While Tatsuya and his Orga brethren deal with a devastating loss, the ice-cold Countess boldly attempts to make a kill of her own. This pushes Tatsuya to shut her out at last, in a violent, spectacular rage. Isamu, in turn, gets even closer to the secretive widow, at an intimate dinner with just the two of them, where he demands to know how this sick war began-and what part he and the Countess are truly playing in the battle. Thus, the truth of Heaven's Gate is revealed. Elsewhere, a key Heaven's Gate player is murdered by the least likely soldier in this shadowy combat.