THE ALMIGHTY WAR GOD

Loud Scream, Unbearable Pain

Magnus and Frank were separated by the car’s hood. Their distance was extremely close. Frank was absolutely certain that at such a short range, his shot wouldn't miss. Magnus wouldn't have enough time to dodge as he did before.

“You sure you wanna do this?” Magnus asked with a dismissive tone.

“Shut your fucking mouth, you scum!” Frank roared. “Whatever trick you used on Julius’s friends and my men, it won’t work on me. Put both your hands up and place them behind your head! Don’t try anything funny!”

Magnus didn’t respond, only staring at Frank coldly.

“I said put your hands up and place them behind your head! Now!”

Magnus slowly raised his hands, pretending to comply with Frank’s demand. But before he could put his hands behind his head, he suddenly leaped and charged at Frank.

Bang!

Thud!

“Argh...”

The shot Frank fired missed. Conversely, Magnus’s tackle landed squarely on target. Frank was thrown back and now groaned in pain as his back slammed into the road surface.

Magnus picked up the pistol that had fallen from Frank’s hand, then walked up to Frank and stood right beside his left side.

“What was your goal in mobilizing your men? Did you want to eliminate me? Did Grandpa Vincent order you to do it?”

Magnus pointed the pistol at Frank, right at his face. Frank glared at Magnus. He never expected their situation to reverse this quickly and easily.

“You... What the hell happened to you...? Are you really Magnus?” Frank tried to get up.

Bang!

Magnus’s shot froze Frank. A few centimeters more to the left, the bullet would have lodged in his shoulder.

“Answer my question correctly. Next time I will actually shoot you,” Magnus said.

Frank stared at Magnus, full of rage. He didn’t understand how the Magnus he was facing now could look so different from the Magnus of three years ago. That person was truly weak and pathetic. Now, he radiated an aura that made him look strong and terrifying.

“Marco ordered me to finish you off because you dared to beat up Julius—even breaking his right hand!” Frank said fiercely.

Magnus frowned. “Uncle Marco? Not Grandpa Vincent?”

“My father-in-law died three years ago, not long after you were reported dead. Since then, Marco has been leading the Barbosa family.”

Magnus’s eyes narrowed. As far as he knew, Marco was more arrogant and cruel than Vincent. If the Barbosa family was now led by Marco, they were likely to be even more evil. No wonder Julius was allowed to terrorize his family and even attempted to rape Jasmine.

“Who the fuck are you?! You’re not a fucking ghost, aren’t you?” Frank asked.

Even though the situation was not in his favor, he remained arrogant. After all, he was the Merseyvale Police Chief.

The left corner of Magnus’s mouth lifted.

“It doesn’t matter if you think I’m a ghost or whatever. One thing is certain, since I’m back, you will all bear the karma for what you’ve done,” he said.

“Is that a threat?” Frank scoffed, chuckling.

Magnus pointed the pistol in his hand upwards.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

He fired a rapid succession of shots until the bullets in the pistol were exhausted. Magnus then threw the empty pistol far behind him.

Frank’s expression changed. The sneer was gone.

“Don’t worry. I won’t punish you now,” Magnus said. “I’ll give you a chance to prepare whatever you think you need to prepare. In the meantime, you can pass on my regards to Uncle Marco. Tell him that my revenge for what you all did to my family will be very severe. I will destroy you. I swear I will.”

After saying that, Magnus simply walked away, returning to the yellow sports car that was dented in several places.

Frank sneered. Magnus was truly underestimating him, and of course, this hurt his considerable pride. So, while Magnus continued to approach the yellow sports car, he stood up and pulled out a small pistol he kept concealed inside his combat boot. Without hesitation, he shot Magnus.

Bang! Bang!

Magnus’s steps halted. Frank smirked. He was certain his shots were on target, and Magnus would collapse any second now.

But instead of collapsing, Magnus turned around and stared at him with blazing blue eyes.

Frank’s pupils widened. He pulled the trigger again, firing two more shots.

Bang! Bang!

What happened? Magnus suddenly vanished, just like before. And now he was standing right behind him.

Realizing this, Frank quickly moved his right hand, intending to elbow Magnus, but Magnus was faster, gripping Frank’s shoulders and pushing Frank’s back with his right leg.

“AAAAARRRGHHH....”

Frank screamed loudly, unable to bear the pain in his back. In his imagination, the muscles in his back would be torn, and his bones would crack.

Both of those things might have actually happened if Magnus hadn’t suddenly stopped and released his grip.

Frank fell to his knees, wincing in pain with one hand on his back. When he turned his head, he saw Magnus clutching his head and bowing down.

‘Shit! Looks like I used too much of my power today. Opening that special portal earlier really drained a lot of energy,’ Magnus thought to himself.

Magnus felt his head was so heavy, throbbing rapidly. His vision was blurry.

He tried to regulate his breathing, taking several deep breaths, only opening his eyes once the throbbing in his head subsided.

Unfortunately, by then Frank was already back in his car, and he was driving away, heading forward.

Magnus could have chased him if he wanted to. But after thinking it over, he decided to let Frank go for now.

‘Now he should understand how severe the punishment he and the Barbosa family will receive soon,’ he told himself.

...

After speeding down the road, Frank finally arrived at the police station. His heart was still pounding from what he had experienced. The muscles in his back were still aching.

When Frank entered the police station, his men immediately looked at him. Realizing Frank was extremely angry, they didn't greet him and quickly looked away.

Frank glanced around, looking for the men he had sent to Magnus's house earlier. Not finding them, he decided to go to his office.

CRASH!!

Frank slammed his hand onto the table, then sat in his chair. He let out a long sigh. He couldn't accept the fact that Magnus had utterly defeated him.

“There is no way I’m going to live the rest of my life haunted by this feeling of defeat,” he cursed.

He then took out his phone. He just remembered that he hadn’t updated Marco about the latest situation with Magnus.

[Where have you been? I've been waiting for news from you.]

“Sorry, sorry. There was a slight hitch earlier,” Frank said. It was too humiliating for him to say that Magnus was currently much stronger than him.

[So, have you gotten rid of the bastard trash?]

“Not yet. I changed my mind.”

[What do you mean?]

“Here's the thing, Marco. That bastard trash broke your only son’s hand. In my opinion, we should make him suffer really badly before we finally kill him. And I have an idea. I can ask for help from an acquaintance in the military. He’s known to be cruel and brutal in eliminating his enemies. I’m sure he can make that bastard trash beg for mercy.”

Marco was silent for a moment. Frank’s face tightened. Although he was the police chief of Merseyvale, Marco’s position as the leader of the Barbosa family put him above him.

[Okay. I guess that’s not a bad idea.]

A smile appeared on Frank’s face. “Okay. I’ll call my acquaintance right away. I’ll let you know later, alright.”

Frank immediately ended the call before Marco could probe for information about what he had just experienced. He searched for the name “Kauffman” in his contact list. Kauffman was a senior officer stationed at one of the battalions in Merseyvale. It could be said that he was the most powerful active soldier in Merseyvale at the time.

After finding Kauffman’s contact, Frank called him. Kauffman picked up on the third ring.

[Hello?]

“Major Kauffman, can you come to the police station tomorrow morning? There is an important matter I need to discuss.”

[Tomorrow morning? What is this about? Are you going to ask me to do another dirty job for you?]

“More or less, Major. This time, there is a dangerous man who must be removed from this city as soon as possible. I will explain the details tomorrow morning.”

...

Magnus arrived home again. This time, he immediately canceled the spell he had used on Jasmine. Slowly, Jasmine’s eyes opened.

“How do you feel? Much better now?” he asked.

Jasmine turned to Magnus, looking at him with a questioning gaze.

“You... are you really Magnus?”

“Yes, I’m Magnus. Your older brother. You must think I’m a ghost, huh?”

Magnus smiled, showing his teeth.

Jasmine sat up. She held her head with one hand. Two vertical lines appeared between her eyebrows.

“It’s okay. You’ll need time to process all this. Don’t push yourself,” Magnus said.

Jasmine looked at Magnus again, still with a questioning look. And just as she opened her mouth to say something, a phone rang.

The ringing came from Jasmine’s jeans lying on the bed, beneath her feet. Jasmine crawled to pick up her jeans, took out her phone, and checked the screen.

The two vertical lines between her eyebrows reappeared as she answered the call and brought the phone to her left ear.

“What’s wrong?”

While someone on the other end of the phone was speaking, Jasmine’s eyes and expression changed. She looked panicked.

“Okay, I’m coming now,” she said, ending the call and climbing off the bed, hastily pulling on her jeans.

“What’s wrong? Where are you going?” Magnus asked, also getting off the bed.

After buttoning her jeans, Jasmine looked up and faced Magnus.

“I have to go to the hospital. Something happened to Mom.”

...