The Crippled God of War Rises

The Sea Becomes a Graveyard

The city harbor was no longer silent. The air was thick with the smell of salt and impending death.

Leo, the Mercenary King, stood before the "statue" of his First Apostle. His golden eye was bloodshot. With a single punch, he shattered the stone-transformed corpse of his subordinate into dust.

"Asura... you dare humiliate me?!" Leo roared.

Behind him, the remaining eleven Apostles knelt, their killing intent rising like a dark cloud. "King! Let us go together! We will wash the Vance Villa in blood!"

"No," Leo hissed, his muscles swelling until his shirt tore. "He has insulted the Golden Eye Mercenaries. I will personally pull out his spine."

Suddenly, a calm voice drifted across the water, seemingly coming from the fog itself.

"You want my spine? You'll have to reach my feet first."

The mercenaries spun around.

Drake was walking across the surface of the ocean. Each step he took didn't sink; instead, a ripple of golden light spread out from his feet, freezing the water into solid ice for a brief second.

"Walking on water?!" one Apostle gasped, his face turning pale. "That... that is the 'Grandmaster' stage! Only legends can do that!"

"Hmph! It's just a trick of internal energy!" Leo growled, though his heart hammered against his ribs. "Apostles! Formation! Kill him!"

The eleven Apostles moved instantly. They were experts in coordinated killing. Some pulled out high-frequency vibrating blades, others used silencer-equipped submachine guns with armor-piercing rounds.

Rat-tat-tat-tat!

A hail of bullets rained down on Drake.

Drake didn't even raise his hand. He continued walking, his expression indifferent. As the bullets reached within three inches of his body, they flattened against an invisible golden bell made of pure Qi.

Clink. Clink. Clink.

The bullets fell into the ocean like harmless pebbles.

"My turn," Drake said.

He lifted his right hand and made a horizontal slashing motion in the empty air.

Swoosh!

A blade of compressed air, three hundred feet long, erupted from his palm. It cut through the fog, the waves, and the eleven Apostles in a single breath.

Silence.

Then, blood sprayed into the air. The eleven Apostles didn't even have time to scream before their bodies were sliced in half, falling into the dark water.

Leo stood alone on the deck of his ship, his legs finally shaking. "You... you aren't just a Marshal. You’ve reached the 'God-Domain'..."

"Leo," Drake said, now standing on the deck of the ship, just three feet away. "Three years ago, you were a scout in my army. I spared your life because of your talent. Today, I take it back because of your greed."

"I have the High Council behind me!" Leo screamed, pulling a golden dagger from his belt. "They gave me a God-Slaying Toxin! Even a God-Domain master will die!"

Leo lunged, the dagger glowing with a sickly green light.

Drake didn't dodge. He let the dagger strike his chest.

Ting!

The blade snapped. The "God-Slaying Toxin" spilled onto Drake’s skin, but instead of burning him, it hissed and evaporated into white steam.

"Your poison is too weak," Drake whispered.

He reached out and grabbed Leo by the throat, lifting the 250-pound man into the air with one hand.

"The High Council sent you to test if I was still injured. Tell them... the test is over."

Drake’s grip tightened.

Crack.

The Mercenary King’s neck snapped like a dry twig. Drake tossed the body into the sea as if it were a piece of trash.

Suddenly, Drake’s chest tightened. He coughed, and a spray of dark, purple blood hit the deck. The "Yin-Soul Poison" was acting up again. Using that much Qi had triggered the seal in his heart.

‘I don't have much time,’ Drake thought, wiping his mouth. ‘The High Council will send the "Saints" next. I must find the cure before the Vance family realized I’m at my limit.’

He pulled out his phone. "General. Sink the ships. Leave no survivors."

"Yes, Marshal!"

As Drake walked back toward the shore, the twelve mercenary ships exploded behind him, lighting up the night sky like a funeral pyre.