Pampering Discarded Heroines Triggers My 10,000x Rebate System

The entire underground colosseum froze in silence.

In the private box near the front railing, the velvet-coated crime boss stood paralyzed, his thick cigar slipping from his lips and falling onto the metal grating below.

Hundreds of spectators in the metal stands turned their heads upward with wide eyes as they stared toward the shadows of the upper VIP gallery.

Ringmaster Balthazar gripped the edges of his podium, his cybernetic jaw clicking as he stared at the upper terrace.

”Twenty million?” Balthazar’s voice crackled through the microphone in disbelief. ”Who made that bid?”

Evren stepped out of the shadows and walked calmly down the metal stairs into the bright glare of the red floodlights. His trench coat was buttoned neatly over his shirt, and he kept his hands in his pockets, looking completely calm.

The velvet-coated boss turned around in fury as he pointed an accusing finger at Evren.

”You’re joking!” the boss’ voice echoed across the arena. ”Look at him! He’s just an unarmed punk from the upper districts! Twenty million in liquid cash? No one in Sector Four has that kind of money! He’s throwing out fake bids to mock the house.”

A loud murmur of agreement rippled through the crowd.

”He’s right!”

”Who is this kid?”

”Security! Drag him down and check his pockets!”

Balthazar raised his hand, signaling six heavily armored syndicate guards with assault rifles to flank the base of the stairs.

”Young man,” Balthazar said in a growl. ”In Arena Number Nine, a bid is a blood contract. If you cannot verify twenty million dollars on our terminal right now, you will take that girl’s place in the cage as beast meat.”

”Bring the terminal,” Evren said calmly, stopping at the edge of the central platform.

A syndicate accountant rushed forward carrying an encrypted black-market payment terminal.

The accountant held up the scanner with trembling hands, glaring skeptically at Evren. ”Swipe your card, kid.”

Evren reached into his inner pocket, pulled out the matte-black Apex Sovereign Black Card, and tapped it against the sensor.

He entered his secure eight-digit PIN without hesitation.

BEEP. BEEP.

A loud chime rang through the arena’s speakers.

The huge scoreboard above the sand pit flashed from red to bright green:

[TRANSACTION APPROVED: $20,000,000.00 USD TRANSFERRED TO BLACK-SKULL ESCROW]

[PAYMENT STATUS: 100% LIQUID ASSETS VERIFIED]

The accountant stared at the terminal screen, his hands shaking so violently he nearly dropped the device. ”It... it went through! Twenty million dollars... instant clearance!”

The velvet-coated boss staggered backward, collapsing into his chair with a pale face.

The entire arena erupted into stunned chaos.

”Twenty million cash on the spot?!”

”Who the hell is this guy?!”

”He didn’t even blink!”

On the center platform, Ringmaster Balthazar stared at the green verification lights, his mechanical eye spinning rapidly.

Twenty million dollars in liquid cash was more money than Arena #9 made in six months of death matches.

A greedy glint flickered in Balthazar’s eyes as he looked at Evren.

’A lone, wealthy kid who walks into Sector Four without an army of bodyguards... if he could spare twenty million on the spot, it means he probably has hundreds of millions more on that card.’

Balthazar leaned over the podium with a sinister smile spreading across his scarred face.

’Why let him leave with the merchandise and his wealth when he is a hundred and fifty meters underground?’

Balthazar reached beneath his podium console and slammed his palm down on a concealed red lever.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Thick titanium blast doors slammed shut over every exit corridor, locking down the entire arena.

The crowd gasped in confusion as red emergency sirens began to wail.

”Attention, patrons!” Balthazar’s voice boomed through the speakers with fake panic. ”We have a catastrophic hydraulic containment failure in Pen Four! The pit is breached!”

On the floor of the sand pit, three iron trapdoors ground open.

ROOOOOOAAAR!

Three massive, blood-red beasts climbed out of the subterranean holding pens.

They were Level 45 Abyssal Gore-Hounds... each over fifteen feet long, covered in spiked bone armor, with mandibles dripping acidic green venom that hissed as it touched the sand.

Starved for days and driven mad by the crowd’s noise, the three beasts locked their glowing eyes directly onto the iron birdcage in the center of the pit.

Inside the cage, Zephyra gripped the cold iron bars.

Her violet eyes widened in cold despair. Bound in heavy mana-dampening cuffs and poisoned by necrotic shadow miasma, she had no way to defend herself.

’So this is how it ends,’ Zephyra thought bitterly, baring her teeth in helpless fury. ’Betrayed in the rift... sold in a cage... and torn apart by mutts for their amusement.’

The three Gore-Hounds lowered their heads, kicking up red sand as they charged straight toward her cage at terrifying speed.

Up on the elevated platform, Balthazar watched with a cruel smirk.

”Such a tragic accident!” Balthazar yelled over the noise. ”The merchandise has been destroyed! But don’t worry, young man... we’ll happily take your Black Card to cover the damages!”

Evren didn’t look at Balthazar.

His eyes were locked on the charging beasts and the defenseless girl in the cage.

[WARNING: ARENA 80% MANA-SUPPRESSION FIELD ACTIVE]

Evren ignored the warning.

With a slight flex of his legs, Evren vaulted cleanly over the thirty-foot VIP railing and landed dead-center in the sand pit like a falling meteor. The shockwave of his impact sent a cloud of red dust across the arena floor.

The lead Gore-Hound was less than ten feet from Zephyra’s cage when Evren appeared in its path.

The fifteen-foot beast lunged with open jaws, snapping its acidic fangs toward Evren’s head with enough force to crush an armored tank.

Evren didn’t flinch; he simply stepped forward, shooting his right arm out in a blur.

Evren’s bare hand clamped shut around the Gore-Hound’s upper snout mid-air, stopping the three-ton charging beast dead in its tracks.

CRACK!

The beast shrieked in shock as Evren twisted his wrist, swinging the massive monster by its skull in a wide arc and slamming it violently into the concrete foundation wall.

The entire arena wall cracked from top to bottom as the Gore-Hound’s bone armor shattered on impact, leaving the beast limp and motionless in the rubble.

Evren stood calmly in the center of the pit, his dark trench coat settling around him.

Behind him in the cage, Zephyra stared at his back in breathless shock.

Evren turned his gaze toward the two remaining beasts, then raised his eyes to Balthazar on the podium.

”You really shouldn’t have done that,” Evren said with a sigh.