Falling to My Death
"..."
"......"
"........."
Ah, fuck...
As my consciousness slowly drifted back, the very first thing I registered was a wave of agonizing pain racking my entire body.
Why the hell am I here...?
"Ugh."
I tried to move, but the sudden, overwhelming surge of agony squeezed a sharp gasp from my throat. Even that barely escaped as a faint, raspy wheeze, sounding like someone suffering from a terrible case of the flu.
Right, I... I went out to hunt, ran into a Hernak, and fell.
Ah, so I fell.
I couldn't recall the exact details of the plunge itself, but I supposed I should just be grateful to be alive.
In my field of vision lay one perfectly fine arm and another that was bent at a sickening, broken angle.
Maybe it was because of the shock or some lingering numbness, but while my entire body throbbed with a dull, heavy ache from the impact, it didn't feel like every single bone was shattered beyond repair. Still... urgh...
"Ah, ah..."
My voice was completely shot.
I tried to wiggle my limbs, but the most I could manage was a faint twitch. Honestly, I couldn't even tell if I was actually twitching or if my brain was just imagining it.
My nerves were so fried that the pain was actually somewhat dulled. I couldn't decide if that was a blessing or a curse.
If I scream for help and attract more of those beasts, I'm screwed.
The sky wasn't pitch black, but I had no way of knowing if a whole day had passed, or if it had only been a few hours, minutes, or even seconds since I lost consciousness.
I couldn't even turn my neck to look down at my lower half. For all I knew, my legs could have been severed or twisted backward.
In a way, not being able to see my own state might be a mercy.
Staring at my own grotesquely mangled limbs would only shatter what little sanity I had left.
"Uuuugh...!! Wait...!"
The moment I fully regained consciousness, every cell in my body seemed to wake up and scream in agony. The shattered bones in my broken arm began to violently knit themselves back together. Down below, where I couldn't see, it felt as if my knees were being forcibly torn apart and reconstructed.
I had no choice but to watch in real-time as my snapped arm twisted itself back into its proper socket with a sickening crunch.
I had been trying to comfort myself by thinking it was a good thing I couldn't see my legs, but as the bones began to snap back into place, the sheer sensation of the reconstruction made me painfully aware of just how horribly mangled they had been.
It was so fucking, goddamned, excruciatingly painful that I couldn't even process the exact state my body was being repaired from, but...
"Fuuuuuuuck..."
The agony was too intense for a proper scream. Instead, I could only wheeze, choke, and spit out breathless curses.
As my body pieced itself back together, I tried to push myself up. But the moment I put weight on my arms, all my strength vanished—unrelated to the pain—and I collapsed back down with a dull thud.
Like a newborn, four-legged beast, I struggled up and collapsed twice more before finally giving up.
"Aaaaargh!!!"
Just when I thought the worst of it was over, my pelvis violently wrenched itself back into alignment. A ragged shriek tore from my throat, and I faceplanted into the dirt, drool and tears streaming down my face.
It wasn't even this bad when the teleportation failed.
Actually, back then, it barely even hurt compared to this.
Well, if I have the energy to scream like this, I guess my body is recovering nicely. Haah...
"Ugh, *cough*...!?"
I take it back.
Regrowing a severed limb is incredibly painful, but it's a hundred times better than having your bones forcibly snapped back into place like this.
I would have preferred it if my limbs had just been cleanly severed during the fall while I was unconscious.
This is nothing short of pure, unadulterated torture.
"*Sob*... *huff*... Ah, ah."
I wanted to say something to test my vocal cords, but my mind was a blank slate. Fearing I'd sound like an idiot babbling random words, I settled for testing a few simple grunts.
My throat itself seemed fine, though my voice was a bit hoarse from all the screaming and crying.
"At least that bastard is dead for sure."
I spoke my thoughts aloud to check my voice. Thankfully, my neck hadn't been injured, sparing me from the agony of a broken throat.
"Everywhere else hurts like hell, but if my neck had been broken too, I probably would've passed out again."
Relieved by my intact neck, I gave the Hernak's corpse a light nudge with my foot. The limp beast rolled over halfway.
I had practiced swordsmanship so diligently and built up my strength, yet here I was, weak as a kitten. I couldn't tell if gaining this near-immortal regeneration was a blessing or a curse.
It seemed that while severed limbs and deep gashes took time to regenerate, broken bones snapped back into place all at once.
Though, even with severed parts, if I held them back against the stump, they would reattach pretty quickly.
My sword... is nowhere to be seen.
This beast looks incredibly heavy. Can I even drag it back?
"Ugh..."
Normally, I could have dragged it without much issue, but in my current state, my strength was severely lacking.
Feeling something trickle down my face, I wiped my eyes. My hand came away stained with bright, pale blood.
Looking down, my clothes were caked in dirt and splattered with blood. I looked like an absolute wreck.
Wait, now that I think about it, didn't they say they needed blood to forge the sword? Couldn't I just use my own blood?
Then again, I wasn't a pureblood succubus. I was artificially created from slime fluids and weird magic, so maybe my blood would just turn the sword into a defective piece of junk.
Dragging the corpse itself wasn't too difficult thanks to the slick grass and fallen leaves, but progress was agonizingly slow. If I didn't distract myself with random thoughts, I felt like I would lose my mind from the sheer monotony.
I tried to navigate down the gentlest slopes possible. After nearly thirty minutes of dragging, I was drenched in sweat and panting heavily, but there was still no sign of the village.
To make matters worse, the dense canopy and endless trees completely ruined my sense of direction. I couldn't tell how far I had gone, and a creeping dread told me I might be heading the wrong way entirely.
Honestly, I wondered if I should just abandon the corpse and hunt something else later. But returning empty-handed and saying, "Sorry, couldn't catch anything," felt incredibly irresponsible. Plus, my pride was on the line.
Besides, having lost my sword, trying to hunt another beast would be a nightmare anyway.
"Ah, fuck it!"
Drenched in sweat and completely exhausted, a sudden surge of frustration washed over me, and I kicked the Hernak's corpse as hard as I could.
Roll, roll, roll...
"Uh, wait?"
I had kicked it out of sheer spite, but surely my physical strength wasn't *that* high.
The Hernak's corpse began to slide, but instead of stopping, it picked up momentum and started hurtling down the steep slope. Panicking, I scrambled down after it.
Why is absolutely nothing going my way today?!
"*Pant*... *pant*... Haah... *ugh*..."
Fortunately, the corpse didn't roll too far before getting wedged against a thick tree trunk.
I was already running on fumes, and that sudden sprint nearly finished me off. Saliva pooled in my mouth, and since there was no one around to judge, I let it drool out of my mouth like a sick dog.
"Blegh..."
Ugh, disgusting...
I only did it because I was too exhausted to swallow, but even I had to admit I looked pathetic.
Still, hearing the faint murmur of voices ahead in the direction I was traveling suggested I was finally nearing civilization.
Part of me wanted to scream for help, but my pride wouldn't allow me to show such a pathetic display.
Ugh... should I just call out anyway?
The grassy slopes had made dragging somewhat manageable, but the foot of the mountain was nothing but rough, dry dirt. I had to strain every muscle to haul the heavy corpse forward.
My grip slipped and I faceplanted twice. I kicked the ground in sheer rage twice. I had to stop and catch my breath four times.
At this point, I didn't care about promises or pride anymore. I was dragging this damn thing back purely out of spite because of the effort I'd already wasted.
"Hey, are you alright?"
"*Pant*... *gasp*... Yeah... I'm fine... Mostly... This isn't my blood..."
As I finally neared the entrance, a dwarf guard approached me. Stubborn to a fault, I refused to ask for help and merely offered a half-hearted response.
I quickly made an excuse about the blood, wanting to avoid any annoying fuss about needing a clinic.
Fortunately, the blood on my clothes had dried and mixed with dirt, losing its distinct succubus hue, so he didn't seem to suspect anything.
"How did you even manage to take this thing down without a sword? Move aside. Whose house is this going to?"
"*Pant*... A man named Malpen... *gasp*... He's on the opposite side of the village... *huff*... A really tall dwarf..."
"Ah, that giant. He's famous around here. Hey, watch the gate for a second. I'm going to help this young lady drop this off."
Unlike me, who had been struggling and looking pathetic, the guard hoisted the heavy beast onto his shoulder with a single hand and casually walked ahead.
The corpse was quite massive, yet he carried it like it was nothing. Dwarven strength was truly absurd.
A tattered, blood-soaked human girl, a monstrous corpse, and a dwarf carrying it on his shoulder.
It was a bizarre spectacle that naturally drew whispers and stares from the villagers. I knew it was unavoidable, but the attention was still incredibly uncomfortable.
Wait, it's not like this was a protected species or something, right?
"What in the world happened to you?!"
Judging by his reaction, it seemed I hadn't been knocked out for a whole day.
If a whole day had passed, he probably would have asked where I'd been first, rather than commenting on my appearance.
Seeing me covered in dirt and blood, Malpen rushed over immediately.
Ugh, explaining this is going to be such a pain.
"You didn't specify what you wanted, so I just grabbed whatever I could find."
"You're covered in blood! Don't you need to see a healer? Where's your sword? And how on earth did you kill this thing?"
I just wanted to rest. Mentally, I felt surprisingly fine—probably because my unconscious state had acted like a deep sleep. Physically, my body had already regenerated, so I wasn't in any actual pain anymore.
Though dragging that heavy corpse back had left me utterly exhausted.
"I managed somehow. I lost my sword, though. And it got a bit dirty because I had to drag it all the way here. Is that okay?"
"The meat is fine even if it's a bit dirty, but look at you! You're caked in mud and blood. Are *you* alright?"
I went through hell to bring that back, so it better be okay.
Well, technically I didn't fight it head-on—I mean, I did kill it, but it was mostly pure luck...
"I'm going to go wash up."
"Yes, go on. Here, take this for the bathhouse. Take your time. I'll start butchering it. Do you want to eat tomorrow instead?"
"I'm starving to death right now."