The five fingers of the left hand, countless slippery, slender black tendrils sprouting from its severed end, were still twitching instinctively. The ring finger, with its ring still on it, twitched most violently of all.
Only after several dozen seconds did the severed hand settle down.
Suddenly, the black tendrils writhed, and the severed hand began digging.
Unlike its pale, thin fingers, the hand dug nimbly. Before long, a dirt-covered, bloodstained head appeared in the pit.
"Hah, hah, I nearly suffocated..."
Tosu Hideo gasped for breath.
His head buzzed from the intense pain and suffocation. His eyes were bloodshot, and everything before him looked gray and dim.
Skull's shovel had smashed mercilessly into his head, as though setting off a death metal concert inside it. Drums, electric guitars, and keyboards had all erupted together, leaving Tosu Hideo dazed even now.
Although his head felt ready to burst and he could not think, the severed hand with its black tendrils instinctively kept working, peeling away the earth burying him.
"Ptooey! Ptooey! Ptooey!"
Tosu Hideo spat the dirt and sand out of his mouth and barely managed to open his swollen eyes.
"What happened? Did someone dig me out? It hurts! Help! Help me!"
Tosu Hideo struggled to get up, but his body was still bound with tape. He lost his balance and toppled stiffly to one side.
"Ugh... It hurts... It hurts so much! Reika, honey... Is anyone there? Help me..."
Every part of him hurt. The wounds from his earlier torture, the stumps where his hand and foot had been severed, the root of his right ear that Skull had cruelly sliced off, and the wound on his head all flared up together. Tears streamed down Tosu Hideo's face from the pain, and he wished he could pass out.
Unfortunately,