Grab. Swoosh. Punch.

Three guys were beating a young man who seemed like he'd been dealt a lot of pain. The two guys were holding the guy straight from either side. The taller-than-the-rest guy who was throwing the punch found it enjoyable to use the beaten man as his punching bag.historical

The place where this was happening was as barren as it could be. Just in the middle of nowhere, where no human activity could be seen anywhere nearby. Away from the usual traffic. Away from the security arrays and watchdog drones that had a fixed route of surveillance.

This abandoned place, surrounded by ruined structures, had no lights other than the full moon. And it was doing its job fine since there was plenty of visibility for three rankers and one non-ranker to understand what was happening around them.

"Did you enjoy taking money from me, Eren? This is the interest on that money that you forgot to take. Enjoy it to your heart's content."

Stan said with the most gentle smile on his face. As he pounded Eren with his wild punches, the more graceful he looked. Even Jayce and Bryce who were holding Eren from either side were a bit creeped out by Stan's odd behavior.

"Did you enjoy making fun of me in front of Reece and the captain? I'm glad I could be of service to you, you know. This is my way of showing gratitude."

Another punch landed in Eren's guts, forcing him to vomit the food he had eaten a few hours before. Stan was fast enough to avoid any of the nasty stuff Eren had puked directly. However, he couldn't avoid all of the stray residue of the vomit landing on his pants and shoes.

"Now look at what you did. I'm treating you so nicely and you are being so rude to me. That's so mean of you, Eren Idril."

Stan wiped his bloodied hands on his victim's shirt as he spoke with a sad face. The same one whose blood it belonged to. Then he suddenly landed a swing kick on him with the same shoe leg that had been spoiled by Eren's puke. A way of cleaning his shoes.

Swing. Connect. Soar.

This time Jayce and Bryce couldn't keep Eren pinned down. The hustler got airborne all of a sudden before landing on the ground, tens of meters away from his original spot.

'He is trying to kill me.'

Eren had a thought as he stayed down on the ground after landing. His injuries worsened after the force of the impact dragged him along the ground. A ground that was studded with pointy stones gave it an uneven texture, tearing his skin all over the body.

And this was the case while he had tried to channel his mana through his body-- conjuring whatever mana defense he could deploy all over his body. If he was a mortal, he would have been long dead as soon as the beating had started. Stan wasn't really pulling any punches.

"Fuck.. Stan. Are you trying to kill him?"

Jayce couldn't help uttering these words after he saw the state Eren was in. At first, he had thought that Eren could be cracked under their pressure after they all ganged up on him. But the guy had greeted them with stone-cold eyes. The kind of eyes that had no value for the people they were seeing.

Jayce could tell that this had upset Stan even more. The latter was counting on seeing Eren beg him for mercy or cry. Jayce didn't think Stan would have lessened the beating he had already given Eren. But he was sure that Stan would have let Eren go alive at least.

Now he was not so sure. One had to say, Jayce was right on the mark with his guesswork.

"Hm? Why should we let him go? This cunning rat tried to swindle us of our money and muddied our name in front of the captain. Doesn't he deserve a fitting punishment for that?"

Stan chuckled after he looked at Jayce and Ralph. It looked like Ralph was as shocked as Jayce was after he heard that Stan was planning to kill him. But he didn't oppose or ask Stan for anything. He had seen and experienced a fair share of violence and death in Numbered Oasis. So he didn't think dealing with death here on Earth would be any different.

Jayce wanted to say something to Stan but then he saw Ralph nodding his head in denial and he understood. He realized that Stan wasn't planning to change his mind regarding killing Eren off. After all, this was a perfect kill zone.

Stan observed that both of his partners in crime were silent and flashed a sophisticated grin. He clapped his hands before speaking in a peaceful voice.

"Look at this thing this way. Eren is a non-ranker. If he stays like this and doesn't get employed anywhere working as a mortal, he'll be thrown out of the Elysian city with restrictions placed on him. Restrictions that won't let him say anything about the Elysian city to those lowlifes."

Stan's voice made him sound like he was an extremely empathetic person. His expressions were that of stress and worry.

Stan started walking toward Eren with a slow stride. He stretched his fingers by weaving them together and made bone-cracking sounds. He then sighed before saying.

"I doubt Bourgys would accept a hardass like him in their groups. And he won't be able to connect with them either because he had lived here.

With nobody to talk to and so many differences in the way of living, our poor boy Eren would get lonely and would soon commit suicide.

So why not finish him here? Reece would be upset knowing that he is dead. But she would soon get over him. She is a ranker and would learn how to treat death as part and parcel of life.

She will benefit more from his death if he dies sooner. It will temper her naive mind. I need to be a caring husband to her. I shouldn't allow her progress to halt because of someone who keeps her vision clouded.

Let me take care of this guy for both himself and Reece. Just a bit further, Eren. I'm sure it won't hurt much after a certain point."

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Eren could hear Stan's steps clearly because his right ear was practically glued to the ground. This allowed him to hear the steps with even more vivid details than his left ear.

He blinked his eyes still showing that he wasn't out of his mind. They shined with intelligence. His low breaths were blowing off the dust that was on the ground. Because of the blood, he had been coughing up, his mouth was painting his resting spot red.

'Fuuuuuu*ck.'

Eren cursed in his mind as he saw Stan approaching him to finish what he had started. He cursed himself even more for naively believing that he had a week to prepare.