Asura God of War: Awakening of the Ghost

CHAPTER 7: The Unseen Attack

A deafening high-frequency sound tore through the apartment's electrical system. Ares had secretly activated the signal jammer in his wheelchair through the vibration of his internal energy.

The entire apartment instantly went pitch black. It wasn't just a normal power outage, but the temperature in the room suddenly dropped extremely to freezing cold. A very thick and heavy murderous aura radiated from Ares's body, immediately locking onto Julian's neck like a phantom chokehold.

Julian's hand froze in mid-air, only a few centimeters from Clara's face. Julian's survival instinct immediately screamed loudly: move even an inch, and his life would be lost right then and there.

"W-what is this?" Julian stuttered in panic. His whole body trembled in fear, his teeth chattering loudly. "P-power outage?"

The Steel Tiger guard behind him immediately reacted in panic. He tried to draw his pistol from inside his suit, but all the joints in his hands suddenly became stiff and paralyzed. The deadly aura filling the room completely choked their courage, making the two mercenaries realize that they were currently in the den of an unmatched ancient monster.

"Mr. Julian... get down!" the guard shouted with a hoarse voice filled with terror. "There is a dangerous enemy in this room!"

From the dark corner of the room, two sharp green points of light flared up. It wasn't the remnants of electrical lights, but the tactical optical lenses of Ares's cybernetic eyes activating in absolute darkness. The green dots locked onto the foreheads of Julian and his two guards, exactly like a sniper rifle's crosshairs ready to release a bullet.

Ares leaned his body forward in the wheelchair. His limp posture vanished, replaced by the figure of an apex predator ready to tear its prey apart. His muscles tensed perfectly, focusing all the strength in his right hand to launch a fatal attack unseen by human eyes.

"Ares..." Clara whispered tremblingly in the darkness. She couldn't see her husband, but she had severe goosebumps because of the pressure of the murderous aura filling the room. "Why is it suddenly so cold..."

"The weather in Oakhaven... is indeed always windy," whispered a cold voice.

In total darkness, the voice no longer sounded from the direction of the wheelchair. The voice sounded deep, profound, and filled with a deadly threat—located right behind Julian's right ear. Ares had shifted positions silently, utilizing the enemy's blindness in the thick of the night.

Julian froze instantly. He didn't even dare to turn his head an inch. All his joints were suddenly completely paralyzed due to the pressure of the incredibly thick murderous aura in the room. This was a high-level mental intimidation technique often used by Ares on the battlefield to shatter the enemy's sanity in an instant. For a cowardly civilian like Julian, this pressure made his heart feel as if it was squeezed until it stopped beating.

"L-let's go..." Julian's voice choked in his throat. The sheets of documents in his hand slipped and simply fell to the floor. "Hurry... get out of here..."

"Sir?" the Steel Tiger guard reported, his teeth chattering holding back irrational fear. He tried to turn on the flashlight from his phone, but failed completely. "Signal lost! My tactical helmet screen is completely dead!"

Of course, Ares sneered inwardly. The military signal jammer in his wheelchair had paralyzed all electronic devices within a ten-meter radius.

"RUN! NOW!" Julian screamed hysterically.

The peaking panic finally forced Julian's legs to move. He turned ferociously, crashing into the coat rack until it collapsed, then sprinted out of the apartment towards the emergency stairs. He didn't even care about the important documents left on the floor. Ares intentionally let his prey escape, enjoying the fear that would continue to mentally terrorize the man.

The two elite Steel Tiger guards backed away slowly with trembling bodies. They pointed their weapons aimlessly at the dark corner where Ares's wheelchair was. One of the guards threw a stun grenade to the floor—which failed to detonate due to the EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) effect of Ares's military device—then joined their boss in fleeing.

Stupid amateurs, Ares sneered in his heart.

Click. The apartment door closed tightly.

The next second, the electrical system turned back on normally. The room lights were bright again and the terrifying cold temperature suddenly vanished. The smell of ozone from the friction of the EMP waves slowly changed to the scent of rain from outside the window.

Ares was already back sitting calmly in his wheelchair. His position was exactly the same as before, as if he had never budged or moved an inch. His legs were covered neatly by the gray blanket, and both of his hands rested limply on his lap. His eyes were made droopy again, blinking slowly like a disabled person confused because the lights suddenly went out.

"The lights... the lights are blinding, Clara," Ares muttered with a sick person's tone of voice, hiding his predator side perfectly.

Clara stood stiffly near the door. Her hands were still trembling looking at the project handover documents lying near her feet. She stared at the papers, then shifted her gaze to her husband. "Ares... didn't you feel it? Those guards were terrified. They said there was something very dangerous in this room."

"Wind... coming in from the balcony," Ares whispered innocently while pointing at the plastic tarp blown by the wind from outside. "Cold."

"No..." Clara walked weakly towards the kitchen, clutching her dizzy head. "Not the wind, Ares. I felt a very strong murderous intent. As if there was a monster ready to kill us all."

"Killers... are only on television, Clara," Ares smiled innocently, displaying his signature blank stare. "Clara is safe now. The papers... fell."

Clara bent down and picked up the thick Project Phoenix documents, then crushed them tightly. "Julian will definitely return. He is a coward, but Grandpa Silas is very cunning. He won't give up until he succeeds in seizing this project. Tomorrow on Monday, they will definitely send lawyers or police here to throw us in jail."

There will be no Monday for the Valerius Family, Ares promised in his heart, his eyes glinting ruthlessly.

"Then... let's eat first today," Ares said with a calming flat voice.

Ares turned his wheelchair's wheels slowly towards the balcony. While pretending to stare at the rain-drenched street, his hands secretly massaged his thigh muscles hard to smooth out the blood circulation that had been forced to move at lightning speed earlier.

Three floors below, Julian's red Mercedes was parked near the dumpster. From the balcony above, Ares's eagle eyes immediately locked onto his target. Julian was seen running in panic out of the apartment lobby and immediately jumping into the driver's seat. His hands trembled so violently that he failed to insert the car key three times in a row.

"Start the engine, idiot!" Julian snapped at his guard sitting next to him with a pale face. "Why are you guys just sitting there?!"

"Sir," the head of the Steel Tiger team said, his fingers trembling checking his dashboard screen. "The EMP signal earlier wasn't from a city power outage. The signal was specially centralized only in Madam Clara's apartment."

"I don't care! Did you see that crippled man earlier?!" Julian's eyes bulged in panic staring at the windshield with heavy breathing. "I saw his eyes from the glass reflection! His eyes glowed green like a military sniper's aiming lens!"

"You must be hallucinating from shock, Sir," the guard answered, trying to calm himself down even though his own hands were still trembling while re-holstering his weapon. "That man is completely crippled. Military medical records state his nerves are permanently damaged. It's impossible for him to stand. We're going to the main estate now."

"Right... Grandpa," Julian muttered. He finally managed to start the engine. "I will get back at Clara. The police chief of this city owes a big favor to Grandpa. I'll have the police drag her away tonight!"

Julian stepped on the gas deeply. His car tires screeched loudly on the wet asphalt as the vehicle sped out of the alley towards the main road.

At the same time, on the upper floor of the apartment... Ares stood up.

He was no longer holding onto the window or his wheelchair. His back was as straight as a spear. Both of his legs were now able to support his entire body weight without wavering the slightest bit. His blood circulation and internal energy had completely conquered the remaining Viper-7 poison.

The General's sharp eyes watched Julian's Mercedes speeding away and preparing to turn at an intersection two blocks from the apartment. His genius brain instantly calculated the wind speed, travel distance, and projectile trajectory in milliseconds.

Ares raised his right hand. Between his thumb and index finger, there was a tungsten military metal coin—the same coin Julian had thrown at him last night. Ares took a stance, focusing all the physical strength of a body forged in thousands of battles, then flicked his wrist with full force.

It wasn't just a normal human throw. Its speed shot forward resembling a high-caliber sniper weapon projectile.

WHOOSH!

The metal coin cleaved the air with a deafening whizzing sound, piercing the heavy rain like a machine gun bullet.

Two blocks from there, Julian's red Mercedes was just taking a sharp turn.

CRACK!

A tremendously hard metallic impact struck right at the chassis of the car's right rear wheel, triggering a horrifying collision explosion.