The Viper's Embrace didn't look like a dungeon chamber anymore. It looked like a place where rich people went to make poor decisions.
Reed stood on the observation balcony, looking down at the newly renovated arena. The dirt floor had been replaced with black volcanic sand. The rough stone walls were lined with iron cages and VIP boxes draped in heavy purple velvet.
It was atmospheric. It was intimidating.
And it was currently a slaughterhouse.
CLACK-SNAP.
Down in the pit, a Bone-Maid, wearing a velvet choker and high-heeled foot bones, lunged forward. She didn't move like a warrior; she moved like a dancer, spinning with a jagged prop dagger in a theatrical arc.
Seraphine didn't even draw her weapon.
The Lamia General simply spun, her massive twenty-foot emerald tail whipping through the air like a siege weapon. She slammed the Bone-Maid into the stone wall with enough force to turn the porcelain-white ribs into powder.
