Return of the war god

The sun had just set on kairford city but that did little to change the state of the crowded streets as people went about their business, with some headed towards Bine station. The train arrived and the doors opened and amongst the crowd, a tall, muscular man in a grey trench coat stepped out, pulling his phone out to answer a call.

“I’m listening?”

“Sir, we’ve been able to track your cousin, the one who you said looked after you.”

“And?”

“She was in an accident 5 years ago and has been paralysed from the waist down.”

His jaw tightened as he heard the news. While he wasn’t enraged, a few of the passersby steered clear after getting a good look at his face.

The man was Arthur Rhyfel and at ten years old an attack on his home during a get together made him an orphan. His cousin, who just so happened to have been at his home at the time of the attack as her family had visited him, stayed by him and protected him.

Valuing his life above hers, she escorted him to the surrounding forest before running in the opposite direction to distract the pursuers.

He was then found by a band of mercenaries who were good friends of his family.

Upon joining their group, his talent and skill showed and he rose from being the errand boy who needed protection to the leader of a much more powerful version of the group.

But as he climbed the ranks, he had a strange encounter. During a solo mission to extract intel from a highly guarded enemy camp, after a near death experience a translucent window appeared before him.

It was a system, one that only he could see and interact with.

While it gave him missions, it also gave him rewards; permanent increase in stats that actively affected his physical state and when he levelled up, he grew stronger.

Fourteen years later, he had grown with the help of the system to being the most feared mercenary on the battlefield.

He had once breached a facility that had stored nuclear warheads and disarmed them before they were launched by himself, all while the enemy soldiers were actively searching for him. But that paled in comparison to the solo mission where he breached enemy lines and extracted a person of interest.

His feats in battle had become so great, he was referred to as the war god, both within and outside his team.

As the war died down, he decided to return home to Kairford, to fight a war that was far from finished; the war against the ones who backstabbed and massacred his family.

But he couldn’t do that without finding his cousin Luna Rhyfel, who saved him despite her life being at stake.

“Is that all you know?”

“No sir, I’ve forwarded her case file to your phone.”

He hung up the phone and it chimed soon after, a familiar translucent window appearing before him as if on cue.

[New mission.]

He looked from his phone to the system and sighed, tapping the window to access the mission which read; [Retrieve Luna Rhyfel from the Gallagher’s.]

He then opened the email and read through the case file.

Luna Rhyfel survived the attack, but due to a cover up, it was painted as an accident caused by her.

Sent into the foster system, she was rejected by multiple homes after being declared a cursed child.

Though it was ignored, subtle signs of abuse were noted during the period of her life.

She was then adopted by a distant aunt who supposedly had a hand in the accident that had her paralysed from waist down.

In an attempt to cover up, she was to be married off to the Gallagher’s, an upper class family who often considered themselves rivals of the Rhyfel family.

“The Gallagher’s, it seems you will be first,” he said coldly, entering the black jeep that came to pick him up.

“It’s nice to see you again, sir.” a man in a black polo shirt and trousers said from behind the wheel.

“I take it, he’s updated you?” Arthur asked.

“Yes. The Gallagher’s are currently planning the engagement party for Luna and their third son. Her foster mother, the woman who adopted her, Clara Byrne is said to have been actively involved in the preparations for both the engagement and the wedding ceremony.”

“This soon?” He frowned.

“While the Gallagher’s are an upper class family, Clara Byrne is a businesswoman who through past achievements has been shown to have a good eye for opportunities and by ceasing them at the right time, has been able to grow at a rate that surpassed her colleagues.”

“I believe you’ve arranged the identity?” Arthur asked.

“Yes sir. Everything you need is in the black bag beside you.”

The Gallagher family, while incomparable with the Rhyfel family while they were alive, was one a handful of families or organisations could stand on equal ground with.

And their power and wealth reflected in their villa, which hosted the important members of the family, business associates and friends, those who were deemed beneficial in the long run.

That day was to be an announcement party of the sorts, one that would let the world know that their third son, Aaron Gallagher was to be married to Luna Rhyfel, who now went by Luna Byrne.

But little the any of those present know that amongst the crowd was Arthur Rhyfel, the one who several soldiers chose surrender over having to be his enemy, the one revered as the war god.

The lady sat quietly on her wheelchair in the corner of the room, her glasses doing little to cover her somber expression.

A middle aged man stepped forward, he was the first son of the Gallagher’s and the elder brother to Aaron Gallagher.

He gave his speech and guided the participants of the party to another room, leaving behind Aaron, Clara and Luna who had turned their attention to the lone Arthur.

“I take it you’re the physician, Arthur?” Aaron asked.

“Arhur Smith.” Arthur curtly replied.

“Well Luna, it seems you’ll be in his care till the wedding. I’d like the woman I’m going to marry to at least be able to stand beside me during the photos and be less of an eyesore.” Aaron stated nonchalantly.

“Now off you go Luna, I have far more important matters to handle, now shall we” The middle aged woman guided Aaron away to join the rest of the participants, a look of disinterest when she glanced at Luna.

That was Clara Byrne, a woman Arthur had marked to be on the receiving end of his revenge as he began dealing with his enemies.

He approached her and knelt before the woman who he owed his life to, the one that if not for her there would be no war god or Arthur Rhyfel.

Speaking softly but firmly, Arthure stated, “I’ll make sure you’re given the best care and you recover completely, you have my word.”

For the first time that evening, she met his eyes, his gentle smile reassuring her greatly.

“Very well.” She muttered softly in response.

He rose with a gentle smile and guided her outside the villa where the black jeep that brought him was waiting.

Signalling the driver to assist him as he led the somewhat shocked Luna into the car, the driver asked, “Sir, where to?”

“Take us home first.”