Brawly bounced up, jumped over the boulder and sprinted at the monster, yelling like a madman. While he was at it, Ren and Gunman huddled on to the ridge.
"HEY! HEY, YOU ROCKY PIECE OF SHIT! COME GET ME!"
The monster's head jerked. Its glowing orbs flared, reacting to the sudden noise. It pivoted, slowly, and lumbered after Brawly.
The monster swung its massive arm. Brawly leapt aside, nearly slipping off the cliff. He caught himself on a protruding stone and pulled his body up.
"THAT ALL YOU GOT?!" Brawly yelled. Hos voice was filled with a weak bravado that could be sensed with ease.
The monster hummed. The ground shook, the earth cracked, splitting into several parts, and Brawly toppled over. He screamed as his leg got stuck in one of the cracks.
Ren gritted his teeth as he felt the rattling in his bones. The Gunman fired a shot into the air. The vibrations stopped.
"Get that idiot out of there. I ain't losing money again." He pointed at Brawly, who was whimpering a distance from the feet of the monster.
The monster stomped towards Brawly as Ren rushed back down the ridge.
Bang!
The Gunman fired. He fired three more times. The shots struck the joints. The monster snarled, for the first time, and stumbled back.
Ren leaped onto the boulder, and grabbed a jagged stone shard. He ran towards the monster. He hurled the shard with every ounce of strength left in his trembling body when he was three feet away.
The shard slammed into the wound. The monster shrieked. It was a horrible, scraping noise like rocks cracking against one another.
It swung blindly, smashing the earth close to Brawly's head. Another portion of the cliff crumbled into the abyss due to the impact.
"You fools! I'm right here."
Brawly wriggled, trying to get his legs out.
Ren looked at the Gunman. The Gunman fired again and again. Each shot sent small chips of stone flying from the fresh armor, slowing the monster further.
The ground trembled, and the monster fell down to its knees. Ren took the chance to run to Brawly. He pulled his leg out of the crack.
Brawly screamed as Ren successfully pulled his leg out.
"Shut up," Ren warned him. "You keep calling death to yourself and blame others for it."
The duo got up and rushed towards the ridge again.
The monster staggered up, but it tethered towards the edge of the rift.
The Gunman fired his last shot at the same spot.
The monster growled again, one of its legs slipping over the edge of the rift. Only the heavy, grinding sound of stone tearing away from stone was heard as it fell backward into the endless void of the rift. Dust spiraled upward as the colossal shape of the Bleeding Rock vanished into darkness.
Silence fell on the entire surrounding, but down in the rift he could hear howls and whimpers. It was like the great general of whatever was down there had been killed.
Brawly fell to his knees, heaving. Ren collapsed beside him. The Gunman stood tall, kissing his gun, though his hand trembled a bit.
"It's… it's dead," Brawly whispered, almost in disbelief.
Ren let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, that actually worked."
He rose up slowly. His gaze drifted to the Gunman's coat, where the folded map was tucked in the inner pocket.
That was the only way he could know where he was and how to find his way around the place.
"Are you two coming up or what?" Gunman shouted from the middle of the ridge.
The prisoner duo casted looks at each other, but Ren felt there was something going on in Brawly's head, he just couldn't figure him out.
They hopped on the boulder and climbed on to the ridge.
They crossed the ridge together. When they got to the other side of the rift, the Gunman turned to Ren.
"You know, you're sharper than I gave you credit for." He looked Ren up and down, "I now see how you destroyed the entire Southgate and did those deeds in the most excellent way."
"Wait, how did I destroy the Southgate?"
"You're also a criminal for commending him for his crime," Brawly snapped with clenched fists, not letting the Gunman reply Ren.
"And you're a clergyman's son who traded kids for gold. Who's the worst criminal here?"
Brawly pushed the Gunman away.
"Don't forget that I'm not bound by your chains anymore."
The Gunman stepped back, chuckling.
"You're free to go now. This whole plain is vast enough for you to choose your path."
Brawly let out a hysterical laughter.
"I am not stupid. The Golden Seat outpost would be anywhere around here."
Ren looked around, but he saw nothing that could give off the vibe of an outpost.
"Give me the map," Brawly said, stretching his hand to the Gunman.
"What map?"
"The map you've been using. Hand it over."
The Courteous Gunman smiled, his hand hovering over his hips.
"No, can't do."
"Then I'll kill you, you miserable bounty hunter."
"You've stepped your boundaries, Teron."
He reached for the gun sheath, but his guns were gone.
"Looking for this?" Teron pointed two guns at the Gunman and Ren, while laughing like a maniac.
'Can't this trial just be over already?' Ren groaned internally.
"What's a gunman without his guns?"
"Your captor," Gunman smirked.
"Give me the map now."
"Come and take it," The Gunman opened his coat to reveal the rolled up map sitting warmly in the inner pocket.
"You, heretic," Teron pointed at Ren, "take it and bring it to me."
Ren slowly approached the Gunman. He reached for the map with trembling hands. The Gunman smiled at him as he slowly pulled out the map.
Ren took the map to Teron. Teron shoved one of the guns into the loins of his tunic and left the other pointed at the Gunman.
He held up the map, but had to use his other hand to straight it out. Ren kicked him in the groin and quickly snatched the gun out of his loins as he bent, howling in pain.
He tossed the gun to the Gunman and rolled away from Teron. Teron raised his gun up the same time the Gunman did.
They exchanged fire, bullets flying past them like tiny jets.
The Gunman groaned as a bullet tore through his right shoulder. His hand weakened and his gun fell off.
Teron laughed as he approached him with the gun pointed directly at his forehead.
"A Gunman without his gun is a dead man. Say your last prayers, bounty hunter."
His finger leaned closer to the trigger.
A stone landed heavily on the back of his head. He cried in pain and turned around, hoping to shoot at the attacker.
As he turned, Ren kicked his hand away. The gun flew off, falling on the hard sand. He lunged at Ren, but his face was smashed with the same rock, throwing him off to the floor.
"You were right anyway. Your blood was always going to be on my hands."
He knelt over him while he held the his forehead that was now dripping with blood. Ren smashed the rock into his temple till he went limp and his face was unrecognizable.
"Hey!" The Gunman shouted.
Ren glared back at him, the bloody rock still in his hands.
The Gunman staggered with the gun in his left hand.
"You fool! That was my money."
Before the Gunman could take a stance, Ren shot the rock at his head. It hit his forehead, making him lose balance and falling back to the floor. The Gunman held the spot, groaning.
Ren picked up the map beside the now dead Teron and ran away. His legs failed him and he collapsed, but he forced himself up, panting.
"Argh! Bloody ingrate." The Gunman stood up with his gun pointed at Ren, who was staggering away in the distance.
Bang!
Ren dropped on the floor. The Gunman let out a loud groan. The frustration and disappointment was clear in his voice and the way he kicked the sand.
He turned to where Ren had fallen. Ren was no more on the ground. He was limping towards the jagged mountains ahead of them.
"Curse this goddamn cockroach."