(CHAPTER 39: PAIN)

He jolted towards Venom, raising his fist, aiming right for his head to burst it like a watermelon. But Venom suddenly turns towards him as blood splattered out from his mouth, and right onto his face. Hero immediately drop to the ground and roll, as his screams filled the entire arena, it was eerily disturbing. "You deserve that fucker." Venom laughed in his heart, his throat were forced out of shape from that strangle, making his breath unstable and more like a wheeze. He could barely move, his leg feels like twig, Hero must've destroyed a part of his spine, but Hero was in a bad situation as him.

Stomach acid, or gastric acid, is a watery, colorless fluid that's produced by the stomach's lining.

It's highly acidic and in order to break down food for easier digestion and helps your body absorb nutrients more easily as food moves through your digestive tract. But this natural feature has become one of Venom's final trump card. Through inhuman practice and simulating the process of natural choking with his own tongue, he is able to vomit out his stomach acid out of force. The acid itself was already extremely deadly when contacted but through consuming food that are highly acidic and toxic before, it could melt through almost everything like nothing. Normal people would've burst their throat but not Venom, he was built for this.

Hero barely manage to stand up from the floor, the crowd look at his face and shrieked, even Arthur turn his head away, he couldn't bear to see that face. Almost the entire left side of his face were mutilated, his other side would be the same if he didn't dodge it right on time. One of his eye lids were completely gone under the acid, revealing the bloody vein and flesh behind his eye socket. The flesh of his face melted, his lips were gone too, revealing his white, bloody teeth. Drops of blood mixes with chunks of flesh fell to the ground. "That hurts." He said as he glared at Venom. "that really hurts."

"Kill me then." He laughed before scramble his way towards Hero, Hero raises his fist as both of them clashes together. Hero drew out his punches first, an uppercut right onto his jaw, stunning him. He grab him by the back of his head and pushes him against his knee, the same move that defeated Dave from the last round, but Venom head-butted him right in his torso before his face were connected.

Hero backs up as his body contract in pain, but he manages to get over it. This time Venom leaps towards Hero, striking with a flying kick, Hero immediately crouch to the ground in order to duck the kick, but too late, Venom's toe has left a shallow yet deadly cut on his back. "This is bad." Hero immediately rolls away from safety, and just like he expected, the cut started to swell at an alarming speed, but the pain is almost too much for him to bear.

He felt as if a fire was burning on top of him, the feel of pure agony almost make him faint, but he manages to hold himself up. How could he defeat this man, there is no chance against him. It was playing chess with only a king left on the board.

"Its checkmate."

Venom walk towards Hero, his leg is still limping but his eyes is filled with confident that he is going to win the match. Hero backs up slowly, until he reaches the edge of the arena, when he rounded his fist and prepare to fight, but suddenly blood spat out from his mouth, he almost collapse to the ground if not he stretch his hand out and hold his body back. Blood mixed with sweat formed a pool beneath him. "Looks like the poison has work its way into your organ." Venom look at his reaction and smiled. "Goodbye, Hero." He strike his palm towards the swell at his back.

Hero lick the sweat dribbling into his mouth.

The taste of victory.

Without any warning, Hero duck the hit and grab Venom's outstretched arm, "No", aiming through his shoulder, Hero perform a swipe kick, knocking him unbalance before lifting him up and throwing him out of the arena. "Checkmate." Venom laid flat on the ground, the ink smearing over his face and covering his body as his eyes were filled with disbelief. He couldn't believe he has fall for the cheapest trick in the book. He lost, just like the way he won Carl last round because of his overconfident over his power.

He has won the battle but lost the war.

"It's an out! IT'S AN OUT!!!" The announcer gasped and so do the crowd. "Hero has won his way to the semifinals!!" Hero raises his hand high up in the sky as he smiled, he did it, he didn't let anyone down. He walk towards the entrance wobbly, just when he was about to lean against a wall and catch a breath but then his whole world went black.

He fainted in pain.

And he was awoken in pain.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow." Hero tries to struggle his way out, but his body was pressed down by Arthur with force as Eve plunges a machine into the swell at his back, which sucks the acid of the swell into a container. "Done." After that Eve pours down a splash of instant regeneration potion on the wound and concluded.

"Next time tell me before you wander around alright." Arthur punches him lightly by the shoulder. "You tell me the element of surprise." Hero grumbled and wear his cloth back, his wounds are completely heal, sometimes he is always astonished by how quick and effective Eve is, sometime he even wonders if she is a student with that standard of ability.

"So who is fighting the other round again?" Hero sat up from the lounge and walk towards the glass panel of the lobby. He stares as two fighters take their position on stage.

Vassi against Lucas.