The Death Lord Is Back

Chapter three

Kael arrived at the bustling airport, his coat slung over one shoulder and his hands stuffed casually into his pockets.

He scanned the terminal, a faint smirk tugging at his lips when he spotted Selene and her two towering bodyguards ahead.

She hadn’t noticed him yet, which gave him the luxury of bracing himself for what he knew was coming.

“Kael!” Selene’s sharp voice cut through the crowd as she turned and locked eyes with him.

Her expression shifted from confusion to barely concealed annoyance.

“Are you following me now? Can’t stand being stuck in your dirt pile?”

Kael strode closer, his demeanor unbothered.

“Good to see you too, Selene. And here I thought airports were for public use.”

“Public use doesn’t mean stalking me,” she snapped, her hands clenched into fists.

“What are you doing here? Looking to play the role of a hero again?”

Kael tilted his head, a ghost of a smile on his face.

“Heroes chase glory. I chase results. You wouldn’t understand.”

One of her bodyguards leaned down to whisper something in her ear, but Selene waved him off.

“Whatever. Just stay out of my way, Kael.”

Kael gave her a mock salute.

“Your wish is my command, oh mighty war hero.”

Before Selene could retort, a commotion erupted at the far end of the terminal.

Armed attackers stormed in, their faces obscured by masks.

Panicked screams filled the air as they fired warning shots into the ceiling.

“Everyone on the ground!” one of the attackers barked, waving his gun wildly.

“Nobody moves, or we start shooting!”

As chaos unfolded around him, he shuffled lazily, his expression unreadable.

Selene, already on her feet, gestured for her bodyguards to shield her.

“Stay sharp,” she ordered, her voice low.

“They’re after me. Keep the hostages safe.”

Another attacker, this one wearing a vest laden with explosives, stepped forward.

“Selene!” he bellowed.

“You killed my brother and left my family in ruins! Now you’ll pay the price.”

Selene’s fists tightened, but her body remained still.

Selene glanced at the bombs strapped to the attackers' bodies and sighed, standing up reluctantly.

Before rising, she whispered to Kael, "I’ll walk toward them and make them turn their backs to you. You find an opportunity to take out the one with the bomb."

Kael lazily glanced at her, sneering with disdain, "The great war goddess is asking for help from someone like me?"

Not only did he refuse, but he casually took a deck of cards out of his pocket and began shuffling them absentmindedly.

"You! You’re such a coward!" Selene muttered under her breath.

"Say whatever you like, I just hope our great war goddess can handle this crisis on her own!" Kael didn’t even look at her.

Selene shot him a vicious glare, then slowly stood up, raising her hands high and walking toward the attackers.

"Yes, that's it! No tricks!" The leader of the attackers laughed arrogantly.

Just then, there was a sudden stir in the crowd.

"Mommy, I'm scared!" A little girl cried out.

The leader of the attackers pointed his gun at the girl with malice, "Shut up! If you don’t, I’ll kill you!"

"Stop! She’s just a child!" Selene shouted loudly. "I’ll cooperate with you, become your hostage!"

The leader of the attackers sneered, "I didn’t expect the famous war goddess to be so kind! Then strip off your clothes, I’m afraid you might have weapons on you!"

The attackers laughed loudly, eager to see Selene humiliate herself in front of them.

Selene’s face turned pale. She did have weapons hidden on her, and she had planned to use this moment to attack.

Her gaze shifted once again to Kael, and to her shock, he had closed his eyes, still idly shuffling the deck of cards in his hands.

"Such a coward!" Selene felt a surge of disappointment as she slowly walked toward the attackers, looking for an opportunity to kill the one with the bomb strapped to him.

"Mommy, am I going to die?" The little girl’s trembling voice echoed, and Kael slowly opened his eyes.

"Don’t worry, we’ll all be fine," Kael’s calm voice rang out.

His fingers twitched, and with a speed almost impossible to track, two playing cards flew from his hands, slicing the wires of the bomb’s fuse.

At that moment, Selene found her opportunity. She drew her gun and fired quickly.

But she missed!

Despite being a powerful warrior, she failed to hit the man’s heart and instead shot him in the shoulder.

"Bi... I’ll take you down with me!" The attacker, who was strapped with the bomb, shouted loudly, pressing the detonation button.

But the bomb didn’t react. The fuse had already been cut by Kael’s cards. The attacker’s eyes widened in disbelief, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

Selene reacted faster. Seizing the moment of confusion, she fired several more shots, killing most of the attackers.

Her soldiers also took the opportunity to attack, and within minutes, all the attackers were lying on the ground.

After everything was settled, Selene marched angrily toward Kael.

"You coward! If that bastard’s bomb hadn’t malfunctioned, we’d all be dead because of your cowardice!" Selene shouted, her voice filled with fury.

"Is that so? Wasn’t it your lousy aim that caused the problem? You’re a war goddess, but you couldn’t even hit the enemy’s heart?" Kael mocked, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"You!" Selene was infuriated by Kael’s mocking, but clearly, the surrounding people hadn’t seen what had really happened. They all firmly supported their familiar war goddess.

"This man is a disgrace! The war goddess saved his life, and yet he was just playing with those useless playing cards!"

"He’s just a coward! He didn’t dare fight those bad guys but blamed everyone else!"

The murmurs around her gave Selene even more confidence. She sneered at Kael, waiting for him to say something.

However, Kael ignored all the chatter. He calmly stood up and began walking toward the boarding gate.

"I don’t have time to play this debate game. My flight is about to take off."

Just then, the little girl who had been crying earlier whispered softly, "I saw that man throw two playing cards..."

Her words caused a ripple of laughter from the crowd.

"Playing cards? What can those do? Is he going to kill people with playing cards like in the movies?"

"We didn’t see him do anything, but the war goddess killed the attackers!"

Selene assumed the little girl was still shaken by the event, so she didn’t take her words seriously. Instead, she focused on helping her subordinates clean up the scene.

"War goddess, we found two playing cards in that corner over there..." A soldier stammered as he reported.

"Playing cards?" Selene thought back to what the little girl had said, but she soon chuckled bitterly.

"I must be crazy. No one can do anything with playing cards. If he were really that skilled, why didn’t he just use the playing cards to kill the attackers?"

Selene regained her composure, then ordered, "Forget about those useless things. Go investigate the identities of these people and how they infiltrated the airport!"

"Yes!" The soldier saluted, then immediately turned to carry out his orders.

Selene shook her head, addressing her bodyguards.

“Let’s go. This day’s been long enough.”

But as she started to leave, her gaze fell on two playing cards lying on the floor near the attackers—a king and a joker.

Her brow furrowed as a flicker of doubt crossed her mind.

Outside the terminal, Kael strode toward a waiting cab, oblivious to Selene’s growing suspicion.

In the shadows of the parking lot, a figure watched him intently, a phone pressed to his ear.

“He’s moving toward Cresmont,” the figure whispered.

“Everything is in place.”