Hayden reached a dead end.
He ended at the far back side of the campus and Aubrey was nowhere in sight.
But as Hayden surveyed his eyes along the area, a loud chattering of people echoed beyond the campus walls.
He went over and stood on his tiptoes, peeking over the walls.
There he found a clump of students wearing the same uniform as his.
The place was a truck parking lot. Several construction trucks arrayed in the corner, and the only people there were the students.
This kind of gathering looks more of a cult in Hayden's perspective.
The students are clumped in an open space of the area, surrounding a familiar big man.
Hayden located Aubrey and her friends' position among the crowd, so he got over the 7-foot wall with one clean leap and went over to them.
Hayden has never seen such a phenomenon in his life, so he asks, "Is there a show here?"
Aubrey's friend isn't as ill-mannered as she is, so she gave Hayden an answer.
"Oh… You're the new student. Liam there has beef with a douchebag in the other class… and he's here to settle the score."
Liam is in the same class as Hayden. Most importantly, Liam is also among Aubrey's circle of friends.
Hayden could recognize their faces from the class earlier; they are the students seated at the back.
"Is this place secured from raids of some sort?" Hayden asked.
"No one knows about this place," the girl replied.
Aubrey was just beside the girl, and she could hear Hayden acting buddies with her friends. Irritated, she turned and gave Hayden a death stare.
Hayden wasn't threatened, after all, he's just doing his job.
He continues chatting with the girl trying to win her side, until Aubrey finally snaps.
"Camille!" Aubrey barked, cutting their conversation.
"Ah. Yes?" Camille replied.
"Remember to film the whole thing," Aubrey said, crossing her arms and frowning to Hayden.
"Yeah, I got my phone ready."
Not long after, another guy emerged behind the school wall, approaching Liam head on.
Once the guy came close, a meter away in front of Liam, the crowd circled them, setting the stadium for the fight.
"You've got balls to stand here for another beating," Liam remarked.
The crowd rumbles, cheering loudly.
"Don't get too ahead of yourself, motherfucker. Bullying the weak just because you could doesn't make you cool."
The other guy was from Humms-2. His physique is slightly better than an average human. But compared to Liam who obviously looks like he has a subscription to an elite gym, the difference between the two men on stage is like Dad vs son.
"Bullying the weak? So you're calling your own friends a weakling? Doesn't sound cool to me either."
The guy from Humms-2 lost the mockery battle, consequently losing his temper.
"Let's see how tough you are, big guy," He said as he slid his knuckles through the fingers of his right hand.
Then, he launched forward and charged Liam.
The guy doesn't have good fighting techniques. He's just aimlessly throwing punches at Liam who effortlessly deflects the attack. Liam's shifting and skipping movements made him evasive.
After striking rashly, the guy was out of breath and that's when Liam took over the fight.
Liam gets behind the guy and binds his arm around his neck.
The guy choked, trying his best to resist. He began bashing his elbow on Liam's side, but his poor state disables him from putting enough power.
As he sloppily elbows Liam, Liam grabs his hand and slides the knuckles out of his fingers.
Not wanting to kill, Liam relinquished his clutch and kicked him in his back, sending him to kiss the dirt.
"Wow… You really resort to fighting dirty, are ya?" Liam threw the knuckles in the trash.
He literally threw it to the guy sprawled on the dirt because apparently, Liam thinks he's trash.
"What a sucker…" Liam sneered.
The crowd once again exploded with that badass finish by Liam.
Hayden glances at Aubrey's face during the uproar, and she was entertained by this fiasco. Although she's not cheering like those around her, Aubrey was grinning like she won the lottery.
The guy on the dirt was growling like a dog about to bite. His fingers curled, catching powders of dirt along his hand.
Then, as Liam lowered his guard, thinking he beat the shit out of his opponent, the guy rapidly got back to his feet and spattered the crumbs of dirt directly to Liam's face.
It caught Liam off guard and it landed on his eyes, momentarily disrupting his vision.
Liam tried brushing away the dirt that was hindering his sight. But his opponent seized the chance and shouted.
"GET HIM!"
Four guys from different directions came dashing out of the crowd and charged in.
Each of them was equipped with knuckles except one who was holding a wooden baseball bat.
They pounce onto the enfeebled Liam and strike him from every direction.
With his vision disabled, Liam struggles to defend himself and he receives numerous hits on his abdomen, arms, side, and back, and a few hits even slip to his head.
Their filthy fighting tactics enraged Liam.
He went berserk.
"FUUUUUUCK!!!" Liam roared.
His eyes kept hurting as dirt infiltrated them. But instead of surrendering, he folded his eyelids and fought back with his eyes closed.
The guys were attacking him, so Liam easily located their position and jostled them one by one, but most of his strikes missed.
Liam is now the one aimlessly launching his elbow towards an invisible opponent.
Luckily enough, he hit them eventually and knocked down a couple of his aggressors.
But with fewer people on him, the more he was exposed. The man with the baseball bat finds an opening and seizes his chance.
*SMACK*
One solid hit from the back sends Liam crouching in pain.
His knees met the ground and his body curled, arms sheltering his head.
Liam has a reputation as a monster with a record of 39-0; and in those 39 wins, this is the only fight where he was brought down to the ground.
And also, it may be his first defeat.
The opponents Liam temporarily neutralised get back on their feet and surround him.
They repeatedly kicked, stomped and hit Liam on the back as they talked trash.
Liam began to rattle. Once his defence gives up, he might actually die when the baseball bat home runs his skull.
At this point, Hayden was weighing the situation and he was constantly glancing at the nuances on Aubrey's countenance.
Just earlier, Hayden saw the extremely thrilled look on her face, but now that the favour is reversed, she looks so disgruntled that Hayden could hear her teeth clenching.
'Does being a bodyguard involve protecting the protectee's emotions?' Hayden asked himself.
The crowd which was recently in explosive cheering went silent.
"Someone stop them…"
"This is getting out of hand…"
"You think we should call the teacher?..."
Murmurs sounded along the concerned crowd.
The fight was supposed to end when one side is apprehended or unable to fight; that's considered a win.
Liam cannot fight in his condition. He's heavily outnumbered, and his vision is restricted.
So, this is a loss for the undefeated Liam.
However, his enemies are not done… and it seems like they'll never be done.
The leader of the group who faced Liam head-to-head, pulled out an ice pick, looking to end the show, and also a life.
No one was backing Liam up.
Among these hundred students watching on the sidelines, not a single one is bold enough to join the full-on brawl.
Liam's female friend who was standing close to Hayden is also doing nothing but to cripple their faces with fear.
Even if one has heroic syndrome and jumped in to halt the fight, they would just end up lying 6 feet underground next to Liam.
It's basically a gangbang.
Hayden once again glances at Aubrey's face.
'If there's someone who can handle 5 men, this whore is definitely the one.'