After finishing up, he hurried through the door ahead, heading to the place where his captors used to stay.
He couldn't see anyone in the vicinity; nevertheless, he could hear voices coming from the room next door.
He even recognised some of the voices, and just the sound of them made his blood boil; however, he didn't allow this to make him impatient.
To stay cautious, Raven activated his tracking skills. Faint, glowing outlines of footprints appeared along the floor, mapping the movements of everyone inside the building. Most of them clustered in one room nearby. He wanted them to die while experiencing at least some of the pain he had endured, and for that, time alone with each of them was necessary.
Patiently, Raven waited for his first prey to come out.
As luck would have it, the first person to walk out was Buck, the man responsible for killing both his parents.
After grabbing the man by the collar, Raven clamped his hand over the man's mouth and dragged him to the other room.
The man naturally struggled, but Raven managed to tie him up in a dark corner where he couldn't be spotted. He found some black tape in the room and used it to silence him before getting to work.
Looking at his face reminded Raven of that scene.
…
He recalled his dad blocking the bullets from hitting his mum using his own body as a shield.
He remembered his breath slowly fading away.
In his last moments, the last smile that bid his wife farewell.
His mother was struggling in both sorrow and anger with his dad's body on top of her
And then the way they brutally put down his mother as if she were worthless.
…
Drawing his sword, he got to work.
'He won't get away without feeling that pain, that terror that my parents probably felt.'
Raven's blade traced shallow lines across Buck's flesh, each cut calculated to bleed but not kill.
The only noise present to break the silence was the Buck's faint groans.
He then walked in front of the man to witness his horror-stricken face, which filled him with an insatiable delight.
"So, how does it feel to be on the other side?"
"Helpless and desperate, you finally understand now, right?"
Though the man yet had no clue as to who was doing this to him, all he could do was nod through the blood and tears.
"I would have loved to let you beg for your life; it would be poetic justice."
"But things don't always work out how you want them to, and we can let those guys in the other room hear, can we?"
Saying this, he kicked Buck's abdomen, to which the latter could only grunt to.
Raven spoke to him, indifferent and as quiet as a whisper; except, to him, it was all too clear.
"We should at least let them enjoy their last moments in ignorance of what is about to happen soon. They will join you soon to keep you company anyway."
Once Raven had his fun, he crouched in front of the man, who was still slowly losing blood.
Still slowly drifting deeper into hell.
He then removed his mask.
"Your sins have finally caught up to you."
Though Raven looked quite different now, there was still a faint likeness to his past self.
"I want you to remember my face, because it's the last thing you'll ever see.
When Raven pulled the mask away, Buck's eyes widened. At first, confusion. Then disbelief. Finally, horror.
The man recognised him even through all the pain, and that expression of shocked recognition was the last thing he saw before Raven ended his life.
Chk…
…
He didn't stop there.
Raven picked off a few more of the members when they were alone, but as more and more people started disappearing, Richard and his group eventually realised something was wrong.
Assuming the worst, they promptly barricaded the door to the meeting room they had been in earlier, preparing for a fight.
Although Raven would've liked more time with each culprit, it didn't matter; he was strong enough to kill them all head-on.
When it became clear they wouldn't come out, Raven decided it was time to take things into his own hands.
Inside the room, Richard discussed their next course of action, but several men were clearly rattled. After all, who wouldn't be terrified if an unknown killer was picking off their people one by one?
Suddenly, a loud noise came from outside, alerting them.
"Get into position and shoot whatever comes through those doors," Richard ordered.
As their leader, Richard remained confident. He had survived countless dangerous situations and knew exactly what to do. Moreover, he was now an awakener with a power that elevated his position in the mafia, and his newfound strength made him believe he could defeat anyone.
Crack!!
The door burst open with an explosive sound as splinters of wood were sent flying everywhere.
A normal door could never stop Raven.
'Since I can't take my time with these mobs, I'll end them without them knowing what hit them. They can ponder on it in the afterlife to no avail.'
Without hesitation, he dashed at the first person he saw.
Richard smirked, convinced his newfound strength as an awakener made him untouchable.
But the sight before him shattered that illusion — speed he couldn't follow, a sword he couldn't even see until it was already too late.
"Who the f*** are you?!" one of the men shouted.
Bang!
As Raven came to a stop, Richard seized the opportunity and fired at him with the handgun he kept in his side pocket.
"You had me worried for a second there," Richard sneered. "Your best bet was to use your speed to kill everyone, but your stupidity, trying to show off, is what got you killed."
Richard chuckled, convinced he had incapacitated the intruder.
Raven, however, stood upright as if nothing had happened. The bullet clinked to the ground at his feet. Though the shot had hurt, it hadn't penetrated at all.
Raven slightly nudged it with his feet in amusement, allowing the metallic sound of a bullet rolling on the tiled floor to bring everyone back from their surprise.
"What the f***?! How are you still standing?!" Richard shouted in disbelief.
Losing his patience, he shot a few more bullets, but it was all futile.
This was when they realised that what they were dealing with was no mere man.
It was a monster adorned in human flesh and the mask.