1 A Glorious Death.

Sigh.

How much time has passed? I thought. Maybe a few hours or so. The pain was unbearable for my body, but my mind remained unfazed, even amidst this level of torture.

I can't see anything, and that makes everything a bit nerve-wracking.

Thud!!

"Sh*t!!" I was punched straight in the face by someone. Maybe it's that old geezer.

Silence.

There was pin-drop silence in the whole basement. I could even count the breaths of the people present here, and they easily surpassed the number I can count with my fingers.

"Hahahahahahahahahahah!" Amidst this horrifying situation, I heard the nasty laugh of the person I hate the most in this world.

Step, step.

I heard footsteps, like someone closing the gap between themselves and me.

"Ahem* Boss, I think we should kill him immediately, or we might lose this chance, a-and..."

Slap!!

Silence.

Deadly silence took control of the whole place again, and I could sense the tension rising.

"Looks like that old fu*k slapped someone, hehehe." I thought. I don't even have the minimal energy to say these things out loud, so he can hear me.

"Shut the f*ck up! Just let me enjoy seeing this bug get trashed." The Boss spouted these words.

For him, seeing me in a miserable state is more important than my death, so his anger is reasonable to some extent.

"B-Boss, wh--" the guy who got slapped was stuttering for some reason. I wish I could see it with my own eyes.

Bang!! Bang!!

Thud!

The sound of firing was resounding much louder than expected.

Looks like having no eyeball strengthened my other senses. Cool! I was having these useless thoughts. On the other hand, it seems like that previous guy got shot for interrupting my torture process. I am no longer able to think straight.

Sigh.

Gulp.

Some audible gulping sounds can be heard from my surroundings. The sound of the falling corpse wasn't too loud, but it was enough to send chills down everyone's spines.

"Is there anyone who wants to say something?" The boss asked while gazing at everyone.

This time, not a single soul dared to say anything.

"Very nice! It looks like I have a bunch of quite loyal dogs under me. Very good," the boss said. Even if he was complimenting others, there was no emotion in his voice.

"Now let's have a close look at you, my boy~." His voice made me want to puke right away. I could imagine his facial expressions in my mind.

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In the basement (third-person view),

The boss turned, and there was a young man tied to a chair by some ropes. He sat limply on the chair, with his whole body bleeding from everywhere.

His eyes had been gouged out by the goons of a man called 'Boss,' and due to constant beatings with an iron rod over his head, nearly half of his bright blond hair was gone. His face was deformed to the point where no one could recognize him.

But what made the situation more confusing was the fact that the young man wasn't crying or begging for his life. He was just lifeless, like a broken doll.

He had a creepy smile on his face, like he was proud of something he had accomplished in his life and didn't care about whatever happened to him from now on.

Tremble.

Seeing that smile made the Boss tremble. His anger and desire to distort that smile grew tremendously.

"Even after getting tortured this much? It looks like you finally lost your sanity to be able to smile like that," the Boss addressed these words towards the young man, waiting for him to respond. But to his bad luck, the young man just smirked and said nothing.

Silence.

"Yes, keep that fu*king mouth of yours shut, 'cause you know you can't do sh*t." Seeing him remain quiet made the Boss quite nervous, so he started spouting some nonsense.

"You can't change your fate. You will die by my hands, just like your whole family did. Just like the girl you loved so much. What was her name again? Hmm... Ah, 'Jasmine,' right?"

"Hmm!?" Now the smirk disappeared from the blond youth's face, and the opponent noticed that immediately.

"Yeah, Jasmine. Do you know how we butchered her? First, we slowly cut her slender fingers, then her soft palm and smooth hands, her long legs, and finally, we burned her alive and saved her before she died." He began to describe how he tortured the youth's girlfriend until she died, step by step.

"And then we burned her again and saved her again, quite a few times, and then we packed her alive in a package and sent it to... hmm, who do we send it to? Any guesses?" The Boss asked. It made the blond youth flinch, as he imagined all of those things that happened to his loved one.

"Ah yes, it was you, right? (The Dark), or should I call you Eric? Then tell me, Eric, how it felt to see it with your own eyes. Tell me, the charred barbeque of your own lover. I promise that I won't tell anyone. Hahahaha." The old man was sharp and nasty with his phrasing, like he was enjoying himself.

Silence.

Even after all this, Eric remained silent, as if he was waiting for his death to come and didn't care about what the person in front of him was saying.

Sigh.

"Looks like time is over, DARK."

--No response--

Seeing this, the Boss sighed and pulled out a katana, placing its tip on Eric's chest. A small drop of blood flowed from where the blade was placed, emphasizing its sharpness.

"Heh! In the end, all of your efforts were in vain," the Boss said. He mumbled these words under his breath, and they reached Eric's ears.

"Huh? In vain?" This question escaped Eric's lips.

"What? I didn't hear it. Are you willing to tell me how it felt to see your lover burn? Hehe." The Boss asked mischievously.

Slip,

Suddenly, the ropes around Eric loosened, and he opened his

eyes, which didn't have any eyeballs. He glared ahead, making the Boss tremble in fright as he stared into Eric's hollow, abyss-like eyes, which looked ridiculously horrifying.

"H- How did this... he-" the Boss was trying to figure out how those ropes lost their grip around Eric.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY? I WILL DIE IN VAIN!" Eric screamed at him, using everything he had, glistening blood dripping from the corners of his lips.

"Y-you, how d-did this?" The Boss was baffled by the sudden outburst of this lifeless body.

"I am not dying in vain," Eric proclaimed, his voice echoing through the basement. "I am The Dark, a force that cannot be defeated. I have taken control, and I will bring destruction upon this Mafia world"

For someone else, these words could sound like some narcissistic but everyone present in the basement knew what he was talking about because Silence fell upon the room, the weight of Eric's words hanging heavy in the air. The Boss and his associates stood frozen, unsure of how to respond to this unexpected turn of events.

Silence.

"I was just an ordinary high school student until you turned me into a monster," Eric continued, his voice tinged with bitterness. "You tried to capture me, spending millions of dollars with the help of corrupt authorities. But I fought back, seeking vengeance for everything you took from me."Every word he spoke was legitimate, making the present ones hesitant to retort against him.

Eric's gaze shifted, his hollow eyes fixating on the Boss. "I made you. the person who is currently the most wanted criminal in this country. Run and hide like a beggar for a year. I killed your brother and your five most important executives." Eric said. He did kill them and gave them the most brutal death possible.

The truth of Eric's words struck the Boss, who could no longer deny the consequences of his actions. He had underestimated the young man before him, and now he would pay the price.

"You know what? I was just a normal high school student, but you turned me into a demon, and then you got so scared of me that you spent millions of dollars to capture me, not by yourself, instead with the help of the cops," Eric said. He still remembers the car chases where he might have died countless times if not for his luck.

"Hah*, this country is corrupt to the core." A toxic sigh escaped through Eric's mouth.

"I took my revenge by killing your family, friends, co-workers, organization, and many more," Eric started counting the number of people he killed for the sake of his revenge.

Thud.

"Look- ahh." At that time, Eric, with his limp body, tried to stand but ended up falling on his knees.

"Sniff*." Tears started to form at the corner of his eyes and slowly began to stream down his cheek. Soon, he was sobbing like a lost child, the pent-up emotions slowly surfacing.

"And Jasmine... Why did you kill her?" Eric's voice wavered, a mixture of sorrow and anger. "My parents... They had no reason to die by your hands."

Emotions overwhelmed Eric, tears welling up in his eyes. His sorrow transformed into a quiet rage, burning within him like a flickering flame.

"You turned me into a monster, but I will not die in vain," Eric stated, his voice steady and resolute. "I am the biggest criminal alive, and you are terrified of me."

...

Soon, the tantrum died down, and Eric gained his composure. But around him, everyone in the underground basement was sweating buckets, not knowing what to do.

Then Eric turned his hollow gaze and focused on what was in front of him and said, "I shook your whole world. I am the biggest criminal in the world alive right now. How can you say I am dying in vain? How can you say that you ain't scared of me?" Eric asked, a simple question with a shameful answer.

No one was willing to answer. It's not like no one knew the answer; they were silent because

the answer wasn't in their favor. It would only show how fucking miserable they are.

Step, step.

"Do it," Eric challenged, devoid of any trace of fear. "Will my death truly be a miserable one? After everything I've done, can you honestly say that?"

Step, step.

Shing.

At that moment, the Boss, who almost wet his pants because of how terrifying Eric looked, regained some of his composure. He placed the katana blade once again on Eric, but this time around his neck, and said in a trembling voice, "St-still, you are gonna die a miserable death by my hands." The Boss said, his tone nowhere near as prideful as before. He was clearly trembling.

Sigh.

"Look at me, old man, and say that again. Do you really think that after what I've done to you, this is a miserable death?" Eric asked him in a voice without a single ounce of emotion.

The Boss looked at him in his hollow, abyss-like eyes.

Chuckle.

"No? Right, it's more of a King like me who is getting beheaded for being a tyrant. Anyways, I am dying a death worthy of me." Eric said calmly. He might have sounded sarcastic as he laughed loudly.

Slash, slash.

Eric's voice was cut short as his neck was cut by the katana, and his head rolled over the floor.

No one rejoiced at the moment when their biggest archenemy died.

Because Eric's last words are true.

Eric Luster, aka "The Dark," from the age of sixteen to nineteen, a mere teenager, shook the whole underworld.

At an age when kids should play with their friends, Eric was playing with the lives of the most wanted criminal bosses just for his revenge over his family's loss.

'What if he wasn't killed today?' A single thought came to the boss's mind, and...

Shiver.

Even the mere thought of leaving Eric alive gave him tremors all over his body.

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After a few seconds, something flew towards the underground basement where the whole gang was, at tremendous speed and dropped with great momentum.

BOOM!

That thing collided with the ground, creating a massive explosion and destroying the whole city along with the basement, killing the Boss.

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On the other hand, "Where am I?" Eric said, looking around him.