Kobold jumps on me as I fall.
The figure stands upright like a dog. It rushes at me. In an instant, my entire field of vision is filled with kobolds.
At this rate, I will be devoured by the kobolds and die easily.
But I, too, have been through many deaths. I am not a child who will just sit and die in fear.
If I'm going to be eaten at this rate, all I have to do is avoid them.
I kick the ground with my left foot and thrust my left arm into the ground as if to slam it down.
I was supposed to go under the kobold and through the enclosure - on the right side as it was.
With a crack, the arm relaxes.
Slip, your foot slips.
The attack, which I should have been able to avoid, hits me head-on.
My body was far more exhausted than I had expected from the battle up to this point.
Because of this, my limbs slipped and I failed to avoid the attack.
The kobold's fangs that came down on me, opened wider than my head, could have easily gnawed me off from the neck up.
Thanks to a slight shift in my body, I escaped a fatal wound, but its jaws dug deeply into my left shoulder.
The fangs of a leaping kobold bite into my left shoulder.
They rip through the flesh, the tips reaching down to the bone. It continues to scrape away at the bone.
The sound, the feel, the pain - it invaded my body in one breath.
'Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!'
In my previous life, I had received wounds of this magnitude many times.
I have continued to fight with the bite and shaken it off, without thinking about the bite of a kobold.
And yet, this body could not withstand the attack.
It seems that the young body had no tolerance for pain.
It even let go of its only weapon, a knife, and flailed about carelessly, flapping its arms and legs.
Even so, only the left arm that had been bitten did not even twitch.
'Aaahhhh, aaahhhh, aaahhhh, aaahhhh, aaahhhh!'
I cried and flailed ...... but the bitten kobold wouldn't let go.
A slimy feeling ran down his arm. No, it's gushing out.
A vital blood vessel has clearly been injured. I won't last long at this rate.
Just as I was preparing to die, a stone was thrown at Kobold's back.
The throw is not enough to damage the monster.
Nevertheless, the projectile continued to be thrown two or three times. The one who threw the stone at me was that girl, who should have climbed a tree to take shelter.
'Hey, why--'
''Let go of Nicole-chan!
Her voice is high-pitched, almost mistaking it for a scream, and she releases the projectile as best she can with tears in her eyes.
For Kobolds, of course, their voices only signal the presence of new prey.
Several of the animals surrounding me turn in response to the voice.
'Kyaaaaaahhhh!
Kobolds attack the girl. I covered my face as quickly as I could, and it seems that she was bitten on the arm, just like me, and only avoided a fatal wound.
But she was pushed down as it was, and eventually even her screams were cut off.
Is that a sign that she's out of it? ...... No, that can't be allowed to happen.
I would have risked my life to keep her alive.
And yet, it ends in vain - or does it?
No - am I going to abandon her now that she is dying?
"Such a thing ...... would never be allowed, would it--gaaaaahhh!"
She could die at any moment. Then we must rescue her as soon as possible.
If you can't do that, ...... what's the point of being a hero, ....... ......!
With my only moving right arm, I jabbed a finger at Kobold's right eye.
'Gab!?
The deeply pierced finger is bent inwards as it is and hooked into the back of the cranium.
With all my might, I slammed a headbutt into the tip of Kobold's nose as he tried to turn his head.
'From there - get out of the way!
'GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?
The residual impact on the skull causes dizziness and vertigo, but that's not the point now.
Fortunately, my legs are still alive. I can at least run to her rescue.
Let the girl go!"
I picked up a stone she ...... threw, which rolled on the ground, and hit Kobold from behind, who was attacking the girl.
A child's body cannot be damaged by a proper strike.
So she clung to him from behind and continued to hit him, aiming for his eyes.
The eye is a vital spot that any living creature would be reluctant to protect. Combined with the fear of being attacked from behind, it should be difficult for it to ignore me.
It released its mouth from biting my arm and tried to shake me off by swinging its right arm.
But that's a move I'm not supposed to make.
I don't know where the timing will be, but I have to make that move to shake off someone attacking me from behind. If it makes a difference, it's only to the right or to the left.
I scramble through its arms and move around in front of Kobold.
Using the swing away movement, I dispel Kobold's legs, which are out of position, and push my foe away.
If he was out of stance, even with my strength, I managed to push Kobold away.
I checked on the girl while she was out of distance, but it seems that she just fainted from the pain and bleeding from the bite.
No fatal wounds existed.
But this didn't save us.
Not a single Kobold has been killed yet. It is impossible for this body to escape with her unconscious.
Then we have no choice but to endure here.
It is ...... honestly hopeless.
If it were just me, there would be a chance of escaping.
Of course, the option of abandoning her does not exist for me.
I have no choice but to fight to the bitter end."
My left arm is immobile.
No weapons.
It is also bleeding dangerously if left unattended.
Still, I can't retreat. I have to hold on until help arrives.
'...... fighting is tougher than dying.'
Fighting is not enough. It is not enough to survive. What is required here is to just keep on stepping up and fighting.
It's the same fight I experienced in my previous life, just before I died.
"Come on, dog pole!"
I threatened as loudly as I could to rouse myself.