Paedyn kneels in the Pit with Adena’s body in her arms, begging for her to come back. As she holds her friend, Paedyn notices Adena’s bound and broken fingers and realizes that the cruelty was deliberate: the hands Adena used for sewing were destroyed before she was killed. That sight turns Paedyn’s grief into rage, and she blames both Blair for the murder and the king for creating the Trials situation that led Adena to this death, just as he took Paedyn’s father before her.

When the noise of the crowd finally breaks through, Paedyn sees that the maze walls have disappeared and the arena is exposed again. The audience is shouting that attackers came through the tunnels, and Paedyn spots Calum leading the king from the glass box with a dagger at his throat while a Silencer stays close behind. Resistance members block exits around the stands, the guards are effectively contained, and the usual power dynamic is reversed as the Elites are forced to watch helplessly.

Paedyn then meets Kitt’s gaze inside the glass box and understands that he has figured out her role in the betrayal. Because Kitt had shown her the tunnel and its key, he knows she used his trust against him, and his wounded, hateful stare makes clear that something between them has been broken. To Paedyn, his expression resembles the king’s coldness, underscoring the personal cost of what she has done.

Four Silencers approach the contestants, and their power causes visible pain. Kai drops to his knees clutching his head, while Blair, Jax, and Andy also collapse under the suppression of their abilities. Calum then announces that the sixth Purging Trials are over and publicly declares the Resistance’s identity, naming them as Ordinaries, Fatals, and the king’s hidden victims. He tells the arena that they have survived, spread, and come into the open to demand change.

Paedyn hopes Calum will use this moment to expose the lie that Ordinaries are diseased, but instead he pressures the kingdom by threatening the lives of Kai and Kitt if the king refuses to reunite Ilya’s people peacefully. Paedyn is horrified because she had not known the princes would be used as leverage, and the crowd erupts in anger, turning against the Resistance. Before Calum can finish, the Silencer standing near Kai suddenly reacts in alarm, and the chapter ends with Kai bursting into flames.