2025-07-18 04:35:37Victor Wu watched the photograph curl in his fingers, the fire eating through Ares’s image until only scorched edges remained.Smoke danced in the stale alley air, clinging to his coat like a warning no one could smell but him.He handed the last corner of the burnt photo to the man beside him, a younger enforcer with nervous hands and eyes that darted too much.“Find him,” Victor said quietly, flicking the match to the ground.“Don’t make contact.Don’t get clever.Just watch.I want to know what he eats, when he sleeps, how many times he blinks.”
The man nodded, eyes narrowing.“And when you give the order?”
Victor’s smile was slow, but it didn’t touch his eyes.“Then we turn the God of War into a cautionary tale.”
...
On the rooftop of a crumbling apartment block, Ares stood in silence.The night wind brushed against his coat, sharp with rain and the smell of distant smoke.The city stretched before him like a wounded animal, flickering and restless.Behind him, Mira stepped carefully onto the gravel.“They’re scattered,” she said.“The casino’s cleared out.TechnoCore’s network is in pieces.We’ve cut three arteries.”
Ares didn’t move.“The heart still beats.”
She stepped beside him.“So we crush it next?”
He glanced at her - really looked.Her face was pale from lack of sleep, jaw tight with unspoken questions.“They’ll send someone for us,” he said.“Someone who doesn’t miss.”
“Victor Wu.”
He nodded.“He doesn’t just kill people.He erases them.Leaves nothing behind but a hole no one talks about.”
Mira swallowed.“So we hunt him before he finds us.”
Ares was quiet for a moment.Then: “This isn’t your war, Mira.”
She didn’t blink.“I don’t care.”
Their eyes met in the dim rooftop light.Whatever passed between them didn’t need words.She wasn’t walking away - not now.Not ever.
...
An hour later, they sat in a cold, abandoned office in the east end of Lin City.Cracked walls.Dust - covered glass.A place where plans were born and blood had been spilled once before.Ares laid out a map on the floor, smoothing it with a scarred hand.“Victor has roots in the black markets - fake IDs, weapons, laundromats for dirty cash.He moves through middlemen.Never leaves prints.”
Mira crouched across from him.“Which one’s his?”
“Red Lantern Lounge,” Ares said, tapping a red circle.“We pulled camera footage.Last night, he met someone there.Carlo Yuan.Used to be Zhao muscle, now runs an arms loop out of a noodle joint.”
Her brow lifted.“That sounds fake.”
He gave a faint smirk.“It’s real.”
They left without speaking.No plans to rest.Not until blood answered blood.
...
But when they reached the restaurant, it was already burning.Flames chewed through the roof tiles.Gas tanks hissed in the distance.Ares stood still for a second, watching the fire like it was speaking to him.Mira muttered behind him, “Someone got here first.”
He walked toward the edge of the fire, ignoring the heat, the smoke curling around him.Something on the ground caught his eye - a scrap of velvet, scorched but not completely gone.He bent down slowly, picked it up.Golden thread shimmered faintly across it: a piece of the Red Lantern sash.“He’s cleaning house,” Ares murmured.“Burning every loose end before we can get close.”
“He knows we’re coming,” Mira said quietly.“No,” Ares said.“He’s inviting us.”
...
By midnight, Hawk called.His voice crackled through the line.“You’re going to want to hear this.”
“Go ahead.”
“Someone’s dropped a contract on you.Open bounty.Dead only.Seven million, international reach.They’re not hiding it.It’s personal.”
Ares exhaled through his nose.“That explains the fire.”
“There’s more,” Hawk said, voice low.“They’ve included Mira.Me.Some of your old squad.They’re wiping your entire legacy.”
Ares didn’t speak right away.When he did, his voice was steady, but the quiet was sharper than glass.“Then we do the same.”
...
At 3:12 a.m., the hit came.They were pulling out of the garage when Ares felt it - too quiet, too still.His hand shot out across Mira’s chest.“Down!”
Gunfire burst through the driver’s side.Mira ducked behind the wheel well, breathing fast.Ares moved fast, low, a shadow in motion.He vanished from her side in less than a second.The shooter was crouched behind a delivery van, silencer still hot, adjusting his aim - until Ares grabbed him from behind and slammed him into the concrete.The man grunted, tried to fight, but Ares pinned his arm with one hand, snapped the weapon away with the other.“Who sent you?”
The man coughed, blood bubbling at the corner of his lips.“You’re already dead,” he rasped.“You just don’t know it yet.”
Ares tightened his grip, then knocked him unconscious.He dragged the limp body to the car and threw him into the trunk.Mira was leaning against the hood, catching her breath.“You okay?”
Ares gave a single nod.“He’ll talk.One way or another.”
She looked at him - really looked.The tightness in his shoulders, the steel in his eyes.“You think Victor is watching this?”
“I hope he is.”
...
Storm clouds rolled in just before dawn.At the top floor of a sleek glass tower, Victor Wu watched it all unfold through a live satellite feed.He sipped whiskey, calm as ever, eyes flickering with something darker than anger - amusement.An aide approached cautiously.“Sir.The strike failed.”
Victor didn’t look away from the screen.“Of course it did.”
“Should we prepare a second wave?”
He smiled slowly, setting the glass down.“No.Let him come.”
The aide blinked.“Come where?”
Victor’s voice was almost a whisper.“To me.”
He turned toward the wall of glass, watching the city flicker with rain and sirens.“When the wolf circles the door…” Victor said, almost to himself, “you don’t chase it.You feed it just enough rope - then you make it choke.”
...
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ASH IN THE VEINS
The steel slab still stood at the western ridgeline when Ares returned at midday. The sun was higher now, carving the message deeper into the scorched metal with every flicker of heat. He didn’t touch it. Didn’t have to. The words were burned behind his eyes.We are not your past. We are your consequence.He stood there a moment longer, wind tugging at the collar of his coat, the dry scent of dust and burnt wire rising from the earth. Reyes approached from behind, silent, until the crunch of his boots gave him away.“They’re not just warning us,” he said. “They’re staging something. Making a show of memory.”Ares nodded slowly. “And calling it justice.”Reyes looked out toward the hills. “You think it’s just Vale?”“No.” Ares didn’t blink. “I think it’s what Vale left behind. A creed. A code. A wound still bleeding after all this time.”Reyes crossed his arms. “I’ve buried too many men to be haunted by ghosts.”Ares looked at him. “Then start digging again. Because this war... it didn
THOSE WHO REMEMBER
Because now, they had something worth defending.And for Ares Kai - the man who once lived only to destroy - that made him more dangerous than ever.The rooftop wind brushed over him, sharp with the chill of dusk but filled with the scent of food cooking in shared courtyards and the murmur of distant laughter. It was the kind of night that made a man forget, if only for a moment, how much blood had stained his past.But forgetting wasn’t an option.Mira stood at his side in silence. Her hand had long since slipped from his, but her presence hadn’t. She leaned against the railing, watching the city breathe. Her eyes were calm, but her voice, when it came, held a quiet weight.“Do you think they’ll come here? The ones watching?”He didn’t answer right away.Then, “Not yet. But they’ve taken notice.”She tilted her head. “Of you?”“No,” he said. “Of us.”Mira glanced back at the glowing blocks of Lin City - at the rebuilt shelters, the lights flickering in the old Assembly Hall, the hum
THE WEIGHT OF STILLNESS
Ares didn’t move.He sat by Elijah’s bedside long after the boy had turned back into sleep, his small hands tucked beneath his cheek, his breaths soft and untroubled. The notebook lay closed beside them - those sketches still etched into Ares’ mind.That last drawing... the three of them standing beneath a sun not yet drawn. No smoke. No sirens. No shadows clawing at the edge of their peace. Just presence.Ares leaned forward, elbows braced on his knees, his head buried in his hands. His back ached from old wounds. His fingers were calloused from war. But none of that compared to the pressure behind his ribs now - the unfamiliar weight of not having to fight.Outside, the windowpane rattled gently in the breeze. There was no storm tonight. No cries. No coded transmissions. Just wind brushing across the roof and the distant clatter of tools as the early workers began their shifts.Mira’s door was still ajar across the hall, warm light spilling through the gap. He could have gone to her
EMBERS AND ROOTS
Mira didn’t move for a long time.She sat cross-legged on the floor, her arms resting on her knees, eyes fixed on the sleeping boy and the man beside him. The only sound was the low hum of the generator outside and the steady breath of a child who finally, finally, had no reason to be afraid.Ares didn’t speak either. He leaned back against the wall, knees bent, one hand resting protectively near Elijah’s shoulder, the other slack on his thigh. Every now and then, his eyes flickered open - checking, listening - but the tension he used to wear like armor had softened into something else.Stillness.Not weakness. Not surrender.Just the absence of running.Mira eventually pushed herself up, bones stiff, and moved to sit beside Ares. He shifted slightly, making room, careful not to wake the boy.They didn’t touch - not yet. But their shoulders were close enough to share warmth.“You should sleep too,” she murmured.“I will,” Ares said. “Just... not yet.”She nodded.A long breath passed
THE PROMISE OF STAYING
The Assembly Hall was quiet the next morning.Not silent - there were distant boots on tile, quiet murmurs of volunteers laying cables and pinning up maps -but the kind of quiet that came after storms. The kind you earned. Ares stood near the north-facing window, watching as the mist lifted off the shattered rooftops of Lin City.Behind him, Elijah tugged at his sleeve.“Is this where they argue?” he asked.Ares smirked. “Sometimes. Mostly, they try to listen.”Elijah nodded solemnly, like that was harder.The boy wore a scarf too big for him and boots slightly too worn. His hair still stuck up in wild tufts from sleep, and he held The Little Prince under one arm like it was a secret weapon. Ares rested a steady hand on his son’s back as they stepped inside.Some of the council members were already seated. Kara gave a quick wave. The woman from the South End was bouncing her baby with one hand and flipping through ration figures with the other. Hawk stood by the coffee dispenser, pour
THE WEIGHT OF PEACE
The Assembly Hall was quiet the next morning.Not silent - there were distant boots on tile, quiet murmurs of volunteers laying cables and pinning up maps - but the kind of quiet that came after storms. The kind you earned. Ares stood near the north-facing window, watching as the mist lifted off the shattered rooftops of Lin City.Behind him, Elijah tugged at his sleeve.“Is this where they argue?” he asked.Ares smirked. “Sometimes. Mostly, they try to listen.”Elijah nodded solemnly, like that was harder.The boy wore a scarf too big for him and boots slightly too worn. His hair still stuck up in wild tufts from sleep, and he held The Little Prince under one arm like it was a secret weapon. Ares rested a steady hand on his son’s back as they stepped inside.Some of the council members were already seated. Kara gave a quick wave. The woman from the South End was bouncing her baby with one hand and flipping through ration figures with the other. Hawk stood by the coffee dispenser, pou
