Agony's Ecstasy (4)
Agony's Ecstasy (4)
"Y-you said you'd spare me! You said you'd spare meee!"
I drove my fist into the screaming bastard's face.
His face crumpled inward, nose bleeding profusely.
I looked down at his ugly state indifferently as I retrieved my dagger.
"U, uwaaah! My finger! My fingeeer!"
Jugeokteok screamed and thrashed wildly as he clutched his hand.
Fresh blood gushed from the severed finger stump.
He enjoyed beating me so much, yet he's having a fit over just one finger.
Utterly ridiculous.
"Shut up."
Clutching the dagger, I mounted his stomach.
Though I was completely naked, there was no sexual atmosphere whatsoever.
The sex slave who couldn't resist and just took the beatings was gone. Only a blood-soaked avenger remained.
"Stay still."
His struggling was too intense.
I put weight on my hips to press him down.
As if suffocating, Jugeokteok tried to push me off with his still-intact hand.
An insolent resistance. I immediately grabbed that hand and dug the dagger under his fingernail.
"Gyaaaah!"
The tender flesh beneath the roughly torn nail was exposed.
Jugeokteok flailed like a freshly caught fish hauled from hell.
He thrashed his body, even crying tears of blood, while screaming curses through gritted teeth.
By my standards, it was a minor injury.
But with Agony's Ecstasy, even such trivial violence could become a horrific act of torture.
"Get off! Get off meee!"
Finally losing his senses, Jugeokteok began to rampage.
His hand with the severed index finger and pierced back swung wildly, hitting my chest repeatedly.
My blood-stained breasts shook and swayed in all directions.
My previously subdued nipples began to harden again from the stimulation.
Though it was my own body, it was an extremely unpleasant reaction.
I grabbed the arm that kept hitting me and sliced off the entire wrist.
Cutting through to the bone, I tossed it far away as blood gushed out like a fountain.
"Ugh..."
Jugeokteok's face had turned pale, and he was foaming at the mouth.
Unable to bear the pain, he must have fainted already.
Ignoring it, I picked up his remaining hand.
As I tore out his nails one by one, he regained consciousness.
"H, hyaaak!"
He screamed loud enough to rupture eardrums, repeatedly fainting and waking up again.
By the time I'd pulled out all his nails and cut off four fingers, his breathing stopped.
The cause of death appeared to be shock from extreme pain or excessive bleeding.
Somewhat disappointing, but there was no benefit to wasting more time.
Finally, I smashed his long jutting chin and stood up.
With this, I had successfully slaughtered all 34 bandits.
It had been an extremely messy fight.
I don't know how much abuse I endured during those days of patience.
Especially my frequently tormented nipples still felt like they were tingling with pain.
A kind of phantom pain. Even pouring recovery into them didn't help, suggesting some psychological aftereffects remained.
Still, I wasn't particularly worried.
If I rest and recuperate for a week after returning, it should gradually improve.
Regardless, it was obvious that I was the final victor.
To collect the fruits of victory, I began to move.
While most supplies were loaded on the carriage, personal belongings would still be in the rooms.
I went through the officers' rooms and collected all valuables and well-maintained equipment.
As expected of bandits who ruled this area, the amount of hidden wealth was considerable.
Just the immediate cash alone totaled well over 2 Denar.
Since there was no one left to steal it, I gathered everything into boxes and placed them in the central hallway.
The remaining grunts and the leader's room were still left, but there was somewhere I needed to visit first.
The dusty warehouse in the corner of the fortress.
I stopped in front of the place that served as both prison and quarters for me and Jenna.
There was a lock, but it wasn't a problem.
I broke it with a few strikes from the dagger handle and immediately opened the door.
"Jenna? You can come out now."
Only silence filled the warehouse interior.
Just as I feared, I soon heard a rustling sound from one side.
A hole revealed itself among the piled-up junk.
Jenna peeked her face out from inside.
"...Unni?"
"Yes. It's me."
"A-are you okay? The blood...!"
Jenna crawled out awkwardly from the hole and approached me in surprise.
Maybe I should have at least roughly wiped off the blood before coming.
Though my naked body might be pretty, covered in blood like this wouldn't be a pleasant sight.
I hid Agony's Ecstasy behind me and dismissed it as I spoke.
"It's fine. This isn't my blood. It's all over now."
"Over? Ah...!"
Tears welled up in Jenna's wide-open eyes.
Jugeokteok's screams and cries must have reached here too.
Yet with a face that still couldn't believe it, she asked again.
"U-unni. Really, really...?"
"Yes. Really. The bandits are all dead. Every single one of them."
"Aah..."
Jenna, who had been sobbing with trembling shoulders, slowly walked toward me.
Her slender arms reached out and wrapped around my waist, and her tear-streaked face buried itself in my chest.
"Unni, Rene unni. Thank you... You could have gone alone, but you came to save me..."
"...It's not exactly that. I wanted revenge too."
"Uung. But still..."
As if not minding the blood at all, Jenna buried herself deeper in my embrace.
I warmly hugged the adorable girl in return.
Jenna had offered to let me escape first at the cost of her own life.
That was kindness willingly extended to a complete stranger, a noble spirit of sacrifice.
Her warm heart deserved to be repaid.
Only then would this rough and cruel world become even slightly more beautiful.
"Have you calmed down a bit now?"
"Yes! Unni."
Jenna, who had stepped back slightly from me, showed a bright, beaming smile.
It wasn't the precarious, time-limited appearance from before.
Though her gaunt face remained the same, her eyes now shone with brilliant hope.
"Jenna. Shall we return to the city together?"
"Yes, unni!"
"Ah, but there are still some things to take care of first. Would you mind resting until dawn?"
Jenna shook her head from side to side.
She explained she had been sleeping but woke to Jugeokteok's screams and immediately hid in the hole.
Meaning she had gotten sufficient sleep.
More importantly, with her eyes sparkling like that, she wasn't in any state to sleep now.
"You must be very hungry? I'll prepare a hearty meal for you! And warm bath water too!"
"Then would you do that for me? Thank you, Jenna."
"No, unni. I'm the one who should be thankful."
The evil ones who stood in our way were now gone.
Jenna and I parted warmly and headed toward our respective destinations.
I should collect the remaining bandits' loot and then raid the leader's room.
As I walked, I casually checked my pain points.
- Pain (4,521pt)
The pain points that had been completely exhausted from unlocking the authority.
They had skyrocketed to nearly 5,000 from eliminating 34 bandits.
About twice the result compared to my usual point gathering.
Normally, I would have earned around 2,000.
The cause of this tremendous anomaly could only be Agony's Ecstasy.
The equivalent exchange of pain is a structure where you earn points proportional to the pain inflicted on the masochistic subject.
It seemed Agony's Ecstasy's effect, 'Extreme Agony,' applied to that and caused point amplification.
This meant collecting pain points would become much easier going forward.
Which also meant unlocking the third sin, 'Greed,' wouldn't be far off.
Lost in such thoughts, I soon arrived at the bandits' rooms.
The thick scent of blood assaulting my nose and the mercilessly slaughtered corpses.
Stepping through the splashing blood puddles, I briefly rummaged through various places nearby.
Despite the headcount exceeding twenty, the loot wasn't particularly tasty.
Just a few pouches of mixed copper and silver coins with two or three cheap accessories.
Typical of ragtag misfits.
Finally, I headed to the bandit leader's room.
This was actually the most important place.
Ignoring his already cold corpse, I carefully examined the shelves and chests.
Soon I found a pouch filled with silver coins and several gold coins.
I'd need to count carefully, but it looked to be at least over 5 Denar.
In one drawer, I found my clothes stuffed haphazardly inside.
He probably kept them to return if I obediently agreed to become his wife.
I could wear them after taking a clean bath later.
Right now, they had too much bloodstains that would be difficult to remove even with recovery.
With a few silver accessories and a couple of expensive-looking gems, I had finished searching the shelves.
Now I should open the chest embedded over there.
I reached out and tilted the large wooden chest upward.
Then plate armor appeared with a gleaming light.
Full plate armor that could cover the entire body from helmet to pauldrons, greaves, breastplate, and more.
Though quite rusty in parts, the basic craftsmanship appeared excellent.
A quality dimensionally different from the shoddy equipment of other bandits. Truly befitting a former knight's squire.
Just in case, I tried holding a few pieces against my body, but they were all too big for me.
Even with padding, they would be significantly insufficient.
Still, I could sell them for gold coins, making this a significant gain.
A sword lay beside the armor, so I immediately drew it from the scabbard to examine.
Though plain and simple in appearance, it seemed like a rather good sword.
A grip that fit perfectly in hand with appropriate weight balance.
Not too light nor too heavy, with excellent resonance when swung.
Even a bastard sword that could be used with either one or two hands.
Well-maintained, it was an object that greatly appealed to me.
As expected of an aura expert's weapon. It was on an entirely different level from the swords I'd been using until now.
After removing the armor and sword from the chest, the final loot caught my eye.
A stone made of gray material.
At first glance, it looked like broken crystal or glass fragments.
Something mysterious and ominous.
I could faintly feel a sinister aura flickering like shadows.
This must be what Jugeokteok was talking about.
The reason the bandit group could control the Kobolds.
A fragment of curse.