It was a stroke of sheer luck that the thrown bag had hit the Mutans below the cliff accurately, absorbing some of the impact. If it had missed, I would have not just fallen to the ground, but plummeted off the cliff with a completely dislocated shoulder.
But now, even the time to be frightened and groan in pain was a luxury. If I failed to deal with all the remaining Mutans and allowed them to climb back up the cliff, I would have been better off falling off the cliff just now.
'I have to pull up the rope as quickly as possible.'
Instead of simply pulling the rope with my hands, I firmly wrapped it around my shoulders and violently twisted my entire body, using all my strength to quickly pull up the heavy bag.
Finally, as I pulled the bag up completely, the rope was wound tightly around my entire body, and I collapsed helplessly onto the ground like a giant cocoon.
'?'
I thrashed around violently like a live fish sprinkled with salt, untangling myself from the rope.
Then, I hurriedly looked down the cliff, and the Mutans were noticeably closer. Once again, I threw the heavy bag with all my might at the closest one.
*Thwump!!!*
Although the distance was closer, reducing the power somewhat compared to before, an even heavier, dull thud echoed. And finally, I succeeded in knocking one of the last two remaining Mutans off the cliff.
'One left!'
Once more, I repeated the familiar motion swiftly. Quickly retrieving the rope, I threw the heavy bag with all my might at the last remaining Mutans.
But this time, even though I had thrown it at the creature right in front of me, I didn't hear the same heavy thud as before.
'What? Ah.'
The distance was too close. Not enough force had been generated to push it off the cliff.
As I instinctively took a step back, the Mutans finally crawled completely up the cliff and stood firmly on two feet on the flat ground.
The red sun was hanging behind its massive back, and its enormous shadow engulfed me as if swallowing me whole, painting my vision with pitch-black darkness. My head tilted back involuntarily.
'Huge.'
Standing tall on two feet at the rugged edge of the cliff, the Mutans exuded an overwhelming sense of intimidation that couldn't even be compared to when it was crouching.
Its enormous body, easily over three meters tall, was covered in bulging, knotted muscles.
Looking closely, between those muscles, thick veins like they were about to burst occasionally bulged out through its white fur, creating a gruesome sight like a crimson waterfall endlessly flowing down a massive boulder.
'I fought against something like that?'
Suddenly facing it on flat ground, my jaw dropped, unable to close.
'There's no way I can win against that thing in a normal fight.'
The thought that immediately sprang to mind was desperate but all too clear.
There's no way.
This was the worst-case scenario, one I hadn't even been able to imagine in the first place.
Since it was impossible to defeat the Mutans alone on flat ground with an exhausted body unless it was a surprise attack.
Unable to even make a proper judgment, I was overwhelmed by its sheer intimidation and stumbled backward, eventually losing my balance and falling flat on my back.
*Thud-*
A hard, cool pressure was felt in the center of my palm that had landed on the cold ground.
Casually glancing under my hand, I saw the rope I had used to knock the creatures off the cliff.
Following the line of the rope with my gaze, I slowly saw that the end of the rope went past the Mutans' massive body and seemed to stretch far down the cliff.
'Alright, there's still a chance until I give up.'
I firmly grabbed that rope and charged at the Mutans with all my might.
Seeing me charging fiercely, it swung its thick foreleg, trying to attack me with its sharp claws.
*Whoosh!*
I swung the rope I was holding widely, wrapping it around the Mutans' shoulder and torso.
Immediately after, I flattened myself on the ground and rolled, narrowly avoiding its attack as if I had become part of the earth.
Then, using the strong force of my extended legs, I leaped high into the air and threw myself over the cliff without hesitation.
My body plummeted down, rapidly and incessantly intersecting with the jagged cliff face. Mid-fall, along with an ominous feeling like the rope had snagged on something with a *thunk*, my upper body, which had been leaning forward, suddenly jerked backward.
Unconsciously looking up at the sky, I saw the Mutans floating in the air, silhouetted against the intense backlight of the red sun.
The last remaining Mutans was being forcibly pulled down the cliff by the rope, which was bearing the full force of my body's acceleration and weight, and was finally falling to its doom.
…
*Screech-* *Thud*
Finally, a single hand barely reached out over the cliff's edge, gripping the cold snow piled on the flat ground with its fingertips. After a desperate struggle, I managed to crawl back up the cliff.
Just moments ago, I and countless Mutans had plunged down the cliff with howling cries, but the only one to return alive from that abyss was me, standing right here. That's right. I survived. No, I won.
"I won..."
I had finally dealt with all those strong and threatening Mutans, all by myself.
"I'm the strongest! I'm the best!"
Looking down at the cliff where the corpses lay scattered, I stretched my arms upwards, roaring towards the entire world with a voice that echoed thunderously.
Just then,
*Twitch.*
"Huh?"
A faint and weak sign of life. Was I seeing things? Unless the swirling cold snowstorm was causing an optical illusion, I definitely felt movement from the Mutans that had fallen down the cliff.
"It must be my imagination, right?"
I rubbed my eyes with both hands and stared intently down the cliff once more.
Continuing to observe carefully, the Mutans began to stir, twitching their bodies one by one. And finally, one of them clumsily stood up using its hind legs, then sharply raised its head, turning its eerie gaze towards the cliff where I was. And it glared intently, like a hungry beast eyeing its prey or with the sharp gaze of revenge.
"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!! Not a single one of them died!!!!!"
Unable to do anything but scream at the unbelievable reality, I stumbled backward and fell. Then, like hunted prey, I hurriedly got up, clumsily losing my footing as I frantically fled the scene.
At that time, I had no idea that I had only just barely passed the first gateway of this mountain.
After a bout of commotion, the night deepened, like the dawn after the sunset had vanished.
"Huk huk huk huk huk"
The fact that the Mutans I had knocked off the cliff were still alive filled me with extreme terror, and I frantically ran up the mountain.
But not long after, new Mutans sprang up from beneath the snow again and persistently chased after me.
Strangely, the Mutans rarely appeared in the direction I was climbing; most of them came up the path I had already taken and pursued me.
In other words, no Mutans appeared when I climbed upwards, and it was as if they only sprang up from below the mountain, forcing me to ascend. I couldn't help but think that this was not a mere coincidence, but a terrible curse placed upon this mountain.
'Ever since I first set foot on this mountain – no, perhaps even long before – the wind has consistently blown from top to bottom.'
The scent of blood, carried by the wind downwards, had awakened the Mutans that were staying below the mountain.
In the end, the higher I climbed, the greater the burden of having to descend became, trapping me in a vicious cycle.
Turning my head to look down, the number of Mutans relentlessly chasing me had increased far more than before. I estimated there were easily over fifty of them.
'The Mutans' encirclement has become this tight... I can't possibly go down anymore. I don't have the stamina left to do so either.'
I was slowly approaching the halfway point of the mountain again.
'Why on earth has no one ever crossed the halfway point of this mountain and returned safely? Is it because of this terrible curse? Or is there something else beyond the halfway point?'
Lost in all sorts of ominous thoughts and falling into despair, I strangely felt the distance between myself and the creatures gradually increasing.
'What's going on? No matter how desperately I try to maintain my speed, I'm bound to slow down due to my exhausted stamina, right? Are they finally giving up on me? Damn it, whatever. Just a little more, just a little more effort to widen the distance between us, if only I could rest for even a brief moment, please...'
"Huh!"
Since entering the mountain, my mouth, throat, and lungs had been constantly filled with enormous amounts of air due to the relentless, intense movement.
But suddenly, my breath caught in my throat, and I couldn't breathe properly.
I tried to even swallow my saliva, but along with a terrible foreign sensation as if a large stone had been forcibly shoved down the middle of my throat, a weak feeling as if all the strength was draining from my body washed over me.
I just knelt down and collapsed powerlessly to the side.
*Shiver shiver shiver*
Barely lifting my utterly exhausted body and my hand shaking violently due to lack of blood, I brought it to my neck. The sensation that touched my fingertips was truly shocking. Even without touching it, I could tell that my neck was severely swollen.
'My neck... it's hard? Is it frozen!?'
"Keu-hyak keu-hyak keu-hyak keu-hyak keu-hyak..."
Only a meager, barely sustained breath escaped my mouth now. It was a weak but nonetheless desperate struggle to continue living.
However, I soon realized that it was a futile struggle.
In a situation where I couldn't breathe properly, there was no way I could perform the intense movements that required a lot of breath. In the end, losing speed, I would be caught by them and meet a gruesome end.
I'm going to die now. Is this really the end of everything? But, strangely, the Mutans were no longer chasing me. As if mocking my fallen state, they stood frozen in place like statues, staring straight at me.
'Why on earth? Are they trying to torment me before killing me? Have I ever cruelly killed even one of their companions?'
'Come to think of it, I think I heard that some highly intelligent monsters, once they're sure they have their prey completely in their grasp, will then proceed to humiliate it in all sorts of ways until they're satisfied.'
They will cruelly tear open my stomach with their sharp claws and pull out my hot entrails.
Like well-cooked meat, they will pounce on my corpse like hungry beasts and devour it. Horrific imaginings followed one after another.