"That guy became an Orphnoch!" Tokumoto immediately panicked.
Mari looked over, utterly bewildered. "Sawada-kun, how could you..." Her classmate, whom she had grown up with, had become an Orphnoch. Her eyes were wide with fear, unable to accept the reality.
"Don't be scared of him! The three of us will attack together!" Ken Arai yelled out right away.
Tokumoto regained his composure and, with the others, shot red electric currents from their fingertips toward Sawada. The combined force caught Sawada off guard, sent him flying, and slammed him into a wall.
Before they could celebrate, Sawada quickly got up and charged straight at them. He grabbed Yuki Kawachi and Ken Arai, pinning them against the wall, one in each hand. They instantly died and their bodies crumbled into sand.
Only Tokumoto was left, trembling all over. Realizing what happened, he desperately ran for the exit. Seeing this, Sawada summoned his weapon, flung it from a distance, and killed him with a single strike.
Mari watched the scene in shock and screamed, "Sawada-kun, what's wrong with you?"
"Mari, you're next."
Sawada looked at Mari with a blank expression and slowly walked toward her.
"Mari!"
Just then, Takumi Inui arrived. He immediately transformed into Faiz and fired a burst from the Faiz Blaster at Sawada.
After taking the attack, Sawada stopped his advance and turned his attention to Faiz.
The current Faiz was naturally no match for Sawada. He was getting beaten badly, just like in the original series.
This sight made the bound Mari cry out helplessly from a distance. "Stop it, Sawada-kun!"
In the nick of time, Raven arrived. He had tailed Takumi and was pleasantly surprised to find Sawada here.
From a distance, he launched a raw, physical flying kick that forcefully knocked Sawada back.
Sawada cried out in pain from the blow. He covered his injured spot with one hand and looked at Raven with confusion.
"Raven-san!"
Mari's eyes lit up with joy when she saw Raven appear.
Takumi, who was just climbing up from the ground, looked at Raven and wondered, Is he even human? If he had taken that kick in his current state, it would have been agony. He couldn't believe Raven was this ridiculous even without transforming.
"You bastard…" Sawada, enraged, immediately raised his weapon and charged at Raven.
However, none of his attacks, without exception, managed to even touch the hem of Raven's clothes. Raven played with him the entire time, demonstrating a massive disparity in power.
"You're a failure if you can't even force me to transform."
Raven's overall strength had significantly increased since returning from the Sub-World. Sawada, who could be instantly defeated in a few moves by Kitazaki (Delta), was mere fodder to him.
"He's incredible…" Mari was completely dumbfounded. She had never seen anyone easily defeat an Orphnoch without relying on a Driver.
Takumi was even more crushed. By comparison, he looked incredibly weak…
"Damn it!" Sawada became furious and started attacking blindly.
Bang!
Raven simply backhanded him, sending his body crashing through the nearby wall.
Sawada tumbled miserably into a pile of rubble. Just as he tried to get up, Raven walked over and firmly planted his foot on the Orphnoch's head. Sawada's face was pressed against the ground, unable to move.
Sawada felt an unprecedented pressure, even more dominating and terrifying than what he felt from Kitazaki outside. And for some reason, an inexplicable aura filled him with reverence.
Raven looked down at Sawada under his foot and smiled faintly. After devouring the Orphnoch King, he possessed a natural, innate suppression over all Orphnoch, making them more susceptible to fear in his presence.
"While you weren't going to live for long anyway, I've decided to send you on your way early."
After saying this in a light, dismissive tone, Raven dropped a ball of purple flame from his hand.
"Ahh… AAAHHHH…!!"
Burned by the purple flame, Sawada screamed in agony. Soon, his body slowly burned and turned into sand.
"Sawada-kun!"
Mari couldn't see what was happening but heard Sawada's agonizing scream. Her heart was a wreck of conflicting emotions.
Takumi walked over, untied Mari's ropes, and lifted her.
Having dealt with Sawada, Raven was in a good mood. He walked over to greet Mari and Takumi.
"Are you two alright?" He gave them an innocuous smile.
"W-we're fine…" Takumi looked at Raven nervously. Every time Raven acted, he seemed to enjoy torturing his targets. This made Takumi genuinely hope never to be on Raven's bad side. The painful lesson from last time still hadn't fully left him.
"Raven-san… what did you do to Sawada-kun…?" Mari still couldn't accept that someone she had known since childhood was simply dead.
"I killed him," Raven stated without changing his expression.
"Even if Sawada-kun became an Orphnoch, he must have still retained his human heart! How could you…!" Mari was momentarily lost for words.
"In the past few days, this maniac has killed at least a hundred people. Do you really think he still had a human heart?" Raven replied calmly.
The one thing he couldn't stand was people trying to redeem Sawada. He had attacked countless ordinary people indiscriminately from his very first appearance. He had practically met the entire Orphnoch kill quota for the whole show all by himself.
"Besides, he came here to kill you."
Raven's words momentarily stunned Mari.
"But…" She still seemed to want to say something, but when she met Raven's gaze, she dared not speak.
"I'll be going now. No need to thank me."
Raven didn't plan to stay any longer. He left the building, got on his motorcycle, and sped away.
He soon arrived in front of the Smart Brain headquarters.
"Sir, do you have an appointment?" the front desk staff asked when Raven indicated he wanted to see their President.
"An appointment?" Raven frowned.
Before long, a woman in a tight blue uniform quickly walked out of the elevator. It was Smart Lady.
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