A long time.

But full of pleasure.

She felt as if she had returned to the battlefield from 400 years ago. But this time, she didn't need to worry about the pain of failure or watching her friends die in her arms. She was free from the heavy burden of responsibility.

Best of all, both she and the demon could feel pain.

The pain made the fighting real.

"Female... I have to say you've done a good job," Kabradhabi said as it threw Zooey's severed arm on the ground. "Although you're a bug, you're much stronger than most of your kind. I really didn't pick the wrong person. Your performance pleases me!"

"Really?" Zooey answered vaguely, then spat a piece of flesh from her mouth, "Unfortunately, your flesh tastes disgusting."

Was this the fifth day since the battle began...or the seventh day? It was difficult to estimate the pa.s.sage of time without the sun, moon, and stars, so she could only roughly estimate it based on her body's natural reactions. Time here should be fixed in a cycle. For example, thirst and hunger would suddenly disappear when they became apparent and then reset. It was sensible to regard this cycle as a day. Otherwise, it would be impossible for people to fight for years. They would lose strength and be unable to move within days.

She felt a sharp pain from her arm where it had been cut off. It was obviously an unfair battle. The demon could create a long sword with its magic power, while she only had her arms, legs, and teeth.

But Zooey did not care about whether it was fair or not.

Because victory or failure was not important.

On the battlefield of old, she had to kill the enemy and protect herself, but not here. Here, the severed limbs would regenerate. No matter how severely she was wounded, she would not lose consciousness. Without death, the pain became eternal.

It was not necessary to use a sword to cause pain.

She noticed that this was the first time that the demon took the initiative to slow down the pace and talk.

"But your persistence is meaningless," the Senior Demon said, as it pressed on its wounded shoulder. The b.l.o.o.d.y wound quickly recovered. "Attacks like this are nothing to me. If you want to beat me with your teeth, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. I'll knock out your teeth one by one and then make you swallow them. Get ready for it!"

"But you still feel the pain, don't you?" Zooey gasped and watched her arm recover. "By the way, I'd like to ask one more thing. Is that pain particularly familiar?"

"Female, what do you mean?"

No, I have to be patient. I can't let it see my intoxication, as it'll reduce the fun—

In spite of this, she still couldn't help chuckling. "When you were half dead, you should have felt it every day..." She pointed at the shoulder blade, "Being stabbed here and having your flesh cut away. With how much your body was shaking, you must have felt not so good. Ah, I forgot to tell you. The person who cared for you along the way was me."

"Bug—!"Kabradhabi was furious and lifted his sword, snarling, "I'll crush you!"

The sixteenth day, or maybe longer.

The dark ground was covered with blood, mostly reddish-brown, and some black-blue.

In addition, broken limbs, internal organs... and of course, teeth, were scattered everywhere. Although the lost parts would regenerate before long, the blood and scattered parts would not disappear. In this environment, they accidentally slipped again and again. But because of this, Zooey got two weapons— one of her thigh bones and half of the demon's spine.

The former was like a short hammer, and the latter could be used as a sword. As long as they didn't directly hit the demon's magic sword, they were quite useful to her.

400 years was long enough to make her an expert in all kinds of weapons.

And her favorite place to attack was still its shoulder.

Pain was sometimes unrelated to the size of the wound.

"If you're tired, you might take a break now," Zooey said, hanging the spine around her waist and moving her numb wrists. "After all, you have to torture me for a long time. It would be better to take your time."

"..." The demon did not respond for the first time. Its chest heaved as it was breathing deeply, and its scarlet eyes stared at the Extraordinary. The initial contempt faded from its human-like face.

Their relative strength had not changed. The various abilities of a Senior Demon had ensured its superior position in this fight. Zooey needed to pay several times the cost in order to strike her opponent. Once she made a mistake, she would suffer for a long time. It was not unusual that her fingers were broken and her belly was torn apart. Even so, the atmosphere gradually changed.

Zooey did not take any notice of its silence. "Let me ask... Is this s.p.a.ce created by you?"

The demon probably needed to rest for a moment. Kabradhabi slowly said, "This is a stream of consciousness, a combination of magic power and the soul. It doesn't need anyone to create it. It's hard to understand for a bug like you. Almost no one has a chance to enter the stream of consciousness—"

"I've seen a bigger one, which was as complete as a real world," she interrupted. "There were trees, sky, and earth. It's not like here. There is nothing here."

"Nonsense, female!" the demon roared, "You have no idea how much magic power it consumes to construct ent.i.ties in the stream of consciousness, let alone a complete world! Only the Fountain of Magic can do that!"

"It's the Fountain of Magic again... It's just like the domain of deities, an illusion. No one has been there, but they talk as if they've seen it." Zooey took off the spine bone and held it with her hand.

"This is engraved in the heritage. But you would know nothing about it!"

"Then can you elaborate further and come up with some evidence to convince me?."

"Female, do you think I'm a fool?" Kabradhabi was furious. "How can I, lord Kabradhabi, be deceived by such a clumsy technique—"

Before it finished its words, a "spear" pierced through its head.

The white spear was the spine thrown by Zooey.

"Since you don't want to say anything, then that's the end of the rest. When you want to talk about it, we'll take a rest again." She held the thigh bone and rushed toward the staggering demon.

Dozens of days later.

"Why," asked Kabradhabi, who had completely lost its original momentum. It held its Magic Sword in front of its chest, staring at Zooey as if she were a monster, "Don't you fear pain?"

"The war 400 years ago made me accustomed to it, while hibernating for 400 years made me forget it. If you regained something which had always accompanied you, would you fear it?" Zooey raised her lips. At this moment, she no longer had to conceal herself. "In fact, I have to thank you. You've compensated for the feelings which King Roland can't give me."

"You... are crazy!"

"This is only a brief moment compared to hundreds of years. Now, it's your turn to please me."

When Zooey once again stabbed her fingers into the demon's chest, the sight in front of her suddenly twisted. The blood, flesh, and body parts all turned into nothingness, and a strong sensation of dizziness overwhelmed her.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw the hall dome of Third Border City.