The pain that was running through my body was unbearable. If I had to compare the sensation, it would be rather similar to having your left shoulder be completely branded from the inside.

I can hear something cracking as the wolf bit down harder, and as soon as we landed on the ground, the pain amplified even more, to the point where it was absolutely unbearable.

I could hear myself scream in pain from the wound, as well as my entire left arm tensing in response to the damage. I tried to tell my body to move, to try to get away, but I was pinned down and unable to actively get out of this grip.

The damn beast didn't let up for a single moment. Instead of releasing its bite and giving me a break, the monster decided to shake its entire head, forcing me to sway back and forth.

Immediately, I knew what the intent of this movement was. It was trying to rip off my left arm, using the shoulder as a focus point to deal as much damage as possible. Bit by bit, I could feel something ripping in my shoulder, the pain multiplying with each shake.

Despair and dread filled my body more than before, this time as if it was a tsunami wave crashing into my brain and flooding all of my nerves with a single moment of terror. This was the worst case scenario.

I was about to lose. I was going to get my left arm ripped off completely. I was going to fail in everything and fall right here.

Desperately, I tried to shove the beast off of my shoulder, but I was just too weak. My body was feeling number by the second, with the strength in the left side of my body getting weaker and weaker.

No matter how hard I kicked the wolf with my legs or pushed with my right arm, the wolf refused to budge. I couldn't do anything, and all my efforts were just bringing me closer and closer to death's door as I kept bleeding out.

No matter what I tried, this wolf would win in any fight. I couldn't beat this apex predator at its own game and there was absolutely nothing I could do to survive on my own.

Wait, Sally! She can save me! She can attack the wolf while it's distracted!

I turned to her in desperation, only to get nothing but utter dismay.

She was still shaking and refusing to look up, unable to bother taking in what was happening right now. She was too busy cowering in fear and begging for her life, so much so that she couldn't even register the fact that I was currently dying.

There was no one that would save me. Buan and his brothers were nowhere to be found from my position and even if they were coming towards our position, it would be way too late.

The massive blood loss that would come shortly would render me completely dead.

There was no salvation, no chances to succeed. I was going to get brutally murdered and devoured right now, without any kind of means of survival.

I could picture my own death before my every own eyes and I could feel nothing but pure terror and fright. My eyes began to tear up heavily, blurring my vision completely and making it difficult to see.

Was... was this the end? Was this how I died?

In a way, it was fitting. Just proved how much of a worthless human being I was. Not fit for the second chance that I was given, not fit to even be able to do anything correctly, not fit to be trusted for the simplest of decisions.

In the end, this entire scenario proved my deepest fears to be true. The light had been shone on my face, and I knew what my true being was.

I was scum. Trash of the lowest margin. An annoying insect that kept up the disguise of being a normal human.

Losing to the weakest of all the monsters out there in this world and not even able to put up an actual fight. What a joke of a person I was.

There wasn't a more worthless person than me in this entire world. A vagrant traveler would rank higher than me. No, even better, a single mosquito had more worth than me in total.

In the end, in the face of death, all my thoughts could just go further and further into this depths, showing me how much I was a shitty person.

Never bothered making any friends at all. Never bothered putting 100% into any kind of work I did. Never bothered trying to make up for all the mistakes I did. Never bothered to learn new material to help my future.

No. I was someone that delved in failure and loved it, while simultaneously leading myself into a world of self-delusion, boosting my own ego and beliefs until it all exploded.

Like now. All that idealism of being stronger and getting powerful was nothing without some kind of backing. The moment I had to prove myself just goes to show how utterly incompetent I was.

Ah, I was shown the truth of my existence. The light was shown upon my eyes and there was no doubts left in my mind.

I couldn't bring up the fear and terror of going to hell for all eternity. There just wasn't much willpower left in me anymore to care about being tortured forever.

I deserved every single second of hell. That much was fact and my current situation just boosted this absolute reality.

The only saddening thought I could muster up was how I was sincerely sorry to my mother that I had failed her. I could only apologize and hope that she forgave me.

-

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It can't end like this.

My eyes widened as I began to regain my composure. That's right, this wasn't about me. Why the fuck was I being a selfish bitch?

No, this entire situation I found myself in was for someone else. I wasn't fighting for my worthless being, I wasn't fighting for some goddamn stupid reason.

All this time, how could I have just given up? How could I be so weak minded and just throw away the one person that meant the world to me?

How could I just let my mother die? Despite the fact that I was a worthless daughter and human being, I could not let her pass away in despair. I had to survive. I had to win.

It doesn't matter what the hell I have to do. Even if I'm paralyzed with fear, missing my body parts, or nearly dead, I knew my duty. I knew what I needed to do to bring the scales back to balance.

Even if that meant that there was only one percent chance of survival or victory, even if the possibility was so slim that it neared impossibility, even if it verged on reaching for the heavens themselves...

It didn't fucking matter! If I had to go and grab fate by the throat and fucking suffocate it to death, then I will!

There's no way I will let my mother die! I will win this fight, I will survive, no matter what fucking happens to my body!

With my right hand, I desperately began to rake through the ground, searching for anything I could grab just to attack with. I didn't care at this moment anymore, anything will do!

Then, I found a stick that I could grab. Instantly, I tightened my hand around the makeshift weapon and readied my entire body.

My eyes were still tearing up, but the chattering of my teeth had ended. Instead, I could feel my teeth shriek in pain from my grinding jaws. I could feel my entire body burn, explode into rage and strength, to my very limits.

I screamed in anger as I launched my attack. No longer was I too weak to even try to fight back. No longer would I be held back by fear over my own death.

Instead, the only thoughts on my mind now was to survive. To win, no matter what I had to sacrifice!

My left shoulder began to rip apart, but I couldn't care. My target was right in front of me, the perfect moment to strike was now! I had to seize this opportunity with all my might, and leave nothing to chance!

I swung the stick down with all my might, right towards the wolf's eyes. My aim was true, and the object made contact with the target.

There was a large squelching noise, with a burst of water and blood that oozed from the punctured eye. The damn beast let go of my shoulder and howled in pain, but I wasn't done yet.

I started to dig and twist the stick, pushing in further and further with all my power. However, the wolf merely shook its body left and right, in an attempt to get me off.

That tactic succeeded and I was thrown off towards the left, landing next to the river. The wolf began to shriek as it simply toppled over, trying its best to get back up to run away.

I could see the one eye of the wolf and found myself grinning widely in joy.

There was no signs of sadistic joy or victory in its pupils. No, the only thing that was within those orbs were fear and terror, as if it had just realized the tables had been flipped tremendously.

No longer was that damn monster the victor and the superior. This predator had been shoved down and beaten back to the ranks, and now it knew what it truly was.

It was prey. This damn beast was going to be my sacrificial lamb, my path to success, my savory dish to power.

I quickly snatched a random rock out of the river and started to march towards the fallen wolf. I moved steadily and strongly, never keeping my dead glare off the beast.

The wolf seemed to be trying to get back up, but its bearings were thrown off too much by the stick in its eye. The movement it was making was similar to a bug that had been flipped upside down and was desperately trying to escape before a random child stomped on it brutally and mindlessly.

Before long, I found myself right on top of this wolf, which was baring its fangs and barking at me. A fatal, futile attempt to try to bubble back the fear in my body back to the surface, with the hopes of trying to turn back the situation so that it would be back up on the high ground once more.

Heh. As if I would let that happen.

I situated myself right on top of the wolf's neck, before sitting down hard and brutally. I could feel the wolf's heartbeat and the shivering of its flesh with my legs, which was perfect for what I was planning.

I raised my right hand, wielding the rock as if it was a holy sword that would strike down the demon. In one swift motion, I slammed the mighty boulder down upon its head with all my might.

The blow landed, with a small cracking noise heard. I felt the wolf's fur stiffen up almost immediately, and then the wolf began to try to move rapidly in an attempt to get me off.

The last thing I needed was for this single small opportunity to get away from me. So, I continued my harsh attack.

I continued slamming the wolf in the head over and over again with the rock, continuing on and on without any signs of slowing down. I felt blood cover my entire fist and coat my body, but I didn't care.

I heard numerous consecutive cracking noises, but I kept going. There was no guarantee that this wolf was completely dead yet.

I could feel the wolf's heartbeat slow down bit by bit, and the stiff flesh was beginning to relax. I didn't care. I kept going.

My fist felt less strong, hard bone and more soft, weak flesh. That just meant I was doing this right. I kept going.

I felt bits of some kind of flesh start to scatter all over my clothes, and the heartbeat of the wolf had came to a complete standstill. That could be a trick. I needed to be sure.

I kept going.

Blow after blow, my righteous fury showed no mercy to this beast and presented no opportunities to try to redeem itself in my presence. My anger led my actions and made me continue my onslaught, ensuring that this monster was finally dead once and for all.

Then, I struck the ground. I knew the sensation, as I felt the grass on my hands and the dirt crumble slightly from my strike.

Finally, I allowed myself to look at the damage I had just done. The sight I was allowed to witness let me smile widely at my own lovely handiwork.

The wolf's head had been completely pulverized. Where there was once a skull was merely bits and pieces of bone that had been smashed into a thin powder. Where there was once a thinking brain that led its action was now nothing more than a smear across the field.

Bits and pieces of the skin and the remaining organs of the head were scattered throughout this bank, with the stick rolling down the hill slowly and quietly. There was no signs of life from this monster and I had came out of this the complete victor.

A small, brief pause surrounded me, with the silence of the world letting me relax slightly. I took numerous quick breaths in an attempt to get myself back to normal, before finally dropping the blood-soaked rock, and letting myself fall off the wolf's corpse.

The grassy ground acted as a safe cushion for me and saved me from landing harshly. I laid there, looking up at the sky and letting the blood from my left shoulder drizzle out little by little, until I started to laugh.

I kept on going, I couldn't stop. Even when there were tears coming down my eyes and pain coming from my left shoulder, I just couldn't prevent the laughter from exiting my throat. This entire situation was too funny for me to not be able to laugh.

After all, this was just a joke that I couldn't help but laugh to.

I started to lose consciousness as I kept laughing. I heard shuffling through the foliage and I couldn't bring myself to look up to see who it was.

"FELIZA!"

Ah, that would be Buan that had just arrived, huh? Ah, I see. This was too good. I didn't even have to actually do anything at all!

They would've come just in time to be the big damn heroes of the story, and I just stole that moment away from them! I was just a thief of the spotlight, and I had ruined the story!

But I just didn't give a shit! I was too happy, too busy laughing with my whole body!

Even when my vision wavered to black, I couldn't help but feel giddy.

I did it. I survived. I won!

Don't worry Mother, I'm coming to save you! Just wait, I'll be your prince in shining armor, just like Buan!