Vanilla makes one final attempt to radio Fyana as he flies the others to safety away from Quent. She begs him simply to leave her behind. Only she can reach Chirico now.

The Gilgamesh and Balarant landing forces descend in staggering numbers, but Chirico cuts right through them in his Rabidlydog with the Secret Society's Zwerg platoons backing him up. They quickly fall to the greater numbers, and when Chirico is down to only a few allies, he orders Gurran to begin the second phase of their plan. Gurran orders the Secret Society ship to descent into the battle.

Fyana trails Chirico in secret, and just manages to attach herself to a landing craft as Chirico hijacks it. Chirico orders Gurran to prepare missiles, calling atention to himself and drawing the fire of the enemy. Gurran interposes his ship between Chirico and the combined army, taking devastating hits and striking back as best he can. As Chirico descends into the crevasse toward the underground labyrinth, the ship is overwhelmed and crashes to the ground. Gurran is mortally wounded, surviving just long enough to see an uninjured Rochina step out of hiding and slip away. He will find out once and for all if Chirico is a suitable successor to God.

Pursued relentlessly by a few tenacious enemies in Scopedogs, Chirico and his last two Zwerg pilots plunge into the labyrinth. Exhausted and bereft of ammunition, Chirico is called ever deeper by Wiseman, who declares that his true successor should need no help reaching his final goal. Chirico pushes beyond his fatigue and fights on.

"I'll have my vengeance on everyone in this galaxy! Unending war and chaos...I'll plunge them all into hell! To be the absolute ruler of this galaxy, that is what I desire! To become a living God!"

Having lost all contact with the Scopedogs chasing Chirico, the combined fleet consider their final option; that of destroying Quent itself.

Chirico smashes the last of his pursuers and nearly collapses from the effort. Finally, Fyana appears in her Berserga and asks him one last time to turn back. He refuses, firing on her and throwing her backward into a teleport field. She is gone. Wiseman congratulates him, and beckons him on by foot.

Chirico struggles to reach the final goal, the central core of the Wiseman bio-computer, the collective consciousness of the Overmen. Chirico lies unable to move, and Wiseman lowers a large machine toward him, one that will complete the bond between God and successor. All Chirico has to do now is stand up...but instead he plays his final gambit, firing a bulled directly into the machine!

At last, Chirico's subterfuge is revealed - having come this far and lead all of his enemies into their own death, he now sets about the work of destroying Wiseman itself. Wiseman pleads with him to stop, explaining that it was he who brought Chirico together with Fyana, and provided her name. This gave Chirico something further to live for, and with life came the desire for strength and power. Wiseman also explains that Chirico need not regret the death and violence he has dealt in the battlefield, saying that "God does not sin when he kills."

Chirico ignores every word, continuing to disable the computer core. As Wiseman's consciousness begins to disintegrate, it lashes out one last time, throwing Chirico to the ground with an electric shock. He rises to see Rochina standing over him. Rochina tries to stop Chirico's sabotage, but Fyana leaps in to overpower him. She recognized his true intentions when he fired only to damage her AT. Together, the two complete the work of killing God and flee to safety as Rochina screams in anger and dispair and what he has lost.

The combined fleets of the Gilgamesh and the Balarant stand witness as Quent explodes with the fury of a sun.

Epilogue: One Year Later

A stolen shuttlecraft soars away from a Gilgamesh planet as a new war dawns on the horizon. Sometime later, a tiny capsule is released into space. Inside this capsule, preparing to disappear into history, Chirico holds Fyana dnd bids farewell to his Friends as they drift off in search of a world untouched by war.

"Coconna. Gotho. Vanilla. Shako. I'm glad I was able to meet all of you. And you, Fyana..."