NOVEL NEXT Chapter 60 –The Viper's Embrace
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.
Before the dust settled, she had slithered across the arena, grabbed the skull (which was still wearing a jaunty little bow), and crushed it in one hand.
[Combat Time: 2.1 Seconds.]
"Next!" Seraphine roared, her voice echoing off the iron bars. "Send me something that bleeds! These toys are boring!"
Reed winced. The Orc Matrons, who were acting as the arena security, cheered wildly, banging their fists against the railing.
"She's strong!" one Orc grunted, wiping a tear from her eye. "She broke the skinny one like a twig. Beautiful."
"It is beautiful," Reed agreed, leaning over the rail. "But it's bad for business. That Bone-Maid cost me mana."
He walked down the stairs to the arena floor. The air down here was cooler, smelling of bone and black sand.
"Seraphine!" Reed called out.
The Lamia turned. She was wearing her new Armored Lingerie, the black scales shimmering under the magelights. She looked terrifyingly regal, but Reed noticed something wrong.
She was shivering.
Her movements were jerky, agitated. Her usually hypnotic eyes were dilated, searching the room for threats.
"My Lord," Seraphine hissed, bowing low. Her skin was pale, almost translucent. "I apologize for the display. The staff... they offer no resistance. They do not ignite the blood."
"That's the point, Sera," Reed said, walking up to her. "We're running a show. If the customer pays 100 gold for a match and you decapitate him in two seconds, he's going to leave a bad review. Assuming he can still write."
"I cannot help it," Seraphine snapped, hugging her own arms. Her tail wrapped around her waist tightly, as if trying to preserve warmth. "I am cold, Reed. The Void... it is freezing me from the inside out."
Reed frowned. He reached out and touched her arm. It was like touching marble in winter.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
[Staff Condition: SERAPHINE]
[Status: SHADOW ROT (Active).]
[Manifestation: THERMAL REGULATION FAILURE.]
[Cause: Void Mana drains body heat. Subject requires external thermal source or adrenaline spike to function.]
"You're hypothermic," Reed realized. "That's why you're crushing them so fast. You need the combat heat."
"Violence is warmth," Seraphine whispered, her teeth chattering slightly. "When I kill, the fire returns. When I stand still... the ice takes me. I need to break something. I need to feel the life leave it."
"We can't kill the Whales, Sera. They're our paycheck."
Reed looked at the shivering General. She was a lethal weapon falling apart because she didn't have a target. She needed heat. And right now, the only thing hot enough to warm a Void-corrupted Lamia was the Void Core itself.
Reed took off his velvet coat. He tossed it to the nearest Orc Matron.
"Hold that," Reed ordered.
The Orc caught it, sniffing the fabric appreciatively. "Smells like expensive darkness."
Reed rolled up his sleeves. "Clear the pit. I'm tagging in."
Seraphine blinked, her tail uncoiling slightly. "You? My Lord, I cannot fight you. I might... snap you."
"You won't," Reed said, stepping onto the black sand. "Because we aren't fighting. We're wrestling."
He held up his hands.
"New rules, General. No striking. No weapons. No killing intent."
He tapped his chest.
"Grappling only. Your goal isn't to kill me. It's to make me submit. You need to wrap me up and squeeze until I can't breathe. Can you do that?"
Seraphine stared at him. Her nostrils flared, scenting the air. She could smell the Void Core burning in his chest like a furnace.
"Submit," she repeated, the word rolling over her tongue.
"That's right. Make me tap out."
Seraphine's eyes darkened. The shivering stopped.
"As you wish, My Lord."
She didn't lunge. She flowed.
She moved across the sand like oil on water. Reed braced himself, but you couldn't brace against a landslide.
She didn't strike him. She enveloped him.
One moment, Reed was standing; the next, he was airborne. Seraphine had coiled her tail around his waist and pulled him into her. They hit the sand together, a tangle of limbs and scales.
"Too slow," Reed grunted, trying to get leverage on her arm.
"No," Seraphine whispered in his ear. "You are just... small."
She tightened the coil.
It wasn't painful. It was heavy. It felt like being hugged by a living, muscular weighted blanket. The cold scales of her tail pressed against his back, soaking up his body heat instantly.
Reed gasped as the pressure increased. He could feel every inch of her body pressing against his.
"Heat," Seraphine moaned, burying her face in his neck. "You are... so warm."
She wasn't fighting to win anymore. She was fighting to get closer.
She pinned his arms to his sides with her upper coils. She wrapped her lower coils around his legs. She effectively turned herself into a cocoon, sealing them both inside a private world of black scales and heavy breathing.
"Sera," Reed wheezed, the air leaving his lungs. "The goal... is submission... not... absorption."
"Is there a difference?" she purred.
She shifted her weight, grinding her hips against his to maximize surface area. The reaction was immediate.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
[Thermal Transfer: CRITICAL.]
[Void Resonance: SYNCHRONIZED.]
The heat coming off Reed rushed into her. Her scales shifted from ice-cold to a pleasant, feverish warmth. The violet circuitry tattoos on her skin flared to life, pulsing in time with Reed's heartbeat.
"More," she demanded, squeezing harder. "Don't move. Let me take it."
Up in the VIP box, hidden in the shadows of the velvet curtains, a figure was watching.
Kaelen gripped the railing, her knuckles white. She had come to inspect the structural integrity of the iron cages. Instead, she was watching the Dungeon Lord get mauled by a snake woman in lingerie.
"This is..." Kaelen swallowed hard, her face burning. "This is highly unregulated grappling form. The point of contact is... excessive."
She fumbled for her notebook.
Note to self: Investigate 'Submission Holds'. For... defensive purposes.
Back in the pit, the match was reaching its climax.
Reed was pinned. He couldn't move his arms. He couldn't move his legs. He was entirely at her mercy.
And Seraphine realized something.
She didn't need to break him to win. Controlling the pressure took more strength than crushing him. Holding him right at the edge of unconsciousness, feeling his pulse flutter against her skin... that was the real power.
The "Killer" in her brain went quiet. The "Apex Predator" took over.
"I have you," Seraphine whispered, nipping at his ear. "You are mine, Reed. Safe. Caught."
"Okay," Reed choked out, tapping his hand against her tail. "I tap! I tap!"
Seraphine didn't let go immediately. She held him for three more seconds, savoring the rush of dominance, before slowly, reluctantly, loosening her grip.
She uncoiled, rolling onto her back in the black sand. She was glowing, literally. Steam was rising from her skin. Her eyes were bright, clear, and focused.
"Better?" Reed asked, sitting up and rubbing his ribs. He felt like he had gone ten rounds with a hydraulic press.
"Much," Seraphine sighed, stretching her arms above her head. "I feel... full. The cold is gone."
She looked at him, a sultry, dangerous smile playing on her lips.
"Is this what the customers want? To be held? To be... squeezed?"
"Some of them," Reed nodded, getting to his feet and offering her a hand. "We call it 'The Viper's Embrace'. You don't sell death, Sera. You sell the fear of death, wrapped in a hug."
Seraphine took his hand. She pulled him close one last time, checking his ribs.
"I can do that," she promised. "I will squeeze the gold out of their pockets. And I will leave them gasping for more."
[SKILL UNLOCKED: MERCIFUL CONSTRICTION.]
[Effect: Applies [Fear] and [Arousal]. Deals 0 HP Damage. Generates High Satisfaction.]
[Revenue Potential: +200%.]
The Orc Matrons erupted into applause, holding up signs they had made from scrap wood.
[10/10] [GOOD SQUISH]
Reed grabbed his coat back from the Orc. He checked his status. His ribs were bruised, his mana was drained, and he was covered in black sand.
"Okay," Reed groaned, rotating his shoulder. It clicked loudly. "I think you dislocated something."
"I can put it back," Seraphine offered, reaching for him.
"No!" Reed retreated. "No more touching. I need a professional. I need a healer."
He looked toward the elevator leading down to Floor 2.
"I'm going to the Spa," Reed announced. "Seraphine, get the Arena ready. The guests will be here tomorrow."
"It will be ready, My Lord," Seraphine said, bowing. She looked at the training dummy. She didn't destroy it. She walked over and wrapped her tail around it, practicing her 'gentle' squeeze.
Reed limped toward the exit.
"One department down," he muttered. "Two to go. Now, let's see if Luma has figured out how not to digest the towels."
[QUEST COMPLETE: THE ARENA.]
[Reward: Seraphine Stabilized. The Viper's Embrace is Open for Business.]