**'Abyssal Sovereign: The Demon's Dominion'**

Chapter 534: Chapter 533: Don’t stay down

"Serosa raised his fists as the crowd went wild, cheering one after another.

Keith watched as Serosa ignored him and focused entirely on the crowd. Only after he was done did he finally turn to Keith.

Keith watched as Serosa’s lips parted into a wild grin.

The crowd gradually quieted until silence filled the arena.

Then Serosa spoke.

"Ahaha... the gods must have smiled upon me. They brought me such sweet prey," Serosa muttered as he licked his lips.

The crowd burst into laughter.

They too were surprised.

Serosa was currently on a ten-win streak. Normally, they would have matched him against an equally strong opponent, or even someone stronger, to end his streak.

Instead...

They had brought him a complete weakling.

Everyone could see how thin and famished the boy was.

His arms looked like chicken bones that could snap at any moment.

"At least let’s make this fight interesting. I won’t kill you right away."

"In fact... I’ll even handicap myself."

Serosa lifted his axe and slammed it into the ground before clenching his fists as the crowd whistled.

They were going to enjoy this.

"Everyone, place your bets!"

Just then, the announcer’s voice echoed throughout the arena as everyone smiled and tapped the screens built into their seats.

Without a doubt, almost everyone bet on Serosa to win.

Although the odds were extremely low, it was guaranteed money.

Only a few people decided to try their luck by betting on Keith.

At the top of the arena, a man dressed in luxurious robes smiled as he looked at the betting results.

The total had already reached tens of thousands of taels and was still rising.

Almost every bet was on Serosa.

Of course, the arena could comfortably pay everyone.

But why would they allow themselves to lose money?

Ding!

A new notification suddenly appeared on every screen.

A new betting option had been released.

How long will the weakling survive against Serosa?

30 seconds — 1.01 odds

1 minute — 2.5 odds

...

10 minutes — 5900 odds

The audience quickly placed their bets.

The overwhelming majority chose less than two minutes.

Back at the top of the arena, the luxurious man spoke.

"Are you sure the boy is durable?"

He casually rubbed the gold ring on his finger.

"Yes," the man who had beaten Keith almost to death replied.

"He is. Besides, I could see the hatred in his eyes. He must have someone he wants revenge against, so I don’t think he’ll give up so easily."

"Besides, we both know how Serosa behaves when he faces a weaker opponent," the man added.

"True. He’s naturally arrogant. He’ll give the kid plenty of chances to survive longer," the arena master replied as he continued playing with his gold ring.

"As long as the boy survives for at least one minute..."

"We’ll make a massive profit."

The man behind him laughed.

"He will."

"He definitely will."

The two turned their attention back to the arena.

Just as promised, Serosa had buried his axe into the ground.

He was determined to toy with Keith.

Walking toward the still-seated Keith, Serosa smiled.

"Kid, I already gave you a chance."

"You’re the one with a weapon."

"I’m not."

"So attack."

On the ground, Keith’s breathing became ragged as fear gripped him.

Serosa’s massive build erased every thought of fighting.

But then...

Serosa’s mocking expression slowly overlapped with those of his childhood bullies...

Then the adults from his hometown...

And finally...

The town head’s mocking face as he ordered his parents to be beaten to death.

Keith tightened his grip on the knife.

Then he stood up and thrust it toward Serosa’s throat.

Thud!

Keith stumbled and fell as Serosa casually dodged the attack.

The crowd erupted with laughter.

But it wasn’t over.

Keith pushed himself back up and slashed again.

Serosa dodged effortlessly.

Keith attacked again...

And again...

And again.

After all, Keith wasn’t a fighter.

He was just a fifteen-year-old boy.

He had never even held a knife before.

His attacks were clumsy and easy to read.

Serosa effortlessly avoided every single one.

"Kill him!"

"Kill him!"

"Kill him!"

As the fight approached the thirty-second mark, those who had placed bets shouted impatiently.

After all...

They didn’t want to lose their money.

Seeing this, Serosa smirked.

Keith might be fun to toy with, but he still had to give the crowd what they wanted.

Just as Serosa was about to attack...

A different wave of cheers suddenly echoed throughout the arena.

"Play with him more!"

"Yes! Play with him!"

Serosa frowned and immediately stepped away from Keith.

Then he instinctively looked toward the top of the arena.

Behind the transparent glass sat the arena master.

Serosa looked confused.

After all, as far as he knew, the only bets were on who won or lost.

He had no idea there were now bets on survival time.

Through the glass, he saw the luxurious man raise a single finger.

Serosa smiled in understanding.

One minute.

He had to defeat Keith after one minute.

With that, Serosa’s confusion disappeared.

He casually circled Keith, effortlessly dodging every attack.

"Kid..."

"Didn’t you eat?"

"Come on."

"Even a dog bites harder than you."

"What’s wrong?"

"Do you miss your mother?"

"Want to cry in her lap?"

"Kid..."

"SHUT UP!"

Keith roared, shocking both Serosa and the crowd as he lunged forward once more.

Only this time...

Serosa caught Keith’s wrist.

That familiar feeling returned.

It was like being caught by an iron clamp.

No matter how hard Keith struggled...

His arm wouldn’t budge.

Serosa knew it was almost one minute.

It was time for Keith to be taken out.

While Keith struggled, he suddenly felt a faint sense of danger as he saw a massive fist rapidly filling his vision.

Then—

Boom!

His nose shattered instantly as blood sprayed into the air.

His head snapped backward, and the rest of his body followed.

Bam!

Keith crashed onto the ground as the arena lights shone into his eyes before they slowly closed.

The crowd erupted into cheers and smiles as they watched the unconscious Keith.

Those who had bet on thirty seconds celebrated, while everyone else felt as though daggers had pierced their hearts. After all, he hadn’t even survived for a full minute.

Still, they quickly calmed down when they remembered that their first bet—Serosa winning—was still safe.

"Don’t stay down..."

Just then, a familiar voice echoed in Keith’s ears.

His eyes snapped open, staring at the bright arena lights.

Slowly, he stood up.

His face felt as though it had been crushed.

Looking at his right hand, he realized the knife was still there.

Then he looked at Serosa, who had already turned his back on him.

Keith charged.

The crowd gasped.

Serosa immediately sensed something was wrong.

His battle instincts kicked in, and he swiftly dodged.

But before he could enjoy successfully avoiding the attack...

Keith dug his feet into the ground, made a sharp turn, and thrust the knife toward Serosa’s abdomen with both hands.

Serosa frowned and moved to dodge.

But alas...

He had grown too relaxed.

Even though the blade missed his stomach, it sliced across Serosa’s hand.

"Huff... Huff... Huff..."

Keith took deep breaths as he looked at the blood staining his knife.

A smile appeared on his face.

But just then...

A massive hand grabbed his wrist.

Keith cried out in pain.

It felt as though his wrist would shatter.

The next moment, the world flipped upside down as his face slammed into the ground.

Crack!

Something broke.

At this point, Keith didn’t know whether it was his neck or part of his skull.

Sand filled his mouth.

But it wasn’t over.

He suddenly felt himself become weightless as Serosa grabbed him by the head and lifted him to eye level.

Then...

Serosa let go.

Before Keith’s feet could touch the ground—

Bang!

Serosa’s punch slammed into Keith’s stomach.

Blood instantly sprayed all over Serosa.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Four punches landed one after another, launching Keith more than two meters into the air without his feet touching the ground once.

At that moment, Keith felt pain he never knew a human could experience.

Compared to this...

Everything he had suffered until now felt insignificant.

Bang!

A final punch struck his head.

Keith’s body spun through the air before crashing onto the ground, his arm hitting first.

The crowd drew in cold breaths before erupting into cheers.

At least they had lost the one-minute bet...

But not the two-minute one.

Looking at Keith’s twitching body, Serosa’s expression darkened.

He raised his left hand.

A tiny cut could be seen across it, with blood slowly seeping out.

Serosa felt furious.

How could he have been injured by this brat?

Hadn’t his reputation been tarnished?

Even though he could have ended it there, Serosa walked over to Keith once more.

Then he raised his foot.

Bang!

Crack!

He stomped on Keith’s head.

The crowd’s cheers gradually died down as discomfort spread through the arena.

Usually there was plenty of gore.

But most fights were between opponents of similar strength.

They hadn’t seen something this one-sided in a long time.

For the first time...

Many of them couldn’t help but pity Keith.

Serosa had already won.

He could have simply killed Keith...

Or just left him lying there.

Had he just crushed Keith’s skull?

Or broken his neck?

Serosa spat on Keith’s body before turning around and walking away.

"Don’t stay down..."

The crowd suddenly roared.

Serosa gritted his teeth and looked back.

There...

Standing on trembling legs...

Keith had gotten back up once again.

"Annoying..."

Serosa muttered as he moved.

In only three steps, he crossed over forty meters and delivered a powerful kick.

Plop!

That sound made everyone’s hair stand on end as Keith flew through the air like a rag doll before crashing heavily onto the ground.

This time, Serosa waited for a few seconds.

Only when Keith failed to stand did he turn and walk back toward his axe.

Then the crowd shouted once more.

Serosa clenched his fists.

Behind him...

Keith was standing again.

One of his legs was twisted unnaturally.

His face was completely caved in.

He should have been dead by now.

Even if he wasn’t...

He should already be on the verge of death.

"Damn it...

Just fucking die!"

Serosa roared as he charged toward Keith.