Anne stood there motionless as she stared down Cherry. Her resolve and fortitude strengthened as her she was able to focus her mind to the match. All she needed to think about was winning. There was no chance she would die here. Or die being attacked by however many Night Demons.
Cherry laughed and said, "Time for another beatdown, kid."
He pulled the chain, but it wouldn't budge. He pulled harder, but Anne wouldn't give an inch.
Then, Anne held the chain in one hand and yanked back. Cherry tripped up and was dragged forward.
"Alright. That's enough games. I'll just crush you," Cherry taunted as he charged forward.
When he approached Anne, she moved to the side all while holding onto the chain that linked them. When she dodged, she wrapped the chain around Cherry's left arm. Then, without any remorse, she pulled on the chain with all her might crushing Cherry's arm. The sound of bones splintering and blood gushing out from Cherry's constricted arm could be heard throughout the arena.
The audience was surprised by Anne's comeback and cheered.
While Anne heard the cheers, she felt a surge of happiness. She felt happy in inflicting pain back. She felt happy in winning over anything else. There was no honor in what she did, but she didn't care.
Cherry screamed in pain and knelt down.
Anne took the chain and began to wrap it around Cherry's neck as he was down. She began to choke him out and he could do nothing about it. As he was about to feint, she stopped and let go. Cherry coughed and began to crawl away. He needed some time to breathe.
Anne didn't stop because she felt that she did enough. Far from it. She didn't feel sorry. She just wanted to keep fighting. She had no respect for her opponent. And with her victory assured, she wanted to have a little more fun before she finished the fight.
Anne kicked over Cherry to his front. The bones in his arm was shattered. The pain was too much for him. He was so used to giving pain that he was never accustomed to taking it.
"Please... stop.... I..... give...," Cherry pleaded, but Anne didn't want the fight to end. She quickly wrapped her hand with the chain. And with one hand, she held down Cherry by his throat. And with the other wrapped in chains, she started to beat the man senseless. She focused her fist on his face. His teeth broke off and began to choke him from the inside. His blood splattered and coughed out onto Anne's face. His nose was flattened. His eyes were shut closed with bruises. His entire face was like a mosaic. He could make no sound as his entire body felt cold.
With every punch, Anne remembered Kira. How her body was in pieces.
There was no honor in beating a defeated man. But there was no honor in Kira's death. So, the only conclusion Anne could come up with was that honor was meaningless. The only thing that mattered was victory above all else. Because otherwise, if she was not victorious, it would mean a cruel death. It's better to be the victor than to be the beaten. And, for Anne, it was even better knowing it would feel good to dominate over another.
She continued to beat him even after he feinted. And with every punch, she could hear the audience cheer. They loved her and enjoyed every second of this ruthless beatdown.
The shopkeeper watched in silence without a care to how Anne was treating the defeated. All he wanted was the black coin and he knew he was going to get it.
With her last punch, the chains wrapped around her fist snapped. With that, she stopped her assault. Cherry was barely breathing, but alive. But if he wasn't, Anne wouldn't have cared.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! The fight is over! The victor is Anne Hill!!" the announcer yelled as the crowd cheered.
She stood up breathing a sigh of relief. She enjoyed the rush of adrenaline come over her. She looked up remembering Kira from her caged ring.
"Don't worry, Kira. I will avenge you. I won't let what happened to you happen to me. I will win. I will keep winning," Anne muttered.
Then, without warning, a chill came over her. The night demon hiding in Cherry popped out of his mouth. It was a small serpent-like creature with two arms. It had bulging eyes that stared at Anne.
She looked down at it with a smile. She still felt the need to fight. The need to win. Her fight with Cherry only started her insatiable thirst.
The Night Demon screeched. It then jumped at Anne to try and get inside her mouth to hide.
But as it was about to get inside Anne, she instantly transformed in a bright flurry of light. She grabbed the creature as it was blinded by the light and held it tightly.
With a smile, she struck the creature onto the ground and crushed it like a bug with her metal boot. It's eye popped out and the monster vanished leaving only it's black coin.
Anne grabbed the black coin and showed it to the shopkeep.
He was satisfied and began to erase the memories of all the audience members.
"Wait. Make sure they remember the fight," she requested as she wanted everybody to remember this.
The shopkeep nodded. He wasn't planning on erasing their memories of Anne's fight with Cherry anyways. He only needed to erase their memories of the Night Demon.
And when they were done, Anne left the ring with the audience cheering behind her. She followed the shopkeeper out of the underground fighting ring with a renewed sense of purpose. She felt reinvigorated with something that she has never felt before. She smiled deviously with only one care. Winning.