"The moment I summon them… both Ada and Carmen will wake up, and the trial begins. They'll have to fight each other inside that arena. The one who wins survives… and the loser dies, just as I said.

Of course… if an outsider steps into the arena, the trial is canceled and the Scale kills them both instantly. And if the holder of the Scale dies, they both die as well.

So I'm sorry, Frey… you can't kill me. Not yet!"

The more Maika spoke, the darker Frey's eyes became.

Inside his mind, Frey had already killed Maika dozens of times—but he didn't dare underestimate what Maika had said.

Maika, realizing he was still in one piece, grew more confident and continued spewing his madness.

"Let's gamble, Frey! Let's bet on who walks out alive from the trial!

Your sister?!

Or my mother?!"

Maika shouted with manic joy, provoking Frey even further.

"Why in hell would you do something like this?

To your mother… and your own family?"

Frey couldn't understand. Where had Maika even come from with a tool like that?

Maika had been laughing in hysteria—but he quieted down the moment he heard Frey's question.

"Why, you ask? Why would I do this to my mother?"

He paused, and a filthy grin spread across his face.

"Why wouldn't I?"

Maika's expression twisted into something far uglier.

"Why wouldn't I try to kill that whore? The world would be a much better place without her! That's all she deserves—death, and nothing else!"

He screamed with madness again, letting his repressed emotions erupt.

"That woman is nothing but a filthy slut… she threw her own son away the first chance she got. She abandoned me and left me to rot my entire childhood. I grew up alone, trying to survive inside the Starlight family. And when I finally grew up and searched for her—because she was my mother—do you know what she told me the first time I found her after all those years?"

"She said I was nothing but a mistake!

Just an accident from a meaningless fling!

Ha! Yes! I'm the son of the great Carmen Starlight… who spreads her legs for anyone!"

Maika burst completely .. a lifetime of hatred pouring out at once.

"That whore loved Abraham—your father—but of course the great Abraham would never love trash like her. So he ignored her. And because of that, the slut flung herself from man to man, chasing her own urges!

Leaving her son to rot, without caring what became of him!

My existence was nothing but a reminder of one of her many mistakes!"

Maika was about to continue, but Frey silenced him with a crushing wave of pressure.

"I'm not interested in your hatred or your filth.

I want to know why you dragged my sister into your pathetic revenge."

Even with the suffocating pressure, Maika stood without fear this time.

"Why? You're seriously asking why?!

That slut abandoned her son for years—and what then? She started caring for you and your sister, protecting you as if YOU TWO were her real children!

What do you expect me to think when I see that, huh?!"

Hearing this, Frey recalled every time Carmen had helped him throughout his life .. calling it a debt she wanted to repay to his father.

Carmen had always been there… she saved him countless times during his weakest days. Without her, he would've died long ago.

She was like an older sister in Frey's eyes .. but to Maika…

It was as if his mother simply replaced him with the children of the man she loved.

"That whore is obsessed with Abraham… obsessed to the point she tried to take his children after failing to take him! That pathetic obsession is what created the pile of filth lying there!"

"That woman deserves nothing but death! And here, right now, I'll show you her true nature! AHAHA!!"

With a wave of his hand, a surge of aura struck the arena .. awakening both Ada and Carmen instantly by some arcane mechanism.

Above their heads, a strange timer appeared as an artificial voice echoed:

"Five minutes before execution."

Maika clenched his fist, laughing as his pent-up emotions spilled out.

"They have five minutes to fight. If neither of them dies before the timer ends, they both get executed.

Now, Frey… watch carefully as this whore shows her true colors."

"I'm betting that with those filthy hands of hers… she'll butcher your sister! Why?

Because she's a selfish creature who loves only herself!!!"

Maika was utterly convinced. To him, a woman who didn't love her own son could never love anything else.

"What do you say, Frey?!!" Maika screamed, delighting in tormenting him.

Frey remained frozen—his fists clenched so tightly they bled.

Inside his consciousness, he connected to his masked ally.

"Nameless… is there any way to cancel this damned thing?!"

He asked in fury.

Nameless fell silent for a few seconds—before responding.

"That is impossible.

Because this is not a normal tool a human could ever get his hands on…"

Nameless answered, having begun to understand something crucial.

Meanwhile, Maika's grin widened as he sank deeper into his thoughts.

'You can't cancel it, Frey. Because you don't know who gave it to me in the first place.

I spent years inside the Church seeking a way to take revenge, but they gave me nothing…

It was the demon Wesker who did!!'

'This is a tool from an Upper Demon—you can't disable it or destroy it.'

Maika stared toward Frey… then toward Carmen.

' You have no idea how deep a trap you walked into. Carmen is far stronger than Ada, so she'll naturally be the one to survive. And once she kills your sister, you will kill her immediately afterward.'

' At that point, I don't care if you kill me too. As long as I prove to you .. and to the world .. that this woman is nothing but a selfish whore who only thinks of herself… once that's proven, and once I watch you kill her with your own hands .. the son she valued MORE than her real son…

Then I will die happily. '

He laughed, having prepared this scenario long in advance.

' But that won't be the end of your suffering. Once you kill everyone here, your real battle begins… against the demons already heading toward this place! Your torment has no end, Frey. Your fight hasn't even started yet! '

As Maika's smile twisted deeper, he shouted once more:

"Now!!! What is your bet, Frey?! The trial has begun!!"

At the same time ..

Ada and Carmen stood up, staring at the glowing timer.

Both immediately understood what was happening through the artifact.

And now… they had no choice left but to fight.

Ada glanced toward the glass wall that hid Maika and Frey for a moment… then turned toward Carmen.

The latter stared back with an expression void of emotion.

"Carmen…" Ada whispered the name of the woman who had helped her for so long in her life.

Carmen clenched her fist .. then walked toward Ada with heavy steps.

The game was cruel.

And this was only… the beginning.

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