1. The Returned God of War

***

DOR!

Shots were fired by the criminals. Ethan was bowing his head in the passenger seat of the black sedan.

The car was currently being driven by Marcus Flynn, with Nina Flynn beside him. They were trying their best to escape the criminals' pursuit.

"Who are they, Dad?" asked Ethan, full of fear.

"The Hammingtons," Marcus replied.

"Never mind that, Ethan. Go cover your head!" ordered Nina, Ethan's mother, speaking to him loudly.

"A-Alright," Ethan said, obeying his mother's words.

Not only were bullets fired by them, but their car also began to crash into the black sedan car driven by the Flynn family.

The weather was raining heavily, the windshield was broken to reduce visibility, and the road was winding, typical of mountainous areas. This made it even more difficult for Marcus to control his car.

"I can't see the road. This rain is distracting me," Marcus said.

A loud crash from behind made Marcus' car lose control, hit the road guardrail, and fell into the river.

Marcus and Nina were trapped in the car, making it difficult for them to escape. However, it was different with Ethan, who only suffered broken bones and was not in a condition where his body was trapped.

"Run, Ethan," Nina pleaded, feeling the river water begin filling the sedan cavity.

"But I don't want to leave—"

"Run and live, Ethan. Avenge us on them," Marcus replied, looking back with a mouthful of blood.

"RUN!"

.

.

"AH!"

Ethan awoke from his sleep in a state of shock. He just realized that what happened earlier was a flashback of what happened to him when he was 10 years old.

Back then, his parents died in a life-threatening chase. They were not shot but fell into the river and drowned.

Only Ethan managed to escape. He went to his chief aide's residence and took refuge with them until it was safe.

KNOCK!

The door to Ethan's study was knocked softly. Ethan was currently in the most famous tower in the whole world, where the greatest military officers worked. 

Ethan was one of the five great generals of the world who worked there on the 300th floor of the Prestige Tower.

"Enter!" commanded Ethan.

The door opened, revealing an officer in his military uniform suit coming to hand Ethan a file. The file he got from the country of Nova wanted Ethan's services to teach military tactics to their soldiers.

"Nova sent a cooperation request file for you, Mr. Ethan," the officer explained.

"Cooperation, huh? Isn't they at war with Astana?" asked Ethan, confirming.

"Correct, Mr. Ethan," said the officer.

Ethan dropped the file on his desk, stepping up from his seat. He walked to the back, looking out from the Prestige Tower.

"This is not a place to seek victory. We will remain neutral in a conflict between two countries," Ethan replied firmly.

"I expected that you would refuse their request, Mr. Ethan," said the officer.

He bowed his head as he took the file from Nova, stepping out of the room after saying goodbye to Ethan. The officer was gone. Now, Officer Tony arrived; he was Ethan's loyal aide.

"Mr. Ethan," Tony greeted, causing Ethan to turn his face back.

"Tony. What's wrong? Are you going to ask me again to train Najan's men?" asked Ethan, taking another step toward his desk.

"No, Mr. Ethan. It's about Laura Ravensville," Tony explained.

Just as Ethan was about to sit on the chair, he stopped, glaring straight at Tony, "What happened to my wife?"

"You'd better see for yourself, Sir," Tony explained.

He held out his tab to Ethan, allowing him to get a clear view of the CCTV footage Tony had hacked at the Ravensville residence.

Ethan's eyes went wide with his hands shaking in shock. The world's great general saw with certainty that his father, sister, and older brother were torturing Laura.

In the footage, Laura was tortured several times, from being poured cold water at night, locked up in a warehouse, and deprived of her luxurious facilities to being fired from her position at the Ravensville family company.

BUGH!

Ethan pounded his desk hard, sending everything on it tumbling. Tony stood still, realizing Ethan could no longer hide his anger.

"They're such assholes! I won't forgive them," Ethan threatened.

"This is actually a small part of the torture that happened to Miss Laura. I can assure you that Miss Laura was tortured much more than this, Mr. Ethan," Tony replied, taking back his tab.

"Do you know why they tortured my wife?" asked Ethan, Tony shook his head.

Ethan began to sit in his desk chair, leaning against it with his gaze fixed on the table, looking down at his laptop.

He realized something after seeing the way things were going for Laura; the relentless torture and humiliation the woman was enduring.

Ethan's absence by her side must have made Laura suffer like that. It was also Ethan's fault for being abroad for too long —10 years abroad.

"I have to return to Esseth," Ethan said.

"You're finally going home too, huh? It's a coincidence that you're planning to go home," Tony explained, again using his tab to display a pamphlet containing an invitation to attend a special shareholders' meeting.

Tony handed Ethan the tab with the pamphlet display, and Ethan saw it clearly at once. 

Ethan smiled broadly after realizing the flyer was an invitation to the shareholders' meeting hosted by the Ravensville Family.

"You can repay them at the event, Mr. Ethan. You're the second largest shareholder before the Ravensville Family," Tony emphasized.

Ethan nodded his head a few times, agreeing with what Tony said. He returned the tab to his aide and ordered Tony to prepare his private jet.

"Alright. I'll get it ready right away, Mr. Ethan."

Tony immediately hurried away from Ethan's office to prepare everything necessary for Ethan's trip back to his country, Esseth.

Ethan's hand reached down, opened a desk drawer, and retrieved a photograph showing his moment with Laura. The two married when Ethan was 21 while Laura was 19.

In their second year of marriage, Ethan chose to join the military by going overseas for 10 years.

After a long wait, Ethan's private jet was ready to go. He stepped off the Prestige Tower to reach the runway where his private jet was ready to take off.

The plane door opened, and Tony could be seen there in his suit coat, "Come in. The meeting starts in five hours."

Ethan nodded. The distance from Prestige Tower to Esseth only took two hours. Coincidentally, the meeting location was Esseth's capital, Lancaster City.

After ensuring Ethan was already on board, the plane's pilot took off quickly and flew at high speed, leaving the Prestige Tower to head north towards Esseth.

"I've already called my people in Lancaster. They'll pick you up when you arrive at the airport," Tony explained in detail.

Ethan cleared his throat, and the man's silence left Tony confused. He was sure Ethan's vision had left him sick, resentful, and full of anger.

"What exactly happened to Laura?" asked Ethan, still unaware of the Ravensville family members torturing his wife.

"I don't know, Sir. The CCTV can only record movement, not sound," Tony replied.

"I know. I'm just trying to find other possibilities," Ethan emphasized.

Tony nodded. He sat down on one of the passenger seats and placed the tab on the table. After using it, he said, "At the meeting, I'm sure they'll explain everything to you."

Ethan squinted. The man had another idea that could be used to reveal the true nature and plans of Ravensville. Ethan thought that by going undercover, then he would easily reveal Ravensville's guilt.

During the two hours they were on the plane, Tony told Miss Laura much about what had happened through the CCTV footage. 

Ethan could only be silent in disbelief, not expecting his wife to have such a bad time.

From the sky, Ethan could clearly see the city of Lancaster and the runway where his private jet would land. 

After getting permission from the airport control tower, the plane soon landed on the runway and parked in hangar 3.

"You can return to Prestige. Maybe I'll stay in Lancaster a little longer," Ethan stated, exiting the plane.

"And what about your work there?" asked Tony, curious.

"You can send the scanned files to my email. I'll work from here," Ethan stated. Tony agreed that sending files could be done quickly since communication was so accessible.

Ethan stepped into the front area of the airport after passing through the corridor. He saw several men in suits standing near the parking lot, waiting for someone important.

"Mr. Ethan," greeted one of Tony's confidants.

The god of war's man came dashing over, seeing that ten black sedans looked like they were about to leave to escort him. Ethan sighed, their presence making him a big attention-grabber.

"It is an honor to welcome you here, Mr. Ethan," praised the person before Ethan, bowing his head.

"Thank you. Now take me to Raven's company."