Marcus walked calmly toward where Noah Miller lay crumpled against the support pillar, blood pooling beneath the legendary enforcer's broken body. Noah tried to push himself up one final time, pride refusing to let him stay down despite his ruined arms and shattered cultivation."Stay... down..." Noah gasped, each word costing him visible pain.Marcus reached down, his hand closing around Noah's throat. Then, with casual ease that made several Three Blade soldiers gasp, he lifted the old assassin completely off the ground with one hand.Noah's feet dangled uselessly in the air. He clawed at Marcus's iron grip with his broken fingers, achieving nothing. His legendary Eagle-Claw Hand—the technique that had killed hundreds—was now just dead weight attached to useless arms."You know what's pathetic?" Marcus asked conversationally, holding Noah at eye level. "You spent fifty years building a reputation on killing people weaker than yourself. Never actually tested against real power. And t

The warehouse floor was littered with defeated Three Blade soldiers—fifty men who'd charged in expecting easy victory, now groaning in various states of injury. Aaron's elite forces had made quick, brutal work of them. Professional versus amateur. Trained killers versus street thugs pretending to be dangerous.Bridger Davis stared at the carnage with genuine disbelief, his broken leg forgotten in his shock. "This is impossible. We had surveillance! Eyes on every approach! How did you get so many men in position without us knowing?""Because you're not as smart as you think you are," Aaron said pleasantly, checking his phone. "Your surveillance team? They've been feeding me information for three weeks. Told me exactly what you were watching, what you expected, where you thought we'd position ourselves.""You... you turned our own people?" Bridger's voice cracked."Bought them, actually," Aaron corrected. "Turns out loyalty is surprisingly affordable when you pay better than Maurice Yar

Gerrard's face appeared in the frame, bound and miserable. "Boss, I didn't know! He seemed like just another target! How was I supposed to—""SUPPOSED TO?" Maurice's roar made the phone's speakers crackle. "You're SUPPOSED to clear major contracts with headquarters! You're SUPPOSED to research targets! You're SUPPOSED to not start wars with SACRED BLOODLINES!"He turned his fury on Bridger. "And you! You went along with this? You didn't think to question why we were taking hits on people connected to Saintesses?""I didn't know about the contract until tonight!" Bridger defended. "Gerrard kept it secret! By the time I found out, we were already—""Already destroyed," Marcus finished. "Your men dead or captured. Your invincible enforcer broken. Your branch operations exposed. All because Gerrard wanted some easy money from the Brand family."Maurice slumped in his chair, decades of criminal experience telling him this was a disaster far beyond normal underworld conflicts. Saintesses we

Another truck appeared from a side street, accelerating directly toward them, clearly intending to T-bone the passenger side—Quinn's side.Marcus's hands blurred on the wheel, his dragon-enhanced reflexes making the Rolls-Royce dance through traffic with impossible precision. The truck missed by inches, instead slamming into a minivan that had been driving beside them.The sound of crunching metal and shattering glass filled the air. The minivan spun, crashed into a lamppost, its horn blaring continuously.Marcus pulled over immediately, his phone already dialing. "Aaron. Two assassination attempts. Both staged to look like drunk drivers. Both targeted the passenger side specifically."Quinn sat frozen, her Saintess senses detecting the malice, the deliberate intent behind what should have been random accidents. Her hands shook.Marcus reached over, taking her hand gently. His dragon aura wrapped around her—invisible to normal sight but comforting to her divine senses—a protective bar

The Hartford Group boardroom felt like a pressure cooker ready to explode. Oliver Hartford stood at the head of the table, his face flushed with vindictive triumph as board members murmured their agreement with his assessment."Marcus Steel has brought disaster upon us all!" Oliver declared, his voice carrying across the room. "The Golden Eagle Group controls half the construction in Five-River Province! They can destroy our supply chains, block our permits, strangle our projects! And why? Because this violent criminal—" he pointed at Marcus with theatrical disgust, "—attacked their heir and disgraced the Sacred Saintess in the process!""I did hit him," Marcus said calmly from his seat beside Quinn.The room went silent."I hit Quamaine Potter," Marcus continued, his voice carrying no apology whatsoever. "Multiple times. Made him bark like a dog. Had him crawl on his hands and knees. And I'd do it again.""You ADMIT it?" Oliver's eyes went wide with delighted shock. "You admit to ass