Chapter 73: Extra: Manhunt - Part 2 (Violence)
They had been together for as long as they could remember.
Though one was a coward and the other a fool, both shared the same parasitic tendency of clinging to Trud to leech off his wealth, the same rotten brain that suggested picking up pets to play with, and the same crimes they were now trying to run away from.
That was the relationship between Henry and Francis.
They even shared the same instinct for which path to take—heading down the dark mountain toward the main road to call and beg for help.
"Stop following me, bastard!"
"You’re the one behind me!"
But all those similarities would end tonight, as each would suffer a different fate.
Within the darkness of the night, they stumbled through the rough mountain terrain, dragging their injured legs—each still pierced with an arrow. They fell again and again, tripping on roots, stones, and pits.
Even with all the bruises and cuts—on top of the damage Jeff had transferred on them—Henry and Francis were lucky enough not to encounter the hunters. They were even fortunate enough to reach the main road. And as if the odds were on their side—
"Stop! Please help us!"
"We need a ride away from here!"
—they were picked up by a passing car.
The car was just an ordinary sedan heading back toward Central City, which made Henry and Francis believe its driver—a tall blond man in his late twenties—wasn’t one of the hunters.
"We’re safe now... right... right?" Henry murmured, stammering like a coward.
"Of course we are. They’ll never catch me," Francis said, confident like a fool, as soon as they got inside the car and closed the door.
"What happened to both of you?"
Noticing their bruises, bloodstained clothes, foul stench, and the arrows still lodged in their legs, the driver asked in a cold, deep emotionless voice.
"Just take us wherever you’re going!"
"Let’s leave... already..."
Without further questions, the driver stepped on the accelerator and drove off.
After a while, Henry and Francis finally calmed down from their fear and panic. That’s when they noticed the duffel bag beside Henry.
Though the car’s interior was dim, they recognized the bag instantly. Upon opening it, the sight of guns, ammunition, drugs, a logbook, and a laptop terrified them more than anything that night.
"Fuck—UGH~!"
Before Francis could grab a gun, he was shot with a taser and collapsed, writhing on the backseat before losing consciousness.
"Piss me off further and you’ll end up worse than him," said the driver, still holding the taser and never taking his eyes off the road.
Henry could only nod, trembling, distancing himself from Francis to avoid being shocked.
When Francis woke up, he found himself deep in the mountain again, lying naked in a small clearing surrounded by trees and shrubs. A lantern lit the area. Beside him, Henry knelt—also naked. In front of them stood the driver—or rather, the police officer who was Jeff’s senpai at Iron Rod Legion.
To be precise, another Iron Rod Champion like Jeff.
He had organized a group of selected members of the legion to join the Manhunt after seeing Trud’s video online—for one sole reason: vengeance for a girl he personally knew who had fallen victim to Trud and his men.
He tossed a knife to each of them, then, with a handgun in both hands—taken from the duffel bag—aimed at the two.
Henry and Francis thought they would be forced to fight to the death, but what the officer said was far worse than anything they could imagine.
"Cut your rod and balls off. The first one to do it lives."
There’s no way I can do this,
Henry thought, staring at the knife on the ground.I’d rather fight than cut off my manhood, Francis thought, grabbing the knife. But before he could stand to attack—
—BANG!—
He was shot in the right knee.
"ARGH~!" Francis screamed, clutching his bleeding leg.
"I’m giving you until the count of five... 4... 3... 2... 1—"
"ARGH~!"
—BANG!—
The screams of agony echoed deep into the mountain, as loud as the gunshot itself, reaching even to where Trud was.
With both legs injured, Trud couldn’t escape far from the burning warehouse.
He could still hear the fading screams of the one being devoured by dogs. He watched as one of his men, along with Henry and Francis, abandoned him, running into the mountains, while the last took the van and drove away.
He tried to crawl on all fours, but the excruciating pain wracked his body, leaving him writhing on the ground.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!... How did this happen?! This wasn’t supposed to happen! I should be fucking her right now! I should be humiliating him!—FUCK!"
The only thing he could do was shout and curse Jeff and his friends—especially Jess.
Somehow, his rage cleared his mind, making him realize that if Jeff had uploaded his crimes online, then his father would surely see it. His father would know where he was and send men to rescue him.
He hadn’t lost yet. He could still get his revenge.
At that moment, he swore he would kill Jeff and his friends and turn Jess into his personal sex slave.
At least all of those things seemed possible then.
"This one’s already half gone. I mean literally—half of him is missing."
"There’s another here!"
"Is it their leader?"
"Yep... It’s him."
The group of masked men finally reached the burning warehouse and spotted Trud.
"Let go of me! Don’t you know who my father is?!"
He resisted, at least with words and threats, as they grabbed him from behind and forced him into a seated position.
"My father is the mayor of Central City!"
"Someone shut him up already."
"You’ll be punished if you do anything to me—Umm~!"
Trud’s mouth was gagged with his own shirt. His legs were spread apart. His pants and underwear were cut away with a knife, exposing his shrunken manhood.
What he heard next made it shrivel even more, as if trying to hide.
"It’s not like we’re going to kill you."
"We were told to keep you alive, after all."
"We even brought a first-aid kit."
"We’re only after your rod and balls."
"ARGH~!"
Two broken eggs and a smashed sausage lay on the ground—that was the last thing Trud remembered before losing consciousness, thus ending the Manhunt.