Chapter 199: READY?!

Malik leaned forward in his seat, forearms resting on his thighs, and barely paid any attention to the thousands of people packed into the coliseum around them.

The noise had been building for the last 10 minutes as more people found their seats. Even so, his eyes stayed locked on the empty square platform below.

"This isn’t right."

Mina sat beside him with her hands folded in her lap, staring at the arena without answering. She’d barely said a word since they arrived, and with all the shouting, betting and arguing going on around them, her silence stood out even more.

Gavin noticed it. However, he didn’t comment.

"There wasn’t another choice." Gavin kept his eyes forward as he spoke. "This is the cleanest way to settle things so the String Quintet leaves the rest of us alone."

Malik turned to him. "By backstabbing one of our own?"

Gavin’s teeth clenched, and he didn’t look over.

"What happens after this?" Malik waved a hand at the arena below, where attendants were still clearing the platform. "Who the hell is going to want to join us when they find out this is what happens the second things get difficult?"

Gavin didn’t answer. After several seconds, Malik looked away again.

There wasn’t an answer he could give.

**

Elara sat in the middle of her bed with her knees pulled up to her chest, the livestream floating a couple of meters in front of her.

She still had 2 days before Divinity would let her log back in after Maelis had killed her. That left her with nothing to do but watch as the arena feed bounced between the crowd and the entrances below.

Every time the camera found the tunnel Jaxir was supposed to come out of, she leaned a little closer without realizing it.

There was a stupid thought that had been bugging her ever since she heard about the challenge.

Jaxir had announced it after finding out Maelis had attacked them, and Maelis had killed Elara only hours before that. There was absolutely no reason to connect the two, especially when Jaxir already had more than enough reasons of his own to hate the woman.

But, Elara’s brain had decided that logic wasn’t very important today. What if he really had challenged Maelis partly because of what happened to her?

Her cheeks went warm.

"Stop it."

Elara buried her face between her knees and stayed like that for several minutes.

Jaxir hadn’t even known her that long. Yet, here she was, sitting in bed imagining him walking into an arena 20 Levels below Maelis for some ridiculous act of revenge on her behalf.

When she finally lifted her head, her face was still red.

"Stupid."

**

The arena itself was a lot simpler than Jaxir had expected.

A square stone platform roughly 50 meters across sat in the center of the coliseum. There was nothing on it to hide behind, and no terrain complicated enough to take advantage of.

Jaxir stood near the middle with his Ultra Reflection Staff planted against the stone like a cane, both palms resting comfortably on top of it. Across from him, Maelis came out of the opposite tunnel.

The moment she stepped onto the platform, she changed.

Mana rolled off her body in heavy waves and spread across the stone, while faint red lines started pulsing beneath her skin. They followed the branching paths of her veins along her neck and arms, disappearing under her equipment before showing up again farther down.

Jaxir watched with mild interest, right up until a screen opened in front of him.

[Combat Arena Challenge Accepted.]

[Rank Difference: Three Tiers.]

[Challenged Party has selected Maximum Collateral.]

[Assign all eligible Items and Equipment to collateral.]

So, just as Lue had warned him. Jaxir sighed and opened the collateral menu.

One item after another appeared in front of him, from his equipment and Vestigem Cards to the Compendiums and everything else the Arena considered transferable.

There was no way to refuse without forfeiting the match. So, Jaxir checked every box until the whole list was marked. If things went according to plan, it wouldn’t matter anyway.

Across from him, Maelis smiled.

"Your friends sold you out."

Jaxir looked up from the final confirmation.

Maelis spun her spear once in her hand before resting its butt against the platform.

"I wasn’t even planning to reach Tier Four until after this month’s auction went live and we collected on the formula. Turns out your government friends have plenty of money when they’re paying someone else to beat the ass of one of their own."

Several sections of the crowd burst out laughing.

Up in the stands, Gavin’s expression darkened as Malik turned on him again. Whatever either of them might have said was swallowed up by the noise. Mina lowered her eyes, and all around them, players were already repeating Maelis’ words to anyone who hadn’t heard. The story was spreading.

Maelis’ grin widened. "Hilarious, don’t you think?"

She was clearly waiting for him to crack. However, Jaxir just smiled back at her.

"Can you finish putting in your details, please?" He tapped the last confirmation on his screen and rested both hands back on his staff. "There are other things I’d like to do today."

Maelis’ smile vanished.

"Don’t you worry." Her fingers tightened around her spear as she finished her side of the contract. "This won’t last long."

She waved her free hand, and mana swept up from the four corners of the arena. It formed enormous glowing letters above the platform, where the entire coliseum could see them.

JAXIR CHANCE VS MAELIS SOHIE

The crowd erupted.

An amplified voice rolled across the coliseum as the arena’s announcer started listing their Levels, their Arena Tiers, and the enormous gap between the two. Jaxir barely listened.

His attention stayed on Maelis as the red markings under her skin pulsed brighter. She lowered her spear and slid one foot back.

Jaxir still didn’t move.

The announcer’s voice rose over the crowd.

"READY!? BEGIN!"

Maelis vanished from where she stood.

The stone cracked under her first step, and she crossed the distance between them before most of the crowd could even react. Jaxir saw the red flash, the spearhead and Maelis’ face appear in front of him all at almost the same moment.

Then, the weapon punched straight through his chest.