As night falls before the second trial, Oraya and Raihn avoid speaking after their recent conflict. In the great room, Oraya notices that the surviving contestants are no longer excited but desperate and hungry, and several of them fixate on her human blood. Raihn seems unsettled by their condition and moves closer to Oraya with his sword drawn, while Oraya prepares for violence.

When the trial begins, Oraya is transported alone into a black-stone labyrinth filled with white mist, blue Nightfire, and the distant sounds of combat. She quickly realizes the space is a maze designed to resemble Nyaxia's wandering journey to the underworld. While exploring, she runs into Ibrihim at a three-way split, and together they discover a silver door marked with Alarus's face.

Oraya steps on a sunken stone block and opens the door, but when she moves away, it slams shut. Both Oraya and Ibrihim understand the trap immediately: the door will only stay open if someone remains on the weighted stone, which means only one of them can advance unless the other becomes dead weight. Ibrihim apologetically chooses victory and attacks first, hurling lethal star-magic at Oraya and burning her shoulder.

Because Ibrihim needs Oraya close, Oraya uses the corridor to force him into a risky pursuit. When he approaches, she ambushes him and turns the fight into close combat, relying on her poisoned blades because she cannot land a clean killing strike. Though Ibrihim is larger and briefly pins her, even cracking her arm, Oraya stabs him in the gut from below and lets the poison rapidly destroy his flesh.

With Ibrihim barely conscious, Oraya drags him onto the pressure slab so the door opens for her. She sees that he will probably survive, but in terrible condition, and that realization makes her hesitate instead of finishing him immediately. As Oraya prepares to kill him at last, the ground suddenly shakes and the maze walls begin to crumble around them.