novelraw Chapter 249 -249-Wait—Who Actually Won?
Chapter 249 -249-Wait—Who Actually Won?
After seeing Caelan’s demonstration, the official examined him carefully.
As expected, he failed to spot anything suspicious, so he nodded and said,
"Very good. Here is your contestant pass. You may enter and prepare for the match now."
Caelan accepted the pass with satisfaction, then waved in Evelyn’s direction.
"Evelyn, stop standing there in a daze and hurry up to register too!!"
"We agreed—we’ll meet at the top!"
...
The Fallen Arena was designed as a massive circular underground venue.
At the very center stood the duel platform, while concentric rings of spectator seating spread outward around it.
At this very moment, on the duel stage,
the battle between two female mages had already entered a blazing, climactic phase.
Both were fire-element mages, and their skills not only dealt damage to their opponent, but also caused severe damage to their equipment and clothing.
Every time a scrap of fabric fell from a critical area, it triggered an ear-splitting wave of cheers!
The entire audience had gone completely wild. Quite a few spectators had even leapt to their feet, frantically waving their clothes in the air.
Fortunately, a Runic Array separated the seating area from the duel platform.
Otherwise, these overexcited spectators might have stormed the arena outright!
Just as the match reached its most intense point, the betting pool at the Fallen Arena had also opened.
Many audience members, already riding the thrill of the moment, eagerly pulled out their Mana Ore stones and began placing wagers on the contestants they supported.
As the bets climbed higher and higher, the host’s voice became increasingly animated.
At this moment, even the host’s tone carried a faint trace of genuine sincerity.
Because he got to take a cut of the wagers!
At this point, his commentary became even more passionate.
"Everyone can see that the two contestants currently fighting are both from the female bracket. One is a contestant from the succubus race, and the other is from the Starfallen Kin!"
"You can clearly see that the tempo of attack and defense between the two is extremely smooth. Especially the contestant from the succubus race, who has now gained a certain advantage!"
"However... the contestant from the Starfallen Kin is not to be underestimated either! Some of you may not know this, but the Starfallen Kin contestant comes from the world of the myriad races—a world entirely different from our Abyss."
"It is said that the Starfallen Kin possess an incredibly powerful racial skill. I wonder whether we’ll have the chance to witness it today. Thinking about it really is exciting!"
As he spoke, the Starfallen Kin contestant was already being driven into a corner.
Just when the audience thought she was about to make a desperate last stand,
the Starfallen Kin contestant pulled a major stunt and directly chose to surrender.
Having failed to witness the Starfallen Kin’s ultimate move, the surrounding audience immediately erupted into a chorus of boos!
Yet the Starfallen Kin contestant remained completely unmoved, maintaining the same composure as before, utterly unaffected by the crowd’s reaction.
In truth, she knew very well what her selling point was, and that was precisely the trick she used to survive in the Fallen Arena.
To put it simply: as long as she never used her racial trump card, there would always be a steady stream of spectators coming specifically to watch her matches.
They could curse all they wanted, but with that much sunk cost already invested, who would be willing to just give up?
And so, when it came to this Starfallen Kin contestant, the audience cursed her all the same—but still kept paying Mana Ore stones for wagers and ticket fees, while their expectations continued to rise higher and higher.
At that moment, the referee finally stepped forward.
His gaze swept over the smug, self-satisfied, arrogant Starfallen Kin contestant.
If it were not for the fact that she had pulled this exact kind of stunt far too many times, he probably would not even remember her.
Sure enough, this Starfallen Kin contestant had resorted to the same old trick yet again.
She had clearly lost the match, yet acted as if she had won—feeling no shame at all, but instead taking pride in it.
The referee shot her a cold glance, then raised the succubus contestant’s arm high.
"I hereby declare the contestant from the succubus race the winner!"
At that moment, the entire arena exploded into thunderous cheers, fueled by everyone’s disgust toward the Starfallen Kin contestant.
Next, the Fallen Arena wasted almost no time before starting the following duel.
"The next match: Caelan of the human race versus Oliver of the titan race!"
"Ladies and gentlemen, Caelan of the human race is stepping onto our duel platform for the very first time. So what kind of performance will he deliver? Please stay tuned!"
As a clear bell rang out,
the figures of Caelan and Oliver stepped onto the duel stage.
At the same time, betting officially opened among the audience.
A huge number of spectators immediately joined in and began placing bets, but the overwhelming majority of them bet on Oliver.
As one of the Fallen Arena’s veterans, Oliver had a large and loyal fan base here.
These spectators had full confidence in Oliver’s strength. After all, as a three-time champion of the Fallen Arena, Oliver had already proven his power countless times over.
Compared to that, Caelan was not only a first-time participant, but he did not even look especially strong.
Could a human really win?
Most of the audience simply did not believe in Caelan’s strength.
And so, after only a few breaths’ time, Caelan’s odds had reached a staggering 100-to-1.
All it took was one Mana Ore stone wagered on Caelan’s victory, and the bettor would receive one hundred Mana Ore stones in return!
How was that any different from free money???
Just as the referee on stage was about to announce the start of the match, Caelan suddenly raised his hand and signaled.
"Wait. May I participate in the betting?"
The referee froze for a moment. Under normal circumstances, it was rare for contestants to bet on themselves.
And for the sake of fairness, contestants were, in principle, not allowed to place wagers on their own matches.
However, Caelan was appearing on stage for the first time, and his understanding of his opponent’s strength was limited. Therefore, every first-time contestant was granted a one-time opportunity to bet on themselves.
For many contestants, this was also one of the best chances to make a huge profit.
The referee’s gaze fell on Caelan as he said calmly,
"According to the rules, every contestant only has one chance to place a bet on themselves. Are you certain you want to bet on your own victory?"
Without the slightest hesitation, Caelan nodded heavily.
Was that even a question? 100-to-1 odds—he would probably never encounter anything like this again in his life after this match.
Since that was the case, why not seize the opportunity and make a fortune??
With that thought, Caelan immediately said,
"That’s right. I want to place a bet on myself to win. As for the amount... let me think."
Caelan opened his storage space, rummaged around for a moment, then handed the referee a storage pouch.
"I’ll just place a simple bet of 100,000 Mana Ore stones."