All Chapters of The Shadow God Of War Returns: Chapter 321
- Chapter 330
343 chapters
CHAPTER 320
Zarek released his grip, and Kaelen’s head slumped back into the dirt."He’s pathetic," Zarek muttered, stepping back. "He spent his life believing his money made him a giant, but without his network to prop him up, he’s less than the dust he’s digging in."Zarek turned toward the horizon, where the rhythmic pulse of distant shelling thudded against the air. "Shaw, get a medic over here. Not because he deserves it, but because I’m not finished with him.”“I want him awake when we reach the Border Wall. I want him to see the people who actually pay the price for his status before he finally breaks.""On it," Shaw replied, gesturing for two soldiers to haul the trembling billionaire toward the infirmary.As they dragged him away, Kaelen’s ruined shoes left two shallow furrows in the mud, the final, weak mark of a man who realized that in the eyes of the God of War, he was nothing more than a failed experiment.The infirmary tent was a symphony of agony and antiseptic. Kaelen was tossed
CHAPTER 321
While the winds of the Border Wall howled around Zarek and a broken Kaelen, the atmosphere fifty miles away in the Mace Estate was thick with a different kind of tension. The grand foyer of the penthouse sat in a tomb-like silence, broken only by the frantic, uneven pacing of Soren Mace.He had been discharged from the specialist’s clinic only hours prior. His jaw was wired shut and reinforced with a surgical brace, but the physical ache was nothing compared to the gnawing vacuum of his father’s absence.Soren looked pathetic. A thick compression bandage stabilized his head, and his once-immaculate white suit had been replaced by silk pajamas that hung loosely off his trembling frame. Every few seconds, he winced as the rhythm of his heartbeat throbbed against the metal pins in his bone."Where is he?" Soren tried to shout. It emerged as a distorted, wet wheeze through clamped teeth. He snatched a crystal vase from its pedestal and hurled it.It shattered against the marble floo
CHAPTER 322
"Don't you dare speak to me like that!" Soren wheezed, his voice whistling through the surgical wires in his jaw. "The man who cost him everything? Me? I am a Mace!"His eyes narrowed. "My father didn't lose anything. He was probably just... negotiating! He’s been gone three days because he was stripping that Riggs animal of his rank, his badge, and his dignity!"Lipton remained a statue, his expression unreadable. "Sir, the tone of the caller—""I don't care about the caller’s tone!" Soren screamed, spraying a fine mist of blood and saliva onto his silk pajamas. He began to pace frantically, eyes wide and bloodshot. "My father is a businessman. Do you hear me? A businessman!"A hard, desperate look settled on his face. "He probably made Riggs stay out there in the dirt just to show him who really controls the logistics of this country. That’s why it’s taking so long. He’s teaching him a lesson!"He snatched a nearby tablet, his thumbs smearing the screen with sweat as he scrambled
CHAPTER 323
He looked up at the black-clad soldiers standing like gargoyles on the VTOL’s ramp, then back to his father. He needed the lie. He needed the world to make sense again."I get it," Soren whispered, a manic gleam entering his eyes as he clutched Kaelen’s tattered lapels. "You did it, didn't you? You stayed out there for three days to break him.”He pulled his father closer, his voice a frantic hiss. “You let yourself get dirty just to show Riggs that even in the mud, you’re the one in charge. It was a play—a power move. You stripped him of everything, didn't you? Tell me you broke that animal!"Kaelen’s head lolled back. He looked at Soren, but his gaze pierced right through him, past the penthouse, past the wealth, and straight toward the dark names etched on the Black Wall."The dirt..." Kaelen murmured, his voice fading into a death rattle. "We are just... the dirt...""No! Stop saying that!" Soren screamed. The force of the shout sent a lance of agony through his fractured jaw,
CHAPTER 324
"Immunity?" Soren let out a wet, wheezing laugh, stepping into the butler’s personal space.He poked a trembling finger into Lipton’s chest."You’ve spent so many years polishing silver that you’ve forgotten who provides the polish. My father is in a coma because of that animal. That isn't immunity, Lipton. That’s kidnapping. That’s assault. That’s a capital offense.""The High Command does not recognize civilian police authority in matters of—""Shut up!" Soren screamed, the effort making his eyes water from the pain in his jaw. "You’re a servant, Lipton. You’re a tool. You’re exactly what that bastard Riggs said we were. You think because you’ve lived in this house for twenty years that your opinion matters?”He sneered.“You’re a footnote on a payroll. If I want to go to the station and have the Commissioner put a warrant out for Riggs’ head, you will move, or you’ll be looking for a job in the slums by noon."Lipton looked down at the hand on his chest, then up at Soren. For a sp
CHAPTER 325
Soren didn’t move. He stood there, his chest heaving under the pristine white outfit of his suit, staring at Manuel as if the Commissioner had just started speaking a foreign language. A high-pitched ringing filled his ears, a cocktail of concussion-grade vertigo and pure, unadulterated denial."Dangerous?" Soren repeated the word whistling through his wired teeth like wind through a graveyard. He let out a sharp, jagged laugh that ended in a wince. "You’re actually listening to yourself? You, the man who’s had a seat at our Thanksgiving table, are standing here telling me that a man who eats breakfast in a mid-tier hotel is a deity?" "Soren, listen to me—" Manuel started, reaching out a hand."No, you listen!" Soren snapped, slapping Manuel’s hand away. He began to pace in a tight, frantic circle, his eyes darting toward the other officers who were watching with bated breath. "It’s a psychological play! Don't you see it? Riggs knows the myth of the God of War is the only thin
CHAPTER 326
"What are you all looking at?" Soren wheezed, his voice cracking as he struggled to find his footing. "You heard me! Arrest him! He’s a traitor to the city!"Manuel slowly wiped the blood from his lip with the back of his hand. He didn't look angry; he looked finished. "You think you're untouchable because of a name, Soren. But out here, in the real world, a name is just something we write on a booking sheet.""Assaulting a police officer," Manuel added, the words cutting through the murmurs like a blade. "In front of twenty witnesses.""Get off me! Let me go!" Soren screamed as four officers tackled him to the gritty floor. His white suit was instantly stained with the precinct's grey filth, the fabric tearing as they forced his arms behind his back. The metal zip-ties hissed shut, biting into his thin wrists."Look at the heir now," a young officer spat. They hauled Soren up, his face pressed briefly against the cold, dirty tile before being yanked toward the back."He’s still
CHAPTER 327
The fire that had been burning in his chest, the one fueled by years of entitlement, was nothing but ash.Soren stared at the heavy steel door at the end of the hall. The hunger for vengeance had been replaced by a hollow, aching exhaustion. He just wanted to go home. He wanted a soft bed, a hot shower, and a world where he didn't have to look at the dirt."I... I agree," Soren whispered, his head hanging low. "I'll stay away. Just get me out of here.""Smartest thing you've said all day," Shaw remarked. He turned to a guard standing ten feet away, frozen in place. "Open it. He’s finished his education."The cell door hissed open with a mechanical groan. Soren stumbled out, eyes fixed on the floor. He didn't look at Shaw, the guards, or the other prisoners."One last thing, Soren," Shaw called out as the younger man reached the exit.Soren stopped but didn't turn around."The next time you look at a man in a uniform, remember the three days your father spent in the mud," Shaw sai
CHAPTER 328
Soren pulled a chair to the side of the bed. He didn’t speak. He didn’t complain about his aching jaw or his night in the cell. He simply reached out and took his father’s hand, the one still stained with the stubborn dirt of the Border Wall.For the first time in twenty-five years, there was no Mace empire. There was no Veldra Network. There were just two men, finally at peace because they had nothing left to lose.***With the Mace affair behind them, the weight of the last few days seemed to lift from Shaw’s shoulders.He looked out over the city skyline, then back at Zarek, who was already checking the encrypted coordinates for their next objective."So, what's the move, Boss?" Shaw asked, cracking his knuckles. "Back to High Command HQ, or straight to the Eastern Sector?"Zarek’s eyes remained fixed on the digital map. "The Eastern Sector. We need to move quietly. The Veldra lockdown caused enough ripples that every intelligence agency from here to the coast will be sniffing
CHAPTER 329
"Isn't it better to just keep moving?" Shaw asked, his hands white-knuckled on the wheel. "If we stop, we’re a stationary target. If we keep driving, we’ll outrun whatever piece of junk they’re piloting once we hit the mountain passes.""No," Zarek said, his hand ghosting over the holster at his hip. "Scavengers don't maintain a perfect tactical interval for forty miles. And locals don't drive without a transponder." He looked in the rearview mirror. "If they wanted to pass, they would have. If they wanted to strike, they would have rushed. The fact that they’re just... watching... is why I’m getting out.""You think it's a tail from the Mace Board?" Shaw steered the SUV toward a crumbling turnout overlooking a dry ravine."The Maces are broken," Zarek replied, his gaze cold. "This is someone else. Someone who knows exactly who is in this car and wants to see where we’re going."The heavy vehicle came to a grinding halt on the gravel. Shaw kept the engine idling, his fingers hover