Paedyn and Kai are interrupted after their dance by Sadie, who has surrounded them with dozens of duplicates. Sadie demands their Trial bands and insists she is willing to hurt them if necessary to win. While Sadie threatens them, Kai secretly presses a throwing star into Paedyn’s hand, giving her a concealed weapon and signaling that he trusts her to fight.

When Sadie puts a dagger to Paedyn’s throat and orders Kai to surrender his band, Kai coldly pretends not to care whether Paedyn lives. Sadie believes him and begins to cut deeper, but Paedyn uses the distraction to stab Sadie in the stomach with the throwing star. Kai immediately copies Sadie’s duplicating ability, creating his own doubles to occupy her copies while Paedyn targets the real Sadie.

Paedyn fights through multiple versions of Sadie in close combat, knocking out two copies and then engaging the wounded original. Even injured, Sadie keeps attacking because she believes she has no choice if she wants to survive the Trials. Paedyn gains the upper hand, but another duplicate grabs her from behind. Forced to her knees and restrained, Paedyn watches Sadie raise a dagger to kill her.

Just before Sadie can drive the blade into Paedyn’s heart, Kai runs Sadie through with his sword from behind. Sadie dies in Kai’s arms, and all of her duplicates vanish. The immediate danger ends, but the sight of Sadie’s body leaves Paedyn horrified and overwhelmed, especially because Sadie had clearly not wanted to kill her. The death also revives Paedyn’s memory of her father’s bloody death, making the violence feel personal and unbearable.

Kai drops beside Paedyn and checks her for injuries, then deliberately distracts her from spiraling by teasing and flirting until she focuses on him instead of the corpse. Once Paedyn regains a little control, Kai helps her sit down, recognizes that she is still in shock, and tells her to spin her ring to keep her mind occupied. He leaves to deal with Sadie’s body, while Paedyn is left shaken by the Trials, by Kai’s capacity to kill, and by how instinctively he knows how to steady her.