The so‑called biggest failure of the Aurhaven Empire, Celestia Featherstone, was being pummeled by the young heir’s concubine right on the stage.
"Tragic, isn’t it? Celestia really lives up to her reputation as the empire’s disgrace. Getting beaten this badly by a concubine… kind of pathetic, no? And her fiancé’s right down there watching. Doesn’t he feel even a little sorry for her?"
"You don’t know the half of it. Word is, a few days ago she stole a heaven‑grade elixir from the Roswell family, trying to boost her spirit power for today’s match. Lucian Roswell and his concubine caught her red‑handed. Of course she got dumped. Now without him shielding her, honestly, anyone in Aurhaven could finish her off without breaking a sweat."
"Such a pity. Lucian Roswell—everyone says he’s like a man touched by the heavens—yet his reputation got dragged through the mud because of a fiancée like her."
As the chattering grew louder, a pained cry echoed from the platform. Celestia crashed to the ground, her entire body slashed and bruised, her face swollen. It was obvious the other woman wasn’t just trying to win—she was taking pleasure in tormenting her.
The one striking her was Lucian Roswell’s concubine. Beautiful, yes, but with a sharp cruelty in her eyes. Seeing Celestia in such a state didn’t make her hesitate; instead, she stepped in even harder, aiming straight for Celestia’s vulnerable stomach.
A woman in the crowd sneered, "Tsk, tsk. Honestly, if she’d just begged for mercy and admitted her faults, maybe Lucian would’ve at least spared her some dignity. They were once engaged, right? Why be so stubborn?"
"But I heard the champion today gets a chance to enter the Underworld Sovereign Ayles’ manor. Maybe Celestia’s just hanging on, hoping someone from there will swoop in and save her?"
"Stop joking. When has the Underworld Sovereign ever meddled in anyone’s business? He only picks the strongest, and everyone knows once you enter his manor, you can never leave. Only a fool would want to go."
"Exactly. They say he’s ruthless and looks like something out of the ghost realm. If Celestia really ends up in his manor… well, that’d be quite the match, wouldn’t it?"
Laughter rippled through the crowd.
People surrounded the stage, yet not a single one stepped in to help.
With a heavy thud, Celestia was kicked into a pillar, coughing blood as she fell face‑down. The concubine leaped over and stomped hard on her chest.
"I love Lucian, and he loves me. But you—some delusional girl—insisted on marrying him. The Featherstone family may be powerful, but in Lucian’s eyes, you’re nothing but an ant. Celestia Featherstone, life and death on the stage is a choice we accepted. Beg for mercy, and maybe—just maybe—I’ll consider letting you crawl away."
Caidi’s face twisted with malice, her foot pressing into Celestia’s chest while her hand lifted a sword, ready to drive it into her lung—slowly, painfully, cruelly.
Celestia almost laughed. Was this what fate called kindness? That she had to suffer the same misery all over again?
Reborn, yet still walking the exact path of her past life.
The one torturing her now—Caidi—Lucian Roswell’s concubine, had once bowed to her, flattered her endlessly, even encouraged her closeness with Lucian.
Then Caidi tricked her into taking the Roswell family’s heaven‑grade elixir, turned her in, and watched as she was crippled, dragged to this very platform by Lucian himself.
In her previous life, for her mother’s sake, she had knelt and begged Lucian before the whole crowd, just to survive. He spared her only to use her bloodline, making her his cultivation vessel. Day after day, she was forced to bleed, forced to obey. With no choice, she raised a Devourer Beast and clung to life for eighteen long years.
In the end, the Featherstone family fell to the Roswells. Her entire clan was slaughtered. Her two children died at the hands of Lucian and his women. She herself was drained dry and left to die in the Roswell household.
And now… here she was again.