meanwhile

  Raven moved silently through the halls of the manor, slipping past the guards with precise, fluid motions. There was no need for a fight yet—his objective was clear: reach the head of the Everin family and take him without killing him.

  When he reached the grand chamber where the leader was supposed to be, he stood before the door, took a breath, then slowly pushed it open.

  Raven: “Alright, let’s—”

  Before he could finish, a powerful punch slammed into his face, sending him staggering backward!

  Everin Leader: “Who are you? How did you get in here?”

  Raven rose from the floor, rubbing his jaw where the blow had landed, then smirked slightly.

  Raven: “Did you forget me?”

  The leader’s eyes narrowed as he observed Raven for a few seconds, then realization dawned on his face.

  Everin Leader: “Oh… So you’re not dead after all. Don’t tell me you came here to kill me.”

  Raven: “That’s up to you… Either you come with me quietly, or you die here.”

  The leader chuckled confidently, straightening his posture, his expression unfazed.

  Everin Leader: “You sound awfully sure of yourself. Let me show you the strength of the Everin family.”

  Raven: “I’ll warn you… I’m not the same as last time.”

  At that moment, the leader stomped the ground and lunged forward at incredible speed, but Raven was ready!

  The Battle Begins!

  The Everin leader charged toward Raven with surprising speed, his fist shooting forward like a cannonball aimed at Raven’s chest. But Raven tilted his body with expert precision, dodging the attack by mere inches. He didn’t stop at evasion—he countered with a quick punch to the leader’s ribs, forcing him to stumble slightly.

  Not wasting a second, Raven closed the gap, his knee driving into the leader’s stomach, followed by a clean punch aimed at his face. But the leader blocked it, then retaliated, gripping Raven’s arm and flinging him across the hall with sheer brute force.

  Raven crashed into a side column, cracking the stone, but he didn’t let that slow him down. He quickly regained his footing and launched himself forward again, dipping under an incoming strike before delivering a flurry of rapid punches to his opponent’s torso. Each blow sent shockwaves through the leader’s body, pushing him further back.

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  Everin Leader (gritting his teeth): “Damn… Your strength—”

  But Raven didn’t let him finish. He ducked under the leader’s arm, spun around, then delivered a sharp roundhouse kick to the side of his head, sending him crashing into a table, shattering it into splinters.

  The leader groaned, pushing himself up, his breath coming in heavier now. His expression turned serious.

  Everin Leader: “Not bad…”

  Once again, he lunged, faster this time, his fist barreling toward Raven. But just before the blow landed, Raven sidestepped at the last second, catching the leader’s wrist and striking his elbow joint in one swift motion, causing his arm to momentarily go numb.

  Raven wasted no time. He spun behind his opponent and delivered a brutal punch to his back, forcing him to lurch forward from the impact.

  Despite the pain, the leader refused to fall. He twisted around, swinging a powerful strike, but Raven ducked low, swept his leg under the leader’s knee, and knocked him off balance.

  And in that brief moment The Everin leader shouted, his voice filled with rage, "I'll kill you and bury you here!"

  In an instant, a brilliant blue glow surrounded his arm, the energy condensing unnaturally around it. The air around him distorted from the sheer intensity of the power radiating from his body.

  Raven (to himself): "Blue energy...! So they really do have powerful techniques."

  There was no time for further thought. He raised his hand, lightning crackling between his fingers, rapidly gathering into a concentrated force, ready to pierce through his opponent’s defense.

  Raven: "All I need to do is dodge his attack, then exploit the opening to strike him with my lightning directly!"

  In the next instant, the Everin leader lunged forward!

  His movement was like a storm, the ground beneath his feet shattering from the sheer force he unleashed, and the surrounding walls trembled under the immense pressure of his charge. To an ordinary eye, his body seemed to vanish, leaving only a trail of blue energy flashing behind him like a streak of lightning.

  Raven took in the scene, his mind processing everything at an incredible speed. There was no time to retreat, no room for error.

  He had to dodge at the perfect moment!

  Then—just before the Everin leader’s strike could land—Raven tilted his body by a fraction of a second, shifting his head just enough to evade the lethal path of the attack. He felt the immense force pass beside his face, the sheer pressure cutting through the air like blades. His eyes gleamed as he spotted the perfect opening.

  At that very moment, before the leader could retract his arm for another strike, Raven dashed into his range, closing the distance in an instant. His lightning-clad hand shot forward, aimed straight at his opponent’s chest!

  Raven’s electrified hand pierced through the Everin leader’s chest effortlessly, as if his body were nothing more than a fragile leaf caught in a raging storm.

  For a brief moment, time seemed to freeze.

  The leader's eyes widened in utter shock, staring at Raven, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

  He tried to speak, but no sound came out—only his lips quivered as his body rapidly lost its strength. The lightning surging from Raven’s hand burned through his cells from the inside, shutting down his heart before his mind could even register the fatal blow.

  There was no scream, no prolonged agony—just a single, devastating moment of realization.

  The leader’s body suddenly went limp, collapsing lifelessly to the ground, his eyes still wide open, as if unable to believe—until the very last second—that his life had ended in such a way.

  Kain and Raven returned to the village after their mission, the atmosphere calm around them, though the gloom of the battle they had fought still lingered in the air.

  Kain: "Didn't you say you didn't want to kill him?"

  Raven: "Yes, but he was stubborn. There was no choice but to kill him."

  Kain: "So what now? What will we do?"

  Raven: "I will go back to the advisor we imprisoned and tell him that his leader is dead. Maybe he'll cooperate with us."

  Kain: "What's the use? We've killed his leader."

  Raven: "This person is the brain of the Everin family, he was always the one guiding their leader and stopping him from doing certain things. I'm trying to learn about their operations so I can destroy them."

  Kain: "I’ll head back to Arcadia. Seems like there are meetings. Ugh, how I hate those meetings."

  On the news channel, watched by everyone across the country, the anchor sat confidently in front of the camera, her eyes focused on the script in front of her.

  Anchor: "The top news of the day, 1,000 students have been selected from university graduates to work in the government palace for the great power they have demonstrated, outperforming all other students. A ceremony will be held to honor them, and this is the most exciting news for the nations. The six royal families are sponsoring this event. That was the best news for these countries. Now, moving on to security and police news: last night, the Everin Palace and Falconier Palace were destroyed in a mysterious incident, and the heads of the families were killed!!!"

  The anchor paused for a moment before continuing: "Investigations are underway into this mysterious incident, as there are no clear details yet about who is behind these attacks.