The Untouchable God of War

Chapter 7

Silas’s wrist remained trapped in Gabriel’s grip. The man gritted his teeth, his face turning red as he tried to pull free. "Let go of me, you arrogant bastard!"

Gabriel didn't answer, he simply twisted his wrist half an inch.

CRACK.

Silas shrieked as his forearm bones snapped like dry twigs. Before the man could hit the floor, Gabriel stepped sideways, never turning toward Julian, and drove a backward foot straight into the chest of the second thug. The heavy man flew ten feet through the air, crashing through a stack of wooden crates.

The third and fourth thugs lunged with iron bars. Gabriel caught the first bar mid-swing, ripped it out of the thug's hands, and drove the blunt end into the man's knee joint. As the third man collapsed screaming, Gabriel spun the bar around his back, striking the fourth thug across the side of his neck.

In less than a minute, all four men lay ruined on the concrete floor.

Silas, clutching his shattered arm, scrambled backward toward the wall. With his good hand, he whipped out a small phone, pressed the emergency button, and screamed into it. "Boss, central warehouse, we're under attack!"

Before Gabriel could step on the phone, heavy tire squeals echoed from outside the dockyard.

Within moments, three heavy black SUVs came to a halt right outside the open doors.

Over a dozen men poured out, wielding tactical batons, heavy iron chains, and modified handguns. Walking at the front was a broad-shouldered man in a fur-lined coat, his face scarred and his eyes dead.

Shepherd Black, head of The Iron Syndicate.

"What is going on here?" Shepherd's voice boomed through the warehouse.

Arthur Fletcher paled, dropping straight to his knees. "Mr. Black, Please! Please forgive us!" the old man wept, dragging himself forward. "This stranger, he was just here asking for work, he didn't know who you were. Take everything I have, but please spare his life!"

Julian scrambled to his knees beside his adoptive father, his hands raised, desperately trying to shield Gabriel with his body. "He was just trying to help us, don't kill him. It was my fault, take me instead!"

Silas spat blood on the floor, a cruel grin spreading across his face despite his broken arm. "You're dead now, boy," Silas hissed at Gabriel. "Boss is going to tear you apart piece by piece."

Gabriel didn't flinch, his back still facing Julian. He slowly pulled his right hand out of his coat pocket, holding a small black device. He tapped a single red button on the screen and put the device away.

Shepherd walked up, surrounded by twelve armed henchmen. He looked at the four broken thugs on the floor, then at Gabriel’s back.

"You've got guts, stranger," Shepherd sneered, cracking his knuckles. "Walking into my territory, putting hands on my men. Kneel down right now, put your hands behind your head, and maybe I'll cut your throat quick."

Gabriel didn't kneel, He didn't even turn around.

"I don't kneel for trash," Gabriel said without fear. "And I certainly don't kneel for dogs who hide behind a dozen men."

"Are you insane?" Julian gasped from the floor, his eyes wide with horror. "Stop talking, you're making it worse. They will kill you!"

Shepherd face contorted into rage. "Trash, You think you can stand against my entire crew alone. Kill him! Cut him into pieces!"

The twelve thugs raised their weapons and rushed forward.

THWIP!

Five silenced gunshots split the air in less than a second.

The five lead thugs rushing toward Gabriel froze. Tiny red entry wounds appeared simultaneously on their foreheads, and all five dropped dead to the floor like felled trees.

Before the remaining men could even process the bodies at their feet, the high glass windows near the roof shattered into thousands of falling shards and red laser dots flooded the room, instantly painting the chests and heads of every single Syndicate member present.

BOOM!

The heavy doors were blown off their hinges by explosive charges.

A battalion of fifty armed tactical soldiers in dark armor flooded the warehouse with terrifying speed. Their assault rifles were locked onto Shepherd remaining men in terrifying synchronization.

"Stay down! drop your weapons or you die!" a voice boomed over a loudspeaker.

Shepherd surviving men shrieked in terror, dropping their batons and guns, falling onto their stomachs with their hands over their heads.

Through the heavy smoke, Andrew stepped forward, wearing his army uniform, he walked past the armed soldiers, and paused beside Gabriel, as he bowed his head respectfully.

"Commander," Andrew reported calmly. "The perimeter is locked down."

Shepherd's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. His breath caught in his chest as his blood ran cold. He had met high-level military brass before. He recognized Andrew instantly.

And Andrew had just called this plain-coated stranger Commander.

“Could that be The God of War.” Shepherd thought, his skin turning ash as his knees began to shake uncontrollably.

The ghost who destroyed Ezra Foster…

Silas scrambled toward Shepherd boots. "Boss, do something! Tell your men to attack, Kill them!"

Shepherd snapped, terrified for his own life, he grabbed Silas by the hair and shoved him violently toward Gabriel's feet.

"It was him!" Shepherd shrieked, his voice cracking in sheer panic. "Commander, I didn't order this, It was Silas. Silas runs the dock shakedowns, he acted alone!"

Silas was shocked when the boss suddenly changed, without being told he grasped that his boss had just thrown him under the boss.

"You're lying!" Silas screamed from the floor, spitting blood. "You gave the order, you were the one who hired the highwaymen to hijack Arthur's trucks twice last month so he couldn't pay his debts! You wanted to steal his warehouse!"

Shepherd's eyes went wide, before Silas could say another word, Shepherd brought his heavy boot down hard on Silas’s jaw, kicking him in the face to shut him up.

"Shut your mouth!"

Gabriel didn't say a word, he simply raised his right hand and pointed a single finger toward the small storage hall on the side of the warehouse.

Andrew nodded immediately. "Move them."

The tactical soldiers slammed their rifle butts into the surviving Syndicate thugs, dragging the crying, screaming men into the adjacent concrete storage hall. The door was slammed shut and deadbolted from the outside.

Two soldiers stepped forward with flamethrowers and incendiary charges. They primed the fuel lines and ignited the entrance of the storage hall.

Flames roared to life instantly, turning the steel door cherry red. Horrified screams and desperate pounding echoed from inside the room as the fire consumed everything within.

Shepherd and Silas watched from the floor, their bodies paralyzed with terror. The smell of burning steel and ash filled the air. They knew there was no escape.

Shepherd felt a cold shiver run down his spine, he felt a surge of pain and fear washing through his veins.

He just watched his men being shot dead and the remaining burn inside the storage.

Gabriel turned his head slightly, "Break his limbs," Gabriel said softly, pointing to Silas.

Silas panicked, “Please, I was just following his orders, I'm innocent.”

Andrew stepped forward without hesitation. He grabbed Silas’s remaining good arm and both legs, snapping the bones with three strikes.

Silas's agony echoed over the sound of the roaring fire until he was unconscious.

“Do the same to him.”

Shepherd wept wildly. "Wait... wait! I'll give you a deal! I've got money."

Gabriel didn't even look at him. "I don't make deals with dead men."

He stepped closer to Shepherd, who was trembling so hard he couldn't keep his forehead off the concrete.

"You stole from this family," Gabriel voice alone sent shivers down his body, "You will give back everything you took. Twice over.”