That is Your Punishment

Amon searched for dying souls this late at night. It was quiet—quite unusual for a bustling city around the year 20XX.

Some people were walking about, but one thing that Amon enjoyed while he walked is that he is not visible to the human eye.

He could only reveal himself to dying people in order to get their souls.

"No!! Please, don't go!"

Amon stopped in his tracks when he heard a woman wailing in a nearby house. With him looking at his left side, he noticed that he is near a house and so, he took a peek through the window.

He saw a woman holding an old man's hand. With her phone on a video call with what seemed to be her other family members, they also cried along with the woman—seemingly grieving over the near-death of the old man on the bed.

From this view alone, one could deduce that the old man is to lose his life.

Amon then further watched outside the window. With him patiently waiting for the woman to get tired from crying until she slept on the bed, it was then that he took the opportunity to enter the house.

The moment he did, a mystical thing happened before Amon's eyes. He was already used to it, so he doesn't consider this one as magical.

The soul of the old man emerged from his body, confused. With the soul looking left and right, he then chanced upon Amon, who was standing by the foot of the bed, beside the woman.

"Who are you?" The old man looked at Amon up and down. "And why are you wearing such weird clothes?"

Amon cocked his head to the side. He then looked at his reflection on the window beside him, giving himself a quick glance.

He wore all black clothes. It seemed to be made out of spandex, and along it, a black cape draping his back as well. Indeed, wearing a bone of a cow's head as a mask will make him look weird in front of ordinary people.

"It's not Halloween," the old man commented, scratching the back of his head. His remark got the attention of Amon.

"Come with me," he said, not bothering to answer his questions and comments. "You are no longer of this world."

The old man blinked his eyes a few times, still dumbfounded.

"What do you mean?"

Amon didn't say a word. With him motioning his hand to the woman at the foot of his bed and towards the lifeless body on the bed, the old man widened his eyes as he guessed what happened.

"I'm... dead?"

"Mm."

Amon nodded once, his face all serious beneath the cow-head bone mask that he is wearing. He then took a few steps closer to the man's soul and held his hand as if to assess his passing.

"You died of old age, and you have lived a good life. Your family is sad, of course, but that is to be expected."

"Aaah..." The old man nodded approvingly, as if he was waiting for this moment. "I have no complaints. Right about time, too, as I know that I will now move on to the next phase."

Amon arched a brow at him. "And that is?"

"Spiritual life, I guess. I have no regrets. I can pass on peacefully."

Amon didn't know how to react to what he said. He didn't speak, and what he did next piqued the curiosity of the soul before him.

The newly appointed Grim Reaper of the Kingdom of Gehenna removed his mask, revealing his face. His red eyes shone under the moonlight, and his tattoo on his face glowed as if it is triggering its magic prowess.

"So you are Death?"

"You can say that," Amon answered, looking straight into his eyes.

Amon's eyes shone brighter than it was a moment ago. With his eyes locked with the soul before him, the dead man suddenly went silent compared to how talkative he was before.

The woman by the foot of the bed holding the body's hand suddenly then woke up. With her eyes widening as she felt the body getting cooler compared to how it was before, she started crying once more—as if she has lost all hope.

Amon wasn't distracted by the wails of the woman before him as he was doing his job. It's as if he has grown numb to it and that he was already used to this kind of set-up.

The Grim Reaper continued seeing the old man's life through his eyes. With him assessing whether he had a good life or a bad life, it was for the Grim Reaper's power to decide a death for him.

After a few seconds, the brightness in Amon's eyes disappeared, and the tattoo on his face dimmed back to black. With the woman now desperately clinging on to the old man's body, Amon saw a faint smile appear on the corpse.

Amon nodded approvingly, wore his mask back on, and then magically left. He knew the indication of the smile when he's done with assessing one's life.

A smile could mean a peaceful death, fitting for a person who has lived happily with fewer sins.

However... for a person who has greatly sinned...

"Aaaah!"

From the aisle at his side, he saw an innocent man being stabbed right after he was mugged. Knowing that taking another person's life is grave, Amon knew that it is part of his responsibility to punish the unforgivable.

"Hehe... a good target. He's loaded of money."

Hearing this, Amon magically teleported in front of him, revealing himself to surprise him. With the criminal gasping in shock, he fell on the ground, frustrated.

"Who the hell are you and—"

However, he found himself frozen the moment he saw Amon remove his mask, revealing his face. They immediately locked eyes and this is then that the criminal's punishment began. Amon showed him the exact same situation of how he killed the innocent man.

But the difference?

The criminal was being stabbed mercilessly instead for numerous times by a man with no face.

"Aah! Aaah! Noo!!"

It was not happening to his real body, but it was happening to him in his mind, making him insane as he felt the pain a hundred fold compared to what he might feel if it were to happen to him.

With a smug grin on Amon's face, he then concealed his presence again and walked away in satisfaction.

'Die... that is your punishment upon seeing my face, sinner.'