The Shadow God Of War Returns

CHAPTER 11

The man who stepped in had a hard look on his face, and everyone turned to watch him.

Striding in confidently, he scanned Zarek up and down as if trying to analyze him.

Just from giving Zarek one look, he could tell that Zarek was a powerful man, and his brows twitched.

Before anyone could say a word, Darian’s eyes flicked toward the older man, and something in them shifted, and a flicker of hope appeared, almost desperate.

For the first time since Zarek had struck him down, he seemed… human. Vulnerable.

“Help me… please,” Darian croaked, his voice trembling. “He came here… he’s causing trouble… you have to—”

The crowd stirred, murmurs rising like ripples across water.

One man, craning his neck to see the newcomer, whispered, “Who is that?”

“That’s Elder Veyron’s colleague. Way stronger than Elder Veyron himself. There’s no way that kid could beat him,” another replied, eyes wide. “It’s been years since we last saw him. Why is he here today?”

“Does it matter why he’s here?”

“He’s going to kick that kid’s ass, that’s all that matters.”

“Get your phones out. There’s no way we’re not recording this.”

They all pulled out their phones and began to record.

At that moment, the newcomer finally reached them. He looked at Zarek, then at Darian, who was still lying on the floor like a rag doll, struggling to get up.

“What did you just do?” he asked, eyes narrowing. “You’re not going to get away with this.”

Zarek ignored him and wiped the blood off his cheek where the knife had touched him. He could have dodged the knife, but that would have gotten Darian killed, and then he wouldn’t have been able to ask the question he wanted to ask.

“I am Elder Flynn, a colleague of that man down there. If you don’t want me to kill you right here and now, kneel and apologize to Elder Veyron,” Flynn said, introducing himself.

Zarek raised his hand dismissively. “Get lost.”

Elder Flynn froze, and so did everyone else.

None of them expected him to say something like that to Elder Flynn.

Face reddening in anger, Elder Flynn glared at Zarek. “What did you just say?!”

Zarek wasn’t one to bother with greetings.

He straightened and looked up at Elder Flynn with a cold, flat stare.

“You’ll leave,” Zarek said. “I don’t fight men who did nothing to me. If you’re here for Darian, you should stop and leave now. Consider this your one chance.”

The crowd, which had been quiet, immediately erupted.

“Holy cow! Did he say that to Elder Flynn?”

 “He’s going to die for sure.”

“Elder Flynn even introduced himself to pity him and give him a fair fight, but he’s tossing it aside.”

“Bro’s so full of himself. Does he think he’s going to win against Elder Flynn?”

Elder Flynn’s mouth tightened.

“You dare—” he began, furious, but Zarek cut him off without raising his voice.

“Shut up. I’m giving you an opportunity,” Zarek said. “Walk out that door. Go home. If you refuse, I’ll count you as an accomplice to everything that happened in that house. You’ll be judged the same.”

Elder Flynn’s brows furrowed in confusion. He had no idea what Zarek was talking about.

‘What is he talking about?’ he wondered. ‘Accomplice? Did Elder Darian do anything?’

At this rate, Elder Flynn was starting to hesitate. 

It didn’t seem like Zarek came there to fight for no reason, but still, his gaze trailed down to Darian.

They had known each other for years.

There was no way Darian could have done something bad enough for someone to come after him.

“Elder Flynn!” Darian called, not wanting Flynn to get confused.

He pushed himself up, pain ripping through his ribs, but his voice came out loud.

“Don’t listen to him, Elder Flynn! He’s trying to confuse you so you won’t deal with him! I did nothing to him! He just came in here and started beating me up because I tried to help the others!”

Elder Flynn looked around the place and saw all the men lying on the floor. His frown deepened.

“You came here and beat up an innocent man,” Flynn said. “You sound like someone looking for an excuse to start a fight. There’s no way I’ll support something like that. Since that’s the case, I’ll beat you up until you can’t move again, so you stop going around attacking people.”

He took a step forward, his tone firm. “I don’t know why you’re so bent on stopping me from fighting you, but I’ll make sure you regret what you did. And whatever Darian did, I’ll take responsibility. After all, it’s something so trivial.”

Zarek looked at the man and frowned.

With a scoff, he said, “I gave you the chance to leave. And you decided to take responsibility for someone else without knowing what they did. I guess you both share some twisted brotherhood.”

Elder Flynn immediately rushed at Zarek without another word. But just as he began running, something on Zarek’s belt caught his eye; it was a golden emblem.

‘Isn’t that the only emblem the God of War can wear?’ he thought. ‘Is he… the God of War?’

He looked again, and his face went pale.

His knees gave out, and he dropped to the floor. Blood drained from his face as he raised his head to look at Zarek.

Seeing the hard look on Zarek’s face, Elder Flynn’s eyes widened in fear.

He knew it then that he was doomed.