Blade of the Demon Hunt

Chapter 4 Kidnapping

When Amir opened his eyes again, he felt dizzy and disoriented. The pain in his forehead, accompanied by nausea, made him feel like he was going to vomit. However, as soon as he tried to move, he realized his hands were bound behind his back, and his feet were tightly shackled.Recalling the events of the previous night, Amir was horrified to realize that he had been kidnapped.Was the phone call last night not a prank, but rather a trap to lure him to the vicinity of that company? In hindsight, the company's address was in a relatively isolated area—though not exactly in the suburbs, it was sparsely populated during work hours. It would have been easy to avoid detection if they timed it right.But why go through such trouble to kidnap him? He wasn't a wealthy person. If it was for ransom, the kidnappers would be making a poor investment.As Amir pondered these questions, he looked around at his surroundings.The surroundings were dimly lit, filled with dust, and about the size of three classrooms. The windows were tightly boarded up with wooden planks, and the only metal door was likely locked. There were some wooden crates and other items piled up in the corners, making it look like an abandoned warehouse.Seeing this, Amir felt a strange sense of calm. Panicking was not helpful; he needed to find a way to escape. He noticed there were no sharp objects around that could be used to cut the ropes, so he had to think of another method.He tried to move his body closer to the window to peek through the gaps between the wooden planks and see what was happening outside, hoping to spot any kidnappers on guard. His mouth was not gagged, suggesting the kidnappers were confident, and shouting for help would likely be futile. The warehouse was probably located in a remote area with no passersby around.Rather than wasting energy on panic, it was better to conserve his strength. Amir thought to himself.After shifting for a while, Amir finally made some progress. He paused to catch his breath and listen for any sounds around him.At that moment, something caught his eye in the corner. At first, he thought he was seeing things, but upon closer inspection, terror gripped him. He fought the urge to scream and twisted his body to move away.Despite the dim light, it was clear that behind the stacks of wooden crates in the corner, there were human body parts.Crimson blood seeped into the ground, severed limbs were haphazardly piled together, and broken entrails were scattered on the floor, covered in dust. A severed head lay nearby, its face so twisted it was nearly unrecognizable. But Amir knew clearly that this person—or rather, this mutilated corpse—was the heavily made-up woman who had disappeared along with the mutated interviewer.Amir could now guess who had kidnapped him: it must be that transformed interviewer.Fear surged in Amir's heart as he realized the full extent of the trouble he was in.Was he really going to die here without understanding why? He glanced at the pile of mangled bodies, forcing himself to suppress the nausea rising in his stomach.He couldn't just wait to die. He needed to come up with a plan before the kidnapper returned.But with his hands and feet tightly bound and no tools to cut the ropes around him, his options seemed limited.Wait, tools...Amir suddenly remembered the dagger that appeared and disappeared sporadically.Since the dagger only appeared once after he found it, and that was the night he was attacked by the interviewer. Reflecting on it now, he realized he had no idea how the dagger appeared. If it only appeared when he was in danger, given his current bound state, it might be too late by the time it does.While he was thinking, he felt the familiar burning sensation in his wrist again.Oh no, every time he felt this sensation, something bad happened. Amir felt a wave of frustration and wanted to slam his head against the wall.At that moment, the iron door, which had been firmly shut, creaked open with a loud squeak, revealing a shadowy figure in the doorway.Amir watched the figure appear at the door, desperately trying to move towards the corner of the room.The person who entered was the interviewer. At that moment, he still looked human, though his suit was stained and dirty, and his eyes were blood-red. He seemed to ignore Amir and walked straight to the pile of corpses, casually picking up a severed arm and sniffing it before opening his mouth wide and starting to gnaw and swallow.The strong smell of blood and the sound of chewing were intensely disturbing to Amir, making him feel like he might faint at any moment.Soon, the monster finished eating one of the arms. He wiped his mouth casually and turned to face Amir, walking towards him step by step.Amir could guess what was coming next. He hoped he could just pass out, but the increasingly hot sensation from the mark on his wrist kept him painfully awake."I've lived this long and never tasted what a demon hunter is like, hehehehe." The rasping laughter echoed eerily through the empty warehouse as the interviewer's body began to transform, slowly changing into the monstrous form Amir had seen that night.Amir didn't want to beg for mercy because he knew it would be useless. At this point, his fear had reached its peak, but it had made him calm. He stared directly into the monster's eyes.The monster seemed quite surprised by Amir's reaction. For a moment, it was stunned by his unwavering gaze. After snapping out of it, it suddenly erupted in rage and shouted at Amir, "What kind of look is that? Scream in fear, beg for mercy—maybe I'll consider giving you a quick death!"Determined not to beg for mercy no matter what he faced, Amir resolved to die with dignity. His resolve was clearly reflected in his eyes. The interviewer, now a monster, grew increasingly agitated. While shouting, "Let's see how long you can hold out," it extended its claws and lunged at Amir.As Amir stared at the monstrous figure coming toward him, he felt for the first time the imminent approach of death. Overwhelmed with despair, he closed his eyes, bracing himself for the pain that was about to come.After waiting for a while, Amir realized there was no immediate pain. He cautiously opened his eyes and saw that the mutated interviewer had stopped moving for some reason, its face showing a wary look as it glanced around nervously.What's happening? Amir wondered in confusion.At that moment, a flash of silver suddenly streaked across another part of the warehouse, moving so fast that it was almost impossible to react. The monster, clearly drawn to the silver light, turned and began to move in the direction of the flash, trying to locate its source.As the monster moved away, Amir had not yet had the chance to catch his breath when suddenly a large hand reached from behind and clamped over his mouth."Shh, don't shout. It's me," a magnetic voice whispered behind him. Although the voice wasn't familiar, it somehow brought a slight sense of relief to Amir's anxious heart.Amir relaxed slightly and nodded to indicate he would not make any noise.Seeing this, the person behind him released their grip and began to untie the ropes binding Amir's hands.Once his hands were free, Amir quickly untied the ropes from his feet and stretched his limbs. Turning around, he found that it was the same man with the small mustache who had approached him on the street earlier.D still wore the same exaggerated three-piece suit, crouching in front of Amir with one elbow resting on his knee and his chin propped up, smiling at him."Uh.""You can call me D," D said with a smile."Is that a code name to add an air of mystery or because you're afraid people will know you're a weirdo?" Amir thought to himself."Do you have a lot of questions?" D asked, still smiling.Indeed, there were many, such as the strange code name.Amir paused for a moment, then decided to ask the more pressing question: "Um, Mr. D, shouldn't we be escaping?" There was still a flesh-eating monster out there. Was it really okay to stay here and chat calmly?"No need. We're not the ones who need to escape right now." D stood up, bending slightly and extending a hand to Amir.Amir accepted the hand and, with D's help, stood up. Only then did he realize his right wrist was incredibly hot, though it didn't have the burning pain that the initial heat from the pattern had caused.Looking down at his wrist, Amir, even though usually slow on the uptake, began to realize that this reaction was likely connected to the current situation.Noticing Amir's gaze, D pointed at his right hand and smiled, "My apologies." He reached over and pulled up Amir's sleeve, exposing the strange pattern on his wrist.The originally black pattern had now turned fiery red, looking like a piece of red-hot iron."Ah, it's really on you," D said with apparent delight upon seeing the pattern, his tone rising with excitement."You know what this thing is?" Amir, hearing the change in D's tone, urgently grabbed D's clothes and asked.D gently removed Amir's hand from his clothes, smiling as he spoke slowly, "Don't worry, once we've dealt with this situation, I'll explain everything to you in detail."Amir then remembered there was still a flesh-eating monster around, and realized that now was not the time for a chat.At that moment, a loud crash came from behind them, accompanied by a hoarse, agonized scream that grew louder and more painful as it approached, creating a chilling effect in the empty warehouse.Amir turned to look and saw the interviewer being hurled through the air as if hit by a heavy truck, crashing into the wall with a deafening thud before falling to the ground and struggling to get up.Seeing the crack in the wall caused by the impact, Amir couldn't help but exclaim in shock. If he had taken such a hit, he'd be either dead or severely injured. He was astounded by the interviewer's resilience, as the man seemed to still be able to move.The interviewer struggled to stand up, completely ignoring Amir and D, and stared in terror at the direction from which the force had come."What kind of monstrous force could scare this creature so much?" Amir thought to himself as he looked in the same direction as the interviewer.