Pain was agony.
It hurt to be struck, and it hurt even more to be sliced by a blade.
Every time I died, my spirit was whittled away just a little bit more.
"Well then, I’ll just kill you over and over until you can’t take it anymore. Ahah, I can’t wait to see how you’ll scream and wail from here on out."
With those words, she ran me through with her sword.
"Die! Die!"
Ageha shrieked, violently stabbing her blade into my body again and again.
Squelch, squelch. Every time the steel pierced my skin, the sound of tearing flesh echoed in the room.
I let out a scream, trying in vain to dull the excruciating pain.
A moment later, I was dead.
"Ahah, I’m not giving you a single second to rest."
The moment I died, a Return by Death triggered.
The instant my consciousness returned, the Ageha standing before me swung her sword in a wide arc, as if trying to mince me into pieces.
Once again, I died.
"You still look like you have room to breathe. Maybe I should kill you in a way that makes the pain last longer?"
Muttering that, Ageha stabbed me repeatedly.
Before I knew it, I was dead again.
"How was that? Did it hurt? I’m going to put you through much, much worse now."
Saying that, she drove the sword into me.
"Ahah, this is only the prologue! From now on, you’re going to suffer more and more! I’m looking forward to seeing exactly how you lose your mind."
She killed me while laughing.
"Listen, you’re about to experience a hellish amount of pain. And no matter how much you beg me to stop, I won’t!"
She spoke with pure delight as she killed me.
"Hey? How does it feel? Haven't you had enough yet?"
As she asked, she killed me.
"You must feel terrible, right? But I’m not stopping."
And so, she killed me again.
"Come on, just die, you small fry. It’s pathetic, being killed so easily by someone younger than you."
She threw out the provocation and killed me.
"Still not giving up? Even if you Return by Death, you'll just be killed by me for all eternity. So, why don't you just give up and choose 'No' already?"
With that declaration, Ageha carved open my chest and killed me.
"You’re still choosing to Return by Death. Even if you keep coming back, all that’s waiting for you is a living hell. Don’t you think you’d be better off just staying dead?"
And so, she killed me again.
"Keep it up. Do your best. Fight! Fight! Does it hurt? Hey, does it hurt?"
Ageha cheered me on while hacking off my right and left arms. She let me savor the agony before finally killing me.
"Is it hard? Look, if you just press 'No', you can be at peace. So, hurry up and die."
With those words, she killed me.
"Still not staying dead? I'd really appreciate it if you'd just give up."
She killed me again.
"Die. Just die. Die die die die die die."
She muttered like a curse as she killed me.
"I don't care how many times you Return by Death, I will kill you every single time!"
Ageha screamed and killed me.
"I’ll kill you! No matter how many times you come back, I will absolutely kill you!!"
With that shriek, she pierced my heart and killed me.
After that, Ageha killed me more times than I could possibly count.
"Die. Seriously, just die already."
She spat the words out with disgust as she killed me.
"Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Just hurry up and die!"
She swung her sword around with violent, clumsy movements as she killed me.
"Ugh, so annoying. Why won't you just stay dead?"
She muttered with a weary, listless tone as she killed me.
"Die already. I'm starting to get bored over here."
Ageha spoke with a look of pure tedium as she killed me.
"Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die."
She muttered mechanically as she killed me.
"Hey, won't you just die for me? Don't you get it? Even if you keep Returning by Death, all you're doing is subjecting yourself to a living hell."
She spoke as if trying to reason with me as she killed me.
"...You're still not giving up. You certainly have a lot of persistence."
Saying that, Ageha killed me.
"Haa... honestly, it would make me so happy if you'd just die."
I suddenly noticed she was out of breath.
But before I could say anything, Ageha drove her sword between my eyebrows and killed me.
"...Just give up. I've already killed you dozens of times."
No matter how I looked at her, Ageha was clearly irritated.
Fuming with frustration, she killed me.
"...You're still not going to give up for me? Die already!"
She screamed as she killed me.
"Hey, not yet? Are you still not dead? When are you finally going to die?"
She muttered like a neurotic patient as she killed me.
"Why... why won't you give up! Normally, anyone would be sick of this by now!"
Her expression was one of blatant, seething irritation.
And yet, the cycle of her killing me remained unchanged.
"Hey, why won't you die...? It’s not right. Normally, if you're killed this many times, you'd want it to end, right?"
By now, she was the one who looked exhausted.
Even so, she put all her effort into killing me.
"Why? Hey, why won't you die? Please, I'm begging you, just die. Please."
For some reason, she was the one wailing now.
The moment I reached out a hand to say "Hey," she stabbed me to death.
"It’s wrong, it’s wrong, it’s wrong...! Why won't you die! This is wrong! It’s wrong, it’s wrong, it’s wrong!!"
She was having a complete mental breakdown. Nevertheless, she killed me.
"........................Why are you still alive?"
She whispered to me with eyes that were hollowed out by fatigue.
Still, she killed me.
"Waaaaahhhhh! Whyyyyy! Why won't you just die!"
Ageha broke down into fat tears, but even as she sobbed, she killed me.
"I’ll die with you! I’ll die too! So please, let's just die together! I'm begging you..."
She tried to persuade me through her tears. Even so, she drove her blade into my body.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's all my fault. But please. Please just die. I'm begging you."
She muttered the words like something broken as she killed me.
"I love you. I love Kiska more than anyone in the world. I love you from the bottom of my heart. So please. Let's die together."
I was killed in the middle of a confession of love.
"Uuuuuuuuuuuugh!! Why? Why are you okay after being killed this much!?"
I heard the clang of a sword falling to the ground.
Then, weeping, she slumped down onto the floor.
It seemed she no longer had the strength or the will to kill me.
"Well, uh..."
Not knowing how to respond, I found myself at a loss for words.
"I’ve died hundreds of times before. To be honest, this much is still pretty manageable."
Dying was painful, of course. If I had the choice, I’d rather not feel it.
However, perhaps because I had died so many times, the reality was that I had simply grown accustomed to the sensation of death.
"So, is that all?"
I asked her, thinking to myself that I wouldn't have actually minded dying a few more times.
"You're crazy..."
Ageha let out a long, heavy sigh as she spoke.
"No, I’m a perfectly normal Human."
I didn't think I deserved to be called crazy by her, of all people.
"..............."
For some reason, she just glared up at me with a deeply dissatisfied look in her eyes.
What was that about? Her gaze was starting to feel quite uncomfortable.