Chapter 467 - 466: Refund! Refund! Refund

Chapter 467: Chapter 466: Refund! Refund! Refund

With the monster defeated, the Gloom Hatchling didn’t make a sound. It just scrambled on its short legs, trying to run off to a far corner of The Coliseum.

’It’s trying to slack off!’

Just as Seraphina Sinclair moved to grab it, before she could even touch the Gloom Hatchling, it was as if it had run into a wall. With a SPLAT, it was flung back by something unseen.

The Gloom Hatchling froze. Seraphina Sinclair froze. Even the tone of the discussions in the stands shifted.

"This dragon... It’s powerful, alright, but is its head screwed on right...?"

"Yeah... I think so too. It should’ve gotten the notification when it entered. Why would it still try to leave its master? Its permitted range of movement is only within one meter of its master, right?"

"Exactly! Could there really be something wrong with this dragon’s head?"

...

The Gloom Hatchling lay sprawled on the ground, completely bewildered. It slowly lifted its head, staring with its little eyes at the empty space before it, then tentatively extended a claw.

POP.

Another invisible barrier gently flicked its claw back.

The Gloom Hatchling: "..."

It turned its head and looked at Seraphina Sinclair.

Its little eyes were filled with confusion, indignation, and a hint of an accusation that seemed to say, ’Why didn’t you tell me sooner?’

The corner of Seraphina Sinclair’s mouth twitched. ’It has the nerve to blame *me*?’ If she’d known The Coliseum had this rule, she would have brought the Gloom Hatchling with her for her very first challenge.

’But...’

Seraphina Sinclair looked at the Gloom Hatchling and broke into a wicked grin.

’This time, it can forget about slacking off!’

The second monster to enter the arena was the Umbral Wolf.

It emerged slowly from the shadows at the far end of The Coliseum. Its form was agile, its body completely covered in pitch-black fur that held a faint, dark sheen under the lights. A pair of ghastly green, vertical pupils glinted eerily in the gloom.

It was twice the size of an ordinary wolf, standing a full five feet tall at the shoulder and over ten feet long.

Its limbs were long and powerful. A light scrape of its claws on the stone floor left three deep gouges.

Yes, this time, the floor was stone.

Seraphina Sinclair just let out a soft laugh, unconcerned. After all, she no longer needed to use the terrain to defeat her opponents.

The Umbral Wolf walked to the center of The Coliseum and stopped, its ghastly green eyes fixed on Seraphina Sinclair. No, to be precise, they were fixed on the Gloom Hatchling at her feet.

A low whimper rumbled in its throat. Its front legs bent slightly, and its tail tucked itself between its hind legs.

It was a posture of submission!

Gasps erupted from the stands.

"What is the Umbral Wolf doing?!"

"Is it submitting? To what? That dragon?!"

"No duh, that’s a Gloomdrake! The Umbral Wolf is still part of the Wolf Clan. Faced with Dragonkin, if it doesn’t submit, is it just waiting to die?"

"But it’s just a hatchling! The Umbral Wolf is a D-level Peak monster, one step away from becoming C-level!"

"A hatchling is still a dragon! Ever heard of bloodline suppression? Besides, even the weakest young Gloomdrake is an A-level creature!"

The Umbral Wolf ignored the discussions. Maintaining its submissive posture, it backed away step by step until it reached the edge of The Coliseum, where it curled into a ball in a corner, trembling all over.

Seraphina Sinclair glanced down at the Gloom Hatchling.

The Gloom Hatchling was sprawled at her feet, its eyes half-open, with a look that said, ’What does this have to do with me?’

Seraphina Sinclair: "..."

’So, we won this round... just like that?’

She looked up at the light screen above The Coliseum.

[Umbral Wolf has forfeited the battle!]

[Winner: Blacktiger Ford]

An eerie silence fell over the stands.

"Whose minion is that wolf? How many points did they spend to redeem it?"

"What a rip-off!!! A complete and utter rip-off! I came to see the top-ranked fighter in action, and this is what I get? She didn’t even lift a finger!"

"Tell me about it. I bet on her to win, but she won way too easily. I almost feel bad taking my Black Fog Coins!"

"What do you all know! This is called winning without shedding a drop of blood! This is the art of subduing the enemy without fighting! This is—"

"This is called cheating! I want a refund!"

"Refund! Refund! Refund!"

The stands erupted into chaos, but even those screaming for a refund knew The Coliseum’s rules: all bets are final. No refunds.

Seraphina Sinclair ignored the clamor. She stood tall and straight, waiting for the next monster to appear.

Four monsters in a row, any that possessed a shred of intelligence, immediately surrendered without the Gloom Hatchling even having to move. They were practically tripping over themselves to give up.

Seraphina Sinclair, who had never had such an easy victory, was speechless. "..."

She had worked her fingers to the bone just to reach B-level. The Gloom Hatchling, on the other hand, was born A-level, would easily reach S-Class as an adult, and would eventually become Double S, or even Triple S.

At that moment, Seraphina Sinclair truly understood the meaning of the phrase "a good birth is worth more than a lifetime of effort."

The Gloom Hatchling was still sprawled out, its eyes now completely shut. Its breathing was even, and it even let out a faint snore.

The little guy had actually fallen asleep.

In The Coliseum, amidst the deafening roar of the crowd, on a battlefield where a monster could charge out at any second... it had fallen asleep!

Seraphina Sinclair was silent for two seconds, then suddenly felt an urge to laugh.

The chatter in the stands had taken on an entirely different tone.

"That’s five! The fifth one to surrender outright!"

"Is she here to fight or to collect protection money?"

"I get it now. Forget ’number one on the leaderboard,’ forget ’powerful human.’ She doesn’t even have to do anything! She’s just getting carried to victory by that dragon!"

"Oh yeah? If you’re so good, why don’t you go up there? Why don’t you go get a Gloomdrake yourself if you’ve got what it takes?"

"I’d love to, but is a Gloomdrake something you can just pick up anywhere? How many Gloomdrakes are there in the entire Black Mist World? And how many of those can even be tamed? Besides, it’s not like you don’t know what it means to have a Gloomdrake that hasn’t come of age!"

As soon as those words were spoken, the atmosphere in the entire audience gallery shifted.

They all knew what a Gloomdrake’s coming-of-age ceremony entailed.

But what did that matter now? The fact remained that this Gloomdrake was helping Blacktiger Ford win this match!

"My points! My bet! Is there really no one who can put a stop to her?!"

"If this keeps up, she’s going to set a new record for the D-Class Coliseum."

"Is there really nothing that can be done?"

"Are we really just going to watch her set a new record?"

"The President—the President is here!"

At that shout, the entire grandstand fell silent. All eyes snapped toward the VIP box.

There, a figure was slowly emerging.

It was the President!

Their gaze swept over the stands. Those whose eyes they met quickly looked down, not daring to stare back. After scanning the crowd, their gaze fell upon Seraphina Sinclair in the center of The Coliseum.

As if fated, Seraphina Sinclair raised her head at that exact moment, meeting their gaze.

The two of them, separated by the entire Coliseum and thousands of spectators, simply stared at each other in silence.

The air seemed to freeze.

No one spoke. Even the sound of breathing became hushed and cautious.