"Show the whole world… your true colors."

Those colors ..

the ones that would dig her grave.

Maika was utterly convinced of Carmen's nature:

Selfish.

Heartless.

Living only for herself ..

that was what he believed with every fiber of his being.

His thoughts were shaped by years of pain,

years of abandonment,

years of hatred so deep it twisted him into something unrecognizable.

To him, his entire life was proof—

Carmen Starlight lived only for herself.

Frey saw it clearly…

and once again cursed the world for its twisted way of turning everything against him.

"Watch closely, Maika Starlight ..

this will be the last thing you ever see."

Frey's voice was low and cold.

Maika sensed Frey's fury ..

but something was off.

Where was the despair?

Where was the madness?

Ada was about to die ..

and Frey loved his sister more than anything.

Losing her should have broken him completely.

But he remained calm.

Angry—yes.

Disgusted—yes.

But composed.

Why?

Maika didn't know.

His attention returned to the trial,

where Carmen now stood face-to-face with Ada.

The older woman and the young girl stared at each other in silence…

second after long second…

Until only one minute remained on the timer.

Then Carmen finally spoke.

"Ada… look at me.

Look at yourself.

Look at the situation we're in."

She placed her hand gently on Ada's head, stroking it.

"This world we live in… is ruled by strength.

Nothing else matters.

No matter your skill or intelligence…

you will achieve nothing without power."

"That is the lesson life taught me."

If Ada were powerful like the other family heads…

Maika would never have caught her.

If Ada were as strong as her brother Frey…

this situation would never have happened.

"No one will always be there to protect you, Ada.

You must rely on yourself .. on your own strength."

"You will have allies .. and that's good.

You will have enemies .. and that's only natural.

You will suffer, again and again… but remember this, Ada:

your strength alone will decide everything.

Cast away your weakness, open your eyes to the world…

because you don't have much time left."

Carmen spoke softly, then a faint, gentle smile curved her lips.

"As for me… my time is far shorter than yours.

Haha… I'm truly sorry, Ada.

I'm… sorry."

And in that moment,

Ada realized something.

"C–Carmen… what are you—"

But it was already too late.

In the blink of an eye,

Carmen's arm ignited with brilliant light ..

.. and an explosion tore through the arena as blood splattered everywhere.

Ada was too slow to react.

But Frey and Maika saw it all clearly.

Carmen had plunged her hand into her own chest ..

driving it deep,

destroying her own heart.

Blood gushed across Ada's face and body as Carmen collapsed to the ground, crimson pouring rapidly and staining everything.

For a moment,

Ada stood frozen before Carmen's dying body.

A sharp gasp escaped her lips.

"Huh?"

A faint gasp slipped out .. one that revealed her complete inability to grasp what had just happened.

Then, the countdown stopped.

The trial had ended, announcing only one truth:

Carmen Starlight… had been the one executed. By her own choice.

"No… Carmen… Carmen… why… for me… why!!"

Ada collapsed over Carmen's lifeless body, her scream filling the entire chamber—a scream soaked in grief and unbearable pain.

For the first time, Ada tasted a fraction of Frey's suffering.

The agony of watching someone die for your sake.

Carmen had died so Ada could continue living… but Ada knew she would never live normally again.

The weight of that sacrificed soul would cling to her forever.

Frey understood that more than anyone.

From the beginning, he had never feared for Ada's life .. not even once.

He knew Carmen would never harm her.

Carmen loved them both deeply, and she had been ready to die for them long ago.

Frey never lost trust in her, not even after learning what she had done to her son…

Still, her death carved itself deep into him.

Not as deeply as it carved itself into Ada.

But Carmen mattered .. she was family.

And that was why the rage inside him surged like a storm.

On the other side, Maika remained frozen, unable to believe what he had seen.

The selfish whore he had despised for so many years had just sacrificed her life…

For someone else.

She, of all people… died for another?

That simple truth shattered something inside him.

"No… don't play with me, you bastards!!! Get up, you damn whore! Wake up!! You—out of everyone—you die for someone else?!"

"Don't mess with me!!!"

He rose in fury, aura bursting violently and shattering the glass barrier separating them from Ada and Carmen.

Nothing he saw pleased him.

Nothing made sense.

He lunged toward Ada and the corpse in her arms .. but he never grasped how pathetic he looked.

The moment he took a single step, his body stiffened ..and a tidal wave of stellar dark aura swallowed him whole, dragging him upward into the air.

In the blink of an eye, he found himself dangling in Frey's hand.

Frey held him effortlessly with one arm.

"I told you, didn't I? I told you… you would die very soon."

In that moment… Frey no longer looked human.

He looked like a reaper preparing to harvest another miserable soul.

His strength was overwhelming—so overwhelming that Maika couldn't even twitch.

Meanwhile, Ada finally noticed her brother's presence after he revealed himself.

"…Frey…"

Seeing him standing there .. stained with tears and Carmen's blood .. she realized he had witnessed everything.

And that realization only made her breaking heart ache harder.

She hadn't wanted him to feel this pain.

Yet she forced him to experience it again.

Then, something impossible happened—

"Frey…"

It was Carmen's voice.

Carmen, lying on the ground with her chest torn open, holding onto the final threads of consciousness.

She looked straight at Frey .. at the boy holding her only son by the throat.

The son who embodied her greatest regret.

Her unforgivable sin.

She had given that boy nothing but despair… pain… hatred.

She knew that. She accepted it.

She did not apologize.

But with the very last breath she owned, she directed her voice toward Frey.

"Please… let him… let him live…"

Those were her final words.

Carmen's last wish…

was simply that her son be allowed to live.

He had made countless mistakes…

But she at least wanted him to survive .. not die because of her.

So she begged Frey, in her final moment.

Frey listened to her clearly.

He knew it was the last thing he would ever hear from Carmen .. the woman who had stood with him for years, who had protected him repeatedly.

He stared at her for a heartbeat.

Then, he turned back to Maika.

"No."

That was his only answer.

Cold. Absolute.

Before Maika could even breathe, Frey crushed his skull .. turning his head into pulp right in front of the mother who died at the same time.

Slowly, Frey dropped the corpse to the ground.

Silence consumed the chamber.

The only sound left… was Ada's muffled sobbing.

Frey turned toward his sister, his expression hollow.

"I can't believe… I'm starting to get used to this…"

His voice was nearly mechanical .. lifeless.

After so many crashes of despair, grief, trauma, loss… Frey had become numb.

Carmen's death hurt him.

But it was just another scar added to a mountain of wounds.

At this point… even pain had lost its meaning.

He looked at Ada.

She looked back.

Neither of them knew what to say.

Neither knew what to do.

The suffocating pressure of the moment crushed Frey's chest.

It crushed his mind.

It crushed everything.

His face shifted .. blankness… sorrow… grief…

And then ..

shock.

His eyes widened.

His mouth opened.

His foot slammed on the floor ..

as Nameless's warning exploded in his mind.

In the next instant, Frey vanished at lightspeed.

He reappeared right in front of Ada, grabbing her, shielding her with his entire body ..

He pulled her into a tight embrace.

Ada blinked, confused, unable to understand why ..

But then ..

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!*

In a flash, everything turned white.

A deafening explosion swallowed the world around them ..

erasing the temple entirely in a single, devastating strike.

That day… in that moment…

The temple was annihilated.

A single overwhelming attack had targeted Frey's position .. and that attack marked the beginning of the war.

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