I Only Want To Kill-Chapter 135: The Innocents (2)

Lee Jae-joong sits on his knees, marveling at his new pristine body. This body was made according to his previous body. But it is not the same at all.

His old body is rid of scars and pains accumulated from previous missions and fights. This body has a smooth, almost baby-like skin surface. Jae-joong is also a heavy smoker, due to that, his breathing has always been shallow and painful to an extent. His lungs even had a mild case of pneumonia.

But all of that is gone now. This is a freshly made body that does not have any of his previous weaknesses.

"When you said you were going to resurrect me, I expected less of this." Jae-joong says.

"Consider it a gift."

Blaze reaches out his hand to pull the naked Jae-joong up. He grabs Blaze’s palm willingly.

"What do you actually want to do, Wraith? Destroying the Roof. Then attacking the Police Headquarters. It has to mean something, right?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. We shall see eventually. Here are some clothes. Make yourself at home. This will be our operation base."

Jae-joong looked around the vast empty cave with no equipment or even a sign of a structure. The roof of the cave is so thin that some parts are cracked, revealing the light shining from above.

"I would not recommend using this as the base of operation."

"Yeah. I know. Don’t worry. I will let someone touch this place up very soon.

In the meantime, get used to your new body while I talk with the others."

"Who?"

"The remaining two innocent lives that I killed. Similar to you."

"Oh! Is it possible for me to watch?"

"Of course. I’ll offer them the same choice as you. They may even be your teammate in the end."

Blaze pulls the second innocent soul out of the Lantern. This soul was a janitor in the Roof, an old man in his sixties. Unfortunately, when Blaze attacked the Roof, the others forced him to defend the establishment with them, and therefore, he was killed by Blaze’s blind Lightning Strike.

The yellow fireball flies out of the Lantern and then drops onto the ground. It slowly expands into the figure of a man.

The man is thin. His skin is covered with wrinkles and dark patches. There are age spots spreading all over his old soul. His hair is completely white, with most of it gone, only two long strands are sticking to the side of his ears.

The man’s actual appearance isn’t even this old. But his soul is tired, and this pitiful sack of a body is how he perceives himself to be.

The man has gone through a lot in his life. Similar to those in the Roof, he was raised in the poorest and most crime-filled alley in Akansa. So it is only logical that he stays inside this society.

However, even in this world, he did not do anything that Blaze considers crossing the moral line. When he was young, he only did a delivery job, never hurting another. And when he was older, he was able to convert to an honest but labor-intensive job like janitor.

Unfortunately, he needed the extra money for his daughter’s third wedding, so he had to work in the Roof. They paid much better than what actually is available out there.

His mother was a poor woman stuck inside the dark side of society. But she raised her son well, and the man remembers his mother’s words.

This is Ellis Clay.

Ellis opens his eyes once again to see himself in the land of the living.

"Are you Death, creature? Or are you simply able to kidnap my soul from Death’s hand?" 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Ellis doesn’t seem so surprised and smiles at Blaze.

Blaze already knows that he would have this type of reaction, but seeing it still surprises him to an extent. The willpower of this mind is on another level.

That is to be expected for someone that is able to keep his hands clean for so long.

But out of all this, the only thing that Blaze is really impressed at Clay about is because he never has any power. ’Trashy,’ as this cruel society likes to say, similar to Blaze from before.

He was able to survive everything from being in such a hopeless situation. A less than ideal family background. A powerless individual in a society that hated them.

"I’m not Death. I am the Wraith." Blaze says. The people of the Roof didn’t know about his name like the police force. He wasn’t famous then.

"I was the one who attacked and destroyed the Roof. And was also the one who killed you.

For that, I apologize.

So here I am trying to make amends. I’ll give you a choice, Mister Clay. I can resurrect you and erase all your memory related to me. Or you can join my side and work for me.

I can assure you that I pay better than your previous job."

Ellis stands up and dusts off his spectral body. He has no body right now, so no dirt can get on him, but it is his habit. He is rather surprised to see not even a fleck of dirt on his clothes.

"That sounds very tempting, but I think I’ll pass on both of those options."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"I’m a trashy, Wraith. And I’m old. I did my best to take care of my daughter. The rest can only rely on her.

So no. I don’t want to be resurrected or work for you. I wish to rest. If that is even an option that you can provide me."

"If it’s your choice to rest, I can release you to the world.

But before you decide, why don’t you hear me out? I can give you a body with power. Respectable power.

And your daughter. I saw her in your memory. She is nothing more than an ungrateful brat that knew only herself.

My choices, Mister Clay, are not to let you return to your old life. They are a second chance.

Have you never thought to live for yourself, Ellis? Just experience the world and the gifts it has.

Think about yourself for once. There are a lot of things you haven’t seen yet, Mister Clay."

Ellis smiles and closes his eyes.

"I know, Wraith. But I’m tired now. I wish to rest."

"I see. If that’s your choice, I’ll respect it. You are free from the restraint of the lamb."

"Thank you..."

Ellis’s voice echoes in the cave. His yellowish body slowly disintegrates into nothingness.

Blaze has removed any shackles the Lantern has on him. He has never done this before, so even he is curious about the result. It feels like Ellis’s soul was taken away or merged into something else.

A larger, more complex mechanism that even Blaze cannot see or touch. But he knows what it is.

Primordial forces. The laws that shape this universe. It is the same force that Blaze manipulated to execute his spell.