The Completion of Revenge
Now that I had come this far, there was no room for hesitation. I immediately carried out the worst death I had specially prepared for him.
“!!!... AAAAAAARGH!!!!!!”
In that instant, he let out a horrific scream and began thrashing violently. It was only natural. I had started dissolving the fingers and toes I had absorbed into my body using Dissolve, melting them away slowly. Hands and feet were packed with nerves; the sensation of them burning and liquefying must have been beyond anything he could have imagined. And because he remained fully conscious, forced to watch it happen right in front of him, the agony was doubled.
Throughout the process he passed out several times, but that was no real obstacle. Whenever he lost consciousness, I simply shoved parts of my body into his nose and mouth, adjusting the pressure just enough to choke him without killing him outright. The violent coughing that followed always dragged him back to awareness—along with a fresh wave of unbearable pain. Even as his brain threatened to melt from the torment, he was denied the mercy of unconsciousness.
Eventually the man began to beg desperately. He pleaded for me to just kill him, or at least let him faint. But those pitiful cries stirred nothing in me. This had all started with him. He was the one who had mocked me as I bled out, slowly and cruelly driving me toward death. There was no chance I would forgive him.
His frantic, agonized pleas only fueled my satisfaction. To the vengeance burning inside me, his screams were nothing more than a beautiful melody. Honestly, even this felt insufficient. His life was completely in my hands now, and I had never intended to grant him any peace. The worse his sins, the heavier the price he would pay.
“…?”
A strange sensation made me glance down. The moment I saw the cause, my expression twisted in disgust. His lower body, still absorbed inside mine, was visibly bulging against the fabric of his pants. At first I couldn’t understand what I was seeing. Then the position and shape made the truth obvious, and contempt flooded my face.
My upper body was still in human form, so we were uncomfortably close. Even so, the idea that he could become aroused in this situation was revolting. It was almost enough to make me wonder if this was some final, desperate attempt to attack my mind. Whether he was a pervert or a beast, he remained the absolute worst until the very end.
As I screamed silently inside that grotesque sensation, a half-forgotten fact surfaced in my mind.
‘When death draws near, living creatures experience a surge in reproductive instinct in order to leave behind offspring.’
I couldn’t remember where I had heard it, but this phenomenon was probably just that—an instinctive reaction. Given the overwhelming pain of the torture, it was hard to believe he had become aroused of his own volition. The thought eased my disgust slightly, though watching it happen was still utterly revolting.
Then another idea flashed through my mind, and my eyes narrowed. A cold, far more dangerous light than before settled on the protruding bulge. That ominous gaze was enough to instill primal fear in anyone who saw it. But the man, still trapped in the agony of his dissolving body, never noticed.
“!!!??!?! Ah? Ah. Ah. Ah. Aaaah!!!!”
His scream changed. It was no longer just a reaction to pain. It was the raw cry of someone confronting an unbelievable reality. The part that had been so prominent moments ago was now completely flat, as though nothing had ever been there. In truth, it had simply melted away. And he felt the loss more clearly than anyone.
His eyes were hollow with despair and emptiness far greater than the pain. His face had gone slack, lifeless, rotting from within. The sight sent a rush of joy, fulfillment, and countless other emotions surging through me—all of them born from the intense pleasure of completed revenge. I had no idea what expression I was making. All I knew was that I was laughing like a madwoman. My entire body trembled with ecstasy; I wrapped my arms around my torso and tried to suppress it.
Once the shaking finally subsided and a measure of reason returned, I spoke with a crazed smile.
“Mine disappeared… Did you really think yours would be safe? It’s all karma.”
The face reflected on my transparent body was striking. The already beautiful woman’s features, combined with the lingering flush of pleasure, looked almost seductive—bordering on something dangerously alluring. A true femme fatale who could steal a man’s soul. Yet I felt nothing toward my own appearance. From the beginning, my attention had been fixed solely on the man in front of me.
“Ah… Ah… Ah…”
After that, he completely lost his mind. His skin, pale and bloodless, reflected his broken state. Faced with an unbearable truth, his spirit had shattered. The timing was perfect. The endless melting of his hands and feet finally ended without issue. Now he had lost all ability to resist. I doubted he could even think of resisting anymore.
I spat him out onto the ground. My lower body, which had turned liquid, had already reformed into two legs. I could have simply dissolved him completely and killed him, but that would have left me two percent short of satisfaction. For a truly perfect ending to my revenge, that place was the only fitting choice.
Grabbing him by the hair, I began walking. Not far from the area rich with mana stones stood a steep cliff that formed a massive valley—the very spot where this man had thrown me to my death.
……
The deep abyss, untouched by light, was still wrapped in thick darkness. The bottom was invisible, a true abyss. Time had passed since then, yet here I stood again with him. Only now, our positions were perfectly reversed.
“The world really is ironic, isn’t it… Who would have thought I’d return to this place with you? Don’t you agree?”
“…What the hell are you… Hic! D-Don’t tell me…!”
The man, half out of his mind, suddenly widened his eyes at my muttered words. It was an instinctive realization, the kind that comes when standing at death’s door. I offered neither confirmation nor denial, only a deep smile. The face was still that of the woman, yet something about it felt strangely alien.
“…That’s impossible. Ah. Ah. There’s no way… You… I definitely…”
He kept babbling, desperately denying reality. His voice carried a desperate edge, like that of a madman whose mind had already snapped. I savored the thick despair pouring from him, then seized him by the nape of the neck and forced him to the very edge of the cliff where there was no footing.
“Well? How does it feel to meet such an end at the hands of the porter you looked down on? Don’t resent me too much. I’m simply repaying you exactly as you deserve… If you don’t want to end up like this, try living a little kinder in your next life.”
“Ah… Aaaaaah!!!!”
The moment my death sentence fell, he began thrashing with every ounce of remaining strength. But without hands or feet, the struggle was meaningless. He probably knew that too. Still, he couldn’t stop—pure instinct driving him now.
“Honestly, meeting you was the absolute worst! Go rot in hell, you piece of filth worse than an animal.”
With that final, heartfelt farewell, I hurled him off the cliff without a shred of regret. The dark abyss below swallowed its prey greedily. His figure vanished completely from sight. Even his echoing screams faded, leaving the cliff once more wrapped in deep silence.
“……”
I remained standing there for a long while, unable to tear my eyes from the edge. My face was stiff, my gaze sunken. The thrill of completed revenge was real. But now that everything was over, it was time to face the reality ahead. A completely changed body. A suspicious contract whose nature I still didn’t understand. Caught between relief and anxiety about the future, I couldn’t bring myself to leave that spot for some time.