章 10: Life is Pain

When all else fails, punch what confuses you until life makes sense again.

Sara instinctively punched her opponent in the throat again, but unfortunately, her opponent wasn't crippled like she would have been on Earth. Because while yes, she could feel the sharp pain of her trachea breaking, she was also a being that no longer needed to breath.

The Smiling Demon surprisingly didn't resist her assault, and instead willing allowed herself to be pushed onto her back.

Indecent moans soon began to fill the arena.

Sara's whole body shuttered, and goosebumps ran up and down her arms as she tried to ignore what she was seeing. The expression on her opponent's face made her feel extremely uncomfortable.

Any enjoyment that Sara might have felt at the beginning of their match was quick to disappear, and now all that she could think about was ending this fight as quickly as possible.

Sara's face burned red, and she tried desperately not to feel violated when she straddled her opponent's stomach, and then began raining punches down on her perverted smile. The girl squirmed underneath her, and despite her swelling features, her eyes continued to shine with an unholy light that made Sara want nothing more then scrub herself clean.

But at the very least, she could confirm that she wasn't crazy for seeking pain. It seemed like this feeling, this NEED under her skin to feel, was something that was completely normal.

Sara opened and closed her hand, her knuckles making slight cracking noises before she switched hands, and started raining punches once again.

When setting her body's pain tolerance before the match, Sara had intentionally set it to 100%.

Windy had snickered when she noticed this, and tried to warn her that she wasn't going to be able to handle it. She had called her an amateur- but Sara still felt that she had made the correct choice.

Because life was pain.

This arena was set up to be a battle of dominance, a life and death struggle with no escape and no shortcuts. It was intended to push people to their limits, and to show them just how strong or weak they were.

Or at least, that was how Sara chose to interpret it.

For Sara, pain was a necessary feeling. In her opinion, it was this feeling that allowed humans as a species to survive and learn how to thrive. If Sara had not come into this arena knowing that she would be able to feel every punch, knowing that she had to avoid tiring herself out and that even her own attacks could harm her body…

Then what was the point of this place?

"Why are you still conscious?!"

Sara was beginning to feel cheated, because she knew that she was hitting all of the correct spots on her opponent's skull to knock her out- but-

The audience around her were collectively booing the Smiling Demon, and laughing at her predicament.

"D*mnit, this is why you told me never to bet on the Smiling Demon! Christ, she's not even fighting back!"

"That masochist and her moods- save the submission for the bedroom! Quit f*cking up my bets!"

"Watching this never gets old! I can't stop laughing!"

"Hey Demon! Why don't you call that girl your Master already, and pass the f*ck out!"

Their jeers were truly hateful, but despite their enthusiastic booing, Sara couldn't help but feel uneasy as she stared down at the girl underneath her. It felt like she was missing an obvious piece of information, and this was why she hadn't been able to get a handle on her opponent.

The Smiling Demon's face could no longer be considered beautiful. Not only was her face bloody from several cuts, but her eyes were almost completely swollen shut. Her skin was also already beginning to darken into some nasty bruises…

But this had only been possible because the Smiling Demon hadn't tried to fight back. In fact, ever since her back hit the floor, she had become disturbing docile.

What was she planning to-

"F*CK!"

Sara's sudden scream surprised everyone, including the Smiling Demon- but her opponent was quick to realize exactly why Sara had screamed.

Her pain setting must have been set extremely high.

The Smiling Demon immediately moved to exploit this weakness like the opportunist she was, and twisted her fractured bone deeper into Sara's thigh.

The red-haired woman cackled as blood spilled out from Sara's artery and pooled underneath them- because Sara had just made the most rookie of all rookie mistakes, and how could the Smiling Demon not take this opportunity to teach her poor mislead pupil?

The Smiling Demon was going to enjoy listening to her scream.