The exit portal spilled them into sunlight.
Nathan blinked, eyes adjusting after ten floors of silver mist and shadow. The Veiled Colosseum's exterior hadn't changed but the world around it had. The stands were still packed. Camera drones still hovered, lenses tracking every emerging figure. The public broadcast had shown everything: Mirko's humanoid form, Kuro's debut as a Shadow Assassin, Marcus Kade's defeat.
The crowd erupted.
Not one unified roar, but a storm of competing reactions: cheers from neutral spectators, gasps from academy students who recognized Nathan, scattered boos from Stone loyalists who'd lost money. Nathan spotted familiar faces: classmates who'd laughed at his summoning ceremony, now staring with disbelief or dawning horror. The girl who'd boasted about her family's lightning beasts. The student who'd hoped for a D-Grade Flame Wolf. All watching the Bunny King take his victory lap.
