2025-12-10 04:19:46Caius’s smile evaporated the moment Zane’s eyes ignited with the true, raw blue of divine energy. It was the glare of a deity, cold and consuming. The silver pistol in Caius's hand bucked once, spitting a projectile coated in a shimmering, dark energy—a bullet designed to shatter a god’s mortal vessel.
The System, fighting for control, screamed in Zane's mind.
[CRITICAL THREAT! Divine Energy Projectile Detected. Impact in 0.5s.]
[MORTAL BODY INSUFFICIENT. AVOIDANCE IMPOSSIBLE. POWER REROUTE REQUIRED.]
Zane's power was surging, but it was unrefined—a tsunami that would drown him before it washed away his enemy. He couldn't dodge, and he couldn't use the full force of the God of War without incinerating his own body and the entire Administration Tower.
His Commander's mind took over, bypassing the fear and zeroing in on the System's mechanics. If I can’t stop the bullet, I stop the magic.
"Reroute kinetic force to localized temporal displacement!" Zane roared, though only a whisper of the command escaped his lips.
The System, fighting against its own programming, complied instantly.
[WARNING! Unconventional Command Received. Activating Temporal Displacement (Level Zero).]
[Energy Consumption: 98% of Containment Buffer.]
In the next half-second, the world seemed to ripple around Zane. The ordinary air became thick, like cold, viscous syrup. The dark energy projectile, only inches from his chest, slowed to a crawl, shimmering in the localized temporal distortion he had forced.
Caius’s eyes went wide with pure terror. He recognized the maneuver—a technique that required mastery of divine energy and could only be performed by one of the true, ancient commanders.
"No! That's impossible!" Caius screamed, realizing he was trapped.
Zane’s body was now screaming under the immense strain. Every nerve ending felt like it was on fire, but he had bought himself a single, precious second. His divine glare locked onto Caius.
"You speak of the Scions of Chaos," Zane's voice was now deep, resonant, and layered with the voices of a thousand past battles. "The Scions always fail to understand the difference between power and strategy."
He didn't need to touch Caius. He merely focused the released divine energy—the 55% surge that had been prepared to tear Caius apart—and channeled it past the slowed bullet, directing the raw kinetic force like a silent cannonade.
The energy slammed into Caius’s chest, not with the explosive force of a bomb, but with the focused, shattering pressure of a collapsing star. Caius’s tailored suit instantly ripped, and the man didn’t fly backward; he simply collapsed, every bone in his chest reduced to dust in an invisible, brutal wave. He was dead before he hit the rooftop.
The Temporal Displacement field collapsed, and the dark energy bullet shot forward, grazing Zane's shoulder before hitting the concrete wall with a soft pffft and dissolving.
Zane swayed on his feet, the blue light fading from his eyes. The pain was astronomical. He wasn’t merely tired; he felt the cellular structure of his mortal body trying desperately to knit itself back together after containing a power surge designed for planetary defense.
[Mission Success: Hostile Threat Neutralized.]
[Reward: Temporary Power Stabilization. Skill Unlock: Temporal Shift (Lv. 1).]
[Warning: Containment Buffer Empty. Immediate Rest Required. Failure to Rest will Result in Core Power Leakage and Mortal Deterioration.]
Zane stumbled toward the dead man. The silver pistol had fallen away, and the bronze amulet (The Mark of the Serpent) lay near the ledge. He snatched up both. The pistol was crafted from an otherworldly alloy, and the amulet was a cheap tracking device.
Caius was a disposable scout, Zane realized, running a quick mental scan of the rooftop. He was here to test the perimeter, and the Chen family served as his initial bait.
The Aftermath of War
The roar of a helicopter suddenly filled the sky. Zane moved, not with the slow, defeated gait of the Son-in-Law, but with the rapid, efficient movements of a ghost. He wiped the metallic surface of the pistol, jammed it into his waistband, and crushed the bronze amulet under his heel.
He slid back down the stairs just as the helicopter began to hover over the Administration Tower, its spotlight sweeping the roof. It was likely a private security detail, alerted by the subtle energy signature of the temporal shift.
Zane arrived back at the hallway just as Anya and Victor emerged from the lounge, Victor still cradling his arm and Anya hysterically talking into her phone.
"—Yes, Father! Victor needs an ambulance! And that worthless dog, Zane, he needs to be punished! He's disappeared!"
Zane calmly picked up his cleaning bucket and sponge. He leaned against the wall near the stairwell, deliberately looking exhausted and slightly dirty.
"I'm here, Anya," Zane said, his voice flat but loud enough to be heard. "I was retrieving more supplies. Did you call for help?"
Anya spun around, her eyes widening at his sudden appearance. "You! Where were you? You broke Victor's arm, you zero!"
Victor, pale with pain, glared at Zane. "He used a weapon! He must have!"
"I used this, Victor," Zane said, holding up the scrubbing brush. "I told you, you slipped. I assume you're too embarrassed to tell your father the truth. That's fine. I'll take the punishment for your clumsiness."
The sheer audacity of the statement—taking credit for the mess while standing there, meek and dirty—confused Anya instantly. She couldn't process the sudden shift in power dynamics, so she defaulted to the easiest explanation: Zane is still a zero, and Victor is a liability.
"Father is sending security," Anya spat, her face a mask of disgust. "Get back to cleaning the main entrance. And don't look at my sister."
Zane nodded, bowing his head slightly, playing the role perfectly. He walked away from the lounge, moving toward the main entrance, his secret safe for now.
The Traitor's Anchor
Later that night, Zane sat alone in the small, dusty utility room assigned to him in the Chen family’s sprawling campus residence. He was analyzing the silver pistol. It was Scion technology, and it confirmed that the threat was organized.
He pulled out the System interface.
[Host: Zane (Ares)]
[Core Power: 5% (Recovery Protocol Active)]
[Acquired Skills: Iron Fist (Lv. 1); Temporal Shift (Lv. 1)]
He was operating on fumes. The price of survival had been nearly total depletion.
His thoughts turned to Liya Chen, his "wife." Caius’s words echoed: She's the key to permanently terminating your divine spark.
He walked into the adjacent room—Liya’s master suite. It was spotless, impersonal, and luxurious. She was asleep in the massive bed, her face serene, looking nothing like a cosmic executioner.
Zane stood over her. In his past life, he would have eliminated any threat without hesitation. But his current self—the one shackled by the divine vow—couldn't. He was bound to this mortal existence by the hope of reclaiming his true self and destroying his enemies, and the System insisted on one fact: Liya was not merely a threat; she was an essential component of his current mortal prison.
She is the key.
If she died, the prison would shatter, releasing the God of War's destructive full power—and destroying Zane's consciousness in the process. He had to keep her alive, even if she was the enemy's anchor.
He reached out, his hand hovering near her forehead, a brief, cold flash of divine energy scanning her subconscious. He found no malice, no Scion influence—only weariness, ambition, and a flicker of deep-seated, confusing loyalty toward her family.
She is an unwitting bomb, Zane concluded, pulling his hand back. And I am the one who has to contain the blast.
He looked back at the interface. He needed power. He needed resources. He needed to prepare for war, and the Chen family's resources, however contemptuously gathered, were now his only means of defense. He would play the role of the Zero—the worthless Son-in-Law—and steal everything he needed to fight the war only he knew was coming.
His lips curved into a cold, dangerous smile. "Very well, Caius. You wanted the God of War? You just resurrected him on a college campus. Now, let's see how well your cult handles a little strategic chaos."
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 15
Liya Chen stared at the flashing red warning on the Sanctuary's main console: ACTIVATION OF REGIONAL CHAOS ANCHOR IN 12 HOURS. The message was clear, absolute, and terrifyingly precise. In half a day, the city—her city—would become the launching pad for a global Scion invasion.She looked down at Zane, who was completely unconscious, his breathing shallow but steady. He was a dying god encased in a broken shell, and she was the only one left to operate his fortress.Twelve hours. I almost killed him. And now I have to save him, or the world ends.The guilt and terror transformed into the icy focus she usually reserved for ruthless political maneuvering. She had been the most effective Student Council President for a reason: when faced with chaos, she prioritized the objective.Stabilizing the CommanderLiya's immediate priority was Zane's mortal shell. She dragged him onto a clean metal table near the central pillar—the brains of the Sanctuary. She used her phone’s flashlight to
Chapter 14
Liya Chen drove a borrowed, nondescript utility van—one of the Chen family’s logistics vehicles—at terrifying speeds through the deserted industrial roads toward Warehouse 7. Zane lay inert on the passenger seat, his body unnaturally still, wrapped in a blanket salvaged from the back. The silence in the van was broken only by Liya’s ragged breathing and the distant wail of emergency sirens heading toward the Student Union.I broke him. The thought hammered at her. She wasn't processing the god-war; she was processing the shock of her own, accidental violence. She had aimed for control, and she had achieved utter, devastating destruction."Hold on, Zane," she muttered, gripping the wheel until her knuckles were white. "We're almost there. You said this was the only place."The Commander's Last CommandZane’s mind was a black, chaotic void. His consciousness was reduced to a flicker—a single core process fighting the systemic failure of his mortal body.[Host: Zane (Ares)][Core
Chapter 13
The fist charged with the malevolent, raw power of the Dormant Containment Unit was rocketing toward Zane's face. Liya, eyes blazing with ecstatic, purple light, was determined to end the life of the "zero" who had dared to control her.Zane was pinned, critically injured, his Core Power plummeting from 40\%. His body was too slow to dodge, and his shell integrity was too low to absorb the impact. This was the end.But the Commander’s mind, honed by millennia of warfare, never accepted defeat."System! Execute Zero-Point Gambit!" Zane roared, the command ripping the last ounce of air from his burning lungs.[Warning: Zero-Point Gambit is an unstable, self-destructive protocol. Requires full Core Power commitment.]"Commit! Use the fall damage! Inject the remaining Core Power into the Unit's source code!"In the fraction of a second before Liya’s blow landed, Zane didn't try to defend himself. He let the Temporal Shift (Lv. 2) run one final, devastating prediction: the exact mom
Chapter 12
Zane did not take a car. He was operating at 70% Core Power, and the Temporal Shift (Lv. 2) was his only way to traverse the city's chaotic streets in seconds. He focused his mind, pushing the limits of the mortal shell.Temporal Shift: Full Activation.The city blurred into streaks of light and color. The cars became slow-moving obstacles, the people frozen snapshots of motion. In the space of three breaths, Zane had covered three miles, arriving at the deserted East Wing Student Union—the site of his original humiliation and now the stage for his most critical battle.The area was silent, eerily devoid of the police presence one would expect after the Museum heist. The silence confirmed Zane's dread: This was an Obsidian Hand operation designed to be unnoticed.He burst through the main doors, his eyes immediately locking onto the primary energy signature: Liya. She was standing in the center of the vast, dusty lounge—the very spot where he had scrubbed wine stains just days ag
Chapter 11
Zane stepped out of the Chen compound, the early afternoon sun doing nothing to mitigate the cold resolve in his eyes. Liya was safely contained, her terror-induced compliance confirmed by the hidden micro-sensor he'd planted on her desk. Mr. Chen was busy manipulating the mortal media to blame the Zhangs for the Museum heist, creating the perfect smoke screen. The battlefield was prepared.His objective was singular and urgent: Asset Sigma.The Scions had deployed a superior operative specifically to target the Containment Key (Liya). Zane could not allow this asset to familiarize itself with the campus environment or the city's power structure.Search Protocol: Temporal Shift and Divine CodeZane slipped into a large, deserted campus parking garage, the silence broken only by the hum of the air conditioning units. He needed to find an operative who was actively trying to conceal themselves.He initiated his search, combining his two most powerful utility skills:Temporal Shif
Chapter 10
Zane emerged from the sewer tunnels an hour later, shedding his ruined, debris-caked suit near a secluded storm drain. He walked toward the Sanctuary, the Void Fragment now fully absorbed and integrated into his core. The pain was gone, replaced by a cold, absolute sense of control.[Host: Zane (Ares)][Core Power: 99% (Stable).][Mortal Shell Integrity: 85% (Recovery Protocol Complete).][Acquired Skills: Temporal Shift (Lv. 2); Divine Code (Lv. 1); Iron Fist (Lv. 1); Basic Surveillance (Lv. 1).]The 99% power level was a revelation. He didn't just feel stronger; he felt correct. The limits of the mortal shell were still there, but now they felt like sturdy, well-maintained armor instead of a fragile cage. The trauma of the heist had strengthened his vessel.He activated Temporal Shift (Lv. 2). The world didn't just give him predictive data; the entire environment subtly slowed down around him. He could perceive the flicker of a fluorescent bulb, the minute vibrations of the co
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