When I felt a sudden, sharp pain in my abdomen, my consciousness returned , and I instinctively attempted to vomit up the acid in my stomach, but the cloth that was tied around my mouth prevented the acid from leaving my body.
This caused the stomach fluids to return, giving me a burning sensation in my throat.
Not knowing the ins and outs of my current situation, I immediately opened my swollen blue eyes with some difficulty, irrespective of the pain, as a blinding white light hit my eyes.
The sudden change in light put a strain on my eyes, and it took a second for me to get a clear vision of my surroundings.
What appeared in front of me was a dense forest with towering green trees.
I could feel the fresh air and smell the scent of wet soil, which was suddenly overpowered by the metallic smell of blood.
My injuries hurt more in this humid environment, so I could only take small breaths through my nose.
Any more than that caused a sharp pain in my chest.
When I rolled my eyes and looked around, I saw two prison guards in full plate armor still surrounding me and talking to each other, even though I was no longer in my prison cell.
'Where am I?'
As soon as that question popped up in my head, Theresa's words came to mind, and I realized that I was already inside the first Demon Dungeon.
'No! I have to get out of here.'
My mind was racing with fear, and all I could think about was getting out of this place.
I did everything I could to do so, but I soon realized that I was wasting my time and energy because my arms and legs were bound with ropes.
In my desperate attempt to escape, I got so distracted by everything going on around me that I failed to comprehend that, no matter how hard I tried, I would never be able to escape these two knights.
Thud!
The knights saw me struggling in vain and immediately kicked me in the stomach, as if to let me know they were there.
The impact of the kick sent me rolling away on the ground, but the ropes that were fastened around my waist and connected to the horse's back prevented me from rolling any further and brought my body to an immediate stop.
Cough! Cough!
"Ugh..!"
Muffled coughs escaped my mouth as I groaned in pain.
"Mother, help me!"
My mother was the only person who came to mind during these difficult times.
Like an angel who had always protected me since I was a child, I wished for her to do so once more.
My hands and legs seem to have lost all of their strength.
And tears started to stream down my cheeks as I longed for her soothing embrace.
However, instead of a comforting embrace, what I received was another round of kicks from the knights, who appear to be venting their frustration on me.
'Ugh..!'
Several of my ribs cracked under the impact of their ferocious kicks, which sometimes landed on my chest and other times on my back.
The pain was excruciating and unbearable as I lay there in complete anguish.
The only thing I could do, seeing as there was no way out, was to close my eyes and draw my chin into my chest so that my neck wouldn't be as easy to strike.
This was all I could do given the hostile surroundings and the likelihood of my death if one of their attacks hit me in a vital area.
'heh!'
Inwardly, I was ridiculing myself.
What was I thinking when I believed I could survive if I did not leave this location?
I was really a fool.
By the time the beating stopped, my body was almost completely numb.
It hurt so much in my chest and throat that I could barely groan.
It felt like my breathing would stop the next second, and I would close my eyes for eternity.
"No, I'm not going to die."
Gritting my teeth, I struggled to retain my grasp on reality and not let my consciousness drown in this abyss of despair and hopelessness because I knew that losing my awareness at this point meant certain death.
And that was unacceptable.
Neigh!
However, the cruel game of fate wasn't over yet.
Because soon I heard the horse suddenly cry out loudly as it bolted far into the forest, dragging me behind it as I struggled to stay conscious.
The sudden change caught me and the knights off guard, leaving no time for any of us to react.
With a constantly changing sight, my body was being dragged along the ground when I heard the shouts of the knights behind me.
My garments were torn to pieces, the skin of my knees and elbows—which had the greatest contact with the ground—was peeled, and a scorching sensation that caused me to sob in pain hit my nerves, leaving me with no strength to look back, whether I was being chased or not.
'Ughhh'
However, as the horse went deeper and deeper into the forest, away from the two knights, what I failed to notice was a black shadow that suddenly appeared behind the two knights who were about to hop on the horse to chase me.
And before the two knights could even react, the shadow sliced their bodies into pieces before staring at my departing body with its glowing emerald green eyes, after which it turned around and disappeared through the dungeon gate.
* * * * *
Unaware of the incomprehensible play of fate that took place behind my back, I was still being dragged by the horse deeper into the forest.
Fortunately, the horse didn't run for too long.
After a few minutes, its pace dropped.
My eyes were closed to prevent them from getting harmed along the way, but I could feel the horse steadily losing strength before it came to an abrupt halt.
Bam!
Neigh!
Suddenly, the surrounding area went silent after a loud hitting noise and the horse's cry.
When I slowly opened my eyes, I discovered that I was inside a large cave.
The horse apparently entered the cave.
In the darkness, he couldn't see the wall and struck his head directly on it, knocking himself out cold.
Thankfully, I wasn't being dragged around anymore.
Sigh!
"Finally, some breathing space."
It was difficult for me to take a full breath, so I rolled over onto my back and faced the ceiling of the cave.
Despite the cave's darkness, some light from the outside managed to sneak in and gave me a basic impression of the muddy cave.
The cave was roughly the same height as my bedroom back on earth, with the exception of a few weeds sprouting here and there around the walls and the floor.
My legs weren't functioning well, and every part of my body hurt.
But as I remained in the same prone position on the ground, everything began to shine in front of my eyes.
Even in the pitch-blackness of the cave, a white color was gradually encasing everything.
I suddenly realized I was losing consciousness and that my body's weakness was winning over my desire to stay awake.
My stomach was empty, and my throat was dry.
It was my body's instinctive reaction to survive.
If nothing else, I should count myself lucky that my body made it this far through all the suffering it had endured.
Nevertheless, that wasn't a reason for me to let my consciousness slip into a deep sleep in this unknown place and in this life-threatening condition.
So, biting my tongue, I forced myself to stay conscious of the stimulus of pain.
Even though I frequently went to the gym and have always given it my all, I was aware that in a normal situation, my body shouldn't have been able to withstand this much suffering.
'Maybe it was because of the powers I got after arriving in this world.'
That was the only plausible explanation that came to mind.
Even though I was weaker than others, my body was undoubtedly stronger and much more durable than anyone else back on earth.
However, now wasn't the time to delve deeply into these thoughts.
For now, I needed to get free.
For all I know, the knights didn't chase me for some reason.
They might have thought that I was definitely going to die in such a dangerous situation, or they might have been too scared to follow me deep into the dungeon and instead thought of making up a false report.
Whatever the situation was, I didn't know.
All I knew was that the pope and the knights were not saints for sending me here in order for me to survive and be free of their control.
If they had brought me here, it only showed that they were confident I wouldn't be able to escape alive from this place.
But I will not die. "NEVER."
Still, I had to get out of these shackles before I could even think of getting out alive from this dangerous and uncharted place.
After looking all around me inside the cave, I soon found a large stone that was roughly the same height as mine.
Gathering up my strength and wriggling around on the ground like a worm, I somehow managed to approach the rock, though the overall movement made my breathing heavy and my head dizzy.
Approaching the rock, I first removed the cloth from my mouth by somehow making a corner of it stick on a pointy edge of the stone, took a deep breath, and then I began to brush the ropes that were wrapped around my arms against the jagged edges of the rock.
Ghss! Ghsss!
Many times, I had to stop and catch my breath before continuing.
But eventually, after around a minute or two, I was able to rip a piece of the rope off of my hands.
Because of this, the ropes' entire grip loosened, and after some more struggle, I was able to untie all of the rope that was tied around my hands.
"Haaaa!"
Feeling my hands finally get free, I took a deep breath of satisfaction.
However, my joy was short-lived when I realized that I couldn't move my hands below the wrists, no matter how I tried to do so.
My muscles and nerves were in excruciating pain every time I tried to move my hands.
And a palpable sense of dread washed over me.
NO!
"This can't be happening."
Even though my hands were trembling, they were ultimately unresponsive.
Even after I freed my hands, they weren't working.
My eyes began to feel dry, but no tears came out.
Perhaps because my body required more water than my tears.
Sniff!
Through sheer willpower, I resisted the urge to scream and cry out loud. My energy reserves were completely depleted.
I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to die, and all I wanted was to return home, find my mother, give her a big hug, and cry uncontrollably.
Tell her how much I had suffered, how terrible the world was, how everyone had betrayed me, and how I was left alone to die in this unknown place.
"I'm missing you, Mom."