December 31st

IT WAS A YEARLY MEETING.

On the last day of the last month of the year, four death dealers gather to know the recorded number of deaths they created. The death dealers are ranked based on the number of deaths they caused in the human world. Every year the four team leaders should settle the required quota given.

Each team leader had their own way of killing humans. This is to set a limit to the death dealers, to know whose team should be credited in a particular area, and to avoid any conflict. However, the latter is often hard to accomplish. 

A loud voice can be heard in the meeting room as Cassian sits on his assigned chair.

“This is unfair! Why is it that a few percent from our initial killings are always given to Cassian?!” yelled Sloan Anderson. He is the death dealer who loves war and battle. He was reacting to the final computation written in the report forwarded to them.

YEARLY REPORT BY THE DEATH DEALERS (Final Computation)

Cassian’s Report

Death by sickness 56754

Death by natural calamity 18765

75519

Sloan’s Report

Death by war 45986

Death by nightmare 1873

47859

Kyros’ Report

Death by accident 2783

Death by suicide 3987

6770

Clay’s Report

Death by penalty 1737

Death by homicide 6435

8172

Required Death This Year: 138320

“It can’t be helped,” Kyros Price said calmly as he looked at the numbers shown to them. “Almost half of those who died in battle were due to the flood that Cassian created.”

“Are the wars you set in three countries already ending, Sloan? Do you need my help?” asked the “youngest” death dealer named Clay Reed. He looks friendly yet deadly. He loves killing people through criminal acts.

“Even if the war is still ongoing, Cassian will still be declared the death dealer with the highest killing,” Kyros explained further. “The wars you caused only made people die due to several illnesses.”    

“Can’t we just count the initial cause instead of the end result?” Sloan defended.

“Should I gather the numbers you get from the initial murders I created that lead to your war, Sloan?” dared Clay. He was trying to emphasize a point to the hot-headed death dealer who refused to lose.

“Damn it. I should have destroyed one country this year. That should have been enough to—”

“Killing humans may be part of our job. But we must not overdo it. I hope you remember that,” Kyros said while looking straight to Sloan. His gaze signifies the end of discussion.

Cassian stood and prepared to leave. 

“Hey, where are you going?!” Sloan yelled at Cassian.

“Huh?” Cassian asked in a bored voice matched with a sleepy face. “Wasn't the meeting adjourned? Or do you still have other complaints?”

“We're still talking here!”

“I'm no longer interested in anything you’d say. The results are out. And it was always the same.”

“Why you—” Sloan wanted to argue but Clay talked to Cassian.

“Going already? Were you that bored in our meeting? After all no one can really beat your top spot,” Clay was talking while swaying his chair backwards. He already expected the result of the meeting. Clay just wanted to hang out with the three death dealers whom he respected.

Cassian was really bored. He still has this sleepy look on his face before he says what’s on his mind.

“Isn’t it about time to realize we had no reason to meet every year?”

“Don’t wanna! I want to see your face at least once a year,” Clay said seriously while acting like a brat.

“I’d like to know your plans for next year so I can calculate the number of deaths I only needed to contribute,” Kyros said with a straight face. But he also wants to talk to Cassian even for a bit because he looks up to him as a death dealer.

“And I… would really love to know if you’re really cheating,” Sloan said while grinning as if mocking Cassian. He stood on his way to prevent Cassian from walking away from them.

Cassian looked at the taller death dealer who blocked his path. He had a body built for war. Sloan may be different from Cassian but their strength is almost the same.

“How about it? Why don’t we prove who is really more powerful between the two of us?”

“You never change, don’t you?” Cassian said while looking up at Sloan.

Without preliminaries Sloan aimed his fist on Cassian’s face.

“Uh-oh. Trouble,” Clay said before the impact of the punch shattered the floor of the meeting room. It was like an explosion. Smoke filled the air, making Cassian and Sloan disappear for a while.

When the smoke was cleared, Cassian remained where he was. But he was lying on the crushed floor.  

Sloan smiled. “You’re really useless when it comes to fist fights.”

Cassian seemed dead. He was too lazy to move yet he didn't want to stay on the dirty floor.

His fingers moved a bit. Small lightning was also visible on his fingertips.

Sloan turned away and thought the fight between him and Cassian was over.

“Let’s go. We still have work to do tomorrow,” Sloan said to the other two death dealers.

Cassian was slowly standing up.

Sloan sensed Cassian’s movements from behind him.

Cassian was removing some dust and debris from his coat. It was the kind of clothes he likes so much not just because of the details of the skulls but also because of the materials used. Seeing it covered in dust pissed him off a bit.

“And you’re really useless when it comes to doing your job as a death dealer,” Cassian said in response to Sloan.

Sloan was angry. He tried to run fast towards Cassian to punch him again on the face.

In a split second, a lightning bolt hits Sloan. Sloan was shocked because it happened so fast and yet he knew his body was burned by lightning. He could not move as he let himself fall on the remaining floor.

Cassian looked down on Sloan and talked to him before he lost consciousness.

“So, will you still say this is cheating?”

“Ugh...”

Sloan could only groan weakly as a reply. Then he closed his eyes.

“Seriously, it’s like I am inclined to put a big baby to sleep every time we meet, Sloan,” Cassian said, knowing that Sloan can no longer hear him. He won their fight but he was not satisfied with that.

Clay hopped on Sloan’s body as he approached Cassian.

“Don’t leave yet. We can still have fun, right?” Clay said.

“There are some things I’d like to discuss with you as well,” Kyros said while trying to review some papers he prepared. He is all business as usual.  

“Sorry. I’m not in the mood for that Kyros,” Cassian said without looking at the two. “Clay, make sure Sloan treats his injuries, will you?”

Clay salutes at Cassian playfully.

“Yes, Sir.”

 Cassian tries to walk out of the meeting room but he has a sudden thought.

“How about I take a vacation so you three can keep up with me?”

Clay and Kyros were shocked.

But it was Kyros who responded instantly. 

“You can’t take a vacation! All of us must contribute to whatever numbers we need to fulfill per year!”

“If one of us didn't contribute in a year, or even in just several days, it would tip off the balance,” Clay added.

Kyros only wanted to contribute poorly in their group. While Clay only sees human lives as something he could play with, like a score in a test he needed to maintain. Without Cassian it means more work must be done from their end. Sloan will definitely take the pleasure to keep an ongoing war. Cassian knew all of that yet he wanted to hear their reaction.

“I know,” Cassian said without looking back.

He walked away and left the three.

“Cassian seemed down. Did something happen?” Clay asked.

“I think I understand him a bit,” Kyros answered as he held his paperwork. “Even if our rankings help us maintain our powers it doesn’t offer much but just continuous work. Cassian has been doing this for a long time now. And it gets tiring for him.”

“Are you saying we should stop relying on him?”

“No. It’s just that I can’t help but remember what humans would say in this situation.”

“And that is?”

“That as time passes, it will get lonely at the top.”