Chapter 298

Tired, injured, and fighting the second-strongest monster of her life—the first being that juggernaut of Greed—it wasn’t surprising they lost the next round. Vanetta had surely known it would happen going in.

Natalie had never died before. Obviously. And she didn’t die now—not really. But she was cleaved in half by a giant black-metal sword, and that was, well, a bit traumatizing, even by a delver’s standards.

The world flickered, went dark, and then she stumbled forward, suddenly on her feet again and feeling—

Great?

She whirled in a circle, looking at the empty arena. She saw Vanetta standing to her side, also re-materialized, seeming bewildered. She had fallen first between the two of them, even if she hadn’t died and ended the encounter. Just been knocked out. Left alone, Natalie hadn’t stood a chance.

Natalie looked down at herself, rubbing the expanse of exposed midriff that held no scar and was—not severed in two anymore. She shuddered, briefly, before putting that experience firmly out of her mind. No delver was a stranger to violence, blood, and gore, but being cut in half? Not something she particularly enjoyed. At least the Arena hadn’t forced her to bleed out before ending the fight.

“Damn,” Vanetta said. “That’s my fault. I didn’t see—” She sighed. “I was hoping we’d at least trade.”

Trade? As in, the enemy dying along with one of them? That would have completed the round and given them rewards for doing so, so it would have been nice.

But that confirmed Vanetta had been expecting to lose, with a draw as their best case. Which meant she really had intended to pay out the stake?

Vanetta saw Natalie’s look, then colored, realizing the obvious deduction Natalie had made. She cleared her throat, then plastered on a nonchalant expression.

“That’s how it goes, I guess. Maybe we should’ve just withdrawn, like you said.”

Natalie raised an eyebrow at her, but didn’t comment. Something else drew their attention anyway. Two stone pillars, similar to the ones holding stake-choices, rose from the hard-packed dirt floor.

They held...

What was expected. Two toys. One a solid cylinder of gel-like pink, and another, more transparent, though tinted the same color and hollow rather than solid.

A dildo and a pocket pussy. A hell of a thing to see, randomly sprouting from an arena.

“So we just pick? One or the other?” Vanetta asked.

It was disorienting to go from fighting for her life to this. It also, oddly enough, enhanced the excitement? There was nothing quite like lethal combat to get the blood pumping. She was ready to vent her adrenaline. Though Natalie would’ve been excited no matter the circumstances.

“Could be that we pick one, and the other disappears,” Natalie said. “Locking us in. Both might stick around though, and the City just waits until the condition is filled.”

“The condition,” Vanetta said flatly.

Natalie shrugged.

Vanetta cleared her throat. “Well,” she said. “I guess I’ll just—?” She walked toward the pocket-pussy pedestal, giving her an unintentionally wide-eyed, nervous look.

There was something unbelievably endearing about one of the best [Assassins] she’d ever seen seeming so timid. She’d watched this woman rip through equal-level threats like paper, a blur of flashing steel and sprays of blood. Calm and reserved throughout, even the most brutal fights not breaking her demeanor.

But now? Wide-eyed and blushing? At just the suggestion of what was coming?

Look. Natalie had a type. Well, lots of types, but this was definitely one.

“You can also change your mind,” Natalie said, lips twitching. “I could be the one who takes care of you, if you want.”

Vanetta froze solid. Then she jerkily returned to motion. “If you’re okay with it, I’d prefer—?” She reached out toward the pocket pussy.