"Who are you?" yelled one of the men guarding Ivanov's house.
Ge had come sprinting after Raven as he entered Ivanov's estate.
"Oh, me?"
"I'm someone who is here to kill your boss by torturing the living daylights out of him," Raven said coldly, a sarcastic smirk playing on his lips.
"You think we're just going to let you do that? Come back with a whole gang if you want any chance, though I don't plan on letting you leave now that you're here." The man chuckled and started to walk toward Raven.
"No need. I'm enough to beat your weak asses back to tomorrow," Raven shot back, making the man angry. His walk quickly turned into a run as he approached.
Without hesitation, Raven acted swiftly, igniting the man on fire. He then conjured a soundproof barrier around himself so no one else could hear the man's screams.
The man took a moment to realise what was happening. Even with awakeners now common, being set on fire at random was not normal.
As the heat burned his skin and smoke rose, he stopped in his tracks and dropped to his knees in pain.
"Aaahh! Please stop! I don't want to die!" His screams were heard only by Raven, who responded with a cold laugh.
"Please, please! I'll tell you anything you want! Just stop this pain!" the man begged, desperate for salvation. But Raven knew a guard like this wouldn't know anything important.
The screams continued until the flames died down. When it was over, there was nothing left, as if the man had never existed.
"How did you get in here?" another group of men arrived behind Raven, unaware that one of their own was already dead. They approached cautiously, choosing to question first.
"Urrgghh, why are all of you so weak?" Raven muttered, feeling a little bored after running hundreds of miles to get here.
A sword suddenly appeared in Raven's hand, alerting the men that he was hostile.
"Kill him now! He's an awakened, so attack together!" their leader ordered.
Swoosh.
Without waiting, Raven moved faster than their eyes could follow and beheaded their leader.
"Uh… what even happened?" The men didn't understand immediately, stunned by Raven's inhuman speed.
Bam.
A fist slammed into one man's face, sending him flying into the others. Raven showed no mercy, swiftly decapitating them all. There was no fun in playing around with weak ants.
After reducing them to ashes, Raven walked calmly into the estate. A disturbing grin spread across his face. The door barely creaked as he pushed it open, and no one came out to greet him.
"Let's see how many of them there are," Raven said, activating his sense skill to detect life within fifty meters.
"Hmmm… There's a room in the middle of the estate with two people sleeping inside and one to the left with only one person. A few guards stand near these rooms—I'm guessing for moments like this," he observed.
"Well, no hurry. Let's take out these guards first. They're probably scum anyway," Raven decided. He wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone in his way.
"You! Who are you? How did you get inside?" a man demanded, both anxious and angry.
"No one stopped me, so I just walked through the front door," Raven said, trying to sound innocent.
"What about the men outside?" the man asked, confused.
"I killed them," Raven admitted.
At that moment, two more men appeared behind him, gathering all the guards in one place.
"Yo, what's going on? How did a rat get in here? You know the boss will kill you if he finds out!" one said, annoyed.
"I didn't let him in, you idiot. He killed everyone outside," the other replied.
"Haha, him? What could he do? Just kill him already, then find someone else to blame for this rat getting in," the first man said, gesturing with his knife.
"How many times do I have to hear the same empty threats before you realise they don't work?"
Unhappy about being ignored and looked down on again clicked his fingers to light them ablaze. And a soundproof Barrier was erected again so Ivanov and his family wouldn't hear the commotion of the men dying in excruciating pain.
He then walked past the hallway to the kitchen, where a corridor led to a room. Thanks to his awareness skill, he could sense everything within fifty meters. He sensed two people in two different rooms.
'Guess this one is the daughter.' Raven had obviously done enough research on the man to know that his wife was already deceased, and the fact that the only other person living here was his sole daughter.
Carefully, Raven opened the daughter's door to confirm. She was sound asleep.
Her beauty, coupled with her lavish, sky-blue hair, caught him off guard briefly, but he had more important matters to attend to.
Pretty or not, she was Ivanov's blood. That was all that mattered.
She seemed about his age, making him wonder how messed up Ivanov was to have done what he did to Raven's family, especially as a father himself.
"Haha, your screams will make me so happy I might not even kill the rest of your family," Raven muttered, entering the other room where Ivanov slept.
He went to the right side, where Ivanov lay peacefully sleeping, which only made Raven's blood boil.
Raven simply grabbed Ivanov's body and left the room. In the kitchen, he set up a soundproof barrier and threw Ivanov against the wall to shock him awake.
Preparing for the finale, Raven even undid the transfiguration magic. 'I want this man to see the face of the one who will send him to hell.'
"Argh! What the hell?!" Ivanov yelled, stunned.
"Seems you were sleeping well. Thanks for waking up for the finale," Raven mocked.
"Who the hell are you? Why are you here? Where are the guards?"
His heart pounded against his ribs as he took in the sight before him.
The intruder didn't look like any man Ivanov had ever known.
White hair gleamed in the dark, his features so sharp and flawless they almost seemed unreal, and that suffocating presence rolling off him made Ivanov's skin crawl.
"GUARDS!" Ivanov shouted, growing more frantic.
"No one can hear you. I already set up a soundproof barrier," Raven said casually, clicking his fingers.
"What is that?"
"It's a type of magic that blocks sound from escaping."
"I know mages exist now because of the awakening, but I've never heard of this. How about you work for me? I can make you rich," Ivanov said greedily.
"Haha, ridiculous! Do you realise I came to kill you?" Raven laughed.
"Even if they can't hear you, my guards will notice I'm missing and find me."
"Sorry to kill your hope, but there are no guards left."
"I killed them all so I can deal with you without interruptions," Raven said, his grin darkening.
He smiled wider, enjoying the way Ivanov's confidence bled out of him with every word.
"You're lying!"
"Then why are there no bodies?" Ivanov challenged.
Realising that this wasn't really going to work, Raven decided just to show him.
Crackle!
A massive flame appeared between him and Alexey, and it started to crackle and pop like a hungry monster waiting to devour its prey.
"This is how. There are no bodies because I decided to burn them, not to leave any evidence behind." Raven smiled cruelly as he answered him.
Ivanov was able to feel the heat from the flame, and he realised his folly as sweat started to drip down his face. This was real. This was really happening to him right now.
Ivanov's confidence wavered. "W…What do you want with me?"
"You had my father killed; I want to know why and also receive my due."
"I don't know your…"
"My father's name was Dietrich Dmitry," Raven said, voice steady.
He swallowed his saliva as the name made a lightbulb go off in his head.
"I had no part in that."
"Do you think I'd believe that? I even found the kill order you gave the mafia after wiping them out."
"No… please, I didn't mean to. It was the prime minister's order."
"Exactly. But now, you answer me, why?"