...
A long time.
Yet full of joy.
She seemed to return to the battlefield of four hundred years ago, fighting bloodily with her enemies. Only this time, she didn't have to worry about the pain of failure, didn't have to watch her friends die in her arms, and didn't have the overwhelming responsibility of her mission.
The best part was that both the demons and herself could feel the pain of the blade.
And with pain, there was reality.
"Female... I must say you've done well," Kabradha threw a bloody arm to the ground, "Although you still haven't escaped the category of reptile species, you are much stronger than most of your kind. I didn't choose the wrong person after all, your performance pleases me!"
"Is that so?" Zoe responded vaguely, then spat out a piece of minced meat from her mouth, "It's a pity your flesh is too unpalatable."
This was the fifth day since the battle started... or was it the seventh day? She didn't have the ability to estimate time without the sun, moon, and stars, and could only roughly estimate the date based on her body's natural reactions. Time here should be fixed in a loop. For example, thirst and hunger would suddenly disappear when they became obvious, returning to their initial state. If it were treated as a day, it would be reasonable, otherwise, not to mention fighting for years, a few days would make people unable to move.
A piercing pain came from the severed arm – obviously, this was not a fair contest. The opponent could use magic to condense a long sword, while she could only rely on her fists, feet, and a mouthful of teeth.
But Zoe didn't care about fairness at all.
Because victory or defeat was not the point.
The battlefield pursued killing the enemy and preserving oneself, but that wasn't the case here. Severed limbs would reunite in the darkness, and no matter how severe the injuries, one would not lose consciousness. Without death, pain became eternal.
And creating pain didn't necessarily require swords and knives.
She noticed that this was the first time since the start of the battle that the opponent had slowed down and started talking.
"But your persistence is meaningless," the High Demon pressed his injured shoulder, and the bloody wound quickly healed, "Such an attack is not even skin-deep. If you expect to defeat me with your teeth, you're probably going to be disappointed—I'm going to crush your teeth little by little and stuff them into your stomach. Prepare yourself!"
"But you still feel pain, don't you?" Zoe gasped, watching her arm gradually recover, "Oh, and I wanted to ask, does that pain feel particularly familiar?"
"Female, what do you mean by that?"
No, I must endure, I can't let it see my intoxication, that would reduce the fun—
Despite thinking this, she still couldn't help but chuckle, "When you were half-dead, you should have felt it every day..." She pointed to the position of the scapula, "Stabbed in from here, cutting off a piece of meat completely. Judging from the frequency of your body shaking at the time, it shouldn't have felt good. Ah, I almost forgot to introduce myself, the one who took care of you all the way was me."
"Insect—!" Kabradha was immediately furious, roaring and raising his sword to slash over, "I will crush you!"
...
The sixteenth day, or longer.
The black ground was covered with blood, mostly reddish-brown, with a small half appearing ghostly blue.
In addition, severed limbs and internal organs were scattered everywhere... and of course, teeth. Although the missing parts would be replenished soon, the separated things would not disappear. Fighting in such an environment, one would slip if one was not careful. But precisely because of this, Zoe obtained two barely usable weapons—a femur removed from her thigh, and half of a demon's spine.
The former was equivalent to a short hammer, while the latter could be used as a rapier. As long as it didn't collide head-on with a magic weapon, both were quite handy to wield.
Four hundred years was enough to turn them into experts proficient in all kinds of weapons.
And her favorite part to attack was still the opponent's shoulder.
.
Pain, sometimes, had nothing to do with the size of the wound.
"If you're tired, you might as well rest now," Zoe hung the spine on her waist and moved her numb wrist, "After all, you still have to torture me for a long time, taking your time will be more enjoyable."
"..." The demon didn't respond for the first time. Its chest heaved, and its scarlet eyes stared at the transcendent witch, its inhuman face no longer had its initial contempt.
The strength of the two had not reversed. The High Demon's various abilities guaranteed its dominant position in the battle. Zoe often needed to pay several times the price to severely damage her opponent. Once a mistake occurred, she would suffer for a long time. It was commonplace to have her fingers broken one by one and her abdomen cut open. However, even so, the atmosphere gradually changed.
Zoe didn't mind the other party's silence, "I say... did you create this space?"
Perhaps needing a moment to rest, Kabradha slowly opened his mouth, "This place is a stream of consciousness, a combination of magic and soul. It doesn't need anyone to create it. Reptile species like you are probably hard to understand. It's one in ten thousand to have a chance to enter the stream of consciousness—"
"I've seen bigger ones, complete like a world," she interrupted, "There are people, trees, sky, and earth, unlike here, where there's nothing."
"Don't be ridiculous, female!" The demon roared, "You have no idea how much magic it takes to construct an entity in the stream of consciousness, let alone a complete world! Only the Source of Magic can do this!"
"It's the Source of Magic again... It's clearly just a vague concept, like the domain of the gods. You don't even know where it is, but you talk about it as if you've actually seen it." Zoe took off the spine and held it in her hand again.
"This is all information engraved in the inheritance, and only you are ignorant of it!"
"Then you can explain it in more detail and give me evidence to convince me."
"Female, do you think I'm an idiot?" Kabradha raged, "How could I, Lord Kabradha, fall for such inferior tricks—"
Before he could finish speaking, a "javelin" pierced through his head.
The snow-white spear shaft was the spine Zoe had been holding earlier.
"Since you don't want to talk, then the rest time is over. It's not too late to rest when you want to talk." She picked up the femur and rushed towards the swaying opponent.
...
The... tenth day.
"Why," Kabradha had completely lost his initial momentum. He held the magic sword in front of his chest, as if looking at a monster, staring at Zoe, "Aren't you afraid of pain!"
"If the war four hundred years ago made me used to this feeling, and the depravity four hundred years later made me forget it—if something that has always been with you is lost and then regained, would you be afraid of it?" Zoe raised the corners of her mouth. At this moment, she no longer needed to hide herself, "In fact, I have to thank you. The experience that His Majesty Roland couldn't give me has been compensated for here."
"You... madman!"
"Compared to hundreds of years, this is just a fleeting moment—now, it's your turn to please me."
When Zoe once again inserted her fingers into the demon's chest, the scene in front of her suddenly twisted, and the flesh, internal organs, and corpses all turned into nothingness. A strong sense of dizziness enveloped her.
When she opened her eyes again, the dome of the Third Border City Hall reappeared before her eyes.