I’m going with a different prediction. Accidental death of the family? No, they can just be raised, no biggie. And I don’t see V doing it on purpose.
I think V will save his/her family just fine. But V’s mate and offspring will see what V has become and be frightened and disgusted by it, leading to the end of the family unit while all the individual members remain alive and well.
That’s my guess. And if V holds on to the splice (perhaps because the power is too tempting, or perhaps because it simply isn’t possible to just turn it off at will as the fiends seemed to imply but never outright said), the same might be repeated if V tries to rejoin the rest of the OotS (the obvious next thing for V to attempt is to find Haley, which was the problem s/he’d been head-pounding away at for a while).
Rather interestingly, I liked the way the fiends messed with V. "No, no, you make your own choice. Oops, better decide the matter in 4… 3… 2…
Oh yeah, they played V like a fiddle. And the worst part is that V’s actions are entirely reasonable. It’s so sweet!
rubs hands together maniacally
OK, so I haven’t actually played D&D in over 20 years, so I am pretty much completely unfamiliar with the spellbook these days. But I used to love geeking out over the minutiae of the spells and such (artifacts? relics? yes, please!)
I assume that the splice enables V to call up pretty much any spell from any tome, no matter how advanced.
So how about it? We’re about to see some serious, serious firepower thrown around. What spells, specifically, are we likely to see, and where can I read about them?
The “Don’t bother looking it up” would seem to imply that this is a Rich Burlew “homebrew” for the OotS universe. So all we have to go on is the fiends’ description (which is probably accurate as far as it literally goes, but potentially misleading about issues such as “Can V let go at will?” “What happens when the splice ends?” and other such complications).
OK, OK. Sso that’s the narrative perspective. But it doesn’t allow me to geek out at work, dammit! What would you LIKE to see?
…and where can I read about it?
Oh; and it’s been noticed on other forums ( the OOTS forum itself first of course ) that the runes surrounding V are actually a substitution cipher reading “BET YOU THOUGHT YOU HAD FOUND A SECRET MESSAGE IN THIS DIDN’T YOU”. 
I wondered if the pink triangle in the circle of magic was a nod toward V’s indeterminate sexuality.
3E / 3.5E has a ‘brew-it-yourself’ system for Epic (not the same as 10th) level spells. This is detailed in the Epic Level Handbook.
Technically, I think that O Fortuna is real Italian. Now, Dies Irae, that’s real Latin.
I disagree, I think it’ll go off without a hitch, no one will get hurt, no one will get mad. “One bad decision” just isn’t OOTS’ (or fiend’s) style. I think it’ll go so unbelievably well (maybe even bringing the party together) V doesn’t see any drawbacks, explains the choice to the rest of the Order (except leaving out that whole “alternate way” thing) and the next time they have a big problem, oh, would you look at that, V is bargaining with demons again because hey, nothing really happened last time and V got what V wanted for a minor price that probably won’t have even been paid yet.
In other words, I think it’s kind of like those scare-ad drug dealers (and maybe real life, I don’t know) who give just a little taste knowing you’ll come back for more and more, and in V’s case, down that path lies evil and possibly destruction of the Order (which I think we’ve seen them interested in, no?).
Just…wow. I really think we’re about to see V kick some major ass. The faux latin chanting is a nice touch.
#636 is up (and judging by the recent comic titles, Rich has been going through his Stones collection lately).
I really hope the dragon is able to counter the Quickened Disintegrate, otherwise that battle will be unsatisfyingly quick. I want to see a nice, long, protracted battle between these two. V’s got the power – let’s see what he can do with it.
Responding to Hal’s spoiler:I don’t think it’s an even match. I think V is now capable of disemboweling the dragon with a thought. But I also think the seduced-by-power plotline is best served by showing V toying with the dragon, drawing out its suffering, playing with it, rather than granting it a quick and merciful end. The fight may be protracted, but not because the battlefield is level. And thus will we learn just how far V has fallen.
Responding to the spoilers: I actually hop that it’s quick. The more interesting storyline is the fallout. How will everyone react?
Good points all, Cervaise. I had figured V would look to put a quick end to the dragon, knowing how much she has suffered already. Any toying with her in an overmatched battle would be simple cruelty. I negleted to factor in that at the moment, V is quite capable of being very cruel.
Oooo…something I just thought of. Fearless prediction:
V kills the dragon, but he also accidentally kills one or more family members in the crossfire.And on preview, as a reaction to the quick vs. slow battle debate: I don’t really care either way, as long as Rich doesn’t take a week to post the next one!
Based on this thread i just started this comic. Im up to 28. It’s freaking fantastic, does it maintain this level of humour throughout?
The humor gets tempered with drama and arcing plotlines, but the overall quality of the series just continually gets better and it never sheds the humor (the main villain is simultaneously the funniest and scariest character). It’s a great comic.
The first ones are more random gags based on RPG cliches. Later it moves towards bigger story arcs, and loses some of the gag-a-day style. Still makes jokes, but later on, the plot becomes the primary driver.
EDIT: And Elan is never a villain or that scary 
No, but he does (as do all of the characters) become a deeper and more complex character as the strip goes on, with a somewhat maturing arc as you get more toward current storyline.