Survival

8 weeks since the crashlanding on the deserted island of nowhere.

Yulissa and Hannah were far from help.

All they saw around them were packed trees covering the danger that had always existed in this forsaken place.

They were running out patience.

The two merely glared at each other.

It’s been quite a while since they haven’t had a proper meal.

The two circled each other around the coast, both with minimal clothing on to prevent anything bothering their battle.

This was one to the death.

Both girls’ hearts raced as they felt the tension while glaring at each other as if they feel nothing but pure rage and desperation.

But both of them knew this was an unfair battle.

Hannah knew that Yulissa was an athlete for her school, and despite her size, was an opponent far too powerful for her to handle alone.

But Hannah had no other choice.

She couldn’t run anywhere else now.

Yulissa rammed her body into Hannah’s and pinned her down at once.

Hannah panicked but put in enough strength to push Yulissa off of her torso.

“Where should I start with, Hannah?” Yulissa exclaimed. “I should probably focus on your breathing first..”

Hannah tried to calm down; it wasn’t easy for her to, as her heart hammered so fast inside her that it was almost moving her breast itself.

Hannah was no fighter.

She knew this was already a set match.

Yulissa charged and swiftly shot her hand straight towards Hannah’s throat and choked her as hard as she could.

Hannah felt dizzy already.

She knelt down as Yulissa glared at her from above, smiling at her prey.

Yulissa swiped off Hannah’s cap and softly stroke her cheek.

“You’re my meal for the next 3 days, darling…” she mumbled, feeling the rapid pulse increasing in Hannah’s neck.

“Mmf… Huck….”

Yulissa let go of Hannah’s throat and let her lie down, kneeling on her two weak arms and staring at her chest.

Hannah felt Yulissa’s fingernail draw a line around the center of her chest.

Yulissa loved the feeling of Hannah’s soft flesh vibrating as her heart pounded in fear of death.

“I think this little girl wants freedom…” Yulissa said, pushing her palm onto Hannah’s left bosom.

Hannah felt her own heart beat more clearly as Yulissa pushed her breast closer to her rib cage inside of her.

“Goodbye…”

Yulissa picked up her survival knife and quickly shoved it into Hannah’s chest; the blade barely reaching her heart as Hannah screamed in agony.

Yulissa then pulled the knife out and through the opening, rammed her hand inside to grab the organ herself.

Hannah felt the cold fingers wrap around her viral organ as it beat desperately to be free from the firm grip.

“Your insides are so warm… You had such a warm heart… Pity I have to kill someone with such a good heart..”

Hannah puked out blood as Yulissa tightened her grip, blocking the natural blood flow within the beating organ.

“So much for surviving these last few weeks…”

“UGGH…!!!”

Hannah had never suffered such pain before.

Yulissa started pulling on her heart, letting Hannah see her own beating organ outside of her chest as only a few weak veins hung onto the beautiful crimson core.

“This was beating inside of your most well-protected body part just a second ago… Now it’s mine for the taking…”

Yulissa grabbed the knife again and cut off the remaining veins and arteries.

She then squeezed the remaining blood on Hannah’s face, letting her feel the warmth of her own blood.

Mistake.

Mindy walked in the torture room in an intimidating manner as she kept a straight face while looking at her victim, Selina.

Selina looked exceptionally calm.

Mindy couldn’t exactly figure out why.

She was already enraged at the fact that Selina had managed to injure 2 and murder one of her best friends while brawling with them at a bar.

Mindy’s friend, Solana, was found lying dead on the wooden floor, with a foul cavity revealing her insides; with her rib cage split apart and her heart missing from in between her two lungs.

Mindy closed her eyes for a moment to remember her friend’s carcass, how it was left to rot by Selina as she tore out Solana’s beating heart.

Selina laughed all of a sudden, beginning to mock Mindy’s heartbreaking loss.

“You know, the way I find it, I knew more about Solana then you ever did, Mindy!” Selina stated. “I could read her whole life and her dignity when I ripped into her breasts and grabbed that lovely kernel hammering inside-huck!”

Mindy swiftly wrapped her fingers around Selina’s throat, choking her as hard as she could.

“Don’t you dare say a word about Solana!” Mindy shouted, her heart racing in anger towards her enemy. “I’m gonna slaughter and butcher you the same way you did to my friend…”

“Really? That’s cool! Cause I’m also a masochist, hahaha!”

Selina was still calm, her heart rate stable and no fear struck her even when she saw Mindy’s eyes which indicated how real she was.

Mindy was well built and slim; she was once a boxer from her adolescence until her early 20s, now 27, she was a coach for the teenagers’ division.

Selina already knew that.

Mindy on the other hand, knew nothing of Selina.

Where she had learned to fight or how she came to kill her friend.

But that didn’t matter to her.

The only thing that mattered was her terrifying memory of seeing her friend’s heart in an officer’s hand as the investigators found the missing organ on one of the bar’s toilet seats.

Mindy let go of Selina’s neck and slammed her fist onto her cheek.

Selina still laughed, enjoying the pain that was being inflicted upon her, and mostly to merely mock the hell out of Mindy.

“I will kill you tonight..” Mindy growled.

She continuously punched and punched Selina’s body, focusing on the torso in order to get her victim weakened up til she could tear her chest of her heart.

But Mindy just wasn’t satisfied enough with punching her enemy like a punching bag.

It didn’t even seem to bother Selina, as Selina merely gasped and groaned a bit even when Mindy smashed her wrist onto her with her hardest hit.

Mindy, still fueled and out of her mind with pure hatred and anger, untied the ropes that fastened her limbs to the wall.

“HUCK!!” Mindy gasped.

As soon as Mindy released her body, Selina shot out her hand toward Mindy’s throat and pushed her to the opposite wall.

“Do you even know where I’m from?” Selina mumbled, her eyes suddenly turning serious yet her smirk still on her mouth.

Mindy quickly let herself go by throwing another punch toward Selina’s lip.

Selina laughed and cracked her bones, getting ready to hit back.

The two started to brawl intensely in the enclosed room, punching and throwing each other around.

Mindy couldn’t stand the immense power.

Selina’s strength was unchallenged.

She punched Mindy’s stomach and threw onto the white wall where she was tied up.

“No… Today you’ll meet your death!” Selina exclaimed, kicking Mindy’s face onto the wall twice.

Mindy gasped for breath and sat powerlessly as she leaned back.

Her heart hammering within her chamber, both with frustration and fear toward Selina.

She just couldn’t give up.

It was her friend that died.

Mindy stood once more and put up another fight against Selina for a few more minutes.

Until the last hits came into her.

Selina punched Mindy’s chest and rammed her into the wall again, this time, with less resistance from her new prey.

Mindy couldn’t push Selina off.

Selina gradually glided her hand onto Mindy’s bloody cheek and slid it right on top of her left breast.

She felt Mindy’s cardiac muscle beat frantically within the breast as she pressed her finger deeper into her fleshy boob.

“Do you know why I always use my hands instead of blades or guns?” Selina began, feeling the rapid pounding of Mindy’s chest. “It’s because I can’t feel my prey’s emotions when I use such weapons. I can’t feel how much pain your suffering when dig a knife into her skin and cut through your rib cage. I wanna feel how much agony you’re experiencing as I hold your pumping heart right beneath your bones and soft flesh. I wanna see not just in your facial expressions, but also from your torso of how difficult it is to have an adversary’s hand so effortlessly rip through your fat and muscles and seize your essential organ like it’s their toy.”

“Huff… Huff… No..!”

“You should’ve never let me free…, you should’ve just dug into me.. like THIS!”

Selina stepped back and ignited her hand aiming straight toward the center of Mindy’s thorax.

Mindy screamed as Selina’s hand bore into her bosom as it shred through her flesh and bones and capturing her pounding heart right in the blink of an eye.

Mindy couldn’t move an inch.

She looked down at her chest, only seeing Selina’s arm root firmly within her core as her blood began to pour out the rupture accordingly to her heartbeat.

Selina chuckled mockingly as she repeatedly hardened her grip around the pumping organ, feeling Selina’s heart struggle to transfer her impassioned and warm blood throughout her body.

“No… ugh..!” Mindy groaned as she felt Selina’s grip tighten and loosen repeated on her beating organ.

“Your heart’s so much more satisfying than your friends’, Mindy. It beats so enthusiastically even when I hold it this firmly! Hahaha!”

Mindy felt her own heart rush her blood faster as Selina’s mockery hit her feelings hard.

Selina smiled again as she felt the pounding heart speed up inside of Mindy’s chest as she played around with her emotions.

“That’s what I like in you… You’re so vulnerable to your own feelings. Now that I’ve got your heart, I can feel your emotions coming from within… They don’t just say that your feelings come from your heart poetically, it’s true how your emotions dwell within this beautiful organ of yours…”

Mindy panted as she started to lose a lot of blood through the cavity.

She couldn’t stand looking down again, just to see her penetrated chest and Selina’s hand buried inside of her own flesh.

“Uggh…”

“Just like your friend, you’re beautiful… But you know, beauties don’t last long..”

Beyond the pain, Mindy could feel a funny feeling coming from her breasts.

For a moment.

Selina pulled on Mindy’s heart as she loved the sight of Mindy’s bosom being pulled along with it.

“AHHH!!”

Mindy screamed in excruciating pain as Selina ripped the entire organ out of her breasts, leaving her ribs protruding out as well from the immense pressure that came from extracting her most crucial organ out of her thorax.

Selina rid the heart of any blood as she squeezed the remaining liquid and dried the organ out.

“Wonderful..” she murmured, placing the heart back into Mindy’s hollowed breast.

Duty

Regina strolled across the mall, keeping her eyes wide open in search for her prey.

She saw hundreds of men, women and children all walking delightfully around the massive structure as they carried their big shopping bags full of expensive goods to prepare for the upcoming holidays.

But this was none of her business.

She had a contract to fulfill.

“Ouch!” a child screamed as Regina accidentally bumped into him.

“Mom, something just hit me!”

“What? Enough with the jokes Eric, we need to get to your grandparents’ until 5!”

Regina smirked as she proceeded on with her mission.

Nobody, rather, nothing could see her; not even the thermal cameras showed her form as she turned on cloak mode.

She had to stay incognito unless she wished to suffer the same fate as her prey.

Whom she just spotted.

Regina’s heart sped as she felt the tension of the approach,thinking about 20 ways how to extract the token from that beautiful and unprotected bosom.

She started to run as she grew impatient.

She was so close, and she could now see Jenny’s naive envisage right in front of her own.

“Yeah, and I- AAGH!!” Jenny screamed, dropping her phone, as some immense force started pushing her to the emergency exit hallway.

“You were being a bit too much of a nuisance, girl…” Regina murmured, disengaging cloak mode.

Jenny’s heart hammered beneath her ribs as Regina pushed her to the brick wall, out of everyone’s sight.

Regina smirked once more as pushed and felt the panic beating within her prey’s torso.

“So why bother..?” she whispered, forcing her palm onto Jenny’s pounding left breast.

“Wh..What?!” Jenny exclaimed, confused as an unknown figure randomly held her captive behind the building. “Get off me! Who the fu- HUCK!”

Regina shut Jenny up by charging her elbow straight towards her feeble throat.

“Why bother to resist against our system?” Regina exclaimed, feeling Jenny’s pulse speed up as she pushed further into her throat.

Jenny coughed as Regina let go, feeling her chest pound heavily as her lungs breathed in the fresh air.

“Now princess… Your life is over,” Regina spoke as she lightly rubbed her thumb across Jenny’s white cheek. “They wanted to know what your heart has in store for us..”

Jenny gasped for air as Regina punctured through the bottom of her bosom and drilled her arm deep inside her body and took hold of her pumping heart.

The pain was immense; the excruciating feeling left Jenny without words, only gasping for her dear life.

Regina could feel the frenzy going on inside Jenny’s mind and body as her victim’s heart pulsated rapidly inside her solid grip, with her lungs also expanding and contracting at extraordinary pace.

“Huck..! Nngh…” Jenny wheezed as she felt Regina squeeze her cardiac organ even harder.

Jenny felt as if her soul was being wrung out of her core as Regina smiled and enjoyed the blood pour in and out of the juicy organ.

“Pity that my hands aren’t strong enough to take this out straight from in between your breasts, Jenny.. That would’ve looked much more pleasant and felt so much better..”

“Mmf..! Get your hand.. ugh..! Out of me..!” Jenny screamed. “Let go of my.. my heart! It’s mine! You can’t take it from me..!!”

“Unfortunately darling, I’m holding it right in my hands right now.. I can even control how much blood can circulate around your body by holding as tight as I want.. Your life and your whole future depends on what my heart wants..” Regina murmured as she toyed with Jenny’s most vital organ. “Too bad for you, but I feel like giving you no future. You have such a soft and cozy kernel beating inside of you though, haha!”

Regina was loving this.

For the first time, she was out of sight and on no one’s leash, at least, for the moment.

She could play around with Jenny’s pounding heart all day and mock her whole life and worthiness using the captured organ.

But Regina didn’t have all day.

“I’m gonna extract your whole life out of your body, Jenny. How do you feel? As I so easily and cleanly hold your core, your name, your whole point of existence right in my pathetic little hand?”

Jenny could feel immense anger as she thought deeply about what this meant.

Despite the excruciating pain, Jenny’s anger met its peak as she was aware of how much of her honor was being shamed as some random assassin effortlessly clenched the most important organ in her body, ripping through her clear skin and mocked the torment she was suffering.

“I’m glad you had a thought about it. It’s time for you to go,” Regina whispered.

Jenny let out a final gasp as her eyes went wide open with the scene of her heart being ripped right out of her own bosom in her sight, pumping her warm blood all over her killer’s hand.

Regina then squashed the organ and poured Jenny’s leftover blood forcefully into her face, leaving Jenny’s barely conscious mind seeing only red with the liquid spreading across.

Sharon gasped as she dodged the first, enormous boulder that flew above her. Sunna then kicked another rocky sphere toward her enemy. Sharon smashed through the next with her burning fist and charged. She had only one objective at the moment: Sunna’s fragile legs. She had to fight with order if she did not want to be caught off guard.

Sharon’s heart raced in tension as slid down to the ground to slam Sunna’s weak foundation. However, Sunna shielded herself with another wall of earth and smashed a fist enhanced with her element. Sharon dodged the first blow. She would have been brought down with the first punch if she were hit. 

Sharon screamed in surprise as Sunna blasted a rocky fist into her stomach. She flew back a few meters, and struggled to stand up. Sunna was much more sturdy than she thought. Yet, Sharon acted quick and boosted her body upward with combustion and landed on her two feet. Sunna and Sharon exchanged fists continuously; Sharon using most of her energy in dodging Sunna’s dangerous boulders. 

Although Sharon maintained her stance and attacks aimed straight toward Sunna’s lower body, Sunna’s defense was much denser than anyone would have imagined. Her incorporation of elements and martial arts was most spectacular. 

But everyone has their limits.

Sharon lowered her stance and threw a critical, burning shot into her opponent’s abdomen. At that second, Sunna’s mouth spat out blood while she was flung across. Sharon did not pause and stampeded. She did not have a moment to waste. Sunna panicked, but there was a slight remainder of blood which spilled out of her magenta lips. Sharon had sore limbs and her body ached everywhere, but her greatest strength was her persistence. Her stamina was unrivaled, even by brute force.

Sunna attempted to get up as quick as she could, but Sharon forced a mighty punch straight onto the front of her face, igniting her head back on the ground with an audible thump. Sunna was not dead yet, but she was bewildered for a few seconds. 

But, as everyone knew, a few seconds was not a short time in terms for the Heartosseum. Sharon took the opportunity to hurl exploding punches toward Sunna’s head, empowered by the knuckle braces on her hands. The golden braces were soon decorated with sandy particles of Sunna’s instinctive defense mechanism along with her red blood. Sunna continued to moan and groan in pain as the punches mauled her to the brink of her life. There were no visibly painful bruises on her face; rather, there were only slight cuts and thin patches of dust all around it. Yet, this was merely due to the innate ability of her flesh. The agony from Sharon’s might was nowhere near bearable. Although Sunna made small efforts in lifting her arms to protect herself, Sharon’s knees would definitely not allow that to happen.

Out of the blue, Sharon stood victorious as Sunna’s body powerlessly lied on the sandy arena with her eyes only half-open. Sunna panted in pain. She felt too tired to do anything. All she heard was her own pumping heart calling out for her from deep within, but the pounding could not fuel her enough to heal from Sharon’s atrocious assault. 

Sharon sat on her prey’s abdomen once more and brushed its wavy, brunette hair. It was only now that Sharon realized that Sunna was one of the most beautiful ladies she had ever seen. 

“You’re so marvelous…” Sharon began, now rubbing her thumb on Sunna’s right cheek. “Imagine how dazzling you would’ve been if you had fire fueling your heart.. You poor being…”

Sunna’s heart hammered in sheer agony and dismay. She could now see Sharon’s orange, flaming eyes staring at her as if she were the harbinger of death. 

“Huck.. No…” Sunna murmured vulnerably. “I.. I wish to live… Please… Spare my heart..”

Sharon ignored Sunna’s dire requests and grasped her by the throat. 

“No f*cking chance, you disgusting mongrel,” she said, pulling Sunna’s body up by her neck. “I’m not letting you die in peace, either. Stand up on your feet, warrior.”

Sunna collapsed as expected. Sharon ignited her hands and pushed hard upon Sunna’s bosom. Sunna screamed as the extreme heat burned her flesh alive, as if she were being marked as a slave. 

“Get up!” Sharon demanded, increasing the fire burning into Sunna’s chest.

Sunna groaned and flipped on her belly to escape. Sharon only grabbed her by her hair and lifted her up to her feet. 

Sunna knew that this was the last moment.

Sharon turned her around and rapidly forced her hand into Sunna’s breast. Sunna shrieked once more as Sharon’s flaming hand crackled and exploded through her flesh and clasped her beating heart, nearly cooking it alive. 

“AHH!!” 

“I’m having this for dinner, lovely..” Sharon whispered, pulling her prey closer. Sharon was ruthless. Without a second thought, she tugged Sunna’s heart outside of her body. Yet, with Sunna’s extensive bodily functions, her veins and arteries still clung to her pumping organ as it was forced outside.

Sharon looked down upon Sunna with a pompous look on her face, greatly stretching Sunna’s veins outside the chest cavity. Sunna could only stare at Sharon’s boastful expression with bloodshot eyes full of tears in anguish. Sharon gave the audience a fruitful show as she balanced Sunna’s falling body with her left arm and continued to squeeze Sunna’s throbbing organ, forcing it to overflow blood and making her puke out the last of her maroon fuel. 

Sunna had never felt so distressed and in pain. She was being tortured by her own heart, as it continuously rocketed her own blood into the remainder of her body, more than any part could withstand. Her eyes soon teared up with red blood and her whole body soaked with the liquid. 

Sharon finally dropped Sunna’s imbalanced body as she completely disconnected the living heart from her insides.

Sharon was finally released from the chains of her scaffold. Sunna’s movements were quite easygoing. She had confidence flowing through her veins as her opponent showed such a deplorable image toward everyone. She knew that Sharon would not be able to do anything against the might of the earth.

Of course, Sharon thought differently. However, she was not entirely certain of her victory. For her whole life, she had been trained to counter those throwing icicles or smashing frost hammers upon her body. The element of the dirt; the earth, was nowhere near familiar. As she strolled toward her enemy tied up on the other side of the arena, Sharon studied Sunna’s physique. She looked for the weaknesses and soft spots of the foreign warrior. The sheer purpose of Sharon’s Exchange was not for intimidation nor satisfaction; it was for examination. 

Sharon did not hesitate to climb up Sunna’s chains and began to touch her throughout her whole body. Sunna smirked quietly as she felt Sharon’s fingers tickle her as they crawled on the surface of her smooth flesh.

Sharon’s fingers firstly examined the cheeks. She made spark go off in order to check Sunna’s instinctive reflexes. Sunna’s skin briefly hardened into a coarse, rocky exterior the moment heat rose up close and returned to its normal state. Sharon then roughly pushed her hand onto Sunna’s left breast in order to study her heartbeat. Sunna’s heart rate remained steady, even as Sharon’s fingers squished and pushed on her pushy breast. Sharon realized the beats were stronger than ever. The power of the earth circulating from within her chest was indeed formidable. 

The audience was mostly disappointed. They could not comprehend the pyromancer’s objective and merely waited for her moment of derision towards the foreigner. Yet, Sharon did not blink an eye. 

She was done studying her opponent. A powerful engine inside the chest, adaptive skin, deadly blows of rock. But most importantly, Sunna’s critical weakness seemed to be her lower body. There was almost no visible defense on her legs, and though she may have adaptive skin surrounding her entire body, Sharon was confident that a vigorous boost of flames would crack Sunna’s prestigious, brute force. 

Sunna was also one who was distressed. She wished for a much more dynamic Exchange from Sharon, but was only left with a puzzling inspection from her opponent. However, as she was released, her heart pounded with the thrill of combat. She readied herself for any blow from the feeble pyromancer.

Sharon and Sunna faced each other from the distance as the match began. 

Ashley stared at Cynthia not in the craving of revenge, but for mercy. She was angry on the inside with no doubt as Cynthia toyed with her pain, but she noticed how inferior she was in comparison to Cynthia’s wit and strategy. Her heart beat in despair. The muscle beat hopelessly not due to the fear of death, but the precise process of it. The painful and agonizing experience. Ashley knew that she wouldn’t be facing such a quick demise.

“You know, I was one of those cryomancers that you’ve heard of from your leaders..,” Cynthia said, forging another sharp knife with her freezing powers. “One of those Frost ‘cretins’ who dissected one of your warriors.. alive..” 

Ashley panted in panic. Her heart started began with a palpitation and advanced into the same hasty hammering it had during Cynthia’s turn of the Exchange. Dissection? she thought, trying her utmost best to unleash herself from Cynthia’s knees repressing her arms from moving. Cynthia detected the movement and knelt down harder, virtually blocking out the blood circulation in the two limbs. Ashley’s eyes widened in terror. She saw Cynthia’s frosty knife appear in her sight. Her heart beating faster than ever now; never mind the constant pain it was causing as it kept bumping into her injured ribs. She began to whimper and pant in sheer hysteria. She wanted to summon her flames, but the chilly ambience and Cynthia’s absolute dominance over her victim hindered any fire to burn now. Cynthia lower the sharp tip of her blade at the center of Ashley’s bosom. It moved up and down hard and fast. 

“Isn’t it ironic? You thought you’d be the one to scrape down my flesh with a blade.. But don’t worry, girl.. I have better plans for a more delicious lunch..” Cynthia said, withdrawing her blade again. Ashley momentarily relaxed from the relief; of the immediate anguish. But she couldn’t be more foolish.

Cynthia lifted her hands, nails-first, and engraved her all eight fingers excluding her thumbs right in between Ashley’s breasts. The ice-enforced fingers bore their way into all the veils protecting Ashley’s kernel. The prize heart. Ashley couldn’t make a sound but a few whimpers leaking out of her throat. She felt blood rushing in her mouth, with two streams already streaking down the side of her cheeks as she lied down; Cynthia’s fingers puncturing her flesh and bones. Cynthia then pulled with all her strength. Ashley screamed out her worst as Cynthia literally ripped apart her chest; pulling each breast in opposite directions and quite precisely created a fissure on the thorax. Even her ribs were crushed apart so that there was utterly nothing but the very air itself separating Cynthia from Ashley’s thoracic organs, all panicking; with the heart hammering at almost 250 bpm and her lungs struggling so hard to breathe. Cynthia then lifted the small, exact ice knives and proceeded on.

“That kinda hurt, didn’t it? Don’t worry.. Your heart will actually serve a purpose other than being the victor’s mere trophy. It’s so healthy though.. I actually admire how strong and powerful you pyromancers are.. This heart! No wonder you and the others have so much stamina and agility!” Cynthia said. 

“Huck..! Nnggh….!!!” Ashley couldn’t speak. The pain itself did not allow it. Her mouth was filled with blood, anyway. 

Cynthia began by clenching on to the fast-pounding organ. The heart disliked it. The cold sensation of a cryomancer’s hand constricting and arresting it from beating properly. It beat tremendously hard onto her palm. Cynthia loved the struggle she was forcing. 

“You wanna see something cool?” she said, as she repeatedly massaged the bloody heart. Ashley whimpered even more as Cynthia artificially pumped excessive amounts of blood into her circulation, causing her to puke and spit out blood all over the place. Her eyes teared up and frowned as the artificial pump continued to torture her into her very soul. Cynthia chuckled for a moment and stopped. She held on very tight. She wanted to enjoy every last beat of the organ before she cut into it.

Ashley was furious at Cynthia, but also at how much her body could withstand. How was she not dead already? It was a nightmare, having her heart being played around with, causing so many outbreaks of agony each time Cynthia fiddled with her vital organ.

“If you were a machine, this would be your engine.. The turbine that constantly supplied the computer with energy, your motor.. And such an important part of you - actually, this literally the most crucial part of your physical body - is in my grasp. No effort. No nothing. Torturing you just with this slimy yet energetic heart of yours is going to be my pleasure..”

Cynthia’s blades came in contact with the surface of Ashley’s beating, living heart. It panicked; as if it were an entity on its own; as the icy, sharp tips cut into the delicate walls of its body. 

“I can’t believe that you’re still alive.. If you were a normal human, you’d have died straight after I split your breasts apart.. Now, I’m going to show you your heart.. This is the right atrium…” 

Ashley felt her spirit come and go as her eyes lost focus on her enemy. Cynthia noticed it at the right time.

“Alright, maybe it is your time…” 

Cynthia finally grasped the beating heart tightly, waking Ashley up again one last time to feel the pain of her own heart being torn out of her chest. 

“Uggh..!!”

Cynthia stretched out the organ, pulling it upwards and cutting off any left over veins or arteries clinging on to the organ with her blade.

It was still beating energetically. Cynthia couldn’t believe it. Yet, the small gap her blade had made leaked out Ashley’s scorching blood. Cynthia grinned and held Ashley’s still-pumping heart right in front of her eyes. Ashley felt her own hot blood drop on her cheek during her last moments, until Cynthia squeezed the organ hard and spewed out the rest of her fuel all around her bloody face.

Ashley swung again, but this time, Cynthia summoned another ice hammer and putt the Aruval out of Ashley’s hands. The blade flew far away from the two of them, which disarmed her. Ashley wasn’t without weapons, though. Her body itself was a potent compound of flames. Her first fast punch hit Cynthia directly on her cheek, shattering the ice armor surrounding it. 

Cynthia still held on. She enforced her fists with ice and backfired, smashing the diamond-like seal on the left side of Ashley’s chin. Ashley’s eye momentarily lost focus at such a direct and firm blow. She lost strength in her legs and fell back-first to the hard ground. Cynthia was now slightly delighted. She saw her enemy become bewildered to the might of the frost, trying her best to keep Cynthia from hitting her again. Ashley was not down yet, but the shock was immense. It was even more powerful than the one she had taken from Cynthia’s hammers. After all, the hidden flaw of Ashley was that she had close to no experience in fighting a cryomancer, especially one who could utilize the cold as well as Cynthia could. 

Ashley began to panic. She had not considered this before. She thought that rage and her superior elemental powers of fire would merely overpower and engulf cryomancers, with no relation to their actual strength. She thought that the flames could melt down even the biggest glaciers. The thing she had never understood was that she was only a campfire in the eyes of the experienced such as her own enemy. Although the two did not show much age difference, Cynthia had participated in the tournaments before. She had laid down at least two pyromancers with the strategic use of her powers. Most importantly, she had the some of the strongest willpower of the Frost clan. 

Cynthia formed ice hooves and stomped on the ground to flatten Ashley’s limbs. Ashley desperately rolled and dodged the sudden strikes of her superior. She got back on her feet and attempted to retrieve her blade, but at that moment, Cynthia smashed another hardened hammer on Ashley’s bosom, having her fly back 6 feet and gasp in pain of the consolidated impact. The body of her rib cage was severely dented, and she could even feel the harrowing sore coming from within. It hurt tremendously. Her heart was not helping; it continued to pump and thump and hammer onto the center of her broken rib cage. Ashley could not recover her stance. She was lying down back-first again, and this time, she could not erect herself back up again. She panted powerlessly, feeling her heart punish her by ramming itself back and forth on to her skeleton. She had never felt such agony inside her chest. Now the only thing she had in mind was the horror of having Cynthia’s stable hand cling onto her beating heart. She saw how her own teammate had ripped apart Anastasia’s physique. The sight of the scene itself seemed to hurt. She was still having a hard time believing that she was now to be the victim of such tortuous fate. 

Cynthia approached Ashley’s helpless body and smirked, exactly in the manner that she was approached by during the Exchange.

“How do you feel, tough girl?” Cynthia began, lowering her body to reduce the distance between the two. “Looks like you won’t be able to see how big my heart is..” Ashley was paralyzed. Cynthia now looked at her as a demon. The source of all her pain to the last of her defeated breath, the reaper of her core, the harbinger of the torment involved in the heart removal. 

“No..,” Ashley whispered, barely able to take a breath without provoking pain in chest. “No..!”

“You were pretty easy-off for a pyromancer your size,” Cynthia said, as she now knelt down top of Ashley. “Let me see.. May I expose you again?”

Without a second thought, Cynthia humiliated Ashley by coarsely taking off her orange top. Ashley groaned and moaned as her broken ribs constantly ached accordingly to every movement she had to make while Cynthia forced her top off. Tears of pain screened her vision. She could still feel substantial amount of pain constantly bumping up and down as her heart pounded in hopelessness. Cynthia then forged a sharp ice knife and cut the front connectors of Ashley’s black bra. She opened it up and threw the knife away.

“Now…, let me see…,” Cynthia murmured, lightly placing her index finger right on the center of Ashley’s upper bosom. She drew a line down in between the contours of her two breasts and stopped right in the central point. It was impeccably in line with the crack formed in the body of Ashley’s ribs. “Is it here?”

With increased force, Cynthia pushed her index and middle fingers into the center. Ashley let out a high-pitched groan as the rapid pounding of her heart and the pressure from Cynthia’s fingers caught the skeletal frame right in between and induced an excruciating ache inside of her chest.

The Frost clan members watched enthusiastically, seeing the first victim of their warriors suffer tremendously as their champion almost teasingly impaired and abused her plaything of a pyromancer.

The signal was given. Ashley did not waste a moment of the fight. She immediately focused firepower toward her back and rocketed herself toward Cynthia with her Aruval blade pointing straight at her. Cynthia expected such abrupt motion and quickly moved aside, forging a basic layer of frosty protection while doing so. She knew that she had to balance out her defense and offense throughout the fight, which Anastasia could not pull off due to the raging effect of Daisy’s distasteful smooch. Cynthia then created an ice hammer for the offense. She was well aware of the fact that ice-forged weapons could not stand the power of fiery metal, so she reminded herself not to have any attachments to her recent projection.

The two weapons collided with each other, with Cynthia being able to slam Ashley’s blade out of balance. She continued her attack by letting out a rapid swing, pummeling the hammerhead onto Ashley’s stomach. Ashley flew quite a distance until she hit the ground with a thud, but stood right back up as if nothing had hit her. Her rage was overwhelming her mind, letting her forget anything about feeling pain. No pain. Just the trophy. Cynthia was not intimidated, though. She knew that the irrational fury flowing Ashley’s veins would undermine the chance of her body actually being damaged, never mind notifying her sense of the pain she would have felt. Cynthia expected a single rib to be cracked.

As expected, Ashley used combustion to fire herself back in range. She picked her blade back up and put down Cynthia’s hammer. Cynthia immediately let go and froze the atmosphere around her hands to summon an ice staff to push on the fight. A frost shield was assembled within a second as well, as Cynthia did not overlook the possibility of being lashed by the formidable blade. The two fought on. Ashley was incredibly fast, almost matching Daisy’s. Cynthia did not fear, however, as she learned from Anastasia’s case that even a slight hint of panic toward any pyromancer could lead her defense to be weakened. 

The audience admired the audacity of the two warriors. Colliding, shattering, freezing back and burning with all their might. It was very difficult to tell who the victor would be. Both sides of the audience watched in stifling silence. 

After raging minutes of fast-forward action, Cynthia noticed that Ashley was tiring out. It was easy to see, as Cynthia had focused on guarding herself from the vicious swings while Ashley put in all that she’s got in order to melt down Cynthia’s unbreakable defense. Yet, this did not necessarily mean that Ashley’s power itself had burned out. Her feverish heart was swallowing and flooding out her blood repetitively in order to fuel her rapid and solid hits. Ashley felt as if someone was punching her chest from the inside as her heart continued to nourish her with burning hot blood.

As confident and wise as Cynthia was, she was still in a mess. Her apparel had been wetted as much as Ashley’s was, with sweat smearing all across the strained fabric covering her thorax; wet marks making the sky blue turn navy. Both paused for a moment, although not taking their eyes off each other. The two panted and sweat, with Cynthia trying her best to cool herself down for more energy. 

All of a sudden, Ashley’s eyes spat out pure, orange flames. She swung her weapon once more and shattered the shield Cynthia was fortunate enough to create just in time, although it was very sloppy and weak. Cynthia stood her ground and rolled across. She dodged a few of Ashley’s frightening attacks and shot icicles, despite the fact that they all melted down before even reaching Ashley’s skin. The two were evenly matched. It was just a matter of time before one ran out of energy or the physical strength to withstand the other and fall immediately to their death.

Anastasia’s horribly disfigured corpse was carried out of the arena by the judges. They could still smell and feel the cold blood stinging through their nostrils as they hauled the body. 

Next up was Cynthia from the Frost clan and Ashley from Ember. 10 minutes remained til the match began. Cynthia’s mind was frenzied by the way her comrade was killed. During the previous fight, she saw the screen close in on Daisy and Anastasia and had witnessed the whole process of her murder. The sadistic and barbaric way of Daisy’s hand forcing itself into her opponent’s pounding chest, the fragile and dissatisfying breadth of Anastasia’s counterattacks, the contortion and frown on her face; revealing the audience how helpless she was when Daisy sturdily held on to the most essential organ competing against the infiltrator’s bondage, and lastly, the repugnant and infuriating sight of Daisy shoving Anastasia’s isolated head into the bloody crater formed on the victim’s chest. The very sight of Anastasia’s vile corpse being dragged across to the Frost warrior’s side of the burial grounds petrified her and at the same time, slowly fueled her heart with the misty, bleak poison of resentment toward the Ember women. She could not let a single one of them get away with this dishonorable savagery while their side of the audience cheered for Anastasia’s demise. They won’t be doing so any time soon..

Cynthia decided to take a different approach. She saw how aggressive the Ember warrior was, and how Anastasia failed miserably in contending against such fire. She decided to use the art of defense in order to face her enemy. Of course, mere ice shields and armor would not be enough to do so effectively.

The gates on both sides of the arena were drawn up, and Cynthia stepped foot on to the gritty ground. The arena was not cleaned until the end of each day. There was a thick, red line formed in front of Cynthia, which was the track of leaking blood left on the sand as Anastasia’s carcass was being hauled by the judges. She was now filling herself with anger. She looked directly into her adversary’s eyes. Those annoying, pompous orange pupils gleaming towards her. Cynthia’s outfit was not much different from Anastasia’s. A sky blue sports bra, tight black leggings, a utility belt, and her long, ebony black hair tied up with two moderate strands hanging down either side of her forehead.

Ashley was around the same size as Cynthia. Her outfit seemed to be almost identical to hers, besides the Aruval blade hanging from the sheath tightened on her back, and had plates of metal protecting her wrists and shoulders. Cynthia was not so concerned about the plating. They all seemed quite light. They would crack if frozen. Ashley had a disgusting smirk on her face. The tips of her eyes were applied with a dark, thin layer of eye shadow which intensified the self-satisfied look on her face. 

Cynthia was the first to be tied up on the Exchangescaffold, as Frost had lost the first match against the Ember. Cynthia remained calm to regulate her heart rate. Nevertheless, ice cold spikes of anger were hiding beneath her circulating veins. As soon as the judges finished tying Cynthia to the scaffold, Ashley unveiled her unusual blade. The sword itself was shaped like a long sickle, and already had scorched marks on its coarse surface. Ashley gradually walked toward her opponent and placed the sharp end of the hooked blade lightly on the fleshy surface of Cynthia’s chest. The blade was sharp; even its nasty little hook on the end would be able to cut through Cynthia’s soft spots in a matter of seconds if she were not careful enough. Ashley then took off the blade and rushed toward Cynthia. Cynthia did not even blink. Her heart was circulating her cold blood regularly, and it seemed to show no discernible reaction toward Ashley’s sudden movements. Ashley then wrapped her arms around Cynthia’s waist and struck her left breast fair and square with her right ear and sank in. Ashley could hear the strong pumping of Cynthia’s engine. Its hard beats were as if Cynthia’s heart was trying to push Ashley’s ear off of her chest, but that was not going to happen for a while. Ashley listened and sighed in satisfaction in order to taunt her enemy’s obviously raging emotions even more. She even began to mimic the sound of Cynthia’s heartbeat as the pounding became stronger; the pace getting faster and brisker. All Cynthia wanted was to get Ashley’s irritating ear off her chest and start her turn with the Exchange. She was about to lose it. Above all else, she wanted Ashley to stop with the aggravating mimicry of her heartbeat. 

“D-d.. D-d.. D-d..” Ashley kept on going. She didn’t want Cynthia’s heart to slow down. She wanted it nice and warm, with the heat of anger having it all cooked up for Ashley to dig into. Cynthia tried her best not to look concerned, but the audience had already detected the stress drawn on her expression. After a few more seconds, Ashley took off her head, carried out her right arm off of Cynthia’s waist and let it crawl into the sky blue sports apparel, the white bra and lightly squeezed her left bosom.

“I hope your heart’s bigger than this,” Ashley mumbled as she finished her turn.

Cynthia’s heart was almost full of hatred. It was now pouring and swirling all around her body. She felt her own face turn a little red, but she knew that she had to stay cold. The judges released her from the wires and readied Ashley.

Cynthia strolled toward Ashley. Ashley was still smirking at her. Cynthia thought of the perfect idea to wipe that smug grin off her face. She started with the basic form mockery in the Heartosseum. It was a classic, just like Ashley did to her. She placed her ear on her enemy’s chest and closed her eyes, counting each beat of her heart out loud. Ashley remained silent, but was not intimidated. She was rather laughing inside at how elementary Cynthia was in her tactic of spooking her enemy. But of course, this wasn’t it.

Cynthia climbed onto Ashley just like Daisy had done to Anastasia when her heart was still throbbing healthily inside her chest. Ashley expected a smooch from Cynthia. She was almost wanting it now, considering how similar this tactic was to the mere previous match. However, instead of aiming for Ashley’s lips, Cynthia’s right hand advanced to Ashley’s top while her left arm clung onto Ashley’s neck. Cynthia began to lift the sports bra upward. Detecting this movement, Ashley shook for moment and her heartbeat started to increase at a very fast pace. Cynthia continued to pull up and unveiled Ashley’s black bra, with it being the only piece of clothing covering her naked breasts. Cynthia wrapped her arms around Ashley’s waist as well and reached for the connectors on her back. Ashley’s breath seemed to get faster as well, feeling the insecurity of an opponent revealing her body to the others. Cynthia took off the whole thing and hung the piece of clothing on Ashley’s shoulder. Ashley’s eyes were burning hot. Rage and humiliation rushed through her veins and arteries. Cynthia smirked back, staring at her enemy’s open chest. 

“Speak for yourself, you pathetic Ember imbecile,” Cynthia spat, gouging her right thumb on Ashley’s flesh, feeling it thump almost 200 beats per minute. “At least your heart seems to be intimidated enough.” Cynthia was not done. She forged a handful of crystal-clear ice into the shape of a human heart. She then placed it in between the pair and gave the center of Ashley’s chest a light push. Then she crushed the ice heart and shattered it into pieces merely using her grip. 

“You’d wish I crush your heart that quick,” Cynthia said, showing Ashley the broken pieces of ice on her palm. “Wait, you need help putting your clothes back on, don’t you?” Cynthia took the bra off Ashley’s shoulder and placed it nice and neat around her breasts again. She then roughly pulled the tight orange clothing back down. “What, you were expecting a kiss?” Ashley was now full of hatred; she would be ready to burn Cynthia the second their lips encountered each other. But Cynthia knew Ashley wouldn’t do something so outrageous as to kill her enemy in an Exchange. Cynthia slammed her ice-cold lips onto Ashley’s, protruded her tongue into her mouth and gave her a demeaning, thorough smooch to maximize the indignity.

That was it.

Ashley planned to rip her opponent apart from the inside out.

Cynthia shrugged and winked, jumping off Ashley’s body to announce the end of her Exchange. She was satisfied now. She could now retain the cold, decisive movements and keep her rational combativeness awake. Her heart pounded confidently after succeeding in disorienting her savage opponent’s mentality. 

But had Cynthia misplaced her boldness?

Ashley’s raging, infuriated heart continued to pound beneath her warmed up chest, vitalizing the infernal ferocity that was unwillingly curbed by her cockiness during the Exchange.

The two warriors awaited the cue to commence their bloody match.

Anastasia panted in panic and rolled over to dodge Daisy ramming her blade into the ground. She felt her heart hammer in fear as she stood back up and began to enforce her skin with frost armor once more. But she had no time to waste. Daisy forked her blade on the sandy ground and stampeded toward Anastasia with her bare searing fists. 

Anastasia shot out a blast of frost in an attempt to hinder Daisy from progressing, and indeed, the power of the frosty desperation was quite formidable. Daisy formed an “X” with her two arms and protected herself with her blaze as the mini-blizzard shot straight at her. She wondered why Anastasia hadn’t thought of this before, in order to keep distance. 

But then she realized why. It was only for the first few seconds that Daisy felt the great push; after a few moments, Daisy was back on her pace, and could continue with her vicious charge. Anastasia was caught off-guard as Daisy flung her right fist at her left cheek, making her briefly fly down to the ground. Anastasia was in complete panic. She was utterly horrified of the power she had just felt on her face; any normal human would have had their skin burned off on contact. It was only fortunate for Anastasia to have been processing her facial glacier again, letting it take the damage, but not as much as the previous protection did. She could feel a bit of char on her skin and quickly pushed her hand onto it to cool it down. 

She rushed to her feet again. The only thing Daisy was admiring about Anastasia now was her capability of taking damage without fainting. However, she knew that the cryomancer was now nearly broken. Only a little more pressure was required.

Anastasia was now on the brink of her life; her blood circulation and respiration being the only two things that were active within her body. Not even the cold was helping her enough now. She wouldn’t run, however, for dignity’s sake. Yet, again, this was another mistake.

The melted ice and her sweat was now drenching her tight, sky blue apparel, which was practically the only thing covering her breasts along with her bra. It did not even come down to cover her waist. Nevertheless, Anastasia made her final attempt in making this at least look like fair fight. She panted and laid her glare sturdy upon Daisy’s breast. No matter how dissatisfying it may be, she could still aim one last icicle in between those two bulges and penetrate the pyromancer’s burning heart. 

It was too late. Daisy put in her last fumes to discharge at Anastasia fair and square, pushing Anastasia backward, hard onto the sandy surface. Anastasia let out a short shriek as Daisy impelled her flat onto the earth. She could now feel her heart almost burst out her blood, as if it were trying its last to fuel Anastasia with her blood’s energy. Her heart was pumping violently beneath her soft flesh as the skin shook microscopically with each beat hitting hard on her rib cage. Despite her heart’s exhausting labor, Anastasia did not even have the time to push Daisy off of her. 

Daisy punched and punched and punched; each blow empowered with the flames being fueled from the central organ. Both Daisy’s and Anastasia’s hearts were beating strong. Yet, the corresponding owners were of much different positions. Even the unthinking organs were fighting to nourish its possessors’ bodies. But as expected, victory was imminent.

Anastasia could barely move a muscle. Her arms, which were pinned down by Daisy’s sturdy knees, were now spread apart due to Daisy putting most of her violent and vibrant attacks in between Anastasia’s poor cranium and jowl. Anastasia’s right eye was slightly swollen while a thin stream of her blood rushed out the left tip of her lip. Her breath was now slowing down. It was now only the central, most vital, beating heart of hers which seemed to be alive inside of her. She could feel it. She could feel her own heart slam against the cell formed by her ribs, almost asking for her to stand up and beat Daisy down. But she knew she had no strength in her limbs or her entire body anymore. She was defeated. 

Not enough, in Daisy’s eyes, though. One thing remained. The prize. The best trophy a warrior could ever have in her hand. The finest sensation that could be granted within her grip; and it was pit-patting right beneath the trembling flesh of her crisp meal. 

Anastasia could only have slight glimpses of Daisy’s victorious yet focused expression as she acted for the last stunt. Fear overwhelmed Anastasia and her breath returned to its panicked, speedy pace as Daisy took off her armor plates for a sensational kill. 

Daisy took her body off of Anastasia. She stood, waiting for the cryomancer to regain her full consciousness. It was needed for her to feel entire process of torment. She wasn’t justgoing to be killed. She was going to be absolutely liquidatedby the rapid oxidation of Daisy’s heat. Daisy was ready to show Anastasia what “hell” really felt like. The Ember clan’s side of the audience cheered and, although aware that they could not hear anything, yelled out for the cryomancer to get back on her feet in order to let the execution process begin. 

Begin. It was another beginning for Anastasia. She couldn’t believe that the actual heartache did not even happen yet. There was going to be a literal heartache for her. She would rather the horror of the unknown. Yet, she knew exactly how she was about to be murdered, making her less intent to get back on her feet. The Frost warriors were now looking away or closing their eyes to cover the sight of her humiliating, excruciating death. Another sister torn apart by an arrogant pyromancer.

“I don’t have all day, you mediocre cryomancer…” Daisy mumbled, as she grabbed the middle part of Anastasia’s tight torso outfit and lifted her up. Anastasia gasped at such force and stumbled back with her feet flat on the ground. She lost her balance for a moment, but Daisy grasped her by the throat and restricted her shaking. Her limbs were fairly calm now, with her left leg making a helpless stomp behind her right, in a poor yet pointless attempt to stabilize her balance. Her head was slightly tilted back as her eyes could merely see a thin line of the clean, blue sky with the sun shining directly onto her face, as if it were making a spotlight for the audience to see clearly. Even her heart was slowing down now, as it gave up in reviving its pathetic owner’s strength.

Daisy glared at Anastasia in utter hatred and insuperable rage. Her eyes glowed orange once more as she rapidly pulled her left elbow back with her hand shaped suitably to take possession of the loot. She knew exactly how large it would be, as she blocked and held Anastasia’s offensive fist beforehand. 

She knew precisely where it was located.. Strictly where it would be beating…

At that moment, the tip of Daisy’s elbow was fired up and her hand streaked toward the objective. The second Daisy’s hand was hurtled, penetrated straight through the thin line of clothing, and embedded into the first infinitesimal layers of body tissue composing Anastasia’s soft breast, the sound of her flesh, her maroon blood, her pericardium, and her blood-bathed rib cage being sequentially ripped into by Daisy’s merciless hand echoed throughout the whole arena. 

“Ugh!!” Anastasia could not even scream properly, as the immensely excruciating, abrupt explosion of agony wreaked havoc within her circulatory system and the skeletal frame holding her thoracic organs in one place. Daisy’s thumb, index finger, ring finger, and her pinky were already grappling and almost implanting themselves correspondingly to the right ventricle, right atrium, left atrium, and the left ventricle of Anastasia’s surprised heart. Daisy could feel Anastasia’s organ pumping inward and out repetitively, regaining its speedy pounding as an intruder’s hand cramped its necessary blood flow. The whole circulation was being interrupted by Daisy’s tight grip. She could explode the heart and squeeze the juice out of it right this moment, but she decided to stay where she was, while she pressed her fingers onto the slimy surface of the panicking vital organ. She also loved the extra sensation of Anastasia’s two lungs on either side of her struggling heart hastily expand and contract repeatedly, showing how much pain and extreme discomfort Anastasia was really feeling as she could only directly feel the excruciating pain of her flesh being ripped into and penetrated, but could only try to withstand what was happening inside of her breast. Daisy found it even more satisfying that her hand and wrist wasn’t so wide enough to cause any visible damage to Anastasia’s pair of breasts, which would’ve been hanging powerlessly had Anastasia’s bra not been there to hold them in place. The real beauty was that the sports apparel and the bra themselves were contoured almost like an arrow to the entrance of Anastasia’s heart chamber.

It had been 50 seconds since Daisy’s fingers first wrapped themselves around each corresponding portion of Anastasia’s juicy, rapidly pounding heart. Anastasia hated the fact that she was still alive and awake. She could now start to feel the grip of Daisy’s fingers constricting her central organ, which she had never even felt before besides its constant, sexy beating. 

Daisy was now satisfied enough. It was time to uproot the organ out of its prison. Anastasia felt an unusual amount of force suddenly clench onto the very center of her soul. She could feel the blood being blocked by the fingers and the basilic veins in her arms started to show a unhealthy dark-blue color as they almost protruded out of her thin fat. Blood was continuously leaking out of the hole in her chest, but most of the blood pouring out was blocked by Daisy’s arm clogging it up. More and more blood rushed out of her body as Daisy spontaneously tugged on the beating heart with the pulmonary veins and arteries being the first to tear apart from what it held, and Anastasia’s aorta and superior vena cava being the last to hold on for the shortest moment onto the heart. 

Anastasia’s chest was forced outward as Daisy stole her heart from the center of her bosom, where the manubrium and rest of the skeletal bars held tightly together, only to be pushed into and now forced outside the surface due to the immense dynamism of the extraction. 

Anastasia’s could only maintain her balance for half a second, which was more than enough for Daisy to throw her right hand, grasp Anastasia’s loosened hair, and pull as hard as she could, ripping the flesh and upper part of the spine that directly attached her head to her torso. With the female cryomancer’s still-pounding heart in her left hand and her torn-off head in her right, Daisy swiftly forced the head into the empty chest cavity before the body fell backwards. Anastasia’s head was jammed into the tight hole as her eyeballs rolled backwards, showing the reddened part of her sclera as her essential blood was irregularly rushed and extracted from when Daisy was holding her bleeding heart while it was still intact with her insides. The protruded ribs formed a petal-like shape around the jammed head as well. 

Daisy was satisfied. She kicked down the deformed carcass and held the late warrior’s heavily leaking heart to the sky.

The Ember clan members yelled out in excitement as they saw the heart leak and pour relentless amounts of Anastasia’s crimson fuel onto the ground and onto Daisy’s blonde hair as she held it up high.

The first match had begun, and Daisy unveiled her burning katana. With one slash, she could cut the cold in half, but she didn’t want it to end so easily nor so swiftly. She wanted to see every drop of Anastasia’s blood leak out as she held tight onto her struggling heart. Anastasia, without a doubt, wished to do the same to her pyromancer opponent. Her cryomancy was deemed to be quite spectacular in a sense, as well.

The two warriors charged at each other and made the first encounter with their blades. The two quickly turned their defense as both of them were pointing their weapons directly toward each other’s torso. Daisy swung her first katana violently, aiming right at Anastasia’s shoulder blades, but Anastasia cut off the vicious attack perfectly with her frost-reinforced left wrist. Anastasia then backfired with a cold and deadly stroke of her ice axe, but missed as Daisy’s agile movements allowed her to duck in time.

The two began a brutal duel, with not a single swing or jab of their weapons hitting each other. The two seemed just too fierce to be injured. 3 minutes passed as the battle started, and the audience was silently enjoying the breathtaking scene of the fire and ice collided to fill the arena with incredible force. The two fighters would never back down upon each other.

The amazing speed of the battle was briefly broken as Daisy slammed her sword onto Anastasia’s nearly indestructible frost armor once more, but kept on pushing inwards in order to pressure and tire the offensive cryomancer. Anastasia could feel it; she had never felt such force push into her armor before. She tried her best to backfire, but such move was never part of her specialties. She held on as the blade continuously crushed down into her protection. Daisy smirked as Anastasia’s expression showed the first slightest sign of distress after their Exchange. She then took off her left hand from the handle of her katana, and as sudden as she could, empowered her elbow with convulsive firepower, igniting her scorching fist straight into the mouth protection Anastasia had forged with ice. 

The mouth guard shattered into pieces, with Anastasia screaming in disillusion as the burning hot knuckles made contact with her right cheek. Had it not been for the protection, her jaw would have already been dangling from her head, already disappointing Daisy, as she had not even reached the beating heart of her pathetic enemy.

Anastasia’s cheek reddened, but she was alright for now, as the exterior protection took most of the damage. However, she started to feel a wave of death swirl into her cold body. She could feel the unmatched, ferocious energy being emitted from Daisy’s heat. She had to change her plan of attack. Or maybe just be the defensive warrior she always was. She knew she had to think fast, unless she wanted to pave an easy way for Daisy to dig right into her breast. Anastasia quickly plummeted her body backwards in order to distance herself from Daisy’s close hand-to-hand combat.

It was a bad mistake. Anastasia was stupid not to notice that speed was on Daisy’s list of specialties. This was one of the typical mistakes made by second-rate cryomancers. Instead of incorporating their ice to harden their bodies and disarm their opponents, they would bring things to their advantage by misplacing their trust on their agility. 

Thus, Daisy had noticed exactly what Anastasia’s plan was. Daisy ignited the flames toward her back and shot her body forward like a rocket. Anastasia was constantly being oppressed by her opponent. She could feel the pressure closing in upon her, even making her imagine what her comrades would think as they watched her slowly weaken throughout the battle.

Daisy repetitively swung her katana, with Anastasia now wrestling with her own heavy armor in competing with the momentum of the fight. Daisy only grew more and more confident in defeating her prey; making her the perfect ragdoll to play around with as soon as she seized the objective. 

Time was passing by too slowly for Anastasia. She had only wished that she survived each attack. The only thing fast of Anastasia was her rapidly beating heart. It was beating so fast as to tiring the rest of her body with its speed, just like Daisy was doing to her. The fear of death was getting closer in Anastasia’s chest and she felt the heat breaking her. She made multiple attempts to at least punch back, but the blade would only keep her distant from any body part of Daisy, over and over again. 

The audience was now wild. Anastasia’s heart was now being broadcast live on the big screens, and the mic implanted inside of her breasts were now recording the latest pumping of the panicking organ. The fighters could not hear the live broadcasts, of course, as the arena’s force fields blocked out any sound from the outside. However, Anastasia didn’t need any broadcasts or recordings. She could already hear her own heart racing inside her chamber from her inner ear. 

Daisy was now slowing down; she was growing tired as well, of course. Her stamina could only last so long. However, she wasn’t worried so much about it. This was another strategy of the bold pyromancer. She intentionally began to throw heavier lashes onto her opponent’s shielded flesh.

And at last…

The frost on Anastasia’s arms shattered.

Daisy was released from the wires that held her tight in order to prevent her from whacking her opponent while she mocked and gifted her with emotional torture. Now it was her turn to return the favor. She waited as Anastasia now rose to her side of the Exchange scaffold as the judges tied her up tight as they did with the Ember warrior.

As gradual, insidious, and sexy the Frost was, Daisy took an entirely different approach. She marched fearlessly, confidently, yet moderately towards the bound Frost lady as she fumed small bits of ember from her orange eyes. She wanted Anastasia feel the instant fear; the immediate anxiety to swirl inside her head as she strolled closer and closer. Anastasia was no amateur. She remained calm and could count her own deep and smooth organ pump her scarlet blood at a consistent rate. 

‘Lub-dub,’One…

‘Lub-dub,’Two…

‘Lub-dub,’Three…

Daisy stood merely inches away from Anastasia’s face and glared straight into the arrogant expression. She then abruptly grabbed her by the back of her neck and pushed her face closer. Anastasia was not expecting that. Usually, gladiators would go directly for the opponent’s chest and intimidate by using the features of their sensitive hearts to claim superiority. Daisy was quite the talented one. She gave a cheesy grin while her eyes stayed calm yet burning, as she advanced her lips toward Anastasia’s. 

Anastasia was confused. It was chaotic. What the hell was Daisy planning to do? Stare her to death? Although Anastasia contained her baffled emotions through her constant poker face, she was beginning to become concerned with her opponent’s unruly actions. Not even the judges were entirely sure of what Daisy was about to do. They had their dual-blade machetes ready to stab Daisy’s back and bring her back to the ground as Daisy began to crawl up and curl herself onto Anastasia’s body, which was starting dangle a little below the original position because of the added weight.

“This is degrading, you dirty Ember bastard,” Anastasia remarked.

“Shhh…” Daisy whispered as she wrapped her arms around Anastasia’s neck and gave her a filthy, intense smooch on the lips and protruded her tongue into Anastasia’s mouth. Anastasia’s heart began to pump wildly. Her heart was almost hammering 150 beats per minute. The audience was more than satisfied. This was the newest, dirtiest tactic that they had ever seen, but no one seemed to boo Daisy for being a passionate Ember warrior. 

“You taste…,” Daisy whispered, as she panted her burning breath onto Anastasia’s cheek. “..like a vigorous prey…”

Daisy then hopped off her opponent’s hung body and propelled her palm directly towards Anastasia’s left breast. Anastasia gasped, her palpitating heart skipping a beat as she detected the nearly murderous speed at which Daisy’s hand launched towards her chest. Yet, Daisy’s warm palm landed on Anastasia’s flesh expanse quite moderately. She then pressed her thumb fairly roughly into the bosom and felt the immensely rapid pounding of Anastasia’s soft heart. She chuckled as Anastasia struggled to keep her breath steady with her dignity melting away by the second, with Daisy’s passionate and ruthless intimidation dissolving the audience’s expectations of her. She wanted to kill Daisy this instant. She merely wished to deep throat Daisy with one of her biggest icicles and have spikes of ice crystals tear the enthusiasm out of her pompous heart as the icicle ripped through every bit of her insides. 

It was not like Anastasia to be this frustrated and enraged by her opponent. 

This was exactly part of Daisy’s plan. Wit beats force. However, Daisy knew she had more of the fire and the passion pumping throughout her entire body in comparison to the ice-cold Frost wimp. She knew that Anastasia being out of the subtle yet defensive shell of a personality would be her doom. 

Anastasia was more of focused, passive fighter. Yet, her long-lost offensive measures have been awakened and inflamed her heart. Anastasia did not notice how “long-lost” her offensive style really was. 

Daisy had trained her whole life for the offense.

The judges untied Anastasia and she fell to her feet, almost instantly forging frost armor around her arms and spikes to accompany her with it. Daisy could sense the directionless animosity from her opponent; although Anastasia’s eyes poured out visible haze from the extreme cold being emitted from her body, they seemed like smog from the hottest fires. Her anger had been misplaced while Daisy; with her absolutely flawless objective, knew exactly where to dig into.

The judges on either side of Daisy both strolled to her and clenched each of her wrists. They rolled down the wire and tied them up after tying up her ankles. This was the first time Daisy encountered an Exchange. The face of the judges were not visible, as they had the most intimidating, spiked helmets and face masks that were traditional within the nation. Daisy took a deep breath and directly glared into her opponent’s eyes as Anastasia took a few arrogant, serene steps towards her.

The Exchange could take as long as the fighter wanted it to be. The only downside was that the audience would lose their patience if it had taken up an excessive amount of time. However, this was a different case for everyone. It was the first ever Exchange of the second Heartosseum tournaments. The audience could wait and even relish the two fighters tease, mock, and even intimidate each other before their actual fight began. It was an important part of the battle after all, as whoever succeeded in proving their superiority towards her opponent and equilibrium throughout the confrontation usually stood as the victor. 

Daisy was holding on to her tenacity well so far, but this was not a good time to let go of it. Not a single beat of her heart should go out of rhythm. One skip of a heartbeat may only increase the opponent’s confidence and let the audience know that she was not so flawless. The micro-camera and recording device which was implanted within her breast many years ago activated, broadcasting Daisy’s live heart to the whole audience through the big screen.

Anastasia stopped her approach. She was already there. She looked up at Daisy daringly, as Daisy hung from the wires and breathed calmly to control her heart rate. It was difficult for her. Daisy could see her opponent’s deep, ice-blue pupils almost gaze into her soul. She could not believe how profound and mysterious her opponent was. 

Anastasia did not dare break her poker face. It was unnecessarily risky to let the competitor know of her short temper and unease with emotions. Instead, she gradually set her almost-arctic, freezing hand onto Daisy’s bare belly and walked her fingers up towards the upper part of her torso. The two fingers strolled and with every step they took, with every time a finger mildly pressed onto her warm, soft flesh, Daisy merely felt like she might lose the perfection of her calmness. Her serenity must not be broken within this process. Anastasia now began to feel the pumping organ gently thrust the left side of Daisy’s thorax from the bottom part of her rib cage. The fuming, hot blood was constantly gliding through her veins as it rhythmically circulated in and out of Daisy’s temperate heart. 

Anastasia’s fingers stopped right at the top of Daisy’s left breast and pushed in, gradually further and further into the soft and cushy surface. She poured in more of her frost powers in order to lower the temperature of her hand, and proceeded to slip her whole hand under Daisy’s orange sports bra and push it daringly into Daisy’s bosom to feel her heart beat from the most non-lethal proximity. Daisy was starting to lose it. She did not find the cold rushing into her body so pleasant. Anastasia’s ice-cold hand pushing so generously onto her soft spot made Daisy feel an instant rush of unease, and her breath became shorter and quicker; the pace rising as slowly as Daisy could hold, but soon to be noticed by her opponent and the audience afterwards.

Anastasia continued to make her hand colder; it was now forming small bits of rime around the round, perfect breast of her opponent. She looked straight into Daisy’s eyes, brought her face closer, and breathed her frost breath very softly, but noticeably. She could feel Daisy’s heart pump a little faster. It was increasing in its rate. Yes, the heart was now at its moderate pace, which is far hastier than what Daisy had hoped to retain in. Daisy could feel the embarrassment and humiliation swarm throughout her entire thorax now, as Anastasia finally gave a smooth smile, letting her know that she detected Daisy’s heart pounding faster every second, along with the fact that the audience and Anastasia herself was now looking at a pathetic, easily-intimidated amateur. The more Daisy thought of this, the faster her heart began to pump. She could not hold it in anymore. Her mentality was slowly breaking down. She felt as if Anastasia had already confiscated her beating organ. Anastasia was an excellent manipulator.

The audience looked down toward the stadium as they were hearing Daisy’s heartbeat increase. Many of them smirked and some even chuckled, already satisfied at how the Frost gladiator already intimidated her opponent, full of fire. 

Anastasia gradually pulled her hand out from beneath Daisy’s apparel, and abruptly snapped, “Pathetic,”

Daisy gritted her teeth in rage. Not only was she angry at herself for being overcome by a Frost punk, but she was overwhelmed with the thought of gouging into Anastasia’s cold chest and melting down her beating heart as she felt it burn and melt in such heat. 

It was now Daisy’s turn.

She could not wait.

The audience looked without hesitation, eager to see how the Ember warrior was to make her aggressive comeback towards the graceful mockery of the Frost.

Elizabeth was deemed a hero in the Ember clan. She had led many of the members toward victory against the Frost clan, and had left many cavities in the Frost members’ chests. However, she was not fond of this new set of matches. She did not expect the tournament to reopen, especially with people of the new communities fully aware of its horrors. Her heart was still pounding in fear of dying. She had gone through these hours before. It was not her first time waiting and tensing herself enough to kill anyone at first sight. She could remember the screams of her victims: the hollering full of desperation and agony as she punched through their flesh and bones to grasp their living hearts. She was not enjoying any element of the circumstances. She coming closer to a panic attack.

The new fighters geared up; the usual armor around their limbs and two blades hanging from their belts. Most of them tied up their hair and tried their best to warm themselves up. They had nothing to fear. They had the great Elizabeth at their side. They all lined up for her blessing as they waited for the hour of the first match to commence. Elizabeth saw the younger warriors line up in front of her and panted. She saw nothing but tragedy. Tragedy of what was about to happen. The blessing took place with Elizabeth using her heat powers to inflame the beating heart of each warrior. She placed her right index and middle finger at the center of the first warrior’s breast. She could feel the heat rising from within the core of her junior. The beats grew stronger and stronger. Elizabeth could almost hear the heart pounding inside the body. The warrior let out a deep breath of strength and relaxation as she walked past with the blessing strengthening her.

The first warrior up to battle was Daisy. Daisy placed a hand on her left breast and felt her heart beat with fearlessness. She was ready to put down a Frost warrior. Screw their ice axes and ice blades, along with their weak and petty icicles. She will be the victor of the first match, empowering all the fighting spirit and the ruthlessness of those behind her. She heated up her katana up to a temperature of 300 degrees Celsius. It would be hot enough to slice through any of the Frost warrior’s self-cast weapons. She knew exactly how to hunt down a Frost warrior. She was a part of a secret training cult that kidnapped Frost sentries from their positions in the fortresses and use them as training dummies. She had felt how cold their attacks were; despite the warmth coming from within their foundation, which laid not-so-deep inside of their pathetically softened thoraxes. 

The first match was called upon.

Daisy closed her eyes for a few seconds to catch her breath, and open them as they glowed with orange flames.

The crowd yelled in excitement as she and her Frost opponent entered the arena from both ends. 

“Our first warrior from the Ember clan will be.. Daisy Matagore!” the director announced, holding up her arm triumphantly towards the Ember’s side of the arena. “Our first competitor of the Frost clan… Anastasia Hoarfrost!”

The audience shouted out in pride towards their corresponding clans. The match had officially begun.

This was the start of the second generation of the Heartosseum.

The first procedure was, of course, the Exchange. The Exchange took place with both champions having a session of examination along with mockery and daunt; to see how powerful or puny their opponent was. The first and most crucial rule of the Exchange was that no killing or injuring were to take place. If even a trickle of blood or a heavy shock was detected from any body part of the lady who was being daunted by the micro-sensors attached to their bodies, she who was daunting were to face immediate execution by the judges on either side of the arena in the most atrocious of ways.

The first Exchange of the match was to be made by the Frost warrior, as the Frost clan had achieved victory during the last generation of matches.

Daisy readied her heart to be examined and mocked by. She could not let her opponent know her soft spot. Her heartbeats should not speed up as the opponent tries her best to daunt her. She felt her organ thump in confidence beneath her flesh.

It had been four years since the last round of the Heartosseum matches ended, with the warriors of Ice rising to the top, triggering an intense war between its rival clan of fire. The leaders of the two clans practically had their hands forced to sign a peace treaty with each other as the war grew too intense for anyone to handle at all. The greed of the few had grown into a pointless rampage of bloodshed, cutting off all ties of trust and allegiance of their denizens.

But it was as if history called upon the two clans itself. Both clans craved for blood. It was embedded in their nature to kill one another. Feel the opponents’ hearts pound inside breasts as they pushed their ears to listen and mine the deep for the dark sounds coming from within the filled chest. Chests that needed to be emptied, barbarically, to fill their desires.

The first act of felony was discovered floating around in one of the streams formed by the melted shrines of the Great Glacier. A single, violent cavity formed at the center of a Frost sorceress’ vacated chest. The burnt bits of flesh undoubtedly marked the Ember perpetrator’s ego. The sorceress’ lifeless body was pinned to the rocky wall with her bleeding heart shoved through the metal blade on to her chest cavity; more like a skewer. 

The perpetrator had not even bothered to remove her stain from the dead body. The fight was intense; the sorceress had injured her killer multiple times during the brawl to the death. At least five huge, bloody icicles laid pointing out of the ground as if the very earth itself supported the sorceress’ victory, but had failed in the bet of the match. The criminal was not difficult to catch. Despite the Ember peacekeepers’ reluctant attitude constantly getting in the way of the Frost law enforcement, the blood tracks led to a hut near the Creek of Justice. Eventually, the perpetrator had her punishment of death within the Frost clan’s authority. The Frost clan carried out a public execution, with the perpetrator’s shoulders nailed to a wall of ice with hardened icicles, and her chest ripped open to let the executioner broadcast the dissection of her victim’s live, pumping heart to the screens. 

This exact news was delivered to the Ember authorities of the clan and had caused outrage within the community. This was no time for the Ember clan members to merely watch their past sister’s agonizing execution. Their hearts pounded furiously with rage and were fueled with the fire in their veins. 

How dare these imbeciles anger the keepers of fire..

The leaders of the Ember clan began to gather their best warriors for another set for the Heartosseum..

Ranking Season

“You know, no one’s gonna know or care that you died, Gina.” Hailey stated, taking her school jacket off.

“Well, if I win, I won’t only have your organ in my hands, but I’d also be tearing apart the hearts of everyone who ever loved you.” Gina retorted, trying to calm her anxiety down as her heart leapt swiftly between her lungs.

“I’d like to see you try, you b*tch..”

Hailey and Gina collided, both reddening their white-collar uniforms with each other’s blood.

Gina screamed in pain as Hailey punched her liver with extraordinary strength and quickly kneed her in the stomach.

Hailey was gaining the upper hand.

She took many hard blows from Gina, but they were all manageable.

Gina, on the other hand, could literally feel her internal organs oozing with agony as Hailey continued to show her might.

Hailey dodged Gina’s clumsy and weakened punch and threw one last punch toward Gina’s forehead.

Gina lost control and fell over backward, landing back-first on the hard concrete floor.

Gina couldn’t hear anything.

Not even a single heartbeat or a single breath from her lungs.

All she could feel was her heart knocking on her rib cage faster than ever as she saw Hailey’s shadow draw upon her.

She could see Hailey’s grim smirk.

It was the same smirk she made when she killed all of Gina’s friends.

It all seemed familiar.

Hailey knelt down hard on top of Gina’s helpless arms and rested on top of her belly.

“I’m gonna be polite for once in my life,” Hailey murmured as she pulled up her sleeves. “May I please push my finger onto your left boob to feel your heartbeat?”

Hailey chuckled as she did exactly what she said.

Gina’s heart raced even faster as Hailey mockingly pushed her fingers onto her breast and slightly dug her fingernail into her flesh even more to feel a bit of her ribs and her heart beating through the spaces.

“You’ve got one healthy heart there,” Hailey said as she raised her arm.

Gina knew what was going to happen.

Gina was scared now.

She didn’t know how much it hurt.

She was only a second away from experiencing the agony.

Hailey’s hand came charging down straight toward Gina’s core and crushed through her soft flesh; devouring into her insides and breaking through her bones and muscles.

Gina screamed in extreme agony as she felt it for the first time; the emotional and physical agony of having her worst enemy dig into her most well-protected part of the body and grasp her most valuable organ.

Hailey put more strength in her grip to almost crush Gina’s pounding heart.

It was such a satisfying view.

Hailey couldn’t see what was inside Gina’s chest, but she sure as hell could feel how much panic pumped through her prey’s veins and arteries.

“Your heart’s soooooo healthy…”

“Mmf..!”

“I’m sorry for dirtying your uniform, Gina.. But it’s kinda your heart’s fault for bleeding so much.. Hahaha!”

“It’s my heart..! Let it go! Uggh..!! Let go.. of my.. my.. heart..!!”

“It’s your heart no longer, you dumb b*tch.. I’m holding your most important organ right now.. You’d better soften your tone..”

Gina couldn’t say anything further.

Her mind could only focus on the pain of Hailey squeezing her beautiful heart.

“Now, just like every other winner, I’m going to start mocking you about how insignificant your existence is at this moment.”

Gina’s heart raced painfully inside her archenemy’s tight grip.

“You’ve been working for nothing. Absolutely nothing. I have your whole heart in my hand like it’s nothing. I normally squeeze tomatoes at home to make juice just like how I’m squeezing your beating heart,” Hailey began. “You’re nothing. Your whole life depends on what my heart wishes. Here, I’m sure you wanted to feel it for some time like how I’m feeling yours.”

Hailey gently lifted her left knee and forced Gina’s weakened right hand onto her left breast.

“Feel it? This is how a winner’s heart beats, Gina.”

Gina only wished she had enough strength to rip out Hailey’s heart which she was feeling as it beat strongly underneath Hailey’s bosom.

But it was already far too late.

Gina could already feel the gentle pull from inside her breast.

“No, wait..!” Gina begged as a single stream of tears strolled down the side of her face. “Let go of my life..! Let go of my dignity!”

“It’s not just your pathetic little life and dignity I’m ripping out from inside of you, Gina. I’m going to take your everything. This little girl here was racing ever since the day you started existing. You’ve just failed yourself, Gina. I can just feel how disappointed your heart is at you, haha! I mean, what kind of owner are you? You’re literally just giving me your heart for free!”

Gina groaned in pain as Hailey continuously, yet gradually, pulled her heart more and more outside the bloody cavity in the middle of her chest.

Gina could no longer feel her heart pumping the blood inside of her.

She could literally see Hailey’s nasty smirk as she held her weak heart gulping down the last of her blood as only a few veins and arteries connected it to her insides.

“Isn’t this so beautiful?” Hailey remarked, displaying Gina’s beating heart right in front of Gina’s own eyes.

“Huck..”

Hailey squeezed as hard as she could and the heart started leaking blood from its walls as the pressure was too tight.

Hailey then gave a final and short pull, fully ripping out Gina’s heart from inside of her bosom as she disconnected the short veins that were barely holding on and transporting the dark and thick blood.

“Have a taste of your own disgusting soul..”

Gina drew her last breath as Hailey mocked her death to the end by shoving her own heart into her mouth.

Lub-dub Lub-dub…

Lub-dub..

Lub-dub.

Lub-dub

Lub-du-

Fatality.