Hayden reached a dead end.
He ended at the far back side of the campus and there was nothing there.
But as Hayden surveyed his eyes along the area, he heard a loud chattering of people 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 has several construction trucks arrayed in line and there are no other people in the truck parking area except the students.
The students are gathered in an open space of the area, forming a semicircle arena with a big guy in the middle waiting for his opponent.
Hayden located Aubrey's position among the crowd, so he got over the 7-foot wall with one clean leap and went over to her.
Aubrey is with her friends and despite Aubrey saying to Hayden earlier not to bother her, Hayden doesn't give a fuck.
Hayden approached them and asked Aubrey's female friend about the commotion.
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 recognise them as he remembers 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. This place is like the nether realm." the girl replied.
Aubrey turned around and gave Hayden a death stare that says "Don't fucking befriend my friends."
But as always, Hayden doesn't give a fuck.
He continues chatting with the girl trying to win her side, until Aubrey finally snaps.
"Camille!" Aubrey barked, cutting Camille and Hayden's conversation.
"Ah. Yes?"
"Remember to film the whole shit."
"Yeah, I got my phone ready."
Not long after, another guy emerged from a specific direction and approached Liam head-to-head.
Once the guy entered the arena, the crowd made a complete circle, setting the stadium for the fight.
"I just owned you yesterday and it felt like child's play. 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 way better than any average human. But compared to Liam who obviously looks like he has a subscription to an elite gym membership, 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 rushed to Liam.
The guy doesn't have good fighting techniques and he just aimlessly throws punches.
Liam evaded getting hit by his reinforced hand since a knuckle is no joke.
Liam's shifting and skipping movements make 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 is choking and he's 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 he realises that Aubrey 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 on his hand 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 upper back sends Liam in pain which makes him crouch.
His knees met the ground and his body curled with his 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 him on the back as they talked trash about Liam whose defence was on the brink of collapse.
Liam was beginning 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 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 party 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, named Angelo, 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, that whore is definitely the one.'