Forsaken Hunter-Chapter 29: Beneath the Mask, A Leader

Scene: Ella's Capture (Full Scene Continued)

Ella's body lay still — paralyzed by the sting of a high-voltage stun gun. Her limbs wouldn't respond, and her breathing was shallow. Her ears rang with horrifying sounds — weeping, screams, chains clinking... the air was thick with despair.

She was thrown near an old well, wrists cuffed, dragged like cargo. Her face scraped against the cold stone floor, and her vision flickered from the static in her head. In the distance, she could barely see through the dim flickering lights — until shadows approached.

Guard: "Chief, we've captured the girl."

From the darkness emerged a figure — tall, thin, draped in a tattered jester's uniform stitched with red and black. His face was hidden behind a wide, smiling porcelain mask. No expression, no soul — just a painted grin that mocked everything it saw. He didn't walk. He floated with theatrics, like a stage performer whose audience was made of corpses.

He crouched down, inches from Ella's face, his breath cold as winter air.

Joker Chief: "Hmm... no fear in your eyes? Interesting."

He tilted his head to one side like a curious child admiring a broken toy.

"You're a hunter, aren't you? That explains the stubborn look. Hunters resist. Hunters fight. Hunters can't be used for birthing our precious children. You're... defective."

His tone was playful, almost gentle — but the cruelty behind his words was unmistakable.

He chuckled, fingers tapping her cheek mockingly.

Joker Chief: "But don't worry. There's always a place in the Pleasure Squad."

Ella blinked, confused. Her lips barely moved as she whispered,

Ella: "...Pleasure squad?"

The guards behind the Joker burst into laughter, the kind that made the skin crawl. But Joker's laugh was worse — a high-pitched, cracked sound that seemed to echo from another world entirely.

Joker Chief: "It means you get to stay alive. As long as you keep the higher-ups smiling... satisfy them... scream for them. A warm body with some fight in it? They love that."

Ella's stomach turned. Disgust bubbled in her throat.

And then — she spat. Right on his mask.

The laughter stopped. For a moment, everything was still.

Ella: "You monster. You pervert. Uncuff me — and I'll show you what a defective hunter can do."

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One of the guards stepped forward, alarmed.

Guard: "Chief, she's B-Rank. She's dangerous!"

But Joker didn't care.

Joker Chief: "Uncuff her. I want to play."

The metal cuffs clicked open and hit the ground.

Ella wasted no time. Her aura flared — faint, but sharp. She surged forward with the last of her strength, mana lacing her fist as she aimed for his masked face.

She never landed the blow.

Joker's knee drove into her gut like a battering ram. The wind was knocked clean from her lungs. Then came the kick — sudden, brutal, and aimed at her chest.

CRACK.

Her body flew through the air like a ragdoll, crashing onto the moss-covered stone rim of the ancient well. Pain shot through her spine, her breath came in rasps.

Joker Chief (mocking): "Oops. Did the little hunter slip?"

She tried to move. Just an inch. Her arms trembled. Her vision blurred.

Joker approached slowly, step by step, humming a lullaby soaked in madness.

Joker Chief: "You're not even worth selling."

Then — one final kick.

It landed square on her back, and her body tipped over the edge.

She didn't scream. She couldn't. Her voice was gone, swallowed by pain.

She fell into the darkness.

The Well – Dumping Ground of the Failed

Scene: Ella's Fall — The Monster in the Pit

Ella's body struck the stone floor with a sharp crack, her breath stolen by the impact. Pain bloomed across her back and ribs, but it was the smell that hit her next — the rancid stench of rotting flesh. Her eyes fluttered open, watery from the sting of decay.

Bones littered the ground. Some still had scraps of skin hanging from them. Jewelry glinted faintly in the dim light above — earrings, necklaces, broken watches. All once owned by women. All now part of this silent mass grave.

Ella's heart pounded as she rolled to her side, blood from a cut on her lip dripping down her chin. Her eyes caught movement.

Across the chamber, chained to the stone wall, knelt a boy.

He looked no older than sixteen — his body lean, malnourished, but still unnaturally muscular. His skin was a patchwork of scars and bruises. His hair was shaggy brown, matted with dried blood. One eye was shut from swelling, but the other glowed — red, feral, a beast's gaze in a boy's body. And his ears... pointed. His claws... unnatural. His teeth... sharper than human.

He was no ordinary prisoner.

He was a failed experiment.

Born in a lab. Raised in confinement. Fed the flesh of other failed subjects — human and inhuman. Conditioned to survive by devouring. There was nothing natural about him.

> "Chief, she fell!" a voice echoed from above.

Ella lifted her head just as the masked man reappeared, peering down into the pit. That grinning white mask gleamed, the red jester uniform fluttering in the wind above.

> Joker Chief: "Oh dear... how clumsy of me. You fell into the *disposal chamber*."

He laughed. It was the laugh of a man who found joy in others' misery — shrill, manic, twisted.

> Joker Chief: "Looks like I won't get to enjoy you after all. Ah well... Fenris, you've got a meal."

Ella froze. Fenris? She turned to look at the chained boy — no, the creature — again. His crimson eye was locked on her now. Not wild. Not hungry. But *sad*.

> Joker Chief: "Eat her, Fenris. Or no water for another three days."

The laughter echoed again and faded as the masked figure disappeared, leaving only silence... and breathing.

Ella pressed herself against the wall, her chains clinking.

The boy — the monster — didn't move. His claws rested on the ground. His body trembled, not from fear, but restraint. She could hear his stomach growling, the echo of hunger inside him.

He hadn't eaten in three days. He *should* have pounced on her.

But he didn't.

> "Are you... human?" Ella whispered.

Fenris lifted his head, his voice ragged and deep, soaked in pain and anger.

> Fenris: "I was never given the choice."

His eyes glistened. Not with rage. With tears.

> Fenris: "They made me in a cage. Taught me to eat what screamed the loudest. And told me I was a monster when I obeyed."

Silence hung heavy.

Ella's fear didn't vanish — but it shifted. This wasn't a beast. This was a boy punished for existing.

> Fenris: "I won't eat you. Even if I starve. I'm done being their dog."

He turned his face to the wall, the chains rattling softly.

And for the first time, Ella saw it — not a failed experiment, not a monster, but a soul fighting not to lose what little humanity remained.

Scene: Guild Hall

The room was buzzing with tension.

Ella's disappearance had shaken everyone — a B-Rank hunter, gone without a trace. The Forsaken team sat in silence, the weight of helplessness sinking deep.

Franky stood at the front, gripping a crumpled newspaper in one hand — the front page read: "B-Rank Hunter Ella Missing – Authorities Clueless." His other hand trembled with fury as he stared at the article. His jaw clenched so tight a vein bulged from his neck.

"This... is an insult," he growled. "To every hunter who swore to protect this city. To every family waiting for someone who won't come back."

He slammed the paper on the table.

"We've lost too many. And we're still blind."

Murmurs rose from the crowd. Some fearful. Some indifferent.

Then Beno stepped forward.

"I'll go."

The room went silent — then someone laughed.

"You?" a hunter sneered. "The guild's little decoration piece?"

"He's just acting like his brother Renzo. Trying to play hero," another spat.

Beno's eyes didn't flinch. But something in the air shifted.

He drew his sword in a single smooth motion — steel flashing under the torchlight — and stabbed it into the floorboards. A pulse surged from his body. Not a visual aura, but weight. A presence.

The room went silent.

A few felt it — pressure. The kind that only came from monsters or kings.

Beno's voice, quiet at first, cut through the room like a blade.

"You're right."

"I'm not a legend like Renzo. I don't have the strength of Guild Master Franky. I don't have your years of experience."

He raised his eyes — clear, furious, and full of conviction.

"I'm just a hunter who gave false hope to a blind woman — and now her daughter might be one of them."

"Ella's not the only one missing. There are others. Forgotten. Discarded."

"This isn't about rank. This isn't about pride. This is about not letting evil take another damn soul while we sit here judging who's worthy."

"So assign me. Or don't."

"But I will go. And I will save every last one of them."

He took a breath, eyes narrowing.

"And if anyone stands between me and that goal, I'll cut through them — even if it's a god."

Silence held the hall.

No one laughed now. Not a whisper. The mocking hunters stared in awe. Charles and Luna exchanged glances — this wasn't the Beno they knew.

This was a commander. A king in the making.

Franky broke the silence. "...Beno Mark will lead the search party."

No one objected.

They couldn't.

Because in that moment — he wasn't just a fool anymore.

He was the sword leading the charge.