Sigh....
How long had it been? Hours? Days? My body was screaming in agony, but my mind refused to break. Even now, floating in pain, I stayed strangely calm.
I couldn't see a thing. That blindness made the darkness feel alive.
Thud!
"Damn it!" A brutal punch slammed into my jaw. Likely that old snake himself.
The basement fell into complete silence. I could hear every breath — more than twenty people watching.
Then came the laugh. That ugly, hateful cackle I despised more than anything.
Step. Step.
Footsteps approached slowly.
"Boss… maybe we should finish him now before—"
Slap!
Silence again.
Looks like the old man just shut his own dog up.
"Shut your mouth," the Boss growled. "I want to enjoy this."
For him, breaking me was more satisfying than killing me.
"B-Boss, I only meant—"
Bang! Bang!
Thud.
Two gunshots rang out. A body hit the floor.
My hearing had become terrifyingly sharp after they took my eyes. Almost funny.
Gulp. Gulp.
Several nervous swallows echoed around the room. The corpse didn't make much noise, but fear spread like poison.
"Anyone else want to speak?" the Boss asked coldly.
No one dared.
"Good. Loyal dogs are hard to find."
He turned his attention back to me.
"Now… let's take a proper look at you, boy."
In the dimly lit basement, the young man tied to the chair looked like a broken doll. His body was covered in wounds. His eyes had been gouged out. Half his jet-black hair was missing from repeated beatings. His face was so swollen it was unrecognizable.
Yet he wasn't crying or begging. He sat there with a faint, eerie smile on his ruined lips — as if he had already won.
That smile made the Boss tremble with rage.
"Still smiling after all this?" the Boss snarled. "You've finally gone insane."
The boy — Kael Voss — said nothing. He only smiled wider.
The Boss grew nervous.
"Keep that mouth shut. You're finished."
He leaned closer, voice dripping with venom.
"You can't escape your fate. You'll die here, just like your family. Just like that girl… Elara, wasn't it?"
Kael's smile vanished.
The Boss grinned cruelly.
"We took our time with her. Broke her fingers slowly. Cut her arms. Shattered her legs. Burned her alive… then healed her just enough to do it again. Over and over. In the end, we packaged what remained and sent it straight to you. How did it feel receiving your lover's charred remains, Kael?"
Kael stayed silent.
"Time's up, Void."
The Boss drew a sharp blade and pressed it against Kael's chest, then moved it to his neck.
"In the end, all your efforts were meaningless."
"Huh?" Kael rasped. "Meaningless?"
The ropes suddenly loosened and fell away.
Kael slowly rose, his empty eye sockets staring forward like two black abysses.
The Boss staggered back in terror.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Kael roared, blood dripping from his lips. "I will not die in vain!"
His voice echoed through the basement.
"I am Kael Voss — The Void. You turned a normal high school kid into a monster. You hunted me with millions and corrupt cops. But I burned your empire down. I killed your brother. I killed your strongest men. I made you hide like a rat for a whole year."
He continued, voice shaking with emotion.
"I took everything from you. Your family, your organization, your power. And you still think my death means nothing?"
Kael tried to stand but collapsed to his knees. Tears streamed from his hollow sockets as years of suppressed pain finally broke free.
"Elara… My parents… Why did they have to die?"
The sobs faded. His voice turned cold again.
"You created the biggest nightmare this underworld has ever seen. And now you're terrified of me."
Step. Step.
The Boss, sweating heavily, placed the blade against Kael's neck once more.
"Still… you will die a pathetic death by my hand."
Kael chuckled darkly, staring into the man's eyes with those empty voids.
"Pathetic? After everything I did to you… this is the death of a king who shook the world."
Slash!
Kael's head rolled across the floor.
No one celebrated.
Because every word he spoke was true.
Kael Voss, known as The Void, had terrorized the criminal underworld from age sixteen to nineteen. A teenager who made monsters tremble.
The Boss shivered at the thought of what might have happened if they hadn't killed him today.
Seconds later, something streaked from the sky and slammed into the basement with devastating force.
BOOM!
A massive explosion consumed the entire area, erasing the Boss and the building in flames.
Somewhere else…
"Where am I?"