Cronan appears in the forest wearing a jagged metal crown. He identifies Isla as the Worldkey he has been searching for and notes that she carries his sword and the diamond he seeks. When Lark attacks him, he effortlessly shreds her into ribbons. Isla fears she has lost her chance to absorb Lark’s power and bring everyone back, but the pieces begin reassembling.

Isla summons all her power, but Cronan he shatters her defenses instantly and seizes her by the throat. He reclaims his sword, and his gaze falls on her necklace. He laughs, saying he has torn apart the universe searching for her, and she has brought herself to him. Isla’s vision goes dark.

Isla awakens pinned to the floor of a circular room with a glass ceiling that shows a galaxy shaped like a crown. She cannot move or speak. Cronan resembles Grim but with bottomless eyes and a twisted crown. Realizing that one of his descendants gave Isla infinite, he expresses disgust for his “weak” bloodline. He explains the diamond is sentient and must choose to be claimed. He plans to control the stone by controlling her.

Cronan knows Isla wields six different realms’ abilities, consumes souls, and that her heart fused with the seed of power he and the other founders used to create Lightlark.