"In case you haven't realised, you're all alone."
Logan ignored those words, a hand on the wall to support himself. Had it not been for the rain, his face would have been bloody. Even so, his face was severely swollen, littered with cuts and bruises.
"Y-you guys are going t-to regret this."
Logan struggled to get the words out, every move on his part causing him unbearable pain. But Philip and his goons simply snickered, finding his words amusing.
"You can still talk, huh?"
"We had been holding back for your sake. Yet here you are, not appreciating our kindness." Another round of mocking laughs resounded.
A burning desire to rip them to shreds burned in Logan's heart, his breath heavy and ragged. His gaze followed Philip's moronic face and movements, then shifted to his goons, silently cursing his bad luck.
'Damn it! I have to get out of here.'
Through the rain, Logan assessed his surroundings, searching for a path out of their encirclement. He knew they intended to leave him for dead. And despite his failure to properly awaken, he still burned with an overwhelming desire to prove that woman wrong.
A sudden crackle echoed, snapping Logan's split focus back onto Philip. His breath hitched when he saw him activate his ability. The sight almost drove him mad with envy.
"What's wrong?" Philip's mocking smile widened as he slowly closed in. "Seen something interesting?"
Blue lightning tendrils crackled from Philip's hand, the tendrils lighting up part of his face in a sinister look. "Why don't you take a closer look?!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Philip closed in on Logan, his speed vastly exceeding what he had shown earlier. Logan reacted almost instantaneously, forcing himself to endure the agony as he dove to the side.
In the end… It was useless.
With his injuries, Logan could barely stand his ground, much less move freely more about. He was no match for the current Philip. Through the blinding rage that burned in his heart, Logan almost saw the blow nearing his face in slow motion.
Logan closed his eyes and turned his cheek to the descending fist, bracing himself for the blow. The lightning-charged blow connected viciously, and a shocking jolt rippled through his body. He spat a mouthful of blood as the blow sent him flying a few meters to the side, skidding across the pool of rainwater on the ground.
Logan's world spun, his consciousness shaken. He almost lost consciousness right there and then. That… that would have been mercy. Unfortunately for him, the jolt kept him awake, the pain blinding. He heaved, blood trickling down his chin.
He struggled to sit up, but his limbs felt numb, nearly drained of strength. His elbows buckled under the attempt to support his upper body, and a few vicious coughs ripped out of his throat, raw and unrestrained.
"How do you like that, Logan?"
Logan could barely hear Philip's mocking words from behind, the pitter-patter of the rain muffling most of his words.
"This is what I call poetic justice! What goes around always comes back around. Logan, do you know how much I despise you? I don't know how, but for an orphan, you sure were strong."
Philip continued his rambling, circling Logan while he struggled to stay awake. Every part of his body ached so badly that he wished he were dead. But the burning intent in his heart… the burning intent in his eyes refused to give in.
"But tonight… Tonight, you die."
With a lot of difficulty, Logan raised his head to meet Philip's menacing eyes and shuddered. That look in his eyes… that intent. It was genuine. He had known Philip and the others would teach him a harsh lesson, leaving him close to death.
'H-he really intends to kill me?!'
"P-Philip, you don't actually mean that, do you?" Logan forced himself to smile, the act sending a wave of disgust through him. "W-We're all schoolmates. We're barely adults, Philip. What happened before was just me playing around."
"Oh, it was real… very real."
Philip sneered, a flash of lightning crackling just above him, the visual impact causing Logan's heart to skip a beat. "Logan, even if you begged and crawled around like the dog you are, the outcome won't change.
"You brought this on yourself, Logan. This world of ours isn't a black and white one." As he spoke, he lifted his right hand, and lightning crackled ominously. "In your next life, learn to stay in your place."
Logan's eyes shook as terror gripped his heart and mind, paralysing him. This was it. He was at death's door, and there was nothing he could do. Philip's lighting-charged hand grabbed onto his face, and a soul-wrenching cry tore out of Logan.
His body convulsed and quickly collapsed to the ground, but Philip did not let go. Every thought and plan he managed to put together was quickly dispersed. All he could do was scream and convulse.
But then a moment of respite came when Philip let go, snickering, "Look at you now… This is what you deserve. This is what you are…"
Logan's mind was a chaotic mess, barely hearing Philip's voice or the rumbling of thunder. Blood continued to trickle down the side of his mouth, his body convulsing intermittently.
He choked on his blood and struggled to roll to his side, coughing and wheezing. Now cold and bleeding over, Logan helplessly tried to get away from Philip, broken in body but not in mind.
"Where do you think you're going?!"
A vicious kick to his side sent him skidding across the ground, a fresh wave of pain rippling through his body. But Logan pushed his broken body, turning onto his stomach to continue moving, barely covering any ground.
"There's no escape for you, Logan…"
Logan suddenly stopped his attempts at crawling away when he encountered a barrier blocking his path. He could barely see at this point, but he managed to glance up.
Philip had blocked his path, looking down on him like he was nothing but an insect he could crush anytime. Logan clenched his fists and gritted his teeth at the humiliation.
But beneath those mocking eyes… behind the malicious intent burning in his eyes was a flicker of hesitation. Logan almost snickered at the sight. Philip, as loud-mouthed as he was, did not have what it took to take a life.
Flashing his bloody teeth and broken lips, Logan sneered, "Y-You don't have what i-it takes, do you?"