Chapter 290: Crawling between the legs.
Adelyn didn’t understand what had happened until, from the corner of her eye, she caught something flying through the air before crashing heavily onto the ground.
The shouts and cheers filling the arena froze instantly, causing the entire place to fall into complete silence.
The only voice Adelyn heard was Pier’s as he cried out—
"Brother Karl!"
He immediately rushed in that direction.
Adelyn slowly turned to look as well, only to find the young troublemaker lying sprawled on the ground, bruised and looking exhausted.
Her brows furrowed as she walked over.
Pier was already kneeling beside him.
"Brother Karl, you didn’t have to do that. They were obviously cheating —they deliberately set a trap for you. Why did you have to walk right into it so easily?"
Judging by the pain etched across Karl’s face, the impact had clearly landed in all the wrong places.
Even so, the young master merely snorted arrogantly.
"Who’s scared of their traps?" he scoffed. "Let them bring their worst. I’ll make them lose at their own game."
Pier wanted to snap back at him, but he knew exactly how stubborn the Fourth Young Master of the Warren family was.
Karl could literally die for the sake of his pride and still not regret it even a little.
In the end, Pier could only purse his lips helplessly before helping him off the ground and easing him into a sitting position.
"Aren’t you a little too full of yourself to be saying something like that?"
Adelyn’s voice sounded from nearby.
She stepped closer, stopped in front of Karl, and looked down at him with a raised brow, amusement flickering faintly in her eyes.
Karl heard her voice and immediately looked up at her. His eyes glittered at the mere sight of her, almost shimmering beneath the overhead lights.
"Sister-in-law, you’re finally here. Although I trusted you, I still almost thought you’d abandon me. But you didn’t." He grinned brightly before adding dramatically, "No wonder they say a mother never abandons her child."
Adelyn didn’t hold back.
Giving his leg a light kick, she replied, "Save it ... because I refuse to have a child as pathetic as you."
Although it didn’t look like she had kicked him anywhere that should have hurt, Karl still let out an exaggerated wince.
Unfortunately for him, Adelyn had somehow struck the exact spot that hurt the most.
He hadn’t even realized that place had been injured earlier.
No ...
It had to be a coincidence. His sister-in-law wouldn’t hurt him knowingly.
"Argh ...!" he groaned pitifully while clutching the sore spot. "Sister-in-law, you’ve misunderstood. I’m not pathetic at all."
"Really?" she arched a brow. "Should I bring you a mirror so you can take a proper look at yourself?"
Karl instinctively glanced down.
His clothes were covered in dust.
As for his face ...
He remembered taking only two punches. Apart from a few light bruises, nothing should have affected his handsome face too much. As long as he acted like nothing hurt, no one would notice anything unusual.
Thinking that, he quickly got to his feet and dusted off his clothes.
For a brief second, he almost stumbled from the lingering pain, but fortunately, Pier caught him by the arm.
Karl immediately shrugged his hand away before looking proudly at Adelyn.
"See? Sister-in-law, don’t believe what you see. Believe what I say. And I’m telling you —I’m not pathetic at all. I’ve always been the best."
He proudly pointed toward the center of the arena.
"No one has ever beaten me in any challenge, and they won’t be able to beat me today either. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Pier ... or anyone else here."
He glanced confidently at his friend.
Despite feeling rather awkward about Karl’s current appearance, Pier still nodded.
Looking at Adelyn, he affirmed, "Yes, Goddess. Brother Karl has always been undefeated."
Adelyn slowly fixed her gaze on him.
Pier immediately zipped his lips shut, not daring to utter another word.
Her gaze alone was enough of a warning. She didn’t look angry. But she certainly didn’t look pleased either.
She then turned back to Karl.
"Undefeated?" Her eyes drifted toward the ground beneath his feet. "Since when did the undefeated champion start kissing the ground the way you were kissing it just a few minutes ago?"
Pier scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
Karl, on the other hand, immediately parted his lips to argue—
Only to shut them again.
He couldn’t think of a convincing response.
"Th-That’s because that as*hole Zeke Carte cheated. He ..." The more he tried to explain, the more furious he became.
To say he had been prepared for this would have been a complete lie. He hadn’t been prepared at all.
"He brought outsiders to fight me. And those outsiders actually seem to know a thing or two about martial arts."
"They caught me completely off guard and threw me out of the ring earlier. Otherwise, there’s absolutely no way I would’ve fallen like that."
"But don’t worry ..." he said while patting his chest confidently. It ached, but he didn’t let it show. "Tricks only work once. This time, when I go back in there, those little tricks won’t work on me anymore."
His confidence gradually returned.
"I’ll defeat him and win back my glory. Trust me, Sister-in-law. I’m not losing this bet."
His playful expression disappeared, replaced by unusual seriousness.
"It’s a matter of pride. And the Warren family’s pride cannot be trampled on by anyone ..."
His eyes narrowed coldly.
"Especially not by a bunch of unknown foreigners."
Adelyn continued staring at him for another moment. Her gaze narrowed slightly.
"You made a bet with them?"
Karl arrogantly scoffed.
"Of course. Did you think I’d let those shameless provocations slide?"
He puffed out his chest proudly.
" But don’t worry. The best it nothing. It’s just that the loser becomes the winner’s personal servant. They’ll crawl beneath the winner’s legs in front of everyone and admit they’re inferior in every way."
His lips then curled into a smug grin.
"But since I am planning to lose ..." He spread his hands as though the answer were obvious. "... there’s nothing to be afraid of?"