Ithan is forced into the fighting ring against Sigrid under the Viper Queen’s command, sick with shame at having freed her only to be made to hurt her. He attacks first to avoid hesitating, but Sigrid’s Alpha speed and clawed brutality shock him; she slashes his ribs, rakes for his eyes, and carves into his shoulder and thigh as the crowd watches.

On the sidelines, Tharion, Flynn, and Dec seethe. Tharion blames himself for the situation and for Ariadne being traded away, and Flynn tries to stop the match, only for the Viper Queen to clarify the stakes: it won’t end at a knockout, but with one of them dead. Tharion begs to take Sigrid’s place, but the Viper Queen refuses, and Ithan—bloodied and cornered—lands a hard gut strike that drops Sigrid to her knees, then approaches as if to finish it.

Elsewhere in the Prison, Bryce listens as Silene’s message explains that, amid the war on humans, another group of Fae arrived from a different world—aggressive, all shifters with animal forms and canine teeth, bearing elemental magic and answering directly to Rigelus. Silene recounts Pelias embracing Rigelus’s “pleasures,” including the murder of a human woman, and Bryce and Nesta react with disgust and rage at how that cruelty echoes in Midgard today.

Silene continues: Theia eventually trusted only Silene and Helena to uncover the truth, and the sisters hid within the Asteri’s crystal palace for a month to investigate. They learned Rigelus and the others were parasites conquering worlds for their magic and lives—the Daglan under their true name, the Asteri. Theia then used the Horn and Harp to open a portal to a world that had overthrown them, and a golden-haired male with opal-blue eyes appeared—Prince Aidas—asking if Theia had come to seek Hel’s help.

Meanwhile, Hunt watches in horror as Baxian bites through Ruhn’s wrist to free him from their chains; Ruhn screams, Baxian vomits blood and flesh, and Hunt forces himself into the cold command of the Umbra Mortis to make them finish. As they attempt to use an iron poker to escape, Rigelus arrives at the doorway with Pollux and the Hawk, catching them mid-effort.

Back in the ring, Ithan lowers his claws and tries to refuse the Viper Queen’s demand to kill Sigrid, moved when Sigrid thanks him for getting her out. Sigrid immediately turns on him with a ruthless lunge for his throat and attacks again and again, intent on killing him as an Alpha who will not lose. As Ithan tries to disable her with a shoulder strike, Sigrid dodges faster than either of them anticipates, and Ithan’s claws punch straight through Sigrid’s throat, killing her by accident.