take vengeance

See: retaliate
References in classic literature ?
In Leviticus, the Lord Commanded 'You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people.
Instead of weeping over Don Juan's treachery like the female victims in Tirso's better known El Burlador de Sevilla, Leonor leaves for the north disguised as a man in order to take vengeance.