Chapter 340: Rigged from the start.

"I didn’t do anything." Seraphine waved her hands in denial dramatically, ducking under his wild swing. As she twirled past him, she tapped into her Wind technique. She didn’t throw a visible gust of wind_ that would alert the old geezers sitting in the official boxes. Instead, she concentrated a tiny, hyper-pressurized jet of air straight into his inner ear.

The brute’s balance went completely out the window. His eyes rolled back and he began swaying like a drunk sailor on a stormy sea.

"Hey! Ref! She’s doing something to my ears!" the man roared, flailing his arms. "She’s using her soul maiden advantage!"

Seraphine squeezed out two fat, glittering tears. "How can you accuse me of such terrible things? I am merely a fragile maiden defending my clan’s honor! Soul maidens do not cheat. We fight with honor, if you want to win by making such absurd claims, I would rather not fight at all."

"Defend this!" The brute leaped into the air, but Seraphine subtly twitched her fingers. A sneaky vortex of wind grabbed the back of his trousers in mid-air and yanked down violently.

The big warrior crashed face-first into the dirt, his pants down around his knees, revealing bright pink underwear covered in cartoon ducklings. The stadium went dead silent for two seconds before erupting into a wave of thunderous laughter.

Up in the grandest and biggest viewing box, Trinity sat back in her plush gilded throne, watching the spectacle with zero interest. She didn’t even crack a smile at the pink ducklings. She didn’t care. She already knew how the tournament was going to end because she had spent the last month personally rigging the whole damn thing.

Judges had been bribed to vote in favor of some people. Referees had been bribed to turn a blind eye to certain things. The commentators, camera men--everyone involved in the arrangements knew what to ignore and what to hide from the public.

Winning a tournament like this wasn’t about "honesty" or "martial spirit." That was fairy-tale nonsense for commoners. Every year, some herbs were distributed that suppressed rival fighters’ strength with one touch. Drinks in the waiting rooms were spiked with subtle laxatives. Sleeping powders were smuggled into the air conditioners in hotel rooms. And occasionally, a very specific, slow-acting poison was slipped into strong fighter’s meals that made them die from signs of exhaustion.

This year, Trinity thought, tapping her long, dark nails on the armrest of her chair, the Craw Clan will face the Kaelion Clan in the finals.

Not because the Kaelions were good_ far from it. Trinity specifically engineered it so the Kaelions would get obliterated on live television, forcing them to carry the humiliating title of "Ultimate Losers" for the next twelve months. It was petty, it was cruel, but she loved to see their humiliated faces, especially Sabrina’s.

Considering all that was going on in that clan, this was one the final blows to ruin them. Elliot would try to cheat as usual, and he would be exposed on the spot.

Trinity turned her head around. Her eyes landed on the seats to her left. Empty.

She looked to her right. Empty. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

Just plush velvet cushions staring back at her.

A vein near Trinity’s temple began to throb violently. She pinched her lips so tightly they practically vanished into her face. The members of the High Council were supposed to sit here together as a grand display of absolute power! Showing up alone made her look like a lonely queen sitting on a pile of dirt! The rumors of disunity were going to start flying by tomorrow morning!

She clenched her fists until her knuckles popped. If those old bastards aren’t currently lying dead in a ditch somewhere, I am going to kill them myself.

Down in the arena, a big brass gong echoed across the floor, cutting through Trinity’s violent inner monologue.

"MATCH OVER!" the announcer’s voice boomed through an amplifying formation. "Seraphine of Clan Theta is victorious!"

Trinity let out a heavy, annoyed sigh, reached for the white flag beside her throne, and lazily gave it a limp wave_ the official sign that Clan Theta was advancing to the next round.

Down below, Seraphine placed a hand over her heart, took a deeply dramatic, graceful bow, and delicately skipped off the bloody arena floor. Half the stadium was cheering wildly for her "miraculous win," while the other half_ mostly fans of the guy currently trying to pull his pants up in the dirt_ were booing at the top of their lungs and throwing low grade stones in her direction.

Seraphine caught one of the stones mid-air, bowed her head with a mocking smile, and kept walking.

***

Meanwhile, Lita was sitting in the corner of a crowded, noisy pet café. The stench of over-roasted coffee beans mixed with the pungent smell of dirty pets was downright nauseating.

She fanned her face with a cheap paper fan, letting out a long, heavy sigh as her eyes darted around the greasy room. "If I stay here any longer, the smell alone will make me puke." she muttered under her breath.

She was so focused on her own misery that she didn’t even notice Teddy, who had been tailing her like a stealthy hound all day.

Tucked behind a wobbly wooden pillar two tables away, Teddy peeked through a hole in her newspaper, practically sweating buckets. What in the world is she doing? Teddy thought, scratching her head in sheer bewilderment. She’s literally pregnant! Her body is delicate right now! Why is she wandering around the outer city dressed in these ridiculous, oversized commoner clothes? She looks like a potato sacks bandit! She doesn’t have a pet, why us she here?

Suddenly, Lita’s phone buzzed. She glanced at the screen. The words "Mother" flashed brightly.

Lita’s lip curled into a deep sneer. She swiped the screen, instantly rejecting the call. Her chest tightened as she remembered the text message her mother had sent her last night.

The words were practically burned into her brain: [I have spoken to your biological father. He wants nothing to do with you. Drop this honey, let’s move on with our lives before we piss him off. We don’t need him anyway.]

"Ha! Unbelievable," Lita whispered bitterly, her knuckles turning white around her phone.

"Ah, Madam! Lovely weather, isn’t it? The sun today could practically melt a volcano!"

Lita raised her head as the joke fell flat. The private investigator had finally arrived. He slithered into the booth, beaming with all smiles, casually wiping sweat off his shiny bald head.