Chapter 196 – Those Who Target the Black Scythe
The operation to assassinate the Black Scythe proceeded without a hitch.
“Hello. I’m Jephi.”
Jeffrey introduced himself in front of the five apostles.
“I’m a level 48 assassin. Whether it’s tailing or assassination—whatever you tell me to do, I can do it. Just leave it to me.”
“Did you hear from Swingman? About what you have to do?”
At Spaniard’s question, Jeffrey nodded.
“I heard it’s to tail Korea’s C.P.F squad leader and find out where he stays.”
“Can you do it?”
“That much isn’t difficult. I’ve already identified the police station where the squad leader shows up often, so I just need to lie in wait. Of course, the sooner the deposit comes in, the sooner I can start tailing, right?”
“Haha, good. Then how much is the pay?”
“An advance of 100,000 points, and 100,000 points upon completion—for a total of just 200,000 points.”
“Huh….”
Not dollars, not gold—he put forward points as the trading currency.
It wasn’t surprising that points could be traded, since they already knew from using the trading function.
The problem was simply that the amount was bigger than expected.
“Two hundred thousand points. Isn’t that too much?”
“I don’t think it’s something the five of you can’t gather.”
“It can’t be helped. Everyone, let’s pool 20,000 points each for the advance and pay it.”
Everyone nodded as if they’d expected it, but only one person wore a suspicious expression.
That was John Delgado.
“You said your name is Jephi?”
“Yes.”
“You’re white, aren’t you? What country are you from?”
“America.”
“How did an American end up knowing Swingman, who’s an Indian?”
“I don’t discriminate by nationality when I take clients. I move for one thing only—money.”
It was the kind of sudden question that could’ve flustered someone, but Jeffrey answered smoothly.
Because Ryu Min had already prepared the answers for him.
“Looks like you haven’t only done one or two contract jobs.”
“Yes. There are people here and there looking for assassins. Civilians, Players—everyone.”
“You’re that well-known, but how come I’ve never even heard of you, as a fellow American?”
“You can’t exactly go around openly advertising that you’re a contract killer, can you?”
With that, the conversation cut off.
Once there was nothing more to squeeze out of Jeffrey, John’s arrow turned toward Ryu Min.
“Swingman, why were you looking for an assassin?”
“I personally needed someone tailed, so I hired him once. That’s when I got to know Jeffrey. Is that enough?”
When Ryu Min snapped back in a sharp voice, John couldn’t keep picking a fight.
There wasn’t any real pretext left to grab onto, either.
As the mood grew heavy, Spaniard clapped his hands as if to lighten things up.
“Alright, alright. From what I’m hearing, he seems experienced enough to make a clean deal, so let’s trust him with it. Mr. Jephi? We’ll trade now, so please handle it quickly.”
“Yes. Don’t worry.”
After receiving points from the apostles, Jeffrey smiled—and vanished.
Sure enough, since he was an assassin, once he used invisibility, he disappeared without being caught by nearby detection.
“Now we wait until that assassin brings us good results.”
“Let’s do that.”
Everyone wore satisfied smiles, but only John Delgado couldn’t hide his lingering discomfort.
The contact from Jeffrey came when exactly one week remained until the next Round.
“It’s here!”
“What does he say? Did he find him?”
“Yes! After tailing him, he says he found the Black Scythe’s residence.”
“That’s excellent!”
At Swingman’s report, the apostles broke into bright smiles.
Only John Delgado—still displeased with Swingman—kept an unconvinced look.
“Is that reliable information? Did he confirm the Black Scythe is inside?”
“Of course. Here’s the video Jephi sent.”
In the footage, filmed at the entrance of a villa, someone wearing a white mask could be seen heading out.
“It’s this guy. If you look at the mask, it’s definitely the Black Scythe who attacked us back then.”
“…….”
The only person who had actually seen the Black Scythe in the real world was Swingman.
So it wasn’t something they could just shout down as false.
And it wasn’t something they could confidently affirm, either.
“Are you sure this man is the Black Scythe?”
“Yes. I’m sure! I can bet my life on it.”
With Swingman going that far, the other apostles had no choice but to accept it.
“Hehe, we’ve finally found the Black Scythe’s hideout.”
“Now all that’s left is to assassinate him according to the plan.”
“Leave it to me. With my possessed sniping skills, I’ll pop the Black Scythe’s lid for you.”
Dark Soul spoke confidently, but Yang Qiwen wasn’t about to sit still.
“Who the hell are you trying to butt in, you bastard. We said we’d do it the way I planned! Wait until we enter Round 12!”
“We’ve even found his house—why wait? We can just snipe him right now and be done with it.”
“Hey, you brainless bastard. What if the snipe fails? The Black Scythe will move, and then the plan I busted my ass preparing turns into nothing. You don’t get that?”
“That’s right. Mr. Dark Soul. It seems better to go with Mr. Yang Qiwen’s plan as scheduled. We only need to wait a week, don’t we?”
With even Spaniard joining in, Dark Soul could only smack his lips in regret and back down.
“Then as planned, I’ll prepare the Black Society men who’ll slit the Black Scythe’s throat.”
“Yes. Mr. Yang Qiwen, please infiltrate the men into Korea in advance so they can launch the ambush the moment it turns midnight on December 1.”
“Just leave it to me.”
Heh—. The apostles wore greasy smiles, but they didn’t know.
That the failure of the operation was already all but a foregone conclusion.
That the Black Scythe’s “residence” was a trap Ryu Min had prepared from the start.
There wasn’t an angel in Heaven who didn’t know that Heaven was ruled by the seven archangels.
They all even knew that Remiel had recently died, reducing them to six.
But no angel knew how Remiel died, or who killed him.
Except the archangels in executive positions.
[This is serious, very serious.]
[It really is.]
For once, the archangels gathered in one place.
They would gather like this whenever something major happened, but lately it had been almost nonexistent.
Until Remiel died.
[To think the seven archangels maintained for hundreds of years have been reduced to six. This is a grave matter without precedent.]
[I agree. The once-unshakable prestige of the archangels is falling to the ground. We must come up with countermeasures.]
Gabriel, ranked second, and Uriel, ranked fourth, raised their voices.
Michael, ranked first and silent until now, asked for the archangels’ opinions.
[What do you think we should do?]
[We must capture that damned bug that killed Remiel and beat it to death!]
[Drag him to Heaven and flay him alive in front of everyone!]
The archangels’ opinions were largely the same.
After subduing the Black Scythe, they wanted to deliver fitting punishment in Heaven.
‘This is a problem.’
If you bring a Player who is participating in a Round to Heaven, their qualification is revoked immediately.
They become an outsider, no longer counted as a participant, and they won’t be summoned to the next Round.
They can’t even return to Earth.
They truly become a being unrelated to the survival game—but so what?
For the archangels, the only important thing was dragging the criminal in and punishing him.
But Michael’s position was different.
‘For me to become a god, I need the Black Scythe to win this game.’
In other words, he had to ensure the Black Scythe could safely make it all the way to Round 20.
But judging by the murderous atmosphere right now, it was hard to say whether that would be possible.
Especially with Raguel, ranked fifth.
[Lord Michael. Give me the chance. I will bring that Black Scythe—an utter trash of a human—here to receive lawful judgment.]
Was it because Raguel was the archangel of justice, fairness, and harmony?
As someone who couldn’t tolerate injustice, Raguel couldn’t stand leaving the Black Scythe alone.
‘She’ll probably tear him apart until he’s barely clinging to life, then bring him to Heaven and subject him to every kind of torture.’
It was obvious as fire, so he couldn’t send Raguel.
If anything, it would have to be himself.
‘No. If I step forward saying I’ll handle it myself and come back with nothing to show for it, won’t the arrows of blame end up lodged in me?’
In the end, it meant he had to send someone to smother the flames.
Of course, it had to be an archangel weak enough that the Black Scythe could win.
‘Who would be best to send?’
As Michael pondered, his eyes landed on the only archangel who remained taciturn.
Ranked sixth—Sariel, the archangel of death.
‘If we have to send someone, Sariel, the lowest among us, would be the best fit….’
The problem was that Sariel was practically the Reaper’s natural counter.
‘The darkness of the Reaper class can’t beat the darkness of the archangel of death.’
Could the darkness attribute of a mere Player’s “job” possibly measure up to the darkness of an archangel who could be called death itself?
‘He’ll surely be subdued without being able to do anything.’
But even so, he couldn’t send Raguel, who ranked above Sariel.
If it were her—with fire already in her eyes—she’d go all out the moment she saw the Black Scythe.
‘If Raguel goes all out, even the Black Scythe won’t be able to endure it.’
He wanted to send an angel the Black Scythe could handle, but there was no archangel truly suitable.
Whether it was fifth or sixth, they were burdensome opponents for the Black Scythe.
And anything above them was beyond question.
‘And if I suggest sending first-rank angels, there’ll be backlash.’
Just from the fact that the Black Scythe killed Remiel, ranked seventh, it meant he was already beyond human.
If they tried to send first-rank angels who were below that, it was obvious voices would rise in protest.
‘Hmmm. Who in the world can I send for the Black Scythe to stay safe….’
It was the kind of thought that would make anyone who heard it speechless, but unaware of that, the archangels bickered and debated.
[We must arrest that human at once! We must descend to Earth even if we have to open a dimensional gate!]
[The Round hasn’t even opened yet. Forcing a dimensional gate open demands a heavy price. There’s no need to rush so much, is there?]
[Then, Lord Gabriel, are you saying we should just let that bug run rampant like this?]
[I’m saying endure it until Round 12 begins, Raguel. I’m not saying I don’t understand your heart, but at times like this, all the more we must find reason and weigh costs and benefits, must we not?]
[Then send me in Round 12! I will capture that human and restore the lost dignity of the archangels!]
[No.]
In the middle of the exchange, Michael cut in.
He had decided who to send.
[For the task of bringing the Black Scythe here, I will send Sariel.]
[Lord Michael, why!?]
[You have lost your reason. Wouldn’t Sariel, who can remain calm before a criminal, be more suited to handling the task?]
[I can do well, too! With this Sword of Judgment, I will—against that bug that disrupts Heaven’s order—]
[Look. Who is the angel shouting in agitation right now?]
[…….]
[My decision stands. Sariel is the right person to bring the Black Scythe here. There is no need for the fifth rank to step forward just to catch a single bug.]
[Hmm… that is also true.]
If the will of rank one was so, they had to follow.
Of course, Michael’s choice was a decision made after weighing which of the two was weaker.
‘If I have to send one, the sixth rank is at least more manageable to face.’
Even if he was the Reaper’s counter, perhaps the Black Scythe could at least escape.
[Sariel. Can you do it?]
[Of course, Lord Michael. What’s so difficult about catching a single human?]
[Then it’s decided. When Round 12 comes, secretly bring that human called the Black Scythe from the other world. We must question him in Heaven, so you must never kill him.]
[As long as I don’t kill him?]
[If possible, it would be best to bring him in a clean state. It won’t be easy, but.]
Was it provoked by that last remark?
Sariel’s feather-long eyebrows twitched.
[I will bring him back neatly, without a single wound.]
Watching Sariel speak through clenched teeth, Michael felt uneasy for some reason.
‘This isn’t it….’
He hadn’t expected that what he said to help the Black Scythe would instead stoke the flames.