ley lines.
With her opponent gone, Mammon is able to convince Athaliah to call back the spirits and work to rebuild Shadow. The Ebon Cross gathers at the sanctum a week later to discuss recent events. As they talk a man in red walks in urging them to go and defeat the remaining tethers of Algol. Once the apparition vanishes, the group decides they must go to Mexico to finish this. Valkyrie decides to stay though to watch over her order, mentor and son.