The Good Among Evil

No one understood what he was saying. His voice was hoarse. But it had a sense of authority about it.

"Th-This bastard is asking for it now! Kill him, you two! Don't let him live!" The shopkeeper shouted, still on the ground.

Teuk, the eager one, removed his sword from its hilt and rushed towards the old beggar.

The alleyway was cramped, so there wasn't much distance between them.

"Take this!" He aimed straight for his heart. But the old beggar didn't even look at the oncoming attack.

The thin steel nail that was suspended in the air went for the sword and parried his attack.

"Clank!" The metallic sound rang throughout the empty alleyway.

"Wh-What is that!?" There was shock and confusion painted over his face.

He couldn't see why he was pushed back when his sword only sliced the empty air. The size and speed of the steel nail made it look invisible to the onlookers.

"Teuk, don't joke around; kill him already!" The other one shouted from the back.

"I-I was going to do that, brother." He rushed again, holding his sword even more tightly.

The two of them were brothers. The one attacking was the youngest, and the one behind was the eldest.

"Aaaah!" He rushed again, this time trying to swing his short sword.

The steel nails in the pouch behind him shook.

"Wh-What…!?" The shopkeeper didn't get to express his shock.

"Lo-Look out, Teuk!" The eldest warned him in a hurry. But it was too late.

"Now die, stinky bastard!"

The steel nails reached him before the sword could slice the old beggar's body.

"Sphhit!" "Chut!" "Shik!" One after the other, each nail pierced the flesh of his body.

One went for his arm, making the sword leave his hand in pain. One went for the leg, making him fall down. One went for the ear, making it tear right there.

It all happened in an instant.

"Auuuuuugggghh!" Soon after, the screams of agony filled the entire alleyway.

"Teeeuukkkk!" He went to save his brother, but...

"Sshluck!" One of the steel nails pierced right through his skull. He fell to the floor. "Thud!"

"Br-Br-Brothhhherrr!" The youngest wasn't in a position to worry about others, but he couldn't hide the pain that clenched his heart when he saw his only brother lifeless on the ground.

The eyes of the one on the ground were open, his heart was beating, and all the other organs were functioning, but the blood that came from the hole in his skull made a pool on the ground.

He squinted before dying, not knowing how he was in that place.

"Chuck!" Two other nails went for his eyes. They stabbed right through it.

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

"The one who makes others suffer doesn't deserve the pity of the world." The old beggar said.

"Kishuk!" The remaining bunch of steel nails went for the youngest's heart. He was hanging in midair. Before he could mourn for his loss, he died with a wide hole in his chest.

"Thud!" His body fell beside his brother. Both of their eyes were open. One had his eyeballs rolled up, and the other one was just bloody.

"Mo-Monster!" the shopkeeper squinted. His trembling feet didn't let him get up.

The old beggar stood up on his feet and walked towards the shopkeeper. He stepped into the pool of blood and then onto the corpses that followed. His pace was slow, his expression unchanged, as if everything that happened wasn't of his concern.

"Do-Don't come near me! Le-Leave!" He struggled. But the fear was far greater. He knew he could die in an instant without ever knowing.

He tried to crawl toward the end of the alleyway to escape this bloodbath. He passed the woman who was watching the scene in silence and surprise.

He didn't care what would happen to her. He was wailing for his own life now. If he gets to see the light of day, that will be enough. He could later have many more playthings for his pleasure.

The old beggar stopped in front of the woman, not caring for the other.

"Do you believe in God, little one?" He asked, staring intently into her eyes.

She didn't respond. She didn't know what to say or how to say it. She just stared back at him silently. Her thoughts were somewhere else.

"What is your name?" He asked.

"Ju-June."

"I see. I will relieve you of your pain now." With those words, the girl's head twisted in a complete circle before falling to the ground, spurting blood.

"It was the world that was cruel to you. The fault lies with us, not you." The girl had a small smile on her face even when she died. It was what she wished for. She didn't want to live in that defiled body, suffering her entire life.

"June… I hope you find peace." The body turned into a splash of water before evaporating into thin air. The plain silver ring on her hand rolled into the sewer by the side.

The shopkeeper shuddered while watching this. There was no way he could survive. The old beggar could kill him without even lifting a finger.

"Shriek!" His cries reached his own ears, but no one came to his rescue.

He dragged himself along, crawling. His clothes were tattered by the roughness of the street.

The old beggar reached him. He was holding his wooden staff, which came out of nowhere.

"The thing about pleasure is, while you enjoy that, you forget the pain that keeps you alive."

"Pl-Please…" His twisted face, filled with a pure agony of defeat and fear, was a sight to see. But the old beggar didn't care in the least.

"Aren't the ones at mercy the true beggars of this world?"

Without saying another word, he left the scene.

Even if he was poor, he never begged for his life. He maintained his dignity even when he was beaten. But the man in front of him, even though he had a decent life, stained it with unholy desires. So who is the true beggar in the end? The one begging for food or the one begging for life?

"I-I… lived! I lived!" The shopkeeper was filled with joy. He didn't care about the dignity of a human being or his own pride. He gets to live another day; that's all that matters.

As the old beggar wasn't in his sight, he tried to get on his feet, but he couldn't. That's when he saw it—the trail of blood on the path he had dragged himself along. Then he realised what the old beggar meant when he said those words about pleasure.

His half-body below his waist was missing. When his eyes darted to the far end of the street, where his two underlings' corpses were, he found his other half as another lifeless piece of meat beside them.

That was the last time anyone heard of the group, as no corpses were found later; only dried-up blood was left as stains on the floor and walls of the alleyway.

There were beggars and there were monsters, but the true evil roamed freely throughout the streets. The hearts of humans are filled with toxicity that needs to be purified. The justice that one owns needs to be spread. And the only true justice that couldn't be swayed was God himself.

He is the one true omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent being that creates the rules and could change them all. The one with a heart of no desire.

The long night passed, and the old beggar rested in the same place he usually does. One shop was always closed in the bustling marketplace. The people's thoughts ran wild in the beginning, but even those became more subdued as the days passed. Everyone thought the shopkeeper left the town, but none knew what truly happened.

Days passed, and the old beggar walked the streets once again.

"Leave me! Don't you know who I am?"

He found two men harassing a woman, demanding her money.

"You people won't get off this alive if any harm comes to me." She tried to be brave. She tried to show off her status in society.

She looked like a noble from across the street. They built a wall separating themselves from the rest of society. So it was rare to find one in these backwaters in broad daylight.

"Woman, just give us that gold pouch and be on your way." One was carrying a short knife, warning her to be careful of what she says.

"You scum! I should have never come here!" She regretted her choice, but she was already in a situation where she needed to decide. Whether the money was important... or her life.

The old beggar didn't care what happened to any of them. He was just curious.

She just threw the money pouch at them and ran on her way.

"Bump!" She bumped into the old beggar.

"Watch it, fool!" Shouting that, she disappeared out of sight.

"It's a good haul today, kekek!" Laughing at the jackpot, the two men left the scene.

The world was like that. A single person doesn't have the power to change it. Rats are born, and so are cats to kill them. It's an endless cycle of life and death, good and bad, and right and wrong.

There is always good among the evil and the evil among the good. The eyes that look at this twisted truth are the most important.