Trigger warnings:
Body horror, mentions of cannibalism.
Dodak was still processing the information he had received when the door's creaking directed his attention away.
"I'm hurt. I leave for a second, and here you all are spilling all my secrets to someone you just met."
His cunning grin revealed everything. Dodak had been played. Amidst his panic, he had forgotten to consider the possibility that the convenient departure of the cannibal had been a ploy. The cannibal had been waiting outside all along, using him as a test for his followers. The result was obvious. The followers had failed, and Dodak was doomed.
As he closed the gap between him and his captives, the blood from their faces began to drain. The slow march of impending doom signalled certain death. He stopped before them and flashed Dodak yet another devious smirk.
"I'll give you one chance at redemption. Bring me both his legs, and I'll consider letting all of you live."
The desperation that was sewn into their eyes evolved into hope. A dangerous, malicious hope.
The woman who had spoken up earlier was the first to grab the cleaver as she advanced towards Dodak.
"Come on now, there has to be another way. Don't let him command you like this."
"It's either this or death."
With both his hands chained, Dodak would have difficulty fighting them. But losing his limbs was definitely out of the question.
When she was within his reach, he tugged at the chains, lifting himself into the air and kicking her squarely in the abdomen. While he was not the strongest, he still held a physical advantage against unpowered humans.
Seeing as he had begun to fight back, the group started spreading out and surrounding him. Two of them rushed forward, but Dodak kicked them both away. A third sprinted forth, but Dodak pulled himself upwards and used his thighs to strangle him.
However, the sheer number of them overwhelmed him. They rushed forward and pulled his legs off the strangled man, rooting his legs to the ground. He conjured mist as he could and released it forth. The mist swirled and entered into three of the followers' airways. Coughing and wheezing followed, and the white foam rose from their mouths. The bodies then collapsed onto the floor, lifeless.
"Hold him from behind!"
They dashed behind him and, using their combined force, relocked his legs onto the floor. Thinking quickly, he gathered another burst of mist in his mouth, preparing to turn around and blast it at the followers.
"Someone else grab his head and make it face forward!"
Within seconds, his head was yanked and faced towards the front. He struggled and thrashed, but he knew it was pointless. They had completely locked him in place.
The woman was now back with the cleaver. She cleverly manoeuvred to the side, out of the range of the mist, and went to Dodak's side.
"Please don't do this."
"I'm sorry."
SHING
Tears welled up in his eyes as the cleaver sliced into his flesh. He screamed, the cries echoing off the dungeon walls. The pain was excruciating. The pain was horrendous. The pain was devastating. He could not think straight. All that flowed through his mind was the shocking pain.
From the corner of his vision, he could see the crimson liquid flowing out of his thigh. It leaked down his jeans and stained the ripped, blue denim.
His leg began to feel numb. Before he could process it, there was yet another crisp slice through the air, and an excruciating pain yet again. He could not handle it any longer. His head was going dizzy. The adrenaline was pumping rapidly, trying to steady him. His airways felt clogged with mucus. His throat was dry from the screaming and crying.
The third time was not the charm. The pain of the third strike was just as intense as the first two. The cleaver had begun to hit his bone and was chipping away at it slowly. The tears fell from his jawline onto the floor, mixing with the blood. The leg had begun to come loose, barely hanging on and swaying from the force.
His body began to feel cold. He started shivering as his vision began to blur. His breathing was becoming unstable.
With a final swing, the leg had come loose. Dodak could not bear to look at the mess. The air tickled his bare flesh as the wound continued bleeding. The smell of iron was dizzying.
All he could muster was a throaty screech, mourning his leg as his body began to fizzle, smoke forming on his skin. He wept and sobbed as the green mist seeped out of his body and into the atmosphere. As he breathed and his body moved up and down, more and more mist escaped from his pores. It surrounded him in a green cloud, expanding outwards.
"Get back! The poison is coming from his body!"
The followers quickly retreated to the other side of the room. Some were unlucky and had inhaled the mist. Within seconds, their airways were swollen and clogged.
"This is fun."
The cannibal walked towards the door and inserted the key. He locked the door and broke the key, letting the broken half fall to the floor and jingle while the other half remained in the keyhole.
"No!"
The woman raced towards the door and tried to pry the broken key out.
"Get a nail! Or a clip! Anything!"
One of the followers rushed towards a corner of the room and picked up a paper clip, throwing it across the room to the woman. Hands jittering due to her panic, she scrambled to open the clip. Another follower sprinted to the door with a nail, trying to insert it in but it was too big.
"Move!"
Once the paper clip was opened, she quickly shoved the follower away and began prying into the keyhole.
The mist was approaching at an alarming rate. It closed in on the followers who were all praying that the door would open.
Twisting and rotating the clip, she fervently continued to try and pry the metal out of the hole. She continuously wiggled the clip and was ecstatic when she realised the metal piece was moving.
The cloud of green was inches away from the followers when the metal piece was removed from the keyhole. The woman held her breath as she reinserted the clip, trying to pry the door open.
The room had now been coated with green. The followers who had managed to calm themselves down and hold their breaths were still hanging on. Those who had panicked and inhaled the mist were now lying on the floor, foam bubbling out of their mouths.
A click could be heard from the door. She had successfully picked the lock. Quickly pulling the door open, she was startled when it was forcefully slammed shut by a hand. Looking up in horror, she was face to face with the cannibal, who was laughing maniacally and breathing without a problem.
She clung onto his leg as she struggled to hold her breath. Her brain forced her to inhale for oxygen, and her eyes widened. Soon, the last follower had collapsed onto the floor, taken by the green mist.
"Come on now, that's not fair."
He kicked the motionless body off his leg and advanced towards the source of the green mist. He inspected the shaking Dodak, who was still chained to the wall. The cannibal caressed Dodak's arm. He tried to maintain his devilish smirk, hiding his shock that his skin burned from the contact.
"What a bummer. You killed all of them. Even poor Miyeong."
"They deserved it. They chopped off my leg. You'll get your karma soon, just like them."
The man walked over to the chopped thigh and picked it up. To Dodak's horror, he began feasting on it right in front of him.
"Who's gonna kill me, the almighty Jae Seung? You? Don't make me laugh."
Dodak was seething with rage. In his fit of anger, he spat in the face of the cannibal. He watched as the smirk fell off his face and his eyebrows narrowed. His jaw tightened as he trembled with rage.
"You'll regret that."
He walked back to the corpse and picked up the cleaver. He stormed back to the chained Dodak and with a single strike, his other leg had been sliced off.
It happened so quickly that Dodak did not even feel it till a few seconds after. He looked down in horror to see his remaining leg spurting out blood while the limb had fallen to the floor. His torso hung from the chains as he was being held by them.
Dodak felt his chest tightening as he struggled to breathe. The loss of one leg was horrendous, but the loss of both was crushing.
He had lost the ability to walk. Jae Seung had crushed him. He would never be able to escape. He would spend the last few hours in the dungeon being held up by the chains, tortured, and eaten before he died of blood loss or infection.
As he finally came to terms with his defeat, he wondered what he had done in his life to deserve such a death. Sure, he did horrible things in his life, but did they really warrant such a brutal ending?
His mind wandered back to Bear and Kim Harin. Would they ever find his body? Will they even recognise it after Jae Seung's defilement? So many questions flooded his mind, yet the answers that came just made his defeat hit even harder.
Forcing a smile, he tried his best to console himself in his dying hours.