It all ended according to the rules. Zin lost, and Adam won, and both fighters survived.

Still, Es’aha felt terrible about what she had done. Now that it was clear Zin had survived, there was no excuse for her actions.

Es’aha bit her lip before bowing low before Adam, despite the difference in their statuses.

"I offer my apologies. My actions were unacceptable. I lost control of my emotions and..."

SLAP! 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Kaerno’s palm landed on Es’aha’s arse with a sharp smack.

"Ouch!" Es’aha yelped in shock at Kaerno’s rudeness. They were both the Fingers. They weren’t supposed to act like this! Never!

"What the hell are you doing?" Es’aha exclaimed, rubbing her back.

Kaerno chuckled. "Come on. Who needs your apologies? Adam understood everything from just one look at you. Am I right?"

Everyone turned to him.

"Sure. I get it. Apparently, Zin means a lot to you, right?"

Es’aha gasped as her cheeks flushed for a moment. Even though Adam had accepted her apology, the situation had become even more embarrassing for her.

"Either way, I’m glad it all ended this way." Es’aha clenched her fists. "Your last attack, that was impressive, Adam Vinter. If you’d been fighting in the far reaches of the Hollow Lands, Zin wouldn’t have survived."

Adam shrugged. He was a fighter, but he didn’t take the situation as seriously as Es’aha.

"No."

Leerna’s voice, full of gloom, rang out.

"I’m the one who should be apologizing. My job as the judge is to stop the fight at a dangerous moment. I failed."

Kaerno waved his hand.

"Don’t be so hard on yourself. You didn’t know what Adam was capable of. He just deleted Zin’s heart with a single touch. Even I wouldn’t have had time to react to that."

Leerna and Es’aha both looked at him.

"Are you lying?" Leerna asked.

Kaerno tilted his head, rubbing his chin.

"Who knows?"

Kha! Kha! Kha!

Zin coughed up blood as Es’aha rushed over to him.

"Are you okay?"

However, Zin didn’t answer. The monsters continued to tend to his wounds, and for now, he could still sustain the sound waves that served as his heart.

Right now, something else was important to him.

"Ms. Leerna, I think it’s time to declare the winner of our battle, don’t you?"

Leerna blinked as she nodded, quickly regaining her serious expression.

Step!

She stepped forward, drawing the attention of all the spectators who had been confused for the past few seconds. Some even hurried to flee the arena, deciding that Es’aha would start fighting.

With a stern look, Leerna grabbed Adam by the wrist and raised his hand high.

"The winner of the Grim Court - Adam Vinter!"

Her voice echoed through the arena, reaching everyone, no matter how far away they were.

"From this moment on, the Phantom Adam Vinter becomes one of the Fangs of our lands! He earned this rank in fair combat. You all saw it!"

Then, she clenched her fist and waved her hand.

"All bets will be paid out, as always! I congratulate Adam Vinter on his victory, as well as everyone who decided to take a risk and bet on him!"

Silence.

Silence hung in the air for a few moments.

Usually, the Grim Courts ended this way, except that a judge would not leave its throne and would announce the winner from above.

But the whole situation with Zin and his possible death, and Es’aha’s rage, had thrown off the usual rhythm.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Suddenly, light claps rang out from the side, coming from a girl sitting in a spot unfit for her status.

"Yeah!" Sarka exclaimed joyfully, continuing to clap. "I believed in you! You won, Adam! You are so cool!!!"

Supporting his subordinate, Kaerno began clapping as well, as did all the members of his pillar who had come to watch the fight.

Very soon, the entire Hail Passage was engulfed in applause as one spectator after another rose from their seats in a show of respect.

Any victory at the Grim Court was a major event, and this one deserved special attention.

"YES!" The young man exclaimed with a joyful smile. "I knew I had to take the risk! Hahaha! Now I’ll have my own pond at the Bone Lakes!"

"Ha! Just a pond?" The woman from the next row looked at him with the arrogance of a winner. "Thanks to this bet, I’ll be able to buy an entire lake! Hahaha!"

If there were winners, there were also losers. That was the rule of any bet.

Still, even those who had lost many land cubes weren’t disappointed with the result.

"Well, you can always win back the lands you lost, right?" The man with long black hair smiled bitterly. "But, it’s unlikely we’ll get to see a fight like this again in the next hundred years. It was worth it."

Obviously, the biggest loser was Es’aha. She lost thirteen land cubes, which was a huge stake for any monster, even for the Thorns.

On the other hand, the main winners were Kaerno and Garzo. Their belief in Adam’s victory, or sheer recklessness, worked in their favor, and now each of them had even more territory.

"YES!" Garzo exclaimed joyfully, clenching his fist. "I knew this guy could do it! Just look at him! He wasn’t even scared of Es’aha’s attack! Hahaha! I should have bet twice, no, three times as much!"

The pale girl with black hair falling in sharp tips nodded.

"You’re the man, boss. Your intuition never fails you."

However, unlike ordinary monsters for whom even a single land cube was a big deal, for these three, even thirty land cubes weren’t significant.

Each Finger controlled a vast territory.

They were betting not to expand their influence but to heighten the excitement of the battle and determine which of them was the best at analyzing fights.

Kaerno turned to Adam.

"What do you think? That wasn’t half bad, right?"

Adam took a deep breath.

"Yeah, but I can barely stand. That last attack... I put all my strength into it. But, I think you should be looking not at me but at someone else."

"Hmm?" Kaerno raised an eyebrow.

"I’m right, aren’t I, Zin?"

Es’aha spun around as Zin smiled. Something had changed in his gaze, something that made Es’aha’s heart fill with warmth.

"The sounds... I think that after this fight, I’ve heard enough. I’m ready to move on."