The Crippled God of War Rises

The Kneeling Family

The Vance Villa, once a symbol of prestige, was now a scene of ruin. The smell of ozone and blood hung in the air.

Inside the main hall, the silence was so heavy it felt like lead. Grandmother Vance had woken up, but she wished she hadn't. She sat on the floor, her expensive silk dress stained with dust, staring at the empty doorway where Drake had just stood.

Charles Vance was shivering so hard his teeth were chattering. "Grandmother... the Black Legion... they called him Marshal. They called that trash... a Marshal."

"Shut up!" Grandmother Vance hissed, though her own voice was trembling. "If he is the Marshal, then we... we have been insulting a God for three years."

Suddenly, the heavy doors creaked open.

Drake walked back in.

He had changed. The dusty grey t-shirt was gone. He now wore a simple, pitch-black trench coat that seemed to absorb the light around him. His eyes were no longer indifferent; they were sharp enough to cut bone.

Thud.

Charles didn't even wait for Drake to speak. He threw himself onto his knees and began slapping his own face.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

"Drake! Brother-in-law! I was blind! I was a dog!" Charles wailed, his cheeks turning red and swollen instantly. "I didn't know your true identity! Please, spare my life! I’ll be your dog! I’ll bark whenever you want!"

Drake didn't even look at him. He walked past the kneeling Charles as if he were a piece of furniture.

He stopped in front of Grandmother Vance. The old woman looked up at him, her face full of terror and a flicker of hope. "Drake... we are family... Elena is your wife..."

"Family?" Drake’s voice was like ice cracking. "When you made me eat the scraps from the dog’s bowl, were we family? When you tried to sell Elena to that Silva boy for a diamond necklace, were we family?"

Grandmother Vance choked on her words.

"From this day on," Drake announced, his voice echoing through the hall, "The Vance family no longer exists in this city. Your assets are frozen. Your properties are seized. You will live in the poverty you so clearly despise."

"No!" Grandmother screamed, but a soldier stepped forward, silencing her with a cold glare.

Drake turned his head slightly. "Where is Elena?"

"She... she is in the garden," a servant whispered, pointing toward the back.

Drake walked away, leaving the wailing Vance family behind. He didn't feel joy in their suffering; he felt nothing. To a Dragon, the cries of ants are just noise.

In the garden, Elena was standing by the fountain. She looked at Drake, her eyes red from crying. When she saw him walking—actually walking—she gasped.

"You... your legs," she whispered.

"They were never broken, Elena," Drake said, his voice softening just a fraction. "I was just waiting. For the poison to fade. For the right time."

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice trembling. "Are you really the Asura Marshal? The man who killed ten thousand enemies in a single night?"

Drake stepped closer. "To the world, I am a monster. But to you... I am just the man who owes you his life."

Before she could respond, Drake’s ears twitched.

Zip!

A high-velocity sniper bullet tore through the air, aimed directly at Elena’s heart.

Drake didn't scream a warning. He didn't have time.

He reached out and pulled Elena into his chest. With his other hand, he made a sudden, sweeping motion in the air.

Cling!

The sniper bullet, made of reinforced titanium, was caught between Drake’s index and middle fingers. The friction was so intense that smoke curled from his fingertips.

Elena looked at the bullet in his hand, her breath hitching. "Drake..."

"The first bounty hunter has arrived," Drake said, his eyes turning toward a skyscraper three miles away. "The 'Ghost Eye' Sniper. He’s ranked 50th on the Global Hit List."

"Three miles?" Elena was shocked. "How can you see that far?"

Drake didn't answer. He looked at the bullet, then flicked it back in the direction it came from with a casual motion.

BOOM!

The sound barrier broke. The bullet traveled back across the three-mile gap, propelled by Drake’s internal energy.

Three miles away, on the roof of the Continental Hotel, the "Ghost Eye" Sniper didn't even have time to blink before his own bullet traveled through his scope and out the back of his skull.

Drake turned back to Elena. "This city is no longer safe. The High Council has placed a 10-billion-dollar bounty on my head. And they’ve placed one on yours, too."

Elena’s face went pale. "Why me? I’m nobody!"

"Because you are my only weakness," Drake said, his eyes darkening. "And in my world, a weakness must either be destroyed... or protected by a God."

He picked up a walkie-talkie from his belt.

"Blood General. Initiate the 'Aegis Protocol.' I want a 10-mile no-fly zone around this villa. If a bird flies in without a permit, shoot it down."

"Yes, Marshal!"

Drake looked at the horizon. The sun was setting, but the city was lit up by the lights of arriving mercenary jets.

The "God of War" was back, but the war had just come to his doorstep.