Chapter 192: Pause

Chapter 192: Chapter 192: Pause

The Coliseum floor was no longer just shaking; it let out a groan, as if under an unbearable weight!

The coarse, sandy ground cracked and collapsed at a visible rate. A heart-stopping, dark red glow seeped from the fissures, as if a volcano was brewing right beneath the earth, about to erupt.

Seraphina Sinclair saw this and had a bad feeling. ’This monster looks like it’s immune to fire, too.’

This President was so obviously targeting her, it might as well have been written on their forehead!

Fine. If that’s how it was going to be, then she would just have to win fair and square!

A low hiss rang out, and the dark red light in the fissures instantly flared.

The monster that had been brewing for so long finally made its appearance.

A massive creature, pieced together from lava and bone, slowly crawled out from underground.

It seemed to have no fixed form. Its body constantly writhed and reformed, sometimes extending tentacles burning with an eerie flame, other times splitting open a giant maw filled with fangs.

But Seraphina Sinclair spotted its weakness almost immediately.

It was too obvious!

Everything on its body was in motion, except for one spot deep inside—an unchanging, constantly pulsing, heart-like mass of dark red flesh!

’That has to be the weak point.’ And with the monster still struggling to climb out of the fissure, how could Seraphina Sinclair possibly pass up this opportunity?

She tightened her grip on her longsword and, amidst the gasps from the audience, charged straight forward without a second thought.

The monster’s body was enormous, and the sandy soil of The Coliseum was an unstable foundation. When the creature exerted its strength, it only sank deeper along with the shifting sand.

Seraphina had originally planned to attack its weak point directly, but seeing this gave her a flash of inspiration. From her Silver Moon Earrings, she took out a shovel she had been keeping but hadn’t used.

Then, with a determined look, she began to dig furiously beneath the monster!

This move was completely unexpected. A shocked uproar erupted from the stands.

"What is she doing?!"

"Digging?! Does she think she’s playing in a sandbox?"

"She’s crazy! Absolutely insane!"

Even the President high up on the platform, whose face had been as placid as a still well, showed a subtle flicker of emotion as their brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

The monster also seemed to notice the strange actions of the ant at its feet. It let out an enraged roar as its lava tentacles smashed down toward Seraphina Sinclair, trying to crush her into a pulp or incinerate her with its flames.

But how could Seraphina Sinclair just sit there and wait for death?

She fully embraced a particular tactic—guerrilla warfare!

When the monster attacked, she dodged. When the monster rested, she dug!

The Potion she drank before the battle was also coming in handy now. The shovel in her hands moved so fast it left afterimages, sending huge amounts of sand flying.

Her goal was simple: send this monster back where it came from!

The foundation of The Coliseum had already been mostly destroyed by the monster’s own arrival, leaving a void underneath.

As long as she dug fast enough and made the behemoth lose its footing, its massive body and constantly writhing trait would become its own biggest burden!

’I don’t care what Level this monster is, or what amazing Attributes and immunities it has. If it can’t even climb out, what right does it have to any of that?!’

"ROAR!"

The monster’s body sank another foot. The pulsing mass of flesh at its core seemed to sense the danger, its light growing frantic and unstable.

It struggled wildly, trying to climb out of the pit, but Seraphina Sinclair’s digging was faster!

She specifically targeted the sand beneath the monster’s footholds right as it tried to haul itself up.

As one side gained and the other lost, the monster naturally sank deeper and deeper!

For the final shovelful, Seraphina Sinclair took aim, raised her shovel high, and just as she was about to bring it down, the President suddenly stood up.

"Pause."

The President’s voice clearly cut through all the clamor in The Coliseum and the monster’s roars.

And just as it commanded, The Coliseum froze everything in place.

Seraphina’s movement halted abruptly, her shovel suspended in midair.

She looked up, sweat trickling down her cheek, her sharp gaze fixed on the high platform.

’What’s the meaning of this?’

’Can’t afford to lose?’

The President slowly raised a hand, a wisp of eerie light swirling around their fingertips.

Following its movement, the monster that had been struggling and sinking was lifted into the air and then placed back on The Coliseum’s subsiding sandy floor.

It seemed to realize this wasn’t quite right, and with a snap of its fingers, the ground beneath Seraphina’s feet instantly transformed into polished marble.

Seraphina: "..."

’Yep, definitely a sore loser!’

Seraphina Sinclair glanced at the reflective marble floor beneath her feet, then up at the monster that had been "righted" and placed securely on the ground, and finally let her gaze settle on the expressionless President on the high platform.

She slowly lowered her raised shovel but didn’t put it away. Instead, she propped it in front of her like a cane, the corner of her mouth curling into an undisguised, mocking smile.

"What’s this?"

Her voice echoed clearly through the suddenly silent Coliseum.

"Is this the ’fairness’ of the Black Mist Coliseum?"

She hoisted the shovel onto her shoulder and asked defiantly, "Change the rules when you can’t win? Give it a hand when it can’t climb out?"

A suppressed commotion rippled through the stands, and many in the audience wore strange expressions.

Although they enjoyed seeing a human struggle, the President’s blatant favoritism and rule-breaking still made some of the spectators who revered the traditions of the games a little uncomfortable.

The President’s expression didn’t change in the slightest, as if Seraphina’s taunts were nothing more than a gentle breeze.

It looked down on her from its high perch, its voice still flat. "The Coliseum’s environment is within the permissible range of adjustments according to the rules. It was sand before, now it is marble. There is no issue."

"As for it," it glanced at the temporarily inactive Magmacore Nightmare beside it, "the challenge is not over. It is the organizer’s responsibility to ensure both combatants are in a fair competitive environment."

"Fair?"

Seraphina nearly laughed with rage. "You were the one who forcibly raised the monster’s Level, you were the one who deployed a monster specifically to counter me, and now that it’s about to lose because of its own flaw, you’re the one interfering!"

She suppressed her anger. "Honorable President, your definition of ’fairness’ is truly an eye-opener!"

Her words were like a sharp sword, striking right at the heart of the matter.

The commotion in the stands grew more pronounced.

The President’s eyes finally darkened, and a cold, oppressive aura spread out. "Human, watch your words. I can bestow rewards upon you, and I can just as easily take them away."

"Oh?"

Seraphina met its gaze without a trace of fear. She took a step forward, leaning on her shovel, and the marble floor rang with a crisp sound. "So, this so-called challenge is essentially just your personal show?"

"If you’re in a good mood, you hand out some prizes. If you can’t stand to lose, you just flip the table?"

She raised her hand, pointing the shovel at the motionless monster, then sweeping it over the audience in the high stands who were holding their breath, before finally locking it on the President.

"If that’s the case, then there’s no point in fighting this duel at all!"