A Humble, Scary-Looking Mid-Rank Adventurer Is Offered Their Bodies by Every Member of a Rising All-Female Party, Begging: ‘You Can Do Whatever You Want With Me, Just Please Spare My Companions.’ - 37

Chapter 37: Devotion

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The male Pain Serpent that emerged from the darkness swelled its belly. Dragging the heavy abdomen as if it had swallowed a bear, it lifted its neck. The four members of Aurora Blade stared at that sight in stunned silence.

“Ah… ah… AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!”

Sierra screamed.

He had been swallowed. Why had he been swallowed? Because she had been standing there idly. Because they had let their guard down after killing the female. Because she hadn’t watched the surroundings. Because she had assumed things. Because she hadn’t anticipated it. Because she had relaxed her vigilance.

She hadn’t put into practice what he had taught her. And because of that, he…

“Ah… Ah… Aaaaaaaah!”

She kicked off the stone ground while gripping her sword. Closing in on the giant serpent, she drove the tip of her blade into its body.

“Gah!?”

But the Pain Serpent’s entire body was covered in thick, hard scales. Attacking head-on without burning it first was, of course, easily repelled. The Pain Serpent itself was also mad with rage. Its mate had been killed. And the culprits were right here. Its fury would not be quenched until it devoured not only the man, but all four of them. It opened its jaws wide, venomous fangs gleaming, and glared down at them. A hoarse roar echoed through the cave.

“DIEEEEE!”

Nerva charged with her spear at the ready. She aimed for the belly, where the scales were thinner. But…

“SHAA!”

“Guaaah!?”

The giant serpent twisted its body, and its whip-like tail lashed out, flinging her away. She felt her ribs shatter as she was slammed into the cave wall and collapsed limply to the ground. This was not an enemy that could be beaten by reckless attacks.

“Nerva!”

Fana screamed and ran to her side. At the same time, Patema finished constructing her spell.

“Haaah!”

A fireball was released. It scorched the Pain Serpent’s right eye. The giant serpent reared back and screamed, but it was not a fatal blow. If anything, it only provoked its hostility further. Still, the fact remained that the attack had worked. Patema desperately refined her mana and prepared the next shot. It was inevitable that the Pain Serpent chose her as its next target.

“Wait! Don’t run!”

Sierra shouted at the giant serpent as it dragged its body along. She leveled her sword and chased after it. She was overflowing with a fierce killing intent that vowed to kill it no matter what.

“H-hii!”

Patema screamed. The one-eyed giant serpent overwhelmed her small frame with its sheer presence. Fear swelled like a frog being stared down by a snake. Her legs trembled, her tongue tangled. Her incantation collapsed, and the overflowing mana went out of control. The giant serpent showed no mercy to the girl who had revealed a fatal opening. Its sharp fangs closed in. At that moment…

“—Jah!?”

The giant serpent froze. It wasn’t that it had noticed something. Its movement looked unnaturally restrained, as if forcibly sealed.

“Gash—JAAA!?”

Confusion and pain surfaced in its left eye. It twisted its body and writhed as if trying to escape something. Yet Aurora Blade had done nothing. They could only stare in bewilderment at the serpent that had suddenly begun to thrash about. And then… 

“—AAAAAAAH!”

Bzun.

The giant serpent’s belly split open. What emerged from within was a massive battle axe. Coated in gastric acid and venom, it tore through the serpent’s thick hide. Even the hard scales were meaningless against an attack from the inside. The Pain Serpent screamed and flailed wildly, writhing in agony. From within its belly, a roar echoed.

“Balg-san!”

The voice Sierra and the others had been longing to hear. The wound widened, and a huge body rolled out. A wild man, hairy like a bear and powerfully built. Bathed in skin-melting gastric acid and venom that inflicted excruciating pain, he nonetheless clung to life through sheer vitality.

“Do it, Sierra!”

Balg shouted wildly. Sierra, trembling with joy, snapped back to her senses. It wasn’t over yet. The Pain Serpent, its stomach torn open, was still alive, writhing in agony.

“Patema, fire lance!”

“Leave it to me!”

At Sierra’s command, Patema responded instantly. With Balg back, they rapidly regained their formation. A spear of flame was woven. All of her mana was poured in, forming a dense spell structure. In sync with it, Sierra dashed forward ferociously straight ahead, without hesitation.

“Gooooo!”

The flaming spears surged toward the Pain Serpent, slicing through the darkness. With one eye gone, the serpent had a fatal blind spot. Patema aimed for it precisely… And executed her attack.

“SHAA!?”

The spear pierced its neck, and the scales crumbled away. Without pause, Sierra’s sword stabbed into the same spot.

“HAAAAAAH!”

She roared and drove the blade in, deep enough to sever flesh and bone. And it didn’t end there.

“Die, die, DIEEEEE!”

A beheading fueled by hatred and obsession. She forced the sword forward, crushing scales as she pushed in, clinging to the thrashing Pain Serpent’s neck. Blood streamed down from her head as if to make it atone for the sin of devouring the man she loved. But it wasn’t enough. Powerful muscles tangled around her sword. The Pain Serpent coiled its long body around her, trying to snap her spine. The cold fear of death closed in.

“Oraaaaaaaaah!”

At that moment, a spear plunged into the Pain Serpent’s wound. It was Nerva. She had briefly lost consciousness after being slammed into the cave wall, but the instant she woke, she grasped the situation. Whipping her screaming body into motion, she grabbed her spear and rushed in.

Nerva and Sierra’s gazes crossed. Mutual understanding connected between them. Having spent so many years together since childhood, they understood each other’s thoughts in an instant and executed the right moves.

“HAAAAH!”

“Oraaaaaah!”

Nerva’s spear bored deep. With its nerves severed and burning pain surging through it, the Pain Serpent loosened its grip on Sierra. Seizing that moment, the girl forced her sword forward. Thick scales crumbled away.

“It’s not over yet!”

Fireballs flew in succession. Their trajectories were dangerously close to grazing allies’ faces, but no one complained. The scales were scorched and fell away. Exposed flesh was torn apart by spear and sword. And then…

“It’s over!”

The thickest bone in its neck was severed. The serpent’s head fell, drenched in blood. Its body, having lost its command center, rapidly lost strength and collapsed to the ground. But Sierra and the others felt no sense of accomplishment.

“Balg-san!”

They looked around and rushed to Balg’s fallen form. Fana had already begun treatment. The fact that he had been swallowed whole without being chewed was a small mercy. Even so, his body, bathed in gastric acid and venom, was in a terrible state. His equipment had begun to melt, so Fana stripped it all off and discarded it. His robust physique was laid bare, but many areas of his skin were blistered and raw.

“We’ll wash him with water. Patema, water spheres.”

“O-okay!”

Fana recalled the treatment methods Balg had taught her, suppressing her panic as she rummaged through the supplies. The water they had prepared now felt insufficient. First, they had to wash away the serpent’s bodily fluids clinging to him.

“G—gaaaah!?”

“I’m sorry! Please endure it!”

Even plain water must have felt like boiling water. Balg writhed in agony. But Fana didn’t stop. His right eye had already turned cloudy and lost its function. They couldn’t leave it as it was.

“Sierra, crush these medicinal herbs and rub them onto Balg-san.”

“Understood.”

Fana took out the herbs, another thing Balg had taught them. They had to neutralize the venom with the herbs’ effects. Even now, he was enduring unimaginable pain. An ordinary person would have already passed out. He was maintaining consciousness through sheer mental fortitude alone.

“Fana, the water’s ready.”

“Pour it into that hollow and mix in this powder. Nerva, it’ll make a thin medicinal wash. Spread it over Balg-san’s whole body after Sierra rubs in the herbs.”

“Got it. Leave it to me.”

“Patema, do you have any Kabutowari Mushrooms?”

“Wha!? I-I do, but…”

“Chew them up and have him drink it with your saliva. It’s improvised, but it’s an excellent tonic. It’ll reduce the strain on Balg-san.”

“L-leave it to me!”

Following Fana’s instructions, Sierra and the others desperately continued treatment. Sierra rubbed in the herbs to neutralize the venom, while Nerva spread the slick, transparent lotion over his body. They had to protect the skin, which was blistered like severe burns.

Patema put the red mushroom she’d been hiding into her mouth, chewing it together with her saliva. It was a mushroom that could drive one into a frenzy if swallowed outright. Carefully mixing it, she transferred it into the mouth of the fallen Balg.

“Nn… Hah, hah…”

“Patema, switch with Sierra. One person isn’t enough.”

Patema’s face turned bright red. Sierra took the mushroom, put it in her mouth as well, mixed it with saliva, and fed it into Balg’s mouth like baby food for an infant. Because they inevitably swallowed a small amount themselves, one person alone couldn’t do it. The four of them took turns, little by little feeding the mushroom to Balg.

“Ugh…Guh…”

“Balg-san!”

Their devoted treatment finally bore fruit. Balg let out a groan.

“Nerva, food. He needs nutrition.”

“I’ll get it right away!”

Nerva brought over the supplies. They had plenty of rations but Balg, lacking the strength to chew, couldn’t swallow them.

“Balg-san, please open your mouth. —Nn.”

Sierra and the others chewed the hard block-shaped rations, dissolving them with saliva. Once softened into something like porridge, they fed it to him with a kiss. Balg accepted it obediently, greedily taking in the nutrition. To heal his ravaged body, he stored up nourishment. Then, to devote all his strength to recovery, he slowly closed his eyes.

“Balg-san!”

“It’s okay. He’s just sleeping.”

Fana soothed the panicking Sierra. With his head resting on the soft thighs of the young priestess, Balg’s chest rose and fell slowly.

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