Most seem lower ranked than me in some places, so I knock them out almost instantly. Some take a couple more punches, but overall fall within six or seven.

Logically speaking, with those concussions and enough bad luck, they could end up never waking up ever again, be it death or becoming comatose. But I'm not willing to take any chances. Wait, are more going to come? I was too focused... they probably wouldn't come right away... right... I have time... I sweat and after being done, decide to store the daggers in my cargo pants and wrap the chains around those two strong ones.

I don't waste any more time and drag them with me deeper into the unexplored jungle. I walk and walk, my back not enjoying the contortion, before being satisfied almost thirty meters away. It's not that far, but not too far where I would worry about predators hearing. And if they do, chances are they'll aggro those fuckers over there instead.

Without too much danger at my doorstep now, I collapse on my rear and take a small breather. In the meantime, these two wake up confused. "What the fuck?! Bro! Wake up!" "I'm awake dumbass! The fuck's going on?!"

I panic for a second before calming down. That's right, their four limbs are quite the sight now. All bent in unnatural directions, quite creepy even. I shut my ears and focus on catching my breath.

They keep shouting, but I ignore them, before standing back up. They keep asking and ordering, I don't listen to anything, and instead grab the chains. I let them loose and unwrap the two dogs. They seem happy, probably because I look like a lackey right now. But their smiles soon vanish as I wrap the chains tighter around the right one's neck. I also wrap them around my forearms and hands before tugging like crazy. The chains rustle for a moment before digging deep into the man's flesh. Still not enough?! To my surprise, there is much resistance. While the neck certainly contains powerful muscles, in their state, they shouldn't be able to offer much resistance. But it's fine... they can't have as much endurance as me!

Therefore, I let go of my hesitation and keep going. He might be able to handle it for ten minutes without suffering anything, but all I'll have to do is keep going for twenty instead. And if he holds on for a day, I'll keep strangling this chicken for two.

I tug and pull. Sometimes I try to injure him mentally or physically by shaking the chains around, making everything unexpected. It seems to work as his concentration starts to visibly fade. I can feel it through my hands. There is less resistance for a single moment before I can't pull any further. But this single moment meant that the chains wrapped even tighter.

I look over and breathe a sigh of relief as I still don't see or sense the chains breaking. It means these chains capable of handling a couple D-Rank's attacks can also handle their airways. But at this point, there is not just the windpipe I'm trying to sever or obstruct, but everything. The four arteries and so on. But at some point my lucidity comes back, calming myself slowly over time. I think and make plans or just imagine other scenarios. I'm pretty bored at this point, it's already been five minutes at least.

I look over and see a tree, wondering if it would be smarter to hang them there instead. But I think about monsters coming when I don't have the chains ready. If I'm unlucky enough for a monster to pop out of the jungle, I can still recover the chains fast enough and still not worry about these two.

After a quarter of an hour, I think, I'm getting annoyed at the waste of time and energy. I clench my teeth, my eyes visibly enraged, as I whisper to the struggling man's ear. "I'm going to kill you..."

"You're gonna die bitch. Are you prepared? I won't let go. You should be thankful and stop resisting."

"How long can your neck muscles endure for?"

"It's been like five minutes barely."

"You won't make it, so just give up and die painlessly."

"Just go to sleep, you'll wake up in a better place..."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"I can do this all~ day!"

"..."

"........"

My thin string of patience thins out as it is being pulled apart.

"I'm gonna murder your ass bitch! You're fucked! I'm gonna cook you and make your friend eat you! I'm gonna kill your family! I'm gonna butcher your pets! Anyone that knows you fucker!"

At my words of rage, he follows, struggling even more, jerking everywhere. Because of it, it has been much harder to keep the pressure on. But it's fine... the more he struggles, the faster his energy depletes. Until he has nothing left, and he withers away in agony.

"Haha! Are you enraged?! Are you mad? You piece of shit! Look! Hey you! His friend! Look! Look into his eyes! This is how you'll end up as well! Keep screaming if you want, I can just let the monsters eat you up you know?!"

"I can run if I want to, but can you? What do you think will happen if you keep shouting like this? A monster will come to the rescue? And then what? Will the monster be that stupid and choose to chase me instead of getting the two slabs of meat on the ground, delivered on a silver platter?! Hmm?!!" I get closer to the man's ear again and whisper a bit louder. "Hmm? What do you think big boy? Are you gonna keep struggling like a fucking monkey, or will you die in peace?"

They keep shouting.

"Whatever..." I sigh and pull even harder, causing my purple flesh to hurt. But it's fine. My legs are just a little sore, nothing much.

After what seems like an eternity, I'm covered from head to toe in sweat, and finally give way. I fall on my back while the man in front of me is still conscious. They grin and I'm irritated. I grit my teeth, widen my eyes and lock eyes with his friend. "You think this is funny? What ranks are you guys? He can handle being strangled for so fucking long and stay conscious, let alone alive?" Their grins turn into full blown smiles. They gaze at me and soon pale.

Because I'm smiling too.

"You really think I've spent the last what, hour? Doing nothing but pull? I have a brain too bitches, I can use it." My eyes dart further down, looming over the man I still couldn't kill. His back is slouched forward as he catches his breath. "Yes... breathe... as much as you can... because that'll be the last time..." The chains are still wrapped around his neck as the two ankle cuffs dangle on the soft grass. I take a deep breath, catch a break of a couple minutes, and put my hands on his shoulder blades, my fingers clutching his clavicles and shoulders. His friend frowns, as for him, I can't tell from here.

I exhale some air and slowly slide my feet into the ankle cuffs. After some times, I see no reaction, maybe as there isn't any skin contact right now. I still have shitty shoes after all. But it's not the point. I tense my legs, dig one enough for the pressure to not remove it, and push with my mighty quadriceps while keeping my balance with his back as support, which puts even more pressure on his neck.

I push and push with all my might, hearing and feeling the chains tighten further than ever before.

The man is rampaging, trying to free himself as he wails and begs.

I don't give him a damn.

I push.

I push harder.

I push much harder.

I grit my teeth and keep the pressure going.

After who knows how long, where I see darkness looming above me, I stand strong. My arms are sore, and my legs aren't far from it now. As for the guy, he's been limp for at least an hour. Logically speaking, he should be dead... logically. This doesn't work here. But I'm not sure how long I can do this for.

More time elapsing, I'm left doubting. Can this even kill them? I'm not a doctor nor am I knowledgeable about this. He has awakened a decent rank, that's for sure. So how long can his brain last without blood or oxygen? Normally, after ten minutes, you can be pretty certain that someone is deader than a piece of stone. But that's for regular people. Regular people would get brain damage after four or five minutes. And that's with blood if I remember correctly. But it's been hours on end, and this fucker is only unconscious. I still see his brown skin... well... brown. It's not blue, purple, white, red, black, whatever.

Die already!

I huff, but it's been so long, I'm beyond exhausted. There's no point. This bastard is just too resilient, even that saber-toothed kitty wouldn't have been able to make a dent in him, that I'm sure. And it seems like even cutting off oxygen and blood supplies to his brain won't cut it either.

What the fuck am I supposed to do..?

I shake my head and think. Their limbs are limp because I used all my strength to most likely dislocate them while unconscious. Now that they are conscious, I can't possibly kill them... but this guy is unconscious...

A spark of light flashes through my eyes. "Guess I don't have many options left..." I let go of the pressure and let the man go, freed from the chains. I turn my head and steal a glance at his friend, and then flinch. "You..." He looks puzzled, giving me a suspicious smile. "Me? What did I do?" I look at his left leg and see it clear as day. This fucker isn't very smart if he thinks I'm that blind. He used his muscles, lucked out and popped his knee back. I could swear on my soul that I saw his left leg squirming too normally earlier. I dig my leg out and approach him. He appears confidently silent. He makes regular eye contact but doesn't keep his eyes hovering on me for too long. "Your leg..." At my words, it's his time to flinch.

I grit my teeth, clenching my jaw muscles, feel blood rushing to my brain as I hold the ankle cuff even tighter. "You know what, let's see how tough your bones are." He frowns and chuckles awkwardly. "Brother... we're all a big family in this place, let's not... alright?" Focused on his leg, I regain some composure at his words and immediately see his hands. They are way too normal. Back then, their four limbs were personally moved to horrific positions. I wasn't sure if I had managed to sever some soft tissue and hoped for their bones to be broken. After strangling the chicken behind me I realized my assumptions to be too optimistic. Their limbs were most likely dislocated instead.

And now, this bastard had his hands holding the loose chains I just put near his neck.