The first impression that the Deathmatch Society gave Asho was darkness. Unlike other places in the prison that were bright, the Deathmatch Society had very little lighting. Except for the central deathmatch arena that was illuminated by incandescent lights, there were almost no lights in the surrounding high audience seats. The spectators seemed to be submerged in darkness, and only the two people fighting on the arena were left in the world.
This was also the place where Asho had seen the most prisoners. Following Lorna, he had only encountered a few scattered prisoners along the way. When passing by the library and gymnasium, Asho also saw about ten prisoners. However, after entering the Deathmatch Society, even without bright light, Asho could judge from the whispers in his ears and the vague contours in the darkness that there were almost hundreds of people here!
“Lorna, you brought him here?”
“A newbie?… Oh, the leader of the Four Pillar God. Brave young man, daring to make contact with the Four Pillar God.”
“Lorna, the gourmet is here!”
“Lorna, is that your little boyfriend? Changed your taste, huh!” A burly man teased.
“Desmond, if you say such nonsense to ruin the relationship between me and my boyfriend, I’ll bite you to death!” Lorna retorted angrily, not sounding like she was really angry, but rather a little shy.
However, the laughter around them quieted down, and the burly man named Desmond quickly apologized with folded hands, “Haha, Lorna, I didn’t mean that. By the way, don’t you introduce the new guy?”
Lorna snorted, seeming not to pursue it anymore. Desmond breathed a sigh of relief and quickly shrank into the crowd.
Asho quietly moved away from Lorna. He already felt that any seemingly “weak and easy to bully” bald passerby he found could be the notorious killer in the prison.
“Asho Heath, a newcomer who just came in these two days. He wants to participate in the deathmatch, so I brought him to take a look.” Lorna smiled, “Who’s fighting now?”
“‘Diamond’ Teg is fighting ‘Blind Beast’ Rudolph.”
“Why is Rudolph… Ah, Teg is an old man after all. Why not let him have this little contribution? Haven’t you challenged Rudolph?”
“We certainly won’t let go of this fat meat, but Rudolph hasn’t seen Teg’s deathmatch before, and feels that Teg is easier to bully. Besides, Teg’s bet is high, so…”
Asho leaned forward to the audience seat and watched the one-sided massacre in the arena below – the elderly white-haired man and the muscular green-skinned orc were fighting bare-handedly.
Yes, it was a one-sided massacre. Both sides were attacking each other without defending, but the white-haired old man could take a sand pot-sized punch without shaking, breathing, or leaving a red mark on his skin, as if the green-skinned orc was only using the strength of a baby to hit his chest.
However, in turn, every punch of the white-haired old man was as heavy as a thousand catties, making a stone-cracking sound when hitting the green-skinned orc’s body, which was enough to make people’s scalp numb.
When Asho arrived, the green-skinned orc had been beaten with blood all over his body, with no good flesh left on him, and several teeth missing. His eyes were swollen like slits.
With a heavy blow, the green-skinned orc was knocked several meters away and slammed into the wall, leaving a bloodstain on the wall. He couldn’t get up from the ground.
However, the white-haired old man glanced at the top of his head and rushed over to continue beating the green-skinned orc with punch after punch.
He was like a scrubber, rubbing the flesh and blood off the green-skinned orc with every punch.
Asho couldn’t bear to watch, “Hasn’t the winner been decided yet? Why hasn’t it ended?”
“The winner? Not yet,” someone next to him laughed, “Try reaching out your hand.”Asho reached out at the sound of the voice, only to find that he had touched an invisible wall of air, causing ripples to spread and invisible barriers to appear in all directions, completely separating the lower arena from the surrounding audience.
“Only when one side dies or is completely unconscious will the barrier be lifted, and then the medical staff will appear from that door and drag the body back to the medical room for treatment.”
The man pointed to a very inconspicuous door in the arena. “As long as the barrier hasn’t disappeared, you can never let your guard down. You must continue to suppress and kill your opponents.”
“Also, surrender does not exist in a deathmatch. The loser only has two possibilities: death or loss of consciousness.”
“I don’t know how many fools who are self-reliant and despise their opponents have been killed because they treat this as a stage for friendship first and competition second. They stop halfway through the fight and then get killed by their opponents. They lose a lot of contribution points and rise to a higher level in the judgment sequence… But this is also the meaning of the deathmatch society: to transfer contribution points that do not belong to you to someone who is more suitable to have them.”
Dong!
At the sound of this muffled punch, Asho felt that the orc had even spewed out the hotpot seasoning, and couldn’t help asking, “Can he really be saved?”
“He hasn’t lost consciousness yet, but even if he can be saved, it’s no different from death. Look up there.”
Asho looked up and found that the glowing spot on the ceiling was actually a display screen showing the battle information:
“Tiger Norris bets 35 contribution points”
“VS”
“Ruduo Yaxi bets 5 contribution points”
Asho was surprised, “This bet is not equal, why does Tiger bet so much?”
“As long as both sides agree, even unequal bets can be established.” The man said leisurely, “And there are rarely equal bets in deathmatches. According to the rules, every time you participate in a deathmatch, you must bet one more contribution point than the previous deathmatch. Tiger has fought 34 deathmatches before, so this time he must bet 35 contribution points.”
“Is this Ruduo’s fifth deathmatch?”
“No, this is his tenth. Each prisoner starts with 50 contribution points, and according to the rule of increasing the bet by one point each time, he has bet a total of 45 contribution points in the first nine matches. In the tenth match, he only has 5 points left.”
The person next to him sneered.
“So, as long as Ruduo loses this match, he will have no contribution points left, and he will never be able to earn contribution points through deathmatches again. Unless he can dig out gold coins from his own stomach, he will always be the first in the judgment sequence.”
Asho suddenly realized something, “Wait, does that mean he lost all nine matches before this one!?”
“That’s why he’s called ‘Blind Beast’ Ruduo, he always chooses opponents he can’t beat.”
With a bang, the orc’s head seemed to explode, and at the same time, the screen on the ceiling made a ding-ding sound, showing the words “victory or defeat is decided.”
The barrier of the arena disappeared instantly, and the door in the arena opened, and three black-cloaked men wearing crow masks entered the arena. They didn’t even use a stretcher, and just dragged the orc’s body away.
“The old man is too bad, pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger to deceive the orc’s contribution points.”
“How is that deception? I knew from the beginning that the old man was not easy to deal with-Ruduo not only has bad eyesight, but also a bad brain. Just think about it with your toenails. Which old people, women, or children who can stay in the deathmatch society are easy to get along with?”
“How many people has the old man taken away so far?”
“Starting from the day I came in, the old man has taken away at least five people.””Old man, you’ve already contributed so much. Next time, let us young people take care of this kind of thing. That beast, anyway, it’s just giving us contribution points. It’s better to give them to me.”
In the darkness, everyone was bustling and noisy. The white-haired old man wiped the blood off his fist with a towel and suddenly coughed twice, spitting out several mouthfuls of blood. He said in horror, “That orc’s punch was quite powerful. I seem to have suffered internal injuries…”
“Who believes you!”
Everyone shouted in unison. It seemed that they had seen someone being fooled and then tricked by the old man into becoming his prey.
“He’s strong on this arena.”
Asho looked to his right and saw Sword Girl suddenly appear again.
Unlike the others, the dim light had no effect on her, and she seemed to be able to emit light from her body to dispel the darkness. She sat abruptly on the railing, looking very out of place.
What was even more strange was that she had changed into a tight-fitting sword training outfit, with her red hair tied up, becoming a handsome female swordsman.
Asho blurted out, “Why is he strong?”
“Because this arena only allows for attacks, but still limits the output of Artificing.”
The people next to her and Sword Girl said in unison.
Sword Girl glanced at Asho, who was covering his mouth, and then said, “There are many types of Artificers: craftsmen, warriors, scholars, doctors… but most Artificers can only drive Artisans with Artificing. As long as their Artificing output is restricted, Artificers are no different from ordinary people.”
“But there are a few Artificers who, even without Artisans, still have strength beyond that of mortals – they are known as Body Artificers.”
“In general, all Artificers involved in body training can be called Body Artificers, such as Swordsmen, Boxers, Gunners, Spear Masters, Axe Masters… as long as they have suitable weapons, they can also fight against multiple opponents. However, compared to physical ability, they only have an advantage in ‘skills,’ and their physical fitness is not much stronger than that of ordinary people.”
“But there is a type of Body Artificer who, through constant physical training and even using Artisans to modify their flesh and blood structure, can use themselves as weapons and gain almost overwhelming violence. Even if they lose their Artisans, the enhancement effect on their bodies will not disappear. In this prison where Artisans are prohibited, their advantages can be maximized!”
“This type of Body Artificer is called a ‘Sorcerer.’ Their flesh and blood is weak, and their bodies are no longer flesh and blood structures.”
Asho looked over and saw the white-haired old man, who had scratched the railing as he left the arena!
So that’s what ‘Diamond’ Tag meant!
“Since you’re here, let’s start fighting.” Sword Girl said, “Just don’t fight with that old man. Oh, by the way, for your first fight, it’s best to choose an opponent who is unarmed, and you should also fight unarmed.”
“Why?” Asho asked.
“Because your body is too weak. If you use a real sword, you’ll probably be beaten before you can even swing it. And if your opponent uses fists, you’ll at least have the ability to fight back for a few rounds and gain some experience.” Sword Girl said, holding her hands, “I’m actually more afraid of you being robbed of your sword by your opponent and then being beheaded with one sword – to avoid such a horrifying scene, you should fight unarmed for your first fight.”
“I don’t expect you to know how to fight, but you must have been beaten before, right?”
Asho accepted Sword Girl’s advice and turned to the person who had been chatting with him and asked, “I want to participate in a deathmatch. Can you recommend an opponent who is unarmed?””Hand-to-hand combat? Well, brother, you’ve come to the right person. I specialize in hand-to-hand combat. How about a match with me? I promise I won’t take advantage of you.”
“Sure, sure. But this is my first deathmatch, so I’ll only bet 1 point of contribution. Even if you want to play the pig to eat the tiger, you won’t earn much.” Asho joked.
“Don’t worry, brother. Not only will I not take your contribution points, I’ll even give you some. I’m very weak, after all—”
At this moment, the lights in the deathmatch club suddenly turned on, and the darkness in the audience seats was swallowed by the light, making the place bright.
It was then that Asho realized that the ‘kind-hearted person’ he had been chatting with was actually someone he had met not long ago.
“—Even you want to throw a punch at my face.”
Igura looked at Asho and smiled, “We meet again, Asho, the one with the adorable fists.”