Raven floated endlessly through a pitch-black void, his body suspended in nothingness like a corpse abandoned at sea.
He couldn't move, couldn't feel his arms, couldn't even tell if he was breathing.
Only his thoughts remained.
For a long while, he simply stared into the endless black surrounding him.
Then he laughed.
"Heh…"
The sound echoed strangely through the void.
"Mum was killed by an assassin, sister also killed by an assassin"
His eyes slowly closed.
"And now the son gets killed by one too."
Another quiet laugh escaped him.
"Statistically speaking, I should've seen this coming."
Silence answered him.
Raven stared upward into the abyss.
Or maybe downward.
There was no difference here.
No direction.
No world.
Just emptiness.
His thoughts drifted quietly.
His entire life…
What exactly had he accomplished?
Nothing.
A child born into the Hart family without inheriting its bloodline technique.
As he heard, his mother was one-shotted with a dagger minutes after he was born
"I dont really blame father for his attitude towards me though"
Even the servants in the estate had looked down on him.
And honestly?
Maybe they were right.
He had spent years pretending not to care.
Pretending insults didn't matter.
Pretending isolation didn't bother him.
Pretending life itself was just some boring joke he happened to be trapped inside.
But in the end, what had all that calmness achieved?
Nothing.
He still died.
Raven let out another quiet breath.
"…Pathetic."
The word faded softly into the darkness.
For a while, no new thoughts came.
Only silence remained.
Then something inside him stirred.
A small, sharp, and ugly feeling altogether
Raven's brows slowly furrowed.
Wait.
…
No.
Something was wrong.
He didn't want this.
The realization came suddenly.
Violently.
Like ice water crashing into his chest.
He didn't want to die.
Not yet. Not like this. He couldn't die now
Not before—
His eyes widened.
Her.
A face appeared in his mind.
Silver hair, Hazel eyes.
A warm smile that always looked exhausted no matter how hard she tried to hide it.
His sister.
The only person in the Hart estate who had ever truly treated him like family.
Even now, after all these years, he could still remember her hand resting softly on his head.
Could still hear her voice.
She had brought him to live together with her, far away from Eldria.
She thought they'd be safe from the bloody games that began after their father's death
"Come with me little Raven."
He could still hear her voice even now.
A faint tremble passed through him.
No.
No no no—
He couldn't die yet.
Not before avenging her.
Because he knew.
He knew exactly who had killed her.
And that hatred…
That rage…
It was the only reason he hadn't followed her into death all these years.
The darkness around him trembled faintly.
Memories surfaced.
Ten years ago.
Rain poured heavily from the night sky.
A young Raven sat trembling inside a ruined room, blood staining the floor beneath him.
He was only seven.
His sister knelt in front of him, breathing weakly
Her beautiful silver hair clung to her face from sweat and blood.
Yet she still smiled.
Even then.
Even while dying.
"Stay still," she whispered softly.
Young Raven's small hands shook violently.
"S-Sis…"
"It's okay."
Her fingers gently touched his right arm.
A glowing seal spread across his skin instantly, ancient patterns carving themselves into his flesh like living fire.
Raven screamed.
Agony tore through his body.
It felt like molten iron had been forced directly into his veins.
But his sister never stopped.
Mana poured out from her body continuously.
More.
And more.
And more.
Her face became paler with every passing second.
The room around them shook from distant explosions.
Screams echoed outside.
Someone was coming.
Young Raven noticed it immediately.
"Sis… stop…"
His voice cracked.
"You're bleeding…"
She only smiled weakly.
"It'll protect you."
The seal continued spreading.
Her mana.
Her abilities.
Everything she possessed was being forced into Raven's body.
A complete inheritance transfer.
Something irreversible.
And because of that—
She became defenseless.
The final glow disappeared into Raven's arm.
His sister's body swayed weakly.
Then—
CRASH!
The wall exploded inward.
A dark figure stepped through the debris.
Killing intent flooded the room instantly.
Young Raven froze.
His sister slowly turned.
No mana remained inside her.
No power.
No protection.
The assassin moved.
Too fast.
A blade flashed through the darkness.
Young Raven's eyes widened.
"SIS—!!"
Blood scattered across the floor.
The memory shattered violently.
Back inside the void—
Raven's eyes snapped open.
Rage.
Pure rage burned inside them now.
He remembered everything.
Every scream of helplessness
And the worst part?
He knew who ordered it.
He knew.
Even at that tender age, he knew just how cruel his brothers were just by looking into their eyes once.
"It was definitely Third brother. Motherfucking Daman!
His fists clenched violently.
The darkness around him began trembling harder.
"No…"
His voice echoed through the void.
"I can't die here."
"Not until I shove horse dung in that foul mouth of his!"
The black abyss stretched endlessly around him.
Raven's breathing grew heavier and faster
He could feel all the hatred and regret inside him clawing upward desperately.
All of it mixing together.
"I still have to kill them."
His voice cracked slightly.
"I still have to"
The words stopped.
Because for the first time since arriving here
The darkness moved.
Raven froze.
The void itself began shifting around him slowly.
Like something enormous had opened its eyes.
The blackness thickened.
Then a voice spoke
The voice didn't come from any direction at all. It was just...everywhere
"Raven Hart."
The void rippled around him.
"Is it power you seek?"
Raven's eyes narrowed.
The voice continued calmly.
"Power to harm those who wronged you?"
For a second, Raven simply stared into the darkness.
Then he laughed bitterly.
"I wouldn't be dead right now if I had power, would I?"
His voice echoed sharply.
"What good is power to a dead man?"
The darkness drifted closer.
Not physically but Raven could feel it in his mind
Like the void itself had leaned toward him.
Then it asked
"So what is it you want, Raven Hart?"
Raven's expression slowly hardened.
The answer came immediately.
"I want to live."
The void fell silent...
"And?"
Raven's jaw tightened.
"If I live again…"
His eyes sharpened.
"…then I'll need power."
Silence.
Then suddenly—
The darkness trembled violently.
For the first time, emotion entered the voice.
Amusement.
"Asking for two things when only one was offered."
The void began swallowing Raven whole.
His body started fading into black particles.
Piece by piece.
Slowly disappearing.
"Very well."
The voice echoed through the endless abyss.
"I shall grant you both."
Raven's eyes widened slightly as his body continued dissolving.
"What are you…?"
No answer came immediately.
The darkness consumed his chest.
Then his shoulders.
Then his neck.
Only his face remained.
The voice spoke one final time.
"For now, You may call me…"
The void pulsed.
"…The Watcher."
And then Raven disappeared completely.