Death Cast

01.42 | Grecia Bella Theatre

"Do whatever I say or else I will kill this person."

There is a dramatic shift in the scenery. The appearance of a third party had a significant impact on the course of events. Nobody could have predicted that it would result in a hostage-taking incident. It was Ken and his company who were the most shocked when they came a little later after Jaerim and Noel had taken charge of the proceedings. They were unable to do anything but watch the events unfold from the sidelines.

If it were a regular hostage situation, Ken would be able to settle it. His tenure in the military established him as one of the few veterans capable of traversing both high mountains and vast oceans with ease. Ken would have been promoted to a higher position if he hadn't received the Maple Leaf mark.

However, Herman is not your average hostage-taker. Ken has no idea who this person is, but his intuition, which has helped him survive most of his deadly missions, has told him to be cautious around Herman. As a result, he chose not to intervene and instead left the matter in the hands of the grim reapers.

“Don’t do anything rash or one wrong move and he will live no longer!”

Jaerim was gripped even tighter by Herman. Because of the gap in height between them, he was able to effortlessly grasp Jaerim in his arms. The tip of the blade is positioned to hook onto Jaerim's neck, allowing him to quickly cut it by simply tugging on the handle of the scythe. He also made certain that the blade was in contact with the skin with the intent of intentionally causing lines of wounds to bleed.

There isn't enough time left to complete the task. Things would continue in this manner if he did not take serious measures, and as a result, he would openly wound Jaerim's neck in order for him to bleed. He wanted to threaten the people that the longer they stood around doing nothing, the person in his hands would suffer.

Excessive blood loss will always result in complicated health problems that will eventually result in death if not treated promptly. He wants these people to decide immediately.

Barron, the person who made the decision, looked at Herman coldly. His stance remained straight and proud as he gazed down on Herman with a disgruntled expression. Surprises do, in fact, appear with time. He had never encountered a person who was brave enough to confront a grim reaper, let alone threaten him.

After all, they weren't exactly friendly, to begin with.

Barron spins the scythe in his hand. The ridiculously large scythe appeared to be extremely light as he played it with ease. The others who were observing the grim reaper took a step backward or avoided the probable angles at which the scythe would land if Barron let go. The fact that they had never gotten close to that weapon before made them feel uneasy, and just looking at it gave them the chills.

There's no need to make any assumptions about how sharp the weapon is.

“Stop that,” Herman warned. “Do that again and this guy will return to you headless.”

Barron listened to the warnings and ultimately quit playing. He then heaved a sigh, as if he'd just witnessed something ridiculous. Herman had not anticipated such a strong reaction. He had the impression that something dreadful was about to happen. His head had been buzzing earlier, but he assumed it was because Barron was plotting something.

Suddenly, the grim reaper sneered, as if hearing Herman's thoughts. "I'm shocked that you'd go so far as to tell me what to do," he said. That doesn't matter, though. However, the fact that you chose the wrong individual is a problem".

Herman's ears perked up. “What? I don't understand what you're saying."

“Hmmm?” A meaningful smile appeared on the grim reaper’s face. “I don’t know. What could it be?”

The sense of danger resurfaced. Herman had become more cautious as he sharpened his senses to scan every nook and cranny of his surroundings. He had counted the people who had arrived and ensured that they were all in their proper places, all the while sending the blade into Jaerim's neck to increase the bleeding.

He will s***h this guy as soon as he notices that an attack is about to occur!

Speaking of which, Herman had never realized it before, but he had realized that the person he was carrying was quite silent and well-behaved. He didn't want Jaerim to struggle, but he should've shuddered or shouted out in fright because he had a blade pointed at his neck. He went down to see if he had accidentally murdered Jaerim when he came across something terrible.

He had seen it - he had seen death physically.

As if that look was a trigger, Herman decided to just pull the blade off to finish Jaerim. His instincts tell him that this guy is extremely dangerous, thus he must end his life without hesitation. However, he was rendered immobile as a hand sneaked up into his hand holding the scythe and snatched it in a powerful bite. He screamed in agony as Jaerim shifted the scythe to cut off Herman's arm.

That’s right.

He used the blade pointing at his neck to cut off Herman’s limb.

There is no hesitation in his action. Normally, humans would be averse to hurting people most of the time. The morality brought by life made it possible to sympathize with fellow humans, and the law created by the world protected them.

Nobody kills because it is immoral. 

But that is not universal. At the start of life, it is always survival of the fittest. Only the strongest among us could survive the calamities of the world. Jaerim understood this statement very well. 

Barron wanted to clap his hands after the performance, but he restrained himself. He just smiled as he looked at Jaerim with mirth in his eyes. He had seen something about Jaerim that made him interested in humans. If there was none, why would he waste his time babysitting a human being? Jaerim’s special disposition attracted even the grim reapers that were simply roaming around. 

“Do you understand it now?” He asked Herman, who was missing one limb and a weapon since Jaerim had seized it. “So unlucky. You really picked this guy as your hostage. I could say you are really courageous in choosing the most dangerous person in this room.”

Jaerim is someone who has escaped from Trivett many times. He, an ordinary university student, was able to compete with Trivett, who is known as one of the best-dispatched officers who have a great number of death counts. He was the only one who managed to slip past without any hesitation. 

Probably, if not for Jaerim’s friend entering the scenario, the chase would have lasted longer and Trivett would have then called the grim reapers for help.

“Tsk. tsk. Very unlucky.”

Jaerim is the type who gets desperate the more he gets threatened. Herman's choosing him as the victim must have been the worst decision he had made. Of all the people, it is Jaerim who has a high chance of escaping. His decisive nature did not allow him to idle around. 

Herman did not expect Jaerim to turn the events over to him. The dark pupils of the youngster, who seemed to be deeper than the universe, looked at Herman with a neutral expression. He could not comprehend the emotion present in Jaerim’s eyes, as if the person was dead. A sudden chill made him shiver, and he suddenly asked himself if it was a good choice to use Jaerim. 

His thoughts were answered by a strong punch. Before Herman could recover from the shock, Jaerim hurled another attack, and this time it focused on Herman’s legs. After the bone-breaking punch came to another shattering blow that made him cry loudly. His painful cries remained unheard, however, since nobody would like to sympathize with a murderer. 

He’s the one getting beaten up. 

After receiving the worst wounds he had ever received in his entire life, Herman started to beg for forgiveness. The pain of losing an arm and all the punches directed at his gut had shaken his thoughts quite greatly. Only then did Jaerim cease his attack as he watched Herman crying in agony while curled up in his remaining limbs and clothes drenched in blood. 

Barron took a step forward and stood beside Jaerim. His eyes were looking at Herman, but he was talking to Jaerim. “Good job.”

Jaerim nodded. He closed his eyes and heaved a deep sigh. The steady body that did not seem affected by the events started to tremble visibly. Sweat dripped from his forehead as Jaerim wiped it away. Blood and sweat made his body sticky. It wasn’t pleasant at all. He handed the tarnishing scythe to Barron and walked away, wobbling. 

Noel was getting treated by Silvester after receiving a nasty stab from Herman. He had watched Jaerim act calmly while subduing Herman, so he was surprised to see the person react like that after escaping Herman’s clutches. His pale face did not look healthy, and he sweated as if all the water in his body was flowing out. One look is enough to see that he is scared. 

He is genuinely scared. 

Who wouldn’t be?

Jaerim is trying to catch the breath that he restrained earlier. Ever since he was young, he has had a very good flight or fight response that has saved him many times. It had become stronger as he grew up. A body that looks light and thin, surprisingly, holds very great strength. During times of danger, Jaerim could activate his amazing herculean strength and control it efficiently. It’s just that once the effect wears off, he will feel very tired and the dread will gradually overwhelm him. 

It’s like his instinct is to fight while his mind is very slowly analyzing the process. Only after defeating the enemy will he feel the dread of facing a dangerous beast. 

Barron has no plans to kill Herman since he is a very important piece. The existence of one murderer who is only an ordinary human means that someone is giving instructions from the back. There’s no way for Herman to know the weaknesses of the grim reaper without other people telling him. There must be an organization controlling them from the start. 

As he was about to transport the battered body, Jaerim suddenly approached Herman and crouched down. Herman’s fear of Jaerim had reached an unprecedented level, so seeing him up close made him tremble fiercely. Jaerim ignored the person as his hand snaked around Herman’s body. 

He was looking for the keys. 

There are not a lot of pockets in Herman’s clothes. It only took Jaerim a few seconds to feel the cold metal inside one of Herman’s pants pockets. He pulled the object up to see it and found the keys that he was looking for. The other people happily watched Jaerim retrieve the keys until they saw him frowning. 

A sudden premonition washed their backs with fear. Jaerim stood up while looking at Herman strangely, then shifted his attention to the people waiting for him to show them the keys. His steps were not slow as he presented a medium-sized metal ring crowded with many keys. They wondered if Jaerim was worried that there were too many keys, but not until they had the keys in their hands. 

The keys are broken. 

They were sliced into halves.