High up in the royal box, Elaine watched the brutal exchange with eyes as cold and unfeeling as glacial ice, her strong arms crossed tight over her broad chest like a barrier.

Her piercing eyes tracked every single hit and dodge with the precision of a seasoned tactician studying a battlefield map. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

This fight will end very soon if he keeps taking hits like this without landing anything real. I still cannot believe that stubborn idiot is still fighting back at all.

"Does he truly believe he can lift up all omegas with one duel like this? Jennife is simply too strong and experienced for him to handle. He is going to break completely before long."

Her quiet aide sitting beside her nodded once in silent agreement, but Elaine’s strong jaw ticked just a fraction—she felt an unexpected pull to keep watching, something stirring behind her usual indifference.

Jennife rose up like a towering giant over the pit, her Greatsword dragging deep furrows through the sand behind her as she advanced, fresh blood dripping steadily from her split face, twisted elbow, and wounded knee to stain the ochre ground dark.

"Your Highness, this fight is over right now—stay down there and accept it," she declared with finality, bending down to scoop up his limp, battered form by the neck with one massive gauntlet that squeezed his windpipe just enough to make stars dance in his eyes.

With a casual flick of her wrist, she tossed him away like a broken toy doll across the full width of the pit.

His body skipped and bounced harshly three times across the sharp quartz crystals, coming to a crumpled stop against the base of a cold marble pillar, his arms and legs trembling in painful spasms while his mind teetered right on the edge of blacking out completely.

The cruel gag robbed him of his strongest weapon—those seductive, honeyed words that could fog an alpha’s mind into helpless rut, his potent omega pheromones meant to cloud her judgment—but his body had nothing left to give, every ounce of strength drained away to empty.

"Stand up one more time if you still can! Look around you—no one up there is cheering for you at all. The entire empire wants nothing more than to see you lose and break right here," Jennife taunted with a cruel, mocking smile twisting her bloody lips, nudging his side roughly with the toe of her heavy boot like he was less than dirt under her feet.

Alexander dragged himself upright one agonizing inch at a time through sheer force of will, his shaking palm slapping against her armored thigh for any kind of leverage to pull his battered body vertical.

"What are you doing?"

Jennife’s eyes stared down at him cold and detached like he was some pitiful animal.

"Stand up however you need to, you little omega," she said flatly.

Her gauntleted hand reached down to pinch his delicate chin hard enough to bruise the skin, yanking his handsome face upward to meet her gaze—then her massive fist crashed forward like a falling star straight into his already swollen jaw with a sharp crack.

His silver hair flew outward in a wild arc as he tumbled backward like a ragdoll straight into a fresh cloud of dust, petals from his wilting star-lily crown scattering across the sand like drops of fresh blood.

But Jennife was not done toying with him yet.

She hauled his limp body straight up again by the collar of his torn leathers, her expression shifting to one of bored pity mixed with faint annoyance.

"Tch. All right then, fine—let us take that stupid gag off you for good." Her thick fingers hooked under the rune-etched straps and ripped them free with a sharp magical crack, the silver bit clattering to the sand below still wet and shining with his blood and spit.

"Mphhm..."

"I am getting tired of listening to your muffled animal noises all the time. Now give me real words—beg me properly like the weak omega you are."

She spun his body around roughly to face her directly, her gauntleted hands clamping down on his shoulders like unyielding metal vices to hold him steady on his shaking legs.

"Do you finally want to beg me now, princess? Go on and ask me for mercy like you know you should," she pressed, her voice low and commanding, gray eyes boring into his.

"No..." Alexander rasped out in a voice hoarse and broken from abuse, thin trails of blood trickling down from his full, pouty lips, but his sharp eyes narrowed cunningly through the haze of pain—his chest still heaving hard for every breath, yet something dangerous and new flickered to life deep inside him.

"What exactly did you just say to me?" Jennife demanded, leaning in closer with a dangerous edge to her tone.

"No... no... I want..." His wrecked voice carried a sudden honeyed lure beneath the roughness—this was his one perfect moment, the pivot point to turn the entire fight upside down.

Shock swept through the arena like a sudden gust of cold wind—nobles froze in their seats with mouths agape, the few omegas watching from alcoves gasped with eyes grown huge.

"What in the world is this madness?!"

The alpha nobles bellowed down in pure outrage and fury. Up in her royal box, Elaine lurched forward against the railing, her eyes widening just a fraction for the first time.

Alexander summoned the very last dregs of his fading strength—releasing his omega pheromones on purpose in a deliberate spike, the sweet scent laced thick with raw, feral need that flooded the air around them—and lunged forward without warning. It was the ’Kiss of Death.’

His full, soft lips crashed hard against Jennife’s blood-smeared mouth in a fierce, demanding kiss—his tongue plunged deep and insistent into her mouth, teeth nipping sharply at her lower lip to draw the coppery tang of fresh blood, hands fisting tight into her short dark hair to yank her head closer still, his bruised body pressing desperately flush against the hard planes of her armor despite every screaming injury.

Heat exploded inside her like a struck forge—Jennife’s eyes blew open wide to black pits of pure instinct, her alpha rut igniting in an instant uncontrollable blaze.