Anne got to the place right before 8pm. As soon as the time reached 8pm, the shopkeep appeared.
"Oh, good. You're here. Walk with me."
And so Anne followed the shopkeep down a decrepit alleyway. There were homeless people and hookers getting high off of whatever drugs they were using.
As they walked, the shopkeep told Anne his plan.
"As I mentioned, this guy is a fighter. I want you to beat him in a fight. However, I emphasize that you cannot use your Light Guardian form. If it knows your a Light Guardian, then it will stay hidden in that guy's body. The ring is in an underground fighting arena. I already got you in as the next fighter. All you got to do is win. And as soon as the creature pops out, you will immediately sense it. When it goes to you, that will be your chance to transform and kill it. Any questions?"
"Yeah. So, this Night Demon... it hides in the body of fighters. Does it do anything to them? Does it make them angrier or stronger?"
"Not that I'm aware. It doesn't do anything physically or mentally to them. Just hides," the shopkeep replied.
Anne thought this was strange, but the shopkeep then said, "Well, just because I don't know if it does anything, doesn't mean that it doesn't. It could be feeding off that fighters' aggressive energy to make itself stronger until it becomes a real threat."
"Oh. I see. That makes more sense for a Night Demon," Anne replied. She was sure that the Night Demon must have been doing something. All of them were monsters that only cared for destruction. She would have found it strange if one wasn't doing anything.
The shopkeep didn't actually believe that the creature was doing what he suggested, but all he needed was to give Anne some kind of reason. The shopkeeper's concern was only in obtaining the black coin. He couldn't care less about what the creature does or doesn't do.
"Besides, Anne," the shopkeep continued, "does it matter? It's a Night Demon. It's a Light Guardian's duty to protect humanity from the threat of those evil monsters."
Anne nodded in agreement. "You're completely right. They're all monsters."
They walked together for a minute until they reached a rusted door on the side. The shopkeep knocked three times and then once more after two seconds. A slide on the door opened revealing a man's eyes. Anne didn't think of anything at the time. The shopkeeper took out a card and showed it to the guy and he opened the door. He was a big burly man who kept his mouth shut.
"Thanks," the shopkeep said as he motioned his hands for Anne to follow him.
They entered into room that led downstairs into a basement.
They both walked down together into what looked like a strange arena. The lights were dim purple. The spectators all wore masquerade masks. The men wore suits while the women wore elegant dresses. They all sat at dinner tables with gourmet food and wine.
There was a wrestling ring in the middle of the room. The place was strange and Anne didn't comprehend it. It seemed like an underground fighting ring for the rich and wealthy.
"Don't worry, Anne. All you got to do is win, kill the Night Demon, and then we won't have to ever come back here," the shopkeep assured.
Anne nodded with a gulp. She was nervous around this new crowd, but all she had to do was win a fight. She felt that would be easy. Even if it was a fully-grown adult, she was confident that she would win.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" an announcer shouted into a microphone in the middle of the ring, "Today, we're going to have a very special guest! The all-time champion of the national high school and middle school martial arts tournament; Anne Hill!!!"
Anne was led to the arena and heard the whispers among the crowd.
"A schoolgirl?"
"That's the fighter?"
"That pipsqueak?"
"That girl is going to get crushed."
They whispered amongst themselves, but felt no compassion. They just wanted to be entertained and wondered if they would. They each felt that the fight would last less than a second. They were all there to watch the most gruesome fighting that money could buy.
"Don't worry, Anne. I'm completely with you," the shopkeep assured her with a thumbs up from outside the ring.
"Great," Anne said sarcastically.
"And it the other corner, we have our favorite warrior. The deadliest and most gruesome twenty-streak victor. Cherry Jenkins!"
A large man with scars all around his body walked towards the arena with a growl. The crowd cheered for him as he stomped onto the ring.
"Yeah! I don't care if you are a kid. I'll make sure your parents don't even recognize ya!" Cherry yelled.
"A typical gorilla. Looks easy enough," Anne said.
Then, some men came out and put a large shackle and chain around Cherry's waist. And the same for Anne.
"Huh? What's this for?" she asked but the men didn't say a word.
The chain linked both Anne and Cherry together.
"What is this? What's going on?" Anne worryingly asked the shopkeep as he stood watching outside the cage.
"Don't worry about that. Just win the fight," he replied.
She didn't like this way of illegal fighting. She's never been in a fight where the two fighters were chained together, but she didn't worry about that. She just needed to focus on winning the fight.
"I'll just finish this quickly," she muttered.
Cherry laughed.
"Just cause you're a little girl, doesn't mean I'll go easy. I'll break your whole body before this fight is done," he said.
Anne went into a fighting stance and prepared to fight.
"Honor before victory," she muttered to herself. She was used to saying that chant before going to into one of her martial art fights. Unlike her fights with Night Demons, she always felt the need to be honorable in the ring with other martial artists.
As soon as the announcer got out of the arena, a cage dropped onto the ring and a bell rung starting the fight.
When the fight began, Cherry slammed his fist to the ground and was about to charge. Anne was ready for whatever he was about to do. But instead, Cherry feigned his charge and grabbed the chain. He yanked it pulling Anne and breaking her stance. Without a chance for Anne to react, Cherry elbowed her in the face, and before Anne was knocked to the ground, he yanked the chain again lifting her back up and then punched her in the gut.
Then, he let go of the chain as Anne fell face first onto the cage and floor.
"So boring. Is that all?" Cherry taunted.
Anne got herself up. She coughed out blood and teeth. Cherry didn't hold back and had no intention to.
She wiped away her blood. She got herself up and readied to fight again. She looked straight at her opponent. Even if her opponent gave no respect, her instructor taught her to still respect them. She just had to adapt to this new ring.
When Cherry tried to yank the chain, Anne stood her ground. Her feet and legs were firm. Even as Cherry yanked, Anne wouldn't budge. Then, as soon as he yanked harder, Anne sprinted forward to her opponent's surprise. She kept the assault. She punched and kicked, but Cherry kept blocking her moves.
"Alright. You are pretty good," he said before taking out a pile of sand from his pants.
Anne would have noticed this sooner and prepared for it, but her mind was preoccupied. She began to feel guilty for not being with Kira. Those feeling distracted Anne from the fight.
Before she knew it, Cherry threw sand at Anne's face. Sand got into her eyes and mouth before she could react. She closed her eyes and coughed.
Sand? Throwing sand? How could somebody throw sand during a fight? The mere thought of that was dishonorable in any ring of battle, she thought. The thought of fighting dishonorably disgusted her.
But honor or not, Cherry took advantage of whatever he had. He punched Anne back and forth while she was blinded by the sand. He kept her within arms reach by holding onto the chain. She had no chance of countering back. With every punch, a memory of Kira would appear.
The first time they met as Nina created the team. Their first real fight against a Night Demon. The first fight they had about what to spend their first black coin on. Every time they hung out during the weekends. Every time they went out to hunt monsters. Every single memory she could remember sprung up. And all Kira could think of was how distracting they were. If this feeling of guilt wasn't there, she wouldn't be losing to this guy, was all she could think, and she hated herself for thinking that.
And then when he was done, he let go of the chain and pushed Anne back. And her final memory of Kira showed right afterschool. The day she was killed. The last memory she had of her. And then a memory of being at Kira's funeral. Was that going to happen to her, she thought.
She took a couple of steps and then fell. She was bruised and bloodied all over. The beatings were too much even for a pro-wrestler.
Cherry raised his arms high as he flaunted his strength.
Anne lifted her head and looked at the shopkeep.
"Get me out of here," she quietly pleaded to him.
"I can't do that. This fight won't end until one of you is completely knocked out," the shopkeep said without remorse.
Anne felt tired and weak, but kept going. She wouldn't lose. She had no desire to lose. Kira lost and the price was her life. Anne wouldn't let that happen to herself.
She picked herself up and felt something stir violently within her.
Where was the honor in Kira's death? Where was the honor in getting ganged up by monsters and getting massacred in the night? Honor before victory?
No.
There is no honor. Victory is victory.
Anne looked straight at Cherry with unwavering eyes. She felt her whole body feel hot with pain, but she ignored every ounce of it.
"Oh. Looks like you still want some. Good. The crowd would have been disappointed and wanted a refund if you gave up now."
But Anne gave no thought to Cherry's taunts. She stood still with hate flowing through her veins. Now, she felt renewed and full of focus. She felt only a strong focus on winning above all else.