"I know how to leave this place."

At Alen’s words, both Kira and Maira stopped in their tracks. They turned around and stared at him as if he had completely lost his mind.

"How are you going to get us out of here?"

Maira muttered, her voice muffled slightly beneath her dark hood.

"Yeah, even I, who have experienced three separate trials in this realm, don’t know how to solve a situation where the exit gate simply fails to appear," Kira said, wiping the dust from her armor.

"How could you possibly know?"

Alen smiled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"There is something crucial you’re missing, Kira. I know the mystery behind the sudden malfunction of the Ascension Realm’s system. Or, more accurately... I know that there is no malfunction in the first place."

Kira narrowed her eyes, stepping closer to him.

"Then tell us. What is it?"

"The thing that led to all of us being trapped here... the true nature of this trial..."

"It’s something unexpected. Something you wouldn’t even think to look for."

"What does that even mean, Alen?" Kira asked, her patience wearing thin. Her grief was still fresh, and she was in no mood for riddles.

"Well... let’s break it down logically," Alen began, his voice calm and analytical.

"Tell me first about the Undead Knight. The one you consider to be the final boss of this stage."

Kira frowned, remembering the horrific massacre.

"The Undead Knight was overwhelmingly strong. It was easily at the absolute peak of the B-Rank, maybe even touching A-Rank. Its raw speed and power were unmatched."

"But how did it fight?" Alen pressed.

"It was quite skilled," Kira admitted, a hint of awe and terror mixing in her voice.

"It fought like a highly trained soldier. Its movements were precise, calculated, and efficient."

"And didn’t you say that was bizarre?" Alen asked, taking a step forward.

"You said yourself that it was eerily calm. It wasn’t the slightest bit aggressive until you attacked it first."

Kira nodded slowly, the memory replaying in her mind.

"Yes. Throughout the entire battle, it fought with cold logic. Honestly, if it weren’t for the rotting bones under its armor, I would have thought it was a human or some living creature. But besides that, there wasn’t anything else unusual about it."

"Hmm... So you’re telling me that this undead fought like a master swordsman, lacked any feral instincts, and didn’t display the aggressive, mindless hunger that every single other undead in this forest possesses," Alen summarized, his smirk widening.

"Yes. So what?" Kira demanded.

"What if I told you that the Knight you fought wasn’t actually the boss at all?"

"What if that Knight was nothing more than a mindless puppet, dancing on strings pulled by someone else?"

Kira froze.

"How is that even possible? Are you saying that the monstrous undead that wiped out my entire team was being controlled by someone?"

"Exactly," Alen nodded.

"But who could control an undead of that caliber?" Kira asked, her voice trembling slightly.

"And how are we going to find this puppet-master in an endless forest if they really exist?"

"Well, that’s the easiest part of the puzzle."

"There is no need for us to search for this person."

Kira looked at Alen in total confusion. "Why not?"

"Because..."

Alen’s azure eyes slowly shifted away from Kira and locked directly onto the hooded girl standing a few paces away.

"The person who has been manipulating this trial... the one who pulled the strings of that Knight and lured me to your team in the first place... is standing right here."

Alen pointed a finger directly at the mage.

"Isn’t that right, Miss Maira? Or should I call you the ’true’ Final Boss of this trial?"

A heavy, suffocating silence descended upon the clearing. The wind seemed to stop blowing.

Maira stared at him. For a long moment, she said nothing. Then, she let out an offended gasp.

"What are you saying?!"

Maira yelled, her voice trembling with apparent indignation.

"I’m not some monster! I am a human! I have been with Lady Kira from the very first trial! We have fought together, bled together, and survived together! Do you really think she would believe your insane lies?"

Maira turned to Kira, pointing an accusing finger back at Alen.

"Captain, look at him! He’s the most suspicious person here! He suddenly appears in the middle of nowhere, claims to have lost his memories, and then miraculously ranks up while we fight for our lives! From my perspective, he is the final boss trying to trick us!"

Kira looked back and forth between the two of them. Her mind was spinning. She looked at Alen and spoke in a solemn, warning tone.

"Alen, we are not here for jokes. Do not say things that you don’t have proof of. Maira has been our mage since we passed the First Trial. She is my comrade. There is absolutely no way she could be the boss."

Alen didn’t flinch. He just smiled sadly.

"Of course. You’re absolutely right, Kira. The ’real’ Maira was actually a human. She was your friend."

Kira’s breath hitched.

"What do you mean, ’was’?"

"I don’t know exactly when she took your friend’s place," Alen said, taking a slow step toward them.

"Maybe it happened in the middle of a chaotic battle with the undead horde. Maybe she was replaced while you were all sleeping. Or maybe this realm itself swapped her out. I don’t know how she took your friend’s face... but I know for a fact that the thing standing next to you is not human."

"Stop this nonsense!"

Maira cried out, stepping closer to Kira for protection.

"Captain, don’t listen to him!"

"Think about everything that has happened since you found me. Tell me, how did you locate me in this massive, cursed forest?"

"Maira sensed your mana," Kira answered automatically.

"Right. She sensed my mana," Alen chuckled darkly.

"Kira, this entire forest is as vast as the sea, because of the Spatial domain. How could a mid-tier mage pinpoint a single, weak human from miles away in a domain like this? She didn’t track me. She knew where I was because she controls this forest. She is the Domain Master. She brought me to your team either to serve as extra food, or to fulfill a specific condition for this trial."

Kira’s eyes widened slightly.

"That’s just a coincidence!" Maira argued defensively.

"I have a unique tracking skill!"

​"Just keep your mouth shut! Unless you’re the boss monster, stay out of our conversation."

​Maira stared at him and stayed perfectly quiet.

​’Wow, she actually agreed? How foolish.’

​"Anyway, where was I?" Ah!.. right. I know what I’m telling you might sound like a misunderstanding. You know her better than I do, so it’s natural you’d trust her more. Because of that, I will give you proof."

​Alen leaned forward and whispered something in Kira’s ear. As she heard his words, Kira stiffened. She looked at Maira and slowly walked over to her.

​"Maira, I am going to ask you a few questions, If you answer them correctly, I will do whatever you want."

​Maira looked at Alen suspiciously, then nodded at Kira.

"Of course. You can ask me anything."

​"Do you remember the boss monster we faced in our first dungeon?"

​"Yes, it was an Ogre, Its skin was so tough that it was incredibly hard for all of us to kill."

​Kira nodded.

"Correct. And how long have we known each other?"

​"Since childhood. We grew up as neighbors."

​A small smile of relief crossed Kira’s face.

"Okay. Maira, do you remember when you were six months old? What did your parents usually say to you?" 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

​"Well... they would hold me in their laps and say, ’My princess, you are so sweet. Why isn’t your mom as sweet as you? Why does she always beat me up?’ It was a happy time. My parents were always being romantic and joking around me."

​Alen stepped forward with a smirk.

​"You really know your past, don’t you? You even remember specific conversations from when you were only six months old. That’s quite unusual."

​Maira froze.

​"Children that young don’t have the intelligence to understand complex sentences, let alone form clear memories of them."

"It’s impossible to remember a moment like that so clearly. Unless, of course, someone purposefully dug into her unconscious memories to steal them. I doubt the real Maira would even know that happened."

​Maira stared at Alen with cold, unblinking eyes, finally realizing she had been tricked.

​Kira looked deeply conflicted. She still desperately wanted to hold onto the hope that Alen was wrong. Alen sighed; he didn’t blame her. If he were in her shoes, he would have a hard time accepting the truth, too. He had even ignored the strange signs himself in the past.

​In truth, Alen had discovered her secret recently. After ranking up to C-rank, his affinity for the Sound element had increased. His hearing had become so sharp that he could hear the heartbeats of anyone standing nearby.

​That was when he realized Maira had no heartbeat at all. It was as if something had taken control of a dead corpse. This was how Alen knew she wasn’t human. However, he couldn’t just tell Kira about the heartbeat—he worried that the monster controlling Maira might use magic to fake the sound if it knew his secret. Instead, he decided to use this trap to expose the truth where she couldn’t hide it.

"Fine. Let’s look at the battle that just happened, then," Alen continued relentlessly.

"Kira, when the Undead Knight was massacring your team... what was Maira doing?"

Kira froze. Her blood ran ice cold.

"She... she was standing in the back," Kira whispered, her mind flashing back to the horrific fight.

"Exactly,"

"Where did she go when your team were being killed. And why didn’t the Undead knight not killed her?"

Kira’s body began to tremble. She looked over at Maira.

It was true. Throughout the entire massacre, Maira hadn’t cast a single spell. She had just stood there, watching them die.

Kira stepped away from Maira. Her breathing became ragged.

"Maira..." Kira whispered, her voice cracking.

"When Lina screamed... why didn’t you cast a wind barrier? You always cast a wind barrier when we are in danger."

Maira stood perfectly still. Her head was tilted down, the dark hood casting a deep shadow over her face. She didn’t answer.

"Maira, answer me!" Kira demanded, her hand instinctively dropping to the hilt of her sword.

"Why didn’t you help them?!"

"Because..." Maira finally spoke.

Her voice had completely changed. It was no longer the soft, timid voice of the introverted mage. It was a distorted, overlapping, demonic hiss that echoed as if coming from multiple throats at once.

"...watching them scream was far more entertaining."

Kira’s eyes widened in absolute horror. She drew her sword, but her mind was still reeling from the shock of the betrayal. Her reaction was a fraction of a second too slow.

*SLICE–*

A sickening sound of tearing flesh echoed through the silent clearing.

Kira gasped, her pupils shrinking to pinpricks. She looked down.

Protruding from the center of her chest was a pitch-black, jagged blade made of pure, condensed shadows. It had pierced straight through her back, effortlessly bypassing her heavy armor and destroying her heart.

Blood spilled from Kira’s lips. She dropped her sword. It clattered uselessly against the stones.

With a sickening squelch, Maira violently ripped the shadow blade out of Kira’s back.

Kira’s body collapsed to the ground, landing in a pool of her own blood. She twitched once, her bloodshot eyes staring blankly at Alen, before the last spark of life faded from her gaze.

Maira stood over Kira’s dead body. Slowly, the dark hood fell away from her face.

Her human skin began to bubble and melt like hot wax. The sickening sound of bones cracking, twisting, and expanding filled the air. Her small, human frame violently tore itself apart, growing taller and wider.

Pitch-black shadows erupted from her melting flesh, swallowing her entirely. Two massive, jagged horns curled out from her skull. Her hands elongated into terrifying, razor-sharp claws that dripped with corrosive purple acid. Dozens of glowing, blood-red eyes opened across her grotesque chest.

The false skin of Maira was completely gone, replaced by a hideous, towering abomination of pure darkness and malice. The true Final Boss of the Trial had finally revealed itself.

The monstrous creature looked down at Kira’s corpse, and then locked its dozen red eyes onto Alen.

Its jaw unhinged, stretching unnaturally wide, and it let out a horrific, maniacal laugh that shook the very foundations of the dead forest.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU WERE VERY SMART, LITTLE HUMAN! BUT NOW... YOU ARE ALL ALONE!"